my own book review unplugged my own book review henry mintzberg, the nature of managerial work (1973) & simply managing: what manager do and can do better (2013). reviewed by himself the “unplugged” section seeks to experience new forms of book reviews. we regularly grant a wild card to a world-class scholar to review his/her own classic. in “my own book review”, authors will tell us the story of "what i was trying to do" with sometimes some auto-ethnographic considerations. by recounting the building process of one seminal research with a contemporary lens, they may give some insights for the current craft of research and also share with us renunciations, doubts and joys in their intimate writing experience. ! reviewing one’s own book is an interesting idea; finally a chance for some objectivity in a book review! ! i will review my first book the nature of managerial work, (1973), together with my next-to-last one, simply managing (2013), because they address the same topic, 40 years apart. (in fact, simply managing is an abbreviated version of managing, published in 2009, with some of the more formal material taken out.) ! the samples are different. the former was based on one week of observation of 5 chief executives, three of them in businesses, while the latter was based on a day of observation of 29 managers at all levels, more distributed across private, public, and plural sector organizations. ! the structure of the two books may appear to be similar, with a number of chapters paralleling each other, although some are in fact quite different. i shall review these similarities and differences, chapter by chapter, before asking in conclusion what i learned in these ensuing 40 years. openings ! the openings are rather different. in managerial work, i summarized the book in the first chapter and presented a review of earlier literature on the nature of managerial work in chapter 2—in terms of various schools of thought—as would be expected in a book that derived from my doctoral thesis. simply managing is meant to be a more popular book for managers, so there is less literature review and a more provocative introduction: to various myths of managing (for example, the distinction between leaders and managers). on the other hand, the whole of managerial work debunked a number of myths of managing, so perhaps the two books are on the same page, so to speak. m@n@gement 2015, vol. 18(2): 186-188 186 paperback: 298 pages publisher: harper & row (1973) language: english isbn: 978-0060445560 paperback: 216 pages publisher: berrett-koehler (2013) language: english isbn: 978-1609949234 characteristics of managing ! i was happy to keep the next chapter of simply managing much like that of managerial work. it was the best received chapter, and since i claim in one of the myths of chapter 1 in simply managing that managerial work is a fundamental practice that does not change, why change this chapter? it points out the pace and pressures of managing, which perhaps resonated with readers tired of this job so often having been described as akin to orchestra conducting (in performance anyway, not rehearsal!). ! yet maybe i too got a little caught up in this. of the 29 days of observation discussed in simply managing, some certainly demonstrated these characteristics (e.g., the entrepreneurial head of a chain of retail stores and the head nurse of a surgical ward in a hospital), but others were somewhat more calm. other characteristics described in both books do, however, seem to apply more generally, such as the oral nature of managing and the wide range of contacts that managers have, both inside and outside the unit they manage. content of managing ! the next chapter of both books considered the context of managing, what i called its “working roles” in managerial work and “a model of managing” in simply managing. ! the ten roles i described in managerial work (figurehead, leader, liaison, monitor, disseminator, spokesman, entrepreneur, disturbance handler, resource allocator, negotiator) received a good deal of attention: finally something in print beyond the tired words of “planning, organizing, coordinating, commanding, and controlling” (all words for controlling) that had dominated the literature for half a century. ! but i was not especially happy with this by the time i came to the revision. i didn’t feel that this description was wrong so much as inadequate—constituting a list instead of a model. so the chapters of managerial work and simply managing differ markedly. i like the model in simply managing, shown as managing on three planes—information, people, and action—into the organization and out to its surroundings. on this model, i laid various roles, similar to those of the earlier book but conceptually tighter. i think this captures the spirit of the practice of managing well, but i’m not sure that anyone has taken much notice, at least compared with the earlier ten roles. i hope this changes. varieties of managing ! both books have chapters on varieties of managing. that of managerial work was much more systematic, presenting hypothesis on the effects of, for example, the nature of the industry, the level of the job, and the size of the organization. ! but what were managers to do with that? so in simply managing, i dropped the hypotheses. i studied the 29 days carefully and came up with a conclusion that surprised myself: that some of the factors we assume to be most significant—such as national culture (for example, managing in china versus the u.s.)—may not be all that significant, while others—such as the form of the organization (professional versus machine, etc.)—may be more so than previously thought. myths remain in understanding managerial work. m@n@gement, 17(2): 186-188! my own book review 187 science, conundrums, and effectiveness ! from here the two books diverge. managerial work went into an aberration about science in managerial work: programing it for greater effectiveness. i rarely repudiate what i have written, and i am not sorry i included this. it did indicate my inclination back then. (i had worked in operational research at the canadian national railways before i did my graduate studies at mit.) but i soon realized that this was a bit of a dead end. ! what i did instead in simply managing particularly pleases me. before concluding with a chapter on managing effectively, i added a chapter on the conundrums of managing (some threads of which can be found in managerial work). as an objective reviewer, i find this chapter terrific, and hope it will get much more attention. imagine asking “how can a manager keep informed when the very nature of the job removed him or her from the very thing being managed?” or “how to maintain the necessary confidence without slipping into arrogance?” i think these conundrums get closest to describing the intricate complexities of managing: i use them when i do workshops with managers. the last chapter of simply managing, called “managing effectively”, is playful, but i am happy with it because i believe it addresses the right issues with serious intent: the inevitably flawed manager; selecting the devils you know; the difficulties of assessing managerial effectiveness; and how to develop managers by recognizing that, while no manager can be created in a classroom, people with experience in the practice, can there be given the opportunity to learn by reflecting together on their own experience. 40 years later ! i am quite happy with simply managing, happier than with managerial work, even though the latter has done so well. simply managing has yet to succeed like that, but i feel that it deserves to. the job of managing is important, and the more we all understood it, the better it will be practiced. we are still inundated with myths about managing, such as the nonsense that “if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.” whoever measured with any sophistication the culture of an organization, the potential market for a truly new product, or managing itself. indeed, has anyone ever even tried to measure the performance of measurement? ! what have i learned in the ensuring years? to be more playful for sure—to ease up and let go. readers learn more, and so does the author. i also learned to see managing more comprehensively. with that one exception (of programming the job), i think i was on the right track in 1973; now i can see better where that track is headed. as i state in chapter 1 of simply managing, the practice is fundamental and does not change—not ensuing 40 years. but my perception of it has. ! at least what i call “managing naturally” in the last chapter of the new book hasn’t changed. what has changed is that now we have so much more managing unnaturally: “leaders” who sit on “top”, measuring and then exercising their authority by remote control, instead of rolling up their sleeves and facing the fact that good leadership is embedded in engaged management. if this is not clear to you, let me suggest that you read a really good book. it’s called simply managing. © the author(s) www.management-aims.com my own book review! m@n@gement, 18(2): 186-188 188 343 m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 343-349 book review copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). m@n@gement is a double-blind refereed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.management-aims.com © 2012 m@n@gement and the author(s). m@n@gement est la revue officielle de l’aims m@n@gement is the journal official of aims christian maravelias 2012 book review: richard sennett, together: the rituals, pleasures and politics of cooperation. m@n@gement, 15(3), 343-349. m@n@gement issn: 1286-4692 emmanuel josserand, hec, université de genève (editor in chief) jean-luc arrègle, emlyon business school (editor) laure cabantous, warwick business school (editor) stewart clegg, university of technology, sydney (editor) olivier germain, université du québec à montréal (editor, book reviews) karim mignonac, université de toulouse 1 (editor) philippe monin, emlyon business school (editor) tyrone pitsis, university of newcastle (editor) josé pla-barber, universidad de valència (editor) michael tushman, harvard business school (editor) florence villesèche, hec, université de genève (managing editor) walid shibbib, université de genève (editorial assistant) martin g. evans, university of toronto (editor emeritus) bernard forgues, emlyon business school (editor emeritus) 344 m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 343-349 book review richard sennett’s career covers more than four decades. he has provided us with an impressive series of works that provide a comprehensive and historically grounded diagnosis of the ailments of urban life and work. famous books such as the fall of public man (1977), the hidden injuries of class (1973), the corrosion of character: the personal consequences of work in the new capitalism (1999), respect in a world of inequality (2003) and the craftsman (2008) all provide us with a mirror of our society and suggest how we may take society and ourselves further. while having an unquestionable identity as an academic scholar, sennett has never attempted to hide the fact that he is also a political writer. his latest book, together – the rituals, pleasures and politics of cooperation (2012), is no exception. it not only seeks to diagnose the premises of cooperation in contemporary society, but also dwells on how cooperation has been shaped politically, how and why it has been weakened by neo-liberal political doctrines, financial capitalism, social media, etc., and how it may be remedied. the problem which this book sets out to explore is the tendency for society to become ever more complicated materially, economically, racially, ethnically and religiously while people tend socially to avoid people unlike themselves. modern politics, sennett suggests, often emphasizes unity and similarity, “encouraging the politics of the tribe rather than of complexity”. the book explores how this situation has arisen and what might be done about it. as such the book is a fairly straightforward read. yet, it is not an easy read, not only because it draws on such a wide range of academic disciplines, including history, philosophy, psychology, sociology and political science, but also because it makes use of art, literature and richard sennett’s own personal life experiences to paint a subtle picture of the complexities and challenges of cooperation. the book’s basic argument is that cooperation is not so much a matter of a certain moral attitude towards others and of shared ideals as it is a matter of skill. cooperation, sennett argues, is an embodied craft which is conveyed by social rituals. the problem of contemporary society is not only that many of the traditional rituals which have encouraged people to bond with others are waning, but also that those rituals that replace them – temporary forms of work such as team and project work, non-face-to-face social media such as facebook, etc. – tend to undermine the craft of cooperation. book review reviewed by christian maravelias stockholm university – school of business chm@fek.su.se richard sennett (2012) together: the rituals, pleasures and politics of cooperation. yale university press. hardcover: 336 pages publisher: yale university press; 1 edition (january 17, 2012) language: english isbn-10: 0300116330 isbn-13: 978-0300116335 345 m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 343-349 book review the book comprises three parts. part one outlines how cooperation has been shaped in politics. sennett uses the paris universal exposition in 1900 as his starting point. the exposition, we are told, was mostly a celebration of the triumph of the industrial societies in europe and the us. yet, tucked away on a side street, a part of the exposition was devoted to the human issues raised by this triumph. this part of the exposition was named “the social question”. sennett points out that all the contributors to the social questions room shared a common enemy: “the surging capitalism of their era, its inequalities and oppressions”. they also shared the basic idea that cooperation among the people was the way to combat this enemy and its ills. only through cooperation could a sense of solidarity be established. yet, they were divided with regards to how cooperation and solidarity would be achieved. whereas, for instance, the germans believed in a top-down approach based on centralized unions, the american representatives stood for a bottom-up approach based on voluntary participation in local workshops. this example is important to sennett, not only or even primarily because it came to distinguish the radical from the more compromising political left, but because it was indicative of two opposed views on how cooperation and, as a result, solidarity would be achieved. whereas the top-down approach emphasized unity, even if it had to be superimposed, the bottom-up approach emphasized involvement and inclusion, even if this meant that unity in belief and thinking would be weak. the top-down approach saw cooperation as an instrument that would lead towards the higher end, unity in thinking and in beliefs; the bottomup approach saw cooperation as an end in and by itself. sennett goes on to elaborate this difference in relation to the thinking of karl marx and the american utopian, robert owen. while the dialectical thinking of marx, sennett argues, implies the formation of unified and politically opposed social classes whose struggles eventually result in a political synthesis, robert owen’s dialogical thinking was more open-ended, local, pluralist and modest in its approach. robert owen was interested in how people from diverse backgrounds, without any real unity, could live and work together and, despite having no shared cause, how solidarity could eventually evolve between them if they were mutually responsible for a joint craft. to robert owen the workshop was the site where this form of cooperation and solidarity could develop. to him the factory was not a step forward but a step backward in the social development of societies. throughout the book sennett comes back to the importance of dialogue (rather than debate), mutuality (rather than unity) and the workshop as the site and institution where cooperation based on dialogue and mutuality can be established and sustained. in our times, sennett seems to argue, where people with little unity must find ways to live together, help each other, and cooperate without a shared, grand cause, robert owen’s thinking deserves new attention. in the remaining chapters of part one, sennett discusses first how competition, between individuals, groups, corporations, etc., is an inescapable part of cooperation that threatens to undermine it, and second, how cooperation and competition are possibly balanced by shared rituals. a balance between cooperation and competition requires that people be not too remote, that they be not too independent, and that their exchanges be not over determined by the short term. since rituals establish at once repetition and stability in everyday life, symbolic bridges between specific exchanges and their more general meaning, 346 m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 343-349 book review and an expressive dimension that provides individuals with specific identities, they are fundamental for establishing the conditions required for maintaining a balance between cooperation and competition. with references to max weber’s works on relations between the religious reformation and the development of modern industrial capitalism and norbert elias’s works on the spread of new codes of civility, sennett then makes the point that the modern era established new rituals that opened up new possibilities for sociability and cooperation. “civility”, says sennett, “made sense of how people in experimental, innovative workshops could best learn from one another, civility as an open, inquisitive discussion about problems, procedures and results … civility was the social frame our reformation ancestors put around lively communication. it remains a good frame”. industrial capitalism drew on the new rituals and codes of civility, but bred alienation in its factories and big cities. interaction shrank into mechanical work routines and a defensive tolerance of others unlike oneself. in part two of the book this exploration of the historical conditions of cooperation provides sennett with a platform for discussing how and why the weakening of cooperation has proceeded in our times. here sennett draws on the ideas developed in the corrosion of character (1998), respect in an age of inequality (2003) and the craftsman (2008), as well as on earlier works such as the hidden injuries of class (1973). he discusses how contemporary capitalism and neo-liberal politics have created huge inequalities so that people today live in different worlds with little chance of respecting and understanding each other. furthermore, he points out how the current capitalist regime coupled with neo-liberal politics have resulted in a culture characterized by individualism and consumerism in which people are ashamed of and reluctant to depend on others while they become more dependent on the symbolic values of the things they consume. in the more specific world of work, things are no better. whereas until the 1970s work was dominated by large and relatively stable institutions (large profit-seeking corporations, hospitals, schools, public bureaus, etc.), current capitalism and neo-liberal politics have moved the world of work away from the time-stable institutions to flexible institutions that are capable of dealing with a fluctuating short term. a world of work dominated by team work, projects and temporary employment requires people that are skilled when it comes to coping with stress and dealing with many issues at once; people with acting skills who are able to adapt quickly to different social settings while appearing sincere and authentic. yet, individuals with such highly individualized character traits tend to withdraw from genuine social interaction, becoming narcissistic and “uncooperative selves”, according to the author. sennett is not nostalgic about 20th-century industrial capitalism and the ‘organization men’ and factory workers that it created. yet, he maintains that the long-term and stable institutions of the 20th century helped to establish strong informal bonds between workers that are now largely lost. in sennett’s studies of work in the us in the early 1970s (1973) he found that workers, despite differences and conflicts, still respected their bosses’ authority and established strong informal bonds with their colleagues, which, when things were rough, made them help each other out by cooperating. drawing on his recent studies of back-office employees on wall street, sennett shows how the stress of not being able to do enough, a fear of losing one’s job, and little 347 m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 343-349 book review respect for the competence or moral stature of those in charge makes these employees highly selfish and short-sighted. hence, almost 40 years after his original studies of cooperative behavior, sennett finds an individualized working life where the conditions of cooperation are very weak. if part two paints a gloomy picture of what is, the final part of the book tries to paint a brighter picture of what might be to come. many of the themes brought up in the first two parts of the book reappear here. in particular, sennett discusses how cooperative skills and the rituals that uphold them take time to develop and how we must thus establish institutions in which people stay longer with their work and with each other. it is only if we let things take time, sennett seems to argue, that informal behaviors and routines can develop, that commitment to our jobs, friends and colleagues can mature, and that dialogue and an acceptance of differences can be maintained. without doubt, few scholars are so well read in such a rich variety of scholarly fields as richard sennett. likewise, few scholars have sennett’s ability to enliven academic insights with anecdotes and stories – often drawn from his own life. this book is no exception in these regards. even so, the book is still set back by problems, which relate to the basic issue it states and sets out to explore, namely the tendency that while the ability to live and cooperate with people unlike oneself is becoming more and more important, people are tending to lose this ability and turn away from one another. obviously, the problem is not that this issue lacks relevance. yet, exploring the conditions under which we can live and work together is not so different from exploring the social conditions of society as such. this is a major task, to say the least. how does sennett attempt to tackle such a challenge? obviously, he does not seek to make use of his empirical excursions into the world of cooperation to show where theory, in the form of political science, sociology, economics, etc., falls short in its analysis of the political, social or economic state of contemporary society. that is, he does not seek to make a specific theoretical contribution. yet, neither is his ambition to develop an empirical understanding of aspects of this issue by exploring a limited set of well-chosen examples. instead, sennett gives himself the task of exploring this issue in full and not only that, he seems to want to outline how we can solve it as well. this does not make for a problemdriven analysis, but for an admittedly insightful, but in my mind too general and at times disparate, discussion. a second problem of this book relates to the object or objects of its analysis. given that the book attempts to help us understand why we find it increasingly difficult to live and work together and what we can do about it, it says surprisingly little about how broader political and economic developments affect these conditions. sennett comes closest to discussing the structural or macro conditions of cooperation in the second part of the book, where he brings up expanding inequalities as one of the most important factors behind the weakening of cooperation in contemporary society. yet, even here, he does not discuss the political economy as such, but how it affects – negatively – our social-psychological abilities to cooperate. he devotes ten pages to a section that elaborates on how children are affected by being brought up in a society where inequalities are huge. it is interesting, but it does not help us much when it comes to understanding why these inequalities are so huge and what can be done about them. this critique relates to the political message that sennett puts forth: that political 348 m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 343-349 book review action must start locally. rather than striving for the realization of some grand ideology, we should strive to come to terms with one another even though we differ. sennett is critical towards david cameron’s ideas of a “big society” based on volunteer-led social repair. he writes that “the local community, like the colony, is stripped of wealth, then told to make up for the lack by its own efforts”. yet, somehow he still remains firmly on the non-dogmatic left and comes back to robert owen’s ideas about the importance of the workshop and the local community in establishing cooperative skills among people who differ. the ‘social question’ is still part of the evils of capitalism. yet, solidarity in the form of some administrated unity among people is less of a solution to those evils than it ever was before, says sennett. he cites the maxim of la rochefoucauld: “we are different from each other, as we are divided in ourselves: let’s talk!” dialogue, rather than debate in local communities and workshops is, if not a solution, then at least a way and a place to start. it is difficult to disagree with such a message. yet, somehow, i cannot help thinking that it is a form of resignation, a form of political surrender. big capital and big politics are beyond our reach. all we can do is to try to stick together; if we do, who knows what may happen? 349 m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 343-349 book review . sennett, r., cobb, j. (1973). the hidden injuries of class. new york: vintage books. . sennett, r. (1977). the fall of public man. new york: knopf. . sennett, r. (1998). the corrosion of character, the personal consequences of work in the new capitalism. new york: norton. . sennett, r. (2003). respect in a world of inequality. new york: norton. . sennett, r. (2008). the craftsman. new haven yale university press. . sennett, r. (2012). together – the rituals, pleasures and politics of cooperation. london: allen lane. references 528 m@n@gement vol. 17 no. 1, 2014, 72-77 book review copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). m@n@gement is a double-blind refereed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.management-aims.com © 2014 m@n@gement and the author(s). m@n@gement est la revue officielle de l’aims m@n@gement is the journal official of aims hervé corvellec book review: 2014 gibson burrell 2013 styles of organizing: the will to form m@n@gement, 17(1), 72-77. m@n@gement issn: 1286-4692 laure cabantous, cass business school (co editor in chief) sébastien liarte, université de lorraine (co editor in chief) stewart clegg, university of technology, sidney (editor) olivier germain, université du québec à montréal, (editor, book reviews) bernard leca, université paris-dauphine (editor) vincent mangematin, gem (editor) philippe monin, em lyon business school (editor) martin g. evans, university of toronto (editor emeritus) bernard forgues, em lyon business school (editor emeritus) 72 m@n@gement vol. 17 no. 1, 2014, 72-77 book review book review we have learned with sociological paradigms and organisational analysis: elements of the sociology of corporate life (burrell and morgan, 1979) and pandemonium (burrell, 1997) that a new book by gibson burrell brings with it a challenge to conventional ways of looking at organizations. styles of organizing: the will to form is not an exception. whereas sociological paradigm (1979) mapped the assumptions of organization analysis and pandemonium (1997) chartered what organization theory does not dare to think and tell (see, for a review of the latter: corvellec, 2002), burrell comes this time with the claim that “styles of organizing have elective affinity with styles of architecture and styles within design and even styles within politicoeconomy theory” (p.19). the styles that characterize the field or management and organization studies are thus exogenous. the matter here is not to point at management fashion, as in jackson (2001). it is a matter of bringing forth that styles of organizing are not endogenous but shared with design, architecture or politico-economic systems. all these practices and/or disciplines share a “will to form” in the sense of an “effort to order the world into meaning” (p.8), and it is the different styles taken by this will to form that burrell intends to map. burrell adopts a broad approach to style for his purpose: the word ‘style’ is taken to mean in this book a mode or manner of living or behaving; a characteristic way of producing a thing and of executing a task; a distinctive type of architecture; a particular shape and structure of artefacts; and as a customary procedure for undertaking activities.” (p.60) style is a specific albeit shared way of combining aesthetic (form) and purposefulness (content). a style is not only matters of appearance, such as how things look at first glance. it is also a structured and structuring way of addressing issues and doing things. a style is a cognitive structure in which we are often required to live our lives, something that enables us to find solutions as much as it prevents us from seeing alternative solutions. burrell’s contention is that the will to form follows a similar range of styles gibson burrell (2013) styles of organizing: the will to form. oxford: oxford university press. reviewed by hervé corvellec department of service management and service studies, lund university & gothenburg research institute (gri), gothenburg university herve.corvellec@ism.lu.se paperback: 336 pages publisher: oxford university press (2013) language: english isbn: 978-0199671625 73 m@n@gement vol. 17 no. 1, 2014, 72-77 book review in architecture, design, politico-economy theory and organizing. styles differ and evolve, but they have in common to attempt answering to the returning problems – burrell speaks of problematiques – that all wills to form encounter. he writes: “the questions remain really quite similar, but it is the answers that differ dramatically” (p.91). reminding of numerous efforts made to identify fixed patterns of organizations – for example, the centralized, linear, radial, clustered, or grid organizations (p. 23-31) – burrell advocates a processual approach and recommends looking at organizing, that is the becoming of organizations – for some reason without making any mention of karl weick. he argues that two dimensional patterns are not capturing the dynamics of organizing, and, suggest instead thinking three dimensionally. this brings him into proposing that one can arrange all possible styles of organizing as a cube that he calls the style cube. the description of the style cube is rather technical and takes up two thirds of the book. three axes design this cube: 1) sensibility-rationality, 2) sedimentismrupturism, and 3) a part of nature apart from nature. burrell calls these axes for “lines of flight” (chapter 6) in a not fully clear reference to deleuze and guattari (1987). the sensibility-rationality line of flight renders the opposition between those who believe in the importance of emotions and the soul to understandings of selfhood, in contradistinction to those who rely on rationality to deduce objective truth. sedimentism refers to the idea that social structures and systems lay down patterns in the sands of time and that the present results from accretion, in contradistinction to rupturism which refers to the idea that social structures break suddenly and dramatically to be replaced by innovative, distinctive forms. finally, a-part-of-nature considers humanity as fully integrated into the natural world, whereas apart-from-nature proceeds from a fundamental separation of humanity from the natural world. if placed at right angles to each other, these three lines of flight produce a three dimensional space where one can position different styles in relation one to the other. the design cube has eight corners where the lines of flight-axes meet three by three. burrell calls these corners for “points of opposition” (chapter 7) to stress that he views point on a diagonal are in opposition. the eight points of opposition build a typology built on a systematic inversion of the variables that characterize one, two or the three axes that design the cube (see, table 1). burrell spend chapters 7 and 8 attributing a building or school of architecture, a political regime or political theory, and an organization to each of these points of opposition (see table 1). for reasons of space, i cannot render in detail burrell’s justifications of why he attributes these particular items to these particular points. i can only mention, as an example, that point a is defined by a combination of sensibility, sedimentism, and naturalism, and for burrel this corresponds to gaudi’s architecture, the political theory of green environmentalism, and an organization like the national trust (uk). inversely, point f is characterized by the combination of rationalism, rupturism, and a-naturalism, and he sees it as corresponding to the extremely unadorned wittgenstein house in architecture, the political theory of neo-liberalism and the ford motor’s company as an organization. point a is opposed to point f, point c to point g, point d to point h, and point b to point e. 74 m@n@gement vol. 17 no. 1, 2014, 72-77 book review table 1. points of oppositions corner axes that meet what the point of opposition stands for a sensibility, sedimentism, natural gaudi’s casa milà in barcelona/art nouveau green environmentalism national trust (uk) c sensibility, sedimentism, a-natural potlach economics beauvais cathedral freedom tower / skidmore, owings and merill b sensibility, rupturism, a-natural frank gehry’s stata building at mit schumpeterianism virgin galactic d sensibility, rupturism, natural maison du peuple (brussels)/art nouveau pol potism zapatistas e rationalism, sedimentism, natural neo-palladianism of thomas jefferson heritage economics tilting (a community in newfoundland) h rationalism, sedimentism, a-natural palace of versailles/baroque keynesianism enron g rationalism, rupturism, natural buckminster fuller’s dymaxion/postmodernism techno-environmentalism enval f rationalism, rupturism, a-natural wittgenstein house in vienna neo-liberalism ford motor company the author asks for indulgence for his nominees (p.173). i am inclined to grant him such an indulgence since it is the idea of finding a resonance between objects that belong to different realms or fields that matter, more than singling out this or that object. moreover, some coming together are very convincing, for example wittgenstein house in vienna and the ford motor company; others are truly evocative, for example coupling dymaxion and enval. but i have also major difficulty finding the self-defense mobilization movement of zapatitas in the same corner as the genocidal regime of pol plot, or finding enron in the same corner as keynesian government. before anything else, i regret the strong euro-american centrism of the examples retained. more than half of them come from the uk and the usa. asia, a munificent architectural history and a much diverse political traditions notwithstanding ends up being only represented by pol plot and africa is absent: i wonder whether burrell’s cube of styles is for the euro-american world only, whether the world outside this world has never contributed to anything that can be deemed as exemplary. likewise, i am a bit puzzled by the total absence of companies such as facebook, apple or spotify that have radically challenged recently traditional industrial and service business models, or organizations such as single person companies, time-limited organizations such as flashmobs, or networks organizations that have blurred the criteria for what can be considered as an organization. this exclusion of noneuro-american examples and of alternative experiences of architecture, politics and organizing is particularly surprising when one remembers the plea made by the same author in pandemonium (1997) for paying a due attention to what management and organization theory has for a regrettable habit to routinely leave out. 75 m@n@gement vol. 17 no. 1, 2014, 72-77 book review in chapter 9, burrell names the six faces of his design cube after the ends of the three axes that constitute it: sensibility-rationality, sedimentism-rupturism, and naturalty-a-naturlity. to render the fact that there is numberless point in a line, and thus many intermediary possibilities between the corners of the cubes or points of opposition, burrell identifies six organizations that he considers stand in the middle of each face. greenpeace stands for the face of naturality because of its voluntary, participative, utopian, and arcadian character. bbc radio 1 stands for the face of sensibility for the emotive and gut feel mode of its management. the british national health service (possibly the most studied organization in the whole world, my note) stands for rupturism because of the standing reforms that it is subject to, whereas the british conservative party stands for sedimentarism because of its aristocratic, sexist, club-based, and traditional traits. finally, the rand corporation stands for rationality and the infamous blackwater, which provide mercenaries and all-round security services, stands for a-naturality. finally, the cube has an inside where styles co-exist, and burrell uses schools of architectures such as romanticism, art nouveau or neo-classicism (all schools with an european origin, my note) to describe in chapter 10 how the faces of the cube radiate toward other faces and the centre where they fight for attention. to illustrate his view that styles are different answer to the same problematiques he describes systematically the organizational principles that underlie each of these styles. for example, the gothic is said to stand for ferocity and violence aimed at domination (a view that i do not share without reservation after having experienced a surprising meditative mood in the shades of the stained-glass of the cathedral of chartres) whereas postmodernism stands for the use of flexible specialization rather than fordist mass production. the design cube is now complete and it can serve as a library of style open for scholars and practitioners to use. what is your preferred style, burrell asks, suggesting the following list to choose from: a. sinous intertwined leaves f. decorationless perfection b. explosive alteration e. white painted picket fence c. the collapsing tower g. geodesic domes d. sunlit poppies h. the hidden grotto this list is only indicative, though. as burrell says: “i have sought to construct a space that opens up, rather than closes down, debates” (p.243). his project is to invite everyone to assert one’s own style of organizing by positioning oneself on the three axes of 1) sensibility-rationality, 2) sedimentism-rupturism, and 3) a part of nature apart from nature, and with the help of the examples in the book. friends of orderliness may be seduced by burrell’s ordering of things – the author does call on foucault’s order of things (1970) at both ends of his book. but there are also grounds to question how original, coherent, and comprehensive is this ordering. about comprehensiveness, i have already mentioned the flaw of a universal classification that is so exclusively euroamerican (with a central role given to 76 m@n@gement vol. 17 no. 1, 2014, 72-77 book review the uk) in its sources of inspiration, and so biased toward the 20th century. i have concerns about how well burrell’s cube can travel to the slums that crowd the earth, underground artists’ studios in china, or the bitcoins economy. is it anything for the geeks who are inventing the next path breaking site, game or program? i have also concerns about the originality of burrell’s project. how intrinsically different is the style cube from six interconnected two-by-two matrixes where each corner and each squares of these matrixes are given a name? styles of organizing sounds at times like a deleuzioguattarian ritournelle (1987) on labels and classifications that reminds of classic matrixes such as the cashcow, rising star, dogs and ? in the boston consulting group’s strategy model. i question also the idea that the construction can be and needs to be a cube. there is no reason to assume that burrell’s three axes are at right angles, that all corners are equally telling and important, that the six faces are of the same sizes, and that all distances are euclidian. the figure of a cube rests on a series of geometric assumptions that burrell leaves implicit. one could imagine instead that the same axes had designed a sphere – another symbol of perfect order – or an irregular volume such as a cloud with borders that progressively dissolves into the surrounding sky. looking into the margins of the cube, i wonder if the edges are folds (deleuze and strauss, 1991) that creatively combine rupture and continuation, or simple manifestations of the building axes? and whereas burrell makes some efforts, neither clear nor convincing, at describing the inside of the cube, he does not say what can be found outside of it: is this the locus of surfacing innovation? likewise, burrell promises to extend our understanding of organizations to organizing, but this would have required integrating the fourth dimension of time, which he does not. yet, people and systems can opt for different styles at different moment. one can be an adept of routines in the morning, practice adhocracy at work during daytime, and be driven by unrestricted emotions reading a novel in the evening. likewise, organizations can change style when leaving the entrepreneurship phase or entering the stock market. showing the correspondences there exist between the will to form in design, politics, architecture, or organizing is a yet another true contribution to organization theory. gibson burrell offers a persuasive example of the relevance of transversal studies. but i have major concerns about the idea that a 3d cube can encapsulate once and for all the variety and dynamism of this will (see table 11.1 page 251). even if the author denies (p.255) that his intention is to produce a grand unified theory, a cube feels so definitive, nearly aggressive. i pass a suburban commercial zone. from the train’s window, i can see further down an alignment of cubes where retail companies offer one after the other a virtually endless variety of stuff for purchase. my compartment and the room toward which i am heading are also quite cubic in their design. there are already cubes everywhere. but for a lego, could another cube be (part of) the solution? or is the abundance of cubes part of the problem? to paraphrase a worn out motto, i think that rather than imagining new cubes, it would be more creative and rewarding to think out of the cube. 77 m@n@gement vol. 17 no. 1, 2014, 72-77 book review · burrell, g. (1997). pandemonium: towards a retroorganization theory. london: sage. · burrell, g. & morgan g. (1979). sociological paradigms and organisational analysis : elements of the sociology of corporate life. london: heinemann. · corvellec h. (2002). “pandemonium” by gibson burrell. scandinavian journal of management, 18(2): 255-258. · deleuze g. & guattari f. (1987). a thousand plateaus: capitalism and schizophrenia. minneapolis, mn: university of minnesota press. · deleuze g. & strauss j. (1991). the fold. yale french studies, 80: 227-347. · foucault m. (1970). the order of things : an archaeology of the human sciences. london: pantheon books. · jackson b. (2001). management gurus and management fashions: a dramatistic inquiry. london: routledge. references the historical study of institutional change over long periods: pitfalls and perspectives. a commentary on the article by hélène peton and stéphan pezé thibault daudigeos grenoble ecole de management, france thibault.daudigeos@grenoble-em.com amélie boutinot institut supérieur de gestion paris, france amelie.boutinot@isg.frf stéphane jaumier grenoble ecole de management, université paris-dauphine, psl, france stephane.jaumier@grenoble-em.com the historical study of institutional change over long periods: pitfalls and perspective. a commentary on the article by hélène peton and stéphan pezé. thibault daudigeos � amélie boutinot � stéphane jaumier ! ! m@n@gement recently published an article by hélène peton and stéphan pezé, entitled “the unsuspected dynamics of the regulative pillar: the case of faute inexcusable in france” (2014). based on a historical study of the legal concept of faute inexcusable (inexcusable conduct) in france between 1898 and 2010, peton and pezé identify three main tipping points – in 1898, 1941, and 2002 – in the definition and application of the concept of inexcusable conduct. the authors illuminate the political institutional work at the heart of these institutional changes (lawrence, suddaby & leca, 2009). they show that this multifaceted work is not the privilege of the state alone, but also involves legal professionals and members of civil society. peton and pezé propose a three-step dynamic model to account for the production of legal rules: an event triggers a period of advocacy work by various groups of interest; when successful, this leads to a change in the legal texts. by underlining the dynamic underlying the coercive pillar of institutions (scott, 1995), so far neglected by neo-institutionalist research, the authors “highlight a regulative pillar that is ‘ahead’ of the cognitive and normative pillar” within institutional change (page 174). ! in this commentary, we question some of peton and pezé’s empirical results regarding both the actors involved and the primacy of the coercive pillar over the cognitive pillar, and we propose more broadly a reflection on the conditions for studying institutional change over long periods. in particular, we point to the fact that a historical neo-institutionalist approach raises two methodological and theoretical questions. the first concerns the delimitation of the boundaries of the field under study. the second concerns the necessity of taking into account dominant collective representations in the analysis of institutional work. we show that avoiding these two matters in the analysis of institutional change over long periods can lead to biased interpretations of institutional dynamics. to that end, we draw on our recent research into the institutional framing of workplace accidents in the french construction industry since 1902; the definition of inexcusable conduct occupies a central position in this framing (daudigeos, boutinot & jaumier, 2013). m@n@gement 2015, vol. 18(3): 254-260 254 mailto:thibault.daudigeos@grenoble-em.com?subject= mailto:thibault.daudigeos@grenoble-em.com?subject= mailto:stephane.jaumier@grenoble-em.com mailto:stephane.jaumier@grenoble-em.com mailto:thibault.daudigeos@grenoble-em.com?subject= mailto:thibault.daudigeos@grenoble-em.com?subject= mailto:amelie.boutinot@isc.fr mailto:amelie.boutinot@isc.fr mailto:stephane.jaumier@grenoble-em.com mailto:stephane.jaumier@grenoble-em.com how to delimit an organizational field over a long time period ! the first point concerns the delimitation of the organizational field, here understood as “a community of organizations that partakes of a common meaning system and whose participants interact more frequently and fatefully with one another than with actors outside the field” (scott, 1995: 56). in their study, peton and pezé choose to identify the actors involved in institutional work by giving “priority … to legal sources (laws and regulations) and the judicial sources (past rulings)” (page 151). yet this choice determines the actors rendered visible by their analysis. as friedland and alford (1991) underline, the boundaries of a field are hardly identifiable a priori and evolve over time. this plasticity is especially problematic when it comes to longitudinal studies covering a long time period. a way to tackle this problem is to draw on a publication that occupies a central position in the field and whose development of the content thus reflects the evolution of the organizational-field boundaries and thus the changes in the organizations and interest groups that populate it (hoffman, 1999; ventresca & mohr, 2002). having adopted this approach, our analysis of the archives of le moniteur des travaux publics et du bâtiment1 from 1902 onwards reveals that the vision of the institutional field of inexcusable conduct in france proposed by peton and pezé may be truncated. peton and pezé emphasize the work of legal professions before 1941, either in parliament or in the courts, as well as “advocacy” work by employee and employer unions, in order to explain the birth of the 1898 law and its subsequent interpretation. yet our analysis also reveals the role played by insurance companies in the production of the 1898 law and its subsequent interpretation, a role that is absent from peton and pezé’s analysis. the 1898 law represented not only an exceptional suspension of the application of the civil code of 1804, in particular of article 1832 on the reparation of damages inflicted on a third party, but also an important market opportunity for insurance companies. the corpus of le moniteur des travaux publics et du bâtiment testifies to the economic stakes of the 1898 law, especially in the context of the debate that opposes private insurance companies, which generate profit for their shareholders, and the syndicats de garantie, mutual insurance companies that work only in their members’ interests (moniteur des travaux publics et du bâtiment, 1903 n°9 page 1 and n°14 page 1). given the financial interests at stake, insurance companies became involved in the political battle around the 1898 law and thus in the political institutional work around the coercive pillar, in a similar way to employer and employee unions (gibaud, 1998). several secondary sources also confirm the influence of insurance companies on the production of law during this period, in particular in the social security and welfare commission of the chamber of deputies (commission des assurances et de prévoyance sociales de la chambre des deputés) (ewald, 1986; omnès, 2009). the identification of this new actor is problematical, since peton and pezé explicitly formulate their research question as the understanding of “who are the actors who shape the regulative pillar” (page 146). for them, institutional change draws on the contrast between capital and labor (employer unions versus employee unions), and on the dynamics of legal professions and public authorities. the data they choose to analyze lead to a predefinition of the actors involved. in comparison with the dominant understanding of political institutional work, which reduces legal production to two actors (the state and civil society), whose components generally remain fuzzy, this certainly allows them to convincingly open the black box of the state (see figure 8, page 168). however, the authors offer a rather limited vision of the components of civil society. in that respect, taking account of the lobbying of insurance companies in the production of law adds other economic and professional dynamics to their interpretation. the m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 254-260! thibault daudigeos, amélie boutinot & stéphane jaumier 255 1. founded in 1902, le moniteur is the most widely distributed trade journal in france. it targets all professionals in both public-sector works and the construction industry, providing them with information covering topics as diverse as regulation, results of architectural contests, invitations to tender, latest technological innovations related to construction, and (more recently) corporate social responsibility and sustainable development. historical study of institutional change thus invites the more systematic mapping of institutional workers, for instance by drawing on a publication that is central to the field, or by diversifying the sources of primary data. how to take into account the influence of historical collective representations in analyzing institutional work ! our second critique concerns peton and pezé’s insufficient consideration of dominant collective representations in the organizational field, which can influence the institutional dynamics. by “collective representations,” we mean the larger cognitive frames that structure the behaviors and interactions of actors in the field (dimaggio & powell, 1983; mohr, 2000). by focusing more on the coercive pillar of institutions, peton and pezé downplay the cognitive pillar, which leads to a biased interpretation of the underlying dynamics of institutional change. in drawing on the results of our study, we show first that taking into account such collective representations minimizes the importance of power struggles between actors involved in institutional work, and second that the effects of these power struggles can be understood only through their embeddedness in larger societal changes. drawing on our analysis of the historical collective representations at work in the field of inexcusable conduct in france, we offer in the following paragraphs two illustrations of the limits of peton and pezé’s proposed interpretation. ! first, our results question peton and pezé’s analysis of the stabilization of the definition of inexcusable conduct in 1941 by the “veuve villa” ruling from the court of cassation. according to them, the “advocacy” of employee unions and accident victims, together with the legal uncertainty created by the 1898 law, would eventually trigger a work of definition by the court of cassation (see figure 5, page 160). ! however, this explanation is contradicted by the very low number of cases of inexcusable conduct held after 1941, which seems to point to limited social attention to this question (jaillet, 1980; sargos, 2003). if the veuve villa ruling were the result of a social struggle, one would instead expect this apparatus, once clearly defined, to be widely used. our results in fact suggest another explanation for the 1941 turn: this date also corresponds to the stabilization of new dominant collective representations within the field. the spirit of the time became about universal protection of workers and massive investment into technical prevention, rather than about individual responsibility. workplace accidents were no longer understood as resulting from individual wrongdoings, but as the outcome of complex processes in which work organization and hazards played a large role (caloni, 1952). this allows us to advance another hypothesis to explain the stabilization of the definition of inexcusable conduct through the veuve villa ruling in 1941: it was because the definition of responsibilities became less a question of power between the different parties involved (employee unions, victims, employers, and the state) that the court of cassation reached consensus. it was not a power struggle taking place in a context of legal uncertainty that explained the institutional change, but rather the diminution of the political stakes around the attribution of individual responsibility. our analysis thus leads us to an explanation that is different from that of peton and pezé, for whom institutional change comes about only when, “after a successful work of advocacy, the actors implement a political institutional work of vesting or defining” (page 173). a commentary on the article by hélène peton & stéphan pezé! m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 254-260 256 in addition, taking account of dominant collective representations in the field also allows a better understanding of the historical conditions explaining the resonance that some institutional work may find at some point in time. our data thus bring a counterpoint to the analysis proposed by peton and pezé of the tipping point of 2002, with the redefinition of inexcusable conduct. certainly, the authors do pay attention to the cognitive pillar, but only as a trigger for this new institutional dynamic. thus, according to them, “the source of this change was external to the regulative pillar: it was the progressive misalignment between the regulative pillar and the cognitive pillar” (page 160). but, for the dearth of an indepth analysis of this cognitive pillar throughout the period, they propose an interpretation of the institutional dynamic that is to our mind incomplete. they identify several components of this dynamic: the publication by the european union of a directive on the responsibility of employers in 1989, several reports by public bodies that underline the inefficiency of the prevention system, the inequity of the compensation system and – finally – the advocacy work by two lawyers in order to obtain indemnities for the victims of asbestos (see page 160 and figure 6 page 163). ! but it is the taking into account of collective representations that gives some consistency to these heterogeneous elements by pointing to a change in the dominant representations as early as the 1980s – that is, a return to a conception of workplace accidents based on individual responsibility, as shown by our study. thus, the contestation of the compensatory amounts put forth by peton and pezé is only the manifestation of a much deeper contestation of the principle of the 1898 law and of the exemption of the application of article 1382 of the civil code on liability to one’s own acts. this exemption had been accompanied by a ceiling on financial compensation in case of accident. thus, its contestation at the same time actualizes the question of full reparation. this is why a double debate appears, dealing at the same time with the questions of the liability of company bosses and the fair amount for compensation. the european directive of 1989 – as well as the reports of public bodies – fit perfectly with this evolution in the way workplace accidents are understood. the judicial strategy in the case of asbestos took place in this exact context, which provides it with extraordinary resonance. it reached its target at the end of the 1990s and led to regulatory change, although other work-related diseases that were just as harmful, such as silicosis (rosental & devinck, 2007), had not received the same attention in other periods. the change in collective representations thus influences all steps of institutional change and cannot be ascribed to the sole role of a trigger. a perspective for the historical study of institutional change over long periods ! this commentary proposes a different interpretation from peton and pezé’s and, at the same time, raises the wider issue of the historical study of institutional dynamics. without taking sides with an a priori primacy of structures over agency, our commentary underlines the necessity of systematically putting the analysis of institutional work into perspective with a historical study of the field and its dominant collective representations, so avoiding the risk of a biased interpretation of causal links. in the case of peton and pezé’s study, the absence of a systematic consideration of the changing boundaries of the field and collective representations leads to the actors and their rationalities being arbitrarily defined, and the role of power struggles in institutional change being overemphasized. on the contrary, we concur here with suddaby, foster, and mills (2013) in defending the idea that a historical approach should conceive of institutional change as a m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 254-260! thibault daudigeos, amélie boutinot & stéphane jaumier 257 phenomenon anchored in a specific time and space, which requires careful consideration of the actors involved and their representations. as the perspective of embedded agency asserts (battilana & d'aunno, 2009; daudigeos, 2013), agency and structure are intimately linked. the cognitive pillar is not an exogenous variable to institutional change, intervening only as the trigger of the process. the three pillars must be thought of as subtly interlinked, albeit sometimes out of step with each other, at all stages of institutional change in order to account for complex causalities within the process. in the case of the present commentary, this is actually the confrontation of two empirical materials – that on institutional work and that on the dominant field representations – which allows to elaborate a historical narrative (carr, 2008; suddaby, foster & quinn trank, 2010) and illuminate the institutional dynamic over a long period. references battilana j., & d’aunno, t. (2009). institutional work and the paradox of embedded agency. in lawrence t. b., suddaby r. & leca b. (eds.). institutional work: actors and agency in institutional studies of organizations (31-58), cambridge: cambridge university press. calon, p. (1952). échec au risque. paris: société d’éditions françaises et internationales. carr d. (2008). narrative explanation and its malcontents. history and theory, 47 (1): 19–30. daudigeos t. (2013). in their profession's service: how staff professionals exert influence in their organization. journal of management studies, 50(5), 722-749. daudigeos t., boutinot a. & jaumier s. (2013). taking stock of institutional complexity: anchoring a pool of institutional logics into the interinstitutional system with a descendent hierarchical analysis. research in the sociology of organizations, 39, 319-350. ewald, f. (1986). l'etat providence. paris: grasset. friedland r., & alford r.r. (1991). bringing society back in symbols, practices, and institutional contradictions. i n w. w. p o w e l l & p. j . d i m a g g i o , t h e n e w institutionalism in organizational analysis (232–262). chicago, il: university of chicago press. gibaud b. (1998). mutualité, assurances (1850-1914): les enjeux. paris: economica. hoffman a.j. (1999). institutional evolution and change: environmentalism and the us chemical industry. academy of management journal, 42(4), 351-371. jaillet r. (1980). la faute inexcusable en matière d’accident du travail et de maladie professionnelle, paris: librairie générale de droit et de jurisprudence. lawrence t.b. suddaby r., & leca b. (eds.). (2009). institutional work: actors and agency in institutional studies of organizations. cambridge: cambridge university press. moniteur des travaux publics et du bâtiment (le). (1903). l’assurance contre les accidents du travail. n°9, page 1. mohr j.w. (2000). introduction: structures, institutions, and cultural analysis. poetics, 27(2), 57-68. omnes c. (2009). loi sur la réparation: 40 ans de contestation. santé et travail, (67): 48-49. peton h. & pezé s. (2014). the unsuspected dynamics of the regulative pillar: the case of faute inexcusable in france. m@n@gement, 17(3), 145-179. rosental p. a., & devinck j.c. (2007). statistique et mort industrielle. vingtième siècle. revue d'histoire, (3), 75-91. sargos p. (2003). l’évolution du concept de sécurité au t r a v a i l e t s e s c o n s é q u e n c e s e n m a t i è r e d e responsabilité. la semaine juridique, édition générale, 4, 121-128. scott w.w.r. (1995). institutions and organizations: ideas, interests, and identities, thousand oaks, ca: sage. suddaby r., foster w.m., & quinn-trank c. (2010). rhetorical history as a source of competitive advantage. in j. baum and j. lampel (eds.), advances in strategic management: the globalization of strategy research (vol. 27, 147–73), bingley, uk:  emerald group publishing limited. suddaby r., foster w.m. & mills albert j. (2014) historical institutionalism, in bucheli m. & wadhwani r.d. (eds), organizations in time: history, theory, methods, (100-123). oxford, oxford university press. ventresca m.j., & mohr j.w. (2002). archival research methods. in j.a.c. baum (ed.), the blackwell companion to organizations, (805–828). new york, ny: blackwell. a commentary on the article by hélène peton & stéphan pezé! m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 254-260 258 thibault daudigeos is an associate professor at grenoble ecole de management and the head of research of the people, organization and society dpt. he manages the alternative forms of markets and organizations (afmo) research group. he studies the social role of modern corporations and the institutionalization of social innovations. he has a strong interest in long term historical perspectives. amélie boutinot is an assistant professor at institut supérieur de gestion and affiliate professor at grenoble ecole de management. she holds a phd from university of grenoble. her research interests are dedicated to recognition and social approval processes in professional service firms and creative industries. she is also interested in the macro context influencing these processes, for instance through institutional logics and creative genres.  stéphane jaumier is a phd candidate in organization theory and management control at grenoble ecole de management and université paris-dauphine psl. his research mostly deals with questions of power, control and resistance within democratic organizations, in particular cooperatives, which he studies through ethnographic methods. m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 254-260! thibault daudigeos, amélie boutinot & stéphane jaumier 259 © the author(s) www.management-aims.com ressource dependence & power balancing operations in alliances! m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 254-260 260 528 james g. marchm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 732-738 copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). m@n@gement is a double-blind refereed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.management-aims.com © 2013 m@n@gement and the author(s). m@n@gement est la revue officielle de l’aims m@n@gement is the journal official of aims james g. march 2013 in praise of beauty m@n@gement, 16(5), 732-738. m@n@gement issn: 1286-4692 emmanuel josserand, cmos, university of technology, sydney (editor in chief) jean-luc arrègle, emlyon business school (editor) laure cabantous, cass business school (editor) stewart clegg, university of technology, sydney (editor) olivier germain, université du québec à montréal (editor, book reviews) karim mignonac, université de toulouse 1 (editor) philippe monin, emlyon business school (editor) tyrone pitsis, university of newcastle (editor) josé pla-barber, universidad de valència (editor) michael tushman, harvard business school (editor) walid shibbib, université de genève (managing editor) alexander bell, université de genève (editorial assistant) martin g. evans, university of toronto (editor emeritus) bernard forgues, emlyon business school (editor emeritus) special issue 732 in praise of beauty m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 732-738 in praise of beauty james g. march stanford university, camarch@stanford.edu abstract one of the misfortunes of aging is the way in which the polite willingness of others to tolerate superannuated homilies reinforces a proclivity to pontificate. as one ages, one moves from writing papers that have something to say to writing papers that have nothing to say but say it with great seriousness. unfortunately, awareness of the self-indulgence of age does not ordinarily inhibit it, as this essay, for which olivier germain (and possibly milan kundera) must take some responsibility, clearly demonstrates. i have read the contributions of my friends and colleagues to the m@n@gement discourse with great interest but with an overpowering awareness of my own irrelevance to many of them. the issues they explore are grand and important: how does management theory contribute to the well-being of business, society, the poor, peace, and justice? what are the fundamental epistemological, ethical, and moral premises of management research? what is and should be the relationship between management theory and the prejudices of the intellectual, business, political, and social establishments? i do not list those issues to mock them. they are enormously important, and i suffer from the embarrassment of feeling i am not sufficiently involved in debating and resolving them. nevertheless, i will speak here for the virtues of disengagement from usefulness—as a coda not for everyone, but for me. for a number of years, i taught a course on organizational leadership that used great fictional literature (shakespeare’s othello, g. b. shaw’s saint joan, tolstoy’s war and peace, and cervantes’ don quixote) as texts. invariably, some mba student would ask: “what is the relevance of these ideas for management?” my equally invariable response was: “that is your problem, not mine.” i play with ideas, happily observing as others try to make them useful and feeling grateful for their efforts, but without ever thinking that usefulness is the point. this posture undoubtedly stems in part from my own incompetence at the relevance game. however, it is reinforced by 60 years of watching organization studies evolve. over those years, i have come to believe that seeking relevance in the generation and development of fundamental ideas is more often dysfunctional than it is useful, that the ideas that transform ways of thinking about practical problems rarely come from a direct focus on those problems, and that the joys of appreciating the beauty of interesting ideas provide adequate justification for them. the single-minded pursuit of relevance is essential for effectiveness; it is useful for constructing railroads and manufacturing products, but it needs to be balanced in life by the inexplicable exuberance of a commitment to the beauty of ideas. as a personal example that may suffer from its own obscurity, i would cite the ideas of michael cohen, james g. march, and johan p. olsen on temporal sorting in decision making, also known as the garbage-can 733 james g. marchm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 732-738 model of organizational choice (cohen, march, and olsen, 1972). we were serious about those ideas but embraced them playfully in tribute to their potential for enhancing the beauty in our lives, despite their less than elegant appellation. subsequently, garbage-can metaphors have often been viewed as upsetting, even though sometimes useful, but they have also been stimuli for the exuberant commitment of others to the pursuit of beauty (lomi and harrison, 2012). as the garbage-can model illustrates, a commitment to beauty in irrelevant ideas is often subversive. it often yields ideas that are inconsistent with conventional thought and thereby are often both obnoxious to the defenders of conventionality and embraced by critics of the status quo, for whom they are seen as allies in the eternal battle with the establishment. however, the pursuit of beauty proclaims neither special animus nor special allegiance to any particular intellectual, social, or organizational regime. rather, it reflects a deeply personal urge to be surrounded by the aesthetic sensations of beauty, not as an instrument of social change but as reflective of human need, not as a substitute for the rigors of analysis but as a property of them. in one of his more perfect, but minor, poems, w. b. yeats wrote: how can i, that girl standing there, my attention fix on roman or on russian or on spanish politics? yet here’s a travelled man who knows what he talks about, and there’s a politician that has both read and thought, and maybe what they say is true of war and war’s alarms, but o that i were young again and held her in my arms. the poem can easily be interpreted as exhibiting the nostalgic lust of an aging man, but i think it is better seen as a monument to an ageless desire to embrace the beauties of life and to discover, superimposed on the admirable but tedious intelligence of reading and thinking, some glimmers of aesthetic (even, as in this case, erotic) pleasure. beauty is as elusive as truth. many enormously thoughtful people have tried to provide an understanding of the architecture and appreciation of beauty, and anyone who has read aristotle is conscious of the complications of aesthetics. appreciating the elegance and evocativeness of ideas demands a nuanced and sensitive ability to impose standards while constructing them. it is essential to experiment with new components of beauty, even while embracing old ones. imagining, identifying, reconstructing, and celebrating an aesthetic of ideas about organizations is an unending project. the point is not to achieve a stable consensus on beauty, but to recognize its importance and to endorse the pleasures of constructing, debating, and experiencing it. in an earlier book (lave and march, 1975), charles lave and i tried to specify some attributes of beauty in ideas. we identified three classical characteristics of an idea that contribute to its aesthetic appreciation: simplicity, fertility, and surprise. surprise, discovering that things are not what you imagined 734 in praise of beauty m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 732-738 they were, is an important component. much of social science is devoted to explaining that things are not what they are imagined to be, a devotion that finds voice especially in exposing the pretensions of the political or social establishment. for example: political innocence is really guile; virtuous leaders are really sinners; procedures manifestly intended to produce justice are really instruments of privilege. interest in showing that things are not what they appear to be is, however, more general than exposing social hypocrisy. it generates beauty in discerning that what we previously believed, or what seems obvious, is not what is true. we aspire to be like the small boy who declares the emperor to be naked when all the courtiers affirm the elegance of his attire. one aspect of discovering that things are not what they appear to be is the empirical disconfirmation of established belief. when galileo galilei used observations to demonstrate the heliocentric nature of the solar system, his work was beautifully heretical. empirical surprises on the same scale are not conspicuous in organization studies, but the instinct is there: we find beauty in showing empirically that what is believed is not true, demonstrations that inevitably compromise our comfortable positions as handmaidens of the establishment. a second aspect of discovering that things are not what they appear to be is the theoretical demonstration of paradox, showing how apparently innocuous premises have unexpected implications. the “peter principle” that hierarchical promotion on the basis of competence leads to each person rising to his or her level of incompetence is an example (peter and hull, 1969). another is the “winner’s curse”, in which it is shown that winning a bid in a competitive auction is evidence of having made a mistake (wilson, 1977; thaler, 1988). some years ago, i published (march, 1974) a crude attempt to exhibit a particular instance of such surprise in ideas: truth and beauty suppose that each couple agreed (knowing the relative value of things) to produce children (in the usual way) repeatedly until each couple had more boys (the ones with penises) than girls (the ones without). and further suppose that the probability of each coupling (technical term) resulting in a boy (the ones with) varies from couple to couple but not from coupling to coupling for any one couple. 735 james g. marchm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 732-738 and (we still have a couple more) that no one divorces (an irish folk-tale) or sleeps around (a scottish folk-tale) without precautions (a swedish folk-tale). and that the expected sex (technical term) of a birth if all couples are producing equally is half-male, half-female (though mostly they are one or the other). question: (are you ready?) what will be the ratio of boys (with) to girls (without) in such a society’? answer: the sweet truth is (given the supposings) that we end up with more girls (without) than boys (with). (that’s beauty, baby.) the derivation is a minor tribute to what i have sometimes called the most important book in management theory published in my lifetime: william feller’s an introduction to probability theory and its applications (feller, 1950). on the surface, the book has nothing to do with organizations or management. feller, i assume, would have shuddered at the thought. however, page after page of his book entrances the reader with beautiful counter-intuitive marvels of stochastic processes, many of which have applications to understanding organizations. the book offers numerous reminders that unusual phenomena that we seek to attribute to human agency or organization may well have been produced by random processes. they are reminders that have recently been proclaimed as a basis for a school of thought in management (denrell, fang, and liu, 2013). feller’s book is a lovely piece of work that translates into surprising understandings of organizations, but the beauty found in management theory is far from entirely a derivative of probability theory. any listing of examples suffers from the omissions that would have added luster to the list, but there is beauty in the metaphorical leaps of description in the writings of michel crozier (1964), barbara czarniawska (1997). and karl weick (1996). there is beauty in the thoughtful application of razor-sharp intelligence in the writings of raymond aron (1955), jon elster (1983), amartya sen (1982), and susan sontag (1966). there is beauty in the experimental imagination found in the writings of gerd gigerenzer (2000), daniel kahneman (2011), and amos tversky (kahneman and tversky, 1979). there is beauty in the exquisite attention to institutional detail in the writings of alfred chandler (1962), bruno latour (latour and woolgar, 1986), martha feldman (1989), and johan p. olsen (2007). john padgett’s work on the development of the florentine political structure is a 736 in praise of beauty m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 732-738 renaissance painting (padgett and ansell, 1993; padgett and mclean, 2006). recently, i read two unpublished papers that were sent to me by young scholars. one is by charlotte fillol and provides a rich appreciation of the life of french nuclear technicians and how efforts to honor their importance for the safety of nuclear power encourage them to take risks (fillol, 2013). the other is by laura frigotto and provides a slyly humorous portrayal of austrian and italian organizational efforts to cope with some mummified human remains found in the alps (frigotto, 2013). it is imaginable that neither paper will be accepted for publication in a major journal, for neither follows the standard canons of journal expectations, but each gave me considerable aesthetic pleasure while illuminating my understanding at the same time. on the whole, i think students of organizations and management should think less about inventing ideas that may be useful to the world or even to management and more about creating ideas with elements of beauty that evoke aesthetic pleasure. this is not an easy task; nor is it the only task; but it is a worthy ambition. moreover, the pursuit of beauty can often be justified by the unintended usefulness of its outcomes. my own reading of the history of organization studies is that many of the more important ideas in management theory have in fact come not from trying to be useful but from imagining ideas with elements of beauty. this beautiful imagination is exhibited in such seminal contributions as albert hirschman’s commentaries on the decay of organizations (hirschman, 1970) and thomas schelling’s explorations of the dynamics of homophily (schelling, 1978). it is found in the work of robert axelrod and michael cohen on harnessing complexity (1999), ronald burt on networks (burt, 1992), glenn carroll and michael hannan on the demography of organizations (2000), scott page on the role of diversity in organizations (2007), herbert simon on bounded rationality (1957), and harrison white on vacancy chains (1970). more recently, it has permeated the evocative work on organizational learning by jerker denrell and his colleagues (denrell, 2007; denrell and le mens, 2007). such examples lend support to the idea that profoundly useful ideas about management and organizations are more likely to come from the playful pursuit of artistry in ideas than from an ambition to be helpful to managers or their social overseers. such a utilitarian rationalization of beauty can be justified, but it is less than beauty deserves. scholarship celebrates ideas, and in that celebration it honors beauty not only as an instrument of utility but also as a fundamental human aspiration. the scholar who seeks beauty in ideas, despite the unbearable lightness of the search—or perhaps because of it—affirms an essential element of humanity. james g. march is professor emeritus of management, sociology, political science, and education at stanford university. his research focuses on decision making and learning in organizations, and he has recently published the ambiguities of experience and (with mie augier) the roots, rituals, and rhetorics of change: north american business schools after the second world war. 737 in praise of beauty m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 732-738 · aron, r. (1955). l’opium des intellectuels. paris: calmann-levy. · axelrod, r., & cohen, m. d. (1999). harnessing complexity. organizational implications of a scientific frontier. new york: free press. · burt, r. s. (1992). structural holes. cambridge, ma: harvard university press · carroll, g. r., & hannan, m. t. (2000). the demography of corporations and industries. princeton, nj: princeton university press. · chandler, a. d. (1962). strategy and structure: chapters in the history of the industrial enterprise. cambridge, ma: mit press. · cohen m. d., march, j. g., & olsen, j. p. (1972). a garbage can model of organizational choice. administrative science quarterly, 17(1), 1-25. · crozier, m. (1964). the bureaucratic phenomenon. chicago, il: university of chicago press. · czarniawska, b. (1997). narrating the organization: dramas of institutional identity. chicago, il: university of chicago press. · denrell, j. (2007). adaptive learning and risk taking. psychological review, 114 (1): 177-187. · denrell, j., fang, c., & liu, c. (2013). the random school of thought in management. (working paper). university of warwick. · denrell, j., & le mens, g. (2007). interdependent sampling and social influence. psychological review, 114(2), 398-422. · elster, j. (1983). sour grapes: studies in the subversion of rationality. cambridge, uk: cambridge university press. · feldman, m. s. (1989). order without design: information production and policymaking. stanford, ca: stanford university press. · feller, w. (1950). an introduction to probability theory and its applications. new york: john wiley & sons. · fillol, c. (2013). experience in nuclear safety: light or darkness. studying risk-taking behaviors in french nuclear power plants. unpublished paper. · frigotto, l. (2013). the emergence of novelty between exploration and exploitation. unpublished paper. · gigerenzer, g. (2000). adaptive thinking: rationality in the real world. oxford, uk: oxford university press. · hirschman, a. o. (1970). exit, voice, and loyalty. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. · kahneman, d. (2011). thinking, fast and slow. new york, ny: farrar, straus, and giroux. · kahneman, d., & tversky, a. (1979). prospect theory: an analysis of decision under risk. econometrica, 47(2), 263-291. · latour, b., & woolgar, s. (1986). laboratory life: the construction of scientific facts. princeton, nj: princeton university press. · lave, c. a., & march, j. g. (1993) [1975]. an introduction to models in the social sciences (2nd ed.). lanham, md: university press of america. · lomi, a., & harrison, r. (eds.). (2012). the garbage can model of organizational choice: looking forward at forty. research in the sociology of organizations (vol. 36.). bingley, uk: emerald press. · march, j. g. (1974). academic notes. london: poets’ and painters’ press. · olsen, j. p. (2007). europe in search of political order. an institutional perspective on unity/ diversity, citizen/their helpers, democratic design/historical drift, and the co-existence of orders. oxford, uk: oxford university press. · padgett, j. f., & ansell, c. k. (1993). robust action and the rise of the medici, 1400-1434. american journal of sociology, 98(6), 1250-1310. · padgett, j. f., & mclean, p. d. (2006). organizational invention and elite transformation: the birth of partnership systems in renaissance florence. american journal of sociology, 111(5), 1463–1568. · page, s. e. (2007). the difference: how the power of diversity creates better groups, firms, schools, and societies. princeton, nj: princeton university press. · peter, l. j., & hull, r. (1969). the peter principle. new york: bantam. · schelling, t. c. (1978). micromotives and macrobehavior. new york: w. w. norton. · sen, a. k. (1982). choice, welfare, and measurement. oxford, uk: blackwell. · simon, h. a. (1957). models of man. new york: wiley. references 738 james g. marchm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 732-738 · sontag, s. (1966). against interpretation and other essays. new york: farrar, straus, and giroux. · thaler, r. h. (1988). anomalies: the winner’s curse. the journal of economic perspectives, 2(1), 191-202. · weick, k. e. (1996). drop your tools: an allegory for organizational studies. administrative science quarterly, 41(2), 301-313. · white, h. c. (1970). chains of opportunity. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. · wilson, r. (1977). a bidding model of perfect competition. review of economic studies, 44(3), 511-518. introduction to the special issue: theoretical and empirical implications for research on south-south and south-north expansion strategies rodrigo bandeira-de-mello fundação getulio vargas, são paulo rodrigo.bandeira.demello@fgv.br pervez n. ghauri king's college, london pervez.ghauri@kcl.ac.uk ulrike mayrhofer iae lyon, magellan research center, université jean moulin lyon 3 ulrike.mayrhofer@univ-lyon3.fr pierre-xavier meschi iae d'aix en provence, cergam, aix-marseille université & skema business school pierre-xavier.meschi@iae-aix.com introduction to the special issue: theoretical and empirical implications for research on south-south and south-north expansion strategies rodrigo bandeira-de-mello � pervez n. ghauri � ulrike mayrhofer � pierre-xavier meschi “the end of history” of research into internationalization strategies? ! is it still worth conducting research into internationalization strategies? this question may appear polemical, but seems legitimate when one considers the impressive number of theoretical and empirical studies which have been developed since the seminal work of dunning (1988) and concern the definition and classification of different internationalization strategies. these contributions have enabled substantial advances in understanding of the central themes of the international business field. first, the mechanisms underlying the choices involved in internationalization strategy are now far better understood. this is due to the use of theoretical frameworks (transactional, institutional, learning and cultural frameworks, in particular) that have enabled deeper analysis of firms’ behaviors. second, studies focusing on the relationship between choice and performance in internationalization strategies have led to the development of managerial recommendations. third, the progressive openness of many emerging economies to foreign direct investments (fdi) has increased opportunities to experiment and replicate research in different geographic contexts. ! paraphrasing the famous saying by francis fukuyama, are we at “the end of history” with research on internationalization strategies? ! no, research into the international expansion of firms is not in decline. a large number of studies into these expansion strategies has traditionally focused on the investment flows of firms from developed to emerging economies. but today this logic is questioned by the significant increase of investment flows from emerging economy firms towards developed or other emerging countries. using the terms of aykut and ratha (2004), besides “north-south” investment flows, we are witnessing an unprecedented rise of “south-north” and “south-south” flows. spectacular acquisitions have been conducted by emerging economy firms in several industries in the european union and the united states, such as ibm personal computers by lenovo, volvo by zhejiang geely, and corus and jaguar land rover by tata. but even beyond these, south-north and more specifically south-south investment flows are growing rapidly, as can be observed with chinese investments in africa, latin america and asia. these investment flows are of numerous types, use a variety of expansion modes, and concern familyo w n e d a n d s t a t e o w n e d fi r m s , s m e s a s w e l l a s “ e m e r g i n g multinationals” (buckley, clegg, cross, liu, voss, & ping, 2007; fleury & fleury, 2011; vieu, guieu, & meschi, 2014). m@n@gement 2015, vol. 18(1): 1-7 1 mailto:rodrigo.bandeira.demello@fgv.br mailto:rodrigo.bandeira.demello@fgv.br mailto:ulrike.mayrhofer@univ-lyon3.fr?subject= mailto:ulrike.mayrhofer@univ-lyon3.fr?subject= mailto:rodrigo.bandeira.demello@fgv.br mailto:rodrigo.bandeira.demello@fgv.br mailto:pervez.ghauri@kcl.ac.uk%20%0dpervez.ghauri@kcl.ac.uk%20%0dpervez.ghauri@kcl.ac.uk?subject= mailto:pervez.ghauri@kcl.ac.uk%20%0dpervez.ghauri@kcl.ac.uk%20%0dpervez.ghauri@kcl.ac.uk?subject= mailto:ulrike.mayrhofer@univ-lyon3.fr?subject= mailto:ulrike.mayrhofer@univ-lyon3.fr?subject= mailto:pierre-xavier.meschi@iae-aix.com%0dpervez.ghauri@kcl.ac.uk?subject= mailto:pierre-xavier.meschi@iae-aix.com%0dpervez.ghauri@kcl.ac.uk?subject= mailto:pierre-xavier.meschi@iae-aix.com%0dpervez.ghauri@kcl.ac.uk?subject= mailto:pierre-xavier.meschi@iae-aix.com%0dpervez.ghauri@kcl.ac.uk?subject= ! these south-north and south-south investment flows have created a new global equality process in which several emerging economies, such as brazil, russia, india, china and south africa (brics), and, more recently, mexico, indonesia, nigeria, and turkey (mint), have become fully-fledged partners in the global economy. these emerging economies are proactive, not only as recipients of major investment projects, but also by initiating large outward investments in other countries. as described by fleury and fleury (2011) and ramamurti and singh (2009), emerging multinationals expand at a very fast pace both in developed and emerging economies. investments in africa by emerging multinationals, and by brics firms in particular, illustrate this new global equality process. these investments are currently booming. among these emerging economy investors, chinese firms, as well as brazilian firms in portuguesespeaking countries like angola and mozambique (fleury & fleury, 2011), have consolidated their position on the african continent, threatening the presence of former european colonial powers, particularly france and great britain, in exploiting natural resources and building infrastructure. however, natural resources and infrastructure do not represent the main brics investments in africa. according to the united nations conference on trade and development (unctad, 2013), 75 per cent of the value of brics fdi projects in africa between 2003 and 2012 are market-seeking investments in manufacturing and services. only 10 per cent and 26 per cent of the number and value of projects, respectively, are in natural resources and agricultural sectors. ! the development of these new routes for international expansion opens unique windows for research, something that seldom happens. the last change as significant as this one was conducted in the early 1990s when half of the world that had been closed for business china, india, the soviet union and eastern europe opened up. this led to an unprecedented rise of north-south investments and investment flows towards emerging economies. that opening up of emerging and transition economies contributed to a large boost in research into international expansion strategies, fdi destinations, criteria of choice and management of foreign market entry modes (beddi & mayrhofer, 2013; hadjikhani, elg, & ghauri, 2012; luo & tung, 2007; mayrhofer, 2013; meschi & wassmer, 2013; ramamurti & singh, 2009; wang, hong, kafouros, & wright, 2012). with the acceleration of south-north and south-south investment flows, research into internationalization strategies is currently undergoing a second phase of growth in its life cycle. internationalization strategies of emerging economy firms and traditional theoretical frameworks ! the development of these new conditions and routes for investment flows renews the traditional questions and issues related to research into international expansion strategies, and simultaneously opens new directions for research. ! first, the analysis of the expansion strategies of firms from emerging countries to developed countries or other emerging countries questions the relevance of the transactional, institutional, learning and cultural theoretical frameworks. theoretical explanations about the internationalization strategies of emerging economy firms have been the subject of intense debate among scholars in the international business field (cuervo-cazurra, 2012; cuervocazurra & genc, 2008). some scholars argue that existing theoretical frameworks are not able to explain the internationalization strategies of emerging multinationals and call for the development of new theories. for these scholars, m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 1-7! rodrigo bandeira-de-mello et al. 2 emerging multinationals behave differently from other multinationals because they are subject to specific barriers and negative perceptions, especially in d e v e l o p e d e c o n o m i e s , w h i c h c a n b e d e fi n e d a s t h e “ l i a b i l i t y o f emergingness” (madhok & keyhani, 2012; ramachandran & pant, 2010). as noted by thite, wilkinson, and shah (2012, p.  253), “mncs from emerging economies face a ‘double hurdle’ of liability of foreignness and liability of country of origin with perceived poor global image of their home country.” as a response to these specific constraints, emerging multinationals have to design and implement distinct internationalization strategies. other scholars claim that traditional theories of the firm are capable of handling this phenomenon. the existing theoretical frameworks have empirically shown their validity, helping to identify determinants of internationalization strategies and showing that strategies chosen in coherence with these theoretical frameworks are more successful than other strategic choices. several authors have suggested that existing theories remain relevant but need further specification (cuervo-cazurra, 2012). according to this third perspective, transactional, institutional, learning and cultural determinants can still explain the behavior and strategic choices of emerging multinationals but their relative influence on decision-making has to be weighted differently. still, by this line of reasoning, the old strategic and organizational frameworks used by multinationals from developed economies in the 1960s and 1970s are rejuvenated. for instance, the strategy and associated organizational structure implemented by large family-owned multinationals, such as tata group in india, or koç group in turkey, have generated a new academic interest in conglomerates and diversification strategies. ! in this special issue of m@n@gement, we do not close the debate but instead leave it open for discussion: do these theoretical frameworks remain relevant for the understanding of the foreign investment behavior of emerging firms, such as chinese, indian, brazilian, or russian multinationals? is this expansion similar to that of the 1950s and 1960s, when international trade expansion was fuelled by multilateral trade liberalization, and when fdi expansion was, to a large extent, prompted by the global abolition of capital controls? ! second, certain frameworks based on theories of the firm, but also on sociology, international relations and geopolitics, have hardly been explored in the context of internationalization strategies and could provide additional insights into understanding the strategic choices of emerging economy firms. for example, when an emerging economy firm chooses an internationalization strategy, is that strategy only motivated by the investors’ desire to protect their assets and to minimize the uncertainties linked to foreign market expansion? when multinationals from emerging countries choose their strategies, could the criteria of learning, knowledge transfer and the exploitation of their knowledge in other geographic contexts be more important than the minimization of transactional, institutional and cultural costs? is it necessary to explore the influence of criteria for choice other than organizational learning and knowledge, transaction costs and the institutional environment? for instance, what are the impacts of state intervention and government policies or of geopolitical stakes and political risk on the choice of target markets and entry modes for firms from emerging countries? ! among the different non-market factors influencing the internationalization strategies of emerging economy firms, state intervention and government policies play a key role. crisis episodes in emerging economies, such as mexico, russia, and argentina, have hampered the changing of policy towards economic liberalism and deregulation, fostered the development of different types of capitalism, and prompted the state to intervene in the strategic choices of local firms (rodrik, 2009). the development of “state capitalism” epitomizes this. state capitalism seeks to influence the market and the strategic choices of local firms in introduction to the special issue! m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 1-7 3 order to achieve geopolitical goals. to this end, nurturing national champions is one of the main features of state capitalism in emerging economies. these champions are either state-owned or privately-held firms that enjoy a strong competitive position in the domestic market and are intended to represent the country abroad. they benefit greatly from favorable competitive policies at home and from government subsidies such as heavy funding from state-owned banks or preferential treatment in procuring low-cost raw materials (cuervo-cazurra, inkpen, musacchio, & ramaswamy, 2014; lazzarini, musachio, bandeira-demello, & marcon, 2014). the role of government policies has to be taken into account in order to properly understand the magnitude of outward fdi from emerging economies as well as the destination of these investment flows. ! finally, traditional research has analyzed, in a quasi-systematic way, internationalization processes and foreign market entry modes by comparing and contrasting them. thus, joint ventures with a local partner, acquisitions of local firms and local wholly-owned subsidiaries have been studied by emphasizing their unique profiles (criteria of choice, advantages and disadvantages). in the same way, the uppsala model and its associated incremental and continuous internationalization process (johanson & vahlne, 1977, 1990, 2009) have been opposed to the international new ventures (or inv) approach and its associated accelerated and discontinuous process (oviatt & mcdougall, 1994, 2005). however, as noted by kumar (2009), emerging multinationals do not seem to favor one internationalization process or one entry mode in particular. in a pragmatic way, they combine and recombine different processes and entry modes over time. the internationalization processes and entry modes used by emerging multinationals are not mutually exclusive. when it comes to selecting entry modes, to follow internationalization paths or to manage foreign subsidiaries, emerging multinationals proceed in a non-exclusive and combinatory manner. contributions to this special issue of m@n@gement ! the four papers proposed for this special issue were subject to a rigorous selection process and were anonymously evaluated by three reviewers following the rules of the journal. we would like to thank the reviewers for their constructive comments: bruno amann, valérie anglès, jean-luc arrègle, jérôme barthélémy, hanane beddi, olivier bertrand, foued cheriet, uif elg, christophe favoreu, robert fouchet, gilles guieu, birgit hagen, jacques jaussaud, frédéric le roy, joe lipuma, antonio majocchi, karim messeghem, emmanuel métais, philippe monin, caroline mothe, christiane prange, frédéric prévot, jan schaaper, per servais, rudolf sinkovics, richard soparnot and roger strange. we also wish to thank the editors of the m@n@gement journal, laure cabantous and sébastien liarte, and the former editors, emmanuel josserand and philippe monin, for their inestimable help for the preparation of this special issue. ! the special issue starts with an article written by olivier lamotte and ana colovic, entitled “early internationalization of new ventures from emerging countries: the case of transition economies”. the objective of their contribution is to determine environment-, industryand firm-related factors that are likely to enhance or constrain the rapid internationalization of new ventures located in emerging economies. their empirical study is based on a sample of more than 23,000 firms from 27 transition countries in central and eastern europe and central asia. the obtained results indicate that several factors are positively related to early internationalization: access to ict infrastructure, being located in an eu country, industry competition, a better-educated workforce, networks in the m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 1-7! rodrigo bandeira-de-mello et al. 4 home country and international networks. conversely, insecurity and the firm’s k n o w l e d g e i n t e n s i t y a p p e a r t o h a v e a n e g a t i v e i m p a c t o n e a r l y internationalization. these findings highlight that new ventures from emerging economies follow different internationalization strategies from those located in mature economies. ! morgan marchand, in an article entitled “when the south takes over the north: dynamics of up-market integrations by emerging multinationals”, attempts to contribute to a better understanding of post-acquisition integration approaches developed by emerging multinational enterprises (emnes) in mature economies. the author examines four cases of french industrial companies acquired by emnes from china, brazil and mexico. the analysis shows that emnes prefer a cooperative integration approach following these up-market acquisitions. however, the adopted approach is likely to evolve over time, depending on the first results associated with the coordination of activities. the findings also indicate that emnes who are experienced in up-market acquisitions tend to choose a more interventionist approach. the author discusses several implications: the complexity of the determinants of the integration mode choice, the robustness and definition of the “emerging multinationals” concept and the role played by the target concerning the relationships with the acquirer in a cooperative integration approach. ! antonin ricard and abrar ali saiyed propose an article entitled “attitude toward internationalization and early internationalization: comparison of indian and french sme decision makers”. they aim to study the relationship between the attitude towards international expansion and early internationalization in the context of french and indian smes. their empirical study is based on a sample of 149 french and 98 indian sme managers. their findings show that whatever their country origin, sme managers having a very favorable attitude towards internationalization are more likely to prefer early internationalization. moreover, when distinguishing sme managers according to their country origin, the article indicates that french managers share a more favorable attitude towards internationalization than indian managers. finally, indian managers tend to choose more often an early internationalization than their french counterparts. the presented results contribute to a better knowledge of the factors that influence internationalization strategies in the context of mature and emerging economies. ! mohamed amal and bruno thiago tomio address the topic of the outward foreign direct investments (ofdi) of brazilian companies. they focus on the impact of cultural and institutional distance on ofdi and the moderating effects of the economic performance of the host country. panel data on brazilian ofdi in 28 countries are used, covering the 2002-2012 period. the results show a positive effect of institutional distance on ofdi, but the relationship between cultural distance and ofdi is not significant. the statistical analysis also indicates that the positive effect of institutional distance on ofdi may be constrained by bilateral trade flows between home and host countries. finally, the study demonstrates that brazilian companies are more likely to invest in culturally distant countries with better institutional performance, suggesting a complementary relationship between cultural and institutional distance. ! the four articles selected for this special issue improve our knowledge of the internationalization strategies initiated by companies from emerging economies. they highlight important theoretical and empirical implications associated with these new expansion moves. consequently, we hope that the contributions will retain the attention of researchers interested in this challenging topic. we wish you excellent reading! introduction to the special issue! m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 1-7 5 references aykut a.d. & ratha d. (2004). south-south fdi flows: how big are they?, transnational corporations, 13(1), 149-176. beddi h. & mayrhofer u. (2013), headquarterssubsidiaries relationships of french multinationals in emerging markets, multinational business review, 21(2), 174-194. buckley p., clegg j., cross a., liu x., voss h., & ping z. (2007). the determinants of chinese outward foreign direct investment, journal of international business studies, 38(4), 499-518. cuervo-cazurra a. (2012). how the analysis of developing country multinational companies helps advance theory: solving the goldilocks debate, global strategy journal, 2(3), 153-167. cuervo-cazurra a. & genc m. (2008). transforming disadvantages into advantages: developing country mnes in the least developed countries, journal of international business studies, 39(6), 957-979. cuervo-cazurra a., inkpen a., musacchio a., & ramaswamy k. (2014). government as owners: stateo w n e d m u l t i n a t i o n a l c o m p a n i e s , j o u r n a l o f international business studies, 45(8),  919-942. dunning j.h. (1988), the eclectic paradigm of international production: a restatement and some possible extensions, journal of international business studies, 19(1), 1-31. fleury a., & fleury m.t.l. (2011). brazilian multinationals: competences for internationalization, cambridge, ma: cambridge university press. hadjikhani a., elg u., & ghauri p. (eds.) (2012). business, society and politics: multinationals in emerging markets, bingley: emerald group. johanson j. & vahlne j.e. (1977). the internationalization process of the firm a model of knowledge d e v e l o p m e n t a n d i n c r e a s i n g f o r e i g n m a r k e t commitments, journal of international business studies, 8(1),  23-32. johanson j. & vahlne j.-e. (1990). the mechanism of internationalization, international marketing review, 7(4), 11-24. johanson j. & vahlne j.-e. (2009). the uppsala internationalization process model revisited: from liability of foreignness to liability of outsidership, journal of international business studies, 40(9), 1411-1431. kumar n. (2009). how emerging giants are rewriting the rules of m&a, harvard business review, 87(5), 115-121. lazzarini s., musacchio a., bandeira-de-mello r., & marcon r. (2015). what do state-owned development banks do? evidence from bndes, 2002-09, world development, 66, 237-253. luo y. & tung r. (2007). international expansion of e m e r g i n g m a r k e t e n t e r p r i s e s : a s p r i n g b o a r d perspective, journal of international business studies, 38(4),  481-498. madhok a. & keyhani m. (2012). acquisitions as entrepreneurship: asymmetries, opportunities, and the internationalization of multinationals from emerging economies, global strategy journal, 2(1), 26-40. mayrhofer u. (2013), management of multinational companies: a french perspective, basingstoke: palgrave macmillan. meschi p.-x., & wassmer, u. (2013). the effect of foreign partner network embeddedness on international joint venture failure: evidence from european firms’ investments in emerging economies, international business review, 22(4), 713-724. oviatt b.m., & mcdougall p.p. (1994). toward a theory of international new ventures. journal of international business studies, 25(1), 45–64. oviatt b.m. & mcdougall p.p. (2005). defining international entrepreneurship and modeling the speed of internationalization. entrepreneurship theory and practice, 29(5), 537–554. ramachandran j., & pant a. (2010). the liabilities of origin: an emerging economy perspective on the costs of doing business abroad, in devinney t.m., pedersen, t. & tihanyi l. (eds.), advances in international management: the past, present and future of international business and management, volume 23, emerald. ramamurti r. & singh, j. (2009) (eds.), emerging multinationals from emerging markets, cambridge, ma: cambridge university press. rodrik d. (2009). one economics, many recipes: globalization, institutions, and economic growth, princeton, ma: princeton university press. t h i t e m . , w i l k i n s o n a . & s h a h d . ( 2 0 1 2 ) . internationalization and hrm strategies across subsidiaries in multinational corporations from emerging economies a conceptual framework, journal of world business, 47(2), 251-258. vieu m., guieu g. & meschi p.-x. (2014). multinationales émergentes, in tannery f., denis j.-p., hafsi t., & martinet a.-c. (eds), encyclopédie de la stratégie, paris: vuibert. wang c., hong j., kafouros m. & wright m. (2012). exploring the role of government involvement in outward fdi from emerging economies, journal of international business studies, 43(7), 655-676. m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 1-7! rodrigo bandeira-de-mello et al. 6 rodrigo bandeira-de-mello holds a phd in strategy from universidade federal de santa catarina in brazil. he was a visiting scholar at the warthon school, university of pennsylvania, and at université paris-dauphine. he is a professor of strategy at fgv fundação getulio vargas, são paulo. he is the editor in strategy of the journal revista de administração de empresas. he has published articles on strategy and performance in emergent countries, stakeholders’ management and political strategies in brazilian and international journals. pervez n. ghauri completed his phd at uppsala university in sweden where he also taught for several years. at present, he is professor of international business at king’s college london. he is a fellow of european international business academy (eiba). recently, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by turku school of economics and management, finland. pervez n. ghauri has published 25 books and numerous articles in journals such as  journal of international business studies, journal of world business, management international review, british journal of management, journal of business research, industrial marketing management and international marketing review. he consults and offers training programs to a number of organizations such as bp, airbus industries and ericsson. he is editor-in-chief for  international business review. ulrike mayrhofer is a professor of management at iae lyon, jean moulin lyon 3 university and the director of the magellan research centre. president of atlas/ afmi (association francophone de management international – francophone association for international management), her research activities focus on internationalization strategies of multinational companies. her work is published in books (e.g. mayrhofer, u., ed., 2013,management of multinational companies: a french perspective, basingstoke, palgrave macmillan, 2013 – prize for best collective research book awarded by efmd-fnege) and journals like european management journal, european management review, international business review, m@n@gement, management international  and  multinational business review. pierre-xavier meschi is professor of strategy at iae aix-en-provence (aixmarseille université) and skema business school. he is also director of the cergam research centre. his research interests include international joint ventures, international m&as, foreign direct investment in emerging economies. he has previously published in academic journals such as asia pacific journal of management,  management international review,  international business review,  european management review,  human relations,  journal of world business, journal of international management, journal of management, journal of international business studies  and  british journal of management. he has been involved in teaching in executive programs in large international firms. corporate clients have included bank of shanghai, airbus helicopters france and germany, and stmicroelectronics. © the author(s) www.management-aims.com introduction to the special issue! m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 1-7 7 http://www.management-aims.com http://www.management-aims.com 264 rodolphe durand & jean-philippe vergnem@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 264-272 unplugged copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). m@n@gement is a double-blind refereed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.management-aims.com © 2012 m@n@gement and the author(s). m@n@gement est la revue officielle de l’aims m@n@gement is the journal official of aims m@n@gement rodolphe durand 2012 jean-philippe vergne no territory, no profit: the pirate organization and capitalism in the making m@n@gement, 15(3), 264-272. unplugged issn: 1286-4692 emmanuel josserand, hec, université de genève (editor in chief) jean-luc arrègle, emlyon business school (editor) laure cabantous, warwick business school (editor) stewart clegg, university of technology, sydney (editor) olivier germain, université du québec à montréal (editor, book reviews) karim mignonac, université de toulouse 1 (editor) philippe monin, emlyon business school (editor) tyrone pitsis, university of newcastle (editor) josé pla-barber, universidad de valència (editor) michael tushman, harvard business school (editor) florence villesèche, hec, université de genève (managing editor) walid shibbib, université de genève (editorial assistant) martin g. evans, university of toronto (editor emeritus) bernard forgues, emlyon business school (editor emeritus) 265 no territory, no profit: the pirate organization and capitalism in the making m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 264-272 unplugged no territory, no profit: the pirate organization and capitalism in the making rodolphe durand jean-philippe vergne abstract organizational and management research focuses extensively on topics of legitimacy and competition. at center-stage lie for-profit organizations, which are often assumed to operate in economically turbulent environments embedded in stable sovereign institutions. our goal in this short essay is to envisage a broader picture that takes seriously other types of organization that gravitate at the periphery of capitalism’s territories and redefine the norms of competition and legitimate profit. rehearsing the punch line of our recent book (durand & vergne, 2010, 2013), we advocate for a line of research that explores the boundaries of capitalistic expansion by examining the interactions between three types of actors: sovereign states and their monopolies, which map and impose norms upon the new territories of capitalism (a process we call “normalization”); legitimate for-profit corporations, which generate a profit in the wake of sovereign normalization (we call them “organizations-of-themilieu”); and pirate organizations, operating from the fringes of capitalism to contest the sovereign’s norms in the name of a “public cause”. we are especially attentive to the convergent patterns of interactions we observed across time and space on the high seas (17th century), on the airwaves (early 20th century), in cyberspace (since the 1980s) and at the heart of living species in the form of dna research (since the 1990s). this leads us to assert that sea pirates, pirate radio stations, cyberpirates and biopirates have a lot more in common than prior research on piracy typically assumed. key words: piracy, capitalism, monopoly, legitimacy, norm, industry evolution hec paris durand@hec.fr ivey school of business, western university jvergne@ivey.ca 266 rodolphe durand & jean-philippe vergnem@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 264-272 unplugged what is the pirate organization? 1 by organizations, we mean social groups that control resources, work toward objectives, transact with other social entities, and develop strategies to reach their goals2. an organization is polymorphous. it can be focused on making profit for its shareholders (listed corporation); it can be not-for-profit (association); it can be local or international (club or union), completely exclusive or inclusive (co-opting social networks). the pirate organization (durand & vergne, 2010, 2013), like other types of organization, is a social arrangement that controls men, resources, communication channels, and modes of transportation. it maintains trade relations with other communities, other entities, sometimes other states, and often legitimate companies (gosse, 2007; heller-roazen, 2009). unlike other organizations, though, to reach its objectives, it develops original strategies where speed of execution, the effect of surprise, and adaptive adoption of the appropriate means to deal with the enemy of the moment play a major role. in order to protect itself, it operates from the outskirts of sovereign territory, out of low-visibility, temporary bases (johns, 2009). to grow, it appeals to a desire for discovery, pre-empts parcels of territory and claims certain rights without further ado. to attract recruits, it cultivates the identity of a life on the fringe of society, and locally makes it legitimate to breach the limiting standards set out by the current sovereign. the pirate organization is the marker of the floating limits of capitalism. it defends a public cause by promoting values that go against the will of the state, and focuses its action on the most deterritorialized fringes of capitalism—the gray areas wherein sovereign states have yet to reach a consensus regarding what constitutes legitimate ownership and control of territory. the high seas in the early 17th century, the airwaves in the early 20th century, cyberspace since the 1980s, genetic material nowadays, and extraterrestrial spaces in the coming decades are all gray areas where pirate organizations proliferate. sea pirates in the 17th century fought against the monopolistic east india companies in the name of the freedom of the seas. pirate radio stations fought against monopolies such as that of the bbc to promote freedom of expression on the airwaves. cyberpirates have been fighting against monopolistic corporations such as at&t (1970s), ibm (1980s) or microsoft (1990s), and often defend principles such as net neutrality—the counterpart, in cyberspace, of the freedom of the seas ideal. similar struggles are taking place in biogenetic territory, where biopirates have been operating for at least two decades. put simply, gray areas are partially uncharted territories where pirate organizations and sovereign states struggle over norm definition. the pirate organization typically intervenes in the process of normalization at a time when the first topographic representations of partially uncharted territories are being established. such periods include the early modern age, when the first maps of the oceans were drawn to navigate the globe; the early 20th century, when the airwaves opened up to radio broadcasting; and the last thirty years, as cyberspace emerges as a new territory for capitalist expansion, and dna is being mapped to prepare the rise of the biotech economy (sloterdijk, 2006). thus, sea pirates, pirate radio stations, cyberpirates and biopirates are particular instances of a broad category of organizational agents we call 1. a textbox at the end of the paper gives more information about the broader project called “the pirate organization”. 2. this definition is that of durand, 2006, organizational evolution and strategic management, p. 13. 267 no territory, no profit: the pirate organization and capitalism in the making m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 264-272 unplugged the pirate organization. they all worm their way into the sovereign state but navigate between borders. the existence of the pirate organization compels us to reassess the standard assumption that posits sovereignty as fixed and exogenously given, especially since piracy usually heralds the renewal of capitalism and the emergence of new industries and business models. importantly, the pirate organization has proved very influential on several occasions—for instance, the radio broadcasting industry between the 1960s and the rise of internet radio in the late 1990s functioned according to the norms proposed by pirate radio stations as a reaction to those of the bbc during the period 1930-1960. the pirate organization does not seek to overturn the power in place to institute another form of state, but challenges the quality and quantity of the sovereign norm through the local and temporary superimposition of clashing norms that have a high potential for dissemination (rediker, 1987). for this reason, the pirate organization proliferates in the presence of a state that has the means to weave the territory tightly into a normative fabric. that is why it must be differentiated from the criminal organization (e.g., the mafia), which thrives when the state does not have the capacity to enforce full sovereignty (monnet & véry, 2010). unlike criminal organizations, pirate organizations typically appear in the most advanced societies of their time (think of wikileaks). as we understand it, therefore, the pirate organization does not necessarily correspond to the meanings given in everyday language for the term “pirate”, and must be distinguished from criminal organizations altogether. capitalism’s expansion and piracy in the capitalistic regime, states and firms operate in their respective territories by establishing norms that exclude a certain number of renegades, some of which end up being recruited by the pirate organization (deleuze & guattari, 1972; heller-roazen, 2009). courted and feared by states and organizationsof-the-milieu, the pirate organization breaks the existing codes and creates new ones, which can later be reappropriated by legitimate social authorities. this explains why the pentagon and microsoft track pirates in cyberspace in order to offer them a job, or why the sea pirate francis drake became a “corsair” and was knighted by the queen of england at the end of the 16th century. since the pirate organization is, because of its socio-political make-up, the one that can question the norms of the time, it is the most likely to upset the structure governing capitalism—for example, by accepting women for the first time as sailors on ships in the 17th century or by modifying copyrighted content to improve existing software or cyberinfrastructure (rediker, 1987; johns, 2009). there is unquestionable evidence of the pirate organization’s ability to unsettle certain aspects of neoclassical economic theory, most notably by calling into question a number of assumptions on the subject of intellectual property (johns, 2009; leeson, 2009). it is taken for granted that investors and firms receive a guarantee that the fruits of their willingness to take risks be protected by law. in other words, they require a certain degree of security and transparency. what should not be overlooked, however, is the role of creative minds operating out on the periphery of sovereign territories. in these gray areas, qualities such as speed, inventiveness, and agility are necessary for survival and used to reap 268 rodolphe durand & jean-philippe vergnem@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 264-272 unplugged the allegedly undue profit captured by monopolies and organizations-of-themilieu. partially uncharted territories are the locus where the future boundaries of capitalism are tested, drawn, questioned, and bent. the discovery of new territories is swiftly followed by state normalization and it is through the creation of codes of conduct that the groundwork for future legitimacy is laid. this allows the leading sovereigns to control the social and economic order and reinforce their position by levying taxes. when the capitalist economic model was still in its infancy, normalization was primarily achieved with the help of state monopolies, as exercised most notably by the several european east india companies (vergne, 2006, 2008). monopolies are centralized organizations controlled to a large extent by the sovereign, upon whom they depend to sustain their privileges. direct, centralized control by the sovereign makes monopolies very convenient to establish new norms in a partially uncharted territory: with monopolies, there are no third parties with whom to haggle about norm definition. the behavior of sovereign powers in partially uncharted territories is fairly predictable and with the benefit of hindsight can be broken down into two complimentary, and almost simultaneous, mechanisms. the first involves seizure of a territory along with its organic system of micro-exchanges (as when the east india companies settled permanent trade posts to enforce their claim to ownership of the trade routes). the second consists of redefining existing norms and boundaries (as when local trade networks created by indigenous merchants in the indies suddenly became “piratical” as per the new norm imposed by the recently arrived european sovereigns). entire territories are remapped according to the sovereign’s will; capitalistic flows are recoded to suit the needs of those holding the reins of power (deleuze & guattari 1972, 1980). out on the periphery of the reconstituted landscape the pirates find cracks to exploit and some margin for maneuver. indeed, their actions could be viewed as a deliberate attempt to reclaim some of the ground that is lost as new norms are imposed. the east india companies claim ownership of the spice islands? then pirate crews will occupy the strait of malacca. the bbc forces every listener to acquire the official radio receiving device and pay a yearly license fee to be able to use it? airwave pirates will build their own receivers to listen to pirate radio broadcast from offshore platforms. the state tracks which files users are exchanging in cyberspace? cyberpirates design programs to anonymize connections to servers. by operating on the lawless frontiers of society, pirate organizations are in effect acting in defiance of the state apparatus to control human endeavor with the help of monopolies, be they east india companies on the high seas, the bbc on the airwaves, or at&t, icann and microsoft in cyberspace. it seems impossible to disconnect the pirate phenomenon from the advent of the sovereign state against the background of extended globalized capitalism (bartley, 2007). the pirate organization is the historical subject that blurs the boundaries of capitalism by reshaping the normative fabric woven by the sovereign state onto the territorial fringes where the future of capitalism is being played out. often looked at partially or in a biased manner, piracy overall is an organizational form that introduces variations into the economic, social, legal and technological environment of societies. the pirate organization eludes the usual categories, from bandit to enemy of humanity, and the legitimate 269 no territory, no profit: the pirate organization and capitalism in the making m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 264-272 unplugged businesses that fall victim to acts of piracy are left with difficult decisions to make. by examining the recurrence of transhistorical relations between the state and the pirate organization, we propose a simultaneous redefinition of both piracy and capitalism (durand & vergne, 2010, 2013). far be it from us to particularly praise the merits of pirate ideas rather than those of more legitimate businesses. what we want to show is the very nature of the workings of the capitalism-coding machines, endlessly deterritorializing and normalizing social and economic exchanges and searching out the unknown for virgin territories to map, normalize, subjugate, and value. organizational behavior in times of capitalist expansion the production system based on the protection of private property rights can only pursue its expansion by nurturing the pirate organization from the fringes it draws around new territories. what determines the pace of capitalistic evolution is competition between organizations-of-the-milieu and pirate organizations. the former normalize trade based on legitimate property rights (dobbin, 1994). the latter enact alternative principles with respect to value creation, value capture, and value distribution. they also express a different view of property as legitimate expropriation on behalf of a public cause. firms typically respond to the pirate threat by getting closer to the sovereign and seeking support from the state. by lobbying to disqualify and outlaw pirates, firms redraw the boundary between the normal and the criminal and can thus act upon and against the pirate organization. sometimes, it may be appealing for firms to ally, tacitly and temporarily, with pirate organizations that contribute to the development of economic opportunities. google, although sometimes suspected of monopolistic tendencies, may at times find it beneficial to take sides with anonymous when the latter defend principles that are in line with their corporate strategy (e.g., anti-copyright protests by cyberpirates may fit nicely with google’s plans to digitize all the books ever published on earth). meanwhile, the director of the very secretive national security agency recently gave a talk at defcon, the largest annual physical gathering of cyberpirates, to see if he could convince some of them to come and work for the government. when pirates turn into corsairs—that is, when they start working on a sovereign’s payroll—, they bring with them all the socio-technical arrangements that characterize pirate organizations. as they change jobs, they disseminate piratical norms at the heart of the state (jordan, 2008; söderberg, 2008). this can spur innovation and trigger the renewal of capitalism. the rise, and eventual downfall, of pirate radio provides a textbook example of the process. free radio stations were eventually co-opted by the establishment through a licensing process that invited a few of their members to the state’s table while permanently shutting the others out, precipitating their own extinction, as happened in france at the exact moment at which the licenses were distributed. similar events occurred in the uk and led to the end of the bbc’s monopoly in the late 1960s. as former pirates were hired by the former monopoly, their norms became dominant: religious programs and classical music lost air time to the new sound of be-bop and rock and roll, and multiple channels were set up so that the listeners could (finally!) decide for themselves 270 rodolphe durand & jean-philippe vergnem@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 264-272 unplugged what they wanted to hear. this process is no different from the golden age of piracy on the high seas, when the sovereign had the power to disrupt any hint of subversion by drafting pirates into the service of the crown as privateers, simultaneously generating profit and crushing any revolutionary intent. these reactions illustrate the means by which firms, hand-in-hand with the sovereign, seek to alter the competitive rules and legitimacy principles that govern their environment. but as they do so, they also open the door to piratical norms, and aspects of the public cause advocated by pirate organizations are eventually integrated into dominant versions of legal and legitimate business practices. we aim at dispelling the convenient yet sterile opposition between private interests and public goods that often serves as a theoretical shortcut in discussions about capitalism. these reassuring antagonisms lack validity. for instance, when the private corporation celera genomics announced its decision to compete with the public consortium “human genome project” to establish the first complete map of the human genome, it was categorized by some as a “pirate organization” interested in looting dna for private profit. celera genomics used the publicly available results of the human genome project to catch up with its competitor and made a profit along the way by selling some of its intermediary findings to private investors, thereby raising the additional capital it needed to outpace the human genome project. finally, both organizations came up with a complete map of human dna at the same time in 2000, and the national institutes of health, the main sponsor of the public consortium, now officially lists celera genomics as a co-discoverer of the map on its website. since then, the u.s. government took legal steps towards allowing the patenting of genetic material by private entities (after opposing the celera genomics initiative in the first place), whereas european countries, less subject to the attacks of biopirates, have decided to oppose genetic patents. thus, beyond the apparent opposition between private and public interests or between pirate and legitimate organizations, it is clear that states are influenced by the actions of pirate organizations and that the two symbiotically shape the territorial expansion of capitalism towards new industries and business models. this is a crucial feature of capitalist societies that current organizational theory should start taking into account seriously to understand industry evolution. this perspective hints at an evolutionary theory of the formation of production systems (bartley, 2007; fligstein, 1996; guthrie & durand, 2008; vergne & durand, 2011). the states and organizations-of-the-milieu continuously work to capture what eludes them, namely what pirate organizations smuggle out of gray areas. the sovereign normalizes territory with the help of monopolistic organizations that define norms of exchange and trade. the pirate organization reveals what lies underneath a process that is conveniently ignored by many economists, who sometimes try to maintain the illusion that industries are shaped by the invisible hand of free trade rather than by the very visible hand of the sovereign. pirates decipher the mysteries of capitalistic appropriation and introduce variations into the capitalistic code itself. therefore, it is now time to consider the principles of rivalry as being evolutionary and contingent, typical of particular periods of time in economic, technical and social history where legitimate and pirate organizations confront each other every time capitalism expands. because of the peculiar dynamics of capitalism as exposed in this essay, we must conclude with a call to integrate the study of pirate organizations at the 271 no territory, no profit: the pirate organization and capitalism in the making m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 264-272 unplugged the pirate organization is not just a book but a broad interdisciplinary project aimed at connecting the social sciences, contemporary artistic creation, and civil society. a first version of the book was published in french in 2010, accompanied by the release of an original musical composition by the experimental rock band chevreuil. the production of the music was funded from the authors’ royalties and the composition was published under a creative commons license to allow for broad dissemination. tracks for each instrument were (and still are) available for download separately to facilitate the remixing—or hacking—of the song. an extended and updated version of the text is forthcoming in english in december 2012. it is accompanied by a short animation movie directed by daniel wyatt and entitled what is the pirate organization? also published under a creative commons license, the movie’s soundtrack uses fragments from chevreuil’s original music as well as excerpts from remixes of the song sent to us by our readers. the broad purpose of this project is to disseminate research findings beyond the traditional boundaries of the academic world. links to the music and video can be found at http://twitter.com/pirateorg. rodolphe durand is gdf-suez professor of strategy at hec paris. his primary research interests concern the social and institutional sources of competitive advantage and organizational performance. he has published in journals such as american journal of sociology, academy of management review, and strategic management journal. jean-philippe (jp) vergne is assistant professor of strategy at the ivey school of business in canada. his research on socially contested organizations in the global arms industry has been published in academy of management journal and organizational research methods. acknowledgments we wish to thank emmanuel josserand and philippe for their helpful suggestions on this piece. our research is supported by the center for research on society and organizations and the social sciences and humanities research council of canada. heart of that slice of social science research interested in innovation, property rights, growth, and regulation. pirates deserve a comfortable seat at the table of economic history and organization science. 272 rodolphe durand & jean-philippe vergnem@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 264-272 unplugged . bartley, t. (2007). institutional emergence in an era of globalization: the rise of transnational private regulation of labor and environmental conditions. american journal of sociology, 113(2), 297-351. . deleuze, g., & guattari f. (1972). l’anti-œdipe (capitalisme et schizophrénie). paris: les éditions de minuit. . deleuze, g., & guattari f. (1980). mille plateaux (capitalisme et schizophrénie 2). paris: les éditions de minuit. . dobbin, f. (1994). forging industrial policy: the united states, britain, and france in the railway age. new york: cambridge university press. . durand, r. (2000). entreprise et evolution economique. paris: editions belin. . durand, r. (2006). organizational evolution and strategic management. london: sage publications. . durand, r., & vergne, j. p. (2012). the pirate organization: lessons from the fringes of capitalism, boston: harvard business review press . durand, r., & vergne, j. p. (2010). l’organisation pirate: essai sur l’évolution du capitalisme. lormont, france: editions le bord de l’eau. . fligstein, n. (1996). markets as politics: a sociological view of market institutions. american sociological review, 61(4): 656-673. . gosse, p. (2007) [1932]. the history of piracy. new york: dover publications. . guthrie, d., & durand, r. 2008). social issues in the study of management. european management review, 5(3), 137-149. . heller-roazen, d. (2009). the enemy of all: piracy and the law of nations. new york: zone books. . johns, a. (2009). piracy – the intellectual property wars from gutenberg to gates. chicago: the university of chicago press. . jordan, t. (2008). hacking: digital media and technological determinism. cambridge (ma): polity press. . leeson, p. t. (2009). the invisible hook: the hidden economics of pirates. princeton: princeton university press. . monnet, b., & véry, p. (2010). les nouveaux pirates de l’entreprise: mafias et terrorisme. paris: cnrs. . rediker, m. (2004). between the devil and the deep blue sea : merchants seamen, pirates and the anglo-american maritime world, 1700-1750. cambridge: cambridge university press. . sloterdijk, p. (2006). le palais de cristal: a l’intérieur du capitalisme planétaire. paris: maren sell. . söderberg, j. (2008). hacking capitalism: the foss software movement. new york: routledge. . vergne, j. p. (2006). machinerie mercantiliste: capitalisme et piraterie. (unpublished master’s thesis). université paris-i, paris. . vergne, j. p. (2008). the social construction of competitive advantage: the case of the dutch east india company, 1602-1800. best paper proceedings, academy of management annual meeting, anaheim, ca. . vergne, j. p., & durand, r. (2011). the path of most persistence: an evolutionary perspective on path dependence and dynamic capabilities. organizations studies, 32(3), 365-382. references 528 william h. starbuckm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 707-718 copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). m@n@gement is a double-blind refereed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.management-aims.com © 2013 m@n@gement and the author(s). m@n@gement est la revue officielle de l’aims m@n@gement is the journal official of aims william h. starbuck 2013 why and where do academics publish? m@n@gement, 16(5), 707-718. m@n@gement issn: 1286-4692 emmanuel josserand, cmos, university of technology, sydney (editor in chief) jean-luc arrègle, emlyon business school (editor) laure cabantous, cass business school (editor) stewart clegg, university of technology, sydney (editor) olivier germain, université du québec à montréal (editor, book reviews) karim mignonac, université de toulouse 1 (editor) philippe monin, emlyon business school (editor) tyrone pitsis, university of newcastle (editor) josé pla-barber, universidad de valència (editor) michael tushman, harvard business school (editor) walid shibbib, université de genève (managing editor) alexander bell, université de genève (editorial assistant) martin g. evans, university of toronto (editor emeritus) bernard forgues, emlyon business school (editor emeritus) special issue 707 why and where do academics publish? m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 707-718 why and where do academics publish? william h. starbuck university of oregon & new york university, usa starbuck@uoregon.edu abstract introduction social and behavioral research is a complex activity that takes place in an ambiguous environment. this environment is more ambiguous than most researchers are aware, and it is changing more rapidly than most researchers realize. in fact, focused on their own activities and struggling with the very unclear messages from their environments, most researchers have very limited perspectives on what has been and is happening. this essay describes some current and important issues that confront social and behavioral researchers1. although i expose my personal opinions, i do not aim to convince readers that these opinions are necessarily correct. rather, i hope to stimulate reflection and discussion. the first section of this essay raises issues related to researchers’ motivations. it points out conflicts between doing what is methodologically correct and doing what readers expect. the second section raises issues related to researchers’ abilities to evaluate research. it describes some behaviors of journal editors and reviewers that make evaluation unreliable. the third section looks at evolution in channels for academic publication. the final section presents data that suggest academic administrators – deans and department heads – have been increasing the pressures on professors to publish in prestigious journals and to publish papers that attract many citations. collisions between norms an editor asked me to review a paper that investigated correlates of citations to published articles. the paper analyzed the citations of every article – more than 10,000 of them – that had appeared in the most prominent journals in a specific field over several decades. my research has convinced me that editorial reviews are unreliable (starbuck, 2005), and bedeian (2008) has reported that many authors say editors compelled them to make statements with which they actually disagreed. since i have no evidence that my own reviewing is more reliable than that of other reviewers, i have adopted a policy of not making definitive recommendations to editors or authors. i tell authors what i find interesting, unclear, or apparently wrong, but i try not to come across as judgmental or to tell authors what they must do. thus, my brief review of this paper only stated that the authors had examined interesting issues in reasonable ways. however, i also wrote that the authors should not report indicators of statistical significance in some sections of their paper. the concept of statistical significance deals with inferences about population parameters based on data about a random sample from that population. key sections of this study 1. i thank bernard forgues, allègre hadida, and andrea mina for useful suggestions that improved this essay. 708 william h. starbuckm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 707-718 2. in the example in the first section, the authors and the editor had run into a situation that very few statistics courses discuss: a large sample from a finite population. because the total number of articles published in that field was finite, it was possible to obtain a sample that comprised a large fraction of the population. in such a situation, researchers need to correct estimated variances by introducing the “finite population correction factor,” which equals (n – n)/n where n is the population size and n is the sample size (cochran, 1977). indeed, in the described example, n equaled n, so the correction factor became zero. as a result, the variance of the sample mean around the population mean was zero. had the authors computed t values correctly, these values would have equaled infinity. it is a bit sad that this article did not become an opportunity for the journal to teach its readers something about statistical methodology that they very likely do not know. i have to accept some responsibility for that failure because i misjudged the situation. my report to the journal’s editor should have explained why data on complete populations are actually better than data from random samples and why statistical significance has no meaning for calculations about complete populations. discussed data about the entire population of articles. for example, if the authors calculated that a correlation was 0.123 across the entire population, this number was the exact value of that correlation for articles in that specific field during that period. there was no possibility whatsoever that the population correlation might equal zero2. the editor disagreed with my advice and told the authors: “while the reviewer is strictly correct that you need not use inferential statistics, please continue to do so, on the basis that this is standard practice in our literature – albeit flawed.” i did not think that i was clearly right and the editor was clearly wrong. the editor’s statement acknowledged that i had given methodologically correct advice to the authors. rather, the editor was framing the issue as one of desirable conformity to widespread social norms. the editor was telling the authors to use statistical methods incorrectly because incorrect statistical methods are “standard practice”. my advice to the authors had urged them to exhibit correct methods even though their readers very likely expected, and would be more comfortable with, incorrect methods. more generally, the editor and i disagreed about different kinds of social norms. one norm asserts that concepts about methodology prescribe proper modes of behavior; methodology presents rules that enhance learning and promote correct inferences. another norm says proper research reports must appear authentic to readers; methodology is a formal ritual that matches readers’ expectations and persuades them that they should have respect for researchers’ work. issues of this type are widespread. social and behavioral scientists often use language and methods that they do not understand. for example, methodologists have been trying to discourage the misuse of “statistical significance” for over 60 years . . . with little success3. much of the talk about statistical significance in academic journals and seminars is technically incorrect, and the ways most researchers use this concept imply they do not understand its actual meaning. however, misunderstanding and incomprehension are so widespread that praxis dominates correct usage. publishing is not only about learning or knowledge. the publication of academic papers has serious implications for authors’ personal prestige and continuing employment, the prestige of departments and universities, and the funding of education and research. in the instance above, the editor may have been worried that unconventional statements would make the editor’s journal appear strange and lower its social status, which would reflect poorly on the editor or reduce the journal’s circulation and revenues. the abstracted world of statistical theory does not attend to these issues, but they have powerful influence in the real world (kepes and mcdaniel, 2013; mazzola and deuling, 2013). at the same time, methodology prescribed as correct can be very difficult, even impossible, to enact. for instance, it is impossible to study enough different cases to justify broad generalizations while also studying every case in sufficient detail to obtain a thorough understanding of that case. likewise, to assure that a sample is random, researchers need to know diverse properties of the population, which are nearly always unknown and unknowable. lack of such knowledge may be the reason for undertaking the research. with some data sources, it may be impossible to satisfy the assumptions of the normal procedures for statistical calculations. these procedures assume that data 3. there are two reasons i do not detail why methodologists have been trying to discourage use of statistical significance. my coauthors and i have already published explanations (schwab and starbuck, 2009; schwab et al., 2011). also, i do not want to increase the emphasis on statistical methods in the essay. 709 why and where do academics publish? m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 707-718 do not include egregiously large errors, but audits of some large data sets have shown that data-entry errors occur as often as 25 to 30% of the time. only a small fraction of these data-entry errors are large enough to make statistical calculations very incorrect, but it takes only a single data-entry error to invalidate widely used calculations (rousseeuw and leroy, 1987). yet another example is the injunction for qualitative researchers to remain “objective”. although there are ways of conducting interviews that reduce the influence of interviewers’ expectations, the very fact that interviews are taking place signals some of these expectations to the interviewees. for example, an interview that discusses an organization’s structure, its strategy, and its environment inevitably implies that the interviewer is looking for relations among these topics, so interviewees are likely to describe these subjects in ways that draw logical associations among them. correct methodology can also create erroneous inferences. many prescriptions for statistical methods incorporate assumptions that simplify calculations (e.g., they assume normal distributions). these prescriptions assert that researchers should not draw inferences directly from their data; researchers should base inferences on hypothetical curves that would occur if the researchers had vast amounts of data and if these data conformed to the patterns predicted by logical extrapolation. however, researchers almost never have as many data as the statistical theorems assume and real data never conform exactly to the assumptions behind statisticians’ extrapolations. thus, the methodological prescriptions are actually telling researchers to draw inferences that their data cannot support. for the last three decades, statisticians have been using bootstrapping methods that seek greater accuracy by reducing reliance on hypothetical curves, replacing the curves with calculations based on actual data (diaconis and efron, 1983). few statistics courses teach these new methods, and few researchers know about them. blundering randomly in disagreement academics in the netherlands have recently been discussing an investigation into a psychologist’s cheating (bhattacharjee, 2013). a formal investigation has concluded that the psychologist published at least 55 papers based on “data” that he simply invented, and that at least 10 doctoral students completed dissertations that relied on fraudulent “data” that the psychologist invented. of course, it should surprise no one that researchers commit fraud. researchers are human beings who strive for success, job security, respect, and other goals that may interfere with learning or discovery. what caught my eye about the netherlands case was something else. a recently hired junior professor attended the psychologist’s research meetings and observed, “i don’t know that i ever saw that a study failed, which is highly unusual. even the best people, in my experience, have studies that fail constantly. usually, half don’t work.” the junior professor was referring to experiments by psychologists who are experts in their specialized subtopics, who have read all of the relevant research literature, who are highly motivated to produce convincing findings, and who can control almost every aspect of the situations they study, including the behaviors of their subjects. yet, about 710 william h. starbuckm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 707-718 half of their experiments fail to confirm their hypotheses. this high failure rate seems to testify that psychologists are not learning very much from their studies. even the people who have the most complete and intimate knowledge of psychological research findings have only a 50-50 chance of making correct predictions about the outcomes of new experiments that they themselves design. obviously, those failed experiments rarely appear in print. one reason social and behavioral scientists have difficulty learning from research is that research reports are very difficult to understand and evaluate. this difficulty has several roots. firstly, and most fundamentally, social and behavioral scientists disagree with each other about the purposes of research and therefore the qualities of “good” research. they disagree about the very nature of knowledge. secondly, researchers very often misunderstand concepts they use to describe their work. for example, as remarked in the previous section, a large portion of researchers do not understand the term “statistical significance” (schwab et al., 2011), and since many, many studies focus attention on “statistically significant” findings, this means that researchers are unable to distinguish between important and unimportant findings. thirdly, a large fraction of research studies yield results that later studies cannot replicate. in studies of medical research, ioannidis (2005) found that 80% of the research findings based on non-random samples were wrong, and 15 to 25% based on random samples were wrong. peach and webb (1983) estimated the frequencies of spuriously significant correlations in studies of macroeconomic time series. they created nonsense ‘models’ by selecting random combinations of one dependent variable and three independent variables. when they analyzed these nonsense ‘models’, they found that 64 to 71% of the independent variables had ‘statistically significant’ coefficients. webster and starbuck (1988) investigated the frequencies of spurious correlations in cross-sectional data. they compiled about 15,000 correlations published in three prominent management journals. the correlations had very similar distributions in all three journals. both the mean and the median correlations were close to 0.09, and 69% of the correlations were positive. these weak correlations form a background of meaningless or substantively unimportant correlations that researchers may mistake for significant relationships, especially when they obtain large samples. fourthly, research reports have many and diverse properties that constitute complex perceptual stimuli, which readers find difficult to interpret. gottfredson (1978), gottfredson and gottfredson (1982), and wolff (1970) found that reviewers for psychological journals agree rather strongly with each other about the properties that papers ought to exhibit. however, when presented with specific papers to evaluate, reviewers do not agree about the properties of the papers. as a result, journal editors receive unreliable evaluations from reviewers. i have found only 16 instances in which editors had the temerity to study the agreement between reviewers and to publish their findings. the mean correlation between reviewers across these 16 studies is just 0.18. when gottfredson calculated the correlation between reviewers’ evaluations and later citations to published studies, he found it was only 0.14. in fact, even these small correlations overstate the reliability of most evaluations; for the lower-rated 70% of the papers, both of the above-mentioned correlations are approximately zero. 711 why and where do academics publish? m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 707-718 to indicate the practical meaning of these correlations, figure 1 graphs simulated evaluations that resemble the available data about actual reviewers. correlations this low imply that social and behavioral research cannot maintain consistent developmental trends; research just blunders around in different directions as reviewers and editors argue with each other. reviewer 1 r ev ie w er 2 figure 1. 800 simulated evaluations by reviewers who correlate near the mean (0.18) facing complex stimuli that are hard to appraise and conscious that other reviewers are likely to disagree with them, reviewers render cautious judgments. on average, they reject about 55% of the papers they evaluate, and accept only 11%. reviewers also display various biases consistent with their looking for external evidence about manuscripts’ quality. they give higher ratings to papers in the english language, to papers that incorporate algebraic equations, to papers by authors who work in prestigious universities, and to papers that agree with their own writings (ellison 2002; eriksson 2012; mahoney 1977, 1979; nylenna, riis, and karlsson 1994; peters and ceci, 1982). mahoney (1977) found that reviewers mask their biases through comments about methodology. that is, reviewers expressed approval of the methodology of papers that agreed with their own writings, and they pointed out defects in the methodology of papers that contradicted their own writings. 712 william h. starbuckm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 707-718 because reviewers disagree with each other, journal editors receive contradictory advice. because reviewers are much more likely to recommend rejection than acceptance, journals tend to reject excellent papers. one consequence is that journals unintentionally reject approximately three-fourths of the best papers submitted to them (starbuck, 2005). a second consequence is that papers in the most prestigious journals differ little from those in journals that have less prestige. although the most prestigious journals have more opportunities to publish outstanding papers, they lack the ability to take full advantage of these opportunities. an implication is that researchers ought to search journals that are not prestigious in order to find the excellent papers that prestigious journals have rejected. however, citations indicate that researchers act as if prestigious journals publish much better papers than they actually do, and as if reviewers make much more reliable evaluations than they do. table 1 presents estimates of the correlations between reviewers that would be consistent with the stratification of citations in published papers. these estimated correlations fall within the range of correlations reported in specific studies, but they are 50 to 95% higher than the 0.18 average reported correlation. table 1. correlations between reviewers that would be consistent with observed citations patterns sociology 0.30 management 0.33 economics 0.34 psychology 0.35 the evolving terrain of academic publishing the industry that publishes academic books and journals has been quite turbulent over the last three decades. one driving force has been changes in printing technology. in 1980, a publisher had to produce and sell 1,200 copies of a book to avoid losing money. at that time, 900 libraries were likely to purchase almost any new academic book, so the publisher was risking one-fourth of the initial investment. after recovering this initial investment, the publisher could economically produce additional copies in lots of 50. by 2010, a publisher had to produce and sell only 300 copies to avoid losing money, but the likely sale to libraries had declined to 275 copies. the publisher had to risk only one-twelfth of the initial investment, and after recovering this initial investment, the publisher could economically produce additional copies just one book at a time. however, such small sales volumes yielded very little profit. fewer and fewer libraries were buying books because they had shifted their budgets from books to journals. during the early 1980s, publishers launched many new journals, and academic readers urged their libraries to subscribe to these journals. each new journal had few readers and attracted few citations, but they aggregated into a sizable market. libraries found that journals in electronic form entailed lower maintenance costs than printed books, so they could make larger amounts of text available to readers. in effect, publishers had transferred their production activities from books to 713 why and where do academics publish? m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 707-718 journals, and university libraries had transferred their services from providing books to providing journals. the documents cited in academic writings shifted toward journal papers; the institute for scientific information stopped counting citations in and to books; personnel evaluations in universities began placing less importance on books and more on journal papers. a secondary consequence of these changes was consolidation in the publishing industry. small publishers of books could not sell enough copies to remain profitable, and larger publishers merged in search of large sales volumes. for a time, the bigger publishers sought to produce textbooks that sold numerous copies rather than many academic books that would each sell very few copies. later, publishers tried to produce books that would appeal to new universities and new libraries, especially in developing countries. over the years, many publishers became several publishers, and then just a few publishers. the internet and electronic technology are creating another wave of publishing innovation that is splashing across the behavioral and social sciences in the 2010s. new kinds of publishers have entered the market with new kinds of publication channels. i receive email messages several times a week that advertise the availability of new “open access” journals. some of these advertisements come from traditional publishers of journals; others come from new start-ups. i also receive many email messages that advertise the availability of internet services that publish, or store and republish, papers for free. some of these advertisements come from respected universities, others from who-knows-where. m@n@gement was an early pioneer in this free-for-all. commercial publishers are interpreting “open access” to mean “please pay us,” and they are requesting fees ranging upward of €2000 per paper. it is unclear what benefits commercial publishers are offering in exchange for these fees. respected names of journals? respected names of editors and reviewers? generous advertising of abstracts? copyediting? or merely more lines in padded résumés?4 internet services that are widely available and nearly free give commercial publishers little foothold. commercial publishers are also charging libraries for access to journals and to databases of copyrighted papers. publishers predict that these charges will vary with frequency of use, which implies that more visible, more prestigious journals are going to become more valuable. at the same time, many authors are making their papers freely available to databases that charge nothing (e.g., ssrn). in medicine, major us and uk funding sources are attempting to replace traditional journals with electronic open-access publication systems. well-organized professional associations could compete very effectively in this environment. many outcomes seem plausible in the longer run. deans and department heads believe that a journal’s reputation is a guarantor of its authenticity. for them, the actual quality of published papers is much less relevant than the halos of high quality. researchers have long argued that wide dissemination facilitates progress, but progress is an elusive concept where researchers do not agree about the nature of knowledge, the purposes of research, or the properties of specific papers. 4. jeffrey beall of the university of colorado at denver maintains a list of predatory journals and publishers. 714 william h. starbuckm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 707-718 the evolving terrain of academic accomplishment another driving force has been the development of rating systems, especially for business schools, but also for universities more generally. the ratings started in the late 1980s when business week published the first list of top business schools. a year later, us news and world report published a rating of colleges and universities. today, many periodicals produce ratings, as do some national governments. the ratings have turned vague opinions about differences between schools into powerful forces. students want to attend highly rated schools. donors want to give money to highly rated schools. schools with higher ratings can charge higher prices; they have newer and more elegant facilities; they pay higher wages to professors and compete more effectively for the most desired professors. business schools, once seen as unintellectual, vulgar appendages, have become major sources of funding, and universities that once sneered at them have learned to cherish them. in many universities, departments of arts and sciences survive largely because of subsidies from business schools. publicized ratings and flows of funds have brought new pressures on academic administrators. many universities want their schools and departments to rank at the very top. unimpressed by the impossibility of their aspirations, they press deans and department heads to engage in activities that raise ratings. in the mid 1990s, deans and department heads began urging researchers to publish in the most prestigious, most visible journals. one reason was awareness that researchers from highly rated schools dominated publication in these journals; schools with lower ratings sought to imitate schools with higher ratings (starbuck, 2005). another reason was that papers in these journals draw more citations, which raise visibility and have value as components of rating systems. possibly because of these emphases, more researchers are publishing in prestigious journals. certo, sirmon, and brymer (2010) reported that the number of researchers who published in the most prestigious management journals rose from 600 in 1988 to 1000 in 2008. the prestigious journals have increased the numbers of papers they publish, but not as rapidly as authors might want. as more authors have competed for such publications, the average time needed to publish five papers in prestigious management journals has increased from 5.35 years in 1988 to 9.72 years in 2008. another possible consequence of the above-mentioned emphases has been increasing numbers of citations throughout the entire population of academic journals. authors want more citations. publishers and journal editors want more citations. deans want more citations. no one wants fewer citations. therefore, the citations have been multiplying. figure 2 shows the impact factors (average citations per paper) of 131 business journals over nine years. each vertical collection of dots is the distribution of impact factors for one year; the dashed line links the means of these yearly distributions. the impact factors rose an average 7.75% per year, a rate of increase roughly twice that for non-business journals. 715 why and where do academics publish? m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 707-718 researchers achieved higher impact factors in part by lengthening the lists of references at the ends of their papers. if each paper makes more citations, there are more citations to distribute through the system. however, reference lists grew only average 3.03% per year, much more slowly than the impact factors. thus, other factors must have made business papers more attractive as citations by non-business journals. one of these factors may have been general visibility. business researchers increased their total output of papers. figure 3 graphs the total numbers of published papers in business journals, using the 1999 total as a norm. the numbers of papers went up an average 11.04% per year. the growing numbers of papers gave authors in fields outside of business more studies that might be relevant to their own research. a second factor may have been the increasing legitimacy of business as a topic of study that holds intellectual challenge and has strong effects on humanity. figure 2. impact factors of 131 business journals, 2000-2009 mean = 0.75 mean = 1.47 n at ur al lo g of im pa ct fa ct or 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 716 william h. starbuckm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 707-718 280 260 240 220 200 180 160 140 120 100 1999 20102009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 figure 3. relative numbers of articles published in business journals (1999 = 100) conclusion summary: researchers do not agree about the goals of research or the criteria for evaluating research papers. one reason is that research activities and results serve different purposes. although learning and discovery are among these purposes, other purposes include demonstrating conformity to social norms, assuring the readers of continued employment, and enhancing the prestige of journals, departments and universities. researchers also disagree about evaluations because research papers constitute complex stimuli that evaluators can interpret in diverse ways. one result is that editorial reviews are usually inconclusive or contradictory. another result is that reviewers and editors exhibit caution and their reactions to papers incorporate various biases. still another result is that knowledge evolves at random and without consistent direction. academic publishing takes place in a changing and occasionally turbulent environment. changes in printing technology have altered the profit-making opportunities of publishers, the feasibility of selling books rather than journals, the diversity of journals, and the functions of academic libraries. now, the transition from paper to electronic formats appears to be opening up a host of new publication possibilities that are evoking multitude experiments and market offerings. publishers and organized academic societies are competing with new startups that take advantage of low-cost internet services and lowcost data-storage technologies. 717 why and where do academics publish? m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 707-718 furthermore, public ratings of departments, schools, and universities have stimulated competition for students, professors, and funding. this competition has been bringing more emphasis on the prestige of journals and the citations to papers. as more researchers have sought to publish in highly visible media, access to these media has grown more difficult and the entire population of research papers has been setting higher standards for citation performance. these issues have two implications for individual researchers. firstly, researchers can afford to take risks in their selections of research topics and methods. the ambiguity surrounding editorial evaluation creates opportunities for researchers to invent and market new products. researchers can modify the perceptions of their audiences – they can attract potential readers, convince them that the research comes from credible sources, and persuade them that findings or ideas are worthy of belief. peter and olson (1983) have offered a useful analysis of research publication as a marketing task. another implication of these issues is that researchers need to develop personal navigation systems. researchers do not dare to rely on their environments to tell them how they are doing. is the paper well done? reviewers are unlikely to provide correct appraisals. when reviewers disagree, as they often do, to whom should one listen? would changes make the paper more persuasive? reviewers are unlikely to provide useful suggestions and their advice may actually be harmful. researchers are very lucky if they have colleagues who offer honest and realistic advice, for many proffer positive reinforcement based on very superficial readings. however, researchers ought to pay some attention to every reader who makes comments, whether a journal reviewer, a colleague, or an editor. these people provide data about the audiences from which research papers must win acceptance. william h. starbuck is courtesy professor-in-residence at university of oregon and professor emeritus at new york university. he edited administrative science quarterly, chaired the screening committee for fulbright awards in business management, and was president of the academy of management. he has contributed many articles and books. his current research interests are research methodology, innovation, and societal trends. 718 why and where do academics publish? m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 707-718 · bedeian, a. g. (2008). balancing authorial voice and editorial omniscience: the ‘it’s my paper and i’ll say what i want to’/‘ghostwriters in the sky’ minuet. in y. baruch, a. konrad, h. aguinis, & w. h. starbuck (eds.), opening the black box of editorship (pp. 134-142). basingstoke: palgrave macmillan. · bhattacharjee, y. (2013, april 26). the mind of a con man. new york times. · certo, s. t., sirmon, d. g., & brymer, r. (2010). competition and knowledge creation in management: investigating changes in scholarship from 1988 to 2007. academy of management learning and education, 9(4), 591-606. · cochran, w. g. (1977). sampling techniques. new york: wiley. · diaconis, p., & efron, b. (1983). computer-intensive methods in statistics. scientific american, 248(5), 116-130. · ellison, g. (2002). the slowdown of the economics publishing process. journal of political economy, 110(5), 947-993. · eriksson, k. (2012). the nonsense math effect. judgment and decision making, 7(6), 746–749. · gottfredson, s. d. (1978). evaluating psychological research reports: dimensions, reliability, and correlates of quality judgments. american psychologist, 33(10), 920-934. · gottfredson, d. m., & gottfredson, s. d. (1982). criminal justice and (reviewer) behavior: how to get papers published. criminal justice and behavior, 9(3), 259-272. · ioannidis, j. p. a. (2005). why most published research findings are false. plos medecine, 2(8), e124. · kepes, s., & mcdaniel, m. a. (2013). how trustworthy is the scientific literature in industrial and organizational psychology? industrial and organizational psychology, 6(3), 252–268. · mahoney, m. j. (1977). publication prejudices: an experimental study of confirmatory bias in the peer review system. cognitive therapy and research, 1(2), 161-175. · mahoney, m. j. (1979). psychology of the scientist: an evaluative review. social studies of science, 9(3), 349-375. · mazzola, j. j., & deuling, j. k. (2013). forgetting what we learned as graduate students: harking and selective outcome reporting in i–o journal articles. industrial and organizational psychology, 6(3), 279–284. · nylenna, m., riis, p., & karlsson, y. “multiple blinded reviews of the same two manuscripts: effects of referee characteristics and publication language.” jama, 1994, 272: 149-151. · peter, j. p., & olson, j. c. (1983). is science marketing? journal of marketing, 47(4), 111-125. · peters, d. p., & ceci, s. j. (1982). peer-review practices of psychological journals: the fate of published articles, submitted again. behavioral and brain sciences, 5(2), 187-255. · rousseeuw, p. j. & leroy, a. m. (1987). robust regression and outlier detection. new york: wiley. · schwab, a., & starbuck, w. h. (2009 ). null-hypothesis significance tests in behavioral and management research: we can do better. in d. bergh & d. ketchen (eds.), research methodology in strategy and management (vol. 5, pp. 29-54). new york: elsevier jai.. · schwab, a., abrahamson, e., starbuck, w. h., & fidler, f. (2011 ). researchers should make thoughtful assessments instead of null-hypothesis significance tests. organization science, 22(4), 1105–1120. · starbuck, w. h. (2005). how much better are the most prestigious journals? the statistics of academic publication. organization science, 16(2), 180-200. · webster, e. j., & starbuck, w. h. (1988). theory building in industrial and organizational psychology. in c. l. cooper & i. robertson (eds.), international review of industrial and organizational psychology (pp. 93138). london: wiley. · wolff, w. m. (1970). a study of criteria for journal manuscripts. american psychologist, 25(7), 636-639. references 528 eero vaara & anne reff pedersenm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 593-604 copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). m@n@gement is a double-blind refereed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.management-aims.com © 2013 m@n@gement and the author(s). m@n@gement est la revue officielle de l’aims m@n@gement is the journal official of aims eero vaara anne reff pedersen 2013 strategy and chronotopes: a bakhtinian perspective on the construction of strategy narratives m@n@gement, 16(5), 593-604. m@n@gement issn: 1286-4692 emmanuel josserand, cmos, university of technology, sydney (editor in chief) jean-luc arrègle, emlyon business school (editor) laure cabantous, cass business school (editor) stewart clegg, university of technology, sydney (editor) olivier germain, université du québec à montréal (editor, book reviews) karim mignonac, université de toulouse 1 (editor) philippe monin, emlyon business school (editor) tyrone pitsis, university of newcastle (editor) josé pla-barber, universidad de valència (editor) michael tushman, harvard business school (editor) walid shibbib, université de genève (managing editor) alexander bell, université de genève (editorial assistant) martin g. evans, university of toronto (editor emeritus) bernard forgues, emlyon business school (editor emeritus) special issue 593 strategy and chronotopes: a bakhtinian perspective on the construction of strategy narratives m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 593-604 strategy and chronotopes: a bakhtinian perspective on the construction of strategy narratives eero vaara hanken school of economics, helsinki emlyon business school, lyon eero.vaara@hanken.fi anne reff pedersen copenhagen business schoolarp.ioa@cbs.dk introduction in recent years, we have seen a proliferation of studies focusing on the discursive aspects of strategy and strategizing (knights & morgan, 1991; vaara, 2010; paroutis & heracleous, 2013; balogun et al., 2014). storytelling and narratives are generally seen as important parts of strategizing and strategic ‘sensemaking’ but in-depth studies of strategy narratives have been relatively scarce (barry & elmes, 1997; boje, 2008; fenton & langley, 2011). however, in a landmark analysis, barry and elmes (1997) highlighted the role of fiction in narratives and showed that today’s strategies are based on ancient narrative structures. boje (2008) illustrated how strategy literature provides alternative bases for understanding strategy and the construction of strategy narratives. fenton and langley (2011) in turn argued that multiple levels and forms of narrative are inherent to strategic practices. the purpose of this paper is to expand on this previous work by elucidating the processes through which understandings of time and space are constructed in strategy narratives. this is itself an important issue, in view of the lack of studies, either in management in general or strategy research in particular, that take the notion of time seriously (zaheer, albert & zaheer, 1999; ancona, okhuyesen & perlow, 2001; schultz & hernes, 2013). furthermore, without an understanding of how temporality is constructed in various types of narrative, we cannot fully comprehend the ways in which narratives enable or constrain strategic sensemaking. for this purpose, we draw on mikhael bakhtin’s notions of time and place as well as the works of gary morson and david boje. this helps us to go beyond chronological notions of time and to focus on ‘literary time’ in strategy narratives. we argue that strategy narratives involve various genres, with ‘chronotopes’ characteristic to each genre combining specific senses of time and place. this means that narratives of the past, the present and the future are based on resources that enable but also constrain these constructions. we also maintain that these constructions are articulated in ‘antenarratives’ – fragments of discourse that may or may not become widely shared or institutionalized narratives (boje, 2008, 2011). these antenarratives are ‘bets’, some of which may succeed and become institutionalized 594 eero vaara & anne reff pedersenm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 593-604 parts of organizational strategy. thus, we can understand how certain constructions of organizational objectives become taken-for-granted parts of organizational strategy. strategy as narrative strategy scholars have focused increasing attention on the role of language in strategy and strategizing (knights & morgan, 1991; hendry, 2000; samrafredericks, 2005; seidl, 2007; paroutis & heracleous, 2013). despite the proliferation of narrative analysis in more general management and organizational studies (czarniawska, 2004; gabriel, 2000; boje, 2001; sonenshein, 2010; vaara & tienari, 2011), there have been relatively few studies of strategy narratives or strategic storytelling. an early analysis elaborating on the role of stories in strategizing was provided by broms and gahmberg (1983) who showed how organizational strategizing can be seen as auto-communication based on storytelling. in other words, strategy to a large extent involves the ritualized repetition of specific narratives of organizational identity. barry and elmes (1997) emphasized the fictive nature of the narratives: ‘as authors of fiction, strategists are subject to the same basic challenge facing other fictionalist writers: how to develop an emerging compelling account, one that readers can willingly buy into and implement. any story that the strategist tells is but one of many competing alternatives woven from a vast array of possible characterizations, plot lines, and themes’ (p. 6). by drawing on shlovsky, they point out that any compelling narrative has to achieve two fundamental objectives: credibility (or believability) and defamiliarization (or novelty). materiality, voice, perspective, ordering, setting and readershiptargeting are among the key devices used to enhance credibility. to achieve novelty, there is a need for various kinds of strategy narratives because ‘readers have shifting preferences and attention spans’ (barry & elmes, 1997: 11). the narrative types that they identify are epic narratives (dramatic, heroic tales), technofuturist narratives (complex and detailed ‘quasi-scientific’ texts) and purist narratives (defamiliarizing, almost atemporal stories). boje (2008) proposed that strategy literature provides specific bases for the construction of strategy narratives. he distinguishes the following alternative forms of strategy narratives: ‘greek romantic’, ‘everyday’, ‘analytic biographic’, ‘chivalric’, ‘reversal of historical realism’, ‘clown-rogue-fool’, ‘rabelaisian purge’, ‘basis for rabelaisian’, ‘idyllic’ and ‘castle room’. in his analysis, he speaks of ‘chronotopes’, a bakhtinian concept that we will come back to later. in general, boje’s analysis highlights that strategy is and should be told in multiple voices and through multiple stories. fenton and langley (2011) elaborate on the central role of narratives in practical strategy. they argue that narratives can be found can be found in the micro-stories of organizational members, in the techniques of strategizing, in the accounts people provide of their work and in the various artefacts produced by strategizing. to date, we have, however, seen few works that take a narrative perspective on strategy. a rare example is provided by dunford and jones’ analysis (2000) of the way organizational changes were made sense of in three organizations. the stories differed but they all included specific anchors through which meanings were given to the past, present and future. in 595 strategy and chronotopes: a bakhtinian perspective on the construction of strategy narratives m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 593-604 their analysis of organizational changes, brown and humphreys (2003) found that senior managers explained events in narratives of epic change, whereas two groups of employees provided tragic narratives. küpers, mantere and statler (2013) examined strategy as a lived experience. they identified three narrative practices enacted during a workshop event: discursive struggles over ‘hot’ words, the de-sacralization of strategy and recurring rituals of selfsacrifice. vesa and franck (2013) in turn examined how managers experience strategy as a collection of ‘in situ vectors’ of the future. they identified three types of vectors in their analysis – unquestioned, resolute and fragmented experiential vectors – and demonstrated that these vectors are constantly present in strategy work. despite these advances, there is a paucity of knowledge about the alternative ways in which the past, present and the future are constructed in these strategy narratives. this is why we now turn to literary narrative analysis to develop a ‘literary time’ perspective on strategy narratives, to highlight the chronotopes in strategy narratives and to map out how specific conceptions of organizational objectives in time and space emerge from antenarrative storytelling. strategy narratives and literary time time can be understood in different ways. in organization and strategy studies, the focus has usually been on chronological time. several studies have examined how time (and its scales, rhythms and patterns) plays an important role in organizational change (gersick, 1989; van de ven & polley, 1992; brown & eisenhardt, 1997; zaheer, albert & zaheer, 1999). zaheer, albert and zaheer (1999), for example, concentrated on time scales and argued that the specification of the relevant time scale is as crucial as the specification of level or unit of analysis in organizational research. brown and eisenhardt (1997) found that successful companies managed to link the present and future together through rhythmic time-spaced transition processes. others have analyzed how time is subject to different interpretations in different organizations (staudemayer, tyre & perlow, 2002; cox & hassard, 2007). for instance, staudenmayer, tyre and perlow (2002) suggested that temporal shifts change collective experiences in a fundamental manner. cox and hassard (2007) in turn focused on retrospective methods in organizational research. they argued that the past is reconstructed in organizational research in four ways: controlling the past, interpreting the past, co-opting the past, and representing the past. although these and other studies have thus provided important insights into the role of time in organizations, we lack understanding of how exactly the future – and consequently the present and past – are constructed in strategizing. for this purpose, we suggest that it is useful to move from a chronological perspective on time to a meaning-based approach. ricœur (1988) is probably the most well-known philosopher of time in narratives. he defines two concepts of historical time: cosmic time, the time of the world, and phenomenological time, the time of our lives. in his book time and narrative (ricœur 1988), he argues that cosmic time can become phenomenological time to the extent that it is articulated in a narrative mode, and narrative attains 596 eero vaara & anne reff pedersenm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 593-604 its full significance when it becomes a condition of temporal existence. central to ricœur’s understanding of narrative time is its capacity to represent the human experience of time. ricœur points out that we experience time in two different ways. we make sense of time as linear succession when we observe the passing hours and days and the progression of our lives from birth to death. this is cosmological time: time expressed in the metaphor of the ‘river’ of time. the other is phenomenological time: time experienced in terms of the meaning of the past, present and future. these two conceptions of time have often been seen as opposites, but ricœur argues that they share a relationship of mutual presupposition. the order of ‘past-present-future’ within phenomenological time presupposes the succession characteristic of cosmological time. the past is always before the present, which is always after the past and before the future. the order of succession is invariable, and this order is not part of the concepts of past, present or future, which are considered merely as existential orientations. on the other hand, within cosmological time, the identification of supposedly anonymous instants of time as ‘before’ and ‘after’ within the succession borrows from the phenomenological orientation to past and future. ricœur thereby argues that any understanding of time is linked to an understanding of human existence and interpretations. the importance of this view on time is obvious for strategy narratives. the very idea in strategy is to create images of the future that can serve as compelling objectives for organizational actors and activities. while constructing the future, one also explicitly or implicitly defines the present and the past by focusing attention on specific ideas and thus creating particular meanings. the point is that future ‘visions’, ‘missions’, ‘dreams’ and other such constructions define time by the events, goals or targets that are set for the future and by the references to the present or past. this is not chronological time, but a combination of cosmological and phenomenological time. the russian literary philosopher mikhael bakhtin has spoken about ‘literary time’, time as it is constructed in literature (bakhtin, 1981). in this paper, we use this term to refer to the temporal dimension of strategy narratives in their textual form. this notion is similar to ricœur’s understanding of time, but it emphasizes the linkage to literary forms of presentation and their enabling and constraining features, thus enabling us to elaborate on the role of time and temporality in different types of narratives and genres. genres and chronotopes in strategy narratives strategy narratives have to be linked with the conditions of their production. bakhtin introduced the term ‘chronotope’ to analyze the spatio-temporal basis of all narratives and other linguistic acts. in greek, ‘chronos’ means time and ‘topos’ place. the term is developed in bakhtin’s essay ‘forms of time and of the chronotope in the novel’ (bakhtin, 1981). the initial idea was that the chronotope underlines that time cannot be understood without a spatial dimension. in other words, in a chronotope, time and space are intertwined (pedersen 2009). in this view, the chronotope is a unit of analysis for studying language according to characteristics of the temporal and spatial categories 597 strategy and chronotopes: a bakhtinian perspective on the construction of strategy narratives m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 593-604 represented in language (morson & emerson, 1990: 366). morson and emerson put it as follows: ‘bakhtin’s crucial point is that time and space vary in qualities; different social activities and representations of those activities presume different kinds of time and space. time and space are therefore not just ‘mathematical abstractions’’ (morson & emerson, 1990: 367). the key point for our purposes is that specific chronotopes characterize particular literary genres, which can each serve as bases for different organizational strategy narratives. bakhtin distinguished six types of literary genre: the greek romance, the adventure novel of everyday life, the biography, the chivalric romance, the rabelaisian novel (rogue, clown and fool), and the idyllic novel. each of these genres involve specific understandings of space, time and characteristic chronotopes as summarized in table 1 below. table 1. literary genres and chronotopes in bakhtin’s analysis literary genre space time chronotope greek romance an abstract alien, golden age world adventure time of the future the encounter adventure of everyday life the real and concrete events of everyday life time of the present the road biography the public square real life combining past and present the real time chivalric romance a miraculous dream world in nature miraculous past time the beauty of the nature rabelaisian novel (roque, clown and fool) plays and dramas including body, clothing, food, drink, sex, death, defecation productive growth of future and possible time the threshold idyllic novel family territory, unity of space idyllic and folkloric past time the family idyll in the greek romance, the focus is on an alien imaginary in the ‘golden age’. this is a time of adventure. for bakhtin, its chronotope is ‘the encounter’, which is seen as the most abstract and static of them all (bakhtin, 1981: 91). the adventure novel of everyday life fuses the course of an individual’s life (and its major turning points) with the actual concrete spaces that he or she visits. the time is the moment of time – in the present. the chronotope is ‘the road’. the biography unfolds in a real life chronotope at ‘the public square’ where the focus is on how people understand themselves and others by combining the past, present and the future. in the chivalric romance, the focus is on a miraculous world in an adventurous past time. the chronotope is ‘the nature’, but, in this genre what is miraculous becomes normal, including a fantastic understanding of animals (horses) and nature. the fifth literary genre is related to the function of the rogue, clown and fool in novels. bakhtin describes how these figures are exposed in rabelais’ novels (françois rabelais, c. 1494 – april 9, 1553) that focus on human bodies, food, drink and drunkenness, sex, death, and defecation. what is unique in the rabelaisian novel is that time is collective – it is differentiated and measured only by the events of collective life. this points to the possible in time and the future of time. the last genre is the idyllic novel. in this genre, idyllic life – composed of 598 eero vaara & anne reff pedersenm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 593-604 love, birth, death, marriage, labor, food and drink – is inseparable from places such as the home and often focuses on the past. morson has explained how time and space are linked in the different literary genres: ‘in greek romances, there are no moments of choice, because fate determines all. things happen to the hero and heroine; ‘the initiative in this time does not belong to human beings.’ in adventure time, there are occasional nodes of pure freedom separated by mechanical causal consequence. but in contrast, in the every day novel, every moment contains a small measure of choice. this prosaic concept of time, in which a small but real measure of choice exists at every instant, characterizes the novelistic chronotope and differentiates it from other narrative forms. it also leads to a moral emphasis not on dramatic decisions at great moments, the stuff of romance, adventure, and the heroic, but on small decisions at every ordinary moment’ (morson, 1994: 367). in terms of strategy narratives, the point is that all these genres and chronotopes can serve as a basis for the construction of organizational strategies. as mentioned, barry and elmes (1997) distinguished between the epic, technofuturist and purist narrative types of. boje (2008), in turn, classified the different literary genres in two types: adventure chronotopes (greek romantic, everyday, analytic biographic, chivalric) and folkloric chronotopes (reversal of historical realism, clown-rogue-fool, rabelaisian purge, basis for rabelaisian, idyllic, and castle room) to point out how strategies can be constructed in very differently in different ‘strategy schools’. however, in our view there is no need to stop there; there are probably more genres and chronotopes that play a role in the narrative construction of organizational strategies. in particular, ‘everyday time’ can offer a new perspective on strategy work and help recognize the importance of small decisions in the present instead of only focusing on the future or the past. different narrative forms often give competing versions of an organization’s strategy. for example, an idyllic tale of a positive future can be challenged by critics using the examples of works from more rabelaisian genres. the crucial point is that different genres involve different chronotopes; different versions of an organization’s strategy narratives construct different types of time and place for strategic decision-making and the strategists. for example, a company’s strategy can be described in ‘everyday time’ by referring to the real life actions of the ceo. in such narratives, ‘the road’ is a frequent chronotope, allowing one to envision strategy as a trajectory of one person’s actions (ganser, puhringer & rheindorf, 2006). the official strategy of the company can in turn be a greek romance or even a chivalric story that reconstructs miraculous events in a kind of dream world, creating an envisioned trajectory for the future. this can also involve nostalgia and references to the ‘good old times’. finally, rabelaisian time can provide a basis for constructions of strategy that emphasize the collective, open, roleplaying and participative aspects of strategizing. this can involve references to special collective experiences such as the christmas party or a very successful away day, but also to more colorful carnivalistic storytelling that goes beyond what is usually seen as appropriate strategy or strategizing. mcdonalds, for instance, uses the image of the clown as a carnivalistic figure in its strategy narratives, constructing a powerful, humorous, playful tale, resistant to critics (boje, driver & cai, 2005). 599 strategy and chronotopes: a bakhtinian perspective on the construction of strategy narratives m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 593-604 antenarratives, living stories and institutionalized strategies how do some constructions then become widely spread stories and even institutionalized strategy narratives whereas others do not? boje’s (2008, 2011) storytelling approach, greatly influenced by bakhtin’s ideas, provides an interesting conceptual basis to clarify this issue. he focuses attention on ‘antenarratives’ as essential means of organizational sensemaking. according to this view, ‘[a]ntenarratives are prospective (forward-looking) bets that an ante-story (before-story) can change organizational relationships’ (boje, 2008: 13). antenarratives are fragments of discourse that are articulated to make sense of things or to give sense to them in chaotic organizational reality. this means that rather than focusing on traditional narrative analysis of relatively salient structures, plots and actants, one should zoom in on the fragmented pieces of discourse – antenarratives – that create specific kinds of meanings. thus, antenarrative analysis allows one to focus on ongoing prospective sensemaking and sensegiving. boje puts it as follows: ‘forwardlooking antenarratives are the most abundant in business, yet the mostoverlooked in research and consulting practice. these fragile antenarratives, like the butterfly, are sometimes able to change the future, to set changes and transformations in motion that have an impact on the big picture. more accurately, antenarratives seem to bring about a future that would not otherwise be.’ (boje, 2008: 13-14). the antenarrative perspective thus allows people to understand the complexity of emerging strategy narratives. these narratives can involve a bricolage of several types of narratives where the ‘official’ way of telling the story is only one part of the picture. importantly, organizational strategizing involves polyphony: multiple antenarratives that provide alternative and competing bases for an organization’s strategy. in ongoing storytelling, some of these antenarratives then ‘take on’, that is, they make sense to others (hardy et al., 2000). these antenarratives thus become ‘living stories’ (boje, 2008) that are spread in organizational storytelling. they may also develop into institutionalized ways of making sense of and giving sense to strategy. over time, they can even become important ‘sediments’ of organizational identity (czarniawska, 2004). although only some strategy narratives, particular constructions of objectives, gain such privileged status, there are usually alternatives to the ‘official strategy narratives’. however, these competing versions may be expressed in the form of other, often unconventional, genres and chronotopes. that is, the official epic or romantic strategies are complemented and often challenged by tragic, comic, ironic, cynical or even carnivalistic tales. in bakhtin’s terms, this means ‘dialogicality’ – the fact that specific types of narratives tend to co-exist in particular ways (bakhtin 1981, 1986; hazen 1993; boje 2008). in this view, bakhtin emphasizes that no matter how efficiently a narrative has smoothed a sequence of events by means of a plot that seems to fit neatly to the sequence of events and actions, there is always an opportunity for alternative interpretations (bakhtin 1993). moreover, time, being alive, is always open to the contingencies of the unpredictable and ever-changing world. thus, in addition to providing alternative and competing versions, the strategy narratives also complement each other in organizational strategizing. in this view, strategy work is the unfolding of many possible stories. an adventure 600 eero vaara & anne reff pedersenm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 593-604 story, that builds on the greek romance and ‘the encounter’ chronotope, provides the basis for a reconstruction of a new common future. pragmatic everyday narratives that focus on the present are important to spell out how an imagined strategy links with one’s own everyday work and actions. a biography type of description of strategy may serve to personify achievements and objectives and to glorify specific individuals such as current or past top managers. a chivalric strategy story can then provide an inspiring basis for the future, allowing for imaginative futures and ambitious ideas to be talked into being. a carnivalistic strategy – maybe resembling rabelesian novels – can serve to highlight collective efforts, but also for criticizing the official, top management centered visions. a family idyll type of strategy narrative can in turn feed nostalgic needs and be used to legitimate the status quo. and so on. the co-existence of strategy narratives is not inconsequential but different strategy narratives give voice to different actors and ideas. strategic ideas do not emerge from the open air but are related to competing antenarratives. some of these antenarratives may then develop into more institutionalized strategy narratives. we emphasize that all these narratives involve specific genres and chronotopes that construct the past, present and the future in particular ways. furthermore, these strategy narratives are constructed in a particular time and space: some strategy narratives are useful to make sense of the present, while others are referring to past experiences or future expectations. figure 1 summarizes our theoretical framework. figure 1. theoretical framework: constructions of strategy narratives in time and space institutionalized strategy narratives: organizational objectives in time and space genres and chronotopes: greek romantic pragmatic everyday biographical chivalric carnivalistic idyllic strategic ideas ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ antenarratives: alternative and competing stories 601 strategy and chronotopes: a bakhtinian perspective on the construction of strategy narratives m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 593-604 conclusion despite a general interest in storytelling in strategizing, there is a lack of understanding of how exactly strategy narratives construct the past, present, and future. such analysis is important in and of itself but also because it helps to comprehend how specific constructions affect what is seen as relevant, important, legitimate or natural in organizational strategizing. for this purpose, we have outlined a bakhtin-inspired view of strategy narratives. this view builds on an understanding of literary time, highlights the role of genres and chronotopes in strategy tales and underscores the process through which some antenarratives become widespread stories and even institutionalized parts of an organization’s strategy. the implications of this analysis help us to better understand some of the key questions that have remained poorly understood in strategy literature. in particular, through an analysis of chronotopes, we can better comprehend how strategizing as creative activity is both enabled and constrained by readily available forms, often in ways that we are not aware of. furthermore, by analyzing how different types of antenarratives become living stories and finally institutionalized strategies, we can see how strategizing is based on dialogicality and polyphony. this often passes unnoticed in more conventional analysis. this paper has sketched a bakhtinian framework to better understand the narrative construction of strategies in organizations. however, many theoretical issues require further development. future studies could for example go further in their analysis of specific genres and chronotopes and investigate how they relate to strategizing. for example, typical strategy stories often tend to promote the power position of specific individuals and glorify their actions. future studies could dig deeper into such tendencies and their implications on strategizing. the rabelaisian novel and carnivalistic stories can provide alternatives to dominant strategy narratives. by doing so, they promote collective, playful sensemaking and widespread organizational participation in strategy work. everyday stories, with their focus on ‘the road’, can embrace the way strategy narratives happen in the present, in the everyday life and work of the organization. a closer analysis of such narratives and storytelling would thus be particularly fruitful. there is also much more that can be done to better understand how particular strategy antenarratives become institutionalized and what it is that happens to dialogicality in such processes. more than anything else, there is a need for empirical work in this area. we hope that this framework can inspire empirical studies of strategy narratives. we also believe that it is only through careful case-specific analysis that we can really understand the complexities, ambiguities and contradictions of strategy narratives, and discover how the past, present and future are constructed in strategic storytelling. 602 eero vaara & anne reff pedersenm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 593-604 eero vaara works as a professor of management and organization at hanken school of economics in helsinki, finland. he is a permanent visiting professor at emlyon business school, france, a distinguished visiting scholar at lancaster university, uk, a and an adjunct professor at copenhagen business school, denmark. his research interests focus on organizational and institutional change, strategic practices and processes, multinational corporations and globalization, management education, and methodological issues in organization and management research. he has worked especially on discursive and narrative approaches. his work has been published in leading journals and several books, and he has received several awards for his contributions. anne reff pedersen works as an associate professor of organization at copenhagen business school, denmark. she is an academic director for the executive program of public management (master of public governance). her research interest focuses on organizational change; coordination & time, health care management, organization and innovation and evolves around an interest in the use of narratives as a methods, analysis and theory in organization and management research. her work has been published in several journals and books and she has received societal and academic awards for her research contributions. 603 strategy and chronotopes: a bakhtinian perspective on the construction of strategy narratives m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 593-604 · ancona, d. g., okhuysen, g. a., & perlow, l. a. (2001). taking time to integrate temporal research. academy of management review, 26(4), 512-529. · balogun, j., jacobs, c., jarzabkowski, p., mantere, s., & vaara, e. (forthcoming). strategy as discourse: its significance, challenges and future directions. journal of management studies. · bakhtin m. (1981). the dialogic imagination. four essays by mm bakhtin. austin, tx: university of texas press. · bakhtin, m. m. (1986). speech genres and other late essays. (v. w. mcgee, trans.). austin, tx: university of texas press. · bakhtin, m. m. (1993). toward a philosophy of the act. (v. liapunov, trans.). austin, tx: university of texas press. · barry, d., & elmes m. (1997). strategy retold: toward a narrative view of strategic discourse. academy of management review, 22(2), 429-452. · boje, d. (2001). narrative methods for organizational snd communication research. london: sage. · boje, d., driver, m., & cai, y. (2005). fiction and humor in transforming mcdonald’s narrative strategies. culture and organization, 11(3), 195-208. · boje d. (2008). storytelling organizations. london: sage. · boje, d. (2011). storytelling and the future of organizations: an antenarrative handbook. london: routledge. · broms, h., & gahmberg, h. (1983). communication to self in organizations and cultures. administrative science quarterly, 28(3), 482-495. · brown, s., & eisenhardt, k. (1997). the art of continuous change: linking complexity theory and time-paced evolution in relentlessly shifting organizations. administrative science quarterly, 42(1), 1-34. · brown, a. d., & humphreys, m. (2003). epic and tragic tales making sense of change. the journal of applied behavioral science, 39(2), 121-144. · cox, j., & hassard, j. (2007). ties to the past in organization research: a comparative analysis of retrospective methods. organization, 14(4), 475-497. · czarniawska, b. (2004). narratives in social science research. london: sage. · dunford, r., & jones, d. (2000). narrative in strategic change. human relations, 53(9), 1207-1226. · fenton, c., & langley, a. (2011). strategy as practice and the narrative turn. organization studies, 32(9), 1171-1196. · ganser. a., puhringer. j, & rheindof. m. (2006). bakhtin’s chronotope on the road. linguistics and literature, 4(1), 1-17. · gersick, c. (1989). marking time: predictable transitions in task groups. academy of management journal, 32(2), 274-309. · gabriel y. (2000). storytelling in organizations: facts, fictions and fantasies. oxford: oxford university press. · hardy, c., palmer, i., & phillips, n. (2000). discourse as a strategic resource. human relations, 53(9), 1227-1248. · hazen, m. a. (1993). towards polyphonic organization. journal of organizational change management, 6(5), 15-26. · hendry, j. (2000). strategic decision making, discourse, and strategy as social practice. journal of management studies, 37(7), 955-978. · knights, d. & morgan, g. (1991). corporate strategy, organizations, and subjectivity: a critique. organization studies, 12(2), 251-273. · küpers, w., mantere, s. & statler, m. (2013). strategy as storytelling: a phenomenological exploration of embodied narrative practice. journal of management inquiry, 22(1), 83-100. · morson, g. s. (1994). narrative and freedom: the shadows of time. new haven, yale university press. · morson, g. s., & emerson, c. (1990). mikhail bakhtin: creation of a prosaic. stanford: stanford university press. · paroutis, s., & heracleous, l. (2013). discourse revisited: dimensions and employment of first-order strategy discourse during institutional adoption. strategic management journal, forthcoming. · pedersen, a. r. (2009). moving away from chronological time: introducing the shadows of time and chronotopes as new understandings of narrative time. organization, 16(3), 389-406. · ricœur, p. (1988). time and narrative. chicago, il: university of chicago press. references 604 eero vaara & anne reff pedersenm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 593-604 · samra-fredericks, d. (2005). strategic practice, discourse and the everyday interactional constitution of power effects. organization, 12(6), 803-841. · schultz, m., & hernes, t. (2013). a temporal perspective on organizational identity. organization science, 24(1), 1-21. · seidl, d. (2007). general strategy concepts and the ecology of strategy discourses: a systemic-discursive perspective. organization studies, 28(2), 197-218. · sonenshein, s. (2010). we’re changing-or are we? untangling the role of progressive, regressive, and stability narratives during strategic change implementation. academy of management journal, 53(3), 477-512. · staudenmayer, n. tyre, m., & perlow, l. (2002). time to change: temporal shifts as enablers of organizational change. organization science, 13(5), 583-597. · vaara, e. (2002). on the discursive construction of success/failure in narratives of postmerger integration. organization studies, 23(2), 211-248. · vaara, e. (2010). taking the linguistic turn seriously: strategy as a multifaceted and interdiscursive phenomenon. advances in strategic management, 27, 29-50. · vaara, e., & tienari, j. (2011). on the narrative construction of mncs: an antenarrative analysis of legitimation and resistance in a crossborder merger. organization science, 22(2), 370-390. · van de ven, a., & polley, d. (1992). learning while innovating. organization science, 3(1) 92-116. · vesa, m., & franck, h. (2013). bringing strategy to time, studying strategy as experiential vectors. scandinavian journal of management, 29(1), 23-34. · zaheer s., albert, s., & zaheer, a. (1999). time scales and organizational theory. academy of management review, 24(4), 725-741. my own book review unplugged my own book review karl e. weick (1979), the social psychology of organizing, second edition. reviewed by himself the “unplugged” section seeks to experience new forms of book reviews. we regularly grant a wild card to a world-class scholar to review his/her own classic. in “my own book review”, authors will tell us the story of "what i was trying to do" with sometimes some auto-ethnographic considerations. by recounting the building process of one seminal research with a contemporary lens, they may give some insights for the current craft of research and also share with us renunciations, doubts and joys in their intimate writing experience. ! what constitutes a self-review of the second edition of “the social psychology of organizing (hereafter spo2)? since such a review is supposed to be “performative” and “auto-ethnographic” it won’t necessarily look like a traditional book review consisting of “book, overview, bits of excerpt, some wrangling, some praise, followed by the larger pronouncement” (birkerts, 2015). bits of excerpt, however, set this commentary in motion. the very first sentence in the book reads, “this is a book about organizational appreciation.” appreciation? the last 2 sentences in the book read, “organizations keep people busy, occasionally entertain them, give them a variety of experiences, keep them off the streets, provide pretexts for storytelling, and allow socializing. they haven’t anything else to give.” that’s appreciation? what goes on in between that ties these two thoughts together? that middle can be described in terms of substance, historical embedding, intentions, form, tools deployed, wishes, and summation. ! the substance of this book was described in a disarming fashion by the social psychologist and editor, charles kiesler. in the first 1969 edition he described the book as a “fresh theoretical approach that provides us oldsters with new insights while maintaining the proper level of difficulty for an introductory text.” in the second edition he wrote that the book is “an intriguing introduction for the beginning student”. “fresh” had morphed into “intriguing” but the beginning student was still baffled. ! the word “organizing” suggested that the book was more about processes than structures. attempts were made to articulate organizational life as sequence, motion, implementation of recipes, chains of events, series of actions (enactment, selection, retention), narrative-like constructions with a beginning + middle + end, accomplishing, and streaming. a generic pattern in all of this activity was modeled after donald campbell’s summary of sociocultural evolution as variation and selective retention with variation and retention being opposed to one another. modification of these basics included the replacement of variation with enactment, the shift of environmental impact from selection to enactment, the addition of feedback loops from retention to both enactment and selection, m@n@gement 2015, vol. 18(2): 189-193 189 paperback: 294 pages publisher: mcgraw-hill (1979) language: english isbn: 978-0075548089 the stipulation that adaptation and adaptability required that the effects of retention on subsequent action be split and both credited and discredited, and that what was selected was not individuals but interpretations. the evolutionary model was mapped onto human activity by means of the sensemaking recipe, “how can i/we know what i/we think until i/we see what i/we say.” saying was enacting, seeing was selecting, thinking was retaining. and further adapting meant that subsequent saying and seeing had to be both similar to and different from what had been retained. abstract as all of this is, it generated themes such as “ambivalence is the optimal compromise, loose coupling promotes adaptation, ignorance is functional, everything flows, adaptation can preclude adaptability, and things keep falling apart” (p. 120). ! the “social psychology” that was invoked included mainly interpersonal influence, conformity, the minimal social situation, collective structure, and double interacts. that listing is short because much of the discussion came from other disciplines and literary sources. a shorthand phrase for all of this is implied in my 2006 article (weick, 2006) titled “faith, evidence, and action: better guesses in an unknowable world.” that’s what organizing is and does. “it doesn’t take much to organize” (p. 89). when combined, complex as these themes may sound, they create a world in which small units are crucial, deviation amplification matters, and “a minimalist approach to understanding organizations” (p.236) tells us a lot about organizations. “organizations are in the business of making sense. if they attend to anything with consistency and regularity, it is to their sense-making activities” (p. 250). people organize to manage ambiguity, puzzles, uncertainty, and equivocality. to reduce ambiguity, they turn the commonplace maxim that “the map is not the territory” on its head, and instead treat their maps as the territory by means of enactment. this suggests, contrary to prevailing organization theory, that organizations are as much closed systems as open systems. they are enclosed by self-fulfilling prophecies. they create the competitive environments in which they are “forced” to compete. in doing do, they claim to be good at adaptation. in fact, they are just as good at fabrication. ! a historical embedding of this 294 page second edition begins with the 121 page first edition published in 1969. that 1969 edition elaborated, in terse fashion, seven “components of a revised concept of organizations.” in paraphrase these include (1) organizing processes must be reaccomplished, (2) control is accomplished by relationships, (3) goal consensus is not a precondition of order, (4) triads are the basic unit of analysis, (5) processes of attention dominate, (6) existence requires a balance of stability and flexibility, and (7) organizing is directed toward removing equivocality from the informational environment (pp. 36-42). those themes persist in 1979 but connect with a much broader set of dynamics. ! several themes in spo2 reflect its placement in earlier development of organizational theory. cybernetics and systems theory were prominent at the time as reflected in citations to the work of walter buckley, stafford beer, george miller, eugene galanter, karl pribram, james g. miller, and magoroh maruyama. the recurring theme that action leads rather than follows cognition, reflects the continuing influence of post-decision reduction of cognitive dissonance through justification, harold garfinkel and alfred schutz’s exploration of retrospective accounts, and daryl bem’s self-perception theory (bem, 1967). warren thorngate postulated that no theory can be simultaneously general (imagine a clockface with “general” at the 12:00 position), accurate (4:00), and simple (8:00). intermediate positions such as a mixture of general and accurate at 2:00 were noteworthy since they were as far away from the third position – in this case “simple” at 8:00 – as it was possible to get. these tradeoffs helped to position what was happening in the mid-70s in organization theory. they also positioned what was happening in spo2. at times the arguments were meant to fit all organizations (general) by locating an explicit unit of social behavior in all of them m@n@gement, 17(2): 189-193! my own book review 190 1. see pages 51-60 in spo2 for a detailed discussion of davis’s argument. (accurate). this meant of course that the third property, simplicity, disappeared. but no sooner had simplicity disappeared than it reappeared as general and simple theorizing at 10:00 (e.g. it’s all nothing but retrospective sensemaking) and accuracy disappeared. those sudden shifts in order to drive home a point undoubtedly lie behind the insistence throughout the book that it is a book about theorizing rather than theory. it’s a book about trying to grasp the complexity of organizations by means of complex conjectures. ! at the time spo2 was being written the concept of cognitive maps was salient. and we, under the brilliant guidance of michel bougon, had published our own variant labeled “cause maps” using data gathered from a year-long observation of the utrecht jazz orchestra (bougon, weick & binkhorst (1977). much like the hammer that converts all the world into nails, our enthusiasm for cause maps found them everywhere. little did i realize just how restrictive a schema based mostly on variables and causes and effects could be. it was tidy for presenting data but not of much help to those musicians who were generating those data. ! given the preceding material, what were my intentions or as the editor put it, “what was i trying to do?” remember, i think retrospect is a big deal and hindsight for me is less a bias than normal functioning. i was trying to sound like a social psychologist but found that to be an unexpectedly confining niche. there really wasn’t a social psychology of organizing in the late 60s although there was a remarkably strong social psychology of organizations written by katz and kahn. so i was trying, in a true sensemaking sense, to bracket concepts that produced a plausible rendering of organizing. i was also trying to make the book “interesting.” in the 70s, murray davis’s essay “that’s interesting1” had many of us trying not to sound absurd, irrelevant, or obvious and trying instead to disconfirm assumptions that were weakly held. that doesn’t make for a cumulative discipline but it can spice up one’s reading. and the 1969 book did need to be enlivened….although there is a constituency to this day that regards the ’69 book as the better of the two editions. ! i was also trying to assemble provocative juxtapositions, to demonstrate that a micro perspective matters, to reconcile systems with modular constructions, to avoid getting bogged down in entities, to stamp out nouns, and to express an indebtedness to the work of schutz, garfinkel, campbell, march, william james, kelley, and bateson, as is suggested by the citations. ! the form of the book meshes with its substance, history, and intentions. that form resembles a collage, a mosaic, an eclectic assemblage, a series of mini-essays, texts awaiting exegesis or, for want of a better description, “a swiss army knife for design” (p. 240). ! a different kind of evidence is mustered. the work that is used to depict organizing ranges across people such as robert redfield, tom schelling, georg simmel, john steinbeck, walker percy, kurt vonnegut, heinz von foerster, gordon allport, floyd allport, sir frederic bartlett, kenneth burke, otto fenichel, daniel kahneman writing about attention and effort, arthur koestler, edmund leach, and constantine cavafy. ! the evidentiary quality of citations such as these lies in what they evoke in the reader’s own experience. that’s why much of this book is framed as organizational theorizing rather than organizational theory. this argument is summarized on pages 27-35, which is titled “know what you’re doing.” pages 27-29 provide two examples of what that title means. the first is john steinbeck’s vivid contrast of a mexican sierra fish when pulled out of a jar of formaldehyde in a laboratory and when pulled out of the sea of cortez thrashing at the end of a fishing line. the second exhibit, from mad magazine, shows a rare event that is destroyed by an overzealous research specialist. both images have their impact when they evoke equivalent first-hand experience in the reader. those my own book review! m@n@gement, 18(2): 189-193 191 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/heinz_von_foerster http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/heinz_von_foerster 2. see pp. 81-89 in spo1 and pages 72-88 in spo2. 3. the power of the idea of grammar is evident in discussions such as pentland, b. t. (1995). evocations are the evidence i’m interested in. those evocations are part of the everyday grounding for the more abstract ideas that are being presented. ! several tools deployed conceptually in the book helped hold the argument together at the time and have continued to do so ever since. for example, leonard meyer’s “presumption of logic” (p. 138) argues that comprehension is based significantly on what one presumes will have happened to make a current strange experience more sensible. a field experiment with jazz orchestras exposed to the same new music portrayed as written by a high or low credible composer, produced more or less attentive performances that “confirmed” the attributed credibility (weick, gilfillan & keith, 1973). ! but this is hardly the only tool that recurs. a provocative start to almost any organizational inquiry is herbert simon’s “empty world hypothesis,” most things are only weakly connected with most other things (p. 111). that pattern of tight within stable sub-assemblies and loose between them, articulated in 1962 and reaffirmed in subsequent work on loose coupling, begs for refinement in the current supposedly hyper-connected world. maybe we still function in an “empty world” but what is tight and loose and within and between and stable all have changed. another useful starting point in organizational inquiry is to look for cause loops that are either deviation amplifying (an even number of positive relationships between variables in a loop) or deviation counteracting (an odd number of positive relationship between variables in a loop)3. in a crude sense, deviation counteracting cause loops organize and epitomize organizing whereas amplifying loops disorganize and move toward anomie and entropy. ! discussed in spo2, and appearing since then are durable ideas such as ambivalence is the optimal compromise because it does not dilute resources for adaptation (p. 219); people enact their own constraints (p. 149); and, the more independent sensors in a medium, the greater the likelihood of achieving a workable level of certainty (modeled after the functioning of a contour gauge on p. 190). closely related to the idea that a fine grained contour gauge is a reasonable model for perceptual sensitivity is the recurring counsel, complicate yourself. if there is an “obsession” throughout spo2, it is with the idea of requisite variety, the experience that it takes complexity to register complexity. my heavy reliance on this principle is evident in the variety of images already used in this review to articulate organizing, including a heavy turn toward the humanities. rereading spo2 36 years later, there are several topics i wish i had developed more fully. for example, decision-making, a perennial hot topic in organization theory, was mentioned exactly one time (p. 175). “decision-making in the organizing model means selecting some interpretation of the world and some set of extrapolations from that interpretation and then using these summaries as constraints on subsequent acting.” that neglect is not surprising since my own research was on pre and post decision behavior rather than on the making of the decision itself. as things begin to make sense, options shrink, they narrow the choice which, once it’s made, triggers justification. ! the concept of organizing as a grammar was introduced right at the outset (p. 3) and was embedded in this definition: “organizing is a consensually validated grammar for reducing equivocality by means of sensible interlocked behaviors.” but the concept of grammar was much less prominent thereafter despite its promise as a means to articulate process. i simply found it easier to use the idea of “recipe” (e.g. pp. 45-47) to do the work of a grammar2. ! one can’t invoke an evolutionary model without close attention to environmental selection. to move away from a macro population ecology emphasis and to move closer to social psychology, the environment was “moved” closer to action and its terminology was changed to “ecological change” (e.g. p. 130). the intent was to bring in more context by calling the external world an “ecology.” furthermore, i wanted to clarify that the ecology had an impact mostly when there was a “change” such as an interruption and that human actions m@n@gement, 17(2): 189-193! my own book review 192 (enactment) could modify ecology just as it could modify enactment. again, in the enthusiasm to develop the notion of enactment, ecological change drew less attention, something that now may change as philosophical realism becomes resurgent. ! the verb “impose” appears frequently in the text. but, while we know what may be imposed (e.g. cause map, schema, frame of reference), we don’t know who or what is doing the imposing. this is a natural point for a strong connection to institutional logic, but that did not happen in the late 70s. another word, this one the adjective “equivocal,” may have discouraged followup from those people more comfortable with the word “ambiguity”, a close synonym. equivocal seemed to have more connotations of multiple meanings rather no meanings, and that’s why i kept it. ! i wish more had been done to position the organizing argument in relation to katz and kahn’s (1966/1978) “social psychology of organizations.” their focus on “interdependence” was complemented by my focus on interaction but that combination is only visible in our joint discussion of partial inclusion. they had more access to real organizations than i did, while i made more use of the laboratories that were ready to hand. ! the concepts in spo2 are borrowed heavily from the literature of visual perception, but much of this metaphorical usage could be deepened. a good example is the distinction between figure and ground. that image shows up at least 8 different times in the book (e.g. equivocality is a potential figure-ground arrangement, p. 131) but the process by which one is separated from the other is not discussed. that’s unfortunate because such separating is the essence of sensemaking and equivocality reduction. imagine for example a figure ground reversal (p. 201). the ground relative to the figure gets larger, faster. as this happens less and less makes sense. with the benefit of hindsight, that sounds a lot like a “cosmology episode” (weick, 1993). ! in summation, while working on this commentary i kept thinking about bergson’s observation that “a true philosopher says only one thing in his lifetime because he enjoys but one contact with the real.” apparently my one contact must have started with the question, “how do you organize to enact order into streaming ambiguity?” and my answer continues to be, “beats me!” i do have hunches. but they are not discipline-specific. and that may be the best i can do in response to the editor’s request to say something about craft for the current generation. if you want to register complex coordination, embrace complex ideas. and 140 character digital summaries are not my idea of complex registering. then again, i’ve already had my one contact with the real. as the last sentence in the book said, i haven’t anything else to give. references bem, d. j. (1967). self-perception: the dependent variable of human performance. organizational behavior and human performance, 2(2), 105-121. birkerts, s. (2015). on there is simply too much to think about: collected nonfiction. sven birkerts interviews sven birkerts; april 2nd, los angeles review of books. bougon, m., weick, k., & binkhorst, d. (1977). cognition in organizations: an analysis of the utrecht jazz orchestra. administrative science quarterly, 22(4), 606-639. pentland, b. t. (1995). grammatical models of organizational processes. organization science, 6(5), 541-556. weick, k. e. (1993). the collapse of sensemaking in organizations: the mann gulch disaster. administrative science quarterly, 38(4), 628-652. weick, k. e. (2006). faith, evidence, and action: better guesses in an unknowable world. organization studies, 27(11), 1723-1736. weick, k. e., gilfillan, d. p., & keith, t. a. (1973). the e f f e c t o f c o m p o s e r c r e d i b i l i t y o n o r c h e s t r a performance. sociometry, 435-462. © the author(s) www.management-aims.com my own book review! m@n@gement, 18(2): 189-193 193 528 andré spicerm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 653-666 copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). m@n@gement is a double-blind refereed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.management-aims.com © 2013 m@n@gement and the author(s). m@n@gement est la revue officielle de l’aims m@n@gement is the journal official of aims andré spicer 2013 shooting the shit: the role of bullshit in organisations m@n@gement, 16(5), 653-666. m@n@gement issn: 1286-4692 emmanuel josserand, cmos, university of technology, sydney (editor in chief) jean-luc arrègle, emlyon business school (editor) laure cabantous, cass business school (editor) stewart clegg, university of technology, sydney (editor) olivier germain, université du québec à montréal (editor, book reviews) karim mignonac, université de toulouse 1 (editor) philippe monin, emlyon business school (editor) tyrone pitsis, university of newcastle (editor) josé pla-barber, universidad de valència (editor) michael tushman, harvard business school (editor) walid shibbib, université de genève (managing editor) alexander bell, université de genève (editorial assistant) martin g. evans, university of toronto (editor emeritus) bernard forgues, emlyon business school (editor emeritus) special issue 653 shooting the shit: the role of bullshit in organisations m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 653-666 shooting the shit: the role of bullshit in organisations andré spicer cass business school, cu londonandre.spicer.1@city.ac.uk abstract abstract this article argues that a great deal of both ‘talk’ and ‘text’ in organisational settings is, ultimately, bullshit. by ‘bullshit’ i mean the type of organisational speech and text that is produced with scant regard for the truth and is used to willfully mislead and to pursue the interests of the bullshitter. bullshit is particularly prevalent in immaterial roles that lack a clear sense of social purpose. in these contexts, employees try to occupy themselves by engaging in bullshit. they do this by circulating discourses which are strategically ambiguous, over-packed with information and deliberately fleeting in nature. in order to construct these discourses, they frequently turn to examples set by the management fashion industry. when bullshit begins to take hold of an organisation, it can have surprisingly positive effects. it can create a positive image for the company and can help to increase self-confidence and build legitimacy. however, this often comes with some distinctly darker consequences: primary tasks are crowded out, valued occupational identities are compromised and stakeholder trust is undermined. ultimately, bullshit leaves us with organisations that may be appealing on the surface but are distinctly brittle. 654 andré spicerm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 653-666 introduction the production of talk and text – or ‘discourse’ is central to organisational life. most of us are now ‘paper pushers’ who spend our days creating, circulating and consuming discourses. one study estimated that office workers whose job is to try to persuade others make up 25% of the us economy (mccloskey and kalmer, 1995). this estimate was recently increased to a whopping 30% (antioch, 2013). so what exactly do all these discourse jockeys spend their time doing? the answer is surprisingly mundane: they create power point presentations, engage in routine discourses in service encounters, chat with colleagues, send emails, sit in meetings, or sit in meetings and send emails to arrange other meetings. if the post-industrialisation of our economy has done one thing, it has been to turn us into ‘talk and text’ workers. even in sectors that are not as naturally talk and text heavy – such as agriculture and manufacturing – discursive work has become increasingly prevalent. for instance, farmers now spend time working on their ‘brands’ and manufacturing workers spend time in team meetings talking about quality targets. just doing things is not enough – what is really important is being able to talk in a compelling and convincing way about what will (or perhaps might) be done. now that discourse is increasingly central to organisational life, how can we understand it? the past two decades have produced whole libraries of work trying to answer this question (phillips and oswick, 2013). putting aside all the theoretical and sophistic explanations, the central insights from the field charged with making sense of all this discourse seem to boil down to this: in organisational life, ‘talk and text’ does not just describe organisational reality, it constitutes it. to put this another way, organisational discourse generates the social reality of organisations. if one were to be even more extreme, discourse could be said to be where the reality of organisational life is located (ashcraft et al, 2009). the organisation is talked and texted into life. underlying the concept that discourse constitutes organisational reality is the assumption that discourse is productive – it creates, calls forward, makes up, crafts and so on. but what if this is not always the case? what if talk and text are not always such productive and creative mechanisms? are there perhaps moments when discourse does things other than construct organisational reality (alvesson and karreman, 2011)? after all, we all know there are occasions where discourse does very little at all. we have all sat through meetings where a colleague spoke at great length and achieved absolutely nothing. we have seen the creation of expensive consultancy reports that were binned as soon as they were released. indeed, we might go as far as suggesting that the great majority of discourses that are produced within organisations are stunningly non-constitutive of organisational reality. how can we understand all these ineffective, empty, ephemeral discourses that float around organisations? in this essay, i would like to argue that they might be best understood as being bullshit. borrowing from harry frankfurt’s (2005) short pamphlet of the same name, i will argue that ‘bullshit’ can be defined as a discourse which is created, circulated and consumed with little respect for or relationship to reality. ‘bullshit’ is crafted to willfully mislead and to serve the bullshitter’s purposes. i will claim that this kind of discourse is particularly prevalent in immaterial contexts that lack a clear sense of social 655 shooting the shit: the role of bullshit in organisations m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 653-666 purpose or value. in order to stave off this sense of purposelessness, many organisational members turn to the dark art of bullshit. bullshitters make use of discourses that are strategically ambiguous, conceptually overpacked and fleeting. the raw materials for such discourses are frequently provided by, amongst others, the gurus, consultants and business schools of the management fashion industry. the potential outcomes of this bullshit are distinctly two-sided. on the one hand, bullshit can help to bolster an organisation’s image, self-confidence and legitimacy. on the other, it can simultaneously have more corrosive effects such as crowding out the primary task of the organisation, violating (previously) valued occupational identities, and undermining stakeholder trust. the end result is that an organisation indulging in bullshit may have an attractive image but ultimately becomes hollow and brittle. to make this argument, i will begin by looking at debates about organisational discourse. i will point out that non-constructive discourses have been largely overlooked in the broader field of organisational discourse analysis. next, i will examine the characteristics of bullshit, and give some examples of it and of organisational contexts. i will then sketch the outlines of a theory of organisational bullshit. to do this, i will identify what triggers bullshit in organisations, the process of bullshitting and some of the double-edged consequences. i will conclude by outlining what bullshit might mean for organisational discourse analysis and some measures that might be taken to stem the flood of bullshit in contemporary organisations. discourse the study of organisational discourse has grown from what was once a niche area of linguistics into a large field made up of many different theoretical strands. at the core of this field is the conviction that organisational life is largely about the creation, circulation and consumption of talk and text. if we are to understand how organisations work, then we need to follow how these processes of discourse operate and what their effects are. the second central conviction of the field is that the creation, circulation and consumption of talk and text ‘constructs social reality, rather than simply reflects it’ (hardy et al, 2005: 60). organisational discourse is assumed to be the central mechanism though which people make up social reality. most people seem to accept the first assumption that the circulation of talk and text is an important aspect of organisational life. however, the second assumption (that organisational discourse constructs social reality) has been called into question by a range of critical voices. some have argued that this second assumption tends to ignore the role that the agents using and mobilising these discourse have. indeed, if actors are accounted for at all, they are thought about as an after-effect. this is evident in the widely spread assumption that ‘discourse constructs actors’. critics have pointed out that writing off actors and seeing them as an effect of discourse tends to ignore how actors frequently intervene in, resist and rearticulate discourses in ways which are not expected (eg. gabriel, 1999). indeed, careful studies of the active use of organisational discourse have now appeared which deal with these active uses of talk and text. these studies give a rich account of 656 andré spicerm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 653-666 the playful and creative ways in which people use discourse to do the work of organising (for review see: ashcraft et al, 2009). in this sense, these studies are not so much about discourse as they are about discursive practice. a second criticism that has been targeted at works of organisational discourse analysis is that they tend to engage in the ontological trick of discursive reductionism. by this i mean that studies of discourse seek to reduce all aspects of social reality into a discourse. critics of this position would point out that this effectively marginalises aspects that do not neatly fit into the arena of language (fleetwood, 2005). of particular note here are materiality and what critical realists are fond of calling ‘underlying generative structures’ such as bureaucracy, capitalism, patriarchy and kinship relationships (reed, 2005). as critics have pointed out, organisational discourse analysis has presented a rather flat and insufficiently nuanced account of organisational life by ignoring these elements. it is as if talk and text (and perhaps talking and texting actors) are all there is. to address this significant oversight, some have developed a discourse analysis informed by critical realism (eg. fairclough, 2005). this approach seeks to focus ‘not just upon discourse, but on relations between discursive and other social elements’ (chouliaraki and fairclough, 2010: 1215) such as materiality, technologies and social structures. by doing this, researchers working in this tradition are able to highlight how discourse can influence and impact these other aspects of social reality (or vice versa). a third potential shortcoming in the literature on discourse has recently been highlighted by alvesson and kärreman (2011). in their intervention, they have pointed out that ‘discourse analysts often seem to emphasize that discourse has a lot of muscle mass – although different muscular discourses may neutralize each other or create uncertain effects. we are not so sure. discourse may make a difference – however, this muscularity cannot be assumed but needs to be demonstrated’ (p.1140). in this passage they point to a very important issue. to simply assume from the outset that organisational discourse constitutes reality is to make a huge leap of ontological faith. and this leap of faith leads us to narrow our empirical gaze to only looking for cases in which discourse in some way constructs or constitutes reality. but as alvesson and karreman point out, surely there are other effects which discourse might have which are far less muscular. it can varnish, gesture, connect, instruct as well as produce and construct (p.1140-1). in many cases, the discourses that litter organisational life are examples of what alvesson and karreman call ‘ephemeral talk’ (p. 1140). this is discourse that ‘has no significant constitutive agency, apart from transient meaning’ (ibid). if we think about this category of discourse for a second, we begin to realise that organisations are actually completely full of fleeting talk that lacks substance. think of many of the meetings that people suffer through – they are frequently hours of empty talk. more ‘serious’ discourses in organisations often have an ephemeral character as well. think of strategy discourse – although it is treated with great reverence, it is often fleeting, interchangeable, relatively meaningless and very ineffective. similar things can be said about statements of organisational values which often seem to jumble together a whole set of nice sounding generic words like ‘quality’, ‘service’, ‘value’ and so on with little effect. indeed, being a middle manager often means becoming adept at working with these ephemeral ‘weasel words’ (watson, 2004). 657 shooting the shit: the role of bullshit in organisations m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 653-666 what is so remarkable about this large managerial lexicon is how often it has little relationship with the reality of what is going on in an organisation. reading a strategy statement in many firms will not reveal what the firm does. listening to talk in a meeting often reveals little about what happens in employees’ dayto-day work. asking a manager about their leadership style will often reveal fanciful stories rather than actual realities (alvesson and sveningsson, 2003). because it is so deeply disconnected from the everyday reality of organising, such talk often has very little ‘effective’ impact on organisational processes (beyond at times being a pesky distraction which needs to be tolerated). in this sense, a good portion of talk and text in organisations seems to be fundamentally ‘empty’, bearing little relationship with the reality of what goes on in the organisation. training in management involves mastering the art of empty talk. and the skilled managers are the ones who are able to work well with it (swartz, 1991). bullshit if empty talk and text are important parts of organisational life, how should we understand them? i think the key to unlocking this overlooked issue – the dark matter of organisational life – can be found in a short essay by harry frankfurt (2005) entitled ‘on bullshit’. in this striking piece, frankfurt points out that much of our social life is characterised by a flood of what he calls ‘bullshit’. he gives many examples ranging from men engaging in competitive overexaggeration about sports to the public relations industry pushing a product to cultural commentators concerned with ‘sincerity’. for frankfurt, bullshit is not simply a false statement – a claim that is meant to deceive or to violate the truth. rather, bullshit is language that has two distinctive characteristics: (1) it is articulated without concern for the criteria of the truth and (2) the bullshitter willfully articulates it to pursue their own purposes and interests. let us look at each of these points in a little more depth. the first core characteristic of bullshit is that it is talk which has a ‘lack of connection with a concern for the truth’ and an ‘indifference to how things really are’ (p. 33-34)1. to put this differently, bullshit is talk that has been emptied of meaningful content and become hot air. it is a form of discourse which roves across topics, buzz words and conjectures without stopping to test its own worthiness against any criteria of truth (whether that be a comparison with empirical reality, basic criteria of reason or some kind of inter-subjective checking against broadly shared social understandings of reality). a classic instance of bullshit is a set of claims about a new product being ‘better’, ‘brighter’ and ‘whiter’. notice there are no clear criteria about what exactly it is better, brighter and whiter than. indeed, the interlocutor is not supposed to consider a referent at all. they are simply supposed to be carried along by a set of hyperbolic statements. understanding bullshit as being talk or text that is unconcerned with the truth helps us to distinguish it from simple lies. as frankfurt points out, lies are crafted with a concern for the truth (p.51), it is just that they are typically made with an attempt to conceal what the truth is. in contrast, bullshit ranges free without any clear concern for the truth as a referent that needs to be carefully and judiciously avoided. 1. of course, the idea that there is a special class of discourse which is crafted with no relationship to ‘truth’ or ‘how things are’ is scandalous in the extreme for the average discourse theorist. as i have pointed out earlier, many working within the field are of strong social constructivist leanings and sign up to the rather strong ontological claim that reality (‘how things are’) is some kind of product of, or at least completely mediated through, the discourses that we use to understand and engage with it. they would baulk at the claim that there is some kind of pre-discursive truth without a relationship to which a bullshit discourse might be articulated. frankfurter is certainly no friend of social constructivist ontologies. indeed the parting shot of his essay seems to be aimed at precisely this strand of philosophy. while i might not sign up to the hard analytical realism peddled by frankfurter – or even particular strands of critical realism – i think there is merit in considering participants’ experiences and reports of ‘reality’ (which surely most have, however that is defined in an intersubjective way), and considering how much talk which is articulated in organisational life often bears little resemblance to much of the talk which is circulated within organisational life. so for me, bullshit might be more precisely thought about as talk and text which is articulated with no concern for broadly shared understandings and experiences of reality within a particular social group (such as an organisation). 658 andré spicerm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 653-666 the second criterion which distinguishes bullshit from normal discourse is the fact that it is composed of talk and text which are produced with the intention to mislead interlocutors so that the bullshitter can pursue their own interests (frankfurt, 2005). what this means is that bullshit has a degree of intentionality about it. bullshit is actively used to do something – to pursue one’s interests through misleading. for instance, a bullshitter might list a whole string of impressive facts and figures about a consumer market (which are rattled off without concern for whether they are accurate or not) so that they are seen as an expert in this area. such an act might deceive us (as they may not in fact be an expert) and serve the bullshitter (as it bestows them with an air of expertise). the intentional nature of bullshitting helps us to distinguish it from discourses which have little relation to the truth but which are not actively intended to mislead. a classic example of the latter would be the talk and text produced by a neophyte in a field whose mistakes and exaggerations we might forgive. if bullshit is empty talk that has no reference to the truth and is produced with the intentions to mislead and to benefit the bullshitter, then the worlds of organisations and management are a veritabletreasure trove of examples2. perhaps the paradigmatic example of this is the well-known boardroom game of ‘bullshit bingo’, where the players are challenged to count up the number of empty buzz words which are used during a meeting. often they will be assigned a buzz word (like ‘value’, ‘quality’, ‘responsibility’ etc.). when your buzz word is uttered during a meeting, you score a point. the person with the highest score at the end of the meeting wins. what makes this game more than just an entertaining pastime is the fact that it points to the emptiness and disconnection from reality often present in management discourses. it suggests that the vocabulary of management is virtually interchangeable and means very little. this point is underlined in a telegram sent on the occasion of the retirement of a british diplomat in rome. in this ceremonial piece of communication, he complained of a “cultural revolution» which was forced on the diplomatic service by the two most powerful uk government departments (the treasury and the cabinet office). this resulted in a ‘change-management agenda . . . written in wall street management speak already ... discredited by the time it [was] introduced. synergies, best practice, benchmarking ... roll out, stakeholder.... fit for purpose, are all prime candidates for a game of bullshit bingo, a substitute for clarity and succinctness.» (macintyre, 2007). what is so concerning for the diplomat about the changing language in the foreign and commonwealth office is not the fact that it is changing, but that it is founded upon ‘management speak’ which is ephemeral and ‘discredited by the time it is introduced’. but more than this, he is concerned with the apparent fuzziness and verbosity of much of this discourse. this stands in strict opposition to the ‘clarity and succinctness’ that he claims to prefer. although we might read this parting missive as a case of sour grapes, there is probably something more here. the language of managerialism is a relatively late-comer to the genteel uk foreign service. and this puts a retiring diplomat in a relatively good position to assess the kind of management speak which has become background noise in most of our working lives. he recognises almost instantly that most management talk is often bullshit – it is speech that is created without a relationship to the truth. it is largely crafted to sound impressive. 2. the other great treasure-trove of bullshit is politics. in her analysis of blairite policy, eleonora belfiore (2009) does a wonderful job of highlighting the role which bullshit plays in arts policy. she traces the rise of the importance of statistical evidence as an important currency in this policy area and shows how this evidence is frequently used in highly selective ways. 659 shooting the shit: the role of bullshit in organisations m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 653-666 another example of organisational bullshit is the rise of new public management in universities. lorenz (2012) claims that universities are increasingly beset with managerial bullshit including talk about quality, the creation of value, and rankings. according to lorenz this is bullshit because it avoids reference to the truth and instead is mainly concerned with the effects of a discourse. what is more, the propagators of this discourse don’t believe in it themselves. lorenz points out that the bullshit quality of much management talk in universities is particularly debilitating for faculties because its ‘hermetic, self-referential nature’ make it ‘completely resistant to all criticism’ (lorenz, 2012: 601). because it is self-referential, management discourse does not obey or break the rules of scholarship which most university faculties are versed in. it does not make reference to the truth. instead, merchants of management speak seem to be playing a different and altogether more cynical game where truth simply does not count. this is a game in which questioning and critiquing do not seem to work. merchants of bullshit are thus able to avoid being held to criteria such as truth and to the harsh critique which this might involve. a final example of bullshit in organizations is the complex financial moves used by accountants to please their stakeholders. according to norman macintosh (2009), many of the earnings reports routinely issues by large corporations conform to the characteristics of bullshit. they are not strictly truthful insofar as they don’t reflect the underlying characteristics of what the company has actually earned during a quarter. nor are most earnings statements baldfaced lies which purposefully seek to deceive investors and others. rather, macintosh claims, they are bullshit. this is because earnings statements are constructed to please a wide range of interest groups rather than to reflect any underlying reality. they are contrived to comply with the law and various other accounting guidelines. but they are also crafted in a way which keeps analysts and senior management happy too. they ‘satisfy the market for accounting information – investment analysts, shareholders, bankers, top executives, the sec, tax authorities and other related parties’ (p. 158). doing this mean being ‘indifferent to whether or not the earnings report tells the truth or not’ (p. 158). a theory of organisational bullshit in order to understand organisational bullshit, we need to not only look at the phenomenon itself, but also at what prompts it, how it works and what its outcomes are. in this section, i will argue that bullshit is prompted by organisations that are dominated by immaterial roles that provide their occupants with little sense of broader social purpose and value. one way to fill this existential void is through bullshit. i will argue that the process of bullshitting involves articulating discourses which are strategically ambiguous, over-packed and fleeting. bullshitters frequently draw on the raw materials that are provided by the management fashions industry. doing this can have a distinctly two sided-effect. on the one hand, it can help to impress and build confidence in others, allowing an organisation to build legitimacy in the eyes of important stakeholders (and thereby ensure its survival). on the other hand, it crowds out many of the core organisational processes, clashes with organisational members’ occupational identities and undermines stakeholder trust. this can result in a dispirited workforce and a fatal sense of lacking purpose within the organisation. 660 andré spicerm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 653-666 prompts of bullshit it is tempting to think that bullshit is simply caused by a few individuals who have a rather cavalier approach to the truth. in many settings this may indeed be true. however, organisational bullshit seems to go beyond just a few rogue employees. there appear to be whole organisations that actively encourage the circulation and propagation of bullshit. frankfurt points out that particular sectors such as those of politics and public relations are especially prone to bullshit. some have even gone as far as to say that spouting bullshit seems to touch the core characteristics of politics (belfiore, 2009). but as i have already indicated, if we look beyond these two bullshit-intense sectors to other areas, we find that there is still a significant amount of discourse that seems to have no regard or connection with the truth. indeed, many large organisations seem to offer significant opportunities for the bullshit artist. so what is it about these particular organisations or industries that seems to provide ample opportunity for bullshit? perhaps a good starting point to this question is provided by graeber’s (2013) short essay on bullshit work. in this widely discussed piece, he argues that recent transformations of the economy have led to an increasing number of what he calls ‘bullshit jobs’. these are jobs in which people ‘spend their entire working lives performing tasks they secretly believe do not really need to be performed’ (graeber, 2013). they are largely concentrated among the managerial, professional, administrative, sales and service sectors. graeber points out that the rise of highly productive technologies during the early 20th century – such as factory automation coupled with the extensive outsourcing of most manufacturing to countries like china has meant that there is less need for labour in western countries. people need to work less but they seem to do more. it is this, greaber argues, that has caused the advent of bullshit jobs. ultimately he sees these empty and meaningless jobs as a way of corralling the surplus time available in western society into the controlling structure of the work place. according to graeber, this helps to ensure our additional free time remains yoked to the demands of an increasingly immaterial form of capitalism. so building on graeber’s argument, we might claim that the basic structural driver for the prevalence of bullshit is a broader socio-economic shift towards an immaterial economy that creates large numbers of jobs without an obvious social value that are often experienced as being purposeless and empty by their occupants. faced with a job that is experienced as being relatively empty and meaningless, occupants are confronted with a profound question – how can they occupy themselves and cope with their pointless working day? graeber points out that occupants of bullshit jobs not only find them meaningless, but are often chronically underemployed. although they are ‘working 40 or even 50 hour weeks on paper’ in reality their job often only requires ‘working 15 hours just as keynes predicted, since the rest of their time is spent organising or attending motivational seminars, updating their facebook profiles or downloading tv box-sets’. amongst these responses to bullshit work, there seem to be two sets of different ways of dealing with the emptiness of many contemporary jobs. one way is to fill the working day with what roland paulsen (2013) has called ‘empty labour’. this is private activity designed to pass the time in a relatively under-stimulating manner such as surfing the internet. the objective of this 661 shooting the shit: the role of bullshit in organisations m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 653-666 kind of activity is to simply fill the day up and make it pass faster. the other response seems to be propagating, circulating and participating in various forms of bullshit. graeber gives motivational seminars as one example. the more mundane forms of bullshit include endless email exchanges, lengthy meetings, training in pointless skills and, of course, much of the apparently purposeless administrative labour which drains the will to live of so many office dwellers. bullshitting indulging in bullshit is a way of sidestepping the meaninglessness that stalks working life in the immaterial work place. but what exactly does bullshitting entail? at the core of the task of bullshitting seems to be the avoidance of any obvious connections between discourse and truth or reality. this is often a difficult task to achieve as most statements can be pinned down and compared to some criteria in one way or another. the skilled bullshitter seeks to avoid this connection. after all, it would draw them into the requirements of justification and reason-giving – a game they would surely lose at. one way to do this is by relying on significant amounts of strategic ambiguity (eisenberg, 1984). this entails words or concepts that are difficult or impossible to pin down. very broad words like ‘excellence’, ‘quality’ and ‘innovation’ are excellent examples of strategic ambiguity. they are words that could mean almost anything to anybody. using such words makes it difficult for an interlocutor to pin them down and inquire in any more depth into their particular claims. it allows a bullshitter to escape from too much interrogation. another possible strategy is to over-pack discourse with terms and concepts3. this makes it harder to pin down what the core concepts actually are. in the case of over-packed discourse, it is difficult to actually discern what is important and what is not. concepts that should be subjected to further interrogation are skirted over without any further inquiry. discourses of leadership, for example, are over-packed with a whole series of associations, ideas and other concepts (alvesson and spicer, 2012). this makes it difficult for an interlocutor to actually pin down much of this relatively empty leadership talk. over-packing discourse is a way to avoid difficult questions by ensuring that there is no clear focus that might allow us to work out what a concept actually means. a final possible strategy for bullshitting involves ensuring discourses are dynamic. this involves assiduously avoiding any clear commitment to a particular discourse and continually shifting between different terms in a vague and often baseless fashion. by keeping discourse shifting and moving, it is possible for the bullshitter to avoid attaching themselves to a particular position which they might be asked deeper questions about. for instance, many corporate strategies are typically made up of a set of rapidly shifting trends, ideas and management fashions. because the actual content of corporate strategy changes so rapidly, it becomes difficult to subject it to any kind of critical scrutiny. once questioning and criticism has been formulated, the discourse has moved on. the result is that continued shifting discourses are rarely, if ever, subjected to scrutiny. instead, they are tolerated as passing amusements and novelties. 3. the concept of over-packing in relation to discourse analysis is discussed by alvesson and karreman (2011) 662 andré spicerm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 653-666 bullshitting is hard work. it requires the capacity to continually come up with new, over-packed, ambiguous concepts. in fact, the creativity this requires is beyond the abilities of most organisational members. to bullshit, most people need a continued supply of discursive resources from external sources. fortunately, there is a whole industry of consultants, gurus and other managerial idea workers who are charged with creating and circulating these discourses. the management ideas industry works through continually feeding out a series of fads and fashions (abrahamson, 1999). these typically are appealing not because they work, but because they are attractively packaged and promoted. this gives potential adopters a stock of ideas and discourses that they can use in their day-to-day acts of bullshit mongering. outcomes the prevalence of bullshit in organisations might seem unappealing, but there are clearly some significantly positive outcomes. bullshit allows individuals to build up an appealing image (often in absence of other more substantive resources such as knowledge and abilities). this is highlighted in a study of a large management consultancy firm that found employees talked about how they used bullshit to impress clients (alvesson and karreman, 2004). bullshit was seen as particularly effective for maintaining a ‘them and us division’ between the members of the consultancy firm and the people buying their services (p. 161). when a consultant inadvertently began to try to bullshit another consultant, they would quickly drop it once they had discovered the identity of their interlocutor (p. 160). the implication here is that bullshit is for the clients, and one should ‘tell it like it is’ to other members of the consultancy. furthermore, this suggests that the bullshit is not believed in by its merchants – it is simply used to impress. bullshit is not just used to impress other people. it can also be used as a kind of confidence trick to impress and convince oneself. this point is made in a study of middle managers by tony watson (1994). he highlights how middle managers often use bullshit as a way of trying to build a convincing narrative about who they are in the face of what is often a very precarious position. liberal doses of bullshit help anxious middle managers to perform a confidence trick on themselves and convince themselves that they are useful and worthwhile members of the organisation who actually have something to add. this can help to firm up their sense of self worth and confidence in taking action – often in the face of many tough challenges and doubts. as well as being used to build an impressive image for others and increase one’s own self-confidence, bullshit is frequently used by organisations to build their broader legitimacy. this is a central insight that can be found in meyer and rowan’s (1977) classic piece on institutional theory. this work points out how organisations often adopt policies and practices not because they are particularly effective or efficient, but because they are considered to be broadly socially acceptable. for instance, many firms adopt total quality management practices not because it helps to make their products be of higher quality but because it makes their organisation appeal to a wider set of stakeholders by appearing to be a ‘good organisation’ (zabrecki, 1998). popular management practices such as total quality management can actually clash with core processes in an organisation and make them less efficient. 663 shooting the shit: the role of bullshit in organisations m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 653-666 but by building legitimacy through adopting these popular management ideas, these organisations can appeal to core external stakeholders such as investors, funders, buyers and suppliers that provide the organisation with its core resources. if these key stakeholders see the organisation as legitimate, then they are much more likely to be willing to provide the core resources the organisation needs to survive. what this ultimately suggests is that by indulging in bullshit mongering (particular targeted at external audiences), organisations can build their legitimacy and ultimately increase their chances of survival. bullshit in organisations can certainly lead to some positive aspects such as enhanced image, increased self-confidence and bolstered legitimacy. it is for these reasons that bullshit does not just go unchecked, but is actually positively encouraged within many organisations. however, the picture is not always so rosy. organisational bullshit often brings with it some less pleasant consequences. bullshit can become a fatal distraction from the primary tasks of an organisation. by primary tasks, i mean the central activity an organisation was either created to perform or must perform to survive (dartington, 1998). these are tasks like educating students in a university, prudently investing clients’ money in a financial institution, serving food in a restaurant and treating sick patients in a hospital4. because it can help to enhance an organisation’s image, self-belief and legitimacy, managerial bullshit can become quite addictive. when a firm gets hooked on bullshit, a significant amount of the organisation’s effort becomes focused on the production, circulation and consumption of bullshit. this might act as a mere distraction from the primary task of the organisation. if this is the case, then organisational members may need to spend a significant amount of their time and resources on processing this baseless bullshit that holds little relation to the actual substance of organisational life. managers and employees, for instance, will need to spend large chunks of their day attending meetings or implementing change programmes linked with this bullshit. the result is that organisations can begin to neglect the core processes that actually create value within their organisation. this might be tenable for a short period of time, but when processing bullshit that is associated with change efforts becomes a routine part of organisational life, it leads to a systemic distraction from primary tasks. in extreme cases, members of an organisation can completely neglect their primary task, making it uncertain what the organisation actually does and what broader value it offers society. but more than just crowding out the primary task of an organisation, bullshit can trigger a deep sense of affront among organisational members. if members of an organisation are continually subjected to bullshit, they are likely to rapidly stop taking much of it particularly seriously. any new initiative, direction or program is likely to be cynically treated as just another passing fad. but beyond cynicism towards passing initiatives, a deeper and perhaps more painful consequence is that any semblance that there might be a coherent set of criteria and procedures which could be used to test ideas and conjecture is put aside. this can be experienced as a profound challenge by many organisational members who are deeply committed to particular schemes of values that they use to judge worth and value in organisational life. when these schemes are questioned, it is as if the hard won occupational and professional identity of these organisational members is being up-ended. 4. the idea that an organisation has a primary task was treated as a basic axiom in much early organisation theory. however, this was partially called into question by behaviourial theories of the firm which point out that organisations are typically an agglomeration of a number of primary tasks each of which are defined by different political coalitions (cyert and march, 1963). since the complex restructuring of corporations that has happened following the financialisation of corporate control during the 1970s, we have seen this basic axiom being thrown into question. today many organisations either do not seem to own up to having a primary task, assume what they do is in pursuit of some other more grandiose goal (such as shareholder value maximization), articulate a rather abstract sounding primary task which does not seem to look anything like we would expect, or have a confusing array of poorly matched primary tasks (often due to haphazard mergers and acquisitions). the result is that many organisations and their members become utterly confused about what exactly the organisation actually does and therefore what their own purpose within the organisation is. 664 andré spicerm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 653-666 the result is that people working within bullshit laden organisations not only develop a deep sense of cynicism, but also experience a sense of violation and harm being done to their occupational identity, and often, by implication, to themselves. many professionals who have been subjected to the discursive vagaries of new public management, for instance, often experience it as being an assault or affront to their identities as skilled and able professionals. as well as crowding out the primary task of an organisation, and lacerating employee identities, organisational bullshit can severely undermine the trust a range of stakeholders have in an organisation. if stakeholders continue to be confronted with an ongoing parade of what appears to be utterly baseless talk, it is likely that they are going to begin to doubt the genuineness, ability and consistency of the organisation that they are dealing with. when this happens, stakeholders might tolerate the organisation but they are unlikely to rely upon it or develop meaningful and sustainable relationships with it. indeed, it is more likely that these relationships will become transactional and brittle. the result is that when the advantage gained from the transaction begins to wane – or when another better offer turns up – the stakeholder is likely to pull out. what this means for the organisation is that although it might have access to many of the resources which it needs to operate, these resources are likely to be relatively fluid and often difficult to rely upon. thus, if conditions change, many of the core resources that the organisation relies upon such as capital, finding streams, customers, suppliers and so on could rapidly evaporate. consequently, organisations that are mired in bullshit are often the ones that become increasingly brittle, unstable, and liable to be blown apart by small changes in the environment. conclusion in this paper i have argued that one of the striking features of a lot of organisations is that many of their discourses, in both talk and text, are bullshit. by this i mean that a great proportion of their talk and text is produced with little relation to the truth. organisational bullshit is particularly prevalent in immaterial sectors of the economy where people often find themselves charged with jobs which are meaningless and devoid of obvious referents. this void creates conditions that are particularly amenable to being filled with organisational bullshit. this typically involves using highly ambiguous, overpacked and fleeting discourses. the management fashion industry (such as consultants, gurus, business schools and so on) provides individuals and organisations with a rich stream of raw-material for crafting bullshit. as bullshit begins to take hold of an organisation, it can have two quite different effects. on the one hand, it can help to boost the organisation’s image, build selfconfidence and bolster its legitimacy. on the other hand, it can crowd out the primary task of an organisation, violate valued occupational identities within the organisation and ultimately undermine the trust of broader stakeholders in the firm. this means organisations often face a trade off between seeking to build their image, self-confidence and legitimacy through circulating bullshit or bolstering their primary tasks, valued occupational identities and stakeholder trust through avoiding it. unfortunately, in a society and economy which values image so highly (gabriel, 2005), the bullshit option often seems to be the 665 shooting the shit: the role of bullshit in organisations m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 653-666 default setting. this is unfortunate because this option often leads to brittle organisations with unclear directions, uncommitted (and even incompetent) employees, and highly suspicious and transactional stakeholders. bullshit presents some significant challenges for those who run and work in organisations. it is certainly very attractive, but also potentially very dangerous. the argument i have made above suggests that managers and employees alike need to maintain significant vigilance towards bullshit. one side of this vigilance entails the recognition that a small amount of bullshit may be helpful. bullshit sessions can be useful spaces where people try ideas without having to totally commit to them. bullshit can also be useful insofar as it can help to inspire (self) confidence in managerial initiatives. but the other side of vigilance involves recognising that the constant presence of bullshit can be very harmful for an organisation. this is because it will detract an organisation from its primary tasks, leading to a dangerous goal drift whereby organisations become so mired in bullshit that they lose sight of the purpose for their existence. this suggests that organisations need to develop a capacity to entertain a limited amount of bullshit, in circumscribed spaces. this might involve providing areas for bullshit sessions or even the limited use of bullshit merchants. this first piece of advice is probably not so difficult for most organisations to implement – they already have more than enough bullshit to go around. so what is perhaps more important – and more difficult is that organisations must develop the capacity to effectively process, and in many cases protect themselves from, bullshit. this could involve procedures for the careful vetting of ideas, the application of critical reasoning and simple tests of truth. basic questions could be asked about the reasoning and evidence that underline practices. what is more, it is probably important to slow down the flow of bullshit and focus on giving substance to a limited number of ideas. doing this will help to avoid the ‘narcissistic decay’ (swartz, 1991) which can set in and destroy organisations that lose sight of their primary task, systematically misrecognising the occupational identities of their staff and destroying the sense of trust which stakeholders might have in them. as well as presenting some interesting challenges for organisational members, the prevalence of bullshit posits some challenges for researchers. if organisations are mired in discourses that have no relationship with the truth, then it may be necessary to revisit one of the central assumptions of organisational discourse analysis. by looking for bullshit, we may notice that not all discourses are ‘productive’ or ‘constructive’. they can also be corrosive. as we have seen, bullshit is often more than just ineffectual hot air. it can sometimes be profoundly demoralising and leave whole organisations with little sense of a viable alternative. perhaps discourses can do far more than constitute reality. bullshit discourses can dissolve a sense of reality, leaving organisational members feeling alienated and empty. if this is the case, then we need to begin to pay closer attention to the ways in which discourses can destroy social reality in organisations. andré spicer is professor of organizational behaviour at cass business school, city university of london. he is currently working on a project investigating stupidity in organizations. 666 shooting the shit: the role of bullshit in organisations m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 653-666 · abrahamson, e. (1996). management fashion. academy of management review, 21(1), 254-285. · alvesson, m. (2013). the triumph of emptiness. oxford: oxford university press. · alvesson, m., & kärreman, d. (2004). cages in tandem: management control, social identity and identification in a knowledge intensive firm. organization, 11(1), 149-175. · alvesson, m., & kärreman, d. (2011). decolonizing discourse: critical refelections on organizational discourse analysis. human relations, 64(9), 1121-1146. · alvesson, m., & spicer, a. (2012). critical leadership studies: the case for critical performativity. human relations, 65(3), 367-390 · alvesson, m., & sveningsson, s. (2003). managers doing leadership: the extraordinarization of the mundane. human relations, 56(12), 1435-1459. · antioch, g. (2013). pursuasion is not 30% of us gdp. economic roundup, 1, 1-10. · ashcraft, k. kuhn, t., & cooren, f. (2009). constitutional ammendments: materializing organizationlal communication. academy of management annals, 3(1), 1-63. · belfiore, e. (2009). bullshit in cultural policy practice and research: notes from the british case. international journal of cultural policy, 15(3), 343-359. · cyert, r., & march, j. (1963). behaviour theory of the firm. saddle river, nj: prentice hall. · chouliaraki, l., & fairclough, n. (2010). critical discourse analysis in organization studies: towards an integrationist methodology’, journal of management studies, 47(6), 1213-1218. · dartington, t. (1998). from altruism to action: primary task and the not-for-profit organization. human relations, 51(12), 1477-1493. · eisenberg, e. m. (1984). ambiguity as strategy in organizational communication’, communication monographs, 51(3), 227-242. · fairclough, n. (2005). discourse analysis in organization studies: the case for critical realism. organization studies, 26(6), 915-936. · fleetwood, s. (2005). ontology in organization and management studies: a critical realist perspective. organization, 12(2), 197-222. · frankfurt, h. (2005). on bullshit. princeton, nj: princeton university press. · gabriel, y. (1999). beyond happy families: a critical reevaluation of the control-resistanceidentity triangle. human relations, 52(2), 179-203. · gabriel, y. (2005). glass cages and glass palaces: images of organization in imageconscious times. organization, 12(1), 9-27. · graeber, d. (2013, august). on the phenonemon of bullshit jobs. strike! magazine. · hardy, c., lawrence, t., & grant, d. (2005). discourse and collaboration: the role of conversations and collective identity. academy of management review 30(1), 58-77. · lorenz, c. (2012). if you’re so smart, why are you under surveillence: universities, neo-liberalism and new public management. critical inquiry, 38(spring), 599-629. · macintosh, n. (2009). accounting and the truth of earnings reports: philosophical considerations. european accounting forum, 18(1), 141-175. · macintyre, d. (2007, april 27). former envoy makes devasting attack on blair’s ‘bullshit bingo’ management culture of diplomacy. · mccloskey, d., & klamer, a. (1995). one quarter of gdp is persuasion. american economic review, 85(2), 191-195. · meyer, j. d., & rowan, b. (1977). institutionalized organziations: formalised structure as myth and ceremony. american journal of sociology, 83(2), 340-363. · paulsen, r. (2013). empty labour: subjectivity and idleness at work. (unpublished doctoral dissertation). upsalla university, sweden. · reed, m. (2005). reflections on the realist turn in organization and management studies. journal of management studies, 42(8), 1621-1642. · swartz, h. (1991). narcissism project and corporate decay. business ethics quarterly, 1(3), 249-286. · watson, d. (2004). watson’s dictionary of weasel words. sydney: random house. · zabrecki, m. (1998). the rhetoric and reality of total quality management. administrative science quarterly, 43(3), 602-636. references 528 stewart clegg & ad van itersonm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 621-635 copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). m@n@gement is a double-blind refereed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.management-aims.com © 2013 m@n@gement and the author(s). m@n@gement est la revue officielle de l’aims m@n@gement is the journal official of aims stewart clegg ad van iterson 2013 the effects of liquefying place, time, and organizational boundaries on employee behavior: lessons of classical sociology m@n@gement, 16(5), 621-635. m@n@gement issn: 1286-4692 emmanuel josserand, cmos, university of technology, sydney (editor in chief) jean-luc arrègle, emlyon business school (editor) laure cabantous, cass business school (editor) stewart clegg, university of technology, sydney (editor) olivier germain, université du québec à montréal (editor, book reviews) karim mignonac, université de toulouse 1 (editor) philippe monin, emlyon business school (editor) tyrone pitsis, university of newcastle (editor) josé pla-barber, universidad de valència (editor) michael tushman, harvard business school (editor) walid shibbib, université de genève (managing editor) alexander bell, université de genève (editorial assistant) martin g. evans, university of toronto (editor emeritus) bernard forgues, emlyon business school (editor emeritus) special issue 621 the effects of liquefying place, time, and organizational boundaries on employee behavior: lessons of classical sociology m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 621-635 the effects of liquefying place, time, and organizational boundaries on employee behavior: lessons of classical sociology stewart clegg ad van iterson university of technology, sydney nova school of business and economics s.clegg@uts.edu.au school of business and economics maastricht university a.vaniterson@maastrichtuniversity.nl abstract abstract this paper explores how the liquefying of place, time, and organizational boundaries affects social control and self-regulation at the workplace. we address norbert elias’s civilizing process theory (elias 2000), and some of the criticism it has evoked, to explore the effects of both physical proximity and distance on control and behavior in work organizations. we hold that the theory still has relevance for contemporary organization and management theory with roots in the more classical traditions of the sociological discipline. assuming that physical proximity at work is decreasing because of increased telework, the geographical spread of firms, and growing interorganizational collaboration, there is much to be gained by maintaining classical perspectives. keywords: physical proximity, distance, task interdependence, organizational boundaries, social control, self-regulation, norbert elias, civilizing process theory 622 stewart clegg & ad van itersonm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 621-635 introduction in this paper we seek to demonstrate how engagement with modern classical sociology can inform pertinent research questions facing researchers studying issues of organization and management. it is important that analysis of organizations maintains its intellectual taproot in sociology if only because without it there is little opportunity to develop either a historical or a sociological imagination (mills 1959). in order to demonstrate the potential that still resides in this imagination we will deliberately address a seemingly mundane topic. for the most part task interdependence in both traditional and modernist productive organizations requires the physical proximity of workers: ‘the probability of people being in the same location during the same period of time’ (monge and kirste 1980: 110). organizational proximity, then, is defined as ‘the extent to which people in an organization share the same physical locations at the same time providing an opportunity or psychological obligation to engage in face-to-face communication’ (monge et al. 1985: 1133)). when thus defined, it becomes apparent that opportunity and psychological obligation are outcomes of proximity. the reason why people in an organization share the same physical locations at the same time is mainly to be found in task interdependence: ‘the extent to which the items or elements upon which work is performed or the work processes themselves are interrelated so that changes in the state of one element affect the state of the others’ (scott and davis 2007: 126-127). this is particularly the case when interdependence is sequential or reciprocal (thompson 2007: 54-55), since workers need to be physically proximate to perform their bodily embedded tasks. yet times are changing: physical proximity is growing less crucial in task interdependence. with the advance of a globalizing economy, of outsourcing, and of alliances, as well as of information technologies, an increasing number of people can or must collaborate at a distance. but how will the structural change toward dispersed work affect employee behavior? the effect of proximity/distance via social control on self-regulation has been largely overlooked to date. how will organizational members’ behavior alter in reaction to the liquefying boundaries of place, time, and organizations proper? that is the question this paper seeks to address. the paper’s secondary but related thread of inquiry regards the effects of diminishing centralization and specialization on self-regulation. we formulate propositions about proximity/ distance, control, and behavior based on a discussion of the civilizing process theory as developed by british-german sociologist norbert elias, and of the critique of his main dissenter, german ethnologist hans peter duerr. we also consider the plea for contextualization of the study of civilizing processes made by duerr and promoted by sociologist nicos mouzelis. the civilizing process theory is chosen as a platform from which to further the development of theory regarding proximity/distance, control, and behavior for a variety of reasons. firstly, because the central question that elias’ theory addresses is the effect of social structure on human behavior. secondly, space, conceived of as physical expanse between two points (cf. lefebvre 1991, who also makes a distinction between mental and social space; for a similar classification of organizational space, see taylor and spicer 2007), is an omnipresent factor in the civilizing process theory, albeit not always an explicit one. thirdly, the civilizing process theory has been selected because 623 the effects of liquefying place, time, and organizational boundaries on employee behavior: lessons of classical sociology m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 621-635 it applies a historical perspective. a long-term approach may clarify whether or not seemingly unprecedented trends such as globally-dispersed work have a longer history and any staying power. as king and frost (2002) write when referring to the activities of hunter-gatherers and herders: ‘the management of distance is an ancient art’ (p. 3). knowledge of a certain phenomenon’s pedigree can contribute to an understanding of its current profile and its potential future. finally, as we have stated above, a compelling motive for directing attention to the work of norbert elias (1897-1990) is that current organizational theory can be enriched in general from a creative re-reading of the works of classical sociologists (adler 2009; alexander 1987; stinchcombe 1982; for an overall assessment of elias’s potential impact on organization studies, see newton 2001; van iterson et al. 2002; van iterson 2009). historical perspectives with the exception of collective undertakings such as the mobilization of armies and the construction of pyramids, which obviously required considerable organizational effort, it is only with the emergence of the factory system (e.g. pollard 1965) in late eighteenth-century england that workers began to be systematically concentrated in space. in contrast to the puttingout system, in which subcontracted workers (for example carders, spinners, and weavers) produced goods in their own homes, work in the factory system was completely organized and controlled under one roof, with fixed working hours, performed by ‘hired hands’ assigned specialized tasks and narrow discretion. the early years of the factory system were typified by a novel scale and intensity of human interdependen¬cies (newton 1999). a rapidly growing number of people worked together under conditions of increasing interconnectedness. they saw, heard, smelled, and touched each other. the problems of these ever-increasing interdependencies in the early decades of industrialization were dealt with by coercing the workers through orders, rules, and sanctions, as well as by stimulating their senses of discipline (bendix 1956). on the factory floor and in the administrative offices, employees realized that they had to learn to live together in peace, virtuousness, and order (kieser 1998), if only for their own benefit. whereas coercing workers in line is exemplary of social control enacted by supervisors, both stimulating and convincing changes of behavior instead urge self-regulation on the part of the workers. factory rulebooks provide information about the mixture of social control and self-regulation present in the factory system. the potters’ instructions and the common place book, developed by the eighteenth-century english factory master josiah wedgwood, offer evocative examples of disciplinary rules that aimed to fight ‘waste’, ‘inefficiency’, ‘arbitrariness’, and ‘idleness’. the following sanctions indicate severe external constraints: ‘any workman conveying ale or licquor into the manufactory in working hours forfits 2s.’; ‘any workman strikeing or otherwise abuseing an overlooker to lose his place’ (mckendrick 1961: 45). at the same time, these documents instructed overseers on how to show ‘marks of approbation’ to the punctual and skilful. these instructions point to systematic efforts to enhance workers’ self-control. 624 stewart clegg & ad van itersonm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 621-635 modern times spatial and temporal concentration, subordination, and extensive labor division have been enduring features of modernist organizations, culminating perhaps in the ‘bright satanic offices’ of modern-day call centers (baldry et al. 1998). but with the advent of ‘post-modern’ organizations, these four basic characteristics have begun to fade. indicators of weakening spatial and temporal concentration, for instance, can be identified in recent phenomena such as working from home (e.g. felstead and jewson 2000) or from neighborhood work centers (e.g. felstead et al. 2005), mobile working (e.g. felstead et al. 2005), hoteling (using meeting rooms and workstations in nearby hotels), gatherings at clients’ locations, distance learning, as well as (globally) distributed teams, and virtual teams (cascio 2000) (for an overview of types of telework see also kurland and bailey 1999). with such distant individual or group arrangements people no longer need to—or are even able to—work together in one location, obeying strict time schedules. (inter)organizational phenomena such as the geographical spread of units, outsourcing, and strategic alliances also lead to the loosening of spatial and temporal confines and of organizational boundaries. for instance, the very absence of spatial and temporal concentration is the defining characteristic of virtual organizations, where ‘face time’ is completely lacking. examples of recent trends and concepts that reverse subordination and task specialization are empowerment, self-managed teams and work groups, job enrichment, and multitasking. what effect does the likely corrosion of productive organizations based on spatial and temporal concentration, subordination, and labor division have on organizational members’ behavior, particularly on their self-regulation? much attention has been devoted to the effects of diminishing centralization and specialization on workers’ behavior. for instance, courpasson (2000) asks whether empowerment and other forms of decentralization actually reverse subordination. although it seems that overt displays of authority have given way to a more negotiated order, which implies a greater place for give and take, some argue that this new order is actually one of ‘soft domination’: a subtle mechanism through which obedience is produced. this mechanism has the appearance of equality among peers, but in reality it is characterized by a pervasive system of controls (courpasson 2000). thus, the concentration of decision power may in essence not have diminished in postmodern organizations, and, consequently, organizational members are equally expected to maintain compliant behavior. furthermore, the effects of ‘dedifferentiation’ (cf. lash 1990) in postmodern organizations have been examined (e.g. clegg 1990). scholars point to the possible detrimental effects of job enrichment, job rotation, and other forms of de-specialization. although de-specialization might provide the worker with a richer working life, which thus leads to higher job satisfaction, being a multi-skilled worker could also simply mean that one has to work harder to keep up with all the different tasks meant to be executed; also, it is time-cosuming to switch tasks. the latter theory is called the intensification hypothesis (for a discussion, see thompson and mchugh 1990). furthermore, increasing effort levels in decentralized work units may be accomplished by amplified monitoring in the form of peer surveillance (sewell and wilkinson 1992). despite the research devoted to 625 the effects of liquefying place, time, and organizational boundaries on employee behavior: lessons of classical sociology m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 621-635 these related topics, the effects of diminishing centralization and specialization on employees’ self-regulation have been given only sparse attention. in so far as research has addressed the effects of reduced (need for) physical proximity in the workplace, attention has typically been devoted to communication (nardi and whittaker 2002), attribution (cramton 2002; cramton et al. 2007), and conflict (hinds and mortensen 2005; hinds and bailey 2003) in dispersed teams, such as software development teams (carmel 1999). in addition, perceptions of proximity in virtual work have been addressed (wilson et al. 2008), as well as individual and group performance in distributed work arrangements (ahuja et al. 2003; maznevski and chudoba 2000; shin 2004). studies of trends such as the removal of physical barriers in organizations through the development of ‘open plan’-style offices and hotdesking, have also considered the effects of distance/proximity on outcomes such as communication and interaction (e.g. hatch 1987). elias’s civilizing process theory and its critics elias’s civilizing process theory addresses the effects of long-term changes in social structure on human behavior, granting a central position to both temporal and spatial considerations. we shall now consider the context and central tenets of this classical sociological approach. norbert elias (18971990) published his magnum opus über den prozess der zivilisation in 1939. a work on the issue of civilization, published just before another war that seemed determined to obliterate civilization’s foundations, it was largely ignored in the wake of world war ii. it took thirty years before elias’ study was recognized as a modern sociological classic. the civilizing process (2000) identifies a long-term trend in western european societies toward a restriction and refinement of social behavior (for discussions of elias’ work and approach, see e.g. fletcher 1997; mennell 1998; van krieken 1998; smith 2001; kilminster 2007). more precisely, elias analyzes the formation of the french absolutist state, with its concomitant changes in social control and self-regulation. elias selects this case, which he contrasts with the german and english paths to nation formation, because he considers the french court society the focal stage of the western civilizing process (see also elias 1983). from the twelfth century onwards, a number of princely courts in the fragmented region now called france succeeded in acquiring ever-larger territories. their supremacy was built on a monopoly of the means of violence and of the levy of taxes. the ensuing absolutist state, ruled by the victorious house of bourbon, exerted these two monopolies with unparalleled power. the defeated ‘pacified’ nobility was accommodated in the monarchic royal court. in this ‘semi-ritualized setting’ marked by ongoing political and status struggles, new standards of manners and morality were articulated, as elias shows via an analysis of etiquette and manner books. although the french courtiers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were compelled to give up the freedom to ‘let themselves go’ in order to maintain their high positions, which often led to feelings of artificiality and alienation, they nonetheless found their principal life fulfilment¬ in observed status differences and rules of 626 stewart clegg & ad van itersonm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 621-635 etiquette. consequently, this semi-public life was a source of both happiness and unhappiness at the same time. the behavioral codes originally essential for pacified interaction at the versailles court were later imitated by bourgeois elites, including the early capitalistic entrepreneurs, and came to be subsequently diffused down the social ladder. this trickle-down extension of civilized behavior was central to the development of the mentality characteristic of the modern era: an ingrained disposition (cf. bourdieu and passeron 1990) to act, think, and feel in ways that are characterized by greater individuation and more empathy, and that are emotionally controlled, curbed, and refined, making the individual better capable of postponing immediate gratification. three levels of analysis can be distinguished in elias’ civilizing process theory. first, state formation, monopolization of violence and taxation, growing social differentiation, and lengthening interdependency networks that traverse time and physical space; second, changing standards of manners and morality, and third, self-regulation and formation of self-identity. in linking the three levels, the concepts of ‘power inequalities’, ‘social differentiation’, and ‘social interdependencies’ are the most crucial. values, norms, and common understandings are disregarded as ‘independent variables’ by elias. at best, these social determinants serve as ‘mediating variables’ to explain changes in self-regulation. certainly power, differentiation, and interdependency webs take the lead, as it were, in the civilizing process. elias claims to find ample evidence of quite impulsive behavior among noblemen at the local courts in late medieval western europe. outbursts of ferocity could occur at any moment. elias seeks to demonstrate that this behavior was gradually tempered as authority became centralized in the victorious court, with the result that a growing number of people became mutually depen¬dent while simultaneously also more socially differentiated. elias (2000) summarizes the psychological concomitants of power centralization and increasing interdependencies as follows: ‘[i]f in this or that region, the power of central authority grows, if over a larger or smaller area people are forced to live at peace with one another, the molding of affects and the standards of the economy of instincts are very gradually changed as well’ (p. 169). in the early modern era that followed, which was characterized by further concentration of power and increasing differentiation and interdependence, the pattern of controls over individual behavior changed dramatically. whereas behavioral restraints of humans initially arose primarily from marked power imbalances (as we saw in the formation of absolutism), later on regulation was induced by the more impersonal, less visible coercions of larger and denser interdependency webs such as those typified by the later years of the ancien régime court. concurrent with the progressive diminution of power disparities between groups (an outcome of further advancing human interdependence and differentiation), desired behavior was increasingly produced by individuals of their own accord. elias labels this change as a shift from ‘social constraint’ to ‘self-constraint’; for the second concept, however, we prefer the label ‘self-regulation’, because in addition to acknowledging the repressive side of behavior (cf. muchembled 1988), this label also allows for the expressive side of behavior, which recognizes that civilized behavior is also a way to seek distinction (from others). 627 the effects of liquefying place, time, and organizational boundaries on employee behavior: lessons of classical sociology m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 621-635 the aforementioned shift has led to fundamental changes in the psychological make-up of humans. when social constraints were still dominant, one could witness what elias calls the advance of the threshold of shame and repugnance. this advance meant that an increasing number of spheres of action became social danger zones in which one could lapse into gestures or expressions that were liable to give cause to shame. when self-regulation became more prominent, feelings of shame yielded to a more ‘advanced’ stage of self-consciousness: a quasi-automatic self-discipline and foresight regardless of whether one was observed or not. this self-discipline became also patently more universal, more stable, and more differentiated. we would like to draw attention to elias’ use of the adjective ‘advanced’ here. his main intellectual contender, michel foucault (1975), saw the trend toward internalization of the disciplinary power of the observing eye of panopticism in a far less favourable light (see also burkitt, 1993, on elias vs. foucault). indeed, although elias’ civilizing process theory may have the ring of a universal evolutionist theory in the tradition of herbert spencer, elias objected fiercely when confronted with such allegations. his thesis was certainly not intended to be teleological since elias did not believe in an overall purpose. although elias speculates on the final page of the civilizing process that the civilizing process may have an endpoint, for the time being, he writes, it is still in a state of becoming. nevertheless, there is still debate about elias’ universalistic ambitions, which, arguably, he cherished to the extent that he seemed to regard the western civilization process as a template that will be adopted in other parts of the world (e.g. barraclough 1982; duerr 1988, 1990, 1993, 1997, 2002; goody 2006). some ‘eliasians’ deny this; others try to reassure critics that, admittedly, non-western civilizing processes will follow suit or develop with different itineraries (for a summary of the disagreement, see mennell 1998: 228–34). it is needless to add that foucault’s work is marked by a strong dissociation from any notion of humanistic progress or teleological history. the eliasian aspect of differentiation of self-regulation was expanded in later publications, in which the twentieth-century trend toward a ‘loosening of manners and morals’ is evaluated. elias and some of his followers (e.g. wouters 1986) argue that this development, which gained momentum in the 1920s, 1960s, and 1970s, has not been accompanied by a lapse in selfdiscipline. ‘informalization’, as they label it, does not simply involve a linear loosening of morals marked by permissiveness; rather, it is a ‘controlled decontrolling of emotional controls’ (elias and dunning 1986: 44; for a critical discussion, see newton 1998). the controlled decontrolling implies an increased differentiation in manners that express control and distinction rather than sheer moral decline. elias concludes that over the past centuries self-discipline and foresight, as well as becoming more universal, more stable, and more differentiated, have also grown more effective. he argues that the reason for this development is that urges and impulses came to be more effectively subordinated to the requirements of increasingly intricate and differentiated social relationships, which resulted from lengthening chains of social interdependence. elias gives much weight to the lengthening of chains of interdependence over time as a driver of increasingly regulated behavior. mouzelis (1995) argues that the idea of interdependence chains increasing in length makes 628 stewart clegg & ad van itersonm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 621-635 or breaks the civilizing process theory. it is here that the topic of physical proximity becomes very relevant, since it may offer an alternative approach to the relationship between social control and self-regulation. given that elias empirically studied civilizing processes in such spatially confined contexts as the battlefield, the castle, and the court, one is tempted to give priority to the alternative notion of physical proximity. it is possible that if one has to take into account the preferences and sensitivities of an increasing number of humans, as is the case when interdependency networks extend, one may be inclined to higher self-regulation. nevertheless, the effect of being visible—and audible and touchable, etc.—may well be a considerably stronger motive for greater self-regulation (cf. the foucauldian gaze, which also stimulates self-regulation: foucault 1975). unseen and unknown fellow humans will always remain to some extent abstractions. proximity, the immediate bodily presence of others within a certain time period, may drive civilizing processes much more rapidly and broadly than interdependency chains per se. elias’ fiercest critic, ethnologist hans peter duerr (1988, 1990, 1993, 1997, 2002; for a counter critique see e.g. burkitt 1996; mennell and goudsblom 1997), maintains that humans who lived in the late middle ages were more restrained in their behavior than humans in the early modern and modern era only because they lived so close to each other, and everyone could see and hear what the other was doing. not only were people in small, easily surveyed, traditional societies more closely interwoven with family relatives, duerr argues (1988: 10), but there was also hardly any chance to escape the social control of the castle, village, or walled town. people were integrated in consanguine and affinitive kinship groups as well as in groups based on age, sex, occupation, and location of residence, in addition to warrior and secret societies (duerr 1993: 26-7). the norms that can be applied to members of medieval villages are also relevantly applied to members of tribal societies: they are much more subject to an effective and exorable social control than citizens of the modern metropolis (duerr 1993: 26). when one looks at the proximity claim from a social-psychological angle, one thinks of festinger and colleagues (1948), who demonstrate that people tend to befriend their neighbours for the reason that they are physically so close (this is called the propinquity effect) (see also kiesler and cummings 2002, for an overview of social-psychological research on the effects of the near presence of others). the alternative line of reasoning holds that lengthening interdependence chains characteristic of urbanizing and industrializing societies did not lead to a demand for greater self-regulation and foresight. in this model, on the contrary, to associate with many other people also implies a relational freedom or lack of social bonds (1988: 11). as newton (2001) argues: ‘[...] many complex networks are currently disembedded in time and place, particularly those of a monetary or economic variety. most individuals are engaged in highly complex economic interdependency webs, yet are blissfully unaware or unconcerned at their predicament. for instance, i will probably never meet the people who grew the cotton that i wear, or the bananas that i eat.’ (p. 488). here, duerr and newton seem to echo durkheim (1947), who has forcefully demonstrated that social differentiation, along with the reduced human closeness that goes with it, may promote anomie: a far cry from refined civilized behavior. if one is connected to a large number of people, duerr explains, it may well imply that deviant behavior is less consequential. if you trespass you don’t lose your face 629 the effects of liquefying place, time, and organizational boundaries on employee behavior: lessons of classical sociology m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 621-635 but only one of your faces (1993). thus, a certain degree of porosity, which gives agents more freedom, developed hand in hand with the newer forms of control that emerged in the early modern era. instead of regarding self-regulation as a function of expanding interdependence chains, duerr believes that self-regulation will fit the specific social relations that occur in a given time and place. such social relations may be marked by close physical proximity, or by its opposite, distance. in any case, contextualization theoretically yields a larger repertoire of interaction patterns. therefore, one can concede that it is differing forms of self-regulation, rather than their greater effectiveness, which accompany structural changes such as urbanization, industrialization, and anonymity. deviation from ‘civilized behavior’ is equally possible, and such an outcome is not just an episode, not just a temporary relapse in the ongoing civilizing process, as elias sees it. the link between shifting forms of interdependency networks and changing self-regulation may still hold—although not in the optimistic strand that is so characteristic of nineteenth-century evolutionary theorizing exemplified by elias. according to mouzelis (1995), the civilizing process approach is not a onesize-fits-all method, based on and leading to ‘quasi-universal generalizations between growing social interdependence and self-discipline’ (p. 150). but mouzelis goes one step further. eliasians, he argues, should construct more context-bound sub-theories that explore ‘the complex conditions where social differentiation and interdependence are linked to civilizing processes, and the conditions where they are not’ (mouzelis 1995: 74; emphasis added). thus, not all interdependence leads to a conversion in self-regulation and subjectivity. the hypothesized relation has to be tested everywhere, in various time periods, to assess whether a connection exists, and, if so, to assess its exact nature and form. giving primacy to proximity in the study of civilizing processes evidently also requires contextualization. to be near to one’s fellow humans can have dissimilar effects in terms of self-regulation, dependent on the type of taskinterdependence concerned. under which spatial and interconnectivity conditions—in our case, of modern versus postmodern productive organizations—do agents enact more versus less ‘civilized’ behavior? in the next section we will suggest some effects of the probable liquefying of place, time, and organizational boundaries. elias and management reversing subordination and specialization necessitates more self-regulation. decentralization and de-specialization imply more intraorganizational linkages, such as semi-autonomous work groups and cross-functional work teams. postmodern organizations thus represent increasingly lengthy and complex webs of interdependency that require people to take each other into greater consideration. de-specialized workers have to be as proficient as ‘network players’ as were the courtiers at versailles (cf. kuzmics 1991). they have to juggle anxious, disciplined behavior and relaxed, informal behavior. thus, complex and lengthy interdependence chains are likely to imply a further shift toward self-regulation, in line with the eliasian view on the civilizing process. 630 stewart clegg & ad van itersonm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 621-635 alternatively, decentralization and de-specialization of tasks will result in less self-regulation. workers who participate in various cross-functional work teams will experience fragmentation of social relations. instead of having a fixed set of near and familiar equals, de-specialized workers now have to deal with a large variety of organizational members. de-specialized workers cooperate with many co-workers but as a rule only on a part-time basis, usually for limited periods of time. proximity is ephemeral: it happens less frequently and comes to an end altogether much sooner. why be concerned with people whom you only see once a week or month? why be concerned with people with whom collaboration will end in the very near future? why bother with people who hardly understand what you can do or what you actually do? if you lose face vis-à-vis such a colleague, you will only lose one face. since authority is waning as well (because of processes of decentralization), the consequences of inconsiderate behavior on the work floor or in office relations will become even less consequential, as duerr’s account of proximity claims. with regard to trends such as the geographical spread of organizational units, outsourcing, and strategic alliances, which in part allow for a loosening of the confines of place and time, one can assume more self-regulation of those involved. an increase in interorganizational linkages in and between contemporary organizations also represents the enhanced scope and complexity of interdependence, and this, again, requires participants to take each other into consideration more and postpone immediate gratification. again, complex and lengthy interdependence chains are likely to imply a further shift toward self-regulation, in line with the eliasian view of the civilizing process. alternatively, fading spatial and temporal concentration (as a consequence of teleworking as well as the geographical spread of organizational units, outsourcing and strategic alliances) could lead to less self-regulation, to less ‘civilized’ behavior. because many direct work contacts will disappear or occur only electronically, restraints will weaken. why should you be concerned with people you will never see? or rather: why should you be concerned with a shakily moving face you know only from videoconferencing or via a webcam? why would one curb oneself and/or take care to impress through the regulated expression of manners and of morals? in all these cases, people are likely to experience shame and repugnance less easily. growing concerns about internet use by employees and attempts to develop corporate rules for online etiquette may be early reactions to a trend toward the loosening of behavioral restraints and skilful expression, in line with duerr’s proximity claim. towards a research agenda self-regulation involves suppression and expression, levelling and distinction. one can find the germs of this twin behavioral norm in early modern etiquette books, such as the work composed by italian courtier and diplomat baldassare castiglione, who advocates flexible and pleasant conduct (1991; originally 1528) or the work of the spanish jesuit baltasar gracián, who focuses on tactical refinement (1994; originally 1646). although castiglione has a high regard for discipline, he believes that the ‘true courtier’ behaves above all in an unaffected, flexible, and natural manner. his ideal manner must also contain elements of humor, irony, and verbal dexterity, all of which demand 631 the effects of liquefying place, time, and organizational boundaries on employee behavior: lessons of classical sociology m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 621-635 considerable flexibility. initially intended for courtiers, the renaissance manner books gained popularity among other elites; by the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, they had reached the bourgeois, who were active in trading, manufacturing, the civil services, and other similar professi¬ons. thus, although elias underscores behavioral curbing and inhibition, one can affirm that civilizing processes comprise the simultaneous development of both constraint and expression, an insight at which elias himself also arrived (elias and dunning 1986). more research needs to be done to unravel the dynamics between the two faces of civilizing processes. surely, in the practice of (organizational) life, it is a precarious exercise to balance constraint and expression in self-regulation. increased levels of discipline inflame the individual’s desire to ‘unleash’, to use a psychodynamic idiom. on the other hand, ‘free and easy conduct’ presupposes and cultivates adherence to the rules of law and custom or the discipline of mutual consent. the potential of research on civilizing processes for management and organization theory and practice is particularly strong with respect to trends such as distance work, interorganizational cooperation, and ‘dedifferentiation’. the blurring of the boundaries of place, time, and organizational domain may bestow organizational members with varying needs for self-regulation. how the tension between discipline and expression in postmodern organizations will affect organizational members’ disposition is an intriguing issue for further study. mastenbroek (2000) sees the possibility of an increasing tolerance for the tension between autonomy and interdependence. in relation to the aspect of differentiation of behavior, mouzelis (1995) points out that civilizing processes in one area (i.e. meeting manners) do not rule out de-civilizing processes in another (i.e. misconduct during department outings). de-civilizing trends in the corporate boardrooms may well concur with civilizing trends on the work floor and vice versa. likewise, when employees are more isolated, literally ‘distanced’, from the workplace, they are less inclined to self-regulation and possibly more inclined to feelings of estrangement, compensation might be sought in the non-work sphere. closer distance to family and community, a side effect of working from home or from a neighborhood work center, may produce ‘civilizing’ effects with indirect gains. the overall argument of the present discussion is that the effect of physical distance/proximity and interdependency of work activities on social control and self-regulation processes warrants inclusion in organization and management studies. as elias has shown, the application of a long-term perspective may help researchers to understand that collocated or dispersed work forms are continuously changing interdependency networks that exist in and between organizations; these work forms and the behaviors associated with them are the outcome of a long process (king and frost 2002) and will lead to new forms of organizing, which are difficult to forecast given the unintended consequences that characterize social interaction. one fruitful method of charting the relations discussed in the present paper could be the study of the above-mentioned manuals, such as the workman rulebooks at the wedgewood factories. it would be worthwhile to again take the kind of long-term perspective elias advocates, and examine how these manner books have developed to the present day, especially in the light of liquefying place, time, and organizational boundaries (clegg and baumler 2010). websites on employment and work-related matters hosted 632 stewart clegg & ad van itersonm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 621-635 by newspapers also provide a bounteous opportunity for such research (see, for example: http://www.smh.com.au/executive-style/management/50-rulesfor-doing-business-in-australia-20131024-2w3v6.html). apart from shop floor workers, one could also examine the present-day counterpart to the upper strata of the feudal and early-modern systems: the top executives of business companies. corporate etiquette manuals, like those written for courtiers back in the days of castiglione and gracián, are targeted at those who wish to be powerful and crave to make their way in the world. the current proliferation of such etiquette manuals for managers, expatriates, professionals and experts of all stripes could provide an opportunity to study how the boundaries of acceptable and appreciated behavior in proximate or distant working conditions have shifted. other more obvious sources to include in a study would be interviews, surveys, and analysis of secondary data sources on organizational and employee performance and (mis)behaviors. relevant research questions include the following: to what extent can dispersed work be successfully accomplished? can distance effectively be managed? or is the collocation of interdependent work activities, where possible, to be preferred because of the blessings bestowed by face-to-face work? can virtual teams and organizations thrive when they institutionalize intense live personal communication scattered over periods of distant communication (cf. maznevski and chudoba 2000)? answers to these questions will inform research on organizational flexibility, innovativeness and revenues, as well as the quality of work life (hinds and kiesler 2002: xi). proficient self-regulation of workers, be it in proximate or in dispersed working arrangements, is crucial for both their own benefit and that of the employing organizations. there is a great deal of work to be done in the analysis of organizational behavior and management that draws on classical sociology. this paper suggests some initial ways in which such research might be conducted. stewart clegg is research professor and director of the centre for management and organisation studies research at the university of technology, sydney, and visiting professor at universidade nova, lisbon, copenhagen business school and em-lyon. he is a prolific publisher in leading academic journals in social science, management and organization theory. ad van iterson is associate professor at the department of organization and strategy at maastricht university, the netherlands. he has a background in interpretative sociology and worked as an assistant to norbert elias. he publishes on gossip and humour on the workfloor. 633 the effects of liquefying place, time, and organizational boundaries on employee behavior: lessons of classical sociology m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 621-635 · adler, p. s. (2009). a social science which forgets its founders is lost. in p. s. adler (ed.), oxford handbook of sociology and organizational studies (pp. 3-19). oxford: oxford university press. · ahuja, m. k., galletta, d. f., & carley, k. m. (2003). individual centrality and performance in virtual r&d groups: an empirical study. management science, 41(9), 21-38. · alexander, j. c. (1987). the centrality of the classics. in a. giddens & j. turner (eds.), social theory today (pp. 11-57). stanford: stanford university press. · baldry, c., bain, p. & taylor, p. (1998). “bright satanic offices”: intensification, control and team taylorism’. in p. thompson & c. warhurst (eds.), workplaces of the future (pp. 163-183). london: macmillan. · barraclough, g. (1982, october 21). clockwork history. new york review of books. · bendix, r. (1956). work and authority in industry. new york: wiley. · bourdieu, p., & passeron, j.c. (1990). reproduction in education, society, and culture (2nd ed.). london: sage. · burkitt, i. (1993). overcoming metaphysics: elias and foucault on power and freedom. philosophy of the social sciences, 23(1), 50-72. · burkitt, i. (1996). civilization and ambivalence. british journal of sociology, 47(1), 135-150. · carmel, e. (1999). global software teams: collaborating across borders and time zones. upper saddle river: prentice hall. · cascio, w. f. (2000). managing a virtual workplace. academy of management executive, 14(3), 81-90 · castiglione, b. (1991). the book of the courtier. harmondsworth: penguin. · clegg, s. r. (1990). modern organizations: organization studies in a postmodern world. london: sage. · clegg, s. r., & baumeler, c. (2010). essai: from iron cages to liquid modernity in organization analysis. organization studies, 31(12), 1713–1733. · courpasson, d. (2000). managerial strategies of domination: power in soft bureaucracies. organization studies, 21(1), 141-61. · cramton, c. d. (2002). attribution in distributed work groups. in p. j. hinds & s. kiesler (eds.), distributed work (pp. 191-212). cambridge, ma: mit press, · cramton, c. d., orvis, k. l., & wilson, j. m. (2007). situation invisibility and attribution in distributed collaborations. journal of management, 33(4), 525-546. · duerr, h. p. (1988). der mythos vom zivilisationsprozess: nacktheit und scham. frankfurt a/m: suhrkamp. · duerr, h. p. (1990). der mythos vom zivilisationsprozess: intimität. frankfurt a/m: suhrkamp. · duerr, h. p. (1993). der mythos vom zivilisationsprozess: obszönität und gewalt. frankfurt a/m: suhrkamp. · duerr, h. p. (1997). der mythos vom zivilisationsprozess: der erotische leib. frankfurt a/m: suhrkamp. · duerr, h. p. (2002). der mythos vom zivilisationsprozess: die tatsachen des lebens. frankfurt a/m: suhrkamp. · durkheim, é. (1947). the division of labor in society. new york: free press. · elias, n. (2000). the civilizing process: sociogenetic and psychogenetic investigations. oxford: blackwell. · elias, n. (1983) . the court society. oxford: basil blackwell. · elias, n., & dunning, e. (1986). quest for excitement: sport and leisure in the civilizing process. oxford: basil blackwell. · felstead, n., & jewson, n. (2000). in work, at home: towards an understanding of homeworking. london: routledge. · felstead, n., jewson, n., & waters, s. (2005). changing places of work. basingstoke: palgrave. · festinger, l., schachter, s., & back, k. (1948). social pressures in informal groups. cambridge, ma: mit press. · fletcher, j. (1997). violence and civilization: an introduction to the work of norbert elias. cambridge: polity. · foucault, m. (1975). discipline and punish: the birth of the prison. new york: pantheon books. · goody, j. (2006). the theft of history. cambridge: cambridge university press. · gracián, b. (1994). the art of worldly wisdom: a pocket oracle. london: mandarin. references 634 stewart clegg & ad van itersonm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 621-635 · hatch, m. j. (1987). physical barriers, task characteristics, and interaction activity in research and development firms. administrative science quarterly, 32(2), 387–399. · hinds, p. j., & kiesler, s. (eds.). (2002). distributed work. cambridge, ma: mit press. · hinds, p. j., & mortensen, m. (2005). understanding conflict in geographically distributed teams: an empirical investigation. organization science, 16(3), 290-307. · kieser, a. (1998). from freemasons to industrious patriots: organizing and disciplining in 18th century germany. organization studies, 19(1), 47-71. · kiesler, s., & cummings, j. n. (2002). what do we know about proximity and distance in work groups? a legacy of research. in p. j. hinds & s. kiesler (eds.), distributed work. (pp. 57-80). cambridge, ma: mit press. · kilminster, r. (2007). norbert elias: post-philosophical sociology. london: routledge. · king, j. l., & frost, r. l. (2002). managing distance over time: the evolution of technologies over dis/ ambiguation. in p. j. hinds & s. kiesler (eds.), distributed work (pp. 3-26). cambridge, ma: mit press. · kurland, n. b., & bailey, d. e. (1999). telework: the advantages and challenges of working here, there, anywhere, and anytime. organizational dynamics, 28(2), 53-68. · kuzmics, h. (1991). embarrassment and civilization: on some similarities and differences in the work of goffman and elias. theory, culture and society, 8(2), 1-30. · lash, s. (1990). sociology of postmodernism. london: routledge. · lefebvre, h. (1994). the production of space. oxford: blackwell. · mckendrick, n. (1961). josiah wedgwood and factory discipline. historical journal, 4(1), 30-55. · mastenbroek, w. (2000). organizational behavior as emotion management. in n. ashkanasy, c. härtel & w. zerbe (eds.), emotions in the workplace: research, theory, and practice. (pp. 19-35). westport: quorum. · maznevski, m. l., & chudoba, k. m. (2000). bridging space over time: global virtual team dynamics and effectiveness. organization science, 11(5), 473-492. · mennell, s. (1998). norbert elias: an introduction. dublin: university college dublin press. · mennell, s., & goudsblom, j. (1997). civilizing processes-myth or reality? comparative studies in society and history, 39(4), 729-733. · mills, c. w. (1959). the sociological imagination. new york: oxford university press. · monge, p. r., & kirste, k. k. (1980). measuring proximity in human organizations. social psychology quarterly, 43(1), 110-115. · monge, p., rothman, l. w., eisenberg, e. m., miller, k. e., & kirste, k. k. (1985). the dynamics of organizational proximity. management science, 31(9), 1129-1141. · mouzelis, n. (1995). sociological theory: what went wrong? diagnosis and remedies. london: routledge. · muchembled, r. (1988). l’invention de l’homme moderne: sensibilites, moeurs et comportements collectifs sous l’ancien regime. paris: fayard. · nardi, b. e., & whittaker, s. (2002). the place of face to face communication in distributed work. in p. j. hinds & sara kiesler (eds.), distributed work (pp. 83-112). cambridge, ma: mit press. · newton, t. (1998). an historical sociology of emotion? in g. bendelow & s. williams (eds.), emotions in social life: social theories and contemporary issues (pp. 60-80). london: sage. · newton, t. (1999). power, subjectivity and british industrial and organizational sociology: the relevance of the work of norbert elias. sociology, 33(2), 411-440. · newton, t. (2001). organization: the relevance and the limitations of elias. organization, 8(3), 467-95. · pollard, s. (1965). the genesis of modern management. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. · scott, w. r., & davis, g. f. (2007). organizations and organizing. upper saddle river: pearson · sewell, g., & wilkinson, b. (1992). someone to watch over me: surveillance, discipline and just-intime labour process. sociology, 26(2), 271-89. 635 the effects of liquefying place, time, and organizational boundaries on employee behavior: lessons of classical sociology m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 621-635 · shin, y. (2004). a person-environment fit model for virtual organizations. journal of management, 30(5), 725-743. · smith, d. (2001). norbert elias and modern social theory. london: sage. · stinchcombe, a. l. (1982). should sociologists forget their mothers and fathers? american sociologist, 17(1), 2-11. · taylor, s., & spicer, a. (2007). ‘time for space: a narrative review of research on organizational spaces’ international journal of management reviews, 9(4), 325-346. · thompson, j. d. (2007). organizations in action. new brunswick: transaction publishers. · thompson, p. b., & mchugh, d. (1990). work organizations: a critical introduction. london: macmillan press. · van iterson, a., mastenbroek, w., & soeters, j. (2001). civilising and informalising: organizations in an eliasian context. organization, 8(3), 497-514. · van iterson, a., mastenbroek, w., newton, t., & smith, d. (2002). the civilized organisation: norbert elias and the future of organisation studies. amsterdam: benjamins. · van iterson, a. (2009). norbert elias’s impact on organization studies. in p. s. adler (ed.), oxford handbook of sociology and organizational studies (pp. 327-350). oxford: oxford university press. · van krieken, r. (1998). norbert elias: key sociologist. london: routledge. · wilson, j. m., o’leary, m. b., metiu, a., & jett, q. r. (2008). perceived proximity in virtual work: explaining the paradox of far-butclose. organization studies, 29(7), 979-1001. · wouters, c. (1986). formalization and informalization: changing tension balances in civilizing processes. theory, culture and society, 3(2), 1-18. research note: the red queen effect: principle, synthesis and implications for strategy 313 hélène delacour & sébastien liarte m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 313-330 copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). m@n@gement is a double-blind refereed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.management-aims.com © 2012 m@n@gement and the author(s). m@n@gement est la revue officielle de l’aims m@n@gement is the journal official of aims hélène delacour 2012 sébastien liarte research note: the red queen effect: principle, synthesis and implications for strategy m@n@gement, 15(3), 313-331. m@n@gement issn: 1286-4692 emmanuel josserand, hec, université de genève (editor in chief) jean-luc arrègle, emlyon business school (editor) laure cabantous, warwick business school (editor) stewart clegg, university of technology, sydney (editor) olivier germain, université du québec à montréal (editor, book reviews) karim mignonac, université de toulouse 1 (editor) philippe monin, emlyon business school (editor) tyrone pitsis, university of newcastle (editor) josé pla-barber, universidad de valència (editor) michael tushman, harvard business school (editor) florence villesèche, hec, université de genève (managing editor) walid shibbib, université de genève (editorial assistant) martin g. evans, university of toronto (editor emeritus) bernard forgues, emlyon business school (editor emeritus) 314 the red queen effect: principle, synthesis and implications for strategy m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 313-330 the red queen effect: principle, synthesis and implications for strategy hélène delacour sébastien liarte abstract organisations competing with others seek a competitive advantage by improving their position compared to that of their rivals. once they have gained this advantage, their competitors will in turn try to obtain an advantage in order not to be overtaken or left behind. this gives rise to a dynamic within the sector that makes it necessary for firms to invest ever more resources in order ultimately to remain in an identical competitive position. in the literature, this competitive spiral is called the red queen effect (rqe). the aims of our research paper are threefold. first, we present this competitive process together with the main contradictory findings available in the literature. we then attempt to identify the contributions of the rqe theory by positioning it in relation to the main streams of research in strategy in order to highlight where it is similar to them and where it differs. finally, an examination of the limitations enables us to identify future avenues for research on the rqe. keywords: red queen effect, exploration/exploitation, competition, competitors university of lorraine helene.delacour@univ-lorraine.fr university of lorraine sebastien.liarte@univ-lorraine.fr 315 hélène delacour & sébastien liarte m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 313-330 almost research in the field of strategy predicates the existence of a sustainable competitive advantage as an objective that organisations should strive for. however, it seems that it is increasingly difficult for firms to construct and retain a competitive advantage over time in turbulent, uncertain or extremely intense competitive environments (d’aveni, battista dagnino, & smith, 2010). the aim of the present article is to examine a specific competitive dynamic, the so-called red queen effect (rqe) (van valen, 1973; kauffman, 1995). this process suggests that, faced with competition, organisations will try to stand out and gain a competitive advantage by developing new ways of doing things. they thus create disequilibrium in the environment and their rivals are then faced with an organisation that is more successful than theirs. in turn, the competitors attempt to develop better solutions in order to obtain a new competitive advantage and thus improve their performance (barnett, 2008). this co-evolutionary approach illustrates the impact of competition on organisations and on the sector overall (barnett, 1997; barnett, 2008). the ongoing process means that a competitive advantage is inevitably temporary. in the first part of our paper, we set out the theoretical origins, principles and mechanisms underlying the rqe process. in the second section, we review the rqe-related literature, examining all work done on rqe, and present the principal findings to date. the third part of our paper summarises the main contributions of the rqe to the study of competitive relations, and positions the theory in relation to other, more traditional strategic approaches. our conclusion identifies the limitations of our study on rqe and suggests further avenues for future research. rqe: origins and general principle before describing the processes and mechanisms underlying the rqe, we believe it is useful to set out its theoretical foundations. the origins of the red queen effect: theoretical foundations research on industrial economics has historically formed the starting point for competitive strategy research (jacobson, 1992). with its neoclassical inspiration, industrial economics explores competition from a static stance through its structure-behaviour-performance paradigm. however, in a context where developments are numerous and fast-moving, a more dynamic approach is required. thus, work in the tradition of schumpeter and the austrian school1 offers a valuable alternative. advocates of these lines of research refute the notion of equilibrium found in the traditional approach to economics. for them, competition is not a state or a situation, but rather a process of discovery (von mises, 1949; jacobson, 1992) in which disequilibrium is an inherent characteristic of markets. thus, competition is considered as a state of continual rivalry for firms whose actions are designed to put them ahead of their rivals; this is subsequently cancelled out by the competitive moves of the latter. however, views on the competitive process differ considerably, depending on the stream of research (kœnig, 2005). in the schumpeterian approach, business leaders are encouraged to disrupt equilibriums by initiating radical change. this leads to a process of “creative destruction” (schumpeter, 1934) 1. the main supporters and initiators of this school are menger, böhm-bawerk, wieser, von mises and hayek. the modern austrian school is mainly represented by kirzner. 316 the red queen effect: principle, synthesis and implications for strategy m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 313-330 designed to turn exceptional profits. the vision is less radical in the austrian school approach, as in the work by kirzner (1997), for example, where corporate actions are mainly driven by a desire to seize opportunities and to react swiftly rather than to innovate and transform the market. in this context, firms’ advantage gain from their actions is inevitably temporary and continually called into question. hayek (1978: 191, cited by bonardi, 1997: 7) suggested that competition may be defined as “a method of discovering particular facts relevant to the achievement of specific, temporary purposes (…). the benefits of [these] particular facts (…) are in a large measure transitory.” when considering competition from a dynamic perspective, underscoring the temporary dimension of the competitive advantage and advocating frequent challenging of the status quo rather than acceptance of established positions (d’aveni, 1994), the rqe largely finds its roots in the schumpeterian paradigm and the austrian school, giving us a new angle from which to consider competition. general principle and mechanisms underlying the rqe the term rqe was first used by the biologist van valen (1973). the metaphor comes from a passage from through the looking glass by lewis caroll, the sequel to alice in wonderland. in the book, the red queen tells alice: “now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do to keep in the same place. if you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!” (carroll, 1965: 210). this metaphor enabled van valen (1973) to explain certain biological behaviours and to analyse how species continually adapt to their environment to stay ahead of their competitors, which are also continually adapting. the choices which the rqe offers to species is simple: do nothing and be overtaken or fight to keep your position. like the examples from the living world, we can use similar reasoning for organisations developing in competitive environments, where the rqe is described as “competitive rivalry in which firms must increase their investment in order to maintain their existing market position while at the same time failing to earn returns that are commensurate with higher investments” (lampel & shamsie, 2005: 4). the rqe creates a link between organisational learning (march, 1988) and organisational ecology (hannan & freeman, 1989), which distinguishes it from the work of the austrian school and the schumpeterian approach. as barnett and sorenson argue (2002: 290), “(i) competition among organisations triggers internal organisational ecology; (ii) learning increases the strength of competition generated by an organisation.” when combined, learning and competition gradually reinforce one another as the organisation develops, giving rise to a self-reinforcing rqe process. the mutual learning that takes place between competitors is another reason why the competitive advantage can only be temporary. 317 hélène delacour & sébastien liarte m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 313-330 literature review and the main findings on the rqe two lines of research can be distinguished in studies on the rqe. first, studies on the impact of the rqe on the performance of organisations (micro) and on their sector (meso) and, second, the identification of factors that to a greater or lesser extent moderate the rqe’s impact at both the organisation and the sector levels. table 1 presents the research on rqe in chronological order. the variables used, the main findings, the main contributions and the research methods have been included for each article. the impact of the rqe on performance the first line of research concerns the impact of the rqe on the performance of firms (micro) and their sector (meso). whatever the level studied, the outcomes may be positive or negative, depending on the dominant underlying process. the impact of the rqe on organization performance (micro level). studies have shown that changes in response to competition can result in an improvement or a decline in an organisation’s performance. when a firm responds to a market opportunity it has detected with an appropriate action, it also shows the other firm how to respond. with this new information, competitors can imitate the actions perceived as effective. observing competitive behaviour in this way also facilitates organisational learning (barnett & pontikes, 2008), enabling competitors to experiment with and develop new and innovative strategies, which may in turn lead to the launch of new products (derfus et al., 2008) or new business models based on strategic innovation (voelpel, liebold, tekie, & von krogh, 2005; plé, lecocq, & angot, 2010). thus, the rqe effect has a positive impact on business performance by stimulating organisational learning and encouraging firms to experiment and develop new strategies (result 1a). 318 the red queen effect: principle, synthesis and implications for strategy m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 313-330 table 1. main research on the rqe reference variables results contributions method barnett et al., 1994 corporate performance (roa) competitive position internal competencies (age, size, activities, etc.) competition is beneficial to single-activity firms due to the learning impact and does not benefit multi-unit firms. proposal for a coevolutionary model which enables the link to be made between the firm’s internal and external advantages quantitative study on 1109 retail banks in illinois between 1987 and 1993 barnett & hansen, 1996 failure rate of organisations positive impact of recent experience on the survival rate of organisations, unlike longer-term experience higher survival rate when the organisation is confronted with very different competitor cohorts identification of conditions in which the rqe may be relevant or not quantitative study on 2970 retail banks in illinois between 1900 and 1993 barnett, 1997 failure rate of organisations rate of creation population density large firms gradually become less and less competitive, unlike smaller firms, thereby reducing their capacity to survive proposal of a model that identifies the environmental effects of organisational characteristics in order to explain the rqe process quantitative study on the beer sectors in the us from 1663 to 1988, and the phone sector in pennsylvania from 1879 to 1935 barnett & sorenson, 2002 rate of creation growth rate identification of positive effects (rapid growth, competitive pressure, emergence of barriers to new entrants), and negative effects (competency trap) due to the rqe in an industry combination of ideas and models on the theory of organisational learning and organisational ecology with respect to the rqe quantitative study on 2970 retail banks in illinois between 1900 and 1993 barnett & mckendrick, 2004 size of company while large organisations lead the race at the technological level, they gradually become less competitive than the smaller firms distinction between two ideas of competition: competition as a race which favours large organisations and competition as a constraint that favours small organisations quantitative study on 1538 firms in the hard disk sector between 1956 and 1998 barnett & pontikes, 2005 firm’s experience firm’s performance (roa) summary of work by barnett and hansen (1996) and by barnett and sorenson (2002) study showing that competition between organisations depends on history quantitative study on 1538 organisations in the hard disk sector between 1956 and 1998 and on 2970 retail banks in illinois between 1900 and 1993 lampel & shamsie, 2005 amount of sales generated by the studio for each film comparison and imitation of strategies adopted by film studios, even if it results in poorer performance identification of the cognitive dimension of the rqe in response to the complexity of multipoint competition 425 films spread evenly between 1990-1991 and 2000-2001 barnett & pontikes, 2008 competitive experience failure rate rate of market entry organisations with competitive experience are more viable in their specific market and less so when they penetrate a new market identification of the role of the rqe in the likelihood and impact of organisational change. while exploration is considered as quantitative study on 2602 firms from the it sector in the united states between 1951 and 1994 319 hélène delacour & sébastien liarte m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 313-330 derfus, et al., 2008 focal corporate actions and competitors (price, capacity, geography, marketing, new product launch) speed of competitors’ reactions corporate performance (roa and ros) sector conditions (herfindhal index, rate of growth in the industry), competitive position (market share per year) the actions of an organisation enhance its performance but also the amount and speed of reaction of its competitors, who, as a result, negatively impact the performance of the focal organisation. the effects of rqe depend on the situation in the sector in question and the competitive position of the focal firm identification of three rqe moderating factors (the level of concentration in the sector, the level of demand and the firm’s market position) quantitative study on 4700 corporate actions from 11 industrial sectors in the united states barnett, 2008 rate of failure rate of creation competitive logic organisations which outlive the competition become stronger, but only in their market sector the level of an organisation’s competitiveness depends on its experience the weakest competitors fail, stepping up the competition and strengthening surviving firms in a dynamic evolutionary process identification of the positive and negative impacts of the rqe quantitative study on 1538 firms in the global hard disk industry between 1956 and 1998 and on 2970 retail banks in illinois between 1900 and 1993 when a firm survives competition, it increases its operating capacity, making it better adapted to its environment (barnett & sorenson, 2002; barnett & mckendrick, 2004; barnett, 2008). as barnett and hansen (1996: 142) indicate, “greater resilience would increase an organization’s performance”. even if the competitive advantage disappears in the long term, only continual adaptation can enable organisations to maintain their level of performance, even temporarily (venkatraman & henderson, 1998). based on a study on the performance of over 400 companies over a thirty-year period, beinhocker (1997) argues that it is hard for firms to maintain a level of performance above that of their competitors for more than five years. enhanced long-term performance is not so much due to a distinct competitive advantage but can rather be achieved by continually evolving and adopting new sources of temporary advantage that enable them to stay ahead in the race. on the other hand, companies that adopt competitive behaviour based on imitation risk focusing exclusively on the competitors’ behaviour to the detriment of real strategic thinking and the exploration of new capacity (barnett & hansen, 1996; barnett & pontikes, 2008; lampel & shamsie, 2005). such firms are likely to fall into a “competency trap” that prevents them from developing new solutions (levinthal & march, 1981; levitt & march, 1981). the earlier they begin this comparison, the more it will lead them to adopt similar behaviours, thereby reinforcing the rqe competitive cycle. this form of competing reduces the number of options available to organisations and steps up the level of competition, with a subsequent decline in the focal firm’s performance (ingram & simons, 2002). consequently, we argue that the rqe process has a negative impact on the performance of businesses when the latter adopt imitation as the main behaviour (result 1b). thus, organisations are both actors in the competitive process and, at the same time, targets of this same competition. as barnett and mckendrick (2004: 542) 320 the red queen effect: principle, synthesis and implications for strategy m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 313-330 argued, “even a particularly successful organization wields a two-edge sword in the process, since a dramatic improvement by the organisation is likely to trigger commensurately large improvements (through learning or selection) among its rivals – ultimately intensifying the competition it faces in the future”. organisations have to respond to competition in order to survive, but in responding and improving, they drive their competitors to surpass themselves, thereby making the competition even more difficult, which has an impact at the collective level. the consequences of rqe on sector performance (meso level) qe has both positive and negative consequences at the sector level. the ongoing determination of organisations to produce a better offer than their competitors generates a constant improvement in the offer. this competitive process results in a collective learning process which ultimately leads the whole sector to introduce ever more innovative and appropriate technologies, more efficient production processes and/or a higher level of service (baumol, 2004). this type of rqe competition can thus result in a positive outcome by improving performance at the sector level (result 2a). on the other hand, this mechanism can lead to a decline in the performance of the sector as it requires more and more resources for ever lower profits (result 2b). this poorer return on investment can sometimes lead to a decline in the level of product quality, fewer services and/or less innovation (henderson & cockburn, 1996). more generally, the negative consequences result in lower performance for all the organisations and consequently a higher failure rate (smith, grimm & gannon, 1992). table 2 summarises all of the consequences of the rqe, whether at the micro or meso level, and offers examples for each situation observed. table 2. impact of rqe on performance increase in performance decline in performance micro level learning, development of the firm’s capacity for innovation imitation, dependence on tried and tested paths, competency trap meso level widespread adoption of most innovative technologies, rise in productivity, lower costs, improvement in quality increase in intensity of competition, increase in costs for all the organisations moderating rqe variables beyond individual and collective performance, a set of variables that moderate the effects due to the rqe on performance has also been identified. as in the distinctions made for both levels of impact, these variables have been linked to the characteristics of the organisation (micro) and the sector (meso). moderating variables at the organisation level (micro level) at the level of the organisation, two moderating variables were identified: 321 hélène delacour & sébastien liarte m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 313-330 the firm’s competitive position and its experience. with a strong competitive position, leaders find themselves in a paradoxical situation. on the one hand, as they have certain advantages, like an advance in innovation, leaders are less involved in the collective learning process within their sector. however, as they are less affected by the rqe than the other firms, leaders become isolated at the competitive level and tend to see a reduction in their capacity to survive compared to other firms that are continually faced with competition and thus step up their competitive strategy (barnett, 1997; barnett & mckendrick, 2004). firms with a leading position are thus the more vulnerable competitors over time (result 3a). on the other hand, derfus et al. (2008) show that rather than being isolated from the competition, leaders remain competitive and improve their performance by being more aggressive in what they do (result 3b). regarding the organisation’s level of experience, barnett and sorenson (2005) argue that firms with recent competitive experience are well placed to observe and learn which actions to implement to optimize their competitive position. firms with recent experience of the competition have a higher survival rate, which they keep when they enter a new market (result 3c). on the other hand, those with less experience of competition are likely to end up failing. in parallel to this, businesses with extensive competitive experience will build and develop specific resources and skills which to respond to competition. while these resources and skills can form barriers to new entrants, representing a short-term advantage for the incumbent organisations, this can also have a detrimental impact on the same organisations when new entrants arrive. in the event of rapid change in the environment, competitive experience becomes a “competency trap” (levinthal & march, 1981; levitt & march, 1981) for the most experienced firms by skewing their perception of the environment and slowing down their evolution (barnett & pontikes, 2008). thus, prior experience can have a negative impact on the performance of incumbent organisations when new entrants arrive (result 3d). moderating variables at the sector level (meso level) two moderating variables have been identified at the sector level: the degree of concentration and the rate of growth in the sector. with regard to the level of concentration, barnett and hansen (1996) showed that a lower competitive concentration leads to the development of strong competitive relations that promote learning and adaptation. thus, the rqe has a less negative impact on the performance of firms when an organisation is confronted with a smaller number of different competitors compared to a situation in which it faces a large number of competitors (result 4a). this result is coherent with work by carroll and hannan (1989), who studied dependence in terms of population density. with regard to rate of growth, caves (1980) and bothwell, cooley, and hall (1984) showed that organisations belonging to these high-growth sectors are in environments that offer a large number of opportunities. these environments in fact tend to reduce competitive actions and reactions as rival firms are also more focused on acting than on observing competitive movements. on the other hand, when a sector reaches maturity, or even embarks upon a stage of decline, the incumbent organisations need to make more effort by dropping prices or increasing marketing expenditure, for example, in order to keep their market share, which indicates the start or the stepping-up of the competitive war. organisations in high-growth sectors are less affected by competition with 322 the red queen effect: principle, synthesis and implications for strategy m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 313-330 their rivals as increased demand is such that the organisations can increase their income simply by maintaining their market share (result 4b). having identified the most interesting work on the rqe and presented the different findings, we will now put it all into perspective in order to highlight the contributions of the rqe and to identify the contributions’ contradictions and limitations, suggesting further avenues for future research. conclusion and research agenda the rqe appears to be a co-evolutionary process that is particularly useful for understanding the two antagonistic consequences of the interaction dynamic between firms: learning and adaptation on the one hand and growth in competitive intensity and selection on the other (lewin & volberda, 1999). consequently, this co-evolutionary approach presents a certain number of contributions to studies on competition. contributions of the rqe three main contributions of the rqe can be identified with regard to existing approaches. first, the rqe considers interdependence between competitors as a positive element and even something to strive for, unlike other approaches in strategy. historically, whether through avoidance and/or head-on collision (ndofor, sirmon, & he, 2011), independence from competitors has been put forward as a coveted performance variable. some strategy scholars advocate avoiding competition altogether by developing a differentiation strategy (porter, 1981), the use of specific resources and competencies (barney, 1986), or the creation of a specific new space (kim & mauborgne, 2005). these scholars encourage organisations to find an advantage that protects them from or reduces competitive intensity. in contrast, other scholars advocate head-on collision strategies as a means to promote a situation “of mutual forbearance” between rival firms in order to reduce competitive intensity (karnani & wernerfelt, 1985; jayachandran, gimeno, & varadarajan, 1999; bensebaa, 2001), and the protection of “spheres of influence” (gimeno, 1999). the rqe process challenges this view, however, suggesting that exposure to competition, and the ensuing interdependence between competitors, is one of the ways that organisational expertise can develop (barnett & hansen, 1996; barnett, 2008). this process may be paralleled with prior work on oligopolies which suggests that a firm’s growth can be attributed above all to a search for equilibrium by each of the firms present in the oligopoly, which is ultimately untenable (cotta, 1969). second, the rqe adds to the work on competitive dynamics, which focuses on an analysis of the action-reaction dyad (bensebaa, 2000; smith, grimm, & gannon, 1992; chen, 1996; ferrier, 2001). studies adopting the actionreaction dyad as a unit of analysis seek first and foremost to identify the determinants, the type of actions to undertake, the intensity and speed of implementation depending on the organisation’s characteristics, the sector and past movements and, in return, to predict the potential type of reaction (smith, et al., 2001; bensebaa, 2003). the rqe, on the other hand, focuses on the dynamics, the underlying mechanisms (especially learning, imitation, evolution and selection) and the consequences of the sequence of competitive 323 hélène delacour & sébastien liarte m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 313-330 movements. by refocusing in this way, the rqe offers a new framework for analysis, allowing for the study of competitive sequences which are longer and more complex than the simple action-reaction dyad. third, the rqe’s multi-level approach enables us to simultaneously study the impact of the environment and businesses on competitive relations. approaches that focus on the environment (ecology of organisations, scp paradigm, neoinstitutional theory) tend to focus on the importance of the structure and to pay little attention to the choice of managers. other research streams, however, like that of the competitive dynamic or the theory of resources, give greater importance to the decisions made by individuals. historically, both of these approaches have been pursued in parallel and separately or, at least, in a sequential manner (miller & chen, 1994; schomburg, grimm, & smith, 1994; young, smith, & grimm, 1996). the rqe differs from this type of study by linking the issues of structure and decision so intimately that they can no longer be separated. the organisation may here be considered as an “active unit” (in the sense of perroux, 1972) that acts on its environment and shapes and adapts it through its actions while simultaneously being affected by the actions of the environment. table 3 summarises the positioning of the rqe and its contributions in relation to the main streams of organisation theory. table 3. comparison of the way competition is taken into account and its study in organisation theory2 scp paradigm ecology of organisations theory of resources neoinstitutional theory school of competitive relations red queen effect level of analysis sector (meso) population of organisations (meso) organisation (micro) fields (meso) action/reaction dyad (micro) business industry (micro/meso) type of analysis static dynamic static static dynamic dynamic nature of the competitive advantage sustainable sustainable sustainable sustainable temporary temporary object of analysis environment environment resources and competencies institutions manoeuvre of firms manoeuvre of firms and environment competitive logic positioning selection positioning isomorphism relations relations 2. analysis framework inspired by jacobson (1992) and roy (2007). 324 the red queen effect: principle, synthesis and implications for strategy m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 313-330 limitations of the rqe and avenues for further research while it is highly enriching, the rqe also presents a certain number of limitations. seven main limitations were identified which could be used as the basis for future research studies. first, in our review of the literature, we identified the contradictory effects of each of the elements taken into consideration. each variable studied can lead to positive or negative outcomes at the level of the organisation (micro) or the sector (meso). moreover, the findings show that the competitive movements established can have opposing outcomes depending on the level studied. the rqe shows evidence, for instance, of situations where, given the competition, the performance of organisations declines while that of the sector increases. a decline in the situation of firms appears compatible with a rise in collective performance. these contradictory results could be explained by the piecemeal approach to the studies or the fact that the effects are tested variable by variable, or in small groups of variables (as in derfus et al., 2008). in order to offset this limitation, we propose an integrative model that brings together all of the variables studied in the literature to date (figure 1) in order to obtain an overall view of the processes and impacts of the rqe. the variables and their outcomes at the micro level of the firm (called the focal organisation) or that of its competitor(s) k (micro) is in the full-line box on the left. the variables and their impact at the sector level (meso) are on the right of the model in the dotted-line box. we can take up the models of barnett (1997) and derfus et al. (2008) and contribute to them by summarising the main contradictory findings in the literature. however, this model needs to be tested to ensure its validity and to establish stable relations between the variables. this could be done by adopting a research method other than quantitative studies on the specific sectors in question. using computer simulation we could take all of the variables into consideration, for instance, in order to observe their combined effects. more specifically, techniques like genetic algorithms could help us to analyse both the learning and the imitation phenomena at the level of the organisation and evolution at the sector level (cartier, 2007). this means we can artificially observe the evolution of the process depending on the opposing effects of the different variables and test the model’s sensitivity to more or less significant variations in the weight of the different variables. this would help us to determine at which point the negative effects of the rqe outweigh the positive effects like learning and innovation. second, in addition to the test of the integrative model, more theoretical work is needed. as we pointed out earlier, studies that include the rqe fit into the competitive dynamic tradition, generally incorporating work based on schumpeter and kirzner. however, these two approaches differ in several ways, some of which appear difficult to reconcile. by introducing a dimension of significant change, the rqe, as a source of disruption to the equilibrium, appears to be of a radical nature in line with research on disruption strategies (prahalad & hamel, 1994). on the other hand, its mechanism is the outcome of traditional and frequent competitive behaviours (like imitation, for example). in this case, as kœnig argues (2005: 10), “the designated problem is schumpeterian, but the observations made correspond to kirzner’s definition of entrepreneurial action.” this paradox between the exceptional and the everyday, or between the innovative and the banal, requires theoretical work 325 hélène delacour & sébastien liarte m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 313-330 that helps us to remove the ambiguity found in work on the rqe. third, firms have introduced resources to directly promote inter-organisational learning. however, rqe-focused studies, while fostering learning through competition, do not take specific forms of competition into account, combining individual organisation outcomes with the collective outcomes of sectors (baumard, 2000), like alliances and partnerships. yet inter-organisational collaboration today forms a source of competitiveness (josserand, clegg, kornberger, & pitsis, 2004). relations between competitors wishing to cooperate may be even more ambiguous when each firm simultaneously envisages managing its individual future and the collective future of its sector, through so-called “co-opetition” relations (brandenburger & nalebuff, 1996). within this context, organisations “benefit from both the competition that drives them to continually improve their offer and the cooperation which gives them access to the partner’s resources” (fernandez & le roy, 2010: 156-157). figure 1. proposed integrative model of the rqe in order to develop a model of competitive relations that corresponds more closely to the strategic practices introduced by business organisations, these new forms of organisation either render traditional approaches to competition obsolete or mean that we need to take them into account and integrate them into work on the rqe. it would be interesting to measure the impact of these 326 the red queen effect: principle, synthesis and implications for strategy m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 313-330 structures on the rqe’s effects. more specifically, we need to know if the coopetition relations step up the impact of the rqe or, on the contrary, limit it or even cancel it out. fourth, more detailed studies on the pace of competition within sectors could be envisaged. in line with the work on hyper-competition (d’aveni, 1994), the rqe is particularly well adapted to environments where competitive intensity is continually growing. while many authors (d’aveni, 1994; bettis & hitt, 1995; brown & einsenhardt, 1998; hamel, 2000) have tried to demonstrate the existence and development of these highly competitive environments, other authors (e.g. porter, 1996) have challenged their existence. we could therefore ask whether a general increase in the level of competition as described by the rqe really exists. more recently, some researchers (mcnamara, vaaler, & devers, 2003) have indicated that periods of hyper-competition tend to come and go. studying sectoral developments over very long periods would help to identify the alternating cycles of rqe and competitive lulls. the length of these cycles, the reasons why we move from one type of cycle to another and, consequently, the evolutions in the variables that underpin the competition are just some of the facets that would be interesting to study. fifth, it would also be interesting to carry out complimentary studies on coevolution issues. the rqe is, in essence, a co-evolving mechanism as it is based on a mutual adaptation of firms, induced by competitive mechanisms that govern their relations (greve, 2002). while mutual adaptation within organisation populations has already been studied (barnett, 1994; hannan, 1997), the positive or negative impact of rqe on the processes of co-evolution between different organisation populations remains untapped. however, given the more or less significant proximity between some populations, an impact on populations close to those experiencing an rqe-type competitive process is possible. through a mechanism of inter-population co-evolution, the rqe at work within a population may impact other populations. by conducting multi-sector studies on identical periods, we should be able to to observe and quantify these combined effects. sixth, the rqe appears to be underpinned by a dynamic in which the intentionality of business leaders has no place. while the decision to respond to competition is a voluntary one (barnett & hansen, 1996; derfus et al., 2008), once triggered, the rqe process is presented as automatic or taken as read. its original inspiration from biological models gives weight to this lack of intentionality. however, a psychological dimension may support a large number of behaviours that have a competitive impact (kilduff, elfenbein, & staw, 2010). some competitors may have a specific motivation, pushing them beyond a simple traditional competitive mindset. however, a competitive process like the rqe, where organisations are caught up in a continual race for the competitive advantage, can add to the psychological involvement of the different actors and thus alter their motivations and intentions with regard to the competitors. the aim to trigger, pursue or opt out of an rqe-type competitive situation may depend more on the way that the competitive relationship is experienced by the actors than on the objective characteristics of the firms or sectors. the introduction of a psychological and intentional dimension in the rqe would, in some cases, create a parallel with the concepts of the “chicken game” (rapoport & chammah, 1966) or “escalation of commitment” (staw & ross, 1987). indeed, organisations are committed to or persevere in rqe327 hélène delacour & sébastien liarte m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 313-330 type dynamics even though it would be economically wiser to avoid or to put an end to this type of situation. however, the actors’ intentionality is guided by subjective motivations that arise from an unusual perception of competitive relations, inciting them to act in a specific way. there have been few studies on the impact of the psychological dimension on competitive relations in general, and on the intentionality of actors in particular (kilduff et al., 2010). the analysis of the rqe process through in-depth case studies that explore the motivations and intentions of actors taking part in rqe-type competitive situations could offer a particularly fertile field of research. seventh, continuing with the work on intentionality, it appears that the rqe has a negative outcome for organisations as, based as it is on a paradox, it forces them to put more and more resources into maintaining their results and, consequently, they see a decline in their performance. having acknowledged the decline in results or their incapacity to pursue this “arms race”, firms may decide to break out of this vicious circle. it would be interesting to understand at what point actors become aware of the situation in which they find themselves and the resources they use to interrupt the rqe process. one approach would be to investigate the role that regulations could play in this analytical framework (roquilly, 2009). updated by van valen in 1973 and applied to strategy thanks largely to the work of barnett (1997), the rqe is an interesting and challenging issue for strategic research, providing a valuable addition to the existing literature as we have shown. given the diversity of subject areas, methodologies, fields of application and objectives to be pursued, the rqe offers a fertile area for studying competitive relations in the coming years, and we hope to see many contributions arising from this process which creates a link between organisational learning and organisational ecology. hélène delacour is an associate professor at university of lorraine and a member of the cerefige research center. her research focuses on innovation, institutional change and competitive dynamics. sébastien liarte is a professor at university of lorraine (graduate school of business nancy) and a researcher at the european centre for research in financial economics and business administration (cerefige). his research focuses on competitive dynamics, interfirm relations and innovation topics. acknowledgments we would like to thank our editor, emmanuel josserand and the two anonymous reviewers for the quality and the invaluable insights of their comments. we would also like to thank faouzi bensebaa, laurent bertrandias, manuel cartier and frédéric le roy for their helpful comments and suggestions in the previous versions. 328 the red queen effect: principle, synthesis and implications for strategy m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 313-330 . barnett, w. p. (1994). the liability of collective action: growth and change among early telephone companies. in j. a. c. baum & j. v. singh (eds.), evolutionary dynamics of organization (pp. 337-354). new york: oxford university press. . barnett, w. p. (1997). the dynamics of competitive intensity. administrative science quarterly, 41(1), 128-160. . barnett, w. p. (2008). the red queen among organization: how competitiveness evolves. princeton, nj: princeton university press. . barnett, w. p., greve, h. r., & park, d. y. (1994). an evolutionary model of organizational performance. strategic management journal, 15(is1), 11-28. . barnett, w. p., & hansen, m. t. (1996). the red queen in organizational evolution. strategic management journal, 17(7), 139-157. . barnett, w. p., & mckendrick, d. g. (2004). why are some organizations more competitive than others? evidence from a changing global market. administrative science quarterly, 49(4), 535-571. . barnett, w. p., & pontikes, e. g. (2008). the red queen, success bias, and organizational inertia. management science, 54(7), 1237-1251. . barnett, w. p., & pontikes, e. g . (2005). the red queen: history-dependent competition among organizations. in b. m. staw & r. m. kramer (eds.), research in organizational behavior vol.26 (pp. 351-371). greenwich, ct: jai press. references . barnett, w. p., & sorenson, o. (2002). the red queen in organizational creation and development. industrial and corporate change, 11(2), 289325. . barney, j. b. (1986), strategic factor markets: expectations, luck and business strategy. management science, 32(10), 1231– 1241. . baumard, p. (2000). analyse stratégique: mouvements, signaux concurrentiels et interdépendance. paris: dunod. . baumol, w. j. (2004). red-queen games: arms races, rule of law and market economies. journal of evolutionary economics, 14(2), 237-247. . beinhocker, e. d. (1997). strategy at the edge of chaos. the mckinsey quarterly, 1, 25-39. . bensebaa, f. (2001). impact des sphères d’influence sur le comportement concurrentiel des firmes. finance, contrôle et stratégie, 4(2), 33-61. . bensebaa, f. (2000). actions stratégiques et réactions des entreprises. m@n@gement, 3(2), 57-79. . bensebaa, f. (2003). la dynamique concurrentielle : défis analytiques et méthodologiques, finance, contrôle et stratégie, 6(1), 5-37. . bettis, r., & hitt, m. (1995). the new competitive landscape. strategic management journal, 16, 7-20. . bonardi, j-p. (1997). processus de marché et rôle de l’entrepreneur : l’apport de l’école autrichienne au management stratégique. presented at the vième conférence internationale de l’aims, montréal, canada. . bothwell, j. l., cooley, t. f., & hall, t. h. (1984). a new view of the market structure – performance debate. the journal of industrial economics, 32(4), 397-417. . brandenburger, a., & nalebuff, b. (1996). co-opetition. new york: doubleday. . brown, s. & eisenhardt, k. (1998). competing on the edge. boston: harvard business school press. . cartier, m. (2007). méthodes de simulation. in r. a. thiétart (ed.), méthodes et recherches en management (pp. 466-491). paris : dunod. . carroll, l. (1965). through the looking glass. new york: new american library. . carroll, g. r., & hannan, m. t. (1989). density dependence in the evolution of populations of newspaper organizations. american sociological review, 54(4), 524-541. . caves, r. (1986). american industry: structure, conduct, performance (6th ed.). englewood cliffs, nj: prentice-hall. . chen, m. -j. (1996). competitor analysis and interfirm rivalry: toward a theoretical integration. academy of management review 21(1), 100-134. . cotta, a. (1969). les choix économiques de la grande entreprise. paris: dunod. . d’aveni, r. a. (1994). hypercompetition: managing the dynamics of strategic manoeuvring. new york: the free press. 329 hélène delacour & sébastien liarte m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 313-330 . hayek, f. a. (1978). new studies in philosophy, politics, economics and the history of ideas. chicago: university of chicago press. . henderson, r., & cockburn, i. (1996). scale, scope, and spillovers: the determinants of research productivity in drug discovery. rand journal of economics, 27(1), 32-59. . ingram, p., & simons, t. (2002). the transfer of experience in groups of organizations: implications for performance and competition. management science, 48(12), 15171533. . jacobson, r. (1992). the “austrian” school of strategy. academy of management review, 17(4), 782-807. . jayachandran, s., gimeno, j., & varadarajan, p. (1999). the theory of multimarket competition: a synthesis and implications for marketing strategy. journal of marketing, 63(3), 49-66. . josserand, e., clegg, s., kornberger, m., & pitsis, t.s. (2004). friends or foes? practicing collaboration an introduction. m@n@gement, 7(3), 37-45. . karnani a., & wernerfelt, b. (1985). multiple point competition. strategic management journal, 6(1), 87-96. . kauffman, s. a. (1995). technology and evolution: escaping the red queen effect. mckinsey quarterly, 1, 118-129. . kilduff, g. j., elfenbein, h. a., & staw, b. m. (2010). the psychology of rivalry: a relationally dependent analysis of competition, 53(5), 943-969. . d’aveni, r. a., battista dagnino, g., & smith, k. g. (2010). the age of temporary advantage. strategic management journal, 31(13), 1371-1385. . derfus, p. j., maggitti, p. g., grimm, c. m., & smith, k. g. (2008). the red queen effect: competitive actions and firm performance. academy of management journal, 51(1), 61-80. . fernandez, a. -s., & le roy, f. (2010). pourquoi coopérer avec un concurrent? une approche par la rbv. revue française de gestion, 36(204), 155169. . ferrier, w. (2001). navigating the competitive landscape: the drivers and consequences of competitive aggressiveness. academy of management journal, 44(4), 858877. . gimeno, j. (1999). reciprocal threats in multimarket rivalry: staking out spheres of influence in the us airline industry. strategic management journal, 18(6), 101-128. . greve, h. (2002). interorganizational evolution. in j. a. c. baum (ed.), the blackwell companion to organizations (pp. 557-578). oxford: blackwell. . hamel, g. (2000). leading the revolution. boston: harvard business school. . hannan, m. t. (1997). inertia, density, and the structure of organizational populations: entries in european automobile industries, 18861981. organization studies, 18(2), 193-228. . hannan, m. t., & freeman, j. (1989). organizational ecology. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. . kim, w. c., & mauborgne, r. (2005). blue ocean strategy: how to create incontested market space and make the competition irrelevant. boston, ma: harvard business school press. . kirzner, i. m. (1997). entrepeneurial discovery and the competitive market process: an austrian approach. journal of economic literature, 35(1), 60-85. . koenig, g. (2005). pour éviter que l’autre à peine retrouvé, ne fasse l’objet d’une terrible simplification. in f. bensebaa et j. le goff (eds.), les stratégies concurrentielles : nouvelles approches nouveaux enjeux. paris: ems management & société. . lampel, j., & shamsie, j. (2005). escalating investments and declining returns: red queen competition in the motion picture industry. ebk working paper. mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum. . levinthal, d. a., & march, j. g. (1981). a model of adaptative organizational search. journal of economic behavior and organization, 2, 307-333. . levitt, b., & march, j. g. (1988). organizational learning. annual review of sociology, 14, 319-340. . lewin, a. y., & volberda, h. w. (1999). prolegomena of coevolution: a framework for research on strategy and new organizational forms. organization science, 10(5), 519-534. . march, j. g. (1988). decisions and organizations. cambridge, ma: basil blackwell. . mcnamara, g., vaaler, p., & devers, c. (2003). same as it ever was: the search for evidence of increasing hypercompetition. strategic management journal, 24(3), 261-278. 330 the red queen effect: principle, synthesis and implications for strategy m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 313-330 . roy, p. (2007). de l’intérêt des firmes dominantes à perturber et stabiliser le jeu concurrentiel. finance, contrôle et stratégie, 10(3), 139-160. . roy, p. (2010). les nouvelles strategies concurrentielles. paris : la découverte. . schumpeter, j. a. (1934).* the theory of economic development. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. . schomburg, a., grimm, c. m., & smith, k. g. (1994). avoiding new product warfare: the role of industry structure. in p. shrivastava, a. huff, & j. dutton (eds.), advances in strategic management, vol. 10 (pp. 145–174). greenwich, ct: jai press. . smith, k. g., grimm, c. m., & gannon, m. j. (1992). dynamics of competitive strategy. london: sage. . smith, k. g., ferrier, w., & ndofor, h. (2001). competitive dynamics research: critique and future directions. in m. hitt, r. freeman & j. harrison (eds.), handbook of strategic management (pp. 315-361). oxford: blackwell. . staw, b. m., & ross j. (1987). behavior in escalation situations : antecedents, prototypes, and solutions. in b. m. staw & l. l. cummings (eds.), research in organizational behavior, 9, (pp. 1-38), greenwich, ct: jai press. . van valen, l. (1973). a new evolutionary law. evolutionary theory, 1, 1-30. . venkatraman, n., & henderson, j. c. (1998). real strategies for virtual organizing. sloan management review, 40(1), 33-48. . miller, d., & chen, m. -j. (1994). sources and consequences of competitive inertia: a study of the u.s. airline industry. administrative science quarterly, 39(1), 1-23. . mises (von), l. (1949). human action: a treatise on economics. new haven, ct: yale university press. . ndofor, h., sirmon, d., & he, x (2011). resources, competitive actions and performance: investigating a mediated model with evidence from the invitro diagnostics industry. strategic management journal, 32(6), 640-657. . plé, l., lecocq, x. & angot, j. (2010). customer-integrated business models: a theoretical framework. m@n@ gement, 13(4), 226-265. . perroux, f. (1972). pouvoir et économie. paris: dunod. . porter, m. (1981). the contribution of industrial organization to strategic management. academy of management review, 6(4), 609-620. . porter, m. e. (1996). on competition: updated and expanded edition. boston, ma: harvard business school publishing. . prahalad, c. k., & hamel, g. (1994). strategy as field of study: why search for a new paradigm?. strategic management journal, 15(si), 5-16. . rapoport, a. & chammah, a. m. (1966). the game of chicken. american behavioral scientist, 10(3), 10-28. . roquilly, c. (2009). le cas de l’iphone en tant qu’illustration du rôle des ressources juridiques et de la capacité juridique dans le management de l’innovation. m@n@gement, 12(2), 142-175. . voelpel, s., liebold, m., tekie, e., & von krogh, g. (2005). escaping the red queen effect in competitive strategy: sensetesting business models. european management journal, 23(1), 37-49. . young, g., smith, k. g., & grimm, c. m. (1996). ‘austrian’ and industrial organization perspectives on firm-level competitive activity and performance. organization science, 7(3), 243-254. 528 ulrich wassmer, diego c. cueto & lorne n. switzerm@n@gement vol. 17 no. 1, 2014, 1-19 copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). m@n@gement is a double-blind refereed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.management-aims.com © 2014 m@n@gement and the author(s). m@n@gement est la revue officielle de l’aims m@n@gement is the journal official of aims ulrich wassmer diego c. cueto lorne n. switzer 2014 the effect of corporate environmental initiatives on firm value: evidence from fortune 500 firms m@n@gement, 17(1), 1-19. m@n@gement issn: 1286-4692 laure cabantous, cass business school (co editor in chief) sébastien liarte, université de lorraine (co editor in chief) stewart clegg, university of technology, sidney (editor) olivier germain, université du québec à montréal, (editor, book reviews) bernard leca, université paris-dauphine (editor) vincent mangematin, gem (editor) philippe monin, em lyon business school (editor) martin g. evans, university of toronto (editor emeritus) bernard forgues, em lyon business school (editor emeritus) 1 the effect of corporate environmental initiatives on firm value: evidence from fortune 500 firms m@n@gement vol. 17 no. 1, 2014, 1-19 the effect of corporate environmental initiatives on firm value: evidence from fortune 500 firms ulrich wassmer lorne n. switzer diego c. cueto emlyon business school wassmer@em-lyon.com john molson school of business concordia university, montreal switz@jmsb.concordia.ca esan graduate school of business, lima dcueto@esan.edu.pe abstract when do firms derive value from investing in environmental initiatives (ceis)? we examine stock market responses to the announcements of 183 ceis by 71 fortune 500 firms during the period 2002 to 2008. we find that the stock market reacts positively to such announcements but does not react differently to ceis concerning a firm’s inputs, throughputs, and outputs. we also find that there is an inverted u-shaped relationship between the timing of a cei and the abnormal stock market return following its announcement. overall, this study shows that timing is a relevant explanatory factor for the value firms derive from investing in environmental action.. key words: corporate environmental action; environmental sustainability; value creation; event study methodology 2 ulrich wassmer, diego c. cueto & lorne n. switzerm@n@gement vol. 17 no. 1, 2014, 1-19 introduction “when do firms derive value from investing in environmental initiatives? a central debate in the environmental sustainability and strategy literature focuses on how environmental management and actions affect economic performance (clemens, 2006; chien & peng, 2012; dowell, hart, & yeung, 2000; hamilton, 1995; hart, 1995; hart & ahuja, 1996; king & lenox, 2001; porter & van der linde, 1995). a rich stream of research in this domain has examined the performance implication of environmental actions by taking a market-based perspective, using event study methodology to track abnormal stock market returns following the announcement of specific environmental actions and events. such an approach essentially enables the isolation of the performance impact of a firm level action: a statistically significant abnormal stock market reaction to the announcement of environmental action reflects, on the one hand, the stock market’s perception of the action’s financial impact on the firm and, on the other hand, also indicates causality between the action and the performance outcomes (jacobs, singhal, & subramanian, 2010; mcwilliams & siegel, 1997). a key assumption in the literature that has examined stock market reactions following the announcement of environmental action is that an event with significant strategic and operational impact will lead the stock market to reconsider its evaluation of the involved firm. authors in this line of research have examined events such as corporate environmental initiatives (gilley, et al., 2000; jacobs et al., 2010), environmental investments (halme, & niskanan, 2001), pollution disclosures (belkaoui, 1976; freedman & jaggi, 1994; hamilton, 1995; ingram, 1978; shane & spicer, 1983); environmental performance awards (jacobs, et al., 2010; klassen & mclaughlin, 1996), and environmental crises (klassen & mclaughlin, 1996). this literature has laid a solid foundation for isolating and better understanding the performance effect of specific environmental action by taking the abnormal stock market return as a financial performance proxy. however, it has not shed much light on the role of the timing of such actions in explaining financial performance outcomes. a second stream of research focusing on the environmental action-performance link does examine the impact of the timing of environmental investments and initiatives on firm performance (hart & ahuja, 1996; nehrt, 1996). although this research provides interesting insights into the performance effect of the timing of environmental action and initiatives, it mainly examines longer periods of time, for example, action in a given year and the successive performance effect in the year after. however, this research does not build on insights from the event study-based literature stream and consequently does not shed much light on the performance effect of single environmental actions at more discrete points in time. in this study, therefore, we aim to address these gaps by linking the two literatures described above to shed new light on how environmental action affects economic performance at specific points in time. more specifically, we build on these literatures and examine stock market responses to the announcements of 183 corporate environmental initiatives by 71 fortune 500 firms during the period of 2002 to 2008. in doing so, it is our goal to make two specific contributions to the literature concerned with the performance effect of environmental action. first, we intend to isolate the performance effects of 3 the effect of corporate environmental initiatives on firm value: evidence from fortune 500 firms m@n@gement vol. 17 no. 1, 2014, 1-19 single environmental actions and investigate whether there is a systematic performance differential related to the timing of these actions. second, we intend to overcome some of the methodological shortcomings in the existing event study-based works such as the relatively small and homogeneous event sample size and the use of relatively simplistic event study methodology. here, we introduce a more sophisticated event study methodology by including the fama and french (1992, 1993) three factors model, the carhart (1997) four factors model, and a multi-industry sample. for the purpose of this study, we define corporate environmental initiatives (henceforth “ceis”) as firm-level actions with the goal of reducing negative or generating positive environmental impact in areas such as energy efficiency, pollution prevention, waste reduction, recycling, use of clean energy, environmental management systems, and greener products and services (jacobs, et al., 2010). we include initiatives that concern a firm’s inputs (i.e., raw materials and fuels), throughputs (i.e., plants, workers, wastes, and transportation), and outputs (i.e., products and/or services) (shrivastava, 1995a, 1995b). the remainder of this paper is structured as follows. in the next section, we review and draw on the relevant background literature and develop a theory and hypotheses. next, we describe the sample data and methods used to test our hypotheses. lastly, we conclude the paper by discussing its findings and limitations, and highlighting avenues for future research. background literature and hypotheses to examine the effect of ceis on firm performance, we first set up our baseline argument about stock market reactions to ceis before we move on to examine how the timing of such investments can explain performance differentials. figure 1 provides an overview of our conceptual model which we outline in more detail in the following sections. figure 1. conceptual model outputs revenue enhancement cost reduction inputs throughputs (greener products and/or services) (raw materials fuels etc.) (operations, workers, waste etc.) creates and/or fullfills demand in new and/or existing markets prevents and/or reduces waste and pollution improves efficiency (energy, operations,business processes etc) throughout value chain avoid potential future costs (i.e., liability, compliance etc.) environmental action targeted at: firm’s investment in cei early vs. late adoption h2: h1: + timing of firm’s investment in cei abnormal stock market return financial performance• • • • 4 ulrich wassmer, diego c. cueto & lorne n. switzerm@n@gement vol. 17 no. 1, 2014, 1-19 stock market reactions and environmental initiatives a rich stream of research has examined stock market reactions to environmental initiatives. the findings of these studies, however, remain inconclusive. while some studies report positive wealth effects following the announcements of environmental action and initiatives, others report negative effects or even no effects at all. in an early study, shane and spicer (1983) found that the stock market reacts more positively to announcements of better pollution performance than it does to announcements of poorer pollution performance. similarly, stevens (1984) reported that firms with low pollution control costs trigger more positive abnormal stock market returns than firms with high pollution control costs. klassen and mclaughlin (1996) reported that positive corporate events, such as firms’ environmental awards, generally trigger positive abnormal stock market returns. in their analysis of u.s. firms, dowell et al. (2000) found that firms with a single rigorous global environmental standard have systematically higher market values than firms with lower and less rigorous standards. although there is considerable evidence for positive stock market reactions to the announcement of environmental action, some studies have also provided contrary findings. for example, hamilton (1995) reported that the first announcement of firms’ toxics release inventory pollution figures resulted in a negative abnormal stock market return. in their study of firms in the finnish forestry industry, halme and niskanan (2001) also found that the stock market reacts negatively to environmental investments and the greater the investments are, the more negative the stock market’s reaction. lastly, some studies reported no effects at all. yamashita, swapan, and mark (1999) examined scores of environmental conscientiousness reported in the press but did not find significant abnormal stock market responses to these scores. in their study, gilley et al. (2000) found that the stock market did not react significantly to firms’ announcements of environmental initiatives and that the market reacts significantly differently to product-driven ceis than process-driven initiatives. jacobs et al. (2010) found similar results in that the announcement of ceis does not trigger significant reactions from the stock market. however, jacobs and colleagues also found that stock market reactions differ by initiative type: philanthropic initiatives and iso 14001 certifications trigger a positive market reaction, while voluntary emission reductions trigger a negative market reaction. there is a clear tension between the literature showing a positive relationship between environmental action and economic performance and the mixed empirical evidence from the event study-based literature on the subject. consequently, additional empirical evidence is needed to shed further light on the subject. to provide new insights on the stock market’s reaction to environmental initiatives, we adopt a value creation, i.e., revenue enhancement and cost reduction view, for our baseline argument. we then move on to examine the role of timing in such initiatives from a broader institutional perspective. 5 the effect of corporate environmental initiatives on firm value: evidence from fortune 500 firms m@n@gement vol. 17 no. 1, 2014, 1-19 environmental action and value creation research has shown that through proactive environmental management and strategies, firms can achieve positive economic performance outcomes (aragon-correa, 1998; aragon-correa & sharma, 2003; dowell, et al., 2000; forte & lamonte, 1998; hamilton, 1995; hart, 1995; hart & ahuja, 1996; porter & van der linde, 1995; sharma, 2000) and gain a competitive advantage over their rivals (shrivastava, 1995a). more specifically, acting in an environmentally sustainable fashion provides an opportunity for firms to create value by enhancing revenues and/or reduce costs (ambec & lanoie, 2008; christmann, 2000; dowell, et al., 2000; klassen & mclaughlin, 1996). through targeted environmental actions and initiatives, firms can create demand for new, environmentally friendly products which can open up new markets leading to enhanced revenues (hart, 1995; porter & van der linde, 1995). firms can also achieve substantial reputational benefits from environmental action which in turn can lead to increased sales and thus enhance revenues (dowell, et al., 2000; klassen & mclaughlin, 1996). on the cost side of the equation, environmental initiatives can help firms to reduce costs through waste and pollution reduction, improved energy efficiency, and improved business processes throughout their operations and supply chains (christmann, 2000; hart, 1995; hart & ahuja, 1996; rao & holt, 2005; rothenberg, pil, & maxwell, 2001; sroufe, 2003). moreover, from a long-term perspective, such initiatives can help to avoid potential future costs related to compliance, environmental crisis, and liabilities (reinhardt, 1999; karpoff, lott, & wehrly, 2005; porter & van der linde, 1995) thus, from a stock market-based perspective, the above arguments suggest that firms should expect positive reactions by the stock market to their engagement in environmental initiatives. therefore, our baseline hypothesis goes as follows: hypothesis 1: the abnormal stock market return following the announcement of a cei is positive. the role of timing in investing in corporate environmental initiatives firms’ environmental actions are determined by both internal and external forces (clemens & douglas, 2006). from an internal perspective the timing of such action is frequently driven by the quest to achieve a first mover advantage (nehrt, 1996). from an external perspective, however, the role of timing concerning environmental action and how this timing affects firm performance is less clear. therefore, to shed more light on the role of the timing of ceis in explaining performance outcomes, this section will take an external perspective and develop an argument based on tensions between the institutional pressure and “liability of newness” perspectives. pressure within the institutional environment is a key driver for firm behavior and, to become legitimate, firms frequently adopt practices that are common within their organizational field (dimaggio & powell, 1983; scott, 1992). one important issue concerning such practice adoption, however, is the relationship between timing and value creation. firms that adopt new practices soon after significant external events tend to 6 ulrich wassmer, diego c. cueto & lorne n. switzerm@n@gement vol. 17 no. 1, 2014, 1-19 do so to respond to pressures to implement initiatives that deliver efficiency gains and performance improvements (naveh, marcus, & moon, 2004; tolbert & zucker, 1996; westphal, gulati, & shortell, 1997). by quickly adopting new practices, firms can benefit from learning effects, time compression diseconomies, and asset mass efficiencies and thus may obtain a first mover advantage (nerth, 1996). however, the early adoption of new practices may also confront firms with a liability of newness challenge (stinchcombe, 1965). from a liability of newness perspective, new and not yet established practices are perceived to bear a greater risk of failure than already established ones and thus tend to have a lower level of legitimacy in the organizational field (dimaggio & powell, 1983; freeman, carroll, & hannan, 1983; stinchcombe, 1965). liability of newness may thus diminish or even supersede the performance benefits obtained by early practice adoption, which incentivizes firms to delay the adoption of new practices until they have become more legitimate within the organizational field. firms, however, cannot delay new practice adoption for too long because over time institutional pressure increases on firms that have not yet adopted the common practices and such firms become increasingly pressured to do so. thus, late adopters often adopt a dominant practice because other organizations have already done so and as a way to achieve legitimacy within the organizational field (dimaggio & powell, 1983; tolbert & zucker, 1996; westphal & zajac, 1998; zajac & westphal, 1995). late practice adoption is, therefore, frequently viewed as a symbolic rather than substantive action that delivers few performance benefits (naveh, et al., 2004). from a stock market perspective, we therefore expect that firms that invest in ceis at an early stage, i.e., immediately after a significant external event, will obtain lower wealth gains because environmental best practices have not yet become legitimate and thus prevent these firms from reaping the full benefits. similarly we expect that late movers, i.e. firms that invest in environmental initiatives at a late stage, will not derive as much financial value from these initiatives because environmental best practices will become a standard over time and will thus be less valued by the stock market. consequently, firms that are neither early nor late movers concerning investments in environmental initiatives will obtain higher wealth gains than the early and late movers. therefore, we hypothesize: hypothesis 2: there is an inverted u-shaped relationship between timing and the abnormal stock market return following the announcement of a cei. methods data to select a time period where it was possible to have an early mover and late mover period, we chose 2002 to 2008 as the time period for this study. the year 2002 was the year of the world summit on sustainable development (johannesburg earth summit) and took place ten years after the first earth 7 the effect of corporate environmental initiatives on firm value: evidence from fortune 500 firms m@n@gement vol. 17 no. 1, 2014, 1-19 summit in rio de janeiro. one consequence of the 2002 johannesburg earth summit has been that firms, not-for-profit organizations, and governments have become more active in addressing related sustainable development issues. thus, the johannesburg summit can be regarded as a landmark event that started a new era in sustainable development practices. our departing point was fortune magazine’s fortune 500 list, which is an annually compiled list that ranks the top 500 u.s. publicly and privately held firms by revenues and profits in each year. as a first step, we created a list of companies that had ranked in the top 500 at least once during the seven year period of study. furthermore, as we implemented an event study research design, we then excluded all privately held firms and firms for which the daily stock market returns could not be obtained from the crsp database. as a next step in constructing our dataset, we then conducted an extensive key word search in the factiva press database for all fortune 500 companies that met the above described criteria in order to identify ceis. our search terms included key words such as “carbon neutral”, “carbon offset”, “clean energy”, “climate neutral”, “energy efficiency”, “green energy”, “green power”, “green product(s)”, “pollution control”, “pollution prevention”, “recycling”, “renewable energy”, “waste reduction”, “zero emission” and “zero greenhouse gas”, amongst others. in this search, we only included announcements in which the type of environmental initiative was explicitly specified. we also excluded announcements about ceis that were only at the planning stage and cei announcements in which it was unclear when the environmental action would take place. in the case of multiple announcements of the same initiative, we selected the announcement with the earliest date to be consistent with the efficient market hypothesis which suggests that subsequent identical news will have no additional effect on the stock price. this procedure yielded 210 events of 71 firms. table 1 provides an overview of our sample characteristics and also contrasts our study with relevant prior work. table 1. sample characteristics in comparison to prior research study our study gilley, et al. (2000) halme & niskanan (2001) jacobs, et al. (2010) klassen & mclaughlin (1996) number of events 183 71 64 417 162 number of firms 71 not specified 10 340 96 number of unique industries 26 16 (by two-digit sic code) 1 22 (by unique two-digit naics code); 63 (by unique three-digit naics code) 14 sample firms and sample process announcements by fortune 500 firms in the factiva press database (2002 to 2008) any announcement (i.e., no criterion to select firms) in the wall street journal (1983 to 1996) announcements of finnish forestry industry firms in the daily helsingin sanomat (1979 to 1996) any announcement (i.e., no criterion to select firms) in three major business wire services, the 10 most widely circulated us daily newspapers, and leading european daily newspapers (2004 to 2006) any announcement (i.e., no criterion to select firms) in the nexis database of newswire services (1985 to 1991) for robustness check purposes, we then coded the 210 corporate initiative announcements in three categories: (1) initiatives concerning a firm’s inputs, e.g., raw materials, fuels, etc.; (2) initiatives concerning a firm’s throughputs, 8 ulrich wassmer, diego c. cueto & lorne n. switzerm@n@gement vol. 17 no. 1, 2014, 1-19 e.g., operations, workers, wastes, etc.; and (3) initiatives concerning a firm’s outputs, e.g., products, packaging, etc. (shrivastava, 1995a, 1995b). table 2 provides some examples of environmental initiative announcements in these three categories. table 2. example announcements of ceis cei type example announcement concerning a firm’s inputs (e.g., raw materials, fuels, etc.) “dell is doing its share to help clean central texas air. the company has joined the clean air partners, a program to reduce ozone emissions and improve air quality; committed to purchasing at least 10 percent of its electricity requirements supplied by austin energy through the greenchoice program for renewable energy; and joined the u.s. environmental protection agency’s smartway transport partnership, a program to increase energy efficiency while reducing air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.” concerning a firm’s throughputs (e.g., operations, workers, wastes, etc.) “office depot recently broke ground on its first green store in austin. upon its completion this summer, the store will be office depot’s first registered project to certify within usgbc’s leed volume certification program. office depot currently has 138 stores in texas and eight stores in austin.” concerning a firm’s outputs (e.g., products and/or services) “bank of america corp. has launched the brighter planet credit card. the bank said that it has teamed up with brighter planet (tm) to offer a credit card that is expected to help customers reduce their contribution to climate change. the card is also expected to help customers invest in the development of clean, renewable energy projects.” as a next step, we matched the event study sample to bloomberg tickers to obtain firm level financial data and we identified confounding events. more specifically, we identified confounding events for each of the 210 announcements over a one week window (i.e., from day -3 to +3) which is in line with previous research (mcwilliams & siegel, 1997). confounding events included major other events such as ceo or board changes, posting of operating results, stock splits, mergers and acquisitions, strategic alliances and restructuring, amongst others. this procedure reduced our initial sample of 210 events to a usable sample of 183 events by 71 firms in 26 industries, which we grouped into five industry groups by using the first digit of the four digit sic code. tables 3a and 3b show the distribution of events by industry and year. table 3a. breakdown of events by industry industry group events beverages 1 retail apparel/shoes 1 forest products & paper 1 chemicals 5 healthcare products 5 pharmaceuticals 3 oil companies (integrated) 4 subtotal 20 mining 7 machinery (diversified) 1 semiconductors 2 computers 11 office/business equipment 2 miscellaneous manufacturing 6 g ro up 1 g ro up 2 9 the effect of corporate environmental initiatives on firm value: evidence from fortune 500 firms m@n@gement vol. 17 no. 1, 2014, 1-19 telecommunications 1 cosmetics/personal care 1 medical products 1 subtotal 32 transportation 4 electric 99 gas 1 environmental control 1 subtotal 105 retail 15 food 3 subtotal 18 banks 4 insurance 1 commercial services 1 reits 2 subtotal 8 total 183 table 3b. breakdown of events by year year events 2002 17 2003 17 2004 4 2005 14 2006 22 2007 51 2008 58 total 183 variables the dependent variable in this study is the cumulative average abnormal return (caar) following the press announcement of a cei. we followed a standard event study approach (koh & venkatraman, 1991; madhavan & prescott, 1995; mcwilliams & siegel, 1997; park & kim, 1997) and estimated a market model for each firm and then calculated the abnormal return for each announcement. in our market model we included dividends and used equally weighted benchmark indices. we also used more advanced event study methodology by including the fama and french (1992, 1993) three factors model and the four factors model (cahart, 1997) which includes the momentum term1. moreover, we used the expected returns before the firms took any investment decisions as the benchmark and retrieved the stock g ro up 3 g ro up 4 g ro up 5 1. fama and french (1992, 1993) posit that the performance of managed portfolios and individual stocks should be evaluated by comparing their average return with the average returns of benchmark portfolios which have similar sizes and book-to-market characteristics. cahart (1997) introduced an additional momentum factor and analyzed the spread in the best and worst-performing. the cahart (1997) four factors model is widely used in mutual fund markets. 10 ulrich wassmer, diego c. cueto & lorne n. switzerm@n@gement vol. 17 no. 1, 2014, 1-19 return and market index return data from the crsp database. as information noise is more difficult to control in long event windows and because there was no reason to believe that, in the given contexts, information is revealed to investors more slowly than normal or leaked out before the event, we used a three-day event window during which we calculated the cumulative average abnormal return. the three-day day event window is centered around the day of the event t = 0, starting with the day prior to the event t = -1 and ending with the day after the event t = +1 (caar-1/+1). such a three-day window is in line with previous event study-based strategy research (e.g., park, 2004) and more importantly allows us to be “[…] reasonably confident that an abnormal return is due to an event, because it is relatively easy to identify confounding effects” (mcwilliams & siegel, 1997: 637). for the estimation period, we used approximately one year of daily stock returns, i.e. 255 trading days (park & kim, 1997), beginning with day t = -301 and ending with day t = -46. by excluding the 46 days prior to the announcement from the estimation of the market model, we made sure that data that may have been affected by the event was removed. we used a minimum of 60 days of return data as the requirement for parameter estimation and also converted any non-trading date to the next trading date. the independent variable timing of a cei was operationalized by using the year in which the environmental initiative was announced. in other words, announcements of ceis close to or within the year of the johannesburg earth summit, i.e., 2002, were considered as early. to ensure the robustness of the results, we included various control variables commonly used in the analysis of the environmental performance-economic performance link. we controlled for firm size, which is widely used as a control variable in studies focusing on performance outcomes and which we measured as the natural logarithm of a focal firm’s total assets in the year of the announcement (king & lenox, 2001). like firm size, the riskiness of firms may impact the stock market’s reaction to the announcement of ceis. more specifically, the level of financial leverage is an endogenous decision taken by the firm and it proxies for bankruptcy costs. leverage has a disciplinary role to management, reducing agency costs (jensen, 1986). the higher the leverage, the more cash flow is committed to debt service and therefore any investment decisions should add value and less pet projects are undertaken. thus, to control for the effects of the financial leverage of a focal firm in a given year (king & lenox, 2001), we added the control variable leverage, which we operationalized through the ratio of the firm’s total liabilities to its total assets in the year the initiative was announced. additionally, to control for potential growth, we deployed the control variable capital expenditures, which we operationalized as capital expenditures divided by total assets (in us$) (king & lenox, 2001). to control for risk heterogeneity amongst the sample firms, we added the control variable volatility, which accounts for market volatility (i.e., externally perceived risk) by computing the standard deviation of stock returns over the five years previous to the investment announcement. lastly, because of the multi-industry nature of our sample and because some industries are cleaner than others, we controlled for industry effects by including five industry dummy variables. to generate the five dummy variables, we grouped the 27 industries present in our sample into five industry groups by using the first digit of the four-digit sic code (see table 3a). 11 the effect of corporate environmental initiatives on firm value: evidence from fortune 500 firms m@n@gement vol. 17 no. 1, 2014, 1-19 analysis and results tables 4a and 4b present the descriptive statistics and the correlation matrix for all the variables. table 4a. descriptive statistics n mean s.d. min. max. caar-1/+1 183 0.001 0.037 -0.348 0.112 caar-2/+2 183 0.005 0.033 -0.134 0.115 caar-3/+3 183 0.007 0.054 -0.466 0.141 firm size 183 10.435 1.050 7.517 14.449 leverage 183 0.684 0.146 0.149 0.981 capital expenditures 183 -0.019 0.010 -0.074 0 volatility 183 0.213 0.155 0.002 0.810 industry group 1 183 0.109 0.313 0 1 industry group 2 183 0.175 0.381 0 1 industry group 3 183 0.574 0.496 0 1 industry group 4 183 0.098 0.299 0 1 industry group 5 183 0.044 0.205 0 1 timing 183 2006.140 2.010 2002 2008 table 4b. correlations 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 1. caar-1/+1 1 2. caar-2/+2 0.546 1 3. caar-3/+3 0.766 0.679 1 4. firm size -0.005 -0.073 -0.034 1 5. leverage 0.012 0.000 0.025 0.284 1 6. capital expenditures -0.058 -0.066 -0.029 0.336 0.255 1 7. volatility 0.016 0.033 0.066 -0.242 0.101 0.051 1 8. industry group 1 0.054 -0.011 -0.010 0.093 -0.353 0.048 -0.184 1 9. industry group 2 -0.016 -0.069 -0.002 0.187 -0.032 0.309 0.170 -0.161 1 10 industry group 3 0.051 0.032 0.047 -0.209 0.391 -0.155 -0.070 -0.406 -0.534 1 11. industry group 4 0.037 0.062 0.098 -0.212 -0.382 -0.268 0.172 -0.116 -0.152 -0.383 1 12. industry group 5 -0.231 -0.023 -0.238 0.323 0.208 0.118 -0.117 -0.075 -0.098 -0.248 -0.071 1 13. timing 0.025 0.075 -0.009 0.081 -0.003 0.081 -0.408 -0.104 0.104 -0.033 -0.069 0.145 1 12 ulrich wassmer, diego c. cueto & lorne n. switzerm@n@gement vol. 17 no. 1, 2014, 1-19 table 5 reports the average daily abnormal returns for the market model over a two-week period starting at day t = -10 and ending at day t = +3, the patell z-statistic (patell, 1976), the generalized z-statistic, and the proportion of positive returns (mcwilliams & siegel, 1997). the returns are averaged over all the events. table 5. average daily abnormal returns market model, equally weighted index, excluding dividends event day mean abnormal return patell z generalized sign z proportion of positive returns -10 0.05% 0.731 0.245 104:106 -9 0.01% 0.593 0.383 105:105 -8 0.24% -2.793** -1.826* -89:121< -7 -0.38% -3.189*** 0.107 103:107 -6 -0.07% -0.188 -0.860 96:114 -5 -0.15% -1.483† 0.107 103:107 -4 -0.08% -2.146* -1.964* 88:122< -3 0.28% 2.716** 0.935 109:101 -2 0.12% 0.825 0.107 103:107 -1 0.01% -0.241 1.349† 112:98) 0 0.14% 1.847* 0.935 109:101 +1 0.00% 0.318 2.040* 117:93> +2 0.18% 1.281 0.383 105:105 +3 -0.10% -0.323 0.107 103:107 caar-1/+1 0.15% 1.110 2.730** 122:88>> caar-2/+2 0.45% 1.802* 2.592** 121:89>> caar-3/+3 0.63% 2.427** 2.454** 120:90>> n = 183; † p < 0.10;* p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01; *** p < 0.001. the symbols (,< or ),> etc. correspond to $,* and show the direction and generic one-tail significance of the generalized sign test. to test hypothesis 1, we inspected all the results to determine where the abnormal returns of the ceis were significant. we considered the abnormal return following the announcement of an environmental initiative as significant, when (1) both the patel z and the generalized sign z test statistics were significant, at the level of 0.10 or lower or (2) at least one of them was significant, at the level of 0.05 or lower. for the fama-french time series models, only the generalized sign z test was available and a minimum significance level of 0.05 was accepted. the results support hypothesis 1 which suggested that the market positively reacts to the announcement of ceis. as a robustness check, we analyzed whether the stock market reacts significantly differently to different types of ceis (gilley, et al., 2000; jacobs, et al., 2010). we examined the three different sub-samples of ceis in our dataset: (1) ceis concerning a firm’s inputs, (2) ceis concerning a firm’s throughputs, and (3) ceis concerning a firm’s outputs (shrivastava, 1995a, 1995b). however, we did not find any statistically significant results that suggest that different cei types trigger different reactions by the stock market. 13 the effect of corporate environmental initiatives on firm value: evidence from fortune 500 firms m@n@gement vol. 17 no. 1, 2014, 1-19 table 6 provides the multiple regression results, with the focal firm’s cumulative average abnormal stock market return over the three-day event window acting as the dependent variable. as some of the sample firms invested in more than one cei (183 initiatives by 71 different firms), we adjusted the standard errors of the regression coefficients by using the robust estimates of the standard errors (white, 1980), clustered by firm (rogers, 1993)2. table 6. regression results model 1 model 2 model 3 dependent variable caar-1/+1 caar-2/+2 caar-3/+3 intercept -5670.932* (2221.135) -5518.745* (2394.622) -7357.517† (4099.020) explanatory variables timing 5.654* (2.212) 5.502* (2.389) 7.337† (4.085) timing squared -0.001* (0.001) -0.001* (0.001) -0.002† (0.001) control variables firm size 0.003 (0.004) -0.001 (0.002) 0.003 (0.006) leverage 0.030 (0.025) 0.012 (0.027) 0.049 (0.052) capital expenditures -0.289 (0.297) -0.181 (0.278) -0.125 (0.476) volatility 0.009 (0.014) 0.015 (0.020) 0.014 (0.026) industry group 1 0.059 (0.044) 0.007 (0.015) 0.078 (0.071) industry group 2 0.046 (0.041) -0.002 (0.013) 0.069 (0.067) industry group 3 0.048 (0.043) 0.003 (0.013) 0.070 (0.068) industry group 4 0.053 (0.047) 0.005 (0.017) 0.090 (0.078) industry group 5 0.000 (0.000) 0.000 (0.000) 0.000 (0.000) r2 9.44 4.23 9.36 n 183 183 183 note: † p < 0.10; * p-value < 0.05; ** p < 0.01; *** p < 0.001. model 1 presents our baseline model with caar-1/+1 as the dependent variable. the results of model 1 show that the root term of the independent variable timing is significant and positive (β = 5.654, p < 0.05) and the squared term is significant and negative (β = -0.001, p < 0.05). this indicates an inverted u-shaped relationship as hypothesized. as a robustness check, we also deployed two alternative event windows, both centered around the event day t= 0, to compensate for the potential uncertainty involved in determining the precise moment new information arrives in the market. in model 2, the dependent variable caar-2/+2 is calculated over a five-day event window, starting at day t = -2 and ending at day t = +2. the results of model 2 show that the root term of the independent variable timing is significant and positive 2. to do this, we used the huber-white sandwich cluster function in stata 14 ulrich wassmer, diego c. cueto & lorne n. switzerm@n@gement vol. 17 no. 1, 2014, 1-19 (β = 5.502, p < 0.05) and the squared term is significant and negative (β = -0.001, p < 0.05). in model 3 the dependent variable caar-3/+3 is calculated over a one-week event window, starting at day t = -3 and ending at day t = +3. the results of model 3 show that the root term of the independent variable timing is significant and positive (β = 7.337, p < 0.1) and the squared term is significant and negative (β = -0.002, p < 0.1). given the longer event window of the dependent variable in model 3, it is not surprising that the significance levels for the independent variable timing and its squared term dropped to p < 0.1. overall, these results provide support for hypothesis 2 which suggested an inverted u-shaped relationship between the timing of a cei and the abnormal stock market return following the announcement of the initiative. discussion and conclusion in this section, we discuss the implications of this study for the literature focusing on the link between corporate environmental action and firm performance. we also examine the implications for practitioners. we end this discussion by highlighting some of the limitations of this study and suggesting future avenues for empirical research. the results of this study further the understanding of how environmental action affects firm performance and suggest that investments in ceis have the potential to create firm value. on the aggregate level, our results show that it appears to be the simple fact that a firm invests in a cei that creates value rather than the specific type of cei the firm invests in (i.e., ceis concerning a firm’s inputs, throughputs, and outputs). however, our results show that the timing of ceis, i.e. when firms invest in such initiatives, is a critical factor in explaining differentials in the financial rewards that firms derive from such initiatives. more specifically, the results of our study suggest that neither early movers nor late followers reap the highest financial benefits but rather what we could call “early followers”, i.e. firms that time their initiatives so that they occur between the early mover and late follower phases. from the perspectives of liability of newness and institutional pressure, opposite forces are at work in the early mover and later follower phase, making an early follower strategy most attractive from a value creation perspective. as managers tend to face pressures from various stakeholder categories on issues concerning the natural environment (girard, 2013), managers of firms that invest in greening their business should, therefore, carefully consider the timing of their investments in ceis. to determine the ideal timing managers need to have a detailed understanding of their external environment, especially the environmental practices that have been adopted and are in the process of becoming an institutionalized standard following major external events, e.g. the 2002 johannesburg earth summit (dimaggio & powell, 1983; scott, 1992). in light of this, our empirical evidence can help managers to be more sensitive concerning the timing of environmental investments. inevitably, this study has several limitations. first, our event study research design choice is open to the traditional criticism of market efficiency. in adopting such a design, we assume that ceis are significant enough events that they will lead investors to reconsider their evaluations of the involved firms. second, although we deliberately excluded announcements about ceis that 15 the effect of corporate environmental initiatives on firm value: evidence from fortune 500 firms m@n@gement vol. 17 no. 1, 2014, 1-19 were at the planning stage or for which the timing was unclear from our data collection, the announcements included in our sample do of course not give any indication of how initiatives evolve over time and what future organizational impact they have on the announcing firms3. this issue, however, is a common limitation of event study research designs. lastly, the generalizability of the results may be constrained by the particular characteristics of the sample firms and their respective industries. first, the fact that we used firms from the fortune 500 list may limit the generalizability of the results to smaller firms. second, the fact that a large proportion of the sample firms operate in natural resource intensive industries such as transportation, electricity, gas, and environmental control may also limit the generalizability of the results to firms that operate in cleaner and less natural resource intensive industries. thus, future research could focus on a number of issues. first, one promising direction for research would be to further investigate the industry effects mentioned above by including some industry level variables that capture the relative cleanliness or dirtiness of an industry and examining whether differentials in stock market reactions can be explained by such variables. another future research opportunity would be to investigate if there are systematic differences for cost reducing and revenue enhancing ceis (ambec & lanoie, 2008). however, most likely this would require fine-grained firm-level data and thus would need a data collection method different from the one used in this study, since secondary data sources such as press announcements do not normally contain such detailed information. surveybased research could be a promising avenue to collect such data. to conclude, this study started by noting that existing literature on the performance effect of environmental action has not shed much light on the role of the specific timing of such action in relation to the reaction of the stock market. therefore, this study set out to answer the research question: do firms derive value from investing in environmental initiatives? we submit that the contribution of this study rests in the following areas. first, we have bridged the gap between the extant literature that has taken a stock market perspective on environmental action (belkaoui, 1976; freedman & jaggi, 1994; halme & niskanan, 2001; hamilton, 1995, klassen & mclaughlin, 1996) and the literature that has examined the effect of such action over longer time periods (hart & ahuja, 1996; nehrt, 1996). second, we have introduced a more sophisticated event study methodology, drawn from finance literature (cahart, 1997; fama, 1992, fama, 1993). we are confident that this study provides a useful perspective on and further understanding of the issue of the performance implications of environmental action. 3. we are grateful to a reviewer for pointing this issue out to us. 16 ulrich wassmer, diego c. cueto & lorne n. switzerm@n@gement vol. 17 no. 1, 2014, 1-19 ulrich wassmer (ph.d. esade) is an associate professor of strategy at emlyon business school (ecully, france). his research is at the intersection of strategy and three adjacent domains: international management, social issues in management, and environmental sustainability. diego c. cueto is an assistant professor of finance at esan graduate school of business (lima, peru). his research interests include corporate governance and international business finance. lorne n. switzer (ph.d. univ. of pennsylvania) is a professor of finance and the van berkom endowed chair in small cap equities at concordia university’s john molson school of business (montréal, canada). his research interests include international business finance, corporate governance, derivative securities, capital markets, financial institutions, and the economics of technological change. acknowledgements we thank paul shrivastava and sanjay sharma for their helpful comments on earlier versions of this manuscript. 17 the effect of corporate environmental initiatives on firm value: evidence from fortune 500 firms m@n@gement vol. 17 no. 1, 2014, 1-19 · ambec, s., & lanoie, p. (2008). does it pay to be green? a systematic overview. academy of management perspective, 22(4), 45-62. · aragon-correa, j. a. (1998). strategic proactivity and firm approach to the natural environment. academy of management journal, 41(4), 556567. · aragon-correa, j. a., & sharma, s. (2003). a contingent resource-based view of proactive environmental strategy. academy of management review, 28(1), 71-88. · belkaoui, a. (1976). the impact of the disclosures of the environmental effects of organizational behavior on the market. financial management, 5(4), 26-31. · carhart, m. m. (1997). on persistence in mutual fund performance. the journal of finance, 52(march), 57-82. · chien, c. c., & peng, c. w. (2012). does going green pay off in the long run? journal of business research, 65(11), 1636-1642. · christmann, p. (2000). effects of ‘best practices’ of environmental management on cost advantage: the role of complementary assets. academy of management journal, 43(4), 663-680. · clemens, b. (2006). economic incentives and small firms: does it pay to be green? journal of business research, 59(4), 492-500. · clemens, b., & douglas, t. j. (2006). does coercion drive firms to adopt ‘voluntary’ green initiatives? relationships among coercion, superior firm resources, and voluntary green initiatives. journal of business research, 59(4), 483-491. · dimaggio, p. j., & powell, w. w. (1983). the iron cage revisited: institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields. american sociological review, 48(2), 147-160. · dowell, g., hart, s. l., & yeung, b. (2000). do corporate global environmental standards create or destroy market value. management science, 46(8), 1059-1074. · fama, e. f., & french, k. r. (1992). the cross section of expected stock returns. the journal of finance, 47(2), 427 465. · fama, e. f., & french, k. r. (1993). common risk factors in the returns on stocks and bonds. journal of financial economics, 33(1), 3-56. · forte, m., & lamont, b. t. (1998). the bottom line effect of greening. academy of management executive, 12(1), 89-90. · freedman, m., & jaggi, b. (1994). analysis of the association between pollution performance and input cost factors: the case of electric utility plants. journal of accounting and public policy, 13(1), 31-48. · freeman, j., carroll, g. r., & hannan, m. t. (1983). the liability of newness: age dependence in organizational death rates. american sociological review, 48(5), 692-710. · gilley, k. m., worrell, d. l., davidson iii, w. n., & el-jelly, a. (2000). corporate environmental initiatives and anticipated firm performance: the differential effects of processdriven versus product-driven greening initiatives. journal of management, 26(6), 1199-1216. · girard, n. (2013). categorizing stakeholders’ practices with repertory grids for sustainable development. m@n@gement, 16(1), 31-48. · halme, m., & niskanan, j. (2001). does environmental protection increase or decrease shareholder value? the case of environmental investments. business strategy and the environment, 10(4), 200-214. · hamilton, j. t. (1995). pollution as news: media and stock market reactions to the toxics release inventory data. journal of environmental economics and management, 28(1), 98-113. · hart, s. l. (1995). a natural-resource-based view of the firm. academy of management review, 20(4), 874-907. · hart, s., & ahuja, g. (1996). does it pay to be green? an empirical examination of the relationship between emission reduction and firm performance. business strategy and the environment, 5(1), 30–37. · ingram, r. w. (1978). an investigation of the information content of certain social responsibility disclosures. journal of accounting research, 16(2), 270–285. · jacobs, b. w., singhal, v. r., & subramanian, r. (2010). an empirical investigation of environmental performance and the market value of the firm. journal of operations management, 28(5), 430441. · jensen, m. c. (1986). agency costs of free cash flow, corporate finance, and takeovers. american economic review, 76(2), 323-329. references 18 ulrich wassmer, diego c. cueto & lorne n. switzerm@n@gement vol. 17 no. 1, 2014, 1-19 · karpoff, j. m., lott, j. r., & wehrly, e. (2005). the reputational penalties for environmental violations: empirical evidence. journal of law and economics, 48(2), 653-675. · king, a. a., & lenox, m. j. (2001). does it really pay to be green? an empirical study of firm environmental and financial performance. journal for industrial ecology, 5(1), 105-116. · klassen, r. d., & mclaughlin, c. p. (1996). the impact of environmental management on firm performance. management science, 42(8), 1199–1214. · koh, j., & venkatraman, n. (1991). joint venture formations and stock market reactions: an assessment in the information technology sector. academy of management journal, 34(4), 869-92. · madhavan, r., & prescott, j. e. (1995). market value impact of joint ventures: the effect of industry informationprocessing load. academy of management journal, 38(3), 900-915. · mcwilliams, a., & siegel, d. (1997). event studies in management research: theoretical and empirical issues. academy of management journal, 40(3), 626-57. · naveh, e., marcus, a., & moon, h. k. (2004). implementing iso 9000: performance improvement by first or second movers. international journal of production research, 42(9), 1843– 1864. · nehrt, c. (1996). timing and intensity effects of environmental investments. strategic management journal, 17(7), 535-547. · park, n. k. (2004). a guide to using event study methods in multi-country settings. strategic management journal, 25(7), 655-668. · park, s. h., & kim d. (1997). market valuation of joint ventures: joint venture characteristics and wealth gains. journal of business venturing, 12(2), 83-108. · patell, j. m. (1976). corporate forecasts of earnings per share and stock price behavior: empirical tests. journal of accounting research, 14(2), 246-76. · porter, m. e., & van der linde c. (1995). toward a new conception of the environment-competitiveness relationship. journal of economic perspectives, 9(4), 97-118. · rao, p., & holt, d. (2005). do green supply chains lead to competitiveness and economic performance? international journal of operations & production management, 25(9), 898-916. · reinhardt, f. (1999). market failure and the environmental policies of firms. journal of industrial ecology, 3(1), 9-21. · rogers, w. h. (1993). regression standard errors in clustered samples. stata technical bulletin, 13, 19-23. · rothenberg, s., pil, f. k., & maxwell, j. (2001). lean, green, and the quest for superior environmental performance. production and operations management, 10(3), 228-243. · scott, w. r. (1992). organizations: rational, natural, and open systems. englewood cliffs, nj: prentice hall. · shane, p. b., & spicer, b. h. (1983). market response to environmental information produced outside the firm. accounting review, 58(3), 521–538. · sharma, s. (2000). managerial interpretations and organizational context as predictors of corporate choice of environmental strategy. academy of management journal, 43(4), 681-697. · shrivastava, p. (1995a). environmental technologies and competitive advantage. strategic management journal, 16(1), 183-200. · shrivastava, p. (1995b). the role of corporations in achieving ecological sustainability. academy of management review, 20(4), 936-960. · sroufe, r. (2003). effects of environmental management systems on environmental management practices and operations. production and operations management, 12(3), 416431. · stevens, w. p. (1984). market reaction to corporate environmental performance. in w. n. schwartz (ed.), advances in accounting (pp. 41-61). greenwich, ct: jai press. · stinchcombe, a. l. (1965). social structure and organizations. in j. g. march (ed.), handbook of organizations (pp. 153-193). chicago, il: rand mcnally. · tolbert, p. s., & zucker, l. g. (1996). the institutionalization of institutional theory. in s. clegg, c. hardy & w. r. nord (eds.), handbook of organizational studies (pp. 175-190). london, uk: sage. 19 the effect of corporate environmental initiatives on firm value: evidence from fortune 500 firms m@n@gement vol. 17 no. 1, 2014, 1-19 · westphal, j. d., gulati, r., & shortell, s. m. (1997). customization or conformity? an institutional and network perspective on the content and consequences of tqm adoption. administrative science quarterly, 42(2), 366–394. · westphal, d., & zajac, e. j. (1998). symbolic management of stockholders: corporate governance reforms and shareholder reactions. administrative science quarterly, 43(1), 127-153. · white, h. (1980). a heteroskedasticity-consistent covariance matrix estimator and a direct test for heteroskedasticity. econometrica, 48(4), 817-30. · zajac, e. j., & westphal, j. d. (1995). accounting for the explanations of ceo compensation: substance and symbolism. administrative science quarterly, 40(2), 283-308. · yamashita, m., swapan, s., & mark, c. r. (1999). the rewards for environmental conscientiousness in the u.s. capital markets. journal of financial and strategic decisions, 12(1), 73-82. 528 linda rouleaum@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 547-565 copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). m@n@gement is a double-blind refereed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.management-aims.com © 2013 m@n@gement and the author(s). m@n@gement est la revue officielle de l’aims m@n@gement is the journal official of aims linda rouleau 2013 strategy-as-practice research at a crossroads m@n@gement, 16(5), 547-565. m@n@gement issn: 1286-4692 emmanuel josserand, cmos, university of technology, sydney (editor in chief) jean-luc arrègle, emlyon business school (editor) laure cabantous, cass business school (editor) stewart clegg, university of technology, sydney (editor) olivier germain, université du québec à montréal (editor, book reviews) karim mignonac, université de toulouse 1 (editor) philippe monin, emlyon business school (editor) tyrone pitsis, university of newcastle (editor) josé pla-barber, universidad de valència (editor) michael tushman, harvard business school (editor) walid shibbib, université de genève (managing editor) alexander bell, université de genève (editorial assistant) martin g. evans, university of toronto (editor emeritus) bernard forgues, emlyon business school (editor emeritus) special issue 547 strategy-as-practice research at a crossroads m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 547-565 strategy-as-practice research at a crossroads linda rouleau hec montréallinda.rouleau@hec.ca abstract abstract strategy-as-practice research is now entering its second decade with the same enthusiasm and openness that it had when it emerged at the beginning of the second millennium. this current decade is crucial for ensuring the development of strategy-as-practice research since further improvement and growth will depend on its capacity to channel or consolidate its promises and creative energies. in this essay, we seek to advance the following reflections on the future of strategy-as-practice research. first, the essay contrasts and compares the multiple meanings of “practice” in strategy-as-practice research. it then explores how the arguments of leading contributors have been combined to create a new knowledge project. finally, it discusses the theoretical and methodological challenges that must be faced in the future of the perspective and provides some knowledge production avenues that could be used to consolidate its development. keywords: strategy-as-practice research, practice, knowledge project, metaphors, theoretical and methodological challenges 548 linda rouleaum@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 547-565 introduction in its first decade, strategy-as-practice research experienced an energetic and promising phase of emergence and grew rapidly. all of the main international conferences in strategy and management now hold interest groups on strategyas-practice, and special issues of several journals have been published on the subject (journal of management studies, 2003, 2014; human relations, 2007; revue française de gestion, 2007; long range planning, 2008; british management journal, forthcoming). four books have also been published on the topic (jarzabkowski, 2005; golsorkhi, 2006; johnson, langley, melin & whittington, 2007; golsorkhi, rouleau, seidl & vaara, 2010). while the roots of the movement are mainly european (with contributors hailing from the united kingdom, france, scandinavia, germany and switzerland), a dynamic international network has helped it to develop (see www.sap-in.org.). prominent strategy-as-practice scholars have regularly taken stock of the progress of the research stream, doing so contemplatively and optimistically, as is necessary when a new area of theory is still emerging (jarzabkowski, balogun & seidl, 2007; jarzabkowski & spee, 2009; vaara & whittington, 2012). this essay follows the same vein but also adopts a reflexive view of the knowledge production process that underlies the development of this research perspective. strategy-as-practice research is now at a crossroads; this essay aims to provide some insights into how to further its advancement. more specifically, the following questions underlie this essay: what is meant by practice? why has this research perspective been so popular? how can we build on the momentum created during the emergence of this research perspective to pursue and consolidate the work that has been done thus far? this essay comprises three parts. it first contrasts and compares the multiple views of practice in strategy-as-practice research. then, it explores how the arguments of leading contributors have been combined to create this new knowledge project. finally, it discusses some challenges for the future of the perspective. the multiple faces of strategy-as-practice research strategy-as-practice research is generally presented as a perspective, within the broader field of strategic management, that considers strategy not as something that a firm has but rather as something that people do (johnson, melin & whittington, 2003; johnson et al., 2007). as such, strategy-aspractice is supposed to focus on the concrete activities carried out by strategy practitioners. it looks at the ways in which people (whether they are, for example, business leaders, middle managers, consultants or professionals) mobilize the tools of practice or adopt specific skills and roles when engaging in strategic activity. also of interest is the performance of different strategic practices (whittington, 2006): the routines, interactions and conversations that lead to the definition and enactment of strategy, as well as the linkages between these practices and their organizational and institutional contexts. in this view, strategy concerns all levels of the organization, and as such is not viewed as a practice that is necessarily the exclusive domain of top managers. even though there is a certain homogeneity in the way the strategy-as-practice 549 strategy-as-practice research at a crossroads m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 547-565 perspective is generally introduced and presented, as can be seen from the above, this area of research is nevertheless built on multiple theoretical and methodological influences. when looking at strategy-as-practice research, we find little agreement on what “practice” really is or about how the notion is used in this stream of research. there are at least five different underlying views of practice. these have coexisted since the foundation of strategyas-practice research and have had some influence on each other. table 1 provides a summary of these different views of practice and offers a brief sketch of strategy-as-practice research. table 1. five views of practice in strategy-as-practice research practice as managerial action practices as a set of tools practice as knowledge practices as organizational resources practice as global discourse main research question how do managers and others strategize? how do managers and others use the tools of strategy? how do managers and others perform strategy? how do organizational practices shape strategic competitive advantage? how does strategy discourse produce managers and organizations? main theoretical influences management and organization theories communication and language theories social sciences theories management and organization theories critical theories seminal authors mintzberg, 1973 barry & elmes, 1997 hendry, 2000 mintzberg & waters, 1985 knights & morgan, 1991 typical works balogun & johnson, 2005; paroutis & pettigrew, 2007; nordqvist & melin, 2008; angwin, paroutis & mitson, 2009; whittington, cailluet & yakis-douglas, 2011 hodgkinson, whittington, johnson & schwarz, 2006; jarzabkowski & seidl, 2008; giraudeau, 2008; pälli, vaara & sorsa, 2009; kaplan, 2011; jarzabkowski, spee & smets, 2013 samrafredericks, 2003; rouleau, 2005; mantere, 2008; clarke, kwon & wodak, 2011; whittington, 2006 salvato, 2003; stensaker & falkenberg, 2007; ambrosini, bowman & burton-taylor, 2007; regnér, 2008 samra-fredericks, 2005; laine & vaara, 2007; whittington, jarzabkowski, mayer, mounoud, nahapiet & rouleau, 2003; carter, clegg, kornberger, 2010; unit of analysis managerial activities strategic plans, tools and meetings routines, conversations and interactions organizational routines, capabilities and processes extra-organizational discourses main methodologies interviews, shadowing, diaries interviews, observation, video ethnography ethnographic research (participant observation) case studies documents main contributions a deeper comprehension of managerial roles, skills and abilities related to strategizing a stronger comprehension of the informal procedures of strategic planning a better interpretation of contextual and hidden characteristics of strategizing a renewed understanding of the organizational level a critical understanding of the institutional and disciplinary role of strategy one of the earliest to emerge and most popular views of practice in strategyas-practice research is anchored in the work of mintzberg. in his seminal work on managers, mintzberg (1973) observed the daily routines of five managers in order to better describe “what do managers do”. strategy-as-practice research is in part dedicated to the analysis of the managerial practice, looking at how top and middle managers strategize or participate in strategy-making. here, “practice” refers to the action through which managers recurrently accomplish their strategy work (jarzabkowski, 2004). for example, paroutis and pettigrew (2007) identified seven activities carried out at different organizational levels 550 linda rouleaum@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 547-565 which together make up the practice of strategy work (executing, initiating, coordinating, supporting, collaborating and shaping context). in her research on strategic change, balogun (2007) considered middle managers’ strategy work as an act of editing, in the sense that they have to manage evolving interpretations by balancing the content and process of strategic changes (balogun & johnson, 2004, 2005). studying managerial practices in this way not only informs us of what constitutes the professional practice of strategizing (whittington et al., 2011) but also provides a better view of the skills and abilities that managers at different levels draw upon when doing strategy. according to nordqvist and melin (2008), “strategic planning champions” need to understand and respect the specific values, interests and concerns that form the “rules of the game” of the work done by strategy practitioners. the strategic skills and abilities described are generally less related to the strategists’ formal roles than to their informal activities through which they make sense of changes, influence them or use their networks. nonetheless, strategy-as-practice research that takes this view of practice generally emphasizes the role of the individual and its conscious and purposeful action related to strategy-making. second, some authors are less interested in managerial practice and more concerned with the various sets of relational, discursive and material tools related to strategy formation. here, “practices” (generally used, in this view, in the plural, in contrast to the previous view in which the singular form was used) are mainly associated with the procedures, norms and traditions by which strategy is actively accomplished. barry and elmes (1997) were among the first authors to attract attention to the narrative nature of strategy texts and the authoring processes of strategic sensemaking tools. in the wake of their inspiring paper, some authors in strategy-as-practice research have started to look at the role of workshops and meetings in shaping stability and change (e.g. jarzabkowski & seidl, 2008; hoon, 2007). others have investigated the discursive practices of strategic planning in order to better understand how plans are discursively constituted and negotiated (e.g. spee & jarzabkowski, 2011; pälli et al., 2009). there is also currently a burgeoning interest in the study of strategy tools and their facilitation of the work of strategists (e.g. kaplan, 2011; jarzabkowski et al., 2012). the view of practices as a set of tools provides a stronger comprehension of the informal procedures of strategic planning and of how standardized sets of practices are produced within particular settings. for example, we know, as spee and jarzabkowski (2011) showed, that strategy texts are negotiated through a cumulative cycle of talk and texts. we also know that strategy texts have a specific genre (pälli et al., 2009). they are future-oriented, as they are anchored in a directional discourse, and they tend to optimistically portray a bright future (cornut, giroux & langley, 2012). rather than showing how being a strategist is a matter of individual accomplishment, the view of practices being a set of tools proposes to explain how these practices (workshops, plans, tools) draw upon, interpret and sometimes challenge the organizational strategy. the third view of “practice” is mainly indebted to the work of seminal theorists associated with the “practice turn” in the social sciences such as pierre bourdieu, michel de certeau, michel foucault, anthony giddens. in their view, “practice” refers to the social and tacit knowledge that managers 551 strategy-as-practice research at a crossroads m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 547-565 and others use when they are making strategy. this view is based on the assumption that practice is related to the knowledge frame that actors need to draw on to accomplish their strategy work. hendry (2000) was one of the first authors to invite researchers to consider strategic decision-making as a social practice instead of a management technique. he stressed the fact that, like any other social practice, strategy takes its meaning from the social context in which it evolves. by analyzing conversations between strategists, samra-fredericks (2003) studied the sequential turns and revealed the socio-linguistic procedures by which actors construct a common meaning of markets and environments. mantere (2008) renewed interest in the role of the middle manager by recognizing the importance their knowledge of the constraints of a given situation and the discretion they have to implement change. in looking at how managers and others perform strategy, the view of “practice” as social knowledge aims to highlight the contextual and hidden characteristics of strategy-making rather than to provide general expertise and proposals for becoming an effective strategist. even though a lot of strategy-as-practice researchers use the social practice label, very few of them so far have been able to study the doing of strategy in the real sense of the practice turn in the social sciences. under the practice turn lens, practice cannot be defined only by the organizational or strategic “doing”; it also has to be defined by the “doing” of society. whittington (2006) urged strategy-as-practice researchers to connect the detailed activity of individual practitioners with broader societal phenomena, as i did when i examined how strategic sensemaking is produced and reproduced daily and anchored in managers’ tacit knowledge of their broader social context (rouleau, 2005). the view of practice as knowledge invites the strategyas-practice researcher to redirect attention towards the collective stock of knowledge that is a precondition for action and activities instead of looking at managerial action or the set of activities in which strategy-making is entangled. a view of practice as knowledge looks for the ordinary practical reasoning by which practices are interconnected with one another and re-produce social life in organizations. the fourth and fifth views of practice are, respectively, turned towards the investigation of strategy-making at the level of the firm and on an extraorganizational level. instead of asking what strategists do, how they do it and why they do it the way that they do, the fourth view of practice concerns the organizational consequences of strategists’ actions and activities during strategy-making. in 1985, mintzberg and waters proposed an integrative method of thinking about how strategies are formed in organizations (mintzberg & waters, 1985). the underlying view of practice is that organizational practices, such as processes, organizational routines and capabilities, are the roots of strategic advantage. for example, ambrosini et al., (2007) showed how the inter-team coordination in two financial organizations increased customer satisfaction and thus reinforced their competitive advantage. regnér (2008) examined the micro-foundations of strategy dynamics and demonstrated that, along with organizational practices, socio-cultural embeddedness, social interactions and the inclusion of multiple imaginative strategists are all important in the construction of unique organizational assets. both papers aimed to complement and hybridize the strategy-as-practice research with the resources-based view. 552 linda rouleaum@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 547-565 in adopting this last view of practices, strategy-as-practice research is closer to the mainstream approaches of strategy and organizational research. of course, there is no denying that strategy-as-practice research might inform content approaches in strategy (johnson et al., 2003; floyd, cornelissen, wright & delios, 2011). however, we should be conscious of the fact that the view of practices as organizational resources differs from the three others previously presented. this view of practices involves a micro perspective of organizational processes, routines and capabilities rather than a new angle or approach for conducting strategy research. put differently, this view illustrates how ordinary activities and processes underpin the resources configuration at the organizational level. until now, this view of practices has remained marginal in strategy-as-practice research. the fifth view of practice embraces the idea that strategy is a global discourse (with a capital d) that subjectively impacts society, organizations and individual life. in the early 1990s, knights and morgan (1991) wrote an insightful paper in which they affirmed that strategy is a mechanism that has distinctive power effects which model individuals’ subjectivity. subsequent to this, few empirical works have attempted to better understand the power effects that emerge when managers and others are strategizing. samra-fredericks (2005) drew on habermas and ethnomethodology to analyze the conversations of strategists and found that seven power effects were at play in the extracts examined. based on interviews with top managers, middle managers and employees in an engineering firm undergoing a strategic change, laine and vaara (2007) explored the dynamics of control-resistance to explain how these groups construct their views of change differently. complementing these empirical studies, some scholars have adopted a macro-institutionalist view of the strategy field (whittington et al., 2003; whittington et al., 2011; carter et al., 2010) while others have developed a critique of current strategy-as-practice research (e.g. chia & rasche, 2009; carter, clegg & kornberger, 2008). whatever their approach, all writers on the subject agree on the fact that strategy-as-practice research needs to promote critical analysis. in the most recent review of strategy-as-practice research, vaara and whittington (2012) suggest developing critical strategy-as-practice research by studying the legitimation and naturalization process of shortterm profit-orientation in strategy-making. to do this, one could look at how accountability and responsibility are constructed in strategy discourse, while keeping a sociological eye on the professionalization of strategic management and the industry it has become. of course, these views of practice may not be as distinct from one another as we have assumed in the previous lines. each of these views of practice represents one possible way to study the “doing” of strategy. none of them are either the best or only way to research strategy practices. the strategy-aspractice approach has until now displayed a high degree of theoretical pluralism and ambiguity (chia & rasche, 2009; carter et al., 2008). indubitably, this pluralist view of the notion of practice has been extremely helpful in ensuring the emergence and the success of this new knowledge project. 553 strategy-as-practice research at a crossroads m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 547-565 strategy-as-practice research, a new knowledge project? the emergence of strategy-as-practice research and its growing success are intriguing. in a previous paper, eva boxenbaum and i looked at how new theories are conceived and presented by organizational scholars. we suggested that a new knowledge project is generally eclectically produced, in part by connecting pre-existing metaphors, which are assembled along with theoretical concepts and empirical material (boxenbaum & rouleau, 2011). the metaphors’ ambiguous applicability to the object of study encourages creativity in interpretation and facilitates the generation of new ideas. we illustrated this argument by taking the example of institutional theory. analysis of the foundational institutionalist texts showed that they contain a wide range of metaphors that already existed in organizational theory. put differently, part of the popularity of institutional theory resides in the fact that the first scholars to use the notion were creatively engaging with everyone in organization theory. in this second part of this essay, i would like to explore these ideas in the context of strategy-as-practice research. at first glance, one might think that the notion of practice is similar to the notion of institution. they both have been defined in multiple and substantially different ways, scott (1987) reviewed four formulations of the institutionalization process, each of which provides a specific variant of institutional theory. i conducted the same textual analysis for strategy-as-practice foundational texts as for institutional theory (boxenbaum & rouleau, 2011). i chose six strategy-as-practice foundational texts based on the number of citations in google scholar (see table 2). among these papers, two are theoretical articles, two are empirical articles and two are editorial essays from a strategy-as-practice special issue. all metaphorical images were independently selected in the six texts and grouped under their root metaphor (e.g.: actor, role and performance under theater; resource, environment and resource under biology, etc). i highlighted the terms that appeared more than ten times in one of the texts as an indication of frequent appearance (boxenbaum & rouleau, 2011). table 3 gives a visual overview of the frequency of terms and of the most commonly appearing metaphors in the strategy-as-practice foundational texts. table 2. foundational papers in strategy-as-practice research papers (authors, year) citations in google scholar (may 2013) whittington, r. (1996) 489 johnson, g., melin, l., & whittington, r. (2003) 649 balogun, j., & johnson, g. (2004). 483 jarzabkowski (2004) 427 whittington (2006) 634 jarzabkowski, balogun & seidl (2007) 380 554 linda rouleaum@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 547-565 strategy-as-practice research, as reflected in the foundational texts, contains a wide range of metaphors that span the domains of stratagem, construction, theater, market and know-how. as the table reveals, some metaphors are widely used in all the texts (e.g., work, inter/action, activity, social, knowledge, actors), whereas others appear frequently in one or two texts and rarely or never in others (e.g., recursiveness and competence). despite the variety of metaphorical domains evoked in the conception of strategy-as-practice research, few of them were new to the strategy field. it appears that the reuse of metaphors from other strategy schools of thought created a bridge that facilitated the adoption of the practice notion. more specifically, i found four metaphorical types that are used to sustain the practice notion. these four metaphorical types correspond to the four basic forms of strategy discourse that francine séguin and i identified in the mid 1990s (rouleau & séguin, 1995). a “form of strategic discourse” corresponds to a particular arrangement of underlying representations concerning the individual, the organization and its environment. the four forms were labelled the classical, the contingent, the socio-cognitive and the socio-political forms of strategic discourse (rouleau & séguin, 1995). at first, the metaphorical domains of stratagem, market and biology found in the strategy-as-practice foundational texts connected this knowledge project to the classic works in the strategy field. decades before strategy-as-practice research began, academic researchers had referred to direction, competition and adaptation, just as these foundational texts do. in reusing these metaphors with the practice notion, strategy-as-practice researchers connect themselves to the classic form of strategic discourse in which strategy has to do with the purposeful positioning of an organization by its managers in a competitive economic environment. table 3. metaphors from strategy-as-practice foundational texts whittington (1996) whittington (2006) balogun, johnson (2004) jarzab kowski (2004) johnson, melin, whittington (2003) jarzabkowski, balogun,seidl (2007) stratagem direction/ing/al 10 2 0 1 2 5 plan/planning 10 14 15 9 1 1 effective/ effectiveness 6 12 2 1 5 0 performance/ming/ mer 9 17 4 7 15 1 market competition/ competitive 0 1 2 36 17 5 (re)produce/ producing/ product/production 0 17 1 7 2 0 biology resource 0 3 5 26 30 12 adaptation 0 2 0 27 1 1 environment/al 0 3 5 27 6 0 555 strategy-as-practice research at a crossroads m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 547-565 behaviour 1 4 12 14 2 8 construction (re)structure/ing/ structuration 2 3 73 65 33 2 build/building 0 3 7 9 7 2 process/ual 10 16 77 41 81 9 system recursive/ recursiveness 0 0 0 72 1 0 (inter)connect/ connection 0 6 1 2 18 interaction 0 1 19 33 1 9 theater actors 2 15 0 46 16 26 roles 9 14 17 4 6 2 interpretation 0 3 13 7 2 2 know-how knowledge/ knowing/ knowledgeable 13 1 8 30 10 6 competence 8 0 0 12 1 0 experience/ experienced 3 2 22 12 0 6 action work/working 9 20 85 14 25 11 activity 3 42 1 8 51 37 capacity/capability/ capable 1 5 0 20 6 4 collectiveness society/societal/ social/ socially 2 54 21 111 8 41 institution/al/ alization 0 5 1 62 21 11 context/ contextualization 0 12 7 79 7 8 *appearing at least ten times in one text (boxenbaum & rouleau, 2011) the notion of practice in these foundational texts is also related to the metaphorical domains of “construction” and “system”. the metaphorical domain of construction brings back the concept of structure that has always been important to strategy research. first introduced in the work of chandler (1977), it was central to the development of what mintzberg (1973) called “the configurational school of thought” in which the links between strategy and structure need to fit together. references to buildings also existed in strategy 556 linda rouleaum@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 547-565 research decades before the birth of strategy-as-practice. the metaphorical domain of system was not new either. interaction, connectedness and recursiveness are systemic properties that are central to the contingency form of discourse that pervaded the strategy field during the 1980s. in both cases, strategy, organization and environment are linked together in a complex and systemic interaction. in reusing metaphors related to other domains, the authors of the foundational texts enabled the transfer of theoretical concepts from the strategy field to strategy-as-practice research. in a similar way, foundational texts of strategy-as-practice research borrowed metaphors from adjacent disciplines, such as sociology and cognitive sciences. what have been called here the metaphors of theater and know-how are close to the socio-cognitive forms of strategic discourse that were developed in the nineties. the theater metaphor explores the world of shared meanings (gioia & chittipeddi, 1991) while the know-how metaphor emphasizes the cognitive arrangement that is at work in the process of experimentation and learning (weick, 1995). the socio-cognitive form of discourse considers the organization and the environment as subjectively constructed realities that are constantly being renewed through experimentation and the interpretation of daily events by competent actors. by adopting metaphorical domains that were also used in other disciplines, the authors of the strategy-as-practice foundational texts enabled a transfer of theoretical concepts and propositions from those disciplines into strategyas-practice research. lastly, the metaphorical domains of “action” and “collectiveness” constitute further important building blocks of the strategy-as-practice foundational texts. they both appear amongst the most used metaphors in these texts. in fact, they contribute to extending the distinctiveness of the practice notion. the action domain is composed of diverse images all of which indicate some form of agency and accomplishment and the ability to make a difference in the course of events. the metaphorical domain of collectiveness represents the outcome of these multiple accomplishments. these two metaphorical domains are central to the practice perspective even though they have multiple definitions depending on the view of the practice notion they support (section 1). as these metaphorical domains allow the representation of strategy in terms of interplays between individual or collective actors that have a power to change the course of events, they share something in common with the socio-political form of strategic discourse. through this complex bridging, the strategy-as-practice foundational texts succeed in merging multiple metaphors to form a coherent construct of practice. the composition of the perspective appears to be a recombination of metaphors that were readily available in strategy and in other disciplines. none of the metaphors were novel to strategy even though their specific combination was distinct. interestingly, the source of the perspective’s success lay not only in the introduction of new notions such as practice (that we could also consider as a metaphor) but also in the unique combination of metaphorical domains into a different theoretical assemblage. in the long term, should this metaphorical combination be reviewed to ensure the future development of strategy-as-practice research? 557 strategy-as-practice research at a crossroads m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 547-565 challenges for the future after more than a decade of strong development and fruitful contributions, strategy-as-practice is now at a crossroads. the theoretical metaphorical pluralism behind the notion of practice has been extremely helpful for generating a community of ideas, activities and researchers promoting divergent agendas (whittington, 2011; carter et al., 2008). however, although this diversity benefited the dissemination of strategy-as-practice research, it may impede its future theoretical development. should strategy-as-practice research continue to be developed in the same way as it has emerged or should it start to seek consolidation to become a more mature field of knowledge? the episodic reviews of the perspective (jarzabkowski, balogun & seidl, 2007; jarzabkowski & spee, 2009; chia & rasche, 2009; vaara & whittington, 2012) provide future avenues or directions for the field but rarely (and timidly when they do so) question the triggers of its rapid and growing development. consequently, strategy-as-practice could possibly continue its advancement by investigating new territories and by bridging new disciplines as has been the case until now, but it might also want to strengthen its model of knowledge development. the questions and ideas that first made the field extremely popular and successful need to be discussed again. the paper will now explore the theoretical and methodological challenges that must be faced to ensure the growth of strategy-as-practice research. theoretical challenge while it is largely agreed that strategy-as-practice research aims to facilitate the understanding of multiple actors’ practices and activities in their contexts, the famous question of knowledge accumulation remains an issue. according to langley (2010), the pluralism specific to strategy-as-practice research raises questions about the extent to which a truly cumulative body of knowledge is emerging. until now, strategy-as-practice research has been more dedicated to developing situated knowledge in order to differentiate itself from traditional strategy research than it has been to producing cumulative knowledge that will both ensure the development of strong research streams and help practitioners. to be taken seriously in the long term, strategy-as-practice research faces the challenges of knowledge accumulation and of gathering fresh theoretical contributions. in their chapter in the cambridge handbook of strategy-as-practice (golsorkhi et al., 2010), golden-biddle and azuma (2010) studied how strategy-aspractice researchers construct their contributions when presenting their results in peer reviewed journals. they noticed that most strategy-as-practice researchers tend to construct their papers by drawing on theories and methods that have been advanced cumulatively over time, thus showing a high level of what they called “progressive coherence”. the paper by jarzabkowski (2004) is an example of this way of constructing contributions to the strategy-aspractice field. according to golden-biddle and azuma (2010), this positioning is relevant for gaining legitimacy when a new stream of research is emerging. in the longer term, they suggest that instead of constructing their contributions through progressive coherence or based on an “evolution script” (boxenbaum 558 linda rouleaum@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 547-565 & rouleau, 2011), strategy-as-practice researchers could develop further opportunities for contribution by differentiating from or disagreeing with prior literature. but will such differentiation be beneficial or not for the development of a peripheral approach based on what floyd, et al. (2011) called an “umbrella construct”? floyd et al. (2011: 935) suggest that practice is an “umbrella construct” in the sense that such notions “encompass multiple constructs and phenomena.” the problem with umbrella constructs is that, along with integration and inclusiveness, they also bring issues of validity and operational challenges. being broad in scope, umbrella constructs such as practice do not easily provide theoretical formulations that are translatable into more specific plausible proposals or even testable implications. as a broad concept that has different uses and definitions, the notion of practice certainly provides a general set of commitments, a perspective from which strategy-as-practice research has to be made. but behind this large and inclusive view, strategy-as-practice research thus far seems to be offering few possibilities for sustaining the development of theoretical contributions. langley (2010) suggests that strategy-as-practice research offers knowledge of conceptual value based on thick empirical descriptions of how to rethink strategic issues. it does not, however, provide a cumulative knowledge model of development. in this sense, she suggests that a good way to contribute to knowledge development is by focussing on empirical phenomena (strategic meetings, strategic plans and so on). yet, it is not the first time in organization theory that a research program has been built around an umbrella construct. for example, the notion of “institution” is an umbrella construct and yet institutional theory has successfully grown out of what scott (1987) called its “adolescence”. institutional theory is now the most prevalent organization theory worldwide. when examining the development of institutional theory, it can be seen that theorists have been able to develop a series of bridging constructs around the notion of institution, such as institutional logics, institutional entrepreneurs and institutional work. as floyd et al. (2011) remarked, institutional researchers were able to develop an equilibrium between umbrella and bridging constructs that ensured the maturation of the institutionalist body of knowledge. how an equilibrium like this would be achieved in strategy-as-practice research is less obvious. furthermore, golden-biddle and azuma (2010) noticed that a large number of strategy-as-practice researchers locate their contributions in a literature other than that of strategy-as-practice. for example, balogun and johnson (2004) situated their contributions in middle management and strategic sensemaking literatures rather than in strategy-as-practice research. the researchers who adopt this strategy construct their contributions by invoking the inadequacy in problematizing the situation. in these kinds of papers, generally not published in special issues, the contributions related to strategy-as-practice generally appear at the end of an argument and seek to sustain the development of the perspective instead of proposing some specific theoretical contribution. should strategy-as-practice research embrace a more mature model of knowledge development or expand itself through a transdisciplinary project? it is probably more in the nature of the strategy field as a cornerstone discipline to favor a wide-reaching development over a robust knowledge project. one 559 strategy-as-practice research at a crossroads m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 547-565 thing is sure: whatever the answer to this question, there is a need to draw on existing theories ( in strategy, management or social sciences) in order to be acknowledged by our peers in the publication process while finding an original way to produce some theoretical notions that will be associated with the strategy-as-practice research program. methodological challenge to date, strategy-as-practice research has mostly used qualitative methods. more specifically, the first generation of strategy-as-practice researchers used data gathered from traditional longitudinal case studies to address different strategizing and strategic issues. as table 1 shows, empirical strategyas-practice research tends to be based on strategy meeting observation (stensaker & falkenberg, 2007), interviews (paroutis & pettigrew, 2007) and practitioner diaries (balogun & johnson, 2004). in his research paper, vesa (2012: 4) examined the methodologies used by strategy-as-practice researchers and found that “the use of robust participation-based ethnography in the field of strategy remains quite rare”. from the very beginning, many strategy-as-practice researchers have advocated the need to use methods other than ethnographic ones to address more accurately the strategy-aspractice research agenda. balogun, huff and johnson (2003) argued in their seminal methodological paper that today’s complex organizational settings require diversified methods that can provide more breadth and flexibility. huff, neyer and möslein (2010) suggested using a broader range of methods that can offer more robustness in theory building than solely ethnographic methods. without any doubt, these suggestions are relevant for developing new ways of gathering data in order to strengthen the relationships between empirical evidence and the range of interpretations related to the practice notion. in the longer term, should strategy-as-practice research continue to favor the pluralism associated with mixed methods approaches or consider more seriously the extension of ethnographic participant observation? put differently, should we opt for critical reflexivity or knowledge validity and plausibility to better understand how managers and others are doing strategy? of course, critical reflexivity and knowledge validity are both required to seriously advance a knowledge project. however, both will have their respective consequences for the development of this project. furthermore, they both depend on the way the notion of practice is defined when researching. a compromise option would be to return to ethnographic research while simultaneously renewing the genre. ethnographic methods constitute the most powerful methods for investigating what managers and others “do” when they are strategizing (chia & rasche, 2009). however, their potential for advancing strategy-as-practice research has remained underestimated in comparison with methods that at first glance seem to be more rigorous and generalizable. drawing on methods that do not give real access to the practices, routines and conversations of managers and others dilutes the distinctiveness of strategy-as-practice research. in this sense, ethnographic methods offer a lot of potential for theorizing and developing deeper strategy-as-practice contributions. of course, traditional ethnographic methods present a certain numbers of limitations (bounded and 560 linda rouleaum@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 547-565 single-site communities, time consuming for the researcher, do not always attain the standard of the academic writing process and so on) that need to be overcome in order to push forward strategy-as-practice research. these difficulties might also be reduced by endorsing the transformation of the ethnographic research genre. in the last two decades, the organizational ethnography field has taken a turn and new forms of ethnographies have emerged. researchers have developed ethnographic studies in new areas (extreme situations, artistic squats, medical organizations working in third world countries and so on) and used new ethnographic methods (for example, cognitive, institutional, artefactual, visual and virtual or cyberethnographic). it would be advantageous for future strategy-as-practice researchers to introduce these new ethnographies that would allow them to deal with complex, ambiguous and volatile contexts while providing a strong set of publishable data. conclusion and further knowledge production avenues this essay first reviews the multifaceted use of the notion of practice in strategyas-practice research. different definitions, units of analysis and theoretical and methodological influences are employed under the general label of practice. second, this essay looks at the metaphorical arrangements that characterize the strategy-as-practice knowledge project. it shows that under the practice notion, the metaphorical domains of the traditional strategy field have been rearranged to compose a distinctive knowledge project. by emphasizing the pluralistic character of strategy-as-practice research, the aim of the essay is not to condemn or promote one view of practice over the other but to reflect on the consequences of facilitating clarification and orderly development. i shall now propose some knowledge production avenues for building on the momentum created during the emergence of strategy-as-practice research. the goal here is less to set some specific directions, as vaara and whittington recently did (2012), but to attract the researchers’ attention to our own practices in producing knowledge. to consolidate the strategy-as-practice field while cultivating its inherent diversity, four knowledge production avenues need to be addressed: 1) bolstering the use of sociological theories of practice; 2) reinforcing the alternative position of strategy-as-practice research; 3) fostering specific theoretical contributions; 4) building on organizational ethnographic methods. bolstering the use of sociological theories of practice: the project behind strategy-as-practice research is based on a commitment to sociological theories of practice (vaara & whittington, 2012). however, commitment to the view of “practice as knowledge” remains underdeveloped compared to the view of practice as “managerial action”, as a “set of tools” and as a group of “organizational resources.” in order to consolidate the strategy-as-practice field there is a need to renew and revitalize this commitment. basically, social practice theories anchored in socio-political and cognitive metaphorical domains provide diverse views to better understand how strategy is accomplished in action and how it is shaped by contextual elements. 561 strategy-as-practice research at a crossroads m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 547-565 moreover, most strategy-as-practice research has until now failed to emphasize the social and collective embeddedness of the strategy practitioner’s agency (rasche & chia, 2009). there is a need to better take into account the institutional and collective trajectory through which the strategy practitioner performs its agency. reinforcing the alternative position of strategy-as-practice research: while strategy-as-practice researchers have adopted a diversity of views about the practice notion, the view of strategy has not really been questioned. the debate around what strategy is still matters! the relation between mainstream strategy research and strategy-aspractice research has always been ambiguous and is growing more elusive. strategy-as-practice research has been developed in order to offer an alternative to the formal discourse on strategy. as vaara and whittington (2012) said, this perspective has not yet achieved its full potential. the “alternative” discourse position in strategy needs to be reinforced in the strategy-as-practice researchers’ publications. golden-biddle and azuma (2010) invited strategyas-practice researchers to use differentiation arguments instead of always drawing on a progressive coherence argument. another way of reinforcing the alternative character of strategy-as-practice research would be to clearly position new research in relation to previous strategy-as-practice knowledge and accept disagreement with strategy-as-practice contributions when appropriate. a more mature strategy-as-practice field of research would need researchers to make an effort to locate their work in strategy-as-practice research instead of contributing to more general and accepted literature. it would also require them to be critical and reflexive regarding the knowledge they produce and its effects. fostering specific theoretical contributions: while practices are often embedded in formal activities and processes, the danger for strategyas-practice researchers lies in highlighting a set of empirical issues without attention to their coherence. there is a need for systematic research into specific empirical issues (strategy workshops, strategy plans, middle managers and so on). this could eventually lead to a cumulative knowledge base. strategy-as-practice researchers should also address the challenge of building an equilibrium between “umbrella” and “bridging” constructs. in this sense, it might be interesting to assess the findings related to different theoretical lenses (such as sensemaking practices, discursive practices, institutional practices and so on) in order to see whether or not there is any consistency between the strategy-as-practice findings. similarly, strategic episodes, strategic conversations, strategic competence and so on might serve as bridging constructs which could help strengthen the issues of validity and the operationalization challenges which a knowledge project has to face as it matures. building on organizational ethnographic research: to transcend the objectivist view of practice that is pervading the field (corradi, gherardi & verzelloni, 2010) and to reinforce our commitment to 562 linda rouleaum@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 547-565 social theories of practice, strategy-as-practice researchers should take more seriously the potential of organizational ethnography for understanding the “doing” of strategy. such a methodological option comprises a vast array of variants that might better fit with the exigencies of looking at the granularity of strategy-making whether it is accomplished at the top of the organization or the middle or even at the interorganizational level. while organizational ethnographic methods have a strong potential for observing the “hidden” knowledge that supports strategists’ practices, there is nevertheless a need, as the perspective matures, to develop strong and systematic data analysis processes that will help to gather robust and coherent knowledge about strategizing. furthermore, comparative ethnographic research should be encouraged to sustain the cumulative knowledge production of thick empirical descriptions that will help to better revisit the globalized world’s strategic issues. throughout, this essay has attempted to sound both critically reflexive and optimistic about the development of strategy-as-practice research. to end this essay, it seems appropriate to quote scott in his reflection on the multiple faces of institutional theory in its early stage of development: “adolescents have their awkwardness and their acne, but they also embody energy and promise. they require encouragement as well as criticism if they are to channel their energies in productive directions and achieve their promise” (scott, 1987: 510). strategy-as-practice research is still in adolescence but will without doubt reach adulthood. some choices have to be made in this direction! linda rouleau is professor of management at hec montreal. her research interests focus on micro-strategy and strategizing and on the transformation of the strategic sensemaking role of middle managers. she is a co-editor of the cambridge handbook of strategy-as-practice. in the last few years, she has published in peer reviewed journals such as organization science, academy of management review, journal of management studies, human relations, etc. 563 strategy-as-practice research at a crossroads m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 547-565 · ambrosini, v., bowman, c., & burton-taylor, s. (2007). inter-team coordination activities as a source of customer satisfaction. human relations, 60(1), 59-98. · angwin, d., paroutis, s., & mitson, s. (2009). connecting up strategy: are senior strategy directors (ssds) a missing link? california management review, 51(3), 74-94. · balogun, j. (2007). the practice of organizational restructuring: from design to reality. european management journal, 25(2), 91-101. · balogun, j., & johnson, g. (2005). from intended strategies to unintended outcomes: the impact of change recipient sensemaking. organization studies, 26(11), 1573-1601. · balogun, j., & johnson, g. (2004). organizational restructuring and middle manager sensemaking. academy of management journal, 47(4), 523-549. · balogun, j., huff, a., & johnson, p. (2003). three responses to the methodological challenges of studying strategizing. journal of management studies, 40(1), 197-224. · barry, d., & elmes, m. (1997). strategy retold: toward a narrative view of strategic discourse. academy of management review, 22(2), 429-452. · boxenbaum, e., & rouleau, l. (2011). new knowledge products as bricolage: metaphors and scripts in organizational theory. academy of management review, 36(2), 272-296. · carter, c.r., clegg, s., & kornberger, m. (2010). re-framing strategy: power, politics and accounting. accounting, auditing and accountability journal, 23(5), 573-594. · carter, c.r., clegg, s., & kornberger, m. (2008). strategy as practice? strategic organization, 6(1), 83-99. · clarke, i., kwon, w., & wodak, r. (2011). a context sensitive approach to analysing talk in management meetings: the discourse historical approach to critical discourse analysis. british journal of management, 23(4), 455-473. · chandler, a. d. jr. (1977). the visible hand. the managerial revolution in american business. cambridge ; london: belknap press of harvard university press. · chia, r., & rasche, a. (2009). researching strategy practices: a genealogical social theory perspective. organization studies, 30(7), 713-734. · cornut, f., giroux, h., & langley, a. (2012). the strategic plan as a genre. discourse & communication, 6(1), 21-54. · corradi, g., gherardi, s. & verzelloni, l. (2010). through the practice lens: where is the bandwagon of practice-based studies heading?. management learning, 41(3), 265-283. · floyd, s. w., cornelissen, j. p., wright, m., & delios, a. (2011). processes and practices of strategizing and organizing: review, development and the role of bridging and umbrella constructs. journal of management studies, 48(5), 933-952. · golsorkhi, d., rouleau, l., seidl, d., & vaara, e. (eds.). (2010). cambridge handbook of strategy as practice. cambridge: cambridge university press. · golsorkhi, d. (ed.). (2006). la fabrique de la stratégie: une perspective multidimensionnelle. paris: vuibert. · golden-biddle, k., & azuma, j. (2010). constructing contribution in ‘strategy as practice’ research. in d. golsorkhi, l. rouleau, d. seidl, & e. vaara (eds.), cambridge handbook of strategy as practice (pp. 79-90). cambridge: cambridge university press. · gioia, d. a., & chittipeddi, k. (1991). sensemaking and sensegiving in strategic changeinitiation. strategic management journal, 12(6), 433-448. · giraudeau, m. (2008). the drafts of strategy: opening up plans and their uses. longrange planning, 41(3), 291-308. · hendry, j. (2000). strategic decision making, discourse and strategy as social practice. journal of management studies, 37(7), 955-977. · hodgkinson, g., whittington, r., johnson, g., & schwarz, m. (2006). the role of strategy workshops in strategy development processes: formality, communication, coordination and inclusion. long range planning, 39(5), 479-496. · hoon, c. (2007). committees as strategic practice: the role of strategic conversation in a public administration. human relations, 60(6), 921-952. references 564 linda rouleaum@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 547-565 · huff, a.s., neyer, a.k., & möslein, k. (2010). broader methods to support new insights into strategizing. in d. golsorkhi, l. rouleau, d. seidl & e. vaara (eds.), cambridge handbook of strategy as practice (pp. 201-216). cambridge: cambridge university press. · jarzabkowski, p., spee, p., & smets, m. (2013). material artifiacts: practices for doing strategy with ‘stuff’. european management journal, 31(1), 41-54. · jarzabkowski, p., & spee, p. (2009). strategy as practice: a review and future directions for the field. international journal of management reviews, 11(1), 69-95. · jarzabkowski, p., & seidl, d. (2008). the role of meetings in the social practice of strategy. organization studies, 29(11), 1391-1426. · jarzabkowski, p., balogun, j., & seidl, d. (2007). strategizing: the challenges of a practice perspective. human relations, 60(1), 5-27. · jarzabkowski, p. (2005). strategy as practice: an activity based approach. london: sage. · jarzabkowski, p. (2004). strategy as practice: recursiveness, adaptation, and practices in-use. organization studies, 25(4), 529-560. · johnson, g., langley, a., melin, l., & whittington, r. (2007). strategy as practice: research directions and resources. cambridge, uk: cambridge university press. · johnson, g., melin, l., & whittington, r. (2003). micro strategy and strategizing: towards an activity-based view. journal of management studies, 40(1), 3-22. · kaplan, s. (2011). strategy and powerpoint: an inquiry into the epistemic culture and machinery of strategy-making. organization science, 22(2), 320-346. · knights, d., & morgan, g. (1991). corporate strategy, organizations and subjectivity: a critique. organization studies, 12(2), 251-273. · laine, p.-m., & vaara, e. (2007). struggling over subjectivity: a discursive analysis of strategic development in an engineering group. human relations, 60(1), 29-58. · langley, a. (2010). the challenge of developing cumulative knowledge about strategy as practice. in d. golsorkhi, l. rouleau, d. seidl & e. vaara (eds.), cambridge handbook of strategy as practice (pp. 91-108). cambridge: cambridge university press. · mantere, s. (2008). role expectations and middle manager strategic agency. journal of management studies, 45(2), 294-316. · mintzberg, h., & waters, j. a. (1985). of strategies, deliberate and emergent. strategic management journal, 6(3), 257-272. · mintzberg, h. (1973). the nature of managerial work. new york: harper & row. · nordqvist, m., & melin, l. (2008). strategic planning champions: social craftspersons, artful interpreters and known strangers. long range planning, 41(3), 326-344. · pälli, p., vaara, e., & sorsa, v. (2009). strategy as text and discursive practice: a genrebased approach to strategizing in city administration. discourse & communication, 3(3), 303-318. · paroutis, s., & pettigrew, a. (2007). strategizing in the multi-business firm: strategy teams at multiple levels and over time. human relations, 60(1), 99-135. · regnér, p. (2008). strategy-as-practice and dynamic capabilities: steps towards a dynamic view of strategy. human relations, 61(4), 565-588. · rouleau, l. (2005). micro-practices of strategic sensemaking and sensegiving: how middle managers interpret and sell change every day. journal of management studies, 42(7), 1413-43. · rouleau, l., séguin, f. (1995). strategy and organization theories: common forms of discourse. journal of management studies, 32(1), 101-117. · salvato, c. (2003). the role of micro-strategies in the engineering of firm evolution. journal of management studies, 40(1), 83-108. · samra-fredericks, d. (2005). strategic practice, ‘discourse’ and the everyday interactional constitution of ‘power effects’. organization, 12(6), 803-841. · samra-fredericks, d. (2003). strategizing as lived experience and strategists’ everyday efforts to shape strategic direction. journal of management studies, 40(1), 141-174. · stensaker, i., & falkenberg, j. (2007). making sense of different responses to corporate change. human relations, 60(1), 137-177. · scott, w. r. (1987). the adolescence of institutional theory. administrative science quarterly, 32(4), 493-511. 565 strategy-as-practice research at a crossroads m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 547-565 · spee, a. p., & jarzabkowski, p. (2011). strategic planning as communicative process. organization studies, 32(9), 1217-1245. · vaara, e., & whittington, r. (2012). strategy-as-practice: taking social practices seriously. academy of management annals, 6(1), 285-336. · weick, k. e. (1995). sensemaking in organizations. london: sage publications. · vesa, m. (2012, july 5-7). immersive participation ethnography: method and the case of strategy research. paper presented at the 28th egos colloquium, helsinki, finland. · whittington, r. (2011). the practice turn in organization research: towards a disciplined transdisciplinarity. accounting organizations and society, 36(3), 183-86. · whittington, r., cailluet, l., & yakis-douglas, b. (2011). opening strategy: evolution of a precarious profession. british journal of management, 22(3), 531-544. · whittington, r. (2006). completing the practice turn in strategy research. organization studies, 27(5), 613-634. · whittington, r., jarzabkowski, p., mayer, m., mounoud, e., nahapiet, j., & rouleau, l. (2003). taking strategy seriously: responsibility and reform for an importantsocial practice. journal of management inquiry, 12(4), 396-409. · whittington, r. (1996). strategy as practice. long range planning, 29(5), 731-735. 528 stephen linsteadm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 680-696 copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). m@n@gement is a double-blind refereed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.management-aims.com © 2013 m@n@gement and the author(s). m@n@gement est la revue officielle de l’aims m@n@gement is the journal official of aims stephen linstead 2013 organizational bystanding: whistleblowing, watching the work go by or aiding and abetting? m@n@gement, 16(5), 680-696. m@n@gement issn: 1286-4692 emmanuel josserand, cmos, university of technology, sydney (editor in chief) jean-luc arrègle, emlyon business school (editor) laure cabantous, cass business school (editor) stewart clegg, university of technology, sydney (editor) olivier germain, université du québec à montréal (editor, book reviews) karim mignonac, université de toulouse 1 (editor) philippe monin, emlyon business school (editor) tyrone pitsis, university of newcastle (editor) josé pla-barber, universidad de valència (editor) michael tushman, harvard business school (editor) walid shibbib, université de genève (managing editor) alexander bell, université de genève (editorial assistant) martin g. evans, university of toronto (editor emeritus) bernard forgues, emlyon business school (editor emeritus) special issue 680 organizational bystanding: whistleblowing, watching the work go by or aiding and abetting? m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 680-696 organizational bystanding: whistleblowing, watching the work go by or aiding and abetting? stephen linstead the york management school -university of york stephen.linstead@york.ac.uk abstract abstract the psychology of bystanding has a long history of research, and although some of this has been considered with regard to the role of bystanders in bullying in schools and the health and social sectors, it has not been extended to organizations more generally. there is thus a dearth of theoretical development on what makes organizational bystanding different, and of course there is also a lack in the corresponding research base. this paper integrates work in social and moral philosophy with that in psychology, education and human resource management to develop typologies of responsibility, and of bystanding in general, and presents some core principles for the further development of work on specifically organizational bystanding. keywords: bystanding, witnessing, bullying, moral responsibility, ethics, fidelity 681 stephen linsteadm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 680-696 introduction the fewer people who know who wrote this report the better. i am worried about the personal safety of myself and my family. under no circumstances is this report or its contents to be shared with any other regulatory body without my express position (markopolos 2010: 299) harry markopolos knew there was something wrong as soon as he started to read the figures. within four hours he had a good idea something was very wrong – the figures he was looking at were a fiction. he was one of a handful of people in the world with the skill and experience to understand and utilise the techniques of financial mathematics required and he knew there was more research to be done. yet he was convinced from what he had so far uncovered that the figures were masking a major fraud, possibly global, and probably involving funds from organized crime. it could have been the crime of the departing century (it was 1999), or, if unchecked, the next. markopolos tried to reverse engineer the figures; they told him what he was seeing couldn’t have been done legitimately, not even close. he set out in writing a case from his concerns. eventually, in 2000, he submitted his observations regarding the fairfield sentry limited asset management fund to the securities and exchange commission. fairfield was owned and operated by madoff investment securities, llc. madoff’s empire collapsed in 2008 and is now known to have been the biggest ponzi fraud in history with some us$64.8 billion of funds under management, held on behalf of little old ladies in wisconsin, colombian drug cartels, european royalty, hollywood stars and russian oligarchs (markopolos 2010: xvii)1. suicides ensued, including one of madoff’s sons. madoff himself received jail sentences totalling 150 years. but between 1999 and 2008 markopolos had alerted the sec on five occasions, and at one point had written to the washington post, pointing out up to 30 “red flags” that gave cause for concern (markopolos 2010: 298-332). no action ensued. in 2005 the sec had desultorily responded and for two years investigated madoff’s legitimate businesses on the 17th and 18th floors of manhattan’s lipstick building, finding three minor violations. they completely overlooked the fact that the criminally corrupt fairfield fund was trading globally from the 16th floor (markopolos 2010: 7-8). markopolos has repeatedly accused the sec of incompetence, of being “unable to recognize a ponzi scheme if they were having dinner with charles ponzi”… “not capable of finding ice-cream in a dairy queen” and of being unable to “find steak in an outback [barbeque]” (markopolos 2010: 268; 262; 263). madoff was a charismatic and persuasive character, a wall street legend who wielded immense power and influence, who it was easy both to believe and to fear (young 20). perhaps this explains why, although the madoff scam was “widely known in the industry” (markopolos 2010: 257) and although the sec received information to that effect on several occasions before 2008, investigations were not pursued, tips were not followed up, facts were ignored, reports were lost in bureaucracy and some submissions were apparently never even received. whilst markopolos was prepared to attribute this to incompetence, inexperience, arrogance and stupidity, other members of his team were convinced that collusion and corruption were involved. outside the sec, knowledge, or at least suspicion, of the true nature of the fund was 1. a ponzi scheme, named after charles f. ponzi (1882 – 1949), is an investment scheme that uses the income from recent investors to pay dividends to earlier investors. the apparent object of the investment, which in ponzi’s case was international postal coupons, may not support the magnitude of returns reported by the scheme or no investments may have been made at all. the perpetuation of such schemes is discussed by will (2012) and shapiro (2012) and broader aspects of the necessity of bystander support or compliance in financial crime is discussed by other contributors to will et al (2012). 682 organizational bystanding: whistleblowing, watching the work go by or aiding and abetting? m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 680-696 common. court-appointed trustee irving picard argued that the bank ubs ag “agreed not only to look the other way, but also to pretend that they were truly ensuring the existence of assets when in fact they were not and never did”. jp morgan chase was also implicated; bank medici was accused of “racketeering” and of being madoff’s “criminal soul mate” (markopolos 2010: xviii). for markopolos, this was not surprising, as from his first days in the industry he had witnessed “massive violations taking place on an hourly basis” with regulations “broken every day, every hour; and everybody knew about it and nobody seemed to care…. it was an accepted way of doing business, although i couldn’t accept it. i would report it regularly…. and they never did a thing about it” (markopolos 2010:14). still, however, markopolos maintains that he never witnessed deliberate dishonesty2. in this paper i am not going to focus on collusion and corruption themselves. these complex issues, along with whistleblowing, are being increasingly addressed in organization studies. madoff not only shows us that extreme behaviour left unchecked can have disastrous consequences, but that such behaviour depends not just on those involved actively cooperating or colluding, but on those not involved not doing or saying anything and not “hearing” or “seeing” anything even when it is brought to their attention. it depends on the opposite of “joined-up thinking”, holistic or systemic awareness: it displays an inability or refusal to look down the causal chain and acknowledge its human and social effects. such behaviour may not be evil, but it is essential for evil to achieve its objectives. it is a phenomenon that in different sets of circumstances has been extensively investigated in the field of psychology as bystanding. despite its deployment by practitioners, however, it has been largely ignored in scholarly research, specifically in management literature (van heugten 2010). what i call organizational bystanding is a related and more sociological concept with significant differences and it is sufficiently widespread that we have all encountered it and may well do so on a daily basis. it presents an important opportunity for future management research and offers an alternative to corruption, collusion or incompetence for explaining the formative contexts of escalating unethical action3. but aren’t bystanders by definition innocent? and isn’t an organization of bystanders a contradiction in terms? the right to be left alone vs the duty to render assistance legal systems based on the particular individualism of english common law tend to underpin the principles of business ethics in western free-market capitalism. such systems emphasize the protection of individual liberty, the ability to pursue one’s own self-interest and the right not to be interfered with as long as one does not interfere with others, harm them or force them to do something against their will. individual subjects, in the eyes of the law, become legal agents, defined by a system of rights granted and associated duties imposed to ensure mutual observance and respect for these rights. one common law principle states that we should only be responsible for things that we cause. but the question of causality is complex. in commercial and employment law, for example, it has been established that causes and 2. markopolos has assembled a useful collection of resources and links relating to the madoff investigation and its aftermath at www.noonewouldlisten.com 3. this article draws upon and develops ideas first discussed in linstead (2007) which contains a more extensive discussion of the philosophical issues. the concept of “organizational bystanding” is intended as a complement to the familiar mainstream concept of “organizational behaviour” – it refers to a type of behaviour that occurs within organizations and organized settings although it may have roots, as well as wider resonances and consequences, outside those settings. although the behaviour of organizations is sometimes included within treatments of organizational behaviour, i do not here consider the bystanding of organizations, of which an example might be the united nations failure to prevent the escalation of the rwandan genocide in apriljuly 1994 (long and mills 2008). this issue is beginning to be addressed within the field of corporate social responsibility and, although not disconnected, requires more focused consideration and conceptual development than is possible in this essay. 683 stephen linsteadm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 680-696 causal relationships may be of different types and may therefore be weighted differentially. in organizations and business, we may be required to anticipate problems and try to prevent them, as with the products we produce in relation to consumers’ rights and in providing a safe and healthy working environment, where the law requires everyone who works in the organization to carry some degree of specific and general responsibility. in addition, responsibility may be relative and not total in that causes may be direct, indirect or contributory. doing nothing can therefore be doing something. for example, not causing something to happen, if the outcome was desirable and would have been straightforward to achieve, can carry a moral responsibility. there is, then, a difference to be made between acts that we are required and obligated to perform, observing minimal decency, and acts that go above and beyond the call of duty, supererogatory behaviour. failure to act with minimal decency commonly attracts social censure and can form the basis for what are called “good samaritan” laws. articles 223–6 of the french penal code, first enacted in 1941, assert: anyone who, by their own actions, if there is no risk to themselves or another, can prevent a crime or physical harm and refuses to help shall be punished by five years imprisonment and a 500,000 franc fine. anyone who refuses to come to the aid of a person in danger, if there is no risk to themselves or another, shall be punished by five years imprisonment and a 500,000 franc fine. (translation in schick 2000: 185) similar laws exist, or have existed, in several countries, notably those not based on english common law with its emphasis on the rights of the individual to act in their own self-interest. these include portugal (1867), the netherlands (1881), italy (1889, 1930), russia (1903–17), turkey (1926), norway (1902), denmark (1930), poland (1932), germany (1935, 1953), romania (1938), hungary (1948, 1961), czechoslovakia (1950), belgium (1961), switzerland (various). in the united states also, the states of minnesota, wisconsin and vermont have them, despite the basis of us law in english common law (schick 2000: 185). the penalties here may not be as severe as in the french system but the principle is clear: many parts of the developed world not only consider it a virtue to help one’s neighbour, but also think not doing so is a crime. the right to life accordingly carries with it the right to the means to live and therefore carries a sense of reciprocal obligation between, the community that provides it and the individuals of that community. for communitarians, the pursuit of pure self-interest is self-defeating. but even if we accept the pursuit of self-interest as primary, some degree of error in our judgement is inevitable. the right to an easy rescue if we make mistakes might, paradoxically, be in our long-term self-interest and give us greater freedom in planning for the future, knowing that we can count on the assistance of others when we really need it. it might also encourage greater inventiveness and entrepreneurship in the economy by promoting higher levels of trust, especially in making the first move in initiating new transactional relationships. “good samaritan” laws therefore might promote liberty and market freedom rather than curtailing it, in a truly social market. 684 organizational bystanding: whistleblowing, watching the work go by or aiding and abetting? m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 680-696 responsibility and fidelity responsibility towards the other can be constructed in different ways. clarkson (1996) identifies two major forms of construction of responsibility, and later discusses a third alternative construction of responsibility: fidelity. responsibility as liability is interest-based. it requires a fixed view of how that responsibility may be determined and sees that responsibility as finite and bounded, even proportionate. it tends to be applied primarily to self and immediate family members and unless contractually specified tails off dramatically after that and may not even include friends. ultimately, it psychologically engenders inauthentic or neurotic guilt. this form of guilt is essentially an overreaction and prevents any practical steps being taken towards redress of the situation. it is an entirely narcissistic response in which the subject is paralysed by the realization of their own guilt. figure 1. three forms of responsibility (developed from and based on clarkson 1996, linstead 2006: 218) responsibility as liability responsibility as relational responsibility as fidelity motivation interest empathy intuition ontology fixed essential universal situational in flow multiple evoloving epistemology finite principled contractual rational complex transactional reciprocal asymmetrical negotiable fragmented logical affective irrational generous domain self and immediate family other not limited to localized groups immanent processual polyvant guilt neurotic unauthentic existential authentic absurd collective, shared responsibility as a relationship, in contrast to the first form, is empathy-based. accordingly it remains in flux, to be determined situationally and relationally. rather than being finite, it is complex and may extend in many directions. it is not limited to existing groupings of friends or family. it is characterized by authentic or existential guilt. genuine guilt involves a desire to make reparation for acts committed, but this may only result in situationally determined action rather than any change of life-position by the guilty. existential guilt, on the other hand, is both a “deep personal awareness of the suffering of others” and a commitment to change, to use “one’s life and one’s resources differently”. this involves “celebrating opportunities with joy and gratitude without demeaning others or ourselves with false hypocritical protestations” of guilt or claims of responsibility recycled for their social popularity or academic currency, with no actual effect on present or future behaviour (clarkson 1996: 16). responsibility as fidelity is drawn from the thought of gabriel marcel but with a postmodern twist. emmanuel lévinas’s (1969, 1981, 1987) great insight was that morality is situational and evolving and that it must therefore be determined by relationships. the relation with the other, for him, was prior 685 stephen linsteadm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 680-696 to the relationship with self, as self could only be discovered in relation to the other and difference. so the other places an imperative to respond upon the self. lévinas argues that this ethical situation must therefore be the first consideration of philosophy or our first philosophy. but if this is so, it also follows that connectedness must be our first nature. disconnectedness, initiated at the first moment of differentiation, is ironically a part of sociability, a learned behaviour that is second nature, intervening at the very moment we become aware of the divisibility of individuality and sociability, of selves as dividuals (backius 2005). responsibility then is immanent in the relationship with others of which the dominant awareness of structure, and of interior and exterior as difference, robs us. as marcel (1952) observes, discussed by blackham (1961: 76, emphasis added): the concrete historical permanence that i give myself in fidelity cannot be derived from a universal law … in fidelity i continuously inform myself from within … in fidelity i am not merely cultivating an ideal, i am making a response: i am not merely being consistent with myself, but i am bearing witness to an other-than-me which has hold of me. fidelity is not a mere act of will, it is faith in the presence of an other-than-me to which i respond and to which i shall continue to respond. it is this continuous response in the bond of fidelity which is my life and my permanence. fidelity, then, is both fidelity to the concrete other and fidelity to being-inrelation. it is, as implied here, intuitive: the relationship is one of multiplicity and hence is in constant evolution, a minor shift here requiring an adjustment there. a range of jurisprudential and philosophical concerns lead us to the principle of being in relation as a key to the moral question of bystanding but in practice, research in psychology and social psychology demonstrates that bystanding continues to be characterized by non-intervention. in the next two sections we will consider research on bystanding and how it may be understood in terms of organizations, paying particular attention to research on bullying in the fields of education and social work. from bystanding to organizational bystanding “organizational bystanding” occurs when we are aware of or even witness behaviour that we know will harm others (such as corruption, injustice, bullying or moral harassment) but do nothing to stop or ameliorate it. the classic study into the social psychology of bystanding was undertaken by darley and latané (1968a, 1968b; latané and darley 1968; latané and darley 1976). they studied the brutal murder of kitty genovese, a young woman who was beaten to death in a public place in new york over a 30-minute period. some 38 people either heard or watched from their windows but only one called the police, and then only after some considerable delay. darley and latané (1968a, 1968b, 1969; latané and darley 1968, 1970) attempted an analysis of how the bystanders accounted for their non-intervention, although there was some controversy arising from the original newspaper report as to how many of the 38 could hear or see the events sufficiently well to be fully aware of what was taking place. in subsequent studies and a book, latané and darley 686 organizational bystanding: whistleblowing, watching the work go by or aiding and abetting? m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 680-696 explored “bystander apathy” through laboratory experiments that collectively rank with milgram’s “obedience to authority” studies in the exploration of nonintervention. curiously, although milgram is well-known in organization and management studies, darley and latané are not. clarkson (1996) summarizes these and other studies and identifies a number of common rationalizations for non-intervention. one of the key findings of this work appears to be that the presence of others makes it harder to take action or to define the situation as one in which action is required, especially where the rapid processing of information is critical (fischer et al 2006). the relative unfamiliarity of a situation is also a factor. perhaps oddly, this tendency seems to be reversed in decision-making groups where decisions to act are made and debated over time, where “risky shift” indicates a propensity for more extreme decisions to be made collectively rather than by individuals (latané and nida 1981). significant here is that there is a focal event that requires a time-critical decision, or one that can be made, or made to appear, urgent. skilled moral harassers are accomplished in the informal manipulation of background discussions with key groups or subgroup members towards extreme positions, whilst pushing non-key or non-involved group members into bystander apathy by pressing for formal decisions. “what did we just do?” and “how did we decide that?” are frequent questions after such meetings. by combining the insights of latané and darley and clarkson, we can identify differences between bystanding in an emergency and organizational bystanding: first, bystanders such as those in the genovese case and subsequent experiments are a collective only by virtue of being in the same place at the same time. they have no particular connection either to the victim, the perpetrator or each other. in an organization this is certainly not the case, although the strength, saliency and value of the connections will vary. second, bystanding in an emergency is temporally bounded by a specific traumatic event; in organizations it is usually a series of often connected events that may escalate in seriousness. where the consequences of bystanding in an emergency are discrete, in an organization they are continuous. consequently, there is a greater degree of reflexivity potentially implied in organizational bystanding. third, events in organizations may be even less clearly defined than in emergencies, although research demonstrates that even apparently straightforward situations can be problematic to define. fourth, bystanders are not a language community, and are likely to share no common argot, whereas organizational members to a greater or lesser degree will be co-participants in a language game of organizing. clarkson (1996: 76–7) argues that gossiping, which is an inauthentic form of communication insofar as it does not involve the subjects of the gossip, is itself a form of bystanding or non-engagement. gossip and rumour, as noon and delbridge (1993), clegg and van iterson (2009) michelson et al (2010) and van 687 stephen linsteadm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 680-696 iterson et al (2011) have demonstrated, are important means of both organizing and resisting organization. organizational bystanding is a necessary condition of a context in which corruption or moral harassment are successful and sustained (paull et al 2012). the politics of organizational hierarchy ensures that parrhesia – the speaking of truth to power – is never easy or without risk or necessarily effective, yet it is simultaneously a responsibility of both individuals and communities (foucault 2001). a similar observation has been used as a learning tool in the training of torturers where systematic acts of evil are to be performed. inductees are taken through a process of desensitization and dehumanization in order to carry these acts out and bystanding is the first step in their training. enforced witnessing and enforced silence make bystanders complicit in the acts witnessed and hence form part of their legitimation (clarkson 1996: 29; conroy 2000; staub 1990). here, as in organizations, bystanding is not neutral but reflects the state of non-involvement as a form of involvement, a dissolution of any resolution to resist and a prelude to active involvement. people begin by seeing something they know is wrong and doing nothing about it, thus perpetuating it, and eventually accepting it. bystanding and bullying bystanding as it occurs in organized settings has been studied in the field of education in the form of bullying in schools. this phenomenon has received considerable attention from behavioural scientists, and twemlow, fonagy and sacco (2004) have developed a model of the significance of the social connections between perpetrators, victims and bystanders/audiences alongside the individual mental processes that are in operation within bystanders and which may be conditioned by the wider social system. what they call “mentalization”, following fonagy (2001), is a construct comprised of “self-awareness, self-agency, reflectiveness, and accurate assessment of the mental states of self and other people” (twemlow et al., 2004:217) and they develop a typology of bystanding roles in which mentalization, subjective states and role in the system interact. for example, the aggressive supporter of bullying displays a collapse of mentalization or, in other words, is unable adequately to reflect their own mental state or those of others affected by their actions. the bully exists in a sadomasochistic subjective state of excitement and actively plays a role that establishes victimization as a “way of life” in the community. at the other end of the scale, the helpful (altruistic) bystander who intervenes on behalf of the victim has enhanced mentalization, operates from a compassionate subjective state, and perhaps shows outrage at the harm done to others. the altruistic bystander is mature and effective in the use of individual and group psychology “to promote self-awareness and develop skills to resist victimization” (twemlow et al 2004: 218). this promotion of mentalization in the interests of the wider community is seen by tremlow et al as a form of primary prevention of social violence, with the active exercise of mentalization being a secondary form that acts to prevent the formation of “coercive, humiliating power dynamics” between sub-groups and individuals 688 organizational bystanding: whistleblowing, watching the work go by or aiding and abetting? m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 680-696 leading to their “social disconnection” from each other (twemlow et al 2004:229-30). tertiary prevention involves the attention paid to victims and the aftermath of violent or crisis episodes (which may have lethal consequences) and prevents the complete breakdown of a sense of community. whilst there is much of value in twemlow et al’s work, from the perspective of organizations their definition of bystanding is both enabling and restrictive. they challenge the dictionary definition taken from webster (1996) that a bystander is “a person present but not involved; an onlooker” with synonyms including “viewer”, “observer”, “witness”, and “passerby” (twemlow et al 2004:217). for them, “the bystander is defined as an active and involved participant in the social architecture of school violence, rather than a passive witness”. the bystander is situated “in an unavoidably active role created, in the case of school violence, by the victim/victimizer interaction; it follows that being passive is not possible from this perspective”. the enabling dimension of this perspective is that bystanders are seen to be connected and in relation to others, and that the organized context of schooling provides a means for this connection to be articulated in ways that the public contexts of the classic bystanding studies do not. as lewis and sheehan (2003: 6–7) also remind us, it is important not to forget “other component elements in the (bullying) experience, namely bystanders ... including consideration of the role they play in the construction of different realities (of bullying)”. what is restrictive, however, is that schools are a particular type of institution, the majority of the populations of which are not mature adults, are compulsorily present for a time-bounded period and whose power structures, as far as the community is concerned, are less ambiguous than those in more diverse organizations. large organizations with several sites may operate via project teams who are otherwise unfamiliar to each other, whose sense of community is not powerful but is more task-based, whose motives and contexts for action are opaque to one another, and in which “bullying” may take forms that are not easy to discern. symbolic violence in these situations may not always be obvious, nor capable of direct confrontation, which makes passive bystanding possible through different definitions of the situation and opacity of implication. paull, omari and standen (2012) attempt to apply work from education and school bullying to bullying in the workplace, drawing explicitly on twemlow et al (2004) and salmivalli (1999) to develop a typology of bystanding. they operationalize a definition of bullying by timo, fulop and ruthjersen (2004: 38) as “a set of dysfunctional workplace behaviours ranging from those that adversely impact emotional well-being and stability to physical violence causing injury and harm”. rayner and hoel (1997) identified five categories of workplace bullying that remain a standard for other work: threats to personal standing, threats to professional status, destabilisation or undermining, overwork or undue pressure and isolation. this may include overt aggression or insulting behaviour directed against a person or their work, including emotional, psychological, sexual or physical acts. alternately, it may include the covert withholding of information or interaction, cutting someone out of the communications loop or “sending them to coventry”. as paull et al (2012) put it, 689 stephen linsteadm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 680-696 almost everyone has witnessed difficult interactions [such as those above – sl] in the workplace; some have walked away with a sigh of relief rather than tackle an uncomfortable situation with potential to escalate into dysfunctional conflict. there are many underlying reasons: a deliberate choice not to get involved in others’ business, a conflict-avoidant style, an inability to see the potential harm, and limited emotional intelligence and hence ability to respond to conflict, are some. although paull et al (2012:352) argue there has been no work done directly on bystanders, they do identify that consequences of bystanding are mentioned in the literature. as many as 30% of office and bank workers surveyed reported witnessing bullying (ólafsson and jóhannsdóttir 2004: 325). in another study, “22% of respondents reported leaving their jobs due to the workplace climate associated with bullying, while 70% reported experiencing stress as witnesses to bullying incidents”(paull et al 2004:352; rayner, hoel and cooper 2002:58). negative effects on bystanders’ health were reported by salin (2011), and johnson (2009), with some nurses notedly leaving the profession as the result of bullying culture. bystanding also affects victims negatively, as van heugten (2010) noted, when colleagues withdraw from potential conflict and fail to support victims, increasing their isolation. lewis and orford (2005) similarly found bystanders felt themselves to be vulnerable if they supported victims openly and were at best covert and passive. whilst recognising that it is of little help if witnesses themselves become targets, paull et al (2012) take up rayner, hoel and cooper’s (2002:141) exhortation that “it is imperative that witnesses understand and undertake their responsibility to let others know what is going on” and incorporate the work of salmivalli (1999) and twemlow et al (2004) into a typology of bystanding that they intend to be used in awareness-raising education of potential bystanders, to encourage the development of cultures and to make available a range of responses that could mitigate against bullying. 690 organizational bystanding: whistleblowing, watching the work go by or aiding and abetting? m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 680-696 table 1. typology of bystanders (modified from paull, omari and standen 2012) label description salmivalli (1999) twemlow, fonagy & sacco (2004) paull, omari and standen (2012) instigating bystander sets up actions of bully; initiator, creates situation bully (aggressive) bystander; puppet-master destructive/active active accessory manipulating bystander seeks to influence actions of bully, takes advantage of existing situation bully (aggressive) bystander; puppet-master destructive/active active accessory collaborating bystander actively joins in, assists bully assistant bully (aggressive) bystander destructive/active active accessory facilitating bystander provides audience (close to joining in), can be inadvertent reinforcer bully (aggressive) bystander destructive/active active accessory abdicating bystander silently allows bullying to continue by doing nothing, despite being in position to do so abdicating bystander destructive/passive bystander avoiding bystander walks away outsider avoidant bystander abdicating bystander destructive/passive bystander intervening bystander takes action to halt bullying or prevent retaliation constructive/active whistleblower witness defusing bystander involves themselves in preventing escalation of the situation constructive/active mediator defending bystander stands up for victim defender helpful (altruistic) bystander constructive/active advocate empathising bystander identifies with the victim; says/does nothing avoidant bystander constructive/passive indexical victim sympathising bystander identifies with the victim, remains silent for fear of becoming target, offers comfort and support in private helpful (altruistic) bystander constructive/active post-hoc comforter succumbing bystander becomes fellow victim victim (passive) bystander destructive/passive collateral victim submitting bystander substitute victim destructive/passive collateral victim in table 1, i extend paull et al’s (2004:355) table to look more closely at the nature of the bystanding activities they describe. one problem with their approach is that they convert twemlow et al’s position that bystanding is not inactive into a pair of polarities: bystanding is, first, constructive or destructive; second, it is active or passive. the possibilities that it might be simply doing nothing, hedging one’s bets or picking one’s moment are dismissed and despite the ambiguity of many workplace situations, what is constructive or destructive is presented as self-evident rather than problematic and potentially subject to retrospective redefinition. the typology does, however, present a wider and more nuanced range of positions than its predecessors. their two categories of abdicating and avoiding bystander fall unequivocally into the category of bystander as understood in the legal and philosophical literature, which is reflected in my modification of the typology, but the other categories from 691 stephen linsteadm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 680-696 these perspectives represent something slightly different. i have used the term active accessory for their cluster of categories that includes the instigating bystander, manipulating bystander, collaborating bystander and facilitating bystander. their terms succumbing and submitting bystander are better expressed as forms of collateral victim. other terms are better represented by more specific rather than generic titles. the intervening bystander becomes the whistleblower/witness; the defusing bystander becomes the mediator; the defending bystander is the advocate; the empathising bystander the indexical victim; and the sympathizing bystander the post-hoc comforter. this terminology also, i think, is helpful in resisting the tendency to turn a challenging moral dilemma – or maze of dilemmas – into what is, in effect, a decision-tree diagram, as paull et al (2004) do, despite the other merits of their approach. what is important, if typologies are to be useful, is that they preserve the dimensions of the moral challenge implicit in the question of bystanding and the substantial issues of human responsibility are not reduced to mere behavioural categories. further aspects of bystanding in organizations with these considerations in mind, our discussion of responsibility can now be brought to bear on our earlier outline of possibilities for and problems facing the extension of the concept of bystanding into organizations, which consequently acquires a more distinctive texture. first, in organizations rather than general society, selves and others are more formally interconnected. this inevitably means that with more interlocking sets of responsibilities and consequences of individual actions, and the greater organizational focus on action itself, more moral dilemmas are likely to be generated. they won’t be of the type that moral philosophers usually use to illustrate moral issues, which tend to be stylised life-or-death sorts of considerations that we will rarely ourselves have to encounter in real life, but those that we have regularly to resolve in the ordinary interactions that characterize our everyday existence. second, if we turn to the idea of resolving individual and collective self-interest, we find that self, collective, organizational, stakeholder and customer interest overlap. they are neither always easy to distinguish nor always in conflict. not helping one “other” that one could reasonably help might in fact help a different other and vice versa. so where interests interlock, theatres intersect and decisions need to be made that prioritize and thus make bystanding more difficult: we have to choose one action or another and inaction without consequence is not always an option. this opens up the recognition that we are presented with a frequent need for paradoxical thinking. actions don’t appear from nowhere, as i have noted above, and they have histories and are reconstructed in multiple narratives. the full range of outcomes of actions is not always obvious. there can be multiple unintended consequences of actions, and time and space, or timing and spacing, can be actants in these situations, as what is 692 organizational bystanding: whistleblowing, watching the work go by or aiding and abetting? m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 680-696 possible in one time and place may not be in another. even when we might wish to act or be seen to act altruistically, because of the intertextual nature of accounts of action and history sometimes it is hard not to be self-serving or to be seen as such. third, power and knowledge are inseparable. we tend to conceal our vulnerabilities, or our less worthy motivations, or even just a few facts, until we feel we are in a position not to be harmed by their exposure. knowledge, whatever its epistemological status, is therefore organizationally very far from being perfectly or evenly distributed. robert jackall’s (1988) study of the politics of organizational knowledge and the moralities of managerial decision-making, observed accordingly that moral dilemmas become”moral mazes” in which dilemmas are multi-dimensional and interlocking and choices are complex and confusing. the idea that ethical and moral actions are what reasonable men and women of good aristotelian character would do in a given set of circumstances, were they in possession of all the facts, offers no recourse here. this is because, regardless of the problematic status of what is “reasonable”, the facts can never all be fully determined and in fact probably contradict each other. within these moral mazes multiple conflicts of interest occur. indeed an individual may often have more than one interest in conflict. such conflicts may be subconscious, latent or subversive yet despite their relative lack of visibility exert an important influence on ethical decision-making. fourth, in organizations that are committed to high reliability, high performance levels and/or excellence, the supererogatory becomes a cultural obligation (sometimes even a contractual one) and this can have negative moral consequences. the requirement to act consistently above and beyond the call of duty becomes itself a duty, one that is culturally policed by concertive control, with surveillance exercised by colleagues on each other (see smith and wilkinson 1996, for a good example of this at work in a high performance culture). in such cases the supererogatory and the minimal decency poles may collapse into each other, the result being an imperative to act in a way that is oriented towards excellence without any acceptable minimum standards of performance other than to be “excellent”. of course, exhortations to excellence may or may not have a moral dimension, and frequently do not, so high performance cultures, such as that prevailing in nasa at the time of the challenger disaster (schwartz 1990) or at enron in more recent times, may behave collectively in an unethical, immoral or even evil manner (darley 1992, 1994, 1996, 2001). finally, there are many ways to define the terms “unnecessary suffering” and “risk to oneself”, terms that commonly appear in related legislation, especially when the degree of risk or suffering is not specified, but these need to be applied to the organizational context. one might begin with the relatively unusual but obvious risk to “life and limb” or health, but detriment and risk could equally be applied 693 stephen linsteadm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 680-696 to financial matters, career, psychological well-being, opportunity cost, the consequences of offending the powerful, the consequences of being oneself exposed (the collateral disinterment of our own skeletons from the closet), fear of retribution or the harbouring of grudges. all of these more minor, less visible but no less real possible consequences are perhaps the most relevant ones to the issue of organizational bystanding, where the offences are often moral and psychological rather than physical. but moral harassment and organizational bystanding happen and regardless of the difficulty of addressing them and the appropriateness of a legislative response, they are issues that demand our consideration. when financial harm or unnecessary risk to others are concerned, it may be necessary not only to encourage whistleblowing, but to require it – to extend our social responsibility towards fidelity. organizational bystanding redux distilling this discussion, we can, i think, discern three main features at the core of organizational bystanding, both tying it to bystanding in general and lending it particular distinctiveness: to ignore what’s going on around you – not to see this can have almost limitless scope: from the head in the sand general strategy, through turning the occasional blind eye, to the “banality of evil” of the third reich administrators whose nuremburg defence attempted to hide their personal responsibility behind the orders that they were “only following”. in all of these cases, we can create narratives through which to defend, mask or divert attention away from our inaction. we can ignore the moral dimensions of a situation altogether and see each unfolding episode only in terms of technical or functional issues. this general focus on the minutiae of events entails a larger refusal: the failure to connect means that it becomes impossible to sustain any meaningful definition of organizational citizenship (except in a very formal sense) or of collegiality. to witness but fail to recognize or make the effort to recognize what is really happening not everything we see is self-evident. we have to make an effort to understand things and often we doubt our interpretations of events if they seem to indicate shocking behaviour or terrible and unexpected consequences. there is a hermeneutic effort involved in comprehending that moral harassment exists and is being put into action in the events that we have witnessed. we don’t want to believe in its truth, we don’t want to be hypersensitive or over-react. but this is exactly why we must engage our critical faculties despite our puzzlement and make the effort to understand what is really going on. we must take the issue of bystanding deeper than simply seeing and failing to act – the offence should include failing to interrogate, investigate and understand. 694 organizational bystanding: whistleblowing, watching the work go by or aiding and abetting? m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 680-696 to witness and recognize injustice but refuse to act this is perhaps where we most often find ourselves sitting and where the introduction of inducements and preferments by moral harassers are most often felt. we have seen something, we have made our inquiries and we know that what was and is happening is wrong. we can no longer hide the truth from ourselves. here we lack either knowledge (which in reality is unlikely to be the case) or courage or experience or, we believe, potential support from others (there but for the grace of god go i) and we choose not to act in accordance with what we know and believe to be true. our excuse for not acting might be that we did not feel we could act without danger to ourselves but this merely allows the abuses to roll on unchecked and neglects the fact that action, rather than simply attracting retribution, creates the possibilities for its own future. organizational bystanders don’t so much break the law as break the faith – the faith that we need to have in each other in order to make life not only tolerable but joyous. neither lévinas nor solzhenitsyn lost that sense of joy during their own torture and captivity, even when it dwindled to only a spark. foucault may have at times lost sight of it in the byways of pleasure. but even so, we are at our most human when we laugh with each other at ourselves and shed all responsibility save to care for each other in our absurdity. it is how we keep faith in our humanity. i have argued that bystanding is a relational crime. but it is also not a victimless crime and it enables further crime in the future. it is not singular but continuous and becomes cultural and contextual. it enables oppression, exploitation, discrimination, corruption and harassment to hide themselves under the cloak of desensitized and dehumanized customary relations and artificially objectified interests. its consequences can be fatal. both those whom bystanders fail to support and the bystanders themselves are diminished by the act of bystanding. in failing to keep our “brothers” and “sisters”, we lose something of ourselves. in the field of management we need more research to help us to recognize the pervasiveness of organizational bystanding, to understand its extensive and problematic effects on our societies and economies. furthermore, we need reflexive scholarship, learning interventions and political initiatives so that we can generate options for reconnecting with each other in responsible relationality. stephen linstead is professor of critical management, director of postgraduate research, and director of the centre for the study of working lives at the york management school, university of york, where he has worked since 2005. he has previously held chairs at the universities of durham, essex, sunderland and wollongong, nsw. he has made several contributions to the incorporation of philosophical thought into organization theory, particularly with regard to poststructuralism and postmodernism, henri bergson and gilles deleuze, but also contributes to management learning and development. 695 organizational bystanding: whistleblowing, watching the work go by or aiding and abetting? m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 680-696 · backius, p. (2005). the other: a dividual enterprise. in a. pullen & s. linstead (eds.), organization and identity (pp. 182–196). london: routledge. · blackham, h. j. (1961). six existentialist thinkers. london: routledge. · clegg, s. r. & van iterson, a. (2009). dishing the dirt: gossiping in organizations. culture and organization, 15(3-4), 275-289. · clarkson, p. (1996). the bystander: an end to innocence in human relationships? london: whurr publishers. · conroy, j. (2000). unspeakable acts, ordinary people. berkeley, ca: university of california press. · darley, j. m. (1992). social organization for the production of evil. psychological inquiry, 3(2), 199–218. · darley, j. m. (1994). organizations as a source of immoral behavior. global bioethics, 7, 53–63. · darley, j. m. (1996). how organizations socialize individuals into evildoing in codes of conduct. in d. m. messick & a. e. tenbrunsel (eds.), behavioral research into business ethics (pp. 13–43). new york: russell sage foundation. · darley, j. m. (2001). the dynamics of authority in organizations and the unintended action consequences. in j. m. darley, d. m. messick & t. r. tyler (eds.), social influences on ethical behavior in organization (pp. 37–52). mahwah, nj: l. a. erlbaum. · darley, j. m., & latané, b. (1968a). bystander intervention in emergencies: diffusion of responsibility. journal of personality and social psychology, 8(4), 377–83. · darley, j. m., & latané, b. (1968b). when will people help in a crisis? psychology today, 2, 54-71. · darley, j. m., & latané, b. (1969). bystander “apathy”. american scientist, 57, 244-268. · fischer, p., greitemeyer, t., pollozek, f., & frey, d. (2006). the unresponsive bystander: are bystanders more responsive in dangerous emergencies? european journal of social psychology, 36(2), 267-278. · fonagy, p. (2001). attachment theory and psychoanalysis. new york: other press. · foucault, m. (2001). fearless speech. new york: semiotext(e). · jackall, r. (1988). moral mazes. oxford: oxford university press. · johnson, s. l. (2009). international perspectives on workplace bullying among nurses: a review. international nursing review, 56(1), 34-40. · latané, b., & darley, j. m. (1968). group inhibition of bystander intervention in emergencies. journal of personality and social psychology, 10(3), 215-221. · latané, b., & darley, j. m. (1970). the unresponsive bystander: why doesn’t he help? new york: appletoncentury-crofts. · latané, b., & darley, j. m. (1976). helping in a crisis: bystander response to an emergency. morristown, nj: general learning press. · latane, b., & nida, s. (1981). ten years of research on group size and helping. psychological bulletin 89(2), 308-324. · lévinas, e. (1969). totality and infinity. (a. lingis, trans.). pittsburgh, pa: duquesne university press. · lévinas, e. (1981). otherwise than being or beyond essence. (a. lingis, trans.). the hague: martinus nijhoff. · lévinas, e. (1987). time and the other. (r. cohen, trans.). pittsburgh, pa: duquesne university press. · lewis, d., & sheehan, m. (2003). introduction: workplace bullying: theoretical and practical approaches to a management challenge. international journal of management and decision making, 4(1), 1–10. · lewis, s. e., & orford, j. (2005). women’s experiences of workplace bullying: changes in social relationships. journal of community and applied social psychology, 15(1), 29-47. · linstead, s. a. (2007). the comedy of ethics: the new york four, the duty of care and organizational bystanding. in r. westwood & c. rhodes (eds.), humour, work and organization (pp. 203-231). london: routledge. · long, b. s., & mills, a. j. (2008). globalization, postcolonial theory, and organizational analysis: lessons from the rwanda genocide. critical perspectives on international business, 4(4), 389 – 409. references 696 stephen linsteadm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 680-696 · marcel, g. (1952). the metaphysical journal. london: rockliff. · markopolos, h. (2010). no-one would listen: a true financial thriller. hoboken, nj: john wiley. · michelson, g., van iterson, a., & waddington, k. (2010). gossip in organizations: contexts, consequences, and controversies. group & organization management, 35(4), 371-390. · noon, m. & delbridge, r. (1993). news from behind my hand: gossip in organizations. organization studies, 14(1), 23–36. · ólafsson, r., & jóhannsdóttir, h. l. (2004). coping with bullying in the workplace: the effect of gender, age and type of bullying. british journal of guidance and counselling, 32(3), 319–333. · paull, m., omari, m., & standen, p. (2012). when is a bystander not a bystander? a typology of the roles of bystanders in workplace bullying. asia pacific journal of human resources 50(3), 351-366. · rayner, c., & hoel, h. (1997). a summary review of literature relating to workplace bullying. journal of community and applied social psychology, 7(3), 181–192. · rayner, c., hoel, h., & cooper, c. (2002). workplace bullying. what we know, who is to blame, and what can we do? london: taylor and francis. · salin, d. (2011). the significance of gender for third parties’ perceptions of negative interpersonal behaviour: labelling and explaining negative acts. gender,work and organization, 18(6), 571-591. · salmivalli, c. (1999). participant role approach to school bullying: implications for intervention. journal of adolescence, 22(4), 453-459. · schick, t. jr (2000). the final episode: is doing nothing doing something? in w. irwin (ed.), seinfeld and philosophy: a book about everything and nothing (pp. 183-198). peru, il: open court press. · schwartz, h. s. (1990). narcissistic process and corporate decay. new york: new york university press. · shapiro, d. (2012). generating the alpha return: how ponzi schemes lure the unwary in an unregulated market. in s. will, s. handelman & d. c. brotherton (eds.), how they got away with it: white collar criminals and the financial meltdown (pp. 130-147). new york: columbia university press. · staub, e. (1990). the psychology and culture of torture and torturers. in p. suedfeld (ed.), psychology and torture (pp. 49-86). new york: hemisphere. · timo n., fulop, l., & ruthjersen, a. (2004). crisis? what crisis? management practices and internal violence and workplace bullying in aged care in australia. research and practice in human resource management, 12(2), 35-53. · twemlow s. w., fonagy, p., & sacco, f. c. (2004). the role of the bystander in the social architecture of bullying and violence in schools and communities. annals of the new york academy of sciences, 1036, 215–232. · van heugten, k. (2010). bullying of social workers: outcomes of a grounded study into impacts and interventions. british journal of social work, 40(2), 638-655. · van iterson, a., waddington, k., & michelson, g. (2011). breaking the silence: the role of gossip in organizational culture. in n. m. ashkanasy, c. wilderom & m. f. peterson (eds.), the handbook of organizational culture and climate (2nd ed., pp. 375-392). thousand oaks, ca: sage. · webster (1996). webster’s encyclopaedic unabridged dictionary. new york: gramercy. · will, s. (2012). america’s ponzi culture. in s. will, s. handelman & d. c. brotherton (eds.), how they got away with it: white collar criminals and the financial meltdown (pp. 45-67). new york: columbia university press. · will, s., handelman, s., & brotherton, d. c. (2012). how they got away with it: white collar criminals and the financial meltdown. new york: columbia university press. · young, j. (2012). bernie madoff, finance capital and the anomic society. in s. will, s. handelman & d. c. brotherton (eds.), how they got away with it: white collar criminals and the financial meltdown (pp. 68-82). new york: columbia university press. 73casanueva volume 11, no. 2. special issue: “corporate governance and ethics” guest editors: vincent dessain, olivier meier and vicente salas � vincent dessain, olivier meier and vicente salas 2008 corporate governance and ethics: shareholder reality, social responsibility or institutional necessity?, m@n@gement, 11: 2, 65-79. copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). m@n@gement is a double-blind refereed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.management-aims.com © 2006 m@n@gement and the author(s). m@n@gement issn: 1286-4892 editors: alain desreumaux, u. de lille i martin evans, u. of toronto bernard forgues, u. de lille i hugh gunz, u. of toronto martina menguzzato, u. de valència m@n@gement est la revue officielle de lʼaims m@n@gement is the official journal of aims http://www.management-aims.com http://www.management-aims.com http://www.strategie-aims.com m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 65-79 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 65 vincent dessain . olivier meier . vicente salas harvard business schoolhbs european research center email: vdessain@hbs.edu université paris xii institut de recherche en gestion email: omeier@club-internet.fr universidad de zaragoza dpto economía y dirección de empresas email: vsalas@unizar.es corporate governance and ethics: shareholder reality, social responsibility or institutional necessity? this introduction to the special issue on governance and ethics situates the question in existing theoretical frameworks, highlights stakes and implications, and discusses the different ways in which companies are perceived. new approaches give rise to a more fundamental reflection on a new stakeholder type of governance and the development of ethical conduct. ethics has thus become one of the reference values upon which a new pact should be built between the various actors of the organization concerning governance. ethical behaviour in governance is defined as the way in which a companyʼs stakeholders try to manage collective action from the perspective, and in the interest, of the majority, thus avoiding damaging behaviours, and through a better control of the power and responsibilities of the companyʼs managers. in the area of governance, therefore, ethics aims at raising awareness of the othersʼ rights and common needs, by imposing some principles of minimum requirement. from this point of view, ethical governance must be seen as a system of shared and transparent governance which seeks to establish the general frameworks and guidelines for managers of large companies, by enforcing the values of transparency, responsibility and professionalism. for this reason, a stronger link between ethics and governance has to contribute to help the companyʼs stakeholders to behave, in their decisions and actions, in a way which is acceptable, reasonable and in conformity with given values of reference. nevertheless, notwithstanding these positive actions, it should be stressed that a company forms part of the business world, and as such has to create value and generate profits. indeed, other reasons should be highlighted, such as the capacity to generate value for the client and all other stakeholders in an equitable and responsible way, thanks to a better and continuous adaptation of its products and services to new needs and market expectations. contributions to the special issues are also introduced. at the start of the new millennium, a series of corporate scandals on both sides of the atlantic revived public interest in debates on governance and ethics within organisations. the corporate landscape of the united states was rocked by a number of financial scandals as senior executives at enron, andersen and worldcom were found guilty of accounting fraud and corruption. europe, too, witnessed a number of governance malpractices. in 2002, for example, jean-marie messier, the former chairman and ceo of vivendi-universal, was fined €1 million by franceʼs market regulators for inaccurate financial reporting. as a result of these accounting irregularities, messier also received a €1million fine from the us securities and exchange commission and was barred from holding the position of officer or director of a public us mailto:vdessain@hbs.edu mailto:omeier@club-internet.fr mailto:vsalas@unizar.es m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 65-79 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 66 vincent dessain, olivier meier and vicente salas company for 10 years. across the alps in italy, it emerged in 2003 that the food and diary giant parmalat had for years falsified its financial records and concealed holes in excess of €14 billion. the companyʼs former ceo calisto tanzi was subsequently jailed following the discovery by italian procurators of a network of shell companies set up to generate fake profits for parmalat and its subsidiaries. meanwhile, in germany, public prosecutors in 2007 handed peter hartz, a volkswagen board member, a two yearsʼ suspended sentence and a fine of €576,000 for his part in a fraud and corruption scandal involving front companies that the german car manufacturer had used to finance brides to suppliers and members of the companyʼs works council. existing knowledge of and rules on governance were unable to prevent these operational and managerial malpractices, which generated real tensions between economic actors and destroyed value for the many involved parties. several factors can explain these governance deficiencies, including flaws in decision-making processes, inappropriate monitoring and supervision, insufficient training of board members or inadequate auditing of documentation and financial reports. these recent developments have incited a number of actors to react and modify their forms of decision making and conduct, through both the adoption of new laws and regulations (such as the sarbanes oxley act in the usa) and through the improvement of the governance of their organisation (including the clarification of roles and responsibilities, consolidation of monitoring and evaluation processes, accountability of decisions, transparency of results and better training of board members, endorsing codes of good governance practices). this special issue of m@n@gement seeks to enhance existing understandings of governance and ethics, as applied to organisations. its understanding of governance draws inspiration from the oecdʼs definition of corporate governance (kpmg, 2002: 6) as «the system by which business corporations are directed and controlled. the corporate governance structure specifies the distribution of rights and responsibilities among different participants in the corporation (…) and spells out the rules and procedure for making decisions on corporate affairs. by doing this, it provides the structure through which the company objectives are set, and the means of attaining those objectives and monitoring performance». accordingly, guillén and oʼsullivan (2004) define corporate governance as the answers to three specific questions, chiefly: who exercises control over corporate activity? what do they do with their power? who benefits from the way they exercise their power. as such, corporate governance is influenced by a number of different legal, economic, societal, political and historical factors. the quest for good practice is thus complex. against a background of key economic sectors, the articles presented here take a specific interest in issues surrounding not only transparency, equity, sense of responsibilities but also the obligation of organisations to be accountable to stakeholders and ensure the level of profitability that determines the survival and sustainability of the structures. drawing on existing literature and field studies, they seek to m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 65-79 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 67 corporate governance and ethics determine the extent to which governance systems can evaluate and supervise managers, and support their decision making in an uncertain, complex, and sometimes hostile environment. these issues are especially pertinent to academics who, to date, have devoted little attention to the problems of defining and implementing corporate strategies that integrate ethics into firmsʼ internal practices and activities. this is particularly the case in europe where scholars have tended to overlook the link between ethics and management research. the purpose of this special issue, therefore, is to gain a better understanding of the evolution of governance systems in organizations and to appreciate the importance of ethics in decision making and management. today, the issues of corporate governance, ethics, sustainable development and social and corporate responsibility are practically unavoidable. but how can management academics and practitioners think about these notions in a context of globalization and increasing international competition where firms have to compete with their rivals whilst simultaneously taking into account the numerous stakeholders that directly or indirectly influence the development of their activities? responding to this question is one of the principal objectives of this collection of articles, in which researchers from different national, cultural and disciplinary backgrounds bring to bear their own unique analyses and reflections. before presenting each contribution, it appears important to situate the question of governance and ethics in existing theoretical frameworks, highlight the stakes and implications and discuss the different ways in which companies are perceived. developments in corporate-governance theory since the works of berle and means (1932) on the modern corporation and private property, the term ʻcorporate governanceʼ has been used to describe the general system governing the ownership and management of firms. this traditional definition of corporate governance, based on the separation of ownership and control of organizations, has given rise to two dominant models: the shareholder model and the stakeholder model. the shareholder model of corporate governance the different theories on governance were first built around works relating to the separation of functions of management and control (berle and means, 1932) and the contractual analysis of the firm, particularly the theory of transaction costs (coase, 1937) and agency theory (jensen and meckling, 1976). the dominant trajectory of governance literature is therefore essentially contractual. it is primarily focused on resolving conflicts of interest and in particular on minimizing agency costs between shareholders and company managers. m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 65-79 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 68 vincent dessain, olivier meier and vicente salas according to the shareholder model, the role of (formal and informal) governance mechanisms is to reduce conflicts of interests, notably between shareholders and managers. specifically, it involves minimizing the agency costs resulting from asymmetrical information between managers and shareholders and from the existence of opportunistic behaviour and diverging interests. governance is limited to disciplining and supervising managersʼ behaviour, the objective being to align their behaviour to the interests of shareholders. the performance indicator is that of shareholder value. a governance system is therefore considered efficient when it limits the possibility of managers appropriating value and when it prevents managerial behaviour departing from maximization of shareholdersʼ value. in this perspective of monitoring managerial discretion, shareholders are obliged to establish organisational structures and an institutional system of governance capable of securing the earnings performance of financial investments (shleifer and vishny, 1997). as a result, the shareholder model of corporate governance rests on a judicious combination of internal and external mechanisms, aimed at monitoring the behaviour of company managers (charreaux, 2004). the internal mechanisms of the company are intentionally developed by the parties or the legislator. amongst these organisational mechanisms, shareholder voting rights, boards of directors, mutual manager oversight, managersʼ remuneration systems, internal trade-union associations or audits are favoured as alternative modes to disciplinary mechanisms of corporate governance. for their part, external mechanisms stem from market forces. in this context, several markets can be identified: the market for company executives (where the value of executives rises or falls in relation to their performance), the market for acquisitions (including public take-over offers, public offers of exchange, contractual guarantees, legal procedures or judicial regulation) and the market for financial information (like the market for acquisitions, this market reduces agency costs and resolves conflicts of interest from the perspective of maximizing the creation of shareholder value). faced with the difficulty of distinguishing clearly between the internal and external disciplinary mechanisms, it is also possible to draw on two classification criteria initially developed by williamson (1985) in the theory of transaction costs: specificity and intentionality. according to this vision, the specificity of assets (meaning the impossibility of alternatively redeploying an asset without incurring an additional cost) becomes central to the analysis of the coordination tools of the principal-agent relationship. these specific mechanisms are the legal and regulatory environment, national-level trade unions and consumer associations. the criterion of intentionality can be added to that of specificity. this expresses the will to establish, from an institutional perspective, regulations aimed at orientating and therefore monitoring the behaviour of managers. from this viewpoint, corporate culture, networks of informal confidence and reputation amongst employees constitute institutional mechanisms. it should be noted, however, that certain mechanisms can be simultaneously specific and intentional, m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 65-79 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 69 corporate governance and ethics including for example shareholdersʼ voting rights, company-level trade unions, boards of directors or even remuneration systems. although all these mechanisms are useful for shareholder-oriented governance, the fact remains that other tools are more frequently used. indeed, it is possible to identify other management instruments that characterise shareholder governance, such as the different indicators that contribute to shareholder monitoring: free cash flow (jensen, 1986), the creation of stock market value (caby and hirigoyen, 2005), fair value (bignon, biondi and ragot, 2004), the distribution of stock options and the market of corporate control (jensen and ruback, 1983). in summary, the shareholder model of corporate governance proposes an attractive framework for explaining the emergence of efficient organisational forms, the behaviour of owners and managers of listed companies and more generally the way of resolving potential conflicts in situations of cooperation. it legitimises the vision of a company belonging exclusively to its shareholders, without any other consideration. following the considerable growth of stock markets since the 1980s, guillén and oʼsullivan (2004) recognise that a number of significant factors appeared to be moving global corporate governance in the direction of the ʻshareholder valueʼ model long adopted in angloamerican markets. for example, empirical evidence from france (boyer, 1996; maclean, 2001; goyer, 2003; schmidt, 2003; clift, 2004) and germany (vitols, 2001; jürgens, naumann and rupp, 2000; beyer and höpner, 2003; lütz, 2005) suggested that both countries had since the late 1980s undergone deep-seated stock-market reforms which encouraged business leaders increasingly to focus on maximizing shareholder value. however, according to wirtz (2005), a critical analysis of the theoretical presuppositions underpinning the shareholder approach reveals a relatively poor representation of the concept of value, which emphasises the plundering by financial investors and the economy of costs. in addition, the explanatory power of the shareholder model appears weak. indeed, the studies by baghat and black (1999) and larcker, richardson and tuna (2004) call into question the link between the mechanisms of shareholder governance and the financial performance of firms. the sound functioning of the shareholder model of corporate governance is also limited by the rise over recent years of shareholder activism, whereby often rebellious shareholders apply pressure on a companyʼs management, through proxy battles, publicity campaigns or litigation, to pursue a particular strategic course. the role played by tci hedge fund in scuppering the planned takeover by deutsche börse of the london stock exchange in 2004 and 2005 provides a case in point (crane and stachowiak-joulain, 2006). vehemently opposed to the conditions of deutsche börseʼs planned acquisition, the fundʼs creator christopher hohn systematically acquired shares in deutsche börse and requested the replacement of the entire supervisory board. following sustained opposition from tci, the chairman of the board, dr. rolf breuer, and the chief executive officer, dr. werner seifert, finally stepped down from their positions. finally, the shareholder model is criticised for not taking into consideration the relationm@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 65-79 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 70 vincent dessain, olivier meier and vicente salas ships between all company stakeholders, which restricts its ability to claim to be the dominant approach to understanding the governance of companies. it is precisely on the second critical point that attempts to extend the positive theory of agency are concentrated. the positive theory of agency aims to make up for insufficiencies by exploring the stakeholder model of governance. the stakeholder model of corporate governance in the stakeholder model of corporate governance, the company is a social construction, a container of expectations, objectives and interests of multiple stakeholders. stakeholders include not only managers and shareholders of a firm, but also its employees, customers, suppliers and any other individual or group that could influence or, if a broad definition of stakeholder is adopted, be influenced by the decisions of the company (freeman and reed, 1983). according to this perception of corporate governance, aligning decisions solely to the interests of shareholders is counterproductive since it does not guarantee the sustainable development of the organization, which can only result from the convergence of all stakeholdersʼ interests (donaldson and preston, 1995). the stakeholder conception of corporate governance has many concrete effects. it encourages us to reconsider the composition of monitoring and management bodies and questions the representation of stakeholders (jones and wicks, 1999) and the formal and informal mechanisms for taking their expectations into consideration. in addition, the stakeholder model of governance questions the issue of arbitrage between opposed interests and, as a consequence, also calls into question the legitimacies with the company and the forms of conflict resolution (clarkson, 1995). in the stakeholder model of corporate governance, the stakeholders represent families of economic agents who have legitimate rights and obligations in the company. for instance, while shareholders run the risk of losing financial capital invested, other stakeholders are equally likely to suffer more or less significant losses: for example, employees risk losing their jobs, or subcontractors risk losing earnings or liquid funds in the case of unrecoverable debt (pérez, 2003). further, stakeholders provide critical resources and expect in return that their interests are satisfied. for example, shareholders provide equity capital: they expect that the company maximizes their return of investment in order to reward them for their determining behaviour. for their part, managers and employees invest time, competences and more broadly human capital. in return, they expect to be offered comfortable salaries and working conditions. overall, stakeholder-orientated perceptions of corporate governance recognise the multiple objectives of the company, much more than solely the maximization of shareholder wealth. in a relational model of the organization, the connection between shareholders and managers is nothing more than an existing contract between productive entities. the company is considered to be a specific set of contracts applicable to customers, suppliers, employees, unions, investors and so on. in m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 65-79 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 71 corporate governance and ethics this regard, changes turn out to be particularly significant concerning consumers that would like to consume products manufactured under conditions corresponding to principles of sustainable development, or for investors that would like to invest in companies that position themselves on this objective. on the basis of this, the desire for an equilibrium between the interests of the various stakeholders of the company and the investors manifests itself in a way that the value is appreciated more broadly across a multi-stakeholder vision of the company and its governance. this new conception is supposed to result in a better distribution of the income freed up for the benefit of all the participants if shareholders are not the true ʻresidual claimantsʼ (garvey and swan, 1994). it is in this perspective that blair (1995) clearly shows the will to proceed to a realignment of property rights in favour of employees in recognition of the specific knowledge and competences that they invest in their companies. as such, gaps in the unilateral conception of the agency relation favour the emergence of integrated conceptual frameworks, such as the stakeholder-agency theory (hill and jones, 1992) or the vision of the company as a multi-contract organisation developed by laffont and martimort (1997). this work remains within the framework of the positive agency theory but shifts the emphasis from a simple model, comprising one principal (the shareholder) and one agent (the manager), to a more sophisticated model incorporating several principals (stakeholders) and an agent (the manager). according to this perspective, new monitoring and incentive mechanisms should be implemented to protect the interests of all partners and to optimize shareholder value (charreaux and desbrières, 1998). these governance mechanisms are inspired by the perception of the company as a coalition with a common objective, chiefly the viability and the continued existence of the company. they involve shifting from a system of governance based on agency to one based on stakeholders to achieve an equilibrium between financial investors and industrial actors (hirigoyen, 1997). however, this approach has its limitations insomuch as it cannot satisfy the conflicting interests of all the participants and is incapable of identifying those that really count. thus, these company models, together with the set of implicit and explicit multilateral contracts, emerge from the contradiction between the positive agency theory and the existence of transaction costs. they propose a representation of the governance system resting on a dynamic game between managers and other stakeholders in order to create and share income. since then, several control mechanisms have been advocated. the notion of contractual costs substitute the notion of agency costs, taking into consideration the total amount of utility reductions supported by stakeholders to make disciplinary mechanisms work. likewise, the concept of institutional structure replaces williamsonʼs term governance structure by simultaneously exercising the traditional disciplinary function and guaranteeing the execution of implicit contracts between the various stakeholders. other proposals, each differing slightly from the dominating conception, have also emerged. for example, cornell and shapiro (1987) prom@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 65-79 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 72 vincent dessain, olivier meier and vicente salas pose the concept of organisational capital developed by implicit contracts formed with different stakeholders, which allows them to extend considerably the traditional approach of the financing structure. in addition, barton and gordon (1988) espouse a more enriched conception of the financing structure by integrating a strategic perspective. for their part, charreaux and desbrières (1998), by placing themselves within the framework of the contractual approaches to the company and broadening the thus far dominant concept of shareholder value to multiple stakeholders, studied and evaluated the governance system by virtue of its capacity to produce stakeholder value. they claim that the latter is created by reducing the loss of value which arises from conflicts based on the redistribution of the income between stakeholders. hoarau and teller (2001) drew inspiration from the revival of the theory of the firm which corresponds to the resourcebased approach to propose a substantial value going beyond simple financial value. finally, the practical implications of this stakeholder conception of the firm and governance are increasingly being recognised. certain companies have decided to go beyond legal rules, to engage by the intermediary of code of good practice, to take all stakeholders into account. for example, ikea feels that corporate social responsibility is part of its daily business (bartlett, dessain and sjöman, 2006). in the words of marianne barner (2007: 59), the companyʼs director of corporate communications, ikea has « a list of key performance indicators to measure its progress on csr issues, such as the environment ». furthermore, anders dahlvig, ikeaʼs ceo, decided in 2005 that the company should take more responsibility for its suppliers, co-workers and the environment through a dedicated code of conduct known as the ikea way of purchasing home furniture products, redefining ikeaʼs relationship with its suppliers worldwide. by means of these codes, the firm attempts to reconcile the imperative of competitiveness with a conduct concerned with the interests of all stakeholders that contribute to a companyʼs activities. additionally, numerous ʻethical fundsʼ have been created over recent years which favour investments in companies that show consideration for specific criteria, such as respect for the environment. for example, the ukbased investment management fund generation investment management has built a global research platform to integrate sustainability research into fundamental equity analysis and focuses on economic, environmental, social, and governance risks and opportunities that materially affect a companyʼs ability to sustain profitability and deliver returns. nobel peace prize winner al gore is the chairman of the advisory board and helps set the long-term thematic research agenda into global sustainability issues, including climate change, poverty and development, ecosystem services and biodiversity, water scarcity, pandemics, demographics and migration, and urbanization (generation investment management, www.generationim.com, accessed january 2008). in conclusion, the relation between the various stakeholders of a firm raises questions about the process of value creation. as long as stakem@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 65-79 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 73 corporate governance and ethics holders have specific expectations regarding the firms in which they evolve and require specific information on the conditions of those firms, each stakeholder participates in the creation of value. questions are also being raised regarding the measurement of each stakeholderʼs contribution and the incentive methods coordinated by the firm to encourage stakeholders to adopt efficient and responsible conduct, with a common objective of maximizing value for all partners. these new approaches give rise to a more fundamental reflection on a new stakeholder type of governance and the development of ethical conduct. ethics has thus become one of the reference values upon which a new pact should be built between the various actors of the organization concerning company governance. ethics: a fundamental concept for new economic governance in the field of corporate governance, awareness of ethical issues ensures that managers avoid abusing their power or undertaking improper actions that could result in questionable behaviours and practices within organisations (mercier, 2004). from this point of view, sharing power amongst the different actors that make up a companyʼs structure and environment becomes a crucial issue in corporate governance. in this way, the relationship between ethics and corporate governance humanizes the exercise of power and renders it more transparent and credible not only to the shareholders, but also to stakeholders in general (employees, clients, suppliers, trade unions, ngos, public opinion). as miller, dessain and sjöman (2006) argue, an ever increasing number of retail and institutional investors are looking to incorporate social and environmental criteria into their investment decisions. simply making money is not enough for these social or ethical investors—they want to do good whilst doing well. for the purposes of this special issue, ethical behaviour in governance is defined as the way in which a companyʼs stakeholders try to manage collective action from the perspective and in the interest of the majority, thus avoiding damaging behaviour (such as fraud, personal enrichment, insider trading, corruption, deviances, dubious behaviour) and through a better control of the power and responsibilities of the companyʼs managers. in the area of governance, therefore, ethics aims at raising awareness of the othersʼ rights and common needs, by imposing some principles of minimum requirement. from this point of view, ethical governance must be seen as a system of shared and transparent governance which seeks to establish the general frameworks and guidelines for managers of large companies, by enforcing the values of transparency, responsibility and professionalism. for this reason, a stronger link between ethics and governance has to contribute to help the companyʼs stakeholders to behave, in their decisions and actions, in a way which is acceptable, reasonable and in conformity with given values of reference. defining these values should determine what is good in terms of respecting and bettering the m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 65-79 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 74 vincent dessain, olivier meier and vicente salas conditions of the different stakeholders who work with the company, or the institution. it is then necessary to translate these values into moral rules, laws, regulations, rules of behaviour or company charters. this notably involves knowing how to exercise oneʼs responsibilities, knowing what the essential values are, knowing which ones should be protected and defended and knowing which rights and responsibilities should be shared; it also involves knowing, when needed, what the best practices are and knowing which sanctions to have in place in the event of non compliance. such questions should open the way to power sharing, that is, to a way of working together in which stakeholders feel responsible not only for their work, but also for the sound functioning of the organisation. in this way, they can estimate and monitor whether the objectives and the important stakes of the organization are pursued. nevertheless, this ethical orientation is not spontaneous and requires different stakeholders to transform profoundly not only their mindsets but also their behaviour and actions. in this regard, enriquez (1993) identifies four main ethical challenges. the first is the ethics of conviction (lʼéthique de la conviction), which entails the courage of affirming and defending oneʼs own opinions and principles. secondly, he defines the ethics of responsibility (lʼéthique de la responsabilité), which emphasises autonomy and free will and asks individuals to reflect on the context and consequences of their decisions or actions. for this reason, this kind of ethics brings about tensions between organisational and personal responsibilities. thirdly, enriquez identifies the ethics of discussion (lʼéthique de la discussion), based on sharing information and on defining interests around the issue of reciprocity. last but not least, the author calls to mind the ethics of purposefulness (lʼéthique de la finitude), focused on the goals of an action, for which ethical decisions take into consideration widely shared missions and values. specific to this last form of ethics is its attempt to integrate the three others and thus change their principles to make them more compatible. however, for these orientations to materialise, we should reflect on and transform into operational guidelines the formalisation of an ethical approach to corporate governance based on organisational values, and which matches professionalism with citizenship and principles of action (guidelines of behaviour) with rules of conduct (application of values and principles).this ethical formalisation appears to respond to a dual need: it allows the company to react to external pressures and is a tool for establishing internal rules (mercier, 2000). for this reason, different monitoring and controlling systems should be established. these systems should ensure that declared commitments are respected and should aim at establishing relationships of trust as well as constructive transactions between shareholders, managers and other stakeholders (reinforcement of legitimacy). however, the creation of codes of conduct or of ethical charters is just one aspect of the process of ethical institutionalisation within companies. companies would also need other, additional procedures and institutions such as internal ethics committee at the board level, the appointment of personnel in m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 65-79 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 75 corporate governance and ethics charge of ethics, the organisation of periodical ethic audits, the elaboration of corporate social responsibility practices/ sustainable development reports (or evaluations) as well as the establishment of training seminars focused on the ethics. nevertheless, notwithstanding these positive actions, it should be stressed that a company forms part of the business world, and as such has to create value and generate profits. the economic objectives of a company should not be criticized in themselves, insofar as these objectives are what distinguishes a company from a not-for-profit organisation. a company should thus carefully select the social and environmental issues it wants to address and select those more likely to bring about benefits to both society and itself (porter and kramer, 2006). indeed, it would be improper to think that a company has to commit itself to sustainable development only to comply with the law or because it is under pressure. other reasons should be highlighted, such as the capacity to generate value for the client and all other stakeholders in an equitable and responsible way, thanks to a better and continuous adaptation of its products and services to new needs and market expectations. in the areas of sustainable development and social responsibility, ethical needs have also to support the growth of companiesʼ capacity to innovate through an anticipation of foreseeable situations and a more rigorous and global management of the risks, especially environmental and social ones. respecting ethical principles is also at the core of companiesʼ efforts to preserve their reputations and valuations, especially with respect to their image vis-à-vis public opinion and their clients. individual contributions this special issue of m@n@gement contributes to and enriches the analysis and current thinking on this trend towards a stakeholder model of corporate governance that is open to all stakeholders. alongside highlighting what progress has been made in the field, identifying what is at stake and discussing the means of actions, the articles also point to possible difficulties of application and implementation. the issue opens with an article by josé miguel rodríguez fernández that contains a comprehensive approach to corporate social responsibility, within the general framework of a stakeholder model of the firm. the approach draws from standard economic analysis of the firm complemented with ethic and socio-political considerations. the author postulates that, on the basis of implicit and relational contracts, the new property rights theory, cognitive approaches to management and the firm as a sub-economy, it is possible to draw up a coherent model of the pluralist or stakeholder corporation. one advantage of the approach is that corporate social responsibility can be investigated jointly with corporate governance and with the overall question on how to asses the performance of firms. the paper also contains some principles that can guide the implementation of the global approach to corporate governance: a/effective participation in the corporate managem@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 65-79 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 76 vincent dessain, olivier meier and vicente salas ment on the part of the main stakeholders, choosing among a wide portfolio of possible governance mechanisms; b/creation of total net wealth in the long term, sustainable in the time and assessed from different stakeholdersʼ perspectives, which implies to calculate the creation of economic rents or quasi-rents; c/fair bargaining, equitable distribution and internalisation of externalitie; and d/accountability with disclosure and independent external monitoring. the second article, written by sandra charreire petit and joëlle surply, covers an interesting interpretation of the american practice of whistleblowing (a mechanism of internal control where an employee exposes fraudulent behaviour inside a company) adapted to the specific french context. the research attempts to answer the question of what happens when whistleblowing is used in french companies listed in the united states or in france-based subsidiaries of american companies. the article explores the various mechanisms and challenges of whistleblowing and discusses the development of three particular issues: the first point concerns the scope of whistleblowing; the second discusses the place of whistleblowing alongside other internal control tools within organizations; and finally, the third point concerns the employee at the heart of this control mechanism who simultaneously possesses the power to monitor and report instances of misconduct. in their article, nicola postel and sandrine rousseau address the topic of social and environmental responsibility from an ethical perspective by stressing the increasing power that customers and other stakeholders have over companies. the article advances an operational definition of ethics based on the concept of communicational rationality in an institutionalist-pragmatic perspective (conventionalist approach). from this vantage point, it identifies and assesses various contemporary approaches that attempt to associate ethics and efficiency within capitalism. its focus is trained specifically on paternalism, fordism and corporate social responsibility. in this conceptual and historical light, the article proposes an interpretation of corporate social responsibility as a conventional form that is currently in a process of institutionalisation. the success of this process depends primarily on consumer behaviour. this relation is the indispensable condition for the existence of an authentic ethical dimension within any corporate social responsibility approach. the article by miguel blanco and santiago guttierez uses a case study to illustrate the relationship a widely used managerial model such as total quality management (tqm) and ethical and socially responsible behaviour by business firms. the author argues that tqm implicitly assumes a stakeholders view of the firm where the combined interests of customers clients, employees, suppliers, society as a whole and shareholders, are satisfied in an efficient way. the paper illustrates the ethical and social components of tqm with a case study of mercadona, a spanish firm in the retail industry that has made compatible an extraordinary improvement in economic and financial performance over time, with high levels of ethical behaviour that have been widely recognized in spain and internationally. m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 65-79 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 77 corporate governance and ethics the article by riadh manita focuses on the quality of external auditing and corporate governance: how should the auditing process be measured in terms of quality standards? how should members of a board of directors critically evaluate external audits and not accept them at face value? the main objective of this contribution is to establish an analysis table to measure the quality of the auditing process for the benefit of audit committees or any other corporate governance bodies concerned with the quality of an audit. the analysis table was established and tested using data gathered in tunisia, as part of an experimental project based on the churchill approach (1979) and adapted to the research context. in the closing article, mar alonso and eduardo bueno build upon the conflicts of interest between shareholders and directors in the recent years, due to the proliferation of cases of abuses and opportunistic behaviour by managers around the world, to justify the relevance of trust for effective corporate governance. the paper acknowledges that the lack of trust increases financial costs of capital and lowers the value of the assets of firms, so to restore the trustworthiness of corporations is an urgent task in order to improve economic efficiency, which has called the attention of public authorities and regulators. according to the authors of the paper, information and communication technologies, especially internet, offer new opportunities to public corporations to build and operate effective communication channels with investors and small shareholders, improving the corporate governance mechanisms and restoring trust. the article goes on in analysing internet as a useful way to build up trust in the relationship between firms and shareholders. note. the authors would like to thank andrew barron, daniela beyersdorfer, ane damgaard jensen, elena corsi and gudrun urfalino kristinsdottir for their contribution to this introduction. vincent dessain is the executive director of harvard business schoolʼs europe research center in paris. prior to his current position, he was senior director of corporate relationships at insead in fontainebleau and has also been advisor to the president at the collège dʼeurope in bruges, belgium. he is co-author of two books in finance, a book chapter on intercultural management as well as of 52 case studies and research notes (see www.hbsp.harvard.edu or http://www.hbs.edu/global/research/ europe/center/). he is a frequent guest speaker invited by academia, business and governments to speak on topics in management and education. he holds a degree in law from leuven university (belgium) and is a 1987 mba graduate of harvard business school. olivier meier is associate professor at the university of paris 12. he is member of the institut de recherche en gestion. he is the author of several books and articles on strategic management. m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 65-79 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 78 vincent dessain, olivier meier and vicente salas vicente salas fumás (ph.d. in management, purdue university) is a professor of business economics at the university of zaragoza (spain). previously he has been a professor at the universidad autonoma de barcelona and visiting scholar at the graduate school of business of stanford university. his research interests are in the economics of organizations and in empirical studies of firms and markets. currently he is a member of the executive committee of the bank of spain. in 1992 he was awarded the jaime i price for his academic contributions to economics of the firm. references � bhagat, s., and b. s. black 1999 the uncertain relationship between board composition and firm performance, business lawyer, 54: 3, 921-963. � barner, m. 2007 be a socially responsible corporation, harvard business review, 85: 7, 59-60. � bartlett, c. a., v. dessain, and a. sjöman 2006 ikeaʼs global sourcing challenge: indian rugs and child labour, case 9-906-414, boston: harvard business school publishing. � barton, s. l., and p. j. gordon 1988 corporate strategy and capital structure, strategic management journal, 9: 6, 623-632. � berle, a. a., and g. c. means 1932 the modern corporation and private property, new york, macmillan. � beyer, j., and m. höpner 2003 the disintegration of organised capitalism: german corporate governance in the 1990s, west european politics, 26: 4, 179-198. � bignon, v., y. biondi, and x. ragot 2004 une analyse économique de la “juste valeur” : lʼévolution des principes comptables dans la réglementation européenne, prisme, 4, 1-24. � blair, m. m. 1995 ownership and control: rethinking corporate governance for the twentyfirst century, washington, d.c.: brookings institution. � boyer, r. 1996 le capitalisme étatique à la française à la croisée des chemins, in c. crouch and w. streeck (eds.), les capitalismes en europe, paris: la découverte, 97-138. � caby, j., and g. hirigoyen 2005 création de valeur et gouvernance de lʼentreprise, 3e édition, paris: economica. � charreaux, g. (ed.) 1997 le gouvernement des entreprises : corporate governance, théories et faits, paris: economica. � charreaux, g., and p. desbrières 1998 gouvernance des entreprises : valeur partenariale contre valeur actionnariale, finance contrôle stratégie, 1: 2, 57-88. � charreaux, g. 2004 les théories de la gouvernance : de la gouvernance des entreprises à la gouvernance des systèmes nationaux, cahier de recherche, dijon: université de bourgogne, laboratoire dʼeconomie et de gestion. � churchill, g. a., jr. 1979 a paradigm for developing better measures of marketing constructs, journal of marketing research, 16: 1, 64-73. � clarkson, m. b. e. 1995 a stakeholder framework for analyzing and evaluating corporate social performance, academy of management review, 20: 1, 92-117. � clift, b. 2004 debating the restructuring of french capitalism and anglo-saxon institutional investors: trojan horses or sleeping partners?, french politics, 2: 3, 333-346. � coase, r. h. 1937 the nature of the firm, economica, 4: 16, 386-405. � cornell, b., and a. c. shapiro, 1987 corporate stakeholders and corporate finance, financial management, 16: 1, 5-14. � crane, d. b., and m. stachowiak-joulain 2006 deutsche börse and the european markets, case 206082, boston: harvard business school publishing. � donaldson, t., and l. e. preston 1995 the stakeholder theory of the corporation: concepts, evidence and implications, academy of management review, 20: 1, 65-91. � enriquez, e. 1993 les enjeux éthiques dans les organisations modernes, sociologie et sociétés, 25: 1, 25-38. m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 65-79 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 79 corporate governance and ethics � freeman, r. e., and d. l. reed 1983 stockholders and stakeholders: a new perspective on corporate governance, california management review, 25: 3, 88-106. � garvey, g. t., and p. l. swan 1994 the economics of corporate governance: beyond the marshallian firm, journal of corporate finance, 1: 2, 139-174. � goyer, m. 2003 the transformation of corporate governance in france, washington, d.c.: brookings institution. � guillén, m. f., and m. a. oʼsullivan 2004 the changing international corporate governance landscape, in h. gatignon and j. r. kimberly, with r. gunther (eds.), the inseadwharton alliance on globalizing: strategies for building successful global businesses, cambridge, cambridge university press, 23-48. � hill, c. w. l., and t. m. jones 1992 stakeholder-agency theory, journal of management studies, 29: 2, 131-154. � hirigoyen, g. 1997 salariés-actionnaires : le capital sans le pouvoir ?, cahier de recherche, bordeaux: crege-université bordeaux iv. � hoarau, c., and r. teller 2001 création de valeur et management de lʼentreprise, paris: vuibert. � jensen, m. c. 1986 agency costs of free cash flow, corporate finance, and takeovers, american economic review, 76: 2, 323-329. � jensen, m. c., and w. h. meckling 1976 theory of the firm: managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure, journal of financial economics, 3: 4, 305-360. � jensen, m. c., and r. s. ruback 1983 the market of corporate control: the scientific evidence, journal of financial economics, 11: 1-4, 5-50. � jones, t. m., and a. c. wicks 1999 convergent stakeholder theory, academy of management review, 24: 2, 206-221. � jürgens, u., k. naumann, and j. rupp 2000 shareholder value in an adverse environment: the german case, economy and society, 29: 1, 54-79. � kpmg 2002 corporate governance in europe: kpmg survey 2001/02, london: kmpg international. � laffont, j.-j., and d. martimort 1997 the firm as a multicontract organization, journal of economics and management strategy, 6: 2, 201-234. � larcker, d. f., s. a. richardson, and a. i. tuna 2004 how important is corporate governance?, accessed sept. 2008 at http://ssrn.com/abstract=595821. � lütz, s. 2005 the finance sector in transition: a motor for economic reform?, german politics, 14: 2, 140-156. � maclean, m. 2001 corporate governance and business cultures in france, germany and britain: convergence or conflict?, in m. maclean and j.-m. trouille (eds.), france, germany and britain: partners in a changing world, basingstoke: palgrave, 53-69. � mercier, s. 2004 lʼéthique dans les entreprises, nouvelle édition, paris: la découverte. � mercier, s. 2000 la formalisation de lʼéthique : un outil stratégique pertinent pour lʼentreprise, finance contrôle stratégie, 3: 3, 101-123. � miller, g. s., v. dessain, and a. sjöman 2006 when investing and social objectives meet, note 106043, boston: harvard business school publishing. � pérez, r. 2003 la gouvernance de lʼentreprise, paris: la découverte. � porter, m. e., and m. r. kramer 2006 strategy & society: the link between competitive advantage and corporate social responsibility, harvard business review, 84: 12, 78-92. � schmidt, v. a. 2003 french capitalism transformed, yet still a third variety of capitalism, economy and society, 32: 4, 526-554. � shleifer a., and r. w. vishny 1997 a survey of corporate governance, journal of finance, 52: 2, 737-783. � vitols, s. 2001 varieties of corporate governance: comparing germany and the uk, in p. a. hall and d. soskice (eds.), varieties of capitalism: the institutional foundations of comparative advantage, oxford: oxford university press, 337-361. � williamson, o. e. 1985 the economic institutions of capitalism: firms, markets, relational contracting, new york: free press � wirtz 2005 “meilleures pratiques” de gouvernance et création de valeur : une appréciation critique des codes de bonne conduite, comptabilité contrôle audit, 11: 1, 141159. http://ssrn.com/abstract=595821 203 david gotteland, christophe haon, alain jolibertm@n@gement vol. 12 no. 3, 2009, 204-223 m@n@gement copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). m@n@gement is a double-blind refereed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.management-aims.com © 2009 m@n@gement and the author(s). david gotteland 2009 christophe haon alain jolibert l’orientation marché affecte-t-elle la performance des produits nouveaux ? une approche méta-analytique m@n@gement, 12(3), 204-223. accepté par louis hébert m@n@gement est la revue officielle de l’aims m@n@gement is the journal official of aims issn: 1286-4892 editors: emmanuel josserand, hec, université de genève (editor in chief) jean-luc arrègle, edhec (editor) stewart clegg, university of technology, sydney (editor) louis hébert, hec montréal (editor) martin kornberger, university of technology, sydney (editor) philippe monin, em lyon (editor) josé pla-barber, universitat de valència (editor) linda rouleau, hec montréal (editor) michael tushman, harvard business school (editor) martin g. evans, university of toronto (editor emeritus) bernard forgues, emlyon business school (editor emeritus) m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 3, 2009, 204-223 204 l’orientation marché affecte-t-elle la performance des produits nouveaux ? une approche méta-analytique l’orientation marché affecte-t-elle la performance des produits nouveaux? une approche méta-analytique david gotteland christophe haon alain jolibert grenoble école de management institut du capital client david.gotteland@grenoble-em.com grenoble école de management institut du capital client christophe.haon@grenoble-em.com iae de grenoble cerag umr 5820 cnrs alain.jolibert@iae-grenoble.fr en raison de l’importance stratégique des produits nouveaux et de l’ampleur des taux d’échec de leurs lancements, la relation entre l’orientation marché de l’entreprise et la performance des produits nouveaux a été largement étudiée. toutes les études ne concluent pas à l’existence d’un lien et le caractère généralisable des résultats obtenus pose question. la présente méta-analyse (1) confirme un effet bénéfique de l’orientation marché sur la performance des nouveaux produits, (2) met en évidence les contingences méthodologiques de cet effet, (3) induit un ensemble de recommandations managériales relatives à la mise en œuvre de l’orientation marché. mots-clés : orientation marché, performance des produits nouveaux, métaanalyse. does market orientation afeect new product performance? a meta-analytic approach. due to the strategic importance and the high failure rates of new product introduction, the link between market orientation and new product performance has been largely investigated. all studies do not lead to a conclusive link and it seems difficult to generalize observed results. this meta-analysis (1) clearly establishes the positive and significant effect of market orientation on new product performance, (2) presents some methodological moderators of this relationship, (3) induces a set of managerial recommendations relative to market orientation implementation. keywords: market orientation, new product performance, meta-analysis. 205 david gotteland, christophe haon, alain jolibertm@n@gement vol. 12 no. 3, 2009, 204-223 les recherches consacrées à l’orientation marché se sont multipliées depuis les travaux fondateurs de kohli et jaworski (1990) et de narver et slater (1990). considérée comme une orientation stratégique destinée à « créer les comportements nécessaires à une performance supérieure et continue » (narver & slater, 1990 : 21), la question de ses liens avec la performance organisationnelle a été posée dès 1990. les recherches du domaine se sont largement structurées autour de ce premier thème. son approfondissement a conduit à la publication successive de trois méta-analyses, qui marquent à notre sens une avancée décisive dans la connaissance de la relation « orientation marchéperformance organisationnelle » (ellis, 2006 ; kirca, jayachandran & bearden, 2005 ; rodriguez cano, carrillat & jaramillo, 2004). le lien entre orientation marché et performance des nouveaux produits est quant à lui abordé depuis slater et narver (1994). cela est sans doute lié à l’importance stratégique des nouveaux produits : il est estimé qu’ils participent à hauteur de 32 % au chiffre d’affaires et de 31 % au profit des entreprises qui les lancent (griffin, 1997). cela est sans doute également en lien avec l’ampleur des taux d’échec des lancements, évalués à 90 % en europe pour des produits de grande consommation (andreani, 2001). toutes les recherches du domaine font l’hypothèse d’un effet bénéfique de l’orientation marché sur la performance des nouveaux produits. pourtant, henard et szymanski (2001), proposant une méta-analyse des déterminants de la performance des nouveaux produits, n’observent pas d’effet significatif de l’orientation marché sur la performance des nouveaux produits. ce résultat est doublement surprenant. d’une part, il est contraire aux conclusions des méta-analyses de rodriguez cano, carrillat et jaramillo (2004), de kirca, jayachandran et bearden (2005) et d’ellis (2006), qui mettent conjointement en évidence une relation positive et significative entre l’orientation marché et la performance organisationnelle, ce qui laisse supposer un effet bénéfique sur la performance d’un nouveau produit. d’autre part, il invalide l’hypothèse courante du domaine qui suppose une relation positive et significative, comme le mentionnent henard et szymanski (2001) eux-mêmes, entre l’orientation marché et la performance d’un nouveau produit (gotteland et boulé, 2006). la question reste par conséquent en suspens : l’orientation marché a-t-elle ou n’a-t-elle pas d’effet sur la performance d’un nouveau produit ? face à l’importance stratégique des nouveaux produits et à l’ampleur de leurs taux d’échec, peut-on considérer l’orientation marché comme un levier de performance ? dans ce contexte, l’objet de cet article est de proposer une nouvelle méta-analyse de la relation « orientation marché-performance d’un nouveau produit ». notre objectif est double. en premier lieu, à partir d’une base de données plus complète que celle d’henard et szymanski (2001) – nous avons pu recenser 22 articles là où ils n’en recueillaient que 13 –, et tout en retenant une méthode de traitement identique, nous cherchons à tester à nouveau l’hypothèse d’un effet positif de l’orientation marché sur la performance d’un nouveau produit. en second lieu, nous cherchons à identifier certaines contingences théoriques et méthodologiques pouvant affecter l’intensité de la relation entre m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 3, 2009, 204-223 206 l’orientation marché affecte-t-elle la performance des produits nouveaux ? une approche méta-analytique orientation marché et performance d’un produit nouveau. nous présentons dans un premier temps le cadre conceptuel et les hypothèses de recherche. dans un second temps, nous détaillons la méthodologie et les résultats obtenus. nous établissons un résultat contraire aux conclusions de henard et szymanski (2001). en conclusion, cela induit un ensemble de contributions théoriques à la compréhension du concept d’orientation marché et de ses effets sur la performance du nouveau produit, ainsi qu’un ensemble de recommandations managériales permettant une meilleure mise en oeuvre de l’orientation marché dans l’entreprise. cadre conceptuel et hypotheses de recherche orientation marché et performance des produits nouveaux les articles de kohli et jaworski (1990) et de narver et slater (1990) apparaissent comme les travaux structurants du champ, en proposant les deux approches aujourd’hui coexistantes du concept d’orientation marché. les premiers définissent le concept comme « la production par l’organisation d’informations sur les besoins actuels et futurs des consommateurs, la diffusion de ces informations dans les différents départements de l’organisation, et la réaction de l’organisation à ces informations » (p. 6). les seconds le définissent comme « la culture organisationnelle qui induit […] les comportements nécessaires à l’offre d’une valeur supérieure aux clients » (p. 21). ces comportements sont ceux de « compréhension et de satisfaction des besoins des clients » (p. 21), « d’identification, d’analyse et de réponse aux actions des concurrents» (p. 21), et « d’acquisition et d’intégration dans les offres de l’entreprise d’un savoir-faire technologique conséquent » (gatignon & xuereb, 1997 : 78). sont ainsi définies trois composantes comportementales de l’orientation marché : l’orientation vers les clients, vers les concurrents et vers la technologie. si les effets positifs de l’orientation marché sur la performance organisationnelle sont avérés, qu’en est-il de ses effets sur la performance des produits nouveaux ? l’orientation marché conduit-elle à davantage de performance des produits nouveaux ? la méta-analyse proposée par henard et szymanski (2001) infirme cette relation. ce résultat est surprenant. il est contraire à l’hypothèse usuelle du domaine d’une relation positive et significative entre le degré d’orientation marché d’une organisation et la performance des nouveaux produits qu’elle met en marché, quel que soit le type de performance considéré, commerciale, financière, technique, projet ou globale. en effet, l’adéquation d’un nouveau produit aux attentes et aux caractéristiques des consommateurs est une variable déterminante de sa performance (voir par exemple la méta-analyse de montoya-weiss et calantone, 1994). cette adéquation n’est possible que si l’entreprise cherche à comprendre ses consommateurs et à les satisfaire, autrement dit que si elle est orientée vers les consommateurs. par ailleurs, le développement d’un nouveau produit bénéficiant d’un avantage par rapport aux produits 207 david gotteland, christophe haon, alain jolibertm@n@gement vol. 12 no. 3, 2009, 204-223 concurrents est un autre facteur déterminant de sa performance (montoya-weiss & calantone, 1994). les consommateurs forment en effet généralement des perceptions favorables des produits nouveaux ayant des caractéristiques supérieures (carpenter & nakamoto, 1989). le développement d’un produit bénéficiant d’un tel avantage n’est permis que parce qu’une équipe de développement a su intégrer dans son offre des technologies nouvelles (i.e. : a été orientée vers la technologie), dans une optique de différenciation par rapport aux offres concurrentes (i.e.: a été orientée vers ses concurrents). l’orientation consommateurs, technologie et concurrents constituant trois dimensions de l’orientation marché, nous supposons en conséquence, que : h1 : plus une organisation est orientée vers son marché, plus les produits nouveaux qu’elle lance sur ce marché sont performants. si les recherches existantes supposent conjointement un effet bénéfique de l’orientation marché, les résultats obtenus sont hétérogènes (gotteland & boulé, 2006 : 180-181). les raisons en sont doubles. elles sont en premier lieu théoriques et ne peuvent être totalement évaluées à ce stade par une méta-analyse. les recherches du domaine ont rapidement été orientées vers la mise en évidence des effets de médiation et de modération de la relation « orientation marché-performance d’un nouveau produit ». ceux-ci sont nombreux (gotteland & boulé, 2006 : 181), et leurs effets sur les mesures d’associations ne peuvent être systématiquement contrôlés. les modèles théoriques spécifiés variant ainsi d’une recherche à l’autre, les paramètres estimés diffèrent en conséquence. en second lieu, l’hétérogénéité des résultats peut être liée à des différences méthodologiques. nous proposons ici d’en contrôler les effets. nous étudions quatre catégories de modérateurs caractéristiques de la méthodologie de recherche employée. en premier lieu, nous posons la question de la mesure de la performance d’un nouveau produit (h2). en deuxième lieu, le même type de considération est porté à la mesure de l’orientation marché (h3). en troisième lieu, l’effet du type de secteur est estimé (h4). enfin, nous étudions deux propositions relatives au type de répondant (p1) et à la zone géographique (p2), et contrôlons les effets éventuels de la taille de l’échantillon et de la date de publication sur l’intensité de la relation entre orientation marché et performance des nouveaux produits. impact du choix de la mesure de performance d’un nouveau produit les recherches consacrées aux effets de l’orientation marché sur la performance des nouveaux produits mesurent la performance de manière variable. la mesure peut ainsi être financière (langerak, hultink & robben, 2004), commerciale (wren, souder & berkowitz, 2000), technique, caractéristique du projet (atuahene-gima, 1995) ou globale (oczkowski & farrell, 1998). elle peut être objective ou subjective. l’effet de l’orientation marché dépend-il du type de performance considéré et de sa mesure ? quatre hypothèses sont formulées. en premier lieu, interroger un même répondant pour évaluer conjointement le degré d’orientation marché et la performance d’un nouveau m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 3, 2009, 204-223 208 l’orientation marché affecte-t-elle la performance des produits nouveaux ? une approche méta-analytique produit devrait renforcer le lien entre ces deux variables lorsque la performance est mesurée de manière subjective (doty & glick, 1998). il en résulterait, dans le cas présent, une liaison entre l’orientation marché et la performance d’un nouveau produit plus forte lorsqu’une mesure subjective est employée, en raison par exemple d’un biais de rationalisation (kline, sulsky & rever-moriyama, 2000). en conformité avec kirca, jayachandran et bearden (2005), nous supposons par conséquent que : h2a : la relation entre orientation marché et performance d’un nouveau produit est positive et plus forte lorsque la performance est mesurée de manière subjective plutôt que de manière objective. en deuxième lieu, l’orientation marché favorise la congruence des actions de l’entreprise avec l’état de son marché. plus précisément, l’orientation marché se décompose en trois composantes comportementales : l’orientation vers les consommateurs, vers les concurrents et vers la technologie (gatignon & xuereb, 1997). une entreprise orientée vers ses consommateurs devrait, par définition, développer des produits conformes à leurs attentes. une entreprise orientée vers ses concurrents et vers les technologies disponibles devrait proposer une valeur supérieure aux offres existantes. cela induit un surcroît de performance commerciale. conformément à kirca, jayachandran et bearden (2005), nous présumons par conséquent que les effets bénéfiques de l’orientation marché sont avant tout commerciaux. autrement dit, nous supposons que les managers ne peuvent espérer un surcroît de performance financière, technique et projet que dans un second temps. ce qui est formalisé par l’hypothèse suivante : h2b : la relation entre orientation marché et performance d’un nouveau produit est positive et plus forte pour une mesure de performance commerciale, plutôt que financière, technique, caractéristique du projet et globale. en troisième lieu, les mesures multi-items reflétant mieux les différentes facettes des concepts étudiées (churchill, 1979 ; henard & szymanski, 2001), leur utilisation devrait renforcer le lien entre le degré d’orientation marché d’une organisation et la performance des nouveaux produits qu’elle met en marché en comparaison de mesures mono-items. conformément à kirca, jayachandran et bearden (2005), nous supposons par conséquent que : h2c : la relation entre orientation marché et performance d’un nouveau produit est positive et plus forte lorsque la performance est mesurée sur une échelle multi-item plutôt que mono-item. enfin, nous avons supposé précédemment (h2c) que la relation entre orientation marché et performance d’un nouveau produit est positive et plus forte lorsque la performance est mesurée sur une échelle multiitem plutôt que mono-item. en cohérence, et de façon plus générale, nous supposons que : h2d : la relation entre orientation marché et performance d’un nouveau produit est positive et plus forte lorsque la mesure de performance est multidimensionnelle plutôt qu’unidimensionnelle. 209 david gotteland, christophe haon, alain jolibertm@n@gement vol. 12 no. 3, 2009, 204-223 impact du choix de la mesure d’orientation marché la mesure de l’orientation marché est également variable à divers égards. d’une part, les échelles existantes sont fondées sur des approches hétérogènes du concept (culturelle vs. comportementale). certaines recherches recourent ainsi à une mesure culturelle, dans la plupart des cas à l’échelle marketor (narver & slater, 1990), d’autres à une mesure comportementale, principalement l’échelle markor (kohli, jaworski & kumar, 1993). des instruments de mesure originaux sont par ailleurs proposés (atuahene-gima, 1995). l’effet de l’orientation marché sur la performance varie-t-il en fonction des conditions de mesure ? trois hypothèses sont formulées. en premier lieu, les caractéristiques culturelles d’une organisation orientée marché sont antécédentes à ses comportements (homburg & pflesser, 2000). les effets de ces caractéristiques culturelles sur la performance d’un nouveau produit sont donc médiatisés par les comportements caractéristiques d’une organisation orientée marché. en conséquence, et en cohérence avec ellis (2006), nous supposons que : h3a : la relation entre orientation marché et performance d’un nouveau produit est positive et plus forte lorsque l’orientation marché est mesurée de manière comportementale plutôt que culturelle. en second lieu, une mesure multidimensionnelle du concept d’orientation marché, en distinguant clairement les principales facettes du concept et en incluant les différents types de facteurs susceptibles d’affecter la performance d’un nouveau produit, c’est-à-dire distinguant clairement les consommateurs, les concurrents et la technologie (gatignon & xuereb, 1997), devrait permettre une meilleure explication de la performance d’un nouveau produit. en conséquence, nous supposons que : h3b : la relation entre orientation marché et performance d’un nouveau produit est positive et plus forte lorsqu’une approche multidimensionnelle du concept d’orientation marché est retenue plutôt qu’une approche unidimensionnelle. modération du type de secteur en complément des hypothèses précédemment formulées, nous souhaitons déterminer s’il existe une différence entre des entreprises de grande consommation (b-to-c) et des entreprises industrielles (b-to-b). autrement dit, l’effet positif de l’orientation marché est-il dépendant du type de secteur dans lequel l’organisation évolue ? les secteurs industriels imposent un plus grand effort d’adaptation de l’offre aux attentes des clients, ce qui se traduit par exemple par une segmentation plus étroite du marché (kirca, jayachandran & bearden, 2005). en conséquence, le degré d’orientation marché de l’entreprise devrait avoir un impact supérieur sur la performance de nouveaux produits dans un contexte industriel : h4 : la relation entre orientation marché et performance d’un nouveau produit est positive et plus forte dans des secteurs industriels que de grande consommation. m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 3, 2009, 204-223 210 l’orientation marché affecte-t-elle la performance des produits nouveaux ? une approche méta-analytique explorations et contrôles complémentaires la relation entre orientation marché et performance d’un nouveau produit peut être affectée par la nature des répondants. au sein d’une même organisation, il a en effet été observé des différences de perception du degré d’orientation marché de l’organisation entre départements, au sein d’un même département, entre niveaux hiérarchiques (van bruggen & smidts, 1995), et entre cadres marketing et cadres non marketing (kohli, jaworski & kumar, 1993). en conséquence, nous émettons la proposition suivante : p1 : la relation entre orientation marché et performance d’un nouveau produit est dépendante de la fonction du répondant (chef de produit, directeur général, directeur d’unité stratégique, responsable marketing, pdg). par ailleurs, le contexte culturel de la recherche est un déterminant important de la force des relations dans une méta-analyse (farley, lehmann & ryan, 1982). les études proposant des comparaisons internationales de la relation orientation marché-performance mettent en évidence des résultats contradictoires. à titre d’exemple, deshpandé, farley et webster (2000) relèvent des effets non significativement différents de l’orientation marché sur la performance entre cinq pays industriels (allemagne, états-unis, france, japon et royaume-uni), tandis que d’autres travaux font état d’un effet significativement différent entre le japon et l’inde (deshpandé & farley, 1999). l’effet de l’orientation marché sur la performance d’un nouveau produit est-il par conséquent différent entre les zones géographiques ? la plupart des recherches supposant un effet significatif des différences culturelles (kirca, jayachandran & bearden, 2005), nous proposons, pour le contexte particulier de la performance d’un nouveau produit : p2 : la relation entre orientation marché et performance d’un nouveau produit est dépendante de la zone géographique (amérique du nord, asie, europe, océanie). enfin, nous contrôlons deux effets supplémentaires. d’une part, les recherches du domaine s’appuient, pour le traitement des données, sur les modèles d’équations structurelles ou sur l’analyse de régression. ces deux méthodes étant sensibles à la taille de l’échantillon, nous cherchons à estimer la sensibilité du lien entre orientation marché et performance d’un nouveau produit à la taille de l’échantillon. d’autre part, même si kirca, jayachandran et bearden (2005) n’observent aucun effet de la date de publication des recherches, nous souhaitons vérifier si un résultat similaire est observé pour les travaux traitant de la performance d’un nouveau produit comme variable dépendante. 211 david gotteland, christophe haon, alain jolibertm@n@gement vol. 12 no. 3, 2009, 204-223 methodologie et resultats constitution de la base de données pour la constitution de la base de données, nous nous sommes conformés aux recommandations de rosenthal (1995). celui-ci stipule que, dans l’idéal, toutes les recherches traitant d’une relation doivent être incluses dans une méta-analyse. nous avons ainsi cherché à être exhaustifs, sans sélectionner d’articles particuliers. nous avons suivi la procédure proposée par kirca, jayachandran et bearden (2005). les études ont été collectées de trois manières. d’une part, en consultant par les mots clés market orientation, customer orientation, consumer orientation et new product performance les bases de données accessibles en ligne (proquest, ebsco). d’autre part, en consultant les notices bibliographiques des articles publiés depuis la recherche fondatrice de slater et narver (1994). enfin, les listes de diffusion elmar de l’ama et afmnet de l’afm nous ont permis de collecter des recherches non publiées. finalement, 22 articles composent l’échantillon, ce qui représente 90 estimations de la relation entre orientation marché et performance des produits nouveaux, et un échantillon cumulé de taille n = 23 754. les études ont été codées par deux chercheurs indépendants. la grille de codage utilisée ainsi que les principales caractéristiques des études sont présentées en annexe. sur les 22 articles retenus, 4 ont fait l’objet de discussions quant au codage. celles-ci ont permis de faire converger les avis. test des hypothèses en préalable à la vérification des hypothèses, un test d’homogénéité (snedecor & cochran, 1980) a été réalisé afin de détecter d’éventuelles différences entre les études liées à des facteurs qui leur seraient spécifiques. une valeur statistiquement significative conduit à rejeter l’hypothèse nulle d’homogénéité et met en évidence que la variabilité de la taille des effets n’est pas due au hasard. le tableau 1 présente les résultats de ce test qui établissent l’intérêt d’une analyse plus approfondie des déterminants de cette variabilité. tableau 1 : tests d’homogénéité variable degrés de liberté χ2 p-value orientation marché / performance mesure de performance subjective / objective mesure de performance commerciale / autres mesure de performance multi-item / mono-item mesure multidimensionnelle / unidimensionnelle approche comportementale / culturelle mesure d’orientation marché multidimensionnelle / unidimensionnelle grande consommation / secteur industriel type de répondant zone géographique 84 64 51 43 29 80 63 79 81 84 460,62 332,08 236,72 188,76 111,88 444,69 304,51 448,42 443,21 460,62 0,000 0,000 0,000 0,000 0,000 0,000 0,000 0,000 0,000 0,000 m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 3, 2009, 204-223 212 l’orientation marché affecte-t-elle la performance des produits nouveaux ? une approche méta-analytique afin de tester l’hypothèse générale d’un effet positif de l’orientation marché sur la performance des nouveaux produits (h1), nous suivons la méthode de traitement mise en œuvre par henard et szymanski (2001), en vue de permettre la comparaison de nos résultats (tableau 2). tableau 2 : relation estimée entre orientation marché et performance des produits nouveaux (h1) corrélation moyenne corrélation moyenne ajustée pour la taille de l’échantillon corrélation moyenne ajustée pour la fiabilité a nombre d’études dans le tiroir 0,252* 0,232* 0,249* 176 a : les ajustements pour la fiabilité sont basés sur la distribution des fiabilités * : p-value statistiquement significative à 0,05 l’hypothèse d’un impact positif de l’orientation marché d’une entreprise sur la performance de ses nouveaux produits (h1) est ainsi supportée. cette hypothèse n’avait pu être vérifiée par la méta-analyse d’henard et szymanski (2001). quelques années de recul supplémentaire ont permis de collecter un plus grand nombre d’estimations de la relation et d’arriver à une conclusion différente et davantage conforme à la théorie. de plus, la conclusion paraît robuste si l’on se fie au nombre élevé d’études « dans le tiroir » (176). les études publiées ont tendance à ne mettre en évidence que les effets statistiquement significatifs, tandis que celles qui observent des résultats non significatifs restent « dans le tiroir ». ce biais de publication peut être appréhendé en calculant le nombre d’études non significatives qu’il devrait y avoir « dans le tiroir » pour remettre en question la significativité du lien. ce nombre est calculé en utilisant la formule de rosenthal (1991). si nous pouvons désormais parler d’un effet globalement positif de l’orientation marché sur la performance des nouveaux produits, il n’en subsiste pas moins une variabilité dans les relations estimées par chaque étude recensée. cela fait l’objet de nos hypothèses de modération et des propositions évoquées plus haut. la démarche de test est la suivante. les mesures d’association sont dans un premier temps transformées en coefficients de corrélation de pearson (r). cependant, étant donné que la distribution de ces coefficients est biaisée, nous évaluons la taille des effets en utilisant ensuite une transformation de fisher (rosenthal, 1991). chaque valeur du coefficient de corrélation de pearson est ainsi transformée en une valeur zr. les valeurs zr sont alors comparées en testant leur différence par rapport à 0. le tableau 3 présente les résultats obtenus de manière détaillée. 213 david gotteland, christophe haon, alain jolibertm@n@gement vol. 12 no. 3, 2009, 204-223 tableau 3 : résultats détaillés hypothèse description zr significativité statistique nombre d’études dans le tiroir h2a h2b h2c h2d h3a h3b h4 p1 p2 performance subjective performance objective performance commerciale autres mesures de performance mesure de performance multi-item mesure de performance mono-item mesure de performance multidimensionnelle mesure de performance unidimensionnelle approche d’orientation marché comportementale approche d’orientation marché culturelle mesure d’orientation marché multidimensionnelle mesure d’orientation marché unidimensionnelle secteur de grande consommation secteur industriel indéterminé chef de produit directeur général directeur d’unité stratégique responsable marketing pdg indéterminé amérique du nord asie europe océanie 0,285* 0,275* 0,321* 0,337* 0,269* 0,347* 0,276* 0,344* 0,284* 0,219* 0,211* 0,517 nd nb 0,286* 0,203* nb 0,396 ns 0,245 ns 0,243* 0,109 ns 0,297* 0,224* 0,390* 0,369* 0,139* * ns * * * nd * 120 nd nd nd nd nd nd nd 5 32 nd nd nd 13 22 nd nd nd nd nd 32 3 nd nd nd * : p-value statistiquement significative à 0,05 nd : non disponible ns : non significatif nb : nombre insuffisant l’hypothèse h2a est supportée : la relation entre orientation marché et performance d’un nouveau produit est d’autant plus forte que cette dernière est mesurée de façon subjective. les hypothèses h2b à h2d ne sont en revanche pas supportées. d’une part, nous n’observons aucune différence entre les mesures de performance commerciale et les autres types de mesure. d’autre part, les effets du nombre d’items et de dimensions sont contraires à ceux attendus. ces résultats, ainsi que leurs conséquences pour les managers et pour la recherche, sont discutés en conclusion. l’hypothèse h3a est supportée : la relation « orientation marché-performance d’un nouveau produit » est plus forte lorsque l’approche comportementale est retenue. l’hypothèse h3b ne peut quant à elle pas être testée du fait d’un nombre insuffisant d’études utilisant une mesure unidimensionnelle de l’orientation marché. enfin, l’hypothèse h4 ne peut être complètement testée, là encore en raison d’un effectif insuffisant d’études réalisées dans des secteurs de grande consommation. la proposition p1 est supportée : la fonction du répondant influe sur l’estimation de la relation entre orientation marché et performance du nouveau produit. la proposition p2 est également vérifiée : les estimations diffèrent selon la région du monde dans laquelle est réalisée la collecte de données. plus précisément, c’est en europe et en asie que l’on observe les relations les plus fortes. quoique toujours positive, cette relation est significativement moins forte en amérique du nord. m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 3, 2009, 204-223 214 l’orientation marché affecte-t-elle la performance des produits nouveaux ? une approche méta-analytique enfin, la relation est plus faible en océanie que dans toutes les autres régions du monde. l’orientation marché accorde une importance cruciale au partage d’information et à la collaboration dans le but d’offrir un surcroît de valeur aux clients. dans cette perspective, on peut comprendre que les cultures à dominante collective (comme par exemple au japon, et par opposition aux cultures individualistes comme aux états-unis) devraient être plus propices à une mise en œuvre efficace de l’orientation marché, et ainsi à un impact plus important de celle-ci sur la performance. néanmoins, il est délicat de généraliser cette interprétation du fait que nous travaillons au niveau régional et que les régions étudiées recèlent d’importantes disparités en leur sein. les différentes méta-analyses déjà citées (ellis, 2006 ; kirca, et al., 2005 ; rodriguez cano, et al., 2004) rapportent d’ailleurs des résultats hétérogènes à ce sujet, ce qui tend à montrer que l’approche régionale est trop générale et plaide en faveur d’une prise en compte de caractéristiques nationales, telles que décrites par hofstede (2001) par exemple. malheureusement, descendre à un tel niveau de détail n’est pas possible du fait d’un trop faible nombre d’études sur le sujet. concernant les contrôles que nous avons effectués, les effets potentiels de la taille de l’échantillon et de la date de publication sont évalués en calculant puis en testant leurs liens avec la relation orientation marché-performance des nouveaux produits. ainsi, la taille de l’échantillon et la relation sont corrélées positivement (r = 0,285 ; p < 0,05). en revanche, aucune tendance à l’inflation au fil du temps des estimations publiées de la relation n’est observée (r = 0,019, non significatif). conclusion contributions notre recherche propose une nouvelle contribution à l’analyse de la relation « orientation marché-performance ». poursuivant les travaux de rodriguez cano, carrillat et jaramillo (2004), kirca, jayachandran et bearden (2005) et ellis (2006), nous présentons une méta-analyse du lien « orientation marché-performance des nouveaux produits ». nos résultats (tableau 4) permettent de proposer plusieurs contributions managériales ainsi que plusieurs contributions académiques. tableau 4 : synthèse des résultats h1 h2a h2b h2c h2d h3a h3b h4 p1 p2 taille date supportée : l’orientation marché affecte positivement et significativement la performance d’un nouveau produit supportée : la relation est significativement plus forte pour des mesures subjectives de performance non supportée : pas de différence entre les mesures de performance commerciale et les autres types de mesure non supportée : pas de différence entre les mesures mono-items et les mesures multi-items non supportée : pas de différence entre les mesures multidimensionnelle et unidimensionnelles de performance supportée : la relation est significativement plus forte pour une approche comportementale de l’orientation marché non testée du fait d’un nombre insuffisant d’estimations non testée du fait d’un nombre insuffisant d’estimations supportée : la fonction du répondant affecte significativement la force de la relation supportée : la zone géographique affecte significativement la force de la relation l’intensité de la relation augmente significativement avec la taille de l’échantillon l’intensité de la relation n’augmente pas significativement avec la date de publication 215 david gotteland, christophe haon, alain jolibertm@n@gement vol. 12 no. 3, 2009, 204-223 contributions managériales deux questions sont centrales pour les managers relativement à l’orientation marché : quel est son effet sur la performance ? comment la mettre en œuvre ? nous proposons une contribution à ces deux questions. effets sur la performance nous établissons clairement que l’orientation marché affecte positivement la performance des nouveaux produits. par ailleurs, l’orientation marché ne favorise pas seulement la performance commerciale. elle affecte également positivement les performances financière, technique et projet, qui représentent l’ensemble des dimensions de la performance d’un nouveau produit (griffin & page, 1996). l’orientation marché est par conséquent un levier de performance aux incidences positives multiples. ainsi, si le coût de mise en œuvre de l’orientation marché a été souligné (rust, moorman & dickson, 2002), il semblerait que les bénéfices qui peuvent en être retirés soient réels, ce qui est conforme aux conclusions de kirca, jayachandran et bearden (2005). par ailleurs, la robustesse du lien (176 études « dans le tiroir ») assure aux managers que l’augmentation du niveau d’orientation marché de leur organisation aura bien les effets attendus sur la performance des nouveaux produits qu’elle met en marché. enfin, nos résultats établissent que les effets bénéfiques de l’orientation marché sont significatifs quelle que soit la zone géographique d’activité de l’entreprise (amérique du nord, asie, europe et océanie). cependant, des différences d’intensité de l’effet sont observées. cela signifie que les managers ont un plus grand intérêt à accroître leur niveau d’orientation marché dans les zones où les effets sont les plus élevés sur la performance des nouveaux produits, en asie et en europe. mise en œuvre les recherches consacrées à la mise en œuvre de l’orientation marché sont très peu nombreuses. kennedy, goolsby et arnould (2003) écrivent ainsi que « la littérature marketing souligne le lien entre l’orientation marché et la performance organisationnelle, mais est relativement silencieuse sur la mise en œuvre de cette orientation » (p. 67). une partie des travaux est consacrée à la conversion du système de valeurs de l’organisation, et une autre à la modification de ses processus et de ses activités. se retrouvent ainsi les débats sur la nature de l’orientation marché, culturelle ou comportementale. nos résultats suggèrent qu’une transformation comportementale est préférable à une transformation culturelle : l’impact de l’orientation marché sur la performance d’un nouveau produit est plus fort lorsque l’approche comportementale est retenue. face à la diversité des méthodes existantes, nous préconisons en conséquence que les managers s’orientent vers les approches fondées sur une transformation comportementale de l’organisation, telles que celles proposées par payne (1988), kohli et jaworski (1990), ruekert (1992), day (1994) et kennedy, goolsby et arnould (2003). m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 3, 2009, 204-223 216 l’orientation marché affecte-t-elle la performance des produits nouveaux ? une approche méta-analytique contributions académiques nos résultats proposent un double apport académique, à la fois méthodologique et théorique. apports méthodologiques nos résultats suggèrent différents éclairages méthodologiques, directement induits des résultats. en premier lieu, le choix d’une mesure subjective de performance, plutôt qu’objective, amplifie l’effet observé de l’orientation marché sur la performance. cela nous conduit à recommander l’utilisation de mesures objectives de performance, en complément de mesures subjectives. ce dernier type de mesure permet en effet de tenir compte de manière implicite des spécificités sectorielles et de la diversité des objectifs poursuivis par les entreprises (pelham & wilson, 1996), assurant ainsi une mesure de la performance pertinente car relative. en deuxième lieu, puisqu’aucune différence n’est observée entre les mesures de performance mono-items et multi-items, les recherches futures pourront s’appuyer indifféremment sur des instruments parcimonieux ou au contraire plus exhaustifs des différentes facettes de la performance. le choix sera déterminé par leur objet de recherche. en troisième lieu, aucune différence n’est mise en évidence entre les mesures de performance multidimensionnelles et unidimensionnelles. exception faite du cas où l’objet de recherche est précisément de mieux expliquer les effets de l’orientation marché sur les différentes dimensions de la performance des nouveaux produits, la dimensionnalité de l’échelle de performance retenue ne devrait pas avoir d’effet sur les résultats. en quatrième lieu, la relation entre orientation marché et performance d’un nouveau produit apparaît sensible à la taille de l’échantillon. celle-ci affecte positivement la force de la corrélation observée. nous recommandons en conséquence l’utilisation d’une procédure de rééchantillonnage. cela permettrait de faire varier les tailles des échantillons répliqués et donc d’estimer la sensibilité des résultats à la taille de l’échantillon. en dernier lieu, le choix des répondants ne semble pas devoir affecter la relation entre orientation marché et performance d’un nouveau produit. le recueil des données par multiplication des types de répondants, comme proposé par gabel (1995), webb, webster et krepapa (2000), deshpandé, farley et webster (1993) et steinman, deshpandé et farley (2000), procédure complexe à mettre en œuvre, n’apparaît par conséquent pas nécessaire. apports théoriques en premier lieu, nous proposons un éclairage nouveau sur l’effet de l’orientation marché sur la performance d’un nouveau produit. henard et szymanski (2001) proposent une méta-analyse des facteurs de performance d’un nouveau produit, qui n’indique aucun effet de l’orientation marché. nous établissons un résultat contradictoire, qui nous semble robuste. d’une part, nous cumulons 22 articles tandis qu’henard et szymanski (2001) en recueillent 13. d’autre part, 176 études devraient se trouver « dans le tiroir » pour remettre en question notre résultat. adopter la culture et les comportements caractéristiques d’une organisation orientée marché est donc bien facteur d’une plus grande performance des nouveaux produits que celle-ci lance sur le marché. 217 david gotteland, christophe haon, alain jolibertm@n@gement vol. 12 no. 3, 2009, 204-223 l’orientation marché étant considérée comme la « mise en œuvre du concept marketing » (kohli & jaworski, 1990 : 5), cela réaffirme que « la profitabilité à long terme d’une entreprise est davantage assurée en focalisant ses activités sur la satisfaction des besoins des consommateurs composant un/des segment(s) cible(s) » (deng & dart, 1994 : 726), ce qui constitue un postulat de la démarche marketing (webster, 1992). en deuxième lieu, nos résultats établissent l’existence d’un lien plus fort entre l’approche comportementale de l’orientation marché (vs. culturelle) et la performance dans un contexte d’introduction de nouveau produit. ainsi, si l’approche culturelle semble pertinente pour comprendre la nature du concept et ses dimensions constitutives, l’approche comportementale paraît mieux adaptée pour expliquer les effets de l’orientation marché sur la performance (ici, celle d’un nouveau produit). ces deux approches, qui ont pu apparaître comme concurrentes, apparaissent donc au contraire comme complémentaires. ce fait est à rapprocher de homburg et pflesser (2000), qui mettent en évidence la complémentarité théorique de ces deux approches, en indiquant que l’approche culturelle est antécédente de l’approche comportementale. en troisième lieu, cette recherche participe à une meilleure compréhension de la sensibilité des effets de l’orientation marché à la zone géographique. comme indiqué précédemment, les études proposant des comparaisons internationales de la relation orientation marchéperformance mettent en évidence des résultats contradictoires (deshpandé & farley, 1999 ; deshpandé, farley & webster, 2000). la métaanalyse proposée ici met en évidence, pour un type de performance plus particulier (celle d’un nouveau produit), que l’intensité de l’effet de l’orientation marché sur la performance est sensible à la zone géographique d’activité de l’entreprise. ce qui conforte les conclusions de kirca, jayachandran et bearden (2005). limites et voies de recherche cette recherche souffre cependant de plusieurs limites. en premier lieu, comme indiqué précédemment, nous n’avons pas pu inclure dans les analyses l’ensemble des études recensées, en raison du manque d’informations nécessaires au codage. une méta-analyse complémentaire serait en conséquence utile, une fois le nombre d’études nécessaires atteint, afin de tester l’ensemble des hypothèses proposées. en deuxième lieu, notre recherche a été limitée à l’examen des modérateurs que nous pouvions coder à partir des études existantes. en conséquence, nous avons proposé un nombre d’hypothèses plus restreint que kirca, jayachandran et bearden (2005), même s’il est plus élevé que celui de rodriguez cano, carrillat et jaramillo (2004). une méta-analyse complémentaire serait en conséquence utile, de la même façon que les travaux de kirca, jayachandran et bearden (2005) et ellis (2006) approfondissent la recherche de rodriguez cano, carrillat et jaramillo (2004). en troisième lieu, la méthode d’analyse utilisée consiste à calculer des corrélations par paire de variables. les résultats ainsi obtenus pourraient être approfondis par la reconstitution d’un modèle structurel liant orientation marché et performance d’un nouveau produit. néanmoins, cette reconstitution n’est pas envisageable à ce stade m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 3, 2009, 204-223 218 l’orientation marché affecte-t-elle la performance des produits nouveaux ? une approche méta-analytique du fait du nombre trop faible de recherches disponibles. en dernier lieu, l’étude des effets de la dimensionnalité de l’orientation marché se limite au nombre de ces dimensions. il serait intéressant de compléter cette analyse par la prise en compte de la nature de ces dimensions (orientation consommateurs, orientation concurrents, orientation technologie, etc.). deux voies d’approfondissement complémentaires peuvent à notre sens être empruntées. en premier lieu, les recherches consacrées aux modérateurs de la relation orientation marché-performance d’un nouveau produit ont été focalisées sur l’étude des effets de l’état de l’environnement. observe-t-on des effets de contingences ? autrement dit, le degré d’orientation marché de l’organisation doit-il être plus ou moins élevé selon les conditions de marché rencontrées ? en second lieu, il nous paraîtrait extrêmement stimulant et utile de pouvoir reconstituer la chaîne complète par laquelle l’orientation marché se transforme en davantage de performance des produits nouveaux, sur le modèle du travail de kirca, jayachandran et bearden (2005). comment la culture et les comportements d’orientation marché, qui caractérisent une organisation dans son ensemble, affectent-ils spécifiquement les comportements et la performance d’un sous-ensemble de cette organisation (i.e. une équipe de développement de produits nouveaux) ? remerciements : les auteurs remercient vivement danilo dantas et florence jeannot pour leur aide précieuse. david gotteland est professeur de marketing à grenoble ecole de management. ses travaux de recherche portent sur l’orientation marché, le développement de nouveaux produits et les politiques de satisfaction. il est l’auteur de deux ouvrages relatifs à ces thèmes. ses recherches ont été publiées dans décisions marketing, finance contrôle stratégie, international journal of research in marketing, marketing letters et recherche et applications en marketing. christophe haon est professeur de marketing à grenoble ecole de management. ses recherches portent sur le développement de nouveaux produits, l’orientation marché et la satisfaction. il est l’auteur d’ouvrages et de plusieurs articles de recherche, publiés dans les revues décisions marketing, finance contrôle stratégie, marketing letters et recherche et applications en marketing. alain jolibert est professeur de marketing à l’université pierre mendès-france de grenoble (iae), où il dirige de collège des écoles doctorales et le master marketing. il est chercheur au cerag, unité mixte de recherche du cnrs. il est l’auteur d’une douzaine d’ouvrages et d’une cinquantaine d’articles publiés dans des revues françaises (décisions marketing, recherche et applications en marketing) et étrangères (journal of marketing, journal of consumer research, journal of international business studies, psychology and marketing, journal of the academy of marketing science, international journal of research in marketing). ses recherches portent principalement sur le comportement du consommateur et les méthodes de recherche en marketing. 219 david gotteland, christophe haon, alain jolibertm@n@gement vol. 12 no. 3, 2009, 204-223 references les références en gras indiquent les articles retenus pour la méta-analyse . andreani, j. c. (2001). 95% des produits nouveaux échouent. revue française du marketing, 182, 5-11. . appiah-adu, k. (1997). market orientation and performance: do the findings established in large firms hold in the small business sector? journal of euro-marketing, 6(3), 1-26. . appiah-adu, k., & ranchhod, a. (1998). market orientation and performance in the biotechnology industry: an exploratory empirical analysis. technology analysis and strategic management, 10(2), 197-210. . appiah-adu, k., & singh, s. (1998). customer orientation and performance: a study of smes. management decision, 36(6), 385-394. . atuahene-gima, k. (1995). an exploratory analysis of the impact of market orientation on new product performance, a contingency approach. journal of product innovation management, 12(4), 275-293. . atuahene-gima, k., & ko, a. (2001). an empirical investigation of the effect of market orientation and entrepreneurship orientation alignment on product innovation. organization science, 12(1), 54-74. . baker, w. e., & sinkula, j. m. (1999). the synergistic effect of market orientation and learning orientation on organizational performance. journal of the academy of marketing science, 27(4), 411-427. . baker, w. e., & sinkula, j. m. (2007). does market orientation facilitate balanced innovation programs? an organizational learning perspective. journal of product innovation management, 24(4), 316-334. . carpenter, g. s., & nakamo-carpenter, g. s., & nakamoto, k. (1989). consumer preference formation and pioneering advantage. journal of marketing research, 26(3), 285-298. . churchill, g. a. (1979). paradigm for developing better measures of marketing constructs. journal of marketing research, 16(1), 64–73. . day, g. (1999). creating a market-driven organization. sloan management review, 41(1), 1122. . deng, s., & dart, j. (1994). measuring market orientation: a multifactor, multi-item approach. journal of marketing management, 10(8), 725742. . deshpandé, r., & farley, j. u. (1999). corporate culture and market orientation: comparing indian and japanese firms. journal of international marketing, 7(4), 111-127. . deshpandé, r., farley, j. u., & webster, f. e. (1993). corporate culture, customer orientation, and innovativeness in japanese firms: a quadrad analysis. journal of marketing, 57(1), 23-27. . deshpandé, r., farley, j. u., & webster, f. e. (2000). triad lessons: generalizing results on high performance firms in five businessto-business markets. international journal of research in marketing, 17, 353–362. . doty, h. d., & glick, w. h. (1998). common method bias: does common methods variance really bias results? organizational research methods, 1(4), 374–406. . ellis, p. d. (2006). market orientation and performance: a meta-analysis and cross-national comparisons. journal of management studies, 43(5), 1089-1107. . farley, j. u., lehmann, d. r., & ryan, m. j. (1982). patterns in parameters of buyer behaviour models: generalizing from sparse replication. marketing science, 1(2), 181-204. . gabel, t. g. (1995). market orientation: theoretical and methodological concerns. in b. b. stern, & g. m. zinkhan (eds.), enhancing knowledge development in marketing, proceedings of the american marketing association summer educators conference, chicago, 368-375. . gatignon, h., & xuereb, j. m. (1997). strategic orientation of the firm and new product performance. journal of marketing research, 34(1), 77-90. . gotteland, d., & boulé, j-m. (2006). the market orientation – new product performance relationship: redefining the moderating role of environmental conditions. international journal of research in marketing, 23(1), 171-185. m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 3, 2009, 204-223 220 l’orientation marché affecte-t-elle la performance des produits nouveaux ? une approche méta-analytique . greenley, g. e. (1995). market orientation and company performance: empirical evidence from u.k. companies. british journal of management, 6(1), 1-13. . griffin, a. (1997). pdma research on new product development practices: updating trends and benchmarking practices. journal of product innovation management, 14(6), 429-458. . griffin, a., & page, a. l. (1996). pdma success measurement project: recommended measures for product development success and failure. journal of product innovation management, 13(6), 478-496. . han, j. k., kim, n., & srivastava, r. k. (1998). market orientation and organizational performance: is innovation a missing link? journal of marketing, 62(4), 3045. . henard, d. h., & szymanski, d. m. (2001). why some new products are more successful than others. journal of marketing research, 38(3), 362-375. . hofstede, g. (2001). culture’s consequences: comparing, values, behaviors, institutions, and organizations across nations. london: sage publications. . homburg, c., & pflesser, c. (2000). a multiple-layer model of market-oriented organizational culture: measurement issues and performance outcomes. journal of marketing research, 37(4), 449-462. . im, s., & workman, j. p. (2004). market orientation, creativity, and new product performance in high-technologies firms. journal of marketing, 68(2), 114-132. . kahn, k. b. (2001). market orientation, interdepartemental integration, and product development performance. journal of product innovation management, 18(5), 314-323. . kennedy, k. n., goolsby, j. r., & arnould, e. j. (2003). implementing a customer orientation: extension of theory and application. journal of marketing, 67(4), 67-81. . kirca, a. h., jayachandran, s., & bearden, w. o. (2005). market orientation: a meta-analytic review and assessment of its antecedents and impact on performance. journal of marketing, 69(2), 24-41. . kline, t. j. b., sulsky, l. m., & rever-moriyama, s. d. (2000). common method variance and specification errors: a practical approach to detection. the journal of psychology: interdisciplinary and applied, 134, 401421. . kohli, a. k., & jaworski, b. j. (1990). market orientation: the construct, research propositions, and managerial implications. journal of marketing, 54(2), 1-18. . kohli, a. k., jaworski, b. j., & kumar, a. (1993). markor: a measure of market orientation. journal of marketing research, 30(4), 467-477. . langerak, f., hultink, e. j., & robben, h. s. (2004). the impact of market orientation, product advantage, and launch proficiency on new product performance and organizational performance. journal of product innovation management, 21(2), 79-94. . langerak, f., hultink, e. j., & robben, h. s. j. (2007). the mediating role of new product development in the link between market orientation and organizational performance. journal of strategic marketing, 15(4), 281-305. . montoya-weiss, m. m., & ca-montoya-weiss, m. m., & calantone, r. (1994). determinants of new product performance: a review and meta-analysis. journal of product innovation management, 11(5), 397-418. . moorman, c. (1995). organizational market information processes: cultural antecedents and new product outcomes. journal of marketing research, 32(3), 318-335. . narver, j. c., & slater, s. f. (1990). the effect of a market orientation on business profitability. journal of marketing, 54(4), 20-35. . oczkowski, e., & farrell, m. a. (1998). discriminating between measurement scales using non-nested tests and twostage least squares estimators: the case of market orientation. international journal of research in marketing, 15(2), 349-366. . ottum, b. d., & moore, w. l. (1997). the role of market information in new product success/failure. journal of product innovation management, 14(4), 258-273. 221 david gotteland, christophe haon, alain jolibertm@n@gement vol. 12 no. 3, 2009, 204-223 . rosenthal, r. (1995). writing meta-analysis. psychological bulletin, 118(2), 183-192. . ruekert, r. w. (1992). developing a market orientation: an organizational strategy perspective. international journal of research in marketing, 9(3), 225-245. . rust, r. t., moorman, c., & dickson, p. r. (2002). getting return on quality: revenue expansion, cost reduction, or both? journal of marketing, 66(4), 7–24. . slater, s. f., & narver, j. c. (1994). does competitive environment moderate the market orientation-performance relationship? journal of marketing, 58(1), 46-55. . snedecor, g. w., & cochran, w. g. (1980). statistical methods, 7th edition, ames: iowa state university press. . steinman, c., deshpandé, r., & farley, j. u. (2000). beyond market orientation: when customers and suppliers disagree. journal of the academy of marketing science, 28(1), 109-119. . van bruggen, g. h., & smidts, a. (1995). the assessment of market orientation: evaluating the measurement instrument as a tool for management. in m. bergadaà (ed.), marketing today and for the 21st century, proceedings of the 24th emac conference, vol ii., 20372043, essec, france, may 16-19. . paladino, a. (2007). investigating the drivers of innovation and new product success: a comparison of strategic orientations. journal of product innovation management, 24(6), 534-553. . payne, a. (1988). developing a market-oriented organization. business horizons, 31(3), 46-53. . pelham, a. m. (1997). mediating influences on the relationship between market orientation and profitability in small industrial firms. journal of marketing theory and practice, 5(3), 55-76. . pelham, a. m., & wilson, d. t. (1996). a longitudinal study of the impact of market structure, firm structure, strategy and market orientation culture on dimensions of small-firm performance. journal of the academy of marketing science, 24(1), 27-43. . ramaseshan, b., caruana, a., & soon pang, l. (2002). the effect of market orientation on new product performance: a study among singaporean firms. journal of product and brand management, 11(6), 399409. . rodriguez cano, c. r., car-rodriguez cano, c. r., carrillat, f. a., & jaramillo, f. (2004). a meta-analysis of the relationship between market orientation and business performance: evidence from five continents. international journal of research in marketing, 21(2), 179-200. . rosenthal, r. (1991). meta-analytic procedures for social research. london: sage publications. . verhees, f. j. h. m., & meulenberg, m. t. g. (2004). market orientation, innovativeness, product innovation, and performance in small firms. journal of small business management, 42(2), 134-154. . webb, d., webster, c., & kre-webb, d., webster, c., & krepapa, a. (2000). an exploration of the meaning and outcomes of a customer-defined market orientation. journal of business research, 48(2), 101-112. . webster, f. e. (1992). the changing role of marketing in the corporation. journal of marketing, 56(4), 1-17. . wren, b. m., souder, w. e., & berkowitz, d. (2000). market orientation and new product development in global industrial firms. industrial marketing management, 29(6), 601-611. m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 3, 2009, 204-223 222 l’orientation marché affecte-t-elle la performance des produits nouveaux ? une approche méta-analytique annexe 1: grille de codage des articles et principales caractéristiques des études la grille utilisée pour le codage des articles a été la suivante. année nationalité des entreprise 1 amérique du nord 2 asie 3 europe 4 océanie répondant 1 chef de produit 2 directeur général 3 directeur unité stratégique 4 responsable marketing 5 président 6 indéterminé secteur 1 industriel 2 grande consommation taille de l’échantillon approche de l’orientation marché 1 comportementale 2 culturelle nombre de dimensions nombre d’items mesure de la performance 1 objective 2 subjective nombre de dimensions nombre d’items type de performance 1 financière 2 projet 3 technique 4 commerciale 5 globale 223 david gotteland, christophe haon, alain jolibertm@n@gement vol. 12 no. 3, 2009, 204-223 les principales caractéristiques des études sont les suivantes. nationalité répondant approche de l’orientation marché nombre de dimensions de l’échelle de mesure d’orientation marché mesure de la performance d’un nouveau produit nombre de dimensions de l’échelle de mesure de performance d’un nouveau produit type de performance d’un nouveau produit amérique du nord : 34 études asie : 8 études europe : 23 études océanie : 25 études direction générale : 4 directeur d’unité stratégique : 7 responsable marketing : 13 président : 26 indéterminé : 37 comportementale : 26 culturelle : 59 une dimension : 3 deux dimensions : 10 trois dimensions : 56 objective : 3 subjective : 67 une dimension : 27 deux dimensions : 3 trois dimensions : 3 cinq dimensions : 1 financière : 9 projet : 5 technique : 3 commerciale : 24 globale : 16 when the south takes over the north: dynamics of up-market integrations by emerging multinationals morgan marchand drm-université paris dauphine morganmarchand@me.com when the south takes over the north: dynamics of up-market integrations by emerging multinationals morgan marchand abstract. this article deals with emerging multinationals post-acquisition integration approaches in developed countries. it confronts theoretical hypotheses and anecdotal evidence with unpublished empirical data. analyzing four cases of french entities acquired by emne, it confirms that emne often adopt a partnering approach after these up-market acquisitions. yet this approach is likely to develop in a dynamic way over time, and the path of this inflection may run in opposite directions, depending on the result of the first coordination of activities. it also seems that emne that are already experienced in up-market acquisitions may directly adopt a more interventionist approach.  from these results we discuss several theoretical and practical consequences: the complexity of the antecedents of integration choice, for which we recommend an integrated approach, the reliability and definition of the “emerging multinationals ” category, and the role of the target in the deployment of the relationships with the acquirer in a partnering integration. " the development of emerging multinational enterprises (emne) has been the subject of recent interest, seen in a growing number of studies (guillen & garcia-canal, 2012  ; kale & singh, 2012  ; williamson, ramamurti, fleury, & leme fleury, 2013). two elements explain this interest. firstly, the scope and pace of this phenomenon has been exceptional, with for instance chinese groups reaching the top of multinationals rankings in a few years only (mayrhofer, 2011). secondly, the patterns of international development used by these emne have raised questions about their originality and whether the existing theories on international expansion strategies are adequate or need to be modified (cuervocazurra, 2012 ; hennart, 2012). " topics regularly garnering attention include emne acquisitions in developed countries, which often go beyond the boundaries of research to introduce themselves into the media and social debates (sarathy, 2013). challenging conventional wisdom, they are indeed tangible markers of a globalization which is not westernization (chanda, 2007). in terms of management research, these up-market acquisitions are all the more interesting since the available literature has yet to provide any definitive conclusion on emne management styles (nayir & vaiman, 2012). therefore, these acquisitions offer a particularly interesting area of research in international management: it is a recent phenomenon, expanding rapidly and raising a number of theoretical and practical issues. " early evidences suggest that emne would develop a cautious and evolutionary approach toward their acquisitions in developed countries, which would be revealed in the medium-term. in a retrospective of their article which m@n@gement 2015, vol. 18(1): 31-53 31 mailto:morganmarchand@me.com%20%0dmorganmarchand@me.com%20%0dmorgan.marchand@dauphine.fr?subject= mailto:morganmarchand@me.com%20%0dmorganmarchand@me.com%20%0dmorgan.marchand@dauphine.fr?subject= mailto:morganmarchand@me.com%20%0dmorganmarchand@me.com%20%0dmorgan.marchand@dauphine.fr?subject= mailto:morganmarchand@me.com%20%0dmorganmarchand@me.com%20%0dmorgan.marchand@dauphine.fr?subject= won the journal of international business studies decade award, birkinshaw, bresman, & nobel (2010) point out that the increasing number of cases of asset acquisitions by emne in developed countries (mittal / arcelor, tata / jaguar, lenovo / ibm pc) represent a new layer of complexity in the field of mergers & acquisitions (m&a), adding that this new phenomenon is still insufficiently explained by theory. since this trend will increase in the coming years, up-market acquisitions are a promising avenue of research, so far providing only some anecdotal evidence which suggest that “developing country mnes are predominately taking a "high road" approach to their acquisitions, imposing some controls but offering enormous autonomy as well, and looking to get the most out of what they are buying. but we have little if any systematic evidence here, so this is an area that could certainly do with more research (birkinshaw et al., 2010, p. 22). " kale & singh (2012) echo these first suggestions and assume that mnes would prefer to develop an integration approach which they call “partnering", characterized by a high level of autonomy left to the acquired entities and a selective coordination of activities with the acquirer. they add that this approach might increase as the acquirer gains experience. this partnering approach developed by emne is likely to change direction over time, either during the same integration process or from one acquisition to the next: as they become more and more experienced, emne may develop more interventionist approaches. but these suggestions about the partnering approach as the emnes preferred approach and its temporal dynamics are based on little research and few empirical confirmations (liu & woywode, 2013), since the debates often remain theoretical. " this article deals with these emne post-acquisition integrations in developed countries, by comparing assumptions and first indications with unpublished data. by analyzing four cases of french entities’ integrations by different emne, it specifically questions the dynamics of the partnering integration: do these dynamics change over time, for instance with the acquirer becoming more interventionist during the deployment of an integration, or during the acquisition of a subsequent one? thus, the article focuses on the “how”, (how are integrations initiated and deployed by the acquirers) rather than motivations or performance of the acquisitions. " primarily, the results here support many assumptions and theoretical suggestions: emne are likely to adopt a partnering approach, which can dynamically evolve over time. results also improve understanding and conceptualization of these changing forms of integration: if emne actually seem to choose partnering approaches which are changeable in the medium-term, this change can take different directions. indeed, partnering integration can be either intensified or abandoned, according to the results of initial activity coordination. it also appears that emne with enough experience in up-market acquisitions might directly choose a more interventionist, absorptive-type approach. " these results draw discussions about several issues. thus, to articulate the multiplicity and complexity of the antecedents to the emne choice of integration mode, we advocate an integrated approach combining strategic, pragmatic and deliberate choices from the acquirer with some less explicit managerial practices related to its administrative heritage (calori, lubatkin, & very, 1996; lubatkin, calori, very, & veiga, 1998). we also challenge the category of “emerging multinationals” and suggest reconsidering it in the light of a further question: are emne “multinational from emerging countries ” or “emerging multinational companies”? m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): xxx-xxx" morgan marchand 32 " the article is organized as follows. a literature review provides a theoretical framework for analyzing the emne integration approaches. next, we present the method, the cases studies used for data, before analyzing each of the four cases. finally, we elaborate our conclusions using the multi-case analysis, and discuss their theoretical and managerial implications. theoretical framework: emne integration approaches " the recent and fast development of emne has drawn the attention of an increasing number of researchers, but the number of studies dedicated to these multinationals managerial practices remains rather small (nayir & vaiman, 2012). this applies particularly to studies related to the conduct of emne post acquisition integrations in developed countries, to which many studies suggest assumptions or indications which need empirical validation. up-market acquisitions " ramamurti & singh (2009) provide a framework to locate and think about emne investments in developed countries. mapping the different possible directions of foreign direct investments (fdi) between developed and emerging countries, they locate the south-north fdi, called up-market (figure 1). they consider these investments are theoretically interesting because they go against the conventional wisdom that assets, technology and knowledge should move from advanced to emerging economies. these rather recent up-market fdis are an example of a situation that current management theories fail to explain. in these cases, emne invest in developed countries to explore and gain new resources rather than to exploit benefits already acquired in their country of origin. this situation might only be temporary, related to their level of maturity and their stage of evolution (still “  infant mne”); such emne would be seeking resources to develop themselves. figure 1. classification of fdi according to their direction (from ramamurti & singh, 2009) when the south takes over the north! m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 31-53 33 " according to kumar (2009), emne rewrite the rules of m&a with these upmarket acquisitions. whereas the western mnes usually use acquisitions to increase their size and efficiency, “emerging giants“ acquire firms in the developed countries mainly to gain the necessary skills, technology and knowledge for their development. this motivation of exploration (rather than exploitation) of resources leads emne to adopt a rather specific position towards their acquisitions in developed countries. the acquirer-target relationships developing over time in a headquarters-subsidiary relationship might indeed use many control and coordination tools, which have to be related appropriately according to the context (jaussaud, mizoguchi, nakamura, & schaaper, 2012). therefore, emne achieving up-market acquisitions should make decisions about their position toward their target and define the roles of the two entities, the headquarters and the new subsidiary (beddi, 2011). in this present case, to meet their motivation of exploration of resources, emne should avoid changing the structures and the systems of the acquired entities in order to get the greatest learning potential from it. thus, they would develop a light integration process, with a rather slow integration speed while allowing themselves to develop and reinforce this integration gradually. this acquisition approach contrasts with the traditional approach in which the acquiring firm quickly activates changes within the target, but thereafter the search for synergies slows down. these characteristics are just hypotheses which have not yet been tested through empirical research (kumar, 2009; birkinshaw et al., 2010). the emne partnering approach " these issues actually refer to the types of post-acquisition integration and their effects on the acquired entities. studies by haspeslagh & jemison (1991) are the most commonly mobilized on this topic in published literature; they have been adapted by kale & singh (2012) for emne. haspeslagh and jemison (1991) consider that the success of an acquisition strongly depends on the successful integration of the two organizations following the acquisition, with the choice of integration type being based on two essential criteria: the interdependence between the entities, and the target’s need for organizational autonomy. combining these two criteria helps to identify a number of ideal-typical integration modes. the first one is absorption, which is intended to quickly align the target’s strategies and practices with the acquirer’s and results in significant changes in the structure and the systems of the target. the second approach is preservation, which allows the target’s strategies and organization to be maintained, since changes are restricted to an absolute minimum. in practice, there is a continuum between absorption and preservation, more than a binary choice between two distinct categories. the third approach is symbiosis, which aims for the target and the acquirer to learn from each other and share their qualities. while working on these symbiotic-types of integrations, kœnig & meier (2001) insist as well on the importance of the managerial dimension of postacquisition integration phases. according to them, “symbiosis” approaches are characterized by a willingness to develop innovative practices or offers in a cooperative environment between the acquiring entity and the target. as a consequence of this drive for joint innovation, the successful processes of symbiosis often seem emerging, incompletely programmed, and deploy gradually over time. " kale & singh (2012) build on these studies, adapt them to the emne and made hypotheses about the emne integration modes. they first take on the structuring factors of haspeslagh & jemison’s thesis, by indicating that an acquirer must make decisions about several critical issues for the management of its acquisition: the level of acquisition of the acquired entity, the extent to which the target’s resources are replaced, the level of autonomy left to the target and m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): xxx-xxx" morgan marchand 34 the speed at which these issues are managed. they make slight changes in the terms of these measures (structural integration / degree of coordination) and propose to identify three approaches: preservation, absorption and partnering approach. “partnering’ is preferred to the word “symbiosis” which has been used in the literature up to now, though kale & singh (2012) do not explain this choice. we will use it by default and then discuss it at the end of the article. figure 2. emne partnering approach (kale & singh, 2012) degré de coordination des activités faible elevé in té gr at io n st ru ct ur el le n on o ui absorption partenariatpréservation " according to them, “classical” mnes from developed countries usually develop an absorption type of integration, whereas emne use mainly the partnering approach: they would not absorb their acquisitions, rather collaborating with them. the partnering integration mode, which is close to a strategic alliance, would be, if not completely distinctive, at least a recurring feature of emne and manifests itself through several features: structural separation of the acquired entity, selective coordination of activities between the two entities, few replacements of the target’s resources (management team, brands), high organizational autonomy left to the target, and a gradual integration speed. on all these points, partnership, which is likely to be characteristic of emne, would be differ from absorption, which is likely to be characteristic of “classical” emne (table 1). table 1. differences in post-acquisition approaches : absorption and partership (kale & singh, 2012) absorption partnership structure acquiring entity absorbs the acquired entity acquired entity remains separate activity integration of core and supporting activities selective coordination of some activities management team replaced remains autonomy none, or very restricted almost total integration speed fast slow " when the south takes over the north! m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 31-53 35 " the distinction between partnering approach and absorption is in the coordination of some activities. in both cases, the target remains structurally independent and vastly autonomous, but a partnering approach of the operational synergies is implemented with the acquiring entity. thus several types of activities can be coordinated together. an up-market acquisition can be used as a “springboard” for internationalization, its target allowing it to quickly obtain the necessary resources to access new markets: networks, brands, patents, images and experience (luo & tung, 2007). a learning or technological catch-up dimension may also be a part of the acquiring firm’s strategic intentions. this reverse know-how transfer, ascending from the acquired entities to the headquarters, has been typically associated with the emne (borini, de miranda, freitas, & de oliveira, 2012). according to the evolution of relations between the parent company and its subsidiary, it may develop a perspective of reverse innovation (mayrhofer & very, 2013; gupta & govindarajan, 2000). learning could also be managerial, as noted by kale & singh (2012) when they quote the ceo of a chinese group that acquired a french entity: “our goal was to lean about the practices of international business through the acquired entity and to capitalize on its experience.” " several antecedents could lead the emne to choose this mode of integration: their insufficient managing experience, their conglomerate organization, their specific culture, the target’s superior resources and even an unintentional evolution of their integration process which might lead them to prefer the system that would just seem to work best. (kale & singh, 2012). liu & woywode (2013) studied the acquisition of german firms by chinese emne and identified this same type of integration approach which they call “light touch” approach. they consider its main factors to be the emne absorptive capacities and culture. the notion of culture here refers to the broader concept of administrative heritage of multinational companies, as it was enhanced by calori, lubatkin and very in their studies on the differences in french and british multinationals’ integration approaches (calori et al., 1996; lubatkin et al., 1998). this concept combines institutional, historical and cultural aspects which, in a given environment, will influence judgments about ‘how things should be done’, from the form of capitalism in the country to management choices and postacquisition integration. emne integration dynamics hypotheses " in the research axes that conclude their article, kale & singh (2012) use kumar’s suggestion (2009) and make hypotheses about possible evolutions of partnering approach over time, suggesting that “it is possible that the use of this approach might change dynamically under certain situations” (kale & singh 2012, p.23). they identify two types of situations in which partnerships may evolve. first, the acquirer might take a partnering approach at the beginning only, particularly to dampen the adverse effects and ease anxieties felt within the target entity after acquisition. in the medium term, once the obstacles have been removed and the possible synergies have been identified, the acquirer might conduct a fuller absorption of its acquisition. this hypothesis echoes williamson & raman’s suggestion (2013), about the chinese emne “double handspring” strategy. urged by their government to ‘go out” and invest abroad in the 2000s, the chinese mnes generally intended at first to ‘bring back’ the technology or managerial experience acquired in the global area to use domestically. at this first stage, the acquisition has little impact on the target. it is only in a second stage, when the operations in china have been reinforced, that chinese emne start to implement changes in the acquired entity (yuen 2012). kale & singh make a second hypothesis, suggesting that when an emne gain sufficient experience in acquisition, “it is quite plausible that it will adopt a more heavyhanded approach m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): xxx-xxx" morgan marchand 36 to managing its future acquisitions” (kale & singh 2012 p.23). therefore, partnering approach is likely to be modified over time, either during a single integration or during another one; as they gain experience, emne might develop more interventionist approaches. however, once again, kale & singh make it clear that there are still few empirical studies to support this hypothesis. methodology and empirical research: a multi-case analysis of integrations by emne of french entities " this article compares the hypothesis about dynamics of emne up-market integrations with unpublished empirical data. to do so, it makes use of kale & singh’s (2012) theoretical framework for the typologies of integration modes. it operationalizes its dimensions and applies them to the analysis of four cases of french entities acquired by different emne. selection of methodology  " the choice of a multi-case study is based on several external and internal factors. the first is related to the research area maturity. case studies are recommended when there are more hypotheses than knowledge on the research area, and they are based on scarce empirical research (eisenhardt & graebner, 2007). thus, spigarelli, alon, & mucelli (2013) chose a case study to work on the integration of an italian firm by a chinese group. multi-case analysis helps to go beyond the idiosyncratic nature of the events observed locally in a case, and expand the scope of the results by comparing the cases while keeping each one’s context’s specific features (miles & huberman, 1994). this method has been chosen by liu & woywode (2013) to analyze integrations of german firms by chinese acquirers, comparative case study allowing them to portray the complexity of the phenomenon and seeking recurring elements through the cases. given the limited knowledge of integration processes implemented by chinese firms, they deliberately chose an exploratory approach and mobilized different sorts of data. " an internal factor is related to the nature of the collected data. we combine several types of data (free text from questionnaires, semi-structured interviews and secondary data), which meet yin’s criteria (1989) in which he defines case study: an exploratory research studying a contemporary phenomenon in a real context, when there is no clear boundaries between the phenomenon and the context, and in which multiple empirical sources are mobilized. mixed methods combining several types of complementary data are particularly useful to approach an evolving phenomenon such as m&a (vaara & monin, 2010). for instance, birkinshaw & al. (2000) mobilized different kinds of data to analyze the integration processes developed by swedish firms in cross-border acquisitions. finally, we adopt a subsidiaries-based approach (le borgne-larivière & schier, 2010) which allowed us to collect the actors’ testimonies and analyze what has been really implemented after acquisition. this approach aims at going beyond the acquirers’ declarations of intent and managerial statements. indeed, many researches on m&a focus on the acquirer’s perspective only, and ignore the target’s perspective, though it is critical in the implementation stage (graebner & eisenhardt 2004). when the south takes over the north! m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 31-53 37 case selection " the cases were chosen using a reasoned approach (seawright & gerring 2008), for their homogeneity and coherence. on an operational level, our emne are all in the sector of manufacturing industry, the acquirers and the targets’ workforces are about the same size and all the targets used to be parts of major groups. on an empirical level, the collected data are of the same range, quantitatively and qualitatively. the quantity of collected data meets the order of magnitude used in our area of research (weber, tarba, stahl, & bachar-rozen, 2012). the emne in the four cases are from three countries: china, brazil and mexico. table 2 presents an overall summary of the cases and data collection. table 2. information and collected data cas a b c d acquéreur first china yellow shine flexibraz mexete pays emne chine chine brésil mexique sector industry industry industry industry year 2011 2006 2006 2005 workforce acquirer 20 000 40 000 5 000 40 000 target 200 800 100 300 data questionnaires 2 2 2 3 interviews 5 3 2 1 interviewed persons french and chinese managers french managers french managers french managers field visits yes yes yes -internal documents yes -yes yes specialized press yes yes yes yes litterature ---yes data collection and analysis " our study associates three types of data. first, an exploratory questionnaire sent to executives of acquired entities allowed us to collect primary data and exploit their qualitative aspects (free texts of the respondents). these questionnaires allowed us to conduct semi-structured interviews with the respondents (french or expatriate managers of the acquiring group). the interviews, from half-an-hour to two-hours long, were recorded, transcribed and translated. most interviews were supported by field visits, aiming at better contextualizing data and situations, enriching analysis with memos and field journals. secondary data (business and specialized press, websites and firms’ m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): xxx-xxx" morgan marchand 38 internal documents) were also collected: the helped put primary data into perspective and compare primary data to factual and chronological aspects of the integrations. finally, in one case, specific literature on the previous integrations conducted by the emne in question has also been mobilized. " the purpose of data analysis was to compare our cases with the categories existing in the literature, particularly the matrix developed by kale & singh (2012) for the emne. in order to do this, we must keep in mind that acquisition-type categories are just ideals. they must be regarded as continuum rather than closed-ended, distinct categories. the light touch integration suggested by liu & woyworde (2013) clearly expresses the importance of using categories to understand the facts and give them meaning, and not to force them artificially. this analysis was carried out using a structured coding system, developed by operationalizing the two-dimension concepts of the kale & singh matrix: structure (we prefer this simpler name to “structural integration” which can lead to confusion): separation or structural integration of the target, possible name change, reorganization within the entity, management team changes, speed of changes, evolution of governance and decision-making, regularity of contacts with the group… activities: changes or coordination in r&d, production, distribution, marketing or sales, internationalization of activities, introduction of new management forms, tools or processes, training sessions organized by the acquirer, mobility from/to the group, transfers of skills and technology... " data were processed using the qualitative data analysis software (qdas) nvivo. this software allows flexible and comprehensive management of qualitative data from multiple sources and of multiple types, particularly maintaining each coded element in its context. it fosters an articulation between contextual analysis and synthesis in a flexible and evolutionary manner, which is particularly useful for a research requiring frequent cross-referencing between data and theories. results " each case is analyzed and presented in a homogeneous diagram that includes the categories of the theoretical framework. after a presentation of the two entities and of the acquisition context, we analyze the integration from the perspective of its effects on (a) the structure and (b) the activities of the target. we will then address (c) the possible evolution over time of these two dimensions and of the acquirer-target relationships. case a first china " in 2011, the chinese state-owned firm first china took over a french firm in compulsory liquidation. first china is part of a conglomerate controlled by the sasac (state-owned assets supervision and administration commission), the party’s entity managing the assets of the state. it is leader in its domestic market, and until 2011 its global development focused on africa, encouraged by the “going out” policy promoted by the authorities at the beginning of the 2000s. as for the french site, it has 200 people. several thousands of people have worked in this firm since the 1970, and yet it has filed for bankruptcy twice since then and several international owners who have gradually reduced its activity to the production of one single type of item. at the time of the acquisition, the chinese directors made statements that were meant to be reassuring and ambitious: the acquirer commits himself to keep all the employees and promises investments. when the south takes over the north! m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 31-53 39 on a strategic level, the acquisition was an opportunity for first china to maintain its place as a leader in up-market products in its domestic market, while turning the french site into a research and business platform for the european market. structure: high autonomy to the chinese expatriates directors " the acquirer’s first decisions were imposed partly by the situation: the management, which was previously the former stakeholder’s duty, is now vacant. therefore, the chinese group sends a team of three expatriates to lead the entity, assisted by an interpreter. this managing team includes the only french executive left in the company, who was in charge of the production and whose position is confirmed. similarly, the name of the entity being related to former owners, it is renamed first china france, a subsidiary of first china group. beyond these structural changes, a chinese manager claims he benefits from a high level of autonomy: “the management of the subsidiary is specific. i have more powerful authority; i can make decisions independently, which allows me great responsiveness. the parent company can help and support you, but it cannot act in your place.” (translated from mandarin). activities: changes “launched slowly” " at the operational level, the french employees first mention stability, even immobility: there are “no upheavals”, the situation consists of “maintaining activity” and the corporate strategy appears “discreet”. moreover, the investments promised by the group are not conducted and the employees feel as though the chinese group is improvising. this feeling gradually gives way to concern expressed by the trade unions, first by a mail sent to the managers, then through the media. one year after the acquisition, articles published in the press express the employees’ disappointment toward the lack of visibility in projects and promised investments: “there was euphoria, but now it has declined. […]chinese were the best, they were the future. but now, they are pulling the wool over our eyes.” (a french employee). this phase is expressed in other words by a chinese manager who talks about a one or two-year long breaking-in phase: ”we are currently in an integration phase. it is not possible to take strong measures to conduct major changes. we have not reached that stage yet. if we want the firm to develop step by step, then we consider the moderate approach is better. so we are implementing our requirements and our managerial conception as the integration goes on, slowly. we have our own methods to integrate.” (translated from mandarin). evolution: selective coordination of activities and investments " the announced projects will eventually see the light. at the end of 2012, the ceo of the group visited the french site. he recalls on this occasion the importance of “working hard” to make first china france a first-line brand in the group, which for its part must “learn the tools and management methods of the french and european firms [other firms of the group have achieved acquisitions in germany in the meantime] to improve first china standards” (press release). a few weeks later, the group invests one million euros in a new machining centre. this investment comes along with training sessions and recruitments in france, and chinese engineers enter the french entity. the french production manager is appointed deputy managing director, whereas the managing director combines his position with that of managing director of first china. " at the same time, via the chinese news agency, the vice-chairman of the group praises the “partnerships with firms technologically advanced in the western countries, and thus provide us a short-cut and an easier access to m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): xxx-xxx" morgan marchand 40 technological progress”. the word “partnership” is meaningful, even though from a legal point of view it is an acquisition. the point is, since then, the acquisition helped first china to develop its products and its national market. with regards to technology, the parts that were made in france have been included into chinese products: first china communicates on this technological upgrading, with commercials praising the new “european, made in france technology” on its products. shortly after, the management re-launches the corporate newspaper and uses it to communicate on the new coordination of activities phase: some products failed in china and the group asks the french entity “for help”. a dozen french employees are sent to china to assist the chinese teams with the repair and thus, to contribute to “expand(ing) the chinese market in the years to come” (internal document).  at the beginning of 2014, new investments were planned in france, with the aim of developing the production and creating an after-sales structure on a new site that could cover the european market. case b yellow shine " in 2006, the yellow shine chinese group took over a branch of a french group seeking to refocus its activities. thus, two production sites are transferred to the chinese state-owned group, that was nominated by the authorities as one of the “big champions” for which global development should be financed by stateowned banks. at the time of the acquisition, yellow shine was also taking over a french firm in another sector, and an australian firm: these acquisitions in 2006 are the group’s first cross-border acquisitions,. structure: “we have become an sme” " at the time of the acquisition, the french entity could not keep its name, which was related to its former owner. therefore, the chinese acquirer creates a specific division, of which france becomes the international headquarters managed de facto by a french team. beyond this forced change, the acquisition had no impact on the two french sites. as a french manager states, “yellow shine headquarters remained in france and the group did not appoint any chinese to the headquarters or executive positions. management remains typically french”. on an organizational level, at the french sites a feeling of a great autonomy is prevalent. “yellow shine france has a chinese ownership but it is rather independent. […] yes, there is the financial strength of a major group to help absorb some financial difficulties but still, we consider ourselves an sme. you cannot change everything anyway. beyond the fact that the chinese handle it, we cannot move from a major-group structure to a bigsme structure overnight.” (a french manager) " the choice of the word “sme” is paradoxical with regards to an entity which is part of a 150,000-persons group, yet it is quite representative of the french employees’ perceptions and confirm an operational reality: there is a light presence of the acquirer in the sites organization. activities: reverse transfer and mobility within the group " the french entity declares that it is determined to remain autonomous while being economically viable, but it keeps on functioning as before for most of its activities. meanwhile, some of its resources are mobilized to develop the group’s industrial capacity in china: when the south takes over the north! m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 31-53 41 “the only visible impact is that a team of engineers and technicians is assigned for the transfer project in china, experts are required on specific assignments and r&d france helps and supports the implementation of quality labs throughout china”. (a french manager) " indeed, a few months after the acquisition, several french employees are sent to china with the purpose of putting in place an industrial plant similar to the french ones. according to these french expatriates: “when the deal was concluded with yellow shine, it was decided to develop in china a plant with the same capacities as all the plants in france, with the same technology, to supplement yellow shine’s production in china [...] the first choice was to access a different, more advanced technology, to be able to face international competitors that just settled in the asian area.” " so the french team expatriated in china guides the industrial project. at the same time, chinese employees are sent gradually to france to undergo training courses. in the french plants, this period of time is not experienced by all the employees as a peaceful one: there are concerns about the possibility that “the chinese buy up the company to get rid of it later… they are going to nab the technology and then they will close the plant” (an employee). evolution: industrial investments " these concerns begin to dissipate four years after the acquisition. at that time, investments are made to modernize equipment and expand the plant. these investments under chinese control are even more welcome, as the previous french group had not invested in the plant for many years. at that time, the plant on which the french expatriates in china are working is in its start-up phase. so the projects discussed are carried out. in the same year the group, whose website is now in three languages – chinese, english and french, pursues its policy of international development with the acquisition of two new companies in europe and in the middle east. case c flexibraz " in 2006, a major european group disposes off part of its activities. a brazilian firm, flexibraz, acquires the entity to be divested, a european firm with some units in france. flexibraz is a firm with 5 000 employees and is part of a larger conglomerate; it is the leader of its sector in latin america. but this development is essentially made from brazil: this european acquisition is the group’s first international external growth operation. as a french executive declared after the acquisition, “our plant has been sold to a group that was 95% brazilian and, apart from itself, only had these two small european firms”. structure: “a de facto sme” " for the french entity, the purchase is supported by no structural changes. it keeps its name, its organization and all its human resources. only a single financial executive from the brazilian group is sent to france to ensure the reporting. indeed, within the brazilian group, the international dimension of the organization and its activities does not seem to be a priority: several years after its acquisition, its corporate newspaper and website are still in portuguese language and the rare brazilian management meetings in france are organized with portuguese interpreters. a french manager sums up the situation by saying that, for several years, flexibraz has “left everything in place and only focused on m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): xxx-xxx" morgan marchand 42 the financial part”, the teams being themselves “surprised by the ‘laisserfaire’ (attitude)” of the acquirer. another sums up this period of time as “the transition from the status of subsidiary of a european group to that of a ‘de facto’ sme”. activities: incomplete technological and business coordinations " the coordination of activities is minimal too. a few months after the acquisition, the french entity achieved some investments, but they had been planned before the acquisition and were financed locally. then flexibraz attempted to coordinate some activities. first, the group tried to benefit from the french entity’s skills. technological co-operations are developed, but they fail, hampered by a lack of coordination and human resources. commercially, the group also tests a range of products made in europe on its brazilian market. however, the market conditions, the difference of practices between a mature market and an emerging market, as well as the management of the distance and its practical consequences put a strain on the project which quickly withered away. yet, the target’s results continue to satisfy the acquirer. as a french executive states, “in the first two years, everything went very well. actually, why did it go that well? because they [the acquirers] did not get involved in management. they left us to handle it. but as soon as they wanted to get involved in it, in a slightly more specific way, using very american management practices, well, things started to be a little more difficult.” evolution: an attempt to become involved, then a gradual withdrawal of the acquirer " indeed, the brazilian group’s positioning starts to change in 2010. perhaps with the impact of the crisis on the results as a stimulus, flexibraz becomes more and more involved in its acquisition’s operations. it appoints at the head of its european division a brazilian manager who wants to incite changes. operationally, he decides to bring the european plants in line with the brazilian plants’ standards which, according to a french executive, “use very international management means: iso 9001, 14001, 5s, lean management...”. he also wishes to conduct reorganizations, but they are faced with differences in legal frameworks between brazil and europe, so no major change has been achieved. there is a clear and obvious will from the acquirer to take control both in a structural and operational level, but integration won’t go beyond these first attempts. apart from operational difficulties, at that time, the owner of flexibraz refocuses on his core business and resells flexibraz. the new brazilian acquirer does not wish to keep the european entities. they are kept in the group, disconnected from it different activities and geographical areas. from the perspective of integration, the coordination projects have been stopped since then, which produced a “backward” effect for the target (a french manager). case d mexete " in 2005, the mexican group mexete acquires a european firm with production plants in several countries, including two in france. a world leader in its sector, mexete has been working on strong international development since the 1990s, starting with acquisitions in spanish-speaking countries, then in emerging countries, with a first up-market acquisition in the united states at the beginning of the 2000s. up to that time, mexete international development had been the subject of research which attributed its success to the model implemented by the group in the integration of its acquisitions. indeed, mexete follows a formalized process including a two-fold dynamic: on one hand, it quickly when the south takes over the north! m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 31-53 43 implants its tools and best practice in its acquisitions; on the other hand, it detects within these entities the methods that, if deemed efficient, might be integrated in the standard model and developed worldwide. this approach combines absorption and internal benchmark and was developed particularly during the acquisition of the american entity (hill & jones 2012). structure: incorporation in the acquiring group " at the time of the acquisition, the french entities, which had kept their original names and identities within the european group, are combined into one single entity to form mexete france. this nominal absorption is completed by a quick and strong intervention of the acquirer: “during the integration, 200 employees of mexete came on a mission to set up the model. later, some of them were appointed to key positions.” (a french employee) " this six-month assignment was led by group employees from several countries, mostly from mexico. moreover, even though the management team stayed in position, reorganizations were quickly implemented within the entities and their teams. activities: alignment with the group’s tools and procedures " the first task of this assignment is to align the entities with the group’s reporting standards, which is done in a month. then the plants are integrated to the group’s information systems, in a single unified model. then production processes, distribution networks and buying processes are re-examined. according to a french executive, “the intention of mexete was to place as quickly as possible the new entities in the mexete model”. all support functions are standardized, as is the human resources policy. hotline, invoicing and payroll are outsourced. some french employees worry about this “excessively rigid centralization”. the change is strong and quick, both in a structural level and in the coordination of activities. significantly, some respondents use a recurring vocabulary to name the integration, talking about an “american model” and “american culture”. this recurring term shows on the one hand a common association made between the american major groups and the absorption type of integration and, on the other hand, the similarity of the approach of mexete with this absorption ideal-type: a quick incorporation of the entities into the group, a low level of autonomy and an assimilation into the systems and the models of the group. " at no time did we find any data, either primary or secondary, suggesting that practices or methods from the french entities have ever been detected by the group or integrated in its processes: the actors’ testimonies only mention an intervention and downstream transfers, from the acquirer to their targets. evolution: consolidation of the initial changes " following this first stage of quick major changes, which lasted about six months, there was no significant change in the relationships between the acquirer and the target. initial changes were consolidated, without any further major change, the entities continued to be structurally and operationally integrated to the group. mexete has consolidated its position in france, in which it employs about 3  000 people. the country’s executive committee includes french managers and a south-american manager: the latter comes from the group and has significant international experience, so he is responsible for finances, systems and operational improvements. m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): xxx-xxx" morgan marchand 44 c o n c l u s i o n : p r o g r e s s i v e f o r m s o f integrations by emne " table 3 sums up the key elements of the cases allowing a comparison and a synthetic multi-case reading. it sums up the characteristics of the acquisitions’ effects on the targets’ structure and activities, as well as their evolution over time. case analysis like this enables us to compare these cases with integration cases from the literature and to compare these empirical data with theoretical hypotheses. table 3. comparative summary of the cases case a first china b yellow shine c flexibraz d mexete emne country china china brazil mexico year of acquisition 2011 2006 2006 2005 emnes prior internationalization export only export only export only presence in many countries up-market experience no no no yes effects of integration structure entity relatively autonomous, managed by expatriates from the acquirer entity preserved, autonomous (“we have become a sme”) entity preserved (“from a subsidiary of a european group to a sme de facto”) entity absorbed activities evolution over time the acquirer develops its national market with the target’s resources investments in the target two years after acquisition employees from the target create a similar industrial plant in china investments in the target four years after acquisition attempts of technological and business coordination attempts by the acquirer to tighten its control, four years after acquisition a quick alignment of the entities with the acquiring group’s standards -type of integration gradual partnering, in “double-handspring” gradual partnering with technological catch-up, uncompleted partnering > preservation de facto absorption partnering approaches evolving differently " firstly, our results confirm the fact that emne often choose a partnering approach following their up-market acquisitions. cases a, b and c are examples of integrations that are definitely similar to the partnering mode, even though modalities and form are different. in case a, expatriate chinese executives, who say they are relatively autonomous, gradually set up collaborations whose primary purpose is to develop the group’s domestic market with the help of the target’s technology. in case b, the acquired entity remains structurally unchanged, “has become again an sme”, whereas its human resources and its technology is mobilized in a reverse transfer to develop an industrial plant in china. in case c, the target remains autonomous a “de facto sme”, while attempts to coordinate activities are developed at technological and business levels. " the analysis of relationship evolution between acquirer and target over time enables us to go beyond this first level of static reading. indeed, the results confirm the first part of kale & singh’s hypothesis (2012): when the acquirer when the south takes over the north! m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 31-53 45 chooses a partnering approach, it tends to increase medium-term integration. in two cases, investments are made some years after acquisition: then the partnering approach, which was already under way on the acquirers’ side, also reveals itself on the targets’ side. the two-times dimension of these two integrations make them look close to the williamson & raman’s “double handspring” model (2013). yet this is not, as kale & singh surprisingly point out, a medium-term “more exhaustive absorption”. indeed, even though the intensification of activities makes the two organizations interweave themselves a bit more, the targets’ structural autonomy is still high: therefore, there is no absorption. this is partnership intensification through more significant coordination of activities, which is also and above all bidirectional, both from and to the target. " case c reveals another dimension of the partnering approach and helps build our understanding of it. in this case the first attempts of coordination of activities fail due to a number of difficulties (distance, lack of resources and experience from the acquirer) which led to their gradual abandon. though the acquirer tries, four years after acquisition, to reinforce the entity’s integration, but once again it meets obstacles. the situation is getting worse, and when the acquirer itself changes owner, the target experiences a “backwards” movement which left it in a situation of simple preservation. a two-time partnering dynamic, and in two directions " an overall logic of the partnering approach can be developed, which is characterized by a two-time deployment and a trajectory that can be bidirectional. in a first stage, the acquirer tries to benefit from its acquisition for his own technological or business development; then the acquisition has little impact on the target. then, in the medium-term, the acquirer changes the level of coordination with the target, in two possible directions. if coordination is proceeding satisfactorily, it is intensified and a bi-directional partnership is taking form. both organizations, though separate, become more interdependent and develop in interaction: the two entities are interweaving, as a consequence of a more significant coordination of activities. this situation is close to the symbiotic integration mode, except that where the symbiosis ideal-type suggests a coordination of activities on many levels, coordination in a partnering approach involves only a part of the acquirer and target activities. another issue of this approach reveals itself when coordination of activities is not fruitful. in this case, it can be abandoned gradually, and the target is relatively neglected by the acquirer to find itself in a situation of preservation. " so the partnering approach is a dynamic process. it is not a category in itself; it is a gradual process between preservation and a selective form of symbiosis. as opposed to an absorption, which, by its very nature, leads to immediate effects, the effects a partnering approach reveal themselves gradually to the target. this partnering dynamic is committed to increase over time, with a change occurring in the medium-term, but its trajectory can be in two directions, with a possible backward effect in the case of failed activity coordination. an absorptive approach increasing with the experience in acquisitions " case d is clearly different from the previous ones and provides a challenge to the current literature on emne. indeed in this case, the acquirer chooses an absorptive approach, characterized by significant changes made to integrate structurally the target and to align its activities with those of the group. in m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): xxx-xxx" morgan marchand 46 accordance with the absorption ideal-type, these changes are achieved quickly and following a formalized plan. " this integration is only partly consistent with the acquirer’s practices, as they have been previously identified in literature. indeed, the acquirer is known to apply a model in which it develops its processes while learning from its acquisitions, detecting good practices and developing them later on in the whole group. in this case, there is a clear alignment of the french entities with the group’s processes and systems, but there is no sign that the acquirer ever detected good practices in its acquisitions: it seems that a strictly absorptive integration has been carried out. our data do not allow us to provide a definite explanation for this fact. however, following several acquisitions and particularly the acquisition in the united states, the group’s baseline of knowledge is likely to have grown more and more exhaustive and thus can only develop marginally. mechanically, the more acquisitions a group achieves, especially in developed countries, the less learning it needs from acquisitions. " while keeping its own logic, its integration process is therefore getting gradually less bi-directional and more “downstream”, from the group to the target. the second part of kale & singh’s hypothesis is, however, correct and even challenges its premises: not all the emne choose a partnering approach, and an emne which already has enough experience can be more and more interventionist and directly absorb its acquisition. discussion: managerial and theoretical implications " these results lead us to many types of reflection and discussion. at a theoretical level, the diversity of situations compels us to think about the different antecedents of integration mode choice. it also invites us to reconsider, even to rethink the category of emerging multinationals. at a managerial level, the results help better understand the major part played by the target in the development of the relationship with the acquirer. antecedents of integration choice: toward an integrated approach " the results highlight a number of antecedents of emne integration choices. in the case of our study, the emne choosing a partnering approach have no experience in up-market acquisition, whereas the emne that absorbs its acquisition benefits from many similar prior experiences. this fact suggests the importance of the acquirer’s experience in its choice of integration mode. at the same time the technological or managerial difference between the acquirer and the target also seems to play a major role: thus, the more the technological difference would favor the target, the more beneficial it would be the acquirer to choose the partnering approach, and thus the more likely it would choose it " yet, would the emne implementing a partnering dynamic do it only because they have no other alternative, or is it also partly because they do not want to do another way? the question is worth asking, because many other antecedents seem to be involved. the first case provides clues for a specific vision of the acquirer toward integration: two managers from the group talk about their “own methods to integrate” with a “one or two-year break-in phase”. their choice of a partnering approach does not seem to be constrained by aspects related to capacity, but it would also result from a specific managerial conception that would particularly combine motivation for learning and specific time when the south takes over the north! m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 31-53 47 orientation. this last point comprises both cultural and governance aspects: in the first two cases, emne adopting a partnering approach are indeed chinese stateowned groups. elements of governance are also involved in the third case, in which a change in shareholding within the acquirer causes the target to move into a preservation mode. " the antecedents of the choice of integration mode are therefore multiple and intricate. to articulate their complexity, we recommend an integrated approach which combines two series of elements: on one hand, the strategic, pragmatic and deliberate choices of the acquirer (carried out by considering particularly its absorptive capacity, its previous experience and the difference in resources with the target); and on the other hand, the less explicit managerial practices, interweaved into prior visions of “how things should be done” with regards to the emnes administrative heritage. we prefer using the term “administrative heritage” (calori et al., 1997) over “culture” used by liu & woywode (2013). it more exhaustively deals with elements related to strategic choices and it combines cultural (relations to time, change, power), institutional (governance, economic environment of the country of origin) and historical elements (development of the emne). " another motivation for the choice of a partnering approach has been described in the literature. according to kale & singh (2012), this choice would first allow an emne to ease the reluctances and concerns within the target. these effects did not appear in our study. almost on the contrary, in the first two cases, the hardly interventionist attitude of the acquirer caused among the employees of the acquired entities many anxious expectations and doubts as to the truthfulness in the acquirer’s statements. the relevance of this tactical aspect in the integration approach is therefore not confirmed by the facts. a re-checking of the “emerging multinationals” category " the contrasting results, between emne choosing a partnering approach and another absorbing its targets, lead us to question the solidity of the “emerging multinationals” category (emne). indeed, in the literature, this category is often associated with supposedly specific internationalization modes. our multi-case study reveals differences from this point. another way to consider this question would be to rethink the definition of emne. is the adjective “emerging” related to these multinationals’ country of origin (exogenous characteristic) or to their own development (endogenous characteristic)? in other words, are these emne “multinationals from emerging countries” or “emerging multinationals”? with this second definition based on each organization’s own stage of development and level of maturity, it appears that emne choosing partnering approaches tend to be multinationals on their first internationalization stages, whereas emne choosing absorption approaches would be already mature multinationals, for which the adjective “emerging” would be inappropriate. " because of their differences, these cases help outline some recurring forms of emerging multinationals development. their up-market acquisitions seem to have a dual dimension of learning, which for emne consist of getting the necessary resources to their development while testing their management models on an international scale. so there would be no first stage of development of a management model in the domestic market followed by an exploitation of this model in the international market, as there is in the classical model: emne develop their competitive advantages and their managerial models not only during their acquisition, but also by means of them. m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): xxx-xxx" morgan marchand 48 managerial implications: managing the partnering approach temporality " several managerial implications can be drawn from this study, especially from the cases of partnering approaches by emne. firstly, the evolving dimension of the emne relationships toward their acquisition must be considered: their managerial and strategic choices at a given time are probably not firm specificities, rather transitional elements related to their stage of development. then, it is crucial to get a good understanding of the two-time development of the partnering dynamic and to pay particular attention to the first coordination of activities which can condition the next stages of integration, either positively or negatively. indeed, especially if there is little direct impact on the target in the first stage, its managers should be aware that they play a crucial role in the further development of the relationship with the acquirer. if the first coordinations provide satisfying results, partnership should increase and the target could draw benefits (investments, sustainability and development of the activity…). on the contrary, if the first co-ordinations prove unfruitful, the target could be abandoned in a non-intended preservation situation that would undermine its development and its future in the group. " this is all the more important given that, during the first time period in the partnering approach, managers and the teams of the acquired entities can be surprised by the acquirer’s seemingly laissez-faire attitude. therefore, they can interpret the autonomy which is granted to them as mere and simple independence, and miss the real challenges at this stage. yet, if there is a relatively new decoupling between the shareholding relationship and the managerial relationships in this type of integration, and the presence of the acquirer is discreet, the latter’s expectations are real, as well as the development possibilities for he acquired entity. avenues for further research " in this study, we have tried to produce unpublished empirical data and compare them to the currently developing theoretical frameworks about the emne development. these data allow us to provide knowledge and input for debates on emne on expanded empirical bases. further research will confirm its conclusions and particularly articulate with more accuracy the different levels of antecedents of integration choice. the question of whether the emne choosing partnering approaches do this because they cannot or will not choose another way seems to us to be particularly interesting. several ways of expanding this research could help answer the question: temporally, by increasing the longitudinal covering of the studied cases; geographically, by studying cases of further acquisitions by the same emne in other developed countries (to determine recurrences or evolutions) or emerging countries (to identify recurrences or differences); and structurally, by complementing the approach based on subsidiaries with an approach based on the emne headquarters. references beddi h. (2011). quel est le rôle du siège dans les firmes multinationales ? revue française de gestion, 37(3), 77-92. birkinshaw j.m, bresman h., & håkanson l. (2000). managing the post-acquisition integration process: how the human integration and task integration processes i n t e r a c t t o f o s t e r v a l u e c r e a t i o n . j o u r n a l o f management studies, 37(3), 395-426. birkinshaw j., bresman h., & nobel r. (2010). knowledge transfer in international acquisitions: a retrospective. journal of international business studies, 41(1), 21– 26. borini f.m., de miranda o.m., freitas s.f., & de oliveira c.r. (2012). the reverse transfer of innovation of foreign subsidiaries of brazilian multinationals. european management journal, 30(3), 219–231. when the south takes over the north! m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 31-53 49 http://faculty.london.edu/jbirkinshaw/assets/documents/21managing_the_post_aquisition_integration_process._journal_of_mangement_studies.2000.pdf http://faculty.london.edu/jbirkinshaw/assets/documents/21managing_the_post_aquisition_integration_process._journal_of_mangement_studies.2000.pdf http://faculty.london.edu/jbirkinshaw/assets/documents/21managing_the_post_aquisition_integration_process._journal_of_mangement_studies.2000.pdf http://faculty.london.edu/jbirkinshaw/assets/documents/21managing_the_post_aquisition_integration_process._journal_of_mangement_studies.2000.pdf http://faculty.london.edu/jbirkinshaw/assets/documents/21managing_the_post_aquisition_integration_process._journal_of_mangement_studies.2000.pdf http://faculty.london.edu/jbirkinshaw/assets/documents/21managing_the_post_aquisition_integration_process._journal_of_mangement_studies.2000.pdf calori r., lubatkin m., & very p. (1996). une étude empirique des formes et déterminants de l'intégration post-acquisition. management international, 1(1), 41-54. chanda n. (2007). bound together. how traders, preachers, adventurers, and warriors shaped globalization. new haven, ct: yale university press. cuervo-cazurra a. (2012). how the analysis of developing country multinational companies helps advance theory: solving the goldilocks debate. global strategy journal, 2(3), 153-167. eisenhardt k.m. & graebner m.e. (2007). theory building from cases: opportunities and challenges. academy of management journal, 50(1), 1–8. graebner m.e. & eisenhardt k.m. (2004). the seller’s side of the story: acquisition as courtship and governance as syndicate in entrepreneurial firm. administrative science quarterly, 49(3), 366–403. gupta a.k. & govindarajan v. (2000). knowledge flows within the multinational corporation. strategic management journal, 21(4), 473-496. guillen m.f., & garcia-canal e. (2012). emerging markets rule: growth strategies of the new global giants. new york, ny: mcgraw-hill professional. haspeslagh p., & jemison d. (1991). managing acquisitions: creating value through corporate renewal. new york, ny: free press. hennart j.-f. (2012). emerging market multinationals and the theory of the multinational enterprise. global strategy journal, 2(3), 168-187. hill c. & jones g. (2012). strategic management cases. mason : cengage learning. jaussaud j., mizoguchi s., nakamura h., & schaaper j. (2012). coordination et contrôle des filiales à l’étranger : une enquête qualitative auprès de filiales françaises et japonaises en chine. finance contrôle stratégie, 15(1,2), 1–26. kale p., & singh h. (2012). characteristics of emerging market mergers and acquisitions. in faulkner, d., teerikangas, s., & joseph, r. j. (2012). the handbook of mergers and acquisitions. oxford : oxford university press. kœnig g., & meier o. (2001). acquisitions de symbiose : les inconvénients d’une approche rationaliste. m@n@gement, 4(1), 23–45. kumar n. (2009). how emerging giants are rewriting the rules of m&a. harvard business review, 87(5), 11-121. le borgne-larivière m., & schier g. (2010). le rôle des filiales dans le processus de développement à l’international. management international, 15(1), 59-72. liu y. & woywode m. (2013). light-touch integration of chinese cross-border m&a: the influences of culture and absorptive capacity. thunderbird international business review, 55(4), 469-483. luo y.d. & tung r.l. (2007). international expansion of e m e r g i n g m a r k e t e n t e r p r i s e s : a s p r i n g b o a r d perspective, journal of international business studies 38(4): 481-498. lubatkin m., calori r., very p. & veiga j.f. (1998). managing mergers across borders: a twonation exploration of a nationally bound administrative heritage. organization science. 9(6), 670-684. mayrhofer u. (ed.). (2011). le management des firmes multinationales. paris : vuibert. mayrhofer u. & very p. (eds.). (2013). le management international à l’écoute du local. paris : editions. miles m.b. & huberman a.m. (1994). qualitative data analysis, thousand oaks, ca: sage. nayir d.z., & vaiman v. (2012). emerging multinationals: globalisation paths and management styles. european journal of international management, 6(3), 243-247. ramamurti r., & singh j. (2009). emerging multinationals in emerging markets. cambridge, ma: cambridge university press. sarathy r. (2013). cross-borders acquisitions by emnes, in williamson et al. (2013). the competitive advantage of emerging market multinationals. cambridge, ma: cambridge university press. seawright j. & gerring j. (2008). case selection techniques in case study research: a menu of qualitative and quantitative options. political research quarterly, 61(2), 294–308. spigarelli f., alon i., & mucelli a. (2013). chinese overseas m&a: overcoming cultural and organisational divides. international journal of technological learning, innovation and development. 6(1/2), 190– 208. vaara e. & monin p. (2010). a recursive perspective on discursive legitimation and organizational action in mergers and acquisitions. organization science, 21(1), 3–22. weber y., tarba s.y., stahl g.k. & bachar-rozen z. (2012). integration of international mergers and acquisitions: test of a new paradigm. in weber, y. (ed.). (2012), handbook of research on mergers and acquisitions. cheltenham : edward elgar publishing. williamson p.j. & raman a.p. (2013). cross-border m&a and competitive advantage of chinese emnes. in williamson et al. (2013), the competitive advantage of emerging market multinationals. cambridge, ma: cambridge university press. williamson p., ramamurti r., fleury a., & leme fleury, m. t. (2013). the competitive advantage of emerging market multinationals. cambridge, ma: cambridge university press. yin, r.k. (1989). case study research: design and methods. london: sage publications. yueh l. (2012). china’s going out, bringing in policy: the geo-economics of china’s rise. iiss (the international institute of strategic studies) seminar paper. m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): xxx-xxx" morgan marchand 50 morgan marchand is phd candidate, paris-dauphine university (dauphine recherche en management m&o), and consultant in international management. when the south takes over the north! m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 31-53 51 m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): xxx-xxx" morgan marchand 52 © the author(s) www.management-aims.com when the south takes over the north! m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): xxx-xxx 53 183peton hélène peton université paris-est, irg (ea 2354), upec, f-94010, créteil, france helene.peton@u-pec.fr stéphan pezé université paris-est, irg (ea 2354), upec, f-94010, créteil, france stephan.peze@u-pec.fr reflection on historical studies of institutional change: small steps are not necessarily missteps. a rejoinder to daudigeos, boutinot and jaumier. hélène peton � stéphan pezé ! the study of institutional change over a period of history involves several theoretical and methodological issues. in proposing a commentary on our article published in vol. 17 n°3 of m@n@gement (peton and pezé, 2014), daudigeos, boutinot and jaumier have provided an opportunity to open up the debate, and we thank them for that. their commentary concerns two major points: a methodological question concerning the choice of data in a historical research context, and a resulting reflection on the consideration given to collective representations in analysis of institutional work. ! before replying in concrete terms to the points raised by daudigeos et al., we wish to return to the objective of our article and clear up one matter they raise. our study starts with reflection on the different institutional pillars. while scott (2008) stresses the importance of all three pillars (normative, cognitive and regulative), the regulative pillar is rarely studied in the literature on change. it finds itself relegated to the role of a ratifier of changes driven by the cognitive and normative pillars, and has generally been considered static and treated as the same thing as the rule produced by the state (scott, 2008; mccann, 1994). the case of faute inexcusable, an institutionalised practice introduced in 1898 and still in force today, reveals the complexity of a regulative pillar that has a real, and very specific, institutional dynamic. ! we can only agree with daudigeos et al. when they stress the importance of paying attention to interaction between institutional pillars in institutional change. our article focused mainly on the regulative pillar, such that we do not propose any contribution regarding interactions between pillars and their mutual effects – that was not our research project. however, our contribution to the understanding – and a form of intellectual rehabilitation – of the regulative pillar paves the way for a broader research agenda explicitly aimed at exploring the interaction dynamic between the pillars, without claiming to answer it comprehensively1. delimitation of the boundaries of the organisational field studied ! we agree with several of the remarks made by daudigeos et al. first, the fact of not restricting the organisational field and the actors involved ex ante; second, the usefulness of taking a publication that is central to the field to capture change over time in the field’s boundaries, and thus remain sensitive to its m@n@gement 2015, vol. 18(3): 261-265 261 1. this brief overview of our approach is given to avoid any misunderstanding: daudigeos et al., at the end of their first paragraph on the presentation of our article, write that “[peton and pezé] ‘highlight a regulative pillar that is ‘ahead’ of the cognitive and normative pillar’ within institutional change (page 174).” this extract from our article is not in fact a stated contribution, but a hypothesis we suggest as part of the directions for future research. mailto:stephan.peze@u-pec.fr mailto:stephan.peze@u-pec.fr mailto:helene.peton@u-pec.fr?subject= mailto:helene.peton@u-pec.fr?subject= mailto:stephan.peze@u-pec.fr mailto:stephan.peze@u-pec.fr 2. this is the methodology used in many longitudinal studies in neo-institutionalism which are founded on systematic study of the press or some specific publication. 3. however, the relevance of using a corpus that starts in 1902 to argue that “insurance companies became involved in the political battle around the 1898 law” (p.  255) is debatable, particularly as the corresponding process began in 1880 (bienvenu, 1938). other sources, such as the archives of the said insurance companies, could cast more detailed light on their exact role. 4. we drew on other sources of data, such as the work of historians specialising in occupational health and safety (boisselier, 2008; buzzi, et al., 2006; machu, 2009; rosental, 2008; seillan, 2009), who do not specifically note the role of insurance companies in the birth or subsequent evolution of faute inexcusable. 5. another very stimulating discussion could be started here, on the question of the unit of analysis: which institution is actually being studied? can le moniteur be considered central for analysis of the institutionalised practice of f a u t e i n e x c u s a b l e ? d o e s t h e s t u d y b y daudigeos et al. in fact examine the field of occupational accidents and liability for those accidents? if so, it would arguably have been better to choose a publication such as the journal travail & sécurité, published by the french national research institute for prevention of occupational accident and illness (inrs), which has the added advantage of not being restricted to the construction and civil engineering industries, but the disadvantage of only being published since january 1949. “plasticity”2. understanding change in the field through the study of a central publication is indeed both very informative and relevant. ! and yet daudigeos et al. state that our methodological choice, i.e. our concentration on legal and judicial data, could result in certain actors being ignored. they argue that this choice – which is one of the contributions our research makes to management science, highlighting the informative value of legal and judicial data that are still rarely used in our field of research – enables us to show the work of hitherto ignored actors, but also restricts the range of actors observed. to illustrate their point, daudigeos et al. argue that the choice of a central publication from the field would have brought other actors to the fore. they give the example of the findings of an empirical study drawing on the archives of the trade journal le moniteur des travaux publics et du bâtiment since 1902, and note that insurance companies played a role in the original law of 1898 (which gave rise to the concept of faute inexcusable) and its future changes. this in their opinion completes our “rather limited vision of the components of civil society” which they consider as a bias generated by the nature of the legal and judicial sources used. while the additional information provided by daudigeos et al. may indeed identify an additional actor which played a lobbying role in the origins of faute inexcusable and its evolution (at least between 1898 and 1941)3, there are several responses to this critical reading. first, it should be remembered that the original aim of our research was to offer an initial interpretation of the regulative pillar’s internal dynamic, not to study an institution in all its complexity. second, although we emphasise the usefulness of studying original data from legal and judicial sources, we also based our study on more contextual research4. and finally, the illustration proposed by daudigeos et al. raises the question of studying a field in all its completeness without finding a totally satisfactory answer. there is apparently no simple answer to the question of the right methodological choices for a complete, in-depth study of a field encompassing all its length and its multiple dimensions. this is why, as well as aiming for completeness, selection of the data source must primarily respond to the issues of the research subject. it partly explains why so little research has so far attempted to study all three institutional pillars at once. this once again raises the question of the central importance of the data source used for research. the example of le moniteur reveals the difficulty of conceptualising and operationalising this idea. le moniteur may be the trade journal with the widest circulation in france, but we would be more cautious than daudigeos et al. over their assertion that it has the status of “a publication that occupies a central position in the field and whose development of the content thus reflects the evolution of the organizational-field boundaries and thus the changes in the organizations and interest groups that populate it” (p.  255). for one thing, le moniteur is intended for members of the construction and civil engineering industries – which is similar to the limitations daudigeos et al. consider to exist in our choice of data sources, and the ex ante delimitation of the actors studied. for another, they state that it provides information on a very wide range of subjects (all related to the construction industry). given the diversity of themes covered, then, how can this publication occupy a “central position in the field” of faute inexcusable specifically5? ! more generally, this point relates to recurring questions in analysis of an institutional field: who are the actors whose institutional work is considered analysable? the actors able to express their opinions in the chosen publication? but in that case, what about other business sectors or “silent voices” that do not have access to that publication? research into agency, particularly its different forms, could develop genuinely useful reflection on these questions: is it necessary to have projective agency to carry real institutional change? previous research (e.g. leblebici, 1991)  has already underlined the role of peripheral m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 261-265! hélène peton & stéphan pezé 262 actors in institutional change: so how can we measure their institutional work through one “central” publication? the necessity of incorporating dominant collective representations into analysis of institutional work ! the second criticism made by daudigeos et al. is that our focus on the regulative pillar leads us to neglect the continuous influence of the cognitive pillar and thus propose “a biased interpretation of causal links” (p.  257) concerning faute inexcusable. in fact, we do not study the change in an institutional practice for its own sake, but in order to capture the complexity of the regulative pillar and its dynamic – hence our decision to focus more on that pillar and political institutional work. this comment – which is also valid for many studies on institutional change – has the merit of questioning the relevance of studying the regulative pillar without an associated study of the cognitive pillar. yet daudigeos et al. acknowledge that we do identify the interactions between the cognitive and regulative pillars during one of the periods identified: in the end, their main criticism is that we did not do so systematically for all the periods. more specifically, daudigeos et al. question our empirical analysis, proposing a “counterpoint” (p. 257) to our explanation of the origins of the turnaround in case law from 2002 onwards by arguing that “the contestation of the compensatory amounts put forth by peton and pezé is only the manifestation of a much deeper contestation of the principle of the 1898 law” (p.  257)6. but this is more of a confirmation than a counterpoint to our analysis: it was definitely a misalignment between the regulative and cognitive pillars that brought the cour de cassation judges to change direction in its ruling of 2002. we agree that the cognitive pillar “influences all steps of institutional change and cannot be ascribed to the sole role of a trigger” (p.  257). once again, to avoid any misunderstanding, it was never our aim to confine one pillar to a precise role in the absolute (for instance, the role of trigger) – instead, we have written an empirical study of a period of change in the concept of faute inexcusable, confirmed by daudigeos et al., which identifies a type of contingent relationship at a given point in time in the case studied. ! to extend the logic applied by daudigeos et al., the normative pillar (which, surprisingly, they do not mention) should also be central to the analysis, among other things leading us to question the role of materiality or artefacts in understanding institutional change (and thus potentially opening up other theoretical discussions)! this discussion thus underlines another level of complexity in the analysis of historical change in institutions: detailed examination of the interactions between the three pillars, which doubtless do not play the same role with the same intensity throughout the institution’s lifetime. currently, there are few studies that analyse the three pillars of the institution simultaneously (two notable exceptions are caronna, 2004 and maguire and hardy, 2009). the many interesting studies on the concept of institutional logics offer a more integrative understanding of institutional factors. logics can be defined as “the socially constructed, historical patterns of material practices, assumptions, values, beliefs, and rules by which individuals produce and reproduce their material subsistence, organize time and space, and provide meaning to their social reality” (thornton and ocasio, 1999, p. 804). this approach would certainly be more in line with the expectations of daudigeos et al. regarding understanding of change in a field or institution. change, in this view, results from struggles, oppositions, integrations or hybridations of the a rejoinder to daudigeos, boutinot & jaumier! m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 261-265 263 6. on this point, daudigeos et al. analyse the change in the “conception of workplace accidents” and find that it oscillates between “universal protection of workers and massive investment into technical prevention” in 1941, and being “about individual responsibility” in 2002 (p.  256). this gives the impression they are studying the more general institutional field of occupational (workplace) accidents and how reparation is made, rather than the more precise and clearly delimited (albeit embedded in the broader field) field of faute inexcusable. this vagueness regarding the exact definition of the institutional field studied is not unproblematic, because there is a risk that daudigeos et al. will use the cognitive pillar from a different field to engage in dialogue with the field concerned by our study. different logics that structure the institution: complexity thus brings about change (greenwood et al., 2011). however, this approach does not appear to provide any answers to the question of the mutual interactions and influences between the various components of the institution, which can be examined in a more differentiated way through a pillar-based approach. one of the contributions of this type of analysis is that it focuses attention on one of its dimensions – like our study, which shows the specific dynamic of the regulative dimension and can thus propose an initial understanding of the misalignments that may appear in an institution. our analysis is thus situated upstream of the conclusions of caronna (2004), who notes that institutional change is due to institutional alignments and misalignments. by better understanding the dynamics internal to the pillars, we offer a better understanding of the misalignments that are potential sources of institutional change. the regulative dynamic highlighted in our study, for instance, enhances understanding of the institutional work of defence or destruction going on inside institutional change. further thoughts ! in the conclusions to their commentary, daudigeos et al. sum up their critique as follows: “the absence of a systematic consideration of the changing boundaries of the field and collective representations leads to the actors and their rationalities being arbitrarily defined, and the role of power struggles in institutional change being overemphasized” (p. 257) this rejoinder resituates our research in its intellectual context and the rich and varied corpus of literature on institutional change. we fully agree with many of the comments and remarks made, and extend their analysis by showing that the choice of a central publication does not in itself provide a satisfactory answer to the questions of which actors to study and which to leave in the background. their objections are not so much a limitation to our study as a plea for further research to tackle the complex methodological challenges of combining the different levels of complexity mentioned. ! historical or processual research over long time periods involves methodological issues that are accentuated here, since studying an organisational field of institutionalised practice is a complex undertaking. the choice of the data source, as is often the case in processual research, restricts the analysis just as much as it brings out the subtleties of interaction between some of the actors involved. this, we would argue, is one of the reasons for the low number of empirical studies that analyse all three dimensions of the institution simultaneously and in depth7. ! we believe that our study of faute inexcusable offers an initial exploration of the regulative dynamic which, as we suggested in the avenues for research at the end of our article (p.  173-174), needs to be questioned and extended to encompass other actors, but also other sources of law (such as legally binding collective agreements). our study of faute inexcusable provides conceptual elements for a detailed analysis of the regulative pillar and its interactions with the other pillars, the scale and nature of those interactions being neither identifiable ex ante nor necessarily stable over time. this interpretation of institutional change – which may also hold good for dynamics of institutional maintenance – is very promising, and we can only call for more long-term empirical studies drawing on several sources of data. m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 261-265! hélène peton & stéphan pezé 264 7. the question of causality in sequential studies could be added to this very interesting debate. apart from interaction, characterisation of mutual influence remains problematic today. detailed understanding of the causes of an institutional change, especially the succession of phases of m a i n t e n a n c e a n d c o n t e s t a t i o n , i s a methodological challenge. the approach via institutional struggles has brought out the existence of the unstable balance beneath an apparent institutional status quo, but it would be interesting to have in-depth studies of the shift between a stable and an unstable balance. hélène peton is a lecturer (maître de conférences) at université paris-est créteil and a member of the institut de recherche en gestion (irg, ea 2354). her research concerns the role of actors in institutional change, mainly in cases of major controversies. stéphan pezé is a lecturer (maître de conférences) at université paris-est créteil and a member of the institut de recherche en gestion (irg, ea 2354). his research concerns the construction of identity, occupational health and managerial situations and trials. © the author(s) www.management-aims.com references caronna c.a. (2004). the misalignment of institutional" pillars": consequences for the us health care field.  journal of health and social behavior, 45 (si), 45-58. greenwood r., raynard m., kodeih f., micelotta e.r., & lounsbury m. (2011). institutional complexity and o r g a n i z a t i o n a l r e s p o n s e s .  t h e a c a d e m y o f management annals, 5(1), 317-371. leblebici h., salancik g.r., copay a., & king t. (1991). institutional change and the transformation of interorganizational fields: an organizational history of the us radio broadcasting industry.  administrative science quarterly, 36(3), 333-363. maguire s., & hardy c. (2009). discourse and deinstitutionalization: the decline of ddt. academy of management journal, 52(1), 148-178. mccann, m.w. (1994). rights at work: pay equity and the politics of legal mobilization. chicago, il: university of chicago press. peton h., & pezé s. (2014). the unsuspected dynamics of the regulative pillar: the case of faute inexcusable in france. m@n@gement, 17(3), 145-179. scott w. r. (2008). approaching adulthood: the maturing of institutional theory. theory and society,  37(5), 427-442. thornton p.h. & ocasio w. (1999). institutional logics and the historical contingency of power in organizations: executive succession in the higher education publishing industry, 1958-1990.  american journal of sociology,105(3), 801-843. a rejoinder to daudigeos, boutinot & jaumier! m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 261-265 265 http://www.management-aims.com http://www.management-aims.com http://www.management-aims.com http://www.management-aims.com http://www.management-aims.com less followership, less leadership? an inquiry into the basic but seemingly forgotten downsides of leadership mats alvesson lund university mats.alvesson@fek.lu.se martin blom lund university martin.blom@fek.lu.se unplugged "carte blanche" l e s s f o l l o w e r s h i p , l e s s leadership? an inquiry into the basic but seemingly forgotten downsides of leadership by mats alvesson and martin blom in the original tradition of the "unplugged" section, "carte blanche" grants a wild card to world-class scholars to share their own perspective on novel ways to conceive of management today. they may offer new avenues and draw up an agenda for a specific research question. authors have to be invited to submit to the "carte blanche" series by one of the editors. abstract. leadership is generally viewed as important and beneficial for individuals as well as organizations. the term, however, also implies followership and the targets for leadership may be less enthusiastic about adopting a follower position. from a follower’s point of view, there might be downsides associated with a leadership/followership relationship, including negative effects on identity and reduced autonomy. these often neglected downsides may lead to a dampening of the enthusiasm for leadership in practice and form a counterforce to the prevalence of leadership. this aversion towards followership may therefore mean ‘less’ leadership, for instance less salient ‘leader/follower’ qualities in relations and interactions than is generally assumed in leadership/followership studies. ! who wants leadership? the question might be odd, given contemporary society’s cry for more salient and sustainable leadership, especially when combined with the steady flow of literature on the subject. the dominant assumption among practitioners and leadership scholars seems to be that leadership is both desirable and necessary. there are of course critical voices (e.g. alvesson & spicer, 2011, 2014; collinson, 2005; gemmill & oakley, 1992; knights & willmott, 1992; western, 2008; tourish, 2014; zoller & fairhurst, 2007), which often emphasize power and ideology, but the assumption that leaders lead m@n@gement 2015, vol. 18(3): 266-282 266 mailto:mats.alvesson@fek.lu.se?subject= mailto:mats.alvesson@fek.lu.se?subject= mailto:martin.blom@fek.lu.se?subject= mailto:martin.blom@fek.lu.se?subject= those who need and benefit from being led still dominates the majority of the leadership literature as well as the broad, societal discourse on the subject (pye, 2005). ! a common assumption guiding most leadership studies is ‘that the employees sampled innately need or desire leadership’ (hunter et al., 2007, p.  436). as with all assumptions, this one needs to be critically examined (alvesson & sandberg, 2013). leadership sounds good, but arguably it calls for something that is less enthusiastically embraced: followership. from a formalistic point of view it may appear to be straightforward to sort people into leaders and followers (and this is routinely done in the leadership research and publication industry), but leadership and followership cannot be reduced to formal positions. leadership needs to be considered not just as a process in which leaders issue instructions to followers, but as a relational phenomenon in which followership is a key element, calling for people to see themselves as followers (derue & ashford, 2010; fairhurst & uhl-bien, 2012). arguably, leadership relations without followers do not make sense, and the absence of the latter undermines or even precludes leadership. but do people want to be followers, and to accept the role and the identity that this entails? of course, there are definitely situations and relations when accepting a follower position might be perceived as beneficial, where the perceived upsides exceed the downsides and to actively avoid or resist a follower position might also come at a price. ! working with counter-assumptions is often a powerful way of questioning established truths and bodies of knowledge (alvesson & deetz, 2000). arguably, it is through challenging dominant assumptions that it is possible to develop new theories (alvesson & sandberg, 2013). therefore, in contrast to many mainstream texts on leadership, one can depart from the assumption that competent employees often do not feel that they need or desire followership; instead, they seek to avoid and minimize leadership/followership relations. the implications for understanding leadership are far-reaching. of course, the argument needs unpacking and nuancing. in this paper we will, from a constructionist perspective (derue & ashford, 2010; fairhurst & grant, 2010; shamir, 2007), assess the dynamic and dependent relationship between leaders and followers (carsten et al., 2010; uhl-bien et al., 2013). in doing so, we delineate our argument from what we refer to as ‘follower-less’ ideas on leadership (for example distributed/shared/self leadership with seemingly only leaders and no followers) and assume that the relationship between leaders and followers is asymmetric in terms of status, power and influence, where the former category (i.e. leaders) is privileged (harter et al., 2006; rost, 2008). while recognizing that there are potential upsides associated with accepting a follower position (e.g. inclusion, support, direction, meaning, reduction of uncertainty and anxiety) we investigate two major problems or downsides (experienced negative elements) for those taking follower positions, which are related to identity and autonomy. these downsides are of course not the only problematic elements that can be experienced by followers, but they are two fundamental disadvantages for this group. it is also important to emphasize that these downsides are different from the argument that only "bad" leadership leads to "bad" outcomes. even reasonably competent leadership may entail problems and sacrifices for people not eager to define themselves as followers. ! the message emerging from many influential leadership studies is that leadership is a good thing and employees generally benefit from and desire it. however, a broad overview of the empirical evidence does not unambiguously support the view that people in general are enthusiastic about taking followership positions. leadership is difficult to define and study and assumptions and ideologies permeate all research (alvesson & karreman, 2015; kelly, 2014). for a long time leadership research struggled to elicit any conclusive answers (yukl, 1989). transformational leadership research (tfl) appeared to give the field a m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 266-282! "carte blanche" 267 boost and hoped to capture the secret of effective leadership; however, much of this research is highly problematic, since many researchers seem to measure the existence and causal force of tfl through its effects, which is tautological (van knippenberg & sitkin, 2013; yukl, 1999). some research would also argue that leadership is fairly marginal, at least in some organizational contexts and for some people. for example, in their seminal article on substitutes for leadership, kerr and jermier (1978) describe how organizations can work without leadership, given certain conditions. ! in some areas, the benefits of leadership as the (or at least a major) way of organizing work cannot be seen as a given. research on knowledge-intensive firms and professionals indicate that subordinates seem to manage rather well without much leadership (e.g. alvesson 2004; lowendahl, 1997; rennstam, 2007; von nordenflycht, 2010), although some researchers also claim that leadership (very broadly defined) is important for knowledge and innovation (mumford et al., 2002). many claim that professional labor is autonomous labor and aspirations about professionalism are expanding (fournier, 1999). one could also argue that in contemporary society, with an educated workforce who has access to a wealth of sources for support and inspiration, the need for leadership is reduced. given the flourishing of narcissism and grandiose self-images in the western world (alvesson, 2013; foley, 2010; twenge et al., 2008; twenge & foster, 2010), were most people want to associate themselves with something high-status and identity-boosting, followership may not seem to be an attractive position. this may lead people to try to avoid followership positions. despite the ubiquitous demand for and celebration of leadership in society, many people in organizations may be less enthusiastic about taking a follower position and would prefer to minimize the risk of becoming targets for leadership. the dominant assumption that leadership is ‘good’ and is broadly seen as favorable (including for followers) can therefore be questioned. ! we need to consider a possible paradox: it combines the dominant view of leadership as a positive, important and broadly celebrated kind of social practice, and at the same time it must acknowledge the limited enthusiasm that parts of the workforce might feel for leaders in their daily work life, since the follower positions occupied by most may be experienced as unappealing. this may also be the case for managerial work/formal leadership positions (i.e. managerial duties also constrain autonomy and identity), but the problems of being a manager or leader are outside the scope of this paper. our point here is neither to make a strong statement against the significance and consequences of leadership (see for example alvesson & spicer, 2014 and collinson, 2011 for overviews of ‘critical leadership studies’), but rather to point out the uncertainties surrounding such claims, thereby underscoring the need to be open-minded and consider various assumptions. rather than accepting and reproducing the assumption that leadership is broadly perceived as good and welcome (by the intended followers), we can, as previously mentioned, consider a counter-assumption: there is often a disinterest in leadership relationships as many people do not want to take follower positions: they do not expect their manager (or senior colleague) to define the right values, beliefs and meanings for them, and this figure is not key for providing support and development. ! in this paper, our aim – based on the counter-assumption described above – is to elaborate on two important but often neglected downsides associated with leadership (primarily experienced by followers), and to discuss when ‘less leadership’ (i.e. less direction and/or support discursively framed in terms of leader-follower relations) makes sense. we do not go as far as some other critical leadership scholars, for example gemmill and oakley 1992, who claim that leadership is an example of ‘false consciousness’ whereby the ‘central aim is to repress uncomfortable needs, emotions, and wishes’ (p. 114) resulting in ‘massive learned helplessness’ (p. 115) and ‘childlike dependency’ (p. 121). "carte blanche"! m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 266-282 268 instead we outline two important and seemingly forgotten downsides that should be recognized and measured against the potential upsides of a leader/followerrelationship, where the ‘net effect’ is an empirical question. the paper thus contributes to the skeptical or moderately critical literature that questions the dominant position of ‘leadership’ in organizational research and practice as well as the growing literature on followers and followership (e.g. bligh, 2011; carsten et al., 2010; derue & ashford, 2010; uhl-bien et al., 2013). ! the paper proceeds as follows: first, we discuss the close relationship between leadership and followership as presented in the literature. then we elaborate on the differences between leadership and management, and argue for a more distinctive use of the concept of leadership. we continue by arguing that followership includes voluntary submission and asymmetry in relation to a leader. we then outline what we see as two important downsides of leadership, which often seem to be ignored or underestimated. this is followed by a discussion on what the downsides of followership might mean for leadership. a concluding section summarizes and ends the paper. leadership implies followership ! after noting that ‘despite almost three thousand years of ponderings and over a century of “academic” research into leadership, we appear to be no nearer a consensus as to its basic meaning’, grint (2010, p.1) suggests that perhaps simply just ‘having followers’ (p.2) might be an adequate definition of leadership. the importance of followers is also included in most definitions of leadership. according to antonakis et al. (2004: 5): "most leadership scholars would agree, in principle, that leadership can be defined as the nature of the influencing process – and its resultant outcomes – that occurs between a leader and followers and how this influencing process is explained by the leaders’ dispositional characteristics and behaviours, follower perceptions and attributions of the leader, and the context in which the influencing process occurs" ! however, even a minimalistic definition involving followership (such as grint’s above) is refuted by researchers emphasizing self, shared; collective, and distributed leadership (e.g. gronn, 2002; lovelace et al. 2007; manz & sims, 1980; manz, 1986; pearce & conger, 2003). we see much ‘follower-free’ or follower-marginalizing ideas on leadership as outside the otherwise broad scope and relevance of this paper. ! some literature tries to upgrade followership. relational approaches to leadership often emphasize dialogue, mutual influence and participation. they often downplay or even avoid mentioning the involvement of followers (uhl-bien & ospina, 2012). hosking (2011) for example, writes that ‘leadership is a relational practice, ongoing in and supportive of dialogues, emergent processes, relational responsiveness, multiplicity, and appreciation’ (p. 462). also, literature focused on followers and followership emphasizes the ‘positive’ aspects of followership, almost to the point of stripping the category of the conventional meanings of followership, instead constructing an image of followers as active, skilled, participatory and enjoying harmonious relations with leaders (e.g. bligh, 2011; collinson 2005; crossman & crossman, 2011). some studies point out varieties of followers, of whom some are passive and others happy just to follow (carsten et al., 2010). ! some literature emphasizes a leadership without leaders. crevani et al. (2010:78) ‘redefine leadership in terms of processes and practices organized by m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 266-282! "carte blanche" 269 people in interaction, and study that interaction without becoming preoccupied with what formal leaders do and think’. this approach often tends to emphasize positive interactions in general (raelin, 2013) and it becomes difficult to see what is distinctive about ‘leadership’. arguably, we can be interested in collaborative work – which is often more important than ‘leadership’/asymmetrical leaderfollower interactions – without overusing and confusing the label of leadership. in this paper we refrain from seeing leadership as a form of problem-solving, participating, or direction-shaping joint activity. we follow dominant understandings of the subject matter and view followership and a sense of asymmetrical relations as intrinsic to the notion of leadership. (this does not imply that the relationship is entirely static or that all initiative and influence flows from the leader, but that the relationship in the shortand medium term, and most interactions, are unequal.) ! despite ambitions, not least in the literature on followers, to empty followership of anything other than positive meanings and upgrade followers to what comes close to ‘non-followers’, the very idea of leadership calls for followership. this means a group of people taking a comparatively inferior position in relation to the leader, who is the primary source of activity, knowledge, sense-giving, and who provides a sense of reality. carsten et al. (2010, p. 545) view followership as people relating to ‘those with higher status’, which is also part of the definition of leadership (see also derue & ashford, 2010). this does not of course preclude the existence of activity and influence among followers, but in relation to the leader these qualities are not dominant. a follower is not an equal participant in this relationship (rost, 2008). this relationship does not preclude mutual influence and moments of initiative and activity from all members of a group, nor the reversal of the dominant and submissive roles, but deviations from leadership are relatively rare, brief or issue-specific. as harter et al. (2006) write, ‘it goes to the meaning of the word “leadership” for there to be some kind of inequality’ (p. 290). this inequality is key to our discussion in this paper. we do not address the fact that at times the influence is shared, or discuss the (peculiar) idea that everybody is a leader and/or does leadership when involved in organized (positive) actions. most influencing and group work can be understood without talking about leadership (alvesson et al., 2016). cutting leadership down in size – leadership should not be equated with management ! before proceeding we need to further clarify what we mean by leadership, without denying the ambiguity of the term and the various viewpoints in the leadership field(s). ! the distinction between management and leadership (kotter, 1985; zaleznik, 1977) is difficult but crucial. leadership-followership is hardly the same as employees subordinating to the manager as part of an employment contract, or following something (e.g. an ideology or a fashion) in general. people may ‘follow’ not because of being positively influenced by the authority person (given a leader status), but simply because they are obliged to comply with the manager in order to retain the job or avoid direct sanctions (which is not regarded as ‘followership’ in this paper). ! one area of leadership studies focuses on the distinction between managers and leaders (zaleznik, 1977; hunt, 2004; nicholls, 1987; palmer & hardy, 2000). the distinction is regularly set up to contrast trivial, boring management with sexy, important leadership (bolden et al., 2011). zaleznik (1977) views the influence of leaders as ‘altering moods, evoking images and expectations, and establishing specific desires and objectives [...] the net result "carte blanche"! m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 266-282 270 of this influence is to change the way people think about what is desirable, possible and necessary’ (p. 71). leaders are then heavily involved in what pfeffer (1981), refers to as ‘symbolic management’. leadership is a sense-making activity that entails symbolic actions and processes that generate meaning (bryman, 1996; ladkin, 2010; smircich & morgan, 1982). the emphasis of leadership is thus not on the formal, ‘objective’, and behavioral, but on thinking, valuing, emotions and identities: management can get things done through others by the traditional activities of planning, organizing, monitoring and controlling without worrying too much what goes on inside people's heads. leadership, by contrast, is vitally concerned with what people are thinking and feeling and how they are to be linked to the environment to the entity and to the job/ task. (nicholls, 1987: 21) ! this does not imply that managers and leaders need to be separate people or fixed, distinct types – most people in senior positions do both and many nonmanagers perform leadership acts based on personality or experience. some of these acts may influence behavior, sentiments or meanings – but it may be wise to distinguish between phenomena and avoid the very broad use of concepts. in terms of subordinates/followership, most people in formal organizations are subordinates – paid to comply with instructions from managers within the constraints of formal hierarchy, bureaucracy, the employment contract, and so forth. in a leadership relationship, the formal aspects are downplayed or sometimes even irrelevant. here it is mainly about the ‘positive’ influence on values, meanings, moods, orientations – qualities that cannot be topics for command. (a manager can order people to smile and be polite to customers, but he or she cannot instruct people to endorse the meaning of ‘customerorientation’.) the roles of leader and follower are about relational processes in which people claim and grant identities (derue & ashford, 2010). without correspondence in view of self and other, leadership/followership will not work. there need to be ‘symmetrical meanings’ about the asymmetry/inequality of the relationship and the adjacent identities (derue & ashford, 2010). still, a formal managerial position is an important factor in asymmetrical relations and in most cases managers-subordinates will to some degree overlap leader-follower relations (carsten et al., 2010). ! it seems increasingly common to conflate management and leadership, partly because the latter term is more grandiose and appealing (alvesson, 2013). also, studies claiming to investigate the social constructions of leadership tend to study managers/supervisors (bresnen, 1995), while followership studies focus on formal subordinates (carsten et al., 2010) without much consideration as to whether those studied construct themselves and their work in terms of leadership and followership or not. mumford et al. (2009) claim that the issue of managers versus leaders is something for studies to explore and in the meantime, it is best, or at least good enough, to approach leadership ‘broadly’ (p. 123). there are two fundamental problems here. one is that those involved may not see each other as leaders and followers – people in formally subordinate positions may not define their formal superior as a ‘leader’ (unless in a general sense) and might not see themselves as ‘followers’. also, irrespective of the views of those involved, a careful investigation of a relationship might lead the researcher to the conclusion that the leadership/followership relationship is not accurately represented. it may be that a more nuanced view is necessary, and that the a priori categorizations of ‘leaders’ and ‘followers’ may be misleading. ! so the theme in this paper is leadership/followership, not managers/ subordinates (or management/subordination as part of an employment contract), although in an organizational context leadership/followership will often overlap m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 266-282! "carte blanche" 271 manager/subordinate positions. this distinction is vague and difficult but it is worth trying to maintain it in order to understand the social constructions and identity issues around followership in its different forms. voluntary submission a key quality of a leader/follower relationship ! our task in this paper is not to suggest a new or very distinct view of leadership, but in order to justify the overarching idea of ‘less leadership’, we need to define the term and reduce it’s range somewhat. a key element in most leadership theories is having followers (grint, 2010; uhl-bien et al., 2013), but not just formal subordinates complying with instructions, rules, and so forth. leadership means engaging in systematic influence on people’s thinking, feelings, values and meanings (smircich & morgan, 1982). this implies that some people will voluntarily comply with and accept a follower identity in relation to a leader seen as central for offering direction, meaning and support (derue & ashford, 2010; seers & chopin, 2012). this is still rather a broad statement, but it makes leadership different from management. there is also the possibility of collaboration between peers (sometimes – and confusingly – referred to as ‘shared leadership’). leadership is not follower-free, and followership seldom means blind obedience. leaders/followers can be linked to or different from formal positions; they can be more or less salient or camouflaged and change over time, but they are still characterized by a clear sense of asymmetry, specifically a difference in status, identity and power (derue & ashford, 2010). the leader’s values, advice, directions, and meanings tend to carry much more weight compared with those of other followers or peers. in fully egalitarian relations, there is therefore little point talking about leadership (harter et al., 2006). as a consequence, followership can be understood as a partly voluntary reduction of influence or what shamir (2007) refers to as disproportionate social influence, in favor of being influenced by (associated with an acceptance of inferiority in relationship to) a superior (leader). this is clearly different from a pure manager-subordinate relationship, where there is not necessarily a sense of inferiority, but people may comply as an outcome of formal employment contracts, hierarchy and the vertical division of labor. subordinates often accept the manager’s formal obligations and rights, but they do not need to become devoted followers and or to be significantly affected in terms of ‘altering moods, evoking images and expectations, and in establishing specific desires and objectives’, to repeat zaleznik’s (1977: 71) definition of leadership. ! if we disregard the leadership acts of a few great heroes and consider the more typical situation of people in managerial positions trying to lead, in the majority of situations the followers may experience a downside. as subordinates’ granting and acceptance of the leader’s influence is a key element in leadership (derue & ashford, 2010), the experience of potential downsides is crucial for the very existence and outcomes of a leadership relationship. does one accept the downsides and become responsive to another person having a key influence on one’s constructions of meanings, values, beliefs and self-understanding (the distinct elements in leadership)? accepting a low status identity as a ‘follower’ (rost, 2008) and refraining from active influence is not self-evidently appealing in contemporary (western) culture, except for those who are inexperienced, lack resources, face extraordinary situations or are cultivated in strongly hierarchical systems or totalitarian institutions. followership then needs to be considered not just in terms of more or less passive or active followers (e.g. bligh, 2011; carsten et al., 2010; crossman & crossman, 2011), but also in terms "carte blanche"! m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 266-282 272 of the possible frustrations or sacrifices associated with a socially and psychologically unfavorable position (rost, 2008). two basic downsides of leadership from a follower perspective ! we will here point out two basic but important downsides associated with leadership/followership from the potential followers’ point of view: the sacrifices in terms of identity and autonomy. an obvious drawback of followership concerns identity. not all people are content to locate themselves in a position of status inferiority. likewise, the appeal of having discretion and autonomy at work is another key factor that may make workers reluctant to formally position themselves as followers. sacrifice in terms of negative identity ! a major downside is associated with the more or less voluntary acceptance of a follower identity. a follower identity should not be viewed as the inevitable consequence of occupying a formal subordinate position. it is the result of an iterative and generative claiming and granting process with uncertain outcomes (derue & ashford, 2010). a follower identity exists in an asymmetrical relationship characterized by the difference in terms of social status: ‘leaders hold a position of privilege in the dualism [leader-follower] because they are considered to be superior to their followers’ (gordon, 2011, p. 196). in addition, ‘[p]ower relations between leaders and followers are likely to be interdependent as well as asymmetrical… and often contested’ (collinson, 2011, p. 185). the hierarchical subordination of ‘followers’ makes this position less appealing for identity and self-esteem compared to being a leader. you seldom hear people presenting themselves as ‘followers’. this is because of the generalized expectations associated with the two positions/roles (derue & ashford, 2010; rost, 2008). to be a follower is to be inferior to a leader – not in all respects or at all times, but it does not make sense if a ‘follower’ person feels equal to or superior to his/her ‘leader’. in that case a different conceptualization of the relationship seems more appropriate (e.g. manager/professional, ceo/sales manager, coach/athlete, agent/artist, and so forth). formal hierarchy may lead to compliance, and senior positions and leadership tend to overlap, but as said before, the idea of leadership captures something different from formal positions and interactions. you may accept and comply with the manager’s formal mandate, but when it comes to management of meaning (values, ideas, beliefs, understandings) subordinates can more or less choose if they take a follower position or not (derue & ashford, 2010; seers & chopin, 2012). ! a strong sense of inferiority might be unavoidable and acceptable for young people in relation to much more experienced, well educated or otherwise competent colleagues, especially if the inferiority is perceived as temporal, as part of being a newcomer. race, gender and class might also contribute to ‘acceptance’ of an inferior or follower position. it might also be acceptable, even attractive, to construct yourself as a follower to high-status people and/or people with exceptional talents. indeed, to be a disciple of christ or the dalai lama, a secretary of nelson mandela and so forth, might perhaps serve as a productive resource for positive identity work, but these extreme examples are removed from the often mundane reality of modern working life we are treating in this paper. ! as the examples above indicate, there might actually be situations where a follower position is actively sought after. however, in many cases a follower m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 266-282! "carte blanche" 273 position is not sought after. often in manager-subordinate relations (or those between various peers), the perceived superiority/inferiority asymmetry is not so strong that a leader-/follower relation is self-evidently established. emphasizing that someone is a follower marks them as having a low social status (rost, 2008). to be regarded and to regard oneself as someone who is ‘following’ rather than ‘leading’ (or working fairly autonomously, alongside other professionals/ peers/people), will typically involve a feeling of inferiority and hence potentially result in a negative self-conception. hence, in order to grant someone else a leader identity and accept a follower identity for yourself, an element of submission and inferiority needs to be in place (derue & ashford, 2010). when accepting such an identity, the original sense of inferiority might even be reinforced and cemented, making an ‘exit’ out of the relationship harder to achieve. having a follower identity may also be seen as an outcome of identity regulation (alvesson & willmott, 2002) or ‘disciplinary power’ mechanisms associated with identity formation (foucault, 1980). this may well be resisted by people targeted as ‘followers’. ! the unwanted nature of the follower position is illustrated by how middle managers asked to describe their work almost exclusively point at their superiority in managing subordinates, and deny their position as subordinates who are themselves also managed (laurent, 1978). the sacrifices in terms of a positive identity associated with a follower position thus make many people unwilling to claim and accept such a position (derue & ashford, 2010), which in turn may complicate and undermine leadership as the necessary followership part may not be in place. sacrifice in terms of reduced autonomy ! apart from the problem of negative identity, there is the issue of reduced autonomy. autonomy is, like leadership, generally thought of as something good (hackman et al., 1975), particularly in western cultures. there are also recognitions of the dangers and anxieties associated with extreme freedom (e.g. fromm, 1941), but few organizations come close to offering an anxiety-provoking high level of freedom. apart from very young, inexperienced or dependent people, perhaps with a ‘low self-concept’ and who are eager to attribute charismatic qualities to their leaders (howell & shamir, 2005), most qualified individuals probably want discretion and leeway to do the job as they see fit (alvesson, 2004; deetz, 1997). foley (2010: 173) even claims that ‘autonomy is the one thing that makes professional life more fulfilling’ . at least some people do not want much interference or too many constraints on what they are doing. many also want to avoid being at the lower end of an unequal relationship. this does not preclude the existence of management structures, hierarchy, bureaucracy, guidelines and practices (adler, 1999) or reduce the need for leadership interventions, see e.g. kerr & jermier (1978). of course, there are specific and extraordinary situations, such as a crisis calling for immediate collective action, where leadership or other forms of managerial intervention may be seen as necessary (grint, 2010), but these situations are the exception in many organizations. ! we find a possible contradiction or dilemma between leadership and autonomy ideals. while one cannot argue that leadership always includes significant constraints, or that most people would prefer a work situation entirely characterized by discretion and free of limiting structures, the very idea of leaders leading followers and followers following leaders arguably involves a reduction of autonomy. even supportive, low-control forms of leadership may involve limiting junior colleagues’ autonomy. delegating means that the manager is in control and decides how much discretion is appropriate. the manager also decides on the ‘proper’ type of leadership, including the need to be transformational, authentic, "carte blanche"! m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 266-282 274 serving, facilitative, supportive, and so forth; but these decisions can still be seen as ‘too much of a good thing’ (blom, 2012). ! leadership typically means counteracting free, diverse thinking, valuing and acting, as a consequence of the creation of shared meanings and collective action (smircich & morgan 1982). followership entails being willing to accept the leader’s definitions of what exists, what is good and what one should strive for. the professional may claim the right to discretion and autonomy (within occupationally defined limits), while the follower is more dependent on the leader to receive ideas guiding a specific constrained discretion and autonomy (derue & ashford, 2010). the outcome of some forms of leadership may involve a degree of pre-directed or pre-structured autonomy so that discretion is used in what the leader would consider to be the ‘right way’. this is the idea behind the enthusiasm for corporate culture, and more recently, organizational identity, which assumes that through identifying with and internalizing the right values, orientations and mindset, people would voluntarily do the ‘right thing’ without the need for leaders or managers to assume direct control (dutton et al., 1994; peters & waterman, 1982, for critical discussions see alvesson & willmott, 2002; tourish & pinnington, 2002; willmott, 1993). even so, leaders need to grant followers significant input about assumptions, values and meanings – and refrain from frequently expressing ideas that go against those expressed by the leader. two core tenets of followership are the strong inclination to be persuaded and the ability to only rarely insist on equal or stronger voice than the leader. ! many leadership researchers emphasize forms of leadership that are supposed to be experienced as facilitative rather than restrictive (e.g. mumford et al., 2002), but leadership is hardly just about being supportive or facilitative. the majority of all organizations include a multitude of tasks that are not very stimulating or joyful and the job of managers is to manage people in doing tasks they may find stressful or boring. therefore, when managers and other authorities are exercising leadership, it is not only about helping people to do things they really like to do, but also to make them do what they do not like to do, especially when these tasks are necessary for organizational performance. there is an element of reduced room for maneuver involved, and leadership is to a significant degree about constraining action space, cognitions, values, emotions, identity constructions, and so forth. this may be accomplished in a positive, persuasive manner rather than an overtly repressive one, including appeals to values, norms, obligations, pride, shame and guilt, but nevertheless means that a person’s freedom to do whatever s/he wants is significantly restricted. leadership – as addressed here – is primarily about organizational (or the leader’s) goals, not about maximizing followers’ freedom and happiness. even though management partly deals with goal accomplishment and leadership involves an element of voluntary compliance, leadership leads to an additional reduction of autonomy, as the domains of thinking, feeling, self-view and other forms of independence are restricted by the outlook of the leader. (even with forms of leadership such as the influencing of modes and meanings, most settings probably still involve significant subordination to management, including allocation of work tasks, requests to comply with corporate bureaucracy, implementing corporate strategies and fulfilling specific objectives and evaluating work performances. few organizations can simply replace management with leadership – except perhaps in rhetoric; see alvesson & sveningsson, 2003.) ! although there is not a simple zero-sum relationship between leadership and autonomy, there is a tension and a conflict between the two. this tension should be taken seriously, not glossed over by theories promising superior forms of leadership which create solely positive outcomes. when people claim that only positive things co-exist, the idea of a conflict or contradiction-free organizational reality can typically be seen as ideological and repressing the awareness of conflicts (alvesson & deetz, 2000). sometimes this goes so far as to argue that m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 266-282! "carte blanche" 275 hitler was not a leader, because he was a dictator, or that he was an ‘inauthentic leader’ – as he was not guided by good motives (bass & steidlmeier, 1999; jackson & parry, 2008). rather than assuming that two ‘good’ traits easily coexist – e.g. leadership and autonomy – one should accept that often the good and the less good often go hand in hand. organizational life is not free from tensions. an interest in autonomy can conflict with occupying a follower position. brief summary ! if we take the downsides in terms of identity and autonomy involved in all leader-follower relations into consideration, it is less evident that what is presented as ‘positive’ forms of (managerial or informal) leadership will be positively perceived by those supposed to be followers. even if the literature presents these forms of leadership in persuasive ways where the sacrifices are marginal, people supposed to be followers might be ambivalent or unwilling to accept this view. for these reasons, people in organizations might often prefer minimizing the exposure to leadership, avoiding/reducing manager-led meetings where leadership is exercised, limiting exposure to interventions which reduce autonomy and trying to downplay or bypass interactions or discourses emphasizing their status and identity as followers. ! again, it is important to note that these so called ‘downsides’ are experienced as negative by the potential followers, and are not automatically ‘measurable’ or ‘objective’ downsides or costs for the organization, even if dissatisfied subordinates can affect the bottom line negatively. it is also important to emphasize that the downsides outlined above can be recognized before accepting a follower identity (derue & ashford, 2010) as well as experienced after the acceptance of such an identity. people may hesitate in taking an underdog position, both before assuming one and during interactions where the expectation is that they accept a follower role. ‘followers’ unwilling or hesitant to comply with leadership efforts will of course undermine the effectiveness of these efforts. even a manager doing ‘correct’ leadership – working in line with any of the endless recipes for good leadership – may fail if people are unwilling to take a follower position. negotiations, mutual adjustments or co-constructions of leadership may not work if potential followers are not interested in a leaderfollower relation. this may, from a conventional leadership theory position, be seen as a failure, but it is not a given that the ‘net result’ for the organization is negative, as followership is not always the best response and strategies such as peer support and teamwork may be as effective as more conventional leadership in many situations (kerr & jermier, 1978). discussion: less leadership as an effect of less followership? ! unless framed in such a way that leadership is by definition a good thing, it seems reasonable to point at the downsides of leader-follower relations. many people in organizations – top management, middle managers, human resources, as well as subordinates yearning for ‘better’ leaders and leadership – often seem to neglect or ignore the sacrifices or downsides described above. there is of course the possibility that sometimes the downsides are well recognized, evaluated and accounted for when granting someone a leader position/accepting a follower identity (derue & ashford, 2010). but when reading most of the influential texts on leadership, these downsides tend to be ignored. this oversight is an outcome of focusing primarily on leadership, not on leader "carte blanche"! m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 266-282 276 and followership. and when followership is in focus, usually the positive aspects are emphasized. ! not only good leadership acts, but also willing followership, are needed in order for leadership to succeed. in assessing leadership (and implicitly also followership) as a practice, it is important to consider its potential downsides. the identity and autonomy sacrifices contingent upon followership may cause people to stay out of or weaken leadership relationships, but managers may have better things to do than spend time trying to transform subordinates through getting them to buy into the manager’s vision, values and ideals and manage how they should think and feel (blom & alvesson, 2014; holmberg & tyrstrup, 2010). the two downsides explored in this paper are of course not the only potential problems from a follower perspective. yet they are important downsides to recognize and they offer an explanation as to why it sometimes seems so hard to conduct leadership as suggested in large parts of the leadership literature. living up to the templates of transformational or authentic leadership may put a heavy burden on the average manager (sinclair, 2011). this burden is extra heavy as subordinates, as discussed above, may not be cooperative or responsive (sveningsson & alvesson, 2016). influencing people beyond their behavior to the point where one has a significant impact on their values is difficult and timeconsuming. limited interest from the intended follower can be interpreted not necessarily as ‘bad’ or ‘wrong’ leadership, but simply that people can function without leadership. ! the dominant leadership discourses praise and promise a partially ‘leadership-impregnated’ working life. managers think that they need to exercise leadership and that a solution to most organizational problems is more/better/ different leadership. but as it calls for followership, leadership is not a straightforward solution. given the potential sacrifices, they may feel inclined to minimize or marginalize followership and thus leadership, expressing a feeling of ‘less leadership logic’, for example minimizing a clear follower identity in interaction. the effects of grandiose leadership discourses – promising managers (or informal leaders) effective and happy subordinates if they show good leadership – may thus be reduced or even sabotaged in specific manager/ subordinate relationships and interactions by people eager to steer away from followership. ! our point is not to discourage leadership efforts; nor do we suggest that people always work best if they can do what they want, or that hierarchy, management or leadership should be minimized. followership positions are sometimes accepted, perceived as effective, rewarding and valuable, for example in crises or when strongly uneven capacities characterize the potential leaders and potential followers. sometimes managers may improve organizations and assist subordinates in doing a better job through persuading them to take followership positions (and identities), even in cases where there is initial resistance. shared meanings are important in organizations and sometimes not accomplished through organizational cultures or horizontal negotiations. but the contemporary strong emphasis on leadership in academia, society and working life has a potentially colonizing impact that needs to be questioned. critical literature emphasizing the danger of leadership is valuable (e.g. gemmill & oakley, 1992; knights & willmott, 1992), but often tends to reproduce an assumption that leadership is a central and powerful characteristic of organizations. in this paper, we would like to also raise the possibility that leadership in general may not have to be very significant in organizations given the downsides associated with followership. when people see themselves more as ‘non-followers’ (e.g. professionals, peers, co-workers) than followers, there will be ‘less leadership’. m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 266-282! "carte blanche" 277 in parallel with the ascendance of ‘heroic’ views of leadership such as transformational leadership, we see a trend towards upgrading followers and downplaying strongly asymmetrical and rigid leader-follower divisions (bligh, 2011). collinson (2005) for example suggests that we should ‘re-think followers as knowledgeable agents … as proactive, self-aware and knowing subjects’ (p. 1422) and look at the dialectics including resistance in the leader-follower relationship. this is a good point, but it tends to discursively lock people into leader/follower identities, and given the often neglected/hidden downsides it might be easier to enter than exit such an identity position (derue & ashford, 2010). it also tends to make the follower label empty and potentially meaningless. an excessive upgrading of ‘followers’ to active, influential participants or even coleaders goes against the idea of leadership/followership. saving leadership and also followership from the potential unpleasantness of the latter reduces leadership. as a ‘follower’ one tends to be less of ‘a proactive, self-aware and knowing subject’ than if one sees oneself as a professional or, more generally, as a self-going organizational member, i.e. a ‘non-follower’. and in addition to collinson’s (2005) critical discussion in terms of dialectics of ‘control and resistance’, we would like to highlight the subordinates’ option of just ignoring leadership attempts. since leadership includes a strong element of voluntary compliance, ‘followers’ can to a high degree choose their response to leadership attempts. this means that people can ‘exit’ or minimize leadership relations within their workplace by avoiding the adoption of follower positions. ! we then emphasize the distinction between subordinates and followers. followers are interested in and willing to be influenced by the leader, affecting values, beliefs, meanings, cognitions and other elements going beyond a manager/subordinate relation and its structural/formal framing (e.g. nichols, 1987; zaleznik, 1977). but followers’ discretion is far from endless: advice and suggestions from someone in a leadership position are expected to be taken seriously. subordinates may therefore avoid involvement in leadership relations and interactions, by for example not going to the manager for advice or not appearing too enthusiastic when participating in leadership-centered meetings. in the case of informal leadership ambitions rather than those based on a formal superior position, people may avoid placing the aspiring leader and oneself in an asymmetrical relationship by not approaching this colleague too frequently or respectfully. if different people are approached, one can avoid establishing a specific person as an authority and informal leader, relying more on networks of peers than informal leadership (blom & alvesson, 2014). ! in many cases managers may find it very difficult to conduct leadership, as followership is as unattractive as leadership is attractive when closely scrutinized. the appeal of leadership-superiority comes at the expense of followershipinferiority and this creates internal tensions within the leadership-followership constellation which can lead to leadership ambitions and followership nonambitions. the precondition of leadership – that ‘there is clarity in the leaderfollower relationship and individual’s identities as leader and follower’ (derue & ashford, 2010, p. 628) – may frequently simply not be in place. this condition can be partly explained by the two basic but seemingly forgotten downsides of leadership-followership outlined in this article. conclusion ! leadership researchers regularly divide the organizational world into leaders and followers. this division is seldom questioned. occasionally it is mentioned that the roles shift between different individuals – influencing and being influenced – but this is something different from the idea that there are "carte blanche"! m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 266-282 278 individuals that have a systematic and significant influence over followers in an unequal relationship. typically a person in a managerial position is targeted for study, either directly or through subordinates asked to produce answers in a questionnaire or an interview about the leadership of their manager. that the term ‘follower’ is a meaningful and precise categorization cannot, however, be taken for granted. rather than ‘follower’ being a natural and self-evident category, it should be seen as a possible position and identity, not always appealing or free from tensions and unease. skillful leadership may mitigate experiences of inferiority, but a person feeling superior or even equal to another may not take a follower position and rather than examine how individuals socially construct their identities as followers, one may ask if (and when) individuals in western societies really do construct their identities in this way. this is not a strict empirical question and we do not give any firm answer. it is a question that we raise for reasons of reflexivity and it needs to be considered in any study of leadership/followership. the phenomenology of subjects is central here: how do people define themselves in the context of (possible) leadership? followership may be viewed as less attractive and therefore systematically or consciously avoided. ! key qualities of leadership – as defined by most leadership studies – include asymmetrical relationships and followership. followership is a position and identity often negatively experienced compared to leadership. few business schools eager to attract students would consider offering courses in followership instead of leadership and the market for how to become a better follower is probably limited. the downsides associated with the former tend to drive an avoidance or reluctance of followership and thus promote leadership. leadership is a challenge and is perhaps less frequently practiced in relationships than preached by managers, leadership educators and the leadership publication industry (alvesson & sveningsson, 2003). leadership is discursive; followership and its practices/avoidances are less explicit in talk and text. leadership talk may be in broad circulation but may not be practiced that much due to the disinclination to follow. without followership, there is no leadership. ! a demand from some employees for less followership may also mean less leadership, both in the sense of leadership being a key quality of a relationship and of the conducting of acts meaningfully described as leadership practices. we should be more open to the possibility that less leader-/followership may be common and sometimes – at least from the potential followers’ point of view – a good idea. the downsides of exposure to leadership need to be taken into account: being ‘transformed’ through getting one’s worldview defined or altered by the leader reduces autonomy and affects self-identity. questions like ‘do you see yourself as a follower?’ are seldom asked. ! in some cases the downsides of leadership are limited in relationship to the benefits. followership is sometimes wanted or at least accepted. but in cases of strong emphasis on leadership the sacrifices in terms of autonomy and inferiority become salient. leadership/followership does not come for free – except for the ideologist defining leadership as linked to, or defined by, only good outcomes. ! a powerful and increasingly popular discourse emphasizes the ‘grandiose’ nature of leadership (alvesson, 2013; alvesson & kärreman, 2015). this invites many people to associate themselves with the idea of leadership. but this may also mean that followership becomes increasingly negatively loaded. the more we want to become leaders, the less we want to be followers. the reinforcement of ambitions and fantasies of aspiring leaders may lead to a shortage of aspiring followers. the ideological ‘success’ of leadership is a source of its defeat in many contexts: there is more ‘leadership’ (talk, fantasies, identity) than ‘followership’. leadership talk and fantasies then become decoupled from practice or relations. ! less leadership/less followership needs to be placed on the agenda when we think about leadership and the organization of work, as well as alternatives to leadership/followership as a mode of organizing a workplace. one way to do this m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 266-282! "carte blanche" 279 is to link leaderand followership more clearly, and highlight the asymmetry and the potential downsides. it is time to ask whether members of an organization really see themselves as followers and subscribe to followership at all. against the dominant assumption in leadership studies that employees desire or need leadership (hunter et al., 2007), one can – based on the key downsides outlined in this paper – raise the counter-assumption that many employees may not desire or think they benefit from leadership. neither assumption has been seriously investigated; both are worth taking seriously in research. references adler p. (1999). building better bureaucracies. academy of management executive, 13(4), 36–47. alvesson m. (2004). knowledge work and knowledgeintensive firms. oxford: oxford university press. alvesson m. (2013). the triumph of emptiness. oxford: oxford university press. alvesson m., blom m., & sveningsson s. (2016). reflexive leadership. london: sage. (in press). alvesson m., & deetz s. (2000). doing critical management research. london: sage. alvesson m., & kärreman d. (2015) intellectual failure and ideological success in leadership studies: the case of transformational leadership. journal of management inquiry (in press) alvesson m. & sandberg j. (2013). constructing research questions. london: sage. alvesson m., & spicer a (eds.). (2011). metaphors we lead by. understanding leadership in the real world. london: routledge. alvesson m., & sveningsson s. (2003). the good visions, the bad micro-management and the ugly ambiguity: contradictions of (non-)leadership in a knowledgeintensive company. organization studies, 24(6), 961– 988. alvesson m. & willmott h. (2002). producing the a p p r o p r i a t e i n d i v i d u a l . i d e n t i t y r e g u l a t i o n a s organizational control. journal of management studies, 39(5), 619–644. antonakis j., cianciolo a. & sternberg r (eds.). (2004). the nature of leadership. thousand oaks, ca: sage. bass b. & steidlmeier p. (1999). ethics, character, and authentic transformational leadership behavior. leadership quarterly, 10(2), 181-217. bligh m. (2011). followership and follower-centred approaches. in a. bryman d. collinson k. grint b. jackson & m. uhl-bien (eds.), the sage handbook of leadership studies (pp. 425-436). london: sage blom m. (2012). ledarskapsstilar i innovativa miljöer – en studie av hejarklacksledare, gurus, skyddsombud och helpdeskare (eng: leadership behaviour in innovative environments). in a. richnér, & j. frishammar (eds.), innovationsledning och kreativitet i svenska företag (eng: innovation management and creativity in swedish companies) (pp. 98-109). stockholm: imit. blom m., & alvesson m. (2014). leadership on demand: followers as initiators and inhibitors of managerial leadership. scandinavian journal of management. 30: 344-357 bolden r., gosling j., & hawkins b. (2011). exploring leadership. oxford: oxford university press. bresnen m. (1995). all things to all people? perceptions, attributions, and constructions of leadership. leadership quarterly, 6(4), 495-513. bryman a. (1996). leadership in organizations. in s. clegg, c. hardy, & w. nord (eds.). handbook of organization studies. london: sage.  carsten m., uhl-bien m., west b., patera b. & mcgregor, r. (2010). exploring social constructions of followership – a qualitative study. leadership quarterly, 21(3), 543-562. collinson d. (2005). dialectics of leadership. human relations, 58(11), 1419-1442. collinson d. (2011). critical leadership studies. in a. bryman d. collinson k. grint, b. jackson, & m. uhlbien (eds.), the sage handbook of leadership studies (pp. 181-194). london: sage. crevani l., lindgren m. & packendorff j. (2010) leadership, not leaders. on the study of leadership as practices and interactions. scandinavian journal of management, 26, 77-86. crossman b., & crossman j. (2011). conceptualizing followership – a review of the literature. leadership, 7(4), 481-497 deetz s. (1997). the business concept, discursive power and managerial control in a knowledge-intensive company: a case study. in b. sypher (ed.), case studies in organizational communication. new york, ny: guilford press. derue s., & ashford,s. (2010). who will lead and who will follow? a social process of leadership identity c o n s t r u c t i o n s i n o r g a n i z a t i o n s . a c a d e m y o f management review, 35(4), 627-647. d u t t o n j . , d u k e r i c h j . , & h a r q u a i l c . ( 1 9 9 4 ) . organizational images and member identification. administrative science quarterly, 39(2), 293–327. fairhurst g., & grant d. (2010). the social construction of l e a d e r s h i p : a s a i l i n g g u i d e . m a n a g e m e n t communication quarterly, 24(2), 171-210. fairhurst g., & uhl-bien m. (2012). organizational discourse analysis (oda): examining leadership as relational process. leadership quarterly, 23(6), 1043-1062. foley m. (2010). the age of absurdity. london: simon and schuster. foucault m. (1980). power/knowledge: selected interviews and other writings 1972-1977. new york, ny: pantheon books. fournier v. (1999). the appeal to ‘professionalism’ as a disciplinary mechanism. sociological review, 47(2), 280-307. fromm e. (1941). escape from freedom. new york, ny: farrar & rinehart. "carte blanche"! m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 266-282 280 gemmill g., & oakley j. (1992). leadership: an alienating social myth?. human relation, 45(2), 113-129. gordon r. (2011). leadership and power. in a. bryman d. collinson k. grint b. jackson & m. uhl-bien (eds.), the sage handbook of leadership studies. london: sage grint k. (2010). leadership – a very short introduction. oxford: oxford university press. gronn p. (2002). distributed leadership as a unit of analysis. leadership quarterly, 13(4), 423-451. hackman r., oldman g.r., janson r., & purdy k. (1975). a new strategy for job enrichment. california management review, 17(4), 51-71. harter n., ziolkowski f. & wyatt s. (2006). leadership and inequality. leadership, 3(3), 275-294. holmberg, i. & tyrstrup m. (2010). well then – what now? an everyday approach to managerial leadership. leadership, 6(4), 353-372. hosking d.m. (2011). moving relationality: mediations on a relational approach to leadership. in a. bryman, d. collinson, k. grint, b. jackson, & m. uhl-bien (eds.), the sage handbook of leadership studies. london: sage howell j. & shamir b. (2005). the role of followers in the charismatic leadership process: relationships and their consequences. academy of management review, 30(1), 96-112. hunt j. (2004). what is leadership? in j. antonakis, a. cianciolo, & r. sternberg (eds.), the nature of leadership. thousand oaks, ca: sage. hunter s., bedell-avers k., & mumford m. (2007). the typical leadership study: assumptions, implications, and potential remedies. leadership quarterly, 18(5), 435 446. jackson b. & parry k. (2008). a very short, fairly interesting and reasonably cheap book about studying leadership. london: sage kelly s (2014) towards a negative ontology of leadership. human relations, 67(8), 905-922. kerr s. & jermier j. (1978). substitutes for leadership: their meaning and measurement. organizational behavior and human performance, 22, 375-403. kotter, j. (1985). power and influence: beyond formal authority. new york: free press. knights d. & willmott, h. (1992). conceptualizing leadership processes: a study of senior managers in a financial services company. journal of management studies, 29(6), 761–782. ladkin d. (2010). rethinking leadership: a new look at old leadership questions. cheltenham: edward elgar. laurent a. (1978). managerial subordinancy: a neglected aspects of  organizational hierarchy. academy of management review, 3(2), 220–230. lovelace k.j., manz c., & alves j.c. (2007). work stress and leadership development: the role of selfleadership, shared leadership, physical fitness and flow in managing demands and increasing job control. human resource management review, 17(4), 374– 387. lowendahl b. (1997). strategic management in professional service firms. copenhagen: copenhagen business school press. manz c. (1986). self-leadership: toward an expanded theory of self-influence processes in organizations. academy of management review, 11(3), 585-600. manz c., & sims h. (1980). self-management as a substitute for leadership: a social learning theory perspective. academy of management review, 5(3), 361-367. mumford m., scott g., gaddis b. & strange, j. (2002). leading creative people: orchestrating expertise and relationships. leadership quarterly, 13(6), 705-750. mumford m., tamara f., caughron j., & antes a. (2009). leadership research: traditions, developments, and current directions. in d. buchanan & a. bryman (eds.). the sage handbook of organizational research methods (pp. 111-127). london: sage. nicholls j. (1987). leadership in organisations: meta, macro and micro. european journal of management, 6(1), 16–25. palmer i., & hardy c. (2000). thinking about management. london: sage. pearce c., & conger j (eds.). (2003). shared leadership. thousand oakes, ca: sage peters t. & waterman, r. (1982). in search of excellence. new york, ny: harper & row. pfeffer j. (1981). power in organizations. marshfield: pitman publishing. pye a. (2005). leadership and organizing: sensemaking in action. leadership, 1(1), 31-49. raelin j. (2013) from leadership-as-practice to leaderful practice. leadership , 7(2), 195-211. rennstam j. (2007). engineering work. lund: lund business press. rost j.c. (2008). followership: an outdated concept. in: r. riggio, i. chaleff, & j. lipman-blumen j (eds.). the art of followership: how great followers create great leaders and organizations (pp. 53-64). san francisco, ca: jossey-bass. seers a. & chopin s. (2012) the social production of leadership. in uhl-bien m., & ospina s (eds.). advancing relational leadership research: a dialogue among perspectives. greenwich, ct: information age publishing. shamir b. (2007). from passive recipients to active coproducers: follower’s roles in the leadership process. in b. shamir b, r. pillai, m. bligh & m. uhl-bien m (eds.). follower-centred perspectives on leadership (pp. ix-xxxix). greenwich, ct: information age publishing. sinclair a. (2011). being leaders: identities and identity work in leadership. in a. bryman, d. collinson, k. grint, b. jackson, & m. uhl-bien (eds.), the sage handbook of leadership studies. london: sage smircich l., & morgan g. (1982). leadership: the management of meaning. the journal of applied behavioural science, 18(3), 257–273. sveningsson, s. & alvesson, m. (2015) managerial lives. cambridge, ma: cambridge university press (in press) tourish d. (2014). leadership, more or less? a processual, communicative perspective on the role of agency in leadership theory. leadership, 10(1), 79-98. tourish d., & pinnington a. (2002). transformational leadership, corporate cultism and the spirituality paradigm: an unholy trinity in the workplace? human relations, 55(2), 147-172. m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 266-282! "carte blanche" 281 twenge j., & foster j. (2010). birth chort increases in narcissistic personality traits among american college students, 1982–2009. social psychological and personality science 1(1), 99–106.  twenge j., konrath s., foster j., campbell, k. & bushman, b. (2008). ego inflating over time: a crosstemporal meta-analysis of the narcissistic personality inventory. journal of personality, 76(4), 875-897. uhl-bien m. & ospina s (eds.). (2012). advancing relational leadership research: a dialogue among perspectives. greenwich, ct: greenwich: information age publishing. uhl-bien m., riggio r., lowe k. & carsten m. (2014). followership theory: a review and research agenda. leadership quarterly. 25(1), 83-104. van knippenberg d.l. & sitkin s.b. (2013). a critical assessment of charismatic-transformational leadership research: back to the drawing board? the academy of management annals, 7(1). von nordenflycht a. (2010). what is a professional service firm? towards a theory and taxonomy of knowledge intensive firms. academy of management review, 35(1), 155-174. western s. (2008). leadership: a critical text. thousand oaks, ca: sage. willmott h. (1993). strength is ignorance: slavery is freedom – managing culture in modern organizations. journal of management studies, 30(4), 515–552. yukl g. (1989). managerial leadership: a review of theory and research. journal of management. 15(2), 251–289. yukl g. (1999). an evaluation of conceptual weaknesses in transformational and charismatic leadership theories. leadership quarterly, 10(2), 285-305. zaleznik a. (1977). managers and leaders: are they different? harvard business review, 55 (may-june), 67-78. zoller h.m., & fairhurst g. (2007). resistance leadership: the overlooked potential in critical organization and leadership studies. human relations, 60(1), 1331-1360. © the author(s) www.management-aims.com "carte blanche"! m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 266-282 282 http://www.management-aims.com http://www.management-aims.com 528 valérie fournierm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 4, 2013, 433-453 copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). m@n@gement is a double-blind refereed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.management-aims.com © 2013 m@n@gement and the author(s). m@n@gement est la revue officielle de l’aims m@n@gement is the journal official of aims valérie fournier 2013 commoning: on the social organisation of the commons m@n@gement, 16(4), 433-453. m@n@gement issn: 1286-4692 emmanuel josserand, cmos, university of technology, sydney (editor in chief) jean-luc arrègle, emlyon business school (editor) laure cabantous, cass business school (editor) stewart clegg, university of technology, sydney (editor) olivier germain, université du québec à montréal (editor, book reviews) karim mignonac, université de toulouse 1 (editor) philippe monin, emlyon business school (editor) tyrone pitsis, university of newcastle (editor) josé pla-barber, universidad de valència (editor) michael tushman, harvard business school (editor) walid shibbib, université de genève (managing editor) alexander bell, université de genève (editorial assistant) martin g. evans, university of toronto (editor emeritus) bernard forgues, emlyon business school (editor emeritus) 433 commoning: on the social organisation of the commons m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 4, 2013, 433-453 commoning: on the social organisation of the commons university of leicester school of management vf18@le.ac.uk abstract despite centuries of enclosure and commodification, the commons remain an enduring way of organising, and one that may have an increasing relevance as we fall further into economic and ecological crisis. after exploring the ambivalent relationships between the commons and capitalism, the paper argues that the commons are best understood not as a resource but as a social process of organisation and production. the paper begins by considering the work of elinor ostrom, which has been essential in demonstrating that the commons involve community, some collective organisation for sharing and preserving common resources. ostrom, however, only considered some aspects of the commons. she explored how communities organise in commons to share resources between individual members but she ignored the fact that commons may not only be distributed in common but also may be used in commons and in this process may be reproductive of community. the paper moves on to explore these processes of organising for the commons and of the commons by drawing on three brief examples: a commune, a community of local residents reclaiming their neighbourhood and a social centre. using these examples, the paper then discusses the mode of organising that underpins the commons in terms of the production and distribution of use as well as the reliance on the principle of ‘reciprocity in perpetuity’ (pedersen, 2010). the conclusion suggests that considering the failure of markets and states to address the crises in which we find ourselves, developing and understanding the commons has become an urgent task. key words: commons, community, alternative organisation. valérie fournier 434 valérie fournierm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 4, 2013, 433-453 introduction it has become a truism to claim that we live in a commodified world, in which more and more of our lives are mediated by the market (e.g. patel, 2009). we sell our labour on the market and an increasing proportion of the resources we need for survival (for example water, the land on which our food is grown, clean air and so on) and of the services on which we rely to manage and organise our lives (for example child care, care for the elderly and aspects of sports, leisure and our domestic arrangements) are acquired on the market. it is useful to see this process of commodification in terms of ‘enclosure’ , as doing so rightly suggests that there is nothing natural about a ‘thing’ being a ‘commodity’. before things can be bought and sold, they have to become objects that people think can be bought and sold; they have to be ‘enclosed’. as polanyi (1944) suggested, the commodification and development of the market is not a natural force but a social and political process. beginning with the enclosures of the english commons, the market has only imposed itself through government intervention and the use of violence. many of the things we think of as commodities now (land, music, labour, food and clean air, for example) have not always been considered as such (patel, 2009). despite this often brutal process of commodification and enclosure, there remain many spheres of activities that are not colonised by the market (e.g. gibson-graham, 2006; williams, 2005). the commons not only remain an enduring form of organisation but also one that has become increasingly at the forefront of political demand amongst anti-capitalist movements. and it is a form of organising that may have more and more relevance as we plunge into deeper economic and ecological crises. neither the state nor the market seems capable of getting us out of these crises and they are in fact at least partly responsible for creating them. exploring alternatives such as the commons is thus particularly urgent (de angelis and harvie, 2013). the aim of this paper is to bring the commons, or, as i shall argue, ‘commoning’, to the fore as a form of social organisation that is rarely, if at all, represented in organisation studies. as i will argue in the first section, the commons remain an important way for many communities to sustain themselves. far from being an historical relic, common regimes are an everyday reality for millions of smallholders and landless peasants around the world (netting, 1997). whilst rural commons may have attracted more attention in the literature, the commons are not merely a rural phenomenon (blomley, 2008). urban gardens, squats, social centres and the ‘food not bombs’ movements are just a few of the examples that bear witness to the resonance that ‘reclaiming the commons’ slogans have in urban centres (e.g. carlsson, 2008). but these commons have ambivalent relationships with capitalism, being simultaneously outside the market relations that characterise capitalism and, in the moment of their re-appropriation, essential to capitalist development. this ambivalence has been well captured by autonomist marxist analysis that sees the commons as essential to both capitalist reproduction and to the development of anticapitalist alternatives (e.g. de angelis, 2007). this dialectical relation between capitalism and the commons can only be understood if we see the commons not only as a finite pool of resources but also as a social process of production and organisation. 435 commoning: on the social organisation of the commons m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 4, 2013, 433-453 the rest of the paper focuses on this process of ‘commoning’ (linebaugh, 2007). starting with the work of elinor ostrom in the second section, it argues that the commons involve community, some form of social organisation that emerges around the sharing of common resources. however ostrom’s work only considers some aspects of the commons. she explores how communities organise in commons to share resources between individual members, but ignores the fact that commons may not only be distributed in common but also may be used in commons and in this process may be reproductive of community. these processes of organising for the commons and of the commons are explored in the third section with three brief examples: a commune, a community of local residents reclaiming their neighbourhood and a social centre. these vignettes are used as illustrative material to develop a conceptual analysis of commoning. the fourth section discusses the mode of organisation that underpins the commons in terms of its focus on use, and its reliance on the principle of ‘reciprocity in perpetuity’ (pedersen, 2010). but reciprocity in perpetuity can be organised in different ways: by establishing clear boundaries between users and non-users in ostrom’s analysis (who is to use how much), or defining conditions of use (what can it be used for) in the other three cases. in conclusion, the paper discusses the significance of the commons for offering essential spaces, outside our increasingly failing markets and states, in which to reconstruct social relations. reclaiming the commons: on the contemporary significance of the commons the commons are traditionally understood as a resource-pool containing ‘all the creations of nature and society that we inherit jointly and freely, and hold in trust for future generations’ (hodkinson, 2010: 243). the most documented commons are those related to natural resources, such as land, waterways, forests, fisheries and game and wild food catchment areas. but ‘emerging commons’ are taking more diverse and intangible forms. some people use the concept of social commons (for example, care for the sick, the elderly and children and clean water provision) or of intellectual and cultural commons (for example, music, creative skills, technologies and scientific concepts) (e.g. holder and flessas, 2008; nonini, 2006). as agrawal (2002) suggests, throughout much of the 20th century, theoretical and empirical studies of common property tended, implicitly if not explicitly, to portray commons arrangements as antiquated. historical studies of one of the most famous examples, the english commons and their enclosure, suggested, if only by implication, that common property was a vestige of the past that was destined to disappear in the face of modernisation’ (ibid: 42). similarly, ethnographic accounts of rural societies relying on communal property in non-western, developing countries served to portray such arrangements as exotic but clearly irrelevant tomodern life. hardin’s (1978) ‘tragedy of the commons’ seemed to confirm the view that modernisation would do away with the commons as state or private ownership could provide better arrangements for managing these resources. according to hardin’s thesis, left to their own devices, members of a community would inevitably plunder the commons. central to this conclusion is the ‘free-rider problem’ whereby individuals are supposedly motivated not to contribute to joint efforts but to free ride on the 436 valérie fournierm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 4, 2013, 433-453 efforts of others. by this argument, private enterprise or state control would provide for a more effective and sustainable way of managing resources. yet the commons (as well as threats of their enclosure) persist. a large body of studies have demonstrated the significance of commonly held resources to rural lives and livelihoods (e.g. agrawal, 2002; fuys et al, 2008; ostrom, 1990, 2010). not only do the commons persist, but in some conditions, they provide efficient and sustainable ways of managing resources. indeed, considering the current level of environmental degradation, it would be difficult to argue that privatisation or the state have been particularly successful at preserving natural resources (federici, 2009; midnight notes, 2009; nonini, 2006; ostrom, 1990). local users, on the other hand, are often the ones with the greatest stakes in the sustainability of resources. many studies since the 1980s have shown that common property is a viable mechanism to promote sustainable resource management (e.g. agrawal, 1999; lu, 2006; ostrom, 1990, 2002, 2010). as will be seen in the next section, ostrom’s work in particular has done much to show that hardin’s (1968) supposed ‘tragedy of the commons’, in which users eventually exhaust a common by competing to appropriate as much of it as possible for their own needs or interests, is far from inevitable. users often develop institutional arrangements through which they allocate resources equitably and sustainably. although the commons persist and have proved to be a sustainable way of managing resources, they are under increasing pressures of commercialisation. as many have suggested, the enclosure of the commons was not a one-off phase in the pre-history of capitalist development. instead, it is a continuous process that has accompanied capitalism since its beginning (de angelis, 2007; harvey, 2003; mies, 1999; nonini, 2006). as marx (1887) first argued in his analysis of the expropriation of the agricultural population from the land, capitalism requires on-going enclosures and appropriation of the commons for continuous accumulation. marx (1887) gave vivid and harrowing accounts of the eviction of tenants from common land and of the appropriation of common land for private property by the landed aristocracy. the highland clearances provide a particular stark example of what he termed the ‘robbery of common land’, a method of primitive accumulation through ‘reckless terrorism’. between 1814 and 1820, in the name of agricultural ‘improvement’ and ‘modernisation’, the duchess of sutherland forcibly evicted 15000 people from communal land, often destroying what little possessions they had and setting fire to their houses, to turn the fields into pasture for modern sheep farming. this process of primitive accumulation did not stop in the 19th century. as de angelis argues, the process of capital accumulation is one of constant enclosure, a process that seeks to ‘forcibly separate people from whatever access to social wealth they have which is not mediated by competitive markets and money as capital’ (de angelis, 2007: 144). all over the world, peasants and indigenous populations continue to be expelled from land and deprived of access to natural resources through legal and illegal means (fuys et al, 2008; harvey, 2011). as a result, the increasing masses of the dispossessed have to rely on market exchange and to sell their labour for a wage. to mention just a few examples, in urban centres throughout the world, the most disadvantaged (slum dwellers and people on low incomes) are being expropriated (through, for example, violence or rising property taxes and rent) to make space for real estate developments (harvey, 2011). free public spaces in cities are sold to private developers and 437 commoning: on the social organisation of the commons m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 4, 2013, 433-453 transformed into spaces of consumption such as corporate coffee chains, bars and restaurants, shopping malls or executive flats (minton, 2009). in its neoliberal phase, capitalism has sought to open ever more areas of the world for enclosure: not only land and its mineral resources or forests but also publicly funded medical knowledge, software innovation, the airwaves, the public domain of creative works and even the dna of plants, animals and humans (e.g. bollier, 2005; mies, 1999; nonini, 2006; scharper and cunningham, 2006; shiva, 1997). indeed, biodiversity and genetic commons have become new battlegrounds in the advanced stage of neo-liberalism. since the 1990s, more and more genes and their various components have been identified, isolated and privately appropriated (e.g. bollier, 2003; scharper and cunningham, 2006). intellectual property rights (trips) enable the patenting of medicinal plants and genetic material, often from the global south, by multinationals, often from the global north (scharper and cunningham, 2006). for example, pharmaceutical companies collect information on how natives in less developed countries use particular plants as natural medicine, patent the findings (meaning this knowledge becomes their private property) and sell this ‘new’ medicine (including to the natives who were the origins of the knowledge) (bollier, 2003; harvey, 2011). however these acts of ‘dispossession’ (harvey, 2003) have not gone uncontested and people have fought to defend and reclaim their commons (e.g. fuys et al, 2008; goldman, 1998; nonini, 2006; scharper and cunningham, 2006). there is a myriad of communities across the world struggling to reclaim or keep access to water, electricity, land or social wealth (midnight notes collective, 2009). the zapatistas in chiapas (chiapas revealed, 2001), brazil’s landless workers’ movement mst (wright and wolford, 2003) and the chipko movement in india (guha, 2000) are all examples of people seeking to re-appropriate common resources for their own subsistence. thus, the commons continue to be scenes of political struggles. as new forms of enclosure emerge from the machinations of global capitalism (through global trade agreements and legislation on intellectual property rights, for example), social movements are forming and establishing connections across national boundaries to protect their livelihoods (goldman, 1998). the contemporary significance of the commons in the struggles against global capitalism is suggested by the proliferation of ‘commons’, be they global, digital, creative or cultural, as sites of resistance (holder and flessas, 2008). what emerges from this brief review is that whilst the commons have endured, they have also come under increasing pressure from capitalism. capitalism has always relied on a process of enclosure of the commons, of the expropriation of ‘autonomously produced commonwealth’ (hardt and negri, 2009: 41). but capitalism’s dependence on the commons may become even more pronounced as it falls into ever deeper ecological and economic crises. it will need a ‘common fix’ (de angelis, 2012) to manage its increasing social and environmental costs. the current uk government’s mobilisation of the ‘big society’ is a case in point. the close relationship between capitalism and the commons has been particularly well illustrated by autonomist marxist analysis of immaterial labour and the general intellect. since the second half the 20th century, work, at least in western economies, has increasingly become immaterial. it relies more and more on the production of symbols, cultural contents, services 438 valérie fournierm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 4, 2013, 433-453 and knowledge rather than on the manufacturing of goods (lazzaretto, 1996; weidner, 2009). immaterial labour in turn draws on skills, knowledge and social relations (the ‘general intellect’) acquired outside of the workplace in society at large. thus capitalism accumulates not just on the back of labour whilst formally ‘employed’. it also harnesses knowledge, language, cooperation and information developed outside work, in the commons. we can question the extent to which these dynamics are new as some form of cooperation and reproduction of labour outside the factory doors has always been central to capitalist development. however, the fact remains that immaterial labour is increasingly central to capitalist production (jones and murtola, 2012). a great deal of capitalist production therefore relies on material and immaterial wealth created in common but which is then appropriated as the private property of capitalists. the commons are both a mode of organising that clearly stands outside of capitalist relations and a resource subject to capitalist appropriation. as suggested with the examples mentioned earlier, there is an extensive literature on the process of capitalist appropriation, expropriation, enclosure and accumulation by dispossession (e.g. banerjee, 2008; federici, 2004; hardt and negri, 2009; harvey, 2003, 2011; nonini, 2006). more recently, jones and murtola (2012) have discussed the role of entrepreneurship as a key ideological operator in the expropriation of the commons. but less attention has been paid to the commons as an autonomous mode of social organising. yet it is only if we understand the commons as social processes of production and organisation rather than simply as resources waiting to be appropriated that we can appreciate their potential as an alternative to capitalism. thus the next section discusses the commons as a mode of organising. commoning: commons as organising in common the main argument in this section is that commons are not merely a resource but a form of social organisation through which common resources are (re) produced. in other words, for commons to exist and continue to exist as a resource, they have to be produced and reproduced. after all, a forest is of little use without some rules stopping one person from clearing it for his own benefit. similarly, benefiting from a forest requires some knowledge about the plants that grow in it and their use for subsistence or about which trees should be grown or felled for timber. in short, users of the commons need to have knowledge of their resources and be able to agree on how, when, by whom and for what they can be used. as linebaugh (2007) suggested, it might be more productive to think about ‘common’ as a verb rather than as a noun: ‘to speak of the commons as if it were a natural resource is misleading at best and dangerous at worst – the commons is an activity and, if anything, it expresses relationships in society that are inseparable from relations to nature. it might be better to keep the word as a verb, an activity, rather than as a noun, a substantive.’ (linebaugh, 2007: p. 279) following this line, de angelis and harvie (2013) propose that the commons should be understood in terms of social systems through which communities of users and producers share resources and define the modes of use, production and circulation of these resources. similarly, for federici (2009) there is no 439 commoning: on the social organisation of the commons m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 4, 2013, 433-453 commons without community. elinor ostrom and her colleagues at the international association for the study of commons (iasc) were the first to articulate the argument that ‘commons’ implies community or some form of social organisation. their work, spanning several decades, suggests that commons have been successfully managed and sustained for centuries thanks to some form of social organising (e.g. ostrom, 1990, 2002, 2010). indeed, it is only because the commons are collectively organised that they can be a viable alternative to market or state management, rather than the ‘free for all’ resource that hardin described in the ‘tragedy of the commons’. against hardin’s thesis, ostrom argued that some communities have demonstrated their capacity to sustainably manage their commons for centuries, and have done so through self-organisation. an important starting point in ostrom’s analysis is the classification of different types of goods and the definition of a particular type of commons (see table 1). table 1. four types of goods subtractability of use difficulty of excluding potential beneficiaries high low high common-pool resources: groundwater basins, lakes, irrigation systems, fisheries, forests, etc. public goods: peace and security of a community, national defense, knowledge, fire protection, weather forecasts, etc. low private goods: food, clothing, automobiles, etc. toll goods: theaters, private clubs, daycare centers source: ostrom (2010, p. 413) ostrom focused on what she called ‘common pool resources’ (groundwater basins, irrigation systems, fisheries, forests, mainframe computers etc.), that is, natural or man-made resource systems where it is costly to exclude individuals from using the good but the benefits consumed by one individual subtract from the benefits available to others (ostrom, 1990). common pool resources (cprs) are thus distinguishable from public goods, where it is similarly difficult to exclude others but one person using or benefiting from the resource does not detract others from doing so (low subtractability). another important distinction that ostrom made is between resource systems and the flow of resource units that they produce (ostrom, 1990). resource systems are stocks that are capable, under favourable conditions, of producing a flow of resource units (for example, fishing grounds, groundwater basins, grazing areas, irrigation canals, lakes, oceans or forests). resource units are what individuals appropriate or use from resource systems: for example, tons of fish, cubic meters of water or tons of fodder. as should be clear from the above description, only resource systems are commons, whilst resource units are appropriated by individual members of the community. users can either directly consume the resource units they withdraw (self-subsistence) or use them as input in production processes or trade them as commodities. 440 valérie fournierm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 4, 2013, 433-453 two organisational problems derive from this definition of common pool resources (ostrom, 1990): an appropriation problem related to the flow of resource units; this requires methods for allocating resources between users (in terms of quantity, time or space of use). a provision problem related to stock; this requires ways of assigning responsibility for building, restoring and maintaining the resource system in order to ensure its sustainability. this problem is related to the appropriation question in the sense that there is a maximum flow of resource units above which a resource system is unsustainable. with examples of communal tenures that have endured for centuries such as high mountains meadows and forests in switzerland and japan or irrigation systems for horticultural gardens in southern spain and the philippines, ostrom showed that cpr users have evolved their own rules for allocating the use of resources. whilst these rules differ from one system to another, they reflect a set of principles that include the clear delineation of legitimate users and of the conditions regulating the use of common resources, by, for example, restricting the quantity of resource units that can be taken by each user (ostrom, 2010). for example, in swiss villages, residents have devised rules to regulate the use of communally owned properties (alpine grazing meadows, forests, irrigation systems, paths and roads) since at least the 13th century. access to communally owned land is restricted to village citizens (rather than owners of land) and each citizen cannot send more cows to the alp than he can feed during the winter. adherence to this wintering rule is administered by a local official who is authorised by villagers to levy fines on those who exceed their quotas. an association made up of all villagers who own cattle meets annually to discuss general rules and policies and to elect officials. these officials hire alp staff, impose fines for misuse of common property, arrange for distribution of manure on the summer pastures and organise annual maintenance work, such as building and maintaining roads and paths to and on the alp. labour contributions or fees related to the use of the meadows are set in proportion to the number of cattle sent by each owner (ostrom, 1990). ostrom’s work certainly goes a long way to demonstrate that the commons are a viable alternative mode of social organisation to market or state management. it shows that communities of users can organise in common to manage their own affairs in a way that is sustainable. yet, as others have noted (caffentizis, 2004; de angelis and harvie, 2013) ostrom’s work only captures parts of the commons. in ostrom’s analysis, collective organisation only goes so far. it applies to the collective allocation of resources in a way that ensures their sustainability (organising in common), but does not apply to collective use (organising for the common). once collectively allocated, resources are exclusively appropriated by individual users. but commons can take different forms that suggest different meanings of ‘commoning’. there are substractable goods that communities might decide to use in common, for example, by putting fish in a common pot to be eaten together (de angelis and harvie, 2013). there are also commons that do not lend themselves to division and individual allocation, including public goods such as city-centre space. of course ostrom never claimed to analyse these 441 commoning: on the social organisation of the commons m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 4, 2013, 433-453 public goods, she focused on common pool resources. yet looking into these other commons is important as it may lead us to understand commoning in a different way. the examples discussed in the following section will illustrate the different kind of organisational questions that might be raised by looking at other forms of commons that are organised not just in common but also for the common. they suggest that, at least in some commons, the central organisational question or ‘success principle’ is not the distinction between users and non-users but rather the delineation of appropriate use. another important question centres on the production of use rather than its mere preservation or allocation. commoning: commons as organising in common for the common and of the common three examples will serve to illustrate these other commons and their modes of organising not just in common but also for and of the common. these examples have been chosen because they each bring into relief different aspects of commons organising that depart from ostrom’s analysis. the selection of these three cases is to some extent arbitrary, the product of chance encounter and personal interests. thus the first two examples concern cases that i came across through secondary sources, whilst the third case (la tabacalera social centre in madrid) is a place i personally visited on a number of occasions during two visits to madrid in december 2011-february 2012 and again in february 2013. i went to several concerts that had been organised in the centre, visited some of the exhibitions that were on show at the time and used the café to meet up with friends. my intention in including these examples is not to provide detailed empirical accounts of three organisations but rather to use them to illustrate the conceptual discussion of commons organising. the first example concerns communes or intentional communities. although intentional communities may have different purposes and follow different organisational arrangements, they all involve a group of people who have chosen to live together with a common purpose, working co-operatively and collectively to create a lifestyle that reflects their shared values (kanter, 1972; shenker, 1986). whilst communes vary as to the extent of what is shared (for example, living accommodation, economic activities, income or childcare), they are defined by some degree of ‘commonality’, of putting and using some resources in common (kanter, 1972; sargisson, 2000). one example i will be using here is can masdeu, a squatted commune of 28 residents on the outskirts of barcelona that has occupied an abandoned and derelict leper centre since 2002 (can masdeu website; fremeaux and jordan, 2011). can masdeu is based on the sharing of land, accommodation, work, food and knowledge. around one hectare of terraced gardens has been reclaimed from overgrowing bushes and is cultivated communally, with the produce then eaten in two daily communal meals. in addition, the squatters have invited residents of the neighbourhood to help them clear and restore the old gardens and use some of the space for themselves, on the conditions that they use organic methods and manage their plots without hierarchy. the land is now cultivated by around a hundred local gardeners, many of whom have decided to cultivate in common rather than in individual plots. these local gardeners hold regular meetings to manage the gardens and hold a monthly potluck with 442 valérie fournierm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 4, 2013, 433-453 can masdeu residents. the building itself has been renovated collectively to be used in common. whilst resident squatters have their own bedrooms, the rest of the space is shared. the members have also set up a social centre which is open to the public every sunday and offers various free workshops on anything from permaculture, community movements, political resistance, dance, music, building techniques, energy production, culture or crafts such as bread-making. it also offers meals in return for a donation. knowledge is acquired by and shared amongst members to respond to needs or satisfy interest, rather than to be exchanged in return for a wage. can masdeu thus relies on a large number of communal activities and resources: the gardens are cultivated communally, its produce is eaten in a common pot in two meals cooked communally every day, there is a communal bakery producing bread for the community and to sell to local residents, house renovation and housework are done communally and work is distributed communally through a rota system whereby every resident has to work for two days per week and participates equally in the tasks of cooking, housework, gardening, house repairs and running the social centre activities. as a result of all this sharing of resources, residents need very little money. each person puts 25 euros in a common pot every month to buy the necessary products that cannot be produced (cordingley, 2006; fremeaux and jordan, 2011). what the example of can masdeu suggests is that commoning is not (always) just a collective process for the (fair and sustainable) distribution of resources between a specific and well identified group of users. firstly, the distinction between users and non-users is becoming porous. whilst there is a core group of resident squatters in can masdeu, the gardens are open to residents of the neighbourhood and the social centre is open to the general public once a week. secondly, commoning is not just about organising in common, but also for the common: the food produced in can masdeu is cooked and eaten in common. similarly, knowledge and skills (of organic gardening, building techniques, baking and so on) are acquired for common use, to serve the community of residents or, through the free workshops, the broader public. thirdly, what is shared is not just a plate of food, so many kilos of carrots or tomatoes or some knowledge of organic gardening. the process of collectively producing, cooking and eating food also produces community and solidarity. commoning in can masdeu is not just about the fair distribution of garden space or food products between members. it is about creating community and solidarity through the sharing of work, food and knowledge: it is producing of the commons. common use is in turn productive of the commons. as we shall see more explicitly with our next example of the use of public space, commoning is not just about collective allocation. it also involves a recursive process through which commons are produced through use. the main point here is that commoning is about production as much as distribution. federici (2009) makes a similar point when she argues that rural gardens are not just spaces in which people reclaim their rights to food security and means of subsistence (although this is important too). they are places where people can develop new forms of sociality, knowledge and cultural exchange, for example between different ethnic groups or between schools and adult gardeners. they offer a space for the development of relations based on cooperation and sharing rather than private appropriation and exclusion. the understanding of the commons as a social process of production rather than 443 commoning: on the social organisation of the commons m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 4, 2013, 433-453 as a means of resource allocation can be illustrated by the examples of local initiatives which attempt to reclaim urban spaces from property developers. blomley’s (2008) discussion of the (eventually successful) attempt to save the impoverished neighbourhood of woodward, in vancouver’s downtown eastside, from private development is illustrative here. private development would have threatened the mainly poor residents of the area of displacement. many were housed in low rent residential hotels with limited security of tenure. similarly to many ‘gentrification’ projects across the world, the attempted private appropriation of this district of vancouver can be seen as a form of enclosure that involves the dispossession of the poor through accumulation by private developers (harvey, 2003, 2008). as the posters and slogans of the people who opposed the project demonstrated, the residents claimed a prior right to the neighbourhood: ‘we have given woodward’s its history. now we are coming together to reclaim that history’ (cited in blomley, 2008: 312). the residents were ‘re-claiming’, not ‘claiming’; they called for ‘giving it back’, not just ‘giving it’. they had created the neighbourhood and hence it belonged to them. the protesters thus proposed a different understanding of ownership to the one usually recognised and claimed by private owners. against the private developers’ right to exclude on the grounds of private property, they claimed the right to legitimate interest in the property based on collective use and occupation. central to their battle to ‘reclaim their commons’ was the idea that commons are produced rather than just found by local communities. the commons are enacted or produced ‘through sustained patterns of local use and collective habitation, through ingrained practices of appropriation and investment’ (blomley, 2008: 320). it was by virtue of occupying and using the area, giving it its history, that the residents made a claim to the place. this claim in some way resonates with the common law notion that sustained use can lead to the sharing or even transfer of title. it also puts forward an understanding of rights reminiscent of lefebvre’s (1996) ‘right to the city’. for lefebvre, the ‘right to the city’ involves both the right to participate in decisions that relate to the making of urban space and the right to the appropriation of that space: its access, use, occupation and production. underpinning this concept of the ‘right to the city’ is a conception of space as a creative process (lefebvre, 1991). cities are thus not just backdrops or stages for life to unfold upon but the results of productive activities, something captured by lefebvre’s description of cities as ‘oeuvres’. this process is eminently political. it involves a contest over urban space, ‘…over its control, its production, over who is allowed in and who is kept out, and over what the nature of acceptable activities is to be in that space…’ (mitchell, 2000: 170). this understanding of the ‘right to the city’ challenges capitalist relations by prioritising use value over exchange value, and by grounding right in use rather than in private property. thus, as claimed by the woodward residents, rights are earned by living out the routines of everyday life in the space of the city. it is a right for those who inhabit urban space (rather than for those who ‘own it’) to use and produce it (mitchell, 2003). from this perspective, capital or private developers are not appropriating unowned resources. instead, they are taking resources from the community that produced them, taking sites on which there already were 444 valérie fournierm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 4, 2013, 433-453 claims (blomley, 2008). of course in the context of contemporary discourse of property, capital can very easily ignore the property claims of communities since these are usually not recognised. the two examples discussed so far suggest that commoning can go well beyond the collective process of resource allocation and preservation, as suggested by ostrom’s work. it can also involve collective use and collective production. furthermore, in this process of production of the common for the common, some of the key organisational principles identified by ostrom, such as the clear distinction between users and non-users or the definition of how much each can use, lose some their relevance. we have already seen, in the case of can masdeu, that the distinction between users and non-users is blurred. similarly, in the case of woodward, it would make little sense to allocate public space to individual users since the public space of the neighbourhood acquires meaning and usefulness through collective use. considering the collective use and general openness of resources in these two cases, a more significant organisational question than ‘who can use these resources and how much can they use?’ would be ‘what can these resources be used for?’ the shift from the question of how much can be used and by whom to what sort of use is allowed is further illustrated by the case of social centres. social centres are squatted, rented or bought urban spaces that provide a haven for various anti-capitalist or not-for-profit activities such as free courses, support for refugees, arts workshops, vegan cafes, free shops, community gardens, film screenings, free libraries, public talks, open computer access and hubs or meeting places for activists. they provide both a safe place for activists and an open space which the public at large is invited to participate in (chatterton, 2010). the rise of social centres is often traced to the autonomist movement in italy. they first appeared there in the 1970s as occupied, self-managed spaces (centro sociale occupato autogestito). since then, social centres have developed in many parts of europe (e.g. hodkinson and chatterton, 2006; montagna, 2006; ruggiero, 2000). although all social centres have retained some affinity with a broad autonomist movement, each centre has emerged out of its own context and history and may pursue different objectives. some began as house squatting projects, others are more openly anti-capitalist or anarchist, whilst others operate as independent community centres (uk social centre network, 2008; hodkinson and chatterton, 2006). all social centres, however, are run on principles of autonomy, cooperation and self-management and can be seen as part of a tradition of reclaiming the commons, whilst resisting the enclosure and commodification of urban space, knowledge and culture (hodkinson and chatterton, 2006). i will discuss here a particular social centre with which i am familiar, la tabacalera in madrid. it was set up in 2010 with the aim to ‘encourage the development of creative and social capacities’ among local citizens. these capacities are taken to include ‘not only artistic production but also social activities, critical thinking and the diffusion of ideas, work and processes that aim to widen and democratise the public sphere’ (la tabacalera website). the key principles that it puts forward in its website are horizontality, transparency, autonomy, the development of low cost and free culture, not-for-profit use and the collective and responsible use of resources. it claims to be dedicated to the production and diffusion of free culture and to standing against its private 445 commoning: on the social organisation of the commons m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 4, 2013, 433-453 appropriation. thus everything that is produced in the centre (music, films and so on) or using its resources (for example, classes taking place in its space) are subjected to a free license and must be freely accessible. the centre is housed in a government owned abandoned tobacco factory in the lavapies area of madrid, a traditional working class neighbourhood in the centre of the city that was falling into decay until it started attracting artists and immigrants in the 1980s and 1990s. la tabacalera leases part of the factory from the ministry of culture1 (the factory became a listed building after its closure). the ways in which social centres such as la tabacalera are engaging in commoning are best explored by returning to lefebvre’s (1996) ‘rights to the city’. as suggested earlier, lefebvre here refers both to the right to the use of urban space, prioritising use value over exchange value, and the right to its production. at the most obvious level, social centres open up spaces where use value is given priority in increasingly privatised and commodified urban landscapes that tend to privilege exchange value. however, social centres are also about reclaiming a right to the production of urban space. drawing on the work of lefebvre, harvey (2008) argues that, the right to the city is far more than the individual liberty to access urban resources: it is a right to change ourselves by changing the city. it is, moreover, a common rather than an individual right since this transformation inevitably depends upon the exercise of a collective power to reshape the processes of urbanization (ibid: 23). as this quotation suggests, the ‘right to the city’ is not just a matter of cordoning off a place and declaring it ‘public’. the place has to be made public and this involves a collective process of organising and production. in social centres such as la tabacalera, this process of producing and creating an open space is enacted in various everyday practices. in recent years, social centres have invested a lot of work into making their spaces more attractive to the general public, rather than only to their traditional activist base (chatterton, 2010). this trend of moving away from precarious squatted places to more permanent renting or buying arrangements reflects this opening out of social centres (chatterton, 2010; hodkinson and chatterton, 2006; montagna, 2006). chatterton explains the ways in which social centres have tried to reach out to the broader public by making their spatial arrangements look ‘less like a squat’, less ‘threatening’, more welcoming and more inviting. similarly, la tabacalera stressed that it was started by a collective of local associations in order to present itself as grounded in the local neighbourhood and in the local citizens’ participation rather than as an activist avant-garde group. members have also made some effort to make what may look like an incomprehensible labyrinth of corridors, rooms, workshops, halls, staircases and courtyards seem more inviting to the first time visitor. they have recently developed a monthly ‘welcoming workshop’ designed to explain how the centre works to recent or potential members. there is also a wall size board at the entrance listing what activities are taking place and where in the current month. la tabacalera aims at being a public space open to all: ‘it doesn’t belong to anyone and it belongs to everyone’ (la tabacalera’s website). this openness to new members, activities and projects is further reflected in the way that the centre is managed. as in other social centres, management is an open process, placed in the ‘public domain’ (chatterton, 2010). all activities are 1.as chatterton (2010) argues, there has been a trend among social centres towards moving out of squatted spaces, which are often in marginal urban areas, and renting or buying more central spaces in order to build stronger and more permanent ties with local communities. as i suggest later in this paper, this strategy can be seen as an attempt to break out of the ‘activists’ ghettos’ with which social centres tend to be associated and to establish more permanent bases for engaging with the broader public. however, there remains much debate among social centres about the potential tensions between the more overtly political and confrontational anti-capitalist stance of squatted spaces, and the dangers of co-optation and gentrification raised by their relocation to legalised (rented or bought) spaces closer to local communities. 446 valérie fournierm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 4, 2013, 433-453 managed cooperatively through a system of participative democracy and open meetings that operate at several levels. each working group (there are working groups for programming, economy, building maintenance, the facilitation of conflicts and communication) meets weekly and all of the working groups convene every two weeks to coordinate activities. a plenary general assembly meets every three months to review the activities of the past three months and make decisions about the following three months. so both space and management are organised collectively to make social centres open public spaces. but use, defining what social centres are for, is also organised and produced collectively. social centres are spaces where everyone participates in the co-creation of knowledge and common goods (chatterton, 2010). this process of producing in common, of co-production, is vital since otherwise social centres would have no use, nothing to share. the resources that are open to all also have to be produced by all in common. thus, the free shops, libraries, concerts, theatrical performances and meals, the language, martial arts, dance, music and urban arts classes and the ‘green guerrilla’, computing and urban gardens workshops and so on are not like public services put on offer to consumers but are jointly produced and put together by all participants. production and use cannot be disentangled; they are part of the same process. without this process of common production, through which everyone can participate in organising and producing activities, la tabacalera would remain an empty and eerie space, a derelict factory. a final point must be made about the production of public spaces in social centres such as la tabacalera. this concerns the conditions, or ‘viral clause’, that are placed on use. access may be open to all but it is conditional on ‘appropriate use’. as la tabacalera makes clear, the centre is open for anyone to propose or take part in activities but there are nevertheless conditions for the sort of use that can be made of the centre. these conditions are explicitly outlined in its ‘manual of good practices’ (la tabacalera’s website). anyone can use the resources of the centre as long as they do not seek to make a profit out of it, as long as what they produce remains open access, and as long as they contribute to the maintenance of the space by taking part in the rota system that allocates tasks (cleaning, maintenance, bar work, nursery care and so on). access is thus not restricted by money or identity but by a ‘viral clause’ of how the space can be used. this brief discussion of social centres and la tabacalera in particular is not meant to suggest that they do not face challenges in keeping their space ‘public’, or within the commons. as chatterton (2010) suggests, the notions of inclusiveness and open access have limits in practice, as most social centres are mainly populated by young, white members of the middle classes. although la tabacalera is perhaps more mixed in terms of social and ethnic backgrounds than the uk based centres which chatterton looked at, it is still essentially populated by young people. however, social centres remain an interesting case for trying to understand the collective organisation and production of common use. the next section goes on to discuss how we can use the three brief examples presented here to make sense of commons organising. 447 commoning: on the social organisation of the commons m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 4, 2013, 433-453 organising the commons so what can we make of these various examples in terms of the mode of social organising that underpins the commons? firstly, commoning is a process of organising that focuses on use and its production and distribution. in this respect, the commons challenge traditional notions of ownership. ownership, if it is to have any relevance at all under the notion of the commons, can be seen in terms of rights of use, rather than appropriation: ‘whereas private property confers the right to exclude others from the benefits of a resource, common property might be understood as the right to not be excluded from the use of a thing’ (holder and flessas, 2008: 300). however, this shift away from exclusive appropriation to open use does not mean that the commons are a free for all. as all of the above examples have demonstrated, commoning involves the collective organisation of use. it relies on a collective process of self-management which is independent of market or state authority and through which communities decide how the use of a particular resource is to be distributed and (re)produced. in light of the above, the key organisational question revolves around the allocation of user rights: what sort of use is allowed and by whom? for pedersen (2010), under commons regimes, the governing principle for addressing this question of the distribution of user rights is that of ‘reciprocity in perpetuity’. drawing on the example of copyleft in the free software movement, he argues that the maintenance of the commons relies on a ‘viral clause’ that only allows for certain types of use. respecting the conditions of use ensures the sustainability of the resource in question (perpetuity) and makes use conditional on care (reciprocity). this suggests that commoning extends beyond the distribution of rights to access and involves duties and responsibilities. we can see various ways in which this principle of ‘reciprocity in perpetuity’ is organised in the examples considered in the previous sections. these different ways of organising the commons are summarised in table 2 and discussed below. 448 valérie fournierm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 4, 2013, 433-453 (note: the different forms of commoning are not mutually exclusive. as suggested by the three examples discussed in the previous section, organising for and of the commons also involves organising in common, that is, it involves some collective allocation and management of resources.) forms of commoning: commoning as… focus of commoning: what is done in common reciprocity in perpetuity main organisational question: how is use regulated? organising in common collective allocation of common resources and users’ responsibilities reciprocity as a give and take: users can appropriate resources in return for participation in care/ maintenance what is reproduced in perpetuity is the resource system how much can be used and by whom: delineation of legitimate users and the amount of resources they can use organising for the common collective use of common resources reciprocity as a creative, recursive process through which common use is productive of the common. use and production cannot be separated what is reproduced in perpetuity is not just the resource system but the community what can it be used for: definition of appropriate useorganising of the common collective production of common resources table 2. conceptualising common organising in ostrom’s analysis, what needs to be reproduced in perpetuity (through her provision question) is the resource system: the forest, the grazing area and so on. communities organise in common in order to allocate user rights in such a way as not to endanger the sustainability of the resource system and to specify the duties and responsibilities of users in terms of maintenance or repairs. however, commoning here stops at this process of responsible allocation. once resources have been allocated in common, we return to a model of private appropriators who have exclusive rights over the resources which they have appropriated. in ostrom’s analysis it is the allocation of use and responsibilities that is a collective process (organising in common), rather than the use itself (organising for the common). by focusing on the allocation question, ostrom ignored the creative potential of commoning, the fact that the commons (as patterns of social relations unmediated by the market) are produced through the process of using things in common. of course, one could argue that ostrom did not focus on the types of commons that lend themselves to collective use and that the criticism put forward here is thus unfair. however, we have seen with the example of communes such as can masdeu that even the subtractable resources that ostrom analysed can be used in common rather than privately appropriated. furthermore, considering other commons such as non-subtractable public goods is important as it allows us to think about different forms of commons organising. in some commons, such as public spaces or social centres, the issue of individual allocation and appropriation that ostrom focused on makes no sense. reclaiming public space from privatisation is not about claiming an individual share but opening it up for collective use, for it is only through collective use that such public spaces acquire their use value. 449 commoning: on the social organisation of the commons m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 4, 2013, 433-453 here, questions of use and production cannot be separated; it is common use that produces the commons. therefore, it is through their patterns of collective use that the residents of woodward have made the neighbourhood what it is. similarly, it is through using the social centre that participants have made la tabacalera a vibrant centre for cultural activities. these examples suggest that commons organising is not just a means to allocate resources in a sustainable way but also provides a way of producing use in commons. the shift from a question of allocation to a question of common use and production has implications for the way we understand the relationships between reciprocity and perpetuity. in all three examples developed in the previous section, as well as in ostrom’s analysis, questions of reciprocity are central to the organisation of the commons. can masdeu can only be maintained through the two days of work that each resident gives. la tabacalera expects all its users to participate in the tasks of cleaning, maintaining and repairing. the residents of woodward made their neighbourhood what it is and gave it its history. however, this reciprocity is more than a give and take or zerosum game, it is also the process through which the commons are produced rather than just preserved: it is a creative process. what is being reproduced in perpetuity in these cases is not just the resource system – not just the potential to grow food in the gardens of can masdeu and not just the public spaces of la tabacalera and woodward – but the community: patterns of social relations that afford participants some degree of autonomy from the market. through their collective use of resources, the residents of can masdeu only needs 25 euros a month to live on, the members of la tabacalera can enjoy free courses and culture and the residents of woodward have access to uncommodified space. commons here are not just about organising in common the private appropriation of resources, but organising in common for the commons, that is, for common use. this is a recursive process that is reproductive of the commons as a form of life that remains outside the market. thus ‘reciprocity in perpetuity’ here means that the commons are not just maintained through reciprocal arrangements but also that they are produced through collective use. the shift in focus from the collective process of allocation to collective use and production suggests that commons organising may, in some cases at least, revolve less around decisions about how much can be used and by whom (ostrom’s allocation problem) than around decisions about what the commons can and cannot be used for. in ostrom’s analysis, clearly distinguishing users from non-users and setting appropriation rules (how much each user can take) are essential organising principles for ensuring the long term success, or perpetuity of the commons. as suggested earlier, in the other commons considered in the previous section, it is more difficult to distinguish between users and non-users or to set rules about how much each user can take. whilst space constraints put a limit to the number of people who can become squatter residents of can masdeu, the commune has opened its gardens to local residents and its social centre to the general public. use is conditional however: local resident gardeners have to cultivate the gardens using organic methods and manage them non-hierarchically. the inhabitants of woodward are not banning new residents but are banning particular uses of the neighbourhood: private appropriation and speculation. la tabacalera is 450 valérie fournierm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 4, 2013, 433-453 perhaps the most explicit in emphasising open access whilst restricting the type of use that can be made of the centre: it is open to everyone as long as they do not use it to make a profit. thus whilst ostrom’s users are free to do whatever they wish with the resources they legitimately appropriate including selling them on the market, participants in the other three cases can only make certain use of the commons. as is most clearly expressed in the case of la tabacalera, use that would re-inscribe the commons within market relations is particularly frowned upon. conclusion: on the significance of the commons as an alternative to capitalism in conclusion, i would like to return to the relationships between the commons and capitalism to explain why i think it is important to extend ostrom’s analysis and understand the commons as a mode of social organising not just in common, but also for and of the common. ostrom’s work has been fundamental in establishing the commons as a viable alternative to the market for the allocation of resources. it has demonstrated that the commons are not just a resource but a mode of organising through which people can autonomously organise themselves to preserve and share resources. in ostrom’s work, the commons, or rather ‘commoning’, emerges as a set of institutional arrangements through which a community can loosen the hold of the market, firstly by deciding on the allocation of resources collectively rather than through market mechanisms and secondly by having access to means of production or subsistence outside the financial nexus. but in ostrom’s analysis, the institutional arrangements that underpin the commons are not ‘understood as also promoting social practices that put constraints on, push back, practices based on commodity production and capital accumulation’ (de angelis and harvie, 2013). as de angelis and harvie (2013) argue, the type of commons governance considered by ostrom centres around competition between users, conceptualised as ‘appropriators’: ‘struggle is conceptualised only as competition among appropriators, that is, a struggle within the commons, not also as a struggle of the commons vis-à-vis an outside social force – capital’ (ibid: 291). this is the main point of criticism of ostrom’s work that has been developed here. whilst ostrom’s analysis allows for some degree of independence from capitalist relations, it stops short of conceptualising commoning as a noncapitalist practice, that is, as a practice enabling social relations and forms of life that might break our dependence on capitalist market relations. yet, one of the most significant aspects of commoning is that it provides opportunities to create social organisations that may enable the disentanglement of our livelihood from the market (de angelis, 2007; federici, 2009). capital accumulation involves a process of separating producers from the means of production in order to force them into the commodity chain (both by selling their labour and buying the products and services necessary for their survival). commoning, meanwhile, is about reversing this process and relinking producers with the means to produce (collectively) for themselves. commoning is about reconciling what the social division of labour within capitalism has separated. it is about the production of ourselves as common subjects, in a material sense (having access to land and resources), in a 451 commoning: on the social organisation of the commons m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 4, 2013, 433-453 knowledge sense (having the means and capacity to reproduce ourselves from natural resources), and in a relational sense (federici, 2009). the commons do not only represent an alternative to market economies but also a necessary condition for escaping from the market. escaping the market requires access to the commons, the protection of the commons (de angelis, 2007) and the ability to reconstitute social relations on the terrain of the commons (de angelis and harvie, 2013). we cannot walk out of the market without access to other resources. we cannot, for example stop buying food without having access to land on which to grow our own, knowledge of how to do so or networks through which we could exchange that food for whatever skills, products, knowledge or help we can offer. to escape dependency on commodity markets, we need to reconstitute resources, relations and knowledge (carlsson, 2008). the commons, by providing a way of organising collectively for common use, offer a space for doing so and for emancipating ourselves from capital (de angelis and harvie, 2013). considering the many crises afflicting capital, crises which threaten the bases of social reproduction (access to necessities such as food, water, clean air, health, social care and education), the development of the commons has never been more essential. valérie fournier is senior lecturer in organisation studies at leicester university. her research interests range from critical management studies to alternative organisations. her recent work has explored ideas of utopia, degrowth and communal organising; and she is currently working on the commons as a mode of organising, as well as on the implications of permaculture for understanding our relationships with the environment. acknoledgement i am grateful to the editor and the two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments which helped strengthen the arguments of paper. 452 commoning: on the social organisation of the commons m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 4, 2013, 433-453 references . agrawal, a. (2002). common resources and institutional sustainability. in e. ostrom (ed.), the drama of the commons (pp. 41-86). washington: national academy press. . banerjee, s. b. (2008). necrocapitalism. organization studies, 29(12), 1541–63. . blomley, n. (2008). enclosure, common rights and the property of the poor. social and legal studies, 17(3), 311-331. . bollier, d. (2005). silent theft. london: routledge. . caffentzis, g. (2004). a tale of two conferences: globalization, neoliberalism and the question of the commons. a talk prepared for the alter-globalization conference, august 9, san miguel de allende, mexico. retrieved january 7, 2013 from: http://www.commoner. org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/ caffentzis_a-tale-of-two-conferences. pdf . can masdeu website (2013). retrieved january 8, 2013 from: http:// www.canmasdeu.net/ . carlsson, c. (2008). nowtopia: how pirate programmers, outlaw bicyclists and vacant-lot gardeners are inventing the future today. oakland: ak press. . chatterton, p (2010). so what does it mean to be anticapitalist? conversations with activists from urban social centres. urban studies, 47(6),1205-1224. . chiapas revealed (2001). what is different about the zapatistas? retrieved january 11, 2013 from: http://flag.blackened.net/revolt/mexico . cordingley, l. (2006). can masdeu: the rise of rurbano revolution. retrieved january 13, 2013 from: http://www.inthefield.info/ rurbano_revolution.pdf . de angelis, m. (2007). the beginning of history: value struggles and global capital. london: pluto press. . de angelis, m. (2012). crises, capital and cooptation: does capital need a commons fix? in d. bollier & s. helfrich (eds.), the wealth of the commons: a world beyond market and state. amerst, ma: levellers press. . de angelis, m. & harvie, d. (2013). the commons. in m. parker, g. cheney, v. fournier & c. land (eds.), the routledge companion to alternative organisation (pp. 280-294). london: routledge. . federici, s. (2004). caliban and the witch: women, the body and primitive accumulation. new york, ny: autonomedia. . federici, s. (2009). feminism and the politics of the commons. in c. hughes, s. peace & k. van meter (eds.), uses of a whirldwind: movement, movements and contemporary radical currents in the united states (pp.283-294). oakland: ak press. . fremeaux, i., & jordan, j. (2011). les sentiers de l’utopie. paris: zones. . fuys, a., mwangi, e., & dohrn, s. (2008). securing common property regimes in a globalizing world. rome: international land coalition. . gibson-graham, j. k. (2006). a postcapitalist politics. minneapolis: university of minnesota press. . goldman, m. (ed.). (1998). privatizing nature: political struggles for the global commons. london: pluto press. . guha, r. (2000). the unquiet woods: ecological change and peasant resistance in the himalaya. berkeley, ca: university of california press. . hardin, g. (1968). the tragedy of the commons. science, 162(3859), 1243–1248. . hardt, m., & negri, a. (2009). commonwealth. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. . harvey, d. (2003). the new imperialism. oxford: oxford university press. . harvey, d. (2008). the right to the city. new left review, 53(sep/oct), 23-40. . harvey, d. (2011). the enigma of capital and the crisis of capitalism. london: profile books. . hodkinson, s. (2010). housing in common: in search of a strategy for housing alterity in england in the 21st century. in d. fuller, a. jonas & r. lee (eds.), interrogating alterity: alternative economic and political spaces (pp. 241-258). farnham: ashgate. . hodkinson, s., & chatterton, p. (2006). autonomy in the city? reflections on the social centres movement in the uk. city, 10(3), 305–315. . holder, j., & flessas, t. (2008). emerging commons. social and legal studies, 17(3), 299-310. . jones, c., & murtola, a.a. (2012). entrepreneurship and expropriation, organization, 19(5), 635-655. . kanter, r. m. (1972). commitment and community: communes and utopias in sociological perspectives. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. 453 valérie fournierm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 4, 2013, 433-453 . la tabacalera website. retrieved january 11, 2013 from: http://latabacalera.net/ . lazzarato, m. (1996). immaterial labour. in m. hardt & p. virno (eds.), radical thought in italy: a potential politics (pp. 133–47). minneapolis: university of minnesota press. . lefebvre, h. (1996). writings on cities. oxford: blackwell. . lefebvre, h. (1991). the production of space. oxford: basil blackwell. . linebaugh, p. (2007). magna carta manifesto: liberties and commons for all. berkeley, ca: university of california press. . lu, f. (2006). the ‘commons’ in an amazonian context. social analysis, 50(3), 187194. . marx, k. (1887). capital: a critique of political economy (vol. 1). moscow: progress publishers. . midnight notes (2009). promissory notes: from crisis to commons. retrieved january 27, 2013 from: http://www.midnightnotes.org/ promissory%20notes.pdf . mies, m. (1999). defending, reclaiming and reinventing the commons. in v. bennholdt-thomsen & m. mies (eds.), the subsistence perspective (pp. 141164). london: zed. . minton, a. (2009). ground control. london: penguin. . mitchell, d. (2003). the right to the city: social justice and the fight for public space. new york: guilford press. . mitchell, d. (2000). cultural geography: a critical reader. oxford: blackwell. . montagna, n. (2006). the de-commodification of urban space and the occupied social centres in italy. city, 10(3), 295-304. . netting, r. (1997). unequal commoners and uncommon equity: property and community among smallholder farmers. the ecologist, 27(1), 28-33. . nonini, d. (2006). introduction: the global idea of the ‘common’. social analysis, 50(3), 164-177 . ostrom, e. (1990). governing the commons. cambridge: cambridge university press. . ostrom, e. (ed.). (2002). the drama of the commons. washington: national academic press. . ostrom, e. (2010). beyond markets and states: polycentric governance of complex economic systems. in karl grandin (ed.), the nobel prizes 2009, stockholm: the nobel foundation (pp. 408–444). retrieved january 9, 2013 from: http://www.nobelprize. org/nobel_prizes/economics/ laureates/2009/ostrom-lecture.html . patel, r. (2009). the value of nothing. london: portobello books. . pedersen, j. m. (2010). properties of property: a jurisprudential analysis. the commoner, (special issue on commoning), 14, 138-210. . polanyi, k. (1944). the great transformation. new york: rinehart . ruggiero, v. (2000). movements in the city: conflict in the european metropolis. harlow: prentice hall. . sargisson, l. (2000). utopian bodies and the politics of transgression. london: routledge. . scharper, s. b., & cunningham h. (2006). the genetic commons: resting the neo-liberal enclosure of life. social analysis, 50(3), 195-202. . shenker, b. (1986). intentional communities: ideology and alienation in communal societies. london: routledge. . shiva, v. (1997). biopiracy: the plunder of nature and knowledge. cambridge, ma: south end press. . uk social centres network (2008). what’s this place? retrieved january 9, 2013 from: http:// socialcentrestories.wordpress.com/ . weidner, j. r. (2009). governmentality, capitalism, and subjectivity. global society, 23(4), 387-411. . williams, c. (2005). a commodified world? mapping the limits of capitalism. london: zed books. . wright, a., & wolford, w. (2003). to inherit the earth: the landless movement and the struggle for a new brazil. oakland, ca: food first. 459 bernard forgues & royston greenwood & ignasi martí & philippe monin & peter walgenbachm@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 459-467 copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). m@n@gement is a double-blind refereed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.management-aims.com © 2012 m@n@gement and the author(s). m@n@gement est la revue officielle de l’aims m@n@gement is the journal official of aims bernard forgues 2012 royston greenwood ignasi martí philippe monin peter walgenbach introduction to the special issue new institutionalism: roots and buds m@n@gement, 15(5), 459-467. m@n@gement issn: 1286-4692 emmanuel josserand, hec, université de genève & cmos, university of technology, sydney (editor in chief) jean-luc arrègle, emlyon business school (editor) laure cabantous, warwick business school (editor) stewart clegg, university of technology, sydney (editor) olivier germain, université du québec à montréal (editor, book reviews) karim mignonac, université de toulouse 1 (editor) philippe monin, emlyon business school (editor) tyrone pitsis, university of newcastle (editor) josé pla-barber, universidad de valència (editor) michael tushman, harvard business school (editor) walid shibbib, université de genève (managing editor) martin g. evans, university of toronto (editor emeritus) bernard forgues, emlyon business school (editor emeritus) 460 new institutionalism: roots and buds m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 459-467 new institutionalism: roots and buds the roots of the new institutional theory are well known (scott, 2008)1. meyer and rowan (1977) undermined the (then) prevailing imagery of organizations as quasi-rational actors navigating economic and technical contingencies, showing instead that organizations are influenced by socio-cultural and cognitive (institutional) factors that prescribe and proscribe appropriate behavior. organizations conform to institutional prescriptions because doing so provides social approval (legitimacy) and enhances organizational survival. dimaggio and powell (1983) took these ideas forward by elaborating three mechanisms — coercive, normative, and mimetic — by which institutional demands are diffused. they also foregrounded the organizational field as an appropriate level of analysis for observing and exploring these processes and effects. from then on, the study of organizations would not be the same. these roots took hold and (to continue the analogy) a sturdy, highly variegated tree has resulted! elaboration of the institutional perspective has expanded to the point where it is now the dominant approach within organization theory. initially, much attention centered upon understanding institutional diffusion, especially the influence of mimetic processes. we learned how ideas diffuse through interlocking directorates, and explored the roles played by certain organizations as exemplars or models. this early preoccupation with diffusion, which dominated the 1990s, gave early indications of three features of institutional scholarship that still characterize work in this area: first, a consistently imaginative extension of its central ideas – as was illustrated early on by the distinctive approach to diffusion taken by scandinavian researchers, who highlighted translation as a feature of diffusion (see czarniawska & joerges, 1996; sahlin & wedlin, 2008); second, a continual broadening of its bernard forgues royston greenwood ignasi martí philippe monin peter walgenbach emlyon business school forgues@em-lyon.com emlyon business school monin@em-lyon.com university of alberta rgreenwo@ualberta.ca friedrich schiller university of jena peter.walgenbach@uni-jena.de emlyon business school marti@em-lyon.com 1. we would like to thank renate meyer and georg krücken for having invited us to host the 6th and 7th new institutionalism workshops in lyon. (we would need to thank peter walgenbach too, but he is too much of a gentleman to thank himself.) we are also grateful to emmanuel josserand, the editor in chief of m@n@gement, for having accepted our proposition to guest-edit this special issue and for trusting us during the reviewing process. we also appreciate managing editor walid shibib’s gentle yet persistent reminders about the deadlines. 461 bernard forgues & royston greenwood & ignasi martí & philippe monin & peter walgenbachm@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 459-467 lines of inquiry (an early example was oliver’s [1991] incorporation of resourcedependence theory); and third, the tendency to revisit previously recognized but underdeveloped ideas, such as d’aunno et al.’s (1991) observation that organizations often face multiple institutional demands — an idea recently resurrected (kraatz & block, 2008). indeed, from its earliest moments — or roots — institutional scholarship has consistently filled in details of its overarching framework, whilst, at the same time, blurring the contours of that framework. the balloon of enthusiasm for understanding diffusion processes, of course, was woundingly punctured by dimaggio’s (1988) complaint that institutionalists were not attending to the formation of institutions, and especially not to processes of institutional change. it took time, but in response to this challenge, scholarship was redirected towards institutional entrepreneurship and institutional change (for a review, see hardy & maguire, 2008). the paradox of embedded agency (see battilana et al., 2009) — i.e., how actors within highly institutionalized contexts can exercise reflexivity and accomplish institutional change — generated much rethinking. in doing so, we have drawn ideas from social movement theory (rao, monin & durand, 2003; schneiberg & lounsbury, 2008) and discourse analysis (e.g., phillips, lawrence & hardy, 2004). the drive to understand change and embedded agency has foregrounded the organizational field as a productive site of analysis, which has become closely intertwined with the concept of institutional logics (see thornton, ocasio & lounsbury, 2012). overall, we now have a much better (albeit incomplete) appreciation of institutional emergence, institutional repair, institutional maintenance and continuity, and institutional change. for over three decades the trajectory of institutional scholarship has been consistently upwards and attention has moved from one emphasis (branch of the tree?) to another. we have moved away from the oversocialized (granovetter, 1985) bias characteristic of early theorizing to a recognition that organizations may seek to manage their legitimacy in ways other than the simple adoption and decoupling of symbolically important practices. we are studying how and why organizations respond differently to seemingly similar institutional demands and we are learning of the possible consequences of these consequences. we are continuing to expand our understanding of the mechanisms by which institutional demands are invoked by field-level intermediaries such as the media, critics, consumers, the professions and analysts. perhaps inevitably, the centrifugal expansion of institutional explorations can be bewildering. the breadth of scholarship is exciting but also intimidating. making sense of, and giving coherence to, this still-expanding world of overlapping ideas and interpretations is not easy. moreover, the challenge of imposing coherence is distinctly hindered by a self-inflicted tendency towards a proliferation of terms; “institutional” is an overused adjective. but it is this very combination of sustained explorations and elaboration that gives institutional (there’s that word again) research its vibrancy and appeal. there remains much to be done — ideas about cultural entrepreneurship (lounsbury & glynn, 2001), institutional work (e.g., lawrence & suddaby, 2006), institutional complexity (greenwood et al., 2011; kraatz & block, 2008), hybridization (battilana & dorado, 2010), materiality (pinch, 2008), and the application of those and earlier ideas to novel settings (e.g., mair, martí & ventresca, 2012) — or extreme ones (martí & fernández, forthcoming) —, broader issues (khan, munir & wilmott 2007) and to different levels of analysis 462 new institutionalism: roots and buds m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 459-467 (tempel & walgenbach, 2007) are resonant with possibilities. we have learned much, but much more is yet to come. we first discussed this special issue during the 7th new institutionalism workshop2, held in lyon in march 2011. we had the opportunity to access many prominent institutional scholars and indeed, half of the papers we received for the special issue had been presented in an earlier version at the workshop. the papers in this special issue were selected according to the usual double-blind review process. following m@n@gement’s tradition, we made sure the process was both demanding and developmental. we had a time constraint, however, which pushed us to be somewhat more selective, especially in the first round of reviews. we had to reject many papers that had potential but were not mature enough for authors to fully develop them in time. we have no doubt some of these will appear in print somewhere in the future. we are very pleased and proud to present an outstanding set of papers reflecting what we had in mind for this special issue. it is comprised of four papers (two conceptual ones, two empirical ones), one book review-cumessay, and one book review. we introduce them in what follows. patricia bromley, hokyu hwang and woody powell notice that although belonging to the same organizational field implies pressure to adopt similar practices, considerable variation exist in the way actors enact those practices. they study how ngos in the bay area implement strategic planning and show the co-existence of three main logics driving its adoption, namely opportunism, associationalism, and managerialism. the authors use the first term, “opportunism”, to suggest that organizations adopt planning to respond to different pressures (e.g., from board members) or fiscal requirements. by “associationalism”, the authors mean that planning is used to reassess the mission of the association. finally, “managerialism” refers to situations in which planning is considered a routine element of management. variation ensues in how the business practice — strategic planning — is enacted. building on bromley and powell (2012), the authors distinguish symbolic adoption (the strategic plan “sat gathering dust on a shelf”) and symbolic implementation (the plan alters organizational routines, but managers are uncertain about how this helps to attain goals). their article thus sheds new light on decoupling, going beyond extant research that predominantly focuses on intended decoupling. instead, they argue, decoupling can happen “unwillingly” because of lack of resources or foresight. in addition, whereas previous research has largely emphasized how exogenous pressures lead to conformity, bromley and her colleagues note that the boundary between external and internal pressures can be blurred. they document internal mechanisms that push the organization to adopt practices through what they call “micro-level internalization”. decoupling (meyer & rowan, 1977) is, no doubt, a “root” concept for institutional theorists. by revisiting it, bromley, hwang and powell open up promising research avenues in at least two directions: the role of institutional complexity and the need to look at how organizational members negotiate such complexity and different macro-institutional scripts, which they later translate into everyday actions. importantly, they suggest that decoupling should be understood — and studied — not as a state but as a process. in a conceptual article, kafui dansou and ann langley bring the notion of test to better understand institutional work. originating from conventionalist theory (boltanski & thévenot, 2006/1991), the notion of test refers to instances when 2. the workshop is an annual event set up by the new institutionalism network created by georg krücken, renate meyer and peter walgenbach. the 2011 edition of the workshop was hosted by emlyon business school and was organized by bernard forgues, ignasi martí and philippe monin. to learn more about the network,visit: www.newinstitutionalism.org 463 bernard forgues & royston greenwood & ignasi martí & philippe monin & peter walgenbachm@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 459-467 value frameworks shaping behaviors are questioned. here, those instances are the moments when institutional arrangements are questioned, as one can witness when institutions are created, maintained, challenged and disrupted. the authors argue that tapping into the conventionalist toolbox, and more precisely shifting from institutional logics to conventionalist orders of worth, affords a better understanding of micro-processes at play during such critical moments and processes. tests can occur at two levels: tests of whether principles are correctly applied, and tests of whether said principles are appropriate to a given situation. in institutional terms, tests are, they argue, a form of institutional work particularly at play in situations of institutional complexity. tests also allow bringing materiality to the fore as they involve artifacts, thus going beyond institutional theorization (suddaby & greenwood, 2005). dansou and langley argue that a closer look at the moments of test marking sequences of institutional stability and change can contribute to our understanding of institutional work. specifically, this should shed light on micro-processes in three key dimensions. the first one is agency. according to the authors, using the notion of test permits to “see” different degrees of intentionality; it allows us to distinguish between strategic or more pragmatic forms of institutional work too. the second dimension is relationality, by which dansou and langley refer to the analysis of actions and reactions as they unfold over time. the third one, temporality, focuses on the temporal flow of actions shaping the evolution of institutions. the notion of test thus offers new possibilities to tackle a good number of central questions for institutionalists as identified above, including work and materiality. benjamin taupin also puts to work boltanski and thévenot’s (2006) theory of justification in a study of how the credit rating industry was able to maintain its legitimacy amidst mounting critiques during the 2000s crisis. based on a qualitative analysis of 340 comments sent to the sec during its public consultations, taupin uncovers three kinds of work that contribute to institutional maintenance. the first one, confirmation work, consists in reaffirming existing arrangements through epideictic discourses, thus avoiding any questioning of institutionalized practices. with increased pressure following the subprime crisis, actors engaged into a second type of institutional work, namely qualification work. the third kind of institutional work, the circular figure, reinforces the compromise by emphasizing orders of worth composing it. to counter a critique based on the principles of one given order of worth, opponents will use principles from another order of worth. as a consequence, the debate remains inconclusive and the compromise is eventually reinforced. taken together, these three kinds of work constitute justification work, i.e., work “based on use and arrangement of multiple forms of rationality in a moment of strong contestation intended to promote their vision of justice” (taupin, this issue). this article nicely echoes the previous one by dansou and langley and contributes to our understanding of both institutional work and institutional complexity. elke weik too aims to enrich institutional theory, and more specifically discussions about embedded agency, thanks to concepts developed elsewhere. weik refers to the work of hans joas, a prominent german sociologist, who has developed a powerful action theory articulating the concepts of creativity, situation, corporeality, and sociality. creativity is seen as inherent to any action, “a common human feature which is displayed whenever an actor finds 464 new institutionalism: roots and buds m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 459-467 a solution to a problem in a specific situation” (weik, this issue). weik explains that joas starts by critiquing the rational action underpinnings prevalent in most sociological accounts of action. first, she writes, this downplays the importance of the situation, to which humans adapt, modifying ends according to means. second, this disregards the actor’s corporeality, although we know the body affects how the actor thinks and acts. third, any action builds upon and is constituted from social acts, or sociality. what does this bring to the institutional table? weik argues that joas’s creativity of action allows us to conceive of actors and institutions as co-construed. she further develops four different themes where joas’s work promises to contribute to recent research by institutional scholars. to avoid giving up too much of her article, we present just one in this introduction: “institutional ecstasy”. with this almost provocative term, weik calls attention to the fact that institutions are not merely sets of taken-for-granted practices. sociality implies that institutions sometimes also enable actors to go beyond themselves in “heroic deeds [that] do not consist in departing from institutions but in sticking to them or reinforcing them under utmost adversity”. the firefighters of 9/11 or chernobyl liquidators come to mind when reflecting upon this understudied emotional component to institutions. in addition to those four articles, we would like to draw attention to the two book reviews of this special issue, by roger friedland and april wright. roger friedland does more than review thornton et al.’s (2012) institutional logics perspective: he starts a conversation. and this conversation is so rich that it will fuel institutional research with ideas and questions just like his seminal article with robert alford (friedland & alford, 1991) did twenty years ago. to give just one example, friedland argues that institutional logics allowbringing value back in (to paraphrase a famous article). as he writes, “value is central to an institutional logic: a presumed product of its prescribed practices, the foundation stone of its ontology, the source of legitimacy of its rules, a basis of individual identification, a ground for agency, and the foundation upon which its powers are constituted”. and yet, the current formulation in the institutional logics perspective only captures this through sources of legitimacy. friedland suggests that moving from sources of legitimacy to value would have us replace, for example, “share price” with “private property” in the market logic, “personal expertise” with “knowledge” in the professions logic, and “market position of firm” with “capital” in the corporation logic. finally, april wright bravely tackles the herculean task of reviewing the 1,848page, five-volume set, edited by royston greenwood et al. (2012): institutional theory in organization studies. the collection reprints 57 highly influential articles and book chapters. wright explains the logic behind the selection of those papers and presents the five volumes. to conclude, we believe that the ideas and challenges explored in the articles and reviews in this special issue clearly indicate that the study and revisiting of old “roots” and the envisioning of new “buds” offer a fertile area for scholarly research on new institutionalism, and more largely, on organization theory. these works, which pair with recent research by students of institutions in a large number of fields and which mobilize a rather vast panoply of frameworks (to name a few recent trends: social movements, social interactionism, and materiality) can provide researchers with much theoretical material and methodological tools for further investigation. together, they suggest a large number of issues, themes and problems largely unaddressed, settings 465 bernard forgues & royston greenwood & ignasi martí & philippe monin & peter walgenbachm@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 459-467 neglected, but also potential for revisiting long “taken-for-granted” insights and ideas. happy reading! bernard forgues is professor of organization theory at emlyon business school, france, where he has lots of fun (and grey hair) heading the ph.d. programme. his primary research interests deal with the impact of technology and materiality on organizations, institutions and industries. his research has been published in journals including organization science, organization studies, and strategic organization. royston greenwood holds the telus chair of strategic management at the school of business, university of alberta. his research interests include processes of institutional change (with particular reference to professional contexts) and institutional accounts of sustained corporate corruption. he is a fellow of the academy of management and the current editor of the academy of management annals. ignasi martí is an associate professor of organization theory and entrepreneurship at emlyon business school, where he is director of the oce research center. he received his ph.d. from iese business school at the university of navarra. his research focuses on dignity, resistance, entrepreneurship, power and politics, and other institutional processes. philippe monin is the toupargel chair professor of strategic management and vice president, research at emlyon business school. he received his ph.d. at université jean moulin lyon iii. his eclectic research interests include post integration processes in mergers and acquisitions, market building in bop markets, institutions and social movements, and markets for critical opinion. peter walgenbach is professor of organization, leadership and human resource management at friedrich schiller university jena, germany. he earned his ph.d. from the university of mannheim, germany. his research interests include organization and management theory and comparative organization and management studies. 466 new institutionalism: roots and buds m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 459-467 . battilana, j., & dorado, s. (2010). building sustainable hybrid organizations: the case of commercial microfinance organizations. academy of management journal, 53(6), 14191440. . battilana, j., leca, b., & boxenbaum, e. (2009). how actors change institutions: towards a theory of institutional entrepreneurship. academy of management annals, 3(1), 65–107. . boltanski, l., & thévenot, l. (2006). on justification: economies of worth. princeton: university press. . bromley, p., & powell, w. w. (2012). from smoke and mirrors to walking the talk: decoupling in the contemporary world. academy of management annals, 6(1), 483-530. . czarniawska, b., & joerges, b. (1996). travel of ideas. in b. czarniawska & g. sevón (eds.), translating organizational change (pp.13-48). berlin: de gruyter. . d’aunno, t., sutton, r. i., & price, r. h. (1991). isomorphism and external support in conflicting institutional environments: a study of drug abuse units. academy of management journal, 34(3), 636661. . dimaggio, p. (1988). interest and agency in institutional theory. in l. g. zucker (ed.), institutional patterns and organizations (pp. 3-21). cambridge: ballinger. . dimaggio, p., & powell, w. w. (1983). the iron cage revisited: institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields. american sociological review, 48(2), 147-160. . friedland, r., & alford, r. r. (1991). bringing society back in: symbols, practices, and institutional contradictions. in w. w. powell & p. j. dimaggio (eds.), the new institutionalism in organizational analysis (pp. 232-263). chicago: university of chicago press. . granovetter, m. (1985). economic action and social structure: the problem of embeddedness. american journal of sociology, 91(3), 481-510. . greenwood, r., raynard, m., kodeih, f., micelotta, e. r., & lounsbury, m. (2011). institutional complexity and organizational responses. academy of management annals, 5(1), 317-371. . greenwood, r., sahlinandersson, k., suddaby, r., & oliver, c. (2012). institutional theory in organization studies, london: sage. . hardy, c., & maguire, s. (2008). institutional entrepreneurship. in r. greenwood, c. oliver, k. sahlin & r. suddaby (eds.), the sage handbook of organizational institutionalism (pp.198-217). london: sage. . khan, f., munir, k., & willmott, h. (2007). a dark side of institutional entrepreneurship: soccer balls, child labour and postcolonial impoverishment. organization studies, 28(7), 1055-1077. . kraatz, m. s., & block, e. s. (2008). organizational implications of institutional pluralism. in r. greenwood, c. oliver, k. sahlin & r. suddaby (eds.), the sage handbook of organizational institutionalism (pp. 243-275). london: sage. . lawrence, t. b., & suddaby, r. (2006). institutions and institutional work. in: s. clegg, c. hardy, w. r. nord & t. lawrence (eds.), handbook of organization studies (pp. 215-254). london: sage. . lounsbury, m., & glynn m. -a. (2001). cultural entrepreneurship: stories, legitimacy, and the acquisition of resources. strategic management journal, 22(6-7), 545–564. . mair, j., martí, i., & ventresca, m. j. (2012). building inclusive markets in rural bangladesh: how intermediaries work institutional voids. academy of management journal, 55(4), 819-850. . martí, i., & fernández, p. (forthcoming). the institutional work of oppression and resistance: learning from the holocaust. organization studies. . meyer j., & rowan, b. (1977). institutionalized organizations: formal structure as myth and ceremony. american journal of sociology, 83(2), 340-363. . oliver, c. (1991). strategic responses to institutional processes. academy of management review, 16(1), 145-179. references 467 bernard forgues & royston greenwood & ignasi martí & philippe monin & peter walgenbachm@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 459-467 . phillips, n., lawrence, t. b., & hardy, c. (2004). discourse and institution. academy of management review, 29(4), 635-653. . pinch, t. (2008). technology and institutions: living in a material world. theory and society, 37(5), 461-483. . rao, h., monin, p., & durand, d. (2003). institutional change in toque ville: nouvelle cuisine as an identity movement in french gastronomy. american journal of sociology, 108(4), 795-843. . sahlin, k., & wedlin, l. (2008). circulating ideas: imitation, translation and editing. in r. greenwood, c. oliver, k. sahlin & r. suddaby (eds.), the sage handbook of organizational institutionalism (pp.218-242). london: sage. . schneiberg, m., & lounsbury, m. (2008). social movements and institutional analysis, in: r. greenwood, c. oliver, k. sahlin & r. suddaby (eds.), the sage handbook of organizational institutionalism (pp. 650-673). london: sage. . scott, w. r. (2008). institutions and organizations: ideas and interests (3rd ed). thousand oaks: sage. . suddaby, r., & greenwood, r. (2005). rhetorical strategies of legitimacy. administrative science quarterly, 50(1), 35-67. . tempel, a., & walgenbach, p. (2007). global standardization of organizational forms and management practices? what new institutionalism and the businesssystems approach can learn from each other. journal of management studies, 44(1), 1-24. . thornton, p. h., ocasio, w. & lounsbury, m. (2012). the institutional logics perspective. a new approach to culture, structure, and process. oxford: oxford university press. kim2004 influence of firm and partner resources on firm performance in the alliance portfolio seong-young kim abstract. although a firm benefits from the resource endowment of the partners in its alliance portfolio, research has so far concentrated on partners. this study proposes that mutual conditions of network resources between a firm and its partners – the compatibility of underlying resources, including physical and r&d resources, strategy, status, and the complementarity of technology – have a positive relationship to the firm’s economic performance in its alliance portfolio. by analyzing alliances within the global semiconductor industry, this study shows that a firm’s economic performance increases when the compatibility and complementarity of network resources are high. ! the effect of partners’ resources and attributes on firm performance has become an important theme in alliance portfolio research. an alliance portfolio is a focal firm’s set of all direct alliances, which take a variety of forms and occur across both vertical and horizontal boundaries (baum, calabrese, & silverman, 2000; hoffmann, 2007; lavie, 2007; wassmer, 2010). scholars have argued that improvement of a firm’s performance by constructing an alliance portfolio is largely attributable to the partners’ principal network resources, defined as the alliance partners’ heterogeneous resources and characteristics that are available to the focal firm in its set of direct alliances (baum et al., 2000; gulati, 1998; powell, koput, & simth-doerr, 1996). for instance, the technological and commercial prominence of partners as well as relationships with prestigious venture capital firms influence startups’ innovation rate, sales growth, and ipo performance (gulati & higgins, 2003; stuart, hoang, & hybels, 1999; stuart, 2000). a key argument is that the most valuable aspect of composing the portfolio and improving performance is allying with partners who are well endowed with network resources. partners’ resources are critical to the composition of the alliance portfolio, because they are pivotal components of both value creation in a firm’s alliances and improvement of firm performance (baum et al., 2000; stuart, 2000). while this research stream has contributed significantly to alliance portfolio research, it has focused on the inherent and prominent attributes of partners rather than on the properties of the portfolio’s network structure. consequently, alliance portfolio researchers increasingly focus on partners’ resource endowment as a critical factor in the pursuit of performance improvement (stuart, 2000). ! this paper is motivated by a gap in the literature. although the key resources and attributes of partners are likely to be important, how much a focal firm’s resource condition influences the partners’ contribution to performance is unclear. rather, current research offers a deterministic account of performance improvement, in which partners with attractive resources or capabilities are able to improve firm economic performance (baum et al., 2000; stuart, 2000). however, this “rich get richer” account presents mixed evidence on the performance implications of partner endowment. for instance, some studies have m@n@gement 2014, 17(2): 88-109 88 esc rennes school of business seong.young.kim@esc-rennes.com www.management-aims.com © the author(s) mailto:seong.young@esc-rennes.com mailto:seong.young@esc-rennes.com http://www.management-aims.com http://www.management-aims.com found no direct effect of partner attributes on profitability (hagedoorn & schakenraad, 1994), and even report a negative effect on economic performance (goerzen & beamish, 2005). alliance research has recognized that understanding a firm’s alliance activities inherently requires looking not only at partners’ resource endowments but also at the focal firm’s resource conditions, which should be compatible with such endowments (walker, kogut, & shan, 1997). that is, the composition and consequences of an alliance portfolio depend on the firm-specific attributes and resources of both the focal firm and its partners. thus, how the resources of a firm and its partners influence the focal firm’s performance remains a puzzle. ! in contrast, an emerging stream of alliance research explores resource matching (vissa, 2011). mitsuhashi & greve (2009: 976), citing logan (1996), state that “a theory of relationship needs to simultaneously address all parties’ preference, opportunities, and constraints by using data on the characteristics or resources that each side value in the other.” although this view advances an understanding of the role of both the firm’s and its partners’ resources, the empirical evidence has generally concentrated on alliance formation at the dyadic level. put differently, portfolio studies on performance implications have been slow to embrace this important concern, and have provided limited guidance on how to better ensure the composition of alliance portfolios and the impact of resources on both the firm and the partners. therefore, an understanding of the effect of network resources in alliance portfolios remains incomplete. this paper addresses these gaps by asking how the conditions of the network resources of a firm and its partners influence the focal firm’s economic performance in its alliance portfolio. this investigation focuses on the performance implications of the network resources by proposing and testing two resource conditions: compatibility and complementarity. some strategic alliance research emphasizes that partner compatibility allows firms to leverage alliances because of partner uncertainty (podolny, 1994; porter & fuller, 1986), while other studies stress that complementarity between the firm and its partners facilitates alliance formation because of direct synergy (chung, singh, & lee, 2000). this paper proposes that increasing the compatibility of the underlying network resources – physical and r&d resources, strategy, and status – and the complementarity of technologies between the firm and its partners has a positive effect on the focal firm’s economic performance. this study tests the hypotheses by using data on alliance portfolios of firms in the semiconductor industry, which is characterized by rapid technology change and numerous alliances with heterogeneous partners. this research contributes to the alliance portfolio literature on resource endowment of partners by highlighting the resource conditions of both the firm and its partners and the resource conditions’ performance implications in alliance portfolios. alliance research has pointed out that mutual conditions of resources are more or less suitable for understanding a firm’s alliance formation (mitsuhashi & greve, 2009). this paper extends this observation to alliance portfolios and argues that understanding the performance implications of alliance portfolios requires a fit of network resources between firm and partners. theoretical background and hypotheses performance and network resources in alliance portfolios ! understanding the relationship between alliances and performance is a long-standing goal of alliance research. indeed, researchers have considered this relationship to be an essential pursuit of strategic alliance research (child, faulkner, & tallman, 2005). performance can be viewed from two distinct m@n@gement, 17(2): 88-109! seong-young kim 89 perspectives: system performance linked to alliance performance and goal performance related to the influence of alliances on firm performance (seashore & yuchtman, 1967). while alliance performance relates to the extent to which an alliance performs well as a business unit, goal performance relates to the extent to which the objectives of each firm in an alliance are realized in practice. this paper examines performance associated with the asymmetric objectives of each firm, and the term “firm performance” refers to a focal firm’s performance at the firm level. ! the system performance perspective, which focuses on joint ventures as separate legal entities, argues that some alliances are more successful than others because they are characterized by a high level of interfirm trust, strategic and organizational compatibility, knowledge exchange, or adaptive governance (dussauge, garrette, & mitchell, 2000; dyer & singh, 1998; dyer & nobeoka, 2000; madhok & tallman, 1998; kale, dyer, & singh, 2002; khanna, gulati, & nohria, 1998). in contrast, the goal performance perspective holds that performance should be measured independently to maintain the objectives of each firm, because firms form alliances for a variety of reasons and alliance members may have asymmetric objectives. heterogeneity of partnerships can affect firm outcomes differently, as firms enter alliances at distinct points in their value chains, with very different entities and for widely different reasons (gulati & kletter, 2004). failure of an alliance in terms of one party’s goal attainment does not necessarily mean that the alliance has failed in terms of another party’s criteria (child et al., 2005). ! however, those perspectives do not fully explain the performance of alliances, and this is for three reasons. first, the analysis of performance has often been conducted at the dyadic level, with each firm’s alliance considered to be an isolated event rather than an interdependent element (hoffmann, 2007; ozcan & eisenhardt, 2009). put differently, research has neglected the simultaneous and interdependent effects of other alliances in a firm’s set of alliances. furthermore, inferring alliance contributions to firm performance from alliance success is difficult because the value appropriated by the alliance partners is asymmetric (khanna et al., 1998). finally, the majority of research focuses on joint ventures rather than on the more common non-equity alliances (lavie, 2007). ! drawing on social network theory, several alliance studies have overcome these limitations by focusing on the composition of alliances and attributes of partners, using terms such as multilateral alliance (doz & hamel, 1998) or alliance constellation (gomes-casseres, 1994). in particular, by expanding the unit of analysis to the focal firm and all its direct partners, research has examined the direct contribution to firm performance of a focal firm’s alliance configuration, called the ego-centric alliance network (ahuja, 2000a; bae & gargiulo, 2004; powell et al., 1996) or alliance portfolio (baum et al., 2000; hoffmann, 2007; lavie, 2007; stuart, 2000; wassmer, 2010). the underlying argument is that the effects of alliance portfolio composition on firm performance depend on partner firms’ resources and attributes as network resources. as gulati (2007) notes, firms can build very distinct network resource bases which are contingent on their partners and the relative efficacies of these entities. network resources involve several partners’ resources and attributes, such as relational capabilities, technological knowledge, social position, or organizational resources, including both tangible and intangible resources: physical assets, financial resources, human resources, and r&d investment (baum et al., 2000; lavie, 2007; stuart, 2000). when alliance partners have high-quality resources, capabilities, technological expertise, or social status, a firm is likely to improve its performance by leveraging the resource endowment and benefit from spillover (baum et al., 2000; chung et al., 2000; gulati & higgins, 2003; gulati & gargiulo, 1999; stuart et al., 1999). performance in the alliance portfolio! m@n@gement, 17(2): 88-109 90 ! recent research has examined the performance implications of network resources using various performance measures, such as innovation, new product development, number of patents obtained, revenue growth, market share, and market value (ahuja, 2000a; baum et al., 2000; goerzen & beamish, 2005; lavie, 2007; shipilov, 2009; stuart, 2000). for example, by entering into technology alliances with larger firms which possess superior resource attributes in innovativeness and size, a firm improves innovation output in terms of its patent rate (hagedoorn & schakenraad, 1994). as another example, in the biotech industry, the technological and commercial superiority of alliance partners affects the ipo performance of startups (stuart et al., 1999). the argument is that startups that have exchange partners with prominent technological and commercial resources and skills perform better than ventures without endorsements. similarly, relationships with prestigious venture capital firms and underwriters contribute to ipo performance (gulati & higgins, 2003). for startup firms in the u.s. semiconductor industry, for instance, firm performance derived from an alliance portfolio is determined by the partners’ revenues and technological and innovation capabilities, implying that the advantage of having an alliance portfolio is driven by the partner firms’ characteristics (stuart, 2000). in a similar vein, recent studies have argued that not only technology-related characteristics but also partners’ other firm-specific factors have an impact on performance. powell et al. (1996) showed that u.s. biotechnology firms have grown more rapidly in revenue and sales by establishing a more diverse set of partnering activities than other firms. other studies showed that startups can enhance their initial performance by building efficient strategic alliances with technologically and commercially prominent partners, thus providing diverse information and capabilities and offering more opportunities for learning (baum et al., 2000). ! although research has examined the impact of partners’ resource endowments, performance implications also depend on several other factors, such as the focal firm’s characteristics or the industry context (ahuja, 2000b; dussauge et al., 2000; hansen, 1999; owen-smith & powell, 2004). of particular importance are both the partners’ resource aspects and the focal firm’s resource condition (walker et al., 1997), and recent research has suggested that complementarity and compatibility of firm-partner aspects in an alliance are not parts of a trade-off. rothaermel and boeker (2008) found that a pharmaceutical firm and a biotechnological firm are more likely to enter into an alliance based on complementarities and similarities between partners. mitsuhashi and greve (2009) found that firms' alliances in the shipping industry are associated with market complementarity and resource compatibility. however, empirical evidence on the contribution of resources has been limited to alliance formation at the dyadic level. ! this study argues that a focal firm might improve its performance when its alliance portfolio strikes a balance between complementary and compatible resources. to evaluate whether the complementarity and compatibility of network resources between the firm and its partners influence firm performance, this investigation examines the effects of five key resources that have been prominently used in prior research: physical resources, r&d resources, strategy, status, and technology (chatterjee & wernerfelt, 1991; chung et al., 2000; lavie, 2007; mitsuhashi & greve, 2009). these network resources may have a more direct impact than other resources on alliance portfolio composition and firm performance in high-tech industries (gulati & higgins, 2003; podolny & stuart, 1995; stuart et al., 1999). the following sections develop and examine distinct hypotheses for each of these resources. m@n@gement, 17(2): 88-109! seong-young kim 91 compatibility of network resources research on alliance formation suggests that asymmetric or imperfect information about potential partners' capabilities, reliability, and motives is a critical factor in building interfirm relationships (kogut, 1988; oxley, 1999; podolny, 1994). when asymmetry of information raises transaction costs, firms are more likely to build partnerships with firms that are compatible in terms of organizational structure, size, and resources (mitsuhashi & greve, 2009; porter & fuller, 1986). in managing a number of alliances, a firm may incur heavy coordination costs. organization scholars predicted long ago that the greater the coordination efforts by mutual adjustment, the heavier the communication burden and decision costs in the relationships (thompson, 2007). thus, firms will seek to minimize coordination costs by forming reciprocal relationships with similar partner firms. because alliances require ongoing coordination that involves management time and money (porter & fuller, 1986), when interests between parties are divergent and separate, the process of value creation becomes complicated, raising the cost of alliance activity. thus, the extent of coordination costs depends on how similar the partners’ interests are. indeed, recent studies suggest that increasing the diversity within an alliance portfolio may constrain firm outcomes owing to greater complexity of resource management, coordination costs, or potential interfirm conflicts (ahuja & lampert, 2001; bae & gargiulo, 2004; goerzen & beamish, 2005). therefore, when firms seek business opportunities and improved performance by building alliances, the compatibility of underlying network resources influences the composition of the alliance portfolio and firm outcomes. physical and r&d resources. a widely held assumption is that firms in highly capital-intensive primary manufacturing industries are more likely to seek external alliance partners with similar underlying resources and characteristics, such as standardization, process innovation, and engineering breakthroughs (harrison, hitt, hoskisson, & ireland, 2001) because they expect greater synergies from partnerships with similar goals for engineering quality products and comparable managerial approaches for allocating resources. according to the resource-based view (wernerfelt, 1984), firms could enjoy greater performance improvement when they are at the same stage in the value chain and have similar resource allocation patterns in critical areas. for example, the capital-intensive semiconductor industry is characterized by an emphasis on commodity products, standardized maximization of the number of products, low-cost products, a linedriven organization structure, process innovation, a strong emphasis on a capital budget, a high level of technological know-how, and functional emphasis on manufacturing and engineering (galbraith & kazanjian, 1986). thus, building alliances between firms with similar resource allocation strategies based on similar capital and investment requirements is more likely to facilitate both effective management and skill and knowledge transfer, leading to performance improvement. this argument leads us to posit the following hypotheses: hypothesis 1a. a firm's economic performance is positively related to the level of compatibility of capital resources in its alliance portfolio. hypothesis 1b. a firm's economic performance is positively related to the level of compatibility of r&d resources in its alliance portfolio. strategy. firms considering alliances assess their potential partners’ strategy for aspects of compatibility. strategy researchers argue that firms following similar strategies are likely to ally with each other. for example, porter (1980) points out that when the strategies of interfirm relationships are far apart, tacit coordination performance in the alliance portfolio! m@n@gement, 17(2): 88-109 92 becomes more difficult, resulting in strong competition in the industry. that is, firms with strategic distance are more likely to impede interfirm coordination. newman (1978) also argues that differences in firms’ strategies may lead to incongruent goals, potentially reducing firms’ ability to tacitly collude. to the extent that interfirm coordination links to firms’ ability to develop and commercialize new products in the future, a similarity of strategy is likely to influence firm outcomes. thus, firms are more likely to collaborate with others with compatible strategies, leading to performance improvement. hypothesis 2. a firm's economic performance is positively related to the level of compatibility of strategy in its alliance portfolio. status. a firm’s status has been viewed as a key network resource in leveraging alliances and improving organizational outcomes (pfeffer, 1992). status is defined as the perceived quality of a producer’s products relative to the products of similar others or the products of its competitors (podolny, 1993). to lower uncertainty as to a partner’s quality, firms use the status of potential partners as a cue for determining the underlying quality of their products (podolny, 1993, 1994). status is also a signal relevant audiences use to decrease the uncertainty surrounding the quality of a partner’s products and services (podolny & stuart, 1995). for example, a high-status potential partner is likely to receive more media coverage than partners with lower or no status, reducing a firm’s search costs for an acceptable partner. in other words, a high-status partner can be monitored and evaluated more easily because it is more visible and its performance is more public, thus lessening the probability of opportunistic actions. ! firms with comparable status tend to associate more readily with one another than with firms of a different status (benjamin & podolny, 1999), a characteristic referred to as “compatibility of status” (mcpherson, smith-lovin, & cook, 2001). alliances are likely to reflect compatibility of status for two reasons (chung et al., 2000). first, the signaling effect encourages firms to collaborate with others of similar status when transaction results are uncertain (podolny, 1994). partnerships with low-status partners will be detrimental to high-status firms because other relevant audiences could perceive that the high-status firm endorses the quality of the products manufactured by the low-status partners, resulting in leakage of the high-status firm’s status. second, similar status increases the likelihood that both parties will share the costs and benefits of an alliance with higher levels of fairness and commitment, because in unequal alliances the higher-status partner is less likely to commit resources of the same caliber as those of the lower-status partner (chung et al., 2000; shipilov & li, 2008). ! a firm’s high status in its industry also has performance implications. as a firm’s status rises, its advertising costs decline, and more customers flock to it (podolny, 1993). a study of interfirm relationships of biotech startups found that startups with higher-status equity investors and underwriters had a higher rate of initial public offering and market capitalization because of the venture capitalist firms’ close relationship with leading investment banks, demonstrating that higher-status interfirm relationships attracted other prestigious relationships (stuart et al., 1999). similarly, a study of the u.k. investment banking industry showed that a firm’s accumulated status in an interfirm network relates positively to the firm’s market performance (shipilov & li, 2008). in this sense, compatible status between the firm and its partners is likely to contribute to an increase in the firm’s organizational outcomes such as revenue or net benefit in the context of alliance portfolio. in the same vein, this investigation tests the impact of the compatibility of status in a firm’s alliance portfolio in the specific setting of m@n@gement, 17(2): 88-109! seong-young kim 93 semiconductor firms. the above discussion leads to the presumption of a positive effect of compatible status between a firm and its partners in an alliance portfolio: hypothesis 3. a firm's economic performance is positively related to the level of compatibility of status in its alliance portfolio. complementarity of technology ! while firms assess the compatibility of the underlying network resources of partners as a basis for alliance formation, strategic alliance research has long emphasized that firms’ profile of complementarity is also an important component of the alliance formation process, having a direct impact on alliance purpose and firm outcomes (chung et al., 2000; gulati, 1995; gulati, nohria, & zaheer, 2000; lavie, 2007). teece (1986) argues that because for high-tech firms knowledge is the primary resource for building competitive advantage, firms in high-growth industries are more likely to form alliances with partners with complementary knowledge and skill to ensure timely product introduction and to marshal a full array of capabilities. high complementarity of partners’ expertise or specific knowledge increases the relative novelty of the knowledge a firm can access, because knowledge diversity adds to the variety of possible knowledge combinations and the potential for novel knowledge creation (fleming, 2001). when alliance partners have a high level of complementary technologies, a firm can improve its performance by leveraging partner firms’ resource endowment and learning (baum et al., 2000; burt, 1992; gulati, 1998; lavie, 2007; stuart et al., 1999). for instance, alliance portfolios can provide a repository of accumulated experience and novel technological knowledge as their composition becomes more diverse and complementary (anand & khanna, 2000; powell et al., 1996). in technology-intensive industries, complementarity of technology is an essential element in partner selection because it directly influences firm performance (rothaermel, 2001). since benefits derived from alliances in a hightech industry hinge mostly on technological and innovation capabilities that partners bring to the alliance, the extent to which an alliance portfolio is built by a broad set of technological resources on the part of partners determines a firm’s innovation and economic performance (stuart, 2000). for instance, a firm may address technological challenges and possible solutions by creating an alliance portfolio with partners that possess different technologies and knowledge. complementary technologies provide the opportunity to benchmark technologies, to combine knowledge, and to integrate best solutions that originate from those alliances (lavie, lechner, & singh, 2007). ! several empirical studies have assessed the effect of partners’ complementarity. for example, saxenian (1994) found that partnerships with complementary technologies rapidly improved innovation, commercialization, and revenue generation, because complementarity increases the efficacy of combining both the firm’s and the partners’ resources for achieving strategic goals. powell et al. (1996) found evidence that u.s. biotechnology firms in technologyand information-rich locations grew more rapidly when they established a more diverse set of activities than of other firms. thus, this study suggests that the greater the complementarity of technology between a focal firm and its partners, the higher the probability of improving the firm’s economic performance. hypothesis 4. a firm's economic performance is positively related to the level of complementarity of technology in its alliance portfolio. performance in the alliance portfolio! m@n@gement, 17(2): 88-109 94 figure 1. proposed theoretical model method sample ! figure 1 presents the theoretical model. the empirical context for this study is the global semiconductor industry (sic 3674), and data on firms and alliances in the industry were collected during the period 1997-2007. two reasons motivated the choice of semiconductor firms as the focus for the study. first, interfirm collaboration is common in that industry. as the semiconductor industry was experiencing rapid evolution in technologies, business models, and organizational types during the period under study, firms entered a large number of alliances (park, chen, & gallagher, 2002; stuart, 2000); according to the sdc database, between 1990 and 2009 the percentage of publicly traded semiconductor firms engaging in alliances increased from 23% to 93% and the average number of alliances per firm rose from five to more than 30 (figure 2). figure 2. percentage of firms entering alliances and average alliance portfolio size ! per firm (semiconductor firms publicly traded in the u.s. stock market exchange) m@n@gement, 17(2): 88-109! seong-young kim 95 ! second, semiconductor firms enter into alliances with heterogeneous other firms that vary in terms of size, technology, and value chain and provide complementary resources, assets, or knowledge, affecting the firm’s technological and financial performance (gomes-casseres, 1994; powell et al., 1996). for instance, qualcomm, a leading company in the design of modem chipsets and microprocessors, has built its alliance portfolio with a number of firms, including hitachi, lucent, motorola, panasonic, qsound, samsung, sharp, sony, tsmc, and umc (figure 3). by building multiple alliances across its value chain, qualcomm has been able to capitalize on learning from many market segments, such as computer manufacturing and telecommunications services. within such multiple partnerships with integrated circuit design firms, original equipment manufacturer firms, and competitors that provide their own resources and skills, qualcomm and its partner firms share r&d costs, marketing costs, financial resources, engineering support, and new products that are important for strategic purposes and financial performance. such characteristics allow an examination of how the heterogeneous resources and characteristics of a focal firm and its partners influence firm economic performance. thus, the semiconductor industry is an appropriate empirical setting for this study, which tests the resource conditions of a firm and the partners in its alliance portfolio. figure 3. alliance portfolio of qualcomm in 2007 ! the sample comprised semiconductor firms that design, produce, and market integrated circuits, including memory chips and microprocessors. from an initial list of firms from the bloomberg database, a sample was selected according to four criteria. first, firms must design and manufacture integrated circuits. this criterion excluded firms that test integrated chips and trade them in the secondary market. second, to meet this paper’s objective of explaining variations in resource conditions and performance effects from alliances, firms must have been engaged in at least two alliances with other semiconductor firms between 1997-2007. third, firms must be publicly traded on u.s. stock exchanges. fourth, firms must have at least five sets of annual financial records. the third and fourth criteria were driven by the availability and reliability of data on private or foreign firms operating in the u.s. market. for these selected firms, the sdc platinum database yielded records of alliances formed by each semiconductor firm. to ensure complete coverage of publicly announced alliances, the sdc data were complemented by alliance announcements in the factiva database. within the observation period, each sample firm entered an average of 10.5 alliances, but performance in the alliance portfolio! m@n@gement, 17(2): 88-109 96 significant variation in alliance activity occurred across firms. a few organizations entered up to 85 alliances, whereas some entered only two or three. the bloomberg and datamonitor databases, as well as firms’ websites, were used to collect both firm-specific and partner-specific data, including financial records and technology information. in accordance with prior research (stuart, 2000), the alliances examined were limited to those involving technology development or exchange, manufacturing, and marketing, because this study’s theory concerned the compatibility and complementarity of resources. unilateral licensing and distribution contracts were excluded. ! these sampling criteria resulted in a sample of 115 firms and 386 firm-year observations. to construct a firm’s alliance portfolio, a four-year moving period was adopted, including alliances formed in the previous three years (e.g., 1994-97, 1995-98, 1996-99, etc.). this approach is common practice in alliance research to account for the lag structure of learning and the cooperative strategy of each alliance (stuart, 2000). measures firms’ economic performance. a firm’s economic performance is measured as its rate of return on assets (roa), which managers widely use to evaluate their annual operations. in addition, previous studies have employed this measure to assess firm performance (melnyk, stewart, & swink, 2004; sørensen, 2002) and it is useful for comparing corporate performance within the same industry. this study employed the three-year average of both measures with a one-year lag. three years of data overlap were chosen because some resources may have immediate effects on economic performance, while in the case of others it may take a number of years for their effects to be fully realized (palmer & wiseman, 1999). compatibility of capital resources. a firm that makes a consistent commitment to capital expenditures is continually building tangible resources involving its property, plant, and equipment (chatterjee & wernerfelt, 1991). a high level of availability of such physical assets and resources can improve the productivity of an alliance, influencing the firm’s profitability. this study operationalized capital intensity as capital expenditure divided by sales in year t-1. compatibility of r&d resources. a firm’s r&d expenditure, which is investment in the development of technological knowledge, contributes to its innovation and new product development, improving its economic performance. r&d intensity was calculated by dividing r&d expenses by sales in year t-1. compatibility of strategy. according to stinchcombe (1965), firms originating in a given period are “imprinted” by the prevailing environment and choose their structures and strategies accordingly. if stinchcombe's hypothesis is correct, the date of founding can serve as a unidimensional proxy for strategy, and firms that are similar in the year of founding (i.e., firms that experienced similar environments at their founding dates) are likely to follow similar strategies (gimeno & woo, 1996). following gimeno and woo (1996), this investigation used founding year to measure strategy. compatibility of status. status can be one of several valuable intangible network resources which firms possess. because status depends on social rank and generates social esteem or privileges, it can afford firms better access to scarce resources (burt, 1992; washington & zajac, 2005). bonacich’s centrality, which has been interpreted as a status score, served as a measure of the status of each firm (bonacich, 1987; podolny, 1993; rowley, greve, rao, & baum, m@n@gement, 17(2): 88-109! seong-young kim 97 2005). bonacich argues that an actor’s power and centrality are a function of the number of connections of the actor to others and the number of connections these others have in their neighborhood. that is, the more connections the firm’s partners have, the more central the firm is. however, the fewer the connections the firm’s partners have, the more powerful the firm is. status was calculated by constructing annual asymmetric network data in ucinet (borgatti, everett, & freeman, 1999). in accordance with gulati & gargiulo (1999), standardization of this variable across different years resulted from dividing the centrality of each firm and partner in each year by the maximum firm centrality observed in that year. ! the dyadic compatibility of network resources was calculated as 1 minus the difference between a focal firm and a partner for each of these organizational resources by normalizing to a zero-to-one range (gimeno & woo, 1996). greater value indicated higher compatibility between a firm and a partner. the compatibility scores were aggregated by calculating the average compatibility in an alliance portfolio: where resource (i, t–1) is the focal firm i’s organizational attribute and resource (j, t–1) is a partner j’s organizational attribute at year t-1. complementarity of technology. the scope of a firm’s technology was used to determine the complementarity of technology (park et al., 2002). the categories of semiconductor products in the datamonitor database comprise eight distinctive technological areas: application-specific integrated circuit memory, analog, microcomponent, telecommunication, discrete component, digital signal processing, gallium arsenide, and optoelectronics. these areas differ in technical concepts, product designs, and manufacturing systems. the complementarity of these technologies in a semiconductor firm’s alliance portfolio enables the firm to leverage technological synergy with other partner firms by meeting the firm’s need for different technological resources to produce each product type (stuart, 2000). complementarity of technologies was measured as the sum of the count of the complement of the technologies divided by the union of the technologies the firms and partners have (mitsuhashi & greve, 2009). thus, if firm i has three technologies, including two technologies which firm j also has, and firm j has four technologies, including two technologies which firm i also has, then the union of their technologies is 3 + 4 – 2 = 5 technologies. the complement technologies are 3 – 2 + 4 – 2 = 3. complementarity would then be 3 / 5 = 0.6. the dyadic complementarity was aggregated by calculating the average complementarity score in an alliance portfolio. control variables. the study included a number of control variables that may affect a firm’s performance in building its alliance portfolio. control variables at the focal firm level were firm age and firm size, measured as the natural logarithm of the number of employees. to control for prior alliance activities that might affect current alliances (ahuja, 2000a; baum et al., 2000; stuart et al., 1999), a focal firm’s prior partnership with partners involved in the firm’s alliance was counted (0 = no prior alliance, 1 = otherwise). the alliance experience was calculated by taking the number of prior alliances in the past 10 years. the proportion of joint ventures in the alliance portfolio was used to control for governance structure. equity joint ventures are assumed to be effective performance in the alliance portfolio! m@n@gement, 17(2): 88-109 98 governance mechanisms for interfirm learning and knowledge transfer, reducing transaction costs (kogut, 1988), and the proportion of joint ventures was computed out of the total number of alliances in firm i’s alliance portfolio. internationalization of the alliance portfolio was controlled by the percentage of foreign partners in a firm i’s set of alliances in year t. geographical and cultural distances are assumed to have both negative and positive effects on firm performance in that they make an alliance portfolio more difficult to manage but also provide efficiency of production cost. the study also controlled for portfolio size, as having more alliance partners can provide a firm with access to more diverse resources and knowledge, enhancing firm outcomes. portfolio size was computed using the natural log of the number of alliance partners for firm i in year t. market uncertainty was controlled for using the mean monthly stock price volatility of all sampled firms in year t-1 (beckman, haunschild, & phillips, 2004), which is calculated as the mean monthly price coefficient of variation for all firms in the s&p 500 index for the representative year. if a firm’s stock price varies widely relative to its average, the firm is experiencing high uncertainty. in this study, uncertainty was measured in year t-1 and alliances were examined in year t. finally, market share was controlled for by capturing the extent to which firms control the share of their respective integrated circuit markets. a firm’s high market share is likely to be associated with its economic performance. table 1 summarizes the variables and measurement. table 1. variables and measurement variables hypotheses measurement dependent variable firm's economic performance roa main effects compatibility of capital resources h1a+ capital intensity compatibility of r&d resources h1b+ r&d intensity compatibility of strategy h2+ founding year compatibility of status h3+ bonacich's power and centrality complementarity of technology h4+ count of complement technologies control variables firm age number of years since establishment firm size logarithm of the number of employees prior partnership dummy variable for prior alliance with partners alliance experience number of prior alliances in the past 10 years joint venture proportion of joint venture out of the total alliances internationalization percentage of foreign partners portofolio size logarithm of the number of partners market uncertainty mean of monthly stock prices of all sampled firms market share market share of integrated circuit market m@n@gement, 17(2): 88-109! seong-young kim 99 performance in the alliance portfolio! m@n@gement, 17(2): 88-109 100 ta bl e 2. d es cr ip tiv e st at is tic s an d co rr el at io n va ria bl es m ea n s. d. m in . m ax . 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 1. r o a 0. 0 0. 1 -0 .6 0. 4 2. f irm a ge 28 .7 27 .5 0 13 1 0. 02 3. l og fi rm s iz e 8. 6 2. 2 2. 3 12 .8 0. 10 0. 65 4. p rio r p ar tn er sh ip 2. 4 1. 8 1 12 0. 11 -0 .1 3 0. 07 5. a lli an ce e xp er ie nc e 91 .3 13 8. 1 1 99 4 0. 18 0. 32 0. 36 0. 14 6. j oi nt v en tu re 0. 2 0. 4 0 1 -0 .0 5 0. 04 0. 05 0. 08 0. 03 7. in te rn at io na liz at io n 0. 7 0. 2 0. 2 1. 3 -0 .1 9 0. 02 0. 01 0. 01 -0 .0 2 -0 .0 5 8. p or tfo lio s iz e 4. 6 2. 2 1 11 0. 24 -0 .0 1 0. 16 0. 29 0. 39 0. 00 -0 .0 9 9. m ar ke t u nc er ta in ty 0. 3 0. 3 0 3. 2 -0 .1 7 -0 .0 4 -0 .0 7 0. 03 -0 .1 0 0. 00 0. 11 -0 .0 9 10 . m ar ke t s ha re 0. 0 0. 0 0 0. 3 0. 09 -0 .0 4 -0 .0 6 0. 29 0. 01 -0 .0 3 0. 00 -0 .0 2 0. 00 10 . c om pa tib ili ty o f p hy si ca l re so ur ce s 0. 1 0. 1 0 0. 9 0. 02 0. 02 0. 06 -0 .0 9 -0 .0 1 -0 .1 0 0. 03 -0 .1 1 -0 .0 7 0. 12 11 . c om pa tib ili ty o f r & d re so ur ce s 0. 6 0. 3 0 1 0. 21 -0 .0 2 0. 02 -0 .0 2 0. 03 -0 .0 9 -0 .0 7 0. 06 -0 .1 0 0. 03 -0 .0 1 13 . c om pa tib ili ty o f s tra te gy 0. 6 0. 2 0 1 0. 12 0. 04 -0 .0 1 -0 .0 1 -0 .0 8 -0 .0 2 -0 .0 2 0. 02 0. 02 0. 02 0. 08 0. 05 13 .c om pa tib ili ty o f s ta tu s 0. 7 0. 2 0 1 0. 07 -0 .0 1 -0 .1 4 -0 .2 5 -0 .2 1 -0 .0 2 -0 .0 7 -0 .0 9 -0 .0 2 -0 .1 0 0. 03 0. 13 0. 09 15 . c om pa tib ili ty o f te ch no lo gy 0. 7 0. 4 0 3. 8 0. 16 -0 .0 6 -0 .0 6 0. 12 0. 03 0. 08 -0 .0 7 0. 18 -0 .0 2 -0 .0 2 0. 02 0. 04 -0 .0 6 -0 .0 5 a ll co rr el at io ns g re at er th an + / 0. 1 ar e si gn ifi ca nt a t p <0 .0 5. analysis and results ! hypotheses were tested using ordinary least squares (ols) multivariate regression models, and the standard errors of regression coefficients were adjusted using the robust estimates of standard errors clustered by firm. table 2 presents descriptive statistics and correlations of the variables used in the regression analysis. the overall level of multicollinearity is low, as is evident from the maximum variance inflation factor in the final model of 1.28, which is well below the threshold of 10. heckman’s two-step procedure (1979) was used to correct for possible sample selection bias: if a firm’s decision to enter an alliance is endogenous and correlated with the residuals of economic performance, estimates for economic performance might suffer from sample selection bias. as in previous work on sample selection (bae & gargiulo, 2004), studies on aspiration theory were followed to specify the selection equation. according to aspiration theory (baum, rowley, shipilov, & chuang, 2005; greve, 2003), organizations are motivated to improve future performance by identifying problems and searching for solutions. to promote performance, a firm first decides on clear performance goals (e.g., sales goal or roa) and sets an ambitious aspiration level based on historical performance and/or comparable others’ performance. this assentation suggests that firms are more likely to enter alliances to access resources when their performance is below their social aspiration level (baum et al., 2005; bae & gargiulo, 2004). bae and gargiulo (2004) specify two assumptions in addressing the sample selection bias. first, a firm whose performance is below its aspiration level is more likely to enter an alliance. second, firms with small market shares are more likely to enter alliances. in this study, aspiration level was measured as an increasing function of the difference between a firm’s roa and the global industry-average performance in a given year. to test for the effect on performance above and below a firm’s social aspiration level, performance was specified as the spline function (greene, 2003). the results of the heckman procedure were consistent with the reported findings, and this information was used to examine the effects of entering an alliance on the firm’s economic performance. table 3 shows logit estimates for a firm’s decision to enter an alliance. in the selection equation, the dichotomous dependent variable was set to 1 if a firm entered an alliance during the 10-year observation period. the estimates provide negative and positive differences for the aspiration level, corresponding to levels above and below the level of performance aspiration. the results show that firms whose performance is low compared to others are more likely to enter alliances to access resources that may help them improve their performance. in addition, firms with small market shares are more likely to enter alliances, suggesting that firms may have an incentive to expand their market share through alliances. table 3. logit estimates for a firm's entering an alliance variables probability of entering an allianceprobability of entering an alliance constant -0.356* (0.094) roa relative to social aspiration, high performance -0.455*** (0.036) roa relative to social aspiration, low performance 0.170*** (0.020) firm's market share -4.545* (2.316) log likelihood 886.27135886.27135 χ2 (3 df ) 440.02***440.02*** note: † p < 0.1; * p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001. standard errors are in parentheses m@n@gement, 17(2): 88-109! seong-young kim 101 ! table 4 shows the results of ols regression analyses. model 1 represents the base model, which includes control variables only, while model 2 adds all the main effects for testing the impact of compatibility and complementarity of resources on a firm’s economic performance. models 1 and 2 show that alliance experience is positively related to firm’s economic performance (p < 0.1). this finding is consistent with the interfirm network perspective (gulati, 1995), wherein alliance experience enhances the collaborative capability of a firm, which facilitates interfirm knowledge transfer or acquisition. the firm’s economic performance declines with increases in environmental volatility in the alliance portfolio, as indicated by the market uncertainty effect (p < 0.05). this finding shows the influence of uncertainty as a constraint in alliance activities (carson, madhok, & wu, 2006), wherein volatile market conditions may decrease the interfirm trust and norms of reciprocity that may impede the coordination between the firm and its partners. additionally, the firm’s performance is positively related to portfolio size (p < 0.1), which captures the number of alliance partners. this finding is consistent with previous studies, showing that the size of the portfolio positively affects firm performance (ahuja, 2000b; baum et al., 2000). prior partnership control shows no significant effect. recent network studies, however, suggest the possibility that the performance effect by repeated ties depends on firm-specific factors (shipilov, 2006; zaheer & bell, 2005). participation in a joint venture is not significantly related to a firm’s economic performance. this finding may be ascribed to the general intent to build multiple partnerships that effectively exploit knowledge and information across the value chain (ahuja, 2000b; baum et al., 2000; stuart, 2000). portfolio internationalization shows no significant effect on performance, a result that may be attributed to cultural conflict and communication problems that may diminish the effect of interfirm collaboration and learning. finally, market share is not significantly related to a firm’s economic performance. according to several alliance studies, a firm’s strong bargaining position may decrease for an alliance period as a partner attempts to increase its organizational and resource commitment (isobe, makino, & montgomery, 2000; kwon, 2008). ! model 2 shows the direct effects of main variables. hypothesis 1a predicts that a firm will be more likely to improve its economic performance as the compatible physical resource increases, and hypothesis 1b predicts a positive relationship between a firm’s economic performance and compatible r&d resources. model 2 shows that the effect of compatible physical resources on firm performance is positive but not significant for roa. the positive coefficient for compatible r&d resources in model 2 presents support for hypothesis 1b (roa: β = 0.070, p < 0.1), suggesting that a firm is more likely to improve its economic performance as the compatible r&d resource increases in its alliance portfolio. according to hypothesis 2, compatible strategy between a firm and its partners should have a positive effect on a firm’s economic performance. the results of model 2 show support for hypothesis 2. more specifically, compatibility of strategy is significant and positively related to roa (β = 0.065, p < 0.01). hypothesis 3 proposes that compatibility of status is positively related to a firm’s economic performance. model 2 also shows support for hypothesis 3, as compatibility of status is significant and positively related to roa (β = 0.060, p < 0.1). these results suggest that a firm is more likely to improve its economic performance as it builds alliances with partners of similar strategic direction and social status in its alliance portfolio. finally, hypothesis 4 predicts that complementarity of technology has a positive relationship with a firm’s economic performance in its alliance portfolio. the results of model 2 show that complementary technology is significant and positively related to roa (β = 0.046, p < 0.05). the results provide support for this hypothesis, suggesting that increased technological compatibility is more likely to improve the firm’s economic performance. performance in the alliance portfolio! m@n@gement, 17(2): 88-109 102 table 4. regression results variables roaroavariables model 1 model 2 constant 0.034 (0.043) -0.135* (0.056) firm age 0.000 (0.000) 0.000 (0.000) log firm size 0.004 (0.005) 0.006 (0.005) prior partnership 0.001 (0.004) 0.002 (0.004) alliance experience 0.000 (0.000) 0.000† (0.000) joint venture -0.022 (0.017) -0.019 (0.016) portfolio internationalization -0.093 (0.057) -0.080 (0.053) portfolio size 0.010† (0.005) 0.008 (0.005) market uncertainty -0.060* (0.028) -0.053* (0.026) market share 0.304 (0.263) 0.308 (0.250) compatibility of physical resources 0.000 (0.047) compatibility of r&d resources 0.070† (0.036) compatibility of strategy 0.065** (0.024) compatibility of status 0.060† (0.030) complementarity of technology 0.046* (0.018) model f 2.843 7.036 r2 0.128 0.192 n 386 386 note: † p < 0.1; * p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001. robust standard errors adjusted for 115 firm. clusters are in parentheses. discussion and conclusion ! despite growing interest in a firm’s multiple alliances, the link between network resources in an alliance portfolio and the firm’s performance remains poorly understood and subject to continuing debate (e.g., baum et al., 2000; lavie, 2007; stuart, 2000). even though researchers have reached a consensus about the benefits that firms can obtain from partners’ key endowments in the alliance portfolio, an important question is still unanswered: what resource conditions of a firm and its partners might have performance implications for a firm’s alliance portfolio? since a firm’s purpose in forming an alliance portfolio is to leverage different resources and capabilities of heterogeneous partners, the basic focus of the portfolio composition may be the matching of the condition of resources between them. ! thus, by addressing the question of how the resource conditions of a firm and its partners influence the focal firm’s economic performance in its alliance portfolio, this paper investigates the impact of network resources on firm performance. specifically, it examines the compatibility of physical and r&d resources, strategy, and status as well as the complementarity of technologies used in prior research as influential firm resources and attributes. the hypotheses m@n@gement, 17(2): 88-109! seong-young kim 103 are tested with a sample of the global semiconductor firms during the period 1997-2007 by using ols multivariate regression models. this study’s results show that resource conditions between the firm and its partners influence the economic performance of semiconductor firms. compatibility of r&d resources, strategy, and status between the firm and its partners affects the focal firm’s economic performance, and increasing the complementarity of technologies between them influences the firm’s economic performance. these findings show that resource fit between a focal firm and its partners is a key factor not only in facilitating the formation of alliances (chung et al., 2000; mitsuhashi & greve, 2009; rothaermel & boeker, 2008), but also in contributing to firm performance. implications for theory and research ! this investigation contributes to the alliance portfolio literature examining the effect of partner attributes on firm performance, in particular by providing insights into resource conditions that influence a firm’s economic performance in its alliance portfolio. this study tested mutual resource conditions of a firm and its partners to capture the performance effect. this approach is the first to theorize and test the link between a firm’s and its partners’ resources to understand the performance effect of resources in an alliance portfolio. previous studies have stressed the effect of portfolio resources derived from partners’ resource endowment (baum et al., 2000; stuart et al., 1999; stuart, 2000). because firms can draw on synergies by pooling or leveraging the resource endowment of partners, portfolio composition with different resourcerich partners is assumed to have positive implications for the focal firm’s performance. however, this body of research tends to overlook the effect of a resource match between a firm and its partners. it does not explain the effect of a firm’s own resources in contributing to its economic performance in alliances. the findings in this study show that the compatibility of network resources between a firm and its partners contributes to the firm’s performance improvement. that is, a firm can maximize its performance improvement when two or more firms are useful to each other in leveraging resources. therefore, a firm can reasonably focus on resource conditions between itself and its partners rather than on the absolute amount of network resources that partners hold. ! ultimately, this paper proposes that alliance portfolio research should examine not just the resource endowment of partners but also a focal firm’s resource conditions that correspond to such endowment. such consideration for resource conditions of both the firm and its partners results in a more comprehensive understanding of the performance effect of the alliance portfolio and also allows redirection of alliance portfolio research toward examining the focal firm’s own resource conditions contributing to firm performance beyond the partner endowment. ! the findings complement recent studies on interfirm cooperation that recognize and explain the performance effect of an alliance that could be contingent upon resource fit between a firm and its partner, such as market complementarity and resource compatibility (mitsuhashi & greve, 2009), as well as complementarity of technology (rothaermel & boeker, 2008). these investigations show that the benefits of the compatibility and complementarity of resource characteristics are mutually supplementary in an alliance. the findings of this study reinforce and complement the argument of those earlier studies by showing that both compatibility and complementarity affect a firm’s economic performance in its alliance portfolio. ! the results of this study also confirm and extend recent alliance portfolio studies by differentiating resource types and conditions. stuart (2000) shows that partners’ revenue and technologies increase a focal firm’s sales growth. lavie (2007) finds that partner resources, such as marketing resources, financial performance in the alliance portfolio! m@n@gement, 17(2): 88-109 104 resources, and human resources, could improve a firm’s market performance. the current findings demonstrate that a firm’s economic performance is also contingent on several other assets, such as capital resources, r&d resources, strategy, status, and technological resources. in particular, as discussed earlier, whether a firm improves its economic performance through alliances is determined by the resource conditions between the firm and its partners. that is, performance improvement may depend on what you have. ! the findings of this study are in line with previous studies showing that success in leveraging multiple partnerships is a function of firm-specific characteristics (shipilov, 2009; srivastava & gnyawali, 2011; vasudeva & anand, 2011; zaheer & bell, 2005). for example, the performance effect of diverse network resources could be contingent on a firm’s specific attributes, such as absorptive capacity, multimarket experience, status accumulation, and network position (lavie, 2006; shipilov, 2006), reflecting the benefits of idiosyncratic organizational resources, knowledge stocks, and organizational routine (cohen & levinthal, 1990). the findings also showed that a firm can improve economic performance by leveraging its strategy and status as firm-specific characteristics. implications for managers ! the results of this investigation hold two implications for managers. first, recent studies suggest that a firm can improve its performance by leveraging its partners’ technologically and commercially prominent resources. the findings of this study show that managers seeking to establish multiple alliances should be on the alert for resources that increase synergy with resources of their alliance partners, because resource fit between a firm and its partners may yield a unique combination that is valuable for building the competencies needed to succeed in market competition. given that resource fit plays a critical role in alliance formation and performance assessment, a firm will fail to exploit its alliances effectively if its alliances depend on the prominent resources of partners. thus, managers should pay attention not just to partners’ absolute or superior resource conditions but also to whether their firm’s resource conditions are compatible with and complementary to partners’ resources. ! second, the results suggest that firm-specific resources and characteristics may contribute to economic performance in alliances. to maximize the economic performance effects of potential alliances, managers need to increase the breadth of their firm’s resources and characteristics by developing new resources, skills, and technologies and by building status (podolny, 1993), reputation (stuart, 1998), and managerial experience (dussauge et al., 2000). improved firm-specific resources and characteristics allow the firm to form partnerships with more value-adding partners that may provide better resource conditions and may increase the potential for synergy. limitations and future research ! this study exhibits a number of limitations that offer opportunities for future research. first, although this investigation explicitly theorizes about the impact that the compatibility and complementarity of the resources of a firm and partners may have on a firm’s performance, the data set does not allow for the direct measurement of different facets of resources. furthermore, the findings impose no specialization on each of the technologies measured in the complementarity of technology. qualitative or survey research designs are better equipped to unravel the complexities associated with resource exchange, a distinction among adopted technologies, and fit in an alliance portfolio. m@n@gement, 17(2): 88-109! seong-young kim 105 ! second, to demonstrate the utility of conceptualizing resource conditions in multiple alliances, this paper considers only four types of network resources. however, a firm’s competitive resources could include other firm-specific attributes, such as multimarket contact and scope of experience (shipilov, 2009). additional studies examining the relationship between firm resources and performance might incorporate other dimensions of network resources into theoretical and empirical models. for example, larger partner firms might have more power vis-à-vis a firm, and greater power of partners may impose unfavorable conditions of cooperation on the firm (pfeffer & salancik, 2003). by exploiting internal firm attributes or portfolio-level characteristics, a focal firm may limit the bargaining power of its stronger partners, appropriating more performance benefits from its alliance portfolio. ! third, this study’s empirical analysis focuses on alliances within the semiconductor industry. semiconductor firms often build alliances with partners in other industries, such as software and telecommunication. although assessing resource complementarity and compatibility between industries may be more difficult than doing so within an industry, a valuable area of inquiry would be the impact of resource conditions between a firm and its partners when partners in different sectors are considered in a focal firm’s alliance portfolio. ! a final limitation concerns the level of analysis in measuring performance. while the performance analysis relied on firm-level analysis, the performance implications for alliance portfolios should also be understood by multilevel analysis. in fact, in line with the results showing low explanatory power for performance variation, comprehension of the relationship between the alliance portfolio and performance may be greater with finer-grained methods measuring intrafirm-level, portfolio-level, and industry factors. future research may provide further contributions by addressing these issues. another potential direction would be to investigate additional performance outcomes. is market performance or technology innovation also likely to be influenced by the resource conditions between a focal firm and its partners? this question would be an interesting focus for future research. finally, future studies might carefully identify and measure the moderating effects of environmental aspects, such as institutional, technological, and competitive factors, in various industry contexts. ! in summary, this study breaks new ground in the alliance portfolio literature by highlighting a focal firm’s resource conditions relative to its partners’ resource endowment. it suggests that compatibility of network resources and complementarity of technology are key drivers for the improvement of firm performance by leveraging the effectiveness of an alliance portfolio. the empirical results here highlight the importance of resource conditions of both the focal firm and its partners. this study contributes to the understanding of the impact of resources in an alliance portfolio by addressing how the resource conditions of the focal firm and its partners determine the firm’s economic performance. references ahuja, g. (2000a). collaboration networks, structural holes, and innovation: a longitudinal study. administrative science quarterly, 45(3), 425–455. ahuja, g. (2000b). the duality of collaboration: inducements and opportunities in the formation of interfirm linkages. strategic management journal, 21(3), 317–343. ahuja, g., & lampert, c. m. (2001). entrepreneurship in the large corporation: a longitudinal study of how established firms create breakthrough inventions. strategic management journal, 22(6-7), 521–543. anand, b. n., & khanna, t. (2000). do firms learn to create value? the case of alliances. strategic management journal, 21(3), 295–315. bae, j. h., & gargiulo, m. (2004). partner substitutability, alliance network structure, and firm profitability in the telecommunications industry. academy of management journal, 47(6), 843–859. baum, j. a. c., calabrese, t., & silverman, b. s. (2000). don’t go it alone: alliance networks and startup performance in canadian biotechnology. strategic management journal, 21(3), 267–294. performance in the alliance portfolio! m@n@gement, 17(2): 88-109 106 baum, j. a. c., rowley, t. j., shipilov, a. v., & chuang, y. t. (2005). dancing with strangers: aspiration performance and the search for underwriting syndicate partners. administrative science quarterly, 50(4), 536–575. beckman, c. m., haunschild, p. r., & phillips, d. (2004). friends or strangers? firm-specific uncertainty, market uncertainty, and network partner selection. organization science, 15, 259–275. benjamin, b. a., & podolny, j. m. (1999). status, quality, and social order in the california wine industry. administrative science quarterly, 44(3), 563–589. bonacich, p. (1987). power and centrality: a family of measures. american journal of sociology, 92, 1170– 1183. borgatti, s. p., everett, m. g., & freeman, l. c. (1999). ucinet 6.0 version 1.00. natick: analytic technologies. burt, r. s. (1992). structural holes: the social structure of competition. harvard, ma: harvard business school press. carson, s. j., madhok, a., & wu, t. (2006). uncertainty, opportunism, and governance: the effects of volatility and ambiguity on formal and relational contracting. academy of management journal, 49(5), 1058–1077. chatterjee, s., & wernerfelt, b. (1991). the link between resources and type of diversification: theory and evidence. strategic management journal, 12(1), 33– 48. child, j., faulkner, d., & tallman, s. (2005). cooperative strategy: managing alliances, networks, and joint ventures. new york, ny: oxford university press. chung, s., singh, h., & lee, k. (2000). complementarity, status similarity and social capital as drivers of alliance formation. strategic management journal, 21(1), 1–22. cohen, w. m., & levinthal, d. a. (1990). absorptive capacity: a new perspective on learning and innovation. administrative science quarterly, 35(1), 128–152. doz, y. l., & hamel, g. (1998). alliance advantage: the art of creating value through partnering. boston, ma: harvard business school press. dussauge, p., garrette, b., & mitchell, w. (2000). learning from competing partners: outcomes and durations of scale and link alliances in europe, north america and asia. strategic management journal, 21(2), 99–126. dyer, j. h., & nobeoka, k. (2000). creating and managing a high-performance knowledge-sharing network: the toyota case. strategic management journal, 21(3), 345–367. dyer, j. h., & singh, h. (1998). the relational view: cooperative strategy and sources of interorganizational competitive advantage. academy of management review, 23(4), 660–679. fleming, l. (2001). recombinant uncertainty in technological search. management science, 47(1), 117–132. galbraith, j. r., & kazanjian, r. k. (1986). strategy implementation: structure, systems, and process (2nd ed.). st. paul, mn: west publishing co. gimeno, j., & woo, c. y. (1996). hypercompetition in a multimarket environment: the role of strategic similarity and multimarket contact in competitive de-escalation. organization science, 7(3), 322–341. goerzen, a., & beamish, p. w. (2005). the effect of alliance network diversity on multinational enterprise performance goerzen 2005 strategic management journal wiley online library. strategic management journal, 26(4), 333–354. gomes-casseres, b. (1994). group versus group: how alliance networks compete. harvard business review, 62–74. greene, w. h. (2003). econometric analysis (5th ed.). new york, ny: prentice hall. greve, h. r. (2003). a behavioral theory of r&d expenditures and innovations: evidence from shipbuilding. academy of management journal, 46(6), 685–702. gulati, r. (1995). social structure and alliance formation patterns: a longitudinal analysis. administrative science quarterly, 40(4), 619–52. gulati, r. (1998). alliances and networks. strategic management journal, 19(4), 293–317. gulati, r. (2007). managing network resources: alliances, affiliations, and other relational assets. oxford: oxford university press. gulati, r., & gargiulo, m. (1999). where do interorganizational networks come from? american journal of sociology, 104(5), 1439–1493. gulati, r., & higgins, m. c. (2003). which ties matter when? the contingent effects of interorganizational partnerships on ipo success. strategic management journal, 24(2), 127–144. gulati, r., & kletter, d. (2004). shrinking core-expanding periphery: the relational architecture of high performing organizations. california management review, 47(1), 77–104. gulati, r., nohria, n., & zaheer, a. (2000). strategic networks. strategic management journal, 21(3), 203– 215. hagedoorn, j., & schakenraad, j. (1994). the effect of strategic technology alliances on company performance. strategic management journal, 15(4), 291–309. hansen, m. t. (1999). the search-transfer problem: the role of weak ties in sharing knowledge across organization subunits. administrative science quarterly, 44(1), 82–111. harrison, j. s., hitt, m. a., hoskisson, r. e., & ireland, r. d. (2001). resource complementarity in business combinations: extending the logic to organizational alliances. journal of management, 27(6), 679–690. heckman, j. j. (1979). sample selection bias as a specification error. econometrica, 47(1), 153–161. hoffmann, w. h. (2007). strategies for managing a portfolio of alliances. strategic management journal, 28(8), 827–856. isobe, t., makino, s., & montgomery, d. b. (2000). resource commitment, entry timing, and market performance of foreign direct investments in emerging economies: the case of japanese international joint ventures in china. academy of management journal, 43(3), 468–484. kale, p., dyer, j. h., & singh, h. (2002). alliance capability, stock market response, and long-term alliance success: the role of the alliance function. strategic management journal, 23(8), 747–767. m@n@gement, 17(2): 88-109! seong-young kim 107 khanna, t., gulati, r., & nohria, n. (1998). the dynamics of learning alliances: competition, cooperation, and relative scope. strategic management journal, 19(3), 193–210. kogut, b. (1988). joint ventures: theoretical and empirical perspectives. strategic management journal, 9(4), 319–332. kwon, y. c. (2008). antecedents and consequences of international joint venture partnerships: a social exchange perspective. international business review, 17, 599–573. lavie, d. (2006). the competitive advantage of interconnected firms: an extension of the resourcebased view. academy of management review, 31(3), 638–658. lavie, d. (2007). alliance portfolios and firm performance: a study of value creation and appropriation in the us software industry. strategic management journal, 28(12), 1187–1212. lavie, d., lechner, c., & singh, h. (2007). the performance implications of timing of entry and involvement in multipartner alliance. academy of management journal, 53(3), 578–604. logan, j. a. (1996). opportunity and choice in socially structured labor markets. american journal of sociology, 102, 114–160. madhok, a., & tallman, s. b. (1998). resources, transactions and rents: managing value through interfirm collaborative relationships. organization science, 9(3), 326–339. mcpherson, m., smith-lovin, l., & cook, j. m. (2001). birds of a feather: homophily in social networks. annual review of sociology, 27, 415–444. melnyk, s. a., stewart, d. m., & swink, m. (2004). metrics and performance measurement in operations management: dealing with the metrics maze. journal of operations management, 22(3), 209–218. mitsuhashi, h., & greve, h. r. (2009). a matching theory of alliance formation and organizational success: complementarity and compatibility. academy of management journal, 52(5), 975–995. newman, h. h. (1978). strategic groups and the structure-performance relationship. review of economics and strategies, 60, 417–427. owen-smith, j., & powell, w. w. (2004). knowledge networks as channels and conduits: the effects of spillovers in the boston biotechnology community. organization science, 15(1), 5–21. oxley, j. e. (1999). learning versus hazard mitigation in inter-firm alliances : a false dichotomy? working paper. university of michigan, 99–108. ozcan, p., & eisenhardt, k. m. (2009). origin of alliance portfolios: entrepreneurs, network strategies, and firm performance. academy of management journal, 52(2), 246–279. palmer, t. b., & wiseman, r. m. (1999). decoupling risk taking from income stream uncertainty: a holistic model of risk. strategic management journal, 20(11), 1037– 1062. park, s. h., chen, r., & gallagher, s. (2002). firm resources as moderators of the relationship between market growth and strategic alliances in semiconductor start-ups. academy of management journal, 45(3), 527–545. pfeffer, j. (1992). managing with power: politics and influence in organizations. harvard, ma: harvard business school press. pfeffer, j., & salancik, g. r. (2003). the external control of organizations; a resource dependence perspective. california, ca: stanford university press. podolny, j. m. (1993). a status-based model of market competition. american journal of sociology, 98(4), 829–872. podolny, j. m. (1994). market uncertainty and the social character of economic exchange. administrative science quarterly, 39, 458–483. podolny, j. m., & stuart, t. e. (1995). a role-based ecology of technological change. american journal of sociology, 100, 1224–1260. porter, m. (1980). competitive strategy: techniques for analyzing industries and competitors. new york, ny: free press. porter, m., & fuller, m. b. (1986). coalitions and global strategy, in porter, m. e. (eds), competition in global industries: a conceptual framework. boston, ma.: harvard business school. powell, w. w., koput, k. w., & simth-doerr, l. (1996). interorganizational collaboration and the locus of innovation: networks of learning in biotechnology. administrative science quarterly, 41(1), 116–145. rothaermel, f. t. (2001). incumbent’s advantage through exploiting complementary assets via interfirm cooperation. strategic management journal, 22(6-7), 687–699. rothaermel, f. t., & boeker, w. (2008). old technology meets new technology: complementarities, similarities, and alliance formation. strategic management journal, 29(1), 47–77. rowley, t. j., greve, h. r., rao, h., & baum, j. a. c. (2005). time to break up: social and instrumental antecedents of firm exits from exchange cliques. academy of management journal, 48(3), 499–520. saxenian, a. (1994). regional advantage. culture and competition in silicon valley and route 128. harvard, ma: harvard business school press. seashore, s. e., & yuchtman, e. (1967). factorial analysis of organizational performance. administrative science quarterly, 12(3), 377–395. shipilov, a. v. (2006). network strategies and performance of canadian investment banks. academy of management journal, 49(3), 590–604. shipilov, a. v. (2009). firm scope experience, historic multimarket contact with partners, centrality, and the relationship between structural holes and performance. organization science, 20(1), 85–106. shipilov, a. v., & li, s. x. (2008). can you have your cake and eat it too? structural holes’ influence on status accumulation and market performance in collaborative networks. administrative science quarterly, 53(1), 73– 108. sørensen, j. b. (2002). the strength of corporate culture and the reliability of firm performance. administrative science quarterly, 47, 70–91. srivastava, m. k., & gnyawali, d. r. (2011). when do relational resources matter? leveraging portfolio technological resources for breakthrough innovation. academy of management journal, 54(4), 797–810. performance in the alliance portfolio! m@n@gement, 17(2): 88-109 108 stinchcombe, a. l. (1965). social structure and organizations, in march, j. g. (eds). handbook of organizations (pp. 142–193). chicago, il: rand mcnally & co. stuart, t. e. (1998). network positions and propensities to collaborate: an investigation of strategic alliance formation in a high-technology industry. administrative science quarterly, 43(3), 668–698. stuart, t. e. (2000). interorganizational alliances and the performance of firms: a study of growth and innovation rates in a high-technology industry. strategic management journal, 21(8), 791–811. stuart, t. e., hoang, h., & hybels, r. c. (1999). interorganizational endorsements and the performance of entrepreneurial ventures. administrative science quarterly, 44(2), 315–349. teece, d. j. (1986). profiting from technological innovation: implications for integration, collaboration, licensing and public policy. research policy, 15(6), 285–305. thompson, j. d. (2007). organizations in action: social science bases of administrative theory (5th ed.). new york, ny: mcgraw-hill. vasudeva, g., & anand, j. (2011). unpacking absorptive capacity: a study of knowledge utilization from alliance portfolios. academy of management journal, 54(3), 611–623. vissa, b. (2011). a matching theory of entrepreneurs’ tie formation intentions and initiation of economic exchange. academy of management journal, 54(1), 137–158. walker, g., kogut, b., & shan, w. (1997). social capital, structural holes and the formation of an industry network. organization science, 8(2), 109–125. washington, m., & zajac, e. j. (2005). status evolution and competition: theory and evidence. academy of management journal, 48(2), 282–296. wassmer, u. (2010). alliance portfolios: a review and research agenda. journal of management, 36(1), 141–171. wernerfelt, b. (1984). a resource-based view of the firm. strategic management journal, 5(2), 171–180. zaheer, a., & bell, g. g. (2005). benefiting from network position: firm capabilities, structural holes, and performance. strategic management journal, 26(9), 809–825. seong-young kim (ph.d. em lyon) is an assistant professor of strategy at esc rennes school of business (rennes, france). his research interests include strategic alliance, alliance network, and international business. m@n@gement, 17(2): 88-109! seong-young kim 109 203 david gotteland & christophe haon m@n@gement vol. 13 no. 5, 2010, 366-381 m@n@gement copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). m@n@gement is a double-blind refereed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.management-aims.com © 2010 m@n@gement and the author(s). david gotteland christophe haon 2010 research note: the relationship between market orientation and new product performance: the forgotten role of development team diversity m@n@gement, 13(5), 366 381. m@n@gement est la revue officielle de l’aims m@n@gement is the official journal of aims issn: 1286-4892 editors: emmanuel josserand, hec, université de genève (editor in chief) jean-luc arrègle, edhec (editor) stewart clegg, university of technology, sydney (editor) philippe monin, em lyon (editor) josé pla-barber, universitat de valència (editor) linda rouleau, hec montréal (editor) michael tushman, harvard business school (editor) olivier germain, em normandie (editor, book reviews) karim mignonac, université de toulouse 1 (editor) thibaut bardon, université paris-dauphine, crepa hec, université de genève (editorial assistant) florence villesèche, hec, université de genève (editorial assistant) martin g. evans, university of toronto (editor emeritus) bernard forgues, emlyon business school (editor emeritus) a s s o c i a t i o n i n t e r n a t i o n a l e d e m a n a g e m e n t s t r a t é g i q u e accepted by jean-luc arrègle 366 the relationship between market orientation and new product performance: the forgotten role of development team diversity m@n@gement vol. 13 no. 5, 2010, 366-381 the relationship between market orientation and new product performance: the forgotten role of development team diversity david gotteland christophe haon david gotteland grenoble ecole de management david.gotteland@grenoble-em.com christophe haon grenoble ecole de management christophe.haon@grenoble-em.com abstract: several meta-analyses highlight the benefits of market orientation for organizational performance. however, results diverge regarding its impact on new product performance. this fact calls for investigation of new moderators for this causal relationship. we hypothesize a moderation effect of competency diversity in new product development teams. we indeed observe this moderation and its specific effects on each dimension of market orientation (customer orientation, competitors and technology). keywords: market orientation, new product performance, team diversity introduction market orientation has attracted ever-increasing interest since the publication of seminal works by kohli and jaworski (1990) and narver and slater (1990). a strategic orientation designed to create “the necessary behaviors for the creation of superior value for buyers and, thus, continuous superior performance for the business” (narver & slater, 1990, p. 21), a market orientation can have critical implications for the market and financial performance of a firm. accordingly, research in the field has mostly focused on this theme. in successive publications, three meta-analyses also converge to provide proof of the positive and significant effects of a firm’s market orientation (cano, carrillat, & jaramillo, 2004; ellis, 2006; kirca, jayachandran, & bearden, 2005)1. in particular, market orientation may affect the performance of new products (slater & narver, 1994), though the definition of novelty remains extremely variable, without a consensus conceptualization (garcia & calantone, 2002). for this study, a new product is defined as one for which the adopter perceives that its attributes are appearing for the first time. extant research 1. for a more detailed presentation of market orientation, see the meta-analysis by kirca, jayachandran, and bearden (2005) or the synthesis by gotteland, haon, and gauthier (2007). 367 david gotteland & christophe haon m@n@gement vol. 13 no. 5, 2010, 366-381 into new product performance is also vast, which might encourage the level of heterogeneity in the definitions and measures applied to it. to standardize these notions, griffin and page (1993) performed a census across companies and researchers and derived the following classification: new product performance can be interpreted from a market or financial perspective to refer to the product itself (technical performance), the process of its development, or even its contribution to the global performance of the company. montoya-weiss and calantone’s (1994) meta-analysis of the determinants of new product performance indicates that market and financial performance are common variables. another analysis of articles pertaining to the relationship between market orientation and new product performance concurs with this assessment (gotteland, haon, & jolibert, 2009): 24 studies focused on market performance, 9 on financial performance, 5 on process performance, 3 on technical performance, and 16 measured performance in a general manner. this study in turn considers both market and financial performance. three meta-analyses also investigate findings about the connection between market orientation and new product performance, with divergent results. whereas henard and szymanski (2001) find no significant effect of market orientation on the performance of new products, grinstein (2008) and gotteland, haon, and jolibert (2009) observe positive, significant correlations. without a clear confirmation of the beneficial effects of market orientation on new product performance, we must question whether potential moderators appear in the relation between market orientation and new product performance that affect the significance, the direction, or the strength of this relation. some prior research into potential moderators focuses on either contextual or organizational variables (gotteland & boulé, 2006) but neglects the likely role of the development team and its characteristics, which have been studied as possible mediators (gotteland & boulé, 2006; langerak, hultink, & robben, 2004). with this study, we propose to consider their moderating effects and thereby offer a new explication for the contradictory results of meta-analyses devoted to the relation between market orientation and new product performance. if we can demonstrate such effects, managers will gain a new means to leverage the effects of market orientation on the performance of their newly developed products. in line with the behavioral approach that defines market orientation as “the organizationwide generation of market intelligence pertaining to current and future customer needs, dissemination of the intelligence across departments, and organizationwide responsiveness to it” (kohli & jaworski, 1990, p. 6), we prioritize the acquisition and exploitation of information. accordingly, with regard to the characteristics of the development team, we study their diversity, which should have clear influences on the way team members acquire and exploit information (watson, kumar, & michaelson, 1993). furthermore, the effects of team diversity has prompted increasing academic interest (joshi & roh, 2009; kearney, gebert, & voelpel, 2009); from a managerial standpoint, we recognize that 97% of companies claim to have interfunctional development teams, and approximately one-third of them use this method systematically (mcdonough, 2000). in the next section, we therefore review pertinent literature about market 368 the relationship between market orientation and new product performance: the forgotten role of development team diversity m@n@gement vol. 13 no. 5, 2010, 366-381 orientation and diversity in the context of new product development teams. after we detail our hypotheses regarding the moderating effects of diversity, we present our survey study of 157 product managers and sales managers, which offers strong evidence that the moderating effects of diversity cannot be ignored. we conclude with some implications of our findings. theoretical framework and hypotheses we begin by outlining the concept of market orientation, then present our research hypotheses. market orientation from a cultural perspective, a market orientation designates “the organization culture (…) that most effectively and efficiently creates the necessary behaviors for the creation of superior value for buyers” (narver & slater, 1990, p. 21). within the organization, this culture is manifest in three elements: customer orientation, or “the sufficient understanding of one’s target buyers to be able to create superior value for them continuously”; competitor orientation, which “means that a seller understands the shortterm strengths and weaknesses and long-term capabilities and strategies of both the key current and the key potential competitors”; and interfunctional coordination, which designates “the coordinated utilization of company resources in creating superior value for target customer” (narver & slater, 1990, pp. 21-22). homburg and pflesser (2000) also propose that a market orientation culture is an antecedent of market orientation behaviors (kohli & jaworski, 1990), which therefore are manifestations of culture. in pursuit of a better understanding, authors have suggested several new behavioral manifestations of a market orientation culture. gatignon and xuereb (1997, p. 78) and voss and voss (2000) distinguish the technological orientation of the company, which constitutes “the ability and will to acquire a substantial technological background and use it in the development of new product.” this study therefore regards market orientation as composed of three dimensions: customer, competitor, and technology orientations. for the first two dimensions, we adopt the definitions offered by narver and slater (1990), and for the third, we use gatignon and xuereb’s (1997) definition. diversity in development teams as a moderator the effect of market orientation on new product performance results from the better use of available information about customers, competitors, and technologies (gotteland & boulé, 2006). diversity in terms of the team members’ competences might improve performance through a similar mediation (haon, gotteland, & fornerino, 2009). therefore, with the degree of market orientation as an organizational variable and competence diversity as a team attribute, we propose that the effects of the former depend on the latter. that is, competence diversity in the development team alters the effects of market orientation on new product performance. because the effects of diversity are complex, we also specify the potential moderation. 369 david gotteland & christophe haon m@n@gement vol. 13 no. 5, 2010, 366-381 first, competence diversity may facilitate the exploitation of information, because it induces creative abilities (bantel & jackson, 1989; nemeth & kwan, 1987) and a superior capacity to envision a broad spectrum of potential applications (gruenfeld, 1995; watson, kumar, & michaelsen, 1993), in the sense that the team gains varied information and perspectives (kanter, 1988). even if the degree of market orientation exerts a positive effect on performance, it could be hindered by an absence of competence diversity, in that the team cannot imagine new ways to exploit a market orientation without diverse ideas and capabilities. the introduction of diversity should eliminate this hindrance, as long as the diversity influences the team’s functioning. thus, there exists a threshold of diversity, below which the positive effect of market orientation is limited but above which the influence of market orientation grows more important. second, extensive diversity among a group may inhibit interactions or cause conflicts (rodan & galunic, 2004). for example, apprehension about being evaluated by unknown other members of a group can arrest individual creativity (larey & paulus, 1999). since its introduction by janis (1972) and confirmation in other studies (aldag & fuller 1993; stasser & titus, 1985), observers have generally agreed that such apprehension pushes participants to minimize the risk of conflict by considering only a limited range of common, shared, consensual knowledge. the resultant decline in the amount of information used then creates the danger of negative performance effects. an excess of diversity also might mitigate the beneficial effects of market orientation on new product performance. we predict a second threshold, above which the effect of market orientation is minimized. in summary, the moderated effects of diversity appear nonlinear and characterized by two thresholds that mark the boundaries of a zone in which the effect of market orientation on new product performance is superior. in line with common practice in market orientation research, we distinguish three dimensions (i.e., customers, competitors, and technology), but we do not predict different moderating effects across these dimensions. instead, we infer that the moderating effect depends on the level of expertise in a particular dimension, as perceived by the other team members. for example, imagine that the new product development process aims to pursue a customer orientation. if members of the development team perceive that their coworkers from the marketing department are experts in this field, they likely are less confident in their judgments about consumers and might self-censor. but if the development process is oriented toward competitors, each member of the team might perceive that he or she has the same level of expertise as any other group member. therefore, they should participate more in decision making and tend to self-censor less. we consider this reasoning logical, but prior literature cannot confirm it; to the best of our knowledge, no research has proven a relationship between perceptions of others’ expertise and self-censoring. perhaps there are comparable effects, regardless of the dimension of market orientation. h1: the effect of a customer orientation on new product performance rises and then drops when the degree of diversity increases. h2: the effect of a competitor orientation on new product performance rises and then drops when the degree of diversity increases. 370 the relationship between market orientation and new product performance: the forgotten role of development team diversity m@n@gement vol. 13 no. 5, 2010, 366-381 h3: the effect of a technological orientation on new product performance rises and then drops when the degree of diversity increases. methodology and research results product managers or sales directors who participated in a recent product development project received questionnaires; each of these 500 potential respondents represented a development team (sethi, 2000, sethi, smith, & park, 2001). the 157 received questionnaires represents a 31.40% response rate. after eliminating incomplete questionnaires, 142 were left for the final analysis, a 28.40% rate2. we present descriptors of the samples, in terms of company size and turnover, in tables 1 and 2. every industrial field in france, as defined by insee (french national institute for statistics and economic studies), is represented. table 1: sample by company size range 0 to 49 employees 50 to199 employees 200 to 499 employees 500 to 999 employees 1,000 to 4,999 employees 5,000 employees or more percentage of sample 17.60% 15.49% 19.01% 8.45% 20.42% 19.01% table 2: sample by company turnover range (millions of euros) 0 to 10 10 to 50 50 to 100 100 to 500 500 to 1,000 1,000 or more percentage of sample 16.19% 11.97% 13.38% 4.93% 30.28% 23.24% to test for non-response bias, we followed armstrong and overton’s (1997) procedure; later respondents did not differ from the earlier ones. to check for potential bias resulting from using same respondents for the independent and dependent variables (i.e., common method variance), we used three approaches. first, the harman test revealed that no single, unique factor accounts for the items’ variance. second, a confirmatory factorial analysis in which we linked each method factor to the set of items showed that this measurement model was not well supported by the data (malholtra, kim, & patil, 2006). the fit statistics were poor (rmsea = .223; srmr = .168; agfi = .405; and gfi = .524). third, we followed the approach suggested by lindell and whitney (2001), as modified by malhotra, kim, and patil (2006), to compensate for the limitations of the previous two approaches and again confirmed the results. specifically, we substituted correlations between factors (i.e., customer, competitor, and technology orientations and new 2. data are the same as those used by haon, gotteland et fornerino (2009). 371 david gotteland & christophe haon m@n@gement vol. 13 no. 5, 2010, 366-381 product performance) for correlations corrected for a common method variance bias, but we detected no deterioration in the measurement model adjustment (χ² = 2.32 < χ²(0.05. 6) = 12.59). therefore, our data do not appear to suffer from a common method variance bias. measure quality the measures for this study appear in the appendix. competence diversity comprises educational, functional, experience, and expertise diversity (haon, gotteland, & fornerino, 2009). because it is a formative scale, we followed the validation procedure suggested by diamantopoulos and winklhofer (2001). we checked for potential multicollinearity; the maximum variance inflation factor of 2.347 was less than the suggested threshold of 10. we therefore computed the index as an average of the four diversity scores. customer and competitor orientations were measured with narver and slater’s (1990) scales. technological orientation was measured with gatignon and xuereb’s (1997) scale. finally, for the new product performance measure, we used song and parry’s (1997) scale. to verify the psychometric qualities of the scales, we followed the procedure recommended by gerbing and anderson (1998). after purification, we also checked for reliability and convergent validity, as we detail in table 3, and find support for the scales’ psychometric properties. table 3: scale reliability and validity customer orientation competitor orientation technological orientation new product performance p ri nc ip al c om po ne nt a na ly si s kmo bartlett ave communalities .825 .001 59.71 % > .500 .767 .001 56.56 % > .500 .815 .001 73.61 % > .500 .905 .010 75.46 % > .500 c on fir m at or y fa ct or ia l a na ly si s parameters after bootstrap p-values rmsea srmr > .627 < .001 .043 .028 > .566 < .001 .000 .009 > .612 < .001 .056 .016 > .810 < .010 .078 .019 r el ia bi lity α ρ .822 .836 .743 .744 .874 .880 .935 .938 c on ve rg en t va lid ity 3 ρvc p-values .507 < .001 .423 < .001 .652 < .001 .718 < .010 notes: we verify the discriminant validity of the three dimensions of market orientation. the weakest convergent validity (.423) is greater than the correlation squared between the latent variable object of calculation vc and the other latent variables. 372 the relationship between market orientation and new product performance: the forgotten role of development team diversity m@n@gement vol. 13 no. 5, 2010, 366-381 results to test our hypotheses, we identified three diversity groups: low, intermediate, and high. we expect a maximal effect of each market orientation dimension on new product performance for the intermediate level. the split was rational, in that we identified critical thresholds at which diversity influenced the relation between market orientation and new product performance. during an exploratory phase, we estimated this relation according to a subset of different diversity levels. the thresholds we identified to distinguish the three homogeneous groups according to their level of diversity were inferior or equal to 4.50, between 4.75 and 5.00, and superior to 5.25. a series of levene tests for the homogeneity of the variance verified that this split did not lead to heterogeneity that might bias the results. for each group, we evaluated the effect of each dimension of market orientation on new product performance using multiple linear regressions. thirteen outliers were identified for which the cook distances were greater than 4/(n – k – 1), where n is the sample size and k is the number of independent variables (hair et al., 2005). we chose to suppress these observations, after verifying that doing so did not affect the results substantially. we also confirmed the lack of multicollinearity among the independent variables (vifmax. = 1.598). the results table 4 show that no standardized residual is greater than three standard deviations from the average residual; the kolmogorov-smith test further indicates that the residuals follow a normal distribution (p > .10). table 4: results independent variables customer orientation competitor orientation technological orientation adjusted r² low diversity .338** n.s. -.323** .062* intermediate diversity .441*** – .317*** .397*** .290*** high diversity n.s. n.s. n.s. n.s. notes: dependent variable = new product performance. n.s. = nonsignificant. * p < .10; ** p < .05; *** p < .01. the highest r² value occurs for the intermediate level of diversity. in this condition, the effects of market orientation appear to be the strongest, in support of our hypotheses. however, two results are surprising: the negative effect of technological orientation on new product performance in low diversity settings and the insignificance of this same effect in high diversity conditions. we discuss these points further in the next section. in table 5, we present the results of our tests for verifying whether the effects of the three market orientation dimensions on new product performance vary according to the levels of team diversity. 373 david gotteland & christophe haon m@n@gement vol. 13 no. 5, 2010, 366-381 table 5: test of the moderation of team competence diversity the effect of customer orientation on new product performance is significantly higher when diversity is intermediate (p < .10); that is, this effect increases and then decreases as the degree of diversity increases, in support of h1. similarly, the effect of technological orientation on new product performance is stronger at an intermediate level of diversity (p < .01), in support of h3. however, we cannot confirm h2, because we find no significant difference in the effect of competitor orientation according to the degree of diversity. discussion and conclusion in addition to providing a review of literature pertaining to the relationship between new product development team diversity and new product performance (table 1), this article makes two key contributions. first, regarding the market orientation–new product performance relationship, we show that it is moderated by the degree of competence diversity in the new product development team. from a theoretical perspective, we offer a new explanation for the contradictory results in previous meta-analyses. we also analyze, for the first time to the best of our knowledge, the moderating effect of variables that characterize the team, which complements existing investigations of the moderating effects of environmental and organizational conditions. second, our study establishes the significant moderation effects of competence diversity, which have important managerial consequences. the process of implementing a market orientation within an organization is long and costly (van raaij, 2001), and controlling for the effects of moderators, as much as possible, helps ensure the benefits expected from the transformation into a market-oriented culture (gotteland, haon, & gauthier, 2007). as a separate check, we noted the potential for the effects of team diversity to be moderated themselves by team familiarity (haon, gotteland, & fornerino, 2009). therefore, we checked for a potential moderation by familiarity by estimating our proposed model separately for strong and weak degrees of familiarity, then comparing the parameters in a chow (1960) test. we observed no significant differences, which suggests that these results remain strong, whether we account for familiarity or not. two further results seemed surprising and thus deserve closer attention as well. for a low level of diversity, we found that technological orientation had a significantly negative effect on new product performance. that is, members with closely matched competencies apparently could not exploit their collected information about available technologies. the customer–performance competitors–performance technological–performance low vs. intermediate diversity p < .10 n.s. p < .01 intermediate vs. high diversity p < .05 n.s. p < .01 high vs. low diversity n.s. n.s. n.s. 374 the relationship between market orientation and new product performance: the forgotten role of development team diversity m@n@gement vol. 13 no. 5, 2010, 366-381 potential benefits for market performance derived from such information generally cannot emerge without an interaction between the r&d and marketing departments: the former can list an inventory of available technologies and judge their integration with an existing offer, as the latter evaluate the value of these integrations for customers. therefore, our research parallels existing articles that suggest the benefits of interfunctional integration, as summarized in a meta-analysis by troy, hirunyawipada, and paswan (2008). however, confirming this proposed explanation would require further investigation, beyond considering the general diversity in the team, and precise identifications of the team functions that provide competencies for a project. this effort represents a promising path for further research. also in contrast with our expectations, the effect of competitor orientation on new product performance was not significant, regardless of the level of diversity. this finding might reflect our lack of control for the type of innovation, namely, radical versus incremental. radical innovations are founded on new scientific principles and offer significant new benefits to consumers, such that they can create market upheaval, threaten established market positions, and suggest strong growth opportunities. it follows that competitors’ reactions to radical innovations should differ from those they express in response to incremental innovations (aboulnasr, narashiman, blair, & chandy, 2008). thus, the effect of competitor orientation on new product performance could be stronger for more radical new products, which then might explain the absence of any significant effect of a competitor orientation on new product performance. these observations should serve as a base for a more comprehensive study of the specificities of each market orientation dimension, as well as their interactions with variables that characterize new product development teams and processes. this research also suffers from several limitations that suggest additional paths for ongoing research. with regard to the diversity measure, we recognize that the process of new product development often is long, and team members might vary over time as well, which would imply different forms of diversity. even a seemingly identical degree of diversity could appear across very different organizational contexts; the way in which the members of the team work together and the sequence of their work thus might be important and affect their development of new products (dougherty, 1992). finally, though one of the advantages of competence diversity is the team’s access to diverse information networks (gotteland, haon, & fornerino, 2009), our methodology did not allow us to study the content of the discussions among team members (audia & goncalo, 2007) or any evolution in the importance of team networks over the development period (kijkuit & van den ende 2007). although our measure of competence diversity provides some advantages compared with other existing scales, it cannot capture such long-term phenomena. different methodological approaches, including qualitative studies, might help clarify the complexities of the relationships between the focal variables. our methodology also suffers several limitations, according to the metaanalysis by gotteland, haon, and jolibert (2009). they demonstrate a 375 david gotteland & christophe haon m@n@gement vol. 13 no. 5, 2010, 366-381 stronger link between market orientation and new product performance when that link is measured subjectively, though the estimate of the link varies by respondent type. our measure of new product performance is subjective, and there are only a few functions represented in our sample. however, our hypotheses deal with the moderating effects of diversity on the market orientation–performance relationship, not the market orientation–performance relationship itself. therefore, though our methodological choices might cause some bias, it does not directly affect our tests or main results. finally, the directions given to the questionnaire respondents might have different effects on measured performance: they were asked to refer to a recently developed product for which they could estimate market and financial performance. if this choice creates a selection bias, our study likely includes more successful projects than failures. moreover, the degree of the product innovativeness was not known, though it is undoubtedly related to performance. again, though we do not find evidence that these biases have direct impacts on our results, further research should investigate these issues more closely. acknowledgements: the authors thank the anonymous reviewers, the editor, and the members of the research team in the marketing department at grenoble ecole de management. david gotteland is professor of marketing, grenoble ecole de management, as well as a member of the institut du capital client and a visiting scholar at insead. his research focuses on market orientation and new product development. his research has been published in décisions marketing, finance contrôle stratégie, m@n@gement, international journal of research in marketing, marketing letters, and recherche et applications en marketing. christophe haon is professor of marketing, grenoble ecole de management, and a member of the institut du capital client. his research focuses on new product development and market orientation. he is the author of various research articles published in décisions marketing, finance contrôle stratégie, m@n@gement, marketing letters, and recherche et applications en marketing. 376 the relationship between market orientation and new product performance: the forgotten role of development team diversity m@n@gement vol. 13 no. 5, 2010, 366-381 references . aboulnasr, k., narashiman, o., blair, e., & chandy r. (2008). competitive response to radical product innovations. journal of marketing, 72(3), 94-110. . aldag, r. j., & fuller, s. r. (1993). beyond fiasco: a reappraisal of the groupthink phenomenon and a new model of group decision processes. psychological bulletin, 113(3), 533-552. . armstrong, j. s., & overton, t. s. (1977). estimating nonresponse bias in mail surveys. journal of marketing research, 14(3), 396. . audia, p. g., & goncalo, j. a. (2007). past success and creativity over time: a study of inventors in the hard-drive industry. management science, 53(1), 1-15. . bantel, k. a., & jackson, s. e. (1989). top management and innovations in banking: does the composition of the top team make a difference? strategic management journal, 10, 107-124. . cano, c. r., carrillat, f. a., & jaramillo, f. (2004). a meta-analysis of the relationship between market orientation and business performance: evidence from five continents. international journal of research in marketing, 21(2), 179-200. . chow, g. c. (1960). tests of equality between sets of coefficients in two linear regressions. econometrica, 28(3), 591-605. . diamantopoulos, a., & winklhofer, h. m. (2001). index construction with formative indicators: an alternative to scale development. journal of marketing research, 38(2), 269-277. . dougherty, d. (1992). interpretative barriers to successful product innovation in large firms. organization science, 3(2), 179-202. . ellis, p. d. (2006). market orientation and performance: a meta-analysis and cross-national comparisons. the journal of management studies, 43(5), 1089. . garcia, r., & calantone, r. (2002). a critical look at technological innovation typology and innovativeness terminology: a literature review. journal of product innovation management, 19(2), 110-132. . gatignon, h., & xuereb, j.-m. (1997). strategic orientation of the firm and new product performance. journal of marketing research, 34(1), 77-90. . gerbing, d. w., & anderson, j. c. (1988). an updated paradigm for scale development incorporating unidimensionality and its assessment. journal of marketing research, 25(2), 186-192. . gotteland, d., & boulé, j.-m. (2006). the market orientation-new product performance relationship: redefining the moderating role of environmental conditions. international journal of research in marketing, 23(2), 171-185. . gotteland, d., haon, c., & gauthier, c. (2007). l’orientation marché : synthèse et nouvelles directions théoriques. recherche et applications en marketing, 22(1), 45-59. . gotteland, d., haon, c., & jolibert, a. (2009). l’orientation marché affecte-t-elle la performance des produits nouveaux ? une approche méta-analytique. m@n@ gement, 12(3), 204-223. . griffin, a., & page, a. l. (1993). an interim report on measuring product development success and failure. journal of product innovation management, 10(4), 291-308. . grinstein, a. (2008). the effect of market orientation and its components on innovation consequences: a meta-analysis. journal of the academy of marketing science, 36(2), 166-173. . gruenfeld, d. h. (1995). status, ideology, and integrative complexity on the u.s. supreme court: rethinking the politics of political decision making. journal of personality and social psychology, 68(1), 5-20. . hair, j. f., black, b., babin, b., anderson, r. e., & tatham r. l. (2005). multivariate data analysis. upper saddle river, nj: pierson education. . haon, c., gotteland, d., & fornerino, m. (2009). familiarity and competence diversity in new product development teams: effects on new product performance. marketing letters, 20(1), 75-89. 377 david gotteland & christophe haon m@n@gement vol. 13 no. 5, 2010, 366-381 . henard, d. h., & szymanski, d. m. (2001). why some new products are more successful than others. journal of marketing research, 38(3), 362-375. . homburg, c., & pflesser, c. (2000). a multiple-layer model of market-oriented organizational culture: measurement issues and performance outcomes. journal of marketing research, 37(4), 449-462. . janis, i. l. (1972). victims of groupthinking. boston, ma: houghton mifflin. . joshy, a., & roh, h. (2009). the role of context in work team diversity research: a meta-analytic review. academy of management journal, 52(3), 599-627. . kanter, r. m. (1988). when a thousand flowers bloom: structural, collective, and social conditions for innovation in organization. in b.m. slaw & l.l. cummings (eds.), research in organizational behavior, 10 (pp. 169-211). greenwich, ct: jai press. . kearney, e., gebert, d., & voelpel, s. c. (2009). when and how diversity benefits teams: the importance of team members’ need for cognition. academy of management journal, 52(3), 581-598. . kijkuit, b., & van den ende, j. (2007). the organizational life of an idea: integrating social network creativity and decision-making perspectives. journal of management studies, 44(6), 863882. . kirca, a. h., jayachandran, s., & bearden, w. o. (2005). market orientation: a meta-analytic review and assessment of its antecedents and impact on performance. journal of marketing, 69(2), 24-41. . kohli, a. k., & jaworski, b. j. (1990). market orientation: the construct, research propositions, and managerial implications. journal of marketing, 54(2), 1-18. . langerak, f., hultink, e. j., & robbens, h. s. (2004). the impact of market orientation, product advantage, and launch proficiency on new product performance and organizational performance. journal of product innovation management, 21(2), 79-94. . larey, t. s., & paulus, p. b. (1999). group preference and convergent tendencies in small groups: a content analysis of group brainstorming performance. creativity research journal, 12(3), 175-184. . lindell, m. k., & whitney, d. j. (2001). accounting for common method variance in cross-sectional research designs. journal of applied psychology, 86(1), 114-121. . malhotra, n. k., kim, s. s., & patil, a. (2006). common method variance in is research: a comparison of alternative approaches and a reanalysis of past research. management science, 52(12), 1865-1883. . mcdonough, e. f. (2000). investigation of factors contributing to the success of cross-functional teams. journal of product innovation management, 17(3), 221-235. . montoya-weiss, m. m., & calantone, r. (1994). determinants of new product performance: a review and metaanalysis. journal of product innovation management, 11(5), 397-417. . narver, j. c., & slater, s. f. (1990). the effect of a market orientation on business profitability. journal of marketing, 54(4), 20-35. . nemeth, c. j., & kwan, j. l. (1987). minority influence, divergent thinking and detection of correct solutions. journal of applied social psychology, 17(9), 788-799. . rodan, s., & galunic, c. (2004). more than network structure: how knowledge heterogeneity influences managerial performance and innovativeness. strategic management journal, 25(6), 541-562. . sethi, r. (2000). new product quality and product development teams. journal of marketing, 64(2), 1-14. . sethi, r., smith, d. c., & park, c. w. (2001). cross-functional product development teams, creativity, and the innovativeness of new consumer products. journal of marketing research, 38(1), 73-85. 378 the relationship between market orientation and new product performance: the forgotten role of development team diversity m@n@gement vol. 13 no. 5, 2010, 366-381 . slater, s. f., & narver, j. c. (1994). does competitive environment moderate the market orientation-performance relationship? journal of marketing, 58(1), 46-55. . song, x. m., & parry, m. e. (1997). the determinants of japanese new product successes. journal of marketing research, 34(1), 64-76. . stasser, g., & titus, w. (1985). pooling of unshared information in group decision making: biased information sampling during discussion. journal of personality and social psychology, 48, 1467-1478. . troy, l. c., hirunyawipada, t., & paswan, a. k. (2008). cross-functional integration and new product success: an empirical investigation of the findings. journal of marketing, 72(6), 132-146. . van raaij, e. m. (2001). the implementation of a market orientation. university of twente, enschede. . voss, g. b., & voss, z. g. (2000). strategic orientation and firm performance in an artistic environment. journal of marketing, 64(1), 67-83. . watson, w. e., kumar, k., & michaelsen, l. k. (1993). cultural diversity’s impact on interaction process and performance: comparing homogeneous and diverse task groups. academy of management journal, 36(3), 590-602. 379 david gotteland & christophe haon m@n@gement vol. 13 no. 5, 2010, 366-381 appendix 1: measurement scales each item uses a scale ranging from 1 (“completely disagree”) to 6 (“completely agree”). customer orientation our business objectives are driven primarily by customer satisfaction. we constantly monitor our level of commitment and orientation to serving customer needs. our strategy for competitive advantage is based on our understanding of customers’ needs. we measure customer satisfaction systematically and frequently. we give close attention to after-sales service. competitor orientation our salespeople regularly share information within our business concerning competitors’ strategies. we rapidly respond to competitive actions that threaten us. we target customers where we have an opportunity for competitive advantage. our top managers from every function regularly visit our current and prospective customers. technological orientation our company uses sophisticated technologies in its new product development. our products are always the state of the art of technology. our company seeks to adapt its products as new technologies become available . our company pays a lot of attention to research and development. new product performance relative to our firm’s other new products, this product performed better in terms of market share. this product met our firm’s objectives in terms of market share. this product met our firm’s objectives in terms of return on investment. our product was superior to main competing products from a sales volume standpoint. relative to our firm’s other new products, this product performed better from a sales volume standpoint. this product met our firm’s objectives from a sales volume standpoint. team competence diversity members having participated in the project had different training. members having participated in the project had different fields of expertise. members having participated in the project belonged to different departments. members having participated in the project had different professional experience. 380 the relationship between market orientation and new product performance: the forgotten role of development team diversity m@n@gement vol. 13 no. 5, 2010, 366-381 381 david gotteland & christophe haon m@n@gement vol. 13 no. 5, 2010, 366-381 73casanueva volume 11, no. 2. special issue: “corporate governance and ethics” guest editors: vincent dessain, olivier meier and vicente salas � sandra charreire petit et joëlle surply 2008 du whistleblowing à lʼaméricaine à lʼalerte éthique à la française : enjeux et perspectives pour le gouvernement dʼentreprise, m@n@gement, 11: 2, 113-135. copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). m@n@gement is a double-blind refereed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.management-aims.com © 2006 m@n@gement and the author(s). m@n@gement issn: 1286-4892 editors: alain desreumaux, u. de lille i martin evans, u. of toronto bernard forgues, u. de lille i hugh gunz, u. of toronto martina menguzzato, u. de valència m@n@gement est la revue officielle de lʼaims m@n@gement is the official journal of aims http://www.management-aims.com http://www.management-aims.com http://www.strategie-aims.com sandra charreire petit . joëlle surply université paris sud 11pesor email: sandra.charreire-petit@u-psud.fr université paris sud 11 pesor email: joelle.surply@u-psud.fr du whistleblowing à l’américaine à l’alerte éthique à la française : enjeux et perspectives pour le gouvernement d’entreprise le whistleblowing peut être défini « comme le fait, pour un membre dʼune organisation (ancien ou actuel), de révéler lʼexistence de pratiques illégales, immorales ou illégitimes dont lʼemployeur a la maîtrise, à une personne ou à un organisme susceptible de remédier à la situation » (near et miceli, 1985: 4). la mise en place du whistleblowing, dont nous verrons quʼil devient « alerte éthique » en france, vise à restaurer la confiance des investisseurs, en renforçant la fiabilité de lʼinformation financière et en améliorant la responsabilité des gestionnaires. que se passe-t-il lorsquʼune pratique de contrôle interne américaine (whistleblowing) est déployée au sein dʼentreprises françaises cotées aux etats-unis ou au sein de filiales dʼentreprises américaines établies en france ? cet article tente de répondre à cette question en analysant le déploiement de cette pratique qui nous vient dʼoutre-atlantique (volet de la loi sarbanes-oxley, 2002). cette recherche est qualitative et exploratoire. elle propose lʼidentification de trois enjeux managériaux et interroge deux vecteurs susceptibles dʼinfléchir les pratiques de gouvernement dʼentreprise dans les pratiques de contrôle interne. cet article sʼinterroge sur les possibles transformations du système de gouvernement pour les entreprises françaises, par le biais de la mise en œuvre du volet whistleblowing de la loi sarbanes-oxley (sox) qui nous vient dʼoutre-atlantique. le thème est nouveau et les recherches sur les effets de la récente loi sox, votée en 2002, sont encore très peu nombreuses. en france, la commission nationale informatique et libertés (cnil) a attendu décembre 2005 pour mettre en place un mécanisme dʼautorisation unique du dispositif whistleblowing. par ailleurs, lʼobligation de se conformer à la loi américaine ne concerne, dans notre pays, quʼune centaine de sociétés (dipac, 2006). une première série de travaux réalisés sur le whistleblowing, aux etats-unis (miceli et near, 1985, 1996 ; moberly, 2006) ou en france (pesqueux, 2007) ont essentiellement porté sur la définition du dispositif (de bry, 2006), ses caractéristiques, les conditions de recours à lʼusage du droit ou encore les motivations du whistleblower. après quelques années dʼapplication, aux etats-unis, nombre de préoccupations sont orientées vers les coûts et lʼefficacité des modalités de contrôle interne. en europe, le whistleblowing est appréhendé comme un dispositif qui doit prendre sens dans une vision de la responsabilité (fayol, 2005), alors que son caractère « litigieux et tendancieux » interroge sur « la réelle plus 113 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 113-135 special issue: corporate governance and ethics mailto:sandra.charreire-petit@u-psud.fr mailto:joelle.surply@u-psud.fr sandra charreire petit et joëlle surply 114 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 113-135 special issue: corporate governance and ethics value apportée dans les environnements professionnels » (de pover, 2006: 14). notre article adopte une approche particulière ; il appréhende le déploiement en france de la pratique du whistleblowing et ses incidences potentielles sur le management et le gouvernement dʼentreprise. le contexte est celui de la loi sarbanes-oxley (sox), adoptée par le congrès américain, en 2002, après les scandales comptables et financiers, tels ceux dʼenron et de worldcom. la loi sox vise à restaurer la confiance des investisseurs en renforçant la fiabilité de lʼinformation financière et en améliorant la responsabilité des gestionnaires. cet objectif sʼaccompagne de lʼobligation de mettre en œuvre un contrôle interne, exercé au bénéfice des investisseurs. le socle juridique sur lequel repose cette loi est anglo-saxon. lʼune des dispositions de la loi sarbanes-oxley impose aux sociétés américaines ou étrangères cotées aux etats-unis, ainsi quʼà leurs filiales localisées à lʼétranger, de mettre en place des procédures de whistleblowing. ceci nʼest pas sans incidence lorsque les pratiques managériales des grandes firmes multinationales dʼorigine américaine tendent à faire respecter, ailleurs que sur leur sol, des lois américaines. cependant, si les liens entre des pratiques issues de la loi et le gouvernement dʼentreprise sont déjà bien étudiés de part et dʼautre de lʼatlantique (la porta, lopez-de-silanes, schleifer et vishny, 1999 ; boughanmi et deffains, 2006), il nous semble que les conséquences de lʼextra-territorialité de fait de la loi sox constituent un objet pertinent dʼétude pour revisiter ces questions sous un angle managérial. en effet, que se passe-t-il lorsque la protection des investisseurs rencontre les pratiques des salariés en matière de contrôle interne, dans des contextes économiques (américain et européen) aux fonctionnements hétérogènes ? plus précisément, que se passe-t-il lorsquʼune pratique de contrôle interne américaine est déployée au sein dʼentreprises françaises cotées aux etats-unis ou au sein de filiales dʼentreprises américaines établies en france ? certes, la problématique est susceptible de sʼinscrire dans des débats plus larges qui questionnent la dualité soft law/hard law ou abordent la mise en place du dispositif whistleblowing dans une perspective culturelle. cependant, à des fins de clarté, nous focalisons essentiellement notre analyse sur les enjeux et les perspectives du déploiement de la pratique dʼalerte pour le gouvernement dʼentreprise, en france. les entreprises concernées sont aux prises avec les réalités internationales et les normes qui sʼimposent aux acteurs mondiaux, mais aux prises aussi avec un socle juridique français et notamment un droit du travail qui encadre, pour partie déjà, ces questions avec le souci de protéger le salarié. cʼest dans un tel cadre que notre analyse se situe. notre questionnement trouve son origine dans des pratiques de gouvernement dʼentreprise reposant sur des socles distincts. le gouvernement dʼentreprise désigne classiquement « lʼensemble des pratiques, des structures et des procédures qui définissent le partage du pouvoir, la répartition des responsabilités et les modes de contrôle entre les différentes parties prenantes dʼune organisation » (johnson, scholes, whittington et frery, 2005 : 197). en définissant le gouvernement dʼentreprise comme « lʼensemble des mécanismes organisationnels qui ont pour effet de délimiter les pouvoirs et dʼinfluencer les décisions des dirigeants », charreaux (1997 : 1 ; 2002: 7) insiste davantage sur les mécanismes qui « gouvernent la conduite des dirigeants et définissent leur espace discrétionnaire ». aux etats-unis, et par le biais de fonds de pension, nombre de salariés sont également actionnaires. le gouvernement dʼentreprise est essentiellement orienté vers la satisfaction des intérêts des actionnaires. alors, « le salarié-actionnaire, indigné par les scandales successifs », peut-il trouver son compte au whistleblowing dès lors que ses intérêts sont alignés, même partiellement, sur ceux des actionnaires majoritaires (propos de m. oxley, conférence institut français des administrateurs, paris, 1er février 2007). il en est différemment en france pour deux raisons principales. la première tient au mode de financement des retraites1. la seconde à la faible participation dʼadministrateurs salariés au sein des conseils dʼadministration2. le terme whistleblowing mérite dʼêtre précisé dès nos propos introductifs. ce terme nʼest pas nouveau et fait son apparition aux etatsunis en 1963, à lʼoccasion de lʼaffaire otto otopeka3. le whistleblowing est défini « comme le fait, pour un membre dʼune organisation (ancien ou actuel), de révéler lʼexistence de pratiques illégales, immorales ou illégitimes dont lʼemployeur a la maîtrise, à une personne ou à un organisme susceptible de remédier à la situation » (near et miceli, 1985: 4). il représente aussi la voix de la conscience (berry, 2004). le whistleblowing, consiste, littéralement, à « souffler dans le sifflet » pour donner lʼalerte. le droit dʼalerte existe déjà en droit du travail français sans connotation négative. lʼalerte, exercée par les salariés, permet de signaler à lʼemployeur toute situation dangereuse pour la vie ou la santé4 ; le droit dʼalerte est encore conféré au comité dʼentreprise qui peut intervenir auprès des organes chargés de lʼadministration ou de la surveillance de lʼentreprise, ou auprès des associés, « lorsque la situation économique de lʼentreprise se révèle préoccupante » (art. l. 432-5 du code du travail). le whistleblowing est une pratique de contrôle au statut particulier qui ne se substitue pas mais sʼajoute bien aux autres possibilités existantes de contrôle interne (reporting, audit interne, outils de gestion type tableaux de bord...), déjà institutionnalisées dans les organisations. précisons ce que nous entendons ici par la notion de contrôle : elle se réfère à lʼatteinte dʼun objectif et à la dichotomie, plus ou moins marquée, entre décision et action. le contrôle est, traditionnellement, envisagé dans une relation hiérarchique, verticale, top down. il concerne alors « lʼensemble des procédures que doit mettre en œuvre un supérieur hiérarchique par rapport à ses subordonnés, pour assurer sa maîtrise des décisions et leur exécution » (ménard, 1997: 33). le contrôle, tel quʼil est introduit par le whistleblowing, peut être compris et interprété comme une contrainte imposée, au moins partiellement de lʼextérieur —la loi sarbanes-oxley. il sʼétend à des relations verticales down top et latérales. il se conçoit, de manière dynamique, comme mode de relation entre acteurs permettant dʼatteindre la perdu whistleblowing à lʼaméricaine à lʼalerte éthique à la française 115 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 113-135 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 1. le financement des retraites, en france, relève, très majoritairement, de la protection sociale. la gestion des fonds, issus des prélèvements obligatoires des salariés et des employeurs, par la sécurité sociale, n’est pas orientée vers le financement des entreprises. aux etats-unis, au système de base, peuvent s’ajouter des contributions versées par les salariés et/ou les entreprises. les sommes collectées par les organismes de retraite appelés “fonds de pension” sont susceptibles d’être affectées au financement des entreprises cotées ou non, aux etats-unis et dans le monde. les salariés, futurs retraités américains, se transforment alors en actionnaires. 2. la loi française (n° 2001-152 ; n° 2001-420) prévoit la présence d’administrateurs salariés actionnaires ou administrateurs représentant les salariés (adsa) dans les conseils d’administration des sociétés privées. pour ce qui est des entreprises du cac 40, 52 % ont un adsa et 30 % (soit 11/40) des entreprises du cac 40 ont des administrateurs représentant les salariés actionnaires (institut français de gouvernement des entreprises, 2005). 3. après avoir révélé au comité du sénat américain, en charge de la sécurité intérieure, des informations confidentielles, otto otopeka, fonctionnaire whistleblower fut démis de ses fonctions, pour conduite déplacée. 4. l’article l. 231-8 du code du travail dispose que le salarié « signale immédiatement à l’employeur ou à son représentant toute situation de travail dont il a un motif raisonnable de penser qu’elle présente un danger grave et imminent pour sa vie ou sa santé ainsi que toute défectuosité qu’il constate dans les systèmes de protection ». formance, définie à partir dʼobjectifs qui satisfont dʼabord lʼintérêt de lʼactionnaire. notre réflexion, nourrie par des entretiens semi-directifs et par lʼétude de nombreux documents et rapports (voir méthodologie ci-après) vise à identifier quels sont les principaux enjeux managériaux du déploiement en france dʼune pratique américaine de contrôle interne. nous verrons que trois enjeux types méritent dʼêtre analysés. ils ont trait : 1/à la redistribution des pouvoirs ; 2/aux légitimités distinctes de lʼalerte et du contrôle et ; 3/au glissement sémantique qui accompagne la migration dʼune pratique de contrôle interne pour devenir une pratique “dʼalerte éthique”. ces différents enjeux font écho aux représentations contrastées du salarié, en tant quʼagent du contrôle interne. en effet, introduire le whistleblowing revient à étendre le champ du contrôle interne jusquʼà présent en vigueur dans les organisations, faisant apparaître une nouvelle relation dʼagence entre salariés et actionnaires. les développements ci-dessus font lʼobjet de la première partie de lʼarticle. la seconde partie est consacrée à une analyse des pratiques de whistleblowing, telles quʼelles sont repérables en france aujourdʼhui. lʼappui plus marqué sur quelques exemples (kodak en france notamment) a pour premier projet de mettre en évidence les tensions sur les pratiques du contrôle interne, sous tendues par le déploiement du whistleblowing dans un contexte français. le second objectif est de montrer que, si le système tel quʼil est déployé aujourdʼhui est à une phase embryonnaire de son utilisation, les ingrédients dʼune transformation plus en profondeur des pratiques de contrôle interne nous semblent réunis. éléments de méthode la recherche est exploratoire et qualitative et prend appui sur des données construites et secondaires. le domaine est encore mal connu et notre projet consiste à étudier les impacts possibles du déploiement dʼune pratique sur le gouvernement dʼentreprise. il était donc nécessaire, selon la perspective campbellienne revisitée par kœnig (2005: 9), dʼêtre capable de mettre à profit une connaissance approfondie des situations étudiées afin dʼêtre en mesure « dʼestimer de façon compétente lʼimpact » probable du déploiement du whistleblowing. afin dʼatteindre ce niveau de connaissance approfondie, nous avons fait le choix de nous appuyer très largement sur des données construites de différentes natures (entretiens, conférences-débats) mais aussi sur des données secondaires nombreuses (rapports dʼexperts notamment). il nous a semblé que la complexité du sujet ainsi que sa récence lʼexigeaient. ainsi, nos données sont construites principalement grâce à des entretiens semi-directifs et libres (à deux chercheurs à chaque fois et dʼune durée moyenne dʼune heure trente par entretien). les personnes interrogées sont toutes parties prenantes dʼune réflexion sur la question du déploiement de lʼalerte éthique en france. nous avons rencontré des sandra charreire petit et joëlle surply 116 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 113-135 special issue: corporate governance and ethics managers en charge de ces questions dans une grande chaîne de restauration rapide américaine (directeur des relations sociales et directeur des ressources humaines), des responsables de centrales syndicales (cgt, fo, cfdt) au niveau de quelques branches (pharmacie, métallurgie, agro-alimentaire) et au niveau confédéral ainsi que le président de la cnil. sʼajoutent à ces entretiens formels, des participations à différentes rencontres institutionnelles avec m. oxley, lʼun des créateurs de la loi sox, en février 2007 et avec mm. antonmattei et vivien en avril 2007, avec m. medina à lʼifa en octobre 2007. enfin, nous avons assisté, en tant quʼobservateurs non participants, à une session de formation sur le whistleblowing organisée par une centrale syndicale et à destination de ses représentants cadres en octobre 2007 à bordeaux. a côté de la conduite dʼentretiens et de la construction des données, lʼoriginalité méthodologique relève ici de la place consacrée à lʼétude de sources documentaires émanant des entreprises ou des organisations syndicales, et remises par nos interlocuteurs à lʼissue des entretiens, ainsi quʼà celle de rapports produits par des institutions (ex. ocde) ou rédigés à la demande du gouvernement français (rapport antonmattei). en suivant miles et huberman (2003: 264) nous considérons que lʼanalyse empirique qualitative « continuellement locale » est un « instrument puissant » pour identifier des mécanismes et repérer les relations entre les événements et les processus. nous avons procédé par adduction, en repérant des régularités stables (koenig, 1993) et le mode de généralisation de cette recherche est de nature analytique au sens de yin (1990). nous avons opté pour une triangulation des méthodes de recueil de données (construites et secondaires) afin de réduire le risque de tirer des conclusions qui pourraient alors refléter seulement les biais ou les limites systématiques de telle ou telle méthode de recueil (fielding et fielding, 1986). cette position se justifie notamment par le caractère relativement récent pour les acteurs du phénomène étudié et par la pluralité des positions à son encontre. en outre, en suivant les recommandations de maxwell (2005), se donner la possibilité de confronter des données recueillies de différentes manières confère à nos conclusions plus de validité que si elles nʼavaient émergé que dʼune seule source ou méthode. les enjeux managériaux du déploiement en france d’une pratique américaine de contrôle interne introduit par la loi sarbanes-oxley, le whistleblowing —ou alerte éthique— est perçu comme une obligation imposée aux filiales françaises dʼentreprises américaines ou aux entreprises françaises cotées aux etats-unis5. le financement de lʼentreprise et, partant, la réponse aux préoccupations des actionnaires, justifient lʼexistence du whistleblowing, dès lors que le contrôle introduit dans la relation dʼagence entre dirigeants et actionnaires apparaît insuffisant pour garantir les du whistleblowing à lʼaméricaine à lʼalerte éthique à la française 117 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 113-135 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 5. aux etats-unis, le non respect des obligations issues de la sox peut conduire à des sanctions qui s’exercent à deux niveaux : pour le dirigeant, sanctions civiles et pénales ; pour l’entreprise, exclusion de la bourse. droits des actionnaires, notamment dans leur dimension patrimoniale. toutefois, le whistleblowing peut également être appréhendé comme opportunité dʼagir sur les comportements, en particulier pour responsabiliser les parties prenantes, et notamment les salariés. en dʼautres termes, il apparaît nécessaire dʼidentifier les enjeux managériaux du déploiement de cette pratique particulière. le premier concerne la redistribution des pouvoirs, le deuxième les légitimités distinctes de lʼalerte et du contrôle et, enfin, le troisième a trait au glissement sémantique dʼune pratique de contrôle interne qui devient une pratique dʼalerte “éthique”. une redistribution du pouvoir : un enjeu pour le management de lʼaction collective tout pouvoir sʼinscrit dans une relation (crozier et friedberg, 1977). détenu par un individu, il sʼexerce sur une autre personne afin dʼen influencer le comportement. pour dahl (1957: 202-203), « le pouvoir de a sur b se résume en la capacité de a dʼobtenir que b fasse quelque chose quʼil nʼaurait pas fait sans lʼintervention de a ». cette perspective a le mérite de rappeler que lʼexercice du pouvoir nʼest pas indépendant du réseau social au sein duquel il sʼétend. dans les organisations, le pouvoir consiste à « prendre des décisions qui intéressent lʼensemble » (aron, 1972: 145) et qui « assurent la performance, dans le cadre dʼobligations liées (…), quand les obligations sont légitimées par référence à leur participation à lʼatteinte de buts collectifs » (parsons, 1969: 361). le déploiement du whistleblowing fait émerger des enjeux managériaux cristallisés autour du pouvoir et des principes de coopération traditionnels. la distribution du pouvoir —ou de parcelles de pouvoir— est mise en cause, dès lors que les salariés entrent dans le jeu dʼun contrôle quʼils ne détiennent pas par délégation hiérarchique. la pratique de contrôle interne est ainsi a priori porteuse de transformations dans la mesure où elle investit les salariés de lʼautorité morale de celui qui contrôle. elle lui confère le pouvoir de contrôler en exerçant un droit dʼalerter les parties prenantes en cas de constat ou de soupçon dʼun dysfonctionnement. ce pouvoir dʼalerter distribué à tous les salariés affranchit, en théorie, de la seule autorité qui était, jusque-là, la leur, lʼautorité hiérarchique fondée sur une légitimité rationnelle légale au sens de weber. le contrôle via la pratique dʼalerte, vise à déceler un comportement qui ferait courir un risque à lʼentreprise. ce contrôle introduit lʼappréciation de comportements et fait appel à lʼexercice de la responsabilité managériale, des dirigeants comme des encadrants de premier niveau. lʼexistence de cette forme de contrôle peut conduire à la recomposition des règles et des conventions formelles et informelles qui permettent la nécessaire coopération des acteurs. en particulier, la confiance entre managers et collaborateurs ou entre salariés peut être affectée, dès lors que les attentes constituées à lʼintérieur dʼune communauté perdent les repères quant à la définition dʼun « comportement régulier, honnête et coopératif, fondé sur des normes habituellement partagées sandra charreire petit et joëlle surply 118 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 113-135 special issue: corporate governance and ethics de la part des autres membres de cette communauté » (fukuyama, 1995: 26). toutefois, la capacité des salariés à avoir connaissance des fraudes, à les identifier, nʼinduit pas leur volonté dʼexercer effectivement le contrôle (moberly, 2006). il sʼagit là dʼun potentiel qui ne serait pas pleinement utilisé. deux raisons y concourent. il sʼagit dʼabord de la loi du silence qui fait porter lʼopprobre envers celui qui dénonce et lʼévince de la communauté de travail. ensuite, si cet obstacle est dépassé, il reste la crainte des représailles exercées par le management ou par des collègues. cette crainte est exprimée dans la deuxième enquête européenne sur les risques de fraude en entreprise réalisée auprès des salariés de sociétés multinationales par ernst et young (2007). ainsi, en france, seules 39 % des personnes interrogées « pensent que les salariés de leur société se sentiraient libres de signaler un éventuel cas de fraude dans leur entreprise », car la confidentialité de leur démarche serait suffisamment assurée. aux etats-unis, lʼétude de rehg, miceli et van scotter (2004) montre que les représailles à lʼencontre du whistleblower dépendent pour une large part de la tolérance de lʼorganisation aux malversations. plus cette dernière est élevée et moins les alertes sont utilisées en interne et moins les salariés ont confiance dans leurs supérieurs. pour weaver et treviño (1999), ceci justifie la mise en place de programmes éthiques dans les entreprises afin dʼéviter la loi du silence. le salarié, qui se sent alors soutenu, perçoit comme acceptable de recourir à lʼalerte. le dispositif de contrôle via lʼalerte tend ainsi à perturber les relations qui supportent la coopération en y insinuant les menaces de dénonciation et les craintes de représailles. une juxtaposition de lʼalerte et du contrôle : un enjeu en termes de légitimité avec le dispositif de whistleblowing, le pouvoir devient bidirectionnel. en effet, au pouvoir de contrôler pour certains, sʼajoute celui dʼalerter pour tous. la transformation du contrôle interne par une base élargie de contrôleurs soulève une double question. lʼune dʼentre elles interroge la légitimité à détenir un pouvoir, lʼautre, la légitimité à lʼexercer. la loi sarbanes-oxley adopte clairement le point de vue de lʼactionnaire. lʼidéologie capitaliste peut être considérée comme un support de légitimité. la vision de lʼentreprise, lʼoptimisation de la valeur actionnariale en constituent le socle... à condition de faire partie du « système de croyances et de valeurs à propos de lʼorganisation, auquel tous les membres adhèrent » (mintzberg, 1986 : 221). il semble bien, du moins en france, que lʼadhésion à cette représentation univoque soit loin dʼêtre partagée et quʼil y ait débat sur la qualité des détenteurs des pouvoirs de contrôle et dʼalerte. pour ce qui est de lʼexercice du contrôle, la question de la légitimité fait intervenir les compétences à comprendre et à évaluer une situation de gestion. la qualité de lʼaccès du salarié à lʼinformation —locale vs globale—, les miettes ou les ensembles dʼactivités qui lui sont confiées, influencent le regard porté sur sa légitimité à identifier, puis à évaluer une situation. du whistleblowing à lʼaméricaine à lʼalerte éthique à la française 119 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 113-135 special issue: corporate governance and ethics pratique de whistleblowing un pouvoir de contrôle interne double pour le salarié source de légitimité source du contrôle : de légitimité : rationnelle légale lʼidéologie figure 1. le caractère bidirectionnel du contrôle interne champ de la norme sociale alerter champ du droit du travail contrôler dans la figure 1 sont exposés les enjeux de la juxtaposition de lʼalerte et du contrôle interne dans un système de gouvernement que le whistleblowing modifie. le caractère bidirectionnel du contrôle confié au salarié montre les liens quʼentretient cette pratique avec deux champs (celui du droit et celui de la norme), lesquels ne se rencontrent pas toujours aisément tant les socles de légitimité sur lesquels ils reposent sont fondamentalement distincts. en effet, le droit du travail est une source externe de droits et dʼobligations qui sʼimpose aux acteurs du contrôle interne. leur marge de liberté sur lʼexercice du contrôle est dʼautant plus réduite que des sanctions peuvent sʼappliquer pour non respect des obligations issues du droit. il en est différemment pour la norme sociale. construite par les acteurs, à lʼintérieur de lʼorganisation, elle sʼappuie sur des valeurs, sur une idéologie qui accorde ou refuse aux salariés la légitimité de recourir à lʼalerte. lʼintrusion de la norme sociale, porteuse dʼune représentation de lʼéthique, dans lʼexercice du contrôle interne est susceptible de constituer une « source dʼinspiration extra-juridique », à lʼorigine du développement dʼune soft law (pesqueux, 2007: 37). celle-ci permet une « application contingente à un territoire institutionnel donné » dʼune règle générale (la protection des investisseurs), et apporte une « réponse spécifique » à des enjeux particuliers dans une situation locale (les entreprises concernées, en france, par le volet whistleblowing de la sox). la connexion entre les champs du droit et de la norme sociale ne semble pas aller de soi lorsquʼil sʼagit de pratiques de gouvernement dʼentreprise. cependant, la contrainte dans le champ du droit existe ; les entreprises nʼont pas dʼautre choix que de se mettre en conformité avec le volet whistleblowing de la loi sox. une manière pour elles, dʼintégrer, dʼabsorber ou dʼaborder la contrainte consiste à passer par la voie de la soft law (chartes éthiques, notamment). il est dès lors possible dʼenvisager le champ dʼapplication de la sox comme un ensemble juridique, quelque part destiné à produire de la soft law. sandra charreire petit et joëlle surply 120 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 113-135 special issue: corporate governance and ethics dʼun contrôle interne transformé à lʼalerte éthique en pratique : lʼenjeu dʼun glissement sémantique en france, les actions de mise en conformité au whistleblowing se traduisent par la mise en place de dispositifs dʼalerte quasi exclusivement qualifiés “dʼalerte éthique”. le constat de ce glissement sémantique est suffisamment important pour que lʼon sʼy arrête. en effet, le caractère éthique de lʼalerte pose question. ethique par rapport à une application du droit ?, de la morale ?, de lʼidéologie ? si oui, sur quel(s) socle(s) juridique(s) ou conventionnel(s) prend-on appui ? lors dʼune récente conférence de lʼorse (avril 2007), les responsables en charge de ces questions dans les entreprises interrogeaient : « peut-on appréhender lʼéthique, à travers les chartes, dans une dimension qui serait universelle ? ». récemment encore, pesqueux (2007: 37) interroge la question de lʼéthique comme source de normativité dans la corporate gouvernance, celle-ci devenant la soft law de la hard law. dans la même perspective, un responsable syndical, au niveau confédéral, confie « jʼy vois le risque dʼune privatisation du droit ». « salariés, héros ou délateurs ? » (de bry, 2006: 2). cette question souligne la représentation ambivalente du whistleblowing pour les parties prenantes. alerter est perçu négativement ou, à lʼinverse, manifeste un comportement héroïque du dénonciateur (appelbaum, grewal et mousseau, 2006). pour la cnil (2005), le whistleblowing correspond à une alerte professionnelle, expression reprise par lʼunion européenne6 et le rapport antonmattei/vivien (2007)7. le cercle dʼethique des affaires (eliet, 2005: 14) a retenu le terme dʼalerte éthique, défini comme « un système permettant aux salariés dʼalerter leurs dirigeants ou un comité spécialement constitué, sans risque dʼêtre personnellement inquiétés, des irrégularités ou des mauvais comportements professionnels quʼils constatent dans lʼentreprise et dont ils estiment quʼils font courir à lʼentreprise un risque sérieux sur les plans financier, juridique, technique, sanitaire, sécuritaire ou quant à sa réputation ». il est également intéressant de repérer que le glissement sémantique se retrouve dans le passage de la dénomination8 de hot line ou red line aux etats-unis à help line en france. ce glissement converge, selon nous, avec le passage dʼune alerte conçue pour fonctionner a posteriori (après la fraude) à une alerte pensée pour agir comme un système préventif, a priori (avant la fraude). quelle que soit la représentation positive ou négative retenue de lʼalerte éthique, les dirigeants sont tenus de déployer un dispositif dʼalerte. la question du moment de lʼalerte se pose et constitue un enjeu managérial car elle impacte largement celle du périmètre de lʼalerte. en effet, si aux etats-unis, le whistleblowing fonctionne essentiellement comme un système dʼalerte a posteriori (une fois que la fraude a été commise), son déploiement en france, compte tenu des débats et des différentes préconisations quant à sa mise en œuvre (cf. rapport antonmattei et vivien, 2007) insiste sur la dimension préventive de lʼalerte. elle apparaît ainsi non plus comme une possibilité curative mais comme un outil de gestion des risques probables dans lʼentreprise. il y a, dans ce glissement, les ingrédients dʼune multiplication des du whistleblowing à lʼaméricaine à lʼalerte éthique à la française 121 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 113-135 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 6. avis 1/2006, adopté le 1er février 2006, relatif à l’application des règles de l’ue en matière de protection des données aux mécanismes internes de dénonciation des dysfonctionnements dans les domaines de la comptabilité, des contrôles comptables internes, de l’audit, de la lutte contre la corruption et la criminalité bancaire et financière. le chapitre iv est consacré à l’analyse de la compatibilité des dispositifs d’alerte professionnelle avec les règles relatives à la protection des données. 7. le rapport intitulé “chartes d’éthique, alerte professionnelle et droit du travail français : état des lieux et perspectives” a été réalisé par un professeur de droit, p. h. antonmattei et par p. vivien (directeur des ressources humaines du groupe areva), en janvier 2007. 8. les auteurs remercient l’un des évaluateurs pour cette remarque d’ordre sémantique. tableau 1. enjeux managériaux du volet whistleblowing de la loi sox fondements exercice du droit de contrôler induit par le droit dʼalerter régulation du contrôle par le champ du droit régulation de lʼalerte par le champ de la norme sociale appréciation des irrégularités : – selon un système de valeurs (celui des actionnaires ? celui des salariés ?) – selon des modalités temporelles variables (a priori, a posteriori) enjeux managériaux redistribution du pouvoir dualité des sources de légitimité dans la détention ou lʼexercice du pouvoir glissement sémantique : du whistleblowing à lʼalerte éthique effets induits révision des principes de coopération (convention, hiérarchie, confiance) renforcement du rôle de la soft law dans le contrôle interne problème de définition du périmètre de lʼalerte qui devient variable et spécifique à chaque organisation : – élargissement du champ (harcèlement...) – liens avec les chartes éthiques, par définition idiosyncrasiques objets de lʼalerte. dans les esprits, si lʼalerte devient un outil de management des risques, certains sʼinterrogent : pourquoi se limiter aux seuls risques financiers ? on rappellera simplement ici la position ferme de la cnil en 2005 condamnant les positions prises en la matière notamment par lʼentreprise mcdonald france et demandant lʼexclusion, dans le dispositif de lʼentreprise, de tous les éléments susceptibles de porter atteinte à la vie privée des salariés. comme le montre moberly (2006), lʼattitude des salariés en matière dʼalerte est à mettre en relation avec la valeur quʼils confèrent aux effets de lʼalerte éthique et avec lʼévaluation des risques, pour euxmêmes et pour lʼorganisation. ainsi, la crainte des représailles, malgré des mesures collectives de protection, et la difficulté, voire lʼincapacité à identifier, contacter les canaux pertinents pour porter et traiter la dénonciation, sont-elles des freins à lʼexercice de lʼaction. en outre, les organisations préfèrent la discrétion et lʼusage de canaux internes, pour révéler les fraudes, à la publicité inhérente à lʼemploi de canaux externes. pour le whistleblower, la protection contre les représailles est alors, le plus souvent, mieux assurée par le lancement de lʼalerte avec recours à des voies internes. cependant, de nombreux whistleblowers utilisent des canaux externes lorsquʼil leur apparaît que le rapport de pouvoir avec leur organisation ou avec le fraudeur, agit en leur défaveur. ils recherchent alors la protection dʼun espace public (near et miceli, 1996). cependant, et même en dépit de fortes probabilités de représailles, lʼalerte est le plus souvent lancée quand elle concerne des violations à la loi, et que le whistleblower estime que son action aura des effets positifs sur le dysfonctionnement (near, rehg, van scotter et miceli, 2004). la première partie de cette étude sʼest ainsi attachée à souligner les enjeux managériaux du volet whistleblowing de la loi sox (tableau 1). le déploiement de la pratique de lʼalerte, en france, est marqué par lʼinfluence des effets potentiellement induits par ces enjeux. si les acteurs que nous avons interrogés semblent affirmer de concert que les alertes effectives sont (encore) très peu nombreuses, tous sʼaccordent à dire que le stade embryonnaire dʼaujourdʼhui recèle les ingrédients dʼune bombe à retardement pour demain. la seconde parsandra charreire petit et joëlle surply 122 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 113-135 special issue: corporate governance and ethics tie de lʼarticle vise ainsi à mettre en évidence ces ingrédients en montrant quʼils sont potentiellement porteurs de changements substantiels pour le gouvernement de lʼentreprise. du simple aménagement de la pratique à la potentielle révolution : l’expression de tensions contrastées le transfert de la pratique du whistleblowing dans les entreprises françaises sʼinscrit dans le cadre général de mise en place dʼun contrôle interne par « lʼensemble des sécurités contribuant à la maîtrise de lʼentreprise. [le contrôle interne] a pour but dʼun côté dʼassurer la protection, la sauvegarde du patrimoine et la qualité de lʼinformation, de lʼautre, lʼapplication des instructions de la direction et de favoriser lʼamélioration des performances » (ordre des experts comptables et des comptables agréés, 1977). au-delà de la dimension comptable et financière, lʼautorité des marchés financiers9 (2006) considère le contrôle interne comme un dispositif qui « contribue à la maîtrise des activités [de lʼentreprise], à lʼefficacité de ses opérations et à lʼutilisation efficiente de ses ressources ». il est susceptible de sʼinscrire dans le référentiel du committee of sponsoring organizations of the treadway commission (coso)10, lequel propose que le conseil dʼadministration, le management et le personnel de lʼentreprise soient impliqués ensemble dans la mise en œuvre dʼun processus de contrôle. le contrôle interne opère ainsi comme une assurance raisonnable que les objectifs de fiabilité de lʼinformation comptable et financière, dʼefficacité et dʼefficience de la conduite des opérations de lʼentreprise, du respect des lois et de la réglementation applicable soient atteints. en france, selon ses modalités de mise en œuvre et les dispositifs retenus, lʼappropriation des pratiques de whistleblowing prend diverses formes le long dʼun continuum qui sʼétire de la reproduction délibérée dʼune pratique à des prémices de révolution touchant au gouvernement de lʼentreprise. le whistleblowing en france : une simple mise en conformité des pratiques dans un cadre réglementaire aménagé ? en france, la presse révèle en 2005 que les systèmes dʼalerte posent des difficultés, à lʼoccasion dʼaffaires comme celle de mcdonald, ou, à travers les changements de position de la cnil quʼantonmattei (24 avril 2007)11 interprète comme étant des facteurs dʼinsécurité juridique. le contexte changeant nʼoffre aux acteurs quʼune faible visibilité sur le devenir des pratiques. ceci explique sans doute le caractère embryonnaire du déploiement du whistleblowing en france. sous contrainte dʼune telle incertitude, les organisations tendent à sʼen tenir à une mise en conformité, au respect dʼune obligation, imposée par la logique américaine du marché financier. cʼest dans cet esprit du whistleblowing à lʼaméricaine à lʼalerte éthique à la française 123 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 113-135 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 9. l’autorité des marchés financiers a publié en janvier 2007 une recommandation applicable aux rapports des présidents sur les procédures de contrôle interne relatifs aux exercices ouverts à compter du 1er janvier 2007. l’amf recommande l’utilisation d’un cadre de référence et d’un guide d’application, pour partie inspirés du référentiel coso (committee of sponsoring organizations of the treadway commission). 10. le coso donne, en 1992, une définition du contrôle interne et fournit un cadre (le cube coso) pour en évaluer l’efficacité. la loi sarbanes oxley oblige les sociétés cotées à évaluer leur contrôle interne. en imposant l’utilisation d’un cadre conceptuel, la sox a favorisé l’adoption du coso comme référentiel. le coso est également utilisé dans la mise en place des dispositions de la loi de sécurité financière (2003), pour les entreprises qui y sont assujetties. pour plus de renseignements, voir le site internet du coso : http://www.coso.org/ic.htm 11. réunion d’échange à propos du rapport antonmattei/vivien (mars 2007), organisée par l’observatoire de la responsabilité sociale des entreprises (orse), en présence de mm. antonmattei et vivien, avec l’animation de m. médina (24 avril 2007). les participants sont des membres de l’orse (ex. responsables des domaines juridique, déontologique, d’entreprises et représentants d’organisations syndicales). http://www.coso.org/ic.htm m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 113-135 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 124 sandra charreire petit et joëlle surply que lʼentreprise kodak a déployé la procédure « consciencieusement, mais sans enthousiasme particulier », comme nous lʼa confié un délégué syndical. la cnil a été saisie, fin 2006, par les entreprises, de cinq cents déclarations de mise en place de dispositifs dʼalerte professionnelle. au cours du premier trimestre 2007, plus dʼune centaine de demandes supplémentaires a été traitée, révélant ainsi la volonté grandissante des entreprises en france de se conformer aux contraintes que leur impose la loi américaine sarbanes-oxley de 2002. il ne sʼagit pas dʼune adhésion, mais bel et bien dʼune logique de conformité qui est privilégiée pour minimiser les risques de représailles. en france, si le système se déploie peu à peu, dans les faits, les alertes effectives sont quasiment inexistantes12 et ce mode de contrôle interne nʼest précédé dʼaucune expérience. faudrait-il que les entreprises apprennent en la matière ? si tel est le projet, quand la structure des savoirs antérieurs est faible dans un domaine, lʼapprentissage y est limité car celui-ci est une fonction de ce qui est déjà connu du domaine (cohen et levinthal, 1990). pour autant, dans le cas qui nous préoccupe, mettre en œuvre une telle nouvelle pratique suppose un aménagement minimum du cadre réglementaire. les préconisations du rapport antonmattei peuvent dʼailleurs être appréhendées dans cette perspective. il en va de même pour les recommandations managériales du modèle normatif de moberly (2006) qui vise à définir strictement des procédures de whistleblowing, par le biais, entre autres, des canaux de révélation de la fraude et des personnes à contacter le cas échéant. le respect des prérogatives des représentants du personnel et le recours aux dispositifs existants dʼexpression des salariés peuvent venir compléter lʼaménagement de ce cadre. il sʼagit là de caractéristiques incitatives pour les potentiels lanceurs dʼalerte. ce dispositif est replacé dans un cadre de référence connu et accepté, celui de la protection des lanceurs dʼalerte ou whistleblowers. plus généralement, lʼétude des principes ocde de gouvernement dʼentreprise révisés en septembre 2004 et approuvés par les trente etats membres montre un souhait général dʼaménagement des pratiques de gouvernement dʼentreprise au plus haut niveau, dʼune part, et met en évidence le choix de ne pas questionner le principe même de lʼalerte, dʼautre part. en effet, il apparaît que la principale modification portant sur le chapitre des parties prenantes concerne la protection du salarié whistleblower et non une réflexion de portée managériale sur le sens même de lʼalerte et sur son caractère ou non éthique. il est, à ce propos, intéressant de remarquer que le trade union advisory committee (tuac, 2004 : ii)13 souligne « les progrès apportés par les etats membres au chapitre sur les parties prenantes ». cette instance syndicale internationale se félicite en outre du nouveau principe ocde sur la protection des salariés témoins dʼactes illicites, suivant en cela les dispositions légales instaurées par la loi sarbanes-oxley. en dʼautres termes, les principaux etats industrialisés, membres de lʼocde, et les partenaires sociaux au niveau international ont réformé, bien en amont de lʼentreprise, le cadre des principes de gouvernement 12. a titre d’exemple, la direction du groupe sanofi-aventis annonce l’existence de trois alertes par mois en moyenne dans les entités du groupe hors etats-unis depuis le déploiement du dispositif en mai 2006. les responsables « compliance/conformité », en france, déclarent traiter toutes les alertes. 13. le tuac est l’interface entre des syndicats de salariés et l’ocde. il regroupe 56 centrales syndicales affiliées dans les trente pays industrialisés de l’ocde, représentant environ 60 millions de travailleurs. m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 113-135 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 125 du whistleblowing à lʼaméricaine à lʼalerte éthique à la française dʼentreprise afin que les pratiques de gouvernement en vigueur aux etats-unis depuis sox puissent être adaptées, sans entrer en conflit avec les principes affichés jusquʼalors dans les pays dits ocde. le choix de la simple adaptation (conformité) exclut ainsi la remise en cause plus profonde des représentations, des schémas de pensée des acteurs (argyris et schön, 1996), relatifs au principe même de lʼalerte. néanmoins, telle que la pratique se déploie aujourdʼhui, nos investigations montrent que les ingrédients sont réunis pour un questionnement bien plus profond. lʼalerte éthique à la française : vecteurs pour une possible révolution ? deux vecteurs apparaissent à lʼanalyse des dispositifs de déploiement de lʼalerte en france. ils laissent supposer que des modifications sur le gouvernement dʼentreprise pourraient être bien plus profondes. il sʼagit de lʼélargissement du domaine de lʼalerte, dʼune part, et du rôle nouveau de contrôleur du salarié, dʼautre part. selon nous, ce rôle ouvre la voie à deux configurations possibles de gouvernement dʼentreprise à lʼavenir, lʼune tendant vers le modèle actionnarial et lʼautre vers un modèle plus partenarial. quand un dispositif nouveau apparaît... et que le domaine de l’alerte s’élargit le premier vecteur potentiel dʼune transformation du gouvernement dʼentreprise est lʼintroduction même de ce nouveau mode de contrôle interne. en effet, les parties prenantes (salariés, dirigeants, actionnaires) ne peuvent plus complètement agir, ni même se représenter le système de contrôle interne de leurs actions comme auparavant. même si le système dʼalerte nʼest pas actionné, son potentiel de transformation sur le gouvernement dʼentreprise est grand. en effet, il contient les ingrédients dʼun élargissement du champ dʼapplication de lʼalerte, laquelle ne resterait plus seulement cantonnée à la sphère comptable et financière mais viendrait, plus largement, se nourrir des problèmes plus indéterminés de loyauté à lʼentreprise, de respect des valeurs organisationnelles, de comportements etc. le cas kodak illustre tout à fait ce premier vecteur. dans cette dernière entreprise, la pratique de whistleblowing a été déployée de la manière suivante fin 2004 : une ligne téléphonique gérée par une société indépendante (numéro vert) a été mise à disposition des salariés et une lettre dʼaccompagnement très explicite, cosignée par le président du conseil dʼadministration et du président directeur général du siège de kodak à rochester aux etats-unis a été distribuée à lʼensemble des salariés dans le monde. une petite carte (format carte de visite) qui reprend lʼessentiel du dispositif a été jointe à ce courrier sous les termes : « la ligne dʼassistance sur la conduite des affaires de kodak ». elle indique deux numéros de téléphone selon que le salarié appelle des etats-unis ou du reste du monde. son sandra charreire petit et joëlle surply 126 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 113-135 special issue: corporate governance and ethics format portefeuille la destine à accompagner le salarié où quʼil soit. il est ainsi fait appel à la vigilance constante du salarié et à son rôle de contrôleur de la conduite des affaires. le comité de direction dʼun site de kodak en france a joint au courrier américain une lettre explicative dont il est intéressant de noter que la teneur vise à élargir le champ de lʼalerte. ci-après, des extraits des deux lettres illustrent la manière contrastée dont le siège et le site français de lʼentreprise ont présenté le dispositif aux salariés. « nous sommes fiers du profond engagement de nos employés à se conduire en affaire selon les plus hautes normes dʼéthique —une des raisons majeures de lʼexcellente réputation dont jouit kodak dans le monde. nous veillons à agir avec intégrité dans nos transactions commerciales et à nous conformer aux politiques de la société et aux lois parce que cʼest ainsi quʼil faut agir. (...) si une situation vous semble douteuse en termes dʼintégrité ou de conformité, nous vous engageons à en parler dʼabord à votre supérieur. vous pouvez également en faire part à votre chef de service, à nʼimporte quel directeur, au service des ressources humaines ou à celui du contentieux. la ligne dʼassistance sur la conduite des affaires de kodak a été établie pour vous offrir un moyen supplémentaire de communiquer une inquiétude, de façon confidentielle, et même, anonyme » (extrait de la lettre du siège américain de kodak). « ce nouveau service répond à un souci de faciliter principalement lʼidentification de pratiques commerciales qui ne sont pas conformes non seulement aux lois mais aussi aux valeurs de la compagnie. en tant que société manufacturière, nous sommes très peu concernés par les aspects relevant purement des pratiques commerciales ; par contre, certains aspects concernant en particulier la discrimination ou les abus de toute sorte peuvent sʼappliquer à notre site » (extrait de la lettre du comité de direction en france). parce quʼelle sʼestime peu concernée par lʼusage du dispositif appliqué aux transactions commerciales, la direction du site en france prend lʼinitiative dʼélargir le champ de lʼalerte aux discriminations et abus de toute sorte, sans pour autant en préciser la nature ou les contours. ainsi, comme le souligne antonmattei (réunion orse – areva) lʼélargissement du domaine de lʼalerte, hors champs strictement comptable et financier, est envisagé de manière à « disposer dʼun grand système de canal de remontée des faits, pour autant que ceux-ci nuisent gravement au fonctionnement de lʼentreprise » il ne sʼagit donc pas « dʼinstaller des corbeaux sur tous les arbres » (responsable cnil, 2007), mais, comme lʼa rappelé antonmattei, de faire « fonctionner aussi bien en vertical quʼen horizontal un système fait pour la prévention, complémentaire à dʼautres systèmes, comme celui des représentants du personnel ». nous défendons ici lʼidée que lʼélargissement du champ de lʼalerte est susceptible de faire évoluer considérablement lʼexercice du contrôle interne ; on passe dʼun système de contrôle a posteriori pour dénoncer des dysfonctionnements à un système de contrôle a priori pour éviter que des dysfonctionnements ne se produisent. le rapport antonmattei/vivien préconise sur ce point dʼencourager les comportements dʼanticipation et de prévention, de lʼensemble des parties prenantes de la communauté de travail. certaines entreprises françaises se sont engagées dans la voie de la formation des dirigeants, des mandataires sociaux, des managers et des salariés afin de leur apprendre à repérer et à traiter les situations dites à risques. le rapport présenté par lʼinstitut français des administrateurs (2007: 48-49) sʼinscrit dans cette perspective alors quʼil préconise lʼétablissement, par le conseil dʼadministration, dʼune cartographie des risques attachés aux différentes parties prenantes (actionnaires, clients, fournisseurs, salariés, société civile) qui affectent ou qui sont affectées par le fonctionnement de lʼentreprise. un bon système dʼalerte devient alors celui dans lequel lʼalerte ne se produit plus (antonmattei et vivien, 2007) grâce à la participation dʼacteurs compétents et à lʼidentification et lʼanticipation des risques. un vecteur complémentaire peut être repéré pour étayer la thèse dʼune transformation du gouvernement de lʼentreprise. il sʼagit des salariés eux-mêmes en tant quʼacteurs du contrôle interne. quand les salariés deviennent des contrôleurs internes dans la perspective de la loi sarbanes-oxley, lʼintroduction des salariés, comme acteurs du contrôle interne, se traduit par de nouveaux flux dʼinformations susceptibles de transformer les règles de la coopération. ainsi, aux côtés de la relation hiérarchique, managers/salariés, bien identifiée, émerge une relation de contrôle des salariés à destination des dirigeants dont il est difficile, pour les acteurs, et en lʼétat actuel des pratiques, de cerner le périmètre. cela constitue, selon nous, une extension du contrôle interne. les acteurs se trouvent placés dans une double situation, paradoxale, de contrôleur et de contrôlé. parce quʼil est en position dʼavoir à connaître la fraude, commise par les dirigeants, voire par les managers ou encore par ses pairs, le salarié est en effet incité à la révéler, au bénéfice des actionnaires (figure 2). du whistleblowing à lʼaméricaine à lʼalerte éthique à la française 127 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 113-135 special issue: corporate governance and ethics nouvelle figure 2. exercice de l̓ alerte éthique : une relation triangulaire auteurs de la fraude, principalement dirigeants salariés lanceurs dʼalerte actionnaires bénéficiaires du contrôle et de lʼalerte transformation des modalités de gouvernement dʼentreprise ? déploiement des dispositifs dʼalerte relation dʼagencec ontr ôle contrôle m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 113-135 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 128 sandra charreire petit et joëlle surply une relation triangulaire entre trois parties prenantes (salariés, dirigeants, actionnaires) est ainsi établie. elle est susceptible de transformer les salariés en agents des investisseurs pour contrôler les dirigeants. ceci est de nature, selon nos analyses, à contenir les ingrédients dʼune modification plus profonde que la pratique actuelle ne le laisse paraître du gouvernement dʼentreprise. il est intéressant de noter que, comme dʼautres systèmes de contrôle, le whistleblowing est susceptible dʼintégrer des approches fondées à la fois sur la conformité et sur le partage de valeurs. il sʼagit notamment, selon la relation triangulaire instaurée (cf. figure 2) dʼassurer aux salariés que la justice sera respectée, que la fraude sera sanctionnée, quel que soit le statut de son auteur (stansbury et barry, 2007: 245) et que le lanceur dʼalerte ne subira aucune forme dʼostracisme. cependant, dans la mesure où le contrôle interne des salariés sur les dirigeants encadre le pouvoir discrétionnaire de ces derniers, il tend à introduire, pour autant que les parties prenantes acceptent ce rôle, un mécanisme supplémentaire dans le système de gouvernement dʼentreprise. lʼintroduction de la pratique de whistleblowing modifie ainsi le partage du pouvoir. la limite réside cependant dans lʼacceptation ou non par les parties prenantes (salariés comme dirigeants) de cette extension du contrôle interne. les salariés, en tant que nouveaux acteurs du contrôle interne, peuvent exister à travers deux postures. selon la première, ils sont susceptibles dʼêtre instrumentalisés par les actionnaires pour servir des intérêts qui ne sont que très indirectement les leurs. dans ce cas, nous considérons quʼils “sont agis” et quʼune relation dʼagence entre actionnaires et salariés est nouée (cf. figure 2). elle constitue la base de la légitimité du pouvoir donné au salarié de contrôler, même partiellement, ponctuellement, les dirigeants. renforcé par cette légitimité, le salarié, en position dʼagent, se plie à la règle de lʼactionnaire, en position de principal, « tout en contrôlant la marge dʼincertitude que lui confère son avantage en terme dʼinformation » (curien, 1994: 21). le salarié assure ainsi son pouvoir à la fois vis-à-vis de lʼactionnaire et vis-à-vis de ceux quʼil peut dénoncer. lʼintrusion des salariés sur la scène du contrôle interne est instrumentalisée par les actionnaires afin dʼaffaiblir la latitude des dirigeants. elle concourt à structurer de nouvelles relations qui transforment les règles du gouvernement dʼentreprise, dès lors que les salariés participent à influencer les décisions des dirigeants et à limiter leur espace discrétionnaire (charreaux, 1997). le modèle de gouvernement dʼentreprise reste un modèle actionnarial parce quʼil maintient lʼobjectif de maximisation de création de valeur pour les actionnaires. toutefois, ce modèle est infléchi puisque la totalité des droits de contrôle sur les dirigeants nʼest plus alloué aux seuls actionnaires mais partagé, même de manière occasionnelle avec les salariés-contrôleurs. selon la seconde posture, le salarié peut également exercer son pouvoir dʼalerte afin de satisfaire ses intérêts. le gouvernement dʼentreprise est alors susceptible dʼévoluer vers un modèle contractuel partenarial (charreaux, 2002) qui prendrait davantage en compte les intérêts des salariés. a lʼallocation de droit de contrôle sur les dirigeants m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 113-135 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 129 du whistleblowing à lʼaméricaine à lʼalerte éthique à la française tableau 2. effets probables du rôle joué par le salarié-contrôleur sur lʼémergence de nouveaux modèles de gouvernement dʼentreprise relation dʼagence entre actionnaires et salariés bénéficiaires dʼun droit de contrôle sur le dirigeant bénéficiaires de la valeur créée dans lʼentreprise gouvernance actionnariale instrumentalisation de la relation dʼagence par les actionnaires actionnaires en assemblée générale conseil dʼadministration salariés-contrôleurs maximisation de la valeur pour les actionnaires gouvernance partenariale instrumentalisation de la relation dʼagence par les salariés actionnaires en assemblée générale conseil dʼadministration salariés-contrôleurs maximisation de la valeur pour un ensemble de parties prenantes (les actionnaires, les salariés) figure 3. les figures du déploiement des pratiques dʼalerte éthique en france reproduction délibérée elaboration de maillages nouveaux : un domaine de lʼalerte élargi, des salariés contrôleurs mise en conformité des pratiques dans un cadre réglementaire aménagé révolution émergente ? contrôle interne classique contrôle interne élargi sʼajoute alors un objectif de maximisation de la valeur pour les parties prenantes, actionnaires et salariés. ce scénario nʼest probablement pas celui de la loi sarbanes-oxley qui se situe davantage dans une perspective de conversion à la financiarisation de lʼéconomie que dans une démarche sociale. le tableau 2 propose une synthèse des modèles de gouvernement dʼentreprise susceptibles dʼémerger, selon nous, du rôle joué par le salarié-contrôleur. lʼirruption dʼun dispositif dʼalerte éthique bouleverse ainsi potentiellement les schémas des parties prenantes sur le fonctionnement de lʼentreprise, les rôles quʼelles y jouent. elle sʼimmisce dans la culture, les valeurs et les pratiques de lʼorganisation. aussi les modalités de mise en place de la pratique de whistleblowing sont-elles susceptibles dʼemprunter des figures variées. comme indiqué en figure 3, celles-ci se déploient le long dʼun continuum compris entre la reproduction délibérée dʼune pratique et les prémisses dʼune modification plus radicale intégrant lʼélargissement du domaine de lʼalerte ainsi que le rôle nouveau de contrôleur du salarié. sandra charreire petit et joëlle surply 130 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 113-135 special issue: corporate governance and ethics il est intéressant de noter, quʼen france, certaines centrales syndicales pressentent les bouleversements possibles des modèles de gouvernement dʼentreprise. elles se saisissent alors du problème de lʼalerte pour revendiquer une redéfinition des rapports sociaux au travail. elles développent une logique qui les conduit à instrumentaliser le dispositif dʼalerte et à lʼintégrer dans une démarche globale de responsabilité sociale de lʼentreprise (rse). les syndicats appréhendent la rse avec une exigence de responsabilité des salariés et, plus spécifiquement, celle des cadres (rsc). cette responsabilité ne sʼentend pas comme allégeance à lʼentreprise et obéissance aveugle à ses prescriptions. elle se conçoit comme un engagement du salarié qui peut lʼinciter à la désobéissance organisationnelle afin de prendre en compte les intérêts, le plus souvent hors de la sphère financière, des diverses parties prenantes. ainsi, de la stricte observance dʼune obligation venue des etats-unis, on observe des voies différenciées de déploiement ; reproduction aménagée versus révolution potentielle. cʼest sans aucun doute pour cette raison que les etats membres de lʼocde ont cherché, dès 2004, à développer un discours qui dépasse le strict cadre de la reproduction ou de lʼadaptation de principes et pratiques de gouvernement dʼentreprise pour lʼinscrire dans un débat plus large, aux contours plus flous aussi, celui de la rse. conclusion et discussion dans cet article, nous interrogeons, au regard des pratiques dʼalerte dans les dispositifs de contrôle interne, les possibles transformations du système de gouvernement pour les entreprises françaises. plus précisément, nous nous focalisons sur lʼimpact probable dʼun dispositif particulier, le whistleblowing qui nous vient dʼoutre-atlantique. que se passe-t-il lorsquʼune pratique de contrôle interne américaine est déployée au sein dʼentreprises françaises cotées aux etats-unis ou au sein de filiales dʼentreprises américaines établies en france ? rappelons ici que le point de vue adopté par la loi sarbanes-oxley et le référentiel coso est celui dʼune logique de financiarisation de lʼéconomie. le bon fonctionnement du marché financier suppose la confiance des investisseurs, rassurés par des règles de gouvernement efficaces. sur ce dernier point, le rapport établi par antonmattei et vivien (2007) rappelle que le scandale enron a mis en lumière lʼinefficacité de manière globale des mesures existantes de contrôle des comptes et de direction de lʼentreprise. dans ce contexte, la question de lʼimportation dʼune pratique prend une dimension particulière. en effet, comme le souligne amable (2006), en france, lʼempilement, même aménagé, dʼune approche américaine, ébranle notre modèle de capitalisme en affectant les équilibres sociaux et les compromis institutionnels qui les accompagnent, au détriment des salariés. grâce à lʼanalyse de la littérature, des entretiens que nous avons menés et des données secondaires recueillies, nous avons pu révéler trois enjeux managériaux liés au déploiement, en france, dʼune pratique américaine de contrôle interne. nous avons mis en évidence, dans la première partie, que ces enjeux concernent à la fois la redistribution des pouvoirs, les légitimités relevant du droit ou de lʼidéologie, ainsi que le glissement du sens de lʼalerte, de chaque côté de lʼatlantique. puis, dans la seconde partie, nous avons tenté de dresser les figures du déploiement de lʼalerte éthique en france, à travers les pratiques. celles-ci varient de la reproduction délibérée dʼune pratique à une modification plus radicale. nous avançons lʼhypothèse dʼune possible révolution dans les pratiques de contrôle interne. en effet, des ingrédients contenus dans les principes qui sous tendent la pratique dʼalerte nous paraissent être de nature à modifier substantiellement lʼexercice de ce contrôle. nous traitons de deux ingrédients ou vecteurs de cette transformation que sont lʼélargissement du domaine de lʼalerte et le rôle nouveau de contrôleur du salarié. ils conduisent à repenser la nature des rapports sociaux dans lʼentreprise, et, plus particulièrement les liens dʼemploi. cette réflexion conserve toutefois un caractère exploratoire tant les pratiques effectives dʼalerte émergent en france, même si le contexte de leur déploiement fait depuis plus longtemps lʼobjet dʼanalyses (gressier, 2005). cependant, nous pensons que ces premiers enseignements constituent déjà une base féconde de discussion. celle-ci peut être organisée autour de trois idées liées. la première concerne le périmètre de lʼalerte, la deuxième a trait à la question de lʼarticulation de cette alerte éthique avec les autres dispositifs de contrôle interne déjà existants au sein des organisations. enfin, la troisième concerne le salarié au cœur du dispositif de contrôle et qui dispose simultanément dʼun pourvoir de contrôle et dʼun pouvoir dʼalerte. le périmètre de lʼalerte peut sʼétendre selon deux directions suivant la perception positive ou négative du dispositif par les acteurs. certains peuvent trouver de la satisfaction en considérant une dimension éthique au contrôle. dans ce cas, les signaux, positifs, lancés aux actionnaires, peuvent être perçus par des parties prenantes externes et diminuer ainsi lʼexposition de lʼentreprise à dʼéventuelles sanctions pour non respect de lʼéthique (stansbury et barry, 2007: 243). a lʼinverse, et la position initiale de la cnil (en 2005) en est le révélateur, un dispositif dʼalerte, déclenché par les salariés, à lʼencontre des dirigeants, mais aussi, éventuellement, de leurs collègues, peut provoquer réticence voire hostilité. cette perception négative sʼapplique au niveau des valeurs ; lʼalerte consiste à dénoncer et la dénonciation, souvent associée à la volonté de nuire, est connotée négativement (weaver et treviño, 1999). en outre, pour ce qui est du droit français, des domaines et des niveaux dʼalerte sont déjà contenus dans ce quʼon appelle le droit dʼexpression (ex. art. l 461-1 du code du travail1). il convient toutefois de préciser que si lʼalerte sʼexerce à un niveau individuel, le droit dʼexpression ci-dessus mentionné est un droit collectif. se pose alors la question du recouvrement, de la nouveauté de lʼalerte éthique, telle que lʼoriente la loi sarbanes-oxley, cʼest-à-dire de lʼarticulation avec les dispositifs existants. cette articulation se conçoit tant au plan de la cohérence des mécanismes (procédures compadu whistleblowing à lʼaméricaine à lʼalerte éthique à la française 131 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 113-135 special issue: corporate governance and ethics sandra charreire petit et joëlle surply 132 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 113-135 special issue: corporate governance and ethics tibles) que de leur philosophie (principes et valeurs qui les sous tendent). cette difficulté est évoquée par le monde syndical (cgt, fo, cfdt) en particulier sous lʼangle de la participation à lʼélaboration des dispositifs dʼalerte. convient-il quʼil nʼy ait pas de mise en place de lʼalerte éthique sans voie négociée ? certains souhaitent que ce dispositif soit un complément, après les représentants du personnel, qui tienne compte de la protection du lanceur dʼalerte. dʼautres considèrent que les dispositifs dʼalerte, appuyés sur le droit dʼexpression, pourraient être étendus au-delà de la comptabilité ou de la finance, permettant ainsi aux salariés de peser sur les choix des entreprises. enfin, et peut-être surtout selon nous, si les salariés sont placés au premier rang pour faire exister lʼalerte, lʼinterrogation est patente sur les satisfactions quʼils peuvent en obtenir. lʼengagement des salariés dans le contrôle interne pourrait apparaître comme une solution pour révéler lʼinformation et réduire lʼasymétrie entre actionnaires et dirigeants. en effet, les salariés, immergés dans lʼentreprise, sont perçus comme des acteurs nombreux et compétents, dʼautant plus susceptibles de se transformer en informateurs de pratiques illégales quʼils sont concernés par lʼavenir de leur entreprise (antonmattei et vivien, 2007). toutefois, placer le salarié au cœur dʼun dispositif de contrôle interne permettra-t-il de lever les difficultés pointées de manière consensuelle par les observateurs ? comme tout système de contrôle, lʼalerte éthique vise à atteindre son objectif initial —le renforcement de la confiance des actionnaires— en élaborant un dispositif qui stimule la cohérence et la prévisibilité des opérations (stansbury et barry, 2007: 241). en outre, lʼapprentissage des salariés portant sur lʼidentification et la prévention des dysfonctionnements frauduleux est ainsi favorisé. dans le même temps, toute instrumentalisation de lʼalerte, qui serait perçue comme le moyen de conforter la position des dirigeants et non comme une démarche gagnant/gagnant entre parties prenantes, serait vouée à affaiblir, voire à discréditer le dispositif. a lʼinverse, lʼefficacité de lʼalerte serait renforcée dès lors quʼun certain nombre de conditions seraient réunies. parmi celles-ci, le périmètre des mécanismes de contrôle devrait être clairement délimité, la communication non ambigüe, et le système dʼalerte éthique en adéquation avec les préoccupations des parties prenantes. ces conditions permettraient de soutenir la coopération et de prévenir des comportements de rejet contre les dispositifs de contrôle (stansbury et barry, 2007: 257). nous voudrions, pour poursuivre la discussion, suggérer deux prolongements possibles pour cette recherche. le premier concerne la confiance à un niveau individuel dʼanalyse et le second a trait au statut de lʼalerte en privilégiant un niveau organisationnel dʼanalyse. il nous semble quʼinterroger plus avant le thème de la confiance des acteurs dans lʼusage des dispositifs constitue une piste féconde. celleci est entendue comme « mécanisme qui neutralise lʼopportunisme et restaure la prévisibilité des comportements » (karpik, 1998: 1045). en effet, la possibilité de recours à lʼalerte éthique revêt deux facettes. sur la première, lʼalerte apparaît comme le moyen de garantir les actionnaires contre la fraude des dirigeants, de sécuriser leur investissement par une surveillance et, in fine, une moralisation des pratiques. sur la seconde facette, lʼalerte, perçue comme une menace permanente, est susceptible dʼentraver lʼaction collective par anéantissement de la confiance. cette dernière permet et facilite les échanges, les partages dʼinformation, lʼexpérimentation, lʼapprentissage collectif, cʼest-à-dire la coopération qui exige un minimum dʼintégration des comportements des individus et des groupes (crozier et friedberg, 1977). si lʼon déplace les préoccupations au niveau organisationnel, le statut de lʼalerte permet de poser dʼintéressantes questions et constituerait, selon nous, le second prolongement possible de cette recherche. dans cette perspective, lʼalerte peut en effet apparaître comme un dispositif de contrôle a priori, et finalement comme un moyen dʼanticiper et de gérer les risques (medina, 2006). les préconisations du rapport antonmattei/vivien, comme les réflexions de lʼorse ou celles de cabinets dʼaudit, semblent ainsi sʼorienter vers une transformation du statut de lʼalerte éthique, orientant, ce faisant, ses finalités. ces réflexions mériteraient alors dʼêtre poursuivies dans le courant théorique proposé par charreaux (2002), qui privilégie la vision partenariale à la vision purement actionnariale de la gouvernance. selon cette acception, le gouvernement dʼentreprise se préoccupe davantage de prévenir les conflits entre les parties prenantes ; les dispositifs dʼalerte pourraient ainsi être étudiés par cet éclairage. cette voie nous semble dʼautant plus riche que les administrateurs demandent aujourdʼhui au conseil dʼadministration de réaliser des cartographies des risques rse portés par les différentes parties prenantes (rapport ifa, septembre 2007). enfin, nous voudrions insister sur le manque de recul aujourdʼhui en france par rapport à la mise en place et à lʼutilisation de lʼalerte. reste en effet posée une question centrale ; celle de son efficacité économique. si lʼon sait que lʼalerte peut diminuer les coûts de contrôle exercé par lʼactionnaire (moberly, 2006) elle peut aussi paralyser les processus collaboratifs sans garantie certaine que les intérêts de ceux pour qui elle a été pensée ne soient assurés. note. cette production sʼinscrit dans le cadre dʼun projet financé par lʼagence nationale de la recherche : le potentiel régulatoire de la rse. les auteurs tiennent à remercier les évaluateurs pour la qualité de leurs remarques et conseils. sandra charreire petit est professeur à lʼuniversité paris sud 11. elle y dirige le pesor (ea 3546), mention gestion des organisations et le m2 recherche “organisation, stratégies et risques“. ses recherches portent sur lʼapprentissage organisationnel, le pilotage des changements et, plus récemment, sur le pilotage des systèmes éthiques dans les organisations. joëlle surply est maître de conférences à lʼuniversité paris sud 11 et membre du pesor. elle dirige le m2 professionnel “contrôle de gestion sociale et rh“. ses recherches portent sur lʼapprentissage organisationnel, la gouvernance et les questions de responsabilité sociale des organisations. du whistleblowing à lʼaméricaine à lʼalerte éthique à la française 133 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 113-135 special issue: corporate governance and ethics � amable, b. 2006 le modèle européen ébranlé, sciences humaines, 176, 40-43. � antonmattei, p. h., et p. vivien 2007 chartes dʼéthique, alerte professionnelle et droit du travail français : état des lieux et perspectives, collection des rapports officiels, paris : la documentation française. site internet : lesrapports.ladocumentationfrancaise.fr /brp/074000335/0000.pdf � appelbaum, s. h., k. grewal, et h. mousseau 2006 whistleblowing: international implications and critical case incidents, journal of american academy of business, 10: 1, 7-13. � argyris, c., et d. a. schön 1996 organizational learning ii: theory, method, and practice, reading, ma : addison wesley. � aron, r. 1972 etudes politiques, paris : gallimard. � autorité des marchés financiers 2006 recommandation de lʼautorité des marchés financiers sur le “dispositif de contrôle interne : cadre de référence” ifaci.com/fo/aff_file.asp?id=169 � berry, b. 2004 organizational culture: a framework and strategies for facilitating employee whistleblowing, employee responsibilities and rights journal, 16: 1, 1-11. � boughanmi, a., et b. deffains 2006 droit, gouvernance dʼentreprise et structure du système financier : une analyse économétrique du cas français (1980-2004), finance contrôle stratégie, 9: 4, 33-66. � charreaux, g. (ed.) 1997 le gouvernement des entreprises : corporate governance, théories et faits, paris: economica. � charreaux, g. 2002 variation sur le thème “à la recherche de nouvelles fondations pour la finance et la gouvernance dʼentreprise”, finance contrôle stratégie, 5: 3, 5-68. � cohen, w. m., et d. a. levinthal 1990 absorptive capacity: a new perspective on learning and innovation, administrative science quarterly, 35: 1, 128-152. � crozier, m., et e. friedberg 1977 lʼacteur et le système, paris : seuil. � curien, n. 1994 régulation des réseaux : approches économiques, annales des mines : réalités industrielles, octobre, 21-26. � dahl, r. 1957 the concept of power, behavioral science, 2: 3, 201-215. � de bry, f. 2006 salariés, héros ou délateurs ? du whistleblowing à lʼalerte éthique, lettre du management responsable, 6, octobre, 1-13. � de pover, m.-f. 2006 le “whistle blowing” anglo-saxon ou comment mettre en place un système “dʼalertes éthiques” dans les pays de tradition civiliste sans créer une chasse aux sorcières ou une mesure disproportionnée par rapport à la poursuite dʼun objectif légitime : la lutte contre la fraude interne, bulletin dʼinformations alco, 7 : janvier, 4-14. � délégation internationale pour lʼaudit et la comptabilité (dipac) 2006 vues de presse internationale, 82, mai. disponible électroniquement à : www.dipacint.com/content/download/ 660/2650/version/1/file/vdp_82.pdf � eliet, g. 2005 whistleblowing : quel système dʼalerte éthique pour les entreprises françaises ?, les cahiers de lʼéthique n° 2, paris : cercle dʼethique des affaires. � ernst & young 2007 enquête européenne sur les risques de fraude en entreprise. paris : ernst & young. www.ey.com/global/content.nsf/france/ press_release_etude_fraude_04062007 � fayol, f. 2005 droit dʼalerte et whistleblowing : donner du sens et négocier, cadres-cfdt, 414, avril, 37-43. � fielding, n. g., et j. l. fielding 1986 linking data, newbury park, ca: sage. � fukuyama, f. 1995 trust: the social virtues and the creation of prosperity, new york : free press. � gressier, f. 2005 les systèmes dʼalerte éthique : une conception bien désagréable de la démocratie dʼentreprise, infojuridique, 50: 47-54. � institut français des administrateurs (ifa) 2007 les administrateurs de sociétés cotées et la responsabilité sociétale des entreprises, paris : ifa. � johnson g., k. scholes,, r. whittington, et f. frery 2005 stratégique, 7e édition, paris : pearson. � karpik, l. 1998 la confiance : réalité ou illusion ? examen critique dʼune thèse de williamson, revue économique, 49: 4, 1043-1056. � kœnig, g. 1993 production de la connaissance et constitution des pratiques organisationnelles, revue de gestion des ressources humaines, 9: 4-17. � kœnig, g. 2005 etudes de cas et évaluation de programmes : une perspective campbellienne, actes de la xive conférence de management stratégique, angers. www.strategieaims.com/angers05/res/ 68-874rd.pdf sandra charreire petit et joëlle surply 134 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 113-135 special issue: corporate governance and ethics références http://lesrapports.ladocumentationfrancaise.fr/brp/074000335/0000.pdf http://ifaci.com/fo/aff_file.asp?id=169 http://www.dipacint.com/content/download/660/2650/version/1/file/vdp_82.pdf http://www.strategie-aims.com/angers05/res/68-874rd.pdf � la porta, r., f. lopez-de-silanes, a. schleifer, et r. vishny 1999 the quality of government, journal of law, economics and organization, 15: 1, 222-279. � maxwell, j. a. 2005 qualitative research design: an interactive approach, 2e édition, thousand oaks, ca : sage. � medina, y. 2006 lʼalerte éthique, outil pour la grh et le “risk management”, lettre du management responsable, 6, octobre, 2-7. www.esdes-recherche.net/ pdf%20lettres/ymedina.pdf � ménard, c. 1997 lʼéconomie des organisations, paris : la découverte. � miles, m. b., et a. m. huberman 2003 analyse des données qualitatives, 2e édition, bruxelles : de boeck université. � mintzberg, h. 1986 le pouvoir dans les organisations, paris : editions dʼorganisation. � moberly, r. e. 2006 sarbanes-oxleyʼs structural model to encourage corporate whistleblowers, brigham young university law review, 2006 : 5, 1107-1176. � near, j. p., et m. p. miceli 1985 organizational dissidence: the case of whistleblowing, journal of business ethics, 4: 1, 1-16. � near, j.p., et m. p. miceli 1996 whistleblowing: myth and reality, journal of management, 22: 3, 507-527. � near, j. p., m. t. rehg, j. r. van scotter, et m. p. miceli 2004 does type of wrongdoing affect the whistleblowing process?, business ethics quaterly, 14: 2, 219-242. � ordre des experts comptables et des comptables agréés (oecca) 1977 le contrôle interne, etude présentée à l'occasion du 32e congrès national, paris, conseil superieur de l'ordre des experts comptables. � parsons, t. 1969 politics and social structure, new york : free press. � pesqueux, y. 2007 ethique et gouvernance : la dualité hard law/soft law, revue française de gouvernance dʼentreprise, 1: 35-48. � rehg, m. t., m. p. miceli, j. p. near, et j. r. van scotter 2004 predicting retaliation against whistleblowers: outcomes of power relationships within organizations, academy of management annual meeting proceedings, sim: e1-e6. � stansbury, j. m., et b. barry 2007 ethics programs and the paradox of control, business ethics quarterly, 17 : 2, 239-261. � trade union advisory committee (tuac) 2004 la révision des principes ocde de gouvernement dʼentreprise : une évaluation du secrétariat du tuac, paris : tuac. www.tuac.org/fr/public/edocs/00/00/01/0b/document_doc.phtml � weaver, g. r., et l. k. treviño 1999 compliance and values oriented ethics programs: influences on employeesʼ attitudes and behavior, business ethics quarterly, 9: 2, 315335. � yin, r. k. 1990 case study research: design and methods, newbury park, ca : sage. du whistleblowing à lʼaméricaine à lʼalerte éthique à la française 135 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 113-135 special issue: corporate governance and ethics http://www.esdes-recherche.net/pdf%20lettres/ymedina.pdf http://www.tuac.org/fr/public/e-docs/00/00/01/0b/document_doc.phtml institutional distance and brazilian outward foreign direct investment mohamed amal regional university of blumenau (furb), brazil mohamedamal.amal@gmail.com bruno thiago tomio regional university of blumenau (furb), brazil bttomio@furb.br institutional distance and brazilian outward foreign direct investment mohamed amal � bruno thiago tomio abstract. different studies have discussed the factors that influence outward foreign direct investment (ofdi) from developing countries. however, the choice of location and the role of institutional distance are still controversial. the aim of the present paper is to address the determinants of ofdi from brazil from the perspective of the host countries. using a panel data model, we have tested the impact of cultural and institutional distances on ofdi, and noted the moderating effects of the economic performance of the host country. the results show that institutional difference has a positive effect on ofdi; however, such effect is constrained by the size of the host country and the amount of its bilateral trade. we have found no statistically significant relationships between cultural distance and ofdi, but in our study geographical proximity had a positive effect on the strategy of brazilian ofdi. the results pointed to two main implications. first, the positive effect of institutional distance on ofdi may be constrained by the bilateral trade flows between home and host countries. second, multinational companies from brazil are more likely to invest in a culturally distant country when it delivers better institutional performances, which suggests that there is a complementary relationship between cultural and institutional distance. ! the growing internationalization of multinational companies from emerging economies (emncs) can be described as a major trend in the current world economic scenario. in the last two decades, the foreign direct investment (fdi) outflows from such economies grew at a higher yearly average than those from developed economies. over 58% of the fdi from emerging countries originates in asia, especially from china and india. latin america is the second largest source of fdi from emerging economies (unctad, 2014). ! brazilian outward foreign direct investment (ofdi) was relatively insignificant throughout the 1990s. following economic and institutional reforms in the latter half of the decade, brazilian firms became increasingly internationalized, which stimulated the outward fdi as a strategy of entering and expanding business in foreign markets. thus brazil became, together with china and india, not only one of the main host countries of world fdi, but also one of the leading sources of outward fdi among developing countries. in 2013, fdi outflows from developing countries represented 21% of the world total outflows, and they registered around 21% of the total outward stock according to unctad (2009; 2014). ! previous empirical studies on the determinants of fdi have emphasized the role of the economic environment and liberalization policies in the host country to attract foreign investment. however, very few attempts have been made to address the determinant factors of fdi from developing economies. most of the studies focus on the case of asian multinational companies (mncs), particularly studies that investigate ofdi from china and india (buckley et al., m@n@gement 2015, vol. 18(1): 78-101 78 mailto:mohamedamal@gmail.com?subject= mailto:mohamedamal@gmail.com?subject= mailto:mohamedamal@gmail.com?subject= mailto:mohamedamal@gmail.com?subject= mailto:bttomio@furb.br?subject= mailto:bttomio@furb.br?subject= 2007; cheng & ma, 2007; de beule & van den bulcke, 2012; fung, garciaherrera, & siu, 2009; kolstad & wiig, 2012; pradhan, 2011). other studies are more focused on the effect of home country factors on ofdi and the performance of mncs from emerging economies (cuervo-cazurra & genc, 2011; he & lin, 2012; luo, xue, & han, 2009). ! egger and winner (2005) and cuervo-cazurra (2006) have shown how well firms from developing countries can deal with imperfect institutions in the host countries. more recently, some studies have attempted to establish the connections between id and natural resources in the case of fdi from emerging economies (aleksynska & havrylchyk, 2013), or the relationship between experience, location choice, and government support (jinping, 2011; lu, liu, wright, & filatotchev, 2014). however, very few studies have addressed the question of how institutional distance (id) affects outward fdi from developing countries. ! taking the eclectic paradigm, also called oli ownership, localization and internalization) paradigm as a general framework (dunning, 1988), the present study aims to investigate the importance of the location of the host country on ofdi. according to the oli paradigm, location cannot be restricted to a bundle of physical variables, but is instead represented by the institutions and good governance that contribute to economic efficiency and growth (dunning & lundan, 2008). on the other hand, considering that institutions are dynamic, changes over time in the qualitative content of location may significantly influence the strategies and performance of mncs. ! the results of the empirical studies have shown general trends in the behavior of mncs regarding economic variables like growth and macroeconomic stability. however, the same studies have also shown more controversial and divergent results regarding the role of institutions and cultural distance (cd) between home and host countries. ! using brazil as our case study, we intend to contribute to the debate about the determinants of fdi from developing countries by addressing the following questions: do institutional and cultural distances affect ofdi from brazil? to what extent are such effects moderated by economic factors in the host country? ! the main assumption of the study is that mncs from developing and advanced economies are different due to several factors. according to narula (2012), the internationalization of firms follows a similar interaction between ownership assets and location assets regardless of their origin. however, the “o” assets may be constrained by the “l” assets of their home countries in different ways for developing and advanced economies respectively. we argue that ofdi from developing countries is constrained and shaped by the location-specific assets of their home countries (narula, 2012). and since the initial conditions (l assets) vary considerably between countries, we expect significant differences in the early internationalization of mncs from different countries, as suggested by narula (2012). we also anticipate that such companies may display different behavior and may cope in different ways with id. however, and in line with different contributions in the international business (ib) literature (hennart, 2012; narula, 2012; rugman, oh, & lim, 2011), international performance requires knowledge assets, and depends on acquiring, maintaining, and developing firmspecific advantages (fsas) or ownership-specific (o) assets (narula, 2012). this means that firms from emerging countries with a high level of intangible assets are more likely to follow intensive strategies of involvement in foreign developed markets, with the aim to obtain and/or to enlarge their ownership-specific assets and compete globally (hennart, 2012). the implications of such strategies are that firms from emerging economies are more likely to invest in and enlarge their foreign assets, no matter what the cultural and institutional distances might be. more specifically, distance does not necessarily have an adverse effect on firms’ operations (cuervo-cazurra, 2012). therefore, distance and foreignness cannot m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 78-101! mohamed amal & bruno thiago tomio 79 be considered as pure liabilities anymore, but as new strategic opportunities which allow access to specific assets “for arbitrage, complementarity or creative diversity” (zaheer, schomaker, & nachum, 2012, p. 26). ! in this paper, we will not discuss the role of home country factors; instead, we will examine how the economic and non-economic factors in the host country influence the choice of location by mncs. brazil is an ideal country to illustrate and test some general assumptions about ofdi from emerging economies. first, it is among the most dynamic economies in an emerging country (the bric countries). second, brazil is the largest latin american economy, the largest recipient of fdi in the region, and one of the leading host countries among the developing economies. finally, yet significantly, although the country started to introduce important market reforms late in the 1990s, it has only been in the past ten years that the internationalization of brazilian firms has really been felt. this internationalization continues to be an ongoing process, and this study will be a reflection of how brazilian mncs currently cope with different cultural and institutional distances in the host countries, as well as an assessment of the challenges of creating value-added activities cross-border. ! the paper proceeds as follows. in the next section, we will discuss the growth and pattern of brazilian ofdi. then we will present a literature review and the theoretical framework of the study. in the subsequent section we will present the method and the estimate the results of our model. finally, we will discuss our findings and their implications. growth of ofdi from brazil ! in the past, the economic and political environment in brazil has offered little incentive for brazilian companies to internationalize. since the end of the 1990s the data shows a growing tendency towards more international involvement from brazilian firms, not only in terms of import and export activities, but also in the acquisition of foreign companies and the building of new subsidiaries in different countries around the world. ! after a period of different crises that affected latin america and brazil in the 1980s, most of the emerging countries in the region implemented macroeconomic policies designed to stabilize their economies and to create better conditions for a climate of investment. the implemented changes aimed at liberalizing the economies, removing the barriers on inward fdi and cross-border acquisitions, and creating regulatory processes to remove or at least reduce trade barriers among south-south countries. ! brazilian ofdi was relatively insignificant throughout the 1990s. in the second half of the 1990s brazilian firms became increasingly internationalized, and this change stimulated the outward fdi into foreign markets. in 2002, ofdi was estimated at us$ 2.5 billion, and reached its height in 2006, at us$ 28.2 billion (unctad, 2014). the amount of ofdi increased particularly after 2002, when the brazilian economy bounced back from the crisis of 2001, and was then driven by a relatively long cycle of economic growth in developed and developing countries. ! the data of fdi show that the flows of brazilian investments were relatively insignificant during the period between 1990 and 2001, pointing to a low degree of internationalization of brazilian companies. on the other hand, the data shows a high degree of fluctuation in the investment flows, suggesting the high sensitivity of investments to external changes in the economy. the expansion of brazilian investment flows correlates strongly with the cycles of inward direct investments in the country. the increase of fdi in brazil has contributed to a learning process by brazilian companies, stimulating and enhancing their institutional distance and brazilian ofdi! m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 78-101 80 international expansion, and has suggested a tendency towards more engagement of brazilian firms in the world economy. box 1. brazilian economic reforms in the 1990s. ! ! in terms of the geographic distribution of brazilian ofdi, the data points out two key periods. the first period, which started at the beginning of the 1990s and lasted until 2004, showed that the largest recipients of brazilian fdi were tax haven countries like the british virgin islands, the cayman islands, and the bahamas, which enjoyed a share of over 70% of the total ofdi. the concentration of brazilian ofdi in tax haven countries can be explained by several factors, such as their high levels of regulations and taxes. thus, moving to tax havens used to be a normal outcome of operating in a country with high levels of government controls (stal & cuervo-cazurra, 2011). the year 2005 registered a shift in the geographic distribution of brazilian fdi abroad. the participation of the tax haven countries decreased throughout the second half of the 2000s, representing in 2010 only 40% of all the brazilian fdi abroad. meanwhile the second period began, the share of europe increased to 42%, and it became the largest recipient of brazilian fdi abroad. the united states also increased its participation from 3% in 2001 to 9% in 2012 (bcb, 2014a). m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 78-101! mohamed amal & bruno thiago tomio 81 ! to understand the recent growth of brazilian ofdi and its dynamic, it is necessary to go back to the beginning of the 1990s, when most of the economic reforms were implemented, and patterns of international competitiveness in the country were established. the reforms also created the conditions in the domestic market necessary for the internationalization of brazilian firms. the general framework of the reforms was based on three fundamental tools: plano real, economic openness, and regional integration (cristini & amal, 2006). the first part of the program was the so-called “plano real”, which is now regarded as one of the most important and successful strategies in brazilian history for controlling inflation, reducing the degree of external vulnerability, and creating the economic and political conditions needed for long-term stability. the resulting macroeconomic changes in the country have created the conditions for a positive investment climate and, therefore, for the increased competitiveness of the brazilian economy. ! the second part of the plan was a systematic program to facilitate the liberalization of foreign trade and external financial flows. these changes provided new opportunities for economic growth but they also exposed the country to strong competition and new challenges. the third part of the reform and stabilization plan was related to the regional economic integration. the creation of the mercosur contributed significantly to the increase of trade among its members, and stimulated new investments from outside the regional bloc. during this period, brazil went on to establish a basis for the expansion of business investment projects of mncs. moreover, mercosur, which benefited companies through the elimination or reduction of tariff barriers, contributed to the international expansion of brazilian companies. this international expansion was not limited to export increase, but also manifested itself in a very gradual path through the establishment of sales and production subsidiaries. theoretical framework and hypotheses ! in the literature on ib and management several models have been provided to explain path and internationalization strategies. dunning (1988) combined different perspectives (buckley & casson, 1976; hymer, 1960) from the ib theories into one single framework, which was denoted as the eclectic paradigm. the principal hypothesis on which the eclectic paradigm of international production is predicated is that the level and structure of a firm’s foreign value-adding activities will depend on four conditions being satisfied. these are (dunning & lundan, 2008, pp. 99-100): ! (1) the extent to which it possesses unique and sustainable ownershipspecific (o) advantages vis-à-vis firms of other nationalities in the servicing of particular markets or groups of markets. ! (2) assuming that condition (1) is satisfied, the extent to which the enterprises perceive it to be in their interest to add to its o advantages rather than to sell them, or their right of use, to independent foreign firms. these advantages are called market internalization (i) advantages. ! (3) assuming that conditions (1) and (2) are satisfied, the extent to which the global interests of the enterprises are served by creating, accessing, or utilizing their o advantages in a foreign location. ! (4) given the configuration of the ownership, location, and internalization (oli) advantages facing a particular firm, the extent to which a firm believes that foreign production is consistent with the long-term objectives of the stakeholders and institutions which underpin its managerial and organizational strategy. ! it is important to mention that while the first, second, and fourth conditions are firm-specific determinants of fdi, the third is location-specific and has a crucial influence on a host country’s inflows of fdi. in this article, we will limit our discussion to the issue of location, expressed in terms of the cultural and institutional distances between the home and host countries of fdi. based on the different types of advantages, the conceptual framework allows the identification of four different types of fdi: resource-seeking, market-seeking, efficiencyseeking, and strategic-asset seeking (rugman & verbeke, 2002). emncs in the international business literature ! due to the growing academic and economic importance of mncs from developing countries, several authors have attempted to document the internationalization processes of such firms. results from these studies reveal that incremental behavior is also a feature from the internationalization of emerging markets’ mncs (emncs), and the psychic distance also affects the market selection process, even though it does not determine alone, for example, the fdi destination (li, 2003). ! regarding the extent to which a firm will depend on ownership, internalization, and location advantages to internationalize its activities, li (2003) and lee and slater (2007) suggest an adaptation for the specific case of emncs. this can be explained by the fact that these firms often end up developing ownership advantages over foreign markets, mostly in developed countries, due to better access to technology and knowledge. cuervo-cazurra (2007) classified the mncs from developing countries as those that seek to develop ownership advantages abroad and those that aim to explore abroad the advantages acquired in their domestic market. those firms that wish to develop new capabilities abroad should choose to establish a foreign subsidiary; either in developed economies, if they seek access to higher technology; or in developing economies, if they aim to obtain access to a country’s abundant resources. institutional distance and brazilian ofdi! m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 78-101 82 ! the literature on ib shows that foreign firms face different barriers that exist because of different levels of geographic distance, and psychological, cultural, and institutional differences between the country of origin and host countries of their investments (nachum, 2003; zaheer, 1995). these barriers are often called liability of foreignness (lof). to overcome the lof, measured as the cost of doing business abroad (zaheer, 1995) and their disadvantage as latecomers, some mncs can act as a springboard to address firm-specific disadvantages via international acquisitions of new assets. ! in the literature, the main differences in the internationalization patterns between developed and developing countries can be summarized as following: (i) emncs are based in countries with a low average income per capita and weak institutional infrastructure; (ii) emncs offer limited ownership advantages, such as technology, brand or other intangibles assets when developing international operations; (iii) they are latecomers (ramamurti & singh, 2009) and operate differently from mncs in the countries in which their investments are based; and iv) they used to invest in other developing countries, but also in developed countries (sirkin, hemerling, & bhattacharya, 2008), acquiring other companies as part of their internationalization strategy (gubbi, aulakh, ray, sarkar, & chittoor, 2010; unctad, 2006). ! due to the growing academic and economic importance of emncs, several authors have attempted to establish economic stability, institutional change, and culture as key factors that explain the fdi performance of emncs. in the present study, we build upon the existing literature by discussing the effects of institutional and cultural factors on the outward fdi from brazil. we use the concept of cd (kogut & singh, 1988) and the six-dimension framework of governance developed by kaufmann, kraay, and mastrazzi (2009) to test the effect of those factors and their interactions in the host countries on the ofdi from brazil. we investigate the effects of cultural and institutional distance in a comprehensive analysis, arguing that ofdi can be constrained by the distance from the host countries. however, with the macroeconomic literature in mind, we also discuss to what extent such effects can be moderated by the economic performance of host countries. effects of culture ! the uncertainty associated with conducting business across borders is largely represented by the cultural differences between diverse markets (doole & lowe, 2008). the psychic distance proposed by the uppsala model is commonly referred to as a factor that constrains the internationalization of firms and makes them more likely to enter in to markets that are closer culturally to their home market environments. authors have estimated the effects of culture on international businesses using different indicators. most of them are related either to the cd based on the hofstede dimensions (kogut & singh, 1988), or to geographical distance, which is a physical measure mostly used by economists to capture the determinants of foreign trade (angué & mayrhofer, 2010; ghemawat, 2001). ! different studies have pointed to a positive correlation between cd and fdi, as already mentioned by thomas and grosse (2001), which means that the higher the cd between the home and host countries, the more likely it is that mncs will enter into foreign markets through fdi. however, some other studies have questioned how relevant the influence of culture really is on fdi flows, owing to the fact that mncs are usually experienced international firms focusing on other advantages besides cultural proximity (andersson, 2004; li, 2003; pangarkar & lim, 2003). several empirical studies have found strong support for a negative correlation between outward fdi from emncs and the distance from the home market (cheng & ma, 2007; fung et al., 2009), and that outward fdi is m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 78-101! mohamed amal & bruno thiago tomio 83 positively correlated to cultural proximity between home and host country (like the chinese case; buckley et al., 2007). however, the relationship between fdi and cd is still controversial.! ! according to the aforementioned literature, it seems that the empirical studies are not conclusive about the effects of the cd on the ofdi, and even less so when regarding the case of emerging mncs. in the case of emerging mncs, owing to their more limited international experience and limited ownership advantages, we believe that the correlation between cd and fdi could be positive or negative. however, when one considers that distance may limit the competitiveness of firms, and that emncs are seeking to expand their valueadded activities abroad to create and enlarge their ownership advantages, we expect to see a positive correlation between ofdi and cd. therefore, we will test the following two sub-hypotheses: hypothesis 1.1 (h.1.1): the higher the cd between brazil and host country, the higher ofdi will be. ! ghemawat (2001) suggests that distance between two countries can manifest itself along the cultural, administrative, economic, and geographic dimensions. the geographic distance refers to the physical distance existing between the countries or geographic spaces in which the partners are operating (angué & mayrhofer, 2010). however, geographic distance is not simply a measurement of the distance between two countries in terms of miles or kilometers, but includes other attributes like the physical size of the country, average within-country distances to borders, access to waterways and the ocean, and topography. the geographic distance affects the costs of transportation and communications, so it is of particular importance to companies that deal with heavy or bulky products, or whose operations require a high degree of coordination among highly dispersed people or activities (ghemawat, 2001). considering that geographic distance can represent specific barriers to export, companies may opt for fdi as an entry mode strategy in foreign countries. therefore, we test the following sub-hypothesis: hypothesis 1.2 (h.1.2): the greater the geographical distance between brazil and host country, the higher ofdi will be. institutional determinants ! the institutional analysis has evolved significantly in the last two decades, particularly its applications in the ib field. hotho and pedersen (2012) have identified three dominant institutional approaches: new institutional economics, new organizational institutionalism, and comparative institutionalism. while organizational institutionalism mainly focuses on organizational forms and organizational practices (powell & dimaggio, 1991), new institutional economics (north, 1990) investigates the implications of the functioning or effectiveness of home and host country institutions, and comparative institutionalism highlights the implications of differences in the structure and organization of economies for multinational companies (hotho & pedersen, 2012, p. 237). ! since the main objective of the present study is to investigate the determinants of brazilian ofdi and particularly the effect of id, we limit our institutional analysis to a discussion of new economic institutionalism. this approach asserts that the nature of exchange processes and the resulting amount of friction are dependent on the institutional context in which they take place (hotho & pedersen, 2012, p. 240). this implies that the effectiveness or institutional distance and brazilian ofdi! m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 78-101 84 quality of the institutional framework has a direct bearing on the performance of countries and organizations. ! north (1990, p. 3) defines institutions as “the rules of the game in a society or, more formally, [are] the humanly devised constraints that shape human interaction”. the author distinguishes between formal institutions, such as rules that human beings devise, and informal constraints, such as conventions and codes of behavior. ! thus, institutional constraints represent the framework within which human interactions take place, and consist of formal written rules as well as unwritten codes of conduct that underlie and supplement formal rules (north, 1990, p. 4). formal rules can complement and increase the effectiveness of informal constraints. they may lower information, monitoring, and enforcement costs, and hence make informal constraints possible solutions to more complex exchanges. formal rules also may be enacted to modify, revise, or replace informal constraints. ! for north (1990), the institutions exist to minimize the uncertainties present in human actions for those who are subject to them. it means that under conditions of information asymmetry and limited computational ability, constraints reduce the cost of human interaction as compared to a world of no institutions. therefore, the id measures the formal and informal institutional constraints that shape the decisions mncs make in order to enter and create value in foreign markets. ! the burgeoning of institutional perspective in the 1990s and 2000s has contributed to the understanding not only of the different strategies that firms adopt when they go global, but also to the different performances that they register in different contexts (peng, wang, & jiang (2008). one of the most significant contributions in this field is the shift from focusing on cultural differences between countries to the broader concept of the id between the home and host countries (kostova, 1997; kostova & zaheer, 1999; xu & shenkar, 2002). according to hotho and pedersen (2012), the introduction of id as a measure that captures comparative institutional differences offers considerable promise in terms of enriching our understanding of how institutions affect international business. ! in the specific case of our study, we use the world governance indicators of the world bank (kaufmann et al., 2009) to measure id and to assess how much the difference between the quality of the institutional environment between the home and host countries affects ofdi from brazil. therefore, we conceptualize the institutions on a country-wide level, and we understand that institutions are constraints that may generate transaction costs and affect the internationalization of firms and organizations. in this case, we expect a negative effect to result from the institutional and cultural distances on the multinationality of firms. however, such a general prediction is constrained by the dimensions of the institutional environment in the home country. for firms from developing countries, distance may play a different role in their internationalization. ! the relevance of institutions in the ib literature began to be noticed when the theorists perceived that economic conditions alone could not fully explain the competitiveness of a nation’s industry (amal, raboch, & tomio, 2009). peng et al. (2008) consider the institutions as the third leg in the competitive tripod, in the way that a firm’s level of competitiveness is not only a matter of resources possessed and industry-specific characteristics, but is also linked to the institutional scenario in its home market, which has an influence over local business practices. the institution’s role is related to its ability to improve the markets’ structure and efficiency by lessening transaction and information costs and uncertainty and instability levels (mudambi & navarra, 2002; north, 1990). bevan, estrin, and meyer (2004) understand that both informal institutions and government arrangements should affect corporate strategies. m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 78-101! mohamed amal & bruno thiago tomio 85 ! nevertheless, it is important to underline that the role of institutions also has a counter position in the literature; authors like witt and lewin (2007) understand that poor institutions may drive local firms to international markets in order to overcome the limitations of their domestic barriers. such behavior can be described as institutional escapism (luo et al., 2009). the authors also accept that both approaches co-exist, and that their effects vary between firms and industries. while recent studies have indeed found some divergent results, the institutions mostly have a positive effect on the internationalization of firms from developed countries; but in the case of developing economies, studies have found correlations in the opposite direction (buckley et al., 2007; kolstad & wiig, 2012). ! in the context of our study, we argue that countries with a high and strong quality of governance may positively affect fdi flows, particularly those fdis from countries with weak-institutional performance. according to cuervo-cazurra and genc (2008), poor governance makes domestic markets inefficient for business activities, due to the instability of the institutional environment. ! in the case of ofdi from brazil, which is a country with relatively weak institutional performance, we expect to see a positive relationship between the governance quality of the host country and ofdi. ! based on the literature review above, we will test the second hypothesis that considers the effect of institutional quality and governance in the host country on the brazilian ofdi: hypothesis 2 (h.2): strong institutional host country governance has a positive effect on ofdi from brazil. therefore, the higher the id between brazil and the host country, the higher ofdi is. ! to capture the interaction between institutions and cd, we will test to what extent there are complementary or substitutive relationships in terms of their effects on ofdi. a complementary effect means that a higher cd may have a positive effect on ofdi if id is high. a substitutive effect will point to a diverse effect on a country’s culture and institutions. due to the limited expansion of ofdi from brazil, we will consider that their relationship is more complementary than substitutive. hypothesis 3 (h.3): the positive impact of cd on ofdi from brazil is stronger when id is high. the moderating effect of economic performance ! the effects of the economic performance of the host country have been significantly discussed in the literature of fdi determinants (buckley, 2010; voss, 2011). to report on these effects, authors have used different proxies and indicators. most of the indicators are related to the size and growth of the economy (gdp and gdp per capita), the macroeconomic stability (inflation rate), and trade openness (trade flows between the home and host countries, and also the exchange rate). gdp is often cited as an indicator of the size and growth potential of a country. several authors have found a significant positive impact of gdp over the outward fdi (amal et al., 2009; frenkel, funke, & stadtmann, 2004; kyrkilis & pantelidis, 2003, 2005). ! other authors have also tested the effect of a host country’s gdp on ofdi from developing countries. cheng and ma (2007) pointed out the positive impact of the host country’s gdp on the chinese fdi. subramanian, sachdeva, and morris (2010) studied fdi outflows from india. they found that acquisitions have been the predominant mode of entry for indian firms investing abroad, and that seeking new markets has been the primary target of investors. fung et al. (2009), institutional distance and brazilian ofdi! m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 78-101 86 comparing the case of fdi from china to other asian mncs, show that the economic performance of the host county was statistically significant. different empirical studies, using different econometric models, suggest a positive correlation between gdp and fdi, which suggests the predominance of the market-seeking strategy by mncs from developing economies. ! however, other empirical studies come to different conclusions, stating that the gdp’s effects are either positive but not significant (bae & hwang, 1997; faria & mauro, 2009) or negative (thomas & grosse, 2001). according to faria and mauro (2009), the gdp per capita was more significant than the total gdp. thus the authors regard the per capita income as a better proxy for a nation’s aggregated ownership advantages level due to the reflex of demand structures of the market, since a higher personal income represents higher levels of demand from consumers, which lead firms to offer improved products and services. ! other macroeconomic variables, such as inflation and interest rates, are relevant indicators of the economic stability of countries. high levels for such indexes hinder the appeal of investing in a country (thomas & grosse, 2001), as higher interest rates can reflect a tendency towards higher inflation and, therefore, a higher climate of macroeconomic instability, which indicates a negative business climate. ! the trade flows of a nation can be directly related to the local exchange rate as both of them have similar effects on the outward fdi. according to the uppsala internationalization model (johanson & vahlne, 1977), the higher the trade flows between two countries, the more likely firms are, through a process of learning and knowledge accumulation, to increase their involvements through fdi. this implies a positive impact of the economic openness of a country over inward fdi. however, authors also suggest that in situations where trade and ofdi are negatively correlated, fdi is more likely to replace trade, pointing to substitutive relationships (lim & moon, 2001). in this article, we expect to see a positive correlation between trade and ofdi, pointing to a strategy of efficiencyseeking and resource-seeking fdi projects, in which fdi creates an intra-firm trade, mostly between raw materials, capital goods, and finished products manufactured under more competitive costs. however, a negative relationship between trade and fdi means that the mnc is more engaged in market-seeking projects, since the fdi replaces currently existing exports (amal & raboch, 2010; seo & suh, 2006; swenson, 2004). ! the impact of the exchange rates also presents a conflicting result in the literature regarding their effects on fdi. in this case, firms can be more or less likely to offer fdi depending on how the exchange rates affect their goals. chen, rau, and lin (2006) argue that firms performing efficiency-seeking projects might wish to invest more abroad in the case of a valued domestic currency in order to reduce production costs. on the other hand, firms willing to conduct marketseeking projects may rather invest overseas when the domestic currency is unvalued, since foreign markets might offer higher profits. thus, it is reasonable to accept that the relationship between outward fdi, economic openness and the exchange rate is dependent upon the fdi’s nature. ! based on the literature cited above, we define the economic performance of a country as the performance of gdp, gdp per capita, trade openness, and real exchange rate variation. we therefore hypothesize: hypothesis 4 (h.4): brazilian ofdi is positively correlated to the economic performance of the host country, expressed in terms of gdp, gdp per capita, trade openness, and exchange rate variation. the higher the economic performance of the host country, the higher fdi flows to that country will be, suggesting that brazilian mncs show a market-seeking strategy. m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 78-101! mohamed amal & bruno thiago tomio 87 ! in the present article, we suppose that host country’s economic performance exerts a moderating effect on ofdi. this implies that the effects of id between the home and host countries are constrained by the size and income level of the host country, and also by the level of trade relationships between the home and host countries. on the other hand, a high cd will exert a negative effect on ofdi, no matter the size of the host country. we therefore suggest the following hypothesis: hypothesis 5 (h.5): the positive impact of id on ofdi from brazil is stronger when the economic performance of the host country is high. empirical model specification and estimates ! based on the literature review above, the outward fdi from brazil depends on the economic performance of the host country, the cultural and geographical distances between the home and host countries, and the institutional environment in the host country, according to equation 1: (1) ! where “c” is the constant and “ε” is the residual error of the equation. the “d” in the dependent variable denotes that the variable is in first differences (see table 4). to add non-linear characteristics on the estimations, every variable is in its logarithmic form (denoted by the letter “l”). all variables are represented by “i”, the host country, and “t”, the time (period). table 1 presents the main variables, with the hypothetical signs and the sources of the collected data. variables dependent variable ! the dependent variable is expressed by the stock of outward fdi from brazil to the host country (for more details on this, see bcb [2014a]). data by the central bank of brazil is only available as inward stocks data by host countries. we constructed our database using two sources. the first source is the record of ofdi in the period from 2001 to 2006 (bcb, 2014b), and the second source records the ofdi from 2007 to 2013 (bcb, 2014c). ! the data is composed of brazilian annual ofdi ranging from 2002 to 2012. our sample is represented by 28 countries in a balanced panel. we excluded the tax haven countries, for which we expect that brazilian mncs are not generating value-added activities (beugelsdijk, hennart, slangen, & smeets, 2010). the 28 countries for which we could gather all the data needed to estimate the model are mainly located in latin america, the european union, north america, and china, representing 70% of the main destinations of brazilian ofdi. ! several authors have used inward stocks of fdi to record value-adding activities of mne affiliates in the host countries (dunning & lundan, 2008; dunning, fujita, & yokova, 2007). however, according to beugelsdijk et al. (2010), such measurements may bias the fdi stocks as a measure of total mnc affiliate activity for many reasons. first, since fdi stocks and flows only capture institutional distance and brazilian ofdi! m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 78-101 88 the net financial capital flows (known as the balance of payment concept), they do not include all the funds that mnes raise from host countries with large stock and bond markets. on the other hand, not all fdi stocks in the host countries are used to generate affiliate added value in those countries (such as the case of tax havens). ! despite the restrictions and relative limitations of the concept of fdi stock as a measure, it still captures the capital flows between the home and host countries. on the other hand, since our analysis is based on country-level data, the measurement will capture the relative level of involvement of mnes in the host countries. independent variables cultural distance. the cd is measured by the index of kogut and singh (1988) based on differences in scores for each of the six hofstede's (1980) cultural dimensions (power distance [pdi], individualism versus collectivism [idv], masculinity versus femininity [mas], uncertainty avoidance [uai], long-term orientation [lto], indulgence versus restraint [ind]) between the country of origin of fdi and the host country of fdi, according to the following equation:   (2) ! where i is the index for one of the six dimensions (i) for the host country (j) and (u) for the home country, which is brazil in this case. the variable v stands for the variance of each dimension of the index. thus, cd shows the cultural difference or distance between brazil and the host country of brazilian fdi. the higher the score is, the higher the cultural differences between the two countries. ! this index is calculated by subtracting brazil’s scores in each of the six dimensions from the scores of the recipient country of fdi. the square of the resulting difference is then divided by the variance of the scores for each dimension. the resulting values of the differences for each dimension are added together and then divided by six. the scores were taken from hofstede’s website (www.geert-hofstede.com). however, the cultural effect can also be measured by the geographical distance, which is measured using the great circle distance between the capital of brazil and the capitals of the host countries of brazilian ofdi. institutional distance. the effect of the institutional framework was calculated using the governance indicators made available annually by the world bank (www.databank.worldbank.org). the indicators are based on the research by kaufmann et al. (2009), which covered 212 countries and territories and measured six dimensions of governance: voice and accountability (va), regulatory quality (rg), rule of law (rl), political stability of violence/ terrorism (os), government effectiveness (ge), and control of corruption (cc). the authors attributed a score of between -2.5and +2.5 to each dimension, with higher scores indicating higher levels of the quality of governance. ! similar to the formula proposed by kogut and singh (1988, p. 422), we hypothesize that the more institutionally distant the host country is from brazil, the more likely it is that brazilian mncs will perform ofdi. using kaufmann et al.’s (2009) dimensions of governance, a composite index was formed according to the deviation of each of the six governance dimensions mentioned above of each host country from the governance dimensions of brazil. the deviations were corrected for the differences in the variances of each dimension and then arithmetically averaged. thus, in algebraic form, like kogut and singh (1988), we propose the following index to test the effect of id on ofdi from brazil: m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 78-101! mohamed amal & bruno thiago tomio 89 http://geert-hofstede.com/dimensions.html http://geert-hofstede.com/dimensions.html http://geert-hofstede.com/dimensions.html http://geert-hofstede.com/dimensions.html http://geert-hofstede.com/dimensions.html http://geert-hofstede.com/dimensions.html http://www.geert-hofstede.com http://www.geert-hofstede.com http://www.databank.worldbank.org http://www.databank.worldbank.org (3) where wgiij, stands for the ithdimensions and jth country, vi is the variance of the index of the ith dimensions, u indicates the home country of ofdi (brazil), and idj is the measurement of id of jth (host country) from brazil.! moderating variables. ! * gdp: gross domestic product refers to the nominal gdp of the host country of brazilian ofdi and expresses the market size of the host country. ! * gdppc: gdp per capita refers to the gdp per capita in the host country of brazilian ofdi and is used to assess productivity in the host country. ! * trade flows express the bilateral trade between brazil and the host country of brazilian fdi. ! * exchange rate refers to the real exchange rate variation between brazilian currency and the us dollar. this variable was calculated using the consumer price index (cpij) and the nominal exchange rate (nerj) of the host country (j), and the consumer price index of the united states (cpius). the real exchange rate equation for the host country is rerj = nerj x (cpius / cpij): data from the brazilian central bank (www.bcb.gov.br). ! * to assess the moderating effects of economic variables, we calculated id with gdp and bilateral trade flows. ! table 1 reports together the variables, hypotheses, expected signs for the coefficients, and respective source of the variables. table 1. variables, hypothetical signs, and sourcestable 1. variables, hypothetical signs, and sourcestable 1. variables, hypothetical signs, and sourcestable 1. variables, hypothetical signs, and sources variables hypotheses hypothetical signs sources outward flows of foreign direct investment (ofdi) dependent variable brazilian central bankbcb hypothesis h.1 culture effects cultural distance (cd)1 h.1.1 +/hofstede website geographical distance (gd)2 h.1.2 +/globefeed hypothesis h.2 institutional effects institutional distance (id) h.2: id effect + world bank hypothesis h.4 economic performance effects nominal gdp (gdp) h 4.1 + world bank gdp per capita (gdppc) h.4.2 + world bank trade flows (trd) h.4.3 +/world bank real exchange rate (rer) h.4.4 +/world bank hypothesis h. 3 interaction id * cd h.3 complementary or substitutive effects +/hypothesis h. 5 interaction id*gdp h.5 + id*trd h.5 + 1. data for cultural dimensions was obtained from www.geert-hofstede.com/hofstede_dimensions.php 2. distance between brazil (home country of fdi) and the main city (capital or capital’s main airport) of the host countries (http://distancecalculator.globefeed.com/). 1. data for cultural dimensions was obtained from www.geert-hofstede.com/hofstede_dimensions.php 2. distance between brazil (home country of fdi) and the main city (capital or capital’s main airport) of the host countries (http://distancecalculator.globefeed.com/). 1. data for cultural dimensions was obtained from www.geert-hofstede.com/hofstede_dimensions.php 2. distance between brazil (home country of fdi) and the main city (capital or capital’s main airport) of the host countries (http://distancecalculator.globefeed.com/). 1. data for cultural dimensions was obtained from www.geert-hofstede.com/hofstede_dimensions.php 2. distance between brazil (home country of fdi) and the main city (capital or capital’s main airport) of the host countries (http://distancecalculator.globefeed.com/). institutional distance and brazilian ofdi! m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 78-101 90 http://www.geert-hofstede.com/hofstede_dimensions.php http://www.geert-hofstede.com/hofstede_dimensions.php http://distancecalculator.globefeed.com http://distancecalculator.globefeed.com http://www.bcb.gov.br http://www.bcb.gov.br table 2. correlation matrix and descriptive statisticstable 2. correlation matrix and descriptive statisticstable 2. correlation matrix and descriptive statisticstable 2. correlation matrix and descriptive statisticstable 2. correlation matrix and descriptive statisticstable 2. correlation matrix and descriptive statisticstable 2. correlation matrix and descriptive statisticstable 2. correlation matrix and descriptive statisticstable 2. correlation matrix and descriptive statisticstable 2. correlation matrix and descriptive statisticstable 2. correlation matrix and descriptive statistics variables 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1. lcd 1 2. lgd 0.68*** 1 3. lid 0.41*** 0.49*** 1 4. lgdp 0.48*** 0.74*** 0.36*** 1 5. lgdppc 0.40 0.64*** 0.59*** 0.65*** 1 6. ltrd 0.04 0.13** -0.11** 0.64*** 0.13** 1 7. lrer 0.00*** 0.00 -0.02 -0.19*** -0.21*** -0.34*** 1 8. lidxlcd 0.20*** -0.34*** -0.22*** -0.20*** -0.20*** 0.11* -0.02 1 9. lidxlgdp 0.40*** 0.48*** 1.00*** 0.35*** 0.58*** -0.11* -0.01 -0.20*** 1 10. lidxltrd 0.41*** 0.49*** 1.00*** 0.36*** 0.58*** -0.09 -0.02 -0.23*** 1.00*** 1 mean -0.13 8.69 0.04 26.32 9.59 21.84 4.59 0.28 1.66 0.75 median 0.08 8.90 0.28 26.51 10.09 21.99 4.51 0.14 7.35 6.15 std. dev. 0.75 0.62 0.93 1.74 1.27 1.41 0.21 0.60 24.54 20.43 observations 308 308 308 308 308 308 308 308 308 308 * significant at 10%. ** significant at 5%. *** significant at 1%.* significant at 10%. ** significant at 5%. *** significant at 1%.* significant at 10%. ** significant at 5%. *** significant at 1%.* significant at 10%. ** significant at 5%. *** significant at 1%.* significant at 10%. ** significant at 5%. *** significant at 1%.* significant at 10%. ** significant at 5%. *** significant at 1%.* significant at 10%. ** significant at 5%. *** significant at 1%.* significant at 10%. ** significant at 5%. *** significant at 1%.* significant at 10%. ** significant at 5%. *** significant at 1%.* significant at 10%. ** significant at 5%. *** significant at 1%.* significant at 10%. ** significant at 5%. *** significant at 1%. ! based on country data, we estimated a panel model for brazil. according to raj and baltagi (1992), the panel data technique is used when observations in cross sections and time series are taken into account simultaneously. the advantage of the method, according to baltagi (1992), is that it allows a level of specification that helps to identify an economic model that may offer tighter control over individual heterogeneity. on the other hand, in reducing the effects of multicollinearity among the independent variables, the panel technique increases the efficacy of the estimations. table 2 shows the correlation matrix for the dataset we used and the descriptive statistics. ! ! the table of the correlation matrix shows a low level of correlation between the variables. only the interaction variables present high correlations. in the estimated panel model, we isolated the variables in order to account for multicollinearity effects. it is worth noting, as pointed out by hsiao (2003, p. 311), that one of the main benefits of panel data is that it attenuates the problem of multicollinearity by increasing the degrees of freedom, which is possible because the panel technique augments the dataset by combining several cross-section units and periods (time series). moreover, the addition of a logarithm has also helped, because it seems that the strong interrelations of the variables were related to linear relations, which are eliminated by incorporating the nonlinear m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 78-101! mohamed amal & bruno thiago tomio 91 operations. this means that better data and a bigger dataset is one of the ways of eliminating multicollinearity, as noted by baltagi (2011, p. 76). ! before discussing the results of the model’s estimation, some preliminary issues have to be addressed. first, panel unit root tests were computed to check whether the variables are stationary in level or not. the results of these tests are shown in table 3. table 3. panel unit root teststable 3. panel unit root teststable 3. panel unit root teststable 3. panel unit root teststable 3. panel unit root teststable 3. panel unit root teststable 3. panel unit root teststable 3. panel unit root teststable 3. panel unit root tests tests levin, lin & chulevin, lin & chu im, pesaran and shinim, pesaran and shin adf fisher chi-squareadf fisher chi-square pp fisher chi-squarepp fisher chi-square variables level first diff. level first diff. level first diff. level first diff. lofdi 0.89 -15.45*** 3.50 -10.81*** 31.55 212.00*** 49.33 271.00*** lid -6.27*** -11.90*** -2.50*** -6.04*** 82.61*** 137.28*** 69.21*** 142.82*** lgdp -6.58*** -13.48*** -1.65** -6.39*** 80.51** 143.79*** 215.72*** 177.82*** lgdppc -6.29*** -11.72*** -1.51* -5.99*** 88.20*** 136.19*** 217.33*** 187.14*** ltrd -3.71*** -14.56*** 1.546 -8.71*** 26.07 188.26*** 26.84 259.97*** lrer -5.54*** -2.99*** 0.90 -2.76*** 36.58 80.19** 73.15 69.34 lidxlcd -6.27*** -11.90*** -2.50*** -6.04*** 82.61*** 137.28*** 69.21*** 142.82*** lidxlgdp -6.59*** -11.85*** -2.92*** -5.98*** 87.50*** 136.35*** 70.80* 141.68*** lidxltrd -6.86*** -11.66*** -3.13*** -6.01*** 90.92*** 136.72*** 72.39* 139.22*** * significant at 10%. ** significant at 5%. *** significant at 1%. for the variables lcd and lgd, it was not possible to calculate the panel unit root tests due to their time invariance characteristic. * significant at 10%. ** significant at 5%. *** significant at 1%. for the variables lcd and lgd, it was not possible to calculate the panel unit root tests due to their time invariance characteristic. * significant at 10%. ** significant at 5%. *** significant at 1%. for the variables lcd and lgd, it was not possible to calculate the panel unit root tests due to their time invariance characteristic. * significant at 10%. ** significant at 5%. *** significant at 1%. for the variables lcd and lgd, it was not possible to calculate the panel unit root tests due to their time invariance characteristic. * significant at 10%. ** significant at 5%. *** significant at 1%. for the variables lcd and lgd, it was not possible to calculate the panel unit root tests due to their time invariance characteristic. * significant at 10%. ** significant at 5%. *** significant at 1%. for the variables lcd and lgd, it was not possible to calculate the panel unit root tests due to their time invariance characteristic. * significant at 10%. ** significant at 5%. *** significant at 1%. for the variables lcd and lgd, it was not possible to calculate the panel unit root tests due to their time invariance characteristic. * significant at 10%. ** significant at 5%. *** significant at 1%. for the variables lcd and lgd, it was not possible to calculate the panel unit root tests due to their time invariance characteristic. * significant at 10%. ** significant at 5%. *** significant at 1%. for the variables lcd and lgd, it was not possible to calculate the panel unit root tests due to their time invariance characteristic. ! thus, only one variable is non-stationary in level, i.e. lofdi. the panel was estimated through a two-way random-effects model based on the outcomes of the hausman test (see table 3). this indicates that the null hypothesis of consistent estimators for the random-effects model cannot be rejected. in addition, the estimation also opted for corrections regarding heteroskedasticity and autocorrelation using the white period correction, which is used for datasets with a large number of cross-sections. ! on the other hand, we adopted a step-wise technique to run five models to test the above-discussed hypotheses. the first model tests only the cultural and geographical variables. the second and third models will test, respectively, the effects of id and its interaction with cd. the fourth and fifth models will test, respectively, the effects of the interactions, respectively between id and gdp, and id and trade. we will include the economic performance variables as moderators in all five models. table 4 reports the model estimations. institutional distance and brazilian ofdi! m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 78-101 92 table 4. model estimationstable 4. model estimationstable 4. model estimationstable 4. model estimationstable 4. model estimationstable 4. model estimations regression model i model ii model iii model iv model v constant 0.8673 0.2808 0.3473 0.2759 0.2777 lcd 0.0546 lgd -0.1519* lid 0.0557** 0.0591*** lgdp 0.0911** 0.0397 0.0607** 0.0409* 0.0413* lgdppc -0.0033 -0.0234 -0.0316 -0.0226 -0.0206 ltrd -0.0885** -0.0501* -0.0714*** -0.0514* -0.0529* lrer 0.0621 0.0517 0.0292 0.0507 0.0512 interactions lidxlcd 0.1023** lidxlgdp 0.0020** lidxltrd 0.0022** r² 0.0122 0.0115 0.0138 0.0113 0.0109 dw 2.3901 2.3888 2.4040 2.3884 2.3877 hausman test (cross-section and period random) 3.8242 (0.2811) 6.4341 (0.1690) 8.9117 (0.1126) 6.4105 (0.1705) 6.0938 (0.1922) * significant at 10%. ** significant at 5%. *** significant at 1%. for the hausman test, p-value is between brackets. * significant at 10%. ** significant at 5%. *** significant at 1%. for the hausman test, p-value is between brackets. * significant at 10%. ** significant at 5%. *** significant at 1%. for the hausman test, p-value is between brackets. * significant at 10%. ** significant at 5%. *** significant at 1%. for the hausman test, p-value is between brackets. * significant at 10%. ** significant at 5%. *** significant at 1%. for the hausman test, p-value is between brackets. * significant at 10%. ** significant at 5%. *** significant at 1%. for the hausman test, p-value is between brackets. ! the overall results of the estimated models show the relatively stable behavior of the variables. although the values of the coefficient of determination r2 are relatively low (but closer in all model alternatives) it seems that models iii and iv that include id, interaction between institutional and cultural distance, and the interaction of id with the gdp have the best predictive power. this assessment is based on the analysis of the coefficient of determination r2, which registered a value of 0.0138 and 0.0113, with the values of the f-statistics indicating 8.9 and 6.41 respectively, the highest among all other alternatives of model regressions. ! according to the results of model i, it seems that brazilian ofdi is positively correlated to the size of the host country as measured by the gdp, and is statistically significant at 5%. the higher the gdp of the host country is, the higher the flows of brazilian fdi to that country are. bilateral trade between brazil and its host countries has been found to be negatively correlated and is statistically significant at 5%, pointing to a more substitutive relationship with fdi. the results suggest that the investments of brazilian mncs are more concentrated in larger economies, and that, due to the negative coefficient of bilateral trade, the results indicate a substitutive relationship between trade and ofdi. this suggests that in situations where there are some trade barriers, brazilian firms will be quick to follow a strategy of fdi to enter into those markets. the results give some support for the market-seeking hypothesis, suggesting that the investments of brazilian mncs are probably intended to meet a growing demand in the host markets. exchange rate and gdp per capita were not found to be statistically significant. m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 78-101! mohamed amal & bruno thiago tomio 93 ! the model estimation has also shown that geographical distance was statistically significant at 1% and presented opposite patterns of correlation to the brazilian ofdi. thus, according to the results of model i, it seems that brazilian ofdi are more likely to perform well in geographically closer markets, which means that the closer the host country is geographically, the more likely brazilian mncs will be to enter into those markets through fdi. cd was not found to be statistically significant. ! the results point to two possible implications. the first is that when the geographical distance is shorter, the more likely brazilian mncs will be to invest in sales and/or production subsidiaries. a shorter geographical distance suggests relatively closer cultural behavior, which will make it easier to overcome the liability of foreignness. in this case, we expect that brazilian mncs may have the knowledge and experience to assume more risks and to commit resources in order to develop a market-seeking strategy. the second implication is that when the distance between the home and host countries is shorter, the higher ofdi to that country will be. this result suggests a regional involvement of mncs that can be influenced by the advantages related to geographic proximity. thus, the results confirm hypothesis 1.2, suggesting that brazilian ofdi is positively correlated to geographical proximity. however, we could find no evidence of the effect of cultural proximity (no support for hypothesis 1.1). on the other hand, the size of the host economy has been found to be positively correlated with ofdi, pointing to a more market-seeking strategy of brazilian mncs, and that bilateral trade and ofdi are substitutive strategies. ! model ii presents a positive correlation between ofdi and id. this relationship was found to be statistically significant at 5%. this result suggests that the international involvement of brazilian mncs is more likely to occur in countries that show an improved institutional environment in terms of business climate, political stability, existing rules or laws, and government effectiveness. a socially and politically stable country which demonstrates transparency and clear rules will also reduce the risks related to cross-border added-value transactions, and will therefore reduce the impact of the lof. it means that a positive institutional environment positively affects the investment strategies of mncs from brazil, since tighter regulation leads firms to reduce uncertainty and transaction costs, making them more competitive in foreign markets. the results of model ii support hypothesis h.2. ! in model iii we tested the effect of the interaction between cd and id on ofdi. the model estimate has shown a positive correlation, and was statistically significant at 5%. the model also presents a positive correlation between id and ofdi. these results point to an important implication. brazilian ofdi is positively correlated to id: the higher id is, the higher ofdi will be. however, brazilian firms are more likely to invest in culturally distant countries when the institutional environment in those countries offers a better level of performance than in the home country. thus, we found positive support for hypothesis 3 about the impact of interaction between id and cd. ! model iv presents a positive and statistically significant (5%) correlation between ofdi and the interaction between the id and gdp of the host country. model v also shows a positive and statistically significant (5%) correlation between ofdi and the interaction between id and bilateral trade. the results suggest that the positive effect of id on ofdi is constrained by the economic size (gdp) of the host country, and by the importance of bilateral trade between the home and host countries. this result gives support for hypothesis h.5, which considers the moderating effect of the economic performance of the host country on ofdi. institutional distance and brazilian ofdi! m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 78-101 94 discussion and final remarks ! the internationalization of brazilian mncs is to a large extent related to the market and institutional reforms that have shaped the country since the beginning of the 1990s. those reforms and institutional changes positively affected the investment climate in the country by attracting mncs from the usa and europe to take part in specific projects in the infrastructure and communications (privatization), and in developing new greenfield projects in order to meet the needs of a growing domestic market. the implication of these changes and the engagement of mncs in brazil during the 1990s have also stimulated the domestic firms to engage in the foreign markets. according to the investment development path, the development level of a country encourages fdi inflows and stimulates specific ownership advantages for local firms over time. this mechanism can speed up the internationalization process while fostering the development of corporate skills and competencies for managing plants in a variety of markets. ! the home market factors can be seen as key drivers of the international expansion, largely explaining the pattern of the internationalization of brazilian firms. these home market factors have shaped the form and intensity of how emncs approach foreign markets, and their own performances in the host countries. thus, studying the case of brazilian ofdi represents an important step in understanding the development of mncs from emerging countries, and the extent to which it may present differences to the mainstream theories of ib. ! in this paper, we have attempted to address the determinants of brazilian ofdi from the perspective of the host countries in order to assess their economic potential. however, we also wanted to establish the impact of cultural and institutional distances on ofdi. this represents an important contribution in understanding the dynamic of mncs from emerging countries. ! our empirical analysis reveals that the economic performance of the host country is a significant factor to be considered in the internationalization strategy of emncs. the economic performance of the host country is connected not only to the size and growth of the economy, but more specifically to its trade openness, suggesting that mncs are quicker to develop substitutive strategies of entering into foreign markets. on the other hand, the estimation of the model, different from previous empirical studies (buckley et al., 2007; cheng & ma, 2007; fung et al., 2009), has shown that cultural proximity does not affect the internationalization of brazilian mncs. but there is a negative correlation between geographical distance and ofdi, suggesting that brazilian ofdi flows more easily between countries which are closer geographically, pointing to a more regionally oriented internationalization. ! however, unlike previous studies (buckley et al., 2007; kolstad & wiig, 2012), we found a positive correlation between the institutional environment in the host countries and brazilian ofdi. this suggests a different pattern of investment by brazilian mncs compared to asian mncs, since it has been established that chinese ofdi are more attracted to countries with poor institutions, and that the limitations of these institutions is moderated by the endowment of natural resources in the host country (aleksynska & havrylchyk, 2013), or by the support of the government in selecting the location (lu et al., 2014). ! according to the assumption of hymer (1960), firms will invest abroad because of their ability to compete in other markets, due to the fact that they have specific ownership advantages (dunning, 1988) which allow them to enter into new markets through fdi instead of developing their value-added activities through export transactions. in zaheer’s (1995) approach, firms will be able to overcome the transaction costs related to foreign market entry and therefore they m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 78-101! mohamed amal & bruno thiago tomio 95 will overcome the lof because of the specific assets they have developed to sustain their global competitiveness. this is a fundamental assumption of mnc theory in the ib literature. it seems, according to the results of our panel model, that brazilian ofdi is also positively correlated to the cd, but it was not found to be statistically significant. the higher the cd between brazil and the host country, the higher ofdi is to that country. in this way, mncs from brazil follow the same behavior as mncs from developed countries. it means, however, that brazilian mncs hold specific ownership advantages to overcome the lof, even though the restrictions and limitations of competitiveness are related to the home market’s constraints. this is an important finding that may suggest that despite the differences in the level of development in the countries from which the ofdi originates, firms in these different countries are all quick to show the same inclination towards international involvement. ! in our model, we also tested the effect of id on ofdi. in the ib literature, a weak institutional environment represents a high level of market imperfection, macroeconomic and political instabilities, and therefore, a high risk for investment, and for fdi in particular. since the end of the 1980s, most countries from eastern europe as well as other developing countries have set up important economic and political reforms, and have adopted specific measures that create an open climate for foreign firms. the economic reforms and political stability in the developing countries stimulated significant fdi inflows, and could contribute to the economic growth and development in those countries. in the fdi literature, several authors have pointed to a positive correlation between market reforms, improved institutional environments, and inward fdi (mudambi & navarra, 2002). however, the relationship between institutions and fdi is still controversial. authors have suggested assessing this relationship using id indicators (kostova, 1997). the idea to focus on the distance has contributed to shifting the discussion from macro-level analysis to firm-level analysis. it means that authors have focused much more on how mncs cope with the id, and less on their effects on fdi projects. the growing flows of fdi from developing countries have been an important milestone in the world fdi patterns in the 2000s. several studies (cuervocazurra, 2007; ramamurti & singh, 2009) have pointed out the differences between mncs from developed and developing countries due to the differences in the home countries’ conditions of competitiveness (cuervo-cazurra, 2012; hennart, 2012; narula, 2012). the results of the studies have suggested that the effects of institutional environment in the host country are controversial, and that there are differences among developing countries as well as in developed ones. chinese ofdi (amal & raboch, 2010; kolstad & wiig, 2012) has shown a negative correlation with its institutional environment. the weaker the institutional environment in the host country, the higher ofdi is, suggesting that mncs from developing countries are able to cope with unstable institutions due to the knowledge they have accumulated in their home countries about how to deal with factors such as corruption, political instability and accountability. ! moreover, the model points to a positive correlation between ofdi and id (we used a composite index to record the relationship). it means that the higher the id between brazil and the host country, the higher ofdi is to that country. considering that brazil has a low institutional performance, according to the governance indicators of the world bank, a higher id means that the host country performs better in terms of governance indicators, and therefore, that the investment climate is more favorable than in the home country. the empirical finding shows that mncs from brazil are quicker to invest in countries that offer better institutional environments. however, it seems that such relations between id and ofdi are restrained by the economic performance of the host country and by the importance of bilateral trade. this may suggest three important conclusions. institutional distance and brazilian ofdi! m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 78-101 96 ! first, that the fdi strategy of brazilian mncs is a more market-seeking strategy. second, that ofdi in an institutionally distant country may be constrained by the flows of trade between the two countries, pointing to a relatively gradual process of commitment of brazilian mncs as a way to cope with id. finally, in the ib literature, very few attempts have been made to assess the interaction between cultural and institutional distances. some authors (xu & shenkar, 2002) consider that id is a much broader concept, and is therefore much more efficient at reflecting the differences among countries than the concept of cd. scott (2001) considers cd as one of the three pillars of institutions (cognitive-cultural pillar). in our panel model, we create a variable (cdxid) to assess the interaction between them. the model estimation has pointed to a positive correlation between ofdi and cdxid. this finding suggests that mncs from brazil are quicker to invest in culturally distant countries that present better institutional performances than brazil, which suggests that there is a complementary relationship between the two variables (culture and institutions). managerial implications ! what are the main lessons that we draw from the case of brazil in terms of understanding the internationalization patterns of emerging mncs? the estimation of the models has shown that ofdi is highly correlated to the economic performance of the host countries, suggesting a more market-seeking strategy, unlike the results of some empirical studies about asian mncs, which have pointed to more efficiency and resource-seeking strategies. in this case, we suggest that the fdi strategy of brazilian mncs is less oriented to create capabilities and ownership advantages in the host markets and is more focused on opportunities of growth. the other characteristic of the brazilian mncs suggested by the results of the panel model is that institutions do matter. this finding suggests that brazilian mncs, due to their limited global experiences and knowledge about foreign markets, prefer to invest in distant countries with a positive institutional environment. this feature of brazilian mncs is not in line with the findings relating to asian mncs. ! such results point to some differences in the international involvement behavior of brazilian mncs. first, like mncs from developed countries, they do enter into foreign markets through fdi in culturally distant countries. this pattern of international commitment suggests that they also hold specific ownership advantages that enable them to overcome the lof. however, our results suggest that such behavior is more likely to occur when culturally distant host countries present a better institutional environment than the home country. in other cases, distance does matter, and brazilian mncs will be more ready to invest in geographically closer countries (like latin american countries). this finding is in line with the general assumption that location constrains the ownership assets of mncs from developing countries, and therefore limits the international competitiveness and expansion of brazilian firms. on the other hand, brazilian mncs are quick to invest in distant countries when the institutional environment in the host countries is better than in brazil. a better institutional environment will reduce the cost of transactions, and therefore will create better conditions for firms from developing countries to learn about the foreign markets, and to develop or enlarge their ownership advantages through different entry modes. ! the results of the estimation model present some positive and some negative implications. firstly, the existing theories of ib can explain many of the differences in the patterns of emerging mncs. more specifically, the eclectic paradigm and institutional theories have been shown to be relevant in terms of explaining the role of the potential host market, and how institutions affect internationalization strategies. on the other hand, due to the very short time series of brazilian ofdi, the results of the estimation models are more suggestive, and point more to tendencies and trends, and not to differences among firms, which is an important limitation of this study. in terms of m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 78-101! mohamed amal & bruno thiago tomio 97 investigating this issue further, we would suggest conducting a more empirical analysis based on firm data, as well as developing comparative studies among mncs from different emerging economies. references aleksynska m. & havrylchyk o. (2013). fdi from the south: the role of institutional distance and natural resources. european journal of political economy, 29, 38-53. amal m.  & kegel p.l. (2012).  determinants of brazilian outward foreign direct investment: a home country perspective. in m. marinova and s. marinova (orgs.), impacts of emerging economies and firms on international business (pp. 168-188). united kingdom: palgrave macmillan. amal m., & raboch h. (2010). determinants of the fdi from developing countries: a panel data analysis. academy of international business annual conference 2010, rio de janeiro. amal m., raboch h., & tomio b.t. (2009). strategies and determinants of foreign direct investment (fdi) from developing countries: case study of latin america. latin american business review, 10, 73-94. andersson, s. (2004). internationalization in different industrial contexts. journal of business venturing, 19(6), 851-875. angué k., & mayrhofer u. (2010). international r&d cooperation: the effects of distance on the choice of the country of partners. m@ n@ gement, 13(1), 1-37. bae s., & hwang s. (1997). an empirical analysis of outward foreign direct investment of korea and japan. multinational business review, 5(2), 71-80. baltagi, b. h. (2011). econometrics. berlin: heidelberg: springer-verlag. bcb (2014a). cbe – capitaisbrasileiros no exterior. available on http://www4.bcb.gov.br/rex/cbe/port/ cbe.asp, accessed on 24.10.2014. bcb (2014b). capitais brasileiros no exterior. estatísticas econômicas – 2001 a 2006. retrieved from http:// www4.bcb.gov.br/rex/cbe/port/resultadocbe.asp? idpai=cbe, accessed on 24.10.2014. bcb (2014c). capitais brasileiros no exterior. estatísticas econômicas – 2007 a 2012. retrieved from http:// w w w 4 . b c b . g o v . b r / r e x / c b e / p o r t / resultadocbe2013.asp?idpai=cbe, accessed on 24.10.2014. beugelsdijk s., hennart j. f., slangen a., & smeets r. (2010). why and how fdi stocks are a biased measure of mne affiliate activity.  journal of international business studies, 41(9), 1444-1459. bevan a., estrin s., & meyer k. (2004). foreign investment location and institutional development in transition economies. international business review, 13(1), 43-64. buckley p. j. (2010). foreign direct investment, china and the world economy. new york, ny: palgrave macmillan. buckley p. j., & casson m. (1976). the future of the multinational enterprise (vol. 1). london: macmillan. buckley p. j., clegg j., cross a. r., liu x, voss h., & zheng p. (2007). the determinants of chinese outward foreign direct investment. journal of international business studies, 38(4), 499-518. chen k., rau h., & lin c. (2006). the impact of exchange rate movements on foreign direct investment: marketoriented versus cost-oriented. the developing economies, 44(3), 269-287. cheng l. k., & ma z. (2007). china’s outward fdi: past a n d f u t u r e . s e r u c wo r k i n g p a p e r, n u m b e r 200706001e. cristini m., & amal m. (orgs.) (2006). investimento direto externo no mercosul: o papel da europa. rio de janeiro: konrad-adenauer-stiftung. c u e r v o c a z u r r a a . ( 2 0 0 6 ) . w h o c a r e s a b o u t corruption?  journal of international business studies, 37(6), 807-822. cuervo-cazurra, a. (2007). sequence of value-added activities in the multinationalization of developing country firms. journal of international management, 13(6), 258-277. cuervo-cazurra a. (2012). extending theory by analyzing developing country multinational companies: solving the goldilocks debate.  global strategy journal, 2(3), 153-167. cuervo-cazurra a. & genc m. (2008). converting disadvantages into advantages: developing country mnes in the least developed countries. journal of international business studies, 39(6), 957-979. de beule f. & van den bulcke d. (2012). locational determinants of outward foreign direct investment: an analysis of chinese and indian greenfield investments. transnational corporations, 21(1), 1-34. doole i., & lowe r. (2008). international marketing strategy. london: cengage learning emea. dunning j. (1988). the eclectic paradigm of international production: a restatement and possible extensions. journal of international business studies, 19(1), 1-31. dunning j. & lundan s.m. (2008). multinational enterprises and the global economy. cheltenham (uk): edward elgar publishing. dunning j.h., fujita m. & yakova n. (2007). some macrodata on the regionalisation/globalisation debate: a comment on the rugman/verbeke analysis. journal of international business studies, 38(1), 177-199. egger, p., & winner, h. (2005). evidence on corruption as an incentive for foreign direct investment.  european journal of political economy, 21(4), 932-952. faria a., & mauro p. (2009). institutions and the external capital structure of countries. journal of international money and finance, 28(3), 367-391. frenkel m., funke k., & stadtmann g. (2004). a panel analysis of bilateral fdi flows to emerging economies. economic systems, 28, 281-300. institutional distance and brazilian ofdi! m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 78-101 98 http://lattes.cnpq.br/5991723730380584 http://lattes.cnpq.br/5991723730380584 http://www4.bcb.gov.br/rex/cbe/port/cbe.asp http://www4.bcb.gov.br/rex/cbe/port/cbe.asp http://www4.bcb.gov.br/rex/cbe/port/cbe.asp http://www4.bcb.gov.br/rex/cbe/port/cbe.asp http://www4.bcb.gov.br/rex/cbe/port/resultadocbe.asp?idpai=cbe http://www4.bcb.gov.br/rex/cbe/port/resultadocbe.asp?idpai=cbe http://www4.bcb.gov.br/rex/cbe/port/resultadocbe.asp?idpai=cbe http://www4.bcb.gov.br/rex/cbe/port/resultadocbe.asp?idpai=cbe http://www4.bcb.gov.br/rex/cbe/port/resultadocbe.asp?idpai=cbe http://www4.bcb.gov.br/rex/cbe/port/resultadocbe.asp?idpai=cbe http://www4.bcb.gov.br/rex/cbe/port/resultadocbe2013.asp?idpai=cbe http://www4.bcb.gov.br/rex/cbe/port/resultadocbe2013.asp?idpai=cbe http://www4.bcb.gov.br/rex/cbe/port/resultadocbe2013.asp?idpai=cbe http://www4.bcb.gov.br/rex/cbe/port/resultadocbe2013.asp?idpai=cbe http://www4.bcb.gov.br/rex/cbe/port/resultadocbe2013.asp?idpai=cbe http://www4.bcb.gov.br/rex/cbe/port/resultadocbe2013.asp?idpai=cbe fung k. c., garcia-herrera a., & siu a. (2009). a comparative empirical examination of outward foreign direct investment from four asian economies: people s republic of china; japan; republic of korea; and taipei, china. asian development review, 26(2), 86-101. ghemawat p. (2001). distance still matters.  harvard business review, 79(8), 137-147. gubbi s., aulakh p., ray s., sarkar m.b. & chittoor, r. (2010). do international acquisitions by emerging economy firms create shareholder value?: the case of indian firms. journal of international business studies, 41, 397-418. he x. & lin c. (2012). can strong home country institutions foster the internationalization of mnes? multinational business review, 20(4), 352-375. hennart j.f. (2012). emerging market multinationals and the theory of the multinational enterprise.  global strategy journal, 2(3), 168-187. hofstede g. (1980). culture’s consequences: international differences in world-related-values. london: sage publications. hotho j.j., & pedersen t. (2012). beyond the 'rules of the game': three institutional approaches and how they matter for international business. in g. wood and m. demirbag (eds.), handbook of institutional approaches to international business (pp. 236-273). cheltenham: edward elgar. hsia, c. (2003). analysis of panel data. cambridge, ma: cambridge university press. hymer s.h. (1960). the international operations of national firms: a study of direct foreign investment. phd dissertation, published posthumously in 1976. cambridge, ma: mit press. jinping l.m.y. (2011). the research on correlation between host country's location advantage and china's outward fdi: a gmm analysis based on dynamic panel data w i t h i n t e r c r o s s v a r i a b l e [ j ] .  wo r l d e c o n o m y study, 2011-06. johanson j. & vahlne j.e. (1977). the internationalization process of the firm: a model of knowledge and increasing foreign market commitment. journal of international business studies, 8(1), 23-32. kaufmann d., kraa, a. & mastrazzi m. (2009). governance matters viii: aggregate and individual governance indicators for 1996-2008. world bank policy research working paper, number 4978. kogut b., & singh h. (1988). the effect of national culture on the choice of entry mode. journal of international business studies, 19(3), 411-432. kolstad i., & wiig a. (2012). what determines chinese outward fdi? journal of world business, 47(1), 26-34. kostova t. (1997). country institutional profile: concepts and measurement. best paper proceedings of the academy of management, 180-184. kostova t., & zaheer s. (1999) organizational legitimacy under conditions of complexity: the case of the multinational enterprise. academy of management review, 24(1), 64-81. kyrkilis d., & pantelidis p. (2003). macroeconomic determinants of foreign direct investment. international journal of social economics, 30(7), 827-836. kyrkilis d. & pantelidis p. (2005). a cross-country analysis of outward foreign direct investment patterns. international journal of social economics, 32(6), 510-519. lee j. & slater j. (2007). dynamic capabilities, entrepreneurial rent-seeking and the investment development path: the case of samsung. journal of international management, 13(3), 241-257. li p. (2003). toward a geocentric theory of multinational evolution: the implications from the asian mnes as latecomers. asia pacific journal of management, 20, 217-242. lim s. & moon h. (2001). effects of outward foreign direct investment on home country exports: the case of korea. multinational business review, 9(1), 42-49. lu j., liu x., wright m., & filatotchev i. (2014). international experience and fdi location choices of chinese firms: the moderating effects of home country g o v e r n m e n t s u p p o r t a n d h o s t c o u n t r y institutions.  journal of international business studies, 45(4), 428-449. luo y., xue q., & han b. (2009). how emerging market governments promote outward fdi: experience from china. journal of world business, 45(1), 68-79. mudambi r. & navarra p. (2002). institutions and international business: a theoretical overview. international business review, 11(1), 35–55. nachum l. (2003). liability of foreignness in global competition?: financial service affiliates in the city of london. strategic management journal, 24(12), 1187-1208. narula r. (2012). do we need different frameworks to explain infant mnes from developing countries? global strategy journal, 2(3), 188-204. north d. c. (1990). institutions, institutional change and economic performance. cambridge, ma: cambridge university press. pangarkar n., & lim h. (2003). performance of foreign direct investment from singapore. international business review, 12(5), 601-624. peng m., wang d. & jiang y. (2008). an institution-based view of international business strategy: a focus on emerging economies. journal of international business studies, 39, 920-936. powell w.w. & dimaggio p.j. (1991). the new institutionalism in organizational analysis. chicago, il: university of chicago press. pradhan j.p. (2011). regional heterogeneity and firms’ innovation: the role of regional factors in industrial r&d in india. mpra paper 28096. university library of munich, germany. raj b. & baltagi, b.h. (1992). overview. empirical, 17(1), 1-8. ramamurti r., & singh, j.v. (eds.) (2009). emerging multinationals in emerging markets. new york, ny: cambridge university press. rugman a., oh c.h., & lim d.s.k. (2011). the regional and global competitiveness of multinational firms. john dunning center for international business, discussion paper, number 2011-003. rugman a., & verbeke, a. (2002). edith penrose's contribution to the resource-based view of strategic management. strategic management journal, 23(8), 769-780. m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 78-101! mohamed amal & bruno thiago tomio 99 scott, w.r. (2001). institutions and organizations. thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. seo j., & suh c. (2006). an analysis of home country trade effects of outward foreign direct investment: the korean experience with asean, 1987-2002. asean economic bulletin, 23(2), 160-170. sirkin h., hemerling j.w. & bhattacharya a.k. (2008). globality: challenger companies are radically redefining the competitive landscape. strategy & leadership, 36(6), 36-41. stal e. & cuervo-cazurra a. (2011). the investment development path and fdi from developing countries: the role of pro-market reforms and institutional voids. latin american business review, 12, 209-231 subramanian r., sachdeva c. & morris s. (2010). fdi outflows from india: an examination of the underlying economics, policies and their impacts. indian institute of management working paper, number 2010-03-01. swenson d. (2004). foreign investment and the mediation of trade flows. review of international economics, 12(4), 609-629. thomas d. & grosse r. (2001). country-of-origin determinants of foreign direct investment in an emerging market: the case of mexico. journal of international management, 7, 59-79 unctad (2006). world investment report 2006. geneva: united nations. unctad (2009). world investment report 2009. new york and geneva: united nations. unctad (2014) world investment report 2014. new york and geneva: united nations. voss h. (2011) the determinants of chinese outward direct investment. cheltenham, uk: edward elgar. witt m. & lewin a. (2007). outward foreign direct investment as escape response to home country institutional constraints. journal of international business studies, 38, 579-594. xu d. & shenkar o. (2002). institutional distance and the multinational enterprise. academy of management review, 27(4), 608-619. zaheer s. (1995). the liability of foreignness. academy of management journal, 38(2), 341-363. zaheer s., schomaker m.s., & nachum l. (2012) distance without direction: restoring credibility to a much-loved construct. journal of international business studies,  43(1), 18-27. institutional distance and brazilian ofdi! m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 78-101 100 mohamed amal, phd in economics engeneering,is associate professor of international economics and business administration at regional university of blumenau (furb), brazil. bruno thiago tomio, master of arts in international economics, is professor of economics at regional university of blumenau (furb), brazil. © the author(s) www.management-aims.com m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 78-101! mohamed amal & bruno thiago tomio 101 73casanueva volume 11, no. 2. special issue: “corporate governance and ethics” guest editors: vincent dessain, olivier meier and vicente salas � nicolas postel et sandrine rousseau 2008 rse et éthique dʼentreprise : la nécessité des institutions, m@n@gement, 11: 2, 137-160. copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). m@n@gement is a double-blind refereed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.management-aims.com © 2006 m@n@gement and the author(s). m@n@gement issn: 1286-4892 editors: alain desreumaux, u. de lille i martin evans, u. of toronto bernard forgues, u. de lille i hugh gunz, u. of toronto martina menguzzato, u. de valència m@n@gement est la revue officielle de lʼaims m@n@gement is the official journal of aims http://www.management-aims.com http://www.management-aims.com http://www.strategie-aims.com nicolas postel . sandrine rousseau université lille 1clersé umr 8019 cnrs email: nicolas.postel@univ-lille1.fr université lille 1 clersé umr 8019 cnrs email: sandrine.rousseau@univ-lille1.fr rse et éthique d’entreprise : la nécessité des institutions lʼarticle porte sur les liens entre éthique et responsabilité sociale des entreprises (rse). il propose une définition opérationnelle de lʼéthique fondée sur le concept de rationalité communicationnelle dans une optique institutionnaliste-pragmatique (se revendiquant de lʼapproche conventionnaliste). sur cette base il distingue et jauge les différentes modalités contemporaines visant à associer éthique et efficacité au sein du capitalisme : paternalisme, fordisme, rse. a la lumière de cet éclairage conceptuel et historique il propose dʼinterpréter la rse comme une forme conventionnelle en cours dʼinstitutionnalisation. la réussite de ce processus dʼinstitutionnalisation, qui dépend principalement du comportement des consommateurs, est la condition sine qua non de lʼexistence dʼune authentique dimension éthique au sein des démarches de rse. les entreprises engagées dans des démarches de responsabilité sociale et environnementale1 font-elles de lʼéthique ? cʼest autour de cette question, en apparence anodine que se déploie notre contribution. une certaine confusion règne pour ce qui est de lʼanalyse des rapports entre éthique et rse. certains auteurs nient toute consistance au phénomène rse au-delà des effets de communication et de marketing (lordon, 2003), dʼautres analyses proposent de réserver la notion dʼéthique à lʼéthique des affaires typiquement anglo-saxonne et lui opposent les démarches responsables européennes fondées non pas sur des principes moraux mais sur des objectifs sociaux (capron et quairel-lanoizelée 2007), dʼautres auteurs, enfin, font un amalgame entre éthique et rse (la rse désigne alors lʼentreprise éthique (salmon, 2002 ; 2007). ce flou conceptuel est dommageable en ce quʼil porte sur un point essentiel qui détermine assez largement le potentiel régulatoire de la rse. celui-ci dépend en effet de la capacité quʼauront les démarches socialement responsables de recombiner les exigences dʼéthique et dʼefficacité qui se posent à tout système économique, y compris capitaliste. ainsi, à trop opposer rse et éthique, on risque de vider de leur substance les processus de rse2. pour autant, une assimilation des mots éthique dʼentreprise et rse nʼest pas non plus souhaitable : elle ne permet pas de poser une claire distinction entre les mouvements du paternalisme dʼavant-guerre, du fordisme et de lʼetat social des trente glorieuses, et de la rse qui caractérise la période contemporaine du capitalisme financiarisé. or, ce dernier est spécifique, en ce quʼil part de lʼentreprise (à la différence du fordisme), 137 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 137-160 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 1. nous entendrons rse comme responsabilité sociale et environnementale des entreprises. il existe une vaste littérature classique en sciences de gestion sur ce sujet : bowen (1953), ackerman et bauer (1976), caroll (1999). pour une synthèse très complète en français, voir capron et quairel-lanoizellée (2007). mais ce phénomène est rarement analysé dans une perspective plus large de sciences humaines comme celle que nous esquissons dans cet article. 2. il n’est pas inutile de rappeler ici que le concept de responsabilité est emprunté à hans jonas (1979) qui cherche à travers le principe responsabilité à fonder une nouvelle forme d’éthique. sans dimension éthique, que peut bien vouloir dire être responsable, sinon au sens pénal (mais l’on sait que le jugement suppose que l’individu ait conscience du bien et du mal)... or, précisément, la rse consiste à entreprendre des modes d’actions souhaitables en dehors de l’obligation légale. mailto:nicolas.postel@univ-lille1.fr mailto:sandrine.rousseau@univ-lille1.fr mais ne saurait sʼy cantonner (à la différence du paternalisme) : la rse vise en effet à poser des jalons légitimes à lʼactivité de lʼentreprise, et à la manière dont elle traite son environnement au sens large (incorporant les aspects environnementaux et sociaux). nous cherchons donc dans cet article à souligner la spécificité du mouvement de la rse et à comprendre à quelles conditions elle peut devenir un vecteur efficace de régulation du capitalisme poussant à la mise en place dʼun compromis acceptable entre efficacité et éthique. notre thèse est sur ce point la suivante : lʼefficacité régulatoire de la rse dépend de sa capacité à nʼêtre pas seulement un mouvement contractuel unissant des individus, mais également un mouvement sʼincarnant dans des institutions collectives. pour défendre cette thèse, nous proposons une grille dʼanalyse dans une première partie, nous lʼappliquons au paternalisme, au fordisme et la rse dans une seconde partie et nous montrons, dans une troisième partie, pourquoi la dimension éthique de la rse doit nécessairement être une forme éthique débouchant sur la production dʼinstitutions collectives. qu’est-ce que l’éthique ? une définition opérationnelle nous ne cherchons pas dans cet article à produire une définition universelle de lʼéthique. lʼabondance des références sur cette question et la variété des positionnements philosophiques laissent entrevoir lʼimpossibilité dʼen référer à une unique définition, qui ferait autorité (ricoeur, 1994 ; misrahi, 1997 ; marechal, 2005). plus simplement, nous chercherons dans ce texte, à définir lʼéthique de manière opérationnelle pour le sujet qui nous occupe, à savoir la rse. ce travail définitionnel aboutit à établir une définition de la démarche éthique en termes de rationalité communicationnelle, concept emprunté à habermas et reposant sur une description précise des conditions requises pour que lʼespace de la discussion puisse donner lieu à une discussion éthique. ethique et morale la notion dʼéthique que nous mobilisons dans cet article sʼinscrit dans la lignée du tournant herméneutique des sciences sociales (thévenot, 1990, 1995 ; dosse, 1995). dans cette perspective, nous cherchons à mettre lʼaccent non pas sur la concordance du comportement avec des normes morales préexistantes, mais au contraire à mettre lʼaccent sur les capacités discursives et argumentatives des acteurs, qui dans leur comportement portent une certaine vision du monde. nous pouvons dans cette optique trouver appui sur les travaux philosophiques de ricœur (1986) qui portent sur les concordances entre le texte et lʼaction individuelle, deux supports permettant à leurs auteurs de faire connaître aux autres leur vision du monde. plus précisément avec ricœur, nous cherchons à distinguer lʼéthique et la morale et proposons « de réserver le terme dʼéthique pour tout le questionnement qui nicolas postel et sandrine rousseau 138 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 137-160 special issue: corporate governance and ethics précède lʼintroduction de lʼidée de loi morale, et de désigner par morale tout ce qui, dans lʼordre du bien et du mal se rapporte à des lois, des normes et des impératifs » (ricœur, 1991 : 41). notre perspective théorique vise ainsi à distinguer clairement la question du respect de valeurs transcendantes et celui de lʼélaboration des règles dʼaction communes. insister sur lʼéthique, cʼest donc cibler non pas une procédure visant à mettre en conformité un comportement avec une norme existante, mais au contraire prêter attention à la manière dont les différents acteurs sʼaccordent sur des règles communes. on sʼinscrit donc dans une approche pragmatiste-herméneutique proche des travaux de boltanski et thévenot (1991), mais aussi de rorty (1982, 2000), qui sʼinspire du pragmatisme de john dewey (pour une réflexion générale sur cette approche liant pragmatisme et herméneutique, voir quéré [1999]). la mise en évidence de cette question éthique implique de revenir sur la partition entre fins et moyens, traditionnelle, en particulier en économie (gérard-varet et passeron, 1995). dans une optique aristotélicienne, il convient en effet de prendre acte de lʼimpossibilité dans laquelle nous sommes de prévoir avec certitude les conséquences de notre action au sein de la pluralité humaine. lʼart dʼêtre prudent, quʼaristote qualifie de raison pratique, désigne la capacité dʼun acteur à se prononcer sur le caractère juste ou injuste dʼune action entreprise, au-delà de ses conséquences, qui sont par nature, incertaines (aubenque, 1977). cette capacité fonde la possibilité dʼune discussion politique (conçue ainsi nécessairement sur le concept de prudence) dans le cadre de la cité. il existe de manière claire une injonction morale dans toute visée éthique. toute réflexion sur le caractère juste ou injuste dʼune action a forcément des ressorts moraux. mais, dans notre optique, cʼest une autre articulation que nous souhaitons mettre en lumière, non pas entre les valeurs morales transcendantes et les décisions éthiques de lʼindividu, mais entre la volonté des individus dʼagir de manière légitime, et la recherche avec les autres, des règles fixant cette légitimité dans le cadre dʼune discussion éthique. lʼespace de la discussion sert alors à élaborer des règles communes, ce qui constitue lʼenjeu dʼune éthique de la discussion. ethique et communication cette réflexion très générale gagne à être précisée en la confrontant à la catégorie traditionnelle de rationalité chère aux économistes (arrow, 1986). les réflexions du sociologue et philosophe jürgen habermas (1987) peuvent nous y aider3. cet auteur propose, en effet, de distinguer quatre concepts de rationalité : — la rationalité instrumentale exclut le langage et ne porte que sur le choix des moyens les plus efficaces dʼatteindre une fin donnée ; — la rationalité stratégique mobilise le langage dans une finalité stratégique cʼest-à-dire pour manipuler lʼinterlocuteur de manière à le faire exécuter certains actes qui nous paraissent souhaitables de notre point de vue ; rse et éthique dʼentreprise : la nécessité des institutions 139 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 137-160 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 3. la philosophie de jürgen habermas entretient bien sûr un dialogue étroit avec les sciences sociales dont est issu habermas. ce philosophe tente une synthèse entre l’approche kantienne, que l’on retrouve par exemple chez jonas (1979), et l’approche aristotélicienne (ou néo aristotélicienne) issue des travaux d’hannah arendt (1988, première publication en 1961). on comprend dès lors sa volonté de préciser et d’articuler les catégories de rationalité et d’éthique. m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 137-160 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 140 nicolas postel et sandrine rousseau — lʼagir orienté par des normes : le guide de lʼaction est alors le respect scrupuleux de normes, par ailleurs non interrogées ; — la rationalité communicationnelle se caractérise quant à elle par lʼabandon de toute visée instrumentale et par la recherche de la compréhension et de lʼaccord avec lʼautre. elle seule est garante dʼune authentique communication (non biaisée). il est assez aisé de remarquer que la rationalité instrumentale correspond à lʼhypothèse standard de rationalité des économistes. cʼest sans doute celle qui se trouve aussi au cœur du taylorisme. la rationalité stratégique correspond à la notion de rationalité mobilisée par les théoriciens des jeux, coopératifs ou non coopératifs. elle est sans doute au cœur du toyotisme. lʼagir orienté par des normes, quʼhabermas reprend à max weber, mobilise une forme de contrôle moral (et non éthique) de lʼaction tel que nous lʼévoquions dans la partie précédente. la notion dʼéthique que nous avons avancée, et que nous traquerons dans les processus rse, correspond bien à la rationalité communicationnelle. cette forme de rationalité sert, selon habermas, à délimiter les fondements de lʼaction commune cʼest-à-dire, en définitive, les cadres institutionnels de lʼaction. on retrouve ainsi, ici, une des propositions saillante de lʼécole institutionnaliste conventionnaliste (dupuy, eymard-duvernay, favereau, orléan, salais et thévenot, 1989 ; orléan, 1994 ; dupuy, livet et reynaud, 1997; postel, 1998 ; batifoulier, 2001 ; eymard-duvernay, 2006). en accord avec ce mouvement théorique, nous proposons donc une définition de lʼactivité éthique comme étant la capacité à produire, avec dʼautres, des règles permettant de guider et dʼévaluer la conformité des actions communes à des principes moraux communs. les règles ainsi produites par exercice de la rationalité communicationnelle sont là pour polariser lʼespace de lʼaction en fonction des valeurs propres aux acteurs. ainsi, « créer des règles de relation cʼest donner un sens à lʼespace social » (reynaud, 1989: 280). lʼéthique, comprise comme production de règles communes, correspond particulièrement bien à la nature et lʼobjectif du processus de rse. les démarches de rse ne se donnent pas comme unique objet dʼintégrer une dimension éthique dans la prise de décision de lʼentreprise, mais bien de produire des standards communs permettant de repérer, de faire savoir mais aussi de montrer lʼengagement de lʼentreprise. ainsi les démarches de rse visent à produire des points de repères communs permettant de légitimer les comportements des entreprises sʼaffichant socialement responsables. les conditions dʼune discussion éthique lʼapproche conceptuelle dʼhabermas permet de préciser le lien entre éthique et rationalité à travers son concept de rationalité communicationnelle. la question que nous posons consiste donc à savoir si la rse met bien en scène la quatrième forme de rationalité, la rationalité communicationnelle, comme elle semble le promettre ou si, au contraire, elle se contente de recycler la seconde. cette fois encore habermas peut nous aider à travers lʼidentification de trois critères tableau 1. grille dʼanalyse de lʼéthique adaptée à la rse objet de la démarche type de rationalité conditions dʼexercice une démarche éthique vise à établir des critères de justice. elle ne se fonde pas sur lʼexistence dʼun cadre moral préexistant qui devrait être respecté. une discussion éthique mobilise une forme de raison pratique, que nous qualifions de rationalité communicationnelle (habermas, 1987), et qui se distingue de la rationalité instrumentale en ce quʼelle ne vise pas exclusivement lʼefficacité. une authentique discussion éthique, mobilisant la rationalité communicationnelle, nécessite pour se déployer : – une diversité des points de vue des parties prenantes participant à la discussion ; – une égalité des points de vue des parties prenantes participant à la discussion ; – une temporalité longue des liens entre ces parties prenantes et lʼentreprise. m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 137-160 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 141 rse et éthique dʼentreprise : la nécessité des institutions indispensables à lʼélaboration dʼune forme de rationalité communicationnelle : – diversité ; le but de la discussion éthique est de confronter des points de vue dʼacteurs ayant une certaine diversité dʼopinions. sinon la discussion est inutile. la discussion doit donc être ouverte à lʼensemble des justifications possibles dʼune action commune (justice, bien-être, compassion, efficacité) et non pas subordonnée au primat dʼune norme particulière (lʼefficacité économique par exemple) ; – égalité ; une discussion éthique est une discussion entre égaux. en effet, toute relation dʼinfériorité dʼun des acteurs place celui-ci en dehors dʼune vraie discussion. il est dans lʼécoute et lʼacceptation mais son point de vue ne peut émerger. sans égalité, la discussion est impossible ; – temporalité longue ; une discussion éthique se déploie et recouvre nécessairement un horizon temporel suffisamment large. le but est dʼélaborer des règles dʼactions communes considérées comme justes. elles déterminent ensuite les actions effectivement entreprises. une telle discussion nécessite donc du temps pour se dérouler, mais surtout nʼa de sens que si lʼinteraction entre acteurs est amenée à se poursuivre. lʼinstantanéité marchande, par exemple, ne permet pas le déploiement dʼune “authentique discussion”. ces trois conditions forment une grille de lecture efficace permettant de jauger la réalité des prétentions éthiques des démarches rse et peut, plus généralement, nous servir de guide pour distinguer ce qui, dans les différentes formes historiques que prend la combinaison des objectifs dʼéthique et dʼefficacité dans le capitalisme, peut être réellement pris au sérieux. en guise de synthèse, le tableau 1 propose une définition opérationnelle de lʼéthique adaptée à la rse. entreprise et éthique : la spécificité de la rse notre objectif est de rapprocher les démarches de rse des critères dʼune démarche éthique. un préalable à cet exercice consiste cependant à montrer en quoi la rse sʼinscrit effectivement dans le cadre dʼune discussion éthique entre parties prenantes. pour le montrer 4. sur les liens historiques entre paternalisme et rse et un point de vue différent, on peut se reporter à ballet et de bry (2001). nous commencerons par une mise en perspective historique. dans lʼhistoire de lʼéthique dʼentreprise en effet, la rse se distingue nettement des deux grands précédents que sont le paternalisme (par son caractère plus collectif et universalisable) et le fordisme (par son caractère davantage micro-fondé). sur la base de cette distinction elle apparait comme un mouvement qui est à la fois micro-fondé, en rupture par rapport au fordisme et en réponse aux demandes des parties prenantes, mais également à visée générale et universelle, en ce quʼelle se présente davantage comme une procédure permettant de satisfaire et accorder les parties prenantes que comme lʼimposition dʼun cadre normatif préexistant (à la différence du paternalisme). rse et paternalisme lʼapproche historique du phénomène de la rse et de lʼinvestissement socialement responsable (isr) montre que le phénomène actuel est au confluent de deux traditions que rien ne prédestinaient à devenir des modalités institutionnalisées dʼencadrement du capitalisme : le puritanisme américain et le paternalisme français. le business ethic américain trouve sa source dans les premiers pilgrim fathers immigrés aux etats-unis et imprégnés de valeurs protestantes (péron, 2002 ; gendron, 2000). cette dimension religieuse inspire largement les premiers mouvements dʼinvestissement moralement responsables dans les années trente, ancêtres de lʼactuel isr. ce nʼest que très progressivement que la réflexion sur le principe dʼune conduite morale des affaires portant sur la personne même du manager évolue vers la mise en place de règles communes encadrant les affaires —de la morale en affaire à la morale des affaires. le mouvement de la rse a donc des racines anciennes aux etats-unis et des racines qui se fondent sur la morale, et non lʼéthique au sens développé dans la première partie : dans lʼesprit initial de cette veine de lʼéthique dʼentreprise, cʼest bien au respect de valeurs religieuses que renvoie le terme éthique, des valeurs religieuses personnalisées par le chef dʼentreprise et imposées à ses salariés. en europe, cʼest plutôt depuis le patronage, tel que le décrit par exemple robert castel (1995), que se dessine le mouvement de la rse. dés le début de la révolution industrielle, des organismes de solidarité et de bienfaisance, souvent dʼobédience religieuse, organisent une forme de charité envers les plus démunis des salariés. cette charité permet de socialiser en partie les marginaux que produit la révolution industrielle, sans pour autant leur donner une force politique réelle, puisque cette charité les installe dans une forme de dépendance à la bienveillance des classes possédantes. ce patronage prend progressivement la forme dʼun paternalisme très développé dans le domaine de la filature, des mines, de la sidérurgie, qui sont des branches industrielles présentes notamment dans le nord-pas de calais4. dans cette première modalité qui accompagne lʼessor du capitalisme industriel, lʼéthique dʼentreprise est en réalité confondue avec lʼéthique du chef dʼentreprise. dans cette optique, la mise en place des codes internes à lʼentreprise nʼest quʼune extension, aux autres acteurs, des nicolas postel et sandrine rousseau 142 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 137-160 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 5. ford conditionnait, en effet, l’obtention d’un salaire plus élevé que le salaire de marché au respect, non seulement des règles tayloriennes régissant la production, mais encore à des règles de savoir vivre définies par la morale catholique de ford. des “sociologues”, payés par ford, suivent ainsi les salariés en dehors de leur lieu de travail pour s’assurer de leur bonne moralité, leur non fréquentation des divers lieux considérés comme mauvais —maisons closes, estaminets— et leur bonne morale mesurée par leur non violence conjugale, l’éducation dispensée à leurs enfants… valeurs propres à lʼentrepreneur. il sʼagit donc dʼune forme de morale dʼentreprise, morale imposée aux différents acteurs par la voie hiérarchique, depuis les propriétaires du capital jusquʼà la hiérarchie fonctionnelle de lʼentreprise. lʼémergence dʼun souci éthique de lʼentreprise peut ainsi représenter un danger si, non contente de produire des biens et services, lʼentreprise se meut en production de valeurs, car cette production de valeurs, si elle nʼest pas fondée sur une authentique discussion, risque fort de nʼêtre que lʼémanation des valeurs propres au chef dʼentreprise ou aux actionnaires majoritaires (le goff, 1995). cʼest, là, le biais de la démarche paternaliste, dont lʼentreprise ford fut sans doute la plus emblématique (coriat, 1979 ; ford, 1925)5. dans cette modalité de perception de la responsabilité morale de lʼentreprise, cʼest en réalité lʼexistence dʼune véritable dictature morale (au sens dʼarrow, 1951) qui est mise en place. il y a une privation de liberté des acteurs, en lieu et place dʼun débat éthique. cʼest ce quʼaffirme, avec beaucoup de force et de persuasion, milton friedman (1970: 32). sa célèbre intervention dans le new york time magazine se clôt par lʼaffirmation que « la seule responsabilité dans les affaires consiste à sʼemployer à utiliser les ressources et déployer les activités de lʼentreprise en vue dʼen accroître les profits ». cette conclusion se nourrit dʼune longue réflexion sur lʼabsence de légitimité quʼaurait un chef dʼentreprise à imposer aux autres (aux actionnaires, aux clients, aux salariés) des choix fondés sur ses propres valeurs, sauf à considérer le chef dʼentreprise comme un élu politique, ce qui reviendrait à passer, note friedman, au collectivisme. on peut noter, à la suite de friedman, quʼune éthique dʼentreprise de type paternaliste ne passerait pas au crible de notre grille dʼanalyse.en effet, la démarche paternaliste impose une morale, cʼest une démarche instrumentale qui vise à discipliner et/ou moraliser les ouvriers, et qui ne pose pas le principe dʼégalité des acteurs. ainsi, ce premier mouvement de lʼéthique dʼentreprise est très différent du mouvement actuel en ce quʼil est dʼabord local, personnel, et non procédural. lorsque la morale de lʼentreprise dépend du chef dʼentreprise, elle est évidemment enracinée localement, historiquement, et sʼadresse à des personnes, individuelles et non à des catégories sociales. il existe une forme de prosélytisme dans cette forme dʼéthique dʼentreprise, mais pas de négociation collective ou de confrontation dʼidées. les valeurs (chrétiennes notamment) prônées dans ce cadre ne sont en aucun cas discutables, elles doivent au contraire sʼimposer à une masse de salariés jugés incapables dʼy accéder. enfin, dans cette première mouture, lʼéthique dʼentreprise ne pose pas la question de la légitimité de lʼentreprise, dans une optique défensive, mais profite au contraire de la légitimité, supposée évidente, de lʼentreprise, pour imposer des valeurs communes dans une optique offensive. le passage de lʼéthique dʼentreprise au mouvement de la rse sʼaccompagne donc dʼun déplacement profond de perspective. le tableau 2 met en perspective ce déplacement en insistant sur la différence de nature entre le paternalisme et la démarche rse. la rse se caractérise en effet par une démarche dʼobjectivisation, de référencement collectif, de repérage, qui tranche avec la rse et éthique dʼentreprise : la nécessité des institutions 143 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 137-160 special issue: corporate governance and ethics tableau 2. paternalisme versus rse périmètre degré de discussion acteurs concernés place du chef dʼentreprise instruments de mesure ou de repérage collectif forme de justice modalité démarche modalité de légitimation paternalisme local faible acteurs internes à lʼentreprise centrale avec unilatéralisme aucun justice réduite au déploiement de la moralité norme imposée par le chef offensive norme imposée par le chef (morale imposée) rse méso social fort acteurs internes et externes (ong, pouvoirs publics, etc.) en interaction avec dʼautres logiques dʼacteurs économiques multiplicité des instruments communs, à tous les niveaux, dont le niveau international justice procédurale et distributive règle construite collectivement défensive règle construite collectivement (éthique de la discussion) nécessité dʼimposer au contraire aux salariés dʼune entreprise particulière des valeurs externes. ce processus de normalisation mobilise comme caution (et quelquefois comme producteurs effectifs) des institutions publiques (bureau international du travail, pnud, assemblée nationale en france pour la loi sur les nouvelles régulations économiques). ainsi, là où lʼéthique dʼentreprise répondait à un besoin de moraliser les acteurs de lʼentreprise (i.e., les ouvriers), la rse répond au besoin de moraliser lʼentreprise (et au premier rang son activité via son impact social et environnemental). cʼest là un point de vue très différent sur les rapports entre éthique et entreprise qui glisse dʼune morale privée à usage interne, à une recherche de procédures collectives et collégiales, validées collectivement et à usage externe. cette extériorisation nous semble être un élément de rupture entre la rse et lʼéthique des affaires. cette rupture dans la forme nʼempêche pas forcément la continuité sur le fond. certaines entreprises sont sans doute tentées de faire de la rse la poursuite dʼune démarche paternaliste ou morale sous dʼautres formes. mais elles sont tenues de légitimer, au dehors, cette conformité à des valeurs morales spécifiques. plus généralement, le discours éthique cesse dʼêtre dʼabord constitué de repères moraux, pour devenir essentiellement procédural. plutôt que dʼexposer les valeurs de lʼentreprise, les démarches de rse visent dʼune certaine manière, à travers les multiples normes qui balisent ce processus et les divers éléments de conseil qui accompagnent les entreprises qui sʼy engagent, à faire émerger quelques principes assurant la bonne écoute de tous les partenaires de lʼentreprise. rien ne préjuge ou ne contraint a priori le résultat des démarches de rse. la réflexion sur la dimension procédurale des questions éthiques peut ainsi servir de point de passage dʼune éthique microéconomique, centrée sur les valeurs morales du dirigeant, à une éthique macrosociale fondée sur le respect des procédures communes assurant le caractère consensuel des décisions prises. la rse est un processus qui ne cherche pas la conformité à des normes morales qui préexisterait dans la culture propre au chef dʼentreprise, mais au contraire un processus nicolas postel et sandrine rousseau 144 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 137-160 special issue: corporate governance and ethics de recherche dʼun accord collectif sur des règles de bonne gestion. en ce sens on est bien dans lʼéthique, et non plus dans la morale (selon notre distinction initiée dans la première partie). la rse : un palliatif à lʼeffritement du fordisme cette évolution de rôle que joue lʼéthique dʼentreprise, depuis le rôle de discipline interne jusquʼà celui de légitimité externe, sʼexplique selon nous par lʼaffaissement dʼune autre forme de compromis éthique, macrosocial celui-là : le compromis fordiste (boyer, 1987). la logique du processus dʼaccumulation fordiste, qui se déroule de 1945 à 1975, est connue. elle sʼapparente à un contrat social, les travailleurs acceptant la logique tayloro-fordienne dʼorganisation du travail en échange dʼune certaine démarchandisation du travail qui a pour pierre angulaire le cdi et comprend lʼensemble de la protection sociale et des règles administratives (conventions collectives) de calcul du salaire. nous avons pu défendre ailleurs (postel, rousseau et sobel, 2006) que ce deal fordiste constitue une première modalité collective de combinaison des objectifs dʼéthique et dʼefficacité. si lʼon passe en effet ce compromis au crible de notre grille de lecture élaborée dans la 1ère partie, on notera que la construction de ce compromis salarial respecte les conditions dʼune authentique discussion éthique. en effet, concernant lʼobjet de la démarche, lʼobjectif du compromis fordiste entre patronat et syndicats est bien de définir ensemble ce que doivent être les fins de lʼaction de lʼaction économique. il sʼagit donc dʼune démarche non instrumentale visant à établir des règles légitimes et collectives dʼaccumulation du capital. les conditions dʼexercice de cette discussion portent sur trois points. 1/diversité : la négociation permanente entre partenaires sociaux porte sur la détermination dʼune juste reconnaissance des droits sociaux des salariés, mais aussi sur lʼimpératif dʼefficacité des entreprises. ces deux visées différentes sont acceptées comme légitimes. 2/egalité : capitalistes et salariés sont rendus égaux par la loi qui reconnaît lʼégalité entre partenaires sociaux au niveau national. 3/temporalité longue : les négociations sʼinscrivent à long terme et visent à baliser lʼaction commune entre partenaires sociaux. cette discussion éthique repose cependant sur une invention institutionnelle : lʼartifice des partenaires sociaux, institués au dessus de la réalité du rapport salarial liant de manière inégalitaire les individus ne détenant que leur travail et les individus détenant également des capitaux. cette fiction collective permet lʼorganisation dʼune discussion éthique et lʼémergence de repères communs. mais elle suppose, en amont, que les individus se reconnaissent et se fondent dans ces deux catégories dʼacteurs. en revanche, les questions environnementales nʼentrent pas en compte dans ce compromis. elles ne sont portées par aucun acteur qualifié et reconnu. ceci a aussi pour conséquence de rendre caduque la question des fondements de la reproduction du système. les seuls perçus comme susceptibles de compromettre lʼaccumulation future sont les acteurs sociaux, intégrés de fait à la discussion. il est donc clair que ce nʼest que sur la base de la qualification collectirse et éthique dʼentreprise : la nécessité des institutions 145 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 137-160 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 6. c’est précisément ce qu’indique en france la loi nre de 1998 : elle vise à inciter les entreprises à organiser en leur sein de tels débats permettant de faire émerger un rapport social communément admis. afin de prendre en compte la dimension temporelle, la loi nre impose aussi une évaluation des impacts sociaux et environnementaux de l’entreprise. ve des acteurs du rapport salarial que peut se dérouler une discussion éthique qui est dʼemblée macro-sociale. en ce sens, bien que le compromis social fordiste représente une forme de démarche éthique, il diffère de la rse en ce quʼil est porté et légitimé par des types dʼacteurs différents. ce compromis macroéthique entre en crise dans les années soixante-dix. les raisons de cette crise sont multiples, mais la délégitimation des acteurs du compromis fordistes (patrons mis sous tutelle de la gouvernance actionnariale), et syndicats de salariés (confrontés à un refus de taylorisme et du productivisme qui les portaient [postel et al., 2006]) en est une importante. cette délégitimation se traduit par lʼentrée en scène de la gouvernance actionnariale, imposant un régime de rentabilité du capital plus élevé aux entreprises, par la montée des exigences environnementales et enfin par une pression plus forte des exigences de compétitivité prix liée au tassement des débouchés des industries de procès et à lʼémergence dʼune compétition à bas salaires des nouveaux pays industrialisés. cette nouvelle donne conduit les entreprises à dénoncer le compromis social fordiste sous ses deux angles : dénonciation du taylorisme (souvent plus incantatoire que réelle) et dénonciation du coût trop important du compromis salarial et plus généralement de lʼetat social (et des prélèvements attenants). cette crise du compromis social fordiste ouvre alors la nécessité pour les entreprises dʼimaginer de nouvelles manières dʼaccommoder éthique et efficacité afin dʼassurer lʼengagement des acteurs (cʼest la thèse de boltanski et chiapello [1998]). la rse apparaît, dans ce cadre, comme une nouvelle forme de conciliation possible entre les différents acteurs de lʼentreprise. la rse représente cependant une modalité radicalement différente de la précédente puisquʼelle se déploie depuis le niveau microéconomique, sur la base dʼengagements volontaires des entreprises, et en prenant en compte de nouveaux acteurs considérés comme étant qualifiés pour encadrer lʼactivité de lʼentreprise, lui donner une visée collective (cʼest ce que traduit, de manière très générale, lʼémergence du concept de parties prenantes) et une inscription dans le temps (ce que traduit lʼemploi régulier de termes comme développement durable ou générations futures). le mouvement de la rse se développe ainsi au fur et à mesure que le compromis précédent et les acteurs qui le portaient sont déqualifiés. il ne reconnait pas de pertinence particulière aux partenaires sociaux et cherche à éviter lʼarbitrage légal de lʼetat. au contraire, dans le cadre du processus de rse, il sʼagit dʼobtenir une authentique adhésion des individus (au sein et en dehors de lʼentreprise), librement, dans le cadre dʼune discussion organisée depuis le niveau microéconomique6). le tableau 3 synthétise les différences entre compromis fordiste et rse. il reste à comprendre quels acteurs portent ce processus et quelles forces ou contraintes obligent les entreprises à les écouter. la rse : un compromis porté par de nouveaux acteurs la rse nʼémerge pas spontanément à partir de la déliquescence du fordisme. les entreprises y sont contraintes en raison dʼécueils qui nicolas postel et sandrine rousseau 146 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 137-160 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 7. freeman (1984: 46) définit ainsi les parties prenantes de l’entreprise : « any group or individual who can affect or who is affected by the achievement of an organisation’s objectives ». tableau 3. compromis fordiste versus rse périmètre degré de discussion acteurs concernés place du chef dʼentreprise instruments de mesure ou de repérage collectif forme de justice modalité modalité de légitimation compromis fordiste macro sans assise micro objectifs sociaux acteurs du rapport salarial médiatisée par ses représentants etatique et national justice distributive règle construite collectivement par les partenaires sociaux règle construite collectivement (éthique de la discussion) rse micro ou méso social objectifs sociaux et environnementaux acteurs internes et externes (ong, pouvoirs publics, etc.) directe, mais en interaction avec dʼautres logiques dʼacteurs économiques multiplicité des niveaux et des types dʼinstruments communs, dont le niveau international et le type associatif justice procédurale et distributive règle construite collectivement par les parties prenantes règle construite collectivement (éthique de la discussion) 8. qui sont exploitées au-delà de leur rythme de reproduction, cf. sur ce point les travaux de wackernagel et rees (1995). pourraient menacer leur profitabilité. il est en effet essentiel pour elles de stabiliser leur environnement marchand. une des manières de stabiliser cet environnement est de démarchandiser partiellement les relations avec les parties prenantes en les fidélisant autour de valeurs. la nécessité dʼêtre éthique découle, pour lʼentreprise, de la nécessité de sortir du lot de ses concurrents (jaffe, peterson, portney et stavins 1995). cʼest, en définitive, ce que suggère lʼapproche en termes de parties prenantes popularisée par freeman (1984)7. lʼentreprise est ainsi devenue, par effritement de lʼancien cadre fordiste, le lieu ou sʼélabore un compromis entre les différents acteurs pesant sur son devenir. les relations à fidéliser touchent trois marchés avec lesquels lʼentreprise est en prise directe : celui des matières premières, celui des capitaux et celui des biens et services formant son débouché. le marché des matières premières la raréfaction des ressources constitue une source de risques pour les entreprises. la raréfaction touche la plupart des ressources naturelles y compris les ressources renouvelables8. lorsquʼelles sont nécessaires au processus de production, cela constitue une menace sur la formation du profit. a moyen et long terme, ce risque est dʼordre financier : les coûts de production risquent dʼaugmenter. a court terme, des lois pourraient venir réguler lʼaccès aux ressources. la démarche de rse, consistant à montrer que les entreprises peuvent de manière spontanée et volontaire internaliser les externalités que génèrent leurs processus de production, présente trois avantages : à court terme elle 1/redore lʼimage environnementale de lʼentreprise tout en lʼamenant 2/à prévenir (dans le double sens de lʼévitement et de la préparation) ainsi lʼintervention de la loi et, à long terme, cela leur permet 3/de prendre possession de ressources qui pour certaines deviennent rares. rse et éthique dʼentreprise : la nécessité des institutions 147 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 137-160 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 9. sur l’analyse de la pratique de l’exit chez les consommateurs, voir dowding, john, mergoupis et van vugt (2000). m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 137-160 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 148 nicolas postel et sandrine rousseau les clients la crainte de lʼentreprise, dés lors quʼelle dispose des matières premières, est de sʼassurer des débouchés dans un monde mouvant et très concurrentiel. en élevant le client au rang de partie prenante, lʼentreprise se donne lʼoccasion de le fidéliser et dʼanticiper ses changements de goûts ou dʼexigence et donc de sʼassurer un profit à long terme. on retrouve là les raisonnements de schumpeter sur la nécessaire anticipation des besoins et lʼinnovation dont doit faire preuve le chef dʼentreprise pour se différencier. tous les processus de normalisation des procédés de production sont autant de face-à-face virtuels entre les salariés, lʼentreprise et le client. lʼentreprise évite enfin de voire se dégrader sa réputation sous le coup de campagnes de dénonciation. il sʼagit également, et surtout, ici dʼéchapper à lʼémergence dʼune mauvaise réputation (concernant le travail des enfants, les salaires versés, les pollutions non internalisées...). ces campagnes portent le plus souvent sur des fournisseurs, ce qui explique la recherche de contractualisation et de contrôles accrus qui permettent à la fois de mettre en contact même indirect les sous-traitants et les destinataires finaux de leurs produits et de limiter lʼaléa moral qui existe dans toute relation de type client-fournisseur9. les actionnaires finalement, la réduction du risque clientèle et du risque fournisseur est un moyen de réduire la volatilité des actionnaires présents dans le capital et donc le cours des titres. il est essentiel pour lʼentreprise de recouvrer une certaine stabilité de son financement malgré lʼémergence dʼune finance de marché. pour ce faire, disposer dʼengagements visibles permettant dʼassurer les actionnaires de la pérennité de la relation client et de lʼapprovisionnement matériel de lʼentreprise est essentiel. on touche aussi là à un mouvement plus subtil de reprise en main, par les managers, de lʼoutil de production. lʼémergence de la rse leur redonne un moyen dʼexister, face aux actionnaires, en se rendant indispensable à la pérennisation de leurs engagements (boxembaum et battilana, 2004). ces acteurs qui exercent une pression sur lʼentreprise sont des acteurs extérieurs à la sphère de la production. de ce tableau les salariés sont donc quasi-absents. cʼest un effet important de la représentation de lʼentreprise en termes de parties prenantes : dʼune part la relation salariale est diluée parmi dʼautres relations hissées au même niveau10, dʼautre part lʼordonnancement des relations de lʼentreprise avec ces parties prenantes se fait spontanément en considérant comme importantes les relations fondées sur un réel pouvoir de pression de la partie prenante considérée (mitchell, agle et wood, 1997). or, mis en face des actionnaires et des clients, la position des salariés est faible. certes, une faible frange du salariat, de haut niveau et en situation de force sur le marché du travail, peut parvenir à sʼimposer à lʼentreprise désireuse de sʼattacher ses services. pourtant ce phénomène reste marginal relativement à lʼimmense majorité des salariés confrontés au risque de chômage et perçus comme relativement interchangeables. ainsi, même si tous les salariés ne sont pas logés à la 10. donaldson et preston (1995) ont ainsi montré que cette approche pouvait se combiner avec la théorie des droits de propriété, et hill et jones (1992) ont tenté de l’associer à la théorie de l’agence. ceci montre à quel point l’approche par les parties prenantes déplace le centre de gravité de l’entreprise, depuis le rapport salarial jusqu’au simple rapport de force fondé sur la propriété, dont le rapport salarial n’est qu’un aspect. m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 137-160 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 149 rse et éthique dʼentreprise : la nécessité des institutions même enseigne, lʼabsence des salariés dans le processus de production des codes éthiques est mise en évidence par bethoux, didry et mias (2007). les salariés ne disposent donc que de très peu de moyens de pression sur lʼentreprise, sauf à mobiliser lʼopinion publique des consommateurs qui sont aussi, par ailleurs, souvent salariés (aglietta, 1998 ; aglietta et rebérioux, 2004)11. cʼest finalement ce que souligne lʼémergence de la théorie des parties prenantes (freeman, 1984). cette théorie permet de souligner lʼélargissement du périmètre de lʼentreprise : si la rse se déploie, ce nʼest pas sous la pression des acteurs traditionnels du rapport salarial, mais sous le coup dʼun nécessaire reformatage de ces relations marchandes12. ce reformatage peut devenir porteur dʼune véritable dimension éthico-politique, si la rse sʼinstitutionnalise : cʼest lʼobjet du point suivant. pour une institutionnalisation des processus rse dans cette troisième partie, nous défendons la thèse selon laquelle la capacité quʼa la rse à représenter réellement un potentiel régulateur dépend de sa propension à sortir du périmètre de lʼentreprise pour parvenir à constituer des institutions communes à même de guider lʼensemble des acteurs13. nous pointons donc les limites dʼune approche purement contractualiste de la rse du point de vue de lʼauthenticité de la démarche éthique que la rse peut représenter. nous défendons ensuite que la rse doit être vue comme une convention commune (par opposition au contrat), convention qui gagnerait à sʼinstitutionnaliser durablement. les limites dʼune vision contractualiste de la rse la rse se présente comme un phénomène visant à re-légitimer le capitalisme à partir dʼune discussion entre parties prenantes. elle se présente donc comme un mouvement micro-économique, sous la forme dʼun contrat entre acteurs de lʼentreprise. pour autant, lʼentreprise, pointée comme le lieu par excellence dʼélaboration de la discussion éthique, est-elle un lieu propice au déploiement dʼune authentique discussion ? la rse résiste-t-elle à la grille dʼanalyse à laquelle nous avons soumis les deux autres formes dʼaccommodement de lʼéthique et de lʼefficacité que sont le paternalisme et le fordisme ? si le principe de la rse se présente bel et bien comme lʼorganisation dʼune discussion entre parties prenantes sur les finalités de lʼentreprise et la manière dʼévaluer son fonctionnement, il apparaît, en revanche, que les conditions concrètes des acteurs dans lʼentreprise ne permettent pas dʼélaborer une discussion éthique de manière sérieuse. le temps de la relation salariale sʼest considérablement raccourci, dans les pays riches, sous lʼeffet conjugué des politiques publiques de flexibilisation de la main-dʼœuvre, de la plus grande fluidité des mou11. lorsque les entreprises font appel à la rse sur ce sujet, ce sont sur des questions annexes du rapport salarial : l’égalité hommes/femmes, la lutte contre les discriminations, ou encore la diminution du nombre d’accidents du travail. les engagements portent quelquefois, sur l’employabilité des salariés, mais plus en vue d’une éventuelle reconversion. dans certains cas toutefois, la rse est aussi un moyen de fidéliser des salariés mais cela s’adresse avant tout à des salariés qualifiés, dont la rémunération est forte, dans des domaines de compétence spécifiques. en aucun cas, il s’agit là d’une règle générale. 12. sur la théorie des parties prenantes, nous rejoignons néanmoins les arguments critiques de jones (1995) et donaldson et preston (1995) qui soulignent la nécessité de borner cette notion trop englobante. plutôt que de diluer ainsi la question du pouvoir dans des rapports bilatéraux, nous montrons dans la partie suivante que ces relations de pouvoir s’incarnent dans des institutions qui les stabilisent. 13. nous rejoignions sur ce point les analyses de o’rourke (2003), besse (2005), palpacuer (2006) notamment. 14. comme le souligne la récente enquête emploi mentionnée dans insee première n° 1164 de novembre 2007 : « près de neuf emplois sur dix sont des emplois salariés. au sein de l’emploi, la part des personnes en contrat à durée indéterminée (y compris fonctionnaires) baisse depuis 2004 : elle est de 77,1 % en 2006, après 77,6 % en 2005 et 78,2 % en 2004. en contrepartie, l’emploi non salarié poursuit sa tendance à la hausse amorcée en 2004, même s’il reste très minoritaire. enfin, certaines formes particulières d’emploi se développent : contrats à durée déterminée (cdd), apprentissage et intérim. parmi les actifs ayant un emploi, la part de ceux qui travaillent à temps partiel a augmenté, de 16,7 % en 2004 à 17,2 % en 2006. » 15. le lecteur pourra s’en convaincre en consultant les travaux de psychopathologie du travail de christophe dejours (1998). nicolas postel et sandrine rousseau 150 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 137-160 special issue: corporate governance and ethics vements de capitaux et du recours à une chaîne de sous-traitance facilement délocalisable (coutrot, 1995 ; senett, 1995). les entreprises, confrontées à un marché des biens plus instable, plus concurrentiel, et plus encore à une exigence de rentabilité à court terme accrue, ont cherché à se délier de toute obligation de long terme visà-vis de leurs salariés. cela sʼest traduit par un assouplissement considérable du droit du travail, lʼapparition de contrats plus souples que le contrat à durée indéterminée. près de trois embauches sur quatre se réalisent aujourdʼhui sous forme de contrats dits précaires (castel, 1995 ; ramaux 2006)14. la diversité des critères dʼévaluation mobilisables dans la discussion semble aussi sʼêtre réduite, sous lʼinfluence dʼune exigence de rentabilité accrue (duménil et levy, 2000). la prise de pouvoir actionnarial sʼest en effet accompagnée dʼune pression effective sur les entreprises visant à augmenter non seulement lʼamélioration rapide de la valeur de lʼaction, mais encore les dividendes versés. ce primat de lʼexigence de rentabilité de court terme est une réalité unanimement perçue du monde des affaires. elle fait peser une plus forte pression sur les entreprises et réactive lʼexigence dʼefficacité, indépendamment de toute autre visée. en ce sens le capitalisme actionnarial réduit plutôt quʼil nʼouvre la discussion sur les objectifs de lʼentreprise (aglietta et rebérioux, 2004). lʼégalité des parties prenantes à la discussion sʼest elle aussi plutôt dégradée. la déconcentration productive, le recours accru à la soustraitance, des facteurs culturels également, ont concouru à provoquer une déconstruction des collectifs de travail et des collectifs syndicaux. or, les salariés, soumis aux exigences des détenteurs de capitaux, dʼune part, et à la pression du marché des biens dʼautre part, supportent individuellement une forte pression (coutrot, 1995 ; chauchard et hardy-dubernet, 2003). les innovations managériales visent en effet à relier directement le travail du salarié à ces deux marchés : dʼune part par la traçabilité des produits, dʼautre part par la construction dʼindicateurs individuels de performance. cette individualisation de la relation salariale connecte directement le salarié avec les exigences du marché des capitaux et du marché des biens, lʼobligeant ainsi à coopérer avec lʼentreprise, cʼest-à-dire à donner le meilleur de luimême selon le modèle de la coopération forcée. cette individualisation fragilise le salarié et fragilise encore davantage le salariat comme collectif institué et agissant. dès lors, lʼégalité artificiellement construite entre le capital et le travail, ou plus exactement entre lʼentreprise et le salarié, est considérablement fragilisée. en perdant la dimension collective du salariat, le salarié est réexposé à lʼinégalité structurelle de la relation salariale15. du point de vue de la stricte relation salariale à lʼintérieur de lʼentreprise, donc, il semble que peu dʼespace se soit ouvert qui permette lʼépanouissement dʼune discussion éthique. en guise de synthèse, on peut repérer les obstacles à une authentique démarche éthique. tout dʼabord, lʼobjectif de la rse est bien de définir ensemble ce que doivent être les fins de lʼaction de lʼaction économique de production. il sʼagit dʼune démarche non instrumentale visant à établir des règles légitimes et collectives dʼaccumulation du capital. les trois conditions dʼexercice de cette discussion concernent la diversité, qui est absente dans la mesure où, dans le cadre restreint de lʼentreprise, la discussion est conditionnée à la réalisation de lʼobjectif de profit, lʼégalité, qui a plutôt diminué ces vingt dernières années entre les salariés et la direction de lʼentreprise ou lʼactionnariat, et la temporalité, pour laquelle on note que la gestion actionnariale ne privilégie pas spontanément le long terme. a lʼinverse, les entreprises souffrent de la versatilité de leur actionnariat et recourent à des formes dʼemploi flexibles pour y faire face. cependant, dans le faisceau de relations que constituent les parties prenantes, on peut voir naître une forme de relégitimation du salariat, à condition que les salariés parviennent à faire porter leurs revendications, en dehors de lʼentreprise ou à intégrer les syndicats représentatifs dans la discussion sur les critères de rse. ainsi, ce nʼest pas dans lʼentreprise stricto sensu que les salariés peuvent peser, mais autour dʼelle en mobilisant dʼautres parties prenantes. en ce sens, la rse ne peut pas être seulement une forme dʼéthique dans lʼentreprise, ni même dʼéthique dʼentreprise, mais plus sûrement la recherche de règles et de discours communs à lʼensemble des parties prenantes. nous cherchons dans la fin de cette contribution à préciser la nature de cet espace institutionnel. la rse comme règle conventionnelle si la rse nʼest pas réductible à un simple agencement de contrats, il convient de cerner de quelle forme collective elle relève. le vocabulaire en la matière, bien que non stabilisé, met fréquemment en avant les normes de rse. cʼest là un usage malheureux, au plan théorique, puisque la rse est à la fois plus quʼune simple norme technique, et moins, dʼune certaine manière, quʼune norme morale. après avoir clarifié cette ambigüité, nous défendons lʼidée selon laquelle la rse est une règle conventionnelle. au plan moral, une norme désigne un dispositif déontique reposant sur des valeurs transcendantes (voir sur ce point ullmann-margalit, 1978). une norme nʼest donc pas la description dʼun ensemble dʼactes à effectuer, elle comprend simplement les principes directeurs de toute action. au plan technique, le mot norme désigne tout autre chose. il est appliqué en fait à des dispositifs techniques (norme sa 8000, iso 9002, norme gri, etc.). cette fois donc le mot norme vise un dispositif, une procédure technique, un mode opératoire, mais pas véritablement un contenu. derrière ce double sens, on perçoit cependant le rapport hiérarchique qui unit lʼaction à la norme : la norme préexiste et encadre lʼaction, elle nʼest en revanche pas susceptible dʼêtre modifiée en retour par lʼaction. cette prégnance est sensible dans le cadre de la rse, et gênante du fait de la nature ambigüe des normes de rse qui oscillent entre sens technique et sens moral. le double sens du mot norme appliqué aux dispositifs rse appelle ainsi deux remarques : – on peut considérer en première analyse quʼune norme technique en matière de rse est principalement procédurale et quelle ne présage rse et éthique dʼentreprise : la nécessité des institutions 151 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 137-160 special issue: corporate governance and ethics nicolas postel et sandrine rousseau 152 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 137-160 special issue: corporate governance and ethics en rien du contenu effectif de la démarche. cette distinction est cependant fragile. la procédure suivie, comme lʼordre du jour dʼune réunion, fixe en général le contenu en balisant la discussion et en hiérarchisant les priorités. les normes techniques ne sont jamais neutres lorsquʼelles prétendent encadrer une démarche éthique. lʼambiguïté du terme est révélatrice dʼune ambiguïté effective sur le rôle normatif des normes techniques. sans être transcendantes et malgré leur caractère technique, elles peuvent contribuer à plier la discussion avant quʼelle nʼait lieu ; – cette ambiguïté sʼaccroît quand la production de normes est le fruit de procédures obscures et non validées par la communauté à laquelle sʼadressent ces normes. en effet, à la question de la normativité des normes de rse doit être associée la question de leur légitimité. or, sur ce point, la multiplication des normes et leur modalité de production pose problème. il existe une multiplication des procédures et une forte capacité des multinationales à imposer leurs propres standards à la communauté internationale, validant de fait un point de vue particulier en point de vue général (caroll, 1999 ; capron et quairel lanoizelée, 2004). puisque le statut et les modalités de production des normes rse fait problème, il serait sans doute utile, du point de vue théorique, de ne pas reprendre le concept de norme et de lui substituer celui de règle conventionnelle et interprétative, soulignant ainsi le caractère collectif, malléable et évolutif des processus de rse. une règle, au contraire dʼune norme, indique en effet lʼaction à mener. une règle est discutable, et cette discussion se situe à lʼintérieur des normes en vigueur. on peut définir la règle par quatre caractéristiques (postel, 2003: 6) : contingente (on a le choix des règles) ; nécessaire (la règle apparaît quand il y a nécessité de lʼaccord entre acteurs sur lʼaction à mener) ; signifiante (une règle porte un sens collectif, elle doit être légitime) ; contraignante (après sa mise en place, chacun suit la règle). le concept de règle permet donc bien de souligner que la liberté sʼexprime principalement dans la possibilité de choisir les règles communes qui vont guider lʼaction. cette articulation du cadre collectif à lʼaction nous semble donc mieux adaptée à lʼobjet rse que la notion de norme. elle reste cependant floue, en particulier en ce qui concerne la manière dont lʼaction fait évoluer la règle, nous pouvons préciser ce point en proposant de qualifier les règles de rse de conventionnelles et interprétatives. les règles de rse sont dʼune part très malléables et, dʼautre part, fondées sur le principe de la recherche dʼun avantage commun. leur malléabilité tient à la nécessité dʼadapter des préceptes communs à des cas dʼentreprise différents. le type de production, la taille de lʼentreprise, son statut légal (publique, sa, pme familiale...), lʼimportance et lʼintensité de son recours à la sous-traitance, sont autant de critères qui nécessitent de disposer dʼune grille commune qui soit adaptable à chacun des cas de figure. les parties prenantes sont ainsi amenées à interpréter les préceptes de rse pour les adapter aux caractéristiques de leur entreprise. pour cette raison, la rse se caractérise bien par lʼapplication de règles interprétatives. des règles interprétatives qui 16. bien sûr, de la même manière que le concept de norme doit être distingué de l’expression courante de norme de qualité, il est clair que le concept de convention se distingue de l’emploi du terme de convention pour désigner le principe de conventions collectives qui sont souvent des règles fortement institutionnalisées et explicitées. sont liées au déroulement même de lʼaction collective et qui, dʼune certaine manière, ne peuvent quʼêtre artificiellement disjointes de leur application concrète. les règles de rse forment ainsi un outil que les partenaires modulent en fonction des caractéristiques de leur action et en fonction de leur visée. une démarche de rse nʼest pas réductible aux règles qui lʼencadrent : celles-ci ne forment quʼun cadre interprétatif, un guide pour lʼaction collective. cette interprétation nʼest pas principalement conflictuelle. il sʼagirait plutôt dʼinteractions non coopératives, mais non strictement conflictuelles, dans lesquelles chacun a à gagner à lʼaction collective, mais où la possibilité de gains inégalitaires suscite le conflit (comme dans le cadre des jeux non coopératifs à somme non nulle étudiés en particulier par schelling, 1960). la rse vise, en effet, à faire émerger un accord favorable à lʼensemble des parties quant à la manière de produire. dans ce cadre, les engagements collectifs souscrits peuvent être qualifiés de conventionnels. une convention est une forme particulière de règle (batifoulier, 2001 ; eymard-duvernay, 2006). les éléments avancés pour définir la règle valent donc pour la convention. mais la règle conventionnelle se caractérise par le fait que la règle suivie repose en tous points sur lʼintérêt commun à la coopération. autrement dit, personne nʼa intérêt à enfreindre une convention. elle ne règle pas un différend ou un conflit dʼintérêts mais représente une solution mutuellement avantageuse (lewis, 1969). le concept de convention est donc un idéal qui nʼexiste pas ou peu de manière pure dans la relation salariale et, au-delà, au sein de lʼentreprise. en revanche, la notion de convention indique quelque chose dʼimportant : il y a un élément dʼintérêt mutuel et dʼattentes tacites dans toute règle. en ce sens, la plupart des règles ont une dimension conventionnelle. cʼest le cas des règles de rse qui se caractérisent précisément par lʼabsence de négociation contractuelle et la recherche de lʼidentification dʼintérêts communs et dʼune meilleure coordination dans lʼidentification des objectifs recherchés dans lʼaction collective (efficacité, justice, durabilité...). la rse fait lʼobjet dʼune interprétation commune, et donc dʼune intense coproduction entre les différents acteurs. la notion de convention permet de désigner cette co-production et dʼinsister sur son caractère contingent16. on peut ainsi, dans la lignée des travaux de thévenot (1986) et de favereau (1989), avancer que les règles rse sont des investissements de formes permettant de disposer de dispositifs éthico-cognitifs collectifs. ainsi lʼinvestissement de forme que représente une démarche socialement responsable, et qui passe par un refus de la précarisation salariale, peut sʼavérer payant en terme dʼimage et donc de parts de marché conquises. une fois cet investissement pérennisé, les entreprises concurrentes seront alors tentées dʼimiter la pionnière, selon un mécanisme conventionnel classique : la construction des attentes du client par une entreprise sert de point focal (schelling, 1960) aux autres qui, contraints et forcés, doivent sʼy rallier. cʼest là un mécanisme classique de diffusion conventionnelle (sugden,1989 ; peyton young, 1993) qui peut servir de matrice à lʼinstitutionnalisation des processus rse. en guise de synthèse, les rse et éthique dʼentreprise : la nécessité des institutions 153 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 137-160 special issue: corporate governance and ethics nicolas postel et sandrine rousseau 154 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 137-160 special issue: corporate governance and ethics dispositifs de rse peuvent être qualifiés de conventionnels en raison de : – lʼidentification dʼintérêts mutuels ; – une co-production entre les parties prenantes permettant dʼexploiter ses intérêts mutuels ; – leur caractère indispensable et leur nature contingente, puisque les règles rse sont indispensables pour dépasser lʼantagonisme contractuel et reposent sur un choix collectif ; – leur caractère autorenforçant qui fait quʼune bonne pratique peut, audelà dʼun certain seuil sʼimposer spontanément à tous les acteurs par mimétisme. la place de la rse dans les institutions du capitalisme notre proposition consistant à analyser la rse comme règle conventionnelle interprétative permet de synthétiser les différentes caractéristiques de ce phénomène et de mettre en particulier en lumière le potentiel régulatoire et éthico-politique des démarches de rse. il reste cependant à comprendre, dʼune part comment ce potentiel pourrait être exploité, dʼautre part avec quelle autre forme de régulation il se combine. on peut, pour spécifier le régime capitaliste, proposer de distinguer trois niveaux de régulation, qui sʼimbriquent en un tout cohérent : – lʼinstitution fondamentale ; la propriété privée des moyens de production qui distingue le capitalisme parmi les modes de production possibles ; – les institutions structurelles qui portent cette institution fondamentale. elles indiquent quelle forme particulière prend le capitalisme à un moment historique donné. cette forme dépend de la manière dont sont conçues les institutions structurelles que sont le marché, lʼetat, la monnaie, le rapport salarial ; – les règles interprétatives (ou conventionnelles) qui assurent lʼadéquation des institutions structurelles au terrain dʼaction. ces règles sont de nature interprétative puisquʼelles ont pour fonction de faire vivre en pratique les formes institutionnelles conceptuelles et symboliques que sont les institutions structurelles. ce sont, dʼune certaine manière, les seules règles visibles. elles désignent des pratiques, des formes juridiques, etc. bien sûr, ces manières dʼinterpréter une forme particulière que prend le capitalisme changent de manière continue, sʼadaptent en permanence jusquʼà ce que ces changements et adaptations finissent par faire apparaître une distance trop grande entre lʼinstitution structurelle et sa traduction en pratique, ce qui fait alors apparaître une crise de régime. on peut ainsi se représenter le capitalisme comme tenu par un ensemble de règles. cette représentation schématique peut être synthétisée par le tableau 4. dans ce tableau, nous plaçons la rse au troisième niveau, celui des règles interprétatives ou conventionnelles, cʼest-à-dire dʼune forme de règle malléable qui porte une interprétation des modalités dʼinterventions des formes structurelles que sont, ici, le marché, lʼetat, le rapport tableau 4. une représentation institutionnelle du capitalisme institution fondamentale (rang 1) institutions structurelles (rang 2) institutions interprétatives : règles et conventions communes(rang 3) institution propriété privée des moyens de production monnaie marché rapport salarial etat entreprise syndicat conventions collectives forme de salaire temps de travail indicateur de bien-être certification des produits norme de développement durable forme de lʼinstitution macro sociale macroéconomique macroéconomique macroéconomique macroéconomique conventionelle conventionelle conventionelle convention convention convention convention convention acteur / institution i a i a i a i a i a i a i a i a i a i a i a i a i a salarial. cʼest à ce niveau que le jeu des acteurs est le plus susceptible de faire évoluer les règles non pérennisées. cʼest donc ce niveau de règle qui peut faire lʼobjet dʼune discussion éthique entre acteurs de lʼentreprise en vue de préciser les finalités du processus productif. la visibilité de lʼaccord ainsi conclu entre partenaires relativement égaux (clients, actionnaires, managers, ong, syndicats...) engage lʼentreprise. ce tableau synthétique appelle deux commentaires : – le critère de cette hiérarchisation nʼest pas le caractère macro ou micro des institutions, mais plutôt leur pérennité plus ou moins grande. elles vont de la quasi-transcendance dʼune institution aussi solide, vaste et englobante que le capitalisme, à la nature extrêmement malléable des règles de temps de travail ou les règles de la rse ; – la hiérarchisation des différentes institutions doit donc se lire dans un double sens. les institutions fondamentales sont plus stables et prégnantes que les institutions interprétatives... mais cʼest à partir des modifications progressives de ces règles et conventions que les institutions évoluent (en dehors dʼune révolution dʼensemble). conclusion dynamique institutionnelle de la rse, quelques scénarios de moyen terme lʼobjet de cet article était de montrer que la responsabilité sociale et environnementale des entreprises sʼinscrit dans une véritable démarche éthique, macro-sociale. elle nʼest donc pas simplement de lʼéthique dʼentreprise et, en ce sens, elle revêt un caractère nouveau dans la régulation du capitalisme. en introduisant de nouvelles parties prenantes ayant voix au chapitre dans les décisions dʼentreprise, la rse dilue le rapport salarial qui reste lʼélément fondateur du système de production capitaliste. de ce qui sortira de cette dilution dépend rse et éthique dʼentreprise : la nécessité des institutions 155 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 137-160 special issue: corporate governance and ethics m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 137-160 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 156 nicolas postel et sandrine rousseau lʼavenir de la rse. dans le moyen terme, en effet, trois scenarii différents peuvent sʼimposer : – le premier scénario est celui du paternalisme planétaire. cʼest le plus pessimiste. il verrait la rse en rester au stade exploratoire et superficiel actuel et cumuler recul des acquis sociaux et progression des formes dʼendoctrinement éthique. la rse servirait ainsi dʼalibi à lʼaffaiblissement du salariat, ce qui, si lʼon suit marx, keynes ou polanyi, pourrait aboutir à un effondrement social violent ; – le second scenario est celui de lʼextension du fordisme à lʼéchelle internationale. il verrait la structuration, à lʼintérieur des processus rse de contre-pouvoirs internationaux sous la forme de syndicats ou dʼaccession à lʼactionnariat salarié (thèse de michel aglietta, 1998). on verrait alors se reproduire au niveau international ce qui sʼest construit à lʼintérieur des frontières étatiques durant le fordisme. en quelque sorte, la rse ne serait donc que la forme transitoire accompagnant lʼévolution du capitalisme fordiste national vers un capitalisme fordiste international. bien que séduisant, ce scénario souffre toutefois de lʼabsence de puissances publiques régulatrices et de la persistance, si ce nʼest de lʼaugmentation des inégalités mondiales qui empêchent une prise en compte homogène du salariat ; – le troisième scénario est celui de lʼinstitutionnalisation de la rse. il suppose que les pressions de la clientèle gagnent en importance via les ong sociales. ces dernières imposeraient alors aux entreprises des pratiques sociales homogènes et respectueuses. les confédérations syndicales fondent un certain espoir sur cette possible pression qui pourrait ensuite être relayée par les actionnaires craignant pour la valeur de leurs actions. il apparaît assez clairement que dans le cadre de la véritable lutte dʼinfluence que se livrent les stakeholders, et en particulier les actionnaires et les salariés, le client joue un rôle dʼarbitre. de sa sensibilité aux aspects sociaux de la production dépendra la prise en compte ou pas de ces contraintes sociales dans le plan de développement de lʼentreprise17. ce troisième scénario peut paraître un peu naïf. il demande sans doute à être étayé. mais nous voudrions souligner quʼil doit être pris au moins aussi au sérieux que les deux précédents, qui, parce quʼils sʼinscrivent dans des repères historiques (le fordisme et le paternalisme) bien établis, sont plus immédiatement lisibles et ont souvent, pour cette raison, les faveurs des pronostics. a lʼheure dʼun affaiblissement profond et sans doute durable du salariat, lʼidentification du pouvoir du client, et de sa proximité de fait avec le salariat est, en effet, un levier politique essentiel. il est difficile de croire aujourdʼhui à une union rapide dʼun salariat que la mondialisation et le progrès technique rend très hétérogène. en revanche, la reconnaissance tacite par les clients de leur statut de salarié (90 % de la population active française) semble atteignable. pour lʼheure, sa sensibilité aux aspects sociaux du mode de production est faible. mais il nʼest pas impossible que cette sensibilité croisse sous la forme dʼune diffusion conventionnelle, à partir dʼune part de lʼémergence de bonnes pratiques dans le cadre de la différenciation concurrentielle, puis sous lʼeffet dʼautre part dʼune forme de sensibilisation sociale des consommateurs par les ong. la question de lʼéthique est toutefois ici 17. sur l’efficacité potentielle de la pression de la clientèle, voir monroe friedman (1999). m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 137-160 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 157 rse et éthique dʼentreprise : la nécessité des institutions particulièrement sensible : quels sont les acteurs permettant dʼétablir une discussion entre égaux pour fonder cette éthique ? toute discussion sʼétablissant en dehors des salariés comporte en son sein le risque dʼune mise en avant de lʼenvironnement au détriment des questions salariales. lʼenjeu porte, dans ces conditions, sur les capacités des ong à saisir les questions environnementales depuis un prisme social permettant de requalifier les différents acteurs du rapport salarial. a lʼheure dʼun affaiblissement profond et sans doute durable du salariat, lʼidentification du pouvoir du client et de sa proximité de fait avec le salariat est essentielle. il est difficile de croire aujourdʼhui à une union rapide dʼun salariat que la mondialisation et le progrès technique rendent très hétérogène. en revanche, la reconnaissance tacite par les clients de leur statut de salarié (90 % de la population active française) semble atteignable. or, cʼest là une des conditions objectives pour que la rse porte effectivement une possibilité de ré-articulation de lʼéthique et de lʼefficace au sein du capitalisme. lʼantienne marxiste « prolétaires de tous les pays unissez-vous ! » pourrait ainsi être recyclée en “clients et salariés de chaque zone monétaire, unissez-vous !”. note. une première version de cet article a été présentée aux colloques riodd 2 “mondialisation & développement durable : le rôle des organisations“ (sup agro montpellier, 27-28 septembre 2007) et lefi “analyse(s) et transformation(s) de la firme : confrontation entre économistes, gestionnaires et juristes” (lyon, 22-23 novembre 2007). nous remercions lʼensemble des participants à ces deux colloques. nous remercions enfin tout particulièrement les deux rapporteurs anonymes choisis par la revue dont les remarques ont permis dʼaméliorer considérablement le texte ainsi que m. olivier meier dont lʼaccompagnement éditorial précis et les nombreux et judicieux conseils ont été précieux. nicolas postel est maître de conférences en sciences économiques à lʼuniversité des sciences et technologies (lille 1) et chercheur au centre lillois dʼétudes et recherches sociologiques et économiques, urm 8019 (clerse) où il coordonne un groupe de recherche sur lʼhistoire de la pensée économique. ses recherches portent sur la question de lʼaction économique et de lʼinstitution envisagées sous leurs dimensions éthiques et politiques. il questionne cet objet depuis une double perspective, dʼépistémologie et de dʼhistoire des idées dʼune part, et dʼobservation empirique concrète des modifications institutionnelles dʼautre part. le mouvement de la responsabilité sociale des entreprises se trouve précisément être au confluent de ces deux perspectives et constitue ainsi la pierre angulaire de ces recherches. sandrine rousseau est maître de conférences en sciences économiques à lʼuniversité des sciences et technologies (lille 1) et chercheuse au centre lillois dʼétudes et recherches sociologiques et économiques, urm 8019 (clerse). ses recherches portent sur les questions de développement durable et particulièrement sur les aspects environnementaux dʼune part et les aspects sociaux dʼautre part. elle étudie en ce sens les processus dʼinstitutionnalisation des pratiques et questionne particulièrement leur caractère éthique. la responsabilité sociale et environnementale des entreprises se trouve être par conséquent un terrain dʼétude particulièrement fécond. m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 137-160 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 158 nicolas postel et sandrine rousseau références � ackerman, r. w., et r. a. bauer 1976 corporate social responsiveness, reston, va : reston publishing. � aglietta, m. 1998 le capitalisme de demain, notes de la fondation saint simon, n° 101, paris. � aglietta, m., et a. rebérioux 2004 dérives du capitalisme financier, paris : albin michel. � arendt, h. 1988 la condition de lʼhomme moderne, paris : pocket. � arrow, k. j. 1951 social choice and individual values, new york : wiley. � arrow, k. j. 1986 rationality of self and others in an economic system, journal of business, 59: 4 (part 2: the behavioral foundations of economic theory), s385-s399. � aubenque, p. 1977 la prudence chez aristote, paris : puf. � ballet, j., et f. de bry 2001 lʼentreprise et lʼéthique, paris : seuil. � batifoulier, p. (dir.) 2001 théorie des conventions, paris : economica. � besse, g. 2005 a qui profite la rse? responsabilité sociétale de l'entreprise et mondialisation, droit social, 643, 991-1000. � bethoux, e., c. didry, et a. mias 2007 what codes of conduct tell us: corporate social responsibility and the nature of the multinational corporation, corporate governance: an international review, 15: 1, 77-90. � boltanski, l., et e. chiapello 1998 le nouvel esprit du capitalisme, paris : gallimard. � boltanski, l., et l. thévenot 1991 de la justification. les économies de la grandeur, paris, gallimard. � bowen, h. r. 1953 social responsabilities of the businessman, new york : harper. � boxembaum, e., et j. battilana 2004 institutional innovation: socio-cognitive reconstruction of corporate social responsibility, academy of management conference, new orleans, august. � boyer 1987 la théorie de la régulation : une analyse critique, paris : la découverte. � capron, m., et f. quairel-lanoizelée 2004 mythes et réalités de lʼentreprise responsable, pari : la découverte. � capron, m., et f. quairel-lanoizelée 2007 la responsabilité sociale dʼentreprise, paris : la découverte. � caroll, a. b. 1999 corporate social responsibility: evolution of a definitional construct, business and society, 38, 3: 268-295. � castel, r. 1995 les métamorphoses de la question sociale, paris : fayard. � chauchard, j. p., et a. c. hardy-dubernet (dir.) 2003 la subordination dans le travail, cahier travail et emploi, paris : la documentation française. � coriat, b. 1979 l̓atelier et le chronomètre, paris : bourgois. � coutrot, t. 1995 lʼentreprise néolibérale, nouvelle utopie du capitalisme ?, paris : la découverte. � dejours, c. 1998 la souffrance en france : la banalisation de lʼinjustice sociale, paris : seuil. � donaldson, t., et l. e. preston 1995 the stakeholder theory of the corporation: concepts, evidence and implications, academy of management review, 20: 1, 65-91. � dosse, f. 1995 lʼempire du sens : lʼhumanisation des sciences humaines, paris : la découverte. � dowding, k., p. john, t. mergoupis, et m. van vugt 2000 exit, voice and loyalty: analytic and empirical developments, european journal of political research, 37: 4, 369-395. � duménil, g., et d. lévy 2000 crise et sortie de crise : ordre et désordres néolibéraux, paris : puf. � dupuy, j. p., f. eymard-duvernay, o. favereau, a. orléan, r. salais, et l. thévenot 1989 lʼéconomie des conventions : introduction au numéro spécial economie des conventions, revue économique, 40 : 2, 141-145. � dupuy, j.p., et p. livet (dir.) 1997 les limites de la rationalité, paris : la découverte. � eymard-duvernay, f. (dir.) 2006 lʼéconomie des conventions, méthodes et résultats, paris : la découverte. � favereau, o. 1989 marchés internes, marchés externes, revue économique, 40 : 2, 273-328. � ford, h. 1925 ma vie et mon œuvre, paris : payot. � freeman, r. e. 1984 strategic management: a stakeholder approach, boston : pitman. � friedman, m. 1970 the social responsability of business is to increase its profits, new york times magazine, 13 septembre, 32-33. m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 137-160 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 159 rse et éthique dʼentreprise : la nécessité des institutions � friedman, m. 1999 consumer boycotts: effecting change through the marketplace and media, new york: routledge. � gendron, c. 2000 enjeux sociaux et représentations de lʼentreprise, revue du mauss, 15 : ethique et economie, lʼimpossible (re)mariage ?, 320-325. � gérard-varet, l. a., et j. c. passeron 1995 le modèle et lʼenquête : les usages du principe de rationalité dans les sciences sociales, paris : editions de lʼehess. � habermas, j. 1987 théorie de lʼagir communicationnel, paris : fayard. � hill, c. w. l., et t. m. jones 1992 stakeholder-agency theory, journal of management studies, 29: 2, 131-154. � jaffe, a. b., s. r. peterson, p. r. portney, et r. n. stavins 1995 environmental regulation and the competitiveness of us manufacturing: what does the evidence tell us?, journal of economic literature, 33: 1, 132-163. � jonas, h. 1990 le principe responsabilité, paris : cerf. � jones, t. m. 1995 instrumental stakeholder theory: a synthesis of ethics and economics, academy of management review, 20: 2, 404–437. � le goff, j. 1995 le mythe de lʼentreprise ? critique de lʼidéologie managériale, paris : la découverte. � lewis, d. k. 1969 convention: a philosophical study, cambridge, ma: harvard university press. � lordon, f. 2003 et la vertu sauvera le monde... après la débâcle financière, le salut par lʼéthique ? paris : raisons dʼagir. � maréchal, j. p. 2005 ethique et économie : une opposition artificielle, rennes : presses universitaires de rennes. � misrahi, r. 1997 quʼest-ce que lʼéthique ?, paris : armand colin. � mitchell, r. k., b. r. agle, et d. j. wood 1997 toward a theory of stakeholder: identification and salience: defining the principle of who and what really counts, academy of management review, 22: 4, 853-886. � orléan, a. (dir.) 1994 analyse économique des conventions, paris : puf. � oʼrourke, d. 2003 outsourcing regulation: analyzing nongovernmental systems of labor standards and monitoring, policy studies journal, 31: 1, 1-29. � palpacuer, f. 2006 globalization and corporate governance: issues for management researchers, society and business review, 1: 1, 45-61. � péron, m. 2002 transdisciplinarité : fondement de la pensée managériale anglo-saxonne ?, paris : economica. � peyton young, h. 1993 the evolution of conventions, econometrica, 61: 1, 57-84. � postel, n. 1998 lʼéconomie des conventions : une approche instrumentale de la rationalité individuelle ?, revue économique, 49: 6, 1473-1495. � postel, n. 2003 les règles dans la pensée économique contemporaine, paris : cnrs editions. � postel n., s. rousseau, et r. sobel 2006 la "responsabilité sociale et environnementale des entreprises" : une reconfiguration potentielle du rapport salarial fordiste ?, economie appliquée, 59: 4, 77-104. � quéré, l. 1999 la sociologie à lʼépreuve de lʼherméneutique, paris : lʼharmattan. � ramaux, c. 2006 emploi : éloge de la stabilité. lʼetat social contre la flexicurité, paris : fayard. � reynaud, j. d. 1989 les règles du jeu, lʼaction collective et la régulation sociale, paris : armand colin. � ricœur, p. 1986 expliquer et comprendre. sur quelques connexions remarquables entre la théorie du texte, la théorie de lʼaction et la théorie de lʼhistoire, in p. ricoeur, du texte à lʼaction : essais dʼherméneutique ii, paris : seuil, 161-182. � ricœur, p. 1991 temps et récit, tome 1, paris : seuil. � ricœur, p. 1994 éthique et responsabilité, neuchâtel : la baconnière. � rorty, r. 1982 consequences of pragmatism, minneapolis, mn : university of minnesota press. � rorty, r. 2000 philosophy and social hope, new york, penguin. � salmon, a. 2002 ethique et ordre économique, paris : cnrs éditions. � salmon, a. 2007 la tentation éthique du capitalisme, paris : la découverte. � schelling, t. c. 1960 the strategy of conflict, cambridge, ma : harvard university press. � senett, r. 1995 le travail sans qualités, paris : albin michel. � sugden, r. 1989 spontaneous order, journal of economic perspectives, 3: 4, 85-97. m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 137-160 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 160 nicolas postel et sandrine rousseau � thévenot, l. 1986 economie et formes conventionnelles, in r salais et l. thévenot (dir.) le travail-marché, règles, conventions, paris : insee-economica, 195-215. � thévenot, l. 1990 lʼaction qui convient, in p. pharo et l. quéré (dir.), les formes de lʼaction, paris : editions de lʼehess, 39-66. � thévenot, l. 1995 rationalité ou normes sociales : une opposition dépassée ?, in l.-a. gérard-varet et j.-c. passeron (dir.), le modèle et lʼenquête. les usages du principe de rationalité dans les sciences sociales, paris : editions de lʼehess, 149-189. � ullmann-margalit, e. 1978 the emergence of norms, oxford : clarendon. � wackernagel, m., et w. rees 1995 our ecological footprint: reducing human impact on the earth, gabriola island b.c. : new society publishers. 73casanueva volume 11, no. 2. special issue: “corporate governance and ethics” guest editors: vincent dessain, olivier meier and vicente salas � miguel blanco callejo y santiago gutierrez broncano 2008 un modelo de gobierno corporativo que permite un comportamiento ético : el caso mercadona, m@n@gement, 11: 2, 161-189. copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). m@n@gement is a double-blind refereed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.management-aims.com © 2006 m@n@gement and the author(s). m@n@gement issn: 1286-4892 editors: alain desreumaux, u. de lille i martin evans, u. of toronto bernard forgues, u. de lille i hugh gunz, u. of toronto martina menguzzato, u. de valència m@n@gement est la revue officielle de lʼaims m@n@gement is the official journal of aims http://www.management-aims.com http://www.management-aims.com http://www.strategie-aims.com miguel blanco callejo . santiago gutierrez broncano universidad rey juan carlosdpto de economia de la empresa email: miguel.blanco@urjc.es universidad rey juan carlos dpto de economia de la empresa email: santiago.gutierrez@urjc.es un modelo de gobierno corporativo que permite un comportamiento ético : el caso mercadona el presente trabajo muestra la idoneidad de la aplicación del modelo de gestión de calidad total como un enfoque que permite dotar a las decisiones adoptadas por la dirección de la empresa no sólo de eficacia, eficiencia y creación de valor económico, sino también de un comportamiento ético y socialmente responsable. este modelo perfila la empresa como un conjunto de grupos de interés, integrado por clientes, trabajadores, proveedores, sociedad y capital, orientando la actuación global de la compañía hacia la satisfacción de las necesidades de todos y cada uno de los grupos. empleando este marco de análisis, se estudia el caso de mercadona, empresa española del sector de distribución comercial, que ha hecho compatible el desarrollo de un extraordinario modelo económico de crecimiento y desarrollo con la consecución de unos niveles de comportamiento ético y de responsabilidad social sobresalientes, los cuales han sido así reconocidos y valorados tanto a nivel nacional como internacional. las empresas, al igual que los seres humanos, viven integradas en su entorno. en él desenvuelven el tráfico económico que las caracteriza, interaccionan con otras empresas, instituciones, organizaciones, personas, y en general, con la sociedad y el medio ambiente, esto es, con todo cuanto las rodea (porter y kramer, 2002). por lo tanto, las actuaciones que las empresas llevan a cabo provocan consecuencias con efectos significativos para ellas mismas, para los demás, para su entorno y para la naturaleza. así es como la forma de actuar de una empresa no puede considerarse neutral, ya que con su comportamiento puede favorecer o perjudicar a su entorno tanto como a sí misma. por este motivo cabe preguntarse si existen límites al comportamiento empresarial derivado de las decisiones corporativas y este es precisamente el ámbito de estudio que aborda la ética de los negocios (donaldson, 2003). la ética de los negocios y la responsabilidad social corporativa de las empresas han sido aspectos ampliamente discutidos en la literatura y sobre los que se han planteado diversas posiciones. por un lado, friedman (1962, 1970) planteaba que la única responsabilidad social que tenían las empresas era incrementar sus beneficios. de este modo la empresa se convertía en un instrumento de sus propietarios que invertían capital únicamente para conseguir la máxima rentabilidad. por lo tanto, bajo este planteamiento, se rechazaba 161 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 161-189 special issue: corporate governance and ethics mailto:miguel.blanco@urjc.es mailto:santiago.gutierrez@urjc.es cualquier contribución social que hiciera la empresa, ya que dichas iniciativas debían corresponder a nivel personal a los inversores. estos posicionamientos hicieron surgir posteriormente una corriente que planteaba que los conceptos de ética y negocios eran diferentes y dicotómicos, de tal forma que incluso llegaron a definirse como antagónicos o mutuamente excluyentes (sen, 1987; freeman, 1994; wicks, 1996). otros autores, sin embargo, han defendido la compatibilidad entre la adopción de iniciativas éticas y socialmente responsables con buenos resultados en los negocios (donaldson y preston, 1995; freeman, 1994; wicks, 2001) e incluso con la generación de ventajas competitivas significativas y sostenibles (porter y kramer, 2002). en este sentido diversos estudios se han preocupado en tratar de distinguir y diferenciar los comportamientos que pueden ser valorados como éticos frente a aquellos otros que carecen de connotaciones éticas. un aspecto central de esta corriente de investigación en la ética de los negocios son los valores morales que reflejan las creencias fundamentales de los seres humanos y establecen una serie de estándares normativos para su comportamiento (frederick, 1992). donaldson (1989: 12) define los valores como elementos prescriptivos y directores de la acción que proporcionan estándares para dirigir los procesos de elección de los seres humanos, tanto desde una perspectiva individual como colectiva, y que tienen valor, así como legitimidad más allá de los límites del simple interés personal propio. en este sentido los términos ético y moral se usan de forma intercambiable como expresiones o descripciones de conductas que se refieren a los valores morales. las actividades en las que se aprecia su concordancia con esos valores se consideran éticas o morales ; mientras que en aquellas en que esos valores son violados se califican como inmorales o carentes de ética (donaldson, 1989; wicks, 2001). a pesar de su importancia, solamente ha sido en los últimos años cuando se ha conseguido superar un relativo silencio sobre la dimensión ética del comportamiento en los negocios (bird y waters, 1989; johnson y smith, 1999: 1351) convirtiéndose éste en un tema de gran actualidad que ha experimentado un desarrollo muy notable (bowie, 2000). en esta línea, wicks y freeman (1998: 123) planteaban que los estudios en organización de empresas necesitaban « ser reestructurados para dejar espacio a la ética e incrementar la importancia de su investigación ». de hecho muy recientemente, los escándalos empresariales ocurridos a ambos lados del atlántico, su difusión mediática y sus importantes repercusiones han invitado a una profunda reflexión sobre este asunto tanto a los directivos, como a los expertos en dirección de empresas. se ha suscitado así un amplio e intenso debate que abarca tanto consideraciones de carácter ético en la actuación empresarial, como en relación a los distintos dilemas morales a los que se enfrentan las organizaciones en el contexto del capitalismo contemporáneo (johnson y smith, 1999; weaver, treviño y cochran, 1999b; werhane, 2000; porter y kramer, 2002; soule, 2002; donaldson, 2003; parker, 2003; tonge, greer y lawton, 2003; veiga, 2004; clegg, kornberger y rhodes, 2007). miguel blanco callejo y santiago gutierrez broncano 162 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 161-189 special issue: corporate governance and ethics en este ámbito, se pueden distinguir dos grandes aproximaciones al estudio de la ética de los negocios : la empírica y la normativa1 (donaldson y dunfee, 1994). la aproximación empírica procede de investigadores fundamentalmente de escuelas de negocios que han aplicado sus técnicas, con frecuencia procedentes de otros campos de la investigación de la empresa, a estudiar los temas fundamentales propios de la ética corporativa y organizativa (cochran y wood, 1984; akaah y riordan, 1989; randall y gibson, 1990; treviño y youngblood, 1990). con relación a la aproximación normativa se pueden encontrar diversas perspectivas sobre la ética de los negocios que, partiendo del pluralismo filosófico, han intentado valorar la bondad de las acciones y comportamientos de las personas en el marco de su actuación empresarial tomando como base diversos criterios (garcés, 2001). algunas de esas perspectivas están basadas en la autoridad de algunos de los principales teóricos de la moral en filosofía, aristóteles (solomon, 1992, 1999) y kant (bowie, 1999); mientras que otras parten de una escuela filosófica de pensamiento, como la teoría del contrato social (donaldson y dunfee, 1994, 1995, 1999) o el pragmatismo americano (buchholz y rosenthal, 1998; rosenthal y buchholz, 2000). parker (2003: 189) sostiene que las dos perspectivas que han tenido más impacto en el análisis de la ética de los negocios han sido « la concepción kantiana del deber y la concepción utilitarista ». la concepción kantiana del deber se ha centrado en particular en la ética deontológica de kant y las implicaciones del imperativo categórico (bowie, 1999). tal visión se contrapone frecuentemente a las nociones utilitaristas de hacer el mayor bien para el mayor número de personas, que a menudo conectan con las formulaciones contemporáneas de la teoría de los grupos de interés de la empresa (weiss, 2006). estas concepciones éticas han afectado al análisis de la compatibilidad entre la adopción del modelo de gestión de calidad total y el comportamiento ético de las empresas (roth, 1993; steeples, 1994; pace, 1999; wicks, 2001; nayebpour y koehn, 2003; svensson y wood, 2005). dado que estos estudios no son concluyentes, el presente trabajo pretende valorar, a través del estudio de un caso descriptivo-ilustrativo, el comportamiento ético de una empresa del sector de la distribución comercial en españa, mercadona, la cual se significa por haber adoptado el modelo de gestión de calidad total. para valorar este aspecto se ha considerado la dificultad de proporcionar una definición exacta sobre qué significa actuar éticamente (donaldson y preston, 1995; wicks, 2001: 525). además hay que añadir que la literatura ha estudiado la compatibilidad de los principios básicos del modelo de gestión de calidad total con principios éticos desde diversas perspectivas (raiborn y payne, 1996). por todo ello, en el presente trabajo se ha decidido adoptar un concepto amplio de ética que permita superar las diferentes concepciones, ya que algunas de las cuáles no son compatibles entre sí (koehn, 1998). por eso y siguiendo el criterio de nayebpour y koehn (2003: 38) se ha decidido adoptar un concepto lo más amplio posible de ética, tratando de recoger así los aspectos que resultan comunes y aceptados para las diversas concepciones. un modelo de gobierno corporativo que permite un comportamiento ético 163 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 161-189 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 1. donaldson y dunfee (1994) señalan que, a pesar de esta distinción, la investigación se ha desarrollado a través del desarrollo de marcos que sugieren relaciones entre variables clave del comportamiento e interconexiones entre las dos líneas de investigación normativa y empírica (ferrell y gresham, 1985; hunt y vitell, 1986; jones, 1991). m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 161-189 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 164 miguel blanco callejo y santiago gutierrez broncano partiendo del planteamiento expuesto en el párrafo anterior, se recogen cinco aspectos fundamentales: primero.«las buenas acciones son resultado de tener conciencia. segundo.actuar bien requiere escuchar bien (ser receptivo). tercero.actuar bien implica un examen crítico de las creencias de todas las partes implicadas o grupos de interés relevantes (stakeholders). cuarto.hacer lo correcto requiere que los agentes consideren una variedad de posibles cursos de acción y elijan el mejor. quinto.por último, una empresa actuará de forma ética únicamente, si las acciones son tales que preservan una comunidad de intereses». (nayebpour y koehn, 2003: 38). en la medida que se toman permanentemente decisiones desde la dirección de la empresa que repercuten en otros individuos, grupos y en el entorno en general, podemos hablar de una conducta éticamente correcta o incorrecta, siempre que se ajuste a los cinco características que definen un comportamiento como ético y que se han reseñado anteriormente. este planteamiento ético amplio, global y sintético, será el enfoque que se va a utilizar en el presente trabajo para valorar el comportamiento ético de la empresa mercadona. esta compañía ha adoptado como modelo de dirección y toma de decisiones el enfoque de gestión basado en la calidad total. bajo este enfoque se concibe la empresa como un conjunto de grupos: clientes, trabajadores, proveedores, sociedad y capital. mercadona ha puesto de manifiesto reiteradamente en sus informes anuales que «la única razón que nos lleva a actuar de forma socialmente responsable es el compromiso con nuestros cinco componentes» (mercadona, 2006: 18). así, mercadona «tiene un compromiso constante al servicio de sus clientes» (mercadona, 2002: 2) buscando su «satisfacción completa» (mercadona, 2006: 16), «trata de ser la empresa del sector que más satisfaga al trabajador» (mercadona, 2000: 16), «establece vínculos estrechos mediante una relación estable tratando de compartir valores» (mercadona, 2006: 17), «trata de satisfacer permanentemente a la sociedad con cuyo desarrollo se siente vinculada y comprometida» (mercadona, 2004: 17) y por último la remuneración del capital es «el resultado de la satisfacción del resto de componentes de la empresa» (mercadona, 2006: 18). con la aplicación del modelo se pretende conseguir la máxima satisfacción de las necesidades de cada uno de los grupos, haciendo compatibles los objetivos económicos de la empresa con los objetivos de los grupos de interés vinculados a la organización. su presidente, juan roig, lo pone claramente de manifiesto, cuando afirma : «sobre todo creemos que una empresa puede ganar mucho dinero, pero si antes todos están satisfechos» (navarro carcel, 2005: 79) esta perspectiva conduce a que cada una de las decisiones que se toman dentro de la empresa deba ajustarse a este modelo, lo que encamina su actuación hacia una conducta económicamente rentable, pero socialmente responsable y éticamente correcta al mismo tiempo. sin embargo cabe destacar que mercadona no se conforma sólo con poner en marcha iniciativas ética y socialmente responsables y publicitarlas a través de los diversos medios de los que dispone la empresa, sino que va más allá, preocupándose por medir su impacto y su m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 161-189 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 165 un modelo de gobierno corporativo que permite un comportamiento ético actuación global, así como la percepción que tienen los diferentes grupos de interés vinculados con la organización sobre su comportamiento. con la finalidad de evaluar el alcance de las medidas adoptadas, ha encargado a una entidad independiente la realización de una auditoria ética que valore el grado de cumplimiento de sus objetivos. los resultados obtenidos de la misma y el posicionamiento de mercadona desde el punto de vista de su reputación a nivel nacional e internacional parecen demostrar la idoneidad del modelo de gestión implantado y avalan la consecución de unos objetivos ético-sociales que, enfocados en línea con el resto de la estrategia de la empresa y con sus objetivos económicos, le permiten disfrutar de una posición diferenciada en el mercado y de una notable ventaja competitiva respecto al resto de empresas del sector (porter y kramer, 2002). partiendo de estas premisas el trabajo presenta en primer lugar un apartado de carácter teórico en el que se expone la relación existente entre la ética de los negocios y el modelo de gestión de calidad total. a continuación se describe como la adopción del modelo de gestión de calidad total por mercadona ha conducido a la empresa por un lado a adoptar una serie de iniciativas que permiten verificar su compromiso con todos los grupos de interés vinculados a la organización y, por otro lado, ha dotado a la alta dirección de la empresa de un instrumento de toma de decisiones coherente con su modelo de gestión y con principios éticos. posteriormente, se considera la evaluación externa del modelo de gestión ético de la empresa y, por último, el trabajo finaliza con un apartado en el que se presentan las conclusiones e implicaciones directivas del mismo. la orientación ética y social del modelo de gestión de calidad total como concepto, la gestión de la calidad ha ido evolucionando en los últimos años, al mismo tiempo que ha ido cambiando el entorno y las necesidades empresariales para adaptarse a éste. este avance en la gestión de la calidad ha conducido a la literatura a concebir planteamientos y enfoques distintos, que comparten la ubicación central del concepto de calidad, pero que progresivamente y con el paso del tiempo, se han ido consolidando como enfoques cada vez más estratégicos, amplios y proactivos (camisón, gonzalez y cruz, 2006). de hecho, el concepto de gestión de calidad fue abordado de manera parcial hasta la llegada a partir de los años noventa de orientaciones más globales que se concretaron en el modelo de gestión de calidad total. este enfoque dota a la gestión de la calidad de un contenido multidimensional que busca la excelencia total de la organización a lo largo de toda la cadena de creación de valor de la empresa (dean y evans, 1994; black y porter, 1995; van der wiele, williams y dale, 2000; douglas y judge, 2001). el modelo de gestión de calidad total se puede definir como un «sistema de dirección enfocado hacia las personas que busca el constante incremento de la satisfacción del consumidor a un coste real continuamente menor. calidad total es un enfoque sistémico completo, (no un área o un programa aislado), y una parte integral de la estrategia de alto nivel; trabaja horizontalmente cruzando funciones y departamentos, implica a todos los empleados desde la cima hasta la base, y se extiende hacia atrás y hacia delante para incluir la cadena de proveedores y la cadena de clientes. calidad total acentúa el aprendizaje y la adaptación al cambio continuo como claves para el éxito» (evans [1992], citado en curkovic, melnyk, calantone y handfield, 2000: 767). partiendo de esta definición se puede apreciar que los elementos básicos del modelo de gestión de calidad total son la orientación hacia el cliente externo, la orientación hacia los grupos de interés, la cooperación interna y el trabajo en equipo, el liderazgo y el compromiso de la dirección, la gestión por procesos y sistemas, la gestión por hechos o basada en la información, la orientación a las personas o al cliente interno, el aprendizaje, la innovación y la mejora continua, el desarrollo de alianzas y la cooperación externa (black y porter, 1996; raiborn y payne, 1996; wicks, 2001; camisón et al., 2006). a pesar de no aparecer explícitamente entre los principios básicos que definen el modelo de gestión de calidad total, la literatura sobre calidad y ética ha estudiado ampliamente la vinculación entre el modelo de calidad y el comportamiento ético y social de la empresa (roth, 1993; steeples, 1994; raiborn y payne, 1996; pace, 1999; wicks, 2001; nayebpour y koehn, 2003; svensson y wood, 2005). a partir de estos estudios han surgido dos corrientes en la literatura, la primera de ellas defiende que la adopción del modelo de gestión de calidad total y sus principios básicos supone adoptar de forma directa y automática un comportamiento éticamente responsable (roth, 1993; steeples, 1994; pace, 1999). no obstante, otro grupo de autores ha sugerido que, a pesar de que la adopción de iniciativas, principios, prácticas y herramientas procedentes del modelo de gestión de calidad total pueden promover organizaciones éticas, éstas no son suficientes por sí solas, para crear corporaciones que lo sean (nayebpour y koehn, 2003: 37). de hecho algunos autores consideran que subestimar los valores éticos del modelo ha podido llevar a resultados negativos en las compañías o incluso a fracasos en la implantación del modelo de gestión de calidad total (guillén y gonzález, 2001; wicks, 2001; marco, 2002; nayebpour y koehn, 2003; svensson y wood, 2005). el concepto de gestión de calidad total, como un proceso de cambio que afecta a toda la organización, lleva a la compañía a la adopción de nuevos modelos que se fundamentan en un conjunto amplio de variables que afectan no sólo a las actividades internas de la empresa, sino al impacto que tienen sobre otros agentes externos como clientes, proveedores, comunidad local, instituciones públicas, agrupaciones voluntarias o no lucrativas y la sociedad en su conjunto (camisón et al., 2006). el principio de orientación hacia los grupos de interés (stakeholders) supone movilizar recursos para satisfacer las necesidades de sus grupos de interés clave (tan, 1997; kochan y rubinstein, 2000; arasli, 2002: 350; juse, 2004). en este sentido parece evidente que este planteamiento va más allá de considerar si resulta inmoral o injusta una producción de mala calidad miguel blanco callejo y santiago gutierrez broncano 166 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 161-189 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 2. la recogida de información se realizó en el período comprendido entre octubre de 2006 y mayo de 2007. (helms y hutchins, 1992). esto sitúa el enfoque de gestión basado en la calidad total muy próximo a los enfoques de responsabilidad social corporativa y ética empresarial (rao et al., 1996; rao, solis y raghunathan, 1999). wicks (2001 : 501) plantea que la adopción del modelo tqm lleva implícitos un conjunto de valores morales «que deben ser desarrollados y mantenidos si se desea que el modelo funcione». en esta misma línea svensson y wood (2005: 22) señalan que «la ética de los negocios puede ser percibida como un valor crucial “per se” en el modelo de gestión de calidad total» e incluso puede llegar a decirse que «el modelo de gestión de calidad total es simplemente una buena ética puesta en práctica» (raiborn y payne, 1996: 963). para verificar la aplicación del enfoque ético del modelo aludido y observar las iniciativas que se han puesto en práctica en el marco del mismo, se ha elegido como metodología de investigación el empleo de un caso de naturaleza exploratoria. la literatura plantea que la elección de la metodología de investigación es contingente a los problemas y cuestiones objeto de estudio y al estado de desarrollo de cualquier ámbito de conocimiento (eisenhardt, 1989; pettigrew, 1990; yin, 1994). el empleo del método del caso se considera adecuado en el presente trabajo, debido a que se ajusta perfectamente con las premisas que define yin (1994) en su estudio. según este autor, esta metodología debe ser seleccionada en primer lugar cuando se pretende seguir una teoría que especifica un conjunto particular de resultados en una situación concreta, y se encuentra una empresa que se halla en esa situación. el caso constituiría una prueba crítica de la teoría y de su aplicabilidad a la organización. en segundo lugar, si se pretende estudiar algunas características específicas de una situación, poco común, extraordinaria o extrema en la que se encuentra la propia organización, se puede usar esta metodología para comparar o contrastar. por último, si se pretende analizar una situación o una organización que se ha estudiado pocas veces y es única en su naturaleza, se puede emplear el estudio de casos esperando aprender algo nuevo e importante. en este sentido, la elección de mercadona como caso de estudio parece ser adecuada, ya que se trata de un ejemplo sobresaliente de la implantación del enfoque de gestión basado en la calidad total con una orientación ética hacia la satisfacción de las necesidades de los distintos grupos de interés vinculados con ella. este planteamiento hace que esta empresa pueda ser considerada excelente en la implantación de este modelo, configurándola como un ejemplo único para verificar la aplicación ética del mismo. para la realización del presente trabajo de investigación se han empleado las memorias de la empresa, dossieres de prensa económica, reseñas de entrevistas con el presidente y directivos de mercadona publicadas en prensa y observaciones de los investigadores2. el empleo de estos métodos es contingente con el planteamiento de yin (1981: 58) que sostiene que utilizar como metodología de investigación el estudio de casos «no implica el empleo de un tipo particular de evidencias». de hecho, los casos combinan diferentes métodos de recolección de datos, tales como archivos, entrevistas, empleo de cuestionarios y observaciones, o una combinación de estos métodos (eisenhardt, 1989; yin, 1981). un modelo de gobierno corporativo que permite un comportamiento ético 167 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 161-189 special issue: corporate governance and ethics miguel blanco callejo y santiago gutierrez broncano 168 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 161-189 special issue: corporate governance and ethics enfoque ético y modelo de gestión de calidad total: el caso de mercadona mercadona es una empresa familiar de distribución comercial de productos de alimentación e higiene, integrada dentro del segmento de supermercados de gran tamaño (más de 1.000 m2) que responde a un modelo de comercio urbano de proximidad. la denominación social mercadona s.a. aparece en 1977, pero la compañía tuvo su origen en cárnicas roig, empresa familiar propiedad de francisco roig ballester, especializada en el despiece y venta de carnes y que, posteriormente, se transformó en un grupo de ocho tiendas de ultramarinos (mercadona, 2006). en 1981, uno de sus hijos, juan roig que asumió la dirección de la empresa, constituyó una pequeña cadena comercial de varios establecimientos, la cual pronto comenzó a crecer y a adquirir una cierta dimensión en la comunidad valenciana e introducirse en otras comunidades. la expansión de la empresa coincidió con una época de crecimiento en el sector de la distribución comercial, impulsado fundamentalmente por ciertas variables como la concentración de la población en las ciudades y la incorporación de la mujer al mercado laboral. motivadas y atraídas por este crecimiento, las grandes cadenas de distribución europeas comenzaron a introducirse en españa. la estrategia de estas grandes compañías consistió en la apertura de grandes superficies comerciales, hipermercados, donde se establecían precios bajos en determinados productos empleando una estrategia de fuertes promociones, ofertas y descuentos que eran apoyados por agresivas campañas publicitarias en los medios de comunicación (navarro carcel, 2005: 70-79). estos precios se conseguían gracias a estrategias de presión y ajuste de precios sobre los proveedores. a través de este sistema, se captaba a clientes que, atraídos por los precios bajos, no sólo adquirían los productos en oferta, sino otros por los que pagaban precios más elevados, en los que las cadenas obtenían elevados márgenes de beneficio. como consecuencia de esta estrategia, en los años noventa se produjo una gran concentración en el sector de las cadenas de alimentación que pasaron a ser controladas por multinacionales extranjeras. la competencia de estas empresas endureció la rivalidad en la industria, que pasó a tener la consideración de madura, con fuerte competencia y pequeños márgenes, lo que configuraba un entorno altamente cambiante y muy turbulento. ante esta situación, mercadona adoptó una política similar a la de las grandes cadenas de hipermercados: ajustar los precios con sus proveedores y realizar fuertes campañas publicitarias para promocionar los productos que ponía en oferta cada día. sin embargo, los resultados no fueron los esperados, ya que esa era la estrategia de las grandes superficies de distribución comercial y mercadona conseguía vender más, pero cada año la empresa ganaba menos. de hecho, en 1990 con una facturación de 763 mill. € obtuvo un beneficio de menos de 15 mill. €, un año después en 1991, la facturación alcanzó los 877 mill. € pero obtuvo unos beneficios de menos de 6 mill. € (navarro carcel, 2005; caparrós y biot, 2006). fue un período muy delicado en el que la empresa tuvo que afrontar momentos de gran dificultad. no obstante, el presidente, incluso con ofertas de compra tentadoras, se mantuvo firme en su convicción de permanecer en el negocio. así, en 1993 juan roig optó por implantar una estrategia que rompiera la dinámica del sector y decidió introducir el modelo de gestión de calidad total. esta iniciativa se tradujo en una nueva estrategia comercial resumida en un lema sencillo siempre precios bajos (spb). mientras el resto de competidores insertaban a diario publicidad de forma masiva en los medios de comunicación, mercadona cortó en seco sus gastos publicitarios. en plena vorágine de ofertas, mercadona las anuló todas, comprometiéndose con los clientes a vender siempre al mismo precio y con los proveedores a ser fiel en sus compras durante años con precios estables (caparrós y biot, 2006); proveedores, por otra parte, para los que había sido uno de los distribuidores más duros negociando. su principal objetivo era blindarse en medio de tanta turbulencia e implantar un modelo peculiar, original, novedoso dentro del sector de la distribución comercial: estabilidad en precios, proveedores y trabajadores para conseguir clientes fijos. fue en este momento cuando, al amparo de la definición de la nueva estrategia, la empresa llevó a cabo la redefinición de su misión. los supermercados de mercadona pretendían convertirse en los «prescriptores de las soluciones necesarias para que el cliente se fabrique su compra total» (mercadona, 2006). los resultados, tras la adopción del nuevo modelo, no invitaban al optimismo. aunque la empresa conseguía vender prácticamente el doble que cuatro años antes, los beneficios no llegaban a la mitad. no obstante, el presidente fue consecuente con su decisión y mantuvo con firmeza la estrategia basada en el nuevo modelo de gestión. en 1995 los resultados mejoraron y a partir de ese momento la empresa se lanzó a un espectacular e imparable proceso de crecimiento, fundamentalmente orgánico y en forma de “mancha de aceite”, que le ha convertido en una de las cadenas de supermercados con mayor presencia y más rentables del mercado. a finales de 2007 mercadona contaba con 60.000 empleados, más de 1.100 supermercados distribuidos en la práctica totalidad del territorio nacional y obtuvo un beneficio neto de 336 millones € (mercadona, 2007). además, en los últimos años mantiene un ritmo de aperturas de aproximadamente un centenar de nuevos supermercados cada año (figura 1). este ritmo le ha supuesto alcanzar una tasa de crecimiento anual del 25,2%, lo que ha situado a mercadona en la decimocuarta posición del ranking mundial de su sector, convirtiéndola en la segunda empresa de distribución alimentaria que más crece en todo el mundo, tras el gigante norteamericano de la distribución comercial, wal-mart (deloitte, 2007). la dirección de la empresa sostiene que el aspecto clave que le ha permitido alcanzar esas cifras de crecimiento y los espectaculares resultados económicos, ha sido la adopción y el mantenimiento del modelo de gestión de calidad total. a través de este enfoque la dirección de mercadona ha configurado su empresa con una clara orientación hacia la satisfacción de las necesidades y expectativas de todos los grupos de interés que se relacionan con ella. en base a esta conun modelo de gobierno corporativo que permite un comportamiento ético 169 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 161-189 special issue: corporate governance and ethics cepción ha definido cinco componentes de la empresa : clientes, empleados, proveedores, sociedad y capital; todos ellos de igual importancia aunque en ese orden secuencial (mercadona 2000-2006). el modelo de gestión de calidad total en mercadona parte de una premisa universal que dota a la compañía de una cierta orientación ética: «para poder estar satisfecho, primero hay que satisfacer a los demás». esta circunstancia tiene impacto en su actuación. por ello, en primer lugar, orienta todo su modelo de negocio hacia la satisfacción completa de sus clientes, a los que considera tan importantes que los denomina internamente como sus “jefes”. con este objetivo, la empresa busca constantemente soluciones centradas en satisfacer todas las necesidades que sus clientes puedan tener en los ámbitos de alimentación, bebida, aseo personal, limpieza del hogar y comida para animales domésticos. en el mismo sentido expuesto anteriormente, la dirección de la empresa está convencida de que los trabajadores, que son quienes tienen que satisfacer al cliente dentro de sus supermercados, han de estar a su vez satisfechos. por ese motivo la compañía, que los considera su «activo más valioso» (mercadona, 2006: 16) ha establecido una particular forma de gestionar su personal, implantando políticas que persiguen la autorrealización de sus empleados a través de la estabilidad y seguridad laboral, la formación, la promoción interna y la mejora de su calidad de vida. miguel blanco callejo y santiago gutierrez broncano 170 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 161-189 special issue: corporate governance and ethics figura 1. número de supermercados mercadona fuente: informes anuales de mercadona 20 0 23 2 35 8 40 0 4 93 58 9 6 81 77 0 8 62 96 0 10 60 1 13 7 19 96 19 97 19 98 19 99 20 00 20 01 20 02 20 03 20 04 20 05 20 06 20 07 en cuanto a la relación con los proveedores, son los productos elaborados por ellos los que deben conseguir la máxima satisfacción de los clientes. por consiguiente, mercadona ha establecido una vinculación con sus proveedores basada en la confianza, la cooperación, la colaboración mutua y la estabilidad. en lo que respecta al cuarto componente de la empresa, la sociedad, al ser el medio en el que la empresa realiza su actividad, mercadona se siente vinculada y comprometida con su desarrollo. por este motivo pone en marcha distintas iniciativas que fomentan y promueven el crecimiento económico y la creación de valor, favoreciendo además la mejora del entorno educativo, social y medioambiental. por último, a través de la satisfacción de las necesidades de clientes, trabajadores, proveedores y sociedad, mercadona contribuye a satisfacer las expectativas del quinto elemento de su modelo, el capital. de esta forma los accionistas perciben como retribución económica de su inversión recursos derivados de la satisfacción de las necesidades de todos los componentes de la empresa y se consiguen unos resultados económicos que permiten el crecimiento y la expansión a medio y largo plazo de la compañía retroalimentando el modelo de gestión (figura 2). sin embargo, a pesar de su aparente sencillez, la aplicación del modelo de gestión de calidad total no es sencilla, ni fácil. de hecho, una de las dificultades principales del mismo radica en la introducción y el un modelo de gobierno corporativo que permite un comportamiento ético 171 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 161-189 special issue: corporate governance and ethics figura 2. orientación ética del modelo de gestión de calidad total en mercadona fuente: informes anuales de mercadona y elaboración propia gestion de la calidad total orientación ética hacia la satisfacción del cliente orientación ética hacia la dirección de valor del capital orientación ética hacia el compromiso de los empleado orientación ética hacia la sociedad orientación ética hacia la cooperación con proveedores m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 161-189 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 172 miguel blanco callejo y santiago gutierrez broncano desarrollo de programas y herramientas que permitan satisfacer a todos y cada uno de los diversos componentes de la empresa. se intenta conseguir, además, que lo hagan de forma que perciban que se están satisfaciendo sus necesidades, lo que permitirá transmitir una imagen de empresa responsable y éticamente comprometida. en cualquier caso, el disponer de un modelo tan potente, le ha permitido a mercadona alcanzar ventajas competitivas sobre la competencia, orientar de forma global su estrategia y cultura organizativa hacia un enfoque ético y sobre todo, disponer de una herramienta potente y coherente para la toma de decisiones éticas y socialmente responsables. en este sentido, el modelo de gestión de calidad total dota al gobierno corporativo de la empresa de un instrumento que permite dirigir su comportamiento bajo parámetros éticos. así, toda iniciativa propuesta para su adopción dentro de la compañía, debe ser evaluada conforme a su adecuación al modelo y solamente se adopta y pone en práctica por la empresa en el caso de que las consecuencias de la misma produzcan satisfacción en los cinco componentes, rechazándose en caso contrario. es decir, la orientación a la satisfacción de las necesidades de los diferentes grupos de interés de la empresa permite discernir si la decisión es ética o no. en el momento que las consecuencias de una decisión no satisfagan las necesidades de alguno de los componentes del modelo será rechazada, esto asegura que todas las decisiones que toma la empresa son éticas y correctas según el planteamiento expuesto. de esta forma es como la empresa determina y pone en práctica su idea de responsabilidad y establece una clara distinción entre lo moral y justo y lo inmoral e injusto. partiendo de estas premisas la tabla 1 pretende resumir los comportamientos éticos de mercadona en relación a los diversos grupos de interés que configuran la organización. tabla 1. actuaciones éticas de mercadona stakeholders orientación clientes garantia de máxima calidad de productos compromiso “siempre precios bajos” adelantarse a necesidades futuras diálogo constante y directo con las clientes compromiso colectivos con problemas salud hábitas de consumo saludables trabajadores dignificar la labor del trabajador creación de empleo estable y de calidad formación continua y promoción interna niveles retributivos superiores a la media del sector (primas par objetivos) medidas de conciliación de vida laboral y familiar protección de la salud y seguridad de trabajadores y sus familias clientes cooperación más allá de limites empresariales principios básicos de equidad y justicia en la relación compromiso entre ambas partes relación con interproveedores clientes educación e investigación cuidado y preservación del medioambiente programas de ayuda a colectivos con problemas de salud y desfavorecidos revitalización del comercio de proximidad en zonas urbanas participación asociaciones sectoriales creación de riqueza económica y desarrollo del setor agroalimentario clientes excelentes resultados económicos resultado de satisfacción del resto de grupos de interés auditoría ética de la compañia m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 161-189 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 173 un modelo de gobierno corporativo que permite un comportamiento ético a continuación se va a proceder a analizar las diferentes actuaciones que mercadona en el ejercicio de su responsabilidad, tanto interna como externa, lleva a cabo con cada uno de sus cinco componentes. orientación ética hacia la satisfacción de necesidades de clientes uno de los pilares fundamentales del modelo de gestión de calidad total es su orientación hacia la satisfacción de las necesidades del cliente. es por este motivo que mercadona sitúa al cliente en una posición privilegiada y realiza un gran número de actividades e iniciativas para conseguir cuidar, fidelizar y lograr que sus clientes creen el máximo valor posible como resultado de realizar su compra en mercadona. la empresa toma decisiones orientadas a satisfacer las necesidades de sus clientes. posee una clara orientación hacia ellos, de manera que son considerados como los jefes. si se analizan en particular las actuaciones de carácter ético que la empresa mercadona lleva a cabo hacia sus clientes, se pueden destacar las siguientes. en primer lugar, como empresa dedicada a la distribución comercial, mercadona garantiza la máxima calidad de sus productos. para ello, parte del principio de que sería injusto e inmoral el comercializar productos de mala calidad o que se encontrasen en mal estado de conservación (helms y hutchins, 1992). para ello, mercadona tiene un departamento de calidad que, a través del trabajo conjunto con los proveedores, debe garantizar la calidad nutricional de todos los productos de alimentación de la empresa. para ello a lo largo de los últimos ejercicios, se han introducido en sus estanterías alimentos más ricos en fibra, más productos ecológico/vegetales, se han sustituido las grasas saturadas por aceite de girasol, productos con bajos niveles de sal, se han puesto en marcha ejercicios de trazabilidad alimentaria con los proveedores, se han firmado convenios de colaboración con entidades especializadas en certificación y el ministerio de sanidad y consumo para apoyar la implantación de modelos y hábitos de consumo saludables y mejorar la nutrición de la población (mercadona 2000-2006). en línea con estas iniciativas, durante el año 2005 se procedió a la revisión de todos los productos para evaluar el contenido de posibles alérgenos. en aquellos donde se han detectado, o bien han sido sustituidos por otros o, si no era posible su sustitución, se ha incorporado la información en el etiquetado para facilitar la compra al cliente (mercadona, 2005). en segundo lugar, mercadona ha adquirido con sus clientes el compromiso de mantener “siempre precios bajos”. esta estrategia supone que el cliente tiene la garantía, por parte de mercadona, de que el precio de los productos de las marcas propias de mercadona en los supermercados son siempre lo más bajos posibles y no están sometidos a ofertas y descuentos en precios. además mercadona garantiza en todos esos productos los principios de vida y denominación, garantizando el origen y la fecha de envasado de los productos, así como la misma denominación en productos con la misma calidad. miguel blanco callejo y santiago gutierrez broncano 174 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 161-189 special issue: corporate governance and ethics pero además mercadona no se conforma sólo con cumplir esos compromisos en calidad y precio adquiridos con sus clientes, sino que además procura adelantarse a la satisfacción de sus necesidades futuras. con este objetivo, la empresa lleva a cabo una renovación permanente del surtido como fruto de su investigación, siempre manteniendo la lealtad hacia sus clientes y el compromiso de no cambiar a productos de menor calidad. de hecho, durante el año 2005 incorporó más de 1.200 nuevas referencias a su catálogo (mercadona, 2005). como muestra de su investigación e innovación, siempre al servicio de satisfacer las necesidades de sus clientes, alguna de las iniciativas que ha desarrollado la empresa recientemente ha sido la sustitución de los mostradores de carne de los supermercados por modernas carnicerías con bandejeros para garantizar una mayor calidad en el tratamiento de ésta, la elaboración de productos pioneros como el embutido sin tripa, verduras congeladas en bandejas listas para calentar en el microondas, champú o jabón de manos sin necesidad de agua, envasado individual de bollería, eliminación de grapas en las infusiones o la introducción del sistema de “solapín” en las latas de conserva (mercadona 2002-2006). estas actuaciones sirven para incrementar la satisfacción de las necesidades de los clientes y mostrarles su compromiso. para conseguir este objetivo resulta esencial el establecimiento de mecanismos de comunicación que permitan mantener un diálogo fluido entre la empresa y sus clientes. en este sentido, durante el año 2005, mercadona realizó más de 150.000 horas de reuniones y cursos monográficos y utilizó la comunicación directa en mas de 120.000 encuentros con clientes, lo que le permitió llegar a más 1,2 millones de hogares e invirtió un total de 12,5 millones de euros en mejorar la comunicación con éstos (mercadona, 2005). mercadona dispone, además, de un servicio de atención telefónico al cliente gratuito, dónde 32 empleados resuelven dudas y atienden sugerencias, quejas y peticiones de los usuarios. además, mercadona percibe cada queja que realizan los clientes en los servicios de atención al cliente no como un problema, sino más bien como una oportunidad de interrelación con él. desde la dirección se exige que en un plazo breve de tiempo se dé una respuesta al cliente en relación a la queja planteada. por último, mercadona además muestra su compromiso con colectivos que tienen problemas de salud, facilitando el acceso de los mismos a alimentos adecuados para ellos. así, mercadona ofrece productos específicos para el consumo de personas celíacas y diabéticas. en 2005 ofertó más de 270 productos de los que la federación de asociaciones de celíacos de españa (face), incorpora en el libro que anualmente edita y fue la primera empresa en ofrecer dos tipos de galletas sin gluten para este colectivo. además, tal y como se mencionaba anteriormente, promociona hábitos saludables de alimentación a través de la asociación española de distribuidores, autoservicios y supermercados (asedas), así como con otras asociaciones, que junto con el ministerio de sanidad y consumo, apoyan la difusión y la realización de la estrategia naos (nutrición, actividad fisica y prevención de la obesidad), cuyo objetivo es implementar modelos de hábitos de consumo para mejorar la nutrición de la población a través de una oferta de productos con un menor aporte calórico, un menor contenido en grasas, azúcares y sal y un mayor contenido en fibra (mercadona, 2006). actuaciones éticas hacia los empleados para la dirección de la empresa, la orientación hacia el compromiso con el personal dentro de la compañía es otro de los pilares del modelo de gestión de calidad total. en base a esta premisa, debe existir conciencia de calidad entre todos los miembros de la organización y la dirección de la empresa debe tener presente que la calidad se hace con personas. en este sentido, se debe conseguir compromiso, implicación y/o participación de los trabajadores, incorporando ciertos valores éticos que se traducen en prácticas concretas de gestión de recursos humanos. partiendo de esas premisas, el objetivo fundamental de la dirección de la empresa es dignificar al máximo la labor del trabajador en un supermercado. así, para conseguir satisfacer las necesidades de sus trabajadores y favorecer una percepción favorable de la plantilla hacia la empresa y sus objetivos, mercadona se ha comprometido con la estabilidad de su plantilla. ofrece a todos sus trabajadores un contrato fijo de carácter indefinido, formación continua del personal a lo largo de toda su vida laboral, establecimiento de una política de retribución superior a la media del sector, un procedimiento de promoción interna, donde todos los puestos directivos son ocupados por personal de la empresa y, por último, ha puesto en marcha iniciativas novedosas y pioneras en materia de conciliación de la vida laboral y familiar, así como de protección y salud de sus trabajadores. en primer lugar, mercadona está comprometida con la creación de empleo estable y de calidad. en un sector donde predominan los contratos eventuales y temporales y dónde la rotación y el absentismo son muy elevados, mercadona adquirió el compromiso de garantizar un contrato fijo de carácter indefinido a todos sus empleados, los cuales disfrutan de la tranquilidad y beneficios que aporta la estabilidad laboral. esta decisión ha convertido a mercadona en una de las empresa españolas líderes en la creación de empleo fijo (mercadona, 2006). mercadona no sólo proporciona a sus trabajadores un contrato fijo, sino que también se preocupa por aumentar su cualificación. de este modo, la formación es una de las primeras muestras del compromiso de mercadona con sus trabajadores. la formación de éstos comienza desde el momento que se incorporan a la empresa con el denominado “plan de acogida”. antes de que comiencen a trabajar, todos los empleados reciben formación durante nueve semanas, donde se les trata de inculcar la cultura de la empresa, a través de cursos específicos en el modelo de gestión de calidad total. para facilitar el aprendizaje, la empresa dispone de manuales que se entregan a todos los trabajadores, donde se incorporan las principales ideas del modelo y ejercicios prácticos que, posteriormente, son evaluados a través de exámenes y pruebas escritas. en realidad, cualquier programa de forun modelo de gobierno corporativo que permite un comportamiento ético 175 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 161-189 special issue: corporate governance and ethics miguel blanco callejo y santiago gutierrez broncano 176 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 161-189 special issue: corporate governance and ethics mación, que es puesto en marcha por la empresa, se evalúa. los programas de formación, impartidos por personal en plantilla, en muchas ocasiones, son realizados en los propios supermercados, dónde en todos ellos existen aulas habilitadas para recibir formación. una vez incorporados a sus puestos de trabajo, la formación que reciben los trabajadores, durante su estancia en la empresa, es muy variada, y comprende desde la utilización de nuevas herramientas tecnológicas, hasta la especialización de tareas en el supermercado o cursos de liderazgo, así como en prevención de riesgos laborales. mediante esta política de formación, se consigue el desarrollo de las capacidades de los empleados que se ve complementada con una política de promoción interna, lo que facilita su identificación con mercadona. de hecho, la totalidad de las personas que ocupan cargos directivos de la empresa son fruto de la promoción interna que, partiendo desde la base, pueden llegar hasta al consejo de dirección. la inversión en formación de los trabajadores es una de las partidas de gasto más importantes de la compañía (figura 3). durante el ejercicio 2007 se destinaron 72 millones de €, una media de más de 1.200 euros por trabajador y se impartieron más de 4,5 millones de horas de formación a los trabajadores de la empresa (75 horas por trabajador) (mercadona, 2007). esto ayuda a que la empresa pueda conseguir mejor sus objetivos al disponer de un personal más cualificado, flexible y motivado. esta política de formación y promoción interna se ve complementada figura 3. inversión en formación (en millones de euros) fuente: memorias mercadona 15 ,6 2 18 ,6 3 19 ,7 0 23 ,3 0 30 ,5 0 34 ,5 0 41 ,0 0 58 ,0 0 72 ,0 0 19 99 20 00 20 01 20 02 20 03 20 04 20 05 20 06 20 07 con una política salarial centrada en el principio de equidad, esto es, a idéntica responsabilidad, igual sueldo. los trabajadores parten de un salario que se encuentra por encima de la media del sector y la compañía establece primas por cumplimiento de objetivos que en los últimos años se han traducido en una compensación entre una y dos mensualidades extra de salario por trabajador. en línea con esas iniciativas, mercadona apuesta, además, por conseguir los mayores niveles posibles de conciliación entre la vida laboral y la familiar de sus trabajadores a través de servicios y prestaciones adicionales, así como al tratar de conseguir la máxima protección del trabajador. de esta forma, mercadona trata de mejorar continuamente las condiciones de trabajo de sus empleados: guarderías gratuitas en los centros logísticos, ampliación de un mes adicional del permiso de maternidad por cuenta de la empresa, no apertura de supermercados los domingos o la política de acercamiento de trabajadores al supermercado más cercano a su domicilio. por último, en relación al cuidado y protección del trabajador, mercadona también desarrolla actividades preventivas y correctivas en el ámbito de la seguridad y la salud, sobre todo mediante una cultura de prevención interna, que mide y promueve activamente la ausencia de accidentes o enfermedades a través de un departamento interno de prevención de riesgos laborales. como medida adicional de prevención y seguridad, todos los trabajadores de la empresa tienen un seguro de vida por el que se abona a los empleados el 100% de su sueldo en caso de incapacidad y se han articulado medidas que garantizan el sostenimiento de la familia en caso de fallecimiento de trabajadores de la empresa, asegurando financiación para los estudios de sus hijos y ofreciendo a éstos la posibilidad de incorporarse a la compañía. actuaciones éticas hacia los proveedores la incorporación del principio de cooperación externa al sistema de valores de la gestión de calidad total consiste en extender la cooperación más allá de los límites empresariales. mercadona, lo pone en práctica de una manera especial con sus proveedores. la relación entre mercadona y sus proveedores persigue la cooperación, la estabilidad en la relación, los beneficios mutuos, así como el compartir formación e información para la mejora de todos los procesos de negocio. esta capacidad de expansión del modelo de gestión de calidad total hacia otros componentes de la cadena de valor de la empresa permite que los valores éticos de la compañía se expandan más allá de los límites empresariales. la relación entre mercadona y sus proveedores se fundamenta en una serie de principios básicos: tratar a los proveedores como “nos gustaría que nos tratasen a nosotros mismos” (respeto, educación, equidad interna), limitar la adquisición de productos a aquellos que creen valor, en el sentido que sean capaces de satisfacer una necesidad, obligación de cumplimiento de los compromisos establecidos entre la empresa y sus proveedores, establecimiento de relaciones bajo el principio de “ganar y ganar”, es decir, que ambas empresas alcancen un modelo de gobierno corporativo que permite un comportamiento ético 177 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 161-189 special issue: corporate governance and ethics miguel blanco callejo y santiago gutierrez broncano 178 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 161-189 special issue: corporate governance and ethics beneficios mutuos de su relación y, por último, la aplicación del “principio de salvaguarda”, consistente en que, llegado el caso de finalización de la relación contractual con el proveedor, se establece un período transitorio, que puede durar hasta tres años, durante los cuáles ambas compañías mantienen sus compromisos de forma que ambas empresas sean capaces de buscar nuevos clientes y proveedores que aseguren su mutua supervivencia. como puede apreciarse el compromiso es el elemento esencial que preside la relación entre mercadona y sus proveedores. sin embargo, cabe destacar que el grado de compromiso es diferente en función de la relación establecida entre mercadona y sus empresas suministradoras. así, mercadona distingue cuatro categorías de proveedores: clásicos, “al coll”, intermediarios e interproveedores. los proveedores clásicos, con los que se mantiene una relación contractual convencional, son suministradores de productos y servicios que el cliente demanda, principalmente motivado por las inversiones en marketing que realizan esas compañías. en segundo lugar, los proveedores “al coll”, (al cuello), son empresas productoras con dificultades para dar salida a sus productos; mercadona adquiere sus productos y estas empresas dependen de las ventas realizadas a la cadena de supermercados para asegurar su supervivencia; sin embargo trabajar con mercadona posibilita que las empresas puedan seguir con sus negocios, evitando cierres que tendrían efectos traumáticos sobre sus plantillas. en tercer lugar, los intermediarios son agentes que se encuentran entre el proveedor y mercadona. mercadona sostiene que estos intermediarios no añaden valor, son innecesarios y lo único que hacen es incrementar el coste del producto para el cliente, por lo que trata de evitarlos. por último, los interproveedores representan la última categoría de proveedores de la empresa. estas empresas comparten con mercadona la filosofía de gestión basada en el modelo de calidad total y con ellas mercadona mantiene una relación a largo plazo, (indefinida), y con voluntad de desarrollar actividades conjuntas. la dirección de mercadona está comprometida con el crecimiento, desarrollo y sostenibilidad de sus interproveedores, dedicando importantes recursos a la investigación conjunta y mejora de productos, que incrementan la competitividad de éstos y sus posibilidades de satisfacer las necesidades del cliente. así, su compromiso es mantener contratos de por vida y pagar un precio “justo” y estable que permita al proveedor asegurar siempre sus costes más un margen de beneficio. además, desde el punto de vista medioambiental, desarrolla programas de ahorro de recursos combinados que son premiados anualmente a través de un galardón que reconoce su esfuerzo. en el año 2005, este premio se otorgó a un proveedor que fue capaz de desarrollar en los rollos de papel (higiénico, cocina) un sistema que permitía compactar el papel mediante la extracción del aire sobrante en los productos de celulosa. esta iniciativa supuso un notable ahorro de espacio y la reducción de un total de 190 toneladas de plástico, 1.200 toneladas de cartón y 1.800 horas de transporte al año, con lo que se reduce el daño hacia el medio ambiente (mercadona, 2005). este tipo de políticas combinadas entre mercadona y sus proveedores es bastante habitual, incentivándose constantemente, motivo por el que se otorga un premio al mejor proyecto del año. es con esta última categoría de proveedores con los que mercadona consigue extender en mayor medida los principios del modelo de gestión basado en la calidad total, posibilitando la expansión del modelo y de los comportamientos éticos que el modelo implica a sus proveedores. en este sentido mercadona exige la satisfacción de las necesidades de todos los componentes de la empresa proveedora: clientes, trabajadores, proveedores, sociedad y capital, imponiendo auditorias y políticas de libros abiertos, de compartir información y certificaciones para conseguir verificar la seguridad alimentaria de sus productos y medioambiental de sus procesos de negocio. actuaciones éticas hacia la sociedad el análisis del efecto e impacto de las acciones empresariales en el entorno social en que la empresa desarrolla su actividad, también va a ser un aspecto definitorio de las empresas que desarrollan un modelo de gestión basado en la calidad total. en este sentido, mercadona participa implantando multitud de iniciativas que pretenden contribuir al avance social en diversos aspectos: educación e investigación, mejora y cuidado del medioambiente, desarrollo de programas de ayuda a colectivos con problemas de salud y desfavorecidos, revitalización del comercio en zonas urbanas, participación en asociaciones sectoriales de distribución comercial y, por último, creación de riqueza y puestos de trabajo en el sector agroalimentario español. en primer lugar, en el plano educativo, participa en numerosas iniciativas que vinculan los estudios universitarios con la actividad empresarial, fundamentalmente en el ámbito de la comunidad valenciana. cabe destacar la participación desde el año 1999 en la cátedra de cultura empresarial que organiza la fundación universidad-empresa de valencia, el convenio que mantiene desde el año 2003 con la universidad de alicante para patrocinar junto con la caja de ahorros del mediterráneo, la cátedra de empresa familiar y la colaboración activa con la fundación escuela de dirección de empresas del mediterráneo (edem) de la que la compañía es fundadora en el año 2002, con el fin de mejorar la formación académica, el desarrollo de habilidades empresariales y los conocimientos de funcionamiento y gestión de las empresas familiares, así como de tratar de inculcar los beneficios que reporta una gestión con una filosofía basada en los principios éticos y orientada al liderazgo (mercadona, 1999-2005). además recientemente mercadona firmó un convenio de colaboración con la universidad politécnica de valencia con el objetivo de desarrollar programas informáticos para asignar horarios de trabajo a sus empleados (mercadona, 2006). también desarrolla programas de investigación en materias relacionadas con el desarrollo agroalimentario con universidades y centros de investigación en toda españa (universidad de valencia, universidad de burgos, universidad de león, instituto canario de investigaciones agrarias y con el centro catalán de la un modelo de gobierno corporativo que permite un comportamiento ético 179 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 161-189 special issue: corporate governance and ethics m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 161-189 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 180 miguel blanco callejo y santiago gutierrez broncano nutrición del centro de estudios catalanes). por último, es frecuente la participación de sus directivos en distintos foros de debate, congresos, seminarios y programas institucionales de orientación divulgativa. en segundo lugar, en relación a la mejora y el cuidado del medio ambiente, ha adoptado el principio de mantener un comportamiento responsable con el entorno. con este motivo, ha puesto en marcha diversos programas de reciclaje de residuos, realiza estudios sobre su tratamiento e implanta medidas y soluciones globales tendentes a minimizar el impacto medioambiental de sus actividades, busca mecanismos que permitan conseguir la máxima eficiencia energética y optimiza los sistemas de distribución urbana de mercancías a nivel nacional y a nivel urbano en las ciudades3. en lo que respecta a la ayuda a colectivos sociales con problemas de salud o desfavorecidos, mercadona dispone de productos especiales en sus supermercados para clientes celíacos, sin gluten, y para diabéticos, sin azúcar, lo que facilita la compra de estos grupos. además, la empresa ha firmado convenios con instituciones públicas para impulsar medidas conjuntas que posibiliten la inserción laboral de mujeres víctimas de violencia doméstica o proyectos de formación profesional y social de jóvenes con dificultades de inserción sociolaboral. por otro lado, mercadona también ha contribuido notablemente a la revitalización y el dinamismo del comercio urbano de proximidad. para ello ha restaurado y relanzado los tradicionales mercados urbanos, situados en el centro de las ciudades, introduciendo un supermercado en su interior. el modelo de mercadona de “supermercados de confianza” sostiene que la confianza tiene mucho que ver con la cercanía y proximidad con el cliente. de hecho, el supermercado de mercadona se define como una tienda de barrio que comparte muchas de las características tradicionales de este tipo de establecimientos: preocupación por los vecinos y su entorno, confianza mutua, colaboración y cercanía. para finalizar, en lo que respecta a la participación en asociaciones sectoriales y en la generación de riqueza, mercadona participa en asedas (asociación española de distribuidores, autoservicios y supermercados), en la aecoc (asociación española de codificación comercial). ocupa un lugar importante en la sociedad española de seguridad alimentaria, al formar parte de sus órganos directivos y en la asociación para la investigación de la industria agroalimentaria, con representación en el consejo rector. ambas asociaciones pretenden el desarrollo del sector y la participación coordinada para la mejora y desarrollo del tejido industrial y económico vinculado a estas organizaciones. en referencia a la creación de riqueza, cabe destacar algunos aspectos cuantitativos que son resaltados por la compañía, tales como la importante y creciente contribución de la empresa al producto interior bruto (figura 4), el liderazgo en españa respecto a la generación de empleo estable, así como la importancia de su inversión en la industria agroalimentaria española. en relación a este último aspecto, según datos del ine, durante el año 2006 la inversión conjunta de la industria agroalimentaria española fue de 3.642 millones de euros. en ese mismo período la inversión conjunta de los inter3. mercadona ha llegado a un acuerdo con renfe para el traslado de productos y mercancías a nivel nacional. en relación al sistema logístico en ciudades, ha implantado el sistema de transporte urbano de mercancías (tum). este sistema consiste en que la descarga de productos para el supermercado se hace durante la madrugada mediante grandes camiones trailers silenciosos, que reducen la contaminación acústica, la congestión del tráfico y la contaminación medioambiental (la reducción de emisiones de co2 es la equivalente a 30.000 coches) y además se consiguen ahorrar costes (22.500 litros de gasoil diarios) y aumentar la seguridad del proceso (mercadona, 2006). m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 161-189 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 181 un modelo de gobierno corporativo que permite un comportamiento ético proveedores de mercadona, que en la gran mayoría de los casos se encuentra dentro de este sector, fue de 700 millones de euros, de acuerdo con datos facilitados por mercadona, lo que representa aproximadamente una quinta parte del total y muestra la importancia de la inversión de mercadona en este sector (mercadona, 2006). actuaciones éticas hacia el capital el resultado de la actividad de la compañía bajo el modelo expuesto también tiene una repercusión a nivel de resultados económico-financieros y de creación de valor para sus propietarios. en primer lugar, cabe destacar que mercadona es una empresa familiar que no cotiza en bolsa. bajo la forma societaria de sociedad anónima, presenta una distribución accionarial muy concentrada, donde la propiedad y el control mayoritario está en manos del presidente de la compañía juan roig y de su familia. el presidente sostiene que, bajo el modelo de gestión de calidad total, también es justa la satisfacción de las necesidades del último componente de la empresa, el capital, es decir, de aquellas personas y entidades que invierten su dinero en la compañía aportando recursos económicos. esta circunstancia hace que la empresa también presente una clara orientación hacia la maximización de resultados, como una forma de satisfacer los deseos y necesidades de sus accionistas. en figura 4. aportación de mercadona al pib (millones de €) fuente: memorias mercadona 96 0 12 33 1 47 1 1 75 6 21 40 25 18 20 02 20 03 20 04 20 05 20 06 20 07 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 161-189 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 182 miguel blanco callejo y santiago gutierrez broncano este sentido, el modelo de gestión de la empresa busca que sus accionistas obtengan una serie de ventajas, que se consideran valiosas, tales como rentabilidad, estabilidad, seguridad y disminución máxima del riesgo de su inversión. en línea con este planteamiento, los resultados económicos de la empresa se pueden catalogar como espectaculares. en relación con los beneficios, cabe destacar que el beneficio neto de la compañía se ha multiplicado más de 34 veces en los últimos diez años, hasta llegar a una cifra de 242 millones de euros. la evolución tanto del beneficio bruto como del beneficio neto de la empresa, a partir de la implantación del modelo de gestión de calidad total, se puede apreciar en la figura 5. en relación con los beneficios, cabe destacar que el beneficio neto de la compañía se ha multiplicado más de 48 veces desde 2005 hasta alcanzar una cifra de 336 millones de euros en 2007 (mercadona, 2007). ello ha posibilitado el crecimiento orgánico de la compañía y una espectacular política de expansión que ha llevado a la apertura de nuevos supermercados, almacenes y centros logísticos de la empresa por toda la geografía española en los últimos años. en la figura 6 se puede observar la evolución tanto de los recursos propios de la empresa como de las inversiones de la compañía. son figura 5. evolución del beneficio (milliones de euros) fuente: elaboración propia a partir de memorias de mercadona 19 95 19 96 19 97 19 98 19 99 20 00 20 01 20 02 20 03 20 04 20 05 20 06 20 07 20 08 beneficio bruto beneficio neto 400 300 200 100 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 161-189 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 183 un modelo de gobierno corporativo que permite un comportamiento ético el resultado de una cuidadosa política de distribución de beneficios, que permite fortalecer e incrementar los recursos propios de la empresa y multiplicar las inversiones que posibilitan su crecimiento y expansión, asegurando los efectos positivos y multiplicadores del modelo de gestión de calidad total. sin embargo, desde el punto de vista ético, la evolución de los principales indicadores económicos de la empresa son el resultado de un comportamiento ético y responsable que permite la satisfacción de las necesidades del resto de componentes del modelo : clientes, trabajadores, proveedores y sociedad. la continuación de la presente política, así como la mejora y afianzamiento del modelo de gestión de calidad total, deberían asegurar la viabilidad futura del proyecto, confirmar la tendencia creciente respecto a los resultados e incrementar el valor del capital aportado por los accionistas, en línea con los resultados obtenidos en los últimos ejercicios. la valoración ética del modelo de gestión una de las mayores peculiaridades de mercadona en relación al enfoque del modelo de gestión de calidad total, es que la compañía no se figura 6. recursos propios y inversiones de la empresa (millones de euros) fuente: elaboración propia a partir de memorias de mercadona 19 96 19 97 19 98 19 99 20 00 20 01 20 02 20 03 20 04 20 05 20 06 20 07 recursos propios inversiones 1200 800 400 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 161-189 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 184 miguel blanco callejo y santiago gutierrez broncano limita a poner en marcha iniciativas tendentes a mostrar su compromiso y responsabilidad con los diversos grupos de interés vinculados con la compañía y publicitarlas, sino que está preocupada por medir el impacto, la repercusión y la valoración de esas políticas y de sus decisiones de gobierno corporativo. con esta finalidad, en el año 2002 la empresa encargó de forma voluntaria la realización de una auditoria ética a una asociación independiente, la fundación para la ética de los negocios y las organizaciones (étnor), que dio como resultado una valoración muy satisfactoria del cumplimiento de los estándares éticos requeridos y que, según la dirección de la empresa, debe servir como referencia para el desarrollo de la política de responsabilidad social corporativa de la compañía. la fundación étnor, fundada en 1994 promueve el estudio, el desarrollo y la difusión de la ética económica y empresarial, así como el respeto de los comportamientos éticos y los valores morales en la actividad empresarial y organizativa. en este sentido los estudios de esta organización valoran los niveles de compromiso y aceptación que caracterizan a una empresa como ética, verificando la cohesión y consistencia de sus prácticas y estructuras organizativas. el objetivo de la auditoría ética de mercadona se centraba en conocer fielmente la percepción que tenían los cinco componentes de la empresa: clientes, trabajadores, proveedores, sociedad y capital sobre la empresa. para su realización se efectuaron 2.000 entrevistas personales y encuestas telefónicas en diversos lugares de españa. el informe final sigue la metodología ea-10, que integra los criterios éticos comúnmente aceptados a nivel internacional conforme a los valores básicos de ética cívica : integridad, credibilidad, justicia, diálogo, transparencia, dignidad, legalidad, compromiso cívico, ecología y responsabilidad (garcía-marzá, 2005)4. los resultados de la auditoría mostraron una valoración muy satisfactoria de los estándares éticos de la empresa con una puntuación final de 4,31 puntos en una escala de uno a cinco puntos. la dirección de mercadona se mostró satisfecha con los resultados obtenidos y se comprometió a repetir la auditoría ética cada tres años para seguir avanzando en los aspectos mejorables (étnor, 2003, y memorias mercadona). no obstante la constatación efectuada en el párrafo anterior, el desarrollo de un comportamiento ético en mercadona no sólo se refleja a partir de análisis realizados a nivel nacional, sino que en la última edición del informe “global pulse track 2007” (reputation institute, 2007), mercadona alcanzaba la cuarta posición en un ranking mundial de las compañías mejor percibidas por los ciudadanos5. este informe ofrece una visión anual de las empresas con mejor reputación, ofreciendo a las compañías un instrumento para conocer su situación en su país y en el resto del mundo. el estudio mide la reputación en base a cuatro criterios: impresión, estima, confianza y admiración. de manera adicional, los encuestados también aportan su opinión sobre otros siete atributos clave que recogen sus valoraciones sobre la oferta, finanzas, liderazgo, innovación, gestión, entorno de trabajo y ciudadanía de dicha compañía. en el informe aludido, sobre una escala 4. en el artículo de domingo garcíamarzá (2005) se encuentran explicitadas las bases teóricas de la herramienta ética tal y como se utilizó para el caso de mercadona. se agradece esta referencia a uno de los revisores anónimos ya que no había sido introducida en versiones anteriores del presente trabajo. 5. el estudio, publicado por forbes, es un estudio mundial realizado de forma on-line en 29 países (16 de europa, 5 de asia y oceanía, 3 de america del norte, 4 de américa del sur y 1 de áfrica), está basado en unas 95.000 entrevistas en el que se analizan las 600 empresas de mayor facturación mundial, pero también se tiene en cuenta que sean las más conocidas por el público en general. en el estudio sólo se tiene en cuenta la percepción que tenían los ciudadanos en sus países de origen (reputation institute, 2007). m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 161-189 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 185 un modelo de gobierno corporativo que permite un comportamiento ético de 100 puntos, el estudio estaba liderado por la empresa danesa de juguetes lego (85 puntos), ikea (84 puntos), barilla (83,53 puntos) y mercadona (83,39 puntos). según el informe las empresas que superan los 80 puntos disfrutan de elevados niveles de reputación, confianza y respeto por parte de los ciudadanos. conclusiones e implicaciones directivas el comportamiento ético de las empresas se ha convertido en un tema que preocupa de forma importante a sus órganos de dirección y control, a las administraciones públicas y a la sociedad en general. cada vez es más frecuente detectar en los medios de comunicación y los informes corporativos contenidos que tratan de resaltar el comportamiento ético y socialmente responsable de las empresas. en general, se pueden distinguir tres grandes niveles en el grado de implantación de comportamientos éticos y socialmente responsables en las compañías. el primer nivel consiste en el pago de impuestos y en el cumplimiento de la legislación vigente; el segundo pretende implantar procesos de innovación y actuaciones éticas que van más allá de la normativa legal y por último, el tercer nivel comprende aquellas compañías en las cuáles la responsabilidad social y la ética de los negocios se integra dentro de la gestión, la estrategia y la competitividad empresarial, convirtiéndose en un instrumento que puede otorgar ventajas competitivas en el mercado (porter y kramer, 2002). este es el caso de la empresa de distribución comercial mercadona. la introducción del modelo de gestión de calidad total, enfocado a la satisfacción de las necesidades de todos los grupos de interés vinculados con la empresa, ha dotado a esta compañía de una herramienta para la toma de decisiones que permite valorar la idoneidad de las resoluciones adoptadas y desarrollar un comportamiento que pueda ser valorado como ético y adecuado para con cada uno de sus grupos de interés. de esta suerte, mercadona se preocupa de la satisfacción óptima de las necesidades de sus clientes proporcionándoles productos de elevada calidad y saludables que responden a sus necesidades; busca conseguir la máxima realización de las expectativas de su plantilla de trabajadores, a través de la dignificación de su trabajo, poniendo en práctica iniciativas pioneras que contribuyen a configurar una plantilla motivada y comprometida; muestra a sus proveedores que el compromiso es una elemento clave para la consecución de ganancias mutuas; trata de entregar a la sociedad donde desarrolla sus actividades una parte de la riqueza generada, esforzándose por preservar al máximo la armonía del entorno donde desarrolla sus actuaciones; por último, la retribución del capital refleja la satisfacción del resto de componentes de la empresa y por tanto representa una retribución ética y justa en base a la creación de valor generada. bajo estas premisas el comportamiento de la empresa cumple con los cinco criterios que se han considerado válidamente aceptados en el presente trabajo para calificar la actuación de una empresa como propiamente ética. en consecuencia, mercadona muestra conciencia y m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 161-189 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 186 miguel blanco callejo y santiago gutierrez broncano responsabilidad en relación a sus actuaciones; es sensible y receptiva para mejorar la satisfacción de necesidades; examina y valora las creencias de todos los grupos de interés que configuran la empresa y, a la hora de tomar decisiones, valora distintas opciones e identifica la mejor, procurando que sus actuaciones permitan preservar una comunidad de intereses. el caso expuesto manifiesta un ejemplo de aplicación exitosa del modelo de gestión de calidad total que ha permitido alcanzar unos resultados económicos sobresalientes y unos niveles de comportamiento ético muy positivos, reconocidos a nivel nacional e internacional. el ejemplo de mercadona cobra aún más valor, ya que se encuentra en un sector en fase de madurez y que presenta actualmente unos altos niveles de competencia. la descripción de esta experiencia pretende hacer llegar a los directivos una invitación a la reflexión sobre la compatibilidad y sincronía entre el modelo de gestión de calidad total y un comportamiento éticamente responsable, considerando así la posibilidad de implantar este modelo en otros sectores de actividad económica. en este sentido mercadona puede considerarse un excelente punto de referencia para orientar hacia el éxito futuras iniciativas. note. los autores desean agradecer a los revisores del presente trabajo de investigación su esfuerzo, dedicación e interés para la mejora del mismo. miguel blanco callejo es profesor colaborador en el departamento de economía de la empresa (administración, dirección y organización) de la universidad rey juan carlos, en el que imparte docencia en dirección estratégica y asignaturas de organización y gestión de empresas. los temas de investigación del profesor blanco son las decisiones de crecimiento y reestructuración corporativa de empresas diversificadas y la excelencia empresarial en todas sus dimensiones. sus trabajos se han publicado en revistas como global business and organizacional excellence, universia business review e investigaciones europeas de dirección y economía de la empresa. santiago gutierrez broncano es profesor colaborador en el departamento de economía de la empresa (administración, dirección y organización) de la universidad rey juan carlos, en el que imparte docencia en dirección estratégica y gestión de recursos humanos. los temas de investigación han estado vinculados al área estratégica y de recursos humanos en empresas familiares. ha impartido formación en distintas universidades tanto nacionales como internacionales y dispone de diversas publicaciones en distintas revistas de investigación. m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 161-189 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 187 un modelo de gobierno corporativo que permite un comportamiento ético referencias � akaah, p. i., y e. a. riordan 1989 judgements of marketing professionals about ethical issues in marketing research: a replication and extension, journal of marketing research, 26: 1, 112-120. � arasli, h. 2002 gearing total quality into smalland medium-sized hotels in north cyprus, journal of small business management, 40: 4, 350-359. � bird, f. b., y j. a. waters 1989 the moral muteness of managers, california management review, 32: 1, 73-88. � black, s., y l. j. porter 1995 an empirical model for total quality management, total quality management, 6: 2, 149-164. � bowie, n. e. 1999 business ethics: a kantian perspective. malden, ma: blackwell. � bowie, n. e. 2000 business ethics, philosophy, and the next 25 years, business ethics quarterly, 10: 1, 7-20. � buchholz, r. a., y s. b. rosenthal 1998 business ethics: the pragmatic path beyond principles to process, upper saddle river, n. j.: prentice hall. � camisón, c., s. cruz y t. f. gonzalez 2006 gestión de la calidad: conceptos, enfoques, modelos y sistemas, madrid: prentice-hall. � caparrós, a., y r. biot 2006 15 x 15: gestión quince días con quince empresarios líderes. fundación para la comunidad valenciana, escuela de dirección de empresas del mediterráneo, valencia. � clegg, s., m. kornberger, y c. rhodes 2007 business ethics as practice, british journal of management, 18: 2, 107-122. � cochran, p. l., y r. a. wood 1984 corporate social responsibility and financial performance, academy of management journal, 27: 1, 42-56. � curkovic, s., s. melnyk, r. calantone y r. handfield 2000 validating the malcolm baldrige national quality award framework through structural equation modelling, international journal of production research, 38: 4, 765-791. � dean, j. w., y j. r. evans 1994 total quality: management, organization and strategy, st. paul, mn: west publishing. � deloitte, 2007 global powers of retailing 2006. disponible en: http://deloitte.com/dtt/ cda/doc/content/uk_cb_globalpowers ofretailing_06(1).pdf � donaldson, t. 1989 the ethics of international business, new york: oxford university press. � donaldson, t. 2003 editorʼs comments: taking ethics seriously—a mission now more possible, academy of management review, 28: 3, 363-366. � donaldson, t., y t. w. dunfee 1994 toward a unified conception of business ethics: integrative social contracts theory, academy of management review, 19: 2, 252-284. � donaldson, t., y t. w. dunfee 1995 integrative social contracts theory: a communitarian conception of economic ethics, economics and philosophy, 11: 1, 85-112. � donaldson, t., y t. w. dunfee 1999 ties that bind: a social contracts approach to business ethics, boston: harvard business school press. � donaldson, t., y l. preston 1995 the stakeholder theory of the corporation: concepts, evidence, and implications, academy of management review, 20: 1, 65-91. � douglas, t. j., y w. q. judge, jr. 2001 total quality management implementation and competitive advantage: the role of structural control and exploration, academy of management journal, 44: 1, 158-169. � eisenhardt ,k. m. 1989 building theories from case study research, academy of management review, 14: 4, 532-550. � étnor 2003 informe de auditoría ética, coordinado por domingo garcía-marzá, con la dirección académica de adela cortina y la supervisión de emilio tortosa, valencia: étnor, fundación para la ética de los negocios y las organizaciones. � evans, j. r. 1992 a report of the total quality leadership steering committee and working councils. milwaukee, wi: procter & gamble. � ferrell, o. c., y l. g. gresham 1985 a contingency framework for understanding ethical decision making in marketing, journal of marketing, 49: 3, 87-96. � frederick, w. c. 1992 anchoring values in nature: towards a theory of business values, business ethics quaterly, 2: 3, 283-303. � freeman, r. e. 1994 the politics of stakeholder theory: some future directions, business ethics quarterly, 4: 4, 409-421. http://deloitte.com/dtt/cda/doc/content/uk_cb_globalpowers ofretailing_06(1).pdf m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 161-189 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 188 miguel blanco callejo y santiago gutierrez broncano � friedman, m. 1962 capitalism and freedom, with the assistance of rose d. friedman, chicago: university of chicago press. � friedman, m. 1970 the social responsibility of business is to increase its profits, the new york times magazine, 13 de septiembre. � garcés, l. a. 2001 fundamentos de lʼética empresarial, escuela de administración de empresas, madrid. � garcía marzá, d. 2005 trust and dialogue: theoretical aproaches to ethics auditing, journal of business ethics, 57: 3, 209-219. � guillén, m., y t. f. gonzález 2001 the ethical dimension of managerial leadership: two illustrative case studies in tqm, journal of business ethics, 34: 3/4, 175-189. � helms, m. m., y b. a. hutchins1992 poor quality products: is their production unethical?, management decision, 30: 5, 35-46. � hunt, s. d., y s. vitell 1986 a general theory of marketing ethics, journal of macromarketing, 6: 1, 5-16. � johnson, p., y k. smith 1999 contextualizing business ethics: anomie and social life, human relations, 52: 11, 1351-1375. � jones, t. m. 1991 ethical decision making by individuals in organizations: an issue-contingent model, academy of management review, 16: 2, 366-395. � juse 2004 how was the deming prize established?, tokio: union of japanese scientists and engineers, disponible en http://www.juse.or.jp/e/deming/01.html � kochan, t. a., y s. a. rubinstein 2000 toward a stakeholder theory of the firm: the saturn partnership, organization science, 11: 4, 367-386. � koehn, d. 1998 virtue ethics, the firm, and moral psychology, business ethics quaterly, 8: 3, 497-513. � marco, g. s. 2002 the ethical dimension of leadership in the programmes of total quality management, journal of business ethics, 39: 1/2, 59-66. � mercadona 1999-2007 informes anuales de los años 19992007. � navarro, r. 2005 los nuevos burgueses valencianos, valencia: la esfera de los libros. � nayebpour, m. r., y d. koehn 2003 the ethics of quality: problems and preconditions, journal of business ethics, 44: 1, 37-48. � pace, l. a. 1999 the ethical implication of quality, electronic journal of business & organization ethics, 4: 1. disponible en http://ejbo.jyu.fi/articles/0401_2.html � parker, m. 2003 introduction: ethics, politics and organization, organization, 10: 2, 187204. � pettigrew, a. m. 1990 longitudinal field research on change: theory and practice, organization science, 1: 3, 267-292. � porter, m. e., y m. r. kramer 2002 the competitive advantage of corporate philanthropy, harvard business review, 80: 12, 56-69. � raiborn, c., y d. payne 1996 tqm: just what the ethicist ordered, journal of business ethics, 15: 9, 963-972. � randall, d. m., y a. m. gibson 1990 methodology in business ethics research: a review and critical assessment, journal of business ethics, 9: 6, 457-471. � rao, a., l. p. carr, i. dambolena, r. j. kopp, j. martin, f. rafii y p. f. schlesinger 1996 total quality management: a cross functional perspective, nueva york: wiley. � rao, s. s., l. e. solis, y t. s. raghunathan 1999 a framework for international quality management research: development and validation of a measurement instrument, total quality management, 10: 7, 1047-1075. � reputation institute 2007 global reptrack pulse 2007. disponible en : http://www.reputationinstitute.com � rosenthal, s. y. b., y r. a. buchholz 2000 rethinking business ethics: a pragmatic approach, new york: oxford university press. � roth, b. 1993 is it quality improves ethics or ethics improves quality?, journal for quality and participation, 16: 5, 6-10. � sen, a. 1987 on ethics and economics, new york, blackwell. � solomon, r. 1992 ethics and excellence: cooperation and integrity in business, oxford: oxford university press � solomon, r. 1999 a better way to think about business: how personal integrity leads to corporate success, new york: oxford university press. � soule, e. 2002 managerial moral strategies—in search of a few good principles, academy of management review, 27: 1, 114-124. � steeples, m. m. 1994 the quality-ethics connection, quality progress, 7: 6, 73-75. http://www.reputationinstitute.com http://www.juse.or.jp/e/deming/01.html m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 161-189 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 189 un modelo de gobierno corporativo que permite un comportamiento ético � svensson, g., y g. wood 2005 business ethics in tqm: the qualities and spectrum zones of a case illustration, the tqm magazine, 17: 1, 19-34. � tan, p. k. l. 1997 an evaluation of tqm and the techniques for successful implementation, training for quality, 5: 4, 150-159. � tonge, a., l. greer, y a. lawton 2003 the enron story: you can fool some of the people some of the time, business ethics, a european review, 12: 1, 4-22. � treviño, l. k., y s. a. youngblood 1990 bad apples in bad barrels: a causal analysis of ethical decision-making behavior, journal of applied psychology, 75: 4, 378-385. � van der wiele, a., a. r. t. williams, y b. g. dale 2000 total quality management: is it a fad, fashion or fit?, quality management journal, 7: 2, 65-79. � veiga, j. f. 2004 bringing ethics into the mainstream: an introduction to the special topic, academy of management executive, 18: 2, 37-38. � weaver, g. r., l. k. treviño, y p. l. cochran 1999 corporate ethics practices in the mid-1990ʼs: an empirical study of the fortune 1000, journal of business ethics, 18: 3, 283-294. � weiss, j. w. 2006 business ethics, a stakeholder and issues management approach, 4th edition, mason, oh: south-western. � werhane, p. h. 2000 business ethics and the origins of contemporary capitalism: economics and ethics in the work of adam smith and herbert spencer, journal of business ethics, 24: 3, 185-198. � wicks, a. c. 1996 reflections on the practical relevance of feminist thought to business, business ethics quarterly, 6: 4, 523-532. � wicks, a. c. 2001 the value dynamics of total quality management: ethics and the foundations of tqm, business ethics quarterly, 11: 3, 501-535. � wicks, a. c., y r. e. freeman 1998 organization studies and the new pragmatism: positivism, anti-positivism, and the search for ethics, organization science, 9: 2, 123-140. � yin, r. k. 1981 the case study crisis: some answers, administrative science quarterly, 26: 1, 58-65. � yin, r. k. 1994 case study research: design and methods, thousand oaks, ca: sage. 468 patricia bromley & hokyu hwang & walter w. powellm@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 468-501 copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). m@n@gement is a double-blind refereed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.management-aims.com © 2012 m@n@gement and the author(s). m@n@gement est la revue officielle de l’aims m@n@gement is the journal official of aims patricia bromley 2012 hokyu hwang walter w. powell decoupling revisited: common pressures, divergent strategies in the u.s. nonprofit sector m@n@gement, 15(5), 468-501. m@n@gement issn: 1286-4692 emmanuel josserand, hec, université de genève & cmos, university of technology, sydney (editor in chief) jean-luc arrègle, emlyon business school (editor) laure cabantous, warwick business school (editor) stewart clegg, university of technology, sydney (editor) olivier germain, université du québec à montréal (editor, book reviews) karim mignonac, université de toulouse 1 (editor) philippe monin, emlyon business school (editor) tyrone pitsis, university of newcastle (editor) josé pla-barber, universidad de valència (editor) michael tushman, harvard business school (editor) walid shibbib, université de genève (managing editor) martin g. evans, university of toronto (editor emeritus) bernard forgues, emlyon business school (editor emeritus) 469 decoupling revisited: common pressures, divergent strategies in the u.s. nonprofit sector m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 468-501 decoupling revisited: common pressures, divergent strategies in the u.s. nonprofit sector patricia bromley hokyu hwang walter w. powell abstract as the members of an organizational field adopt similar practices, considerable variation in enactment can ensue. field-level theories, however, do not yet explain how and why organizations vary in their use of standard practices. to tackle this issue, we focus on the infiltration of managerial practices into a sector traditionally motivated by norms of charity, using data drawn from a random sample of 200 nonprofit organizations. we first carry out an inductive content analysis of interviews with executive directors (eds) about their use of strategic planning, which reveals three main rationales for adoption— associational, managerial, and opportunistic—and two outcomes—symbolic adoption and symbolic implementation. we then use qualitative comparative analysis (qca) to consider which combinations of organizational attributes and rationales are associated with the outcomes of decoupling or routinization. our study shows creative yet patterned possibilities in the uses of a standard practice, with both adoption and implementation taking on symbolic meaning. the findings afford a deeper understanding of how multiple forms of decoupling can be used to understand micro-processes of variation, extending research on divergent outcomes of field-wide isomorphic pressures. key words: new institutionalism, nonprofits, strategic planning, decoupling university of utah p.bromley@utah.edu university of new south wales hokyu.hwang@unsw.edu.au stanford university woodyp@stanford.edu 470 patricia bromley & hokyu hwang & walter w. powellm@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 468-501 introduction an impressive corpus of research has illuminated the causal processes by which organizational practices diffuse and become institutionalized.1 many sophisticated arguments have been advanced concerning how and why new procedures and programs become legitimated and spread.2 this sustained focus on explaining diffusion across the members of an organizational field has come, however, at the expense of understanding post-adoption variation. the presence of common practices can mask considerable diversity in enactment; broad diffusion may well generate wider variety at the ground level. to better understand contemporary organizations, there is a pressing need for research that accounts for differentiation in how common practices materialize in concrete organizational settings. a dominant explanation for post-adoption heterogeneity in institutional research has long been either loose coupling or decoupling (meyer and rowan, 1977; brunsson, 1989).3 empirical studies often frame decoupling as a dichotomy: some organizations implement policies while others do not. recently, however, scholars have made progress in cataloguing different forms of decoupling, emphasizing it as a process rather than a state. bromley and powell (2012) distinguish two forms: symbolic adoption and symbolic implementation. the former occurs when practices do not result in meaningful implementation due to the lack of will or capacity, creating a “gap” between policy and practice. for instance, reform efforts are a constant feature of organizational life, but do not necessarily produce tangible changes in daily activities or performance; nor do reforms necessarily bring about their intended changes (brunsson and olsen, 1993). in contrast, a practice can be implemented and become routine even though the practice is not directly congruent with an organization’s core goal(s). consider, for example, organizational efforts with recycling, employee diversity, charitable contributions, political action committees, or service learning. the practices may be effectively implemented but their contribution to promoting an organization’s primary goals may be tenuous or opaque at best, creating “means-ends” decoupling. whereas earlier institutional research concentrated on symbolic adoption, recent studies of institutional complexity and competing logics suggest that symbolic implementation may be central to understanding post-adoption heterogeneity (greenwood, et al., 2011; thornton, et al., 2012). as organizations increasingly operate in fields in which multiple, potentially contradictory institutional logics or influences contend, “means-ends” decoupling may be a significant source of organizational variation (e.g., pache and santos, 2010). moreover, symbolic implementation is both an important theoretical question and a practical one for the emergence of “hybrid organizations”, which are, by definition, amalgamations of conflicting logics (battilana and dorado, 2010; pache and santos, forthcoming). the u.s. nonprofit sector provides an ideal research site to study decoupling because both symbolic adoption and symbolic implementation are often at work there, generating differences in response to isomorphic pressures. echoing our belief in the usefulness of the nonprofit organizations as a setting to explore this issue, orton and weick (1990) argue that decoupling due to 1. the many important contributions include: mezias, 1990; burns and wholey, 1993; palmer, jennings, and zhou, 1993; davis and greve, 1997; guler, guillén, and macpherson, 2003; briscoe and safford, 2008. 2. see colyvas and jonsson (2011) for a thoughtful review 3. see orton and weick, 1990 471 decoupling revisited: common pressures, divergent strategies in the u.s. nonprofit sector m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 468-501 an uncertain means-ends relationship, which they call “causal indeterminacy,” may be particularly prevalent in the social sector. in the past few decades, the u.s. nonprofit sector has been in transition, which has heightened institutional complexity. largely volunteer endeavors have become more professionalized (smith and lipsky, 1994), and many nonprofits are under great pressure from multiple sources to become more efficient and accountable. in response to this, many have turned to managerial professionals and practices. business tools, from cost-benefit analyses and strategic planning to formal financial audits, have become prevalent in religious charities and youth groups as well as nonprofit healthcare providers and housing developers. it is unclear, however, whether this trend has had an effect in reducing social problems. to a great extent, the informal and heterogeneous sector has become more formalized and much more professional, though not necessarily more cohesive, coherent, or successful (hwang and powell, 2009). nonprofit responses to demands from funders, philanthropists, board members, and rating services, to name only the most notable sources of influence, are not uniform. some nonprofits lack the skills or knowledge to implement managerial tools, suggesting that symbolic adoption might be one response. others, while successfully incorporating new tools as organizational routines, are either unable or find it difficult to align newly introduced materials with extant identities and priorities, thus leading to symbolic implementation. some analysts of the sector are concerned that this shift towards managerialism will dampen the expressive values and diversity that the nonprofit sector has brought to american society (frumkin, 2002; skocpol, 2003). the sector has long been a source of diversity and experimentation where people engage in charitable activities and provide social services, advocate for causes ranging from social justice to the environment, and pursue community, artistic, and non-commercial endeavors. in the past, when such efforts yielded fruit, the government took over the activity. today, however, both government and business are relying on the nonprofit arena to be the primary supplier of such services, and this delegation adds to calls for managerial expertise. we focus on strategic planning, which many nonprofit organizations have embraced (bryson, crosby & bryson, 2009; hwang and powell, 2009). strategic plans are formal documents that articulate organizational goals and offer a road map for achieving them within a specific time period. they purport to promote effective management by setting goals matched to available resources. although long commonplace in the for-profit sector, this practice is relatively new to the nonprofit sector, a field where multi-million-dollar housing associations coexist with small, community-based soup kitchens and homeless shelters. the impetus for strategic planning has multiple sources, ranging from external coercion to internal quests for improvement to serendipitous encounters. these efforts are often a condition for funding, stipulated by a foundation, donor, or government contract. in other cases, a board member or a consultant may recommend developing a plan or an executive director (ed) may learn about this tool on a training program. in many organizations, multiple motivations, or logics, for pursuing planning are simultaneously at work. nonprofits also differ widely in how they implement plans. some have become fervent believers, whereas others struggle or fail to put their plans into practice. we explore the post-adoption heterogeneity reflected in these divergent responses. in doing so, we identify different rationales for embarking 472 patricia bromley & hokyu hwang & walter w. powellm@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 468-501 on strategic planning and demonstrate how disparate rationales and contingent circumstances combine with organizational features to produce marked variation in the enactment of plans. in the following section, we review the theoretical literature and research related to the implementation of widely institutionalized practices. the empirical setting is described next, and our data, methods, and measures are detailed. then we present the results of a content analysis that illustrates variation in both the rationales for and the outcomes of planning. we next turn to qualitative comparative analyses (qca) that highlight the combination of characteristics associated with two post-adoption patterns: symbolic adoption and symbolic implementation. throughout, we draw on a rich stock of interviews to illuminate our findings. we conclude with a discussion of the implications of our work for both organizational theory and the viability and distinctiveness of the nonprofit sector. substantively, this research affords insight into how the principles of managerialism are reshaping charitable organizations and with what consequences. our theoretical contribution is to uncover organizational features associated with two types of post-adoption enactment. conceptual background early research in institutional analysis emphasized the importance of external environments in shaping organizational behavior. in an influential theoretical account of the expansion of rationalized procedures in all walks of modern life, meyer and rowan (1977) suggested that organizations incorporate purportedly rational tools and elements from the wider environment to enhance their legitimacy. later studies provided ample evidence supporting their claim (tolbert and zucker, 1983; westphal, gulati, and shortell, 1997; henisz, zelner, and guillén, 2005). dimaggio and powell (1983) provided more causal force for these arguments by outlining the mimetic, coercive and normative mechanisms of isomorphism. isomorphic pressures result from increasing structuration at the field level; consequently, environmental conditions influence both which practices are considered legitimate and when they are adopted. conformity to external pressures, however, can also result in decoupling, a main form of post-adoption variation in much institutional research. such a response segregates and buffers daily work from formal structures that are taken on to satisfy external demands. in settings where we see decentralized responsibility, multiple organizational units, or resistance to external or hierarchical claims, decoupling can serve to release competing pressures and tensions and allow organizations “to maintain standardized, legitimating, formal structures, while their activities vary in response to practical considerations” (meyer and rowan, 1977: 358; brunsson, 1989; brunsson and olsen, 1993). a number of studies have considered when decoupling is more or less likely to occur. in the realm of national science policy, for example, drori et al (2003) find policies are less likely to be implemented in developing countries. in a study of the global spread of stock exchanges, weber et al (2009) find decoupling is more likely if the mechanism of diffusion was coercion. but scant research has examined multiple forms of decoupling, despite arguments suggesting nuanced local causes (weick, 1995). although the term “decoupling” often refers narrowly to a gap between policy and practice, this is not its only manifestation. indeed, the original discussion of 473 decoupling revisited: common pressures, divergent strategies in the u.s. nonprofit sector m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 468-501 decoupling was much broader. meyer and rowan’s (1977: 343) foundational paper includes a range of possibilities: “structural elements are only loosely linked to each other and to activities, rules are often violated, decisions are often unimplemented, or if implemented have uncertain consequences, technologies are of problematic efficiency, and evaluation and inspection systems are subverted or rendered so vague as to provide little coordination.” using this broader view, power (1997: 96) describes how audits colonize organizations, becoming pervasive yet only loosely related to an organization’s core goals: “one prima facie sign of decoupling is the creation or enhancement of organizational sub-units explicitly to manage the external audit process (audit committees, internal auditors, audit officers, etc.).” in this sense, decoupling does not refer to a gap between policy and practice: audits are implemented. instead, auditing functions are buffered within subunits of organizations and loosely related to an organization’s core goals. decoupling may thus take an array of forms, beyond its common understanding as a policy-practice gap. in particular, sub-units or practices within an organization can be weakly tied to core functions. micro-processes play a large role in determining whether a practice becomes a routine part of organizational life or remains largely as window-dressing. a newly introduced idea does not enter an organization fully formed with a clear definition or use. the members of an adopting organization need to articulate an appropriate meaning and work out reasonable uses for the imported practice or model. as friedland and alford (1991: 255) suggest, “the ambiguous and contested nature of symbols circumscribes the applicability of abstract models of individual or organizational behavior. there is no one-to-one relationship between an institution and the meanings carried by the practices associated with it.” these efforts are in large part driven by local identities and context (powell and colyvas, 2008). organizational members need to figure out how to fit a new idea into their organization. in the case of auditing, the values spread inside an organization, becoming internalized by individuals. employees adhere to information demands related to auditing even when the actions are unlinked to (or undermine) performance. examining individual responses to a practice sheds light on how it is enacted within the organization. building on these arguments, our goal is to move from a field-level analysis of diffusion and adoption to a more fine-grained assessment of organization-level practices and implementation. to be sure, practices like strategic planning may be adopted for their symbolic value, but the way this tool is manifest is likely driven by the varied rationales of individual managers, such as responding to fiscal necessities or searching for new ways to improve operations. hence, there may be great diversity in how planning is pursued in different organizational contexts, and this diversity is likely linked to key individuals within organizations, such as managers, staff, and board members. the setting and data sources in the united states, civil society—the space populated by nonprofit associations and charities, churches, and social movements—has undergone substantial change over the past two centuries (hall, 2006). the original associative legacy of the nonprofit sector has been complemented and, in some cases, supplanted by the introduction of business-like principles. the social sector that long served as the home for a multitude of mutual and expressive endeavors has taken a 474 patricia bromley & hokyu hwang & walter w. powellm@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 468-501 more instrumental turn. charitable nonprofits, grantmaking foundations, and social movements are now staffed by a professionalized cadre of field workers and program officers (hwang and powell, 2009). central to these changes is a belief by both philanthropic funders and government bureaus who contract out social services that charitable action should be more methodically designed and evaluated. to some critics, the contemporary focus on nonprofit effectiveness, scaling, and sustainability drowns out considerations of solidarity, fraternity, and mission, with profound political consequences (putnam, 2007). the heightened attention to evaluation and measurement means nonprofits are more likely to do for clients rather than with them (skocpol, 2003). considerations about efficiency can, it is feared, trump concerns about efficacy. our research was designed to explore the extent to which the adoption of business practices was altering modes of operation in nonprofit organizations, and with what consequences. in the united states, organizations exempt from tax by the internal revenue service (irs) under section 501(c)3 of the tax code are charitable nonprofits, eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions. using data from the irs digitized by the national center for charitable statistics (nccs), we identified the population of irs form 990 filers in the year 2000. there were 7,106 operating charities in the san francisco bay ten-county region, from which we drew a random sample of organizations. we contacted 264 randomly selected organizations to develop a final sample of 200 and interviewed their leaders.4 we approached the organizations initially by mail, following up by telephone and email. our research team conducted face-to-face interviews with either the eds of staffed organizations or the board presidents of volunteer-based organizations to learn about their founding, funding, management, governance, personnel, and external relations. all interviews were conducted with a standard interview protocol. the protocol was tested and refined during 20 pilot interviews with other organizations, and included questions designed to gather specific facts about each organization and its staff, as well as open-ended queries. the interviews lasted approximately 90-150 minutes and were typically conducted at the offices of the nonprofits, where interviewers could see the leaders in their work setting.5 the sample organizations vary in size, activity, age, and location across the region, but closely reflect the distribution of the full bay area population. the organizations are typically rather small. approximately half have annual budgets below $200,000, although some have budgets in the tens of millions. they range in age from less than ten years old to a handful that had been in operation for more than 50 years. in addition to gathering general organizational data, we asked specific questions about business practices such as strategic planning. in response to the interview question, “do you produce a strategy or planning document?” more than 45% of organizations (93 of 200) answered that they had a plan in place or were creating their first one. if organizations responded in the affirmative, we pressed to learn more: how frequently do you plan? who participates in the process? what instigated the development of such a plan? what is included in it and in what ways is it helpful? in a limited number of instances we were able to obtain hard copies of the plan either directly from the interviewee or from the organization’s website. as we describe in detail below, the diversity in the actual documents that eds call “strategic plans” is remarkable and represents 4. thirty-five organizations refused to participate, and 29 were dropped after four unsuccessful attempts to reach them. most of these had ceased operations. our overall response rate was 76%. 5. all recorded interviews were transcribed by a professional transcription service and coded by the researcher who conducted the interview. in some cases, information from the organization’s website or irs form 990 was used to corroborate or clarify. every effort was made to increase both interview quality and intercoder reliability: full-protocol tests and spot checks were conducted, interview notes were circulated among the research group, weekly meetings were held to discuss interview and coding issues, and the protocols were annotated to guide interviewing and coding. 475 decoupling revisited: common pressures, divergent strategies in the u.s. nonprofit sector m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 468-501 one key point of divergence in the spread of an organizational practice. collectively, the responses provide a comprehensive account of the fieldwide diffusion of strategic planning into nonprofits—why the practice enters, variation in its enactment, and divergent consequences. the data capture important differences in organizational contexts, as well as how managers locate themselves in the wider social sector, and provide accounts of their activities and missions to important constituents. methods and measures we employ a multi-method approach to analyze enactment. as a first step, we use content analysis to examine the responses of nonprofit leaders to questions about planning and its consequences. ninety-three organizations in the sample self-identify as having a strategic plan. thirteen cases had to be dropped because the current ed was insufficiently versed in, or forthcoming about, the details to allow for qualitative coding, leaving 80 interviews where the director discussed strategic planning at some length. only excerpts from interviews that specifically discuss the plans were used, following the selection strategy used by dobbin and dowd (1997) and suddaby and greenwood (2005). we used an inductive process to identify key points of divergence in how organizations engage with planning, iterating between the data and emergent themes (miles & huberman, 1994). this approach is appropriate for developing a baseline understanding of theoretically underdeveloped topics like ours. following standard procedures, the content analysis consisted of three main stages that included an open coding of the transcripts, creating secondorder categories, and then developing aggregated conceptual themes along with inter-rater reliability checks. table 1 provides examples from the coding process. 476 patricia bromley & hokyu hwang & walter w. powellm@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 468-501 table 1. overview of code construction topic first order code examples second order category examples aggregated conceptual themes enactment can’t find it; limited impact; doorstop policy-practice decoupling symbolic adoption (24/80 cases, 30%): plan exists but is not implemented, process does not disrupt daily routines. integral to operation; assumed routinization; internalization symbolic implementation (49/80 cases, 61%): planning becomes an everyday activity, altered regular work routines org considers shutting down b/c of plan; creates tension destabilization plan achieved transformation rationale funder required it coercion opportunism (71/80 cases, 89%): solve a specific pressing need or challenge, linked to short-term survival (often related to funding) and not intended to have deep impact on organizational identity. raise profile; growth; improve service delivery; better governance specific goal ed or board change; just what you do, management tool, timing was right; stay ahead of environmental changes; chance encounter seemed appropriate managerialism (12/80 cases, 15%): administrative tool to evaluate and improve delivery of services or supervisory purposes. assess mission; revisit identity general benefit associationalism (23/80 cases, 29%): related to an organization’s mission or identity. participants ed; board management inclusive/participatory (65/80 cases, 81%): whether any groups in addition to ed and board are involved. foundation; headquarters; government funders staff; clients; guardians of clients; community; volunteers; partner organizations others frequency one year; three years; five years; ten years regular plan regularly (38/80 cases, 48%): dichotomous indicator for whether the organization identifies a regular interval for planning (e.g. one year, five years).as needed; when short of funds; executive transition ad hoc combined with above as appropriate 477 decoupling revisited: common pressures, divergent strategies in the u.s. nonprofit sector m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 468-501 the interviews covered five topics related to strategic planning that will be used in the qca we describe next: (1) enactment, (2) rationales, (3) participation in the process, (4) frequency, and (5) normative responses. within each topic we initially performed open coding of relevant sections of transcripts, allowing key themes to emerge from the interviews (neuman, 2003). based on the prior literature, we expected to observe some decoupling of the formal plan from daily realities, but on the first pass we purposefully relied on the language expressed by the interviewees themselves, without limiting the range of their responses. for instance, when asked about the enactment of the plan, some interviewees describe it as having limited impact or cannot recall the details of the plan, but others describe how the plan fundamentally reshaped the organization’s mission or activities, or, in one case, even led management to reconsider whether the organization should continue to exist. we then re-examined the data within each topic to identify initial concepts and grouped the first-order codes into second-order categories. for example, we classified cases where a plan had been created but its reach did not extend to daily operations into the second-order category of decoupling between policy and practice. this second-order category includes first-order responses such as describing the plan as nothing more than a “doorstop”, knowing a plan existed but being unable to find it or recall details of what was in it, or explicitly stating that it was created because “it’s what other [external] people want” and that its internal impact was limited. finally, once the open coding was complete and initial categories were identified, we created a protocol with a code description, keywords, and examples. we reanalyzed the interviews and checked inter-rater reliability. for this stage we drew on krippendorf’s (2004: xx) approach to content analysis as a method for analyzing textual material that “enables researchers to plan, execute, communicate, reproduce and critically evaluate their analyses.” we repeated this step several times, iterating between our data and theoretical constructs, and sharpening the definition and cross-case consistency of our findings (eisenhardt, 1989). these reliability checks and theoretical decisions about the combination of sub-classes led to further adjustments, resulting in the aggregated conceptual themes used in our analyses. notably, the normative topic concerning how eds feel about planning was dropped due to lack of inter-rater reliability in judging managers’ emotional responses from the transcripts. our final reliability tests indicated 74% agreement for “enactment”, 84% agreement for “rationale”, and complete agreement on participation and frequency.6 to capture the complexity of planning, we do not restrict organizations to only one rationale or form of enactment. qca: connecting rationales and enactment. extending our analyses further, we consider whether there is an association between enactment, rationales, and important organizational characteristics. our sample sizes (24 cases of symbolic adoption and 49 cases of symbolic implementation) are too small for regression techniques, but too large for an in-depth qualitative study. thus we use qca, a method developed for medium-n research. the method is briefly described here and detailed in appendix a. the logic of qca is intuitive, based on the insight that there are necessary and sufficient causal conditions that lead to an outcome (fiss, 2007). necessary conditions are those that are widely prevalent but do not alone lead to an 6. we conducted reliability tests throughout, and the final check was performed by the first and second authors on a randomly selected subsample of 20% of our 200 organizations. 478 patricia bromley & hokyu hwang & walter w. powellm@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 468-501 outcome (ragin, 1987).7 for example, oxygen is necessary for human survival, but is not sufficient alone. in contrast, a cause, or combination of causes, is sufficient if it produces a certain outcome by itself. qca uses boolean algebra to reduce a truth table containing all possible combinations of characteristics to simplified sets of “causal conditions” associated with the outcome. such language, we stress, does not indicate causality. instead, we are illustrating the sets of characteristics associated with particular planning practices (ragin, 2000; 2008). we employ qca to examine why plans are enacted in different ways, not to determine what makes an organization more likely to plan in general. we therefore first identified and excluded characteristics that were associated with the presence of strategic planning but not linked particularly to symbolic adoption or symbolic implementation.8 factors that are highly correlated with the presence of a plan in general but not tied to a specific outcome were omitted. these include: organizational size, presence of paid personnel, receipt of funding from diverse sources, organizational rationalization, and receptivity to managerial tools. we retain eight characteristics in our qca, largely emerging from our content analyses of interviews. we chose these variables, or causal conditions, with great care and following guidelines for qca research. it is unwise to include too many explanatory conditions because this makes the results overly complicated and idiosyncratic, but this must be balanced with the need to consider all important factors. one core interest is in the three rationales for planning: (1) associational, (2) managerial, and (3) opportunistic. interviewees described how additional factors might influence implementation. these are: (4) level of participation (whether the process is inclusive) (5) frequency (whether an organization plans regularly), (6) leadership tenure (two years or less), and (7) whether the leader believes the nonprofit is affected by the economic downturn of 2002-04. lastly, we include (8) a dichotomous measure of age (0=equal to or younger than the median of the whole sample, 1=older than the median of the whole sample) because this is a standard factor used in organizational research and is not clearly linked to the general adoption of planning. as described above, additional measures that are related to the presence of strategic planning were omitted as scope conditions. our findings linking rationales and enactment are more powerful because they persist even in the presence of other factors and more nuanced for showing the interplay between rationales and other features of organizations. results nearly half of the organizations in our sample had a strategic plan; in many respects, these organizations share much in common. compared to those which do not plan, those that do are larger, have leaders with managerial training, have more paid staff (including a fundraiser), receive foundation grants, use consultants, use quantitative program evaluations, and have more diversified funding streams. despite these many similarities and more, our interviews with eds reveal that even among this relatively homogenous group plans are implemented quite differently. we delve beneath the surface of adoption, finding that eds have three main rationales for adopting a plan—opportunism, managerialism, and associationalism—and that plans are enacted in two main ways—symbolic adoption and symbolic implementation. furthermore, our 7. consistency, the standard measure for establishing necessary conditions in qca, equals the number of cases with a condition and the outcome divided by the total number of cases with the outcome (ragin, 2006; 2008). we use a threshold of 0.85. 8. we used two criteria to make this decision. first, the median score among organizations that plan is markedly different relative to the entire sample. second, a t-test showed significant difference between the mean of organizations that plan versus those that do not. we thank steven vaisey for pointing out the importance of this step for our subsequent analyses. 479 decoupling revisited: common pressures, divergent strategies in the u.s. nonprofit sector m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 468-501 qca reveals systematic patterns in how rationales are linked to enactment. why plan? opportunistic, associational and managerial rationales institutional theory emphasizes the push of external pressures as the source of formal structures like strategic plans (meyer and rowan, 1977). when we asked eds why they plan, many descriptions matched the emphasis on external forces. but in other cases this account is less apt. often, strategic planning was pulled into the organization by insiders rather than pushed upon it from the outside. as described above, three general rationales emerged, which we describe as opportunistic, associational, and managerial. most directors discussed multiple motivations, as they experienced both emergent internal needs and external pressures. opportunistic rationale opportunistic rationales represented situations where a particular pressing need or fiscal challenge might be resolved by having a strategic plan. this was, by far, the most common type of response (71 out of 80 cases, 89%). an opportunistic logic entails an instrumental view of planning, either through solving a specific problem (such as creating a personnel policy) or meeting external demands (typically from funders). these are short-term motivations linked to survival or particular contingencies; such plans were not intended to have a deep impact on organizational culture or identity. in many cases, nonprofits developed a plan in order to be eligible for external funding. the ed of a dance group described the initial spur: “initially we didn’t have any motivation for planning. we thought, ‘let’s just apply for this national endowment for the arts grant and see what happens’.” the dance company eventually received the grant, and its receipt meant they conducted strategic planning for the first time. other managers pointed fingers directly at pressures from their funders or board, indicating a more coercive source of isomorphism (dimaggio & powell, 1983). a skeptic shares, “it took a couple of my board members saying, ‘we think we really need to do this.’ and therefore i had to find time to make it happen.” a large arts organization uses its strategic planning “for granting purposes” and a religious group implemented the tool in response to direct pressure from an external funder: “it’s required for one of our funding streams; for our headquarters. they require organizations to have a strategic plan in place. so that really kind of pushes us now.” another recalls, “it’s something that we started doing, i’ll say in 1994, and funders started requesting it. funders started wanting to see your long-range plans. if you want to get a grant, you have to know what you’re going to do in two years, and so you have to be able to think ahead and plan and get your artists and all that together.” foundations were commonly cited as a funder that required planning documents. one ed says their first plan was implemented because they were “talking to the hewlett foundation. the program director there then was a real believer in planning and he said that the organization needed a plan. so we did it, of course.” as these excerpts show, key stakeholders, particularly funders, routinely press organizations to develop plans and most leaders attribute some of their decision to plan to these instrumental pressures. 480 patricia bromley & hokyu hwang & walter w. powellm@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 468-501 associational rationale less commonly (23 out of eight cases, 29%), leaders saw strategic planning as tied to their associational goals, emphasizing the purpose was to reaffirm or revisit their core mission. in a nonprofit that promotes collaboration between schools and local businesses to provide job training for high school students, a new ed immediately convened a strategy meeting and asked: “what does the organization want as far as our vision and mission and goals and objectives are concerned?” within three months, the organization developed “a new basic vision, mission statement, and some initial goals and objectives. the idea of changing the name came out of that as well.” the strategic plan marked a new phase of the organization, culminating in the adoption of a new name, logo, and identity. typically, a strategic plan sets out an organization’s direction and forms the basis for resource allocation, drawing on an assessment of strengths and weaknesses. but in the nonprofit sector planning may be re-purposed for wider associational goals to contribute to social and cultural benefits outside the organization, entailing considerable sensemaking and translation (czarniawska and joerges, 1996; sahlin-andersson, 1996; sahlin and wedlin, 2008). in two extreme examples, eds stated that their plans were used to determine whether it was in the community’s best interest for the organization to continue to exist. in one instance, the ed of a soup kitchen explicitly stated that assessing their mission could lead to a decision to cease operations: “we look at what’s going on with the agency. are we still a vital agency? is there still a need for us to be here?” similarly, another ed said, “yes, we certainly have been ruthlessly strategic. we’re here to fill a gap. as long as that gap persists, we have a job. if there’s no gap, we will go do something else.” similar to boxenbaum and pederson (2010: 190), we observe that “ideas or practices may diffuse under the same label but acquire different meaning when they are implemented in different organizational contexts.” new meanings and uses arise when traveling practices are removed from their origins and embedded in new contexts (boxenbaum and battilana, 2005; czarniawska and sevon, 2005). fewer nonprofits pursued planning for associational purposes, but some of those that do reshape this tool to suit the needs of charitable organizations. in these instances we see both deep organizational change and substantial changes in the meaning of strategic planning. managerial rationale only in 12 cases (15%) did leaders view strategic planning as a routine element of management. some eds used it explicitly as a tool to help manage, whereas others conveyed that planning is a taken-for-granted element of formal administrative structure. one leader describes: i think really people generally feel like in order to be doing a good job as a nonprofit, you have a strategic plan. you have to. that’s just part of doing business that you have it. and i think a lot of times what strategic planning is, is everybody gets together and says…what’s likely to happen in the next few years. and you write it down. and that’s your strategic plan. so it’s there, and you have it and nobody can say you don‘t have it. some managers used strategic planning as an administrative tool to evaluate and improve the delivery of services. for example, the ed of a large, county481 decoupling revisited: common pressures, divergent strategies in the u.s. nonprofit sector m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 468-501 wide human services organization described his organization’s rationale: “we usually find it helpful, and it’s good to identify targets and customer outcomes and to measure whether or not we have achieved them, without losing sight of the fact that what we’re really supposed to be doing here is providing drug, alcohol, and mental health services.” the ed of a music program for innercity youths saw her strategic plan as a daily guide: “i really have a strong philosophy that when you have a plan in place, it should be a tool that you refer to frequently. and that you should base individual work plans on it. and i think that the only way that employees can see their impact is if they understand the overall strategy of the organization.” for these organizations, planning had become a central administrative activity; participants had internalized broad cultural assumptions related to management and promoted such a view from within. how are plans enacted? symbolic adoption and symbolic implementation symbolic adoption we now shift to examine what happens once a plan is adopted. we observed twenty-four cases where the document was decoupled from day-to-day reality, meaning it existed but the process did not alter daily operations, nor was it implemented. a number of savvy leaders we interviewed were attuned to external pressures and began planning to conform to expectations in the environment while explicitly rejecting its value and buffering their nonprofit from such an extensive effort. an ed who runs a youth center for minority teenagers is suggestive: “i think it’s helpful because it’s what other people want. that’s my opinion. i don’t really get it yet.” this leader describes a minimally invasive planning exercise, saying “we’re supposed to do it once a year and it’s mainly my project… it’s just updating it really… it doesn’t change that much.” in cases like this, eds symbolically adopt a plan, but daily routines in their organizations are buffered from the disruption of implementing a plan. these instances fit neatly with findings in other studies supporting the neo-institutional insight developed by meyer and rowan (1977) that adoption can be largely symbolic, and often there is a large gap between policy and practice (e.g. westphal & zajac, 2001). unless internal champions promote the implementation of policies, they are likely to remain window dressing (lounsbury, 2001). reinforcing this finding, one ed was of the opinion that: “our strategic plan didn’t help because it wasn’t a document that anyone brought much life to. there were a lot of numbers in there that no one ever really measured and said, ‘hey, are we actually meeting these?’ there wasn’t a plan for the follow-through of the document or how it was supposed to be used, and then there wasn’t anybody who kept that process going.” although some studies suggest that decoupling is a function of active resistance (tilcsik, 2010), this example illustrates that sometimes intention can be murky. the ed is disappointed and frustrated that the plan was never brought to life, but we do not know whether this is purposeful (perhaps due to other political tensions in the organization) or accidental (perhaps due to other pressing issues or a lack of resources). regardless of intention, a lack of staff involvement in planning is central to understanding why some plans remain window dressing. 482 patricia bromley & hokyu hwang & walter w. powellm@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 468-501 recent studies call for making a distinction between decoupling due to a lack of capacity versus decoupling due to lack of will (cole, 2012; lim and tsutsui, 2012). along these lines, some of our eds attribute decoupling to resource shortages rather than deliberate strategy. the leader of an infertility support group decried the mismatch between the organization’s lack of capacity and the lofty ambition of her strategic plan: “much of the work that we would do would ultimately not matter. we would spend a lot of time talking and made a lot of what we thought were decisions. then we realized that we couldn’t afford to hire people. they were just fantasies. it was fun, but not realistic in any way.” weakened capacity to implement a plan is tied to such indicators as a lack of experience with planning or unexpected budget shortfalls. neo-institutional theory affords insight into why organizations adopt policies that they are unable or unwilling to implement, positing that policy-practice decoupling helps organizations to buffer internal operations from external pressures. however, this insight is less useful in understanding why 60% of the organizations that plan do not protect their daily operations from the intrusive processes of developing and implementing a strategic plan. using a conventional institutional lens, one would expect policy-practice decoupling to be more prevalent. similarly, coburn (2004) found that surprisingly few teachers decoupled educational policies from classroom practices. the key to explaining these unexpected findings is to think of decoupling more broadly, a point we explore next. symbolic implementation just twenty-four nonprofits had a strategic plan that sat gathering dust on a shelf, but forty-nine nonprofits internalized planning and turned it into a routine, expected task. in this latter group, the plan altered daily work routines and became a regular part of organizational life. although implemented and trumpeted, strategic planning remained highly symbolic because leaders did not know for certain whether it directly led to achieving their mission more effectively or efficiently. here, the term “symbolic” means that the practice sends a signal to relevant audiences; it does not mean that planning is superficial or inconsequential. note that we are not focused on whether eds feel a plan—or the process of developing one—is useful; we observe a wide range of emotional responses. the core point is that this technology, when applied to the highly diverse and multifaceted social sector, is too weakly developed to show for certain whether it causes particular outcomes. parallel to power’s (1997) description of auditing, there is a gap between the rhetoric of what strategic planning can do and an organization’s ultimate goals. further, planning is always subject to bounded rationality and the wayward whims of fate (simon, 1947). symbolic adoption and symbolic implementation are both driven by external pressures and confer legitimacy benefits, but the latter involves a greater degree of internal changes. for instance, the ed of a youth group detailed the programmatic quality of their approach: “we have a three-year strategic plan in place at all times. it’s a constant process, like painting the golden gate bridge.” often, these implemented symbols will be valued for their own sake because direct evidence of instrumental value is hard to come by. along these lines, pache and santos (2010: 460) describe a process where “technical 483 decoupling revisited: common pressures, divergent strategies in the u.s. nonprofit sector m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 468-501 prescriptions are so institutionalized that they become ends in themselves.” echoing this process whereby planning itself becomes a taken-for-granted activity, one proselytizer could not comprehend managing an organization without a plan. she exclaims, “i don’t know how they [leaders without a strategic plan] get out of bed in the morning!” more often, leaders had complex views. our interviewees were far from being “cultural dopes” who unthinkingly implemented planning to conform to external pressures. some were actively critical of the process, often citing a drain on staff time. when asked about positive sides to planning, the leader of a religious organization playfully responded, “we’re seeing the positives of wrapping up. it’s taken too long and i really want to wrap it up this year.” others echoed this concern: [the strategic plan] is just a lame document. i mean, it comes up with two big strategies which are to further develop our relationship with our constituency and to increase our capacity to do work internally. it’s like, what the hell is that? you know, that’s not a strategy… first of all, there are 8,000 people involved. it took forever. a number of leaders questioned the utility of planning given unforeseeable changes in the environment. when asked about the advantages of planning, one person responded, “you are forced to think at least on a two to three year out schedule. it’s beneficial in that respect: we have a plan. but as mike tyson says, ‘it’s good until the first hit,’ and then you’re continually reevaluating and changing your budget.” these leaders view planning as part of the “rules of the game” of running an organization and conduct an expansive, resourceconsuming process at regular intervals, yet remain aware of the limits of the process. another executive responded in this way: q: do you have a planning or strategy document? a: each of the councils comes up with a strategic plan each year. and i’m working with our board on finalizing ours. we had the big retreat where we got a good start in may. we’re not finished with it. it’s been about three years since we did the last one for the board itself, the organization itself. q: so you do it. a: we do it. q: and i guess it sounds like a long-range, three-year plan? a: i have some ambivalence about doing stuff like that because i feel like the circumstances around us change so fast. [plans] are useful in knowing where we would like to go, and sort of focusing our thoughts. but when you start trying to get into step a, step b, time-lining stuff, it doesn’t turn out to fit the real world very well. and if you get too locked into following that, you miss other opportunities. so the way i describe that is to say: i have two sons, they both play baseball. when they were learning how to play little league, they’d tell them to get into this stance in the outfield with their legs spread and that slight crouch. and their hands out, so they move any direction at any moment. and i think that that’s what we need to do. so there’s planning involved, because there are rules of the game. you got to know the rules of the game. you got to have a mitt. you got to know something about catching, but when it comes right down to it, you 484 patricia bromley & hokyu hwang & walter w. powellm@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 468-501 got to be able to move wherever we have to move on a moment’s notice… i can’t tell you today what the big issues are going to be next year. a key question that emerges from these findings is, “what leads to symbolic adoption or symbolic implementation?” several suggestive themes cut across the content analysis findings. we found that opportunistic motives were endemic, while managerial and associational motives seemed more prevalent among organizations seeking more meaningful change or with a greater commitment. leaders also described capacity, moments of key change, and staff involvement as influential in how their planning processes unfolded. connecting rationales and enactment we systematically assess the features related with each type of outcome using qca. in addition to the three rationales (opportunistic, associational, and managerial), we include two measures of how planning is implemented (broad participation and regular execution), two key life cycle stages (having a new leader and age, being older than the mean of organizations that plan) and an indicator of capacity (being affected by the economic downturn).10 of these eight features, we find that two have the most powerful explanatory power – the presence of a managerial rationale and an inclusive process are tied to symbolic implementation, while the absence of a managerial rationale and a non-inclusive process are tied to symbolic adoption. importantly, none of these conditions are, in themselves, sufficient to lead to an outcome; they combine with other factors in the nuanced ways we describe below. table 2. casuak condition used in qualitative comparative analyses (frequency, percent in parentheses) symbolic adoption (n=24) symbolic implementation (n=49) rationales opportunistic 21 (88%) 44 (90%) associational 8 (33%) 12 (24%) managerial 1 (4%) 11 (22%) planning process inclusive 16 (67%) 44 (90%) plan regularly 9 (38%) 34 (69%) organizational characteristics older 11 (46%) 23 (47%) affected by economic downturn 19 (79%) 34 (69%) new leader 12 (50%) 15 (31%) table 2 describes the prevalence of these eight characteristics for each outcome. using a common threshold, a necessary condition is a characteristic present or absent more than 85% of the time for an outcome. overall, 85% of organizations that plan describe opportunism as a main rationale; unsurprisingly, this rationale appears as a necessary condition for symbolic adoption and symbolic implementation. a response to new opportunity or demand appears to 10. recall that many standard organizational measures, such as size, are excluded from the qca because robustness checks indicated that they are scope conditions associated with planning in general, but not with any particular outcome. 485 decoupling revisited: common pressures, divergent strategies in the u.s. nonprofit sector m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 468-501 be a generalized motivation for planning with little unique association with either outcome. a key implication is that for many of the non-planners in our sample, the driving factor may simply be that they have not yet been exposed to such challenges. as the environment for nonprofits shifts to focus more on measuring results and accountability, we expect a greater number of organizations will become subject to this pressure, and thus the proportion of organizations that plan will increase. we find that having an inclusive process is necessary for symbolic implementation (present in 90% of cases), but it is less related to symbolic adoption (present in 67% of cases). once observed, this fact seems intuitive, but it is notable that neither the research literature on decoupling nor the policy literature developed by funders has taken up the issue. the importance of broad participation—in order to penetrate the daily routines of the organization— reinforces that mobilization efforts are central to institutional change (minkoff and powell, 2006; powell and colyvas, 2008). when planning involves the full staff, clients, partner organizations, or community members, their engagement embeds the activity deeply in the organization and encourages individuals to feel ownership of it. when asked who participates, the leader of a youth organization said, “it was everybody. it was board, staff, and youth.” the leader of an aids prevention organization described their inclusive process: “we go on retreat with our staff. we do it two or three days in a row. we go away, stay overnight, and have somebody help us. we’ve had people from a local nonprofit consulting firm in to facilitate. we’ve come up with our directions, knowing who does what best in the organization.” he recalled the experience as “galvanizing” for his staff, and when asked to share a copy of the plan, he responded, “i’ll have to ask the staff.” this ed viewed the plan as a means to incorporate staff members’ strengths into daily operations, and he attributed the participatory process to supporting organizational change. creating buyin and introducing responsibility and accountability through participation helps strategic planning take root inside nonprofits, as was also the case with equal opportunity practices in u.s. corporations (dobbin et al., 2007). managerial motivations are negatively associated with symbolic adoption. of the twenty-four cases where plans were decoupled from practice, only one had a managerial motivation: the absence of managerial motives is thus a necessary condition for symbolic adoption. as we will discuss next, although the absence of a managerial logic is linked to decoupling, its presence is a key sufficient condition for implementation, deepening support for these findings. in their study of the disciplining effect of external ranking systems on law schools, sauder and espeland (2009: 63) similarly argued that “decoupling is not determined solely by the external enforcement of institutional pressures or the capacity of organizational actors to buffer or hide some activities. members’ tendency to internalize these pressures, to become self-disciplining, is also salient.” 486 patricia bromley & hokyu hwang & walter w. powellm@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 468-501 figure 1. qca for symbolic implementation (n=49) note: cases do not add up to 100% because these are just the two most dominant paths and there can be overlap between the organizations in each path. the full results are available in appendix a. figure 2. qca for symbolic adoption (n=24) note: cases do not add up to 100% because these are just the two most dominant paths and there can be overlap between the organizations in each path. the full results are available in appendix a. 487 decoupling revisited: common pressures, divergent strategies in the u.s. nonprofit sector m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 468-501 figures 1 and 2 present our core results. figure 1 shows that a managerial mindset is central to implementation; it appears as a part of the set of sufficient characteristics in both main paths of symbolic implementation. in contrast, the absence of a managerial rationale is necessary for symbolic adoption, shown in figure 2. this seems unsurprising given that planning has deep roots in administrative philosophy. however, the qca also powerfully demonstrates that managerialism alone is not sufficient for thorough implementation. in the two most dominant paths, managerialism appeared in combination with being older than average (16% of cases) or feeling the effects of the economic downturn (14% of cases). this is the payoff from qca: two very different conditions—strong stability (represented by longevity) or sharp instability (represented by unforeseen effects of the economic downturn)—had the same consequence of integrating planning into organizational life when combined with a managerial rationale. shifting to symbolic adoption, one third of cases possess one of two sets of characteristics. the absence of widespread involvement in the process appears in both sets, in contrast to the broad participation required as a necessary condition for implementation. in one path (covering 21% of cases), the combination of a non-participatory process with a new ed is linked to symbolic adoption. for example, the ed of a student group advocating curriculum changes in professional schools recounted how new leadership triggered the adoption of their current plan: “when the founding ed left, about six months after that the founding students also left the board, so the organization was moving from what was for eight years a very small core of leadership—eight to twelve people—to a much larger, more mature organization, and they felt that they needed a new strategic plan that reflected the new life phase of the organization.” key moments of change, such as hiring new leaders or gaining and losing large funders, open opportunities for charitable organizations to revisit their core purposes in a way that may not be possible during more stable periods. but our results also show that when a new ed does not involve staff and others, planning efforts become disconnected from everyday practice. the second path associated with symbolic adoption featured a lack of staff involvement, being an older organization, planning on an ad hoc basis, and financial distress. the effect of financial distress came through clearly in our interviews. for example, the new ed of a choral group attests: “the economic downturn threw a wrench in how the plan was going. a lot of plans haven’t been able to be worked out just because of the downturn.” the qca illuminates how particular combinations of characteristics can lead to different outcomes. for example, resources are linked to planning in a contingent manner. smaller organizations are less likely to plan no matter what. among those that plan, however, the effects of sudden financial hardship on the planning process are nuanced. when combined with a managerial mindset and broad involvement, organizations that feel the economic downturn are more likely to implement plans that might help them find solutions to this hardship. but when a managerial rationale is absent, the process is not participatory, and planning is irregular, then adoption is likely to be symbolic among older organizations struggling to deal with the economic downturn. these results highlight the complexity of nonprofit management; the same characteristics, when combined with different factors, can lead to divergent results for organizations. 488 patricia bromley & hokyu hwang & walter w. powellm@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 468-501 conclusions & discussion our theoretical goal was to unpack the black box that follows adoption with an eye to sharpening our understanding of decoupling in the contemporary social sector in the u.s. in doing so, we have employed a multi-method approach to assess how organizations enact the practice of strategic planning. our core findings are threefold: first, although the management literature often emphasizes purposeful causes of decoupling (e.g., westphal and zajac, 2001), there are varied and unintentional reasons that organizations do not implement plans, such as lack of resources or foresight. we remind the readers of john meyer and colleagues’ view that it is a mistake to be “too cynical about decoupling” (meyer, et al., 1997: 155). second, we found that even plans that are implemented can be loosely linked to an organization’s goals. decoupling should be understood broadly to include instances where organizational practices become valued in their own right. re-establishing the concept of decoupling as including instances of symbolic implementation sheds light on contemporary organizational complexity (bromley and powell, 2012). from diversity offices to environmental policies to auditing, organizations of all sorts increasingly incorporate elements that are not only buffered from, and possibly incongruent with, one another, but also weakly connected to the core goal of production (drori, et al, 2006; greenwood, et al., 2011). decoupling is therefore a process by which organizations respond to institutional pressures for which they may or may not have the capacity, willingness, or affinity. third, there is a link between rationales for planning and how it is enacted, with the presence or absence of a managerial rationale and broad involvement in the process being particularly important. most decoupling research emphasizes the role of external pressures in pushing organizations to adopt practices, but we provide evidence of a pull mechanism where institutional forces are also at work through micro-level internalization. among our eds, the boundary between internal and external elements became virtually indistinguishable as individuals incorporated institutionalized elements into organizational structures and roles (drori, et al., 2006). thus, in addition to documented factors that shape implementation, such as internal champions or resources, we would add that the rationale for adoption also shapes how a management tool is used. this variability in response to similar environmental pressures lends empirical support to recent conceptual efforts to explain the micro-processes of institutionalization, by reference to how organizational members negotiate macro-institutional scripts and translate them into everyday actions (hallett and ventresca, 2006; powell and colyvas, 2008). the prevalence of strategic planning increases field-level homogeneity by creating a common language in the nonprofit sector. however, organizationlevel research shows that different rationales and responses (re)produce heterogeneity as participants find ways to translate this common, yet foreign language (sahlin-andersson, 1996; czarniawska and sevon, 2005; boxenbaum, 2006). variation in how a practice materializes is most striking when participants internalize institutional norms, leading to greater implementation (hwang and suárez, 2005). in some nonprofit organizations, the rationale for adopting a business practice appears to be linked to a substantial shift towards a managerial logic, whereas 489 decoupling revisited: common pressures, divergent strategies in the u.s. nonprofit sector m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 468-501 in others it leads to the creation of more hybrid practices, where the purpose of strategic planning is translated to take on an associational logic. studies of hybridization often assume that managers within organizations, the “inhabitants” of institutions, purposefully and skillfully navigate the demands of competing logics to create new blended forms of practice (binder, 2007; hallett, 2010). moreover, although we do not consider it in the present paper, it is also plausible that rationales and enactment are co-constructed in an ongoing process as the organization struggles to make sense of strategic planning. heightened pressures for managerialism may lead to the increased inflow of individuals with managerial expertise, skills and orientation. gradually, the professionalization or, more specifically, managerialization of nonprofit personnel may bring finance and other efficiency or accountability driven goals on equal footing with mission-driven goals, thus reducing the possibilities for symbolic adoption. going forward, an important question to consider is whether the managerialist “means” alter the diversity of “ends” and the sector’s innovative spirit that has vitally contributed to the american social landscape. although we focus on an element of managerialism in nonprofit organizations in the united states, our study has wider implications. organizations in different sectors and national contexts are confronted with similar rationalizing pressures, which can threaten the incommensurable benefits that expressive organizations bring to society. kruecken and meier (2006) analyzed the administrative changes entailed when european universities adopt strategic plans and other accountability measures. more broadly, across the globe, the field of higher education is undergoing managerialization (amaral, meek, and larsen, 2003). with the rise of new public management, public agencies too have become targets of similar pressures (meyer and hammerschmid, 2006). our results also reveal a surprisingly resilient sector. many nonprofits have been undergoing rationalization, pressed by powerful stakeholders ranging from donors, governments, the corporate sector, to foundations. the inflow of managerial personnel and expertise, and their accompanying models and practices, have the potential to transform this expressive sector into a more instrumental one, shorn of experimentalism and pale copies of government or business bureaucracies. more than a decade ago, stone and brush (1996: 633) suggested that nonprofits are torn between “meeting the needs of their commitment and demands for legitimacy.” however, the nonprofits in our sample are certainly not passive adopters of external business models. they experiment, sometimes using plans as a way to re-examine and re-visit their core identity and goals. although strategic planning travels to the charitable sector under the banner of accountability and efficiency, the varied rationales we find suggest that nonprofits creatively find other flags to fly (ansari, fiss, and zajac, 2010). most notably, plans become both public and symbolic, signals for internal and external audiences. some nonprofits post their plans on their websites; and when asked about their plans, some nonprofit leaders responded by saying, “i can give you a copy, if you want.” many nonprofit leaders juggle the twin demands of love and money, to use binder’s (2007) phrase, quite adeptly. to be sure, a pronounced sector-wide rationalization is reshaping the field, making organizations comparable on many more dimensions. but there are also key points of divergence as nonprofits repurpose the meaning of rationalized practices to suit the unique setting of the charitable sector. in so doing, we are witnessing the elaboration of a complex, multi-directional 490 patricia bromley & hokyu hwang & walter w. powellm@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 468-501 process of blurring and blending of the traditional organizational sectors. there are several limitations to our study. the data were drawn from irs tax records and extensive interviews with eds, board members, and a limited number of staff. we did not interview multiple staff members, clients, or key constituents. the study therefore has an executive bias, and future research could explore more broadly whether both staff and clients embrace managerial tools. nor did we analyze the extensiveness of strategic plans. the organizations had plans that varied from a “one-pager” to very detailed, lengthy “door-stops”. we read the plans we collected, but we did not systematically parse their content and phrasing. it would be valuable to explore how differences in content affect reception and execution. our analyses are limited to looking at adoption at a single point in time, but our key theoretical goal—to show variation in postadoption outcomes—is amply illustrated. future research with longitudinal data could explore whether there is a particular life cycle or pattern to post-adoption outcomes. although the data provide a rich portrait of one snapshot in time, there were eight cases where the organizations were moving between symbolic adoption and symbolic implementation over time.11 for instance, earlier we shared the words of an ed who sees limited value in planning and lightly “updates” their document about once a year without involving others; a classic case of policypractice decoupling. yet there is more to this story: a few years before, the organization conducted an extensive process: “we did this big strategic plan thing because the human services commission said that we had to do it for our grant. so we went through this big process a couple of years ago where we pushed it through and we spent a lot of time on it.” at one point in time, strategic planning was an activity that consumed energy and resources, and infiltrated daily activities – symbolic implementation. over time, however, the flurry of activity that generated the initial document has settled into the background and now sits inactive – symbolic adoption. the process could easily go in the other direction as well, with a policy or plan initially being unimplemented, but gradually becoming acted on over time, perhaps as the efforts of an internal advocate gain momentum or if more resources emerge. although we did not observe this in our data, recent studies have shown that formal policies that were once window dressing can become tangible (tilcsik, 2010; hallett, 2010). the important conceptual point is that shifting to a view where types of decoupling can occur at different stages of implementation highlights that our observations at any given point in time are partial, and that decoupling should be thought of as a process rather than a state. notwithstanding these caveats, this research helps to advance our understanding of organizations. recent theoretical arguments speculate that decoupling can be thought of as falling along two spectrums of policy-practice and means-ends (bromley and powell, 2012). this study provides empirical evidence of these two forms. as implementation of a symbolic structure becomes more thorough, policy-practice decoupling decreases but meansends decoupling increases.12 to sharpen this distinction, consider an extreme and stylized hypothetical example: a school could spend all of its time and money conducting an extensive planning process during which it has to be closed because there is no staff or funds to continue operations. in this case, the plan is reaching into daily activities, thus the formal structure and daily practices are aligned, but there is no longer any activity being directed at the 11. recall that many standard organizational measures, such as size, are excluded from the qca because robustness checks indicated that they are scope conditions associated with planning in general, but not with any particular outcome. 12. although it is not relevant to this paper, which focuses on the implementation of a formal policy, bromley and powell (2012) also describe how means-ends decoupling is valuable for understanding instances of “reverse decoupling” when patterned practices exist in advance of, or without, the specification of formal policies. 491 decoupling revisited: common pressures, divergent strategies in the u.s. nonprofit sector m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 468-501 ultimate goal of helping students learn. or, even if the school remains open, we cannot know for sure how much the plan, once implemented, contributes to student learning. naturally, actual cases are more nuanced in the extent to which policies and practices are aligned, the extent to which symbolic practices diverge or detract from ultimate goals, and the extent to which is it possible to draw clear causal connections between a managerial practice and intended outcomes. nonetheless, this theoretical step forward is valuable for better understanding the lived experience of nonprofit managers, who routinely implement policies while recognizing their unknown utility. lastly, this research is not meant to be a criticism of planning, but rather a discussion of how difficult it is to link means and ends in the production of complex social goods. certainly, plans can be useful. in particular, many leaders saw clear links between obtaining resources and having a plan, although few reported textbook implementation of their plans. others described the process as useful for bringing staff and volunteers together. but even when the plan’s goals were achieved, it was difficult to ascertain whether the checked-off items contributed to organizational effectiveness, efficiency, or mission. 492 patricia bromley & hokyu hwang & walter w. powellm@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 468-501 patricia bromley is an assistant professor of political science and (by courtesy) sociology at the university of utah. her research focuses on the rationalization of social and cultural arenas of life, and on cross-national, longitudinal changes in civic education. hokyu hwang is a senior lecturer in the school of management at the australian school of business, university of new south wales in sydney, australia. his research focuses on the causes and consequences of organizational rationalization, particularly the construction of actors. he received a phd in sociology from stanford university. walter w. powell is professor of education and (by courtesy) professor of sociology, organizational behavior, management science, communication, and public policy at stanford university. much of powell’s work is in the fields of economic sociology and institutional theory, including his most recent book, the emergence of organizations and markets. 493 decoupling revisited: common pressures, divergent strategies in the u.s. nonprofit sector m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 468-501 . amaral, a., meek, v. l., & larsen, i. m. (eds.). (2003). the higher education managerial revolution? dordrecht: kluwer. . ansari, s. m., fiss, p. c., & zajac, e. j. (2010). made to fit: how practices vary as they diffuse. academy of management review, 35(1), 67-82. . battilana, j., & dorado, s. (2010). building sustainable hybrid organizations: the case of commercial microfinance organizations. academy of management journal, 55(5), 14191440. . binder, a. (2007). for love and money: organizations’ creative responses to multiple environmental logics. theory and society, 36(6), 547-571. . boxenbaum, e. (2006). lost in translation. american behavioral scientist, 49(7), 939 -948. . boxenbaum, e., & pedersen, j. s. (2010). scandinavian institutionalism a case of institutional work. in t. lawrence, r. suddaby & b. leca (eds.), institutional work: actors and agency in institutional studies of organizations (pp. 178-204). cambridge: cambridge university press. . boxenbaum, e., & battilana, j. (2005). importation as innovation: transposing managerial practices across fields. strategic organization, 3(4), 355-383. . briscoe, f., & safford, s. (2008). the nixon in china effect: activism, imitation and the institutionalization of contentious practices. administrative science quarterly, 53(3), 460-491. . bromley, p., & powell, w. w. (2012). from smoke and mirrors to walking the talk: decoupling in the contemporary world. academy of management annals, 6(1), 1-48. . brunsson, n. (1989). the organization of hypocrisy: talk, decisions and actions in organizations. new york: wiley. . brunsson, n., & olsen, j. p. (1993). the reforming organization. london and new york: routledge. . bryson, j. m., crosby, b., & bryson, j. k. (2009). understanding strategic planning and the formulation and implementation of strategic plans as a way of knowing: the contributions of actornetwork planning. international public management journal, 12(2), 172-207. . burns, l. r., & wholey, d. r. (1993). adoption and abandonment of matrix management programs. academy of management journal, 36(1), 106-138. . coburn, c. (2004). beyond decoupling: rethinking the relationship between the institutional environment and the classroom. sociology of education, 77(3), 211244. . cole, w. m. (2012). human rights as myth and ceremony? reevaluating the effectiveness of human rights treaties, 1981-2007. american journal of sociology, 117(4), 1131–1171. . colyvas, j., & jonsson, s. (2011). ubiquity and legitimacy: disentangling diffusion and institutionalization. sociological theory, 29(2), 27-53. . czarniawska, b., & joerges, b. (1996). the travel of ideas. in b. czarniawska & g. sevón, (eds.), translating organizational change (pp. 13-48). berlin: de gruyter. . czarniawska, b., & sevon, g. (eds.). (2005). global ideas: how ideas, objects and practices travel in the global economy. liber & copenhagen business school press. . davis, g. f., & greve, h. r. (1997). corporate elite networks and governance changes in the 1980s. american journal of sociology, 103(1), 1-37. . dimaggio, p. j., & powell, w. w. (1983). the iron cage revisited: institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields. american sociological review, 48(2), 147-160. . dobbin, f., & dowd, t. j. (1997). how policy shapes competition: early railroad foundings in massachusetts. administrative science quarterly, 42(3), 501-529. . dobbin, f., kalev, a., & kelly, e. (2007). diversity management in corporate america. contexts, 6(4), 21-28. . drori, g., meyer, j. w., ramirez, f. o., & schofer, e. (2003). loose coupling in national science: policy versus practice. in g. drori, j. w. meyer, f. o. ramirez & e. schofer (eds.), science in the modern world polity: institutionalization and globalization (pp. 155-173). stanford: stanford university press. . drori, g., meyer, j. w., & hwang, h. (2006). globalization and organization: world society and organizational change. oxford: oxford university press. . eisenhardt, k. m. (1989). building theories from case study research. academy of management review, 14(4), 532–550. . fiss, p. c. (2007). a set-theoretic approach to organizational configurations. academy of management review, 32(4), 11801198. references 494 patricia bromley & hokyu hwang & walter w. powellm@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 468-501 . friedland, r., & alford, r. r. (1991). bringing society back in: symbols, practices, and institutional contradictions. in w. w. powell & p. j. dimaggio (eds.), the new institutionalism in organizational analysis (pp. 232-263). chicago: university of chicago press. . frumkin, p. (2002). on being nonprofit. cambridge: harvard university press. . greenwood, r., raynard, m., kodeih, f., micelotta, e. r., & lounsbury, m. (2011) institutional complexity and organizational responses. the academy of management annals, 5(1), 317-371. . guler, i., guillén, m. f., & macpherson, j. m. (2002). global competition, institutions, and the diffusion of organizational practices. administrative science quarterly, 47(2), 207-32. . hall, p. d. (2006). a historical overview of philanthropy, voluntary associations, and nonprofit organizations in the united states, 1600-2000. in w. w. powell and r. steinberg (eds.), the nonprofit sector (2nd ed., pp. 32-65). new haven, ct: yale university press. . hallett, t. (2010). the myth incarnate: recoupling processes, turmoil, and inhabited institutions in an urban elementary school. american sociological review, 75(1), 52-74. . hallett, t. & ventresca, m. j. (2006). inhabited institutions: social interactions and organizational forms in gouldner’s patterns of industrial bureaucracy. theory and society, 35(2), 213-36. . henisz, w. t., zelner, b. a., & guillén, m. f. (2005). the worldwide diffusion of marketoriented infrastructure reform, 19771999. american sociological review, 70(6), 871-97. . hwang, h., & powell, w. w. (2009). the rationalization of charity: the influences of professionalism in the non-profit sector. administrative science quarterly, 54(2), 268-298. . hwang, h., & suárez, d. f. (2005). lost and found in the translation of strategic plans and websites. in b. czarniawska & g. sevón (eds.), global ideas: how ideas, objects and practices travel in the global economy. liber & copenhagen business school press. . krippendorff, k. (2004). content analysis: an introduction to its methodology. beverly hills: sage. . kruecken, g., & meier, f. (2006). turning the university into an organizational actor. in g. drori, j. meyer & h. hwang (eds.), globalization and organization (pp. 241-257). oxford: oxford university press. . lim, a., & tsutsui, k. (2012). globalization and commitment in corporate social responsibility: crossnational analyses of institutional and political-economy effects. american sociological review, 77(1), 69-98. . lounsbury, m. (2001). institutional sources of practice variation. administrative science quarterly, 46, 29-56. . meyer, j. w., & rowan, b. (1977). institutional organizations: structure as myth and ceremony. american journal of sociology, 83, 340-63. . meyer, j. w., boli, j., thomas, g. m., & ramirez, f. o. (1997). world society and the nation-state. american journal of sociology, 103(1), 144-181. . meyer, r. e., & hammerschmid, g. (2006). changing institutional logics and executive identities: a managerial challenge to public administration in austria. american behavioural scientist, 49(7), 1000-1014. . mezias, s. j. (1990). an institutional model of organizational practice: financial reporting at the fortune 200. administrative science quarterly, 35(3), 431-457. . miles, m. b., & huberman, a. m. (1994). qualitative data analysis: a sourcebook of new methods (2nd ed.). beverly hills: sage. . minkoff, d., & powell, w. w. (2006). nonprofit mission: constancy, responsiveness, or deflection? in w. w. powell and r. steinberg (eds.), the nonprofit sector: a research handbook, (2nd ed., pp. 591-611). new haven: yale university press. . neuman, w. l. (2003). basics of social research: qualitative and quantitative approaches. boston: pearson education. . orton, j. d., & weick, k. e. (1990). loosely coupled systems: a reconceptualization. academy of management review, 15(2), 203-23. . pache, a. -c., & santos, f. (2010). when worlds collide: the internal dynamics of organizational responses to conflicting institutional demands. academy of management review, 3(3), 455-476. . pache, a.-c., & santos, f. (forthcoming). inside the hybrid organizations: selective coupling as an organizational response to conflicting institutional logics. academy of management journal. 495 decoupling revisited: common pressures, divergent strategies in the u.s. nonprofit sector m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 468-501 . sahlin-andersson, k. (1996). imitating by editing success: the construction of organizational fields. in b. czarniawska & g. sevón (eds.), translating organizational change (pp. 69-92). berlin: degruyter. . sauder, m., & espeland, w. n. (2009). the discipline of rankings: tight coupling and organizational change. american sociological review, 74(1), 63-82. . skocpol, t. (2003). diminished democracy: from membership to management in american civic life. norman, ok: university of oklahoma press. . simon, h. (1947). administrative behavior. new york: the free press. . smith, s. r., & lipsky, m. (1995). nonprofits for hire: the welfare state in the age of contracting. cambridge: harvard university press. . stone, m. m., & brush, c. b. (1996). strategic planning in ambiguous contexts: the dilemma for meeting needs for commitment and demands for legitimacy. strategic management journal, 17(8), 633-652. . suddaby, r., & greenwood, r. (2005). rhetorical strategies of legitimacy. administrative science quarterly, 50(1), 35-67. . thornton, p., ocasio, w., & lounsbury, m. (2012). the institutional logics perspective: a new approach to culture, structure, and process. new york: oxford university press. . tilcsik, a. (2010). from ritual to reality: demography, ideology, and decoupling in a postcommunist government agency. academy of management journal, 53(6), 1474-1498. . palmer, d., jennings, d., & zhou, x. (1993). late adoption of the multidivisional form by large u.s. corporations. administrative science quarterly, 38(1), 100-131. . powell, w. w., & colyvas, j. a. (2008). microfoundations of institutional theory. in r. greenwood, c. oliver, k. sahlin & r. suddaby (eds.), handbook of organizational institutionalism (pp. 276-298). london: sage. . power, m. (1997). the audit society. oxford: oxford university press. . putnam, r. d. (2007). e pluribus unum: diversity and community in the twenty-first century. the 2006 johan skytte prize lecture. scandinavian political studies, 30(2), 137-174. . ragin, c. c. (1987). the comparative method: moving beyond qualitative and quantitative strategies. berkeley: university of california press. . ragin, c. c. (2000). fuzzy set social science. chicago: university of chicago press. . ragin, c. c. (2006). set relations in social research: evaluating their consistency and coverage. political analysis, 14(3), 291-310. . ragin, c. c. (2008). redesigning social inquiry: fuzzy sets and beyond. chicago: university of chicago press. . sahlin, k., & wedlin, l. (2008). circulating ideas: imitation, translation and editing. in r. greenwood, c. oliver, k. sahlin & r. suddaby (eds.), handbook of organizational institutionalism (pp. 218-242). london: sage. . tolbert, p. s., & zucker, l. g. (1983). institutional sources of change in the formal structure of organizations: the diffusion of civil service reform. administrative science quarterly, 28(1), 22-39. . vaisey, s. (2007). structure, culture, and community: the search for belonging in 50 urban communes. american sociological review, 72(6), 851-873. . weber, k., davis, g. f., & lounsbury, m. (2009). policy as myth and ceremony? the global spread of stock exchanges, 1980-2005. academy of management journal, 52(6), 1319-1347. . weick, k. (1995). sense-making in organizations. thousand oaks: sage. . westphal, j. d., gulati, r., & shortell, s. m. (1997). customization or conformity? an institutional and network perspective on the content and consequences of tqm adoption. administrative science quarterly, 42(2), 366-394. . westphal, j., & zajac, e. (2001). decoupling policy from practice: the case of stock repurchase programs. administrative science quarterly, 46(2), 202-228. 496 patricia bromley & hokyu hwang & walter w. powellm@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 468-501 appendix a. qca technical notes recognizing the theoretical limitations of existing social science tools, ragin (1987, 2000, 2008) and others (fiss, 2007; vaisey, 2007) have developed a method called qualitative comparative analysis (qca) for precisely those situations where causality is attributable to configurations of conditions. traditional regression methods assume linear and additive causality, estimating the independent effects of variables. in contrast, traditional casebased qualitative research can capture the complexity of interwoven causal conditions, but it is difficult to generalize across cases. qca retains the causal logic of case-based research, but facilitates generalization by increasing the number of cases one can systematically consider and allows for the incorporation of counter-factual cases that do not exist in the data but are plausible outcomes. below we describe in detail the steps used in our qca and report complete solutions from the sufficiency analyses. we began our analyses using the “fuzzy” variant of qca, but chose to revert to “crisp” analyses for two reasons. first, a number of indicators are dichotomous, and initial explorations indicated cause for concern that these variables overshadowed fuzzy measures. moreover, in using “fuzzy” qca, the construction of cutoff points is of the utmost importance. in our cases, we have little substantive or theoretical reasoning for assigning particular calibrations. initial analyses indicated varied and inconsistent results when we tested a variety of potential cutoff points. in our crisp qca we first established the necessary conditions for each of our two forms of planning. we use a standard measure, called consistency, to determine the necessary conditions for each outcome. consistency is the number of cases with a condition and an outcome, divided by the total number of cases with the outcome (ragin, 2006; 2008). we use a cutoff for consistency of 0.85, indicating that a cause that passes the test of necessity is, by itself, “usually necessary” for the outcome, but not sufficient. an inclusive process and an opportunistic rationale are each necessary conditions for symbolic implementation. an opportunistic rationale and the absence of a managerial rationale are each necessary conditions for symbolic adoption. these are illustrated in figures 1 and 2 in the text of the paper. whereas a cause is considered necessary if it must be present (or usually present) for an outcome to occur, a cause (or combination of causes) is sufficient if it produces a certain outcome by itself. in qca for dichotomous characteristics, used here, the researcher first creates a table with all possible combinations of factors that are of interest. for example, if factors a, b, and c are thought to contribute to the outcome y, the “truth table” would contain two to the power of three (or eight) configurations (abc, abc, abc, abc, abc, abc, abc, abc). next, we count the number of actual cases that match each possible configuration and the proportion of cases with the outcome of interest in each configuration. for example, one might observe ten organizations with the characteristics abc and find that nine of them have the outcome of interest. the researcher determines whether possessing a set of characteristics is usually associated with the outcome or not (i.e. whether it is sufficient to cause the outcome). our analyses found numerous combinations that produced sufficiency, but we present only the most germane paths in the paper. we began by examining the consistency of every possible combination of causes in a truth table. 497 decoupling revisited: common pressures, divergent strategies in the u.s. nonprofit sector m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 468-501 table a shows the shorthand used for our variable names. following convention, in the mathematical solutions capital letters (abc) indicate the presence of a condition, a small letter indicates its absence (abc), and a star (*) between conditions indicates “and”. tables b and c provide the truth tables for each outcome, excluding combinations that have no observed cases. in these tables, “number” indicates the number of cases that fit a particular set of conditions, and “consistency” is the proportion of cases in a particular combination that exhibit the outcome. table a. variable codes variable code outcome variables symbolic implementation r symbolic adoption d causal conditions organizational age a affected by economic downturn e new leader n inclusive process t plan regularly p opportunistic rationale y associational rationale q managerial rationale z 498 patricia bromley & hokyu hwang & walter w. powellm@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 468-501 table b. symbolic implementation truth table e n p q z a number consistency 1 0 0 0 0 1 8 0.25 1 1 0 0 0 0 7 0.29 1 0 0 0 0 0 6 0.50 0 0 1 0 0 0 5 0.80 1 0 1 0 0 0 5 1.00 1 0 0 1 0 1 3 0.33 1 0 1 0 0 1 3 1.00 1 0 1 1 0 0 3 1.00 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0.50 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 0.00 0 0 1 0 0 1 2 1.00 0 0 1 0 1 1 2 1.00 0 1 0 1 0 0 2 0.50 1 0 1 0 1 0 2 1.00 1 0 1 0 1 1 2 1.00 1 1 0 0 0 1 2 1.00 1 1 0 1 0 1 2 0.00 1 1 1 0 0 1 2 0.50 1 1 1 1 0 1 2 1.00 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0.00 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0.00 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0.00 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 1.00 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 1.00 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1.00 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0.00 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 1.00 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0.00 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1.00 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 1.00 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 1.00 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 0.00 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1.00 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0.00 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 1.00 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1.00 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 1.00 499 decoupling revisited: common pressures, divergent strategies in the u.s. nonprofit sector m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 468-501 table c. symbolic adoption truth table t e n p q a number consistency 1 1 0 1 0 0 7 0.14 1 1 0 0 0 0 5 0.40 1 1 0 0 0 1 5 0.00 1 1 1 0 0 0 5 0.60 0 1 0 0 0 1 4 0.75 1 0 0 1 0 1 4 0.00 1 1 0 1 0 1 4 0.50 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 0.00 1 0 0 1 0 0 3 0.33 1 1 0 0 1 1 3 0.67 1 1 0 1 1 0 3 0.00 1 1 1 1 0 1 3 0.33 0 1 1 0 0 0 2 1.00 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0.00 1 0 0 0 1 0 2 0.00 1 0 1 1 0 0 2 0.00 1 1 0 1 1 1 2 0.50 1 1 1 0 0 1 2 0.00 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 0.00 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0.00 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1.00 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 1.00 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0.00 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0.00 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 1.00 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 0.00 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 0.00 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0.00 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 1.00 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 1.00 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 0.00 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0.00 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 0.00 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 0.00 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 0.00 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1.00 we use two approaches to reducing the combinations: first, complex solutions where remainders (combinations where there were no observed cases) are excluded, and second, a parsimonious approach using remainders that can be used in the reduction if they lead to a simpler solution. our complete process and results are reported below. in order to determine which solutions from 500 patricia bromley & hokyu hwang & walter w. powellm@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 468-501 the truth table to reduce, we relied on the “fuzzy” program written for stata by longest and vaisey. specifically, we performed a test between each set’s consistency in the outcome against the consistency of all other configurations. in the output below, “set” is the configuration, “ycons” is the consistency or proportion of cases in that set that have the outcome, “othycons” is the consistency for all other sets, “f” indicates the f-distribution, “p” is the result of a wald test comparing the consistency scores (significance means that “ycons” and “othycons” are significantly different), and nbestfit is the number of cases in a set. we report and reduce only those combinations where the set’s consistency was significantly greater than the consistency of other configurations in the outcome. in both the complex and parsimonious solutions, “raw coverage” is the proportion of cases with the outcome that fit the causal conditions of each path, and “unique coverage” is the proportion of cases that are covered only by that solution. “consistency” is the proportion of cases in a path that have the outcome. “solution consistency” is the average consistency score across all causal paths and “total coverage” is the proportion of cases with the outcome covered by all paths. symbolic implementation results fuzzy r e n p q z a, settest(yvo) greater(col1) sigonly remainders(0) reduce parsimony solution: remainders (bestfit<=0) included as do not cares 20 solutions entered as true 27 solutions treated as do not cares minimum configuration reduction set enpa npqa enpq epqa npqa enpq enpa npqa enqa enqa npqa enqa enpq npqa enpq epa za nz qz ez pz final reduction set coverage set raw coverage unique coverage solution consistency n*p*q*a 0.061 0.061 1.000 e*n*q*a 0.082 0.082 1.000 z*a 0.163 0.061 1.000 e*z 0.143 0.041 1.000 total coverage = 0.347 solution consistency = 1.000 501 decoupling revisited: common pressures, divergent strategies in the u.s. nonprofit sector m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 468-501 symbolic adoption results fuzzy d t e n p q z a, settest(yvo) greater(col1) sigonly remainders(0) reduce parsimony solution: remainders (bestfit<=0) included as do not cares 9 solutions entered as true 84 solutions treated as do not cares minimum configuration reduction set enpqza tenpqa enpqa enpza enqza tenza enqz enqa enpa enpq tepa tepa tepa npqa epqa enqz tepa enza enqz tpz epz pza tza pqz qza npz tez tq tn final reduction set coverage set raw coverage unique coverage solution consistency e*n*p*q*z*a 0.042 0.042 1.000 t*e*p*a 0.167 0.125 0.800 n*p*q*a 0.083 0.083 1.000 t*n 0.208 0.167 1.000 total coverage = 0.458 solution consistency = 0.917 and one of the following tenpqa enpqa enpza enqza tenza enqz enqa enpa enpq tepa tepa epqa enqz tepa enza enqz tpz epz pza tza pqz qza npz tez tq paradoxical tensions in learning 
processes : exploration, 
exploitation and exploitative learning paradoxical tensions in learning processes : exploration, exploitation and exploitative learning frédéric garcias � cédric dalmasso � jean-claude sardas abstract. research on organizational paradoxes, notably the learning/performing paradox, have demonstrated the potential value of a detailed analysis of tensions resulting from the need to develop future capabilities, while simultaneously guaranteeing success in the present. but analyzing this paradox exclusively from the perspective of the antagonism between exploration and exploitation masks tensions of a different nature linked to phenomena concerning the transmission, extension and replication of existing capabilities. in this article we apply a concept deriving from the field of project management, namely exploitative learning, which provides a broader appreciation of the diversity of learning processes located in the grey area between exploration and exploitation. empirically, we will focus on the study of tensions between exploitative learning and performing perceived by the actors in an industrial infrastructure engineering unit simultaneously developing a number of different projects and taking on new recruits. it transpires that learning processes associated with the development of teams for new projects and the training of numerous recruits can, at the macroand microstructural levels, run counter to short-term logics of performance, thereby threatening the development of future capabilities. our study makes it possible to broaden the terms by which the learning/performing paradox is defined. it also enriches our understanding of exploitative learning situations by demonstrating that they require both an allocation in terms of human resources and an investment in terms of time, approaches that are hard to reconcile with short-term goals. ! organizations must respond to simultaneous and contradictory demands that generate tensions manifested in the form of “paradoxes.” reacting in an appropriate way to these situations is a pre-condition of survival (smith & lewis 2011). but it also pre-supposes identifying and characterizing the nature and origin of those tensions. recent research has developed a general theory of organizational paradoxes (lewis, 2000; lüscher & lewis, 2008; perret & josserand, 2003) and listed the tensions that arise most frequently (smith & lewis 2011). this list places a substantial emphasis on tensions linked to a need to “build capabilities for the future, while ensuring success for the present” (384). for smith and lewis, this paradox is manifested in the tension between exploitation and exploration identified by march (levinthal & march 1993; march 1991, 1996), who defined exploration as “the pursuit of new knowledge, of things that might come to be known,” and exploitation as “the use and development of things already known” (levinthal & march 1993: 105). governed by different 1rationalities, these registers of action compete for scarce resources, a factor that renders them mutually exclusive. m@n@gement 2015, vol. 18(2): 156-178 156 frédéric garcias centre de gestion scientifique, ecole des mines de paris frederic.garcias@mines-paristech.fr cédric dalmasso centre de gestion scientifique, ecole des mines de paris cedric.dalmasso@mines-paristech.fr jean-claude sardas centre de gestion scientifique, ecole des mines de paris jean-claude.sardas@mines-paristech.fr mailto:frederic.garcias@mines-paristech.fr?subject= mailto:frederic.garcias@mines-paristech.fr?subject= mailto:cedric.dalmasso@mines-paristech.fr?subject= mailto:cedric.dalmasso@mines-paristech.fr?subject= mailto:jean-claude.sardas@mines-paristech.fr?subject= mailto:jean-claude.sardas@mines-paristech.fr?subject= ! however, some authors, including gupta, smith and shelley (2006), maintain that the dichotomy between exploitation and exploration is inadequately defined and provides a somewhat vague picture of the range of learning processes available. these authors demonstrate that the dichotomy is based on a distinction between the known and the unknown that fails to take into account the level of organizational analysis considered (units, resources, individuals, etc.). a number of project management studies (brady & davies 2004; davies & brady 2000; ruuska & brady 2011) have responded to gupta et al.’s wish to broaden the level of analysis to encompass a wider variety of learning processes. amongst other things, they introduce the notion of “exploitative learning” to describe the transition between exploration and exploitation, differentiating between learning based on creativity and learning based on replication, as well as between the various organizational spheres in which they are produced. ! the objective of our article is to combine this perspective developed in the field of project management with elements deriving from the literature on the learning/performing paradox. we demonstrate that when exploitative learning processes, which have been neglected by researchers, are combined with the logic underpinning short-term performance goals, then tensions are generated. taking these tensions into account provides a deeper understanding of the learning/performing paradox, until now limited to the conflict between exploitation and exploration considered from the point of view of their archetypal forms. with this end in view, we conducted an 18-month study on the tensions perceived by the employees of a complex industrial infrastructure engineering unit. the unit is part of a french group of global standing confronting a transformation in its strategic environment with, in particular, a high growth in demand for infrastructure and a 100% increase in engineering worfkorce. the detailed analysis of this case makes it possible to study the articulation of exploitative learning with other registers of action, and to highlight the tensions that this articulation generates at the macroand micro-levels. learning tensions between exploitation and exploration the difficult reconciliation between exploration and exploitation ! smith and lewis (2011) highlight the difficulty of reconciling logics of learning designed to “build capabilities for the future” and logics of performance designed to “ensure success for the present” (384). following abernathy (1978), march characterizes this tension by distinguishing two registers of organizational action: exploitation and exploration (levinthal & march 1993; march 1991, 1996). his research shows that these levels, while occurring simultaneously, are heterogeneous in nature, that they obey different rationalities (march 1991: 73-74), and that they are thus, potentially, conflictual in that they dispute the allocation of scarce resources. they therefore represent a reciprocal threat, and combining them generates a series of tensions. research on organizational ambidexterity focuses on firms’ capacity to manage or resolve these tensions (andriopoulos & lewis 2008; o'reilly & tushman 2004; schmitt, probst, & tushman 2010; simsek 2009). such research analyzes ways in which ambidexterity can be developed structurally and contextually (birkinshaw & gibson 2004; duncan 1976), and examines the factors encouraging its emergence, as well as its consequences in terms of performance (gibson & m@n@gement, vol. 18(2): 156-178! frédéric garcias, cédric dalmasso & jean-claude sardas 157 birkinshaw 2004; o'reilly & tuhsman 2008; raisch & birkinshaw 2008; raisch, birkinshaw, probst, & tushman 2009). ! research on organizational paradoxes – i.e., situations characterized by the presence of simultaneous, inter-related and contradictory logics that persist over time (cameron & quinn 1988; eisenhardt 2000; perret & josserand 2003; smith & lewis 2011) – has made it possible to better apprehend the tension between exploitation and exploration. it has been demonstrated that paradoxical situations are typical of changing, ambiguous and pluralistic environments in which resources are scarce (smith & lewis, 2011). such situations generate a proliferation of choices for which traditional decision-making approaches based on dichotomization (either/or dualities) are inadequate, or even dangerous, in that they “trap organizations in paradox” (josserand & perret, 2003: 165). josserand and perret demonstrate that compromise “leads the organization towards a sometimes uncomfortable intermediary situation,” and that hierarchical approaches can prove “disastrous” (josserand & perret 2003), exposing the organization to the risk of “spirals” (eisenhardt 2000) or “vicious circles” (lewis 2000). actors are then tempted to react by adopting “psychological defence” behaviours that can take the form of “unreflective commitments” (vince & broussine 1996) or, on the contrary, disregard and scepticism, solutions that make the problem worse instead of solving it. it is the self-reproductive character of tensions and the psychological consequences that singularize paradoxical situations and render “paradox management” necessary (josserand & perret 2003: 165). between the existing and the new: what kind of learning? ! managing the paradox between exploitation and exploration pre-supposes a capacity to distinguish between exploitation and exploration activities. but these notions are not clearly defined in the literature and there is no real consensus about them. some researchers apply the terminology to “fields of knowledge” (march 1991; vermeulen & barkema 2001), others to “technological trajectories” (benner & tushman 2002), or “product/market domains” (he & wong 2004). applied to a variety of situations, the terminology is, therefore, highly generic. this indeterminacy is apparent from the outset in the work of march, who does not provide any rigorous definition of the two notions, instead describing them by means of a succession of synonyms and broad characterizations. nevertheless, his descriptions and allusions do reveal his views about the difference between the two notions: exploitation and exploration correspond to the distinction between the existing and the new, the already known and the not yet known. ! a few authors, including gupta et al. (2006) have commented on this lack of conceptual precision, observing that there are at least two ways of envisaging the difference between exploitation and exploration. according to the first, the notion of exploration refers to learning activities that generate knowledge, while exploitation designates activities limited to the application of existing knowledge. meanwhile, according to the second approach, exploitation and exploration both induce learning experiences, but those experiences are different in terms of their scope and characteristics. ! gupta et al. retain the second approach. in so doing, they open a breach in the vision of exploitation and exploration as two heterogeneous, watertight registers in which activities within organizations are supposedly enclosed. in fact, such activities serve as platforms for learning that not only possess a wide range of characteristics, but also vary significantly in their scope. consequently, defining these activities exclusively in terms of exploitation and exploration is restrictive. in effect, between purely exploratory activities focused on generating radically new knowledge, and activities strictly limited to exploiting existing knowledge that paradoxical tensions in learning processes! m@n@gement, vol. 18(2): 156-178 158 generate no new learning, there are intermediate learning experiences: “incremental learning” (miner & mezias 1996), “exploitation innovation” (benner & tushman 2002, 2003) or “exploitative learning” (brady & davies 2004). these forms of learning are located in a grey area between the archetypal forms represented by exploration and exploitation, an area that largely escapes the dichotomy between the two. taking those forms of learning into account provides us a richer, more complex vision of the tension between learning and performing than that offered by march, to which the literature reduces it. ! some research undertaken in the field of project management focusing on actions in this grey area is particularly useful in terms of reappraising existing work on the tension between exploration and exploitation. for example, brady and davis (2004) examine how two major technology firms, ericsson and c&w, managed the transition between exploration and exploitation by studying deep transformations in the activity of the two organizations over the course of the past few years. their study reveals that the process requires transition learning processes. the authors introduce the notion of “exploitative learning” (ibid.) to describe the way in which firms use capabilities located locally in an exploratory project to attempt to diffuse, replicate and extend such learning to other projects or to the organization as a whole. their article shows that a transition from local exploration to large-scale exploitation involves specific learning processes aimed at developing capabilities and paving the way for improved future performance, but that those processes are not “exploratory” since they focus on knowledge that has already been generated and mastered locally. therefore, these learning processes displace, diffuse and extend knowledge that has already been explored, and generate capabilities which are “new” not in terms of their content, but in terms of the human resources involved in them. ! research undertaken in the field of project management thus proposes a more dynamic representation of the exploration/exploitation dichotomy that takes into account knowledge differentials within firms. however, researchers have not fully taken into consideration the temporal dimension of these learning processes and of the time required to absorb those differentials. this is true of the time required to train individuals, whose potentially negative impact on performance has been highlighted by other authors. van oorschot, akkermans, sengupta and van wassenhove (2013) employ the term “assimilation delay” to describe the time during which a new recruit is not “fully productive” and, consequently, has a negative impact on his or her team’s productivity (291, 293). lastly, this research does not envisage the hypothesis according to which exploitative learning could, in turn, be the object or source of tensions of a paradoxical nature in organizations in which it is occurs. it is the objective of our study to fill this lacuna. context, methodology and research data context and research approach ! the data presented here was gathered during a collaborative research lasting a year-and-a-half (november 2010-may 2012) between the authors and the infrastructure development department (idd, name modified), the complex industrial infrastructure unit of a leading international group. between 2005 and 2006, the group initiated preparatory studies for a project (referred to as “project α”) implemented in 2007. designed as a pilot project, the project was introduced with a view to accumulating the experience required to launch, by replicating the pilot scheme, ten new projects by 2010. this expansion triggered the need for more personnel, especially in that, before 2005, the number of staff in the idd had decreased. thus, a highly ambitious recruitment policy was implemented, m@n@gement, vol. 18(2): 156-178! frédéric garcias, cédric dalmasso & jean-claude sardas 159 with the result that the number of personnel almost doubled between 2007 and 2012, with 90% of the new jobs being filled by young graduates. ! our analysis of the data generated by this collaboration led to a process of theoretical development. in effect, thanks to the wealth of material collected and to the access they give to extreme cases (yin, 1994), mono-case studies (siggelkow, 2007) make it possible to highlight unusual phenomena (eisenhardt & graebner 2007) that had either not been sufficiently theorized or not been noticed at all. this theoretical construction was based on “a continuous process of comparison between empirical data and theory” giving rise to an emerging theoretical construction that gradually “gives meaning to empirical observations” (charreire & durieux 1999: 70). empirical data and data collection ! empirical data were collected in three successive phases: an exploratory phase, a methodological phase, and an interview phase. exploratory phase ! an initial exploratory phase (november-december 2010) enabled us to define our research purpose. this phase began with 6 exploratory interviews (not recorded) with actors tasked by the management of the idd to implement and steer a joint-project with researchers. these last sent us three documents – two internal memos (7 pages in all) and a slide show (d1, 23 slides). these internal memos summarize the content of two interviews conducted on december 9, 2010 with the hr manager of the idd (ni1) and the hr manager of the division of the group on which the idd depends (ni2). the slideshow was aimed at all the members of the idd. it outlined the new organizational structure and the missions to be carried out by each entity, and explained the philosophy and motivations of the reorganization itself. methodological phase ! the methodological phase (january-february 2011) consisted in preparing the interviews. we consulted a number of internal documents communicated to us by the idd management: 11 memos presenting the new organization, the missions and resources of the various projects and sub departments (196 pages; no1 to no11); 9 documents on the situation of the unit in terms of human resources and its policy in this regard (71 pages; hr1 to hr9); and 13 documents from the internal social survey (576 pages, global overview and department-by-department; ei1 to ei13). these data enabled us to target a panel of actors and draw up an interview guide. three coordination meetings, each two hours long, with the actors mentioned above, enabled us to check the relevance of our approach. interview phase ! the third phase of the collaboration consisted in 49 interviews (conducted between march and may 2011). these interviews were carried out in order to cover all levels of management, including the unit’s functions and services, as well as its main sub-contractor (table 1, below). the interviews each lasted for an average of two hours. forty-three of them were recorded and transcribed in their entirety (1,458 pages). in the other six, which could not be recorded, notes were taken. paradoxical tensions in learning processes! m@n@gement, vol. 18(2): 156-178 160 table 1. typology of actors interviewedtable 1. typology of actors interviewed type of actor number of interviews member of the management board (management level n+3) ed1 to ed6 head of project, assistant head of project (management level n +2 cp1 to cp9 head of (management level n+2) cm1 to cm5 team leader (management level n+1) ce1 to ce5 designer/engineer (management level n) i1 to i14 support function (planning, hr) fs1 to fs4 sub-contractors st1 to st3 construction site ch1 to ch3 total 49 data analysis the field data analysis and debriefing phase was conducted between the end of april and may 2011. an initial series of debriefings was carried out at the end of the interview phase in may 2011: two presentations (each lasting two hours) (11/05/2011 and 16/05/2011) were made to steering committees, one small, the other larger, including directors, heads of department, and other hr actors. another presentation was delivered on 30/05/2011 to all the organization’s managers (half day session). later, four debriefings were delivered, respectively, to the idd management on 21/10/2011 (two hours); to all the unit’s managers on 5/12/2011 (half day session); and to an assistant director and to the hr director on 20/01/2012 and 29/05/2012 (two hours each). highlighting tensions ! data analysis started with an examination of the managers’ comments concerning the difficulties encountered by the unit. we used the first-hand material constituted by internal memos and the slide show (ni1, ni2, d1). actors within the organization insisted on the existence of tensions, including difficulties with reconciling certain objectives, conflicts over priorities, and an increase in the number of situations in which delicate choices had to be made at all levels of the unit. all these tensions were focused on learning issues and the challenge of meeting performance objectives. detailed analysis issues of approaches to learning and performing in the organization ! we carried out an initial analysis of the interviews with a view to defining learning mechanisms and difficulties encountered in attaining performance objectives. with this in mind, we conducted a systematic analysis of the actors’ comments on and descriptions of these two subjects. this approach gradually led to the emergence of two categories of problems that the actors regarded as critical. the first category we identified concerned learning processes in projects associated with the transition from a mono-project functioning to a multi-project functioning designed as part of a strategy based on the replication of studies. the second problem revealed by our data analysis was linked to the question of the learning processes of individuals and, in particular, the integration and training of new recruits in the technical departments in the context of a sustained increase in the number of personnel. ! we interpreted these problems as two modalities of a specific register of action, namely exploitative learning (brady & davies, 2004). m@n@gement, vol. 18(2): 156-178! frédéric garcias, cédric dalmasso & jean-claude sardas 161 the use of an analytical framework derived from paradox theory ! on the basis of these characterizations, we sought to furnish a theoretical interpretation of the tensions isolated on the field by applying an analytical framework based on paradox theory. we used the phenomenology of paradoxes proposed by the literature, which states that a paradox is characterized by the existence of the following elements: conflicts for scarce resources, activities perceived by the actors as mutually exclusive, and the self-reproductive character of paradox, which gives actors a feeling of “claustrophobia“ (lüscher & lewis 2008; perret & josserand 2003; smith & lewis 2011). ! to study the way in which resources are (re-)allocated within the unit, we first analyzed the discourse of project and technical department heads, since they are the ones who manage the movement of personnel (cp1 to cp9, cm1 to cm5). this analysis highlighted the existence of tensions at the macro-structural level, or, in other words, between departments, in terms of attracting resources. we then studied the way in which actors approached the challenge of combining learning and performance issues by conducting a comparative analysis of the situation and of the comments of team leaders (ce1 to ce5), since these last are responsible for integrating and training new recruits within their teams, and overseeing the production of studies respecting predefined performance levels. lastly, we analyzed the views of all the actors concerning whether or not tensions would persist. in order to do so, we analyzed the entire corpus of interviews with a view to isolating comments about the future of the unit and the strategy’s chances of success. we then bolstered our analysis by comparing those comments with hr data (internal surveys, turnover figures, hr1 to 9, ei1 to 13). from this it transpired that the interviewees felt that tensions may persist, largely due to problems in retaining employees in the unit and in creating a sentiment of belonging, a view confirmed by hr indicators. results the formulation of an unease linked to issues of learning and performing ! at the beginning of the collaboration (late 2010), the idd’s management was confronted by a number of problems that, taken together, constituted a kind of unease. in effect, an analysis of the documents revealed the actors’ concerns about “the workload issue,” “the invasion of personal life by work,” and “the perception that we’re always chasing after deadlines” (ni1), as well as the need to “develop virtuous routines to avoid crisis situations” in order to compensate for a “lack of efficiency in an organization characterized by too much work and too little productivity” (ni2). in regard to this situation, the management’s priorities were to “adapt the organization so that there was more sharing, transparency, efficiency and serenity” and to “modify the process to improve performance and encourage the development of expertise” (d1). in the director’s email accompanying these documents it was pointed out that the most important issue for the unit was “collectively to improve our performance and productivity, and to work more effectively, because it is not acceptable that, with almost a thousand people, employees are overworked today.” these comments attest to the difficulties in attaining performance objectives. ! an hr manager highlighted the need for “organizational functioning designed to stabilize collective skills” that might otherwise be “lost.” he talked about “problems with training new recruits,” due to a “bottleneck at the base of the managerial pyramid” and the fact that the organization had “reached its limit in terms of integration” (ni2). it was also pointed out that some recruits paradoxical tensions in learning processes! m@n@gement, vol. 18(2): 156-178 162 complained “of a lack of proximity and availability on the part of managers and team leaders (ni1).” one possible “axis of evolution” was to “develop competencies, integrate young graduates and encourage them to remain loyal to the company” (d1). these suggestions attest to difficulties associated in this context with learning. ! cross-checking the content of the interviews revealed problems concerning the implementation of changes required to ensure the successful development of the unit’s projects and increase the number of its personnel. some comments revealed genuine tensions, or in other words, difficulties in reconciling divergent needs. it was pointed out that the organization had to develop “operational functioning and expertise capable of facilitating learning processes, while at the same time taking workload into account,” and “make more rapid progress, while at the same time encouraging productivity in order to ensure that employees are less overworked1.” lastly, the claim was made that “the workload [was] growing more quickly than the group’s ability to meet it” (n12). these factors seem to point to the existence of a paradoxical tension between learning and performing (smith & lewis 2011). ! an analysis of the interviews provided a more detailed description of the nature of the learning processes at play. the director of the unit summed up those processes in the following terms: “from an organization that focused on a single project […] we needed to ensure that we changed the organization to a large degree to adapt to a context characterized by a several projects, each one as important as the next in terms of success. they must be successfully concluded at the same time […], while integrating a lot of young engineers […]: [there are] today [twice as many employees] as there were five years ago” (ed1). ! the unit was thus faced with the task of simultaneously managing an increase in the number of staff and implementing a transition to a multi-project functioning designed to deliver an effective replication of studies from project to project: we have to integrate people who are capable of gradually learning [the various aspects of a complex job] and duplicating those skills by applying them to project after project. (ed1). ! the idd’s strategy was designed to extend the organization’s capabilities by simultaneously making the transition to a multi-project functioning and increasing the number of staff, an approach of the kind described in the literature as exploitative learning. tension at the macro-structural level: the transition to a m u lt i p r o j e c t f u n c t i o n i n g a n d t h e r e d e p l o y m e n t o f resources ! initially, our analysis revealed the presence of a macro-structural tension, or, in other words, a conflict between teams for the allocation of resources in the context of the development of individual projects and the transition to a multiproject functioning. in effect, while the analysis of interviews with directors (ed1 to ed6), project heads, and technical department managers (cp1 to cp9, cm1 to cm5) revealed a convergence in terms of the aims of the unit’s reorganization, it was also clear that there were substantial divergences in terms of how it should be implemented. ! initially, we noted a striking similarity in directors’ and department heads’ m@n@gement, vol. 18(2): 156-178! frédéric garcias, cédric dalmasso & jean-claude sardas 163 1. authors’ italics. descriptions of the objectives of the reorganization. these actors noted that, over the course of the last few years, the unit had been managed by a single project cell (the projet α department) in which technical expertise had been centralized within a technical department (tdα): “we built a team made up of those best suited to working on project α” (ed1) “you’ve got a project unit in which you’ve placed technical people, and, of course, since it’s a ‘task force’ and resources are scare […] you take the best, the most experienced” (cm4). “we had to raise our game, so the choice was quickly made: a strong project, […] a ‘dream team’ […] still very strong today, very competent, very experienced” (cp1). ! the heads of department all mentioned the risks inherent in persevering with the unit’s current attitude to the multi-project functioning in the context of the implementation of studies on two new projects (projects β and γ), with further projects in the offing. this evolution was highlighted by the assistant director in charge of technical departments: “last year, we switched to a multi-project functioning […], so we set up two new project units […]. two new project technical teams would thus solicit the technical sub departments” (ed2). ! the increase in the number of projects rendered the current organization redundant, characterized as it was by a centralization of the most experienced personnel and technical decision-making processes in project α’s technical directorate (tdα). the issue at hand was, therefore, to re-equilibrate the organization in favour of the technical sub departments: “in the multi-project context, we needed to focus on the importance and value of the technical sub departments, giving them more recognition and placing a little more emphasis on their prerogatives […]. everything can’t be decided by the project anymore because now there are other projects that are going to come after it” (cp1). “we have to give the technical sub departments a certain number of prerogatives now, clearly emphasizing the project unit in their steering mission, and implicitly encouraging it to divest itself of its technical missions and hand them back to the technical sub departments” (cm4). ! in effect, it was the strategy of replicating the pilot project that made it necessary to centralize technical decision-making processes in the technical sub departments, with the project departments’ mission focusing on “steering” (cm4), planning and cost control. furthermore, the quest for improved performance implied that the new project departments could benefit rapidly from studies on the progress of project α. for the actors, the main issue in the reorganization of the unit was, therefore, a displacement of the center of gravity away from the expertise of the technical department of project α (tdα) and towards the technical sub departments, thereby diffusing, via the technical sub departments, knowledge accumulated in project α to the new projects and to the organization as a whole. it is, in other words, a case of exploitative learning. ! nevertheless, our analysis also highlighted the fact that, beyond this convergence in the opinions of the interviewees, heads of department had widely paradoxical tensions in learning processes! m@n@gement, vol. 18(2): 156-178 164 varying views on the operational approaches taken to the transition to a multiproject functioning. in effect, the interviews revealed profound differences in the intentions of various unit managers concerning the redeployment of resources, particularly the fragmentation and reallocation of the resources of the project α “dream team”, as shown in figure 1. figure 1. the points of view of department heads on the redeployment of resources associated with the transition to the multi-project functioning as demonstrated in figure 1, while the assistant director in charge of technical sub departments is positive about the short-term “stripping” (ed2) of the technical department of projet α (tdα), the head of the project takes a more reserved position. although he is open to the possibility of a transfer of personnel, he believes that it should be limited, gradual, and operate “naturally” (cp1), without adversely affecting teams currently in place or threatening projects already encountering problems. the assistant director of projects (ed4) is caught between a rock and a hard place: his comments bear witness to the unit’s structural hesitation in regard to the transition to a multi-project functioning (“should they be taken off project α immediately? that’s the whole problem” ed4). meanwhile, technical or project departments looking for resources are becoming impatient. the head of project β is relatively resigned to the situation. he admits that his team has a striking lack of experienced personnel, a fact that he associates with a strategy of “sanctuarization” applied to project α with a view to ensuring its status as a showcase with ambitious objectives: “the choice was made to protect project α. but we have to bring it to an end; there’s nothing more to be had from it” (cp2). the technical director of project γ, which also lacks experienced personnel, describes a “stand-by” situation, his project not having m@n@gement, vol. 18(2): 156-178! frédéric garcias, cédric dalmasso & jean-claude sardas 165 yet been launched. he is very concerned about the beginning of his project: “we’re going to have to fight some big battles over resources” (cp5). lastly, the head of a technical sub department who is very keen to acquire experienced resources to help his very young staff young goes on the attack, “demanding” resources that do not “arrive” quickly enough, explaining and that, in their absence, he is constrained to extend lead times, or even refuse some of the missions accorded to him. he is keen to tell anyone who will listen that “if i don’t have the resources, i won’t do the job” (cm4). ! in spite of a certain degree of agreement about desirable outcomes, the differences in the comments made by interviewees attest to localized approaches characterized by divergent interests. the battle over resources, identified in the literature on the tension between exploration and exploitation (march 1991) and on paradoxes (smith & lewis 2011), can be viewed as symptomatic of a juxtaposition of heterogeneous and contradictory registers of action. the conflict remains, to some degree, latent, but could degenerate as new projects advance, demanding resources and expertise accumulated in project α, a situation that would prove highly problematic should no solutions be found. tensions are entirely based on the fact that “stripping” (ed2) the project could potentially exacerbate already substantial delays, thus prolonging an overlap between projects and creating the preconditions for a “battle” over resources. on the other hand, the desire to continue to “protect” (cp2) project α, condemned by some interviewees, could undermine the possibility of increasing the productivity of future projects. project α could thus be brought to a conclusion more rapidly, but only to the detriment of the performance of future projects. this would be, at best, a “pyrrhic victory”. ! thus, in the case of the idd, the possibility of organizing exploitative learning (or, in other words, sharing skills generated by project α with the technical sub departments and with new projects) is undermined by the need to meet short-term objectives. if we consider exploitation in the sense of a use of existing capabilities to maximize short-term performance, exploitation and exploitative learning are, here, mutually exclusive. it would seem that one cannot be done without undermining the other, a situation that josserand and perret describe as a dichotomic problem (2003). a micro-structural tension: investing in the education of new recruits ! our analysis also reveals a micro-structural tension, or, in other words, a conflict at the individual level over priorities involving activities perceived as mutually exclusive. this conflict concerned the second learning approach identified above, namely the diffusion of skills within the framework of the integration of new recruits as part of a strategy to substantially increase the number of personnel in the unit. training new recruits: issues and conditions ! the interviews revealed two factors capable of explaining tensions over the “professionalization” of recruits (ni1, ni2, d1). on the one hand, the sheer number of new employees, especially in the technical sub departments; and, on the other, the time required for new recruits to acquire necessary skills. ! due to the lack of experienced engineers on the job market and to difficulties in attracting them, 90% of recruits in the unit are young graduates. most of these young engineers head for the technical sub departments, a “port of entry” for new recruits due to a “‘historical practice’ in the organization” (ed1). this practice gives the technical sub departments particularly young demographics: paradoxical tensions in learning processes! m@n@gement, vol. 18(2): 156-178 166 “we have a large number of people with less than three years experience, most of them in the technical sub departments” (cm2). ! several experienced engineers expressed doubts about the operational competence of these young engineers: “i see them coming […], young engineers who have absolutely no experience. consequently, for example, they take an enormous amount of time to draw up calculation support letters takes because they don’t have any experience. and since they don’t have any experience, they prefer to ask around, to read the thing fifty times, and before taking a decision, they want it to be absolutely nailed down […]. if they were experienced people, they would say, ‘that’s ok, it’s no problem’” (ch1). ! the youth of the teams was perceived by some interviewees as a source of problems for the unit in terms of attaining its objectives. an assistant head of department had this to say: “the idd has a real challenge to rise to, namely to bring its projects to a successful conclusion, on time, with young employees. it’s a real challenge. and in some teams it’s really critical, by which i mean that all their employees are beginners” (cp5). ! these comments suggest that exploitative learning marked by the increasing competence of numerous young graduates in the technical sub departments was temporally constrained by the time required by recruits to master their functions, or, in other words, their “assimilation delay” (van oorschot et al. 2013). it seems that many young graduates occupied posts for which they did not yet have the necessary skills. our interviews, particularly those conducted with experienced engineers and team leaders confirm the idea that many years of on the job training are needed before new recruits are genuinely up to scratch: “you need a good deal of time to get things together because there are so many things to learn that, when you first get here, the job seems monstrous” (i8). ! the length of assimilation delay needed by new recruits can be explained by the complexity of the functions they are asked to perform and the inadequacy of the knowledge they acquire at university or engineering school. in spite of the difficulty of estimating the length of this period, several experienced engineers and managers agreed that it amounted to a number of years. “it takes at least a year to eighteen months for them to become effective and be able to do things. and it takes between two and three years for them to become ‘autonomous’ in the sense of being able to really steer a study from a to z. they can’t be autonomous straight away, on their own” (cm1). “if you exclude people who develop really quickly, it takes three years to be able to start living your own life. the end of the third and beginning of the fourth year is really, basically when people become useful” (cm4). ! these interviews not only highlight just how long assimilation delay is, but also emphasize that, during the learning phase, new recruits are not yet m@n@gement, vol. 18(2): 156-178! frédéric garcias, cédric dalmasso & jean-claude sardas 167 genuinely “useful” (cm4), but, instead, represent more of a “burden” than a “resource” for the unit. ! our analysis of the interviews shows that the actors of the idd perceive that exploitative learning, which consists in the transmission of knowledge to a certain number of new recruits, depends on a temporal variable, an assimilation delay that is difficult to reduce by applying artificial means, during which individuals become genuine resources. but our analysis also reveals that directors and managers were worried about the organization’s inability to absorb this assimilation delay and move on from a situation characterized by a lack of resources. the bottleneck at the level of team leaders: a comparative analysis ! the initial question formulated by the unit’s managers revealed problems regarding the “professionalization” of new recruits, reflecting concerns about the “integration capacity” of the unit (ni1, ni2). focusing on the interviews, we analyzed the conditions in which approaches to professionalization and integration were applied. then, concentrating more closely on the activities of a specific class of actors – team leaders – we were able to interpret those difficulties as symptomatic of a tension at the micro-structural level between exploitative learning and short-term performance objectives manifested in the problems encountered by team leaders in reconciling their various missions. ! many actors emphasized the centrality, in the training of new recruits, of processes of socialization and of interactions with more experienced engineers. recurrent or even daily informal interactions create feedback loops that enable young engineers gradually to master their activities. but the history of the unit, marked by a decrease in the number of personnel, most of them experienced, followed by a massive recruitment phase, culminated in a situation of pronounced disequilibrium between young graduates and experienced engineers in the technical sub departments. an assistant director points out: “we are now recruiting a large number of engineers […]. the problem is that there are so many young people coming in at the same time that we don’t know how to integrate them all” (ed3). ! the consequence of this squeezing of the age pyramid in the technical sub departments, accentuated by problems in attracting experienced engineers and the unwillingness of project α to free up its resources, was that the task of integrating young graduates fell almost exclusively to base-level managers (the so-called “team leaders”) within the technical sub departments. another assistant director highlighted the team leaders’ responsibility for training recruits: “i think that the most important role in terms of integrating people is the role of the team leader. […] it’s the first level, the team leader, that’s where it happens, that’s where we must make sure that new people both acquire new skills and learn how we work” (ed4). ! team leaders are not only those most suited to playing this integrating role, but due to the age pyramid, are, above all, practically the only ones who are able to do so. but the same director also points out that the somewhat idealist scheme of leaving team leaders to train young engineers is not as easy to implement as might be hoped, due to substantial growth in their workload: “team leaders are overworked. in our organization, team leaders are not ‘just’ managers, they are also technicians. […] but they also have to put in a real shift as managers, and for some of them it’s difficult to do because, spending so much time on technical aspects, and, for example, having to paradoxical tensions in learning processes! m@n@gement, vol. 18(2): 156-178 168 check all the reports produced by members of their group, they say that they don’t have the time” (ed4). ! thus, team leaders are obliged to take on a wide range of missions, not only technical (“verifying reports,” ed4), but also managerial in nature, foremost amongst is which the responsibility for integrating and training new recruits (“integrating people properly,” ed4). our comparative analysis of the situation of five team leaders (one from each of the technical sub departments) confirms this twin-pronged role, at once managerial and technical. all the interviewees insist on the need for team leaders to have a solid technical background guaranteeing “credibility” amongst their subordinates (ce5). this role of “supertechnician” (ce3) translates into two responsibilities. on the one hand, responsibility for monitoring technical quality, a task that involves checking the reports produced by young engineers: “the team leader in our organization is the “technical bulwark”. we’re the ones who pick up the errors in the documents produced, but if i miss any then i don’t see any bulwark other than him” (ce4). ! on the other, responsibility for integrating and training young engineers is delivered in the form of “on the job” support (the role of the “referent”): “when we take on young people or service providers just out of university, we are the only referents. if we don’t do that, we’re not playing our role properly” (ce3). ! depending on the demographic structure of their teams, these two missions impact the workload in very different ways: the younger the team, the fewer experienced engineers the manager has at his or her disposal in terms of delegating technical support. consequently, there is more checking to do. work done by young engineers, less effective due to not yet having completed their assimilation delay, needs to be checked more vigilantly. indeed, sometimes it has to be done again. this makes the workload associated with the technical supervision of young graduates even heavier. ! four of the five managers interviewed led teams that they considered to be very young. of those four, three had succeeded in attracting more experienced engineers, “technical referents” to whom they delegated some of their validation and management activities. the manager who did not succeed in attracting experienced engineers was the one who claimed to have the most problems. ! furthermore, all the managers claimed to work under constant pressure to meet deadlines and respect project agendas. they frequently had to turn down jobs, resolve conflicts over priorities, and request extensions: “i spend my time saying ‘no, not now.’ […] if it’s not accepted, we relinquish the job, or, in other words, we postpone things” (ce3). “i tell them ‘listen, you don’t have time, just finish it and don’t worry about the schedule!’ […] but there are a lot of deadlines that we force ourselves to meet” (ce2). ! this “permanent [need to] change and reassign priorities” is, it seems, at the heart of their “work” (ce5). reflecting the fact that, with the exception of the manager of the team that is significantly more experienced than the others, this pressure to perform and stick to deadlines is translated by an extremely marked commitment to their work, and by the feeling that they are overworked, one of the managers comments: m@n@gement, vol. 18(2): 156-178! frédéric garcias, cédric dalmasso & jean-claude sardas 169 “i often go over the notes at weekends […]. i’ve worked practically every sunday and saturday. it’s really been hell” (ce3). “systematically living on the threshold of saturation is really tiring. i’ve been close to burnout for three-and-a-half years now” (ce4). ! these interviews give us a clearer picture of the “bottleneck” mentioned in the initial question (ni2). although the size of this bottleneck depends on the configuration of specific teams, it nevertheless provides an insight not only into the overwork and stress described by the interviewees, but also into their concerns over the quality of the integration and professionalization of young engineers. indeed, we observed a high degree of tension amongst these managers in regard, on the one hand, to the need to respect deadlines, and, on the other, to their responsibility to train new recruits. in view of their situation, choosing to meet deadlines come what may necessarily has a negative impact on the quality of support and training that they are required to provide new recruits with. for example, when a study has a tight deadline, a manager can choose to take care of it himself; if, on the other hand, they decide to make a young engineer responsible for it, and the engineer commits a number of mistakes, the manager must, in order to respect the deadline, correct those mistakes without providing any substantial feedback, thus depriving him of a valuable learning opportunity. one of the managers explains that, in order to honour his commitments to planning, he prefers to “do things [him]-self” (ce3), rather than to rely on his team. nicolas explains how the young recruits depend for their training on the availability of experienced engineers, and the amount of time that the latter are able to dedicate to the former: “in terms of [young recruits] acquiring skills, there is, in effect, at a given moment, a problem of time, of mutual availability. and, here again, it’s a question of resources” (ce1). ! these managers often focus on being available to their teams to the detriment of performance objectives. respecting deadlines serves as an adjustment variable: “i sometimes say no, no to project people, or, in other words, my clients, when they suggest something to me. but i never say no to anyone from my team. if anyone comes to see me and asks me something, it’s because there’s a real need, and it’s not good to tell them that we’ll have a look at the problem later” (ce4). ! as we can see, the situation the unit finds itself in means that local managers have constantly to juggle various facets of their missions, balancing preparations for the future via the training of young engineers, with short-term requirements in the shape of deadlines. consequently, in their day-to-day jobs, their contributions to exploitation (in the sense of respecting short-term performance deadlines) and to exploitative learning are rendered contradictory. this analysis is confirmed by the comments of new recruits concerning their situation. internal memos expressed a feeling that there was a “lack of proximity and accessibility on the part of team leaders” (ni1). in their interviews, young engineers stated that their managers were particularly overworked. however, only a few of them claimed that they had been left to fend for themselves, which seems to suggest that managers often made a priority of honouring their commitments to training young engineers and therefore tended to apply a hierarchical approach to problem-solving. nevertheless, some young graduates paradoxical tensions in learning processes! m@n@gement, vol. 18(2): 156-178 170 admitted that they would like their managers to be more approachable, even though they understood the kind of pressure they were under: “sometimes, i would like the manager to be a little bit more accessible and not just to see him for a few minutes to hear a brief explanation of the crux of the problem […]. i kind of had the impression that, sometimes, because we are expanding, we have fewer detailed comments about what we put in the memos. i tell myself that they have so many documents to read, well, i find it hard to believe that they read all the documents thoroughly. there’s so many of them!” (i11).  ! our analyses thus show that if a choice is made to sacrifice the integration of young engineers, the process continues at a slower pace, whence the feelings of unhappiness in regard to “professionalization” (ni1, ni2, d1) expressed in the question. this sentiment can be seen as the consequence of an attempt to find a compromise between contradictory requirements which, as josserand and perret note, “leads the organization towards a sometimes uncomfortable intermediary situation” (2003: 165). ! in terms of the acquisition of skills on the part of new recruits, we find the same structure of paradoxical tension as in the transition to the multi-project functioning. the juxtaposition of short-term exploitation and the development of long-term capabilities generates a tension that renders these registers of action mutually exclusive. in the transition to a multi-project functioning, this tension is manifested at the macro-structural level in a conflict over the allocation of experienced personnel to various departments. meanwhile, in regard to the integration of young engineers, it is manifested at the micro-structural level in the problems by which managers are faced as they attempt to complete missions rendered all the more problematic in that they lack the resources to do so easily. the solutions applied by managers to these problems are sometimes based on a prioritization, sometimes on compromise. exploitative learning, mobility and the risk of the emergence of a vicious circle ! our analysis focused on evaluating the risk of paradoxical tensions reproducing themselves over time, highlighting a certain number of symptoms which indicate that the risk of the strategy stalling was both genuine and keenly felt by the interviewees. this risk was primarily due to the difficulty of developing feelings of belonging which help to support the process of developing new capabilities, and the resultant (substantial) loss of personnel. ! our hr data study (hr4) showed that the number of engineers leaving the unit had, after years of decline, started to rise again. between 2009 and 2010, the number of employees leaving increased twice as rapidly as the number of new recruits joining the unit. the unit’s policy over the course of the preceding years was to do its utmost to retain engineers in order to capitalize on training investment, and thus “develop skills and encourage the loyalty of talented individuals” (d1). but several engineers mentioned the worrying number of young engineers moving on from the unit at the end of their first post. this means that, as soon as they have completed their assimilation delay, thereby becoming a genuine resource for their team, they leave the organization without really justifying the investment involved in training them. ! several explanations were suggested by the interviewees, including generational factors. young recruits, of a different generation to their elders, m@n@gement, vol. 18(2): 156-178! frédéric garcias, cédric dalmasso & jean-claude sardas 171 desire greater mobility and diversity in their careers, both geographically and in terms of fields of expertise: “we’re beginning to see a difference of two generations between us and people coming into the unit. […] we ask them to concentrate on certain things for years. we’re beginning to see some of them, after four or five months, saying ‘ok, i understand that, now i want to do something else.’ you feel like telling them ‘ok, you think you’ve understood it? you’ve only just begun!” (cm1). ! in effect, approaches to developing and stabilizing skills in fields of this kind require long-term commitment. this kind of commitment can be encouraged by high salaries, the intrinsic interest of the activity, or a feeling of belonging, a sentiment of loyalty to the collective. attempts to ensure that the unit maintains its collective skills thus appear to be incompatible with too high a level of mobility. in the opinion of one department head, a “soldier-monk” (cm4) culture had, for many years, made it possible for the unit to counter this risk by developing a base of loyal engineers who, between them, accumulated decades of experience. but, according to him, engineers belonging to the most recent generation do not share that culture of dedication. “you know, this approach is a throwback to previous generations […]. globally, we are obliged to think of things in a less directive manner, and the notion of total abnegation cannot be presupposed” (cm4). ! the same manager deduced that it was important to ensure that young graduates experienced “immediate pleasure” (cm4) in their work in order to keep them in the organization. but other interviewees claimed that the unit’s operating only rarely makes it possible to achieve this goal. one of them suggested that multiple tensions running through the organization encouraged young engineers to leave the firm early: “i am not sure that [young recruits] want to stay […]. we have a high turnover rate. people stay for three or four years. after three or four years, they are only looking for one thing, a way out […]. the workload is pretty heavy. with all the obligations associated with project α, things aren’t easy […]. people burn out quickly” (i5). ! these factors suggest that the organization ran a genuine risk of becoming trapped in a vicious circle. in effect, the tensions encountered by team leaders, highlighted above, create an uncomfortable situation for young engineers. they could, in effect, find themselves in a situation in which they faced overly complex missions without receiving adequate support, or, indeed, be deprived of training entirely. the uncomfortable nature of such situations could encourage them to leave. in order to replace them, in a situation characterized by a lack of experienced personnel, the organization had to hire new graduates and, once again, deal with an assimilation delay, effectively starting from scratch. there was, therefore, a risk that the juxtaposition between issues of performance and exploitative learning would persist over time. paradoxical tensions in learning processes! m@n@gement, vol. 18(2): 156-178 172 discussion exploitative learning: a concept that takes the learning/ performing paradox into account ! a number of researchers have highlighted the unstable and reductive character of the categories of exploration and exploitation (gupta et al. 2006), which do not take into account the variety of learning processes at play when organizations attempt to prepare the future and develop their capabilities. the two notions are therefore inadequate to the task of furnishing a broad understanding of the “learning/performing paradox” (smith & lewis 2011). the notion of exploitative learning, derived from the project management literature, makes it possible to overcome certain problems and clarify and enrich analytical frameworks that can be applied to tensions linked to learning processes. in effect, it makes it possible to understand certain activities linked to the transmission, maintenance, extension and diffusion, and even transfer of capabilities for which exploration has already taken place. for this reason, such activities cannot be described as exploration, but should neither be qualified as exploitation, to the degree that they are designed, precisely, to prepare the future. ! the value of the notion of exploitative learning is that, in conformity with gupta et al.’s wish, it enables us to make a distinction between different types of learning depending on the level of analysis applied. while the concepts of exploitation and exploration encompass the existing and the new at the level of the organization as a whole, the notion of exploitative learning makes it possible to take into account internal differentials in knowledge and, therefore, analysis tensions associated with absorbing those differentials. this is true both in terms of the transmission of knowledge between projects (macro-structural level) and the transfer of knowledge between experienced personnel and new recruits in training processes dependent on socialization (micro-structural level). our study shows that the juxtaposition between exploitative learning and a strong demand for short-term performance gives rise to pronounced tensions taking the form of conflicts between departments for the allocation of resources (macro level), as well as to contradictions between the various facets of the activity of managers (micro level), contradictions that make their work more difficult. ! we have shown that the contradiction between inter-related, simultaneous, and non-hierarchical registers of action is characterized by a structure of organizational paradox, bringing with it a risk, inherent in that paradox, of the emergence of vicious circles and overwork amongst personnel. our analyses have demonstrated that the learning/performing paradox not only exists at the level of the organization as a whole (in the form of a hesitation on the part of the management between exploration and exploitation), but can also be broken down into a series of tensions linked to the juxtaposition of local learning processes and short-term goals. ! more broadly, the mobilization and detailed analysis of exploitative learning promotes a deeper understanding of tensions between juxtaposed, heterogeneous, temporal logics in organizations. we observed that the question of human resources is central to these phenomena; not only does it shed light on them, but it also plays an instrumental role in their evolution. march had already drawn attention to the relationship between tensions and resources by means of the notion of “conflict for scarce resources,” as had smith & lewis (2011) with their idea of the latent character of tensions that can be exacerbated by a scarcity of resources. but, up until now, these intuitions had not given rise to specific research on the subject. research on the micro-foundations of organizational paradoxes involving the detailed analysis of how employees deal with m@n@gement, vol. 18(2): 156-178! frédéric garcias, cédric dalmasso & jean-claude sardas 173 contradictory demands constitutes a promising avenue of research for this branch of the literature. a more solid perception of exploitative learning ! our case study enabled us to deepen our knowledge of the notion of exploitative learning, which, up until now, has been the object of few detailed empirical studies. the literature had shown that these learning processes involved the transfer of knowledge from project to project towards the organization. but, as was demonstrated in the interviews, these knowledge transfers require the redeployment of resources, a process that can prove difficult to implement. it can also be based on the integration of new recruits who must be helped to develop capabilities in order to equip the organization with a greater potential to elaborate projects designed to improve future performance. our study thus makes possible an analysis of the way in which these learning processes are implemented, and of how they are manifested in the allocation of resources and in investment in terms of time, and, therefore, of potential associated tensions. ! by considering exploitative learning in its temporal dimension, we have been able to highlight these tensions, which are manifested, on the one hand, in the links between and juxtaposition of projects, and, on the other, in the time required to integrate and train new recruits, described by means of the notion of the “assimilation delay.” ! it was the overlap between the culmination of the pilot project and the preparation of future projects that rendered the organization hesitant in regard to the allocating of resources. in effect, the organization hesitated between a logic of exploitation (finishing the pilot project as quickly as possible), and an approach focusing on preparing for the future (providing new projects and technical sub departments with skilled personnel as quickly as possible). furthermore, taking into account assimilation delays and concrete learning processes through socialization (and involving experienced employees engaged in operational activities) make it possible to envisage exploitative learning as the result of an investment of time and resources. it is precisely this notion of investment which confronts actors facing a lack of resources and pressure to meet deadlines, a situation characterized by unending choices and constant tensions. limits of the study and potential avenues of research ! the most pronounced tension revealed by the case study concerns the juxtaposition of exploitative learning and short-term performance goals dependent on the same, scarce resources. we have demonstrated that these tensions could be catalyzed by other phenomena linked, for example, to issues focused on a sense of belonging, or otherwise, to the organization, which lead to a relatively high turnover rate which, in turn, further undermines exploitative learning. but it is probable that other factors interact and cause tensions with exploitative learning, notably the exploration of new capabilities, particularly in design activities in which the production of knowledge is absolutely central. taking those factors into account could pave the way for a more broad-ranging analysis of the learning/performing paradox. ! lastly, we have highlighted the tension between exploitation and exploitative learning in a case which, being extreme, was characterized by a number of highly contingent specificities in regard to the history of the organization and the nature of its activity, including a scarcity of resources exacerbated by a period in which the activity was placed on standby; a need to generate resources internally by training young graduates, rather than hiring experienced personnel, etc. thus, in our case study, the degree of tension is paradoxical tensions in learning processes! m@n@gement, vol. 18(2): 156-178 174 strongly determined by a certain number of parameters that can be regarded as highly specific. new research must show whether such tensions can emerge in different forms in other industrial contexts with different characteristics. conclusion ! this article suggests a broader analytical framework in regard to tensions resulting from the juxtaposition, in a corporate context, of a focus on short-term performance goals and a desire to develop capabilities for the long-term. the static character of the categories of exploration and exploitation calls for the introduction of new concepts designed to describe the sheer variety of learning processes in such contexts. in this article, we propose the concept of exploitative learning, which describes learning processes associated with growth strategies based on the replication, extension and diffusion of existing capabilities. the case study of a complex major project engineering unit facing an increase in both the number of projects to be developed and the number of personnel employed demonstrates the fecundity of this concept, which makes it possible to reveal and understand tensions that have not, up until now, been thoroughly described. in effect, an analysis of the tensions running through an organization lacking resources in terms of personnel and subject to a good deal of pressure in to meet short-term objectives highlights the difficulties involved in redeploying personnel between different projects and ensuring that new recruits acquire information from experienced engineers. references abernathy, w. j. (1978). the productivity dilemma: roadblock to innovation in the automobile industry. baltimore, md: johns hopkins university press. andriopoulos, c., & lewis, m. w. (2008). exploitationexploration tensions and organizational ambidexterity: managing paradoxes of innovation. organization science, 20(4), 696-717. benner, m.j., & tushman, m.l. (2002). process management and technological innovation: a longitudinal study of the photography and paint industries. administrative science quarterly, 47(4), 676-707. benner, m. j., & tushman, m. l. (2003). exploitation, e x p l o r a t i o n , a n d p r o c e s s m a n a g e m e n t : t h e p r o d u c t i v i t y d i l e m m a r e v i s i t e d . a c a d e m y o f management review, 28(2), 238-256. birkinshaw, j., & gibson, c. (2004). building an ambidextrous organization. university of southern california. center for effective organizations. brady, t., & davies, a. (2004). building project capabilities: from exploratory to exploitative learning. organization studies, 25(9), 1601-1621. cameron, k.s., & quinn, r.e. (1988). organizational paradox and transformation. in r. e. quinn & k. s. cameron (eds.), paradox and transformation: toward a theory of change in organization and management. cambridge: ballinger. charreire-petit, s., & durieux, f. (2003). explorer et tester : deux voies pour la recherche. in r.-a. thietart (ed.), méthodes de recherche en management (pp. 56–81). paris: dunod. davies, a., & brady, t. (2000). organisational capabilities and learning in complex product systems: towards repeatable solutions. research policy, 29(7), 931-953. duncan, r. (1976). the ambidextrous organization: designing dual structures for innovation. new york, ny, ny: north-holland. eisenhardt, k. m. (2000). paradox, spirals, ambivalence: the new language of change and pluralism. academy of management review, 25(4), 703-705. eisenhardt, k. m., & graebner, m. e. (2007). theory building from cases: opportunities and challenges. academy of management journal, 50(1), 25-32. gibson, c.b., & birkinshaw, j. (2004). the antecedents, consequences, and mediating role of organizational ambidexterity. academy of management journal, 47(2), 209-226. gupta, a. k., smith, k.g., & shalley, c.e. (2006). the interplay between exploration and exploitation. academy of management journal, 49(4), 693-706. he, z.-l., & wong, p.-k. (2004). exploration vs. exploitation: an empirical test of the ambidexterity hypothesis. organization science, 15(4), 481-494. j o s s e r a n d , e . , & p e r r e t , v. ( 2 0 0 3 ) . p r a t i q u e s organisationnelles du paradoxe. in v. perret & e. josserand (eds.), le paradoxe : penser et gérer autrement les organisations (pp. 165-187). paris: ellipses. levinthal, d.a., & march, j.g. (1993). the myopia of learning. strategic management journal, 14(s2), 95-112. m@n@gement, vol. 18(2): 156-178! frédéric garcias, cédric dalmasso & jean-claude sardas 175 lewis, m.w. (2000). exploring paradox: toward a more comprehensive guide. academy of management review, 25(4), 760-776. lüscher, l.s., & lewis, m.w. (2008). organizational change and managerial sensemaking: working through paradox. academy of management journal, 51(2), 221-240. march, j.g. (1991). exploration and exploitation in organizational learning. organization science, 2(1), 71-87. march, j.g. (1996). continuity and change in theories of organizational action. administrative science quarterly, 41(2), 278-287. miner, a.s., & mezias, s.j. (1996). ugly duckling no more: pasts and futures of organizational learning research. organization science, 7(1), 88-99. o'reilly, c., & tushman, m. l. (2004). the ambidextrous organization. harvard business review, 82(4), 74-81. o'reilly, c., & tushman, m.l. (2008). ambidexterity as a dynamic capability: resolving the innovator ’s dilemma. research in organizational behavior, 28, 185-206. perret, v., & josserand, e. (2003). le paradoxe : penser et gérer autrement les organisations. paris : ellipses. raisch, s., & birkinshaw, j. (2008). organizational a m b i d e x t e r i t y : a n t e c e d e n t s , o u t c o m e s , a n d moderators. journal of management, 34(3), 375-409. raisch, s., birkinshaw, j., probst, g., & tushman, m.l. (2009). organizational ambidexterity: balancing e x p l o i t a t i o n a n d e x p l o r a t i o n f o r s u s t a i n e d performance. organization science, 20(4), 685-695. ruuska, i., & brady, t. (2011). implementing the replication strategy in uncertain and complex investment projects. international journal of project management, 29(4), 422-431. schmitt, a. , probst, g., & tushman, m. (2010). m@n@gement in times of economic crisis: insights into organizational ambidexterity. m@n@gement, 13(3), 128-150. siggelkow, n. (2007). persuasion with case studies. academy of management journal, 50(1), 20-24. simsek, z. (2009). organizational ambidexterity: towards a multilevel understanding. journal of management studies, 46(4), 597-624. smith, w.k., & lewis, m.w. (2011). toward a theory of paradox: a dynamic equilibrium model of organizing. academy of management review, 36(2), 381-403. van oorschot, k. e., akkermans, h., sengupta, k., & van wassenhove, l. n. (2013). anatomy of a decision trap in complex new product development projects. academy of management journal, 56(1), 285-307. vermeulen, f., & barkema, h. (2001). learning through acquisitions. academy of management journal, 44(3), 457-476. vince, r., & broussine, m. (1996). paradox, defense and attachment: accessing and working with emotions and relations underlying organizational change. organization studies, 17(1), 1-21. yin, r. (2013). case study research: design and methods. london: sage publications. paradoxical tensions in learning processes! m@n@gement, vol. 18(2): 156-178 176 appendix a. comparative thematic analysis of the situation of five team leaders of the idd m@n@gement, vol. 18(2): 156-178! frédéric garcias, cédric dalmasso & jean-claude sardas 177 n ic o la s (c e 1) b e n o it (c e 2) d id ie r (c e 3) s y lv a in (c e 4) je a n -g u y (c e 5) th e ro le o f th e m an ag er “t he ro le o f t he te am le ad er is b ot h te ch ni ca l a nd a m an ag er ia l. [… ] i s til l d o a lo t o f t ec hn ic al th in gs . i ch ec k w ha t i s pr od uc ed b y m em be rs o f t he g ro up , w e ta lk a bo ut te ch ni ca l m at te rs ev er y da y [… ] – w ha t t he gr ou p ge ne ra te s ar e te ch ni ca l p ro du ct s. [… ] th ey [y ou ng re cr ui ts ] h av e te ch ni ca l s up po rt. i gi ve th em ti m e sl ot s; th ey k no w th at th e do or is o pe n. ” “it ’s im po rta nt th at th ey tru st in th e ov er al l te ch ni ca l c om pe te nc e of th ei r m an ag er .” “t ec hn ic al m at te rs a re n’ t i nc om pa tib le w ith th e jo b of te am le ad er [… ], ab ov e al l, it’ s ab ou t b ei ng a s up er -te ch ni ci an . w he n w e ta ke o n yo un g pe op le o r se rv ic e pr ov id er s ju st o ut o f u ni ve rs ity , w e ar e th e on ly re fe re nt . i f w e do n’ t d o th at , w e’ re n ot p la yi ng o ur ro le p ro pe rly [… ] a nd it ’s tr ue th at a t t he id d , t he pe rs on ne l i s ex tre m el y yo un g in te rm s of s ki lls . y ou h av e to b e ve ry m uc h on yo ur g ua rd a t a ll tim es in a bo ut te ch ni ca l m at te rs to s po t p ro bl em s, th in gs th at h av en ’t re al ly b ee n th ou gh t th ro ug h. ” “t he te am le ad er in o ur o rg an iz at io n is th e te ch ni ca l b ul w ar k. w e’ re th e on es w ho p ic k up th e er ro rs in th e do cu m en ts p ro du ce d, b ut if i m is s an y, th en i do n’ t s ee a ny b ul w ar k ot he r th an h im . i n ou r s ub d ep ar tm en ts a g oo d m an ag er is , fi rs t a nd fo re m os t, so m eo ne w ho ha s a go od te ch ni ca l b ac kg ro un d be ca us e w e w ou ld n ev er b e se en a s le gi tim at e [… ], a m an ag er w ou ld h av e a re al ly h ar d tim e of it if th e pe rs on ta lk in g to h im fe lt as if h e w as n’ t ta lk in g th e sa m e la ng ua ge .” “g iv in g ou t w or k, c he ck in g w or k, a le rti ng ev er yo ne to th e si tu at io n w he n th in gs g o w ro ng .” “t o be a m an ag er , y ou n ee d to h av e a ce rta in d eg re e of c om pe te nc e. t o be c re di bl e fo r t he te am , y ou h av e to h av e to h av e a go od te ch ni ca l b ac kg ro un d, o th er w is e yo u’ re no t c re di bl e. ” te ch ni ca l re fe re nt s “a y ea r a go , i in tro du ce d th e ro le o f a ss is ta nt re fe re nt . t he re a re tw o re fe re nt s [n ow ]. th es e tw o pe op le le av e te ch ni ca l as pe ct s to o ne s id e, w ith ou t m y ab an do ni ng th em , t hu s en ab lin g m e to pr efil te r t ec hn ic al pr ob le m s. ” d is po se s of a n ex pe rie nc ed g ro up : n o re qu ire m en ts fo r sp ec ifi c “r ef er en ts .” “i’ ve g ot tw o pe op le , w ho i w as ta lk in g ab ou t, w ho a re n’ t r ea lly y ou ng p eo pl e – th ey ’re b et w ee n 30 a nd 3 5 ye ar s ol d – w ho re al ly s er ve a s go -b et w ee ns fo r m e. t ha t’s s om et hi ng th at ’s re al ly he lp fu l t o m e. w he n i fi rs t t oo k th e gr ou p on , i w as o n m y ow n, b ut w e w er e gr ad ua lly a bl e to re cr ui t p eo pl e w ho w er e ab le to d ea l w ith th is k in d of th in g. ” “if i ha d a nu m be r o f e xp er ie nc ed p eo pl e, i’ d ta ke a d iff er en t a pp ro ac h. f or m e, it w ou ld ha ve b ee n id ea l i f i ’d b ee n ab le to d es ig na te an e xp er ie nc ed p er so n in m y gr ou p as a te ch ni ca l r ef er en t f or a c er ta in n um be r o f co nt ra ct s an d le t h im lo ok a fte r t hi ng s. a s th in gs s ta nd , i c an ’t do th at , b ut in v ie w o f m y te am m em be rs , i t’s n ot th ro ug h la ck o f t ry in g! [… ] i n fa ct , i ’m ri gh t i n th e m id dl e of th e ag e py ra m id .” “t he re a re tw o ex pe rie nc ed p eo pl e w ho a re 50 y ea rs o ld w ho h av e be co m e re fe re nt s. a nd a ll th e re st a re y ou ng , r ec ru ite d in 2 01 0 … ” “it w or ks b ec au se , i n th e te am , t he re a re ol de r r ef er en ts a bl e to tr ai n pe op le . i f i id d di dn ’t ha ve th em , i f i w as o n m y ow n, i w ou ld n’ t b e ab le to tr ai n ev er yb od y. ” m an ag er ia l re sp on sa bi lit i es “in te rm s of [y ou ng re cr ui ts ] ac qu iri ng s ki lls , t he re is , i n ef fe ct , a t a g iv en m om en t, a pr ob le m o f t im e, o f m ut ua l a va ila bi lit y. a nd , he re a ga in , i t’s a q ue st io n of re so ur ce s. ” fe w y ou ng p eo pl e to in te gr at e in c om pa ris on to th e nu m be r o f ex pe rie nc ed p er so nn el . “[w e ar e] to s om e ex te nt , a tr ai ni ng sc ho ol . w ith ou t c ou nt in g su pp lie rs , ex pe rie nc ed p eo pl e co st a lo t o f m on ey , a nd th ey a re n ot n ec es sa ril y gi ve n de si gn jo bs . c on se qu en tly , m y em pl oy ee s ar e yo un g pe op le ju st o ut o f un iv er si ty . b ut i’ m n ot re al ly th at bo th er ed b ec au se i’ ve g ot u se d to tra in in g pe op le , a nd i no w p re tty m uc h kn ow h ow to d o th in gs ; b ut , s til l, th e av er ag e ag e of th e gr ou p is v er y yo un g. ” “s om et im es y ou a ls o ha ve to b e a go od te ac he r. [… ] i h av e w hi te b oa rd s se t u p in a ll th e of fic es . a nd i be co m e a sc ho ol te ac he r. [… ] i ’v e go t 6 o r 7 y ou ng p eo pl e to m an ag e. it’ s a co lo ss al w or k lo ad . c ol os sa l.” “in th e be gi nn in g, th er e w as a n en or m ou s em ph as is o n tra in in g yo un g re cr ui ts , g iv in g th em e no ug h ba ck gr ou nd in fo rm at io n fo r th em to b e ab le to g et b y. a s so on a s th ey co ul d ge t b y, i w as a bl e to fo cu s m or e on m y ro le a s a m an ag er . b ut i ha ve m or e yo un g pe op le c om in g in , s o i’m c on tin ui ng m y w or k as a re fe re nt .” th e is su e of de ad lin es a nd w or kl oa d “f ro m th e po in t o f v ie w o f tim e m an ag em en t, it do es n’ t w or k [… ]. p eo pl e ha ve a ct ua lly s ug ge st ed gi vi ng u p on e or tw o w ee ks ho lid ay to m ee t d ea dl in es [… ] w e ha ve a n en or m ou s am ou nt to d o an d al l o ur pr oj ec ts a re p rio rit ie s. [… ] i’m th e on e w ho d efi ne s pr io rit ie s, b ut it ’s n ot e as y. [… ] p ro je ct m an ag er s do n’ t te ll yo u ab ou t w ha t t he y’ re go in g to d o, s o yo u ha ve th re e da ys to s or t t hi ng s ou t. it’ s no t p os si bl e, n ot po ss ib le … “in a nd o f i ts el f, th er e’ s no s en se to re sp ec tin g de ad lin es if w e de liv er so m et hi ng s ub st an da rd , s o w e try to st rik e a ba la nc e. i’ ve ne ve r p re ss ur iz ed an yo ne in to d el iv er in g so m et hi ng o n tim e [… ]. i t el l t he m ‘l is te n, y ou do n’ t h av e tim e, ju st fin is h it an d do n’ t w or ry ab ou t t he s ch ed ul e! ’ [ … ] b ut th er e ar e a lo t o f de ad lin es th at w e fo rc e ou rs el ve s to m ee t.” “w e’ re k in d of c au gh t b et w ee n a ro ck an d a ha rd p la ce ! w e do n’ t h av e tim e to d o th in gs w el l. [… ] i s pe nd m y tim e sa yi ng ‘n o, n ot n ow ,’ if it’ s no t a cc ep te d, w e re lin qu is h th e jo b, o r, in o th er w or ds , w e po st po ne th in gs . a nd a ga in , i t hi nk th at i’ ve n ev er re fu se d fu nd am en ta l j ob s, e ve n if i’v e ha d to d o th em m ys el f. th at w as th e cr ux o f t he pr ob le m : i w or ke d w ee ke nd s be ca us e i kn ew th at th er e w as n o po in t i n as ki ng an yo ne e ls e to d o it … ” “n ow ad ay s, i sp en d m y tim e pu tti ng o ut fi re s. i co m e in in th e m or ni ng w ith a li st o f t hi ng s to do , b ut i ha ve n’ t g ot th ro ug h a te nt h of th em by th e tim e i g o ho m e. [… ] i s om et im es s ay no , n o to p ro je ct p eo pl e, o r, in o th er w or ds , m y cl ie nt s, w he n th ey s ug ge st s om et hi ng to m e. b ut i ne ve r s ay n o to a ny on e fro m m y te am . i f an yo ne c om es to s ee m e an d as ks m e so m et hi ng , i t’s b ec au se th er e’ s a re al n ee d, an d it’ s no t g oo d to te ll th em th at w e’ ll ha ve a lo ok a t t he p ro bl em la te r.” “in c as e of c on fli ct s, w e pr io rit iz e p ro je ct α . a nd th en , a fte r t ha t, it’ s up to th e m an ag er , de pe nd in g on s ub je ct s to b e de al t w ith , o n th e tim e it ta ke s to d ea l w ith th em , o n kn ow le dg e … e ve ry on e … e ve ry on e ha s w or k to d o, b ut s om et im es th er e’ s a w in do w of o pp or tu ni ty . s o w e pa tc h th in gs u p, m ak e do , c ha ng e ou r p rio rit ie s. t ha t’s th e m an ag er ’s jo b, to s ha ke th in gs u p pe rm an en tly a nd c ha ng e pr io rit ie s. ” q ua lit y of li fe at w or k “i st ar t a t 9 am a nd d on ’t go ho m e be fo re 5 pm … i do n’ t ha ve th e tim e, a nd i do st uf f o n th e w ee ke nd . i do n’ t h av e tim e to d o it. ” id d n ot m en tio n pr ob le m s lin ke d to qu al ity o f l ife a t w or k. “i of te n go o ve r t he n ot es a t w ee ke nd s [… ]. i’v e w or ke d pr ac tic al ly e ve ry s un da y an d s at ur da y. it ’s re al ly b ee n he ll, b ut i w as ta ki ng o n pe op le ’s w or k be ca us e, in fa ct , i ’d re pl ac ed 8 0% o f th e st af f, si nc e th e gr ou p w as co m pl et el y fa lli ng a pa rt. i ha d to w or k re al ly h ar d. [… ] i h ad p eo pl e w ho re gu la rly w en t t o co m pa ny d oc to r t o co m pl ai n. ” “p er so na lly , i g ot to k no w a ll ab ou t b ur n ou t i n th is jo b. i’ m k na ck er ed . [ … ] w e al l h av e a sa tu ra tio n th re sh ol d, s o re ac hi ng s at ur at io n fro m ti m e to ti m e is a s ou rc e of m ot iv at io n, b ut sy st em at ic al ly li vi ng o n th e th re sh ol d of sa tu ra tio n is re al ly ti rin g. i’ ve b ee n cl os e to bu rn ou t f or th re ean daha lf ye ar s no w . “t he g ra ss is n’ t a lw ay s gr ee ne r o n th e ot he r si de o f t he fe nc e. a nd o ur d ay s ar e ve ry fu ll. s o w e ha ve to w or k ur ge nt ly , t hi nk q ui ck ly , ta ke d ec is io ns ra pi dl y; w e fin is h la te in th e ev en in g, it ’s n ot c om fo rta bl e. ” frédéric garcias is a postdoctoral fellow at mines paristech psl research university, and researcher at i3-centre for management science (umr cnrs 9217). his research focuses on learning processes in complex industrial projects. cédric dalmasso is assistant professor at mines paristech psl research university, and researcher at i3-centre for management science (umr cnrs 9217). his research tackles with the organization, evolution of work and human resources management in knowledge intensive activities. jean-claude sardas is professor at mines paristech psl research university, and researcher at i3-centre for management science (umr cnrs 9217). he heads the masters’s programme « management and organizational dynamics » at mines paristech psl research university. his research aims to take work in particular occupational identity and health into account in organisational design. acknowledgements. the authors wish to thank laure cabantous for her considerable contribution as an editor: the final version of this paper is largely indebted to her for her patience, her pedagogy and for the accuracy of her advice. they  would also like to thank the two anonymous reviewers who indicated us precious ways to improve the paper. this work also benefited from the  constructive feedback of several researchers from the centre for management science, especially sébastian gand, lucie noury and elvira périac. finally, they wish to express their great gratitude to colette depeyre for her many re-readings. © the author(s) www.management-aims.com paradoxical tensions in learning processes ! m@n@gement, vol. 18(2): 156-178 178 332 m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 332-342 book review copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). m@n@gement is a double-blind refereed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.management-aims.com © 2012 m@n@gement and the author(s). m@n@gement est la revue officielle de l’aims m@n@gement is the journal official of aims yvan petit 2012 book review: gino cattani, simone ferriani, lars frederiksen, and florian täube (eds.), 2011 project-based organizing and strategic management; bingley (uk): emerald group publishing. m@n@gement, 15(3), 332-342. m@n@gement issn: 1286-4692 emmanuel josserand, hec, université de genève (editor in chief) jean-luc arrègle, emlyon business school (editor) laure cabantous, warwick business school (editor) stewart clegg, university of technology, sydney (editor) olivier germain, université du québec à montréal (editor, book reviews) karim mignonac, université de toulouse 1 (editor) philippe monin, emlyon business school (editor) tyrone pitsis, university of newcastle (editor) josé pla-barber, universidad de valència (editor) michael tushman, harvard business school (editor) florence villesèche, hec, université de genève (managing editor) walid shibbib, université de genève (editorial assistant) martin g. evans, university of toronto (editor emeritus) bernard forgues, emlyon business school (editor emeritus) 333 m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 332-342 book review some basic facts this collective work by 43 authors is composed of a total of 19 chapters, including the introduction by the four editors. these are spread across 541 pages including illustrations. no index is provided. the authors come mainly from europe and north america and are known names in the fields of project management, product management, organization studies, strategic management, and innovation. this is the 28th volume in the series “advances in strategic management”. previous volumes touched upon: globalization (vol. 27 – reviewed in vol. 14, n°2 of m@n@gement), economic institutions (vol. 26), network strategy (vol. 25), real options (vol. 24), ecology (vol. 23) and strategy process (vol. 22). the publication consists of five parts (each containing three to four chapters) entitled respectively: i) “definitions and connotations”, ii) “temporary structure and permanent learning”, iii) “projects, innovation and capabilities”, iv) “projects and networks”, and v) “toward future research”. the book the different chapters could easily be read independently according to the reader’s specific interests. in fact, this is the type of book which is unlikely to be read from cover to cover. although the book is structured in five parts, most of the chapters cover more than one of the main themes related to the broader topic of project-based organizing which the book tackles, namely project-based learning, project embeddedness, and project capabilities. to help the reader, the editors actually provide in their introduction some mapping of the book’s sections according to these themes. throughout the book, the authors attempt to answer a wide range of research questions, such as: how does the social structure used in temporary organizations emerge? how do temporary arrangements become encoded into institutionalized norms? how does organizational learning occur under conditions of project-based organizing? which mechanisms allow projectbased organizations to retain the lessons learned from their experiences? what processes underpin the genesis and evolution of project capabilities? how do capabilities unfold in project-based organizations? these questions book review reviewed by yvan petit university of quebec at montreal petit.yvan@uqam.ca gino cattani, simone ferriani, lars frederiksen, and florian täube (eds.) (2011) project-based organizing and strategic management. bingley (uk): emerald group publishing. hardcover: 541 pages publisher: emerald group publishing limited (october 17, 2011) language: english isbn-10: 1780521928 isbn-13: 978-1780521923 334 m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 332-342 book review are addressed based on the results of research data collected using various methodologies including case studies, qualitative analysis, quantitative analysis, surveys and mixed methodologies. “definitions and connotations” although the first part is entitled “definitions and connotations”, the reader should not expect definitions and concept clarifications of the type normally encountered in textbooks. unfortunately, no attempt is made anywhere in the book to clarify or unify the different terms used in previous publications: “projectbased firms” (lindkvist, 2004; whitley, 2006), “project-oriented company” (gareis, 2006), “project-based enterprise” (defillippi & arthur, 1998), “projectbased organizations” (bresnen, goussevskaia, & swan, 2004; hobday, 2000; sydow, lindkvist, & defillippi, 2004), and “project-intensive firms” (söderlund & bredin, 2006). to take just two examples, it is clear that project-based firms, as defined by (lindkvist, 2004) as “firms that privilege strongly the project dimension and carry out most of their activities in projects” (p.5), differ greatly from the definition of a project-based enterprise proposed by (defillippi & arthur, 1998) for the film industry as “companies formed to pursue a specific project outcome” (p.125). to quote bresnen (2004), “it becomes important to recognize not only that definitions of project-based organization vary, but also that their empirical manifestations and characteristics will vary too, depending on their approximation to ‘pure’ or ‘radical’ conceptions of the form.” (p.1538). not only is there no attempt to reach agreement on some common terms, but additional terms are actually introduced throughout the different chapters of this book, for example: project-based organizing (many chapters in the book), “project-based organizations” (de fillippi and lehrer), “multi-project ventures” (schwab and miner), “project-based firms” (nightingale et al.), and the “p-form corporation” (söderlund and tell). however, the editors do acknowledge the central ambiguity in the use of the different terms, for example whether “projectbased organizing should be restricted to temporary as opposed to stable organizations” (p. xxvii). when it comes to the nuance between the term “organization” as opposed to the more dynamic (and process-oriented) term “organizing” used in the title of the book, in the spirit of (bengtsson, müllern, söderholm, & wåhlin, 2007), (czarniawska, 2008), (weick, 1969, 1979) and (weick, sutcliffe, & obstfeld, 2009), no attempt is made to reassure the reader that the distinction between these notions is anchored and understood properly. the first four chapters of part i do offer a good basis for some of the challenges faced by project-based organizations. each chapter investigates different types of organizations: complex product systems, films, hearing aids, heathrow terminal 5. first, davies et al. revisit some of the key challenges facing complex product systems based on a 10-year research programme including the development and use of project capabilities for innovation; learning within, between and beyond projects; organizing for project business opportunities; managing software and it-intensive projects; developing strong systems integration capability; providing project-based solutions and leading the project business. in chapter 2, skilton presents the variety of cooperative strategies used to organize the international co-production of motion pictures, which is potentially 335 m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 332-342 book review the most interesting industry in which to study project-based firms. the author concludes that there are multiple strategic logics at work in international film coproduction; for example, the strategic behavior with respect to partner choice and project structure differs between international co-productions involving global production companies and projects involving locally oriented production companies. the third case presented in part i is a retrospective study of the danish hearing aid manufacturer oticon at a very turbulent time due to the shift from analog behind-the-ear to digital in-the-ear technology. the so-called spaghetti organization, a very innovative way of promoting new ideas and developing new products, was put in place by kolind in the 1990s. this new form could be seen as an experiment in pure project-based organization. this rapidly became a thoroughly studied case using an extremely lean structure, and new ways to propose new ideas and make decisions. the authors, de fillippi and lehrer, trace how this revolutionary organizing approach gradually evolved back into a more traditional organization with respect to project selection once the environment became less turbulent. the fourth chapter, entitled definitions and connotations, takes heathrow terminal 5 as a case example for arguing against a well-established paradigm that project managers could rationally predict, optimize and control some of the key project parameters: timing, cost and quality. instead, nightingale and brady suggest a paradigm whereby people are conceptualized as “sources of deterministic behaviour in an otherwise often unpredictable world. projects are key tools that are used to strategically create this predictable behavior, with project plans used as scaffolding to help co-ordinate the distributed behavior of systematically connected people in space and time as the project proceeds.” (p. 83) “temporary structure and permanent learning” knowledge management is a neglected topic in the literature on projectbased organizations although it is widely known that this is a key challenge to organizations. if the temporary setting established for the duration of the project is dissolve once the goals are achieved, what happens to the knowledge acquired during the project? the topic is complex in theory but also a practical challenge to organizations faced with organizational amnesia. this is not as simple as producing lessons learned at the end of a project, which is far from sufficient to transfer the knowledge to the subsequent project or to the permanent organization (dinsmore & cooke-davies, 2006). the three chapters present how this problem is addressed in three different settings. schwab and miner use the concept of project ventures, i.e. “temporary organizational entities that combine several individuals to complete a specific task within a pre-established short-term frame” (p.117). they focus on partnering flexibility, which is an example of structural flexibility using the multilevel frame proposed in (volberda, 1998): (1) operational flexibility (changes within established structures), (2) structural flexibility (changes of organizational structures and processes) and (3) strategic flexibility (changes of organizational goals and long-term plans). they found that partnering flexibility creates opportunities for learning while bringing challenges due to 336 m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 332-342 book review the transitory nature of the project ventures. the chapter written by müller-seitz and sydow investigates how sematech (semiconductor manufacturing technology), a leading global semiconductor manufacturing consortium, became a permanent organization when it had in fact been created as a temporary one “to provide the us semiconductor industry the capability of achieving a world-leadership manufacturing position by the mid-1990s” (p. 163). projects, being temporary organizations, are normally meant to be disbanded when they achieve their goals. moreover, they should be created with some “built-in termination mechanisms” (lundin & söderholm, 1995) the authors suggest that the metamorphosis of sematech from temporary to permanent was accomplished, among other things, by terminating this built-in process. the third chapter in this part explores the management of eight projects in a large public research organization, nlat (national lab for advanced technologies), which adopted a project-based organization in 1998. the chapter shows that projects achieved technological success at the expense of violating project management principles where success was measured according to three indicators (achievement of goals, timely delivery at predetermined milestones, and client satisfaction). to assess learning, they used ibert’s (2004) categories: memory (ability to store knowledge), experience (ability to learn from accumulated knowledge) and reflection (ability to detect and correct deviations). prencipe and tell (2001) suggested that the learning abilities of project-based firms could be broken down into three levels: individual, group/projects, and organizational. using this framework, the focus of the three chapters of book on learning is primarily at the organizational level, but they introduce new ways of looking at the links between project learning and organizational learning. project, innovation and capabilities the strategic management literature dealing with capabilities has led to extensive discussion between academics on exactly what these capabilities are, how they could be developed, and to what extent they contribute to improving performance and competitive advantage. collis (1994) defined organizational capabilities as “the socially complex routines that determine the efficiency with which firms physically transform inputs into outputs” (p. 145). winter (2003) sees an organizational capability as “a high-level routine (or collection of routines) that, together with its implementing input flows, confers upon an organization’s management a set of decision options for producing significant outputs of a particular type” (p. 991). other definitions assume that capabilities are not related to specific resources or competences but are collective and socially embedded and relate to the way complex problems are solved over time (dosi, nelson, & winter, 2000; schreyögg & kliesch-eberl, 2007). publications on capabilities have evolved into the study of more categorized types of capabilities: substantive capabilities, i.e. the ability to perform the basic functional activities of a firm (schreyögg & kliesch-eberl, 2007; winter, 2003), absorptive capabilities, i.e. the processes by which firms acquire, assimilate, transform, and exploit knowledge (cohen & levinthal, 1990; zahra & george, 2002), adaptive capabilities, i.e. the process of identifying and capitalizing on 337 m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 332-342 book review emerging market opportunities (chakravarthy, 1982), innovative capabilities i.e. the ability to develop new products and/or markets by aligning strategic innovative orientation with innovative behaviours and processes (wang & ahmed, 2007), and dynamic capabilities, i.e. the enterprise’s ability to sense, seize, and adapt in order to generate and exploit internal and external enterprise-specific competences, and to address the enterprise`s changing environment (teece, 2009, p. 87-88). this third part in the book reuses some of these concepts to propose that project capabilities are developed in project-based organizations in order to support a strategy and provide some form of competitive advantage. of the five parts of the book, this is the one focusing most on strategy. in the first chapter on this topic, nightingale, baden-fuller and hopkins establish a solid and useful theoretical foundation for this fairly newly coined concept of project capabilities in a chapter which is more theoretical than the rest of the book. they distinguish two types of project capabilities: those that eliminate variance in project outcomes (to control costs and add value) and the economies of scale that reduce costs across multiple projects (p. 215). they reflect on the benefits and incentives of developing both types of capabilities in different contexts (related to repetitiveness and complexity) ranging from building a single wall to the space program. this analysis sheds some light on the paradox facing project-based firms: the ability to develop, improve and repeatedly use project capabilities in a context which is poorly suited for routine tasks. in the second chapter, söderlund and tell attempt to address three broad questions related to strategy and capabilities in p-form corporations: (1) what are the main characteristics of p-form corporations? (2) what are the capabilities acquired and developed by p-form corporations and how are these acquired? (3) how do these capabilities vary across different strategic alternatives in the p-form corporation? after a discussion of what is meant by p-form corporations, the authors look at the core competencies found in such firms. they then propose four types of strategies (focusing, combining, shifting and switching) in a two-by-two matrix along the axes of exploitation versus exploration and deterministic versus voluntaristic. each type would attempt to develop specific competences and would involve different types of risks. the chapter entitled “strategic responses to standardization: embrace, extend or extinguish?” differs from the other chapters in the rest of the book because the focus deals with product management rather than project management. the authors investigate how microsoft responded to 12 software technologies (such as corba, html, tcp/ip, http, and java) in the period between 1990 and 2005 using content analysis of news articles. they suggest a typology of four strategic responses to standardization based on two orthogonal decisions: embrace and extend. projects and networks while most of the book uses firms as the unit of analysis, part iv brings it down to the individuals and the teams involved in projects. traditional project management tools and techniques are now being challenged by new ways of collaborating with the advent of new networking technologies such as wikis, 338 m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 332-342 book review document sharing tools, video and teleconferencing, and the like. adopting a social-network perspective, the four chapters address different issues resulting from these new ways of working: how leadership is shared in geographically dispersed project teams, the consequences of local versus international network ties for innovative success, the use of wikis in the co-creation process, and the notion of ambidexterity at the individual level. “while traditionally the project leader was considered as the exclusive source of leadership behavior, recent research indicates that particularly dispersed projects may profit from joint leadership efforts by all project members” (p.289). using this assumption as their starting point, muethel and hoegl propose a model based on four functions to investigate the impact of shared leadership on project performance in geographically dispersed teams more specifically when tasks are uncertain. the chapter includes seven propositions emerging from their model which have unfortunately not yet been tested empirically but which should serve as a useful reference for future research. as previously mentioned, the three other chapters deal with networks of individuals and teams. however, the chapter by al-laham and amburgey entitled “staying local or reaching globally? analyzing structural characteristics of project-based networks in german biotech.” is somewhat at odds with the part of the book in which it appears. it looks at networks (clusters) of firms and the structural characteristics of their ties both locally and at an international level. the quantitative research is based on four public sources of data to study the biotech industry in germany during the period between 1995 and 2004. the unit of analysis and the methodology is therefore very different from the three other chapters. the third chapter on projects and networks, by garud, kumaraswamy and tuertscher, investigates a very modern topic in the field of project management: the use of wikis for collaboration between authors working on shared written productions (such as wikipedia articles). such an environment offers opportunities for investigating true virtual teams in action. the research method used by the researchers is also very original. because the wiki technology leaves a digital trace of the different contributions to any page being written, it becomes possible to analyze who updated the articles, with which frequency and in which sequence using a tool called history flow. the analysis of the history of three wikipedia articles allowed the authors to break down the cocreation process into three sub-processes labeled co-construction, justification and materialization. march (1991) introduced the notion that organizations must balance their exploration for new ideas, new products and new ways of working with their exploitation i.e. using and improving existing products and technologies. o’reilly, harreld and tushman (2009; 2004, 2008) refers to ambidexterity as the ability for organizations to pursue both approaches simultaneously. simon and tellier borrow these concepts at the individual level to study how social networks evolve when ideas move from exploration to exploitation. to understand this evolution, they interviewed 74 key actors in six cases in an r&d center at a semiconductor company. 339 m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 332-342 book review toward future research the title of the last part, “toward future research”, is somewhat misleading. a better title would probably have been “new looks at project-based organizing in creative industries” because the authors do not really propose new research areas but rather address existing topics from new angles. maoret, massa and jones propose to replace organization-centric and field-centric views with a new “projects as events” perspective. “they the authors illustrate various instances in which projects, like events, can be considered sequences of activities that unfold gradually or suddenly and that are coordinated through a core idea or concept, triggering distinctive networks at multiple levels of analysis” (p. xxxiv). although this chapter draws from examples from three creative industries (architecture, film and music), this is probably one of the most theoretical chapters in the book. this new perspective does have consequences on the methodology to be used when studying project-based organizing. it remains to be seen if this new approach will be adopted by other researchers. the second chapter also takes a new look at the film industry during the period when irving thalberg ran the metro-goldwyn-mayer film studios between 1923 and 1936. although this was an already well documented and analyzed industry and period, lampel proposes a new framework for “analyzing project-based organizations which couples the institutional logic of the external environment, with the institutional logic which emerges from the internal project field.” (p. 445). the author argues that an analysis of the strategy of project-based organizations must take into account the interaction between deliberate and emergent strategic processes. in the context of project-based organizations, deliberate strategic processes respond to the external environment while emergent strategic processes are rooted in the organizational project portfolio. the chapter by perretti also investigates the film industry from the perspective of the influence of the categorization of films into genres on the construction of identities in this industry. the author also takes a longitudinal approach for the period between 1920 and 1970. he proposes a new look using hybridity (i.e. “the association of organizations and/or the products they offer with multiple category memberships” (p. 467)). the last chapter of the book is by far the most surprising and original for readers interested in the use of project management tools and processes to achieve creative goals such as arts, circus or video games. svejeneva, pedersen and vives reflect on the specific issues related to projects of passion, i.e. projects for which there is little or no business justification defined as “a distinctive archetype of temporary organizations established to express significant identities and address individual motivations associated with vision, vocation, or values” (p. 506). in the particular case of the famous work of arts by christo under the patronage of jean-claude, the main driver was not financial but rather a quest for aesthetic beauty and artistic expression. in this context, the authors propose a theoretical model to understand the motivation, mechanisms used and outcomes to study seven of the projects by the artist (incl. the famous wrapping of the pont-neuf in paris, the wrapped reichstag in berlin, the gates in new york and the surrounded islands in florida). this chapter undermines some of the most established ideas about how projects are established, justified, approved and executed. it is particularly enlightening to 340 m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 332-342 book review learn that some of these projects took over 20 years (and some over 35 years) to obtain all the necessary approvals for an exhibition lasting just a fortnight without producing direct revenues. the authors rightly quote march (1995) “most heretics are burned, not sanctified, most inventions prove worthless, not priceless. most deviant organizations perish.” (p. 436) some impressions from my readings in the m@n@gemen issue 15(1), rolf lundin reviewed the oxford handbook of project management by morris, pinto and söderlund. although both books address the topic of project management, their aim, structure and scope are very different. while the first one attempts consciously to cover a large number of the topics of interest to practitioners and academics (such as governance, progam management, the history of project management, and contracting), the second is more research-based and targets academics. the book is a very interesting collection of 18 contributions by independent authors providing new insights and the results of some unpublished research. each chapter could be read separately like articles in specialized periodicals on project management, organization studies or strategy management. i did recommend some of the chapters (knowing that they would not have to read the complete book) to some colleagues knowing that they would be interested by some of the specific topics: project capabilities, the study of wikis in virtual teams, shared leadership, and new project management perspectives in creative project-based organizations. in the same vein, i will most likely re-use and quote some of the material in my favorite chapters. this publication is clearly well anchored in research and the target audience is evidently academics in the field of project management, potentially in the fields of strategy or innovation. the introduction by the editors and the division into different parts attempt to present some links between the different chapters but in a sense this could be seen as somewhat artificial. the book does not include a conclusion chapter because the introduction by the editors also serves as the conclusion if read again at the end of the book. finally, since i have a specific interest in project portfolio management (petit & hobbs, 2012) and knowing that many large organizations use this to ensure the strategic alignment of their projects, it was surprising to see that almost none of the 18 chapters dealt with project portfolios in one way or another. 341 m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 332-342 book review . bengtsson, m., müllern, t., söderholm, a., & wåhlin, n. (2007). a grammar of organizing. cheltenham (uk): eward elgar. . bresnen, m., goussevskaia, a., & swan, j. (2004). embedding new management knowledge in project-based organizations. organization studies, 25(9), 1535. . chakravarthy, b. s. (1982). adaptation: a promising metaphor for strategic management. the academy of management review, 7(1), 35-44. . cohen, w. m., & levinthal, d. a. (1990). absorptive capacity: a new perspective on learning and innovation. administrative science quarterly, 35(1), 128-152. . collis, d. j. (1994). research note: how valuable are organizational capabilities? strategic management journal, 15(si), 143-152. . czarniawska, b. (2008). a theory of organizing. northampton, ma: edward elgar publishing. . defillippi, r. j., & arthur, m. b. (1998). paradox in project-based enterprise: the case of film making. california management review, 40(2), 125-139. . dinsmore, p. c., & cookedavies, t. j. (2006). right projects done right!: from business strategy to successful project implementation. san francisco: jossey-bass. . dosi, g., nelson, r. r., & winter, s. g. (2000). the nature and dynamics of organizational capabilities. oxford: oxford university press. . gareis, r. (2006). business process management in the project-oriented company global project management handbook : planning, organizing, and controlling international projects, 2nd ed. (pp. 2.12.26). new york ; toronto: mcgrawhill. . hobday, m. (2000). the project-based organisation: an ideal form for managing complex products and systems? research policy, 29(7), 871-893. . ibert, o. (2004). projects and firms as discordant complements: organistional learning in the munich software ecology. research policy, 33(10), 1529-1546. . lindkvist, l. (2004). governing project-based firms: promoting market-like processes within hierarchies. journal of management & governance, 8(1), 3-25. . lundin, r. a., & söderholm, a. (1995). a theory of the temporary organization. scandinavian journal of management, 11(4), 437-455. . march, j. g. (1991). exploration and exploitation in organizational learning. organization science, 2(1), 71-87. . march, j. g. (1995). the future, disposable organizations and the rigidities of imagination. organization, 2(3-4), 427-440. . o’reilly, c. a., iii, harreld, j. b., & tushman, m. l. (2009). organizational ambidexterity: ibm and emerging business opportunities. california management review, 51(4), 75-99. . o’reilly, c. a., iii, & tushman, m. l. (2004). the ambidextrous organization. harvard business review, 82(4), 7481. . o’reilly, c. a., iii, & tushman, m. l. (2008). ambidexterity as a dynamic capability: resolving the innovator’s dilemma. research in organizational behavior, 28, 185-206. . petit, y., & hobbs, b. (2012). project portfolios in dynamic environments: organizing for uncertainty. pennsylvania: project management institute. . prencipe, a., & tell, f. (2001). inter-project learning: processes and outcomes of knowledge codification in project-based firms. research policy, 30(9), 1373-1394. . schreyögg, g., & kliesch-eberl, m. (2007). how dynamic can organizational capabilities be? towards a dualprocess model of capability dynamization. strategic management journal, 28(9), 913-933. . söderlund, j., & bredin, k. (2006). hrm in project-intensive firms: changes and challenges. human resource management, 45(2), 249265. . sydow, j., lindkvist, l., & defillippi, r. (2004). project-based organization, embeddeness and repositories of knowledge: editorial. organization studies, 25(9), 1475-1489. . teece, d. j. (2009). dynamic capabilities & strategic management organizing for innovation and growth. new york: oxford university press. . volberda, h. w. (1998). building the flexible firm: how to remain competitive. oxford ; new york: oxford university press. references 342 m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 332-342 book review . wang, c. l., & ahmed, p. (2007). dynamic capabilities: a review and research agenda. international journal of management reviews, 9(1), 31-51. . weick, k. e. (1969). the social psychology of organizing. reading, ma: addison-wesley. . weick, k. e. (1979). the social psychology of organizing (2nd ed.). reading, ma: addisonwesley. . weick, k. e., sutcliffe, k. m., & obstfeld, d. (2009). organizing and the process of sensemaking. in k. e. weick (ed.), making sense of the organization: the impermanent organization (pp. 131-151). chichester (uk): john wiley & sons. . whitley, r. (2006). project-based firms: new organizational form or variations on a theme? industrial and corporate change, 15(1), 77-99. . winter, s. g. (2003). understanding dynamic capabilities. strategic management journal, 24(10), 991-995. . zahra, s. a., & george, g. (2002). absorptive capacity: a review, reconceptualization, and extension. the academy of management review, 27(2), 185-203. 528 yiannis gabrielm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 719-731 copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). m@n@gement is a double-blind refereed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.management-aims.com © 2013 m@n@gement and the author(s). m@n@gement est la revue officielle de l’aims m@n@gement is the journal official of aims yiannis gabriel 2013 surprises: not just the spice of life but the source of knowledge m@n@gement, 16(5), 719-731. m@n@gement issn: 1286-4692 emmanuel josserand, cmos, university of technology, sydney (editor in chief) jean-luc arrègle, emlyon business school (editor) laure cabantous, cass business school (editor) stewart clegg, university of technology, sydney (editor) olivier germain, université du québec à montréal (editor, book reviews) karim mignonac, université de toulouse 1 (editor) philippe monin, emlyon business school (editor) tyrone pitsis, university of newcastle (editor) josé pla-barber, universidad de valència (editor) michael tushman, harvard business school (editor) walid shibbib, université de genève (managing editor) alexander bell, université de genève (editorial assistant) martin g. evans, university of toronto (editor emeritus) bernard forgues, emlyon business school (editor emeritus) special issue 719 surprises: not just the spice of life but the source of knowledge m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 719-731 surprises: not just the spice of life but the source of knowledge yiannis gabriel university of bath, school of managementyg218@management.bath.ac.uk abstract as befits a publication whose very name suggests surprise, i have decided to present some reflections on surprises or, perhaps, some surprising reflections. i cannot be alone in seeing two startled eyes staring back at me from the word m@n@gement. nor can i be alone in thinking that surprises, good and bad, are an important part of every sphere of life—political, cultural, scientific and personal. think of it like this—what would life be without surprises? there would be no space for stories since stories demand reversals of fortune, transformations of trouble into opportunity, of crisis into challenge, of glory into catastrophe, of order into disorder and disorder into order. nor would there be much space for the arts, at least not for those arts that thrive on astonishing or rattling the public. there would certainly be little scope for sport, since the result of every contest would be known in advance. there would be little space for adventure and exploration; there would be no discovery, good or bad. hence, there would also be no space for the creation of new knowledge, at least no knowledge beyond that which merely builds infinitesimally on what already exists and which seems to find favour with a certain genre of academic publishing. what a drab, boring world this would be! and yet surprises are far from a straight blessing. we mistrust surprises, some of us more than others. surprises bring excitement but they also bring trouble. ‘the best surprise is no surprise’ was the founder’s logo for the hotel chain holiday inn. ‘no surprises’ holds the promise of a smooth, predictable, orderly, managed universe, one that runs with the reassuring predictability of prussian bureaucracy or a swiss clock. eliminating surprises certainly reduces anxiety and induces a sense of being in control. the elimination of surprises, or at least their normalisation and containment, may be seen as virtually a definition of the word ‘management’ (though not of ‘m@n@gement’). management offers the promise that life can be ordered, organised and controlled. more than this, it claims that the forces of disorder and chaos can be contained through rationality, knowledge and science. as jules verne’s hero phileas fogg demonstrates (with the help of a thomas cook timetable, an ingenious passepartout and sensible planning), one can travel around the earth in precisely eighty days, no matter what surprises are thrown in one’s path. in times of change, stress and uncertainty, it can be comforting to believe that the world is a predictable and regular place, or at least that there are certain things on which we can rely—aeroplanes delivering us to our destinations, electricity powering our homes and workplaces, promises being honoured, tasks discharged and assumptions fulfilled. at the same time, we are aware that in a highly interdependent world like ours a volcanic eruption in iceland can 720 yiannis gabrielm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 719-731 halt all air transport in europe for several days and that a minor contamination of worcestershire sauce can lead to a recall and the destruction of thousands of tons of food. bad surprises or the prospect of them (terrorist attacks, natural disasters, food scares, health scares and every conceivable other ‘scare’) have become mother’s milk for the mass media, especially if accompanied by graphic pictures. where do bad surprises originate? we often like to blame them on human error or malevolence, whether individual or collective. undoubtedly this makes for powerful narratives and compelling sensemaking. they are easily viewed as causes of trouble. but trouble also comes from natural disasters: floods, fires, earthquakes (sometimes exacerbated by human activities). trouble comes from the slings and arrows of everyday life: illnesses, accidents, deaths, job loss, loss of loved ones and so forth. in the world of business, trouble comes from the vagaries of markets, the caprices of consumers, the rise of competitors, the surges of new technologies, the whims of ceos and many other quarters. all of the above locate surprise somewhere outside ourselves in a place we cannot control (even in the case of our body, which features above as something external to our ‘self’.) but trouble can also spring from within ourselves: from inner disorder, our own erratic desires, our fears and anxieties, our errors and miscalculations. management may be an attempt to deal with all such surprises. at times, it may anticipate them and forestall them (comte: ‘savoir pour prévoir, prévoir pour prévenir’ – ‘to know in order to anticipate, to anticipate in order to prevent’), at times it mitigates their effects and at others it simply makes them invisible. but, surprisingly, management is also the cause of surprises. i am thinking here of at least two types of surprises. first, the carefully choreographed surprises that seek to entertain and bewitch the consumer. think of disneyland, think of showbusiness, think of spectacle: a large part of today’s economic activity is aimed at bewitching the consumer with pre-packaged, managed surprises. second, the surprises with which the management of many organisations seek to ‘catch’ their rivals and competitors. just as military strategists seek to surprise their enemies, today’s business strategists look for ways to surprise and outwit their adversaries with new products, new initiatives and new ideas. management may seek to master surprises and take advantage of them, but surprises cannot be eliminated from our lives. we live in an unpredictable world. it is not a random, arbitrary world, devoid of causes and effects and in which nothing can be managed. it is a world in which order and disorder, routine and accident all coexist: what is managed threatens to become unmanageable, and what seems unmanageable can become managed. this is as true on the largest scale as it is on the smallest. it is as true of international and social relations as it is of personal life, where many significant aspects (when and where we are born, who our parents are etc.) and turning points (unintended meetings, discoveries, accidents) in our lives and our personal histories happen entirely by chance. order and disorder coexist in organisations too; they are as capable of providing surprises as any area of personal and social life. there are unmanageable and unmanaged spaces in every organisation, just as there are in most of our social and personal lives. i have long been fascinated by the idea of the unmanaged organisation (gabriel, 1995). this is not the same as the informal organisation, but is a kind of organisational dream world, dominated by desires, fantasies 721 surprises: not just the spice of life but the source of knowledge m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 719-731 and intuitions. the unmanaged organisation does not directly challenge or resist management, seeking instead to side-step it through spontaneous, uncontrolled activities in which pleasure, fantasy and play take precedence over usefulness, rationality and performance. it does, all the same, challenge the requirement that every organisational activity should serve a function or be part of a plan. the dominant principle of the unmanaged organisation is not the ‘reality principle’ (or the performance principle, as marcuse called it) but something more akin to the pleasure principle. pleasure comes from many quarters, not least from what management and consumerism seek to provide: pre-packaged experiences, luxuries and other banalities to ‘wow’ the customer. in the unmanaged organisation, pleasure comes from the telling of stories which celebrate victories of right over wrong, which arouse sympathy for the innocent victim, which rejoice in the power of love, which ridicule pomposity and hypocrisy and so forth. if the managed organisation dislikes surprises, the unmanaged organisation relishes them—not only pleasant surprises (like a romance between two employees) but also unpleasant ones (like the accidental loss of part of a finger in a sausage-making machine). it celebrates cock-ups, accidents, turn-arounds and shocking revelations. the unmanaged organisation laughs as the managed organisation becomes alarmed and seriously reviews its procedures. it chuckles as the best laid plans of mice and men come asunder, as small miscalculations demolish grand designs. ‘surprise me’ is the challenge an audience sets to its storyteller: no matter how predictable, well rehearsed or well known the story, a storyteller must discover a new twist to meet their audience’s thirst for surprise. pleasure is ineluctably linked to surprise, just as boredom is to routine. as freud himself might have said, eros engineers the unexpected just as the death instinct is silently working towards inertia. and if eros relishes the unexpected, he also relished the forbidden. pleasure comes from actions and ideas that venture into new territories and transgress boundaries. this is what makes forbidden love more exciting than conventional one, undeserved victories sweeter than deserved ones, and accidental discoveries more delicious than predictable ones. the transgressive qualities of pleasure should not come as a surprise. nor should it come as a surprise that seeking knowledge in forbidden territories comes at a price, as shown by the punishments meted out on the biblical adam and eve and dante’s ulysses. quests for knowledge can be driven by doubt and curiosity in the face of mysteries as well as by the concerns of practical problem solving (gherardi, 1999; 2004). doubting orthodoxy, argued adorno (1954-8/1984), represents the innermost law of the essay, hence writing essays (in contrast to most published scientific papers) is in essence a heretical art. ‘by transgressing the orthodoxy of thought, something becomes visible in the object which it is orthodoxy’s secret purpose to keep invisible’ (171). escaping from the dominion of usefulness (or relevance), as james march argues in this issue, lies at the heart of discovering beautiful ideas, ideas that give aesthetic pleasure. it is what march describes as ‘playing with ideas’1. playing with ideas is very different from playing a game that calls upon ideas, such as, for example, the publishing game of many academic publications or the knowledge transfer game assiduously pursued by many organisations and networks. playing with ideas can be a very difficult and serious activity. 1. usefulness by itself is not unconducive to beauty. it is only the requirement that intellectual activity should be aimed directly and exclusively at relevance that undermines the aesthetic beauty of ideas, replacing it with the cold hand of convention and formula. by contrast, the accidental discovery that a certain idle idea can be of relevance in resolving a serious problem or find a practical use can be the source of pleasure. once again, the surprise of accidental discovery lies at the heart of this. 722 yiannis gabrielm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 719-731 a large part of this activity may be ‘idle’, generating few if any palpable outputs; time may be ‘wasted’ without having much to show for it. it can be engaged in individually or in groups, and its playfulness lies in transgressing boundaries, allowing seemingly absurd flights of fantasy, suppressing the demands of the reality principle and tolerating a certain amount of uncertainty. this recalls the concept of negative capability, an idea that occurs in a famous letter by the poet john keats to his brothers george and thomas keats, dated 21 december 1817. in it, he refers to ‘negative capability, that is when man is capable of being in uncertainties, mysteries, doubts without any irritable reaching after fact and reason’. playing with ideas means avoiding premature closure and resisting the appeal of certainty. instead of seeking solace in the certainty of definitions, proofs and facts, playing with ideas requires one to maintain conflicting and contradictory views, allowing them to cross-fertilise, mature and engage with each other. playing with ideas can be more or less pleasurable. what is undoubtedly pleasurable is surprising discovery, but playing by itself, with no purpose and no outcome, can be less pleasurable and may eventually lead to boredom. this suggests that playing with ideas is not entirely purposeless, even though generating useful ideas may be far from its original aim. it suggests a readiness to recognise and grasp a new discovery if and when it arises, in line with louis pasteur’s famous observation that ‘chance favors the prepared mind’. the combination of chance and the prepared mind lies at the heart of the concept of serendipity, as understood by british art historian horace walpole, the man who coined the word. in a letter to his friend, diplomat horace mann, in 1754, he describes the persian fairy tale ‘the three princes of serendip’, whose heroes ‘were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things they were not in quest of’. notice how, unlike many contemporary usages, walpole’s original conceptualisation of serendipity involves both accident and sagacity, i.e. the ability to recognise the meaning and value of what one has encountered. the concept of serendipity preoccupied sociologist robert k. merton for over 40 years—his book on the subject was only published in english posthumously (merton & barber, 2004). merton, widely regarded as the founder of the sociology of science, offers evidence that most scientists themselves are aware of the vital importance of serendipity in scientific discovery, even if they tend to stay quiet about it in the presentation of their results: since it is the special task of scientists to make discoveries, they themselves have often been concerned to understand the conditions under which discoveries are made and use that knowledge to further the making of discoveries. some scientists seem to have been aware of the fact that the elegance and parsimony prescribed for the presentation of the results of scientific work tend to falsify retrospectively the actual process by which the results were obtained (merton and barber 2004: 159). the word ‘elegance’ is used here to describe an adherence to formal scientific standards, whereby the published results of a scientific inquiry follow a carefully reasoned and planned course of action, following the dictates of scientific methodology. it is interesting to contrast briefly this formal elegance, which denies surprise and pretends that discovery is the result of 723 surprises: not just the spice of life but the source of knowledge m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 719-731 careful planning, to the beauty of the unexpected discovery. both can afford pleasure. like a perfectly designed french garden, the former’s pleasure is apollonian, the product of reason, balance, symmetry and control. the latter, on the other hand, evokes the pleasure of discovering an unexpected delight while venturing away from the trodden paths in a neglected or overlooked part of the garden. (by the same metaphor, the english landscape garden would represent the ideal of managed surprise, pleasure arising from carefully arranged features meant to appear ‘natural’ and be ‘discovered’ by the visitor). in his social theory and social structure, merton offers a very precise account of the role of serendipity in scientific discovery. the serendipity pattern refers to the fairly common experience of observing an unanticipated, anomalous and strategic datum which becomes the occasion for developing a new theory or for extending an existing theory… the datum is, first of all, unanticipated. a research directed toward the test of one hypothesis yields a fortuitous byproduct, an unexpected observation which bears upon theories not in question when the research was begun. secondly, the observation is anomalous, surprising, either because it seems inconsistent with prevailing theory or with other established facts. in either case, the seeming inconsistency provokes curiosity… and thirdly, in noting that the unexpected fact must be strategic, i.e., that it must permit of implications which bear upon generalized theory, we are, of course, referring rather to what the observer brings to the datum than to the datum itself. for it obviously requires a theoretically sensitized observer to detect the universal in the particular. (merton, 1957/1968, p. 157f, emphases added) famous accidental discoveries like teflon, viagra and penicillin have attracted much attention (see, for example, roberts, 1989), but merton argues that most scientific discoveries are unintended. they happen, as he notes above, as ‘fortuitous by-products’. this is true in abstract as well as applied research, in the natural as well as the social sciences, in qualitative as well as quantitative inquiry. what is especially interesting in merton’s writing is his argument that a lot of the time scientists, like the rest of us, are ‘blind’ to accidental discovery. unlike the princes of serendip, we encounter fortuitous accidents but have not the sagacity to recognise them. why? because, argues merton, what is remarkable and surprising usually becomes normalised and goes unnoticed or taken for granted. he approvingly quotes wittgenstein: ‘how hard i find it to see what is right in front of my eyes!’ (merton, 1996, p. 167), a view that finds ample support in the famous experiment of the basketball players and the gorilla. a number of people watch a video of basketball players passing the ball to each other having been instructed to count the number of passes. absorbed in the counting of passes, the majority fail to notice a gorilla who walks slowly across the screen. immersed in the hurly burly of everyday life, our minds cluttered with detail and information, we frequently fail to notice what is not already part of our mental schemes—hence we fail to notice surprises even when they happen in front of our very eyes. in a similar way, as researchers, we are often too absorbed in our research agendas, counting numbers of questionnaires or milligrams of compounds, to notice interesting things that go on outside our field of vision. 724 yiannis gabrielm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 719-731 let us summarise our argument thus far. we live in an unpredictable world full of surprises, good and bad. managers seek to eliminate or reduce the impact of bad surprises and orchestrate pleasant surprises for their customers and unpleasant ones for their competitors. but management can never attain its agenda of total control. a considerable part of what goes on in organisations is unmanaged and unmanageable. pleasure rather than rationality is the guiding force in the unmanaged organisation. pleasure is attained by allowing free-reign to fantasy and permitting the temporary prevalence of the pleasure principle over instrumental rationality and the reality principle. play takes many forms, including ‘playing with ideas’, which sometimes features excursions into forbidden or seemingly fallow territories. such excursions do not always produce useful results but are liable to spawn surprises and generate interesting new ideas and discoveries. there is strong evidence that many discoveries, theoretical or otherwise, are, in fact, the outcomes of serendipity. this involves fortuitous accidents and a preparedness and willingness to deviate from existing routines of thought and action in order to notice them and learn from them. yet, our own thought habits conspire against this, restricting us mostly to carefully controlled, instrumentally driven, methodologically tight work. a great part of theoretical knowledge, as we have argued, comes from intellectual surprises. it also seems that many great theories owe their greatness neither to their relevance nor their truth value, but rather to their surprise value—their ability to stand conventional assumptions on their head and shock the listener. as murray davis (1971) argues, ‘a theorist is considered great, not because his theories are true, but because they are interesting. […] a new theory will be noticed only when it denies an old truth, proverb, platitude, maxim, adage, saying, commonplace, etc.’, adding, ‘all interesting theories, at least all interesting social theories, then, constitute an attack on the takenfor-granted world of their audience. […] if it does not challenge but merely confirms one of their taken-for-granted beliefs, [the audience] will respond to it by rejecting its value while affirming its truth’ (311). so what makes a theory interesting? in proposing an ‘index of the interesting’, davis argues that a theory is interesting if it demonstrates that what seems organised is, in fact, disorganised, or vice versa; what seem like heterogeneous phenomena are in fact homogeneous or vice versa; what seems a local phenomenon is in fact a general one, or vice versa; what appears to be a bad phenomenon is in fact a good one, or vice versa, and so forth. in sum, interesting theories are those that come as surprises to their audiences. notice that davis does not explain how interesting theories are generated, but merely what it is that makes them interesting. in advising authors how to generate interesting theories, he recommends that they become familiar with their audiences’ assumptions and then aim to subvert them. he observes that interest declines when its author seeks to systematise it by crossing the ‘t’s and dotting the ‘i’s: ‘in trying to construct the index of the interesting, i had hoped to make it as systematic as possible. however, as i proceeded in this attempt, i discovered—to my dismay—that the more systematic i tried to make it, the less interesting it became. rather than continue to spin out a system at the increasing cost of decreasing interest, i decided that my dilemma itself might serve as the basis for some reflections on the relation between the interesting and the systematic’ (340, emphasis in original). 725 surprises: not just the spice of life but the source of knowledge m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 719-731 it seems to me that in order to be interesting, a theory must be fertile or generative. in other words, it must open up new possibilities for thought and exploration, as march argues in this issue. all the same, amassing or observing the gradual accumulation of fruits of research decreases the interest value of a theory. it turns exploration into a routine harvest. it may be exciting for those eager to exploit it (the way that all bounty is exciting to the greedy), but it loses its surprising qualities and becomes ‘normal science’ (kuhn, 1962/1996): sorting out irregularities, resolving puzzles and making very marginal contributions to knowledge. writing in 1971, davis explicitly disagrees with kuhn, urging young researchers to aim for ‘interesting’ research, discovering as opposed to resolving anomalies and testing existing paradigms rather than being their ‘handmaidens’. ‘the best way to make a name for oneself in an intellectual discipline is to be interesting—denying the assumed while affirming the unanticipated’ (343). further, in opposition to kuhn, he proposes somewhat excitedly that ‘sheer boredom’ with existing paradigms will always motivate researchers to reach for new and more interesting ones. in this, i believe that davis was gravely mistaken. far from seeking to break with existing traditions, formal academic research has assumed more and more the character of being a handmaiden to existing paradigms. at least in the social sciences that i am familiar with, researchers find themselves pursuing careers, doing more and more conservative research and producing more and more standardised outputs. the main characteristics of such publications will be clearly familiar to any practicing researcher: they specialise in minuscule sub-disciplines of their field they identify tiny ‘gaps’ in the literature (sandberg & alvesson, 2011). they almost religiously cite all existing ‘authorities’ in their subspecialisation (not least to forestall any criticisms from journal reviewers who are likely to be the very ‘authorities’ being cited). they affect to follow very rigid protocols of inquiry that address closely scrutinised research questions aimed at filling the gaps in the literature. they describe methodologies for their field research from which not even the smallest deviations are ever acknowledged. they are organised and presented in highly standardised structures, devoid of any discontinuity or originality. they are written in a most pedantic fashion, seeking to eliminate all ambiguity and tension, as well as the author’s personal style, from the text. davis, who sadly died in 2007, must surely be turning in his grave at the increasingly formulaic qualities of the research publications that currently fill the pages of most academic journals (alvesson and gabriel, 2013). he would not, however, be surprised, that most researchers view such outputs as of very little interest, though not of very little use, and can barely bring themselves to read beyond the abstract unless the content is relevant to their minuscule subspecialisations. 726 yiannis gabrielm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 719-731 it seems to me that, in addition to the normal blindness that we display when presented with surprises (as pointed out by merton, following wittgenstein), the institutional practices of academic research, academic publications and professional recognition encourage conservatism and adherence to formulae. to take just one core academic practice, consider article reviews. reviewers are currently prone to criticise authors if an article has failed to identify ‘a gap’, if its ‘contribution’ is not specifically focused on one issue, if the review of literature has omitted to name an important authority and so forth. notice how rare it is these days for an author to take a position against another or, even rarer, against a gang of others, preferring instead to recruit allies and supporters for even the most commonsensical propositions. to parody—‘as x (2013), y (2013) and z (2013) have demonstrated, poverty is not generally welcome by those afflicted by it, and, unless strongly counter-acted by state (a, 2013), welfare (b, 2012) or charity (c, 2011) agencies, may adversely impact their psychological (d, 2013) and physical (2012) wellbeing’. overall, even when a piece of work contains the germ of an interesting idea, the odds are that, following successive reviews and revisions, the idea will be normalised, stripped of its originality and reduced to the pedantic function of filling a theoretical gap. it seems to me that, under a variety of organisational and professional pressures, a large majority of researching academics today become wilfully blind. it is not simply that we are unprepared for surprises, we actively don’t want them (at least not too many). as researchers, we invest much time on those questionnaires or those milligrams of compound and anything that takes us beyond our brief is seen as a distraction. we are constantly encouraged (and we encourage each other) to focus on our research questions and view everything else as a distraction, as irrelevant, or, worse, as a waste of our time. research outputs, measured in journal articles in ‘starred publications’, make and break academic careers. even less prestigious journals, in their incessant drive to emulate the more prestigious ones, adopt practices and conventions that encourage formulaic research—specialisation, uncritical vacuum cleaning of literature, identification of tiny gaps and incremental contributions aimed at filling those gaps. as alvesson (2013) has argued, the stealthy pursuit of returnon-investment (roi) rather than the quest for surprising discoveries becomes the guiding force in most inquiries; research is replaced by ‘roi-search’. in all these ways, it appears that the reality principle has scored a considerable victory over the pleasure principle in the world of academic research. yet the pleasure principle has not been silenced. by analogy to the distinction between the managed and the unmanaged organisation delineated earlier, i believe that a useful distinction can be drawn between managed and unmanaged inquiry. if the greatest part of published research is the product of purposeful, cumulative, formulaic, mostly joyless work aimed at furthering academic careers, there remains a space for inquiry that is spontaneous, playful, eccentric, disorganised and frequently purposeless. the activities of unmanaged inquiry often go unseen by managed inquiry. when seen, the activities and fruits of unmanaged inquiry are frequently drawn back into the ambit of managed inquiry. playing with ideas, seeking surprises, delighting in paradoxes and enduring unresolved contradictions are all features of unmanaged inquiry. 727 surprises: not just the spice of life but the source of knowledge m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 719-731 while managed inquiry would be a lot poorer without the contribution of her unmanaged sister, she never ceases criticising the latter’s unruly and idle habits. hard-working and dead-serious managed inquiry finds ‘playing with ideas’ particularly irksome and constantly nags her sister with questions and comments like: isn’t playing with ideas just a waste of time? what guarantees of firm results can it offer? does it not just amount to an exercise in narcissistic navel-gazing, of interest to academics but to nobody else in society? why should anyone pay academics to play with ideas? it is all very well for academics to engage in games that give them pleasure, but if their activities are not aimed at the public or private good, should they not carry the economic cost themselves, like the gentlemen researchers of yesteryears? far from marking the dominance on the pleasure principle, playing is very hard work. unlike children in their sandpits, most adults cannot just spend their day playing. … and if they do, they eventually get bored with idle playing and look for something more meaningful on which to spend their time. in addressing such criticisms, we must acknowledge that playing with ideas is indeed not easy, its fruits are not guaranteed and many public agencies will shy away from individuals or groups that acknowledge receiving money to play games. it is not easy because it involves overcoming resistances, both external and internal. as we have noted, external resistances—institutional and professional pressures and so forth—are difficult enough to overcome. internal resistance, however, is even harder to surmount. living with uncertainty, forsaking the safe rewards of doing normal science for the uncertain recompense of pursuing surprises and questioning orthodoxy is hard work. it can certainly lead to prolonged fallow periods of doubt and disappointment. instead of challenging assumptions, most academic researchers prefer the comfort and safety of their paradigmatic enclaves, especially when protected from assault by other paradigms walled by incommensurability. all the same, it seems to me that even these formidable resistances cannot extinguish all desire to engage with ideas spontaneously, to pursue unpromising lines of inquiry and to challenge or sidestep orthodoxy. even researchers who have made solid reputations on the back of normal science venture from time to time into unknown or even forbidden territories. and ideas and innovations that seem routine may owe their origins to excursions into such territories. my sense is that just as the managed and the unmanaged organisation exist side by side, sometimes ignoring each other, sometimes challenging each other and sometimes supporting each other, managed and unmanaged inquiry find different ways of coexisting. both at the individual and at the collective level, many researchers are engaged both in methodical, purpose-driven research and in spontaneous play with ideas. both reality and the pleasure principles find ways of pursuing their agendas in most research environments, where both orthodox outputs and heterodox ways of thinking 728 yiannis gabrielm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 719-731 are valued. the methodical filling of gaps and the quest for a moment of inspiration (the eureka! moment) exist side by side. unmanaged inquiry may sometimes be invisible, may sometimes be drawn back to the domain of managed inquiry and often may lead to dead-ends and false discoveries that melt away under the most rudimentary critical questioning. many ‘interesting’ discoveries (in davis’s sense) wilt in the cold light of day, or turn out to be of interest only to a tiny number of fellow researchers. yet, as i have insisted throughout this piece, many discoveries of lasting significance come as a result of accident, serendipity and play. such inquiry can be encouraged, both as a source of pleasure in its own right and as a potentially valuable source of ideas and innovation for managed inquiry. in search of serendipity in my experience, several factors encourage this type of inquiry, but i will limit myself to a few. first, it seems to me that many surprising discoveries are made when researchers with very different backgrounds and interests find ways to communicate. the cross-fertilisation of ideas can sometimes generate spectacular results. this frequently arises when insights from one tradition or discipline can be translated into another, often through the use of analogies and metaphors. this encourages creative imagination and at least temporarily gives prevalence to fantasy over closely reasoned rational thinking. along similar lines, researchers can make surprising discoveries by delving into the writings of scholars from other disciplines. even when such works are not fully understood, they can prompt creative thinking and trigger discoveries in other domains. cross-fertilisation then emerges from the exposure of ideas and theories to those of different domains, to those travelling in unfamiliar territories. a number of questions frequently result in drawing us out of our assumptions. chief among them are ‘what is x?’ and ‘what is so great about x?’ where x is the topic of our current inquiry. (try, for example, x equals one of the following: learning, leadership, reflexivity, serendipity). two questions that are perhaps not asked as commonly as they might be are ‘why?’ and ‘what if?’. these are especially fruitful when applied to a sentence that contains words and expressions like ‘of course’, ‘clearly’, ‘obvious’ and ‘it follows’. one particular question that frequently throws a spanner in the works of routine thinking and forces us to re-evaluate some of our assumptions is ‘where is y in all this?’. i have noticed that an imaginative choice of y (for example, politics, gender or even relevance) can transform a discourse from a comfortable reconfirmation of our assumptions into something more dangerous and generative. finally, the much discussed question ‘so what?’ is one that prompts researchers to address the implications of their work and can occasionally lead to surprises. all of the above provide ways of drawing ourselves out of managed inquiry into unmanaged terrains through probing, questioning, cross-fertilisation and engagement with alien ideas. a different venture into unmanaged inquiry proceeds in the opposite way: instead of seeking engagement with different and unrelated ideas and approaches, instead of energetically probing and questioning, it pursues disengagement. in particular, it seeks disengagement from existing routines of thinking and being, including taking for granted 729 surprises: not just the spice of life but the source of knowledge m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 719-731 goals and rationalisations. it aims at purging the mind of all shortcuts and habits, treating them as obstacles to creative work rather than as its building blocks. such disengagement looks for surprises not by superimposing new and unexpected materials onto existing ones or by interrogating them, but by removing materials and trying to experience the world with an unpremeditated, child-like wonderment. it tries to undo rather than to do, freeing itself from what mouzelis (2010) calls the ‘tyranny of purposiveness’. this approach, which can be found in many religious traditions, recalls jung’s method of ‘active imagination’, a form of ‘introspection for observing the stream of interior images. … these visions are far from hallucinations or ecstatic states; they are spontaneous visual images fantasy’ (1968, p. 190). it gives a voice to the unconscious, not as a freudian cauldron of dangerous excitations, but as a source of creative energy seeking out its own original expressions. this can be a solitary and dangerous course, almost entirely devoid of any playful element. unlike the princes of serendip, it ventures into the unknown without company and divested of all the reassuring trappings of existing knowledge and power. as a lifetime choice for inquiry, this approach demands the kind of courage (and perhaps suspension of reason) that few people are capable of. some would describe it as a sure avenue to destitution and madness and maybe they are right. few scholars would be willing to risk everything in pursuit of such a solitary undertaking, though there is no shortage of narratives celebrating the experiences of individuals (the buddha, diogenes, nietzsche and various religious ecstatics) who opted for precisely this. all the same, shorter-term ventures into disengagement and detachment may not be so uncommon to researchers who navigate the terrain between managed and unmanaged inquiry, pursuing academic careers by playing various academic games more or less competently, but also pursuing serendipity through temporary disengagement from reassuring assumptions. some researchers are known to do good work while lying on their back and staring blankly at a ceiling, others while walking in the countryside and yet others while they are in a quasi-hypnotic state in which they seek to exercise no active control over their thoughts. longer sojourns into unmanaged inquiry may be the privilege of a minority whose reputation and record have earned them that right, or of free spirits who remain unconcerned about academic plaudits and careers. the latter are sometimes viewed as interesting eccentrics, and can find themselves marginalised by their peers or drawn back to managed inquiry. the majority, however, take calculated risks of failure and disappointment, at least for some parts of their life, by taking periodic holidays from the strict routines and practices of managed inquiry. this may well be the time that spawns some of their best ideas that, subsequently, are developed and domesticated in a more methodical and systematic manner. before concluding, i should make it clear that, in spite of standing up for surprises and serendipity, i do not seek to disparage ‘boring’. boring work can be a very significant complement to interesting work and a vital step towards it. apprentices for the japanese tea ceremony were known to spend many years doing the most mundane tasks of preparation, cleaning and assisting, before rising to becoming masters of their trade. concert pianists have to spend long hours practising their scales before being able to offer their own interpretations of great pieces of music. in a similar way, it is probably true that 730 yiannis gabrielm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 719-731 most researchers, too, have to spend long hours honing their craft by doing repetitive mundane tasks before they can feel confident enough to venture into unmanaged inquiry and make all they can of it. i do not, therefore, seek to valorise unmanaged inquiry at the expense of managed inquiry—they both have a part to play in the pursuit of knowledge. this essay was prompted by the sense that surprises are a vital element of our experiences in the course of our research inquiries and in life as a whole. surprises are indeed the spice of life and also a vital element in generating new knowledge. seeking to eliminate surprises is both futile and counterproductive. as imaginative researchers, we must generally discover our own compromises between the pleasure principle and the reality principle, between adventure and method, between standing on the shoulders of giants and finding ways to exercise our peripheral vision and let ourselves see things other than those right in front of us. pursuing surprise for its own sake may be as self-defeating as adhering to the dictates of method and established practice. managed and unmanaged terrains both have a right to exist in research, just as they have in other spheres of human activity. yiannis gabriel is professor of organizational theory at the university of bath. he has a phd in sociology from the university of california, berkeley. yiannis is known for his work into the psychoanalysis of organizational and social life. he has written on organizational storytelling and narratives, leadership, management learning and the culture and politics of contemporary consumption. he has developed a psychoanalytic interpretation of organizational stories as a way of studying numerous social and organizational phenomena including leader-follower relations, group dynamics and fantasies, nostalgia, insults and apologies. he has been editor of management learning and associate editor of human relations and is currently senior editor of organization studies. his enduring fascination as a researcher lies in what he describes as the unmanageable qualities of life in and out of organisations. acknowledgement about half way through writing this essay, i read james g. march’s ‘in praise of beauty’ (published in this issue). his ideas acted as a powerful stimulant in the development of this piece and i would like thank him. 731 surprises: not just the spice of life but the source of knowledge m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 719-731 · adorno, t. w., hullot-kentor, b., & will, f. [1954-8] (1984). the essay as form. new german critique, 32(spring-summer), 151-171. · alvesson, m. (2013). do we have something to say? from re-search to roi-search and back again. organization, 20(1), 79-90. · alvesson, m., & gabriel, y. (2013). beyond formulaic research: in praise of greater diversity in organizational research and publications. academy of management learning and education, 12(2), 245-263. · davis, m. s. (1971). that’s interesting. philosophy of the social sciences, 1(2), 309-344. · gabriel, y. (1995). the unmanaged organization: stories, fantasies and subjectivity. organization studies, 16(3), 477-501. · gherardi, s. (1999). learning as problem-driven or learning in the face of mystery? organizational studies, 20(1), 101-123. · gherardi, s. (2004). knowing as desire: dante’ ulysses at the end of the known world. in y. gabriel (ed.), myths, stories and organizations: premodern narratives for our times (pp. 32-48). oxford: oxford university press. · jung, c. g. (1968). the archetypes and the collective unconscious. london: routledge. · kuhn, t. s. [1962] (1996). the structure of scientific revolutions (3rd ed.). chicago: chicago university press. · merton, r. k. [1957] (1968). social theory and social structure. new york: the free press. · merton, r. k. (1996). on social structure and science. edited and with an introduction by p. sztompka. chicago: the university of chicago press. · merton, r. k., & barber, e. g. (2004). the travels and adventures of serendipity: a study in historical semantics and the sociology of science. princeton, n.j.: princeton university press. · mouzelis, n. (2010). self and self—other reflexivity: the apophatic dimension. european journal of social theory, 13(2), 271-284. · roberts, r. m. (1989). serendipity: accidental discoveries in science: wiley. · sandberg, j., & alvesson, m. (2011). ways of constructing research questions: gap-spotting or problematization? organization, 18(1), 23-44. references 528 joel a.c. baumm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 697-706 copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). m@n@gement is a double-blind refereed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.management-aims.com © 2013 m@n@gement and the author(s). m@n@gement est la revue officielle de l’aims m@n@gement is the journal official of aims joel a.c. baum 2013 the excess-tail ratio: correcting journal impact factors for citation distributions m@n@gement, 16(5), 697-706. m@n@gement issn: 1286-4692 emmanuel josserand, cmos, university of technology, sydney (editor in chief) jean-luc arrègle, emlyon business school (editor) laure cabantous, cass business school (editor) stewart clegg, university of technology, sydney (editor) olivier germain, université du québec à montréal (editor, book reviews) karim mignonac, université de toulouse 1 (editor) philippe monin, emlyon business school (editor) tyrone pitsis, university of newcastle (editor) josé pla-barber, universidad de valència (editor) michael tushman, harvard business school (editor) walid shibbib, université de genève (managing editor) alexander bell, université de genève (editorial assistant) martin g. evans, university of toronto (editor emeritus) bernard forgues, emlyon business school (editor emeritus) special issue 697 the excess-tail ratio: correcting journal impact factors for citation distributions m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 697-706 the excess-tail ratio: correcting journal impact factors for citation distributions joel a.c. baum university of torontojbaum@rotman.utoronto.ca abstract ͡ abstract despite their widespread adoption, journal impact factors suffer well-known drawbacks that limit their usefulness in accurately and fairly assessing scientific quality. among these is the extreme variance and skewness in the citations to articles published by a given journal, which results in their sensitivity to a few highly cited articles, and enables many infrequently cited articles to “free-ride” on citations to these “skewed few.” to address this problem, i adjust journal impact factors according to the relative citedness of the few highly cited articles in a journal’s h-core (i.e., the h articles that receive at least h citations) and the many infrequently cited articles in its h-tail (i.e., those that receive fewer than h citations). i gauge the skew of a journal’s citation distribution by e2/ t2, the excesstail ratio where e2 captures excess citations above the h2 citations received by a few highly cited h-core articles and t2 captures surplus citations received by the many infrequently cited h-tail articles that fall below the h-core. i employ e2/ t2 to adjust raw impact factors for 25 selected management and economics journals. the adjusted scores, if, discriminate impact factors based on the shapes of journal citation distributions, leading to more accurate evaluation. i find e2/ t2 < 1 (often << 1) for 23 of these journals to be consistent with an overstatement of their quality resulting from the sensitivity of impact factors to a few highly cited articles. adjusted impact factors also yield distinctive and more consistent journal rankings over standard two-year and five-year time horizons. i conclude that the “excess-tail” ratio and if are a useful complement to journal impact factors, particularly given their increasing use in the evaluation of individual scholarly output. keywords: h-index, e-index, h-core, h-tail, excess-tail ratio, journal impact factor, if ) ) ) 698 joel a.c. baumm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 697-706 introduction thompson scientific is a database company that owns and publishes the institute for scientific information (isi) web of knowledge, which includes the science citation index, the social science citation index, and the journal citation reports. central to the journal citation reports are journal impact factors, which thompson/isi (1994) describes as “a systematic and objective means to critically evaluate the world’s leading journals.” the impact factor was devised in the 1960s by eugene garfield as a way to measure journal usage based on the mean number of citations per article within a specific period of time. a journal’s impact factor is calculated by counting the number of currentyear citations to articles published by the journal during the preceding two years and dividing this count by the number of articles the journal published in those two years. more recently, the isi introduced a five-year impact factor (i.e., current-year citations to articles published by the journal during the preceding five years divided by the number of articles published in those years) to account for differences in the diffusion and obsolescence of ideas across fields. garfield’s original idea was to sort journals by citation rates to aid in determining which to include in library collections (or indexes). over the last decade, however, increasing electronic availability, along with aggressive marketing by thomson scientific, which acquired the isi in 1992, has transformed the impact factor from a sorting device into a definitive quantitative rating of the quality of journals, of particular articles appearing in them and, by corollary, of the academics writing those articles. the journal impact factor is now in widespread use to evaluate researchers, serving central functions in academic hiring, peer review, and grant decisions—uses for which it was never intended and which garfield (2006) himself has called misleading and inappropriate1. as a result, the impact factors of journals in which a researcher tends to publish are increasingly central to evaluations of his/her scholarly achievements. indeed, the tendency has increasingly been to ascribe the impact factor of a journal to each article published within it. the veracity of such attributions rests on the assumption that a journal’s impact factor is representative of its articles. for this to be true, the citedness of a journal’s articles must follow a gaussian distribution, with a narrow variance around the mean—that is, around its impact factor. it is well-known, however, that the distribution of citations to a journal’s articles is highly skewed, with few articles near the mean. the skewness of article citedness is also problematic for impact factors as an index of journal quality because mean journal citedness is disproportionately influenced by a small number of highly cited articles. a small minority of articles, unrepresentative of the journal’s publications, may thus be decisive in determining journal impact factors and resultant journal quality rankings (baum, 2011). to address this problem, i propose an adjustment for journal impact factors to account for the distribution of citations a journal receives. the adjustment is derived from two recent extensions to the h-index (hirsch, 2005)2: e2, which captures excess citations beyond the h2 citations received by h-core articles (zhang, 2009), and t2, which captures surplus citations received by h-tail articles that fall below the h-core (ye and rousseau, 2010). a journal’s citation distribution is gauged by the “excess-tail” ratio, e2/ t2, which indicates 1. in response, researchers increasingly emphasize publishing in journals with high impact factors rather than journals that might be more appropriate for their research, and may alter the kind of studies conducted to accommodate the predilections of such journals. this emphasis on impact factors has led some observers to comment that what a researcher contributes to our understanding is in danger of becoming less important than where it is published (monastersky, 2005). this attention has also encouraged coercive editorial strategies to manipulate the system (reedijk and moed, 2008; wilhite and fong, 2012), as well as publisher policies to combat them (see, e.g., http://editorsupdate.elsevier.com/2012/06/ impact-factor-ethics-for-editors/). 2. the h-index is the number of articles, h, that receive at least h citations; thus, the h-index is 25 for a journal that published 25 articles receiving at least 25 citations. 699 the excess-tail ratio: correcting journal impact factors for citation distributions m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 697-706 3. substituting ch/ t 2 for e2/ t2 gives identical results; the correlation between the two is r = .996 for the sample of journals examined below. the relative citedness of the few highly cited articles comprising the journal’s h-core and the many infrequently cited articles falling in its h-tail. the excesstail ratio is used to compute if as if x e2/ t2, where if is the raw journal impact factor and if is the adjusted journal impact factor. using the excesstail ratio to adjust journal impact factors maintains the advantage of having a single index with which to evaluate journals, while incorporating important information on journal citation distributions. i compute excess-tail ratios and if for a sample of 25 management and economics journals. i find e2/ t2 < 1 (often << 1) for 23 of the sample journals. these results are consistent with an overstatement of raw impact factors, attributable to their sensitivity to a few highly cited articles. i also find that if is more stable than raw impact factors across standard twoand five-year time horizons. gauging journal citation distribution with the excess-tail ratio i gauge a journal’s citation distribution using the ratio of, on the one hand, excess citations to the few highly cited articles in the journal’s h-core to, on the other, surplus citations to the many infrequently-cited articles in the journal’s h-tail. the h-index divides a journal’s articles into two groups: the first group is the h-core, each having at least h citations during the period under study, and the second is the h-tail, each having at most h-1 citations. the h-index, h-core and h-tail can be applied to many source–citation relations over many time windows (ye and rousseau, 2010). if there are s source articles and c citations, by definition the h-core consists of h articles and the h-tail consists of s – h articles. the number of citations in the h-core, ch, is a minimum of h 2 but has no upper limit. zhang (2009) recently defined e2, comprised of ch – h 2 citations, to distinguish “excess” citations ignored by the h-index. the number of citations in the h-tail, t2, ranges from 0 to (s h)(h -1). the relation between h-core and h-tail citations is illustrated in figure 1, which represents the citedness of a journal’s articles assuming a continuous citation function. in the figure, citations to the journal’s h-core articles, ch, are the sum of citations in the h2 and e2 areas. the t2 area represents the surplus citations received by the journal’s h-tail articles. the excess-tail ratio, e2/ t2, gauges a journal’s citation distribution based on the ratio of excess h-core to surplus h-tail citations. when e2/ t2 >1, citations tend to be excess citations to the few articles comprising a journal’s h-core articles. when e2/ t2 <1, citations tend to be surplus citations to the many articles comprising a journal’s h-tail. thus, the larger the ratio, the greater the extent to which a journal’s citations reflect excess citations to its few most highly cited articles relative to surplus citations to its many infrequently cited articles3. ) ) ) ) 700 joel a.c. baumm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 697-706 figure 1. geometric representation of e2, t2, h, and h2 symmetric distribution n um be r o f c ita tio ns n um be r o f c ita tio ns skewed distribution e2 e2 h2 h2 t2 t2 h h 0 0 h h h-core h-core h-tail h-tail article rank article rank symmetric distribution n um be r o f c ita tio ns n um be r o f c ita tio ns skewed distribution e2 e2 h2 h2 t2 t2 h h 0 0 h h h-core h-core h-tail h-tail article rank article rank adapted from zhang (2009); ye and rousseau (2010) symmetric distribution skewed distribution 701 the excess-tail ratio: correcting journal impact factors for citation distributions m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 697-706 4. using publication data for the period 2006–2010 and citation data for the period 2006–2011 results in lower values of e2/t2 for all journals, but does not otherwise alter the main findings or their implications. 5. articles in a journal’s h-tail may receive no citations, and so contribute nothing to t2. when some h-tail articles go uncited, the excess-tail ratio may therefore overstate the “quality” of a journal’s citations. to correct for this, t2 can be substituted with the number of “reverse tail” citations rt2; that is, the difference in the actual number of h-tail article citations and the number of h-tail citations if all h-tail articles received h citations. more formally, rt2 = t2 – (s h)(h 1), which ranges from 0 to (s h)(h 1). because, for the 25 sample journals, the proportion of uncited h-tail articles is relatively small (mean =.058; min = .006; max = .171), the correlation between e2/t2 and e2/rt2 is 0.949, and the impact of this substitution on adjusted impact factors is negligible. nevertheless, if the proportion of uncited h-tail articles is large, this substitution may be material. n um be r o f c ita tio ns e2 h2 t2 0 500 100 100 150 200 200 250 300 300 350 400 400 450 500 600 700 article rank h = 90 h2 = 8100 e2 = 7921 t2 = 11025 e2/ t2 = 0.718 2010 2yr if = 5.940 2010 5yr if = 8.053 2010 adj 2yr if = 4.268 2010 adj 5yr if = 5.786 note: ninety of the 457 articles published in the quarterly journal of economics during the period 2000-2010 received at least 90 citations, giving h = 90 and h2 = 8,100. the total number of citations received by these 90 “h-core” articles is, however, 16,021, yielding e2 = 16,021 – 8,100 = 7,921. the total number of citations to the remaining 367 “h-tail” articles (each receiving < 90 citations) is 11,025, which gives t2. accordingly, e2/t2 = 0.718, indicating an inflated impact factor. figure 2. quarterly journal of economics citations, 2000-2010 comparison of management and economics journals publication data for the period 2000–2010, citation data for the period 2000– 2011, and twoand five-year journal impact factors for 2010 were collected from thomson reuters/isi web of knowledge for 25 management and economics journals4. based on these data, i computed h, e2, and t2, as well as excess-tail ratios, and the adjusted journal impact factors, if. figure 2 provides an illustrative exemplar of the calculations for the quarterly journal of economics, and table 1 summarizes h, h2, e2, t2 and the excess-tail ratios for all journals5. ) ) ) 702 joel a.c. baumm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 697-706 journal h h2 e2 t2 e2/ t2 academy of management journal 106 11236 7225 20736 0.348 academy of management review 85 7225 9025 9604 0.940 administrative science quarterly 62 3844 4900 3364 1.457 american economic review 100 10000 8649 33489 0.258 econometrica 74 5476 5929 11664 0.508 international journal of industrial organization 29 841 625 4489 0.139 journal of economics & management strategy 27 729 576 1764 0.327 journal of economic behavior & organization 39 1521 900 6889 0.131 journal of economic literature 58 3364 6084 2209 2.754 journal of financial economics 81 6561 5625 16384 0.343 journal of finance 98 9604 6400 22801 0.281 journal of industrial economics 32 1024 1156 1681 0.688 journal of international business studies 61 3721 2401 9216 0.261 journal of law, economics, & organization 27 729 576 1521 0.379 journal of management 69 4761 4624 8100 0.571 journal of management studies 55 3025 1849 9604 0.193 journal of political economics 69 4761 3600 7921 0.454 management science 88 7744 7225 23409 0.309 organization science 76 5776 7225 10816 0.668 organization studies 48 2304 1600 6889 0.232 quarterly journal of economics 90 8100 7921 11025 0.718 review of economics & statistics 57 3249 2916 10000 0.292 review of economic studies 53 2809 2116 6084 0.348 review of financial studies 54 2916 2704 8464 0.319 strategic management journal 96 9216 11025 17956 0.614 table 1. citation statistics and ratios for selected management and economics journals with two exceptions (administrative science quarterly and journal of economic literature), surplus h-tail citations exceed excess h-core citations, resulting in an excess-tail below 1 and for many journals << 1. among the sample journals, modal citations thus tend to be citations to infrequently cited h-tail articles. as a result, a journal’s if is generally smaller (and often significantly so) than its raw impact factor (table 2). this result is consistent with raw journal impact factors being inflated by a few highly cited articles in a journal’s h-core, when citations are more typically to one of a larger number of infrequently cited articles in the journal’s h-tail6. 6. the excess-tail ratio, e2/t2, can also be used to adjust the h-index itself, improving its ability to discriminate the shapes of citation distributions similarly (zhang 2013). ) 703 the excess-tail ratio: correcting journal impact factors for citation distributions m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 697-706 table 2. raw and adjusted impact factors and rankings for selected management and economics journals two-year five-year adj. two-year adj. five-year journal if rank if rank if rank if rank academy of management journal 5.250 4 10.779 2 1.829 9 3.756 7 academy of management review 6.720 2 11.657 1 6.315 2 10.954 2 administrative science quarterly 3.683 13 7.359 5 5.365 3 10.719 3 american economic review 3.150 16 4.278 17 0.814 17 1.105 19 econometrica 3.185 15 5.330 13 1.619 10 2.709 10 international journal of industrial organization 0.731 25 1.247 25 0.102 25 0.174 25 journal of economics & management strategy 1.123 22 1.656 23 0.367 23 0.541 23 journal of economic behavior & organization 0.924 23 1.355 24 0.121 24 0.177 24 journal of economic literature 7.432 1 8.076 3 20.469 1 22.243 1 journal of financial economics 3.810 10 5.631 11 1.308 12 1.933 11 journal of finance 4.141 7 6.529 8 1.162 13 1.833 12 journal of industrial economics 0.795 24 1.678 22 0.547 21 1.154 18 journal of international business studies 4.148 6 5.539 12 1.081 14 1.443 15 journal of law, economics, & organization 1.595 21 2.172 21 0.604 20 0.823 22 journal of management 3.758 12 6.210 9 2.145 7 3.545 8 journal of management studies 3.817 9 4.684 15 0.735 18 0.902 20 journal of political economics 4.065 8 6.896 6 1.847 8 3.134 9 management science 2.221 20 3.966 19 0.685 19 1.224 17 organization science 3.800 11 5.838 10 2.538 5 3.900 6 organization studies 2.339 19 3.590 20 0.543 22 0.834 21 quarterly journal of economics 5.940 3 8.053 4 4.268 4 5.786 4 review of economics & statistics 3.113 17 4.300 16 0.908 16 1.254 16 review of economic studies 2.883 18 4.163 18 1.003 15 1.448 14 review of financial studies 4.602 5 5.016 14 1.470 11 1.602 13 strategic management journal 3.583 14 6.818 7 2.200 6 4.186 5 note: if = if x e2/ t2 ) ) ) after making these adjustments the relative ranks of the journals shift, and sometimes substantially, as illustrated in table 2. the lower a journal is ranked based on if relative to its raw impact factor, the greater the initial overstatement of its impact due to the sensitivity of its raw impact factor to a few highly cited h-core articles relative to the mass of infrequently cited h-tail articles. as illustrated in figure 3, the correlation between twoand five-year rankings is substantially larger for if (r = 0.98) than for raw impact factors (r = 0.88). if is thus more consistent over different citation time horizons, particularly among higher-ranking journals. ) ) ) 704 joel a.c. baumm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 697-706 figure 3. correlation between twoand five-year raw and adjusted journal impact factors 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 raw impact factors (if) adjusted impact factors (if) fi ve -y ea r r an k fi ve -y ea r r an k two-year rank two-year rank ) 705 the excess-tail ratio: correcting journal impact factors for citation distributions m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 697-706 conclusion as a measure of research quality, journal impact factors are problematic. the tendency to attach the same value to each article published in a given journal masks extreme variability in article citedness, and permits a journal’s many infrequently cited articles—and the journal itself—to free-ride on the journal’s few highly cited articles, which are principal in determining the journal’s impact factor (baum, 2011). i propose a correction for this problem whereby a journal’s raw impact factor is adjusted to account for its citation distribution, which is gauged by the ratio of its excess h-core to surplus h-tail citations. this excess-tail ratio captures the extent to which the journal’s citations are centered on the more or less frequently cited articles, and thus the more or less influential articles it publishes. i employ the excess-tail ratio to recalibrate impact factors for 25 selected journals in management and economics. the excess-tail ratio is less than 1 (and often << 1) for all but two sample journals. this is consistent with an overstatement of raw journal impact factors resulting from their sensitivity to small numbers of highly cited articles, and an inability to discriminate the shapes of the underlying journal citation distributions. thus, while journal impact factors in management and economics are driven by citations to the journals’ small number of influential h-core articles, more typically their citations are to one of the large number of infrequently cited h-tail articles they publish. moreover, adjusted impact factors (if) produce rankings that differ (often substantially) from the raw rankings, and are more consistent across twoand five-year time horizons. the excess-tail ratio and if thus appear to provide useful complements to journal impact factors in assessing journal impact and quality, particularly given the increasing use of journal impact factors in the evaluation of individual scholarly output. journal impact factors adjusted by these ratios carry additional information derived from journal citation distributions. as a result, if would appear to afford a more accurate single-number metric for the evaluation of journals and the authors who publish in them. joel a.c. baum is associate dean, faculty and george e. connell chair in organizations and society at the rotman school of management, university of toronto, where he also received his phd late in the last millennium. ) ) ) 706 the excess-tail ratio: correcting journal impact factors for citation distributions m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 697-706 · baum, j. a. c. (2011). free-riding on power laws: questioning the validity of the impact factor as a measure of research quality in organization studies. organization, 18(4), 449-466. · garfield, e. (2006). the history and meaning of the journal impact factor. journal of the american medical association, 295(1), 90-93. · hirsch, j. e. (2005). an index to quantify an individual’s scientific research output. proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america, 102(46), 16569-16572. · institute for scientific information (1994). the isi impact factor. thomson scientific. retrieved from : http:// thomsonreuters.com/products_ services/science/free/essays/impact_ factor/ · monastersky, r. (2005, october 14). the number that is devouring science. chronicle of higher education. · reedijk j., & moed, h. f. (2008). is the impact of journal impact factors decreasing. journal of documentation, 64(2), 183-192. · rousseau, r. (2006). new developments related to the hirsch index. science focus, 1, 23-25 (chinese). english translation retrieved from: http://eprints.rclis.org/6376/ · wilhite, a. w., & fong, e. a. (2012). coercive citation in academic publishing. science, 335(6068), 542-543. · ye, f. y., & rousseau, r. (2010). probing the h-core: an investigation of the tail-core ratio for rank distributions. scientometrics, 84, 431-439. doi: 10.1007/s11192-009-0099-6 · zhang, c. t. (2009). the e-index, complementing the h-index for excess citations. plos one, 4(5), e5429. · zhang, c. t. (2013). the h’-index, effectively improving the h-index based on the citation distribution. plos one, 8(4), e59912. references 73casanueva � benoît journé et nathalie raulet-croset 2008 le concept de situation : contribution à lʼanalyse de lʼactivité managériale dans un contexte dʼambiguïté et dʼincertitude, m@n@gement, 11: 1, 27-55. accepted by co-editor alain desreumaux copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). m@n@gement is a double-blind refereed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.management-aims.com © 2007 m@n@gement and the author(s). m@n@gement issn: 1286-4892 editors: alain desreumaux, u. de lille i martin evans, u. of toronto bernard forgues, u. de lille i hugh gunz, u. of toronto martina menguzzato, u. de valència m@n@gement est la revue officielle de lʼaims m@n@gement is the official journal of aims http://www.management-aims.com http://www.management-aims.com http://www.strategie-aims.com m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 1, 2008, 27-55 27 benoît journé . nathalie raulet-croset université de nantesiemn-iae / crgna email: benoit.journe@univ-nantes.fr iae de paris et crg ecole polytechnique email: raulet.croset.iae@univ-paris1.fr le concept de situation : contribution à l’analyse de l’activité managériale en contextes d’ambiguïté et d’incertitude après avoir exploré lʼutilisation du concept de situation en management dans la lignée du travail de girin, nous montrons que ce concept permet dʼanalyser de manière pertinente des activités managériales structurantes comme la construction du sens et la prise de décision. le concept permet de comprendre comment sʼorganise la maîtrise de phénomènes dont lʼessence et les frontières sont mal définies, qui doivent être gérés sous contraintes de temps et de connaissances. nous montrons que lʼenquête (dans la philosophie pragmatiste de dewey), à travers une succession de cadrages (dans la sociologie interactionniste de goffman), apparaît comme une composante essentielle de lʼactivité managériale. deux études de cas illustrent le concept de situation : la première porte sur la protection dʼune nappe phréatique face à un risque de pollution et sur la construction progressive dʼune gestion de cette situation ; la deuxième porte sur la conduite dʼune salle de commande de centrale nucléaire ayant pour objectif de prévenir tout type dʼincident. dans ces deux cas, la situation et lʼorganisation co-émergent dans une série dʼinteractions où lʼorganisation produit des situations qui en retour la modifient. après une discussion théorique des apports du concept, nous proposons une analyse définissant des leviers de lʼaction managériale. introduction la situation est omniprésente dans le vocabulaire quotidien des managers. ces derniers sont dʼailleurs souvent dépeints à travers leur capacité à “faire face à la situation”, dans tout ce quʼelle a de plus complexe et dʼinattendu. ce constat empirique est relayé par des auteurs comme morgan (1989: 1) pour qui « les gestionnaires et autres spécialistes qui se montrent efficaces dans leur domaine doivent apprendre lʼart de “décoder” les situations dans lesquelles ils interviennent ». si la situation est bien une référence pour les managers, cela devrait en toute logique inciter les chercheurs en management à donner un statut théorique fort à cette notion ; cʼest-à-dire à en faire un concept pour les sciences du management —a minima pour la partie de ces sciences qui se penche sur lʼanalyse des activités managériales. or, lʼanalyse de la littérature montre que la situation reste, sauf exception, peu théorisée dans les sciences du management. le constat fait en 1964 par goffman sur la situation négligée peut aussi être fait aujourdʼhui dans les sciences du management1. 1. dans son ouvrage, morgan (1989) ne propose pas d’approfondir la réflexion sur la notion de situation : son effort théorique porte sur les métaphores de l’organisation. mailto:benoit.journe@univ-nantes.fr mailto:raulet.croset.iae@univ-paris1.fr m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 1, 2008, 27-55 28 benoît journé et nathalie raulet-croset lʼobjectif de cet article est dʼexposer le potentiel théorique du concept de situation, en particulier dans lʼanalyse dʼactivités managériales aussi centrales et structurantes que la prise de décision et la création de sens (sensemaking) dans des contextes organisationnels où lʼindétermination, lʼincertitude, lʼambiguïté et lʼimprévu dominent ; or ce sont précisément les caractéristiques qui posent le plus de problèmes aux organisations actuelles (weick et sutcliffe, 2001). plus généralement, nous voulons montrer que la situation, prise comme concept, est susceptible de renouveler le regard que notre discipline porte sur la gestion des imprévus, les processus de structuration de lʼorganisation (organizing) et dʼélaboration de la stratégie (strategizing). la perspective située portée par le concept de situation oriente lʼanalyse de lʼorganisation vers les pratiques des acteurs individuels et collectifs et ouvre une réflexion théorique sur les relations que lʼorganisation entretient avec les situations. tels sont les points que cet article propose dʼapprofondir. les principaux travaux en gestion qui en france utilisent et approfondissent ce concept du point de vue du management sont ceux de girin (1990a). ils constituent le point de départ de notre analyse. nous proposons de les discuter dʼune part en remontant aux origines de la notion de situation, à travers la philosophie pragmatiste de dewey et la sociologie interactionniste de goffman et, dʼautre part en rendant compte des principaux courants théoriques actuels des sciences du management qui mobilisent la notion de situation. les propositions théoriques de cet article sont directement enracinées dans lʼanalyse de deux cas très contrastés, issus de deux recherches de terrain qui sont présentées dans la deuxième partie de lʼarticle. le premier cas montre comment une situation très peu structurée au départ produit de lʼorganisation à travers le processus dʼenquête lié à la protection dʼune nappe phréatique. le deuxième cas montre comment une organisation aussi structurée quʼune centrale nucléaire, qui tend vers une totale prévisibilité technique et managériale des situations, produit pourtant des situations problématiques qui échappent en partie au contrôle organisationnel, et qui engagent les acteurs dans une enquête qui sécrète transitoirement une nouvelle organisation. lʼanalyse des deux cas montre ainsi que lʼorganisation et les situations entretiennent des relations complexes, à la fois problématiques et fécondes. les deux co-émergent dans une série dʼinteractions où lʼorganisation produit des situations qui en retour modifient lʼorganisation. il ressort également que situation et organisation sont reliées pratiquement et conceptuellement par un processus spécifique : lʼenquête sur le sens de ce qui se passe ici et maintenant. lʼenquête apparait alors comme une composante essentielle de lʼactivité managériale. dans un troisième temps, une discussion permet de comparer le concept de situation avec dʼautres concepts très largement mobilisés dans la littérature managériale, et plus particulièrement ceux de diagnostic, de problème (ou issue), de projet et de système. en effet, de nombreuses recherches ont exploré le rôle du manager dans lʼorganisation à travers la question de la prise de décision, et notamment de la formulation du problème (smith, 1989) et du diagnostic préalable à m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 1, 2008, 27-55 29 le concept de situation une décision (dutton et jackson, 1987). toutefois, cette conceptualisation de la prise de décision, même si elle peut apparaître comme un objectif théorique idéal, reste souvent éloignée de la réalité de lʼactivité managériale (smith, 1989 ; langley, mintzberg, pitcher, posada et saint-macary, 1995). lʼutilisation du concept de situation permet selon nous de caractériser au plus près lʼactivité managériale, dans une perspective proche de celle de weick (1995), où lʼon montre que la pensée managériale se construit dans lʼaction. de même, les notions de système et de structure projet, si elles peuvent être mobilisées pour comprendre certaines formes dʼaction collective, sont construites indépendamment des processus de sensemaking et ne permettent pas toujours dʼaccéder à une compréhension fine de lʼactivité managériale. enfin, nous proposons dʼouvrir une réflexion sur les leviers dʼaction managériale que la logique de situation met à jour, relativement au découpage temporel et spatial de lʼorganisation. origines et utilisations actuelles du concept de situation dans les sciences du management le travail théorique mené ici sʼenracine dans plusieurs travaux de recherche, qui mobilisent, de façon plus ou moins centrale le concept de situation. notre point de départ est la “situation de gestion” telle que définie par girin (1990a). nous remontons ensuite aux sources du concept à travers la philosophie pragmatiste et la sociologie interactionniste. ce premier détour théorique permet dʼisoler trois attributs de la situation (lʼactivité, lʼémergence, les points de vue subjectifs) qui nous servent ensuite de grille de lecture pour présenter les principaux courants du management qui mobilisent la notion de situation. la situation de gestion les travaux de girin sont parmi les rares qui, en gestion, théorisent le concept de situation et en proposent une définition destinée à son utilisation dans le champ du management. ils sont directement à la source de notre réflexion. les travaux de girin sur la situation sʼenracinent dans un questionnement portant sur la communication et le langage dans les organisations (girin, 1990b). pour lui, la situation est définie par trois éléments : « des participants, une extension spatiale (le lieu ou les lieux où elle se déroule, les objets physiques qui sʼy trouvent), une extension temporelle (un début, une fin, un déroulement, éventuellement une périodicité). » (girin, 1990b : 59) resserrant sa réflexion sur lʼorganisation, girin (1990a :142) propose la notion de situation de gestion, qui se présente lorsque « des participants sont réunis et doivent accomplir, dans un temps déterminé, une action collective conduisant à un résultat soumis à un jugement externe ». ainsi définie, la situation de gestion reprend les trois composantes de la définition générale de la situation (des participants, une extension spatiale et une extension temporelle) en leur associant les contraintes m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 1, 2008, 27-55 30 benoît journé et nathalie raulet-croset propres aux démarches gestionnaires : le temps est déterminé, les participants sont engagés dans une action collective quʼils nʼont pas nécessairement choisie et sont pour cela réunis (en des lieux spécifiques) à lʼinitiative dʼun projet gestionnaire. lʼun des apports essentiels de girin est ici de rapprocher le concept de situation de la question de la performance, et donc de le positionner dans le champ des questionnements managériaux. en effet, la situation de gestion nʼa de sens que par rapport à un résultat qui est soumis à un jugement externe. cela ouvre tout un champ dʼinvestigation sur la manière de définir le résultat et les modalités de jugement de la performance en prenant les situations comme référentiel dʼévaluation et non —comme cela se fait traditionnellement— lʼorganisation, le système ou le processus. par ailleurs le fait que le temps soit déterminé révèle le caractère contraignant de la situation avec laquelle les acteurs doivent composer. girin (1990a :144) estime même que sous certains aspects, la situation « sʼimpose de lʼextérieur » et cela notamment dans le cadre dʼorganisations fortement structurées. girin propose ainsi de délimiter un ensemble dʼéléments, créant une unité qui va être à la base de son analyse de lʼactivité de management. avant de discuter plus avant de la situation de gestion, nous proposons dʼeffectuer un retour sur les origines théoriques de la notion de situation. aux origines du concept si la notion de situation est présente dans de nombreuses disciplines des sciences humaines comme la linguistique, lʼergonomie ou lʼethnométhodologie, cʼest du côté de la philosophie pragmatiste et de la sociologie interactionniste que nous nous tournons2. en effet, le croisement de ces deux disciplines permet dʼassocier au concept des caractéristiques essentielles dont on trouve des traces dans certains courants du management. la philosophie pragmatiste propose de relier la connaissance et lʼexpérience. la connaissance nʼexisterait pas indépendamment des réalités du monde, elle se construirait dans lʼexpérience, et viserait à étendre les capacités dʼaction du sujet; elle ne pourrait donc se restreindre à un exercice de pure spéculation intellectuelle. les pragmatistes peirce (1995) puis dewey (1938), considèrent que la connaissance se construit dans lʼaction, à travers un processus dʼenquête. lʼenquête est rendue nécessaire par le caractère indéterminé de la situation, cʼest-à-dire par le fait que les éléments constitutifs de la situation ne tiennent pas ensemble. lʼenquête est le processus qui permet de passer de cette indétermination initiale à une structuration suffisante pour faire émerger une unité cohérente et porteuse de sens. la situation se définit ainsi progressivement à travers le jeu de connexions entre objets, événements et individus, formant un tout contextuel (dewey, 1993), et elle évolue au gré des actions de chacun : « ce que désigne le mot “situation” nʼest pas un objet ou un événement isolé ni un ensemble isolé dʼobjets ou dʼévénements. car nous nʼexpériençons ni ne formons jamais de jugements à propos dʼobjets 2. voir ogien (1999) et garetta (1999) pour une présentation détaillée des travaux de dewey, mead et goffman sur la situation, dans le domaine des sciences sociales et de la philosophie. m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 1, 2008, 27-55 31 le concept de situation et dʼévénements isolés, mais seulement en connexion avec un tout contextuel. ce dernier est ce quʼon appelle une “situation”. […] dans lʼexpérience réelle, il nʼexiste pas de ces objets ou événements singuliers et isolés ; un objet ou un événement est toujours une portion, une phase ou un aspect particulier dʼun monde environnant expériencé — dʼune situation. » (dewey, 1993 : 128-129). dans la perspective pragmatiste, la situation est donc de nature émergente : elle est le produit de lʼenquête, en même temps quʼelle abrite le processus dʼenquête. ce premier courant théorique permet de considérer que le processus de création de connaissances sur une situation vécue en temps réel se structure selon une logique dʼenquête ; et que cette enquête renvoie à une intrigue potentiellement porteuse dʼinstabilités pour le corpus de connaissances mobilisé et développé par lʼacteur : toute nouvelle connaissance est susceptible de remettre en cause les interprétations précédentes. tout comme les pragmatistes, la sociologie interactionniste aussi sʼintéresse à la construction du sens en relation avec la pratique. la notion de situation y occupe une place centrale depuis les travaux de goffman3 qui soulignait en 1964 à quel point la notion de situation était négligée (goffman, 1988/1964). dans cette perspective, la situation se construit dans lʼinteraction qui se noue entre différents acteurs. goffman (1987 : 91) propose la définition suivante : « par situation, jʼentends toute zone matérielle en nʼimporte quel point de laquelle deux personnes ou plus se trouvent mutuellement à portée de regard et dʼoreille ». la situation est dʼemblée collective et met en jeu la communication (goffman, 1987). la situation pousse les acteurs à se demander ce qui se passe ici et maintenant et à mobiliser des cadres dʼinterprétation (goffman, 1991). la situation est porteuse dʼindices que les individus relèvent —ou non— pour élaborer le cadre à partir duquel ils pourront interpréter le sens de ce qui se dit et de ce qui se passe puis ajuster leurs actes en conséquence. ce courant théorique permet dʼéclairer une partie des interactions entre les connaissances détenues a priori sur une situation, grâce à la mobilisation de cadres préexistants, et lʼirruption de connaissances nouvelles produites par les interactions entre acteurs, susceptible de produire de nouveaux cadres dʼinterprétation. par ailleurs, pour goffman la situation nʼa de sens que par rapport aux points de vue —toujours subjectifs— des acteurs. « ma perspective est situationnelle, ce qui signifie que je mʼintéresse à ce dont un individu est conscient à un moment donné, que ce moment mobilise dʼautres individus, et quʼil ne se limite pas nécessairement à lʼarène co-pilotée de la rencontre de face-à-face. » (goffman, 1991 : 16). cette définition souligne le caractère subjectif de la situation. pour lʼanalyse de lʼactivité de management, nous nous inscrivons également dans cette perspective car nous nous centrons sur le point de vue du manager (ou de celui qui va devoir maîtriser une situation). ce responsable construit une situation et sʼappuie sur la situation quʼil définit pour guider son action. la perspective proposée par goffman suppose lʼexistence de conflits dʼinterprétation et de cadrage entre acteurs : autour dʼun même problème, plusieurs points de vue diffé3. goffman n’est pas le seul à avoir travaillé cette notion, les interactionnistes symboliques, en particulier blumer ont largement creusé ce concept, comme le souligne koenig (2003 : 17) : « la notion de situation et surtout la question de la définition des situations sont au cœur de l’approche interactionniste ». m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 1, 2008, 27-55 32 benoît journé et nathalie raulet-croset rents se confrontent qui vont être à la source de situations de nature différente. cʼest ce qui fait lʼintérêt de la sociologie interactionniste du point de vue du management. la pluralité des interprétations suppose des modalités dʼarticulation qui impliquent le plus souvent les acteurs concernés, leurs managers, mais aussi les outils de gestion, les règles et lʼorganisation en général. les approches pragmatiste et interactionniste convergent donc sur le caractère émergent de la situation, qui est produite par un processus de construction du sens qui met en jeu la confrontation des interprétations subjectives des différents acteurs qui sʼy trouvent activement engagés. il en découle une conséquence soulignée par koenig (2003 : 17) : « ce ne sont pas tant les situations de routine qui intéressent les interactionnistes que les situations nouvelles et problématiques. dans le même ordre dʼidée, ce ne sont pas les définitions stabilisées et consensuelles qui retiennent leur attention, mais les différences de définition et les possibilités ouvertes aux acteurs de reconstruire et dʼinfluencer les définitions des autres ». trois attributs de la notion de situation ressortent spécifiquement de ce retour aux sources du concept : la situation est inscrite dans lʼactivité du manager, elle est continuellement en émergence, et elle renvoie à un point de vue subjectif. certains de ces points ont été spécifiquement étudiés par des courants théoriques qui prennent lʼactivité managériale pour objet de recherche et qui mobilisent de façon plus ou moins explicite la notion de situation, cela en particulier dans des contextes où lʼimprévu et lʼindétermination dominent. nous les présentons dans le point suivant. la situation dans le champ du management il ne sʼagit pas ici de prétendre couvrir toutes les activités managériales, dans la suite des travaux pionniers de mintzberg (1980) ; il sʼagit plutôt de centrer le propos sur les approches cognitives qui mettent lʼaccent sur les processus de décision et de construction du sens. approches fondées sur lʼactivité en situation certains courants théoriques font explicitement référence à la notion de situation, en particulier les théories de lʼaction située (suchman, 1987), de la cognition distribuée (hutchins, 1995) et plus récemment de la cognition située (elsbach, barr et hargadon, 2005). tous les trois proposent de considérer la situation comme unité dʼanalyse de lʼactivité en situation de travail. suchman prend le contrepied de la théorie de simon, qui envisage la prise de décision comme un phénomène dʼessence purement cognitive, qui ne fait pas de place à lʼaction ni à la situation dans laquelle le décideur est plongé. la théorie de lʼaction située propose de prendre en compte, au-delà des relations entre acteurs, le rôle structurant du contexte notamment matériel à travers le rôle des objets dans la dynamique des organisations. lʼindividu progresse dans la réflexion et dans la connaissance en prenant directement appui sur les ressources que la situation met à sa disposition. autrement dit, la réflexion progresse au travers de lʼaction, par mobilim@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 1, 2008, 27-55 33 le concept de situation sation de ressources qui prennent la forme de discussion avec des collègues (heath et luff, 1994 ; hutchins, 1994 ; theureau et filippi, 1994), dʼactivation de dispositifs techniques ou de textes (procédure, documentation…). dans cette perspective, lʼusage du terme “situation” renvoie au contexte très proche dans lequel lʼactivité est ancrée. la théorie de lʼaction située relativise la portée des plans dʼaction : ils sont pris en défaut par la nature évolutive et imprévisible de la situation. le plan nʼest plus alors quʼune ressource parmi dʼautres ; le succès de lʼaction dépend de la capacité de lʼindividu à ajuster son comportement aux paramètres actualisés de la situation (suchman, 1993). les théories de lʼaction située, de la cognition distribuée et de la cognition située entretiennent des relations étroites avec des courants de recherche portant sur les communautés de pratique (lave et wenger, 1990), ou les apprentissages ancrés dans la situation (brown et duguid, 1991 ; cook et brown, 1999). dʼautres travaux, sans directement mobiliser la notion de situation, en sont très proches car ils sʼinscrivent dans la volonté dʼune analyse beaucoup plus micro des activités. en stratégie, le concept de strategizing (whittington, 1996) veut ainsi offrir une vision de lʼémergence des stratégies à partir des pratiques quotidiennes des managers de tous niveaux dans lʼorganisation. de telles recherches offrent un regard où lʼanalyse de lʼorganisation et de ses dynamiques (lʼorganizing, au sens de weick), et lʼétude des construits stratégiques se croisent et se nourrissent réciproquement. ce changement de niveau dʼanalyse suggère lʼutilisation dʼautres unités de compréhension du travail managérial, comme lʼactivité (blackler, crump et mcdonald, 2000 ; engeström, 2005 ; lorino et peyrolle, 2005 ; lorino et teulier, 2005) ou les pratiques (jarzabkowski, 2005 ; rouleau, 2005) qui sont toujours situées. une tendance similiaire se développe dans lʼanalyse de la prise de décision, à travers le courant de la naturalistic decision making4 (lipshitz, klein, orasanu et eduardo, 2001)qui sʼinscrit dʼemblée dans une approche située des processus de prise décision, de sensemaking et dʼapprentissage et sʼintéresse à des prises de décisions à risque, souvent réalisées dans lʼurgence (cas de militaires, de pompiers), en se plaçant du point de vue de lʼindividu ou du petit groupe. les théories qui analysent le caractère émergent de la situation les travaux de weick qui puisent aux sources de lʼinteractionnisme et du pragmatisme mettent également lʼaccent sur lʼémergence des situations (koenig, 2003)5, en particulier à travers les notions de sensemaking et dʼorganizing (weick, 1995 ; weick, sutcliffe et obstfeld, 2005). weick, sʼil ne cherche pas à réellement définir la notion de situation, lʼutilise pour construire sa théorie du sensemaking : pour lui, la construction du sens est dʼautant plus importante que lʼon est face à une situation ambiguë et équivoque, une situation nouvelle et problématique (weick et al., 2005). weick estime que les acteurs ne créent pas le sens des situations comme on interpréterait un texte déjà écrit, en sʼappuyant sur un contexte lui-même donné. les acteurs seraient plutôt engagés dans lʼécriture du texte en même temps quʼils 4. ce courant récent a fait l’objet d’un numéro spécial de la revue organization studies en 2006 (vol 27, n°7). 5. discutant les travaux de weick, koenig (2003 : 17), relie ce dernier à l’approche interactionniste, et par conséquent à la notion de situation : « même s’il n’est pas mentionné comme central par weick, le concept de situation est au centre de ses recherches empiriques les plus récentes (1990, 1993) ». m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 1, 2008, 27-55 34 benoît journé et nathalie raulet-croset en créent le sens. ce point fait écho au concept dʼenactment (weick, 1979) qui caractérise la capacité des acteurs à décréter (selon la traduction proposée par laroche [1996]) leur environnement. lʼorganisation apparait alors comme le résultat émergent du processus organisant (lʼorganizing). dans cette perspective les situations et lʼorganisation se co-construisent mutuellement. dans un contexte différent, schön (1994) prolonge lʼanalyse des pragmatistes quand il montre que les praticiens (ingénieurs ou managers de projet) développent une véritable discussion avec la situation lorsquʼils pilotent un processus dʼinnovation. le praticien crée du sens en interrogeant la situation par une série dʼactions qui reçoivent une réponse en retour (la situation change en fonction des actions entreprises). finalement, la solution émerge progressivement de cette combinaison dʼaction et de réflexion. cette analyse a connu des prolongements à travers la notion de “situation de conception” (midler, 1996). le concept de situation existe donc en management. nous allons montrer dans la partie suivante en quoi lʼactivité managériale renvoie à une logique de situation et comment les situations entrent en résonance avec lʼorganisation. nous présentons ci-après les deux cas qui sont au fondement de notre questionnement. la situation est mobilisée dans chacun des cas pour révéler différentes facettes de lʼactivité managériale, et notamment lʼenquête et la progression dans lʼarticulation des connaissances liées à la situation. deux cas contrastés données et méthodologie : résultats de premier niveau6 deux études de cas, issues chacune dʼun travail de terrain de longue durée (2 à 3 ans) réalisé dans le cadre de thèses, sont au fondement de lʼanalyse du concept de situation réalisée dans ce papier. pour chacun des cas, les auteurs ont eu une position dʼobservateur in situ, rendant compte de leurs observations et analyses à certaines des parties prenantes. lʼun porte sur la protection dʼune nappe phréatique face à un risque de pollution (raulet-croset, 1995); lʼautre sur la conduite dʼune salle de commande de centrale nucléaire ayant pour objectif de prévenir tout type dʼincident (journé, 1999). dans les deux cas, le concept de situation sʼimpose ; cʼest lui qui permet de comprendre un problème central de gestion : comment sʼorganise la maîtrise de phénomènes dont lʼessence et les frontières sont mal définies (quelle est la nature du problème ? quels sont les acteurs concernés ?), et qui doivent être gérés sous contraintes spécifiques de temps (urgence et réactivité) et de connaissance (rationalité limitée, découverte progressive du phénomène à lʼoccasion du processus dʼenquête) ? le premier cas (encadré 1) montre comment le processus dʼenquête qui se déploie sur une situation initialement indeterminée dans laquelle les « éléments ne tiennent pas ensemble » (pour reprendre lʼexpression de dewey, 1993 : 169) produit une forme dʼorganisation qui fédère des acteurs autour dʼun sens partagé. dans ce sens, la 6. le terme premier niveau fait référence aux écrits méthodologiques de van maanen (1979) qui parle de first order findings et de second order findings. les premiers renvoient à des éléments de terrain de nature descriptive ; les seconds renvoient aux construits conceptuels issus des éléments de terrains. m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 1, 2008, 27-55 35 le concept de situation encadré 1. la protection de la nappe phréatique : négociation et construction commune du sens dʼune situation lʼaugmentation du taux de nitrate dans une nappe phréatique exploitée par une entreprise dʼeau minérale, est un événement qui touche une série dʼacteurs, quʼils en soient à lʼorigine (les agriculteurs) ou au contraire victime (la société dʼeau minérale). cette dernière risque de perdre lʼappellation eau minérale mais malgré lʼimportance de lʼenjeu, elle ne peut imposer une solution unilatérale aux agriculteurs car la concentration en nitrate nʼest pas suffisante pour menacer la potabilité de lʼeau, qui seule autoriserait lʼexercice dʼune contrainte juridique. la confrontation de définitions de la situation au départ, une situation problématique (dewey, 1938 ; majone, 1980) apparaît. lʼambiguïté et lʼincertitude liées à cette situation rendent impossible que le problème et son diagnostic sʼimposent de manière immédiate et partagée. cʼest à travers la construction de la situation, du point de vue notamment dʼun acteur clé, lʼentreprise dʼeau minérale, que va se produire une spécification progressive de cette situation. de nombreux acteurs locaux sont concernés par cette situation ou convoqués par dʼautres acteurs : acteurs politiques locaux comme les communes du territoire concerné, acteurs scientifiques du monde de lʼeau comme le bureau de recherche géologique et minière, acteurs du monde agricole (syndicats, chambre dʼagriculture…). tous les acteurs expriment des définitions de la situation différentes et parfois incompatibles, chacune appelant des actions de nature différente. au départ, le diagnostic de lʼentreprise dʼeau minérale sʼoppose à celui des agriculteurs : pour la société dʼeau minérale, il sʼagit dʼune pollution de la nappe phréatique orientant la résolution du problème vers des solutions dʼordre sanitaire et juridique ; alors que pour les agriculteurs il nʼy a pas de réel problème mais ils sont prêts à envisager, pour certains dʼentre eux, des transactions financières (vente des terrains concernés). la dualité et la simplicité de ces premières définitions débouchent sur des conflits qui bloquent la résolution du problème et poussent au statu quo. néanmoins lʼimportance de lʼenjeu et la pression temporelle incitent lʼentreprise dʼeau minérale à chercher une solution. lʼémergence dʼun acteur central qui poursuit le processus dʼenquête parmi les différents acteurs, celui qui apparaît prendre en charge la situation est donc lʼentreprise dʼeau minérale : elle est en effet directement menacée. au-delà dʼune première détection et formulation du problème, elle construit une situation à travers un processus dʼenquête qui mêle analyse et actions. elle complexifie les définitions de la situation via lʼintroduction de nouveaux acteurs (lʼinstitut national de la recherche agronomique [inra] et la chambre dʼagriculture) qui sʼintéressent à lʼévolution des pratiques agricoles dans lʼobjectif de concilier la rentabilité des exploitations et le respect de lʼenvironnement. lʼentreprise signe ainsi avec une unité de lʼinra un contrat de recherche de trois ans, portant sur la recherche de nouvelles pratiques agricoles compatibles avec la protection de la nappe (pour une synthèse, voir deffontaines, benoît, brossier, chia, gras et roux [1993] et deffontaines et brossier [2000]). les acteurs concernés ne sont plus les mêmes, les connaissances sur la situation progressent également, et lʼon aboutit à un nouveau cadrage de la situation. le terme pollution en est banni, et lʼon sʼoriente vers une définition de la situation analysée comme un problème de protection de la nappe phréatique. avec ce nouveau cadrage, cʼest une réflexion sur lʼévolution des pratiques agricoles, moyennant des compensations financières, qui est engagée. le cas fait apparaître la construction progressive de la situation pour lʼentreprise dʼeau minérale, qui prend implicitement la responsabilité de la situation. le processus dʼenquête quʼelle conduit, guidé par un souci de performance, veut aboutir à une définition du problème qui en permette certes sa résolution, mais qui vise également lʼémergence dʼun sens commun, capable dʼarticuler les différentes approches, sans imposer une représentation unique de la situation. en effet, personne ne formule le problème exactement de la même manière mais personne ne rejette non plus la formulation des autres qui se trouve inscrite dans la formule commune portée par lʼentreprise dʼeau minérale. source : raulet-croset (1995 ; 1998) m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 1, 2008, 27-55 36 benoît journé et nathalie raulet-croset situation fait émerger une organisation. le cas suivant (encadré 2) est le symétrique du premier : il montre une relation inverse entre la situation et lʼorganisation. lʼorganisation crée des situations, aussi standardisées et prévisibles que possible, pour en conserver le contrôle. mais la logique de situation échappe au projet contrôleur de lʼorganisation. lʼimprévu et lʼambiguïté surviennent et suscitent une enquêencadré 2. la salle de commande : les hommes de la situation une salle de commande dans une centrale nucléaire est lʼorgane de pilotage dʼune tranche nucléaire qui comprend un réacteur et lʼensemble des organes nécessaires à la production dʼélectricité (groupe turbo-alternateur…). des opérateurs sʼy relaient 24 heures sur 24 pour assurer la continuité de lʼexploitation. ils assurent les tâches de surveillance et de pilotage des processus de production dʼélectricité comme, par exemple, la commande de variation de puissance du réacteur, des ouvertures et fermetures de vannes sur des circuits dʼeau, etc. les opérateurs doivent sʼassurer en permanence du niveau de sûreté des installations. une part très importante de leur activité consiste à établir un diagnostic de la situation. pour les aider dans cette tâche, lʼindustrie nucléaire reconnaît deux catégories-types de situations : — les situations normales, dans lesquelles lʼexploitation de la centrale est parfaitement conforme aux hypothèses de conception et où tout se passe conformément aux attentes des opérateurs ; — les situations incidentelles ou accidentelles qui, comme leur nom lʼindique, correspondent à des situations dégradées du point de vue de la sûreté. ces situations ont été identifiées aussi systématiquement que possible, et sont couvertes par des procédures spécifiques qui guident les opérateurs dans leurs actions de récupération. mais ces deux catégories ne couvrent pas tous les cas de figures possibles. il existe une troisième catégorie qui regroupe les situations que nous avons qualifiées de normalement perturbées : il sʼagit de situations associées à des événements imprévus qui ne sont pas couvertes par des procédures spécifiques et qui, sans être incidentelles, sont suffisamment perturbantes aux yeux des opérateurs pour appeler de leur part un travail de définition et dʼinterprétation de la situation. une situation normalement perturbée se présente par exemple lorsque quʼun matériel tombe inopinément en panne (comme un ventilateur chargé de diluer les particules radioactives dans lʼair, par exemple) ou que les actions de conduite ne produisent pas lʼeffet escompté. on constate que dans un tel cas lʼéquipe cherche simultanément à comprendre ce qui sʼest passé, évalue le niveau de sûreté de la situation et envisage les actions à entreprendre pour retrouver une situation normale. il est intéressant de constater que les trois types de situations ne sont pas gérés de la même manière. dans les deux premiers cas extrêmes, cʼest-à-dire les situations normales et les situations incidentelles/accidentelles, le cadrage de la situation est préétabli : il est essentiellement porté par les dispositifs techniques (alarmes, déclenchement dʼautomatismes de sûreté…) et par les procédures (règles générales dʼexploitation, procédures incidentelles…). a lʼinverse, dans les situations intermédiaires, cʼest-à-dire normalement perturbées, les opérateurs doivent construire collectivement le sens de la situation, afin dʼen conserver le contrôle. ils organisent un véritable processus dʼenquête par mobilisation et confrontation de ressources cognitives diverses. les dispositifs techniques et les procédures nʼapparaissent plus alors que comme de simples ressources parmi dʼautres, le facteur humain jouant ici le rôle de ressource pivot. les membres de lʼéquipe apparaissent comme les hommes de la situation, non seulement parce quʼils apportent une réponse assurant le contrôle de la situation mais encore parce quʼils ont participé au processus même de construction de la situation qui doit rester sous contrôle. dans un tel cadre, la manière dont la responsabilité se distribue au sein de lʼorganisation est essentielle à la progression de lʼaction : lʼacteur pivot était aussi celui qui portait la responsabilité de la sûreté. source : journé (1999) m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 1, 2008, 27-55 37 le concept de situation te sur le sens de ce qui est en train de se produire. lʼenquête sʼapparente à un processus dʼorganizing : les acteurs reconstruisent localement lʼorganisation en mobilisant des ressources dʼune manière non prescrite et non prévue par lʼorganisation de départ. la situation modifie donc lʼorganisation de départ, par le truchement de lʼenquête. caractéristiques de lʼactivité managériale à travers le prisme de la situation : résultats de second niveau lʼanalyse et la mise en regard des deux cas permet de faire des premières constatations quant à lʼutilisation du concept de situation. en premier lieu, cʼest le rôle fondamental dʼun acteur pivot (le manager) et de la responsabilité quʼil porte qui est analysé. en second lieu, nous approfondissons les caractéristiques du processus dʼenquête, et en particulier la succession des différents cadrages de la situation. enfin, nous nous intéressons à la différence de structuration préalable dans les deux cas et à la façon dont le poids des éléments organisationnels et institutionnels peut jouer sur la situation. un acteur-pivot qui construit la situation notre acception de la situation nous conduit à mettre en avant un point de vue subjectif : la situation est analysée du point de vue de lʼacteur en charge de la maîtrise de cette situation. mais au-delà de cette construction du sens propre à lʼacteur, nous voulons souligner ici le fait que le processus dʼenquête sʼengagera si cet acteur exerce une responsabilité (partielle ou totale) au regard de la situation. le terme dʼacteur-pivot que nous proposons ici veut insister sur cette double dimension : une dimension à la fois de construction du sens et dʼexercice dʼune responsabilité au regard de la situation. lʼexistence dʼune telle responsabilité est dʼailleurs présente dans la définition initiale des situations de gestion de girin (1990a), à travers la composante “instance de jugement”. si cette instance de jugement peut apparaître comme surplombant dʼune certaine manière la situation de gestion dans la définition de girin, sa traduction au niveau du manager renvoie à lʼexistence ou au partage dʼune responsabilité au regard de la situation. les deux cas soulignent cette importance de lʼintensité de lʼenjeu (risque ou opportunité perçue) qui conduit à désigner un acteur comme central, du fait de lʼexercice dʼune responsabilité au regard de la situation, que cette responsabilité soit instituée par lʼorganisation (cas de la salle de commande), ou revendiquée par un des acteurs (cas de lʼentreprise dʼeau minérale). il est toutefois possible, comme dans le cas de lʼentreprise dʼeau minérale, que la responsabilité de la situation soit revendiquée à un moment donné par plusieurs acteurs, notamment quand il nʼexiste pas un responsable clairement identifié pour la situation. dans le cas de conflits entre acteurs, il peut se produire un blocage, et le processus dʼenquête pourra rarement être mené. on en restera à une phase de définition contradictoire de la situation. nous estimons que cʼest au moment où une responsabilité est déclarée ou revendiquée que se produit une prise en main de la m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 1, 2008, 27-55 38 benoît journé et nathalie raulet-croset situation et que le processus dʼenquête peut sʼengager. le processus dʼenquête associe ainsi selon nous une construction du sens (sensemaking) mais également lʼexistence dʼune responsabilité qui permet que lʼenquête soit ancrée dans la situation (à travers des actions, la convocation dʼacteurs dans cette situation…). de fait, dans le cas de la pollution de la nappe phréatique, différents acteurs auraient pu à lʼorigine se saisir du problème. lʼenquête a été initiée par lʼentreprise dʼeau minérale, suite aux mesures alarmantes concernant la qualité de lʼeau de la nappe. toutefois, les représentants de lʼetat, qui gèrent lʼeau et les aspects sanitaires, contactés à un moment donné, auraient pu prendre en charge le problème et mener le processus dʼenquête. on se trouve au départ face à des définitions contradictoires du problème (ou de la situation problématique). mais la nature spécifique de lʼenjeu auquel lʼentreprise dʼeau minérale devait faire face lʼa naturellement conduit à prendre implicitement en charge la responsabilité de la situation, et à la faire évoluer en engageant un processus dʼenquête, mêlant action et réflexion. il sʼest progressivement révélé que lʼenjeu était également important au regard du territoire local, du fait des emplois liés à la présence de lʼentreprise sur le secteur, et en particulier pour la survie de tout le complexe thermal. cela lʼa conduit à conjuguer différentes dimensions dans la situation. cela a dʼailleurs rejailli sur lʼidentité de lʼentreprise elle-même, et sur son inscription locale : elle a cherché à agir en mettant en avant sa bonne volonté dans la négociation avec les agriculteurs, et a accentué son image liée à la protection de lʼenvironnement (pratiques propres de désherbage sur le parc thermal, etc). dans le cas de la salle de commande, la prise en charge du processus dʼenquête consécutif à un événement imprévu, comme par exemple la panne dʼun ventilateur, est le fait de la personne potentiellement tenue pour responsable de la sûreté de la situation, c'est-à-dire le chef dʼexploitation. cʼest lui qui mobilise les ressources susceptibles de lʼaider à construire le sens de la situation dans laquelle il est engagé. cette capacité de mobilisation des ressources lui est donnée non seulement par sa position hiérarchique au sein de lʼorganisation mais aussi par sa capacité à exercer une vigilance à lʼégard des composantes de la situation. la responsabilité apparaît ici comme le ressort managérial et organisationnel du sensemaking, qui ne se résume donc pas à une activité à dimensions purement cognitives et psycho-sociologiques. on peut voir, à partir des cas, comment lʼacteur en charge de la situation sʼappuie sur les ressources de la situation, mais aussi comment ces ressources rejaillissent sur son identité. le processus dʼenquête les cas éclairent en second lieu la manière dont le processus dʼenquête se déploie : la réflexion sur la situation progresse par capillarité, selon une logique de réseau. le recours au concept de situation conduit à considérer la pensée managériale dans lʼaction. la construction nʼest pas linéaire. de nouveaux acteurs interviennent, qui proposent souvent dʼautres analyses, apportent des connaissances de natures différentes. ils nourrissent le processus dʼenquête. la structum@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 1, 2008, 27-55 39 le concept de situation ration des connaissances qui accompagne ce processus reste très instable. nous utiliserons pour repérer différentes phases dans le processus dʼenquête la notion de cadre primaire telle quʼelle est proposée par goffman (1991). ces cadres permettent, « dans une situation donnée, dʼaccorder du sens à tel ou tel de ses aspects, lequel autrement, serait dépourvu de signification » (goffman, 1991 : 30). le cadre est dit primaire car il nʼest pas rapporté à une interprétation préalable ou originaire, mais est construit au regard de la situation, au travers dʼindices repérés par lʼacteur-pivot. dans les cas analysés, ces cadres sont construits par les acteurs (dʼoù le terme parfois utilisé de cadrage, qui renvoie à cette idée de construction par lʼacteur). les cadres peuvent changer brutalement, à la faveur dʼun nouvel événement ou de lʼintervention dʼun nouvel acteur ou encore dʼune réinterprétation de la situation suite à la prise en compte dʼautres indices. mais ils peuvent également sʼenrichir progressivement. le processus peut être convergent, mais ne lʼest pas nécessairement comme nous le montrons à partir des cas. exemple à partir du cas de lʼentreprise dʼeau minérale dans le cas de lʼentreprise dʼeau minérale, la situation est initialement peu structurée : il nʼexiste pas dʼhistoire construite en commun entre les différents acteurs, hors leur participation à leur histoire locale (les différents acteurs habitent à proximité les uns des autres, se rencontrent parfois dans des instances de politique locale, des réunions, des fêtes de famille…). mais ils nʼont pas été amenés pour lʼinstant à construire une gestion intégrée autour dʼun problème qui leur serait commun. lorsque lʼévénement “hausse du taux de nitrate” est mis en scène, il nʼexiste pas de références communes, et le champ de résolution est très large. plusieurs définitions vont se succéder, qui pour certaines vont correspondre à des phases de simplification : le moment où lʼon stoppe lʼenquête dans la progression vis-à-vis de la situation. ces arrêts de lʼenquête peuvent correspondre à des définitions particulières de la situation, en termes de formulation de problème ou de diagnostic. mais lʼacteur moteur peut reprendre le processus dʼenquête et poursuivre la construction de la situation si la définition nʼest pas satisfaisante. les premières simplifications, comme le montre le tableau 1, conduisent à un blocage et donnent lieu à une poursuite de lʼenquête à travers des phases de complexification. on aboutit in fine à une simplification, entendue comme lʼarrêt du processus dʼenquête, qui va être à la base de la prise de décision. on voit, dans ce premier cas, quʼun changement brutal de cadre a lieu au début du processus (la définition de la situation comme problème de pollution est rejetée). par la suite, le cadrage se complexifie au fur et à mesure du processus dʼenquête, par ajout progressif de nouvelles dimensions (économique, puis technique, puis environnementale). exemple à partir du cas de la salle de commande la nature particulière des processus dʼenquête peut être illustrée, dans le cas de la salle de commande, à travers le problème posé par la panne dʼun ventilateur. suite à cette panne, le chef dʼexploitation, m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 1, 2008, 27-55 40 benoît journé et nathalie raulet-croset tableau 1. processus d’enquête dans le cas de la nappe phréatique cadre et connaissances premier arrêt de lʼenquête qui correspond à une simplification selon une dimension de la situation : problème de pollution. cette simplification aboutit à un échec ; cette définition initiale ne sera pas conservée : le taux de nitrate dans la nappe est très inférieur au taux maximum autorisé pour lʼeau potable en général, donc les acteurs liés à lʼaspect pollution nʼont pas réellement compétence à intervenir. complexification : réflexion selon la dimension économique. deuxième arrêt de lʼenquête : cadre problème économique. la dimension économique est conservée : lʼentreprise dʼeau minérale reste en veille pour un rachat de terres, et a intégré le fait que les agriculteurs peuvent réclamer des indemnisations. mais elle considère que les agriculteurs ont une responsabilité et veut inciter à des pratiques moins polluantes. les agriculteurs considèrent que les achats de terre ont conduit lʼentreprise dʼeau minérale à entrer sur une scène sociale locale (elle rachète des terres qui étaient plus ou moins destinées à des agriculteurs locaux). nouvelle phase de complexification : ajout de la dimension technique et scientifique, réflexion sur les pratiques agricoles. la construction de la situation prend en compte les dimensions technique (pratiques agricoles), et économique (subventions versées par lʼentreprise dʼeau minérale). arrêt de lʼenquête : la situation nʼest plus définie de manière aussi simplifiée que lors des premiers arrêts. elle conjugue à la fois des dimensions économique, technique, et de protection de lʼenvironnement local. lʼinra a produit un cahier des charges de pratiques agricoles compatibles avec la protection de la nappe, à la demande de lʼentreprise dʼeau minérale ce cahier des charges va être proposé aux agriculteurs en échange de subvention. le contrôle du suivi du cahier des charges sera effectué par une petite entreprise, créée spécialement, filiale de lʼentreprise dʼeau minérale. acteurs et actions lʼentreprise dʼeau minérale fait appel à des acteurs en charge des aspects pollution et juridique : ddass*, agence de lʼeau. blocage de la négociation, discussion avec les agriculteurs qui mettent en avant lʼenjeu économique du problème. nouveaux acteurs : chambre dʼagriculture, syndicats agricoles. achat de terres agricoles, prises de contacts avec les agriculteurs. les achats de terre sont insuffisants pour réaliser une réelle protection. acteurs participants : lʼentreprise dʼeau minérale —acteur moteur—, des agriculteurs qui acceptent de tester les nouvelles pratiques, lʼinra*, qui conduit les recherches en collaboration avec la chambre dʼagriculture. le rôle de lʼinra est important, car cet organisme de recherche travaille habituellement au profit des agriculteurs ; il cherche donc des résultats qui permettent de concilier au mieux les différents intérêts. temporalités et phases de lʼenquête premier arrêt de lʼenquête. reprise et approfondissement de lʼenquête. arrêt de lʼenquête. reprise et approfondissement de lʼenquête. arrêt de lʼenquête. * : ddass = direction départementale de lʼaction sanitaire et sociale ; inra = institut national de la recherche agronomique. m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 1, 2008, 27-55 41 le concept de situation qui est officiellement responsable de la sûreté des installations, multiplie les contacts avec différents experts. il sort du collectif traditionnel de travail (lʼéquipe constituée) pour construire, de manière ad-hoc, le réseau de compétences qui lui permettra de stabiliser un diagnostic et dʼenvisager différentes solutions. la situation sʼest construite à travers un processus dʼenquête qui impliquait cinq personnes extérieures à lʼéquipe et qui a donné lieu à sept cadres successifs différents sur une période de 5 heures environ. dans ce cas, le registre des actions envisageables apparaît plus structuré que dans le cas de lʼentreprise dʼeau minérale car la réparation des ventilateurs appelle des réponses plus routinières sur la dimension technique. toutefois, cʼest la nature du risque associé à chaque solution qui crée lʼambiguïté et lʼincertitude, et qui va déterminer les différents cadrages (tableau 2). ce deuxième cas contraste avec le premier dans lʼarticulation des relations entre lʼorganisation et la situation. lʼorganisation qui est ici très structurée a produit une situation initiale clairement délimitée dans ses dimensions temporelles et spatiales, comme dans les acteurs qui la composent. le problème est défini sans ambiguïté et la solution correspondante lʼest également. mais lʼirruption de nouveaux acteurs (lors de la relève) réintroduit de lʼincertitude et de lʼambiguïté et relance le processus dʼenquête car le contrôle de la situation ne semble plus garanti. une nouvelle situation émerge progressivement sous lʼeffet de cadrages successifs qui modifient le problème et la solution associée. parallèlement, le processus dʼenquête crée de lʼorganisation dans la mesure où il se déploie à travers les actions et les réflexions des acteurs qui mobilisent diverses ressources selon des modalités non prévues par lʼorganisation initiale. on assiste à une reconfiguration locale et temporaire de lʼorganisation sous lʼeffet de lʼenquête. lʼorganisation émerge donc de lʼenquête qui vise à donner du sens à la situation. ce cas montre donc comment lʼorganisation et la situation co-émergent du processus dʼenquête. il renseigne de ce fait sur la nature de lʼorganizing et du sensemaking. la sûreté se crée à travers une activité de construction collective du sens de la situation. le sens et la connaissance construits au cours du processus dʼenquête ont un caractère très instable. les capacités dʼaction des acteurs évoluent en fonction des cadrages, soit dans le sens dʼune limitation (du fait de la découverte dʼune nouvelle complexité induisant des contraintes à caractère réglementaire ou technique) soit dans le sens dʼune augmentation (par lʼexploration dʼun moyen permettant de relâcher le jeu de certaines contraintes). la différence de structuration préalable les cas présentés se différencient par la structuration préalable des situations qui est très forte au sein de la centrale nucléaire et quasiinexistante autour de la question de la nappe phréatique. alors que les acteurs de la centrale partagent une histoire commune et inscrivent leurs actions dans le cadre de routines organisationnelles, les acteurs concernés par la hausse du taux de nitrate, bien quʼayant des relations de proximité, ne partageaient pas dʼhistoire commune autour de ce problème. on pourrait penser que lʼutilisation de la notion de situation sʼimm@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 1, 2008, 27-55 42 benoît journé et nathalie raulet-croset tableau 2. processus d’enquête dans le cas de la salle de commande cadre et connaissances cadre 1 : une activité normale il faut réparer un ventilateur tombé en panne pendant la nuit. la situation nʼest pas jugée dangereuse mais il faut intervenir pour ne pas laisser les installations dans une situation dégradée (principe de sûreté). cadre 2 : activité risquée du point de vue de la sûreté le chef dʼexploitation de lʼaprès-midi estime que la réparation fait prendre un risque : il faudra arrêter les quatre ventilateurs, ce qui enfreint les règles de sûreté et risque donc de constituer un incident significatif aux yeux de lʼautorité de sûreté. cadre 3 : ne pas agir pour éviter de créer un incident le chef dʼexploitation décide de bloquer la décision de réparation, au risque de créer une tension avec lʼéquipe de maintenance qui est prête à intervenir. cadre 4 : agir conformément aux règles de sûreté la réparation nécessite une demande de dérogation auprès de lʼautorité de sûreté pour arrêter volontairement tous les ventilateurs. cadre 5 : prise de risque vis-à-vis de lʼautorité de sûreté le temps estimé de réparation excède le délai imposé par les règles de sûreté, ce qui fait courir le risque de voir la demande de dérogation rejetée par lʼautorité de sûreté. cadre 6 : comment réparer sans demander de dérogation ? cadre 7 : retour à une activité normale dʼexploitation acteurs et actions ce cadrage est porté par le chef dʼexploitation de lʼéquipe du matin. il est partagé par lʼingénieur sûreté et lʼéquipe de maintenance (la décision de réparer lʼaprès-midi a été prise en réunion conduite/maintenance du matin). le chef dʼexploitation est le responsable de la sûreté des tranches placées sous son autorité. il est considéré comme propriétaire des installations (lʼingénieur sûreté ne fait pas partie de lʼéquipe, il a un rôle de contrôle de lʼétat de sûreté de la tranche et de conseil auprès de lʼéquipe de conduite). le chef dʼexploitation veut remettre la situation à plat en allant chercher plus dʼinformations et en confrontant ses interprétations avec lʼingénieur sûreté, lʼéquipe de maintenance et lʼingénieur chargé des relations avec lʼautorité de sûreté. il prend contact avec chacun dʼeux. ce cadrage, porté par le chef dʼexploitation, est partagé par lʼingénieur chargé des relations avec lʼautorité de sûreté ainsi que par lʼingénieur sûreté qui sʼen est entretenu avec son équipe de la mission sûreté qualité. ce cadrage sʼappuie sur les informations que le chef dʼexploitation récupère auprès de la maintenance et des interprétation faites avec lʼingénieur chargé des relations avec lʼautorité de sûreté. le responsable de la maintenance a trouvé une solution pour réduire le temps dʼintervention et se donner plus de chance dʼobtenir la dérogation demandée mais le chef dʼexploitation et lʼingénieur chargé des relations avec lʼautorité de sûreté préfèrent chercher une solution qui ne nécessite pas de demande de dérogation. la décision est prise dʼattendre quelques jours pour effectuer la réparation à lʼoccasion dʼune opération de maintenance préventive déjà programmée sur les ventilateurs. temporalités et phases de lʼenquête un diagnostic, une solution et une action ont été définis : le sens est stabilisé. le changement dʼacteurs (relève) ouvre une nouvelle phase de lʼenquête : le transfert du sens provoque une confrontation dʼinterprétations. lʼenquête sur le sens de la situation est relancée suite au nouveau cadrage. le cadrage évolue en convoquant une nouvelle dimension : les relations avec lʼautorité de sûreté. approfondissement de lʼenquête. reformulation du problème en fonction des contraintes de la situation. stabilisation du sens de la situation redevenue normale. pose plus dans des contextes peu structurés. or nous voyons ici que la logique de situation est pertinente pour lʼanalyse de lʼactivité managériale dès lors quʼil y a nécessité de construction du sens de la situation et dʼaction au regard de cette situation, que la situation porte en elle un fort degré de structuration ou non. toutefois, le contraste entre les deux cas permet de mieux identifier les éléments qui concourent à la structuration des situations : 1/lʼexpérience dʼune situation similaire que les acteurs projettent sur la situation actuelle ; 2/la présence de routines inscrites dans lʼorganisation ou issues dʼune histoire partagée ; 3/le m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 1, 2008, 27-55 43 le concept de situation périmètre des ressources et des acteurs plus ou moins fixé dans un cadre organisationnel prédéfini. ainsi, la salle de commande a été conçue pour fonctionner sur la base de ressources clairement identifiées, comme les alarmes et les procédures de conduite. de plus les opérateurs travaillent en équipes constituées dans lesquelles les responsabilités et les domaines de compétences et dʼaction sont clairement définis. mais, même dans les centrales nucléaires qui semblent pousser le plus loin possible lʼambition bureaucratique de suppression systématique des imprévus, la logique des situations reste présente. ainsi, dans lʼexemple de la réparation des ventilateurs, le chef dʼéquipe a réintroduit une logique de situation là où sʼétait préalablement imposée une logique de routine. un degré élevé de structuration nʼempêche donc pas la situation de conserver un caractère émergent si le processus dʼenquête reste ouvert à la surprise et à lʼimprévu. toutefois dans ce cas, même si la logique de situation sʼimpose, lʼexistence de formes très structurées influence la construction du sens de la situation, ce que lʼon ne retrouve pas dans le cas de la nappe phréatique, où lʼeffort de construction des définitions porte sur un nombre plus important de dimensions de la situation. si nous mettons lʼaccent quant à nous sur le caractère construit et émergent de la situation du point de vue du manager, nous constatons à travers les cas que les managers sélectionnent des indices, des ressources au cours du processus dʼenquête, et que cette sélection est influencée par le degré de structuration préexistant. le poids de la structure organisationnelle, de la hiérarchie, de la technique, dʼobjets, etc., joue un rôle, celui du tiers-absent pour reprendre lʼexpression de mayer (1982), en pesant de manière implicite sur la situation. cela donne à la situation une force (au moins momentanée) qui va au-delà de lʼengagement subjectif de lʼacteur. la force dont la situation est dotée demande dʼailleurs aux acteurs de sʼimpliquer dans un effort de renouvellement des connaissances propres à chaque situation problématique afin de conserver leurs capacités dʼaction sur cette dernière. discussion : la logique de situation au fondement de l’activité managériale lʼexposé des deux terrains permet dʼengager une discussion plus approfondie sur lʼusage du concept de situation en management et dʼen identifier les implications théoriques et empiriques. en premier lieu, la discussion théorique porte sur le positionnement du concept de situation par rapport à des concepts qui au fil du temps ont acquis une forte légitimité dans le champ du management, comme le problème et le diagnostic, le système ou lʼorganisation par projet. elle portera pour finir sur la situation de gestion qui fut le point de départ de notre réflexion. le deuxième point développe un point de vue empirique, et nous montrons que la situation met en évidence dʼautres leviers de lʼactivité managériale. analyser lʼactivité managériale selon une logique de situation signifie en effet mettre au centre lʼintelligence dʼenquête du manager (ou du système de management), et la possibilité m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 1, 2008, 27-55 44 benoît journé et nathalie raulet-croset de jouer à la fois avec les ressources convoquées dans la situation (et notamment les autres acteurs) et avec les temporalités de la situation. spécificités de la logique de situation : un positionnement relatif à dʼautres outils dʼanalyse bien que de nombreux concepts et outils aient été utilisés pour décrire lʼactivité des managers (mintzberg, 1980), la logique de situation permet dʼéclairer encore différemment certaines facettes de lʼactivité managériale. ce point sera discuté en comparant la situation à dʼautres concepts largement mobilisés dans lʼanalyse de lʼactivité managériale : le problème et le diagnostic en premier lieu, puis le projet et enfin le système dʼaction. du problème à la situation, du diagnostic à lʼenquête le concept de situation, tel quʼil a été défini dans ce papier, est proche de la notion de problème. dewey, déjà, faisait le rapprochement lorsquʼil associait lʼenquête à une situation problématique. par la suite, la littérature managériale anglo-saxonne mobilisera le concept de problem ou de issue, reléguant la situation au second plan : lʼaccent sera mis sur la formulation et lʼidentification du problème (smith, 1989), ainsi que sur la catégorisation des problèmes stratégiques en opportunités ou menaces (dutton et jackson, 1987 . jackson et dutton, 1988). dans cette lignée, si agre (1982) fait explicitement référence à la situation lorsquʼil définit un problème, lʼenjeu théorique porte sur le problème et non sur la situation : « un problème est une situation indésirable, qui est significative pour un agent et quʼil est susceptible de traiter, même si cʼest avec difficulté » (agre, 1982, cité par smith, 1989 : 965). il en va de même de majone (1980 : 10) lorsquʼil mobilise directement la situation pour définir le processus de problem setting comme « le processus intellectuel par lequel une situation problématique est transformée en un problème spécifique ». nous considérons donc que la situation ne peut se réduire au problem ou issue et quʼune approche en termes de situation peut contribuer à fournir une nouvelle interprétation de ces notions et, par voie de conséquence, de la prise de décision. en effet, pour ces différents auteurs, la définition dʼun problème conduit à spécifier une situation, en vue dʼengager ensuite un processus de décision. ils sʼinscrivent dans une vision séquentielle de la prise de décision (langley et al., 1995), et la formulation du problème est considérée comme une des premières phases de ce processus. si ces auteurs considèrent quʼune telle vision de la prise de décision est souvent académique et ne correspond que peu à la réalité de lʼactivité managériale (smith, 1989 ; langley et al., 1995), ils voient toutefois une utilité à un tel découpage séquentiel en faisant lʼhypothèse quʼune visée prescriptive de la prise de décision appuyée sur cette perspective pourrait améliorer lʼaction du manager. le concept de situation tel que nous le définissons se différencie de la notion de problem ou dʼissue sur plusieurs points. en premier lieu, il renvoie à lʼanalyse de lʼactivité réelle du manager, et ne sʼinscrit pas m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 1, 2008, 27-55 45 le concept de situation dans une logique temporelle de séquentialité. la définition de la situation ne correspond pas à une étape identifiée dans un processus linéaire de prise de décision, mais elle existe tout au long du processus dʼenquête, jusquʼà la prise de décision (si prise de décision il y a). il sʼagit en effet de porter un regard sur lʼactivité managériale de construction du sens face à des situations ambiguës et indéterminées, et non de suivre le fil dʼun processus de décision. suivre le cours de la situation ne renvoie donc pas à un processus linéaire, mais met lʼaccent sur la dimension temporelle (souvent circulaire, non linéaire) et collective de lʼactivité managériale. en second lieu, la définition de la situation nʼest pas un préalable à lʼaction comme le sont les notions de problem formulation (smith, 1989), ou de strategic issue diagnosis (dutton et duncan, 1987). au contraire, la situation est progressivement construite par le manager et la réflexion et lʼaction sont entremêlées. un autre concept qui peut paraître proche de la notion de définition de la situation, tout comme dʼailleurs de formulation du problème, est celui de diagnostic. la distinction entre formulation du problème et diagnostic est parfois faible pour certains auteurs, mais dʼautres mettent lʼaccent sur la différence entre les deux termes, arguant que la formulation du problème se différencie du diagnostic car elle ne comprend pas dʼorientation vers une résolution du problème (smith, 1989). le diagnostic est souvent présenté comme une phase fondamentale du processus de prise de décision, qui met en avant sa dimension interprétative : il est ainsi question de diagnostic stratégique (strategic issue diagnosis, [dutton et duncan, 1987]), qui consiste à identifier une opportunité, une question ou un problème de nature stratégique, et à le mettre à lʼagenda stratégique de lʼorganisation (dutton, 1988). les auteurs identifient alors différents facteurs influençant cette mise à lʼagenda, et montrent le rôle du contexte organisationnel qui va influencer le repérage par les décideurs de ce problème. la mise à lʼagenda nʼest pas séquentielle, le processus pouvant être itératif ou cyclique. toutefois, on reste dans une vision classique de la décision qui consiste à découper une phase préalable de diagnostic, suivie dʼune phase de mise en œuvre. depuis, lʼidée dʼune construction progressive entre diagnostic et action sʼest peu à peu imposée. par exemple, lʼidée dʼune planification qui serait préalable à lʼaction a été fortement questionnée, notamment par les travaux de suchman (1987). le concept de diagnostic reste toutefois très présent ; il renvoie à lʼidée dʼun questionnement à un moment donné sur un problème aux contours relativement stables, en termes dʼacteurs concernés et de données du problème. lʼanalyse proposée selon la logique de situation sʼinscrit elle dans une dynamique de construction, qui lui confère une logique temporelle différente de celle du diagnostic, en mettant au centre le processus dʼenquête mené par le manager. les différents moments dʼarrêt du processus dʼenquête diffèrent dʼun diagnostic au sens classique du terme car ils contribuent à redélimiter les contours dʼune situation, contours qui varient tout au long du processus, à travers une succession de cadrages de la situation. m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 1, 2008, 27-55 46 benoît journé et nathalie raulet-croset le concept de situation nous conduit ainsi à approfondir une phase à la fois préalable et concomitante au diagnostic, la phase où lʼindividu progresse dans la réflexion et dans la connaissance en prenant directement appui sur les ressources que la situation met à sa disposition. en outre, la construction dʼune situation nʼest pas une phase uniquement cognitive, de réflexion et de diagnostic préalable à une décision. elle mêle intrinsèquement connaissance et action. elle prend également appui sur la communication entre acteurs et mobilise largement des procédés narratifs (weick, 1995). de la convergence du projet à lʼinstabilité de la situation de projet le concept de projet peut également être mis en regard de la notion de situation, en particulier dans le domaine de lʼinnovation. cʼest ainsi que midler (1996) estime que les projets innovants plongent les acteurs dans des situations de conception. la progression dʼun projet prend la forme dʼun processus de convergence marqué par lʼacquisition de connaissances nouvelles et la réduction concomitante des capacités dʼaction (créée par les irréversibilités induites par les choix successifs précédents). dans ce modèle, les acteurs projets passent dʼune situation où ils ne savent rien mais peuvent tout à une situation où ils finissent par tout savoir du projet mais ne peuvent plus rien modifier. autrement dit, le processus dʼacquisition de connaissances sur le projet lui-même passe par des actions et des choix qui créent des irréversibilités et qui limitent donc les possibilités dʼaction futures. le rapprochement entre projet et situation est dʼautant plus grand que le phénomène de convergence sʼapparente à un processus dʼenquête. mais nous estimons que définir la situation selon une logique pragmatiste et interactionniste revient à considérer la connaissance développée par les acteurs comme de nature plus instable que ne le laisse penser le processus de convergence décrit par midler. les deux terrains développés dans la partie précédente montrent que le sensemaking auquel se livrent les acteurs en situation ne se résume pas à une accumulation de connaissances mais bien à une recherche de cohérence du corpus des connaissances mobilisées ici et maintenant pour construire une interprétation porteuse de sens. or toute connaissance nouvelle développée par les acteurs peut remettre en cause la cohérence du corpus et reposer la question du sens, tout en faisant varier les capacités dʼactions sans que lʼon puisse savoir par avance sʼil sʼagira dʼune réduction ou dʼune augmentation de ces dernières. le système et la situation la situation et le système sont deux notions qui entretiennent des liens étroits. a lʼévidence, la situation sʼinscrit dans le prolongement du concept de système, au point que la situation peut se définir à partir de la notion de système : la situation est lʼétat pris par le système à un moment donné. de même, la succession des états pris par un système dynamique peut se lire comme un flux de situations. il nous semble pourtant que le concept de situation ne peut se laisser enfermer dans celui de système. non seulement la situation déborde du système par son caractère imprévisible mais encore est-il possible m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 1, 2008, 27-55 47 le concept de situation de renverser la perspective en définissant le système comme le produit de la situation. en effet, contrairement à la systémique qui fait de la complexité un attribut du système, avec lequel les acteurs doivent composer, la situation voit au contraire cette complexité comme un construit des acteurs. en fait la notion de situation ne renvoie pas au même type de complexité que la notion de système. la systémique estime la complexité dʼun système en termes de variété, c'est-à-dire en nombre dʼétats différents que le système est susceptible de prendre. la variété totale du système est directement fonction du nombre et de la diversité des composants, dʼune part ; et du nombre et de la diversité des relations entre les composants, dʼautre part. la cybernétique, qui travaille sur le contrôle du comportement des automates, sʼappuie sur la loi de la variété requise qui stipule quʼun système de variété n ne peut être piloté que par un système de contrôle de variété supérieure ou égale à n. dans cette perspective, la complexité, que lʼon peut qualifier de complexité dʼabondance (moisdon et tonneau, 1983), est définie comme un attribut du système. le problème principal de cette approche est quʼelle suppose que le système possède des frontières et des dimensions finies et connues. cette perspective objectivante est largement reprise dans la définition des processus qui animent les organisations avec lʼobjectif de les cartographier et de les optimiser. cette hypothèse qui convient aux automates et aux processus sʼapplique avec plus de difficulté à la dimension sociale des organisations. il nous semble que la notion de situation aborde la question de la complexité dʼun autre point de vue, dans la mesure où elle se présente sous la forme dʼun tout contextuel (dewey, 1993 : 127-128) aux frontières potentiellement infinies. ce caractère potentiellement infini qui pose un problème insurmontable à la complexité dʼabondance et à la loi de la variété requise, ne pose pas les mêmes problèmes à une approche en termes de situation. en effet, la situation met lʼaccent sur la perception subjective (donc différente pour chaque acteur) et la construction collective de la complexité par les acteurs engagés dans la situation. la complexité est une « complexité de sens » (riveline, 1991 : 89), qui ne sʼimpose pas de lʼextérieur aux acteurs mais qui est construite pas les acteurs à travers lʼenquête quʼils mènent. girin (2000 : 134) parle à ce sujet de « complexité de cadrage ». lʼenquête nʼest pas la simple découverte progressive de la complexité du système mais bien une construction collective du phénomène à maitriser. cʼest ce qui ressort clairement des exemples que nous avons présentés, quʼil sʼagisse de la protection de la nappe phréatique ou de la conduite dʼune centrale nucléaire. donc, là où la systémique met lʼaccent sur la complexité dʼabondance comme attribut du système (estimée par sa variété), lʼapproche par la situation met lʼaccent sur la construction subjective de la complexité de sens et de cadrage produite à travers la logique dʼenquête qui construit et modifie en permanence le périmètre spatial et temporel ainsi que le collectif des acteurs qui constituent le système pertinent —ici et maintenant— pour agir dans le sens des objectifs des acteurs. le caractère potentiellement infini de la situation qui se présente comme un tout contextuel nʼest gérable que parce que ses limites spatiales, tempom@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 1, 2008, 27-55 48 benoît journé et nathalie raulet-croset relles et sociales se construisent à travers le processus dʼenquête pris en charge par un acteur pivot. la distinction que nous venons de faire entre système et situation prend cependant une forme différente si lʼon considère la notion de système dʼaction concret proposée par la sociologie des organisations (crozier et friedberg, 1977). ici le système est formé par les capacités dʼaction dont les acteurs disposent réellement au sein dʼune organisation donnée. le système évolue alors en fonction des actions qui sʼy déploient. la différence principale vient du fait que le système dʼaction concret repose sur une dynamique dʼessence politique dans laquelle les acteurs agissent selon des stratégies censées améliorer leur position au milieu des jeux de pouvoir. les stratégies définissent les actions des différents acteurs, ce qui suppose une certaine stabilité du système. finalement, une fois encore la situation est la simple expression du système à un moment donné. la logique de situation incite au contraire à considérer que les acteurs sont plongés dans un contexte beaucoup plus indéterminé qui suppose une enquête sur le sens de ce qui se passe. la situation substitue lʼintrigue à la rationalité stratégique. si lʼon considère la manière dont le système a été mobilisé dans les sciences du management, il apparaît clairement que le regard se dirige dʼabord sur lʼobjectivation du système quʼil sʼagit alors dʼoptimiser, dans le prolongement des démarches dʼingénierie managériale (systèmes de production, système dʼinformation, systèmes de rémunération, système qualité…). cette perspective objectivante sʼinscrit dʼailleurs dans le prolongement des perspectives holistiques rattachées aux approches systémiques et qui supposent la capacité de lʼobservateur à prendre le recul nécessaire pour avoir une vision englobante du phénomène étudié. or, comme nous lʼavons souligné précédemment, les origines théoriques du concept de situation orientent le regard dʼabord vers la subjectivité des acteurs engagés dans la situation. la perspective privilégiée est plus micro que macro. de la situation de gestion à la situation en management enfin, nous revenons au concept de situation de gestion, qui a été le point de départ de notre réflexion. lʼeffort de théorisation proposé par girin visait à introduire les contraintes gestionnaires dans la logique de la situation. notre propos est de montrer en quoi lʼactivité managériale renvoie à une logique de situation. nos exemples de terrain montrent en quoi les trois éléments constitutifs dʼune situation —les participants, lʼextension temporelle et lʼextension spatiale— sont loin dʼêtre aussi contraints que le laisse penser la définition de girin : les participants évoluent en permanence sous lʼeffet du tour pris par lʼenquête (construction progressive dʼun collectif autour du problème à résoudre) ; les frontières spatiales et temporelles sont elles aussi largement construites et modifiées dans le processus dʼenquête. nous proposons de passer de la situation de gestion à la situation en management pour mieux souligner le caractère émergent de la situation. alors que girin voit la situation comme une enveloppe qui soumet les acteurs au jugement externe, nous voulons montrer m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 1, 2008, 27-55 49 le concept de situation que la situation recèle également des leviers pour lʼaction managériale. ce glissement de perspective permet de mieux comprendre comment la situation et lʼorganisation co-émergent à travers les activités organisantes des managers. cʼest lʼobjet de la section suivante. la logique de situation révèle dʼautres leviers de lʼaction managériale les différences constitutives du concept de situation que nous venons dʼanalyser nous conduisent à regarder autrement lʼactivité managériale, et notamment à réfléchir à des leviers de lʼaction managériale sur lesquels les managers eux-mêmes pourraient être amenés à travailler. nous retenons dans cet objectif trois tensions abritées par la notion de situation. singulière par essence (elle est lʼétat du système à un moment donné), elle peut receler des éléments de reproduction et de régularité. ephémère par nature (elle est liée à un instant et à un moment donné), elle peut durer et le manager, acteur pivot au centre de lʼenquête, peut jouer de son début et de sa fin. individuelle car subjective, elle conduit le manager à jouer de la dimension collective en convoquant dʼautres acteurs dans la situation. ces champs de tension —entre singularité et régularité, entre éphémérité et permanence, et entre individuel et collectif— révèlent des leviers de lʼaction managériale. de la singularité à la régularité lorsque lʼon analyse lʼactivité managériale à travers une logique de situation, la singularité des situations sʼérige à la fois en problème et en opportunité pour les managers et leurs organisations. la logique de situation peut ainsi parfois se trouver en contradiction avec les logiques classiques de lʼorganisation. les organisations ont souvent lʼambition de réduire la singularité, de mettre en place un cadre partagé et de prévoir un répertoire de réponses par rapport aux situations qui peuvent se présenter. un manager pourra alors être amené à construire la situation de telle façon quʼelle soit en correspondance avec une des réponses de ce répertoire, et arrêter alors son enquête. comme lʼexplique girin (1990a : 146) : « la mise en place dʼune organisation apparaît comme une réponse donnée à une ou plusieurs situations de gestion possédant une certaine permanence, en même temps quʼune rigidification des moyens pour y faire face ». il y a alors production de régularité là où une logique de situation suggère de sʼappuyer sur la singularité, et de ne pas la nier. on voit là poindre une première difficulté pour le manager : construire une situation en phase avec la logique classique de lʼorganisation peut conduire à perpétuer des routines. sʼinscrire dans une logique de situation signifie renoncer à ce répertoire de réponses prescrit et mettre au centre le processus dʼenquête et lʼarticulation avec de nouvelles connaissances. on se trouve donc là dans une forme de rationalité qui est différente de la rationalité procédurale, qui préconise quʼun ajout de connaissances permet constamment dʼaméliorer la prise de décision. m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 1, 2008, 27-55 50 benoît journé et nathalie raulet-croset la rationalité, dans la logique de situation, renvoie pour le manager au choix dʼarrêt de lʼenquête à un moment quʼil juge satisfaisant, en termes dʼarticulation de connaissances, pour prendre sa décision. le fonctionnement selon la logique de situation a plusieurs implications. nous distinguons ici lʼimplication organisationnelle et lʼimplication sur le comportement managérial. en termes organisationnels, fonctionner selon une logique de situation conduit à une organisation spécifique. prenons le cas de la centrale nucléaire. lʼorganisation de la salle de commande est en partie fondée sur la logique de situation. dans le cas des situations dites normalement perturbées, lʼorganisation compte sur la construction du sens par le chef dʼexploitation, en sʼappuyant sur les opérateurs. elle lui en laisse la possibilité en termes de temps. on voit même, dans ce cas, que lʼorganisation est conçue de façon à favoriser la logique de situation. ainsi, lʼorganisation de la relève (le changement dʼéquipe) organise une rupture, tout en cherchant bien sûr à préserver le plus possible la continuité de lʼexploitation. cette rupture, organisée et programmée, contraint les équipes à effectuer un retour réflexif sur la situation en cours et à élaborer des conjectures sur ses évolutions possibles, autrement dit à sʼengager dans un processus de sensemaking. en termes de comportement managérial, une posture conforme à la logique de situation comporte, du point de vue du manager, des éléments qui peuvent être vécus positivement mais aussi négativement : si elle conduit à progresser dans la connaissance au regard du problème traité, elle peut aussi être porteuse de stress et parfois conduire à paralyser lʼaction. en effet, en progressant dans lʼenquête, le manager prend le risque quʼune connaissance supplémentaire remette en question toute la construction préalablement réalisée. appréhender la gestion en termes de situation consiste aussi à se préparer psychologiquement à ce que la situation change, plus ou moins brutalement. et cʼest être conscient de ce qui se passe et de ce qui risque de se passer dans un futur proche ; cʼest aussi réactualiser en permanence cet état de conscience, faire preuve de vigilance. dans le cas de la salle de commande, les opérateurs identifient les événements à lʼorigine des situations normalement perturbées. le repérage de ces évolutions est une condition pour espérer conserver la maîtrise de la situation. toutefois, le manager peut aussi chercher à se positionner dans un entre-deux : ne pas nier la singularité propre à chaque situation, mais profiter de certaines régularités quʼil entrevoie entre différentes situations, pour utiliser son expérience et son apprentissage quant à des situations qui peuvent être relativement récurrentes. au-delà de lʼéphémérité : les choix de début et de fin si la situation se distingue par son caractère éphémère et fugace, elle recèle aussi certains éléments de permanence et de continuité. en effet, les acteurs doivent construire la temporalité de la situation pour en maîtriser le cours. ils procèdent à des découpages en début et fin, et peuvent choisir de faire durer la situation pour mieux approfondir une phase de diagnostic ou agir avec plus de pertinence ; ils dilatent m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 1, 2008, 27-55 51 le concept de situation ou contractent des séquences temporelles qui donnent du sens à la situation. les acteurs cherchent à organiser le temps de la situation autour de continuités et de ruptures, dʼaccélérations et de stabilisations, de début et de fin. le concept de situation fait de lʼincertitude sur la durée une donnée fondamentale de lʼorganisation. plongé dans la situation, le manager ne sait pas par avance combien de temps celleci va durer. ainsi, dans le cas de lʼentreprise dʼeau minérale, la décision est prise à un moment donné, mais sans quʼon lʼait planifié au départ, dʼarrêter « le cours de la situation », et de sʼen tenir à une base stabilisée qui va permettre lʼaction : le choix dʼune protection de la nappe, avec paiement des agriculteurs en échange du suivi dʼun cahier des charges de pratiques agricoles compatibles avec cette protection (cahier des charges construit sur la base de propositions de lʼinra [institut national de la recherche agronomique]). les moments de rupture, dʼarrêt de lʼenquête peuvent être de différentes natures. les deux cas donnent accès chacun à une structure temporelle du processus de construction du sens de la situation. le temps est à la fois une ressource et une contrainte structurante. les acteurs en font usage pour alterner 1/des phases de relâchement de la contrainte temporelle afin de se donner le temps de la réflexion et de convoquer dʼautres acteurs et dʼautres ressources et 2/des phases de contraction du temps où se crée un sentiment dʼurgence propice à la formulation dʼun diagnostic ou à une prise de décision. la réflexion ne progresse donc pas de manière linéaire, mais elle prend appui sur des phases de contraction et de dilatation temporelle. dans le cas de lʼentreprise dʼeau minérale, les phases de contraction du temps renvoient au départ à des simplifications de la définition de la situation, qui ouvrent ensuite à des phases de relâchement. la première étape de simplification avait conduit à un blocage tant les définitions étaient incompatibles. ce blocage a amené lʼentreprise dʼeau minérale à convoquer de nouveaux acteurs, repoussant lʼhorizon de résolution du problème à trois ans. un contrat de recherche sur lʼévolution des pratiques agricoles est signé et sert de support à la nouvelle étape de réflexion. dans le cas du nucléaire (journé, 1998), le chef dʼéquipe de lʼaprèsmidi peut revenir sur une décision prise par lʼéquipe du matin, il relâche la pression temporelle en suspendant lʼaction et demandant à de nouveaux acteurs de redéfinir la situation. dans ce cas, les arrêts de lʼenquête correspondent à des catégories de situation identifiées en termes de risque. lors des phases de relâchement, le chef dʼéquipe sʼappuie sur un système plus large de ressources, en mobilisant de nouvelles sources documentaires susceptibles dʼéclairer différemment le problème. lʼengagement du chef dʼéquipe dans ce processus est lié au fait quʼil sera responsable des éventuelles conséquences négatives liées à lʼexécution de la décision du matin. action collective et situation les acteurs centraux, ceux qui prédominent au regard du contrôle et de la maîtrise dʼune situation, et que nous avons appelés ici les manam@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 1, 2008, 27-55 52 benoît journé et nathalie raulet-croset gers, endossent la responsabilité (objectivement ou subjectivement) de la situation. ils ont une possibilité dʼaction au regard de cette situation et vont amener dʼautres participants à entrer dans la situation, ou ils profitent du fait quʼeux aussi sont concernés par le problème. il sʼagit en quelque sorte dʼenrôler (callon, 1986) dʼautres acteurs en faisant en sorte quʼils deviennent concernés, ou en profitant du fait quʼils sont concernés par lʼévénement ou le problème qui sʼest posé, et de pouvoir tisser des liens avec eux. cʼest ce quʼa fait par exemple lʼentreprise dʼeau minérale : elle a amené des acteurs, notamment les scientifiques de lʼinra, à construire une situation de leur point de vue au regard de la protection de la nappe. lʼaction collective peut alors être analysée comme un tissage entre ces situations, à partir des diverses ressources qui peuvent être convoquées et qui sont communes aux acteurs (personnes, objets, savoirs). ces ressources peuvent avoir, comme dans le cas de la centrale nucléaire, la particularité de renvoyer à des expériences et connaissances communes ; dans ce cas, la proximité entre les situations vécues par les acteurs concernés existe déjà. au contraire, dans le cas de lʼeau minérale, les situations se rapprochent progressivement et deviennent compatibles avec la situation centrale de lʼacteur pivot, lʼentreprise dʼeau minérale. ces différentes tensions inhérentes à la situation peuvent ainsi offrir au manager des leviers dʼaction, notamment dans la conduite de lʼenquête qui est au cœur de la construction de la situation. ils constituent en même temps les leviers des processus qui produisent lʼorganisation (organizing). comprendre les leviers de lʼaction managériale en situation constitue une clé dʼentrée théorique dans lʼorganizing. conclusion il apparait finalement que le concept de situation porte des enjeux théoriques, méthodologiques et épistémologiques qui méritent dʼêtre inscrits à lʼagenda des chercheurs en management. les prolongements théoriques du concept de situation se situent dans les courants de lʼorganizing, du sensemaking, du strategizing et de la naturalistic decision making. tous partagent une approche fondée sur lʼactivité caractérisée par lʼincertitude, lʼambiguïté et lʼindétermination des situations. le concept de situation apparait comme lʼun des chainons théoriques manquants susceptible de renforcer la cohérence théorique des approches fondées sur lʼactivité et de tisser des liens plus étroits entre ces différents courants théoriques. les prolongements de lʼanalyse sont également pratiques : lʼutilisation du concept conduit à proposer une réflexion sur dʼautres leviers de lʼaction managériale et à mettre en lumière des réalités de lʼactivité managériale qui sont habituellement masquées comme la nature du processus dʼenquête, le type de rationalité, et le risque individuel pris par le manager. ces éléments sont dʼautant plus visibles que les situations auxquelles sont confrontés les acteurs que nous avons observés sont ambiguës et incertaines : le processus dʼenquête est pour eux tout à fait central. plus fondamentalement encore, cette perspective m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 1, 2008, 27-55 53 le concept de situation conduit à mettre au centre de lʼactivité et de la responsabilité managériale lʼorganisation du processus dʼenquête. le travail sur le concept de situation nʼest pas sans conséquence non plus sur le plan méthodologique. comment appréhender concrètement les situations dans lesquelles évoluent les managers et leurs organisations ? comment saisir et rendre compte de ce qui par nature est éphémère, se joue dans le temps réel, dont le périmètre évolue en permanence ? lʼune des difficultés majeures réside dans la mise en place de dispositifs dʼobservation capables de saisir des situations imprévues en temps réel (journé, 2005). le concept de situation incite également à reprendre certaines questions épistémologiques relatives à la nature de ce qui constitue la réalité des managers et des organisations. sʼagit-il de croiser et dʼintégrer des points de vue différents sur une même réalité accessible au chercheur ou plutôt dʼune construction-destruction dʼune entité insaisissable, nichée dans les représentations et les discours des acteurs ? la situation nʼéteint pas le débat épistémologique mais vient lʼalimenter. note. nous devons à jacques girin, qui dirigea nos thèses respectives, lʼintérêt que nous portons à la notion de situation et nous lui dédions ce travail. nous remercions aussi chaleureusement tous les autres membres du centre de recherche en gestion (crg) de lʼecole polytechnique et en particulier denis bayart, pierre-jean benghozi, anni borzeix, hervé dumez, paul mayer qui nous ont fait bénéficier de leurs remarques sur des versions précédentes de ce texte. nos remerciements vont également aux trois évaluateurs de la revue m@n@gement dont les commentaires nous ont grandement aidés. benoît journé est maître de conférences en sciences de gestion à lʼuniversité de nantes (iemn-iae). il étudie lʼactivité managériale située (processus de décision, de communication et de sensemaking), en particulier dans les industries à risque (nucléaire). ses travaux portent sur la fiabilité organisationnelle, les outils de gestion et les méthodologies qualitatives de terrain, en particulier les techniques dʼobservation. nathalie raulet-croset est maître de conférences en sciences de gestion à lʼiae de paris, université paris 1, et chercheur au centre de recherche en gestion de lʼecole polytechnique. ses travaux de recherche portent en particulier sur lʼémergence et les conditions dʼefficacité de coopérations multi-acteurs et multi-institutions autour de situations de gestion territorialement ancrées (problèmes dʼenvironnement, problèmes urbains,…). m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 1, 2008, 27-55 54 benoît journé et nathalie raulet-croset references � agre, g. p. 1982 the concept of problem, educational studies, 13: 2, 121-142. � blackler, f., n. crump, et s. mcdonald 2000 organizing processes in complex activity networks, organization, 7: 2, 277-300. � brown, j. s., et p. duguid 1991 organizational learning and communities of practice: toward a unified view of working, learning and innovation, organization science, 2: 1, 40-57. � callon, m. 1986 éléments pour une sociologie de la traduction : la domestication des coquilles st-jacques et des marins pêcheurs dans la baie de st. brieuc», lʼannéesociologique, 36, 169-208. � cook, s. d. n., et j. s. brown 1999 bridging epistemologies: the generative dance between organizational knowledge and organizational knowing, organization science, 10: 4, 381-400. � crozier, m., et e. friedberg 1977 l'acteur et le système, paris: seuil. � deffontaines, j.-p., m. benoît, j. brossier, e. chia, f gras, et m. roux (dir.) 1993 agriculture et qualité des eaux : diagnostic et propositions pour un périmètre de protection, versailles : inra-sad. � deffontaines, j.-p., et j. brossier 2000 système agraire et qualité de l'eau : efficacité d'un concept et construction négociée d'une recherche, nature, science, société, 8: 1, 14-25. � dewey, j. 1938 logic: the theory of inquiry, new york: holt. � dewey, j. 1993 logique : la théorie de l'enquête, paris : puf. � dutton, j. e. 1988 understanding strategic agenda building and its implications for managing change, in l. r. pondy et r. j. boland et h. thomas(eds.), managing ambiguity and change, new york: wiley, 127-144. � dutton, j. e., et r. b. duncan 1987 the creation of momentum for change through the process of strategic issue diagnosis, strategic management journal, 8: 3, 279-295. � dutton, j. e., et s. e. jackson 1987 categorizing strategic issues: links to organizational action, academy of management review: 12: 1, 76-90. � elsbach, k. d., p. s. barr, et a. b. hargadon 2005 identifying situated cognition in organizations, organization science, 16: 4, 422-433. � engeström, y. 2005 developmental work research: expanding activity theory in practice, berlin: lehmanns media. � garreta, g. 1999 situation et objectivité : activité et émergence des objets dans le pragmatisme de dewey et mead, in m. de fournel et l. quéré (dir.), la logique des situations : nouveaux regards sur lʼécologie des activités sociales, raisons pratiques n° 10, paris : editions de l'ehess, 35-68. � girin, j. 1990a l'analyse empirique des situations de gestion: éléments de théorie et de méthode, in a.-c. martinet (dir.), epistémologies et sciences de gestion, paris: economica, 141-182. � girin, j. 1990b problèmes du langage dans les organisations, in j.-f. chanlat (dir.), l'individu dans l'organisation : les dimensions oubliées, sainte-foy, québec: presses de l'université laval, et paris : eska, 37-77. � girin, j. 2000 management et complexité: comment importer en gestion un concept polysémique?, in a. david, a. hatchuel et r. laufer (dir.), les nouvelles fondations des sciences de gestion, paris: vuibert, 125-139. � goffman, e. 1987 façons de parler, paris: editions de minuit. � goffman, e. 1988 la situation négligée, in y. winkin (dir.), les moments et leurs hommes, paris: editions de minuit, 143-149. � goffman, e. 1991 les cadres de l'expérience, paris: editions de minuit. � heath, c., et p. luff 1994 activité distribuée et organisation de l'interaction, sociologie du travail, 36: 4, 523-545. � hutchins, e. 1994 comment le "cockpit" se souvient de ses vitesses, sociologie du travail, 36: 4, 451-473. � hutchins, e. 1995 cognition in the wild, cambridge, ma: mit press. � jackson, s. e., et j. e. dutton 1988 discerning threats and opportunities, administrative science quarterly, 33: 3, 370-387. � jarzabkowski, p. 2005 strategy as practice: an activity-based approach, london: sage. � journé, b. 1998 les facteurs humains de la conduite et la "cognition distribuée", revue générale nucléaire, 1: janvier, 74-82. � journé, b. 1999 les organisations complexes à risques: gérer la sûreté par les ressources. etudes de situations de conduite de centrales nucléaires, thèse de doctorat non publiée, paris : ecole polytechnique. m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 1, 2008, 27-55 55 le concept de situation � journé, b. 2005 etudier le management de l'imprévu: méthode dynamique d'observation in situ, finance contrôle stratégie, 8: 4, 63-91. � koenig, g. 2003 l'organisation dans une perspective interactionniste, in b. vidaillet (dir.), le sens de l'action. karl weick : sociopsychologie de l'organisation, paris : vuibert, 15-34. � langley, a., h. mintzberg, p. pitcher, e. posada et j. saint-macary 1995 opening up decision making: the view from the black stool, organization science, 6: 3, 260-279. � laroche, h. 1996 note critique: karl, e. weick, sensemaking in organizations, sociologie du travail, 38: 2, 225-232. � lave, j., et e. wenger 1990 situated learning: legitimate peripheral participation, cambridge: cambridge university press. � lipshitz, r., g. klein, j. orasanu et s. eduardo 2001 taking stock of naturalistic decision making, journal of behavioral decision making, 14: 5, 331-352. � lorino, p., et j.-c. peyrolle 2005 démarche pragmatiste et mise en processus dans les situations de gestion, in r. teulier et p. lorino (dir.), entre connaissance et organisation: l'activité collective. l'entreprise face au défi de la connaissance, paris: la découverte, 220-229. � lorino, p., et r. teulier (dir.) 2005 entre connaissance et organisation : l'activité collective. l'entreprise face a u défi de la connaissance, paris: la découverte. � majone, g. 1980 an anatomy of pitfalls, in g. majone et e. s. quade (dir.), pitfalls of analysis, new-york: wiley, 7-22. � mayer, p. 1982 les règlements de sécurité dans une industrie à risques. recherche sur l'atmosphère subjective de la gestion de la sécurité et de l'ambiance de travail dans une installation, crg, paris: ecole polytechnique. � midler, c. 1996 développement de la logique projet, crises et mutations des fonctions techniques, in p. cohendet, j.-h. jacot et p. lorino (dir.), cohérence, pertinence et évaluation, paris : economica, 93-109. � mintzberg, h. 1980 the nature of managerial work, englewood cliffs, nj: prentice hall. � moisdon, j.-c., et d. tonneau 1983 gestion de la complexité: l'exemple des laboratoires de biochimie de l'assistance publique de paris, economies et sociétés, série sciences de gestion, 3, 1501-1543. � morgan, g. 1989 images de lʼorganisation, laval, québec : presses de l'université laval. � ogien, a. 1999 emergence et contrainte : situation et expérience chez dewey et goffman, in m. de fournel et l. quéré (dir.), la logique des situations : nouveaux regards sur lʼécologie des activités sociales, raisons pratiques n° 10, paris : editions de l'ehess, 69-93. � peirce, c. s. 1995 le raisonnement et la logique des choses, paris: le cerf. � raulet-croset, n. 1995 du conflit à la coopération: un processus de structuration : le cas de la protection d'une nappe d'eau minérale vis-à-vis de pratiques agricoles, thèse de doctorat non publiée, paris : université paris dauphine. � raulet-croset, n. 1998 du conflit à la coopération autour d'un problème d'environnement : une première étape, la construction d'un cadrage, annales des mines, gérer et comprendre, 51, 4-14. � riveline, c. 1991 de lʼurgence en gestion, gérer et comprendre, 22, mars, 82-92. � rouleau, l. 2005 micro-practices of strategic sensemaking and sensegiving: how middle managers interpret and sell change every day, journal of management studies, 42: 7, 1413-1441. � schön, d. a. 1994 le praticien réflexif : à la recherche du savoir caché dans l'agir professionnel, montréal, québec: editions logiques. � smith, g. e. 1989 defining managerial problems: a framework for prescriptive theorizing, management science, 35: 8, 963-981. � suchman, l. 1987 plans and situated action: the problem of human-machine communication, cambridge: cambridge university press. � suchman, l. 1993 response to vera and simonʼs situated action: a symbolic interpretation, cognitive science, 17: 1, 71-75. � theureau, j., et g. filippi 1994 cours d'action et conception d'un système d'aide à la coordination : le cas de la régulation du trafic du rer, sociologie du travail, 36: 4, 547-562. � van maanen, j. 1979 the fact of fiction in organizational ethnography, administrative science quarterly, 24: 4, 539-550. � weick, k. e. 1979 the social psychology of organizing, 2nd edition, reading, ma: addison-wesley. � weick, k. e. 1995 sensemaking in organizations, thousand oaks, ca: sage. � weick, k. e., et k. sutcliffe 2001 managing the unexpected: assuring high performance in an age of complexity, san francisco, ca: jossey-bass. � weick, k. e., k. m. sutcliffe et d. obstfeld 2005 organizing and the process of sensemaking, organization science, 16: 4, 409-421. � whittington, r. 1996 strategy as practice, long range planning, 29: 5, 731-735. 203 katia angué and ulrike mayrhoferm@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 1 37 m@n@gement copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). m@n@gement is a double-blind refereed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.management-aims.com © 2010 m@n@gement and the author(s). katia angué ulrike mayrhofer 2010 international r&d cooperation: the effects of distance on the choice of the country of partners m@n@gement, 13(1), 137. m@n@gement est la revue officielle de l’aims m@n@gement is the official journal of aims issn: 1286-4892 editors: emmanuel josserand, hec, université de genève (editor in chief) jean-luc arrègle, edhec (editor) stewart clegg, university of technology, sydney (editor) philippe monin, em lyon (editor) josé pla-barber, universitat de valència (editor) linda rouleau, hec montréal (editor) michael tushman, harvard business school (editor) thibaut bardon, universté paris-dauphine, crepa hec, université de genève (editorial assistant) florence villesèche, hec, université de genève (editorial assistant) martin g. evans, university of toronto (editor emeritus) bernard forgues, emlyon business school (editor emeritus) accepted by jean-luc arrègle a s s o c i a t i o n i n t e r n a t i o n a l e d e m a n a g e m e n t s t r a t é g i q u e 2 international r&d cooperation: the effects of distance on the choice of the country of partners m@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 1 37 international r&d cooperation: the effects of distance on the choice of the country of partners katia angué ulrike mayrhofer katia angué laboratoire cemoi, université de la réunion katia.angue@univ-reunion.fr ulrike mayrhofer centre magellan, iae de lyon, université lyon 3 and rouen business school ulrike.mayrhofer@univ-lyon3.fr the objective of this article is to evaluate the impact of the initial context of companies on their propensity to cooperate and on the characteristics of partner companies that they consider to be significant. more specifically, the authors attempt to measure the influence of different dimensions of distance (cultural, administrative, geographic, economic and technological) on the choice of the country of partners in international r&d cooperation. based on the contribution of the literature on international business and the framework proposed by ghemawat (2001), this article develops several hypotheses concerning the effects of distance, analysed by five different dimensions. these hypotheses are tested on a sample of 1502 international agreements concluded by european companies in the biotechnology industry. the findings of the empirical study show that distance influences the choice of the country of partners, but that the impact varies according to the dimension analysed and the context of the agreement. in particular, they reveal that administrative, geographic, economic and technological distance plays an essential role, whereas cultural distance does not have a significant influence on the choice of the country of partners, at least in the biotechnology industry and when projects are subsidised. key words: international cooperation, distance, choice of partner, research and development, national environment. introduction this research is part of studies concerning the international development of companies, and more specifically concerning cooperation agreements signed with partners located abroad. it looks at the external environment of organisations, attempting to identify which dimen3 katia angué and ulrike mayrhoferm@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 1 37 sions are of pivotal importance in choosing a partner for international cooperation on r&d. thus, while most research focusing on cooperation strategies tends to adopt an internal approach, deriving in most cases from the work of barney (1991) and wernerfelt (1984), we have chosen to adopt an external standpoint, preferring to look at the approach developed notably by porter (industry structure view). driven by a manifest phenomenon of intellectual fashion favouring the approach of rbv or resource based view, recent research on choice of co-operation partners has tended to neglect the structural and environmental aspects to concentrate solely on the internal resources and skills of partner organisations. however, firms continue to a large extent to be affected by external aspects, the effects of which are definite, and not always negligible (christmann et al., 1999), especially in the perspective of international expansion. in particular, when potential partners for r&d cooperation are operating in different national environments, the distance between them appears likely to shape their decision to sign an agreement and the modalities of their cooperation (hagedoorn et al., 2005). however, distance is a multi-dimensional concept which is invariably difficult to assess, and until now it has been essentially studied in the analysis of internationalisation processes, initiated by the pioneering work of johanson and vahlne (1977). in this context, the focus has been on the cultural dimension of distance, while other dimensions of distance have been neglected, even if its influence on internationalisation processes is not clearly established (tihanyi et al., 2005). however, in the case of an international cooperation agreement, the company generally needs to manage several forms of distance between its national environment and the environment of its potential partners. considering these different contributions, the objective of this article is to evaluate the relative importance of different forms of distance for the choice of the country of partners in international r&d cooperation. in other words, it aims to contribute to the research concerning the formation of international cooperation agreements and to the elements influencing the choice of a foreign partner by concretely and objectively seizing the multiple forms of the distance. to achieve this objective, we have chosen to use the conceptual framework proposed by ghemawat (2001). however, to the four forms of distance differentiated by the author (cultural, administrative, geographic and economic), we have added a fifth dimension, that of technology, to appreciate the impact of different dimensions of distance on 1502 international agreements concluded by european firms in the biotechnology industry. according to the chosen framework, the analysis concerns the ‘macro’ level of the choice of countries and is based on the differences between countries where potential partners are located. in the first section, we examine the role of distance in the international development of companies, and more specifically in international r&d cooperation. the second section is devoted to a presentation of the empirical study and discussion of the results obtained. 4 international r&d cooperation: the effects of distance on the choice of the country of partners m@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 1 37 distance(s) and international cooperation when a company decides to enter foreign markets, it has to deal with distance between its home country and the countries where it intends to develop. many contributions on internationalisation integrate the concept of distance, which remains operationalised in a rather heterogeneous way. however, if the literature admits that distance plays a role in the process of internationalisation, its impact (and the sense of its impact) has not been clearly established. thus, before defining the concept of distance more specifically and assessing its effects on the choice of a partner in the development of international r&d cooperation, it seems necessary to examine the role of distance in the literature focusing on the international development of companies. the concept of distance and the internationalisation of firms despite the effects of economic globalisation and increasing integration of regional economic spaces, distance continues to influence the international development of companies. in the literature dedicated to the internationalisation of companies, many authors have attempted to analyse the concept of distance and its effects on decisions linked to foreign market entry. this is the case of research in international business that defines the notion of distance through the more general concept of ‘psychic ditance’ put forward in the uppsala model. developed by johanson and vahlne (1977), this model recommends a progressive approach to foreign markets, allowing the company to benefit from learning effects. according to the authors, companies that internationalise are confronted with a lack of knowledge concerning foreign markets (lack of market knowledge) which mainly originates from psychic distance as it is perceived by managers and which separates different countries, that is ‘the sum of factors preventing or disturbing the flows of information between firms and markets’ (johanson and wiedersheim-paul, 1975, p. 308). this definition, which is relatively broad, leaves room for different elements such as differences in language, education systems, managerial practices, cultures and industrial development. johanson and wiedersheim-paul (1975) and johanson and vahlne (1977) use the concept of psychic distance to support the linear and incremental conception of internationalisation processes. thus, to overcome the lack of knowledge of foreign markets, which represents an obstacle to international development, managers tend to prefer, as a first step, to enter countries which represent a certain psychic proximity with their country of origin. then, once companies’ international experience increases, their psychic distance from other geographic areas is reduced, allowing companies to develop in initially more distant countries. in this analytical context, distance represents a determinant of the in5 katia angué and ulrike mayrhoferm@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 1 37 ternational development of firms and the major difficulty is that of its operationalisation (brewer, 2007). despite its attractiveness, this approach has recently been questioned by research on ‘born globals’. from this perspective, the internationalisation process is no longer considered as incremental and linear; in fact, the opposite is true, because the company is perceived as an economic model which is immediately defined at an international level. for researchers adopting this approach, companies attempt, from their creation, to construct competitive advantage by directly using or selling their products in many countries (knight and cavusgil, 2004; oviatt and mcdougall, 1994; zucchella and scabini, 2007). thus, not all companies internationalise in countries with increasing psychic distance or use the reduction of distance step suggested by the uppsala model. besides the emergence of alternative approaches to the international development of companies questioning the role of distance, it seems important to emphasise that psychic distance remains difficult to operationalise (evans and mavondo, 2002) and that its different attributes remain controversial (brewer, 2007; o’grady and lane, 1996). in fact, many studies relate to the concept of psychic distance by relying only on cultural distance or by including different aspects such as the economy of the foreign market, the political system, time zones or the climate. however, even if psychic distance is often assimilated with cultural distance, the two notions, even if they cover similar aspects, are not equivalent. thus, psychic distance is specific to the firm and evolves according to the experience acquired on international markets. moreover, psychic distance covers a broader reality than cultural distance (brewer, 2007; o’grady and lane, 1996), even though the latter continues to be used in many empirical investigations (for example, delios and henisz, 2003a et b), especially since its operationalisation by kogut and singh (1988). for the two authors, cultural distance expresses the degree of separation between two national cultures, in other words, between two systems of ideas and values shared by the members of a given group. in contrast to psychic distance, cultural distance thus concerns two nations (and not the firm) and therefore presents a more static character. the index proposed by kogut and singh (1988), which is based on the indices observed by hofstede (2001) for four cultural dimensions, allows cultural distance to be calculated for different countries. the empirical investigations conducted by hofstede (2001) allow precise scores to be given to about fifty countries for four identified cultural dimensions: power distance refers to the perception of the degree of inequality in power between those who hold power and those subject to it. it reflects the distance between different ranks within an organisation and the way in which inequality between individuals is handled. uncertainty avoidance is a dimension ‘measuring the degree of tolerance a culture has with respect to disquietude resulting 6 international r&d cooperation: the effects of distance on the choice of the country of partners m@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 1 37 from an unknown future; if tolerance is low, avoidance will be high, and vice versa’ (bollinger and hofstede, 1987, p. 103). the ‘individualism/collectivism’ dimension refers to the relationship between individuals and other members of society. it determines the perception of the relationship between the individual and the group. the ‘masculinity/femininity’ dimension refers to a society’s allocation of roles between men and women (bollinger and hofstede, 1987; hofstede, 2001). while the impact of cultural distance on international corporate development has been examined in many empirical studies, its effects on internationalisation processes continue to be the subject of considerable debate (ambos and ambos, 2009; brouthers and brouthers, 2001; shenkar, 2001; stahl and voigt, 2008). some authors even argue that cultural or psychic distance does not necessarily represent an obstacle to the internationalisation of activities, because a weak psychic distance can make managers less attentive to differences and thus reduce learning effects (o’grady and lane, 1996). a meta-analysis of available empirical studies confirms that a large cultural distance will usually reduce companies capital commitment of companies to international operations (tihanyi et al., 2005). alongside this, and without neglecting the role of cultural distance, many scholars in international business have studied the impact of the institutional context of countries on entry modes preferred by companies. in this sense, the research conducted by delios and henisz (2000, 2003a and b) on the internationalisation strategies of japanese firms shows, for instance, that the institutional (or political) environment of a country can be a source of uncertainty and thus have a significant impact on the choice of investments. according to the authors, the institutional environment concerns laws, regulations, administrative procedures and politics developed by the government of a country. based on the analysis of investments made by 665 japanese firms in 49 countries for the period from 1980 to 1998, their studies also indicate that firms tend to adapt their investment policy according to the levels of uncertainty associated with different institutional contexts. delios and henisz (2000, 2003a and b) demonstrate that the uncertainty linked to the institutional context not only influences the initial choice of entry mode, but also the evolution of investments. in other words, it is only through a sequential development that companies can benefit from a learning effect concerning the institutional context of the countries involved. the authors emphasise that uncertainty linked to the institutional context should be considered in explanatory models of internationalisation at the same level as uncertainty associated with cultural differences and the specific characteristics of foreign markets. the importance of the institutional context is also highlighted by the research conducted by eden and miller (2004) who show that institutional distance is likely to generate specific costs which influence market entry modes preferred by multinational companies. more generally, they consider that the institutional distance between the country of origin of the multinational company and the foreign country reduces the 7 katia angué and ulrike mayrhoferm@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 1 37 capitalistic commitment of multinational com-panies. research on the internationalisation of firms clearly shows that the concept of distance is a multidimensional concept. the latter has been declined in many ways by differentiating, alternatively or jointly, linguistic and/or cultural gaps, institutional distances between countries, and sometimes by even including differences in commercial practices or economic gaps between the national context of the company and the markets it intends to enter1. given this diversity, and in order to sum up the multiple aspects of distance mentioned in the literature, ghemawat (2001) recently proposed a suitable conceptual framework known as the “cage (cultural, administrative, geographic, economic) distance framework which make it possible to distinguish between four forms of distance that are likely to influence the international development of companies: (1) cultural, (2) administrative (or legal), (3) geographic and (4) economic distance. the author explains and illustrates each dimension, but does not provide details about their operationalisation. by categorising the different dimensions inherent to the notion of distance, the author’s contribution can be used as an analytical framework for examining the role of distance for international operations in general and for cooperative strategies in particular. this is the option adopted in this research which focuses on the role of distance in the conclusion of international r&d cooperation. in fact, where their international development is concerned, companies can choose to form cross-border cooperation agreements. distance is thus likely to influence certain decisions, namely the choice of the partner located abroad. this decision is particularly important, because the compatibility of partners is a necessary condition for the success of the cooperation agreement (doz and hamel, 2000). the influence of distance on international r&d cooperation in knowledge-based economy, many actors decide to form international cooperation agreements in the field of research and development (ohmae, 1995), that is agreements signed between independent organisations (private enterprises or public research laboratories), located in different countries, which combine resources and skills with the aim of carrying out a common r&d project. the goals pursued by partner organisations are often similar: the sharing of costs and risks linked to the development of new products and processes, learning and transfer of knowledge, creation of new knowledge, skills and capabilities (barthélémy et al., 2001; hagedoorn and narula, 1996). however, given the risks intrinsic to any cooperative project, the achievement of the goals as initially defined can in many cases be seen as problematic. in the light of the issues involved, r&d agreements are frequently subject to tension or even conflict which the partners can prevent by carefully choosing their ally or allies (pitsis et al., 2004; puthod and thévenard-puthod, 2006). in fact, when a company engages in cooperation on r&d, it is faced with a degree of uncertainty arising from the incomplete nature of the 1. a synthesis of the different definitions of the concept of distance is provided by the article of brewer (2007). 8 international r&d cooperation: the effects of distance on the choice of the country of partners m@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 1 37 contracts signed. this is so because it is difficult, or even impossible, to determine the exact nature of the knowledge that will be created by the cooperative project or to anticipate the use and value of that knowledge. furthermore, information asymmetry means that a company cannot evaluate its partners’ ability to create knowledge in any precise way (o’sullivan, 2005). in his research, hennart (1982) also shows that this uncertainty is likely to increase transaction costs; companies can thus prefer the internalisation of activities to the choice of the market or the adoption of hybrid forms of organisation (e.g. licensing or franchising agreements). moreover, recent contributions reveal that uncertainty is aggravated in the case of international cooperation, where the company is involved with a partner operating in a different context (delios and henisz, 2003; hagedoorn et al., 2005). in practice, such cooperation agreements can bring together two or more organisations from the private sector or the scientific world. multilateral cooperation on r&d is often conducted within a consortium framework or a grouping of organisations formed for such a project, allowing the associated firms to access resources that are difficult to transfer and/or to create new resources and skills (barthélémy et al., 2001). in europe, consortium formation has been facilitated by the implementation of a number of eu programmes such as eureka projects, the aim of which is to enhance the competitiveness of european companies, or the multiyear framework programme for research and technological development, put in place by the european union, under which cooperative arrangements take the form of programmes whose costs are shared. in any event, when a company decides to enter into a cooperation agreement with a partner based in another country, it will inevitably need to cope with the distance between its home country and the country or countries of the partner(s), notably because of the increased the level of uncertainty or perceived risk involved in these cross-border operations (henisz and macher, 2004). thus, it seems interesting to examine the impact of the different dimensions of distance as presented in the cage model developed by ghemawat (2001) on the choice of a partner located in a foreign country. the following paragraphs are dedicated to each of the four dimensions put forward by the author. we suggest adding a fifth dimension relating to technology, which is also likely to influence the morphology of cooperation agreements (hagedoorn et al., 2005). cultural distance, the first dimension analysed in the analytical framework proposed by ghemawat (2001), continues to receive the most attention in the literature, including in the context of international cooperation. it results from a range of factors such as differences in language, ethnicity, religious beliefs, and social norms. it influences the way in which individuals interact with each other and with companies and institutions (ghemawat, 2001; tyrrell, 2004). in the context of inter-firm agreements, many studies emphasise the necessary cultural compatibility of partners (pothukuchi et al., 2002), arguing that the similarity of allies’ norms and values is likely to facilitate their interactions and exchanges (lane and lubatkin, 1998). more generally, it is hypoth9 katia angué and ulrike mayrhoferm@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 1 37 esised that the heterogeneity of cultural environments of partners favours comprehension problems linked to differences in interpretation and perception (parkhe 1991; pothukuchi et al., 2002). moreover, culturally distant organisations would interpret and treat information and events that are likely to disturb the initiation and development of the collaboration in a different way (parkhe, 1991). the cultural dimension thus seems essential in r&d cooperation, where exchanges between partners, linked to the transfer and creation of knowledge, are frequent (barthélémy et al., 2001). conversely, cultural distance can also be considered as a source of complementarity (yeheskel et al., 2001), favouring creativity (blanchot, 2008). a meta-analysis of the impact of cultural differences on the performance of mergers and acquisitions recently offered by stahl and voigt (2008) even shows that cultural distance can have positive and negative effects. however, it seems important to observe that in the case of r&d partnerships, the positive aspects of diversity seem rapidly to be balanced or obscured by its negative effects, particularly as far as the transfer of knowledge is concerned (ambos and ambos, 2009), which makes it possible to hypothesise that when a company needs to select a partner located in a foreign country, the most favoured choice will be an organisation whose national culture is relatively close. h1: the more distant countries where organisations operate are in terms of culture, the less likely it will be that those organisations form r&d partnerships. administrative (or political) distance relates essentially to history, membership of different political, economic or monetary unions (e.g. increasing integration in the european union is reducing the administrative distance between member states), potential political hostility, government policy and the institutional or legal context (ghemawat, 2001). in contrast to cultural distance, this dimension of distance has not been widely studied. one of the most prominent attempts in this field is the construction of the index of political constraints (polcon) elaborated by henisz (2002), which measures the feasibility of changes in political orientation in 234 countries according to the structure of their political institutions. independently from these attempts at measurement, few large-scale empirical investigations currently consider the administrative aspect of distance in internationalisation processes and thus in the context of cooperation, presumably because of the multiple definitions which make measurement more problematic. in fact, several distinct orientations can be observed in the literature, which sometimes represents the dimension only in terms of its administrative or procedural aspects, and sometimes including certain institutional or political aspects (henisz, 2002), or legal (evans and mavondo, 2002) or historical aspects (brewer, 2007; ghemawhat, 2001) also. the effects of this dimension of distance on companies’ international operations can be significant (delios and henisz, 2000, 2003a and b; henisz, 2002; henisz and macher, 2004). in this context, for example, the france’s limited appeal as a location for foreign multinational companies’ r&d activities in pharmacology can partly be explained by the difficulties encountered 10 international r&d cooperation: the effects of distance on the choice of the country of partners m@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 1 37 in conducting clinical tests in satisfactory conditions, linked ‘to the administrative procedures and the negative image of clinical research in the public administration and at the hospital’ (sachwald, 2004, p. 17). as for the choice of location, significant differences between the institutional contexts of partners will usually make cooperation more difficult (parkhe, 1991). in particular, the institutional context of a country can be a source of uncertainty and play a significant role in companies’ choices in terms of investments (delios and henisz, 2000, 2003a and b). when putting a cooperative r&d project in place, a company needs to pay particular attention to its partner’s legislative framework. indeed, national legislative systems continue to show substantial differences (legislation on patents, contract performance, for example), which can be a major impediment to r&d cooperation (hagedoorn et al., 2005), because these differences increase uncertainty and the risks of opportunism (hennart, 1982), and more specifically when technologies concerned by the agreement are new or emerging. substantial legal distance is therefore likely to limit companies’ willingness to engage in a cooperative r&d project. h2: the more significant differences between national administrative contexts in which organisations operate become, the less likely it will be that those organisations form r&d partnerships. the notion of distance immediately relates to geographic distance, which is its most visible and intuitive dimension. it refers to the physical distance existing between the countries or geographic spaces in which the partners are operating. it results from a range of factors such as the absence of a common national border, transport (allowing access by sea, river, train or road) and communication infrastructures. such factors are likely to generate specific costs such as those arising from transport or communication (ghemawat, 2001). geographic distance can thus appear as an obstacle to the development of international economic relationships. geographic distance can also affect the choice of an r&d partner. however, in this field, it is essentially the literature on spillovers2 and the regional economy which has analysed this notion by showing its role in the exchange of knowledge. as a pioneer of research on technological externalities, griliches (1979) has initiated many theoretical and empirical studies by introducing and developing an index of geographic coincidence in the function of knowledge production. following the conclusions of his research, which have since been confirmed by several empirical investigations, he hypothesised a strong geographic dimension concerning the effects of public research on the innovation capacity of surrounding firms. thus, the geographic proximity of partners of r&d cooperation seems desirable because it favours the internalisation of these externalities by facilitating the transfer of knowledge. the research of the author is reflected in many current studies that emphasise the necessity of face-to-face interactions between r&d partners. the idea is that significant geographic distance makes the transfer of knowledge between different entities more difficult because the personal contacts and interactions between the teams involved be2. an externality (or spillover) exists when an economic exchange affects another actor and when this effect does not act through the system of prices. this is the case, for instance, when r&d expenses of an actor contribute to increase the stock of knowledge of another actor. 11 katia angué and ulrike mayrhoferm@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 1 37 come less frequent (hansen and lovas, 2004; shenkar, 2001), for example because of time differences between partners and the length of transmission channels (ambos and ambos, 2009). however, even before the conclusion of the agreement, geographic distance can have an impact on the choice of a partner located in a foreign country, because companies tend to prefer partners operating in an environment that seems close, that they have already met or that they know. beise and stahl (1999) show that it is essentially for reasons of convenience that these links are more intense in concentrated geographic areas. therefore, physical distance is likely to reduce the probability that cooperation opportunities will be identified. finally, the costs generated by geographic distance can be significant for activities such as r&d which require an high degree of coordination, inciting companies to prefer a partner that is physically close. given all these elements, we can assume that geographic distance is likely to reduce the willingness of companies to form r&d cooperation agreements. h3: the more geographically distant countries where organisations operate are, the less likely it will be that these organisations form r&d partnerships. as for economic distance, this is the result of differences between countries in terms of their economic wealth as well as the cost and quality of the available natural, financial and human resources (ghemawat, 2001). economic distance between countries can be quantified using a number of indicators, such as the gross national product (gnp) per capita, the growth rate, or the degree of openness to international trade (hagedoorn et al., 2005). more generally speaking, it is in the field of international economics that this dimension of distance has often been examined, and notably in the formulation of gravity models, named in reference to newton’s. in fact, the impact of economic differences is a fundamental component of the calculation of gravity equations, supposed to predict bilateral exchange flows between countries. these calculations of potential exchange between countries are based on the notions of attraction (linked to the ‘mass’ relative to countries associated with economic flows) and of repulsion (which derives from the distance, in a large sense, separating the co-contractors) (fontagné et al., 2002). in this context, the respective revenues of partner countries are thus considered, if they are close, as representing a force of attraction stimulating the volume of exchange between nations. it thus seems relevant to transfer this dimension of distance, which is well known in international economics, to the analysis of r&d cooperation. this is the option chosen by cabo (1997), who demonstrates that eureka projects are more frequently concluded between countries with a high and similar level of wealth. in other words, since the economic environment and the availability of resources play an essential role in the field of r&d, one can suppose that companies will preferably collaborate with partners whose economic environment is similar to that of their country of origin. this can be calculated using data from international organisations such as unctad, oecd or the world bank. the economic environment and the availability of resources play a key 12 international r&d cooperation: the effects of distance on the choice of the country of partners m@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 1 37 role where r&d is concerned and it can be assumed that companies will prefer to collaborate with partners whose economic environment is similar to that of their home country. h4: the more economically distant countries where organisations operate are, the less likely it will be that those organisations form r&d partnerships. and lastly, technological distance refers to the difference in levels of technological development in the partners’ countries. this dimension is dependent not only on the comparative scope of the countries’ national systems for innovation and the presence of technology-intensive industries, but also on the comparative levels of participation in international research programmes (hagedoorn and narula, 1996). absent from the framework proposed by ghemawhat (2001), and often neglected in the research on the internationalisation of firms (henisz and macher, 2004), this dimension of distance seems to be studied more regularly at the ‘micro’ level of the organisation (noteboom et al., 2007) or for comparing the basis of knowledge of potential r&d partners (mowery et al., 1998). however, in the field of r&d, studies concerning factors affecting the internationalisation of activities of multinational companies emphasise the importance of the technological environment of companies (henisz and macher, 2004), concerning its scientific and technical characteristics (sachwald, 2004) as well as the importance and vitality or quality of links established between research activities and the industry of foreign countries. in this context, sachwald (2004) shows that the unfavourable perception of innovation policies and developed actions in the field of biotechnologies in france in comparison to those of other countries explains, at least partially, the lower attractiveness of france for r&d activities in this industry. in the same way, henisz and macher (2004) emphasise that foreign direct investment by multinational companies partially takes place to benefit from the national innovation system of the foreign country. the authors indicate that, in the industry of semi-conductors, technological differences between countries influence, at least partially, decisions concerning internationalisation. the publications of porter and stern (2001) on national innovative capacity also indicate that its role is not inconsiderable, particularly where international operations concern r&d activities. as for r&d cooperation agreements, the empirical study conducted by hagedoorn et al. (2005) highlights the role played by technological distance by showing that it can represent a major impediment to setting up an international cooperative project. the integration of this dimension of distance in the analysis of links on r&d seems relevant because it can contribute to an increase in the level of uncertainty concerning the signing of the cooperation agreement with a partner located in a distant country in terms of technology. in other words, it is likely that technological and scientific characteristics of the national environment in which potential partners of a cooperation agreement operate help to create a form of distance between them and that they play a role in the configuration of r&d agreements. 13 katia angué and ulrike mayrhoferm@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 1 37 on this basis, we can reasonably presume that technological distance between the countries where partner organisations are located will reduce the companies’ willingness to enter into r&d partnerships. h5: the more distant the countries where organisations operate are in terms of technology, the less likely it will be that those organisations form r&d partnerships. empirical study the empirical study focuses on cooperation agreements in the r&d field entered into by european firms operating in the biotechnology industry, bearing in mind that biotechnology is defined as the use of the properties of the living world for the production of materials or services intended for the living world. this is a sector with a network structure par excellence (owen-smith et al., 2002) and one in which the size of an operator’s portfolio of agreements is crucial. it offers a rich and relevant field of study for the examination of the various dimensions of distance described above. moreover, this choice allows us to contribute to international business debate, and more specifically the discussions surrounding the international development of companies and ‘born globals’ mentioned previously. in this analytical context, it has been argued that smes in the high technology field, which include companies in the biotechnology industry, internationalise more rapidly by showing a higher degree of interest in the global market from their creation (knight and cavusgil, 2004). internationalisation is not reserved for big companies, and it also increasingly concerns r&d activities (sachwald, 2004). finally, the choice of europe as a field of investigation is based on several empirical studies which show that the location of r&d activities is not uniform but more concentrated in developed countries. study methodology and operationalisation of concepts the five hypotheses formulated were tested on a sample of 1502 r&d partnerships established by european biotechnology firms. the data used in this empirical study were extracted from a database built up in the context of some wider research on the choice of suitable partners for r&d collaboration. this database contains information on three types of r&d cooperation entered into by european biotechnology firms with other companies or scientific bodies during the period 1992-2000. it covers: based on the on-line information system of the european union (cordis) and the cd-rom with the same name (cordis iv, 1999 edition), all multinational cooperative programmes undertaken under the eu’s framework programmes for research and technological development partly supported by eu subsidies based on the eureka databank managed by the eureka office located in brussels, and accessible via internet, the various projects conducted under the eureka label in the medical and biotechnology domain of this pan-european programme and fi14 international r&d cooperation: the effects of distance on the choice of the country of partners m@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 1 37 nanced in most cases by means of repayable fund advances topped up by the partners’ national governments based on the specialised press (such as the biofutur journal for france), reports edited by national associations of biotechnology and websites of european biotechnology companies, other agreements relating to r&d which we qualify as ‘non-framework agreements’, whether these were subsidised at the national level or not it is worth noting that for all the cooperative r&d programmes surveyed, only those involving at least one private company were taken into account and the chosen sample concerns only international agreements put in place by partners based in one of the 15 european countries most active in the biotechnology field (cf. annex a). table 1 below contains a detailed breakdown of the sample used. table 1 – structure of sample number of agreements 1 502 including: framework programme (mixed)* eureka projects “non-framework” agreements number of co-participation pairings 737 163 602 (15*14)/2 * only programmes in which the costs were shared, or “mixed” programmes (i.e. with at least one company) were selected for this study. the other projects surveyed in this context involved only scientific bodies. the final sample includes agreements concluded in three different contexts. in fact, non-framework r&d agreements do not generally benefit from subsidies and are signed spontaneously between independent organisations. moreover, our sample includes collaborations signed at the international level so that they can benefit from the eureka label or from the framework programmes for r&d of the european union. these two types of projects are part of european programmes intended to promote innovation and exchange of knowledge which generally benefit from subsidies at the national level in the first case and at the eu-level in the second case3. conversely, they are different as concerns their orientation (eureka projects are closer to the market than projects conducted within the framework programmes for r&d), their degree of centralisation of procedures, which is higher for framework programmes for r&d, and the coordination of projects, which is conducted by companies in eureka projects (and is rare in the context of framework programmes for r&d). the fact that projects considered in this research have been concluded in different contexts has an impact on certain characteristics of our sample. in particular, the average number of partners of cooperation agreements in the context of framework programmes for r&d is relatively high (4086), whereas non-framework agreements are mainly bilateral. another characteristic element of projects concluded in the framework programmes is the index of geographic dispersion, that is, the rela3. in the case of france, these subsidies can come from oséo innovation, the ministry of research or the ministry of industry. concretely, a french sme participating to an eureka project can obtain a financing of reimbursable advance that can achieve about 50% of the budget of its participation to the eureka project 15 katia angué and ulrike mayrhoferm@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 1 37 tionship between the number of countries represented in the project and the total number of partners. the latter is higher in non-framework agreements and eureka projects than in framework programmes (0.99 compared with 0.74 and 0.68 respectively). since these contextual differences are not to be neglected and can influence the results obtained, the empirical study presented in this article develops the results at a global level but also at the level of all three categories of agreements. in practice, and in order to examine the dependent variable of the study, in each context we counted the number of links established between each pair of countries, or, in other words, the number of co-participations between organisations. this is because in order to examine the impact of cultural, administrative, geographic, economic and technological distance on the choice of a partner, an analysis of co-participations (or two-by-two pairings) rather than projects was judged to be more relevant, above all because it enables multilateral projects to be analysed. moreover, a similar approach had already been employed for an analysis of cooperation agreements established under the eu framework programme (e.g. charlet, 2001), as well as in the context of eureka consortia (e.g. hagedoorn and schakenraad, 1993; cabo, 1997) and for the analysis of other r&d cooperation agreements described here as non-framework agreements. consequently, the variable to be explained corresponds to the jaccard index for co-participations in eu framework programme projects, in the eureka programme and other non-framework cooperative projects, relating to r&d activities. in fact, this index, sometimes called the ‘similarity coefficient’, proves to be well-suited to comparisons between coparticipation profiles and at the same time provides a clearer idea of the affinities existing between partners of different nationalities than simplyadding up the links established between them. its use is also justified by the fact that by weighting the links established, it becomes possible to circumvent the ‘size’ effect due to the non-uniform intensity of the participation of the different countries in the three contexts for collaboration described above4 (cabo, 1997). in this way, it allows twoby-two affinity comparisons to be made, putting into perspective values that are comparable for each of the pairings considered. in practice, the jaccard index for the co-participations is calculated using a count of the pairings involved in the projects examined5 based on the number of cases in which at least one of the two components of the pair is present: (1) where cij: is the number of co-participations for country i and country j, ci: is the total number of country i participations, cj: is the number of country j participations. to be more precise, three jaccard indices were calculated for the whole series of 105 pairings in the three collaborative contexts, yielding in 4. divergence between the number of participations by organisations in the three contexts under consideration is in some cases very substantial, especially for eu framework programme projects, in which germany, france and the united kingdom account for most participations (cf. charlet, 2001). 5. giving pairings per project involving n partners. a project with two partners will form a single pairing and therefore a single co-participation. conversely, a project involving five partners of different nationalities will form ten pairings, and so on. for a study covering 15 countries, the number of potential pairings is therefore 105. jaccard index ij = cij ci + cj cij 16 international r&d cooperation: the effects of distance on the choice of the country of partners m@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 1 37 each case a similarity matrix summarising in line and column form the countries selected for the study, and in which cell cij indicates the sum of the number of pairings identified between partners of nationality i and nationality j. as a reflection of the intensity of the links between pairs created in the three contexts of r&d cooperation, the sum of these indices thus turns out to be highly suitable for the operationalisation of the dependent variable in this empirical study. the goal of this research is therefore to seek to explain such co-participations in r&d agreements on the basis of the notion of distance seen in terms of its various dimensions. other than in the special cases referred to below, the distances between a partner in country i and a partner based in country j were calculated as follows: (2) in this way, in order to determine the cultural distance separating partners cooperating in the r&d field, the hofstede index (indexh) has been employed in its synthetic aggregate version, based on the work of kogut and singh (1988) and which is constructed on the same principles as formula (2) for the measurement of distance used in this research. according to the authors, cultural distance dcjk between country j and country k can be calculated using the following formula: (1) where: iij is the index for cultural dimension i determined for country j, iik is the index for cultural dimension i determined for country k, and vi is the variance in the index for cultural dimension i. while cultural distance measurements have been used on numerous occasions, the measurement of administrative distance has proved to be much more problematic, one notable reason being the lack of large-scale empirical studies focusing on it. as a result, in order to assess this dimension of distance, we have selected several indicators based on the different interpretations of this dimension developed above. firstly, in order to approximate the divergence in legal terms between partners in r&d cooperation, use was made of the index for the protection of intellectual property rights formulated by ginarte and park (1997) and calculated by them for a large number of countries. this index is based on five sub-dimensions for which each country is awarded a score between 0 and 1 once every five years (cf. annex b). the unweighted sum of these component values yields a general score on a scale from 0 to 5. concerning the countries observed in this study, the scores are generally close to 4.5. even if variations remain relatively reduced between the countries analysed, some differences can be noted. thus, the netherlands or france had indexes of 4.54 in 1995 and 4.67 in 2000, while the scores calculated for norway reached only 3.88 in 1995 and 4 in 2000. dist ij = (score i score j)2 € σ distrib2 17 katia angué and ulrike mayrhoferm@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 1 37 following this, the distance between partners for this dimension (ipr) was calculated in accordance with formula 2 as presented above and using the average of the scores as calculated by ginarte and park (1997) and updated by park and wagh (2002) for the period of reference (i.e. 1995 and 2000) for each of the two countries represented. secondly, based on the reflexions of gwartney and lawson (2003), two components of the economic freedom indicator defined for 123 countries and published by the fraser institute in the annual economic freedom of the world (efw) reports were selected as reflecting the legal and administrative system as a whole (legal), to take account of the degree to which the labour, credit and business markets are regulated (regul) in the 15 countries of the sample (cf. annex b for the composition and sources of these indicators). thirdly, and following ghemawat (2001) and brewer (2007), the joint membership of partner countries to the same economic space (in our case, efta, eu and/or benelux) has been considered for the measurement of administrative distance; this corresponds to the variable comember which reflects the number of economic spaces shared by the allies. finally, a specific variable (polrisk) enabled the size of the differential in political risk to be taken into account. it reflects the degree of corruption or the scale of social conflicts affecting the country and corresponds to one of the three sub indices calculated and published by the prs group, a rating agency, which evaluates the general level of risk in over 150 countries on a fully transparent and multiyear basis (cf. annex b) and which is used in different studies (for example, meschi, 2008). geographic distance could be quantified using two variables: distance in kilometres between the capital cities of the countries where the allied companies were based (cabo, 1997) and a count of the borders shared by their respective countries (ghemawat, 2001). to be more precise, the figures used were the logarithms of the distance in kilometres (distkm) and the reciprocal of the number of common borders (limitrophe), which were used to avoid problems of heteroscedascity for the first variable and to convert the proximity expressed by the second into a distance coherent with the other explanatory factors in this study. for economic distance, as suggested by several studies, we used gross national product (gnp) per capita (gnpc) to express the difference between the partners’ standards of living. however, in this regard, significant differences continue to exist between the countries taken into consideration; this can be seen, for instance, in the difference observed between norway and spain, where the difference of the gnp per capita (in parity of purchasing power) is about 9000 euros for the period of study. according to the recommendations of brewer (2007), this measure was supplemented by the distance between allies in terms of development (hdi) as calculated using the index published annually by the united nations in connection with its development programme and by an assessment of the distance separating the partners in terms of economic risk (ecorisk) for the period under consideration, using the evaluation contained in the prs group reports (cf. annex b). 18 international r&d cooperation: the effects of distance on the choice of the country of partners m@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 1 37 conversely, in this research and with the aim of improving our knowledge of the nature and composition of this dimension, the question arose as to whether the economic dimension of distance should include differences existing between countries in terms of international trade flows. in this regard, the measure proposed here is not limited to the only differences concerning the creation of wealth, but has also attempted to integrate this aspect. therefore, the economic dimension of distance has also been calculated by two indicators dedicated to measuring the situation of the countries of the partners concerning their international trade: the comparison of the degree of openness of the economy (openness), measured by the average of imports and exports of goods and services as a ratio of the gdp (hagedoorn et al., 2005), and the level of exports (trade) of the partners’ countries. and lastly, for technological distance, it seemed necessary to take into account not only the partners’ general technological level but also the degree of maturity of biotechnology in the countries where the organisations associated under the agreement are operating, because an industry effect is likely to exist for this dimension. to do this, five indicators were chosen: the amount of investment in r&d made by resident enterprises, research institutes, universities and government laboratories, expressed as a ratio to total gdp (gerd), the index of national capacity of innovation (nci) concerning the period, based on the work of porter and stern (2010) (cf. annex b), the level of technological accomplishment (tai) as shown in unctad reports (cf. annex b), the number of new biotechnology firms (neb) formed per million inhabitants, and the number of biotechnology patent applications, per million inhabitants, filed with the european patent office for each of the 15 countries in the sample. in all, 18 instrumental explanatory variables were selected. they are summarised in table 2, which also contains details of the information sources used to quantify them. table 2 – summary of explanatory variables and associated data sources concept operationalisation of scores per country sources and methods cultural distance (c) administrative distance (a) geographic distance (g) economic distance (e) technological distance (t) kogut and singh (1988) synthetic index -difference in terms of intellectual property rights (ipr) -difference in terms of legal structures (legal) -difference in terms of regulation (regul) -difference in terms of political risk (polrisk) -membership of economic zones (comember) -logarithm of the distance in km between capital cities (distkm) -reciprocal of the number of common borders between partners (limitrop) -difference in terms of gnp per capita (gnpc) -difference in terms of openness of the economy (openness) -difference in terms of level of exports (trade) -difference in terms of level of development (hdi) -difference in terms of economic risk (ecorisk) -difference in terms of r&d spending as a percentage of gdp (gerd) -difference in terms of national innovation capacity (nci) -difference in terms of technological accomplishments (tai) -difference in terms of new biotech firms/per million population (neb) -difference in terms of numbers of biotech patent applications filed with epo/per million population (biopatent) hofstede (2001) kogut and singh (1988) ginarte and park (1997), park (2008) efw (various eds) efw (various eds) efw (various eds) international country risk guide cabo (1997) ghemawat (2001) eurostat (online database) oecd factbook (various eds) oecd (online database) and world bank human development report (undp, various eds) international country risk guide oecd factbook (various eds) porter and stern (2001) human development reports (various eds) ernst & young reports (multiple eds) and oecd biotechnology statistics (2006) eurostat (online database) 19 katia angué and ulrike mayrhoferm@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 1 37 results and discussion the presentation of the statistical results includes an analysis of the correlations, several estimated regression models and the discussion of the results obtained. table 3 sets out the descriptive statistics and bivariate correlations for all the chosen indicators. overall, while the vast majority of the explanatory variables tested turn out to be linked negatively to the intensity of coparticipations in r&d cooperative projects, several exceptions can nevertheless be identified. these relate particularly to the variables legal and regul linked to administrative distance whose positive correlations with the measure of co-participations (0.14 and 0.27) reflect the variety of institutional, legal and administrative contexts in which the partners are operating. the positive sign attached to these correlations seems to contradict hypothesis 2 which, it is recalled, conjectured that there was a negative relationship between these two concepts. however, with the exception of the variables already mentioned, all the other correlations are aligned with the hypotheses formulated above. their examination also reveals certain problems of multicollinearity between the independent variables of the study, justifying the reduction of the data using factorial analysis before applying regression analysis. this intermediate data-reduction stage is explained in box 1, which proves a broad outline of the statistical treatment processes applied. it is followed by the regressions, the results of which are now described in brief. the values in bold are significant at α=0.05. the statistical treatment of the data used in the study in order to reduce to a minimum the problems caused by collinearity in the explanatory variables, a few precautions were taken prior to estimating the regression coefficients (evrard et al., 2003). the data were first synthesised in a phase involving the reduction of the variables whose results are summarised in annex c, by applying principal components analysis (pca) with varimax rotation on each of the study concepts. following this, the constructs extracted from the procedure were integrated into three regression models which first only variable mean sd 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 copart indexh ipr polrisk legal regul comember distkm (ln) limitrop (inv) ecorisk gnpc hdi openness trade neb biopatent gerd nci tai exppcrd expeureka expacrd 0,03 2,22 2,19 2,45 2,36 2,41 0,75 6,85 0,76 2,12 1,85 1,79 2,51 2,52 1,45 1,89 2,17 2,14 1,52 2,14 2,14 2,14 0,02 1,37 3,01 3,13 2,8 3,27 0,46 0,61 0,43 3,2 2,41 2,64 3,22 3,2 1,73 3,18 2,91 1,76 2,15 2,65 2,48 3,42 1 -0,05 -0,15 -0,02 0,14 0,27 0,45 -0,4 -0,29 -0,17 -0,3 -0,3 0,02 0,03 -0,39 -0,22 -0,09 -0,16 -0,11 -0,13 -0,12 0,22 1 0,01 0,1 0,27 0,11 0,22 0,17 0,38 -0,05 -0,04 -0,01 -0,07 -0,07 0,06 0,11 -0,06 -0,02 0,04 0,13 -0,03 -0,04 1 -0,14 -0,16 0,15 -0,056 0,07 0,17 -0,09 -0,07 -0,16 0,21 0,2 -0,1 -0,13 -0,03 -0,11 -0,09 0,08 0,04 0,02 1 0,74 0,32 -0,02 0,17 -0,05 0,06 0,32 0,11 -0,04 -0,07 0,17 0,1 0,21 0,32 0,22 -0,06 0,07 -0,16 1 0,46 0,18 0,22 0,08 -0,09 0,03 0,01 0,02 0,03 0,09 0,03 0,17 0,38 0,39 -0,11 0,02 -0,13 1 0,14 0,06 0,11 0,04 -0,14 -0,05 0,01 0,01 0,05 0,02 -0,01 0,12 0,09 0,17 -0,1 0,18 1 -0,17 -0,05 -0,4 -0,55 -0,52 0,18 0,19 -0,31 -0,15 0,11 0,08 0,19 -0,12 -0,02 0,09 1 0,58 -0,03 0,29 0,22 -0,08 -0,08 0,42 0,12 0,2 0,3 0,36 -0,04 0,1 -0,15 1 0,05 0,14 0,09 0,06 0,06 0,17 0,11 0,04 0,04 0,18 0,02 0,11 -0,09 1 0,2 0,44 -0,16 -0,17 -0,11 -0,03 -0,16 -0,09 -0,18 0,28 -0,1 0,09 1 0,42 -0,05 -0,06 0,31 0,3 0,1 0,02 -0,08 0 0,24 -0,14 1 -0,14 -0,13 0,24 0,02 -0,04 0,14 -0,07 0,13 0,33 0,08 1 0.91 -0,2 -0,14 -0,05 -0,22 -0,16 -0,07 0,02 -0,08 1 -0,2 -0,16 -0,06 -0,21 -0,14 -0,08 0,03 -0,07 1 0,39 0,27 0,3 0,26 0,14 0,18 -0,08 1 -0,08 -0,08 -0,14 -0,06 -0,03 -0,16 1 0,52 0,56 -0,23 -0,1 -0,15 1 0,75 -0,16 0,05 -0,1 1 -0,16 -0,06 -0,15 1 0,31 0,52 1 0,54 table 3 – descriptive statistics and correlations 20 international r&d cooperation: the effects of distance on the choice of the country of partners m@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 1 37 concern explanatory concepts (model 1) and then integrate control variables in the regression (model 2) and finally correspond to the optimised regression in the sense of adjusted r2, which measures the quality of adjustment of the estimations of the regression equation. the variable reduction stage led us to make a small number of adjustments. specifically, where economic distance is concerned, when pca is applied to the whole range of variables two main axes are isolated. the first one combines the variables openness and trade and thus concerns the only aspects related to international economic relations between the countries in which the partners are operating, while the second factor, which is strongly correlated with the three other variables of economic distance but also, negatively, to the variable comember, relates more to the internal dimension of the economy. as a consequence, the concept of economic distance was split into two sub-concepts: distecoext and distecoint. this concept thus seems to take into account the membership to the same economic area, a variable that was initially selected to operationalise administrative distance. similarly, with regard to the variables linked to technological distance, two sub-concepts emerged from the pca process: one linked to the general level of technology in the partners’ countries (disttechg) and the other reflecting the separation between the allied entities in the more specific terms of their degree of maturity or development in biotechnology (disttechb). lastly, in light of the inadequacy of the two-by-two correlations between intellectual property rights protection (ipr) and the other variables relating to administrative distance, it was decided that this variable would be selected directly for the regressions without including it in the concept to which it was initially attached (cf. table 3). to sum up, seven synthetic concepts (distcult, distadm, distgeo, distecoint, distecoext, disttechg and disttechb) emerging from the pca, and one initial variable (distipr) therefore make up the eight explanatory constructs selected for the three regression models whose general and detailed (for the three collaborative contexts) results are presented in table 5. the results of the regression models are summarised in table 4, which shows that the coefficients have the same sense as indicated in the bivariate correlations. considering the number of explanatory variables of the study, the obtained adjusted determination coefficients (r²) are relatively satisfactory because they range, in the case of total co-participations in different projects, between 0,39 and 0,44. nonetheless, and even if they are coherent with previous results, the estimated coefficients also make it possible to emphasise several specific characteristics concerning the aggregated level of total co-participations to the agreements or in one of the three contexts examined separately. concerning the level of co-participations in r&d projects in general, it seems that cultural distance is not one of the significant explanatory constructs of the regression models. moreover, the estimations make it possible to show the essential role of technological distance specific to partners, which seems slightly superior to the general level of technology. in other terms, the degree of maturity of the biotechnology of countries where partners of an r&d cooperation are located seems to have a significant impact on the choice of a partner. finally, the role of geographic distance appears to be less important in the regression models as compared to the simple two-by-two correlations, because the estimated coefficients, even if they are significant and negative, do not make it possible to deem this dimension as having priority. thus, and even though they are imperfectly unstable, estimated regression models (1, 2 and opti-mised) on the coparticipations of the three types of projects in our sample give an initial idea of the most significant dimensions when european biotechnology companies conclude partnerships with an international dimension. independently of the estimation of the absolute value of coefficients, all these models (cf. table 4) show that distances linked to culture and the 21 katia angué and ulrike mayrhoferm@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 1 37 external economy of partners are not significantly linked to the intensity of co-participations in general. agreements (n=1 502) eu framework programmes (n=737) eureka projects (n=163) non-framework agreements non-framework agreements (n=602) model 1 model 2 mod. optim model 1 model 2 mod. optim model 1 model 2 mod. optim model 1 model 2 mod. optim distcult distipr distadm distgeo distecoi distecoe disttechg disttecb pcrd eureka acrd r² adjusted r² f -0,098 (-1,132) -0,223 (-2,772***) 0,217 (2,760***) -0,182 (-2,178**) -0,460 (-5,894***) 0,02 (-0,261) -0,238 (-3,066***) -0,271 (-3,525***) 0,44 0,393 9,43(***) -0,049 (-0,567) -0,203 (-2,580**) 0,219 (2,866***) -0,17 (-2,067**) -0,422 (-5,328***) 0,009 (0,119) -0,245 (-3,180***) -0,269 (-3,460***) -0,225 (-2,391**) 0,051 (0,631) 0,222 (2,381**) 0,484 0,423 7,93(***) -0,196 (-2,579**) 0,211 (2,855***) -0,184 (-2,436**) -0,404 -0,110 (-1,290) -0,227 (-2,854***) 0,224 (2,888***) -0,161 (-1,945*) -0,479 (-6,201***) 0,017 (0,223) -0,238 (-3,091***) -0,27 (-3,559***) 0,452 0,406 9,88(***) -0,062 (-0,723) -0,207 (-2,662***) 0,228 (3,005***) -0,147 (-1,814*) -0,441 (-5,629***) 0,008 (0,105) -0,243 (-3,182***) -0,266 (-3,457***) -0,218 (-2,344**) 0,045 (0,570) 0,229 (2,479**) 0,496 0,436 8,305(***) -0,2 (-2,660***) 0,216 (2,962***) -0,166 (-2,225**) -0,421 (-5,649***) -0,232 (-3,113***) -0,261 (-3,496***) -0,225 (-2,545**) 0,246 (2,768***) 0,498 0,456 11,887(***) -0,024 (-0,24) -0,176 (-1,929*) 0,125 (1,408) -0,251 (-2,754***) -0,311 (-3,513***) 0,055 (0,623) -0,176 (-1,99**) -0,226 (2,595**) 0,28 0,22 4,84(***) -0,075 (-0,756) -0,156 (-1,732*) 0,127 (1,448) -0,252 (-2,689***) -0,271 (-2,985***) 0,039 (0,436) -0,189 (-2,148**) -0,233 (-2,618**) -0,252 (-2,342**) 0,058 (0,633) 0,205 (1,926*) 0,332 0,253 4,62(***) -0,148 (-1,7*) 0,142 (1,682*) -0,224 (-2,593**) -0,275 (-3,193***) -0,189 (-2,186**) -0,219 (-2,529**) -0,229 (-2,236**) 0,199 (-1,994**) 0,321 0,279 5,79(***) -0,218 (-2,319**) -0,157 (-1,800*) 0,057 (0,669) -0,224 (-2,474**) -0,248 (-2,927***) -0,092 (-1,082) -0,352 (-4,175***) -0,175 (-2,101**) 0,342 0,285 6,194(***) -0,224 (-2,278**) -0,166 (-1,864*) 0,058 (0,669) -0,24 (-2,630***) -0,269 (-2,969***) -0,089 (-1,013) -0,345 (-3,962***) -0,186 (-2,120**) 0,096 (-0,901) -0,022 (-0,245) -0,075 (-0,701) 0,347 0,269 4,53(***) -0,196 (-2,155**) -0,179 (-2,098**) -0,229 (-2,545**) -0,246 (-2,917***) -0,353 (-4,198***) -0,178 (-2,142**) 0,337 0,296 8,030(***) p<0,1 : * ; p<0,05 : ** ; p<0,01 : *** the t-values of student are indicated between brackets. calculations established for 105 couples. the optimised model confirms the coefficients estimated in the previous regressions (models 1 and 2). it leads to a determination coefficient of 0.437, which is satisfactory (f=11.07, significant at α=1%) and superior to those obtained in the previous tests. it can be seen that the most significant dimensions of distance where r&d cooperation in the biotechnology sector is concerned are the following, in descending order of importance: those linked to the domestic economy of the partners’ countries (distecoint) those linked to the level of maturity in biotechnology in the economies in which the partners are operating (disttechb) those linked to the general level of technology in the countries where the partners are based (disttechg) those linked to the intellectual property rights legislation applicable to the partners (distipr) the geographic distance between the organisations associated under the c-operation agreement (distgeo) table 4 – results of regressions 22 international r&d cooperation: the effects of distance on the choice of the country of partners m@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 1 37 in addition, the three estimated models concerning the co-participations in the different forms of r&d cooperation show that administrative distance is not negatively linked to the propensity to cooperate: on the contrary, partner organisations seem to prefer diversity in this area. thus, the optimised model, concerning the three types of agreements, supports hypotheses h2 and h5 completely, hypotheses h3 and h4 partially, and invalidates hypothesis h1 relating to cultural distance (cf. table 4). finally, it also emphasises the significant role of the difference concerning the experience in terms of cooperation formed in the context of eu framework programmes and non-framework agreements, even if, in the latter case, the sign of the estimated coefficient (0.238***) shows that the organisations choose allies that do not have the same level of experience and knowledge to conclude new international agreements. more generally, this result confirms the role of the search for complementary resources in the choice of a partner for cooperation, which concerns knowledge (shenkar and li, 1999) as well as know-how. however, these general results need to be interpreted in the light of the estimations conducted for each of the different collaborative contexts examined. in fact, the calculations for the eu-framework programmes, eureka projects or other r&d agreements which we have named nonframework agreements show several specific characteristics which need to be mentioned. this is also important because the sample of non-framework agreements is exempted from the eventual bias of the search for public subsidies on the choice of the partner. thus, interpretation of global results needs to be carried out with caution and has to take into account the fact that participation in these european programmes can, to an extent that needs to be evaluated, force companies to select a partner, located in a certain country, which may not have been chosen in the context of a non-framework agreement without subsidies. in this type of situation, it is in fact possible to maintain that the choice of the country of the partner has the objective of optimising the benefits of public funds and/or to respond to an incentive of institutions providing subsidies, thus reducing the role of the different dimensions of distance examined in this research. table 5 indicates the results by briefly presenting the observed differences in comparison to the aggregated co-participations. 23 katia angué and ulrike mayrhoferm@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 1 37 table 5 – results overview hypotheses results for all coparticipations specific characteristics according to the context of the cooperation h1: cultural distance (c) h2: administrative distance (a) intellectual property rights legal and administrative situation h3: geographic distance (g) h4: economic distance (e) internal economy external economy h5: technological distance (t) general technological level degree of maturity in biotechnology no significant relationship relationship<0 relationship>0 relationship<0 relationship<0 no significant relationship relationship<0 relationship<0 specific characteristics according to the context of the cooperation this dimension appears weakly but significantly linked to the propension of companies to conclude r&d agreements outside eureka or eu-framework programmes (effect <0). this aspect seems important whatever the collaborative context. it is nonetheless slightly more important in eu-framework programmes. concerning aggregated co-participations, the administrative situation of countries where partners are operating appears to be significantly different. however, this administrative diversity does not exist in non-framework programmes and seems less important in eureka projects. the organisations choose in priority partners which are geographically close whatever the context considered. companies mainly collaborate with organisations operating in similar economic environments. this dimension of distance seems to have a significant impact on the conclusion of cooperative agreements and more specifically in eu-framework programmes. this dimension of distance does not seem to be linked to the conclusion of r&d cooperation, whatever the observed context. this dimension of distance seems particularly important in non-framework programmes. this aspect seems to influence the propension of firms to conclude international cooperative agreements and more specifically in the context of eu-framework programmes. the analysis, which concerns r&d partnerships in biotechnology, shows that, except for non-framework agreements, none of the regression models tested shows a negative and significant relationship between cultural distance and the propensity to cooperate, despite the fact that this type of distance is presented as being of key importance by ghemawat (2001), parkhe (1991) and simonin (1999). this result echoes that of cabo (1997), who, in the context of eureka projects in the medical field, had already highlighted the limited impact of the hofstede dimensions on the intensity of inter-organisational cooperation. it seems interesting to note that for this dimension the differences between the three collaborative contexts appear to be particularly significant. it thus seems that cultural distance perceived by partners is becoming weaker when the cooperation is supported, at least partially, by public institutions. in the contexts of eureka projects and eu-framework programmes, cultural difference is not so widely perceived as an obstacle to the conclusion of cooperation agreements. more generally, our result fuels current controversy as to the impact of cultural distance and its measurement via the index developed by kogut and singh (1988). 24 international r&d cooperation: the effects of distance on the choice of the country of partners m@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 1 37 some authors even suggest that cultural distance might be conducive to cooperation on the grounds that it could be a source of complementarity (yeheskel et al., 2001). in this sense, culture can be treated as one of the key resources for allied organisations whose combination may generate beneficial forms of complementarity. with this in mind, it should be remembered that researchers, irrespective of their countries of origin, form a community whose ramifications stretch around the planet. indeed, this collective belonging to an extended scientific community of members of organisations involved in r&d cooperation agreements is such that it can encourage informal contacts and therefore to surmount cultural differences that keep partners apart. this tolerance for cultural diversity, which is obvious in our results concerning agreements concluded in eureka projects and eu-framework programmes, needs to be verified in other industries, which are probably affected differently by this dimension of distance. concerning administrative distance, it seems important to note that relating to property rights, results indicate that a distance between allies would effectively be dissuasive to the establishment of cooperative links. it thus seems that the partners’ national environment cannot only hinder or favour innovation according to the legal context developed for its appropriation (porter and stern, 2001), but can also moderate the intensity of r&d cooperation. this result is compatible with the work of hagedoorn et al. (2005) who emphasise the importance of differences in terms of property rights for technological cooperation. the authors even conclude that ‘international differences concerning the protection of property rights reflect significant differences concerning technological capacities of countries’ (hagedoorn et al., 2005, p. 183). in the same way, and based on the appreciation of these rights developed by ginarte and park (1997), allred and park (2007) demonstrate that the level of protection in a given country is significantly linked to the level of innovation of that country. concerning r&d agreements, differences in legislation concerning property rights seem to generate a higher degree of uncertainty concerning the outcome and appropriation of results of the collaboration and thus reduce any propensity to cooperate. conversely, the different regression models suggest that european actors, far from preferring to cooperate with organisations with similar administrative and political environments, tend to favour diversity. while the choice of partners does not seem to depend on this dimension of distance, it cannot, nevertheless, be ruled out that this form of separation may influence spin-offs from the collaborative project or the way in which it unfolds. that being said, it is nevertheless true that the differences are probably less significant in absolute terms (given that most of the countries concerned are eu member states), but this outcome is no less surprising or difficult to interpret in the light of current knowledge with regard to administrative differences. it seems that it would be worthwhile to verify this result using a sample of agreements associating actors from outside of europe, because the observed preference for administrative diversity may be linked to the strong proportion of agreements concluded by english, german and french organisations 25 katia angué and ulrike mayrhoferm@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 1 37 in the analysed sample. the hypothesis concerning geographic distance is confirmed by the analysed data, which highlights that the necessary face-to-face interactions involved in most joint r&d projects are made more difficult by geographic separation (bélis-bergouignan, 1997). it is obvious that firms working in the field of biotechnology have understood this well since the exchange of knowledge is evidently more often contemplated by them with a partner based nearby. the result obtained does, however,need to be put into perspective. this is so because the effects of geographic distance on the intensity of cooperation might be linked to the size of european biotechnology enterprises, which is often limited. in fact, it seems to be the case that all economic actors are not governed in the same way by the ‘constraint’ of physical or spatial proximity between allies. where this point is concerned, smes seem to be more affected, whereas large corporations, given the scale of their resources, are in a position to replace it by means of artificial solutions (exchanges of personnel for example), recreating a form of geographic proximity that is lacking in reality. in particular, it would seem to be necessary to verify the extent to which the need for the local embedding of companies is dependent not only on their size but also on the industry to which the cooperating firms belong. our analysis also reveals that economic distance shapes the development of r&d cooperation agreements. this outcome, clearly highlighting the importance of economic and financial criteria in the definition of corporate relational strategies, is in line with that obtained by cabo (1997), who observes that in the context of projects established under the eureka label, there were fewer agreements between countries whose gross national products differed greatly. for example, where ghemawat (2001) has already seen that differences in terms of the living standards of the populations of two nations were likely to create a distance which would be damaging to trade relations between them, we can add that such differences are also harmful to the establishment of cooperative r&d programmes in the biotechnology field. conversely, aspects related to the external economy turn out to have no influence on either the intensity of relationships established between organisations or the form taken by the alliances (hagedoorn et al., 2005). lastly, our results confirm that technological distance represents an obstacle to the establishment of r&d cooperation. the idea of similarity between scientific environments recalls the notion of absorptive capacity developed in the work of cohen and levinthal (1989) and the more ‘relative’ concept formulated more recently by lane and lubatkin (1998). it is true that a certain degree of familiarity with a partner’s technical and scientific knowledge is required to facilitate its comprehension, its transfer and, finally, its full absorption (lane and lubatkin, 1998). this proposal is confirmed at the micro-level of the organisation by mowery et al. (1998), who observe that the choice of a partner will tend to focus on an organisation of similar technological competence. on this point, the models tested above make it possible to extend these considerations to the national territories in which the allied organisations operate, which, if they are technologically close, can then be con26 international r&d cooperation: the effects of distance on the choice of the country of partners m@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 1 37 sidered to favour the establishment of cooperative links. similarly, our data confirms the conclusions reached by allred and park (2007) and porter and stern (2001). this means that national technological ‘potential’, which is similar to what porter and stern (2001) call the ‘national innovative capacity’, seems to act as an indicator for the scope, nature and characteristics of organisations’ external knowledge, and when firms engage in r&d cooperation, it seems therefore that they prefer to opt for partners who resemble them in this regard. in particular, european businesses prefer to engage with academic or industrial actors working in environments that are similar in terms of research and activity in biotechnology. this idea echoes the formulation of cohen and levinthal (1989) whereby the absorptive capacity of an organisation will depend both on its internal r&d effort and on the expenditure committed by other firms, as well as the level of knowledge present outside the industry in which it operates. it is worth noting that the result obtained in the domain of what we have called ‘biotech europe’ is in our view fairly symptomatic of ongoing changes in the biotechnology sector in the ‘old world’, which seems today to be making up the ground lost in the past to the united states. in effect, it is likely that the manifest importance of technological criteria when choosing an r&d partner reflects deeper structural changes in the reasons that lead companies to enter into such agreements and testifies to the fact that technological cooperation motivated by access to extra skills is no longer exclusive to agreements signed with companies in north america (owen-smith et al., 2002). the statistical analysis confirms in this way that distance is a significant factor in the signing of international cooperation agreements in the r&d domain, at the very least where biotechnology is concerned. it highlights the relevance of the analytical framework proposed by ghemawat 2001), demonstrating most notably that distance needs to be observed on the basis of its various component dimensions. in addition, the results support the notion of technological distance, absent from ghemawat’s initial model (2001), thus suggesting that this parameter (t) should be added to the cage model formulated by the author. our results also show the practical difficulty of isolating each of the component dimensions of distance by emphasising the various interactions that exist between them. they also raise the question of the appreciation of administrative distance in comparison to the more economic and legal aspects as well as its interpretation and call for additional research on this dimension. more generally, our research highlights the importance of distance for the international development of companies. in fact, despite the undeniable effects of economic globalisation and regional integration, especially in europe, it reveals that distance continues to influence firms’ propensity to cooperate. in this sense, our results contribute to the debate on the role of distance for the international development of firms. in particular, they confirm studies conducted in international business, which emphasise that distance represents a significant obstacle to the international development of companies, and more specifically re27 katia angué and ulrike mayrhoferm@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 1 37 search linked to the perspective of the uppsala model (johanson and vahlne, 1977). in fact, distance can generate uncertainty (delios and henisz, 2000, 2003a and b) and create specific costs (eden and miller, 2004), and thus have a significant impact on the choice of investments made by companies. the in-depth analysis of the influence of different forms of distance suggests that the psychic distance perceived by companies for their international development, which is frequently tested by cultural distance, is part of a more complex reality. it is thus possible that the other dimensions of distance, such as geographic, economic and technological distance, which are less studied in the literature, have a more significant impact on the psychic distance perceived by companies than cultural distance when companies decide to develop in international markets. it thus seems necessary to elaborate a theoretical model of internationalisation that also integrates other dimensions that are likely to influence the psychic distance perceived by companies. our research suggests that the impact of cultural distance, which has been studied in numerous empirical investigations, is probably overestimated in comparison to other dimensions of distance. in this sense, it seems necessary to enrich the uppsala model initially proposed by johanson and vahlne (1977) by considering the existence of different forms of distance which are likely to influence psychic distance as it is perceived by companies. in this perspective, the developments offered in this article help to provide the foundations for a new model of internationalisation which could be based on the uppsala model and the analytical framework proposed by ghemawat (2001). in fact, our empirical investigations question work on ‘born globals’, which considers that distance does not represent a determining factor in the international expansion of companies because the latter immediately develop on the global market (zucchella and scabini, 2007). even if many companies in biotechnology attempt to operate on the global market and are often considered as ‘born globals’, it seems that the different identified forms of distance continue to influence the psychic distance perceived by companies and thus their choice concerning internationalisation, at least in europe. finally, our study also contributes to research into the evaluation of risk and in particular country risk in the internationalisation process of companies by showing that the latter need to be evaluated not only in absolute terms but also in relative terms by considering the different dimensions of distance. 28 international r&d cooperation: the effects of distance on the choice of the country of partners m@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 1 37 conclusion driven by the globalisation of markets and competition, companies are led to build cooperative relationships with actors based in other countries. once a company enters into a cooperation agreement, it is faced with the need to cope with the distance separating it from its partner’s local environment. however, the effects of distance on the propensity of firms to cooperate have not been subject to a great deal of research, probably because of the difficulty of assessing the concept of distance. the analysis presented in this article contributes to a better knowledge of the impact of distance on the choice of partners in the context of r&d cooperation, while at the same time stressing its multidimensional character. it reveals that while distance has a general influence on the propensity of companies to cooperate, certain dimensions can be seen to be more significant than others. the empirical study conducted notably shows that administrative, geographic, economic and technological distances play a key role, whereas cultural distance does not seem to influence the choice of partners, at least in the biotechnology industry. the study conducted allows a more precise appreciation of the dominant criteria for choice when putting in place an international r&d collaboration. it highlights the importance of environmental factors for understanding cooperative strategies adopted by companies (christmann et al., 1999). given this, it is possible to identify several directions for future research. firstly, given the mono-sectorial nature of this study, it seems necessary to conduct similar studies in several industries and notably in activities with a moderate or very limited level of technological content. secondly, there is a need to look in more depth at the various dimensions of distance in order to identify the most relevant indicators. the analysis of the existence of a possible ‘windfall effect’ when subsidised agreements are signed, possibly reflected in lesser sensitivity to certain types of distance, seems to be an interesting way forward. in fact, the role of such subsidies can have an influence on the reasons firms give when justifying their engagement in an alliance that is then generally focused more on sharing the costs and risks of the project than on seeking complementarity. 29 katia angué and ulrike mayrhoferm@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 1 37 katia angué is an associate professor at université de la réunion where she mainly teaches corporate strategy. member of cemoi (centre d’économie et de management de l’océan indien) and associated member of gredeg (groupe de recherche en droit, économie et gestion), université de nicesophia antipolis, her research focuses on interorganisational relationships concerning research and development activities and research methods. ulrike mayrhofer is a full professor at iae de lyon, université lyon 3 (magellan research center) and an affiliated professor at rouen business school. her teaching and research activities concern international management and strategic management. she has published five books, several case-studies and numerous articles on the international development of companies. acknowledgments: the authors would like to thank jean-luc arrègle and the three anonymous reviewers for the quality of the evaluation process and the detailed comments which have allowed to improve the contribution of their article. a first version of the manuscript was presented at the 17th international conference of strategic management (association internationale de management stratégique aims), ceram université de nice, may 28-31 2008. 30 international r&d cooperation: the effects of distance on the choice of the country of partners m@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 1 37 references . allred, b. b., & park, w. g. (2007). patent rights and innovative activity: evidence from national and firm-level data. journal of international business studies, 38(6), 878-900. . ambos, t. c., & ambos, b. (2009). the impact of distance on knowledge transfer effective-ness in multinational corporations. journal of international management, 15(1), 1-14. . arrègle, j.-l., hébert, l., & beamish, p. w. (2006). mode of international entry: the advan-tages of multilevel methods. management international review, 46(5), 597-218. . barney, j. (1991). firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. journal of management, 17(1), 99-120. . barthélémy, j., fulconis, f., & mothe, c. (2001). les coopérations inter-organisationnelles : approche théorique et illustrations. in a. ch. martinet, & r.-a. thiétart (eds.), stratégies. actualité et futurs de la recherche (pp. 289-302). paris : vuibert. . beise, z. m., & stahl, h. (1999). public research and industrial innovation in germany. research policy, 28(4), 397-422. . blanchot, f. (2008). gestion des alliances internationales. in e. davel, j.-p. dupuis, & j.-f. chanlat (eds.), gestion en contexte interculturel. approches, problématiques, pratiques et plongées (pp. 421-472). québec : les presses de l’université de laval. . bollinger, d., & hofstede, g. (1987). les différences culturelles dans le management. paris : les éditions d’organisation. . brewer p. (2007). psychic distance and australian export market selection. australian journal of management, 32(1), 73-94. . brouthers, k. d., & brouthers, l. e. (2001). explaining the national cultural distance paradox. journal of international business studies, 32(1), 177-189. . cabo, p. g. (1997). the knowledge network. european subsidized research and development cooperation. phd thesis, rijksuniversiteit gröningen. . charlet, v. (2001). analyse des participations françaises au cinquième pcrd. étude menée par l’observatoire des sciences et des techniques (ost) pour le compte de la direction de la technologie du ministère de la recherche, septembre (www.education.gouv.fr/pub). . christmann, p., day, d., & yip, g. s. (1999). the relative influence of country conditions, industry structure, and business strategy on multinational corporation subsidiary performance. journal of international management, 5(4), 241265. . cohen, w. m., & levinthal, d.a. (1989). innovation and learning: the two faces of r&d. economic journal, 99(397), 569-596. . delios, a., & henisz, w. j. (2000). japanese firms’ investment strategies in emerging economies. academy of management journal, 43(3), 305-323. . delios, a., & henisz, w. j. (2003a). policy uncertainty and the sequence of entry by japanese firms, 1980-1998. journal of international business studies, 34(3), 227-241. . delios, a., & henisz, w. j. (2003b). political hazards, experience, and sequential entry strat-egies: the international expansion of japanese firms, 1980-1998. strategic management journal, 24(11), 1153-1164. . doz, y., & hamel, g. (2000). l’avantage des alliances. logiques de création de valeur. paris : dunod. . eden, l., & miller, st. r. (2004). distance matters: liability of foreignness, institutional dis-tance and ownership strategy. in m.a. hitt et j.l.c. cheng (eds.), the evolving theory of the multinational firm. advances in international management (pp. 187-221), vol. 16, amsterdam: elsevier. . evans, j., & mavondo, f. t. (2002). psychic distance and organizational performance: an empirical examination of international retailing operations. journal of international busi-ness studies, 33(3), 515-532. . evrard, y., pras, b., & roux, e. (2003). market. études et recherches en marketing. 3ème édition, paris : dunod. 31 katia angué and ulrike mayrhoferm@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 1 37 . fontagné l., pajot, m., & pasteels, j.-m. (2002). potentiels de commerce entre économies hétérogènes : un petit mode d’emploi des modèles de gravité. économie et prévision, 152-153, 115-139. . ghemawat, p. (2001). distance still matters. the hard reality of global expansion. harvard business review, 79(8), 137-147. . ginarte, j. c., & park, w.g. (1997). determinants of patent rights: a crossnational study. research policy, 26(3), 283-301. . griliches, z. (1979). issues in assessing the contribution of research and development to productivity growth. bell journal of economics, 10(1), 92-116. . gwartney, j. & lawson, r. (2003). the concept and measurement of economic freedom. european journal of political economy, 19(3), 405-30. . hagedoorn, j., cloodt, d., & van kranenburg, h. (2005). intellectual property rights and the governance of international r&d partnerships. journal of international business studies, 36(2), 175-186. . hagedoorn, j., & narula, r. (1996). choosing organizational modes of strategic technology partnering: international and sectoral differences. journal of international business studies, 27(2), 265-284. . hagedoorn, j., & schakenraad, j. (1993). a comparison of private and subsidized r&d partnerships in the european information technology industry. journal of common market studies, 31(3), 373-390. . hansen, m. t., & lovas, b. (2004). how do multinational companies leverage technological competencies? moving from single to interdependent explanations. strategic management journal, 25(8-9), 801-822. . henisz, w. j. (2002). the institutional environment for infrastructure investment. industrial and corporate change, 11(2), 355-389. . henisz, w. j., & macher, j. t. (2004). firmand country-level trade-offs and contingencies in the evaluation of foreign investment: the semiconductor industry, 1994-2002. organization science, 15(5), 537-554. . hennart, j.-f. (1982). a theory of multinational enterprise. michigan : the university of michigan press. . hofstede, g. (2001). culture’s consequences: comparing values, behaviors, institutions and organizations across nations. london: sage publications. . johanson, j., & vahlne, j.-e. (1977). the internationalization process of the firm: a model of knowledge development and increasing foreign market commitments. journal of international business studies, 8(1), 23-32. . johanson, j., & wiedersheimpaul, f. (1975). the internationalization of the firm: four swedish cases. journal of management studies, 12(3), 305-322. . knight, g. a., & cavusgil, s.t. (2004). innovation, organizational capabilities, and the born-global firm. journal of international business studies, 35(2), 124-141. . kogut, b., & singh, h. (1988). the effect of national culture on the choice of entry mode. journal of international business studies, 19(3), 411432. . lane, p. j., & lubatkin, m. (1998). relative absorptive capacity and interorganizational learning. strategic management journal, 19(5), 461-477. . meschi p.-x. (2008). impact de la corruption d’etat sur l’évolution des participations européennes dans les coentreprises internationales. m@n@gement, 11(1), 1-26. . mowery, d. c., oxley, j. e., & silverman, b. s. (1998). technological overlap and interfirm cooperation: implications for the resource-based view of the firm. research policy, 27(5), 507-523. . nooteboom, b., haverbeke, w. v., duysters g., gilsing v., & oord a. (2007). optimal cognitive distance and absorptive capacity. research policy, 36(7), 1016-1034. 32 international r&d cooperation: the effects of distance on the choice of the country of partners m@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 1 37 . o’grady, s., & lane, h. w. (1996). the psychic distance paradox. journal of international business studies, 27(2), 309-333. . ohmae, k. (2005). the next global stage. challenges and opportunities in our borderless world. wharton school publishing : upper saddle river. . o’sullivan, a. (2005). network-based organizing for product innovation: how power imbalances matter. m@n@gement, 8(4), 123-143. . oviatt, b. m., & mcdougall, p. p. (1994). toward a theory of international new ventures. journal of international business studies, 25(1), 45-64. . owen-smith, j., riccaboni, m., pammolli, f., & powell, w. w. (2002). a comparison of u.s. and european university-industry relations in the life sciences. management science, 48(1), 24-43. . park, w. g. (2008). international patent protection: 19602005. research policy, 37(4), 761-766. . parkhe, a., (1991). interfirm diversity, organizational learning, and longevity in global strategic alliances. journal of international business studies, 29(4), 579-601. . pitsis, t. s., kornberger, m., & st. clegg (2004). the art of managing relationships in interorganizational collaboration. m@n@ gement, 7(3), 47-67. . pothukuchi, v., damanpour, f., choi, j., chen, c.c & park, s. h. (2002). national and organizational culture differences and international joint venture performance. journal of international business studies, 33(2), 243-265. . porter, m. e., & stern, s. (2001). national innovative capacity. the global competitiveness report 2001-2002. new york: oxford university press. . puthod, d., & thévenardputhod, c. (2006). coopération, tensions et conflit dans un réseau d’innovation construit autour d’une pme. revue française de gestion, 32(164), 181-204. . sachwald, f. (2004). internationalisation de la r&d industrielle et attractivité de la france. rapport publié dans le cadre du groupe de projet «prospective de l’état et attractivité de la france dans le domaine des activités de recherche-développementinnovation», commissariat général du plan. . shenkar, o. & li, j. (1999). knowledge search in international cooperative ventures. organization science, 10(2), 134-143. . shenkar, o. (2001). cultural distance revisited: towards a more rigorous conceptualiza-tion and measurement of cultural differences. journal of international business studies, 32(3), 519-535. . simonin, b. l. (1999). ambiguity and the process of knowledge transfer in strategic alliances. strategic management journal, 20(7), 595623. . stahl, g. k. & voigt, a. (2008). do cultural differences matter in mergers and acquisitions? a tentative model and examination. organization science, 19(1), 160-176. . tihanyi, l., griffith, d. a., & russell, c. j. (2005). the effect of cultural distance on entry mode choice, international diversification, and mne performance: a metaanalysis. journal of international business studies, 36(3), 270-283. . tyrrell, m. w. d. (2004). communicating the right relationship for now. m@n@gement, 7(3), 69-83. . united nations development programme (undp) (2002). human development report 2001, making new technologies work for human development. oxford university. . yeheskel, o., zeira, y., shenkar, o., & newburry, w. (2001). parent company dissimilarity and equity international joint venture effectiveness. journal of international management, 7(2), 81-104. . wernerfelt, b. (1984). a resource-based view of the firm. strategic management journal, 5(1), 171-180. . world bank (1997). world development indicators. world bank, washington, d.c. . world economic forum (2000). global competitiveness report 2000. new york: oxford university press. 33 katia angué and ulrike mayrhoferm@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 1 37 . zucchella, a., & scabini, p. (2007). international entrepreneurship. theoretical foundations and practices. houndmills: palgrave macmillan. 34 international r&d cooperation: the effects of distance on the choice of the country of partners m@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 1 37 appendix a – list of countries considered and number of projects examined in the study appendix b – indicator components europe biotech austria (79) belgium (265) germany (798) denmark (245) spain (299) finland (102) france (643) united kingdom (753) ireland (108) island (14) italy (316) netherlands (492) norway (73) switzerland (203) sweden (292) indicator components intellectual property rights (ipr) legal structure (legal) regulation (regul) political risk (polrisk) economic risk (ecorisk) level of development (hdi) national capacity of innovation (nci) technological accomplishments (tai) scope of patent protection (invention patentability) duration of protection methods available in country for the enforcement of rights international conventions signed absence of restriction on rights and legal means for enforcement of ipr independence of the judicial system impartiality of the judiciary system protection and enforcement of property rights role and involvement of the military in the legislative system and political processes system integrity contract performance and application regulations and control of transfers of ownership credit market regulation: bank ownership, terms of credit, interest rates and credit control labour market regulation: minimum wage, regulatory controls on employee termination and hiring, unemployment benefits business and trade regulation: unregulated prices, conditions for forming new companies, taxation, tax system and bureaucracy stability of government social and economic conditions conditions for investment internal conflicts and external conflicts corruption influence of the military political influence of religion legislative system pressure from ethnic groups democratic accountability bureaucracy and stability of institutions per capita gdp real growth in gdp inflation rate budget balance (% gdp) current account balance (% gdp) life expectancy and health system access to learning and knowledge (school enrolment and literacy) standard of living for general population proportion of scientists, engineers and technicians within the workforce public politics concerning innovation favorable environment for innovation in clusters index of infrastructure reflecting the quality of scientific research institutes and the importance and vitality of links established in the field of innovation level of technological creation level of dissemination of recent innovations level of dissemination of older innovations technological skill base 35 katia angué and ulrike mayrhoferm@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 1 37 * only correlations higher than 0.5 are presented. the cronbach’s alpha calculated for administrative distance only takes into account the three variables that are significantly related to this concept (polrik, legal et regul); the variable comember is integrated into economic distance and the variable ipr is kept apart from this concept. ** the description provided for the sample corresponds to the measures found on the level of each country, therefore the information cannot be provided for the variables comember, distkm and limitrop. the statistics concerning these distances appear in table 3. concepts dist adm dist geo dist ecoext dist ecoint dist techg dist techb description of sample** alpha de cronbach variables ipr polrisk legal regul comember distkm limitrop ecorisk gnpc (1 000 € ppa/ hab) hdi openness trade neb (/mh) biopatent (/mh) gerd nci tai 0,755 (corrélations 0,114 0,835 0,874 0,715 0,134 0,735 with 0,745 0,931 0,97 factors*) 0,975 0,976 0,692 -0,811 0,607 0,687 0,823 0,826 0,377 -0,264 0,869 0,832 0,887 0,679 0,614 0,763 0,104 -0,027 -0,02 average of individual scores 4,22 80,87 8,69 6,78 39,49 23,22 0,94 39,41 41,32 8,20 8,53 2,00 25,90 0,58 standard error 0,45 3,72 0,71 0,70 2,15 2,87 0,01 15,91 18,92 6,29 6,35 0,679 1,48 0,076 appendix c –data reduction 36 international r&d cooperation: the effects of distance on the choice of the country of partners m@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 1 37 37 katia angué and ulrike mayrhoferm@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 1 37 528 benjamin taupin m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 528-562 copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). m@n@gement is a double-blind refereed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.management-aims.com © 2012 m@n@gement and the author(s). m@n@gement est la revue officielle de l’aims m@n@gement is the journal official of aims benjamin taupin 2012 the more things change… institutional maintenance as justification work in the credit rating industry m@n@gement, 15(5), 528-562. m@n@gement issn: 1286-4692 emmanuel josserand, hec, université de genève & cmos, university of technology, sydney (editor in chief) jean-luc arrègle, emlyon business school (editor) laure cabantous, warwick business school (editor) stewart clegg, university of technology, sydney (editor) olivier germain, université du québec à montréal (editor, book reviews) karim mignonac, université de toulouse 1 (editor) philippe monin, emlyon business school (editor) tyrone pitsis, university of newcastle (editor) josé pla-barber, universidad de valència (editor) michael tushman, harvard business school (editor) walid shibbib, université de genève (managing editor) martin g. evans, university of toronto (editor emeritus) bernard forgues, emlyon business school (editor emeritus) 529 the more things change… institutional maintenance as justification work in the credit rating industry m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 528-562 the more things change… institutional maintenance as justification work in the credit rating industry benjamin taupin abstract this article combines the theory of justification developed by boltanski and thévenot with the concept of institutional work to analyse how actors’ discursive engagement can lead to the maintenance of legitimacy. in controversies over the regulation of credit rating, actors perform institutional work based on the use and arrangement of several forms of legitimacy in order to promote a certain view of justice. a longitudinal qualitative study of the justifications produced by stakeholders in credit rating between 2000 and 2010 reveals three different mechanisms that lead to institutional maintenance. the first is a straightforward case of confirmation work in which the actors repeat or reformulate the existing regulatory arrangement or simply refuse to take part in the debate. the second involves qualifying objects according to the existing concept of regulation. in the third, reference to the model of the circular figure can explain the mechanism that prevents the controversy from ending: the actors’ inability to resolve a debate involving several orders of morality is precisely what leads to the reaffirmation of the foundations underlying the legitimacy of credit rating regulation. key words: institutional maintenance, justification, legitimacy, credit rating agencies conservatoire national des arts et métiers (cnam) benjamin.taupin@cnam.fr 530 benjamin taupin m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 528-562 introduction research on institutional maintenance work “has received relatively little empirical or theoretical attention” (lawrence, suddaby, & leca, 2009: 8), such that there are still several unexplored areas relating to how institutions reproduce with apparent stability (scott, 2008). pioneers in this field of research explained such persistence by mimetic behaviours (dimaggio & powell, 1983) or the normative pillar on which institutions are built (angus, 1993). institutional continuity was subsequently observed as a process of mechanical self-reproduction (jepperson, 1991). emphasising the cognitive features of this phenomenon, institutional maintenance has been studied as routine work leading to the reproduction of a world view (zilber, 2002; zilber, 2009). a number of studies described institutional maintenance as the internalisation of modes of representation in the form of myths (zilber, 2009), rationality (townley, 2002) or cognitive frames (suddaby & greenwood, 2005), but did not describe the mechanism that leads to the adoption of those beliefs (scott, 2008). to shed light on this phenomenon of institutional maintenance, i argue that it is necessary to examine the variable(s) that change within what is maintained. the expression “isomorphic change” (meyer & rowan, 1977; dimaggio & powell, 1983) associates institutional reproduction (“isomorphic”) with the idea of movement (“change”). this article draws on the theoretical framework developed by boltanski and thévenot (1991) to describe institutional maintenance, focusing on the changing variables that ultimately perpetuate the status quo. this approach aims to make two major contributions: 1) to identify several different forms of justification work that lead to institutional maintenance, and 2) to highlight the most complex form of institutional maintenance work, in which controversies succeed in immunising an institution against critiques. in particular, analysis of the perpetuation of legitimacy has not been seriously questioned in the case of an environment in which the actors are dealing with a number of institutional logics (lawrence & suddaby, 2006; thornton, ocasio, & lounsbury, 2012). individuals generally conform to a dominant logic (thornton, 2002), but suddaby and greenwood (2005) noted that in the event of change in an institutional field, tensions could emerge in the existing order, as shown in the presence of different logics (friedland & alford, 1991) which can sometimes be in competition with each other (townley, 2002). more recently, several studies have followed the path opened up by these authors (notably dunn & jones, 2010), emphasising that the principles underlying institutions could be combined in organisations (glynn & lounsbury, 2005) and arranged spatially through configurations of diverse discourses (spicer & sewell, 2010). finally, it has been demonstrated that this institutional complexity (greenwood, raynard, kodeih, micelotta, & lounsbury, 2011) should also be considered in conjunction with local cultural contingencies in order to be understood (greenwood, diaz, li, & lorente, 2010). however, apart from some research on hybrid organisations (battilana & dorado, 2010; pache & santos, forthcoming), these studies have not shown the practical construction of the arrangements used (marti & mair, 2009). the practical process by which actors draw upon several contradictory rationales to shape the social order remains obscure (hodge & coronado, 2006; vaara, 531 the more things change… institutional maintenance as justification work in the credit rating industry m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 528-562 tienari, & laurila, 2006), and yet understanding this process is necessary to explain institutional persistence. as jagd (2011) observed in a review of the literature using the framework of the sociology of critique in organisation theory, reference to boltanski’s framework can remedy this state of affairs. i propose to refer more specifically to two concepts developed by boltanski and thévenot’s (1991) sociology of critique, namely compromise and the test, which i shall define in detail in the theoretical section. in organisational studies, researchers related the work of boltanski and thévenot to the study of institutional processes (biggart & beamish, 2003; thornton & ocasio, 2008). they then drew inspiration from the corpus of sociology of critique to analyse the multiplicity of logics that coexist in organisations (denis, langley, & rouleau, 2007; stark, 2009; jagd, 2011). examining the discourses heard as justifications can be considered to reveal the many foundations underpinning the institution (leca & naccache, 2006; thornton, ocasio, & lounsbury, 2012); for example, it can be seen to highlight organisational differences between countries with different cultures (pernkopf-konhaeuser & brandl, 2010). huault and rainelli (2011) used the concept of compromise as theorised by boltanski and thévenot to cast new light on organisational phenomena seeking to reconcile different world views. compromise is the figure that allows the peaceful coexistence of different interests and ways of thinking (nachi, 2004). patriotta, gond and schultz (2011) used this conception to study the compromises on which justifications put forward by actors were based to reassert existing legitimacy in the field of nuclear power. these authors made use of the theory of justification to address the issue of institutional maintenance. maintenance, in their study, appears as a process supported by public controversies and justifications in which actors make use of their moral sense. in the sociology of critique, this game in which individuals hold concordant or divergent representations or, to put it another way, reinforce or challenge the existing compromise is expressed through the concept of the test. in practice, the test takes the form of a justification or a public critique. this article provides definitions of the figures of the compromise and the test, which have so far been under-theorised in the literature combining neo-institutionalism and the sociology of critique, in order to explain institutional maintenance processes. the definitions lead to a detailed description of institutional justification work in an institutional maintenance context. then, by applying these concepts to the case of credit rating, this study brings out a form of maintenance dynamic in which contestation paradoxically results in perpetuation of the status quo. the concepts of the sociology of critique qualification according to polities the sociology of critique intends to describe and analyse “how the actors ‘themselves’ designate the beings that make up their environment (…) and in doing so, help to perform the social world” (boltanski, 2012: 340-341, author’s own translation). the method applied by this school of sociological thought is to study the discourse actors elaborate in their search for a common good, i.e. in pursuit of what they consider just. this approach focuses on actors’ creativity and inventiveness, and makes the social intelligence which they demonstrate 532 benjamin taupin m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 528-562 perceptible, whatever those actors are (blokker, 2011). in practice, the aim is to bring out the moral principles (which boltanski and thévenot call the “higher common principles”) which individuals draw on in situations of controversy, particularly to return to agreement. the fact that actors use moral principles to justify their arguments is then expressed by the notion of the rise towards generality. in their seminal book, boltanski and thévenot (1991) construct six worlds 1 that underlie the registers of argument used by actors when they rise towards generality: the inspired world, the domestic world, the world of fame, the civic world, the industrial world and the market world. in their approach to justification in situations of dispute, the actors make use of objects (that may be material or symbolic) depending on the higher principles they call on. in relation to a given common principle, belonging to a given world determines what is called the qualification of objects and people, and the relationships between them (see table 1). for instance, what is “worthy” in the industrial world is an efficient nature, and somebody inefficient will be considered “unworthy” in this world. in the inspired world, worth will depend on the capacity to be creative and inspired, and being “down-to-earth” will correspond to a form of degeneracy. in boltanski and thévenot’s framework, worth is “the way in which one expresses, embodies, understands, or represents other people (according to modalities that depend on the world under consideration)” (boltanski & thévenot, 1991: 167; 2006: 132). justice appears only to exist in a situated, contextualised, specific relationship. table 1. the six orders of worth from boltanski and thévenot’s economies of worth ‘common worlds’ market industrial civic domestic inspired fame mode of evaluation (worth) price, cost technical efficiency collective welfare esteem, reputation grace, singularity, creativeness renown, fame test market competitiveness competence, reliability, planning equality and solidarity trustworthiness passion, enthusiasm popularity, audience, recognition form of relevant proof monetary measurable: criteria, statistics formal, official oral, exemplary, personally warranted emotional involvement and expression semiotic qualified objects freely circulating market good or service infrastructure, project, technical object, method, plan rules and regulations, fundamental rights, welfare policies patrimony, locale, heritage emotionally invested body or item, the sublime sign, media qualified human beings customer, consumer, merchant, seller engineer, professional, expert equal citizens, solidarity unions authority creative beings, artists celebrity source: adapted from thévenot, moody, & lafaye (2000: 241). 1. the book by boltanski and chiapello (1999) identifies an additional polity: the projective city. claudette lafaye and laurent thévenot (1994) referred to the “green world”. and in his 2004 book boltanski took an interest in a specific polity which is considered illegitimate: the “eugenics polity”. 533 the more things change… institutional maintenance as justification work in the credit rating industry m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 528-562 french pragmatic sociology is commonly misused as a tool to classify justifications (breviglieri, lafaye, & trom, 2009). in fact, pragmatic sociology is more than a mere tool for categorising discourses: it studies the dynamics of agreement, the process that engages the adjustment of actors in social life, and leads to the formation of relatively stable common worlds. beyond the repertoires of political forms of worth available to the actors (“the polities”), which seems to be a given, the value of this sociology lies in the way it casts light on this process through test and compromise (nachi, 2006; breviglieri, et al., 2009). compromise compromise is the cornerstone of boltanski’s pragmatic sociology (nachi, 2004; nachi, 2006). it makes it possible to find a way to live together despite insurmountable opposition. it is the juxtaposition of various justifications connected by principles of equivalence, such that different interests and ways of thinking can coexist. when there is a multiplicity of forms of justification and use of violence is naturally excluded as a way of imposing a viewpoint, compromise is necessary to attain a “common good”. according to nachi (2004: 139, author’s own translation) “compromise is intended to solve conflicts of worth by using arguments and justifications relating to several ‘polities’ lying at the intersection of various modalities of justification”. this heterogeneity makes the compromise provisional, but that does not mean it is ephemeral. when the “common good” is attained, the search for individual interests is superseded in a publicly recognised compromise that provides a way out of disputes. the compromise can be reinforced and thus appear uncontested. as boltanski and thévenot (1991: 340; 2006: 279) write: “[t]he multiplication of composite objects that corroborate one another and their identification with a common form thus help work out and stabilise a compromise. when a compromise is worked out, the beings it associates become hard to pry apart”. but as ricœur (1991: 3, author’s own translation) reminds us, “compromise is always weak and revocable, but it is the only way to aim for the common good”. compromise can thus be undermined at any moment by public denunciation. in other words, the concept of compromise makes it possible to describe an appearance of stability within which a dynamic form remains, embodied in the fundamental opposition between irreconcilable worths. the example of credit institutions in rural areas illustrates this idea. composite arrangements are set up (wissler, 1989) to form crossing points between logics belonging to the domestic world (local roots embodied in relationships with friends, family, neighbours, services) and logics belonging to the industrial world (seeking to objectify the decision to give a loan). as a result, the final loan decision goes beyond the inextricable situation and can reach a more general agreement that reduces past tensions 2 (wissler, 1989: 113, author’s own translation): “the financial analyst constructs a plani for financial consolidationd-i in the medium termi. by highlighting the authorityd of the financial backer, he asks the familyd to become more involved in the firm by making a capital contribution and a contribution to a blocked account, to prevent the risk of deterioration in the accountsi (...)”. studying the loan decision processes shows how the banking establishment has had to reach a compromise between two logics of action in its operation. agreement enables actors to move beyond a situation of opposition between financial analysis, belonging to the industrial world, and the 2. the letters presented in superscript are the first letters of the world concerned: i for the industrial world and d for the domestic world. 534 benjamin taupin m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 528-562 recommendations of the local board of directors, so far engaged in a domestic logic of judgement. the new, more general, equivalence established here is embodied in new composite objects that reinforce the compromise: in return for the loan, a jointd guaranteei (cautioni-solidaired in french) will be requested to consolidate the agreement reached between the industrial world and the domestic world. test in french pragmatic sociology, the fundamental concept of the test is used to emphasise actors’ agency in an instituted order (breviglieri, et al., 2009). note that, by looking at situations in which individuals are relatively free to express their point of view, boltanski and thévenot’s approach ignores tests that do not involve the possibility of justification. in a justification situation, the test brings in individuals and their capacity to qualify objects and people: this is a test of legitimacy. for example, the justice of a situation can be contested through a complaint about its lack of transparency (world of fame). likewise, demanding greater competition in a given situation can be a way to support the moral foundation of the social arrangement, in this case by reference to the market polity. the test is “the moment for establishing correspondence between an activity and a qualification, with a view to a justification that can claim general validity” (boltanski & chiapello, 1999: 410; 2005: 321). contestation of an order involves tests of legitimacy, and so does reinforcement: the better a state of affairs stands up to the tests, the more stable it is. more recently, boltanski (2009: 159-166; 2011: 103-110) identified several types of legitimate tests, including “truth tests” and “reality tests”. truth tests confirm reality by bringing it out in its completeness and apparent perfection. they are often characterised by tautological discourse or the use of expressions that simply state what is good or bad rather than emphasising reasoning and argument. reality tests, meanwhile, compare what exists with what is claimed to exist, and require some in-depth argument, but by no means prejudge the outcome for the reigning order. they can therefore either strengthen or shake the compromise. interactions between the concepts of the sociology of critique public justifications by the stakeholders in a controversy represent combinations of orders of worth in the search for or continuation of a compromise. when actors make criticisms of the prevailing order through involvement in the public debate, they assess the “state of worth” of the objects and people concerned by the debate through a test. this process of producing and criticising compromises is complex. from a theoretical standpoint, the complexity of justification is visible in the interrelations between qualification according to the polity, formation of compromises and application of tests (see figure 1 below). both the level of individuals (microsociological) and the more collective level of institutions (macro-sociological) are incorporated into boltanski’s approach. they are found respectively in the concept of the actor/object and that of the world that embodies the general will. transition between the two levels is made possible by the concept of the test. the sociology of critique framework can simultaneously take into consideration 1) action, through the interpretations (or attempted interpretations) of individuals in the situation; and 2) macro-sociological factors that go beyond/transcend the situation. the local compromise is then clarified, and the factors imposed on 535 the more things change… institutional maintenance as justification work in the credit rating industry m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 528-562 actors are exposed through the actors’ rise towards generality and the test format applied. the level of the institution is not only attained through the process of the rise towards generality, but also embodied in the concept of the test format, meaning the way the actors reduce the diversity of situations encountered in reality to bring it down to prepared, identified tests. active production and acceptance of arguments in the justification work are mechanisms that solve the difficulty inherent to the transition between the micro level of the data studied and the representation of the institutional order in general. thanks to the test, study of institutional justification work can also connect (breviglieri, et al., 2009) between the actors’ individual commitment and the macro-sociological level in which the institution is located. while jagd (2011) stresses the low number of empirical studies examining the process in the organisational field, he considers it an indicator of promising potential for development for empirical studies in the “institutional work” research agenda (lawrence & suddaby, 2006; lawrence, suddaby, & leca, 2011) . research question according to the findings of patriotta, gond and schultz (2011), public justifications lead to a new configuration of the social order while preserving the legitimacy of existing institutions. institutional maintenance no longer appears as a struggle between types of actors (oliver, 1992) with some figure 1. circulation of the critique through organisational levels 536 benjamin taupin m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 528-562 seeking to maintain the status quo and others opposing that aim. this dichotomy, supported by authors such as maguire and hardy (2009), is challenged because maintenance is presented as a process involving each type of stakeholder in the field. furthermore, the proposed approach illustrates the studies presenting institutional processes as the result of collective work (garud & karnøe, 2003; reay & hinings, 2005; battilana, leca, & boxenbaum, 2009; delacour & leca, 2011) rather than the action of a few members standing apart from the rest. the present article also sees institutional maintenance as a process founded on a justification which stakeholders put to an audience. however, it seeks to go further than the case described by patriotta, gond and schultz and define several types of institutional justification work in a process of maintaining legitimacy. the study will be based on in-depth analysis of the forms of compromises and tests in order to define the different forms of institutional justification work. in light of this purpose, a rise in the extent to which the existing order is contested, which boltanski calls a “crisis of justification” (boltanski, 1990), represents a particular opportunity, because at such times the foundations of the institution are revealed. as figure 2 below shows, the subprime crisis led to an increase in contestation of credit ratings. these factors raise the following research question: to what forms of compromise and test does each sequence in institutional justification work in the credit rating industry correspond before and after the start of the subprime crisis? the paradox of credit rating recent decades have highlighted a paradox in the business of credit rating. rating agencies have regularly been criticised, but without any real challenge to their status as a pillar of the contemporary financial industry. as sinclair (2010: 8) observes, this contradiction intensified with the arrival of the financial crisis of 2008: it is intriguing that despite the worst financial crisis since the 1930s and the identification of a suitable culprit in the rating agencies, proposed regulation should be so insubstantial, doing so little to alter the rating system that has been in place in the us since 1909 and europe since the late 1980s. criticism of credit rating has already arisen several times in the past, whenever the agencies have failed in their mission of assigning a rating reflecting the solvency of a debt issuer or issue. this happened during sovereign debt crises (for a detailed presentation, see sinclair, 2005) including the mexican crisis (1994-1995), the asian crisis (1997-1998), the argentinean default in 2001 and the icelandic crisis of 2008, but also in the field of corporate debt in the early 2000s with the downfall of enron, worldcom and parmalat (borrus, mcnamee, & timmons, 2002). as langohr and langohr (2008: 189) point out, “enron was rated good credit by s&p and moody’s until four days before its collapse, worldcom until three months before, and parmalat until 45 days before”. the 2008 subprime crisis then intensified the criticism. as early as 2007, rating agencies were criticised for their role in the financial crisis (the economist, 2007; gasparino, 2007; lordon, 2007), particularly for assigning high ratings to mortgage-backed securities and other financial instruments which later turned out to be toxic assets. not long afterwards they were also berated for failing 537 the more things change… institutional maintenance as justification work in the credit rating industry m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 528-562 to foresee the difficulties of the financial companies they had placed at the top of their “investment” (i.e. low-risk) grade shortly before they went bankrupt (lehman brothers, american international group etc). senator carl levin, chairman of the us senate’s permanent subcommittee on investigations (united states senate, 2010; united states senate, 2011), made the following comment on the rating agencies’ role in the crisis: “i don’t think either of these companies has served their shareholders or the nation well” (senate panel: ratings agencies rolled over for wall street, 2010). finally, the pressure the rating agencies put on states and their budget policy through their assessment of sovereign debt is also a subject that has attracted criticism. the other side of the credit rating paradox concerns the lack of change observed in the prevailing order in the rating industry. after the us subprime mortgage crisis, the authority in charge of financial market regulation in the us (the securities and exchange commission) announced that it was putting an end to agencies’ self-regulation (sec, 2008), and the european union also sought to intervene in their activity, proposing supervision through the cesr (the committee of european securities regulators), which was superseded by the esma (european securities and markets authority) on 1 january 2011. despite the contestation, no real change was made to the regulatory framework of credit rating (see timeline in appendix 1). the successive reforms introduced by the us and european regulators simply made minor modifications to improve transparency, prevent conflicts of interest and reduce the regulatory use of credit ratings by the public authorities. the relevant section of the dodd-frank wall street reform act, adopted in 2010 in the us and intended to provide a stricter framework for credit rating, has been partly emptied of substance (eisinger & bernstein, 2011). examining the sequence of events during which rating agencies failed to accomplish their mission in parallel with the rise in their power raises the question of rating agencies’ resistance to critique. as one rating crisis followed another, the role of agencies was paradoxically reinforced. after the crisis of the penn central transportation company bankruptcy in 1970, the nationally recognized statistical rating organization (nrsro) regulations were adopted; after the asian crisis and the fall of enron in 2001, the basel ii framework was adopted. these two sets of regulations strengthened rating agencies’ powers: the first assigned private firms the job of issuing ratings to be used for regulatory purposes, and the second accentuated this power by such steps as designating the principal agencies’ ratings as an international benchmark for calculating banks’ prudential ratios. every event that could have been seen as a threat to the rating agencies in fact helped to reinforce their role. in view of this paradox between the contestation directed at credit rating and the absence of significant change in regulation, the following question can be asked: what made the regulatory arrangement of credit rating so resistant to contestation and change? following the agencies’ failings to accomplish their mission, the controversy over credit rating increased, triggering a debate between different conceptions of appropriate regulation. figure 2 shows the number of comments sent to the sec in the public consultation processes concerning credit rating during the period. 538 benjamin taupin m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 528-562 when failings by rating agencies triggered contestation, the sec began considering stricter regulation for agencies and the credit rating industry. in response to the need for justification of the institutions of capitalism (boltanski, 2009: 190; 2011: 182), the sec submitted its proposals to public consultation. anyone interested in giving their opinion was invited to do so (see appendix 2 for an idea of which type of actor took up this opportunity). under the sociology of critique approach, the various justifications expressed in the comments received represent tests of the current view of credit rating regulation. the study of this justification work provides the basis for the present analysis of institutional legitimacy in the credit rating industry. methodology a qualitative methodology was used for this case study. the empirical material consists of the 340 comments sent in during the sec’s public consultations. two different collection points were used: the 2003 consultation, corresponding to the period before the subprime crisis, and then the consultations held from 2007 onwards, revealing the justification work for the subprime crisis period. the nvivo8 software for coding qualitative data was used to code this material. coding took place in three stages, involving the types of coding described by richards (2009): descriptive coding, thematic coding and analytical coding. through descriptive coding the data were sequenced and twelve different categories were identified for the “type of actor” attribute (appendix 3 presents the frequency of comments by category of actors during the period covered). next, the data were coded by theme, allocating extracts from the comments between the general themes to which they refer. this thematic coding led me to focus on two principal debates for the purpose of this study: the debate concerning use of nrsro ratings to regulatory ends, and the debate over conflicts of interest and practices threatening the integrity of rating. lastly, analytical coding was carried out, involving interpretation of the meaning produced by the data through use of the concepts of on justification: figure 2. number of comments sent to the sec for each consultation 539 the more things change… institutional maintenance as justification work in the credit rating industry m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 528-562 table 2. semantic descriptors for common worlds “common worlds” list of key words and expressions used as semantic markers to connect comments to the polities. world of fame 31.6 % public opinion, public, reputation, misleading, data, information, disclosure, signal, reliable source of information, reputational, credibility, quality of rating information, communicate, publicly accountable, diversity of opinion, comments, the public considers, transparency, reliable, creditworthiness, clear and discernible, confidence, available information, reliability awareness etc. industrial world 25.3 % efficiency, performance, experts, standard, objectivity, useful, quantitative signal, a consistent and clear correlation, a valuable resource, accurate ratings, methodologies, evaluate, resources to manage, objective, standard, effectiveness, a tool, assess, accuracy, practical, level etc. market world 23.2 % competition, rivalry, market, benefit, value, oligopoly, monopoly, price, commercial interests, financial, competing agencies, the marketplace, price competition, competition in the industry, barrier to entry, business, the market dynamic, market discipline, market measures of credit risk, increase competition, products, free market system etc. civic world 18.6 % collectives, legal, rule, governed, solidarity, collective interest, oversight, regulation, integrity, regulator, rulemaking, the government etc. inspired world 0.7 % creative anxiety, passion, dream, fantasy, vision, idea, spirit, religion, genius, unconscious, emotional, feelings, etc. domestic world 0.7 % engendering, tradition, generation, hierarchy, family, leader, volunteering, faithful, determination of a position in the hierarchy, punctuality, loyalty, firmness, honest, trust, superior, rejection of selfishness, respect etc. based on patriotta, gond and schulz (2011) and boltanski and thévenot (1991) analysis of institutional maintenance in credit rating regulation 2003: straightforward confirmation work in the 2003 consultation, the industry actors produce a discourse of confirmation that reveals little about the credit rating industry. in this period, the legitimacy underpinning credit rating regulation is not contested. tautological or epideictic expressions are used that close reality in on itself, with no glimpse of the higher economies of worth. at this stage, the aim was to highlight the tests establishing compromises between several worlds for each of the consultations studied between 2000 and 2010. the categories arising from the polities and their semantic descriptors are already strongly determined and explained in the work of boltanski and thévenot. worlds, higher common principles, tests, and the relevant test formats for a world are clearly evoked (see table 1 above). we also added descriptors to the list originally supplied by boltanski and thévenot, taking a similar approach to patriotta, gond and schultz (see table 2 below; italics indicate additions to boltanski and thévenot’s original list coming from the empirical field). table 2 shows the chosen semantic descriptors, with the first column indicating the relative influence of each world for all coded extracts 3. patriotta, gond and schultz (2011) used a similar method, specifying that in their object of study certain worlds “have not been used in our counting and content analysis due to [their] very low recurrence in the data and [their] lack of importance in the unfolding of the controversy”. the same applies here for the inspired world and the domestic world, which are not relevant for this study. 3. the only problem encountered concerned matters relating to transparency (referred to in our data by reference to “disclosure”): did the concept of transparency relate to the domestic world (this is the interpretation of patriotta, gond and schultz (2011)) or the world of fame? we took the second option, in line with huault and rainelli (2009), who consider that the power of transparency relates to the world of fame since in that world, what is considered worthy is what is known and recognised. thévenot confirms the dominant role of the world of fame in extension of the market logic, considering that the market world is realised through an “imposing mechanism of visibility and dissemination belonging to the order of fame” (thévenot 1997: 214, author’s own translation). 540 benjamin taupin m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 528-562 principles on which the actors base their arguments. ratings issued by the major rating agencies have generally proved to be a reliable source of information for the fixed income markets. the reputational and commercial interests of the agencies provide a strong motivation to maintain the credibility of their ratings. john m. ramsay, the bond market association, 2003 4. the actors avoid self-justification and do not attack the existing regulatory order. comparisons between arguments and the foundations of legitimacy are few and far between. the idea of further regulation for credit rating is considered unimportant, because in the actors’ view there is no problem. they describe the existing situation without questioning this conception of reality. this gives rise to a type of test described above in the theoretical discussion: truth tests. a discourse of flight from justification is also produced by the main rating agencies, which understandably have an interest in keeping the status quo unchanged: the nrsro system is designed, appropriately in our view (…) charles d. brown, fitch ratings, 2003 the same mechanism is used in the discourse of other participants in the debates. users of ratings in the bond market (the bond market association and sia capital committee), chief financial officers and financial executives (through financial executives international) and professionals from the world of insurance (naic) speak with the same voice. they consider it unnecessary to start a discussion on the introduction of stricter regulation for agencies: the committee believes that such differentiation in the determination of capital charges on the basis of credit ratings is a concept that has served markets well for over 25 years. cheryl kallem, sia capital committee, 2003 (my emphasis). in general we believe that the two factors above [in determining whether a credit rating agency qualified as an nrsro], as well as the key components within the operational assessment, are adequate. grace hinchman, financial executives international, 2003. the four nrsros have a good deal of influence in the market. (…) considering alternatives to the current system that has worked well for state insurance regulators could be costly and complicated. gregory v. serio, naic rating agency working group, national association of insurance commissioners, 2003. (…) as a general matter the association believes that the current system of oversight of credit rating agencies functions reasonably well. john m. ramsay, the bond market association, 2003. in general, the comments submitted in 2003 are studded with references to the appropriateness and relevance of the existing organisation. the actors assert that the system has worked well for years. the only possible concession to criticism is the admission that it is the worst system, apart from all others. two mechanisms may explain the institutional maintenance observed in 2003. 1) the actors reassert the prevailing order to confirm the existing institution. 4. appendix 5 presents the website links to the original comments, together with a brief description of the author of the comment. 541 the more things change… institutional maintenance as justification work in the credit rating industry m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 528-562 2) the same actors also use the flight from argument mechanism in order to perpetuate the compromise in its existing form, suspending the constraint of justification. 2007 onwards: qualification work as the controversy grows in importance when the subprime crisis brought rating agencies centre stage, new facts featured in the contestation, leading to a change in the justification work compared to 2003. the subprime crisis highlighted the agencies’ failings: attribution of high ratings to financial products that turned out to be toxic assets, inability to assess the true financial health of companies such as lehman brothers and aig before they went bankrupt, etc. the sec published a report in the summer of 2008 stressing rating agencies’ lapses. publicly released email correspondence between agency analysts showed that the agency mission had not been fully accomplished. in one of those emails (sec, 2008, july: 12), an agency analyst expressed concern that “her firm’s model did not capture ‘half’ of the deal’s risk, but that ‘it could be structured by cows and we would rate it’”. another analyst wrote to a senior analyst on the question of structured finance (sec, 2008, july: 12): “the rating agencies continue to create an ‘even bigger monster – the cdo [collateralized debt obligations] market. let’s hope we are all wealthy and retired by the time this house of cards falters.;o)’”. in contrast to the 2003 public consultation, the 2007 and 2008 consultations attracted a much larger number of comments (see figure 2 above). from 2006, through the credit rating agencies reform act and then the public consultations of summer 2008, the sec intended to promote “responsibility, transparency and competition” in the credit rating industry. the us financial market regulator was entering a phase of greater intervention in the supervision of credit rating. the “final rule” of 2007 adopted measures governing the public availability of agency data, requiring them to keep records of their activities and make financial reports to the sec. agencies were also required to apply procedures designed to prevent possible conflicts of interest. for instance, nrsro agencies were now banned “from having certain conflicts of interest and engaging in certain unfair, abusive, or coercive practices” (sec, 2008, restating the new measures of 2007). for this period, the thematic coding (richards, 2009) brought out two major themes in the controversies relating to the search for the common good: the debate on the use of nrsro ratings for regulation, and the debate on the conflict of interests threatening the rating activity. the debate on use of ratings by the public authorities the justifications produced expose the argumentation repertoires used to contest or, on the contrary, support the use of ratings issued by nationally recognised agencies in the regulation of financial activities. the vast majority of comments express opposition to the sec’s proposed measures to make regulations less dependent on nrsro agency ratings (baklanova, 2009). j. g. lallande, an investor, is against no longer referring to nrsro ratings in the name of a private arrangement between two orders of worth. nrsro ratings, although imperfect at times, provide a clear and discernible 542 benjamin taupin m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 528-562 threshold below which investments may not be made. by eliminating this threshold and replacing it with a subjective standard—one that may vary from fund to fund—the commission would be hindering the effectiveness of rule 2a-7’s ability to protect investors. j. g. lallande, invesco aim advisors, inc., july 2008. the use of nrsro ratings gives a “clear and discernible” (world of fame) “threshold” (industrial world) as a benchmark for the investment decision. lallande strongly links the fame dimension to the industrial world, with regret that ratings could be replaced by “subjective standards” (unworthy in the industrial world) that reduce the effectiveness of market mechanisms. another investor, daniel pedrotty (office of investment, afl-cio), contests the decision to cease referring to nrsro ratings by imagining the problems caused by application of that rule for the “market dynamic” (market world): it is not an exaggeration to suggest that the elimination of the ratings requirements as contemplated may accomplish the exact opposite of what the commission intends. the market dynamic that would likely arise with the elimination of a thirdparty rating requirement is predictable and has been observed time and again in other arenas. (…) as a result, there will be greater inconsistency in credit quality among funds. some investors for a time may not be concerned with or aware of the increased risk that has boosted the return on their investments. in other words, they may assume that the money market funds industry is well regulated. when a fund then inevitably “breaks the buck”, confidence in the whole system may dissipate, freezing credit throughout the economy. to avoid this scenario and the significant harm it would do to the “real” economy, it is prudent to maintain the objective ratings requirement. daniel pedrotty, office of investment, afl-cio, july 2008. in pedrotty’s view, if this measure is adopted, it would lead to greater risktaking and result in a lack of quality (industrial world) in ratings, but most importantly a lack of investor confidence in market operations (market world) and the system in general (world of fame). we are thus in the presence of a compromise between the market, industrial and fame worlds. to sum up in one sentence the position taken by most actors in the debate over eliminating ratings requirements for the regulations, the concept of the common good uses the following logic: “we must not end reference to nrsro ratings, because it is efficient, and no longer using that efficiency would destabilise the market, which would result in a loss of confidence in the market.” the statements by jeffrey t. brown (charles schwab co., inc.) display a similar arrangement of the principles of polities: schwab has found that issuers and other market participants are very cognizant of the rule’s rating requirements and most issuers and underwriters use the rating requirements as a tool when structuring products intended for money market investment. the fact that the ratings requirement is a necessary condition for investment provides the funds with leverage when issuers and dealers are marketing new securities to the money funds. schwab believes that removing the references to the ratings would be a disservice to the funds because it would eliminate one of the few means funds have to compel a level of market discipline. another disadvantage is a potentially wide disparity among funds regarding what constitutes an eligible security. without the objective floor provided by nrsro ratings requirements, money market funds’ investment decisions will be far more subjective, making it more difficult for investors to compare the safety and quality 543 the more things change… institutional maintenance as justification work in the credit rating industry m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 528-562 of investments held by one fund versus another. jeffrey t. brown, charles schwab co., inc., july 2008. brown stresses that, in his opinion, use of nrsro ratings in the law is a very useful instrument (industrial world) for structuring products, since market participants are aware (world of fame) of these requirements and thus ensure that the market works properly (market world). although most actors are against discontinuing ratings requirements in the regulations, some support for that proposal is also observed. the actors concerned seem to be contesting the status quo by supporting this reform. academic franck partnoy puts forward the following proposal: my one substantive recommendation to the commission is that it include in its final rules some language indicating that reliance on market-based information and market prices, rather than nrsro ratings, can be an acceptable—indeed, preferable—method of satisfying obligations to assess the credit quality and risk of particular assets. for example, in directing that money market fund boards of directors look to outside quality determinations, i believe the commission should highlight in the final rules that, in addition to nrsro ratings, it would be appropriate for directors to look to, and rely on, market measures of credit risk, including both the credit spreads of fixed income instruments and the market prices of credit default swaps. frank partnoy, july 2008. the objective pursued by partnoy, consisting of creating a rating industry freed from regulatory uses of the ratings it issues, is associated with a conception of an organisation that uses the market to achieve greater efficiency. from the standpoint of the repertoires of argumentation, information (world of fame) based on market indicators (market world) is considered the best way to assess credit risks (industrial world). the same foundations of legitimacy are expressed differently in the final part of the extract: agents need to have confidence (world of fame) in the measures (industrial world) of market risk (market world, e.g. credit spreads or credit default swaps) to achieve a more efficient system (industrial world). so the compromise between the fame, market and industrial worlds monopolises the rise towards generality observed. whether on the part of actors in favour of change or actors who are reluctant to question the regulation’s dependence on nrsro ratings, the same polarisation is observed in the arguments put forward. the debate on conflicts of interest by 2009, the rating agencies’ shortcomings were well known to industry actors. this is true partly because ratings errors and delays in downgrading helped to plunge financial actors into a generally mistrustful attitude towards the financial markets and partly because the agencies’ failings were widely covered in the media. the subprime crisis in particular brought out more categorically the problems of rating agencies’ intervention in financial product structuring. by participating in the creation of this product, a large part of whose worth depends on its rating, the agency was considered to be acting as both judge and judged. the allegedly objective nature of its assessment in fact appeared to be riddled with conflicts of interest. in awarding high ratings to poor-quality financial products, rating agencies clearly contributed to the financial crisis 544 benjamin taupin m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 528-562 (united states senate, 2010; united states senate, 2011; the financial crisis inquiry commission, 2011), and that crisis became a systemic crisis, requiring state intervention to shore up the financial system. the election of a democrat in president barack obama seems to correspond to a real challenge to the status quo. as soon as he was inaugurated on 20 january 2009, the new president appointed a new director for the sec, mary shapiro, replacing the conservative christopher cox; this move suggested that a new policy would be introduced for regulating finance and credit rating. the comments, however, still contain many objections to the proposals to combat conflicts of interest. bruce stern, representing insurers, argues that seeking to prevent agencies from acting as consultants to the firms that they rate in fact prevents the circulation of information on the methodologies used by the agencies: the prohibition limiting rating agencies from providing advice on their rating criteria is impractical, and attempts to distinguish between rating criteria and “recommendations”. in so doing, the rule inhibits the dialogue necessary to address changing circumstances or new products. the adopting release perceives a conflict when an nrsro is “rating its own work”. if an nrsro establishes its own rating criteria (as it must do), the nrsro will inevitably be “rating its own work”. afgi submits that concerns regarding rating integrity should be addressed in a manner that does not inhibit rating transparency. proposal for consideration: the rule should be eliminated as impractical. bruce stern, association of financial guaranty insurers, 2009. this criticism emphasises the illegitimacy of such a measure: because it goes against a form of transparency, it is considered impossible to execute in practice. what represented a test for the existing compromise, by seeking to introduce integrity into the rating process, must be eliminated: accountability cannot be achieved by “impractical” means that would threaten efficiency and transparency. according to the chairman of the canadian agency dbrs, conflicts of interest are an inherent part of the rating activity, and while steps should be taken against them, believing they can be eradicated is considered unrealistic. consequently, the main type of action to take for conflicts of interest, in keeping with the socially constructed reality of the field, is to reveal them: rather than adopting an unrealistic, zero-tolerance policy towards conflicts, dbrs endorses the approach the commission has followed thus far. conflicts should be eliminated wherever possible (and some conflicts should be prohibited outright) and the remaining conflicts should be disclosed to the public and managed in a transparent and verifiable fashion. in this regard, dbrs believes that requiring nrsros to establish and abide by transparent ratings procedures and methodologies; implement and enforce codes of conduct; and publish useful information about the performance of their ratings over time will go a long way to minimizing or eliminating the harmful ramifications of conflicts of interest in the credit rating industry. daniel curry, chairman, dbrs inc, a canadian rating agency formed in 1976, 2009. the power of “disclosure” should be interpreted through the lens of the prevailing compromise: it underpins a view of credibility as a source of market efficiency. 545 the more things change… institutional maintenance as justification work in the credit rating industry m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 528-562 this is confirmed in the second part of the above extract, where elements related to the industrial world (procedures, methodologies, performance) are associated with elements from the world of fame (transparent, disclosed, information). during this debate, a type of test emerges that matches the actors’ view of what is legitimate: it is proposed that “information about the performance of [agencies’] ratings over time” should be disclosed. the actors do this to solve the problem raised in the existing interpretation framework: there is no more hindrance to harmonious coexistence between the worlds making up the compromise. the conflict of interests thus remains a market, industrial and fame-related theme, and the solution to this problem, obtained through industrial dimensions (present and past performances), market dimensions (an indicator from the market) and fame dimensions (disclosure of information) strengthens the compromise described earlier. the uncertainty created by reinforcement of the critique of the conflict of interests is thus reduced by formatting the arguments around the principles of legitimacy reconciled in the existing compromise. another aspect of the conflict of interests problem lies in the debate as to which economic model for rating agencies’ remuneration is best: the issuerpays model, or the investor-pays model. the comments by deven sharma, chairman of standard & poor’s, show how using a well-known test format can be a source of reassurance because it is based on the status quo: every business model has positive and negative aspects and some may work better for certain investors than others. in our judgment, the focus of regulation in this area should be on recognizing the benefits and costs of different models and working to ensure that potential conflicts are effectively disclosed and managed so that market participants can decide which rating firms and business models are appropriate for their needs. deven sharma, chairman of standard & poor’s ratings services, 2009. finally, a return to the harmony of the common good is considered, supported by the compromise in which “what is credible is recognised by the market, and therefore efficient”. in this case, the point is to solve the test of conflict of interests by the prevailing view of legitimacy: “what is credible is recognised (world of fame) by the market (market world) and therefore efficient (reduces conflicts of interest), so we must reveal conflicts of interest through better circulation of information (world of fame)”. as the comment of the dbrs agency chairman above shows, it does not really matter whether those conflicts are real or potential, as long as they are treated in the way described. according to nicholas brown, by connecting agencies’ income with indexes of the probability of default provided by the market, such as credit default swaps, the market would provide an incentive for agencies to act responsibly: one suggestion to hold them accountable would be to somehow tie agencies’ ratings to the credit default swaps pricing. like maybe the rating firms themselves would actually be required to issue (fully or participating with other parties) the cdss on the entities they are rating! since they would be on the hook for paying any default claims on the things they’re rating, they would greatly incentivized to rate them accurately so the default insurance that they are selling and backing is priced properly. instead of just being 3rd-party rate-for-pay machines, they would be more like insurance companies, whose profits are directly tied to their 546 benjamin taupin m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 528-562 ability to accurately assess risk. nicholas brown, writing on his own behalf as a private individual, 2009. sean egan, chairman of a small agency operating under the investor-pays model, clearly exposes the concept of the industry’s regulatory order highlighted above by our analysis. in his view, confidence in ratings comes from the market, and conversely, confidence in the market is the key to market efficiency: i agree with chairman shapiro that the compensation is the key to altering behavior, and, in the ratings industry, the best way to do this is to heighten the awareness levels of who is paying for what. we have a free market system and the government cannot and should not compel the use of one business model over another. however, it is the role of the sec and other policy makers charged with the responsibility to protect investors to make sure that investors and other users of credit ratings know whether the seller or the buyer is paying for the work product. sean egan, egan-jones ratings co, 2009, a subscription-paid rating agency. results three types of maintenance work this study shows that institutional justification work has maintained institutions in three different ways (see figure 3 below), with varying degrees of complexity. the first is a straightforward case of confirmation work in which the actors repeat or reformulate the existing regulatory arrangement or quite simply refuse to take part in the debate. but this work is not the only mechanism that perpetuates the compromise. once the subprime crisis has begun an unveiling process starts, although it does not succeed in triggering a challenge to the compromise. during this unveiling, two different mechanisms are visible. a first, similar to the system described by patriotta, gond and schultz (2011), comes from the process of qualification for the criticism of credit rating. civic and domestic objects are not taken into account in the justification work. a second relates to the circular nature of the compromise, which prevents the tests from shaking the existing compromise. this study describes a case of compromise in which stakeholders refer to orders of worth without changing the existing social order. by this process, the origin of institutional maintenance lies in immunising the institution by repeating critiques according to the principles of the circular figure of the compromise. figure 3. three types of justification work as part of the institutional maintenance process 547 the more things change… institutional maintenance as justification work in the credit rating industry m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 528-562 qualification work depending on the test format the crisis of justification causes the view of regulation carried by the compromise to be compared with the agencies’ observed failings. at this stage, reality tests are involved (boltanski, 2009). in the justifications, arguments are put forward to enable the regulatory order to respond to these critiques. the reality tests bring out more clearly the principles on which legitimacy are based. this is thus a rise towards generality, which unveils the compromise of the situation, here a strong tendency towards a reconciliation of the fame, market and industrial worlds in the following structure: “the market is efficient and creates confidence” and “transparency makes the market efficient”. the comments thus present a propensity to form critiques that adopt the test format corresponding to the existing compromise (see figure 4 below). therefore, the debate on conflict of interests in credit rating is addressed via tests belonging to the market, industrial and fame worlds rather than, for example, tests related to the civic world (integrity) or the inspired world (innovation). this is how actors avoid critiques placing the debate in a different world from the compromise. the irresponsible behaviour by credit rating agency analysts is not considered at the level of the civic world. instead, the preferred explanation is that agencies are finding it difficult to cope with the higher volume of demand for ratings. the way the debate is conducted produces critiques that not only confirm the validity of the higher principles on which regulation is based but also try to reinforce the underlying principles by disconnecting that validity from anything foreign to the relevant compromise (nachi, 2006). to solve credit rating problems such as conflicts of interest, it is necessary to improve transparency, encourage competition and achieve better performance. similarly, most actors are against the idea of eliminating nationally recognised private ratings from regulation, because such a change is considered as an operation that would seriously affect the stability of the rating system. according to the “common good” supported by the existing compromise, removing nrsro ratings from the regulation would be equivalent to depriving market actors (investors, insurers, brokers) of what they consider to be their credible market tool. so all aspects of the “common good” included in the compromise are embodied in nrsro ratings (the industrial world, the world of fame and the market world). using credit rating standards issued by a public agency cannot be legitimised without challenging, or at least adjusting, the compromise. the circular figure of institutional maintenance work in the theoretical section, i explained that holding reality tests does not prejudge the outcome of the justification work: such an operation can just as easily lead to a genuine reconfiguration of the compromise or end the controversy without any change to the status quo. unveiling does not necessarily call the existing compromise into question. in our case, maintenance results not from the soundness of the agreement reached through the justification process but from the justification process itself, which prevents the debate from ending in a selffeeding logic, thus leading to perpetuation of the status quo. the compromise is of a particular nature here: due precisely to its composite nature, the situation of harmony perpetuates the situation through its sophistication. this process is described by the concept of the circular figure of the compromise. 548 benjamin taupin m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 528-562 through this basic feature of the compromise, “in such a case the critique can never be completely clarified, because it is impossible to return to a higher common principle” (boltanski & thévenot, 1991: 343; 2006: 282). it rushes into a test format from which it will be unable to escape, and so there can be no radical contestation of the arrangement. consequently, the compromise is in no danger; on the contrary, it is reinforced, since the emphasis is on the orders of worth that make it up. illustrating this, the flood of critiques of the individualist nature of the rating system are established (ex ante) by reference to the industrial worth, market worth and fame worth, but never succeed (ex post) in really rising to any one of those, since they are in fact foreign to each other. the ex ante mechanism corresponds to the process of converting tests to the format of the existing compromise, as described in figure 4. due to the circular nature of the compromise, it is possible to describe the ex post processual component of institutional maintenance. it can identify competition, transparency and performance in a single compromise. these three worths are treated as equivalent, since complaints that “competition is not efficient”, “performance is unrelated to competition”, “transparency is impractical” or “the market is not transparent” are equally possible. however, the indeterminate nature of the “common good” defended by the compromise cannot take the debate very far. if the aim is to denounce the agencies’ lack of competitiveness, opponents will argue that the existing system is still the most effective because it is the most transparent. for example, financial agents, as well as brokers or investors, justify the existing oligopoly by arguing that having only three ratings to consult (moody’s, s&p and fitch) is optimal for decision-making. conversely, if the lack of efficiency is criticised, it will be argued that the system is competitive and transparent. for instance, in response to a lack of efficiency in private rating agencies, the idea of setting up a rating agency free of conflicts of interest over its remuneration system is swept aside, because it does not appear to be a solution that can maintain credible free competition. in the existing compromise, this indicates the features of the complex figure described by boltanski and thévenot (1991: 343; 2006: 282). 549 the more things change… institutional maintenance as justification work in the credit rating industry m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 528-562 with the qualification process depending on the test format, the empirical field studied initially illustrates the maintenance work deriving from the characteristics of a standard compromise. then, the circular nature of the compromise shows the process that makes it possible, in this specific arrangement, to prevent tests internal to the compromise from reaching their target. investors opposed to the reform admit, for example, that credit rating has been inefficient (it failed to rate structured financial products at their objective value), but point out that the whole market community trusts those ratings. the test is diverted by reference to one of the dimensions that is not under attack in the composite arrangement. this generates a form of circularity in the contestation, with successive arguments based on credit rating’s efficiency in fighting loss of confidence in the industry or, conversely, the claim that a lack of efficiency in the rating system is regrettable but acceptable, because the market trusts this system for producing ratings. i believe this explains the paradoxical situation in which actors seek to improve transparency, encourage competition and raise efficiency in order to solve problems with credit rating, even though the existing framework has led to an oligopolistic situation, repeated rating errors and an opaque rating system. in a universe where public justification prevails, the circular figure of the compromise offers an escape from logical coherence in the arguments put forward to challenge or justify the existing compromise. this characteristic relates to the idea of the private arrangement described by boltanski and thévenot. a private arrangement does not require a new equivalence to be established: “[t]he concession that is made in a figure 4. institutionalised factors in the work of justification for the credit rating industry 550 benjamin taupin m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 528-562 private arrangement consists precisely in avoiding recourse to a principle of justice: people come to terms among themselves—that is, locally—to bring a disagreement over worth to an end without exhausting the issue, without really resolving the quarrel” (boltanski & thévenot, 1991: 163; 2006: 128). contrary to the compromise, the private arrangement is valid at the local level. it is the place to express a convergence of private interests, independently of any reference to the constraints of justification, and is generally used in justification situations related to the private sphere. although it is not valid at the local level, the circular figure of the compromise observed in credit rating is comparable to the liberation from constraints of justification that characterises the private arrangement. discussion through the concepts of the test and the compromise developed by the sociology of critique, this study enhances understanding of institutional processes in organisations, making four types of contribution. the role of the discourse in shaping the institutional order initially, the results of this study lead to better understanding of how actors maintain their reasoning criteria though institutional discursive work (phillips, lawrence, & hardy, 2004; schildt, mantere, & vaara, 2011). behind the macro-institutional order of credit rating self-regulation by the market, higher moral principles can be revealed and used in practice by actors at the micro level. for the macro-cultural discourse (lawrence & phillips, 2004) of selfregulated credit rating is based on common higher principles that reveal the moral foundations of this arrangement. this provides an instrument to detail the discursive legitimation strategy that vaara, tieneria and laurila (2006) call “moralisation”, i.e. the strategies that more or less explicitly depend on moral values. through this reference to the actors’ moral sense, this study advances understanding of the dynamic discursive processes underlined at the micro level by vaara and tienari (2008). furthermore, by adopting a dual vision between diffusion and maintenance, several studies have come to consider that a practice considered to be taken for granted was no longer justified (zucker, 1977; tolbert & zucker, 1983; green, 2004) since the justification was only necessary when the practice was in the process of spreading. in the material analysed here, the number of justifications is positively correlated at the level of “taken-for-grantedness”, which is the opposite of what was previously observed (green, 2004). furthermore, challenging the strict distinction between change and continuation (boltanski, 2009) enables this study to echo the rhetoric model of institutionalisation developed by green, li and norhia (2009: 31). analysis of active production and acceptance of arguments in justification work proposed to solve the difficulty inherent to the transition from the micro level of the data studied and the representation of the institutional order in general. thanks to the test (breviglieri, et al., 2009), the study of institutional justification work can thus connect actors’ individual involvement and the macro-sociological level at which the institution is located (battilana & d’aunno, 2009). 551 the more things change… institutional maintenance as justification work in the credit rating industry m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 528-562 contributions to the concept of institutional maintenance supported by justification work this article offers two contributions for research combining economies of worth with neo-institutionalism. first, it improves understanding of institutional justification work. in the case studied by patriotta, gond and schultz, compromises can go beyond moral divergences. a series of successive compromises solves the dispute. methodologically speaking, the analysis patriotta, gond and schultz drew up is equivalent to observing a duality between compromise situations and test situations. the change in explanatory variables is limited in time: it operates until there is a social reconfiguration through the establishment of the new compromise. i do not believe that this sequential approach was enough to describe situations of continuation in the justification crisis experienced by the credit rating industry. in the empirical field of credit rating, the dynamic of contestation is precisely what lies at the origin of institutional maintenance. with the circular figure of the compromise, the dispute involving opposing logics does not lead to adjustments being made, either in the form of symbolic changes or as a modification in the practical method used to produce credit ratings. admittedly, events such as the subprime crisis forced rating agencies and investors to account for their actions publicly. however, contrary to all expectations, this became an opportunity to reassert the need for head-on pursuit of transparency, competition and efficiency, without any change being made to the compromise. the circular figure generates maintenance, in that the institutional pluralism in credit rating triggers a selfperpetuating process. this study casts additional light on situations in which controversy does not actually end, and leads to continuation of the foundations of legitimacy. second, in-depth use of the concepts of the test and the compromise has brought us back to the initial 1991 vision of boltanski and thévenot, with its ambition to take into consideration actors’ capacity to adjust to different situations in social life. boltanski and thévenot looked at situations involving the need for justification, and a large current of pragmatic sociology then turned to the study of discourse in public debates (examples include boltanski, godet, cartron, 1995; chateauraynaud & torny, 1999; de blic, 2000; lemieux, 2000; chateauraynaud, 2011). diverging from this perspective, university management studies have been quick to emphasise thévenot’s contributions to serving the “conventionalist” current (for a review of the literature in this approach to the field of conventions, see diaz-bone & thévenot, 2010). using convention theory as a way to introduce the contributions of pragmatic sociology into management can appear convenient (see the terminology used for this approach in biggart & beamish, 2003; denis, langley, & rouleau, 2007; stark, 2009). research that has made a connection between this theory from the discipline of economics and the management sciences is now well established in the landscape of organisational studies (gomez, 1994; gomez, 1997; gomez, 1997; gomez & jones, 2000). for example, worlds are considered as moral beliefs which are deemed to be taken for granted and which provide the basis for explanations of the mechanisms of agent coordination (thevenot, 1993; chapas, 2005). nonetheless, the articulation between economic theories that renew the approach to rationality, such as the convention theory, and the model of the sociology of critique has been considered fragile (eymardduvernay, 2009: 173). by taking a position that relates more to the works of 552 benjamin taupin m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 528-562 sociology of critique focusing on discursive production, this study has shown that the contribution by boltanski and thévenot could go beyond the idea of taking justifications simply as factors that reveal the moral categorisation of arguments. this makes it possible to capture the dynamic of agreement and the agency of individuals in a justification situation, or, in other words, the way actors succeed in creating domination situations (boltanski, 2009) with relative liberty. this process, and i wish to stress this point, diverges fairly fundamentally from studies that have ignored justice situations and instead focused their analyses on force situations (boltanski & chiapello, 1999; gautier, 2001), with a resulting tendency to reduce the actors’ agency. by adopting a pragmatic approach to domination (boltanski, 2008), through test and compromise, this study succeeds in highlighting situations of institutional constraint created by the actors’ agency capacity. it is thus truly possible to talk of institutional work (lawrence & suddaby, 2006; lawrence, et al., 2009) of justification, which i define as work done publicly by actors, based on the use and arrangement of multiple forms of rationality in a moment of strong contestation intended to promote their vision of justice. clarification of construction of private arrangements by actors dealing with several logics the concept of institutional pluralism has been used to explore how organisations operate in several spheres (kraatz & block, 2008). in environments like credit rating, marked by a plurality of moral orders, actions take place through a form of conciliation that allows the coexistence of apparently conflicting visions. however, jarzabkowski, matthiesen and van de ven (2009) have noted that field studies that acknowledge institutional pluralism tend to avoid the question of the continual coexistence of logics. in fact, the fundamental opposition between logics has traditionally been seen as a factor of instability (maguire & hardy, 2009). through analysis of institutional justification work, this study goes further than the taxonomic ordering of rationalities that is possible under this approach, and succeeds in showing how incommensurable, opposing views can produce a maintenance process. this is explained by the fact that the concept of compromise effectively generates an agreement of a new kind, similar to the “discordant accord”, a kantian idea adopted and developed by the philosopher deleuze (1963; 1968). according to deleuze, a discordant accord establishes harmony between entities of differing natures. it also implies an inherent contradiction and tension from which, paradoxically, comes ultimate harmony (deleuze, 1963; deleuze, 1968; deleuze, 2002). in the heart of the discordant accord, oppositions bring about stability of a higher degree. this form of stability is what i brought out through the study of the concept of the circular figure, which can take us out of a binary sequential vision in which successive periods of opposition give way to periods in which the establishment of a compromise resolves the controversy. using this aggregative figure, this study has evidenced that the dynamic of opposition between moral conceptions can in fact form the basis of the institutional status quo. next, lawrence and suddaby (2006) noted that in the maintenance process, the way institutional actors lose understanding of their actions remained obscure. the circular figure studied shows how, by deliberately pursuing the conception of what the actors consider legitimate, complex interaction between 553 the more things change… institutional maintenance as justification work in the credit rating industry m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 528-562 moral orders can lead to a result that is the contrary of what would happen if each moral order were pursued in its own right: the credit rating industry remains an oligopolistic industry in which the three main agencies make 98% of the activity’s worldwide sales, ratings are often inaccurate and, finally, the details of how rating actually works remain deeply opaque. this analysis of the mechanism of institutional maintenance in the form of compromises is more detailed in that it shows the complex interplay of different logics in this coexistence. consequences for credit rating and financial regulation our analysis offers a new interpretation of events in the credit rating industry. without judging the reliability of ratings and agencies’ capacity to issue “accurate” ratings, it is clear that the idea of the “right way to issue a rating” has remained unchanged despite the critical incidents that have happened. this research indicates how, under the appearance of change, closer examination of the actors’ justification work demonstrates that the principles guiding and underpinning the actions of credit rating industry actors are reasserted in opportunities offered by new events. little or no questioning of the basis of legitimacy is observed, and the mechanisms supporting the status quo are strong (ouroussoff, 2010). contrary to certain appearances (reorganisation of wall street, the dodd-frank – wall street reform act, supposedly the most important reform of finance since the 1929 crisis), the pillar of modern finance that is credit rating is not in the process of in-depth reform. at this stage, it would be instructive to have a similar study focusing on other institutions of capitalism and the associated reforms (banks, market infrastructures, hedge funds, insurance, etc.) to study how the underlying orders of worth that supports them succeed in perpetuating their position. the justification mechanisms at work could then be compared with the mechanisms highlighted in this study. the objective would be to determine whether, in these areas, the critiques confirm and accentuate the principles on which the legitimacy of the social arrangement is based in a similar way or whether, on the contrary, the status quo is actually being challenged. finally, the unveiling of the principles of legitimacy advanced by the actors during consultations on rating agencies in europe would also be a possible objective. comparison of the findings of such research with this study could show whether the legitimacy of credit rating is conceived in similar ways on both sides of the atlantic. limitations and avenues for future research an interesting question is how the freedom of the different stakeholders is exercised in forming their arguments with reference to one world or another. it is certainly clear that credit rating as an enterprise intrinsically associates the market world with the industrial world in the form of a compromise. but this study hypothesises that the justifications not only resulted from the strategies of actors seeking to protect their position. for as patriotta, gond and schultz also point out in their research (2011: 37), “our study suggests that actors are not cognitively bound to their own professional or institutional sphere”. this study, too, sees justifications not primarily as the product of actors’ desire to strategically defend their position (although appendix 4 presents references to the different worlds by type of actor). the acceptability of this position appears to be reinforced by the fact that certain actors, such as investors or 554 benjamin taupin m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 528-562 pension fund representatives, support the legitimacy that significantly went against their interests in the recent financial crises. rather than an actor’s strategy, this should be seen as use of a particular logic resulting from the institutional legitimacy of the arguments. yet closer attention could usefully be paid to the actors’ initial position in further research. rating agencies undertake lobbying work to achieve change in their favour in the regulations, and this certainly influences the phenomenon of maintenance observed in the industry. this factor was intentionally ignored in this study, but its influence could be measured in a study following on from this article. benjamin taupin is an associate professor at conservatoire national des arts et métiers (cnam) and a member of the lirsa research center. his research deals with institutional processes, with a particular focus on articulating the french pragmatic sociology with the approach of institutional work. acknowledgments. i would like to thank isabelle huault for generously contributing to improve the previous versions of this paper. i especially thank the editor for the special issue, bernard forgues, and the anonymous reviewers for their very helpful comments and suggestions. i am also grateful to gilles garel, dean of lirsa for his support. 555 the more things change… institutional maintenance as justification work in the credit rating industry m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 528-562 . angus, l. b. (1993). masculinity and women teachers at christian brothers college. organization studies, 14(2), 235-260. . baklanova, v. (2009). regulatory use of credit ratings: how it impacts the behavior of market constituents. in j. j. choi & m. g. papaioannou (eds.), credit, currency, or derivatives: instruments of global financial stability or crisis? international finance review (pp. 65-103). bingley: emerald. . battilana, j., & d’aunno, t. (2009). institutional work and the paradox of embedded agency. in t. b. lawrence, r. suddaby & b. leca (eds.), institutional work: actors and agency in institutional studies of organization (pp. 31-58). cambridge: cambridge university press. . battilana, j., & dorado, s. (2010). building sustainable hybrid organizations: the case of commercial microfinance organizations. the academy of management journal, 53(6), 1419-1440. . battilana, j., leca, b., & boxenbaum, e. (2009). agency and institutions: a review on institutional entrepreneurship. the academy of management annals, 3(1), 65-107. . biggart, n., & beamish, t. (2003). the economic sociology of conventions: habit, custom, practice, and routine in market order. annual review of sociology, 29, 443-464. . blokker, p. (2011). pragmatic sociology: theoretical evolvement and empirical application. european journal of social theory, 14(3), 251-261. . boltanski, l. (1990). l’amour et la justice comme compétences. trois essais de sociologie de l’action. paris: métailié. . boltanski, l. (2008). institutions et critique sociale. une approche pragmatique de la domination. tracés. revue de sciences humaines, 8, 17-43. . boltanski, l. (2009). de la critique : précis de sociologie de l’émancipation. paris: gallimard. . boltanski, l. (2011). on critique: a sociology of emancipation. cambridge: polity press. . boltanski, l. (2012). enigmes et complots : une enquête à propos d’enquêtes. paris: gallimard. . boltanski, l., & chiapello, e. (1999) le nouvel esprit du capitalisme. paris: gallimard. . boltanski, l., & chiapello, e. (2005). the new spirit of capitalism. london ; new york: verso. . boltanski, l., godet, m.-n., & cartron, d. (1995). messages d’amour sur le téléphone du dimanche. politix, 31, 30-76. . boltanski, l., & thévenot, l. (1991) de la justification. les économies de la grandeur. paris: gallimard. . boltanski, l., & thévenot, l. (2006). on justification. economies of worth. princeton; oxford: princeton university press. . borrus, a., mcnamee, m., & timmons, h. (2002, april 7). the credit raters: how they work and how they might work better. business week. retrieved from: http://www. businessweek.com/stories/2002-04-07/ the-credit-raters-how-they-work-andhow-they-might-work-better . breviglieri, m., lafaye, c., & trom, d. (eds.). (2009). compétences critiques et sens de la justice, colloque de cerisy. paris: economica, collection etudes sociologiques. . breviglieri, m., lafaye, c., & trom, d. (2009). sociologie pragmatique et normativité de l’agir en public. in m. breviglieri, c. lafaye & d. trom (eds.), compétences critiques et sens de la justice, colloque de cerisy (pp. 7-14). paris: economica, collection etudes sociologiques. . chapas, b. (2005). évolution de la rémunération des dirigeants et transformation de leur légitimité. la revue des sciences de gestion, (211-212), 143-153. . chateauraynaud, f. (2011). argumenter dans un champ de forces. essai de balistique sociologique. paris: petra. . chateauraynaud, f., & torny, d. (1999). les sombres précurseurs: une sociologie pragmatique de l’alerte et du risque. paris: ecole des hautes etudes en sciences sociales. . de blic, d. (2000). «le scandale financier du siècle, ça ne vous intéresse pas?» difficiles mobilisations autour du crédit lyonnais. politix, 13(52), 157-181. . delacour, h., & leca, b. (2011). the decline and fall of the paris salon: a study of the deinstitutionalization process of a field configuring event in the cultural activities. m@n@gement, 14(1), 436-466. . deleuze, g. (1963). la philosophie critique de kant. paris: presses universitaires de france. . deleuze, g. (1968). différence et répétition. paris: presses universitaires de france. references 556 benjamin taupin m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 528-562 . deleuze, g. (2002). l’île déserte et autres textes. textes et entretiens 1953-1974. paris: les éditions de minuit. . denis, j. -l., langley, a., & rouleau, l. (2007). strategizing in pluralistic contexts: rethinking theoretical frames. human relations, 60(1), 179-215. . diaz-bone, r., & thévenot, l. (2010). la sociologie des conventions. la théorie des conventions, élément central des nouvelles sciences sociales françaises. trivium, 5. retrieved from: http:// trivium.revues.org/3626 . dimaggio, p. j., & powell, w. w. (1983). the iron cage revisited: institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields. american sociological review, 48(2), 147-160. . dunn, m. b., & jones, c. (2010). institutional logics and institutional pluralism: the contestation of care and science logics in medical education, 1967-2005. administrative science quarterly, 55(1), 114-149. . eisinger, j., & bernstein, j. (2011). from dodd-frank to dud: how financial reform may be going wrong. propublica. retrieved from http://www.propublica. org/article/from-dodd-frank-to-dud . eymard-duvernay, f. (2009). les enfants des cités en économie. in m. breviglieri, c. lafaye & d. trom (eds.), compétences critiques et sens de la justice, colloque de cerisy (pp. 173-185). paris: economica, collection etudes sociologiques. . friedland, r., & alford, r. r. (1991). bringing society back in: symbols, practices and institutional contradictions. in w. w. powell & p. j. dimaggio (eds.), the new institutionalism in organizational analysis (pp. 232-263). chicago: university of chicago press. . garud, r., & karnøe, p. (2003). bricolage versus breakthrough: distributed and embedded agency in technological entrepreneurship. research policy, 32(2), 277-300. . gasparino, c. (december, 2007). berating the raters. traderdaily.com. retrieved from traderdaily.com/ magazine/article/12150.html . gautier, c. (2001). la sociologie de l’accord : justification contre déterminisme et domination : à propos du nouvel esprit du capitalisme de luc boltanski et eve chiapello. politix, 54(14), 197-220. . glynn, m. a., & lounsbury, m. (2005). from the critics’ corner: logic blending, discursive change and authenticity in a cultural production system. journal of management studies, 42(5), 10311055. . gomez, p. -y. (1994). qualité et théorie des conventions. paris: economica. . gomez, p. -y. (1997). de quoi parle-t-on lorsque l’on parle de conventions? les cahiers de l’artemis, 2, 131-147. . gomez, p. -y. (1997). informations et conventions: le cadre du modèle général. revue française de gestion, 112, 64-77. . gomez, p. y., & jones, b. c. (2000). conventions: an interpretation of deep structure in organizations. organization science, 11(6), 696-708. . green, s. e. (2004). a rhetorical theory of diffusion. the academy of management review, 29(4), 653-669. . green, s. e., li, y., & nohria, n. (2009). suspended in self-spun webs of significance: a rhetorical model of institutionalization and institutionally embedded agency. the academy of management journal, 52(1), 11-36. . greenwood, r., diaz, a. m., li, s. x., & lorente, j. c. (2010). the multiplicity of institutional logics and the heterogeneity of organizational responses. organization science, 21(2), 521-539. . greenwood, r., raynard, m., kodeih, f., micelotta, e. r., & lounsbury, m. (2011). institutional complexity and organizational responses. the academy of management annals, 5(1), 317-371. . hodge, b., & coronado, g. (2006). mexico inc.? discourse analysis and the triumph of managerialism. organization, 13(4), 529-547. . huault, i., & rainelli, h. (2009). market shaping as an answer to ambiguities: the case of credit derivatives. organization studies, 30(5), 549-575. . huault, i., & rainelli, h. (2011). a market for weather risk? conflicting metrics, attempts at compromise and limits to commensuration. organization studies, 32(10), 1395-1419. . jagd, s. (2011). pragmatic sociology and competing orders of worth in organizations. european journal of social theory, 14(3), 343-359. . jarzabkowski, p., matthiesen, j., & van de ven, a. h. (2009). a practice approach to institutional pluralism. in t. b. lawrence, r. suddaby & b. leca (eds.), institutional work, actors and agency in institutional studies of organizations (pp. 284-316). cambridge: cambridge university press. . jepperson, r. (1991) institutions, institutional effects, and institutionalism. in w. w. powell & p. j. dimaggio (eds.), the new institutionalism in organizational analysis (pp.143-163). chicago: university of chicago press. 557 the more things change… institutional maintenance as justification work in the credit rating industry m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 528-562 . lordon, f. (2007, septembre). quand la finance prend le monde en otage. le monde diplomatique. . maguire, s., & hardy, c. (2009). discourse and deinstitutionalization: the decline of ddt. the academy of management journal, 52(1), 148-178. . marti, i., & mair, j. (2009). bringing change into the lives of the poor: entrepreneurship outside traditional boundaries. in t. b. lawrence, r. suddaby & b. leca (eds.), institutional work. actors and agency in institutional studies of organizations (pp. 92-119). cambridge: cambridge university press. . meyer, j. w., & rowan, b. (1977). institutionalized organizations: formal structure as myth and ceremony. american journal of sociology, 83(2), 340-363. . nachi, m. (2004). introduction: dimensions du compromis. arguments pour la constitution d’une théorie du compromis. social science information, 43(2), 131-143. . nachi, m. (2006). introduction à la sociologie pragmatique. paris: armand colin. . oliver, c. (1992). the antecedents of deinstitutionalization. organization studies, 13(4), 563-588. . ouroussoff, a. (2010). wall street at war, the secret struggle for the global economy. cambridge: polity. . pache, a. -c., & santos, f. (forthcoming). inside the hybrid organization: selective coupling as a response to conflicting institutional logics. academy of management journal. . kraatz, m., & block, e. (2008). organizational implications of institutional pluralism. in r. greenwood, c. oliver, k. sahlin-andersson & r. suddaby (eds.), handbook of organizational institutionalism (pp. 243275). london: sage. . langohr, h. m., & langohr, p. t. (2008). the rating agencies and their credit ratings: what they are, how they work and why they are relevant. hoboken, nj: wiley. . lawrence, t., suddaby, r., & leca, b. (2011). institutional work: refocusing institutional studies of organization. journal of management inquiry, 20(1), 52-58. . lawrence, t. b., & phillips, n. (2004). from moby dick to free willy: macrocultural discourse and institutional entrepreneurship in emerging institutional fields. organization, 11(5), 689-711. . lawrence, t. b., & suddaby, r. (2006). institutions and institutional work. in s. clegg, c. hardy, t. b. lawrence & w. r. nord (eds.), the sage handbook of organization studies (pp. 215254). london ; thousand oaks: sage publications. . lawrence, t. b., suddaby, r., & leca, b. (2009). institutional work: actors and agency in institutional studies of organization. cambridge ; new york: cambridge university press. . leca, b., & naccache, p. (2006). a critical realist approach to institutional entrepreneurship. organization, 13(5), 627-651. . lemieux, c. (2000). mauvaise presse : une sociologie compréhensive du travail journalistique et de ses critiques. paris: métailié. . patriotta, g., gond, j. -p., & schultz, f. (2011). maintaining legitimacy: controversies, orders of worth and public justifications. journal of management studies, 48(8), 1804-1836. . pernkopf-konhaeuser, k., & brandl, j. (2010). how should human resources be managed? from comparing models of staff development in a german and russian professional service firm: a conventionalist approach. european journal of cross-cultural competence and management, 1(4), 356-377. . phillips, n., lawrence, t. b., & hardy, c. (2004). discourse and institutions. the academy of management review, 29(4), 635-652. . reay, t., & hinings, c. r. (2005). the recomposition of an organizational field: health care in alberta. organization studies, 26(3), 351-384. . richards, l. (2009). handling qualitative data: a practical guide. london: sage publications ltd. . ricoeur, p. (1991). pour une éthique du compromis (entretien avec paul ricoeur). alternatives non violentes, 80, 2-7. . schildt, h. a., mantere, s., & vaara, e. (2011). reasonability and the linguistic division of labor in institutional work. journal of management inquiry, 20(1), 82-86. . scott, w. r. (2008) institutions and organizations. sage publications. . sec (2008, july). summary report of issues identified in the commission staff’s examination of select credit rating agencies. . senate panel: ratings agencies rolled over for wall street. (2010). mcclatchy. retrieved from http://www. mcclatchydc.com/2010/04/22/92709/ senate-panel-ratings-agencies.html# 558 benjamin taupin m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 528-562 . thévenot, l., moody, m., & lafaye, c. (2000). forms of valuing nature: arguments and modes of justification in french and american environmental disputes. in m. lamont & l. thévenot (eds.), rethinking comparative cultural sociology: repertoires of evaluation in france and the united states (pp. 229-272). cambridge: cambridge university press. . thornton, p. h. (2002). the rise of the corporation in a craft industry: conflict and conformity in institutional logics. academy of management journal, 45(1), 81-101. . thornton, p. h., & ocasio, w. (2008). institutional logics. in r. greenwood, c. oliver, k. sahlin & r. suddaby (eds.), the sage handbook of organizational institutionalism (pp. 99-129). london: sage publications. . thornton, p. h., ocasio, w., & lounsbury, m. (2012). the institutional logics perspective: foundations, research, and theoretical elaboration. oxford: oxford university press, usa. . tolbert, p. s., & zucker, l. g. (1983). institutional sources of change in the formal structure of organizations: the diffusion of civil service reform, 18801935. administrative science quarterly, 28(1), 22-39. . townley, b. (2002). the role of competing rationalities in institutional change. academy of management journal, 45(1), 163-179. . united states senate (2010, 23 april). exhibits. hearing on wall street and the financial crisis: the role of credit rating agencies. united states senate permanent subcommittee on investigation. . sinclair, t. j. (2005). the new masters of capital: american bond rating agencies and the politics of creditworthiness. ithaca: cornell university press. . sinclair, t. j. (2010). credit rating agencies and the global financial crisis. economic sociology_ the european electronic newsletter, 12(1), 4-9. . spicer, a., & sewell, g. (2010). from national service to global player: transforming the organizational logic of a public broadcaster. journal of management studies, 47(6), 913-943. . stark, d. (2009). the sense of dissonance: accounts of worth in economic life. princeton: princeton university press. . suddaby, r., & greenwood, r. (2005). rhetorical strategies of legitimacy. administrative science quarterly, 50, 35-67. . the economist (2007). measuring the measurers. retrieved from http://www.economist.com/ node/9267952 . the financial crisis inquiry commission (2011, january). the financial crisis inquiry report: final report of the national commission on the causes of the financial and economic crisis in the united states. . thevenot, l. (1993). a quoi convient la théorie des conventions? réseaux, 11(62), 137142. . thévenot, l. (1997). un gouvernement par les normes: pratiques et politiques des formats d’information. in b. conein & l. thévenot (eds.), cognition et information en société, raisons pratiques (pp. 205241). paris: editions de l’ehess. . united states senate (2011, 13 april). wall street and the financial crisis: anatomy of a financial collapse. united states senate permanent subcommittee on investigation. . vaara, e., & tienari, j. (2008). a discursive perspective on legitimation strategies in multinational corporations. the academy of management review, 33(4), 985-993. . vaara, e., tienari, j., & laurila, j. (2006). pulp and paper fiction: on the discursive legitimation of global industrial restructuring. organization studies, 27(6), 789-813. . wissler, a. (1989). les jugements dans l’octroi de crédit. in l. boltanski & l. thévenot (eds.), justesse et justice dans le travail (pp. 67-120). paris: cahiers du c.e.e, puf. . zilber, t. b. (2002). institutionalization as an interplay between actions, meanings, and actors: the case of a rape crisis center in israel. the academy of management journal, 45(1), 234-254. . zilber, t. b. (2009). institutional maintenance as narrative acts. in t. b. lawrence, r. suddaby & b. leca (eds.), institutional work: actors and agency in institutional studies of organization (pp. 205-235). cambridge ; new york: cambridge university press. . zucker, l. g. (1977). the role of institutionalization in cultural persistence. american sociological review, 42(5), 726-743. 559 the more things change… institutional maintenance as justification work in the credit rating industry m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 528-562 appendix 1. timeline: events involving credit rating agencies and regulatory measures adopted between 1994 and 2011 1994 orange county bankruptcy, largest municipal bankruptcy in u.s. history that credit rating agencies had failed to predict. 1997 asian crisis, cras’ shortcomings underlined. 1997 sec proposed rule: definition of nationally recognized statistical rating organizations (nrsros). 2001 enron bankruptcy, credit rating agencies’ shortcomings underlined. 2003 sec concept release: rating agencies and the use of credit ratings under the federal securities laws. 2004 basel ii re-establishes the use of private credit ratings for public regulative use. 2005 sec proposed rule: definition of nationally recognized statistical rating organization. 2006 credit rating agency reform act of 2006 “to improve ratings quality for the protection of investors and in the public interest by fostering accountability, transparency, and competition in the credit rating agency industry”. enacted on 29 september. 2007 subprime crisis, cras’ shortcomings underlined. 2007 sec proposed rule: oversight of credit rating agencies registered as nationally recognized statistical rating organizations (nrsros). sec final rule: oversight of credit rating agencies registered as nationally recognized statistical rating organizations. the rule provides authority for the commission to implement registration, recordkeeping, financial reporting, and oversight rules with respect to registered credit rating agencies. credit rating agencies have to apply for registration as nrsros. 2008 sec report of issues identified in the commission staff’s examination of select credit rating agencies. 2008 sec proposed rules: references to ratings of nationally recognized statistical rating organizations, security ratings, proposed rules for nationally recognized statistical rating organizations. 2009 sec final rules: amendments to rules for nationally recognized statistical rating organizations (2 february and 23 november). additional disclosure and conflict of interest requirements on nationally recognized statistical rating organizations in order to address concerns about the integrity of the credit rating procedures and methodologies at nrsros. in particular, rule 17g-5, known as the “anti-rating shopping” rule is adopted. 2009 16 september, european regulation 1060/2009 on credit rating agencies. agencies will for the first time have to register and be supervised (by the cesr) to operate in the european union. 2010 the dodd-frank wall street reform act, including some improvements to the regulation of cras. creation of a securities and exchange commission office to oversee the agencies and their ratings. the credit rating agencies regulation includes enhancement in the following fields: conflict of interest mitigation, rating and methodologies disclosure, review of ratings and methodologies and corporate governance. 2011 because of budget constraints, in part resulting from a republican house decision, the implementation of dodd-frank in which the credit rating agencies improvements are already minor was seriously weakened. 2011 the european central bank rejects the idea of creating a credit rating agency. europe’s sovereign debt crisis pushes national governments to implement austerity measures recommended by credit rating agencies. 560 benjamin taupin m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 528-562 figures represent the percentage of total comments in each category. appendix 2. actors in public consultations on credit rating 561 the more things change… institutional maintenance as justification work in the credit rating industry m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 528-562 appendix 3. changes over time in the number of comments by category of actors 2003 2007 2008 2009 total ratings agencies: 12 30 35 10 87 "big three" 4 21 17 5 47 others 8 9 18 5 40 investor or investment advisor 6 8 45 4 63 professional association 8 8 33 13 62 political representative, public entity, public pension funds, consumer associations, small investors 4 2 22 5 33 specialist law firms 2 2 19 0 23 private individuals 4 2 13 4 23 academics 5 11 7 4 27 firms concerned by ratings 3 0 8 1 12 information and statistics firms 4 1 5 1 11 total 48 64 187 42 341 appendix 4. references to the worlds, by type of actor comments related to the industrial world comments related to the market world comments related to the world of fame comments related to the civic world comments related to the domestic world comments related to the inspired world ratings agencies: 34% 16% 38% 11% 0% 2% "big three" 45% 9% 36% 9% 0% 0% others 23% 23% 39% 13% 0% 3% professional associations 26% 30% 26% 15% 1% 1% investment firms 32% 22% 29% 13% 3% 1% politicians 26% 20% 29% 23% 3% 0% lawyers 25% 38% 25% 13% 0% 0% academics 28% 23% 23% 26% 0% 0% private individuals 32% 21% 19% 26% 2% 0% issuing firms 25% 30% 25% 20% 0% 0% the table was drawn up based on a sample of 405 coded extracts from the comments. 562 benjamin taupin m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 528-562 appendix 5. secondary data sources author of the comment full comment is available at john m. ramsay, the bond market association, 2003. the bond market association was an association of the bond market industry. in 2006 it merged with the securities industry association to form the securities industry and financial markets association. http://www.sec.gov/rules/concept/s71203/bondmarket072803.htm charles d. brown, fitch ratings, 2003. http://www.sec.gov/rules/concept/s71203/cbrown072803.htm. cheryl kallem, sia capital committee, 2003. the security industry association was an association of firms. in 2006, it merged with the bond market association to form the securities industry and financial markets association. http://www.sec.gov/rules/concept/s71203/ckallem072803.htm. grace hinchman, financial executives international, 2003. http://www.sec.gov/rules/concept/s71203/fei072503.htm gregory v. serio, naic rating agency working group, national association of insurance commissioners, 2003. http://www.sec.gov/rules/concept/s71203/naic072803.htm j. g. lallande, invesco aim advisors, inc., july 2008. invesco aim advisors, inc. is a financial services firm. http://www.sec.gov/comments/s7-19-08/s71908-31.pdf daniel pedrotty, office of investment, afl-cio, july 2008. the afl-cio (american federation of labor and congress of industrial organizations) is the largest federation of workers’ unions in the usa. http://www.sec.gov/comments/s7-19-08/s71908-37.pdf jeffrey t. brown, charles schwab co., inc., july 2008. http://www.sec.gov/comments/s7-17-08/s71708-9.pdf charles schwab co. is an investment and private equity firm. http://www.sec.gov/comments/s7-17-08/s71708-9.pdf frank partnoy, professor of law, july 2008. http://www.sec.gov/comments/s7-19-08/s71908-45.pdf bruce stern, association of financial guaranty insurers, 2009. http://www.sec.gov/comments/4-579/4579-1.pdf daniel curry, president, dbrs inc, 2009. dbrs is a canadian credit rating agency founded in 1976. http://www.sec.gov/comments/4-579/4579-14.pdf deven sharma, president of standard & poor’s ratings services, 2009. http://www.sec.gov/comments/4-579/4579-23.pdf nicholas brown, a private citizen expressing his personal opinion, 2009. http://www.sec.gov/comments/4-579/4579-29.pdf sean egan, egan-jones ratings co, 2009, a subscriber-paid credit rating agency. http://www.sec.gov/comments/4-579/4579-16.pdf comments are presented in their order of appearance in the study 528 bernard forgues & sébastien liartem@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 739-756 copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). m@n@gement is a double-blind refereed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.management-aims.com © 2013 m@n@gement and the author(s). m@n@gement est la revue officielle de l’aims m@n@gement is the journal official of aims bernard forgues sébastien liarte 2013 academic publishing: past and future m@n@gement, 16(5), 739-756. m@n@gement issn: 1286-4692 emmanuel josserand, cmos, university of technology, sydney (editor in chief) jean-luc arrègle, emlyon business school (editor) laure cabantous, cass business school (editor) stewart clegg, university of technology, sydney (editor) olivier germain, université du québec à montréal (editor, book reviews) karim mignonac, université de toulouse 1 (editor) philippe monin, emlyon business school (editor) tyrone pitsis, university of newcastle (editor) josé pla-barber, universidad de valència (editor) michael tushman, harvard business school (editor) walid shibbib, université de genève (managing editor) alexander bell, université de genève (editorial assistant) martin g. evans, university of toronto (editor emeritus) bernard forgues, emlyon business school (editor emeritus) special issue 739 academic publishing: past and future m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 739-756 academic publishing: past and future bernard forgues emlyon business schoolforgues@em-lyon.com abstract abstract in this essay, we reflect on how the results of scholarly research are diffused. we first give an overview of the current state of academic publishing, noting the issues of subscription prices and time embargoes. we then discuss how the “open access” movement responds to these issues and how it aims at reshaping the field. finally, we illustrate our points with a discussion of the history of m@n@gement, which has been a pioneer in open access publishing. sébastien liarte cerefige, university of lorrainesebastien.liarte@univ-lorraine.fr 740 bernard forgues & sébastien liartem@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 739-756 introduction you have spent months on your research project, analyzing the literature, collecting data, running analyses, crafting your article. you have then spent hundreds of hours revising it according to your colleagues’ comments and, after a couple of rejections at some journals and a few rounds of revisions at another one, it has finally been accepted for publication. research is a lot of work and it eats up a lot of your time. nothing odd here – after all, this is, by and large, what you are paid to do by your university or school. what is odd, however, is that in some weird frenzy of generosity, you have just signed a copyright transfer agreement giving all rights to the publisher for free. neither you nor your employer are charging the publisher anything for all this work. what’s more, if you want to read it, your institution’s library has to pay a hefty subscription. if you want to re-use it, you have to pay some rights back. if you want to circulate it to interested colleagues, you cannot. or rather, you do – we all do – but you do so illegally. you have contributed to the advancement of knowledge, which is very noble of you, but you have also contributed to making a rich publisher richer. for the sake of the example, let’s assume this publisher is elsevier. this is a reasonable assumption: as a world leader in the publishing of academic journals, elsevier publishes 92 journals in our field alone. you have helped elsevier rake in close to 1 billion euros in adjusted operating profit. whatever your school or university is giving you, your salary is dwarfed by the 2.66 million euros in salary, benefits and bonus that reedelsevier ceo erik engstrom made in 2012. how have academic publishers managed to capture such an overwhelming proportion of value? with the advent of the internet, why hasn’t digitalization shaken up the industry like it has similar ones? is open access a credible alternative to the existing model, as has been suggested by many librarians and researchers? in this article, we address both these questions and ones related to them because we believe them to be central to the arrangements of our profession. we start by discussing the academic publishing industry, before and since the advent of electronic publishing. we then reflect on open access as an alternative mode of disseminating research results, assessing its promises and discussing its potential pitfalls. we finally illustrate our points by discussing m@n@gement, a pioneer for our field in open access, peerreviewed scholarly publishing. academic publishing and its industry academic publishing has been the fastest-growing media sub-industry in the last decade. not only is the industry growing at a steady state in terms of revenues, but its profits are also impressive. figure 1 illustrates this by showing the two biggest european publishers, elsevier and springer. such rapid growth has not gone unnoticed by private equity firms, which have entered the industry and pushed for concentration among publishers. private equity firms are attracted by the combination of price increases and low operating costs found in publishing. 741 academic publishing: past and future m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 739-756 figure 1. publishers’ profit margins (data source : companies’ annual reports) figure 1a: elsevier figure 1b. springer 742 bernard forgues & sébastien liartem@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 739-756 according to the us-based association of research libraries, the average price of academic journals increased by 226% between 1986 and 2001, while the number of academic journals purchased actually declined by 7%. since 1989, prices for us journals have increased on average 7.3% annually (tillery, 2012). yearly subscriptions for some academic journals exceed €20,0001. how academic publishing works academic disciplines each have their own journals that publish work submitted by researchers specializing in them. most scholarly journals use a system of peer-reviewing or editorial refereeing to select texts for publication. the process of academic publishing can be divided into three steps: 1/production (i.e., creating content), 2/distribution (i.e., formalizing and distributing content) and 3/consumption (i.e., buying and using distributed content). production: researchers provide content for free publishers need authors to submit articles, peer-reviewers to evaluate submitted articles and editors to run the journals. however, contrary to traditional practice in the publishing industry, in the academic journals publishing industry, editors, authors and reviewers work for free. their work is mostly funded through public and private university salaries and research grants. from a scientific perspective, the academic publishing system can be associated with the gift economy (morrison, 2012). indeed, the aim of academia, and of the scientific community in general, is to serve society without profit being a motivation. this explains why from 1900 to 1940 the majority of scholarly journals were published by the not-for-profit sector (mabe, 2003). allen press recently surveyed more than 70 society publishers to better understand the organization of academic publishers. the study underlines that volunteers are used by most academic publishers, with 32% of respondents each relying on the help of more than 100 volunteers (tillery, 2012). distribution: strong concentration of the industry, little competition up until the end of world war ii, scholarly publishing was supported almost entirely by scholarly societies. in the decades since then, the commercial sector has dramatically increased its share of scholarly publishing. in 2011, the four most important publishers (elsevier, springer, wiley and informa) shared almost 50% of the market. these four publish between 20,000 and 25,000 scholarly peer-reviewed journals. table 1 details their revenues and profits in 2012. table 1. revenues and profits of the four major publishers in 2012 ($ millions) revenues profits elsevier 3362.6 1271.4 springer 1335.4 454.0 wiley-blackwell 1009.0 433.3 informa (academic division) 552.2 196.9 1. according to johns hopkins university, five journals exceed $20,000 (or €15,000) in 2012. three of those belong to wiley and two belong to elsevier. source accessed nov. 2013: h t t p : / / g u i d e s . l i b r a r y . j h u . e d u / c o n t e n t . php?pid=315747&sid=2583679 743 academic publishing: past and future m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 739-756 elsevier has been subject to an anti-trust investigation (competition commission, 2001) and in 2002 the uk office of fair trading issued a report (under)stating that “the market for scientific, technical and medical journals may not be working well”2. consistent with long established results in industrial organization (e.g., scherer & ross, 1990), such a high level of concentration lowers competitive rivalry and price competition in particular. consumption: when producers are also users and (indirect) buyers academic authors build their own research from extant literature to support their assertions, hypotheses and arguments. they thus need to read and cite published works. given the number of journals potentially useful for researchers, they usually do not hold individual subscriptions but instead turn to institutional libraries which subscribe to huge numbers of journals. as yoon (1998: 2) vividly puts it, “academia is a paradise for publishers. first the public pays for most scientific research through, for example, the national science foundation. then universities pay the salaries of scientists who do virtually all the writing, reviewing and editing. universities sometimes even provide free office space to journals. finally, authors typically sign over their copyright to publishers, who can sometimes bring in many millions of dollars a year in subscriptions for a single high-priced journal — subscriptions paid by university libraries supported by tax dollars and tuition”. why is the system so unbalanced? to understand this particular situation it is necessary to describe the main characteristics of this market. production: short-term monetary incentives are not what drives producers although authors do not expect to be paid for their articles, publishing in academic journals remains essential, as underlined by the well-known maxim “publish or perish”. for example, imperial college’s medicine department insists that its members “publish three papers per annum including one in a prestigious journal with an impact factor of at least five”. researchers thus publish for many reasons. first, publication enables the promotion of one’s ideas and results. peer-reviewed publications ensure the independent certification and long-term conservation of researchers’ results. they also enable communication and exchange between colleagues interested in the same topic, thereby reinforcing collaboration and improving networks. furthermore, getting published represents the best way to be recognized and eventually promoted and tenured. reviewers, like authors, work for free3. they accept this task for many reasons. first, many are aware that the entire system relies on volunteers to write reviews and they simply find it natural to take on their share of this job. second, reviewing is a way to keep aware of the latest research developments. third, one can learn a great deal about writing from reviewing, which, although indirect, is another clear benefit. fourth, reviewing can be 2. http://www.oft.gov.uk/news-and-updates/ press/2002/pn_55-02#.uqsheo2ynp4 3. reviewers sometimes receive a small amount of money (for example in some finance journals) or a discount from the publisher (as with sage). however, these are quite rare cases and their rewards are primarily symbolic. further, we believe monetary incentives risk being detrimental to quality. if reviewers are paid, for example, €100 for a review, there is a risk that they will spend no more time than the amount is worth, i.e., much less time than is necessary. 744 bernard forgues & sébastien liartem@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 739-756 a way to climb the ladder at a journal: good reviewers are invited to serve as editorial board members and might eventually be named journal editors. more generally, reviewing can serve longer-term career evolution through visibility, recognition, tenure, and so on. fifth, reviewers increase their power in their own field as they contribute to the selection of published works. they contribute to steering the field in a given direction by deeming what research work is legitimate and important. finally, a slightly more petty motive to review can be to improve one’s own citation counts by suggesting works to reference. all in all, the reward for participating in reviewing is more one of potential power than money. distribution: complements, not substitutes academic journals are complements, not substitutes. when a new journal is created (or a new subscription is available from the library), researchers do not stop reading existing journals. on the contrary, new journals increase the value of incumbents by citing their articles. they increase incumbents’ impact factors and push readers to read those cited articles. rivalry is limited by the fact that producers are expected to work for many journals. it would be very unusual for a researcher to submit all of her papers to only one specific journal during her career. the choice of publication targets depends on multiple factors such as field, methods, theoretical framework, quality level, co-authors’ preferences, and so on. indeed, researchers can submit papers to one academic journal, review for a second one, and serve as the editor for a third one. finally, the level of rivalry is also kept low because the number of journals is smaller than the publishing environment’s carrying capacity, i.e. the number of journals that can be sustained given the resources available in the environment (hannan & carroll, 1992). as demand for journals grows, so does the environment’s carrying capacity. due to our “publish or perish” context, the number of published articles and academic journals keeps climbing4. consumption: a captive market with limited price sensitivity in this industry, users and buyers are different. academic journals are read and used by researchers for their own research and teaching. however, journals are too numerous and too expensive for individual researchers to buy. academic libraries are thus the main buyers. this has two interesting effects. the first is that demand is highly inelastic as the people in charge of selecting and subscribing to academic journals are not those paying for subscriptions. moreover, most academic journals specialize in very narrow areas. as the economist (2001) noted, “if a company owns a must-read title in say, vibrational spectroscopy, it has a nice little captive market”. the goal for librarians is to protect their catalogues to maintain the portfolio of proposed journals. as a consequence of steep increases in subscription prices, librarians face budgeting issues and now allocate more funds to journals and less to books (starbuck, 2013). 4. mabe & amin (2001) show that the number of “refereed academic/scholarly” publications grows at a rate of 3.26 percent per year (i.e., doubles about every 20 years). 745 academic publishing: past and future m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 739-756 why has the internet not shifted the imbalance? the emergence of the internet brought hopes for a dramatic change. electronic publishing has many advantages: easier access to academic works, faster publication thanks to reduced backlog and much cheaper distribution. indeed, printing and shipping costs, which account for 23% of publishing costs (wellcome trust, 2004), drop to almost zero. however one can only note that subscription prices have kept increasing at an alarming rate, even when accessed purely electronically. the four major academic publishers still capture an overwhelming portion of created value. for instance, a 2012 harvard faculty advisory council memorandum5 blames major academic publishers for creating an “untenable situation” for harvard libraries while drawing profit margins of 35% or more. it notes that prices for online access to the articles of the two major academic publishers increased by 145% over the 2006-2012 period. production: researchers’ incentives are conservative researchers are interested in seeing their articles benefit from the widest and fastest diffusion possible. but what they value even more is the prestige of the outlet in which they publish. researchers’ careers depend on getting their publications into high-ranked journals, which are, by and large, the most established and oldest ones. as joseph brain, a harvard professor of environmental physiology puts it, “on the one hand, if it’s just me and where i published (…), that’s one thing. but if my graduate student or post-doc sits down in my office and says, ‘where should i publish this article’, there’s really only one answer – and that’s the journal where it will help your career, particularly in these competitive times” (johnson, 2012). distribution: publishers erect entry barriers against new entrants in a clever move to shield themselves against new entrants in the field (ironically made all the more possible by digitalization), major publishers have made their journals available in bundles. this consists of offering their portfolio of journals as a single product and selling access to these different journals at a discount from their list price. because of this discount, individual subscriptions to other journals seem less attractive. but neither small publishers nor scholarly associations have enough journals to create bundles. this creates an entry barrier that can only be overcome by growth, which helps explain the concentration seen in the industry. as noted by edlin and rubinfeld (2004: 139), “by selling electronic bundles, publishers have erected a strategic barrier to entry at just the time that the electronic publishing possibility has made it increasingly possible for alternative publishers to overcome the existing structural barriers”. 5. faculty advisory council memorandum on journal pricing, april 17, 2012. retrieved from isites.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k779 82&tabgroupid=icb.tabgroup143448 746 bernard forgues & sébastien liartem@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 739-756 consumption: from a captive to a ‘chained’ market bundles create a lock-in effect in several ways. first, because bundles contain some must-have journals, libraries have to buy access to the whole portfolio, including titles that they would not have subscribed to in other circumstances. second, as bundles suck up the biggest part of library budgets6, librarians cannot subscribe to individual journals from small publishers. third, bundles are sold with long-term commitments by binding annual price increases (e.g., 7.5% for elsevier in 2002: a much higher rate than inflation, but still lower than individual journals subscriptions). library budgets are thus committed three to five years in advance, which constitutes a further entry barrier. open access: an alternative for academic publishing? to respond to this evolution, pioneering academics have taken the opportunity offered by the internet. the idea is to foster access to scientific results by making them available for free. to do so requires cutting distribution costs, which is done by moving from print to digital and by bypassing intermediaries like commercial publishers. during the 1990s an “open access publishing” offer developed with e-print archives and a few hundred peer-reviewed, electronic, scholarly journals (björk, 2004). founding rates have remained unabated and the directory of open access journals (doaj) now lists just over 10,000 active open access scholarly journals. among them, 362 are listed in the “business and management” section. figure 2 shows the number of journals founded per year. figure 2. number of “business and management” open access journals founded per year (as of november 2013; n=362; source: doaj.org) 6. as noted by edlin and rubinfeld (2004: 123), “in 2003, the cornell university library paid over $1.5 million for elsevier journals alone: while this amounts to less than 2% of the total number of cornell’s serials purchases, it claims over 20% of cornell’s serials budget”. 747 academic publishing: past and future m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 739-756 how it works open access definition as the concept of open access (oa) is still evolving, a lot of definitions can be found for it. in our case, we use the definition proposed by the budapest open access initiative in 2002: “free availability on the public internet, permitting any users to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of these articles, crawl them for indexing, pass them as data to software, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without financial, legal, or technical barriers other than those inseparable from gaining access to the internet itself. the only constraint on reproduction and distribution, and the only role for copyright in this domain, should be to give authors control over the integrity of their work and the right to be properly acknowledged and cited7”. open access models accordingly, oa consists of allowing full access to peer-reviewed articles, for everyone, for free and without time embargoes. many oa journals also grant additional usage rights through a creative commons licence. oa journals are sometimes subject to two kinds of uninformed (or malign) criticisms. first, they are said to be of poor quality. it is important to note that being oa is entirely unrelated to how a journal selects its articles. just like their print counterparts, oa journals have a variety of reviewing processes, and some have highly demanding processes and very high rejection rates. second, oa is often equated with author fee. the idea is that if a journal doesn’t charge readers, it has to charge authors in order to sustain itself. some oa journals do charge authors, either upon submission or upon publication8. however, they are a minority. on the contrary, of the 9,819 journals listed in the doaj for which data is available, 6,660 (or 68%) don’t charge authors. these journals usually sustain themselves through institutional funding. facts and figures it is interesting to look at both the broad picture of oa and the smaller one painted by our field. we suggest focusing on two significant developments, namely the expansion of oa over time and whether the promise of a wider diffusion holds. the one striking feature when observing oa development over time is its impressive growth. in a study covering the period 1993-2009, laakso et al. (2011) observe three periods that they refer to as stages of pioneering (1993–1999), innovation (2000–2004) and consolidation (2005–2009). they report an average growth rate of 18% for the number of journals since 2000. more importantly, the number of published oa articles exhibited a yearly growth rate of 30%, almost ten times the growth rate of journal articles in general (3.5%). granted, oa articles remain a small minority (7.7% in 2009 according to these authors), but the growth differential is such that the gap is getting much narrower. indeed, at the end of their observation window, in 2009, laakso et al. (2011) counted 4,769 journals. a mere four years later, this number has more than doubled to 10,006 in the same directory, doaj. 7. retrieved november 2013 from http://www. budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read 8. note that some “traditional” journals charge authors upon submission in addition to charging for subscription. this is often the case for finance journals, for example. 748 bernard forgues & sébastien liartem@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 739-756 the second question worth addressing is whether oa holds its promise of offering broader access to articles. more precisely, one important concern is whether oa articles are more read and used, which we can conservatively measure by citations. several studies have documented what is known as the “oa citation advantage”. swan (2010) analyzes 31 such studies, which overwhelmingly report that articles published under oa are more cited. precisely, 27 studies find a positive oa citation advantage whereas 4 do not (and one study in physiology in fact finds a disadvantage). the percentage increase in citations varies across disciplinary fields and years, with increases between 36% and 172% (hajjem, harnad, & gingras, 2005). interestingly, two fields which engaged in oa early on exhibit the highest percentage increase: physics/astronomy with 170% to 580% and medicine with 300% to 450% (swan, 2010). in our field, hajjem et al. (2005) report that between 1992 and 2003, only 7% of articles were published under oa but that their citation advantage is 92%. why are oa articles more cited? first, and quite obviously, they are easier to access and are available to bigger audiences. second, oa journals usually have shorter submission-to-publication durations. in particular, most have no backlog , which may give them some edge. traditional journals, however, tend to counter this with web-based “articles in advance” availability. being available earlier probably increases citations. third, there might be a selection bias in the case of “regular” journals offering the option to make a given article oa (providing the author pays for this). in this case, perhaps authors are paying only for their the best articles (swan, 2010). concerns and developments oa journals have had to overcome three main hurdles along the road. while these partly remain, the growth we have just reported shows that they have slowed rather than foreclosed progress. first, oa journals have suffered from a deficit of legitimacy. this mostly comes from a confound effect: establishing legitimacy takes time and oa journals are younger than paper ones. maybe this quest for legitimacy partly fuels a conservative mimicry of established journals by oa journals. however, we concur with miller (2012: 388) when he writes that “radical developments in the area of how we publish should be simultaneously associated with conservatism about what we publish” (our emphasis). second, one of the supposed problems of oa journals is the difficulty in separating the “wheat” from the “chaff” on the internet. this problem mostly arises from certain oa journals charging authors. they have an incentive to accept as many papers as possible and have for this reason been labelled “predatory” and should be avoided9. keep in mind however that predatory journals make up only 3% of the 10,000 oa journals. third, although oa journals are free for readers, publishing them has a cost. even if this cost is 30% to 70% cheaper than paper journals (harnad, 1995), it still exists. since most oa journals don’t charge authors, they have to rely on support and financial resources from universities, institutions (i.e. scientific associations) and/or public organizations. however, it should be noted that publishing paper journals also has a cost. indeed, in a study of 21 scholarly associations, willinsky (2006) found that on average, associations bore 9. a list of “potential, possible, or probable predatory scholarly open-access journals” is maintained by u. of colorado librarian jeffrey beall. as of dec 10, 2013, the list has 297 entries. it is available from http://scholarlyoa.com/individualjournals/ 749 academic publishing: past and future m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 739-756 publication costs of $921,250 and made $714,791 in publication revenues and royalties, thus having to fund publications up to $206,459 per year. the cost of running an electronic journal should thus be compared against this benchmark (taking into account that it varies a lot across different societies). as for developments, the first one we would like to address has been around for quite a while, especially in the hard sciences,and is developing in our field. it is oa through self-archiving. there are indeed two main oa channels available: oa journals and self-archiving, also respectively known as gold oa and green oa (harnad et al., 2004). green oa consists of depositing articles in a repository, usually institutionally endorsed. the most famous in our field is ssrn to which over 240,000 authors have uploaded more than 400,000 full papers, which have been downloaded over 70 million times since its launch 1992. mrn, the management section of ssrn, has archives of close to 60,000 papers. self-archiving is a way to convert non-oa journal articles into oa ones. today, around 70% of academic journals are “green”, in that they allow self-archiving, although this often comes with restrictions in time (embargoes) or version (no published pdfs). this statistic comes from sherpa/romeo, a service hosted by the university of nottingham, which maintains a list of publishers’ policies in that regard. another noteworthy development is the increasing institutional pressure in support of oa. the oa movement was launched by librarians and researchers, notably through sparc, the scholarly publishing and academic resources coalition, in 1997. more recently, this social movement has gained traction and a number of institutions are adopting mandates requiring researchers to provide open access to their articles through green oa. in particular, funding agencies often require that research results be made available through oa. such policies are spreading despite lobbying and heated debates. for instance, among many others, french funding agency anr, the nih in the us, and the european research council all require open access archiving. an illustration using oa pioneer m@n@gement we believe a glimpse at m@n@gement’s history is useful here for several reasons. to start with, m@n@gement is one of the oldest electronic open access journal in continuous operation in our field (forgues & forray, 2008), so it nicely illustrates one possible evolution of scholarly publishing. in addition, the journal has adapted along the road to a number of constraints and these reflect the challenges met by newly established open access journals. further, we trust that we are especially well placed to tell this story. bernard was the founding editor of the journal and served as such for ten years (1996-2005). sébastien served as the assistant to the editor between 2001 and 2005 and has just been named incoming co-editor-in-chief for the 2014-2017 term. 750 bernard forgues & sébastien liartem@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 739-756 vision to understand where m@n@gement comes from, we have to briefly go back into history and paint a picture of the context. in the 1970s, several european countries felt the need to develop business education, which thus far was a mere part of economics. they sent selected students to the best ph.d. programs in the us, with the hope that they would come back and help replicate the american model in europe (kipping, üsdiken, & puig, 2004). most did, and each subsequent generation of scholars they formed were better and better trained. however, a top-quality french-language journal in strategy and management was still missing. to be more precise, some journals did exist but they were rather lenient in their methods of acceptance and operated with almost no proper reviewing process. a committee would accept or reject papers without providing the thorough feedback that pushes papers to develop at the next level. new generations of scholars thus faced a frustrating choice. they could go with the lenient french journals, fully aware that their ideas would remain underdeveloped and with a highly restricted readership. alternately, they could submit their papers to the best american journals, confronting two insurmountable hurdles: 1/ they lacked experience in dealing with a demanding reviewing process and 2/ they had to convey subtle ideas in a foreign language that they had not mastered. it is no wonder that they ended up joining the rank and file of rejected authors10. the french-speaking academic world of the mid-1990s thus involved a growing community of well-trained scholars who understood the canons of academic research but were still quite limited in number, lacking in publication experience and hindered by an english-only reviewing process. many in the community also shared the feeling that their research was at odds with what was described as the “straightjacket” of american normal science. this was not specific to france and was more or less the same in spain, italy, germany and other countries across europe. scholarly journals in these countries were usually thought of as lacking a rigourous reviewing process, being too nationally-oriented, and being too generalist (rather than focused on strategy and organization). m@n@gement was conceived to address those challenges. first and foremost, the journal would embrace a demanding double-blind peer-review process. authors would learn how to deal with those demands: it would be learning the hard way, certainly, but it would definitely be worth the experience (or so we hoped). second, aimed at publishing high quality research only. new journals often struggle to fill the standard quarterly 128 pages upon launching. m@n@gement’s way to avoid this constraint without compromising quality was to get rid of print altogether and go electronic. the additional benefit was a much lower operating cost. on top of this, high quality research was seen as entirely independent of research method or perspective. third, because the context seemed similar in several other countries, m@n@gement could serve as a vehicle for similar efforts elsewhere. it was thus conceived as multilingual: papers could be submitted, reviewed and published in the language favored by their authors. finally, we believed (and still do) that the diffusion of ideas can transcend language boundaries. many people in academia can read several languages. most don’t go as far as paying for a subscribtion to a journal in a foreign language 10. for example, in the nineties, organization science tried to open up to research ideas from abroad with two senior editors specializing respectively in french (1994-2003) and german (1992-2003) research. although two successive editors attracted some french submissions, to our knowledge none were ever published. several authors mentioned in personal communications the two hurdles cited above, as well as a lack of funds to pay copy-editors for rounds of revisions. 751 academic publishing: past and future m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 739-756 (beyond english), but open access could be a strong vehicle in that regard. m@n@gement attracted several thousand subscribers very early on and, to this day, its articles are still downloaded all over the world. all these reasons led us to embrace an open access model that fostered diffusion by being free, being widely available on the internet and allowing speed in reviewing and publication. early years launching a new journal requires resources, a network and legitimacy: all things a good publisher brings. opting for open access required another solution. after several months of preparation11, m@n@gement was launched in late 1998. funding from the edf-backed thinktank “institut du management” enabled the purchase of a web server and the commissioning of a designer to craft the (then) gorgeous layout for articles. we also needed to enroll a strong editorial team, a task for which we owe a lot to raymond thiétart. raymond kindly suggested the names of a number of colleagues and approached them. thanks to his excellent reputation and his network of fellows of the academy of management (aom), few turned down the offer. as noted by williams (2008), the right team involves people capable of bringing reputation, expertise, and commitment. m@n@gement was blessed from the start in being helped by an impressive group of world-class scholars12 . in particular, bill starbuck and anne huff weighed in as successive presidents of the aom to help us connect with the biggest community and offered room for us to hold board meetings during the aom conference. commitment from board members proved evident by the top quality reviews that we received, always in a timely manner. reviews were seen as key to establishing m@n@gement. the reasoning was that authors not used to top journals would be impressed by the high quality, thorough and developmental reviews provided by the journal. others would be attracted by the speed of the process (the average time was around 45 days whereas other journals, at the time corresponding with reviewers by regular post, would come back after four to six months). however, we rapidly saw that some of our first reviews were worringly below our expectations. it seemed that some of the outside reviewers we had sollicited had no clue what a good review looked like: the lack of experience mentioned above for authors was also to be found on the reviewers’ side. m@n@gement addressed this by educating our reviewers. to do so, we simply mimicked what was the rule in good journals (although not done elsewhere): we sent all reviews to all reviewers. thus, less experienced reviewers understood that their three-sentence reviews ditching an article on the ground that it was “not good enough” or that they “didn’t like it” were entirely missing the whole point of the reviewing process. we were relieved to see this problem disappear very quickly, partly through more work from reviewers and partly through their selection (either selfor “assisted”). we kept our process quick by the usual harrassment of reviewers as deadlines approached as well as by stopping the process as soon as we had three good reviews, even though we had always asked for four. maintaining our speed advantage was easy until other journals turned to email and electronic submission. by 2001, the number of submissions made editorship almost a full time job, which proved impossible even in the context of a very generous french public 11. early brainstorming sessions were done with sandra charreire and véronique perret and benefitted from raymond thiétart’s experience and insights. 12. the founding editorial board is listed on the journal’s web site: http://www.managementaims.com/previousboards_en.html#eb9700 [retrieved nov. 2013]. 752 bernard forgues & sébastien liartem@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 739-756 university full professorship. we were delighted that martin evans, from the university of toronto, accepted to join as co-editor. martin was in charge of the roughly 40% of submissions in english, bernard was in charge of the rest (about 30% in french, 25% in spanish, 5% in german, italian and other languages). martin served from 2001 to 2005, being generous enough to continue even after he became professor emeritus in 2002. institutionalization launching a journal and establishing it are two different stories. institutionalization used to rest primarily on the publisher. this is no longer the case as impact factors, citations and rankings are now prevalent. indeed, the biggest environmental change faced by m@n@gement (so far) has probably been the advent of journal ranking lists. journal lists are prevalent and detractors warn against what willmott (2011: 430) calls list fetishism: “it is the performative effect (…) of journal lists that gradually tightens the bonds between research activity and the metric favoured by the list”. lists are indeed performative, and restrain innovation13. but to avoid digressing, it is suffice here to focus on their impact on submissions. regardless of perceived accuracy of rankings, authors want (or sometimes even need) to have their articles published in a journal with the highest possible ranking. so when, in 2003, french cnrs (national center for scientific research) published the first official journal list in france, we paid attention. m@n@gement’s ranking was very disappointing and felt entirely unfair. clearly, given the high risk of rejection (consistently around 90% throughout the journal’s history) and, in the best case scenario, the amount of work needed to get published, this was not worth it for authors. many probably decided to target better ranked journals or those of equivalent ranking which were easier to get in to. however, we did not notice a significant drop in submissions as a higher pressure to publish began to emerge. rather, we had, several times, the depressing experience of seeing papers we had just rejected being published (either as they were or with only slight editing) by other journals with the same ranking as ours. as frequently observed, such rankings suffer from a self-serving predisposition bias (beattie & goodacre, 2006). it was pretty clear that the rankings depended at least partly on who served on the list committee and on how powerful the lobbyists pushing for a given journal were. in spite of hard data carefully documenting the number of submissions, acceptance rates, circulation, etc., m@n@gement kept its bottom ranking when the list was revised one year later. we had to concur with grey (2010: 683) that “the constitution of journals as ‘top journals’ is clearly an accomplishment of power” and acknowledged that m@n@gement was in need of a strong sponsor (williams, 2008). as luck would have it, aims, the french-based scholarly society for management and strategy, was at the same time pondering launching a new journal or endorsing an existing one. after some debates, they decided that the community would be better served by reinforcing an existing journal rather than by launching a new one. they approached m@n@gement, which was happy to accept the endorsement. as a first step, aims was in charge of the frenchspeaking section of the multi-language journal. alain desreumaux (from the university of lille) was appointed editor by consensus between aims and the journal in 2006. the next revision of the cnrs journals list corrected the 13. some schools, especially in north america, don’t use lists but rather journal impact factors or article citations. the logic and consequences are probably similar, and one can doubt the metric is any better, even though it seems more “scientific”. both thomson’s web of knowledge and google scholar have been shown to be flawed or easily manipulated (e.g., baum, 2013; delgado lópezcózar, robinson-garcía & torres-salinas, forthcoming; leydesdorff, 2008; rossner, van epps & hill, 2007; seglen, 1997). 753 academic publishing: past and future m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 739-756 erroneous ranking of m@n@gement. the current editorial team was appointed in 2009, led by emmanuel josserand (then at the university of geneva, now at the university of technology sydney). relationships between aims and the journal were at times difficult, reflecting debates within the association as to the journal’s positioning. remaining highly selective meant keeping a high status but risked frustrating parts of aims’ membership. broadening the scope and accepting more papers meant pleasing more authors but lowering standards. fortunately, the editorial team chose to maintain its focus on high quality. another, more recent, environmental change seems positive for m@n@gement. as explained above, there is a growing concern over subscription fees and more generally over how private publishers seize public resarch results. fifteen years after m@n@gement embraced open access, it seems its time has come. oa is now much more legitimized and it is now widely accepted that journal quality is unrelated to its support. the journal is now ranked in journal lists in several countries (such as australia, denmark, france and the uk). institutionalization is well on its way! as for the support m@n@gement receives from aims, it should be noted that the relationship is now a pacified and constructive one. the board of aims all agree that they want a strong, high quality journal. at the same time, incoming editors laure cabantous (city university) and sébastien liarte (university of lorraine) understand the importance of bringing the journal closer to its community. for instance, they intend to fight the old misconception that doctoral students and junior faculty members should not aim to be published in the journal. quite the contrary! m@n@gement prides itself in helping young talent develop: it’s a great journal to learn the reviewing process ropes in a developmental fashion. one need only ask former egos president eero vaara: one of the very first article in his now highly impressive publication list was published in m@n@gement (see vaara, 2000). conclusion academic publishing is ready for a major change. on the one hand, its traditional model is under attack. although technological innovations allow for a wider and cheaper dissemination of research results, commercial publishers keep increasing prices at alarming rates. librarians have to cut expenses to avoid cancelling subscriptions to major bundles. researchers are so upset with the “obscene profits of commercial scholarly publishers”14 that some organize boycotts. nobel prize winner randy schekman (2013) recently committed his lab to avoiding what he calls “luxury journals”, and to date, more than 14,000 researchers have signed the “cost of knowledge” petition against elsevier. on the other hand, technological and institutional changes are lowering the threshold for open access. hardware that diminishes prices and software that increases availability combine to make the production, diffusion and storage of oa scholarly articles both cheaper and easier. institutional pressure is arising from two fronts. knowledge producers, the researchers who submit and use articles, are frustrated by copyrights and paywalls hindering diffusion. research funders are more and more upset at having to pay for both production and usage when commercial publishers 14. http://svpow.com/2012/01/13/theobscene-profits-of-commercial-scholarlypublishers/ 754 bernard forgues & sébastien liartem@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 739-756 rake in billions in profit. as a result, researchers create new oa journals and repositories and funders require research results to be oa. because pressure is met with fierce resistance and intense lobbying from commercial publishers, we don’t know what the future of academic publishing will look like. but we certainly can take a stand. we do hope to see a major change in the field in the near future. one can very well envision new arrangements in which everything is online, without barriers or embargoes, and publishing is reclaimed by scholarly associations, which are “natural” oa publishers (velterop, 2005). one can also envision two other major changes beyond the scope of this essay. first is an evolution of the reviewing process where, taking advantage of online publishing, reviews would be transparent and ongoing, thus transforming vetting decisions into developmental dialogues and joint efforts. one can, for instance, imagine ways in which to foster discussions in journal forums. some ideas along these lines are offered in comments to miller (2012, see in particular comments by fortun & fortun and by morita at the end of his article). second (and further away, alas) is the replacement of the convenient heuristic method of journal prestige for hiring and promotion decisions with an actual assessment of an article’s intrinsic quality. however, heuristics serve a purpose, so rather than hoping for them to disappear, we probably need to think of replacing them with a better method. we hope our essay modestly contributes to the burgeoning of ideas and ventures reinventing academic publishing. a reminder of the noble motives behing the oa movement seems appropriate in closing: “a commitment to the value and quality of research carries with it a responsibility to extend the circulation of this work as far as possible, and ideally to all who are interested in it and all who might profit by it” (willinski, 2005: 5). bernard forgues (ph.d. paris-dauphine university) is professor of organization theory at emlyon business school, where he is also in charge of the ph.d. program. his current research interests deal with institutions and materiality. sébastien liarte is a professor of strategic management at the university of lorraine (isam-iae of nancy), france. he is the current head of centre européen de recherche en economie financière et gestion des entreprises (cerefige european centre for research in financial economics and business administration). he is the incoming co-editor in chief of m@n@gement. his current research focuses on competitive dynamics, innovation and entrepreneurship. acknowledgement we are grateful to olivier germain and emmanuel josserand for their guidance and patience. we also thank david courpasson and raymond thiétart, as well as all those who made m@n@gement possible. 755 academic publishing: past and future m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 739-756 · baum, j. a. c. (2013). the excess-tail ratio: correcting journal impact factors for citation distributions. m@n@gement, 16(5), 697-706. · beattie, v., & goodacre, a. (2006). a new method for ranking academic journals in accounting and finance. accounting & business research, 36(2), 65-91. · björk, b.c. (2004). open access to scientific publications: an analysis of the barriers to change. information research, 9(2), paper 170. retrieved from: http://www.informationr.net/ir/92/paper170.html · competition commission (2001). reed elsevier plc and harcourt general, inc: a report on the proposed merger. london: competition commission. · delgado lópez-cózar, e., robinson-garcía, n., & torres-salinas, d. (forthcoming). the google scholar experiment: how to index false papers and manipulate bibliometric indicators. journal of the american society for information science and technology. · edlin, a. s., & rubinfeld, d. l. (2004). exclusion or efficient pricing: the big deal bundling of academic journals. antitrust law journal, 72(1), 119-157. · forgues, b., & forray, j. m. (2008). running an electronic journal: considerations and possibilities. in y. baruch, a. m. konrad, h. aguinis, & w. h. starbuck (eds.), opening the black box of editorship (pp. 197-205). london: palgrave-macmillan. · grey, c. (2010). organizing studies: publications, politics and polemic. organization studies, 31(6), 677-694. · hajjem, c., harnad, s., & gingras, y. (2005). ten-year cross-disciplinary comparison of the growth of open access and how it increases research citation impact. ieee data engineering bulletin, 28(4), 39-47. · hannan, m. t., & carroll, g. r. (1992). dynamics of organizational populations: density, legitimation, and competition. oxford: oxford university press. · harnad, s. (1995). electronic scholarly publication: quo vadis? serials review, 21(1), 70-72. · harnad, s., brody, t., vallières, f., carr, l., hitchcock, s., gingras, y., oppenheim, c., stamerjohanns, h., & hilf, e. (2004). the green and the gold roads to open access. nature, 17. retrieved from: http://eprints.soton. ac.uk/259940/1/21.html · johnson, c. y. (2012, april 28). harvard panel pushes benefits of free journals: costly publications targeted. the boston globe. · kipping, m., üsdiken, b., & puig, n. (2004). imitation, tension, and hybridization: multiple “americanizations” of management education in mediterranean europe. journal of management inquiry, 13(2), 98-108. · laakso, m., welling, p., bukvova, h., nyman, l., björk, b.-c., & hedlund, t. (2011). the development of open access journal publishing from 1993 to 2009. plos one, 6(6), e20961. · leydesdorff, l. (2008). caveats for the use of citation indicators in research and journal evaluations. journal of the american society for information science and technology, 59(2), 278-287. · mabe, m. (2003). the growth and number of journals. serials, 16(2), 191-197. · mabe, m., & amin, m. (2001). growth dynamics of scholarly and scientific journals. scientometrics, 51(1), 147-162. · miller, d. (2012). open access, scholarship, and digital anthropology. hau: journal of ethnographic theory, 2(1), 385-411. · morrison, h. (2012). freedom for scholarship in the internet age. (unpublished dissertation). simon fraser university, burnaby, canada. · rossner, m., van epps, h., & hill, e. (2007). show me the data. journal of cell biology, 179(6), 1091-1092. · schekman, r. (2013, december 9). how journals like nature, cell and science are damaging science. the guardian. · scherer, f. m., & ross, d. (1990). industrial market structure and economic performance (3rd ed.). boston: houghton mifflin. · seglen, p. o. (1997). why the impact factor of journals should not be used for evaluating research. british medical journal, 314(7079), 497-502. · starbuck, w. h. (2013). why and where do academics publish? m@n@gement, 16(5), 707-718. · swan, a. (2010). the open access citation advantage: studies and results to date. southampton: university of southampton. references 756 bernard forgues & sébastien liartem@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 739-756 · the economist (2001, may 12). journal wars: big publishers are tightening their grip on the lucrative science-journal market. · tillery, k. (2012). 2012 study of subscription prices for scholarly society journals. allen press. retrieved from: http:// allenpress.com/system/files/pdfs/ library/2012_ap_jps.pdf · vaara, e. (2000). constructions of cultural differences in post-merger change processes: a sensemaking perspective on finnishswedish cases. m@n@gement, 3(3), 81-110. · velterop, j. j. j. m. (2005). open access publishing and scholarly societies: a guide. open society institute. retrieved from: http://www. budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/ pdf/open_access_publishing_and_ scholarly_societies.pdf · wellcome trust (2004). costs and business models in scientific research publishing. london: wellcome trust. · williams, l. j. (2008). reflections on creating a new scholarly journal: perspectives from a founding editor. in y. baruch, a. m. konrad, h. aguinis & w. h. starbuck (eds.), opening the black box of editorship (pp. 188-196). london: palgrave-macmillan. · willinsky, j. (2006). the access principle: the case for open access to research and scholarship. cambridge, ma: the mit press. · willmott, h. (2011). journal list fetishism and the perversion of scholarship: reactivity and the abs list. organization, 18(4), 429-442. · yoon, c. k. (1998, december 8). soaring prices spur a revolt in scientific publishing. the new york times. scott-mobr unplugged my own book review w. richard scott (1995), institutions and organizations. ideas, interests and identities. reviewed by himself the “unplugged” section seeks to experience new forms of book reviews. we regularly grant a wild card to a world-class scholar to review his/her own classic. in “my own book review”, authors will tell us the story of "what i was trying to do" with sometimes some auto-ethnographic considerations. by recounting the building process of one seminal research with a contemporary lens, they may give some insights for the current craft of research and also share with us renunciations, doubts and joys in their intimate writing experience. three texts ! institutions and organizations is the third text book i have written. the first i co-authored with peter m. blau many years ago—an early organization text, formal organization: a comparative approach, first published in 1962. i was blau’s student from 1956-1961 at the university of chicago and i owe him an enormous debt for inviting me to participate with him in co-authoring one of the “founding texts” of the fledging field of organization studies. i have recounted elsewhere (scott, 2003) my views on the intellectual context of the time and the collaborative process that produced the book, and i have commented briefly on its intended contributions. but, for me, the lasting impact of the experience was recognizing that authoring a more generalized and programmatic text had the potential to exert a profound impact on the development of an academic field— defining its boundaries, specifying central premises, and identifying its future agenda. talk about creating cultural capital! ! my second text was organizations: rational, natural and open systems, first published in 1981. it was the product of teaching an “advanced-introductory” course on organizations to upper-level undergraduates and beginning graduate students at stanford from 1960 to 1981—and beyond. in my mind, the defining factor that distinguished this text from others available at the time—e.g., aldrich, 1979, etzioni, 1961; hall, 1972; perrow, 1979—was my insistence that the arrival of the “open system” perspective during the late 1950s had fundamentally altered the field of organization studies. in their earlier book, the social psychologists katz and kahn (1966) had covered many of the insights associated with this conceptual framework, but they had not, in my view, adequately described its impact on macro or more sociological approaches. for a volume edited by marshall meyer, i wrote an introductory essay to a collection of articles dealing with changing perspectives on organization structure. in my essay, i first offered my suggestion that, after its emergence, the open systems perspective collided and interacted with the two reigning conceptual frameworks: the “rational” and “natural systems” models (scott, 1978). i proposed that as open system models arrived, they evoked varying reactions—accommodations and revisions—as the m@n@gement 2014, 17(2): 136-140 136 paperback: 360 pages publisher: sage (1995) language: english isbn: 978-1452242224 www.management-aims.com © the author(s) http://www.management-aims.com http://www.management-aims.com two dominant perspectives, formed under closed system assumptions, attempted to learn from and adapt to the open systems revolution. i then traced these theoretical ripples through the literature. in addition to identifying shifts in underlying theoretical perspectives, i also emphasized the expanding levels of analysis employed by organization scholars as they moved from more “micro” (within organization) structures and processes to those operating at the organization set, organization population, and organization field levels. the “before” and “after” transformations associated with the introduction of open systems models, together with shifts in the level of analysis, were utilized to organize my review of the extant literature—through six editions of this work (scott 1981/1987/1992/1998/2003; scott and davis, 2007). ! my assignment for this review essay is to focus on the third text— institutions and organizations—now in its 4th edition, (2013), but i must begin by pointing out continuities between this and my previous texts. in all three, i have attempted to exploit the opportunity afforded by the tutorial text-book format to sketch out the central issues defining the subject area and to delineate the boundaries of the intellectual territory claimed. all three have also emphasized the expanding levels of analysis which, i believe, have characterized organization studies from the early 1950s to the present. particularly in the latter two texts, i have attempted to identify the foundational assumptions and to expose the various underlying conceptual dimensions that have created the critical fault-lines around which the field of study has been defined. origins of institutions and organizations ! as described in an earlier essay (scott 2005), my exposure to and flirtation with institutional theory goes back to my early graduate work at the university of chicago, which included courses from everett c. hughes. in my dissertation, i contrasted the differing orientations—today i would use the term “institutional logics”—that characterized administrators and professional social workers in a public agency (e.g., scott, 1965). in later research on authority systems with sanford dornbusch (dornbusch and scott, 1975), we examined the differences between workers and managers in their conceptions of employee tasks and in their preferences for authority systems. we concluded that work arrangements do not follow some natural economic law regarding efficient organization but are shaped by cultural, social and political processes. ! however, it was not until my collaboration with john w. meyer, begun during the 1970s, that i began to recognize the broader ways in which institutional forces shape organizational arrangements. our studies of the organization of work in elementary and secondary classrooms revealed that they were not highly responsive to differences in the complexity of work performed, as predicted by contingency theory—the reigning theory at the time (see scott, 1983). in a series of studies extending into the 1990s, we explored the ways in which not only the “task” but the “institutional” environment—the wider cultural framework—shaped how formal organizations were structured around work systems. john and i, working with multiple colleagues and students, continued our collaboration for more than two decades, refining our theoretical arguments and conducting research to evaluate our predictions. ! in 1989, i was invited to become a fellow at the center for advanced study in the behavioral sciences. this year-long fellowship allowed me to devote full attention to my scholarship, as opposed to teaching and administrative duties. rather than using the year to write articles or complete a book manuscript, as was customary for fellows, i spent virtually all of my time immersing myself in the m@n@gement, 17(2): 136-140! my own book review 137 extensive institutional literature, which extended not only over time but across several disciplines, in particular, anthropology, economics, political science, and sociology. (the center contained a talented and responsive library staff who could retrieve virtually any book or article, usually overnight.) in conducting this review, i became aware that most if not all of the differences observed concern the nature of the arguments made about why it is that actors—individual or collective—comply with rules and prescriptions: is it because they are rewarded for doing so, because they believe that they are morally obligated to do so, or because they are following their conception of what reasonable others would do in the situation? i labeled these differences “regulative”, “normative”, and “cultural-cognitive” and proposed that each was associated with different arguments or assumptions about the mechanisms activated, the logics employed by actors, the appropriate indicators, the type of affect or emotion generated, and the basis of legitimacy. i labeled my approach the “pillars” framework, each element providing a different support or foundation for an institutional order. distinctive features of and responses to the text ! in the first edition of institutions and organizations (1995), i began with a review of the rather chaotic literature of institutional theory, from the midnineteenth to the mid-twentieth century. i introduced the “pillars” framework as a means of sorting out the disparate assumptions and resulting arguments, and then employed it as a basis for reviewing developments, both theoretical and empirical, from the 1970s forward. i emphasized that the “new” institutionalism, beginning in the 1970s, was primarily due to renewed attention to the culturalcognitive elements—regenerating a line of thought that can be traced through durkheim, schutz (1932/1967) berger and luckmann (1967), the ethnomethodologists (e.g., garfinkel (1967) to meyer and rowan (1977) and zucker (1977). as i noted in the text, i devoted more time and attention to this third “pillar” because it was the most novel and least well known. my proposed approach was attacked in reviews by some who charged that my approach advocated a “force-choice” selection of one element over another (hirsch, 1997: 1704), even though from the time i first proposed the framework, i insisted that the elements were intended as “analytic”—conceptual tools to enable investigators to identify what ingredients were at work in varying situations while acknowledging that the elements were often combined together—especially in robust institutions. i also pointed out that the elements in play could change over time, for example, institutional frameworks that employed primarily regulative elements in their origins might over time operate more as normative and cultural-cognitive systems. ! some sociologists also objected to the inclusion of a regulative system relying on sanctions since for them, this conflated arguments based on resourcedependence with those relying on the power of “social facts”—e.g., taken-forgranted assumptions or cognitive frames (see, e.g., phillips and malhotra, 2008; zucker, 1991: 104). i agree that sanctions are different from “social facts”. indeed, that is the point of the “pillars” framework. however, to ignore systems that depend for their operation on rewards and penalties is to exclude most of the work by institutional economists and rational choice political scientists, who, more than sociologists or anthropologists, focus on the institutional processes operating in markets and states. since i was interested in contrasting and comparing approaches, it seemed to me inappropriate to construct a conceptual framework that excluded many of the most influential institutional theories in use. my own book review! m@n@gement, 17(2): 136-140 138 more generally, some critics have argued that the broad scope of “institutional studies” prevents it from developing into a coherent theory. for example, palmer and colleagues (palmer, biggart & dick, 2008: 754) “wonder whether some of the ni’s [new institutionalism’s] most penetrating insights are at risk of being lost as it expands to incorporate multiple disciplines, operate at multiple levels of analysis, and address a cornucopia of substantive topics”. there is indeed a danger in trying to “explain everything”. however, because institutional theory addresses the core topics of social order and social change it is not easy to arbitrarily exclude the wide range of substantive topics and levels caught up in these processes. our task is to attempt to identify the core elements, processes and mechanisms at work across myriad arenas. ! finally, i want to point out the importance of revised editions of texts. i must confess that i find myself annoyed by the fact that so many scholars continue to rely on and cite one of the previous editions (whether the 1995, the 2001 or the 2008 edition), although i fully understand why this is the case. most of us refer to the edition of a work as we first encounter it (and i myself am guilty of this intellectual laziness). and, admittedly, some authors do not make extensive changes from one edition to another (i think i am an exception to this: my own revised editions are made up of twenty-five to thirty percent new material). i note three reasons why we all should endeavor to consult the most recent edition of a work. ! first, in intellectually vigorous and rapidly expanding fields, such as institutional theory, one can observe the sharpening of arguments, the expansion of the number of issues to which ideas are applied, and improvement in the indicators and methods employed. a rough comparison of the number of references to relevant theoretical and empirical articles and books in the first edition of institutions and organizations and the most recent (1995; 2013) reveals almost a doubling of references—from around 580 to over 1000 citations. scholars stand to benefit by informing themselves about the most recent work. ! second, more recent work can challenge and revise earlier work as well as merely contribute to it. for example, one of the most important changes in institutional theory over the past two decades has been the shift in emphasis from a focus on structure to a greater attention to actors and action. presumptions of automatic conformity to institutional pressures have been challenged by work that stresses strategic and disruptive behavior (e.g., oliver, 1991; davis et al., 2005). arguments concerning top-down pressures and constraining forces have been joined by ones stressing bottom-up initiatives and mindful adaptations (e.g., dimaggio 1988; rao, monin, & durand, 2003), as well as others that focus on institutional “work” rather than institutional structure (lawrence, suddaby & leca, 2008). nevertheless, many scholars, who continue to rely on earlier work including the earlier texts, persist in complaining that institutional theory is primarily concerned with top-down constraints and governed by determinative assumptions. ! third, authoring multiple editions of a text allows an author to learn from, take into account, and make revisions to his/her ideas because of reader response to earlier versions. these responses take many forms, including formal book reviews, but also references to one’s work in articles contained in review journals or handbooks. (in passing, i would note that later editions of a book are hardly ever subjected to formal reviews in professional journals.) feedback is also received from scholars who employ the original arguments but proceed, on the basis of their own findings and interpretations, to raise questions about or suggest revisions to earlier formulations. living in the age of electronic media, i have received large numbers of responses to my work via e-mail, some in the form of questions for clarification, others in the mode of offering criticism and suggesting modifications. these regularly come from scholars of all ages and from all parts of the globe. all of these responses, as well as other opportunities m@n@gement, 17(2): 136-140! my own book review 139 for learning from the reactions of others, reinforce my view that science at its best is conducted within an open architecture: it is the collective product of individuals sharing a common tradition and focusing on the same or similar questions. references aldrich, h. (1979). organizations and environments., englewood cliffs, nj: prentice-hall. berger, p.l., & luckmann, t. (1967). the social construction of reality, new york, ny: doubleday anchor. davis, g.f., mcadam, d, scott r.w., & zald, m.n. (2005), social movements and organization theory., cambridge: cambridge university press. dimaggio, p.j. (1988). interest and agency in institutional theory. in l.g. zucker (ed.), institutional patterns and organizations: culture and environment, 3-21, cambridge, ma: ballinger. busch, s.m., & scott r.w. (1975). evaluation and the exercise of authority, san francisco, ca: jossey-bass. durkheim, e. (1901/1950). the rules of sociological method, glencoe, il: free press. etzioni, a. (1961). a comparative analysis of complex organizations, new york, ny: free press. garfinkel, h. (1967). studies in ethnomethodology, englewood cliffs, nj: prentice-hall. hall, r.h. (1972). organizations: structure and process, englewood cliffs, nj: prentice-hall. hirsch, p. (1997). review essay: sociology without social structure: neoinstitutional theory meets brave new world, american journal of sociology, 102(6), 1702-1723. katz, d., & kahn r.l. (1966). the social psychology of organizations, new york, ny: john wiley. lawrence, t.b., suddaby, r., & leca, b. (2009). institutional work: actors and agency in institutional studies of organizations, cambridge: cambridge university press. meyer, j.w., & rowan b. (1977). institutionalized organizations: formal structure as myth and ceremony, american journal of sociology, 83(2), 340-363. oliver, c. (1991), strategic responses to institutional processes, academy of management review, 16(1), 145-179. palmer, d., biggart, n. & dick, b. (2008), is the new institutionalism a theory? in r. greenwood, c. oliver, k. sahlin & r. suddaby (eds), the sage handbook of organizational institutionalism, 739-768, los angeles, ca: sage. perrow, c. (1979). complex organizations: a critical essay, glencoe, il: scott, foreman. phillips, n., & malhotra n. (2008). taking social construction seriously: extending the discursive approach to institutional theory, in r. greenwood, c. oliver, r. suddaby, & k. sahlin. the sage handbook of organizational institutionalism, 702-720, los angeles,ca: sage. rao, h., monin p., & durand r. (2003). institutional change in toque ville: nouvelle cusine as an identity movement in french gastronomy, american journal of sociology 108(4), 795-843. schutz, a. (1932/1967). the phenomenology of the social world, evanston, il: northwestern university press. scott, w.r. (1965). reactions to supervision in a heteronomous professional organization, administrative science quarterly, 10(1), 65-81. scott, r.w. (1978). theoretical perspectives, in m.w. meyer (ed.), environments and organizations, 21-28, san francisco, ca: jossey-bass. scott, r.w. (1981/1987/1992/1998/2003). organizations: rational, natural, and open systems, englewood cliffs, nj: prentice-hall. scott, r.w. (1983). introduction: from technology to environment, in j.w. meyer & w.r. scott (eds.), organizational environments: ritual and rationality, 13-17, beverly hills, ca: sage. scott, r.w. (1995/2001/2008/2013). institutions and organizations, thousand oaks, ca: sage. scott, w.r. (2003). introduction to the classic paperback, in p.m. blau & w.r. scott (eds.), formal organizations: a comparative approach, ix-xxv, stanford, ca: stanford university press. scott, r.w. (2005). institutional theory: contributing to a theoretical research program. in k.g. smith & m.a. hitt, great minds in management: the process of theory development, 460-84, oxford: oxford university press. scott, r.w. & davis, g.f. (2007). organizations and organizing: rational, natural, and open system perspectives, upper saddle river, nj: pearson/ prentice hall. zucker, l.g. (1977). the role of institutionalization in cultural persistence, american sociological review, 42(5), 726-743. zucker, l.g. (1991). postscript: microfoundations of institutional thought, in w.w. powell & p.j. dimaggio (eds.), the new institutionalism in organizational analysis, 103-106, chicago, il: university of chicago press. my own book review! m@n@gement, 17(2): 136-140 140 peton173 the unsuspected dynamics of the regulative pillar: the case of faute inexcusable in france hélène peton � stéphan pezé abstract. institutional work translates actors’ capacity to bring about change in an institutionalised practice through its creation, continuation or destruction. this research examines political institutional work in order to understand actors’ activity in the regulative pillar of the institution. with its focus on the cognitive and normative institutional pillars, the existing literature has underestimated the regulative pillar’s contribution to institutional change, ignoring part of its role in institutional change. we propose to examine the status conferred on this regulative dimension through a qualitative study of an institutionalised practice, the legal concept of faute inexcusable in france from 1898 to 2012. we use secondary data including legal data, contextualised with other sources, and interviews with two key actors in the field. we show the existence of a genuine “regulative dynamic”; beneath its apparent stability, the regulative pillar is in fact the setting for institutional struggles that lead institutionalised practices to evolve. we highlight sequences of institutional work in which various forms of political institutional work interact. this research advances understanding of institutional dynamics in the regulative pillar, casting light on actors and mechanisms that have so far gone unreported. the article thus contributes to a rehabilitation of the regulative pillar’s role in neo-institutional theory. ! the question of the role played by actors in institutional change is central to recent debates in the neo-institutional stream of research. the concept of institutional work (lawrence & suddaby, 2006) offers a particularly fruitful perspective for understanding how the activities undertaken by actors lead to an evolution in the institution, and therefore to institutional change (ben slimane & leca, 2010). these purposeful actions create, maintain or destroy institutions. institutional work concerns the three pillars that make up an institution (scott, 2008). while the cognitive and normative dimensions have been specifically studied, especially as regards the stage of institutional creation, the regulative pillar, which translates certain actors’ capacity, by virtue of their authority, to place constraints on the behaviour of other actors (caronna, 2004), is only rarely studied in the literature on institutional change (scott, 2008). this situation is less the reflection of a lack of interest than the result of an over-restrictive view of the regulative pillar, focusing principally on the state as the central actor and the law as the only instrument. this simplistic view of the regulative pillar leads to a peripheral analysis of the institution’s coercive dimension: institutional work is considered to be produced in the cognitive and normative dimensions, with the regulative dimension then passively registering these changes (hoffman, 1999; maguire & hardy, 2009). as a weapon wielded by the dominant actors in the field, the coercive power of the rule encourages continuation of the status quo and institutional maintenance strategies (russo, 2001). finally, when it is a source of change, the law is perceived simply as an outside driven factor affecting the institution, leading to institutional work on the cognitive and normative dimensions (oliver, 1992). but as scott emphasises, there is no reason not to take a more specific, detailed look at the regulative pillar. perkmann and spicer (2008) have m@n@gement 2014, 17(3): 145-179 145 université paris-est, irg (ea 2354), upec, f-94010, créteil, france helene.peton@u-pec.fr université paris-est, irg (ea 2354), upec, f-94010, créteil, france stephan.peze@u-pec.fr www.management-aims.com © the author(s) mailto:helene.peton@u-pec.fr?subject= mailto:helene.peton@u-pec.fr?subject= mailto:stephan.peze@u-pec.fr mailto:stephan.peze@u-pec.fr http://www.management-aims.com http://www.management-aims.com also highlighted the existence of a political institutional work specific to the regulative pillar, suggesting the existence of as yet little-explored underlying activity. this study proposes to examine the institutional struggles specific to the regulative pillar. our reflection was guided by two main questions: who are the actors who shape the regulative pillar? how do they act and interact within that pillar? a study of the law on faute inexcusable1 in france between 1898 and 2012 offers a particularly interesting case to explore these questions. the legal concept of faute inexcusable has existed for a century in french law. it is used in disputes between an employer and an employee who suffers injuries as a result of or in the course of his work. claims by the victim of faute inexcusable by the employer have serious consequences for businesses, because if the courts declare them guilty of the offence, the victims will be awarded additional compensation payable by their employer. for a long while the concept was rarely used, but lawsuits for faute inexcusable are now widespread and have become an institutionalised practice (maguire & hardy, 2009): the concept shapes perceptions and understanding shared by all actors in the field of occupational health. labour relations and employers’ responsibilities are defined through faute inexcusable, and the concept is hardly ever challenged. its stability over time confers on it the status of an institutionalised practice, i.e. it is taken for granted by all actors. ! by questioning the traditional understanding of the regulative pillar and its role in an institutionalised practice change, we make two main contributions to the neo-institutional literature: first, we show that the regulative pillar is more dynamic and complex than the literature makes out, since it is made up of a variety of actors able to conduct elaborate forms of political institutional work, which leads us to identify and define a “regulative dynamic”: next, we show that because of this regulative dynamic, the regulative pillar plays a continuous role in institutional change. it is not the auxiliary pillar depicted in the literature, acting only as a trigger or ratifier of institutional change. ! this article comprises five sections. the first section presents the theoretical framework from which our investigations emerge. the second section introduces the research design, presenting the choice of the case studied (faute inexcusable), then the methodology applied to collect and analyse data. the results are reported in the third section (which provides a description of the case followed by its analysis). the fourth section proposes an analytical summary of the case, leading to a final section containing a discussion of results with a view to determining the contributions, limitations and avenues for research raised by this study. theoretical framework ! institutions can be defined as shared rules and meanings that offer a framework for social interaction and the roles attributed to it (fligstein, 2001). as barley and tolbert (1997: 99) undermine, institutions are an accumulation of shared codes that make it possible to impose a practice as legitimate. these institutionalised practices are made up of cognitive, normative and regulative elements that underpin the stability and meaning of life in society (scott, 2008). the determinism of the earliest research (dimaggio & powell, 1983; meyer & rowan, 1977) has in the last ten years made room for greater consideration of the actors’ capacity for action (lawrence & suddaby, 2006). the concept of “institutional work” is part of this perspective, stressing the capacity of several actors to become involved according to their interests in creating, maintaining or destroying an institutionalised practice (lawrence & suddaby, 2006). an institutionalised practice is thus the subject of struggles, efforts, coalitions and m@n@gement, 17(3): 145-179! hélène peton � stéphan pezé 146 1. due to the difficulty of finding a completely satisfactory english equivalent for the french term and concept of faute inexcusable (literally, “inexcusable fault”, sometimes translated as “gross negligence”), we have decided to keep the original french expression in this article. strategic actions. these institutional creation processes have mainly been analysed from the angle of the cognitive, and to a lesser extent normative, foundations of institutional change. the concept of framing, for example, attracted the interest of many researchers (benford & snow, 2000). this focus on the cognitive pillar has slightly obscured understanding of changes in the other two pillars. today, the regulative pillar is the least studied in the literature, even though major authors (scott, 2008) have emphasised the relevance of looking at it differently. there is no justification for its marginalisation: according to scott (2001), none of the three dimensions, cognitive, normative or regulative is predominant over the others. it would therefore appear just as relevant to study the three pillars and thus gain a better understanding of the regulative dimension. the traditional conception of the regulative pillar ! in neo-institutional theory, the regulative pillar refers to the certain actors’ capacity, by virtue of their authority, to constrain the behaviour of other actors in an institutional field (caronna, 2004). the research conducted by north (1990) brings out the central role of formal rules, which are different from the informal rules specific to the normative pillar, in supporting the institution. this constraint is expressed through formal rules that can be used to control behavioural compliance with the institutional order in a field. coercion is the essential mechanism of this pillar. a central actor: the state ! within the regulative pillar, the state’s coercive power is central. it was long considered as a neutral actor (milgrom & roberts, 1992), but the emergence of the literature on institutional work opened up new perspectives. drawing particularly on the work of skocpol (1985), scott (2008) underlines the state’s capacity for action within a field, thus calling into question its potential neutrality since institutional work is defined by the intentionality of the action taken (lawrence, et al., 2009). the only channel for the state’s institutional work: the law ! the state is the lawmaker, but it also plays a role as a recognised authority, and coordinates implementation of the law. it is therefore invested with legislative power and executive power. the law, as a vector of legitimacy, has been studied in several empirical studies. edelman’s (1992) study of the civil rights act, for example, stresses the influence of the law on the way institutions operate: when faced with a new law, organisations are obliged to adopt organisational forms that can display signs of conformity. the regulative dimension thus constrained organisations in their operation. this is one of the sources of isomorphism in an organisational field (dimaggio & powell, 1983). in this sense, the law enables the state to constrain organisations. but that is not its only role. the law also plays a role in construction and developments in the institutional field. hiatt, sine and tolbert (2009) show that a law on prohibition banning alcohol production in the usa in the early 20th century completely redefined the boundaries of the field and paved the way emergence of a new institution: the american soda industry. ! these studies paint the following portrait of the regulative pillar (see figure 1): the state, through the law, places constraints on the behaviours of actors in civilian society. its role is thus comparable to the role of producer of a quasi-exogenous shock that causes change in behaviours in an institutional field. the unsuspected dynamics of the regulative pillar! m@n@gement, 17(3): 145-179 147 figure 1. the regulative pillar in the litterature ! we believe that this oversimplistic interpretation reflects the lack of studies of the regulative pillar. the force of the law and the coercive power of the state are, of course, unquestionable. and yet the state is an actor that in reality comprises a large number of entities. also, it is not the only producer of formal rules that constrain action. hoffman (1999), for instance, stresses the role of past court decisions in his analysis of a process of change in the consideration given to environmental matters by the us chemicals industry. the actor who is the source of these decisions, the judge, is rarely studied. there is thus room for doubt regarding the idea that the power of the regulative pillar is expressed exclusively by the law enacted by the state (mccann, 1994). the concept of institutional work enables us to take this reflection further. the regulative pillar through the lens of political institutional work ! to address these questions, we refer to the literature on institutional work. the concept of institutional work is founded on the concept of chains of actors whose interactions bring about change (lawrence, et al., 2009). they therefore commit to action in accordance with their interests, and a degree of effort is required. more specifically, the concept of political institutional work (lawrence & suddaby, 2006) aims to redefine relations between actors, notably through a redefinition of the rules and rights in the institution. according to perkmann and spicer (2007, 2008), this work, which is typical of the regulative pillar, takes three major forms: advocacy to influence the state and the laws; defining, which helps to set the boundaries between the inside and outside of the field and therefore determines which actors are included and excluded; and vesting, which confers specific roles and rights on certain actors. ! these different forms of political work are conveyed by a variety of actors. diplomacy, negotiation and lobbying are political strategies that enable coalitions of actors to defend their interests (djelic, 1998; botzem & quack, 2006; lounsbury & crumley, 2007). the study of management fashions by perkmann and spicer (2008) shows the role of the state but also of large dominant firms m@n@gement, 17(3): 145-179! hélène peton � stéphan pezé 148 (cole, 1985), consumer groups and ngos (baron, et al., 1986) – all institutions that represent civil society. research on social movements also underlines that protestors generally take action against the law, but also can also take action with and by the law (agrikolansky, 2010). the representatives of civil society such as unions or victims’ associations act on the institution to defend their interests, drawing on the regulative pillar (botzem & quack, 2006; lounsbury & crumley, 2007). as the legal arena is particularly difficult to grasp for civil society, they often have to go through professional practitioners of the law to make their voices heard. the “mercenaries”, independent specialist lawyers (mccann & silverstein, 1998), are one group that play this role and can thus participate in institutional struggles. and yet apart from the role of lawyers, the strategies of actors in the legal and court sphere are rarely studied in the literature. ! consideration of the three forms of political institutional work gives a more nuanced view than the literature’s initial representation of the regulative pillar: coercive action by the state is exercised via a political institutional work of defining and vesting carried by the law; meanwhile, various actors in civil society concerned by the law try to influence the state in accordance with their own interests, through a political institutional work of advocacy (figure 2). figure 2. the regulative pillar through the lens of political institutional work the unsuspected dynamics of the regulative pillar! m@n@gement, 17(3): 145-179 149 ! this description of the regulative pillar enables further examination of the pillar’s place in the logics of institutional change and maintenance. in-depth knowledge of this pillar renews the question of its role in the life-cycle of institutions. towards integration of a complex regulative pillar into the literature on institutional change and maintenance ! the lifecycle of institutions is recognised in the literature as a succession of periods of change and periods of stability (scott, 2008). few studies so far have taken an interest in the continuity and succession of these moments (dansou & langley, 2012). these studies (farjoun, 2002; zietsma & lawrence, 2010) highlight key moments explaining the passage from one state to the other. from an institutional change standpoint, institutional work in process is seen as a response to external events that are a source of instability (krasner, 1984) or the emergence of a contradiction between the institution and its environment (jepperson, et al., 1991). through an interpretation internal to the institution, focusing on institutional pillars, caronna (2004) also shows that institutional work can be triggered by a misalignment between the institutional pillars and the resulting instability. while the processes of creation and change in institutions have been studied from the angle of institutional work (hargadon & douglas, 2001; kitchener, 2002; townley, 2002), institutional maintenance has attracted less attention from researchers (scott, 2008). ! institutional maintenance, generally considered as a phase of stability between two periods of tension, says nothing about the actors’ strategies taking place between those periods. but as it does not mean a status quo, but a more or less stable state, institutional maintenance is a balance that can be contested but also defended (lawrence & suddaby, 2006). for example, blanc and huault (2010) highlight the role of institutional work in perpetuating cognitive frameworks that lead to institutional maintenance in the field of the music industry. taupin (2012) studies the credit rating industry, and by a combined assessment of institutional work and sociology of critique shows that periods of contestation lead the actors in the field to implement justification work that can lead to a situation of institutional maintenance. these studies underline the relevance of taking an interest in institutional dynamics, particularly the institutional struggles that underlie institutional maintenance. ! this gap in the literature is particularly glaring for the regulative pillar. the existing literature on that pillar has tended to obscure the existence of institutional struggles within the pillar. as hauriou (1925, adopted by millar, 1995) underlines, there is an implicit consensus that the law – as a concept and in its practical forms – is a source of maintenance. as a result, no study has yet looked at the different internal struggles within the regulative pillar. ! to go beyond the current simplistic, static conception of the regulative pillar in the neo-institutional literature and contribute to a better understanding of institutional maintenance and institutional change, we focus our research along two complementary axes. we want to understand both who the actors of the regulative pillars are, and also what their role is within their pillar. by recognising the capacity for action vested in these actors, who to date are under-explored in the literature, we can highlight the political institutional work ongoing in this pillar and show the relevance of looking at it anew with the broader aim of making a contribution to the literature on institutional change. to do so, we follow on from processual analyses of change in institutions (delacour & leca, 2010; hoffman, 1999; leblebici, et al., 1991; tolbert & zucker 1983). this approach enables us to respond to the call in the literature for an interpretation of the life cycle of institutions in its continuity, and more specifically forms of institutional work that participate in this movement (dansou & langley, 2012). the longitudinal case m@n@gement, 17(3): 145-179! hélène peton � stéphan pezé 150 study of faute inexcusable in france will highlight the sequence of institutional struggles in a dynamic perspective. research design the case of faute inexcusable ! to address the issues described above, we study the case of an institutionalised practice for which the regulative dimension occupies a central role: the legal concept of faute inexcusable2. like the use of ddt, studied by maguire et hardy (2009), faute inexcusable in france is a concept that embodies a number of shared representations beyond its legal definition. it is an institutionalised practice with stabilised features that form a focus for changes brought about by actors in the field. these are institutional struggles that we propose to trace. ! in practice, faute inexcusable is a legal concept that can be applied by the judges when ruling on a dispute between an employer and an employee (or his/ her heirs) who has suffered injuries or physical harm contracted due to or in the course of his/her work. when this is found to result from an occupational accident or illness, the employee receives a standard set amount of compensation for the temporary or permanent prejudice suffered. this compensation is paid by the national health insurance system, which then “reinvoices” it to the employers responsible. but if the employee considers his accident or illness resulted from a particularly serious fault or negligence by his employer, he can apply to the social security court2 for additional compensation on top of this standard compensation. recognition by the courts of the employer’s “inexcusable fault” entitles the plaintiff to this additional compensation, offering greater reparation for the prejudice suffered3. ! the faute inexcusable concept shapes the perceptions and understandings shared by all actors in the field of occupational health. it defines the interactions in the field, particularly in terms of taking responsibility for work-related risks. its stability over time confers on it the status of an institutionalised practice, i.e. taken for granted by all actors. the particularly striking regulative factors in this practice provide justification for studying it in order to bring out the importance of understanding the regulative pillar. a single case is selected under the intensity sampling approach (patton, 2002)4 or revelatory case approach as defined by yin (2009), in other words a case with good potential for development of new information on a neglected phenomenon (the regulative pillar). to study the case we used a methodology combining longitudinal and qualitative research (delacour & leca, 2011; langley, 1999). the data collection and analysis methods are presented in the following section. data collection ! priority was given to legal sources (laws and regulations) and the judicial sources (past rulings) to identify the central elements of faute inexcusable and achieve triangulation. the laws defining faute inexcusable and its characteristics form a primary source in historians’ sense of the term (prost, 1996). they were identified and collected by consulting specialist legal publishers’ resources: the “dictionnaire permanent social” dictionary of labour law published by editions législatives and the “mémo social” labour law guide published by liaisons sociales6 . but there was a difficulty in collecting all the texts through these legal resources: they provide an updated version of the current laws and thus automatically exclude older, repealed or simply amended versions. to make sure the unsuspected dynamics of the regulative pillar! m@n@gement, 17(3): 145-179 151 2. given the diversity of legal and court systems internationally, for example between civil law and common law countries, it must be borne in mind that this case specifically concerns the french context. 3. tribunal des affaires de la sécurité sociale (tass). 4. for further details on the court procedure and the terms of compensation, see graser, et al., 2004. 5. “an intensity sample consists of informationrich cases that manifest the phenomenon of interest intensely (but not extremely).” (patton, 2002: 234). 6. after looking up “faute inexcusable” in the glossary of these books, we consulted the relevant articles and identified references to the original texts: articles of law codified in the french employment code or social security code, and case law. we then consulted these sources via the government law website legifrance (http:// www.legifrance.gouv.fr) http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr we do not miss a major text, we therefore analysed articles by legal experts specialised in occupational health and safety (e.g. bienvenu, 1938; le roux, 2010; sargos, 2003). ! these articles, which formed a secondary source, are also useful as a way of dealing with a second difficulty inherent to the laws and regulations identified. ultimately, those laws and regulations are the end result of a development process that is hard to discern from reading them. other sources are thus needed, to have more details of that development and grasp the intervention by actors of the regulative pillar. so in addition to the specialist legal articles referred to above, we also consulted the official reports issued by the actors of the regulative pillar themselves: reports by members of the french senate, national assembly (parliament) or cour de cassation (supreme court) (chiefly dériot & godefroy, 2005; le garrec & lemière, 2006). also, working on the principle that faute inexcusable represents significant financial stakes both for businesses and for victims of occupational accident or illness, and also for the state, we complemented these data by consulting official reports (by the cour des comptes, the national institute for safety research, etc). we also studied works by historians to complement our understanding of the historical context of faute inexcusable across time (e.g. buzzi, et al., 2006; machu, 2009). data collection was complete when we considered we had reached completeness (complétude, pires, 1997), i.e. we could assert that we had grasped all major events forming our case in relation to our research question. ! finally, in order to complete these documentary data, like maguire and hardy (2009) we organised two research interviews with two french lawyers who made a notable contribution to changes in the definition of faute inexcusable, maître michel ledoux and maître jean-paul teissonnière7. the purpose of these interviews was to fill an information gap concerning the origins of a 2002 ruling by the cour de cassation, which was important because it resulted in a redefinition of faute inexcusable. the documentary sources provided contextual information explaining that the compensation system for victims of occupational accidents and illness was being called into question and had to change, but we lacked information about the specific event that triggered that change. these two interviews completed our understanding of the origin of the ruling issued in 2002, in the lawsuits for faute inexcusable brought by maître ledoux and maître teissonnière seeking compensation for “asbestos victims”. ! table 1 summarises all these data (see also the full list of references in appendix 1). ! the sources collected were critically examined twice under the principles of the historical method (prost, 1996). assessment of external validity to check the authenticity of sources was facilitated by the official nature of the sources: the authenticity of the primary sources (laws, court rulings and decision by the council of state) is unquestionable, and the secondary sources (institutional reports, academic research and legal studies) were also considered reliable as a result of their authors’ status (and the principle of peer review for published scientific research)8. we also observed a triangulation principle to ensure internal validity and guarantee the veracity of information. for example, the fact that the cour de cassation took no firm position on the definition of faute inexcusable until 1932 is mentioned both by bienvenu (1938) and pic and kréher (1938): we therefore considered that this was an accurate historical fact that could be used in our data analysis. m@n@gement, 17(3): 145-179! hélène peton � stéphan pezé 152 7. we met with these two lawyers personally in january and march 2010. the interviews lasted respectively 2 hours and 57 minutes, and were recorded and transcribed in full. 8. three more unusual secondary sources (association d’assistance et d’entr’aide, 1949; belhache and belhache, 1999; pinaud, 2002) were examined in more detail and the quality of the authors and institutions convinced us that the sources were reliable. 9. volume assessed based on the number of pages discussing faute inexcusable (when only one chapter or section of a document was used, the relevant pages are given in brackets). the total volume is 1815 pages. table 1. documentary sources used to form the case study source type data type references approximate volume9 primary: texts materialising the regulative pillar at time law law of 09/04/1898 law of 30/10/1946 law of 06/12/1976 articles of the social security code (l. 452-1 à 5) 9 pages 12 pages 2 pages (article 29) 3 pages primary: texts materialising the regulative pillar at time court rulings rulings by the cour de cassation: ruling of 22 february 1932 ruling of 04 may 1937 ruling of 15 february 1938 ruling of 15 july 1941 ruling of 18 july 1980 23 rulings of 28 february 2002 ruling of 11 april 2002 ruling of 19 december 2002 ruling of 29 june 2005 ruling of 28 february 2006 ruling of 05 march 2008 ruling of 11 may 2010 4 pages 2 pages 1 page 5 pages 2 pages 190 pages 2 pages 3 pages 3 pages 3 pages 5 pages 10 pages primary: texts materialising the regulative pillar at time other decision by the conseil constitutionnel of 18/06/2010 9 pages secondary: texts providing context for the primary sources and explaining their changes legal studies association d’assistance et d’entr’aide (1949) belhache and belhache (1999) bienvenu (1938) boisselier (2008) chapouthier (2009) douard (1961) editions législatives (2010) guillemy (2006) jaillet (1980) le roux (2010) pic and kréher (1938) ray (2010) rouast et durand (1953) rouast, et al. (1962) sargos (2003) sargos (2006) seillan (2009) tessonnière and topaloff (2009) vingiano (2011) 23 pages (9 31) 25 pages (32-33; 62-77; 134-140) 129 pages (1-129) 176 pages 2 pages 27 pages (37-61; 66-67) 40 pages 2 pages 420 pages 2 pages 48 pages 10 pages (157-168) 5 pages (527-531) 6 pages (405-410) 8 pages 2 pages 9 pages 32 pages 200 pages secondary: texts providing context for the primary sources and explaining their changes institutional reports .cour de cassation (2002) cour de cassation (2007) cour de cassation (2010) cour des comptes (2002) dériot and godefroy (2005) le garec and lemière (2006) masse and zeggar (2001) laroque (2004) vidalies (2011) yahiel (2002) 10 pages (109-118) 16 pages 19 pages 24 pages (136-159) 26 pages (166-191) 63 pages (275-333; 462-463; 475-476) 50 pages 84 pages 75 pages 10 pages (14-23) secondary: texts providing context for the primary sources and explaining their changes academic research (including by historians) .buzzi, et al. (2006) graser, et al. (2004) machu (2009) rosental (2008) 31 pages (10-40) 9 pages 13 pages 23 pages the unsuspected dynamics of the regulative pillar! m@n@gement, 17(3): 145-179 153 data analysis ! analysis of the data collected involved three steps: first, we reduced the volume of data concerning the history of the concept of faute inexcusable in a dual operation of (a) periodisation and (b) expression as a narrative; then, by successively examining the narrative of each period identified, we carried out (c) analysis of the regulative pillar itself. (a) identification of the major periods in the history of faute inexcusable ! we began by reducing the volume of data collected, building up a narrative arranged by major periods. rather than a strictly chronological division, we used temporal (langley, 1999) periodisation, isolating separate sequences containing fairly stable developments consisting of action by the protagonists within the constraints of the existing context, ultimately leading to a change in the context. this change in turn affects the actions of protagonists – creating a new development identified in another period, and so on. each period can give a separate analysis of the same phenomenon, in what langley calls “internal replication possibilities” (1999:704). ! the three following periods were thus identified inductively through an iterative reading of our data (see also figure 3): (1) earliest references to faute inexcusable (1898-1941). this period traces the foundations of this institutional practice, from its “birth” to the first stable definition of 1941 reached gradually by the cour de cassation. (2) gradual shift (1941-2002). this second period is bounded by court rulings establishing the two successive definitions of faute inexcusable. in the period between the two, the laws were stable. several movements related to changes in society, the legal framework of occupational risk prevention and organised action by asbestos victims and their lawyers gradually brought about a remarkable turnaround in court rulings. (3) quasi-automatic declaration of faute inexcusable (since 2002). this last, contemporary period illustrates the importance of the event of the new turn in court rulings in 2002. this increased the importance of financial issues relating to compensation for the victims of occupational risks – and calls into question the very existence of faute inexcusable. figure 3. the major periods in the history of faute inexcusable m@n@gement, 17(3): 145-179! hélène peton � stéphan pezé 154 (b) writing the narrative of the periods identified ! to prepare our narrative, we noted all actors who in the data collected intervened in a range of capacities to use or attempt to modify the concept of faute inexcusable. this information was recorded progressively in a table stating the actor, the action taken, and the date or period of that action and its effects. this time-sensitive classification was then used to write the narrative in a combined synchronic and diachronic approach, to reconstruct the phenomenon that is the evolution of the concept of faute inexcusable over time, in all its complexity (gombault, 2006). (c) analysis of change in the regulative pillar ! we analysed the narratives in two stages: by describing changes in the regulative pillar specific to each period (via establishment of the sequence of forms of political institutional work that triggered a significant regulative change marking the transition to a new period), then by searching for patterns common to those changes with a view to bringing out and describing a generic regulative dynamic. ! establishing the changes in the regulative pillar specific to each period. to describe changes in the regulative pillar we put the forms of political institutional work into sequence. this makes it possible to trace the origins of a significant change in the institutionalised practice that opens up another period. the procedure was as follows: first, we classified the type of political institutional work covered by the action by the actors mentioned in the narrative (actions and actors identified in advance during the narrative-writing work, see section b above); next, we reconstructed the sequence of the forms of institutional work by systematically noting the targets and effects of actions, to determine whether some of them were the triggers for other actions (causal link). for each period identified, based on the previously developed tables (cf section b), we classified the action noted according to the form of political institutional work undertaken by the actors involved. this classification was based on thematic coding using the three categories identified by perkmann and spicer (2007, 2008). the political work of advocacy corresponds to action undertaken by one actor to try and persuade another actor. these actions belong solely to the domain of attempted influence (whether or not they are successful, i.e. followed by a political institutional work of vesting or defining). advocacy was identified in the data by the following question: was the purpose of this action to persuade one or more other actors? ! the political work of vesting corresponds to actions that directly create (or modify) obligations or prohibitions via introduction of a rule. these actions thus have a strong transformative capacity and require promulgation of a law recording the creation/modification of the rule. it was identified in our data by the following question: was the effect of this action to create or modify the very nature of the concept of faute inexcusable? ! finally, the political work of defining corresponds to actions that (re)define the terms of application of the rules resulting from the political work of vesting. these actions have significant consequences, for they redistribute the beneficiaries (or targets) concerned by application of a rule. they also require promulgation of a law which, unlike the case of vesting, modifies not the existing rule, but its terms of application. this was identified in our data using the following question: was the effect of this action to change the terms of application of the concept of faute inexcusable? ! next, we analysed the potential combinations of these actions, starting from their effects. two types of effect emerged and were then sought throughout the data: political institutional work resulting in a change in the laws and regulation structuring the regulative pillar or with effective influence on other actors that leads them to engage in political action; and unsuccessful advocacythe unsuspected dynamics of the regulative pillar! m@n@gement, 17(3): 145-179 155 type forms of political institutional work with no decisive influence on any change in the regulative pillar. ! this analysis results in a numbered list of actions in chronological order, showing the sequence of events leading to a significant change in the regulative factors that constitute faute inexcusable, in other words: the change in the regulative pillar of faute inexcusable. this is presented in tables summarising the analysis, then modelled in a figure for each period, to illustrate the dynamic aspect of the sequence of forms of political institutional work. the operation is identical for each period studied, as such replication is possible with the temporal bracketing method used (langley, 1999). ! establishing a generic regulative dynamic. the analysis continued with a comparison of similarities and differences in the changes during the three periods, in order to produce a more abstract conceptual characterisation of the regulative pillar and its dynamic of change. in practice, we compared the three changes identified two by two, to identify patterns (following the inter-case analysis recommendations of miles and huberman, 2002). three comparisons were thus undertaken (periods 1-2, periods 2-3 and periods 1-3) and brought out several recurring and divergent factors and three phases common to all three periods. a final re-analysis of the three periods was conducted to arrive iteratively at a more detailed description of the content of each of these factors. the outcome of this analysis was a generic regulative dynamic presented in a proposed summary model. ! in line with these analysis techniques summarised in figure 4, we now present the narrative and analysis of each of the three major periods identified as regards the changes in the concept of faute inexcusable, before proposing a summary conceptualisation of the regulative pillar and its dynamic. figure 4. schema summarising data analysis steps and their results m@n@gement, 17(3): 145-179! hélène peton � stéphan pezé 156 results period 1: earliest references to faute inexcusable (1898-1941) ! the legal concept of faute inexcusable originated in the french law of 9 april 1898. with the expansion of factories and industrial mechanisation the number of occupational accidents had risen, involving difficult investigations concerning the responsibility of the worker-victim and his employer. in the last few decades of the 19th century it was up to the victim to prove that the employer was responsible for the accident. when such proof was provided, there was full reparation for the prejudice, in accordance with the standard laws of the time. but injured workers (and their families) had little resources to win their case, especially as it was easy to argue that the accident was their own fault due to clumsiness or negligence, often fatigue-related (boisselier, 2008). ! several separate initiatives contributed to a major change, which was not easily won in a liberal industrial world that did not take kindly to the state’s attempts to interfere in its private affairs (seillan, 2009). the road to change was prepared in a number of bills of law proposing to reinforce the employer’s liability in response to “strong feelings among the working population, whose electoral influence was becoming very serious” (jaillet, 1980:39)10, court rulings that were increasingly favourable to victims, taking the principle of employer responsibility further, and other initiatives such as the paris chamber of masonry’s formation of a mutual society to pay indemnities to injured workers as early as 1859. gradually, these initiatives developed the “idea of occupational risk and demonstrated that good management of its insurance was possible, which ultimately led to a considerable legislative work in the form of the well-known law of 9 april 1898” (boisselier, 2008:69). this law resulted from a turbulent process that began in 1880 (bienvenu, 1938) and was marked by a hard-won agreement between france’s chamber of deputies (the former name for the national assembly) and senate on a common conception (jaillet, 1980): introduction of the principle of automatic compensation for occupational accidents11, modulated by the nature and extent of the employer’s fault. victims were no longer obliged to prove fault by their employer and its connection to the prejudice suffered. in return, a standard amount of compensation was awarded rather than full compensation, except in the case of faute inexcusable, which became the victims’ only possible grounds for suing their employer for a higher level of financial compensation (subject to a cap)12. ! this compromise was achieved after almost 20 years of to-and-fro discussions between the chamber of deputies and the senate, and was longstanding despite several attempts to have it revised (jaillet, 1980). employees’ unions called on “the various commissions in charge of examining bills of law” (machu, 2009:192) to encourage members of parliament to replace certain provisions of the law of 1898. these attempts failed, as did a bill presented in december 1925 aiming to define faute inexcusable as an employer’s failure to comply with the laws in force, which was initially accepted by the chamber of deputies but then rejected by the senate commission. “once the legislative solution was impossible, the union’s action to broaden the classification of faute inexcusable continued before the courts” (machu, 2009:201). the unions, whose advice was circulated through the union press (such as the journal droit ouvrier, meaning workers’ rights) and leaflets, supported employees in their court cases. they tried to influence the criteria for declaring that faute inexcusable had occurred. while the unions sought to open up those criteria, the employers were seeking exemption from responsibility by narrowing down the criteria around the deliberate nature of the fault. the law of 1898 does not define the criteria for recognition of faute inexcusable: “the the unsuspected dynamics of the regulative pillar! m@n@gement, 17(3): 145-179 157 10. all english translations of quotations from sources originally in french are the authors’ own for the purposes of this article. 11. occupational illnesses were incorporated into the measures from 1919. 12. “when it is proven that the accident is due to inexcusable fault [faute inexcusable] by the employer or the persons to whom he has delegated management, the indemnity may be increased, but the amount or total amounts allocated cannot exceed the reduction or the annual salary.” (paragraph 3, art. 20, law of 9 april 1898). lawmaker did not wish to take sides on the nature and definition of the new concept it was introducing into our law […] it was perhaps wiser, and that is our opinion, to leave the courts the care of applying such a delicate concept” (bienvenu, 1938: 34-35). this lack of definition was to have consequences for court rulings, as from 1898 to 1932 different courts took widely varying views of faute inexcusable, creating an arbitrariness such that neither the employer nor the employee could reliably foresee the outcome of a lawsuit. “in particular, it was to take a long time for case law to emerge from the most disappointing chaos. this was the period during which the cour de cassation refrained from playing its true role and took refuge behind the sovereign assessment of the judge of fact” (pic & kréher, 1938:15). the situation gradually stabilised after a ruling by the chamber of requests on 22 february 193213 in which the cour de cassation took classification of faute inexcusable back in hand. “it was soon clear that the civil chamber intended to differentiate more strongly between inexcusable fault [faute inexcusable] and serious or deliberate fault [faute lourde], with which certain decisions were tending to confuse it” (jaillet, 1980: 102). yet “for several more years, the cour de cassation would show great uncertainty and a regrettable hesitancy to break with the erring ways of the past” (pic & kréher, 1938: 36). ! meanwhile, the members of parliament were aware of this legal uncertainty and the “erring ways” it caused, and set out to clarify the definition of faute inexcusable. on 29 december 1937, the chamber of deputies adopted a bill of law intended to define faute inexcusable in more detail14. but it was rejected by a senate commission, mainly on the grounds that decisions by the cour de cassation were growing increasingly detailed (bienvenu, 1938). through decisions of 4 may 1937 and 15 february 1938 especially15, the cour de cassation had indeed begun to stabilise the criteria for accepting the existence of faute inexcusable. however, the writer of official reports on these two decisions (gazier) explained that “the cour de cassation’s understanding of the law was completely changing and it continued tentatively, sometimes even slightly losing its way”, and wanted the question to be put before all the chambers of the court, to reach a final decision (jaillet, 1980: 103). his wish was finally granted, when the cour de cassation united all its chambers on 15 july 1941 in the following definition given in the ruling for the “veuve villa” case: “any exceptionally serious fault deriving from deliberate act or omission, from the awareness of the danger that the perpetrator should have, from the lack of any justificatory cause, distinguished by the lack of any intent16”. five factors are thus required for classification as faute inexcusable: the deliberate nature of the act or omission, awareness of the danger, lack of any justification, lack of intent, and the exceptionally serious nature of the fault, generally resulting from “deliberate exposure of the victim to a danger, either by ignoring all the precautions or basic rules of care, or by violating a health and safety rule” (graser et al., 2004: 135). from the date of this definition (and right up to 2002), the cour de cassation systematically overturned court rulings that did not refer to every point of the 1941 criteria (douard, 1961; belhache & belhache, 1999). ! in short, four types of actor were involved in the gradual definition of faute inexcusable: parliamentarians17, employers’ and employees’ unions, victims of occupational accidents and illness, and the cour de cassation. they instigated court action corresponding to several forms of political institutional work, both successfully and otherwise, and contributed to the change in the regulative pillar that led progressively to the new definition of faute inexcusable (see table 2 and figure 5). m@n@gement, 17(3): 145-179! hélène peton � stéphan pezé 158 13. cass. req., 22 february 1932, d.p. n ° 1932.1.25, note a. rouast. 14. “for instance, inexcusable fault [faute inexcusable] on the part of the employer exists when a failure to comply with the provisions of title 2, book 2 of the labour code on worker health and safety, having a direct connection with the causes of the accident, as noted in a regular report by an employment inspector, has been the subject of a legal sanction.” (quoted by bienvenu, 1938:146). 15. cass. rec., sirey, 4 mai 1937, n° 1931.1.331 – r.g.a.t. 1937.1010 et cass. civ., 15 february 1938, d.h. n° 1938.261. 16. cass. chambres réunies, 15 july 1941, dame veuve villa, jcp 1/41, n° 705. 17. “parliamentarians” covers members of the french national assembly and members of the french senate, who vote on adoption of laws and oversee the activity of the government (art. 24 of the french constitution). figure 5. representation of the regulative pillar during the first period in the history of faute inexcusable table 2. actors of the regulative pillar and institutional work during the first period in the history of faute inexcusable actors actions institutional work concerned consequences parliamentarians (1) adoption of the law of 1898 vesting creation of the concept of faute inexcusable and a new compensation regime for victims of work-related accident and illness employers’ unions (2) lobbying of parliamentarians (end of 19th century) advocacy failure. continuation of the law of 1898 and the principle of flat-rate compensation for accidents (favourable to employers) employees’ unions (2) lobbying of parliamentarians (end of 19th century) failure. continuation of the law of 1898 and the principle of flat-rate compensation for accidents (favourable to employers) syndicates and victims of occupational accidents (3) legal action (lawsuits) for faute inexcusable advocacy variable success: differing ruling, inconsistent acceptance of faute inexcusable cour de cassation (4) ruling of 1932 defining reworking of classification of the criteria for accepting faute inexcusable, the relative legal uncertainty continues parliamentarians (5) bill of 1937 for a definition of faute inexcusable advocacy failure. the legal uncertainty continues cour de cassation (6) rulings of 1937 and 1938, the “veuve villa” ruling of 1941 defining gradual definition of faute inexcusable the unsuspected dynamics of the regulative pillar! m@n@gement, 17(3): 145-179 159 ! the source of this change was a factor internal to the regulative pillar: the legal uncertainty resulting from the lack of a precise definition of faute inexcusable in 1898. the original law was promulgated by the parliamentarians via a political institutional work of vesting (institutional work no. 1 in figure 5), i.e. creating an obligation, in the event of faute inexcusable, to pay accident victims a higher amount of financial compensation. the unions tried to put pressure on the parliamentarians to broaden the situations in which faute inexcusable was deemed to have occurred (no. 2). this institutional work of advocacy was a failure – no new article of law was adopted. the unions then changed strategy and began bringing lawsuits for faute inexcusable before the courts (no. 3) – with varying success depending on the courts involved. this is a form of advocacy, in the sense of an attempt to influence the rulings issued. the accumulation of contradictory rulings – a form of legal uncertainty over the conditions for application of the law which affected both employers and victims of occupational accident/illness, who were unable to predict the outcome of a ruling in advance – had two consequences. first, in 1932, the cour de cassation took the definition of faute inexcusable in hand (no. 4). this was a political institutional work of vesting in the sense that it precisely defines the conditions for application of the concept of faute inexcusable – i.e. precisely defines the role of other actors (judges), and also their rights (victims of occupational accident/illness). meanwhile, the parliamentarians, aware of the uncertainty resulting from the vagueness of the faute inexcusable concept, undertook internal political advocacy work (no.5) in the sense of back-and-forth discussions between the chamber of deputies and the senate on articles of law proposing a more detailed definition of faute inexcusable. this work failed, because the cour de cassation was clarifying its rulings in the same period. in 1937, 1938 and finally in 1941, the cour de cassation gradually stabilised the criteria indicating the existence of faute inexcusable (no.6), removing the legal uncertainty surrounding this legal device and stabilising the regulative pillar, thereby opening up a new period. period 2: gradual shift (1941-2002) ! the definition of 1941 was the basis for court rulings until 2002. it was notably reasserted, unchanged, in a decision by a plenary session of the cour de cassation in 198018. it set the criteria for recognition of faute inexcusable very strict criteria which in practice only led to a low number of cases of declared faute inexcusable (jaillet, 1980; sargos, 2003). the second period of faute inexcusable thus established a form of social peace inherited from the principles of the law of 1898, in which the victims automatically received a fixed amount of compensation. “tirelessly since the decision of 1941 by all chambers of the cour de cassation, the courts and the highest court itself have constantly repeated these five criteria that constitute faute inexcusable. neither the legislator nor a dissident court has disrupted the harmony of this formula”. (jaillet, 1980:115) yet several related developments in society were to lead to redefinition of faute inexcusable: (1) observation of the ineffectiveness of the french prevention measures, (2) challenging of the standard compensation for victims of occupational accident/illness and (3) organisation of a court action strategy by two lawyers (maître ledoux and maître teissonière) to obtain indemnities for asbestos victims. ! (1) the social peace of standard compensation for victims, as established by the 1947 ruling, gradually eroded. this approach to reparation for accidents led to the idea that there was no need for an ambitious prevention policy, since the prejudice suffered would in any case be compensated within well-defined limits (jaillet, 1989; sargos, 2003). this fatalistic view weakened the principle of the employer’s duty to ensure safety (seillan, 2009). ! also, the spirit in which prevention should operate changed profoundly m@n@gement, 17(3): 145-179! hélène peton � stéphan pezé 160 18. cass. assemblée plénière, 18 july 1980, n ° 78-12570. during the 20th century. under the influence of european union directives, the employer was strongly recommended to take active steps for preventive health measures. employee health and safety now had to be considered in terms of outcomes (guillemy, 2006). although the definition of faute inexcusable remained unchanged, its framework of application – the legislative requirements incumbent on the employer – evolved significantly. the cour de cassation actually makes explicit reference to this change and its influence on the nature of employer responsibility in its report of 2002: “deciding that the employer is contractually bound by a safety performance obligation19, if not "contra legem", at least goes beyond the law, whose balance is upset by this principle [of standard compensation for victims of occupational accident/illness], since in the absence of specific legislation an employee who suffers an accident at work or has a recognised occupational illness would be compensated for the entire prejudice simply through operation of contractual liability.” ! (2) in addition to the observed ineffectiveness in the preventive logic, there was the fact that the compensation regime for victims of occupational accident/ illness – a standard amount of compensation for all – looked out of step with other compensation systems based on full reparation, as shown by several reports issued by state bodies: a report remitted to the minister of justice by the chairman of the specialist committee for occupational illnesses of the csprp20 (high council of occupational risk prevention) and a member of the l’igas21 (masse & zeggar, 2001), another report by an igas inspector at the request of the minister for employment and solidarity (yahiel, 2002) and a third by the cour des comptes on the system of compensation for occupational accident/illness (cour des comptes, 2002). the legislator responded with the law of 1976, one of whose objectives was to “offer greater reparation to the victim and his heirs through higher compensation” (jaillet, 1980:301), while still below a certain ceiling. ! conscious that this gap was appearing, the cour de cassation gradually broadened the first definition of faute inexcusable through its rulings. in particular, it placed less importance on the exceptional nature of the fault (chapouthier, 2009) to “make up for the gradual loss of the advantageous nature of the reparation system resulting from the law of 1898” (boisselier, 2008: 71). (3) among the appeals referred to the cour de cassation in the late 1990s were cases brought by victims of occupational illness related to inhalation of asbestos particles. these cases did not result from a collective move by individual plaintiffs; they were a deliberate court action strategy implemented by two lawyers, maître ledoux and maître teissonière, engaged by former members of the jussieu anti-abestos collective which aimed both to have asbestos banned in france, and to achieve recognition and compensation for victims of asbestos. this social movement of the 1990s, which led to a ban on asbestos, relied extensively on the scale of the legal process set in motion: “in the criminal courts, we filed the suit straight away, and the cases are still being examined now. then there was the social distress, which called for urgent action as regards compensation. (…) the priority was to have the employers declared responsible, and obtain compensation” (research interview with maître teissonière, march 2010) ! the broad media coverage of the earliest hearings gave a voice to the victims, who were still invisible, and afterwards hundreds of people came to attend the hearings. “so we started the proceedings for faute inexcusable despite the problems (…) and when people saw it worked, they came along.” (maître teissonière, march 2010) the unsuspected dynamics of the regulative pillar! m@n@gement, 17(3): 145-179 161 19. obligation de sécurité de résultat. 20. csprp: conseil supérieur de la prévention des risques professionnels. 21. igas: inspection générale des affaires sociales. ! the lawyers had the idea of initiating lawsuits for faute inexcusable against two large asbestos processing companies in france, everit and eternit. this strategy was based on the large number of lawsuits: “so we plead the case, and things start moving all over the place. we win, they appeal, we plead the case again before the appeal courts and we win… (…) further appeal before the cour de cassation by eternit and everit and… on the fateful day of 28 february 2002, the social chamber of the cour de cassation rejects the appeals and invents the well-known safety performance obligation. there have been 18 rulings by the cour de cassation… well, 17 of them were my everit cases from bordeaux.” (maître ledoux, january 2010) “little by little the courts turned around, the appeal courts turned around, and the cour de cassation redefined faute inexcusable in 2002.” (maître teissonière, march 2010) ! the effect of the court action strategy developed by the lawyers brought the concept of faute inexcusable centre stage against the backdrop of a public health scandal, thus creating the space the cour de cassation judges needed to modify the definition of criteria for recognising this institutionalised practice: “whereas by virtue of an employment contract with his employee the employer has a safety performance obligation towards the employee, particularly regarding occupational illness contracted by that employee as a result of the products made or used by the firm; whereas failure to fulfil this obligation is by nature an faute inexcusable as defined by article l. 452-1 of the social security code, when the employer was or should have been aware of the danger to which the employee was exposed, and did not take the necessary measures to protect him from it22. of the old criteria, the only one remaining is the awareness of the danger; a second criteria is added, the fact of not having taken measures to protect the employee exposed to that danger (teissonnière & topaloff, 2002). “this takes us from proven fault to presumed responsibility” (graser, et al., 2004:138). winning lawsuits for faute inexcusable went from being difficult to practically automatic. however, this court action strategy was only successful because it was combined with two underlying trends – dissatisfaction with preventive health and safety policies and the out-of-step compensation systems – of which the cour de cassation was clearly aware when it redefined faute inexcusable: “the reparation system for occupational accidents, which was extremely favourable to employees when created, today reduces their rights to compensation” (cour de cassation, 2002). ! in short, five types of actor were involved in this second period, which ends with the redefinition of faute inexcusable: the european union, the parliamentarians, the state bodies (cour des comptes, igas and csprp), the lawyers for asbestos victims and the cour de cassation. they instigated action corresponding to several types of political institutional work, which fed an internal change in the regulative pillar that ultimately led to redefinition of faute inexcusable (see table 3 and figure 6). m@n@gement, 17(3): 145-179! hélène peton � stéphan pezé 162 22. definition given in several decisions by the social chamber of the cour de cassation on 28 february 2002 (par ex. cass. soc., 28 févr. 2002, no 99-18.389, no 837, sté eternit industries c/ delcourt-marousez et a.). figure 6. representation of changes in the regulative pillar during the second period in the history of faute inexcusable the unsuspected dynamics of the regulative pillar! m@n@gement, 17(3): 145-179 163 table 3. actors in the regulative pillar and institutional work during the second period in the history of faute inexcusable actors actions institutional work concerned consequences european union (1) issuance of the 1989 european directive vesting promotion of more proactive legislation for prevention, with greater responsibility for the employer parliamentarians (1 a) promulgation of the law of 1991 vesting formal recognition in the law of new responsibility for company managers (c. trav., art. l. 4121-1 et s.) state bodies (cour des comptes, igas, csprp) (2) publication of reports (2000s) advocacy establishment of the ineffectiveness of prevention policies; observation that the compensation system for occupational accidents and illnesses is out of step with the standard legal system lawyers for asbestos victims (3) lawsuits brought before the courts for asbestos victims (1990s and 2000s) advocacy implementation of a court action strategy: increase in the number of lawsuits, putting the question of compensation for asbestos victims on the cour de cassation agenda cour de cassation (4) turnaround in court rulings in 2002 defining new definition of faute inexcusable, creation of the safety performance obligation, more favourable to victims ! the source of this change was external to the regulative pillar: it was the progressive misalignment between the regulative pillar and the cognitive pillar, the salient points being the two ideas that (a) the risk prevention system is ineffective and (b) differences in compensation awarded to victims under different legal regimes was creating an unfair situation. the first idea (a) led to a modification of the boundaries of employers’ responsibility for occupational health and safety. in practice, this modification was enacted through the european directive of 1989, in a political institutional work of vesting initially affecting french parliamentarians (no. 1 in figure 6), who were obliged to transpose this directive in french law of 1991 (no. 1a), then employers and employees, by changing their respective rights and obligations. this law’s influence on faute inexcusable was indirect, because it did not concern the compensation systems for victims of occupational accident/illness. however, it was also a form of vesting in that it changed the more general framework for decisions concerning occupational health and safety. the second idea (b) is embodied in the regulative pillar by a political institutional work of advocacy carried by several state bodies including igas and the cour des comptes (no. 2). their reports aim to influence parliamentarians by encouraging them to use the law to correct the injustices and inequalities resulting from the system derived from the law of 1898. this political work of advocacy targeting parliamentarians was a failure, but it was shared by the cour de cassation which, after a political institutional work of advocacy by the lawyers for asbestos victims (no. 3), was to redefine the criteria establishing faute inexcusable. this further example of the political institution work of defining by the judges of france’s high court (no. 4) was explicitly driven not by legal uncertainty but by the gap that had gradually opened up between several different compensation systems – the misalignment between the regulative pillar and the cognitive pillar. the consequence of this political work is an increase in the levels of compensation received and thus a realignment of the pillars, opening up a new period. period 3: quasi-automatic establishment of faute inexcusable (ongoing since 2002) ! the redefinition of faute inexcusable at the end of period 2 was soon extended to include occupational accidents23, with major consequences: “the asbestos affair drastically changed the right to safety at work. it was one thing before the asbestos affair, and something different afterwards” (maître teissonnière, march 2010). in proven cases of occupational accident/illnesses, declaration of faute inexcusable became practically automatic (dériot & godefroy, 2005): “it was no longer the exception to the rule […]. it can thus be supposed that under the new definition, any occupational accident or occupational illness recognised as such by the courts could involve the employer’s liability for faute inexcusable” (pinaud, 2002: 11). the costs of compensating victims of occupational accident/illness thus rose substantially (le roux, 2010): in addition to the €600,000 €700,000 that must be paid to a victim suffering 100% permanent partial incapacity, declaration of faute inexcusable generates additional compensation of between €38,000 and €335,000 depending on the court ruling (pinaud, 2002). these consequences are considered as “a good prospect for insurers” offering employers insurance for faute inexcusable (vingiano, 2011: 186). ! these consequences could grow further in the future. when the employer’s faute inexcusable is established, reparation for the prejudice suffered by victims is not full, but it is higher24. in order to encourage a principle of full reparation – and thus align the compensation system with other systems – the cour de cassation noted in its 2002 annual report: “the social chamber was thus moved, without departing from the legal rules which it is not within its power m@n@gement, 17(3): 145-179! hélène peton � stéphan pezé 164 23 . cass. soc., 11 avril 2002, n° 00-16535, hachadi c/sté camus industrie et a. 24.. the victim may be awarded a (capped) increase in his compensation, and ask the employer for reparation of the prejudices to modify, to bring the compensation rules for victims of occupational accident or occupational illness closer to the standard rules.” in doing so, it upset the coherence between court rulings and the law, indirectly calling for a reaction from the legislator. ! in response to this shift in court rulings, several reports by the igas (laroque, 2004), the senate’s parliamentary commissions (dériot & godefroy, 2005) and the national assembly (le garrec & lemière, 2006) have considered that the legislator should intervene. one of the common scenarios proposed is the incorporation of the principle of full reparation for occupational accident/ illness, while restoring an offence of very serious fault for particularly negligent employers: “the law could redefine the specific fault for which the employer could be held liable before the courts, and restore its unusual nature opposite a compensation system for occupational accidents and illness, which would return to a mainly out-of-court system.” (le garrec & lemière, 2006: 326). but these recommendations were not followed by legislative effect. in may 2010, the cour de cassation asked the conseil constitutionnel to verify that the provisions of the social security code complied with the french constitution. in its decision25, the conseil constitutionnel issued a reservation regarding the list of prejudices eligible for compensation: “in the presence of faute inexcusable by the employer, the provisions of [article l. 452-3 of the social security code] would by no means […] prevent those same people, from suing the employer before the same courts for compensation for all the prejudices not covered by book iv of the social security code”. the constitutional judge thus opened up the possibility for victims of occupational accidents/illness to seek reparation for prejudices not listed by the social security code – with the compensation to be assessed on a case by case basis. several judgements favourable to this full compensation logic have been issued: in 2010, a prejudice of anxiety was allowed, regardless of any effective outbreak of illness (it was enough to prove that an occupational illness was likely to develop at any time, and that this probability was the source of the anxiety26). a 2011 ruling by the paris appeal court took up this prejudice of anxiety (awarding €15,000 per plaintiff) and also, for the first time, recognised a prejudice of “disturbed conditions of existence27” (€12,000 per plaintiff) for former employees likely to develop an asbestos-related occupational illness28. ! as a parliamentary report stresses, the conseil constitutionnel’s decision called for intervention by the legislator: “it is necessary for reasons of legal safety and intelligibility of the law” (vidalies, 2011). the same appeal is made by the cour de cassation in the “proposals for civil law reform” in its 2010 report: “it would appear advisable to proceed without delay to a modification of the provisions of the social security code. the proposal made below seeks […] to set up full reparation as a principle under the standard legal rules for prejudice suffered by the victim of faute inexcusable” (p. 21)29. a bill of law aiming to incorporate full compensation into the social security code was presented by some members of the french parliament, but rejected at the first reading by the national assembly on 23 november 2011. in sum, the events of the third period in the history of faute inexcusable illustrate the major consequences of the turning point in case law in 2002 for firms and victims of occupational accident/illness. although this period is not yet over, we can identify four types of actor: parliamentarians, state bodies (igas), the cour de cassation and the conseil constitutionnel (see table 4 and figure 7). the unsuspected dynamics of the regulative pillar! m@n@gement, 17(3): 145-179 165 25. conseil constitutionnel., 18 june 2010, no 2010-8 qpc. 26. cass. soc., 11 may 2010, no 09-42.241, no 939, sté ahlstrom labelpack c/ ardilley et a. 27. trouble dans les conditions d’existence. 28. ca paris, 1 december 2011, sté zf masson. 29. the cour de cassation’s proposed amendment is as follows : “the provisions of the first paragraph of article l452-3 of the social security code are repealed and replaced by the following provisions : “independently of the increase in the compensation allowance awarded under the previous article, the victim has the right to ask the employer before the social security court for reparation of all the prejudices not covered by that compensation, the increase and the indemnities stated in this book.” (2010:21) ! the source of this as yet unfinished change is internal to the regulative pillar: it upsets the balance of existing provisions, calling for reintroduction of consistency between the law and court rulings on compensation for victims of occupational accident/illness. first, the cour de cassation extended the definition of faute inexcusable to cover all cases of occupational accident/illness, in a political institutional work of defining (solid arrow no. 1 in figure 7) that had the effect of extending the scope of inconsistency between court rulings and the social security code. in response to the existence of this inconsistency and its extension, several reports proposed changes in the legislation – an institutional work of advocacy of external origin (no. 2) but also internal origin (no. 2a) directed at the parliamentarians (reports issued by igas inspectors, members of parliament and senators). this work was unsuccessful: no law was adopted to change the social security code. meanwhile, the cour de cassation began a work of advocacy directed at the conseil constitutionnel (no. 3), and this was successful. in creating a reservation regarding interpretation of the article of the social security code capping compensation, the conseil constitutionnel “unlocked” the list of prejudices eligible for compensation. this decision was a form of political institutional work of vesting, equivalent to the power of a law (no. 4). another form of advocacy was also conducted in parallel towards parliamentarians (no. 4a), such that the legal inconsistency became a genuine legal uncertainty. also, the cour de cassation was able gradually to accept new m@n@gement, 17(3): 145-179! hélène peton � stéphan pezé 166 table 4. actors of the regulative pillar and institutional work during the third period in the history of faute inexcusable actors actions institutional work concerned consequences cour de cassation (1) court rulings (since 2002) defining reorganisation and extension of the principle of faute inexcusable state bodies (2) publication of reports advocacy (failed) arguments in favour of a reform of compensation for occupational accident/illness on the principle of full compensation parliamentarians (2 a) publication of commission reports (2005; 2006) advocacy (failed) recommendation of the changes in the system for reparation and compensation for professional risks to adapt it to society (with no legislative effect) cour de cassation (3) application to the conseil constitutionnel (may 2010) advocacy request for examination of the constitutionality of legal provisions for compensation of victims in cases of faute inexcusable conseil constitutionnel (4) decision of 18 june 2010 vesting creation of a reservation regarding interpretation concerning the list of prejudices to be compensatedconseil constitutionnel (4 a) decision of 18 june 2010 advocacy (failed) creation of a reservation regarding interpretation concerning the list of prejudices to be compensated cour de cassation (5) court rulings (since 2010) defining recognition of new prejudices (towards full reparation) cour de cassation (6) report of 2010 advocacy (failed) recommendation for a change in the law to make it more favourable to full compensation parliamentarians (7) presentation of a bill of law – and its rejection (november 2011) advocacy (failed) examination of the bill of law by the national assembly in november 2011 – rejected (continuation of compensation on a case-by-case basis) prejudices eligible for compensation, thus continuing its political institutional work of defining (no 5). finally, in its 2010 report, the cour de cassation proposed a change in the law, in a new form of advocacy directly targeting parliamentarians (no. 6). and yet the rejection of a corresponding bill of law, which is a form of failure in an institutional work of advocacy internal to the parliamentarians (no. 7), perpetuated this unstable situation internal to the regulative pillar. figure 7. representation of changes in the regulative pillar during the third period in the history of faute inexcusable analytical summary of results ! the history of faute inexcusable has enabled us to highlight, for each of the three major periods studied, the actors who participated in the life of the regulative pillar and the type of institutional work undertaken. putting these three periods into perspective offers a different conception of the regulative pillar, the actors it comprises and the dynamics of change in their political institutional work. a different conception of the regulative pillar ! in the three periods identified, we distinguish several categories of coercive texts, formal rules that are sources of the regulative pillar’s influence: the laws, the unsuspected dynamics of the regulative pillar! m@n@gement, 17(3): 145-179 167 court rulings and decisions by the conseil constitutionnel. the regulative pillar is thus more than just the law. one of the facets of its complexity is that it is in fact made up of a configuration of interdependent texts. these texts are interdependent in the sense that the court rulings clarify the provisions of law, and the conseil constitutionnel decisions cancel or uphold certain provisions of law. these texts form a moveable configuration, as court rulings and the law display varying degrees of consistency (they are most consistent during the second period, and least consistent during the other two periods). finally, the regulative period is “flexible”: for a constant legislative scope (i.e. with no change in the law), court rulings may change and restrict, or alternatively extend the conditions for application of the laws (as happened at the end of the second period). as a result, the study of the regulative pillar must not be based solely on changes in law, but require (1) identification of repeal, creation or substantial amendments to any text in the configuration specific to the pillar at a given point in its history and (2) analysis of the effects of this change on the overall configuration of the texts that are a source of coercion for the actors in the institutional field. actors of the regulative pillar ! in each period studied, we find several actors who influence (or attempt to influence) production of these texts: employers and employees – including the victims of occupational accident/illness, parliamentarians (european and french), the cour de cassation, the conseil constitutionnel, the lawyers for victims of occupational accident/illness, the unions, the cour des comptes, the igas and the csprp. given their relation and the power of their initiatives, we put these actors into three groups for a more nuanced representation of the regulative pillar than the literature has indicated so far (see figure 8). figure 8. two representations of the actors of the regulative pillar: (1) in the literature and (2) resulting from the faute inexcusable case study ! a first group, consisting of actors in the “legal and court system”, is characterised by the capacity ultimately to produce coercive texts, even if the m@n@gement, 17(3): 145-179! hélène peton � stéphan pezé 168 production of texts is, strictly speaking, concentrated in a small number of actors in this category (see above). we identify two subcategories of actors in this group. first, the “legal professionals30”: the cour de cassation capable of a political institutional work of defining, the conseil constitutionnel which holds a power of vesting, and the lawyers, whose role here is to defend the victims by pleading their case to the judges (advocacy). the second and third periods indicate that the work of advocacy may be internal to this subgroup: advocacy by lawyers to the cour de cassation, and by the cour de cassation to the conseil constitutionnel. but these actors can also carry out advocacy work directed at another subgroup: actors so far treated as part of “the state”: the parliamentarians who, through the national assembly and the senate, draw up reports (and thus conduct an internal work of advocacy), propose and vote on laws that form a political institutional work of vesting31. we call this subcategory the “public authorities32”. ! a second group named “administration” participates in the life of the institution through intervention by state bodies such as the cour des comptes or the igas. through reports they provide information on the state of the current legislative arrangements in force. their role is thus to influence the actors in the legal and court systems (institutional work of advocacy), particularly by helping to import into the regulative pillar the points of misalignment of the coercive texts with the ideas of the cognitive pillar (as the second period illustrates). finally, a third group consists of actors from “civil society”. contrary to the first group, they do not intervene directly in production of the coercive texts and are the targets or actors primarily concerned by these laws: as such, they are not so much actors of the regulative pillar as other actors in the institutional field. they are employers and employees, including victims of occupational accident/illness, but also employers’ and employees’ unions. their power of influence is the power of advocacy, principally towards parliamentarians or judges, via the lawyers defending employers or employees. towards a generic regulative dynamic ! in addition to the more complex conception of the regulative pillar and its actors just presented, analysis of changes in the regulative pillar during the three periods studied makes it possible to identify a generic “regulative dynamic” of three successive phases: (1) the emergence of a triggering event, (2) attempts at influence and (3) change in the configuration of coercive texts. (1) emergence of a triggering event: in the three periods analysed, the regulative dynamics leading to a change in the regulative pillar initially result from a triggering event. we noted triggering events both “external” and “internal” to the regulative pillar. the regulative pillar can change following a misalignment with other institutional pillars; this is a source of change that is “external” to the regulative pillar. in the first period, this is the phenomenon that gave rise to the law of 1898. in the second period, the inconsistency in compensation regimes creating unfair situations also illustrates this phenomenon. we also identified two other dynamics that are “internal” to the regulative pillar: (a) the vagueness of the conditions for application of the laws and (b) the presence of inconsistencies between the texts of the pillar. first (a), as we observed during the first period, the interpretation of obligations created by the law depended on the degree of detail provided. in fact, the vagueness of the legal definition of faute inexcusable caused significant uncertainty regarding the situations in which it could apply. an internal dynamic then came into play to reduce this uncertainty. also (b), as noted in the third period, the existence of inconsistency within the configuration of texts making up the regulative pillar was to lead to a dynamic aiming to secure consistency in this pillar33. the unsuspected dynamics of the regulative pillar! m@n@gement, 17(3): 145-179 169 30. corresponding to the professional family of “legal professionals” comprising lawyers, notaries, legal advisers (apart from corporate lawyers), plus bailiffs and magistrates. 31. we can also include the european union, which issues directives that must be transposed into french law to take effect – they thus apply via the law, decrees, etc. the government and parliament still have some margin for interpretation of these directives. 32. the public authorities comprise state bodies of the presidency, the government and ministries, the national assembly and the senate, whose role is to produce and ensure compliance with the law – i.e. the bodies invested with legislative and executive powers. 33. however, this outcome was not observed, as this period is still ongoing. ! (2) attempts at influence: this second phase is principally characterised by the organisation of an institutional work of advocacy that can come from all actors making up the regulative pillar34. these attempts at influence may succeed or fail. in the case of failure, the configuration of coercive texts that make up the regulative pillar remains unchanged and it is perpetuated (for example, when the bill of law presented by parliamentarians was rejected); in the case of success, one or more of the actors in the legal and court system are influenced and respond by changing the configuration of the texts in the pillar. the regulative pillar continues unchanged from phases 1 and 2 (i.e. as long as there is no change in the configuration of texts making up one state of the pillar at a given point in its history). the change in the pillar forms phase 3 in the dynamic. (3) the change in the configuration of coercive texts: in this third phase, one of the actors in the legal and court system with the capacity to issue a text (in our case parliamentarians, cour de cassation and the conseil constitutionnel), influenced by a work of advocacy, implements a political institutional work. depending on the nature of the text produced, this work will be classified as vesting (for example, following the conseil constitutionnel’s decision of 2010) or defining (for example, following the rulings by the cour de cassation of 1941 and 2002). the production of a text would both close the current regulative dynamic and open up a potential new dynamic. in fact phase 3, which ends one regulative dynamic, is succeeded by another phase 1 of a new regulative dynamic. note that while this political institutional work of vesting or defining creates an inconsistency or uncertainty in the configuration of texts (case of the two internal triggering events), phase 1 of the new regulative dynamic that follows this phase 3 will soon lead to another phase 2. for example, in the third period studied, the political institutional work of vesting by the conseil constitutionnel is a phase 3, and simultaneously an amplification of the legal uncertainty that was the source of the decision. it is thus the founding act of the constitution of a triggering event (phase 1 of a new dynamic), an uncertainty leading once again to institutional work of advocacy (phase 2 – in the form of a report by the cour de cassation and the filing of a bill of law) that was not followed by an institutional work of vesting. from this point of view, the third period is formed of two separate generic dynamics, the second of which is still unfinished and is currently in its phase35 2. ! the three phases identified form a generic dynamic which, once completed, continues in a further generic dynamic. one exception to this sequence is possible: when the regulative pillar, or more broadly the institution, is destroyed (for example in the potential case of a text repealing a legal provision supporting an institution, such as the abolition of the death penalty in france in 1981). the principal factors in this proposal of a generic regulative dynamic are summarised in figure 9. m@n@gement, 17(3): 145-179! hélène peton � stéphan pezé 170 34. this excludes actors of civil society who, since they are not actors of the regulative pillar, can only go though the actors of the pillar to engage in advocacy work to defend their interests. 35. these successive generic dynamics can be grouped into a single period for temporal bracketing (langley, 1999). as the scale of the change brought about by the conseil constitutionnel, since it only intensifies the oreexisting legal inconsistencies, does not have the capacity to trigger any real change in the context that would mark the start of a new period. figure 9. proposal for a generic regulative dynamic ! we now discuss the implications of these results for the neo-institutional literature. discussion contributions to understanding of the regulative pillar: complexity and revelation of actors ! our first contribution is to reveal actors previously left out of analysis of the regulative pillar. these actors form a group covering the law and the courts. all of them have statutory political competence that confers automatic legitimacy in the field36. therefore, contrary to the suggestion of perkmann and spicer (2008), they do not need to acquire “political skills” they already hold by statute in order to participate in institutional struggles. the actors external to the regulative pillar, who do not hold these skills, are the people who, in order to exercise a political institutional work, must either try to acquire those skills or call on actors who hold them. ! we also complement the research by perkmann and spicer (2007; 2008) by proposing a more dynamic reading of interactions between the actors of the field. this clarifies the interaction between the actors of civil society and the actors of the legal and court world – especially through “mercenary” lawyers (mccann & silverstein, 1998) who sell their statutory political skills. the literature expects the advocacy activity exercised by the actors of civil society to directly target certain actors – such as the parliamentarians; we show that they can also use intermediaries who have special access to the actors who produce the texts. furthermore, we stress that the same actor can draw on different forms of institutional work, depending on his desired aim. while perkmann and spicer (2007, 2008) highlight the different types of political institutional work and associate specific actors with them, we underline the greater complexity of this pillar, in which different actors can use different forms of political institutional work according to the interests they are pursuing. ! the political action of actors in civil society has already been studied (stinchcombe, 1965): the main political strategies highlighted are diplomacy by governments (djelic, 1998) or industrialists (lounsbury & crumley, 2007), and the unsuspected dynamics of the regulative pillar! m@n@gement, 17(3): 145-179 171 36. national bar qualifications for lawyers, graduation from the national magistrates’ school for magistrates, elections for members of parliament and appointments within the administration. negotiations or coalitions (botzem & quack, 2006) to influence legislative life. the inclusion of actors from the legal and court sphere explains new forms of lobbying. actors with no particular political skills may either appeal directly to the public authorities to change the laws in their favour, or develop a legal strategy relying on lawyers to try and orient rulings in line with their interests. this dual operation – also accessible to employees who are victims of occupational accident/illness – shows that court action is not only a defence reaction, since it is also a form of lobbying aiming to secure a stakeholder’s interests in the law. highlighting a regulative dynamic ! the traditional interpretation of institutional change is driven by two perceptions: on one hand, the regulative pillar is perceived as the trigger of institutional change (the law acts as an exogenous shock, greenwood, et al., 2008); on the other hand, regulative factors mark the de-institutionalisation of the institutionalised practice (the law puts an end to a previous institutional order, hiatt, sine & tolbert, 2009; maguire & hardy, 2009). extending the work of blanc and huault (2010) and dansou and langley (2012), our work shows that this interpretation ignores the underlying institutional struggles exercised outside the boundaries of the institution’s life cycle. this brings out the existence of a regulative dynamic which, by modifying various categories of coercive texts, contributes to change in institutionalised practice in the same way as cognitive and normative factors. we use the term regulative dynamic to mean a process specific to the combination of the three forms of political institutional work undertaken in the regulative pillar. this dynamic can be modelled as a sequence that carries a notable change in the regulative pillar and is characterised by the succession of three phases. several sequences, of variable duration and intensity, may follow each other throughout the institution’s life cycle. this dynamic reveals the power of actors who contribute to shape, incrementally, the institutionalised practice by their political institutional work. (1) first phase: emergence of a triggering event  ! this first phase enables us to confirm and complement the current literature on the emergence of a phase of institutional change. while the regulative pillar evolves following the gradual formation of a misalignment between it and the cognitive and/or normative pillars (caronna, 2004), we show a second source of institutional change resulting from the intrinsic operation of the pillar and the configuration of the texts (laws and court rulings) that carry obligations. also, this change is part of a succession of regulative dynamics: the internal or external misalignment that brings change is the direct consequence of previous dynamics (the uncertainties or insecurities originate in coercive texts produced at the end of the previous regulative dynamics). we thus contribute to the literature on institutional change by documenting a second source of change due to an internal shift in the pillar. (2) second phase: attempts at influence. ! in this second phase, the nature of the advocacy work responds to the issues of phase 1. it can be carried out by one group of actors towards another (for example, administration group actors can draw up reports recommending changes in the texts intended for actors in the legal and court system) or within the same group of actors (for example, one group of parliamentarians can attempt to influence other parliamentarians by presenting a bill of law). this work of advocacy reveals the actors’ strategy and their power within the institution. what can happen is that the pillar’s unstable balance is maintained: attempts at influence to achieve a new balance fail. behind the apparent status quo, maintenance of the regulative pillar is the setting for institutional struggles. m@n@gement, 17(3): 145-179! hélène peton � stéphan pezé 172 to achieve real change, the actors in the legal and court system, influenced by the previous phase, decide to implement defining or vesting work with the aim of modifying coercive texts. (3) third phase: change in the configuration of coercive texts ! after a successful work of advocacy, the actors implement a political institutional work of vesting or defining. the consequence of this political work is the amendment of a text creating obligations or prohibitions, or a redefinition of its scope of application. this is a response to the triggering event (alignment of the pillar with the other pillars; reducing the uncertainty or inconsistency inside the pillar). ! the revelation of a regulative dynamic offers perspectives for understanding the nature of the sequence of political institutional work in its various forms. contributions to understanding of institutional change ! our analysis in terms of regulative dynamic places this research in the neo-institutional research agenda for understanding institutional change. as dansou and langley (2012) suggest, the study of institutional change in its continuity made it possible to underline the interactions between different forms of institutional work. the institutional dynamic clarifies the interaction between advocacy, defining and vesting. this new look at the regulative pillar emphasises the relevance of not focusing solely on crisis periods (zietsma & lawrence, 2010): the institutional maintenance period can be interpreted as a failure of the advocacy work undertaken by actors seeking a change in practice. behind the apparent maintenance, actors are constantly defending their interests (blanc & huault, 2010) and the actors in the legal and court sphere have plenty of them. they seize on the form of institutional work that will enable them to achieve their objectives and interact with actors from civil society if necessary. and so the regulative pillar is not an entirely closed world, and can be a setting for institutional work challenging the institutionalised practice. one exception to this sequence can be envisaged: when the regulative pillar, or the institution more broadly, is destroyed (for example, in the potential case of a text repealing a provision of law that supports an institution, such as abolition of the death penalty in france in 1981). de-institutionalisation can thus be explained by a total disruption of the regulative pillar. limitations and avenues for further research ! this research has shown the complexity and dynamic nature of the regulative pillar, but it is still necessary to examine its limitations and propose avenues for further research. ! first, our research is based on a single case study that emphasises secondary sources from the law, legal professionals and the courts, choosing a methodology that provides validity of a “theoretical” rather than statistical nature (miles & huberman, 2002:62). also, in view of this institutional form and our research question, we focused on sources from the law, legal professionals and the courts. it was not possible to observe or interview all the actors who helped to shape the long history of faute inexcusable. ! to achieve generalisation and confirmation, we can only encourage our fellow researchers to continue this work by further exploration of the role of other types of actor and other areas of law (for example commercial law). another interesting way to extend this research would be to study another major source of french law: collective agreements. collective agreements specific to certain the unsuspected dynamics of the regulative pillar! m@n@gement, 17(3): 145-179 173 sectors and other types of company agreements are the sources of law that are developed closest to the company by employee and employer representatives, and complement the other sources of law that are the laws and official regulations. longitudinal case studies in organisations that have begun negotiations of this kind would enhance our understanding of the way this regulative dynamic is, within certain boundaries, coproduced (not simply undergone) by organisations due to social dialogue. also, still with a view to casting further light on the complexity of the dynamics of institutional change, this future research could take a closer look at the pattern of the regulative dynamic, in other words the moments of calm, pause, resumption and intensification of political institutional work specific to each of its phases – and factors that explain these temporalities. ! at international level, other case studies would be useful to explore the variety of legal and court systems and identify, through comparison, the recurrences and divergences of actors and regulative dynamics they initiate. as lejeune (2011:229) points out, such case studies require “consideration of national and local specificities, namely the legal culture, the relations between legal professionals with the public authorities and the various types of state”. finally, the new appreciation of the regulative pillar provided here opens up the possibility of a new analysis of relations between the institutional pillars. we suggest these relations would be studied using the idea of alignment between pillars (caronna, 2004; maguire & hardy, 2009). a complementary study could look in more depth at the role the regulative pillar plays, through a complex regulative dynamic, in the modalities of alignment and/or misalignment between the three pillars, which is a source of cohesion or institutional change. between two laws, court rulings are a source of gradual adjustments between the dimensions of the institution. the turnaround in court rulings in 2002 was a response to cognitive shifts (it echoes the asbestos scandal and the broadly shared observation that compensation systems were unfair) and normative shifts (it is part of a redefinition of the employer’s responsibility as regards occupational risks). these results suggest that the relationships between the three institutional pillars are more dynamic than the literature shows. the regulative pillar is capable of evolving without any change in the law, and can for example soften or accentuate the misalignments between pillars and show a more detailed process of institutional change or maintenance, which of course cannot happen if the regulative pillar is confined to the state and the law. the case of the death penalty in france in 1981 could be an interesting field of study to this end. this case offers factors of a cognitive nature (such as the question of the power of life and death), normative nature (execution methods) and of course regulative nature (the type of penalties depending on the crime). also, the case studied here appears to highlight a regulative pillar that is “ahead” of the cognitive and normative pillar: the regulative dynamic was proactive, and brought the other pillars to evolve; this conclusion is contrary to the current interpretation of the role of this pillar, and confirms the relevance, defended in this study, of looking differently at the regulative pillar. references agrikolansky, e. (2010). les usages protestataires du droit. in o. fillieule et al. (eds) penser les mouvements sociaux. conflits sociaux et contestations dans les sociétés contemporaines (pp. 225-245). paris : editions la découverte. barley, s.r. & tolbert, p.s. (1997). institutionalization and structuration: studying the links between action and institution, organization studies, 18(1), 93-117 baron, j.n., dobbin, f.r. & jennings, p.d. (1986). war and peace: the evolution of modern personnel administration in u.s. industry. american journal of sociology, 92(2), 350-383. ben slimane, k., & leca, b. (2010). le travail institutionnel : origines théoriques, défis et perspectives. management & avenir, 37,53-69. m@n@gement, 17(3): 145-179! hélène peton � stéphan pezé 174 benford, r.d. & snow, d.a. (2000). framing processes and social movements: an overview and assessment. annual review of sociology, 26: 11-39 blanc, a., & huault, i. (2010). reproduction de l'ordre institutionnel face à l'incertitude. revue française de gestion, 203(4), 85-99. botzem, s. & quack, s. (2006). contested rules and shifting boundaries: international standard setting in accounting. in m.-l. djelic & k. sahlin-andersson (eds), transnational governance: institutional dynamics of regulation. (pp. 266-286). cambridge: cambridge university press. caronna, c. a. (2004). the misalignment of institutional “pillars”: consequences for the us health field. journal of health and social behavior, 45(extra issue), 45-58. cole, r.e. (1985). the macropolitics of organizational change : a comparative analysis of the spread of smallgroup activities. administrative science quarterly, 30(4), 560-585. dansou, k., & langley, a. (2012). institutional work and the notion of test. m@n@gement, 15(5), 502-527. delacour, h., & leca, b. (2011). grandeur et décadence du salon de paris : une étude du processus de désinstitutionnalisation d’un événement configurateur de champ dans les activités culturelles. m@n@gement, 14(1), 47-78. dimaggio, p. j., & powell, w. w. (1983). the iron cage revisited: institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields. american sociological review, 48(2), 147-160. djelic, m.-l. (1998). exporting the american model: the post-war transformation of european business. oxford: oxford university press. edelman, l. b. (1992). legal ambiguity and symbolic structures: organizational mediation of civil rights law. american journal of sociology, 97(6), 1531-1576. farjoun, m. (2002). the dialectics of institutional development in emerging and turbulent fields: the history of pricing conventions in the on-line database industry. academy of management journal, 45(5), 848-874. fligstein, n. (2001). social skill and the theory of fields. sociological theory, 19(2),105-125. gombault, a. (2006). la méthode des cas. in p. roussel & f. wacheux (eds.) management des ressources humaines. méthodes de recherche en sciences humaines et sociales (pp. 31-64). paris: de boeck. greenwood, r., oliver, c., sahlin, k., & suddaby, r. (2008). introduction in. r. greenwood, c. oliver, k. sahlin, & r. suddaby, (eds). handbook of organizational institutionalism, (pp. 1-46), sage: london. hargadon, a.b., & douglas, y. (2001). when innovations meet institutions: edison and the design of the electric light. administrative science quarterly, 46(3), 476-501. hauriou, m. (1925). théorie de l'institution et de la fondation. essai de vitalisme social. in. m. hauriou (ed.) aux sources du droit : le pouvoir, l'ordre et la liberté. cahiers de la nouvelle journée, n°23, paris. hiatt s.r., sine w.d., & tolbert p.s. (2009). from pabst to pepsi : the deinstitutionalization of social practices and the creation of entrepreneurial opportunities, administrative science quarterly, 54(4), 635-667. hoffman, a. (1999). institutional evolution and change: environmentalism and the u.s. chemical industry. academy of management journal, 42(4), 351-371. jepperson, r.l. (1991). institutions, institutional effects, and institutionalism. in w.w. powell, p.j. dimaggio (eds.) the new institutionalism in organizational analysis (pp. 143-163), chicago, il: university of chicago press. kitchener, m. (2002). mobilizing the logic of managerialism in professional fields: the case of academic health center mergers. organization studies, 23(3), 391-420. krasner, s.d. (1984). approaches to the state: alternative conceptions and historical dynamics. comparative politics, 16(2), 223-246. langley, a. (1999). strategies for theorizing from process data. academy of management review, 24(4), 691-710. lawrence, t. b., & suddaby, r. (2006). institutions and institutional work. in s. r. clegg, c. hardy, t. b. lawrence, & w. r. nord (eds.), handbook of organization studies, 2nd edition (pp. 215-254). london: sage. lawrence, t. b., suddaby, r., & leca, b. (2009). introduction: theorizing and studying institutional work. in t. b. lawrence, r. suddaby & b. leca (eds.), institutional work: actors and agency in institutional studies of organizations (pp. 1-27). cambridge: cambridge university press. leblebici, h., salacncik, g.r., copay, a., & king, t. (1991). institutional change and the transformation of interorganizational fields: an organizational history of the u.s. radio broadcasting industry, administrative science quarterly, 36(3), 333-363. lejeune, a. (2011). les professionnels du droit comme acteurs du politique : revue critique de la littérature nord-américaine et enjeux pour une importation en europe continentale. sociologie du travail, 53(2), 216-233. lounsbury, m. & crumley, e.t. (2007) new practice creation: an institutional perspective on innovation, organization studies, 28(7), 993–1012. maguire, s., & hardy, c. (2009). discourse and deinstitutionalization: the decline of ddt, academy of management journal, 52(1), 148-178. mccann, m.w. (1994). rights at work :pay equity and the politics of legal mobilization. chicago, il: university of chicago press. mccann, m., & silverstein, h. (1998). rethinking law’s ‘allurements’. a relational analysis of social movement lawyers in the united states. in a. sarat, s. scheingold (eds.), cause lawyering. political commitments and professional responsibilities (pp. 261-292). oxford: oxford university press. meyer, j. w., & rowan, b. (1977). institutional organizations: formal structure as myth and ceremony. american journal of sociology, 83(2), 340-363. miles, m.b., & huberman, m.a. (2002). analyse des données qualitatives. bruxelles: de boeck. milgrom, p. & roberts, j. (1992). economics, organization and management, englewood cliffs, nj: prentice hall. millar, e. (1995). hauriou et la théorie de l’institution. droit & société, 30/31(1), 381-412. the unsuspected dynamics of the regulative pillar! m@n@gement, 17(3): 145-179 175 north, d. c. (1990). institutions, institutional change, and economic performance, cambridge university press, ma: cambridge. oliver, c. (1992). the antecedents of deinstitutionalization. organization studies, 13(4), 563-588. patton, m.q. (2002). qualitative research & evaluation methods (3rd edition). thousand oaks, ca: sage. perkmann, m., & spicer, a. (2007). 'healing the scars of history': projects, skills and field strategies in institutional entrepreneurship. organizaion studies, 28(7), 1101-1122. perkmann, m., & spicer, a. (2008). how are management fashions institutionalized? the role of institutional work. human relations, 61(6), 811-844. pires, a. (1997). echantillonnage et recherche qualitative. in poupart, j., deslauriers, j.-p., groulx, l.-h., laperrière, a., mayer, r., pires, a. (eds). la recherche qualitative. enjeux épistémologiques et méthodologiques (pp. 113-169). montréal: gaëtan morin. prost, a. (1996). douze leçons sur l'histoire. paris: points seuil. russo, m.v. (2001). institutions, exchange relations, and the emergence of new fields: regulatory policies and independent power production in america, 1978-1992, administrative science quarterly, 46(1), 57-86. scott, w. r. (2008). institutions and organizations, 3rd edition. thousand oaks, ca: sage. stinchcombe, a. (1965). organization and social structure. in march j.g. (ed.). handbook of organization (pp. 141-193). chicago, il: rand mcnally. skocpol, t. (1985). bringing the state back in: strategies for analysis in current research. in p. evans, d rueschemeyer, & t. skocpol (eds.), bringing the state back in (pp. 3-43). ny: cambridge university press. taupin, b. (2012). the more things change…institutional maintenance as justification work in the credit rating industry. m@n@gement, 15(5), 528-562. tolbert, p.s., & zucker, l.g. (1983). institutional sources of change in the formal structure of organizations: the diffusion of civil service reform, 1880-1935. administrative science quarterly, 28(1), 22-39. townley, b. (2002). the role of competing rationalities in institutional change. academy of management journal, 45(1), 163-179. yin, r.k. (2009). case study research (4th edition). thousand oaks, ca: sage. zietsma c., & lawrence t.b. (2010). institutional work in the transformation of an organizational field: the interplay of boundary work and practice work. administrative science quarterly, 55(2), 189–221. m@n@gement, 17(3): 145-179! hélène peton � stéphan pezé 176 appendix a. references of data sources •association d’assistance et d’entr’aide (1949). la faute inexcusable en matière d'accidents du travail, imprimerie centrale de l’ouest : la roche sur yon. •belhache, c. et belhache, s. (1999). la faute inexcusable de l’employeur, sofiac : paris. •bienvenu, j. (1938). la faute inexcusable dans la législation des accidents du travail, des maladies professionnelles et des inscrits maritimes (thèse de droit). imprimeries editions m. vilaire : le mans. •boisselier, j. (2008). naissance et évolution de l’idée de prévention des risques professionnels, 2nde édition, inrs, ed 926 : paris. •buzzi, s., devinck, j. c. & rosental, p. a. (2006). la santé au travail. 1880-2006, paris: la découverte. •cass. req., 22 février 1932, d.p. n° 1932.1.25, note a. rouast. •cass. rec., sirey, 4 mai 1937, n° 1931.1.331 – r.g.a.t. 1937.1010. •cass. civ., 15 février 1938, d.h. n° 1938.261. •cass. chambres réunies, 15 juillet 1941, dame veuve villa, jcp 1/41, n° 705. •cass. assemblée plénière, 18 juillet 1980, n° 78-12570. •cass. soc., 28 février 2002, n° 99-18.389, sté eternit industries c/ delcourtmarousez et a. (voir également les autres arrêts rendus le même jour par la chambre sociale de la cour de cassation) •cass. soc., 11 avril 2002, n° 00-16535, hachadi c/ sté camus industrie et a. •cass. soc., 19 décembre 2002, n° 01-20.447, dame hervé c/ cpam angers et a. •cass. soc., 29 juin 2005, no°03-44.412, no 1698, sté acme protection c/ lefebvre. •cass. soc., 28 février 2006, n° 05-41.555, no 835, deprez c/ sté cubit france technologies : bull. civ. v, no 87. •cass. soc., 5 mars 2008, n° 06-45.888, no 429, sté snecma c/ synd. cgt snecma gennevilliers. •cass. soc., 11 mai 2010, n° 09-42.241, no 939, sté ahlstrom labelpack c/ ardilley et a. •chapouthier, a. (2009). la faute inexcusable de l’employeur en santé et sécurité du travail, travail et sécurité, 695, 48-49. •conseil constitutionnel., 18 juin 2010, no 2010-8 qpc •cour de cassation. (2002). rapport annuel 2002. la responsabilité. la documentation française : paris. •cour de cassation. (2007). interprétation et portée des arrêts de la cour de cassation en matière civile. bulletin d’information de la cour de cassation, 661, 6-21. •cour de cassation. (2010). présentation de la cour de cassation, http:// www.courdecassation.fr/institution_1/savoir_plus_institution_2845/ presentation_cour_cassation_11982.html, consulté le 22/11/2010. •cour des comptes. (2002). la gestion du risque accidents du travail et maladies professionnelles. rapport au président de la république suivi des réponses des administrations et des organismes intéressés, février, 276 p. •dériot, g. & godefroy j. p. (2005). le drame de l'amiante en france : comprendre, mieux réparer, en tirer des leçons pour l'avenir. rapport d'information n° 37 (2005-2006) fait au nom de la mission commune d'information du sénat, déposé le 26 octobre, 333 p. •douard, e. (1961). la faute inexcusable dans le régime de sécurité sociale, les editions sociales françaises : paris. •editions législatives. (2010). etude santé et sécurité au travail, dictionnaire permanent social. the unsuspected dynamics of the regulative pillar! m@n@gement, 17(3): 145-179 177 http://www.courdecassation.fr/institution_1/savoir_plus_institution_2845/presentation_cour_cassation_11982.html http://www.courdecassation.fr/institution_1/savoir_plus_institution_2845/presentation_cour_cassation_11982.html http://www.courdecassation.fr/institution_1/savoir_plus_institution_2845/presentation_cour_cassation_11982.html http://www.courdecassation.fr/institution_1/savoir_plus_institution_2845/presentation_cour_cassation_11982.html http://www.courdecassation.fr/institution_1/savoir_plus_institution_2845/presentation_cour_cassation_11982.html http://www.courdecassation.fr/institution_1/savoir_plus_institution_2845/presentation_cour_cassation_11982.html •graser, m., manaouil, c. & jardé, o. (2004). la faute inexcusable de l'employeur dans la réparation des accidents de travail et des maladies professionnelles. médecine & droit, 69, 133-141. •guillemy, n. (2006). la nouvelle approche réglementaire pose le principe d’une obligation générale de sécurité. réalité prévention, 12, 4-5. •jaillet, r. (1980). la faute inexcusable en matière d’accident du travail et de maladie professionnelle, librairie générale de droit et de jurisprudence : paris. •laroque, m. (2004). la rénovation de la réparation des accidents du travail et des maladies professionnelles. rapport remis à m. françois fillon, ministre des affaires sociales, du travail et de la solidarité, no 2004 032, mars, 84 p. •le garrec, j. & lemière, j. (2006). rapport n° 2884 fait au nom de la mission d’information sur les risques et les conséquences de l’exposition à l’amiante. enregistré à la présidence de l'assemblée nationale le 22 février (tome 1), 564 p. •le roux, d. (2010). le coût de la faute inexcusable va s'alourdir pour les entreprises. actuel-hse, 2 juillet. •machu, l. (2009). entre prévention et réparation : les syndicats ouvriers face à la question des risques au travail pendant l’entre-deux guerres. in c. omnès, et al. (eds.), cultures du risque au travail et pratiques de prévention. la france au regard des pays voisins (pp. 189-201). rennes: presses universitaires de rennes. •masse, r. et zeggar, h. (2001). réflexions et propositions relatives à la réparation intégrale des accidents du travail et des maladies professionnelles. rapport à l’intention de madame elisabeth guigou, ministre de l’emploi et de la solidarité, 26 juin, 50 p. •pic, p. et kréher, j. (1938). la faute inexcusable en matière d'accident du travail, imprimerie j. verdier : saint etienne. •pinaud, p. (2002). faute inexcusable de l'employeur en matière d'accidents du travail et de maladies professionnelles : portée et conséquences financières des arrêts de la cour de cassation du 28 février 2002, ceral : lyon. •ray, j. e. (2010). droit du travail, droit vivant 2010-2011. 19e édition actualisée et augmentée, paris: editions liaisons. •rouast, a. et durand, p. (1953). précis de législation industrielle (droit du travail), librairie dalloz : paris. •rouast, a., durand, p. et dupeyroux, j.j. (1962). sécurité sociale, dalloz : paris. •rosental, p. a. (2008). la notion de "risques professionnels". système actuel et exemples. in j.-m. mur (eds.), l'émergence des risques (pp. 19-41). paris: inrs. •sargos, p. (2003). l’évolution du concept de sécurité au travail et ses conséquences en matière de responsabilité. la semaine juridique, édition générale, 4, 121-128. •sargos, p. (2006). le souci du juge est d’assurer l’effectivité du droit dans une perspective de prévention. réalité prévention, 12, 2-3. •seillan, h. (2009). de la fatalité à la prévention. hygiène, sécurité et santé au travail. plus d’un siècle d’évolution. conférence organisée par le groupe régional d’ile de france du comité d’histoire de l’administration du travail, de l’emploi et de la formation professionnelle, 14 octobre, (pp. 6-14). •teissonnière, j. p. & topaloff, s. (2002). l’affaire de l’amiante, semaine sociale lamy, 1082, 2-33. •vidalies, a. (2011). rapport n° 3922 fait au nom de la commission des affaires sociales sur la proposition de loi relative à l’amélioration de l’indemnisation des victimes d’accidents du travail et de maladies professionnelles. enregistré à la présidence de l'assemblée nationale le 9 novembre, 75 p. m@n@gement, 17(3): 145-179! hélène peton � stéphan pezé 178 •vingiano, i. (2011). l’incidence de la jurisprudence sur la garantie et l’indemnisation de la faute inexcusable de l’employeur. aix-en-provence: presses universitaires d’aix-marseille. •yahiel, m. (2002). vers la réparation intégrale des accidents du travail et des maladies professionnelles : éléments de méthode. rapport à l’intention de madame elisabeth guigou, ministre de l’emploi et de la solidarité, 26 avril, 55 p. hélène peton is a lecturer (maître de conférences) at université paris-est créteil and a member of the institut de recherche en gestion (irg, ea 2354). her research concerns the role of actors in institutional change, mainly in cases of major controversies. stéphan pezé is a lecturer (maître de conférences) at université paris-est créteil and a member of the institut de recherche en gestion (irg, ea 2354). his research concerns the construction of identity, occupational health and managerial situations and trials. acknowledgements. we wish to thank emmanuel josserand and the two anonymous reviewers for the depth and quality of their useful, constructive comments. we also wish to thank hélène delacour for her crucial support in the early stages of writing, and isabelle huault for her wise comments. this article was also improved by feedback at the aims 2011 conference, when its first version was awarded the m@n@gement prize. finally, we are grateful to scientific councils of irg and upec university for the funding of the translation of the paper. the unsuspected dynamics of the regulative pillar! m@n@gement, 17(3): 145-179 179 73casanueva volume 9, no. 3. special issue: “doing case study research in organizations” guest editors: ann langley and isabelle royer � ann langley and isabelle royer 2006 perspectives on doing case study research in organizations, m@n@gement, 9: 3, 73-86. copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). m@n@gement is a double-blind refereed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.management-aims.com © 2006 m@n@gement and the author(s). m@n@gement issn: 1286-4892 editors: alain desreumaux, u. de lille i martin evans, u. of toronto bernard forgues, u. de lille i hugh gunz, u. of toronto martina menguzzato, u. de valència m@n@gement est la revue officielle de lʼaims m@n@gement is the official journal of aims http://www.management-aims.com http://www.management-aims.com http://www.strategie-aims.com m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 81-94 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 81 ann langley . isabelle royer hec montréaldépartement de management email: ann.langley@hec.ca université de lille i iae & lem umr cnrs 8179 email: isabelle.royer@iae.univ-lille1.fr perspectives on doing case study research in organizations in this preface to the special issue on “doing case study research in organizations” we define case study research, review common themes and discuss future directions. we note the value of personal research stories and reflexivity in enriching understanding of case study research practice and draw attention to the opportunities associated with broadening the definition of what may constitute valuable data. we also discuss approaches to obtaining access and review some ethical dilemmas of case study research. finally, we underline the need for further reflection on the role of computer analysis aids, on modes of writing and communication, and on ensuring quality in a context of epistemological diversity. introduction: the nature of case study research according to stake (2000: 345), «case studies have become one of the most common ways to do qualitative inquiry». case studies are the source of some of the foundational work in organization theory. classic examples include patterns of industrial bureaucracy (gouldner, 1954), union democracy (lipset, trow and coleman, 1956) and men who manage (dalton, 1959). these case studies are considered exemplary by contemporary writers holding quite different epistemological preferences (e.g., eisenhardt, 1991; and dyer and wilkins, 1991). after a decline in the late 1960s, there has been renewed interest in case study research since the 1980ʼs both in the us and europe (stablein, 2006). despite renewed popularity, case study «is a wellused term that has many meanings» (stablein, 2006: 359). the notion of case itself is multiple and debated (e.g., dyer and wilkins, 1991; eisenhardt, 1991) and has even motivated a book what is a case? (ragin and becker, 1992). in the context of this special issue, we use a broad definition of case study research as the study of at least one case, a case being a bounded system. this definition does not exclude any data collection techniques and is less restrictive than that proposed by yin (2003) who excludes archival analyses and historical studies because they do not include data from living people. thus, from our perspective, case studies can be ethnographies, as well as historical studies (vaughan, 1992). moreover, although qualitative inquiry dominates (stake, 2000), mailto:ann.langley@hec.ca mailto:isabelle.royer@iae.univ-lille1.fr m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 81-94 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 82 ann langley and isabelle royer case study research can also include quantitative data from surveys or archival records. although the use of multiple methods is considered one of the strengths of case study research (yin, 2003), a single data collection method is also possible. the definition of a case as a bounded system simply requires a researcher to focus on the details of a case and to analyze its context —it does not a priori restrict the methods used to achieve this. case study research can also be conducted within a positivist (e.g., eisenhardt, 1989, 1991; yin, 2003) or an interpretive (e.g., lincoln and guba, 1985) tradition and may serve a variety of purposes. stake (2000) distinguishes between intrinsic and instrumental case studies. an intrinsic case study aims to provide a better understanding of one particular case. an instrumental case study is designed to provide insight into an issue or to develop generalizations. when several instrumental case studies are involved, stake (2000) labels the design a collective case study. thus, cases can be studied for intrinsic or instrumental purposes, and they can be aimed at interpretive understanding of multiple social realities (guba and lincoln, 1994), at theory building (eisenhardt, 1989; yin, 2003) or theory testing (campbell, 1975; yin, 2003; bitekhtine, forthcoming). the key element of our definition, like that of stake (2000), is the focus on the case —the specific entity under study. this can be a person, a group, an organization, a relationship, an event, a process, a problem or any other specific entity. it is a bounded system (stake, 2000) although it may not always be easy to determine where the case ends and the context begins (goode and hatt, 1952, in stake, 2000). whether multiple or not, aimed at theorizing or not, the logic of case study research is idiographic. even for multiple case studies aimed at theorizing, the logic involves drawing inferences from similarities or differences in patterns between pairs of cases. this differs from both survey and experiments where inferences are made by comparing central tendencies. the logic also differs from qualitative research that uses data unrelated to a specific context. one consequence of this type of research is that each case can be at least partially described as a whole through one or more stories or narratives that will constitute either the main published output of the study (stake, 2000), or at the very least, an unpublished step in the analysis (yin, 2003). finally, our definition does not require that all cases within a collective set be conducted in exactly the same way. some cases can be included in the research design for specific purposes and conducted with less intensity than others. for example, leonard-barton (1990) suggests the use of retrospective cases to complement a longitudinal ethnographical approach. glaser and strauss (1967) also recommend partial investigation to enrich some categories. thus, our definition of case study research does not aim to hide the variety in strategy, design, purpose or epistemology, nor the possible conflict between perspectives. neither does it aim for unification. yet, we believe that there is sufficient commonality in practices and interests among all case study researchers that they can learn from and appreciate other work that falls under the broad umbrella we have defined. m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 81-94 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 83 perspectives on doing case study research in organizations the six articles in this special issue reflect our broad definition of case study research. some authors are more positivist, while others belong rather to interpretative or constructivist traditions. the six articles do not cluster around a particular theme, nor do they provide a comprehensive panorama of current case study issues. this is rather a collection of articles that highlights particular issues that are often faced, but that are perhaps less frequently discussed explicitly in methods texts. in full compatibility with the case study tradition, many of these articles build on unique personal experiences to draw their lessons. we believe that these articles will resonate with the experiences of senior organizational researchers, and we hope they will also offer assistance to newer researchers. in the remainder of this paper, we will first briefly introduce the six articles individually. we will then draw attention to some common themes that emerge from a consideration of the entire collection before concluding with some suggestions for future thinking on doing case study research in organizations. individual contributions the first article by simon down, karin garrety and richard badham and the second article by veronika kisfalvi both analyse the consequences of researchersʼ emotions. in their paper «fear and loathing in the field: emotional dissonance and identity work in ethnographic research», down and colleagues discuss the varying reactions of different members of the research team to people and episodes encountered on their research site. the analysis of the researchersʼ field notes and personal reflections provides striking evidence of the influence of identity and emotions on fieldwork, and of the advantages of surfacing and discussing these issues. despite a shared interest in emotions, kisfalvi comes to this issue from a different angle. whereas down and colleagues build on the sociology and social psychology literatures to examine emotional dissonance during field work, kisfalvi builds on literature from psychoanalysis and neuroscience to establish how feelings interact positively with reasoning. in a lively «confessional tale» (van maanen, 1988: 73), she then describes how anxiety and later mourning accompanied her ethnographic journey from first access to final draft. kisfalvi argues that subjectivity and emotions, once examined, bring a deeper level of understanding and objectivity to her findings. together, these two articles provide very interesting and complementary contributions on the role of emotions. the article by attila bruni also draws attention to the researcherʼs position in the field but focuses exclusively on the process of entry. in his article, «access as trajectory: entering the field in organizational ethnography», bruni builds on an unusual experience to reframe the negotiation of access. he first argues that the way in which the researcher plays along with site expectations is more important than image per se for obtaining access. he notes further that the process of m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 81-94 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 84 ann langley and isabelle royer negotiating access can itself become an important moment of observation that reveals organizational processes since it reflects actorsʼ logics and practices. access is thus considered as a trajectory in which each encounter is both an occasion for new negotiations and an opportunity for observation. geneviève muscaʼs paper on longitudinal embedded case study designs also describes access as an ongoing process, but adopts a different perspective on the researcherʼs position in the field. while bruni immediately slipped into the job of medical secretary that he did not know, musca avoided intervening in an activity she knew very well. although adopting a different perspective from previous authors, musca also reflects on her research practice and provides some interesting descriptions of her fieldwork experience. she offers some useful guidelines for conducting longitudinal embedded case study research, covering the advantages and limits of this design, the negotiation of access, the definition of units of analysis, data collection, data analysis and presentation, and approaches to ensuring validity. the last two articles focus on the potential of unusual data sources for organizational research: visual data in the article by aylin kunter and emma bell, and secondary qualitative data in the article by didier chabaud and olivier germain. the articles present the advantages of these data sources, provide typologies of ways of using them, and offer recommendations for their appropriate use. for example, kunter and bell point out that visual data are able to capture elements of culture that are very difficult to express in words. however, they identify several challenges relating to access, ethical considerations and modes of analysis. they further show that visual data can be used for reflexive practice and illustrate this with photographs from their own research. the lack of a direct relationship with the field is one concern raised by critics of the reutilization of qualitative data, the approach proposed by chabaud and germain. these authors first show that the boundaries between the reutilization of qualitative data and more well-established practices can be ambiguous (e.g., the delegation of data collection to assistants), and that a large variety of forms of reutilization of qualitative data exist, including some that are rarely debated (e.g., the development of theory from data collected for another purpose by the researcher). they conclude that from most epistemological perspectives, the reutilization of qualitative data is a legitimate practice. however, a detailed evaluation is required to determine whether the available data is relevant and complete enough to address the research question. common themes a variety of common themes emerge from a horizontal look across the articles in this special issue. we have identified four that seem to be of particular interest: personal stories and reflexivity, the nature of case study data, access, and the ethical dimension of case study research. m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 81-94 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 85 perspectives on doing case study research in organizations we begin with the issue of reflexivity because it underlies to some extent many of the other themes identified by the authors represented in this special issue. personal stories and reflexivity five out of six articles in this collection build explicitly on stories rooted in the authorsʼ own research experience. some of these personal stories are illustrations of how different methodological tools can be used in specific situations (e.g., muscaʼs instructive insets; kunter and bellʼs photographs). other stories are closer to what van maanen (1988: 73) has called «confessional tales» because they give us a glimpse of how the authors actually lived through their research process, reaching behind the formulaic descriptions of design, datacollection and analysis usually found in the methods sections of standard research articles. the papers by bruni, down and colleagues, kisfalvi and to some extent also those by musca, and kunter and bell all provide this privileged look behind the scenes at events, thoughts and feelings that might not usually appear in a regular empirical article. as a teacher of qualitative research methods to doctoral students, the first guest co-editor has always been on the lookout for such papers. indeed her course-pack includes a whole series of article pairs —one article presenting a published empirical study, the other presenting a reflexive personal account of how that research actually happened. (for a fascinating set of such article pairs, see frost and stablein, [1992]; other pairs include barley [1986; 1990] and smith and zeithaml [1999; smith, 2002]). the accounts provided by each article in the pair are complementary —they reveal different things about the research process. the personal stories are particularly welcome as a means to reveal the everyday joys and complications of the research craft, and indeed to reassure students that research is not an abstract activity set apart from normal life. when read in conjunction with the companion empirical pieces, they usually deepen understanding and appreciation of the research process. we encourage readers of the present collection to look for and read the authorsʼ previously published empirical work to obtain a complementary perspective on some of the stories provided here (see for example, kisfalvi, 2000, 2002; badham and garrety, 2003; badham, garrety, morrigan, zanko and dawson, 2003; musca, 2004). note however, that the stories are not just stories. the authors represented in this collection have in different ways reached beyond simply telling a tale to considering what that tale might mean for the research process, and for the nature of the knowledge being generated. for example, bruni draws on an unusual personal story to reflect on the nature of the access process. kisfalvi uses her story to show how emotional reactions may become resources for the researcher. this reflexive turn follows a growing trend in contemporary research writing on organizations (e.g., linstead, 1994; hardy, phillips and m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 81-94 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 86 ann langley and isabelle royer clegg, 2001; cunliffe, 2003; johnson and duberley, 2003; alvesson, hardy and harley, 2004). reflexivity varies in form and depth depending on the degree to which authors simply describe their experiences or reach beyond this to question their own roles as researchers (cunliffe, 2003). although reflecting on what one is doing is surely important for any researcher, the nature of qualitative or ethnographic case study research tends to demand it as an element of method. revealing oneself within the research report has long been seen as a way to deal with concerns about how individual biases, emotions, and potential political or social alignments might or might not affect the quality of the empirical materials collected as well as their interpretation. several of the authors in this collection have developed deliberate strategies for systematically enabling reflexivity. kisfalvi keeps a research journal that includes not only her own emotional reactions but her dreams about her field experience. kunter and bell suggest and illustrate the use of photography as a means to observe and reflect on onesʼ own relationship with research sites. down and colleagues compare their respective field-notes, and engage in team discussions about these experiences in an attempt to understand how their feelings and identities influenced the types of data each collected. these strategies enable the researchers to stand back from the intensity of their field experience, to examine it based on recorded data, and to use that understanding to improve their interpretations. while many of the articles in this collection emphasize the strengths and importance of a reflexive approach, down and colleagues along with other writers on reflexivity (linstead, 1994; cunliffe, 2003; alvesson et al., 2004) warn us of its potential illusions. when researchers turn the spotlight onto themselves and their relationships with the field, their analysis can never be entirely free from the needs for positive self-representation that undoubtedly affect all research writing and that stimulate exercises of self-examination in the first place. weick (2002) further warns that over-emphasis on self can sometimes divert attention from the object of the research. reflexivity is thus not a magic solution. however, the personal stories within this collection of articles are refreshing, revealing and often courageous in their focus on the relationships between researchers and the researched. like good case studies, each of them offers rich descriptive detail on a specific event or phenomenon (a research project) while providing lessons and insights that readers may potentially transfer to their own research experience. indeed, it becomes clear from these accounts that a case study is a product that emerges from the interaction between a researcher and a research site and that both contribute in unique ways to that project. to the extent that this is true, chabaud and germainʼs analysis of the potential and limitations of reusing qualitative data collected by others is particularly interesting and relevant. this article and others in the collection illustrate another common concern: the nature of case study data. m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 81-94 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 87 perspectives on doing case study research in organizations the nature of case study data all six articles discuss the role of data, and four of the six directly or indirectly raise the question of: “what is data?” or more empirically what can be considered as data in case study research? stablein (2006: 349) indicates that «data imply empirical things that are represented, and a process of representing». case study data are thus representations that depend on the data collector as well as on the case study site (stablein, 2006). two of the articles explicitly explore the potential of unusual sources of data in organizational research: the reutilization of qualitative data (chabaud and germain) and visual data (kunter and bell). note that visual data is as dependent on the researcherʼs role as are other sources of data: pictures depend on who pushes the button (kunter and bell). although some authors represented in this issue have a broad conception of what can be understood as data (e.g., kisfalvi), stablein (2006) argues that not all representations are data. «data are characterized by a two-way correspondence between the data and the organizational reality the data represent» (stablein, 2006: 351). this leads to question as to whether what researchers see, read, hear, touch or feel are data, and if so when they become data. this question appears central in the reutilization of case study data as described by chabaud and germain. reusing data collected for other purposes, by other people, and already formally interpreted is the subject of increasing debate. data already interpreted is controversial for varying reasons: bias of the interpreter for positivists, and lack of co-construction of social reality for constructivists (chabaud and germain). other authors (kisfalvi; bruni) extend the usual boundaries of ethnographic data that represent the empirical reality experienced by organizational participants (stablein, 2006). because they become to some degree organizational participants, kisfalvi, and bruni use the reality they experience themselves as data. for example, bruni suggests that the very process of gaining access to the field may constitute data for the analysis of the organization. kisfalvi considers her relationship with her subject, and more particularly, her feelings toward him, as data. indeed, to the extent that those feelings are also an indicator of how others may be feeling and relating to the subject, they provide a potentially useful and frequently neglected source of understanding. in summary, taken together, these articles suggest that case study researchers might benefit by opening their eyes to a wider range of possibilities in terms of what might constitute valuable sources of data. we would argue that to become data, representations must be recorded, and they must be grounded in the case study situation. within this definition however, many creative opportunities are available, each with its own limitations that need to be explicitly and fully recognized, as is the case of course, with more traditional sources. m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 81-94 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 88 ann langley and isabelle royer access in case study research access to data also appears as a common concern among the six articles. for example, although the internet may help to locate and access certain qualitative databases, chabaud and germain consider it to be an important difficulty in the reutilization of qualitative data. like secondary data, access to primary qualitative data is not always easy but for different reasons. a first difficulty to be overcome is to obtain authorization to collect data, and the second is to continue to develop and maintain good relationships with the people researched. kunter and bell indicate that visual research increases the difficulty of obtaining access, especially because of a reluctance to being caught on camera. in addition to the type of data, sensitive research topics may also increase the difficulties. in such situations, the match between the researcherʼs identity and that of the people researched may be helpful (kisflavi). although the literature recommends that ethnographers should convey an image that does not clash with the organization studied (silverman, 2000), bruni suggests that the capacity to handle oneʼs image and to play along is as or more important than image per se. later in the research process, keeping good relationships with participants until enough data has been accumulated is a major concern for fieldworkers that generates anxiety and can affect behavior in the field (kisfalvi; down and colleagues; musca). to facilitate relationships, fieldworkers may make more salient the part of their identity that matches that of the people with whom they have relationships. matching can be based on previous professional experience (down and colleagues; musca), local culture (garrety), or religion (kisfalvi). most of the authors instinctively adopted the behaviors and roles that people expected from them, often reaching beyond what is usually included in the role of a researcher. for example, bruni spontaneously participated in organizational activities as requested when he saw that the distant stance of the professional researcher would create dissonance. expectations may also differ according to gender. down and colleagues showed that the male researcher in their team tended to swear more than usual, while his female colleague did not, conforming to what was expected in the steel industry they researched. several of the authors represented nevertheless draw attention to the dilemmas associated with positioning oneself in the field. for example, musca underlines dilemmas associated with the relationship between access, identity and data quality. she notes that her previous experience working in the same industry as her case study firm helped her understand what was going on and gave her credibility. yet, she felt that she perhaps missed details that would have been more striking to strangers. we also see her hesitating between maintaining professional distance as a researcher and intervening more intensely, questioning whether this would improve the quality and richness of her data or alternatively distort it. dilemmas associated with relationships to the people researched find further resonance in the papers on emotions (kisfalvi; down and colleagues). emotional relationships with the subm@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 81-94 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 89 perspectives on doing case study research in organizations jects researched can be a source of insight, deeper understanding and greater objectivity (kisfalvi). however, negative feelings such as fear or disgust can lead researchers to avoid contact or reduce interaction, as well as censoring potential data, and reducing the overall quality of data collected (down and colleagues). answers to the dilemmas associated with distance differ according to authors. while some recommend dropping the academic armor to obtain access to the subjective dimension (lerum, 2001), down and colleagues, as well as kisfalvi, suggest rather to behave consistently with oneʼs identity and reflect on it. beyond the fact that it is not so easy to drop oneʼs armor, they point out the risks of developing close relationships that could be damaging (e.g., irwin, 2006). down and colleagues further argue that it is legitimate to protect oneʼs own identity and to use detachment as a way of dealing with negative emotion such as aversion to a particular subject or situation. this makes individual researchers unequal when it comes to obtaining access to specific fields of study and specific data. however the variety of researcher identities may generate different and complementary insights across research and within a study when several researchers are involved (kisfalvi; down and colleagues). in summary, access to case study data raises some complex issues. although, down and colleagues are most explicit about this, almost all the articles illustrate how the identity of researchers (who the researcher is or would like to be) and the identity work they engage in (how researchers project their identity in their interactions with the research site) can influence the access obtained and the quality of the data collected. there are no simple answers, however, as to which approach is always better in any absolute sense. these observations do however lead us to stress once again the importance of openness and reflexivity. positioning oneself in the field also raises other types of questions. downplaying the researcher identity and integrating on the basis of personal affinities or spontaneous participation allows the researcher to become accepted as one of the group, but the data may be richer only because the researcherʼs observer role has been forgotten by site members and even on occasion, by the researcher. the lines between covert and overt observation are thus very fine as noted by both bruni, and down and colleagues. this brings us to some of the ethical implications of case study research. ethical issues ethical questions are perhaps not central issues in most of the articles in this special issue. however, they are present to a degree in at least four of them (kunter and bell; chabaud and germain; bruni; down and colleagues). although always important, ethical issues associated with case study research are becoming increasingly salient because of the emergence of more rigorous ethics guidelines and review procedures for research involving human subjects in universities and granting agencies, especially in the anglo-saxon world. m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 81-94 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 90 ann langley and isabelle royer important ethical principles generally included in ethics guidelines include for example: doing no harm —and preferably doing good–, protecting respondentsʼ rights to privacy and confidentiality, informing them clearly of the benefits and risks of the research, and ensuring that they are given an opportunity to decide whether or not to participate (“informed consent”) (glesne, 1999; miles and huberman, 1994; silverman, 2006). case study research engages deeply with these issues for several reasons. first, the methods used by case study researchers and ethnographers are founded on the idea that valid knowledge is best acquired through direct contact, proximity, detail, and specificity. thus, the knowledge acquired about particular people and situations is deeper and more sensitive than in a survey for example, demanding a great deal of respondents and rendering them potentially more vulnerable. at the same time, the challenges of maintaining confidentiality and anonymity are also higher. the researcher is usually working with a small sample of cases, so it can be hard to hide the identity of the site. in addition, effective reporting of case material requires rich description. thus, participants in the research may be able to recognize each other, even when the overall case is anonymized. finally, as noted above, there is a fine line between overt and covert observation. it may be challenging, especially with observational methods, to ensure that every individual encountered is fully informed about the research and has given their explicit consent. in addition, as down and colleagues note, while researchers may have laudable long-term objectives of knowledge development, the immediate returns of their work to organization members may be intangible at best. the article by kunter and bell shows that while the traditional sources of data used in case studies (observations, interviews, documents) pose ethical questions, these issues tend to be multiplied when it comes to visual methods. photographic data is particularly rich in detail and for that very reason, it is both harder to access and harder to manage ethically. the people and places represented in photographs are immediately identifiable. taking and displaying photographic material requires care. in fact, because of their recognisability, the presence of pictures may inhibit the presentation of other detailed data on happenings on the site that could otherwise be revealed. we are very fortunate that this special issue includes two articles in which these access and ethical dilemmas have been successfully addressed. the article by chabaud and germain dealing with the reutilization of case data raises another set of ethical issues. the issue of informed consent clearly becomes more complex when reusing case study data, especially when the objectives of the new research are different or when new researchers become involved. overall, because of its richness and depth, case study research often raises ethical issues and may sometimes test the limits of formal ethics guidelines. there are those who argue that such formal guidelines may not be compatible with the objectives of non-positivist research (van den hoonaard, 2001). others believe that the moral dilemmas of case study research need to be more explicitly recognized and discussed m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 81-94 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 91 perspectives on doing case study research in organizations (fine, 1993). we would argue that researchers of all stripes need to encourage dialogue on ethical questions, and to be wary of equating ethical behaviour merely with ethics review board approval. looking forward the set of articles in this special issue offer a range of perspectives on doing case study research in organizations. they review different sources of data, they offer ideas about obtaining access to that data, and they reflect on how the researcherʼs positioning in the field may influence the quality of that data. doing case study research also raises a number of other questions that are perhaps less well-covered by the present collection but that warrant further discussion. we will briefly draw attention to three of these here. the first issue concerns analysis and interpretation. among the articles in this issue, musca looks at the analysis strategies available for embedded longitudinal studies, and kunter and bell examine the challenges of analyzing visual data. in a more personal vein, kisfalvi describes how the computer-aided coding process she engaged in distanced her from the emotional impact of her field observations. she found that she needed to recapture those emotions in order to translate the codes into a valuable interpretation. however, there is certainly room for more reflection about the role and impact of computerized aids in qualitative data analysis. increasingly, case study articles are reporting the use of tools such as nvivo and atlas.ti. yet, with rare exceptions (e.g., malina and selto, 2001), these reports do not provide much detail on whether and how the tools contributed distinctively to the interpretation. the assumption seems to be that computer aids merely mechanize and simplify manual coding but that the underlying cognitive and interpretive processes of analysis are unchanged. this may perhaps be the case. on the other hand, literature on the use of technology for other tasks (e.g., bilda and demirkan [2003] for computer-aided design) suggests that the impact could be more profound. one might ask for example whether the structures and capabilities of software programs alter the way in which analysts consider their data. while there have been a number of comparative evaluations of different software tools published (weitzman and miles, 1995; bournois, point et voynnet-fourboul, 2002), there has been little study of the effects of their use on the interpretations that are generated. second, the articles in this special issue pay relatively little direct attention to the challenges of writing up case study research. the need to present enough data to carry conviction while respecting normal page limits poses particular problems for publication in traditional academic journal outlets. these are compounded with multiple case study designs. golden-biddle and lockeʼs (2007) book, composing qualitative research, offers a very interesting and instructive analysis of successful exemplars of qualitative research articles published in the major management journals. while case study researchers can learn m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 81-94 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 92 ann langley and isabelle royer from these practices, there is room for innovation beyond the models established by others. for example, as kunter and bell suggest, electronic media (like this journal) may offer scope for creativity unavailable from more traditional outlets1. kunter and bell give the example of rubyʼs (2006) web-based ethnographic study of the oak park community that innovatively combines text and visual materials such as photography and video. finally, a preoccupation that is only indirectly touched on in the articles in this special issue concerns the appropriate criteria for evaluating the quality of case study research. the journal organizational research methods has a forthcoming special issue on this topic that will be very welcome. the concern about criteria is delicate in a domain where multiple epistemological paradigms coexist. our own experience suggests that some of the traditional difficulties that case study researchers may have had in publishing their work in the more highly rated journals may be partly due to disagreement among case study researchers themselves about what criteria are relevant. this is not to argue that case study researchers should all agree. however, it would be helpful if they were more explicit about what their epistemological beliefs are and how these beliefs affect their understanding of appropriate quality criteria. the journal mis quarterly (markus and lee, 1999, 2000a, 2000b) innovated by publishing a series of qualitative research articles in which authors were asked to pay particular attention to defining the evaluation criteria they considered appropriate in the light of their perspective. indeed, the consistency between epistemological perspectives, quality criteria and research methods is probably more important than a given perspective or method per se. a broad variety of approaches to case study research can thus be recognized as legitimate if done well in their own terms, including those offering rich and insightful stories (dyer and wilkins, 1991) as well as those aiming to generate strong theoretical propositions (eisenhardt, 1991). ann langley is professor of strategic management and research methods at hec montréal. she obtained her undergraduate and masters degrees in the uk and her ph.d. in administration at hec in 1987 after working for several years as an analyst both in the private sector and in the public sector. her empirical research deals with strategic decision making, innovation, leadership and strategic change in pluralistic organizations and notably in the health care sector. she has a particular interest in qualitative and process research methods. isabelle royer is a professor of management and research methods at iae de lille (france), the university of lilleʼs business school. she holds a ph.d. in business administration from the university of paris-dauphine and spent eighteen months as a post-doc at the wharton school of the university of pennsylvania. her research centers on decision making and innovation. she is also particularly interested in research methods. 1. note however that in an encouraging development, the academy of management journal has indicated that a higher than usual page limit may be acceptable for articles based on qualitative methods (see the journal’s information for contributors at http://aom.pace.edu/amjnew/contributor_information.html, accessed on 20th december 2006). http://aom.pace.edu/amjnew/contributor_information.html m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 81-94 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 93 perspectives on doing case study research in organizations references � alvesson, m., c. hardy, and b. harley 2004 reflecting on reflexive practices in organization and management theory, working paper, wps-004/9, lund: institute of economic research, lund university. � badham, r., and k. garrety 2003 ʻliving in the blender of changeʼ: the carnival of control in a culture of culture, tamara: journal of critical postmodern organization science, 2: 4, 2238. � badham, r., k. garrety, v. morrigan, m. zanko, and p. dawson 2003 designer deviance: enterprise and deviance in culture change programmes, organization, 10: 4, 707730. � barley, s. r. 1986 technology as an occasion for structuring: evidence from observations of ct scanners and the social order of radiology departments, administrative science quarterly, 31: 1, 78-108. � barley, s. r. 1990 images of imaging: notes on doing longitudinal field work, organization science, 1: 3, 220-247. � bilda, z., and h. demirkan 2003 an insight on designersʼ sketching activities in traditional versus digital media, design studies, 24: 1, 27-50. � bitekhtine, a. forthcoming prospective case study design: qualitative method for deductive theory testing, organizational research methods. � bournois, f., s. point, and c. voynnet-fourboul 2002 lʼanalyse des données qualitatives assistée par ordinateur : une évaluation, revue française de gestion, 137, 71-84. � campbell, d. t. 1975 “degrees of freedom” and the case study, comparative political studies, 8: 2, 178-193. � cunliffe, a. l. 2003 reflexive inquiry in organizational research: questions and possibilities, human relations, 56: 8, 983-1003. � dalton, m. 1959 men who manage: fusions of feeling and theory in administration, new york: wiley. � dyer, w. g., jr., and a. l. wilkins 1991 better stories, not better constructs, to generate better theory: a rejoinder to eisenhardt, academy of management review, 16: 3, 613-619. � eisenhardt, k. m. 1989 building theories from case study research, academy of management review, 14: 4, 532-550. � eisenhardt, k. m. 1991 better stories and better constructs: the case for rigor and comparative logic, academy of management review, 16: 3, 620-627. � fine, g. a. 1993 ten lies of ethnography: moral dilemmas of field research, journal of contemporary ethnography, 22: 3, 267294. � frost, p. j., and r. e. stablein (eds.) 1992 doing exemplary research, newbury park, ca: sage. � glaser, b. g., and a. l. strauss 1967 the discovery of grounded theory: strategies for qualitative research, new york: aldine de gruyter. � glesne, c. 1999 becoming qualitative researchers: an introduction, 2nd edition, new york: longman. � golden-biddle, k., and k. locke 2007 composing qualitative research, 2nd edition, thousand oaks, ca: sage. � goode, w. j., and p. k. hatt 1952 the case study, in w. j. goode and p. k. hatt (eds.), methods of social research, new york: mcgraw-hill, 330-340. � gouldner, a. w. 1954 patterns of industrial bureaucracy, glencoe, il: free press. � guba, e. g., and y. s. lincoln 1994 competing paradigms in qualitative research, in n. k. denzin and y. s. lincoln (eds.), handbook of qualitative research, thousand oaks, ca: sage, 105-117. � hardy, c., n. phillips, and s. clegg 2001 reflexivity in organization and management theory: a study of the production of the research ʻsubjectʼ, human relations, 54: 5, 531-560. � irwin, k. 2006 into the dark heart of ethnography: the lived ethics and inequality of intimate field relationships, qualitative sociology, 29: 2, 155-175 � johnson, p., and j. duberley 2003 reflexivity in management research, journal of management studies, 40: 5, 1279-1303. � kisfalvi, v. 2000 the threat of failure, the perils of success and ceo character: sources of strategic persistence, organization studies, 21: 3, 611-639. � kisfalvi, v. 2002 the entrepreneurʼs character, life issues, and strategy making: a field study, journal of business venturing, 17: 5, 489-518. m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 81-94 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 94 ann langley and isabelle royer � leonard-barton, d. 1990 a dual methodology for case studies: synergistic use of a longitudinal single site with replicated multiple sites, organization science, 1: 3, 248-266. � lerum, k. 2001 subjects of desire: academic armor, intimate ethnography, and the production of critical knowledge, qualitative inquiry, 7: 4, 466-483. � lincoln, y. s., and e. g. guba 1985 naturalistic inquiry, newbury park, ca: sage. � linstead, s. 1994 objectivity, reflexivity, and fiction: humanity, inhumanity, and the science of the social, human relations, 47: 11, 1321-1346. � lipset, s. m., m. a. trow, and j. s. coleman 1956 union democracy: the internal politics of the international typographical union, glencoe, il: free press. � malina, m. a., and f. h. selto 2001 communicating and controlling strategy: an empirical study of the effectiveness of the balanced scorecard, journal of management accounting research, 13: 1, 47-90. � markus, m. l., and a. s. lee, 1999 special issue on intensive research in information systems: using qualitative, interpretive, and case methods to study information technology, mis quarterly, 23: 1, 35-38. � markus, m. l., and a. s. lee, 2000a special issue on intensive research in information systems: using qualitative, interpretive, and case methods to study information technology —second installment, mis quarterly, 24: 1, 1-2. � markus, m. l., and a. s. lee, 2000b special issue on intensive research in information systems: using qualitative, interpretive, and case methods to study information technology –third installment, mis quarterly, 24: 3, 473474. � miles, m. b., and a. m. huberman, 1994 qualitative data analysis: an expanded sourcebook, 2nd edition, thousand oaks, ca: sage. � musca, g 2004 construction de compétences et environnement turbulent. le cas dʼéquipesprojet internet, revue française de gestion, 30: 149, 117-131 � ragin, c. c., and h. s. becker (eds.) 1992 what is a case? exploring the foundations of social inquiry, cambridge: cambridge university press. � ruby, j. 2006 maintaining diversity: an ethnographic study of oak park, illinois, progress reports, philadelphia, pa: temple university. retrieved 19 december 2006 from: http://astro.temple.edu/~ruby/opp/ � silverman, d. 2000 doing qualitative research: a practical handbook, london: sage. � silverman, d. 2006 interpreting qualitative data: methods for analyzing talk, text and interaction, 3rd edition, london: sage. � smith, a. d., and c. zeithaml 1999 the intervening hand: contemporary international expansion processes of the regional bell operating companies, journal of management inquiry, 8: 1, 34-64. � smith, a. d. 2002 from process data to publication: a personal sensemaking, journal of management inquiry, 11: 4, 383-406. � stablein, r. 2006 data in organization studies, in s. r. clegg, c. hardy, t. b. lawrence and w. r. nord (eds.), the sage hanbook of organization studies, 2nd edition, london: sage, 347-369. � stake, r. e. 2000 case studies, in n. k. denzin and y. s. lincoln (eds.), handbook of qualitative research, thousand oaks, ca: sage, 435-454. � van den hoonaard, w. c. 2001 is research-ethics review a moral panic? canadian review of sociology and anthropology, 38: 1, 19-36. � van maanen, j. 1988 tales of the field: on writing ethnography, chicago, il: university of chicago press. � vaughan, d. 1992 theory elaboration: the heuristics of case analysis, in c. c. ragin and h. s. becker (eds.), what is a case? exploring the foundations of social inquiry, new york: cambridge university press, 173-202. � weick, k. 2002 real-time reflexivity: prods to reflection, organization studies, 23: 6, 893898. � weitzman, e. a., and m. b. miles 1995 computer programs for qualitative data analysis: a software sourcebook, thousand oaks, ca: sage. � yin, r. k. 2003 case study research: design and methods, 3rd edition, thousand oaks, ca: sage. http://astro.temple.edu/~ruby/opp/ 528 robert chiam@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 667-679 copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). m@n@gement is a double-blind refereed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.management-aims.com © 2013 m@n@gement and the author(s). m@n@gement est la revue officielle de l’aims m@n@gement is the journal official of aims robert chia 2013 in praise of strategic indirection: an essay on the efficacy of oblique ways of responding m@n@gement, 16(5), 667-679. m@n@gement issn: 1286-4692 emmanuel josserand, cmos, university of technology, sydney (editor in chief) jean-luc arrègle, emlyon business school (editor) laure cabantous, cass business school (editor) stewart clegg, university of technology, sydney (editor) olivier germain, université du québec à montréal (editor, book reviews) karim mignonac, université de toulouse 1 (editor) philippe monin, emlyon business school (editor) tyrone pitsis, university of newcastle (editor) josé pla-barber, universidad de valència (editor) michael tushman, harvard business school (editor) walid shibbib, université de genève (managing editor) alexander bell, université de genève (editorial assistant) martin g. evans, university of toronto (editor emeritus) bernard forgues, emlyon business school (editor emeritus) special issue 667 in praise of strategic indirection: an essay on the efficacy of oblique ways of responding m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 667-679 in praise of strategic indirection: an essay on the efficacy of oblique ways of responding robert chia adam smith business schooluniversity of glasgow robert.chia@glasgow.ac.uk abstract having searched for her hundreds and thousands of times in the crowd, suddenly turning back by chance, i find her there in the waning candlelight (xin qiji, 辛弃疾 song dynasty, in green jade table in the lantern festival). abstract a penchant for the direct, the dramatic and the spectacular remains an overwhelming feature of the west in its dealings in the world of practical affairs. in business, corporate success is frequently credited to the highly visible contributions of heroic individuals ostensibly possessing almost superhuman qualities, including the vision and acumen to dramatically reverse the fortunes of faltering or failing enterprises. leaders are construed as specially endowed causal agents armed with the capacity to take decisive actions in bringing about significant changes, thereby warranting their elevated status and their sometimes excessive rewards. this popular and romantic imagery of heroism in action derives from an inherited western propensity to favour direct-causal, rational-calculative and high-profile actions over more discreet, indirect and at times understated gestures or responses in engendering a desired outcome. consequently, there is a tendency to underestimate the self-transformative power of dynamic relational configurations and their ability to bring about desired outcomes. in this paper we show the downsides of the widely preferred ‘spectacular’ approach to achieving success and argue for greater appreciation of a less conspicuous, and less direct mode of engagement that is more in keeping with a world that is itself ever changing. we call this more nuanced approach ‘strategic indirection’. we maintain that, contrary to popular belief, sustainable success in any field of endeavour is rarely a consequence of large-scale, attention-grabbing actions. rather, the true cause of such success is often found elsewhere in the ‘waning candlelight’ of seemingly inconsequential acts and mundane coping actions. 668 robert chiam@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 667-679 introduction in order to grasp, it is necessary first to release (lao tzu, tao te ching, in chan, 1963: 157). and the end of all our exploring, will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time (t. s. eliot, ‘little gidding’, the four quartets, faber and faber, 2001). an inherent ‘heroism’ persists in the collective reasoning of western management academia that inevitably influences current explanatory models of corporate success. this prevalent attitude is intimately relate to shorttermism in corporate behaviour. clarity of purpose, transparency of intention, rationality of action, and directness of intervention are key features of this preferred ‘frontal’ approach to achieving intended outcomes. according to this ‘heroic’ model of management, it is the bold decisions and often high-profile planned actions taken by significant individuals that primarily account for the success of businesses. organisational fortunes are therefore causally linked to the dramatic interventions of identifiable individuals who are deemed to have been instrumental in shaping the course of events and in bringing about successful states of affairs (tushman and romanelli, 1986; eisenhardt, 1989; kotter, 1995; burgelman & grove, 2007). in this way, leadership is assigned an elevated, ‘heroic’ status. this tendency to over-value individual agency and the efficacy of direct intervention is linked to the widespread academic practice of making sense of the practitioner world ex post facto in more dramatic and tightly coupled causal terms than may actually be the case. whilst there may indeed be instances in which large-scale, high-profile, planned actions do appear to produce immediate short-term effects, there is also evidence to show that more often than not they eventually fail because of the unintended consequences that ensue from such actions (scott, 1998: flyberg, 1998; chia and holt, 2009). one alternative is to look elsewhere for a more ‘loosely coupled’ (weick, 1976) causal explanation, whereby, over time, seemingly inconsequential and understated everyday actions, gestures or responses emerge as primary causal agents in their own right. even more importantly, the notion of passive ‘non-action’ in the sense of ‘allowing things to happen’ must be countenanced in an alternative explanatory schema. for too long, such conceptually more difficult notions have been conveniently overlooked and under-appreciated because of the obvious empirical difficulties associated with them. yet, to attempt to provide a causal explanation of what happens without recognising the role of such nuanced ways of responding would be to do a grave injustice to what actually goes on in the world of practical human affairs. this revised appreciation of the crucial role that such nuanced forms of responses and indeed non-action can play in shaping outcomes, will help reorient and reeducate our attention towards the mundane and the everyday in accounting for success in human endeavours. in this short article we maintain that much is to be gained from appreciating the silent efficacy of indirect, passive and understated ways of responding as opposed to the direct, rational and dramatic forms of action underpinning 669 in praise of strategic indirection: an essay on the efficacy of oblique ways of responding m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 667-679 current theories of management. we argue for a greater appreciation of the way small, seemingly inconspicuous adjustments and self-cultivating refinements, including occasions involving self-restraint in organisational life, actually enables the development of an organisational modus operandi (bourdieu, 1990) that helps prepare it to capitalise on future possibilities. this more benign and understated form of organisational transformation eschews the dramatic and the spectacular in favour of more oblique and circuitous ways of bringing about desired outcomes. we call this ‘anti-heroic’ approach ‘strategic indirection’. strategic indirection refers to a collectively internalised disposition (whether societal or organisational) that favours indirect, circuitous and non-confrontational modes of engagement in dealing with human affairs. modesty of action, patience in allowing things to happen and timeliness of intervention are the hallmarks of strategic indirection. yet, precisely because it favours the less conspicuous, this understated approach lacks the gloss of heroism, the objectivity of reason and the immediacy of impact craved by both business practitioners and management academics alike. nevertheless, a more nuanced appreciation of the efficacy of such indirect responses can have far-reaching consequences for understanding strategic choices, priorities and outcomes. in what follows, we begin by briefly tracing the roots of the ‘heroic’ approach in dealing with the world of practical affairs, showing how it originated from changes in attitudes in ancient greek warfare. we then proceed to expose the attendant downsides of this preferred ‘frontal’ mode of engagement that is intimately tied to planned, rational-calculative reason. we show that this dominant approach is underpinned by commitment to an ontology of being and that revising this commitment to an ontology of becoming enables us to better understand how situations may contain their own internal momentum so that changes can take place even without the need for active intervention. this then leads us to argue that indirect, oblique or circuitous ways of responding, or even non-action (in the sense of ‘letting happen’), can often be more efficacious in allowing a desired outcome to emerge seemingly of its own volition. we end by concluding that business and management scholars would do well to recognise and appreciate the existence and value of this art of strategic indirection in their academic theorising, even though this is not easily or immediately graspable. the direct heroic approach to attaining success one of the intellectual habits upon which we anglo-saxons pride ourselves most is that of going directly to the marrow of a subject, and when we have reached it saying exactly what we mean (arthur smith, chinese characteristics, 1894: 63). nothing is more amusing than to watch the […] chinese […] what is far more likely to occur is the indirect suggestion, by oblique and devious routes, of something that cannot, which must not be told (ibid: 68, my emphasis). the western attitude to dealing with human affairs is characterised by a 670 robert chiam@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 667-679 cultivated penchant for direct, frontal and dramatic action. westerners, by and large, ‘find it natural and normal to meet the world head-on’ (jullien: 2000: 7). being direct, decisive, purposeful and rational are highly valued characteristics in western societies; active doing is much preferred to passive receptivity and/or apparent reticence and inaction. this cultivated preference is clearly evident in the activities of warfare, politics, business, and sport, and even in the seeking of personal relationships. from the glitz and glitter of presidential campaigns to the high drama of reality television, the glamour and hero-worshipping of movie stars and sporting super-heroes, to the insatiable general appetite for eye-catching and attention-grabbing displays and more pertinently in the world of business, to the irresistible tendency to lionise successful corporations and captains of industry for their impressive and often short-term achievements. all these are symptomatic of a deeply entrenched adulation of the dramatic, the heroic and the spectacular within the realm of human affairs. this preference for direct engagement can be traced back to a decisive shift in ancient greek warfare beginning in about the seventh century bc (hanson, 1989: 244; jullien, 2000: 40-42) during which hostile engagement in the form of raids, ambushes and skirmishes gradually gave way to a frontal face-toface clashing of opposing armies. henceforth, a new structure, the phalanx, was introduced in which two bodies of heavily armed combatants were made to advance in tight formation in a head-on confrontation with the enemy. this spectacular clashing represented a newly discovered mode of engagement that has since been lionised in the conduct of warfare. it accounts for the tendency for direct confrontation and a resort to superior force in dealing with and overpowering adversaries—one well exemplified by the ‘shock and awe’ (ullman and wade, 2013) tactics employed in iraq in 2003. yet this appetite for direct, dramatic forms of engagement is not restricted to warfare alone. it pervades much of the western collective psyche and is no less evident in politics, where different ideologies and political views are openly pitted against each other on a regular basis in parliamentary and public debates, academic disputes, the judiciary, where justice is arrived at by confronting evidence amassed by both the prosecution and the defence, drama, where the forces of good and evil are made to confront each other with often tragic or heroic outcomes, and business and sports, where direct competition and the ‘winner takes all’ mentality remains dominant (jullien, 2000: 44). it is even evident in much of classical western art (bryson, 1982: 89-94), where the final display presented by the artist represents a triumphal overcoming of the obstacles the painter faced in his (sic) monumental efforts to portray what he sees. obliterated or obscured from view are the numerous previous failed attempts. born of this ancient legacy, the overall predisposition of the west has been to eulogise that final arrested moment of triumphal accomplishment (i.e., the final end state or outcome) and to downplay the importance of the messier, often convoluted and intrinsically precarious emergence of human situations, including, in particular, the phenomenon of success. there is a built-in impatience for visible, tangible, short-term results. success or victory is to be accomplished ‘loudly’ by directly confronting and overpowering the ‘adversary’. yet such a heroic and spectacular approach in dealing with human affairs brings problems. 671 in praise of strategic indirection: an essay on the efficacy of oblique ways of responding m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 667-679 the downsides of a direct approach [t]he efficacy of (heroic) action is direct (the means leads to an end), but it is both costly and risky (françois jullien, treatise on efficacy, 2004: 48). the sinologist françois jullien (2000; 2004) maintains that this western preference for direct, frontal and heroic confrontation is intimately linked to a planned, goal-oriented, and rational-calculative logic of action. thus ‘a revolutionary designs the model of the city that must be built; a soldier sets out the plan of war to be followed; an economist decides on the growth curve to target […] each projects upon the world an ideal plan that will then have to be incorporated into factual reality’ (jullien, 2004: 3). this is the overarching formulation for the kind of consequentialist reasoning widely preached in business schools, in which actions and decisions are justified and driven by ‘anticipations, incentives and desires’ (march, 2003: 205). such a consequentialist form of reasoning has become so well established that even those ‘concerned with “management” today, although in quest of new models, cannot do without this concept’ (jullien, 2004: 33). it underpins the aspirations and strategic priorities of governments, businesses, and these days even charities and religious institutions, as well as universities, which are increasingly perceived and justified in narrowly instrumental terms. yet this approach carries with it significant downsides. it tends to generate unintended consequences because of the ‘imperious immediacy of interest’ (merton, 1936: 901) associated with such an obsessive preoccupation. because direct, calculative action involves single-mindedly intervening in the regular course of things, it is by definition intrusive and unsettling. it constitutes an arbitrary ‘incision’ (whitehead, 1929: 58) that forcibly disrupts the status quo, much like the effect created by damming a river. such an intrusive act simultaneously produces a ‘foregrounding’ that procures the ‘singleness of the object’ (cooper, 1987: 408) at the expense of a ‘backgrounded’ other. contained within the ‘object’ (or spectacle) that has been singled out for attention, therefore, is an implicit objection to being objectified; the object objects to its forcible sundering from its necessary other with which it is inextricably intertwined. it is this embedded objection that sows the seeds for the unintended consequences that eventually follow. forcibly imposing a pre-determined, rational plan on a pre-existing and coherent world through high-profile interventions therefore implies a certain amount of importunity and incompatibility. it ‘tears at the tissue of things and upsets their coherence’ (jullien, 2004: 54), thereby provoking reticence or even internal resistance that gnaws away quietly at the unwelcome imposition, eventually undermining or annulling its intended efficacy. moreover, such a visibly violent form of intervention, because it occurs at one moment and not another, invariably attracts undue attention. it becomes a spectacle that distracts us from the underlying rumblings of discontent that usually accompany it. while such spectacular events may well feed our appetite for drama and excitement, in reality they lack real impact because much energy is wasted in the display itself. like a spectacular set of fireworks with its ‘manifest superficiality’ (jullien, 2004: 55), they mesmerise us momentarily and then they are gone. in short, a direct, heroic approach to dealing 672 robert chiam@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 667-679 with problems encountered may, on the surface, appear effective, but ‘like supernovas burning brightly and then flaring out, they often leave a big black hole behind’ (ho, 2009: 29). this may take the form of benign resistance from the ‘mutilated’ adversary in question (morin, 1977/1992: 373) that will continue to haunt the all too expedient decisions made. this awareness of the shortcomings of a direct and rational ‘head-on’ approach in dealing with human affairs is much better understood in the arts and humanities, and in the work of the wise. the fact that the irresistible urge to confront, rationalise and react to situations directly and in a quick and ‘decisive’ manner may actually be a weakness rather than a strength is well understood, for instance, by john keats. in a conversation with his companion dilke after an outing, keats came to define his notion of ‘negative capability’ as a rare quality of being content with ‘uncertainties, mysteries, doubts’ and to resist the irritable tendency to reach ‘after fact and reason’ (keats, 1817/2002: 60-61) prematurely. some writers, he observed, exhibited the damning weakness of appearing overly hasty in reaching a conclusive view because of their own egoistic need for certainty. for keats, it is this quality of ‘negative capability’ that characterised men of true lasting success and achievement such as william shakespeare, whom he much admired. negative capability is an indirect response in that it is more an ability to resist action than a positive capability of acting; it is a form of strategic indirection. in a different but related context, william wordsworth (1798/1967) invites us to resist the seductive tendency to be overly active and instrumental, and instead to cultivate an attitude of ‘wise passiveness’ by allowing ourselves to be immersed in nature and in so doing gradually absorb the lessons it holds for us. wise passiveness is a state of calm, contemplative receptivity in which the rational mind is temporarily put to sleep, thereby allowing the body to absorb the impulses from the external world and be enlightened by it. in response to his friend matthew, who had chided him for ‘sitting on an old grey stone’ and dreaming his time away, wordsworth replies: i deem that there are powers, which of themselves our minds impress, that can feed this mind of ours, in a wise passiveness (my emphasis) for wordsworth, there is no need to forcibly confront and rationalise experiences in order to understand them. instead, genuine insights are better arrived at by passively ‘letting happen’. thus he rebukes his friend, albeit obliquely, in the next stanza: think you, mid all this mighty sum of things for ever speaking, that nothing of itself will come, but we must still be seeking? (wordsworth 1798/1967: 17-28) wordsworth’s mannered response encapsulates, yet again, the value of the passive and the indirect that is widely lauded and often expressed in the allusiveness of poetic phrases. it is beyond our scope here to delve deeper into this phenomenon of poetic indirectness, but suffice it to say that negative capability and wise passiveness are two distinct aspects of a multitude of ways 673 in praise of strategic indirection: an essay on the efficacy of oblique ways of responding m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 667-679 of appreciating the value and importance of approaching human situations unheroically and obliquely; of allowing change to happen and then harnessing its powers for our own purposes rather than actively confronting and seeking change in a direct, dramatic manner. this cultivated capacity to resist the urge to confront the world ‘head-on’ and to intervene ‘heroically’ to change things, and instead to bide our time and ‘let change happen’, is predicated upon a deep appreciation of the reality of change. recalibrating dominant attitudes towards change [o]ne must neither pull on plants to hasten their growth (an image of direct action), nor must one fail to hoe the earth around them so as to encourage their growth (by creating favourable conditions for it) […] you must allow it to grow […] allowing things to happen constitutes active involvement (jullien, 2004: 90–91, emphasis original). in the silent transformation, jullien (2011) maintains that our failure to notice the effects of small, cumulative changes over time is due to the grounding of western thought in greek philosophies of being, which encourages us to think in terms of determined forms and stable end states and which therefore leads us to neglect the inexorable nature of perpetual change. as a result, ‘we no more see the world getting warmer than we see the rivers carve out their beds, glaciers melt or the sea eat into the shore, and yet this is what is constantly happening in front of our eyes’ (jullien, 2011: 11). commitment to an ontology of being orients our attention towards end states and their immediate, visible causes rather than towards the underlying processes of emergence; being is privileged over becoming. causality is therefore assigned to the ‘heroic’ actions of stable, identifiable agents and it is this outlook that motivates the direct interventionist approach to human affairs. change is construed as epiphenomenal, something that has to be deliberately brought about through agentic action, rather than as something that occurs naturally and inevitably. as a consequence, active intervention is more valued than passively ‘letting happen’. for others in the west who, like ancient orientals such as lao tzu and chuang tzu (chan, 1963), subscribe to a more processual view of reality (bergson, 1911; james, 1911/1996; whitehead, 1929), however, the heraclitean becoming of things (wheelwright, 1976) is more primary than stable states. for them, change occurs inexorably and inevitably of its own volition. the existence of ‘unowned’ as opposed to ‘owned’ processes of change (rescher, 1996: 42; mackay and chia, 2013) is openly acknowledged; the latter presupposes changes to be a consequence of agentic initiation, whilst the former presupposes change to be a natural phenomenon taking place regardless of human intervention. thus, from this alternative becoming worldview, ‘there are changes, but there are underneath the change no things which change […] there are movements, but there is no inert or invariable object which moves’ (bergson, 1946/1992: 147). acknowledging the presence of ‘unowned’ processes implies acceptance that situations contain their own internal dynamics and that outcomes are more often a result of their 674 robert chiam@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 667-679 ongoing self-reconfiguration, independent of human intentions, than of direct, purposeful interventions. the cause of ‘success’ is therefore more attributable to the underlying propensity of things (jullien, 1999) than to heroic actions on the part of identifiable agents. this, therefore, leads to a tempering of the heroism attributable to leaders and to recognition of the fact that efficacy in attaining outcomes may just as well be a result of timely, understated interventions that accord with the underlying momentum of things. the potency of human action is thereby accorded less significance than our egos would have us believe. instead of forcibly ‘making things happen’ to conform to our wishes, it becomes more important to discern the inherent potentiality always already at work in the configuration of social reality and then to quietly let it work to our advantage. the fact that the ‘unowned’ process of change is commonplace is easily demonstrated. take two very banal examples of such change processes: growth and ageing. we do not see growth, and nor are we able to see ageing, yet they occur almost inexorably of their own volition. it is not just because these kinds of changes are too progressive and continuous for us to easily discern, but because they happen as a totality. thus, in the case of ageing, ‘not only does our hair turn grey, but also bags form under our eyes, lines grow thicker, our features become heavier, our shape is weighed down and the face becomes “like plaster” […] the complexion changes, the skin cracks, the flesh sinks and retracts…’(jullien, 2011: 2). ageing happens quietly, ‘without warning, without giving an alert, “in silence” without attracting attention, and as though independently of us’ (jullien, 2011: 3). global warming, the ripening of wheat and the decaying of buildings are other well-known phenomena of which we usually notice the results but not the quiet and slow transformation process. we are not naturally disposed to noticing the smallest of changes, so that whilst we readily talk about change, ‘we do not perceive it’ (bergson, 1946: 131). the idea that change processes cannot be reduced to the actions ‘of’ things (rescher, 1996: 27) remains relatively foreign to the world of management academia, where heroic agency is regularly assigned an elevated status in accounting for the successes of corporations. as a consequence, there is inadequate appreciation of how situations can develop their own momentum and interlocking logic and thus take on a life of their own, regardless of human intentions. jullien (1999: 14) calls this an ‘inherent potentiality at work in the configuration’. in this regard, timing and timeliness of intervention, including ‘active waiting’, ‘strategic inaction’ and obliquity in the manner of intervening, become critical in increasing the probability of achieving a favourable outcome. for those more steeped in this tradition, it is a heightened sensitivity to such micro-changes often occurring unnoticed and at the periphery of attention that ultimately improves the chances of securing sustainable, longer-term success. such an acute sensitivity to and awareness of micro-changes leads to an ingrained reluctance to heroically intervene in human affairs prematurely and instead to allow situations to ‘ripen’ before quiet, inconspicuous ‘insertions’ are made to achieve desired outcomes. this attitude is what characterises the traditional oriental mind, where the habituated disposition for social harmony and non-intervention is often mistakenly construed as indecisiveness or a lack of ambition and hence a debilitating obstacle to progress. this interpretation is far from accurate. what underpins orientals’ apparent reluctance to intervene spectacularly in the course of things is a rich historical appreciation of an 675 in praise of strategic indirection: an essay on the efficacy of oblique ways of responding m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 667-679 immanent potentiality always already at work in the configuration of reality at each particular moment in time. it is also what inspires wordsworth’s notion of ‘wise passivity’. from this understanding, ‘every kind of reality […] may be perceived as a particular deployment or arrangement of things to be relied on and worked to one’s advantage’ (jullien, 1999: 15). the need for forceful heroic intervention is, therefore, readily eschewed. timeliness of initiation and obliquity of intervention, not magnitude of force, are the keys to efficacy. when, for instance, the tao te ching (chan, 1963) alludes to ‘non-action’, what is really meant is action that is inconspicuous and hence unnoticed, action that ‘goes with the flow’, hence capitalising on the latent energy and momentum of situations to attain one’s end. such action does not create unnecessary ‘ripples’ or generate internal resistance since it carries with it an air of inevitability. this oriental preference for ‘silent’ intervention (jullien, 2004: 46), allowing things to follow their natural course and hence ripen for picking, represents an entrenched attitude in its dealings in the world of affairs, be it in politics, business or in the cultivation of human relationships. such an attitude derives from an appreciation of the presence of ‘unowned’ forces always already at work in every human situation. it is also to be found, albeit less prominently, in the west. in praise of strategic indirection the history of strategy is, fundamentally a record of the application and evolution of the indirect approach […] the indirect approach is as fundamental to the realm of politics as it is to the realm of sex (basil liddle-hart, strategy: the indirect approach, 19, xix-xx) to point at the chicken to insult the dog (old chinese saying) strategic indirection begins with a fundamental appreciation of the pervasiveness and relentlessness of change, and of the presence and potential of the ‘unowned’ processes which it must ride on and harness without destroying in order to arrive at a desired end in the most economical manner possible. it is this heightened sensitivity to the changing nature of reality and the power contained therein that leads to a greater appreciation of the efficacy of the indirect and hence a preference for more circuitous and understated ways of responding. such a nuanced appreciation arises intaglio; it is something which is gradually etched into the disposition of those exposed to the richness of life experiences and those immersed in the writings of the wise. through such prolonged immersions it becomes easier to appreciate how it can be that small, seemingly insignificant self-refining actions including muted responses and gestures of self-restraint (i.e. ‘wise passiveness’ and ‘negative capability’) are more likely to achieve greater individual and organisational outcomes than the more aggressive, goal-oriented approach promoted by business schools. such acts of personal refinement, made in response to the ‘arbitrary and unconditional claims of a proper life’ (march, 2003: 206) and hence carried out without anticipation of any return, can nevertheless surprisingly produce outstanding accomplishments. the quiet efficacy of this ‘vocation-like’ concern for perfecting understanding, action and ultimately the self for its own sake is little understood in management 676 robert chiam@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 667-679 academia. yet, paradoxically, truly sustainable and successful corporations, like enduring civilisations, ancient seats of learning and great works of art, have become so not because they are products of planned, deliberate and rational-calculative actions but because they have emerged unintentionally and unceremoniously as precious by-products of the relentless effort to refine thought and cultivate self. individuals, in committing themselves wholeheartedly to their immediate tasks, within the social-organisational contexts they find themselves in, often unwittingly through their sustained efforts contribute to the betterment of organisation and society. sustainable progress, material success and outstanding accomplishments, like deep insights, often come unexpectedly and ‘on the rebound’ so to speak; apparently aimless and ‘purposeless’ exploration or action can be surprisingly productive in terms of tangible outcomes. like the unexpected and unplanned emergence of the phenomena of language, money, medieval cities and modern civil societies, many major social and commercial accomplishments have been realised not because of any direct, planned activity but because of the cumulative sustained efforts of a multitude of people going about their work diligently without any awareness of their possible contribution to the greater scheme of things. thus, echoing adam smith’s (1759) notion of the ‘invisible hand’, the scottish enlightenment figure adam ferguson wrote: mankind […] in striving to remove inconveniences […] arrive[s] at ends which even their imagination could not anticipate […] every step and every movement of the multitude […] are made with equal blindness to the future, and nations stumble upon establishments, which are indeed the result of human action, but not the execution of any human design (ferguson, 1767/1966: 122, my emphasis) many outstanding social (and indeed organisational) successes that we celebrate and/or take so much for granted have emerged unplanned and unexpected in this way. the same is true of great works of art. thus, john ruskin, the art critic and social reformer, writes: the first and absolute condition of the thing’s ever becoming saleable is, that we shall make it without wanting to sell it; nay, rather with a determination not to sell it at any price, if once we get hold of it. try making your art popular, cheap […] and the foreign market will always show something better. but make it only to please yourselves, and ever be resolved that you won’t let anybody else have it; and forthwith you will find everybody else wants it. [...] [great works of] art ha[ve] only been produced by nations who rejoiced in it; fed themselves with it, as if it were bread; basked in it, as if it were sunshine; shouted at the sight of it; danced with the delight of it; quarrelled for it; fought for it; starved for it; did, in fact precisely the opposite with it of what we want to do with it (ruskin, 1927, vol. 16:184) paradoxically, the more we rely on a direct, rational-calculative logic to justify our high-profile interventions, the more we are likely to succumb to popular public expectations and the more likely it is that a culture of mediocrity will eventually set in. such impatience for immediate results produces ‘a 677 in praise of strategic indirection: an essay on the efficacy of oblique ways of responding m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 667-679 short-sighted world which destroys the sources of its own prosperity […] low thoughts mean low behaviour, and after a brief orgy of exploitation, low behaviour means a descending standard of life’ (whitehead, 1933: 129). truly sustainable success is more often than not attained slowly, painstakingly, unceremoniously, and without expectation for ‘great outcomes’ (march, 2003: 206). thus, the richest people did not initially set out to deliberately accumulate great wealth, the most profitable corporations are not those obsessively ‘profit-driven’ and the happiest people are not those who deliberately seek happiness (kay, 2010). we maintain that, paradoxically, the more action is motivated by such a direct, means-ends logic, ‘the more likely it is that such calculated actions eventually work to undermine and erode their own initial success, often with devastating consequences’ (chia and holt, 2009: x). surprisingly, truly sustainable success does not come from directly seeking it, but instead arises on a ‘rebound’, so to speak. this view is predicated upon an implicit acknowledgement of the presence of unseen situational forces that have a hand in shaping eventual outcomes, regardless of human intentions. the priority shifts from one of actively intervening to one of learning how to be patient and allow things to take shape, then learning to mobilise the inherent tendency of the situation to realise one’s own possibilities. because this more oblique and indirect form of engagement is more broadly diffused and more discreet, it is less noticed and hence less threatening but it is also less widely appreciated; it more easily harmonises with the status quo. the notions of ‘actively waiting for the fruit to ripen’, of ‘letting things happen’, of ‘testing the ground’, of ‘alluding to’ rather than saying, of using ‘quotations as a proxy’ (jullien, 2000: 76-78) and indeed of embracing ‘strategic ambiguity’ better encapsulates this more nuanced and indirect way of engaging with the world of practical affairs. it is one that implicitly acknowledges the ever-changing and transient nature of social reality. it is this celebration of the passive, the understated, the circuitous and the allusive which differentiates strategic indirection from the heroic, rational-calculative approaches championed in the management literature. robert chia is research professor of management at the adam smith business school, university of glasgow. he received his phd in organizational analysis from lancaster university. he is the author/editor of five books and has published extensively in the top international management journals including the academy of management journal, organization science, organization studies and journal of management studies. his research interests include: the application of process thinking to human actions, decisions and change; the logic of practice in strategy making; east-west philosophies and wisdom and their implications for the conduct of business; and the aims of management education. prior to entering academia robert worked for seventeen years in shipbuilding, aircraft engineering, human resource management and manufacturing management. 678 in praise of strategic indirection: an essay on the efficacy of oblique ways of responding m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 667-679 · bergson, h. [1911] (1998). creative evolution. new york: dover publications. · bergson, h. [1946] (1992). the creative mind. new york: citadel press. · bourdieu, p. (1990). the logic of practice. cambridge: polity press. · bryson, n. (1982). vision and painting: the logic of the gaze. london: methuen. · burgelman, r., & grove, a. (2007). let chaos reign, then reign in chaos repeatedly: managing strategic dynamics for corporate longevity. strategic management journal, 28(10), 965-979. · chan, w. t. (1963). a source book of chinese philosophy. princeton, nj: princeton university press. · chia, r., & holt, r. (2009). strategy without design: the silent efficacy of indirect action. cambridge: cambridge university press. · cooper, r. (1987). information, communication and organisation: a post-structural revision. the journal of mind and behavior, 8(3), 395-416. · eisenhardt, k. m. (1989). making fast strategic decisions in highvelocity environments. academy of management journal, 32(3), 543-576. · eliot, t. s. 2001. the four quartets. london: faber and faber. · ferguson, a. [1767] (1966). an essay on the history of civil society. d. forbes (ed.). edinburgh: edinburgh university press. · flyvbjerg, b. (1998). rationality and power: democracy in practice. chicago, il: the university of chicago press. · hanson, v. d. (1989). the western way of war. london: hodder and stoughton. · ho, k. p. (2009). curbing the rise of the hero-ceo. straits times. retrieved from: http://www.smu.edu.sg/sites/ default/files/smu/news_room/ smu_in_the_news/2009/sources/ st_20091118_1.pdf · james, w. [1911] (1996). some problems of philosophy. lincoln: university of nebraska press. · jullien, f. (1999). the propensity of things. new york: zone books. · jullien, f. (2000). detour and access: strategies of meaning in china and greece. new york: zone books. · jullien, f. (2004). a treatise on efficacy: between western and chinese thinking. honolulu: university of hawaii press. · jullien, f. (2011). the silent transformation. london: seagull books. · kay, j. (2010). obliquity. london: profile books. · keats. j. [1817] (2002). letters to g. and t. keats, 21 december 1817. in g. f. scott (ed.), selected letters of john keats (pp. 60-61). cambridge, ma: harvard university press. · kotter, j. p. (1995). leading change: why transformation efforts fail. harvard business review, 73(2), 59. · liddell-hart, b. (1967). strategy: the indirect approach. london: faber and faber. · mackay, r. b., & chia, r. (2013). choice, chance and unintended consequences in strategic change: a process understanding of the rise and fall of northco automotive. acaemy of management journal, 56(1), 208-230. · march, j. g. (2003). a scholar’s quest. journal of management inquiry, 12(3), 205-207. · merton, r. (1936). the unanticipated consequences of purposive social action. american sociological review, 1(6), 894-904. · morin, e. [1977] (1992). method: towards a study of humankind. (j. l. roland bēlanger, trans.). new york: peter lang. · rescher, n. (1996). process metaphysics. new york: state university of new york press. · ruskin, j. (1927). the complete works. london: nicholson and weidenfeld. · scott. j. (1998). seeing like a state: how certain schemes to improve the human condition have failed. new haven: yale university press. · smith, a. [1759] (2010). the theory of moral sentiments. new york: penguin classics. · smith, a. (1894). chinese characteristics. new york: fleming h. revell. · tushman, m. l., newman, w., & romanelli, e. (1986). convergence and upheaval: managing the unsteady pace of organization evolution. california management review, 29(1), 29–44. · ullman, h. k., & wade, j. p. (2013). shock and awe: achieving rapid dominance. new york: createspace independent publishing. references 679 robert chiam@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 667-679 · weick, k. e. (1976). educational organizations as loosely coupled systems. administrative science quarterly, 21(1), 1-19. · wheelwright, p. (1974). heraclitus. new york: atheneum. · whitehead, a. n. [1926] (1985). science and the modern world. london: free association books. · whitehead, a. n. (1929). process and reality. new york: macmillan. · whitehead, a. n. [1933] (1942). adventures of ideas. harmondsworth: penguin. · wordsworth, w., & coleridge, s. t. [1798] (1967). expostulation and reply. in w. j. b, owen (ed.), lyrical ballads (vol. 1, pp. 17-24). london: methuen. · zipf, g. k. (1965). human behaviour and the principle of least effort. new york: hafner. 528 jeroen veldman & hugh willmottm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 605-620 copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). m@n@gement is a double-blind refereed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.management-aims.com © 2013 m@n@gement and the author(s). m@n@gement est la revue officielle de l’aims m@n@gement is the journal official of aims jeroen veldman hugh willmott 2013 what is the corporation and why does it matter? m@n@gement, 16(5), 605-620. m@n@gement issn: 1286-4692 emmanuel josserand, cmos, university of technology, sydney (editor in chief) jean-luc arrègle, emlyon business school (editor) laure cabantous, cass business school (editor) stewart clegg, university of technology, sydney (editor) olivier germain, université du québec à montréal (editor, book reviews) karim mignonac, université de toulouse 1 (editor) philippe monin, emlyon business school (editor) tyrone pitsis, university of newcastle (editor) josé pla-barber, universidad de valència (editor) michael tushman, harvard business school (editor) walid shibbib, université de genève (managing editor) alexander bell, université de genève (editorial assistant) martin g. evans, university of toronto (editor emeritus) bernard forgues, emlyon business school (editor emeritus) special issue 605 what is the corporation and why does it matter? m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 605-620 what is the corporation and why does it matter? jeroen veldman hugh willmott cardiff business school veldmanj@cardiff.ac.uk cardiff business school willmotth@cardiff.ac.uk abstract ‘management’ is widely and deeply embedded in ‘corporations’. yet in many studies of management and organization the corporation is an influential but shadowy and largely unaccountable presence. rarely is the modern, capitalist corporation thematized. this article contributes to remedying this omission by attending to how the corporation is a product of three imaginaries: legal, economic, and political. in the post-medieval order, the legal imaginary made possible the construction of the corporate form; the economic imaginary has promoted an expansion of this form and shaped its subsequent development; and, finally, the political imaginary offers a way of appreciating how politics, including the power of the state, is key to (i) the rise of the modern corporation, and (ii) to a recognition of how the primacy of the political in the formation and development of the modern corporation is articulated through, and obscured behind, the dominance of legal and economic imaginaries. attending to the three imaginaries, it is argued, is central to a thorough comprehension of the modern corporation, a concomitant appreciation of its deeply divisive consequences, and lastly, to the development of policies designed to counteract its malign effects. 606 jeroen veldman & hugh willmottm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 605-620 introduction there are, we contend, few issues in management and organization studies (mos) more critical than understanding the modern corporation. today, ‘corporate governance’ and ‘corporate responsibility’ are business buzzwords and are becoming increasingly popular as objects of study. yet what ‘corporate’ means, and the contemporary (re)formation and significance of corporations, are rarely the focus of academic study (for an exception, see crouch, 2001, in particular chapter 3). our intention here is to shed some light on the concept of ‘the modern corporation’ and, in doing so, to make a timely contribution to a transformation in the way corporate practices are understood, taught, and enacted. what is a corporation? in mos it would seem as if this question has limited relevance, although mos is the context in which much ‘management’ is accomplished and where many structures and processes of organizing are located. of course, within mos the purpose, regulation, governance, and responsibility of corporations are taken up for examination where various conceptions of the corporation are more or less implicitly invoked. there is also some residual awareness and appreciation of debates about ‘the modern corporation’, associated with issues of ‘ownership and control’, ‘the managerial revolution’ (berle and means, 2007[1932]), ‘the visible hand’ (chandler, 2003), etc. the ‘financialization’ of corporations may soon be added to such background understandings (davis, 2011; epstein, 2005; fligstein, 1993). but, to our knowledge, this awareness has not resulted in the development of a research program, a stream of research in standing working groups, or even a track within mos conferences dedicated specifically to interrogating and researching the corporate form1. indeed, it would appear that study of the corporation has been quietly ceded to other specialisms such as business history, law, economics, and political science. the corporation and imaginaries what, then, is the corporation? our approach to answering this question presumes that its nature and meaning are inescapably contested and that a variety of imaginaries have been constructed which have rendered the corporate form meaningful, real, and consequential. we identify three imaginaries that have framed and influenced the properties and capacities vested in the modern corporation2: the legal, the economic, and the political. as will become clear, our view is that that these imaginaries are intertwined to the effect that they often mutually reinforce and contradict one another. although analytically distinguishable, they are practically enmeshed3. the political imaginary, we will suggest, is a condition of possibility of legal and economic imaginaries that have obscured the primacy of the political. we adopt the term ‘imaginary’ to convey the understanding that (i) we have no direct access to the phenomena, including the phenomenon of ‘the corporation’ itself, which we seek to examine and explicate; (ii) imaginaries are developed to construct, interpret, and scrutinize social phenomena; (iii) imaginaries exert performative effects insofar as they are (albeit partially and selectively) enacted and institutionalized. whereas the legal and economic imaginaries directly evoke distinct conceptions and prompt particular enactments of the 1. here we make a distinction between ‘the corporation’, which can be the collection of individuals, the assets attributed to it, and ‘the corporate form’ as its (imaginary) representation (e.g. in the legal or economic spheres). 3. our notion of the imaginary is loosely compatible with laclau’s (1990) concept of the (social) ‘imaginary’ which, for him, ‘structures the field of intelligibility’ and is therefore ‘the condition of possibility for the emergence of any object’ (ibid: 64). in our case, the corporate form is the emergent object which is articulated within the legal, economic and political fields of intelligibility. 2. we acknowledge that different legal systems and historical developments place different constraints on the concept of incorporation. a rich scholarly field has developed around these differences, comparing the resultant governance systems and their relative effects (guinnane et al. 2007; gourevitch and shinn 2005). however, there are two arguments which suggest that these differences are marginal compared to some underlying similarities. first, the contemporary concept of incorporation has developed in a strikingly similar way all over the world in almost exactly the same time-frame (bowman 1996; guinnane et al. 2007). as bowman (1996:291) argues: “the corporate reconstruction of the world political economy in the late twentieth century (...) appears to be modelled on the corporate transformation of north american society in the early-to-mid-twentieth century.” although national and regional differences can be found in the precise understanding of incorporation, the major points by which incorporation diverges from other forms of business representation in legal systems worldwide are unwavering. second, as we make clear in the economic imaginary section below, the adoption of a contractual model of the corporation has, after the 1970s, spread a uniform understanding of incorporation across the world. this has, in turn, made it almost impossible to conduct business on an international level without acknowledging and accepting the assumptions behind the angloamerican concept of incorporation (see also guinnane et al. 2007:690). for these two reasons we consider the contemporary concept of ‘incorporation’ to be internationally accepted – that is to say, a specific form of incorporation, characterized as the modern western limited liability share corporation, which emerged principally from anglo-american legal and economic origins in the 19th and 20th century. 607 what is the corporation and why does it matter? m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 605-620 corporate form, the political imaginary, as we conceive of it here, is a condition of possibility of the other two imaginaries and, relatedly, the political imaginary makes possible the casting of a reflective glance at those conditions as well as a glance at their consequences. our basic proposition has been pithily stated by paddy ireland, a corporate law specialist, to whose work we are particularly indebted: “[the] emergence and development of [the corporate legal form] was not the economically-determined product of efficiency-driven evolution. it was, rather, in significant part the product of the growing political power and influence of the financial property owning class. the same is true of its recent reinforcement and entrenchment, and of the attempts to extend its global reach” (ireland, 2010: 853). the modern corporation modern economic organization is heavily dependent upon a distinctive — incorporated, limited liability — conception of the corporate form. this form has become “one of the most successful inventions in history, as evidenced by its widespread adoption and survival as a primary vehicle of capitalism over the past century” (butler, 1988:99). at the apex of the corporate form stand the huge, multinational firm and its subsidiaries. by the end of the 20th century, about half of the world’s trade was conducted between such firms (kobrin, 2006:220). twenty-nine corporations then figured in the list of the world’s largest economies (chandler and mazlish, 2006; goodwin, 2006:135). these firms alone hold 90 percent of all technology and product patents worldwide (dine 2006:152). many of the potentially problematic effects of the corporate form — notably, with regard to its capacity to concentrate wealth and power — have been acknowledged since the early 13th century (post, 1934; micklethwait, 2005). as a consequence of this, the corporate form was held under sovereign control until the late 18th century (mclean, 2004). pressures to expand and fund imperialist geopolitical ambitions (neocleous, 2003) slowly divorced the corporate form from direct political control. in the 19th century, political restrictions were further questioned and subsequently relaxed. further relaxations and occasional tightening of these state-mediated political restrictions have ebbed and flowed in the 20th and 21st centuries (bowman, 1996). thus, for example, following the financial crash of 2007 and 2008, the activities and tax affairs of major financial corporations have reemerged as an object of significant public interest, contestation, and calls for i mproved regulation. the shifting influence of the economic and legal imaginaries of the corporate form has contributed to its changing contours and significance4. historically, the economic imaginary, as it is articulated in arguments for efficiency and/ or improved access to capital (chandler, 2002), has been invoked to promote and to account for the displacement of partnerships by the modern limited liability corporation (guinnane et al, 2007). similarly, it has been argued that contemporary accounts of corporate governance foreshadow an end of history for corporate law (hansmann and kraakman, 2000). in such teleological accounts (see khurana, 2007), a dominant (e.g. economic) imaginary is seen 4. whilst there is a measure of agreement about its rise to dominance and economic influence from the end of the 19th century (chandler, 2002; guinnane et al., 2007; horwitz, 1985; roy, 1999) there are marked differences of understanding about the nature and significance of the corporate form amongst specialists in legal studies (freund 1897; dewey 1926; ireland 2003; laufer 1994; lederman 2000; naffine 2003; wells 2005), economics (jensen and meckling, 1983:14), corporate governance (bratton and mccahery 1999:5), political science (ciepley, 2013; bowman, 1996), and organization theory (schrader 1993:1). 608 jeroen veldman & hugh willmottm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 605-620 to foster an ‘optimal’ or inevitable organizational form (ireland, 2010: 837-838), thereby obfuscating deep disagreements that regard the emergence and development of corporations during the 19th and 20th centuries (carroll et al., 2012; nace, 2003). these disputes have their echoes in contemporary debates about the relative merits of the incorporated, limited liability conception of the corporate form in comparison to other possibilities, such as cooperatives or partnerships. key to grasping and interrogating on-going processes of consolidating and problematizing the corporate form is an appreciation of the dynamic of contestation in which, typically, well-resourced groups mobilize resources to institutionalize, deinstitutionalize, and reinstitutionalize preferred versions of the corporate form. traces of this dynamic are evident in the diverse attributes often used to characterize this corporate form, such as ‘entity’, ‘subject’, ‘agent’, ‘aggregation of individuals’, ‘nexus of contracts’. we now take a closer look at the genesis of these notions. the legal imaginary the role of the state in the establishment of modern corporations is seminal and remains significant today. a charter provided by the state initially enabled distinct, corporate entities to undertake a (very limited) range of activities — such as building roads or canals — where these activities had been assessed to yield substantial public benefit5. in contrast to other not-for-profit corporations, the chartered business corporation was permitted to make a private profit for those who invested in it but the liabilities for its investors were unlimited. the granting of a charter facilitated private funding of the provision of public goods in a way that, in principle, retained close public oversight of such business ventures while holding partners ultimately responsible for losses. from these beginnings, the history of the corporation has been one of contestation — with regard, inter alia, to the granting of limited liability to corporations and the justification for placing limits on the range of activities undertaken by chartered corporations, to corruption in relation to the granting of monopolies, and to the respective merits of the legal form of the partnership versus the corporation (horwitz, 1985). the partnership, as a legal form, is distinguished by the indivisibility of its assets and the partners who invest directly in it. there is no separation between the assets of the entity and those who own it; it follows, therefore, that the assets of the partnership can be seized by the partners’ creditors6. this means that there is a material incentive for partners, regardless of whether they are practicing or passive investors or not, to pay close attention to the liabilities (e.g. debts) of fellow partners as well as those of the partnership, since all partners are directly exposed to both types of liability. the modern corporation as a legal form is typically defined as a joint stock company (jsc)7. it is distinguished by a separation of the assets of the entity and the assets of those who invest in it, the shareholders. that separation exists because the jsc is constructed in the legal imaginary as a separate legal entity that holds the assets of the corporation. over time, the separate legal ‘entity’, in which the personal assets of shareholders are divorced from the corporate assets of the jsc, has become endowed with an (agential) capacity8 , which, importantly, enables this entity to own other 5. it is relevant to note that the corporate form was granted to other entities, such as town, universities, etc. before it was bestowed upon businesses. this enabled the town, for example, to make contracts in its name, and against assets assigned to it, rather than in the name of individuals (see post, 1934; williston, 1888). 6. upon the retirement or departure of a partner, there is a substantive or formal liquidation of assets to which partners have priority access, depending upon whether a new partner can be found to purchase the departing partner’s share of the assets. 7. it is relevant to note that the jsc did not appear overnight. initially, it was barely distinguishable from the partnership but over a period of approximately fifty years, it took on a distinctive identity that is central to ‘the modern doctrine of separate corporate personality, with its reified corporations and “complete separation” of shareholders and the company’ (ireland, 2010: 847) 8. this ‘entity’ has become consolidated in the legal imaginary as a reified singular construct with attributions of agency, ownership, and rights. this construct has been understood as a full legal ‘subject’ or even ‘person’. anthropomorphic imagery is widely engaged in both american (ciepley, 2013; johnson, 2012) and british (wells, 2005) contexts. a vivid example is provided by mitt romney, who stated in his presidential campaign that “corporations are persons, sir!” (http://www. youtube.com/watch?v=e2h8ujx6t0a). on the basis of such imagery, the corporate form has been endowed in the usa with a large set of amendment rights (veldman and parker, 2012). there are, of course, questions to be raised about a legal imaginary which conceives of the corporation as a discrete entity or ‘subject’ with powers of agency, ownership, etc. abstracted, or differentiated, from its members. in this paper, however, we focus on the performative effects of different imaginaries, and thereby contribute to an ethically-inflected debate about the consequences of these imaginaries, rather than devote more attention to their ontological or epistemological justification. 609 what is the corporation and why does it matter? m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 605-620 such entities. it is a capacity that is highly significant for the development of capitalism because it has allowed economic activity to become concentrated within a small number of very large corporations (see supra, page 5) as a consequence of processes of acquisition and merger. these corporations now exert a powerful, monopoly-like influence over many areas of economic activity nationally and, increasingly, globally9. in the legal imaginary, it is the entity— not the shareholders, managers, or creditors — that owns the assets of the corporation. the shareholders are legally charged with the formal and potentially substantial responsibility of electing boards of directors, and influence their decisions through this and other mechanisms; their control, however, does not extend to exercising any right over the assets of the corporation. nor are shareholders legally the primary residual claimants of corporate revenues or assets. if bankruptcy strikes, it is the creditors who have the first claim in the legal imaginary. likewise, if a breach of health and safety regulation occurs and a penalty is exacted, the fine is not levied on the assets of investors or the managers. instead, such charges are exacted upon the assets of the corporation. the notion that the corporate entity, rather than its shareholders, owns its assets is a condition of the possibility of establishing limited liability. with the government as its midwife and guardian, this concession became established in the mid-19th century. the concession was won by shareholders, who, as a consequence of limited liability, retain their access to rewards but minimize the risks associated with the potential recklessness or incompetence of managers and with the turbulence of markets. in addition to capping the risk of claims upon shareholders by creditors, the limited liability format also serves to minimize the growth-restricting necessity of keeping some assets liquid, or devoting assets to (unproductive) insurance in order to hedge against risks. the protection afforded by limited liability to shareholders extends to directors and executives, whose private assets are safe from seizure by creditors or shareholders damaged by any deleterious financial consequences of their actions. the contrast with the partnership form is stark. whereas partners are subject to losses, including debts incurred by fellow partners, the grant of limited liability to the corporation “[…] permits a man to avail himself of acts if advantageous to him, and not to be responsible for them if they should be disadvantageous; to speculate for profits without being liable for losses” (edward cox, 1856, cited in ireland, 2010: 844). what, then, of board members and senior executives as constituents of the jsc? they exercise most immediate control over the assets of the corporation. they may also own shares in the company, which entitles them to receive dividends, to trade and/or liquidate their shares freely, and grants them some residual rights over corporate assets after creditors have been paid. their legal duty, however, is not to act on behalf of shareholders or to maximize shareholder value but, rather, to act “in the best interests of the company” (parkinson, 2003: 493) — a duty that extends to all those deemed to have an investment in the corporation. although they are not the legal owners of corporations, shareholders are the principal beneficiaries of the limited liability corporate form (which is justified by reference to its more productive, but also more risky, use of assets). contrary to what advocates of agency theory and shareholder value may assume or conjecture (to be discussed below), it is important to underscore 9. it has also enabled the profusion of opaque international control and finance structures (palan et al., 2010), and unclear attributions of liability (ackroyd and murphy, 2013). 610 jeroen veldman & hugh willmottm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 605-620 the point that shareholders do not ‘own’ the corporation within the legal imaginary. the widely rehearsed wisdom that the corporate form is ‘owned’ or used to protect and promote the (exclusive) interests of its shareholders as a prioritized constituency, is a myth (allen, 1992: 265; crouch, 2011:136). qua entity, the corporate form can have multiple ‘owners’ or ‘stakeholders’; these stakeholders may have a variety of ‘investments’ in its formation, development, and continuation (ireland, 2005, 2009, 2010; robe, 2011; stout, 2012). in the legal imaginary, the corporation is conceived as “having responsibilities to a range of constituents, including shareholders as well as employees [including managers], customers, creditors, and the general public” (ciepley, 2013: 147)10. we now turn to consider the economic imaginary. the economic imaginary the economic imaginary does not directly challenge or overturn the legal imaginary. instead, the ‘entity’ that is central to the legal imaginary is placed in the background as an inconsequential ‘legal fiction’. in this process of displacement, attention is shifted away from the legal entity and the role of executives in safeguarding and expanding the assets of the corporation on behalf of a wide range of stakeholders to the material interests and right of control that is ascribed exclusively to investors. the economic imaginary routinely speaks to the superior efficiency of the corporation as an organizational form (hanssman and kraakman, 2000). rational economic justifications for the jsc advanced by the economic imaginary underscore how, for example, in contrast to the partnership, there is less need to maintain substantial liquid resources, with the beneficial outcome that those resources are available for investment in productive processes, thereby reducing the cost of capital in relation to prospective returns. as a consequence of shares being tradable, the joint stock company is also seen to bring the benefit of greater liquidity, as noted earlier. furthermore, and again in contrast to the partnership form, the liquidation and exchange of firm assets is avoided. higher returns can be expected since less provision must be made for claims upon assets11. in the economic imaginary, these advantages are calculated comfortably to offset the downside of surrendering any direct legal claim on the assets of the jsc. nonetheless, there remain two significant downsides to the jsc without limited liability. in addition to shares being less easily tradable because they carry a residual risk, shareholders are also obliged to safeguard the value of their shares by expending time and effort in understanding and monitoring the business (like members of a partnership). apart from limiting exposure to debt incurred by the firm to the value of the shares, limited liability substantially reduces these other burdensome opportunity costs and therefore makes investment in the business corporation more appealing than investment in a partnership. there is, however, also a significant drawback associated with shareholding in a limited liability jsc as it is conceived within the economic imaginary. shareholders remain dependent upon the honesty as well as the competence of managers who are hired to control the activities of the corporation in place of partners and/or shareholders. as employees, managers have no material 10. in conceptions of the corporate form which prevailed from the 1930s until the 1970s the legal imaginary led to the view of the corporate form as a ‘quasi-public’ type of representation (berle and means, 2007[1932]) which implicitly incorporated a stakeholder conception of governance (drucker, 2006[1946], kaysen, 1957). 11. what the shareholder owns is a coupon, whose value is only indirectly and indeterminately related to the assets of the jsc. rather than relating to the assets themselves, the value of the coupon depends upon imponderables such as investor sentiment (with regard to the particular jsc but also financial markets). 611 what is the corporation and why does it matter? m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 605-620 incentive comparable to partners or shareholders to maximize returns to investors. they may merely ‘satisfice’ performance and/or engage in their own vanity, job-securing, or empire-building projects. the assessment that managers lack sufficient inducement to safeguard and maximize the interests attributed to shareholders summons the specter of an ‘agency problem’, for which the favored economic solution is the introduction of sufficiently potent incentives in the form of stock options and (short-term) performance-related bonuses designed to align executive decision-making with the maximization of shareholder value (khurana, 2007). in this agency-theoretic economic imaginary there are three radical departures from the legal imaginary. first, the corporation is cast as a ‘nexus of contracts’ (bratton, 1989), that is, as a nexus of on-going contractual relations among the self-interested, atomistic individuals who comprise its factors of production. imagining the corporation as a continuous process of contract negotiation means that coordination through hierarchy becomes comparatively less significant. relatedly, less weight is given to a conception of management as a materially and symbolically privileged element, which possesses obligations as well as rights, within a vertical division of labor. there is also a departure from a view of managers as impartial experts or mediators who apply their expertise to make informed, well-balanced decisions in the interest of wider sets of stakeholders. second, according to the agency-theoretic economic imaginary, the most critical aspect of corporate governance concerns the contract between shareholders (principals) and directors and executives (agents) (bratton, 1989; jackson, 2000). this leads to a dyadic view of corporate governance in which parties other than investors, directors, and executive officers are largely external to this conception of the corporation and its governance. as johnson (2012: 1160) observes: “other parties, however important their contributions to the flourishing of dynamic enterprise, are regarded as secondary, instrumental participants, and are remitted to contract law or other legal regimes dealing with creditors’ rights, employees’ rights, consumer protection, or environmental concerns, and so on.” third, the contemporary, agency-theoretic economic imaginary “recasts firm relations in terms of discrete, bilateral contracts. [it] deemphasizes the entity […] to find the firm’s essence, [it] looks solely to the behaviour of individual economic actors” (bratton, 1988/9). 428). differences between the respective legal and economic imaginaries are summarized in table 1. 612 jeroen veldman & hugh willmottm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 605-620 table 1. legal and economic imaginaries legal imaginary economic imaginary ownership held by legal entity held by legal fiction, but attributed to shareholders as prioritized constituency fiduciary duties to ‘the company’ to ‘the shareholders’ limited liability historical addition conditional upon the establishment of a legal entity necessary to fulfill the potential of the corporation as a vehicle for the comparatively riskless expansion of private wealth from the perspective of the legal imaginary, the economic imaginary relies upon a displacement that amounts to intellectual shamanism (bratton, 1989; robé, 2011; see also quote below), as it lends unsupportable (academic) legitimacy to the assertion that “public companies should be run predominantly, if not exclusively, in their [the shareholders’] interests” (ireland, 1999: 49), and because the distinctive advantages of the corporate form over the partnership form — such as limited liability and the reduction of opportunity costs — are trumpeted without regard to the legal imaginary of the firm in which a collective, multi-stakeholder conception of its purpose is assumed. the political imaginary advocates of a political imaginary contend that “[...] it is important that scholars of corporate governance do not permit deeply political processes to be passed off as the products of a politically neutral, purely economic logic or allow the distributional dimensions of corporate governance to be spirited off the agenda by the shamans of law-and-economics, those unremitting class warriors for the rich and powerful” (ireland, 2005: 81, emphasis added). the political imaginary gives primacy to relations of power, formulated primarily in terms of class and of contests between fractions of capital in which legal and economic elements are conceived as a medium as well as an outcome of relations of domination and subjugation. within the political imaginary, the key to understanding the historical emergence and subsequent development of the corporate form is neither economic efficiency nor refinements in legal theory. rather, the evolution of the corporate form is understood to be integral to shifts in power relations between classes, and their respective capacities for mobilizing resources to consolidate or transform relations of domination in which elites systematically gain material and symbolic advantage. the political imaginary facilitates an account of the emergence of the jsc based upon the priorities of a rentier class instead of an account that celebrates some other, more impersonal or ostensibly progressive set of factors. it is informed by the understanding that, when historically viewed, the partnership form was appropriate and viable for all but a few business ventures (mclean, 2004). the exception of incorporation was granted only where a public benefit was clear, where the risks were exceptionally high, and where the activities of the business could be readily routinized. only in such limited circumstances, as adam smith argued, may the rewards of the jsc, in terms of prospective public benefits, conceivably outweigh the risks of ‘negligence and profusion’ 613 what is the corporation and why does it matter? m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 605-620 invited by the jsc. such risks arise from executives’ misuse of the money of others and from the irresponsibility of rentiers generally disinclined to take a close interest in the management of corporations. in recent years there have been numerous individual and systemic examples of such ‘negligence and profusion’. why, then, was free incorporation and general limited liability granted by the state? the political imaginary invites consideration of which group or groups wielded sufficient influence and/or stood to benefit most from extracting this concession. during the early 19th century, the class of investors expanded in size and influence. prior to the establishment of the jsc, members of the rentier class sought to invest wealth but found themselves restricted to buying government debt that offered unexciting returns or to investing in partnerships at rates pegged by usury laws (until 1854), which also yielded slim returns; or, finally, they could risk their fortunes by forming or joining partnerships, which required their personal involvement in management and brought with it liability issues. even opportunities for pursuing the latter course of action, which promised the highest economic returns, were restricted, since most partnerships were able to fund desired expansion by ploughing back profits or by borrowing at capped rates instead of by attracting further investors. it was to the growing, and increasingly influential, class of rentiers that the prospect of the jsc with limited liability was most attractive. when investing in such a business, rentiers were able, at least in principle12, to secure a high-yield and yet comparatively risk-free return on their capital; moreover, the coupons that represented that capital also became more easily tradable. the increased tradability of these coupons facilitated the distribution of capital across a portfolio of investments, thereby reducing investor risk. with the establishment of many jscs in which to invest, coupled with the protection afforded by limited liability, rentiers were able to enjoy capital appreciation and/or strong dividends without the demands, costs, risks, or responsibilities of overseeing, or even inquiring into, how their gains were generated. however, the position of the rentier who speculates in the trading of coupons, where the prospect of boundless rewards is enhanced by the containment of risks, is politically contingent as well as historically dynamic. there is no guarantee that this position can be be maintained, as occasional calls for the mutualization and nationalization of assets attest. as circumstances change, restrictions upon speculative investment activity may be (re)imposed in order to redress their excessive relaxation. during the 20th century, the rapid growth of the jsc drew in comparatively small shareholders in addition to the rentier class. this widening of share ownership through institutional investment (e.g. pensions, savings) resulted in a wider dispersion of share ownership and a resulting ‘socialization’ of the ownership of the modern corporation. as the capacity of shareholders to exercise control (e.g. over the appointment of directors) has been diluted, corporate managers have become empowered to prioritize and pursue objectives — self-interested as well as public-interested — other than those attributed to shareholders13. in the united states, in particular, ‘managerial capitalism’ (khurana, 2007) was advanced by a continuing diffusion of share ownership, the increased ability to obtain funding from sources other than share markets, and by a 12. in practice, rentiers continued to be exposed to fraud, in part because they declined to take any active interest in the businesses in which they invested. 13. but, as ireland (nd: 16) cautions, while managers enjoyed more room to maneuver, they could not afford to ignore or marginalize shareholders or substantially redefine their established markers of performance. even when external pressures were relaxed, executives willingly imposed similar disciplines upon themselves by developing multi-divisional management structures in which decentralized profit centers competed for capital. 614 jeroen veldman & hugh willmottm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 605-620 partial embrace of keynesianism, reflected in increased state subsidization and intervention in the private sector resulting from the new deal (e.g. the expansion of a military-industrial complex, see marens, 2012). by the 1960s, it has been suggested that even in the us “little was left of the classical corporation. its internal dealings with shareholders and its debtor-creditor relations were substantially regulated by the federal securities acts. its labor relations were regulated by the new federal labor laws. its relations in the general market with consumers and suppliers became increasingly regulated by the antitrust laws [...]” (hovenkamp quoted in tsuk, 2003: 1897). what remained unchanged, however, was the legal imaginary of the corporate form and its conception in company law (ireland 2009). in the immediate postwar era, a consensus view developed, coincident with the post-war settlement, that corporate law had accommodated an irreversible managerial revolution. accordingly, the relevant challenge was not to reform the law but rather to ensure that the benefits of this revolution were fully realized by training a cadre of scientific and impartial corporate managers to represent the interests of multiple stakeholders (drucker, 2006; kaysen, 1957; khurana, 2007). that the managerial revolution was shallowly rooted, incomplete, or stillborn, if not wholly illusory, became evident in the 1970s. a mounting fiscal crisis, poor returns to investors, and disillusionment with what were now construed as the smothering attentions of a bloated and unsustainable nannying state, provided the conditions for a counter-revolution. economic decline and fiscal crisis presented an awaited opportunity for the rentier class to pursue a neoliberalist agenda with an emphasis upon market discipline as a remedy for weak economic performance. in response to demands to revive flagging growth attributed to the dampening effects of keynesian full employment policies, welfare provision, and extensive state ownership, bretton woods was dismantled14. this unleashed the expansionist powers of finance and hastened the concentration of shareholding in financial institutions. it was these developments, underpinned by a broad and sustained shift in the direction of neo-liberalism, which reversed the over-hyped ‘managerial revolution’. the degree of autonomy enjoyed by corporate management in the post-war years was reigned in by the imposition of performance measures, notably variants of shareholder value metrics, as the tiller of economic development passed from corporate managers and state bureaucrats to the rentiers (ireland, 2010). finance, keynes had declared, should be the servant not the master. by the mid-1980s these roles were being systematically reversed. the reversal was evident in the gathering concentration of share ownership within investment funds, including hedge funds and sovereign wealth funds, of sufficient size to create and exert influence upon ‘the market for corporate control’. this development provided the basis for a rapid expansion and resulting domination of financial markets. deregulation and liberalization also hugely increased and accelerated international capital flows. the expansion of financial(ized) capitalism was also promoted and legitimized by advocates of agency theory, whose thinking both chimed with and guided the thinking of neo-liberal policy-makers. as noted earlier, agency theory is attentive only to shareholders and managers, to the exclusion of all other stakeholders, with managers being identified as the recalcitrant but tractable servants of 14. the `bretton woods’ agreement was established in 1944 as a basis for reforming an international economic system amongst leading capitalist nations. it created rules and institutions (e.g. international monetary fund, imf) which obliged states which ratified the agreement to peg their currency to the us dollar, and for the imf to `manage’ imbalances. in 1971, the us terminated unilaterally the convertibility of the us$ into gold, resulting in the end of the bretton woods agreement as the us$ effectively became the reserve currency of choice and currencies floated instead of being tied to the us$. 615 what is the corporation and why does it matter? m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 605-620 shareholders. stock options and other forms of financial incentives (e.g. performance bonuses) have been widely used to secure closer alignment between agents (corporate managers) and principals (shareholders), most dramatically demonstrated by the use of stock buybacks. this expansion of financialized capitalism has been fuelled by leveraged buyouts and an associated growth of private equity funds. these developments exemplify neo-liberalism because they depend on a legal and economic infrastructure that is provided by the state, but nevertheless escape even minimal public regulation and accountability. the turn to neo-liberalism has restored the value of the corporate form as an unsurpassed means of private wealth accumulation in capitalist social relations. the political imaginary has reprivatized capital in the name of reestablishing market dominance. one consequence of this is that those occupying commanding positions in markets are the best placed to enhance their positions. when viewed in this way, the creation of the jsc, and especially the concession of limited liability, is understood to have been “more the product of the growing political power of the rentier investors than it was of economic imperatives, an argument that might easily be extended to the current attempts to universalize corporate law in its resolutely shareholder-oriented anglo-american form” (ireland, 2010: 838). summary we have conceived of the corporation as a political imaginary in which other, legal and economic imaginaries are nested and are mobilized in contests over the corporate form. distinct legal and economic imaginaries, we have argued, are each productive of the corporate form — a source of tension that helps to account for the corporate form’s unstable, contested enactment and practical effects. in the legal ‘imaginary’ the corporate form is conceived as an ‘entity’, ‘subject’, or ‘person’. when cast within the economic domain, in contrast, the ‘imaginary’ of the corporate form is a more limited construct. the economic imaginary formally affirms the legal status and effects of the corporation as a reified, singular legal ‘entity’, but nevertheless reduces this ‘entity’ to the status of a ‘legal fiction’. this comparatively ‘flat’ version of the corporate form privileges a particular view of its ‘ownership’, in which the preferences of rentier investors are privileged. the success of this version is reflected in rentier investors’ post-1970s resurgence and their continuing dominance in financial markets. in the contemporary imaginary the corporate form is dominated by neoliberalism: exclusive control rights are granted to shareholders and the singular pursuit of shareholder value is prioritized. the focus on shareholders as the sole ‘principal’ to which managers, functioning as ‘agents’, are accountable, means that the domain of governance and responsibility is very often disconnected from wider social concerns such as environmental degradation and global warming. the scope of corporate governance is routinely restricted to the question of how boards may better serve their shareholders, notably by disclosure of financial and legal indicators, and by strengthening the role and training of non-executive directors and extending some forms of reporting (ezzamel, veldman and willmott, 2013). within this imaginary, the purpose of corporate governance and the development of corporate social responsibility 616 jeroen veldman & hugh willmottm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 605-620 is indifferent to the representation of diverse stakeholders on company boards and to the payment of taxes by ‘corporate citizens’, which serve to support and improve the public infrastructures of education, health, and the like, upon which corporate activity depends. considerations of social responsibility rarely extend beyond calculations of how investment in csr (corporate social responsibility) will or can protect corporate image and reputation. by engaging the political imaginary, it is possible to appreciate and challenge how the neo-liberal version of the economic imaginary, in which corporate assets are conflated with the ownership of shares, has become such a deeply consolidated and performative myth. this myth formally acknowledges but substantively ignores and obscures the status of corporate form as it exists in the legal imaginary, where the entity, rather than shareholders or boards, holds the assets (ireland, 1999, bratton, 1989; ireland, 1996; robe, 2012), and where the fiduciary duty of managers is to ‘the company’ (armour et al., 2003: 537), instead of to its shareholders. it follows from this model of the corporate form that managers function as the ‘trustees’ of institutional assets. their fiduciary duties are correspondingly interpreted as being towards ‘the company’, not (just) to ‘shareholders’. the political imaginary shows that those who are critical of the economic imaginary, while also objecting to a reified conception of the corporation, inadvertently contribute to the perpetuation of the myth; meanwhile, subscribers to the logic of agency theory seize upon the insistence that persons — such as shareholders, executives, employees, etc. — are the only conceptual category that can be recognized as contractual agents capable of owning assets and of acting as subjects. concluding remarks we began with the claim that there are few issues more critical in management and organization studies (mos) than understanding the modern corporate form. we also set out our objective of contributing to an illumination of ‘the modern corporation’ in such a way as to facilitate a transformation in how corporate practices are understood, taught, and enacted. today, the dominant, neo-liberal conception of the corporation is that of an asset owned by individual shareholders, not an entity dissociated from them. we have noted how this understanding parallels the basis of the partnership form in which shareholder-partners have direct collective control over the partnership’s activities and assets. a feature of the partnership model is that partners have unlimited liability for losses and debts, except perhaps in very exceptional cases, identified by smith (see supra, page 17). for this reason, there is a strong incentive for shareholder-partners to take a close interest in the governance and operation of the corporations that they collectively own. this understanding and arrangement, however, also conflates the ownership of shares with the ownership of corporate assets, because it displaces consideration of other stakeholders’ involvement in the creation and reproduction of those assets (see paranque and willmott, 2013). an alternative position, commended here, conceives of the corporate form as “a network of social and productive relationships” (ireland, 1999: 56), rather than as an object or asset, over which a particular group (e.g. partner-shareholders, rentiers) can legitimately claim ownership. following ireland (1999), the key to conceptualizing the corporation is 617 what is the corporation and why does it matter? m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 605-620 an appreciation of how it comprises “a network of social and productive relationships” (ibid). misgivings about a conception of corporations based upon their reification are misplaced when it is recognized that aggregated ‘actors’, such as shareholders and executives, are themselves reifications. as conceptually reified ‘actors’ they are composites deeply embedded in diverse social relations. likewise, as actors, people are not homogeneous or autonomous beings inhabited or animated by a unified ‘agency’. in principle, then, there is no credible basis for objecting to the attribution of agency or assets to a legal entity. indeed, there is a defensible ethico-political basis for insisting upon such an attribution, because it serves to acknowledge how the (re)production of the ‘network’ (ibid) depends on the participation of a wide diversity of stakeholders, past and present. these diverse contributions (e.g. as suppliers, creditors, employees, etc.) are the very condition for the creation of the assets ascribed to the corporation. attributing agency to a corporate entity serves, in this instance, to recall how its assets are indivisibly social, and not private, property. from this perspective, accounts of the corporation and its ownership, governance, and responsibilities, which deny or conflate the distinction between corporate assets and the ownership of shares, are appropriately interpreted as the self-interested claims of a dominant class that has appropriated those assets. such claims therefore invite radical challenge rather than supine endorsement. studies of management and organization can be enriched by giving closer consideration to how they are framed within the imaginaries of the corporate form, and to the role of these imaginaries in structuring expectations of ownership, control, and hierarchy. examining the nature and significance of how legal, economic, and political imaginaries of the corporate form are currently framed reveals discrepancies and conflicts between the different imaginaries, most notably between the legal and economic imaginaries. it also draws attention to how incongruence is masked by a faith-like adherence to mutually exclusive underlying principles of reification (the legal imaginary) and atomization (the economic imaginary). understanding these underlying discrepancies usefully illuminates and exposes the shallowness of analyses of, and restrictiveness of prescriptions for, corporate governance, which are based on simplistic denials or conflations of these imaginaries. in turn, their explication may stimulate interest in interventions and reforms that problematize the (control) rights assumed by shareholders and, more positively, may support alternative forms of ownership, governance, and ‘social responsibility’ — such as those framed within principles of mutuality and cooperation. this prospect, we have suggested, can be enhanced by underscoring and more fully institutionalizing the legal, economic, and political claims of diverse stakeholders in the currently shallow and narrow sense of ‘social responsibility’ attributed to corporations. understanding the differences, discrepancies, and conflicts between imaginaries of the corporate form provides a way of moving beyond the symptoms associated with the domination of a neo-liberal economic imaginary as it is expressed in widespread practices intended to maximize shareholder value, ramp up executive remuneration, exploit tax loopholes, etc. it also provides a way of addressing the political economy in which the contemporary theory of corporate governance, based on mutually exclusive legal and economic 618 jeroen veldman & hugh willmottm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 605-620 imaginaries of the corporate form, is embedded. advancing this reconstruction of corporate governance requires input from a number of academic disciplines, but also the involvement of politicians, ngos, and practitioners. at the time of writing, we are taking preliminary steps towards this goal: we are assembling a group of prominent international critical scholars to explicate the problematic nature of the corporate form from within the domains of law, economics, politics, and organization studies. this project aims to combine currently dispersed contributions in order to establish and disseminate an alternative, socially inclusive understanding of corporations that incorporates an appreciation of the presence and effects of legal, economic, and political imaginaries. the project is focused on the european context but we anticipate that it will become an intercontinental project dedicated to the reformation of corporate governance theory and the reconstruction of the corporate form. jeroen veldman is a research associate at cardiff university business school. his research interests include the history of the corporate form and its consequences for current developments in corporate governance from the perspective of organization studies. his current research project ‘the modern corporation’ looks at the relation between financialization and corporate responsibility. hugh willmott is research professor in organization studies, cardiff business school and has held visiting professors at copenhagen business school and the universities of uppsala, lund, innsbruck, sydney and the university of technology, sydney. he currently serves on the board of academy of management review, organization studies, journal of management studies and is an associate editor of organization. he has contributed to a wide range of management and social science journals and has published over 20 books. full details can be found on his homepage: https://sites.google. com/site/hughwillmottshomepage 619 what is the corporation and why does it matter? m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 605-620 · allen, w. t. (1992). our schizophrenic conception of the business corporation. cardozo law review, 14(2), 261-281. · armour, j., deakin, s., & konzelmann, s. j. (2003). shareholder primacy and the trajectory of uk corporate governance. british journal of industrial relations, 41(3), 531-555. · berle, a. a., & means, g. c. [1932] (2007). the modern corporation and private property (rev. ed.). new brunswick, nj ; london: transaction publishers. · bowman, s. r. (1996). the modern corporation and american political thought: law, power, and ideology. pennsylvania: pennsylvania state university press. · bratton, jr. w. w. (1989). the new economic theory of the firm: critical perspectives from history. stanford law review, 41(6), 1471-1527. · butler, h. n. (1989). the contractual theory of the corporation. george mason university law review, 11(4), 99-123. · carroll, a. b., lipartito, k. j., post, j. e., werhane, p. h., & goodpaster, k. e. (eds.). (2012). corporate responsibility: the american experience. cambridge: cambridge university press. · chandler, a. d. [1977] (2002). the visible hand: the managerial revolution in american business. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. · ciepley, d. (2013). beyond public and private: toward a political theory of the corporation. american political science review, 107(1), 139-158. · cox, e. w. (1857). the new law and practice of joint stock companies, with and without limited liability. london: law times office. · crouch, c. (2011). the strange non-death of neoliberalism. cambridge, uk: polity. · davis, g. f. (2009). managed by the markets: how finance re-shaped america. oxford: oxford university press. · oecd (2004). oecd principles of corporate governance 2004. paris: oecd publications. · drucker, p. f. [1946] (2006). concept of the corporation. new brunswick: transaction publishers. · epstein, g. a. (ed.). (2005). financialization and the world economy. cheltenham: edward elgar publishing. · ezzamel, m., veldman, j., & willmott, h. (unpublished working paper). limits of reflexive governance: whose reflexivity in corporate governance codes? · fligstein, n. (1993). the transformation of corporate control. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. · goodwin, n. (2006). the social impact of multinational corporations: an outline of the issues with a focus on workers. in a. d. chandler & b. mazlish (eds.), leviathans: multinational corporations and the new global history (pp. 135-166). cambridge: cambridge university press. · gourevitch, p., & shinn, j. (2005). political power & corporate control, the new global politics of corporate governance. princeton ; oxford: princeton university press. · guinnane, t., harris, r., lamoreaux, n. r., & rosenthal, j. l. (2007). putting the corporation in its place. enterprise and society, 8(3), 687-729. · hansmann, h. & kraakman, r. (2001). the end of history for corporate law. geo.lj, 89, 439. · horwitz, m. j. (1985). santa clara revisited: the development of corporate theory. west virginia law review, 88, 173-224. · ireland, p. (2009). financialization and corporate governance. northern ireland legal quarterly, 60(1), 1-34. · ireland, p. (2005). shareholder primacy and the distribution of wealth. the modern law review, 68(1), 49-81. · ireland, p. (1999). company law and the myth of shareholder ownership. modern law review, 62(1), 32-57. · ireland, p. (2010). limited liability, shareholder rights and the problem of corporate irresponsibility. cambridge journal of economics, 34(5), 837-856. · jackson, g. (2000). comparative corporate governance: sociological perspectives. in j. e. parkinson, a. gamble & g. kelly (eds.), the political economy of the company (pp. 265-288). oxford: hart publishing. · johnson, l. (2012). law and legal theory in the history of corporate responsibility: corporate personhood. seattle university law review, 35(4), 1135-1164. · jones, m. t., & haigh, m. (2007). the transnational corporation and new corporate citizenship theory: a critical analysis. journal of corporate citizenship, 27, 51-69. references 620 jeroen veldman & hugh willmottm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 605-620 · kaysen, c. (1957). the social significance of the modern corporation. the american economic review, 47(2), 311-319. · khurana, r. (2007). from higher aims to hired hands: the social transformation of american business schools and the unfulfilled promise of management as a profession. princeton: princeton university press. · kobrin, s. j. (2006). multinational corporations, the protest movement, and the future of global governance. in a. d. chandler & b. mazlish (eds.), leviathans: multinational corporations and the new global history (pp. 219-236). cambridge: cambridge university press. · marens, r. (2012). generous in victory? american managerial autonomy, labour relations and the invention of corporate social responsibility. socio-economic review, 10(1), 59-84. · mclean, j. (2004). transnational corporation in history: lessons for today? indiana law journal, 79(2), 363-377. · micklethwait, j., & wooldridge, a. (2005). the company: a short history of a revolutionary idea. london: modern library. · murphy, j., & ackroyd, s. (2013). transnational corporations, socioeconomic change and recurrent crisis. critical perspectives on international business, 9(4), 336-357. · nace, t. (2003). gangs of america. san francisco, ca: berrett-koehler. · neocleous, m. (2003). imagining the state. maidenhead: open university press. · palan, r., murphy, r., & chavagneux, c. (2010). tax havens: how globalization really works. ithaca, ny: cornell university press. · paranque, b., & willmott, h. (unpublished manuscript). cooperatives saviours or gravediggers of capitalism? the ambivalent case of the john lewis partnership. · parkinson, j. (2003). models of the company and the employment relationship. british journal of industrial relations, 41(3), 481-509. · post, g. (1934). parisian masters as a corporation, 1200-1246. speculum, 9(4), 421-445. · robé, j. p. (2011). the legal structure of the firm. accounting, economics, and law, 1(1), 1-86. · roy, w. g. (1999). socializing capital: the rise of the large industrial corporation in america. new jersey: princeton university press. · schrader, d. e. (1993). the corporation as anomaly. cambridge: cambridge university press. · stout, l. a. (2012). the shareholder value myth: how putting shareholders first harms investors, corporations, and the public. san francisco, ca: berrettkoehler. · tsuk, d. (2003). corporations without labor: the politics of progressive corporate law. university of pennsylvania law review, 151(6), 1861-1912. · van horn, r. (2009). reinventing monopoly and the role of corporations: the roots of chicago law and economics. in p. mirowski & d. plehwe (eds.), the road from mont pèlerin: the making of the neoliberal thought collective (pp. 204-237). cambridge, ma: harvard university press. · veldman, j., & parker, m. (2012). specters, inc.: the elusive basis of the corporation. business and society review, 117(4), 413-441. · wells, c. (2005). corporations and criminal responsibility. oxford: oxford university press. · williston, s. (1888). history of the law of business corporations before 1800. harvard law review, 2(3), 105-124. 528 stéphane guérard, ann langley & david seidlm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 566-578 copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). m@n@gement is a double-blind refereed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.management-aims.com © 2013 m@n@gement and the author(s). m@n@gement est la revue officielle de l’aims m@n@gement is the journal official of aims stéphane guérard ann langley david seidl 2013 rethinking the concept of performance in strategy research: towards a performativity perspective m@n@gement, 16(5), 566-578. m@n@gement issn: 1286-4692 emmanuel josserand, cmos, university of technology, sydney (editor in chief) jean-luc arrègle, emlyon business school (editor) laure cabantous, cass business school (editor) stewart clegg, university of technology, sydney (editor) olivier germain, université du québec à montréal (editor, book reviews) karim mignonac, université de toulouse 1 (editor) philippe monin, emlyon business school (editor) tyrone pitsis, university of newcastle (editor) josé pla-barber, universidad de valència (editor) michael tushman, harvard business school (editor) walid shibbib, université de genève (managing editor) alexander bell, université de genève (editorial assistant) martin g. evans, university of toronto (editor emeritus) bernard forgues, emlyon business school (editor emeritus) special issue 566 rethinking the concept of performance in strategy research: towards a performativity perspective m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 566-578 rethinking the concept of performance in strategy research: towards a performativity perspective stéphane guérard department of business administrationuniversity of zurich stephane.guerard@uzh.ch ann langley hec montrealann.langley@hec.ca david seidl department of business administrationuniversity of zurich david.seidl@uzh.ch abstract abstract organizational performance is an important concept in strategy research. in this paper, we interrogate the predominant focus on organizational performance as an aggregate organizational-level dependent variable and review three ways in which its role might be fruitfully reconsidered: (1) broadening consideration of performance to more disaggregated levels of analysis, (2) orienting research around the idea of performance as both input and outcome and finally (3) recasting performance in terms of performativity. we provide examples of research that has adopted each of these alternative approaches. we then examine the contributions and drawbacks of each perspective, before proposing an agenda for future research. keywords: performance, performativity, strategy as practice, strategy process 567 stéphane guérard, ann langley & david seidlm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 566-578 introduction performance is a central concept in strategy research. according to furrer, thomas and goussevskaia (2008), out of 2125 articles on strategic management published in the academy of management journal, the academy of management review, administrative science quarterly and the strategic management journal between 1980 and 2005, 36.6% are concerned with organizational performance and “performance” is the most frequent keyword. performance is sometimes even considered to be part of the definition of strategy (nag et al., 2007), differentiating it from other fields (meyer 1991). in most studies, performance is treated as an aggregate firm-level outcome or a dependent variable (richard, devinney, yip, & johnson, 2009), which can be operationalized in various ways, ranging from financial and marketbased indicators to dimensions of social performance (orlitzky, schmidt, & rynes, 2003). as studies of the impact of strategy on firm-level performance have flourished, so have critiques of this kind of research (kieser & nicolai, 2005; march & sutton, 1997; miller, washburn, & glick, 2013). scholars have noted numerous inconsistencies and even contradictions between different definitions of firm level performance and their respective operationalizations (richard et al., 2009). furthermore, researchers have pointed to a host of fundamental problems in demonstrating the causal link between specific strategic factors and aggregate firm-level effects. this has led some scholars to question the validity of such studies (e.g., march & sutton, 1997; miller et al., 2013). in reaction to these criticisms there have been efforts to better conceptualize and measure firm-level performance in order to more adequately appreciate its multiple dimensions (combs, crook, & shook, 2005; hult et al., 2008; miller et al., 2013; richard et al., 2009; venkatraman & ramanujam, 1986). these are potentially valuable but they do not address fundamental conceptual problems. in this paper, we review some of these problems and discuss what alternatives there are to treating firm performance as a dependent variable. these include (1) a movement to notions of more proximal performance, (2) the notion of performance as both input and outcome of the strategy process and (3) a performativity perspective. we explore in some detail the third perspective and suggest that it offers some of the most interesting and novel opportunities for future research. in particular, we argue that proponents of a strategy-aspractice perspective might be more faithful to the practice-based ontology that inspired them if they were to more seriously consider the performativity perspective. from aggregate firm performance to proximal performance one of the problems with the dominant approach to performance in the literature described above (where firm performance is viewed as a dependent variable) is that the independent explanatory variables that are considered can sometimes be quite conceptually distant from the aggregate indicators of firm performance one is attempting to explain. this means that their influence is masked by a myriad of other factors, with the result that the chances of being able to detect the distinctive role of the focal predictor are often severely 568 rethinking the concept of performance in strategy research: towards a performativity perspective m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 566-578 reduced (march & sutton, 1997). this problem is sometimes made worse by coarse-grained independent variable measures that may not reflect the full richness of the phenomena studied (harrigan, 1983). a case in point concerns the research on the financial performance consequences of strategic planning or the use of other strategic management techniques and practices. this area of research is notorious for its production of inconsistent or weak findings (boyd, 1991; burke, fraser & greene, 2010; miller & cardinal, 1994). although, meta-analyses have identified positive relationships, these are contingent on methodological factors (miller & cardinal, 1994). moreover, the findings are not helpful to practitioners because the evidence remains shaky and the descriptions of the focal practice are so thin that there is very little to go on. especially for practice constructs, the path between the practice itself and the aggregate bottom line is improbably long and winding, with the possibility of numerous things happening that would alter the outcome. this suggests that there would be value in finding proximal indicators that are much closer to the phenomena studied. strategy-as-practice scholars have thus called for more investigations into performance at less aggregated levels of analysis (jarzabkowski & spee, 2009; johnson, langley, melin, & whittington, 2007), such as outcomes at the group or individual levels. for example, scholars interested in understanding the impact of particular strategic practices have examined proximal performance indicators such as success or failure in implementing a strategy (balogun & johnson, 2004), success in pushing a strategic initiative (lechner & floyd, 2011) or the success of a particular practice in meeting its objectives as in johnson, prashantham, floyd and bourque’s (2010) study of strategy workshops. recently, scholars of strategic planning have also become more attuned to proximal outcomes such as integration, coordination and communication (wolf & floyd, 2013). in summary, while many strategic management scholars will continue to feel the need to find links to the bottom line (while profiting from the convenience of readily available secondary performance data), it is, in many cases, a tenuous enterprise. there is a lot to be gained from being able to see the chain of consequences leading from individual and collective strategic actions to outcomes at a lower level of analysis. this is one way (although not the only way) in which notions of performance might be usefully reconsidered in strategy research. from performance as outcome to performance as input and outcome as noted, strategic management literature often appears to be obsessively preoccupied with performance as an outcome or a dependent variable. however, another way to consider the role of performance is to turn the equation around to examine how performance assessments influence a variety of organizational and strategic phenomena, i.e. to view performance as an input. practitioners spend a good deal of time creating, interpreting and poring over performance indicators (denis, langley, & rouleau, 2006), attempting to make sense of what has happened and use this to work out what to do next. performance feedback is clearly a potentially important resource 569 stéphane guérard, ann langley & david seidlm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 566-578 for learning and adaptation (cyert & march, 1963; greve, 2003). indeed, based on this, it seems probable that performance plays a more powerful and tighter role as an independent variable in explaining behavior than as a dependent variable in describing that behavior’s consequences (cyert & march, 1963; kimberly & quinn, 1984). scholars have documented, for example, that in periods of success, managers make refinements to their strategies, while in periods of poor performance, they are more likely to engage in change (greve, 1998, 2003; park, 2007; starbuck & milliken, 1988). a body of literature that looks at performance from this perspective has therefore developed, often tracing its inspiration to cyert and march’s (1963) behavioral theory of the firm. however, this perspective is less dominant in strategic management research than the reverse. scholars who generally consider performance as a dependent variable have, despite this, begun to realize that the performance equation can often be turned around. they have noted that this actually creates problems in testing relationships and accurately estimating their size and statistical significance, an issue of endogeneity (bascle, 2008; hamilton & nickerson, 2003). taking the planning example, a plausible argument can be made that financial performance provides resources that enable firms to invest in planning processes. moreover, the firms that decide to plan are the ones which, for various reasons, are most likely to benefit from doing so, making it very hard to separate out true performance effects. while techniques are now available to mitigate these issues, little of the older planning-performance literature is in fact corrected for endogeneity, further undermining the knowledge claims generated by it. even more interesting than considering performance solely as an input or solely as an outcome is a perspective that takes a dynamic view incorporating feedback loops and including performance both as an input and as an outcome. march and sutton (1997) identify at least three ways in which performance feedback loops may occur. first, performance in the future may be affected by performance in the past because people react positively to high-performing firms. second (and in direct contradiction to the first loop), high performance can lead to a narrowing of attention which can damage future performance (amason & mooney, 2008; miller, 1993). third (and with greater problems for organizational research), the publication of information on which factors contribute to performance in a competitive environment should result in all firms imitating these factors, thus eliminating their value in the future. this perspective suggests a need for longitudinal studies on how performance as input and performance as outcome relate to each other over time. dynamic effects could be analysed quantitatively using agent-based simulation models or quantitative time series data (e.g., gomez-mejia, haynes, nunez-nickel, jacobson, & moyano-fuentes, 2007; kim & miner, 2007; sastry, 1997). however, some of the most interesting studies in this vein are process-based qualitative analyses that track in depth the evolution of organizations over time, showing how their behavior shifts in reaction to perceived performance outcomes and how that behavior may go on to generate unexpected consequences that in turn input into future actions (burgelman, 2002; burgelman & grove, 2007; cardinal, sitkin, & long, 2004; mackay & chia, 2013). process studies like these over long periods of time can provide a richer understanding of performance as both an input to and outcome of strategy. 570 rethinking the concept of performance in strategy research: towards a performativity perspective m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 566-578 turning the performance equation around and seeing performance as something that people in organizations attempt to make sense of and react to in making future choices also draws attention to another issue: performance for whom? how do conceptions of performance vary among different groups within and around organizations and how and with what consequences are differing interpretations of performance negotiated, aggregated and traded off against one another when making important organizational decisions? vaara (2002) shows how managers interpret the success and failure of acquisitions in ways that reflect positively on their own roles. in a conversation analysis study, samra-fredericks (2003) shows how one manager succeeds in constructing another as responsible for an organizational weakness. attributions concerning which people, organizations and activities are more or less highly performing are very political and have implications for both individual careers and organizational destinies. more research is needed that delves into these dynamics, taking the consideration of performance as both input and output to a more micro-political level. the approaches described in this section and the previous one offer ways to broaden and enrich consideration of performance in strategy research. yet they remain for the most part embedded in a positivist ontology in which “performance” is viewed as a separable “construct” that can be related to other conceptually distinct constructs either as a predictor or outcome. in the next section we consider another related concept that offers a more radical rethinking of the nature of performance in relation to strategy. this concept seems a priori more compatible with the practice-based ontology favored by strategy-as-practice scholars, in which ‘‘practices are understood to be the primary building blocks of social reality’’ (feldman & orlikowski, 2011): the notion of performativity. from performance to performativity so what is meant by the term “performativity” and how might it relate to the notions of “performance” discussed above? the literature on performativity is characterized by two broad perspectives: the lyotardian view and the enactment views. lyotard (1984) developed his notion of performativity in the context of his discussion on the generation and use of knowledge in postmodern society. for him, the term “performativity” refers to “the predominance of the performance criterion” in knowledge development (p. 53). that is, knowledge is being developed and evaluated not with regard to its truth but with regard to its ability to increase efficiency. while lyotard’s view has mainly been applied to the field of education (ball, 2003; dey & steyaert, 2007), its extension to the field of strategy seems valuable since strategy work is often preoccupied with measuring, evaluating and ensuring the contribution of the different parts of an organization to its overall performance. lyotard’s critique suggests that an emphasis on performance can drive out other values (such as aesthetics and justice) and result in a potential narrowing of attention towards what can be measured rather than to the raison-d’être of the enterprise. as townley, cooper and oakes (2003) express it, an emphasis on performance can cause a displacement from “reasoned justification” to a narrower “instrumental rationality”. the trend towards performance measurement might also have 571 stéphane guérard, ann langley & david seidlm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 566-578 important consequences for strategists who are under extreme pressure to “perform” in order to avoid being replaced (whittington, basak-yakis, & cailluet, 2011). while accounting scholars have paid considerable attention to the upsides, downsides and dynamics of a preoccupation with technical performance and measurement (power, 1997; robson, 1992), strategy scholars, with a few exceptions (e.g., denis et al., 2006; ezzamel & willmott, 2008), have not. the more common enactment view of performativity groups together a series of influential authors such as austin (1962), callon (1998) and butler (1988, 1997) and is mainly concerned with the repetitive enactment of discourse and theoretical models. austin (1962) developed his notion of performativity in the context of speech act theory. he argues that there are utterances that are performative in the sense that they do something, as in the now classic example of “i declare you husband and wife” that accomplishes what it declares. kornberger and clegg (2011) draw on austin’s concept of performativity to show how strategizing in the city of sydney became performative in the sense that it began to discursively create the concept of the city as something much larger than simply the municipal administration. this helped to construct a sense of community. while austin shows how specific speech acts might generate the effects they describe, callon (1998) argues that a broader discursive form such as economic theory may work in a similar way by actually shaping markets rather than simply describing them. callon (1998) and mackenzie (2006) suggest that for models to become performative, they have to be embodied in tools, and skillful agents need to be able to transpose these models into practice. the callonian perspective on performativity has inspired several others. for example, carter, clegg & kornberger (2010) make the case that porter’s (1980) competitive strategy framework deeply influenced the way strategists think and consequently the way organizations function in line with the model. cabantous and gond (2011) show how rational choice theory is enacted in organizations in different ways such as through the use of the swot analysis to support the rational formulation of strategy. cooren’s (2004) notion of “textual agency” also builds on the callonian/ austinian notion of performativity. he argues that because texts as forms of discourse are materially available to be read across space and time, they help in producing and reproducing organization. in a concrete example, sorsa, vaara and langley (2010) examine the “textual agency” of strategic plans in producing what they describe. butler’s (1988) perspective on performativity was developed in the context of gender studies and is distinctive in illustrating the recursive nature of performative discourses. specifically, butler argues that gender is not an intrinsic characteristic of individuals but that it is culturally produced by people drawing on ambient understandings of what is implied by masculinity and femininity and repeatedly rehearsing these in their everyday practices. she also draws on foucauldian ideas to suggest that discourse produces its effects by creating and assigning “subject positions” (in this case, genders) that channel behaviours. this line of argument has been transposed to the field of strategy, sometimes without explicitly referring to performativity. for example, studies have examined how the subject position of “strategist” is taken up and how strategy discourse may have power effects – generally privileging senior management (knights & morgan, 1991; mantere & vaara, 2008). knights and 572 rethinking the concept of performance in strategy research: towards a performativity perspective m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 566-578 morgan in this sense write that “the concept of strategy needs understanding in terms of its role in reproducing specific sets of hierarchically organized social relations” (1990: 475). another application of butler’s work might be to argue that strategy, like gender, can only exist to the extent that it is repeatedly enacted. this recalls mintzberg and waters’s (1985) notion of emergent strategy in which strategy is enacted in the performance of everyday activity (rouleau, 2005), as people appropriate the subject positions organizationally constructed for them. finally, hardy, palmer and phillips (2000) draw explicitly on the notion of performativity to discuss the conditions under which new discursive statements aimed at generating particular objects or activities may “take” and therefore come to be accepted and enacted. in particular, they suggest that discourses become performative when the concepts they invoke have meaning for the discourses’ targets, when enunciators’ subject positions are recognized and give them “voice” and when the symbols and objects created have “receptivity”, becoming familiar to listeners and given credence. when this happens, there is potential for discursive initiatives to effect substantive change. however, hardy et al. (2000) note that even when they are successful, discursive activities generate chains of consequences that are not always predictable. for example, they may create newly legitimized subject positions and practices over which initiators may not always maintain control. hardy et al.’s (2000) ideas could be generalized to all strategy discourses, both those generated within organizations and concerned with implementing new directions, as well as those in the wider context. table 1 summarizes the different alternatives for rethinking the concept of performance in strategy research. 573 stéphane guérard, ann langley & david seidlm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 566-578 table 1. approaches to rethinking performance in strategy research approaches description examples suggested research agenda and research questions proximal performance outcomes at the group or individual level success of strategy workshops as a particular strategic practice (johnson, prashantham, floyd & bourque, 2010). success and failure in pushing particular strategic initiatives (lechner & floyd, 2011). identification of suitable indicators for the success/failure of activities and practices on the microor meso-level. investigating the chain of consequences leading from individual and collective strategic actions to outcomes at a lower level of analysis. performance as both input and output feedback loops between past and future outcomes of strategic actions time series analysis linking input and output performance indicators in terms of hazard rate, index of capital risk, asset quality, management earnings and leverage in the banking industry (kim & miner, 2007). process-based qualitative studies tracking the behavioral effects of perceived long-term performance outcomes and their unexpected long-term consequences in the microchip industry (burgelman & grove, 2007). tracking the evolution of organizations over time via a process-based qualitative analysis by examining performance as both input and output. understanding how organizational behavior shifts in response to performance outcomes and how that behavior in turn generates (unexpected) consequences. understanding how and with what consequences the nature and meaning of performance is negotiated among different stakeholders. performance as performativity 1. lyotardian perspective the predominance of performance criterion in the practice of strategy the dynamics of a preoccupation with technical performance and measurement in relation to a strategy (denis, langley & rouleau, 2006). pressure on strategists to perform in order to avoid being replaced (whittington, basakyakis & cailluet, 2011). investigating how the obsession with performance and performance measurement shape strategic practices and orient organizational activities examining how performance controls and incentives co-evolve with strategies over time. tracking the interpenetration and interaction between strategic initiatives and between multiple sources of performance measurement & assessment. 2. austinian perspective strategy discourse enacting what it refers to the strategy discourse of the city of sidney discursively created a particular conception of the city and a sense of community (kornberger & clegg, 2011). strategic plans produce what they describe (sorsa, vaara & langley, 2010). examining how, why and to what degree what is said and claimed about strategy and what is accomplished in daily activity mutually constitute one another over time. 3. callonian perspective enactment of theoretical models of strategy producing corresponding strategies porter’s model of competitive strategy creates corresponding strategic activities (carter, clegg & kornberger, 2010). by using decision-making tools that are based on rational choice theory, actors produce behavior in line with rational choice theory (cabantous & gond, 2011). investigating the role of material tools, conventions and actor-networks in making strategy tracking how different strategy tools embed references to different objects, subjects and activities, each channeling or orienting behaviors in different ways. 4. butlerian perspective strategy as repetitive enactment of strategic discourse strategy is repetitively enacted in everyday activities (rouleau, 2005). different strategy discourses produce different subject positions and different opportunities for participating in the strategy (mantere & vaara, 2008). examining how through repetitive enactment strategy discourse creates subject positions, strategic practices and strategic objects. 574 rethinking the concept of performance in strategy research: towards a performativity perspective m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 566-578 so what? how performativity informs the strategy-performance nexus a variety of scholars have questioned the strategic management field’s fixation on performance as a dependent variable (march & sutton, 1997), taken issue with existing approaches to firm performance (miller et al., 2013; richard et al., 2009) and suggested the need to look beyond understandings of performance that are narrowly economic (vaara & durand, 2012; whittington, 2012). at the same time, there have been various attempts to consider more proximal indicators of performance and to explore performance as an independent rather than dependent variable. there are clearly further opportunities in this direction, with some of the most interesting prospects centering on a dynamic conception of performance as both input to and outcome of strategic activity. yet beyond these initiatives, strategy-as-practice scholars in particular have always been ambivalent about the notion of performance. on the one hand, the concept is so deeply embedded in the self-definition of the strategy field that it sometimes seems difficult to lay claim to a legitimate contribution without somehow invoking the concept – hence, the interest in more proximal notions of performance (jarzabkowski, balogun, & seidl, 2007; johnson et al., 2010). yet, one may question the degree to which this “solution” is fully compatible with the ontological and epistemological assumptions of a practice perspective. if practices are understood to be the primary building blocks of social reality (feldman & orlikowski, 2011), not only strategy but also performance should be seen as something people do, rather than something that organizations have. the notion of performativity brings researchers closer to such a conception. lyotardian and enactment perspectives on performativity are somewhat different but each offers ways to move towards a more genuinely practice-based perspective on the strategy-performance nexus. both suggest novel agendas for research. lyotardian views of performativity describe what recent analyses of the strategic management field actually reveal: an obsession with performance and its measurement among both practitioners and academics (furrer et al., 2008; nag et al., 2007). this view suggests that there could be an opportunity for strategy scholars to investigate the ways in which the discourse of performance, as well as its concrete manifestations, constitute strategic practices and orient organizational activities, for better or worse (townley et al., 2003). here, practices and discourses of performance become the focus of study. this perspective bears some relationship to the idea of performance as input, although with a closer attention to the concrete practices by which notions of performance penetrate organizational activity. longitudinal studies that examine how performance controls and incentives co-evolve with strategies over time would be particularly interesting. the interpenetration and interaction between strategic initiatives and between multiple sources of performance measurement and assessment are likely to become increasingly complicated as firms respond to pressures from multiple stakeholder groups. the enactment perspective on performativity has a different starting point and invites scholars to focus attention on what it is that makes discourses (at societal, field or organizational levels) self-fulfilling. for strategy, this means examining how, why and to what degree what is said and claimed about strategy and what is accomplished in daily activity mutually constitute 575 stéphane guérard, ann langley & david seidlm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 566-578 one another over time. the various conceptualizations of performativity in the literature offer different angles for understanding this. while callonian perspectives emphasize the role of material tools, conventions and actornetworks in making the world, the butlerian perspective emphasizes how discourses construct subject positions whose repetitive enactment recursively reproduces them. there seem to be multiple research opportunities under this banner. for example, different strategy tools may embed references to different objects, subjects and activities, each channeling or orienting behaviors in different ways. a careful study of how they achieve this would enrich the currently rather thin understanding of the performative effects of strategic planning. overall, we suggest that the notion of performativity can help researchers think differently about performance, as an activity rather than as a “variable”, developing a richer understanding of how strategy is produced and performed in situated contexts. such a notion of “performance” may at first sight seem far removed from that of the traditional literature. however, the idea of achievement – of getting something done, of “performing” – bridges, we think, these disparate ideas. performance viewed from a performativity perspective focuses however not on an ephemeral endpoint but on the rich web of doing and achieving that constitutes organizations as places for performing strategy. stéphane guérard is senior lecturer/researcher at the university of zurich. his research focuses on understanding how practices become legitimate and how they shape and are shaped by institutions, organizations and strategy. in 2012, one of his papers was nominated for the academy of management louis r. pondy award for the best paper based on a dissertation. ann langley is professor of management at hec montréal and canada research chair in strategic management in pluralistic settings. her research focuses on strategic change, leadership, innovation and the use of management tools in complex organizations with an emphasis on processual and qualitative research approaches. david seidl is professor of management at the university of zurich, where he holds the chair of organization and management. his research focuses on strategy as practice, organizational change, standardization, management consulting and philosophy of science. he does both conceptual and empirical work drawing on a range of different theoretical perspectives, including practice theory and systems theory. acknowledgement we would like to thank tomi laamanen, richard whittington and bernard forgues for helpful comments on earlier drafts of this paper. 576 rethinking the concept of performance in strategy research: towards a performativity perspective m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 566-578 · amason, a. c., & mooney, a. c. (2008). the icarus paradox revisited: how strong performance sows the seeds of dysfunction in future strategic decision-making. strategic organization, 6(4), 407-434. · austin, j. r. (1962). how to do things with words. london: oxford university press. · ball, s. j. (2003). the teacher’s soul and the terrors of performativity. journal of education policy, 18(2), 215-228. · balogun, j., & johnson, g. (2004). organizational restructuring and middle managers sensemaking. academy of management journal, 47(4), 523-549. · bascle, g. (2008). controlling for endogeneity with instrumental variables in strategic management research. strategic organization, 6(3), 285-327. · burgelman, r. a. (2002). strategy as vector and the inertia of coevolutionary lock-in. administrative science quarterly, 47(2), 325-357. · burgelman, r. a., & grove, a. s. (2007). let chaos reign, then rein in chaos— repeatedly: managing strategic dynamics for corporate longevity. strategic management journal, 28(10), 965-979. · butler, j. (1988). performative acts and gender constitution: an essay in phenomenology and feminist theory. theatre journal, 40(4), 519-531. · butler, j. (1997). excitable speech: a politics of the performative. new york: routledge. · cabantous, l., & gond, j.-p. (2011). rational decision making as performative praxis: explaining rationality’s éternel retour. organization science, 22(3), 573-586. · callon, m. (1998). the laws of market. oxford: blackwell. · cardinal, l. b., sitkin, s. b., & long, c. p. (2004). balancing and rebalancing in the creation and evolution of organizational control. organization science, 15(4), 411-431. · carter, c., clegg, s., & kornberger, m. (2010). re-framing strategy: power, politics and accounting. accounting, auditing and accountability journal, 23(5), 573-594. · combs, j. g., crook, t. r., & shook, c. l. (2005). the dimensionality of organizational performance and its implications for strategic management research. research methodology in strategy and management, 2, 259-286. · cooren, f. (2004). textual agency: how texts do things in organizational settings. organization, 11(3), 373-393. · cyert, r., & march, j. g. (1963). behavioural theory of the firm. englewood cliff, nj: prenticehall. · denis, j. l., langley, a., & rouleau, l. (2006). the power of numbers in strategizing. strategic organization, 4(4), 349. · dey, p., & steyaert, c. (2007). the troubadours of knowledge: passion and invention in management education. organization, 14(3), 437-461. · ezzamel, m., & willmott, h. (2008). strategy as discourse in a global retailer: a supplement to rationalist and interpretive accounts. organization studies, 29(2), 191-217. · feldman, m. s., & orlikowski, w. j. (2011). theorizing practice and practicing theory. organization science, 22(5), 1240-1253. · furrer, o., thomas, h., & goussevskaia, a. (2008). the structure and evolution of the strategic management field: a content analysis of 26 years of strategic management research. international journal of management reviews, 10(1), 1-23. · gomez-mejia, l. r., haynes, k. t., nunez-nickel, m., jacobson, k. j. l., & moyano-fuentes, j. (2007). socioemotional wealth and business risks in family-controlled firms: evidence from spanish olive oil mills. administrative science quarterly, 52(1), 106-137. · greve, h. r. (1998). performance, aspirations and risky organizational change. administrative science quarterly, 43(1), 58-86. · greve, h. r. (2003). organizational learning from performance feedback: a behavioral perspective on innovation and change. cambridge, cambridge university press. · hamilton, b. h., & nickerson, j. a. (2003). correcting for endogeneity in strategic management research. strategic organization, 1(1), 51-78. · hardy, c., palmer, i., & phillips, n. (2000). discourse as a strategic resource. human relations, 53(9), 1227-1248. references 577 stéphane guérard, ann langley & david seidlm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 566-578 · harrigan, k. r. (1983). research methodologies for contingency approaches to business strategy. academy of management review, 8(3), 398-405. · hult, g. t. m., ketchen, d. j., griffith, d. a., chabowski, b. r., hamman, m. k., dykes, b. j., pollitte, w. a., & cavusgil, s. t. (2008). an assessment of the measurement of performance in international business research. journal of international business studies, 39(6), 1064-1080. · jarzabkowski, p., balogun, j., & seidl, d. (2007). strategizing: the challenges of a practice perspective. human relations, 60(1), 5-27. · jarzabkowski, p., & spee, a. p. (2009). strategy-as-practice: a review and future directions for the field. international journal of management reviews, 11(1), 69-95. · johnson, g., langley, a., melin, l., & whittington, r. (2007). strategy as practice research directions and resources. cambridge: cambridge university press. · johnson, g., prashantham, s., floyd, s. w., & bourque, n. (2010). the ritualization of strategy workshops. organization studies, 31(12), 1589-1618. · kieser, a., & nicolai, a. t. (2005). success factor research overcoming the trade-off between rigor and relevance? journal of management inquiry, 14(3), 275-279. · kim, j. y., & miner, a. s. (2007). vicarious learning from the failures and near-failures of others: evidence from the us commercial banking industry. academy of management journal, 50(3), 687-714. · kimberly, j. r., & quinn, r. e. (1984). managing organizational transitions. homewood, il: richard d. irwin. · knights, d., & morgan, g. (1990). the concept of strategy in sociology: a note of dissent. sociology, 24(3), 475-483. · knights, d., & morgan, g. (1991). corporate strategy, organizations and subjectivity: a critique. organization studies, 12(2), 251-273. · kornberger, m., & clegg, s. (2011). strategy as performative practice: the case of sydney 2030. strategic organization, 9(2), 136-162. · lechner, c., & floyd, s. w. (2011). group influence activities and the performance of strategic initiatives. strategic management journal. · lyotard, j. -f. (1984). the post-modern condition: a report on knowlege. minneapolis, mn: university of minnesota press. · mackay, r. b., & chia, r. (2013). choice, chance, and unintended consequences in strategic change: a process understanding of the rise and fall of northco automotive. academy of management journal, 56(1), 208-230. · mackenzie, d. (2006). is economics performative? option theory and the construction of derivatives markets. journal of the history of economic thought, 28(1), 29-55. · mantere, s., & vaara, e. (2008). on the problem of participation in strategy: a critical discursive perspective. organization science, 19(2), 341-358. · march, j. g., & sutton, r. i. (1997). organizational performance as a dependent variable. organization science, 8(6), 698-706. · miller, c. c., washburn, n. t., & glick, w. h. (2013). the myth of firm performance. organization science, 24(3), 948-964. · miller, d. (1993). the architecture of simplicity. academy of management review, 18(1), 116-138. · mintzberg, h., & waters, j. (1985). of strategies, deliberate and emergent. strategic management journal, 6(3), 257-272. · nag, r., hambrick, d. c., & chen, m. j. (2007). what is strategic management, really? inductive derivation of a consensus definition of the field. strategic management journal, 28(9), 935-955. · orlitzky, m., schmidt, f. l., & rynes, s. l. (2003). corporate social and financial performance: a meta-analysis. organization studies, 24(3), 403. · park, k. m. (2007). antecedents of convergence and divergence in strategic positioning: the effects of performance and aspiration on the direction of strategic change. organization science, 18(3), 386-402. · porter, m. e. (1980). competitive strategy: techniques for analyzing industry and competitors. new york: free press. 578 rethinking the concept of performance in strategy research: towards a performativity perspective m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 566-578 · power, m. (1997). the audit society: rituals of verification. oxford, uk: oxford university press. · richard, p. j., devinney, t. m., yip, g. s., & johnson, g. (2009). measuring organizational performance: towards methodological best practice. journal of management, 35(3), 718-804. · robson, k. (1992). accounting numbers as “inscription”: action at a distance and the development of accounting. accounting, organizations and society, 17(7), 685-708. · rouleau, l. (2005). micro-practices of strategic sensemaking and sensegiving: how middle managers interpret and sell change every day. journal of management studies, 42(7), 1413-1442. · sastry, m. a. (1997). problems and paradoxes in a model of punctuated organizational change. administrative science quarterly, 42(2), 237-275. · sorsa, v., vaara, e., & langley, a. (2010). the interplay of political, textual and discursive agency in strategic planning. presented at the third workshop on strategy and discourse in hanken school of economics, helsinki. · starbuck, w., & milliken, f. j. (1988). challenger fine-tuning the odds until something breaks. journal of management studies, 25(4), 319-340. · townley, b., cooper, d. j., & oakes, l. (2003). performance measures and the rationalization of organizations. organization studies, 24(7), 1045-1071. · vaara, e. (2002). on the discursive construction of success/failure in narratives of postmerger integration. organization studies, 23(2), 211-248. · vaara, e., & durand, r. (2012). how to connect strategy research with broader issues that matter? strategic organization, 10(3), 248. · venkatraman, n., & ramanujam, v. (1986). measurement of business performance in strategy research: a comparison of approaches. academy of management review, 11(4), 801-814. · whittington, r. (2012). big strategy/small strategy. strategic organization, 10(3), 263-268. · whittington, r., basak-yakis, b., & cailluet, l. (2011). opening strategy: evolution of a precarious profession. british journal of management, 22(3), 531-544. · wolf, c., & floyd, s. w. (2013). strategic planning research toward a theory-driven agenda. journal of management (onlinefirst). 81 c. haag, h. larochem@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 82-117 m@n@gement copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). m@n@gement is a double-blind refereed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.management-aims.com © 2009 m@n@gement and the author(s). christophe haag 2009 hervé laroche dans le secret des comités de direction, le rôle des émotions : proposition d’un modèle théorique m@n@gement, 12 (2), 82-117. accepté par alain desreumaux m@n@gement est la revue officielle de l’aims m@n@gement is the journal official of aims issn: 1286-4892 editors: emmanuel josserand, hec, université de genève (editor in chief) jean-luc arrègle, edhec (editor) stewart clegg, university of technology, sydney (editor) esteban garcia canal, universidad de oviedo (editor) louis hébert, hec montréal (editor) martin kornberger, university of technology, sydney (editor) josé pla-barber, universitat de valència (editor) michael tushman, harvard business school (editor) martin g. evans, university of toronto (editor emeritus) bernard forgues, emlyon business school (editor emeritus) m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 82-117 82 dans le secret des comités de direction, le rôle des émotions : proposition d’un modèle théorique dans le secret des comités de direction, le rôle des émotions : proposition d’un modèle théorique cet article tente de déconstruire deux mythes managériaux en place depuis longtemps : celui du dirigeant « froid » et celui du comité de direction « aseptisé ». le comité de direction est abordé comme un groupe susceptible d’affronter des événements problématiques. en se fondant sur différents travaux de recherche issus de ce que les chercheurs appellent « la révolution affective» et en s’appuyant sur les témoignages de 40 dirigeants de grandes entreprises en france, nous proposons un modèle théorique – le modèle de contagion émotionnelle (mce) – qui place le management des émotions comme facteur de performance au sein du comité de direction. le mce articule l’intelligence émotionnelle du dirigeant et sa communication verbale en situation problématique. le modèle débouche sur des propositions de recherche concernant les caractéristiques que prend cette communication en fonction de l’intelligence émotionnelle du dirigeant, les effets de cette communication sur les membres du comité de direction, et l’effet résultant sur le comité dans son ensemble. mots clés : émotion, intelligence émotionnelle, dirigeant, comité de direction, contagion émotionnelle this article aims at debunking the myths of the «cold» ceo and of the «emotionnally dry» boardroom by investigating the impact of ceos emotions on the group dynamics and performance of boards of directors. based on the «affective revolution» literature and on qualitative accounts from 40 top-level french ceos, we propose an emotional contagion model that explains why and how emotionally intelligent ceos communicate more effectively within the boardroom in crisis situations. testable propositions are suggested for future research. key-words: emotion, emotional intelligence, leader, executive committee, emotional contagion introduction que se passe-t-il dans les comités de direction (codir) ? ces instances sont l’objet de tous les fantasmes. le codir est par essence une instance à l’accès étroitement contrôlé, marquée par le statut et le secret. parce qu’il est réservé aux personnes les plus puissantes, on y voit volontiers le lieu ultime d’exercice du pouvoir, là où s’élaborent les décisions stratégiques. le codir combine en apparence la légitimité du statut hiérarchique et celle de la collégialité. non seulement telle décision a christophe haag hervé laroche emlyon business school haag@em-lyon.com escp europe laroche@escpeurope.eu 83 c. haag, h. larochem@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 82-117 été prise par les plus gradés, mais encore elle a été « discutée » entre eux. hiérarchie et consensus : voilà ce qui semble sortir des portes closes des salles de réunion. bien entendu, ce mythe du lieu de pouvoir ultime a été critiqué. bien loin de constituer de véritables instances décisionnelles, les codir seraient tout au plus des lieux de régulation du pouvoir, de maintien des équilibres politiques. c’est le tableau qu’en dresse par exemple nicolas flamant (2002), après avoir observé directement le fonctionnement de deux comités. que l’atmosphère y soit guindée ou débridée, l’évitement semble être le premier souci du dirigeant. sur la scène du codir se joue un rituel sans poids véritable. il est sans doute raisonnable de prendre ces représentations comme les extrémités d’un continuum. entre la coalition de pouvoir homogène et la mise en scène escamotant les conflits latents, nous aborderons le codir comme un lieu où l’action se fabrique (de manière toujours problématique) à travers la collaboration (jamais totalement acquise) des membres de l’équipe dirigeante. loin du tableau qu’en fait flamant, d’autres rares études sur le sujet (brundin, 2002; brundin & melin, 2006; brundin & nordqvist, 2008) voient dans ces comités se nouer des conflits de pouvoir ouverts, avec des « prises de bec » et des discussions stratégiques intenses ; ce sont des moments chargés d’émotions où joue et se joue le leadership du dirigeant. c’est sur ces deux derniers points que cet article désire apporter une contribution. le leadership du dirigeant est ici envisagé comme une ressource pour la construction de l’action collective. mais sur quoi s’appuie ce leadership ? sur quelles compétences ? au mythe du codir tout-puissant est souvent associé celui de l’intelligence froide du dirigeant : le dirigeant ne devrait sa performance qu’à la mécanique intellectuelle qu’il a développée grâce à son expérience ou sur les bancs d’école (hunter & hunter, 1984) et qui lui permet de prendre des décisions rationnelles. cependant, c’est aussi en dévoilant son côté humain et émotionnel que le dirigeant peut être performant (brundin & melin, 2006; kisfalvi & pitcher, 2003). de nombreux observateurs soutiennent aujourd’hui qu’aux niveaux hiérarchiques les plus élevés de l’organisation, l’intelligence analytique ne suffit plus à faire la différence entre un bon dirigeant et un dirigeant d’exception (bennis & goldsmith, 1994; bennis & peters, 2000; goleman, boyatzis, & mckee, 2002; zaleznik, 1977). en nous appuyant sur des entretiens avec des dirigeants, nous soutenons que les dirigeants ont à gérer des situations émotionnelles difficiles, que la performance globale du codir peut être influencée, et que la régulation émotionnelle de ces situations est devenue un enjeu important. nous utilisons le terme « réguler » pour désigner le mécanisme psychologique permettant d’assurer un bon équilibre émotionnel au sein du codir, en amplifiant, en diminuant ou en modifiant les émotions ressenties par les membres de codir, selon leur utilité dans une situation donnée. pour opérer efficacement cette régulation, pour « rectifier le tir », les dirigeants interrogés utilisent consciemment leurs émotions. autrement dit, ils s’appuient sur leur intelligence émotionnelle. cet article vise à mieux comprendre comment l’intelligence émotionnelle du dirigeant influence la réaction du codir face à des problématiques m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 82-117 84 dans le secret des comités de direction, le rôle des émotions : proposition d’un modèle théorique difficiles. notre objectif est de proposer un modèle qui permette d’explorer les processus par lesquels le dirigeant peut initier une dynamique collective à l’intérieur du codir. à la différence des études citées plus haut, nous visons plus à analyser les micro-processus liés à des situations d’action que le rôle général des codir dans la structure de l’organisation. la situation typique étudiée est celle où le dirigeant cherche à mobiliser les membres du codir face à un événement négatif (une menace). sur le plan théorique, nous nous appuierons sur une littérature récente mais abondante qui développe les fondements émotionnels du leadership. nous proposerons sur cette base un « modèle de contagion émotionnelle » (mce) qui vise à expliquer comment le dirigeant émotionnellement intelligent peut réguler les états émotionnels des membres du codir de manière à les homogénéiser et à construire un état émotionnel stable au sein du groupe. l’intérêt de ce modèle et de la problématique qu’il propose sera ensuite appuyé empiriquement par l’analyse d’une série d’entretiens menés avec des dirigeants de grandes entreprises. ces entretiens font ressortir que, en ce qui concerne la place accordée aux émotions dans la communication du dirigeant au sein de son codir, il existe une différence très nette entre les dirigeants très émotionnellement intelligents et les dirigeants peu émotionnellement intelligents. pour poursuivre l’étude de ces processus de contagion émotionnelle et dépasser les limites de l’étude qualitative, nous avancerons dans une dernière section des propositions testables empiriquement qui constitueront, en plus du modèle général, la contribution principale de l’article. la revolution affective dans les theories organisationnelles et les theories du leadership une « révolution affective » dans les théories du management (barsade, brief, & spataro, 2003) a mis au jour l’existence d’interactions émotionnelles fortes entre les différents acteurs de l’entreprise. les émotions ne se font pas refouler aux portes de l’entreprise (ashford & humphrey, 1995). au contraire, les organisations sont des lieux de vie qui ont des mœurs et des caractéristiques émotionnelles riches (ashkanasy, härtel, & zerbe, 2000; fineman, 1993; putman & mumby, 1993). même les métiers en apparence a-émotionnels, comme celui de trader, impliquent le ressenti d’émotions fortes (rynecki, 2000). pekrun & frese (1992) sont les premiers chercheurs à avoir identifié les émotions les plus fréquemment ressenties et exprimées dans l’entreprise. dans leur classification, les émotions au travail sont caractérisées par deux dimensions : la valence (positive ou négative) et le focus (les émotions exprimées vis-à-vis de la tâche, comme « je m’ennuie à faire cela », ou celles exprimées vis-à-vis d’autrui, comme « j’envie mon collègue d’avoir eu une promotion et pas moi »). ainsi, les auteurs ont identifié l’anxiété, le désespoir, la tristesse, la culpabilité et la honte comme des émotions négatives exprimées vis-à-vis 85 c. haag, h. larochem@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 82-117 de la tâche et avec une valence négative. l’inquiétude, la jalousie, la peur ou encore le mépris seraient des émotions négatives dirigées vers autrui. d’autres travaux ont montré que les émotions et les humeurs jouent un rôle essentiel dans la performance des organisations (forgas & george, 2001; huy, 1999; rafaeli & sutton, 1989; totterdell, 1999). l’émotion est aujourd’hui définie comme un état affectif de conscience complexe qui est accompagné de troubles physiologiques (james, 1884; janet, 1926) (ex. : pâleur ou rougeur, accélération du rythme cardiaque…), elle est provoquée en nous par un événement interne ou externe dont nous pesons les conséquences sur notre bien-être (frijda, 1986; lazarus, 1999; scherer, schorr, & johnstone, 2001) et a une durée dans le temps qui lui est propre (ekman, 1999). elle est caractérisée par deux dimensions : la valence – le caractère plaisant ou déplaisant d’une émotion sur soi – et l’intensité – la force avec laquelle une émotion va être ressentie et exprimée (barrett & russell, 1998; remington, fabrigar & visser, 2000; russell, 1980; russell & barrett, 1999). notons que dans cet article, nous nous bornerons principalement à la dimension valence. certaines émotions comme la joie, la peur ou la tristesse (ekman, 1999) sont facilement identifiables à travers les expressions du visage (ekman, 1994), la gestuelle (ekman & friesen, 1978), la tonalité de la voix (scherer, 1986), ou encore le langage verbal (rimé, corsini, & herbette, 2002). les différentes théories de l’émotion ont révélé que, loin d’être un phénomène irrationnel, l’émotion a un rôle fonctionnel : elle nous aide à mieux nous adapter, communiquer et décider. l’émotion se distingue d’états affectifs voisins comme l’humeur (ekman, 1999), qu’on considère comme un sous-produit de l’émotion (weiss & cropanzano, 1996). en effet, une émotion, après avoir été ressentie vivement, laisse une trace, sous forme plus diffuse, moins intense et de même valence. l’humeur est une disposition affective dont la durée est généralement plus longue (quelques heures, jours, ou semaines) que celle de l’émotion. cette distinction est importante car dans ce papier, nous nous intéresserons tout particulièrement aux émotions fortes, ressenties et communiquées dans l’instant. la valence des émotions ressenties par les employés de nombreux chercheurs ont exploré l’importance que le travail a sur les valences des émotions. par exemple, si le salarié accorde un grand intérêt à la tâche qu’il réalise et qu’il lui consacre suffisamment de temps, celui-ci éprouvera en conséquence un état émotionnel positif une fois la tâche accomplie (izard, 1977; renninger, 2000). le fait de « travailler dur » est psychologiquement gratifiant pour soi et conduit à ressentir des émotions positives (brown, cron, & slocum, 1997). le niveau de performance perçu ou, en d’autres termes, savoir si nous pensons avoir été bons, mauvais ou moyens sur un projet détermine également la valence de notre état émotionnel (locke & lathman, 1990; pekrun & frese, 1992). les émotions positives surviennent quand la performance réelle est proche de la performance à laquelle nous aspirons (hsee & abelson, 1991). d’autres chercheurs ont exploré le lien m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 82-117 86 dans le secret des comités de direction, le rôle des émotions : proposition d’un modèle théorique inverse entre performance et valence. par exemple, les individus qui tendent à être d’humeur positive sont davantage performants à la fois dans les tâches créatives (averill, chon, & hahn, 2001), les métiers qui requièrent des interactions fortes avec autrui, dans les négociations, dans la résolution de problèmes et dans les prises de décisions rapides (ashby, isen, & turken, 1999; carnevale & isen, 1986; isen, 1999). l’expression des émotions a elle-même un impact sur la performance. par exemple, l’expression d’émotions positives par un individu amène son entourage (coéquipiers, supérieur…) à adopter des comportements altruistes et obligeants (carlson, charlin, & miller, 1988; isen & baron, 1991). le simple fait d’être souriant pousse les autres à vouloir vous aider (guéguen & de gail, 2003). toutefois, certains chercheurs émettent des doutes sur la relation directe entre émotions positives et performance. par exemple, staw & barsade (1993), dans leur revue de littérature, soulignent que les personnes affectivement négatives sont très souvent « immunisées » contre les biais d’un trop grand optimisme et l’illusion que tout est sous leur contrôle. dans une étude portant sur 67 entreprises, george & zhou (2002) ont trouvé que les émotions négatives peuvent même parfois promouvoir la créativité. tout particulièrement, les employés qui éprouvent de l’anxiété, de la tristesse ou du mécontentement durant une période donnée seraient plus créatifs à cet instant. ressentir des émotions négatives rendrait les idées plus claires (george et zhou parlent de « clarté émotionnelle »). la mauvaise humeur peut nous avertir qu’il reste encore du travail à faire et qu’il est dans notre intérêt de nous focaliser dessus. sinaceur & tiedens (2005) ont eux montré que l’expression de la colère peut être bénéfique dans une négociation. qu’elles soient positives ou négatives, les émotions jouent un rôle important dans les relations de travail et pèsent sur l’efficacité des employés. ainsi, les conflits avec ses collègues/pairs conduisent bien souvent l’individu à entrer dans une phase de dépression avec une diminution notable de l’estime de soi (frone, 2000). les émotions négatives ressenties au travail sont souvent liées aux conditions de travail et aussi aux relations de domination entre les individus (dont les expressions exacerbées sont, par exemple, le harcèlement psychologique, moral et physique). les expressions émotionnelles dans l’entreprise après avoir discuté le lien entre travail et émotion, émotion et travail, nous allons discuter le lien entre expression de l’émotion et travail. l’organisation est une toile sociale tissée de liens émotionnels (emotional bonds) entre les employés (rafaeli, 1996). lorsque les individus parlent « boulot », leurs conversations s’articulent dans 90% des cas autour des autres (les collègues, les clients, les supérieurs, etc.) et des relations émotionnelles qu’ils entretiennent avec eux (sandelands & boudens, 2000). ashforth & kreiner (2002) ont cherché à comprendre comment l’organisation pouvait contrôler les expressions émotionnelles des employés. selon eux, les émotions jugées inacceptables ou trop intenses comme la colère ou le dégoût sont proscrites car elles menacent le statu quo. on s’efforce de rendre 87 c. haag, h. larochem@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 82-117 moins saillante la perception des événements « extraordinaires », en usant de mécanismes comme l’humour, les excuses, ou les sanctions formelles. c’est principalement la culture organisationnelle qui autorise ou non l’expression de certaines émotions (ashford & humphrey, 1993 ; van maanen & kunda, 1989). comme dans toute culture, se pose alors la question de savoir dans quelle mesure les émotions exprimées publiquement, ici par un employé, sont différentes de celles qu’il ressent réellement. mais il n’est pas rare de voir des employés, managers ou dirigeants feindre des émotions, en affichant par exemple des comportements de façade (hewlin, 2003). d’autres études se sont intéressées aux expressions authentiques du leader et à leur influence sur la performance. étant donné que les subordonnées parviennent à déceler une émotion fausse exprimée par leur supérieur hiérarchique (dasborough & ashkanasy, 2002 2005 ; newcombe & ashkanasy, 2002), mieux vaut pour le leader exprimer ses émotions de manière authentique dans l’entreprise pour gagner de la légitimité auprès de ses collègues (endrissat, müller, & kaudela-baum, 2007; fields, 2007; grandey, fisk, mattila, jansen, & sideman, 2005 ; grover & moorman, 2007; palanski & yammarino, 2007; six, de bakker, & huberts, 2007). si l’individu reste « authentique », il devrait donc pouvoir exprimer des émotions aussi bien positives que négatives. mais force est de constater que les émotions positives sont plus « payantes » dans l’entreprise. en effet, les émotions positives confèrent à celui qui les exprime de « bonnes intentions », « un bon fond ». l’individu « émotionnellement positif » est alors mieux évalué par ses supérieurs, connaît des augmentations de salaire plus élevées et plus fréquentes que les autres, et bénéficie d’un plus grand soutien psychologique de la part de ses supérieurs et collègues (staw, sutton, & pelled, 1994). l’autorisation et la réprobation systématiques de certaines expressions émotionnelles donnent naissance à ce que certains chercheurs appellent un climat émotionnel dans l’entreprise. le climat émotionnel dans l’entreprise traditionnellement, le climat émotionnel est défini comme un comportement de groupe caractérisé par une émotion dominante (scherer & tran, 2001; tran, 1998) qui est partagée par tous les membres d’un même ensemble. comme en témoignent les classements publiés dans fortune des entreprises où « il fait bon travailler », les individus choisissent la manière dont ils veulent se sentir et s’émouvoir au travail (rafaeli & worline, 2001). l’idée de climat émotionnel est attribuée à de rivera (1992), qui l’a appliquée au niveau sociétal. les études ayant transposé le concept au niveau de l’entreprise montrent que le climat émotionnel peut être une source de performance influençant la créativité (prince, 2003) et les processus d’apprentissage organisationnel (tran, 1998). les climats émotionnels deviennent très vite des marqueurs d’identité organisationnelle, qui différencient les entreprises d’un secteur à un autre (voir par exemple le climat d’agressivité de la bourse de commerce américaine à chicago la cbot [fisher, 1990; lewis, 1989]). par ailleurs, l’entreprise présente souvent diverses poches climatiques, m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 82-117 88 dans le secret des comités de direction, le rôle des émotions : proposition d’un modèle théorique c’est-à-dire des endroits (unités, départements…) où les membres de l’organisation ne vivent pas le même climat émotionnel (payne, 1990). c’est pourquoi l’analyse du climat émotionnel est fréquemment portée à des niveaux plus « micro » comme le département ou l’équipe (anderson & west, 1998 ; haag, 2004 ; payne, 1990). s’il existe des différences d’ordre climatico-émotionnel entre les entreprises et à l’intérieur entre les unités qui les composent, il existe aussi des différences entre des types de métiers, certains étant plus émotionnels que d’autres, indépendamment de l’entreprise où ils sont exercés. le métier émotionnel : du simple employé au dirigeant hochschild (1983) a introduit le terme de travail émotionnel (emotional labor) dans son ouvrage the managed heart. l’idée est que l’employé exprime de manière intentionnelle et entraînée des émotions particulières dans l’exercice de son activité professionnelle (ashforth & humphrey, 1993). la littérature sur le travail émotionnel concerne principalement le secteur des services où la qualité des relations entre le prestataire et le client (ex : le consommateur, le patient, l’enfant, le passager, l’invité…) est primordiale. les métiers émotionnels requièrent donc une certaine régulation émotionnelle comme le « détachement affectif » pour le médecin vis-à-vis du patient (lief & fox, 1963), l’agressivité que sont tenus de manifester les avocats au tribunal (hirschhorn, 1989), l’attitude aimable de l’épicier (sutton & rafaeli, 1988), la gaieté affichée par les stewards et les hôtesses de l’air (hochschild, 1983), ou encore le jeu entre agressivité et bonhomie des policiers (rafaeli & sutton, 1991). le travail émotionnel demande que certaines émotions soient exprimées de manière coordonnée pour influencer le comportement de l’autre (le client, le confrère, le supérieur, le suspect…). selon dieter zapf (2002), le travail émotionnel influence le bien-être des employés positivement (sentiment d’avoir accompli son devoir) mais aussi négativement (dépersonnalisation, fatigue et surmenage). il peut avoir des effets somatiques négatifs (arvey, renz, & watson, 1998 ; begley, 1994; booth-kewley & friedman, 1987; hewlin, 2003). en résumé, il existe un lien entre le type de métier et les émotions exprimées au travail. quelle est la nature de ce lien pour le métier de dirigeant ? récemment, de nombreuses recherches se sont intéressées à la place des émotions dans le leadership (ashkanasy & tse, 2000; dasborough & ashkanasy, 2002, 2005; pirola-merlo, härtel, mann, & hirst, 2002), à l’intérieur des équipes dirigeantes (barsade, ward, turner, & sonnenfeld, 2000) et dans le codir en particulier (brundin et melin, 2006; kisfalvi & pitcher, 2003). nous pouvons supposer que ces découvertes accompagnent une évolution du métier du dirigeant qui implique aujourd’hui de nouvelles compétences managériales centrées autour de l’émotion, un thème réhabilité en psychologie (ashkanasy & daus, 2002; ashkanasy et al., 2000; ashkanasy & tse, 2000; george, 2000; goleman, et al., 2002). le métier de dirigeant implique aujourd’hui la régulation des émotions des collaborateurs 89 c. haag, h. larochem@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 82-117 (pirola-merlo, et al., 2002), l’expression publique d’émotions positives (caruso & salovey, 2004) et la création à l’intérieur de ses équipes d’un climat émotionnel propice au travail (sy, côté, & saavedra, 2005). pour convaincre, persuader et motiver ses troupes, le dirigeant doit laisser libre cours à ses émotions (dasborough & ashkanasy, 2005). des études ont révélé que le dirigeant est doté d’une sensibilité émotionnelle accrue (bennis & goldsmith, 1994; zaleznik, 1977), supérieure à celle d’un manager lambda. parmi ces compétences, on trouve notamment ce que les chercheurs appellent l’intelligence émotionnelle. l’intelligence émotionnelle il existe deux approches de l’intelligence émotionnelle: les modèles « mixtes » (bar-on, 1997; goleman, 1995) et le modèle de mayer & salovey (1997). les modèles « mixtes » sont appelés ainsi car ils mélangent plusieurs éléments de nature différente. ils ont essuyé de lourdes critiques de la part de la communauté scientifique (mayer & salovey, 1997; salovey & mayer, 1990) car ces modèles, qui réhabillent d’une certaine manière ce que l’on connaît déjà dans les champs de la personnalité, de la motivation, des dispositions affectives et de l’intelligence (matthews, zeidner, & roberts, 2002; zeidner, matthews, & roberts, 2004), ne répondent pas aux normes générales des mesures dintelligence (matthews, et al., 2002) et sont fortement corrélés à la personnalité (ciarrochi, chan, caputi & roberts, 2001). pour toutes ces raisons, nous avons choisi de nous appuyer sur le modèle de mayer et salovey. ce modèle est centré uniquement sur des habiletés ou capacités cognitives et propose un concept unique (matthews et al., 2002 ; mayer, salovey, & caruso, 2000; mayer, salovey, caruso, & sitarenios, 2003; zeidner et al., 2004), car différent de l’intelligence analytique (mayer et al., 2000) et de la personnalité (lopes, salovey, & straus, 2003), qui est défini dans les limites des critères standards habituellement appliqués à une forme d’intelligence (mayer, caruso, & salovey, 1999; mayer et al., 2003). le modèle de mayer et salovey comporte quatre branches qui sont corrélées entre elles : (1) la capacité de percevoir et d’exprimer des émotions, (2) la capacité d’assimiler les émotions dans la pensée, (3) la capacité de comprendre et raisonner avec les émotions, et (4) la capacité de réguler ses propres émotions mais aussi celles des autres (mayer, et al., 2003). depuis quelques années maintenant, les chercheurs se sont intéressés à ce type d’intelligence et à son rôle dans le leadership (caruso & salovey, 2004 ; george, 2000 ; goleman et al., 2002 ; zhou & george, 2003). des études récentes ont par exemple révélé que l’empathie – la capacité à ressentir les émotions de l’autre – et l’intelligence émotionnelle permettent de déceler les leaders émergents dans l’organisation (kellett, humphrey, & sleeth, 2002; wolff, pescosolido, & druskat, 2002) et que l’intelligence émotionnelle du leader influence la performance de son équipe (lopes, côté, & salovey, 2005 ; rice, 1999). selon côté, lopes, & salovey (2003), les leaders émotionnellement intelligents communiquent mieux leur vision à leurs équipes et génèrent plus facilement des idées convaincantes. m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 82-117 90 dans le secret des comités de direction, le rôle des émotions : proposition d’un modèle théorique ces résultats quant à l’influence de l’intelligence émotionnelle sur l’efficacité des leaders sont cohérents avec les théories sur les dirigeants que l’on retrouve dans la littérature. pour bennis & goldsmith (1994), le grand dirigeant est émotionnel, ambitieux, compétent et intègre. typiquement, on attend aussi du dirigeant qu’il soit un décisionnaire, un arbitre, un conseiller, un philosophe, un économiste, un stratège, un planificateur, mais aussi un anxieux (boss & golembiewski, 1995). aussi, pour zaleznik (1977), ce sont l’empathie – ou la capacité de sentir intuitivement ce que les autres ressentent – et la capacité de gérer l’anxiété face à l’incertitude qui distinguent le dirigeant du manager ordinaire. les très grands dirigeants sont d’ailleurs souvent décrits par leur entourage comme étant des « instinctifs », « riches dans leur contenu émotionnel » (zaleznik, 1977). dans la lignée de ces travaux, cet article comble un manque dans la littérature en tentant d’expliquer, par la proposition d’un modèle théorique appelé le modèle de contagion émotionnelle (mce), le lien qui existe entre l’intelligence émotionnelle du dirigeant et sa communication verbale. il cherche également à expliquer dans quelle mesure cette communication verbale peut influencer la dynamique émotionnelle et la performance du codir. nous allons maintenant présenter le mce et ses composantes principales, à savoir les événements affectifs qui touchent le codir, l’intelligence émotionnelle, la communication verbale du dirigeant et le phénomène de contagion émotionnelle. le modele de contagion emotionnelle (mce) le mce est fondé sur différents concepts émotionnels déjà existants mais rarement associés, tels que la théorie des événements affectifs (weiss & cropanzano, 1996), l’intelligence émotionnelle (mayer & salovey, 1997), la communication verbale-émotionnelle (bligh, kohles, & meindl, 2004) et la contagion émotionnelle (barsade, 2002). événements affectifs, émotions et interprétations au sein du codir parmi les multiples occasions où la régulation émotionnelle du groupe composant le codir par le dirigeant peut intervenir, nous avons choisi l’annonce, par le dirigeant, d’une mauvaise nouvelle ayant trait à l’entreprise. cette situation, non triviale (heureusement) mais néanmoins assez courante, déclenche des émotions au sein des membres du codir et donne lieu à des discussions souvent animées. l’annonce de la mauvaise nouvelle par le dirigeant lui-même implique que sa communication verbale est intrinsèquement porteuse d’un enjeu sur ce plan. nous nous appuyons ici sur une littérature spécifique qui qualifie ce type d’événements et de discussions d’« affectifs » (weiss & cropanzano, 1996). la « théorie des événements affectifs » (tea) explique que tout un chacun réagit émotionnellement à certains événements 91 c. haag, h. larochem@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 82-117 qui retiennent son attention. en se fondant sur les principes de la tea, certains chercheurs se sont focalisés sur l’étude d’événements affectifs « majeurs » (cartwright & panchal, 2001; probst, 2003) dans l’entreprise. les événements affectifs « majeurs » sont visibles de par leur caractère souvent surprenant, peu routinier ou alors hautement stratégique et ils peuvent ainsi avoir des effets sur l’entreprise. ils peuvent avoir un effet émotionnel localisé, sur les équipes (pirola-merlo, et al., 2002) et, plus particulièrement, sur les membres du codir (brundin & melin, 2006). si les membres du codir ressentent des émotions différentes à l’annonce de l’événement, ils peuvent être conduits à donner des sens différents à un même événement (bartunek, rousseau, rudolph, & depalma, 2006; rafaeli & vilnai-yavetz, 2004). et, en retour, si les membres du codir sont porteurs d’interprétations différentes, cela peut engendrer un conflit de sens pouvant dégénérer en un conflit émotionnel. la régulation des émotions ressenties par les membres du codir est donc un enjeu pour le dirigeant. pour permettre aux interprétations de converger, le leader peut influencer la construction de sens (sensemaking) de ses proches collaborateurs en utilisant ses émotions intelligemment (naidoo, 2006). l’intelligence émotionnelle du dirigeant apparaît donc comme une ressource mobilisable dans ces situations pour réguler la divergence des interprétations provoquée par les émotions ressenties à la réception de la mauvaise nouvelle. nous postulons que les dirigeants qui réussissent dans cet exercice utilisent la dynamique émotionnelle suivante : (1) alors qu’un événement majeur s’est produit et qu’il risque de susciter des discussions affectives entre les membres du codir, (2) le dirigeant émotionnellement intelligent (3) cherchera, à un moment approprié de la réunion de son comité, à communiquer de manière émotionnellement adéquate pour, (4) via un phénomène de contagion émotionnelle, (5) homogénéiser les états émotionnels individuels des membres de l’équipe dirigeante, facilitant ainsi la compréhension partagée de l’événement et, par la suite, la mise en place d’un plan d’action stratégique cohésif et performant. la réaction verbale du dirigeant face à un événement majeur : le rôle de l’intelligence émotionnelle en se fondant sur le modèle de l’intelligence émotionnelle de mayer & salovey (1997), nous avançons que le dirigeant doté d’une intelligence émotionnelle élevée, confronté à un événement affectif majeur, utilise cette capacité pour évaluer et réguler l’effet émotionnel de cet événement sur le codir. dans un premier temps, la capacité de pouvoir reconnaître les émotions chez les autres, à travers des indicateurs physiques (pâleur, sudation, tremblement, faciès, tonalité de la voix, gestuelle) et dans le langage, permet au dirigeant émotionnellement intelligent de savoir si un événement a eu un impact émotionnel sur son codir. une fois ce premier constat émotionnel établi, dans un second temps la capacité d’assimiler ces informations émotionnelles dans sa pensée permet au dirigeant émotionnellement intelligent de réorienter son m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 82-117 92 dans le secret des comités de direction, le rôle des émotions : proposition d’un modèle théorique attention sur l’événement affectif. dans un troisième temps, la capacité de comprendre et d’analyser ces informations émotionnelles permet au dirigeant émotionnellement intelligent d’interpréter les émotions ressenties par les membres du codir et d’anticiper les transformations des états émotionnels. dans un quatrième temps, la capacité de se détacher des émotions des autres apporte une certaine objectivité par rapport à la situation, ce qui permet au dirigeant émotionnellement intelligent de réguler ses propres émotions et les émotions des membres du codir. cette régulation émotionnelle demande au dirigeant non seulement de savoir exprimer des émotions avec précision mais aussi de savoir quelles émotions exprimer et de quelle manière. ainsi, l’impact sur le codir dépend de façon critique de la capacité de régulation du dirigeant. bien que la régulation émotionnelle ne puisse se faire qu’avec l’aide des trois autres branches de l’intelligence émotionnelle de mayer et salovey, son rôle critique nous amène à nous y intéresser en particulier. la communication verbale du dirigeant émotionnellement intelligent en réponse à un événement affectif parce qu’il possède un vocabulaire émotionnel riche (caruso & salovey, 2004), qu’il sait comment exprimer précisément une émotion (mayer & salovey, 1997) et parce que les membres du codir interagissent verbalement les uns avec les autres, l’une des voies les plus habituelles et directes pour le dirigeant émotionnellement intelligent d’exprimer ses émotions est à travers ses interventions verbales. l’importance d’une très bonne communication verbale du leader a été révélée par un grand nombre de chercheurs (conger, 1991; gardner & avolio, 1998; willner, 1984). la communication verbale du dirigeant n’est pas qu’un simple procédé d’argumentation logique (mencken, 1929) parce que derrière les mots se cachent souvent des émotions (burke, 1950 ; edelman, 1964 ; pfeffer, 1981 ; whissell, 1989 ; whissell, fournier, pellard, weir, & makarec, 1986). en portant leur analyse au niveau des discours politiques, bligh et ses associés (2004) ont montré, par exemple, qu’après la survenue d’un événement affectif majeur, le contenu de la communication verbale du leader et la manière dont elle est délivrée prennent alors une tournure émotionnelle. en résumé, les recherches sur l’intelligence émotionnelle et sur le rôle de la communication verbale dans le leadership indiquent que, en réaction à un événement affectif majeur, la communication verbale d’un dirigeant émotionnellement intelligent devrait avoir un contenu émotionnel « juste ». de manière à mieux cerner le contenu émotionnel de la communication verbale du dirigeant, nous avons choisi de le codifier en utilisant une dimension de l’émotion couramment acceptée dans la littérature : la valence (négative ou positive) (barrett & russell, 1998; remington, et al., 2000; russell, 1980; russell & barrett, 1999). selon mayer & salovey (1997), l’individu émotionnellement intelligent a tendance à favoriser l’expression d’émotions positives et à réduire celle d’émotions négatives. 93 c. haag, h. larochem@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 82-117 une etude qualitative de la communication des dirigeants nous allons maintenant étayer le mce par l’analyse de données empiriques qualitatives issues d’entretiens semi-directifs avec des dirigeants à la tête de certaines des plus grandes entreprises en france. plus précisément, nous allons chercher à montrer que les dirigeants émotionnellement intelligents ont une communication différente des dirigeants peu émotionnellement intelligents, et cela de manière consciente. cela correspond aux phases 1), 2) et 3) du modèle formulé plus haut, qui concerne la production, par le dirigeant, d’une réaction verbale à l’événement négatif. nous prolongerons l’exploitation de nos données empiriques en examinant la phase 4), qui concerne l’effet de la réaction verbale du dirigeant sur les états émotionnels des membres du codir. la phase 5), celle de l’homogénéisation des états émotionnels, pour laquelle nous n’avons pas de données, sera discutée dans la section conclusive. l’objectif général de cette section est de permettre l’élaboration de propositions testables. méthodologie de recherche nous avons choisi une stratégie de recherche de type qualitatif de manière à pouvoir recueillir directement des informations (mintzberg, 1979) susceptibles d’illustrer, d’enrichir et d’appuyer notre modèle théorique (taylor & bogdan, 1984) qui, nous le rappelons ici, vise à mieux comprendre comment l’intelligence émotionnelle du dirigeant influence la réaction du codir face à des problématiques difficiles. puisque notre modèle théorique – le mce – décrit un processus psychologique utilisé par un dirigeant de type « émotionnellement intelligent », le matériau qualitatif recueilli et qui sera utilisé plus tard dans la présentation du mce doit correspondre à une population de dirigeants émotionnellement intelligents. mais cela n’est pas suffisant, il faut également s’assurer que les résultats de recherche obtenus sur les dirigeants « émotionnellement intelligents » diffèrent de ceux obtenus sur des dirigeants « peu émotionnellement intelligents ». nous avons pu obtenir ce contraste en administrant aux dirigeants un test d’intelligence émotionnelle, outil permettant de discriminer statistiquement les dirigeants, et en utilisant ensuite une même grille d’analyse pour comparer les réponses aux entretiens des deux classes de dirigeants. caractéristiques de la population les dirigeants que nous avons cherché à rencontrer devaient être à la tête d’un groupe (coté ou privé) ou d’une filiale/division d’un groupe (français ou étranger) de grande taille (ca supérieur à 1 milliard d’euros en 2005) et implantée en île-de-france (pour des raisons d’accessibilité). 153 entreprises opérationnelles répondant aux critères ci-dessus ont été retenues parmi les 11 000 premières entreprises en termes de ca répertoriées dans l’atlas des entreprises 2005 en france. m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 82-117 94 dans le secret des comités de direction, le rôle des émotions : proposition d’un modèle théorique les dirigeants à la tête de ces entreprises sont définis comme les dirigeants de plus haut rang qui ont le rôle exécutif le plus important, c’est-à-dire qu’ils font et conduisent la stratégie de leur organisation et président l’instance exécutive suprême (le directoire, le comité de direction ou le comité exécutif). les présidents de conseil d’administration, lorsqu’ils ont conservé un rôle exécutif prépondérant, ont été inclus dans la population cible. bien que les 153 dirigeants ne possèdent pas le même titre étant donné la diversité des statuts juridiques de leur entreprise, nous les appelons, pour des raisons de simplicité, les dirigeants. les 153 dirigeants ont été contactés par courrier postal. dans la moitié des cas, pour faciliter l’accès à ces dirigeants, les courriers que nous leur avons adressés furent co-signés par jacques séguéla, vice-président d’havas, qui a accepté de nous aider dans ce projet. dans l’autre moitié des cas, le nom de séguéla figurait uniquement dans le corps de texte et le courrier ne fut signé que par nous, cela pour mesurer l’effet de la signature de jacques séguéla par rapport au taux de réponses. sur les 153 dirigeants, il y a eu 149 réponses, dont 47 réponses positives. parmi les réponses positives, 7 n’ont pas été retenues dans notre échantillon final (pour des raisons variées telles que: drame familial, licenciement ou changement de poste du dirigeant, indisponibilité du dirigeant, refus du dirigeant de se faire enregistrer par dictaphone). nous n’avons pas observé d’effet significatif de la signature de jacques séguéla sur le taux de réponse : les courriers cosignés par jacques séguéla ont obtenu un taux de réponses positives de 26 % contre 35 % pour les courriers signés par nous uniquement. en revanche, nous ne pouvons rien dire quant à l’effet « séguéla » qu’il soit sous forme de signature ou dans le corps de texte, mais nous estimons qu’il est très grand étant donné la renommée, en france depuis quelques décennies déjà, de ce vice-président d’havas. parmi les 40 dirigeants de l’échantillon final, il y a 39 hommes et une seule femme. la moyenne d’âge est de 54,5 ans (et = 7,9 ans). ils ont passé en moyenne 6,6 années à la tête de leur dernier codir en date (min = 6 mois ; max = 39 ans ; et = 9 ans). ils ont fait en moyenne 5,9 années d’études supérieures (min = 0 année ; max = 11 années ; et = 2,83 années). quatre participants sont autodidactes et n’ont pas fait d’études après le bac. les autres peuvent avoir cumulé, après le baccalauréat, plusieurs types de spécialisation (ingénierie, sciences politiques, management, médecine, lettres). dans l’échantillon final, le ca des entreprises varie de 1 milliard d’euros à 40,7 milliards d’euros. les secteurs d’activité des entreprises des participants sont variés : restauration, agroalimentaire, communication-tv, bâtiment, énergie, mécanique, automobile, services, électronique, chimie/pharmacie, grande distribution, métallurgie/sidérurgie, transports. aucun secteur ne domine l’échantillon. mesure de l’intelligence émotionnelle des dirigeants après avoir recueilli quelques données quantitatives qui n’entrent pas dans le champ de cet article (pour une étude expérimentale visant à faire réagir verbalement les dirigeants par rapport à une vignette 95 c. haag, h. larochem@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 82-117 décrivant une situation de crise), nous avons demandé aux dirigeants de remplir un test auto-évaluatif de l’intelligence émotionnelle, l’adaptation francophone de l’eis (emotional intelligence scale, schutte et al., 1998) qui mesure l’intelligence émotionnelle comme un modèle d’habiletés cognitives pures : l’inventaire des émotions (rossier, à paraître). l’eis est un questionnaire d’auto-évaluation de l’intelligence émotionnelle qui comporte 33 items. ses auteurs soutiennent que la validité du contenu est suffisante, les 33 questions correspondant à toutes les dimensions du concept original de l’intelligence émotionnelle de salovey & mayer (1990). les participants à l’eis doivent répondre à des questions destinées à mesurer les tendances adaptatives en faveur de l’intelligence émotionnelle selon une échelle de likert à cinq points avec 1 correspondant à « fortement d’accord » et 5 à « fortement en désaccord ». le score final (unidimensionnel) de l’eis va de 33 à 165. les items utilisés par l’eis sont des affirmations générales (ex. : « je trouve difficile de comprendre les messages non verbaux des autres », « j’ai de la peine à comprendre pourquoi une personne se sent comme elle se sent »…). ils permettent de déterminer une capacité psychologique « absolue », hors de tout contexte managérial et sans envisager son rapport avec une autre capacité (par exemple, communication). dans sa version anglaise, la stabilité de l’eis (fiabilité d’un test-retest après deux semaines) est de r (27) = 0,78. l’eis a un coefficient alpha de cronbach de 0,87, preuve de sa cohérence interne (schutte, et al., 1998). la validité des critères a été qualifiée de bonne, tout comme la validité conceptuelle de l’eis (fondée sur la validité convergente et discriminante) (schutte, et al., 1998). il existe des corrélations négatives significatives entre l’eis et l’alexithymie – difficulté à exprimer ses émotions – (r (24) = – 0,65), la clarté des sentiments (r (47) = 0,52) et le redressement accru de l’humeur (r (47) = 0,68). il existe une relation de l’eis avec un seul facteur (ouverture à l’expérience, r (22) = 0,54) des cinq grands facteurs de la personnalité mesurés au moyen du test neo-pi (schutte, et al., 1998). étalonné sur un échantillon de 234 individus, l’adaptation francophone de l’eis, l’inventaire des émotions (rossier, à paraître) a une bonne cohérence interne avec un coefficient alpha de cronbach de 0,78. la durée d’administration des 33 items est d’environ 8 minutes. notre échantillon de dirigeants suit une loi normale : en effet, les coefficients de skewness (0,15) et kurtosis (–1,29) (tabachnick & fidell, 1996) de la variable intelligence émotionnelle sont compris dans les plages de normalité ou intervalles de confiance (– 2*et théorique ; + 2*et théorique), soit respectivement (– 0,77 ; + 0,77) pour le skewness et (–1,46 ; + 1,46) pour le kurtosis. la consistance interne de l’échelle eis est bonne avec un alpha de cronbach, α = .75. la moyenne des scores eis des dirigeants est de 126,8 (min = 108 ; max = 150 ; et = 11,6). nous n’avons trouvé aucune corrélation significative et importante entre les scores eis des dirigeants et les caractéristiques des dirigeants: l’âge, le nombre total d’années d’études supérieures, le nombre d’années d’études supérieures cumulées par discipline, le nombre total d’années d’expériences professionnelles en entreprise et le nombre m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 82-117 96 dans le secret des comités de direction, le rôle des émotions : proposition d’un modèle théorique d’années passées dans leur dernier codir. notons enfin que dans un premier temps, nous avions envisagé d’utiliser le test d’intelligence émotionnelle mayer-salovey-caruso (mayer-salovey-caruso emotional intelligence test = msceit). ce test (qui est un test de performance, comparable dans sa structure et son mode d’administration à un test de qi : réponses justes vs réponses fausses), dans sa version anglaise, comporte de nombreux avantages. toutefois, nous n’avons pas pu utiliser cet instrument pour notre échantillon de 40 individus français car les adaptations françaises du msceit développées et testées à l’université paris v et à l’université catholique de louvain ont révélé que ces outils de mesure ne sont pas valides et fiables dans leurs versions françaises, ce qui les rend inexploitables pour le moment pour la recherche en france. entretien semi-directif avec les dirigeants après que les dirigeants eurent terminé de remplir le test, l’un des auteurs a conduit un entretien semi-directif avec eux. 39 entretiens furent conduits en face à face avec le dirigeant dans son bureau. un seul entretien a été conduit avec la présence du chargé de mission auprès du président, qui se tenait en retrait de la conversation. ces entretiens devaient laisser les participants s’exprimer librement tout en les amenant à aborder trois thèmes précis : la communication verbale du dirigeant et sa dimension émotionnelle ; l’émotion dans le management ; le lien entre émotion et prise de décision. voici des exemples de questions posées : « en règle générale, comment faitesvous pour préparer ce que vous allez dire aux réunions du comité de direction, avez-vous des “trucs” ? » ; « quelle est selon vous l’importance d’une prise de parole du dirigeant dans le codir ? » ; « avez-vous en tête un ou deux exemple(s) d’un “speech” que vous avez prononcé au sein du comité de direction et qui, selon vous, a eu un impact direct sur vos proches collaborateurs ? qu’est-ce qui vous permet de savoir s’il y a eu “impact” ou pas ? » ; « êtes-vous plus performant lorsque vous êtes de mauvaise ou de bonne humeur ? » ; etc. lors de l’entretien, nous avons essayé d’adopter une attitude ouverte, empathique sans préjugé ni a priori, de manière à encourager l’expression spontanée du dirigeant. à aucun moment l’expérimentateur ne s’est trouvé face à des dirigeants qui n’ont pas souhaité répondre à ses questions. au contraire, nous suspectons que la différence d’âge avec les participants a sans doute facilité la libre expression du dirigeant pour qui l’auteur en question ne représentait pas une personnalité de science en position dominante. la durée moyenne des rencontres avec les dirigeants est de 1 h 30 (min = 40 min ; max = 2 h 45 min). codification des données recueillies d’après la fiabilité de l’échelle eis et la distribution normale de notre échantillon, nous avons décidé d’analyser le contenu des entretiens en comparant celui des 25 % de dirigeants les plus émotionnellement intelligents (soit 10 dirigeants avec des scores eis ≥ 139) avec celui des 25 % de dirigeants les moins émotionnellement intelligents (soit 10 dirigeants avec des scores eis≤117). 97 c. haag, h. larochem@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 82-117 pour notre analyse, il nous a fallu construire une grille codifiée de manière à comparer systématiquement les thèmes et sous-thème abordés. pour ce faire, nous nous sommes référés aux normes de codification standards dans la littérature (thiétart 1999; miles huberman 2003). puisque notre approche est plus déductive (nous partons d’un modèle théorique) qu’inductive, l’élaboration de notre grille d’analyse s’est faite à partir d’un dictionnaire de thèmes et sous-thèmes qui reprend les grandes catégories de notre modèle théorique – le mce –, à savoir : la nécessité pour le dirigeant de réagir verbalement face à un événement majeur (faible/forte), la nécessité pour lui d’utiliser ses émotions lors de cette réaction (faible/forte), la valence émotionnelle (positive/négative) et la dimension analytique (froid et rationnel/ chaud et émotionnel) de la réaction verbale, le type d’émotions exprimées à ce moment par le dirigeant, le niveau de conscience de l’utilisation de l’ie par le dirigeant au moment de réagir et l’effet attendu par le dirigeant sur son codir. pour chaque thème, nous avons choisi comme unité d’analyse les mots et les phrases des dirigeants. les deux auteurs ont utilisé la même grille d’analyse pour coder les entretiens des dirigeants et l’ont fait indépendamment de manière à s’assurer de la fiabilité de l’analyse. le tableau 1 résume les principaux résultats d’analyse. ce tableau intégratif a pour objectif principal d’identifier les conséquences possibles de l’intelligence émotionnelle du dirigeant dans le contexte particulier d’un codir faisant face à un événement majeur. ces conséquences sont analysées selon des catégories qui reprennent les différents éléments de notre modèle de contagion émotionnelle : nature de la communication émotionnelle du dirigeant (valence émotionnelle) ; type d’émotions exprimées ; effets attendus sur le codir. ces éléments sont à distinguer du concept d’intelligence émotionnelle en soi. nous précisons ce point car l’intelligence émotionnelle est trop souvent confondue avec ses conséquences éventuelles, comme le déplore salovey (2000) : « tout à coup, l’intelligence émotionnelle est 22 choses différentes : la jugeote en politique, l’orientation d’un service à la clientèle, le bon fonctionnement en groupe, etc. […]. tout ce qui apparaît important et que l’intelligence ne mesure pas relève maintenant de l’intelligence émotionnelle. je trouve cela problématique » (traduit par yves larose). m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 82-117 98 dans le secret des comités de direction, le rôle des émotions : proposition d’un modèle théorique tableau 1. résultats d’analyse a. dirigeants les plus émotionnellement intelligents (25 % de l’échantillon de dirigeants ; tous des hommes ; intervalle des scores ie [139;150]) nécessité de réagir verbalement face à un événement majeur nécessité d’utiliser ses émotions dans la réaction nature de la réaction verbale type d’émotions exprimées à ce moment par le dirigeant niveau de conscience de l’utilisation et de l’efficacité de l’ie par le dirigeant à ce moment effet attendu par le dirigeant sur son codir valence émotionnelle dimension analytique forte exemples de verbatim de dirigeants : « … permet d’être sûr que le message est bien passé. par exemple, le message peut être : on est en crise. » ; « … permet une remise à jour, de montrer la direction à nouveau, et après, ils y vont ou ils y vont pas. » ; « …permet de casser la routine… » ; « c’est une explication de texte à un moment donné, nécessaire pour avoir une vision sur du moyen et du long terme sur le sens de ce que l’on est en train de faire, d’avoir une compréhension. » ; « … un outil pour arriver à convaincre les gens d’aller à un consensus fort et pas mou. » forte exemples de verbatim de dirigeants : « ce ne sont pas les mots qui sont importants, c’est les émotions qui se servent de vos mots pour en réalité exprimer ce que vous avez envie d’exprimer » ; « il faut de la motricité, de l’envie, de la rapidité… » ; « pour mettre les bouchées doubles, il faut jouer sur les émotions. pas la contrainte. il faut de l’envie et cela vient de l’émotion… si l’on ne développe pas l’envie pour soi et pour les autres, on va beaucoup moins loin. les gens, s’ils n’utilisent pas leur force émotionnelle, iront moins loin. » ; « la réalité est que l’essentiel de la communication passe par les émotions, les mots c’est seulement 7 % de ce que les gens retiennent. » positive (exprimer des choses positives) exemples de verbatim de dirigeants : « un comité de direction doit d’abord s’attacher à parler de choses positives… » ; « les premiers sujets [abordés en codir] doivent être positifs pour donner de l’énergie. » ; « … être surtout beaucoup plus positif sur ce qui se fait de positif et moins négatif sur ce qui est négatif. » ; « il est sûr que de bonne humeur, je fais des choses plus facilement me semble-t-il. » ; « les équipes ressentent ma volonté d’enthousiasme. » très faible (on ne parlera pas chiffre, pas d’analyse, pas de pwp) exemples de verbatim de dirigeants : « je leur parle d’autre chose que de la technique. » ; « on réussit avec des hommes et non des chiffres et en plus des hommes motivés. » ; « pour des discours d’introduction, il ne faut pas à mon avis commencer par 50 planches de chiffres. » ; « je n’ai pas de discours super construits ‘méthode de sciences-po’. c’est en général des systèmes convergents, provoqués par l’émotion. » émotions positives ex. : envie, joie, fierté, enthousiasme… exemples de verbatim de dirigeants : « il faut bien doser [son discours] ; et cela on l’obtient en jouant sur les émotions. pas par la contrainte. il faut de l’envie. et cela vient de l’émotion. si l’on ne développe pas l’envie pour soi et pour les autres, on va beaucoup moins loin. les gens, s’il n’utilise pas leur force émotionnelle, iront moins loin. » ; « … quand vous demandez un gros effort à une personne, il faut jouer sur une émotion : sur la fierté, c’est-à-dire toute la reconnaissance, l’attachement personnel que cette personne a pour vous. » elevé exemples de verbatim de dirigeants: « j’ai une capacité à comprendre les autres et à comprendre leurs émotions… je suis le catalyseur d’énergie et d’émotion…» ; « je suis empathique, donc je n’ai pas besoin qu’on me raconte pour savoir ce qui se passe. quelqu’un qui ne va pas bien, ça se détecte au premier coup d’œil. ça se voit par des attitudes, le regard, la personne qui s’exclut un peu dans un groupe. » ; « j’ai une intelligence émotionnelle et je suis extrêmement mal à l’aise face à quelqu’un qui a une intelligence analytique. » ; « je regarde beaucoup ce qui se passe dans la psychologie des gens. » ; « je fonctionne au feeling. j’ai un qe particulièrement élevé. c’est une seconde nature ! » création d’un climat émotionnel homogène exemples de verbatim de dirigeants : « …alerter les gens » ; « … le souci du long terme » ; « je fédère et je fais travailler ensemble les gens, je crée un esprit d’équipe, je motive… » ; « le climat est transparent. les gens ne me disent pas de bêtises et ne masquent pas les choses. » ; « … contrainte de mobilisation » ; «… susciter un enthousiasme » ; «… rassurer les gens et leurs identités» ; « … créer un esprit de bande » ; « … avoir une dose de convivialité, qui souvent passe par le fait de faire quelque chose ensemble. » ; « … se souder autour de la difficulté » ; « … créer un esprit d’équipe extraordinaire » ; «… créer un climat ouvert, détendu, sérieux, réactif ». 99 c. haag, h. larochem@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 82-117 b. dirigeants les moins émotionnellement intelligents (25 % de l’échantillon de dirigeants ; tous des hommes ; intervalle des scores ie [108;117]) nécessité de réagir verbalement face à un événement majeur nécessité d’utiliser ses émotions dans la réaction nature de la réaction verbale type d’émotions exprimées à ce moment par le dirigeant niveau de conscience de l’utilisation et de l’efficacité de l’ie par le dirigeant à ce moment effet attendu par le dirigeant sur son codir valence émotionnelle dimension analytique forte exemples de verbatim de dirigeants : « c’est important. ça permet de rendre hommage pour le travail qu’ils [les membres du codir] ont fait, pour la réussite qu’ils ont obtenue et la fierté qu’on peut avoir de ce qui a été réussi. donc c’est le couronnement le speech du patron. » ; « … c’est très important pour les messages stratégiques ; le pourquoi, le comment, qu’estce qu’on veut… » ; « le discours du dirigeant, ça a beaucoup d’impact pour expliquer la stratégie. » faible exemples de verbatim de dirigeants : « il est absolument primordial de contenir ses émotions. » ; « un ton solennel », « je suis factuel, je n’utilise jamais mes émotions. » ; « moi je suis strictement rationnel. » ; « pour convaincre, j’utilise des faits, des données, des études qui ont été faites par des gens internes ou externes… » ; « je contrôle sans doute trop mes émotions. » neutre ou négative exemples de verbatim de dirigeants : « un ton solennel » ; « je suis d’humeur égale, je ne suis pas émotif du tout, je ne stresse jamais, je suis neutre, rationnel dans mes interventions, factuel, d’ailleurs ce qui me manque un peu, c’est ce côté folie, je me dis parfois même que ce serait bien d’évoluer un peu… » ; « en réunion, je suis parfaitement capable de dire à un collaborateur qui me présente quelque chose de tout à fait acceptable que c’est nul s’ il arrive au mauvais moment tout en sachant au moment où je le dis que je commets une erreur… c’est comme ça ! » ; « ma colère prend la forme de l’ironie. » très forte exemples de verbatim de dirigeants : « je commence par une revue factuelle des chiffres et de l’environnement. » ; « je commence par les résultats du mois qui confirment les tendances enregistrées depuis deux, trois ou six mois ; ce que je propose c’est de revenir sur ces chiffres en croisant les segments, enfin je dirais l’analyse traditionnelle que l’on a, les variances. » ; « il faut rester le plus factuel possible. » ; « j’utilise toujours un support visuel, une ou deux planches. » ; «… être extrêmement clair et concis. » émotions négatives ex. : colère, crainte, peur, culpabilité… exemples de verbatim de dirigeants : « vous pouvez jouer sur la culpabilité lorsque des objectifs ne sont pas atteints. » ; « cela m’arrive d’avoir simulé des colères pour pouvoir outrer l’assemblée. je l’ai déjà forcée pour rentrer dans un rapport de force avec un collaborateur. » faible exemples de verbatim de dirigeants : « si vous êtes émotionnel, quelque part, c’est une faiblesse vu de mon côté puisque vous ne pouvez pas juger sur des problèmes opérationnels par des critères émotionnels. » ; « à mon sens, en général, on perd si on se laisse guider par l’émotionnel. » ; « j’ai toujours géré les choses de façon purement rationnelle, factuelle. » ; « je ne me fie pas à mon émotion. » ; « je n’ai pas d’intelligence émotionnelle je pense, au sens où je ne respecte pas forcément les émotions des autres… j’ai toujours mis mes émotions à part… quelles que soient les émotions, je continue.» ; « je suis ingénieur à la base, donc on est plutôt des cartésiens… mais je me demande parfois si j’ai raison de supprimer les émotions… c’est que tout ce qui est gestuelle, non verbale, bah, on sait pas faire… c’est une chose qu’on nous a pas apprise.» ; « les émotions, il ne faut pas trop en faire, c’est juste quelque chose à la mode. » ; « utiliser les émotions, l’irrationnel, c’est pas mon style ! moi je suis très rationnel, très structuré… je ne fonctionne pas à l’intuition, je ne suis pas un instinctif… moi je garde en tête un certain nombre d’indicateurs macro et micro… » ; « les émotions, je m’en méfie, ça me fait penser à la mode du coaching, de la psychologie appliquée au dirigeant patati patata… ces disciplines sont à mi-chemin de la vie privée et de la vie professionnelle… on ne sait pas très bien ce qui se cuisine là dedans… » division du groupe et création d’un esprit de compétition, raisonnement par le résultat, imposer son point de vue exemples de verbatim de dirigeants : « … arrêtez de vous plaindre » ; « seuls les meilleurs auront mon attention » ; « vous avez déconné, il faut vous secouer, ça c’est pas acceptable. » ; « les gens se font engueuler de façon assez factuelle et objective, les gens sont suffisamment intelligents pour savoir s’ils ont fait une connerie. » ; « les gens travaillent parce qu’ils sont bien payés. » ; « il faut forcer les gens à y aller. » ; «… imposer son propre point de vue à l’équipe » ; « je donne le sentiment à l’équipe qu’on est en mode de co-création, et à la fin, je sors de ma poche ce que j’appelle moi un “napoléon”, un argument empereur, un argument très fort que je garde pour la fin ! » m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 82-117 100 dans le secret des comités de direction, le rôle des émotions : proposition d’un modèle théorique interprétation des résultats l’analyse des entretiens qui est résumée par le tableau 1 montre que, face à un événement majeur, les dirigeants ressentent la nécessité de réagir verbalement, qu’ils soient émotionnellement intelligents ou non. c’est important pour la validité de notre démonstration car, s’il existait une différence entre les deux groupes de dirigeants (par exemple, si les dirigeants à faible ie accordaient moins d’importance à une réaction verbale que les dirigeants à forte ie), la comparaison de positions de chacun des deux groupes serait rendue difficile, sinon douteuse. le crédit à accorder à des propos tenus sur un objet de faible importance est en effet a priori limité. si l’importance de réagir verbalement est également appréciée par tous les dirigeants, la manière de réagir diffère nettement selon le degré d’intelligence émotionnelle, et ce sur tous les critères que nous avons tirés de la littérature et qui nous ont servi à analyser les entretiens. malgré certaines variations entre individus, il apparaît clairement que les dirigeants à forte ie ne conçoivent pas leur intervention de la même façon que les dirigeants à faible ie. on commencera, au contraire du tableau, par décrire les positions prises par les dirigeants non émotionnellement intelligents. pour eux, l’utilisation des émotions doit être contenue, sinon totalement supprimée dans leur discours. de manière générale, l’expression de l’émotion par le dirigeant est vue comme une faiblesse. et en ce qui concerne les autres participants, l’émotion est comprise comme un élément perturbateur qu’il faut tenir en dehors du codir. au mieux, s’il peut être bon de la laisser s’exprimer, c’est pour purger les esprits qui, une fois vidés du trop-plein d’émotions, pourront retrouver une démarche rationnelle. ces dirigeants affirment la nécessité de s’en tenir aux faits. ils privilégient volontiers une présentation chiffrée des résultats et s’appuient avant tout sur la rigueur, l’intelligence analytique qui permet d’utiliser les données et paramètres disponibles dans l’environnement. s’ils expriment une émotion, celle-ci sera plutôt négative, telle la colère (cachée éventuellement sous l’ironie ou le sarcasme). on peut penser que, chez certains, l’émotion exprimée est alors un instrument de pression sur les membres du codir, destiné à créer une peur ou une culpabilité. les dirigeants à faible ie conçoivent le codir comme un instrument rationnel, mais ils en ont aussi fréquemment une vision politique. en effet, de l’insistance qui est faite sur la nécessité d’une rationalité fondée sur les faits, on peut tirer deux interprétations très différentes. dans la première, qui semble être sincèrement portée par certains dirigeants, la rationalité et les faits peuvent être vus comme des « lieux » où les membres du codir et le dirigeant peuvent se rassembler, à l’écart des perturbations des émotions, pour faire face à l’événement majeur d’une manière efficace et sereine. à l’inverse, chez d’autres dirigeants, la méfiance envers le recours aux émotions, et surtout aux émotions positives, peut sembler liée à un souci de préserver (sinon consolider) une position de pouvoir du dirigeant face aux membres du codir, comme si le dirigeant à faible ie se méfiait de la contagion émotionnelle qui serait susceptible de rapprocher les membres du 101 c. haag, h. larochem@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 82-117 groupe. le caractère froidement analytique du discours du dirigeant et la règle du recours aux données factuelles permettraient au dirigeant de maintenir une certaine division au sein du codir. la rationalité protectrice se transformerait alors en une mise en scène de la réflexion et de la concertation permettant aux dirigeants d’écarter ou d’écraser les avis divergents. les entretiens ne permettent cependant pas d’aller au-delà du repérage de ces deux positions, assez sensiblement différentes. chez les dirigeants émotionnellement intelligents, l’utilisation des émotions et plus particulièrement des émotions positives semble de coutume lorsqu’ils délivrent un discours introductif dans le codir. c’est même l’objectif principal de ce discours que de véhiculer un contenu émotionnel positif. le sens dénotatif (les mots, les données) est secondaire. l’émotion est conçue comme une ressource génératrice d’énergie et c’est justement, face à un événement majeur, d’énergie dont le codir a besoin. par contraste avec les dirigeants à faible ie, les dirigeants à forte ie ne voient pas le codir prioritairement comme une ressource cognitive qu’il faudrait alimenter en information. la ressource cognitive ne sera mobilisable que dans certaines conditions d’énergie, d’envie, de motivation, que le dirigeant à fort ie cherche à créer par son discours. en conséquence, le contenu de ce discours sera non analytique, avec peu de détails ou de présentations chiffrées. la structuration même du discours est perçue par certains dirigeants comme un possible obstacle, comme le confia ce dirigeant : « si vous avez un patron qui vous enferme dans une démonstration rationnelle, là ça tue l’intuition. » l’effet visé, de l’avis des dirigeants interrogés, semble être un effet de groupe destiné à créer une dynamique collective. la contagion émotionnelle ne semble pas redoutée, mais recherchée. cependant, il n’est pas exclu, pour faire pendant à la double interprétation proposée plus haut sur les dirigeants à faible ie, que cette position puisse relever d’un souci de contrôle, par le dirigeant, d’un groupe qui, en situation difficile (face à un événement majeur), peut constituer pour lui une menace et dont il se retrouve de toute manière dépendant. il est possible qu’à la fausse concertation rationnelle évoquée plus haut dans le cas des dirigeants à faible ie corresponde un projet de mise en scène émotionnelle de l’unité du groupe et du leadership du dirigeant. comme nous l’avons noté plus haut, les entretiens ne peuvent que cerner les conceptions que les dirigeants se font de la place de l’émotion dans leur intervention verbale suite à un événement majeur. leur analyse montre que ces conceptions diffèrent nettement entre dirigeants à forte ie et dirigeants à faible ie. le partage des émotions apparaît bien comme un enjeu aux yeux des dirigeants, qu’ils cherchent à l’éviter ou à le favoriser. ce que nous devons chercher maintenant à comprendre, c’est l’influence que ces conceptions peuvent avoir sur les discours effectivement produits par les dirigeants et, surtout, l’effet que des discours tenus par des dirigeants ayant des niveaux différents d’ie peuvent avoir sur ceux qui les reçoivent. la section qui suit développe des propositions de recherche empiriquement testables, relatives à ces questions. m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 82-117 102 dans le secret des comités de direction, le rôle des émotions : proposition d’un modèle théorique le modele de contagion emotionnelle (mce) : propositions de recherche le modèle de contagion émotionnelle (mce) qui articule l’intelligence émotionnelle du dirigeant et sa communication verbale en situation problématique débouche sur deux propositions de recherche quantitativement testables. d’après les premiers résultats empiriques précédemment exposés, nous proposons comme base au mce : proposition 1 : en réaction à un événement affectif majeur, la valence émotionnelle de la communication verbale des dirigeants émotionnellement intelligents tend à être positive. les communications verbales des dirigeants ont un rôle d’animation qui est essentiel dans la dynamique d’un codir, comme en témoigne ce membre de codir interrogé : « vous savez il y a deux types de fonctionnement dans le codir, “le raisonnement par l’estomac” et “le raisonnement par les neurones”… quand j’étais dans le codir de l’entreprise [nom], il ne se passait rien, on ne prenait pas de décision, il n’y avait rien d’intéressant, pas de rêve, les discours du pdg étaient secs, ça en faisait mal à la gorge… c’est comme si vous voulez acheter un appartement et que vous ne pensez qu’aux échéances et que vous ne regardez même pas à quoi il ressemble. j’ai quitté ce codir pour ça ! là où je suis maintenant, notre pdg a des rêves d’enfant, il veut étendre l’entreprise ; il nous raconte de belles histoires, enthousiasmantes mais aussi réalistes… la charge émotionnelle est forte, la prise de décision est collégiale et le tout est extrêmement émotionnel… » typiquement, avant qu’une discussion importante n’ait lieu en réunion du codir, faisant suite à un événement majeur, la communication verbale du dirigeant est attendue, souvent en introduction. à cet instant précis, une mauvaise communication verbale du patron peut avoir des effets négatifs sur les états émotionnels des membres du codir, comme en témoigne ce membre de codir interviewé : « quand j’y pense, la plupart des discussions qui ont mal tourné dans le codir, c’est à cause du pdg qui n’a pas su communiquer… je ne sais pas si vous comptez aller interroger le pdg de [nom de l’entreprise]. cette personne est une vraie calamité dans son domaine… j’étais dans son comité de direction il y a quelques années, et c’était un vrai nul, incapable de s’exprimer correctement et avec un minimum de tact ! beaucoup de mes collègues ont tout simplement démissionné, comme moi… la communication, ce n’était vraiment pas son fort et ses attitudes nous affectaient tous… » les études confirment l’influence des comportements du dirigeant, et notamment de ses comportements verbaux, sur les membres du codir. den hartog & verburg (1997) ont montré que les communications verbales des dirigeants ont des effets profonds sur les collaborateurs dans des situations souvent critiques et, selon shamir, arthur, & house (1994), un de ces effets principaux est de nature émotionnelle. les émotions exprimées par le leader ont quelquefois même plus d’importance que le contenu du message que le leader souhaite faire passer 103 c. haag, h. larochem@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 82-117 dans sa communication verbale (newcombe & ashkanasy, 2002). la question est alors de savoir par quel mécanisme l’émotion contenue dans la communication verbale du dirigeant se transmet aux membres du codir. ce mécanisme de transmission émotionnelle est appelé « contagion émotionnelle ». le terme physiologique de « contagion » n’était traditionnellement employé en psychologie que dans sa dimension cognitive, pour décrire le partage d’idées, de pensées, de connaissances entre les individus (cannon-bowers & salas, 2001; moreland, argote, & krishnan, 1996). toutefois, certains chercheurs se sont intéressés de plus près au processus de partage ou de transfert des émotions, qu’ils ont appelé « contagion émotionnelle ». en tant que processus psychologique, la contagion émotionnelle est définie comme le transfert conscient ou inconscient des émotions d’un individu à un autre ou à un groupe d’individus (barsade, 2002; hatfield, cacioppo, & rapson, 1993; schoenewolf, 1990). plus précisément, l’émotion exprimée par l’émetteur est perçue par autrui qui, quelques instants plus tard, la ressent. il existe deux types de transferts : (1) un transfert primaire qui se fait via un mécanisme inconscient d’imitation naturelle des émotions de l’autre, l’empathie émotionnelle (barsade, 2002) ; (2) un transfert davantage conscient, la comparaison sociale, dans lequel le récepteur, ayant pleinement conscience de la supériorité du statut social ou hiérarchique de l’émetteur, cherche simplement à imiter les émotions exprimées par ce dernier, soit pour lui ressembler, soit pour que l’autre ait une bonne image de lui (barsade, 2002). en vertu de ce second mécanisme, la direction de la contagion émotionnelle est facilitée dans le sens leader-suiveurs (anderson, keltner, & john, 2003; barsade, 2002; hatfield, et al., 1993; sy, et al., 2005). comme nous l’indique ce dirigeant : « tous les gens, à tous les niveaux de l’entreprise, sont attentifs à votre humeur. lorsqu’on voit le chef arriver avec un sourire, on se dit qu’il est de bonne humeur et c’est positif pour tout le monde… ». le dirigeant est donc dans une bonne position pour pouvoir induire un état émotionnel particulier chez les autres. mais le degré d’attention des récepteurs n’est pas suffisant, d’autres paramètres doivent être pris en compte, comme les caractéristiques des émotions exprimées par l’émetteur, ici le dirigeant. la plupart des études ont révélé que les émotions exprimées publiquement et de manière non verbale sont contagieuses (barsade, 2002; sy, et al., 2005; totterdell, 2000). par exemple, les émotions qu’exprime un émetteur à travers son faciès (wild, erb, & bartels, 2001) et la tonalité de sa voix (hatfield, cacioppo, & rapson, 1994) sont respectivement visibles et audibles, ce qui facilite leur détection et donc leurs transmissions vers un ou des récepteurs. cherulnik et ses associés (2001) ont d’ailleurs observé que les émotions exprimées de manière non verbale par les leaders sont plus visibles que celles des suiveurs et sont donc directement transférées aux collaborateurs via un phénomène de contagion émotionnelle. cependant, d’autres chercheurs comme rimé et ses associés (2002), ont montré que les individus expriment et partagent aussi publiquement et de manière plus « explicite » leurs émotions à travers des échanges verbaux. les dirigeants tout particulièrement cherchent en permanence m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 82-117 104 dans le secret des comités de direction, le rôle des émotions : proposition d’un modèle théorique à utiliser les « bons mots », ceux qui auront un effet émotionnel désiré sur les membres du codir, comme en témoignent ces dirigeants : « quand j’ai un message important à faire passer, je le prépare et je soigne très précisément les mots que je vais utiliser. et plus je veux faire passer de l’émotion, et plus il est important pour moi d’avoir préparé et d’avoir choisi les mots. j’évite les jargons et ce que je cherche c’est la simplicité. je pense qu’il y a deux manières de chercher la simplicité : c’est la simplicité du message et la simplicité des mots qu’on utilise pour le faire. je pense qu’on peut à la fois utiliser des mots simples et être précis. et le meilleur test qu’on peut faire, à ce sujet, par exemple si vous parlez de stratégie, c’est d’imaginer que vous êtes en face de votre comité de groupe ou votre comité européen et vous vous dites avec ces mots-là, avec ces phrases-là, est-ce que je comprends ? estce que je vais me faire comprendre ? il faut parler au comité de direction comme à des cadres de direction avec des mots simples autour d’un message simple. donc je me mets dans l’idée, je vais être devant des gens qui ne connaissent pas le jargon, qui ne connaissent pas des mots compliqués et j’essaye de leur parler et je pense que j’arrive personnellement à trouver un ton chargé d’émotions quand les choses me tiennent à cœur… » « c’est pas les mots qui sont importants c’est les émotions qui se servent de vos mots pour en réalité exprimer ce que vous avez envie d’exprimer. la conséquence de ça c’est que ce dont on se souvient, puisque vous me demandez de faire appel à mes souvenirs, les comités de direction dont on se souvient sont les comités de direction dans lesquels évidemment il y a eu de l’émotion. » en résumé, les recherches et les observations que nous avons faites sur le terrain indiquent que les émotions contenues dans les communications verbales des dirigeants sont potentiellement contagieuses aux membres du codir. nous avançons donc la proposition suivante : proposition 2 : les émotions contenues dans la communication verbale des dirigeants vont être transmises aux membres du codir. on peut tirer de notre travail que l’émotion positive contenue dans la communication verbale du dirigeant émotionnellement intelligent (proposition 1) est potentiellement fortement contagieuse aux membres du codir qui la ressentiront à leur tour (proposition 2). conclusion en tirant parti des recherches accumulées récemment sur le rôle des émotions dans les organisations, et en s’appuyant sur des entretiens menés avec des dirigeants de grandes entreprises, cet article a développé un modèle de la contagion émotionnelle susceptible d’éclairer les processus émotionnels par lesquels un dirigeant peut réguler les émotions au sein de son équipe dirigeante (le comité de direction ou codir) lorsque celle-ci est confrontée à un événement négatif. de ce modèle, confronté à des données qualitatives issues d’entretiens avec quarante dirigeants, ont été tirées deux propositions testables empiriquement qui (1) lient l’intelligence émotionnelle du dirigeant aux 105 c. haag, h. larochem@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 82-117 émotions véhiculées par sa communication verbale ; (2) établissent l’impact de cette communication sur les individus membres de l’équipe. il nous semble ici important de préciser que notre modèle va au-delà du simple concept d’ie et de sa mesure psychométrique. en effet, l’ie n’est qu’une capacité mentale pure. or peu d’études ont cherché à expliquer l’exercice de cette capacité et sa transformation en action. c’est précisément ce point que tente d’éclairer notre modèle théorique en proposant un mécanisme psychologique qui précise quand et comment l’ie du dirigeant aboutit à une communication efficace à l’intérieur d’un codir. nous pensons notamment que l’ie du dirigeant est mobilisée en cas de crise, qu’une ie élevée amène à la production d’un discours positif (alors qu’il est négatif pour les dirigeants avec une ie faible), et que ce discours peut produire un effet positif sur le comité de direction via un mécanisme de contagion émotionnelle. notre contribution s’inscrit donc clairement dans une démarche de compréhension d’un process. de la valence à l’intensité dans cet article, nous nous sommes focalisés sur la valence émotionnelle du discours du dirigeant comme l’un des facteurs pouvant influencer le degré de contagion émotionnelle. d’après les théories de la contagion émotionnelle, il existe un autre facteur favorisant la contagion émotionnelle, l’intensité émotionnelle. selon cette littérature, plus l’émotion exprimée par l’émetteur est de forte intensité, plus cette émotion sera contagieuse (barsade, 2002). même s’il est trop tôt pour l’affirmer, nous pourrions émettre une hypothèse alternative qui irait à l’encontre de la littérature sur les émotions en se référant à la littérature plus générale sur le leadership qui met en évidence le pouvoir de la modération (laroche, 2004). les membres du codir sont rarement dupes, ils détectent très facilement les émotions jouées, sur-appuyées, qu’exprime leur leader qu’ils connaissent très bien (dasborough & ashkanasy, 2005). c’est pourquoi le dirigeant n’a pas intérêt à surjouer ses gammes émotionnelles. un dirigeant interrogé nous expliqua de manière imagée qu’ « il ne faut surtout pas monter sur la table et jouer du tambour ». un tel degré de subtilité pourrait expliquer sans doute pourquoi le dirigeant émotionnellement intelligent ne délivrerait pas des discours au contenu émotionnel d’une très forte intensité. c’est pourquoi nous pensons étudier dans nos recherches futures l’hypothèse d’une courbe en u inversée pour mesurer l’effet de l’intensité émotionnelle des discours des dirigeants. vers une émotion de groupe dans le codir? sous certaines conditions, si le degré de contagion émotionnelle du leader vers les suiveurs est suffisamment grand (plus le nombre d’individus contaminé est grand, plus le degré est grand), l’effet de la communication verbale peut aller jusqu’à la construction d’une émotion de groupe, c’est-à-dire aboutir à une situation où les états émotionnels de tous les membres de l’équipe sont similaires (barsade & gibson, 1998; bartel & saavedra, 2000; sy, et al., 2005). les travaux sur l’émotion de groupe s’inspirent des premières recherches visant à comprendre les m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 82-117 106 dans le secret des comités de direction, le rôle des émotions : proposition d’un modèle théorique comportements de la foule et les climats émotionnels de la société et de l’entreprise. ainsi, le bon (1895) et mcdougall (1920) ont observé que les individus, dans une foule, sont envahis par un sentiment qui les pousse à se laisser emporter par une force incontrôlable, produisant ainsi un état émotionnel collectif allant au-delà de la conscience des individus. peu importe alors qui compose la foule, le niveau d’intelligence, le mode de vie, le caractère des individus : tous sont entraînés unanimement dans un esprit collectif qui les fait ressentir, penser et agir différemment que lorsqu’ils sont pris chacun à part. la force collective écrase alors les variations émotionnelles individuelles et encourage des réponses émotionnelles extrêmes, les « débordements de foule ». selon le bon (1895), l’émergence d’un mouvement de foule va être facilitée par l’impulsivité, la tendance qu’ont les individus, lorsqu’ils sont en groupe, à transformer des idées en actes, et la contagion de masse : les individus, en groupe, imitent les autres en exagérant même les comportements. le concept de climat émotionnel (rivera, 1992 ; scherer & tran, 2001; tran, 1998 ; anderson & west, 1998 ; haag, 2004 ; payne, 1990 ; pirola-merlo, et al., 2002), déjà évoqué, prolonge ces analyses du comportement de la foule. aujourd’hui, le « climat émotionnel d’équipe » a laissé sa place à l’« émotion de groupe » dans les recherches sur la performance des équipes top management (barsade, 2002; barsade, et al., 2000; bartel & saavedra, 2000). deux approches dominent l’étude de l’émotion de groupe : l’approche démographique (barsade & gibson, 1998 ; george, 1996) et l’approche cognitive (bartel & saavedra, 2000). l’approche démographique conçoit l’émotion de groupe de manière à la fois statique et statistique. l’émotion de groupe, moyenne des états affectifs individuels, ne peut émerger que si les membres d’un même groupe ont des prédispositions affectives et des traits de personnalité similaires. l’approche cognitive (bartel & saavedra, 2000) considère à l’inverse que l’émotion de groupe est construite par un processus cognitif de perception partagée des stimuli émotionnels (événements, expressions faciales, tonalité de la voix …) présents dans l’environnement de l’équipe. un groupe émotionnellement hétérogène peut donc devenir homogène sous l’influence d’une régulation extérieure, lorsque le même stimulus émotionnel est perçu puis ressenti par tous les membres de l’équipe. parce que l’approche cognitive est fondamentalement dynamique et reconnaît l’influence de stimuli extérieurs sur l’émotion de groupe, elle pourrait être choisie pour expliquer l’émergence d’une émotion de codir consécutivement à la communication verbale du dirigeant en réunion du codir. parmi les nombreux stimuli déclencheurs d’une émotion de groupe, sy et ses associés (2005) ont identifié les expressions émotionnelles publiques des leaders. à travers une expérience conduite sur 189 individus répartis en 56 groupes, ces chercheurs ont montré que la valence des émotions exprimées par le leader influence la valence de l’émotion de groupe. plus précisément, les émotions positives exprimées par le leader dans une équipe de travail ont tendance 107 c. haag, h. larochem@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 82-117 à se transformer en une émotion de groupe positive. on peut tirer de ces travaux que l’émotion contenue dans la communication verbale du dirigeant, qui est potentiellement fortement contagieuse aux membres du codir (cf. la proposition 2), peut se transformer en une émotion de groupe. nous invitons les chercheurs à investiguer les liens théoriques et empiriques entre le modèle de contagion émotionnelle développé dans cet article et l’émotion de groupe. intelligence émotionnelle, leadership et qualité des décisions les idées avancées ici demandent à être testées empiriquement. il conviendra également, dans la recherche ultérieure, d’opérer un lien conceptuel et empirique entre le processus de régulation émotionnelle décrit et les « productions » des comités de direction. ce modèle a été construit parce que la régulation de l’état émotionnel du groupe apparaît comme un enjeu capital pour la maîtrise cognitive, par le dirigeant et son équipe, de la situation problématique, et, par conséquent, pour la qualité des actions qui sont conçues pour répondre à cette situation. il cherche à contester le mythe du dirigeant froid et des hautes instances décisionnelles aseptisées qui paraît dangereusement trompeur. en effet, ce mythe a un double visage. le premier est rassurant : en se montrant insensibles aux émotions, les dirigeants préserveraient leur capacité à être rationnels et ainsi à faire face avec efficacité à des situations difficiles. mais, à l’inverse, cette froideur et ce calme laissent soupçonner un manque d’humanité, c’est-à-dire un penchant pour une rationalité étroitement calculatrice. le mythe cache une opposition entre émotion et rationalité qui ne trouve pas de solution satisfaisante. or cette opposition n’a pas lieu d’être. bien entendu, il est possible que les dirigeants se trouvent débordés par les émotions ou enfermés dans une rationalité étroite. mais les émotions ne jouent pas nécessairement « contre » la rationalité, et la rationalité n’exclut pas les émotions. la question clef qui est à l’horizon de cet article est celle de la maîtrise des situations de décision (la rationalité) grâce à la maîtrise des émotions. les propositions avancées, appuyées sur une analyse extensive de la littérature et sur les expériences vécues par les dirigeants eux-mêmes, suggèrent que la maîtrise des émotions sert la rationalité. la maîtrise des émotions n’est pas leur suppression, pas plus qu’elle n’est leur expression débridée. le modèle de la contagion émotionnelle suggère que c’est par une dynamique émotionnelle maîtrisée que le codir se mettra dans la disposition collective favorable à la préservation de la rationalité et à l’efficacité décisionnelle. il est en effet établi que l’état émotionnel influe sur la qualité des décisions. celles-ci sont en général meilleures lorsqu’elles sont prises dans un état émotionnel (modérément) positif (isen, 2004). on sait par ailleurs que les situations perçues comme menaçantes enferment les décideurs dans des répertoires d’action restreints et les poussent à adopter des solutions qui paraissent éprouvées mais ne font parfois que refléter leurs habitudes de comportement (staw, sandelands, dutton, 1981). la régulation des émotions au sein du groupe de décideurs m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 82-117 108 dans le secret des comités de direction, le rôle des émotions : proposition d’un modèle théorique peut contrebalancer cette tendance à la « rigidité » décisionnelle face aux menaces. le dirigeant émotionnellement intelligent est donc à même d’améliorer la capacité de réponse de l’organisation face aux turbulences et aux crises. nos propositions ouvrent l’établissement d’un lien conceptuel et empirique entre le mce et la prise de décision collective à l’intérieur des codir. l’intelligence émotionnelle ainsi envisagée participe pleinement de l’intelligence pratique du manager : elle est une condition de l’efficacité de son action, celle-ci s’exerçant non pas directement sur les choses, mais passant nécessairement par l’intermédiaire d’autrui. le métier de dirigeant est ici éclairé d’un jour particulier. on est loin de la figure héroïque du dirigeant qui entraîne son équipe par la vertu de son charisme. il ne s’agit pas davantage d’une protection offerte par un individu supérieur. on rejoint là des conceptions « modestes » du leader telles qu’on peut les trouver chez roberto (2005) ou pfeffer & sutton (2006). vu sous l’angle de l’intelligence émotionnelle, le leadership consiste avant tout à mettre autrui en condition de fournir une bonne contribution. le travail d’influence qui vise à produire une homogénéisation de l’état émotionnel de l’équipe n’est pas la communication d’une « vision » : c’est la mise en place des conditions qui permettront au travail cognitif de se faire de manière productive. donnons pour finir la parole à un dirigeant : « les jeunes générations qui se préoccupent [des émotions], à contresens, parce que c’est un peu anachronique de se préoccuper des émotions dans le monde dans lequel on vit aujourd’hui, je trouve que ça a quelque chose de rassurant […]. c’est-à-dire, à un moment donné, le fil du pendule il oscille, il est dans les plus grandes amplitudes, et à un autre moment, il redescend, et je pense fondamentalement qu’on est en haut de quelque chose et qu’on va reprendre un autre cycle qui sera beaucoup plus humain. le cycle actuel, il est ridicule au sens des excès qu’il peut y avoir dans tous les domaines, aussi bien dans les excès du capitalisme, dans les excès des bulles qui peuvent se former, dans les excès des rémunérations des dirigeants, dans les excès de tout, les excès qu’on peut voir en réaction à ces excès. on est dans une espèce de cycle infernal d’excès qui ne fait pas beaucoup de sens… » une manière de se prémunir contre les excès est sans doute de reconnaître la raison des émotions, de l’intégrer dans des pratiques managériales reposant sur une conception modeste et équilibrée de l’entreprise et du management. 109 c. haag, h. larochem@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 82-117 remerciements : nous tenons à remercier alain desreumaux, rédacteur, pour la qualité de ses commentaires et ses encouragements. merci également aux deux évaluateurs anonymes pour la pertinence de leurs remarques et la sympathie envers notre papier et son sujet d’étude somme toute atypique. christophe haag est professeur de management et comportement organisationnel à emlyon business school. il détient un doctorat en sciences de gestion (université de paris x / ph.d. escp-eap), et a complété un programme de recherche postdoctoral à l’insead. ses travaux de recherche portent notamment sur l’utilisation intelligente des émotions dans le top management, dans la communication corporate et politique et dans la prise de décision stratégique. hervé laroche, docteur en sciences de gestion et hdr, est professeur à escp europe. ses thèmes de recherche portent sur les processus de décision dans les organisations, la fiabilité organisationnelle, et les middle managers. il est par ailleurs rédacteur en chef de l’european management journal. m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 82-117 110 dans le secret des comités de direction, le rôle des émotions : proposition d’un modèle théorique références . anderson, c., keltner, d., & john, o. p. (2003). emotional convergence in close relationships. journal of personality and social psychology, 84(5), 1054–1068. . anderson, n., & west, m. a. (1998). measuring climate for work group innovation: development and validation of the team climate inventory. journal of organizational behaviour, 19(3), 235258. . arvey, r. d., renz, g. l., & watson, t. w. (1998). emotionality and job performance: implications for personnel selection. in g. r. ferris (ed.), research in personnel and human resource management (pp. 103-147). stamford, ct: jai press. . ashby, f. g., isen, a. m., & turken, a. u. (1999). a neuropsychological theory of positive affect and its influence on cognition. psychological review, 106(3), 529550. . ashford, b. e., & humphrey, r. h. (1993). emotional labor in service roles: the influence of identity. academy of management review, 18(1), 88-115. . ashford, b. e., & humphrey, r. h. (1995). emotions in the workplace: a reappraisal. human relations, 48(2), 97-125. . ashforth, b. e., & kreiner, g. e. (2002). normalizing emotion: making the extraordinary seem ordinary. human resource management review, 12(2), 215-235. . ashkanasy, n. m., härtel, c. e. j., & zerbe, w. j. (2000). emotions in the workplace: theory, research, and practice. westport, ct: quorum books. . ashkanasy, n. m., & tse, b. (2000). transformational leadership as management of emotion: a conceptual review. in n. m. ashkanasy & c. e. j. härtel & w. j. zerbe (eds.), emotions in the workplace: research, theory and practice. westport, ct: quorum books. . ashkanasy, n. m., & daus, c. s. (2002). emotion in the workplace: the new challenge for managers. academy of management executive, 16(1), 76-86. . averill, j. r., chon, k. k., & hahn, d. w. (2001). emotions and creativity, east and west. asian journal of social psychology, 4(3), 165-183. . bar-on, r. (1997). the emotional quotient inventory (eq-i): technical manual. toronto: mhs. . barrett, l. f., & russell, j. a. (1998). independence and bipolarity in the structure of current affect. journal of personality and social psychology, 74(4), 967-984. . barsade, s. g., & gibson, d. e. (1998). group emotion: a view from top and bottom. in d. gruenfeld & e. mannix & m. neale (eds.), research on managing groups and teams (pp. 81-102). greenwich, ct: jai press. . barsade, s. g., ward, a. j., turner, j. d. f., & sonnenfeld, j. a. (2000). to your heart’s content: a model of affective diversity in top management teams. administrative science quarterly, 45(4), 802-836. . barsade, s. g. (2002). the ripple effect: emotional contagion and its influence on group behavior. administrative science quarterly, 47(4), 644-675. . barsade, s. g., brief, a. p., & spataro, s. (2003). the affective revolution in organizational behavior: the emergence of a paradigm. in j. greenberg (ed.), ob: the state of science. hillsdale, nj: l. erlbaum associates. . bartel, c. a., & saavedra, r. (2000). the collective construction of work group moods. administrative science quarterly, 45(2), 197-231. . bartunek, j. m., rousseau, d. m., rudolph, j. w., & depalma, j. (2006). on the receiving end: sensemaking, emotion, and assessments of an organizational change initiated by others. the journal of applied behavioral science, 42(2), 182-206. . begley, t. m. (1994). expressed and suppressed anger as predictors of health complaints. journal of organizational behavior, 15(6), 503–516. . bennis, w. g., & goldsmith, j. (1994). learning to lead. a workbook on becoming a leader. reading, ma: addisonwesley. 111 c. haag, h. larochem@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 82-117 . brundin, e., & nordqvist, m. (2008). beyond facts and figures: the role of emotions in boardroom dynamics. corporate governance: an international review, 16(4), 326-341. . burke, k. (1950). a rhetoric of motives. englewood cliffs. nj: prentice-hall. . cannon-bowers, j. a., & sa-cannon-bowers, j. a., & salas, e. (2001). reflections on shared cognition. journal of organizational behavior, 22(2), 195-202. . carlson, m., charlin, v., & miller, n. (1988). positive mood and helping behavior: a test of six hypothesis. journal of personality and social psychology, 55(2), 211-229. . carnevale, p. j. d., & isen, a. m. (1986). the influence of positive affect and visual access on the discovery of integrative solutions in bilateral negotiation. organizational behavior and human decision processes, 37(1), 1-13. . cartwright, s., & panchal, s. (2001). the stressful effects of mergers and acquisitions. in j. dunham (ed.), stress in the workplace: past, present and future (pp. 67-89). london: whurr publishers. . caruso, d. r., & salovey, p. (2004). the emotionally intelligent manager: how to develop & use the four key emotional skills of leadership. san francisco: jossey bass. . bennis, w. g., & peters, t. j. (2000). managing the dream: reflections on leadership and change. cambridge, ma: perseus pub. . bligh, m. c., kohles, j. c., & meindl, j. r. (2004). charting the language of leadership: a methodological investigation of president bush and the crisis of 9/11. journal of applied psychology, 89(3), 562-574. . booth-kewley, s. y., & fried-booth-kewley, s. y., & friedman, h. s. (1987). psychological predictors of heart disease: a quantitative review. psychological bulletin, 101(3), 343-362. . boss, r. w., & golembiewski, r. t. (1995). do you have to start at the top? the chief executive officer’s role in successful organization development efforts. journal of applied behavioral science, 31(3), 259–277. . brown, s. p., cron, w. l., & slocum, j. w. (1997). effects of goal-directed emotions on salesperson volitions, behavior, and performance: a longitudinal study. journal of marketing, 61(1), 39-50. . brundin, e. (2002). emotions in motion. the strategic leader in a radical change process. unpublished doctoral dissertation. jönköping international business school, jönköping, sweden. . brundin, e., & melin, l. (2006). unfolding the dynamics of emotions: how emotion drives or counteracts strategising. international journal of work organisation and emotion, 1(3), 277302. . cherulnik, p. d., donley, k. a., wiewel, t. s. r., & miller, s. r. (2001). charisma is contagious: the effect of leaders’ charisma on observers’ affect. journal of applied social psychology, 31(10), 2149-2159. . ciarrochi, j., chan, a., caputi, p., & roberts, r. (2001). measuring emotional intelligence (ei). in j. ciarrochi & j. forgas & j. mayer (eds.), emotional intelligence in everyday life: a scientific inquiry (pp. 25-45). philadelphia, pa: psychology press/ taylor & francis. . conger, j. a. (1991). inspiring others: the language of leadership. academy of management executive, 5(1), 31-45. . côté, s., lopes, p. n., & salo-côté, s., lopes, p. n., & salovey, p. (2003). emotional intelligence and vision formulation and articulation. unpublished manuscript. . dasborough, m. t., & ashka-dasborough, m. t., & ashkanasy, n. m. (2002). emotion and attribution of intentionality in leader-member relationships. leadership quarterly, 13(5), 615-634. . dasborough, m. t., & ashka-dasborough, m. t., & ashkanasy, n. m. (2005). follower emotional reactions to authentic and inauthentic leadership influence. in w. l. gardner, b. j. avolio & f. o. walumbwa (eds.), authentic leadership theory and practice: origins, effects and development (pp.281-300). amsterdam: elsevier. . den hartog, d. n., & verburg, r. m. (1997). charisma and rhetoric: the communicative techniques of international business leaders. leadership quarterly, 8(4), 355-391. m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 82-117 112 dans le secret des comités de direction, le rôle des émotions : proposition d’un modèle théorique . de rivera, j. h. (1992). emotional climate: social structure and emotional dynamics. in k. t. strongman (ed.), international review of studies on emotion. new york: john wiley & sons. . edelman, m. (1964). the symbolic uses of politics. urbana, il: university of illinois press. . ekman, p., & friesen, w. v. (1978). the facial action coding system (facs). palo alto, ca: consulting psychologists press. . ekman, p. (1994). strong evidence for universal in facial expressions: a reply to russell’s mistaken critique. psychological bulletin, 115(2), 268-287. . ekman, p. (1999). basic emotion. in t. dagleish & t. power (eds.), the handbook of cognition and emotion (pp. 45-60). sussex, u.k.: john wiley & sons. . endrissat, n., müller, w. r., & kaudela-baum, s. (2007). en route to an empirically-based understanding of authentic leadership. european management journal, 25(3), 207-220. . fields, d. l. (2007). determinants of follower perceptions of a leader’s authenticity and integrity. european management journal, 25(3), 195-206. . fineman, s. e. (1993). emotion in organizations. london: sage. . fisher, a. (1990). wall street women: women in power on wall street today. new york: knopf. . flamant, n. (2002). une anthropologie des managers. paris: puf. . forgas, j. p. & george, j. m. (2001). affective influences on judgment, decision making, and behavior in organizations: an information processing perspective. organizational behavior and human decision processes, 86(1), 3-34. . frijda, n. h. (1986). the emotions. cambridge, new york, paris: cambridge university press/ editions de la maison des sciences de l’homme. . frone, m. r. (2000). interpersonal conflict at work and psychological outcomes:testing a model among young workers. journal of occupational health psychology, 5(2), 246–255. . gardner, w. l. & avolio, b. j. (1998). the charismatic relationship: a dramaturgical perspective. academy of management review, 23(1), 32-58. . george, j. m. (1996). group affective tone. in m. a. west (ed.), handbook of work group psychology (pp. 73-83). chichester, uk: john wiley. . george, j. m. (2000). emotions and leadership: the role of emotional intelligence. human relations, 53(8), 1027-1055. . george, j. m., & zhou, j. (2002). understanding when bad moods foster creativity and good ones don’t: the role of context and clarity of feelings. journal of applied psychology, 87(4), 687-697. . goleman, d. (1995). emotional intelligence. new york: bantam books. . goleman, d., boyatzis, r. e., & mckee, a. (2002). primal leadership: realizing the power of emotional intelligence. boston, ma: harvard business school press. . grandey, a. a., fisk, g. m., mattila, a. s., jansen, k. j., & sideman, l. a. (2005). is ‘service with a smile’ enough ? authenticity of positive displays during service encounters. organizational behavior and human decision processes, 96(1), 38-55. . grover, s. l., & moorman, r. h. (2007). grasping the meaning and interpretation of integrity in business leadership. european management journal, 25(3), 167-170. . guéguen, n., & de gail, l. (2003). the effect of smiling on helping behavior: smiling and good samaritan behavior. communication reports, 16(2), 1-8. . haag, c. (2004). emotional climate: a model at the microanalytical, top management team level. paper presented at the eiasm (iwot 8), trier, germany. 113 c. haag, h. larochem@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 82-117 . isen, a. m., & baron, r. a. (1991). positive affect as a factor in organisational behaviour. research in organisational behaviour, 13(1), 1-53. . isen, a. m. (1999). positive affect. in t. dalgleish & m. power (eds.), the handbook of cognition and emotion (pp. 521-539). sussex, uk: wiley. . isen, a. m. (2004). positive affect and decision making. in m. lewis & j. haviland-jones (eds.), handbook of emotions (pp. 417-435). new york: the guilford press. . izard, c. e. (1977). human emotions. new york: plenum press. . james, w. (1884). what is emotion? mind, 9(34), 188205. . janet, p. (1926). de l’angoisse à l’extase : étude sur les croyances et les sentiments. paris: librairie félix alcan. . kellett, j. b., humphrey, r. h., & sleeth, r. g. (2002). empathy and complex task performance: two routes to leadership. leadership quarterly, 13(5), 523-544. . kisfalvi, v., & pitcher, p. (2003). doing what feels right: the influence of ceo character and emotions on top management team dynamics. journal of management inquiry, 12(1), 42-66. . hatfield, e., cacioppo, j. t., & rapson, r. l. (1993). emotional contagion. current directions in psychological science, 2(3), 96-99. . hatfield, e., cacioppo, j. t., & rapson, r. l. (1994). emotional contagion. paris: cambridge university press. . hewlin, p. f. (2003). and the award for best actor goes to... : facades of conformity in organizational settings. academy of management review, 28(4), 633-643. . hirschhorn, l. (1989). professionals, authority, and group life: a case study of a law firm. human resource management review, 28(2), 235-252. . hochschild, a. r. (1983). the managed heart: commercialization of human feeling. berkeley, ca: university of california press. . hsee, c. k., & abelson, r. p. (1991). the velocity relation: satisfaction as a function of the first derivative of outcome over time. journal of personality and social psychology, 60(3), 341–347. . hunter, j. e., & hunter, r. f. (1984). validity and utility of alternative predictors of job performance. psychological bulletin, 96(1), 72-98. . huy, q. n. (1999). emotional capability, emotional intelligence, and radical change. academy of management review, 24(2), 325-345. . laroche, h. (2004). the power of moderation. mit sloan management review, 46(1), 19-21. . lazarus, r. s. (1999). stress and emotion: a new synthesis. new york: springer publishing company. . le bon, g. (1895). psychologie des foules. paris: felix alcan (ré-imprimé en 1905). . lewis, m. (1989). liar’s poker: rising through the wreckage on wall street. new york: w. w. norton. . lief, h. i., & fox, r. c. (1963). training for detached concern in medical students. in h. i. lief , v. f. lief & n. r. lief (eds.), the psychological basis of medical practice (pp. 12-35). new york: harper and row. . locke, e. a., & lathman, g. p. (1990). a theory of goal setting and task performance. englewood cliffs, nj: prentice hall. . lopes, p. n., salovey, p., & straus, r. (2003). emotional intelligence, personality, and the perceived quality of social relationships. personality and individual differences, 35(3), 641-658. . lopes, p. n., côté, s., & salo-lopes, p. n., côté, s., & salovey, p. (2005). an ability model of emotional intelligence : implications for assessment and training. in v. druskat, f. sala & g. mount (eds.), linking emotional intelligence and performance at work: current research evidence (pp. 53-80). mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum associates. m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 82-117 114 dans le secret des comités de direction, le rôle des émotions : proposition d’un modèle théorique . matthews, g., zeidner, m., & roberts, r. d. (2002). emotional intelligence, science and myth. cambridge, ma: the mit press. . mayer, j. d., & salovey, p. (1997). what is emotional intelligence? in p. salovey & d. j. sluyter (eds.), emotional development and emotional intelligence: educational implications (pp. 3-31). new york: basic books. . mayer, j. d., caruso, d. r., & salovey, p. (1999). emotional intelligence meets standards for traditional intelligence. intelligence, 27(4), 267-298. . mayer, j. d., salovey, p., & caruso, d. (2000). models of emotional intelligence. in r. j. sternberg (ed.), handbook of intelligence (pp. 396-420). cambridge, uk: cambridge university press. . mayer, j. d., salovey, p., ca-mayer, j. d., salovey, p., caruso, d. r., & sitarenios, g. (2003). measuring emotional intelligence with msceitv2.0. emotion, 3(1), 97-105. . mcdougall, w. (1920). the group mind. new york: knickerbocker press. . mencken, h. l. (1929, no-mencken, h. l. (1929, november 18). the menace of emotions. baltimore evening sun. . miles, m. b. & huberman, m. a. (2003). analyse des données qualitatives. paris, de boeck. . mintzberg, h. (1979). an emerging strategy of “direct” research. administrative science quarterly, 24(4), 580-589. . moreland, r. l., argote, l., & krishnan, r. (1996). socially shared cognition at work: transactive memory and group performance. in j. l. nye & a. m. brower (eds.), what’s social about social cognition? research on socially shared cognition in small groups (pp. 57-84). thousand parks, ca: sage. . naidoo, l. j. (2006). a new theory of leaders? effects on follower performance: cognitive and emotional sensemaking. paper presented at the academy of management annual conference. atlanta: usa. . newcombe, m. j., & ashka-newcombe, m. j., & ashkanasy, n. m. (2002). the role of affect and affective congruence in perceptions of leaders: an experimental study. leadership quarterly, 13(5), 601-614. . palanski, m. e., & yammarino, f. j. (2007). integrity and leadership: clearing the conceptual confusion. european management journal, 25(3), 171-184. . payne, r. (1990). madness in our method. a comment on jackofsky and slocum’s paper. a longititudinal study of climates. journal of organizational behaviour, 11(1), 77-80. . pekrun, r., & frese, m. (1992). emotions in work and achievement. in c. l. cooper & i. t. robertson (eds.), international review of industrial and organizational psychology (pp. 153-200). chichester, uk: wiley. . pfeffer, j. (1981). management as symbolic action: the creation and maintenance of organizational paradoxes. in b. m. staw (ed.), research in organizational behavior (pp. l-52). greenwich, ct: jai press. . pfeffer, j., & sutton, r.i. (2006). hard facts, dangerous half truths and total nonsense: profiting from evidencebased management. boston: harvard business school publishing. . pirola-merlo, a., härtel, c., mann, l., & hirst, g. (2002). how leaders influence the impact of affective events on team climate and performance in r&d teams. leadership quarterly, 13(5), 561-581. . prince, g. m. (2003). how the emotional climate (field) impacts performance. creativity & innovation management, 12(4): 240-246. . probst, t. m. (2003). exploring employee outcomes of organizational restructuring: a solomon four-group study. group & organization management, 28(3), 416-439. . putman, l., & mumby, d. (1993). organizations, emotion and the myth of rationality. in s. e. fineman (ed.), emotion in organizations (pp. 36-57). london: sage. . rafaeli, a., & sutton, r. i. (1989). the expression of emotion in organizational life. in l.l. cummings & b.m. staw (eds.), research in organizational behavior (pp. 1-42). greenwich, ct: jai press. 115 c. haag, h. larochem@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 82-117 . rimé, b., corsini, s., & her-rimé, b., corsini, s., & herbette, g. (2002). emotion, verbal expression, and the social sharing of emotion. in s. r. fussell (ed.), the verbal communication of emotions: interdisciplinary perspectives (pp.185-208). mawhaw, nj: erlbaum. . roberto, m.a. (2005). why leaders don’t take yes for an answer. upper saddle river, nj: wharton school publishing. . rossier, j. (non publié). inventaire des émotions (eis), université de lausanne. . russell, j. a. (1980). a circumplex model of affect. journal of personality and social psychology, 39(6), 1161–1178. . russell, j. a., & barrett, l. f. (1999). core affect, prototypical emotional episodes, and other things called emotion: dissecting the elephant. journal of personality and social psychology, 76(5), 805-819. . rynecki, d. (2000). cbot gazes into the pit, fortune magazine, p.278. . salovey, p. (2000). la décennie du coeur. 11ème congrès du isre (société internationale de recherche sur les émotions), france. . salovey, p., & mayer, j. d. (1990). emotional intelligence. imagination, cognition and personality, 9(3), 185211. . rafaeli, a., & sutton, r. i. (1991). emotional contrast strategies as means of social influence: lessons from criminal interrogators and bill collectors. academy of management journal, 34(4), 749-775. . rafaeli, a. (1996). what is an organization? who are the members? in c. l. cooper & s. e. jackson (eds.), creating tomorrow’s organizations: a handbook for future research in organizational behavior (pp. 121139). london: wiley. . rafaeli, a., & worline, m. c. (2001). individual emotion in work organizations. social science information, 40(1), 95-123. . rafaeli, a., & vilnai-yavetz, i. (2004). emotion as a connection of physical artifacts and organizations. organization science, 15(6), 671-686. . remington, n., fabrigar, l. r., & visser, p. s. (2000). reexamining the circumplex model of affect. journal of personality and social psychology, 79(2), 286-300. . renninger, k. a. (2000). individual interest and development: implications for theory and practice. in c. sansone & j. m. harackiewicz (eds.), intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. the secret for optimal motivation and performance. new york: academic press. . rice, c. l. (1999). a quantitative study of emotional intelligence and its impact on team performance. unpublished master’s thesis, pepperdine university, malibu, ca. . sandelands, l. e., & boudens, c. j. (2000). feelings at work. in s. fineman (ed.), emotions in organizations (pp. 46-63). london: sage. . scherer, k. r. (1986). vocal affect expression: a review and model for future research. psychological bulletin, 99(2), 143-165. . scherer, k. r., schorr, a., & johnstone, t. (2001). appraisal processes in emotion: theory, methods, research. oxford, ny: oxford university press. . scherer, k. r., & tran, v. (2001). effects of emotion on the process of organizational learning. in m. dierkes & j. child & i. nonaka (eds.), handbook of organizational learning (pp. 369-392). new york: oxford university press. . schutte, n. s., malouff, j. m., hall, l. e., haggerty, d. j., cooper, j. t., golden, c. j., & dornheim, l. (1998). development and validation of a measure of emotional intelligence. personality and individual differences, 25(2), 167-177. . schoenewolf, g. (1990). emotional contagion: behavioral induction in individuals and groups. modern psychoanalysis, 15(1), 49-61. . shamir, b., arthur, m. b., & house, r. j. (1994). the rhetoric of charismatic leadership: a theoretical extension, a case study and implications for research. leadership quarterly, 5(1), 25-42. m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 82-117 116 dans le secret des comités de direction, le rôle des émotions : proposition d’un modèle théorique . sinaceur, m., & tiedens, l. z. (2005). get mad and get more than even: when and why anger expression is effective in negotiations. journal of experimental social psychology: featured in business 2.0 and in the harvard negotiation newsletter. . six, f. e., de bakker, f. g. a., & huberts, l. w. j. c. (2007). judging a corporate leader’s integrity: an illustrated three-component model. european management journal, 25(3), 185-194. . staw, b. m., & barsade, s. g. (1993). affect and managerial performance: a test of the sadder-but-wiser versus happier-and-smarter hypotheses. administrative science quarterly, 38(2), 304-331. . staw, b.m., sandelands, l.e.,& dutton, j.e. (1981). threat-rigidity effects in organizational behavior: a multi-level analysis. administrative science quarterly, 26(4), 501-524. . staw, b. m., sutton, r. i, & pelled, l. h. (1994). employee positive emotion and favorable outcomes in the workplace. organization science, 5(1), 51-71. . sutton, r. i., & rafaeli, a. (1988). untangling the relationship between displayed emotion and store sales: the case of convenience stores. academy of management journal, 31(3), 461-487. . sy, t., côté, s., & saavedra, r. (2005). the contagious leader: impact of the leader’s mood on the mood of group members, group affective tone, and group processes. journal of applied psychology, 90(2), 295-305. . tabachnick, b. g., & fidell, l. s. (1996). using multivariate statistics. new york, harper collins. . taylor, s. j., & bogdan, r. (1984). introduction to qualitative research methods: the search for meanings. new york, john wiley & sons. . thiétart, r. a. (1999). méthodes de recherche en management. paris, dunod. . totterdell, p. (1999). mood scores: mood and performance in professional cricketers. british journal of psychology, 90(3), 317-322. . totterdell, p. (2000). catching moods and hitting runs: mood linkage and subjective performance in professional sport groups. journal of applied psychology, 85(6), 848–859. . tran, v. (1998). the role of the emotional climate in learning organisations. the learning organisation, 5(2), 99-103. . van maanen, j., & kunda, g. (1989). real feelings: emotional expression and organizational culture. in b.m. staw & l.l. cummings (eds.), research in organizational behaviour (pp. 43-103). greenwich, ct: jai. . weiss, h. m., & cropanzano, r. (1996). affective events theory: a theoretical discussion of the structure, causes and consequences of affective experiences at work. in b.m. staw & l.l. cummings (eds.), research in organizational behavior (pp. 1-74). greenwich, ct: jai press. . whissell, c. m., fournier, m., pellard, r., weir, d., & makarec, k. (1986). a dictionary of affect in language: iv. reliability, validity and applications. perceptual and motor skills, 62, 875888. . whissell, c. m. (1989). the dictionary of affect in language. in r. plutchik & h. kellerman (eds.), the measurement of emotions. emotion: theory, research and experience (pp. 113-131). new york: academic press. . wild, b., erb, m., & bartels, m. (2001). are emotions contagious? evoked emotions while viewing emotionally expressive faces: quality, quantity, time course and gender differences. psychiatry research, 102(2), 109-124. . willner, a. r. (1984). the spellbinders. charismatic political leadership. new haven and london: yale university press. . wolff, s. b., pescosolido, a. t., & druskat, v. u. (2002). emotional intelligence as the basis of leadership emergence in self-managing teams. leadership quarterly, 13(5), 505-522. 117 c. haag, h. larochem@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 82-117 . zaleznik, a. (1977). managers and leaders: are they different? harvard business review, 55(5), 67-78. . zapf, d. (2002). emotion work and psychological wellbeing. a review of the literature and some conceptual considerations. human resource management review, 12(2), 237-268. . zeidner, m., matthews, g., & roberts, r. d. (2004). emotional intelligence in the workplace: a critical review. applied psychology: an international review, 53(3), 371–399. . zhou, j., & george, j. m. (2003). awakening employee creativity: the role of leader emotional intelligence. leadership quarterly, 14(4), 545-568. 528 franck biétry, jordane creusier, patrice laroche & sandra camusm@n@gement vol. 17 no. 1, 2014, xxx-xxx copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). m@n@gement is a double-blind refereed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.management-aims.com © 2014 m@n@gement and the author(s). m@n@gement est la revue officielle de l’aims m@n@gement is the journal official of aims franck biétry jordane creusier patrice laroche sandra camus 2014 perceived support, affective commitments and subjective career success: a person-centred approach m@n@gement, 17(1), xxx-xxx. m@n@gement issn: 1286-4692 laure cabantous, cass business school (co editor in chief) sébastien liarte, université de lorraine (co editor in chief) stewart clegg, university of technology, sidney (editor) olivier germain, université du québec à montréal, (editor, book reviews) bernard leca, université paris-dauphine (editor) vincent mangematin, gem (editor) philippe monin, em lyon business school (editor) martin g. evans, university of toronto (editor emeritus) bernard forgues, em lyon business school (editor emeritus) 621 perceived support, affective commitments and subjective career success: a person-centred approach m@n@gement vol. 17 no. 1, 2014, xxx-xxx perceived support, affective commitments and subjective career success: a person-centred approach franck biétry patrice laroche jordane creusier sandra camus university of caen iae franck.bietry@unicaen.fr escp europe, paris plaroche@escpeurope.eu university of caen iae jordane.creusier@unicaen.fr university of angers sandra.camus@univ-angers.fr abstract the aim of the present study is to test a model that combines the source of perceived support, be it organisational or union-based, the profile of affective commitment and the subjective career success of 1100 employees who are also members of a trade union. the results obtained from an iterative classification process identified four distinct profiles: those with very little commitment, those committed to the organisation, those committed to the trade union, and those committed to both. two key findings emerge from this: firstly, each source of perceived support has a predictive impact on the affiliation to a specific affective commitment profile. only in cases where individuals are poorly supported by both the organisation and the trade union do we struggle to anticipate the employee’s attitude. secondly, the commitment profile is related to subjective career success. for instance, a lack of organisational commitment appears to be far more detrimental than a lack of trade union commitment. these findings indicate that the internalisation of organisational norms resulting from the perceived support and revealed by the commitment profile can be added to the list of antecedents of subjective career success. key words: commitment, organisation, trade union, perceived support, subjective career success 622 franck biétry, jordane creusier, patrice laroche & sandra camusm@n@gement vol. 17 no. 1, 2014, xxx-xxx introduction the meta-analysis conducted by ng et al. (2005) indicates that the known antecedents of career success account for a small percentage of variance. along with personal dispositions, the correlations observed between social and human capital are insufficient to grasp the complexity of the phenomenon in full. this also applies to employees’ satisfaction with regard to their own careers. the subjective dimension of career success nonetheless appears to have gained in importance. protean careers (hall, 1996), whether chance or deliberate, budgetary restrictions and a simplified chain of command have indeed reduced opportunities for tangible rewards as measured by objective career success (judge, et al., 1999). these observations led arthur et al. (2005) to suggest that new research avenues should be explored, taking into account the impact of peer groups in the study of careers. subjective career success could indeed result from the comparison employees make with regard to a social norm relayed by the group or groups to which they belong (heslin, 2003). in this sense, the commitment profiles found in one or several groups, as well as the perceived support which is their main antecedent, could help to inform comprehensive models of career success (ng, et al., 2005). according to its definition, perceived organisational support includes ‘the general beliefs of employees concerning how much the organisation values their contribution and cares about their well-being’ (rhoades, et al., 2001: 825). subsequent research has demonstrated that it is not only the organisation that has an impact in this regard. other groups such as trade unions can also provide support (bamberger, et al., 1999). a commitment profile constitutes a homogeneous subset of the population with respect to ‘feelings such as attachment, identification and loyalty toward a variety of groups’ (cohen, 2003: xi). if employees feel supported by certain groups to which they are emotionally attached, then it is likely that they will be sensitive to those groups’ values (heslin, 2005) and thus judge their career success in a way which is conditioned by their group membership (van maanen, 1980). to quote heslin’s (2005: 130) pithy statement, ‘context matters!’ we put this general hypothesis to the test using an empirical approach with a sample of unionised employees. this population is particularly interesting as trade unions convey certain ideals and strong values in france (lipset, 1983). they are therefore liable to have a strong impact on the type of expectations used to measure career success. moreover, trade unions comprise diverse profiles, from those who are barely committed to any entity to those who are dually committed to both the organisation and the union, as well as those with unilateral commitments to one of the two groups (magenau, et al., 1988). the findings obtained using a person-centred approach indicated that only poor support from both the organisation and the union cannot be linked to any specific commitment profile. when an employee feels supported, identifying whether the source of the support is organisational and/or unionbased enables us to predict an affiliation with an affective commitment profile. should the employee feel supported by both entities, there is very often a dual commitment profile. with regard to subjective career success, a lack of organisational commitment appears to be far more detrimental than a lack of trade union commitment. profiles characterised by a unilateral or a dual 623 perceived support, affective commitments and subjective career success: a person-centred approach m@n@gement vol. 17 no. 1, 2014, xxx-xxx trade union commitment respectively report the same level of satisfaction with regard to their careers as that observed in the profile of the poorly committed and that of employees who are unilaterally committed to the organisation. thus, a person-centred approach enables us to demonstrate that organisational commitment can be included on the list of antecedents of subjective career success. conceptual framework and hypotheses subjective career success career success comprises the ‘the real or perceived achievements that individuals have accumulated as a result of their work experiences’ (judge, et al., 1995: 486). the difference between these objective and subjective components is valid since the correlation between these two aspects is no more than 0.30 (ng, et al., 2005). this observation can be explained intuitively: a hierarchical promotion may be deemed insufficient, for example, consequently resulting in dissatisfaction (korman, et al., 1981). it might even have a detrimental psychological impact (hall and chandler, 2005) if the employee believes that they have made personal sacrifices in order to achieve it. nicholson and de waal-andrews (2005) refer to people affected by this as ‘unhappy winners’; this stands in opposition to the concept of the ‘happy loser’, in other words, an individuals who is satisfied despite their apparent career failure. subjective career success is an interpretation made by the employee. it is based on a comparison between work experience and established standards, influenced by both psychological (e.g. seibert et al., 1999) and sociological (heslin, 2003) factors. when an employee joins a group of peers, they will internalise their social norms in order to give meaning to their work experience (van maanen, 1980). these will then form a cognitive structure, that is to say, a frame of reference for career success (fournier and payne, 1994). such social norms also play a significant role in terms of personal expectations. internalising the norms in question is particularly important for individuals who are strongly group-oriented (leede, et al., 2004), such as unionised workers. overall, these normative standards will be more important if the employee is more emotionally attached to such groups in other words, the emotionally attached individual will subscribe to the group’s values. according to heslin (2005), affective commitment galvanises the individual to adopt norms of career success that are consistent with those of the group. the commitment profile is therefore likely to exercise a strong influence, particularly when driven by perceived support. organisational and union commitments two common traits emerge from the many different definitions of the concept of commitment, according to meyer and herscovitch (2001: 299): ‘a) a force that binds an individual to a course of action that is of relevance to a particular target b) and that may be associated with a mind-set that shapes their behaviour’. there are numerous potential targets here (cohen, 2003), with the 624 franck biétry, jordane creusier, patrice laroche & sandra camusm@n@gement vol. 17 no. 1, 2014, xxx-xxx first of which is the organisation itself. affective commitment can then serve to determine the degree of attachment, identification and implication toward the organisation (meyer, et al., 2002: 21). with regard to trade union commitment, this will be synonymous with a desire to remain a member, to make an effort to help it, and to identify with its goals (gordon, et al., 1980). these two targets are clearly separate in the employees’ minds (redman and snape, 2005). very early on, reichers (1985) alerted the academic community to the need to understand the impact of commitment on several groups at the same time as behaviour is influenced by the importance that members give to their different groups (cohen, 2003). among the many possible group configurations, a dual commitment toward both the organisation and the union has elicited recurring interest. this interest is due to the impact such commitment is likely to have on the success of social dialogue strategies and, consequently, on the organisation’s ability to deal with hostile environments (gordon and ladd, 1990). in effect, a dual commitment would have a unique predictive power regarding delegates’ appeasement behaviours, as well as their tendency to adopt informal methods to ease tension (bemmels, 1995). moreover, research also suggests that perceived support is an antecedent of commitment. organisational and union support meyer et al. (2002) conclude from their meta-analysis that perceived organisational support constitutes the strongest antecedent of organisational commitment. it creates a relationship of proximity that fosters identification with the organisation. perceived organisational support appears to account for over 50% of variance in affective organisational commitment (riggle, et al., 2009). it results from fair procedures, consideration, approval and respect conveyed by the direct line manager, as well as organisational rewards such as training and good-quality work conditions (rhoades and eisenberger, 2002). together, these factors constitute a mark of esteem bestowed upon the employee. perceived support also includes an informational component insofar as it reflects the standards that should be respected in order to receive recognition (tesser, et al., 1988). as such, it is representative of how the employee’s environment impacts on the self-evaluation process (wood, 1989). the predictive power of such perceived support with regard to commitment has been observed at both the organisational (ashforth and saks, 1996) and the trade union levels (e.g. tetrick, et al., 2007). while this observation stems more from intuition than from empirical evidence, dual commitment may also ensue in the event of dual support (magenau, et al., 1988). the many insights that might be gleaned from such a scenario could result in a specific definition of the employee’s standards, and could eventually lead to specific and subjective career success. this line of reasoning leads to the adoption of a person-centred approach (meyer, et al., 2013) and the development of a research model. source of perceived support and commitment profile contrary to an approach based on variables, a person-centred approach takes into account the possibility that sub-sets exist within a sample (morin, et al., 2011). the homogeneous members of these sub-sets display specific 625 perceived support, affective commitments and subjective career success: a person-centred approach m@n@gement vol. 17 no. 1, 2014, xxx-xxx personal characteristics and combine different commitments within the groups to develop distinct profiles. to help us gain new insights, these profiles must differ in terms of the total scores obtained from the variables and also in terms of the way these scores are constructed (meyer, et al. 2013: 194). each of them impacts behaviour and attitudes (meyer, et al., 2013). through this lens, a person-centred approach throws light on the way a system of variables operates for an individual. this means that the sample cannot be considered as a whole. when applied to our reasoning, it allows us to determine whether the commitment profiles can be identified on the basis of the source of perceived support. according to social exchange theory (blau, 1964), perceived organisational support should incite an employee to make sure that the organisation is in good health. the employee will then be committed to ensuring that the organisation meets its targets (eisenberger, et al., 2001). by acting in this way, the employee complies with the norm of reciprocity (gouldner, 1960) and thus avoids any negative outcomes linked to ungratefulness. trade union support appears to have a similar impact on the relationship with the trade union (tetrick, et al., 2007). like the organisation, the union will shape commitment through its actions and, in this way, should foster the assimilation of social norms. in theory, nothing prevents these unilateral forms of support from taking place simultaneously. in such a scenario, we should observe a favourable impact on dual commitment if we follow the theoretical intuition of magenau et al. (1988: 373). this leads us to put forward the following hypotheses: h1: the source of perceived support is linked to a specific commitment profile h1a: employees who perceive weak organisational and union support (s1) display little commitment to the organisation and the union (profile 1) h1b: employees who perceive strong organisational support and weak union support (s2) are mainly committed to the organisation (profile 2) h1c: employees who perceive strong union support and weak organisational support (s3) are mainly committed to the union (profile 3) h1d: employees who perceive strong support by both the organisation and the union (s4) are committed to both the organisation and the union (profile 4) a person-centred approach also allows us to test the relationship between these commitment profiles and subjective career success. commitment profiles and subjective career success uncommitted individuals are detached from the organisation and the trade union’s values and so tend to be relatively indifferent to their prescriptive standards. they refer instead to personal standards without including the necessarily restricted nature of the company’s resources in their reasoning. such individuals are therefore likely to express a very low level of subjective career success. 626 franck biétry, jordane creusier, patrice laroche & sandra camusm@n@gement vol. 17 no. 1, 2014, xxx-xxx subscribing to trade union values is also likely to be detrimental. more specifically, the level of career satisfaction is likely to be lower here than among individuals who are mainly committed to the organisation. in effect, the french tradition of claiming rights (lipset, 1983) can raise the level of employees’ expectations and fuel a sense of frustration among them (barling, et al., 1992). conversely, a virtuous circle might be initiated by the organisation when it supports its employees by looking after their well-being, thus encouraging them to become emotionally committed. adhering to the established organisational values in return simplifies the process of learning career norms by facilitating communication (chatman and barsade, 1995). this congruity forms one of the chief antecedents of subjective career success (erdogan, et al., 2004). should the reciprocity norm be violated by one of the parties, that party will incur a penalty. the signal sent by the organisation is then disturbed and the employee is unable to appropriate it. overall, the subjective career success of dually committed individuals is likely to be lower than that of people who are committed mainly to the organisation. together, these arguments lead us to put forward the following hypotheses: h2: the commitment profile is linked to subjective career success. h2a: the profile of employees who are least committed to both the organisation and the union (profile 1) has the lowest level of subjective career success h2b: the profile of employees who are committed mainly to the union (profile 3) has a lower level of subjective career success than that of employees committed mainly to the organisation (profile 2) h2c: the profile of employees who are committed mainly to the organisation (profile 2) has a higher level of subjective career success than that of employees with a dual commitment (profile 4) method sample our questionnaire was sent to unionised employees via the heads of affiliated professional union federations and local unions. confidentiality was guaranteed for all participants: 1100 unionised employees from private-sector firms finally provided us with workable answers. 68.9% of the respondents were male, 41.9% were aged between 46 and 55 years old, 39.7% were executives, 77.5% had over ten years of experience in their company, 30.3% held a degree requiring at least four years of university studies, 82.4% belonged to a reformist trade union (cfe-cgc, cfdt, cftc, unsa) and 62.7% were elected trade union representatives within the company. it is now well recognized that reformist trade unions give preference to collective bargaining rather than to strike in order to be heard. measures all likert scales were translated twice so that they would conform to the recommendations of brislin (1986). 627 perceived support, affective commitments and subjective career success: a person-centred approach m@n@gement vol. 17 no. 1, 2014, xxx-xxx perceived support we used the six items suggested by eisenberger et al. (2001) to assess the level of perceived organisational support. this was for two reasons: firstly, the scale is unidimensional, and secondly, it has shown elevated metric characteristics to date. following the example of aryee and chay (2001), we replaced the term ‘organisation’ with ‘union’ to measure the level of perceived union support. ‘the company i currently work for really cares about my wellbeing’ and ‘the union values my contribution to its well-being’ are examples of the items used. cronbach’s alpha was 0.89 and 0.92. commitment affective organisational commitment was measured using eight items proposed by meyer et al. (1993). an example of these items is ‘i feel emotionally attached to this company’. the cronbach’s alpha obtained was 0.92. similarly, we retained the union commitment scale developed by gordon et al. (1980): thus, a sample item is: ‘i am proud to be a member of this union’. this time, the cronbach’s alpha was 0.87. career success we measured the degree of subjective career success using two ad hoc items. the wording was deliberately neutral so as to allow the respondent the freedom to choose from among the standards they wished to refer to (arthur, et al., 2005). the two items were: ‘are you satisfied with your career progress?’ and ‘are you satisfied with your salary progress?’ both questions are likert scales. cronbach’s alpha was 0.81 in this instance. we conducted a series of confirmatory factor analyses (cfa) to test the sample data structure using amos 18 software. three models were used concurrently: a two-dimensional model (m0) in which the first cfa included both support and commitment while the second corresponded to subjective career success; a three-dimensional model (m1) including support, commitment and subjective career success; and lastly, our five-dimensional model (m2) employing organisational and union support, organisational and union commitment and subjective career success. the goodness-of-fit indices are presented in table 1. table 1. confirmatory factor analysis chi² ddl rmsea tli cfi m0 8745 402 0,537 0,567 0,600 m1 6488 401 0,118 0,683 0,708 m2 1950 397 0,059 0,921 0,928 the m2 fit indices are substantially higher. the difference in chi² values between the models is significant at a p<0.01 threshold: chi²m1-chi²m2=4538 with ∆ddl=4 and chi²m0-chi²m2=6795 with ∆ddl=5. all of the m2 indices are satisfactory (roussel, et al., 2002), allowing us to test our hypothesis. 628 franck biétry, jordane creusier, patrice laroche & sandra camusm@n@gement vol. 17 no. 1, 2014, xxx-xxx analysis strategy to identify the commitment profiles in a large sample, we opted for an iterative classification process. this approach significantly increases the number of highly ranked individuals at each stage. the k-means clustering method was initially performed by arbitrarily setting a number of profiles to 1/10 from the sample size. the profile information obtained was later used to create an ascending hierarchical classification. the dendrogram generated allowed us to determine the final number of profiles. a second k-means cluster analysis was performed with the available information, using this number of profiles. finally, the new information obtained helped us to perform one last k-means analysis using the original data set. we thus tested the association between the source of the support and the affiliation to a commitment profile using a contingency coefficient: c= �[x2/(x2+n)]. this coefficient provides an alternative to the simple chi² test, which is too sensitive to sample size and the number of profiles. finally, an analysis of variance (anova) was calculated to test the impact of affiliation on subjective career success. findings the correlation matrix (table 2) shows that organisational support is strongly and significantly correlated to organisational commitment. however, it maintains a weak relation with union commitment, unlike union support. moreover, union support is weakly correlated to organisational commitment. the two unilateral commitment profiles are significantly but nonetheless weakly correlated with one another. lastly, career success is weakly but nonetheless significantly associated with organisational support. table 2. correlations matrix m sd 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 organisational commitment 3.16 1.28 (0,92) union commitment 3.96 0.94 0,16** (0,87) perceived union support 3.46 0.99 0,13** 0,70** (0,89) perceived organisational support 2.28 1.06 0,63** 0,07* 0,17** (0,92) subjective career success 2.90 1.22 0,29 0,01 0,00 0,32** (0,81) tenure 11.41 3.22 0,19** 0,09** 0,00 0,03 -0,02 gender 1.31 0.46 -0,05 -0,05 0,00 -0,03 -0,06* -0,07* union orientation 1.82 0.38 0,06* -0,04 -0,06 0,09** 0,11** -0,07* -0,06 type of mandate 1.26 0.44 0,02 0,22 0,13** -0,03 -0,03 0,15** -0,10** -0,01 level of studies 1.6 0.49 -0,02 -0,06* -0,05 -0,04 0,06** -0,08** -0,01 0,11** -0,05 status 1.58 0.49 0,04 -0,04 -0,08** 0,01 0,25** 0,02 -0,05 0,17 0,01 0,30** * p<0.05 ** p<0.01 cronbach’s alpha on the diagonal gender: male=1; female=2. union orientation: reformist=1; radical=2. type of mandate: no mandate=0; within the company=1; within and outside the company=2. level of studies: no qualifications=1; above undergraduate level=2. status: non-manager=1; manager=2 629 perceived support, affective commitments and subjective career success: a person-centred approach m@n@gement vol. 17 no. 1, 2014, xxx-xxx sources of support and commitment profiles (h1) the classifications reveal four distinct profiles of commitment as suggested in the academic literature (table 3). table 3. commitment profile breakdown profile 1 profile 2 profile 3 profile 4 n union commitment weak weak strong strong organisational commitment weak strong weak strong number of employees 124 278 270 428 1100   the resulting dendrogram is available from the authors. profiles two and three, involving unilateral commitment, have roughly the same comparable sample sizes, that is to say about half of the sample. the other half shows a highly skewed distribution in favour of the dual commitment profile. the individual traits of the members of each commitment profile are set out in table 4 and illustrated in figure 1. table 4. results using wald’s chi² (test) p1vsp2 p1vsp3 p1vsp4 p2vsp3 p2vsp4 p3vsp4 union orientation 0,01 0,48 0,66 0,69 1,24 4,49* type of mandate 1,33 9,41* 7,53* 30,57** 28,66** 0,49 age 3,26 0,56 9,53* 1,69 2,41 8,95* education 1,41 0,32 1,19 4,80* 9,29* 0,44 status 2,08 1,24 0,33 0,15 1,42 0,59 tenure 2,87 2,69 18,36** 0,01 9,66* 9,79* gender 0,17 1,25 0,97 0,76 0,51 0,05 * (statistically) significant at 0.05 ** (statistically) significant at 0.01 figure 1. commitment profile characteristics 630 franck biétry, jordane creusier, patrice laroche & sandra camusm@n@gement vol. 17 no. 1, 2014, xxx-xxx the data were standardised in diagram 1 to simplify interpretation. values over 0 indicate affiliation with a reformist union tendency, no mandate or a mandate for individuals exclusively elected within the company, less than 45 years of age, a diploma below secondary school leaver level, non-managerial status, less than ten years with the company and male. diagram 1 shows a generally homogeneous distribution in terms of union tendencies. the profile of weakly committed employees (p1) mostly comprises young women who have been with the company for a short time, are not union representatives outside the company and are non-executives. profile 2, which comprises people who are essentially committed to the company, consists mainly of highly qualified executives who are not representatives outside the company. employees who are essentially committed to the union (p3) primarily have positions as representatives both within and outside the company. finally, those with a dual commitment (p4) are characterised by representative functions both within and outside the organisation, are of a more advanced age, have worked for the organisation for many years and have a low level of education. if we examine table 4, we can see that the main differences between the profiles are the type of union representative position held, tenure and, less frequently, age and level of education. to verify the correlation between the source of support and the commitment profile (h1), we constructed a new dendrogram using the same method based on the scores for each type of support. the results are presented in table 5. table 5. support typology breakdown support 1 support 2 support 3 support 4 n union support weak weak strong strong organisational support weak strong weak strong number of employees 292 204 280 324 1100 a contingency table was drawn up based on these two classifications. it allows us to verify that the people receiving a specific type of support are indeed those who match the expected commitment profile. table 6. contingency table: origin of support/commitment profiles source of support totalpoor support (s1) perceived organisational support (s2) perceived union support (s3) dual support (s4) commitment profiles weakly committed (p1) 87 7 24 6 124 mainly committed to the organisation (p2) 90 116 26 46 278 mainly committed to the union (p3) 77 11 143 39 270 dual committed (p4) 38 70 87 233 428 total 292 204 280 324 1100 631 perceived support, affective commitments and subjective career success: a person-centred approach m@n@gement vol. 17 no. 1, 2014, xxx-xxx in accordance with social exchange theory, the source of support allows us to predict affiliation to a commitment profile (c=0.572; p=0.000***) (droesbeke, et al., 2005). a rapid examination of the contingency table shows that the distribution is consistent with hypothesis 1: the majority of employees (116/204) who perceive strong organisational support and poor union support are indeed unilaterally committed to the organisation (p2). perceiving essentially unionbased support leads to a predominantly union-oriented commitment (p3) in 143 cases out of 280. the result is all the more conclusive for dual perceived support and dual commitment (p4): 233 cases out of 324. the totals observed on this diagonal in table 6 are close to, if not more than, double the numbers expected. only in the case of low perceived support are we unable to predict the commitment profile. consequently, hypothesis 1 is partially supported: the source of perceived support is indeed associated with the commitment profile (h1b, h1c, h1d), except in the case of poor support (h1a). we can now attempt to determine the impact that affiliation to a commitment profile has on subjective career success. the impact of commitment profiles on subjective career success (h2) the four commitment profiles were compared in pairs regarding the scores for subjective career success. the anova shows no homogeneity of variances with levene’s test (value obtained = 0.419). the post hoc tests were therefore conducted using the tamhane method in order to identify significant differences between the profiles (table 7). table 7. differences in subjective career success between the four commitment profiles commitment profiles career success average x career success average y average difference variation x y weakly committed (p1) essentially committed to the organisation (p2) essentially committed to the union (p3) dual committed (p4) 4,94 5,99 1,05** 13,10% 5,22 0,29 6,35 1,42** 17,70% essentially committed to the organisation (p2) essentially committed to the union (p3) dual committed (p4) 5,99 5,22 0,76** -9,50% 6,35 0,37 essentially committed to the union (p3) dual committed (p4) 5,22 6,35 1,13** 14,10% ** p<0,01 there is no difference in subjective career success between employees who are weakly and strongly committed to their trade unions (p1/p3). however, both profiles reveal significantly lower averages than those of mainly organisation-committed employees (p1/p2 and p2/p3) and those of dually committed individuals (p1/p4 and p3/p4). hypothesis h2a is therefore rejected. our findings show that the profiles of least committed employees (p1) and workers strongly committed to the union (p3) have the lowest subjective career success, with no significant difference between them. 632 franck biétry, jordane creusier, patrice laroche & sandra camusm@n@gement vol. 17 no. 1, 2014, xxx-xxx h2b is therefore supported: employees who are committed mainly to the organisation are more satisfied with their careers than those who are essentially committed to the union. finally, hypothesis h2c is not supported since the profiles of employees who are essentially committed to the organisation and dually committed employees show strong subjective career success, with no significant difference between them. discussion theoretical contributions and further lines of research the present paper aimed to ascertain the influence of group affiliation on subjective career success. in other words, we attempted to determine the influence of the origin of perceived support and the commitment profile. our findings indicate that the four commitment profiles found in the literature can be found in the french context, and each profile is associated with a specific source of support apart from that of weakly committed individuals. our first observation regarding these findings is that a lack of support does not necessarily lead to a lack of commitment. despite its strongly predictive power, support is not an essential condition for commitment. secondly, the intuitive insights advanced by magenau et al. (1988) proved to be empirically sound since affiliation to a commitment profile can be predicted according to the level of support received on condition that its many possible origins are taken into account. perceived organisational support is primarily associated with organisational commitment, while perceived union support is linked to a union commitment. dual support leads to a dual commitment. our findings also indicate that the commitment profile can be added to the list of antecedents for subjective career success. a person-centred approach enables us to determine which group affiliation has the most influence, in this instance the organisation. a plausible explanation for this finding lies in the process by which norms are internalised, which combines information and learning. employees who perceive support not only receive a message, but are also rewarded. they are informed of the normative standards used to appraise effort. the impact on subjective career success becomes apparent when the employee adopts these norms in return by adhering to its values, in other words displaying commitment. this process is more obvious for companies than for unions. a side-by-side comparison of the profiles suggests that a union commitment gives rise to neither a sense of resignation nor an increase in the expectation of subjective career success. the latter is more noticeably affected by a lack of organisational commitment than by greater union commitment. the dominant standard is thus that of the organisation. overall, these conclusions do not imply an outright rejection of the idea of social influence. more humbly, we suggest that not all membership affiliations necessarily have a significant influence. determining the limits of this inactive aspect of the context is one avenue for future research. only a profile-based approach would help us to determine which of the target(s) for potential commitment, such as work, team, line manager, etc. (redman, and snape, 2005), might impact on career success. a profile-based approach 633 perceived support, affective commitments and subjective career success: a person-centred approach m@n@gement vol. 17 no. 1, 2014, xxx-xxx could thereby provide insights into the legitimacy of inducements to multiple commitments. each carries the risk of generating new career expectations that the organisation may not be able to satisfy. managerial limitations and recommendations these conclusions should be considered with caution for several reasons. firstly, the topic of subjective career success addressed in the present paper reflects a masculine vision of the concept of the career (herrbach and mignonac, 2012). only satisfaction linked to salary and career advancement was discussed, while the work-life balance, a sense of achievement, and learning could also be included in a future study (gattiker and larwood, 1988). secondly, retrospective rationalisation by employees cannot be ruled out. more or less conscious manipulation of the answers might have allowed the respondents to avoid cognitive dissonance (nicholson and de waal-andrews 2005): in concealing a lack of satisfaction, the legitimacy of union commitment cannot be challenged. this risk of methodological bias is nonetheless low since our reasoning is based on a comparison of profiles. even if individuals had artificially inflated their scores, nothing would have enabled those involved to ascertain the lack of significant differences in relation to others. given these limitations, discovering the lack of negative influence that unions have on subjective career success might encourage certain employees to be more willing to participate in social dialogue. this conclusion is especially significant at the managerial level at a time when the fragility of contemporary production systems requires negotiated rather than imposed decisions (freeman and medoff, 1984). unionised employees have a good chance of being satisfied with their careers as long as they are strongly committed to the organization. given that commitment profiles are strongly associated with perceived support, both the union branch leader and the line manager play a crucial role in the matter. thus, a union strategy that aims to distort the way organisational commitment is perceived could prove risky. when unions look for ways to promote a stereotypical vision of the employer (‘them and us’, kelly and kelly, 1994), they become isolated from the majority of employees by turning union commitment into a personal career sacrifice. unless the aim is to develop or feed frustration and, in so doing, to develop a unilateral union commitment profile, the organisation would do well not to drop its support using the employee’s affiliation to the union as a pretext. if the recommendations arising from our empirical findings are borne in mind, the different protagonists in the organisation should stand to benefit from the potential of negotiated solutions. 634 franck biétry, jordane creusier, patrice laroche & sandra camusm@n@gement vol. 17 no. 1, 2014, xxx-xxx franck biétry is an associate professor of human resource management at the university of caen. his research activity is devoted to the study of organisational behaviour and industrial relations, with particular emphasis on the analysis of unions, well-being and commitment. jordane creusier is a research assistant at the university of caen. he completed his phd in 2013. he is especially interested in well-being at work and commitment. he previously worked as a quality manager in the agribusiness industry. patrice laroche is a professor of human resource management at the escp europe (paris). his research activity is mainly devoted to the study of industrial and labour relations, with particular emphasis on the analysis of the impact of unions on firm performance. sandra camus is an associate professor of marketing at the university of angers. she is especially interested in authenticity. 635 perceived support, affective commitments and subjective career success: a person-centred approach m@n@gement vol. 17 no. 1, 2014, xxx-xxx · arthur, b. m., khapova, s. n., & wilderom, c. p. (2005). career success in a boundaryless career world. journal of organizational behavior, 26(2), 177-202. · aryee, s., & chay, y. w. (2001). workplace justice, citizen behavior, and turnover intentions in a union context: examining the mediating role of perceived union support and union instrumentality. journal of applied psychology, 86(1), 154-160. · ashforth, b. k., & saks, a. m. (1996). socialization tactics: longitudinal effects on newcomer adjustment. academy of management journal, 39(1), 149-178. · bamberger, p. a., kluger, a. n., & suchard, r. (1999). the antecedents and consequences of union commitment: a meta-analysis. academy of management journal, 42(3), 304-318. · barling, j., fullagar, c., & kelloway, e. k. (1992). the union and its members: a psychological approach. new york, ny: oxford university press. · bemmels, b. (1995). dual commitment: unique construct or epiphenomenon? journal of labor research, 16(4), 401-422. · blau, p. m. (1964). exchange and power in social life. new york, ny: wiley. · brislin, r. w. (1986). the wording and translation of research instrument. in w. w. lonner & j. berry (eds.), fields methods in cross-cultural research (pp.137-164). beverly hill, ca: sage. · chatman, j. a., & barsade, s. g. (1995). personality, organizational culture, and cooperation: evidence from a business simulation. administrative science quarterly, 40(3), 423-443. · cohen, a. (2003). multiple commitments in the workplace. an integrative approach. london: lawrence erlbaum associates. · droesbeke, j. j., lejeune, m., & saporta, g. (2005). modèles statistiques pour données qualitatives. paris : eds technip. · eisenberger, r. a., armeli, s., rexwinkel, b., lynch, p. d., & rhoades, l. (2001). reciprocation of perceived organizational support. journal of applied psychology, 86(1), 42-51. · erdogan, b., kraimer, m. l., & liden, r. c. (2004). work value congruence and intrinsic career success: the compensatory roles of leader-member exchange and perceived organizational support. personnel psychology, 57(2), 305-332. · fournier, v., & payne, j. (1994). change in, self-construction during the transition from university to employment: a personal construct psychology approach. journal of occupational and organizational psychology, 67(4), 297-314. · freeman, r. b., & medoff, j. l. (1984). what do unions do? new york, ny: basic book. · gattiker, u.e., & larwood, l. (1988). predictors for managers’ career mobility, success, and satisfaction. human relations, 41(8), 569-591. · gordon, m. e., & ladd, r. t. (1990). dual allegiance: renewal, reconsideration and recantation. personnel psychology, 43(1), 37-69. · gordon, m. e., philpot, j. w., burt, r. e., thompson, c. a., & spiller, w. e. (1980). commitment to the union: development of a measure and an examination of its correlates. journal of applied psychology monograph, 65(4), 479-499. · gouldner, a. w. (1960). the norm of reciprocity: a preliminary statement. american sociological review, 25(2), 161-178. · hall, d. t. (1996). protean careers of the 21st century. academy of management executive, 10(4), 8-16. · hall, d. t., & chandler, d. e. (2005). psychological success: when the career is a calling. journal of organizational behavior, 26(2), 155-176. · heslin, p. a. (2003). selfand other-referent criteria of career success. journal of career assessment, 11(3), 262–286. · heslin, p. a. (2005). conceptualizing and evaluating career success. journal of organizational behavior, 26(2), 113-136. · herrbach, o., & mignonac, k. (2012). perceived gender discrimination and women’s subjective career success: the moderating role of career anchors. relations industrielles/ industrial relations, 67(1), 25-50. · judge, t. a., cable, d. m., boudreau, j. w., & bretz, r. d. (1995). an empirical investigation of the predictors of executive career success. personnel psychology, 48(3), 485-519. references 636 franck biétry, jordane creusier, patrice laroche & sandra camusm@n@gement vol. 17 no. 1, 2014, xxx-xxx · judge, t. a., higgins, c. a., thorensen, c. j., & barrick, m. r. (1999). the big five personality traits, general mental ability, and career success across the life span. personnel psychology, 52(3), 621–652. · korman, a. k., wittig-berman, u., & lang, d. (1981). career success and personal failure: alienation in professionals and managers. academy of management journal, 24(2), 342-360. · kelly, c., & kelly, j. (1994). who gets involved in collective action? social psychological determinants of individual participation in trade unions. human relations, 47(1), 63-88. · korman, a. k., wittig-berman, u., & lang, d. (1981). career success and personal failure: alienation in professionals and managers. academy of management journal, 24(2), 342-360. · leede, j., looise, j. k., & riemsdijk, m. (2004). collectivism versus individualism in dutch employment relations. human resource management journal, 14(1), 331-349. · lipset, s. m. (1983). radicalism or reformism: the sources of working-class politics. the american political science review, 77(1), 1-18. · magenau, j. m., martin, j. e., & peterson, m. m. (1988). dual and unilateral commitment among stewards and rank-andfile union members. academy of management journal, 31(2), 359-376. · meyer, j. p., allen, n. j., & smith, c. a. (1993). commitment to organizations and occupations: extension and test of a three-component conceptualization. journal of applied psychology, 78(4), 538-551. · meyer, j. p., & herscovitch, l. (2001). commitment in the workplace. toward a general model. human resource management review, 11(3), 299-326. · meyer, j. p., stanley, d. j., herscovitch, l., & topolnytsky, l. (2002). affective, continuance, and normative commitment to the organization: a meta-analysis of antecedents, correlates, and consequences. journal of vocational behavior, 61(1), 20-52. · meyer, j. p., stanley, l. j., & vandenberg, r. m. (2013). a person-centered approach to the study of commitment. human resource management review, 23(2), 190-202. · morin, a. j. s., morizot, j., boudrias, j. s., & madore, i. (2011). a multifoci person-centered perspective on workplace affective commitment: a latent profile/factor mixture analysis. organizational research methods, 14(1), 58-90. · nicholson, n., & de waal-andrews, w. (2005). playing to win: biological imperatives, self-regulation, and trade-offs in the game of career success. journal of organizational behavior, 26(2), 137-154. · ng, t. w. h., eby, l. t., sorensen, k. l., & feldman, d. c. (2005). predictors of objective and subjective career success: a meta-analysis. personnel psychology, 58(2), 367-408. · redman, t., & snape, e. (2005). unpacking commitment: multiple loyalties and employee behaviour. journal of management studies, 42(2), 301-328. · reichers, a. e. (1985). a review and reconceptualization of organizational commitment. academy of management review, 10(3), 465-476. · rhoades, l., & eisenberger, r. (2002). perceived organizational support: a review of the literature. journal of applied psychology, 87(4), 698-714. · rhoades, l., eisenberger, r., & armeli, s. (2001). affective commitment to the organization: the contribution of perceived organizational support. journal of applied psychology, 86(5), 825-836. · riggle, r. j., edmonson, d. r., & hansen, j. d. (2009). a meta-analysis of the relationship between perceived organizational support and job outcomes: 20 years of research. journal of business research, 62(10), 1027-1030. · roussel, p., durrieu, f., campoy, e., & el akremi, a. (2002). méthodes d’équations structurelles : recherche et applications en gestion. paris: ed. économica. · seibert, s. e., crant, j. m., & kraimer, m. l. (1999). proactive personality and career success. journal of applied psychology, 84(3), 416-427. 637 perceived support, affective commitments and subjective career success: a person-centred approach m@n@gement vol. 17 no. 1, 2014, xxx-xxx · tetrick, l. e., shore, l. m., mcclurg, l. n., & vandenberg, r. j. (2007). a model of union participation: the impact of perceived union support, union instrumentality, and union loyalty. journal of applied psychology, 92(3), 820-828. · tesser, a., millar, m., & moore, j. (1988). some affective consequences of social comparison and reflection processes: the pain and pleasure of being close. journal of personality and social psychology, 54(1), 49-61. · van maanen, j. (1980). career games: the formal, contextual and operational rules of play. in c. b. derr (ed.), work, family, and the career: new frontiers in theory and research (pp. 49-51). new york; ny: prager. · wood, j. v. (1989). theory and research concerning social comparisons of personal attributes. psychological bulletin, 106(2), 231-2. 73casanueva � bernard forgues 2007 book review: rodolphe durand 2006 organizational evolution and strategic management, london: sage, m@n@gement, 10: 3, 71-75. accepted by co-editor bernard forgues copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). m@n@gement is a double-blind refereed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.management-aims.com © 2007 m@n@gement and the author(s). m@n@gement issn: 1286-4892 editors: alain desreumaux, u. de lille i martin evans, u. of toronto bernard forgues, u. de lille i hugh gunz, u. of toronto martina menguzzato, u. de valència m@n@gement est la revue officielle de lʼaims m@n@gement is the official journal of aims http://www.management-aims.com http://www.strategie-aims.com m@n@gement, vol. 10, no. 3, 2007, 71-75 71 rodolphe durand 2006 organizational evolution and strategic management london: sage. reviewed by bernard forgues iae, université de lille bernard.forgues@iae.univ-lille1.fr book details: publication date: 25 april 2006 publisher: sage series: sage strategy series 200 pages, 6.14x9.21 isbn: 1-4129-0862-0 isbn: 1-4129-0863-4 (pbk) http://www.sagepub.co.uk/booksproddesc.nav? prodid=book227571 book review how are we to reconcile evolutionary thinking in organizations with strategic management? whereas the former brings more and more evidence of patterns at the macro level where actors seem like helpless puppets in the hand of giant forces, the latter is all about skilled executives cleverly devising master strokes to gain competitive advantages in face of adversity. this dilemma echoes the macro/micro problem in social theory and the related structure/agency issue (see barnes, 2001). and just like elsewhere in the social sciences, we have here macro-theorists aiming at explaining order, patterns and regularities and micro-theorists concerned with the passive role accorded to human subjects in such a view. rodolphe durand seems to stand at the overlap of those two views. he has been studying organizational evolution for years and has published numerous articles and books within this framework. as such, he most probably is unwilling to doubt the patterns observed at the population level, be it industries, sectors, or nations. yet, at the same time, he also is a strategy scholar teaching in a business school. he has seen countless examples of strategic moves made by executives who did have a significant impact on their firmʼs destiny, or even at times on the shape of their industry. similarly, he probably is unwilling to doubt that individuals sometimes do make a difference. in his new book, durand aims at proposing a novel solution to this old debate. he has to be commended for such an endeavor, as previous ways out of the dilemma were usually seen as unsatisfactory by one party or the other. for instance, organizational ecology has long been dismissed for being too deterministic. answers to such critics usually take two forms. ecologists first counter that, although individual managers can make a difference for their organization, this wonʼt show at the macro level. in other words, they are insisting that population ecology is, as the name implies, concerned with populations, not with individuals inside the rodolphe durand strategy series organizational evolution and strategic management http://www.sagepub.co.uk/booksproddesc.nav?prodid=book227571 mailto:bernard.forgues@iae.univ-lille1.fr m@n@gement, vol. 10, no. 3, 2007, 71-75 72 population (this was stated as early as 1977 in hannan and freemanʼs seminal article). secondly, as pointed out by baum and amburgey (2002), those who blame ecology for being deterministic mistakenly contrast it with voluntarism rather than with probabilism. for instance, saying that newly found organizations have higher failure rates does not mean that all newly found organizations fail. although those two strong counter-arguments are technically correct1, opponents usually remain unimpressed, or unconvinced, maybe because their position is rooted on a philosophical conception of the dignity and standing of the individual (barnes, 2001). reviewing extant efforts at reconceptualizing macro social theory to answer this challenge is beyond the scope of this paper. to position durandʼs work, suffice it to say that previous attempts include giddensʼs (1984) well-known structuration theory and sewellʼs (1992) subsequent theory of structure. sewellʼs brilliant elaboration manages to restore human agency and to allow for structural change through «five key axioms: the multiplicity of structures, the transposability of schemas, the unpredictability of resource accumulation, the polisemy of resources, and the intersection of structures.» (sewell, 1992: 16). rodolphe durand takes another route, firmly rooted into the evolutionary approach. using the variation-selection-retention (vsr) model as the core building block, he elaborates a new model, called organizational evolution and strategy (oes). the main differences between oes and vsr lie in units of analysis and associated levels, thereby allowing for laying out relationships between industry evolution, firm survival and competitive advantage. to do so, durand builds on a careful review of extant theory, draws a sharp analysis that reveals problems and remaining issues, and eventually offers his oes model as an answer to the evolution/strategy puzzle. let me detail the content of the book. content of the book the book is organized in three parts forming a coherent journey towards the organizational evolution and strategy model. altogether, these three parts totalize seven chapters, alternating between short ones, often presenting arguments from biology, and longer, denser ones, presenting the bulk of the analysis. in part i, “positioning the questions”, a first short chapter lists reasons for the book, insisting on the necessity to cross-fertilize evolution and strategy. the former betters understanding of the big economic picture; the latter brings practical guidance. this first chapter also provides a roadmap for the book, which is important since it really is one long argument culminating in the oes model. the second chapter starts with definitions of the concepts of organization, evolution in the biological realm, and organizational evolution. going back and forth between biology and organization is a pattern found throughout the book. incidentally, going in depth into biology is probably one important feature setting this book apart. although some readers might find passages of the book are a bit demanding, i believe 1. another argument, deriving from the previous one, is strucutral inertia, a mainstay of organizational ecology. hannan and freeman (1984) explain that although people try to adapt, they can’t change their organization’s structure and strategy as quickly as their environment changes. m@n@gement, vol. 10, no. 3, 2007, 71-75 73 book review the information to be gained is clearly worth the effort. the following section in this chapter concentrates on the methodological and conceptual problems that arise when studying organizational evolution. interestingly, durand illustrates those problems by presenting three widely accepted frameworks (namely, punctuated equilibrium, adaptation, and population ecology) and highlighting their pitfalls. finally, strategy is brought into the picture along the same lines: having defined it, durand shows it is subject to the same five conceptual problems evolution faces. this, he claims, calls for a theoretical integration of evolution and strategy. the second part of the book aims at bringing another building block necessary to reconcile evolution and strategy: the checklist appraisal grid for evolutionary models. as the name indicates, the grid is a list of items to be used by researchers willing to assess how evolutionary models respond to a number of issues. this grid is especially useful to assess new models, although gauging existing ones with it can bring a better comprehension of underlying assumptions, for instance. to arrive at this grid, rodolphe durand first takes us back in the nineteenth century to review the works of darwin, lamarck, and spencer. it should be noted that this is not done by offering a synthesis of their contributions, but rather by pointing out who said what, and which false ascriptions abound in the current literature. although wanting to draw from darwin is obvious, this is probably less so for the other two authors. presumably, one would want to refer to lamarck to bring an adaptationist perspective in the framework. in line with durandʼs careful attention to problematic analogies, lamarckʼs place is at the center of a current debate between hodgson and knudsen (2006, 2007) on the one hand, and nelson (2007) on the other hand. as for the third author, durand—an expert on spencer—mostly uses his work for methodological guidance. in contrast with the preceding chapter, chapter 4 is entirely about organizations. in it, durand reviews the main results of three approaches to organizational evolution: population ecology, evolutionary economics, and the dynamic resource-based view. he then devotes most of what remains of the chapter to an in-depth analysis of the vsr model, concluding that it impedes integration of strategy. chapter 5 (the last one in part 3) presents recent debates in biology. it includes a nice presentation of hullʼs distinction between replicators and interactors (see e.g., hull, 1988). in a nutshell, hull offered this distinction to cut through the confusion in the concept of selection. hull argued that selection confounds the two processes of replication and interaction. whereas a replicator is an entity that passes on its structure largely intact in successive replications, an interactor is an entity that interacts as a cohesive whole with its environment in such a way that this interaction causes replication to be differential. as a consequence, selection is a process in which the differential extinction and proliferation of interactors cause the differential perpetuation of the relevant replicators. this chapter closes with a presentation of the grid mentioned earlier, composed of twenty-two items appraising conceptual puzzles, cautions, vsr limitations, and challenges. m@n@gement, vol. 10, no. 3, 2007, 71-75 74 the last part of the book consists of two chapters. in chapter 6, arguably the most important one in the book, durand offers his answer to the theoretical puzzle that is the reconciliation of environmental selection with strategic management. this answer takes the form of what he calls the organizational evolution and strategy model (oes). the model brings together all the points raised in the preceding chapters in an impressive and carefully crafted manner. durandʼs stated goal was to build on previous results while at the same time avoiding existing pitfalls. i must say he managed to do so admirably: the model is both comprehensive and precise, and it passes the appraisal grid test as expected. the downside of the oes model is not surprisingly its complexity. i lack space to go into the details, but to give you a glimpse, it organizes a genealogical hierarchy composed of the three levels of market, organization, and resources on one hand, and an ecological hierarchy of the three levels of industry, firm, and competitive advantage. these six components are related through 14 kinds of relationships that can be separated between variation, selection, and retention processes. i realize this sounds quite overwhelming, but durandʼs clear explanations and figure 6.4 in the book make it easier to grasp. finally, the concluding chapter draws some implications of the oes model at the epistemological, theoretical, empirical, and practical levels. organizational evolution and strategic management is an ambitious book that tackles the puzzling question of where to put strategy in an evolutionary framework. durand patiently brings building blocks drawing from evolution in both biology and the social sciences as well as the dynamic resource-based view, and cogently puts all this together in his oes model. this model is a welcome addition to the evolutionary framework for organization scholars willing to account for managerial intent. not only do organizations produce variations, but they also sometimes shape selection processes. the oes model accounts for this and more. in addition, it should be noted that durandʼs building blocks, in particular his appraisal grid, are of great value in themselves. i have no doubt this book will be read and used time and again by any scholar working within the evolutionary approach to organizations. i believe it will also be of great interest to strategy scholars. the book is not that easy to read and assumes some prior knowledge of evolution. as such, it is not an introductory book for graduate students. but others willing to make the effort will definitely find it was worth it. references � barnes, b. 2001 the macro/micro problem and the problem of structure and agency, in g. ritzer and b. smart (eds.), handbook of social theory, london: sage, 339-352. m@n@gement, vol. 10, no. 3, 2007, 71-75 75 book review � baum, j. a. c. and t. l. amburgey 2002 organizational ecology, in j. a. c. baum (ed.), the blackwell companion to organizations, oxford: blackwell, 304-326. � giddens 1984 the constitution of society: outline of the theory of structuration, cambridge : polity � hannan, m. t. and j. freeman 1977 the population ecology of organizations, american journal of sociology, 82: 5, 929964. � hannan, m. t. and j. freeman 1984 structural inertia and organizational change, american sociological review, 49: 2, 149-164. � hodgson, geoffrey m. and thorbjørn knudsen 2006 dismantling lamarckism: why descriptions of socio-economic evolution as lamarckian are misleading, journal of evolutionary economics, 16: 4, 343-366. � hodgson, geoffrey m. and thorbjørn knudsen 2007 evolutionary theorizing beyond lamarckism: a reply to richard nelson, journal of evolutionary economics, 17: 3, 353-359. � hull, david l. 1988 science as a process: an evolutionary account of the social and conceptual development of science, chicago: university of chicago press. � nelson, richard n. 2007 comment on: dismantling lamarckism: why descriptions of socio-economic evolution as lamarckian are misleading, by hodgson and knudsen, journal of evolutionary economics, 17: 3, 349-352. � sewell, w. h., jr. 1992 a theory of structure: duality, agency, and transformation, american journal of sociology, 98: 1, 1-29. 73casanueva volume 9, no. 3. special issue: “doing case study research in organizations” guest editors: ann langley and isabelle royer � attila bruni 2006 access as trajectory: entering the field in organizational ethnography, m@n@gement, 9: 3, 129-144. copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). m@n@gement is a double-blind refereed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.management-aims.com © 2006 m@n@gement and the author(s). m@n@gement issn: 1286-4892 editors: alain desreumaux, u. de lille i martin evans, u. of toronto bernard forgues, u. de lille i hugh gunz, u. of toronto martina menguzzato, u. de valència m@n@gement est la revue officielle de lʼaims m@n@gement is the official journal of aims http://www.management-aims.com http://www.management-aims.com http://www.strategie-aims.com m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 137-152 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 137 attila bruni università degli studi di trentodipartimento di sociologia e ricerca sociale email: attila.bruni@soc.unitn.it access as trajectory: entering the field in organizational ethnography since ethnography has been recognized as a proper method for organizational analysis, many textbooks and articles have acknowledged its characteristics and specificities and sought to account for them. curiously, many of these works have not considered (or have explicitly avoided) one important issue concerning organizational ethnography, namely the negotiation of access to the field. drawing on a one-year organizational ethnography on the production and reproduction of inequalities in accessing health services in italy, this paper focuses on the organizational and ethnographical dynamics involved in accessing the field. in particular, it shows that the negotiation of access may per se be an important moment of observation in that it reveals some of the principal characteristics of the organizational processes that the ethnographer is about to study. moreover, drawing on ethnographic observations, the paper shows that there are no substantial reasons for assuming that negotiating access to the field takes place in a dimension unconnected with the actorsʼ everyday logics and practices of action. accessing the field is thus framed as a trajectory, a never-ending process of engaging with multiple actors and organizational dynamics which can lead in different directions, depending on the ethnographerʼs ability to follow organizational processes and to demonstrate his/her ability to take part in them. introduction since ethnography has been recognized as a proper method for organizational analysis, many textbooks and articles have acknowledged its characteristics and specificities and sought to account for them. ethnographic rhetoric (van maanen, 1988), narrative genre (jeffcut, 1994), the role of the researcher (kunda, 1992; van maanen, 1995) and the different (organizational and gender) identities that s/he can perform and that are attributable to him/her (bruni, 2006), are just some of the major themes currently under debate. in addition, various handbooks on organizational research or on qualitative sociology describe techniques for observation, interviews, data recording, interpretation of fieldnotes, and show how to write a research report. curiously, however, the issue of accessing the field often seems underrepresented or taken for granted in this debate. this is odd, considering that gaining access to the organizational setting of interest is essential for a study to begin. this may be related to the fact that, since the early organizational ethnographies (dalton, 1959), the ethnographerʼs presence has sometimes been covert or mingled with the role of consultant. mailto:attila.bruni@soc.unitn.it m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 137-152 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 138 attila bruni this paper refers to an organizational ethnography on the organizational production and reproduction of inequalities in accessing health services in italy. it concentrates on the organizational (and ethnographical) dynamics involved in accessing the field. in particular, it shows that negotiation of access may be an important moment of observation per se, in that it reveals some of the principal characteristics of the organizational processes that the ethnographer is about to study. moreover, the paper draws on ethnographic observations to argue that there is no substantial reason for assuming that negotiating access to the field takes place in a dimension unconnected with the actorsʼ everyday logics and practices of action. accessing the field will be framed as a trajectory, a never-ending process of engaging with multiple actors and organizational dynamics; a process which begins on entering the field, but which may lead in different directions, depending on the ethnographerʼs ability to follow organizational processes and participate in them. the paper is organized as follows. the first section describes the research aims, setting, and design. the second section presents the ethnographic account of what happened on entering one of the services observed. this will be used as a starting point for discussion of some of the main issues debated in the literature on accessing the field in organizational ethnography. finally, the conclusions underline some of the practical and ethical implications raised by the story presented and by the more general issue of access in organizational ethnography. studying inequalities reproduction in access to health care services: the research background the accounts that i am about to present require a brief description of the research aims, setting and design. the observations are drawn from an ethnographic research study conducted in the city of bologna (italy) in 2003-04 and centered on the organizational processes that may generate or reproduce inequalities in access to healthcare services (bruni, fasol and gherardi, 2007). the research arose from the local authorityʼs desire to map local best practices in access to health services, with particular regard to how these practices facilitate access for different categories of users. our intention was not to interpret inequalities as ascribed to individuals, but instead to emphasise their socially inscribed and embodied component, consistent with the current interest among organization scholars in the processual (cooper and law, 1995) and practical (gherardi, 2000) dimension. the view that the study of organization amounts to the study of organizing practices is increasingly accredited in the sociology of organizations (fox, 2006; gherardi, forthcoming); and, in particular, from the study of gender as a practical and situated activity (see for example gender, work and organizationʼs special issue on theorizing gender as practice, 13: 6, 2006). i borrow the idea that, like gender differences, inequalities also spring from relational m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 137-152 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 139 access as trajectory: entering the field in organizational ethnography processes comprised in the interactive and discursive practices of everyday organizational life. research design: zooming in on the field and plotting the map of access points in the initial phase of research, i zoomed in on the field (silverman, 2000) by focusing my observation on the centro unico di prenotazione (cup), the central booking service in italy for healthcare appointments. from an organizational point of view, a cup is the obligatory passage point for anyone requiring healthcare, and it may generate specific trajectories of access: waiting times for an appointment, point of delivery, and the reference medical unit. however, as the operators themselves pointed out to us, the cups handle access for users who have already been selected to some extent. use of a cup requires enrolment in the healthcare register and the issue of a doctorʼs prescription1, so that the user has already in some way begun an access trajectory, which leads him/her to the cup. in january 2004, i began to plot a map of access points to health services (catering to unequal categories) in the province of bologna. i identified a service providing general medical examinations and basic pharmaceutical treatment for illegal immigrants2; a surgery providing general medical examinations and basic pharmaceutical treatment for the indigent; a service for recently-immigrated women and children not yet eligible for the national health service and providing gynaecological and paediatric services, psychological counselling, and general medical examinations. after obtaining this first snapshot, on the basis of a similarity/difference criterion, i decided to combine observation of dedicated points of access with observation of ones that were instead universal: an accident and emergency department (still one of the most frequently used points of access to healthcare services) and a health advisory bureau (because of the close links of these facilities with the local community). then, as often happens when a flexible research design is used (cardano, 2003), the observation was extended to two other settings which were not originally considered but acquired significance as the fieldwork progressed. each service was observed for the duration of a working week in the months between february and july 2004. the main observation method was participant observation, together with the shadowing (sachs, 1993; bruni, gherardi and poggio, 2004) of some operators and ethnographic interviews carried out at the same time as the observation. my role as researcher was always announced to the operators, but it was not always disclosed to the users, for two reasons. the first was strictly connected with the research: because observation was being made of organizational processes (not of the service users), it was agreed with the service managers that it was not necessary to inform the subjects about the researcherʼs presence. the second reason was more pragmatic: it would have been impossible to inform every single user without disrupting the workflow. 2. under current italian immigration law, immigrants without stay permits are ineligible for any form of health care except so-called “lifesaving assistance”. note, however, that obtaining a stay permit in italy may take anything up to six months, and also that there are various interpretations among clinicians of what constitutes lifesaving assistance. 1. with some rare exceptions (e.g. ophthalmology and basic dentistry). m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 137-152 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 140 attila bruni the research setting thus seemed a situation where access for observation had been negotiated and was almost an entitlement. the services that i was about to enter all depended on the local health board (i.e., the research commission), which had assured me that access would be substantially unrestricted. the heads of the various services had all been informed that a sociologist from the university of trento, engaged in a research project on access to healthcare services commissioned by the local health board, would contact them to arrange a brief interview and request permission to observe their serviceʼs activities for a working week. around one month after the letters had been sent to the service heads, however, many of them had not replied, and those few that had done so had imposed (more or less explicitly) the condition that they must first meet the researcher and discuss the form that his presence in the organization would take. i therefore contacted all the service heads personally: those who had replied in order to fix an appointment so that we could get to know each other, and those who had not replied in order to remind them of the letter sent by the regional administration. the following section provides an account of what happened with one of them. negotiating access in research on access inequalities: the case of cous-cous cous-cous was founded in 1992 as an association of volunteer doctors providing basic healthcare for illegal immigrants. it currently has a staff of 30 people, divided between doctors and administrators. the director had not replied to the letter from the regional administration, but it only took a telephone call from me to fix an interview and establish the ground rules for my observation. the meeting took place in the office that the director also used as a surgery, and on conclusion of the interview, he raised no objection to my observing the serviceʼs day-to-day work. he said that he would inform the personnel and only asked me to go to the centre on the same day and present myself to one of his colleagues, responsible for scheduling shifts for the personnel. entering cous-cous when i arrive at 16:50 (the center opens at 17:00), there are already a large number of people (around twenty) waiting in the corridor, some of them sitting on a row of seats outside the surgery. i take in the scene: a marked mix of ethnic groups (mainly east europeans and north africans) and ages, and a wide variety of languages being spoken. however, the atmosphere is subdued: people are talking in undertones and the only strident sound is the ringing of cell phones. stuck to the surgery door is a sheet of paper on which people write their names. i knock on the surgery door. it is opened by what appears m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 137-152 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 141 access as trajectory: entering the field in organizational ethnography to be a youth (a doctor, in fact, but he looks like a youth to me3), who is immediately welcoming when he hears my name: «of course, i got the email4, come in!». never before have i begun ethnographic observation with such a welcome, but the surprise is not long in coming: giuseppe (for this is the doctorʼs name) wants me to work! he explains that he is on his own (the secretary is absent and the other doctor is late), so if i can help with the administrative part, he can get started with the medical examinations. i am pleased to lend a hand, but i do not want to be a hindrance. however, giuseppeʼs tone indicates that he is ordering rather than asking me to help. in fact, as i look around in some bewilderment, he has already taken the registration forms for new patients and is telling me how to compile them. i take off my jacket and ask whether i should don a white coat. he answers: «no no, i mean, if you want to, thereʼs one over there [indicating a coat hanging behind the door]… i never wear one… you know, here the atmosphereʼs a bit informal… and anyway, wearing a white coat all day, what a pain!». instructing a newcomer «right, itʼs really easy: you put a cross here on “issue” or “renewal”; then you write the name, surname, date of birth, nationality, country of origin, marital status, children…; here you write the number and type of document, they usually have passports; here you put residence, i mean, residence… they usually have a domicile; here you write when they arrived in italy, more or less, the precise date doesnʼt interest us… here you should put whether theyʼre unemployed, if theyʼre working, if theyʼre studying… but since theyʼre illegal most of them are unemployed. here, against “notes” you write “issue (or renewal) of stp5 card”, which you never know… then you turn [the form] over, tick 1, 2 and 4, get them to sign here and here, and stamp it here… or somewhere else, wherever you want, itʼs the stamp that matters. number 4 is the “declaration of indigence”, so that they can get free treatment and medicine. actually, you should ask them whether theyʼre indigent, but, i mean… i tick it anyway, automatically… i mean, these people are already illegal; theyʼre lucky if theyʼre doing black work, and all they need is for us to make them pay for health care! then another signature goes here, but it has to be my signature. with this form they can go downstairs and are issued with a stp… you know what that is? [i nod], but before you give it to them, you have to copy all the information onto this other form, which we keep and put in the medical record folder. the folders are here [a number of folders containing the two forms are already on the desk], you write their name and surname on the front, and you do the same on this card [which is put in an alphabetical file so that the folder can be retrieved if the stp does not state the folder number]. use the list stuck on the door to call them in… use it, because otherwise they start slugging each other! [giuseppeʼs tone is ironic, but he then tells me that there have indeed been mini-riots over who has precedence]. come, iʼll show you…» 3. i presume that i gave the same impression to the doctor. 4. an email message was sent by the chief surgery doctor to notify the personnel of my presence following our agreement. 5. the stp (stranieri temporaneamente presenti) card is a special health card introduced by the regional administration so that immigrants without stay permits can access health services. it is nominal, is valid for six months, and is renewable. m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 137-152 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 142 attila bruni we go to the door, and as soon as giuseppe opens it, four people push forward. giuseppe shuts them up before they can speak: «right, who here only has to get the card, only the card?» there is a buzz of voices in the corridor, and giuseppe begins with the first name on the list; but the person is not here. he passes to the next person, but he is waiting for a medical examination, and so are the next two people. the fifth person needs a card. giuseppe tells her to come into the office and then turns to me: «right, while youʼre doing her form, iʼll start with the examinations. youʼve understood what youʼve got to do, right? itʼs easy, and anyway you can always ask me, iʼm over there [in one of the two surgeries]». giuseppe calls out the name of the first person on the list needing a medical examination (who is not there, so he calls the second name), and abandons me to my fate. registering the patients: an action taken for granted i am unfamiliar with the form; even less do i understand the situation. what language should i speak; should i use informal “tu” or formal “lei”? while i am completing the form, should/can i engage in conversation? how long should i take to fill out the form? these are details of no little importance: some people obviously do not understand my questions but they make every effort to reply, always in italian; others do not understand what/who i am talking about if i use the formal third person singular to address them; compiling the form is laborious and a silence ensues which i find irksome; as i slowly complete the form, i gain the impression that some users are growing impatient. in other words, i do not know what they expect from the service, and consequently i do not know how to behave. moreover, as was perhaps predictable, the second form (the one that stays in the medical records folder) has items which do not appear on the first form: place of arrival in italy; presence (or otherwise) of family members; type of dwelling (private home, reception centre, dormitory); type of work in italy (if the person works); type of work in the home country (if the person worked); religion. compiling this second form further increases the time separating the immigrants from possession of a card which in some way ensures their access to health care, and which at the same time attests to their existence as individuals in a particular space and time. as soon as i begin to fill out the forms, i encounter exceptions: someone wants to renew a stp card on behalf of someone else; the name of the birthplace on the ukrainian documents is indecipherable because it is written in cyrillic (and they do not know how to write in italian); some cannot remember (or do not want to disclose) their date of arrival in italy; moroccan passports give only the year of birth, not the date; the immigrants sometimes have photocopies of documents but not the originals; the less educated are not always able to say how many years of school they have attended; some want to renew stp cards before they expire; at a certain point, there are no more index cards for the medical records. in all these situations, i ask giuseppe m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 137-152 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 143 access as trajectory: entering the field in organizational ethnography what to do, and his answer is always: «yes, yes, thereʼs no problem». i gain the impression that what matters is completing the form (in one way or another). as to exact consistency between the items and what is written, this appears to be less important. after i have been in the office for around an hour, however, the situation seems to be under control: i am in the patient registration area filling out forms while giuseppe is in one of the two surgeries examining patients. as i grow accustomed to the work, i am able to detach myself and look at the situation from outside. when i go out of the door to call someone, i am besieged by those waiting. and there is always someone (often the same person) who wants to check their situation and asks what number on the list has been reached. moreover, because the immigrants have written their names on the waiting list in their own handwriting, it is not always possible to decipher them and/or pronounce them properly, so that it is better to call the name out twice with a slight variation of pronunciation. if the person does not respond, someone else may tell them that their name has been called, or inform the attendant (me) where the person is sitting. recounting and recounting oneself i am struck in my interaction with the users by their desire (regardless of their linguistic competence) to express themselves and to talk about themselves. when asked about children, none of them answer just “yes” or “no”, but they all tell me how many children they have; when asked about their date of arrival in italy, they also tell me how they arrived; when asked about work, many of them specify what their occupation is/should be. as a paradigmatic example, while i am compiling the stp forms, a moldovan woman fishes photographs out of her handbag and begins to show them to me: they are of her two daughters (both students in moldavia), and the woman tells me all their vicissitudes, so that i am obliged to leaf through almost the entire album. finally, there are the micro-stories that develop between me and the immigrants. a young tunisian who has to have a blood test (because his wife is pregnant) wants to be reassured that hashish and marijuana markers will not appear («because i smoke a lot, always… and if they discover it…»). a moroccan man wants to know if the people working for the service are all “real” doctors, because he fears he will not be treated properly in a facility for illegal immigrants. another moroccan wants to know if any of the doctors speak french, because he cannot speak italian. he is accompanied by a young boy (moroccan, but he could be italian from his appearance and his language ability, whose relationship with the older man i cannot ascertain), who acts as an interpreter. «we at cous-cous» time passes quickly, and although at least forty people came during the afternoon, the corridor is now empty. giuseppe thanks me warmly m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 137-152 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 144 attila bruni and says that only rarely do they finish on time. «according to the schedule, the service should close at 19:00, but when youʼve got ten people whoʼve been waiting for two hours, what are you supposed to do? tell them to come back tomorrow?» this prolongation of the service does not help relations with the neighbourhood (i.e., the rest of the building): «the cleaning women want to go home at a certain time (quite rightly) and so every so often… they switch the electricity off!6» although giuseppe laughs at this as an exceptional case, i have the distinct impression that cous-cousʼs relations with its neighbours are not particularly good. for example, on entering the building the presence of cous-cous is almost invisible, and i myself had to ask for information the first time i went. when i reached the first floor, i could not understand whether the office adjoined the surgeries, so i (mistakenly) knocked on the door of the health centre director. i asked for dr. picciatello, but the person who answered the door said that there was no dr. picciatello there. when i added «cous-cous», her reaction was: «ah… itʼs that we donʼt know the names of our colleagues.» but another reason why cous-cous stands out is that the doctors describe themselves as a community with practices alternative to those of ordinary hospital facilities. when giuseppe talks about couscous he does so in terms of “us”; when he describes its structure, he distinguishes between a group of more expert doctors (“the founders”) and one of apprentices (“the youngsters”). he asks me about my curiosity in cous-cous, and when i have explained, he exclaims with pleasure «so we at cous-cous are famous then!» before locking the door, he takes a last look round to make sure that everything is in place (the new folders, the desk, the chairs, the windows), rather as one does before leaving home. as we go out, giuseppe removes the waiting list stuck to the door, and complains (through clenched teeth) about the rapidity with which he has had to examine the patients. given the large number of them, and the fact that for large part of the afternoon he has been the only doctor present, he has not been able to devote enough time to each patient. «to do a proper examination, you have to palpate and listen, then you have to explain, try to make yourself understood, but when youʼve got the corridor full of people, what can you do?! today iʼve listened, iʼve got them to describe their symptoms, iʼve prescribed medicines… but i havenʼt had time to put them on the examination couch and touch them one by one.» according to giuseppe, the main reason why people resort to couscous is their unlawful situation, which precludes any other access to health care. moreover, giuseppe continues, «the people who come here have already been creamed off. in the sense that they come here because theyʼve been told to by a friend, relative, or at any rate someone they trust.» this reminds me that many of the people that i registered were accompanied by someone already in possession of a stp card, and that all of them seemed very well informed about the service provided, even if it was the first time they had used it. two people are waiting for giuseppe outside the building. they have not been able to enter because they arrived too late (the main doors to 6. i observe later that at 19:30 the cleaning women usually knock on the couscous door and (vigorously) invite all those present to leave so that they can finish their work. it may also happen that someone arriving late walks across the floor that had just been mopped and is still damp, understandably annoying the cleaners. m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 137-152 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 145 access as trajectory: entering the field in organizational ethnography the health board building are closed at 18:00), but giuseppe has told them (by telephone) to come this afternoon, so they have been waiting for him. «youʼve done exactly right!», says giuseppe, as he leans on a car and begins to write prescriptions. negotiating access: from the professional stranger to the secret apprentice the observation of cous-cous raises numerous issues concerning organization, the routine management of differences and inequalities, and the trajectory of access to the organization for the clients. i have sought to account for them using a deliberately impressionistic narrative (van maanen, 1988), but the aim of this paper is not to offer an organizational analysis of what is described. the story that i have offered is rather an attempt to frame negotiation and access to the field as both a research process and an organizational process: that is to say, as a dynamic that not only permits reflection on how the researcher gains access to the organization, but also an occasion to begin observation and focus on understanding significant organizational processes. negotiating access: presenting oneself and “passing” ethnographers well know that entering a research context requires the researcher to undergo a distinctive process of re-socialization (emerson, fretz and shaw, 1995), as well as to learn (but not necessarily share) the values, norms and behavioral precepts of the host community (spradley 1980: 3). the negotiation of access has in fact generated discussion on two main issues in the literature: 1/the role that organizational actors (“gatekeepers”) may and actually do perform in facilitating the researcherʼs access (hammersley and atkinson, 1995; silverman, 2000); 2/the reversal of status between observer and observed, whereby the observer becomes the object of observation by the natives, who seek to determine if, and to what extent, they can trust him/her (cardano, 2003; bruni, gherardi and poggio, 2004). the two issues are obviously connected. they highlight that when access to an organizational context is being negotiated, the actors are much more interested in the researcher as a person than in the theoretical assumptions of the research. this is something that is by now taken for granted in ethnographic work (denzin and lincoln, 1994). it is all the more true of organizations, where the presence of a researcher may interfere with both immediate productive activity (the work performed by people) and the broader organizational setting (the inter-relations among actors). often, moreover, organizations have rules concerning the non-disclosure of information and the privacy of the subjects involved. their concern is therefore to maintain control over the processes taking place internally. m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 137-152 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 146 attila bruni thus, what the literature suggests (e.g., silverman, 2000) is to pay attention to the organizationʼs characteristics (type and size); not to assume that the actors encountered will be acquainted with organizational ethnography; to persuade the gatekeepers (actors who either spontaneously or because of their institutional role protect the organization against intrusion by undesirables) that neither the presence of an ethnographer, nor his/her research will cause damage and/or disruption to the organization; to guarantee anonymity, respect for privacy, and minimum intrusiveness by the researcher. silverman (2000) notes the importance of showing the organization that the analysis will be of interest to the organization itself, and specifying that observing does not mean spying. but the crucial factor (which the literature often overlooks) is the researcherʼs image. we know from goffman (1959; 1967) that correct role interpretation is important in social interactions, and that our physical appearance is inevitably one of the first features perceived when we encounter others, and may consequently influence the situation. the majority of authors therefore insist that the ethnographer should present him/herself as a professional and convey an image which does not clash with the organizational context and thereby heighten the sensation of intrusion and disruption that the actors will anyway feel. silverman (2000), for example, recounts an episode when he was negotiating access to an organization with a doctor (dressed in very traditional manner) and was rebuffed because (according to the doctor) the leather jacket that silverman was wearing showed scant respect towards the patients. however, although image is of fundamental importance, i myself have encountered situations where an image clashing with the context and/or the actorsʼ expectations has proved more a resource than an impediment (bruni et al., 2004; bruni, 2006), my impression being that access to the field was granted amongst other things because the interlocutors were intrigued by my physical appearance. they were curious to see how other members of the organization would react, what sort of research i would conduct, and how i would get myself accepted. note that a certain amount of ambiguity may even be advantageous: in my experience, for example, people sometimes grant access to their organizations because they have not exactly understood what the research involves and their curiosity has been aroused (bruni et al., 2004). in this sense, access strategies are also the contingent product of the researcherʼs creativity and ability to improvise. this was particularly explicit in reference to cous-cous, where i introduced himself by enacting my “character” in terms of both similarity and difference: what was important was to play along, showing awareness of oneʼs image and an ability to handle it regardless of whether or not it matched that of the interlocutor. hence negotiating access to the field can be termed a “passing” activity. garfinkel (1967) uses this term with reference to the inventiveness and tenacity required to give persuasive reasons for oneʼs actions. moreover, the term has an intrinsic polysemy: it carries the sense of passing a test but also that of passing oneself off as m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 137-152 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 147 access as trajectory: entering the field in organizational ethnography something which one is not, the ability to position oneself within a discourse and to act as an insider. as in the ethnographic experience of entering cous-cous, the tipping point in the negotiation often comes when the researcher manages to show that s/he belongs to the same world as the actors, and therefore passes by playing the game, getting involved, and privileging elements which give the researcher empathetic closeness to the context. for that matter, ethnographers increasingly maintain that it is illusory to believe that researchers can base their requests to witness and participate in everyday interaction on their analytical distance, putting themselves forward as entirely extraneous and disinterested actors (lerum, 2001). thus, the crux of the negotiation in the case of cous-cous seemingly lay in my ability to present myself as a participant just like the actors, and therefore in “passing myself off” as a participant, as involved, as privileging (probably) elements arising from my empathy with the environment. it is ideological to believe that a request to observe and participate in everyday action can be based on the analytical distance of a «professional stranger» (agar, 1980), or on the claim that one is entirely extraneous and disinterested. on the contrary, in order to find my bearings, i adopted a behavior that resembled that of garfinkelʼs (1967: 146) «secret apprentice»: — noting situations in which i felt that the others shared particular assumptions; — learning these assumptions during the interaction (without realizing that i was doing so); — taking part in situations in which the others presumed that the principles being learned were already shared. at the same time, it is important to note that amid the interactions among gatekeepers, intermediaries, guarantors and ethnographer, actors begin reciprocally to construct their identities. already in this first phase, therefore, ethnographers are able to collect information about the place they are seeking to enter. thus, let us return to cous-cous and explore what can be learned in ethnographical and organizational terms as access is negotiated. negotiating access: an opportunity for ethnographic and organizational observation in relation to the ethnographic account, one of the first things to be noted was the enthusiastic welcome and the informality with which the organization related to an external observer. this inclusiveness was such that even an outsider (myself) was immediately co-opted and allowed unrestricted access to the workings of the organization. whilst the instructions given me can be interpreted as technical information about registering users and issuing a stp card, they also communicated what constituted competent forms of action within this organization. competence at cous-cous was an ability to handle the bureaucratic aspects of everyday work in the same way as i was asked to cope with a form entirely unfamiliar to me, and whose main characteristic was (as the doctor put it) «itʼs got a m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 137-152 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 148 attila bruni stamp». from the way in which i was instructed, it seems that the logic was that of adapting the bureaucracy to the users: not coincidentally, the doctor followed every instruction on how to compile the form with an alternative possible action, according to the actual case at hand. this logic manifested the value commitment required of the organizationʼs members and mirrored the actorsʼ inclusive attitude towards the extraneous: cous-cous is a voluntary association set up to affirm the universality of a right (to health in this case) and which therefore seeks to translate a political doctrine into its organizational practices (as the doctor said with reference to the declaration of indigence: «these people are already illegal; theyʼre lucky if theyʼre doing black work, all they need is for us to make them pay for health care!»). for this same reason, it was somehow impossible for a researcher to pretend to be there without engaging with everyday activities. the characteristics of organizational action (suspension of the takenfor-granted; the ambiguous boundary between the interior and the exterior; the organizationʼs fiduciary dimension) were the same elements that i had to deal with in order to enter the organization; and the destructured, unpredictable and improvised nature of action that i experienced was probably little different from that experienced every day by the centerʼs personnel. moreover, the way in which i gained access to the field mirrored the same feeling of being out of place that immigrants experience when entering a public service for the first time: not knowing what to do, how to talk, what to refer to, how to interpret practices and meanings encountered for the first time. from an even broader perspective, one may argue that the processes inducing actors to accept the presence of a researcher do not relate to a logic other than that which operates in everyday organizational practices. as in the cous-cous episode, just as the researcher is concerned to make a good impression (the purpose being to gain access to the field), so the organizational actors want to furnish a positive image of themselves and to express their opinions about the place where they work. thus, the way in which the researcher passes characterizes also the organization and can be a useful benchmark for observation and interpretation of future events. for the sake of expository economy (researchers are accustomed to writing), organizational ethnographies omit detailed treatment of entry negotiation processes, at most recounting their first encounters in confessional tales (van maanen, 1988; kunda, 1992). hence there are no substantial reasons for assuming that negotiation of access to the field takes place in a dimension unconnected with the actorsʼ everyday logics and practices of action. in particular, if the focus is on organizational practices, negotiating access is a significant moment of interaction at which to begin observing and noting the practical action of the actors. it is an activity that takes place in a dimension which relates both to the subjectsʼ patterns of everyday action and to the assumptions which inform the research. it is therefore stricto sensu an element to be taken into account and analyzed. m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 137-152 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 149 access as trajectory: entering the field in organizational ethnography negotiating access: the shading of overt and covert participation juxtaposing the image of the professional stranger with that of the secret apprentice, one can also dissolve the usual distinction between overt and covert participation. there has been much debate on which position enables the researcher to observe “real” organizational life. but focusing on the process of access, in fact, one can note two points. first, the role of the researcher (overt/covert) does not have a substantial influence on the kind of data that s/he will be able to collect. in both cases the observation will be temporally limited and dependent on the situations that s/he will have the opportunity to witness and the ability to account for. thus, every fieldwork experience will be intrinsically partial and will not be exhaustive. at the same time, the truth of a fieldwork experience (as well as the role of the researcher) will be situated in the way(s) that the trajectory of access constructs actors, researcher and the organization observed. second, organizational life consists of interactive processes and everyday work practices. real organizational life is dynamic. consequently, the ability of ethnographers should be mainly an interpretative ability to account for the variety of processes observed and reassemble organizational and work practices in a meaningful world. the idea of a «meaningful world» (schutz, 1967: 9) reminds us that reality (organizational, but not only) is interactively constructed, does not exist per se, and that its order is precarious, capricious and subject to constant discussion. as in the cous-cous case, where the researcher immediately has to confront organizational practices (and contingent work), the negotiation of access probably marks the beginning of the debate between researcher and organization and can be an occasion to observe how the organization faces ambiguous events, such as that of an extraneous other who is trying to enter it. third, there is an ethical dimension in doing research and accessing the field (adler and adler, 1994). entering an organization pretending not to discuss and arrange with the people involved how the observation will take place reproduces the behavior of those anthropologists who pretend to study natives by assuming that the latter were sufficiently developed to understand the reason for the research. silverman (2000: 199) advises researchers not to fall in the trap of «divine orthodoxy»: the ethnographer who pretends to understand organizational action better than the people actually involved in it will be easily perceived as presumptuous and will have restricted access to the field. in fact, as in the case we have seen, negotiating access is also a way to problematize the role of the researcher, who has the opportunity to reflect on the ethical implications of his/her presence and research activity. conclusions: access as trajectory as noted by other authors (e.g., gobo, 2001, forthcoming), a handbook of methodology cannot include the whole plethora of strategies m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 137-152 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 150 attila bruni that ethnographers can deploy in accessing the field. these depend on the characteristics of the organization, on its dimensions and on the aims of the research. strategies of access, therefore, are also the contingent result of researcherʼs creativity and of his/her encounter with organizational actors. but even if contingent, these dynamics do not relate to a logic other than that which operates in everyday organizational practices; on the contrary, the way(s) in which the researcher passes characterizes further individual cases, and it may be a useful benchmark for observation and interpretation. i do not want to say that researchers should jump to conclusions or abstractions referring only to what happened to them on entering the organization, nor that they should assume aproblematically that what they witness at the beginning is absolutely typical of the organization they are going to observe. the argument is a different one and it points up two major interrelated issues. first, in organizational ethnography, accessing the field is a never-ending process; or, better, is a process that one should never assume has been accomplished once and for all. this is due to the fact that ethnographers usually negotiate access with actors (be these intermediaries, guarantors or gatekeepers) who are not the same people (or, at least, not the only people) that they will meet in the field. accessing the field thus requires considerable flexibility in terms of presence and image management, as regards emotional aspects, and because of the intrusiveness connected with any type of ethnographic inquiry. accessing the field constantly obliges the ethnographer to adapt to the organizationʼs times and spaces, immediately to learn the knowledge underpinning basic activities, and to devise ad hoc techniques with which to enter into contact with actors and collect information. second, accessing the field can be framed as a trajectory which leads in multiple (and different) directions depending on the ethnographerʼs ability to follow organizational processes and to demonstrate an ability to take part in them. in some situations (like the one i have presented) this immediately leads to active participation, but in others it may require the ethnographer to sit quietly and not intervene in the work flow (as has happened to me in other organizational settings). it depends on the kind of organization, on the process that the ethnographer is trying to observe, and on the rapport that s/he is able to establish with organizational actors. but it also depends on how the organization relates to people who do not belong to it, and on the path that must be followed to gain the membersʼ trust. finally, negotiating access to the field is a significant moment of interaction when observing and noting the actorsʼ practical action can begin. as noted, there are no substantial reasons for assuming that negotiation of access to the field takes place in a dimension different from the actorsʼ everyday logics and practices of action; nor that what the ethnographer is doing while accessing the field is different from what s/he will do while fieldworking. in conclusion, access is a trajectory, and it is consequently important that the researcher interrogate him/herself on how that trajectory should be constructed, and on how it intersects (or otherwise) with m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 137-152 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 151 access as trajectory: entering the field in organizational ethnography other trajectories of organizational life. as a trajectory, access may have various ramifications: according to the actors and situations that they encounter, ethnographers must be able to adjust their interactive modes and (ideally) learn something new about the organization observed whenever they meet an unknown person/situation. indeed, from the beginning of an ethnography, the researcher is directly involved in the reality observed, while his or her image as a privileged observer is re-located in contexts of action and takes part in the production of meanings as the natives participate in the observerʼs entry and involve him/her in their everyday lives. note. a previous version of this paper was presented at the 22nd egos colloquium, “the organizing society” (bergen, 6-8 july 2006) in the sub-theme “doing organizational ethnographies and other interpretative methods: issues and concerns”. i am in debt with the convenors and the participants of the sub-theme for their comments. i also wish to thank the guest editors and an anonymous reviewer for their useful suggestions. attila bruni is a postdoctorate researcher at the department of sociology and social research, university of trento. he currently teaches sociology of organizations at the university of verona and is a senior member of the research unit on communication, organizational learning and aesthetics (http://www.unitn.it/rucola). references � adler, p. a., and p. adler 1994 observational techniques, in n. k. denzin and y. s. lincoln (eds.), handbook of qualitative research, thousand oaks: sage, 377-392. � agar, m. h. 1980 the professional stranger: an informal introduction to ethnography, new york: academic press. � bruni, a. 2006 ʻhave you got a boyfriend or are you single?ʼ: on the importance of being ʻstraightʼ in organizational research, gender, work and organization, 13: 3, 299-316. � bruni, a., r. fasol, and s. gherardi, 2007 l̓ accesso ai servizi sanitari. traiettorie, differenze, disuguaglianze, roma: carocci. � bruni, a., s. gherardi, and b. poggio 2004 gender and entrepreneurship: an ethnographical approach, london: routledge. � cardano, m. 2003 tecniche di ricerca qualitative, roma: carocci. � cooper, r., and j. law 1995 organizations: distal and proximal views, in s. b. bacharach, p. gagliardi, and b. mundell (eds.), research in the sociology of organizations, vol. 13: studies of organizations in the european tradition, greenwich, ct: jai press, 237-274. � dalton, m. 1959 men who manage: fusions of feeling and theory in administration, new york: wiley. � denzin n. k., and y. s. lincoln (eds.) 1994 handbook of qualitative research, thousand oaks: sage. � emerson, r. m., r. i. fretz, and l. l. shaw 1995 writing ethnographic fieldnotes, chicago: chicago university press. � fox, s. 2006 ʻinquiries of every imaginable kindʼ: ethnomethodology, practical action and the new socially situated learning theory, sociological review, 54: 3, 426-445. � garfinkel, h. 1967 studies in ethnomethodology, englewood cliffs, nj: prentice-hall. m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 137-152 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 152 attila bruni � gherardi, s. 2000 practice-based theorizing on learning and knowing in organizations, organization, 7: 2, 211-223. � gherardi, s. forthcoming situated knowledge and situated action: what do practice-based studies promise?, in d. barry and h. hansen (eds.), handbook of the new & emerging in management & organization, sage: london. � gobo, g. 2001 descrivere il mondo. teoria e pratica del metodo etnografico in sociologia, roma: carocci. � gobo, g. forthcoming doing ethnography, london: sage. � goffman, e. 1959 the presentation of self in everyday life, garden city, ny: doubleday. � goffman, e. 1967 interaction ritual: essays in face-toface behavior, new york: pantheon. � hammersley, m., and p. atkinson 1995 ethnography: principles in practice, 2nd edition, london: routledge. � jeffcut, p. 1994 from interpretation to representation in organizational analysis: postmodernism, ethnography and organizational symbolism, organization studies, 15: 2, 241-274. � kunda, g. 1992 engineering culture: control and commitment in a high-tech corporation, philadelphia, pa: temple university press. � lerum, k. 2001 subjects of desire: academic armor, intimate ethnography, and the production of critical knowledge, qualitative inquiry, 7: 4, 466-483. � sachs, p. 1993 shadows in the soup: conceptions of work and nature of evidence, the quarterly newsletter of the laboratory of human cognition, 15: 4, 125-132. � schutz 1967 the phenomenology of the social world, evanston, il: northwestern university press. � silverman, d. 2000 doing qualitative research: a practical handbook, london: sage. � spradley, j. p. 1980 participant observation, new york: holt rinehart and winston. � van maanen, j. 1988 tales of the field: on writing ethnography, chicago: university of chicago press. � van maanen, j. (ed.) 1995 representation in ethnography, london: sage. 596 m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 596-599 book review copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). m@n@gement is a double-blind refereed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.management-aims.com © 2012 m@n@gement and the author(s). m@n@gement est la revue officielle de l’aims m@n@gement is the journal official of aims april l. wright 2012 book review: kerstin sahlin-andersson, royston greenwood, christine oliver & roy suddaby 2012 institutional theory in organization studies m@n@gement, 15(5), 596-599. m@n@gement issn: 1286-4692 emmanuel josserand, hec, université de genève & cmos, university of technology, sydney (editor in chief) jean-luc arrègle, emlyon business school (editor) laure cabantous, warwick business school (editor) stewart clegg, university of technology, sydney (editor) olivier germain, université du québec à montréal (editor, book reviews) karim mignonac, université de toulouse 1 (editor) philippe monin, emlyon business school (editor) tyrone pitsis, university of newcastle (editor) josé pla-barber, universidad de valència (editor) michael tushman, harvard business school (editor) walid shibbib, université de genève (managing editor) martin g. evans, university of toronto (editor emeritus) bernard forgues, emlyon business school (editor emeritus) 597 m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 596-599 book review this five-volume set is an impressive collection of 57 reprinted journal articles and book chapters that have shaped or are expected to shape the evolution of scholarly thinking about the institutional perspective in organization studies. given the richness and diversity of the conceptual and empirical writing that could potentially sit within the tent of organizational institutionalism, the selection of papers for such a collection is not an easy task. some, like the seminal works of meyer and rowan, dimaggio and powell, lynne zucker and dick scott, are no-brainers. the selection of other papers is more challenging due to the proliferation of excellent institutional papers from the 1990s coupled with the blurring of the tent as concepts from different streams of organizational scholarship were stretched, borrowed and blended. the editors have done an admirable job of meeting this challenge by defining their focus and criteria for inclusion. the focus of the collection is on how the institutional context affects ‘the behaviour of organizations and how organizations impact on institutional developments’ (p.xviii). the editors state in the introduction that they are interested in the institutional perspective and ‘deliberately are not calling it a theory’ (p.xvii). the criteria for a paper’s inclusion were number of citations, citation trajectory, and representativeness of the patterns in the evolution of organizational institutionalism as a field of scholarly inquiry. the editors acknowledge the use of greater subjectivity for papers published after 2005, which have shorter citation histories. however, the editors are also authors of some of the most influential papers in organizational institutionalism in the past two decades based on citations and best paper awards. their combined expertise lends credibility to their claim that their choices ‘provide exciting and emerging “new directions” of institutional scholarship’ (p.xviii). the content of the collection is organized into five volumes which trace the evolution of thinking about the relationships between organizations and institutions and which group influential papers together into core areas of conceptual emphasis. volume i covers the beginnings and subsequent elaborations of the institutional perspective. it pairs four seminal works— rational myths (meyer & rowan, 1977), isomorphism in organizational fields (dimaggio & powell, 1983), cultural persistence (zucker, 1977), and societal book review reviewed by april l. wright uq business school, university of queensland, brisbane, australia a.wright@business.uq.edu.au kerstin sahlin-andersson, royston greenwood, christine oliver & roy suddaby (2012) institutional theory in organization studies los angelos: sage publications five-volume set: 1848 pages publisher: sage publications (june 6, 2012) language: english isbn-10: 0857023349 isbn-13: 978-0857023346 598 m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 596-599 book review sectors (scott & meyer, 1992)—with eight papers that subsequently elaborate elements of organizational institutionalism. these elaborations include scott’s (1987) administrative science quarterly piece on the adolescence of institutional theory, dimaggio and powell’s (1991) introduction to their edited book new institutionalism in organizational analysis, and oliver’s (1991) article in academy of management review on strategic responses to institutional analysis. volume ii groups together two themes that have long been of interest to institutional scholars: legitimacy (four papers) and questions of isomorphism and diffusion (11 papers). not surprisingly, the legitimacy section opens with suchman’s (1995) classic piece delineating strategic and institutional forms of legitimacy and includes aldrich and fiol’s (1994) conceptual paper on the effect of legitimacy on entrepreneurs in new industries. the isomorphism and diffusion section shows the broadening of scholarly thinking about how structures, practices and ideas diffuse and travel to new organizational settings by juxtaposing a wonderful mix of papers by authors such as pam tolbert, gerry davis, james westphal, frank dobbin, lauren edelman and david strang and scandinavian institutionalists barbara czarniawska and bernward joerges. volumes iii and iv represent the burgeoning research areas of logics and language (six papers) and institutional entrepreneurship and change (four papers in volume iii and nine papers in volume iv). these volumes combine core papers that spawned new thinking about institutional logics nesting at different levels of society, field and organization (friedland & alford, 1991) and structuration as the link between action, discourse and institutions (barley & tolbert, 1997; phillips, lawrence & hardy, 2004) with rich empirical papers on institutional change in settings as diverse as accounting, higher education publishing, aids advocacy, radio broadcasting, art museums, and french cuisine. volume v rounds out the collection with reflections and comments by john meyer, dick scott and art stinchcombe followed by a section titled ‘new directions?’, with the question mark signalling the subjectivity of the editors’ selections. the eight papers offer several paths that the new directions in organizational institutionalism might follow: institutional work, practice perspectives, microfoundations of institutional processes, responses to multiple institutional demands, and geographic communities as units of analysis. while one might quibble over some of the specific papers chosen, the broad paths the papers sketch seem reasonable directions for future research. overall, this five-volume work will be a valuable addition to university libraries as a resource for doctoral students in both sociology and management and organization studies and for scholars wanting a single access site for key book chapters and journal articles on the subject of organizational institutionalism. while its price may prevent institutional scholars from purchasing the set for their private libraries, it is worth noting that the five-volume set offers more than a convenient repository of papers reproduced exactly as they were first published. taken as a whole, the collection represents influential thinking published at different moments in time in the evolution of organizational institutionalism as a field of scholarly inquiry. thus, the collection offers important insight into the social construction of institutional approaches to organization studies. 599 m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 596-599 book review . aldrich, h. e., & fiol, c. m. (1994). when fools rush in? the institutional context of industry creation. academy of management review, 19(4), 645670. . barley, s. r., & tolbert, p. s. (1997). institutionalization and structuration: studying the links between action and institution. organization studies, 18(1), 93-117. . dimaggio, p. j., & powell, w. w. (1983). the iron cage revisited: institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields. american sociological review, 48(2), 147-160. . dimaggio, p. j., & powell, w. w. (1991). introduction. in w. w. powell & p. j. dimaggio (eds.), the new institutionalism in organizational analysis (pp. 1-38). chicago: university of chicago press. . friedland, r., & alford, r. r. (1991). bringing society back in. in w. w. powell & p. j. dimaggio (eds.), the new institutionalism in organizational analysis (pp. 232-266). chicago: university of chicago press. . meyer, j. w., & rowan, b. (1977). institutionalized organizations: formal structure as myth and ceremony. american journal of sociology, 83(2), 340-363. . oliver, c. (1991). strategic responses to institutional processes. academy of management review, 16(1), 145-179. . phillips, n., lawrence, t. b., & hardy, c. (2004). discourse and institutions. academy of management review, 29(4), 635-652. . scott, w. r. (1987). the adolescence of institutional theory. administrative science quarterly, 32(4), 493-511. . scott, w. r., & meyer, j. w. (eds.). (1983). organizational environments: ritual and rationality. beverly hills: sage. . suchman, m. c. (1995). managing legitimacy: strategic and institutional approaches. academy of management review, 20(3), 571-610. . zucker, l. g. (1977). the role of institutionalization in cultural persistence. american sociological review, 42(5), 726-743. references my own book review robert a. burgelman & leonard r. sayles (1986), inside corporate innovation: strategy, structure and managerial skills unplugged my own book review robert a. burgelman & leonard r. sayles (1986), inside corporate innovation: strategy, structure and managerial skills reviewed by robert a. burgelman, stanford university the “unplugged” section seeks to experience new forms of book reviews. we regularly grant a wild card to a world-class scholar to review his/her own classic. in “my own book review”, authors will tell us the story of "what i was trying to do" with sometimes some auto-ethnographic considerations. by recounting the building process of one seminal research with a contemporary lens, they may give some insights for the current craft of research and also share with us renunciations, doubts and joys in their intimate writing experience. introduction: back to the future? “the challenge for established firms, we believe, is not either to be well organized and act in unison or to be creative and entrepreneurial. the real challenge, it would seem, is to be able to live with the tensions generated by both modes of action. this will require top management’s exploitation of existing opportunities to the fullest (because only relatively few will be available), the generation of entirely new opportunities (because today’s success is no guarantee for tomorrow), and the balancing of exploitation and generation over time (because resources are limited). strategic management approaches will have to accomplish all three concerns simultaneously and virtually continuously.” (inside corporate innovation, 1986: 191, emphasis added) ! this quote from the epilogue of inside corporate innovation, formulated 30 years ago, unwittingly anticipated large streams of important academic research that has built on james march’s distinction between “exploitation” and “exploration” in organizational learning (1991) and on the revival and elaboration of the idea of “ambidextrous” organizations (1976) by michael tushman and charles o’reilly (1997). ! this paper retrospectively reviews the book’s presentation of a grounded substantive theory of internal corporate venturing (icv) and a grounded formal theory of corporate entrepreneurship. it also provides a brief discussion of how these theoretical contributions can be linked to several other prominent concepts in the strategic management and organization theory literatures. it concludes with some reflections on its continued relevance for further theory development and managerial practice. m@n@gement 2015, vol. 18(2): 179-185 179 paperback: 240 pages publisher: free press (1986) language: english isbn: 978-0029043417 substantive grounded theory of internal corporate venturing ! the genesis of inside corporate innovation was my doctoral dissertation research at columbia business school in the mid-to-late 1970s (burgelman, 1980). len sayles was my extremely supportive thesis advisor (and co-author of inside corporate innovation), and mike tushman a very helpful dissertation committee member. the dissertation research used quasi-longitudinal field research and the method of grounded theorizing (glaser and strauss, 1967) to study the internal corporate venturing process in a large diversified major firm. ! the icv research involved studying multiple cases of succeeding and failing internal corporate ventures in different stages of development. it traced the history of each of these ventures and followed their further development in real time over a period of almost a year. this part of the research used sayles’s (1964) applied anthropological research approach to study the evolving dynamic working relationships between corporate r&d, business research and business development managers throughout the entire icv process, from an idea in exploratory r&d to a multi-product new business. this produced a descriptive model of the “stages in icv development:” conceptualization (stage 1), preventure (stage 2), entrepreneurial (stage 3) and organizational (stage 4), and how these stages transformed into each other. ! having decided, after the first interviews, to focus the research on strategymaking in the icv process, i used bower’s (1970) process model approach to document how the simultaneous as well as sequential strategic activities of actors situated at multiple levels in a complex organizational system a new venture division (nvd) in a large corporation helped shape icv strategy-making and the dynamics of the nvd over time. ! the combination of the process model and applied anthropological research method produced insight in patterns of “success breeding success” and “failure breeding failure,” and resulted in the creation of a new set of categories of interlocking key leadership activities (“technical and need linking,” “product championing,” “strategic forcing,” “strategic building,” “organizational championing,” “delineating,” “retroactive rationalizing,” “selecting,” “structuring”) of executives of different levels in the organization that became building blocks in my attempt to construct a process model of icv in the tradition of the process model of bower and his doctoral students at the harvard business school (bower and doz, 1977). ! constructing the process model of icv, however, required resolving the anomaly that all the newly found categories of key activities associated with icv could not be mapped onto bower’s process model of strategic capital investment. resolving this anomaly required extending the received process model to encompass “strategic context determination.” strategic context determination was the part of the corporate strategy-making process that became activated by senior executives overseeing icv project-level initiatives (through strategic building, organizational championing, and delineating) that were trying to convince top management to change the existing corporate strategy (through retroactive rationalization) going forward (burgelman, 1983b). ! the icv study also developed additional insights into the use of the new venture division (nvd) as an organization design for corporate entrepreneurship. it examined strategic leadership challenges in the relations between corporate r&d management and business research and business development management within the nvd. it also studied the causes of frictions in the upward relationships of the nvd with corporate-level management and in the lateral relations with mainstream division-level management (burgelman, 1995). m@n@gement, 17(2): 179-185! my own book review 180 formal grounded theory of the strategymaking process ! in the course of finishing the doctoral dissertation, i began to realize that the icv research findings also produced an anomaly in relation to chandler’s (1962) proposition that “structure follows strategy:” i had found that the creation of a new venture division was, at least in part, a corporate-level structural response to the company having a number of new venture initiatives dispersed in different divisions before top management had articulated a deliberate corporatelevel diversification strategy. this finding led to postulating the existence of autonomous strategic initiatives (not driven by the existing corporate strategy) in parallel with induced strategic initiatives (driven by the existing corporate strategy) and resulted in developing an evolutionary framework of the strategymaking process (burgelman, 1983a) in terms of variation-selection-retention processes (campbell, 1969; weick, 1979). this framework offered the possibility to integrate chandler’s (1962) insights into the role of top management in the relationship between strategy and structure (consistent with the induced strategy process) with penrose’s (1959) insights into the role of entrepreneurial action in the growth of the firm (consistent with the autonomous strategy process). it also offered the opportunity to integrate corporate entrepreneurship with strategic management (burgelman, 1983c). related concepts in strategic management and organization theory emergent and deliberate strategy ! the induced/autonomous strategy processes framework can be linked to mintzberg’s (1978) landmark framework of deliberate, realized, emergent and unrealized strategies. induced and deliberate strategies are similar, but the induced strategy process provides more detail on what is involved in getting the organization to actually implement deliberate strategy. the relationship between autonomous strategic initiatives and emergent strategy is more complicated. autonomous strategic behavior usually involves deliberate actions taken by leaders below top management. the deliberate actions taken by these leaders help develop new competencies and help create a new strategic position that may open up a new business opportunity for the corporation. a strategy which is emergent at the level of the corporation thus often has its roots in autonomous strategic actions on the part of leaders at lower levels in the corporation. however, at the time an autonomous strategic initiative “emerges,” its relationship to the company-level strategy is indeterminate; that is, it is not clear whether top management should integrate the autonomous initiative into the company-level strategy going forward. strategic context determination serves as a discovery process involving senior executives to resolve the indeterminacy (one way or the other) of the relationship between autonomous strategic behavior and companylevel emergent strategy. ! interestingly, more than thirty years after the introduction of the induced/ autonomous strategy processes, mirabeau and maguire (2014) in their field study of a large telecommunications company have succeeded in showing how successful autonomous strategic behavior forms the basis for emergent strategy, and they also identify “ephemeral” (non-successful and disappearing) autonomous strategic behavior as a parallel concept to unrealized strategy. my own book review! m@n@gement, 18(2): 179-185 181 exploration and exploitation in organizational learning ! the induced/autonomous strategy processes framework can also be linked to march’s (1991) seminal paper on exploration and exploitation in organizational learning. the autonomous strategy process dissects exploration into autonomous strategic initiatives and the process of strategic context determination. the latter serves to select viable autonomous initiatives and link them to the corporate strategy thereby amending it. the autonomous strategy process thus goes beyond exploration. it is also concerned with turning the results of exploration into new exploitation opportunities. ambidextrous organizations ! tushman and o’reilly (1997) propose that ambidextrous organizations are designed to handle both incremental and revolutionary innovation. the idea is closely related to the three strategic management challenges derived from the framework of induced and autonomous strategy processes, mentioned earlier, that are highlighted in the epilogue of inside corporate innovation. yet there are two important differences. first, induced and autonomous initiatives do not necessarily map onto incremental and radical technological change. change in the induced strategy process, while “incremental,” can be very large. for instance, developing a new microprocessor is incremental for intel but involves hundreds of millions of dollars in development costs and billions in manufacturing investments. in the induced strategy process, incremental simply means change that is well understood – doing more of what the company knows to do well. change through the autonomous process, on the other hand, while “radical” is initially usually rather small. however, it always involves doing things that are not familiar to the company – doing what it is not sure it can do well. second, change through the autonomous strategy process usually comes about fortuitously and unexpectedly, and senior and top management have initially no clear understanding of its strategic importance for the company and how it relates to the company’s distinctive competencies. ! the icv research indicated that resolving this indeterminacy is the most difficult challenge facing autonomous strategic initiatives, and by implication also facing radical innovation in established companies. this highlights again the importance of the strategic context determination process. also, how to balance strategic investment in incremental innovation (through the induced strategy process) and radical innovation (through the autonomous strategy process) over time remains a key top management task that all established companies that aspire to be ambidextrous unavoidably face. organizational ecology and evolution ! the induced-autonomous strategy processes framework suggested that a large, complex organization can be viewed as an ecological system within which induced and autonomous strategic initiatives compete for the organization’s resources in patterned ways that are consistent with the variation-selectionretention paradigm of evolutionary organization theory (campbell, 1960; weick, 1979). while not pursued, it provided the basis for suggesting in later work (burgelman, 1991) that the intraorganizational ecology of strategy-making could be fruitfully viewed as an additional level in a nested hierarchy of ecological systems (hannan and freeman, 1977; 1984). m@n@gement, 17(2): 179-185! my own book review 182 dynamic capabilities ! post-dissertation work that examined the links between strategy-making and evolutionary theory also anticipated the development of a capabilitiesbased perspective in strategic management (burgelman, 1986). this is also briefly elaborated in the epilogue of inside corporate innovation, by suggesting that the further development of the theory of corporate entrepreneurship “(…) will be grounded in increased understanding of the evolutionary processes of organizational learning.” and, that in these processes entrepreneurial individuals at the operational and middle levels will play an important role because “(…) such individuals elaborate the organization’s capabilities and enact the new opportunities that are associated with the elaboration efforts.” (1986: 190). strategy-making and complexity theory ! ideas from complexity theory have become viewed as providing a useful perspective in organization theory and strategic management. ideas of deterministic chaos concern organizations that experience counteracting forces that produce nonlinear dynamics. some forces push the organization toward stability and order; other forces push the system toward instability and disorder. in 1981, i stumbled onto belgian chemistry nobel prize winner ilya prigogine’s book (1980) that argued for moving research in the physical sciences from phenomena related to “being” to phenomena related to “becoming” and highlighted the importance of innovations and mutations that appear stochastically and get incorporated into a system’s deterministic relations and thereby secure its continued evolution. it seemed immediately clear to me that the induced/autonomous strategy processes framework that views strategy making as the adaptive organizational capability that balances variation-reduction (induced) and variation-increasing (autonomous) processes at any given time and over time could be related to prigogine’s perspective. i briefly incorporated this parallel view in the paper that links corporate entrepreneurship and strategic management into one conceptual framework (burgelman, 1983c). punctuated equilibrium ! the punctuated equilibrium view of company evolution posits that organizations evolve through long periods of incremental change punctuated by discontinuous, frame-breaking change. while there are many examples of sudden radical changes, punctuated equilibrium views beg the question of where these sudden radical changes come from. truly exogenous shocks such as large meteorites hitting the earth and destroying existing ecosystems are always a possibility but fortunately a remote one. many radical changes – technological or otherwise – are the cumulative result of continuous small changes over a long period of time. sometimes these changes originate in the company’s autonomous strategy process and sometimes outside of the company altogether. often they happen inside and outside simultaneously. companies always want to spot such changes sooner rather than later. the introduction of intra-company variation, selection, retention and competition processes to study strategy making provides a tool for identifying the underlying, more continuous and finer grained strategic leadership activities that eventually, through sheer accumulation, cause lumpy radical strategic change. my own book review! m@n@gement, 18(2): 179-185 183 implications and conclusions ! the substantive grounded theory of icv and the formal grounded theory of the strategy-making process and the role of corporate entrepreneurship presented in an integrated fashion in inside corporate innovation have suggested a new way to think about the role of strategy-making in firm evolution. for instance, the bower-burgelman process model of strategic resource allocation has become part of received knowledge in the strategy field (mintzberg, ahslstrand and lampel, 1998). looking forward, the recent research by mirabeau and maguire (2014) has provided perhaps a first step in further examining the different types of strategic behavior in large, complex organizations that drives the four strategy categories identified by mintzberg (1978). further research on how the types of leadership behaviors and dynamic managerial relationships in the sayles/mintzberg tradition, and exemplified in the icv study, give shape to what is called “dynamic capabilities” (e.g., teece, 2013) would also seem to be potentially fruitful, both for theory development and for managerial practice. ! with respect to managerial practice, inside corporate innovation has also provided insights into a new approach for strategically managing the icv process (burgelman, 1984a) and for examining the appropriateness and effectiveness of various alternative designs for corporate entrepreneurship as a function of “strategic importance” and “operational relatedness” (burgelman, 1984b). this made it possible to derive the three key strategic leadership challenges – exploitation of existing opportunities, generating new opportunities, and balancing exploitation and generation over time – listed in the quote from the epilogue that opens this retrospective review of inside corporate innovation. ! more than thirty years later, i believe that the extensive literatures about exploitation/exploration and ambidexterity clearly support the proposition that the three strategic leadership challenges derived from the substantive and formal grounded theory presented in inside corporate innovation remain as salient for established companies as they were then. the strategic process and organization design tools provided for augmenting established companies’ corporate entrepreneurial capability also remain highly relevant. references bower, j.l. (1970). managing the resource allocation process, boston, ma: harvard business school press. bower, j.l. & doz, y.l. (1979). “strategy formulation: a social and political process.” in d.e. schhendel & c.w. hofer (eds.), strategic management: a new view of business and planning. boston, ma: little brown. burgelman, r.a. (1980). managing innovating systems: a s t u d y o f t h e p r o c e s s o f i n t e r n a l c o r p o r a t e venturing.”doctoral dissertation, columbia university graduate school of business. burgelman, r.a. (1983a). a model of the interaction of strategic behavior, corporate context and the concept of strategy, academy of management review, 8(1), 61-70. burgelman, r.a. (1983b). a process model of internal corporate venturing in the diversified major firm, administrative science quarterly, 28(2), 223-244. burgelman, r.a. (1983c). corporate entrepreneurship and strategic management: insights from a process study, management science, 29(12), 1349-1364. burgelman, r.a. (1984a). managing the internal corporate venturing process, sloan management review, 25(2), 33-48. b u r g e l m a n , r . a . ( 1 9 8 4 b ) d e s i g n s f o r c o r p o r a t e entrepreneurship in established firms, california management review, 26(3), 154-166. burgelman, r.a. (1985). managing the new venture division: research findings and implications for strategic management, strategic management journal 6(1), 39-54. b u r g e l m a n , r . a . ( 1 9 8 6 ) . " s t r a t e g y m a k i n g a n d evolutionary theory: toward a capabilitiesbased perspective," in tsuchiya, m. (ed.) technological innovation and business strategy, tokyo, 1986 (in japanese). burgelman, r.a. (1991). intraorganizational ecology of strategy making and orgnizational adaptation: theory and field research. organization science 2(3), 239-262. chandler, a.d. jr. (1962). strategy and structure: chapters in the history of the american entreprise. cambridge, ma: mit press. m@n@gement, 17(2): 179-185! my own book review 184 campbell, d.t. (1969). variation and selective retention in sociocultural evolution. general systems 14: 69-85. glaser, b. & a.strauss. (1967). the discovery of grounded theory. chicago, il: aldine. hannan, m.t. & freeman, j. (1977). the population ecology of organizations. american journal of sociology 82(5), 929-64. hannan, m.t. & freeman, j. (1984), structural inertia and organizational change. american sociological review 49(2), 149-164. march, j.g. (1991). exploration and exploitation in organizational learning. organization science, 2(1), 71-87. mintzberg, h (1978). patterns in strategy formation. management science, 24(9); 934-948. mintzberg h., ahlstrand, b, & lampel, j. (1998). strategy safari, new york,ny: free press. mirabeau, l. & maguire, s. 2014. from autonomous strategic behavior to emergent strategy. strategic management journal, 35(8), 1202-1229. penrose, e.t. (1959). the theory of the growth of the firm. oxford, blackwell. prigogine, i. (1980). from being to becoming: time and complexity in the physical sciences. san francisco, ca: w.h. freeman and company. sayles, l.r. (1964). managerial behavior, new york, ny: mcgraw-hill. tushman, m.l. & romanelli, e. (1985). "organizational evolution: a metamorphosis model of convergence and reorientation.” in b. staw and l.l cummings (eds.), research in organizational behavior 7, greenwich, ct: jai press. teece, d.j. (2007). explicating dynamic capabilities: the nature and microfoundations of (sustainable) enterprise performance. strategic management journal, 28(13), 1319-1350. tushman, m.l. & o’reilly, c.a. (1996). winning through innovation. boston, ma: harvard business school press. weick, k.e. (1979). the social psychology of organizing, reading, ma: addison-wesley. " © the author(s) www.management-aims.com my own book review! m@n@gement, 18(2): 179-185 185 528 mie augierm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 636-652 copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). m@n@gement is a double-blind refereed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.management-aims.com © 2013 m@n@gement and the author(s). m@n@gement est la revue officielle de l’aims m@n@gement is the journal official of aims mie augier 2013 behavioral theory of the firm: hopes for the past; lessons from the future m@n@gement, 16(5), 636-652. m@n@gement issn: 1286-4692 emmanuel josserand, cmos, university of technology, sydney (editor in chief) jean-luc arrègle, emlyon business school (editor) laure cabantous, cass business school (editor) stewart clegg, university of technology, sydney (editor) olivier germain, université du québec à montréal (editor, book reviews) karim mignonac, université de toulouse 1 (editor) philippe monin, emlyon business school (editor) tyrone pitsis, university of newcastle (editor) josé pla-barber, universidad de valència (editor) michael tushman, harvard business school (editor) walid shibbib, université de genève (managing editor) alexander bell, université de genève (editorial assistant) martin g. evans, university of toronto (editor emeritus) bernard forgues, emlyon business school (editor emeritus) special issue 636 behavioral theory of the firm: hopes for the past; lessons from the future m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 636-652 behavioral theory of the firm: hopes for the past; lessons from the future mie augier naval postgraduate school, ca augier@stanford.edu abstract abstract this paper is a discussion of “behavioral theory of the firm”. it focuses on understanding aspects of the pre-history, the context, the reception and the evolution of some of the main ideas found in “behavioral theory of the firm” and in the key works associated with it (in particular the books “organizations” and “a behavioral theory of the firm”). i discuss the reception of these works, using both reviews and bibliometric illustrations. unlike many modern contributors to organizational literature, cyert and march (and simon) made a point of doing interdisciplinary work engaging directly with “the disciplines” (engaging the audiences and disciplines of economics, sociology, political science and psychology), not just focusing on making contributions between them. that legacy – communicating and contributing to the disciplines not just between them – is often overlooked in other celebrations of behavioral theory ideas that often discuss specific developments within the field of organization studies itself. keywords: behavioral theory of the firm, organization studies, interdisciplinary behavioral social science, cyert and march 1.. 637 mie augierm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 636-652 introduction: behavioral theory of the firm at fifty this paper discusses some of the historical context, reception and current uses of “behavioral theory of the firm” as well as some of its key ideas. james march’s insight, “most new ideas are bad ones”, may not at first sight seem encouraging for anyone doing research or writing a paper on the history of ideas (after all, we would not need to study all those historical ideas if they all were that bad). however, when march is supplemented by whitehead’s insight, “everything of importance has been said before by someone who did not discover the importance of it”, one can see that there are plenty of reasons why we should try to understand the mistakes, errors and successes of the history of ideas. in addition, march (1998) makes the key point that a field, a set of ideas, can have long term hopes for or perspectives for the future only if it also has long term perspectives for the past1. it is in this spirit that i try, in this brief paper, to focus on understanding part of the pre-history, context, reception and evolution of some of the main ideas in the “behavioral theory of the firm” project. the project’s main intellectual product was, cyert and march’s book a behavioral theory of the firm, turned fifty in 2013. the project, however, was broader than this publication alone and also included at least one other key book (march & simon, 1958) and several associated articles. thus, our celebration of the book’s fiftieth birthday is also a celebration of five decades of a an intellectual movement; a movement that has had significant influence on the fields of organization studies and strategic management, as well as making some substantial intellectual footprints in the original disciplines which the project sought to engage with (in particular organizational and evolutionary economics). the second section takes a brief look at some of the topic’s main ideas and the contextual factors that influenced (and fertilized) the intellectual grounds where the behavioral seeds were first planted: in particular at carnegie, in the works of richard cyert, james march and herbert simon. while it is impossible to cover everything in one brief section, i hope to give a sense of the broader movement that behavioral theory was part of (not to discredit the influence of key ideas and individuals, but to emphasize their embeddedness in broader social and institutional contexts). section 3 discusses the reception and some of the reviews of a behavioral theory of the firm (and to a lesser extent, organizations) in the underlying disciplinary communities that the authors had carefully built on in their work. unlike many modern contributions to organizations, cyert and march (and simon) made a point of engaging directly with the disciplines (of economics, sociology, political science and psychology), not just focusing on contributions between them2. that legacy is often overlooked in other celebrations of behavioral theory that often discuss specific ideas within the subfield of organizations itself, such as computational modeling, organizational learning or the developments areas such as evolutionary economics (e.g. augier & prietula, 2007; argote & greve, 2007; dosi & marengo, 2007). 1. i have not attempted to count but it would be interesting to study the references for articles celebrating classic works such as behavioral theory: do they cite and celebrate the original behavioral ideas or their own? what is the age distribution of their references and does it represent the long term perspective on the past that march (1998) calls for? it is, of course, a fine balance to try and celebrate the past and the present contributions equally. 2. this raises an important point much beyond the scope of this paper: what has the field of organizations lost in becoming so successful that it has its own professional associations, journals, and communities? and what might be the longrun disadvantages of the strategy of being selfcontained? several of the footprints that one can see today in the disciplines might have been lost or not happened had cyert and march not made efforts to speak with the disciplines directly (in addition to the scholars of organizations). 638 behavioral theory of the firm: hopes for the past; lessons from the future m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 636-652 while “reviewing the reviews” may be an unusual way of wishing a book a “happy birthday”, i hope to illustrate some of the intellectual footprints of the book and project as well as some of the wider possibilities for, in the future, attempting to re-engage with the disciplines built on by the authors that we are celebrating. the social, institutional and intellectual context for behavioral theory of the firm the history of the field of organizations is one that has undergone many changes over the last decades, some more dramatic than others. with its roots before the war mostly scattered across different studies, the field was thrown into life by the post world war ii growth of business schools in the us and emerged as a step-child of the behavioral social sciences. later, it influenced (and was shaped by) the emergence of professional journals and societies and by sub-disciplines and other movements. it has also been influenced by developments in the underlying social and behavioral sciences (economics, sociology, psychology and political science), by the protest and “hippie” years of the 1960s and 1970s, by changes to the institutional contexts of various fields (especially business schools, augier & march, 2011) and by the tendencies toward fragmentation within the field of organization studies in the later decades (pfeffer, 1993; augier, march & sullivan, 2005). as march has himself argued (2004), scholarship is usually a collective activity and there were indeed many forces present fifty years ago that helped provide fertile grounds for the seeds of behavioral theory. some of those forces were societal in nature, in particular the post war combination of urgency (the necessity of developing empirically realistic social science) and optimism (the belief that this was possible) (augier, march and marshall, 2014). others were influenced by societal forces but were more institutional and organizational. this in particular relates to the importance of places such as carnegie mellon university, the ford foundation, the rand corporation, the center for advanced studies for behavioral science and others) (berelson and steiner, 1967; augier & march, 2011 chapter 5). other factors influencing the conception and birth of the projects that led to behavioral theory include the dynamic configuration of ideas, institutions and individuals present at the time, mostly, but not exclusively, at carnegie. in addition (and reflecting, perhaps, larger trends in the scholarly communities at the time), the existence of like-minded scholars in other places led to a set of interesting and thoughtful reviews of the book when it was first published. the 1950s and 1960s were important years for the general history of ideas and during them, carnegie mellon university proved to be a stimulating and productive place where several developments were fostered (including rational expectations theory, artificial intelligence, early transaction cost and evolutionary ideas, and others). as an institution that accommodated and appreciated the interdisciplinary curiosity and interests of young scholars, carnegie had a lasting influence on the trio of march, simon and cyert. march later noted: “if i look at everything i have done subsequently, i can see the seeds of all of it a carnegie”3. contextual and larger institutional developments that were influential on the conception of the behavioral theory include: early 3. interview with march. also see simon (1991), especially chapter 6. 639 mie augierm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 636-652 developments at the carnegie institute, the development of the behavioral science movement, the ford foundation’s support of intellectual contributions to that movement, the rand corporation, post war developments in science and technology and the emergence of research based business education in the us following in particular the gordon-howell report. these influences were, of course, intertwined and mixed with additional factors that related to individuals and ideas (for more detailed discussions see augier & march, 2011; augier, 2004; simon, 1991; berelson, 1967; augier, march & marshall, 2014). what can be seen from this is that although history is neither pre-determined nor random, the particular constellations of ideas, individuals, institutions and societal forces that lead to particular developments in the history of ideas can be difficult to untangle. yet, a few examples may be useful illustrations of the kind of dynamics often at work. this is not because it will ever be possible to “replicate” all the factors that first lead to particular developments, but because a better understanding of how such mechanisms have helped to produce ideas and developments in the history of our field may help us recognize these same mechanisms in the future. example: rand-behavioral social science-ford foundation-carnegie (and beyond) a report done at the ford foundation in the mid 50s advocated that the ford foundation should be organized into the following five program areas: the establishment of peace; the strengthening of democracy; the improvement of education; the strengthening of the economy, and the better understanding of man. this last program area, “the better understanding of man”, became known as behavioral science. its formation as a legitimate area of study, as well as the subsequent institutional and intellectual backing it received, formally connected carnegie to the ford foundation (and also shared some intellectual dna with rand). carnegie became one of the most important recipients of the ford foundation’s support of the behavioral sciences over the next years. the foundation supported several doctoral theses and papers relating to emerging book projects as well4. the mutual intellectual attraction between the ford foundation and the carnegie researchers was not surprising and was embedded in a host of overlapping intellectual and individual connections5. researchers at carnegie were doing exactly the kind of broad social science research that the ford foundation was searching for, while not abandoning their training in the more rigorous sciences which first motivated simon, cyert, march and their colleagues, including lee bach, founding dean with a vision for management education that matched what the ford foundation had in mind (bach, 1958). carnegie was a natural ally for the ford foundation and provided fertile grounds for the set of activities that resulted in both organizations and a behavioral theory of the firm. both these projects (and others) were part of the larger movement, of which carnegie was a key element, to re-build us business education on more solid academic grounds (bach, 1958; simon, 1967; augier & march, 2011). carnegie was small at the time and the bases for the two books overlapped considerably as did the people involved. institutional or organizational “smallness” is hard to maintain (especially when most people, rightly or wrongly, 4. the report was the co-called “gaither report”. there was quite a bit of chance involved, which invites interesting counterfactuals or ‘what-ifs’. for example, the former chairman at rand, rowen gaither, was the man behind the behavioral science vision at ford; he learned about the ford foundation after he (as chairman of the rand board) first tried to apply to the sloan foundation for a loan for the rand reorganization. had rand gotten the loan from sloan, henry ford (who subsequently recruited gaither to rand) might have not met him; a sign of the social connectedness of the intellectual movements at the time. 5. for example, herbert simon spent summers at rand, and was involved in many ford foundation committees, as was lee bach, who also was a key advisor to the ford foundation’s effort to establish a more academically oriented business education (augier, 2001; augier & march, 2911, chapter 6). 640 behavioral theory of the firm: hopes for the past; lessons from the future m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 636-652 often associate institutional success with “growth”), but it was a key factor for at least some of the intellectual innovativeness in some central postwar locations (goldhamer, 1972; augier, march & marshall, 2014). at carnegie for instance, very few people at first had similar disciplinary backgrounds, interests or training. consequently, most collaborations were, almost by nature, crossing disciplinary boundaries (for example, cyert, an economist, worked with march, a political scientist). early work at carnegie also had an emphasis on doing problem-driven or “empirically driven” analysis. this was not through case analysis nor purely empirical descriptions, but through analyses and concepts that were developed and motivated by real world dynamics (in firms and organizations, as well as often observations in those organizations) that mainstream disciplinary perspectives could not address. although published five years apart, the specific projects that led to the main foundational books organizations and a behavioral theory of the firm progressed in parallel. organizations was intended from the start to be a book, whereas a behavioral theory of the firm evolved around a set of papers in the mid to late 1950s. once a few papers had emerged, cyert and march saw the contours of a book emerging and decided to write a front chapter laying out foundational concepts6. the particular set-up for a behavioral theory of the firm was also slightly different from that of organizations. while both grew out of the ford foundation’s concern for behavioral theory, organizations was largely written by two people, simon and march (with the assistance of harold guetzkow), whereas a behavioral theory of the firm was a truly collaborative effort, led by cyert and march but assisted by graduate students such as william starbuck, edward feigenbaum, julian feldman and oliver williamson. perhaps this difference in set up was at least partly a function of the growth of gsia. by the time a behavioral theory of the firm got started, there were more students around to work on the projects. in terms of content and focus, a behavioral theory of the firm was also more distinctly oriented towards economics. the authors wanted to present a theory of the firm that was not so much an alternative to the neoclassical theory of the firm as it was an attempt to develop a theory that could be used to study decision making in firms rather than simply investigating comparative statistics, as was being done in mainstream price theory. despite the stronger influence of economics on a behavioral theory of the firm, the books had many similarities. they were written in a setting in which the interaction between march, simon and cyert was very strong. their ideas therefore merged a lot. in retrospect, one can see the two books as having different objectives, rather than different ideas. march and simon’s work was an attempt to create an inventory; to organize everything known about organization theory. meanwhile, cyert and march were far more interested in finding something relevant to say about the theory of the firm and to engage economists in opening up the ‘black box’ of the firm in price theory. the latter focused on issues such as “problemistic search” and the relevance of learning to the theory of the firm. a more substantial difference, perhaps, is that, although there is at least one chapter on conflict of interest in organizations, it is much more central to a behavioral theory of the firm7. 6. professor march kindly gave me a copy of the publication agreement for a behavioral theory of the firm, signed in 1958 with an intended deadline of 1960! the agreement was one simple page. 7. although march and simon’s work (1958) is predominantly a descriptive theory, it also makes occasional forays into the prescriptive domain, more so than cyert and march’s book (1963). however, the idea of organizational slack is more important to cyert and march (1963) than it is to march and simon (1958), as is the idea of uncertainly avoidance. on the other hand, classical issues such as satisfaction, planning and motivation are importance topics for march and simon (1958), but less so for cyert and march (1963). 641 mie augierm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 636-652 the reviews and reception of behavioral theory reviews of the outcomes of the behavioral theory projects (especially march & simon, 1958 and cyert and march, 1963) appeared in a range of disciplinary journals (as well as organizational and management ones), a fact that demonstrates that march and colleagues did not just want to communicate between the disciplines, but also with them8. it also, of course, reflected a considerable openness on the part of the disciplines themselves, as manifested, for instance, in the impressive number of top journals that featured reviews of the books. reviews of organizations quickly appeared in journals such as the american journal of sociology; the public administration review; operations research; western political quarterly; management science; the american sociological review; the midwest journal of political science; the american political science review and administrative science quarterly. the book received recognition along three dimensions in particular: for its efforts to establish a foundation for the field, for developing empirically relevant theory and for its interdisciplinary scope. the asq reviewer, for example, noted this “much-needed work” in the field as a “notable effort at systematizing theory without being eclectic” (form, 1959, p. 129) and suggested that this was a step towards a general theory of organizational behavior. similarly, the american political science review noted the possibilities of a more unified theory of organization and that march and simon had made an important step in that direction. others noted the relevance of the book and the field of organization to the disciplines (which fitted the original vision of the authors and the behavioral theory team: not only had they wanted to be interdisciplinary but to also speak to and engage with the disciplines on the topic of organizations, rather than merely engaging with the narrow field of organizations)9. like organizations, a behavioral theory of the firm was reviewed in the journals of several disciplines, including organization theory, sociology, operations research, political science, and economics. this is important not just because it indicates how the authors drew on insights and ideas from those disciplines, but also because it helped the field develop firm disciplinary roots and also lasting intellectual footprints (some more visible than others). some of these roots became seeds of behavioral developments themselves within the disciplines (especially economics) and provided intellectual dna for subsequent developments such as transaction cost theory, evolutionary economics and behavioral organization theory. these then became a large part of the foundation on which many modern developments in organization theory rest. the reception of behavioral theory in reviews by economists and mainstream economics journals (as well as core journals in other disciplines) is particularly noteworthy. finding a theory of the firm that was behavioral in spirit was far from a mainstream idea at the time. however, as mentioned above, the publication of a behavioral theory of the firm happened around the time at which major scholars from several disciplines were searching for a general theory of organizations (e.g. boulding, 1951; flood, 1951). the publications of both organizations and a behavioral theory were thus “well timed.”10 in the journal of the american statistical association, martin shubik (1965) 8. as march recently commentated when i asked him if the field had become so interdisciplinary that it had lost sight of the disciplinary roots: “one of the fundamental problems with interdisciplinary programs is that they tend to form mini-disciplines people in the interdisciplinary research community tend to begin to identify themselves with this interdisciplinary research community and loose the connections to the disciplines. the attitude that we had at carnegie was that interdisciplinarity was necessary but that if you had to do, say, economics and psychology, you had to be acceptable to both economists and to psychologists, publish in their journals and so on” (interview with march). 9.philip selznick, himself a noted theorist in management and organizations, mentioned in his review (published in the american sociological review) that this “interesting” and “sometimes exiting” book came in part from the ford foundation behavioral science initiative. he goes through what (he sees as) the main point of the book and ends by saying that the book, because of its pragmatist philosophy, can “have a healthy intellectual influence” beyond just the narrow study of organizations (selznick, 1959, p. 913). 10. for example, kenneth boulding (an economist) noted in his review in american sociological review that “[a]nyone interested in the general field of the dynamics of organizational behavior will have to read ‘the book’ for it reports some of the most lively and advanced research, and even thought, in this field to data” (p. 592). 642 behavioral theory of the firm: hopes for the past; lessons from the future m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 636-652 wrote that he saw the creation of a new theoretical space in a behavioral theory as a strength. he thus finds it “an excellent and stimulating book [which] is strongly recommended to those who are interested in important new developments which are blending economic theory, operations research, the behavioral sciences, and the applications of computer techniques into the beginnings of a much needed behavioral theory of the firm” (p. 378). he further states that the book “presents a highly promising start in the development of a new theory” (p. 379)11. among other responses in the political science community was a review by browning in the american political science review (browning, 1966) that recommended a behavioral theory for students of organizational decision making processes which he saw as including a large group of political scientists (browning, p. 697). browning found the basics and the concepts ‘intuitively appealing” and thought that the simulation methods the book describes would be used extensively in the near future to study political decision making processes (thus translating its use back to political science). unsurprisingly, the book received the greatest amount of attention from economists. in the southern economic journal, colberg (1964) went through the basic concepts and contrasts to economists, while the reviewer in canadian journal of economics and political science (sawyer, 1964) noted the book’s contribution to the debate between neoclassical and revisionist theories of the firm and the authors’ view that these were in fact complementary approaches (as explained in cyert and march, 1963, p. 15-16). but perhaps the most interesting reviews, at least from the point of view of getting a picture of the reception of behavioral theory in the economics community, came in two journals that today are not particularly famous for their openmindedness towards non-neoclassical theory: the american economic review and econometrica. this may have had something to do with the reviewers themselves: sidney winter, who became a pioneer of evolutionary economics (drawing in part on behavioral theory) and richard day (a founding editor of the journal of economic behavior and organization and an important contributor to adaptive economics). winter did in fact see the book as developing an alternative theory to neoclassical perspective. he writes: “this book delivers a major blow to that battered but hitherto unshaken intellectual construct, the theory of the profit-maximizing firm. its importance derives from the fact that it presents a well-elaborated alternative theory” (p. 144). winter emphasized the process perspective in behavioral theory as well as its use of computer simulations12. he also noted the larger context, mentioning that the carnegie group had for years conducted research that had been “distinctive for the boldness of its departure from the accepted models of economic thought on the subject” (p. 147). he further commented that the cyert and march collaboration consolidated this research and brought it to the attention of economists: “those who have not heard the distant rumblings of the ‘behavioral revolution’ will be surprised at the momentum it has achieved. the final verdict cannot be predicted, but this book should at least convince most economists that the revolutionary bear watching” (p. 148). richard day, too, found the book important, thought it provided a new look at institutions (in particular at decision making in institutions) and felt that 11. shubik who had been at rand and was a friend of andrew marshall (who had a keen sense of the importance of organizations and made use of march, simon and cyert in his own work on understanding nations, cf augier, 2013; augier & guo, 2012; augier & march, 2011) is an example of an economist with an interdisciplinary sense and interest. 12 .in a way anticipating some of the controversies between two of the intellectual “children” of a behavioral theory, evolutionary economics and transaction cost perspectives on the firm (see dosi, 2004; dosi & marengo, 2007), winter notes that williamson’s chapter is different and focused on rational managerial behavior (p. 147). 643 mie augierm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 636-652 organization theory would from that point on have to be understood in the context of decision making and a broader range of institutional questions13. one can see in these reviews (as well as in cyert and march’s engaging with the disciplines) an (at least partial) openness towards behavioral ideas in the economics discipline. this openness, accompanied by the positive reviews, helped to nurture behavioral ideas in the disciplines in subsequent years. a further illustration that can be made about citations: in the years after the publication of a behavioral theory, it was cited in a good number of articles in economics (and sociology and political science) journals. citations of the book in organization and management journals were much more frequent, owing at least in part to the fact that a behavioral theory and organizations became part of the intellectual foundation for a professionalization of the field in the 1970s and 80s that lead to a proliferation of journals. both books left lasting footprints in the disciplines and inspired the growth of several branches of behavioral theory. a large number of citations of the books may have been due to the development and professionalization of business school fields such as organization studies and strategy. however, a quick look at the content of the articles citing a behavioral theory (in those journals where the reviews were originally published) reveals a greater influence of the disciplines that march and his colleagues had themselves built on. the examples below reveal a few rough trends of which ideas may have had an influence on the disciplines. economics: from behavioral theory of the firm to theories of behavioral firms in economics, there seems to have been a movement away from discussions of behavioral theories of the firm and towards theories of behavioral firms; or theories that accommodate behavioral ideas about firms and organizations14. by that, i mean that some ideas have become so accepted within the discipline that they have become not only (more or less) “mainstream” but are also almost taken for granted as part of the profession15. in one sense, this means that the field has absorbed certain behavioral ideas (although not all of them) and now takes these behavioral elements for granted: articles on adaptation, expectations, uncertainty and limited rationality are frequently published in economics journals (although modern authors often mean something more neoclassical than the original carnegie trio may have done)16. in the intellectual sphere (as in the organizational one), the adaptation of ideas is imperfect. for example, a seminal article by fritz machlup in the american economic review used behavioral theory in its discussion of marginalist, behavioral and managerial theories of the firm (machlup, 1967). like cyert and march, machlup found the behavioral perspective not to be in competition with neoclassical economics but to operate on a different level of anonymity or generality. in addition to discussions of the field of theories of the firm and the role of the behavioral theory in that context, economists have (at least since nelson and winter’s article in the economic journal (1974)) built on behavioral theory in discussing several conflicts: between neoclassical, evolutionary and behavioral approaches to topics such as economic growth; between institutional and evolutionary views on the behavior of public and private companies (roberts, 1975) and between profit maximization and other 13. james march in his later work (in particular with johan olsen and other collaborators) did turn towards those broader institutional questions. 14. this point was made by professor robert gibbons at his presentation during the 2013 nber workshop on behavioral theory of the firm. 15. sessions at aea certainly include various panels relating to organizations on topics such as problems of incentives and contracts. concepts such as limited rationality have become embedded in economics in both its original and its sargent/ aumann formulations. broader themes such as behavioral decision making and identity are common too. of course, accepting words does not always mean accepting core ideas and there are examples of concepts straying quite far from their original formulations 16. for example, behavioral theory was used in articles on bargaining models with multiple objectives (contini and zionts, 1968); discussions of behavioral duopoly models with incomplete knowledge (day & kennedy, 1970); the role of uncertainty in firms in general equilibrium theory (dreeze, 1985); firm decision making processes and oligopoly theory (joskow, 1975); limited rationality in business decision making (simon, 1979; ); adaptation in complex environments (cohen and axelrod, 1984 and organizational learning (blume, duffy and franco, 2009) 644 behavioral theory of the firm: hopes for the past; lessons from the future m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 636-652 theories (wong, 1975)17. another indication (albeit a more superficial one than a content-analysis reading of the articles citing the book) of the books’ intellectual footprints can be seen in the titles of the articles which cite the book. the “word cloud” below shows the make up of the titles of articles citing a behavioral theory in the journals econometrica; the engineering economist; the economic journal and the american economic review. the larger the font, the more often a world/concept is used, resulting in a visual representation of word or concept frequency. figure 1. word cloud made of words from titles in articles citing cyert & march (1963) in econometrica; the engineering economist; the economic journal and the american economic review18. sociological elements and population ecology in the sociology journals where the book was initially reviewed, scholars wrote about behavioral themes as well as giving specific insights on rules (edelman, 1992; zhou, 1993); governance (freeland, 1996; williamson, 1981); organizational evolution (miner, 1991); the organizational and structural embeddedness of organizational decision making (romo & schwartz, 1995); power (lehman, 1969); goals (formation of goals as well as conflicts between them) and negotiations among coalitions (perlstadt, 1972; baron & bielby, 1980) and authority (eccles and white, 1988). the reviewers also use behavioral theory as an important ingredient in developing new (sub)fields. a prominent example is that of the population ecology perspective, which integrates key ideas in behavioral theory such as evolution and adaptation (hannan and 18. this (and the subsequent) word clouds are generated using ‘wordle’, a program for the graphic representation of the frequency of words and concepts used. one inputs the words (in this case, the ones in the titles of the articles citing “behavioral theory of the firm”) and the result is a word cloud where the size of the font is proportional to the frequency it is used. 17. other examples of subsequent uses include clarkson and simon (1960) who build on cyert and march’s duopoly and simulation model and shubik (1960) who also appeals to the simulation work of march and others. williamson (one of the original team members of “behavioral theory of the firm” research) has also used “behavioral theory of the firm” to build his transaction cost theory and in discussions of transaction costs, property rights and x-efficiency (williamson, 1963; 1976; de alessi, 1983). leibenstein also appealed to “behavioral theory of the firm” and the idea of organizational slack in his argument for allocative efficiency against “x-efficiency” (leibenstein, 1966) 645 mie augierm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 636-652 freeman, 1977)19. sociologists have also employed insights from behavioral theory in studies of industrial dynamics such as that of the sociological factors in the implications of anti biotech movements for pharmaceutical firms (weber, rao, and thomas, 2009). a “word cloud” of the titles of articles citing a behavioral theory of the firm in the journals american journal of sociology and the american sociological review captures (unsurprisingly) some of the key terms in those modern movements such as ‘embeddedness’, ‘ecology’ and ‘institutionalism’ (see below). figure 2. word cloud political science within the field of political science (at least as represented by those journals which originally featured reviews of a behavioral theory), the ideas have been used in discussions of the following topics: bureaucratic politics and decision making processes in policy and budgets (natchez and bupp, 1973); the nature of organizational goals, conflicts and the influence of environmental complexity on standard operating procedures; (mohr, 1973); innovation and organizational slack (mohr, 1969; walker, 1969); interorganizational analyses of power, conflicts and settlements in public sector collective 19. another example is that of the new institutionalists’ perspective (dimaggio and powell, 1983) which uses the idea of ambiguous goals and uncertainty in environments to argue for organizations mimicking other organizations. 646 behavioral theory of the firm: hopes for the past; lessons from the future m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 636-652 bargaining (perry and levine, 1976); models of the us defense expenditure policymaking processes (ostrom, 1978); bounded rationality in budgetary research (padgett, 1980); the application of aspiration level models to explain presidential priorities (fischer and kamlet, 1984); conflict and goal diversity and organizational search (cohen, 1984); analysis of the risk propensities of sec budgetary processes (krause, 2003); behavioral models of turnout (bendor, diemeier and ting, 2003). axelrod (1986) appealed to computer simulation models in discussing an evolutionary approach to norms march and olsen (1984), in their pioneering of institutionalism in political science, built on insights from the book on topics such as conflicts of goals and aspirational levels. olsen (2001) also appealed to the book in his discussion on the relationship between the “garbage can” model and new institutionalism in his study of politics (olsen, 2001) as did bendor, moe and shotts in their critique of the “garbage can” (bendor, moe and shotts, 2001). figure 3. word cloud 647 mie augierm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 636-652 a word cloud made up from the titles of the articles that have cited a behavioral theory in the american political science review shows a somewhat less “rich” picture than a content reading of the articles. however, it does capture the emphasis on models, garbage cans and the study of budgets. psychology and other fields finally, psychologists have built on a behavioral theory of the firm to respond to issues such as person-organizational fit (vancouver & schmitt, 1991). in addition, ideas from the book have been used in the field of marketing in relation to: price setting behavior (morgenroth, 1964); the nature of organizational searching in certain markets (weiss and heide, 1993); the modeling of competitive processes (eliashberg and shatterjee, 1985) and industrial buying processes (webster, 1965; wilson, 1971). often the simulation approach pioneered by cyert and march is also used (michael, 1971). more recent work has also built on cyert and march’s ideas on organizational memory and learning (moorman and miner, 1997) and their ideas on organizational inertia and innovation (chandrashenkaran, mehta, chandreshekaran & grewal, 1999). of course the book has made other contributions to the disciplines. the examples mentioned were only taken from those journals in which the reviews originally appeared. but these examples still, i think, give a glimpse into the two way street that march and colleague worked on: they contributed to the disciplines and communicated with them and, in turn, the disciplines adopted some of their central ideas, although not always in ways the behavioral group themselves had. some implications for the agenda(s) of the field: centrifugal and centripetal forces in organization studies “science is a collection if ignorances. we want to know everything and count the lack of time, skill, and money that stand in our way as regrettable limitations. nevertheless, we are specialists; and the illusions we have about our competencies are mostly specific to small corners of the library. we have a vague sense of the appropriate balance between specialized and more general knowledge, and wary of those who would goad us into extra-disciplinary embarrassment as of those who would confine us too much. we accept our ignorance while trying to reduce it” (march, 1979, p. 356). as discussed above, a behavioral theory of the firm was one of the most important works in the field of organization studies, helping lay foundations for the field while simultaneously being influenced by it. as the field has evolved, it has been influenced by a number of inside and outside forces, successes and failures, causing it to become successful in a professional and institutional sense (having phd programs, journals and departments in its name), but sometimes at the expense of intellectual coherence. it should be noted, however, that the field started out with hardly any coherent language and structure and from there, almost from scratch, produced several foundational contributions 648 behavioral theory of the firm: hopes for the past; lessons from the future m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 636-652 that influenced not only the development of the field of organization studies but other scholarly disciplines such as economics and sociology too. it thus may well, some day, once again find a structure, a core set of ideas and perspectives to build on. nothing (usually) comes from nothing, but the field did overcome beginning difficulties and the barriers associated with being “in between”, rather than squarely within, scholarly disciplines. after march and simon (1958) and cyert and march (1963), the field started to grow roots and branches, built (initially at least) around a trunk of core ideas of organizational learning, routines, adaptation, search, satisficing and limited rationality. the early scholars developed their ideas on organizations but remained in close dialogue with the scholarly disciplines. because of this, they did not lose the ‘discipline of the disciplines’ or become fragmented, but remained able to do interdisciplinary work. what the field faces now is rather different from when it first started out. unlike the 1950s and the early 1960s, we now have a base of knowledge and a body of scholarship to build on, so one might expect that the field would have more to offer neighboring disciplines, too. but with importance exceptions (such as gibbons, 2012; dosi and marengo, 2007), we now see less fruitful interaction, affiliation or identification with the disciplines upon which the field was built. for optimists, the present state of the field could represent an opportunity to make innovations and infuse the field with new ideas, educational models and structures, learning from the traditional disciplines as well as from empirical studies. empirically based examinations of concepts and major ideas could also perhaps help initiate a healthy self examination of the field. this would drive attempts to try to understand the mechanisms that the field would observe in itself and, indeed must do, in its quest to be(come) a “real” discipline. for pessimists, on the other hand, these are times of a great disintegration of the field. the great potential of the field of organization studies to yield new insights into the relationships, nature and dynamics of individuals and the organizations they inhabit (and to help other disciplines understand those) is quite frequently blunted by diversion of attention and internal forces. the careful development of concepts such as limited rationality, aspiration levels, satisficing and search sometimes seems to have been replaced by the multiplication of ambiguous terms (often defined by referencing other ambiguous terms) which almost seem to serve to conceal the banalities that they cover. instead of trying to propose and understand relationships between organizational phenomena, behaviors and dynamics, organization scholars sometimes tend to speculate on the relationships between one theory or concept and another. concepts become esteemed for their own sake (instead of for the insights into behavior that they provide) and take the place of real organizations and empirically relevant organizational issues as objects of observation. the “behavioral theory of the firm” (and march’s subsequent work on it) has the power to help balance and integrate the two sides of unification and disintegration which, in turn, may help us replenish the power of the field that march and others helped create five decades ago. march has long argued that oppositional forces can themselves form a unity or balancing whole, with each side of the process lending meaning (and necessity) to the other and with the whole system being dependent on the existence of some amount of opposite. 649 mie augierm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 636-652 the “behavioral theory of the firm” project offers us plenty of ideas to build on. perhaps the celebration of the five decades of the history of the movement and its ideas would be a good occasion for organization scholars to think how to celebrate the movement in the spirit of the contributors themselves (citing the tradition one builds on rather than one’s own accomplishments)20. after all, long perspectives on the past, as march argued (1998), are necessary for long visions for the future. mie augier is associate professor at the naval postgraduate school. her research interests include organizational economics, strategy, organization theory, and the past and future of management education and business schools. her most recent book is the roots, rituals and rhetorics of change (with james march, stanford university press, 2011), and her research have been published in journals such as organization science; journal of economic behavior and organization; industrial and corporate change; management international review; organization studies; strategic organization; review of austrian economics; research policy; california management review; journal of management inquiry, among others. acknowlegement in am grateful to olivier germain and an anonymous referee for their comments on an earlier draft and to sidney winter, robert gibbons, jerry guo, arie lewin and, in particular, james march, for stimulating discussions on the relations between “behavioral theory of the firm” and the disciplines. as always, any remaining errors were produced without help. 20. granted, the world in which cyert, march and simon operated was perhaps easier and one did not have to pay attention to issues such as journal rankings and citation rates. however, it would certainly not be in march’s spirit to pursue things because of their consequences. 650 behavioral theory of the firm: hopes for the past; lessons from the future m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 636-652 · argote, l., & greve, h. (2007). a behavioral theory of the firm – 40 years and counting. organization science, 18(3), 337-349. · augier, m. (2001). models of herbert simon. perspectives on science, 8(4), 407-443. · augier, m. (2004). march’ing towards “a behavioral theory of the firm”: james g. march and the early evolution of behavioral organization theory. management decision, 42(10), 1257-1268. · augier, m. (2013). thinking about war and peace: andrew marshall and the early development of the intellectual foundations for net assessment. comparative strategy, 32(1), 1-17. · augier, m., & guo, j. (2012). geopolitics and garbage cans: understanding the essence of decision making in an interdisciplinary and psycho-cultural perspective. in a. lomi & j. r. harrison (eds.), the garbage can model of organizational choice: looking forward at forty (vol. 36, pp. 431-458). bingley: emerald group publishing. · augier, m., & march, j. g. (2011). the roots, rituals, rhetorics of change: north american business schools after the second world war. stanford, ca: stanford university press. · augier, m., march, j. g., & sullivan, b. n. (2005). notes on the evolution of a research community: organization studies in anglophone north america, 19452000. organization science, 16(1), 85-95. · augier, m., & p. prietula (2007). historical roots of the behavioral theory of the firm model at gsia. organization science, 18(3), 507-522. · axelrod, r. (1986). an evolutionary approach to norms. american political science review, 80(4), 1095-1111. · bach, g. l. (1958). some observations on the business school of tomorrow. management science, 4(4), 351-364. · baron, j. n., & bielby, w. t. (1980). bringing the firms back in: stratification, segmentation, and the organization of work. american sociological review, 45(5), 737-765. · bendor, j., diermeier, d., & ting, m. (2003). a behavioral model of turnout. american political science review, 97(2), 261-280. · bendor, j., moe, t. m., & shotts, k. w. (2001). recycling the garbage can: an assessment of the research program. american political science review, 95(1), 169-190. · berelson, b., & steiner, g. a. (1967). human behavior: an inventory of scientific findings. new york: john wiley. · blume, a., duffy, j., & francio, a. m. (2009). decentralized organizational learning: an experimental investigation. the american economic review, 99(4), 1178-1205. · boulding, k. e. (1951). a conceptual framework for social science. papers of the michigan academy of science, arts and letters 37(4), 275-282. · browning, r. p. (1966). review: a behavioral theory of the firm by richard m. cyert and james g. march. the american political science review, 60(3), 697-698. · chandrashekaran, m., mehta, r., chandrashekaran, r., & grewal, r. (1999). market motives, distinctive capabilities, and domestic inertia: a hybrid model of innovation generation. journal of marketing research, 36(1), 95-112. · clarkson, g. p. e., & simon, h. a. (1960). simulation of individual and group behavior. the american economic review, 50(5), 920-932. · cohen, m. d. (1984). conflict and complexity: goal diversity and organizational search effectiveness. the american political science review, 78(2), 435-451. · cohen, m. d., & axelrod, r. (1984). coping with complexity: the adaptive value of changing utility. the american economic review, 74(1), 30-42. · colberg, m. (1964). review of a behavioral theory of the firm. southern economic journal, 30(3), 280-281. · contini, b., & zionts, s. (1968). restricted bargaining for organizations with multiple objectives. econometrica, 36(2), 397-414. · cyert, r. m., & march, j. g. (1963). a behavioral theory of the firm. oxford: blackwell publishing. · day, r. h. (1964). review of a behavioral theory of the firm. econometrica 32(3),461-465. · day, r. h., & kennedy, p. e. (1970). recursive decision systems: an existence analysis. econometrica, 38(5), 666-681. references 651 mie augierm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 636-652 · de alessi, l. (1983). property rights, transaction costs, and x-efficiency: an essay in economic theory. the american economic review, 73(1), 64-81. · dimaggio, p. j., & powell, w. w. (1983). the iron cage revisited: institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields. american socioloical review, 48(2), 147-160. · dosi, g. (2004). a very reasonable objective still beyond our reach: economics as an empirically disciplined social science. in m. augier & j. g. march (eds.), models of a man: essays in memory of herbert a. simon (pp. 211226). cambridge, ma: the mit press. · dosi, g., & marengo, l. (2007). perspective – on the evolutionary and behavioral theories of organizations: a tentative roadmap. organization science, 18(3), 491-502. · drèze. j. h. (1985). (uncertainty and) the firm in general equilibrium theory. economic journal, 95, 1-20. · eccles, r. g., & white, h. c. (1988). price and authority in inter-profit center transactions. american journal of sociology 94(s1), s17-s51. · edelman, g. (1992). bright air, brilliant fire: on the matter of the mind. new york: basic books. · eliashberg, j., & chatterjee, r. (1985). analytical models of competition with implications for marketing: issues, findings, and outlook. journal of marketing research, 22(3), 237-261. · fenton, e. (2000). carnegie mellon: a centennial history. pittsburgh, pa: carnegie mellon university press. · fischer, g. w., & kamlet, m. s. (1984). explaining presidential priorities: the competing aspiration levels model of macrobudgetary decision making. american political science review, 78(2), 356-371. · flood, m. (1951). report of a seminar on organization science. research memorandum rm – 709. santa monica, ca: the rand corporation. · form, w. h. (1959). review of organizations. administrative science quarterly, 4(1), 129-131. · freeland, r. f. (1996). the myth of the m-form? governance, consent, and organizational change. american journal of sociology, 102(2), 483-526. · goldhamer, h. (1972, october 30). rand after 25 years: a personal view. talk given to rand management committee. · hannan, m. t., & freeman, j. (1977). the population ecology of organizations. american journal of sociology, 82(5), 929-964. · joskow, p. l. (1975). firm decision-making processes and oligopoly theory. the american economic review, 65(2), 270-279. · krause, g. a. (2003). coping with uncertainty: analyzing risk propensities of sec budgetary decisions, 1949-1997. american political science review, 97(1), 171-188. · leibenstein, h. (1966). allocative efficiency vs. “x-efficiency.” the american economic review, 56(3), 392-415. · machlup, f. (1967). theories of the firm: marginalist, behavioral, managerial. the american economic review, 57(1), 1-33. · march, j. g. (1998, september 20). research on organizations: hopes for the past and lessons from the future. paper presented at the scandinavian consortium for organizational research, ‘samples of the future’, stanford university, stanford, ca. · march, j. g., & olsen, j. p. (1984). the new institutionalism: organizational factors in political life. the american political science review, 78(3), 734-740. · march j. g., & simon, h. a. (1958). organizations. new york: wiley. · michael, g. c. (1971). a computer simulation model for forecasting catalog sales. journal of marketing sales, 8(2), 224-229. · miner, a. s. (1991). organizational evolution and the social ecology of jobs. american sociological review, 56(6), 772-785. · morgenroth, w. m. (1964). a method for understanding price determinants. journal of marketing research, 1(3), 17-26. · mohr, l. b. (1969). determinants of innovation in organizations. the american political science review, 63(1), 111-126. · mohr, l. b. (1973). the concept of organizational goal. the american political science review, 67(2), 470-481. · moorman, c., & miner, a. s. (1997). the impact of organizational memory on new product performance and creativity. journal of marketing research, 34(1), 91-106. · natchez, p. b., & bupp, i. c. (1973). policy and priority in the budgetary process. the american political science review, 67(3), 951-963. 652 behavioral theory of the firm: hopes for the past; lessons from the future m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 636-652 · nelson, r. r., & winter, s. g. (1974). neoclassical vs. evolutionary theories of economic growth: critique and prospectus. the economic journal, 84(336), 886-905. · olsen, j. p. (2001). garbage cans, new institutionalism, and the study of politics. the american political science review, 95(1), 191-198. · ostrom, jr. t. m. (1978). a reactive linkage model of the u.s. defense expenditure policymaking. the american political science review, 72(3), 941-957. · padgett, j. f. (1980). bounded rationality in budgetary research. the american political science review, 74(2), 354-372. · perlstadt, h. (1972). goal implementation and outcome in medical schools. american sociological review, 37(1), 73-82. · perry, j. l., & levine, c. h. (1976). an interorganizational analysis of power, conflict, and settlements in public sector collective bargaining. the american political science review, 70(4), 1185-1201. · pfeffer, j. (1993). barriers to the advance of organizational science: paradigm development as a dependent variable. academy of management review, 18(4), 599-620. · roberts, m. j. (1975). an evolutionary and institutional view of the behavior of public and private companies. the american economic review, 65(2), 415-427. · romo, f. p., & schwartz, m. (1995). the structural embeddedness of business decisions: the migration of manufacturing plants in new york state, 1960 to 1985. american sociological review, 60(6), 874-907. · sawyer, j. (1964). review of a behavioral theory of the firm. the canadian journal of economics and political science, 30(2), 300-301. · schaefer, l. (1992). evolution of a national research university: 1965-1990, the stever administration and the cyert years at carnegie mellon. pittsburgh, pa: carnegie mellon press. · shubik, m. (1960). simulation of the industry and the firm. the american economic review, 50(5), 908-919. · shubik, m. (1965). review of a behavioral theory of the firm. journal of the american statistical association, 60(309), 378-379. · simon, h. a. (1967). motivational and emotional controls of cognition. psychological review, 74(1), 29-39. · simon, h. a. (1991). bounded rationality and organizational learning. organization science, 2(1), 124-134. · walker, j. l. (1969). the diffusion of innovations among the american states. the american political science review, 63(3), 880-899. · weber, k., rao, h., & thomas, l. g. (2009). from streets to suites: how the antibiotech movement affected german pharmaceutical firms. american sociological review, 74(1), 106-127. · webster, jr. f. e. (1965). modeling the industrial buying process. journal of marketing research, 2(4), 370-376. · weiss, a. m., & heide, j. b. (1993). the nature of organizational search in high technology markets. journal of marketing research, 30(2), 220-233. · williamson, o. e. (1963). management discretion and business behavior. the american economic review, 53(5), 1032-1057. · williamson, o. e. (1976). franchise bidding for natural monopolies – in general and with respect to catv. the bell journal of economics, 7(1), 73-104. · williamson, o. e. (1981). the economics of organization: the transaction cost approach. american journal of sociology, 87(3), 548-577. · wilson, d. t. (1971). industrial buyers’ decision-making styles. journal of marketing research, 8(4), 433-436. · winter, s. g. (1964). review of a behavioral theory of the firm. the american economic review, 54(2), 144-148. · wong, r. e. (1975). profit maximization and alternative theories: a dynamic reconciliation. the american economic review, 65(4), 689-694. · zhou, x. (1993). the dynamics of organizational rules. american journal of sociology, 98(5), 1134-1166. early internationalization of new ventures from emerging countries: the case of transition economies olivier lamotte paris school of business olamotte@esg.fr ana colovic neoma business school ana.colovic@neoma-bs.fr early internationalization of new ventures from emerging countries: the case of transition economies olivier lamotte � ana colovic abstract. this article investigates the factors that influence early internationalization of new ventures in the context of emerging economies. more specifically, our research builds on the theoretical and empirical literature on international new ventures (inv) to develop an original conceptual framework and formulate hypotheses concerning the environment, industry and firm-related factors that enhance or constrain rapid internationalization of new firms from emerging countries. we tested our hypotheses on a sample of more than 23000 firms from 27 transition countries in central and eastern europe and central asia between 2002 and 2009. the empirical study shows that several factors are positively related to the probability that a firm will internationalize from inception: access to ict infrastructure, being located in an eu country, industry competition, a better-educated workforce, networks in the home country and international networks. in contrast, early internationalization is negatively affected by insecurity and, more surprisingly, by a firm’s knowledge intensity. these results contribute to a better understanding of the specificities of the internationalization of firms from emerging economies. ! over the last two decades, there has been increasing evidence that numerous entrepreneurial firms are aiming at early internationalization, despite their small size and limited resources (kuivalainen, sundquist & servais, 2007). these firms have typically been defined as international new ventures (invs) (oviatt & mcdougall, 1994, 2005) or born globals (knight & cavusgil, 1996). theoretical and empirical studies have focused on the understanding of factors that determine the rapid-internationalization-oriented rather than domesticmarket-focused behavior of these firms. these investigations have led to the identification of three main categories of factors (aspelund, madsen & moen, 2007; evers, 2011; keupp & gassmann, 2009; rialp, rialp & knight, 2005): push or internal factors (characteristics of the entrepreneurs and firm resources), pull or external factors (features of the industry and of the competitive environment), and mediating or facilitating factors (such as entrepreneur’s mental model, i.e. mindset, behavior, alertness). these different factors have been combined into the conceptual frameworks that have been put forward to explain the inv phenomenon (johnson, 2004; oviatt and mcdougall, 2005; zucchella, palamara & denicolai, 2007; among others). ! however, although the literature on invs or born globals has been growing rapidly, the existing empirical studies, both qualitative and quantitative, have mainly focused on one particular country (e.g. andersson & wictor, 2003; chetty & campbell-hunt, 2004; evers, 2010; kuivalainen et al., 2007; zucchella et al., 2007) or one particular sector (e.g. evers, 2010). more importantly, m@n@gement 2015, vol. 18(1): 8-30 8 mailto:olamotte@esg.fr?subject= mailto:olamotte@esg.fr?subject= mailto:ana.colovic@neoma-bs.fr%0dana.colovic@neoma-bs.com%0dana.colovic@neoma-bs.com?subject= mailto:ana.colovic@neoma-bs.fr%0dana.colovic@neoma-bs.com%0dana.colovic@neoma-bs.com?subject= scholars have mostly investigated invs from developed western economies (zhou, 2007) and have largely ignored such firms in other settings. in particular, the understanding of invs in emerging economies remains limited (kiss, danis & cavusgil, 2012; yamakawa, peng & deeds, 2008). this is rather surprising because the liberalization of these economies and their integration into the global economy has triggered far-reaching changes, affecting markets and firms worldwide. moreover, despite the fact that recent years have witnessed increasing interest in emerging market multinationals, entrepreneurial firms from these economies have not thus far been systematically analyzed. in consideration of the crucial role that entrepreneurial firms, and in particular invs, play in stimulating the economic growth of emerging countries (bruton, ahlstrom & obloj, 2008; kiss et al., 2012) and of the fact that entering international markets can increase technological learning and performance (jones, coviello & tang, 2011; zahra, ireland & hitt, 2000), there is therefore an urgent need to develop insights into the factors that stimulate or hamper the emergence of early internationalizing firms in these countries. ! in order to contribute to the understanding of invs in emerging economies, this paper studies such firms in the context of transition countries in central and eastern europe and central asia. transition countries are considered as emerging economies because they are low/middle-income, because they are growing rapidly and because they use economic liberalization as their primary engine of growth (hoskisson, eden, lau & wright, 2000). the specific research question that we aim to answer in our study is the following: what factors influence the early internationalization of new ventures in transition economies? in other words, we aim to assess the impact of different factors on the probability that a firm will internationalize at or near inception, that is, the probability that a firm will be an inv. our goal is to develop a better understanding of factors related to early internationalization of new ventures by taking into account not only those factors that enhance it but also those that impede it. to investigate our research question, we use the business environment and enterprise survey (beeps) data of the world bank and the european bank for reconstruction and development (ebrd). the data were collected through personal interviews with managers in more than 23000 firms in 27 transition countries for the years 2002, 2005, 2007 and 2009. ! e x p a n d i n g r e s e a r c h o n t h e d e t e r m i n a n t s o f n e w v e n t u r e internationalization in transition countries deserves academic interest for several reasons. first, these economies have experienced profound changes over the past twenty years. the transition from planned to market-oriented economy has strongly influenced organizational behavior, entrepreneurship and the internationalization processes of firms (gelbuda, meyer & delios, 2008; li, 2013; smallbone & welter, 2001, 2012). when analyzing invs in transition economies there is, therefore, a need to take into account the specific features of these countries that significantly impact invs insofar as, very early in their existence, these firms need to solve numerous problems associated with entry to foreign markets (shirokova & mcdougall-covin, 2012). second, several transition countries have become members of the european union (eu) over the last ten years and several others are official candidates. this increased market integration creates new opportunities and threats for the development of small firms (aidis, 2005a). on one hand eu accession will create new export opportunities through the reduction of transaction costs, but on the other hand it increases competitive pressure and the burden of regulatory harmonization. third, few studies investigate the determinants of internationalization in transition economies at firm level (boermans & roelfsema, 2012) and, to the best of our knowledge, none of them conducts a cross-country analysis of invs. fourth, as kiss et al. (2012) argue, there is a strong need to assess to what extent theoretical perspectives developed in mature market contexts are valid in other m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 8-30! olivier lamotte & ana colovic 9 settings and to design novel integrative frameworks to better explain early internationalization in emerging markets. last, but not least, understanding new venture internationalization in emerging markets is also important more generally, because the growing competition from these markets affects firms worldwide. ! the paper is organized as follows. in the first section, we draw from the existing theoretical and empirical literature to build our conceptual framework and formulate our hypotheses. the second section describes the method and data used in our study. the findings are presented in the third and discussed in the fourth section. the final section concludes. theoretical framework and hypotheses ! the internationalization process of entrepreneurial and small-sized firms has mainly been analyzed through two kinds of approach: so-called internationalization theories, among which the uppsala model occupies a prominent place (johanson & vahlne, 1977); and the inv (oviatt & mcdougall, 1994, 2005) and born global approaches (knight & cavusgil, 1996). while the first stream points to slow, gradual involvement in foreign markets, the second stream analyzes the existence of an increasing number of firms characterized by high internationalization speed and involvement in foreign markets from the early stages of their existence. this article pertains to the inv approach and, in particular, to the research that identifies the factors that affect early internationalization. in order to relate our research to previous studies, we adopt the widely-used definition of invs (andersson & wictor, 2003; servais, madsen & rasmussen, 2007) as firms that make at least 25% of their annual sales abroad in the first three years following their official registration. ! oviatt and mcdougall (2005) propose an integrated model of the forces influencing the speed of new venture internationalization. they argue that speed is enabled by technology, motivated by competition, mediated by the entrepreneur’s perceptions and moderated by the firm’s knowledge intensity and international networks. this model is important for our research insofar as it identifies several variables that influence the early internationalization of new ventures, beyond the particular focus on speed, conceptualized as a threedimensional phenomenon in the model (time between the discovery of an opportunity and the first foreign market entry; speed at which the range of countries in which a firm operates is increased, and international commitment, i.e. the speed of foreign revenue increase). this model therefore constitutes the point of departure on which we build our conceptual model on the determinants of invs in transition economies. ! to analyze early internationalization of new ventures in transition economies, we adopt a multi-level approach, considering not only variables inherent to the firm but also those stemming from the context in which invs operate. in particular, we argue that three levels of influences impact early internationalization: those related to the environment in which new ventures operate; those related to industry conditions, and those related to the firm and the entrepreneur. the environment ! in their model, oviatt & mcdougall (2005) identify technology as one of the determinants of early new venture internationalization. this refers to access to technology rather than the technology developed within a firm and is regarded as a feature of the environment in which firms operate. in many emerging economies, including those of transition countries, the technological infrastructure early internationalization in transition economies! m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 8-30 10 lags behind that of developed economies (kiss et al, 2012). in particular, access to high-speed information and communication technology (ict), especially the internet, remains rather unequal between countries. ict is important for new ventures because it facilitates the transmission of information and culture (friedman, 2005), and because it allows for the transfer of knowledge between firms (cukor & mcknight, 2001; feldman, 2002). the role of the internet has been particularly highlighted in the case of internationalization of small and medium-sized companies (loane, 2006). thanks to the internet, entrepreneurs in rural and remote areas can access clients and suppliers (cumming & johan, 2010), thus diminishing the effects of distance. moreover, it has been argued that the level of “internetization” strongly determines the internationalization of firms in emerging economies (etemad, wilkinson & dana, 2010). accordingly, we formulate the following hypothesis: h1. in transition economies, access to ict infrastructure is positively related to the probability that a firm will internationalize at or near inception. ! while oviatt & mcdougall (2005) identify technology as the only determinant stemming from the environment, recent studies dealing with emerging countries emphasize the importance of institutions in these countries (kiss et al., 2012; lipuma, newbert & doh, 2013; peng, wang & jiang, 2008; volchek, jantunen & saarenketo, 2013). built on the work of north (1990) and scott (1995), the institution-based view (baumol, litan & schramm, 2009; peng et al., 2008) has been recognized as one of the key theoretical foundations in the analysis of emerging countries (aidis, estrin & mickiewicz, 2012; peng et al., 2008; welter & smallbone, 2011; yamakawa, khavul, peng & deeds, 2013). according to this view, internationalization is considered as “the outcome of the dynamic interaction between organizations and institutions” (yamakawa et al., 2008: 64). in emerging countries, the characteristics of the context or the institutional environment in which firms operate significantly impact their ability to identify and exploit entrepreneurial opportunities, in particular with respect to developing operations abroad. in line with this argument, several recent studies have pointed to the role of institutions in export performance, in particular for small or entrepreneurial firms (ketkar & acs, 2013; li, 2013; lipuma et al., 2013). however, some other studies emphasize that there is still limited knowledge about the ways institutions influence firms’ internationalization, arguing that the institution-based view could be one of the theoretical lenses applied to the study of invs in emerging economies (szyliowicz & galvin, 2010; yamakawa et al., 2013; yamakawa et al., 2008). ! in developed market economies, institutions play an important role as they facilitate the effective functioning of market transactions without incurring excessive costs and risks to firms (north, 1990). however, market-supporting institutions in emerging economies are typically underdeveloped or even absent (meyer, estrin, bhaumik & peng, 2009). this leads to “institutional voids”, that is, spaces that are deprived of efficient institutions, such as a non-transparent judicial system, bureaucratic red tape, corruption, ambiguous laws and poor enforcement of the rule of law (gao, murray, kotabe & lu, 2010; luo & tung, 2007). consequently, the institutional framework in these economies holds a number of challenges for entrepreneurs engaging in international operations (khanna & palepu, 2010; volchek et al., 2013). ! the institutional context, as well as the informal institutional environment, greatly impact new venture creation and the ensuing trajectories of new venture evolution (ahlstrom & bruton, 2002; manev & manolova, 2010; smallbone & welter, 2006; welter & smallbone, 2011). according to tonoyan, strohmeyer, habib & perlitz (2010), the poor quality of legal institutions impedes firms’ operations in russia and other eastern european countries. tsukanova & m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 8-30! olivier lamotte & ana colovic 11 shirokova (2012) find that institutional hostility negatively impacts the propensity of russian firms to internationalize. similarly, it has been pointed out that corruption negatively affects internationalization (estrin, korosteleva & mickiewicz, 2013; shirokova & tsukanova, 2012). in particular, bribing customs officials constitutes an additional tax on trade, which increases trade costs (dutt and traca, 2010). moreover, corruption exerted by customs officials or by government agencies for the delivery of permits or licenses means that managers spend more time and effort on dealing with procedures, which constitutes an additional cost for the firm (de rosa, gooroochurn, & görg, 2010). corruption also increases the risk and uncertainty of international operations and deters some businessmen from getting involved in them. along with corruption, one of the consequences of institutional voids is the extent to which the security of goods and capital is guaranteed, which is typically low in those countries with weak institutional frameworks. previous work has found that insecurity of goods and capital has a great impact on early internationalization. indeed, according to anderson & marcouiller (2002), insecurity acts as a hidden tax on trade, which suggests that inadequate institutions negatively impact cross-border operations of firms from emerging countries. in line with these insights from the literature, we formulate the following hypotheses: h2. in transition economies, insecurity is negatively related to the probability that a firm will internationalize at or near inception. h3. in transition economies, bribery is negatively related to the probability that a firm will internationalize at or near inception. ! notwithstanding what has been discussed above, in some transition economies, institutions are improving in parallel with the transition from a centrally-planned to a market economy. in particular, the process of accession to the european union (eu) has favored institutional development, driven on the one hand by the need to meet the conditions for entry to the eu and on the other hand by the demand for institutional change stimulated by economic actors, namely entrepreneurs (smallbone & welter, 2012). the eu has thus become a positive agent for institutional change. in those countries that have recently joined the eu and those that are official candidates, numerous measures have been taken in order to improve the rule of law and to harmonize institutions with those of the mature european economies (aidis, 2005a; smallbone & welter, 2012). several previous studies (aidis, estrin & mickiewicz, 2008; danis & shipilov, 2002; manolova, eunni & gyoshew, 2008; tominc & rebernik, 2007) point out that countries like hungary, poland, slovenia and latvia have better institutional support for entrepreneurial firms than countries like belarus, russia, ukraine or moldavia. in addition, the accession of transition countries to the eu has made it easier for goods, services, capital and people to move from these countries to o t h e r e u m e m b e r s . g i v e n t h a t t h e s e p r o c e s s e s a c t i n f a v o r o f internationalization, we can therefore propose the following: h4. being located in a country that is a member of the eu is positively related to the probability that a firm will internationalize at or near inception. industry conditions ! while most of the literature on emerging countries has focused on institutions as external and firm resources as internal determinants of internationalization, industry characteristics have generally been neglected in these studies. however, we argue that industry conditions also play an important role in internationalization in emerging countries, as they do in developed early internationalization in transition economies! m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 8-30 12 economies. indeed, oviatt & mcdougall (2005) identify the competitive environment of the firm as an important, motivating determinant of the internationalization speed of new ventures. they argue that competition may encourage or even force an entrepreneur to internationalize. tough competition, exerted by larger and more established companies, compels new ventures to conceive their business in international terms early on (oviatt & mcdougall, 1995). thus, the greater the competition on the domestic market, the faster a new venture will go abroad to seize development opportunities, especially if the market is a small one (oviatt & mcdougall, 2005). accordingly, we formulate the following hypothesis: h5. in transition economies, industry competition is positively related to the probability that a firm will internationalize at or near inception. firm and entrepreneur-related factors ! along with environment-related factors and industry conditions, firm and entrepreneur-related factors constitute the third block of factors that affect new venture internationalization in transition economies. ! among firm-level factors, oviatt & mcdougall (2005) identify knowledge as a strong determinant of the internationalization speed of new ventures. this is consistent with much of the inv literature that utilizes resource-based and k n o w l e d g e b a s e d v i e w s o f t h e fi r m e x t e n s i v e l y t o e x p l a i n e a r l y internationalization (dabic, gonzales-loureiro & furrer, 2014). early studies on invs have already pointed out that accelerated internationalization is most associated with high technology and knowledge-based firms with a strong orientation toward innovation and technology (autio, sapienza & almeida, 2000; coviello & munro, 1997; knight & cavusgil, 1996). such firms are less constrained by distance and national boundaries and can exploit international opportunities more flexibly (autio et al., 2000). we therefore formulate the following hypothesis: h6. in transition economies, knowledge-intensive new ventures are more likely to internationalize at or near inception. ! along with knowledge related to technology and the manufacturing of products, human-capital-related factors are also generally believed to be catalysts for internationalization from the outset (madsen & servais, 1997; oviatt & mcdougall, 1997). among these, a high level of education is believed to play an important facilitating role. it has been argued that better training favors the use of more advanced technology, enhances professionalism, and increases legitimacy for entrepreneurial initiatives (peng, 2001). this suggests that a higher level of education of the firm’s employees leads to enhanced skill levels, experience and knowledge within an organization. researchers have argued that entrepreneurs in emerging economies with a socialist ancestry are often better educated (smallbone & welter, 2006), but, evidence is lacking on the impact of education on firm internationalization. consequently, we formulate the following hypothesis: h7. in transition economies, high education levels for the entrepreneur and other employees in a firm are positively related to the probability that it will internationalize at or near inception. ! inv research has identified networks as one of the most important factors in the internationalization process (andersson, 2000; colovic & lamotte, 2014; m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 8-30! olivier lamotte & ana colovic 13 jones et al., 2011; sharma & blomstermo, 2003; zucchella et al., 2007). networks appear to be particularly important for invs because these firms generally have fewer resources and international development capabilities than larger firms (chetty & blankenburg holm, 2000; coviello & munro, 1995, 1997; lu & beamish, 2001, 2006; sharma & blomstermo, 2003). according to zahra et al. (2000), firms that are embedded in networks can overcome their resource and knowledge constraints and internationalize in a manner that would not have been otherwise possible. it follows that network embeddedness can be “looked upon as a strategic resource influencing the firm’s future capability and expected performance” (andersson, forsgren & holm, 2002: 980). entrepreneurial networks are thus considered as critical assets in the inception and development of invs (andersson & wictor, 2003), as these firms often suffer from liabilities of newness and foreignness, and this may increase the likelihood of their failure (mudambi & zahra, 2007). scholars argue that weak ties are more important for internationalization than strong ties (oviatt & mcdougall, 2005; presutti, boan & fratocchi, 2007), because weak ties provide information, know-how and credibility that facilitate internationalization once an entrepreneur has identified an opportunity. ! while the role of networks in firm internationalization is widely accepted, it can be argued that their impact on internationalization processes in emerging economies is even more critical. entrepreneurs in emerging economies often face barriers related to “institutional voids” in their markets, which leads to the use of social networks as a way to overcome the deficiencies of formal institutions (bruton, ahlstrom & li, 2010). this suggests that when the institutional framework is weak, actors tend to use alternative ways of reducing environmental uncertainty, namely through network linkages. prior research has highlighted the importance of home country network ties in enabling firms in emerging countries to pursue international venturing (yiu, lau & bruton, 2007; zhou, wu & luo, 2007). zhou et al. (2007) thus argue that home-based social networks are important for the internationalization of born globals in china. studying the export performance of emerging market firms, singh (2009) argues that affiliation to a business group is positively related to a firm’s sales abroad. based on these insights from the literature, we therefore postulate: h8. in transition economies, involvement in networks in the home country is positively related to the probability that a firm will internationalize at or near inception. ! in many transition economies, because of the extremely limited number of firms authorized to establish international operations (mainly through exporting and importing) under centrally-planned systems, whole towns and regions had virtually no international experience until recently (cieslik & kaciak, 2009). creating links with foreign business partners would appear to be a possible remedy to such a situation (freeman, edwards & shroder, 2006). however, entrepreneurs from transition economies are often insufficiently prepared to search for such partners and create linkages with them. it follows that the entry of foreign capital to a firm might be an alternative way to find partners abroad, and to bring openness to new ventures as well as access to international networks. moreover, prior research on firms in transition economies has pointed out that foreign investors’ ownership and control over strategic decisions are positively associated with internationalization (filatotchev, stephan & jindra, 2008). accordingly, we formulate the following hypothesis: h9. in transition economies, international networks developed through foreign ownership are positively related to the probability that a firm will internationalize at or near inception. early internationalization in transition economies! m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 8-30 14 ! environment access to ict infrastructure (+) insecurity (-) bribery (-) location in an eu country (+) industry conditions competition (+) firmand entrepreneur-related factors knowledge intensity (+) education level (+) networks in the home country (+) international networks (+) inv from transition countries 1. albania, armenia, azerbaijan, belarus, bosnia, bulgaria, croatia, czech republic, estonia, georgia, hungary, kazakhstan, kyrgyz republic, l a t v i a , l i t h u a n i a , m a c e d o n i a , m o l d o v a , montenegro, poland, romania, russia, serbia, s l o v a k i a , s l o v e n i a , ta j i k i s t a n , u k r a i n e , uzbekistan. ! figure 1 depicts our conceptual model. figure 1. the conceptual model of the factors related to early internationalization of new ventures in transition economies methodology ! this section presents the data, the variables and the econometric techniques used in our empirical work. the aim of this research is to identify the factors related to early internationalization of new ventures in transition economies. we make use of the information contained in the business environment and enterprise performance survey (beeps) of 6153 firms in 2002, 7699 firms in 2005, 1952 firms in 2007 and 7773 firms in 2009 covering 27 countries in central and eastern europe and central asia1. the survey is a joint initiative of the world bank and the european bank for reconstruction and development and it aims to assess the environment for private enterprise as well as business development in transition countries. it is based on face-to-face interviews. the sample includes all the previously centrally-planned economies of europe and the former soviet union, which have undergone deep institutional transformations linked with the transition to a market economy. the group of former communist countries is extremely diverse, ranging from the lower-middle income economies of central asia, to upper-middle income central european countries, which, as members of the eu, tend to have a fully developed market system. the beeps uses the same questionnaire for all countries and the sampling methodology is stratified random sampling. this means that all population units are grouped within homogeneous groups and simple random samples are selected within each group. the groups for beeps are based on firm size, business sector, and geographic region within a country, which guarantees the representativeness of the sample. both the manufacturing and services sectors are included in the sample but sectors subject to government price regulation and prudential supervision are excluded. the data set includes a panel component for 1122 firms for 2002, 2005, 2007 and 2009 but this component is too small to allow robust relationships with a large set of m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 8-30! olivier lamotte & ana colovic 15 independent variables to be identified, especially when the dependent variable does not vary over time for most observations, as is the case for this research. we therefore exclude this component from our study. the study thus relies on pooled data for 2002, 2005, 2007 and 2009. previous studies using beeps data in the field of cross-border trade include gashi, hashi & pugh (2014), gorodnichenko & schnitzer (2013), gorodnichenko, svejnar & terrell (2010)2. ! the explained variable, inv, is built from two variables: the age of the firm at the time it first made sales abroad and the share of foreign sales in total annual sales. the inv variable therefore identifies firms for which foreign sales represent at least 25% of their total annual sales within their first three years from establishment, which is consistent with the definition of early international firms used in prior studies (e.g. cannone & ughetto, 2014; servais et al., 2007). the data on foreign sales is the only available information on presence abroad. no information is available on the number of countries in which the new venture is present. it is therefore impossible to include the scope dimension of internationalization in this research, as suggested by kuivalainen et al. (2007). ! the explanatory variables are operationalized as follows. access to ict infrastructure is measured as a binary variable, which indicates whether the firm has a high-speed broadband internet connection on its premises. the insecurity variable is measured as the ratio (in percentage of annual sales) of losses due to theft, robbery, vandalism and arson. bribery refers to making informal payments to a public official for the performance of an official task (de rosa et al., 2010). in this research, bribery is therefore measured as the share of total annual sales paid in additional payments/informal gifts to get things done with regard to customs, taxes, licenses, regulations, and so on. whether a particular firm is located in an eu country is operationalized by a dichotomous variable, which takes the value of one if the country of origin of the firm is an eu member at the time of first internationalization and zero if not. industry competition is determined by a dichotomous variable, which takes the value one if the firm faces competition for its main product/product line and zero otherwise. unfortunately, the dataset does not contain precise, homogeneous information on the number of competitors over the time span of the survey. regarding knowledge, its tacit character makes it very difficult to measure (nonaka & takeuchi, 1995). that is why most of the studies to date have used alternative measures as a proxy for knowledge intensity, such as innovation or r&d investment (ito & pucik, 1993; singh, 2009; yiu et al., 2007). innovation might not measure a firm’s knowledge intensity properly because of the existence of various forms of innovation (product, process, organizational, social) and because innovation is a subjective concept when measured by surveys. r&d investment is commonly used as a proxy to identify the focus on technological and innovative activities in an organization (singh, 2009), and, as previous research has demonstrated, there is a consistently strong correlation between r&d expenditure, patent count and the introduction of new products (yiu et al., 2007). in this research, knowledge intensity is therefore measured as a dichotomous variable which takes the value one if the firm invested in r&d over the last three years before starting internationalization and zero otherwise. the higher education variable is operationalized by the proportion of employees (including managers) with a university degree. membership of networks is measured as a binary variable that takes the value of one if the firm is member of a business association or of a chamber of commerce and zero if not. using this variable as a proxy for networks in the home country market is consistent with previous studies on emerging economies (singh, 2009). international networking through foreign ownership is measured as the share of the firm owned by private foreign individuals or companies. ! several control variables have been included in the model because their impact on internationalization has been demonstrated theoretically and early internationalization in transition economies! m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 8-30 16 2. additional information on the survey and the sampling frame is available on the world bank e n t e r p r i s e s u r v e y w e b s i t e ( h t t p : / / www.enterprisesurveys.org/methodology). empirically. firm size, expressed as the number of employees, generally has a positive impact on internationalization because entry into foreign markets requires resources that often depend largely on firm size (calof, 1994; majocchi, bacchiocchi, & mayrhofer, 2005), although its effect can be different in some specific sectors such as science-based industries (pla-barber & alegre, 2007). productivity is expressed as the ratio between sales and number of employees. indeed, following bernard, jensen & lawrence (1995), there is extensive evidence that more productive firms self-select into foreign markets (see wagner, 2007, for a literature review), because only efficient firms can bear the sunk entry costs of foreign market entry. both firm size and productivity variables are logged to reduce skewness. country, year and sector dummies are also included in all regressions to control for differences in the factors related to early firm internationalization for each country over time and by sector. there are significant differences between the countries considered in this study, in particular because, as they moved away from a command economy they followed different development trajectories and rhythms. moreover, the world economic situation changed radically over the decade under investigation. consequently, it is necessary to control for shocks in the external environment of these countries. sector dummies capture significant differences in the degree and the precocity of internationalization that may arise from sector specificities. the dataset is based on a classification of 18 sectors, including 11 manufacturing sectors and 7 services sectors1. detailed definitions of the variables are presented in table 1. ! because the primary explained variable is a dummy variable, we use a probit model to test the factors related to the probability that a firm is an inv. ! the characteristics of the firms in the sample are presented in table 2. the full sample includes 23577 firms, of which 5430 have foreign sales. these firms therefore make up 23% of the sample, which is comparable to a recent survey on the internationalization of european small and medium enterprises (smes), which found that 26% of european smes exported directly in 2009 (european commission, 2010). of this sample, 1660 firms are considered as invs, as they made at least 25% of their annual sales abroad in the first three years following their inception. the distribution across countries indicates that the average share of foreign sales for firms ranges from 23.3% in serbia to 53.9% in albania and the average share of foreign sales for invs ranges from 48.5% in serbia to 92.7% in montenegro. interestingly, the share of total sales made abroad is higher on average for invs (67.7%) than for other internationalized firms (40.6%), which could indicate that the speed of entry to foreign markets influences foreign sales performance. these figures are consistent with naudé and rossouw’s (2010) study on chinese firms. ! descriptive statistics and correlations are presented in tables 3 and 4. an examination of the correlations among the variables (table 4) shows that the explanatory variables are not highly correlated. m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 8-30! olivier lamotte & ana colovic 17 3. manufacturing sectors include food, textiles, garments, chemicals, plastics and rubber, nonmetallic mineral products, base metals, fabricated metal products, machinery and equipment, electronics, and other manufacturing. service sectors include retail, wholesale, it, hotels and restaurants, services of motor vehicles, construction, and transport. table 1. definition of the variablestable 1. definition of the variables variable name description explained variableexplained variable inv dummy variable; =1 if at least 25% of the firm’s total annual sales are realized abroad within 3 years from inception, 0 otherwise explanatory variablesexplanatory variables broadband dummy variable; =1 if the firm has a high speed broadband internet connection on its premises, 0 otherwise insecurity losses (in percentage of total annual sales) due to theft, robbery, vandalism or arson bribery share of total annual sales paid in additional payments/informal gifts to get things done with regard to customs, taxes, licenses, regulations etc. eu dummy variable; =1 if the firm is located in an eu country, 0 otherwise competition dummy variable; =1 if the firm faces competition in its main product/product line, 0 otherwise r&d dummy variable; =1 if the firm has invested in research and development (in house or outsourced) in the last three years, 0 otherwise education percentage of employees at the end of a fiscal year with a university degree business association dummy variable; =1 if the firm is a member of a business association or chamber of commerce, 0 otherwise foreign ownership share of the firm owned by private foreign individuals/companies control variablescontrol variables firm size log of size of the firm measured by the number of employees productivity log of (sales in usd/number of full time employees) country dummy variable for the countries in the survey with albania as the reference group year dummy variable for the 4 years with 2002 as the reference group sector dummy variable for the 18 sectors with food sector as the reference group all variables come from the world bank-ebrd beeps survey.all variables come from the world bank-ebrd beeps survey. early internationalization in transition economies! m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 8-30 18 table 2. characteristics of the firms in the sample by countrytable 2. characteristics of the firms in the sample by countrytable 2. characteristics of the firms in the sample by countrytable 2. characteristics of the firms in the sample by countrytable 2. characteristics of the firms in the sample by countrytable 2. characteristics of the firms in the sample by country country # of firms # of firms with foreign sales average share of foreign sales in total sales for firms with foreign sales (%) # of inv average share of foreign sales in total sales for invs (%) albania 650 146 53.86 63 79 armenia 748 113 44.19 38 75.5 azerbaijan 726 76 39.42 18 52.95 belarus 731 175 41.24 46 58.41 bosnia 680 206 38.62 45 67.32 bulgaria* 1646 470 51.41 233 74.88 croatia 1049 402 37.67 108 67.04 czech rep.* 808 232 37.24 69 56.75 estonia* 527 164 40.41 64 69.02 georgia 621 86 48.29 22 79.14 hungary* 1030 339 39.51 126 63.13 kazakhstan 1242 110 28.55 31 50.17 kyrgyz rep. 499 73 46.09 27 73.62 latvia* 541 136 42.85 49 72.78 lithuania* 580 187 41.26 69 70.45 macedonia 615 176 46.92 71 71.46 moldova 727 172 51.34 52 83.78 montenegro 149 19 24.94 3 92.66 poland* 1773 433 31.44 84 54.15 romania* 1240 238 53.47 111 74.64 russia 2013 298 26.80 59 53.47 serbia 746 238 23.26 33 48.47 slovakia* 603 206 34.98 46 74.37 slovenia* 555 274 38.15 61 56.63 tajikistan 651 70 51.15 26 75.31 ukraine 1641 307 41.36 78 61.52 uzbekistan 786 84 42.83 28 72.76 full sample 23577 5430 40.64 1660 67.75 * indicates countries that became eu members in 2004 or 2007.* indicates countries that became eu members in 2004 or 2007.* indicates countries that became eu members in 2004 or 2007.* indicates countries that became eu members in 2004 or 2007.* indicates countries that became eu members in 2004 or 2007.* indicates countries that became eu members in 2004 or 2007. table 3. descriptive statisticstable 3. descriptive statisticstable 3. descriptive statisticstable 3. descriptive statisticstable 3. descriptive statisticstable 3. descriptive statistics variable # obs. mean sd min max inv 23353 0.07 0.26 0 1 broadband 16574 0.59 0.49 0 1 insecurity 14159 0.97 3.94 0 95 bribery 14720 1.48 3.58 0 98 eu 24648 0.25 0.43 0 1 competition 17340 0.76 0.43 0 1 r&d 13805 0.30 0.46 0 1 education 20074 29.51 28.9 0 100 business association 13852 0.37 0.48 0 1 foreign ownership 23089 9.67 27.2 0 100 firm size 23462 3.29 1.60 0 9.81 productivity 17983 10.25 1.87 1.41 20.65 m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 8-30! olivier lamotte & ana colovic 19 table 4. correlation matrixtable 4. correlation matrixtable 4. correlation matrixtable 4. correlation matrixtable 4. correlation matrixtable 4. correlation matrixtable 4. correlation matrixtable 4. correlation matrixtable 4. correlation matrixtable 4. correlation matrixtable 4. correlation matrixtable 4. correlation matrixtable 4. correlation matrix (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (1) inv 1.00 (2) broadband 0.11* 1.00 (3) insecurity -0.02* -0.03* 1.00 (4) bribery -0.01 -0.06* 0.11 1.00 (5) eu 0.13* 0.23* 0.00 -0.10* 1.00 (6) competition 0.04* 0.15* 0.26* 0.07* -0.03* 1.00 (7) r&d 0.05* 0.16* 0.00 0.02 -0.11* 0.30* 1.00 (8) education -0.03* 0.12* -0.01 0.06* -0.23* 0.09* 0.10* 1.00 (9) business association 0.07* 0.22* -0.02* -0.03* 0.01 0.15* 0.18* -0.02* 1.00 (10) foreign ownership 0.19* 0.17* -0.04* -0.03* 0.01 0.09* 0.11* 0.11* 0.09* 1.00 (11) firm size 0.12* 0.26* -0.01 -0.04* -0.01* 0.16* 0.29* -0.14* 0.27* 0.17* 1.00 (12) productivity 0.07* 0.26* 0.00 -0.03* 0.20* 0.07* -0.07* -0.08* 0.19* 0.05* 0.05* 1.00 * indicates parameter significance at the 1% level.* indicates parameter significance at the 1% level.* indicates parameter significance at the 1% level.* indicates parameter significance at the 1% level.* indicates parameter significance at the 1% level.* indicates parameter significance at the 1% level.* indicates parameter significance at the 1% level.* indicates parameter significance at the 1% level.* indicates parameter significance at the 1% level.* indicates parameter significance at the 1% level.* indicates parameter significance at the 1% level.* indicates parameter significance at the 1% level.* indicates parameter significance at the 1% level. results ! regression results are presented in table 5. in column (1), the estimation includes only the control variables; in column (2), we include the explanatory variables to test the hypotheses on the full sample, and in column (3), we drop foreign-owned private firms from the sample to check the robustness of our results on domestic firms only. in accordance with hoetker (2007), we report mcfadden’s and mckelvey & zavoina’s pseudo-r2, which conform to comparable empirical studies with similar data. however, pseudo-r2 in probit estimations cannot be interpreted as r2 in ols because they do not correspond to the percentage of variance explained (hoetker, 2007). all estimated coefficients on the dependent variables are significant at the 10% level except bribery. this indicates that several factors play a role in the probability that a firm will internationalize early. to facilitate interpretation of the results, we compute the marginal values of the probit estimates of our baseline estimation. ! access to ict infrastructure positively affects the probability that a firm will internationalize at or near inception, confirming hypothesis 1. the marginal effects indicate that, ceteris paribus, having access to a high speed broadband internet connection increases the probability that a firm will internationalize early by 1.6%. the effect of insecurity on the internationalization of new ventures is also in line with the theoretical literature as it predicts that a 1% increase in losses due to theft, robbery, vandalism or arson leads to a 0.2% decrease in the probability that a firm will internationalize early. hypothesis 2 is therefore validated. in contrast, this research identifies no effect of bribery on the internationalization behavior of new firms, which refutes hypothesis 3. this result does not imply that bribery has no effect on the internationalization of firms in general, only that it neither drives nor impedes early internationalization of new ventures in transition countries. it is also shown that being located in an eu country raises the probability that a firm will start internationalizing from inception. early internationalization in transition economies! m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 8-30 20 4. joining the eu may have an impact several years before membership because, during the accession process, several changes occur at the country level that may affect firms. for this reason, we lagged the eu variable for up to three years in unreported robustness checks. the results were robust to these changes. table 5. probit regression resultstable 5. probit regression resultstable 5. probit regression resultstable 5. probit regression results (1) (2) (3) broadband 0.2870*** 0.2297*** (0.0970) (0.1077) insecurity -0.0405** -0.0374* (0.0237) (0.0244) bribery 0.1369 0.0172 (0.0430) (0.0501) eu 0.3520** 0.0836* (0.1893) (0.2185) competition 0.2760*** 0.2955*** (0.0884) (0.0979) r&d -0.1581* -0.0340 (0.0956) (0.1033) education 0.0026*** 0.0035*** (0.0013) (0.0015) network 0.1817*** 0.2465*** (0.0743) (0.0842) foreign ownership 0.0995*** (0.0204) firm size 0.1406*** 0.0658*** 0.0813*** (0.096) (0.0237) (0.0275) productivity 0.0248*** 0.1117*** 0.1678*** (0.0116) (0.0466) (0.0553) constant -1.9114 -3.9377 -4.6732 0.3164 (0.6624) (0.7961) country dummies yes yes yes year dummies yes yes yes sector dummies yes yes yes # obs. 17867 5129 4499 wald chi squ. 1174 337.29 263.48 log likelihood -3901.63 -841.99 -641.96 mcfadden’s r2 0.199 0.172 0.165 mckelvey & zavoina’s r2 0.346 0.306 0.297 aic 0.443 0.353 0.313 bic -166598.67 -41584.61 -36029.983 models 1-3 report the results for probit estimations using the robust estimator of variance. all models are based on the 2002, 2005, 2007 and 2009 pooled data. coefficients on country, year and sector dummies are not reported. standard errors appear in parentheses. ***, ** and * indicate parameter significance at the 1%, 5% and 10% levels, respectively. models 1-3 report the results for probit estimations using the robust estimator of variance. all models are based on the 2002, 2005, 2007 and 2009 pooled data. coefficients on country, year and sector dummies are not reported. standard errors appear in parentheses. ***, ** and * indicate parameter significance at the 1%, 5% and 10% levels, respectively. models 1-3 report the results for probit estimations using the robust estimator of variance. all models are based on the 2002, 2005, 2007 and 2009 pooled data. coefficients on country, year and sector dummies are not reported. standard errors appear in parentheses. ***, ** and * indicate parameter significance at the 1%, 5% and 10% levels, respectively. models 1-3 report the results for probit estimations using the robust estimator of variance. all models are based on the 2002, 2005, 2007 and 2009 pooled data. coefficients on country, year and sector dummies are not reported. standard errors appear in parentheses. ***, ** and * indicate parameter significance at the 1%, 5% and 10% levels, respectively. ! hypothesis 4 is therefore validated. the result on the eu variable indicates that the probability that a new venture will internationalize within three years after inception is 0.02% higher for firms located in eu countries4.. ! the findings indicate that industry conditions, and specifically the competitive environment, do affect early internationalization, confirming hypothesis 5. the marginal effects indicate that competition in the industry increases the probability that a firm will internationalize early by 1.5%. ! our results indicate that all firmand entrepreneur-level factors affect the internationalization of young firms. surprisingly, the estimated coefficient of the r&d variable is significantly negative (the opposite of what was predicted), indicating that knowledge intensive firms in transition countries are less likely to internationalize at or near inception. as shown in column (3), the estimated coefficient is no longer significant when the sample is limited to domestic firms, in other words, when foreign-owned companies are excluded. hypothesis 6 is thus refuted. as far as the other firm and entrepreneur-related variables are concerned, the results are as expected: hypotheses 7, 8 and 9 are validated. the m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 8-30! olivier lamotte & ana colovic 21 effect of education level on the probability of early internationalization is positive: the marginal effect indicates that a 1% increase in the number of employees with a university degree increases the probability that a new firm will internationalize within three years from inception by 0.01%. networks, both domestic and international, also play an important role in the early internationalization of new ventures. ceteris paribus, being a member of a business association or a chamber of commerce increases the probability of internationalizing within three years after inception by 1.1%. similarly, a 1% increase in the share of foreign ownership in a new venture increases the probability that it will internationalize rapidly by 0.6%. ! firm-specific control variables are also significant and in line with the literature. the estimated coefficients of firm size and productivity are positive, indicating that entry into foreign markets requires resources that often depend largely on firm size, and that more productive firms are more likely to start international operations soon after inception. these results are reported in table 5. the results in column (3), based on the sub-sample of domestic firms, largely confirm the results of our baseline estimation (column 2). a summary of the results is provided in table 6. table 6. summary of the resultstable 6. summary of the results h1. in transition economies, access to ict infrastructure is positively related to the probability that a firm will internationalize at or near inception. validated h2. in transition economies, insecurity is negatively related to the probability that a firm will internationalize at or near inception. validated h3. in transition economies, bribery is negatively related to the probability that a firm will internationalize at or near inception. refuted h4. being located in a country that is a member of the eu is positively related to the probability that a firm will internationalize at or near inception. validated h5. in transition economies, industry competition is positively related to the probability that a firm will internationalize at or near inception. validated h6. in transition economies, knowledge-intensive new ventures are more likely to internationalize at or near inception. refuted h7. in transition economies, high education levels for the entrepreneur and other employees in the firm are positively related to the probability that a firm will internationalize at or near inception. validated h8. in transition economies, involvement in networks in the home country is positively related to the probability that a firm will internationalize at or near inception. validated h9. in transition economies, international networks developed through foreign ownership are positively related to the probability that a firm will internationalize at or near inception. validated discussion ! the purpose of this research was to develop better understanding of invs from emerging economies. we adopted a multi-level approach and examined how factors at environment, industry, firm and entrepreneur levels influence early internationalization of new ventures in transition countries. regarding the environment, our results highlight the importance of access to ict, and in particular the internet in the early internationalization of new ventures. indeed, ict can facilitate access to foreign market information, clients, and opportunities, and it reduces the liabilities of newness and foreignness of new ventures. this implies that ict serves as a backbone for internationalization, and early internationalization in transition economies! m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 8-30 22 that it is a prerequisite for competing internationally. this result is in line with previous research studying the relationship between the new technologies and firm internationalization (etemad et al., 2010; loane, 2006). as etemad et al. argue, “internetization is evolving to encompass internationalization with richer values and faster speed than before by higher reliance on internet-assisted technologies and processes, without which the modern competitive international production and commerce would remain relatively ineffective, if not impossible” (2010: 339). ! in this research, we also analyzed the influence of the institutional environment in transition economies on early internationalization. while our findings suggest that bribing public officials has no influence on the early internationalization of new ventures, we show that the pace at which new ventures expand internationally is constrained by insecurity. this finding implies that the lack of rule of law in transition economies hampers firms’ international development, and is consistent with previous research focusing on the impact of a weak institutional environment on entrepreneurial behavior (aidis et al., 2008, 2012). we also find support for the fact that being located in an eu country improves the chances of early internationalization, suggesting the positive impact of institutional changes triggered by eu accession. our study therefore highlights the importance of incorporating the institutional component into traditional inv theory. ! at industry level, not surprisingly, our findings support the view that competition in the domestic market stimulates early internationalization, as suggested by oviatt & mcdougall (2005). indeed, competition in the domestic market might trigger the search for opportunities elsewhere. ! our findings also demonstrate that several firm and entrepreneur-related factors affect early internationalization in transition economies. in particular, they highlight the importance of the level of education of the entrepreneur and the employees, and of home country and international networks in facilitating internationalization. we provide evidence that a more educated staff constitutes a significant advantage for early internationalization. previous studies have analyzed the role of the education level of the entrepreneur in early new venture internationalization, but the results had not been conclusive thus far. zucchella et al. (2007), for example, find no link between the entrepreneur’s education level and early internationalization. in our study, we broaden the analysis of education level as a factor related to invs by expanding our analysis to all the employees in the firm. indeed, one can argue that a lower level of education for the entrepreneur could be compensated by a higher level of education for the staff. this then suggests that what is important for early internationalization is a higher level of education for the firm as a whole. beyond its impact on productivity, higher education levels provide the workforce with the necessary skills to reach out to foreign markets, such as open-mindedness, adaptability, proficiency in languages, and the ability to collect and analyze foreign market information and understand the expectations of foreign partners. ! our findings also highlight the importance of network relationships, which can be regarded as a means to overcome the obstacles linked with “institutional voids” in transition economies, resulting from underdeveloped and/or ambiguous institutional frameworks. the role of networks has been widely documented in the internationalization literature (e.g. bruton et al., 2010; coviello & munro, 1995; sharma & blomstermo, 2003; singh, 2009; zahra et al., 2000). however, it can be argued that the importance of informal network relationships might gradually decline as formal market institutions continue to develop with the transition from a planned to a market economy (peng, 2003). future studies using longitudinal data should therefore investigate this issue further. ! contrary to our prediction, our findings indicate that a firm’s knowledge intensity, measured by investment in r&d, is negatively related to the likelihood m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 8-30! olivier lamotte & ana colovic 23 that it will internationalize from inception. this is the most surprising result of our study as it runs contrary to the large body of literature on invs arguing that knowledge-based firms start internationalizing earlier than their counterparts do. although our data does not allow us to provide a precise explanation for this result, a plausible explanation might be that it takes longer to get a return on investment in r&d in transition countries and that the delayed entry into foreign markets might be the consequence of this fact. this is consistent with the findings of lamotte & colovic (2013), who show that innovation has less impact on internationalization of new ventures in low-income countries than in high-income countries. this might be due to the type or the quality of r&d conducted in firms from transition countries, which may not allow fast entry to foreign markets, as is the case in mature economies. ! from a theoretical standpoint, our study extends the literature on invs by examining early internationalization as a complex phenomenon influenced by country-level, industry-level and firm-level features. we have developed a comprehensive framework drawing on the traditional perspective of invs, on the literature on emerging economies, and on the entrepreneurship and internationalization literature. building an original model suited for emerging market invs therefore constitutes the core contribution of our study. furthermore, a particular contribution of this research is its focus on the neglected topic of invs in transition economies. these emerging economies exhibit several specific features linked with the transition from centrally-planned to market economy. we used rich firm-level data from 27 transition economies to test predictions about the early internationalization of new ventures, which increases the generalizability of our findings. ! however, despite its contributions, this research is not without limitations, which also indicate directions for future research. first, the factors explored in our study are constrained by the characteristics of the data collected during the survey. more detailed responses concerning the firms’ competitive environment or the entrepreneurs’ characteristics would have been very useful to deepen our understanding of factors related to the early internationalization of new ventures. second, as reforms aimed at transforming transition economies differ widely across countries, a more detailed analysis of the impact of the transition process on firms’ internationalization would constitute an interesting research direction. indeed, some studies have been conducted on the impact of structural reforms on entrepreneurship (aidis, 2005b; aidis et al., 2008) but none of them have focused on the internationalization of new ventures. more specifically, further research on the role of the different dimensions of eu membership in the performance of young firms would be useful, in particular in terms of policy issues. in addition, it would be meaningful to look into groups of similar countries and analyze outliers in order to deepen the analysis of differences as well as similarities between different transition economies. third, this research highlights the influence of foreign ownership on the internationalization speed of new ventures. this opens up research avenues on the interactions between foreign capital and new ventures in transition countries and, more generally, in emerging countries. fourth, the underlying hypothesis of our work is that institutional pressures affect entrepreneurial behavior, in line with the institution-based view which has frequently been used in research on emerging markets. however, it can also be argued that entrepreneurial behavior can affect institutions, by triggering institutional change (welter & smallbone, 2011). oliver (1991) distinguishes five types of behavioral response to the institutional framework: conformity or acquiescence, compromise, avoidance, defiance, and manipulation. while conformity and compromise acknowledge the existing institutional framework, avoidance, defiance, and manipulation reflect, to differing degrees, nonconformity in relation to the prevailing institutions. further research should expand the understanding developed in this study by examining how early internationalization in transition economies! m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 8-30 24 entrepreneurs’ responses to the existing institutional framework shape the internationalization of new ventures in emerging economies. last, but not least, analyzing the role of r&d expenses in internationalization with a more precise measure for these expenses would be interesting to develop, as it is possible that r&d expenses have a significant effect on internationalization above a certain threshold level. concluding remarks ! international new ventures play a fundamental role in the economic development of emerging countries. expanding our understanding of the factors that affect the emergence of such firms is therefore critical. more importantly, it is essential to build and test frameworks that take into account the elements of the context in which these firms operate (kiss et al., 2012). furthermore, there is a need to question whether existing frameworks, which are designed for developed markets, can explain the internationalization strategies of firms in emerging markets. this research is an attempt to contribute to the literature in this sense. our study has several fundamental policy and managerial implications. as far as policy implications are concerned, our findings suggest that creating a favorable environment for young firms is essential to improving their prospects for internationalization and competitiveness. in the sample of firms under investigation in this research, eu-located new ventures demonstrate much better performance in terms of internationalization. this implies that structural reforms aimed at facilitating the movement of goods, services, capital, and people, and at creating opportunities for international development play a significant role in the performance of new ventures. moreover, a strong commitment to fight insecurity in everyday business practices is necessary to stimulate the development of young entrepreneurial firms. our study also implies that facilitating foreign participation in the capital of young ventures, the creation of joint ventures between domestic and foreign firms, and, more generally, interaction between firms would greatly benefit domestic firms in emerging economies. indeed, such measures would allow ventures from emerging countries to benefit from spillovers in terms of knowhow, technology, and access to networks, which could significantly improve their performance. ! concerning managerial implications, our study highlights the importance of education, for both owners and employees, in increasing the likelihood of early internationalization. this suggests that business owners should invest in training programs and in upgrading the competences and skills of their employees. we also find that involvement in networks positively affects the early internationalization of young firms from emerging countries. openness both to the local surrounding environment and to international linkages should therefore be aimed for in order to increase the likelihood of early international expansion. references ahlstrom d.  & bruton g.d. (2002). an institutional perspective on the role of culture in shaping strategic actions by technology-focused entrepreneurial firms in china. entrepreneurship theory and practice, 26(4), 53-70. aidis r. (2005a). entrepreneurship in transition countries: a review. csesce working paper 61, university college london. aidis r. (2005b). institutional barriers to small-and medium-sized enterprise operations in transition countries. small business economics, 25(4), 305-317. aidis r., estrin s. & mickiewicz t. (2008). institutions and e n t r e p r e n e u r s h i p d e v e l o p m e n t i n r u s s i a : a comparative perspective. journal of business venturing, 23(6), 656–672. aidis r., estrin s. & mickiewicz t. (2012). size matters: entrepreneurial entry and government. small business economics, 35(1), 119-139. m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 8-30! olivier lamotte & ana colovic 25 anderson j.e. & marcouiller d. (2002). insecurity and the pattern of trade: an empirical investigation. the review of economics and statistics, 84(2), 342-352. andersson s. (2000). internationalization of the firm from an entrepreneurial perspective. international studies of management and organization, 30(1), 63-92. a n d e r s s o n s . & w i c t o r i . ( 2 0 0 3 ) . i n n o v a t i v e internationalisation in new firms: born globals – the s w e d i s h c a s e . j o u r n a l o f i n t e r n a t i o n a l entrepreneurship, 1(3), 249-276. andersson u., forsgren m. & holm u. (2002). the strategic impact of external networks: subsidiary performance and competence development in the multinational corporation. strategic management journal, 23(11), 979-996. aspelund a. madsen t.k. & moen ø. (2007). a review of the foundation, international marketing strategies, and performance of international new ventures. european journal of marketing, 41(11/12), 1423-1448. autio e., sapienza h.j. & almeida j.g. (2000). effects of age at entry, knowledge intensity, and imitability on international growth. academy of management journal, 43(5), 909–924. baumol w.j.., litan r.e. & schramm, c.j. (2009). good capitalism, bad capitalism, and the economics of growth and prosperity. new haven, ct: yale university press. bernard a.b., jensen j.b. & lawrence r.z. (1995). exporters, jobs, and wages in us manufacturing: 1976-1987. brookings papers on economic activity. microeconomics, 67-119. boermans m.a. & roelfsema h. (2012). the effects of internationalization on innovation: firm-level evidence for transition economies. available at ssrn 2026431. bruton g.d., ahlstrom d. & li, h.l. (2010). institutional theory and entrepreneurship: where are we now and where do we need to move in the future?. entrepreneurship theory and practice, 34(3), 421-440. b r u t o n g . d . , a h l s t r o m d . & o b l o j k . ( 2 0 0 8 ) . entrepreneurship in emerging economies: where we are today and where should the research go in the future. entrepreneurship theory and practice, 32(1), 1-14. calof j.l. (1994). the relationship between firm size and export behavior revisited. journal of international business studies, 25(2), 367-387. cannone g. & ughetto e. (2014). born globals: a crosscountry survey on high-tech start-ups. international business review, 23(1), 272-283. c h e t t y s . & b l a n k e n b u r g h o l m d . ( 2 0 0 0 ) . internationalisation of small to medium-sized m a n u f a c t u r i n g f i r m s : a n e t w o r k a p p r o a c h . international business review, 9(1), 77-93. chetty s. & campbell-hunt c. (2004). a strategic approach to internationalization: a traditional versus a born global approach. journal of international marketing, 12(1), 57-81. c i e s l i k j . & k a c i a k e . ( 2 0 0 9 ) . t h e s p e e d o f internationalization of entrepreneurial start-ups in a transition environment. journal of developmental entrepreneurship, 14(4), 375-392. colovic a. & lamotte o. (2014). the role of formal industry clusters in the internationalization of new ventures. european business review, 26(5), 449-470. c o v i e l l o n . & m u n r o h . ( 1 9 9 5 ) . g r o w i n g t h e entrepreneurial firm: networking for international market development. european journal of marketing, 29(7), 49-61. coviello n. & munro h. (1997). network relationships and the internationalisation process of small software firms. international business review, 6(4), 361-368. cukor p. & mcknight l. w. (2001). knowledge networks, the internet, and development. mit sloan working paper no 4193-01, mit, cambridge, ma. cumming d. & johan s. (2010). the differential impact of the internet on spurring regional entrepreneurship. entrepreneurship theory and practice, 34(5), 857-883. dabic m., gonzales-loureiro m. & furrer o. (2014). research on the strategy of multinational enterprises: key approaches and new avenues. business research quarterly, 17(2), 129-148. danis w.m. & shipilov a.v. (2002). a comparison of e n t r e p r e n e u r s h i p d e v e l o p m e n t i n tw o p o s t communist countries: the cases of hungary and ukraine. journal of developmental entrepreneurship, 7(1), 67-94. de rosa d., gooroochurn n. & görg h. (2010). corruption and productivity. firm-level evidence from the beeps survey (no. 5348). policy research working paper, the world bank. dutt p. & traca d. (2010). corruption and bilateral trade flows: extortion or evasion?, the review of economics and statistics, 92(4), 843-860. estrin s., korosteleva j. & mickiewicz t. (2013), which institutions encourage entrepreneurial growth aspirations?. journal of business venturing, 28(4), 564-580. european commission (2010). internationalization of european smes. brussels: european commission. etemad h., wilkinson i. & dana l.p. (2010). internetization as the necessary condition for internationalization in the newly emerging economy. journal of international entrepreneurship, 8(4), 319-342. e v e r s n . ( 2 0 1 0 ) . f a c t o r s i n fl u e n c i n g t h e internationalisation of new ventures in the irish aquaculture industry: an exploratory study. journal of international entrepreneurship, 8(4), 392-416. evers n. (2011). why do new ventures internationalise? a review of the literature of factors that influence new ve n t u r e i n t e r n a t i o n a l i s a t i o n . i r i s h j o u r n a l o f management, 30(2), 17-46. feldman m.p. (2002). the internet revolution and the geography of innovation. international social science journal, 54(171), 47-56. filatotchev i., stephan j. & jindra b. (2008). ownership structure, strategic controls and export intensity of foreign-invested firms in transition economies. journal of international business studies, 39(7), 1133-1148. freeman s., edwards r. & shroder b. (2006). how smaller born-global firms use networks and alliances to overcome constraints to rapid internationalization. journal of international marketing, 14(3), 33-63. friedman t. l. (2005). the world is flat: a brief history of the twenty-first century. new york, ny: farrar, straus and giroux. early internationalization in transition economies! m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 8-30 26 gashi p., hashi i. & pugh g. (2014). export behaviour of smes in transition countries. small business economics, 42(2), 407-435. gao g.y., murray j.y., kotabe m. & lu j. (2010). a “strategy tripod” perspective on export behaviors: evidence from domestic and foreign firms based in an emerging economy. journal of international business studies, 41(3), 377-396. gelbuda, m., meyer, k.e. & delios, a. (2008). international business and institutional development in central and eastern europe. journal of international management, 14(1), 1-11. gorodnichenko y. & schnitzer m. (2013). financial constraints and innovation: why poor countries don’t catch up. journal of the european economic association, 11(5), 1115-1152. gorodnichenko y., svejnar j. & terrell k. (2010). globalization and innovation in emerging markets. american economic journal: macroeconomics, 2(2), 194-226. hoetker g. (2007). the use of logit and probit models in strategic management research: critical issues. strategic management journal, 28(4), 331-343. hoskisson, r.e., eden, l., lau, c.m. & wright m. (2000). strategy in emerging economies. academy of management journal, 43(3), 249-267. ito k. & pucik v. (1993). r&d spending, domestic competition and export performance of japanese manufacturing firms. strategic management journal, 14(1), 61–75. johanson j. & vahlne j.e. (1977). the internationalization process of the firm a model of knowledge d e v e l o p m e n t a n d i n c r e a s i n g f o r e i g n m a r k e t commitments. journal of international business studies, 8(1), 23-32. johnson j.e. (2004). factors influencing the early internationalization of high technology start-ups: us a n d u k e v i d e n c e . j o u r n a l o f i n t e r n a t i o n a l entrepreneurship, 2(1-2), 139–154. jones m., coviello n. & tang y. k. (2011). international entrepreneurship research (1989-2009): a domain ontology and thematic analysis. journal of business venturing, 26(6), 632-659. ketkar s. & acs z.j. (2013). where angels fear to tread: internationalization of emerging country smes. journal of international entrepreneurship, 11(3), 201-219. keupp m.m. & gassman, o. (2009). the past and the future of international entrepreneurship: a review and suggestions for developing the field. journal of management, 35(3), 600-633. kiss a.n., danis w.m. & cavusgil s.t. (2012). international entrepreneurship research in emerging economies: a critical review and research agenda. journal of business venturing, 27(2), 266-190. khanna t. & palepu k.g. (2010). winning in emerging markets: a road map for strategy and execution. boston, ma: harvard business press. knight g. & cavusgil s.t. (1996). the born global firm: a challenge to traditional internationalization theory. advances in international marketing, 8, 11–26. kuivalainen o., sundquist s. & servais p. (2007). firms’ d e g r e e o f b o r n g l o b a l n e s s , i n t e r n a t i o n a l entrepreneurial orientation and export performance. journal of world business, 42(3), 253-267. lamotte o. & colovic a. (2013). innovation and internationalization of young entrepreneurial firms. management international, 18(1), 87-103. li j. (2013). the internationalization of entrepreneurial firms from emerging economies: the roles of institutional transitions and market opportunities. journal of international entrepreneurship, 11(2), 158-171. lipuma, j.a., newbert, s.l. & doh, j.p. (2013). the effect of institutional quality on firm export performance in emerging economies: a contingency model of firm age and size. small business economics, 40(4), 817-841. loane s. (2006). the role of the internet in the internationalisation of small and medium-sized companies. journal of international entrepreneurship, 3(4), 263-277. lu j. & beamish p. (2001). the internationalization and performance of smes. strategic management journal, 22(6/7), 565-586. lu j. & beamish p. (2006). partnering strategies and performance of smes’ international joint ventures. journal of business venturing, 21(4), 461-486. luo y. & tung r. (2007). international expansion of emerging market enterprises: a springboard perspective. journal of international business studies, 38(4), 481-498. madsen t.k. & servais p. (1997). the internationalization o f b o r n g l o b a l s : a n e v o l u t i o n a r y p r o c e s s ? . international business review, 6(6), 561-183. majocchi a., bacchiocchi e. & mayrhofer u. (2005). firm size, business experience and export intensity in s m e s : a l o n g i t u d i n a l a p p r o a c h t o c o m p l e x relationships. international business review, 14(6), 719-738. manev i.m. & manolova t.s. (2010). entrepreneurship in transitional economies: review and integration of two decades of research. journal of developmental entrepreneurship, 15(1), 69-99. manolova t., eunni r.v. & gyoshev b. (2008). institutional environments for entrepreneurship: evidence from e m e r g i n g e c o n o m i e s i n e a s t e r n e u r o p e . entrepreneurship theory and practice, 13(1), 203-218. meyer k.e., estrin s., bhaumik s.k. & peng m.w. (2009). institutions, resources and entry strategies in emerging economies. strategic management journal, 30(1), 61-80. mudambi r. & zahra s.a. (2007). the survival of international new ventures. journal of international business studies, 38(2), 333-352. naudé w. & rossouw s. (2010). early international entrepreneurship in china: extent and determinants. journal of international entrepreneurship, 8(1), 87-111. nonaka i. & takeuchi h. (1995). the knowledge-creating company. new york, ny: oxford university press. north d. (1990). institutions, institutional change and economic performance. new york, ny: norton. oliver c. (1991). strategic responses to institutional processes. academy of management review, 16(1), 145-179. oviatt b.m. & mcdougall, p.p. (1994). toward a theory of international new ventures. journal of international business studies, 25(1), 45-64. m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 8-30! olivier lamotte & ana colovic 27 oviatt b.m. & mcdougall p.p. (1995). global start-ups: entrepreneurs on a worldwide stage. academy of management executive, 9(2), 30-44. oviatt b. & mcdougall, p. (1997). challenges for internationalization process theory: the case of international new ventures. management international review, 37(2), 85-99. oviatt b.m. & mcdougall, p.p. (2005). defining international entrepreneurship and modeling the speed of internationalization. entrepreneurship theory and practice, 29(5), 537-554. peng m.w. (2001). how entrepreneurs create wealth in transition economies. academy of management executive, 15(4), 24-38. peng m.w. (2003). institutional transitions and strategic choices. academy of management review, 28(2), 275-296. peng m.w., wang d.y.l. & jiang y. (2008). an institutionbased view of international business strategy: a f o c u s o n e m e r g i n g e c o n o m i e s . j o u r n a l o f international business studies, 39(5), 920-936. pla-barber j. & alegre j. (2007). analysing the link between export intensity, innovation and firm size in a science-based industry. international business review, 16(3), 275-293. presutti m., boan c. & fratocchi l. (2007). knowledge acquisition and the foreign development of high-tech start-ups: a social capital approach. international business review, 16(1), 23-46. rialp a., rialp j. & knight g. a. (2005). the phenomenon of early internationalizing firms: what do we know after a decade (1993–2003) of scientific enquiry?. international business review, 14(2), 147–166. scott w.r. (1995). institutions and organizations. thousand oaks, ca: sage. servais p., madsen t.k. & rasmussen, e.s. (2007). small manufacturing firm’s involvement in international ebusiness activities. advances in international marketing, 17, 297–317. s h a r m a d . d . & b l o m s t e r m o a . ( 2 0 0 3 ) . t h e internationalization process of born globals: a network view. international business review, 12(6), 739-753. shirokova g.v. & tsukanova t.v. (2012). vlijanie natsionalnoy institsutsionalnoy sredi na stepen internatsionalizatsii firm malogo i srednego biznesa iz stran s perekhodnimi ekonomikami. (the influence of national institutional environment on the degree of internationalization of small and medium businesses from economies in transition), vestnik sanktpeterburgskogo universiteta, 1, 26–51. shirokova g. & mcdougall-covin p. (2012). the role of s o c i a l n e t w o r k s a n d i n s t i t u t i o n s i n t h e internationalization of russian entrepreneurial firms: d o t h e y m a t t e r ? . j o u r n a l o f i n t e r n a t i o n a l entrepreneurship, 10(3), 177-199. singh d.a. (2009). export performance of emerging market firms. international business review, 18(4), 321-330. smallbone d. & welter f. (2001). the distinctiveness of entrepreneurship in transition economies. small business economics, 16(4), 249-262. smallbone d. & welter f. (2006). conceptualizing entrepreneurship in a transition context. international journal of entrepreneurship and small business, 3(2), 190-206. smallbone d. & welter f. (2012). entrepreneurship and institutional change in transition economies: the commonwealth of independent states, central and e a s t e r n e u r o p e a n d c h i n a c o m p a r e d . entrepreneurship & regional development, 24(3-4), 215-233. szyliowicz d. & galvin t. (2010). applying broader strokes: extending institutional perspectives and agendas for international entrepreneurship research. international business review, 19(4), 317-332. tominc p. & rebernik m. (2007). growth aspirations and cultural support for entrepreneurship: a comparison of post-socialist countries. small business economics, 28(2/3), 239-255. tonoyan v., strohmeyer r., habib m. & perlitz m. (2010). corruption and entrepreneurship: how formal and informal institutions shape small firm behavior in t r a n s i t i o n a n d m a t u r e m a r k e t e c o n o m i e s . entrepreneurship theory and practice, 34(5), 803-831. tsukanova t. & shirokova g. (2012). internationalization propensity of smes through integrative lens: evidence from russia. research portal of small business advancement national center, university of central arkansas. accessed may 3, 2014. (http:// s b a e r. u c a . e d u / r e s e a r c h / i c s b / 2 0 1 2 / ts u k a n o v a %20227.pdf.) volchek d., jantunen a. & saarenketo s. (2013). the i n s t i t u t i o n a l e n v i r o n m e n t f o r i n t e r n a t i o n a l entrepreneurship in russia: reflections on growth decisions and performance in smes. journal of international entrepreneurship, 11(4), 320-350. wagner j. (2007). exports and productivity: a survey of the evidence from firm‐level data. the world economy, 30(1), 60-82. welter f. & smallbone d. (2011). institutional perspectives o n e n t r e p r e n e u r i a l b e h a v i o r i n c h a l l e n g i n g environments. journal of small business management, 49(1), 107-125. yamakawa y.s., khavul s., peng m.w. & deeds d.l. (2013). venturing from emerging economies. strategic entrepreneurship journal, 7(3), 181-196. yamakawa y., peng m.w. & deeds d.l. (2008). what drives new ventures to internationalize from emerging to developed economies?. entrepreneurship theory and practice, 32(1), 59-82. yiu d.w., lau c.m. & bruton g.d. (2007). international venturing by emerging economy firms: the effects of firm capabilities, home country networks, and corporate entrepreneurship. journal of international business studies, 38(4), 519-540. zahra s.a., ireland r.d. & hitt m.a. (2000). international expansion by new venture firms: international diversity, mode of market entry, technological learning, and performance. academy of management journal, 43(5), 925-950. zhou l. (2007). the effects of entrepreneurial proclivity a n d f o r e i g n m a r k e t k n o w l e d g e o n e a r l y internationalization. journal of world business, 42(3), 281-293. zhou l., wu w.p. & luo x. (2007). internationalization and the performance of born-global smes: the mediating role of social networks. journal of international business studies, 38(4), 673-690. zucchella a., palamara g. & denicolai s. (2007). the drivers of the early internationalization of the firm. journal of world business, 42(2), 268-280. early internationalization in transition economies! m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 8-30 28 http://sbaer.uca.edu/research/icsb/2012/tsukanova%20227.pdf http://sbaer.uca.edu/research/icsb/2012/tsukanova%20227.pdf http://sbaer.uca.edu/research/icsb/2012/tsukanova%20227.pdf http://sbaer.uca.edu/research/icsb/2012/tsukanova%20227.pdf http://sbaer.uca.edu/research/icsb/2012/tsukanova%20227.pdf http://sbaer.uca.edu/research/icsb/2012/tsukanova%20227.pdf m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 8-30! olivier lamotte & ana colovic 29 olivier lamotte, phd from the university of paris 1 panthéon sorbonne, is associate professor at paris school of business (psb), where he is in charge of the economic and financial performances research group. his teaching and research activities concern international business, international economics and innovation. his research focuses on internationalization strategies, international new ventures and transition and emerging economies. ana colovic is associate professor of strategy and international business at neoma business school, france. she holds a phd from the university paris dauphine and an hdr (habilitation à diriger des recherches) from university lyon 3. her research interests include japanese firms and their strategies, industrial clusters, inter-firm networks, international new ventures and internationalization of emerging market firms. acknowledgements. the authors would like to thank the guest editors and three anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments and suggestions on previous versions of the article. we are also very grateful to mark holdsworth, philippe very and participants at the 4th annual conference of atlas – association francophone de management international, held in marseille in may 2014. © the author(s) www.management-aims.com early internationalization and transition economies! m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 8-30 30 283 christian lechner & sveinn vidar gudmundsson m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 282-312 copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). m@n@gement is a double-blind refereed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.management-aims.com © 2012 m@n@gement and the author(s). m@n@gement est la revue officielle de l’aims m@n@gement is the journal official of aims christian lechner 2012 sveinn vidar gudmundsson superior value creation in sports teams: resources and managerial experience m@n@gement, 15(3), 283-312. m@n@gement issn: 1286-4692 emmanuel josserand, hec, université de genève (editor in chief) jean-luc arrègle, emlyon business school (editor) laure cabantous, warwick business school (editor) stewart clegg, university of technology, sydney (editor) olivier germain, université du québec à montréal (editor, book reviews) karim mignonac, université de toulouse 1 (editor) philippe monin, emlyon business school (editor) tyrone pitsis, university of newcastle (editor) josé pla-barber, universidad de valència (editor) michael tushman, harvard business school (editor) florence villesèche, hec, université de genève (managing editor) walid shibbib, université de genève (editorial assistant) martin g. evans, university of toronto (editor emeritus) bernard forgues, emlyon business school (editor emeritus) 284 superior value creation in sports teams: resources and managerial experience m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 282-312 superior value creation in sports teams: resources and managerial experience christian lechner sveinn vidar gudmundsson abstract resource-based research sustains that organisations (and thus teams) create value through internally developed and complementary acquired resources, through the management of resources and the development of routines. in this study, we advance the understanding of the impact of resources and capabilities by investigating the role of moderators on the key factors of team performance and address the question of when the whole is more than the sum of its parts. we develop and test hypotheses as to how managerial experience helps to foster the development of internal resources and group routines, to extract more value from bought resources, how internally developed resources reinforce group routines and how financial resources influence group routines, the acquisition of resources and the development of internal resources. data consisted of 270 observations from european professional football leagues over a five-year period. the results confirm that the edifice of competitive advantage is based on a complex resource bundle based on non-obvious interactions between its elements. the complex inter-linkages, reinforcing effects and trade-offs between resources require non-obvious decisions regarding their employment and are best understood by experienced managers. key words: resource-based view, teams, competitive advantage, group routines, managerial experience, resource trade-offs toulouse business school c.lechner@esc-toulouse.fr toulouse business school s.gudmundsson@esc-toulouse.fr 285 christian lechner & sveinn vidar gudmundsson m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 282-312 introduction “the whole is more than the sum of its parts” is a typical saying linked to successful (sports) teams (katzenbach & smith, 1993). while research on sports teams suggests that ability and coordination play a particular role in understanding team performance (wolfe et al., 2005), it also appears that the true value of individual ability is not obvious: “if general managers really were perfect judges of talent, there would be no need to play the league schedule to determine the league champion – we’d simply award the title to the team with the highest payroll” (quirk & fort, 1999: 85). the two quotes indicate that neither the identification of individual abilities nor the management of individual abilities to form a successful sports team are trivial tasks. moreover, the focus on only the direct effects of isolated resources on team performance that has characterized sports research rooted in an economics tradition reduces team performance to the sum of individual contributions. sports teams are a particular representation of ‘performance’ teams understood as teams that are responsible for the main product or service of an organization: the main product is a ‘performance’ (crown, 2000) such as a stage play, a concert or a game in sports. in line with tradition in research on teams (see for a discussion e.g. cohen & bailey, 1997; guzzo & dickson, 1996; sundstrom et al., 1990), we define teams as a “collection of individuals who are interdependent in their tasks, who share responsibility for outcomes” and who see themselves and who are seen by others as a social unit that is part of a larger organization (cohen & bailey, 1997: 241). sports teams correspond to the above criteria in terms of internal team structure but also by being part of a larger organization (the club). in this setting, ability based on human resources and the coordination of these resources through managerial ability appear to be particularly important for team performance (wolfe et al., 2005). the resourcebased view (rbv) explains performance differences on the basis of resource heterogeneity within given industries (peteraf & barney, 2003). an important question posed by the resource-based view of the firm concerns the way resources are associated with competitive advantage through superior value creation, to give firms the prospect of improving performance (barney, 1991; conner, 1991; newbert, 2008; wernerfelt, 1984). it has been argued both that the study of sports teams can inform rbv and that rbv logic can be applied to studying the performance of sports teams (gerrard, 2003; holcomb et al., 2009; sirmon et al., 2008; wolfe et al., 2005; wright et al., 1995). while substantial progress has been made in understanding the direct effects of individual resources on value creation (crook et al., 2008), researchers studied only certain resources and often only one resource or capability (newbert, 2007), rarely unbundling which particular indirect resources influence value creation (hoopes et al., 2003). moreover, the relationship between managerial abilities and resource value creation has been largely neglected (holcomb et al., 2009; hughes et al., 2010), a considerable neglect if one considers the important role that is attributed by the rbv to organization-specific resources (sirmon et al., 2008) and their complementarities (adegbesan, 2009) for organizational performance. as a consequence, the interplay between resources for value creation, or in other words how some resources moderate the performance 286 superior value creation in sports teams: resources and managerial experience m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 282-312 effects of other resources, have hardly been studied either in rbv research (newbert, 2007) or sports team research (wright et al., 1995). we attempt to fill this gap by moving the focus from direct effects to the interaction of resources: we analyze the moderating effects of managerial experience, internally-developed resources (as a form of highly organizationspecific resources) and financial resources on the resource-performance link in sports teams. managerial experience (while having direct effects on team performance) can influence the priorities in selecting and combining resources, which will impact other value-creating resources. the origin of resources (developed or acquired) will alter the stock of industry-specific and organization-specific resources of a sports team while also moderating the performance relationship of other resources. financial resources enable firms to act, but the availability of financial resources will also influence the management priorities for managing other resources. however, superior value creation cannot be explained by financial resources alone. in essence, the main contribution of our research is to understand when the whole is more than the sum of its parts for sports teams by focusing on the interaction between value-creating resources. theory and hypothesis development resource positions and superior value creation in sports teams1 the resource-based view assumes that basically all value-creating resources that are heterogeneously distributed can lead to superior value creation (barney & peteraf, 2003). human resources contribute to value creation in skillbased industries ranging from professional sports to consulting (groysberg et al., 2008a; wright et al., 2001). in sports teams, human resources are the key resources. grant (1996) and simon (1991) proposed that individual skills differ and are a source of competitive advantage. the supply of skills is not homogeneous but rather normally distributed (steffy & maurer, 1988). as a consequence, specific skills vary by type, depth and quality and can also be rare (wright et al., 1994). since particular human resources are the outcome of personal abilities, training and other unique historic and context-specific factors, they are hard to imitate (wright et al., 1994) but they are mobile (coff, 1997). it is possible to distinguish between: 1) general human; 2) industryspecific; and 3) organization-specific human capital (sirmon et al., 2008). the first is used in different organisations; the second is of use for organisations within the same industry; while the third is of use in a specific organisation (becker, 1962; castanias & helfat, 1991). one could also extend this view to sub-units of an organization, with the notion of team-specific human capital. basically, if an organization can possess comparatively higher industryspecific skills than rivals, a firm will create more value (sirmon et. al., 2008). however, organisations can create additional value by having a comparative advantage in organization-specific human capital (felin & hesterly, 2007). resources already owned by firms, and especially internally-developed resources, can vary in terms of industry-specific and organization-specific components, while resources recently acquired from factor markets will vary mainly in terms of the industry-specific component. what matters most depends largely on the differential in skill sets between firms concerning 1. given the maturity of the rbv, we did not develop specific hypotheses for the main effects. 287 christian lechner & sveinn vidar gudmundsson m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 282-312 industryand organization-specific resources. acquired resources, however, can also vary in terms of complementarity with existing resources and thus lead to additional value differentials (agdebesan, 2009). the same reasoning applies equally to managerial ability, which is also subject to variation in industryand organization-specific skills and thus value creation (holcomb et al., 2009). in teams, a third component appears to be important: the synchronising of resources or the development of team routines (berman et al., 2002). routines are organisational capabilities that include tacit knowledge through learning and repetition (grant, 1991; helfat & peteraf, 2003; winter, 2000; 2003). players can also vary in terms of organization-specific and teamspecific human capital created through experience within the club and with the other team members, and in terms of realized complementarities. therefore, it can be assumed that internally-developed resources can positively influence sports team performance because of the high organization-specific component, while acquired resources can do so because of the potentially higher industryspecific skills and the possibility of greater complementarities. team routines as a higher-order capability should strongly influence team performance. research dealing with value creation and consequently competitive advantage from an rbv showed that both the quality of players and the quality of coaches influence team performance (harris, 2009; holcomb et al., 2009; sirmon et al., 2008; smart & wolfe, 2003). concerning the relative value of management versus player quality, the studies came to similar conclusions. as player quality increases, the value creation potential of coaches diminishes (harris, 2009; holcomb et al., 2009; smart & wolfe, 2003); in cases of similar player quality, increases in coaching ability lead to increasing team performance (sirmon et al., 2008). it appears, however, at least for basketball, that the effective value creation potential of coaches depends also on whether the coaches are able to implement their preferred playing style (wright et al., 1995): in other words, the personal career development of a coach leads to a certain specialization (in terms of preferred playing style) thus requiring not only complementarities between the players but also between a coach and the team. finally, tacit knowledge in the form of group routines as higher order capabilities were a strong predictor of team performance in basketball (berman et al., 2002). therefore, in terms of value creation, rbv research in general but also in sports teams has largely confirmed that variations in resources, capabilities such as routines and managerial ability create differential value (crook et al., 2008), but what is less understood is how interactions among resources moderate, positively or negatively, the relationship between resources and value creation in teams. strategy not only involves decisions about trade-offs and priorities but also the mutual reinforcement of resources and capabilities. a competitive advantage can arise because of the interconnectedness of resources (dierickx & cool, 1989): one resource will influence the potential development of another resource. as a consequence, the analysis of which factors can moderate the resources driving performance helps us to better understand superior value creation in teams. in particular, rbv research in team sports has largely neglected the question of team effects, i.e. when the whole is more than the sum of the parts, most likely by over-valuing the contribution of the performance of individual players (groysberg, 2008a,b) and not accounting for resource interactions. our study exclusively focuses on interaction effects and thus constitutes a contribution to the field of sports teams and the rbv. 288 superior value creation in sports teams: resources and managerial experience m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 282-312 moderators of the resource position – performance relationship in sports teams internally-developed resources and routines in the rbv there is an unresolved debate about the role of resource origin, which is usually not explicitly implemented in rbv research as having an impact on the value creation potential of resources. to implement a strategy, a bundle of resources and capabilities is necessary. strategic factor markets arise when firms need to acquire resources to implement a strategy (barney, 1986a). however, dierickx and cool (1989) argued that some resources, especially intangible ones built over time, cannot be acquired on factor markets: they are not mobile and need therefore to be amassed internally. valuable, internallydeveloped resources are therefore preferable to equivalent resources acquired externally from factor markets. for the question of value creation, resource origin leads to variation in industry-specific and organization-specific resources (holcomb et al., 2009). an unaddressed question, however, is whether resource origin can affect the relationship between other value-creating resources. group routines are considered as superior value drivers even if they can inhibit change in the long run (leonard-barton, 1992). group routines arising through interaction and learning mechanisms among members of the team are not only subject to time-diseconomies, they are also socially complex. they are necessary to coordinate interdependent activities (cohen et al., 1996), the result of organization-specific learning processes (amit & schoemaker, 1993; dierickx & cool, 1989). to develop capabilities through routines it is crucial to achieve cooperation and coordination, leading finally to a team’s particular playing style. examples of important drivers of cooperation are the organization’s culture, tradition and leadership (grant, 1991). these routines are learned and repeated time after time (winter, 2000). learning takes place within the context of the organization, with infrastructure, processes, culture and team interaction each playing a role (groysberg et al., 2008a). what types of resources can help to develop routines? only industry-specific human capital can be traded; in football, for example, the player’s technical and physical skills, position knowledge, knowledge of playing schemes, and adaptation to the abilities of opponents. organization-specific human capital appears to depend on specific working mechanisms and processes, interaction with others and dependence on the work of others within an organization. capabilities usually call for long-term investment in specialised resources, needing substantial continuity in personnel and firm infrastructure (winter, 2003). internally-developed resources are acquired within an organizationspecific context including an organisation’s culture and processes and thus are highly organization-specific. therefore, capability development is reinforced through internally-developed resources (schwenk, 1993). moreover, it is argued that an organization’s internal knowledge will reinforce its capacity to absorb external resources including knowledge (macher & boerner, 2006) and thus organization-specific resources may facilitate the integration and blending of acquired resources. research on star resources in industries which have limited organization-specific effects, such as baseball players and financial analysts, showed that individuals performed less well after transfer, suggesting that the organization-specific skill component is more important than previously assumed (groysberg, 2008a, 2008b). becker’s (1976) early work on collaboration showed a skill decrease occurring upon transfer 289 christian lechner & sveinn vidar gudmundsson m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 282-312 from a collaborative work environment, leading to the conclusion that teams rather than individuals are the locus of superior value creation (henderson & cockburn, 1994; kogut & zander, 1996; nelson & winter, 1982). therefore, the organization-specific value is lower for the acquiring organization than for the initial owner of the resource. as a consequence, factors that help to facilitate the integration and blending of acquired resources with existing resources will reduce the value decrease. increased integration will lead to a lesser difference between value expectation and performance and thus increase satisfaction with the acquired resources in the eyes of the acquiring organisation, which will also translate into increased motivation and satisfaction for the acquired resources (players) themselves (coff, 1997). the decision of human resources to change employment is always affected by uncertainty since they will not know beforehand whether they will be better off after the transfer (wright et al., 1994). as a consequence, ease of integration should on the one hand increase job satisfaction and on the other hand also increase the organization-specific value and thus reduce turn-over and favour group stability (coff, 1997). individuals who spend their whole career with the same organisation could be considered ambassadors. they have internalized the organisation’s norms, helping to reduce task conflicts (jehn, 1995) and promoting the social integration of other team members (smith et al., 1994), not to mention facilitating effective communication between top management and the team (malone, 1987). thus, internally-developed resources might help to strengthen collective team identification, which facilitates team-learning and performance (van der vegt & bunderson, 2005). in addition, internally-developed human resources are organization-specific and carry embedded organization-specific tacit knowledge (berman et al., 2002). social contact with these internally-developed resources (senior players) should help to transfer organization-specific tacit knowledge to the group (nonaka, 1994). internally-developed human resources are thus the foundation on which to build with other resources, and thus constitute reinforcing effects. in football, these could be players coming from the club’s youth training program helping to mitigate resource diversity, thereby aiding the development of group routines. we therefore propose the following: hypothesis 1. group routines as a team capability have a direct positive effect on the performance of sports teams. the relationship between group routines and performance of sports teams is positively moderated by internally-developed resources. internally-developed resources increase the effects of group routines on sports team performance. the role of management in value creation to implement any strategy, management capabilities are needed (barney, 1986a; conner, 1991; penrose, 1959). the capacity of managers to understand and use resources to create value is a resource in its own right (holcomb et al., 2009). firms can gain a competitive advantage by developing different strategies by “tightly linking resources together in mutually reinforcing configurations” (bingham & eisenhardt, 2008: 246). if firms are heterogeneous because of heterogeneous resource bundles, then the degree of complementarity of a given resource is different across organisations (thomke & kuemmerle, 2002). therefore, externally-acquired 290 superior value creation in sports teams: resources and managerial experience m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 282-312 resources create superior value when combined with internal resources (adegbesan, 2009; wernerfelt, 2011). what types of resources then add value to teams? we assume that organisations will buy those human resources perceived as most complementary to the existing team. who is best qualified in selecting the appropriate resources? able managers. what factors influence the ability of managers to structure, bundle and leverage resources? holcomb et al. (2009: 459) assert that “managerial ability derives from two main sources: domain expertise and resource expertise”. domain expertise involves understanding the competitive context of organisations and potential strategies gained through education and ‘learning-by-doing’. experience-based domain expertise will result in tacit knowledge that helps to define appropriate strategies in a given competitive context (spender, 1989). resource expertise refers to structuring, bundling and deploying resources (holcomb et al., 2009; sirmon et al., 2007). for both types of expertise, management ability is a function of experience acquired over time encompassing industryand organisation-specific components. the general correlation between performance, ability and experience (holcomb et al., 2009; sirmon et al., 2008) suggests there is a virtuous experience cycle. in other words, experience will drive ability as well as ability will drive experience. this is to say that a manager who is able will continue to have opportunities to manage teams. as a consequence, experienced managers will be particularly able to value a team’s human resource pool, identify gaps and try to align it as far and as fast as possible with a potential value-creating strategy (holcomb et al., 2009; wright et al., 1995). through experience, managers will be capable of judging the development potential of existing human resources, in identifying resource gaps and in finding the most appropriate solutions in the factor markets. in addition, managers will in general have a preferred set of value-creating strategies that they will try to implement; as a consequence, they will be able to define complementarities more clearly (wright et al. 1995). experience can also have an additional effect: the increasing experience of a manager will correlate with an increasing number of people the manager has worked with in the past, giving more options to acquire resources with a reduced value uncertainty (groysberg, 2008a), or in other words, experienced managers are likely to have more private information about the value potential of a resource (chatterjee, 1990). in conclusion, we argue that managerial experience allows a coach to select additional players more successfully, to better take into account complementarities of externally-acquired resources with existing ones. thus, we propose: hypothesis 2a. the relationship between externally-acquired resources and performance of sports teams is positively moderated by managerial experience. managerial experience reinforces the impact of externally-acquired resources. team routines are considered as essential for team performance (berman et al. 2002). research was able to show that player turn-over has a negative effect on team performance (groysberg et al., 2004). while team routines are positive for team performance, they can eventually become core rigidities 291 christian lechner & sveinn vidar gudmundsson m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 282-312 (leonard-barton, 1992). moreover, human resources need to be motivated and too little change may reduce motivation (coff, 1997). however, assuming similar resources and motivation, routines will create differential value (berman et. al, 2002). if experienced managers are better in portfolio structuring then they will be capable of completing a team with fewer changes compared to less experienced managers, because they understand better which players are missing and they have a higher success rate in selecting the appropriate players, leading to comparatively less change. in addition, tenure will reduce turnover and create more stability in the use of team resources. team stability will favour shared experience and a better understanding of how to make team members work together. over time, managers will develop organization-specific tacit knowledge in bundling and using a team’s resources, further increasing stability and thus group routines (hambrick & fukutomi, 1991; helfat & peteraf, 2003). finally, increased management experience increases a manager’s credibility and will facilitate the motivation of players. as a consequence, experienced managers will create value for teams with fewer changes, augmenting team routines. hypothesis 2b. the relationship between group routines and performance of sports teams is positively moderated by managerial experience. managerial experience increases the effects of group routines on sports team performance. organization-specific capabilities are embedded in larger managerial systems and value systems (leonard-barton, 1992; zucker, 1977). values and norms are the outcome of an organisation’s early history, top management’s crucial decisions imprinted through behaviours and beliefs repeated and accumulated over time (kimberly, 1987) while managerial systems are the result of employees’ “sense-making” concerning their roles within the organisation (giddens, 1984). in the first place, a manager joining a team will need to understand the value and managerial systems of the organisation. industry experience will help managers better understand resources in general. with time they will gain more organization-specific knowledge and a deeper understanding of the resources under management. management experience helps to improve existing resources (henderson & cockburn, 1994). since team performance is the outcome of collective value creation (felin & hesterly, 2007), experienced managers have advantages in bundling and deploying resources (holcomb et al., 2009; sirmon et al. 2007). increasing organizationspecific tacit knowledge will increase a manager’s ability to extract more value from other highly organization-specific resources (wright et al., 2001). learning within the organisation and adaptation increase: over time, managers will become increasingly part of the managerial system of an organisation, adapt to its value system and acquire an increased sense of belonging (leonard-barton, 1992; rowe et al., 2005). over time, managers will create stronger social relationships within the organisation, which will increase ‘homophily’ and thus favour team building (ruef et al., 2003). managers will therefore tend to focus their attention on more organization-specific resources. social and emotional support might increase this inward focus (thoits, 1984). football coaches, for example, become more committed to a club’s culture over time and turn their attention to the development and integration of players from the youth training 292 superior value creation in sports teams: resources and managerial experience m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 282-312 program. most importantly, experienced managers will be capable of extracting more value from organization-specific resources. hypothesis 2c. the relationship between internally-developed resources and the performance of sports teams is positively moderated by managerial experience. managerial experience increases the performance effects of the deployment of internally-developed resources in sports teams. financial resources and their impact on the use of bought resources, internally-developed resources and group routines financial resources are obviously enablers for and constraints on what an organization can do. more financial resources means fewer constraints but if immobility and tradability issues are important for the rbv, the question remains of how fewer constraints through greater financial resources will influence value-creating resources. the most obvious assumption brought forward is that more financial resources allow the acquisition of more industryspecific human capital and a less restricted choice when it comes to finding stronger complementarities. thus: hypothesis 3a. the relationship between externally-acquired resources and the performance of sports teams is positively moderated by financial resources. financial resources increase the performance effects of externally-acquired resources in sports teams. in general, commitment to some resources to exploit opportunities means foregoing other opportunities (barney, 1989). firms need to decide which capabilities to invest in, based on existing resources and capabilities and the value potential for the firm (prahalad & hamel, 1990). given limited resources there are always trade-offs in resource allocation decisions. empirical research on the resource-based view, by focusing on resources in isolation, has largely neglected these trade-offs (newbert, 2007; parmigiani, 2007). trade-offs do not only relate to priorities in developing internal resources but also to choices about the make-or-buy mix. a make-or-buy continuum appears to prevail in the resource-based view (parmigiani, 2007): firms that source concurrently either buy a small percentage of the resource (predominantly developing their resources internally) or they buy a large percentage (predominantly buying). if resources are assumed to be scarce, the decision to develop resources internally or to acquire them from the outside constitutes a trade-off. in other words, the more you buy, the less you develop internally. we have argued that complementary factor markets exist to complete, refine or further develop competitive advantage. again, however, firm specific-capability development is institutionalized in larger managerial systems and value systems (leonard-barton, 1992; zucker, 1977) leading over time to a certain ‘behavioural style’ imprinted in the organization (kimberly, 1987). financial constraints are often associated with internal development of resources, with the result that differentials in financial resources can translate into more capital-intensive value creation strategies (schmidt et al. 2007). relatively more financial resources can favour experimentation through less strict performance monitoring (greve, 2003). the release from financial constraints can lead firms to more aggressive strategies 293 christian lechner & sveinn vidar gudmundsson m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 282-312 favouring acquisition over internal development (schmidt et al., 2007; schultz & zaman, 2001; shrader, monllor & shelton, 2009). differential financial resources will thus favour management systems based on acquisition of resources leading to specific decision-making processes: organizations that mainly buy resources develop stronger capabilities in buying than in developing resources. in addition, the buying decision leads to sunk costs. these sunk costs will give priority to those resources for which most investment has taken place: it could be shown for basketball that investments made in players increased playing time (staw & hoang, 1995). given the allocation of more resources for buying, a systematic under-investment in the development of internal capabilities can occur, resulting in less consideration for valuable internally-developed resources. thus, we propose: hypothesis 3b. the relationship between internally-developed resources and performance is negatively moderated by financial resources. financial resources decrease the performance effects of deploying internally-developed resources in sports teams. hypothesis 3c. the extent to which teams acquire resources decreases the extent to which internal resources contribute to sports team performance. skill-based industries are talent-based industries characterized by a “war for talent” creating rather mobile factor markets (staw & hoang, 1995). as a consequence, retention of talent is important, which in itself favours the development of group routines through continued interaction of team members. differentials in financial resources allow firms to pay competitive salaries as the simplest solution for retaining talent (weiss, 1990). another factor influencing retention is job satisfaction (coff, 1997). retention (through job satisfaction) is also based on “perceived equity” (berkowitz et al., 1987), especially in the case of team production where individual contributions are difficult to entangle (felin & hesterly, 2007), increasing the need for fair distribution (mcfarlin & sweeney, 1992). more financial resources can favour pay satisfaction by reducing internal pay differentials through a general higher base salary for all team members while more constrained organizations might tend to increase internal pay differentials in order to reward talent because of the need to set priorities under financial constraints. moreover, financially constrained organizations can hardly offer the prospect of higher future expectations without incurring distributive injustice, thus increasing potential turnover (sweeney et al., 1990). finally, research on sunk costs (as a result of greater financial resources) showed that sunk costs also lead to a higher retention of valuable resources (staw & hoang, 1995). hypothesis 3d. the relationship between group routines and the performance of sports teams is positively moderated by financial resources. financial resources increase the effects of group routines in sports teams. method sample our sample of 270 team observations consists of teams that competed in the first division between seasons 1998/99 and 2002/03 in the professional football 294 superior value creation in sports teams: resources and managerial experience m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 282-312 variable mean s.d. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 1. champ. points 51.9 10.9 2. goal difference 8.4 17.4 .54*** 3. goals scored 52.4 12.3 .45*** .83*** 4. common experience 15.4 9.1 .34*** .24*** .26*** 5. years played with club 3.4 1.1 .36*** .27*** .30*** .87*** 6. youth program 0.1 .3 -.06 -.14** -.12* .34*** .26*** 7. coach tenure 2.7 2.6 .19*** .21*** .16** .17** .18** .09 8. coach experience 378.8 301.6 .03 .13* .14** .14** .12* .16** .43*** 9. budget 2.3 0.7 .44*** .46*** .37*** .07 .08 -.07 .14* .02 10. stadium size 44562 20099 .34*** .30*** .32*** .30*** .29*** -.09 .04 .07 .38*** 11. cultural diversity 5.8 2.0 .18** .13* .08 -.18** -.12* -.24*** .07 .01 .22*** .18** 12. years played bef. club 2.5 1.3 .21*** .20*** .16** -.11 -.01 -.33*** -.06 -.16** .28*** .20*** .26*** * p < .05; ** p < .01; *** p < .001 leagues of germany, italy, spain, england and france. we constructed a database by using official sources from the football federations, and crosschecked these with reliable sports publications. concerning the data on players, for each team and each year, we used the fifteen players that played the most minutes during the season, resulting in 4,050 individual player records. the teams are subject to standard rules of competition, which increases the validity and reliability of this study. the results are consequently comparable from league to league, and constitute effective performance measures (berman et al., 2002). table 1 provides the descriptive statistics and the correlation matrix between items. table 1. descriptive statistics, means, standard deviations and correlations measurements team performance. in the european football system, a team gains three points for a win, one point for a draw, and no points if it loses. to measure the team performance factor, we used the following: number of points gained, goal 295 christian lechner & sveinn vidar gudmundsson m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 282-312 difference (goals scored minus goals conceded), and number of goals scored at the end of the season. the five football leagues have between 18 and 20 teams; we therefore normalised the average points per season to a league size of eighteen teams. our measurements are therefore consistent as a measure of competitive advantage. internally-developed resources. players typically join the club at a young age (between 8 and 14); once they are 18, they can be integrated into the professional team at no cost or transferred to another club to generate revenue. not all players from a club’s youth training program make it to the professional level; investment in the youth system is therefore an uncertain investment. there is, however, a strong bond between the professional team and the youth program; the young players ‘belong’ to the club, they are a club’s internallydeveloped resource (from young amateurs to adult professionals). if a player is still under contract or is part of the club’s youth program, an external buying team has to negotiate a transfer fee with the player’s club. in this sense, buying from the market means buying a player from another club’s youth program or professional team. only players in a club who played in the professional team and had been developed within the club’s youth program (as well as being one of the fifteen most used players during a season) were counted as an internally-developed resource. for each team, we calculated the ratio of players that had passed through the club’s own youth program for each season. we consider the number of players coming from a club’s youth program to be an indicator of its internal resource development capacity as opposed to buying players. this single indicator variable strongly reflects the use of ‘internally-developed resources’. we believe the use of a single indicator was justified, since the measurement and the construct are interchangeable (hulland, 1999): this practice is in line with comparable previous research (birkinshaw et al., 1995). externally-acquired resources. this construct is composed of externallyacquired experience (the relevant industry experience before joining the club) and cultural diversity. we measured the value of externally-acquired resources through individual experience, which is the result of the accumulation of industry-specific skills over time. the average age of the team players was not used as a proxy (berman et al., 2002) because the mean age of players has limited variation. there is, however, greater age variation at which players start playing in the first division. we therefore developed a yardstick for relevant industry experience by calculating the years each individual player had played in the first divisions of all the countries concerned. this is an appropriate measure of relevant individual industry experience and a measure of resource value, assuming that a player with more seasons in the first division has more industry-specific skills. accumulation of experience increases industry-specific individual tacit knowledge (berman et al., 2002). those players who have amassed more industry-specific experience will be likely to add more value to the team (holcomb et al., 2009). having played longer and remaining in demand is a measure of a player’s quality (holcomb et al., 2009)2 . in this way, we were able to measure individual experience before joining a specific club, a partial measure of externally-acquired experience. clubs will also focus on resources that are missing and/or cannot be developed 2. there is obviously a natural limit to the value of experience due to decreasing physical ability with age but since our measure is based on experience and not age, we partially avoid this problem; moreover, lack of physical ability will usually lead to the end of a sports career: any study of sports thus exhibits some form of ‘survival’ bias. 296 superior value creation in sports teams: resources and managerial experience m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 282-312 internally (simon 1991). for instance, researchers examining groups see diversity as an important performance driver (hoffman & maier, 1961). watson et al. (1993) found that diverse teams perform better than homogeneous teams after a short period of blending-in. for example, diversity increases openmindedness, creativity, problem-solving capabilities and flexibility (adler, 1991; hambrick et al., 1996; hoffman & maier, 1961; mcgrath, 1984). diversity, however, also poses challenges (miliken & martins, 1996). problems can arise from team diversity when integrating and developing work-team processes, such as emotional conflict in team tasks rather than task conflicts because of functional differences (hambrick et al., 1998). research has, however, established that emotional conflict does not impact negatively on team performance (pellet et al. 1999). based on watson et al. (1993) and hoffman and maier (1961), we assume that team diversity in football strengthens the teams’ competitiveness and is therefore a value driver3. hence, the development of cultural diversity cannot occur internally: only players trained in foreign clubs are likely to acquire different skills associated with different playing styles. one way to measure cultural diversity is to count the different nationalities, since diversity is identifiable and has been the subject of research on individual differences (hamrick et al., 1998). using players’ country of origin as a measure, we counted the number represented in each club. group routines. we used the number of years a player had spent with the club, participating in the development of group routines, as a measure of acquaintance with the club’s organisational culture (berman et al., 2002). this measure has been commonly used as a measure for team tenure (e.g. boeker, 1997; wiersema & bantel, 1992); however, it rather measures organizational tenure and not team collaboration and tends to over-estimate team collaboration (harris & mcmahan, 2008). during a football game, eleven players need to move coherently to score goals and defend their position from attack. that is to say, the players are interdependent (thomke & kuemmerle, 2002), context-specific and team-specific (groysberg et al., 2008a). individual players will learn the tactics of colleagues and know how they move at each moment. unlike previous work we do not use a measure of acquaintance with the club’s culture as the only measurement (berman et al., 2002), but measure both direct common experience between players and time spent with the club, as suggested by other research (harris & mcmahan, 2008). therefore, we measured group routines in years according to common experience of pairs of players. for each player, we first calculated the years of experience with other players. we then calculated the average common experience of a player per team. this measure, we believe, captures group routines, since the more time a player has played within the team, the greater the familiarity, facilitating group routines (harris & mcmahan, 2008). management experience was measured by counting the number of first division games the coach had managed before joining the club, representing industry-specific coaching skills and quality. finally, we measured tenure: how many years has the coach managed the team? it is a proper measure of organization-specific managerial experience because it captures pathdependency and measures management capability4. this measure matches 4. research indicated curve-linear path-dependent effects leading to different phases. while estimates for the different phases (positive/negative) are difficult (hambrick & fukutomi, 1991), research from sports and business suggests a range between 6 years and 13 years for positive effects (miller 1990; hambrick & fukutomi, 1991; eitzen & yetman, 1972; giambattista, 2004). research on research and development teams showed positive effects for only four years (katz, 1982). in football, coach changes happen more often than in other sports. a period of tenure beyond ten years is rare in european football (average < 3 years), therefore, we assume only positive path-dependent effects. while we agree with using phases in tenure models, we do not expect a negative phase to occur in our setting (hughes et al., 2010). we controlled, in additional models, for curve-linear effects but as expected there were no such effects in our study. 3. in football, there is a strong tendency for country-specific playing styles leading to different experience based on national origin. moreover, diversity in football teams is not linked to functional diversity, which can have negative effects on team performance (bunderson & sutcliffe, 2002). national playing styles influence the competencies of a player (lanfranchi & taylor, 2001; finn & giulianotti, 2000). 297 christian lechner & sveinn vidar gudmundsson m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 282-312 the research of hughes et al. (2010). we did not use performance measures of the coach with previous teams because of potential endogeneity issues (berri et al., 2009). financial resources. access to financial resources will influence what companies can do, what resources they can acquire and how easily resources can be retained. the measurement of financial resources included the club’s annual budget. to reduce league differences, we divided the teams in each league into three categories according to budget: high, mid-range and low. the categories reflect the real budget differences so that the mean value of the high-budget clubs is three times the mean budget of the low-budget clubs. in this way, country-specific bias is eliminated (such as difference in tv rights per country). finally, we used stadium size as a measure of financial leverage (brown et al., 2004). model estimation levitas and ndofor (2006) argued that research on the resource-based view should use methods that allow the modelling of interactions among resources and capabilities, in other words techniques allowing multiple paths between latent variables. we selected partial least squares (pls) path modelling, which fully meets these requirements and reveals associations that might not appear with standard regression or covariance-based structural equation model (sem) methods (wilcox, 1998). pls path modelling focuses on maximising the variance of the dependent variable explained by the independent variables (wold, 1975, 1982). it is robust in handling deviations from normality and data measured on different scales (cassel et al., 1999, 2000; chin et al., 2003; chin & newsted, 1999; chin, 1998, 1995; fornell & bookstein, 1982; lee & tsang, 2001;). it clearly suits our aim to explore interactions of resource relationships since such an approach considers all path coefficients simultaneously. this allows analysis of direct, indirect, and spurious relationships and the estimation of multiple individual item loadings in the context of a theoretically specified model, avoiding biased and inconsistent parameter estimates for equations. before analysing the data, all variables were centred to have a mean of zero. we tested hypotheses and explored the relationships between constructs using smart-pls (ringle et al., 2005), which has a well-developed module for analysing moderating effects. analysis and results model assessment the composite reliabilities and correlations among the factors are listed in table 2. internal consistency, measured through factor loadings, was above the recommended cut-off limit of 0.60 (range 0.70 to 0.98) (barclay et al., 1995; tabachnick & fidell, 2000). the composite scale reliability exceeded the recommended minimum of 0.70 (range 0.77 to 0.98) (fornell & larcker, 1981) and convergent validity was above the accepted minimum of 0.50 for all factors (range 0.63 to 0.95) (fornell & larcker, 1981). to test discriminant validity we used the square-root of average variance extracted (ave) (carmines & zeller, 1979; fornell & larcker, 1981; hulland, 1999) and cross-loadings (chin, 1998; gefen et al., 2000). for all factors (see table 2, diagonal of the matrix) the 298 superior value creation in sports teams: resources and managerial experience m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 282-312 former test yielded higher values than the bi-variate correlations between the latent variables. the cross-loadings test showed that no manifest variables loaded higher on any other factor than their associated factor (diff. range 0.17 to 0.65, median 0.46). these two tests therefore demonstrated strong discriminant validity. we controlled for potential time effects by creating a separate model with year dummies. table 2. factor average variance extracted, composite reliability and correlations ave composite reliability 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1. financial resources 0.69 0.81 (.83) 2. group routines 0.95 0.97 .24 (.97) 3. internally-developed resources 1.00 1.00 -.18 .38 (-) 4. managerial experience x internally-developed resources 0.77 0.87 .00 .07 .20 (.88) 5. externally-acquired resources 0.63 0.77 .32 -.15 -.48 -.11 (.79) 6. managerial experience x externally-acquired resources 0.59 0.85 .14 .12 -.09 -.59 .07 (.77) 7. managerial experience 0.71 0.83 .10 .19 .30 .60 -.04 -.26 (.84) 8. performance 0.73 0.89 .52 .37 -.09 .10 .25 .20 .19 (.85) * p < .05; ** p < .01; *** p < .001 test of hypotheses figure 1 and table 3 give the results of the tested pls models. the r2 for the latent variables in the model ranged from 0.01 to 0.32 and is comparable to values typically reported in performance research using pls (see fornell et al., 1990; lee & tsang, 2001). pls is a non-parametric estimation procedure and does not, directly, allow significance testing based on statistical distributions, hence we used bootstrapping (i.e., sampling with a replacement method) (efron, 1979; efron & tibshirani, 1993) to extract t-values to ascertain the stability and significance of the parameter estimates. in the theoretical discussion, we summarised resources generally associated with value creation in the rbv. these main effects are reported in model 1. model 2 includes the main effects and the research hypotheses that addressed moderating effects. all main effects were significant but internally-developed resources had a significant negative effect on team performance (b = -0.18, p < .001), and externally-acquired resources had a significant positive effect (b = 0.24, p < .001). group routines as higher-order capabilities had the strongest positive effect (b = 0.47, p < .001). managerial experience had a significant positive effect on team performance (b = 0.19, p < .01). besides the role of internally developed resources, our model confirms previous rbv research on direct effects. the moderating effects constituted the hypotheses: internally-developed resources had a significant positive effect on group routines (b = 0.42, p < .001), therefore supporting hypothesis 1. managerial experience had a significant, positive effect on internally-developed resources (b = 0.29, 299 christian lechner & sveinn vidar gudmundsson m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 282-312 p < .001): the effects of internally-developed resources on performance were stronger among teams which had managers with more experience, although internally-developed resources played a declining role as performance increased. managerial experience also had a positive and significant impact on externally-acquired resources (b= 0.23, p < .001). as with internallydeveloped resources, the relationship between externally-acquired resources and performance was positive among teams which had highly-experienced managers, with externally-acquired resources playing an increasing role as performance improved. we can therefore conclude that managerial experience has a positive impact on resource use irrespective of the gradient relationship of the resource with performance, thus confirming hypotheses 2a and 2c. managerial experience had no significant relationship with group routines (b = 0.04, n.s.). hypothesis 2b is not confirmed. financial resources had a strong effect on group routines (b = 0.32, p < .001) and externally-acquired resources (b = 0.32, p < .001), but a negative, non-significant impact with internallydeveloped resources (b = 0.07, n.s.). there was a trade-off between externallyacquired and internally-developed resources with a strong significant negative effect of externally-acquired resources observed on internally-developed resources (b = -0.45, p < .001). hypotheses 3a, c, and d were supported. there was no significant effect of financial resources on managerial experience (b = 0.1, n.s.). 300 superior value creation in sports teams: resources and managerial experience m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 282-312 table 3. results pls models model 1 model 2 main effects internally-developed resources -0.196*** (0.058) -0.194*** (0.057) group routines 0.421*** (0.047) 0.422*** (0.049) managerial experience 0.196*** (0.059) 0.190** (0.063) externally-acquired resources 0.218*** (0.061) 0.222*** (0.064) two-way interactions internally-developed resources x group routines (h1) 0.424*** (0.074) managerial experience x externally-acquired resources (h2a) 0.228*** (0.088) managerial experience x group routines (h2b) 0.030 (0.061) managerial experience x internally-developed resources (h2c) 0.291*** (0.050) financial resources x externally-acquired resources (h3a) 0.318*** (0.052) financial resources x internally-developed resources (h3b) -0.067 (0.041) externally-acquired resources x internally-developed resources (h3c) -0.447*** (0.049) financial resources x group routines (h3d) 0.316*** (0.053) financial resources x managerial experience 0.097 (0.082) model r2 0.259 0.323 * p < .05; ** p < .01; *** p < .001 301 christian lechner & sveinn vidar gudmundsson m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 282-312 * p < .05; ** p < .01; *** p < .001 discussion resource-based research sustains the assumption that organisations (and thus teams as subunits) create value through internally-developed and complementary, acquired resources, through the management of resources and the development of routines. we used the rbv to understand the performance of sports teams. both rbv research and sports research has focused too heavily on isolated direct effects of resources, neglecting an essential issue for teams: when the whole is more than the sum of the parts. efficiency studies tend rather to study when the whole is less than the sum of the parts assuming an a priori ‘objective’ value of resources (dawson et al., 2000; haas et al., 2004) even if both the rbv and other literature on teams suggest that the true value of individual abilities is difficult to estimate (quirk & fort, 1999; groysberg, et al. 2008) since in teams these individual resources have been coordinated by managers with different levels of ability and contributed to team performance in an interplay with other players with greater or lesser complementarities (wolfe et al., 2005). in this study, we attempt to advance the understanding of sports team performance by investigating the role of moderators on the key factors of team performance. our research, by considering the interplay between resources, focuses on how human resources, which are mobile, lead to superior value creation in sports teams. we did not develop hypotheses for main effects that had been tested elsewhere but surprisingly, we found that internally-developed resources had a strong (direct) negative effect on sports team performance when the moderating effects were not considered. how can this be interpreted? the use of internallydeveloped resources depends on the development ability of a sports club (which in itself might be normally distributed). however, the internal development ability of one club needs to be compared to the global development ability figure 1. summary of results for full model performance r2=0.32 internally developed resources r2=0.40 group routines r2=0.25 bought resources r2=0.14 financial resources managerial competence r2=0.06 .22** .42*** -.19** .19** .32*** .0.10 .03 .29*** .42*** -.45*** .32*** -.08 -.10 302 superior value creation in sports teams: resources and managerial experience m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 282-312 of all other clubs in the world. while the advantage of internally-developed resources is their organization-specific component, the completion of a team with externally-acquired resources permits clubs to have more choice for selecting highly complementary resources but also to increase the overall level of resources by acquiring a higher level of industry-specific skills. indeed, we found that firms with more financial resources could increase the valuecreating role of externally-acquired resources. we interpret this finding in line with recent conclusions about the concurrent importance of developed and acquired resources on the basis of complementarities (agdebesan, 2009; wernerfelt, 2011): organizations that depend too heavily on internal resources might do so because of financial constraints but also because these organizations may have developed an inward focus that makes them forego opportunities to successfully complement their existing resources and build a more complex resource bundle. our analysis also revealed that there was no significant relationship between financial resources and internally-developed resources, which would have been the case if financially constrained clubs had no other options (in this case, there would have been a significant negative effect of financial resources on internally-developed resources). this result might suggest that even financially constrained clubs need to invest in both internal development and player scouting. concerning the other direct effects, as expected, we found that managerial experience as a measure of ability (dawson & dobson, 2002; holcomb et al. 2009; hughes et al. 2010), group routines (berman et al., 2002) and externally-acquired resources (harris, 2009) had direct positive and significant effects on team performance. we found that internally-developed resources increased the performance effect of group routines, and that managerial experience both increased the effectiveness of internally-developed resources and augmented the valuecreation potential of externally-acquired resources. financial resources led to a value-creation strategy that preferred resource-acquisition over development but that also favoured group routines through resource retention. internallydeveloped resources help to build strong group routines. not investing in internal resources can therefore be a mistake because of its impact on other resources. this finding is quite interesting since it shows the complexity a club’s management and a coach has to deal with. clubs have a certain heritage, systems and styles and internally-developed players are highly organizationspecific resources. the presence of internally-developed resources and their effective deployment is helpful in forming a successful team that exploits team routines. the ability of managers to understand and use resources in order to create value can be considered a valuable resource in itself. our results, in line with existing research (dawson & dobson, 2002; hughes et al. 2010), show that this ability improves with experience, and tenure with a team helps to improve organization-specific choices over time. in particular, managers create value through structuring the resource portfolio, bundling resources and leveraging capabilities for value creation (sirmon et al., 2007). managerial experience helps to extract more value from externally-acquired resources. this is an interesting finding since previous research could not distinguish the impact of managerial experience on the basis of resource origin. managerial experience positively moderates the performance effects of internallydeveloped resources. while most sports team research analyzed coaches 303 christian lechner & sveinn vidar gudmundsson m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 282-312 from an efficiency point of view by comparing the percentage of wins achieved by the coach before and after joining the club or by comparing the percentage of wins by the team before and after the coach’s arrival (e.g. dawson et al., 2000; haas et al., 2004), our research advanced understanding of where and why coaching experience adds value. the key message is that experienced coaches have a lower probability of error in selecting complementary players to complete the team and in employing organization-specific resources. coaching ability (measured by experience in our study) might be globally undervalued in sports performance. our study suggests that externally-acquired resources have a generally positive impact on sports performance, especially under the more able coaches, while internally-developed resources have a generally negative impact on sports performance but, if managed by the best coaches, their impact becomes positive. coach experience had, however, no significant effect on group routines. our interpretation of this result in combination with the other results is that in comparable situations coaches change teams to a similar degree but experience increases the effectiveness of these changes. the decision to buy or develop is often regarded as a dichotomous choice in the resource-based view (felin & hesterly, 2007) but our results support the view of agdebesan (2009) stating that existing internal resources should be complemented by external resources from factor markets. financial resources favour acquiring resources over developing them internally. there is a clear trade-off between developing internal resources and buying resources. in football, it appears that some clubs have created their own style by preferring to acquire (e.g. inter milano) or to develop (e.g. atlanta bergamo) players, almost independently of internal or external options. the preference to buy reduces efforts to develop internal resources. however, as stated above, the effective deployment of internally-developed resources is positively moderated by managerial experience. financial resources help managers to restructure the resource portfolio but also to retain good team members. in this sense, financial resources help to preserve group routines and to complement a team with externally-acquired resources by raising complementarities between team members as well as the level of industry-specific resources. in this sense, our results support the view that the relationship between sports performance and wage spending is a circular one, since it concerns both the acquisition and retention of players (see for a discussion e.g. nuesch, 2009; torgler & schmitt, 2010). while increased spending appears to have a positive influence on performance for mediocre performers, the influence becomes much less important if the top performing teams are included (dell’osso & szymanski, 1991). clubs with more financial resources appear to have the opportunity to invest in higher levels of industryspecific skills; however, out-spending rival clubs does not guarantee success (quirk & fort, 1999). overall, ignoring relationships among value-creating resources leads to inconsistent results because of causal complexity in team performance. the role of managers seems to be critical in this regard: the longer tenure of experienced managers translates into a better understanding of the internal workings of relationships among organization-specific resources. limitations our results need to be considered in the light of the study’s limitations. first, 304 superior value creation in sports teams: resources and managerial experience m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 282-312 we focused on the performance of football teams: generalisations need to be made with care. the main contribution of our research is to use the rbv to advance our understanding of sports team performance. second, we distinguished between internally-developed and externally-acquired resources and treated group routines as a transformation of existing resources (and not as internally-developed resources), which highlights the difficulty of distinguishing between resource categories and resource origins. we decided to focus on the buying versus non-buying decision because, logically, the associated factor markets exist and are observable (which is not the case of a theoretical factor market for group routines). also because, empirically, there would be no direct performance effects of externally-acquired resources in the empirical models if acquiring young players (with little experience) and transforming them would lead to the same results as acquiring experienced players. third, our analysis does not directly allow us to assess the sustainability of competitive advantage of sports teams, which would be a desirable trait in the model; in this regard, our study is limited to the question of value creation but not necessarily value defence. extension and future research the contributions this study makes are only a step towards a more thorough understanding of the complexity of managing heterogeneous resources for team performance. future research might replicate this study in settings other than sports, in order to assess whether the findings generally hold in different industries. the interplay between organization-specific and industryspecific resources for sports team performance also leads to an important question: what is the right mix between players? despite the limitations of this study, the results confirm that inter-relationships between resources drive sports team performance but also that markets exist for complementary valuable resources. further research could specifically investigate the differential impact of player complementarities and player quality for sports team performance. we conclude from our study that: 1) it is the combination and development of high-quality resources that make a difference; and 2) the analysis of single resources hides important relationships. managers need to consider performance drivers in a holistic manner, instead of focusing on the maximisation of a few key drivers. in the football setting, this might concern the utility of a club’s youth training program to facilitate group routines, and the development of an effective scouting system. to conclude, we advance the following proposition from our study: causal complexity, created through complex inter-linkages, reinforcing effects and trade-offs between resources requiring non-obvious decisions regarding their employment, and best understood by experienced managers with some tenure inside the organisation, can result in stronger value creation for sports team performance. under these conditions, the whole might be more than the sum of its parts. 305 christian lechner & sveinn vidar gudmundsson m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 282-312 christian lechner is a senior professor of strategy and entrepreneurship at toulouse business school. he is head of the research center of entrepreneurship and strategy and co-director of the school’s incubator, tbseeds. his research interests are inter-firm and interpersonal networks, habitual entrepreneurship, the organizational configurations of new firms and growth and the resource-based-view. sveinn vidar gudmundsson is a senior professor of strategy and entrepreneurship at toulouse business school. prior to his academic career he held senior management positions in the transport and finance sectors. his research interests focus on strategic alliances, resource-based view and business performance, entrepreneurship and decision-making and learning through interactive teams. acknowledgments the authors would like to thank josé pla-barber and the anonymous m@n@gement reviewers for their helpful comments on earlier versions of this article. 306 superior value creation in sports teams: resources and managerial experience m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 282-312 . adegbesan, a. (2009). on the origins of competitive advantage: strategic factor markets and heterogeneous resource complementarity. academy of management review 2009, 34(3), 463–475. . adler, n. (1991). international dimensions of organizational behavior. boston: p w s-kent. . amit, r., & schoemaker, p. (1993). strategic assets and organizational rent. strategic management journal, 14(1), 33-46. . barclay, d., higgins, c., & thompson, r. (1995). the partial least squares (pls) approach to causal modeling: personal computer adoption and use as an illustration. technology studies, 2(2), 285-309. . barney, j. (1986a). strategic factor markets: expectation, luck and business strategy. management science, 32(10), 12311241. . barney, j. (1986b). organizational culture: can it be a source of sustained competitive advantage? academy of management review, 11(3), 656-665. . barney, j. (1988). returns to bidding firms in mergers and acquisitions: reconsidering the relatedness hypothesis. strategic management journal, 9(s1), 71-78. . barney, j. (1989). asset stocks and sustained competitive advantage: a comment. management science, 35(12), 1511-1513. . barney, j. (1991). firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. journal of management, 17(1), 99-120. . barney, j. (2001). is the resource-based “view” a useful perspective for strategic management research? yes. academy of management review, 16(1), 41-56. . barney, j. (1996). gaining and sustaining competitive advantage. reading, ma: addison wesley publishing company. . becker, g. (1962). investment in human capital: a theoretical analysis. j. political econom. 70(5), 9–49. . becker, g. (1976). the economic approach to human behavior. chicago: university of chicago press. . berkowitz, l., fraser, c., treasure, f., & cochran, s. (1987). pay, equity, job gratifications, and comparisons in pay satisfaction. journal of applied psychology, 72(4), 544-551. . berman, s., down, j., & hill, c. (2002). tacit knowledge as a source of competitive advantage in the national basketball association. academy of management journal, 45(1), 13-31. . berri, d., leeds, m., leeds, e., & mondello, m. (2009). the role of managers in team performance. international journal of sports finance, 4(2), 75-93. . bingham, c., & eisenhardt, k. (2008). position, leverage and opportunity: a typology of strategic logics linking resources with competitive advantage. managerial and decision economics, 29(2-3), 241-256. . birkinshaw, j., morrison, a., & hulland, j. (1995). structural and competitive determinants of a global integration strategy. strategic management journal, 16(8), 637-655. . boeker, w. (1997). strategic change: the influence of managerial characteristics and organizational growth. academy of management journal, 40(1), 152-170. . brown, m., nagel, m., mcevoy, c., & rascher, d. (2004). revenue and wealth maximization in the national football league: the impact of stadia. sport marketing quarterly, 13(4), 227-235. . bunderson, j. s., & sutcliffe, k. (2002). comparing alternative conceptualizations of functional diversity in management teams: process and performance effects. academy of management journal, 45(5), 875-893. . carmines, e., & zeller, r. a. (1979). reliability and validity assessment. sage university paper series on quantitative applications in the social sciences, no. 07-017. beverly hills: sage. . cassel, c. m., hackl, p., & westlund, a. h. (1999). robustness of partial least-squares method for estimating latent variable quality structures. journal of applied statistics, 26(4), 435-446. . cassel, c. m., hackl, p., & westlund, a. h. (2000). on measurement of intangible assets: a study of the robustness of partial least squares. total quality management, 11(7), 897-907. . castanias, r., & helfat, c. (1991). managerial resources and rents. journal of management, 17(1), 155171. . chandler, a. (1962). strategy and structure. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. . chatterjee, s. (1990). excess resources, utilization costs and mode of entry. academy of management journal, 33(4), 780-800. references 307 christian lechner & sveinn vidar gudmundsson m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 282-312 . collis, d. (1994). how valuable are organizational capabilities? strategic management journal, 15, 143-152. . conner, k. (1991). a historical comparison of resourcebased theory and five schools of theory within industrial organization economics: do we have a new theory of the firm? journal of management, 17(1), 121-154. . crook, r., ketchen, d., combs, j., & todd, s. (2008). strategic resources and performance: a meta-analysis. strategic management journal, 29(11), 11411154. . crown, d. (2000). building a multidimensional, context relevant categorization heuristic for organizational work teams: the tostab typology. research in personnel and human resources management, 18, 93-136. . dawson, p., & dobson, s. (2002). managerial efficiency and human capital: an application to english association football. managerial and decision economics, 23(8), 471-486. . dell’osso, f., & szymanski, s. (1991). who are the champions? business strategy review, 2(2), 113-130. . dierickx, i., & cool, k. (1989). asset accumulation and sustainability of competitive advantage. management science, 35(12), 15041511. . djikstra, t. (1983). some comments on maximum likelihood and partial least squares methods. journal of econometrics, 22(1-2), 67-90. . chin, w. w. (1995). pls is to lisrel as principal components analysis is to common factor analysis. technology studies, 2, 315-319. . chin, w. w. (1998). issues and opinion on structural equation modelling. mis quarterly, 22(1), vii-xvi. . chin, w. w., & newsted, p. (1999). structural equation modeling analysis with small samples using partial least squares. in r. hoyle (ed.), statistical strategies for small sample research (307-341). thousand oaks, sage. . chin, w. w., marcolin, b. l., & newsted, p. r. (2003). a partial least squares latent variable modeling approach for measuring interaction effects: results from a monte carlo simulation study and an electronic-mail emotion/adoption study. information systems research, 14(2), 189-217. . coff, r. (1997). human assets and management dilemmas: coping with hazards on the road to resource-based theory. the academy of management review, 22(2), 374-402. . coff, r. (1999). when competitive advantage doesn’t lead to performance: the resource-based view and stakeholder bargaining power. organization science, 10(2), 119-133 . cohen, m., burkhart, r., dosi, g., egidi, m., marengo, l., warglien, m., & winter, s. (1996). routine and other recurring action patterns of organizations: contemporary research issues. industrial and corporate change, 5(3), 653-698. . cohen, s., & bailey, d. (1997). what makes teams work? group effectiveness research from the shop floor to the executive suite. journal of management, 23(3), 238-290. . dunning, j. (1998). globalization, technological change and the spatial organization of economic activity. in: a. chandler, p. hagström & ö. sölvell (eds.), the dynamic firm (pp. 289-314). oxford: oxford university press. . efron, b, & tibshirani, r. j. (1993). an introduction to the bootstrap. london: chapman and hall. . efron, b. (1979). bootstrap methods: another look at the jackknife. annals of statistics, 7(1),126. . eisenhardt, k., & martin, j. (2000). dynamic capabilities: what are they? strategic management journal, 21(10/11), 1105-1121. . eitzen, d., & yetman, n. (1972). managerial change, longevity, and organizational effectiveness. administrative science quarterly, 17(1), 110 116. . felin, t., & hesterly, w. (2007). the knowledge-based view, heterogeneity, and new value creation: philosophical considerations on the locus of knowledge. academy of management review, 32(1), 195–218. . finn, g., & giulianotti, r. (2000). football culture local contests, global visions. london: frank cass. . fornell, c., & bookstein, f. (1982). two structural equation models: lisrel and pls applied to consumer exit-voice theory. journal of marketing research, 19(4), 440-452. . fornell, c., & larcker, d. (1981). evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. journal of marketing research, 18(1), 39-50. 308 superior value creation in sports teams: resources and managerial experience m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 282-312 . fornell, c., lorange p., & roos, j. (1990). the cooperative venture formation process: a latent variable structural modeling approach. journal of management science, 36(10), 12461255. . foss, n. (1998). the resource-based perspective: an assessment and diagnosis of problems. scandinavian journal of management, 14(3), 133-149. . francesco, a., & gold, b. (1998). international organizational behavior. new york: prentice-hall. . gefen, d., straub, d., & boudreau, m. -c. (2000). structural equation modeling techniques and regression: guidelines for research practice. communications of ais, 7, 1-78. . gerrard, b. (2003). what does the resource-based view “bring to the table” in sport management research? european sport management quarterly, 3(3), 139-144 . giambatista, r. (2004). jumping through hoops: a longitudinal study of leader life cycles in the nba. the leadership quarterly, 15(5), 607624. . giddens, a. (1984). the constitution of society: outline of the theory of structuration. cambridge, uk: policy press. . grant, r. (1991). the resource-based theory of competitive advantage: implications for strategy formulation. california management review, 33(3), 114-135. . grant, r. (1996). toward a knowledge-based theory of the firm. strategic management journal, 17(si), 109-122. . greve, h. (2003). a behavioral theory of r&d expenditures and innovations: evidence from shipbuilding. academy of management journal, 46(6), 685–702. . groysberg, b., lee, l.-e., & nanda, a. (2008a). can they take it with them? the portability of star knowledge workers performance. management science, 54(7), 1213–1230. . groysberg, b., nanda, a., & nohria, n. (2004). the risky business of hiring stars. harvard business review, 82(5), 92100. . groysberg, b., sant, l., & abrahams, r. (2008b). when stars migrate do they still perform like stars? mit sloan management review, 50(1), 41 – 46. . guzzo, r., & dickson, m. (1996). team in organizations: recent research on performance and effectiveness. in t. spence, j. m. darley & j. foss (eds.), annual review of psychology, 47, (pp. 307–338). palo alto, ca: annual reviews. . hall, r. (1992). the strategic analysis of intangible resources. strategic management journal, 13(2), 135-144. . hall, r. (1997). complex systems, complex learning, and competence building. in r. sanchez & a. heene (eds.), competence-based strategic management (pp. 39-65). chichester: john wiley & sons. . hambrick, d., & fukutomi, g. (1991). the seasons of a ceos tenure. academy of management review, 16(1), 719 –742. . hambrick, d., cho, t. & chen, m. (1996). the influence of top management team heterogeneity on firms’ competitive moves. administrative science quarterly, 41(4), 659-684. . hambrick, d., davison, s., snell, s., & snow, c. (1998). when groups consist of multiple nationalities: towards a new understanding of the implications. organization studies, 19(2), 181-205. . haas, d., kocher, m., & sutter, m. (2004). measuring efficiency of german football teams by data envelopment analysis. cejor, 12, 251-268. . harris, c. (2009). strategic human resource management at the cross-roads. (unpublished doctoral dissertation). university of texas, arlington, usa. . harris, c., & mcmahan, g. (2008). an empirical investigation of human capital and performance: ncaa men’s basketball teams. presented at the academy of management proceedings (pp.1-6). . helfat, c., & peteraf, m. (2003). the dynamic resource-based view: capability lifecycles. strategic management journal, 24(10), 9971010. . henderson, r., & cockburn, i. (1994). measuring competence? exploring firm effects in pharmaceutical research. strategic management journal, 15, 63-84. . hoffman, l., & maier, r. (1961). quality and acceptance of problem solutions by members of homogeneous and heterogeneous groups. journal of abnormal and social psychology, 62, 401-407. 309 christian lechner & sveinn vidar gudmundsson m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 282-312 . kimberly, j. (1987). the study of organization: towards a biographical perspective. in j. lorsch (ed.): handbook of organizational behaviour (pp. 223-237). englewood cliffs, nj: prentice hall. . king, a. (2007). disentangling interfirm and intrafirm causal ambiguity: a conceptual model of causal ambiguity and sustainable competitive advantage. academy of management review, 32(1), 156–178. . kogut, b., & zander, u. (1996). what firms do? coordination, identity, and learning. organization science, 7(5), 502–518. . lanfranchi, p., & taylor, m. (2001). moving with the ball: the migration of professional football players. oxford: berg publishers. . lee, y. d., & tsang, w. k. (2001). the effects of entrepreneurial personality, background and network activities on venture growth. journal of management studies, 38(4), 583-602. . leonard-barton d., (1992). core capabilities and core rigidities: a paradox in managing new product development. strategic management journal, 13, 111-125. . levitas, e., & ndofor, h. (2006). what to do with the resource-based view: a few suggestions for what ails the rbv that supporters and opponents might accept. journal of management inquiry, 15(2), 135-144 . lippman, s., & rumelt, r. (2003). the payments perspective: microfoundations of resource analysis. strategic management journal, 24(10), 903-927. . holcomb, r., holmes, r., & conelly, b. (2009). making the most of what you have: managerial ability as a source of resources value creation. strategic management journal, 30(5), 457-485. . hoopes, d., madsen, t., & walker, g. (2003). why is there a resource-based view? towards a theory of competitive advantage. strategic management journal, 24(10), 889-902. . hughes, m., hughes, p., mellahi, k., & guermat, c. (2010). short-term versus long-term impact of managers: evidence from the football industry. bristish journal of management, 21(2), 571-589. . hui, b., & wold, h. (1982). consistency and consistency at large of partial least squares estimates, k. jöreskog & h.wold (eds.), systems under direct observation, part ii (pp. 119-130). amsterdam: north holland. . hulland, j. (1999). use of partial least squares (pls) in strategic management research: a review of four recent studies. strategic management journal, 20(2), 195-204. . jehn, k. (1995). a multimethod examination of the benefits and detriments of intragroup conflict. administrative science quarterly, 40(2), 245-282. . jones, d. (2009). lost in translation, football money league 2009. manchester: deloitte. . katz, r. (1982). the effects of group longevity on project communication and performance. administrative science quarterly, 27(1), 81 – 104. . katzenbach, j., & smith, d. (1993). the discipline of teams. harvard business review, 71(2), 111-120. . macher, j. t., & boerner, c. s. (2006). experience and scale and scope economies: trade-offs and performance in development. strategic management journal, 27(9), 845-865. . mahoney, j., & pandian, r. (1992). the resource-based view within the conversation of strategic management. strategic management journal, 13(5), 363-380. . malone, t. (1987). modeling coordination in organizations and markets. management science, 33(10), 1317-1332. . marcoulides, g., & saunders, c. (2006). pls: a silver bullet? mis quarterly, 30(2), iii-ix. . mcfarlin, d., & sweeney, p. (1992). distributive and procedural justice as predictors of satisfaction with personal and organizational outcomes. academy of management journal, 35(3), 626637. . mcgrath, j. (1984). groups: interaction and performance. englewood cliffs, nj: prentice-hall. . michalisin, m., smith, r., & kline, d. (1997). in search of strategic assets. the international journal of organizational analysis, 5(4), 360-387. . miller, d. (1990). stale in the saddle: ceo tenure and the match between organization and environment. management science, 37(1), 34 – 52. . milliken, f., & martins, l. (1996). searching for common threads: understanding the multiple effects of diversity in organization groups. academy of management review, 21(2), 402 433. 310 superior value creation in sports teams: resources and managerial experience m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 282-312 . nelson, r., & winter, s. (1982). an evolutional theory of economic change. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. . newbert s. (2007). empirical research on the resourcebased view of the firm: an assessment and suggestions for future research. strategic management journal, 28(2), 121-146. . newbert s. (2008). value, rareness, competitive advantage, and performance: a conceptual-level empirical investigation of the resource-based view of the firm. strategic management journal, 29(7), 745-768. . nonaka, i. (1994). a dynamic theory of organizational knowledge creation. organizational science, 5(1), 14-37. . nuesch, s. (2009). a note on the endogeneity of the pay-performance relationship in professional soccer. economics bulletin, 29(3), 1850-1855. . parmigiani, a. (2007). why do firms both make and buy? an investigation of concurrent sourcing. strategic management journal, 28(3), 285-311. . pelled, l., eisenhardt, k., & xin, k. (1999). exploring the black box: an analysis of work group diversity, conflict, and performance. administrative science quarterly, 44(1), 1-28. . penrose, e. (1959). the theory of the growth of the firm. new york: wiley. . peteraf, m. (1993). the cornerstone of competitive advantage: a resource-based view. strategic management journal, 14(1), 179-191. . peteraf, m., & barney, j. (2003). unraveling the resource-based tangle. managerial and decision economics, 24(4), 309-323. . prahalad, c., & hamel, g. (1990). the core competence of the corporation. harvard business review, 68(3), 79-91. . quirk, j., & fort, r. (1999). hard ball: the abuse of power in pro team sports. princeton, nj: princeton university press. . ringle, c., wende, s., & will, a. (2005). smart-pls version 2.0 m3. retrieved from http://www.smartpls.de . rowe, w., cannella jr., a., rankin, d., & gorman, d. (2005). leader succession and organizational performance: integrating the commonsense, ritual scapegoating, and vicious-circle succession theories. the leadership quarterly, 16(2), 197–219. . ruef, m., aldrich, h., & carter, n. (2003). the structure of founding teams: homophily, strong ties, and isolation among u.s. entrepreneurs. american sociological review, 68(2), 195-222. . rumelt, r. (1987). theory, strategy and entrepreneurship. in d. teece (ed.), the competitive challenge (pp.556-570). cambridge, ma: ballinger. . schmidt, t., dowling, m., & lechner, c. (2007). the impact of initial public offerings on the growth strategies and performance of entrepreneurial firms. the journal of entrepreneurial finance & business ventures, 11(2), 95-110. . schwenk, c. (1993). management tenure and explanations for success and failure, omega international. journal of management science, 21(4), 449-456. . shrader, r., monllor, j., & shelton, l. (2009). acquisition as a growth strategy for young ipo firms. advances in entrepreneurship, firm emergence and growth, 11, 77-101. . schultz, p., & zaman, m. (2001). do the individuals closest to internet firms believe they are overvalued? journal of financial economics, 59(3), 347-381. . simon, h. (1991). bounded rationality and organisational learning. organization science, 2(1), 125-134. . sirmon, d., gove, s. & hitt, m. (2008). resource management in dyadic competitive rivalry: the effects of resource bundling and deployment. academy of management journal, 51(5), 919-935. . sirmon, d., hitt, m. & ireland, r. (2007). managing firm resources in dynamic environments to create value: looking inside the black box. academy of management review, 32(1), 273–292. . smart, d., & wolfe, r. (2003). the contribution of leadership and human resources to organizational success: an empirical assessment of performance in major league baseball. european sport management quarterly, 3(3), 165-188. . smith, k., olian, j., smis, h., o`bannon, d., & scully, j. (1994). top management team demography and process: the role of social integration and communication. administrative science quarterly, 39(3), 412-438. . spender, j. -c. (1989). industry recipes: the nature and source of managerial judgment. oxford: blackwell. 311 christian lechner & sveinn vidar gudmundsson m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 282-312 . van der vegt, g., & bunderson, j. s. (2005). learning and performance in multidisciplinary teams: the importance of collective team identification. academy of management journal, 48(3), 532–547. . von hippel, e. (1978). a customer-active paradigm for industrial product ideas. research policy, 7, 240-266. . watson, w., kumar, k., & michaelson, l. (1993). cultural diversity’s impact on interaction process and performance: comparing homogeneous and diverse task groups. academy of management journal, 36(3), 590-602. . weik, k. (1979). the social psychology of organizing. new york: random house. . weiss, a. (1990). efficiency wages: models of unemployment, layoffs and wage dispersion. princeton, nj: princeton university press. . wernerfelt, b. (1984). a resource-based view of the firm. strategic management journal, 5(2), 171-180. . wernerfelt, b. (2011), the use of resources in resource acquisitions. journal of management, 37(5), 1369-1373. . wiersma, m., & bantel, k. (1992). top management team demography and corporate strategic change. academy of management journal, 35(1), 91-121. . wilcox, r. r. (1998). how many discoveries have been lost by ignoring modern statistical methods? american psychologist, 53(3), 300-314. . staw, b., & hoang, a. (1995). sunk costs in the nba: why draft order affects playing time and survival in professional basketball. administrative science quarterly, 40(3), 474-494. . steffy, b., & maurer, s. (1988). conceptualizing the economic effectiveness of human resource activities. academy of management review, 13(2), 271-286. . sundstrom, e., de meuse, k, & futrell, d. (1990). work teams: applications and effectiveness. american psychology, 45(2), 120-133. . sweeney, p., mc farlin, d., & inderrieden, e. (1990). using relative deprivation theory to explain satisfaction with income and pay level: a multistudy examination. academy of management journal, 33(2), 423-436. . tabachnick, b. g., & fidell, l. s. (2000). using multivariate statistics (4th ed.). upper saddle river, nj: allyn and bacon. teece d., pisano, g., & shuen, a. (1997). dynamic capabilities and strategic management. strategic management journal, 18(7), 509-533. . thoits, p. (1984). explaining distributions of psychological vulnerability: lack of social support in the face of life stress. social forces, 63(2), 453-481. . thomke, s., & kuemmerle, w. (2002). asset accumulation, interdependence and technological change: evidence from pharmaceutical drug discovery. strategic management journal, 23(7), 619-635. . torgler, b., & schmidt, s. (2010). on the endogeneity of the pay performance relationship in professional soccer. empirical economic letters, 9(6), 539-544. . williamson, o. (1975). markets and hierarchies: analysis and antitrust implications. new york: free press. . winter, s. (2000). the satisficing principle in capability learning. strategic management journal, 21(10-11), 981-996. . winter, s. (2003). understanding dynamic capabilities. strategic management journal, 24(10), 991-995. . wold, h. (1975). path models with latent variables: the nipals approach, in h. blalock, a. aganbegian, f. borodkin, r. boudon & v. capecchi (eds.), quantitative sociology: international perspectives on mathematical and statistical modelling (pp. 307-357). new york: academic press. . wold, h. (1982). soft modelling: the basic design and some extensions. in k. g. jöreskog & h. wold (eds.), systems under indirect observation, part ii (pp. 1-54). amsterdam: north holland press. . wolfe, r., weick, k., usher, j., terborg, j., poppo, l., murrell, a., dukerich, j., core, d., dickson, k., & jordan, j. (2005). sport and organizational studies: exploring synergy. journal of management inquiry, 14(2), 182 – 210. . wright, p., mcmahan, g., & mcwilliams, a. (1994). human resources and sustained competitive advantage: a resourcebased perspective. international journal of human resource management, 5(2), 301-326. . wright, p., smart, d., & mcmahan, g. (1995). matches between human resources and strategy among ncaa basketball teams. academy of management journal, 38(4), 1052-1074. 312 superior value creation in sports teams: resources and managerial experience m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 3, 2012, 282-312 . wright, p., dunford, b., & snell, s. (2001). human resources and the resource based view of the firm. journal of management, 27(6), 701 – 721. . zucker, l. (1977). the role of institutionalization in cultural persistence. american sociology review, 42(5), 726-743. 528 olivier germain & emmanuel josserandm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 536-546 copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). m@n@gement is a double-blind refereed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.management-aims.com © 2013 m@n@gement and the author(s). m@n@gement est la revue officielle de l’aims m@n@gement is the journal official of aims olivier germain emmanuel josserand 2013 the m@n@gement journey, spanning boundaries and navigating at the fringe m@n@gement, 16(5), 535-546. m@n@gement issn: 1286-4692 emmanuel josserand, cmos, university of technology, sydney (editor in chief) jean-luc arrègle, emlyon business school (editor) laure cabantous, cass business school (editor) stewart clegg, university of technology, sydney (editor) olivier germain, université du québec à montréal (editor, book reviews) karim mignonac, université de toulouse 1 (editor) philippe monin, emlyon business school (editor) tyrone pitsis, university of newcastle (editor) josé pla-barber, universidad de valència (editor) michael tushman, harvard business school (editor) walid shibbib, université de genève (managing editor) alexander bell, université de genève (editorial assistant) martin g. evans, university of toronto (editor emeritus) bernard forgues, emlyon business school (editor emeritus) special issue 535 the m@n@gement journey, spanning boundaries and navigating at the fringe m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 535-546 the m@n@gement journey, spanning boundaries and navigating at the fringe olivier germain emmanuel josserand université du québec à montréal germain.olivier@uqam.ca cmos, university of technology, sydney emmanuel.josserand@uts.edu.au abstract introduction a few weeks ago, one of the co-authors of this paper received a rejection from an ft listed journal. there is nothing in itself extraordinary in this: we are all used to rejections. the paper did have weaknesses and we could understand why it might have been rejected. what was remarkable about the decision was its concision and the motive presented for it. no justification was given beyond the following sentence: “a primary reason for rejecting the manuscript is that your research explores a unique case, which does not have applicability to many situations”. while the reviewers had picked out some of the other weaknesses of the paper, the main reason for rejection seemed genuinely to be the specificity of the case study (the french context) and the fact that it only examined a single case. what seemed to us an extraordinary opportunity to study this research topic, one that had been recurrently identified by other scholars as important, was seen by the reviewers as lacking possibilities of generalization. among others, bent flyvbjerg (2006) suggests that it is conventional to assume that single case studies cannot be used to inform generalizations and do not therefore contribute significantly to scientific progress. he advocates and emphasizes the usefulness of “black swans” as a supplement or alternative to other methods, while suggesting that “formal generalization is overvalued as a source of scientific development, whereas ‘the force of example’ is underestimated” (flyvbjerg, 2006, p. 228). this implies that academic journals are aware of this approach and, more widely, of the richness and diversity of research. of course, we are not (only) telling this story because it is rare to be able to complain about a rejection in front of a large audience. more importantly, it is related to the story of m@n@gement, its origin and its mission in the ocean of academic journals. one of the starting points for the journal was, as argued by bernard forgues and sebastien liarte (2013), to create a high quality journal that could overcome language barriers and improve knowledge of rigorous revision processes in the french-speaking and european academic world. academic communities have been enlivened by some vigorous debates on the contemporary dominance of the english language, the meaning systems tied to it and the micro-political issues associated with it that impact upon management and organization studies (tietze, 2013 ; grey, 2010 quoted by tietze, 2013). one may submit her/his manuscript to m@n@gement in her/ 536 olivier germain & emmanuel josserandm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 536-546 his native language (french, german or spanish): the journal asks for an english translation if the piece is accepted and the paper is also edited in its original language. our editorial policy is unique in this respect for identities and styles of narration. m@n@gement has helped break down cultural as well as linguistic barriers. it has managed to do this through its openness and by offering tribunes to different research traditions, thus accommodating a broad variety of contributions, from publications typical of the “french style” to more mainstream papers written by preeminent “international” scholars. the importance of breaking cultural barriers should not be underestimated. they have been discussed in various fields, including those of the humanities (chanlat, 2008), social and cultural anthropology (freedman, 1979), crosscultural organizational behavior (gelfand, m. j., erez, m., & aycan, a. z., 2007), economics (johnson, 1973), management of information systems, psychotherapy (orlinsky, 1989), education (robinson-pant, 2005) and business (sullivan & weaver, 2000). a key conclusion of this research is that different cultures research differently, perhaps because they rely on different philosophical traditions (santistevan & karjalainen, 2013). this led some of our colleagues in management of information systems to ask, in the european journal of information systems “why the old world cannot publish?” (lyytinen, baskerville, iivari & te’eni, 2007). well, for the last 15 years, they have been able to publish in m@n@gement. the gradual recognition of our journal in international rankings shows that its unique stance, amid the jungle of academic journals, has proved fruitful. this special issue is a fantastic demonstration of the deep roots m@n@gement has put down in the international community and its capacity to attract contributions from the best scholars. some say that we are now too international and that we have lost our ‘soul’; such comments are probably the price one pays for success. however, as underlined by forgues & liarte (2013), although m@n@gement is slowly being institutionalized, its position is still fragile and, while keeping its french/european roots is important, international branches are equally fundamental if we want to continue to span boundaries of culture, nation and research tradition, as we have in the past. the rules of the game are such that this key achievement of the journal would be at risk if its international impact were to diminish rather than grow. but we know that institutionalization can come at a cost, that of diminishing creativity. new ventures (here, m@n@gement) evolving in an emerging field (open access journals) have at first to establish in a proactive way their legitimacy and to conform to a set of strong rules as set down here by the former organizational field (zimmerman et zeitz, 2002). the collective identity of a nascent entrepreneurial group is more likely to be legitimated and can empower isolated creative behaviors (wry et al., 2011), which may have emerged through the creation of more open access journals. m@n@gement has successfully explored another boundary in its exposure of ideas at the fringes of our field, through an openness to all types of methods and paradigms. it thus has combined new ideas with more established ones, notably through ambitious special issues and creative “unplugged” essays. reflexivity has also been part of the m@n@gement journey, appearing in epistemological and methodological papers, some of which take the form of research notes. m@n@gement has even enjoyed publishing papers that make incursions into other disciplines. in its way, m@n@gement tries to respond 537 the m@n@gement journey, spanning boundaries and navigating at the fringe m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 535-546 to regular calls for “conceptual blending”, the term for when the constructs, theories and approaches of two fields merge to generate new perspectives in order to transform the core of a topic (oswick, fleming and hanlon, 2011). at the same time, our journal acknowledges a large range of attempts to build theories at the intersection of fields, maximizing the impact of management, strategy and organization studies. this research then borrows and replicates or extends existing theories from other fields (zhara and newey, 2009). as augier and march (2011) remind us in their fascinating exploration of the roots of north american business schools after the second world war, this “principle” of interdisciplinary research was at the heart of the creation of organizational sciences at carnegie school. when we decided to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the journal, we brought together a group of scholars who would represent the journey the journal has taken and who would be likely to propose more transgression of convention, to span boundaries, to discuss established ideas and to reflect on our researchers’ practices. all the scholars have a connection with the journal, some of them having served as editors (stewart clegg, olivier germain and linda rouleau), editors in chief (bernard forgues and emmanuel josserand) and editorial assistants (sebastien liarte, also co-editor in chief). the results have been staggering. an incredible group of scholars was formed and have sent us some wonderful proposals. the first series of papers is illustrative of recent efforts to renew fields such as strategy-as-practice (linda rouleau), socio-materiality (paula a. jarzabokovski and trevor pinch) and performanceas-practice (stéphane guérard, ann langley and david seidl). the second group practices renewal through interdisciplinarity (stewart clegg and robert van kriekeen, eero vaara and ann reff pedersen, as well as hugh willmott and jeroen veldman) and suggests ways of contributing across disciplines (mie augier). meanwhile, some of the most radical ideas of this special issue are to be found in the papers of andré spicer, robert chia, stephen linstead as well as paula a. jarzabkowski and trevor pinch. the four next contributors offer exercises of reflexivity and give us their perspectives on the difficulties and challenges of “good” research (james march, yiannis gabriel, bill starbuck and joel baum). finally, we conclude with the contribution of bernard forgues and sébastien liarte, which tells the story of the field and of m@n@gement itself in view of the recent evolution of open access publishing. shifting boundaries within the field in fifteen years, m@n@gement has witnessed both continuity and change in the organization, strategy and management fields. as linda rouleau points out in her essay, the rapid emergence of strategy-as-practice (sap) research is one of the most promising, rejuvenating and “energetic” streams in the strategy field. furthermore, it brings together questions of strategy and questions of organization. if we view strategy as a tangle of micro-socially embedded practices and everyday coping actions, we must subscribe to an updating of a discipline which is currently being partly stripped of the elements upon which, historically, it was based: predictive ability, deliberate intention and instrumental, predetermined action. 538 olivier germain & emmanuel josserandm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 536-546 linda rouleau not only takes stock of the progress in this research stream but considers sap research to be at a crossroads. first, she highlights the multiple underlying approaches of practice, all of which aim to inform the “doing” of strategy. some views are closer to the mainstream approach of strategy research as they update or improve the content view of strategy. others put a focus on strategy as a subjective discourse that influences everyday life and address the formation of power effects in strategy practices. a few views, meanwhile, are truly rooted in social sciences theories and sociological views of practice. second, linda rouleau points out that new ideas generated in foundational sap texts are partly based on a distinctive merging and reassemblage of classical metaphors with theoretical concepts and empirical materials. she then suggests that sap research face two main challenges. the diversity or the relative disintegration of the body of knowledge under the umbrella construct of practice may reveal that it’s time to consolidate gains in order to control the growth of the field. this consolidation requires the fostering of specific theoretical contributions. the field should also take advantage of new ethnographic methods to address research issues more accurately. at the same time, however, comparative ethnographic research may sustain cumulative knowledge production to help better revisit today’s strategic issues. performance has always been part of the vocabulary of strategy. some would even consider that the strategy discipline was created to come to grips with this particular issue at the firm level. stéphane guérard, ann langley and david seidl bring out in their essay how the concept may be revisited and renewed thanks to theoretical findings partly rooted in the sap stream. the authors point out that some views extend the mainstream approach of performance as they maintain the positivist ontology of performance as a separate reality. on the one hand, performance should be addressed at a more disaggregated level of analysis so as to be closer to the phenomena studied and to the chain of consequences leading to performance. on the other hand, process studies may provide a richer understanding of performance building in suggesting a dynamic approach including performance as an input and as an outcome and how they relate to each other over time. guérard et al. submit a radical re-problematization of performance much more consistent with a practice based ontology. a performative view allows us to re-consider performance as something people do rather than as a property of organizations. performance is thus clearly related to the intertwining of everyday practices in situated contexts and claims and discourses about strategy. in the very variety of strategy-as-practice views, some researches highlight the role and prevalence of materials in strategizing and stress the importance of the “materializing” of discourses within strategic texts. of course, sociomateriality aims to inspect the material facets of technology and organization with a broader scope. paula jarzabkowski and trevor pinch, in the special issue, question the socio-materiality stream in its ability to become more than a research fashion. they note that socio-materiality is divided into two schools – “affordance” and “scripts” approaches – which address the way objects may be re-purposed in situated interactions (affordance view) and how materials inscribe and prescribe sequences of actions (script view). according to the authors, both views tend to focus on the materials themselves and thus misdirect attention from social interactions in which activities are accomplished and objects are entangled. the “accomplishing” view, suggested by jarzabkowski 539 the m@n@gement journey, spanning boundaries and navigating at the fringe m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 535-546 and pinch, is to complement those previous views and examine activities and materials, “as they are accomplished with objects in a multiplicity of contexts”. the use of material possibilities allows us “to repair the affordances contained in the materials and enable the material script to progress”. dismantling boundaries between disciplines interdisciplinarity in organizational and management studies constitutes an avenue to generate promising theories and research questions in the extent that, as mentioned previously, it is not only an “import-export” process. four contributions offer various representations of interdisciplinarity between management studies and other social sciences and humanities. more widely, lots of authors in this anniversary issue are used to using ideas and theories from other fields to feed their thought. a true example of “conceptual blending”, eero vaara and ann reff pedersen’s essay echoes the words of linda rouleau about the ramifications of sap research and enriches the discursive turn of strategic practice by borrowing the bakhtinian concept of the “chronotope”. vaara and pedersen elucidate the processes through which understandings of time and space are constructed in strategy narratives and enrich the understanding of how exactly strategy narratives construct the past, present, and future. the authors depart from the usual notion of “chronological” time and apply to narratives of strategy bakhtin’s “chronotope”, the literary construct of time in which space is required as a reference point. they combine this with ricoeur’s “meaning-based approach” to time in order to configure a new method of viewing past, present and future in the context of strategy. strategizing is “reproblematized” as a creative activity, “both enabled and constrained by readily available forms”. the essay underscores that alternative antenarratives become living stories and institutionalized strategies and allow us to consider how strategy-making is based on dialogicality and polyphony. the detour through bakthin’s as well as ricoeur’s worlds not only extends but deeply enriches the way we deal with the narrative construction of strategies in organizations. lots of works in organizational science and strategic management have been dedicated to questioning and defining the nature and the frontiers of the firm, widely rooted in organizational economics and corporate finance theories. some may consider this excessive and think that ultimately, it simply weakens the frontiers of… management studies. contrariwise, hugh willmott and jeroen veldman point out that management and organization studies surprisingly have never really thought about or “thematized” the corporation, which remains a shadow concept in the field. seriously, what is a corporation? interdisciplinarity also takes shape in imagination and myths underlying our theories and conceptualizations. willmott and veldman scrutinize how the corporation is a performative product of three analytically distinctive but in practice compounded imaginaries: legal, economic and political. these “imaginaries” give access to what we label as a “corporation”. they consistently enact and embody various social phenomena, and become a political and performative discourse. the essay offers a remarkable journey into some legal and neo-liberal economic imaginaries as well as a new lens throughout which to view them. it does this by highlighting the transition from the “corporate entity” to the “legal fiction” and the consequences of that transition. willmott 540 olivier germain & emmanuel josserandm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 536-546 and veldman point to the prevalence of political imaginaries in concepts of the corporation and advocate a “de-reification” of it so as to understand corporate form as “a network of social and productive relationships”. this paper suggests nothing less than a reconstruction of corporate governance which means reattributing agency to the corporate entity: “its assets are indivisibly social, and not private, property”! interdisciplinary approaches may be organized around borrowing a specific concept, as eero vaara and ann reff pedersen do, or embracing a more general “platform” as a coherent framework which facilitates the understanding or exploration of organizational phenomena. stewart clegg and ad van iterson root their essay in contemporary classical sociology and suggest that this approach should be prevalent in organization studies because it allows us to develop imagination. they try to address in an innovative manner how the liquefying boundaries of space, time and organizations impact or alter employee behavior. the uniqueness of their paper consists, inter alia, of the integration in the same framework of both an inspiring author, norbert elias, and his main opponent, hans peter duerr. one may sometimes blame researchers in organization studies for borrowing locked and homogeneous theories without viewing them through critical lenses. elias points out the effects of the social structure of human behavior, from an historical long-term perspective. duerr enriches elias’ thesis with aspects of physical proximity and distance which are at best implicit in the former thesis. according to authors, these theories may inform trends such as distance work, inter-organizational cooperation and dedifferentiation as liquid phenomena “may bestow organizational members with a varying need for self-regulation”. management and organizational studies should therefore address more fully the effects of physical distance/ proximity and of interdependence of work activities on social control and selfregulation. as mentioned above, carnegie school delivered two pieces that are both considered as matrixes for organizational studies and the influence of which has spread into various streams of research: march and simon’s 1958 organizations and cyert and march’s 1963 the behavioral theory of the firm. as mentioned by mie augier, the foundation of carnegie was characterized by the absence of true experts in… organization studies; some founding members came from the fields of, amongst others, informatics, cognitive sciences, mathematics, the arts and economics. this interdisciplinarity “by necessity” generated a unique view of organizations and constituted the organizing principle that is so important to management and organization studies. research-ing is also an organizational practice embedded in multiple flows of action: mie augier offers in her history-based essay a thick description of the social, institutional and intellectual context from which the behavioral theory of the firm emerged fifty years ago, celebrating another anniversary. she explains the reviews and reception which the behavioral theory of the firm received in 1953. one of the most interesting comes for sydney winter who saw the book as developing an alternative to neoclassic theory. augier is certain of the direct engagement of jim march and richard cyert with the disciplines they solicited to construct their theory and her essay shows how the behavioral theory of the firm impacted various disciplines including economics, political science, population ecology and psychology. 541 the m@n@gement journey, spanning boundaries and navigating at the fringe m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 535-546 interdisciplinarity is not only carried out by individual researchers; it is also considered a legitimate venture for a field as a whole to undertake. research should be a conversation with other disciplines, not a one way monologue. playing at the fringe with provokingly new ideas interdisciplinarity is a source of freedom and of creativity, in that it arouses deviance in otherwise institutionalized research fields. one needs to brand or label deviant ideas by producing strong narrations to enhance the legitimacy of new materials. terms, sentences, metaphors and symbols have a performative effect within scientific communities. andré spicer, robert chia and stephen linstead suggest three terms that could be used to nourish strategic and organizational thinking and may, perhaps unfortunately, reflect contemporary organizational life: bullshit, strategic indirection, and organizational bystanding. andré spicer notes that the production of “talk” and “text” has become increasingly prevalent in organizational life and, furthermore, that these discourses constitute the social reality of organizations. he suggests that actually talk and text do not produce any aspect of organizational reality beyond, as he puts it, bullshit. bullshit consists of all “discourse which is created, circulated and consumed” in organizational life “with little respect for or relationship to reality”. bullshit has a performative function in the extent to which it empowers the “bullshitter”. bullshit is not concerned with truth, it diverts attention from primary tasks of organization and enables bull-shitters to go about their own purposes. the more the immaterial context of an organization is filled with ambiguity and vagueness and the more it is empty of purpose and sense, the more bullshitters have the opportunity to cloak fundamentally ephemeral or even meaningless talk or text in a sophisticated garb. the continuous production of materials by the management fashion industry enables the exploitation of this excess of discourse by bullshitters. we may thus question our own role in this industry of bullshit! bullshit can have positive returns however and may help, for instance, to back up an organization’s branding and legitimacy. yet it remains true that it may “trigger a deep sense of affront among organizational members” and “severely undermine the trust” of stakeholders. bullshit may sound like an entertaining concept but refers to the most unpleasant aspects of organizational life! in a very different vein, robert chia continues his deconstruction of “spectacular” strategy thought that led him to suggest some avenues which challenge our underlying assumptions derived from the western outlook. this traditional outlook generates and overestimates some persistent myths which tend to format our research traditions in strategy. these myths include concepts such as the direct and visible intervention of the heroic manager endowed with unique qualities and a calculative rationality, a quasimathematical and direct causality between discrete and decisive action and organizational performance as a whole. chia roots his essay in process philosophy and francois jullien’s chinese thought for two reasons. first, this allows him to demonstrate the weaknesses of a direct approach of strategy and its underlying consequentialist form of reasoning. second, it enables 542 olivier germain & emmanuel josserandm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 536-546 him to elaborate on strategic indirection as a more promising way to account for a more oblique and indirect form of engagement. this fresh perspective adopts an undetermined becoming worldview rather than a being one. it also acknowledges the existence of “unowned” (rather than owned) processes, which are seen as phenomena “taking place regardless of human intervention”. this immanent view of strategy concentrates upon silent transformations which, in francois jullien’s words, are implied in the strategic process so as to facilitate the conditions for the emergence of an outcome. the task of the strategist, a “sage”, is to turn the “potential at work in the configuration” into an opportunity; he does not tackle certain alleged strategic challenges head-on, instead maintaining an oblique approach and opting for “strategic inaction” in everyday organizational life. stephen linstead’s paper similarly starts by deconstructing a vivid myth of organizational studies. with respect to any scandal or unethical behavior in organizations, researchers are used to documenting and labeling some “active”, direct or explicit behaviors and to distinguishing between, so to speak, the good, the bad and the ugly. contrary to this style of thought, stephen linstead aims to offer an alternative to corruption, incompetence or collusion in explaining the formative contexts of escalating unethical action. he draws on the social psychology notion of bystanding, “an inability or refusal to look down the causal chain and acknowledge its human and social effects”. you know or witness some deviant and harmful actions but do nothing to stop or ameliorate it. this seems closer to the reality of everyday life in organizations. linstead departs from a purely sociological notion to elaborate an organizational understanding of bystanding. in his words, organizational bystanding “reflects the state of non-involvement as a form of involvement, dissolution of any resolution to resist and a prelude to active involvement”. his essay points out the uniqueness of the organizational context for addressing bystanding. for instance, “bullying” may take forms that are not easy to discern and symbolic violence in organizational situations may not always be obvious, nor capable of direct confrontation. organizations are also more formally interconnected ordinary worlds in which a large plurality of selfand collective interests overlaps. this highlights the need for “paradoxical thinking” but also makes bystanding more difficult in organizations. bystanding behaviour requires critical efforts and faculties to understand what is really going on. above all, the bystanding approach within organizations puts the responsibility of “beingin-relation” on the agenda of organization studies. the art of spanning, balancing creativity and rigor in our research journeys these four contributions address different aspect of a fundamental paradox in research in general, one that is perhaps even more salient in certain approaches of social sciences. it results from the tensions between rigor and creativity, genial ideas and well-constructed discovery processes, emotion and rationality. far from offering solutions or choices, their combined efforts constitute an invitation to live with the paradox, to accept it as part of the job – or maybe as part of any human activity. so, “more of the opposites” seem to be the core message that we can take home. 543 the m@n@gement journey, spanning boundaries and navigating at the fringe m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 535-546 first, we need a more precise and rational approach to how our practices are regulated. if we accept that no evaluation system will ever be perfect – and as bill starbuck’s papers suggest, this offers a margin for manoeuvre that can be useful – it does not mean that we should not try to fix some of the most obvious problems and thus increase rigor. joel baum’s paper is about exactly that. considering the increasing importance of citation indices for journals, gaining some form of consensus on what is fair and trying to get the measures right is of importance. accordingly, baum proposes a solution to correct journal impact factors for citation quality. indeed, well established journals benefit from the sensitivity to a few highly cited papers, when many others do not have such an impact. the result is that many articles published in these journals can “free-ride” on the reputation gained by the most cited ones. by adjusting journal impact factors according to relative number of citations, baum shows how our perception of journal quality is changed, which is of course important in relation to individual evaluation. while bill starbuck concurs in his article that the main processes regulating our field are imperfect, he demonstrates how this can be used to the profit of the creativity of research products. he describes how difficult it is for academics to get a clear perspective on what is happening in the field. this is due in particular to the ambiguity of messages about what constitutes good research. depending on their research traditions and their personal backgrounds, reviewers and editors produce contradictory evaluations. this is partly due to the concentration of the publishing industry and also due to increasing pressure from the business school rating system, both of which reinforce the status quo. in concentrated industries, firms are used to repeating and protecting imperfect behaviors. however, starbuck offers an optimistic conclusion, arguing that this situation of blundering randomly in disagreement can actually lead to more creativity in research if academics are ready to take risks. indeed, the ambiguity of academic evaluation means that creative and risky research topics, methods and designs have their chance to be accepted and consequently our path is not as blocked as we might think as we might think. starbuck suggests, however, that, to be accepted, authors should pay very close attention to any feed-back they can get before publication since this can provide useful data about possible audiences and thus constitutes a way to navigate their complex environment. yiannis gabriel and james march further reflect on how and why creativity should be pursued and how and why it is likely to be rewarded and rewarding. yiannis gabriel both advocates and explains surprises as the sources of knowledge. he suggests that we must break free of assumptions and crossfertilize and engage with different disciplines and ideas. researchers have to break free of the tyranny of “purposiveness” and venture into less controlled territories. these are the territories of unmanaged inquiry, directed by pleasure rather than by purpose. gabriel describes how, when the managed and the unmanaged (or perhaps “play” and “method”) follow parallel paths, they can, in specific contexts, mesh. while bill starbuck’s paper explains why ambiguity in our field creates a space of freedom, yiannis gabriel provides a teleological explanation in which pleasure is the drive. and indeed, our life as researchers would be very dull without unmanaged and playful ideas. in the same vein, james march describes how beauty is more important than relevance. playfulness is vital and has been an important driver to some of 544 olivier germain & emmanuel josserandm@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 536-546 the key ideas of our field, such as the “garbage can” model or the “temporal sorting in decision making” model. if we apply this model to the question of beauty, we understand how beautiful ideas can solve problems and perhaps realize that they are more likely to do so than ideas generated by the obsession of relevance. it should be noted, however, that march does not imply that the pursuit of relevance is unimportant, but rather that it should not come at the expense of playing with beautiful ideas. he rejoins yiannis gabriel when he writes that such ideas are sources of surprise, made of simplicity and fertility. he mentions some of the ideas that touched him over the years and includes two recent unpublished papers. let’s hope that bill starbuck is right and that these beautiful ideas will find a space in our ambiguous field. an on-going journey the last paper is that of bernard forgues and sébastien liarte, two very important persons for m@n@gement. bernard was the founder and the energy behind the journal for many years, and if we can celebrate a 15th birthday, it is thanks to his relentless work for so many years to establish the journal. bernard worked almost full time for many years on this, producing decisions of a very high standard while simultaneously handing out flyers at the academy of management. so, we would like to take the chance to thank him for this great success. and we are also happy to pass the baton to sebastien, who was editorial assistant in the early days and who is the incoming co-editor in chief along with laure cabantous. their paper portrays the evolution of our field and describes the impact of the emergence of online journals and of the online access movement. this will help us to probe into the future of our field and forge an idea about what its future will be. this paper is our conclusion because it also tells the story of m@n@gement’s journey and delivers an optimistic message regarding its future. so, happy birthday, m@n@gement! and many happy returns! 545 the m@n@gement journey, spanning boundaries and navigating at the fringe m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 535-546 olivier germain is professor of management and entrepreneurship at the école des sciences de la gestion, université du québec à montréal (canada). he is also regular visiting professor at ecole de management de normandie (france). his research interests now focus on critical studies and process approaches in entrepreneuring. emmanuel josserand is professor of management and director of the center for management and organization studies at university of technology, sydney. his research interests are networks and identity. he served as editor in chief for m@n@gement from 2008 to 2013. acknowledgement very special thanks to bernard forgues who helped us to invite some of the authors. thanks also to laure cabantous, bernard forgues, yiannis gabriel, james march, grand michelson, rodolphe durand, viviane sergi, andré spicer and eero vaara who helped us in the friendly reviewing process of essays. we would like to thank them for their very helpful comments and support. we are grateful to walid shibib for his impressive job of managing this anniversary issue. 546 the m@n@gement journey, spanning boundaries and navigating at the fringe m@n@gement vol. 16 no. 5, 2013, 535-546 · augier, m., & march, j. g. (2011). the roots, rituals, and rhetorics of change: north american business schools after the second world war. stanford, ca: stanford university press. · chanlat j.f. (2008). l’analyse interculturelle et les sciences humaines. in e. davel, j.p. dupuis, j.f. chanlat, gestion en contexte interculturel, approches, problématiques, pratiques et plongées (pp. 25-71). québec: presses de l’université laval et télé-université. · flyvbjerg, b. (2006). five misunderstandings about casestudy research. qualitative inquiry, 12(2), 219-245. · freedman, m. (1979). main trends in social and cultural anthropology. new york: holmes & meier. · gelfand, m. j., erez, m., & aycan, a. z. (2007). cross-cultural organizational behavior. annual review of psychology, 58, 479-514. · grey, c. (2010). organization studies: publications, politics and polemic. organization studies, 31(6), 677-694. · johnson, h. g. (1973). national styles in economic research: the united states, the united kingdom, canada, and various european countries. daedalus, 102(2), 65-74. · lyytinen, k., baskerville, r., iivari, j., & te’eni, d. (2007). why the old world cannot publish? overcoming challenges in publishing high-impact is research. european journal of information systems, 16(4), 317-326. · orlinsky, d. e. (1989). researchers’ images of psychotherapy: their origins and influence on research. clinical psychology review, 9(4), 413-441. · oswick, c., fleming, p., & hanlon, g. (2011). from borrowing to blending: rethinking the processes of organizational theory building. academy of management review, 36(2), 318-337. · robinson-pant, a. (2005). cross cultural perspectives in educational research. maidenhead ; new york: open university press. · santistevan, d., & karjalainen, h. (2013). how different cultures study culture differently. paper presented at the egos conférence 2013, 4-6 juillet, montréal. · sullivan, d. p., & weaver, g. r. (2000). cultural cognition in international business research. management international review, 40(3), 269-297. · tietze, s. (2013). review of s. montgomery’s “does science need a global language? english and the future of research”. m@n@gement, 16(3), 349-356. · wry, t., lounsbury, m., & glynn, m. a. (2011). legitimating nascent collective identities: coordinating cultural entrepreneurship. organization science, 22(2), 449-463. · zahra, s. a., & newey, l. r. (2009). maximizing the impact of organization science: theory-building at the intersection of disciplines and/ or fields. journal of management studies, 46(6), 1059-1075. · zimmerman, m. a., & zeitz, g. d. (2002). beyond survival: achieving new venture growth by building legitimacy. academy of management review, 27(3), 414-431. references m@n@gement, vol. 1, no. 1, 1998, 23-31 23 peter reason i was very pleased to be invited to review daniel selener’s book, having met him and discussed his project—albeit briefly—at cornell university and later at the world congress in participatory action research at cartagena, colombia in 1997. and having also spent my professional life working to establish collaborative forms of action research from a different (but i thought sympathetic) ideological base from selener’s (reason, 1994b; reason, forthcoming-b), i was keen to see what he had made of this exploration of action research in different traditions and in different contexts. so as i sit down to write this review i am curious as to why it has taken me so long to get into the study of the book and the writing which i had agreed to do with such alacrity. part of it is undoubtedly my own conceit: having edited books which were intended to explore the diverse field of participatory approaches to research (reason, 1988; reason, 1994a; reason and rowan, 1981) (and being in the early stages of putting together a handbook of research practice (reason and bradbury, in preparation) devoted to participatory forms of action research), i was without doubt anxious about approaching the work of a man, clearly very intellectually competent and ideologically committed, who might be approaching this job “better”—both more comprehensively and more from a more radical ideology—than i could do. the reader should know that this may have coloured my perspective, and in any event, i am not a neutral commentator, having advocated the conduct of inquiry in collaborative and action-oriented forms. but my delay in getting into this review cannot be put entirely to my own anxiety, nor to my busy-ness. from first hearing about selener’s book and first flipping through the pages, i found the project and the prospect of reviewing of project of this magnitude quite daunting—and centre for action research in professional practice, school of management, university of bath, claverton down, bath, ba2 7ay, uk telephone: +44 1225 826792 fax: +44 1225 826473 email: p.w.reason@bath.ac.uk knowledge as social praxis: a review of selener’s (1997) participatory action research and social change m@n@gement, vol. 1, no. 1, 1998, 23-31 24 the cover claims the book to be «the most complete book for those committed to research, participation and social change». from the start, glancing through it, i found the book both appealing and rather off-putting. and now that i have read it carefully, i discover i both like and dislike it, think it is like both extraordinarily comprehensive and quite inadequate at the same time. and it is difficult to write an adequate critical review of such a complex work by a man who i fundamentally admire and whose enterprise i wish to support. so i will give an account of my reading of participatory action research and social change, distinguishing as i go between the parts i like and the parts which trouble me. the book starts with a personal preface which is exemplary. for daniel selener tells us very frankly of his commitment to his «radical political paradigm» (p. 1) and the difficulties he experienced in approaching writing about research in other ideological paradigms. he tells us how he labelled the work of people in management and education «pseudo-participatory research» (p. 1) (and the paranoid part of me imagines he might have included me in this!). he tells how, by reading some «neoliberal works», he thought of himself as a «traitor to the revolutionary cause», that he was committing «intellectual and political suicide» (p. 2). and he tells us how: «i learned to balance my deep ideological beliefs and political commitment with my thirst for liberating knowledge. i decided to practice what i preach, i.e. to attempt to understand things from different points of view.» (p. 2). in writing this introduction selener not only tells us that he is attempting to understand different points for view, he is telling us the point of view from which his understanding is developing. for me this is an essential aspect of participatory research: for we need to not only participate with other human persons, but as we ourselves are inevitably part of the field, we are participating in the creation of knowing. since selener tells us so much about “where he is coming from” we can see how he participates in the creation of knowing and can judge more thoroughly the quality of his contribution without having to second guess his perspective. if only more writing started with such an honest and straightforward account of the process of writing. the book then moves in to the first section, which sets out the four major areas in which selener has discovered approaches to participatory action research: in community development, in organizations, in education, and with farmers. he attempts to give us a comprehensive account of the thinking and practice in each of these fields—and provides four bibliographies which themselves extend to 77 pages. i think some of my problems with the book start here, for i see his choice of these four as quite arbitrary: after all, some communities are also organizations, schools and other educational establishments are organizations, and farming takes place within communities. and what about action research in healthcare, in social work, in policing, in churches and in many other fields? i suspect the book would be more satisfactory (and less repetitive) if some other, and maybe more conceptual typology, were used as the base of its organization. i immensely enjoyed chapter two, the account of participatory research in communities, for selener gives an wonderful account of this work’s origins (which he claims to be primarily in south america) having its origins in the work of marx, engels, gramsci, liberation theology and the sociology of liberation, and of course the liberationist teaching of paulo freire. he provides a critique of research based in a positivist tradition, and outlines the intellectual origins of participatory research in pragmatism, humanistic idealism and historical materialism. and he makes very clear that the aims of participatory research in communities is both to solve practical problems and to change the balance of power in favour of poor and marginalized groups by working with them so that they become social actors: «knowledge is a fundamental element in the theory and practice of participatory action research. this approach assumes that social science is not value free or neutral. all research is political in nature, and has the potential to affect the distribution of power in society. research can serve either to maintain or to challenge society’s existing power relations.» «participatory researchers maintain that knowledge has become the single most important basis of power and control… and that the oppressors’ power is, in part, derived from control of both the process and the products of knowledge generation» (p. 24). and of course, this knowledge is not just what is written in books and articles, knowledge is social praxis: «generated by a community group to promote activities for social change» (p. 34). selener very clearly knows his stuff here, knows it with his heart as well as with his intellect, and knows it practically as well as from books. yet already i am curious about the omissions, in particular that there is no reference in the text to the work in southern africa by marja-liisa swantz and her colleagues—particularly as i understand it was she who first coined the term “participatory action research” for this kind of liberating action research among deprived people of the south—nor the work based at highlander in tennessee which contributed so much to the civil rights movement in the usa. i strongly urge all management and organizational researchers to read this chapter of the book and to ponder on it before moving on the next section. it is powerfully written, ideologically committed, and intellectually thorough. participatory research from this perspective is a chalm@n@gement, vol. 1, no. 1, 1998, 23-31 25 lenge to us all, whether orthodox “objective” researchers, insider/outsider researchers (bartunek and louis, 1996), action researchers (elden and chisholm, 1993), action scientists (argyris, putnam, and smith, 1985), or co-operative inquirers (heron, 1996), and particularly if we are involved in organisational interventions. daniel selener then turns his attention to action research in organizations, and it is here that i find his account much more questionable. he offers a review of the roots of action research in organizations, tracing these back to lewin (whom he rightly credits with valuing creating social change through participation), elton mayo, william foot whyte and the researchers from the tavistock institute, trist, bamforth, rice et al., but omitting the important group dynamics work of ntl. however, when he lists the sources he draws on for his account of the main components for action research in organizations (on pages 63 and 65), they do seem very partial and dated. dated, since the latest listed is shani and pasmore (1985); and partial because significant writers such as argyris (e.g. argyris et al., 1985), torbert (1991), cooperrider and srivastva (1987), gustavsen (1992; see also toulmin and gustavsen, 1996), levin (1996) and others from the scandinavian quality of work life projects, the contributors to the special issue of human relations on action research (elden and chisholm, 1993), while listed in the extensive bibliography are not discussed in the text at all; other important influences such as senge (1990) and weisbord (1992) are completely omitted. (there is no index to this book which is a serious omission for a work which attempts to organize and compare so many sources.) further, most of this chapter has the quality of lists—lists of main components, lists of underlying assumptions, lists of values, lists of methodological guidelines, so that it adds up to little more than a rather dated primer in organization development. the problem seems to be that, in contrast with the previous chapter, selener only knows this work intellectually, not practically and emotionally. his main critical thrust is that action researchers in organizations have served managerial purposes and ignored the needs of those with less power: «there is overwhelming evidence that action researchers have traditionally worked with and for management rather than the lower levels of an organization… action researchers are hired and paid by, and work with the consent of, management to achieve goals and objectives set for by the organizations hierarchy» (p. 78). this is a serious charge, and one which has at least a partial ring of truth to it. there are of course counter arguments, one of which is that interests do not simply lie with either management or employees; that organizations will only change if senior managers learn to change in the direction of more inclusive, democratic and problem oriented behaviour; that we must understand the difference between first and second m@n@gement, vol. 1, no. 1, 1998, 23-31 26 order change etc. but none of these issues are explored, and although selener does return to issues of power, participation and action research in a later chapter, he does seem to be working from an either/or view of power. this chapter doesn’t get to grips with the kinds of questions of epistemology or practice that i hear debated at (some) american academy of management sessions, amongst enlightened organization consultants (harrison, 1995), or that i read in the modern literature on action research in organizations (e.g. the journal concepts and transformations). selener’s chapter on action research in education provides a thorough introduction, drawing strongly on kemmis’ and his colleagues critical theory perspective on action research as an emancipatory process. he contrasts usefully traditional-positivist, practical-interpretivist, and emancipatory-critical forms of action research (pp. 116-120). but i soon got tired of being presented with lists, with repetitions from previous chapters, with the brevity with which important issues were addressed (for example reading that the emancipatory-critical approach to action research rejects «positivist notions of rationality, objectivity and truth in favor of a dialectical view of rationality» [p. 120]. what does this really mean?). the final chapter of part one concerns farmer participatory research and is concerned with work with poor farmers. it discusses how models of research based on transfer of technology have not been successful and argues for a full participation of farmers in research into improving methods on their farms, on the assumptions that the farmers indigenous knowledge is of immense value, and that they have capacity for experimentation. i know very little about this kind of work— although i have listened to a village farmer from central america talk with enthusiasm about his village’s collaboration with a young american forestry graduate—but to my mind the chapter has the merits and drawbacks of the previous two, being a useful brief introduction that will not take the mature reader very far at all. the second part of this book contains four reflective chapters: chapter six looks at different aspects of participation in selener’s forms on action research; chapter seven at questions of power and control and who benefits, chapter eight at theories of social change, and the final chapter at questions and recommendations for practice. chapter six introduces a framework of types of participation differentiating between «genuine» participation and «pseudo-participation» in eight steps ranging from «manipulation» to «citizen control». selener then examines examples of action research from each of his four categories, exploring the nature of participation in each. this chapter makes important and useful distinctions, albeit still suffering from brevity of treatment. selener shows how participation to solve «technical» problems can lead to empowerment, but also how it can simply lead to m@n@gement, vol. 1, no. 1, 1998, 23-31 27 «domestication» if employees in an organization are simply used as a source of «data», emphasising again how people in organizations must become more aware of the impact of power relations on the research process. the question it raises for me is whether we can understand participation without also understanding authority and autonomy. for as i have argued: «(…) institutions need to enhance human association by an appropriate balance of the principles of hierarchy, collaboration, and autonomy: deciding for others, with others, and for oneself. authentic hierarchy provides appropriate direction by those with greater vision, skill and experience—and is always concerned with transforming relationships so that those in relatively subordinate positions move toward greater skills in collaborative and autonomous action (torbert, 1991). collaboration roots the individual within a community of peers, offering basic support and the creative and corrective feedback of other views and possibilities (randall and southgate, 1980). autonomy expresses the self-creating and self-transfiguring potential of the person (heron, 1992). the shadow face of authority is authoritarianism; that of collaboration peer pressure and conformity; that of autonomy narcissism, wilfulness and isolation. the challenge is to design institutions which manifest valid forms of these principles; and to find ways in which they can be maintained in self-correcting and creative tension (heron, 1989; heron, 1993).» (reason, forthcoming-a). selener’s concern with the participation dimension alone narrows his view of what is required for a vision of an emancipatory inquiry practice and, i think, results in an over-simplified argument, for we cannot understand community and participation without also understanding liberating authority and individual autonomy. and since power is such an important dimension in his argument, it is strange that his book does not include a more sophisticated discussion of the theory and nature of power. selener notes when commenting on a case of farmer participatory research: «it is interesting to note that shifts in power in this community did not occur, though power was acquired through the creation of a cooperative within the context of a major social and political movement. this suggests that the acquisition of power does not always involve taking it away from somebody else, especially in the context of social change-oriented governments or institutions in which empowering the poor does not require changes in power structures. however, participation of women in decision-making is evidence of the redistribution of power formerly held exclusively by males in this society» (p. 225). we could do with a much more thorough exploration of the nature of social power than this: selener seems to view power primarily as a m@n@gement, vol. 1, no. 1, 1998, 23-31 28 commodity in limited supply which can be acquired or re-distributed, although at times he hints at a more subtle and complex, as in the second sentence. the absence of an exploration of theories of power makes chapter seven less useful than it might be, and chapter eight on theories of social change is simply too short to encompass its own agenda. but i cannot but cheer wholeheartedly at the unequivocal statement: «for action to be empowering, the political system, the society, and the organizations in which action research takes place must be democratic. even when working within an oppressive setting, activities oriented to changing that situations can be empowering. while some contexts are conducive to the successful implementation of participatory action research for social change, and some are not, we must remember that an oppressive context is the principal reason and motivation to engage in an activity of this type in order to change that reality» (p. 258). and again, i cannot but cheer at the last chapter, which in a short and sharp fashion focuses the agenda of the whole book in a set of questions that researchers should be asking themselves about the impact of the work on power and on social change. these are the kind of questions which raise questions about power relations in research, and should be addressed in every phd dissertation and every research proposal. they expand our notion of validity in inquiry to include not only the epistemological but the social, and ask us to show how our research process has increased the capacity for inquiry amongst those with whom we have worked. selener’s questions remind me of the important questions john rowan raised long ago about research, questions not just about truth, but about authenticity, alienation, power, patriarchy, legitimacy and relevance (rowan, 1981). so what to make of this book? as i write this review i feel uncomfortable about the degree to which i have been critical, yet at the same time feeling sure these criticisms are justified for a book which makes a claim to completeness. but selener has undertaken an absolutely huge task in reviewing the whole field of participatory action research—a task that i was asked to undertake for the handbook of qualitative research and only managed by reframing it as an exploration of three approaches to collaborative inquiry (reason, 1994b). he provides us with a quite extraordinary (but not complete) range of material in his study, and thus offers an extremely useful bibliographic resource. and selener does us a particular service by focusing our thoughts so thoroughly on the issues of power and participation in action research, and challenges action researchers in organisations to consider carefully whose interests we serve. so i think action researchers in organizations will find this book practically useful as a resource, both stimulating and annoying for what it includes and what it omits. read the preface as a fine example of the m@n@gement, vol. 1, no. 1, 1998, 23-31 29 relationship between the personal, political and theoretical, and if you are not familiar with the literature of participatory research in communities and among disadvantaged people, buy this book for chapter 2 alone. m@n@gement, vol. 1, no. 1, 1998, 23-31 30 references ■ argyris, chris, robert putnam, and diana mclain smith 1985 action science: concepts, methods, and skills for research and intervention, san francisco: jossey bass. ■ bartunek, jean, and meryl reis louis 1996 insider/outsider team research, qualitative research methods series, vol. 40, thousand oaks: sage. ■ cooperrider, david l., and suresh srivastva 1987 appreciative inquiry in organizational life, in richard w. woodman, and william a. pasmore (eds.), research in organizational change and development, vol. 1, greenwich: jai press, 129-169. ■ elden, max, and rupert f. chisholm (eds.) 1993 special issue: action research, human relations, 46, 2. ■ gustavsen, björn 1992 dialogue and development: theory of communication, action research and the restructuring of working life, assen: van gorcum. ■ harrison, roger 1995 consultant's journey: a dance of work and spirit, san francisco: josseybass. ■ heron, john 1989 the facilitators’ handbook, london: kogan page. ■ heron, john 1992 feeling and personhood: psychology in another key, london: sage. ■ heron, john 1993 group facilitation: theories and models for practice, london: kogan page. ■ heron, john 1996 co-operative inquiry: research into the human condition, london: sage. ■ levin, morten 1996 the quest for quality in participatory inquiry a critical reflection of validity, working paper, norwegian university of science and technology. ■ randall, rosemary, and john southgate 1980 co-operative and community group dynamics: or your meetings needn't be so appalling, london: barefoot books. ■ reason, peter (ed.) 1988 human inquiry in action: developments in new paradigm research, london: sage. ■ reason, peter (ed.) 1994a participation in human inquiry, london: sage. ■ reason, peter 1994b three approaches to participative inquiry, in norman k. denzin, and yvonna s. lincoln (eds.), handbook of qualitative research, thousand oaks: sage, 324-339. ■ reason, peter forthcoming-a co-operative inquiry as a discipline of professional practice, journal of interprofessional care. ■ reason, peter forthcoming-b political, epistemological, ecological and spiritual dimensions of participation, journal of organizational symbolism. ■ reason, peter, and hilary bradbury, (eds.) in preparation handbook of action research: toward research/practice, london and thousand oaks: sage. ■ reason, peter, and john rowan (eds.) 1981 human inquiry: a sourcebook of new paradigm research, chichester: wiley. ■ rowan, john 1981 a dialectical paradigm for research, in peter reason, and john rowan (eds.), human inquiry: a sourcebook of new paradigm research, chichester: wiley, 93-112. ■ senge, peter m. 1990 the fifth discipline: the art and practice of the learning organization, new york: doubleday. ■ shani, abraham b., and william a. pasmore 1985 organization inquiry: towards a new model of the action research process, in don d. warrick (ed.), contemporary organization development: current thinking and applications, glenview: scott, foresman, 438-448. m@n@gement, vol. 1, no. 1, 1998, 23-31 31 ■ torbert, william r. 1991 the power of balance: transforming self, society, and scientific inquiry, newbury park: sage. ■ toulmin, stephen, and björn gustavsen (eds.) 1996 beyond theory: changing organizations through participation. amsterdam: john benjamins. ■ weisbord, marvin r. (ed.) 1992 discovering common ground: how future search conferences bring people together to achieve breakthrough innovation, empowerment, shared vision, and collaborative action, san francisco: berrett-koehler. 73casanueva volume 11, no. 2. special issue: “corporate governance and ethics” guest editors: vincent dessain, olivier meier and vicente salas � m. mar alonso almeida y eduardo bueno campos 2008 ética y gobierno de la empresa: base para la confianza de los accionistas, m@n@gement, 11: 2, 211-230. copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). m@n@gement is a double-blind refereed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.management-aims.com © 2006 m@n@gement and the author(s). m@n@gement issn: 1286-4892 editors: alain desreumaux, u. de lille i martin evans, u. of toronto bernard forgues, u. de lille i hugh gunz, u. of toronto martina menguzzato, u. de valència m@n@gement est la revue officielle de lʼaims m@n@gement is the official journal of aims http://www.management-aims.com http://www.management-aims.com http://www.strategie-aims.com m. mar alonso almeida . eduardo bueno campos universidad autónoma de madriddpto de organización de empresas email: mar.alonso@uam.es universidad autónoma de madrid dpto de organización de empresas email: eduardo.bueno@uam.es ética y gobierno de la empresa: base para la confianza de los accionistas los conflictos de interés existentes entre los accionistas y la dirección de la empresa, puestos de manifiesto en la teoría de la agencia, se han hecho más visibles en los últimos años debido a la evidencia de algunos comportamientos poco éticos por parte de aquéllos que dirigen la organización, lo cual ha generado un clima de desconfianza entre todos los agentes relacionados con la empresa, principalmente accionistas e inversores. la recuperación de la confianza de los inversores se ha convertido en un objetivo prioritario para los organismos supervisores de los mercados financieros de todo el mundo, impulsando reformas legislativas que incorporan medidas legales para reforzar la transparencia informativa y la participación en las sociedades cotizadas. las tecnologías de la información y las comunicaciones y, en especial internet, están alterando el medio y los modelos de comunicación entre sociedades cotizadas e inversores, proporcionando información relevante de forma rápida y universal y ofreciendo nuevas vías para la gestión de la confianza en el ámbito del gobierno corporativo. en este trabajo se analizas las posibilidades de las nuevas tecnologías de la información para la construcción de confianza en las relaciones con los accionistas en general y con los pequeños en particular. a finales del siglo pasado las formas de gobierno corporativo se vieron cuestionadas debido a la aparición de determinados escándalos financieros en algunas organizaciones empresariales, lo que provocó que se desarrollasen algunas corrientes doctrinales que pedían mayor transparencia, traducida en más y mejor información, mayor accesibilidad y publicidad de la misma, así como mayor participación de todos los implicados en la organización. en este escenario las tecnologías de la información y las comunicaciones se han convertido en agentes dinamizadores que facilitan dicha transparencia y, posiblemente, potencian el valor de las organizaciones. en este sentido las voces críticas de dichas corrientes doctrinales, llevan a pensar que es necesaria una revisión de las prácticas de gobierno existentes en las organizaciones y una nueva estrategia que garantice la recuperación de la confianza de los accionistas e inversores. esta revisión de la estrategia política debe incorporar un comportamiento ético de los agentes principales de las organizaciones para lograr una mayor transparencia y responsabilidad socio-económica de la gestión de las empresas e instituciones, sobre sus decisiones principales y, especialmente, en lo relativo a ofrecer una información relevante y continuada en el tiempo sobre los hechos mas significativos que afectan a la eficiencia de la 211 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 211-230 special issue: corporate governance and ethics mailto:mar.alonso@uam.es mailto:eduardo.bueno@uam.es entidad, así como a su comportamiento relacional con los participes en su actividad económica o con los grupos de interés internos y externos de la organización (kogut y zander, 1993). en definitiva las tecnologías de la información y las comunicaciones tienen un papel relevante en esta nueva estrategia de gobierno, al incorporar a la misma el uso de la tecnología de internet que facilita la adopción de nuevas y mejores prácticas, el conocimiento de las mismas y la posibilidad de participación, de los accionistas y de todos los agentes sociales en la vida social de la empresa (lin, 2001). como es conocido, los accionistas invierten su dinero en las empresas porque esperan recibir una rentabilidad similar a la que recibirían en cualquier otro tipo de inversión de igual riesgo, es decir, esperan que el comportamiento de las empresas seleccionadas será más alto que el de otras empresas o instrumentos de inversión. esta afirmación está de acuerdo con la teoría de la elección racional, la cual argumenta que las personas interactúan con el entorno movidas por su propio interés (stigler, 1961). planteamiento que han confirmado algunas de las investigaciones más recientes, las cuales muestran que la confianza, como punto de partida, incrementa de forma significativa la inversión directa en el mercado de valores (guiso, sapienza y zingales, 2005). estos autores encontraron una correlación positiva entre la confianza que los inversores mostraban hacia su lugar de procedencia y la inversión en dicho mercado de valores, llegando así a la conclusión que los inversores realizan sus inversiones en aquellos mercados que les son más conocidos y confiables. por eso se puede afirmar que en la interacción entre el inversor y las empresas objeto de la inversión, la primera relación que se establece es la de confianza. los estudios realizados afirman que en la creación de la confianza intervienen diversos factores sobre el comportamiento de la empresa. principalmente la reputación de la empresa, la reputación de su equipo directivo y de sus órganos de gobierno, la información que proporciona, su relación con la sociedad y otros, como la cercanía (bueno campos, 2004). estos mismos factores son explicativos del comportamiento de inversión habitual en los inversores (osili y paulson, 2004). en este trabajo se va desarrollar un modelo para la construcción de confianza basado en dimensiones éticas y que utiliza la tecnología de internet como mecanismo de creación de ésta. a continuación se van a poner de manifiesto los problemas de agencia provocados por la separación de la propiedad y el control en las empresas ; como se crea la confianza en la empresa, las dimensiones que contribuyen a está y como la tecnología de internet puede contribuir a su desarrollo. la separación entre propiedad y control: el problema de agencia las organizaciones son sistemas sociales, con una estructura, recursos y dirigidas a lograr unos fines. además, son sistemas abiertos con límites identificados (hodge, anthony y gales, 2003). para su funcionamiento necesitan capital, que es aportado por inversores de distinm. mar alonso almeida y eduardo bueno campos 212 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 211-230 special issue: corporate governance and ethics to tipo, en muchas ocasiones externos a la empresa. el gobierno de la empresa se configura como el conjunto de procesos que se implantan con el propósito de proteger las rentas y el capital aportado por los inversores (salas fumas, 1999). en este enfoque, hay que destacar que las principales teorías de la organización relacionadas con el gobierno de la empresa son la teoría de la agencia y la teoría de los costes de transacción, íntimamente vinculada con la anterior. el análisis de los problemas originados por la información, la incertidumbre y la divergencia de intereses en las relaciones económicas entre los distintos partícipes en la organización empresarial ha cobrado una gran importancia en los últimos años. esto es debido a la existencia de empresas cada vez más grandes que acuden a los mercados de valores en busca de financiación, lo que ha dado lugar a menores niveles de concentración del accionariado y a la participación creciente de pequeños inversores que buscan mayores niveles de rentabilidad (granovetter, 1992). como ya pusieron de manifiesto berle y means (1968), las grandes compañías se caracterizan por la dispersión de las acciones entre los inversores, lo que supone una separación entre propiedad y control en la empresa. este hecho incrementa la posibilidad de que se provoquen conflictos de interés entre accionistas y directivos debido a que las decisiones tomadas por estos últimos no siempre coinciden con los objetivo de los accionistas por la discrecionalidad directiva a la hora de asignar los fondos del inversor (larner, 1966; machlup, 1967). la teoría contractual de la empresa concibe a ésta como un conjunto de contratos que especifican los derechos de propiedad objeto de transacción dentro de la empresa y establecen la forma en la que los costes y compensaciones se asignarán entre las partes contratantes, incidiendo así en el comportamiento individual de los participantes de la organización. como es conocido, esta relación contractual se denomina relación de agencia y, a través de la misma, una persona, llamada principal, designa a otra, llamada agente, para que realice algún servicio en su beneficio, teniendo el principal que delegar en el agente cierta autoridad al objeto de que pueda tomar decisiones. también está demostrado que cada parte de la relación de agencia perseguirá maximizar su propia utilidad, por tanto, es lógico considerar que sus intereses no serán siempre coincidentes, es decir, el agente no actuará en todas las ocasiones de la manera más ventajosa para el principal, provocando un riesgo moral (salas fumas, 2002). de otro lado, nuevas perspectivas teóricas y estudios realizados indican que el riesgo moral y la selección adversa son manifestaciones comunes a las relaciones de agencia, aunque mantienen importantes diferencias entre si. la diferencia esencial entre ambos fenómenos consiste en que mientras la selección adversa causa problemas de agencia ex-ante o durante el planteamiento previo de la relación contractual, el riesgo moral deriva en problema de agencia ex-post o en el desarrollo posterior de la relación contractual. por lo tanto, es posible afirmar que la divergencia de intereses ocasiona una serie de problemas de agencia, de los que se derivan dos tipos de costes que son asumidos por el principal: 1/los costes en los que se incurre en el proética y gobierno de la empresa 213 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 211-230 special issue: corporate governance and ethics ceso de selección del agente más adecuado (selección adversa) y 2/los costes de seguimiento de la relación contractual (riesgo moral). en concreto, jensen y meckling (1976), precursores de la teoría de la agencia, identifican tres tipos de costes de agencia en función del sujeto al que afecten: — costes de control para el principal, que derivan de la necesidad de controlar al agente ya sea directa o indirectamente; — costes de fianza para el agente, derivados de las garantías que debe prestar para asegurar que se comportará según los deseos del principal; — pérdida de bienestar para ambos, como consecuencia de la situación de desconfianza e incertidumbre que pueda producirse entre el principal y el agente. al analizar el problema de agencia que afecta a la actividad empresarial, es necesario asumir previamente ciertas hipótesis relativas al comportamiento de los inversores, y que, según barnea, haugen y senbet (1985), pueden resumirse en las siguientes. los individuos adoptan aquellas acciones que pudieran contribuir a maximizar su propio bienestar o utilidad personal. los individuos tienen un comportamiento racional y son capaces de formar unas expectativas racionales e insesgadas acerca del impacto de los problemas de agencia y de su repercusión en el valor final futuro de su riqueza personal, a tenor de los contratos financieros suscritos. la hipótesis de racionalidad en el comportamiento de los individuos supone que cada una de las partes conoce los incentivos de la otra para seguir un comportamiento contrario a sus propios intereses. el conocimiento anticipado de esta circunstancia induce a los partícipes a diseñar la relación contractual de forma que se intenten paliar en lo posible las divergencias que puedan surgir con posterioridad (simon, 1947; miles, miles, perrone y edvinsson, 1998). en este sentido, no es el problema de agencia en sí mismo lo que interesa, sino los esfuerzos desplegados por principal y agente en busca de algún tipo de solución que mitigue los conflictos y contribuya a establecer una relación estable, duradera y de confianza. la solución del conflicto por la vía de los contratos retributivos es insuficiente porque no resuelve los problemas de incentivos en situaciones donde los contratos son incompletos. de ahí que se necesite algo más que pagar al agente en función de los resultados, que es la solución más habitual desde la teoría de la agencia. adicionalmente, las empresas hoy cuentan en sus consejos de administración con los representantes de los accionistas de control, denominados consejeros dominicales y, por tanto, los conflictos de interés también se producen entre accionistas mayoritarios y minoritarios no sólo entre directivos y accionistas. los pequeños accionistas conforman el colectivo que más acusa la rapidez y volatilidad de los mercados de valores, y por ello se hace cada vez más importante que las sociedades anónimas cotizadas se esfuercen por ofrecerles toda la información necesaria que les permita adoptar sus decisiones de inversión en igualdad de condiciones con los inversores institucionales y los grandes accionistas. m. mar alonso almeida y eduardo bueno campos 214 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 211-230 special issue: corporate governance and ethics a continuación se van a analizar los fundamentos de creación de la confianza que mitigue los citados problemas de agencia. construcción de la confianza en la empresa: necesidad de un comportamiento ético la investigación sobre la confianza se ha caracterizado por una gran diversidad de enfoques. desde el campo de la psicología, la confianza se ha considerado como un rasgo inherente de la personalidad de los sujetos (rotter, 1971). al estudiar el papel de la confianza en las organizaciones, los economistas han adoptado una posición calculadora de la confianza (williamson, 1993) y los sociólogos se han centrado en la importancia de las relaciones sociales más allá de las características individuales o de los diseños organizativos. aunque esta diversidad de concepciones ha provocado falta de unanimidad sobre el concepto de confianza, las definiciones existentes coinciden en señalar que la confianza esta basada en un conjunto de creencias sobre la otra parte (trustee) puestas en la mente del individuo que confía (trustor), denominadas antecedentes o dimensiones de la confianza (gabarro, 1978; gambetta, 1988; mayer, davis y schoorlan, 1995; lewicki, mcalister y bies, 1998). la mayoría de esas definiciones introducen la confianza como una creencia basada en la ausencia de motivos oportunistas, es decir, de un comportamiento ético por la otra parte como requisito imprescindible para que surja ésta (van de ven y ferry, 1980; barber, 1983). antes de seguir adelante, es preciso aclarar que se entiende por ética y por comportamiento ético de la empresa. la ética es el conjunto de instrucciones de uso de la vida, lo que permite alcanzar los fines deseados y facilita el crecimiento. la ética implica práctica. la ética en la empresa no consiste en sólo en evitar lo que es malo, si no, sobre todo, en hacer lo que es bueno, lo que lleva a la excelencia (argandoña, 2003). la ética no es ajena a la actividad empresarial, si no que debe formar parte de la manera de ser y actuar de las personas que componen la empresa. cuanta más calidad moral tienen las personas que componen las empresas menos problemas éticos se producen (fernandez fernandez, 2004) se han identificado cuatro ámbitos de la ética en la empresa (argandoña, 2003): — el personal; los empleados son éticos porque han incorporado la decisión de hacer lo que es bueno y esta bien de forma voluntaria; — el organizativo; más allá del talante ético de las personas, las empresas deben perseguir fines moralmente correctos y usar medios correctos, creando un ambiente en el que las personas pueden avanzar y desarrollarse como personas éticas y, por tanto, competentes; — el ámbito de la ética “hacia fuera” de la empresa donde se encuentran los accionistas; — la ética del sistema, empresas moralmente correctas deben contribuir a un sistema de mercado éticamente correcto. ética y gobierno de la empresa 215 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 211-230 special issue: corporate governance and ethics m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 211-230 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 216 m. mar alonso almeida y eduardo bueno campos por supuesto, ser ético no consiste sólo en cumplir la ley, cumplir la ley es un deber ético. pero la moralidad va más allá de la legalidad. las decisiones que van tomando las organizaciones a lo largo de su vida forman su identidad y su carácter, de modo que su comportamiento puede ser predecible. cuando una organización ha generado las disposiciones o costumbres requeridas para tomar buenas decisiones, quienes se relacionan con ella pueden esperar que actúe de acuerdo a los fines esperados por la sociedad y por tanto, llegar a la conclusión de que es una organización digna de confianza (fukuyama, 1995). de ahí que lo inteligente por parte de la organización, sea incorporar aquellos comportamientos que pueden conducir al cumplimiento de los fines de la organización, ya que de forma inevitable va a tener que decidir a lo largo de su vida como actuar para alcanzarlos. el hecho de que incorpore cuanto antes pautas de actuación éticas para alcanzar esos fines ahorra energía a la empresa, al evitarle esfuerzo en cambios de costumbres ya adquiridas que no son conformes con lo que espera la sociedad (cortina, conill, domingo, y garcía marzá, 2003). ahora bien, aunque un comportamiento por parte de la empresa poco ético rompe la confianza, el hecho de que una empresa se comporte éticamente per se no hace que se confíe en ella, ya que si sus acciones no son conocidas no se ejecutan los procesos de producción de la confianza. hoy en día, el mercado de valores sube y baja, sólo condicionado en alguna medida, por los criterios económicos tradicionales. la causa principal es que se encuentra sometido, además de juicios económicos, a turbulencias de información, ya que si una persona se conecta a internet puede enterarse de cualquier tipo de información sobre una empresa, sea ésta verdad o no (nath, akmanligil, hjelm, sakaguchi y schultz, 1998). poder sobrevivir a esas turbulencias implica un comportamiento ético de la empresa y personas que la dirigen, implica la producción de confianza (castells, 2003). las organizaciones pueden comenzar la comunicación mediante su página web, con los accionistas. estos pueden comenzar a dialogar con la empresa, como si fuera una conversación uno a uno, como si contaran con toda la información y como si estuvieran en igualdad de condiciones (dasgupta y banaji, 1999). en este “como si”, se apoyan los fundamentos básicos de la confianza (garcía-marzá, 2004). zucker (1986) define tres procesos de producción de la confianza. el primero se basa en la experiencia personal de quien deposita la confianza. cuando se produce una interacción reciproca entre las partes en el corto plazo, tal interacción produce seguridad y estabilidad la cual engendra una propensión hacia la confianza. en las organizaciones, la repetición satisfactoria de tales interacciones a lo largo del tiempo llega a convertir la relación en un compromiso a largo plazo (arrow, 1984), con la oportunidad para incrementar la cooperación (good, 1988). las investigaciones han demostrado que uno de los principales motivos para comprometerse en intercambios relacionales es el beneficio económico que resulta con el intercambio (peterson, 1995; gwinner, gremie y bitner, 1998; peltier y westfall, 2000). el segundo proceso se refiere a las características de la propia organización, en este caso la confianza se vincula con el comportamiento m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 211-230 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 217 ética y gobierno de la empresa de la organización y su relación con el entorno, principalmente con el comportamiento de los que dirigen la empresa (pfeffer, 1972). es evidente que cuando la dirección tiene buena reputación es más fácil confiar en la empresa por lo que los códigos de buen gobierno han proporcionado unas pautas de actuación que pueden llevar a los inversores a conocer y evaluar el comportamiento de los órganos de gobierno de la organización. estudios relacionados con las consecuencias derivadas las recomendaciones de dichos códigos han aportado evidencia de que las organizaciones proporcionan más información valiosa para los accionistas e inversores, acerca de ellas mismas, sus órganos de gobierno y su comportamiento frente a terceros. el tercer proceso se basa en la similitud de características entre las partes. así, relaciones de familia, amistad o proximidad producen en el depositante una propensión a confiar por la cercanía social, que enfatiza la sensación de pertenencia y familiaridad (good, 1988; guiso et al., 2005). la justificación teórica para este argumento proviene de la teoría de la categorización social (tajfel y turner, 1986; turner, 1987). de acuerdo a esta teoría, en las relaciones sociales los individuos tienden a clasificar al resto sobre la base de ciertos atributos objetivos y observables como la raza, profesión o la nacionalidad (turner, 1987; chatman y flynn, 2001). estas clasificaciones influyen sobre la confianza porque afectan a las creencias y actitudes de los individuos (chatman y flynn, 2001). los individuos tienden a asociar expectativas positivas con las actitudes y comportamientos sobre aquellos individuos que han clasificado dentro de su mismo grupo social. dado que la confianza está basada en la existencia de estas expectativas positivas, diversos autores mantienen que se tiende a considerar más dignos de confianza a aquellos individuos que se ha clasificado previamente dentro de la misma categoría social (brewer, 1979; brewer y kramer, 1986; chattopadhyay, 1999). siguiendo con esta línea de razonamiento, resulta más fácil confiar en aquellas organizaciones cercanas a nuestro entorno. a continuación se van a desarrollar las dimensiones que, de acuerdo con el propósito de este trabajo, propondrán un modelo de medición de la confianza. dimensiones para medir la confianza la creencia de la ausencia de motivos oportunistas es lo que la literatura denomina benevolencia, pero no es la única creencia que puede llevar a una parte a confiar en otra pues la confianza se considera un constructo multidimensional (mayer et al., 1995; ganesan y hess, 1997; lewicki et al., 1998). de hecho la benevolencia se considera parte de lo que la doctrina llama “la confianza basada en el afecto”, que se desarrolla en las relaciones donde los sentimientos juegan un papel importante, en contraposición a la conducta racional (mayer et al., 1995). aunque la doctrina no se pone de acuerdo para establecer cuales son exactamente las dimensiones que miden la confianza, butler y cantrell (1984) propusieron cinco componentes específicos de la confianza: integridad, competencia, consistencia, lealtad y cercanía. siguiendo en esta m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 211-230 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 218 m. mar alonso almeida y eduardo bueno campos línea de investigación, butler (1991) amplió hasta diez las condiciones que podían llevar a una persona a confiar en otra en las que se incluían la integridad, lealtad y sinceridad. el modelo propuesto por sitkin y roth (1993) incluye una dimensión referida a la habilidad y otra referida a la congruencia de valores. garcía-marzá (2004) propone un modelo de diez dimensiones cuyo cumplimiento llevaría a la confianza entre los individuos (shareholders y stakeholders) y las organizaciones. los atributos que comprende son: integridad, credibilidad, justicia, diálogo, transparencia, dignidad, legalidad, compromiso cívico, ecología y responsabilidad. este modelo esta en conformidad con los estudios realizados por inkpen y currall (2004), quienes consideran que la confianza crea un clima que hace posible las transacciones entre la organización y el mercado. pero, el desarrollo de la confianza no es fácil por parte del trustor, sin vigilancia y control del comportamiento del trustee (de rond y bouchikhi, 2004). garrett ralls y webb (1999) han definido la esencia de la confianza en los siguientes aspectos: 1/la confianza empieza con la habilidad de predecir por parte del trustor lo que el trustee hará, pero no de forma ciega sino racional, basada en el comportamiento anterior y en las promesas realizadas por parte del trustee; 2/la confianza se refuerza cuando el trustee actúa en interés del trustor, aunque la decisión pueda perjudicar al trustee y; 3/la transparencia hace que confiar en el trustee, sea más fácil. las decisiones tomadas por el trustee son rápidamente transmitidas al mercado, lo que permite al trustor validar y controlar las acciones del trustee. así, la posesión de información clave y el control de flujos de información crean oportunidades empresariales (burt, 1992). partiendo de la propuesta realizada por garcía-marzá (2004), se propone un modelo que recoge las necesidades de los accionistas (shareholders) como propietarios de la empresa. este modelo de medición de la confianza se compone de cinco dimensiones sobre las que el agente (trustor) decide confiar en la otra parte (trustee): 1/sus expectativas sobre la credibilidad e integridad del otro; 2/su posibilidad de diálogo o comunicación con el otro; 3/sus expectativas sobre la transparencia del otro; 4/su adherencia a principios de compromiso social y 5/sus expectativas de cumplimiento de la legalidad por parte del otro (driscoll, 1978). dicho modelo se muestra en la figura 1. figura 1. modelo de medición de la confianza basada en un comportamiento ético tr an sp ar en ci a c up lim ie nt o de la le y c re di bi lid ad d ià lo go r es po ns ab ilid ad confianza m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 211-230 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 219 ética y gobierno de la empresa la dimensión de credibilidad se refiere al convencimiento que tiene una parte (el trustor) de que la otra parte (el trustee) desempeñará con éxito las expectativas depositadas sobre ella y se comportará de forma íntegra aún en circunstancias adversas. condiciones que afectan a la confianza en esta dimensión son por ejemplo, la consecución de resultados. (sitkin y roth, 1993). la dimensión del dialogo hace referencia a las posibilidades de comunicación que una parte (el trustor) desea tener con la otra parte (el trustee) por medio del establecimiento de mecanismos de discusión, participación y consenso. si la confianza está basada en las expectativas que una parte (el trustor) tiene sobre la otra (trustee) de que en caso de conflicto, el trustor se comportará según lo acordado, para superar los peligros de los contratos incompletos. por eso, se propone una adecuada comunicación con el fin de inducir a las partes a adherirse al acuerdo (williamson 1991; pearce, branyiczki y bigley, 2000). tsai y ghoshal (1998) plantean en su análisis que cuando dos partes, el trustor y el trustee, comienzan a confiar una en la otra, aumenta su predisposición a compartir recursos sin preocuparles que la otra parte se beneficie en mayor medida. así, estos investigadores demostraron que existe una relación positiva entre la percepción de que una parte es merecedora de confianza y la cantidad de recursos intercambiados las empresas que disfrutan de una posición de ser merecedora de confianza, ponen a disposición de los grupos de interés una mayor accesibilidad de recursos, información y conocimientos (ganesan y hess, 1997). como muestran los estudios realizados, la realidad sobre la posibilidad de establecer este diálogo en la actualidad se encuentra en un estado inicial, que dista mucho de ser ideal (alonso, 2007). muy unida a la dimensión del dialogo se encuentra la de la transparencia, es decir, la accesibilidad de la información voluntaria, relevante, útil y a tiempo que una de las partes (el trustor) espera que la otra (el trustee) ponga a su disposición para tomar decisiones adecuadas evitando en la medida de lo posible la racionalidad limitada y el uso inapropiado de información privilegiada. la dimensión de compromiso social se refiere al juicio moral que una parte (el trustor) hace sobre la adhesión de la otra (el trustee) a ciertos valores, principios y normas sociales que esta considera deseables (pérez díaz, 2001). estos valores se relacionan con el compromiso y acción social de la empresa, la contribución al desarrollo local y regional, el respeto a los derechos humanos, la sostenibilidad del medio ambiente y el compromiso con sus empleados (freeman y gilbert, 1988; freeman, 1994). en la medida que las acciones del trustee sean consistentes con sus palabras, aumentará la creencia del trustor de que se le puede considerar íntegro y por lo tanto se puede confiar en el (butler y cantrell, 1984; butler, 1991; sitkin y roth, 1993). el cumplimiento de esta dimensión significa que no existe ningún comportamiento oportunista por parte de la dirección y, por tanto, se produce una reducción de los costes de agencia (trueman, 1986). la dimensión de legalidad se refiere a la demostración evidente para una parte (el trustor) de que la otra parte (el trustee), no incurre en resm@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 211-230 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 220 m. mar alonso almeida y eduardo bueno campos ponsabilidad civil, ni penal y que cumple todas las leyes y disposiciones legales que le afectan. esa demostración evidente puede ser la ausencia de sentencias judiciales firmes contra la empresa o su dirección. estas dimensiones coinciden con lo que la doctrina denomina “confianza basada en el conocimiento” (robinson, 1996), en contraposición a la “confianza basada en el afecto” (mayer et al., 1995). fruto de sus estudios empíricos sobre confianza, kramer y tyler (1996) conciben la confianza como una función de las dimensiones que configuran la confianza (baron y kenny, 1986). de acuerdo con lo anterior, podemos decir que la confianza a través de internet se puede definir de la forma que se expresa a continuación, en función de la suma de los valores proporcionados por cada una de sus dimensiones. confianza = ƒ (legalidad, transparencia, crédibilidad, compromiso, social, dialogo) el papel de la tecnología de internet para desarrollar la confianza en la empresa hoy en día, las cotizaciones en el mercado de valores fluctúan, condicionadas sólo en alguna medida, por los criterios económicos tradicionales. la causa principal es que el mercado se encuentra sometido, además de juicios económicos, a turbulencias de información, ya que si una persona se conecta a internet puede enterarse de cualquier tipo de información sobre una empresa, sea ésta verdad o no (nath et al., 1998). poder sobrevivir a esas turbulencias implica solidez y comportamiento ético de las empresas y personas que la dirigen, implica confianza (castells, 2003). en la última década, ha cambiado el equilibrio de poderes dentro de la empresa (marsden y andriof, 1998; zingales, 2000; aglietta, 2000).la mayor interdependencia obliga a centrar la atención sobre la red de influencia de las organizaciones y sobre las relaciones estratégicas de la empresa con sus partícipes (luo, 2002). así como, dar más importancia a elementos contextuales situados más allá del mercado como : entorno cultural de la empresa, valores colectivos, responsabilidad social, la capacidad de generar confianza y la capacidad de reducir la incertidumbre. en contraste con la teoría de la firma y el comportamiento oportunista, se destaca otro modelo basado en las relaciones cooperativas en el marco de coaliciones duraderas de confianza, cohesión, compromiso y reputación (aoki, 1984). según esta concepción, la empresa es una institución social articulada mediante un nexo de relaciones de confianza mantenidas a largo plazo (fukuyama, 1995). la obligación de los directivos, como fiduciarios, es preservar y aumentar el valor de los activos bajo su control. en consecuencia, los gerentes fiduciarios deben arbitrar en los conflictos entre los diferentes tipos de accionistas y comportarse con el deber de lealtad que su cargo exige. dado que el entorno cada vez es m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 211-230 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 221 ética y gobierno de la empresa más competitivo y los avances tecnológicos más rápidos, el gobierno de la empresa también cambia hacia un modelo estratégico-tecnológico–social donde la capacidad de decisión se descentraliza (creed y miles, 1996), se refuerza la importancia de la confianza y de la disponibilidad de la información. en este contexto, otro aspecto a considerar es la calidad de la información de la que dispone el accionista, cuanto mas exacta, fácil de entender y disponible es ésta, se genera mayor confianza; ya que es menor la posibilidad que tienen los internos de expropiar la riqueza de los accionistas sin sufrir consecuencias en los tribunales o en su reputación (dyck y zingales, 2004). los inversores confían más en el mercado cuando hay más información, mayor eficiencia judicial y mecanismos capaces de afrontar de manera rápida y eficaz las crisis financieras. por eso la mayor protección del inversor sienta las bases para el logro de unas mayores tasas de inversión y crecimiento económico (azofra palenzuela, 2004), debido al incremento de la confianza. de ahí que en los últimos años (tabla 1), se esté produciendo una transición hacia unos principios comunes de información, transparencia y responsabilidad en el seno del consejo de administración de las empresas cotizadas (cuervo garcía, 2004). siguiendo con este razonamiento paulus y roth (2000), analizan los distintos mecanismos de protección de los participes tomando como base la confianza, cubriendo las lagunas de una protección que no es perfecta en un mundo de contratos incompletos. se distinguen mecanismos ex ante, que son conocidos por las partes en el momento de iniciar la relación, y que facilitan e incentivan la realización de inversiones específicas en la firma; mecanismos de salida que permiten con rapidez separarse de la organización empresarial; la supervisión pasiva con recepción de informaciones acerca del desarrollo de la relación pero sin que esto lleve asociado algún medio de intervención y la supervisión activa (voz), en la cual la entrega de información va acompañada de capacidad para influir en los procesos de decisión. a estos mecanismos, se les ha incorporado el uso de la tecnología de internet, en la acepción más adecuada para cada uno de ellos, como se muestra en la tabla 2. internet se ha convertido en un canal de comunicación universal, accesible para todo el mundo. las organizaciones pueden comenzar tabla 1. recomendaciones sobre communicación a los accionistas código olivencia (1998) informe aldama (2003) código unificado (2006) recomienda tomar medidas para lograr mayor transparencia en la delegación de votos y potenciar la comunicación con los accionistas recomienda una mayor comunicación en tiempo real a los accionistas a través de internet, de forma extensa y eficaz recomienda una mayor comunicación del consejo con los accionistas (enlace) m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 211-230 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 222 m. mar alonso almeida y eduardo bueno campos la comunicación mediante su página web, con los accionistas y los demás stakeholders. en consecuencia se puede decir que internet permite comunicar con todos los grupos que tengan un interés legítimo en la empresa. ahora bien, no todo interés se convierte en una obligación para la empresa. sólo aquellos intereses que son legítimos representan una obligación (garcía-marzá, 2004). así, un interés legítimo sería una demanda o expectativa justificada que un grupo o individuo puede tener o elevar sobre las consecuencias o resultados de las acciones, políticas o procedimientos de la empresa (morgan, 1990). los inversores, especialmente, los que son accionistas de la empresa, tienen un interés legítimo ya que comparten intereses comunes con la empresa, están implicados directamente en proyecto de empresa (mccarthy, 1993). la confianza se apoya en la idea de que todos aquellos que puedan presentar intereses legítimos deben ser considerados. el todos incluye a todos los posibles participantes y afectados (shareholders y stakeholders) presentes y futuros (apel, 1985). siguiendo en esta línea argumental se puede indicar que la empresa puede utilizar el canal de comunicación de internet como un canal desde el cual aportar razones que justifiquen las posiciones adoptadas. sólo la transparencia en las decisiones y políticas adoptadas por la empresa en lo referente a participación y comunicación, permite evaluar el nivel de confianza que es capaz de generar la empresa (freeman y spyridakis, 2004). así, se puede considerar que estamos en el inicio de lo que se puede denominar el gobierno corporativo electrónico, el cual implica el uso de la tecnología de internet para mejorar la confianza entre las empresas y los grupos de interés. pero para que éste obtenga el resultado esperado, confianza, debe producirse, lo que la doctrina denomina la aceptación de la tecnología (handy, 1995). tabla 2. mecanismos de protección de los accionistas según el uso de la tecnología tipo de mecanismo ex ante salida supervisión activa supervisión pasiva descripción de la salvaguarda garantías legales y estatutarias sobre la posición de los accionistas amplitud, profundidad y liquidez de los mercados bursátiles participación en la junta de accionistas, códigos de buen gobierno, demandas judiciales, etc. información de la compañía influencia de la tecnología página web de la empresa, de los reguladores y de los intermediarios financieros página web de los intermediarios financieros página web de la empresa, oficina virtual del accionista, correo electrónico, formularios web, junta virtual y voto electrónico página web de la compañía, formularios web, correo electrónico, oficina virtual del accionista, página web de los reguladores y de los intermediarios financieros m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 211-230 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 223 ética y gobierno de la empresa davis (1989) investigó sobre las causas que llevaban a los empleados a adoptar una nueva tecnología en su trabajo y llego a la conclusión que principalmente era debido a dos causas: percepción de utilidad y percepción de facilidad de uso. sus investigaciones le llevaron a enunciar el modelo de aceptación de la tecnología (technology acceptance model), conocido por las siglas tam. este modelo ha sido testado y validado en diversas investigaciones, tanto con distintas herramientas de trabajo tecnológicas (venkatesh, cheri y morris, 2002; bahmanziari, pearson y crosby, 2003; pavlou, 2003), como en internet (featherman y pavlou, 2002; dahlberg, mallat y oorni, 2003). el tam se basa en la teoría de que las creencias sobre algo influyen en las intenciones y las intenciones, sobre la acción. siguiendo este razonamiento, para que se acepte la tecnología de internet por los accionistas, ésta debe percibirse como útil y fácil de usar. el modelo de la difusión de la innovación (siglas en inglés doi) enunciado por rogers (1996), es otro modelo de investigación que explica la aceptación de la tecnología. este modelo se basa en cuatro características: 1/complejidad definida como el grado de en que la tecnología es fácil de entender y usar; 2/compatibilidad o grado en que la tecnología es compatible con la creencia, valores y experiencia de los que van a usar esa tecnología; 3/utilidad o capacidad de uso y 4/observabilidad o el grado en que los resultados son visibles. de estas cuatro características, la doctrina concluye que las más relevantes para la adopción de la nueva tecnología son la complejidad y la compatibilidad (hoffman y novak, 1996). otros autores, (diamond, 1989) presentan otros factores como la imagen de la empresa. las investigaciones realizadas usando la tecnología de internet demuestran que la imagen de la empresa que usa la tecnología proporciona razones para su uso, así como el hecho de percibir una ventaja por su uso, (dellarocas, 2003; bolton, katok y ockenfels, 2004). de acuerdo con estos modelos, se puede decir que los accionistas estarán más dispuestos a usar la tecnología de internet si perciben facilidad de uso, utilidad y que obtienen alguna ventaja por el uso. la confianza la debe proporcionar tanto la empresa como la tecnología (rotter, 1971; zucker, 1986; mayer et al., 1995; mcknight, cummings y chervany, 1998). mcknight, choudhury y kacmar (2002) avanzan sobre los modelos de confianza anteriores y desarrollan un modelo de medición de la confianza en internet enfocado en el desarrollo de la confianza inicial en la web. en la fase de inicial de uso de internet, la relación del trustee con el trustor no es del todo creíble, ni existen vínculos fuertes de compromiso (morgan y hunt, 1994), ni afectivos entre las partes (mcknight et al., 2002). en este estadio el cumplimiento de la ley por parte de la empresa hace que el trustee se sienta seguro y confiado. este constructo contiene dos dimensiones: 1/seguridad institucional, el trustee cree que la regulación y los recursos legales existentes le protegen y 2/situación de normalidad, la empresa tiene los atributos de competencia, integridad y credibilidad. entonces, la decisión de los accionistas de realizar transacciones con la empresa a través de internet se lleva a cabo (lee y turban, 2001; bélanger y hiller, 2005). m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 211-230 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 224 m. mar alonso almeida y eduardo bueno campos pero también hay voces críticas que se han levantado en contra, exponiendo los peligros de internet. los atacantes maliciosos son una amenaza importante en toda transacción electrónica remota. la manipulación de la información o transmisión de información falsa. muchos ataques pueden alterar y destruir un voto de un accionista, sin indicación que se ha producido un ataque. la fuerza del cifrado pierde sentido cuando los virus electrónicos actúan antes de que el usuario cifre su voto. los ataques de denegación de servicios distribuidos pueden convertir un lugar de elección, por ejemplo un portal o sitio web en algo no utilizable. virus cada vez mas sofisticados pueden infectar las máquinas de los usuarios o del propio sistema de votación el día de las elecciones impidiendo la votación o manipulando los resultados. cuando esto ocurre se puede perder la confianza en la tecnología de internet, y por ende en la información y herramientas que la empresa proporciona en este canal. este planteamiento no es nuevo, al igual que una persona digna de confianza, es alguien que se expone de forma voluntaria y continua a un escrupuloso examen de sus actos por parte de los demás, lo mismo ocurre con las empresas (garcía-marzá, 2004). como escribió kant en su obra la paz perpetua (1987: 61): «son injustas todas las acciones que se refieren al derecho de otros hombres cuyos principios no soportan ser publicados». de este principio, se deduce que una empresa para ser considerada moral y digna de confianza debe publicar su proyecto de empresa, ser transparente en sus actividades y decisiones y posibilitar la participación de todos sus interesados. si una vez conocidos sus objetivos, su forma de actuar, su estructura, su carácter y sus órganos de gobierno, todavía, se desea establecer o continuar la relación con la empresa, existe confianza. una relación de confianza está garantizada, si al conocer todas las condiciones se está de acuerdo con comenzar o continuar la relación (baier, 1986; warren, 1999). por tanto, compartir la información que muestre los resultados actuales con los esperados e invitar a dar la opinión, son mecanismos útiles para la transparencia y el diálogo. lógicamente existen unos límites, reconocidos incluso por la legislación, en cuanto hasta donde llegar para no poner en peligro la competitividad de la empresa por divulgar información considerada estratégica para su desarrollo futuro. siguiendo con este razonamiento se puede decir, de acuerdo con garcía-marzá (2004), que una empresa que desee ser considerada de confianza se regirá por las siguientes directrices: — aceptación pública del principio de diálogo y comunicación con todas las partes implicadas; — elaboración de un mapa de los grupos implicados y sus intereses, abierto a la revisión y a la crítica; — definición de los mecanismos de participación y diálogo, así como de comunicación y transparencia, que permita la intervención de todos los grupos de interés; — publicación de los diferentes compromisos que la empresa asume. resultado de lo expuesto es claro que una empresa que actúa bajo estos principios ha roto la desconfianza y proporciona el sentido sufim@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 211-230 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 225 ética y gobierno de la empresa ciente para motivar el soporte activo a la empresa y a la confianza en sus acciones (offe, 2003). se puede sintetizar lo anteriormente dicho en el siguiente axioma: la confianza es directamente proporcional a la capacidad de las empresas para hacer públicas y justificar sus acciones, estrategias y políticas, en definitiva, en el comportamiento de quienes gobiernan la empresa. conclusiones los códigos de buen gobierno permiten incrementar la transparencia y el valor del accionista mediante la adopción de buenas prácticas de gobierno corporativo. esta es una condición necesaria pero no suficiente para que se incremente la confianza. la confianza se produce cuando se cumple la expectativa que cada parte va a actuar de forma beneficiosa y ética para la otra parte (gambetta, 1988). es fundamental tener un nivel de confianza para toda transacción de mercado entre organizaciones y agentes (etzioni, 1988). si esto se produce de forma repetitiva a lo largo del tiempo se produce un compromiso implícito o explícito entre las partes. en la construcción de la confianza actúan las características de la propia organización, en este caso la confianza se vincula con el comportamiento de la organización y su relación con el entorno, principalmente con el comportamiento de los que dirigen la empresa (pfeffer, 1972). cuando la dirección tiene buena reputación es más fácil confiar. las organizaciones de modo análogo a las personas, se forjan un carácter u otro a lo largo de sus vidas. un carácter por el que se identifican y por el que los demás las identifican y que puede hacer que su comportamiento sea predecible. cuando una organización ha generado las disposiciones o costumbres requeridas para tomar buenas decisiones, quienes se relacionan con ella pueden esperar que actúe de acuerdo a los fines esperados por la sociedad y por tanto, llegar a la conclusión de que es una organización digna de confianza (fukuyama, 1995). de ahí que lo inteligente por parte de la organización, sea incorporar aquellos comportamientos que pueden conducir al cumplimiento de los fines de la organización, ya que de forma inevitable va a tener que decidir a lo largo de su vida como actuar para alcanzarlos. el hecho de que incorpore cuanto antes pautas de actuación éticas para alcanzar esos fines ahorra energía a la empresa, al evitarle esfuerzo en cambios de costumbres ya adquiridas que no son conformes con lo que espera la sociedad (cortina et al., 2003). dicho de otro modo, el cambio continúo de dirección y decisiones en las empresas, supone incrementar los costes de transacción y agencia de forma que puede llevar a la empresa a incurrir en dificultades financieras y pérdida de confianza. los estudios existentes coinciden en señalar que la confianza esta basada en un conjunto de creencias sobre la otra parte puestas en la mente del individuo que confía denominadas dimensiones de la confianza. la confianza se crea y se mantiene a lo largo del tiempo, cuanm@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 211-230 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 226 m. mar alonso almeida y eduardo bueno campos do se puede establecer un marco adecuado entre las partes basado en las dimensiones de legalidad, transparencia, credibilidad, compromiso social y diálogo. en este sentido se ha podido corroborar que la tecnología de internet actúa como dinamizadora de la confianza facilitando la relación reciproca, dando a conocer las características de la empresa de forma que los agentes puedan familiarizarse con ella y con sus prácticas (gulati, 1995). las empresas que desarrollan un adecuado modelo de gobierno electrónico, proporcionan más confianza al mercado y a los accionistas que aquellas que no lo hacen. cuando esto ocurre se mejora: 1/la transparencia y calidad de la información proporcionada por la empresa; 2/se vela con mayor grado por los intereses de los accionistas; 3/la implicación de estos en tareas de supervisión y control aumenta y 4/la imagen de la empresa frente a la sociedad mejora. en futuras investigaciones se analizará cómo están actuando las empresas en este ámbito y se medirá el nivel de confianza que están desarrollando. como conclusión final, el gobierno corporativo electrónico debe entenderse como la integración de la tecnología de internet, en el proceso decisorio propio de los órganos de gobierno de la empresa. y todo ello con el fin de facilitar la aplicación de prácticas de buen gobierno que contribuyan a incrementar la transparencia informativa de la sociedad, generando con ello valor añadido para la compañía y mejorando la comunicación, participación y confianza con los accionistas. m. mar alonso almeida es profesora de organización de empresas de la universidad autónoma de madrid. eduardo bueno campos es catedrático de economía de la empresa y profesor de dirección estratégica de la universidad autónoma de madrid, director del area de gestión del conocimiento y consejero de innovación del parque científico de madrid, así como director del centro de investigación de la sociedad del conocimiento (cic) y del instituto universitario de investigación iade de la universidad autónoma de madrid. m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 211-230 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 227 ética y gobierno de la empresa referencias � aglietta, m. 2000 shareholder value and corporate governance: some tricky questions, economy and society, 29: 1, 146-159. � alonso, m. m. 2007 el gobierno corporativo electrónico, análisis desde el enfoque de confianza, madrid: visión libros. � aoki, m. 1984 the co-operative game theory of the firm, oxford: clarendon press. � apel, k.o. 1985 la transformación de la filosofía, madrid: taurus. � argandoña, a. 2003 ética de los empresarios y los directives, en e. fontela montes y j. guzmán cuevas (eds.), economía ética y bienestar social, madrid: pirámide, 161-174. � arrow, k. 1984 the economics of agency, in j. pratt y r. zeckhauser (eds.), principals and agents: the structure of business, boston: harvard business school press, 37-51. � azofra palenzuela, v. 2004 el gobierno de la empresa en perspectiva internacional, en e. bueno campos (ed), el gobierno de la empresa: en busca de la transparencia y la confianza, madrid: pirámide, 95-114. � bahmanziari, t., m. pearson, y crosby l. 2003 is trust important in technology acceptance? a policy capturing approach, proceedings of the hawaii international conference on system sciences, hawaii. disponible en http://www.cs.jmu.users/prietorx/hicss36/ minitrack14/cfp_papers.htm � baier, a. 1986 trust and antitrust, ethics, 96: 2, 231-260. � barber, b. 1983 the logic and limits of trust, new brunswick, nj: rutgers university press. � barnea, a., r. a. haugen, y l. w. senbet 1985 agency problems and financial contracting, englewood cliffs, nj: prentice hall. � baron, r. m., y d. a. kenny 1986 the moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: conceptual, strategic and statistical considerations, journal of personality and social psychology, 51: 6, 1173-1182. � bélanger, f., y j. hiller 2005 a framework for e-government: privacy implications, business process management journal, 11: 57-81. � berle, a. a., y g. c. means 1968 the modern corporation and private property, new york: harcourt, brace & world. � bolton, g. e., e. katok y a. ockenfels 2004 how effective are electronic reputation mechanisms? an experimental investigation, management science, 50: 11, 1587-1602. � brewer, m. b. 1979 ingroup bias in the minimal intergroup situations: a cognitive motivational analysis, psychological bulletin, 86: 2, 307-324. � brewer, m. b., y r. m. kramer 1986 choice behavior in social dilemmas: effects of social identify, group size and decision framing, journal of personality and social psychology, 50: 3, 543-549. � bueno campos, e. (ed.) 2004 el gobierno de la empresa: en busca de la transparencia y la confianza, madrid: pirámide. � burt, r. s. 1992 structural holes: the social structure of competition, cambridge, ma: harvard university press. � butler, j. k. jr. 1991 toward understanding and measuring conditions of trust: evolution of a conditions of trust inventory, journal of management, 17: 3, 643-663. � butler, j. k. jr., y r. s. cantrell 1984 a behavioral decision theory approach to modeling dyadic trust in superiors and subordinates, psychological report, 55: 1, 19-28. � castells, m. 2003 la galaxia internet: reflexiones sobre internet, empresa y sociedad, barcelona: debolsillo. � chatman, j. a., y f. j. flynn 2001 the influence of demographic heterogeneity on the emergence and consequences of cooperative norms in work teams, academy of management journal, 44: 5, 956-974. � chattopadhyay, p. 1999 beyond direct and symmetrical effects: the influence of demographic dissimilarity on organizational citizenship behavior, academy of management journal, 42: 3, 273-287. � cortina, a., j. conill, a. domingo, y d. garcía-marzá 2003 ética de la empresa: claves para una nueva cultura empresarial, madrid: trotta. � creed, w. e. d., y r. e. miles 1996 trust in organizations: a conceptual framework linking organizational forms, managerial philosophies, and the opportunity costs of controls, in r. m. kramer y t. r. tyler (eds.), trust in organizations: frontiers of theory and research, london: sage, 16-38. � cuervo garcia, a. 2004 el gobierno de la empresa: un problema de conflicto de intereses, en e. bueno campos (ed), el gobierno de la empresa: en busca de la transparencia y la confianza, madrid: pirámide, 115-138. http://www.cs.jmu.users/prietorx/hicss36/minitrack14/cfp_papers.htm m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 211-230 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 228 m. mar alonso almeida y eduardo bueno campos � dahlberg, t., n. mallat, y a. oorni 2003 trust enhanced technology acceptance model: consumer acceptance of mobile payment solutions, proceedings of the cic roundtable 2003, disponible en: http://web.hhs.se/cic/roundtable2003/ papers/d31_dahlberg_et_al.pdf � dasgupta, n., m. r. banaji y a. abelson 1999 group entitativity and group perception: associations between physical features and psychological judgment, journal of personality and social psychology, 77, 5: 991-1003. � davis, s. f. d. 1989 perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and user acceptance of information technology, mis quarterly, 13: 3, 319-340. � de rond, m., y h. bouchikhi 2004 on the dialectics of strategic alliances, organization science, 15: 1, 56-69. � dellarocas, c. 2003 the digitization of word of mouth: promise and challenges of online reputation mechanisms, management science, 49: 10, 1407-1424. � diamond, d. 1989 reputation acquisition in debt markets, journal of political economy, 97: 4, 828-862. � driscoll, j.w. 1978 trust and participation in organizational decision making as predictors of satisfaction, academy of management journal, 21: 1, 44-56. � dyck, a., y l. zingales 2004 private benefits of control: an international comparison, journal of finance, 59: 2, 537-600. � etzioni, a. 1988 the moral dimension: towards a new economics, new york: free press. � featherman, m. s., y p. a. pavlou 2002 predicting e-services adoption: a perceived risk facets perspective, eighth americas conference on information systems 2002, disponible en: http://www.hp.com/solutions1/e-services/ � fernandez fernandez, j. l. 2004 finanzas y ética: la dimensión moral de la actividad financiera y el gobierno corporativo, madrid: universidad pontificia de comillas. � freeman, r. e. 1994 the politics of stakeholder theory: some future directions, business ethics quarterly, 4: 4, 409-422. � freeman, r. e., y d. r. gilbert, jr. 1988 corporate strategy and the search for ethics, englewood cliffs, nj: prentice hall. � freeman, k. s., y j. h. spyridakis 2004 an examination of factors that affect the credibility of online health information on the internet, technical communication, 51: 2, 239-263. � fukuyama, f. 1995 trust: the social virtues and the creation of prosperity, new york: free press. � gabarro, j. j. 1978 the development of trust, influence, and expectations, en a.g. athos y j. j. gabarro (eds.), interpersonal behaviors: communication and understanding in relationships, englewood cliffs, nj: prentice-hall. � gambetta, d. 1988 can we trust trust?, en d. gambetta (ed.), trust: making and breaking cooperative relations, oxford: blackwell, 213-237. � ganesan, s., y r. hess 1997 dimensions and levels of trust: implications for commitment to a relationship, marketing letters, 8: 4, 439-448. � garcía-marzá, d. 2004 ética empresarial: del diálogo a la confianza, madrid: trotta. � garrett ralls, j., jr., y k. a. webb 1999 the nature of chaos in business: using complexity to foster successful alliances and acquisitions, houston: cashman dudley. � good, d. 1988 individuals, interpersonal relations and trust, en d. gambetta (ed.), trust: making and breaking cooperative relations, oxford: blackwell, 31-48. � granovetter, m. s. 1992 problems of explanation in economic sociology, en n. nohria y r. eccles (eds.), networks and organizations: structure, form and action, boston: harvard business school press, 25-56. � guiso, l., p. sapienza, y l. zingales 2005 cultural biases in economic exchange?, working paper, chicago: university of chicago. � gulati, r. 1995 does familiarity breed trust? the implications of repeated ties for contractual choice in alliances, academy of management journal, 38: 1, 85-112. � gwinner, j., k. gremie, y m. j. bitner 1998 relational benefits in services industries: the customer perspective, journal of the academyofmarketingscience, 26: 2, 101-114. � handy, c. 1995 trust and virtual organization, harvard business review, 73: 3, 40-50. � hodge, b. j., w. p. anthony, y l. m. gales 2003 teoría de la organización: un enfoque estratégico, 6a edición, madrid: pearson prentice-hall. � hoffman, d. l., y t. p. novak 1996 marketing in hypermedia computermediated environments : conceptual foundations, journal of marketing, 60: 3, 50-68. � inkpen, a. c., y s. c. currall 2004 the coevolution of trust, control, and learning in joint ventures, organization science, 15: 5, 586-599 � jensen, m. c., y w. h. meckling 1976 theory of the firm: managerial behaviour, agency costs and ownership structure, journal of financial economics, 3: 4, 305-360. http://web.hhs.se/cic/roundtable2003/papers/d31_dahlberg_et_al.pdf http://www.hp.com/solutions1/e-services/ m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 211-230 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 229 ética y gobierno de la empresa � kant, i. 1987 la paz perpetua, madrid: tecnos. � kogut, b., y u. zander 1993 knowledge of the firm and the evolutionary theory of the multinational corporation, journal of international business studies, 24: 14, 625-645. � kramer, r. m., y t. r. tyler 1996 trust in organizations: frontiers of theory and research, london: sage. � larner, r. j. 1966 ownership and control in the 200 largest non-financial corporations, 1929 and 1963, american economic review, 56: 4, 777-787. � lee, m. k. o., y e. turban 2001 a trust model for consumer internet shopping, international journal of electronic commerce, 6: 1, 75-91. � lewicki, r., j., mcallister, y r. j. bies 1998 trust and distrust: new relationships and realities, academy of management review, 23: 3, 438-458. � lin, n. 2001 building a network theory of social capital, en n. lin, k. cook y r. s. burt (eds.), social capital: theory and research, new york: aldine de gruyter, 3-29. � luo, x. 2002 trust production and privacy concerns on the internet: a framework based on relationship marketing and social exchange theory, industrial marketing management, 31: 2, 111-118. � machlup, f. 1967 theories of the firm: marginalist, behavioral, managerial, american economic review, 57: 1, 1-33. � marsden, c., y j. andriof 1998 towards an understanding of corporate citizenship and how to influence it, citizenship studies, 2: 2, 329-352. � mayer, r.c., j. h. davis, y f. d. schoorlan 1995 an integrative model of organizational trust, academy of management review, 20: 3, 709-734. � mccarthy, h. t. 1993 la pragmática de la razón comunicativa, isegoría, 8: 67, 65-84. � mcknight, d. h., v. choudhury, y c. kacmar 2002 developing and validating trust measures for e-commerce: an integrative typology, information systems research, 13: 3, 334-359. � mcknight, d. h., l. l. cummings, y n. l. chervany 1998 initial trust formation in new organizational relationships, academy of management review, 23: 3, 473-490. � miles, g., r. e. miles, v. perrone, y l. edvinsson 1998 some conceptual and research barriers to the utilization of knowledge, california management review, 40: 3, 281-288. � morgan, g. 1990 imágenes de la empresa, madrid: rama. � morgan, r. m., y s. d. hunt 1994 the commitment-trust theory of relationship marketing, journal of marketing, 58: 3, 20-38. � nath, r., m. akmanligil, k. hjelm, t. sakaguchi, y m. schultz 1998 electronic commerce and the internet : issues, problems, and perspectives, international journal of information management, 18: 2, 91-101. � offe, c. 2003 el diseño institucional en los procesos de transición de europa del este, en r. e. gooin (ed.), teoría del diseño institucional, barcelona: gedisa, 251282. � osili, u.o., y a. paulson 2004 prospects for immigrant-native wealth assimilation: evidence from financial market participation, working paper 2204-18, chicago: federal reserve bank of chicago. disponible en: http://www.lgu.umd.edu/lgu_v2/homepages/ attachs_homepage/7036_paulson_paper.pdf � paulus, o., y f. roth 2000 une grille pour une comparaison internationale des gouvernements dʼentreprise: application aux cas de la france et de lʼallemagne sous lʼangle de la confiance, xve journées nationales des iae, bayonne-biarritz. � pavlou, p. a. 2003 consumer acceptance of electronic commerce: integrating trust and risk with the technology acceptance model, international journal of electronic commerce, 7: 3, 101-134. � pearce, j. l., i. branyiczki, y g. a. bigley 2000 insufficient bureaucracy: trust and commitment in particularistic organizations, organization science, 11: 2, 148-162. � peltier, j. w., y j. e. westfall 2000 dissecting the hmo-benefits managers relationship: what to measure and why, markeling health service, 20: 2, 4-13. � pérez díaz, v. 2001 organización civil y sociedad civil: el gobierno de las empresas de las economías avanzadas, en s. del campo (ed.), perfil de la sociología española, madrid: catarata. � peterson, r. a. 1995 relationship marketing and the consumer, joumal of the academy of marketing science, 23: 4, 278-281. � pfeffer, j. 1972 merger as a response to organizational interdependence, administrative science quartely, 17: 3, 382-394. � robinson, s. 1996 trust and breach of the psychological contract, administrative science quarterly, 41: 4, 574599. http://www.lgu.umd.edu/lgu_v2/homepages/attachs_homepage/7036_paulson_paper.pdf m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 211-230 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 230 m. mar alonso almeida y eduardo bueno campos � rogers, e. m. 1996 diffusion of innovations, new york: free press. � rotter, j. b. 1971 generalized expectancies for interpersonal trust, american psychologist, 26: 5, 443-452. � salas fumas, v. 1999 el gobierno de la empresa, documento dʼeconomía industrial, 11. barcelona. � salas fumas, v. 2002 el gobierno de la empresa, colección de estudios económicos de la caixa, 29, barcelona: caixa. � simon, h. a. 1947 administrative behavior, new york: macmillan. � sitkin, s. b., y n. l. roth 1993 explaining the limited effectiveness of legalistic remedies for trust/distrust, organizational science, 4: 3, 367-392. � stigler, g. j. 1961 the economics of information, journal of political economy, 69: 3, 213-225. � tajfel, h., y j. c. turner 1986 the social identity theory of intergroup behavior, en s. worchel y w. austin (eds.), psychology of inter group relations, chicago: nelson hall, 7-24. � trueman, b. 1986 why do managers voluntarily release earnings forecasts?, journal of accounting and economics, 8: 1, 5371. � tsai, w., y s. goshal 1998 social capital and value creation: the role of intrafirm networks, academy of management journal, 41: 4, 464-476. � turner, j. c. 1987 a self-categorization theory, in j. c. turner, m. a. hogg, p. j. oakes, s. d. reicher, y m. s. wetherell (eds.), rediscovering the social group : a self-categorization theory, oxford: blackwell 42-67. � van de ven, a. h., y d. l. ferry 1980 measuring and assessing organizations, new york: wiley. � venkatesh, v., s. cheri, y m. g. morris 2002 user acceptance enablers in individual decision making about technology: towards an integrated model, decision science, 33: 3, 297-316. � warren, m. e. (ed.) 1999 democracy and trust, cambridge: cambridge university press. � williamson, o. e. 1991 comparative economic organization: the analysis of discrete structural alternatives, administrative science quartely, 36: 2, 269-296. � williamson, o. e. 1993 calculativeness, trust and economic organization, journal of law and economics, 36: 1, 453-486. � zingales, l. 2000 in search of new foundations, journal of finance, 55: 4, 1623-1653. � zucker, l. g. 1986 production of trust: institutional sources of economic structure, 18401920, en b. m. staw y l. l. cummings (eds.), research in organizational behavior, vol. 8, greenwich, ct: jai press, 53-111. attitude toward internationalization and early internationalization: comparison of indian and french smes' decision makers attitude toward internationalization and early internationalization: comparison of indian and french smes' decision makers antonin ricard � abrar ali saiyed abstract. this research has two objectives. the first is to study the link between smes internationalizing at an early stage and the attitudes of their decision makers toward internationalization. the second is to analyze this relationship in an international context (india and france). we thus propose to contribute to a better understanding of the factors behind internationalization. to meet these objectives, we used an original methodology: decision makers’ practices were studied using the scenario method. the assessment of attitudes toward internationalization was carried out using a new multidimensional scale of measurement. the measurement tool was distributed to decision makers in french and indian smes. a database of 234 respondents was used. this research presents three main results: we found that the decision makers of smes with a very positive attitude towards internationalization are more conducive to internationalizing early than others but that the opposite is not always true. contrary to our expectations, we observed that french decision makers are more favorable to internationalization than indians. finally, we identified that indian decision makers are more likely to internationalize early than the french. ! in the 1990s, a surge in investment flows from emerging countries to developed markets (north-south) and to other emerging markets (south-south) followed the opening of economies such as china and india. this phenomenon is very pronounced today and opens up interesting opportunities for research into international expansion strategies, especially the internationalization trials of small and medium enterprises (smes). filling this gap would help to understand the internationalization process more accurately. furthermore, as noted by federico federico, kantis, rialp & rialp (2009), there is a lack of research into international entrepreneurship (ie) in emerging countries. ! one of the first research topics to emerge in ie was focused on born globals and international new ventures (invs), firms that internationalize early and fast. rennie (1993) and oviatt & mcdougall (1994) did pioneering work on invs twenty years ago. a burgeoning literature has emerged since, reflecting the growing number of firms in the last thirty years that started to internationalize as soon as they came into being (zucchella, palamara & denicolai, 2007). the temporal dimension is one of three key dimensions of inv theory, along with scope and extent (madsen, 2013). seen by some as essential in the internationalization process (jones & coviello, 2005), the temporal dimension is “one of the most important concepts for gaining a true understanding of how the internationalization processes develop” (casillas & acedo, 2013: 16). it should be m@n@gement 2015, vol. 18(1): 54-77 54 antonin ricard aix-marseille université, cergam (ea 4225), aixmarseille graduate school of managementiae, 13540 puyricard, france antonin.ricard@iae-aix.com abrar ali saiyed iima, indian institute of management, ahmedabad abrarali@iimahd.ernet.in mailto:antonin.ricard@iae-aix.com?subject= mailto:antonin.ricard@iae-aix.com?subject= mailto:abrarali@iimahd.ernet.in%0dana.colovic@neoma-bs.com%0dana.colovic@neoma-bs.com?subject= mailto:abrarali@iimahd.ernet.in%0dana.colovic@neoma-bs.com%0dana.colovic@neoma-bs.com?subject= one of the main topics for future research on the internationalization of firms, as shown by recent research into the subject (cabrol & nlemvo, 2013; chetty, johanson & martín martín, 2014; tapia moore & meschi, 2010) and special issues devoted to this theme (beddi, merino & coeurderoy, 2013; liesch, nummela & welch, 2014; meier, meschi & dessain, 2010). ! among the main issues, some researchers have recognized there is a lack of knowledge about the determinants of early internationalization (casillas et al., 2013; jones et al., 2005; rialp, rialp & knight, 2005). more specifically, research into the subject has not yet examined the influence of attitude on internationalization. this gap is all the more surprising, considering that many works analyzing the impact of attitude on behavior have revealed that it has a significant role both ion practices (ahn, 2009; ajzen, 2001; kraus, 1995) and on the decision making process (crano & prislin, 2006; marquardt & hoeger, 2009). attitude facilitates the acquisition of information and accelerates decisions through their heuristics and their schematic functions (pratkanis, greenwald & breckler, 1989). so it seems that this trait is relevant to studying behaviors in firms that internationalize early. also, we can ask the question: is there a link between the attitude of decision makers toward internationalization and the earliness of internationalization? ! this question brings us closer to the current context in which we can observe a sharp increase in investment flows from companies in emerging countries. these flows reflect the good performance of the exports of some emerging economies in recent years, following the example of india (report of the inter-ministerial committee for boosting exports from msme sector, 2013). in contrast, smes from some developed countries are struggling to internationalize. for instance, a recent report of the general confederation of smes (cgpme) denounces the poor performances of french smes abroad (les 20 mesures de la cgpme pour dynamiser les exportations françaises, 2012). these performance differences are of particular interest, given that the french are rather unfavorable to globalization (guimelli & abric, 2008; poeschl, campos & ben alaya, 2007) while the indians have a favorable view (chopra, 2003). in this context, studying the determinants of early internationalization in france and india seems very relevant. ! as keupp & gassmann (2009) have pointed out, it is important to note in an introduction the specific field in which you are positioning your research. by comparing the behavior of entrepreneurs from different countries, we are positioning this paper in the emerging field of hybrid research into ie (jones, coviello & tang, 2011). ! this research presents three main results. first, decision makers who are most favorable toward internationalization decide to internationalize earlier than others. second, contrary to our expectations, we observed that french sme decision makers are more in favor of internationalization than indian decision makers. third, we identified that indian decision makers are more likely to internationalize early than french decision makers. theoretical, methodological and managerial contributions derive from this article. from a theoretical point of view, our results provide some answers to the question of the determinants of early internationalization. the developed method is original, and opens interesting perspectives for studying internationalization decisions and processes. we also make a managerial contribution: this research helps to highlight the importance and role of campaigns improving the image of internationalization to develop smes’ foreign trade. ! this article is composed of four parts. a literature review positions our research in the current literature and introduces our research hypotheses. a methodological section details the procedure we followed to develop our measurement tool and presents the field of our study. then, we present the results of this research and a validation of our hypotheses. the last part m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 54-77! antonin ricard & abrar ali saiyed 55 discusses the results in relation to the existing literature and recent reports on the internationalization of smes. literature review and hypothesis definition ! there has been very little research into the determinants of early globalization since the seminal work of rennie (1993) and oviatt et al. (1994). this issue is now crucial and remains insufficiently treated in the literature of international business (ib) (casillas et al., 2013; jones et al., 2005; rialp et al., 2005). ! oviatt & mcdougall (2005) developed a theoretical model showing the different forces affecting the timing of internationalization. there are four kinds of forces: permissive, mediating, motivational and moderating. the permissive force is what facilitates accelerated internationalization (for example, communications, transport, digital technologies etc.). the second force, which oviatt and mcdougall call “motivation” is the competition or rivalry that drives an sme to find solutions abroad (for example, exports, using a technology solution from abroad etc.) (fuentelsaz, gomez & polo, 2002). this force is linked to the environment of the firm (dimitratos, petrou, plakoyiannaki & johnson, 2011; federico et al., 2009; hutchinson, fleck & lloyd-reason, 2009). the third force is the perception of a situation by the decision maker. the decision maker’s personal characteristics (for example, psychographic traits, experiences etc.) will influence and “mediate” his perception of the situation and speed of action (casillas, acedo & barbero, 2010; ojasalo & ojasalo, 2011; sommer & haug, 2010). finally, two forces “moderate” the speed of internationalization: the level of knowledge about an opportunity to move abroad and the expertise of the decision maker and the leader of the international social network (johanson & vahlne, 2009; oviatt et al., 1994). ! the earliness of internationalization is dependent on factors lying at three levels: interagency, firm and individual. the model proposed by tan, brewer & liesch (2007: 291) shows the pre-internationalization process and the role played by the decision maker. figure 1. pre-export model (tan et al., 2007: 291) attitude towards internationalization! m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 54-77 56 this model emphasizes the central role of the individual in the decision to internationalize. this central role is also defended by other authors like mcdougall, shane & oviatt (2007) who established that the decision-making system is contained in the minds of the leaders of young firms. attitude plays a major role in the context of the decision, since it determines the susceptibility of an entrepreneur to seizing opportunities (tan et al., 2007) and it is mainly the entrepreneur’s duty to seize opportunities for internationalization (andersson & wictor, 2003). attitudes toward internationalization and earliness ! thomas & znaniecki (1918) were the first to work on the concept of attitude. their research in the field of social psychology binds social values to psychological attitudes. the attitude is often considered crucial in social psychology as it guides perceptions and information processing (ahn, 2009). its influences on the components of decision making have been demonstrated repeatedly (marquardt et al., 2009). therefore, it seems appropriate to study the influence of attitude on firms' internationalization decisions. ! first, research on attitude and its influence on the internationalization of firms dates back to 1980 (brady & bearden, 1979; o’rourke, 1985; gripsrud, 1990). the concept, which was subsequently abandoned for almost twenty years, has recently seen renewed interest with the rise of research into ie (sommer, 2010; sommer et al., 2010). the definitions used by the authors in this field of research are either not given or are some distance from the original meaning given in social psychology. for example, brady et al. (1979), o’rourke (1985), patterson (2004) and sommer (2010) do not define “attitude” in their research. gripsrud (1990) uses the definition of hughes (1971: 10,11), proposing that attitude is “a hypothetical construct that describes the potential human behavior”. according to sommer et al. (2010: 116), the attitude is the “desirability of a specific behavior from the decision maker perspective”, and tan et al. (2007) refer to the attitudinal commitment uppsala model concept. internationalization is a concept that has all the characteristics of a social object (abric, 2008). we choose the definition of the social psychologist doise (2003: 242) for whom “attitude” is “a specific position the individual occupies on a single dimension or on several dimensions relevant to assess a given social entity”. this definition seems particularly appropriate to our research because it incorporates the multidimensionality of internationalization and the need for measurement imposed by our problems. ! other related concepts have also been proposed in the literature as important to firms’ internationalization. the “global mindset” is defined as an openness and an awareness of the markets and of the diverse cultures in the world (gupta & govindarajan, 2002). the “perception” refers to the understanding of the situation by the decision maker (oviatt et al., 2005). and the “international orientation” is linked to decision makers’ exposure to foreign cultures (acedo & florin, 2006; manolova, brush, edelman & greene, 2002; ruzzier, antoncic, hisrich & konecnik, 2007). although the link between these concepts and “attitude” has never been specifically studied in the literature, we observe certain proximities. a global mindset is probably correlated with a favorable attitude toward internationalization. indeed, attitude toward internationalization affects the integration of information by an individual (doise, 2003; flament, 2003) and the way he sees the world. perception corresponds to the distortion of a signal based on the characteristics of an individual (plous, 1993), thus it is shaped by the attitude. finally, much research on the determinants of attitudes lead us to believe that international orientation is a component of the attitude toward internationalization (abric, 2008). m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 54-77! antonin ricard & abrar ali saiyed 57 1. the distinction between favorable and unfavorable toward internationalization is done using a measurement scale (likert type) of attitude. the scale will be presented in the methodology section of the article. ! some research into the internationalization of firms has studied the link between attitude and behavior. we distinguish a set of research in the 1980s and another set in the 2010s. some 1980s research discusses the impact of attitude on the management of firms. brady et al. (1979) evaluated the behavior of three groups of managers (those involved internationally directly, those involved indirectly and those not involved) toward direct and indirect import methods. their results show that managers involved internationally are more favorable to internationalization than others and that they are also the ones who prefer direct import methods. later, o’rourke (1985) found differences in attitude between employees of large companies and smes. gripsrud (1990) links attitude with the characteristics of the firm and its products with perceived barriers and opportunities. this first set of research does not directly link attitude to firm behavior. in contrast, the second set of research on the subject does study this link. sommer et al. (2010) found a link between attitude toward entrepreneurial behavior abroad and the actual intention to go abroad. the same year, this result was confirmed by sommer (2010). ! attitude has the property of selecting and altering received information. this trait facilitates the possession of the environment by an individual (fazio, 1989) and accelerates his decisions (crano et al., 2006). transposing these results from social psychology to our research, we can assume that attitude toward internationalization is linked with the earliness with which the contractor is developing its international activities. thus, we propose our first hypothesis: h y p o t h e s i s  1 ( h 1 ) : d e c i s i o n m a k e r s w h o a r e f a v o r a b l e 1 t o internationalization go abroad earlier than decision makers unfavorable toward internationalization. i n t e r n a t i o n a l c o m p a r i s o n o f a t t i t u d e a n d o f internationalization earliness ! the comparison of two culturally and economically very different countries must emphasize divergences. it seems interesting here to compare france and india. indeed, there is a paradox between the position of these countries in international rankings and their peoples’ attitudes toward internationalization. the kof globalization index (2010) ranks france in 13th position and india 111th (out of 181 countries ranked). this difference reflects the greater integration of france into the global system. based on these figures, one might expect that france holds a favorable opinion on internationalization and that india holds an unfavorable opinion. however, the french see globalization pessimistically (guimelli et al., 2008; poeschl et al., 2007), unlike the indians, who are very favorable to globalization (chopra, 2003). the attitude of the indians is all the more surprising considering that the authors found that globalization has highlighted problems such as illiteracy, poverty, premature death and inequity in emerging economies (chopra, 2003; drèze & sen, 2002; gaiha, thapa, imai & kulkarni, 2008). the research done by guimelli et al. (2008), poeschl et al. (2007) and chopra (2003) is not conducted in the field of decision makers. it would be interesting to see whether their findings are applicable to sme decision makers. this paragraph brings us to introduce our second hypothesis: hypothesis  2 (h2): indian decision makers consider internationalization more favorably than french decision makers. this paradox is especially interesting given that there seem to be significant performance differences between french and indian smes. attitude towards internationalization! m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 54-77 58 firstly, as mathieu & sterdyniak (2005) have noted, the french do not benefit as much as they could from globalization and global trade. recent reports corroborate the work of mathieu & sterdyniak (2005) by highlighting poor performance on the part of french smes' exports (évolution récente du commerce extérieur français, 20062  ; les 20 mesures de la cgpme pour dynamiser les exportations françaises, 2012, etc.). this evidence suggests that french decision makers have a tendency to postpone internationalization. meanwhile, indian smes exhibit positive international performance (report of the inter-ministerial committee for boosting exports from msme sector, 2013): increasing numbers of indian companies are committed abroad and managing to be competitive (ramachandran et al., 2004). this trend has reached smes, which are of increasing importance in the indian economy (uma, 2013) and are experiencing notable success abroad (radulovich, 2008). the corollary of this is that indian decision makers must have a tendency to internationalize their firms early. ! from the above we can extrapolate that french decision makers tend to internationalize their firms more slowly than their indian counterparts. this leads us to our third hypothesis: hypothesis 3 (h3): indian decision makers decide to internationalize earlier than french decision makers. method ! the objective of this section is to detail how we will study the link between attitude toward internationalization and the point at which internationalization occurs. thus, the following paragraphs discuss the design of the measurement tools, the field of this study, and the data processing design. measuring attitudes toward internationalization ! the existing literature tackles different aspects of the attitude toward internalization. brady et al. (1979) measure attitude with items evaluating the available degree of control over the marketing program, the information available on the international market, the cost associated with sales, the effectiveness of the product sales and the amount of administrative work required for exporting to begin. in their analysis, brady et al. (1979) consider each of these independent dimensions. o’rourke (1985) found attitudinal differences between smes and large enterprises, but does not explicitly specify how attitude is measured. gripsrud (1990) chose to measure the attitude toward future exports. patterson (2004) focused on the perceived benefits of internationalization. tan et al. (2007) used involvement abroad as a proxy. recently, sommer participated in two pieces of research into attitudes towards the behavior of international entrepreneurs (sommer et al., 2010) and attitudes toward partners and competition (sommer, 2010). ! measures of attitude used in previous researches cannot be used in this article. most of these researches measure only one aspect of internationalization and when the attitude is broken down into several dimensions, they are analyzed independently from each other. therefore, the methods used previously to measure attitude toward internationalization cannot be exploited in our research to measure a general attitude toward an object (not an attitude toward one dimension of the object). we built a measurement scale composed of five items following the paradigm of churchill jr (1979). we also took care to include the recommendations of gerbing m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 54-77! antonin ricard & abrar ali saiyed 59 2. http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/img/pdf/ commercexterieur.pdf & anderson (1988). first, we specified the construct from a literature review (stage 1 of the paradigm of churchill). two facets of attitude toward the internationalization were distinguished: the personal aspect (adler & mittelman, 2004; arora, jaju, kefalas & perenich, 2004; gupta et al., 2002), and the professional aspect (arora et al., 2004; bouquet, 2005; nummela, saarenketo & puumalainen, 2004). we have written a series of items in french based on the literature and interviews with experts (step 2). after submitting our questionnaire to the judgment of six experts, we distributed to future managers and collected 102 complete responses (step 3). the psychometric properties of the measurement scale (dimensionality and convergence of items) were then evaluated (step 4). once the scale was finalized, we distributed our questionnaire to the final sample (step 5). this step allowed us to test the general characteristics of our scale: unidimensionality (with the elbow test, the map test and the percentage of variance), and reliability, ensuring that cronbach's alpha is greater than 0,7 as suggested by nunnally (1967) and nunnally & bernstein (1994) (step 6). finally, the construct validity of the measurement scale was tested by checking that the attitudes of respondents were correlated to other closed measures (valence of social representations of internationalization) and by the findings of this research, which shows a link between international behavior and attitude toward internationalization (step 7). measuring internationalization earliness ! the measurement of early internationalization can be done in two ways: by measuring the characteristics of a firm at a given time or by measuring the decision makers' behavior in real time. in the first case, there is a time lag between the measurement of the characteristics of the firm and the decision. during this time, the characteristics of the decision maker (and his attitude toward internationalization) can be influenced by the evolution of the firm, including by the phenomenon of cognitive dissonance (festinger, 1957). in the second case, the real time measure of the intended behavior can overcome this bias, and gives very good results for predicting actual behavior (ajzen, 2001). therefore, we choose to measure the earliness of internationalization in real time. ! like any strategic decision, the earliness of internationalization may be considered as significant (voss, lawrence & engle, 1991), of high complexity (jervis, 1976; holsti, 1970) and of a strong irreversibility. in this very case, the measurement of the decision is strongly affected by the use of direct techniques (barnes, 1984). direct methods for collecting data suffer from bias, such as prestige bias or ex post facto rationalization, which affect the accuracy of responses (reynaud, 2001). thus, a projective method that overcomes these biases seems particularly suited to our research (reynaud, 2001). ! we chose to use the scenario method which is a projective technique. according to this method, the respondent faces a scenario, a “short description of a person or a social situation” (alexander & becker, 1978: 94), with respect to which he must position himself. this real life situation (lavorata, nillès & pontier, 2005) fits the need to measure behaviors in real time. this method is particularly suitable in the case of cross-cultural research (datta gupta, kristensen & pozzoli, 2010) because it enables the researcher to “understand [the decision process] in several environments” (aguinis & bradley, 2014: 366) while providing a standardized framework. ! a common complaint about the scenario method relates to the validity of the results. although the internal validity is not questioned, external validity is sometimes discussed. various elements enable us to argue for a satisfactory external validity. first, the question of the validity of this method has, since its origins, had the attention of the academic world. some researchers have published articles arguing for the method’s good external validity (cavanagh & attitude towards internationalization! m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 54-77 60 fritzsche, 1984; weber, 1992). second, many studies have analyzed the external validity of three very similar methods: the delphi method (gupta & clarke, 1996; tomasik, 2010), the policy capturing method (arrègle & ulaga, 2003) and the thumbnail method (aguinis et al., 2014; datta gupta et al., 2010). ! we based our scenario-building procedure on the work of chonko, tanner & weeks (1996). their method was originally developed to create a questionnaire measuring behaviors in the ethics field. we transposed their procedure to fit our problem. this led us to follow a five-step process described in detail in the appendix. this procedure led us to construct one scenario and three behavioral responses (see appendix 3). ! following these behavioral responses, participants were asked to indicate their level of agreement with each statement (scale of 1 to 7; 1 = strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree). ! once the scenario was tested and validated in french, it was translated into english, hindi and gujarati according to the following steps: the questionnaire was translated from french into english by a bilingual researcher (1); the translation of the questionnaire was checked and corrections were made – this step was carried out by a second researcher supported by a bilingual french teacher (2); the questionnaire was translated into hindi and gujarati by a trilingual researcher (3); the questionnaire was pretested in a pilot study with 20 gujarati smes (4); the questionnaire was given out to 98 sme managers (5). the field of study and data processing design ! the data collection was carried out on sme decision makers from france and india. it is important to note, firstly, that the definition of smes differs between the two countries. in france, the european union proposes a definition of smes. according to this definition, smes are firms with fewer than 250 employees whose turnover is less than 50 million (recommendation 2003/361 / ec, ojeu l124: 36, may 20, 2003). in india, the definition of smes is proposed by the micro, small and medium enterprise development act (2006). according to this definition, an sme in the industrial sector is a firm whose investments (plant or machinery purchases) are valued lower than rs.10 crores3 (approximately € 1.2 million); an sme in the service sector is a firm whose investments in equipment are valued lower than rs.5 crores (about € 0.6 million) (uma, 2013). the characteristics of smes and their environments are very different in france and in india. we reckoned it would not be appropriate to apply one or the other definition. the contingency theory applied to smes and supported by some authors (torrès, 1997) confirms our choice. thus, we preferred to meet the criteria set by local legislation and to respect the specificities of the two countries. in a second step, certain characteristics of the french-indian comparison must be fixed. indian territory, by its demographics (1.2 billion people), its location, and its history, has important religious and linguistic differences. we restricted our indian field to the state of gujarat (comparable in terms of population to france) to strengthen the homogeneity of our sample. this state (whose dominant religion is hinduism, and primary language is gujarati) is quite homogeneous and suits our comparison. finally, the entrepreneurial and international features of gujarat seemed relevant for studying the differences in behavior and attitudes among decision makers in french and indian smes. ! data collection was done in two stages. the first phase was completed in france in may 2012 (149 french decision makers participated in this study). a second phase was conducted in 2013 in india (98 indian decision makers participated in this study). the first phase of data collection was mainly conducted through an email campaign from databases from the chamber of commerce and industry and kompass. the business sectors in these databases were selected services and m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 54-77! antonin ricard & abrar ali saiyed 61 3. the crores is a monetary unit of measure used for large sums of money in india. 1 crore rupee is equal to ten million rupees. industry. the companies contacted were drawn at random. it is difficult to accurately estimate the return rate of the email campaign, as many email addresses were incorrect. however, we believe that the return rate was between 5 and 7%. this result is satisfactory if we consider that the scope is very specific, that the target respondents have very little time to devote to outside work, and that we have implemented a number of actions to improve return rates (helgeson, voss & terpening, 2002). in addition, the french seemed less inclined to participate in academic research. this may be reinforced by a comparison of the typical response rates of us researchers (cook, heath & thompson, 2000) and french researchers (cerdin & peretti, 2001; ganassali & moscarola, 2004; mamlouk, 2011). ! for the indian data collection, we obtained the addresses of smes from the industrial commissioners office. smes contacted this way were unwilling to participate in the survey, fearing espionage. one of the authors participated in numerous conferences and meetings to disseminate the questionnaire. this more personal method is renowned to effectively reach specific populations (jolibert & jourdan, 2006; royer & zarlowski, 2007). two separate questionnaires were developed in hindi and gujarati to facilitate the understanding of the respondents, as some indian small business owners are not comfortable with the official language or the vernacular language of the state of gujarat. we sent out 500 emails and received 234 entries and 126 usable questionnaires (including 28 with significant missing data). our return rate was thus approximately 20%. ! the data processing of the attitude measurement scales was performed using spss software. first, we calculated the average attitude scores to separate our respondents into groups. we distinguished between respondents who were most favorable to internationalization, those who were moderately favorable, and those who were least favorable. we used the cutoff point of one standard deviation. we then calculated a score for the behavioral responses of each group. finally, the differences in scores between the groups were analyzed using the analysis of variance test (anova). this type of processing data is recommended for researches using scenarios method (aguinis et al., 2014). ! we controlled variables identified in the literature as determinants of the internationalization of firms. three levels of control variables were monitored: the individual (age, professional experience, hierarchical position) (federico et al., 2009; fernández & nieto, 2006; manolova et al., 2002), the firm (size, turnover) (federico et al., 2009), and the environment of the firm (industry) (jones, 2001; leonidou, 2004; molina, 2004). table 6 summarizes the main characteristics of our samples (see section “appendices”). we note that the two samples do not show large imbalances between them, or in relation to the national characteristics available. results of the research ! table 1 presents the psychometric properties of the measurement scales. the values of cronbach's alphas and dimensionality indicate good characteristics of measurement scales, as defined by churchill jr (1979) and nunnally et al. (1994). attitude towards internationalization! m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 54-77 62 table 1. psychometric properties of the scales measuring attitude to internationalization cronbach’s alpha standardised cronbach’s alpha number of items number of dimension(s) french scale .86 .86 5 1 indian scale .92 .92 5 1 ! table 2 shows the scores of attitude and behavioral responses of the indian decision makers. the three “items” in the table correspond to the three behavioral responses introduced earlier. table 2. attitude score and behavioral responses of indian decision makers group number of respondents per group attitude toward internationalization item 1a (early exploration) item 2a (moderate behavior) item 3a (cautious behavior) 1 (antiinternationalization) 16 2.06 3.67 4.67 5.27 2 (prointernationalization) 59 5.51 5.24 5.71 3.97 3 (very prointernationalization) 23 6.74 6.04 6.57 3.48 total 98 5.27 5.09 5.73 4.12 a p<0.05.a p<0.05.a p<0.05.a p<0.05.a p<0.05.a p<0.05. ! from table 2, we noted significant disparities between respondents’ attitude scores. we identified three distinct groups of attitudes: unfavorable, favorable and very favorable. these disparities are also reflected in the behavioral responses. the least favorable respondents (group 1) are most likely to delay the decision to internationalize an activity. the scores of the behavioral responses of favorable and very favorable respondents (group 2 and 3) reflect a propensity to internationalize earlier (which validates h1 on indian field). ! in the whole sample, we note a rather positive attitude vis-à-vis internationalization. the scores of the behavioral responses suggest that indian decision makers are more conducive to pursue internationalization moderately (as the score of item 2 was the strongest). ! table 3 presents the scores of attitude and behavioral responses of the french decision makers. table 3. attitude score and behavioral responses of french decision makers group number of respondents per group attitude toward internationalization item 1a (early exploration) item 2a (moderate behavior) item 3a (cautious behavior) 1 (antiinternationalization) 21 4.05 4.28 5.42 3.38 2 (prointernationalization) 100 5.75 4.78 5.39 3.45 3 (very prointernationalization) 28 6.95 5.03 5.39 3.57 total 149 5.74 4.76 5.40 3.46 a p<0.1.a p<0.1.a p<0.1.a p<0.1.a p<0.1.a p<0.1. m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 54-77! antonin ricard & abrar ali saiyed 63 ! table 3 shows that the attitude toward the internationalization of french respondents can be divided into three groups: moderately favorable, favorable and very favorable. this lower variance is reflected by the scores of behavioral responses. thus, we note minor differences between the scores of the behavioral responses of the french decision makers. only the first item is significantly different between anti and very pro-internationalization respondents. in the whole sample, we find a positive attitude to internationalization. the scores of behavioral responses suggest that french decision makers are more conducive to moderately internationalize early (as the score of item 2 was highest). finally, we note that respondents who are most favorable to internationalization tend to internationalize faster than others, which validates h1 for the french smes (the score of item 1 was highest for respondents who are very favorable to internationalization). ! comparing the average attitude toward internationalization between french and indian decision makers, our results show a small but significant difference of around 5% (table 4): the decision makers of french smes are slightly more in favor of internationalization than their indian counterparts. hypothesis 2 is not validated. table 4. comparison of attitude mean of both samples sample attitude toward internationalization t-test significance standard error indian 5.27 -2.88 0.04 0.16 french 5.74 ! table 5 shows the comparison of the scores of behavioral responses of the two samples. this comparison was performed using a t-test. table 5. comparison of behavioral answers of both samples group item 1a (early exploration) indian 5,09 french 4,76 a p<0.05.a p<0.05. ! table 5 allows us to answer our last hypothesis. according to this table, the score of the indians on item 1 (behavioral response evaluating the tendency of participants to export early) was significantly higher than the score of the french. in other words, indian decision makers tend to internationalize earlier than french decision makers. therefore, hypothesis 3 is validated. discussion and conclusion ! this research aims to analyze the differences in international behavior between a southern (india) and a northern country (france). our original methodology allows us to jointly measure decision makers’ attitudes toward internationalization and their propensity to engage in early movement abroad. statistical analyses allow us to establish three main results, which we discuss below. attitude towards internationalization! m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 54-77 64 ! first, we notice that decision makers with a strongly favorable attitude towards internationalization have a propensity to internationalize their businesses earlier than others. this result is interesting since attitudes toward internationalization have not been studied in recent models analyzing the determinants of the decision to internationalize (casillas & moreno-menéndez, 2014; chetty et al., 2014; federico et al., 2009). it would be wise to introduce this variable in the existing studies to measure its influence over other factors. this result also helps to provide a partial empirical validation of the theoretical model of tan et al. (2007). researchers belonging to the recent trend of international entrepreneurship initially developed theories positioned at the level of the firm. it is only very recently that a growing body of research has analyzed the individual level. in this context, the issue of the decision to internationalize is crucial and we propose that future research should study this decision further, as suggested by lamb & liesch (2002). ! second, our empirical results contradict some research on the subject. indeed, we were expecting, according to the results of guimelli et al. (2008), poeschl et al. (2007), and chopra (2003), that the french decision makers would be less favorable to internationalization than the indian decision makers. our results show the opposite. a closer look at attitudes at the level of the entire sample enables us to distinguish four groups of individuals: adverse, neutral, favorable and very favorable. the indian decision makers had more distinct attitudes than the french decision makers: the unfavorable group is only present in the indian sample, which affects the overall sample average. the negative attitude to internationalization of some of the indian respondents is probably due to the recent global crisis that has affected the populations of ledcs more strongly (scheve & slaughter, 2001). by contrast, the 2007 crisis has had less serious consequences for the french economy. ! third, the scenario method allowed us to measure the willingness of decision makers to internationalize early. a comparison of the behavioral responses of our samples shows that the french decision makers were less likely to internationalize early. this result is in line with the poor performance of french smes in exporting (les 20 mesures de la cgpme pour dynamiser les exportations françaises, 2012) and the strong results of indian exports (emerging smes of india, 2008). looking at the behavioral responses, we note that with equal attitude, indian decision makers are more likely to internationalize early. this last point is also in line with the findings of the above reports. these international differences in behavior are interesting because we did not find any research that addresses this issue. thus, it seems that there are factors related to national characteristics that influence the decision to internationalize. it would be interesting to extend this result to identify more closely what other factors might explain the decision, and replicate this study to compare the propensity of entrepreneurs from different countries to internationalize. ! the results of this research allow us to provide theoretical, empirical and managerial inputs. ! from a theoretical point of view, these findings enrich the latest research in ie on the internationalization of firms. the issue of time in the internationalization process is central (casillas et al., 2013; chetty et al., 2014; eden, 2009) and is drawing more and more attention in ie. this research has highlighted the influence of attitude toward internationalization on the earliness of internationalization. hence, it enriches the existing theories from a new determinant. also, we extend current theories of internationalization with an element that may be re-used in future research. ! the methodological originality of this research (the scenario method) allowed us to observe the behavior and intentions of decision makers. the deployment of the scenario method was used to measure the propensity of smes’ decision makers to initiate early international business. we believe that m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 54-77! antonin ricard & abrar ali saiyed 65 this method has major importance for future research on the internationalization process (welch & paavilainen-mäntymäki, 2014). in addition, this method can be used to analyze the existing theories from a new perspective. this method opens up the original theoretical and empirical developments on the topic of the decision to internationalize and its determinants. ! regarding the managerial inputs, it would be interesting to exploit the main result of this research, namely that there is a significant relationship between attitude toward international leaders and the decision to internationalize. this result highlights the importance of improving sme leaders’ attitudes toward internationalization. consequently, institutions that develop foreign trade (such as the international chambers of commerce) should carry out more campaigns to improve the image of internationalization, in order to develop international trade for smes. these same institutions could also use our results as an argument to convince policy makers of the importance of the image of internationalization on the desire to go international. this point is all the greater since nummela et al. (2004) found that the success of internationalization missions was linked to the global mindsets of managers (heavily influenced by their attitudes). this theme could also be a module to complement the initiatives already in place in the accompanying structures (catanzaro, messeghem & sammut, 2013). ! finally, we identify two main limitations to this research. first, the scenario method emphasizes internal validity rather than external validity. this limit was diminished as much as possible by taking two precautions (aguinis et al., 2014): the scenario construction process allows for situations based on real business contexts, which favors cases realism. we maximized the number of explicit elements (including the introduction of scenarios and behavioral responses) recalling that the respondent is in a real management situation. this limit is also mitigated by the work of krueger jr. (2003) that has validated this type of method, as well as numerous validations of the theory of planned behavior of fishbein & ajzen (1975), and the large number of studies using this marketing method. lavorata (2004) counts 21 studies in the field of business ethics and weber (1992) counts 26 studies in various other fields such as sociology and psychology. second, some studies propose an alternative perspective to the causal vision presented in this research. recent research in ie has highlighted phenomena such as improvisation (evers & o’gorman, 2011) and effectuation (frishammar & andersson, 2009; nowiński & rialp, 2013) that influence the way decisions are made. the results of this research lead us to believe that other aspects of behaviors (like effectual and improviser behaviors) are linked to attitude toward internationalization. this last point seems to be a promising avenue of research. references abric j.c. (2008). une recherche internationale sur les représentations sociales de la mondialisation: introduction. dans j. viaud et g. poeschl (eds.), images de la mondialisation / la construction sociale d’une représentation (pp. 93‑99). rennes: presses universitaires de rennes. acedo f.j. & florin j. (2006). an entrepreneurial cognition perspective on the internationalization of smes. journal of international entrepreneurship, 4(1), 49‑67. adler g. & mittelman j.h. (2004). reconstituting «  common-sense  » knowledge: representations of globalization protests. international relations, 18(2), 189‑211. aguinis h. & bradley k.j. (2014). best practice recommendations for designing and implementing e x p e r i m e n t a l vi g n e t t e m e t h o d o l o g y s t u d i e s . organizational research methods, 17(4), 351‑371. ahn j. (2009), attitude-driven decision making for multia g e n t t e a m f o r m a t i o n i n o p e n a n d d y n a m i c environments. these non publiee, university of texas, austin. ajzen i. (2001). nature and operation of attitudes. annual review of psychology, 52, 27‑58. alexander c.s. & becker h.j. (1978). the use of vignettes in survey research. public opinion quarterly, 42(1), 93‑104. a n d e r s s o n s . & w i c t o r i . ( 2 0 0 3 ) . i n n o v a t i v e internationalisation in new firms: born globals the s w e d i s h c a s e . j o u r n a l o f i n t e r n a t i o n a l entrepreneurship, 1(3), 249‑276. attitude towards internationalization! m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 54-77 66 arora a., jaju a., kefalas a.g. & perenich, t. (2004). an exploratory analysis of global managerial mindsets: a case of u.s. textile and apparel industry. journal of international management, 10(3), 393‑411. arrègle j.-l. & ulaga, w. (2003). les modèles linéaires hiérarchiques  : 2.une méthode privilégiée d’analyse des données collectées par policy capturing. m@n@gement, 6(1), 29‑48. barnes j.h. (1984). cognitive biases and their impact on strategic planning. strategic management journal, 5(2), 129‑137. beddi h., merino p.b. & coeurderoy r. (2013). la stratégie r é t i c u l a i r e : u n e c o m p é t e n c e d i s t i n c t i v e d e l ’ e n t r e p r e n e u r i n t e r n a t i o n a l . r e v u e d e l’entrepreneuriat, 11(3), 7‑14. bouquet c. (2005), building global mindsets: an attentionbased perspective, new york, ny: palgrave macmillan. brady d.l. & bearden w.o. (1979). the effect of managerial attitudes on alternative exporting methods. journal of international business studies, 10(3), 79‑84. cabrol m. & nlemvo f. (2013). diversité de comportement des entreprises à internationalisation précoce et rapide: essai de validation d’une typologie. revue de l’entrepreneuriat, 11(3), 111‑136. casillas j.c. & acedo f.j. (2013). speed in the internationalization process of the firm. international journal of management reviews, 15(1), 15‑29. casillas j.c., acedo f.j. & barbero j.l. (2010). learning, unlearning and internationalisation: evidence from the pre-export phase. international journal of information management, 30(2), 162‑173. casillas j.c. & moreno-menéndez, a.m. (2014). speed of the internationalization process: the role of diversity and depth in experiential learning. journal of international business studies, 45(1), 85‑101. catanzaro a., messeghem k. & sammut s. (2013). accompagner l’entreprise à internationalisation précoce et rapide: la place centrale de la dimension réticulaire. revue de l’entrepreneuriat, 11(3), 33‑53. cavanagh s.j. & fritzsche g f. & d.j. (1984). using vignettes in business ethics research. dans l.e. preston et j.e. post (eds.), research in corporate social performance and policy (pp. 279‑293). greenwich, ct: jai press. cerdin j.-l. & peretti j.-m. (2001), internet versus voie postale: comparaison de deux méthodes de collecte de données en grh. agrh, actes du congrès de l’agrh, liège, belgium. chetty s., johanson m. & martín martín o. (2014). speed o f i n t e r n a t i o n a l i z a t i o n : c o n c e p t u a l i z a t i o n , measurement and validation. journal of world business, 49(4), 633‑650. chonko l.b., tanner j.f. & weeks w.a. (1996). ethics in salesperson decision making: a synthesis of research approaches and an extension of the scenario method. t h e j o u r n a l o f p e r s o n a l s e l l i n g a n d s a l e s management, 16(1), 35‑52. chopra r. (2003). neoliberalism as doxa: bourdieu’s theory of the state and the contemporary indian discourse on globalization and liberalization. cultural studies, 17(3-4), 419‑444. churchill jr g.a. (1979). a paradigm for developing better measures of marketing constructs. journal of marketing research, 16(2), 64‑73. cook c., heath f. & thompson r.l. (2000). a metaanalysis of response rates in web or internet-based surveys. educational and psychological measurement, 60(6), 821‑836. crano w.d. & prislin r. (2006). attitudes and persuasion. annual review of psychology, 57, 345‑374. datta gupta n., kristensen n. & pozzoli d. (2010). external validation of the use of vignettes in crosscountry health studies. economic modelling, 27(4), 854‑865. dimitratos p., petrou a., plakoyiannaki e. & johnson j.e. (2011). strategic decision-making processes in internationalization: does national culture of the focal firm matter?. journal of world business, 46(2), 194‑204. doise w. (2003). attitudes et représentations sociales. dans d. jodelet (eds.), les représentations sociales (pp. 220‑238). paris: presses universitaires de france. drèze j. & sen, a. (2002), india: development and participation, oxford: oxford university press. eden l. (2009). letter from the editor-in-chief: time in international business. journal of international business studies, 40(4), 535‑538. e v e r s n . & o ’ g o r m a n c . ( 2 0 11 ) . i m p r o v i s e d internationalization in new ventures: the role of prior knowledge and networks. entrepreneurship & regional development, 23(7/8), 549‑574. fazio r. (1989). on the power and functionality of attitudes. dans a.r. pratkanis, s.j. breckler et a.g. greenwald (eds.), attitude structure and function (pp. 153‑180). hillsdale, nj: lawrence erlbaum associates. federico j.s., kantis h.d., rialp a. & rialp j. (2009). does entrepreneurs’ human and relational capital affect early internationalisation? a cross-regional comparison. european journal of international management, 3(2), 199‑215. fernández z. & nieto m. j. (2006). impact of ownership on the international involvement of smes. journal of international business studies, 37(3), 340‑351. festinger, l. (1957), a theory of cognitive dissonance, new york, ny: row peterson. fishbein m. & ajzen i. (1975), belief, attitude, intention and behavior: an introduction to theory and research, reading, ma: addison-wesley. flament c. (2003), structure et dynamique des représentations sociales, paris: presses universitaires de france. frishammar j. & andersson s. (2009). the overestimated role of strategic orientations for international performance in smaller firms. journal of international entrepreneurship, 7(1), 57‑77. fuentelsaz l., gomez j. & polo y. (2002). followers’ entry timing: evidence from the spanish banking sector after deregulation. strategic management journal, 23(3), 245‑262. gaiha r., thapa g., imai k. & kulkarni v. s. (2008). has anything changed deprivation, disparity, and discrimination in rural india. brown journal of world affairs, 14(2), 113. ganassali s. & moscarola j. (2004). protocoles d’enquête et efficacité des sondages par internet. décisions marketing, 33, 63‑75. m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 54-77! antonin ricard & abrar ali saiyed 67 gerbing d.w. & anderson j.c. (1988). an updated paradigm for scale development incorporating unidimensionality and its assessment. journal of marketing research, 25(2), 186‑192. gripsrud g. (1990). the determinants of export decisions and attitudes to a distant market: norwegian fishery exports to japan. journal of international business studies, 21(3), 469‑485. guimelli c. & abric j.c. (2008). implication et représentation sociales de la mondialisation. dans j. v i a u d e t g . p o e s c h l ( e d s . ) , i m a g e s d e l a mondialisation / la construction sociale d’une représentation (pp. 179‑188). rennes: presses universitaires de rennes. gupta a.k. & govindarajan v. (2002). cultivating a global mindset. academy of management executive, 16(1), 116‑126. gupta u.g. & clarke r.e. (1996). theory and applications of the delphi technique: a bibliography (1975–1994). technological forecasting and social change, 53(2), 185‑211. helgeson j.g., voss k.e. & terpening w.d. (2002). determinants of mail-survey response: survey design factors and respondent factors. psychology and marketing, 19(3), 303‑328. holsti o. (1970). the « operational code » approach to the study of political leaders: john foster dulles’ philosophical and instrumental beliefs. canadian journal of political science / revue canadienne de science politique, 3(1), 123‑157. hughes g. d. (1971), attitude measurement for marketing strategies, glenview, ill.: scott, foresman and co. hutchinson k., fleck e. & lloyd-reason l. (2009). an i n v e s t i g a t i o n i n t o t h e i n i t i a l b a r r i e r s t o internationalization: evidence from small uk retailers. j o u r n a l o f s m a l l b u s i n e s s a n d e n t e r p r i s e development, 16(4), 544‑568. jervis r. (1976), perception and misperception in international politics, princeton, nj: princeton university press. johanson j. & vahlne j.-e. (2009). the uppsala internationalization process model revisited: from liability of foreignness to liability of outsidership. journal of international business studies, 40(9), 1411‑1431. jolibert a. & jourdan p. (2006), marketing research: méthodes de recherche et d’études en marketing, paris: dunod. jones m.v. (2001). first steps in internationalisation: concepts and evidence from a sample of small hightechnology firms. journal of international management, 7(3), 191‑210. jones m.v. & coviello n.e. (2005). internationalisation: conceptualising an entrepreneurial process of behaviour in time. journal of international business studies, 36(3), 284‑303. jones m.v., coviello n.e. & tang, y.k. (2011). international entrepreneurship research (1989-2009): a domain ontology and thematic analysis. journal of business venturing, 26(6), 632‑659. keupp, m.m. & gassmann, o. (2009). the past and the future of international entrepreneurship: a review and suggestions for developing the field. journal of management, 35(3), 600‑633. kraus, s.j. (1995). attitudes and the prediction of behavior: a meta-analysis of the empirical literature. personality and social psychology bulletin, 21(1), 58‑75. krueger jr., n.f. (2003). the cognitive psychology of entrepreneurship. dans z.j. acs et d.b. audretsch (eds.), handbook of entrepreneurship research: an interdisciplinary survey and introduction (pp. 105‑140). boston, ma: springer. lamb p.w. & liesch p.w. (2002). the internationalization process of the smaller firm: re-framing the r e l a t i o n s h i p s b e t w e e n m a r k e t c o m m i t m e n t , k n o w l e d g e a n d i n v o l v e m e n t . m a n a g e m e n t international review, 42(1), 7‑26. lavorata l. (2004), lien entre climat éthique et comportement éthique du vendeur: rôle déterminant du management commercial. une application au domaine industriel. these non publiee, université de paris-valde-marne, créteil. lavorata l., nillès j.-j. & pontier, s. (2005). la méthode des scénarios: une méthode qualitative innovante pour le marketing. application au comportement éthique du vendeur en b to b. décisions marketing, (37), 67‑75. leonidou l.c. (2004). an analysis of the barriers hindering small business export development. journal of small business management, 42(3), 279‑302. liesch p.w., nummela n. & welch c.l. (2014). about time: putting process back into firm internationalisation research. management international review, call for paper. madsen t. (2013). early and rapidly internationalizing ventures: similarities and differences between classifications based on the original international new venture and born global literatures. journal of international entrepreneurship, 11(1), 65‑79. mamlouk l. (2011), les déterminants du report de l’achat en ligne. these non publiee, paul cezanne, aix en provence. manolova t.s., brush c.g., edelman l.f. & greene p.g. (2002). internationalization of small firms: personal factors revisited. international small business journal, 20(1), 9‑31. marquardt n. & hoeger r. (2009). the effect of implicit moral attitudes on managerial decision-making: an implicit social cognition approach. journal of business ethics, 85(2), 157‑171. m a t h i e u c . & s t e r d y n i a k h . ( 2 0 0 5 ) . f a c e a u x délocalisations, quelle politique économique en france ?. revue de l’ofce, 94(3), 161‑192. mcdougall p.p., shane s. & oviatt b.m. (2007). explaining the formation of international new ventures: the limits of theories from international business research. dans b.m. oviatt et p.p. mcdougall (eds.), international entrepreneurship (pp. 255‑273). cheltenham, u.k.: edward elgar. meier o., meschi p.-x. & dessain v. (2010). paradigme éclectique, modèle uppsala... quoi de neuf pour analyser les décisions et modes d’investissement à l’international?. management international, 15(1), vii‑viii. molina h. (2004), understanding decision making in internationalizing small and medium-sized firms. these non publiee, tulane university, no. attitude towards internationalization! m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 54-77 68 nowiński w. & rialp a. (2013). drivers and strategies of international new ventures from a central european transition economy. journal for east european management studies, 18(2), 191‑231. nummela n., saarenketo s. & puumalainen k. (2004). a global mindset a prerequisite for successful i n t e r n a t i o n a l i z a t i o n ? . c a n a d i a n j o u r n a l o f administrative sciences, 21(1), 51‑64. nunnally j. c. (1967), psychometrc theory, new york, ny: mc graw-hill. nunnally j.c. & bernstein i.h. (1994), psychometric theory, new york,ny: mcgraw-hill. o j a s a l o j . & o j a s a l o k . ( 2 0 11 ) . b a r r i e r s t o internationalization of b-to-b-services: theoretical analysis and empirical findings. international journal of systems applications, 5(1), 109‑116. o’rourke, d.a. (1985). differences in exporting practices, attitudes and problems by size of firm. american joumal of small business, 9(3), 25‑29. oviatt b.m. & mcdougall p.p. (1994). toward a theory of international new ventures. journal of international business studies, 25(1), 45‑64. oviatt b.m. & mcdougall p.p. (2005). defining international entrepreneurship and modeling the speed of internationalization. entrepreneurship theory and practice, 29(5), 537‑554. patterson, p. g. (2004). a study of perceptions regarding service firms’ attitudes towards exporting. australasian marketing journal, 12(2), 19‑38. plous s. (1993), the psychology of judgment and decision making, new york, ny: mcgraw-hill. poeschl g., campos p.h. f. & ben alaya d. (2007). appartenance nationales et prises de position sur la mondialisation. bulletin de psychologie, 60(1), 11‑19. pratkanis a.r., greenwald a.g. & breckler s.j. (1989), attitude, structure and function, hillsdale, nj: lawrence erlbaum associates. radulovich l. a. (2008), an empirical examination of the f a c t o r s a ff e c t i n g t h e i n t e r n a t i o n a l i z a t i o n o f professional service smes: the case of india. these non publiee, cleveland state university, cl. ramachandran j., khorakiwala h.f., rao j., khera p., dawar n., kalyani b.n. & karki r. (2004). indian companies in overseas markets: perspectives, patterns, and implications. vikalpa: the journal for decision makers, 29(4), 93‑111. rennie, m.w. (1993). global competitiveness: born global. the mckinsey quarterly, (4), 45‑52. reynaud e. (2001). vers une meilleure compréhension des décisions stratégiques: l’apport de la méthode des scénarios. revue finance contrôle stratégie, 4(2), 183‑214. rialp a., rialp j. & knight g. a. (2005). the phenomenon of early internationalizing firms: what do we know after a d e c a d e ( 1 9 9 3 2 0 0 3 ) o f s c i e n t i fi c i n q u i r y ? . international business review, 14(2), 147‑166. royer i. & zarlowski p. (2007). echantillons. dans r.-a. t h i e t a r t ( e d s . ) , m é t h o d e s d e r e c h e r c h e e n management (pp. 192‑227). paris: dunod. ruzzier m., antoncic b., hisric, r.d. & konecnik m. (2007). human capital and sme internationalization: a structural equation modeling study. canadian journal of administrative sciences, 24(1), 15‑29. scheve k.f. & slaughter m.j. (2001), globalization and the perceptions of american workers, washington, d.c.: institute for international economics. sommer l. (2010). internationalization processes of small and medium sized enterprises a matter of attitude?. journal of international entrepreneurship, 8(3), 288‑317. sommer l. & haug m. (2010). intention as a cognitive antecedent to international entrepreneurshipunderstanding the moderating roles of knowledge and experience. international entrepreneurship and management journal, 7(1), 111‑142. tan a., brewer p. & liesch p. (2007). before the first export decision: internationalisation readiness in the preexport phase. international business review, 16(3), 294‑309. tapia moore e. & meschi p.-x. (2010). vitesse et mode d ’ i n t e r n a t i o n a l i s a t i o n d e s p m e . m a n a g e m e n t international, 15(1), 87‑99. thomas w. i. & znaniecki f. (1918), the polish peasant in europe and america, boston, ma: richard g badger. tomasik t. (2010). reliability and validity of the delphi method in guideline development for family physicians. quality in primary care, 18(5), 317‑326. torrès o. (1997). pour une approche contingente de la spécificité de la pme. revue internationale pme, 10(2), 9‑43. uma p. (2013). role of smes in economic development of india. asia pacific journal of marketing & management review, 2(6), 120‑126. voss j.f., lawrence j. & engle r. (1991). from representation to decision: an analysis of problem solving in international relations. dans r.j. sternberg et p.a. frensch (eds.), complex problem solving: principles and mechanisms (pp. 119‑158). hillsdale,nj: lawrence erlbaum associates. weber j. (1992). scenarios in business ethics research: review, critical assessment, and recommendations. business ethics quarterly, 2(2), 137‑160. welch c. & paavilainen-mäntymäki e. (2014). putting process (back) in: research on the internationalization process of the firm. international journal of management reviews, 16(1), 2‑23. zucchella a., palamara g. & denicolai s. (2007). the drivers of the early internationalization of the firm. journal of world business, 42(3), 268‑280. m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 54-77! antonin ricard & abrar ali saiyed 69 a p p e n d i x a . i t e m s o f t h e s c a l e m e a s u r i n g a t t i t u d e t o w a r d internationalization ai1: internationalization increases the growth of my company. ai2: internationalization stimulates me a lot. ai3: internationalization increases my ambition. ai4: internationalization increases my employability. ai5: internationalization enriches my personal culture. appendix b. stages of the scenario method step 1. identification of decision-making situations. this step is required to collect stories describing the internationalization of smes’ leaders. the objective is to identify generic management situations relevant for smes. this phase was carried out on a first sample of 19 sme managers. step 2. schematic situations description (creating the scenario). at this stage, the aim is to write short scripts outlining a difficult situation for the respondent to face. the description of the scenario must include a realistic constraint, but also a strong ambiguity with respect to the way in which the respondent should position themselves. step 3. pretest of scenario and identification of behavioral responses. this phase aims to verify the practicality of the generic management situations and establish behavioral responses. semi-structured interviews allow participants to confront previously set-up generic situations. the objective is to identify whether respondents take a position with respect to the scenarios and whether they assess their credibility. this phase was carried out on a second sample of 14 managers of smes. step 4. pretest of the instrument measuring behavior. in this phase, a validation of the measuring instrument is carried out by third parties. this phase was conducted with a panel of two researchers, two teachers, and two sme managers. step 5. exploitation of the questionnaire. this phase consists of collecting data. it was initially conducted on a sample of 149 french sme decision makers and subsequently on 98 indian sme decision makers. attitude towards internationalization! m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 54-77 70 appendix c. scenario and behavioral answers scenario: at a meeting of business intelligence, one of your employees in charge of the file is presenting the result of his market study. this indicates that some of your competitors are currently undertaking a world-wide distribution of the product. the question that arises is whether or not you follow the path of your competitors? behavioral answers: i would explore new countries as soon as possible, if competitors are going somewhere, one shouldn't be left behind. (item 1). i have a moderate approach: i would first start quickly by the most appropriate country. if results are good, i would try another country, and so on. (item 2). it's very difficult to move to a foreign country. an export strategy can't be decided impulsively. i would wait to have feedback on the returns of the competitors before starting exporting activity. (item 3). appendix d. sample variable india france gender 95 % male 83 % male age of decision maker (year) 54 % underneath 30 23 % from 30 to 40 23 % above 40 7 % underneath 30 27 % from 30 to 40 66 % above 40 level of study 53 % lower than university 16 % undergraduate 30 % graduated and above 5 % lower than high school 23 % undergraduate 72 % graduated and above ownership 69 % owners of the companies 10 % shareholders 21 % salaried 41 % owners of the companies 27 % shareholders 31 % salaried domain 76 % industry 9 % distribution 9 % consulting 77 % industry 3 % distribution 16 % consulting age of the firm (year) 25 % below 5 20 % from 5 to 10 55 % above 10 17 % below 5 10 % from 5 to 10 36 % above 10 sales 50 % underneath 1 croresa 19 % from 1 to 5 crores 29 % above 5 crores 17 % underneath 100 k€ 9 % from 100 to 500 k€ 38 % from 501 k€ to 25 m€ 35 % above 25 m€ percentages are given according to total answered. the difference between 100 and the percentages is the percentage of “other answer” category. a rs.1 crores = 122 k€. percentages are given according to total answered. the difference between 100 and the percentages is the percentage of “other answer” category. a rs.1 crores = 122 k€. percentages are given according to total answered. the difference between 100 and the percentages is the percentage of “other answer” category. a rs.1 crores = 122 k€. m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 54-77! antonin ricard & abrar ali saiyed 71 appendix e. details of the statistical results presented in the article attitude score and behavioral responses of indian decision makers (appendix of table 2) dependant variable (i) attimean (j) attimean mean difference (i-j) std. err. difference sig. 95 % confidence interval for mean95 % confidence interval for meandependant variable (i) attimean (j) attimean mean difference (i-j) std. err. difference sig. lower bound upper bound item 1 (early exploration) 1.00 2.00 -1.73a .49 .00 -2.71 -.76 item 1 (early exploration) 1.00 3.00 -2.16a .66 .00 -3.49 -.84 item 1 (early exploration) 2.00 1.00 1.73a .49 .00 .76 2.71item 1 (early exploration) 2.00 3.00 -.43 .53 .42 -1.50 .64 item 1 (early exploration) 3.00 1.00 2.16a .66 .00 .84 3.49 item 1 (early exploration) 3.00 2.00 .43 .53 .42 -.64 1.50 item 2 (moderate internationalization) 1.00 2.00 -1.19a .37 .00 -1.92 -.46 item 2 (moderate internationalization) 1.00 3.00 -1.83a .50 .00 -2.83 -.83 item 2 (moderate internationalization) 2.00 1.00 1.19a .37 .00 .46 1.92item 2 (moderate internationalization) 2.00 3.00 -.64 .40 .11 -1.45 .16 item 2 (moderate internationalization) 3.00 1.00 1.83a .50 .00 .83 2.83 item 2 (moderate internationalization) 3.00 2.00 .64 .40 .11 -.16 1.45 item 3 (cautious internationalization) 1.00 2.00 1.42a .52 .00 .37 2.47 item 3 (cautious internationalization) 1.00 3.00 1.51a .72 .03 .09 2.95 item 3 (cautious internationalization) 2.00 1.00 -1.42a .52 .00 -2.47 -.37item 3 (cautious internationalization) 2.00 3.00 .09 .58 .87 -1.06 1.25 item 3 (cautious internationalization) 3.00 1.00 -1.51a .72 .03 -2.95 -.09 item 3 (cautious internationalization) 3.00 2.00 -.09 .58 .87 -1.25 1.06 a p<0.05.a p<0.05.a p<0.05.a p<0.05.a p<0.05.a p<0.05.a p<0.05.a p<0.05. attitude towards internationalization! m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 54-77 72 attitude score and behavioral responses of french decision makers (appendix of table 3) dependant variable (i) attimean (j) attimean mean difference (i-j) std. err. difference sig. 95 % confidence interval for mean95 % confidence interval for meandependant variable (i) attimean (j) attimean mean difference (i-j) std. err. difference sig. lower bound upper bound item 1 (early exploration) 1.00 2.00 .49 .35 .15 -.19 1.18 item 1 (early exploration) 1.00 3.00 .75a .42 .07 -.08 1.58 item 1 (early exploration) 2.00 1.00 -.49 .35 .15 -1.18 .19item 1 (early exploration) 2.00 3.00 .25 .31 .41 -.36 .87 item 1 (early exploration) 3.00 1.00 -.75a .42 .07 -1.58 .08 item 1 (early exploration) 3.00 2.00 -.25 .31 .41 -.87 .36 item 2 (moderate internationalization) 1.00 2.00 -.03 .31 .92 -.65 .59 item 2 (moderate internationalization) 1.00 3.00 -.03 .38 .92 -.79 .71 item 2 (moderate internationalization) 2.00 1.00 .03 .31 .92 -.59 .65item 2 (moderate internationalization) 2.00 3.00 -.00 .28 .98 -.56 .55 item 2 (moderate internationalization) 3.00 1.00 .03 .38 .92 -.71 .79 item 2 (moderate internationalization) 3.00 2.00 .00 .28 .98 -.55 .56 item 3 (cautious internationalization) 1.00 2.00 .07 .35 .83 -.62 .76 item 3 (cautious internationalization) 1.00 3.00 .19 .42 .65 -.64 1.02 item 3 (cautious internationalization) 2.00 1.00 -.07 .35 .83 -.76 .62item 3 (cautious internationalization) 2.00 3.00 .11 .31 .70 -.50 .73 item 3 (cautious internationalization) 3.00 1.00 -.19 .42 .65 -1.02 .64 item 3 (cautious internationalization) 3.00 2.00 -.11 .31 .70 -.73 .50 a p<0.1.a p<0.1.a p<0.1.a p<0.1.a p<0.1.a p<0.1.a p<0.1.a p<0.1. comparing attitude means of the two samples (appendix of table 4) levene's test of equity of variances levene's test of equity of variances t-test test of equity of meant-test test of equity of meant-test test of equity of meant-test test of equity of meant-test test of equity of meant-test test of equity of meant-test test of equity of mean f sig. t dl sig. (bilateral) mean difference std. err. difference 95 % confidence interval for mean 95 % confidence interval for mean f sig. t dl sig. (bilateral) mean difference std. err. difference lower bound upper bound assume equal variance 18.61 .00 -2.88 245 .00 -.46 .16 -.78 -.14 does not assume equal variance -2.62 144.08 .01 -.46 .17 -.81 -.11 m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 54-77! antonin ricard & abrar ali saiyed 73 comparing behavioral answers of the two samples (appendix of table 5) levene's test of equity of variances levene's test of equity of variances t-test test of equity of meant-test test of equity of meant-test test of equity of meant-test test of equity of meant-test test of equity of meant-test test of equity of meant-test test of equity of mean f sig. t dl sig. (bilateral) mean difference std. err. difference 95 % confidence interval for mean 95 % confidence interval for mean f sig. t dl sig. (bilateral) mean difference std. err. difference lower bound upper bound assume equal variance 9.42 .00 2.01 244 .04 .42 .21 .00 .84 does not assume equal variance 1.92 172.96 .05 .42 .22 -.01 .86 attitude towards internationalization! m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 54-77 74 antonin ricard is currently a full-time assistant professor and co-director of the master of global innovation management (mgim) at amgsm-iae where he teaches corporate strategy and international strategy for small firms. he holds a phd in business administration (2012), a research masters in management science (2009), and a dess in general management from amgsm-iae (2003). his previous educational background is in telecommunication (msc, leeds university, 2002) and general engineering (esme sudria, 2002). his research is focused in the internationalization of small firms through various perspectives (decision making, effectuation, internationalization process, network, psychological distance, and time). some of his works have been published in la revue française de gestion, international business research, international journal of business and globalization, and m@n@gement. his awards and distinctions are: best thesis in international management (atlas-afmi/fnege, 2012-2014), graduated top of class in the research masters in management science (2009), and graduated with distinctions from leeds university (2002). his corporate experiences led him to work for westinghouse, france telecom, and scc. throughout these experiences, he held various positions including maintenance supervisor, team supervisor, project manager and chargé d’affaires. the majority of these experiences were within the context of international teams and working environments. abrar ali saiyed is a doctoral scholar at indian institute of management, ahmedabad (iima) which is ranked no.1 in business management institutions in india. he has teaching experience of 8 years in business policy area (strategy,   international business, entrepreneurship) in reputed government and private business schools and education institutes in gujarat state. he has taught at nirma institute of management, entrepreneurship development institute, pandit dindayal petroleum university, b.k.school of business management (gujarat university), ahmedabad management association. his research interests are in internationalization process in new ventures, entrepreneurial firms, smes in india. he presented papers in euram, indian academy of management, indian academy of international business, bcerc and eam. he got best paper award in iima doctoral colloquium in 2013. he served as a consultant to industrial commissioner and industrial extension bureau (gujarat government), asl logistics, qua nutrition, i-tiffin. he has keen interests in social work and promoting local heritage and culture. he spends few hours in a week to improve school level education among schools run for underprivileged students. he organizes teacher’s training programs in these schools. he is founder of the heritage club in indian institute of management to promote local heritage, culture, art, festivals and handicrafts. m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 54-77! antonin ricard & abrar ali saiyed 75 attitude towards internationalization! m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 54-77 76 http://livepage.apple.com/ http://livepage.apple.com/ http://livepage.apple.com/ http://livepage.apple.com/ http://livepage.apple.com/ http://livepage.apple.com/ © the author(s) www.management-aims.com m@n@gement, vol. 18(1): 54-77! antonin ricard & abrar ali saiyed 77 http://www.management-aims.com http://www.management-aims.com 191 d. chabaud, o. germainm@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 199-221 special issue: doing case study research in organizations m@n@gement issn: 1286-4892 editors: alain desreumaux, u. de lille i martin evans, u. of toronto bernard forgues, u. de lille i hugh gunz, u. of toronto martina menguzzato, u. de valència copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). m@n@gement is a double-blind refereed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.management-aims.com © 2009 m@n@gement and the author(s). didier chabaud and olivier germain 2006 re-using qualitative data in management science: a second choice? m@n@gement, 9: 3, 191-213. m@n@gement est la revue officielle de l’aims m@n@gement is the journal official of aims volume 9, no. 3. special issue: “doing case study research in organizations” guest editors: ann langley and isabelle royer m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 191-213 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 192 re-using qualitative data in management science: a second choice? re-using qualitative data in management science: a second choice? re-using qualitative data (rqd) is a methodology rarely used in management science. this article examines the status, legitimacy, potential and limitations of rqd in this field of research. first we will study the importance attached to rqd within management science methodologies, and then we will define the scope of rqd and identify its various forms. finally, we will clarify the epistemological issues raised and consider the conditions necessary for its use. didier chabaud olivier germain normandy business school laboratoire métis d.chabaud@ecole-management-normandie.fr normandy business school laboratoire métis o.germain@ecole-management-normandie.fr the re-use of qualitative data (henceforth rqd) is not a traditional research practice in management science. it “consists of re-examining one or more sets of qualitative data, with a view to examining research questions that are different from those contained in the original study” (thorne, 2004, p.1006). it is important for every methodological innovation to be examined closely, in terms of scientific validity. thus, it is necessary to consider the importance that is placed on rqd as a methodology in the management science field. the issues can be contentious and rqd can seem unjustified. for some, re-using qualitative data that has been collected by another researcher, and using it for the purposes of a new research project, deprives the researcher of his fieldwork and in turn reduces his understanding of the research study. for others, rqd forms part of a range of traditional research methods. thus, for glaser (1962, p.74) rqd “is not limited to quantitative data. observational notes, unstructured interviews and documents may be usefully re-analysed”. recently, heaton (2004) offers the first systematic inventory of rqd and stresses how important it has become in several areas of research, such as nursing and criminology. however, does this apply to the field of management science? knowledge produced as a result of management science research “comes from observation [but also from] the direct consequence of an action” and so knowledge “is about the design of a collective action” (david, 2002: 255-25). therefore, establishing the scientific rigour of a researcher’s contribution to knowledge is intrinsi193 d. chabaud, o. germainm@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 199-221 special issue: doing case study research in organizations cally linked to the stringency of the methodologies used in their field of research. the fact that rqd distances the researcher from his object of study, has led to doubts about its reliability as a research method within the field of management science. it is frequently suggested that the special nature of fieldwork itself, gives the research its legitimacy and significance. nevertheless, some groundbreaking research has been conducted using rqd. an example of which, in the field of psycho-sociology of organisations, is weick’s (1993) analysis of the mann gulch fire, based on maclean’s (1992) book, which describes a fire in which 13 fire fighters lost their lives. this article investigates issues concerning the status and legitimacy of rqd as a research methodology in the field of management science, as well as its potential and limitations. we will first examine the importance placed on rqd as a management science methodology, and then we will define the scope of rqd and look at the variety of its forms. finally, we will clarify the epistemological issues raised and consider the conditions necessary for its use. definitions and boundaries of rqd if rqd is a recognised quantitative methodology, this is not the case if we consider qualitative methodologies, and although rqd covers a variety of practices, both qualitative and quantitative, its demarcation is difficult to establish. therefore, it is possible to examine a variety of current practices that, initially, could constitute concealed forms of rqd. re-use of data in quantitative research the reworking of data is common practice in quantitative research. it is a way of capitalising on “empirical” data. it can take the form of replication in order to verify results and, when using sophisticated tools, honing or even the inversion of results are possible. figures, produced by american databases, measuring the level of diversification of certain firms and its impact on performance, have often been reused and reprocessed. another common practice is the reuse of a set of data to test new hypotheses, which did not form part of the initial research. also, using an inductive approach, the data can lead to new research questions and the formation of theories. the frequent use of reprocessed quantitative data can be explained by certain presupposed qualities of the said data. such data is apparently more “flexible” in that it suffers less constraint in terms of contextualization. it is liberated from the conditions under which it was produced, as well as from the initial research project; in other words, it is less “soiled” by any interaction with the researcher. thus, the neutrality of the data facilitates the free movement of the data. it would also appear that authors who make use of quantitative databases often provide easy access to their data (subject, at times, to compliance with data protection legislation). rumelt, m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 191-213 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 194 re-using qualitative data in management science: a second choice? for example, has made data available on line that he used as a basis for his 1974 research on corporate diversification and performance1. rqd is frequently used in the field of organisation science for the metaanalysis (or survey) of case studies: it can be characterised as an intermediary method between qualitative and quantitative approaches. it seeks to establish a link between the “nomothetic” study (a systematic approach where hypotheses are tested) and the “idiographic” study (an in-depth understanding of the subject being observed), in order to combine their respective advantages (larsson, 1993). yin (2002) suggests that a set of case studies may be “interrogated” by using a codification tool and, moreover, if the number of cases is significant, the data categories can undergo sophisticated statistical analysis. the standard method, therefore, consists of analysing a set of cases quantitatively, in order to induce a theory or, more often, to test a reading grid. the standard procedure, therefore, is to: (1) select a group of case studies in line with the research questions raised, (2) choose a coding scheme for converting qualitative descriptions into quantified variables, (3) use multiple coders for coding the cases and measuring inter-coder reliability, (4) statistically analyse the coded data (larsson, 1993). yin and heald (1975) conducted a study on urban decentralisation, which involved the review of a number of case studies. they described, in some detail, the case study selection process. their review consisted of the uniform application of a checklist of 118 questions to 269 decentralization case studies. the reliability of the list was first tested by cross-examining the list of answers of two or more analysts to just 14 of the case studies. various questions were then inserted to serve as explicit criteria for rejecting case studies in later phases of the analysis (according to the principles of internal and external validity). finally, the said criteria enabled the authors to classify the quality of the case studies, according to the explicit and robust characteristics of the method and the relevance of the research design. in strategy, meta-analysis has been used for creating organizational transition archetypes (miller and friesen, 1980). in the exploratory phase, the authors tested their hypotheses on a database composed of 36 firms from which they extracted 135 transition periods. this data was derived from historic work and case manuals. the results were subsequently used in the analysis of a new sample of 9 companies, in order to test the validity, reliability and generality of the data. despite the obvious relevance of such quantitative analysis of case studies, the authors of this paper will focus on the qualitative re-use of qualitative data. “…the man gulch disaster” (weick, 1993): a methodological peculiarity? weick’s paper is the most frequently recognised example of the re-use of qualitative data in organization science. it is based on a unique source: norman maclean’s (1992) book describing a fire during which 13 fire fighters lost their lives in montana in 1949. weick’s approach 1 data is available at http://www.anderson.ucla. edu/faculty/dick.rumelt/rumelt_ssdata.htm 195 d. chabaud, o. germainm@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 199-221 special issue: doing case study research in organizations is similar to induction. his research is broken down into two questions: “why do organizations unravel?” and “how can organizations be made more resilient?” (weick, 1993: 628). weick considers maclean’s work propitious and proposes a credible analysis of the examined events. weick makes several recommendations for improving the resilience of organizations and he then suggests some analysis within the organization literature, in order to demonstrate the need for further studies to be undertaken. weick carefully retraces maclean’s methodology, firstly, because 28 years separate the disaster from maclean’s work and, secondly, because he deals with “output editing” and not with “empirical storing” (keonig, 2005: 1). he also aims to tone down the elegant prose and tragic dimension of maclean’s original work, retaining the events only, in order to facilitate his analysis. weick emphasizes the wealth and variety of the collected material and also the investigative methods selected by maclean, who conducted interviews with the last two survivors of the disaster as well as with accident investigators: he was more cautious with respect to indirect witnesses (next-of-kin, in particular). records of physical evidence, which had been well preserved, were examined as well as numerous archive materials (reports following the event, official records, although some were classified, litigation reports, photographs etc.). maclean visited mann gulch three times; once with the two survivors, with a view to reconstructing the facts (triangulation was used in order to moderate any inconsistencies). one time, he reconstructed the course of events of the fire fighters under conditions as close as possible to those of the tragedy, constantly comparing photographs and maps of the actual event with the reconstruction. maclean was also personally involved in the case: he had gone to mann gulch while the fire was still active, and he had lived through a similar experience as a young fire fighter. finally, discrepancies in the comprehension of the events led maclean, accompanied by two specialist appraisers, to produce a mathematical model of the fire’s diffusion. one can question the possibility of extending this methodological approach beyond weick’s project. his paper encapsulates a snapshot of the handling of a research project, which gradually matured (baumard and ibert, 2003) and this, to some extent compensates for the absence of first-hand data. furthermore, weick’s approach is based on the development of a consistent style of language specific to the project. all this confers a certain legitimacy to his approach. in addition, the exceptional density of the material collected during the course of the initial work and the variety of the investigation methods used, enabled the author to work from a single primary source. however, in general, the quality and richness of a single data source is insufficient and the researcher is usually obliged to cross analyse a number of data sources. moreover, the academic journal chosen by weick – administrative science quarterly – is recognised for welcoming a wide scope of methodological options. finally, weick’s practice of working with reduced and edited data leads him to use a “narrative strategy” of analysis (langley, 1997: 41). m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 191-213 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 196 re-using qualitative data in management science: a second choice? “division of research labour”: a disguised form of rqd? according to glaser (1963: 11), the use of secondary analysis challenges “the independent researcher’s position in the division of research work” and a problem often encountered: “how to mobilize the resources to carry out a research project?” in research practice it is possible to compare rqd with the following three scenarios – internalisation, hybrid arrangement and outsourcing. in principle, a research project carried out by an individual researcher has little in common with the practice of rqd: the researcher assumes all phases of the method. however, if we consider the rationalization that occurs at various stages of the research – conducting the first interviews, the emergence of different forms of information, the final touches put in place before the analysis – all this seems to transfer the researcher, little by little, into a secondary analyst of his own data. the principle of recursivity (hlady-risplal, 2002) refers to successive iterations inherent in the qualitative research process. in the researcher’s very itinerary, there are breaks in the real time of conducting each piece of research, but, at times, the data serves as a connecting theme since it circulates from project to project. the data lends itself to various manipulations and this is where its similarity to rqd is noticeable: we will return to this point in the section on analysing the different types of rqd. an important characteristic of rqd is the fact that the data used has been collected by someone else. institutional research often involves delegating all or part of the fieldwork to other researchers. for example, the research of baden-fuller and stopford (1996) on the rejuvenation of companies within industries perceived as mature, is organized around numerous case studies. it is the product of a research program in which the analysis and final editing was carried out by the two authors, whereas certain surveys were conducted by other researchers and, when the opportunity arose, contributions were even made by different partners. should such hybrid work forms be placed among rqd methods? the question is even more acute when considering intensive outsourcing of fieldwork. mintzberg, raisinghani and théorêt (1976) studied the structure of “unstructured” decision-making processes and, although they do not mention the method, it closely resembles rqd. the empirical elements were collected over a five-year period by 50 teams of students. each team studied one organization for three to six months. they had to isolate the decision-making processes, create a narrative description of them and represent them as phases within a kind of “program”. the teams were given a question guide to help them better understand the processes. the students were then encouraged to compare the examined processes with the existing literature. they held structured interviews with decision-makers, and some of them analysed the documents. the teams finally reconstructed the decision-making processes and drew up conclusions with respect to the theory. the authors 197 d. chabaud, o. germainm@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 199-221 special issue: doing case study research in organizations then developed their theory on the basis of the reports (2,500 words minimum) drafted by their students. initially, 28 processes enabled the authors to define the basic structure of the strategic processes. they then focused on 20 other processes analysed in more detail, in order to develop the structure further, and various hypotheses were tested. finally, 25 processes from the first two studies underwent in-depth examination. two researchers independently reduced each decision process down to routine and dynamic factors. this data then allowed the generation of a number of hypotheses. the data collection method used in this case creates a break in the research mechanism, which is similar to rqd. the reprocessed elements can, in part, be likened to data already formalized. the existence of a shared paradigm, on the contrary, creates a continuity that structures the conduct of the research project. in the case of mintzberg et al (1976), collecting and processing data falls directly within the scope of the research project carried out by the authors of the research paper – the aims are clearly defined and the control of the methodological approach is established. whether it takes the form of collaboration or of research outsourcing, in our view, the consistent alignment or insertion within a research design characterizes these various rqd procedures. nevertheless, the practices reviewed above, along with rqd, take us back to research ethics. normally, only the researcher who produces his own data has the right to manipulate it and any outside intervention in this process would break the natural chain of processing the said data. as we will see, rqd, when strictly conducted, can allow the re-analysis and validation of an original work. subsequently, as is the case with other scientific knowledge, the data becomes part of the scientific debate. nevertheless, reflection on the re-use of qualitative data in human and social sciences (heaton, 2004, thorne, 2004 special edition of the forum: qualitative social research, 2005) seems to be in advance of current methodological practices and, despite glaser’s (1963) much earlier writings, is still in its infancy. other than cases presented as an illustration in organizational science, rqd would seem to be struggling to find a place within normal research practices. in the french literature, works on qualitative research methods often do not even refer to rqd (hlady-rispal, 2002), or devote only limited space to it (giroux, 2003), or occasionally raise specific questions regarding secondary data (baumard and ibert, 2003). this is doubtless due to the fact that rqd questions the link between the researcher and his raw material. however, we have emphasised the various situations in methodological practice that place the researcher directly or indirectly in a “secondary position” with respect to his data. it should also be noted that the debate on the secondary analysis of data, as a remedy to the isolation of the researcher, was initiated several decades ago by one of the cofounders of grounded theory (glaser, 1963). the difficulties mentioned above bring us to the next section in which we clarify the forms that rqd can take. m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 191-213 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 198 re-using qualitative data in management science: a second choice? the scope of rqd and its various forms rqd covers a wide diversity of approaches, which we will try to set out in this section. we will then discuss the nature of the materials retained in the analysis. indeed, secondary analysis requires a review of the question “what is data?” classification of rqd practices heaton (2004, ch. 3) has identified different types of rqd. his classification highlights the diversity of rqd forms and their potential application (table 1). unfortunately, a number of heaton’s categories overlap because, as the author himself recognizes, “the types are not exclusive” (2004, p. 38). moreover, a typology constructed from criteria connected to research situations would be more useful to the potential user. table 1 – types of re-use of qualitative data* supra analysis transcends the focus of the primary study from which the data was derived, examining new empirical, theoretical or methodological questions. supplementary analysis a more in-depth investigation of an emergent issue or aspect of the data, which was not considered or fully addressed in the primary study. re-analysis data are re-analysed to verify and corroborate primary analyses of qualitative data sets. amplified analysis combines data from two or more primary studies for purposes of comparison in order to enlarge a sample. assorted analysis combines secondary analysis of research data with primary research and/or analysis of naturalistic qualitative data * heaton (2004 : 34), reproduced with permission from sage publications the limitations identified in table 1 lead us to suggest a reclassification of rqd (see table 2) broken down into two dimensions: (1) the purpose of rqd with respect to the initial study and (2) the type of data set used. the ‘purpose’ dimension distinguishes the idea of replication and an increase in the robustness of the initial study, from that of extension (that is drawing results from existing data within the framework of a new research problem). a dividing line is thus drawn between a system of exploitation, which consists of giving existing data “better” expression (the efficiency principle), and a system of exploration where the researcher wishes to give “more” expression to existing data by producing new questions (the effectiveness principle). the “type of usage” dimension distinguishes between the use of a single set of qualitative data and the additional usage of several sets and/ 199 d. chabaud, o. germainm@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 199-221 special issue: doing case study research in organizations or types of data. in other words, in the first case, the data has been collected during the same research project, that is in a context where the researcher(s) leading the project collects data according to a unique research protocol. in the second case, the researcher works with data collected from different research projects. the question here is whether it is possible to make useful comparisons between such sets of data. in table 2 we have reclassified the 5 forms of rqd listed by heaton (2004) according to our two dimensions of “purpose” and “type of usage”. table 2 – rqd in research practice diversity of data single data set data derived from the same research project multiple data sets data derived from several research projects purpose or end result identical result same research question or final result re-analysis e.g., vaughan (1996) amplified analysis e.g., stinchcombe (1970), larsson (1993) different result additional or new research question additional analysis e.g., stinchcombe (1970), weick (1993) assorted analysis e.g., staudenmayer, tyre and perlow (2002), loilier and tellier (2004) re-analysis of qualitative data is conducted on a single “set of data” or on a unique “data source”. this appears to be a classical research method that has been borrowed from quantitative methodologies. above and beyond epistemological considerations, it consists of replicating the initial research project. the aim is not make the re-used data “speak” differently, but to verify if it supports the original interpretations. the results can either be confirmed and validated or questioned and refuted (heaton, 2004). we also consider that it is possible to show the reliability of the results of a former study by using new techniques of data analysis. even if re-analysis of qualitative data seems to be the most frequent type of rqd, this research method is seldom used in the area of human and social science (according to heaton, 2004). the reexamination of incident reports is, however, closer to this form of rqd. it involves giving a plausible meaning, after the fact, to incidents that have occurred, or of clarifying some aspect of an incident. nevertheless, the end result is generally the same: why and when did the events occur? the study of the challenger space shuttle disaster produced by vaughan (1996) provides us with a particularly good example. this study is, in part, founded on the critical analysis of the report of the presidential commission on the space shuttle “challenger” accident, and involves multiple re-examinations (laroche, 1998 or mayer, 2003 in france) and even robust questioning (by perrow 1999). it is also possible to conduct rqd on a set of data in order to consider a new research question. this could involve a supplementary research question (as heaton, 2004, proposes), which enables greater precision or a deepening of the initial research question (extending the centre of gravity), or it could involve a new research question (changing the m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 191-213 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 200 re-using qualitative data in management science: a second choice? centre of gravity). in the first case, the additional analysis involves proceeding with a more in-depth analysis of a sub-set or a unique aspect of the data, or lies in the examination of an emerging question. one of the most frequent situations concerns research projects during which sizeable amounts of data are collected and where the project is extended beyond its original boundaries. here, the research project changes its centre of gravity with respect to the initial project. weik’s study (1993) falls under this category, since the author induces precise questions regarding events, especially with regard to the question of organisational resilience. in the second case, the objective is to reintroduce data whose potential surpasses the context of the original analysis, either because the data can be tested against emerging theories, or because it may help to examine empirical questions that have come to light. according to heaton (2004), this type of analysis is most often conducted by the researcher who led the initial research, since data processing is part of the dynamics of the original research. for example, stinchcombe (1970) developed a model made up of seven conditions that determine the degree of dependency of subordinates in various types of organisations. the seven conditions were designed based on several research projects conducted in the 1950s and 1960s. stinchcombe used these organisations in order to demonstrate the variability within the seven conditions and he arranged them by degree of dependency of the subordinates (vaughan, 1992). the last two forms of rqd consist of simultaneously mobilizing distinct sets of data, or data derived from different research projects. amplified analysis introduces variety into rqd, since data from different analyses is crossed in order to observe common and distinct points at the data crossing points. an example of this is when two researchers, who separately led studies around a research project, decide to examine convergences and divergences between their analyses (heaton, 2004). there is thus a certain unity in the formulated questions and in this case rqd takes on the form of a comparative analysis. the stinchcombe (1970) example mentioned above borrows, in part, from this category, the difference being that the original researcher re-uses various studies that he himself has conducted. it is interesting to note that this method can be used within the framework of a new research project by an independent researcher who did not take part in the original research. the meta-analysis of a case study, even if it is based on a sophisticated statistical protocol, falls under this tradition (cf. larsson’s (1993) work on merger acquisitions). finally, when materials from various studies are diverted from the purposes for which they were originally collected and processed to become part of a new research project, we call this assorted analysis. a specific example is the crossing of rqd with fieldwork, which is the traditional mainstay of qualitative research. in this case, rqd completes an already well-established research project and the conditions for including re-used data are specific: the categories and mechanisms of the analysis must enable legitimate comparative analysis. it should be noted that, in some cases, secondary analysis may require data with less “finesse” than data which is first hand. research conducted by 201 d. chabaud, o. germainm@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 199-221 special issue: doing case study research in organizations loilier and tellier (2004) involved cross-examining different sets of data within the framework of a new research project. the authors studied the conditions under which trust can constitute a means of coordination among the actors of an innovative project when no direct interaction exists in a given place. with this in view, they analysed the functioning of unrestrained software development teams linked to the linux project. initially, they carried out a literature review on the notion of trust and the specific aspects of remote innovation networks, and from this review they were able to derive firstly a number of conditions and then certain categories. their case study of unrestrained software was then developed on the basis of four major sources: two research projects, one piece of research published in the research policy review, and one piece of empirical research published in a professional review. site visits and press articles also formed part of this project. the authors applied a traditional qualitative method coding procedure for analysing the conditions of trust production and for discussing their results. another example is the work of staudenmayer, tyre and perlow (2002). during the course of informal discussions, they noted that their three independent studies, each conducted in the area of organizational change, collectively reported situations where key events altered the daily work rate and, as a result, significantly affected the individual and collective experience of time. by concentrating on the notion of experiencing time, these events seemed to facilitate organizational change. intrigued by this coincidence, the authors decided to return to the initial data to highlight the areas that documented the concept of time, along with its role in organizational change. the aim of this inductive approach was to develop a theory based on a research design that crossexamined the data from three independent studies. in the beginning, the project was structured around a wide research question: “what role does time play in change?” each case was summarised, highlighting the unique relationship between time and change, thus enabling each author to become fully acquainted with all the cases. having proven a relationship between time and change in each of the cases, various questions began to emerge. stories about change served as an analytical instrument for facilitating inter-site comparisons. each “change” was analysed according to a given sequence: a pre-existing situation, an event disturbing the work rate, an interpretation of the time and events of the situation by individuals, and the nature of the resulting outcomes over the short and long terms. the authors used the constant comparative method: the stories about change were firstly compared in pairs within one case and later between cases. by using this method, it was possible to identify the key components shared by the three sites and the manner in which they were similar or different for each site. in addition to the diversity of the various forms of rqd, this typology highlights the possible implications in terms of conditions of use, reliability and pertinence of the method. in particular, it raises the question of the diversity of usable materials in rqd, notably the fact that it is possible to mobilize a single set of data or several data sets. m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 191-213 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 202 re-using qualitative data in management science: a second choice? the question of reworked material: the wrong debate? the justification for and the practice of rqd depend largely on the methodology of the original research and the assumptions regarding the quality of the reprocessed materials. some authors who support the use of rqd (thorne, 2004, heaton, 2004) adopt a narrow point of view, since they only take into account the reworking of collected data. in management science, this would totally exclude the reworking of case studies. it is argued that this material is, in principle, much too altered by the subjectivity of the original researchers. in other words, it is better to use pure, unadulterated data. this type of work is more easily undertaken in the context of laboratories carrying out collective and collaborative projects. such a naturalistic conception of the data is debatable because, for one thing, it confuses ontology with the data. but the data is not independent of the conditions under which it was collected (baumard and ibert, 2003); it is a representation “which allows a bi-directional correspondence between empirical reality and a symbolic system” (stablein, 1993, p. 514). indeed, whatever the epistemological bias underlying the research, the researcher is never neutral with respect to his “field”, due to the fact that qualitative methods require a high level of involvement by the researcher (hlady-rispal, 2002), even if only in terms of the amount of time invested in the project. also, it does not follow that re-using “pure” data necessarily increases the rigour of the data, and it does not exonerate the data gathering conditions from examination. nevertheless, whenever rqd is carried out, the question of not having been present at the time of data collection always presents itself. “the loss of the essential contextual experience of ‘being there’ and not being able to engage in a reflexive interpretation [with respect to the data] can be considered as an obstacle to re-usage” (corti and thompson, 2004, p. 335). however, mautthner, parry and backettmilburn (1998) stress that the capacity of being able to interpret one’s own data can also decline over time since the memory weakens and new knowledge produced in the interval can influence the re-interpretation of the said data. baumard and ibert (2003) also note that dealing with first-hand data could entail certain biases and that excessive trust in the truth of such data could be misleading. the belief that original data has an automatic validity can also lead to discarding contradictory explanations or to downplaying the importance of certain variables. from a broader perspective, is it possible to say that the reworking of case studies is legitimate? silverman (2000) frequently states that analysing data is considerably more important than the collection of the data and, in order to shorten or facilitate this phase, he encourages working on data that has been gathered and processed by other researchers (secondary analysis) or on data found in the public domain (documents). one can consider that, since secondary analysis consists of systematically replicating the initial study, it is possible to construct the analysis based on data that has already been formalized. 203 d. chabaud, o. germainm@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 199-221 special issue: doing case study research in organizations according to vaughan (1992), “there is no doubt that many case study analyses exist, using the same theories, models or concepts, without ever having been the subject of a systematic comparison” (p. 185) and that “the analysis of the work of other researchers forces us to confront certain facts, which do not easily adapt to our preconceptions” (p.199). baumard and ibert (2003) continue along these lines and consider that a case study carried out by another researcher can broaden the stock of models and representations that can be used to compare other models. at the very least, we can say that a reprocessed study has been validated by the scientific community, which constitutes a form of control over the re-used materials. the successive reprocessing of the data enables the results, which are presented according to shared codes and philosophies, to circulate throughout the scientific community. however, excess formalizing may also lead to granting excessive credence to the data. in practical terms, this once again assumes a precise knowledge of the data collection mechanism and the data transformation process (baumard and ibert, 2003). the latter authors reported on a study by podsakoff and dalton (1997), demonstrating that few authors offer proof of the validity of their approach in published academic articles. finally, case studies, as a research practice, have become part of the normal process of accumulation of scientific knowledge. research conducted according to an inductive approach is of interest because the knowledge generated here is of an empirical nature. mintzerg and waters (1985) follow this approach and distinguish both the emergent areas and the determined areas within the strategic process, and today this is no longer subject to debate. the debate surrounding the use of raw materials or edited materials is inherently linked to the relationship between the method and the epistemological bias of the research. the response with respect to the relevance of rqd also depends on the principles that frame the research process. rqd and epistemological trends generally, rqd raises an epistemological problem in that the “secondary researcher” has to position himself in relation to the original data and, at the same time, develop a strict mechanism with regard to structuring his own research project. as we have already stressed, the research question, in terms of epistemology, crosses all phases of qualitative methodology. current thinking is that the research method does not necessarily induce a constructivist stance. depending on the epistemological stance, a researcher positions himself with respect to “reality” before and during the production of qualitative data, but also during the transformation stages, which most often take the form of a case study. guba and lincoln (2005) have suggested a classification of five paradigms developed from the responses to three fundamental, interconnected questions: m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 191-213 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 204 re-using qualitative data in management science: a second choice? the hypotheses that the researcher formulates on the nature of reality (the ontological question) the hypotheses that the researcher formulates on their relationship, upon observation of the subject under study (the epistemological question) the means that the researcher selects for analysing reality (the methodological question) although guba and lincoln (2005) highlight five paradigms, for the purposes of considering the re-use of qualitative data, we suggest concentrating on the three most frequently encountered paradigms in management research practice: positivism, interpretativism and constructivism (see table 3). table 3 – rqd and major research paradigms positivism interpretativism constructivism ontology realist hypothesis reality is “objective” data independent of the observer, which can only be understood imperfectly or through probability (post-positivism) relativist hypothesis reality is perceived or interpreted by knowledgeable subjects. relativist hypothesis reality is intentional, constructed upon interaction with the object, local and specific. epistemology objectivism principle of the neutrality and imperfection of knowledge. the results are probably true. interpretation the researcher interprets the experience and statements made by actors who themselves produce interpretations on the topic. interdependence between researcher and his object projects and interpretations co-constructed with the actors in an interactive framework. knowledge project describing, explaining, confirming discovering the reliability of data understanding empathic comprehension of actors’ representations constructing designing a project phenomenon methodology: consequences for rqd rqd possible in principle the researcher can assume an empirical discovery to be “true” or close to the truth. any validated data becomes part of the re-usable stock of knowledge. rqd is possible once the original research protocol is verified and its quality confirmed. rqd possible in principle the researcher works on plausible interpretations. regarding original data, he can compare his interpretations to those of initial researcher. the researcher borrows interpretations regarding a reality that is itself interpreted by the actors. rqd debatable the researcher works on constructions based on singular interaction. the original researcher can, in principle, rework the said constructions (he knows the neglected aspects of the fieldwork) according to an identical project. circulating both the data and the editing among projects and among researchers is extremely debatable due to the unique construction that is based on the interaction between the researcher and the actor(s). freely adapted from the categories of giordano (2003, p. 25), perret and séville (2003) and m’bengue, vandangeon-derumez and grimand (2000) certainly, the taking of shortcuts is not recommended, particularly in the relationships between ontology and methodology and between methodology and epistemology (m’bengue, 2001), but it is interesting to note that, in principle, two major paradigms can favour the use of rqd, whereas constructivist epistemology seems to be less well 205 d. chabaud, o. germainm@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 199-221 special issue: doing case study research in organizations adapted to the approach. in the case of positivist epistemology, the use of data produced by other researchers is authorized if the entire methodological mechanism used by the original researcher remains transparent (as we will see in the next section on practical questions). the secondary researcher can then accurately verify the reliability of the data being reprocessed and normally nothing prevents the re-use of formalized data – that is to say, the use of case studies. scientific knowledge progresses by sedimentation and is produced collectively. empirical results and the explanation produced by the original researcher may be added to this melting pot of scientific knowledge and submitted for discussion, given that the control procedures have worked correctly (mainly through peer-reviewed publication). according to hakim (1982, p. 16), “one of the advantages of secondary analysis is that it forces the researcher to think closely about the theoretical and substantial questions of the study, rather than about the methodological and practical problems of data collection. the time and effort devoted to obtaining funds and organizing new fieldwork can be directed instead to analysis and interpretation of the results”. in the case of interpretativistic epistemology, if the secondary researcher accesses raw data, it is possible to consider that he has the right to re-interpret the data collected by others, once the collection protocol has been validated. this could lead to disagreement over the interpretation of the data. moreover, if the researcher re-uses formalized case studies, he then produces his own understanding of the experiences expressed by other researchers, based on the actors’ statements. the secondary researcher thus works on interpretations of interpretations. the researcher re-using this data is not in direct contact with the actors and so the empathy, which characterizes the researcher-actor relationship in interpretativism, is somehow transferred to the entire process being reworked. rqd becomes more problematic in the case of constructivist epistemology. the data collected and transformed by the initial researcher results in the production of “constructs”. these constructs are the result of a co-construction between the researcher and the actors through the shared development of a common project. the likelihood of circulating the “data” amongst researchers, for the purposes of generating ideas, is thus limited by the specific nature of the project itself. this is also the case with projects involving a single researcher, where the researcher produces new results within the framework of a research project that utilizes re-used data (supplementary analysis). in theory, it is necessary for the data to become part of the system of interactions with the actors of the initial research. if we adopt the weickian viewpoint, where everything is reduced to ex-post reconstruction, the researcher himself is the producer of a legitimate discourse. the researcher is an individual conducting ex-post reconstruction, which means that everything is reduced to reconstructed discourse. as such, why should the researcher deprive himself of the rqd method on the pretext of biasing the data or materials, since he is going to bias the data anyway in his reconstruction of it? when producing his discussion, the researcher should comply, above all, with m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 191-213 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 206 re-using qualitative data in management science: a second choice? the rules of presentation (allowing access to the sources used or even using common sources), thus enabling the reader to spot any discussion biases. the principal question then becomes that of the capacity of the researcher to guard against the possible biases of rqd. in fact, the researcher should be able to produce his reasoning in a convincing manner and in this way remove any barriers to the legitimate use of rqd. rqd: its use in practice if the idea of re-using qualitative data is indeed accepted, the implementation of the approach and the conditions for validating its use still need to be specified (heaton, 2004; stewart and kamine, 1993). it is essential (1) to use a set of data (whether it be raw or edited data) over which you have control of both the source and the quality, and (2) to verify that the set of data is appropriate to the research question. nevertheless, the premise for using rqd depends on the researcher’s ability to access the set of data. here, we will deal with two questions linked to the accessibility of data and the conditions necessary for conducting rqd. it should be noted that access to original data influences, in part, the quality of the research method. accessibility a prerequisite for rqd rqd requires having a set of data at one’s disposal. as we have already mentioned, data can be accessed in a number of ways, for example, by using published case studies, or non-processed data collected by a third party, or even by the researcher re-using his own data sets. this latter practice could involve the doctoral student, the young phd graduate, as well as the experienced researcher who works on one or more sets of data over a long period of time. the issues concerning accessibility of data are two-fold, since both rqd and the quality of the approach used depend on access to such data or the formulation of an original study. the initial question, therefore, is that of the possibility of accessing data. several access methods seem to be currently in use. firstly, from an opportunity point of view, the researcher frequently conducts several research projects, generating his own empirical data, to which he has easy access and which he can rework when investigating new research questions (cf. the aforementioned work of stinchcombe, 1970). this specific situation simplifies the research design and reduces the control procedures necessary, since the researcher knows his own operating methods and the conditions of data collection. however, the risk here is that the data may become distorted due to the researcher’s proximity to it. the researcher’s environment can also influence the possibility of carrying out rqd. for example, a laboratory environment allows relatively easy access to a certain number of empirical results2. the very nature of a laboratory project leads to the clear definition of the 2 it should be noted that a laboratory environment may also encounter corporate interest. indeed, some large corporations have been the subject of numerous qualitative studies over time, which raised the issue as to whether or not they could put in place a mechanism for safeguarding these studies and the data that has been produced as a result. edf (the french national electricity company) has set up such a mechanism enabling the practice of rqd depending on the needs and questions encountered by the company (le roux & vidal, 2000; dargentas & le roux, 2005). 207 d. chabaud, o. germainm@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 199-221 special issue: doing case study research in organizations stages of the research and the data collection protocols, and even to the successive re-use of data by different laboratory researchers. although this practice is less common in management science than it is in scientific domains (heaton, 2004), there are nevertheless a number of examples of collective laboratory projects, such as at the research centre of the ecole polytechnique (france). here, the re-using of data is due to the existence of collective projects and to the proximity of the researchers, both of which foster a system of pooling. thus, the researcher has access to the empirical knowledge produced within his scientific community, as well as to articles and published cases studies. as we have already seen, this approach is not without its difficulties since the problem arises of verifying the robustness of the results: their re-use depends on the form that the results take and the transparency of the original method. secondly, rqd can arise out of social interaction among researchers and this is doubtless the case in the majority of situations. rqd is thus inherent to the researcher’s working life. in fact, the staudenmayer, tyre and perlow (2002, p. 587) study started as a result of “a series of corridor discussions among the authors”, during which they realised the relevance of sharing and re-using each other’s data. the re-utilisation of data is indeed strongly influenced by the possibility of collective initiatives or discussions between individual researchers. although, in the case quoted above, the researchers cooperated by each contributing a set of original data, it is also useful to consider the division of labour approach discussed in the first section. in addition to situations where the secondary researcher acts as a type of “bricoleur” 3 (heaton, 2004), formal or institutional approaches aim at facilitating access to data and enabling rqd on a broad scale. thus, in great britain, the qualidata experiment aims to provide researchers with direct access to qualitative databases (in return for compliance with identification constraints by the researcher seeking data). data from over one hundred studies is available. some examples include the longitudinal study by pettigrew on “management of strategic and operational change” providing data on eight companies from four different sectors (one high-performance and one low-performance company per sector) over the period 1958-1988 (qualidata, 5203); also the studies of the aston group conducted under the auspices of john child (qualidata, 922). in france, a report was drawn up on the issue of storage of qualitative data in the area of social science (cribier, 2003), which examined both the french and the international situation. the situation in france is somewhat disappointing: “the majority of qualitative data gathered over the past forty years has disappeared, very little is properly stored (that is, complete and documented), and only small amounts of this data have been used for the purposes of new research projects” (cribier, 2003, p. 2). consequently, the aim is to set up a project of data storage (cf. cribier, 2003 and 2005, for a description of the situation). finally, it is useful to note the extent to which the level of data accessibility influences the very quality of rqd. indeed, the ease and extent of 3 diy enthusiast m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 191-213 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 208 re-using qualitative data in management science: a second choice? access to the data itself, as well as the possible access to the researchers who collected the original data (or to their procedure manuals), is important for evaluating the quality of the original research process. it means that quality protocols can be more easily verified and that any obscure areas or interpretation problems, which occasionally emerge in rqd practice, can be clarified. the hinds, vogel and clarke-steffen (1997) paper identifies key questions regarding accessibility: these are presented in table 4. table 4 dimensions of data accessibility a1. where, when and how to access data? a2. is all data accessible, or only partially (e.g. transcription of interviews and not the recordings)? a3. have the answering parties given their consent to the use of the data in the study? a4. are there any conditions of use for the set of data? a5. can the authors of the investigation be consulted when needed? sources: adapted from hinds, vogel and clarke-steffen. (1997) and from heaton (2004, p. 93). the questions contained in table 4 emphasize the importance of the ethical issues surrounding the use of rqd (does one have the right to freely dispose of qualitative data?). they also emphasise the fact that rqd work is directly influenced by conditions of access: having direct contact with the authors of the initial study and accessing all or part of the data directly influences the possibility of re-using “good quality” data. however, even when access to the data is allowed, according to acceptable conditions of quality, it is still necessary to ensure that the data set meets the requirements of an rqd approach. rqd – usage protocol hence, a protocol has to be agreed, which enables efficient data evaluation. several authors have suggested a data evaluation grid or lines of conduct aimed at evaluating the possibility of adopting the rqd approach (stewart and kamine, 1993; hinds, vogel and clarke-steffen, 1997; heaton, 2004). rather than concentrate on any differences between the work of these authors, it is important to emphasize the extent to which they agree with regard to the areas that must be examined when putting in place a system of rqd (see table 5). their objective is to verify that the original data complies with the formal conditions of re-use. in addition to the need for contextual information on the original data collection (“description of data”), it is necessary to ensure that the data from the initial study was collected according to a transparent process and that it complies with at least minimum quality levels (the idea that the information from the initial source was well corroborated by the collector). 209 d. chabaud, o. germainm@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 199-221 special issue: doing case study research in organizations table 5 – lines of conduct for evaluating possible re-use of data description of data d1. author(s) of original collection d2. objectives of the original collection? d3. description of gathered data d4. collection development: time frame and organization of collection process data adequate for rqd s1. is the set of data adapted to research objectives? s2. is the set of data adapted to research content? s3. does the amount of data enable handling of the research question? s4. are the type and format of the data compatible with the rqd in progress? s5. is the data not too contextualized, or has it expired? data quality q1. is the set of data complete for meeting the needs of the research end results (i.e.little or no missing data)? q2. has the data been recorded in an entirely well-adapted manner? q3. has the data been modified (e.g. to preserve anonymity)? if so, how? q4. was the data prepared in such a way as to be compatible with rqd? q5. is there sufficient documentation on the data (methodological note, coding manual, etc.) for rqd final objectives? q6. was the original study well designed and implemented? q7. are all sets of data compatible with each other? is all the data uniform? q8. can the data be compared with other sets of data if needed? (external validation) sources: freely adapted from stewart and kamine (1993), hinds, vogel and clarke-steffen (1997) and heaton (2004). according to the above lines of conduct, the first phase involves examining the potential adequacy of the initial data for the research project. the question regarding the adequacy of the data will be more or less quickly resolved depending on the type of rqd (§ 2.1). in the case of re-analysis or amplified analysis (i.e. the research question is the same as that of the initial study), using the same set of data is acceptable, if the objective is to replicate the initial study or to carry out a comparative study. but the question of the adequacy of the data is another matter completely when the final objectives of the research project compared with those of the initial research are very different. in this case, it is necessary to query the capacity of the original data to deal with the research question and to meet the objectives and content requirements of the research. should the data be in part obsolete, ambiguous or insufficient in quantity, or if the contextualization is excessive, then the researcher will seek to complete the set of data being reprocessed with data derived from other research projects, or even by collecting original, current data. assorted analysis is part of this perspective since the secondary researcher can compensate for the incomplete data by cross-analyzing this data (heaton, 2004). it involves the verification of the uniformity and compatibility of data derived from different research projects (q7 and q8 of table 5). among these questions, we note the crucial issue of bringing reprocessed data in line with the research question – in particular, when the objectives of the re-used data have been modified and are different from those of the initial research for which the original data was collected and processed. principally, this raises problems of de-contextualization. experts recommend the crossing of reprocessed data with other data, whether original or secondary; a variety of data reprocesm@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 191-213 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 210 re-using qualitative data in management science: a second choice? sing mechanisms; and finally, where possible, close interaction with the initial project leader in order to limit the risk of poor interpretation of data. the data reworked by staudenmayer, tyre and perlow (2002) was reused within the framework of a project which differed from the three initial studies. once the relevance of the cross-examination of the three studies was confirmed and the research question formulated, the authors returned to the environmental and organizational context of each study. this particular case was facilitated by the fact that the re-analysis was carried out by the authors of the initial research. the second phase, the more operational dimension of rqd, involves questioning the quality of the set of data. is it complete? do we really have all the information in a format adapted to our processing needs? it should be noted that the secondary researcher may encounter practical difficulties in judging data quality. due to the nature of qualitative data, it could be problematic to assess the completeness of information, for example when the researcher uses materials derived from semi-structured interviews (q1 of table 5). the question of complete and appropriate recording of interviews (i.e. the method of recording and transcribing the interviews) also seems, in practice, difficult to verify (q2 of table 5). if access to the interview transcriptions is limited, certain elements of contextualization could be lost (intonations, silences, hesitations). in this situation, the judgment of the secondary researcher is important since, given the elements in his possession, he should be able to assess the validity of the data (although it can be considered that any interview is biased simply due to the fact that its recording can influence the content – cf. baumard and ibert, 2003). the nature of the materials used can also play a role in the quality of data: confidence may be placed in data obtained from published studies, which have already been finely screened by rigorous scientific criteria. thus, the qualitative audit of data, which could possibly undergo reprocessing, varies depending on whether the approach is based on using data from the same research project or data derived from several projects. in particular, verifying the uniformity of the data (q7 of table 5) assembled from different research projects will be essential to the execution of rqd. the interdependence between these issues should be noted. verifying the uniformity between data requires the setting up of a data collection manual (q5 of table 5), as well as interaction with the authors of the initial study, if possible, (a5 of table 4). this enables a better understanding of the role the different contexts play on the data. carrying out amplified analysis or assorted analysis will thus require an audit of both the quality and the compatibility of the data being considered for rqd. finally, analyzing data quality varies depending on whether the materials used have the same final objectives as the original research. if the secondary researcher is the leader of the same project(s), examining data quality takes on a specific importance and meaning. in the re-analyzing process, the researcher will stress the robustness and veracity of the results of the initial study. spotting a defect in the quality of initial data could lead to questioning the scope and pertinence of the initial study. in other words, rqd in this case resembles a process of reviewing the work of an earlier research project. 211 d. chabaud, o. germainm@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 199-221 special issue: doing case study research in organizations conclusion in this article we have attempted to explore a qualitative methodology which still receives limited attention in management science – re-using qualitative data (rqd). apart from the emblematic examples, it was deemed important to clarify the different forms of rqd and to examine its potential as well as its difficulties in terms of a research method. having considered the similarities and differences between rqd and a variety of other practices involved in the division of research work, rqd emerged in a broad variety of forms. despite the strong epistemological affinities of rqd, the analysis enabled us to emphasize the legitimacy of the method in the area of management science. in order to establish the scientific validity of a study in the area of management science, it is necessary to demonstrate the rigor of the methodologies being deployed in this field. we showed that rqd can be conducted in a pertinent manner, provided the work is based on a robust examination of the materials being re-used. in particular, it involves solving the problems of data access, of evaluating the adequacy of the data with regard to the envisaged study and of analyzing the quality of the data. when well conducted, rqd thus allows researchers to draw on a pool of existing qualitative data, to utilize qualitative studies in order to identify new research questions, and to place empirical materials at the heart of the management science debate. nonetheless, we should reiterate the fundamental difficulties involved in accessing qualitative data gathered by other researchers, which could considerably limit the research method used. however, data sharing amongst individual researchers, as well as collective and institutional approaches, would stimulate both scientific controversy and collaboration and this could even indicate the way to a new process of accumulating collective knowledge. this, however, is no longer a question of methodology, but one of scientific policy. acknowledgements: we thank the anonymous reviewers, isabelle royer and thomas loilier for advice and comments, as well as florence allard-poesi, bernard forgues and participants of aims workshop on “case studies”. we remain responsible for errors and omissions. didier chabaud is an alumnus of ens de cachan and doctor from university paris 1. he is currently academic dean of ecole de management de normandie. in metis lab, his research focuses on entrepreneurship (market opportunities recognition and mentoring) and issues of firm organization. olivier germain is professor at ecole de management de normandie. his research interests include business policy and organizational issues. m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 191-213 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 212 re-using qualitative data in management science: a second choice? references . baden-fuller, ch., & stopford, j.m. 1996. rejuvenating the mature business. (2nd edition) routledge. . baumard, p., & ibert, j. 2003. quelles approches avec quelles données ? in thiétart, r.-a. & ali., méthodes de recherche en management. 821-103. paris : dunod (2nd edition) . corty, l., & thompson, p. 2004. secondary analysis of archived data in seale, c., g. giampetro, j.f. gubrimm, j.f. & silverman, d. (ed.) qualitative research practice. 327-343. sage . cribier, f., & feller, e. 2003. projet de conservation des données qualitatives des sciences sociales recueillies en france auprès de la société civile, rapport au ministère de la recherche. disponible: http://lasmas. iresco.fr/rapport/rapdonneesqualita. pdf [18/11/2006]. . cribier, f. 2005. the value of qualitative data and their archiving: the french situation, forum qualitative sozialforschung / forum: qualitative social research, 6(2), art. 34, available on: http://www.qualitativeresearch.net/fqs-texte/2-05/05-2-35-e. htm [18/11/2006] . dargentas, m., & le roux, d. 2005. potentials and limits of secondary analysis in a specific applied context: the case of edf—verbatim, forum: qualitative social research, 6(1), art. 40. available on: http://www.qualitativeresearch.net/fqs-texte/1-05/05-1-40-e. htm [18/11/2006]. . david, a. 2002. connaissance et sciences de gestion in gaudin, t. & hatchuel, a. (ed.) les nouvelles raisons du savoir. 251-279. paris : l’aube essai. . giordano, y. (ed.) 2003. conduire un projet de recherche une perspective qualitative. editions management et société. . giroux, n. 2003. l’étude de cas in giordano, y. (ed.) conduire un projet de recherche une perspective qualitative. 42-84. caen: editions management et société. . glaser, b. g. 1962. secondary analysis: a strategy for the use of knowledge from research elsewhere. social problems. 10(1) : 70-74. . glaser, b. g. 1963. retreading research materials: the use of secondary analysis by the independent researcher. american behavior scientist. 6(10), 11-14. . guba, e.g., & lincoln, y.s. 2005. paradigmatic controversies, contradictions, and emerging confluences in denzin, n.k. & lincoln, y.s. (eds.) the sage handbook of qualitative research. 191-205. sage, thousand oaks (3rd edition). . hakim, c. 1982. secondary analysis in social research: a guide to data sources and methods with examples. george allen & unwin. . hatchuel, a. 2005. pour une épistémologie de l’action : l’expérience des sciences de gestion in teulier, r. & lorino, p. (ed.) entre connaissance et organisation : l’activité collective. editions la decouverte, collection recherche. . heaton, j. 1998. secondary analysis of qualitative data. social research update. autumn. 22. available : http://www.soc.surrey.ac.uk/ sru/sru22.html . heaton, j. 2004. reworking qualitative data. sage publications. . hinds, p. s., vogel r. j., & clarke-steffen, l. 1997. the possibilities and pitfalls of doing a secondary analysis of a qualitative data set. qualitative health research. 7(3); 408-424. . hlady-rispal, m. 2002. la méthode des cas – application à la recherche en gestion. deboeck université, perspectives marketing. . koenig, g. 2005. conduite et présentation d’un projet de recherche. unpublished paper. october. . langley, a. 1999. strategies for theorizing from process data. academy of management review, 24(4), 691-710. . larsson, r. 1993. case survey methodology : quantitative analysis of patterns across case studies. academy of management journal. 38(6), 1515-1548. . le roux, d., & vidal, j. 2000. verbatim: qualitative data archiving and secondary analysis in a french company, forum: qualitative social research, 1(3), art. 15. available on: http://www.qualitative-research.net/ fqs-texte/3-00/3-00rouxvidal-e.htm [18/11/2006]. . loilier, t., & tellier, a. 2004. can you trust someone you do not see ? the case of open source software development. m@n@gement. 7(3), 275306. . mautthner, n., parry, o., & backett-milburn, k. 1998. the date are out there, or are they ? implications for archiving and revisiting qualitative data. sociology. 32 (4), 733-745. . m’bengue, a. 2001. posture paradigmatique et recherche en management stratégique in martinet a.-c. & thiétart, r.-a. (eds.) stratégies actualités et futurs de la recherche. 43-53. paris : vuibert. . m’bengue, a., vandangeon-du-m’bengue, a., vandangeon-duremez, i., & grimand, a. 2000. postures paradigmatiques et outils de gestion en management stratégique, actes des journées épistémologie et méthodologie en sciences de gestion, université paris xii val de marne. november 17th. 279-305. 213 d. chabaud, o. germainm@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 199-221 special issue: doing case study research in organizations . stablein, r. 1996. data in organizational studies in clegg, s.r., c. hardy, & nord, w.r. (eds.) handbook of organizational studies. 509-525. london: sage. . stewart, d. w., & kamins, m. a. 1993. secondary research information sources and methods. london : (second edition) sage publications. . stinchcombe, a. l. 1970. organized dependency relations and social stratification in laumann, e. o., seigel, p. m., hadge, r. w. (eds.) the logic of social hierarchies. 95-99. markham. . thorne, s. 2004. qualitative secondary analysis, in lewis-beck, m., a. bryman & liao, t.f. (eds.) encyclopedia of research methods for the social science, vol 3, sage, p. 1006. . vaughan, d. 1992. theory elaboration: the heuristics of case analysis in ragin, c. c. & becker, h. s. (eds.) what is a case? exploring the foundations of social inquiry. 173202. cambridge university press. . vaughan, d. 1996. launch decision: risky technology, culture and deviance at nasa. the university of chicago press. . weick, k. e. 1993. the collapse of sensemaking in organizations: the mann gulch disaster. administrative science quarterly. 38, 628-652. . yin, r. k. 2002. case study research, design and methods. (3rd edition) sage, coll. applied social research methods series. . miller, d., & friesen, p. 1980. the archetypes of organizational transition. administrative science quarterly. 25 (june), 268-299. . mintzberg, h., raisinghani d., & théorêt, a. 1976. the structure of « unstructured » decision processes. administrative science quarterly. 21 (june), 246-275. . mintzberg, h., & waters, j.a. 1985. of strategies deliberate and emergent. strategic management journal. 6, 257272. . perret, v., & seville, m. 2003. fondements épistémologiques de la recherché. in thiétart, r.-a. & alii. méthodes de recherche en management. 13-33. dunod (2nd edition). . perrow, c. 1999. normal accidents – living with highrisks technologies. princeton university press. . podsakoff, p.m., & dalton, d.r. 1987. research methodology in organizational studies. journal of management. 13, 419-441. qualidata [922], http://www.data-archive.ac.uk/findingdata/sndescription. asp?sn=922 [18/11/2006] qualidata [5203], http://www.data-archive.ac.uk/findingdata/sndescription. asp?sn=5203 [18/11/2006]. . rumelt, r. p. 1974. strategy, structure and economic performance. boston, mass.: division of research, harvard business school. . silverman, d. 2000. doing qualitative research. a practical guide. london: sage. . staudenmayer, n., tyre., m., & perlow, l. 2002. time to change: temporal shifts as enablers of organizational change. organization science. 13 (5), 583-597. oberoi173 organizing for open innovation: incorporating the externality of control with diversity of contribution poonam oberoi � christophe haon � isabel m. bodas freitas abstract. with whom should firms join forces (diversity of contributions, doc) and how should they share decision-making power with external actors (externality of control, eoc)? despite the growing importance of open innovation, there is no unifying framework explaining the different ways in which firms can organize to acquire external contributions and exploit them. this conceptual article introduces a new framework according to which the relationship between doc and a firm’s innovative performance is moderated by (1) the characteristics of a project, such as the disparity between a specific problem and the firm’s existing knowledge base, the problem’s modularity, and the tacitness of the anticipated solution; and (2) eoc. with regards to project characteristics we argue that (a) the disparity between a specific problem and the firm’s existing knowledge base moderates the doc–performance relationship positively; (b) the problem’s modularity moderates the doc–performance relationship positively; and (c) the tacitness of the anticipated solution moderates the doc-performance relationship negatively. we argue that eoc moderates doc’s impact on performance positively. ! open innovation involves “the use of purposive inflows and outflows of knowledge to accelerate internal innovation and to expand the markets for external use of innovation” (chesbrough, vanhaverbeke, & west, 2006: 1). open innovation is important for the growth and sustained profitability of firms (e.g., christensen, 1997; drucker, 1988; solow, 1957; thomke, 2001). extant literature on open innovation has mostly focused on providing evidence for whether and when open innovation is better for firm performance than closed innovation. in investigating this, scholars usually compare firms that use open innovation with those that do not, then further examine the inherent business models of those that do (giannopolou, ystrom, & ollila, 2011) for a better understanding of value co-creation (west & lakhani, 2008), leadership for diversity (slowinski et al., 2009) and intellectual property rights management (bughin, chui & johnson, 2008). other scholars have focused on potential moderators of this relationship such as firm-level factors (leiblein & miller, 2003), project-level factors (afuah & tucci, 2012) and changing market conditions (dittrich & duysters, 2007). however, other relevant aspects remain relatively unexplored, including how firms engaging in open innovation organize their relationships with external actors. in response, our conceptual study seeks to address a central research question: how should firms organize for open innovation? in other words, when do certain project characteristics lead firms to seek diverse external inputs (i.e., diversity of contributions (doc)) and when does involving external actors in the decision process (externality of control (eoc)) improve the innovative performance of firms involved in open innovation? we address these questions at the project level because each project possesses its own characteristics and could require different levels of input and involvement from external actors. m@n@gement 2014, 17(3): 180-192 180 groupe sup de co la rochelle centre de recherche en management des entreprises oberoip@esc-larochelle.fr grenoble ecole de management, christophe.haon@grenoble-em.com isabel-maria.bodasfreitas@grenoble-em.com www.management-aims.com © the author(s) mailto:oberoip@esc-larochelle.fr?subject= mailto:oberoip@esc-larochelle.fr?subject= mailto:christophe.haon@grenoble-em.com?subject= mailto:christophe.haon@grenoble-em.com?subject= mailto:isabel-maria.bodas-freitas@grenoble-em.com mailto:isabel-maria.bodas-freitas@grenoble-em.com mailto:isabel-maria.bodas-freitas@grenoble-em.com mailto:isabel-maria.bodas-freitas@grenoble-em.com http://www.management-aims.com http://www.management-aims.com focusing on the firm level, laursen and salter (2006) show that performance is associated with both the breadth and depth of the way firms organize their search for new ideas. ! during the open innovation process, firms must grapple with fundamental decisions about doc and eoc. some firms pool their resources and create a consortium to solve a problem. for example, ibm partnered with many companies to jointly develop semiconductor technologies. others join opensource communities, such as linux. still others prefer to sell general-purpose technologies, such as user toolkits, to help users develop differentiated products. recent developments in crowdsourcing platforms have further contributed to the phenomenon of open innovation as it continues to gather even more momentum. firms can now approach platforms such as innocentive, open connection, ninesigma, quirky, or eyeka to manage openly different types of innovation projects. when working with such crowdsourcing platforms firms may still use doc and eoc differently. ! by addressing how firms should organize for open innovation our conceptual article makes several theoretical contributions to extant literature. first, to complement the existing literature (laursen & salter, 2006), we focus on doc. from the new product development literature we borrow the distinction between competencies and the functional diversity of contributors (haon, gotteland, & fornerino, 2008), arguing that, although diversity of contributors is often used as a proxy for doc, these two terms do not mean the same thing; the underlying hypothesis is that diverse contributors do not necessarily bring in diverse contributions. external actors with the same functional status might have different competencies and experiences, whereas external actors with different functional status might well have similar competencies. therefore, in the context of our study, doc refers to the degree to which a firm acquires diverse external contributions; it pertains not to the number of contributors but rather to the different knowledge domains. low doc implies limited diversity in external contributions and high doc implies rich external contributions. ! second, we consider organizing for open innovation as a more intricate exercise than do scholars who focus selectively on doc from external actors (i.e., search strategies) (laursen & salter, 2006; slowinski et al., 2009). as von hippel (1988) explains, search strategies involve investment in building and sustaining links with external actors such as users, suppliers, and a wide range of institutions. we combine doc with a new dimension of open innovation— externality of control (eoc). eoc refers to the degree to which a firm and external actors share the decision-making power to select and exploit the final contributions from the open innovation process. low eoc implies that the decision-making power rests largely with the firm. high eoc indicates that external actors have a significant say in the selection and exploitation of final contributions. the degree of eoc is a weak point for firms engaging in open innovation because most firms hesitate to share decision-making power and extant literature has not adequately addressed this topic. we argue that certain projects may require a high degree of eoc if they are to realize the potential benefit of diverse contributions. ! third, instead of asking when open innovation is better for firms than closed innovation (almirall & casadesus-masanell, 2010), we focus on how the characteristics of a specific project influence the benefits that firms can obtain from doc. by considering project characteristics, we achieve a better understanding of the effect of doc on firms’ innovation performance. we derive three project characteristics from the study by afuah and tucci (2012): (1) the disparity between a specific problem and a firm’s extant knowledge base, (2) the problem’s modularity, and (3) the tacitness of the anticipated solution. in this paper, the first section reviews the relevant literature on doc, eoc, and project characteristics. the second section details the theoretical framework and m@n@gement, 17(3): 180-192! poonam oberoi � christophe haon � isabel m. bodas freitas 181 propositions of the study. the third section provides discussions, summarizes the theoretical contributions, and offers concluding remarks on the future applications of this study. background literature open innovation: diversity of contributions and externality of control ! the notion of open innovation, an innovation process opened to actors outside the traditional boundaries of a firm, was first proposed by chesbrough (2003). the mobility of workers makes it impossible to retain the best talent and relevant knowledge within a firm indefinitely; therefore each firm must consider outside options to advance its innovation. chesbrough (2003) argued that the rising costs of technology development and shortening product life cycles make it harder for firms to justify innovation investments. using open innovation, firms can reduce costs, save time, and expand their innovation output by leveraging the knowledge of external actors. ! laursen and salter (2006) posited that the breadth of external searches for open innovation or “the number of external sources or search channels that firms rely upon in their innovative activities” (p. 134) exhibits a curvilinear (inverted u-shaped) relationship with performance. a firm’s decision to employ very high doc thus harms its innovative performance. laursen and salter (2006: 135) extrapolated findings from previous studies (koput, 1997; levinthal & march, 1993) to explain that strategies to search for contributions from external actors “are rooted in the past experiences and future expectations of managers, [and] such experience and expectations may lead firms to over-search the external environment with a detrimental outcome as the result”. ! with its emphasis on search strategies, extant literature (dittrich & duyster, 2007; fetterhoff & voelkel, 2006; laursen & salter, 2006) has focused selectively on only one dimension of open innovation, namely doc (gathering rich external contributions). since open innovation is a new phenomenon, managers and scholars may not be accustomed to distinguishing between their actions of gathering external contributions and exploiting these contributions. we propose taking eoc into consideration to better understand the effect of doc on a firm’s innovation performance. when firms embrace eoc they share decision-making power with regard to selecting and exploiting the final contribution with external actors and thereby mitigate the detrimental influence of high doc on their innovation performance. if firms share decision-making power with external actors they can overcome the issues of decreased absorptive capacity and limited attention span. the following example demonstrates this argument well. bmw, a leading multinational car manufacturer, continuously seeks new and innovative ideas to personalize the interior of its vehicles. recently, the bmw group organized an open innovation contest entitled “bmw group interior design contest1”. aiming to leverage the power of the crowd, bmw teamed up with an intermediate platform—hyve (www.hyve.de)—to create an online contest challenging designers and interested users from all over the world to submit their ideas on how the personalization of the interior could fit individual needs. through the contest, bmw collected 771 designs from 1,297 contest members. a jury of high-profile experts from the bmw group and external experts in the field of automotive transportation assessed the submitted designs. in an organized workshop the jury and community members participated in in-depth discussions regarding the best ideas to further crystalize the designs. the bmw group did not simply ask for ideas and opinions from external actors; they went a organizing for open innovation! m@n@gement, 17(3): 180-192 182 1. link to the contest (accessed november 13, 2013): http://interior-ideacontest.bmwgroupcocreationlab.com http://www.hyve.de http://www.hyve.de step further by actively seeking the help of external actors in exploiting those ideas. unlike bmw, a majority of firms might be reluctant to share their decisionmaking power with external agents since they believe that they understand their knowledge base, cultures, and resources better than external agents. ! while extant literature focuses on the impact of doc on firm performance, it neglects the impact of eoc. hence, it is also important to take into consideration the degree of eoc, which deals with the effective exploitation of gathered contributions. each open innovation project is different, and various project characteristics can impact the gathering and exploitation of external contributions. we now discuss the existing literature on project characteristics. project characteristics ! the majority of past studies focus on the average impact of open innovation on firm performance (dittrich & duyster, 2007; fetterhoff & voelkel, 2006; laursen & salter, 2006). however, every open innovation project is different and its outcome depends on the specificities of the project at hand. afuah and tucci (2012) propose that five factors influence firms’ decisions regarding whether or not to use crowdsourcing: (1) the characteristics of the problem, (2) the characteristics of the knowledge required for the solution, (3) the characteristics of the crowd, (4) the characteristics of the solutions to be evaluated and of the evaluators, and (5) the characteristics of the information technology involved. in the context of the present paper, we argue that factors (1) and (2) cited above will also influence how firms decide to organize for open innovation for specific projects, while factors (3), (4), and (5) are environmentspecific and not relevant to our present paper. ! factor (2), the characteristics of knowledge required for the solution, consists of “effective distance” and “tacitness and complexity of the knowledge to be acquired.” in the context of this paper, effective distance inspires a project characteristic, which we label “the disparity between a specific problem and a firm’s existing knowledge base.” the tacitness and complexity of the knowledge to be acquired also inspires a project characteristic, which we call “tacitness of the anticipated solution”. factor (1), the characteristics of the problem, consists of “the ease of delineation and transmission” and “modularizability.” this factor is slightly more difficult to use. although both the ease of delineation and transmission and modularizability are of the utmost importance they have serious overlaps, since a modularizable problem is logically easy to delineate and transmit (afuah & tucci, 2012). to avoid redundancy, we combined these two elements in the “problem modularity” characteristic. ! we expect that these three project characteristics—disparity between a specific problem and a firm’s existing knowledge base, problem modularity, and tacitness of the anticipated solution—influence the effect of doc on a firm’s innovative performance. these characteristics can be used to describe different types of projects, such as technical, design, marketing, or r&d-related projects. such a conceptualization helps us create a generalizable theoretical framework. these three project characteristics can help decision makers make a cognitively sound decision regarding the desirable level of doc in limited time and with as much information as they can actually use. decision makers know the alternatives ex ante and can anticipate the consequence of choosing each alternative. they can therefore optimize and select the best alternative. disparity between the problem and a firm’s existing knowledge base ! kogut and zander (1992) explain that a firm’s knowledge base consists of information (what people know) and know-how (how to organize a team). when employees understand how to transmit information this information can become knowledge without any loss of integrity. von hippel (1988) defined know-how as m@n@gement, 17(3): 180-192! poonam oberoi � christophe haon � isabel m. bodas freitas 183 the accumulated practical skills or expertise that allow employees to function efficiently. information and know-how differ from knowledge embedded in a firm’s routines (nelson & winter, 1982). kogut and zander (1992) explain that routines provide an interesting yet inadequate portrayal of a firm’s knowledge base. the knowledge manifested in firm routines offers a description of information rather than actual know-how. the crucial aspect of a firm’s knowledge that both kogut and zander (1992) and von hippel (1988) emphasized is “accumulation”, which signifies that firms acquire and amass know-how over time. we propose that a firm’s gathered knowledge can be broad or narrow depending on the range of its activities. another interesting aspect of a firm’s knowledge base is its pathdependency. if the knowledge base is path-dependent then advances in this knowledge base depend on the firm’s current level of knowledge and know-how (kogut & zander, 1992). when a firm decides to engage in open innovation, the disparity between its existing knowledge base and the knowledge required to solve a specific problem demands attention. this disparity will impact the firm’s ability to identify external collaborators (if and when required), its appreciation of its own absorptive capacity and of its ability to integrate external knowledge (conner & prahalad, 1996; grant & baden-fuller, 1995), and the means to assess whether or not it needs external help to exploit external contributions. problem modularity ! it is possible to identify problems and then break them down into modules or components (baldwin & clark, 2006; ethiraj, levinthal, & roy, 2008; gatignon et al., 2002; hoetker 2006; pil & cohen, 2006; schilling, 2000). in so doing, firms can find different solutions for various components. the components are loosely coupled and have standardized interfaces that define functional, spatial, and other kinds of relationships with other components (sanchez & mahoney, 1996). the standardized interfaces between components also allow a range of variations. modular components have interface characteristics within this range of variations. recognizing these components gives firms flexibility in the product development process as they can leverage product variations by substituting different modular components into the product architecture without having to redesign other components. ! during open innovation, communicating the problem to external actors is of utmost importance, and the modularity of the problem directly influences the ease or difficulty of its transfer. the planning and design of the problem’s communication to external actors also influences the smoothness of the transfer. for a firm engrossed in the intricacies of a problem, a simple articulation of the problem might not be easy. moreover, firms might hesitate to expose their vulnerability to external actors, who might include their competitors (saviotti, 1998). the issue of problem transfer is common to all firms. on the basis of these insights and our preceding arguments, we deduce that the difficulty of problem transfers influences whether external actors understand the problems and can help the firm resolve them. tacitness of the anticipated solution ! tacit knowledge may not be easy to articulate or codify (afuah & tucci, 2012; berman, down, & hill, 2002). it might reflect the know-how of a manager (rational agent) and firms acquire this know-how by “doing” (i.e. through experiences). although it may be possible to codify some knowledge and thereby convert it into explicit knowledge (nonaka, 1994), other forms of knowledge are difficult, if not impossible, to articulate (kogut & zander, 1996). for example, part of the knowledge a doctoral student gains from a supervisor is tacit, and the only way to gain it is via the supervisor’s up-close observations in action and through practice. often, such knowledge is not easy to articulate, evaluate, transfer, or exploit (kogut & zander, 1996; nonaka, 1994; von hippel, 2005). we do not organizing for open innovation! m@n@gement, 17(3): 180-192 184 mean to suggest that all codified knowledge is easy to transfer and use. while the degree of codification affects the transferability of knowledge, firms still need a certain level of absorptive capacity to exploit even codified knowledge (saviotti, 1998). ! the way a firm organizes for open innovation may depend on whether the solution anticipated from external actors is tacit or explicit. if the anticipated solution is tacit, it will be difficult to exploit efficiently and might require frequent communication with the external actor. in this situation, a firm will have to decide whether it will include the external actor in the open innovation process only during the information contribution phase or throughout the whole exercise. if the anticipated solution is explicit, its transfer will be easy and there will be no need for frequent communication between a firm and the external actor. in conclusion, this literature review suggests that open innovation is important for firms. it has been proven that the breadth of external searches for open innovation has an inverted u-shaped relationship with performance. however, the existing literature focuses only on gathering rich contributions from external actors (i.e., doc). another dimension of open innovation—eoc— deals with effective exploitation of gathered contributions and has not yet been elaborated. furthermore, the characteristics of open innovation projects that impact gathering and exploiting rich contributions need to be explained. we now discuss our theoretical framework with the aim of articulating how doc, eoc, and project characteristics are likely to interact. theoretical framework and propositions ! the extant literature on open innovation explains that firms may decide to seek external contributions from different actors. to do so they might choose collaboration strategies such as forming r&d alliances, creating joint ventures, and using intermediary platforms (chesbrough & schwartz, 2007; laursen & salter, 2006). unfortunately, despite the growing importance of open innovation, research on how firms should organize themselves to receive and exploit external contributions is limited. both academic journals and the popular media often wrongly link open innovation with openness and flatness (pisano & verganti, 2008). in this context, openness relates to the degree to which participation is open to anyone who wants to join and flatness refers to whether the actors are equal partners in the process or whether there is a hierarchy involved. although these insights are valuable, they do not provide a unifying framework in which doc, eoc, and project characteristics explain the different ways in which firms can organize to acquire and exploit external contributions. this lack of a unifying framework leads firms to develop ad hoc tools that can be applied to a narrow range of project types. for example, innocentive chooses to focus on very specific scientific problems using low doc and a medium level of eoc. on the other hand, eyeka had initially decided to address a wide range of problems (including scientific, product-concept related, or marketing related) using high doc and low eoc; subsequently, they decided to narrow down the range of problems they focused on because certain problems, such as scientific problems, required a higher degree of eoc than eyeka was equipped to provide. a unifying theoretical framework will help firms take multiple aspects such as doc, eoc, and project characteristics into consideration and to decide accordingly which practical approach is the most suitable. ! we therefore developed propositions for how the effect of doc on firms’ innovative performance may be moderated by the characteristics of the project, as well as by the degree of eoc. m@n@gement, 17(3): 180-192! poonam oberoi � christophe haon � isabel m. bodas freitas 185 diversity of contributions and firms' innovative performance ! in the context of our study, doc implies that a different kind of knowledge is associated with each external agent. for example, customers might have the knowledge about the utility of a product and relevant environmental standards; a regulatory agency might have the knowledge about the product’s carbon dioxide emission levels; suppliers may have the technical knowledge regarding the constituent components of a product; consultants could have the historical and analytical knowledge of industries; and technical press researchers might have the knowledge about the latest technological trends. we propose that if firms opt for external contributions, they increase their chances of gaining greater knowledge about customers’ latent needs which they can use to continuously create superior customer value through their products and services (slater & narver, 1995). doc could lead to an increased probability of novel linkages and thereby challenge traditional perspectives (laursen & salter, 2006; sethi, smith, & park, 2001), leading to innovative product developments (chandy & tellis, 1998). diverse knowledge might feature emerging technological trends that firms could use to develop new products. therefore, one can predict a positive linear relationship between doc and firm performance. however, laursen and salter (2006) suggest that doc has an inverted u-shaped relationship with performance and that the more diverse contributions a firm receives, the more difficult it becomes to absorb this diverse knowledge. based on the past literature (katila & ahuja, 2002; koput, 1997), laursen and salter2 (2006) argue that when firms are trying to be open they often have to go through a period of trial and error to learn how to gain and absorb knowledge from external sources. this process requires an extensive amount of time and resources and might be subject to uncertainty, in the sense that ex ante it is difficult for managers to know which external source is the most rewarding. depending on its experience with the search for external knowledge, a firm may turn inwards or over-search. in other words, if the process is not fruitful then the firm may start focusing exclusively on its own resources and capabilities to develop new products. this has negative consequences as described by the bounded rationality literature (simon, 1972; spender & grant, 1996). however, if the experience were positive a firm could start over-searching, which again has negative outcomes: first, there may be too many ideas for the manager to choose from; second, many innovative ideas may come at the wrong time and in the wrong place to be fully exploited; and third, because there are so many ideas, only a few might get the required level of attention. in accordance with current literature and our prior arguments, we propose proposition 1: the diversity of contributions has an inverted ushaped relationship with a firm’s innovative performance. ! in the remaining part of this section, we focus on project characteristics and on eoc as potential moderators of this relationship. moderating effects of project characteristics ! the three project characteristics highlighted in our literature review— disparity between the problem and a firm’s existing knowledge base, problem modularity, and tacitness of the anticipated solution—are successively considered as moderators of the doc–innovative performance relationship. disparity between the problem and a firm’s existing knowledge base ! if the disparity between a firm’s knowledge base and the knowledge required to solve a specific problem is large, then the existing knowledge base and routines will not be adequate to solve this problem. moreover, the greater the disparity between a problem and a firm’s knowledge base, the more uncertain a firm is about where to look for solutions. a firm can increase its chances of finding organizing for open innovation! m@n@gement, 17(3): 180-192 186 2. laursen and salter (2006) used three proxies to measure a firm’s innovative performance, which are: the ability of a firm to produce radical innovation, the fraction of the firm’s turnover pertaining to products new to the firm and the fraction of the firm’s turnover pertaining to products significantly improved. the independent variable is constructed as a combination of 16 sources of knowledge or information enlisted here: suppliers of equipment, materials, components or software; clients or customers; competitors; consultants; commercial laboratories or r&d enterprises; universities or other higher education institutes; government research organizations; other public sector sources, (e.g., business links, government offices; private research institutes; professional conferences, meetings; trade associations; technical/trade press, computer databases; fairs, exhibitions; technical standards; health and safety standards and regulations; environment standards and regulations). each of the 16 sources are coded as a binary variable, 0 being no use and 1 being use of the given knowledge source. subsequently, the 16 sources are simply added up so that each firm gets 0 when no knowledge sources are used, while the firm gets the value of 16 when all knowledge sources are used. in other words, it is assumed that firms that use higher numbers of sources are more ‘open’, with respect to diversity of contribution, than firms that are not. the optimal solution by opting for a high doc. in contrast, if the disparity between a problem and a firm’s knowledge base is small, a lower doc might suffice to solve it. firms have bounded rationality and might be able to make intelligent searches in their local neighborhoods, where routines, cognitive frames, and absorptive capacity could help them assess different alternatives and consequences (cohen & levinthal, 1990; cyert & march, 1963; nelson & winter, 1982). thus, if the knowledge necessary to solve the problem is similar to a firm’s current knowledge base, a manager may be able to solve the problem with a low doc. on the basis of these arguments, we propose proposition 2: the disparity between a problem and a firm’s knowledge base positively moderates the effect of the diversity of contributions on a firm’s innovative performance. problem modularity ! problems can be modular or non-modular. if a firm’s problem is modular, a high doc might be the right choice. it is possible to separate modular problems into components and then assign combinations of solutions for each component. it also is easy for a firm to assign modular problems to external actors. different external actors with different types and levels of expertise can work on different parts of the problem and solve them concurrently (argyres, bercovitz, & mayer, 2007; argyres & bigelow, 2010; schilling, 2000). by opting for high doc, firms will likely obtain high-quality solutions at a lower cost and more quickly than they otherwise might (ethiraj, levinthal, & roy, 2008). in the case of a non-modular problem, an external actor who attempts to solve the problem must have the combined knowledge of all its components. therefore, the firm might minimize its effort, costs, and time spent by assigning the problem to more homogeneous external actors, thereby relying on lower doc. therefore, we propose proposition 3: problem modularity positively moderates the effect of the diversity of contributions on a firm’s innovative performance. tacitness of anticipated solution ! the nature of the anticipated solution and the ease or difficulty of transferring the solution back to a firm are project characteristics that might influence the extent of the benefits of doc for a firm’s innovative performance. the anticipated solution may be tacit or explicit. if the solution is tacit, it might be difficult for a firm to understand it and transfer it from the external actors to its own employees (henderson & cockburn, 1994; john, weiss, & dutta, 1999; pisano, 1994). we argue that in such a scenario, a firm that opts for a low doc performs better because the solution is grounded in its cognitive and organizational capabilities. in contrast, if the solution is tacit and the firm opts for high doc, then it is difficult for the firm to absorb and use contributions from external actors—especially if these contributions differ significantly from the firm’s own knowledge base. in such a situation, the firm will need to increase the frequency of its communication with external actors, the number of trials, and the financial input. additionally, because firms are receiving the information they must adapt to the communication style and technical jargon of the external actors. the higher doc, the more difficult the communication and transfer of knowledge from external actors to the firm. conversely, if the solution is explicit, it is relatively easy for a firm to transfer the solution from external actors to its employees, even if it opts for high doc. therefore, we propose proposition 4: the tacitness of the solution negatively moderates the effect of the diversity of contributions on a firm’s innovative performance. m@n@gement, 17(3): 180-192! poonam oberoi � christophe haon � isabel m. bodas freitas 187 moderating effects of eoc ! we argue that firms with higher innovative performance are distinct from others in terms of their willingness to share decision-making power over the selection of final contributions. we label this concept eoc. most firms focus mainly on securing a high number of contributions from external actors and may be reluctant to share decision-making power. their reluctance derives from their belief that they know their culture and resources better than the external actors and can make the most appropriate decisions. this reluctance is a serious problem for firms engaged in open innovation. although firms may have the best understanding of their own culture and resources, they might not be best suited to exploit contributions from external actors. depending on the problem characteristics, sharing power during an open innovation process with external actors could help them exploit diverse contributions. though managers have little control over the diversity of external contributions, they have considerable influence over eoc. ! firms tend to suffer from bounded rationality and possess a particular knowledge base (simon, 1972; spender & grant, 1996). since managers are rationally bounded they are satisfied with solutions they can understand, but those solutions—even if satisfactory—might not be optimal for firms. moreover, learning new routines or building new absorptive capacity can be costly and timeconsuming (cohen & levinthal, 1990). if a firm is more willing to share its decision-making power (through high eoc), this might allow for better exploitation of the gathered external contributions. firms that use high eoc can create a shared system of codification (cowan, david, & foray, 2000) and have access to a broad collective knowledge base, which enhances their absorptive capacity (henderson & cockburn, 1994; pisano, 1994; volberda, 1996). the shared system of codification and a broad knowledge base also allow for better assimilation and exploitation of diverse contributions (cowan, david, & foray, 2000). moreover, this situation could help firms take advantage of more opportunities with external actors. in some cases it is possible to transfer knowledge only through up-close observation, demonstration or hands-on experience (hamel, 1991). transferring tacit knowledge, for example, should be easier with high eoc because the external actors’ motivation to assist the firm is greater than it would be with low eoc. moreover, the relationship-specific heuristics and specialized language that develop between a firm and its external contributors can be conducive to conveying tacit knowledge (uzzi, 1999). on the basis of these arguments, we propose: proposition 5: externality of control positively moderates the effect of the diversity of contributions on a firm’s innovative performance. ! figure 1 provides a summarized schematic representation of our propositions. overall, doc should have an inverted u-shaped relationship with firms’ innovative performance. however, this relationship is moderated both by specific project characteristics and by eoc. we suggest that when the disparity between a firm’s knowledge base and the knowledge required to solve a specific problem is large, high doc exerts a positive impact on the firm’s performance. we also contend that for modular problems, high doc leads to better firm performance. we then make the case that when the solution of a problem is tacit, low doc leads to better firm performance than high doc. finally, we argue that depending on the project characteristics, eoc positively moderates the doc-firm performance relationship. organizing for open innovation! m@n@gement, 17(3): 180-192 188 figure 1. schematic diagram of research propositions discussion and implications ! the existing research tends to focus on the performance implications of using external contributions without differentiating between doc and eoc or considering the characteristics of specific open innovation projects. we complement prior research by offering new insights about the important decisions that firms face when they strive to develop new products using open innovation processes. first, we focus on doc and define this as the degree to which a firm acquires diverse external contributions; the concept relates not to the number of contributors but to the richness of contributions in terms of different knowledge domain categories. we emphasize doc, rather than diversity of contributors, as an important independent variable because diverse contributors do not necessarily bring in diverse contributions. external actors with the same functional status might have different skills and experience, whereas external actors with different statuses might have similar skills. ! second, we add to the ongoing conversation in the open innovation and search literature, which focuses selectively on doc from external actors (i.e., search strategies) (laursen & salter, 2006; slowinski et al., 2009). we suggest combining doc with a new dimension of open innovation—eoc. eoc refers to the degree to which a firm and external actors share the decision-making power to select and exploit final contributions. because of the assimilation and exploitation challenges that arise from diverse contributions, high doc has been considered bad for performance. but we argue that a high doc can in fact be good for performance, depending on the characteristics of the project. in addition, eoc enhances doc’s impact on performance. thus, eoc is a challenging yet crucial dimension of open innovation, which merits further attention both from academics and managers. ! third, we argue that a firm’s performance during open innovation is contingent on project characteristics. we focus on three characteristics, namely the disparity between a firm’s existing knowledge base and the knowledge required to solve specific problems, the problem’s modularity, and the tacitness of m@n@gement, 17(3): 180-192! poonam oberoi � christophe haon � isabel m. bodas freitas 189 the anticipated solution. these characteristics should dictate how a firm organizes itself, in terms of doc, to conduct open innovation successfully. the disparity between a firm’s existing knowledge base and a specific problem positively moderates the doc–firm performance relationship. during open innovation, communicating the problem to external actors is of the utmost importance and the modularity of the problem directly influences the ease or difficulty of its transfer; hence, we propose that problem modularity positively moderates the doc–firm performance relationship. if the proposed solution is tacit it will be difficult to exploit efficiently and might require frequent communication with the external actor. in this situation we propose that tacitness of the solution will negatively moderate the doc–firm performance relationship. these project characteristics help decision makers assess the risks and consequences associated with each alternative. ! this theoretical framework sheds light on what open innovation actually means in practice. moreover, we offer propositions to be empirically tested in the future. this would require data from a sufficient number of open-innovation projects with variability regarding the measures of the concepts we included in our framework. references afuah, a., & tucci, c. l. (2012). crowdsourcing as a solution to distant search. academy of management review, 37(3), 355-375. almirall, e., & casadesus-masanell, r. (2010). open versus closed innovation: a model of discovery and divergence. academy of management review, 35(1), 27–47. argyres, n. s., bercovitz, j., & mayer, k. j. (2007). complementarity and evolution of contractual provisions: an empirical study of it services contracts. organization science, 18(1), 3–19. argyres, n., & bigelow, l. (2010). innovation, modularity, and vertical deintegration: evidence from the early u.s. auto industry. organization science, 21(4), 842–853. baldwin, c. y., & clark, k. b. (2006). the architecture of participation: does code architecture mitigate free riding in the open source development model? management science, 52(7), 1116–1127. berman, s. l., down, j., & hill, c. w. l. (2002). tacit knowledge as a source of competitive advantage in the national basketball association. academy of management journal, 45(1) 13–31. bughin, j.r., chui, m., & johnson, b. (2008). the next step in open innovation. mckinsey quarterly , 113– 122. chandy, r. k., & tellis, g. j. (1998). organizing for radical product innovation: the overlooked role of willingness to cannibalize. journal of marketing research, 35(4) 474–487. chesbrough, h. w. (2003). open innovation: the new imperative for creating and profiting from technology. boston, ma: harvard business press. chesbrough, h., & schwartz, k. (2007). innovating business models with co-development partnerships. research technology management, 50(1), 55–59. chesbrough, h., vanhaverbeke, w., & west, j. (2006). open innovation: researching a new paradigm. london: oxford university press. christensen, c.m. (1997). the innovator’s dilemma. boston, ma: harvard business review press. cohen, w. m., & levinthal, d. a. (1990). absorptive capacity: a new perspective of learning and innovation. administrative science quarterly, 35(1), 128–152. conner, k. r., & prahalad, c. k. (1996). a resource-based theory of the firm: knowledge versus opportunism. organization science, 7(5), 477-501. cowan, r., david, a., & foray, d. (2000). the explicit economics of knowledge: codification and tacitness. industrial and corporate change, 9(2), 211–253. cyert, r. m., & march, j. g. (1963). a behavioral theory of the firm. englewood cliffs, nj: prentice-hall. dittrich, k., & duysters, g. (2007). networking as a means to strategy change: the case of open innovation in mobile telephony. journal of product innovation management, 24(5), 510–521. drucker, p. f. (1988). the coming of the new organization. harvard business review, 66(1), 45–53. ethiraj, s. k., levinthal, d., & roy, r. r. (2008). the dual role of modularity: innovation and imitation. management science, 54(5), 939–955. fetterhoff, t. j., & voelkel, d. (2006). managing open innovation in biotechnology. research technology management, 49(3), 14–18. gatignon, h., tushman, m. l., smith, w., & anderson, p. (2002). a structural approach to assessing innovation: construct development of innovation locus, type, and characteristics. management science, 48(9), 1103– 1122. giannopolou, e., ystrom, a., & ollila, s. (2011). turning open innovation into practice: open innovation research through the lens of managers. international journal of innovation management, 15(3), 505–524. grant, r. m., & baden-fuller, c. (1995). a knowledgebased theory of inter-firm collaboration. academy of management proceedings, 17-21. hamel, g. (1991). competition for competence and interpartner learning within international strategic alliances. strategic management journal, 12(s1), 83– 103. organizing for open innovation! m@n@gement, 17(3): 180-192 190 haon, c., gotteland, d., & fornerino, m. (2009). familiarity and competence diversity in new product development teams: effects on new product performance. marketing letters, 20(1), 75-89. henderson, r., & cockburn, i. (1994). measuring competence? exploring firm effects in pharmaceutical research. strategic management journal, 15(s1), 63– 84. hoetker, g. (2006). do modular products lead to modular organizations? strategic management journal, 27(6), 501–518. john, g., weiss, a. m., & dutta, d. (1999). marketing in technology-intensive markets: toward a conceptual framework. journal of marketing, 63(4), 78–91. katila, r., & ahuja, g. (2002). something old, something new: a longitudinal study of search behavior and new product introduction. academy of management journal, 45(6), 1183-1194. kogut, b., & zander, u. (1992). knowledge of the firm, combinative capabilities, and the replication of technology. organization science, 3(3), 383–397. kogut, b., & zander, u. (1996). what firms do? coordination, identity, and learning. organization science, 7(5), 502–518. koput, k. w. (1997). a chaotic model of innovative search: some answers, many questions. organization science, 8(5), 528–542. laursen k., & salter, s. (2006). open for innovation: the role of openness in explaining innovation performance among uk manufacturing firms. strategic management journal, 27(2), 131–150. leiblein, m. j., & miller, d. j. (2003). an empirical examination of transaction and firm-level influences on the vertical boundaries of the firm. strategic management journal, 24(9), 839–859. levinthal, d. a., & march, j. g. (1993). the myopia of learning. strategic management journal, 14(winter), 95–112. nelson, r. r., & winter, s. g. (1982). an evolutionary theory of economic change. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. nonaka, i. (1994). a dynamic theory of organizational knowledge creation. organization science, 5(1), 14– 37. pil, f. k., & cohen, s. k. (2006). modularity: implications for imitations, innovation, and sustained advantage. academy of management review, 31(4), 995–1011. pisano, g. p. (1994). knowledge, integration, and the locus of learning: an empirical analysis of process development. strategic management journal, 15 (winter), 85–100. pisano, g. p., & verganti, r. (2008). which kind of collaboration is right for you? harvard business review, 86(12), 78–86. sanchez, r., & mahoney, j. t. (1996). modularity, flexibility and knowledge management in product and organization design. strategic management journal, 17, 63-76. saviotti, p. p. (1998). on the dynamics of appropriability, of tacit and of codified knowledge. research policy, 26(7), 843–856. schilling, m. a. (2000). toward a general modular systems theory and its application to interfirm product modularity. academy of management review, 25(2), 312–334. sethi, r., smith, d. c., & park, c. w. (2001). the effect of cross‐functional teams on creativity and the innovativeness of new products. journal of marketing research, 37(2), 73–85. simon, h. a. (1972). theories of bounded rationality. decision and organization, 1(1), 161-176. slater, s. f., & narver, j. c. (1995). market orientation and the learning organization. journal of marketing, 59(3), 63–74. slowinski, g., hummel, e., gupta, a., & gilmont, e. r. (2009). effective practices for sourcing innovation. research technology management, 52(1), 27–34. solow, r. m. (1957). technical change and the aggregate production function. the review of economics and statistics, 39(3), 312–320. spender, j. c., & grant, r. m. (1996). knowledge and the firm: overview. strategic management journal, 17(winter), 5-9. thomke, s. (2001). enlightened experimentation. the new imperative for innovation. harvard business review, 79(2), 66–75. uzzi, b. (1999). embeddedness in the making of financial capital: how social relations and networks benefit firms seeking financing. american sociological review, 64(3): 481–505. volberda, henk w. (1996). toward the flexible form: how to remain vital in hypercompetitive environments. organization science, 7(4), 359–74. von hippel, e. (1988). the sources of innovation. new york, ny: oxford university press. von hippel, e. (2005). democratizing innovation. boston, ma: mit press. west, j., & lakhani, k. r. (2008). getting clear about communities in open innovation. industry and innovation, 15(2), 223– 231. poonam oberoi is an assistant professor in marketing at groupe sup de co la rochelle. her research focuses on open innovation and her objective is to relate both the implementation decisions and the contextual factors of open innovation with the resulting level of performance. she successfully defended her phd thesis at grenoble ecole de management in june 2014 and was a visiting phd student at london business school for the academic year 2011-2012. m@n@gement, 17(3): 180-192! poonam oberoi � christophe haon � isabel m. bodas freitas 191 christophe haon is professor of marketing, grenoble ecole de management, and a member of the institut du capital client. his research focuses on new product development, market orientation, and satisfaction. he co-authored research articles published in m@n@gement, european management review, marketing letters, recherche et applications en marketing, and systèmes d'information et management, among others. isabel maria bodas freitas received her phd in science and technology policy at spru, university of sussex, uk, in 2005. she is currently a senior research fellow at the politecnico di torino, and part-time assistant professor at grenoble ecole de management. prior to that she was a post-doc researcher at eindhoven university of technology. her main research interests include processes of knowledge development and transfer, adoption and diffusion of innovations, university-industry links, organizational and managerial innovations, and innovation policies. organizing for open innovation! m@n@gement, 17(3): 180-192 192 the english patient: a model of patient perceptionsof triage in an urgent care department in england jeffrey a. miles and stefanie e. naumann 2004 the english patient: a model of patient perceptions of triage in an urgent care department in england m@n@gement, 7(1): 1-11. m@n@gement is a double-blind reviewed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.dmsp.dauphine.fr/management/ © 2004 m@n@gement and the author(s). issn: 1286-4892 editors: martin evans, u. of toronto bernard forgues, u. of paris 12 http://www.dmsp.dauphine.fr/management/ http://www.dmsp.dauphine.fr/management/ m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 1, 2004, 1-11 1 jeffrey a. miles . stefanie e. naumann university of the pacificeberhardt school of business email: jmiles@pacific.edu university of the pacific eberhardt school of business email: snaumann@pacific.edu the english patient: a model of patient perceptions of triage in an urgent care department in england waiting is generally considered a pervasive and arduous element of most customer service situations (taylor, 1994). for many customers, waiting for service is viewed as a negative experience (scotland, 1991). thus, improving the speed at which services are delivered is increasingly becoming critical to service organizations (katz, larson, and larson, 1991). hospitals have traditionally focused on delivering quality medial care according to some set of internally established standards. however, today it is recognized that patients’ quality perceptions are equally important. at the same time, urgent care department overcrowding has become a national concern. as a result, increasing numbers of patients are experiencing prolonged waiting times, lower satisfaction, and delays in treating painful afflictions (lowe, bindman, ulrich, norman, scaletta, keane, washington, and grumbach, 1994). given there are no indications that overcrowding will decrease, researchers have begun to recognize that it is important to better understand perceptions of patients waiting for treatment (e.g., dansky and miles, 1997). the procedure used to determine which patients see a doctor first, which have to wait, and how long they wait is called "triage" (george, read, westlake, williams, pritty, and fraser-moodie, 1993; lowe et al., 1994; llewellyn, 1992; mallett and woolwich, 1990; teres, 1993; yurt, 1992). the current study examines patients’ perceptions of the triage process in an urgent care department of a hospital in rural england. we present research examining the role of organizational justice in the perceptions of patients visiting the urgent care department of a hospital. patients’ perceptions of uncertainty were found to mediate the relationship between waiting time and satisfaction and between waiting time and anger. further, waiting time was significantly negatively related to procedural justice perceptions. procedural justice perceptions were significantly positively related to distributive justice perceptions, which in turn, were significantly positively associated with satisfaction. we discuss the implications concerning managing the attitudes of waiting customers. mailto:jmiles@pacific.edu mailto:snaumann@pacific.edu m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 1, 2004, 1-11 2 jeffrey a. miles and stefanie e. naumann research in one area of the service sector, the airline industry, offers some basis from which to make predictions. in a study of airline passengers waiting for delayed flights, taylor (1994) found that delays were positively related to feelings of uncertainty and anger. she also found that uncertainty led to anger, and perceptions of anger led to lower overall service satisfaction levels. one purpose of the current study is to extend taylor’s (1994) research to patients waiting for medical treatment. specifically, we examine the effect of actual waiting time on the uncertainty and anger perceptions of patients waiting for medical treatment in the urgent care department of a hospital. another purpose of the current study is to add to the literature on waiting phenomena by presenting and testing a model of the organizational justice perceptions of patients waiting for treatment. little research or theory has addressed the underlying psychological processes operating while individuals wait for service. in particular, we examine the influences of waiting, uncertainty, and anger on patients’ procedural and distributive justice perceptions. finally, we explore the influence of justice, uncertainty and anger on patients’ overall satisfaction perceptions. in sum, this study identifies, in a single model, the underlying psychological perceptions that occur while patients wait for treatment in an urgent care department. hypotheses considerable research in the services marketing area has shown that the longer customers wait for service, the lower their satisfaction with service performance (e.g., lovelock, 1988; katz, larson, and larson, 1991; clemmer and schneider, 1993). similar findings have been reported in a health care setting. for example, mowen, licata, and mcphail (1993) found that patients in the urgent care department who waited longer than their expected waiting times had significantly lower satisfaction levels than patients whose waiting-time expectations were met or positively exceeded. we define institutional satisfaction as patients’ perceptions about the extent to which they are satisfied with their overall experience with the institution. hypothesis 1a: the longer the wait, the lower the patient’s institutional satisfaction perceptions. to examine patients’ fairness perceptions of their experience in the urgent care department, two types of organizational justice will be examined: procedural and distributive justice. procedural justice (thibaut and walker, 1975; leventhal, 1976; tyler and caine, 1981) refers to the perceived fairness of the rules and processes used to deliver outcomes or resources. in the current study, procedural justice involves patients’ perceived fairness of the triage procedures. distributive justice (homans, 1961), on the other hand, is concerned with the perceived fairness of outcomes themselves (e.g., freedman and montanari, 1980; greenberg, 1982). in the current study, distributive justice refers to patients’ perceived fairness of the outcomes of the triage procedure (e.g., how long the patient had to wait to see a doctor). m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 1, 2004, 1-11 3 a model of patient perceptions of triage waiting time has also been shown to influence customers’ organizational justice perceptions. research by dansky and miles (1997) found that delays in service had a negative influence on patients’ organizational justice perceptions in emergency departments in the united states. consequently we expect similar results to hold for patients in an urgent care department in england. hypothese 1b: the longer the wait, the lower the patient’s procedural justice perceptions. hypothese 1c: the longer the wait, the lower the patient’s distributive justice perceptions. service customers often do not know how long their waits will be. as a result, they can experience anger and uncertainty while waiting (maister, 1985). uncertainty has been defined as «a lack of information about future events, so that alternatives and their outcomes are unpredictable» (hinings, hickson, pennings, and schneck, 1974: 27). taylor (1994) examined the length of flight delays on passengers’ perceived levels of anger and uncertainty. taylor found that there was a significant, negative relationship between delay time and perceived levels of anger and uncertainty. hypothesis 2a: the longer the wait, the more uncertainty the patient will feel. hypothesis 2b: the longer the wait, the more angry the patient will feel. reasons for customers getting angry while waiting for services are numerous (taylor, 1994). maister (1985) and osuna (1985) attribute much of the anger associated with waiting to uncertainty. for example, when a customer experiences uncertainty, he or she is less able to cope with the waiting by planning more effectively or better managing their waiting time. as the uncertainty increases, so does the inability of customers to plan and so increases a perceived loss of power in the situation (taylor, 1994). based on this logic, the following was hypothesized. hypothesis 3: the more uncertainty the patient feels, the more angry he/she will feel. taylor (1994) also found that the level of anger and uncertainty experienced by airline passengers while waiting for a flight influenced their subsequent overall satisfaction levels. the same result is expected here, and the following were hypothesized. hypothesis 4a: as uncertainty increases, satisfaction perceptions will decrease. hypothesis 4b: as anger increases, satisfaction perceptions will decrease. ideally, to improve patient satisfaction, hospitals should strive to reduce the actual amount of time that patients have to wait for treatment. in practice, though, reducing waiting times is unlikely with ever declining health care resources. we argue that a more plausible way to improve patient satisfaction is by treating patients fairly during the waiting process. treating people fairly during a variety of service encounters has been shown to increase satisfaction with that experience (e.g., tyler, 1987; clemmer, 1993). we expect such findings to extend to a hospital setting. m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 1, 2004, 1-11 4 jeffrey a. miles and stefanie e. naumann hypothese 5a: the higher a patient’s procedural justice perceptions, the higher his or her overall satisfaction perceptions. hypothese 5b: the higher a patient’s distributive justice perceptions, the higher his or her overall satisfaction perceptions. dansky and miles (1997) found that waiting times influenced patients’ organizational justice perceptions in u.s. emergency departments. additionally, taylor (1994) found that uncertainty and anger influences the relationship between delays and customer satisfaction perceptions. combining these findings, it is hypothesized here that the levels of anger and uncertainty experienced by patients while waiting may mediate the relationship between waiting times and perceptions of organizational justice. hypothese 6a: patients’ perceived level of uncertainty will mediate the relationship between the actual waiting time and their procedural justice perceptions. hypothese 6b: patients’ perceived level of uncertainty will mediate the relationship between the actual waiting time and their distributive justice perceptions. the relationships presented in the six hypotheses were integrated into a model (please see figure 1). methods subjects participants were 195 patients who came to the urgent care department of a large, single-site district hospital offering a wide variety of services with more than 600 inpatient beds in southeastern england. figure 1. hypothesized path model uncertainty anger procedural justice distributive justice waiting time satisfaction h1a h6b h6a h5b h5a h4b h4a h3 h2b h2a h1c h1b m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 1, 2004, 1-11 5 a model of patient perceptions of triage every adult patient who entered the urgent care department during a one-week period in april between the hours of 9:00 and 17:00 (day shift) and who was assessed as triage category 4 (standard accident & emergency case, but without immediate danger or distress) was given a survey to complete. those patients classified as categories 1 through 3 were not included in the sample as their need for medical attention was imminent. the response rate was 45.4% for all individuals given a survey. all subjects were guaranteed confidentiality of their responses. patients in the area had a choice of a number of alternative health-care facilities for treatment. the mean age of the participants was 36.77 years; 59.8% were male and 98.2% of the patients were white. hospital staff indicated that the patients who visited the treatment facility tended to be higher in socio-economic status and educational level than many who visit other facilities. the data were specifically collected during a typical week without unusual activity or incident so as to represent a usual week in which patients arrived for treatment at this facility. procedure during the discharge process, patients were told by the triage nurse that a study was being conducted in order for the hospital to learn more about factors contributing to patient satisfaction. participants were given a cover letter signed by the director of health services asking them to complete the survey before leaving the urgent care department. a reminder was placed on the check-out counter with a box for surveys. measures patient demographic information data on age, gender, and race were provided by respondents. actual waiting time in order to obtain objective patient information, a triage nurse provided the actual waiting times in minutes. anger and uncertainty all perceptual measures ranged from 1 (“strongly disagree”) to 7 (“strongly agree”). the anger and uncertainty measures were adapted from taylor’s (1994) study. a four-item scale (α = .91) was used to measure anger (e.g., “to what extent did you get angry while waiting to see a doctor”) and a four-item scale (α = .82) was used to measure uncertainty (e.g., “to what extent did you feel uncertain about how long you’d have to wait to see a doctor?”). institutional satisfaction to assess patients’ satisfaction with their experiences with the urgent care department, a scale was developed using items consistent with previous urgent care department satisfaction research (e.g., gronroos, m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 1, 2004, 1-11 6 jeffrey a. miles and stefanie e. naumann 1984; ross, steward and sinacore, 1995). twelve items (α = .92) assessed patient institutional satisfaction (e.g., “how satisfied were you with your overall experience with the urgent care department?”). procedural justice a three-item (α = .88) scale consistent with previous justice research (e.g., greenberg, 1987) assessed procedural justice (e.g., “the procedures used for determining the order in which patients saw a doctor were fair.”). distributive justice a six-item scale (α = .76) consistent with previous justice research (e.g., greenberg, 1987) assessed distributive justice (e.g., “the amount of time i had to wait in the waiting room was fair.”). results means, standard deviations, reliability estimates, and zero-order correlations appear in table 1. the hypotheses were tested using path analysis in lisrel 8 (joreskog and sorbom, 1993). the chi-square (χ2 = 6.87; p = 0.44) and goodness of fit index (gfi = .99) suggested by gerbing and anderson (1993) indicated that the overall model fit the data well. the significant paths indicated by the data appear in figure 2. the non-significant paths were removed and thus, we relied on the data of the trimmed model to establish model fit. an examination of the significant and non-significant hypotheses follows. hypotheses 1a through 1c examined the influence of waiting time on patients’ satisfaction and organizational justice perceptions. hypothesis 1a, which examined the influence of waiting time on patients’ satisfaction perceptions, was not supported. as shown in figure 2, the path from waiting time to satisfaction was not significant. hypothesis 1b was supported: procedural justice perceptions were significantly, negatively related to waiting time (β = –.16, p < .05). the path from distributive justice to waiting time, however, was not significant. thus, hypothesis 1c was not supported. mean 59.95 1.86 1.57 4.85 5.56 5.99 s.d.† 36.73 0.99 0.97 1.61 1.47 1.23 1 (—) .31* .20 -.29* .02 -.08* 2 (.82) .71** -.32** -.21 -.40** 3 (.91) -.23 -.16 -.44** 4 (.88) .65** .40** 5 (.76) .62** 6 (.92) variable 1. waiting time‡ 2. uncertainty 3. anger 4. procedural justice 5. distributive justice 6. satisfaction table 1. means, standard deviations, reliabilities, and intercorrelationsa a n = 195. higher scores reflect higher values for variables. †: standard deviation; ‡: waiting time was measured in minutes. ** p < .01; * p < .05 m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 1, 2004, 1-11 7 a model of patient perceptions of triage hypothesis 2a, which examined the relationship between waiting time and uncertainty, was supported (β = .28, p < .05). however, the path from waiting time to anger was not significant; hypothesis 2b was not supported. hypothesis 3 was supported. a significant, positive relationship was found between patients’ anger and uncertainty levels (β = .69, p < .05). hypothesis 4a was also supported. a significant, negative relationship was found between patients’ uncertainty and satisfaction perceptions (β = –.10, p < .05). the more uncertainty patients felt, the lower their satisfaction levels. hypothesis 4b was supported as well: a significant, negative relationship was found between patients’ anger levels and satisfaction levels (β = –.29, p < .05). the more angry patients felt, the lower their satisfaction levels. hypotheses 5a and 5b examined the influence of organizational justice perceptions on patients’ overall satisfaction perceptions. hypothesis 5a was not supported: procedural justice did not exhibit a significant direct relationship with satisfaction. however, hypothesis 5b was supported: the higher the distributive justice perceptions, the higher the satisfaction perceptions (β = .55, p < .05). hypotheses 6a and 6b examined the mediating role of patients’ uncertainty levels on the relationship between waiting time and organizational justice perceptions. as shown in figure 2, uncertainty did not mediate the relationship between waiting time and organizational justice perceptions. interestingly, uncertainty instead mediated the relationship between waiting time and satisfaction perceptions and between waiting time and anger. figure 2. results uncertainty anger procedural justice distributive justice waiting time satisfaction–.29 .55 –.29 –.10 .69.28 –.16 .60 m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 1, 2004, 1-11 8 jeffrey a. miles and stefanie e. naumann discussion the main purpose of the current study was to build on the growing body of research examining how people react while waiting for services. as noted earlier, little research or theory has addressed the underlying psychological processes operating while individuals wait for service. another purpose was to examine the influences of those reactions on organizational justice and institutional satisfaction perceptions. as shown in figure 2, several complex relationships emerged. more specifically, uncertainty was found to mediate the relationship between waiting time and satisfaction and between waiting time and anger. further, waiting time was significantly negatively related to procedural justice perceptions. procedural justice perceptions were significantly positively related to distributive justice perceptions, which in turn, were significantly positively associated with satisfaction. this study provides additional support from customers that waiting times are related to service evaluations (e.g., clemmer and schneider, 1989; katz, larson, and larson, 1991, taylor, 1994). the present study suggests that healthcare managers can influence the satisfaction perceptions of their customers. the research indicates that lowering waiting times for services can diminish uncertainty which, in turn, enhances customer satisfaction. unfortunately, with ever-declining resources, reducing waiting times may not always be possible. indeed, waiting times may even increase as ever-shrinking medical staffs have to treat increasing numbers of patients. we identify a more plausible, indirect way to improve patient satisfaction: attention to patients’ fairness perceptions during the waiting process. treating patients fairly while they wait may reduce the influence of waiting time on institutional satisfaction. managers who follow procedures and distribute outcomes in a manner that their patients perceive as fair may be able to increase the satisfaction levels of their patients, even if those patients have to wait longer than they expect for medical treatment. it is important to note that another factor that would be expected to influence patients’ procedural justice perceptions would be patient perceptions that they have been “bumped” (i.e., the perception that another patient who arrived later is being treated before him/her). the vast majority of patients in our sample did not report the perception of being “bumped”. however, this is an important variable to consider in future research with different samples that might experience varying degrees of this perception as it would likely have a significant impact on patients’ procedural justice perceptions. our findings regarding organizational justice add to the growing body of research in this area. our findings are consistent with a recent metaanalytic review of 25 years of justice research that suggested that both procedural and distributive justice contribute incremental variance to individual’s fairness perceptions (colquitt, conlon, wesson, porter, and ng, 2001). this review argued that procedural justice is more likely to exhibit a direct relationship with system-referenced variables (e.g., waiting time in the present study) than distributive justice. in addition, consistent with our study, the review suggested that distribum@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 1, 2004, 1-11 9 a model of patient perceptions of triage tive justice is more likely to demonstrate a direct effect on satisfaction than procedural justice (colquitt et al., 2001). this study also provides evidence that customers or patients may experience anger and uncertainty while waiting. the results indicate that steps managers take toward reducing uncertainty may reduce customers’/patients’ levels of anger. further research should examine cost-effective methods through which organizations can reduce the uncertainty levels experienced by customers or patients waiting for services. for example, dansky and miles (1997) examined the methods of keeping patients occupied while they were waiting and also telling patients how long their expected wait times might be. future research might explore the role of voice (i.e., the degree to which patients are vocal toward getting their needs met during the waiting process) in the waiting time–satisfaction relationship. the current study both extends and builds on taylor’s (1994) research on u.s. airline passengers waiting for delayed flights. the present findings extend taylor’s research to hospitals; in addition, other variables not measured by taylor (e.g., organizational justice) were added to the model. interestingly, it appears that the attitudes formed while waiting may not be limited to only passengers in the united states, given the similar results found with hospital patients in england. further research might examine whether the same waiting phenomena occur in other countries dissimilar to the u.s. and england. in summary, extended waiting times can cause patients to have higher uncertainty levels about what is going to happen to them and when. the uncertainty levels then can lead to higher anger levels and lower levels of justice and satisfaction perceptions. clearly a key way to improve patients’ satisfaction and fairness perceptions is by lowering waiting times for treatment. when that is not possible, the current study supports that managers should have their staffs focus on reducing uncertainty and anger levels in customers, which may result in higher satisfaction and fairness perceptions of triage processes. limitations it is important to caution that the findings of the present study occurred under a specific set of conditions beyond which generalization may not be possible. the data were collected during a one-week period from a single hospital urgent care department in a rural setting in england. recall that the patients who visited the treatment facility tended to be higher in socio-economic status and educational level than many who visit other facilities. as such, the findings reported here may not directly apply to other types of medical treatment facilities or other service providers (such as non-medical ones), or to other types of patient groups. in addition, future research should examine different times of day (e.g., night) and different times of year to determine if there are differences in waiting perceptions. despite these generalization concerns, given the findings of taylor (1994), more confidence can be placed on the present results. references � clemmer, e. c. 1993 an investigation into the relationship of fairness and customer satisfaction with services, in r. cropanzano (ed.), justice in the workplace: approaching fairness in human resource management, hillsdale, nj: erlbaum, 193-207. � clemmer, e. c., and b. schneider 1989 toward understanding and controlling customer satisfaction while waiting, working paper 89-115, cambridge, ma: marketing science institute. � clemmer, e. c., and b. schneider 1993 managing customer dissatisfaction with waiting: applying social-psychological theory in a service setting, advances in services marketing and management: research and practice, 2, greenwich, ct: jai press, 213-229. m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 1, 2004, 1-11 10 jeffrey a. miles and stefanie e. naumann other potential limitations concern the use of survey data. acquiescent response bias, defined as the tendency to agree with the items independently of the content of the items (wiggins, 1980), can result in inflated scores, narrow standard deviations, and artificially high reliability values. this problem is minimized somewhat in our study by the characteristics of the sample since highly acquiescent respondents tend to be older, less educated, and in poor health (ross et al., 1995). in contrast, our sample involved was relatively young, highly educated, and higher socioeconomic status. further, the standard deviations observed were not particularly narrow and are consistent with similar research. whenever survey data are employed, common method bias is also often a concern. however, the fact that the key independent variable, actual waiting time, was measured by objective data provided by triage nurses reduces the likelihood that common method bias explains the current results. in conclusion, despite some limitations, the present study points to the potential value of treating people fairly while they wait for services. it also provides additional evidence that the attitudes and reactions of customers and patients waiting for services should be managed in ways that result in higher evaluations of organizational justice and overall service satisfaction. jeffrey a. miles is an associate professor of management in the eberhardt school of business at the university of the pacific in stockton, california, usa. his research has focused on leadership, effective team performance, and organizational justice and fairness. stefanie e. naumann is an assistant professor of management in the eberhardt school of business at the university of the pacific in stockton, california, usa. her research has focused on organizational justice, work group climates, and organizational citizenship behavior. m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 1, 2004, 1-11 11 a model of patient perceptions of triage � colquitt, j. a., d. e. conlon, m. j. wesson, c. porter, and k. y. ng 2001 justice at the millennium: a metaanalytic review of 25 years of organizational justice research, journal of applied psychology, 86: 3, 425-445. � dansky, k. h., and j.a. miles 1997 patient satisfaction with ambulatory healthcare services: waiting time and filling time, hospital and health services administration, 42: 2, 165-178. � freedman, s. m., and j. r. montanari 1980 an integrative model of managerial reward allocation, academy of management review, 5: 3, 381-390. � george, s., s. read, l. westlake, b. williams, p. pritty, and a. fraser-moodie 1993 nurse triage in theory and practice, archives of emergency medicine, 10, 220-228. � gerbing, d. w., and j.c. anderson 1993 monte carlo evaluations of goodnessof-fit indices for structural equation models, in k. a. bollen and j. s. long (eds.), testing structural equation models, newbury park, ca: sage, 40-65. � greenberg, j. 1982 approaching equity and avoiding inequity in groups and organizations, in j. greenberg and r.l. cohen (eds.), equity and justice in social behavior, new york: academic press, 389-435. � greenberg, j. 1987 a taxonomy of organizational justice theories, academy of management review, 12: 1, 9-22. � gronroos, c. 1984 a service quality model and its marketing implications, european journal of marketing, 18: 4, 36-44. � hinings, c. r., d. j. hickson, j. m. pennings, and r. e. schneck 1974 structural conditions of intraorganizational power, administrative science quarterly, 19: 1, 22-44. � homans, g. c. 1961 social behavior: its elementary forms, new york: harcourt, brace, and world. � jöreskog, k., and d. sörbom 1993 lisrel 8: structural equation modeling with the simplis command language, hillsdale, nj: erlbaum. � katz, k., b. larson, and r. larson 1991 prescription for the waiting in line blues: entertain, enlighten, and engage, sloan management review, 32: 2, 44-53. � leventhal, g. s. 1976 the distribution of rewards and resources in groups and organizations, in l. berkowitz, and e. walster (eds.), advances in experimental social psychology, new york: academic press, 91-131. � llewellyn, c. h. 1992 triage: in austere environments and echeloned medical systems, world journal of surgery, 16, 904-909. � lovelock, c. 1988 managing services: marketing, operations, and human resources, englewood cliffs, nj: prentice hall. � lowe, r. a., a. b. bindman, s. k. ulrich, g. norman, t. a. scaletta, d. keane, d. washington, and k. grumbach 1994 refusing care to emergency department patients: evaluation of published triage guidelines, annals of emergency medicine, 23, november, 286293. � maister, d. 1985 the psychology of waiting lines, in j. czepiel, m. solomon, and c. suprenant (eds.), the service encounter: managing employee/customer interaction in service business, lexington, ma: lexington books, 113-123. � mallett, j., and c. woolwich 1990 triage in accident and emergency departments, journal of advanced nursing, 15: 12, 1443-1451. � mowen, j. c., j. w. licata, and j. mcphail 1993 waiting in the emergency room: how to improve patient satisfaction, journal of health care marketing, 13: 2, 26-33. � osuna, e. e. 1985 the psychological cost of waiting, journal of mathematical psychology, 29: 1, 82-105. � ross, c. k., c. a. steward, and j. m. sinacore 1995 a comparative study of seven measures of patient satisfaction, medical care, 33: 4, 392-406. � scotland, r. 1991 customer service: a waiting game, marketing, 11, march, 1-3. � taylor, s. 1994 waiting for service: the relationship between delays and evaluations of service, journal of marketing, 58: 2, 56-69. � teres, d. 1993 civilian triage in the intensive care unit: the ritual of the last bed, critical care management, 21: 4, 598-606. � thibaut, j., and l. a. walker 1975 procedural justice: a psychological analysis, hillsdale, nj: erlbaum. � tyler, t. r. 1987 conditions leading to value expressive effects in judgments of procedural justice: a test of four models, journal of personality and social psychology, 52: 2, 333-344. � tyler, t. r., and a. caine 1981 the influence of outcomes and procedures on satisfaction with formal leaders, journal of personality and social psychology, 41: 4, 642-655. � wiggins, j. s. 1980 personality and prediction principles of personality assessment, reading, ma: addison-wesley. � yurt, r. w. 1992 triage, initial assessment, and early treatment of the pediatric trauma patient, pediatric emergency medicine, 39: 5, 1083-1091. barriers to environmental innovation
in smes: empirical evidence from
french firms amandine pinget irege, savoie mont blanc university amandine.pinget@univ-smb.fr rachel bocquer irege, savoie mont blanc university rachel.bocquet@univ-smb.fr caroline mothe irege, savoie mont blanc university caroline.mothe@univ-smb.fr barriers to environmental innovation in smes: empirical evidence from french firms amandine pinget � rachel bocquet � caroline mothe abstract. recent literature has explored the determinants of environmental innovation (ei) but has rarely addressed obstacles to this innovation. to our knowledge, no previous study accounts for the antecedents of ei to explore the various perceived barriers to ei for smalland medium-sized enterprises (smes). noting the importance of smes in european economies, this article identifies the extent to which smes perceive there to be barriers to ei and considers their type, number, and intensity. with a merged data set of 435 french smes, we investigate different perceptions of environmentally innovative smes, compared with those of technologically innovative smes and non-innovative ones, using a multiple treatment model that integrates the antecedents. we thereby analyze sme ceos’ perceptions of barriers to ei. the barriers are not only more numerous but also more important for smes that engage in ei activity compared with those that introduce only technological innovation (ti) or those that do not undertake any innovation activity (ni – non-innovation). ! in the past decade, concerns about firms’ wrongdoing, especially in relation to the environment, have expanded. in response to pressures for a cleaner environment, firms might pursue environmental innovation (ei), which differs from “traditional” innovations in its externalities and drivers. because regulations for adopting eis exist, institutional pressures trigger such innovations, especially among polluting firms (e.g., berrone, fosfuri, gelabert, & gomez‐mejia, 2013; jaffe, newell & stavins, 2005; porter & van der linde, 1995; rennings, 2000). a great deal of literature explores the determinants of ei adoption but we know little about the elements that hinder ei. in particular, we have found limited research into the barriers to ei, which suggests the need for further empirical research on this topic (del río gonzález, 2009). ! to contribute to current debates on ei, we study ei determinants and barriers, both theoretically and empirically. noting that the barriers to ei remain largely unexplored, we investigate the possibility of transferring or adapting existing theories and conceptual frameworks to eis (de marchi, 2012; horbach, 2008; rennings, 2000), which tend to be more complex than other tis (de marchi, 2012). theoretical and empirical research started to investigate the environmental benefits associated with innovations about a decade ago, including their drivers and determinants. however, few studies (cf. de marchi, 2012; horbach, 2008) have compared environmental and non-environmental innovations. even fewer investigations have addressed these issues in relation to smalland medium-sized enterprises (smes), even though the 20 million smes in the european union represent 99% of all european firms. due to their resource constraints, smes tend to focus less on environmental questions than their larger m@n@gement 2015, vol. 18(2): 132-155 132 mailto:rachel.bocquet@univ-smb.fr%0dana.colovic@neoma-bs.com%0dana.colovic@neoma-bs.com?subject= mailto:rachel.bocquet@univ-smb.fr%0dana.colovic@neoma-bs.com%0dana.colovic@neoma-bs.com?subject= mailto:ana.colovic@neoma-bs.fr%0dana.colovic@neoma-bs.com%0dana.colovic@neoma-bs.com?subject= mailto:ana.colovic@neoma-bs.fr%0dana.colovic@neoma-bs.com%0dana.colovic@neoma-bs.com?subject= mailto:amandine.pinget@univ-smb.fr%20%0damandine.pinget@univ-smb-fr?subject= mailto:amandine.pinget@univ-smb.fr%20%0damandine.pinget@univ-smb-fr?subject= mailto:rachel.bocquet@univ-smb.fr%0dana.colovic@neoma-bs.com%0dana.colovic@neoma-bs.com?subject= mailto:rachel.bocquet@univ-smb.fr%0dana.colovic@neoma-bs.com%0dana.colovic@neoma-bs.com?subject= mailto:ana.colovic@neoma-bs.fr%0dana.colovic@neoma-bs.com%0dana.colovic@neoma-bs.com?subject= mailto:ana.colovic@neoma-bs.fr%0dana.colovic@neoma-bs.com%0dana.colovic@neoma-bs.com?subject= 1. such perceptions may be subject to decisionmaking biases though, especially under uncertainty (busenitz & barney, 1997). counterparts, even though they account for approximately 64% of all industrial pollution (calogirou, sørensen, bjørn larsen, & alexopoulou, 2010). in this sense, smes have a major role in global sustainable development issues and represent an important target for public policies aimed at developing a sustainable society. they also face unique challenges, because even if they want to reduce their environmental impacts, they are limited by a relative lack of resources. ! this article therefore seeks to identify the extent to which smes that innovate in environmental contexts perceive barriers to their innovation, compared with smes that introduce tis only or smes that do not innovate. as mairesse and mohnen (2010: 8) indicate, “most of the data collected in innovation surveys are qualitative, subjective and censored”. many variables, whether qualitative or quantitative, are subjective in nature, based largely on the personal appreciation and judgment of the respondents. such perceptions are important in relation to public policy issues, because perceived obstacles to innovation constitute reflections of failed innovation policies, in that “if an obstacle is perceived to be high by a respondent, it means that somewhere there is a deficiency in innovation policy” (mairesse & mohnen, 2010: 22). ! this subjective approach requires an understanding of subjective visions of business opportunities and the mobilization of resources and capabilities to transform knowledge into business reality (shepherd & detienne, 2005)1. we follow subjectivist entrepreneurial theory (penrose, 1959), which acknowledges the economic importance of an entrepreneur’s personal knowledge (polanyi, 1962), which is intrinsically subjective (kor, mahoney, & michael, 2007). adopting kor et al.’s (2007) use of penrose (1959) to elaborate how entrepreneurs’ perceptions and personal knowledge shape firms’ subjective, productive opportunity sets (including innovative activities), we assert the importance of understanding perceptions of the factors that hinder or make it difficult for smes to innovate environmentally. such an understanding has major implications in terms of macroeconomic policies to support ei. ! literature on the barriers to ei is very scarce, although two recent working papers testify to a growing interest. first, marin, marzucchi, and zoboli (2014) propose a taxonomy of european smes in terms of barriers to eco-innovation. second, ghisetti, mazzanti, mancinelli, and zoli (2015) reveal the importance of overcoming financial barriers for smes’ ei. with this study, we extend this line of research by accounting for the type, number, and intensity of these barriers and thereby answering two main research questions: what are the main barriers to ei, as perceived by smes? and are these perceived barriers more numerous or intense for environmentally innovative smes than for technologically innovative or non-innovative smes? to test our predictions, we use a novel multiple treatment model and a merged sample of 435 smes in the french rhône-alpes region. ! we find that barriers to ei are not only more numerous but also more important for smes that engage in environmentally innovative activity, compared with those that do not undertake any innovation activity. this also holds for the comparison with smes that have introduced ti only, though to a lesser extent and mainly as a matter of intensity rather than of number. ! with this approach, we contribute to the prior literature in several ways. first, in line with klewitz and hansen (2014), we seek to develop a more integrated theoretical framework of ei in smes that encompasses, for the first time, both antecedents and barriers to ei. second, we identify specific ei determinants for smes and compare the perceptions of barriers to ei across three sme categories (environmentally innovative, technologically innovative, and non-innovative), using an original methodology based on a multinomial logit model with treatment effects. our findings show that eis have a more binding character than more classical tis and that the barriers to ei appear more m@n@gement, vol. 18(2): 132-155! amandine pinget, rachel bocquet & caroline mothe 133 2. this classification is now well accepted, but it raises some challenges, because regulation may support both supply (by improving infrastructure and/or public r&d) and market forces, such as through public procurement (rennings & rammer, 2009). numerous and more intense. third, our novel data set of french smes enables us to address conventional questions about innovation while also considering smes’ specific antecedents and barriers to innovation. ! in the next section, we present our theoretical framework and draw hypotheses about barriers to ei. we then present the data and methodology, followed by the main results of our econometric models. finally, with our discussion and conclusion, we note some limitations of this research and avenues for further research. antecedents of environmental innovation ! environmental innovation has been defined in various ways, including different types of innovation (i.e., technological or non-technological), depending on the researchers’ objectives and questions. for example, kemp (2010: 2) defines ei as the “production, assimilation or exploitation of a product, production process, service or management or business method that is novel to the organization (developing or adopting it) and which results, throughout its life cycle, in a reduction of environmental risk, pollution and other negative impacts of resources use (including energy use) compared to relevant alternatives”. in contrast, rennings (2000: 322) views eis as “measures of relevant actors (firms, […]) which: (i) develop new ideas, behavior, products and processes, (ii) apply or introduce them, and; (iii) contribute to a reduction of environmental burdens or to ecologically specified sustainability targets”. the various definitions sometimes refer to ei as “green innovation” or “eco-innovation”, which are broader terms that also encompass unintended eis (arundel & kemp, 2009). we prefer the term “environmental innovation”, because it aligns with our research perspective, in which ei is the result of a firm’s strategy. moreover, it is the term most often used in innovation literature (schiederig, tietze, & herstatt, 2012). ! accordingly, we focus on technological eis, which we regard as new or modified processes, products, or services that reduce environmental harms (beise & rennings, 2005; de marchi, 2012). this definition includes changes to products and production processes that generate environmental benefits, whether those benefits accrue to final customers (i.e., products and services) or firms themselves (i.e., processes). note that this definition “is based on the effect of the innovation activities independent of the initial intent and includes both incremental and radical improvements” (de marchi, 2012: 615). because ei holds increasing interest for both firms and scholars, a question arises: does it require specific theory and public policy? this question is particularly pertinent for smes (cuerva, triguero-cano, & córcoles, 2014; del río gonzález, 2009), for which the frontier between the determinants and barriers of ei remains tenuous. ! prior ei literature has discussed whether ei is triggered by supply-push factors, demand-pull factors, or both (costantini, crespi, martini & pennacchio, 2015; di stefano, gambardella & verona, 2012; peters, schneider, griesshaber & hoffmann, 2012). beyond such technology-push and market-pull factors, regulation is another important driving force (e.g., ghisetti et al., 2015; horbach, 2008; horbach, rammer & rennings, 2012; rennings & rammer, 2009). some authors also introduce firm-specific factors (ghisetti et al., 2015; horbach et al., 2012). we adopt a classification2 of four types of antecedents, in line with horbach et al. (2012) and ghisetti et al. (2015): regulation, technology-push factors, demand-pull factors, and firms’ characteristics. barriers to environmental innovation in smes! m@n@gement, vol. 18(2): 132-155 134 regulation ! similarly to most other studies of firms’ ei antecedents, we do not adopt a standard “policy-oriented” approach. we instead prefer the porter hypothesis, which stresses that regulation can drive innovation in certain circumstances. this hypothesis has been formulated twice (porter, 1991; porter & van der linde, 1995) and indicates that well-designed regulations can enhance firms’ innovation and competitiveness. in contrast, a standard view considers environmental regulation solely an additional cost for firms. ! with this reliance on the porter hypothesis, we consider environmental policy a main potential driver of ei (horbach, 2008). for example, environmental regulations incentivize innovation through environmental taxes or certificates (wagner, 2003). two key points differentiate eis from other innovations: externalities and drivers, which rennings (2000) refers to as the “double externality problem” and the “regulatory push/pull effect”, respectively. that is, just as innovation and r&d activities induce positive externalities, green innovators can produce positive environmental externalities (de marchi, 2012). part of this created value gets appropriated by society – in the form of reduced environmental damage – so there are some disincentives for firms to invest in products or processes that reduce their environmental impacts (jaffe et al., 2005; rennings, 2000). this additional externality may prompt a lack of investment or interest among firms, because direct returns from investments in ei are difficult to reap. the potential for market failure also induces a greater need for policy intervention to drive ei (rennings, 2000). ! in this vein, recent studies have indicated a positive correlation between regulation and eis (horbach, oltra & belin, 2013); environmental regulation offers the initial incentive for firms to develop ei processes (del río gonzález, 2009). antonioli, mancinelli, and mazzanti (2013), in their comparative analysis, find that polluting-sector firms tend to innovate more environmentally than firms outside a polluting sector. this effect of more stringent environmental regulation exists for innovation in general (ford, steen & verreynne, 2014), such that some firms even overcomply to gain competitive advantages and an improved social image, in which case the costs associated with reduced pollution may be balanced by realized gains (ambec & lanoie, 2008). ! for smes, though regulation is a powerful driver of ei, meeting environmental regulations is arduous (brammer, hoejmose, & marchant, 2012), especially when the regulatory system is complex (involving numerous certifications, policies, or institutions). with a sample of chinese smes, zhu, wittmann, and peng (2012) find that unclear laws or regulations, together with excessive taxation, have hampering effects on small firms. thus, well-designed regulation must be adequate and appropriate to support smes’ ei processes. technology-push factors ! literature on the determinants of ei that adopts a technology-push (supplyside) view generally has suggested that improving organizational, strategic, and technological capabilities triggers ei (horbach, 2008). using a novel data set of 1566 uk firms, kesidou and demirel (2012) emphasize the importance of allocating organizational capabilities and resources to ei. a strong positive relationship emerges between technological capabilities and ei (cuerva et al., 2014); in addition, environmental management systems (ems; e.g., iso norms) favor the ei process (horbach, 2008; kammerer, 2009; wagner, 2007). the iso 14001 norm has a positive influence on r&d activities, and a more mature ems increases environmental r&d investments (inoue, arimura, & nakano, 2013). kesidou and demirel (2012) also find that cost savings, especially on material and energy, are important incentives for ei. horbach et al. (2013) confirm this m@n@gement, vol. 18(2): 132-155! amandine pinget, rachel bocquet & caroline mothe 135 result among french and german firms and show that savings on energy and material enhance ei. in addition, smes with an external acquisition strategy likely innovate less, because both acquisition and innovation strategies incur important costs (hitt, hoskisson, johnson, & moesel, 1996). by contrast, an internally focused strategy should enhance a firm’s propensity to innovate environmentally (de marchi, 2012). ! cooperation in r&d also appears to drive ei by enabling economies of scale, especially for firms in the same sector (cainelli, mazzanti & zoboli, 2011). an important characteristic is that ei may require knowledge and competences that do not belong to a firm’s core competences (horbach et al., 2012; rennings & rammer, 2009). in this sense, cainelli, mazzanti, and montresor (2012) not only show that interfirm network relationships are the most important ei drivers for firms located in a local production system, but also that ei is stimulated by firms’ interactions with “qualified partners” (e.g., universities and suppliers, but not customers or competing firms). other authors demonstrate that cluster policies could leverage ei, in both clean-tech sectors and other industries (barsoumian, severin, & van der spek, 2011). wagner (2007) emphasizes the need to collaborate with environmentally concerned stakeholders, especially for smes. in one of the rare studies dedicated to smes, del río gonzález (2009) asserts that other actors, such as industrial associations or public and private entities, can engage in cooperative processes to support innovation. research into ei determinants also highlights the crucial importance of interactions between firms, and between smes and various actors (marin et al., 2014), which implies a link to open innovation considerations since smes with ei are generally seen as more open for innovation than other firms. open innovation is key for ei (de marchi, 2012), especially for smes (klewitz & hansen, 2014; worthington & patton, 2005), and in their systematic review of the sustainability-oriented innovation of smes, klewitz and hansen (2014) argue that interactions with external actors (e.g., authorities and research institutes) can ultimately increase the innovative capacity of smes for eis. as triguero, moreno-mondéjar, and davia (2013) suggest, on the basis of their analysis of the drivers of different types of ei in european smes, supply-side factors thus appear more important for environmentally oriented innovations than for more traditional product innovations. demand-pull factors ! firms have strong incentives to engage in eis that are congruent with customer benefits (kammerer, 2009). kesidou and demirel (2012) argue that firms initiate ei to satisfy minimum customer and societal requirements. environmental consciousness is thus a relevant parameter for innovative firms (horbach, 2008), especially in environmentally sensitive industries. in the pulp paper industry for example, public pressure is the strongest determinant of ei, even more so than regulation (popp, hafner, & johnstone, 2011). although some smes likely are reluctant to implement ei, out of a concern that most of their customers are not willing to pay more for green products or services (bianchi & noci, 1998), their investment in ei can represent a means to develop their markets (brammer et al., 2012). moreover, close proximity between a firm and its customers can help it implement an ei strategy (madrid‐guijarro, garcia, & van auken, 2009). as triguero et al. (2013) show, european smes that collaborate with various actors (including consumers) increase market demand for green products, and market share in turn has a significant positive influence on ei. barriers to environmental innovation in smes! m@n@gement, vol. 18(2): 132-155 136 3. a discussion of the determinants of obstacles to innovation is beyond the scope of this study (see baldwin & lin, 2002; d’este, iammarino, savona, & von tunzelmann 2012; galia & legros, 2004; iammarino, sanna-randaccio, & savona, 2009; schneider & veugelers, 2010; tourigny & le, 2004). firm characteristics ! firm size has a positive effect on ei, such that larger smes, which enjoy greater access to financial and human resources (rehfeld, rennings & ziegler, 2007), are more likely to engage in ei processes (cuerva et al., 2014; de marchi, 2012; galliano & nadel, 2013). older firms tend to have acquired more competences, knowledge, and resources to support an ei strategy, whereas younger ones tend to seek an understanding of their market first, then search for venture capital funding (mazzarol, reboud, & volery, 2010). in addition, international firms are more conscious of environmental pressures (del río gonzález, 2009) and more likely to elaborate and adopt a proactive environmental strategy (aguilera-caracuel, hurtado-torres, & aragón-correa, 2012). finally, smes have more flexibility than large firms, due to their structure and size, which increases their reactivity (aragón-correa, hurtado-torres, sharma, & garcía-morales, 2008). madrid-guijarro et al. (2009) also note that less bureaucracy has a positive effect on ei. ! overall, smes appear generally less likely to introduce eis than large firms, because of their lack of resources. of the various explanatory factors for smes’ ei, those related to the demand side seem to have the smallest impact. examining barriers to ei offers another path of interest, which may provide a better understanding of smes’ decisions related to ei. barriers to environmental innovation ! because of the scarcity of studies on the drivers of or barriers to ei, we rely on the literature on the barriers to ti. this analogy between ei and other types of ti requires consideration of two main elements: first, some studies based on large samples demonstrate that eis are more complex and costly, such that they require knowledge and competences that are not necessarily among a firm’s core competences (horbach et al., 2012; rennings & rammer, 2009). second, ghisetti et al. (2015) show that ei is not always a question of financial resources but rather reflects organizations and managers’ perceptions. consequently, ei often requires more transverse process activities than traditional, “dirty” tis (which mainly emerge from r&d departments). ! previous studies of the barriers to (technological) innovation do not address ei specifically but rather seek to explicate the impact of these barriers on firms’ attitudes toward r&d activities (blanchard, huiban, musolesi, & sevestre, 2013; hyytinen & toivanen, 2005; mohnen, palm, van der loeff, & tiwari, 2008; mohnen & röller, 2005; savignac, 2008; segarra-blasco, garcia-quevedo, & teruel carrizosa, 2008)3. for example, research carried out for the commission of european communities, featuring contributions from researchers across eight european countries, has revealed that major barriers relate to the education system, skilled labor, venture capital and bank financing, norms, legislation, and public bureaucracy (european commission, 2004). in canada, baldwin and lin (2002) study barriers to advanced technology adoption by manufacturing firms and identify five classes: cost, institution, labor, organization, and information. galia and legros (2004), investigating the complementarities among barriers to innovation for french manufacturing firms, show that firms that postpone projects are more prone to economic risk, lack of skilled personnel, innovation costs, lack of customer responsiveness, lack of information about technologies, and organizational rigidities. in contrast, firms that abandon projects tend to face economic barriers rather than technological or organizational ones. mohnen and röller (2005) also assess complementarities among barriers to innovation in a sample of firms from ireland, denmark, germany, and italy. they cite four groups m@n@gement, vol. 18(2): 132-155! amandine pinget, rachel bocquet & caroline mothe 137 of barriers – risk and finance, knowledge, knowledge skills outside the enterprise, and regulation – and assert that a lack of internal human capital complements all other barriers in almost all industries. in the netherlands, mohnen et al. (2008) show that financial barriers significantly affect firms’ decisions to abandon, prematurely stop, slow down, or not start innovative projects; in addition, these financial constraints depend on firms’ sizes and economic situations. ! as these studies show, many firms are constrained by financial barriers. however, when barriers to innovation serve as an explanatory variable for r&d activity or innovation output, a non-significant or even significantly positive coefficient often results (baldwin & lin, 2002; d’este et al., 2012; galia & legros, 2004; hölzl & friesenbichler, 2010; hölzl & janger, 2014; iammarino et al., 2009; mohnen et al., 2008; mohnen & röller, 2005; mohnen & rosa, 2002), such that firms facing stronger barriers appear more likely to innovate, all else being equal. the positive correlation of innovation with perceived obstacles is, at first sight, a typically counterintuitive result. however, most studies of innovation obstacles, especially those using community innovation surveys (cis) that are based on perceptions (e.g., galia & legros, 2004; ghisetti et al., 2015; mohnen & röller, 2005; rennings & rammer, 2009), indicate that barriers to innovation are perceived as stronger by those firms that actually are innovating. therefore, closer inspection suggests “that innovating firms are more likely than noninnovating firms to perceive the various obstacles that stand in their way” (mohnen et al., 2008, p. 208). in other words, the perception of hampering factors is itself endogenous and co-determined by some of the same factors that condition innovation. clausen (2008) provides an original, additional explanation: the key variable is not actual barriers but their perception by managers. in that sense, those who wish to innovate are more inclined to perceive barriers, and this perception relates positively to the will to innovate. obstacles to innovation should be interpreted as a measure of how firms overcome them, rather than as preventers of innovation (baldwin & lin, 2002; tourigny & le, 2004). the definitions of barriers to innovation applied in innovation surveys in turn might indicate how successfully a firm has overcome those barriers. d’este et al. (2012) similarly propose a distinction between “deterring” and “revealed” barriers: the former prevent firms from engaging in innovation activities, whereas the latter invoke a positive effect, such that firms can overcome barriers and innovate. ghisetti et al. (2015) offer support for the deterrent barrier hypothesis for financial constraints, which deter innovative strategies. ! in line with these previous studies, we analyze three major sets of perceived barriers to ei: cost, knowledge, and the market. first, cost barriers reflect a firm’s difficulties in financing its innovation projects. during the innovation process, available financial resources might not be sufficient to cover the investments required, so high costs and a lack of financial resources (internal and external sources) constitute important barriers to innovation. second, knowledge barriers pertain to limited access to information about technology and skilled labor. managers and employees who can incorporate and support innovation as a business strategy thus attain a competitive advantage. that is, eis require specific information and knowledge, so qualified personnel and associated skills are important for exploring new environmental technologies. third, an ability to connect a technical opportunity to a market opportunity encourages successful innovations, but technology-pushand demand-pull-related barriers may constrain innovative activity. the technology and markets linked to ei tend to be complex and evolve rapidly, so firms that pursue ei must address these two issues even more intensively than firms that innovate in other realms. the market barriers thus reflect market structures and pull technology derived from demand. ! however, these barriers might not be identical or perceived in the same way in relation to ei, especially for smes. the european commission’s environmental technologies action plan (european commission, 2004) cites barriers to environmental innovation in smes! m@n@gement, vol. 18(2): 132-155 138 several barriers to ei: economics, inappropriate regulations or standards, insufficient or weak research systems, and lack of market demand. ashford (1993) also provides a detailed list of barriers to pollution prevention: technological, financial, labor-force-related, regulatory, consumer-related, supplier-related, and managerial. empirical studies indicate that ei is often costly, because it requires specific procedures to measure, manage, and adapt benefits for the environment, which could hinder an innovative firm’s performance (konar & cohen, 2001). market uncertainty also tends to be greater for green products, because of their relative newness and volatile consumer markets. similarly, access to both skilled personnel and knowledge about markets and technologies is more difficult for goods outside the mainstream. ! these barriers get reinforced for smes, which lack various resources and are more constrained in their day-to-day operations. at a regional level, freel (2000) observes barriers to product innovation among a sample of small manufacturing firms and breaks the resource constraints down into four sets: finance, management and marketing, skilled labor, and information. madridguijarro et al. (2009) consider a lack of financial resources, poor human resources, a weak financial position, and high cost and risk as internal barriers, and consider turbulence, a lack of external partners, a lack of information, and a lack of government support as external barriers. the cost of innovation affects spanish smes more, and barriers’ impacts depend on the type of innovation. according to madrid-guijarro et al. (2009), costs represent the most significant barriers to innovation, with a disproportionately greater impact on small firms, probably because smes suffer more limited financial resources than large firms. in this sense, smes are especially subject to barriers linked to the lack of financial resources and costs (iammarino et al., 2009; savignac, 2008). alessandrini, presbitero, and zazzaro (2010), considering italian small firms during 1995-2003, show that their different time patterns cause process and product innovations to be associated with different financial constraints. del río gonzález (2009), in a review of empirical studies, indicates that barriers to environmental technological innovation for smes are not the same as those encountered by large firms but provides no further details. he only calls for more research and indicates that small firms lack sufficient human, technical, and financial resources, which bars ei. ! the two (known) empirical studies on barriers to ei for smes (beyond the systematic review by klewitz and hansen, 2014) highlight that smes have very different profiles in terms of their perceptions of these barriers (marin et al., 2014) and that perceived financial barriers deter their environmentally innovative activities; that is, they prevent smes from adopting eis (ghisetti et al., 2015). two other studies, which include both large and small firms and rely on cis data related to obstacles to innovation, conclude that legislation and bureaucratic processes (rennings & rammer, 2009), as well as lack of knowledge (horbach et al., 2012), are perceived barriers that hamper ei. ! because smes face relatively more, and more intense, barriers to innovation than large firms, due to their inadequate or insufficient internal resources, we explicitly investigate variance in the number and intensity of barriers for smes, according to the type of innovation (i.e., environmental versus technological versus no innovation). we hypothesize: h1: barriers to ei are perceived as more numerous by environmentally innovative smes than by (a) technologically innovative smes and (b) noninnovating smes. h2: barriers to ei are perceived as more intense by environmentally innovative smes than by (a) technologically innovative and (b) noninnovating smes. m@n@gement, vol. 18(2): 132-155! amandine pinget, rachel bocquet & caroline mothe 139 data and methods data ! we used data from two main sources, both pertaining to french smes located in the rhône-alpes region. this region exhibits important research and innovation activity; it ranks second in the nation in terms of research potential (after the paris region). with a specially designed survey4, conducted in 2012, we asked smes’ top managers for information about different types of innovation activity (technological, non-technological, and with environmental benefits for the firm or end users). the questions paralleled those included in the 2008 cis. moreover, the survey provided detailed information about smes’ sources of innovation and perceptions of barriers. the focal period was 2009-2011, although questions related to general firm information specified that answers should reflect 2011 values. we obtained 671 completed questionnaires. in addition, we referred to the orbis database, which gathered balance sheet information for all smes located in the rhône-alpes region; we used those from 2009-2011. as recommended by arundel and kemp (2009), we linked our unique rhône-alpes data set to these official data, which included financial information, to ensure higher reliability. after merging the two databases, we obtained a final balanced sample of 435 french smes, each of which employed between 10 and 249 people. the final data set is representative of smes located in the rhône-alpes region, across firm size and sector affiliation, though manufacturing smes are slightly overrepresented (see appendix a). dependent variables ! environmental innovation is generally measured with input, intermediate output, direct output, and indirect impact measures (arundel & kemp, 2009). for our sample of smes, “objective” measures, such as patents and r&d (i.e., input and intermediate output) are less relevant. therefore, in line with our theoretical subjectivist perspective, we use perceptual measures and adopt a direct output measure, following the oslo manual (oecd, 2005) and cis 2008. several authors (e.g., madrid-guijarro et al., 2009) assert that subjective measures (e.g., managers’ perceptions) are superior to objective measures (hughes, 2001), as well as highly correlated with objective measures (frishammar & horte, 2005; zahra & covin, 1993). ! we asked the sme ceos whether, between 2009 and 2011, their firms had introduced significant novelties or improvements in their manufacturing processes or their production of goods or services. a subsidiary question asked if those innovations provided any environmental benefits (e.g., reduced energy consumption, lowered co2 emissions, or waste recycling) for the firm and/or for customers. we combined these two questions – about technological innovations (yes/no, binary variable) and their environmental benefits (yes/no, binary variable) – to determine if firms were environmentally innovative. ! to investigate differences in perceptions of the barriers to ei across smes, we used a multiple treatment model (cattaneo, 2010), which enabled us to compare differentiated perceptions of barriers, according to the smes’ innovation statuses. that is, we compared the barriers perceived by environmentally innovative smes to those perceived by technologically innovative and noninnovative smes. other econometric modeling-based measures (e.g., böhringer, moslener, oberndorfer, & ziegler, 2012) instead tend to consider only ei firms and therefore measure a global effect among ei firms. some other studies on ti (baldwin & lin, 2002; galia & legros, 2004; hölzl & friesenbichler, 2010; iammarino et al., 2009; mohnen & röller, 2005; mohnen & rosa, 2002) and the barriers to environmental innovation in smes! m@n@gement, vol. 18(2): 132-155 140 4. because cis 2006 only provides information on barriers and cis 2008 only provides ei information (other cis surveys do not provide all the necessary information), we conducted this unique survey to gather both pieces of information simultaneously from firms located in the rhône-alpes region. very few studies on ei (ghisetti et al., 2015) also focus on the perceptions of barriers among innovative firms or treat non-innovative firms as an undifferentiated group. to extend these approaches, we investigate differences among environmentally innovative firms, technologically innovative firms, and non-innovative firms, which provides a better adjusted measure. with these comparisons, we highlight potential specificities of barriers perceived by environmentally innovative smes. independent variables ! we introduced a series of variables that prior empirical literature lists as determinants of product and process ei. public policies and regulation are powerful levers for inciting firms to adopt ei. because institutional pressures trigger ei even more among highly polluting firms (berrone et al., 2013), we used this proxy to measure the impact of regulation, with the prediction that smes operating in polluting sectors are more prone to adopt ei (antonioli et al., 2013)5. with regard to smes’ strategy, we anticipated that smes engaged in external growth strategies should be more likely to allocate resources to this strategic priority, to the detriment of other activities, such as those linked to innovation (hitt et al., 1996). in contrast, smes engaged in r&d cooperation might be able to compensate for their lack of resources to innovate (triguero et al., 2013). if smes belong to a cluster6, they also should be more likely to introduce ei, because they can benefit from interfirm network relationships and agglomeration economies (porter, 2000), though the role of agglomeration economies is not clear-cut (cainelli et al., 2012). these effects are important in relation to social proximity and processes of collective learning (mirata & emtairah, 2005). cainelli et al. (2012) also confirm the effects of agglomeration economies on ei in areas that have historically rooted specialization patterns in “ei-friendly” sectors, that is, those that have developed a typical social capital. ! a firm’s implementation of a pollution reduction strategy could also significantly influence its decision to adopt eis, in the form of products or processes (i.e., environmental monitoring), in line with wagner’s (2007) assertion that implementing an ems increases the probability that firms pursue innovation in general and ei in particular. wagner (2007) also notes a positive relationship between cooperation with predominantly environmentally concerned stakeholders and environmental product innovation. ! finally, we introduced variables to control for firms’ characteristics. we measured firm age by its logarithm. because efficient firms are more likely to survive and grow (bartelsman & doms, 2000), firm age should have a positive impact on ei. we included firm size, measured by the logarithm of the total number of employees. medium-sized smes seemingly innovate more than the smallest ones (laforet, 2008), so we expect firm size to have a positive impact on the decision to adopt ei, in that larger smes have more resources to innovate. when a sme is part of a group, it can benefit from additional resources necessary to innovate. in contrast, smes that face financial constraints (measured for 2010, using the debt-to-equity ratio computed from the orbis data; cassar & holmes, 2003; michaelas, chittenden, & poutziouris, 1999) should be less likely to adopt ei (madrid-guijarro et al., 2009). the relationship between innovation and exports has been well demonstrated, so we included a dummy to indicate if the firm engaged in export activity (basile, 2001; roper & love, 2002). finally, we defined two sector variables (manufacturing versus service). table 1 provides definitions for the variables in our multinomial logit model. m@n@gement, vol. 18(2): 132-155! amandine pinget, rachel bocquet & caroline mothe 141 5. accounting for government support may introduce an endogeneity bias, because subsidized firms may have characteristics that make them distinct from other firms (mairesse & mohnen, 2010), and other firms may not be recipients during the sample period, which would introduce an additional bias. moreover, smes receive only 9% of all public subsidies dedicated to r&d by the french government (lhuillery, marino, & parrotta, 2013). we therefore chose to not include government support for innovation. 6. here, “belonging to a cluster” means being a dues-paying member. french clusters are unique, in that they are more than just geographic concentrations (cf. porter, 2000). created by the french government in 2005, they are led by an organization or formal governance. even if, geographically speaking, a firm appears in the cluster’s territory, it belongs to that cluster only if it pays a membership fee; in return, it benefits from a series of actions determined by the cluster’s governance related to innovation, h u m a n r e s o u r c e p r o g r a m s , c o m m e r c i a l d e v e l o p m e n t , a n d s o o n . we t h a n k a n anonymous reviewer for suggesting this explanation. table 1. variables in the multinomial logit modeltable 1. variables in the multinomial logit model variable definition innovation = 0 if the firm has not innovated in the last three years; = 1 if the firm has introduced technological innovation in the last three years; = 2 if the firm has introduced environmental innovation in the last three years. polluting sector = 1 if the firm is part of a polluting sector, 0 otherwise. environmental monitoring = 1 if the firm measures its environmental impact (e.g., environmental audits, iso 14001), 0 otherwise. external growth = 1 if the firm engages in an external growth strategy (mergers and acquisitions), 0 otherwise. cluster = 1 if the firm belongs to a cluster, 0 otherwise. r&d cooperation = 1 if the firm cooperates in r&d with other firms, 0 otherwise. firm size logarithm of firm size (number of employees) in 2011. firm age logarithm of firm age in 2012. export = 1 if the firm exports, 0 otherwise. group = 1 if the firm belongs to a group, 0 otherwise. debt ratio = sum of long-term debts and loans, divided by shareholders’ funds and provisions in 2010. services = 1 if the firm is from the services sector, 0 otherwise. manufacturing = 1 if the firm is from the manufacturing sector, 0 otherwise. sample the descriptive statistics refer to the balanced sample, namely the 435 smes in appendix b. when we compare the environmentally innovative and noninnovative sme groups (see table 2), several differences emerge for variables related to the polluting sector, r&d cooperation, belonging to a cluster, having environmental monitoring, exports, and being from the services sector. we find fewer differences between environmentally and technologically innovative sme groups, and these are related to external growth, environmental monitoring, and age of the firm. we also find several significant differences between the technologically innovative and non-innovative groups, which are quite similar to those between the environmentally innovative and non-innovative sme groups. that is, there is a more important gap between environmentally innovative firms and non-innovative ones, and between technologically innovative firms and noninnovative ones, than between environmentally and technologically innovative smes, which exhibit few differences. appendix b provides the descriptive statistics. table 2. sample compositiontable 2. sample compositiontable 2. sample composition frequency percent environmentally innovative sme 142 32.65% technologically innovative sme 144 33.10% non-innovative sme 149 34.25% total 435 100.00% barriers to environmental innovation in smes! m@n@gement, vol. 18(2): 132-155 142 7. we thank an anonymous reviewer who suggested the multiple treatment-effects methodology, which allowed us to extend the results that we obtained initially with propensity score matching. 8. we use an inverse probability-weighted regression adjustment (ipwra), because the estimation method models both the impact variable (ei) and the treatment effect (barriers). this model actually combines two models: a regression adjustment model (ra) and an inverse probability-weighted model (ipw). these estimations have a double-robust property, in that if either the outcome model (for estimating barriers’ effects) or the treatment model (for ei) is correctly specified, the impacts are consistently e s t i m a t e d . m o r e o v e r, i n v e r s e p r o b a b i l i t y weighting is a robust method that leads to efficient estimators (hirano, imbens, & ridder, 2003), and weighting by the inverse of the estimation is more efficient than using population probabilities of the treatment to estimate the average treatment effect (hirano et al., 2003; rotnitzky & robins, 1995; wooldridge, 2002). 9. the equation is the same for technologically innovative smes, except that we substitute “ei” with “ti” in the previous formula. methods ! to analyze possible differences among firms in terms of innovation input, innovation strategies, innovation output, and firm performance, two main methods serve evaluation purposes. first, propensity score matching establishes two groups of firms that are similar in variables that determine a certain feature – here, the introduction of ei – such that one group exhibits this feature (i.e., ei or “treated” firms) and the other does not (i.e., non-innovative or “untreated” firms). second, multiple treatment-effects models7 compare not just two groups but several (e.g., environmentally innovative versus technologically innovative versus non-innovative firms). because this multiple treatment-effects approach provides more accurate and differentiated estimates across groups than propensity score matching, we chose to use it to assess differences in the perceived barriers of environmentally innovative smes, compared with those of technologically innovative smes and non-innovative ones. such multiple treatments also are of particular interest and relevance when differential impacts within and across treatments are likely (cattaneo, 2010). here, we expect different perceptions of barriers among smes, according to their innovation type. ! generally, estimations of innovation decisions are subject to endogeneity biases, because firms perceive innovation obstacles particularly when they are engaged in innovation, with the result that variables are not independent from the phenomenon itself. in cross-sectional data, variables related to r&d and innovation outcomes are generally endogenous (mairesse & mohnen, 2010), especially barriers (mohnen et al., 2008). in contrast, a multiple treatment effect creates proper counterfactuals for the observed data by weighing and subsequently comparing the observed outcomes with the constructed counterfactuals. at the same time, this method overcomes the endogeneity problem: it offers asymptotically unbiased and consistent estimates of treatment effects (morgan & harding, 2006; wooldridge, 2002). the independent variables used to match untreated with treated firms are exogenous and not affected by the treatment, in line with the requirements for matching and related techniques (imbens, 2004). thus, to estimate the treatment effect, we apply a doubly robust model8. ! first, the multinomial logit estimate allows us to distinguish the effects of ei antecedents for each group of smes (ei, ti, and ni). it contains all dependent and independent variables previously mentioned, as indicated in the following equation9: ! second, the results of this regression estimate the population average of the treatment effect on perceived barriers (atet). this estimator allows us to measure the difference between the perceptions of environmentally innovative smes and those of technologically innovative and non-innovative smes. more formally, atet estimates the causal effect of a treatment (having introduced ei) on an outcome (number and intensity of perceived barriers), and thus, it assesses the difference in perceived barriers by comparing treated smes (ei) with the control groups (ti or ni). we introduce barrier (outcome) variables that reflect the respondents’ answers to a series of questions we designed to identify barriers to innovation, as perceived by smes’ top managers. each respondent indicated his or her perception of nine barriers to innovation, related to (1) m@n@gement, vol. 18(2): 132-155! amandine pinget, rachel bocquet & caroline mothe 143 excessive costs of innovation, (2) lack of external financial sourcing, (3) lack of internal financial sourcing, (4) domination of markets by insiders, (5) demand uncertainty, (6) lack of skilled employees, (7) lack of information about technologies, (8) lack of information or visibility on markets, and (9) difficulties in finding partners with which to innovate. each barrier measure used a five-point scale, from 0 (very low perception) to 5 (very high perception). the perceptual measures involved two assessments: the perceived intensity of the barrier (barriers’ intensity), equal to the sum of all barrier scores by a respondent, and the number of perceived barriers (barriers’ number), or the sum of high and very high barriers indicated by the respondent (see table 3). finally, we grouped the nine barriers to innovation into three theoretically coherent categories (financial, market, and knowledge) and computed a measure of the intensity of each perceived barrier by category. we also added up the perceived barriers to calculate the number of perceived barriers in each category. the variable definitions are in table 3. table 3. definitions of barriers (outcomes)table 3. definitions of barriers (outcomes) outcome definition barriers’ intensity sum of all barriers’ scores by a respondent, ranging from 0 to 45, because for each of the 9 barriers, potential intensity scores range from 1 (very low) to 5 (very high). barriers’ number sum of high or very high barriers perceived by the firm, from 0 to 9. knowledge barriers’ intensity sum of knowledge barrier scores by a respondent, ranging from 0 to 20, because for each barrier (lack of skilled employees, lack of information on technologies, lack of information or visibility on markets, and difficulties in finding partners), potential intensity scores go from 1 (very low) to 5 (very high). knowledge barriers’ number sum of high or very high knowledge barriers perceived by the firm, from 0 to 4. financial barriers’ intensity sum of financial barrier scores by a respondent, ranging from 0 to 15, because for each financial barrier (excessive costs of innovation, lack of external financial sourcing, and lack of internal financial sourcing), potential intensity scores range from 1 (very low) to 5 (very high). financial barriers’ number sum of high or very high financial barriers perceived by the firm, from 0 to 3. market-related barriers’ intensity sum of market-related barrier scores by a respondent, ranging from 0 to 10, because for each market-related barrier (market dominated by insiders and demand uncertainty), potential scores range from 1 (very low) to 5 (very high). market-related barriers’ number sum of high or very high market-related barriers perceived by the firm, from 0 to 2. barriers to environmental innovation in smes! m@n@gement, vol. 18(2): 132-155 144 10. the correlation matrix is available on demand. it has not been included here, because there are no significant or important correlations that could disrupt our models. findings the results of the multinomial logit are in table 4. table 4. results of the multinomial logit model10 table 4. results of the multinomial logit model10 table 4. results of the multinomial logit model10 table 4. results of the multinomial logit model10 table 4. results of the multinomial logit model10 table 4. results of the multinomial logit model10 variable ei robustei robust ti robustti robust differences between ei and ti variable coefficient standard error coefficient standard error differences between ei and ti polluting sector 0.674 0.384* 0.645 0.398ns ns environmental monitoring 0.735 0.356** -0.108 0.398ns significant external growth -0.574 0.326* 0.364 0.297ns significant cluster 1.750 0.567*** 1.352 0.565** significant r&d cooperation 0.479 0.280* 0.268 0.276ns significant firm size 0.471 0.183** 0.455 0.179** ns firm age 0.002 0.151ns -0.311 0.144** significant export 0.460 0.280ns 0.699 0.278** significant group -1.046 0.643ns -0.619 0.561ns significant debt ratio -0.031 0.131ns -0.112 0.127ns significant services -0.088 0.273ns 0.204 0.271ns significant _cons -2.060 0.738*** -1.305 0.714ns significant log likelihood -436.375-436.375-436.375-436.375-436.375 no. of obs. 435435435435435 pseudo r² 0.08670.08670.08670.08670.0867 the models all pass the test of the independence of irrelevant alternatives (iia). ***significant at 1%. **significant at 5%. *significant at 10%. ns: non-significant. the models all pass the test of the independence of irrelevant alternatives (iia). ***significant at 1%. **significant at 5%. *significant at 10%. ns: non-significant. the models all pass the test of the independence of irrelevant alternatives (iia). ***significant at 1%. **significant at 5%. *significant at 10%. ns: non-significant. the models all pass the test of the independence of irrelevant alternatives (iia). ***significant at 1%. **significant at 5%. *significant at 10%. ns: non-significant. the models all pass the test of the independence of irrelevant alternatives (iia). ***significant at 1%. **significant at 5%. *significant at 10%. ns: non-significant. the models all pass the test of the independence of irrelevant alternatives (iia). ***significant at 1%. **significant at 5%. *significant at 10%. ns: non-significant. ! as expected, environmental regulation has a positive effect on the probability of adopting ei, such that smes from polluting sectors are more likely to innovate environmentally (antonioli et al., 2013). this effect is not significant for ti. regulation has a binding effect on smes’ ei decisions. the influence of environmental monitoring indicates that firms that are conscious of their environmental impact are more proactive in their ei. quite logically, this variable has no effect on ti. strategic behaviors also influence the likelihood of ei adoption (horbach, 2008). not surprisingly, an external growth strategy through mergers and acquisitions affects ei negatively, because ei and the acquisition strategy both have important costs that make them exclusive (hitt et al., 1996). in contrast, this strategy neither impedes nor fosters ti. the results also confirm the importance of networks and open innovation for smes, especially when ei is concerned. as expected, both joining a cluster and r&d cooperation strongly increase the probability that an sme introduces ei (cainelli et al. 2012); merely belonging to a cluster favors ti (baptista & swann, 1998). ! among the control variables, firm size has a significant positive impact on both ei and ti, but with a larger effect on ei than ti. large smes therefore are more likely to innovate in the environmental field than small ones, regardless of their age (cuerva et al., 2014; horbach, 2008).younger smes are more likely to adopt ti, whereas this effect is non-significant for environmentally innovative smes. finally, unlike environmentally innovative smes, export is significant for ti and appears to have a positive effect on ti (roper & love, 2002). m@n@gement, vol. 18(2): 132-155! amandine pinget, rachel bocquet & caroline mothe 145 ! in addition to defining these ei and ti determinants, we compare barrier perceptions among the different groups of smes. table 5 provides the descriptive statistics of the barriers; the perceived barrier estimation is given in table 6. table 5. descriptive statistics of barrierstable 5. descriptive statistics of barrierstable 5. descriptive statistics of barrierstable 5. descriptive statistics of barriers outcomes ei firms, means (sd) ti firms, means (sd) ni firms, means (sd) barriers’ intensity 19.894 (9.628) 17.417 (10.225) 14.302 (10.395) barriers’ number 7.099 (3.032) 6.451 (3.319) 5.497 (3.506) knowledge barriers’ intensity 8.873 (4.639) 7.688 (4.651) 6.443 (4.483) knowledge barriers’ number 3.204 (1.366) 2.938 (1.511) 2.523 (1.553) financial barriers’ intensity 6.697 (4.241) 5.958 (4.455) 4.416 (4.454) financial barriers’ number 2.324 (1.133) 2.125 (1.234) 1.738 (1.358) market-related barriers’ intensity 4.324 (2.665) 3.771 (2.944) 3.443 (2.974) market-related barriers’ number 1.570 (0.766) 1.389 (0.870) 1.235 (0.881) number of observations 142 144 149 we calculated the mean of each perceived barrier and compared the scores for ei, ti and ni smes. for example, the mean for barriers’ intensity (ranging from 0 to 45) is 19.894 for ei smes which is higher than for ti and ni ones. t-tests, previously made, indicate that differences are statistically significant (except between ti and ni smes for market-related barriers’ intensity). we calculated the mean of each perceived barrier and compared the scores for ei, ti and ni smes. for example, the mean for barriers’ intensity (ranging from 0 to 45) is 19.894 for ei smes which is higher than for ti and ni ones. t-tests, previously made, indicate that differences are statistically significant (except between ti and ni smes for market-related barriers’ intensity). we calculated the mean of each perceived barrier and compared the scores for ei, ti and ni smes. for example, the mean for barriers’ intensity (ranging from 0 to 45) is 19.894 for ei smes which is higher than for ti and ni ones. t-tests, previously made, indicate that differences are statistically significant (except between ti and ni smes for market-related barriers’ intensity). we calculated the mean of each perceived barrier and compared the scores for ei, ti and ni smes. for example, the mean for barriers’ intensity (ranging from 0 to 45) is 19.894 for ei smes which is higher than for ti and ni ones. t-tests, previously made, indicate that differences are statistically significant (except between ti and ni smes for market-related barriers’ intensity). table 6. comparison of the perceived barriers (atet)table 6. comparison of the perceived barriers (atet)table 6. comparison of the perceived barriers (atet)table 6. comparison of the perceived barriers (atet)table 6. comparison of the perceived barriers (atet)table 6. comparison of the perceived barriers (atet)table 6. comparison of the perceived barriers (atet)table 6. comparison of the perceived barriers (atet)table 6. comparison of the perceived barriers (atet) barriers’ intensity barrier’s number knowledge barriers’ intensity knowledge barriers’ number financial barriers’ intensity financial barriers’ number marketrelated barriers’ intensity marketrelated barriers’ number ei vs. ni 4.686*** (1.497) 1.224*** (0.469) 2.094*** (0.683) 0.543*** (0.208) 1.930*** (0.659) 0.452*** (0.173) 0.662* (0.403) 0.229** (0.114) ei vs. ti 3.064* (1.649) 1.164** (0.514) 1.377* (0.724) 0.562** (0.226) 1.017ns (0.686) 0.337* (0.189) 0.670ns (0.418) 0.264** (0.129) ti vs. ni 2.287* (1.286) 0.556ns (0.420) 0.921ns (0.580) 0.275ns (0.186) 1.290** (0.604) 0.244ns (0.161) 0.076ns (0.369) 0.037ns (0.108) the standard deviations, in brackets, are robust. ***significant at 1%. **significant at 5%. *significant at 10%. ns: non-significant. the standard deviations, in brackets, are robust. ***significant at 1%. **significant at 5%. *significant at 10%. ns: non-significant. the standard deviations, in brackets, are robust. ***significant at 1%. **significant at 5%. *significant at 10%. ns: non-significant. the standard deviations, in brackets, are robust. ***significant at 1%. **significant at 5%. *significant at 10%. ns: non-significant. the standard deviations, in brackets, are robust. ***significant at 1%. **significant at 5%. *significant at 10%. ns: non-significant. the standard deviations, in brackets, are robust. ***significant at 1%. **significant at 5%. *significant at 10%. ns: non-significant. the standard deviations, in brackets, are robust. ***significant at 1%. **significant at 5%. *significant at 10%. ns: non-significant. the standard deviations, in brackets, are robust. ***significant at 1%. **significant at 5%. *significant at 10%. ns: non-significant. the standard deviations, in brackets, are robust. ***significant at 1%. **significant at 5%. *significant at 10%. ns: non-significant. ! environmentally innovative, technologically innovative, and non-innovative smes thus have different perceptions of barriers. specifically, smes that have introduced ei perceive more barriers, with a stronger intensity, than the two other groups of smes (technologically innovative and non-innovative firms). although their effect is significant, the barriers perceived as lesser by environmentally innovative smes are those related to the market. this result holds when we investigate perceived barriers in number and intensity too. ! in particular, environmentally innovative smes perceive more barriers, more intensively, than non-innovative ones do. when comparing environmentally innovative smes with technologically innovative ones, the differences in perception are quite similar even though they are less pronounced. the only exceptions are the perception intensity of financial and market-related barriers, the effects of which are not significant. taken together, these results provide strong support for h1, insofar as barriers are perceived as more numerous by environmentally innovative smes than by technologically innovative or noninnovating smes. in contrast, we find support for h2 for the aggregate results but only partially, because barriers are not all perceived more intensely by barriers to environmental innovation in smes! m@n@gement, vol. 18(2): 132-155 146 environmentally innovative smes compared with the two other groups of smes. that is, environmentally innovative smes always perceive barriers more intensely than non-innovative smes, but not in comparison with technologically innovative smes. ! thus, the results reveal a double specificity of perceived barriers: between environmentally innovative smes and technologically innovative smes, and between environmentally innovative smes and non-innovative smes. differences in the perceptions of environmentally innovative smes are a matter of intensity and number compared with those of non-innovative smes, but they differ mainly in number compared with technologically innovative smes. these results reflect a robust test of atet estimates, which provide the net average perceptions of barriers by environmentally innovative smes compared with two control group smes (technologically innovative and non-innovative). with this original methodological approach, we effectively assess perceptions of barriers by environmentally innovative smes and their specificities. discussion and conclusion ! this study is the first, to the best of our knowledge, to test for perceptions of barriers to ei among smes, in line with ghisetti et al.’s (2015) recent analysis of deterrent financial barriers for smes’ ei activities. it provides several important results and contributions. theoretical implications ! first, with regard to perceived barriers, smes engaged in ei believe that they face more barriers than other smes (those that pursue “dirty” tis and noninnovators). they also perceive those barriers as more intense than the other two groups of smes do. only the intensities of financial and market-related barriers do not differ between environmentally innovative and technologically innovative smes. these results indicate a key distinction of environmentally innovative smes: because of the complexity of ei, they must deal with many more dimensions than technologically innovative smes. our research is in line with previous results that show that size affects eco-innovation propensity, emphasizing the difficulties smalland medium-sized enterprises face with regard to the complexity of eis and the investments needed to switch to greener technologies (hemmelskamp, 1999). ! among these constraints, the number of financial barriers is critical for smes. in line with recent findings, we offer two explanations. on the one hand, without a consistent, predictable policy framework, uncertainties in ecoinvestment profitability might increase, with new financial risks (ghisetti et al., 2015). on the other hand, systems failures (foxon & pearson, 2008), such as in infrastructure provision and investment, technological transition, lock-in, and restriction of financial credit for smes’ ei, may contribute to affecting environmentally innovative smes’ perceptions of financial burdens. ! we also note that market barriers are less perceived than any other kind, perhaps because ei for smes is less market-driven than other innovations are (horbach, 2008). however, they remain influential in number for environmentally innovative smes, compared with technologically innovative smes, which suggests a context of demand uncertainty. despite predictions about “green” market growth, demand often remains uncertain, because customers are not willing to pay more for environmentally friendly products or services (bianchi & noci, 1998; gabler, butler & adams, 2013; rennings, 2000). environmental features also are often not easily detectable by end users (de marchi, 2012). m@n@gement, vol. 18(2): 132-155! amandine pinget, rachel bocquet & caroline mothe 147 11. we thank an anonymous reviewer for this remark. moreover, market characteristics may facilitate or hinder the diffusion of ei (calleja et al., 2004). due to the complexity and systemic nature of eis, market and technological uncertainties that characterize many environmental technologies may be perceived as important, because there are no widely accepted standards, in terms of either specific technological solutions or measures, to evaluate the environmental performance of products and processes (de marchi, 2012). these aspects also explain our results linked to perceptions of knowledge-related barriers. ! second, environmentally innovative smes perceive knowledge barriers as more intense and more numerous than technologically innovative smes, possibly due to the higher level of complexity and novelty of the knowledge required to innovate (de marchi, 2012; petruzzelli, dangelico, rotolo, & albino, 2011), but also because ei is more knowledgeand information-intensive (horbach et al., 2013). ei often relies on knowledge and competences that are not core to firms (de marchi, 2012; marin et al., 2014). environmental features also may require sophisticated technical knowledge, such that ei represents a technological frontier on which firms continue to lack experience (de marchi, 2012) – especially smes. in such small firms, ceos may lack knowledge and expertise about subjects related to ei. this problem is strengthened by the lack of suitable information (walker, redmond, sheridan, wang, & goeft, 2008). our results also align with horbach et al.’s (2013) assertion that ei relies more on important external sources of knowledge than other innovations do. firms engaged in collective actions (e.g., r&d cooperation and cluster membership) are more likely to introduce ei, possibly because they enjoy information and knowledge diffusion about the benefits of ei, as well as advice and assistance from partners or other cluster members. ! third, regarding the antecedents of ei, we confirm the effect of regulation, in that firms in polluting sectors tend to introduce more eis. beyond these regulatory aspects, firms that have the highest probability of introducing eis are those that are the most mature in their environmental strategy. three major antecedents relate to firms’ strategies: belonging to a cluster, r&d cooperation, and environmental monitoring. although the logit estimation shows that eis are driven by firms’ strategic behavior, defensive motives (e.g., decreasing costs and risks or complying with regulation) emerge as being as important motives such as stimulating growth. for example, practices and tools designed to reduce environmental costs favor ei. similarly, smes operating in polluting sectors are more likely to introduce ei. these two results in turn suggest that coercive and mimetic pressures (dimaggio & powell, 1983) are crucial levers of smes’ ei adoption. regulations represent a significant coercive pressure, and regulatory efforts are effective for guiding green behaviors. these findings also support porter’s (2000) hypothesis, initially developed for large firms, both theoretically and in successive empirical studies with smes. suitable regulation even favors smes’ ei and may compensate for the related costs (porter & van der linde, 1995), through enhanced innovation activities that accord with firms’ strategies. our results thus reaffirm porter’s dynamic vision of the link between public policy, strategic behavior, and innovation. ! as in any study, our findings are subject to several caveats. we did not separate product and process eis, so further research should delineate whether barriers differ with changes in the type of ei (process/product) or its beneficiary (firm/client). nor did we distinguish incremental from radical innovations; incremental innovation is much less resourceand competency-demanding than radical innovation is, which destroys previous products and skills11. it would be interesting to compare our results with findings obtained from a sample of large firms. market barriers, for example, could have more substantial influences on large firms. further research could consider the impact of the managers’ profiles too, which tend to determine smes’ strategies. finally, interactional effects barriers to environmental innovation in smes! m@n@gement, vol. 18(2): 132-155 148 among different categories of barriers could be studied to determine if barriers are interrelated (ashford, 1993). such extensions are critical, because of the importance of ei for the sustainable growth of both economies and societies. in the meantime, our study provides interesting insights that may help managers and policy makers. managerial implications ! all smes should have strategic goals to facilitate their adoption of ei. our study reveals that perceptions are as important as objective barriers. because these perceptions are linked to the experience of the manager, managers must acknowledge the importance of networks and open innovation for smes (chesbrough, 2003; horbach et al., 2013; lichtenthaler & lichtenthaler, 2009). to decrease their perceptions of the number and intensity of barriers to this type of innovation, smes should engage in collective actions. by joining a cluster, smes enter an innovative environment, which may favor ei (cainelli et al., 2012). small firms already face informational and knowledge asymmetries, leaving them under-informed about public subsidies and ei strategies. public subsidies are also unequally distributed, such that they tend to benefit firms with either very minimal or very intense innovation activities (blanes & busom, 2004). horbach et al. (2013) demonstrate that eco-innovation activities require more information and knowledge than non-environmental innovation. public bodies should take initiatives to inform non-innovative firms about the opportunities and subsidies associated with ei, to encourage greater adoption. public policy implications ! in gathering smes’ perceptions, we reveal that managers must perceive viable strategic opportunities before they will engage in ei, because overall, smes lack knowledge about environmental and sustainability issues and about the specific practices that they could implement. they also lack understanding of environmental problems and risks and about the potential benefits of environmental improvements (walker et al., 2008). they do not have expertise or knowledge about environmental issues, as confirmed by our results pertaining to the overall perceptions of more numerous and more intense barriers, especially in terms of knowledge. finally, they see environmental responsibility as too costly (walker et al., 2008), so financial barriers are deterrents to ei (ghisetti et al., 2015). thus, public policies have important roles to play: they must raise firms’ awareness, provide necessary information (porter & van der linde, 1995), and reduce uncertainties. such policies should be oriented toward changing perceptions instead of just providing incentives, tools, or instruments. efforts to support ei might involve information diffusion, technology transfer, or publicprivate partnerships, because such undertakings can reduce the presence of perceived barriers. ! at a more local level, the crucial role of collective engagement, which enables firms to benefit from knowledge externalities, suggests that french competitiveness clusters can effectively support ei. clusters are not only privileged sites for information diffusion but also places to organize and manage knowledge (bocquet & mothe, 2010). the traits that define smes suggest that they are not intrinsically aware. they need strong incentives and dedicated support to engage in ei, especially because the market incentives are not as powerful for them. ! by supporting the cluster policy, our research demonstrates that public policies should focus less on financial help, subsidies, or concrete and objective measures, and more on shaping and modeling sme ceos’ perceptions of their environment and the potential benefits of eis. in clusters, they might rely on m@n@gement, vol. 18(2): 132-155! amandine pinget, rachel bocquet & caroline mothe 149 experience sharing; entrepreneurial perceptions partly originate from entrepreneurs’ experiences in specific business settings, as defined by the industry (kor et al., 2007). because of smes’ importance in the european industry, such an approach could foster macroeconomic sustainable development by emphasizing ecological and environmentally friendly innovations. references aguilera-caracuel, j., hurtado-torres, n. e. & aragóncorrea, j. a. (2012). does international experience help firms to be green? a knowledge-based view of how international experience and organisational learning influence proactive environmental strategies. international business review, 21(5), 847-861. alessandrini, p., presbitero, a. f. & zazzaro, a. (2010). bank size or distance: what hampers innovation a d o p t i o n b y s m e s ?  j o u r n a l o f e c o n o m i c geography, 10(6), 845-881. ambec, s. & lanoie, p. (2008). does it pay to be green? a systematic overview. the academy of management perspectives, 22(4), 45-62. antonioli, d., mancinelli, s. & mazzanti, m. (2013). is environmental innovation embedded within highperformance organisational changes? the role of human resource management and complementarity in green business strategies. research policy, 42(4), 975-988. aragón-correa, j. a., hurtado-torres, n., sharma, s. & garcía-morales, v. j. (2008). environmental strategy and performance in small firms: a resource-based p e r s p e c t i v e . j o u r n a l o f e n v i r o n m e n t a l management, 86(1), 88-103. arundel, a. & kemp, r. (2009). measuring ecoinnovation.  united nations university working paper series, 017, 1-40. ashford, n. a. (1993). understanding technological responses of industrial firms to environmental problems: implications for government policy, in k. fischer & j. schot (eds.), environmental strategies for industry (pp. 277-307). washington, dc: island press. baldwin, j. & lin, z. (2002). impediments to advanced t e c h n o l o g y a d o p t i o n f o r c a n a d i a n manufacturers. research policy, 31(1), 1-18. baptista, r. & swann, p. (1998). do firms in clusters innovate more? research policy, 27(5), 525-540. barsoumian, s., severin, a. & van der spek, t. (2011). eco-innovation and national cluster policies in europe.  a qualitative review. europe innova, european cluster observatory. bartelsman, e. j. & doms, m. (2000). understanding productivity: lessons from longitudinal microdata. journal of economic literature, 38(3), 569-594. b a s i l e , r . ( 2 0 0 1 ) . e x p o r t b e h a v i o u r o f i t a l i a n manufacturing firms over the nineties: the role of innovation. research policy, 30(8), 1185-1201. beise, m. & rennings, k. (2005). lead markets and r e g u l a t i o n : a f r a m e w o r k f o r a n a l y z i n g t h e i n t e r n a t i o n a l d i f f u s i o n o f e n v i r o n m e n t a l innovations. ecological economics, 52(1), 5-17. berrone, p., fosfuri, a., gelabert, l. & gomez‐mejia, l. r. (2013). necessity as the mother of ‘green’ inventions: i n s t i t u t i o n a l p r e s s u r e s a n d e n v i r o n m e n t a l innovations.  strategic management journal,  34(8), 891-909. bianchi, r. & noci, g. (1998). "greening" smes' competitiveness.  small business economics, 11(3), 269-281. blanchard, p., huiban, j. p., musolesi, a. & sevestre, p. (2013). where there is a will, there is a way? assessing the impact of obstacles to innovation. industrial and corporate change, 22(3), 679-710. blanes, j. v. & busom, i. (2004). who participates in r&d s u b s i d y p r o g r a m s ? t h e c a s e o f s p a n i s h manufacturing firms.  research policy,  33(10), 1459-1476. bocquet, r. & mothe, c. (2010). the role of cluster governance in external knowledge integration: the case of small firms. knowledge management research & practice, 8(3), 229-239. böhringer, c., moslener, u., oberndorfer, u. & ziegler, a. (2012). clean and productive? empirical evidence from the german manufacturing industry. research policy, 41(2), 442-451. brammer, s., hoejmose, s. & marchant, k. (2012). environmental management in smes in the uk: practices, pressures and perceived benefits. business strategy and the environment, 21(7), 423-434. busenitz, l.w. & barney, j.b. (1997). biases and heuristics in strategic decision-making: differences between entrepreneurs and managers in large organizations. journal of business venturing, 12(1), 9-30. cainelli, g., mazzanti, m. & montresor, s. (2012). environmental innovations, local networks and internationalization. industry and innovation, 19(8), 697–734. cainelli, g., mazzanti, m. & zoboli, r. (2011). environmental innovations, complementarity and local/global cooperation: evidence from north-east italian industry.  international journal of technology, policy and management, 11(3), 328-368. calleja, i., delgado, l., eder, p., kroll, a., lindblom, j., van wunnik, c. & langendorff, j. (2004). promoting environmental technologies: sectoral analysis, barriers and measures. report from the sustainable production and consumption issue group as a contribution to the environmental technologies action plan, report eur, 21002. calogirou, c., sørensen, s. y., bjørn larsen, p. & alexopoulou, s. (2010). smes and the environment in the european union. planet sa and danish technological institute, published by european commission, dg enterprise and industry. cassar, g. & holmes, s. (2003). capital structure and financing of smes: australian evidence. accounting & finance, 43(2), 123-147. cattaneo, m. d. (2010). efficient semiparametric estimation of multi-valued treatment effects under ignorability. journal of econometrics, 155(2), 138-154. barriers to environmental innovation in smes! m@n@gement, vol. 18(2): 132-155 150 chesbrough, h. w. (2003). open innovation: the new imperative for creating and profiting from technology. cambridge, ma: harvard business press. clausen, t. h. (2008), search pathways to innovation, tik working paper on innovation studies no.20080311, nordland research institute, bodø, norway. costantini, v., crespi, f., martini, c. & pennacchio, l. (2015). demand-pull and technology-push public support for eco-innovation: the case of the biofuels sector. research policy, 44(3), 577-595. cuerva, m. c., triguero-cano, á. & córcoles, d. (2014). drivers of green and non-green innovation: empirical evidence in low-tech smes.  journal of cleaner production, 68(1), 104-113. del río gonzález, p. (2009). the empirical analysis of the determinants for environmental technological change: a research agenda.  ecological economics,  68(3), 861-878. de marchi, v. (2012). environmental innovation and r&d cooperation: empirical evidence from spanish manufacturing firms. research policy, 41(3), 614-623. d’este, p., iammarino, s., savona, m. & von tunzelmann, n. (2012). what hampers innovation? revealed barriers versus deterring barriers.  research policy, 41(2), 482-488. dimaggio, p. j. & powell, w. w. (1983). the iron cage revisited: institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields.  american sociological review, 48(2), 147-160. di stefano, g., gambardella, a. & verona, g. (2012). technology push and demand pull perspectives in innovation studies: current findings and future research directions. research policy, 41(8), 1283-1295. european commission (2004). stimulating technologies for sustainable development: an environmental technologies action plan for the european union. com (2004) 38 final, brussels. ford, j. a., steen, j. & verreynne, m. l. (2014). how environmental regulations affect innovation in the australian oil and gas industry: going beyond the porter hypothesis. journal of cleaner production, 84(1), 204-213. foxon, t. & pearson, p. (2008). overcoming barriers to innovation and diffusion of cleaner technologies: some features of a sustainable innovation policy regime.  journal of cleaner production,  16(1), s148s161. freel, m. s. (2000). barriers to product innovation in small manufacturing firms. international small business journal, 18(2), 60-80. frishammar, j. & s. horte (2005). managing external information in manufacturing firms: the impact on innovation performance, journal of product innovation management, 22(3), 251–266. gabler, c. b. butler, t. d. & adams, f. g. (2013). the environmental belief-behaviour gap: exploring barriers to green consumerism.  journal of customer behaviour, 12(2-3), 159-176. galia, f. & legros, d. (2004). complementarities between o b s t a c l e s t o i n n o v a t i o n : e v i d e n c e f r o m france. research policy, 33(8), 1185-1199. galliano, d. & nadel, s. (2013). les déterminants de l'adoption de l'eco-innovation selon le profil stratégique de la firme: le cas des firmes i n d u s t r i e l l e s f r a n ç a i s e s .  r e v u e d ' e c o n o m i e industrielle, 142, 77-110. ghisetti, c., mazzanti, m., mancinelli s. & zoli m. (2015). do financial constraints make the environment worse off? understanding the effects of financial barriers on environmental innovations, seeds working paper series, 19p. hemmelskamp, j. (1999). the influence of environmental policy on innovative behaviour: an econometric study. fondazione eni enrico mattei working paper no. 18.99, seville, spain. hirano, k., imbens, g. w. & ridder, g. (2003). efficient estimation of average treatment effects using the estimated propensity score.  econometrica,  71(4), 1161-1189. hitt, m. a., hoskisson, r. e., johnson, r. a. & moesel, d. d. (1996). the market for corporate control and firm innovation.  academy of management journal,  39(5), 1084-1119. hölzl, w. & friesenbichler, k. s. (2010). high-growth f i r m s , i n n o v a t i o n a n d t h e d i s t a n c e t o t h e frontier. economics bulletin, 30(2), 1016-1024. hölzl, w. & janger, j. (2014). distance to the frontier and the perception of innovation barriers across european countries. research policy, 43(4), 707-725. horbach, j. (2008). determinants of environmental innovation—new evidence from german panel data sources. research policy, 37(1), 163-173. horbach, j., oltra, v. & belin, j. (2013). determinants and specificities of eco-innovations compared to other innovations—an econometric analysis for the french and german industry based on the community innovation survey. industry and innovation,  20(6), 523-543. horbach, j., rammer, c. & rennings, k. (2012). determinants of eco-innovations by type of environmental impact—the role of regulatory push/ pull, technology push and market pull. ecological economics, 78, 112-122. hughes, a. (2001). innovation and business performance: small entrepreneurial firms in the uk and the eu. new economy, 8(3), 157-163. hyytinen, a. & toivanen, o. (2005). do financial constraints hold back innovation and growth? evidence on the role of public policy. research policy, 34(9), 1385-1403. iammarino, s., sanna-randaccio, f. & savona, m. (2009). the perception of obstacles to innovation. foreign multinationals and domestic firms in italy. revue d'economie industrielle, 125, 75-104. imbens, g. w. (2004). nonparametric estimation of average treatment effects under exogeneity: a review.  review of economics and statistics,  86(1), 4-29. inoue, e., arimura, t. h. & nakano, m. (2013). a new insight into environmental innovation: does the maturity of environmental management systems matter? ecological economics, 94, 156-163. jaffe, a. b., newell, r. g. & stavins, r. n. (2005). a tale of two market failures: technology and environmental policy. ecological economics, 54(2), 164-174. m@n@gement, vol. 18(2): 132-155! amandine pinget, rachel bocquet & caroline mothe 151 kammerer, d. (2009). the effects of customer benefit and regulation on environmental product innovation: empirical evidence from appliance manufacturers in germany. ecological economics, 68(8), 2285-2295. kemp, r. (2010). eco-innovation: definition, measurement and open research issues. economia politica, 27(3), 397-420. kesidou, e. & demirel, p. (2012). on the drivers of ecoi n n o v a t i o n s : e m p i r i c a l e v i d e n c e f r o m t h e uk. research policy, 41(5), 862-870. klewitz, j. & hansen, e.g. (2014). sustainability-oriented innovation of smes: a systematic review, journal of cleaner production, 65, 57-75. konar, s. & cohen, m.a. (2001). does the market value environmental performance? review of economics and statistics, 83(2), 281-289. kor, y.y., mahoney, j.t. & michael, s.c. (2007), r e s o u r c e s , c a p a b i l i t i e s a n d e n t r e p r e n e u r i a l perceptions. journal of management studies, 44(7), 1187–1212. laforet, s. (2008). size, strategic, and market orientation affects on  innovation. journal of business research, 61(7), 753-764. lhuillery, s., marino, m. & parrotta, p. (2013). evaluation de l’impact des aides directes et indirectes à la r&d en france, report for the ministry of research, france. lichtenthaler, u. & lichtenthaler, e. (2009). a capabilityb a s e d f r a m e w o r k f o r o p e n i n n o v a t i o n : complementing absorptive capacity. journal of management studies, 46(8), 1315–1338. madrid‐guijarro, a., garcia, d. & van auken, h. (2009). barriers to innovation among spanish manufacturing smes. journal of small business management, 47(4), 465-488. mairesse, j. & mohnen, p. (2010), using innovations surveys for econometric analysis, nber working paper series. marin, g., marzucchi, a. & zoboli, r. (2014). smes and barriers to eco-innovation in eu: a diverse palette of greens, working paper nº 2014-04, ingenio, valencia, spain. mazzarol, t., reboud, s. & volery, t. (2010). the influence of size, age and growth on innovation management in small firms.  international journal of technology management, 52(1), 98-117. michaelas, n., chittenden, f. & poutziouris, p. (1999). financial policy and capital structure choice in uk smes: empirical evidence from company panel data. small business economics, 12(2), 113-130. mirata, m. & emtairah, t. (2005). industrial symbiosis networks and the contribution to environmental innovation: the case of the landskrona industrial symbiosis programme. journal of cleaner production, 13(10–11), 993–1002. mohnen, p., palm, f. c., van der loeff, s. s. & tiwari, a. (2008). financial constraints and other obstacles: are t h e y a t h r e a t t o i n n o v a t i o n a c t i v i t y ?  d e economist, 156(2), 201-214. mohnen, p. & röller, l. h. (2005). complementarities in innovation policy. european economic review,  49(6), 1431-1450. mohnen, p. & rosa, j. m. (2002). barriers to innovation in service industries in canada. in m. feldman & n. massard (eds.), institutions and systems in the geography of innovation (vol. 25, pp. 231–250). springer us. morgan, s. l. & harding, d. j. (2006). matching estimators of causal effects prospects and pitfalls in theory and practice.  sociological methods & research,  35(1), 3-60. organization for economic co-operation and development (oecd). (2005). oslo manual: guidelines for collecting and interpreting innovation data, (no. 4). penrose, e.t. (1959). the theory of the growth of the firm. new york, ny: john wiley & sons. peters, m., schneider, m., griesshaber, t. & hoffmann, v. h. (2012). the impact of technology-push and demand-pull policies on technical change–does the locus of policies matter? research policy, 41(8), 1296-1308. petruzzelli, a.m., dangelico, r.m., rotolo, d. & albino, v. (2011). organizational factors and technological features in the development of green innovations: evidence from patent analysis.  innovation,  13(3), 291-310. polanyi, m. (1962). personal knowledge: towards a postcritical philosophy. chicago, il: university of chicago press. popp, d., hafner, t. & johnstone, n. (2011). environmental policy vs. public pressure: innovation and diffusion of alternative bleaching technologies in the pulp industry. research policy, 40(9), 1253-1268. porter, m. e. (1991). towards a dynamic theory of strategy. strategic management journal, 12(s2), 95-117. porter, m.e. (2000). location, competition, and economic development:  local clusters in a global economy. economic development quarterly, 14(1), 15-34. porter, m. e. & van der linde, c. (1995). toward a new conception of the environment-competitiveness relationship. journal of economic perspectives, 9(4), 97-118. rehfeld, k. m., rennings, k. & ziegler, a. (2007). integrated product policy and environmental product innovations: an empirical analysis.  ecological economics, 61(1), 91-100. rennings, k. (2000). redefining innovation—ecoinnovation research and the contribution from ecological economics.  ecological economics,  32(2), 319-332. rennings, k. & rammer, c. (2009). increasing energy and resource efficiency through innovation – an explorative analysis using innovation survey data, discussion paper no. 09-056, zew. roper, s. & love, j. h. (2002). innovation and export performance: evidence from the uk and german manufacturing plants.  research policy,  31(7), 1087-1102. rotnitzky, a. & robins, j. m. (1995). semiparametric regression estimation in the presence of dependent censoring. biometrika, 82(4), 805-820. savignac, f. (2008). impact of financial constraints on innovation: what can be learned from a direct measure?  economics of innovation and new technology, 17(6), 553-569. barriers to environmental innovation in smes! m@n@gement, vol. 18(2): 132-155 152 schiederig, t., tietze, f. & herstatt, c. (2012). green innovation in technology and innovation management– an exploratory literature review.  r&d management, 42(2), 180-192. schneider, c. & veugelers, r. (2010). on young highly innovative companies: why they matter and how (not) to policy support them. industrial and corporate change, 19(4), 969-1007. segarra-blasco, a., garcia-quevedo, j. & teruelcarrizosa, m. (2008). barriers to innovation and public policy in catalonia. international entrepreneurship and management journal, 4(4), 431-451. shepherd, d.a. & detienne, d.r. (2005). prior knowledge, potential financial rewards, and opportunity identification. entrepreneurship: theory and practice, 29(1), 91-112. tourigny, d. & le, c. d. (2004). impediments to innovation faced by canadian manufacturing firms. economics of innovation and new technology, 13(3), 217-250. triguero, a., moreno-mondéjar, l. & davia, m. a. (2013). drivers of different types of eco-innovation in european smes. ecological economics, 92, 25-33. wagner, m. (2003).  the porter hypothesis revisited: a literature review of theoretical models and empirical tests. center for sustainability management, allemagne. wagner, m. (2007). on the relationship between environmental management, environmental innovation and patenting: evidence from german manufacturing firms. research policy, 36(10), 1587-1602. walker, b., redmond, j., sheridan, l., wang, c. & goeft, u. (2008).  small and medium enterprises and the environment: barriers, drivers, innovation and best practice: a review of the literature. small & medium enterprise research centre, australia university. wooldridge, j. m. (2002). inverse probability weighted mestimators for sample selection, attrition, and stratification.  portuguese economic journal,  1(2), 117-139. worthington, i. & patton, d. (2005). strategic intent in the management of the green environment within smes. long range planning, 38(2), 197-212. zahra, s. a. & covin, j. g. (1993). business strategy, technology policy and firm performance. strategic management journal, 14(6), 451-478. zhu, y., wittmann, x. & peng, m. w. (2012). institutionbased barriers to innovation in smes in china.  asia p a c i fi c j o u r n a l o f m a n a g e m e n t ,  2 9 ( 4 ) , 1131-1142.ahlstrom d.  & bruton g.d. (2002). an institutional perspective on the role of culture in shaping strategic actions by technology-focused entrepreneurial firms in china. entrepreneurship theory and practice, 26(4), 53-70. m@n@gement, vol. 18(2): 132-155! amandine pinget, rachel bocquet & caroline mothe 153 appendix a. distribution by sector and size of 435 rhône-alpes firms (balanced database) parent population (%) balanced sample (%) firm size 10-49 employees 83.79 82.30 50-249 employees 16.21 17.70 total 100 100 industry manufacturing 22.25 45.29 services 77.75 54.71 total 100 100 a p p e n d i x b . d e s c r i p t i v e s t a t i s t i c s o f variables used in the multinomial logit variables firms with ei, means and (sd) firms with ti, means and (sd) firm with ni, means and (sd) polluting sector 0.246 (0.432) 0.208 (0.408) 0.107 (0.311) environmental monitoring 0.211 (0.410) 0.104 (0.307) 0.101 (0.302) external growth 0.183 (0.388) 0.347 (0.478) 0.215 (0.412) cluster 0.190 (0.394) 0.146 (0.354) 0.027 (0.162) r&d cooperation 0.401 (0.492) 0.375 (0.486) 0.262 (0.441) firm size 3.395 (0.769) 3.454 (0.861) 3.126 (0.677) firm age 2.888 (0.902) 2.646 (0.868) 2.847 (0.923) export 0.472 (0.501) 0.507 (0.502) 0.268 (0.445) group 0.042 (0.202) 0.063 (0.243) 0.060 (0.239) debt ratio 0.516 (0.993) 0.412 (0.789) 0.488 (1.377) services 0.352 (0.479) 0.444 (0.499) 0.456 (0.500) number of observations 142 144 149 barriers to environmental innovation in smes! m@n@gement, vol. 18(2): 132-155 154 amandine pinget, is a phd candidate at the savoie mont blanc university (irege, france). her research focuses on the specificities of environmental innovations in the context of smes. her teaching activity concerns strategic diagnosis and market research. rachel bocquet is full professor of strategic and innovation management at the savoie mont blanc university (irege, france). her field of research is centered on the determinants of technological and organizational innovations, especially in small and medium-sized firms. she is also currently investigating the effects of cluster membership on the performance of smes. she has published several articles in books and international journals.. caroline mothe is full professor of strategic and innovation management at the savoie mont blanc university (france) and the director of the irege research center. interested in inter-firm cooperation and in innovative organizations, she coordinates several national and european research projects on intra and interorganizational innovation processes. she has published many articles related to these fields in international journals. acknowledgements. we are particularly thankful to the rhône-alpes region for providing financial support for this research. © the author(s) www.management-aims.com m@n@gement, vol. 18(2): 132-155! amandine pinget, rachel bocquet & caroline mothe 155 73casanueva volume 11, no. 2. special issue: “corporate governance and ethics” guest editors: vincent dessain, olivier meier and vicente salas � riadh manita 2008 la qualité de lʼaudit externe : proposition dʼune grille dʼévaluation axée sur le processus dʼaudit, m@n@gement, 11: 2, 191-210. copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). m@n@gement is a double-blind refereed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.management-aims.com © 2006 m@n@gement and the author(s). m@n@gement issn: 1286-4892 editors: alain desreumaux, u. de lille i martin evans, u. of toronto bernard forgues, u. de lille i hugh gunz, u. of toronto martina menguzzato, u. de valència m@n@gement est la revue officielle de lʼaims m@n@gement is the official journal of aims http://www.management-aims.com http://www.management-aims.com http://www.strategie-aims.com riadh manita groupe esc rouendépartement comptabilité-audit email: riadh.manita@groupe-esc-rouen.fr la qualité de l’audit externe : proposition d’une grille d’évaluation axée sur le processus d’audit les récents scandales financiers ont bouleversé la conception et lʼévaluation de la qualité de lʼaudit. ils ont démontré lʼincapacité des approches classiques dʼévaluation à appréhender la qualité dʼaudit. devant cette situation, les milieux économiques et juridiques ont réagi en adoptant une nouvelle loi sur la sécurité financière. celle-ci favorise une évaluation de la qualité dʼaudit orientée vers lʼanalyse du processus dʼaudit. cette mission a été confiée au comité dʼaudit, vu son accès privilégié à lʼinformation et la place centrale quʼil occupe dans le processus de contrôle. lʼobjectif principal de ce papier est la construction dʼune grille dʼévaluation de la qualité du processus dʼaudit. la conception et la validation de cette grille dʼévaluation ont été réalisées sur le terrain tunisien dans le cadre dʼun protocole expérimental se basant sur la démarche de churchill (1979). lʼéchelle de mesure ainsi obtenue met en évidence 49 indicateurs de qualité répartis sur 6 étapes du processus. en tant que mécanisme de gouvernance, le rôle essentiel de lʼaudit est de réduire en grande partie lʼasymétrie dʼinformation entre gestionnaires et actionnaires ou tiers contractants. en garantissant lʼimage fidèle des informations financières communiquées, lʼaudit constitue un facteur clé permettant à ces derniers de prendre leurs décisions propres. etant donné son importance pour la prise de décision, les différents utilisateurs des états financiers ont besoin dʼêtre sécurisés quant à la qualité de cet audit. cependant lʼappréciation ou la mesure de cette qualité est problématique. le résultat de la qualité dʼaudit nʼétant pas directement ou immédiatement visible, le processus dʼaudit est très complexe et inobservable par les tiers, et le rapport dʼaudit (résultat dʼun audit) est tellement standardisé dans son contenu et dans sa formulation quʼil nʼoffre que peu de possibilité de différenciation. dans ce sens, un échec dʼaudit nʼest souvent connu que dans un contexte de faillites largement médiatisé (wooten, 2003). il est en effet difficile de connaître le nombre des audits de mauvaise qualité qui passent inaperçus sans quʼils soient rendus publics (manita, 2005). dans ce cadre, la plupart des chercheurs en la matière (notamment deangelo, 1981 ; nichols et smith, 1983 ; eichenseher et shields, 1989 ; lennox,1999) admettent que lʼévaluation de la qualité dʼaudit repose sur deux concepts de base : la compétence et lʼindépendance de lʼauditeur1. dans ces études les chercheurs ont essayé dʼappré191 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 191-210 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 1. la qualité d’une démarche d’audit est déterminée par la capacité de l’auditeur à déceler les éventuelles erreurs et anomalies du système (qualité de détection) et à rendre compte des découvertes mises en évidence lors de ses travaux (qualité de révélation). mailto:riadh.manita@groupe-esc-rouen.fr hender la qualité dʼaudit à travers la qualité de lʼauditeur. en raison de la difficulté dʼobservation du processus dʼaudit, la majorité des études normatives et expérimentales sʼest concentrée, moyennant une approche indirecte dʼévaluation, sur la recherche de substituts de la qualité dʼaudit. ces derniers, sont soient perçus par le marché soient liés aux caractéristiques intrinsèques de ces deux concepts (kaplan,1995 ; reckers, wheeler et wong-on-wing, 1997 ; krishnan et schauer, 2000). plusieurs chercheurs ont souligné que cette approche dʼévaluation plutôt indirecte de la qualité dʼaudit admet des limites conceptuelles et empiriques qui atténuent sa crédibilité. les premières sont liées essentiellement aux risques de sélection adverse et de complaisance avec les dirigeants (fama et jensen, 1983 ; craswell,1988 ; citron et taffer, 1992). les secondes se rapportent plutôt aux caractéristiques des indicateurs identifiés (indicateurs très simplistes et très réducteurs de la complexité de la qualité dʼaudit) et à leur incapacité de déterminer ce qui doit être fait pour améliorer la qualité dʼaudit (sutton, 1993). les derniers scandales financiers (notamment lʼaffaire enron) et la faillite du cabinet arthur andersen2, ont confirmé lʼinsuffisance de cette approche indirecte dʼévaluation, à appréhender la qualité dʼaudit. en tunisie, nous avons assisté en 2002 à lʼéquivalent du cas enron. il sʼagit de la faillite de la société batam3. celle-ci a engendré une crise de confiance sur le marché financier tunisien en affectant la fiabilité de lʼinformation financière et la qualité de lʼaudit. ces scandales ont bouleversé la conception et la mesure de la qualité dʼaudit qui reposait jusquʼalors sur des indicateurs exogènes au processus dʼaudit. ces constats dʼinefficacité des approches classiques dʼévaluation de la qualité dʼaudit ont conduit le monde professionnel, mais aussi académique, à repenser les règles et les mécanismes actuels dʼévaluation de la qualité dʼaudit et à mener un débat et une réflexion sur la problématique de sa mesurabilité. sur le plan professionnel, cette réflexion a débouché sur lʼadoption en tunisie dʼune nouvelle loi sur la sécurité financière sʼinspirant de la loi sox aux usa et la loi sur la sécurité financière en france. dʼune part, cette loi exige à toutes les sociétés cotées de nommer un comité dʼaudit. dʼautre part, elle favorise le contrôle par ce comité de la qualité de la mission réalisée par lʼauditeur externe. sur le plan académique, plusieurs chercheurs (knapp, 1991 ; carcello, hermanson et mcgrath, 1992 ; pigé, 2003) ont aussi plaidé pour un dépassement des approches indirectes dʼévaluation dʼaudit et pour une réorientation de lʼanalyse de la qualité basée sur le processus de lʼauditeur. les auteurs suggèrent que lʼévaluation de ce processus doit être effectuée par le comité dʼaudit, étant donné son accès privilégié à lʼinformation et la place centrale quʼil occupe dans le processus de contrôle. cette nouvelle mission confiée aux comités dʼaudit nécessite la mise en place, au profit de ces derniers, dʼun outil dʼévaluation de la qualité du processus dʼaudit. cette perception particulière de déroulement de la mission par le comité dʼaudit nʼa pas été, à notre connaissance, étudiée par les auteurs. riadh manita 192 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 191-210 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 2. la taille du cabinet d’audit était considérée à la fois comme indicateur de compétence et indépendance et pourtant le cabinet arthur andersen a fait faillite suite à l’affaire enron. 3. batam une société de grande distribution très renommée localement, notamment en électroménager, et cotée à la bourse de tunis. cette société a fait faillite sans aucune alerte de la part du commissaire aux comptes. a la suite d’une action en justice contre le commissaire aux comptes, celui-ci a été condamné à une peine de deux ans d’emprisonnement. lʼobjet de ce papier est de proposer au profit des comités dʼaudit (et par conséquent à des administrateurs soucieux quant à la qualité dʼaudit) un outil dʼévaluation la qualité du processus dʼaudit. lʼanalyse de celui-ci exige une grille dʼévaluation que nous proposons dʼétudier afin de mettre en évidence les indicateurs de qualité les plus pertinents. après une présentation de la revue de littérature sur la qualité de lʼaudit, nous exposerons la démarche empirique de notre recherche. ensuite, nous présenterons et analyserons les résultats obtenus. enfin, nous conclurons notre papier en discutant ses résultats et en mettant lʼaccent sur ses limites. les indicateurs de mesure de la qualite d’audit plusieurs chercheurs se sont intéressés à mesurer la qualité dʼaudit (deangelo, 1981 ; nichols et smith, 1983 ; eichenseher et shields, 1989 ; lennox, 1999 ; krishnan et schauer, 2000). cependant, la majorité de ces travaux était consacrée à lʼanalyse de la qualité de lʼauditeur en tant quʼune approximation de la qualité dʼaudit, plutôt quʼà lʼanalyse du processus dʼaudit lui-même. les études basées sur lʼanalyse de la qualité de lʼauditeur la qualité de lʼaudit a été définie par deangelo (1981: 186) comme « lʼappréciation par le marché de la probabilité jointe quʼun auditeur va simultanément découvrir une anomalie ou irrégularité significative dans le système comptable de lʼentreprise cliente et mentionner et publier cette anomalie ou irrégularité ». dans ce sens, citron et taffler (1992) précisent quʼun rapport dʼaudit sera de qualité sʼil est le résultat dʼun processus dʼaudit techniquement compétent et indépendant. de nombreux chercheurs (flint, 1988 ; knapp,1991 ; moizer, 1997) ont retenu cette double approche pour définir la qualité de lʼaudit en distinguant la compétence technique (qualité de détection) de lʼindépendance (qualité de révélation) de lʼauditeur. dans ce cadre, plusieurs recherches (nichols et smith, 1983 ; eichenseher et shields, 1989 ; kaplan, 1995 ; reckers, wheeler et wong-on-wing, 1997 ; lennox, 1999 ; krishnan et schauer, 2000) se sont appuyées sur cette définition de la qualité de lʼaudit pour identifier des substituts de la qualité de lʼaudit perçus par le marché ou liés aux caractéristiques intrinsèques de ces deux concepts (compétence et indépendance de lʼauditeur). en effet, devant la difficulté dʼobservation du processus dʼaudit, la majorité des recherches normatives ou expérimentales sʼest tournée vers une appréciation de la qualité dʼaudit à travers la qualité de lʼauditeur en tant quʼindividu ou groupe dʼindividus. ces recherches peuvent être subdivisées en quatre sous groupes. le premier groupe sʼest concentré sur lʼidentification des indicateurs de qualité perçus par le marché tels que la taille (piot, 2004 ; hay, knechel et wong, 2006), les honoraires (malone et roberts, 1996 ; hay et la qualité de lʼaudit externe : proposition dʼune grille dʼévaluation 193 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 191-210 special issue: corporate governance and ethics m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 191-210 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 194 riadh manita al., 2006) et la réputation de lʼauditeur (palmrose, 1988 ; mcnair, 1991 ; davis et simon, 1992 ; moreland, 1995 ; carey et simnett, 2006 ; moizer, 1997). le deuxième groupe a tenté dʼappréhender la qualité en examinant les caractéristiques organisationnelles de la firme dʼaudit. ces études partent du constat que, comme toute organisation, les cabinets dʼaudit disposent dʼune structure hiérarchique et dʼune organisation de travail qui leur sont propres. ils disposent aussi des auditeurs (à différents niveaux hiérarchiques) qui ont des motivations différentes face à lʼobjectif dʼamélioration de la qualité dʼaudit (power, 1995). la qualité du service fourni par les cabinets dʼaudit va dépendre donc non seulement de leurs organisations internes mais aussi de la qualité des efforts rendus par leurs équipes dʼauditeurs (wotten, 2003)4. le troisième groupe traite des caractéristiques propres aux équipes de travail dʼaudit. les attributs de qualité identifiés se rapportent notamment au niveau dʼattention des associés et des managers aux travaux dʼaudit, au professionnalisme, persistance et scepticisme de lʼauditeur, à lʼexpérience avec le client et à lʼexpérience dans lʼindustrie (wooten, 2003). certains chercheurs se sont intéressés également aux comportements de négligence professionnelle des collaborateurs qui sont de nature à réduire ou affecter la qualité de la mission de certification (chow, cooper et waller, 1988 ; mcdaniel, 1990 ; mcnair, 1991 ; malone et roberts, 1996). le quatrième groupe a essayé de développer des indicateurs multicritères de la qualité dʼaudit. il sʼagit dʼidentifier les différentes dimensions de la qualité de lʼaudit qui varieront selon les auditeurs, utilisateurs ou préparateurs des états financiers. dans la plupart des cas, ces travaux ont consisté à dresser, pour chaque groupe dʼutilisateurs, des listes dʼattributs qualitatifs et à les administrer par questionnaires. les attributs identifiés par la littérature sont le plus souvent liés à la composition, la qualification et lʼexpérience de lʼéquipe dʼaudit, à certaines caractéristiques de la firme dʼaudit, au contrôle des travaux dʼaudit et au processus dʼaudit lui-même (mock et samet, 1982 ; sutton et lampe, 1991 ; carcello et al., 1992 ; groveman, 1995 ; sikka, puxty, willmott et cooper, 1998). cependant, ces recherches, qui ont utilisé une approche plutôt indirecte dʼévaluation de la qualité dʼaudit, souffrent de plusieurs limites conceptuelles et empiriques. les approches dʼévaluation fondées sur la compétence et lʼindépendance de lʼauditeur peuvent être entachées par les risques de complaisance avec les dirigeants et de sélection adverse (goldman et barlev, 1974 ; fama et jensen, 1983). aussi, les indicateurs quʼelles ont identifiés sont très réducteurs de la complexité des travaux dʼaudit5. ces approches indirectes présentent également lʼinconvénient dʼêtre focalisées principalement sur la qualité perçue sans pour autant chercher à déterminer ce qui doit être fait pour lʼaméliorer dʼune façon intrinsèque via des déterminants techniques, procéduraux ou autres. devant les limites des travaux portant sur la qualité de lʼauditeur, une issue consiste à sʼintéresser au processus qui y mène (carcello et al., 1992). 4. plusieurs indicateurs de qualité ont été abordés par les auteurs tels que les ressources humaines (wotten, 2003), le processus de contrôle qualité du cabinet (malone et roberts, 1996 ; krishnan et schauer, 2000 ; prat dit hauret, 2000), l’expérience du cabinet en audit (aldesier, 1995), l’expérience dans l’industrie (deis et giroux, 1992), la rotation des associés sur le dossier et la réalisation de mission de conseil (abdel-khalik, 1990 ; wines, 1994). 5. la réalisation d’une mission d’audit se fait dans un environnement multi-acteurs. l’auditeur doit à la fois répondre aux besoins de son client, respecter les normes et la législation en vigueur, protéger le public sans oublier d’assurer sa rentabilité dans un marché compétitif (briand, 1998). la pratique de la révision des comptes est désormais complexe réunissant des relations sociales (entre auditeurs, avec les gestionnaires, administrateurs, etc..) et un contexte (réglementation, concurrence…). m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 191-210 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 195 la qualité de lʼaudit externe : proposition dʼune grille dʼévaluation les etudes basees sur lʼanalyse du processus dʼaudit peu de recherches ont porté sur lʼévaluation de la qualité du processus dʼaudit. les premières études se sont focalisées sur la compréhension des facteurs de contingence de lʼenvironnement dʼaudit. pour ce faire, gibbins et wolf (1982) ont examiné le manuel dʼaudit dʼune firme nationale, les normes et textes dʼaudit et ont réalisé des interviews avec des auditeurs pour générer une liste de facteurs pouvant influencer lʼenvironnement dʼaudit. cette étude a débouché sur lʼidentification dʼune série de facteurs généraux qui ont un impact sur les diverses étapes du processus dʼaudit. mock et samet (1982) ont examiné les différentes étapes du processus dʼaudit en observant spécialement les facteurs affectant la qualité dʼaudit et les différentes mesures qui peuvent leur être attribuées. ils ont identifié une liste de 110 facteurs à partir des normes dʼaudit (sas) et des standards de contrôle qualité des firmes dʼaudit. cette liste a été ensuite purifiée individuellement par un petit groupe dʼauditeurs. la vérification finale est concrétisée via la distribution de questionnaires à 34 auditeurs. a lʼissue de cette étude, 32 indicateurs de la qualité dʼaudit ont été identifiés. en utilisant deux groupes dʼauditeurs appartenant à deux cabinets internationaux, sutton (1993), a tenté de développer et de valider, au profit des auditeurs, une série de facteurs clés permettant dʼappréhender la qualité du processus dʼaudit ainsi quʼune série de mesures de ces facteurs de qualité. la méthode de recherche utilisée dans cette étude est fondée sur une forme spécialisée de techniques du groupe nominal pour identifier des mesures de la qualité dʼaudit dans les sociétés de services. les résultats obtenus conduisent à lʼidentification tout au long du processus dʼaudit (réparti en 4 étapes) de 19 facteurs affectant la qualité dʼaudit correspondant à 63 mesures. néanmoins, si lʼanalyse du processus dʼaudit a été effectuée dans une perspective dʼévaluation de la performance dʼune mission dʼaudit pour les cabinets dʼaudit, elle nʼa pas été utilisée pour le développement dʼindicateurs de qualité au profit des administrateurs membres des comités dʼaudit. ces derniers nʼont pas la même perception de la qualité du processus dʼaudit que celle des auditeurs. méthodologie lʼétude a été réalisée en tunisie auprès des auditeurs (commissaires aux comptes tunisiens)6 et des administrateurs des entreprises cotées à la bourse de tunis. les entretiens et les questionnaires ont été administrés entre 2002 et 2004. bien que les comités dʼaudit ne soient pas assez développés en tunisie, nous avons jugé opportun de travailler sur des échantillons dʼadministrateurs de sociétés cotées7. en effet, ces derniers présentent des caractéristiques similaires à celles des membres des comités dʼaudit (même profil, même formation, etc.) et même avec leurs homologues internationaux8. 6. les commissaires aux comptes tunisiens ne différent pas de leurs confrères français et internationaux en ce qui concerne leur formation en audit et leur connaissance du processus d’audit. aussi, les normes d’audit applicables en tunisie sont principalement internationales. de ce fait, le contexte tunisien offre un cadre d’étude plus international que d’autres pays où la réglementation locale prévaut sur les normes internationales. 7. la période d’étude se situe lors de la préparation du projet loi sur la sécurité financière (cette loi a été définitivement adoptée en 2005). l’instauration des comités d’audit n’était pas obligatoire. ce qui justifie le recours à un échantillon d’administrateurs. 8. cette ressemblance au niveau des connaissances et des profils est d’autant plus confirmée lorsque les comités d’audit à l’échelle internationale sont au début de l’exercice de leur rôle d’évaluation de la qualité de l’audit externe et n’ont pas encore atteint une maturité leur permettant de se distinguer des autres administrateurs. afin de développer, au profit des administrateurs, un instrument de mesure fiable et valide de la qualité du processus dʼaudit, des choix méthodologiques sʼimposent. ces choix concernent la démarche à adopter et la population objet de notre analyse. vu la complexité et lʼinobservabilité du processus dʼaudit pour les administrateurs, il a fallu vérifier, à travers une pré-étude auprès de ces derniers, sʼils sont à même de nous éclairer sur les déterminants de la qualité de ce processus. dans le cas contraire, faut-il consulter en premier lieu les auditeurs pour le développement des indicateurs de la qualité dʼaudit avant de les soumettre aux administrateurs pour évaluation et validation ? après avoir présenté les choix méthodologiques adoptés, nous mettrons en évidence la démarche empirique de notre recherche en insistant sur les adaptations que nous lui avons apportées, que ce soit au niveau de la démarche méthodologique ou au niveau de lʼoutil statistique déployé. les choix méthodologiques : la démarche de churchill (1979) notre proposition consiste à adopter une démarche directe dʼévaluation de la qualité dʼaudit axée sur le processus de lʼauditeur. la mise en œuvre sur terrain de cette approche dʼévaluation nécessite la conception dʼune démarche empirique permettant de vérifier la fiabilité et la validité des échelles de mesure qui en découlent. celle-ci constitue la pierre angulaire de tout processus de recherche dans la mesure où elle sert dʼinterface entre la théorie et la pratique. elle va conditionner la fiabilité des résultats obtenus et la crédibilité des interprétations qui en découlent (roerich, 1993). une revue des recherches sur la qualité des travaux dʼaudit ne permet pas de relever des méthodologies adaptées pour le développement dʼune échelle de mesure multi-items pouvant appréhender les différentes facettes du processus dʼaudit. ces études se sont contentées à identifier, en se basant sur la littérature ou lʼavis des experts, une liste dʼattributs de la qualité et de les valider par questionnaires (carcello et al., 1992 ; behn, carcello, hermanson et hermanson, 1997 ; schroeder, solomon et vickrey, 1986). en étendant notre revue à dʼautres disciplines voisines (notamment en marketing et en sciences sociales) et en sʼinspirant des travaux de chemangui (2004), nous avons identifié une méthodologie qui permet la construction des échelles de mesure dʼun construit théorique. il sʼagit de la démarche de churchill (1979). cette démarche sʼapplique parfaitement au processus de développement des échelles multi-items. elle pourra par conséquent sʼappliquer, moyennant certaines adaptations, à la construction dʼune échelle de mesure de la qualité du processus dʼaudit. le choix de cette méthodologie se justifie par au moins trois raisons : — premièrement, cette démarche a été utilisée pour le développement dʼéchelles de mesure de processus aussi complexes que le processus dʼaudit. elle permet de capter la complexité du concept de la qualité du processus dʼaudit en lʼexprimant par des échelles multi-items. ces échelles permettent de refléter les différents niveaux dʼintervention de lʼaudit et leurs complexités techniques ; riadh manita 196 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 191-210 special issue: corporate governance and ethics — deuxièmement, cette démarche propose une méthodologie rigoureuse en huit étapes associant simultanément des études qualitatives et quantitatives ; — troisièmement, elle intègre la consultation des experts tout au long de ses différentes étapes, ce qui permet dʼaffiner les items de mesure et par conséquent dʼaméliorer la fiabilité et la validité des échelles (churchill, 1979 ; devellis, 1991). les adaptations de la démarche de churchill au contexte de lʼaudit devant la difficulté dʼobservation du processus par les administrateurs, nous avons émis, à lʼinstar de sutton (1993), lʼhypothèse que seuls les auditeurs externes qui appliquent les travaux dʼaudit sont capables de nous éclairer quant aux déterminants de la qualité du processus dʼaudit. cette supposition a été validée par une préétude que nous avons engagée auprès dʼun groupe dʼadministrateurs. la complexité de la mesure de la qualité dʼaudit nous oblige à consulter les experts (auditeurs externes) afin de rendre le processus observable aux administrateurs. aussi, étant donnée que lʼinstrument de mesure est développé au profit des administrateurs, une consultation de cette population sʼavère indispensable. en effet, les administrateurs qui constituent les utilisateurs potentiels de cet instrument nʼont pas nécessairement la même perception de la qualité dʼaudit que les auditeurs. finalement, la consultation des deux populations (auditeurs externes et administrateurs) sʼavère nécessaire pour atteindre notre objectif de recherche. de ce fait, des modifications9 ont été introduites à la démarche de churchill (1979) afin quʼelle puisse sʼadapter au contexte de notre recherche et aux contraintes du terrain10. ces adaptations concernent non seulement la démarche proposée, mais aussi lʼoutillage statistiques déployé (roerich, 1993 ; roussel, 1994). nous avons ainsi choisi, de restructurer les étapes de la démarche en fusionnant certaines dʼentre elles et en reportant la deuxième consultation des administrateurs à la fin de la démarche pour tester la pertinence et lʼopérationnalité de notre outil. aussi, afin de donner une meilleure robustesse à la démarche, nous avons intégré à lʼinstar de roussel (1996) des tests de validation dès le début du processus, dans sa phase exploratoire. pour ce qui a trait aux affinements statistiques apportés, ils concernent lʼutilisation, dans la phase de validation de nos échelles de mesure, de méthodes statistiques plus robustes que celles proposées par churchill (1979). en effet, pour tester la fiabilité et la validité de nos échelles dans cette phase, nous avons recouru, à lʼinstar de roussel (1996), respectivement à lʼanalyse factorielle confirmatoire et au calcul du rho de joreskog au lieu de la méthode de la matrice multi-traits, multi-méthodes (mtmm) et lʼalpha de cronbach proposés par churchill (1979). compte tenu de ces adaptations notre démarche méthodologique peut être résumée en sept étapes. la qualité de lʼaudit externe : proposition dʼune grille dʼévaluation 197 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 191-210 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 9. cette ressemblance au niveau des connaissances et des profils est d’autant plus confirmée lorsque les comités d’audit à l’échelle internationale, sont au début de l’exercice de leur rôle d’évaluation de la qualité de l’audit externe et n’ont pas encore atteint une maturité leur permettant de se distinguer des autres administrateurs. 10. la population des administrateurs est difficilement accessible, ce qui ne permet pas d’avoir deux grands échantillons d’administrateurs, comme le préconise la démarche de churchill (1979). riadh manita 198 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 191-210 special issue: corporate governance and ethics la pré-étude nous avons mené une pré-étude auprès dʼun groupe composé de quatre administrateurs, membres dʼun comité dʼaudit et de trois commissaires aux comptes. un guide dʼentretien a été préparé en vue de vérifier la connaissance des administrateurs du processus dʼaudit et de susciter leur réaction quant au rôle qui peut leur être attribué pour améliorer la qualité dʼaudit. pour les commissaires aux comptes, lʼobjectif des entretiens était dʼexplorer la thématique et de préparer le guide dʼentretien pour la deuxième étape de la recherche. cette enquête a permis de confirmer la connaissance très limitée du processus dʼaudit par les administrateurs. cette méconnaissance est due à lʼinobservabilité de ce processus et au contact très limité des administrateurs avec les commissaires aux comptes. les administrateurs interviewés ont indiqué que le seul contact quʼils avaient avec le commissaire aux comptes était à la fin de sa mission et lors de la préparation de la réunion du conseil dʼadministration pour lʼapprobation des états financiers, voire même à lʼoccasion de la réunion du conseil. aussi nous avons, au moins, identifié trois étapes dans lesquelles le comité dʼaudit pourrait intervenir : avant le processus dʼaudit (le choix de lʼauditeur), pendant le processus (évaluation de la qualité de la prestation de lʼauditeur) et après le processus (notamment la veille à la mise en œuvre des recommandations de lʼauditeur). lʼétude qualitative avec les commissaires aux comptes lʼobjectif de cette étape est dʼune part dʼidentifier les déterminants de la qualité du processus dʼaudit et dʼautre part de préparer le questionnaire pour les administrateurs. a partir de la liste des membres de lʼordre des experts comptables de tunisie, qui compte environ 330 membres, nous avons contacté les commissaires aux comptes inscrits depuis au moins cinq ans sur le tableau de lʼordre. nous avons obtenu 30 rendez-vous. parmi les interviewés, dix appartiennent à une structure internationale : cinq sont des représentants ou des salariés des big four et cinq font partie dʼautres réseaux internationaux. la période moyenne dʼinscription des interviewés au tableau de lʼordre était dʼenviron dix ans. une fois les données recueillies à lʼaide de la méthodologie de lʼentretien semi-directif, nous les avons retranscrites de manière exhaustive. puis, par interviewé, nous avons rédigé une synthèse des entretiens que nous pourrons également apparenter à un compte rendu de chaque étude de cas. ces synthèses ont été soumises aux participants afin quʼils procèdent à une contre-validation. cette méthode permet dʼéviter de mal interpréter les propos, tout en permettant aux participants de fournir des informations supplémentaires, si cela leur paraissait utile. cette procédure a également permis dʼobtenir lʼautorisation dʼenregistrer les entretiens, puisque les participants pouvaient alors en vérifier le contenu. une analyse de contenu a ensuite été effectuée à partir des données de la retranscription. lʼanalyse a été réalisée en deux temps. une analyse thématique entretien par entretien a été menée. puis, une analyse thématique verticale et horizontale de tous les entretiens (interentretien) a été effectuée. celle-ci consiste à redonner à chaque entretien une structure thématique plus globale qui lui est propre (i.e. analyse verticale) et à comparer tous les entretiens sur leurs structures thématiques globales (i.e., analyse horizontale). ceci conduit finalement à ne pas considérer la cohérence singulière de chaque entretien, mais plutôt à rechercher une cohérence globale au niveau du corpus de données produit par lʼensemble des interlocuteurs. nous recherchons alors lʼoccurrence, le sens et la pertinence des thèmes dʼun interlocuteur à lʼautre. les résultats de ces analyses débouchent sur une identification dʼindicateurs de la qualité dʼaudit par étape du processus. sʼagissant des différentes étapes à contrôler, les commissaires aux comptes étaient très divergents et plusieurs types dʼétapes variant entre deux et six ont été identifiés correspondant à dix modalités de répartition. les différentes modalités dʼétapes proposées ne sʼéloignent pas de la décomposition qui a été faite de ce processus par les normes internationales dʼaudit. en effet, dans les différentes modalités qui ont été proposées, nous trouvons soit une agrégation soit une décomposition de certaines étapes publiées par les normes. finalement et après lʼanalyse, nous avons retenu pour notre questionnaire, une décomposition en six étapes du processus dʼaudit. cette décomposition, qui nous a été dictée par un grand nombre dʼauditeurs (soit 43 %), devrait permettre à ces derniers de sʼy retrouver, car elle englobe presque toutes les modalités qui ont été proposées. par ailleurs, en ce qui concerne les déterminants de la qualité dʼaudit, nous avons identifié au départ 123 items. nous avons ensuite épuré cet échantillon des items jugés intuitivement redondants, pour aboutir à un échantillon intermédiaire de 104 déterminants de la qualité. une confrontation des résultats trouvés avec les indicateurs de qualité déterminés par les études ayant tenté de développer des attributs multicritères de la qualité dʼaudit (carcello et al.,1992 ; aldesier, 1995 ; behn et al., 1997)11 et lʼétude de sutton (1993) a été en suite opérée. cette confrontation a permis lʼintégration de certains items non identifiés par la démarche exploratoire. nous avons enfin soumis ces items à une procédure de validité de contenu auprès de trois commissaires aux comptes. cette procédure a pour objectif de vérifier lʼabsence de redondance entre les items ainsi que leur facilité de compréhension. concernant la redondance entre les items, les commissaires aux comptes étaient appelés à identifier les items qui désignent la même chose et qui risquent de créer des biais de compréhension. pour ce qui est de la clarté des items, il sʼagissait pour eux de juger si leur formulation était bonne ou mauvaise. après cette étape, nous sommes parvenus à un échantillon final de 75 items. elaboration et pré-test du questionnaire pour les administrateurs sur la base des 75 items identifiés dans la précédente étape, un questionnaire a été élaboré pour les administrateurs. ce questionnaire a fait ensuite lʼobjet dʼune validation de contenu auprès de deux commissaires aux comptes puis dʼun pré-test avec trois administrateurs la qualité de lʼaudit externe : proposition dʼune grille dʼévaluation 199 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 191-210 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 11. bien que n’ayant pas porté sur l’analyse du processus, ces études ont identifié certains indicateurs de qualité liés au processus d’audit. pour en améliorer la rédaction et par conséquent la compréhension pour la population des administrateurs. la collecte de données auprès des administrateurs le questionnaire a été administré aux administrateurs12 des sociétés cotées à la bourse de tunis afin de porter leur appréciation sur lʼimportance des items. nous avons retenu, à lʼinstar de sutton (1993), carcello et al. (1992), behn et al. (1997) et schroeder et al. (1986), une échelle de likert à 7 points (1 étant “pas du tout important” et 7 “tout à fait important”). ce choix se justifie aussi par notre objectif dʼamélioration de la sensibilité des réponses des participants à notre enquête. dans un premier temps, afin dʼavoir un taux de retour satisfaisant, nous avons demandé aux commissaires aux comptes des sociétés cotées, de transmettre notre questionnaire aux administrateurs de leurs entreprises clientes. sur les 21 cabinets dʼaudit contactés, 14 ont accepté notre demande. dans un second temps, et pour les administrateurs de sociétés où les commissaires aux comptes avaient refusé de servir dʼintermédiaires, nous avons procédé nous même à lʼenvoi du questionnaire. des procédures de relance ont été ensuite effectuées par téléphone. le tableau 1 présente le détail des administrateurs ayant répondu par rapport au total des 460 administrateurs. sur les 142 questionnaires complets reçus, 22 émanaient dʼadministrateurs assumant simultanément des fonctions de dirigeants au sein de la société cotée. purification de lʼinstrument de mesure lʼobjectif de cette étape est de purifier lʼéchelle de mesure de la qualité du processus dʼaudit et de tester lʼhomogénéité des échelles composant notre questionnaire. elle consiste à soumettre les échelles de mesure au test de fiabilité (alpha de cronbach) et à lʼanalyse factorielle exploratoire. en fonction des résultats obtenus, des items peuvent être éliminés (cattel, 1988). fiabilité et validité de lʼinstrument de mesure afin dʼobtenir des échelles de mesure fiables et valides de la qualité du processus dʼaudit, les données issues de notre questionnaire ont fait lʼobjet de deux types dʼanalyse : une analyse factorielle confirmatoire et le calcul de rho de joreskog (roussel, durrieu, campoy riadh manita 200 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 191-210 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 12. ce questionnaire a été adressé à 460 administrateurs, qu’ils soient ou non membres d’un comité d’audit. en effet, en tunisie, les comités d’audit étaient encore très peu fréquents à la date de notre enquête. la fonction du comité d’audit incombait au conseil d’administration dans son ensemble. tableau 1. questionnaires adressés aux administrateurs questionnaires envoyés nombre dʼadministrateurs absence de réponse questionnaire incomplet questionnaires exploités avec cabinet dʼaudit 354 (77,0 %) 221 (48,0 %) 2 (0,4 %) 131 (28,5 %) sans cabinet dʼaudit 106 (23,0 %) 91 (20,0 %) 4 (0,8 %) 11 (2,4 %) total 460 (100,0 %) 312 (68,0 %) 6 (1,2 %) 142 (30,9 %) et el akremi, 2002). la première a pour objet de vérifier la validité des structures factorielles proposées dans la phase exploratoire et de tester (en ayant recours à la méthode des équations structurelles) la qualité dʼajustement de lʼinstrument de mesure aux données empiriques. la seconde consiste à vérifier la fiabilité de nos échelles de mesure et leur validité statistique. evaluation de la pertinence et de lʼopérationnalité des échelles après avoir validé statistiquement cet instrument de mesure, il était important de vérifier sa pertinence et son opérationnalité auprès de ses utilisateurs. dans ce cadre, devant la difficulté de construire de nouveau un échantillon important dʼadministrateurs13, nous avons réalisé une étude qualitative auprès de 10 administrateurs. les analyses qualitatives développées précédemment nous ont permis dʼune part de développer les items qui déterminent selon les administrateurs la qualité du processus dʼaudit et dʼautre part de recueillir les avis des auditeurs concernant la nature de lʼoutil nécessaire pour contrôler la mission réalisée par lʼauditeur externe. elles nous ont permis également de tester la validité faciale de lʼinstrument de mesure et sa pertinence pratique. résultats fiabilité et validité de lʼinstrument de mesure les résultats de la phase exploratoire montrent que la qualité du processus dʼaudit est multidimensionnelle. ils affichent des niveaux de cohérence globalement satisfaisants pour lʼensemble des échelles. cependant, des faiblesses ont été relevées concernant certains items qui ont été éliminés. sur la base des tests de cohérence interne et dʼhomogénéité des différentes échelles, le questionnaire dʼenquête est ramené de 75 à 51 items. différentes échelles de mesure ont ainsi été développées pour chaque étape du processus dʼaudit. dʼune façon générale, les différentes échelles de mesure présentent des fiabilités et des validités très satisfaisantes. les différents items composant les échelles développées sont bien représentés puisquʼils présentent des communalités supérieures à 0,5. ils présentent aussi de forts loadings avec leurs axes factoriels correspondants. les valeurs propres associées à lʼensemble des dimensions identifiées expliquent plus de 50 % de la variance totale. en outre, lʼensemble des dimensions présente une fiabilité satisfaisante. les tableaux 2 à 7 résument les résultats de lʼanalyse exploratoire au niveau des six étapes du processus dʼaudit identifiées. les résultats de lʼanalyse confirmatoire, appliquée à la structure de chaque étape du processus dʼaudit (tableau 8), viennent confirmer la validité de la structure factorielle issue de la phase exploratoire. ils attestent un bon niveau de fiabilité et de validité des différentes échelles de mesure de la qualité du processus dʼaudit. les items composant les différentes échelles de mesure sont significatifs (les ratio la qualité de lʼaudit externe : proposition dʼune grille dʼévaluation 201 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 191-210 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 13. diverses raisons peuvent justifier la non constitution d’un second échantillon important d’administrateurs. pour obtenir le premier échantillon d’administrateurs (142 observations soit environ le tiers de la population) nous avons effectué de longues démarches auprès des cabinets d’audit. cette démarche est difficile à répéter. de plus, le nombre important d’énoncés au sein du questionnaire (75 items) nécessite un temps de réponse difficile à accepter par les administrateurs des sociétés cotées. enfin, le nombre limité d’administrateurs de sociétés cotées à la bourse de tunis (environ 460 administrateurs pour 44 sociétés cotées), est un plafond effectif à prendre en considération. * composantes : orga = qualité dʼorganisation de lʼétape ; métho = méthodologie centrée sur lʼappréhension des risques ; compr = compréhension efficace des systèmes du client ; equipe = composition et qualification de lʼéquipe intervenante. m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 191-210 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 202 riadh manita tableau 2. etape 1 : déterminants de la qualité dʼacceptation de la mission communalités 0,52 0,69 0,50 0,53 0,62 0,65 vérification de ses compétences 0,72 0,83 0,69 0,57 2,08 34,58 % 0,70 vérification de son indépendance 0,75 0,80 1,44 24,03 % 0,43 items rassemblement des informations préliminaires sur lʼactivité de lʼentreprise et sur son secteur dʼactivité réalisation dʼentretien avec le personnel dʼaudit interne et examen de leurs rapport ainsi que ceux du prédécesseur rédaction dʼune lettre de mission réalisation par lʼauditeur dʼentretiens avec la direction et des visites des lieux avant acceptation de la mission demande par lʼauditeur de la structure du capital, de la liste des actionnaires et des administrateurs avant acceptation de la mission signature par lʼauditeur des engagements sur lʼhonneur liés à son indépendance valeurs propres variance expliquée alpha de cronbach composantes tableau 3. etape 2 : déterminants de la qualité de planification de la mission orga. 0,80 0,70 0,64 0,58 0,54 2,70 18,03 % 0,75 métho. 0,75 0,74 0,62 0,61 2,41 16,08 % 0,73 compr. 0,81 0,79 0,68 2,40 16,02 % 0,73 equipe 0,72 0,69 1,75 11,65 % 0,45 items commencement de cette étape bien avant la date de clôture respect de lʼenchaînement de la mission (ne pas entamer lʼévaluation des procédures avant dʼachever la planification de la mission) existence dʼune planification écrite avant le démarrage de la mission adéquation du budget temps alloué à cette étape avec les moyens mis en œuvre et avec le volume des travaux à effectuer conformité des moyens (humains et matériels) mis en œuvre par lʼauditeur avec ce qui a été prévus lors de sa nomination cohérence de lʼorientation de la mission avec les risques inhérents identifiés et avec les moyens à déployer (équipe intervenante, budget temps etc.) identification et bonne estimation par lʼauditeur des risques inhérents à lʼentreprise et à son secteur dʼactivité couverture par lʼauditeur des systèmes et des processus significatifs et sensibles couverture par lʼauditeur de la politique comptable de lʼentreprise couverture par lʼauditeur de lʼenvironnement de contrôle, de style de direction, des comités de pilotages et de système de production et de traitement de lʼinformation comptable couverture par lʼauditeur du système informatique de lʼentreprise réalisation dʼun examen analytique préliminaire participation de lʼexpert comptable responsable de la mission dans lʼaccomplissement de cette étape phase effectuée par des collaborateurs hautement qualifiés et expérimentés valeurs propres variance expliquée alpha de cronbach composantes*communalités 0,72 0,52 0,54 0,62 0,56 0,66 0,61 0,75 0,60 0,73 0,71 0,54 0,56 0,56 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 191-210 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 203 la qualité de lʼaudit externe : proposition dʼune grille dʼévaluation * composantes : exec = qualité dʼexécution et de suivi de lʼétape ; orga = qualité dʼorganisation de lʼétape ; attentes = réponse aux attentes du client ; equipe = composition et qualification de lʼéquipe intervenante. tableau 4. etape 3 : déterminants de la qualité du système de contrôle interne exec. 0,78 0,73 0,70 0,70 2,59 25,86 % 0,81 orga. 0,90 0,71 1,80 18,04 % 0,75 attentes 0,87 0,70 1,71 17,14 % 0,65 equipe 0,88 0,74 1,44 14,36 % 0,56 items bonne réalisation des tests prévus dans la note dʼorientation ou de planification de la mission couverture du système informatique de lʼentreprise par des spécialistes couverture des systèmes et processus significatifs existence au sein du cabinet dʼaudit dʼune revue de dossier par le manager et /ou lʼassocié responsable de la mission existence dʼun manuel dʼaudit propre au cabinet et adaptation des programmes dʼaudit avec les spécificités de lʼentreprise adéquation du budget temps et de lʼéquipe intervenante avec la nature et le volume des travaux achèvement de cette étape avant la date de clôture réponse aux attentes du client existence parmi lʼéquipe intervenante de spécialistes en informatique ou autres qualification et expérience de lʼéquipe intervenante, notamment dans le secteur valeurs propres variance expliquée alpha de cronbach composantes*communalités 0,79 0,64 0,70 0,69 0,83 0,80 0,84 0,72 0,82 0,72 tableau 5. etape 4 : déterminants de la qualité de lʼopération dʼinventaire physique composante qualité dʼinventaire physique 0,86 0,85 0,83 0,60 2,51 62,98 % 0,80 items revue par lʼauditeur des instructions dʼinventaire avant le déroulement de lʼopération assistance de lʼauditeur au déroulement de lʼopération dʼinventaire physique couverture des éléments significatifs à inventorier et de leur répartition géographique couverture des engagements hors bilan valeurs propres variance expliquée alpha de cronbach communalités 0,68 0,79 0,80 0,36 critiques sont tous supérieurs à 1,96). les valeurs des indices absolus, incrémentaux et de parcimonie sont globalement satisfaisantes et/ou acceptables. le test du chi-2 est dans lʼensemble significatif. les indices absolus gfi et agfi sont également significatifs puisquʼils dépassent leurs seuils respectifs. par ailleurs, les indices incrémentaux, bien que parfois légèrement inférieurs à leurs seuils respectifs, peuvent être considérés comme acceptables, étant donné, le nombre des items relativement faible dans certaines étapes du processus. dʼautre part, les différentes échelles développées présentent des fiabilités très satisfaisantes étant donné que les rho de joreskog varient entre 0,75 et 0,98. * composantes : indépendance = indépendance de lʼauditeur ; diligence = respect des diligences de fin de mission riadh manita 204 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 191-210 special issue: corporate governance and ethics * composantes : progr = qualité des programmes dʼaudit ; dilige = respect des diligences dʼaudit ; equipe = composition et qualification de lʼéquipe intervenante ; attentes = réponse aux attentes du client tableau 6. etape 5 : déterminants de la qualité de contrôle des comptes progr. 0,84 0,81 0,80 0,69 3,02 23,25 % 0,84 dilige. 0,80 0,79 0,73 0,73 2,81 21,65 % 0,81 equipe 0,86 0,76 0,73 2,01 15,47 % 0,71 attentes 0,90 0,57 1,42 10,95 % 0,57 items cohérence et vraisemblance du plan dʼaudit avec les risques inhérents et de non contrôle identifiés adaptation des programmes dʼaudit aux spécificités de lʼentreprise qualité des conclusions par référence à la stratégie dʼaudit adoptée (a-t-il bien estimé les zones à risque et domaines significatifs ?) couverture par les programmes dʼaudit des événements et opérations exceptionnelles et non récurrentes réalisation dʼun examen analytique couverture par les programmes dʼaudit de la circularisation des tiers et sa réalisation par lʼauditeur couverture par les programmes dʼaudit de la continuité dʼexploitation de lʼentreprise bonne mise à jour du plan ou de la stratégie dʼaudit compte tenu des résultats des tests effectués qualification et expérience de lʼéquipe intervenante notamment dans le secteur existence parmi lʼéquipe intervenante de spécialistes en informatique ou autres stabilité de lʼéquipe intervenante bonne utilisation de lʼoutil informatique et des méthodes statistiques dans les opérations de contrôles couverture par les programmes dʼaudit des aspects juridique, social et fiscal liés à lʼactivité de lʼentreprise valeurs propres variance expliquée alpha de cronbach composantes*communalités 0,78 0,73 0,71 0,68 0,69 0,79 0,67 0,62 0,76 0,70 0,60 0,85 0,71 tableau 7. etape 6 : déterminants de la qualité dʼachèvement de la mission indépendance 0,84 0,80 1,40 34,99 % 0,55 diligence 0,85 0,76 1,32 33,04 % 0,48 items qualité des conclusions et des rapports dʼaudit et indépendance de lʼauditeur demande à la direction générale de signer une lettre dʼaffirmation couverture par les programmes dʼaudit des événements postérieurs à la clôture audit des transactions avec les parties liées et rédaction dʼune note de synthèse valeurs propres variance expliquée alpha de cronbach communalités 0,71 0,67 0,72 0,63 composantes* la qualité de lʼaudit externe : proposition dʼune grille dʼévaluation 205 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 191-210 special issue: corporate governance and ethics * gfi = goodnes-of-fit ; agfi = adjusted goodnes-of-fit ; rmr = root mean residual ; rmsea = root mean square error of approximation ; nfi = normed fit index ; tli = tucker-lewis index ; cfi = comparative fit index ; pnfi = parsimony normed fit index. tableau 8. test des dimensions de la qualité de lʼétape dʼacceptation de la mission etape 1 36,86 0,93 0,85 0,29 0,14 0,74 0,79 0,79 3,69 0,60 0,86 etape 2 113,83 0,90 0,83 0,10 0,08 — 0,87 — 1,87 0,56 0,98 etape 3 55,57 0,92 0,84 0,11 0,09 0,90 0,91 0,94 2,06 0,54 0,91 etape 4 3,72 0,99 0,87 0,04 0,14 0,98 0,92 0,99 3,72 0,16 0,90 etape 5 102,67 0,90 0,83 0,11 0,08 0,88 0,90 0,93 1,97 0,59 0,75 etape 6 — 0,25 1,00 0,99 0,01 0,99 — — 0,25 0,17 0,89 indices de mesure absolus normé gfi* agfi rmr rmsea incrémentaux nfi tli cfi parcimonie normé pnfi fiabilité rho de joreskog seuils indicatifs chi-2 le plus petit associé à une probabilité non significative > 0,90 > 0,80 le plus faible possible < 0,08 > 0,90 > 0,90 > 0,90 entre 1 et 5 le plus fort possible (> 0,60) > 0,70 ou > 0,80 evaluation de la pertinence et de la cohérence de lʼinstrument de mesure les résultats de lʼenquête réalisée avec les dix administrateurs ont confirmé la validité de la totalité des items composant nos échelles à lʼexception de deux énoncés se rapportant à deux étapes du processus (étapes dʼacceptation de la mission et de planification). il sʼagit respectivement des items “rédaction dʼune lettre de mission” et “couverture par lʼauditeur de lʼenvironnement de contrôle, de style de direction, des comités de pilotages et de système de production et de traitement de lʼinformation comptable”. le premier item nʼa pas été jugé pertinent par la majorité des administrateurs (60 %) ; le second a été perçu comme un indicateur très général et difficile à mettre en œuvre. dʼune façon générale, les administrateurs, trouvent que la grille développée est pertinente et très utile. elle leur permettrait de mieux observer les travaux accomplis par lʼauditeur. cependant, ils sʼinterrogent sur les modalités de mise en œuvre de cet outil et de communication avec lʼauditeur externe, sur la nature de lʼoutil à développer à partir de cette grille dʼévaluation, mais aussi sur le profil des administrateurs membre du comité dʼaudit. cette grille dʼévaluation fixe pour eux les objectifs globaux de contrôle qui restent à affiner et à développer en fonction des spécificités de lʼentreprise et des risques associés à son activité et à son système dʼinformation. a cet effet, les administrateurs étaient favorables à une évaluation sʼappuyant à la fois sur des comptes rendus dʼavancement établis à leur égard par lʼauditeur, mais aussi sur la base de réunions programmées avec lui au fur et à mesure de son avancement dans la mission. en ce qui concerne la nature de lʼoutil à développer, les administrateurs interrogés ont exprimé leur préférence pour un outil sous forme riadh manita 206 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 191-210 special issue: corporate governance and ethics de checklist ou questionnaire de contrôle qualité, qui soit adapté aux spécificités de lʼentreprise et conçu par étape du processus. un des administrateurs avait précisé « nous devons considérer cette grille comme un questionnaire de contrôle qualité à affiner et à détailler en fonction de la nature dʼactivité de lʼentreprise, de son système dʼinformation, de ses spécificités ». finalement, les administrateurs étaient perplexes quant au profil que doivent avoir les administrateurs pour assurer cette tâche dʼévaluation des travaux dʼaudit. certains estiment que les membres doivent avoir le profil dʼun expert comptable ou dʼun auditeur. dʼautres estiment quʼil faut faire une formation aux administrateurs, alors que dʼautres suggèrent même lʼintégration dʼenseignants au sein des comités dʼaudit. cependant tous les administrateurs interviewés étaient dʼaccord que le profil des administrateurs est une question fondamentale à laquelle il faut absolument trouver une solution, même si le comité dʼaudit est doté dʼun outil dʼévaluation. conclusion et discussion a partir dʼun processus rigoureux dʼidentification des principaux items représentatifs de la qualité du processus dʼaudit par les commissaires aux comptes, et de leur validation par deux échantillons dʼadministrateurs, nous avons mis en évidence 49 items regroupés en six étapes principales. suite à plusieurs analyses factorielles (exploratoire et confirmatoire), ces indicateurs ont été résumés en 17 dimensions de qualité. une analyse globale des résultats obtenus, nous a permis dʼidentifier 11 déterminants14 de la qualité du processus dʼaudit. parmi les déterminants identifiés, 6 seulement concernent le processus technique dʼaudit. il sʼagit de la compréhension efficace des systèmes du client, la méthodologie centrée sur lʼappréhension des risques, la qualité dʼexécution et de suivi de la mission, la qualité dʼinventaire physique, la qualité des programmes dʼaudit et le respect des diligences dʼaudit. les 5 autres déterminants se rapportent à la compétence et à lʼindépendance de lʼauditeur, à la composition et la qualification de lʼéquipe intervenante, à la qualité dʼorganisation de la mission et à la réponse aux attentes du client. ces déterminants constituent la base dʼune évaluation de la qualité du processus dʼaudit par les administrateurs. ils montrent très clairement que le processus dʼaudit est un processus complexe qui nécessite dʼêtre appréhendé à travers de nombreuses dimensions. ils montrent également que la qualité du processus dʼaudit nʼest pas tributaire seulement des déterminants techniques liés au processus de lʼauditeur, mais aussi de la qualité de lʼauditeur (compétence et indépendance de lʼauditeur), des caractéristiques organisationnelles du cabinet dʼaudit (équipe dʼaudit et organisation de la mission) et de la réponse aux attentes du client. en plus des indicateurs issus des approches indirecte dʼévaluation qui sont en partie confirmés par les résultats de notre étude, cette recherche a permis dʼidentifier dʼautres indicateurs centrés sur le processus technique de lʼauditeur. les résultats obtenus 14. ces onze déterminants sont dégagés après élimination des dimensions qui se répètent dans plus d’une étape du processus. ont confirmé en grande partie les indicateurs de qualité identifiés par sutton (1993)15 et ont contribué à lʼidentification de plusieurs autres indicateurs de qualité qui sont plus orientés vers les techniques et les diligences dʼaudit. notre recherche ne sʼest pas contentée dʼidentifier les indicateurs de qualité, mais elle a tenté aussi de fournir des grilles dʼévaluation (exprimées notamment en terme dʼobjectifs de contrôle), permettant de les observer et de les évaluer. lʼévaluation de la qualité du processus dʼaudit est une tâche complexe et difficile pour les administrateurs. la grille dʼévaluation développée par notre recherche devrait faciliter considérablement cette tâche et renforcer leur implication dans le processus dʼaudit. cependant, cette grille ne dispense pas les administrateurs dʼavoir les compétences requises pour appréhender le processus dʼaudit. la compétence des administrateurs soulève le problème du processus de sélection et de nomination des administrateurs. les comités dʼaudit dʼentreprises cotées américaines incluent généralement des administrateurs sélectionnés, non pas en fonction de leur réseau relationnel, mais en fonction de leurs compétences dans les domaines comptables ou financiers. aussi, cette grille devrait être complétée par lʼintégration au sein des comités dʼaudit ou tout conseil dʼadministration soucieux quant à la qualité dʼaudit, dʼadministrateurs indépendants. contrairement à ce qui est laissé entendre par les dirigeants dʼentreprise, il existe de tels professionnels indépendants sur le marché. il peut sʼagir dʼanciens auditeurs de haut niveau reconvertis dans les fonctions de conseil, de banquiers dʼaffaires ayant été confrontés aux méthodologies dʼévaluation des risques ou dʼuniversitaires spécialisés dans le domaine. lʼindépendance de ces administrateurs ne peut être préservée quʼen incitant les entreprises à se doter de chartes de gouvernance ou en ayant recours à la réglementation (aux usa, la loi sarbanes oxley impose cette indépendance). au-delà des résultats dégagés, notre étude a montré la possibilité de construire une métrique de la qualité fondée sur le processus dʼaudit. notre approche se distingue des approches classiques dʼévaluation par le fait quʼelle ne cherche pas des substituts de la qualité dʼaudit par la qualité de lʼauditeur, mais tente plutôt une appréciation directe de cette qualité axée sur le processus technique de lʼauditeur. dʼailleurs, la complexité technique de lʼévaluation de la qualité dʼaudit via son processus a toujours représenté un handicap majeur pour les chercheurs qui, jusquʼalors, considèrent le processus dʼaudit comme une boîte noire complexe et inobservable. notre méthodologie, qui sʼest inspirée de la démarche de churchill, permet de capter la complexité du concept de la qualité en lʼexprimant par des échelles multiitems. il sʼagit dʼune nouveauté dans les recherches à base quantitative dans ce domaine puisquʼil sʼagit de la seule recherche, avec lʼétude de chemangui (2004), ayant mis en œuvre cette démarche jusquʼà présent. ce travail nʼest évidemment pas exempt de limites. signalons tout dʼabord que, pour tester la pertinence pratique et lʼopérationnalité de notre outil (validité faciale), nous avons réalisé une étude qualitative auprès dʼun groupe composé de 10 administrateurs. outre la limite liée la qualité de lʼaudit externe : proposition dʼune grille dʼévaluation 207 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 191-210 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 15. a l’exception de ceux orientés vers une évaluation par les auditeurs, ne pouvant pas être observés par les administrateurs. il s’agit en l’occurrence des indicateurs liés à l’environnement d’audit et/ou à l’entreprise cliente tels que la compétence du client, les changements chez le client, les rapports du client, l’achèvement du papier du travail, la préparation du client… riadh manita 208 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 191-210 special issue: corporate governance and ethics à la taille de notre échantillon qui pourrait atténuer la validité de notre outil, cette méthode sʼest basée sur la perception de lʼutilité pratique de notre outil par ses utilisateurs potentiels et non pas sur une mesure effective de sa pertinence pratique. celle-ci pourrait être effectuée au moyen dʼune étude clinique réalisée au sein des entreprises et évaluant la qualité des travaux dʼaudit pendant même le déroulement de la mission par lʼauditeur externe. signalons aussi quʼétant donné les contraintes dʼéchantillonnage liés à la constitution de deux échantillons importants dʼadministrateurs, et notamment le nombre important dʼitems composant notre instrument de mesure, les validités discriminante et convergente de nos échelles nʼont pas pu être testées pour lʼensemble du processus dʼaudit, mais ont été plutôt vérifiées pour chacune de ses étapes. signalons enfin quʼen dépit de la rigueur méthodologique de notre démarche, les résultats de cette étude ne peuvent se prévaloir dʼune validité nomologique. en effet, lʼévaluation de la qualité dʼaudit axée sur le processus de lʼauditeur demeure un domaine de recherche peu exploité par les chercheurs, ce qui ne nous a pas permis de confronter nos résultats empiriques. devant cette situation, une nouvelle vérification de la fiabilité et surtout de la validité des échelles, est nécessaire avant dʼintégrer nos échelles de mesure dans des modèles explicatifs développés. cette nouvelle vérification apparaît aussi indispensable, surtout lorsquʼon trouve que certains items composant nos échelles de mesure ont un caractère général. des efforts dʼapprofondissement et dʼaffinement de mesure de ces items doivent, de ce fait, accompagner cette vérification. note. cet article a été écrit quand lʼauteur travaillait à l’ecole des dirigeants et créateurs d’entreprise (edc paris). il tient à remercier le professeur benoît pigé pour ses précieux conseils tout au long de la thèse. il remercie, également, les évaluateurs anonymes pour la richesse de leurs remarques et commentaires qui ont permis dʼaméliorer de façon substantielle la qualité de cet article. riadh manita est docteur en sciences de gestion qualifié cnu et expert comptable ayant plusieurs années dʼexpérience dans les cabinets dʼaudit et de conseil. il est actuellement professeur associé en comptabilité-audit au groupe esc rouen. il est coauteur d'un ouvrage portant sur la comptabilité et l'audit pour l'épreuve 4 du dscg. ses travaux de recherche portent principalement sur la qualité de l’audit externe et sur le lien entre la gouvernance d’entreprise et la qualité de l'audit. m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 191-210 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 209 la qualité de lʼaudit externe : proposition dʼune grille dʼévaluation references � abdel-khalik, a. r. 1990 the jointness of audit fees and demand for mas a self-selection analysis, contemporary accounting research, 6: 2(part 1), 295-322. � aldesier, g. r., iii, j. r. miller, et j. f. moraglio 1995 common attributes of quality audits, journal of accountancy, 179: 1, 61-68. � behn, b. k., j. v. carcello, d. r. hermanson, et r. h. hermanson 1997 the determinants of audit clients satisfaction among clients of big six firms, accounting horizons, 11: 1, 7-24. � briand, c. l. 1998 la révision comptable : des perspectives à renouveler, comptabilité-contrôleaudit, 4: 2, 31-44. � carcello, j. v., r. h. hermanson, et n. t. mcgrath 1992 audit quality attributes: the perceptions of partners, preparers, and financial statement users, auditing: a journal of practice and theory, 11: 1, 1-15. � carey, p., et r. simnett 2006 audit partner tenure and audit quality, accounting review, 81: 3, 653-676. � cattell, r. 1988 the meaning and strategic use of factor analysis, in j. nesselroade et r. cattel (dir.), handbook of multivariate experimental psychology, new york : plenum press, 131-203. � chemangui, m. 2004 conceptualisation et validation dʼune échelle de mesure de la qualité des travaux dʼaudit externe et interne, thèse de doctorat non publiée, besançon : université de franche-comté. � chow, c. w., j. c. cooper, et w. waller 1988 participative budgeting: effects of thruth-inducing pay scheme and information asymetry on slack and performance, accounting review, 63: 1, 111-123. � churchill, g. a., jr. 1979 a paradigm for developing better measures of marketing constructs, journal of marketing research, 16: 1, 64-73. � citron, d. b., et r. j. taffler 1992 the audit report under going concern uncertainties: an empirical analysis, accounting and business research, 22: 88, 337-345. � craswell, a. t. 1988 the association between qualified opinions and auditor switches, accounting and business research, 19: 73, 23-31. � davis, l. s., et d. t. simon 1992 the impact of sec disciplinary actions on audit fees, auditing: a journal of practice and theory, 11: 1, 58-68. � deangelo, l. e. 1981 auditor size and audit quality, journal of accounting and economics, 3: 3, 183-199. � deis, d. r., jr., et g. giroux 1996 the effect of auditor changes on audit fees, audit hours, and audit quality, journal of accounting and public policy, 15: 1, 55-76. � devellis, r. f. 1991 scales development: theory and applications, newbury park, ca : sage. � eichenseher, j. w., et d. shields 1989 corporate capital structure and auditor fit, advances in accounting, suppl.1: 39-56. � fama, e. f., et m. c. jensen 1983 agency problems and residual claims, journal of law and economics, 26: 2, 327-350. � flint, d. 1988 philosophy and principles of auditing, londres : macmillan education. � gibbins, m., et f. m. wolf 1982 auditorsʼ subjective decision environment: the case of a normal external audit, the accounting review, 57: 1, 105-124. � goldman, a., et b. barlev 1974 the auditor-firm conflict of interests: its implications for independence, the accounting review, 49: 4, 707-718. � groveman, h. 1995 how auditors can detect financial statement misstatement, journal of accountancy, 180: 4, 83-86. � hay, d. c., r. w. knechel, et n. wong 2006 audit fees: a meta-analysis of the effect of supply and demand attributes, contemporary accounting research, 23: 1, 141-191. � kaplan, s. e. 1995 an examination of auditorsʼ reporting intentions upon discovery of procedures prematurely signed-off, auditing: a journal of practice and theory, 14: 2, 90-104. � knapp, m. c. 1991 factors that audit committee members use as surrogates for audit quality, auditing: a journal of practice and theory, 10: 1, 35-52. � krishnan, j., et p. c. schauer 2000 the differentiation of quality among auditors: evidence from the not-forprofit sector, auditing: a journal of practice and theory, 19: 2, 9-25. � lennox, c. s. 1999 audit quality and auditors size: an evaluation of reputation and deep pockets hypotheses, journal of business finance and accounting, 26, 7-8: 779-805. m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 191-210 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 210 riadh manita � malone, c. f., et r. w. roberts 1996 factors associated with the incidence of reduced audit quality behaviors, auditing: a journal of practice and theory, 15: 2, 49-64. � manita, r. 2005 comité dʼaudit et qualité de lʼaudit externe : vers le développement dʼun outil dʼévaluation de la qualité du processus dʼaudit, thèse de doctorat non publiée, besançon : université de franche-comté. � mcdaniel, l. s. 1990 the effect of time pressure and audit program structure on audit performance, journal of accounting research, 28: 2, 267-285. � mcnair, c. j. 1991 proper compromises: the management control dilemma in public accounting and its impact on auditor behaviour, accounting, organizations and society, 16: 7, 635-653. � mock, t. j., et m. samet 1982 a multi-attribute model for audit evaluation, proceedings of the vith université of kansas audit symposium. � moizer, p. 1997 auditor reputation: the international empirical evidence, international journal of auditing, 1: 1, 61-74. � moreland, k. a. 1995 criticisms of auditors and the association between earnings and returns of client firms, auditing, 14: 1, 95-104. � nichols, d. r., et d. b. smith 1983 auditor credibility and auditor changes, journal of accounting research, 21: 2, 534-544. � palmrose, z. 1988 an analysis of auditor litigation and audit service quality, the accounting review, 63: 1, 55-73. � pigé, b. 2003 les enjeux du marché de lʼaudit, revue française de gestion, 6: 147, 87-103. � piot, c. 2004 effort dʼaudit et taille de lʼentreprise : barème réglementaire et économie dʼéchelle dans le commissariat aux comptes des pme-pmi, financecontrôle-stratégie, 7: 1, 151-169. � power, m. k. 1995 auditing, expertise and the sociology of technique, critical perspectives on accounting, 6: 4, 317-339. � prat dit hauret, c. 2000 lʼindépendance du commissaire aux comptes : cadre conceptuel et analyse empirique, thèse de doctorat non publiée, bordeaux : université de montesquieu-bordeaux iv. � reckers, p. m. j., s. w. wheeler, et b. wong-on-wing 1997 a comparative examination of auditor premature sign-off using the direct and the randomized response methods, auditing: a journal of practice and theory, 16, 1: 69-78. � rœhrich, g. 1993 les consommateurs-innovateurs : un essai dʼidentification, thèse de doctorat non publiée, grenoble : ecole supérieure des affaires, université pierre mendès-france. � roussel, p. 1994 mesure de lʼefficacité des rémunérations sur la motivation de la satisfaction de travail, thèse de doctorat non publiée, toulouse : université de toulouse i. � roussel, p. 1996 rémunération, motivation, et satisfaction au travail, paris : economica. � roussel, p., f. durrieu, e. campoy, et a. el akremi 2002 méthode des équations structurelles : recherches et applications en gestion, paris : economica. � schroeder, m., i. solomon, et d. vickrey 1986 audit quality: the perception of auditcommittee chairpersons and audit partners, auditing: a journal of practice and theory, 5: 2, 86-94. � sikka, p., a. puxty, h. willmott,et c. cooper 1998 the impossibility of eliminating the expectations gap: some theory and evidence, critical perspectives on accounting, 9: 3, 299-330. � sutton, s. g. 1993 toward an understanding of the factors affecting the quality of the audit process, decision sciences, 24: 1, 88-105. � sutton, s. g., et j. c. lampe 1991 a framework for evaluating process quality for audit engagements, accounting and business research, 21: 83, 275-288. � wines, g. 1994 auditor independence, audit qualifications and the provision of non-audit services: a note, accounting and finance, 34: 1, 75-86. � wooten, t. c. 2003 research about audit quality, cpa journal, 73: 1, 48-51. 175 alain fayolle, benoît gaillm@n@gement vol. 12 no. 3, 2009, 175-203 m@n@gement copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). m@n@gement is a double-blind refereed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.management-aims.com © 2009 m@n@gement and the author(s). alain fayolle 2009 benoît gailly évaluation d’une formation en entrepreneuriat : prédispositions et impact sur l’intention d’entreprendre m@n@gement, 12(3), 176-203. accepté par alain desreumaux m@n@gement est la revue officielle de l’aims m@n@gement is the journal official of aims issn: 1286-4892 editors: emmanuel josserand, hec, université de genève (editor in chief) jean-luc arrègle, edhec (editor) stewart clegg, university of technology, sydney (editor) louis hébert, hec montréal (editor) martin kornberger, university of technology, sydney (editor) philippe monin, em lyon (editor) josé pla-barber, universitat de valència (editor) linda rouleau, hec montréal (editor) michael tushman, harvard business school (editor) martin g. evans, university of toronto (editor emeritus) bernard forgues, emlyon business school (editor emeritus) m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 3, 2009, 175-203 176 évaluation d’une formation en entrepreneuriat : prédispositions et impact sur l’intention d’entreprendre évaluation d’une formation en entrepreneuriat : prédispositions et impact sur l’intention d’entreprendre alain fayolle benoît gailly em lyon business school, france fayolle@em-lyon.com université catholique de louvain, louvain school of management. benoit.gailly@uclouvain.be les formations organisées dans le domaine de l’entrepreneuriat ont-elles des effets sur les attitudes et perceptions des participants vis-à-vis de l’intention d’entreprendre, et donc indirectement sur le comportement entrepreneurial luimême ? cette question est posée depuis un certain temps par les chercheurs en entrepreneuriat et par les parties prenantes de ces formations (pouvoirs publics, autorités académiques, enseignants, etc.) soucieuses d’en valider l’efficacité. les auteurs de cette recherche veulent contribuer à la résolution de cette question, en proposant une opérationnalisation du concept d’intention d’entreprendre et de ses antécédents, à travers une expérimentation visant à mesurer les effets d’un programme d’enseignement en entrepreneuriat (pee), ainsi que les facteurs pouvant prédisposer les participants à ce type de programme. les résultats principaux de la recherche montrent que les effets positifs du pee étudié sont d’autant plus marqués que l’exposition entrepreneuriale antérieure des étudiants était faible, voire inexistante. pour des étudiants ayant été fortement exposés à l’entrepreneuriat, préalablement à la formation, les résultats mettent en évidence l’existence de contre-effets significatifs. mots clés : évaluation d’une formation, intention entrepreneuriale, théorie du comportement planifié. do entrepreneurship education programmes influence participants’ attitudes and perceptions towards entrepreneurial intentions and therefore the entrepreneurial behaviour itself? researchers and entrepreneurship education stakeholders alike (public institutions, academic authorities, teachers, etc.) have been looking into this question for quite a while, with a view to validating the efficacy of such programmes. the authors of this paper propose to operationalize the concept of entrepreneurial intention and its antecedents in an attempt to answer this question. a study to measure the effects of an entrepreneurship education programme (eep) and the factors that may influence the participants in this type of programme is presented. our main research results show that the positive effects of an eep are all the more marked where previous entrepreneurial exposure has been weak or inexistent. conversely, for those students who had previously been exposed to entrepreneurship, the results highlight significant counter-effects. keywords: evaluation of training programmes, entrepreneurial intention, theory of planned behaviour 177 alain fayolle, benoît gaillm@n@gement vol. 12 no. 3, 2009, 175-203 introduction quels sont les effets des formations organisées dans le domaine de l’entrepreneuriat sur les attitudes et perceptions des participants vis-àvis de l’intention d’entreprendre et / ou du comportement entrepreneurial lui-même ? cette question est posée depuis un certain temps par plusieurs chercheurs (fayolle, 2005 ; hytti et kuopusjärvi, 2004 ; moro et al., 2004 ; peterman et kennedy, 2003 ; souitaris et al., 2006), mais aussi par les parties prenantes de ces formations (pouvoirs publics, autorités académiques, enseignants, etc.) soucieuses d’en valider l’efficacité. en particulier, quel rôle jouent les formations organisées dans le domaine de l’entrepreneuriat par rapport aux autres facteurs influençant l’acte d’entreprendre, tels que le contexte social et les facteurs personnels et environnementaux (lüthje et franke, 2003) ? les facteurs influençant l’intention et / ou le comportement entrepreneurial (begley et al., 1997 ; matthews et moser, 1995 ; scott et twomey, 1988) influencent-ils également la prédisposition des participants à ces formations ou la résilience de leurs effets ? c’est à la résolution de ces questions que veulent contribuer les auteurs de cette recherche, en proposant une expérience d’opérationnalisation du concept d’intention et de ses antécédents dans le contexte entrepreneurial 1. le concept d’intention 2 joue depuis plusieurs années un rôle croissant dans la recherche en entrepreneuriat, pour prévoir le comportement entrepreneurial d’une part et comprendre comment les intentions ellesmêmes se forment d’autre part. par exemple, krueger et carsrud ont énoncé (1993 : 327) : les « chercheurs pourraient employer ce modèle [la théorie du comportement planifié] pour analyser comment le processus d’élaboration d’un plan d’affaires ou une formation entrepreneuriale affecte les intentions ». la théorie du comportement planifié (ajzen, 1991) constitue vraisemblablement l’un des modèles d’intention les plus utilisés jusqu’à présent. de nombreuses recherches l’ont empruntée pour améliorer la compréhension des intentions entrepreneuriales des étudiants (audet, 2004a et b ; autio et al., 1997 ; boissin et emin, 2006 ; fayolle et gailly, 2004 ; linan, 2004 ; tkachev et kolvereid, 1999 ; tounes, 2003) ou d’autres catégories d’individus 3. dans ce contexte, le but de cet article est de présenter et de discuter les résultats d’une expérimentation visant à mesurer les effets d’un programme d’enseignement en entrepreneuriat (pee) ainsi que les facteurs (prédispositions) influençant ces effets. la conceptualisation de l’intention d’entreprendre et de ses antécédents sur laquelle est fondée ce travail s’inspire directement de la théorie du comportement planifié (ajzen, 1991 et 2002). l’intérêt théorique de ce travail est de montrer, d’une part, que les modèles d’intention et plus particulièrement la théorie du comportement planifié, très utilisés dans le domaine de l’entrepreneuriat, peuvent être détournés de leur but initial et être utilisés comme des indicateurs de l’impact des formations et des enseignements. d’autre part, nous suggérons, dans cet article, que les modèles d’intention devraient davantage prendre en compte les facteurs d’exposition à l’entrepreneuriat. l’in 1. notre étude s’intéresse précisément à des variations d’attitudes, de perceptions et d’intention vis-à-vis du comportement entrepreneurial défini comme l’accès à une position professionnelle indépendante (création ou reprise d’une entreprise au sens large). 2. l’intention d’entreprendre peut être définie comme un état d’esprit orientant l’attention et l’action d’un individu vers des situations professionnelles indépendantes, par opposition à des positions d’employé (définition inspirée de bird, 1988). 3. voir par exemple emin (2003 et 2004) qui s’est intéressée à l’intention d’entreprendre des chercheurs dans le secteur public en france. m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 3, 2009, 175-203 178 évaluation d’une formation en entrepreneuriat : prédispositions et impact sur l’intention d’entreprendre térêt méthodologique réside dans l’utilisation d’un cadre théorique et d’instruments de mesure pertinents, mobilisés à maintes reprises pour des travaux sur l’intention d’entreprendre. cela ouvre la voie à des analyses comparatives et à la possibilité d’accumuler des résultats sur ces questions. enfin, l’intérêt pratique du travail est, dans un contexte de forte demande sociale vis-à-vis de l’entrepreneuriat, de donner des perspectives et des pistes concrètes en matière de conception et d’orientation des dispositifs de formation et d’enseignement dans ce domaine. dans une première section, nous proposons un état de l’art sur les questions d’évaluation de l’impact des pee, et d’une façon plus générale, sur les antécédents de l’intention d’entreprendre étudiés dans la littérature spécialisée. une deuxième section présente notre approche théorique et méthodologique. une troisième section décrit l’échantillon et le matériel de recherche que nous avons utilisés. cette dernière présente également nos résultats et la discussion qu’ils génèrent. dans la conclusion, nous soulignons les résultats principaux de la recherche et en développons les implications théoriques et pratiques. nous évoquons aussi les limites de notre travail et des voies de recherche futures. les facteurs influençant l’intention d’entreprendre de nombreux chercheurs ont mis en évidence l’intérêt croissant des étudiants pour l’entrepreneuriat comme choix de carrière (brenner et al., 1991 ; fleming, 1994 ; hart et harrison, 1992 ; kolvereid, 1996a), alors que l’intérêt pour l’emploi traditionnel dans les grandes entreprises semble diminuer (kolvereid, 1996a). cet accroissement de l’intention entrepreneuriale est influencé par un certain nombre de facteurs personnels et environnementaux, parmi lesquels on peut distinguer d’une part les facteurs liés aux programmes d’enseignement et de formation en entrepreneuriat et d’autre part les facteurs liés aux expériences des étudiants (et / ou expositions entrepreneuriales) ainsi qu’à certaines de leurs caractéristiques démographiques. ces deux types de facteurs sont discutés plus en détail ci-après. nous terminons la section par une présentation des hypothèses que nous souhaitons vérifier dans notre travail. impact des pee plusieurs recherches empiriques ont montré que la présence de pee dans les cursus et une image positive des entrepreneurs à l’intérieur des campus universitaires sont deux incitations importantes pour que les étudiants s’intéressent à une carrière entrepreneuriale (autio et al., 1997 ; johannisson, 1991). comme l’indiquent tkachev et kolvereid (1999 : 279) : « les intentions entrepreneuriales sont déterminées par des facteurs qui peuvent évoluer au fil du temps... les cours d’entrepreneuriat, les programmes de formation sur la gestion des petites et moyennes entreprises ou encore sur les réseaux, visant le changement 179 alain fayolle, benoît gaillm@n@gement vol. 12 no. 3, 2009, 175-203 des valeurs, des attitudes et des normes sociales sont susceptibles d’avoir un impact positif. » ces travaux soulignent l’impact de l’environnement universitaire sur les attitudes des étudiants vis-à-vis des carrières entrepreneuriales. des recherches ont montré également les effets positifs du nombre de cours de gestion pris par des étudiants, inscrits dans des programmes et des filières portant sur d’autres domaines que la gestion, sur l’intention d’entreprendre (chen et al., 1998). d’autres travaux ont tenté de comparer plus particulièrement les intentions et / ou les comportements des étudiants au sein de différents groupes. par exemple, varela et jimenez (2001), dans une étude longitudinale, ont choisi des groupes d’étudiants ayant suivi cinq programmes distincts dans trois universités colombiennes. ils ont constaté que les scores les plus élevés pour les indicateurs d’intention d’entreprendre et d’orientation vers une carrière entrepreneuriale ont été obtenus, dans la plupart des cas, au sein des universités qui avaient investi dans l’accompagnement et la formation à l’entrepreneuriat pour leurs étudiants. noël (2001) a étudié spécifiquement l’impact de la formation à l’entrepreneuriat sur le développement de l’intention entrepreneuriale et la perception de l’efficacité personnelle (self-efficacy). tous les étudiants, dans l’échantillon considéré, avaient choisi un pee et étaient diplômés soit en entrepreneuriat, soit en management, soit encore dans une autre discipline. les résultats de noël ont partiellement confirmé l’hypothèse que les diplômés en entrepreneuriat avaient un niveau d’intention plus élevé et une perception plus développée de l’efficacité personnelle que les étudiants des autres filières. finalement, certains chercheurs ont essayé d’expliquer le rapport entre les pee et les principales caractéristiques psychologiques étudiées dans la littérature entrepreneuriale, telles que le besoin d’accomplissement et le « locus of control » (hansemark, 1998), ou encore la perception de l’efficacité personnelle (ehrlich et al., 2000). ils ont constaté que l’enseignement en entrepreneuriat avait un impact positif, en ce sens qu’il augmente le niveau de ces caractéristiques ainsi que la probabilité de réaliser un acte entrepreneurial dans un futur proche. une moins grande attention a été portée à des variables éducatives plus fines, telles que les méthodes pédagogiques, les contenus des programmes, etc. dilts et fowler (1999) ont essayé de montrer que certaines méthodes ou situations d’enseignement (en particulier les stages et l’apprentissage) étaient plus efficaces que d’autres pour préparer les étudiants à une carrière entrepreneuriale. lüthje et franke (2003) ont, quant à eux, discuté l’importance de certains facteurs contextuels dans l’environnement universitaire qui facilitent ou, à l’inverse, gênent l’adoption de comportements entrepreneuriaux par des étudiants inscrits dans des filières techniques. leurs résultats confirment d’une certaine façon ceux d’autio et al. (1997) et de fayolle (1996), qui ont été obtenus sur des échantillons similaires. en synthèse, l’enseignement et la formation en entrepreneuriat semblent influencer de manière générale les intentions et les comportements entrepreneuriaux (fayolle, 2002 ; kolvereid et moen, 1997 ; peterman et kennedy, 2003 ; souitaris et al., 2006 ; tkachev et kolvereid, 1999). en d’autres termes, il y aurait des différences significatives entre m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 3, 2009, 175-203 180 évaluation d’une formation en entrepreneuriat : prédispositions et impact sur l’intention d’entreprendre des étudiants qui ont suivi des cours en entrepreneuriat et d’autres qui ne les ont pas suivis. cependant, la question reste ouverte de savoir si le lien de causalité entre certaines variables éducatives (contenu de cours, méthodes pédagogiques, profil de l’intervenant, ressources disponibles, etc.) et les antécédents de l’intention et / ou du comportement (attitudes, valeurs, connaissances, etc.) peut véritablement être expliqué et validé empiriquement. impact de l’émulation et des expériences antérieures les orientations et les comportements des étudiants et des jeunes diplômés sont également influencés par un certain nombre de facteurs personnels et environnementaux. les chercheurs ont ainsi montré l’importance du statut social des activités et des situations entrepreneuriales dans l’environnement proche du participant (begley et al., 1997 ; schmitt-rodermund, 2004). en particulier, il a été démontré empiriquement une corrélation entre le rôle des proches comme modèles à émuler et la préférence pour une carrière centrée sur le travail autonome (matthews et moser, 1995 ; scott et twomey, 1988). en outre, shapero et sokol (1982) ont avancé que la famille, en particulier le père ou la mère, joue un rôle très puissant en développant la désirabilité et la faisabilité des actions entrepreneuriales. scott et twomey (1988) ont constaté que les individus dont les parents possèdent (ou ont possédé) une petite entreprise exprimaient la préférence la plus élevée pour le travail autonome et, à l’inverse, la moins importante pour des situations de salariés dans de grandes entreprises. matthews et moser (1995 et 1996) ont quant à eux identifié un lien significatif entre la présence de modèles de référence parentaux entrepreneuriaux et le niveau des intentions entrepreneuriales. les expériences entrepreneuriales antérieures apparaissent également comme des facteurs qui peuvent influencer les intentions entrepreneuriales (hills et welsch, 1986 ; kent et al., 1982). ces expériences entrepreneuriales peuvent correspondre à quatre sources d’exposition possibles pour un individu donné (krueger, 1993) : une présence concrète de l’entrepreneuriat dans sa propre famille, un autre parent ou un ami qui a entrepris, un emploi passé ou présent dans une quelconque petite entreprise, et enfin le fait d’avoir démarré sa propre entreprise. cette délimitation inclut donc les phénomènes d’émulation des proches. krueger (1993) tient compte, dans sa recherche, de l’importance quantitative (« ampleur ») et qualitative (« positivité ») des expériences et trouve des liens significatifs entre des expositions entrepreneuriales antérieures positives et les antécédents de l’intention d’entreprendre. ses résultats sont largement confirmés par la recherche de peterman et kennedy (2003) réalisée à partir d’un échantillon de lycéens australiens ou encore celle de tkachev et kolvereid (1999) qui concerne des étudiants russes. fayolle (1996) souligne, dans le contexte français, l’existence de corrélations fortes entre, d’une part, les intentions et les comportements entrepreneuriaux des ingénieurs et, d’autre part, des facteurs tels que la participation à la création, au lancement et à la gestion d’associations étudiantes, ou encore les séjours pour des durées significatives (au minimum six mois) dans des pays étrangers. 181 alain fayolle, benoît gaillm@n@gement vol. 12 no. 3, 2009, 175-203 ces travaux de recherche mettent en évidence le rôle et l’importance des expériences entrepreneuriales antérieures sur les antécédents de l’intention et sur les niveaux de l’intention entrepreneuriale. hypothèses de la recherche la synthèse des travaux mentionnés ci-dessus nous permet de définir les hypothèses de recherche suivantes : h1. les programmes d’enseignement en entrepreneuriat influencent positivement l’intention d’entreprendre, tant à court (effets immédiats) qu’à moyen terme (effets au bout de six mois). l’hypothèse h1 dérive directement des résultats relatifs à l’impact des pee mis en évidence ci-dessus. notons qu’elle est d’application quel que soit le type de programme d’enseignement en entrepreneuriat, y compris ceux qui consistent principalement en une sensibilisation des étudiants. en outre, elle porte tant sur les effets immédiats qu’à moyen terme des pee. dans le cadre de notre recherche, les effets immédiats (ou à court terme) sont mesurés à l’issue de la formation alors que les effets à moyen terme sont mesurés six mois après la fin du programme. l’hypothèse h1 introduit, dès lors, également la notion de résilience ou persistance de l’impact d’un pee au cours du temps (moreau et raveleau, 2006) qui a, jusqu’à présent, été peu étudiée, les recherches longitudinales permettant d’évaluer ces phénomènes faisant défaut (shook et al., 2003). h2. l’intensité de l’impact d’un pee dépend du niveau initial de l’intention entrepreneuriale des participants et donc des expositions entrepreneuriales antérieures. plus ces expositions sont importantes et plus l’impact sera faible. l’hypothèse h2 est induite par les résultats relatifs à l’émulation et les expériences antérieures mis en évidence ci-dessus. partant du principe que ces facteurs influencent le niveau d’intention entrepreneurial initial du participant (krueger, 1993 ; peterman et kennedy, 2003 ; souitaris et al., 2006), on peut supposer qu’ils en influencent également la variabilité. il est en effet reconnu dans la littérature que des facteurs individuels et contextuels peuvent influencer l’impact d’une formation sur ses participants (mathieu et al., 1992). plus spécifiquement, on peut supposer que des participants ayant déjà un haut niveau d’intention entrepreneuriale seront peu affectés par une formation visant à encore augmenter celui-ci. réciproquement, des participants entamant une formation avec un faible niveau d’intention entrepreneuriale sont plus susceptibles de voir celle-ci fortement augmenter. par conséquent, cette deuxième hypothèse suggère une relation inverse entre, d’une part, la variation de l’intention entrepreneuriale et, d’autre part, le niveau initial de l’intention entrepreneuriale et des facteurs influençant celle-ci. ayant ainsi défini et motivé nos questions de recherche, nous présentons dans la section 2 le cadre conceptuel et le modèle nous permettant d’opérationnaliser la notion d’intention entrepreneuriale dans le contexte d’un programme de formation en entrepreneuriat. m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 3, 2009, 175-203 182 évaluation d’une formation en entrepreneuriat : prédispositions et impact sur l’intention d’entreprendre évaluation de l’impact des pee sur l’intention s’intéresser aux effets des pee revient à s’intéresser à la question de leur évaluation, laquelle ne peut être totalement déconnectée de celle de leur ingénierie pédagogique, tant au niveau de la conception des programmes que de leur mise en œuvre (béchard et grégoire, 2005; mialaret, 2005). avant de présenter le cadre théorique et le modèle conceptuel que nous avons utilisés, nous nous efforçons de mieux caractériser et positionner le type d’évaluation que nous avons privilégié. de l’évaluation des formations à l’évaluation des pee l’évaluation des actions de formation apparaît comme une question complexe (dionne, 1995 ; ostroff, 1991), car il existe différents types, niveaux et objectifs d’évaluation. on peut chercher, par exemple, à évaluer la pertinence d’un programme (rapport des objectifs aux besoins et attentes de la société), sa cohérence (les contenus, ressources pédagogiques et autres moyens sont en phase avec les objectifs), son efficacité (les résultats montrent que les objectifs ont été atteints) et son efficience (les objectifs sont atteints en optimisant les ressources mobilisées). la mesure de l’efficacité des programmes de formation correspond certainement à une des problématiques d’évaluation parmi les plus étudiées, et ce sous différentes perspectives (baldwin et ford, 1988). à cet égard, depuis plus de trente ans, les travaux de kirkpatrick (1959a, 1959b, 1960a, 1960b) constituent des références incontournables (alliger et janak, 1989). le modèle proposé par kirkpatrick distingue quatre niveaux d’évaluation reliés. le premier niveau, reaction, mesure le sentiment général des participants par rapport à un programme de formation et à ses différents aspects : le sujet, l’intervenant, la programmation, etc. il s’agit en définitive d’une mesure du degré de satisfaction des clients / participants. le deuxième niveau, learning, s’intéresse à l’acquisition de connaissances, à l’amélioration de techniques et à des changements d’attitudes. le troisième niveau, behavior, s’efforce de prendre en compte, d’une certaine façon, le passage à l’acte. dans quelle mesure les participants à une formation ont-ils appliqué ou « transféré » ce qu’ils ont appris, au sens large, dans des activités et des comportements professionnels ? le quatrième et dernier niveau, results, mesure les conséquences de ces changements comportementaux par rapport à des indicateurs d’activité, de performance et / ou de productivité. l’évaluation des formations, selon kirkpatrick (1996), apparaît de plus en plus difficile, compliquée et coûteuse, mais aussi plus importante et pertinente au fur et à mesure qu’elle progresse du niveau 1 (reaction) au niveau 4 (results). en particulier, des effets liés aux réactions ou à l’apprentissage ont été beaucoup plus souvent mis en évidence dans la littérature que ceux liés au comportement ou aux résultats (ostroff, 1991). 183 alain fayolle, benoît gaillm@n@gement vol. 12 no. 3, 2009, 175-203 partant de ces constats préliminaires, nous nous appuyons sur l’affirmation de donckels (1991) qui postule que le rôle principal des formations en entrepreneuriat, dans le milieu universitaire, est d’accroître la prise de conscience et l’acceptation, par les étudiants, du fait que la voie entrepreneuriale correspond à une option de carrière viable. l’objectif de notre recherche est, dès lors, de tester l’impact d’une action de sensibilisation, sur les attitudes, les perceptions et l’intention d’entreprendre d’étudiants de l’enseignement supérieur. nous avons donc souhaité nous intéresser à un programme dont l’objectif principal est de sensibiliser des étudiants à l’entrepreneuriat, et nous avons cherché, en utilisant comme indicateurs de mesure les différentes variables de la théorie du comportement planifié (ajzen, 1991), à évaluer l’efficacité de ce programme. en nous référant au modèle de kirkpatrick, c’est donc le niveau 2, (learning), qui est principalement analysé dans notre étude. pour des programmes de sensibilisation ayant pour finalité essentielle de faire réfléchir les étudiants sur les valeurs, les attitudes et les motivations des entrepreneurs (gibb, 1993 ; johannisson, 1991) et de susciter chez eux l’envie d’entreprendre, il semble en effet tout à fait logique et naturel d’apprécier leur efficacité à travers des changements d’attitudes, de perceptions et d’intention. dans cette perspective, l’intention d’entreprendre peut être perçue comme la première étape d’un processus évolutif et long, pouvant conduire au comportement entrepreneurial (kolvereid, 1996b ; krueger et carsrud, 1993 ; linan et chen, 2006). nous pensons, avec d’autres chercheurs, que d’un point de vue général, l’impact des pee, apprécié à travers des changements d’attitudes, de perceptions et d’intention a fait l’objet de très peu de travaux et pourrait être davantage étudié (gorman et al., 1997 ; krueger et brazeal, 1994 ; krueger et carsrud, 1993 ; peterman et kennedy, 2003 ; souitaris et al., 2006). en conséquence, l’approche méthodologique mise en œuvre dans le cadre de cette recherche se fonde sur la mesure de l’intention d’entreprendre des participants à un programme d’enseignement en entrepreneuriat, et ce à différents instants, avant et après leur participation à ce programme. cadre théorique et modèle de la recherche à partir de notre revue de la littérature et de nos hypothèses de recherche, nous avons élaboré le modèle théorique présenté ci-après (figure 1), que nous décrivons dans la suite de cette section. m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 3, 2009, 175-203 184 évaluation d’une formation en entrepreneuriat : prédispositions et impact sur l’intention d’entreprendre figure 1. modèle de la recherche légende : att = attitudes vis-à-vis du comportement entrepreneurial nsp = normes subjectives perçues ccp = contrôlabilité comportementale perçue variables dépendantes : intention et antécédents de l’intention de nombreux modèles d’intention ont été développés dans le domaine de l’entrepreneuriat par les chercheurs. ces modèles s’appuient largement sur les travaux de bird (1988) et l’extension de son modèle initial proposée par boyd et vozikis (1994), ceux de shapero (1975), shapero et sokol (1982) ou encore ceux de davidsson (1995) repris par autio et al. (1997) dans une application au domaine universitaire. la disponibilité de multiples travaux théoriques et empiriques fondés sur la théorie du comportement planifié nous a amenés à adopter ce cadre comme support théorique à notre recherche. pratiquement, tous les modèles mentionnés ci-dessus intègrent en effet les apports de la théorie de l’apprentissage social et de l’auto-efficacité (bandura, 1986) et surtout ceux de la théorie du comportement planifié (ajzen, 1991, 2002), qui est une prolongation de la théorie de l’action raisonnée (ajzen et fishbein, 1980), incluant le facteur de la « contrôlabilité comportementale perçue ». dans la théorie du comportement planifié, l’intention est la représentation cognitive de la volonté d’une personne d’effectuer un comportement donné, et est considérée comme un antécédent immédiat du comportement. en conséquence, les variables dépendantes dans le modèle sont les antécédents du comportement entrepreneurial tels que définis par la théorie du comportement planifié d’ajzen (1991, 2002), à savoir l’attitude vis-à-vis du comportement, les normes subjectives perçues et la contrôlabilité comportementale perçue, ainsi que l’intention entrepreneuriale elle-même 4. toutes ces variables sont mesurées au moyen de questionnaires utilisant des échelles validées dans de précédentes 185 alain fayolle, benoît gaillm@n@gement vol. 12 no. 3, 2009, 175-203 recherches (kolvereid, 1996a et b) et complétées par tous les participants avant, immédiatement après et six mois après le programme d’enseignement considéré. variable indépendante : participation à un pee dans notre modèle, la participation à un pee est supposée avoir un impact sur les attitudes, les perceptions et les intentions du participant vis-à-vis du comportement entrepreneurial. ce qui est cohérent avec la plupart des recherches empiriques disponibles publiées dans des revues scientifiques renommées (peterman et kennedy, 2003 ; souitaris et al., 2006 ; tkachev et kolvereid, 1999). même si d’autres travaux suggèrent d’étudier plus en profondeur et au-delà d’un impact global l’influence de certaines caractéristiques des pee, telles que les objectifs, le contenu, les méthodes pédagogiques ou encore les types d’audiences (fayolle, 2005 ; fayolle et castagnos, 2006), notre étude ne prend pas en compte ces différents facteurs. variables modératrices : niveau initial d’intention et temps l’étude de la littérature nous a amenés à considérer l’utilité de la prise en compte, dans notre modèle, de deux variables modératrices (baron et kenny, 1986), le niveau initial d’intention et le temps, qui sont supposées influencer la relation entre nos variables dépendante et indépendante. niveau initial d’intention. en nous appuyant sur les résultats d’autres recherches, nous avons considéré que l’appartenance à une famille d’entrepreneurs (begley et al., 1997 ; matthews et moser, 1995 ; scott et twomey, 1988), une expérience dans la vie associative en milieu étudiant (fayolle, 1996), un séjour à l’étranger d’une durée significative (fayolle, 1996) et le suivi antérieur d’une formation à l’entrepreneuriat (peterman et kennedy, 2003) étaient des facteurs d’exposition à l’entrepreneuriat qu’il était nécessaire de prendre en compte. cela étant, krueger (1993) montre que ces expositions et expériences liées à l’entrepreneuriat peuvent avoir des influences positives ou négatives sur l’intention d’entreprendre et le comportement. il apparaît dès lors que le niveau initial d’intention (mesuré au tout début de la formation) constitue également un bon indicateur des effets de ces expositions et expériences antérieures (zhao et al., 2005). temps. les attitudes, les perceptions et l’intention vis-à-vis du comportement entrepreneurial peuvent varier avec le temps (bird, 1992 ; bruyat, 1993) ; certains auteurs rappellent même que la preuve de la stabilité de l’intention d’entreprendre n’a pas été faite (audet, 2004 b ; moreau et raveleau, 2006). par ailleurs, rares sont les recherches, dans le champ de l’intention d’entreprendre, qui prennent explicitement en compte la variable temporelle (shook et al., 2003) ou la dynamique du phénomène (moreau et raveleau, 2006). nous souhaitons apporter un premier éclairage sur ce point en mesurant les variations d’intention, d’attitudes et de perceptions immédiatement à l’issue du programme et six mois après son achèvement. d’une façon générale, nous pensons que les effets d’une formation sur l’intention peuvent s’éroder avec le temps, mais nous avançons l’idée, dans notre recherche, que l’impact, au bout de six mois, restera important. 4. selon le modèle d’ajzen, l’intention est le résultat de trois déterminants conceptuels : a) les attitudes vis-à-vis du comportement : degré selon lequel une personne a une évaluation favorable ou défavorable du comportement en question (ajzen, 1991). quand apparaissent de nouvelles questions exigeant une réponse évaluative, la personne peut utiliser l’information appropriée (croyance) stockée dans sa mémoire. puisque chacune de ces croyances porte des implications évaluatives, des attitudes sont automatiquement formées ; b) les normes subjectives perçues : pressions sociales perçues pour réaliser ou ne pas réaliser le comportement en question (ajzen, 1991) ; en d’autres termes, la perception par le sujet des avis d’autres personnes (importantes pour lui) du comportement proposé. il est possible que ces pressions aient un rôle plus ou moins important dans la formation de l’intention, en fonction du contexte considéré ; c) la contrôlabilité comportementale perçue : facilité ou difficulté perçue de réaliser le comportement en question (ajzen, 1991). ce concept a été présenté dans la théorie du comportement planifié afin de prendre en compte les éléments involontaires inhérents (au moins potentiellement) à tous les comportements (ajzen, 2002). à titre d’exemple, krueger et dickson (1994) nous montrent qu’un accroissement de la contrôlabilité comportementale perçue augmente la perception et la reconnaissance des opportunités de création d’entreprise. m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 3, 2009, 175-203 186 évaluation d’une formation en entrepreneuriat : prédispositions et impact sur l’intention d’entreprendre validation des hypothèses dans ce modèle, les hypothèses h1 et h2 définies précédemment seront validées si des différences significatives sont observées parmi les mesures de l’intention effectuées avant et après le programme et si ces différences peuvent être reliées statistiquement aux mesures de l’exposition entrepreneuriale préalable au programme d’enseignement considéré. expérimentation et résultats empiriques nous présentons dans cette section les caractéristiques du programme d’enseignement en entrepreneuriat qui a fait l’objet de notre expérimentation, discutons la collecte et le traitement des données effectués, et finalement abordons la vérification de nos hypothèses. cadre expérimental le pee que nous avons retenu pour cette expérimentation s’est traduit concrètement par un processus pédagogique d’une durée totale de 24 heures réparties sur trois jours consécutifs. ce programme a été suivi par un groupe de 275 étudiants français inscrits dans différents mastères spécialisés en management, proposés par une grande école française. notons que 36 étudiants parmi les participants suivaient le pee dans le cadre d’un mastère spécialisé en entrepreneuriat et ont été exclus de l’expérience, l’impact du pee considéré ne pouvant être distingué de celui de l’ensemble du mastère. le dispositif expérimental utilisé pour tester les hypothèses définies ci-dessus devrait en théorie inclure un groupe de contrôle permettant de garantir la validité interne du dispositif. néanmoins, il est souvent difficile, voire impossible, dans le cadre de l’évaluation des formations de mettre en place ce type de procédure, et les recherches empiriques doivent se limiter à l’analyse du degré de signifiance des résultats statistiques observés (arvey et al., 1992 ; sackett et mullen, 1993) et à la prise en compte du contexte (cooke et campbell, 1979). dans le cas étudié ici, le caractère obligatoire du pee pour le public d’étudiants ciblé rendait très difficile, en pratique, la constitution d’un échantillon de contrôle. il n’était pas possible de constituer facilement un groupe de contrôle (interne ou externe à l’institution) possédant les mêmes caractéristiques que celles du groupe ayant reçu la formation. prendre des étudiants, d’autres programmes ou d’autres établissements, n’ayant pas ces caractéristiques, aurait apporté, de notre point de vue, plus d’inconvénients que d’avantages. et ce d’autant plus que, dans notre cas, les éventuels effets d’éléments exogènes et endogènes doivent être minimisés, en raison de la qualité de nos instruments de mesure (validés dans la littérature), du nombre assez important d’étudiants ayant participé au pee et de la courte durée de la formation. notre objectif a donc été ici de « mettre en œuvre le dispositif de recherche le plus rigoureux possible tenant compte des limitations [inhérentes à l’évaluation d’une formation] » (goldstein, 1986). nous avons, dès lors, fait l’hypothèse dans le cadre de cette recherche qu’il était 187 alain fayolle, benoît gaillm@n@gement vol. 12 no. 3, 2009, 175-203 peu probable qu’un biais systématique ait affecté la validité interne de nos résultats, et que l’absence d’échantillon de contrôle ne remettait pas en cause la pertinence globale du dispositif expérimental. le pee, organisé sous la forme d’un séminaire, inclut des apports conceptuels sur l’entrepreneuriat (1/3 de la durée) et des travaux dirigés en équipe. il peut être considéré comme une intervention pédagogique de sensibilisation dans la mesure où, à travers ses objectifs, il vise à améliorer le niveau d’information et de conscientisation des étudiants à l’entrepreneuriat, et les aide à mieux comprendre quelques questions clés relatives aux entrepreneurs et à leurs projets. de ce point de vue, les buts du programme sont similaires à ceux identifiés par hills (1988), dans une étude portant sur quinze programmes d’entrepreneuriat, classés parmi les meilleurs aux états-unis. le premier objectif vise explicitement le développement de la sensibilisation à l’entrepreneuriat des étudiants, le second concerne l’augmentation de leur prise de conscience des possibilités de carrière qu’offre l’entrepreneuriat. en termes d’acquisition de connaissances, si l’on se réfère au modèle de johannisson (1991), lequel identifie cinq niveaux différents de contenus d’un pee pour le développement de la connaissance entrepreneuriale : le « savoir pourquoi » (attitudes, valeurs, motivations), le « savoir faire » (capacités), le « savoir qui » (compétences sociales et relationnelles à court terme et à long terme), le « savoir quand » (intuition du bon moment) et le « savoir quoi » (connaissances théoriques et pratiques), nous pouvons considérer que, dans le pee qui nous intéresse, tous les niveaux sont concernés, à un degré ou à un autre. le programme couvre donc plusieurs dimensions de la démarche entrepreneuriale et aborde plus spécifiquement le contexte et les conditions d’évaluation des projets de création d’entreprise. l’exercice pédagogique principal consiste en l’évaluation de projets de création d’entreprise sur la base de leur plan d’affaires. les étudiants travaillent au sein de petites équipes de 4 à 5 personnes et interagissent avec des entrepreneurs et des professeurs spécialisés dans le champ de l’entrepreneuriat, qui les orientent et les aident à élaborer leur méthode d’évaluation pendant la durée du séminaire. chaque équipe présente, en présence des autres groupes, les résultats et les enseignements qu’il retire de son travail et une discussion collective conclut chacune des présentations. la première demi-journée du programme est aussi l’occasion d’un cours sur les dimensions clés de la création d’entreprise, notamment en ce qui concerne la psychologie et les déterminants de l’entrepreneur. la dernière demi-journée expose les méthodes d’évaluation des entrepreneurs et des projets de création d’entreprise. une personnalité extérieure, créateur d’entreprise ou spécialiste de la création, apporte, lors de la conclusion, un témoignage sur son parcours et ses expériences. les étudiants sont évalués sur la base des apprentissages réalisés, portant sur les différentes dimensions que nous venons d’évoquer. le programme joue donc le rôle d’un cours d’introduction à l’entrepreneuriat, incluant des modalités pédagogiques complémentaires et privilégiant la mise en situation concrète et les apprentissages du type learning by doing, comme cela est très souvent le cas dans le domaine de l’entrepreneuriat (carrier, 2007). m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 3, 2009, 175-203 188 évaluation d’une formation en entrepreneuriat : prédispositions et impact sur l’intention d’entreprendre méthodes de collecte et de traitement des données la mesure des variables dépendantes de notre modèle (l’intention entrepreneuriale et ses antécédents) s’est effectuée par l’administration, aux participants, de questionnaires respectivement au début du programme, immédiatement après et six mois après sa conclusion. ces questionnaires s’inspirent directement de ceux développés et validés par kolvereid (1996 a et b). les trois questionnaires reprennent les mêmes questions, relatives à la mesure des paramètres du modèle d’intention d’ajzen, sous la forme de 47 items mesurés sur une échelle de likert à sept positions, allant de 1 : complètement en désaccord, à 7 : complètement en accord. parmi ces items, 32 sont utilisés pour mesurer l’attitude vis-à-vis du comportement entrepreneurial et portent sur des affirmations liées à : 5. les deux premiers questionnaires ont été administrés en octobre 2005 et le troisième en avril 2006. le temps de réponse moyen a été d’environ 20 minutes. la sécurité d’emploi (2 items, par exemple : « je recherche la sécurité de l’emploi ») ; la charge de travail (5 items, par exemple : « je souhaite travailler sur des horaires bien définis ») ; l’implication dans le milieu social (5 items, par exemple : « je veux être membre d’un groupe social ») ; les perspectives professionnelles et financières (5 items, par exemple : « je recherche la promotion à tout prix ») ; la recherche de défis (3 items, par exemple : « je recherche un emploi motivant ») ; l’autonomie (6 items, par exemple : « je voudrais être mon propre patron ») ; les projets créatifs (6 items, par exemple : « je voudrais créer quelque chose »). par ailleurs, 6 items portent sur les normes subjectives perçues (par exemple : « je crois que mes meilleurs amis pensent que je ne m’orienterai pas vers la création de ma propre entreprise »), 6 autres items portent sur la contrôlabilité perçue du comportement (par exemple : « si je le voulais vraiment, je pourrais facilement poursuivre une carrière de créateur et dirigeant-propriétaire d’entreprise ») et finalement 3 items portent sur la mesure de l’intention entrepreneuriale (par exemple : « il est vraisemblable que je serai mon propre patron pour la plus grande partie de ma carrière »). le premier questionnaire comportait en outre une partie spécifique incluant 23 questions « signalétiques » qui se rapportent aux variables dites « démographiques » (robinson et al., 1991) et aux variables concernant les éventuelles expériences et expositions entrepreneuriales antérieures des étudiants. les trois questionnaires ont été administrés dans les mêmes conditions, à savoir en présence d’un membre de l’équipe de recherche disponible pour répondre aux éventuelles questions et pour contrôler le bon déroulement des opération 5. parmi les 239 questionnaires administrés, 158 (66 %) avaient été complétés correctement et ont été pris en compte. les données recueillies ont été analysées selon des procédures statistiques standards (logiciel de traitement spss). l’âge moyen des 158 répondants est de 25 ans et tous les étudiants, sauf 7, étaient de nationalité française. les informations relatives à la mesure des variables et les statistiques 189 alain fayolle, benoît gaillm@n@gement vol. 12 no. 3, 2009, 175-203 principales concernant les données collectées sont présentées dans le tableau 1 ci-après. la valeur de l’alpha de cronbach pour les mesures des trois antécédents et de l’intention reste acceptable pour ce type d’étude. notons que la corrélation entre les antécédents et le niveau de l’intention est fortement significative (p < 0.01) au niveau de toutes les mesures, ce qui est tout à fait conforme aux résultats prévus par la théorie du comportement planifié. tableau 1. données collectées (n = 158) mesure nombre d’items score moyen écart type cronbach’s alpha corrélation avec le niveau d’intention avant le pee attitudes vis-à-vis du comportement entrepreneurtial 32 4.96 0.56 0.84 0.38 normes subjectives perçues 6 3.58 0.90 0.56 0.49 contrôlabilité perçue 6 3.79 0.81 0.73 0.34 intentions entrepreneuriales 3 3.73 1.28 0.76 juste après le pee attitudes vis-à-vis du comportement entrepreneurial 32 4.96 0.51 0.43 normes subjjectives perçues 6 3.50 0.86 0.44 contrôlabilité perçue 6 3.83 0.87 0.36 intentions entrepreneuriales 3 3.82 1.27 6 mois après le pee attitudes vis-à-vis du comportement entrepreneurial 32 5.08 0.55 0.41 normes subjectives perçues 6 3.51 1.09 0.47 contrôlabilité perçue 6 3.99 0.88 0.41 intentions entrepreneuriales 3 3.71 1.35 test des hypothèses impact du pee sur l’intention (h1) pour vérifier l’hypothèse relative à l’impact du pee sur l’intention entrepreneuriale (hypothèse h1), nous avons utilisé un t-test de comparaison des moyennes des mesures de l’intention et de ses antécédents avant et après le pee. ces résultats sont détaillés ci-après dans le tableau 2. m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 3, 2009, 175-203 190 évaluation d’une formation en entrepreneuriat : prédispositions et impact sur l’intention d’entreprendre tableau 2. impact du pee (différences de moyennes) variable avant vs. immédiatement après p avant vs. 6 mois après p attitudes vis-à-vis du comportement entrepreneurial normes subjectives perçues contrôlabilité comportementale perçue intentions entrepreneuriales – 0.01 – 0.08 0.04 0.10 0.90 0.14 0.47 0.16 0.11 – 0.07 0.20 – 0.01 0.03 0.31 0.00 0.88 comme indiqué dans le tableau 2, il n’y a eu, en moyenne, aucun impact immédiat significatif observé suite au pee si l’on considère l’échantillon dans son ensemble. les trois antécédents de l’intention entrepreneuriale n’ont apparemment été en moyenne que légèrement affectés par le pee. bien qu’il semble y avoir en moyenne un certain impact positif au niveau de l’intention entrepreneuriale (+ 0.10), cet impact ne nous a pas semblé suffisamment significatif au regard du groupe entier des étudiants (p < 0.16). par conséquent, nous ne pouvons pas valider notre hypothèse h1 concernant l’impact à court terme du pee sur l’ensemble des étudiants. cependant, si nous considérons l’impact du pee mesuré après 6 mois, nous observons en moyenne un impact positif significatif sur les attitudes vis-à-vis du comportement entrepreneurial et sur la contrôlabilité comportementale perçue (resp. + 0.11 et + 0.20, p < 0.03 et p < 0.00). prédispositions (h2) afin d’évaluer l’influence de la situation initiale de l’étudiant sur l’impact de la formation, nous avons essayé d’apprécier dans quelle mesure l’impact, observé en moyenne ci-dessus, variait de manière significative lorsque l’on prenait en compte la situation initiale des étudiants en termes d’intention et d’exposition entrepreneuriale. nous avons pour cela d’une part comparé les valeurs mesurées au sein de différents sous-groupes d’étudiants et d’autre part testé si les variations de l’intention et de ses antécédents pouvaient être reliées statistiquement (par régression multiple) aux caractéristiques initiales des étudiants. le tableau 3 ci-après détaille l’impact de la formation (immédiat et après 6 mois) discriminé sur base de la mesure initiale de l’intention des étudiants, ceux-ci ayant été divisés en quartiles correspondant à des valeurs initiales croissantes de l’intention. 191 alain fayolle, benoît gaillm@n@gement vol. 12 no. 3, 2009, 175-203 tableau 3. analyse des intentions initiales des étudiants (n = 158) impact du pee (différence des moyennes) impact immédiat et 6 mois plus tard échantillon premier quartile second quartile troisième quartile quatrième quartile taille de l’échantillon 39 40 40 39 intention initiale 2.13 3.31 4.02 5.45 attitudes vis-à-vis du comportement – 0.08(*) 0.03 0.03 0.18(*) -0.01 0.14 0.03 0.09 normes subjectives perçues – 0.22(*) – 0.19 – 0.03 – 0.09 0.13 0.02 – 0.20* – 0.04 contrôlabilité comportementale perçue – 0.12 – 0.10 0.15(*) 0.51** 0.10 0.24* 0.01 0.14 intention 0.43** 0.32* 0.13 0.08 0.13 0.23 – 0.30* – 0.68** (*) p < 0.10, * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01 ce tableau mentionne la taille du quartile concerné, le niveau moyen d’intention initialement mesuré ainsi que les variations observées de l’intention entrepreneuriale et de ses antécédents immédiatement et après 6 mois. les variations significatives sont identifiées sur base d’un t-test de comparaison de moyenne, identique à celui utilisé pour valider l’hypothèse h1. les résultats du tableau 3 mettent en évidence une dépendance forte et significative de l’impact de la formation en fonction du niveau initial d’intention de l’étudiant. on remarque en particulier que l’impact sur l’intention entrepreneuriale, tant mesuré immédiatement qu’après 6 mois, varie fortement (de significativement positif, + 0.43 et + 0.32, p < 0.01 et p < 0.05 à significativement négatif, – 0.30 et – 0.68, p < 0.05 et p < 0.01) selon les quartiles considérés. le tableau 4 ci-après détaille l’impact de la formation (immédiat et après 6 mois) discriminé sur base de variables socio-démographiques connues comme pouvant influencer l’intention entrepreneuriale : la présence d’un entrepreneur parmi les proches, une expérience antérieure dans le milieu associatif ou à l’étranger et la participation à une formation en entrepreneuriat. notons que ces facteurs sont ici analysés séparément, alors que des étudiants peuvent bien évidemment combiner plusieurs d’entre eux 6. l’analyse des effets combinés de ces facteurs dépasse cependant le cadre de cette recherche. 6. la présence d’un entrepreneur parmi ses proches est significativement légèrement corrélée avec une expérience associative (+ 0.17, p < 0.01) et avec la participation à une formation (– 0.17, p < 0.01). les autres variables ne sont pas significativement corrélées. m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 3, 2009, 175-203 192 évaluation d’une formation en entrepreneuriat : prédispositions et impact sur l’intention d’entreprendre tableau 4. analyse portant sur la situation initiale des étudiants (n = 158) impact du pee (différence des moyennes) impact immédiat et 6 mois plus tard échantillon taille de l’échantillon intention initiale attitudes vis-à-vis du comportement normes subjectives perçues contrôlabilité comportementale perçue intention entrepreneurs dans la famille autres expérience associative autres expérience à l’étranger autres formation à l’entrepreneuriat autres 96 62 75 82 74 84 37 118 3.88* 3.48* 3.97* 3.52* 3.64 3.80 3.50 3.79 – 0.03 0.07 0.03 0.18 – 0.07 0.02(*) 0.05 0.19(*) – 0.04 0.10 0.02 0.12 0.00 0.02 – 0.01 0.13 – 0.17* – 0.11 0.06* – 0.02 – 0.03 – 0.15 – 0.11 0.00 – 0.10 -0.23(*) -0.06 0.06(*) – 0.05 –0.27(*) – 0.08 -0.01(*) – 0.05* 0.17 0.17* 0.24 0.07 0.25 0.00 0.15 0.07 0.27 0.01 0.13 0.02 0.22 0.04 0.17 0.16 0.02 0.00 – 0.06 0.07 – 0.04 0.12 0.01 0.11 – 0.14 0.09 0.10 0.17 – 0.13 0.07 0.01 (*) p < 0.10, * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01. ce tableau inclut le nombre d’étudiants concernés par chaque souséchantillon, l’intention initiale moyenne du sous-échantillon, ainsi que les variations observées de l’intention entrepreneuriale et de ses antécédents immédiatement et après 6 mois. les variations significatives sont identifiées sur base d’un t-test de comparaison de moyenne identique à celui utilisé pour valider l’hypothèse h1. les résultats du tableau 4 indiquent que plusieurs facteurs socio-démographiques, connus comme pouvant affecter le niveau d’intention entrepreneuriale des étudiants, influencent de manière significative l’impact immédiat que la formation peut avoir sur ceux-ci. en particulier, la présence ou non d’un entrepreneur dans la famille affecte de manière statistiquement significative l’impact de la formation sur les étudiants en termes de normes subjectives perçues (– 017 vs. + 0.06, p < 0.05) et de contrôlabilité comportementale (– 0.05 vs. + 0.17, p < 0.05). les autres facteurs considérés dans le tableau 4 semblent également avoir une influence sur l’impact de la formation sur les antécédents de l’intention entrepreneuriale des étudiants mesurés après six mois, mais de manière moins significative. en particulier, d’une part l’expérience associative et d’autre part l’expérience à l’étranger et la participation à une formation pourraient influencer respectivement l’attitude vis-à-vis du comportement entrepreneurial (+ 0.02 vs + 0.19, p < 0.10) et les normes subjectives perçues (– 0.23 vs. + 0.06 et – 0.27 vs. – 0.01, p < 0.10). 193 alain fayolle, benoît gaillm@n@gement vol. 12 no. 3, 2009, 175-203 finalement, le tableau 5 ci-après présente les résultats des régressions multivariées exprimant les variations observées de l’intention et de ses antécédents comme fonction de l’intention initiale et de l’appartenance à un sous-échantillon d’étudiants. tableau 5. résultats des régressions multivariées influence sur l’impact du pee (coefficient de régression) impact immédiat et 6 mois plus tard variable entrepreneurs dans la famille expérience associative expérience à l’étranger formation à l’entrepreneuriat intention initiale r-square attitudes vis-àvis du comportement – 0.02 – 0.09 – 0.12 – 0.15 – 0.05 0.00 0.01 – 0.12 0.03 0.01 0.01 0.01 normes subjectives perçues – 0.27* – 0.14 0.12 – 0.14 – 0.04 – 0.28(*) – 0.03 – 0.29 0.01 0.05 0.01 0.05 contrôlabilité comportemen-tale perçue – 0.27* – 0.09 0.11 0.13 0.06 0.17 – 0.06 0.05 0.03 0.03 0.01 0.01 intention 0.26(*) 0.09 0.00 0.10 – 0.01 – 0.28(*) 0.08 – 0.22 – 0.25** – 0.31** 0.11 0.13 (*) p < 0.10, * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01. ce tableau reprend, pour l’intention et ses trois antécédents, les valeurs des coefficients de régression mesurés ainsi que le r2 de régression, et ce, tant en considérant les variations mesurées immédiatement après le pee que celles mesurées 6 mois après celui-ci. ces résultats confirment ceux identifiés et commentés dans les tableaux 3 et 4, à savoir une influence significative de l’intention initiale et de certains facteurs liés à l’expérience entrepreneuriale préalable sur l’impact qu’a un pee sur le niveau d’intention entrepreneuriale des étudiants qui le suivent ainsi que sur certains antécédents de cette intention. on remarque en particulier à nouveau que l’impact sur l’intention entrepreneuriale, tant mesuré immédiatement qu’après 6 mois, varie négativement en fonction de l’intention initiale, les coefficients de régression correspondants étant significativement négatifs (– 0.25 et – 0.31, p < 0.01). de même, la présence d’un entrepreneur dans la famille affecte de manière statistiquement significative l’impact immédiat de la formation sur les étudiants en termes de normes subjectives perçues (– 0.27, p < 0.05) et de contrôlabilité (– 0.27, p < 0.05). en d’autres termes, l’impact immédiat du pee semble avoir été beaucoup plus positif pour les étudiants qui n’ont eu aucun entrepreneur dans leur famille. finalement, les autres facteurs considérés (en particulier une expérience à l’étranger) pourraient également avoir une influence sur l’impact de la m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 3, 2009, 175-203 194 évaluation d’une formation en entrepreneuriat : prédispositions et impact sur l’intention d’entreprendre formation sur les antécédents de l’intention entrepreneuriale des étudiants mesurés après six mois, mais de manière moins significative. notons que les tests utilisés ci-dessus (tableaux 3, 4 et 5) ne prennent pas en compte explicitement le lien existant entre les variables dépendantes (l’intention et ses antécédents), les différences de moyennes étant considérées de manière indépendante. nous avons fait l’hypothèse, dans le cadre de cette recherche, que l’impact de ce lien sur les différences de moyenne observées était de second ordre par rapport à l’impact du pee lui-même. en effet, bien que la mesure de l’intention puisse être significativement reliée (par régression linéaire) à celles de ses antécédents, tant avant que immédiatement après et 6 mois après, le pee (r2 = 30 % et p < 0.01 pour tous les coefficients de régression dans les trois cas), les différences entre ces mesures ne peuvent, quant à elles, pas être reliées de manière significative (r2 < 5 % et p > 0.05 pour tous les coefficients). si l’on peut considérer d’un point de vue théorique qu’il devrait exister un lien entre les variations de l’intention et les variations de ses antécédents, celui-ci n’apparaît néanmoins pas de manière significative dans les mesures que nous avons effectuées. dès lors, les résultats présentés dans les tableaux 3, 4 et 5 ci-dessus nous permettent de valider l’hypothèse h2. d’autres recherches sur des échantillons plus discriminants pourraient néanmoins être menées dans le futur afin de prendre en compte l’effet du lien existant entre l’intention et ses antécédents sur l’impact observé du pee, qui a été, comme mentionné plus haut, considéré ici comme un effet de second ordre. remarquons néanmoins que les prédispositions testées ci-dessus (niveau initial d’intention et variables socio-démographiques) ne semblent pas affecter de manière significative l’impact de la formation sur plusieurs des antécédents de l’intention ou du niveau de l’intention elle-même. par exemple, nous n’avons pas pu mettre en évidence un lien entre la présence d’un entrepreneur dans la famille et l’impact de la formation sur le niveau d’intention entrepreneuriale. cela pourrait s’expliquer par la taille relativement réduite de certains des souséchantillons considérés. discussion en considérant nos résultats, il semblerait que, pour la totalité de l’échantillon, le pee étudié affecte particulièrement à moyen terme la contrôlabilité perçue et les attitudes vis-à-vis du comportement entrepreneurial (tableau 2). la littérature a souligné la relation entre ces facteurs et l’intention, en particulier entre l’intention et la self-efficacy7 zhao et al., 2005). cela pourrait conduire à des recherches futures sur la corrélation entre la contrôlabilité comportementale perçue et certaines variables éducatives, telles que des méthodes pédagogiques ou des types de contenus, afin de mieux comprendre l’influence de ces dernières. en revanche, le pee ne semble pas, en moyenne, affecter les intentions entrepreneuriales des étudiants, ni à court terme, ni (en7. notion développée par bandura (1986). 195 alain fayolle, benoît gaillm@n@gement vol. 12 no. 3, 2009, 175-203 core moins) à plus long terme. le faible impact positif mesuré à l’issue du programme pourrait être expliqué par l’hétérogénéité du groupe au niveau, principalement, de l’exposition antérieure des étudiants à l’entrepreneuriat. l’absence d’impact sur l’intention entrepreneuriale, six mois après la fin du programme, pourrait principalement relever, selon nous, de la conjonction de deux facteurs principaux. tout d’abord, au cours de cette période de six mois, les étudiants inscrits dans des programmes de formation spécialisée au management (par exemple, « management de l’innovation technologique » ou encore « marketing des activités industrielles ») n’ont plus été confrontés à des enseignements en entrepreneuriat. ensuite, dans le contexte d’une grande école de management française, comme celle que nous avons retenue pour cette expérimentation, les exemples donnés dans les cours, les cas étudiés, les stages proposés et les entreprises présentes ponctuellement sur le campus pour des opérations de communication en direction des étudiants appartiennent tous à l’univers de la grande entreprise. la prise en compte des résultats relatifs aux sous-groupes d’étudiants choisis sur la base de leur niveau « d’acculturation » entrepreneuriale antérieure (appartenance à une famille d’entrepreneurs, ayant eu des expériences mobilisant des comportements entrepreneuriaux, ayant été exposés pendant une période significative à des cultures et à des contextes internationaux) nous a permis de mettre en évidence empiriquement l’influence de certains de ces facteurs spécifiques sur l’impact du pee étudié (tableaux 3, 4 et 5). en particulier, nous avons trouvé un impact immédiat positif du pee sur la contrôlabilité comportementale perçue et sur les normes subjectives perçues pour des étudiants n’ayant pas été préalablement exposés à la culture entrepreneuriale à travers leurs proches. de la même manière, nous avons constaté un impact positif du programme, après six mois, sur les attitudes vis-àvis du comportement entrepreneurial, pour les étudiants n’ayant pas bénéficié d’expérience associative. d’une façon générale, il convient de noter que nos résultats montrent un impact positif de la famille et de l’expérience associative sur l’intention entrepreneuriale, ce qui confirme les résultats de recherches antérieures (fayolle, 1996 ; souitaris et al., 2006 ; tkachev et kolvereid, 1999 ; zhao et al., 2005 ). nos résultats nous ont permis, enfin, de constater que l’impact du pee sur l’intention entrepreneuriale semble dépendre sensiblement de la perspective initiale de l’étudiant vis-à-vis de celle-ci. cela signifie que, pour des étudiants situés dans notre premier quartile (ceux qui ont le niveau initial d’intention entrepreneuriale le plus bas [tableau 3), l’impact du pee est significativement positif tandis que pour ceux qui sont dans le quatrième quartile (les étudiants qui ont le niveau initial d’intention entrepreneuriale le plus élevé), l’impact est significativement négatif. de même, l’impact du pee sur le niveau d’intention est significativement négativement corrélé avec le niveau initial de l’intention (tableau 5). en d’autres termes, le pee semble avoir eu des effets positifs forts pour certains étudiants alors que dans le même temps il a pu faire baisser le niveau de l’intention entrepreneuriale (contre-effet) pour d’autres. ce résultat, qui met en évidence le fait que le pee considéré semm@n@gement vol. 12 no. 3, 2009, 175-203 196 évaluation d’une formation en entrepreneuriat : prédispositions et impact sur l’intention d’entreprendre ble augmenter l’intention entrepreneuriale des étudiants qui n’envisageaient pas cette voie et réduire celle de ceux qui l’envisageaient, est intéressant. les premiers découvrent probablement un domaine qui ne les avait pas intéressés jusqu’alors ou qu’ils ignoraient largement et en identifient certains aspects valorisants. les seconds, disposant d’une première information, se concentrent peut-être davantage sur certaines dimensions de l’entrepreneuriat et peuvent mettre au jour des limites ou des difficultés qu’ils ne connaissaient pas ou qu’ils sousestimaient. il serait bien sûr utile de tester ces résultats sur d’autres pee, afin d’identifier s’ils sont généralisables ou liés à certains types de dispositifs pédagogiques. ces résultats conduisent également à quelques réflexions quant à la validité du modèle théorique présenté (figure 1). en effet, le lien entre une participation à un pee et une variation des composantes de la théorie du comportement planifié apparaît comme plus ténu et équivoque que ne le laissait prévoir la théorie. au-delà des questions d’observabilité et de mesurabilité de ces variables (l’incertitude sur les variations mesurées de l’intention et de ses antécédents étant non négligeable), nos résultats nous amènent à reconsidérer le statut des facteurs d’exposition et d’expérience dans le modèle initialement proposé. d’un point de vue empirique, nos résultats indiquent que l’impact de ces facteurs sur les variables de la théorie du comportement planifié tend à supplanter l’impact de la formation elle-même. en d’autres mots, on pourrait aller jusqu’à considérer un modèle théorique où la variable indépendante deviendrait les facteurs d’exposition entrepreneuriale et où la participation à un pee deviendrait un facteur modérateur. d’un point de vue théorique, nos résultats indiquent que le passage d’un cadre théorique issu de la psychologie – la théorie du comportement planifié –, où le niveau d’analyse est l’individu, à un modèle théorique – l’évaluation de l’impact d’une formation – où le niveau d’analyse est le groupe d’individus (les participants à une formation) introduit une hétérogénéité qui en affecte la validité. la théorie prédit en effet que le niveau d’intention d’un individu soit affecté par la participation de cet individu à une formation et par l’exposition et l’expérience préalable de cet individu. néanmoins, cette affirmation ne peut pas être directement généralisée à un groupe d’individus hétérogène, car les notions d’exposition et d’expérience préalable ne sont pas des concepts théoriquement définis pour un groupe diversifié. le modèle proposé (figure 1) n’apparaît donc théoriquement valide que si l’on considère des groupes d’individus homogènes (tels que par exemple les quartiles considérés dans le tableau 3). notons que dans ce cas les facteurs d’exposition et d’expérience, similaires pour tous les individus du groupe, disparaissent en tant que variables modératrices. en d’autres termes, l’utilisation de la théorie du comportement planifié comme cadre théorique pour l’évaluation de formation en entrepreneuriat ne semble se justifier, tant du point de vue empirique que théorique, que si l’on considère des groupes de participants homogènes, pour lesquels des facteurs d’exposition et d’expérience univoques peuvent être définis. 197 alain fayolle, benoît gaillm@n@gement vol. 12 no. 3, 2009, 175-203 conclusion l’objectif de notre recherche est de mieux comprendre les effets des formations organisées dans le domaine de l’entrepreneuriat sur les attitudes et perceptions des étudiants vis-à-vis de l’intention d’entreprendre. dans le cadre d’une expérimentation, portant sur un programme d’introduction à l’entrepreneuriat de 24 heures, nos résultats montrent qu’il n’a pas eu d’effet observable à court terme sur l’ensemble des étudiants même si, à moyen terme (six mois après le terme de la formation), nous avons observé en moyenne un impact positif significatif sur les attitudes vis-à-vis du comportement et sur la contrôlabilité comportementale perçue. il y a en revanche des effets tout à fait intéressants lorsque nous segmentons la population d’étudiants sur base du critère du niveau initial d’intention entrepreneuriale, lui-même lié à l’exposition entrepreneuriale antérieure. l’impact du programme est d’autant plus fort que le niveau initial d’intention entrepreneuriale est faible et inversement. en termes d’implications théoriques, les résultats de notre recherche confirment l’intérêt du concept d’intention entrepreneuriale et de son opérationnalisation à l’aide de la théorie du comportement planifié pour évaluer l’impact des formations en entrepreneuriat. notre recherche montre également le rôle que peuvent jouer les facteurs de prédisposition et suggère de les prendre en compte dans des modèles théoriques de l’intention entrepreneuriale. au niveau des implications pratiques, le niveau initial de l’intention entrepreneuriale apparaît, dans notre recherche, comme un indicateur clé qui pourrait permettre de profiler les étudiants et de mieux les orienter. certains d’entre eux n’ont jamais été exposés à l’entrepreneuriat ou ont été négativement influencés par une expérience entrepreneuriale antérieure. d’autres étudiants ont été influencés et / ou se sont donné comme objectif concret de devenir entrepreneurs d’une façon ou d’une autre. nos résultats suggèrent qu’un pee pourrait former les étudiants en leur donnant des connaissances et des informations au sujet des entrepreneurs et de l’entrepreneuriat d’une manière plus objective. un pee peut permettre à des étudiants d’envisager différemment et de manière plus approfondie l’option entrepreneuriale, jouant un rôle important dans la formation de leur intention entrepreneuriale et peut-être dans sa persistance. nos résultats ouvrent également des perspectives intéressantes sur la prise en compte des prédispositions des étudiants participant à un programme de formation en entrepreneuriat, afin d’identifier a priori ceux pour lesquels le programme pourrait être le plus bénéfique. les résultats de notre recherche nous conduisent à soulever plusieurs nouvelles questions de recherche importantes. par exemple, selon le type d’objectif recherché, y a-t-il des méthodes et des outils pour sélectionner des étudiants et les orienter vers un pee plus approprié, mieux adapté à leur profil et à leur expérience préalable ? en effet, dans certains cas, les pee visant à donner une première conscience entrepreneuriale aux étudiants pourraient être inutiles, voire contreproductifs (existence de contre-effets) pour certains types d’étudiants. m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 3, 2009, 175-203 198 évaluation d’une formation en entrepreneuriat : prédispositions et impact sur l’intention d’entreprendre davantage d’études dans ce sens pourraient améliorer notre compréhension de ces problématiques. en outre, nous sommes encore loin d’une connaissance satisfaisante au sujet de l’influence des facteurs principaux qui jouent un rôle dans un pee. des recherches futures nous permettraient de vérifier des relations spécifiques entre des variables pédagogiques et éducatives particulières et les antécédents de l’intention entrepreneuriale. en définitive, les implications des recherches futures pourraient se concentrer sur l’application de la méthode proposée à d’autres types de pee, et à l’évaluation de l’efficacité et de l’efficience d’approches pédagogiques particulières, ou de programmes de formation, dans leur ensemble. elles pourraient viser également la recherche d’une meilleure allocation des ressources publiques et académiques dans ce domaine. remerciements : les auteurs remercient narjisse lassas-clerc, phd student à em lyon business school, pour sa participation à la phase de collecte et de préparation des données. alain fayolle est professeur et directeur du centre de recherche entrepreneurial process dynamics à em lyon business school. il est par ailleurs chercheur au cerag (umr cnrs / université pierre mendès-france de grenoble) et professeur visiteur à la solvay brussels school of economics and management (université libre de bruxelles). ses centres d’intérêt recouvrent l’étude des processus de création d’activités innovantes, l’entrepreneuriat organisationnel et l’enseignement en entrepreneuriat. il est rédacteur en chef de la revue de l’entrepreneuriat et de l’expansion entrepreneuriat et l’auteur de plus d’une centaine de publications scientifiques et professionnelles. benoît gailly est professeur à l’université catholique de louvain. il enseigne la stratégie et la gestion de l’innovation au sein du center of research in entrepreneurial change and innovative strategies (crecis) de la louvain school of management. ses travaux de recherche portent sur les dispositifs de soutien et d’encadrement des start-up et sur les stratégies fondées sur l’innovation. 199 alain fayolle, benoît gaillm@n@gement vol. 12 no. 3, 2009, 175-203 références . alliger, g. m., & janak, e. a. (1989). kirkpatrick’s levels of training criteria: thirty years later. personnel psychology, 42(2), 331-342. . ajzen, i. (1991). the theory of planned behavior. organizational behavior and human decision processes, 50, 179-211. . ajzen, i. (2002). perceived behavioral control, self-efficacy, locus of control, and the theory of planned behavior. journal of applied social psychology, 32(4), 1-20. . ajzen i., & fishbein, m. (1980). understanding attitudes and predicting social behaviour. englewood cliffs, nj: prentice-hall. . arvey, r. d., maxwell, s. e., & salas, e. (1992). the relative power of training evaluation designs under different cost configurations. journal of applied psychology, 77, 155-160. . audet, j. (2004 a). a longitudinal study of the entrepreneurial intentions of university students. academy of entrepreneurship journal, 10(1), 3-16. . audet, j. (2004 b). l’impact de deux projets de session sur les perceptions et intentions entrepreneuriales d’étudiants en administration. journal of small business and entrepreneurship, 17(3), 223-240. . autio, e., keeley, r. h., klofsten, m., & ulfstedt, t. (1997). entrepreneurial intent among students: testing an intent model in asia, scandinavia and usa. frontiers of entrepreneurship research, babson conference proceedings, www.babson.edu/ entrep/fer. . bagozzi, r., baumgar-bagozzi, r., baumgartner, h., & yi,y. (1992). state versus action orientation and the theory of reasoned action: an application to coupon usage. journal of consumer research, 18, 505-518. . baldwin, t.t., & ford, j. k. (1988). transfer of training: a review and directions for future research. personnel psychology, 41(1), 63-105. . bandura, a. (1986). social foundations of thought and action: a social cognitive theory. englewood cliffs, nj: prentice hall. . baron, r. m., & kenny, d. a. (1986). the moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: conceptual, strategic and statistical considerations. journal of personality and social psychology, 51(6), 1173-1182. . bechard, j. p., & gregoi-bechard, j. p., & gregoire, d. (2005). understanding teaching models in entrepreneurship for higher education. in p. kyrö & c. carrier (eds.), the dynamics of learning entrepreneurship in a cross-cultural university context (pp. 101-134). tampere, finland: university of tampere, faculty of education. . begley, t. m., tan, w. l., larasati, a. b., rab, a., zamora, e., & nanayakkara, g. (1997). the relationship between socio-cultural dimensions and interest in starting a business: a multi-country study. frontiers of entrepreneurship research, babson conference proceedings, www. babson.edu/entrep/fer. . bird, b. (1988). implementing entrepreneurial ideas: the case of intention. academy of management review, 13, 442-453. . bird, b. (1992). the operation of intentions in time: the emergence of the new venture. entrepreneurship theory and practice, 17(1), 11-20. . boissin, j. p., & emin, s. (2006). les étudiants et l’entrepreneuriat : l’effet des formations. xvème conférence internationale de management stratégique, annecy / genève 13-16 juin. . boyd, n. g., et vozikis, g. s. (1994). the influence of self-efficacy on the development of entrepreneurial intentions and actions. entrepreneurship: theory and practice, 18, 63-77. . brenner, o. c., pringle, c. d., & greenhaus, j. h. (1991). perceived fulfilment of organizational employment versus entrepreneurship: work values and career intentions of business college graduates. journal of small business management, 29(3), 62-74. m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 3, 2009, 175-203 200 évaluation d’une formation en entrepreneuriat : prédispositions et impact sur l’intention d’entreprendre . carrier, c. (2007). strategies for teaching entrepreneurship: what else beyond lectures, case studies and business plan? in fayolle, a. (eds.), handbook of research in entrepreneurship education, vol. 1, (pp.143-159) chetelham, uk: edward elgar publishing. . chen, c. c., greene, p. g., & crick, a. (1998). does entrepreneurial self-efficacy distinguish entrepreneurs from managers? journal of business venturing, 13(4), 295-316. . cook, t. d., & campbell, d. t. (1979). quasi-experimentation: design and analysis issues for field settings, chicago: rand mcnally. . davidsson, p. (1995). determinants of entrepreneurial intentions. paper presented at the rent ix conference, workshop in entrepreneurship research, piacenza, italy, november 23-24. . dilts, j. c., & fowler, s. m. (1999). internships: preparing students for an entrepreneurial career. journal of business & entrepreneurship, 11(1), 51-63. . dionne, p. (1995). l’évaluation des activités de formation: une question complexe qui met en jeux des intérêts différents. revue organisations et territoires, 4(2), 59-68. . donckels, r. (1991). education and entrepreneurship experience from secondary and university education in belgium. journal of small business and enterprise, 9(1), 35-42. . ehrlich, s. b., de noble, a. f., jung, d., & pearson, d. (2000). the impact of entrepreneurship training programs on an individual’s entrepreneurial self-efficacy. frontiers of entrepreneurship research, babson conference proceedings, www.babson.edu/ entrep/fer. . emin, s. (2003). l’intention de créer une entreprise des chercheurs publics : le cas français, thèse pour le doctorat de sciences de gestion, grenoble. . emin, s. (2004). les facteurs déterminant la création d’entreprise par les chercheurs publics : application des modèles d’intention. revue de l’entrepreneuriat, 3(1), 1-20. . fayolle, a. (1996). contribution à l’étude des comportements entrepreneuriaux des ingénieurs français, thèse de doctorat en sciences de gestion, université jean moulin de lyon. . fayolle, a., (2002). les déterminants de l’acte entrepreneurial chez les étudiants et les jeunes diplômés de l’enseignement supérieur français. revue gestion 2000, 4, 6177. . fayolle, a., (2003). using the theory of planned behaviour in assessing entrepreneurship teaching program. intent 2003 conference, september, grenoble, france. . fayolle, a. (2005). evaluation of entrepreneurship education: behaviour performing or intention increasing? international journal of entrepreneurship and small business, 2(1), 89-98. . fayolle, a., & gailly, b. (2004). using the theory of planned behaviour to assess entrepreneurship teaching programs: a first experimentation. intent 2004 conference, 5-7 july neaples, italy. . fayolle a., et casta-fayolle a., et castagnos, j. c. (2006). impact des formations à l’entrepreneuriat : vers de nouvelles méthodes d’évaluation. management international, 10(4), 43-52. . fleming, p. (1994). the role of structured interventions in shaping graduate entrepreneurship. irish business and administrative research, 15, 146-157. . gartner, w. b., & ves-gartner, w. b., & vesper, k. h. (1994). experiments in entrepreneurship education: successes and failures. journal of business venturing, 9(2), 179-187. . gibb, a. a. (1993). the enterprise culture and education. understanding enterprise education and its links with small business, entrepreneurship and wider educational goals. international small business journal, 11(3), 11-37. . goldstein, i. l. (2nd ed.) (1986). training in organization: needs assessment, development and evaluation. monterey, ca: brooks/cole. . gorman, g., hanlon, d., & king, w. (1997). some research perspectives on entrepreneurship education, enterprise education and education for small business management: a ten-year literature review. international small business journal, 15(3), 56-77. 201 alain fayolle, benoît gaillm@n@gement vol. 12 no. 3, 2009, 175-203 . kirkpatrick, d. l. (1959a). techniques for evaluating training programs. journal of the american society of training directors, 13(11), 3-9. . kirkpatrick, d. l. (1959b). techniques for evaluating training programs: part 2-learning. journal of the american society of training directors, 13(12), 21-26. . kirkpatrick, d. l. (1960a). techniques for evaluating training programs: part 3-behavior journal of the american society of training directors, 14(1), 13-18. . kirkpatrick, d. l. (1960b). techniques for evaluating training programs: part 4-results. journal of the american society of training directors, 14(2), 28-32. . kirkpatrick, d. l. (1996). great ideas revisited. training & development, 50(1), 54-57. . kolvereid, l. (1996a). organizational employment versus self-employment: reasons for career choice intentions. entrepreneurship theory and practice, 20(3), 23-31. . kolvereid, l. (1996b). prediction of employment status choice intentions. entrepreneurship theory and practice, 20(3), 45-57. . kolvereid, l., & moen, o. (1997). entrepreneurship among business graduate: does a major in entrepreneurship make a difference? journal of european industrial training, 21(4), 154-160. . hart, m., & harrison, r. (1992). encouraging enterprise in northern ireland: constraints and opportunities. irish business and administrative research, 13, 104-116. . hansemark, o. c. (1998). the effects of an entrepreneurship program on need for achievement and locus of control of reinforcement. international journal of entrepreneurial behaviour and research, 4(1), 28-50. . hills, g. e. (1988). variations in university entrepreneurship education: an empirical study of an evolving field. journal of business venturing, 3(2), 109-122. . hills, g. e., & welsch, h. (1986). entrepreneurship behavioral intentions and student independance, characteristics and experiences. in r. ronstadt, j. a. hornaday, r. peterson, & k. h. vesper (eds.), frontiers of entrepreneurship research (pp. 173-186). wellesley, ma: babson college. . hytti, u., & kuopusjarvi, p. (2004). evaluating and measuring entrepreneurship and enterprise education: methods, tools and practices. the report can be downloaded at www.entreva.net. . johannisson, b. (1991). university training for entrepreneurship: a swedish approach. entrepreneurship and regional development, 3(1), 67-82. . kent, a. c., sexton, d. l., van auken, p. m., & young, d. m. (1982). managers and entrepreneurs: do lifetime experiences matter? in vesper k.h. (ed.), frontiers of entrepreneurship research, (pp. 516-525). wellesley, ma: babson college. . krueger, n. f. (1993). the impact of prior entrepreneurial exposure on perceptions of new venture feasibility and desirability. entrepreneurship theory and practice, 18(1), 5-21. . krueger, n. f., & carsrud, a. l. (1993). entrepreneurial intentions: applying the theory of planned behaviour. entrepreneurship and regional development, 5, 315-330. . krueger, n. f., & bra-krueger, n. f., & brazeal, d. v. (1994). entrepreneurial potential and potential entrepreneurs. entrepreneurship theory and practice, 18(3), 91-104. . krueger, n. f. jr, & dick-krueger, n. f. jr, & dickson, p. r. (1994). how believing in ourselves increases risk taking: perceived self-efficacy and opportunity recognition. decision sciences, 25(3), 385-400. . linan, f. (2004). intention-based models of entrepreneurship education. intent conference proceedings, intent 2004 conference, 5-7 july neaples, italy. www.intent-conference.de. . linan, f., & chen, y. w. (2006). testing the entrepreneurial intention model on a two-country sample. working paper 200607, department of business economics, universitat autonoma de barcelona. . lüthje, c., & franke, n. (2003). the ‘making’ of an entrepreneur: testing a model of entrepreneurial intent among engineering students at mit. r&d management, 33(2), 135-147. m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 3, 2009, 175-203 202 évaluation d’une formation en entrepreneuriat : prédispositions et impact sur l’intention d’entreprendre . mathieu, j. e., tannen-mathieu, j. e., tannenbaum, s. i. & sals, e. (1992). influences of individual and situational characteristics on measures of training effectiveness. academy of management journal, 35(4), 828-847. . matthews, c., & moser, s. (1995). family background and gender: implications for interest in small firm ownership. entrepreneurship & regional development, 7(4), 365-377. . mialaret, g. (10ème édi-mialaret, g. (10ème édition) (2005). les sciences de l’éducation. paris: puf (collection que sais-je?). . moreau, r., & raveleau, b. (2006). les trajectoires de l’intention entrepreneuriale. revue internationale pme, 19(2), 101-131. . moro, d., poli, a., & ber-moro, d., poli, a., & bernardi, c. (2004). training the future entrepreneur. international journal of entrepreneurship and small business, 1(1/2), 192–205. . noel, t. w. (2001). effects of entrepreneurial education on intent to open a business. frontiers of entrepreneurship research, babson conference proceedings, www.babson. edu/entrep/fer. . ostroff, c. (1991). training effectiveness measures and scoring schemes: a comparison. personnel psychology, 44, 353-374. . peterman, n. e., & ken-peterman, n. e., & kennedy, j. (2003). enterprise education: influencing students’ perceptions of entrepreneurship. entrepreneurship theory and practice. 28(2), 129-144. . robinson, p. b., stimp-robinson, p. b., stimpson, d. v., huefner, j. c., & hunt, h. k. (1991). an attitude approach to the prediction of entrepreneurship. entrepreneurship theory and practice, 15(4), 13-30. . sackett, p. r., & mullen, e. j. (1993). beyond formal experimental design: towards an expanded view of the training evaluation process. personnel psychology, 46, 614-627. . schmitt-rodermund, e. (2004). pathways to successful entrepreneurship: parenting, personality, early entrepreneurial competence, and interests. journal of vocational behavior, 65, 498-518. . scott, m., & twomey, d. (1988). the long-term supply of entrepreneurs: student’s career aspirations in relation to entrepreneurship. journal of small business management,26(4), 5-13. . shapero, a. (1975). the displaced, uncomfortable entrepreneur. psychology today, 9(6), 83-88. . shapero, a., & sokol, l. (1982). the social dimensions of entrepreneurship. in c. a. kent, d. l. sexton, k. h. vesper (eds.), encyclopaedia of entrepreneurship (pp. 72-90). englewood cliffs, nj: prentice hall. . shook, c. l., priem, r. l., & mcgee, j. e. (2003). venture creation and the enterprising individual: a review and synthesis. journal of management, 29(3), 379-399. . souitaris, v., zerbinati, s., & al-laham, a. (2006). do entrepreneurship programmes raise entrepreneurial intention of science and engineering students? the effect of learning, inspiration and resources. journal of business venturing, article in press (doi: 10.1016/j.jbusvent.2006.05.002). . tkachev, a., & kolvereid, l. (1999). self-employment intentions among russian students. entrepreneurship and regional development, 11(3), 269280. . tounes, a. (2003). l’intention entrepreneuriale. une étude comparative entre des étudiants d’écoles de management et gestion suivant des programmes ou des formations en entrepreneuriat et des étudiants en dess caae. thèse pour l’obtention du doctorat en sciences et gestion, université de rouen. . varela, r., et jimenez, j. e. (2001). the effect of entrepreneurship education in the universities of cali. frontiers of entrepreneurship research, babson conference proceedings, www.babson. edu/entrep/fer. . wyckham, r. g. (1989). measuring the effects of entrepreneurial education programs: canada and latin america. in g. robert, w. wyckham et c. wedley, (eds), educating the entrepreneurs, (pp. 1-16). faculté d’administration, université simon fraser, colombie-britannique. 203 alain fayolle, benoît gaillm@n@gement vol. 12 no. 3, 2009, 175-203 . zhao, h., hills, g. e., & seibert, s. e. (2005). the mediating role of self-efficacy in the development of entrepreneurial intentions. journal of applied psychology, 90(6), 1265-1272. 73casanueva volume 9, no. 3. special issue: “doing case study research in organizations” guest editors: ann langley and isabelle royer � veronika kisfalvi 2006 subjectivity and emotions as sources of insight in an ethnographic case study: a tale of the field, m@n@gement, 9: 3, 109-127. copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). m@n@gement is a double-blind refereed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.management-aims.com © 2006 m@n@gement and the author(s). m@n@gement issn: 1286-4892 editors: alain desreumaux, u. de lille i martin evans, u. of toronto bernard forgues, u. de lille i hugh gunz, u. of toronto martina menguzzato, u. de valència m@n@gement est la revue officielle de lʼaims m@n@gement is the official journal of aims http://www.management-aims.com http://www.management-aims.com http://www.strategie-aims.com m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 117-135 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 117 veronika kisfalvi hec montréalservice de l’enseignement du management email: veronika.kisfalvi@hec.ca subjectivity and emotions as sources of insight in an ethnographic case study: a tale of the field this article argues that case studies conducted within an ethnographic framework always contain an element of subjectivity and emotionality given the close relationships that researchers establish with participants in the field, and that while these elements can be a source of bias, they can also be transformed into valuable sources of insight as long as they are acknowledged and examined. through the example of a lived field experience, this paper discusses how the subjective and emotional quality of the relationship established between researcher and participant, once examined, brought a deeper level of understanding and a greater degree of objectivity to findings obtained during an ethnographic case study carried out in an entrepreneurial firm. the methodological implications of the roles played by subjectivity and emotions in this type of research are also discussed. introduction organizational research using a case study design has enjoyed increasing popularity and legitimacy in the literature since the seminal work of eisenhardt (1989) and leonard-barton (1990) in organizations and of yin (1984) in qualitative methodology. a case study approach is often the method of choice when the researcher is interested in process issues, in exploring areas about which little is known, in theory building (langley, 1999), and in ethnographic research. the results of such research, like those obtained through any other method, are reported in the form of articles published in scholarly journals. these articles usually follow a relatively fixed set of conventions in terms of structure and tone; the literature is reviewed, the theoretical groundwork is laid, the methodology outlined, and the findings presented and discussed; in most cases, this is done as impersonally and objectively as possible. until recently, there have been few articles in which the emphasis is placed on exploring the lived experience of researchers involved in the actual process of gathering and treating the material which is ultimately used to identify the relevant data and to write up the results of such case studies for scholarly publication. the post-modern turn in the organizational literature at the end of the 1990s and into the new century has been a notable exception in that it has interjected mailto:veronika.kisfalvi@hec.ca m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 117-135 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 118 veronika kisfalvi issues of perspective, voice, subjectivity, emotion and reflexivity into the methodological conversation (calás and smircich, 1999; humphreys, brown, and hatch, 2003). this enlarged conversation, while quite recent and still somewhat marginal in the organizational literature, has had a longer and more prolific history and has moved closer to center stage in the sociological literature, where both the subjective nature of research and the necessity for reflexivity have been ongoing concerns starting as early as the 1970s (irwin, 2006). in fact, according to irwin, in the area of ethnographic studies in sociology, «to throw oneʼs self into the field, body and soul, is now not only a valid stance, but marks investigatory excellence» (2006: 157). conducting research that brings —and is in fact intended to bring (van maanen, 1979, 2006; lofland and lofland, 1995; irwin, 2006)— the researcher closely in contact with individuals in the field, can be an intensely personal experience and also one that can have important methodological implications. the aim of this article is to introduce these elements of ethnographic case study research into the context of organizational research, where they have been less reflected upon, and to explore what can happen around these issues in the field and how the researcher might wish to deal with them. to do so, it uses the authorʼs own experience while carrying out empirical research in an entrepreneurial firm for her doctoral dissertation. i argue that ethnographic case study research is an inherently subjective and emotionally charged method of inquiry given the sustained contact and the particular closeness that is developed between researchers and informants. while these elements can easily become a source of bias if they are defensively denied or otherwise unexamined, both subjectivity and emotions can also become valuable sources of insight if they are acknowledged and explored. this paper will discuss the potential role that the researcherʼs subjective, emotional reactions can play in bringing a deeper level of understanding and a greater degree of objectivity to findings obtained through such a research approach. subjectivity, anxiety, emotions: conceptual underpinnings some background of a conceptual nature is necessary here, dealing with the role of subjectivity and the seemingly inevitable presence of anxiety and emotions in research conducted in the behavioural sciences in general and when using ethnographic methods in particular. my primary source on subjectivity and anxiety (and to a lesser degree, emotions) is a work entitled from anxiety to method in the behavioural sciences by georges devereux (1967), anthropologist, psychoanalyst and ethno-psychoanalyst. devereux (1967) attributes the source of subjectivity in part to cultural and sociological factors, but also in part to the researcherʼs personality and the past experiences that it reflects: «the scientistʼs personality is relevant to science, in that it accounts for that distortion of the material which is attributable to his intrapsychicalm@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 117-135 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 119 subjectivity and emotions as sources of insight in an ethnographic case study ly determined lack of objectivity» (devereux, 1967: 42-43). these subjective distortions are «especially marked where the observed material mobilizes anxiety» (1967: 43). devereux (1967) maintains that because the object of study is at once the other and the self (human beings are studying other human beings), the anxiety aroused by the inevitable confounding of self and other in this type of research is «the most significant and characteristic data of behavioural science research» (devereux, 1967: xvii). using examples from his own research, devereux identifies some possible sources of anxiety in anthropological field work, and then extends these to the behavioural sciences in general: on a more subjective level, anxiety is aroused by material which: 1/ threatens the basic vulnerability of any human being; 2/ revives idiosyncratic anxieties related to past experiences; 3/ threatens to undermine major defences or sublimations; 4/ exacerbates current problems, etc. (1967: 45). he concludes that «[a]ny effective behavioural science methodology [… m]ust use the subjectivity inherent in all observation as the royal road to an authentic, rather than fictitious, objectivity» (devereux, 1967: xvii). according to devereux (1967), all research in the behavioural sciences (both qualitative and quantitative) has an element of subjectivity in it. in order to reduce the distortions caused by the researcherʼs own idiosyncratic subjectivity in this type of research, she or he must first and foremost acknowledge (rather than defensively deny) this subjectivity; then, particular attention must be paid to the moments of anxiety that arise during the research process (when interacting with others in the field, for example, or when analyzing data, or even when developing questions for a survey). furthermore, devereux links subjectivity, anxiety and emotions (or affect, as he terms it) and the importance of recognizing and taking them into account and in order to attain greater objectivity: «objectivity results from the creative control of consciously recognized irrational reactions, without loss of affect» (devereux, 1967: 100, emphasis in original). rather than advocating the removal of affect from research, devereux criticizes the fact that «some behavioural scientists (…) dissociate themselves from their subjects and assume a more or less extrahuman observer position [which] is a source of unconscious anxiety, giving rise to a variety of defences» and argues that «the resulting loss of feeling and the impairment of the (…) sense of oneʼs own humanity would in themselves be sufficient reasons for avoiding aloofness, even if it were not obvious that the most productive way in which one can study man is through the medium of oneʼs own humanity» (1967: 156). before addressing the question of subjectivity and emotions in my own research, i would like to now address the issue of terminology when discussing emotions, as well as the issue of the usefulness and positive contribution of emotions to research and particularly to ethnographic approaches that take place in social settings. i have thus far used the words emotions, feelings and affect almost interchangeably, and would now like to clarify their usage for the rest of this article. i will m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 117-135 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 120 veronika kisfalvi use the work of antonio damasio (1994, 1999) —a clinical neurologist and neuroscientist researching the role of emotions and the body in rational decision-making and in consciousness— in order to address both the issue of terminology and the importance of paying attention to emotions when conducting ethnographic research. damasio maintains that while learning and culture can alter the expression of emotions and give them new meanings, emotions themselves are «biologically determined processes, depending on innately set brain devices, laid down by a long evolutionary history» (1994: 51). furthermore, he proposes the following working definitions: «an emotion, be it happiness or sadness, embarrassment or pride, is a patterned collection of chemical and neural responses that is produced by the brain when it detects the presence of an emotionally competent stimulus —an object or situation, for example. the processing of the stimulus may be conscious but it need not be, as the responses are engendered automatically. a working definition of feelings is a different matter. feelings are the mental representation of the physiological changes that characterize emotions. unlike emotions, which are scientifically public, feelings are indeed private» (damasio, 2001: 781782). damasio links the feeling of emotions to the bodily sensations accompanying them and to the image of the body produced in the brain: «a feeling depends on the juxtaposition of an image of the body proper to an image of something else, such as the visual image of a face or the auditory image of a melody (…) to feel an emotion it is necessary (…) that neural signals from viscera, from muscles and joints, and from neurotransmitter nuclei —all of which are activated during the process of emotion— reach certain subcortical nuclei and the cerebral cortex» (1994: 145). he proposes that «the term feeling should be reserved for the private, mental experience of an emotion, while the term emotion should be used to designate the collection of [bodily] responses, many of which are publicly observable» (damasio, 1999: 42, italics in original). he also explicitly connects feelings to consciousness: «to the simple definition of emotion as a specifically caused transient change of the organism state corresponds a simple definition for feeling an emotion: it is the representation of that transient change in organism state in terms of neural patterns and ensuing images. when those images are accompanied, one instant later, by a sense of self in the act of knowing, and when they are enhanced, they become conscious. they are, in a true sense, feelings of feelings» (damasio, 1999: 282). according to damasio «feelings let us mind the body (…) they let us mind the body “live,” when they give us perceptual images of the body, or “by rebroadcast,” when they give us recalled images of the body state appropriate to certain circumstances [that we are currently experiencing]» (1994: 159, italics in original). in addition, «feelings offer us a glimpse of what goes on in our flesh, as a momentary image of that flesh is juxtaposed to the images of other objects and situations; in so doing, feelings modify our comprehensive notion of those other objects and situations. by dint of juxtam@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 117-135 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 121 subjectivity and emotions as sources of insight in an ethnographic case study position, body images give to other images a quality of goodness or badness, of pleasure and pain» (damasio, 1994: 159). furthermore, «feeling your emotional states, which is to say being conscious of emotions, offers you flexibility of response based on the particular history of your interactions with the environment» (1994: 133). for damasio, then, emotions are automatic and visceral reactions that have the potential to become the conscious feelings that help us evaluate, make meaning of and navigate through our experiences. i will use his terminology in the rest of this article to refer to emotions as unconscious or preconscious mind/body reactions and to feelings as emotions made conscious and available for examination to the subject as he or she experiences situations. it is also clear from damasioʼs work that feelings are ubiquitous in healthy humans and are essential for self-preservation and self-awareness; in this sense, having feelings is by itself obviously useful. but beyond their value in these processes, damasio (1994: 245) also suggests that «feelings are a powerful influence on reason [… t]he brain systems required by the former are enmeshed in those needed by the latter, and (…) such specific systems are interwoven with those that regulate the body» ; furthermore, «emotions and feelings may not be the intruders in the bastion of reason at all: they may be enmeshed in its networks, for worse and for better» (1994: xii). echoing devereuxʼs (1967) contention about the importance of considering feelings (or affect in devereuxʼs terminology) as a way toward a more holistic and less biased science, damasio (1994: 246) suggests that «taking stock of the pervasive role of feelings may give us a chance of enhancing their positive effects and reducing their potential harm». for him, far from being a luxury or an epiphenomenon, feelings and emotions «serve as internal guides, and they help us communicate to others signals that can also guide them (…) they are the result of a most curious physiological arrangement that has turned the brain into the bodyʼs captive audience» (1994: xv). calling on evidence gathered during his and othersʼ clinical work with patients suffering damage to the brain regions involved in the feeling of emotions, damasio (1994: 54) concludes that when there is damage to these regions, «[t]he powers of reason and the experience of emotion decline together». while it may be surprising given our long-held bias toward reason and the widespread belief that feelings hinder objectivity and hence rationality, «certain aspects of the process of emotion and feeling are indispensable for rationality» (damasio, 1994: xiii). damasioʼs clinical evidence reveals that «selective reduction of emotion is at least as prejudicial for rationality as excessive emotion. it certainly does not seem true that reason stands to gain from operating without the leverage of emotion. on the contrary, emotion probably assists reasoning, especially when it comes to personal and social matters involving risk and conflict» (1999: 41-42). this seems to be particularly the case when it comes to evaluating and appropriately responding to social situations (which characterize both organisations and the ethnographic research carried out in them). «the smooth integration of this process is what allows us to make social judgments m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 117-135 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 122 veronika kisfalvi leading to the decisions that in turn make us into effective social beings» (damasio, 1994: 38). damasioʼs contention that «[w]ell-targeted and well-deployed emotion seems to be a support system without which the edifice of reason cannot operate properly» (1999: 42) is a major cornerstone of the current wave of research in the area of emotional intelligence, increasingly seen as an important and very desirable skill to possess in the workplace (goleman, 1995). taken together, devereuxʼs and damasioʼs positions provide strong support for the necessity to seriously reflect upon the subjective experiences, anxieties and other feelings that accompany any research with an ethnographic orientation (and perhaps all research in the behavioural sciences, as devereux [1967] has suggested). such a reflection holds out the possibility of making us into more aware, more transparent and less biased researchers. it offers a tool with which to enhance our understanding of our experiences in the field and of the data we thus obtain as well as of the relationships we form with our subjects, and to reflect upon the impact of all of this on our findings, analyses and ultimate theorizing. to sum up, the ethnographic research process in particular seems inevitably fraught with issues of subjectivity, anxiety and emotions, although these disturbances can often be denied or obscured by a methodological pseudo-objectivity (devereux, 1967). we have everything to gain from not denying but rather addressing these aspects consciously and from using them as yet more data (albeit of a different nature) that can inform our subsequent understandings of the phenomena we are studying. devereux argued, as early as 1967, that «[t]he next objective in behavioural science research must therefore be the reintroduction of affect into research» (1967: 156). what follows, then, may be seen in part as a response to this call. in the rest of this article, i explore the subjectivity inherent in my research project as well as the anxiety and some of the other feelings that the project itself and the relationship i formed with the main subject of my inquiry aroused in me during the fieldwork and the subsequent data analysis and writing. the study the research study that is described in this paper, conducted during my doctoral studies, forms the basis of several subsequent articles (kisfalvi, 2000, 2002) that follow the standard presentation protocol for journal articles such as the ones described in the introduction here. i present here what lay behind the scenes of these articles, the actual lived experience of one researcher in the process of conducting an ethnographically informed single-case study that primarily focused on one individual. in this respect, this paper is an example of what van maanen (1988) has referred to as a confessional tale of the field. the study in question concerned strategic leadership and in particular the role of emotions and character in strategic decision-making. it focused on one entrepreneur and his character, the business he had m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 117-135 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 123 subjectivity and emotions as sources of insight in an ethnographic case study built up, and the interactions between this person and his top management team. the conceptual framework was psychoanalytic in nature. psychoanalytic approaches can be distinguished from the more traditional and essentially cognitive approaches in the area of strategic leadership in that many of the latter consist of synchronic correlation studies. these cognitive studies have been heavily influenced by cybernetic models (stubbart, 1987) that can address neither the feeling aspects of choice (langley, mintzberg, pitcher, posada, and saint-macary, 1995) nor the personal meaning with which a top manager might imbue a particular strategic option. while the sensemaking literature (spearheaded by weick, 1995) comes closer, it too is dominated by a cognitive bias and leaves out considerations of personal history and emotions. as such, i considered these approaches poorly suited to the task of exploring the more subjective elements involved in strategic decision-making, which were the focus of my research study. a more holistic and ethnographic approach was called for, one that could look at how strategistsʼ past histories might affect their present lives, and whose present actions likely resonate with deep personal meaning that is not always consciously apprehended by the strategist. the psychoanalytic conceptual framework is particularly suited to exploring personal, emotional and biographical factors. the psychoanalytic literature suggests that the cognitive processes involved in strategic decision-making are intricately interwoven with the strategistʼs emotional experience and personal history (a position that damasioʼs [1994, 1999] work in the area of neuroscience seems to support). it considers thinking, feeling and acting (which constitute behaviour [moore and fine, 1990]) as integrated and deeply rooted in past formative experiences. in addition, while much of the strategy literature treats strategic issues as if they were emotionally neutral and atemporal, certain issues are inevitably highly meaningful and emotionally charged hot issues for a particular strategist because of past formative experiences (noël 1989; kets de vries, miller, and noël, 1993). the psychoanalytic literature, on the other hand, recognizes the importance and influence of past experiences and associated emotions on current behaviours. further description of this somewhat unconventional conceptual approach in organizational research and the literature that it has inspired can be found in kisfalvi (2000, 2002) and in kisfalvi and pitcher (2003). the reflections developed in the present article (like the published work mentioned above) are inspired by concepts drawn from the psychoanalytic literature; as such, the subjective, personal and emotional aspects of my research experience —reflecting also the idea that in ethnography «our past is present in us as a project» (fabian, 1983, cited in humphreys et al., 2003: 9)— are the ones emphasized. methodologically, the study i conducted can be described as ethnographic in nature; it consisted of a single-case design and relied primarily on interviews with the entrepreneur and with the members of his team, on non-participant observation and on consultation of archival material for data gathering. my fieldwork was carried out on site over m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 117-135 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 124 veronika kisfalvi a nine-month period during which time i developed a relationship with my principal research subject that on examination turned out to be quite complex, and that was quite different from the objective relationships between researcher and research subject that tends to be reported in journal articles. in what follows, and in keeping within the psychoanalytic paradigm of both this article and the research study itself, i will concentrate on two particular aspects of my subjective and emotional experience which accompanied the carrying out of the study: my anxieties and their causes and the sadness (associated with mourning) that was evoked at various points during the research experience. although there was some overlap, feelings of anxiety were most prevalent during the data collection phase, that is, during the entry into the field and the fieldwork conducted on site, while the sadness was most prevalent upon leaving the field and during the data analysis and writing phases. sources of anxiety included the difficulties of finding a site and a principal research subject given the nature of the research question, which had to do with business strategy and character; the particular history of the research subject, as it related to that of the researcher (he was a holocaust survivor, while i am the daughter of survivors); and the particular dynamics of the interaction between the personalities of the research subject and the researcher. the sadness associated with the process of mourning, on the other hand, was related more to the transitions between different phases of the research, each with their particular characteristics. sources of anxiety during data collection anxiety was never very far during the beginning phases of my study and during the entire data collection period, although its sources were often quite distinct. unravelling and understanding the sources of this anxiety became crucial for my understanding of my research experience, and particularly when it came time to interpret the findings. the nature of the research question the first source of anxiety had to do with the difficulties of finding a research site, given the nature of my research question. repeatedly, and perhaps quite understandably, when my potential subjects heard me link the words “the ceoʼs character” and “business strategy”, they would immediately decline my request to use their firm as my research site. ben levitsky1 himself initially responded to my request by pushing the desk chair in which he was sitting further and further away from me during our first meeting, communicating nonverbally but unmistakeably the reticence that he was feeling. when he finally accepted to become my research subject, i was extremely relieved and grateful, but also extremely aware of how difficult it would be to find another site in case this one did not work out. as a result, i became inordinately 1. a pseudonym. m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 117-135 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 125 subjectivity and emotions as sources of insight in an ethnographic case study concerned about not making a false step, and hypersensitive to the quality of my relationship with ben. this hypersensitivity, while difficult to live with day-to-day in the field, was ultimately helpful in my ability to subsequently reflect on the nature of this relationship and its impact on my findings. my concerns about the relationship were intensified by the fact that even for me, my research question seemed somewhat indiscreet, and made me feel like i was prying, an aspect of case study research to which, by nature, i am particularly sensitive. the voyeuristic element of doing case research on an individual was therefore intensified for me, and further highlighted the tenuousness of my relationship with ben. the importance that the seeming fragility of this relationship had assumed for me from the very beginning of the study would clearly have consequences for the kind of data that i would be able (and willing) to acquire. i believe that my feelings of tenuousness and my anxiety about the appropriateness of my study somewhat curtailed the types of questions that i felt free to ask, and therefore formed the first boundary or limitation of my research. this limitation was somewhat attenuated when about half-way into the study i decided to search for, and eventually found, a second site which could have served as backup if needed. the nature of the research subject who ben was for me… ben was from eastern europe, easily identifiable as an orthodox jew through his dress and a survivor of the concentration camps; while the conditions he endured were terrible, he also told me that he had learned to become a businessman in the camps, as it was the only way to survive. i myself come from a hungarian jewish family, and both my father and grandfather had been interned in, and survived, nazi labour camps during the war. not only had i been personally affected by the holocaust through my familyʼs experiences, i had become intensely interested in this moment of history; in addition, at the time of the study, i was feeling it increasingly important to openly affirm my jewishness. ben was in his mid seventies when i met him, and because of his war experiences and his age, i could not help but see in him some of my grandfather, with whom i had been very close as a child (what, in psychoanalytic terms, may be described as a typical transference reaction: see devereux [1967] and hunt [1989]). i was therefore favourably disposed toward him even before starting the fieldwork, although as it turned out he was not an easily approachable person. ruthless in business, emotionally volatile and prone to anger, stern, but also highly intelligent and perceptive when it came to people, he presented a daunting combination both as an individual and as a research subject. i wanted desperately to be able to like him nonetheless: «i want to like ben,» says one of my journal entries, «all the holocaust stuff, suffering (…) his overcoming victimization, asserting his “thereness” like i feel the need to». and i was terrified, in this case on a more personal, emotional and not yet fully conscious level, of being rejected by him, m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 117-135 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 126 veronika kisfalvi as is evidenced by some of the dreams i had during the time i was conducting the research. (devereux [1967: 54] himself suggested that researchers use their dreams as a way to make more conscious and to understand their anxiety reactions. listening to the body constitutes another way, as is implied by damasioʼs [1994, 1999] work, since such anxieties are experienced in the body [damasio, 1994, 1999; ledoux, 1996]; when we perpetrate what damasio [1994] has called descartesʼ error, the splitting of the body from the mind in the quest for rationality, we lose the insights to which our physical reactions to situations can lead us [damasio, 1994]). the following is an account of two of my dreams that occurred close together during the fieldwork and that i noted in my field journals. dream 1: «a dream sometime over the long weekend: i am at a meal with ben and a number of other people. it is very relaxed. i feel a part of things. i suspect this is a passover seder [ritual meal], since one of the fantasies i had was to be invited to his house or his sonʼs for the first seder (…) the idea of breaking through, of belonging, of being a part of his life (…) and of feeling comfortable, relaxed, normal around this person. a wish that others share?» dream 2: «again, the sense of well-being, of things going well, and then going a bit too far —too intimate— i touch benʼs hands in the dream, and he violently recoils and yells at me “i donʼt want to be touched! donʼt touch me!” (…) whose dream is this? (…) getting too close, hurting, to be violently rejected. breaking through the anxiety — how do we do it? how do i? how does my subject? is there relief on the other side?» this fear of rejection was transformed into a constant anxiety that i would do the wrong thing and that ben would ask me to stop my research and leave, one that dovetailed neatly with the other anxieties i have described above. the anxiety got so intense that at times i would literally feel immense relief at not seeing benʼs car in the parking lot when i arrived at the research site in the mornings. the irony of this was not lost on me, as is evidenced by the following excerpt from my field notes: «ben is in —i see his car in his spot. i get out of my car with a sinking feeling (…) i feel strongly that iʼm happier and much more at ease, that my research goes “better” when he is out of the office —wonderful, since heʼs my research focus!» to put it mildly, ben simply terrified me. while i could have attempted to ignore this feeling as not objective and therefore as having no place in the research (after all, it was “just an emotional reaction”), i decided not to do so. my reasoning was that if after being exposed to him for only a short while i felt scared, fragile and tenuous around ben, it was possible that his managers experienced similar reactions. so one day, when i was speaking to benʼs assistant, i told him that ben terrified me. his response: «oh yeah? youʼre not the only one!» this exchange subsequently led to a whole new line of inquiry dealing with benʼs emotional impact on his managers and how they coped with it, and ultimately provided me with a fuller understanding of the impact of benʼs personality and personal history on top management team dynamics and strategy making processes in the firm. had i decided to m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 117-135 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 127 subjectivity and emotions as sources of insight in an ethnographic case study discount my own feelings because they interfered with my objectivity, the initial conversation with the manager could never have taken place. it is clear that for me, ben represented something that went beyond that of a mere research subject (if such a thing actually exists) with whom i could maintain a certain distance and scientific objectivity. but i was not the only one to be anxious; i, too, represented something for ben that i believe in turn elicited a certain amount of anxiety on his part. who i was for ben… on a number of occasions, ben made reference to his lack of formal education and the fact that he came from a simple family, and to his pride in accomplishing as much as he had in his life despite his humble origins. for example, he underscored the fact that he had succeeded despite his lack of formal education, and that back in europe, he had held his own «with doctor chemists (…) they came up with ideas, but how to actually carry them out in a practical way, how to put them to work, they were unable. this was my job». he spoke with disdain of these people who, unlike him, were highly educated but so impractical: «i went to a kind of technical school [and not to a college or university]. more in practice (…) because in practice you should be able to avoid accidents and things like that». his emphasis of these issues, coupled with certain references to his mother who had been one of the more educated women in his village, and to his sister who had married a highly-educated man, left the impression that ben might be sensitive about the level of education he had been able to achieve. faced with someone like the researcher, a doctoral candidate at the time, these anxieties about his level of education may well have been brought to the forefront. for example, as we were setting up our first interview, he asked «how long will you want to talk to me?» when i told him that it would be between one and two hours, and that «actually, itʼs you who will be doing most of the talking», he seemed surprised and slightly taken aback: «oh, you want me to talk to you?» one incident in particular made me aware that my level of education could be troubling to him. it is reproduced below from my field notes. «ben: are you doing work about us or for yourself now? «veronika: about you! «ben (pointing to the computer): no, you are working for yourself on your computer. «veronika: iʼm working on my notes from here. do you want me to do some work for you? give me some work to do, and iʼll happily do it. «ben (smiling): you want work? i will ask you to cook for me! «order clerk: sheʼs a good cook! «veronika (thinking of the daunting task of cooking kosher food): i donʼt know… «ben (to no-one in particular, walking away): she doesnʼt even know if sheʼs a good cook…» here i was, a highly educated doctoral student, yet like those «doctor chemists» back in europe, unable to do practical things like cooking! m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 117-135 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 128 veronika kisfalvi had this been an isolated incident, i would have attributed my own anxiety about my inability to cook kosher food to my insecurities in the fieldwork situation (“iʼm not good enough…”). but if we look at this incident in light of the satisfaction he seems to have gotten out of being more practical than those impractical «doctor chemists», a pattern seems to emerge, centered around his insecurities about his level of education, and a need to show up those who are better educated than he is. thus, we were both feeling anxious, insecure and a little exposed, but for quite different reasons. and in fact, we were both observing each other. for example, after my first formal interview with ben, as i was driving home, i suddenly realized with a sinking feeling that he had actually found out as much, if not more, about my personal life and my life history than i had about his. incidents such as these led me to conclude in my field notes that «ben must be somewhat uncomfortable and anxious to know that i am doing what he also does (…) watching minutely the workings of his company, the movements and actions of his people, and of course, himself». these incidents also confirmed what i had been told about him —that he was extremely good at ferreting out information from people. in this sense, some aspects of the relationship i had formed with him were prototypic of the relationships he formed with his managers, and i thus treated them as data. what ben and i were feeling, i believe, was a sort of double or mirror anxiety, one that created a certain level of confusion in me, causing me to ask myself whose anxiety it was that i was feeling (or as i put it in my field notes, whose dream i was dreaming), his or my own. from my field notes: «after a while it is hard to tell if all of this is a major projection —transference on the researcherʼs [my] part, or really based on “observation”». working within a psychoanalytic framework, i knew that in field research it was not at all unusual to confound oneʼs own feelings for those of oneʼs subjects and vice versa (devereux, 1967; hunt, 1989), and that i personally, even in day-to-day life, had a marked tendency to feel other peopleʼs feelings —a facility to fall into what psychoanalytic authors such as devereux (1967) and heimann (1950) would describe as counter-transference reactions. i also knew i had to make a special effort to try to unravel the sources of this anxiety (to own my own, but only my own). as social psychologist alain giami (2001: 6) in a recent reworking of devereuxʼs theories states: «a researcherʼs counter-transference can be defined as the sum of unconscious and emotional reactions, including anxiety, affecting his/her relation with the observed subject and situation. these reactions produce distortions in the process of knowledge construction that remain hidden from the researcher. notions of “inappropriateness” and “resistance” (…) become central in understanding the cognitive processes affecting the researcher, because they highlight the researcherʼs reactions to aspects of reality emerging in fieldwork. counter-transference points to the researcherʼs difficulty in clearly distinguishing material that comes from outside (the subject, the field) and from inside (his/her own emotional reactions). the researcher has to struggle with these emotional reactions and anxieties». m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 117-135 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 129 subjectivity and emotions as sources of insight in an ethnographic case study the attempts to tease apart my own anxieties and emotions from those of my research subject allowed me to become more objective, and to achieve a better understanding of my subject based on the feelings that he aroused in me (in fact, counter-transference reactions are often used by therapists in clinical psychoanalytic settings for just this purpose: heimann, 1950; giami, 2001). in the end, i gained a greater understanding of my subject and myself and the consequences of our interaction for the research process, and confirmed what i had jotted down in my field notes about halfway through the study: «everything is data». sadness and mourning during data analysis one might think that given the emotionally challenging nature of the fieldwork, i would have felt great relief at the prospect of leaving the field, and this was what in fact did happen, but only in part. at the same time, it was difficult to leave the richness of the field for the more austere and emotionally neutral work of data coding. in addition, the anxiety that surrounded the data gathering during this study compounded the qualitative researcherʼs common anxiety about leaving the field too soon, before enough data had been gathered. while textbooks on qualitative research attempt to deal with this concern by advising that the researcher continue until a point of saturation is reached, it often remains unclear to the researcher what this saturation would actually look (or feel) like. i know that in my case, not only was i sure that i could have gone farther and been more probing with my questions to ben had i felt somewhat less inhibited, i also could not rid myself of the thought that just one more day, one more interview, one more good contact with ben or with another informant would give me the definitive piece of data that i felt i must still be missing to complete my study. mourning the fieldwork thus consisted in dealing not only with the sense of sadness and loss that i felt saying goodbye to the people with whom i had established sometimes intense connections, as well as to the day-to-day concrete organizational reality; i had also, and perhaps more importantly, to deal with the feelings of anxiety associated with the sense that i was leaving the field without having all of the data i would have hoped to have. mourning at this phase of the research therefore consisted of coming to accept that i had conducted a lessthan-perfect study, and its logical corollary, that i was a less-than-perfect researcher. the realization that although not complete, my data was adequate, and that although not perfect, i was a good enough (to use winnicottʼs [1965] expression) researcher, came later during the coding and analysis phases and represented the resolution of this particular phase of mourning. once i began to actually code my data, i entered a phase that, on an emotional level, was almost the diametrical opposite of being in the field. whereas data gathering had often been accompanied by intense anxiety, the neutral, even cold, nature of data coding was its very m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 117-135 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 130 veronika kisfalvi antithesis. this inherent characteristic of the coding process is particularly enhanced by the computerized tools now available to the qualitative researcher, in the form of qualitative data analysis software such as nud*ist, the software package that i used for my data coding, or nvivo, a more recent version. the relative facility with which coding can be carried out with the help of such software encourages the researcher to develop a very extensive database containing a large number of codes and categories. in fact, it can be hard to stop. i myself compulsively coded data for several months, deciding on and reworking the code or category to which a particular word or a phrase best belonged, or whether a new code needed to be created for it. this compulsive, seemingly more objective and quite emotionless activity was not only a welcome refuge from the difficult emotions and feelings encountered in the field, it was also in a very real sense a mask. first, because the software allowed me to generate so many codes and categories, it served to reassure me of the richness of my data and to allay my anxiety about not having enough. then, precisely because it was such an emotionally neutral refuge, it effectively cut me off from my own feelings (self-estrangement masking itself as scientific objectivity, as both devereux [1967] and kleinman and copp [1993] would put it), and consequently from the meaning of my data, fragmenting it into hundreds of disconnected chunks of information that remained meaningless on their own, waiting to be reshaped and recombined into the story i would later tell. only i found that i could not tell it. after i had coded data ad nauseam for months and felt that i had reached the point of diminishing returns, i literally could not write a sentence for three full weeks. in allowing me to submerge (but thankfully, as it turned out, not entirely drown) my emotions about my subject in a sea of codes and categories, the data coding had, ironically, cut me off from benʼs reality and from access to the story my data could tell, the meaning that it held. i could not write about ben until i could feel his reality once again. in effect, the impression of being more in control and more professional that electronically coding and categorizing my data had given me now had to be abandoned, at least to a degree, another aspect of the research process that had to be mourned. i vividly remember sitting in my office one afternoon in front of my computer, frustrated to no end by my inability to write, and i found myself thinking about ben and his life. as i did so, he began to emerge for me once again, not as data, but as a real person with a past, someone with whom i had forged a real, albeit complex and often problematic and difficult relationship; i began once again to feel for him the mixed feelings i had felt in the field: the empathy for his hard life and terrible experiences, the admiration for his accomplishments, the fear of his moods, the anxiety that given the context, his power over me had generated, etc. but mainly, i felt a deep sadness for this man whose life experiences had made him into the complex and difficult individual he had become, a person with whom i (like his managers) had found it so hard to establish a caring relationship, and i began to cry. i believe that in that moment, in which i had once again gained access to the emom@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 117-135 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 131 subjectivity and emotions as sources of insight in an ethnographic case study tions that the fieldwork and ben had aroused in me and in which rather than suppressing them, i allowed these emotions to become conscious feelings, i began to truly mourn all that could have been, both in benʼs life and in the personal and professional relationship that i had developed with him during the research project. the next day i began to write, and once i started, there was no stopping it. i wrote 200 pages of what largely amounted to gibberish that needed to be severely edited for an academic audience, but a text that nonetheless contained the germ of my thesis as well as the essential elements of my subsequent articles. some final reflexions traditional research orthodoxy would have it that feelings and emotions have no place in research, and that as researchers we should be very wary of our emotional reactions lest they make us stray from the path of objectivity. such advice can easily incite us to suppress our emotional reactions to our research subjects entirely, or in more psychoanalytic terms, to repress these reactions or to deny their existence. such repression and denial, however, may not make us more objective but perhaps just the reverse; although we can drive these reactions underground, the risk is that they might emerge in more indirect ways that are perhaps harder to pinpoint and therefore even more likely to distort our perceptions and so pose an even greater threat to the very objectivity for which we are striving. it is true that my emotional reactions and subsequent feelings affected my findings. but it was by confronting and trying to understand these and by attempting to examine precisely in which ways they affected my perceptions and reactions that i could arrive at a greater objectivity, as well as a better understanding of both my subject and my chosen methods. had i not examined the sources of my own anxiety —had i not asked myself who ben was for me— would i have dismissed the unlikeable and difficult aspects of benʼs personality that not only i but also his managers found hard to deal with? had i not examined benʼs anxiety about my presence —had i not asked who i was for him— would i have unearthed his intense need for recognition, rooted in his desire to prove to himself and to others that he was at least the equal of those much better educated than he? had i considered my emotionless data coding and analysis to be a triumph of objectivity, would my paralysis have lasted longer? and had i not allowed myself to feel benʼs reality again in an attempt to maintain this supposed objectivity, could i have written anything at all? and if i did, might i have missed the flavour of benʼs personality entirely? in addition, it was precisely because of who i was, with its consequences for the relationship that formed with ben —what he represented for me, and i for him— that i was able to access certain types of data about my subject. another researcher, one who was perhaps more self-confident and less worried about being intrusive, someone who was not the child of holocaust survivors —a researcher with a difm@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 117-135 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 132 veronika kisfalvi ferent personality, a different set of past experiences and subjective issues— would have in all likelihood developed a different kind of relationship with the subject, would have had access to somewhat different data as a consequence, and would perhaps have produced quite a different —and differently partial— study. in either case, generalizing would have been problematic. this last observation raises interesting ontological questions concerning the ability of ethnographic research (and qualitative research in general) to objectively depict the world, and underscores the importance of a serious reflection on the consequence of our chosen methodological approach. it implies that wherever possible, such research should be carried out using multiple informants who can corroborate and enlarge each otherʼs views and by at least two researchers working closely together to compare and enrich their perceptions (for an example of using more than one researcher as a way to work through counter-transference reactions, see giami, 2001). it does not imply, however, that an individual researcher working with an individual subject is inevitably too subjective or wrong. even when conducted by an individual alone, such research holds a mirror to a particular facet of reality, and will always yield a partial truth based on the particularities of the relationship developed between these two partners in the research. methodological rigor might mean in this case a commitment on the part of the researcher to fully account for how this partial truth has been arrived at, and to communicate the process to the scientific community. as devereux (1967) proposed, the royal road to such rigor might very well consist of a thorough recording and examination of the subjective and emotional aspects of the fieldwork. such reflexivity can also keep ethnographic researchers honest by helping them avoid confounding the boundary that separates their experience from their subjectsʼ or establishing a potentially damaging intimacy with them (irwin, 2006). as kleinman and copp (1993: 13) have said, «we must consider who we are and what we believe [and i would add feel] when we do fieldwork. otherwise we might not see how we shape the story». conclusion this article has underscored the need to unravel and to understand the subjectivity, anxiety, emotional reactions and feelings that are experienced by researchers who conduct ethnographic case study research. i do not claim for a moment that my own particular idiosyncratic reactions can be generalized to other researchers and other field relationships; the difficulty of generalizing from this type of research is in fact one of the points i have tried to raise in this article. nor do i feel a great need to generalize; as van maanen (2006: 18) has recently pointed out, «ethnography maintains an almost obsessive focus on the “empirical”. the witnessing ideal with its intense reliance on personalized seeing, hearing, experiencing in specific social settings continues to generate something of a hostility to generalizations and abstractions m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 117-135 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 133 subjectivity and emotions as sources of insight in an ethnographic case study not connected to immersion in situated detail»; and it is a stance he considers legitimate in this type of research. but if pushed to do so, i would maintain that ethnographic research in general, which often focuses on cultural and social settings, and ethnographic case study research in particular, which almost always aims to get up close to individuals and social situations, seems to be inherently subjective and emotional in nature, although as organizational researchers we may be hesitant to admit this for fear of damaging our credibility (kleinman and copp, 1993). it is not a question of choice, as some of the more controversial field practices (such as sexual intimacy with informants, drug use and the like) described by irwin (2006) seem to be, but rather it is the nature of the beast —and perhaps the nature of research in the behavioural sciences in general, as devereux (1967) proposed. whatever our reticence, as researchers we must consciously acknowledge and examine these aspects of ethnographic case study research. if we do not do so but simply repress them or sweep them under the rug, we risk unconsciously compromising our objectivity and separating ourselves from the meaning of our data. we also risk missing occasions to arrive at a deeper understanding not only of our data, our subjects and ourselves as researchers, but of the impact of our chosen methods on the types of data that we will be able to gather. it has been said that when doing ethnography, the researcher becomes the primary research instrument (humphreys et al., 2003). as such, adjusting for our own disturbing reactions (devereux, 1967) as researchers forms a part of the calibration of that instrument; an acknowledgement and examination of these reactions can only improve the ability of the instrument to do its job, and by extension, improve the quality of our research results. note. an earlier version of this paper appeared in the proceedings of the 17th annual international conference on case method research and application (wacra), held in budapest, hungary, 2-5 july, 2000. veronika kisfalvi (ph.d., mcgill university) is an associate professor at hec montréal, where she has been teaching courses on leadership, management skills and decision making since 1986. her research focuses on the relationships between personality, emotions and strategic decision making in top management teams. she has given executive seminars in switzerland, holland, tunisia, west africa, bulgaria, trinidad, romania and the usa. prof. kisfalvi currently holds the position of director of the graduate diploma program at hec. m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 117-135 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 134 veronika kisfalvi references � calás, m. b., and l. smircich 1999 past postmodernism? reflections and tentative directions, academy of management review, 24: 4, 649-671. � damasio, a. r. 1994 descartesʼ error: emotion, reason, and the human brain, new york: putnam. � damasio, a. r. 1999 the feeling of what happens: body and emotion in the making of consciousness, new york: harcourt brace. � damasio, a. r. 2001 fundamental feelings, nature, 413: 6858, 781-782. � devereux, g. 1967 from anxiety to method in the behavioral sciences, the hague: mouton. � eisenhardt, k. m. 1989 building theories from case study research, academy of management review, 14: 4, 532-550. � fabian, j. 1983 time and the other: how anthropology makes its object, new york, columbia university press. � giami, a. 2001 counter-transference in social research: george devereux and beyond, papers in social research methods, qualitative series no 7, london: london school of economics and political science, methodology institute. http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/method ologyinstitute/pdf/qualpapers/giamicounter-transference2000a.pdf � goleman, d. 1995 emotional intelligence, new york: bantam. � heimann, p. 1950 on counter-transference, international journal of psychoanalysis, 31, 81-84. � humphreys, m., a. d. brown, and m. j. hatch 2003 is ethnography jazz? organization, 10: 1, 5-31. � hunt, j. c. 1989 psychoanalytic aspects of fieldwork, qualitative research methods series #18, newbury park, ca: sage. � irwin, k. 2006 into the dark heart of ethnography: the lived ethics and inequality of intimate field relationships, qualitative sociology, 29: 2, 155-175. � kets de vries, m. f. r., d. miller, and a. noël 1993 understanding the leader-strategy interface: application of the strategic relationship interview method, human relations, 46: 1, 5-22. � kisfalvi, v. 2000 the threat of failure, the perils of success and ceo character: sources of strategic persistence, organization studies, 21: 3, 611-639. � kisfalvi, v., 2002 the entrepreneur's character, life issues, and strategy making: a field study, journal of business venturing, 17: 5, 489-518. � kisfalvi, v., and p. pitcher 2003 doing what feels right: the influence of ceo character and emotions on top management team dynamics, journal of management inquiry, 12: 1, 42-66. � kleinman, s., and m. a. copp 1993 emotions and fieldwork, qualitative research methods series #28, newbury park, ca: sage. � langley, a. 1999 strategies for theorizing from process data, academy of management review, 24: 4, 691-710. � langley, a., h. mintzberg, p. pitcher, e. posada, and j. saint-macary 1995 opening up decision making: the view from the black stool, organization science, 6: 3, 260-279. � ledoux, j. 1996 the emotional brain: the mysterious underpinnings of emotional life, new york: simon & schuster. � leonard-barton, d. 1990 a dual methodology for case studies: synergistic use of a longitudinal single site with replicated multiple sites, organization science, 1: 3, 248-266. � lofland, j., and l. h. lofland 1995 analyzing social settings: a guide to qualitative observation and analysis, 3rd edition, belmont, ca: wadsworth. � moore, b. e., and b. d. fine (eds.) 1990 psychoanalytic terms and concepts, new york: the american psychoanalytic association. � noël, a. 1989 strategic cores and magnificent obsessions: discovering strategy formation through daily activities of ceos, strategic management journal, 10: special issue, 33-49. � stubbart, c. i. 1987 cognitive science and strategic management: theoretical and methodological issues, academy of management best papers proceedings, 46-50. � van maanen, j. 1979 the fact of fiction in organizational ethnography, administrative science quarterly, 24: 4, 539-550. � van maanen, j. 1988 tales of the field: on writing ethnography, chicago, il: university of chicago press. http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/methodologyinstitute/pdf/qualpapers/giami-counter-transference2000a.pdf m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 117-135 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 135 subjectivity and emotions as sources of insight in an ethnographic case study � van maanen, j. 2006 ethnography then and now, qualitative research in organizations and management: an international journal, 1: 1, 13-21. � weick, k e. 1995 sensemaking in organizations, thousand oaks, ca: sage. � winnicott, d. w. 1965 the maturational processes and the facilitating environment: studies in the theory of emotional development, new york: international universities press. � yin, r. k. 1984 case study research: design and methods, beverly hills, ca: sage. 73casanueva volume 11, no. 2. special issue: “corporate governance and ethics” guest editors: vincent dessain, olivier meier and vicente salas � josé miguel rodríguez fernández 2008 modelo stakeholder y responsabilidad social: el gobierno corporativo global, m@n@gement, 11: 2, 81-111. copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). m@n@gement is a double-blind refereed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.management-aims.com © 2006 m@n@gement and the author(s). m@n@gement issn: 1286-4892 editors: alain desreumaux, u. de lille i martin evans, u. of toronto bernard forgues, u. de lille i hugh gunz, u. of toronto martina menguzzato, u. de valència m@n@gement est la revue officielle de lʼaims m@n@gement is the official journal of aims http://www.management-aims.com http://www.management-aims.com http://www.strategie-aims.com josé miguel rodríguez fernández universidad de valladoliddpto. economia financiera y contabilidad email: jmrodrig@eco.uva.es modelo stakeholder y responsabilidad social: el gobierno corporativo global el presente trabajo intenta presentar un enfoque amplio e integral de la responsabilidad social corporativa, dentro del marco general de un modelo stakeholder de empresa. con esta finalidad, se adopta una perspectiva derivada del análisis económico de la firma, para complementar la habitual fundamentación ética o político-social. sobre la base de los contratos relacionales e implícitos, la nueva teoría de los derechos de propiedad, las aproximaciones cognitivas a la teoría del management y la empresa como sub-economía, es posible diseñar un modelo de firma pluralista o stakeholder. tal modelo conduce a un enfoque avanzado de la responsabilidad social empresarial y, al hilo de ella, a una visión global del gobierno corporativo, con otra perspectiva de estimación de los resultados de las firmas. para su aplicación, se sugieren algunos principios generales, deducidos del análisis previo. parecen especialmente relevantes los siguientes principios: a/participación efectiva en la dirección y gestión de la empresa por parte de los principales stakeholders, eligiendo dentro de una amplia cartera de posibles mecanismos de gobierno; b/generación de riqueza neta total a largo plazo, sostenible en el tiempo y evaluada desde la perspectiva de las diversas partes interesadas, lo cual implica calcular la creación de rentas o cuasi-rentas económicas; c/negociación justa, equilibrio en la distribución e interiorización de efectos externos; y d/rendición de cuentas con transparencia y verificación externa e independiente. entre los economistas clásicos, brilla por su ausencia el análisis expreso de la naturaleza de la empresa y de sus mecanismos internos de coordinación y dirección. de hecho, no deja de ser curioso que adam smith (1776/1805) inicie su enciclopédica investigación de la naturaleza y causas de la riqueza de las naciones con las famosas páginas sobre la división del trabajo en el taller de fabricación de alfileres... para luego olvidarse por completo en el resto de la obra del tan citado taller. tampoco los economistas neoclásicos, con sus elegantes formalizaciones matemáticas, aportaron una auténtica teoría al respecto. su modelo de empresa es poco más que una función de producción conforme a una tecnología dada, admitiendo como supuesto la eficiencia técnica. un empresario implícito (la firma), que no se identifica con el propietario de ningún factor productivo, actúa como centro de cálculo y decisión con el único objetivo de maximizar el beneficio. los dos principales factores de producción (capital y trabajo) son tratados en términos de simetría, como si estuviesen en pie de igualdad, de suerte que no resulta relevante si el capital contrata trabajo u ocurre lo contrario, o si ambos factores son contratados por una tercera parte. 81 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 81-111 special issue: corporate governance and ethics mailto:jmrodrig@eco.uva.es de este modo la empresa jerárquica capitalista queda sin explicación expresa. sin embargo, bajo una aparente neutralidad ideológica —la firma apolítica, e incluso amoral—, implícitamente se consagra de hecho tanto el liberalismo económico como ese modelo de empresa y de su gobierno. no en balde, llama la atención que, el mismo adam smith (1776/1805) que pronto se olvida de su taller de alfileres, luego se detiene a advertir sobre el problema de agencia entre propietarios y directivos en las compañías por acciones. está dando por sentado un muy determinado enfoque jurídico-político de la firma. dicho trasfondo no varía cuando coase (1937) intenta dar una explicación a la paradójica existencia en economías capitalistas de islas de poder consciente (empresas) en un océano de cooperación inconsciente (mercados). hasta el punto de que, en el apartado final de su trabajo, también coase alude a la relación de agencia entre accionistas y directivos, para situarla en el contexto de la vinculación legal entre «amo y criado», según sus palabras textuales. con estos mimbres, no ha de sorprendernos que hayek (1960) insista en centrar a las empresas en el objetivo básico de maximizar el rendimiento a largo plazo del capital confiado a los directivos por parte de los accionistas, para evitar los probables efectos indeseables derivados de la moda —según dice— de guiarse por consideraciones sociales. una forma de pensar también presente en friedman (1962) o en diversos trabajos de michael jensen (por ejemplo, jensen, 2001). su apoteosis llega cuando algunos deciden consagrarla de forma definitiva: dan por cierto que se ha alcanzado ya el fin de la historia también en el ámbito del gobierno de la empresa, con el triunfo irreversible del modelo accionarial o financiero de firma, centrado en el binomio propietarios-directivos (hansmann y kraakman, 2001). sin embargo, existe otra historia y otros enfoques incluso en el propio campo de la economía, por no hablar de los ámbitos del derecho, la sociología, la teoría de la organización, la ética, la ciencia política, etc. junto a la idea de galbraith (1952), según la cual el poder de las grandes corporaciones requiere una administración pública y unas organizaciones sociales que actúen como un poder compensador, samuelson (1971) remachó que las grandes empresas no sólo pueden comprometerse con su responsabilidad social, sino que sin duda deben intentar hacerlo así. y stiglitz (2004) subrayó que maximizar la riqueza para los accionistas no necesariamente conduce a la eficiencia económica ni alcanza otros objetivos tales como la justicia social, la protección del medio ambiente o el respeto a los derechos humanos. aunque las administraciones públicas pueden manejar algunos fallos del mercado, se necesita la responsabilidad social corporativa para compensar la información imperfecta, los mercados incompletos y la limitada capacidad de la regulación para mitigar efectos externos negativos. hoy, una vez más, retorna al primer plano de la escena el debate acerca de los modelos de empresa y la responsabilidad social corporativa. en unos casos, por las discusiones entre —de un lado— quienes adoptan la teoría pluralista o stakeholder de la firma y un enfoque amplio de la responsabilidad social corporativa y —por otra parte— cuantos se mantienen firmes en su defensa ortodoxa de la república josé miguel rodríguez fernández 82 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 81-111 special issue: corporate governance and ethics de accionistas, afirmando que tal responsabilidad se ejerce mejor al limitarse estrictamente a maximizar la riqueza creada para dichos propietarios. otras veces, porque, con un horizonte más ambicioso, no faltan quienes vuelven a proponer un cambio radical en el sistema económico, emergiendo de las catacumbas donde se habían refugiado durante las últimas décadas. pues bien, en estas páginas se intenta presentar un enfoque amplio e integral de la responsabilidad social corporativa y un consiguiente gobierno empresarial global, dentro del marco general de un modelo stakeholder de firma, considerando que este último es uno de los mejores esquemas disponibles para entender y articular aquélla. a tal efecto, como elemento para construir la relación entre ambos y desembocar en un conjunto de principios generales aplicables al respecto, se recurre a algunas aportaciones del análisis económico, en cuanto posible y muy útil complemento de los planteamientos éticos o político-sociales. de paso, en un segundo plano, indirectamente, se aprovecha para procurar ordenar al menos una parte de las diversas corrientes de la literatura existente al respecto. el artículo está organizado así. de entrada, se dibuja la secuencia correlativa que cabe establecer entre modelo empresarial y responsabilidad social corporativa, subrayando a su vez la existencia dentro de ésta de dos pilares básicos: el modo de gobierno de la empresa y la forma de evaluación de sus resultados. a continuación, se desciende a estudiar, sucesivamente y con cierto detalle, las dos versiones de la responsabilidad social corporativa que —en conexión con los previos modelos empresariales y por diferentes razones— parecen más relevantes a los efectos de estas páginas. se aportan tanto argumentos éticos y político-sociales como económicos. más tarde, se proponen algunos principios generales para alcanzar una responsabilidad social corporativa amplia e integral (avanzada), al hilo del correspondiente gobierno global de la empresa y de un enfoque general más complejo para el cálculo de los resultados empresariales. por último, algunas consideraciones finales ponen término a las presentes líneas, insistiendo en los diversos y muy relevantes desafíos que todo ello nos plantea en orden a futuras investigaciones. modelos de empresa y responsabilidad social corporativa simplificando un tanto las cosas, y por referirnos sólo a los dos grandes arquetipos utilizados en la literatura teórica sobre modelos de empresa, es usual aludir a la diferencia entre el modelo accionarial o financiero —relación de agencia estándar accionistas-directivos— y el enfoque pluralista o stakeholder (salas fumás, 2002; rodríguez fernández, 2003). tras una y otra visión, se esconden divergencias importantes entre los correspondientes criterios éticos subyacentes, sistemas de valores sociales compartidos, modelos económicos generales adoptados —economías liberales o impersonales versus economías coordinadas o relaciones (hall y soskice, 2001)—, percepciones modelo stakeholder y responsabilidad social 83 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 81-111 special issue: corporate governance and ethics mantenidas acerca de la naturaleza de la firma y creencias ideológicas en el ámbito socioeconómico o político. en efecto, el modelo financiero se atiene a la visión estándar de la firma como nexo contractual, dentro del cual los accionistas (principales) ejercen la primacía, tienen derecho a controlar en exclusiva el consejo de administración y supervisan las acciones de los directivos (agentes) para lograr que la compañía no se desvíe del objetivo general de crear valor para ellos. esto lleva implícito la búsqueda continua de un beneficio extraordinario o puro, es decir, de una superrentabilidad, pues la mencionada creación de valor exige, finalmente, que los accionistas alcancen un rendimiento superior al coste de oportunidad o rentabilidad mínima exigida a su inversión. en contraste, en el modelo stakeholder la firma se entiende como una organización que, mediante la producción de bienes y servicios, desea satisfacer las necesidades de los diferentes grupos que la integran y de los cuales depende para su supervivencia. cada partícipe tendrá su propio objetivo personal, pero sólo lo alcanzará a través de su compromiso con la acción colectiva realizada a través de la firma. en tales condiciones, se considera que el objetivo económico general de esta última estriba en promover la creación y el crecimiento en el tiempo de la riqueza neta total para el conjunto de los partícipes o partes interesadas, incluyendo el cómputo de los efectos externos positivos y negativos. dicho con otras palabras, generar rentas y cuasi-rentas económicas para los diversos stakeholders, teniendo en cuenta precios y costes de oportunidad. de ahí que se intente facilitar algunas vías para la intervención efectiva de —al menos– los principales partícipes en la dirección y gestión de la compañía, a la vez que han de equilibrarse todos los intereses involucrados en la firma —como en una coalición o cámara de compensación—, aun admitiendo que dichos intereses a veces pueden ser contrapuestos. se trata de una situación en que es aplicable la idea de un juego cooperativo con negociación (sacconi, 2006). a su vez, cuando ponemos ambos modelos en relación con la responsabilidad social empresarial, desembocamos lógicamente en dos líneas de pensamiento confrontadas. por una parte, quienes defienden el primer modelo creen que la responsabilidad social de las empresas consiste precisamente en maximizar sus beneficios, dentro del respeto a las leyes y a la ética de la competencia leal (business as usual), por cuanto así efectúan su mejor contribución al bienestar colectivo (friedman, 1962). de otro lado, cuantos optan por el segundo modelo entienden que, en un mundo de informaciones incompletas, competencia imperfecta y efectos externos relevantes, la maximización de los beneficios empresariales no necesariamente conduce al bienestar del conjunto de la sociedad, por lo cual sugieren un enfoque más amplio de la responsabilidad social corporativa. en el fondo, entre unos y otros late no sólo un diferente modelo de economía, sino también de sociedad. por ello, no es extraño que igualmente se alineen en bandos opuestos cuando se trata de discutir sobre, por ejemplo, las funciones de los poderes públicos, la regulación de las actividades económicas, el denominado estado del bienestar o el libre comercio josé miguel rodríguez fernández 84 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 81-111 special issue: corporate governance and ethics mundial. son los hayek, friedman o jensen frente a los galbraith, samuelson o stiglitz, todos ellos ya citados. en un tercer momento, al analizar los consiguientes y respectivos sistemas de gobierno corporativo y de evaluación de los resultados alcanzados por la organización, de nuevo enseguida se detectan las diferencias. en concreto, en el modelo financiero o accionistas-directivos, con su ángulo reducido de relaciones y limitada visión de la responsabilidad social corporativa, el gobierno de la empresa se circunscribe a los esquemas jurídicos, instrumentos y mecanismos de actuación mediante los cuales los aportantes de capital financiero se aseguran que la dirección y gestión de la compañía se realiza en función de sus intereses (entre otros, shleifer y vishny, 1997). en este sentido, el énfasis recae en garantizar que los directivos trabajen en beneficio de los accionistas. frente a ello, en una versión más amplia, sobre la base del concepto de empresa pluralista y una responsabilidad social amplia, el gobierno corporativo alude al conjunto de estructuras, reglas y procedimientos institucionales que determinan el ejercicio del poder de control, los incentivos de los diversos partícipes, stakeholders o partes interesadas (accionistas, directivos, empleados, acreedores, clientes, proveedores, etc.), la realización de inversiones y la distribución de riesgos, así como la generación y el posterior reparto del excedente logrado por la empresa (rodríguez fernández, 2003). de hecho, eells (1960) parece adoptar este segundo enfoque cuando, al introducir por primera vez la expresión gobierno de la empresa (corporate governance), lo hace refiriéndose a la estructura y funcionamiento del sistema político (polity) corporativo, situándolo de forma expresa dentro de un marco de responsabilidad social amplio. naturalmente, una responsabilidad social corporativa amplia puede insertarse con facilidad en el modelo stakeholder o pluralista porque «existe un ajuste natural entre la idea de la responsabilidad social corporativa y los stakeholders de una organización»; el término stakeholder pone nombres y caras a los grupos que son más relevantes para la firma y ante los cuales debe ser responsable (carroll, 1991: 43). la consecuencia inmediata es que la responsabilidad social corporativa se comprende mejor dentro de un esquema lógico que comienza con un modelo de empresa y termina con una doble vertiente de ouputs o respuesta social de la organización: de una parte, la propia articulación institucional de un gobierno corporativo global, para que de alguna manera tengan voz incluso stakeholders no accionariales, en su caso; por otro lado, los correlativos resultados para los diversos stakeholders o partes interesadas. la figura 1 recoge esta secuencia. de paso, con esta integración de la responsabilidad social corporativa en el marco general del modelo empresarial stakeholder se soslayan las duras críticas formuladas por freeman y liedtka (1991) al analizar esa responsabilidad. llegan a proponer su sustitución directa por el modelo stakeholder, debido a su origen sospechoso, aceptación de hecho del debate dentro de los términos convencionales de milton friedman ya señalados, conformimodelo stakeholder y responsabilidad social 85 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 81-111 special issue: corporate governance and ethics m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 81-111 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 86 josé miguel rodríguez fernández dad con la retórica de los negocios propia del capitalismo, naturaleza conservadora, visión de los negocios y de la sociedad como entes separados, etc. y es que, a decir verdad, la responsabilidad social corporativa viene siendo en la práctica una idea elástica, un concepto nómada y maleable (capron y quairel-lanoizelée, 2007): su propio alto valor simbólico lo somete al riesgo de verse reducido a una serie de principios muy generales, que permitan su posterior reinterpretación con unos fines concretos o desde la perspectiva de intereses específicos. máxime cuando las definiciones al respecto aportadas por diversos académicos o instituciones son poco precisas, como pone en evidencia la recopilación de kakabadse, rozuel y lee-david (2005). la hoy comisión de la unión europea señaló en su momento que es «un concepto con arreglo al cual las empresas deciden voluntariamente contribuir al logro de una sociedad mejor y un medio ambiente más limpio»; de modo que se asienta en la «integración voluntaria, por parte de las empresas, de las preocupaciones sociales y medioambientales en sus operaciones comerciales y sus relaciones con sus interlocutores», yendo más allá de las obligaciones jurídicas (comisión de las comunidades europeas, 2001: 4 y 7). ahora bien, al mismo tiempo que se sugiere un gobierno empresarial abierto que reconcilie los intereses de los diversos partícipes (2001: 3), se afirma que «la responsabilidad principal de las empresas consiste en generar beneficios» (2001: 4). incluso existe la tentación de adoptar el clásico paternalismo decimonónico, extendido hasta el siglo xx y nunca desaparecido por completo de la escena (de bry, 2006). se caracteriza por aplicar una buena dosis de despotismo ilustrado: la preocupación por la suerte de los stakeholders no accionariales —muy en especial, los empleados de la empresa y los menos favorecidos de la comunidad— lleva a la realización voluntaria de acciones sociales, filantrópicas y altruistas; pero dentro del orden más estricto del liberalismo político-económico y sin dar un suficiente grado de participación e intervención a esos partícipes no accionariales en las decisiones de la firma. de ahí que algunas definiciones de responsabilidad social corporativa intenten dar un paso adelante y avanzar hacia una visión más comteoría stakeholder responsabilidad social corporativa (rsc) respuesta social corporativa buen gobierno global resultado social corporativo figura 1. empresa pluralista y respuesta social corporativa m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 81-111 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 87 modelo stakeholder y responsabilidad social pleta. así, a partir de la propuesta de post (2000) y de freeman (2004), esa responsabilidad puede conceptuarse como la identificación, el análisis y la respuesta equilibrada en relación con los compromisos sociales, medioambientales y económicos de la firma, derivados de las leyes o regulaciones públicas, de las expectativas de los stakeholders y de las acciones voluntarias provenientes del modelo de empresa y los valores corporativos adoptados, lo que implica: a/un proceso para lograrlo —cómo hacerlo—, respetando unos principios éticos y dando a las principales partes interesadas algún grado de participación efectiva en las decisiones, a través de un diálogo comprometido con las mismas; b/unos resultados —qué se ha hecho—, en la triple dimensión de los compromisos señalados, expresión del bienestar creado para los stakeholders. tenemos, pues, varias versiones o perspectivas fundamentales en esta materia. según se ha apuntado, el modelo accionarial de empresa lleva a entender que la responsabilidad social de las compañías se agota en incrementar el beneficio para sus propietarios. a su vez, también es posible que, sin abandonar por completo ese enfoque, se adopte alguna de sus variantes. así, que se identifique responsabilidad social de una firma con la convencional acción social empresarial, considerando como tal una filantropía voluntaria, externa y más o menos ocasional, orientada por el altruismo de favorecer el bienestar de la comunidad. o que se sitúe la misma en el marco de una bien elaborada perspectiva instrumental ilustrada (jensen, 2001) o filantropía estratégica (porter y cramer, 2006), de hecho orientada a la creación de valor para los accionistas. y un cuarto arquetipo de responsabilidad social empresarial implica asumir ya con todas sus consecuencias el modelo de empresa pluralista, para, a partir de él, seguir precisamente el planteamiento lógico y amplio antes apuntado en la figura 1. pues bien, la tabla 1 aprovecha una parte del esquema de galbreath (2006) sobre opciones estratégicas en la responsabilidad social tabla 1. tipología gerencial de la responsabilidad social corporativa* tipo rsc igual a valor accionarial rsc convencional o altruista rsc estratégica o recíproca rsc ciudadana o avanzada objetivo beneficio devolver a la sociedad ventajas mutuas responsabilidad transparencia sostenibilidad rendición de cuentas vias propio interés filantropía de talonario mecenazgo actividades comunitarias voluntariado marketing con causa argumentos desde ética y economía gobierno corporativo global diálogo stakeholder medida resultados financieros donativos reporting basado en las actividades triple bottom line (resultados económicos, sociales y medioambientales) destino accionistas otros indirectos grupos y causas comunidad empresa y comunidad empresa (sobrevivir, posición) todos los stakeholders ventajas financieras pueden no ser evaluadas rentabilidad objetivos comerciales recursos humanos tangiblese intangibles plazo corto o largo en cada periodo o de modo variable medio o largo largo * adaptado parcialmente de galbreath (2006), con modificaciones. m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 81-111 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 88 josé miguel rodríguez fernández corporativa, reconvirtiendo éstas para presentar finalmente un resumen sobre los cuatro grandes enfoques que en el párrafo anterior se han apuntado en esta materia, desde una perspectiva gerencial. es un intento de poner un poco de orden en la profusa, multidisciplinar y heterogénea literatura sobre corrientes o propuestas existentes al respecto. las dos últimas versiones de la responsabilidad social corporativa merecen, sucesivamente, un comentario más detallado. una, porque parece ser la que más se está difundiendo, según se verá; otra, por cuanto puede ser exigible por ciertas razones éticas y político-sociales o por determinados argumentos derivados del análisis económico. la responsabilidad social en versión estratégica: contenido burke y logsdon (1996) utilizan directamente la expresión strategic corporate social responsibility. esta perspectiva estratégica e instrumental de la responsabilidad social puede vincularse con una versión del modelo financiero o del valor accionarial denominada enlightened shareholder value model, es decir, matizada, enriquecida o ilustrada (moore, 1999; jensen, 2001). en ella, los accionistas conservan su primacía, teniendo en su mano el control del gobierno corporativo y la orientación última de los negocios. sin embargo, se declara tener presentes y procurar satisfacer en una medida razonable las demandas de las otras partes interesadas —los stakeholders no accionariales—, entendiendo que, en la práctica, éstas son medios o instrumentos imprescindibles para alcanzar un mayor valor de modo sostenible y a largo plazo para los propios accionistas1. además, la estrategia empresarial puede incorporar de forma intencionada, sistemática y rentable las actuaciones filantrópicas (porter y kramer, 2006). en realidad, la diferencia entre el modelo accionarial puro y el enfoque accionarial ilustrado parece sólo de matiz. el término “ilustrado” se corresponde bien con éclairé, es decir, simplemente aporta un sentido de esclarecido o aclarado, en una doble vertiente: a/insiste en que los responsables empresariales trabajen con una perspectiva económica a largo plazo, evitando la tentación de maximizar los resultados financieros a corto término, un proceder con frecuencia destructor de valor, como tantas veces ocurre en la práctica cuando se toman como guía los beneficios contables o las ganancias por acción; b/subraya la importancia de las buenas relaciones con los stakeholders —al menos los más importantes—, por cuanto, a su vez «no podemos maximizar el valor a largo plazo de una organización si ignoramos o damos un trato inadecuado a cualquier partícipe relevante» (jensen, 2001: 16). que dicho enfoque ilustrado está en boga, se observa, por ejemplo, en muchos de los denominados informes o códigos de buen gobierno corporativo aprobados en instancias nacionales o internacionales durante los años más recientes. en concreto, informe norby de 2001 en dinamarca, informe king ii de 2002 en sudáfrica, informe hofstetter de 1. naturalmente, la orientación estratégico-instrumental ahora comentada puede incluir en la práctica una variante: estar de hecho al servicio de las propias preferencias de los directivos o gerentes y no tanto en función de los intereses últimos de los accionistas. según la modelización de cespa y cestone (2007), en determinadas circunstancias, los mismos accionistas podrían preferir la existencia de unas reglas formales sobre la protección de los intereses de los restantes partícipes. sería una vía para controlar mejor a los directivos y evitar que éstos interpreten y desarrollen la responsabilidad social de la firma a su conveniencia. m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 81-111 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 89 modelo stakeholder y responsabilidad social 2002 en suiza, código tabaksblat de 2003 en holanda, principios de gobierno corporativo de 2004 de la ocde, o, tal vez de forma más confusa, código unificado de 2006 en españa. sin olvidar la clara redacción en ese mismo sentido del art. 172, parágrafos 1 y 2, de la ley de sociedades de 8 de noviembre 2006 en el reino unido. sobre esta base, la responsabilidad social de la empresa se percibe en términos de reciprocidad. así, se sugiere la conveniencia de establecer unas relaciones empresa-sociedad mutuamente beneficiosas para ambas partes, incluso articulando un diálogo con las diversas partes interesadas, para conocer sus opiniones y demandas, promover algunas actividades comunitarias, etc., en la práctica dentro de determinados límites. a decir verdad, con frecuencia se detectan ciertas resistencias frente a las responsabilidades que deberían asumirse en relación con los stakeholders internos; y se pone más énfasis en conseguir reputación hacia el exterior y, en definitiva, legitimación social (capron y quairel-lanoizelée, 2007; deakin y hobbs, 2007). la responsabilidad social corporativa resulta ser así un instrumento útil para la dirección estratégica de la compañía. combina cuatro vertientes: ser rentable, cumplir las leyes —algo que suele destacarse como imprescindible, pese a ser un requisito obvio—, respetar los principios de la ética de los negocios, así como la autonomía, la dignidad y los derechos humanos, y ser bueno (acción filantrópica). se considera que potencia la competitividad empresarial en el nuevo entorno de los negocios, permitiendo alcanzar objetivos convencionales (rentabilidad, crecimiento, generación de valor a largo plazo para los accionistas, etc.) mejor que otros enfoques en tal ámbito. por tanto, sigue una jerarquía de prioridades donde ante todo la responsabilidad social viene a ser una cuestión de rentabilidad (business case), de modo que, según diversos estudios que sintetizan la cuestión (cuesta gonzález, 2004; castelo branco y lima rodrigues, 2006), se adopta y se ve impulsada para lograr: – la creación de nuevos productos, entrada en otros mercados, diferenciación comercial y vinculación emocional de los diversos stakeholders, sobre todo de los clientes (véase gardberg y fombrun, 2006); – una generación y acumulación de intangibles a través de la confianza, la buena imagen comercial y la reputación (por ejemplo, en sectores muy intensivos en publicidad o en entidades financieras). esto es, conseguir y mantener una licencia para funcionar y crecer; – la reducción de costes de explotación, retrasos y riesgos por conflictos con los grupos de interés (por ejemplo, en la industria química o eléctrica); – la captación y retención de buenos empleados, con talento, motivación y capacidad para innovar, atraídos por los valores asociados con la responsabilidad social corporativa. algo similar cabe afirmar respecto a otros recursos críticos, como es el caso de proveedores; – atraer inversores y recursos financieros, gracias a su esperado impacto positivo sobre la rentabilidad financiera y bursátil (véase orlitzky, schmidt y rynes, 2003, que vislumbran incluso un impacto positivo bidireccional, es decir, también de esta última sobre la responsabilidad social; beltratti, 2005); m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 81-111 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 90 josé miguel rodríguez fernández – una menor regulación pública de las actividades económicas y una mayor autorregulación de las empresas (regulación soft), al insistir en el compromiso social y el comportamiento ético de los negocios; – en ciertos casos, ver facilitado el acceso a la financiación de proyectos. por ejemplo, el banco mundial y el banco europeo para la reconstrucción y el desarrollo tienen en cuenta los riesgos sociales y medioambientales al analizar las solicitudes de préstamo. ¿cuál es el trasfondo de este planteamiento? se expone en lo que sigue. la responsabilidad social en versión estratégica: comentario en el modelo accionarial matizado o ilustrado, orientado hacia el logro de las denominadas ventajas recíprocas empresa-sociedad, nos encontramos con que: a/los stakeholders distintos de los accionistas son considerados estrictas restricciones secundarias, aunque sean restricciones ineludibles por la necesidad de mantener buenas relaciones con ellos y lograr su colaboración en beneficio de los accionistas (kunz y lucatelli, 2000); b/se adopta una visión estratégico-instrumental sobre el papel de esas partes interesadas no accionariales dentro el gobierno y la administración de las compañías, lo cual difícilmente puede casar con un principio ético tan básico como no utilizar a los stakeholders en cuanto medios sino entenderlos cual fines en sí mismos (evan y freeman, 1993). además, aunque se insiste repetidamente en que maximizar la riqueza a largo plazo para los accionistas implica de por sí, como automática consecuencia, maximizar el bienestar para las restantes partes interesadas, son evidentes tres cosas. primera, en términos de formalización analítica, no es lo mismo, por una parte, maximizar la generación neta total de riqueza para el conjunto de los stakeholders y, por otro lado, maximizar la creación de valor para los accionistas sujeta a ciertas restricciones impuestas por las restantes partes interesadas. segunda, no tenemos evidencia empírica válida y amplia para asegurar dicha equivalencia, aunque sólo sea por las limitaciones con las que hoy se trabaja a la hora de intentar medir y evaluar correctamente la creación de riqueza para los stakeholders no accionariales. y tercera, cabe preguntarse qué se entiende por largo plazo en dicho contexto. un gerente oportunista podría hacer todo tipo de interpretaciones en su provecho y diferirlo ad calendas græcas. ¿no es esto un horizonte temporal ciertamente indefinido e impreciso? (rodríguez fernández, 2003). como ha quedado señalado, se considera que maximizar la riqueza de los accionistas conduce a una asignación óptima de los recursos económicos desde la perspectiva del conjunto de la sociedad. se cree que es la mejor vía para favorecer los intereses de todos los partícipes y la única forma en que las compañías pueden contribuir al bienestar colectivo. no en balde, el modelo financiero de empresa supone que no hay obstáculos para que la maximización de benefim@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 81-111 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 91 modelo stakeholder y responsabilidad social cios sea condición suficiente en el logro de un óptimo de bienestar paretiano. es tanto como admitir que existe un precio para todos y cada uno de los bienes, servicios y flujos de capitales que pueden diferenciarse en una economía, con competencia perfecta en los mercados de todos ellos. además, se da por sentado que los inversores son racionales y los mercados valoran correctamente el riesgo. y, en realidad, se descarta que las fricciones o imperfecciones en los mercados y los efectos externos sean verdaderamente relevantes (véase jensen, 2001). una vez más, estamos ante la sacralización del orden espontáneo. un enfoque panglossiano recogido por el escocés adam smith (1776/1805) en su obra cumbre, bajo la metafórica alusión a la mano invisible —para unos intérpretes, todavía divina; para otros, ya secular— que felizmente y sin intencionalidad humana conduce al bienestar colectivo. foley (2006: 1) no duda en aludir a la «falacia de adam [smith]»2. la tesis de que maximización de la riqueza de los accionistas conduce al bienestar colectivo descansa en una venerada creencia, compartida por buena parte de los economistas: existe un mundo ideal, sin fricciones, imperfecciones, efectos externos, etc. sin embargo, la continua creación de valor para el accionista de la que habla el modelo financiero de empresa guarda en su seno una paradoja: en el propio plano técnico, exige realmente aceptar la existencia de fricciones y asimetrías de información en los mercados de capitales —además de mercados de productos y/o factores también imperfectos, determinantes de un crecimiento empresarial ininterrumpidamente rentable. entonces, es probable que haya de ponerse en duda la hipótesis de que esos mercados de capitales son altamente eficientes; y, además, queda en entredicho la argumentación utilizada para defender la relación entre la búsqueda del máximo valor para los accionistas, la eficiencia económica en la asignación general de recursos y el bienestar colectivo (rodríguez fernández, 2003). de este modo, estamos inmersos en una controversia que parece perenne. de una parte se sitúan cuantos sugieren que la maximización del valor accionarial también maximiza, de modo automático y como corolario, la creación de valor para los restantes grupos de interesados. de otro lado encontramos a quienes piensan que, en realidad, el valor para los accionistas tal vez no siempre sea creado, pues puede ser maximizado simplemente a través de la apropiación del valor correspondiente a otros partícipes y con el consiguiente perjuicio para éstos (crowther, 2004). claro está, yendo al fondo de este debate surgen varias preguntas. si las actuaciones requeridas con el fin de aumentar a largo plazo el valor accionarial se cree que son indistinguibles de las exigidas para generar riqueza en favor de todos los partícipes, ¿por qué se continúa proponiendo para la empresa una función objetivo expresada sólo en términos de crear valor (rentas y cuasi-rentas económicas) para los accionistas y no se dice exactamente lo mismo y a igual nivel también para los otros stakeholders? ¿por qué no incluir directamente en esa función la creación de valor para todas las partes interesadas, abandonando así un lenguaje innecesariamente conflictivo como es el aso2. entiende por esta última la idea de que el ámbito económico de la vida constituye un campo donde la búsqueda del interés personal se guía por leyes objetivas para alcanzar un resultado socialmente beneficioso; es así un espacio diferente del resto de la esfera social, donde la búsqueda del interés personal se mantiene moralmente problemática y tiene que ser sopesada con otros fines. las leyes económicas pretenden presentarse como naturales, universales e invariables, con la creencia de que la búsqueda del interés personal privado beneficiará finalmente al conjunto de la sociedad. cortocircuita así la obligación de sopesar lo bueno y lo perjudicial, haciendo superflua la valoración moral, por más que ni smith (1776/1805) ni sus sucesores hayan demostrado rigurosa y sólidamente cómo se realiza la transformación del interés personal privado en bienestar colectivo en el mundo real. m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 81-111 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 92 josé miguel rodríguez fernández ciado con el modelo financiero —incluso en su versión ilustrada — y su defensa de la primacía de los accionistas? un lenguaje de ese tipo puede enfrentar a los diferentes grupos de interés, fomentar un ambiente no cooperativo en la empresa y hasta suscitar comportamientos carentes de ética. no es fácil imaginar en la práctica a los stakeholders no accionariales trabajando sin inconvenientes en favor de la creación de la mayor riqueza posible para los accionistas, de suerte que no va a verse afectada su motivación. ¿realmente lo harán, convencidos de que ello redunda en su propio interés? (rodríguez fernández, 2003). llegados a este punto, no sorprende que tirole (2006: 58) insista en distinguir entre la responsabilidad social corporativa como business case y lo que llama «una sociedad stakeholder». según afirma de modo gráfico y directo, en esta última una empresa socialmente responsable es aquella que «conscientemente adopta decisiones que reducen los beneficios totales». la responsabilidad social avanzada: fundamentos éticos y político-sociales a la vista de lo anterior, puede irse un poco más allá y perfilar una responsabilidad social corporativa avanzada, derivada de un modelo completo y coherente de empresa pluralista o stakeholder. aquí la responsabilidad social sostiene que cada grupo de partícipes o partes interesadas merece consideración por lo que en sí mismo representa, no sólo por su capacidad para ser un medio útil a algún otro grupo. es decir, los intereses de cada stakeholder son legítimos y tienen un valor intrínseco. esto termina derivando en consecuencias a efectos del gobierno corporativo, los resultados que ha de intentar lograr la organización y la rendición de cuentas ante el conjunto de la sociedad. para encontrar fundamentos a dicho enfoque avanzado, podemos recurrir a argumentos éticos (moral case) o sociales (social case), en un sentido amplio, de modo que se incluyen también razones que otros denominarían políticas o integradoras (véase garriga y melé, 2004). pero, además, aquí interesa subrayar que cabe presentar razones económicas (economic case), que no son lo mismo que el business case antes apuntado. lo primero se explica a continuación y lo segundo en el epígrafe posterior. sin pretender ofrecer una clasificación muy detallada respecto a lo primero, algunos ejemplos de razonamientos en esta línea podrían ser los siguientes. en el marco de la doctrina de los contratos justos, se apunta que la libertad contractual entre los actores económicos no es seguro que conduzca a acuerdos equitativos, debido a diferencias en la capacidad de negociación; más aún cuando con frecuencia los contratos son incompletos, de modo que no especifican los derechos y obligaciones de cada parte en cada una de las futuras contingencias observables. por tanto, es posible que una de las partes contratantes se aproveche injustamente de su contraparte. sobre la base de los prinm@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 81-111 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 93 modelo stakeholder y responsabilidad social cipios liberales de autonomía, solidaridad y equidad, freeman (1995) recuerda la noción de rawls acerca del “velo de ignorancia” que rodea la contratación, y apunta: « un modo de entender la equidad en este contexto es afirmar à la rawls que un contrato sería justo si las partes del contrato [los partícipes de la empresa] estuvieran de acuerdo con él aun sin conocer sus verdaderas apuestas » (freeman, 1995: 42). para que sea así en el caso de una firma, los stakeholders necesitan participar en las decisiones que les afectan. y se requiere un equilibrio entre sus diferentes demandas, a la vez que compensar los costes por efectos externos negativos, partiendo del principio de que la compañía debería ser administrada como si fuese a continuar sirviendo a los intereses de los diversos partícipes a lo largo del tiempo. más concretamente, los directivos tienen unas obligaciones fiduciarias hacia todos los stakeholders, sobre la base de lo que suele denominarse la segunda formulación del imperativo categórico kantiano —fundamento de la doctrina de los derechos humanos. cada uno de los grupos de partícipes merece ser tratado como un fin en sí mismo, no como un simple medio para alcanzar algún fin (evan y freeman, 1993 ; bowie, 1998). es decir, debe ser considerado un ciudadano, libre de abusos de poder por parte de entidades públicas o privadas. ha de participar, pues, de alguna manera, en la dirección de la compañía en la que ha realizado una apuesta. bowie (1998) incluso habla de la constitución en la empresa de una comunidad moral, apoyándose en la tercera formulación del imperativo categórico —ésta afirma que el ser racional debe considerarse siempre legislador en un reino de fines posibles . en paralelo, la firma y sus directivos son responsables de los efectos de sus acciones sobre terceros y no pueden perjudicar los derechos legítimos de los restantes partícipes para determinar su propio futuro. además, la propiedad implica un abanico de derechos, basados en el concepto de justicia distributiva y sujetos a determinadas restricciones. la noción de justicia distributiva facilita criterios sobre el uso y los límites de la propiedad privada; por ejemplo, en función de las necesidades o de acuerdo con la habilidad o el esfuerzo. en consecuencia, tal justicia distributiva exige de los propietarios legales de la empresa limitar su propio interés, con el fin de respetar los intereses —es decir, satisfacer las necesidades o recompensar el esfuerzo— de los otros partícipes (donaldson y preston, 1995). la denominada “ética del cuidado”, o de la solicitud, ve a cada persona en relación con las demás, no separada y autónoma. subyace la noción de web, representativa de lo femenino, frente a la idea de jerarquía, asociada con lo masculino. aplicado a nuestro caso, la firma ha de entenderse como un nexo de relaciones de interdependencia entre personas y grupos, con el deber de preocuparse por sus partícipes y crear valor para el conjunto de la red formada por todos ellos. el diálogo se presenta como el instrumento básico para la deliberación moral. y a la hora de equilibrar intereses, tendrán prioridad los stakeholders que mantenga una relación más cerrada con la compañía (wicks, gilbert y freeman, 1994). m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 81-111 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 94 josé miguel rodríguez fernández desde la ética del discurso o dialógica de jürgen habermas, se exige que los partícipes sean considerados interlocutores válidos de la empresa, cuyos intereses deben ser tenidos en cuenta en la adopción de decisiones. dichos intereses han de ser identificados a través del correspondiente diálogo, para lo cual es preciso que éste se atenga a los principios de inclusión de todos los afectados potenciales, sinceridad de los interlocutores, reciprocidad entre los participantes y simetría entre los intereses en liza. así se sustituye el individual imperativo categórico kantiano por un “imperativo colectivo”: se intenta descubrir qué intereses son universalizables —y, en consecuencia, moralmente válidos— dentro del contexto de las decisiones empresariales, en el sentido de que pueden o podrían conducir a acuerdos compartidos por todos. puesto que el proceso de un diálogo racional es fundamental, se requieren canales de comunicación y representación de las diversas partes interesadas para ejercer el poder comunicativo, en el marco de una cultura de la co-responsabilidad y la cooperación orientada a alcanzar consensos (gonzález esteban, 2001). dentro de esta línea discusiva, reed (2002) concibe la firma como una comunidad en sí misma y como una organización que forma parte de una comunidad mayor. desciende a analizar las responsabilidades de los directivos para lograr una correcta asignación de recursos, evitar la generación de efectos externos negativos, retribuir a los empleados al menos con el importe que probablemente obtendrían en la mejor alternativa exterior a la compañía, articular una adopción de decisiones tan descentralizada y democrática como sea posible, etc. e insiste en que este enfoque no facilita reglas para priorizar los intereses de una parte sobre otra: son los propios afectados los que han de establecer las prioridades y resolver los eventuales conflictos de intereses. por otro lado, se puede poner énfasis en la noción de poder e influencia como fuente del modelo stakeholder y la responsabilidad social corporativa (davis, 1973). el poder de mercado de las compañías conduce a equilibrios que no son óptimos de pareto. de ahí se deduce una responsabilidad social de los negocios (ecuación poder socialresponsabilidad). a largo plazo, las empresas que no utilicen su poder social de modo responsable, acorde con los deseos del conjunto de la sociedad, tenderán a perderlo (ley de hierro de la responsabilidad). al igual que en las constituciones políticas de los estados, en las firmas se ha de articular un sistema de controles y contrapesos entre los diferentes stakeholders, de suerte que se limite el uso desmedido del poder y se abra una vía para proteger los diversos intereses en liza. en último término, entre una empresa y el conjunto de la comunidad existe realmente un contrato microsocial implícito. en función del mismo, se otorga a la firma legitimidad para existir y el derecho de actuar. a cambio, debe potenciar el bienestar de la sociedad, mediante la realización de contribuciones positivas para los intereses generales, la minimización de sus efectos negativos y el respeto a los cánones generales de justicia (donaldson, 1989). todo ello dentro del marco normativo de un hipotético contrato macrosocial entre los actores económicos, es decir, un conjunto de hipernormas que enuncian m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 81-111 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 95 modelo stakeholder y responsabilidad social principios fundamentales e imprescindibles para guiar los comportamientos morales (donaldson y dunfee, 1994). y también se ha citado arriba un economic case como fundamento de la responsabilidad social corporativa avanzada. se razona a continuación. la responsabilidad social avanzada: argumentos económicos desde la perspectiva del modelo financiero o accionarial, la empresa es una ficción legal, donde lo más significativo son los contratos explícitos y formales, que se suponen justos y voluntariamente acordados entre actores económicos libres e iguales, quienes cuentan con suficientes dotaciones iniciales para su supervivencia y no experimentan costes significativos en caso de optar por salir de la relación contractual (rodríguez fernández, 2003). pues bien, incluso dentro de una visión contractual de la empresa, puede ampliarse el enfoque para pasar de una entidad abstracta a una institución social, con responsabilidades ante diversos partícipes. el análisis económico de los contratos relacionales e implícitos y la nueva teoría de los derechos de propiedad arrojan luz al respecto. además, podemos aprovechar aportaciones realizadas desde otros ángulos: las aproximaciones cognitivas —en sentido amplio– a la teoría del management; y la visión de la empresa como sub-economía. de este modo, cabe perfilar sucesivamente una síntesis de las bases económicas subyacentes en el modelo pluralista y la responsabilidad social avanzada, existiendo ya una presentación formalizada de algunos elementos de la economía de la empresa stakeholder (salas fumás, 2006). los contratos implícitos aun entendiendo la firma como un nexo de contratos, hay que tener en cuenta que no todos los contratos que la definen son explícitos. también existen contratos implícitos con trabajadores, clientes, proveedores, etc., que no son susceptibles de hacer cumplir por los tribunales de justicia, ni son fácilmente reproducibles e imitables, de modo que no están disponibles a voluntad. de hecho, son acuerdos informales y códigos de conducta tácitos, fundamentados en la confianza y la reputación, las pautas culturales, las convenciones sociales, los valores morales o los vínculos personales. por lo general, se establecen en el marco de una relación mantenida a largo plazo, en el sentido de continuada y repetida (contratos relacionales). la identidad de las partes es relevante, dentro de un esquema de reciprocidad transaccional. en consecuencia, adquieren gran relevancia la cooperación voluntaria y las valoraciones subjetivas del rendimiento, mientras que disminuye el peso de los resultados objetivos y los incentivos explícitos, competitivos y potentes propios del mercado (véase furubotn y richter, 1998). a medida que se va reforzando la confianza entre las m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 81-111 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 96 josé miguel rodríguez fernández partes, crece la eficiencia de los contratos relacionales para gobernar transacciones, sobre todo en situaciones de alto grado de especificidad y riesgo de expolio. es decir, la cooperación induce más cooperación. esto potencia la realización de nuevas inversiones específicas para la relación, en la creencia de que la contraparte no se conducirá de modo oportunista. así se crean interdependencias, de suerte que se comparten mejor los riesgos y, en paralelo, disminuyen los costes de transacción, sobre todo en su apartado de costes de información (hirigoyen y pichard-stamford, 1998). desde un enfoque formal, con modelos de juegos repetidos, baker, gibbons y murphy (2001, 2002) muestran que una compañía puede utilizar los contratos implícitos para generar mejores incentivos y mayores excedentes que por vías simplemente basadas en los mecanismos habituales del mercado. en última instancia, el propio sistema de gobierno de la empresa cabe considerarlo fruto de la relación entre esa red de contratos implícitos y la estructura formal de la organización. todo esto determina la creación de un capital social o relacional, entendiendo por tal un conjunto de redes sociales, normas y relaciones de confianza que facilitan la resolución de los dilemas de la acción colectiva. dicho capital se forma mediante procesos acumulativos, derivados de experiencias continuadas de colaboración mutua e interacciones sociales. favorece una mejor cooperación y coordinación en las organizaciones sociales, al potenciar los valores compartidos, la convergencia de comportamientos, la comunicación, la comprensión mutua y la reputación, en el marco de un proceso que se autorefuerza e incrementa (coleman, 1988; putnam, 1995). en el caso de la empresa, su capital social está constituido por un conjunto de recursos (tangibles o virtuales), acumulado a través de las relaciones sociales externas e internas mantenidas por la organización y por sus partícipes, de suerte que facilita el logro de los objetivos de la compañía. no es una mercancía que pueda ser negociada e intercambiada en un mercado; más bien es un recurso moral, de modo que se amplía con el uso, en vez de reducirse. crea valor por varias vías: menores costes de transacción, de entrenamiento y de ruptura de relaciones; mayor conocimiento compartido y coherencia en las acciones. en último término, el rendimiento del capital social depende positivamente de la amplitud y densidad de la red de relaciones creada y de la consiguiente generalización de la confianza (cohen y prusak, 2001). se entrevé, pues, la empresa como una combinación singular, única, de recursos, que puede valer más o menos que la suma de sus partes, según que esos contratos implícitos, la confianza y las redes sociales así articuladas generen o destruyan valor. las características de la organización interna empresarial no pueden ser reproducidas a través de una mera amalgama de contratos formales celebrados en los mercados. además, en un entorno que empieza a ser en buena medida relacional, guiarse simplemente por los incentivos del mercado y llegar a debilitar a partícipes con los que se mantienen complementariedades y conexiones en red, cabe que rompa la cooperación en el interior de la organización (teece y pisano, 1994). por tanto, la clave es construir m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 81-111 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 97 modelo stakeholder y responsabilidad social capital social con las partes interesadas, mediante una visión compartida sobre la responsabilidad social empresarial, generada mediante la lealtad, la confianza y la reputación (ballet, 2005). en resumen, los contratos implícitos, la confianza y la reputación generan un capital social o relacional de las compañías, de modo que ayudan a mantener su competitividad y permiten entenderlas como organizaciones multi-agencia, más allá de la simple conexión accionistas-directivos. la propia teoría de la agencia puede generalizarse en este sentido —unos directivos como agentes al servicio de múltiples principales—, para presentar un modelo stakeholder con contratos explícitos e implícitos entre todos los grupos de partícipes (hill y jones, 1992). inversiones específicas y activos coespecializados esta ampliación del esquema contractual subyacente en el modelo financiero de empresa se deriva de la nueva o “moderna” teoría de los derechos de propiedad (asher, mahoney y mahoney, 2005), articulada a partir de los trabajos de grossman y hart (1986) y hart y moore (1990). en dicho contexto, tras apuntar que una empresa requiere la contribución de muy diversos partícipes, zingales (2000) ofrece un concepto de firma como nexo de inversiones específicas y complementarias, articulado en torno a un conjunto particular o único de recursos críticos de todo tipo (activos físicos, talento, ideas) mantenidos en común y enlazados mediante relaciones de complementariedad, junto con las personas que tienen acceso a dichos recursos. los activos físicos ya no son el único recurso crítico. el capital humano ha aumentado su importancia, lo mismo que contar con una buena red de proveedores o socios comerciales y compartir tecnología. recursos como el conocimiento, las ideas y las estrategias conducen a unos resultados que no son fáciles de medir con los criterios convencionales, al escaparse las tareas a las rutinas programadas; a la vez, son más difíciles de controlar y supervisar por parte de los propietarios legales de la firma. incluso se da el caso de que el talento humano genera relaciones de complementariedad entre la firma y sus clientes esenciales; esto equivale a decir que un recurso crítico permite controlar más recursos críticos. naturalmente, si determinados recursos especializados tienen un papel progresivamente más relevante, sus propietarios aumentan su capacidad de influencia en la organización empresarial. de este modo, cabe entender que el poder y las rentas están esparcidos a lo largo de toda la organización, incluso más allá de los límites legales de lo que se entiende por compañía en sentido estricto. a medida que el poder es más difuso, la firma se parece más a una empresa cooperativa; y el problema relevante es impedir los conflictos entre partícipes que pudieran paralizar o destruir la corporación. entonces, el objetivo básico del sistema de gobierno de la compañía debería ser proteger la integridad de la empresa y de su capital organizacional (zingales, 2000). m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 81-111 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 98 josé miguel rodríguez fernández aquí la empresa es una estructura compleja que sirve como mecanismo para mantener unidos a largo plazo activos valiosos y específicos para ella (blair, 2005). la firma no puede ser imitada de inmediato; y, dentro de ella, todas las partes están mutuamente especializadas. de ahí que se establezca una relación entre, por un lado, la estructura de los derechos residuales de control —que determina la distribución ex post del excedente logrado por la firma— y, de otra parte, los incentivos ex ante necesarios para invertir con el propósito de generar dicho excedente. la supervivencia de la organización exige alcanzar unos resultados suficientes y repartirlos de forma que los diferentes stakeholders se vean animados a efectuar inversiones específicas para dicha organización y mantenerse dentro de ese entramado de activos y personas coespecializados. en caso contrario, se realizaría a priori un nivel subóptimo de inversiones específicas —o habría a posteriori conflictos y comportamientos desleales, dada la existencia de asimetrías o desigualdades en la información—, lo que perjudicaría el bienestar colectivo (sacconi, 2006). pues bien, la asignación a una determinada parte de los derechos de propiedad sobre la empresa, no sólo puede servir para proteger su inversión específica, sino también para expoliar a las demás partes que realizan inversiones específicas. o hasta para engañar a esas otras partes, sin efectuar realmente la propia inversión. es el lado oscuro de la propiedad o, en terminología de sacconi (2006), el problema de abuso de autoridad, que tal vez desemboque en la quiebra de la confianza entre los participantes y la pérdida de legitimidad de la jerarquía dentro de la organización. las inversiones específicas en juego pueden ser muy diversas: en formación y adiestramiento por parte del capital humano, en confianza por los clientes, en bienes de capital o tecnología por los proveedores, etc. por otro lado, en la negociación en torno a cómo distribuir las cuasirentas generadas por la empresa, la posición de una parte contratante es más débil cuanto más específico para la correspondiente relación contractual resulta ser el capital del que es propietaria. y este problema no puede resolverse en el proceso de contratación ex ante. consecuentemente, es posible que esa parte reduzca sus inversiones específicas, su esfuerzo para especializarse, o adopte conductas oportunistas y provoque conflictos; en definitiva, perjudique la competitividad de la compañía (véase rebérioux, 2005). surge así la pregunta de por qué no introducir un control compartido entre las diversas partes interesadas. tirole (2001) apunta que el control único en manos de los accionistas probablemente genera menos costes de transacción en la adopción de decisiones, siguiendo el argumento habitual de que recorta los costes por divergencia de intereses, diferencia de opiniones, ralentización de los procesos de decisión, etc. pero admite la posibilidad de que desemboque en elecciones sesgadas a favor de los mismos. si además se tiene en cuenta que la diversidad de preferencias puede ocurrir incluso en el interior de un grupo como el de los accionistas —sobre todo si existen accionistas de control o mayoritarios frente a pequeños accionistas—, cabe imaginar situaciones en que el control m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 81-111 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 99 modelo stakeholder y responsabilidad social compartido puede ser el mal menor para proteger a los diversos partícipes. y, por lo que atañe a un posible oportunismo de los directivos en beneficio propio, saber si es mayor en el modelo accionarial o en el enfoque pluralista es un asunto empírico, no teórico. por ahora, no tenemos evidencia que demuestre mayores costes del oportunismo directivo en uno u otro de los dos modelos. incluso, cabe pensar que el hecho de tener que responder ante varios partícipes puede limitar el margen de maniobra para los comportamientos discrecionales y potenciar la responsabilidad profesional, precisamente por esa misma diversidad. los grupos de interés que, eventualmente, se sintieran perjudicados tendrían razones para vigilar y poner en cuestión los intentos de justificación de los directivos. por tanto, es posible que los costes por oportunismo y generación de conflictos sean inferiores a las ventajas derivadas del control por los diversos partícipes (rodríguez fernández, 2003; grandori, 2005). además, la existencia de múltiples intereses en la empresa, asociados con el bienestar de cada grupo de stakeholders, también puede enfocarse desde las aportaciones del análisis económico en torno a las actividades multi-tarea con resultados que afectan a distintos partícipes. dentro de este marco, en ciertas circunstancias, el control compartido permite alcanzar niveles superiores de eficiencia. en comparación con el control único, gracias al incentivo del control compartido se reduce el impulso de otro tipo de incentivos para aplicar el esfuerzo simplemente a la tarea preferida por quien de hecho tiene la capacidad de decisión al respecto. así, mejora la eficiencia, por alcanzarse un sistema global de compensaciones más equilibrado a lo largo de la serie de tareas y sus resultados (holmström, 1999), dada la complementariedad de los diversos instrumentos de incentivos (holström y milgrom, 1994). en pocas palabras, inversiones específicas y activos coespecializados determinan la formación de redes de recursos críticos y complementarios. la supervivencia de la firma exige incentivar a los stakeholders para efectuar inversiones específicas y mantenerse dentro de ese entramado de activos y personas coespecializados, existiendo el riesgo de expolio. ello puede repercutir en el modelo de firma, en la necesidad de participar en el gobierno empresarial y en la redefinición del excedente a maximizar, pues los contratos firmados, la legislación y la opción de abandonar la firma no siempre protegen suficientemente a los partícipes situados en dicho contexto (tirole, 2001). estos argumentos económicos respaldan una visión del modelo pluralista en la cual se aplica una definición estricta de stakeholders: se alude a los partícipes primarios o contractuales, en el sentido de que efectúan inversiones específicas, asumen riesgos residuales y su colaboración es estratégicamente relevante para la supervivencia, competitividad y éxito a largo plazo de la compañía. asunto distinto será que, por otras razones —incluyendo los efectos externos positivos o negativos comentados en un epígrafe posterior— las empresas tengan también en cuenta a otros afectados o interesados complementarios, dentro de un concepto global de la responsabilidad social corporativa (grandori, 2005). m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 81-111 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 100 josé miguel rodríguez fernández la aproximación cognitiva yendo más allá de la perspectiva contractual de la empresa, desde un enfoque cognitivo —en sentido amplio—, se pone énfasis en que la creación de valor depende sobre todo de los recursos, competencias y evolución de la empresa, concebida como un conjunto coherente concretamente orientado a generar conocimientos y alcanzar una ventaja competitiva sostenible en el tiempo. los recursos que las firmas necesitan son en buena medida específicos, por lo cual no pueden ser adquiridos directamente mediante contratos realizados en los mercados. el desarrollo y el éxito de las compañías derivan en gran parte de procesos internos de creación y acumulación de recursos. esto implica heterogeneidad de las firmas y dependencia de la trayectoria, frente a un mundo contractual walrasiano donde todas las empresas tienen acceso a los mismos factores de producción. entonces, la firma ya no es sólo un nexo de contratos o de inversiones específicas y activos coespecializados, sino también una estructura procesadora de conocimientos (cohendet y llerena, 2005), que es la base del aprendizaje organizacional, la innovación y la búsqueda de nuevas oportunidades de inversión. esa colección de conocimientos tiene en buena medida un carácter tácito y social, lo cual la convierte en difícil de imitar y exige preocuparse por su protección. además, el conocimiento no es sólo reunir informaciones, pues requiere su tratamiento e interpretación, e incluso unos modelos de evaluación, lo que añade una dimensión política a la firma. de este modo, el enfoque adoptado pasa desde una eficiencia estática a una eficiencia adaptativa y dinámica, con la mirada puesta en la creación sostenible de valor para todos los interesados. nos encontramos aquí, en primer lugar, con la herencia de la escuela del comportamiento administrativo, quien entiende la empresa como una coalición política, la cual se adapta a través de un aprendizaje organizacional basado en el conocimiento, la búsqueda problemática, la elusión de la incertidumbre y la cuasi-resolución de los conflictos, para procurar alcanzar un equilibrio dinámico. cada participante en la empresa recibe alicientes o compensaciones a cambio de los cuales realiza aportaciones, de suerte que continuará formando parte de la organización sólo mientras considere que los primeros son iguales o mayores que las segundas, habida cuenta de las alternativas externas disponibles (simon, 1947; march y simon, 1958; cyert y march, 1963). pero también atisbamos las aportaciones de la economía evolucionista de la firma que, derivada de joseph a. schumpeter, ha sido desarrollada por nelson y winter (1982) y sus seguidores. a la vez, observamos derivaciones procedentes de la teoría del crecimiento de la firma proveniente de penrose (1959), que hoy se concreta en las teorías de la dirección estratégica basadas en los recursos y las competencias (wernerfelt, 1984). estamos, pues, ante unas empresas que constituyen conjuntos de competencias esenciales y activos complementarios. la coordinación se sitúa en el contexto de los procesos de innovación y las inversiom@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 81-111 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 101 modelo stakeholder y responsabilidad social nes específicas son el resultante de procesos de aprendizaje de la organización (charreaux, 2006). en esta línea, desde la economía de la innovación, oʼsullivan (2000) ha caracterizado la asignación de recursos como un proceso de desarrollo, integrado en una organización y de naturaleza estratégica. ello tiene sus consecuencias para el modelo de empresa y su gobierno. en cuanto proceso de desarrollo, implica unas inversiones irreversibles de recursos con unos resultados inciertos. esta incertidumbre hace preciso un aprendizaje, que se efectúa por y dentro de una organización, de forma colectiva y acumulativa, con interacciones sociales complejas que integran, transforman y superan la creatividad individual y la experiencia directa y personal de trabajo. de ahí que tal aprendizaje colectivo no sea fácil de copiar e imitar por parte de otras organizaciones. además, la innovación es de naturaleza estratégica, porque supone intentar dar una respuesta creativa para superar unas condiciones tecnológicas y de mercado que otras compañías admitirían como dadas. en tal contexto, se hace necesario el control de los recursos por parte de todos aquellos que están inmersos en el proceso de innovación, referido éste no sólo a aspectos tecnológicos sino también comerciales y de gestión. en consecuencia, un sistema de gobierno de la empresa que promueva la innovación exige más un control desde la organización que un control desde el mercado. es decir, requiere situar el control estratégico dentro de la firma en manos de quienes tienen los incentivos y las capacidades para efectuar las inversiones exigidas por la innovación y participan en el aprendizaje organizacional, lo que obliga a ir mucho más allá del simple marco de los accionistas u otros proveedores de recursos financieros. todo ello no implica negar el papel del mercado como fuente de estímulos para la innovación. en breve, las redes de conocimientos fomentan la innovación y el aprendizaje organizacional. por ello, el enfoque cognitivo de la empresa abre la puerta a una redefinición del modelo de empresa y del gobierno corporativo, para ajustarlo a un sistema de producción en equipo que tenga presentes las complejas aportaciones de múltiples partícipes, las diversas inversiones específicas, la función esencial del conocimiento, las necesidades de un control interno y la noción de las capacidades organizacionales, dado el nuevo entorno económico en que se mueven las compañías (mcinerney, 2004). la firma como sub-economía puede entenderse la empresa como una sub-economía (holmström, 1999) o “economía en miniatura”, con fricciones, imperfecciones, efectos externos y problemas de coordinación o de incentivos análogos —aunque a escala limitada— a los que se detectan en el nivel macroeconómico. entonces, a la vista del mundo real de la firma, los directivos han de tener en cuenta que la maximización de la riqueza de los accionistas —modelo financiero— probablemente no va a coincidir con el interés colectivo, al existir de hecho restricciones que impiden m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 81-111 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 102 josé miguel rodríguez fernández el cumplimiento de todas las condiciones exigidas para alcanzar un óptimo paretiano en un mundo ideal. al tener que aplicar el principio del óptimo de segundo rango (second best), pueden llegar a una solución en la cual sea necesario tener presentes de forma expresa los intereses de los restantes stakeholders, precisamente para asegurar la eficiencia general (becht, bolton y röel, 2002). stiglitz (1985) argumentó que la cuestión aquí debatida debe modelizarse como un problema principal-agente múltiple, para el cual es sabido que el equilibrio de nash es casi siempre ineficiente en sentido paretiano. existen efectos externos y la dirección y gestión de la firma tiene características de bien público para cada partícipe concreto y aislado que forme parte de una clase o categoría con gran número de miembros. luego existe la posibilidad de que ese partícipe no esté dispuesto a dedicar esfuerzo y otros recursos con el fin de influir en la administración de la compañía. el gobierno de la empresa requiere, pues, de unas estructuras institucionales que sirvan para internalizar por lo menos algunos de esos efectos externos, sacar provecho de cuantos partícipes están en buenas posiciones para reunir información y paliar el alcance del típico problema del parásito o gorrón que es inherente a los bienes públicos. planteadas así las cosas, hay dos tipos de efectos externos que merecen especial atención: los derivados del riesgo de expolio al que están sometidas las ya citadas inversiones específicas y los relacionados con el impacto de la empresa sobre la comunidad en la que actúa. comenzando por lo primero, los defensores del modelo de firma accionistas-directivos atribuyen en exclusiva a dichos accionistas los excedentes residuales (beneficios) en función de que sólo ellos soportan los riesgos residuales (específicos). sin embargo, para que esto sea cierto, los demás suministradores de factores de producción deben ser retribuidos a su coste de oportunidad social y por medio de contratos completos, lo cual no suele ocurrir en la práctica. además, las compañías modernas casi siempre están constituidas conforme a normativas legales que limitan la responsabilidad patrimonial de los propietarios; y el riesgo asumido por los accionistas se reduce a través de la diversificación. a todo esto cabe añadir que, generalmente, esos accionistas tienen derecho a vender sus títulos sin especiales restricciones (blair, 1995). por tanto, no parece que los accionistas puedan ser los exclusivos titulares de todos los derechos de control, incluida la facultad de apropiarse del total del beneficio. los acreedores también asumen riesgos específicos relevantes. lo mismo clientes y proveedores, pues los primeros pueden depender de los suministros de la firma y los segundos de sus compras, estando en juego —por ejemplo— importantes inversiones tecnológicas y en bienes de capital difícilmente reempleables. en general, soportan riesgos no diversificables todos cuantos efectúan inversiones específicas para contribuir más eficientemente a las actividades colectivas en el marco de la compañía, incluidos, desde luego, los empleados o los directivos. de esta manera, las inversiones específicas y los activos coespecializados implican que sus titulares son acreedores residuales: al final lograrán unos rendimientos que, de hecho, no serán fijos sino m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 81-111 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 103 modelo stakeholder y responsabilidad social variables, en función del excedente global alcanzado por la firma y el resultado del proceso de negociación entre las partes involucradas (rodríguez fernández, 2003). respecto al segundo tipo de efectos externos, incluso stakeholders complementarios, contextuales o no contractuales, como las comunidades locales o territoriales, pueden asumir un riesgo no diversificable, aun cuando no contribuyan con inversiones específicas —en ocasiones sí que lo hacen— a la creación de valor para la compañía: las actividades de ésta es posible que les hagan soportar unos efectos externos negativos. de ahí que también por esta vía surjan unas obligaciones de la firma hacia su entorno. además, cabe hacer notar que existen unas generaciones futuras cuyo bienestar debe tenerse en cuenta, aunque —como es obvio— no son susceptibles de estar representadas en ninguna figura contractual que se pueda acordar socialmente con el fin de distribuir beneficios y costes. tirole (2001) ha razonado en términos de efectos externos para presentar las insuficiencias de modelo financiero de firma y redefinir el sentido del gobierno de las compañías. subraya que la existencia de dichos efectos externos no resulta muy congruente con la exclusiva preocupación por crear valor para el accionista. así, las decisiones de los directivos afectan a los inversores financieros, pero también tienen consecuencias para los restantes grupos de partícipes. estos efectos externos pueden llegar a ser importantes, como en el caso del cierre de una gran factoría en un área deprimida. y desde hace mucho tiempo los economistas vienen argumentando a favor de interiorizar o tener en cuenta (internalizar) los efectos externos. sobre esa base, tirole propone una definición del gobierno de la empresa que —como él mismo dice— puede ser poco convencional para un economista: lo entiende como el diseño de instituciones para inducir u obligar a los administradores y gerentes a tener en cuenta el bienestar de todos los stakeholders, de forma que se maximice la suma de los excedentes correspondientes a los mismos. esto implica la modificación de los instrumentos tradicionales de control de la compañía, que ahora suelen estar sólo en manos de los accionistas. además, exige encontrar nuevos instrumentos de medida del conjunto de la riqueza creada por la compañía y obliga a repensar las vías para incentivar a esos directivos. en este marco, el diseño de los pertinentes alicientes gerenciales —explícitos e implícitos— es un asunto particularmente complejo. la evidencia empírica aportada por mahoney y thorn (2006) sugiere que la estructura de la retribución de los ejecutivos puede ser un instrumento efectivo para animar las acciones socialmente responsables, si bien la relación entre ambos elementos parece estar influida por el contexto institucional. en definitiva, estamos ante la revisión de una hipótesis muy habitual en economía: en concreto, que los stakeholders financieros cuentan con garantías contractuales más bien inefectivas, mientras que los partícipes no financieros (empleados, proveedores, clientes…) están ya protegidos por unos contratos de mercado muy eficaces, dando por cierto que ningún obstáculo o imperfección del mercado hace técnicamente complicado para estos últimos stakeholders llegar a gozar de m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 81-111 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 104 josé miguel rodríguez fernández contratos justos. ahora se resalta que diversos partícipes asumen riesgos residuales (específicos) y existen efectos empresariales externos; por tanto, puede haber legitimidad para defender un sistema de gobierno corporativo orientado hacia la creación de riqueza neta total —es decir, para el conjunto de los stakeholders— y la intervención plural en el control de la dirección y gestión de la empresa. responsabilidad social y gobierno corporativo global: algunos principios en función de varios de los argumentos de carácter ético o políticosocial apuntados páginas atrás, distintos académicos impulsores de la teoría stakeholder han adoptado desde hace años un enfoque normativo —no instrumental— relacionado con la responsabilidad social corporativa y el subsiguiente gobierno empresarial, sugiriendo ciertos grandes principios orientadores al respecto. por ejemplo, de evan y freeman (1993) y freeman (2004) pueden deducirse las siguientes pautas: – principio de la legitimidad corporativa. la empresa ha de tomar como guía la creación de riqueza neta total para el conjunto de las diversas partes o grupos que de alguna forma invierten en la empresa y/o son afectados por ella; – principio de la participación stakeholder. la firma debe articular ciertas formas de intervención en la dirección y gestión de la compañía ( voz), al menos para las principales partes interesadas; – principio de la responsabilidad fiduciaria de los administradores y directivos. al igual que frente a los accionistas y sobre la base de la mutua confianza, los administradores y directivos han de actuar con honradez, diligencia y transparencia en sus relaciones con los restantes stakeholders, para salvaguardar los intereses a largo plazo de cada uno de ellos y garantizar la supervivencia de la firma. es así como el buen gobierno corporativo global o ampliado, característico de una empresa responsable avanzada, incluye, como es natural, los rasgos básicos de cualquier buen gobierno empresarial, que se resumen en disciplina, transparencia, independencia, rendición de cuentas, responsabilidad e imparcialidad. pero a todo ello une las consecuencias derivadas de un enfoque previamente adoptado a favor de una responsabilidad social corporativa integral. pues bien, para que esta última quede reflejada en ese buen gobierno corporativo global, también cabe proponer un conjunto de principios generales desde una visión más vinculada al análisis económico, tal como puede deducirse de la exposición realizada en el epígrafe anterior. así, más en detalle, tendríamos: – incorporación de la responsabilidad social corporativa en la organización. habría de hacerse en su misión, valores, visión estratégica, gobierno de la empresa, políticas de gestión, criterios de remuneración y sistemas o procedimientos operativos, involucrando a las partes interesadas relevantes y consiguiendo el compromiso de los administradores y altos ejecutivos; m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 81-111 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 105 modelo stakeholder y responsabilidad social – identificación objetiva de las partes interesadas. distinción entre partícipes primarios, contractuales o directos y partícipes complementarios, contextuales o indirectos, todos ellos con derechos, pero también con responsabilidades. los primeros efectúan inversiones específicas en la empresa, asumen riesgos residuales y su colaboración es estratégicamente importante para la supervivencia, competitividad y éxito a largo plazo de aquélla. los segundos son fundamentalmente aquellos que experimentan efectos externos positivos o negativos, sin una previa inversión voluntaria directa, más algunos otros derivados de razonamientos éticos; – responsabilidad fundamental de los administradores y altos ejecutivos. el éxito de la firma se identifica con su capacidad para garantizar la viabilidad, continuidad, estabilidad e independencia de la coalición empresarial, favoreciendo la competitividad e innovación con el fin de generar riqueza neta total a largo plazo; – organización, dirección y gestión participativas. utilización de mecanismos que faciliten de manera continua e institucionalizada la participación y el diálogo efectivo con los stakeholders —al menos los más relevantes. si, en este marco, nos preguntamos cómo generar incentivos que animen a realizar inversiones específicas, holmström y roberts (1998) nos recuerdan que contamos con una amplia gama de contratos de gobierno, continuamente enriquecida por nuevas prácticas, en particular dentro del campo de los mecanismos híbridos, donde intervienen contratos relacionales e implícitos; – negociación justa, equilibrio en la distribución e interiorización de efectos externos. asignación de la riqueza creada mediante un proceso de negociación con ausencia de fuerza, fraude o manipulación y en el cual los partícipes deberían ser tratados de acuerdo con sus respectivas contribuciones, costes y riesgos, no necesariamente iguales. cada stakeholder habría de obtener al menos el reembolso de las inversiones específicas realizadas para generar la riqueza o excedente empresarial; en paralelo, habría de existir un esfuerzo por evitar o, llegado el caso, computar y resarcir los efectos externos negativos sobre terceras partes (véase sacconi, 2006); – transparencia y rendición de cuentas. como consecuencia lógica de los principios precedentes, acceso periódico de los partícipes a la información relevante, con garantía de fiabilidad y en el momento oportuno (políticas aplicadas en las relaciones con los stakeholders y en la presentación de cuentas; amplitud de las obligaciones; objetivos, principales decisiones adoptadas, sistemas de evaluación y publicación de resultados, etc.), sobre la base de la transparencia y la verificación externa e independiente. por lo que atañe a la citada creación de riqueza neta total, ésta habrá de evaluarse desde la perspectiva de todas las partes interesadas, en cuanto diferencia entre el valor de oportunidad de los outputs y el coste de oportunidad de los inputs. a la vez, se espera alcanzarla de forma sostenible en el tiempo, preservando el capital medioambiental y el capital físico, financiero e intelectual —relacional, humano y estructural— de la organización. a estos efectos, convendría admitir el criterio de gestión continuada. m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 81-111 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 106 josé miguel rodríguez fernández en relación con la gama de contratos de gobierno señalada dentro del principio orientado a la participación, he aquí varios ejemplos al respecto: asignación de derechos de propiedad y/o control formales, como es el caso de las acciones u otros títulos análogos; presencia directa o indirecta en el consejo de administración; posibilidad de veto a través de la intervención en algún comité de supervisión y control; capacidad para designar, proponer, recomendar u oponerse al nombramiento de un cierto número de miembros del consejo de administración o de un órgano análogo; organización de paneles, foros, asambleas, encuestas periódicas u otros canales similares —en su caso, electrónicos o virtuales— para aplicar procedimientos de información y consulta con el fin de entrar en una posterior negociación; asignación de derechos residuales sobre la renta alcanzada, con retribuciones en función del excedente empresarial; percepción de compensaciones en ciertas circunstancias; recepción de garantías de calidad y certificados de sostenibilidad medioambiental; alianzas, proyectos e iniciativas multi-stakeholder, etc. (rodríguez fernández, 2003). por tanto, en función de las circunstancias, la clave es que se adopte alguna medida de diálogo y compromiso efectivo con los stakeholders no accionariales, tradicionalmente más fuera de juego al respecto, considerando previamente también el grado en que esos stakeholders tienen protegidos sus intereses por contratos expresos, normas públicas o mecanismos de cobertura externos a la empresa3. consideraciones finales al igual que en otros momentos del pasado, en la literatura académica y en la práctica profesional de hoy persiste el problema de llegar a un acuerdo sobre lo que implica el concepto de responsabilidad social y las vías para desarrollarlo. a lo largo de estas páginas se ha intentado hacer notar algunas diferencias en este campo, de acuerdo con dos niveles. de una parte, las que claramente existen entre un modelo de empresa fundamentalmente financiero, orientado en función de las preferencias u objetivos de los accionistas, y una perspectiva empresarial stakeholder. por otro lado, las visiones bastantes distintas que, a su vez, cabe distinguir dentro de la responsabilidad social corporativa desde una perspectiva económica: a/en unos casos, se reduce a la propia creación de valor accionarial; b/otras veces, se identifica con la el altruismo clásico; c/existe también un enfoque estratégico-instrumental, que subraya cómo, en el nuevo entorno de los negocios, es casi ineludible tener en cuenta a los grupos de interés no accionariales, como medio para favorecer la competitividad empresarial y la creación de valor para sus propietarios legales; d/por último, nos encontramos con una perspectiva de responsabilidad corporativa avanzada, encaminada hacia la creación de riqueza neta total para las diversas partes interesadas y articulada en torno a un cierto diálogo o participación efectiva de los stakeholders en el management de la organización (gobierno empresarial global). 3. puede tomarse como base la escalera de doce peldaños propuesta por friedman y miles (2006) para reflejar las posibles etapas en las relaciones con dichos partícipes, entendiendo que existe participación propiamente dicha en las decisiones empresariales más allá del sexto peldaño. con algunas modificaciones y adaptaciones de términos, esa escalera puede presentarse así: 1/manipular a los grupos de interés; 2/intentar curar la presunta ignorancia e ideas preconcebidas de éstos; 3/facilitar información; 4/dar explicaciones; 5/buscar el apaciguamiento de los stakeholders (“oír sin necesariamente escuchar”); 6/realizar simples consultas; 7/entrar en negociaciones; 8/alcanzar compromisos mutuos; 9/establecer colaboraciones específicas; 10/constituir un partenariado o asociación con los partícipes; 11/efectuar alguna delegación de poder a favor de éstos, otorgándoles una cierta representación en los procesos de decisión; y 12/llegar a un control por parte de los stakeholders relevantes, gracias a su mayor representación en dichos procesos. m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 81-111 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 107 modelo stakeholder y responsabilidad social para fundamentar esta última orientación, no sólo contamos con razones éticas o político-sociales, sino también algunas derivadas del propio análisis económico, según se ha intentado aclarar. sin embargo, avanzar en un modelo de dirección y gestión encaminado hacia una responsabilidad social avanzada, abre desafíos en varios frentes. cabe citar cuatro fundamentales. ante todo, la literatura económica en la perspectiva stakeholder está pendiente de un mayor desarrollo. la visión pluralista de la firma requiere aún mucho esfuerzo de estudio desde la economía, para profundizar en la delimitación de los partícipes relevantes, resolver problemas prácticos en la adopción de decisiones y elaborar hipótesis más precisas y empíricamente contrastables acerca de las relaciones entre los diversos partícipes. en particular, pese a que un proceso de deliberación no necesariamente conduce a enfrentamientos irreconciliables, ha de analizarse si, como a veces se dice, el enfoque pluralista implica unos costes elevados por heterogeneidad de intereses a la hora de adoptar decisiones; pero sin olvidar que también el modelo financiero tiene costes de ese tipo. segundo, plantea la necesidad de redefinir la dimensión institucional, con la articulación de un buen gobierno global o ampliado: esto es, que incorpore alguna forma efectiva de diálogo comprometido —e incluso intervención— en la dirección y gestión empresarial, al menos por parte de los stakeholders más relevantes. sería una forma de facilitar el intercambio de informaciones, la cooperación y la mutua supervisión entre todos los grupos de interés. se trata de pasar de un modelo de gobierno empresarial centrado en la relación de mono-agencia accionistas-directivos a otro de multi-agencia, articulado entre los diversos stakeholders (principales) y los directivos de la empresa (agentes). los juristas habrían de reflexionar acerca de cómo articular la participación de los diversos stakeholders en las decisiones empresariales; y cómo abrir el camino para un modelo de compañía menos contractualista-accionarial y más institucional-pluralista. las soluciones al respecto pueden ser diversas, existiendo la posibilidad de que sea la propia organización empresarial la que elija según sus circunstancias. tercero, deberían perfilarse nuevos instrumentos prácticos para estimar el conjunto de la riqueza neta total generada por la compañía, desde la perspectiva de todas las partes interesadas, lo cual enlaza con la habitual alusión a la triple dimensión de los resultados: económicos, medioambientales y sociales propiamente dichos. de hecho, esto exige tener en cuenta el valor de oportunidad de todos los outputs y el coste de oportunidad de la totalidad de los inputs, a la vez que preservar el capital medioambiental y el capital físico, financiero e intelectual —relacional, humano y estructural— de la organización empresarial. probablemente, ello obligue a reconsiderar lo que se entiende por costes y beneficios, para no excluir del cálculo muchos efectos colaterales que ahora con tanta frecuencia omitimos. por último, debería avanzarse en el diseño de mecanismos para inducir a los administradores, directivos y gerentes a interiorizar el bienestar de todos los stakeholders, de forma que tiendan a maximizar la m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 81-111 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 108 josé miguel rodríguez fernández suma de los excedentes correspondientes al conjunto de los mismos. es tanto como decir repensar las vías para incentivar a esos directivos de suerte que se conviertan en auténticos fiduciarios de todas las partes interesadas y, así, verdaderamente, de toda la sociedad. nota. el autor agradece la ayuda financiera de la secretaría de estado de universidades e investigación del ministerio de educación y ciencia (proyecto sej2006-08317) y del departamento de ciencia, tecnología y universidad del gobierno de aragón (proyecto pm049/2006), así como los útiles comentarios y sugerencias de dos evaluadores anónimos. josé miguel rodríguez fernández es doctor en ciencias económicas y empresariales, con premio extraordinario. ha impartido docencia en la universidad del país vasco. actualmente, es profesor titular de economía financiera en la universidad de valladolid, de cuya facultad de ciencias económicas y empresariales ha sido vicedecano y decano. autor de diversas publicaciones en libros y revistas españolas e internacionales, sus principales líneas de investigación son: a/la economía y regulación de las entidades financieras; b/el análisis de las decisiones financieras sobre la base de la economía industrial e institucional; c/el gobierno de la empresa en relación con la responsabilidad social corporativa. referencias � asher, c. c., j. m. mahoney, y j. t. mahoney 2005 towards a property rights foundation for a stakeholder theory of the firm, journal of management and governance, 9: 1, 5-32. � baker, g., r. gibbons, y k. j. murphy 2001 bringing the market inside the firm?, american economic review, 91: 2, 212-218. � baker, g., r. gibbons, y k. j. murphy 2002 relational contracts and the theory of the firm, quarterly journal of economics, 117: 1, 39-84. � ballet, j. 2005 stakeholders et capital social, revue française de gestion, 156, 77-91. � becht, m., p. bolton, y a. röell 2002 corporate governance and control, cambridge, ma: nber working paper 9371. disponible en http://www.nber.org/papers/w9371 � beltratti, a. 2005 the complementarity between corporate governance and corporate social responsibility, geneva papers on risk and insurance: issues and practice, 30: 3, 373-386. � blair, m. m. 1995 ownership and control: rethinking corporate governance for the twentyfirst century, washington, d.c.: brookings institution. � blair, m. m. 2005 closing the theory gap: how the economic theory of property rights can help bring ʻstakeholdersʼ back into theories of the firm, journal of management and governance, 9: 1, 33-39. � bowie, n. e. 1998 a kantian theory of capitalism, in p. h. werhane (ed.) the ruffin series in business ethics, vol. 1: new approaches to business ethics, 37-60. � burke, l., y j. m. logsdon 1996 how corporate social responsibility pays off, long range planning, 29: 4, 495-502. � capron m., y f. quairel-lanoizelée 2007 la responsabilité sociale dʼentreprise, parís: la découverte. http://www.nber.org/papers/w9371 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 81-111 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 109 modelo stakeholder y responsabilidad social � carroll, a. b. 1991 the pyramid of corporate social responsibility: toward the moral management of organizational stakeholders, business horizons, 34: 4, 39-48. � castelo branco, m., y l. lima rodrigues 2006 corporate social responsibility and resource-based perspectives, journal of business ethics, 69: 2, 111-132. � cespa g., y g. cestone 2007 corporate social responsibility and managerial entrenchment, journal of economics and management strategy, 16: 3, 741-771. � charreaux, g. 2006 les théories de la gouvernance : de la gouvernance des entreprises à la gouvernance des systèmes nationaux, en a. naciri (dir.), traité de gouvernance corporative : théories et pratiques à travers le monde, québec: presses de lʼuniversité laval, 57-114. � coase, r. h. 1937 the nature of the firm, economica, 4: 16, 386-405. � cohen, d., y l. prusak 2001 in good company: how social capital makes organizations work, boston, ma: harvard business school press. � cohendet, p., y p. llerena 2005 a dual theory of the firm between transactions and competences: conceptual analysis and empirical considerations, revue dʼéconomie industrielle, 110, 175-198. � coleman, j. s. 1988 the creation and destruction of social capital: implications for the law, notre dame journal of law, ethics, and public policy, 3: 3, 375-404. � comisión de las comunidades europeas 2001 libro verde. fomentar un marco europeo para la responsabilidad social de las empresas, com (2001) 366 final, bruselas: comisión de las comunidades europeas. � crowther, d. 2004 managing finance: a socially responsible approach, amsterdam: elsevier. � cuesta gonzález, m. de la 2004 el porqué de la responsabilidad social corporativa, boletín económico de información comercial española, 2813, 45-58. � cyert, r. m., y j. g. march 1963 a behavioral theory of the firm, englewood cliffs, nj: prentice-hall. � davis, k. 1973 the case for and against business assumption of social responsibilities, academy of management journal, 16: 2, 312–322. � de bry, f. 2006 du paternalisme à la responsabilité sociale, european journal of economic and social systems, 19: 1, 69-84. � deakin, s., y r. hobbs 2007 false dawn for csr? shifts in regulatory policy and the response of the corporate and financial sectors in britain, corporate governance: an international review, 15: 1, 68-76. � donaldson, t. 1989 the ethics of international business, nueva york: oxford university press. � donaldson, t., y t. w. dunfee 1994 toward a unified conception of business ethics: integrative social contracts theory, academy of management review, 19: 2, 252-284. � donaldson, t., y l. e. preston 1995 the stakeholder theory of the corporation: concepts, evidence, and implications, academy of management review, 20: 1, 65-91. � eells, r. 1960 the meaning of modern business: an introduction to the philosophy of large corporate enterprise, nueva york: columbia university press. � evan, w. m., y r. e. freeman 1993 a stakeholder theory of the modern corporation: kantian capitalism, en t. l. beauchamp y n. e. bowie (eds.), ethical theory and business, 4a ed., englewood cliffs, nj: prentice-hall, 75-84. � foley, d. k. 2006 adamʼs fallacy: a guide to economic theology, cambridge, ma: belknap press/harvard university press. � freeman, r. e. 1995 stakeholding thinking: the state of art, en j. näsi (ed.), understanding stakeholder thinking, helsinki: lsr publications, 35-46. � freeman, r. e. 2004 a stakeholder theory of the modern corporation, en t. l. beauchamp y n. e. bowie (eds.), ethical theory and business, 7a ed., upper saddle river, nj: pearson/prentice-hall, 55-64. � freeman, r. e., y j. liedtka 1991 corporate social responsibility: a critical approach, business horizons, 34: 4, 92-98. � friedman, a. l., y s. miles 2006 stakeholders: theory and practice, oxford: oxford university press. � friedman, m. 1962 capitalism and freedom, chicago: university of chicago press. � furubotn, e. g., y r. richter 1998 institutions and economic theory: the contributions of the new institutional economics, ann arbor, mi: university of michigan press. � galbraith, j. k. 1952 american capitalism: the concept of countervailing power, boston, ma: houghton mifflin. � galbreath, j. 2006 corporate social responsibility strategy: strategic options, global considerations, corporate governance, 6: 2, 175-187. m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 81-111 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 110 josé miguel rodríguez fernández � gardberg, n. a., y c. j. fombrun 2006 corporate citizenship: creating intangible assets across institutional environments, academy of management review, 31: 2, 329-346. � garriga, e., y d. melé 2004 corporate social responsibility theories: mapping the territory, journal of business ethics, 53: 1-2, 51-71. � gonzález esteban, e. 2001 la responsabilidad moral de la empresa : una revisión de la teoría de stakeholder desde la ética discursiva, tesis doctoral, castelló de la plana: universitat jaume i. disponible en http://www.tdx.cesca.es � grandori, a. 2005 neither stakeholder nor shareholder ʻtheoriesʼ: how property right and contract theory can help in getting out of the dilemma, journal of management and governance, 9: 1, 41-46. � grossman, s. j., y o. d. hart 1986 the costs and benefits of ownership: a theory of vertical and lateral integration, journal of political economy, 94: 4, 691-719. � hall, p. a., y d. soskice 2001 an introduction to varieties of capitalism, en p. a. hall y d. soskice (eds.), varieties of capitalism: the institutional foundations of comparative advantage, nueva york: oxford university press, 1-68. � hansmann, h., y r. kraakman 2001 the end of history for corporate law, georgetown law journal, 89: 2, 439-468. � hart, o., y j. moore 1990 property rights and the nature of the firm, journal of political economy, 98: 6, 1119-1158. � hayek, f. a. 1960 the corporation in a democratic society: in whose interest ought it and will it be run?, en m. anshen y g. l. bach (eds.), management and corporations 1985, nueva york: mcgraw-hill, 99-117. � hill, c. w. l., y t. m. jones 1992 stakeholder-agency theory, journal of management studies, 29: 2, 131-154. � hirigoyen, g., y j. p. pichard-stamford 1998 la confiance, un outil de la finance organisationnelle : une synthèse de la littérature récente, économies et sociétés (sciences de gestion), 32: 8-9, 219-234. � holmström, b. 1999 the firm as a subeconomy, journal of law, economics, and organization, 15: 1, 74-102. � holmström, b., y p. milgrom 1994 the firm as an incentive system, american economic review, 84: 4, 972-991. � holmström, b., y j. roberts 1998 the boundaries of the firm revisited, journal of economic perspectives, 12: 4, 73-94. � jensen, m. c. 2001 value maximization, stakeholder theory, and the corporate objective function, journal of applied corporate finance, 14: 3, 8-21. � kakabadse, n. k., c. rozuel, y l. lee-davis 2005 corporate social responsibility and stakeholder approach: a conceptual review, international journal of business governance and ethics, 1: 4, 277-302. � kunz, r. m., y a. lucatelli 2000 the real worth of shareholder value, economic briefing no. 17, zurich: credit suisse economic research. � mahoney, l. s., y l. thorn 2006 an examination of the structure of executive compensation and corporate social responsibility: a canadian investigation, journal of business ethics, 69: 2, 149-162. � march, j. g., y h. a. simon 1958 organizations, nueva york: wiley. � mcinerney, t. f. 2004 implications of high performance production and work practices for theory of the firm and corporate governance, columbia business law review, 2004: 1, 135-196. � moore, g. 1999 tinged shareholder theory: or whatʼs so special about stakeholders?, business ethics: a european review, 8: 2, 117-127. � nelson, r. r., y s. g. winter 1982 an evolutionary theory of economic change, cambridge, ma: harvard university press. � orlitzky, m., f. l. schmidt, y s. l. rynes 2003 corporate social and financial performance: a meta-analysis, organization studies, 24: 3, 403-441. � oʼsullivan, m. 2000 the innovative enterprise and corporate governance, cambridge journal of economics, 24: 4, 393-416. � penrose, e. t. 1959 the theory of the growth of the firm, nueva york: wiley. � porter m. e., y m. r. kramer 2006 strategy & society: the link between competitive advantage and corporate social responsibility, harvard business review, 84: 12, 78-92. � post, j. e. 2000 moving from geographic to virtual communities: global corporate citizenship in a dot.com world, business and society review, 105: 1, 27-46. � putnam, r. d. 1995 bowling alone: americaʼs declining social capital, journal of democracy, 6: 1, 65-78. � rebérioux, a. 2005 les fondements microéconomiques de la valeur actionnariale : une revue critique de la littérature, revue économique, 56: 1, 51-75. http://www.tdx.cesca.es m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 2, 2008, 81-111 special issue: corporate governance and ethics 111 modelo stakeholder y responsabilidad social � reed, d. 2002 employing normative stakeholder theory in developing countries: a critical theory perspective, business and society, 41: 2, 166-207. � rodríguez fernandez, j. m. 2003 el gobierno de la empresa: un enfoque alternativo, madrid: akal. � sacconi, l. 2006 a social contract account for csr as an extended model of corporate governance (i): rational bargaining and justification, journal of business ethics, 68: 3, 259-281. � salas fumás, v. 2002 el gobierno de la empresa, colección estudios económicos, vol. 29, barcelona: servicio de estudios de la caixa. � salas fumás, v. 2006 economics of the stakeholdersʼ firm, finance working paper no. 115/2006, bruselas: european corporate governance institute. disponible en http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm? abstract_id=878483 � samuelson, p. a. 1971 love that corporation, mountain bell magazine, primavera, 24. � shleifer, a., y r. w. vishny 1997 a survey of corporate governance, journal of finance, 52: 2, 737-783. � simon, h. a. 1947 administrative behavior: a study of decision-making processes in administrative organization, nueva york: macmillan. � smith, a. 1776/1805 investigación de la naturaleza y causas de la riqueza de las naciones, valladolid: oficina de la viuda e hijos de santander. escrita en inglés en 1776 y traducida al castellano por josef alonso ortiz en 1805. disponible en www.archive.org/details/investigacinde01smituoft � stiglitz, j. e. 1985 credit market and the control of capital, journal of money, credit, and banking, 17: 2, 133-152. � stiglitz, j. 2004 keynote address on business for social responsibility and development, business for social responsibility 2004 annual conference, nueva york: columbia university, 9-12 de noviembre. � teece, d. j., y g. pisano 1994 the dynamic capabilities of firms: an introduction, industrial and corporate change, 3: 3, 537-556. � tirole, j. 2001 corporate governance, econometrica, 69: 1, 1-35. � tirole, j. 2006 the theory of corporate finance, princeton, nj: princeton university press. � wernerfelt, b. 1984 a resource-based view of the firm, strategic management journal, 5: 2, 171–180. � wicks, a. c., d. r. gilbert jr., y r. e. freeman 1994 a feminist reinterpretation of the stakeholder concept, business ethics quarterly, 4: 4, 475-497. � zingales l. 2000 in search of new foundations, journal of finance, 55: 4, 1623-1653. http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=878483 http://www.archive.org/details/investigacinde01smituoft 502 kafui dansou & ann langleym@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 502-527 copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). m@n@gement is a double-blind refereed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.management-aims.com © 2012 m@n@gement and the author(s). m@n@gement est la revue officielle de l’aims m@n@gement is the journal official of aims kafui dansou 2012 ann langley institutional work and the notion of test m@n@gement, 15(5), 502-527. m@n@gement issn: 1286-4692 emmanuel josserand, hec, université de genève & cmos, university of technology, sydney (editor in chief) jean-luc arrègle, emlyon business school (editor) laure cabantous, warwick business school (editor) stewart clegg, university of technology, sydney (editor) olivier germain, université du québec à montréal (editor, book reviews) karim mignonac, université de toulouse 1 (editor) philippe monin, emlyon business school (editor) tyrone pitsis, university of newcastle (editor) josé pla-barber, universidad de valència (editor) michael tushman, harvard business school (editor) walid shibbib, université de genève (managing editor) martin g. evans, university of toronto (editor emeritus) bernard forgues, emlyon business school (editor emeritus) 503 institutional work and the notion of test m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 502-527 institutional work and the notion of test kafui dansou ann langley abstract institutional work concerns the way in which the activities of actors contribute to the evolution of institutions, whether through their creation, disruption or maintenance. in this paper, we argue that the notion of “test”, as developed by conventionalist theory, provides an innovative lens through which to examine the nature of institutional work and the evolution of institutions. conventionalist theory posits that constitutive value frameworks guide individuals’ behaviors and provide the legitimating systems for their actions. it pays particular attention to moments of questioning of these value frameworks, and how they may affect existing legitimate practices and principles. such moments of test provide a remarkable opportunity for understanding institutional work as they allow a close examination of three key dimensions associated with actors’ questioning or reproduction of constitutive value frameworks: agency, relationality and temporality. we suggest that an analytical focus on moments of test can foster more systematic attention to these dimensions, and productively contribute to ongoing research on how and why institutions may be disrupted, maintained, or created in a diversity of situations. key words: institutional work, agency, test, conventionalist theory, pluralism hec montréal kafui.dansou@hec.ca hec montréal ann.langley@hec.ca 504 kafui dansou & ann langleym@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 502-527 introduction in recent years, the study of institutional stability and change has gradually expanded from investigating the macrodynamics of fields to a concern with the varied actions that can affect institutions. the latter is the central focus of the “institutional work” perspective, which examines the “purposive action of individuals and organizations aimed at creating, maintaining and disrupting institutions” (lawrence & suddaby, 2006: 215, emphasis original). the purpose of this paper is to contribute to the conversation on institutional work by drawing on the notion of test from conventionalist theory (boltanski & thévenot, 2006). research to date has offered an increasingly rich and contrasted view of the practices involved in institutional reproduction and change. however, as lawrence, suddaby and leca (2011) recently noted, our understanding of the relation between agency and institutions is still incomplete. questions remain regarding how and why institutional work occurs, and the relationship between human agency (micro-actions) and institutions (macro-influences). our understanding of both the impact of more or less reflexive actions on institutional evolution and the ways in which actors’ actions and reactions combine to affect institutional arrangements remains sketchy. in addition, as zietsma and lawrence (2010) suggest, relatively little is known about how different stages in the evolution of institutions start up and follow on. we propose that a more systematic investigation of these questions may be achieved by examining the moments of questioning of institutional arrangements that punctuate institutional lifecycles. in these moments, actors seek to confirm or choose to confront the way in which institutional rules, norms or accepted beliefs are instantiated in particular situations. these are instances where the link between micro-level actions and macro-level principles are assessed in the empirical realm, and thus when institutional solidity and plasticity are assessed, and their confirmation or alteration is played out. we argue that the notion of test conceptualized by conventionalist theory (boltanski & thévenot [1991], 2006; see also boltanski & thévenot, 2000; boltanski & chiapello, 2005) can valuably add to ongoing systematic research on institutional work. tests are moments in which challenges to unfolding action may occur, and through which actors seek to confirm or readjust the conditions and principles shaping ongoing activities (boltanski & thévenot, 2006; see also blokker & brighenti, 2011; patriotta, gond, & schultz, 2011). these are moments of malaise in which the principles underpinning actors’ judgments and beliefs about what is appropriate for the situation at hand are made most visible through argumentative moves and reliance on material proofs. conventionalist theory proposes that human behavior is both enabled and constrained by socially and historically constructed legitimating systems labelled “orders of worth” (boltanski & thévenot, 2006 [1991]; jagd, 2007). this resonates with the view of institutional theorists, who consider that human action is embedded in institutional structures whose organizing principles (or “institutional logics”) guide action while also being shaped by it (e.g., friedland & alford, 1991; lawrence, et al., 2011; thornton, 2002). indeed, there are important similarities between conventionalist theory’s “orders of worth” and institutional theory’s “logics” – defined by friedland and alford 505 institutional work and the notion of test m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 502-527 (1991: 248) as “a set of material practices and symbolic constructions which constitutes its organizing principles and which is available to organizations and individuals to elaborate”. orders of worth are multiple and incommensurable just as institutional logics are multiple and distinct. however, there are also differences in the way both these organizing principles have been articulated, as has been noted in recent studies (cloutier & langley, 2013; mcinerney, 2008; patriotta, et al., 2011). notably, conventionalist theory has its origin in the analysis of social action and coordinating mechanisms. we are here particularly interested in conventionalist theory’s notion of test, which affords a finer-grained examination of “critical moments” (boltanski & thévenot, 1999) in social life, and the micro-processes underlying the possible persistence or change of socially constructed legitimating systems (boltanski & thévenot, 2006; jagd, 2007; thévenot, 2001). we find this conceptual grounding of the analysis – which focuses on the micro level without losing sight of macroinfluences —particularly promising for the study of institutional work. the paper begins with a brief overview of institutional work literature. it highlights the ways in which research undertaken so far has addressed the relationship between the actions of individual and collective actors and institutional evolution, and identifies areas that require further development. in the following section, we present the notion of test as conceptualized by conventionalist theory. we show how it may contribute to illuminating these under-explored areas and, in particular, how it may offer a richer account of agency, relationality and temporality in institutional evolution. we further illustrate the potential offered by the notion of test by discussing exemplary cases from conventionalist theory-inspired research. we conclude by inviting more empirical research in the institutional work tradition, drawing on conventionalist theory’s notion of test. institutional work: actors’ actions and institutional evolution lawrence and suddaby (2006) locate the theoretical foundations of the notion of “institutional work” at the intersection of seminal studies that identify the importance of agency in understanding institutional processes (e.g., dimaggio, 1988; oliver, 1991; 1992) and research in the tradition of the sociology of practice (e.g., bourdieu, 1977; giddens, 1984) which suggests that institutions are constituted through the actions of individual and collective actors. from this perspective, the relation between institutions and agency may be manifested in various ways, since actors undertake actions—whether conservative or creative, deliberate or mundane—which can affect institutional practices, boundaries, organizational forms, institutional rules or meanings. lawrence and suddaby (2006) identify three broad categories of institutional work: “creating,” “maintaining,” and “disrupting” institutions. we now review each of these categories briefly and identify particular gaps where we believe conventionalist theory, and specifically the notion of test, might offer potential insight. creating institutions a large number of studies in the institutional work tradition has sought to 506 kafui dansou & ann langleym@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 502-527 describe, explain and theorize about the influence of actors’ actions and discursive moves on the creation of institutions (lawrence & suddaby, 2006; lawrence, suddaby, & leca, 2009). in general, research that deals with creative institutional work most often depicts instigating actors with high levels of reflexivity who manage, through strategic acts and even manipulative moves, to further their idiosyncratic interests or bridge other stakeholders’ interests. for example, maguire, hardy and lawrence (2004) investigate the introduction of new practices for consultation and information exchange in the hiv/aids treatment advocacy field, by highlighting the work of two individuals with instrumental motives (institutional entrepreneurs) in creating and promoting the widespread adoption of these practices at the field level. weber, heinze and desoucey’s (2008) study of the creation of a new market segment reveals a not dissimilar skillful mobilization of strategies by a coalition of activists to foster new practices. intentional strategic actions by individuals or collectives also seem prominent in accounts of institutional work involved in legitimating previously marginal practices within a field, such as health care (e.g., reay, golden-biddle, & germann, 2006), or in transforming extant practices by promoting new meanings and rules, as in munir and phillips’s (2005) study of the work of kodak in legitimating the roll-film camera and in garud et al.’s (2002) research on standard-setting in the information technology field. thus, in most studies, protagonists’ actions are presented as more deliberate and strategic than not. yet, lawrence, hardy and phillips’s (2002) research on inter-organizational collaborations suggests that the emergence of new practices may not be planned occurrences but rather “second-order” effects. similarly, delbridge and edwards (2008) show that field-level innovation in the superyacht industry emerged rather fortuitously from the pragmatic engagement of an interior designer with industry players. it is thus important for a better understanding of institutional work not to overlook these more nuanced cases, and to study agency implicated in the construction of new practices and meanings in its varied forms, including those where intentionality appears to be less pronounced. another important issue—that has so far received limited attention in research on creative institutional work—is how actors’ actions and others’ reactions to new introduced activities combine to affect institutional creation, and influence resulting institutional arrangements. institutional studies have traced the actions of particular individuals or groups in relation to the institutions being created (e.g., maguire, et al., 2004; weber, et al., 2008), and the moves and countermoves of proponents in an attempt to appease, bypass or defeat opposition to the newly created practices (e.g., garud, et al., 2002; suddaby & greenwood, 2005). however, the varying forms of actions and reactions, and in particular the context and ways in which they combine to affect institutional creation trajectories, has received scant attention. the few studies that have examined the complex interweaving of actions and reactions suggest that processes of institutional formation are not just led by powerful instigators but are also usually shaped by more or less active responses, and even pragmatic actions developed in those particular contexts (lounsbury & crumley, 2007; smets, morris, & greenwood, 2012; zietsma & mcknight, 2009). we suggest that an analytical approach that would allow a more systematic examination of how actors’ actions play out and combine in support of institutional change or stability—which may involve promotion, negotiation, accommodation, and 507 institutional work and the notion of test m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 502-527 refinement among multiple actors—would help to improve our understanding of institutional work. as we will show later, we think that the notion of test from conventionalist theory may be of particular utility here, as well as for addressing more fully the varied forms of agency brought to bear in situated interactions. maintaining institutions compared with research on institutional creation, the investigation of actors’ efforts associated with the persistence of existing institutional arrangements has received relatively limited attention (lawrence & suddaby, 2006; scott, 2008; suddaby, 2010). generally, this line of research has been concerned with work involved in “supporting, repairing or recreating the social mechanisms that ensure compliance” (lawrence & suddaby, 2006: 230). for example, research on the development of regulative mechanisms such as standards (e.g., garud, et al., 2002; slager, gond, & moon, 2012) has described maintenance work as operating alongside creation work, as standards promoters strive to monitor the proper application of institutional prescriptions. likewise, accounts of socialization activities (e.g., dacin, munir, & tracey, 2010; zilber, 2002) have mainly addressed active and deliberate strategies to foster institutional reproduction. more recently, practice-oriented research on institutional maintenance has highlighted a different kind of work that consists in actors’ pragmatic problem-solving behaviors as they seek to accomplish their ongoing activities, and may take the form of passive maintenance (sminia, 2011) or conscious accommodation of some degree of variation in practice performance (lok & de rond, 2012). however, forms of maintenance work such as these generally remain under-explored. again, we think the notion of test could be of particular interest in better conceptualizing and understanding the various forms of agency involved in institutional maintenance. maintenance work appears to range from the more muscular reaffirmation of threatened institutional rules, norms and values through control work aimed at ensuring the proper use of accepted templates and procedures, to even more subtle forms of maintenance work where some variation is tolerated. all these are instances where different combinations of actions and reactions are at play, the systematic examination of which, we argue, stands to provide additional insights on maintenance work, and how and why it occurs. disrupting institutions disruption work is defined by lawrence and suddaby (2006) as actions aiming to attack or undermine the mechanisms that stabilize institutions. to our knowledge, empirical research on disruption work as the primary phenomenon being studied has been rare. exceptions include maguire and hardy’s (2009) study of the actions of individuals in problematizing the use of ddt and the particular meanings it promoted, which effectively undermined the regulative, normative and cognitive pillars sustaining this widespread practice. the bulk of research on the work of actors in disrupting institutional arrangements has, however, tended to address disruption in conjunction with other types of work. for instance, jarzabkowski, matthiesen and van de ven (2009) examine disrupting work which took place as a new institutional logic was introduced in a utility company, leading to simultaneous disruption and maintenance work. concurrent disruptive and creative work is also illustrated in leblebici, salancik, 508 kafui dansou & ann langleym@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 502-527 copay and king’s (1991) research on the creation of mass-broadcasting media as field players sought to question and challenge the values underlying the financing of radio programs. overall, disruption work presented in the extant literature equally appears to concern mainly disruptive actions that are highly intentional and even strategic. yet, oliver’s (1992: 564) analysis of deinstitutionalization, defined as “the process by which the legitimacy of an established or institutionalized organizational practice erodes or discontinues”, leaves open the possibility that work that would lead to deinstitutionalization might include not only the intentional and highly deliberate assault on institutional foundations, but also more gradual forms of agency that could lead to the dissipation of an institutional practice. again, we think that a focus on moments of test as occasions when actors may engage in actions and reactions that involve either active challenges to existing organizing principles or related procedures, or more nuanced forms of agency such as choosing not to defend them, may provide a route to better understanding patterns of institutional disruption. patterns of institutional evolution the activities of creating, maintaining and disrupting institutions are often treated as three separate forms of institutional work. a broader perspective would consider them as complementary contributors to an overall pattern of institutional evolution. however, few studies have examined the lifecycle of institutions and the types of institutional work that have shaped the emergence, persistence and possible dissolution of institutions over time. rare exceptions include farjoun’s (2002) study of the history of pricing arrangements in the online database industry and zietsma and lawrence’s (2010) study of the evolution of the coastal forestry industry in british columbia. by studying the continuum of institutional lifecycle stages, the authors of both studies reveal the arbitrariness of the path of institutional evolution. thus, rather than a determinate linear pattern, the authors highlight moments that appear crucial in the transition from one stage to the other, when actors expose contradictions (seo & creed, 2002) and express dissatisfaction about existing practices. at such times, it seems that a series of critiques and defensive responses ensued, accompanied by experimental work and collaborative or competitive actions, leading to institutional change, persistence or ongoing institutional conflict. indeed, these moments appear to be an important locus for institutional work. although not explicitly theorized as such by farjoun (2002) and zietsma and lawrence (2010), such moments constituted key focal points in their analysis of the evolution of institutions and of actors’ influence on such evolution. we suggest that the attention granted to these moments may have contributed to the presentation by both studies of more nuanced accounts of actors’ pragmatic engagement with institutions and its effects on the path of institutional evolution. we argue, however, that a more systematic mobilization of such moments, that we associate with the notion of test, would allow a richer consideration of institutional plasticity and evolution. in summary, the extant literature has contributed greatly to our understanding of institutional work, and continues to grow and stimulate further thinking and exploration of the multiple ways in which actors may influence the institutions that shape their own and others’ behavior. recent work that has taken on the task of investigating how more pragmatic, mundane and even emergent forms 509 institutional work and the notion of test m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 502-527 of agency have affected institutions is, we believe, a welcome addition to the generally more frequent accounts of deliberate, strategic and calculative forms. we argue that more systematic investigation of the processes of creation, maintenance and disruption of institutions would benefit from a focussed examination of the specific moments in which institutional malaise, contest or crisis, are played out. suddaby (2010: 17) and others suggest that “institutions (...) tend to only reveal their inner workings during times of disruption or stress, when the social order is inverted (...), or the institutional fabric is torn and we can observe, however temporarily, the inner mechanisms of institutions”. moments where the inner workings of institutions are revealed through the actions of actors and where they may—through their varied enactment of institutional arrangements—affect institutions are, in our view, an important locus of institutional work. these moments, we argue, could be valuably identified and approached by drawing on the notion of test, a core concept of conventionalist theory. more specifically, we suggest that the notion of test contributes by offering: (1) an approach to understanding varied forms of intentionality (agency); (2) a conception of institutional work as relational, i.e., as involving actions and reactions of people and material objects (relationality); (3) an analytical lens that focuses attention on critical moments of institutional evolution and their inter-relationships over time (temporality). we present the notion of test in the following section, and then discuss in more detail how it may help advance institutional work research according to these three main themes. the test as an analytical lens for examining institutional work the notion of test the notion of test plays a central role in conventionalist theory, and is comprehensively defined in the work of boltanski and thévenot, in particular in their 2006 ([1991]) book on justification. table 1 offers a summary of the key conceptual elements associated with this notion. broadly speaking, tests refer to familiar occurrences when actors’ enactment of legitimate organizing principles is made more visible. these are moments when actors’ performance of widely accepted established rules, norms and belief systems are questioned. in moments of test, individual and collective actors’ engagement with their context is the object of judgment in terms of correspondence with legitimate organizing principles (blokker & brighenti, 2011; blondeau & sevin, 2004; boltanski & thévenot, 2006). for instance, when staff promotion is discussed in a firm at the end of a fiscal year, the executive director might launch a performance appraisal in order to determine who will be promoted. this could be seen to constitute a test rooted in what boltanski and thévenot label the “industrial worth”, as staff members’ work performances would be judged against explicitly defined measures of productivity. alternatively, this moment may also constitute a test if it is the first time that staff promotion is being considered in the firm, and the executive director and staff members wrestle with the very question of which principles and procedures to use in order to decide on who is to be promoted. both these moments “put to a test” the organizing principles that ought to guide staff promotion in this firm: in the 510 kafui dansou & ann langleym@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 502-527 first instance, “testing” would concern the application (or validity of a particular application) of accepted procedures, while in the second instance, it would be about the very organizing principles underlying promotion decisions. in abstract terms, conventionalist theory conceives of tests as occasions of questioning of value frameworks, as actors seek to reduce uncertainty by determining the principles that ought to apply in a given situation. this theoretical framework posits that competing constitutive value frameworks guide individuals’ behaviors, constraining but also enabling agency. specifically, boltanski and thévenot (2006) propose that six such frameworks exist: the domestic, inspired, fame, industrial, market, and civic orders of worth. they are labeled ‘orders of worth’ as each constitutes a systematic construction that rests on a commonly valued higher principle, allowing the qualification (or evaluation) of actions, people, and material objects and arrangements as legitimate (or not) in the setting where they are deployed. each thus points to the legitimate forms of instantiation of a higher ordering principle. in broad terms, the “domestic” order of worth values the principles of hierarchy, loyalty and tradition, while the “inspired” order values the spontaneous creativity of the artist. the “fame” order of worth values public recognition and prestige, while the “industrial” worth is driven by the search for efficiency. the “market” order of worth values competition and success through commercial exchange, while the “civic” worth implies pursuit of civic duty, collective good and community solidarity. since the original formulation by boltanski and thévenot (2006), boltanski and chiapello (2005) have proposed a seventh order of worth named “connectionist”, based on the value of networking and project-based organizing, while others have suggested a “green” order of worth that focuses on ecological values (lafaye & thévenot, 1993). in this paper, it is not our intention to insist further on the number of orders of worth that might be identified, but rather on the way in which these may be brought to bear in practical situations. indeed, since multiple orders of worth may coexist in the same social space and provide the legitimating systems for actors’ actions, to reach agreement in situations of coordinated social action, actors engage in tests (boltanski & thévenot, 2000, 2006). through these tests, they seek to bring out agreement on the worth of actors involved and the justness of actions performed. tests do not determine whether an agreement will be reached or not; indeed, their outcomes are uncertain (boltanski & thévenot, 1999, 2006). they do, however, constitute critical moments through which one may gain a better understanding of human agency in relation to organizing principles. we argue that the notion of test elaborated by boltanski and thévenot (2006) offers important theoretical insights into what is involved in the doing of institutional work. indeed, a test is at the heart of the reflexive process leading to the relativization of observed deviations, the reaffirmation of existing organizing principles, the evocation and integration of new principles into particular situations, or even the framing of new ones. when an actor engages with her context, she may expect certain rules, norms or beliefs to guide behaviors, given the particular situation faced. if she perceives inconsistencies in the performances of other actors, distinction among people or material arrangements, she may opt to gloss over observed discrepancies so as to “get on” with what needs to be done, or question the situation in an effort to reach clarity on “what matters”. a test thus represents a moment when conditions are ripe for reflexive behaviors. in these moments, actors may put forth a critique 511 institutional work and the notion of test m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 502-527 table 1. the notion of test as defined by conventionalist theory conceptual elements examples definitions a test is a moment of questioning of value frameworks or their forms of instantiation in which actors seek to confirm or determine the principles, or “orders of worth”, that ought to apply in a given situation. an order of worth is a constitutive value framework that guides individuals’ behaviors. an order of worth is defined by a set of internally consistent components (a higher order principle; legitimate forms of instantiation: e.g., appropriate forms of evidence, relevant objects and subjects). performance appraisal; public hearings; any moment where value frameworks are drawn on in interaction with others to question or assess the appropriateness of action. boltanski and thévenot (2006) identified six “orders of worth”: domestic, inspired, fame, industrial, market and civic, but others have also been suggested. the “industrial” order of worth, for instance, values efficiency while the “civic” order of worth values community solidarity. forms of test 1) test of “state of worth”: questioning of the degree to which the principles appropriate to a situation are being correctly applied. 2) test of “order of worth” (second order test): questioning of the appropriateness of principles being applied in a particular situation. questioning whether the correct conditions are in place to ensure fair performance appraisal as an accepted criterion for promotion. questioning whether performance appraisal is the appropriate criterion for determining promotion (e.g., rather than seniority). elements brought to bear in tests justifications and critiques: arguments supporting action on the basis of value frameworks, or critiquing actions as violating appropriate frameworks. objects: material proofs that support justifications and that are associated with different worlds or orders of worth. subjects: embodied qualifications that grant people legitimate voice to say how particular organizing principles should be instantiated. different qualifications may be valued in relation to different orders of worth. arguments justifying a promotion on the basis of performance, or denouncing it by suggesting it should have been based on seniority. measurements, charts, tools (related to the industrial worth); union contracts (related to civic worth). professional qualifications that provide evidence of expertise (related to the industrial worth); elected roles (related to the civic worth). two forms of tests as noted earlier, conventionalist theory’s conception of tests suggests that, as actors confront the unfolding dynamics of situations, testing may occur which questions the particular application of generally accepted procedures (or other forms of instantiation of a given organizing principle) in a given situation; or at a deeper level, the very organizing principle which actors seem to draw upon in that situation (boltanski & thévenot, 2006; dodier, 1993; thévenot, 2000). hence, testing can be of two different natures: (a) it can rest on a questioning of the proper instantiation of macro-level organizing principles in the empirical realm (micro-level actions); or (b) it can challenge the macro-level organizing principles in practice, by denouncing the principles that transpire through actors’ actions and seeking to promote different principles. these have been described in on justification (boltanski &thévenot, 2006) as tests that concern (denounce inconsistencies) or give justifications (enunciate the principles legitimating particular behaviors or arrangements). taken together, their actions may contribute to challenging the social arrangements invoked in the situation, reproducing them, or working towards new arrangements. 512 kafui dansou & ann langleym@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 502-527 “the way worths have been distributed in the situation at hand” (boltanski & thévenot, 2006: 133), also referred to as “state of worth” in the case of the first type of tests; and testing which is about the “order of worth” or “the principle that is to govern the way the test is carried out and with the world in which the test has to be set up if it is to be conclusive” (ibid: 223) for the second type. in that sense, the latter are second order tests forming part of what boltanski (2011: 67) labeled the “metapragmatic register”, where reflexivity is heightened and participants shift “from the task to be performed to the question of how it is possible to characterize what is happening.” if we go back to the example of the firm contemplating the use of performance appraisal at the end of the fiscal year to grant deserving staff a promotion (see table 1), a test concerning the “state of worth” (the first type of test) could arise if staff members object to the fact that the evaluation is to be carried out by an executive director who has only recently joined the firm and, as such, is not well positioned to judge performance over the whole fiscal year. they do not question the use of technical performance procedures to grant promotion, only the importance given to the new executive director in this process. this test situation suggests an overall acceptance of principles of technical efficiency (associated with the “industrial” order of worth) to guide staff promotion decisions, but it also reveals a malaise over the proper instantiation of these principles, which actors would normally seek to address. on the other hand, a second order test might arise if a group (such as a union) were to argue that performance appraisal is not adequate for the firm, and suggest that seniority—rather than technical performance—ought to be the criterion for promotion decisions. in this test situation, a broader disagreement over organizing principles is discernible (principles of the industrial versus domestic worths), which may develop into argumentative moves about which organizing principle ought to apply. the test and the material realm the notion of test as articulated by boltanski and thévenot (2006) brings forth another important insight into the confrontation of value frameworks and how they may unfold in practice. it suggests that tests are not just about rhetorical or discursive moves – or what institutionalists have called “theorization” (strang & meyer, 1993; suddaby & greenwood, 2005); importantly, they also implicate the material world, as the arrangements involved in the situation are drawn upon as proofs, to support critiques and justifications (boltanski & thévenot, 2000; thévenot, 2009). in fact, in the course of a test, perceived inconsistencies may encourage actors to voice a critique—starting with a questioning of the presence or absence of objects—which throws doubt on the nature of the situation, in an attempt to distinguish legitimate objects from contingent (hence irrelevant) circumstances and work towards a basis of understanding of what matters and what does not. objects are important signifiers of the organizing principles being enacted. the import of artefacts or “objects”, as boltanski and thévenot (2006) name them, is manifest in the following example: in a situation where an organization is about to undergo an external audit, it would seem reasonable that the director discuss with the auditor the terms of the audit and the criteria that will be used. during their meeting, the director may point to a copy of the “terms of reference” of the audit lying on her desk, and the auditor could refer to her 513 institutional work and the notion of test m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 502-527 firm’s adherence to the international standards on auditing to ground assertion about their professionalism. but, if the director were to offer the auditor a personal gift, the situation would most likely become awkward and leave a doubt as to the nature of the relationship the director wishes to institute. a gift is conceivably more germane to familiar relations (domestic worth) where it serves to sustain bonding, and is often accompanied by gratitude. it is not commonly associated with an external audit situation where professionalism, impartiality and auditor independence (industrial worth) are usually expected. the presence of a gift could thus be questioned and this may trigger a series of critiques and justifications. objects generally refer to mechanisms which may consist of, but are not necessarily limited to, concrete material things. just as tools, machines and diplomas could represent objects instantiating a particular order of worth, so too could titles, standards, and unions (star, 2010). objects—and arrangements, which are combinations of objects—are socially constructed elements that can serve as support in the coordination of action, as they are commonly identified with one particular order of worth (boltanski & thévenot, 2006; see table 1). it is also important to note that tests involve not only objects as described here, but also other accepted forms of instantiation of the legitimate organizing principles, and notably what boltanski and thévenot (2006) call “subjects”. these are embodied qualifications that grant people involved in a situation legitimate voice to say how particular organizing principles should be instantiated; in other words, what matters if a given organizing principle is at work. for example, in the industrial order of worth, a person with professional credentials will be particularly valued, while in the domestic order of worth, seniority and hierarchy will be respected. boltanski and thévenot (2006) use the collective term “beings” to refer to the arrangement of people and objects brought to bear in particular situations. having introduced the notion of test as defined in conventionalist theory, we now explore three key features of this concept that, we argue, renders it particularly useful to enrich understanding of institutional work. these features are summarized in table 2. the test: capturing agency, relationality and temporality in institutional work the test and varied forms of agency we suggest that conventionalist theory provides a framework that allows a finer examination of the micro-processes of agency: i.e., the varied forms of actions involved in institutional work at the individual and group levels. in conventionalist theory, individuals are in no way attached to orders of worth; they “can be acquainted with more than one world” (boltanski & thévenot, 2006: 219), and have the ability to adjust their behavior in accordance with the situation they face. their knowledge of the orders of worth and their legitimate forms of instantiation is acquired through experience of many diverse situations, and endows them with the faculty to recognize inconsistencies when these arise. inconsistencies are addressed or smoothed over in moments of test. these constitute key instances or moments where varied forms of work, in terms of the more or less intentional cast put on actions in relation to reproducing or 514 kafui dansou & ann langleym@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 502-527 changing institutional arrangements, can be experienced and/or examined. as activities unfold and tests are deployed, actors’ actions may take a variety of forms. as deviations and inconsistencies between micro-level actions and the macro-level organizing principle actors believe ought to guide action in their particular situation are questioned, they may point out these incongruities with an aim to have them corrected, so that a “proper” arrangement of beings and a “proper” enactment of this organizing principle is established in the context they find themselves in. alternatively, a “second order” test might ensue if actors turn to questioning the very organizing principles that appear to be guiding action; in which case, actors’ actions would concern the active promotion of organizing principles that appear appropriate to the situation at hand, or demotion of those that seem inadequate. they may, however, also act in very pragmatic ways by seeking only to get through the activity, thus avoiding the test by leaving deviations and inconsistencies in the background or relativizing their significance (boltanski & thévenot, 2006). these are three forms of actions which can develop in a moment of test. note that all three rest on actors’ reflexivity but denote different degrees of reflexivity (see also emirbayer & mische, 1998), and more specifically different levels of intentionality with regard to influencing institutional arrangements. the first form of action, which consists in actors’ efforts to reinstate a proper arrangement of beings in a situation deemed ambiguous, reflects a moderately high level of intentionality. specifically, this form of action, which we label interpretive agency, does not primarily seek to affect the extant organizing principle. rather, it is preoccupied with its instantiation in the specific situations actors find themselves in. thus, actors reflexively engage with the macro-organizing principle by seeking to establish or reaffirm its legitimate forms of instantiation, in ways that may lead to its reproduction or some contextualization of its application. the second form of action reflects a much higher degree of intentionality with regard to affecting prevalent organizing principles. we define this form as strategic agency since it describes actions that attempt to directly address principles that guide action. this is not to say that they are always planned actions, nor that they do not have unintended consequences. rather, strategic agency refers to actors’ reflexive engagement with organizing principles which seek to challenge and undermine the prevalent organizing principle, or to reassert an organizing principle that is being challenged as inadequate for the situation concerned, or even to introduce a new principle. the last form of action described is what boltanski and thévenot (2006) refer to as situations where actors seek to suspend the test without reaching agreement on whether or not the observed inconsistencies are justified (see also boltanski & thévenot, 1999; jagd, 2007). in so doing, they aim to avoid the continuation of the tension so that action may resume. we label this form of action as pragmatic agency, since actors’ actions primarily seek the continuation of activities. they engage in operations of accommodations, including relativizing and pardoning (boltanski & thévenot, 2006: 35, 339, 355), which consist in treating observed inconsistencies as inconsequential (e.g., “it’s nothing”, “it’s ok”) or forgivable given the exigencies of practical action. these are less intentional forms of action in terms of their sought effects on prevalent organizing principles. 515 institutional work and the notion of test m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 502-527 table 2. features of the notion of test as a unit and framework for analysis that can enrich studies of institutional work contributing feature examples from empirical studies attention to varied forms of agency the test draws attention to three forms of agency of varying degrees of intentionality with regard to organizing principles that may manifest themselves in combination in moments of test. first form: moderate degree of intentionality; interpretive agency involves efforts to ensure the proper instantiation of an organizing principle in the specific situations actors find themselves in. second form: highest degree of intentionality; strategic agency involves efforts to challenge and undermine the prevalent organizing principle, or to reassert an organizing principle as adequate for the situation at hand, or even to introduce a new principle in a situation of ambiguity. third form: lowest degree of intentionality; pragmatic agency involves the suspension of the testing and avoidance of confrontation around value schemes so that action may resume. it consists in pragmatic accommodations and relativization. production and maintenance of opposing legitimating accounts, all drawing on the civil rights principle, to determine the mode of application of non-discrimination workplace policies to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people (creed, et al., 2002). efforts by environmentalists to change the basis for logging decisions in the forest industry (zietsma & lawrence, 2010). a form of agency that constitutes disruptive institutional work in this setting. tolerance of rule violations within the cambridge university boat race team to enable action to continue (lok & de rond, 2012). a combination of the third form of agency (called “containment work” by the authors) and the first form of agency (called “restoration work” and found in cases of severe deviations) promoted institutional maintenance. attention to relationality the test draws attention to the relational nature of institutional work, where actions engender emergent reactions as forms of agency develop and evolve in context. it is this relational interaction that generates outcomes, not the specific behaviors of any particular agent. mcinerney’s (2008) conventionalist study of a field configuring event in the non-profit technology assistance field. the study illustrates a moment of test in which the highly deliberate efforts of one actor based on one set of principles were countered by the more opportunistic reactions of another actor that succeeded in structuring the principles in the field (an example of creative institutional work). the outcome could not be explained without understanding the nature of actions and reactions in context. attention to temporality tests punctuate the evolution of institutions. the test provides a strong unit of analysis for considering the interplay of “quiet periods” and moments of contestation in institutional evolution. there is value in moving the unit of analysis away from specific actors and towards the sequence of moments of test to better capture the continuing nature of institutional work. yamaguchi and suda’s (2010) conventionalist study of controversies about genetically modified organisms (gmos) in japan over 20 years. the study examines the interplay of quiet periods and moments of controversy in the evolution of social representations of gmos. the forms of actions described above and summarized in table 2 resonate with actions found in the institutional work literature. however, a clear majority of studies have addressed the higher level of intentionality, while fewer have dealt with the moderate and more pragmatic forms of agency. indeed, the most radical form of agency in which underlying principles are questioned or new principles are put forward (strategic agency) seems at first sight to be most naturally associated with disruptive, defensive or creative kinds of institutional work. this is the case, for example, for the environmental activists in zietsma and lawrence’s (2010) study of the forest industry, as they questioned the principles underlying existing institutionalized logging practices. in contrast, interpretive agency—in which attention is drawn to problematic instantiations of extant principles—seems to be associated most obviously with institutional 516 kafui dansou & ann langleym@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 502-527 maintenance work, potentially incorporating negotiation over accepted interpretations of existing principles and their stretching or adjustment to accommodate novel concerns. an example of this can be seen in creed, scully and austin’s (2002) study of the production and maintenance of legitimating accounts in relation to employment non-discrimination policies, in which neither proponents or opponents contested the overarching civil rights principle underlying these policies, but debated whether and how these policies should apply to gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people. and yet, the patterns of agency involved in institutional reproduction and evolution may not be as simple as hinted at by more recent studies. in particular, the third lesser form of agency discussed above, though less studied, may also play an important role in both institutional maintenance and change. for example, lok and de rond’s (2012) study of the processes through which “rules of engagement” of the cambridge university boat club (especially rules concerning criteria for crew selection and behavior) are maintained shows how certain overt deviations were smoothed over, or normalized and accounted for, as acceptable exceptions to institutional prescriptions so as to carry on with ongoing activities. under a conventionalist theory reading, these instances of deviation would constitute moments of test, and the ways in which actors manage these challenges to institutional practices and principles exemplify actions we have termed as pragmatic agency. interestingly, the study by lok and de rond (2012) also shows that as deviations persisted or became more serious, participants began to call attention to the inconsistencies, resulting in what the authors call “restoration work” and reflecting the first and stronger form of agency described above. lok and de rond (2012) argue that both the initial containment and the following restoration work are both important for the preservation of the institution. if no minor deviations were tolerated, the institution would appear to be too rigid to survive through application in a multitude of varied situations. however, the awareness of inconsistency that these deviations eventually create results in the regular reaffirmation and rehearsal of underlying principles that also contribute to sustaining the institution. pragmatic forms of agency in which principles are glossed over in order to pursue ongoing activities may not, however, always be associated with institutional maintenance. the subtle disruptive effects of such actions may accumulate over time, gradually undermining the foundations of the institution and potentially introducing principles and objects associated with alternative orders of worth. lounsbury and crumley’s (2007) account of the emergence and legitimation of active money management in the mutual fund industry provides a telling illustration. active money management practices were pragmatic experimentations, initially regarded as nonproblematic since observed deviations were viewed as inconsequential by industry insiders wanting “to protect the stable world they created” (ibid: 999). the new practice grew and, aided by a parallel professionalization process, eventually triggered a questioning of the principles underlying mutual fund money management, resulting in institutional change: active money management became legitimate alongside passive management practices. lawrence et al. (2011: 53) note that “the concept of work implies some kind of intentionality, however varied that intentionality might be”, and suggest that institutional work may involve multiple forms of agency, ranging from deliberate 517 institutional work and the notion of test m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 502-527 strategic acts that aim to reshape institutional arrangements, to more practical management of the exigencies of the situation, or even more conservative selective reproduction of past patterns of action. our discussion above shows that the notion of test offers a promising analytical apparatus that can uncover the highly intentional as well as the less intentional, and the strategic as well as more pragmatic forms of institutional work. actions, intentional or less so, do not however occur in a vacuum, but necessarily result in chains of reaction and interaction. as we next explore, the notion of test also contributes by illuminating the relational nature of institutional work. the test and relationality we argue that by focussing on moments of test, more systematic attention can be given to the unfolding situations through which actions and reactions are played out (see table 2). this provides a valuable opportunity for a finegrained analysis of the interplay between potentially very different forms of actions. for instance, highly intentional forms of creative work may meet with reactions that are similarly motivated, but edging towards maintenance, or they may meet with reactions that aim to smooth things over and not make a big deal out of the newly proposed practices. it is the combination of varied forms of actions, carried out by a multitude of actors in specific contexts, which imprints particular trajectories to institutional work and its outcomes. the notion of test inherently embraces the idea that when some action is put to the test there is usually a reaction, and it is the combined effect of both that influences the ensuing action. specifically, tests give rise to critiques and justifications which, as we have defined, consist in argumentative moves relying on material proofs that actors use in a particular situation to point out inconsistencies (critiques) and justify their actions and choices (justifications) in relation to legitimate organizing principles. critiques and justifications unfold until the arguments and material proofs deployed are deemed conclusive and a decision is made as to how to proceed, or until testing is suspended – as for instance in the case of relativizing (boltanski & thévenot, 2006). moreover, critiques and justifications evolve concomitantly: justifications are often offered in response to critiques, and new critiques may be laid based on the arguments and material proofs put forth in these justifications. as noted above, another possibility is that actors avoid letting the exchange of critique and justification unfold, so as to get back to their activity. therefore, we argue that the examination of critiques and justifications – or more broadly speaking, threads of actions and reactions – without due attention to the link between them, may give us only a partial understanding of institutional work. a number of studies on agency and institutions have addressed the social and political processes through which institutional creation, disruption and maintenance develop (e.g., garud, et al., 2002; maguire & hardy, 2006). however, they tend to present actors’ actions and others’ reactions as manifestations of the substantive properties that define them, such as their institutional or professional origins. we do not dispute these conclusions, but we argue that closer attention to the interaction between actions and reactions may reveal other conditions that affect the unfolding of institutional work. for example, moreira (2005) draws on boltanski and thévenot (2006) to examine the development process for medical practice guidelines, seen as moments of test in which different repertoires of evaluation (industrial, domestic, 518 kafui dansou & ann langleym@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 502-527 civic) are drawn on by the varied members of the guideline development group in their collective efforts to instantiate locally adapted versions of “evidencebased medicine”. for example, participants refer to scientific data (charts and studies) that represent an industrial-world conception of medical practice, but also to patient experiences that represent a different form of “proof” associated with the domestic worth. importantly, the author explicitly discusses how viewing members’ perspectives as if substantively determined by their position in the organization of medicine would have meant “oversimplifying the diversity of ways in which group members articulate the relationship between the evidence presented and its possible ‘worlds’” (moreira, 2005: 1977). by focussing on the moments of test, and hence not assuming away or under-exploring relationality, the author shows how varying combinations of actions and reactions develop, depending on the issues discussed and repertoires of evaluation drawn upon. these actions and reactions shaped and reinforced the guideline development process and “evidence-based medicine” as an institutionalized practice. in other words, closer attention to the moment of test would help to open the analytical lens to the multiple ways in which actions and reactions may combine in context, which may deepen our understanding of institutional work (see also table 2). these actions and reactions may occur in particular moments of testing, but as discussed next, they may also play out over longer periods as moments of test are interspersed with quieter periods of institutional stability. the test and temporality conventionalist theory invites us to explore the temporal flow of actions (boltanski & thévenot, 2006; dodier, 1993). it places particular emphasis on the actions of embedded actors, who are involved in frequent work of interpretation, evaluation, deliberation and decision in relation to the enactment of the organizing principles guiding social action. thus, tests punctuate the flow of actions over time, and the varied engagements of individuals and collective actors in these moments of test affect the outcome of the testing and the instantiation and evolution of the organizing principles they were concerned with. tests are frequent occurrences, and actors do not always “open their eyes” to point to contradictions discernible in the flow of action; they may also “close their eyes” so as to engage uncritically in what they are doing (boltanski & thévenot, 2006: 232). in conceiving of social coordination as instances where multiple organizing principles may coexist and where actors may open or close their eyes on inconsistencies, the authors also point to the inherent succession of quiet periods of relatively unreflexive reproduction of accepted procedures and meaning systems, and of periods of questioning when the procedures or organizing principles underpinning these have to be explicitly justified. indeed, a quiet period is never totally protected from disruptive testing, which may tip the situation into a period of questioning or conflict. likewise, periods of questioning are not permanent either. actors will seek to reduce uncertainty by trying to reach more or less lasting agreements or relativizing the tension. thus, quiet periods and periods of questioning jointly shape the evolution of organizing principles, and the varied engagement of actors in tests leads the transition from one period to another. we argue that tests are endemic to institutional life. indeed, over the life course of an institution, actors’ actions and reactions in moments of test affect 519 institutional work and the notion of test m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 502-527 institutional emergence, diffusion, persistence, disruption, disappearance, and even the possible merging of institutional forms. institutions are subjected to tests in practical situations, and the succession of these moments—where actors may voice concerns or engage uncritically in the test—may hence give a particular course to the evolution of an institution. thus, it is our contention that by focussing on the moments of test in institutional work research, we may better examine institutional stability and change, and also those points when institutional stability may be on the verge of sliding into institutional change (or vice-versa). studying tests may prove productive for ongoing research efforts on the unfolding and interweaving of stages of institutional evolution and how human action contributes to particular paths of evolution. yamaguchi and suda’s (2010) study of controversies over genetically modified organisms (gmos) in japan over a period of 20 years provides an example of research that has examined the interweaving of quiet and questioning periods in the evolution of an institution. the authors draw on conventionalist theory to investigate the controversies that erupted over time and the varied forms of actions, arguments and material proofs that various actors drew on to denounce or justify gmos. a period of relative calm followed the introduction of gmos whose acceptability then primarily rested on their superior productivity (industrial worth), but hot debates arose as the introduction of gmo food labeling was considered nationally. these moments of test saw the confrontation of argumentative moves for and against the labeling (reflecting civic and market worths) which finally resulted in the adoption of gmo labeling. a seemingly quiet period ensued but was interspersed with periods of tension when a growing number of tests erupted over the safety of gmo open-field trials. the longitudinal analysis performed by the authors provides a valuable opportunity to see how the sequence of periods of apparent quiet and periods of tension contributed—together with external events—to shaping the evolution of gmos’ acceptability in japan and the rationalities underpinning its subsistence. focussing on the moments of test in relation to institutional evolution may also provide an opportunity to further research the conditions prompting or enabling transition from stability to change. here, comparative studies of the particular arrangements characterizing these moments and the proofs and arguments that actors bring to bear may help shed light on the relative importance of factors. in sum, we suggest that there is benefit in shifting somewhat the central unit of analysis in the study of institutional work from the actors involved and their selfinterested strategies in singular stages of institutional evolution, to the moments of test which punctuate institutional life. these are moments of confrontation when the principles governing actions in a field and the procedures that support them are brought to the fore, questioned, left to rest or sorted out, and potentially reconfigured in interaction. the actions and reactions of actors as the test unfolds may orient institutional work and the evolution of institutions. we do not argue that a focus on specific actors is not valuable, but rather suggest that a focus on the moments of test and what actors do in those moments may add depth to our understanding of institutional work. based on these ideas, we now examine how a focus on the notion of test might offer distinctive insights into the creation, maintenance and disruption of institutions as well as their ongoing evolution. in particular, we use a number of examples from the conventionalist literature to illustrate its potential and 520 kafui dansou & ann langleym@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 502-527 to draw out the contribution that it can make to research on institutional work in terms of an expanded attention to varied forms of agency, relationality and temporality. application: moments of test in the evolution of institutions the test and institutional creation we suggest that an analytical focus on the moments of test would help to better analyze instances of creative institutional work which may include decisive promotions of new regulative, normative or cognitive institutional foundations, but also pragmatic arrangements leading to institutional creation without such deliberate efforts, or even without immediate contestation of extant institutional principles. notably, focussing on the moments of test allows us to adopt a broader view of the forms of agency and relationality involved in creative institutional work. one interesting illustration can be found in mcinerney’s (2008) analysis of a field-configuring event that led to the emergence of new rules for the non-profit technology assistance field. mcinerney (2008: 1093) defines field-configuring events as “occasions for institutional entrepreneurs to make claims and test the claims of others”. the event presented by mcinerney was the site of confrontation of divergent expectations on the nature of the meeting and, more profoundly, a clash between different value frameworks associated with the emerging non-profit technology assistance field. by focussing on the moment of test, the author was able not only to examine the highly deliberate strategic action of the instigator of the field creation idea (promoting civic / inspirational principles), but also to capture the more emergent seizing of opportunity of another field player as the tension born from the confrontation of competing organizing principles mounted. this field player took the opportunity to propose an alternative account (relying on market / industrial principles) which other participants in the event from the business world were more sensitive to, and which ultimately became the field convention and the bedrock for broader institutionalization. the study shows, in particular, how forms of agency may emerge relationally in interaction and have important consequences. had the study focussed primarily on the outcome (the creation of the shared conventionalized account) instead of the process (the event and unfolding development), it might have granted the second player a more heroic role than was apparent in practice. the situated actions and interactions among different participants were critical to producing this particular outcome at this particular moment. the test and the maintenance of institutions in relation to institutional maintenance work, agency and relationality are also important dimensions that can be illuminated by a focus on the notion of test. in particular, we highlight here the important role that tests may play in sustaining institutions, since tests may be institutionalized and hence constitute a significant legitimate processual form of instantiation of a given organizing principle. the study of actors’ engagement with these tests may contribute greatly to our understanding of maintenance work, including instances where 521 institutional work and the notion of test m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 502-527 accommodations are made and through which institutions reveal their plasticity (see for example lok & de rond, 2012). examples of institutionalized tests, which boltanski and thévenot (2006: 143-144) label as “model tests”, consist of structured and consistent procedures such as courts of law (a model test associated with the civic order of worth), or a standard performance appraisal procedure associated with the industrial order of worth. the nature of model tests, and the work done by participating actors as they interact to conserve their legitimacy, is a particularly interesting focus for research on institutional work. for example, reinecke (2010) shows how the institution of “fair trade” in the coffee market is sustained by a complex but institutionalized testing framework in which the minimum price of coffee is established by combining technical cost calculations based on data from producers (compatible with the industrial order of worth) with mechanisms of democratic consensus among representatives of labeling organizations, producers and traders (compatible with the civic order). this “model test” engages participating individuals in continually constructing the meaning of “fair trade” in interaction. the interpretative agency that actors deploy as they call on and apply its principles in particular historical contexts helps to maintain the institution. as lamont (2009) notes in her study of another testing framework (academic peer review) participants in such processes cannot leave their personal tastes behind, yet they believe in the processes they participate in as ultimately necessary to ensure the legitimacy of the system that supports their activity, and tend to work to sustain that belief. such examples show that model test situations are never perfectly predictable. thus, every situated “performance” of a model test carries within it the possibility of deviance or adaptation—and hence agency—recalling feldman and pentland’s (2003) notions of performative and ostensive routines. the test and the disruption of institutions moments of test may also contribute quite directly to disrupting institutions when critiques and justifications are brought forward concerning the principles that ought to guide social coordination in the form of second order tests, or when they concern a challenge to the legitimating procedures associated with an existing or nascent organizing principle. these moments also constitute a particularly interesting focus for research on the relation between varying forms of agency and the unsettling, displacement or disappearance of institutions. for example, drawing on conventionalist theory, mesny and mailhot (2005) describe a situation in which “work” being accomplished by actors leaves a nascent institution in a continuing unsettled state. the case related shows how a formalized university-industry partnership was repeatedly disrupted. although the partnership had been in existence for over two years, its actual implementation was continuously stalled, as every time a project was discussed, actors relentlessly questioned and debated the principles which should guide the selection and management of projects. a focus on these recurrent moments of test reveals how actors’ actions and reactions jointly contributed to engendering lasting periods of insider-driven institutional conflict. the analysis further unveils the particular forms of strategic agency that played out during the process. another example of disruptive work is perceptible in the case of legitimacy repair work described by patriotta et al. (2011). following the publicizing of 522 kafui dansou & ann langleym@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 502-527 a nuclear accident it had sought to quieten and ensuing questioning of the legitimacy of this form of energy, a european nuclear power plant (vattenfall) actively sought to regain its legitimacy. the case described highlights moments of test during which field players and owners of vattenfall iteratively drew on a number of organizing principles to respectively debase or legitimate nuclear energy production. as the authors note, the actions and reactions of protagonists in these sets of disruptive and maintenance work contributed to the construction and reconstruction of the place and meaning of nuclear power in germany. the test and the evolution of institutions the above studies, which use boltanski and thévenot’s (2006) theoretical framework, show that the notion of test can be mobilized equally to investigate institutional work involved in the creation, maintenance and disruption of institutions. thus, it is not a concept restricted to a single moment of development. moreover, as the studies described above show, a focus on specific moments of test can throw light both on the varied and sometimes subtle forms of agency that are brought to bear in these occasions, and on the pattern of action and reaction composing institutional work and leading to different outcomes. as we indicated above, the notion of test can also be valuably considered as part of a longer-term pattern of institutional evolution. for example, kaplan and murray (2010) investigate the creation of the institutional setup that would govern the biotechnology field, drawing on conventionalist theory and the notion of test in particular. they highlight the contests through which field players sought, and even fought, over a period of 30 years, to shape the specific codified procedures—which the authors conceive as “tests of value”— which were to bear on the patenting of biotechnology-produced organisms, and hence ultimately influence the defining logic underpinning biotechnology. as the authors suggest, studying the evolution of the institutional arrangements grounding the biotechnological field through an examination of moments of test revealed a non-linear evolutionary process consisting of periods of change, stability, and redirection of the evolutionary thread. historical analyses, similar to those of kaplan and murray (2008) and yamaguchi and suda (2010), have also been conducted drawing on an institutional lens. for instance, farjoun’s (2002) study of connect-time as a pricing standard in the online database industry covers the evolution of this standard over an extended period. this research highlights the crucial role of contestations in institutional development, and suggests that such contests are permanent features of institutional life. however, we wonder if there might have been periods when institutional stability resulted not from forces of inertia outweighing forces of change, but rather from the fact that various actors accepted and took for granted the institutional setup or, in other words, that actors engaged uncritically in activities. a closer look at moments of test (rather than just moments of contestation) might have pointed to such instances in the evolution of the connect-time pricing standard. in addition, we suggest that using the moments of test as a unit of analysis might have allowed a deeper examination of the substance of contestations, and the principles and values they were related to. this might have shown how the nature of the contestation influenced the transition from one stage to another, and the sequence of 523 institutional work and the notion of test m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 502-527 institutional stability and change. in summary, a focus on moments of test is useful not only for tracing the evolution of institutional arrangements, but also to gain a better understanding of shifts in procedures or prevalent organizing principles, and how and why particular patterns do or do not develop. we argue that institutional work research would benefit from more systematic attention to the sequences of institutional stability and change and how they follow one another, through a mobilization of the notion of test. conclusion the notion of test reminds us that human agency is shaped by legitimate organizing principles, yet in the unfolding of moments of test, the actions of actors may also contribute to the shaping of institutional arrangements and their underpinning principles. in this paper, we argue that the notion of test as developed by conventionalist theory can add a valuable analytical framework to the institutional theoretical apparatus. it invites us to take seriously actors’ reproduction, translation, re-interpretation, and re-definition of the principles that guide their actions, and the social interactions through which such production occurs. moments of test constitute valuable loci that allow us to apprehend and investigate the organizing principles at play in a social sphere, their dynamic coming together and confrontation, the how and why of particular types of institutional work and the effects of this recursive interaction between human agents and the legitimating systems that shape their actions. in this paper, we identified key issues in the institutional work literature which we believe would benefit from an analytical focus on the moments of test. first, we proposed that the test offers a way of capturing the varied forms of agency underlying institutional work. conventionalist theory presupposes that all actors have potential for reflexivity in particular situations, but that this may take a variety of forms, ranging from a tolerant acceptance of institutional accommodations to more deliberate attempts to influence or question the principles underlying action. second, we have shown that the notion of test favors a conception of institutional work as relational and distributed, i.e., as involving actions and reactions of people and material objects in situation and over time. this shifts the focus from the initiatives of particular individuals towards their dynamic interactions during and surrounding critical moments. third, we proposed that the notion of test offers an analytical lens for institutional work that emphasizes temporality – i.e., a focus on critical moments of institutional questioning and their interweaving with moments of “quiet”, in which novel practices may develop and grow through more pragmatic arrangements, distant from critical scrutiny. we illustrated these ideas by drawing on recent examples from the conventionalist and institutional work literatures. in conclusion, the notion of test from conventionalist theory provides a fascinating unit of analysis that allows us to observe institutional work in situ and examine how legitimate organizing principles are instantiated through the actions of actors and the tests they deploy. tests punctuate the evolution of institutions in important ways: they are moments of questioning in which the organizing principles guiding the actions of individuals and collective actors are made particularly visible, and when the actions and reactions of actors engaged 524 kafui dansou & ann langleym@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 502-527 in the situations are opened up for deeper examination (boltanski & thévenot, 2006). bridging the institutional work and conventionalist perspectives, research mobilizing the notion of test can provide useful insights into how actors, by addressing the constraints faced in particular situations, may iteratively affect and reconstruct the principles and value frameworks of tomorrow. kafui dansou is a phd candidate at hec montréal, canada. her research interests include the study of the complex relations between institutions and organizational and social dynamics. she is currently conducting research on strategy formation in pluralistic settings, and more specifically nonprofit development organizations. ann langley is professor of management at hec montréal and canada research chair in strategic management in pluralistic settings. her research focuses on strategic change, leadership, innovation and the use of management tools in complex organizations with an emphasis on processual and qualitative research approaches. acknowledgments. we thank the editor of this special issue, philippe monin, and the anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments and helpful suggestions. thomas lawrence, maria gondo, john amis, and participants in the international conference on institutions and work held in june 2010 in vancouver (canada) also provided thoughtful comments on earlier versions of this paper, and we want to express our gratitude to them. we also thank the social sciences and humanities research council of canada and the fonds québécois de la recherche sur la société et la culture for their financial support. 525 institutional work and the notion of test m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 502-527 . blokker, p., & brighenti, a. (2011). an interview with laurent thévenot: on engagement, critique, commonality, and power. european journal of social theory, 14(3), 383-400. . blondeau, c., & sevin, j. -c. 2004. entretien avec luc boltanski : une sociologie toujours mise à l’épreuve, ethnographiques.org, 5(avril 2004).retrieved from : http:// www.ethnographiques.org/2004/ blondeau,sevin.html . boltanski, l. (2011). on critique: a sociology of emancipation. cambridge: polity press. . boltanski l., & chiapello, e. (2005). the new spirit of capitalism. new york: verso. . boltanski, l., & thévenot, l. (1991). de la justification: les économies de grandeur. paris : éditions gallimard. . boltanski, l., & thévenot, l. (1999). the sociology of critical capacity. european journal of social theory, 2(3), 359-377. . boltanski, l., & thévenot, l. (2000). the reality of moral expectations: a sociology of situated judgement. philosophical explorations, 3(3), 208231. . boltanski, l., & thévenot, l. (2006). on justification: economies of worth. princeton: princeton university press. . bourdieu, p. (1977). outline of a theory of practice. cambridge: cambridge university press. . cloutier, c., & langley, a. (forthcoming). the logic of institutional logics: insights from french pragmatist sociology. journal of management inquiry. . creed, w. e. d., scully, m. a., & austin, j. r. (2002). clothes make the person? the tailoring of legitimating accounts and the social construction of identity. organization science, 13(5), 475-496. . dacin, m. t., munir, k., & tracey, p. (2010). formal dining at cambridge colleges: linking ritual performance and institutional maintenance. academy of management journal, 53(6), 13931418. . delbridge, r., & edwards, t. (2008). challenging conventions: roles and processes during non-isomorphic institutional change. human relations, 61(3), 299-325. . dimaggio, p. j. (1988) interest and agency in institutional theory. in l. g. zucker (ed.), institutional patterns and organizations: culture and environment (pp. 3-22). cambridge: ballinger. . dodier, n. (1993). action as combination of ‘common worlds’. the sociological review, 41(3), 556-571. . emirbayer, m., & mische, a. (1998). what is agency? the american journal of sociology, 103(4), 962-1023. . farjoun, m. (2002). the dialectics of institutional development in emerging and turbulent fields: the history of pricing conventions in the on-line database industry. academy of management journal, 45(5), 848-874. . feldman, m. s., & pentland, b. t. (2003). reconceptualizing organizational routines as a source of flexibility and change. administrative science quarterly, 48(1), 94-118. . friedland, r., & alford, r. r. (1991). bringing society back in: symbols, practices and institutional contradictions. in w. w. powell & p. j. dimaggio (eds.), the new institutionalism in organizational analysis (pp. 232-263). chicago ; london: the university of chicago press. . garud, r., jain, s., & kumaraswamy, a. (2002). institutional entrepreneurship in the sponsorship of common technological standards. academy of management journal, 45(1), 196-214. . giddens, a. (1984). the constitution of society: outline of the theory of structuration. los angeles: university of california press. . jagd, s. (2007). economics of convention and new economic sociology: mutual inspiration and dialogue. current sociology, 55(1), 75-91. . jarzabkowski, p., matthiesen, j., & van de ven, a. (2009). doing which work? a practice approach to institutional pluralism. in t. b. lawrence, r. suddaby & b. leca (eds.), institutional work: actors and agency in institutional studies of organizations (pp. 284-316). cambridge ; new york: cambridge university press. . kaplan, s., & murray, f. (2010). entrepreneurship and the construction of value in biotechnology. research in the sociology of organizations, technology and organization essays in honour of joan woodward, 29, 107-147. references 526 kafui dansou & ann langleym@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 502-527 . lafaye, c., & thévenot, l. (1993). une justification écologique? conflits dans l’aménagement de la nature. revue française de sociologie, 34(4), 495-524. . lamont, m. (2009). how professors think: inside the curious world of academic judgment. cambridge: harvard university press. . lawrence, t. b., hardy, c., & phillips, n. (2002). institutional effects of interorganizational collaboration: the emergence of proto-institutions. academy of management journal, 45(1), 281-290. . lawrence, t. b., & suddaby, r. (2006). institutions and institutional work. in s. r. clegg, c. hardy, t. b. lawrence & w. r. nord (eds.), the sage handbook of organizational studies (2nd ed., pp. 215-254). london: sage publications. . lawrence, t. b., suddaby, r., & leca, b. (2009). introduction: theorizing and studying institutional work. in t. b. lawrence, r. suddaby & b. leca (eds.), institutional work: actors and agency in institutional studies of organizations (pp. 1-27). cambridge: cambridge university press. . lawrence, t. b., suddaby, r., & leca, b. (2011). institutional work: refocusing institutional studies of organization. journal of management inquiry, 20(1), 52-58. . leblebici, h., salancik, g. r., copay, a., & king, t. (1991). institutional change and the transformation of interorganizational fields: an organizational history of the u.s. radio broadcasting industry. administrative science quarterly, 36(3), 333-363. . lok, j., & de rond, m. (forthcoming). on the plasticity of institutions: containing and restoring practice breakdowns at the cambridge university boat club. academy of management journal. . lounsbury, m., & crumley, e. t. (2007). new practice creation: an institutional perspective on innovation. organization studies, 28(7), 993-1012. . maguire, s., & hardy, c. (2006). the emergence of new global institutions: a discursive perspective. organization studies, 27(1), 7-29. . maguire, s., & hardy, c. (2009). discourse and deinstitutionalization: the decline of ddt. academy of management journal, 52(1), 148-178. . maguire, s., hardy, c., & lawrence, t. b. (2004). institutional entrepreneurship in emerging fields: hiv/aids treatment advocacy in canada. academy of management journal, 47(5), 657-679. . mcinerney, p-b. (2008). showdown at kykuit: field-configuring events as loci for conventionalizing accounts. journal of management studies, 45(6), 1089-1116. . mesny, a., & mailhot, c. (2007). the difficult search for compromises in a canadian industry/university research partnership. canadian journal of sociology, 32(2), 203-226. . moreira, t. (2005). diversity in clinical guidelines: the role of repertoires of evaluation. social science & medicine, 60(9), 1975-1985. . munir, k. a., & phillips, n. (2005). the birth of the ‘kodak moment’: institutional entrepreneurship and the adoption of new technologies. organization studies, 26(11), 1665– 1687. . oliver, c. (1991). strategic responses to institutional processes. academy of management review, 16(1), 145-179. . oliver, c. (1992). the antecedents of deinstitutionalization. organization studies, 13(4), 563-588. . patriotta, g., gond, j-p., & schultz, f. (2011) maintaining legitimacy: controversies, orders of worth, and public justifications. journal of management studies, 48(8), 1804-1836. . reay, t., golden-biddle, k., & germann, k. (2006). legitimizing a new role: small wins and micro-processes of change. academy of management journal, 49(5), 977998. . reinecke, j. (2010). beyond a subjective theory of value and towards a ‘fair price’: an organizational perspective on fairtrade minimum price setting. organization, 17(5), 563-581. . slager, r., gond, j. -p., & moon, j. (2012). standardization as institutional work: the regulatory power of a responsible investment standard. organization studies, 33(5-6), 763-790. . scott, w. r. (2008). institutions and organizations (3rd ed.). thousand oaks: sage publications. . seo, m-g., & creed, w. e. d. (2002). institutional contradictions, praxis and institutional change: a dialectical perspective. academy of management review, 27(2), 222-247. . smets, m., morris, t., & greenwood, r. (2012). from practice to field: a multi-level model of practice-driven institutional change. academy of management journal, 55(4), 877-904. 527 institutional work and the notion of test m@n@gement vol. 15 no. 5, 2012, 502-527 . weber, k., heinze, k. l., & desoucey, m. (2008). forage for thought: mobilizing codes in the movement for grass-fed meat and dairy products. administrative science quarterly, 53(3), 529-567. . yamaguchi, t., & suda, f. (2010). changing social order and the quest for justification: gmo controversies in japan. science, technology, & human values, 35(3), 382-407. . zietsma, c., & lawrence, t. b. (2010). institutional work in the transformation of an organizational field: the interplay of boundary work and practice work. administrative science quarterly, 55(2), 189-221. . zietsma, c., & mcknight, b. (2009). building the iron cage: institutional creation work in the context of competing proto-institutions. in t. b. lawrence, r. suddaby & b. leca (eds.), institutional work: actors and agency in institutional studies of organizations (pp. 143–177). cambridge: cambridge university press. . zilber, t. b. (2002). institutionalization as an interplay between actions, meanings and actors: the case of a rape crisis center in israel. academy of management journal, 45(1), 234-254. . sminia, h. (2011). institutional continuity and the dutch construction industry fiddle. organization studies, 32(11), 15591585. . star, s. l. (2010). this is not a boundary object: reflections on the origins of a concept. science, technology & human values, 35(5), 601-617. . strang, d., & meyer, j. w. (1993). institutional conditions for diffusion. theory and society, 22(4), 487-511. . suddaby, r. (2010). challenges for institutional theory. journal of management inquiry, 19(1), 14-20. . suddaby, r., & greenwood, r. (2005). rhetorical strategies of legitimacy. administrative science quarterly, 50(1), 35-67. . thévenot, l. (2000). l’action qui convient. in p. pharo & l. quéré (eds.), les formes de l’action (pp. 39-69). paris: edition de l’ehess. . thévenot, l. (2001). pragmatic regimes governing the engagement with the world. in t. r. schatzki, k. knorr-cetina & e. von savigny (eds.), the practice turn in contemporary theory (pp. 56-73). london: routledge. . thévenot, l. (2009). governing life by standards: a view from engagements. social studies of science, 39(5), 793–813. . thornton, p. h. (2002). the rise of the corporation in a craft industry: conflict and conformity in institutional logics. academy of management journal, 45(1), 81-101. 27 j.p. boissin, b. chollet, s. eminm@n@gement vol. 12 no. 1, 2009, 28-51 m@n@gement issn: 1286-4892 editors: emmanuel josserand, hec, université de genève (editor in chief) jean-luc arrègle, edhec (editor) stewart clegg, university of technology, sydney (editor) louis hébert, hec montréal (editor) martin kornberger, university of technology, sydney (editor) martina menguzzato-boulard, universitat de valència (editor) michael tushman, harvard business school (editor) martin g. evans, university of toronto (editor emeritus) bernard forgues, emlyon business school (editor emeritus) copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). m@n@gement is a double-blind refereed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.management-aims.com © 2008 m@n@gement and the author(s). jean-pierre boissin 2009 barthélémy chollet sandrine emin les déterminants de l’intention de créer une entreprise chez les étudiants : un test empirique. m@n@gement, 12(1), 28-51. accepté par alain desreumaux m@n@gement est la revue officielle de l’aims m@n@gement is the journal official of aims m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 1, 2009, 28-51 28 les déterminants de l’intention de créer une entreprise chez les étudiants : un test empirique les déterminants de l’intention de créer une entreprise chez les étudiants : un test empirique cet article s’interroge sur les croyances et attitudes des étudiants vis-à-vis de l’entrepreneuriat et sur la façon dont elles peuvent agir sur leur intention de se lancer dans ce type d’activité après leurs études. le but est d’obtenir des pistes sur le type de contenu à donner aux formations dans le contexte de mise en œuvre des maisons de l’entrepreneuriat. au plan théorique, cette recherche s’appuie sur la théorie du comportement planifié ; l’intention de créer une entreprise est supposée dépendre de trois éléments : l’attrait perçu de la création d’entreprise ; le degré d’incitation à entreprendre perçu dans l’environnement social ; la confiance qu’a l’individu en sa capacité de mener à bien le processus entrepreneurial. ce modèle est testé sur 655 étudiants grenoblois. les résultats confirment le pouvoir explicatif de la théorie du comportement planifié. ils contribuent également à enrichir cette théorie en identifiant un effet modérateur : l’impact de la capacité perçue sur l’intention n’est pas le même selon que l’étudiant est proche ou éloigné dans le temps d’une entrée sur le marché du travail. une deuxième série de régressions permet d’identifier les types d’attentes professionnelles qui expliquent le plus l’attrait des étudiants pour la création et les tâches critiques pour réussir une création d’entreprise qui ont la plus grande influence sur le sentiment qu’a l’étudiant d’être capable de créer à l’issue de ses études. jean-pierre boissin barthélémy chollet sandrine emin université pierre mendès france, grenoble cerag umr cnrs 5820 jean-pierre.boissin@upmf-grenoble.fr université de savoie et grenoble école de management. irege bchol@univ-savoie.fr université d’angers granem umr ma 49 sandrine.emin@univ-angers.fr la france figure parmi les pays au monde dans lesquels la création d’entreprise est le moins souvent envisagée comme choix professionnel. c’est notamment confirmé par des enquêtes comme le gem (global entrepreneurship monitor, 2005), réalisée au sein de 35 pays : devenir créateur d’entreprise reste en france un parcours atypique. dans ce contexte, les jeunes diplômés de l’enseignement supérieur représentaient 12 % de l’ensemble des créations recensées en 2002 (insee première, 2003). ils n’étaient que 8 % en 1998 (enquête sine, 1998). cette évolution encourageante peut certainement s’expliquer en partie par la promotion et la progression à un rythme soutenu de la formation à l’entrepreneuriat dans les établissements d’enseignement supérieur pendant la même période1. certaines études ont en effet montré 1 le concept de maison de l’entrepreneuriat introduit dans le cadre du plan innovation 2002 afin de formaliser les différentes démarches dans le domaine en est un bon indicateur (boissin, 2003, 2006). a la rentrée 2007, il existait sept premières maisons de l’entrepreneuriat en france (grenoble, aix-marseille, clermontferrand, lille, limoges, nantes, poitiers). le dispositif doit être étendu en 2009. 29 j.p. boissin, b. chollet, s. eminm@n@gement vol. 12 no. 1, 2009, 28-51 l’importance de la sensibilisation à l’entrepreneuriat pour le développement d’une conscience entrepreneuriale1. il semble donc important de continuer à œuvrer pour rendre encore plus performant le dispositif universitaire, en particulier avec la mise en œuvre de maisons de l’entrepreneuriat (plan innovation 2002, ministères de la recherche et de l’industrie). les nombreuses expériences de formation à l’entrepreneuriat relatées et commentées dans la littérature2 nous renseignent sur les formes prises par les formations (pratiques pédagogiques utilisées) en fonction des niveaux d’intervention (sensibilisation, spécialisation ou accompagnement) ou des objectifs poursuivis (créations d’entreprises ou d’activités, formation de consultants, accompagnateurs spécialisés en entrepreneuriat, etc.). mais aucune étude, à notre connaissance, ne renseigne sur ce que doit contenir une formation en vue de favoriser la sensibilité entrepreneuriale. si l’enseignement entrepreneurial est destiné, en partie, conformément au propos de tounès (2003), à préparer et à développer les perceptions, les attitudes et les aptitudes entrepreneuriales, il reste encore à savoir comment s’y prendre. cet article part de l’idée que la réponse se trouve probablement dans les croyances professionnelles des étudiants. il paraît nécessaire, en effet, pour concevoir les formations à l’entrepreneuriat, de comprendre au préalable les croyances que les étudiants ont vis-à-vis de la création d’entreprise. l’objectif de cet article n’est donc pas d’évaluer les pratiques existantes en matière de formation, mais d’identifier sur quelles croyances le contenu des formations doit chercher à agir afin de favoriser le développement d’une intention entrepreneuriale3. les orientations données à ce sujet reposent sur une enquête réalisée auprès de 655 étudiants dans le cadre de l’action de la maison de l’entrepreneuriat – grenoble universités. au plan théorique, l’article s’appuie sur le modèle d’intention proposé par la théorie du comportement planifié. l’intention de créer une entreprise chez un individu est supposée dépendre de trois éléments : l’attrait perçu de la création d’entreprise ; le degré d’incitation à entreprendre perçu dans son environnement social ; la confiance qu’il a en sa capacité à mener à bien le processus de création d’une entreprise. les résultats présentés proviennent à la fois d’analyses factorielles et de régressions linéaires multiples. le cadre théorique et la méthode sont d’abord précisés. viennent ensuite la présentation des résultats et leur discussion. 1 se reporter à l’article de fayolle (2004) pour une synthèse sur l’impact des programmes d’enseignement en entrepreneuriat. 2 le lecteur peut notamment se référer aux actes du premier congrès de l’académie de l’entrepreneuriat (1999), au numéro spécial 3 dans cet article, nous utiliserons, pour des raisons de facilité, de façon interchangeable les termes « entrepreneuriat » et « création d’entreprise », même si nous sommes parfaitement conscients de la non correspondance de ces termes. la création d’entreprise, dans la présente recherche, est à entendre dans un sens assez large comme toute création d’une structure quel qu’en soit le support juridique (entreprise, association, etc.)de gestion 2000 consacré au sujet (mai-juin 2000), à l’article de sénicourt et verstraete (2000) ou à nos premiers résultats (boissin, chollet, emin, 2007 et 2008). m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 1, 2009, 28-51 30 les déterminants de l’intention de créer une entreprise chez les étudiants : un test empirique modèles d’intention : une application au cette recherche repose sur les modèles psychosociaux d’intention tels que la théorie du comportement planifié de ajzen (1991). l’exploitation de ces travaux en entrepreneuriat par un certain nombre d’auteurs confirme leur utilité dans notre contexte, et ce d’autant plus que certaines recherches sont spécifiques au contexte français et d’autres aux populations étudiantes. si pour beaucoup la création d’entreprise réclame une certaine planification, et de ce fait suppose une intention préalable à l’action (bird, 1988 ; katz et gartner, 1988), le caractère prédictif des modèles fait néanmoins l’objet de critiques dans la communauté scientifique1. en effet, leur valeur prédictive reste encore à prouver pour des comportements tels que la création d’entreprise. la théorie du comportement planifiée est en effet mieux adaptée aux comportements contrôlés par l’individu2 et aux comportements pour lesquels il existe un court décalage temporel entre l’intention et le passage à l’acte. force est de constater que la création d’entreprise entre difficilement dans ces catégories. la capacité de refinalisation des individus, dit autrement l’instabilité des intentions dans le temps soulignée par moreau et raveleau (2006), en est une bonne illustration. l’utilisation de ce modèle reste néanmoins utile pour sonder la tête des étudiants en vue d’identifier à quels niveaux peuvent se situer d’éventuels blocages à l’esprit entrepreneurial. c’est en ce sens que nous l’utilisons. il existe de nombreuses définitions de l’intention. cette variété montre que le terme n’a pas de signification univoque et complètement partagée (voir par exemple shook, priem et mc gee, 2003 ; moreau et raveleau, 2006). pour notre part, nous retenons l’approche de kolvereid (1996) qui consiste à considérer ce que ajzen et fishbein appellent une intention de choix (choice intention ). l’intention fait alors référence au choix entre poursuivre une carrière entrepreneuriale et une carrière salariale. nous présentons, tout d’abord, le modèle de la théorie du comportement planifié (1.1.), puis les variables explicatives de l’intention utilisées dans notre étude (1.2.). théorie du comportement planifié la théorie du comportement planifié postule que l’intention d’un individu est déterminée par trois éléments : son attitude à l’égard du comportement concerné, sa perception des normes sociales et le contrôle qu’il pense avoir sur la situation. les deux premiers éléments concourent à l’attractivité du comportement et peuvent être rapprochés de la notion de désirabilité utilisée par shapero (shapero et sokol, 1982) en entrepreneuriat. le troisième élément, le contrôle comportemental perçu, est à rapprocher des concepts de faisabilité de shapero et d’efficacité personnelle (self-efficacy) de bandura (1977), faisant référence aux croyances d’un individu quant à sa capacité à réaliser une tâche donnée. les attitudes et le contrôle comportemental perçu sont expliqués en termes de croyances (cf. figure 1). ces croyances caractérisent les informations (vraies ou fausses) qu’une personne a sur le monde qui 1 on s’accorderait pour dire que, lorsqu’il a lieu, l’acte entrepreneurial a été précédé d’une intention, mais que l’intention ne donne pas lieu automatiquement à l’acte. 2 même si la théorie du comportement planifié est une extension du modèle de l’action raisonnée (ajzen et fishbein, 1980) aux comportements partiellement contrôlés par les individus. comportement entrepreneurial 31 j.p. boissin, b. chollet, s. eminm@n@gement vol. 12 no. 1, 2009, 28-51 l’entoure. elles résultent d’une combinaison de facteurs personnels et contextuels. retenir comme cadre théorique les modèles d’intention revient alors à analyser plus en profondeur la formation des variables explicatives de l’intention. figure 1 – la théorie du comportement planifié plusieurs auteurs ont appliqué des modèles d’intention à l’acte de création d’entreprise (krueger et carsrud, 1993 ; davidsson, 1995 ; reitan, 1996 ; kolvereid, 1996 ; autio et al., 1997 ; tkachev et kolvereid, 1999 ; krueger et al., 2000 ; audet, 2001 et 2004 ; diochon, gasse et al., 2002 ; tounès, 2003 ; emin, 2006). certaines de ces études concernent spécifiquement une population étudiante (kolvereid, 1996 ; autio et al., 1997; tkachev et kolvereid, 1999 ; krueger et al., 2000 ; audet, 2001 et 2004 ; tounès, 2003). ce sont les résultats de celles-ci qui nous intéressent particulièrement. les résultats de l’étude de audet (2001) sur un échantillon de 150 étudiants de troisième année en administration des affaires de l’université concordia soulignent que la désirabilité et la faisabilité perçues expliquent mieux les intentions lorsque l’horizon de réalisation est à long terme (53 % de la variation de l’intention à long terme de démarrer une entreprise contre 26 % lorsqu’il s’agit de l’intention à court terme). le pouvoir de prédiction de la désirabilité est sensiblement plus important que celui de la faisabilité dans les deux cas. le poids de la faisabilité est même non significatif pour un groupe de contrôle constitué de 31 étudiants en génie mécanique. m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 1, 2009, 28-51 32 les déterminants de l’intention de créer une entreprise chez les étudiants : un test empirique la recherche de kolvereid (1996), réalisée sur 128 étudiants norvégiens en école de commerce, montre que l’intention d’accéder au statut d’indépendant est significativement corrélée à l’attitude, à la norme sociale et au contrôle comportemental perçu. les poids de la perception de contrôle et de la norme sociale sont plus forts que celui de l’attitude dans la formation de l’intention. au-delà, aucune variable démographique (sexe, expérience du statut d’indépendant et expériences familiales) n’a d’effet statistique significatif sur l’intention, alors qu’elles sont statistiquement corrélées à l’attitude, à la norme sociale et au contrôle perçu. ainsi, comme défendu par ajzen et fishbein (1980), ces variables n’ont qu’une influence indirecte sur les intentions à travers leur effet sur l’attitude, la norme subjective et le contrôle comportemental perçu. l’étude reconduite en 1999, en coopération avec tkachev, sur un échantillon de 567 étudiants russes, obtient des résultats similaires (45 % de la variance de l’intention sont expliqués). krueger et al. (2000) testent quant à eux le modèle de ajzen sur 97 anciens étudiants en école de commerce faisant face à un choix de carrière au moment de l’étude. seules la faisabilité perçue (p < .005) et l’attitude envers l’action (p < .05) prédisent significativement l’intention. conformément à l’étude de kolvereid (1996), la faisabilité perçue a un effet plus important que l’attitude sur l’intention. en revanche, l’étude souligne que la norme sociale n’a pas d’effet significatif. ce résultat est contraire à celui de kolvereid (1996), qui obtient un impact significatif de la pression sociale sur l’intention. kennedy et al. (2003) trouvent, pour un échantillon constitué de 1 075 étudiants australiens, que la désirabilité, la norme sociale et la faisabilité expliquent environ 53 % de la variance de l’intention de créer son entreprise. contrairement aux deux études précédentes, et conformément à l’étude de audet (2001), le poids de la désirabilité est le plus important. autio et al. (1997) ont testé auprès de 1 956 étudiants scandinaves, américains et asiatiques en sciences dures un modèle d’intention adapté de celui de davidsson (1995). dans ce modèle, l’intention est expliquée par la « conviction entrepreneuriale » des étudiants et le contexte social (aide apportée par l’université et variables de situation). la conviction est influencée par l’image que les étudiants ont de l’entrepreneuriat et leurs attitudes générales. l’image de l’entrepreneuriat renvoie aux attitudes associées au comportement de ajzen et aux perceptions de désirabilité de shapero et sokol. les attitudes générales réfèrent à des dispositions psychologiques générales telles que le besoin de réussite, d’autonomie, de changement et la motivation financière. ces éléments sont eux-mêmes influencés par des variables personnelles telles que le sexe, l’âge, la situation matrimoniale, le niveau d’étude, les expériences professionnelles et l’entourage familial. les résultats soulignent que les attitudes générales, en particulier le besoin d’accomplissement et celui d’autonomie, influencent fortement la conviction entrepreneuriale. les variables personnelles les plus importantes se révèlent être les expériences de travail en pme, le sexe (les hommes sont plus enclins à l’entrepreneuriat que les femmes) et l’existence de modèles de rôle (exemple : parent entrepreneur). la conviction est sans con33 j.p. boissin, b. chollet, s. eminm@n@gement vol. 12 no. 1, 2009, 28-51 teste celle qui influence le plus l’intention entrepreneuriale. les effets de l’âge (et du nombre d’années d’études) ainsi que celui des expériences professionnelles en pme sont également importants. l’intérêt de cette recherche, qui repose sur un modèle différent de la théorie du comportement planifié, réside dans l’existence d’un effet direct exercé par des variables personnelles. l’étude de tounès (2003), réalisée auprès de 178 étudiants de gestion suivant des cursus à dominante entrepreneuriale (bac + 5), a notamment l’intérêt d’avoir été réalisée sur un échantillon d’étudiants français. elle s’inspire du modèle de ajzen et de celui de shapero et sokol. un des apports de l’étude est de fournir des éléments suggérant qu’un lien positif existe entre la formation et l’intention entrepreneuriale des étudiants (même si l’utilisation par l’auteur de données en coupe transversale ne permet pas de garantir ce lien de cause à effet). si l’on considère de manière globale l’ensemble des études évoquées, il est possible de formuler plusieurs commentaires. l’examen de ces recherches confirme la validité des modèles issus de la théorie du comportement planifié pour expliquer l’intention entrepreneuriale. toutefois, il est impossible de dégager une hiérarchie claire entre les trois variables explicatives traditionnellement proposées par la théorie : norme sociale, attitude et contrôle perçu ont des poids très différents selon les contextes. la question de savoir ce qui explique des différences aussi tranchées entre les résultats reste complètement ouverte. quoi qu’il en soit, il paraît essentiel, dans notre étude, d’être attentif aux poids respectifs des trois variables et de les comparer aux résultats précités. choix des variables explicatives de l’intention et les hypothèses de recherche nos hypothèses ont été définies conformément au modèle de la théorie du comportement planifié (ajzen, 1987, 1991) en les adaptant aux variables retenues et au contexte d’étude. hypothèses relatives aux déterminants de l’intention selon le modèle de la théorie du comportement planifié, trois variables sont supposées prédire l’intention de créer son entreprise : l’attitude à l’égard de la création d’une entreprise, la norme sociale perçue et le contrôle perçu sur le processus entrepreneurial. l’attitude à l’égard du comportement représente le degré d’évaluation, favorable ou défavorable, qu’une personne a du comportement concerné (ajzen et fishbein, 1980). pour plus de clarté, en français, nous l’appellerons « attrait pour la création d’entreprise ». la norme sociale correspond à la pression sociale que le créateur potentiel perçoit et qui le pousse à réaliser ou non une action donnée. dans cette étude, elle se définit comme le degré d’approbation ou de désapprobation perçue par l’étudiant de la part des gens dont l’opinion lui importe. enfin, le contrôle comportemental perçu mesure la facilité ou la difficulté que le créateur potentiel perçoit pour la réalisation du comportement. il se définit aussi comme la perception de « la présence ou (de) l’absence des ressources et des opportunités requises » (ajzen et madden, 1986, m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 1, 2009, 28-51 34 les déterminants de l’intention de créer une entreprise chez les étudiants : un test empirique p. 457) pour faire aboutir un comportement. ce concept est très proche de celui d’efficacité personnelle de bandura (1977, 1982) qui représente la confiance d’un individu en sa capacité à mener à bien les actions requises pour parvenir à un certain résultat (bandura, 1977, p. 193), la façon dont il juge qu’il réussira à faire face aux situations futures (bandura, 1982, p. 122) ou encore la croyance en sa capacité personnelle à réaliser une tâche (gist, 1987, p. 472). récemment, ajzen (2002) a insisté sur les différences entre contrôle comportemental perçu et efficacité personnelle perçue. néanmoins, l’efficacité perçue a déjà été théoriquement et empiriquement reliée à de nombreux phénomènes managériaux dont l’entrepreneuriat. par exemple, hackett et al. (1992, cités par krueger et al., 2000) montrent que le rôle des variables de genre et ethniques dans les choix de carrière est fonction de différences d’efficacités perçues. bandura (1986) et lent et al. (1994) (cités par krueger et al., 2000) trouvent des corrélations comprises entre 0,3 et 0,6 entre l’efficacité personnelle et l’intention de carrière. conformément aux choix de ces auteurs, nous avons retenu, dans notre étude, une mesure de capacité perçue à créer une entreprise comprise au sens traditionnel de l’efficacité personnelle. nous préférons retenir le terme de capacité perçue plutôt que celui d’efficacité personnelle perçue, en raison de la plus grande clarté du concept dans la langue française. la capacité entrepreneuriale perçue fait donc référence au degré avec lequel un étudiant pense pouvoir mener à bien la création d’une entreprise. conformément à la théorie du comportement planifié, nous posons l’hypothèse : h1 – plus l’attrait pour la création d’une entreprise est fort, plus la norme sociale perçue est favorable à la création et plus la capacité entrepreneuriale perçue est élevée, plus forte sera l’intention de l’étudiant de créer une entreprise à l’issue de ses études. cette hypothèse signifie que les trois variables ont un effet significatif sur l’intention. etant donné les premiers résultats mis en évidence lors de la revue de la littérature, l’intérêt d’un test repose ici moins sur le fait de valider cette hypothèse que sur le fait d’identifier la contribution relative de chacune des variables à l’explication de l’intention. hypothèses relatives aux déterminants de l’attrait, de la norme sociale et de la capacité entrepreneuriale perçue dans les modèles d’intention, les attitudes et le contrôle personnel perçu sont expliqués en termes de croyances. l’attrait est ainsi supposé dépendre de nos espérances et croyances de résultats suite à la réalisation du comportement. plus précisément, l’attrait perçu sera d’autant plus fort que l’individu : – d’une part, pense que la création d’entreprise donnera lieu a un certain résultat (exemple : il pense qu’elle peut lui faire gagner beaucoup d’argent) ; – d’autre part, valorise fortement ce résultat (exemple : il attache beaucoup d’importance au fait que son activité professionnelle lui rapporte beaucoup d’argent). la capacité entrepreneuriale perçue est, quant à elle, fonction de : – l’intensité du contrôle perçu sur un certain nombre de facteurs (ex35 j.p. boissin, b. chollet, s. eminm@n@gement vol. 12 no. 1, 2009, 28-51 emple : l’individu pense qu’il serait tout à fait capable d’attirer des investisseurs afin de créer une entreprise) ; – la force perçue avec laquelle ces facteurs facilitent ou inhibent la réalisation du comportement (exemple : il pense qu’attirer des investisseurs est un facteur important du succès de la création d’entreprise). à partir de ces définitions, pour la modélisation des antécédents de l’intention, nous avons dû choisir entre proposer des mesures globales d’attrait et de capacité ou des mesures décomposées. cela revient à opter soit pour une vision unidimensionnelle des croyances sous-jacentes aux attitudes et au contrôle, soit, au contraire, à considérer plusieurs croyances distinctes sous-jacentes à chacun des deux construits. dans son étude des intentions entrepreneuriales chez les chercheurs de la fonction publique, emin (2003) fait une recension des travaux et réflexions sur le sujet et montre qu’une approche multidimensionnelle paraît plus pertinente. si l’opérationnalisation unidimensionnelle est utilisée dans les diverses recherches de ajzen et de krueger et al. (2000), l’approche multidimensionnelle semble plus réaliste, plus utile à l’action managériale et par ailleurs plus efficiente. d’abord, il apparaît plus probable que les éléments cognitifs, par exemple en termes de conséquences attendues de la création d’une entreprise, aient une signification variée pour les individus et ne soient pas organisés psychologiquement en un schéma unique. ensuite, utiliser une mesure décomposée permet de pointer les facteurs spécifiques qui pourraient influencer le comportement. elle offre donc une solution plus avantageuse en termes de recommandations managériales. évaluer le poids de chaque attente professionnelle dans la formation de l’attrait pour la création d’une entreprise, d’une part, et de chaque tâche critique dans la formation de la capacité entrepreneuriale perçue, d’autre part, paraît indispensable à l’identification des éléments sur lesquels une formation à l’entrepreneuriat doit insister. enfin, il faut noter que shimp et kavas (1984) montrent dans leur étude la meilleure adéquation d’un modèle décomposé par rapport à un modèle unidimensionnel. pour toutes ces raisons, nous avons opté pour une approche multidimensionnelle. ainsi, nous supposons que l’attrait pour la création d’entreprise est déterminé par un ensemble de croyances professionnelles (h2a) et la capacité entrepreneuriale perçue par un ensemble de croyances d’efficacité personnelle (h2b). naturellement, l’intérêt d’un test repose ici moins sur le fait de valider ces hypothèses que sur le fait d’identifier les poids relatifs des différentes croyances. pour plus de clarté, l’ensemble des relations à tester est représenté dans la figure 2. nous précisons que les tests des hypothèses ont été effectués de façon séquentielle : validation de h1 (étape 1) puis de h2a et h2b (étape 2) (cf. partie 3). de ce fait, les résultats proposés ne peuvent prétendre à évaluer la qualité globale du modèle présenté ci-après. m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 1, 2009, 28-51 36 les déterminants de l’intention de créer une entreprise chez les étudiants : un test empirique figure 2 – le modèle testé avant de passer au test du modèle, nous présentons la collecte des données et les instruments de mesure des variables du modèle utilisés. 37 j.p. boissin, b. chollet, s. eminm@n@gement vol. 12 no. 1, 2009, 28-51 méthode cette partie porte sur la population étudiée et sur les variables de mesure utilisées. echantillon et collecte de données l’enquête étant conçue pour être diffusée auprès d’un nombre important d’étudiants, le questionnaire a tout d’abord été testé pour vérifier sa validité et pour pouvoir apporter éventuellement des modifications. le questionnaire a donc été administré, lors des « doctoriales 2004» de l’académie de grenoble, à 72 doctorants1 . cette étape a permis de vérifier que les items, une fois traduits et adaptés de kolvereid, étaient compréhensibles par les répondants. en particulier, les analyses en composantes principales (acp) ont débouché sur des facteurs cohérents et sensés. les modifications apportées à la suite de cette première enquête ont donc été marginales. dans le questionnaire, la création d’entreprise a été définie pour l’étudiant dans un sens assez large, comme toute création par un individu ou un petit groupe d’individus d’une structure quel qu’en soit le support juridique (entreprise, association, cabinet de conseil…). une définition volontairement large a été retenue, pour deux raisons. d’abord, les étudiants composant l’échantillon ne disposaient pas des connaissances nécessaires pour envisager avec précision toutes les possibilités particulières de création (création ex nihilo, reprise d’entreprise, franchise…). ensuite, il s’agit de nous inscrire dans la continuité de kolvereid (1996), qui considère comme centrale l’opposition entre salariat et création de son emploi, plutôt que l’opposition qui peut exister entre différentes situations de création. à l’aide du questionnaire final, nous avons pu interroger 655 étudiants français appartenant à trois établissements universitaires grenoblois (53,5 % de l’université pierre mendès france, 33,3 % de l’université joseph fourier, 13,2 % de l’institut national polytechnique de grenoble). parmi eux, 34,2 % réalisent leurs études en sciences de gestion, 24,5 % en activités physiques et sportives, 13,2 % en sciences de l’ingénieur, 13,2 % en économie ou droit, 8,7 % en géographie et 6,1 % en statistiques. 40,3 % des étudiants sont à un niveau bac + 1, 8,6 % bac + 2, 31,6 % bac + 3, 18,6 % bac + 4 et 0,9 % bac + 5. la diversité de l’échantillon est à souligner. fréquemment, les études sur l’intention entrepreneuriale ont été limitées à des étudiants de gestion (kolvereid, 1996 ; krueger, reilly et carsud, 2000 ; tounès, 2003)2 . les questionnaires auto-administrés furent distribués en début de cours (le choix du cours a été réalisé au gré des opportunités et en fonction de contacts personnels). la collecte, réalisée en fin d’année universitaire, ne nous a pas permis de constituer un échantillon totalement représentatif de l’ensemble des étudiants du bassin grenoblois. 1 stage permettant aux doctorants d’identifier les différentes opportunités de carrières qui s’offrent à eux et de comprendre comment et pourquoi une formation par la recherche peut leur permettre d’y prétendre. un dossier du magazine « l’usine nouvelle » (n° 2919, mai 2004) fait référence aux résultats de cette première enquête. 2 la diversité de l’échantillon s’efforce de traduire la diversité de la population étudiante. elle permet en particulier de tester si la théorie du comportement planifié se vérifie sur des étudiants de filières différentes, du moins si l’on intègre des variables permettant de contrôler l’appartenance à la filière (voir section 2.2.5). m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 1, 2009, 28-51 38 les déterminants de l’intention de créer une entreprise chez les étudiants : un test empirique opérationnalisation des variables des échelles de likert à 7 positions ont été utilisées pour mesurer les variables du modèle. elles sont décrites ci-après. intention conformément à la mesure proposée par kolvereid (1996), l’intention a été mesurée en tenant compte de l’alternative professionnelle : salariat / entrepreneuriat. un index a été créé en faisant la moyenne des scores obtenus pour trois items distincts (alpha de cronbach = 0,698) : (1) à l’issue de vos études, quelle est la probabilité que vous créiez votre entreprise (de « très improbable » à « très probable »), (2) à l’issue de vos études, quelle est la probabilité que vous poursuiviez une carrière de salarié dans une organisation déjà existante (de « très improbable » à « très probable »), (3) à l’issue de vos études, si vous pouviez choisir entre créer votre entreprise et être salarié, que préféreriez-vous ? (de « être salarié » à « créer votre entreprise »). norme sociale perçue les étudiants devaient préciser, pour quatre groupes d’individus appartenant à leur environnement social (famille, amis, professeurs, autres gens importants pour eux), l’opinion que chaque groupe aurait, selon eux, concernant leur engagement dans une création d’entreprise. une échelle allant de « extrêmement défavorable » à « extrêmement favorable » leur était proposée. un index a été créé en faisant la moyenne des scores obtenus pour trois groupes (alpha de cronbach = 0,750)1 . attrait pour la création d’entreprise l’attrait a été mesuré à l’aide d’un seul item : « l’idée de créer votre entreprise vous semble… », sur une échelle allant de « pas du tout attractive » à « tout à fait attractive » (voir krueger et al., 2000). pour la mesure des croyances sous-jacentes à l’attrait, 23 items décrivant les diverses caractéristiques de la vie professionnelle, adaptés de kolvereid (1996), ont été sélectionnés. pour chaque type d’attente professionnelle, conformément à l’étude de kolvereid, il a été demandé aux répondants, sur une échelle de likert à 7 positions, si elle leur paraissait être un élément important pour la qualité de leur vie professionnelle future (la liste des items figure en annexe, tableau 4). capacité entrepreneuriale perçue elle a été mesurée à l’aide d’un item unique : « si vous le deviez, pensez-vous être capable de créer votre entreprise ? » sur une échelle allant de « pas du tout capable » à « tout à fait capable ». alors qu’elle constitue une variable clé de la théorie du comportement planifié, l’opérationnalisation de la mesure des croyances sous-jacentes à la notion d’efficacité personnelle n’est pas unifiée et n’est pas toujours précisée dans les recherches. pour les mesures accessibles, il faut noter que certains auteurs ne font pas référence dans leur outil de mesure à des tâches spécifiques à l’acte de création. dans la continuité de de noble et al. (1999), nous pensons que les mesures proposées ne sont pas suffisamment orientées vers les tâches critiques du processus de création d’une entre1 ^ t 1 les acp effectuées sur les quatre groupes d’individus et les scores des alphas de cronbach nous ont amené à retirer de l’analyse le groupe « professeurs ». 39 j.p. boissin, b. chollet, s. eminm@n@gement vol. 12 no. 1, 2009, 28-51 prise. elles caractérisent plutôt des tâches de management général, survenant dans n’importe quelle entreprise déjà en activité. comme les mesures actuelles paraissent ainsi sans lien avec les capacités concrètes qu’un individu doit posséder afin de créer son entreprise (i.e. lever des fonds, constituer une équipe…), 14 items décrivant les tâches critiques de la création d’une entreprise ont été développés. ces items sont le résultat de la réflexion des auteurs, nourrie notamment par les publications de l’agence pour la création d’entreprise (apce, 2007). pour chaque tâche sélectionnée, le répondant devait se positionner sur une échelle de likert à 7 positions, de « pas du tout capable » à « tout à fait capable » (la liste des items figure en annexe, tableau 5). prise en compte de variables sociodémographiques nous avons souhaité vérifier que l’impact des variables explicatives de l’intention ne dépendait pas des caractéristiques sociodémographiques du répondant. pour cela, nous avons introduit dans les régressions des variables d’interaction permettant de tester l’effet modérateur des variables sociodémographiques (jaccard et turrisi, 2003). plusieurs variables ont ainsi été prises en compte : le sexe, les filières universitaires suivies, le fait qu’au moins un des deux parents du répondant ait lui-même créé une entreprise, l’avancement dans les études. dans les traitements préliminaires, seule cette dernière variable s’est révélée significative. toutes les autres sont donc ignorées dans la présentation des résultats. un travail spécifique a été conduit par ailleurs sur le comportement des étudiantes (boissin, emin, 2007a). m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 1, 2009, 28-51 40 les déterminants de l’intention de créer une entreprise chez les étudiants : un test empirique resultats nos analyses sont menées en deux étapes : test de h1 puis de h2a et h2b. pour la validation de h1, l’intention a été régressée sur l’attrait pour la création, la capacité entrepreneuriale perçue et la norme sociale perçue. les tests de h2a et h2b ont nécessité des acp préalables (visant à réduire la quantité d’information en regroupant les diverses croyances mesurées à un petit nombre de facteurs). ces hypothèses consistent alors à régresser l’attrait et la capacité perçue sur les facteurs identifiés lors des acp. étape 1 explication de l’intention (test de h1) les résultats de l’analyse de régression multiple confirment à nouveau l’utilité des modèles d’intention pour expliquer l’intention de créer une entreprise puisque plus de 40 % de la variance sont expliqués (cf. tableau 1). l’attrait et la capacité sont les seules variables explicatives de l’intention. conformément aux résultats de krueger et al. (2000), la norme sociale n’est ainsi pas significativement déterminante pour expliquer l’intention de créer une entreprise. ainsi, le degré d’incitation à entreprendre que l’étudiant perçoit en provenance de son environnement social ne semble pas expliquer l’intention entrepreneuriale. tableau 1 régression multiple pour l’intention bêta (t) r2 ajusté f attrait capacité norme attrait × diplôme > bac + 3 capacité × diplôme > bac + 3 norme × diplôme > bac + 3 diplôme > bac + 3 ,413 **** ,200 **** ns ns ,108** ns -,141* 43,9 % 71,104 seuils de significativité : **** (p < 0,001), **(p < 0,05), *(p < 0,1), n.s. (non significatif) le premier facteur jouant sur l’intention des étudiants est l’attrait qu’ils ont pour la création d’entreprise. son poids représente deux fois celui de la capacité perçue. ce résultat est contraire à celui obtenu aux états-unis sur une population étudiante par krueger et al. (2000) et en scandinavie et en russie par kolvereid (1996 ; kolvereid et tkachev, 1999), mais conforme aux conclusions de audet (2001) sur une population étudiante canadienne et de emin (2006) sur une population française de chercheurs de la fonction publique en sciences dures. ces différences pourraient mettre en évidence un effet culturel qui serait plus important que les spécificités des sous-populations interrogées. ce point mériterait un approfondissement. l’impact important de l’attrait invite les spécialistes de l’enseignement à s’interroger sur le contenu des formations. si l’on conçoit l’émergence d’une intention entrepreneuriale comme l’un des objectifs premiers 41 j.p. boissin, b. chollet, s. eminm@n@gement vol. 12 no. 1, 2009, 28-51 de la formation en entrepreneuriat, il paraît nécessaire de ne pas se limiter à une démarche visant simplement à délivrer des compétences. l’enseignement doit aussi travailler à présenter les éléments de la création d’entreprise qui en font un choix professionnel attractif. en d’autres termes, les formations ne doivent pas se contenter de rendre la création d’entreprise possible, elles doivent également la rendre « désirable ». conformément aux techniques de régressions visant à identifier des effets d’interactions entre variables (jaccard et turrisi, 2003), les variables suivantes ont été introduites dans les traitements : – une variable muette prenant 1 si l’étudiant est dans une formation de niveau bac + 3, + 4 ou + 5 et 0 s’il est dans une formation de niveau bac+ 1 ou bac + 2 ; – trois termes d’interaction : variable muette x norme sociale ; variable muette x capacité perçue ; variable muette x attrait. les résultats montrent un effet modérateur de la variable mesurant le niveau d’étude sur l’intention : plus l’étudiant est avancé dans ses études, plus l’impact de la capacité sur l’intention est élevé (i.e. plus le niveau d’intention dépend de la capacité). cela ne signifie pas qu’un étudiant avancé dans les études a en général un niveau de confiance en sa capacité supérieur ou inférieur à un étudiant moins avancé. cela signifie plutôt que des différences de capacité perçue vont engendrer d’importantes différences d’intention parmi les étudiants avancés, mais de faibles différences d’intention parmi les étudiants moins avancés dans les études. on peut sans doute expliquer ce résultat par le fait que l’accumulation des connaissances amène l’individu à mieux tenir compte des difficultés liées à l’acte entrepreneurial. ce résultat nous paraît apporter une meilleure compréhension du modèle d’intention issu de la théorie du comportement planifié. il montre que le jeu des variables incluses dans le modèle s’applique différemment selon le laps de temps qui sépare le moment où l’individu est interrogé sur son niveau d’intention et le moment où un éventuel passage à l’acte serait possible (laps de temps élevé pour les étudiants de niveau bac + 1 ou + 2, faible pour les autres). m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 1, 2009, 28-51 42 les déterminants de l’intention de créer une entreprise chez les étudiants : un test empirique étape 2 explication de l’attrait pour la création d’une entreprise et de la capacité entrepreneuriale perçue (test de h2a et h2b) des analyses factorielles ont été menées afin de vérifier si les différentes attentes professionnelles sous-jacentes à l’attrait, d’une part, et les différentes tâches sous-jacentes à la capacité perçue, d’autre part, se regroupaient en ensembles cohérents conformément aux hypothèses h2a et h2b (cf. tableaux 4 et 5 en annexe). concernant l’attrait, l’analyse en composantes principales révèle une solution à cinq facteurs (62,2 % de la variance totale). le facteur 1 (être indépendant) inclut des items relatifs au pouvoir de décision et à l’autonomie. le facteur 2 (atteindre une réalisation personnelle dans son travail) traduit le souhait d’avoir un travail permettant un épanouissement personnel. le facteur 3 (avoir une bonne qualité de vie extraprofessionnelle) décrit l’intérêt pour le temps libre et la vie extra-professionnelle. le facteur 4 (éviter les responsabilités) caractérise la volonté d’avoir un faible niveau de responsabilité et de complexité du travail. le facteur 5 (avoir une rétribution élevée) réfère aux compensations financières attendues de la vie professionnelle. le facteur 6 (avoir une situation professionnelle stable) fait référence à la sécurité financière et temporelle de l’emploi. l’analyse de régression de ces facteurs sur l’attrait fait apparaître que le désir de pouvoir et d’autonomie est le premier facteur explicatif de l’attrait. la motivation financière et le besoin d’ordre supérieur, au sens de maslow, que constitue la réalisation de soi par le travail influencent aussi positivement, mais dans une moindre mesure, l’attrait. la recherche de la stabilité professionnelle est le deuxième facteur en termes d’importance. elle réduit ainsi fortement l’attrait pour la création d’entreprise. le désir de simplicité freine également, dans une proportion moindre, l’engouement des étudiants pour l’entrepreneuriat. par ailleurs, la recherche d’une bonne qualité de vie extra-professionnelle n’a pas d’influence significative sur l’attrait des étudiants envers la création d’entreprise (cf. tableau 2). tableau 2 régression de la variable attrait de la création sur les différentes catégories d’attentes professionnelles bêta (t) r 2 ajusté f être indépendant avoir une situation professionnelle stable éviter les responsabilités avoir une rétribution élevée atteindre une réalisation personnelle dans son travail avoir une bonne qualité de vie extra-professionnelle ,202**** -,188**** -,115*** ,106*** ,101** ns 15,1 % 19,014 seuils de significativité : **** (p < 0,001), **(p < 0,05), *(p < 0,1), n.s. (non significatif) concernant la capacité entrepreneuriale, l’analyse en composantes principales révèle une solution à quatre facteurs (66,7 % de la variance totale). le premier facteur (réaliser l’étude de faisabilité) fait 43 j.p. boissin, b. chollet, s. eminm@n@gement vol. 12 no. 1, 2009, 28-51 référence à un ensemble de tâches relatives à la collecte des informations nécessaires pour s’assurer de la viabilité du projet (évaluation des risques, connaissance du marché, des concurrents, des clients, des besoins financiers…). le facteur 2 (rechercher les financements) réfère au développement de relations avec des partenaires financiers. le facteur 3 (mettre sur pied la structure) décrit les tâches à mener afin de donner concrètement naissance à la nouvelle organisation : régler les aspects administratifs et choisir des statuts. le facteur 4 (s’engager personnellement dans le projet) est plus ambigu. il inclut deux items aux sens intuitivement éloignés de prime abord : « trouver une idée de produit ou de service » et « se dévouer corps et âme au projet ». ce facteur traduit, à notre sens, une notion générale reflétant la capacité de quelqu’un à s’investir dans un projet. cela signifie savoir consacrer du temps et de l’énergie au projet, mais aussi s’impliquer personnellement (« mettre de sa personne » dans le projet), en vue d’identifier un produit ou une idée qui lui soit réellement propre. les analyses de régression ont donc cherché à évaluer l’impact de chacun de ces facteurs sur la capacité perçue à créer une entreprise. il faut insister sur le fait que chaque facteur désigne bien une capacité perçue, celle de réaliser une tâche particulière, nécessaire à la création. ainsi, le poids du deuxième facteur, par exemple, dans le tableau ci-après, se comprend comme le poids de la capacité perçue à réaliser l’étude de faisabilité, dans l’explication de la capacité perçue à créer une entreprise. les résultats nous montrent que le sentiment d’être capable de créer son entreprise est fortement influencé par le sentiment de pouvoir faire preuve d’engagement personnel et celui d’être capable de réaliser une bonne étude de faisabilité. viennent ensuite le sentiment d’être capable de rechercher des financements et, dans une moindre mesure, celui d’être capable de réaliser les choix liés à la mise sur pied de la structure (sur un plan juridique et administratif). tableau 3 régression de la variable capacité perçue sur les différentes catégories de tâches à réaliser pour créer son entreprise bêta r2 ajusté f s’engager personnellement dans le projet réaliser l’étude de faisabilité rechercher les financements mettre sur pied la structure ,259**** ,229**** ,133**** ,088** 25,8 % 54,802 seuils de significativité : **** (p < 0,001), **(p <0,05), *(p < 0,1), n.s. (non significatif) m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 1, 2009, 28-51 44 les déterminants de l’intention de créer une entreprise chez les étudiants : un test empirique discussion et conclusion les résultats de cette recherche semblent apporter des éléments stimulants pour la réflexion relative aux pratiques d’enseignement en entrepreneuriat. tout d’abord, d’un point de vue très descriptif, l’étude montre l’intérêt porté par les étudiants à la création d’entreprise. en effet, 61 % des étudiants interrogés trouvent l’idée de créer leur entreprise attractive. il apparaît, de plus, que 46 % s’estiment capables de créer leur entreprise et, enfin, que 18 % jugent probable qu’à l’issue de leurs études ils créent leur entreprise. ensuite, un des résultats importants de cette recherche est le poids de la variable attrait dans l’explication de l’intention de créer son entreprise. cela nous paraît avoir des implications très fortes sur l’orientation à donner aux enseignements relatifs à la création d’entreprise. alors que la formation est généralement orientée vers la maîtrise des principales compétences entrepreneuriales (laquelle est positive pour la capacité perçue), il paraît nécessaire d’imaginer des enseignements susceptibles d’agir directement sur l’attrait de la création d’entreprise. en d’autres termes, les enseignements doivent certes fournir des compétences, mais ils doivent également être en mesure de faire de la création d’entreprise, de l’entrepreneuriat un choix de carrière attractif, désirable, pour l’étudiant. naturellement, notre recherche ne permet pas de dire quels pourraient être précisément ces contenus, ni la forme qu’ils devraient prendre. en la matière, les innovations pédagogiques s’appuyant sur de nouveaux outils et sur l’éventail des outils existants (simulations de projets, conférence de créateurs, etc.) restent à développer. néanmoins, notre recherche donne certaines pistes. conformément aux attentes, les étudiants les plus attirés par la création d’entreprise sont ceux souhaitant le plus d’autonomie et de pouvoir dans leur travail. et moins ils sont sensibles à la sécurité de l’emploi et à la sécurité financière, plus ils choisiront ce type de carrière. en revanche, alors que la perspective de carrière est un élément associé, dans la recherche de kolvereid (1996), à une carrière « traditionnelle », ce sont les étudiants la valorisant le plus qui sont les plus attirés par la création d’entreprise. il est alors utile d’aller plus avant dans l’analyse pour comprendre précisément pourquoi, en vue de faire évoluer les contenus pédagogiques. le poids prédominant de l’attrait dans l’explication de la création d’entreprise amène également à s’interroger sur la place des modules d’enseignements dans le cursus et en particulier sur leur caractère obligatoire ou optionnel. si un travail particulier doit être fait afin d’accroître l’attrait pour la création d’entreprise, il va être particulièrement bénéfique pour les étudiants qui ressentent un faible niveau d’attrait. or, si l’enseignement est optionnel, on peut craindre que, précisément parce que leur attrait pour la création d’entreprise est faible, les étudiants de ce type ne choisiront pas de tels modules1. le risque est alors de faire des enseignements qui se contentent de « prêcher des convertis » et qui n’atteignent pas les étudiants qui, d’après nos résultats, sont le plus éloignés d’une situation d’intention entrepreneuriale. 1 une étude de gasse menée sur des étudiants de l’université de laval (2002) montre que si 40.8% des répondants sont intéressés à suivre des cours d’entrepreneuriat crédités, le pourcentage s’élève à 75.5% pour les étudiants ayant déjà songé à démarrer une entreprise ou à devenir travailleur autonome. 45 j.p. boissin, b. chollet, s. eminm@n@gement vol. 12 no. 1, 2009, 28-51 par ailleurs, certes l’attrait est le facteur principal, mais il ne faut pas négliger pour autant le rôle de la capacité perçue dans l’explication de l’intention. notre étude montre que la confiance en sa capacité de créer une entreprise est fortement influencée par la confiance en sa capacité à réaliser un certain nombre de tâches identifiées comme critiques. une première implication pour l’enseignement est d’insister dans les formations sur le développement de ces capacités (au demeurant, c’est déjà l’objectif de la plupart des formations existantes). mais il faut, en parallèle, garder à l’esprit que nous travaillons là sur la perception des étudiants. ainsi, les spécialistes de l’enseignement peuvent aussi chercher, au travers des formations, à aller à l’encontre des préjugés éventuels qui conduiraient à surestimer l’importance ou la difficulté de certaines tâches critiques du fait d’une mauvaise perception de la réalité. pour reprendre l’exemple du facteur « mettre sur pied la structure », toute personne non avertie a facilement en france l’image de fortes barrières administratives à la création d’entreprise, image qui n’est sans doute pas tout à fait en accord avec la réalité. une première perspective de recherche pourrait donc viser à faire la part de ce qui relève de biais de perception et de préjugés et de ce qui relève de la réalité, par exemple en comparant la perception des étudiants avec celle d’entrepreneurs. à côté des perspectives proposées visant à confronter les croyances des étudiants à la réalité perçue par les entrepreneurs, un autre prolongement à cette étude a été réalisé. il vise à étudier l’évolution des croyances des étudiants et de leurs intentions de carrière après une formation à l’entrepreneuriat. il permet d’approfondir notre connaissance de l’impact de la formation sur le développement d’une conscience entrepreneuriale (boissin, emin, 2007b). une autre piste de recherche est la prise en compte du rôle des cultures nationales dans le phénomène étudié. il s’agit d’une démarche actuellement en cours sur une vingtaine de pays avec la création d’un observatoire international des intentions entrepreneuriales des étudiants (http://cerag-oie.org/fr/). au-delà des implications pour les pratiques d’enseignement, cet article comprend certains apports théoriques. en particulier, il appelle une conception nuancée de l’application de la théorie du comportement planifié à l’acte entrepreneurial. l’effet de la capacité personnelle perçue est modéré par le niveau de diplôme préparé : à niveau d’efficacité perçue égal, son impact positif est d’autant plus fort que l’étudiant est avancé dans ses études. en d’autres termes, l’individu prendrait plus fortement en compte les obstacles à la réalisation de l’acte entrepreneurial lorsque son échéance (qui correspond à l’entrée sur le marché du travail) est proche. naturellement, une telle interprétation ne pourrait être confirmée qu’à l’aide de données de panel, permettant de tester le modèle sur les mêmes étudiants à plusieurs reprises, à mesure qu’ils avancent dans leurs études. il nous semble toutefois que ce résultat ouvre des perspectives intéressantes sur l’application de la théorie au champ de l’entrepreneuriat, en suggérant de prendre en compte la dimension temporelle du phénomène d’intention. enfin, il faut être conscient de certaines limites de notre recherche. en particulier, les hypothèses du modèle, largement déterministes, méritent réflexion. en particulier, des auteurs comme giddens suggèrent que m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 1, 2009, 28-51 46 les déterminants de l’intention de créer une entreprise chez les étudiants : un test empirique l’action est indissociable de l’acteur. mieux, l’intention présupposerait l’action, et non l’inverse… (rojot, 2003). cela laisse le champ ouvert à des travaux mettant au jour la complexité du processus de construction de l’intention entrepreneuriale. dans le même ordre d’idées, la théorie du comportement planifié suppose un lien direct entre l’intention et le comportement, ce qui, dans le cas de la création d’entreprise, n’a pas encore été testé empiriquement. l’étude de ce lien constitue donc une autre piste de recherche. ainsi, les modèles d’intention occultent la question de l’opportunité de création, probablement parce qu’il est difficile de positionner celle-ci dans un enchaînement causal impliquant l’intention. la découverte d’une opportunité de création est-elle un préalable à l’intention ou l’intérêt prononcé pour la création incite-t-il les individus à être à l’affût d’opportunités à saisir ? selon bhave (1994), les deux situations coexistent dans la réalité. dans sa modélisation du processus entrepreneurial, il distingue deux types de reconnaissances d’opportunité : à stimulation externe (externally stimulated) versus à stimulation interne (internally stimulated). dans le cas de la reconnaissance à stimulation interne, l’intention de créer une entreprise précède l’identification d’une opportunité. l’entrepreneur veut opter pour la création d’entreprise et s’engage pour cela dans une démarche systématique de traitement d’information sur l’environnement et d’élaboration d’une opportunité d’affaires. dans le cas de la reconnaissance d’opportunité à stimulation externe, l’entrepreneur a identifié des nouveaux besoins ou de nouveaux problèmes à résoudre sur un marché, et développe ensuite l’intention de devenir entrepreneur pour exploiter cette opportunité. notre recherche ne permet donc pas de prendre en compte cette diversité des configurations, car elle n’intègre pas la notion d’opportunité. elle se focalise sur le rôle de la formation dans le développement de l’intention professionnelle dans le contexte d’une population (les étudiants) qui n’est pas nécessairement dans une phase d’action. cette recherche apparaît de ce fait complémentaire aux réflexions et propositions portant spécifiquement sur la « pédagogie de la découverte », dont carrier propose un éclairage stimulant (2000). enfin, une autre limite relève de l’analogie que nous avons réalisée entre les concepts d’entrepreneuriat et de création d’entreprise. cette démarche a été explicitée en début de questionnaire. elle était nécessaire dans la mesure où le concept d’entrepreneuriat est peu connu des étudiants. toutefois, nous sommes conscients de l’option réductionniste choisie en assimilant ces deux concepts dans notre étude. 47 j.p. boissin, b. chollet, s. eminm@n@gement vol. 12 no. 1, 2009, 28-51 remerciements: les auteurs remercient les rapporteurs de leur article et la direction de la revue. ils remercient aussi l’observatoire des pratiques pédagogiques en entrepreneuriat pour son soutien et la maison de l’entrepreneuriat grenoble-universités pour sa collaboration. jean-pierre boissin est professeur à l’université pierre mendès france (iae de grenoble) en management stratégique et entrepreneuriat. il est depuis 2006 le directeur du centre d’etudes et de recherches appliquées à la gestion (cerag, université pierre mendès france, umr cnrs 5820, grenoble). il a fondé et dirigé la première maison de l’entrepreneuriat, à grenoble-universités. il développe actuellement un observatoire international de l’intention entrepreneuriale (http://cerag-oie.org/fr), terrain d’expérience de cet article dans m@n@gement. il dirige différents travaux sur les stratégies de croissance et le gouvernement d’entreprise. ses travaux de recherche portent aussi sur la structuration du management stratégique à partir d’outils bibliométriques. il est membre de différentes associations académiques et est dans différents comités d’évaluation de revues. barthélemy chollet est maître de conférences, chercheur à l’irege (université de savoie) et professeur affilié à grenoble ecole de management. après des travaux portant sur le rôle du réseau personnel de l’entrepreneur, il mène actuellement des recherches sur le lien entre réseaux sociaux et comportements organisationnels, en particulier dans les organisations innovantes. sa thèse a obtenu le prix agrh 2006. ancienne élève de l’ens cachan, sandrine emin est maître de conférences en sciences de gestion à l’université d’angers et chercheuse au granem (umr-ma n°49). spécialisée en entrepreneuriat et management stratégique, ses travaux portent sur l’intention de créer une entreprise de deux populations rarement en situation d’entreprendre (chercheurs de la fonction publique et étudiants) et sur les dynamiques entrepreneuriales en contexte d’économie sociale et solidaire. elle a participé, sur la base de son travail doctoral, à la mise en place de l’observatoire international des intentions entrepreneuriales des étudiants. sa thèse sur l’intention de créer une entreprise des chercheurs de la fonction publique a obtenu le prix transdisciplinaire de la fnege (2004). m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 1, 2009, 28-51 48 les déterminants de l’intention de créer une entreprise chez les étudiants : un test empirique références .actes du 1er congrès de l’académie de l’entrepreneuriat, 1999, lille. http://www.entrepreneuriat.com/actes_ couv.pdf . ajzen, i. (1987). attitudes, traits, and actions: dispositional prediction of behavior in personality and social psychology. advances in experimental social psychology, 20, 2-63. . ajzen, i. (1991). the theory of planned behavior. organizational behavior and human decision processes, 50, 179-211. . ajzen, i. (2002). perceived behavioral control, self-efficacy, locus of control, and the theory of planned behavior. journal of applied social psychology, 32 (4), 665-684. . ajzen, i., & fishbein, m. (1980). understanding attitudes and predicting social behavior. englewood cliffs, nj: prentice hall. . ajzen, i., & madden, t. j. (1986). prediction of goal-directed behavior: attitudes, intentions, and perceived behavioral control. journal of experimental social psychology, 22, 453-474. . a.p.c.e. (2007). guide pratique du créateur, les étapes de la création de votre entreprise. apce, http://www.apce.com/cid6041/ guide-pratique-du-createur-edition2007.html. . audet, j. (2001). une étude des aspirations entrepreneuriales d’étudiants universitaires québécois : seront-ils des entrepreneurs demain ? cahier de recherche de l’université du québec à trois-rivières, département de la science et de la gestion de l’économie, cr-01-13. . audet, j. (2004). a longitudinal study of the entrepreneurial intentions of university students. academy of entrepreneurship journal, 10 (1/2), 3-16. . autio, e., keely, r. h., & klofsten, m. (1997). entrepreneurial intent among students: testing,an intent model in asia, scandinavia and usa, frontiers of entrepreneurship resarch, ma: babson college, 133-147. . bandura, a. (1977). self-efficacy: toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. psychological review, 84 (2), 191-215. . bandura, a. (1982). self-efficacity mechanism in human agency. american psychologist, 37 (2), 122147. . bhave, m. p. (1994). a process model of entrepreneurial venture creation. journal of business venturing, 9, 223-242. . bird, b. j. (1988). implementing entrepreneurial ideas: the case for intention. academy of management review, 13 (3), 442-453. . boissin, j.-p. (2003). le concept de « maison de l’entrepreneuriat ». un outil d’action pour l’initiative économique sur les campus. etude dirigée par jean-pierre boissin pour la direction de la technologie du ministère français de la jeunesse, de l’éducation nationale et de la recherche. http://www.grenoble-universite-recherche.org/mde. . boissin, j.-p. (2006). du concept à la mise en œuvre des « maisons de l’entrepreneuriat ». agir pour l’initiative économique sur les campus. etude dirigée par jean-pierre boissin pour la direction de la technologie du ministère français de la jeunesse, de l’éducation nationale et de la recherche. http://www. grenoble-universite-recherche.org/mde . boissin, j.-p., chollet, b., & emin, s. (2007). explaining the intention to start a business among french students: a closer look at professional beliefs. in a. fayolle (ed.), handbook of research in entrepreneurship education (vol. 2, chap. 17, pp. 266-281). cheltenham glos, uk: edward elgar. . boissin, j.-p., chollet, b., & emin, s. (2008). les croyances des étudiants envers la création d’entreprise : un état des lieux. revue française de gestion, 34 (180), 25-43. . boissin, j.-p., & emin, s. (2007a). une moindre fibre entrepreneuriale chez les femmes dès l’université. in m. le berre et a. spalanzani (eds.), regards sur la recherche en gestion (pp.83-115). paris : l’harmattan. . boissin, j.-p., & emin, s. (2007b). les étudiants et l’entrepreneuriat : l’effet des formations. gestion 2000, 24 (3), 25-42. . carrier, c. (2000). défis, enjeux et pistes d’action pour une formation entrepreneuriale renouvelée. gestion 2000, mai-juin, 149163. . davidsson, p. (1995). determinants of entrepreneurial intentions. rent ix workshop, piacenza, italy, november 23-24. . de noble, a. f., jung, d., ehrlich, s. b. (1999). entrepreneurial self-efficacy: the development of a measure and its relationship to entrepreneurial action, in reynolds, p. d. (ed.), frontiers of entrepreneurship research, babson university, babson park, ma. . diochon, m., gasse, y., menzies, t., & garand, d. (2002). attitudes and entrepreneurial action: exploring the link. administrative sciences association of canada proceedings, winnipeg, manitoba. . emin, s. (2003). l’intention de créer une entreprise des chercheurs publics : le cas français. unpublished doctoral dissertation, université pierre mendès france de grenoble. http://asso.nordnet.fr/adreg/ these_version_finale_p.pdf 49 j.p. boissin, b. chollet, s. eminm@n@gement vol. 12 no. 1, 2009, 28-51 . kolvereid, l. (1996). prediction of employment status choice intentions. entrepreneurship theory & practice, automne, 47-57. . krueger, n. f. (1993). the impact of prior entrepreneurial exposure on perceptions of new venture feasability and desirability. entrepreneurship theory & practice, automne, 5-20. . krueger, n. f., & carsrud, a. i. (1993). entrepreneurial intention : applying the theory of planned behavior. entrepreneurship & regional development, 5 (4), 315-330. . krueger, n. f., reilly, m. d., & carsrud, a. i. (2000). competing models of entrepreneurial intentions. journal of business venturing, 15 (5/6), 411-432. . moreau, r., raveleau (2006). les trajectoires de l’intention entrepreneuriale. revue internationale pme, 19 (2), 101-131. . rojot, j. (2003). théorie des organisations. paris : eska. . reitan, b. (1996). entrepreneurial intentions: a combined models approach. 9th nordic small business research conference, lillehammer, norway. . senicourt, p., & verstraete, t. (2000). apprendre à entreprendre. typologie à quatre niveaux pour la diffusion d’une culture entrepreneuriale au sein du système éducatif. reflets et perspectives, 39 (4), 1-10. . shapero, a., & sokol, l. (1982). the social dimension of entrepreneurship. in c. a. kent, d. l. sexton & k. h. vesper (eds.), encyclopedia of entrepreneurship (pp.72-90). englewood cliffs, nj: prentice hall. . emin, s. (2006). la création d’entreprise : une perspective attractive pour les chercheurs publics ? revue finance contrôle stratégie, 9 (3), 39-65. . enquête sine (1998). jeunes diplômés. source insee. . fayolle, a. (2004). évaluation de l’impact des programmes d’enseignement en entrepreneuriat : vers de nouvelles approches. 7e congrès international francophone en entrepreneuriat et pme, 27-29 octobre 2004, montpellier, http: //www.airepme.org. . gasse, y. (2002). l’entrepreneuriat à l’université laval : intérêts, intention, prévalence et besoins des étudiants. enquête réalisée par le centre d’entrepreneuriat et de pme, rapport d’analyse (1e version), automne. préparé par y. gasse en collaboration avec m. tremblay. . gist, m. e. (1987). self-efficacy: implications for organizational behavior and human resource management. academy of management review, 12 (3), 472-485. . global entrepreneurship monitor (2005). global entrepreneurship monitor 2005 – executive report. gem research consortium, http://www.gemconsortium. org/download.asp?fid=448 . insee première (2003). les créateurs d’entreprise en 2002, octobre. . jaccard, j., & turrisi, r. (2003). interaction effects in multiple regression. thousand oaks: sage. . katz, j., & gartner, w. b. (1988). properties of emerging organizations. academy of management review, 13 (3), 429-441. . kennedy, j., drennan, j., renfrow, p., & watson, b. (2003). situational factors and entrepreneurial intentions. 16th annual conference of small enterprise association of australia and new zealand, 28 septembre-1er octobre. . shimp, t. a., & kavas, a. (1984).the theory of reasoned action applied to coupon usage. journal of consumer research, 11 (3), 795-809. . shook, c. l., priem, r. l., & mcgee, j. e. (2003). venture creation and the enterprising individual: a review and synthesis. journal of management, 29 (3), 379-399. . tkachev, a., kolvereid, l. (1999). self-employment intentions among russian students. entrepreneurship & regional development, 11, 269280. . tounès, a. (2003). l’intention entrepreneuriale. une étude comparative entre des étudiants d’écoles de management et gestion suivant des programmes ou des formations en entrepreneuriat et des étudiants en dess caae. unpublished doctoral dissertation, université de rouen. . usine nouvelle (2004). dossier « création d’entreprise. les ingénieurs prennent la relève ». 2919, 70-74. m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 1, 2009, 28-51 50 les déterminants de l’intention de créer une entreprise chez les étudiants : un test empirique annexe tableau 4 acp sur les attentes professionnelles sous-jacentes à l’attrait (rotation varimax) items qualité de représentation poids factoriels interprétation du facteur être votre propre chef avoir du pouvoir avoir des responsabilités être autonome dans votre travail ,672 ,618 ,663 ,502 ,797 ,717 ,676 ,600 être indépendant mettre en œuvre votre créativité participer à l’ensemble des activités d’un projet de a à z faire quelque chose d’utile à la collectivité réaliser vos rêves ,606 ,620 ,527 ,513 ,737 ,667 ,625 ,581 atteindre une réalisation personnelle dans son travail ne pas avoir un travail stressant avoir du temps libre pour vos loisirs, votre famille, vos amis… ne pas avoir à trop travailler ,608 ,571 ,653 ,746 ,727 ,684 avoir une bonne qualité de vie extra-professionnelle avoir un travail qui demande peu de responsabilité avoir un travail simple, peu complexe ,719 ,693 ,811 ,766 éviter les responsabilités gagner beaucoup d’argent avoir une rémunération en fonction de votre engagement avoir une perspective de carrière ,696 ,566 ,581 ,760 ,680 ,639 avoir une rétribution élevée avoir un revenu fixe avoir la sécurité de l’emploi ,691 ,696 ,810 ,782 avoir une situation professionnelle stable variance expliquée : 62,202 % items figurant initialement dans le questionnaire, ayant disparu à l’issue des acp : prendre des risques travailler quotidiennement avec d’autres personnes appartenir à un milieu social reconnu relever des défis avoir un travail intéressant 51 j.p. boissin, b. chollet, s. eminm@n@gement vol. 12 no. 1, 2009, 28-51 tableau 5 – acp sur la capacité perçue sur les tâches critiques sous-jacentes à la capacité perçue de créer une entreprise (rotation varimax) items qualité de représentation poids factoriels interprétation du facteur identifier les informations pertinentes sur les marchés et les clients identifier les informations pertinentes sur les concurrents estimer les risques du projet estimer les besoins financiers du projet ,759 ,758 ,537 ,548 ,851 ,849 ,626 ,624 réaliser l’étude de faisabilité obtenir des fonds de proximité (amis, famille…) attirer des actionnaires obtenir un financement bancaire ,751 ,569 ,610 ,849 ,672 ,614 rechercher les financements effectuer les formalités administratives liées à la création de l’organisation trouver des personnes et organismes compétents pour vous aider et vous conseiller (domaines administratif, juridique, commercial...) ,742 ,743 ,846 ,826 mettre sur pied la structure vous consacrer corps et âme au projet identifier une idée de produit ou de service ,606 ,719 ,833 ,738 s’engager personnellement dans le projet variance expliquée : 66,746 % items figurant initialement dans le questionnaire, ayant disparu à l’issue des acp : trouver des personnes compétentes pour travailler avec vous planifier votre démarche de création (savoir ce que vous devez faire et quand) manager des hommes (coordonner et motiver d’autres personnes) 99cover � alexandre perrin and nicolas rolland 2007 mechanisms of intra-organisational knowledge transfer: the case of a global technology firm, m@n@gement, 10: 2, 25-47. accepted by co-editor martin evans copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). m@n@gement is a double-blind refereed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.management-aims.com © 2007 m@n@gement and the author(s). m@n@gement issn: 1286-4892 editors: alain desreumaux, u. de lille i martin evans, u. of toronto bernard forgues, u. de lille i hugh gunz, u. of toronto martina menguzzato, u. de valència m@n@gement est la revue officielle de lʼaims m@n@gement is the official journal of aims http://www.management-aims.com http://www.management-aims.com http://www.strategie-aims.com m@n@gement, vol. 10, no. 2, 2007, 25-47 25 alexandre perrin . nicolas rolland département de stratégieaudencia nantes school of management email: aperrin@audencia.com axe compétence, knowledge et organisation ceram business school nice sophia antipolis email: nicolas.rolland@ceram.fr mechanisms of intra-organisational knowledge transfer: the case of a global technology firm this paper develops three mechanisms to facilitate knowledge transfer within a global technology firm. documentation helps to codify knowledge and make it less ambiguous. technology is used as an interactive media to spread the message codified whereas a face-to-face community develops social ties among different business units among the firm. after monitoring the impact of each mechanism we discuss the need for adaptation and the factors influencing this adaptation. the results give rise to the prevalent role of the manager of the business unit whose action affects both the properties of the unit and the relationships with other units. introduction intra-organisational knowledge transfer is necessary to firms, as it allows them to access a resource they already possess. it occurs when the experience of one unit affects the experience of another. in order to ease this process, firms are more and more often engaged in knowledge management strategies in which the transfer of business practices is viewed as a source of competitive advantage. this challenge is even more critical for multinational corporations (mncs). in theory, one of the main advantages for being a big company rather than a small one is to capture on a grand scale the gains that come with applying smart processes or routines (szulanski and winter, 2002). in reality, the mere hope that one business unit might learn something useful from another is frequently a hope not realized (porter, 1985: 352). that is why knowledge transfer is a real managerial challenge inside global firms. in a perfect world, knowledge would flow uneventfully in organizations (szulanski, 1996). research on stickiness by szulanski (1996) and on transnational contexts by kostova (1999) has shown that the transfer of knowledge within organizations does not happen easily. there are many barriers to knowledge sharing both between peer subsidiaries and between subsidiaries and headquarters and the costs involved with knowledge transfer are likely to be substantial (foss and pedermailto:aperrin@audencia.com mailto:nicolas.rolland@ceram.fr m@n@gement, vol. 10, no. 2, 2007, 25-47 26 alexandre perrin and nicolas rolland sen, 2002). even if the ability to transfer knowledge from one unit to another has been found to contribute to the organisational performance of firms in the service sector (darr, argote and epple, 1995; baum and ingram, 1998), kostova and roth (2002) has shown that the success of a transfer relies on numerous factors in mncs. therefore, there is a strong need for improving our understanding of knowledge transfer mechanisms between business units and for assessing which mechanisms have an impact on knowledge transfer. this is even more critical if we adopt a longitudinal view as the need for knowledge transfer facilitation evolves over time. this work takes up the challenge to understand which mechanisms help business units to re-use existing knowledge from other ones in different geographical locales. by mechanisms, we mean all the devices, tools and methods used by the organization to transfer knowledge. any progress that could be made in understanding the mechanisms which could facilitate this spatial replication process would have implications for mncs as well as for knowledge management theory. this study analyzes and evaluates different types of mechanisms seeking to improve the process of knowledge transfer in an organization operating across europe, the middle east, africa and latin america. unlike previous research, our research strategy consists in being an insider within a global organization already engaged in a knowledge transfer program. this allows us to evaluate different mechanisms impacting the transfer process. we start by defining the process of intra-organisational knowledge transfer and by examining the literature on the mechanisms used inside firms. then, we confront this literature to our views by using a qualitative case study. finally we discuss implications and the limitations of our research. mechanisms of intra-organisational knowledge transfer the difficulties of transferring knowledge within the firm have been slighted both in theory and in practice (szulanski, 2003). although the benefits of knowledge transfer have been documented in many settings (e.g., transmission of local know-how, scale economies, etc.), the effectiveness of knowledge transfer varies considerably among organizations (szulanski, 1996; argote and ingram, 2000). the variation of the effectiveness can be explained by the existence of impediments (szulanski, 1996) or by the use of knowledge transfer mechanisms (argote, mcevily, and reagans, 2003). for example, prior research has examined the barriers to and facilitators of transferring tacit and complex knowledge within the organization (e.g., szulanski, 1996; kostova, 1999; gupta and govindarajan, 2000). as impediments to the transfer of knowledge exist, several mechanisms have been used by companies to ease this process. to examine these mechanisms, we use the theoretical framework developed by argote et al. (2003). this framework was designed to m@n@gement, vol. 10, no. 2, 2007, 25-47 27 mechanisms of intra-organisational knowledge transfer organize the diverse literature on knowledge management based on the relative positioning of work along two dimensions: knowledge management outcomes —creation, retention and transfer— and properties of knowledge management context —properties of units, properties of relationships between units, and properties of knowledge— (see argote et al., 2003: 573). in the first part, we spotlight on the transfer process. in the second part, we study three mechanisms related to the knowledge management context. the intra-organisational knowledge transfer process the process of intra-organisational knowledge transfer has been deeply analyzed by several academics in the last few years. the work undertaken by szulanski (1996), kostova (1999), and argote and ingram (2000) has set the ground for studying the spatial replication of knowledge inside an organization (i.e., intra-organisational). to unpack this concept, we study the process on two levels: the individual level and the organisational level. individual level singley and anderson (1989: 1, cited by argote and ingram, 2000: 151) define transfer at the individual level as «how knowledge acquired in one situation applies (or fails to apply) to another». existing models in the field of communications theory have influenced many of the models about knowledge transfer at the individual level. of particular importance has been the work undertaken by shannon and weaver (1949), who proposed a general, mathematical model of communication examining each step within the message transfer process in an inter-personal relationship. breaking the communication process down into parts highlighted different influencers and mediators as a message moves from sender to receiver. the emphasis was made on the transmission and reception of information. mehrabian (1968) has also provided a very valuable contribution to our understanding of the most important and effective aspect of communication between two persons. this research revealed that in any face-to-face communication, 55% of what is communicated is done through body language and expression, 38% is communicated through tone, and only 7% is communicated through words. this cognitive problem is transcended if we move at the organisational level. organisational level at the organisational level, knowledge transfer manifests itself through changes in the knowledge of a unit. for example, one marketing team may learn from another how to better answer to a request for proposal, or a product team learn from another how to reduce time-to-market. thus, knowledge transfer in organizations can be defined as the process through which one unit (group, department or division) is affected by the experience of another (argote and ingram, 2000: 151). whereas communication theory views the process of information * based on szulanski (2003) m@n@gement, vol. 10, no. 2, 2007, 25-47 28 alexandre perrin and nicolas rolland transfer as costless and instantaneous, research on knowledge transfer has suggested that impediments can block the transfer of knowledge between the sender and the receiver. building on the work of shannon and weaver, davenport and prusak (1999) consider that knowledge transfer involves two actions: transmission (sending or presenting knowledge to a potential recipient) and absorption by a group of people. therefore, if knowledge has not been absorbed, it has not been transferred. szulanski (1996) represents knowledge transfer as a sequential process which encompasses four steps between the sender and the receiver: initiation, implementation, ramp-up and integration (figure 1). one implication of that model is the existence of impediments to knowledge transfer. the nature of difficulty at each stage is different. in the initiation phase, the difficulty consists in recognizing opportunities to transfer and in acting upon them (szulanski, 1996). following the decision to transfer, attention shifts to the exchange of information between the sender and the receiver. bridging the communication gap may require solving problems caused by incompatibilities of language, coding schemes and cultural conventions (szulanski, 2003: 36). then, the ramp-up phase leads to solve unexpected problems that can occur once the recipient begins using the knowledge. finally, in the integration phase defined by szulanski, the re-use of knowledge gradually becomes routine. as knowledge transfer should be seen as a sequential process, we should focus now on the contexts where this process can be affected by management. contexts for managing intra-organisational knowledge transfer process despite the diversity of research on knowledge transfer, theoretical explanations of this phenomenon can be organized into three organisational contexts: the properties of units, the properties of relationships figure 1. the knowledge transfer process* identify best practices and need decide to proceed with transfer commence operations as recipient achieve satisfactory performance initiation implementation ramp-up integration knowledgesource recipient m@n@gement, vol. 10, no. 2, 2007, 25-47 29 mechanisms of intra-organisational knowledge transfer between units, and the properties of knowledge itself (argote et al., 2003). properties of units the properties of a particular unit (group, department or division) can be referred to the concept of absorptive capacity. absorptive capacity has been mainly used to capture a companyʼs ability to recognize, assimilate, and apply external knowledge to commercial ends (cohen and levinthal, 1990: 128). several studies on the mnc knowledge flows propose that the absorptive capacity of the receiving unit is the most significant determinant of internal knowledge transfer in the mnc (gupta and govindarajan, 2000). merely making knowledge available is not transfer. access is necessary but by no means sufficient to ensure that knowledge will be used. for example, when subsidiaries differ in their absorptive capacity, this affects the level of knowledge transfer from other mnc units (cohen and levinthal, 1990). the context of the unit is one of the main dimensions for learning (argyris and schön, 1978). then, the culture of this unit and how it is designed and organized is a source of efficiency in the absorption process of a new knowledge. the realization of these potential synergistic benefits depends on the openness of the unit and how effectively linkages between business units are managed (gupta and govindarajan, 1986). transmission and absorption together have no useful value if the new knowledge does not lead to some change in behaviour or the development of some new idea that leads to new behaviour. properties of the relationships between units the network structure in which the units are embedded also affects the effectiveness of knowledge transfer (reagans and mcevily, 2003). the literature has highlighted some critical factors for enhancing knowledge transfer such as direct relations with short path-length between the transmitter and the recipient (hansen, 2002). knowledge transfer is a prerequisite to learning but requires effective networks and appears difficult across different units of an organization if pre-existing relationships are absent (szulanski, 1996). tsai (2001) argues that the transferability of knowledge within organisational units is contingent on the network position of the transmitter and the absorptive capacity of both transmitter and recipient. networks of inter-unit links favor access to and exchange of knowledge between different units in an organization. further, according to tsai (2001), the centrality of position is critical. properties of knowledge knowledge transfer can also be facilitated or inhibited by the degrees of tacitness of knowledge (nonaka, 1991; nonaka and takeuchi, 1995; baumard, 1996). regarding the nature of knowledge itself, explicit knowledge is more obviously transferable, and tacit knowledge is better transmitted through actionable and social experiences. therefore, tacit knowledge is best transferred through rich communication media such as observation rather than more explicit media (nadler, thompm@n@gement, vol. 10, no. 2, 2007, 25-47 30 alexandre perrin and nicolas rolland son and van boven, 2003). another dimension of the properties is the ambiguity of knowledge which is an important pediment to transfer (simonin, 1999). for kostova (1999), the transfer of routines (organisational practices) is determined by the transferability of meaning and value, in addition to the transferability of knowledge (kostova, 1999). contrary to information, knowledge is sticky (szulanski, 2003). the notions of information and knowledge are hierarchical. information is data to which an individual attributes significance. as for knowledge, it requires that the individual first articulates all available information and then appropriates and incorporates it. according to the different organisational contexts where knowledge transfer needs to be facilitated, we study now the possible mechanisms for managing the process. mmeecchhaanniissmmss ffoorr mmaannaaggiinngg iinnttrraa--oorrggaanniissaattiioonnaall kknnoowwlleeddggee ttrraannssffeerr pprroocceessss understanding of the impact and power of group dynamics in facilitating learning and knowledge transfer was first highlighted by festinger in 1957. since this time, there has been extensive interest and research on the conditions that make self-managing teams an effective vehicle for motivating individuals, transferring knowledge and getting organisational work done (probst, raub, and romhardt, 2000). reducing barriers to knowledge transfer is of key importance for organizations. three common mechanisms can be found in the literature to successfully facilitate knowledge transfer: documentation, technology, and face-to-face. documentation within an organization, documentation encompasses all the written practices or procedures that help people to adopt existing knowledge. knowledge that can be described through language (i.e., explicit knowledge) can be documented. this is a common way of capturing and communicating knowledge (hansen, nohria, and tierney, 1999). a document contains knowledge that has been codified in a specific way. szulanski and winter (2002) underline the importance of using a structured form to document knowledge through the image of template. template is an important part of knowledge transfer process, particularly if the organisation has many employees and is geographically dispersed. documenting explicit knowledge and particularly the more complex explicit knowledge, is not an easy task: collecting, codifying and documenting knowledge is actually a high level skill. dixon (2000: 117) suggests that an external person, who has been trained in interviewing and who has a good understanding of the organisation, should be used to document explicit knowledge with regard to best practices. this action will help to reduce and neutralize the actual or perceived biases of those collecting the data. according to dixon, using a third party increases believability of the resulting knowledge. these are all important considerations when examining the quality of explicit information capture and documentation processes within an m@n@gement, vol. 10, no. 2, 2007, 25-47 31 mechanisms of intra-organisational knowledge transfer organisational setting. timing is an important factor in documenting knowledge. it is better where possible to collect and construct knowledge in real time than when team members rely on their memory of past events and reasoning (dixon, 2000: 117). technology another mechanism to transfer existing knowledge is the use of technology. most modern organisations recognise that technology such as lotus notes, collaborative tools, e-mails, databases, etc., are efficient way to distribute explicit knowledge (oʼdell and grayson, 1998). according to lei, slocum, and pitts (1999) the availability of computerbased technology components, models and inter-intra network connectivity can significantly enhance the rapid and multi-level, multi-location sharing of knowledge, innovation and status of progress on all fronts. further, they believe that knowledge management approaches that overemphasize technology are less effective than those that focus on creating human knowledge sharing processes, changing behaviours and organisational change. however, technology may not be the most effective transfer mechanism as reflected in the following comment from davenport and prusak (1999: 99): «successful knowledge transfer involves neither computers not documents but rather interactions between people». face-to-face community based on the work of daft and lengel (1984) on media richness, faceto-face mechanisms are recognized as the most effective way for transferring knowledge by many authors, including davenport and prusak (1999), dixon (2000), nonaka and takeuchi (1995) and wenger, mcdermott, and snyder (2002). as highlighted by davenport and prusak (1999), knowledge transfer can work only if people are brought together physically. oʼdell and grayson (1998) comment that the actual transfer of people from one location to another was and probably still is, the most effective way of transferring knowledge and practices between areas. with a physical transfer of a person, one moves the implicit or tacit knowledge as well as the explicit. their example of the difficulty of transferring knowledge between two groups of tunnelers, one in new zealand the other in boston, highlights this point. davenport and prusakʼs story illustrates how difficult it can be to make tacit knowledge explicit, and to transfer it quickly and easily. the fact that the knowledge to transfer may have been too subtle and complex to express in words, is only one of the reasons for failure. they suggest that the instinctive resistance to change and the need for trust are at least as important. some organisations use designated experts to transfer knowledge in specific topic areas (hansen et al., 1999). with clearly identified experts, all employees know whom to contact on specific topic areas. dixon (2000) sees a limitation with this type of transfer mechanism on the receiver. all employees have expertise in some area, and people are more likely to accept the knowledge of others when their own knowledge is accepted. by identifying some people as experts over others, there is a change in the dynamic of sharing knowlm@n@gement, vol. 10, no. 2, 2007, 25-47 32 alexandre perrin and nicolas rolland edge between the two parties, which has a negative impact on knowledge transfer. that is why the importance of informal networks or communities of practice has also emerged in the last decade. such mechanisms are seen as important for knowledge sourcing, creation, leveraging and transfer within organisations (brown and duguid 1991; wenger, 1999). by way of definition, wenger et al. (2002: 4) have defined a community of practice as «a group of people informally bound together by shared expertise and passion for a joint enterprise». they comment that while communities of practice have been pervasive in society and organisations for a long time, it is only recently that organisations have recognised both the central role that these communities play in managing knowledge, and the need to be more systematic and intentional in supporting them. oʼdell and grayson (1998) found that once an organisation created the environment and technology to support networks, they often emerged and flourished in corporations. in table 1, we have summed up the different mechanisms used according to the different organisational contexts found in the literature. our literature review has allowed us to define the process of intraorganisational knowledge transfer and to identify the main mechanisms used to ease this process in specific organisational contexts. now, we examine how these mechanisms have been implemented in a multinational corporation. research method given the complex nature of knowledge transfer and the variety of mechanisms, a qualitative approach to undertaking this research was adopted. our study evaluated knowledge transfer mechanisms in sales and marketing practices throughout units of europe, the middle east, africa and latin america in a global technology firm. research paradigm this research stems from the positivist paradigm for the following main reasons: the research has been developed with consideration for existing theory; a questionnaire survey instrument was used as the princitable 1. factors and mechanisms impacting knowledge transfer properties of units properties of relationships between units properties of knowledge absorptive capacity (cohen and levinthal, 1990; szulanski, 1996, 2003; gupta and govindarajan, 2000) arduous relationship between source and recipient (szulanski, 1996, 2003) knowledge tacitness (nonaka, 1991) and stickiness (szulanski, 2003) appoint a benchmark coordinator external to the unit (dixon, 2000) organize face-to-face meetings or communities (davenport and prusak, 1999; wenger et al., 2002) complementary to it tools (oʼdell and grayson, 1998) document explicit knowledge according to a template (szulanski and winter, 2002; dixon, 2000) contexts main factors main mechanisms m@n@gement, vol. 10, no. 2, 2007, 25-47 33 mechanisms of intra-organisational knowledge transfer pal data gathering tool; the survey questions were well defined, although there was ample provision for open-ended responses to questions and opportunistic data collection. while an essentially quantitative and deductive approach was used for analysing the questionnaires, a qualitative and inductive approach was used when combining and analysing the data pulled together from all sources. brewer and hunter (1989) comment that there are distinct advantages for theoretically oriented research in adopting what they describe as a multimethod approach. they also use the term paradigmatic pragmatism to describe the process of synthetic problem formulation and theory generation. context of the study the company studied, a global player in information technology (it) services for the leisure industry, was of particular interest because although it is a service company, its activity differs from consulting companies, its structure is decentralized and its environment is turbulent. as a result, there are pressures to continuously sustain organisational change as well as to adapt performance to the variation of the environment. the research setting for this study was something of a natural choice as it was the organisation within which one of us was employed as knowledge manager. the organisation is global with operations in 200 countries. in 2000, this organization had developed and implemented a knowledge transfer program in sales and marketing practices for their national marketing companies (nmcs) of europe, the middle east, africa and latin america (emea la). selection of respondents the principal data-gathering method is a structured interview conducted with senior staff from the all european, middle east, african (emea) and latin american (la) markets. the survey was conducted by telephone with 36 managers from 28 emea and la markets. some interviews had two or three participants from the same market (e.g., pakistan and ukraine). the interviews were undertaken over a three-month period. the participants for the study were generally drawn from a pool of general managers and sales directors from the national marketing companys. the maximum survey population for the study was sixty. the researchers were keen to obtain interviews with a representative group from nmcs across all four regions. perry and coote (1994) mention the value in conducting interviews at different hierarchical levels of a network of relationships. in the present study, interviews were undertaken at two levels, i.e., general manager and or/direct report such as sales director, although we did not expect differences in the results reported based upon the managerial level of the respondent. an overview of the objectives for the size and makeup of the surveyʼs group, together with the actual achievements are outlined in table 2. case study approach at the time of the study, the knowledge transfer program was two years old. this duration of time had allowed the program sufficient opportum@n@gement, vol. 10, no. 2, 2007, 25-47 34 alexandre perrin and nicolas rolland nity to demonstrate clear outcomes, which meets yinʼs criteria for a strong, positive example in site selection (yin, 2003: 12). more specifically, yin asserts that case study is appropriate for exploratory analysis when investigating contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context, and when the boundaries between the phenomena and the context are not clear. furthermore, case studies are the strategy of choice when the focus is on understanding the dynamics present within single settings (eisenhardt, 1989). moreover, a case study approach permits flexible and opportunistic data collection methods that allow additions to questions during interviews (easterby-smith, 1994: 532). additionally, it was an easily accessible site for researchers as employees of the organisation, with significant potential not only for follow-up but also for validation of all findings. data collection we have limited our data collection to the transfer of sales and marketing practices. in the organisational context, knowledge can be found in numerous forms: information, tacit know-how, documents, etc. we have chosen to focus on sales and marketing practices because it is the aim of the knowledge transfer program to ensure that other nmcs re-use existing practices. an organisational practice can be defined as an organizationʼs routine use of knowledge for conducting a particular function that has evolved over time under the influence of the organizationʼs history, people, interests and actions (kostova, 1999: 309). given that the nature of the information to be collected related to an individualʼs experiences and perspectives on knowledge transfer, a questionnaire used within an interview was deemed to be the most appropriate data collection tool for this study. a number of alternative methods (i.e., focus group and face-to-face interview) were considered appropriate, but were rejected for reasons including geographic spread, practicality, cost and/or lack of suitability. all of the participants within the knowledge transfer program were physically resident within their country/market. they visited nice in france (the location of the researchers) on average twice a year. thus the window of opportunity table 2. criteria for survey participant selection with justification sample size: obtain a representative number of survey respondents geographic/cultural representation: achieve representation across all four regions, i.e. western europe (we), central europe (cese), middle east-africa (mea), and latin america (la) gender representation achieve representative gender mix 47% sample (28 markets out of the 60 markets in emea la). note: some markets were not approached due to an organisational request representation as follows: we: 7 cese: 6 mea: 9 la: 6 representation as follows: male: 20 female: 8 of key importance was to obtain regional subsamples of sufficient size to have redundant data. this was achieved after a relatively small number of interviews. it was important that the survey group included respondents from across all regions and from a range of cultural perspectives to have credibility within the organisation. this gender split closely reflects the ratio within the total units population in the region. criteria sample justification m@n@gement, vol. 10, no. 2, 2007, 25-47 35 conflicto en la exploración y explotación de conocimiento en las adquisiciones to undertake this study on a face-to-face basis through individual interviews or focus groups was very small. the principal data-gathering tool selected for this study was a survey interview conducted by telephone. a structured interview as defined by kvale (1983: 174) is an interview which purpose is to gather descriptions of the life-world of the interviewee with respect to interpretation of the meaning of the described phenomena. the questions included in this questionnaire were developed directly from extant literature with consideration for the knowledge management processes that had been established in the case study site. telephone interviews typically lasted between 30 and 40 minutes. the length of time taken for the interview was in direct relationship to the level of survey participantʼs involvement with, and connection to the program. for example, some participants had had extensive exposure to the program, having participated in a knowledge exchange forum and were regular visitors to the programs intranet site. the questionnaire used in this survey was tested in a face to face interview with a general manager from a european nmc who was visiting the nice office. this interview revealed a need to resequence some of the questions and to provide additional guiding instructions for the interviewer for when the respondent had not participated in a particular aspect of the best practices program. in summary, four data collection methods were employed in this study, including: telephone interviews utilising a structured survey instrument, but with opportunity for probing and for opportunistic data collection; observation of best practice forums together with commitment report; face-to-face interviews with staff in central organisation; and review of intranet usage statistics. the forums were facilitated by one researcher who was in an ideal position to observe the behaviour of participants in discussing, debating and committing to adopt knowledge from other markets. knowledge transfer mechanisms in action within the study site for this research, three main mechanisms were examined according to our literature review: documentation, technology, and face-to-face community (see table 3). table 3. description of the three mechanisms used to facilitate knowledge transfer in a written format via a one page best practice summary or “snapshot”, and in a more detailed written format, with a case study or ʻhow to do itʼ. documentation was distributed in paper format and on cd two technological components: the companyʼs intranet, which had an area dedicated to hosting documentation on sales and marketing practices, and a newsletter distributed via email each month. the newsletter summarised all recently posted best practice papers and had automatic links to the intranet the principal face-to-face channel was sales and marketing practices forums. other face-to-face distribution channels included the knowledge manager describing practice at a regional meeting or another member of the central team discussing the practice. documentation technology face-to-face community m@n@gement, vol. 10, no. 2, 2007, 25-47 36 alexandre perrin and nicolas rolland documentation as seen in table 3, the documentation used by the company was a single page where the knowledge was codified into a specific format called “best practices snapshots”. as a first step, it was established whether or not the respondent had read the documentation. then, the next set of questions sought feedback on the quality and usability of the best practices documentation. the respondentsʼ answers are summarised in table 4. as we can see from table 4, around 60% of respondents had read at least one of the documents. of this population, there was widespread agreement that the documentation was easy to read, with useful content, and with enough detail to implement. these points are reflected in the following comments from interviewees: “light, basic, easy to implement with the right level of detail” (cese, interview # 12), “liked the business unit context area and the doʼs and donʼts” (cese, # 25), “liked the fact that they provided contact details” (we, # 21), “are very detailed (…) was perfect” (we, # 2), “liked the fact that you could read the snapshot to get a feel for the paper and then make the decision as to whether or not to read the ʻhow to do itʼ” (we, # 10). someone made an interesting comment about reading a paper format instead of an electronic version: “written documentation is essential, as it is easier to share. i prefer reading a paper document to an electronic one on my notebook. however written documentation does not replace face-toface knowledge sharing” (mea, # 22). while negative comments about the documentation were in the minority, the feedback in this area and suggestions for improvement were focused on translation of the document, with the use of english clearly being an issue for some units. one respondent from a french speaking market (mea, # 24), commented that the documents were too difficult to read and he would have preferred them to have been written in french. one respondent from a spanish speaking unit had already taken steps to have the best practices presented in spanish at local team meetings. they commented that while their english was sufficient for understanding the documentation, they knew that this was not the case for their staff (la, # 1). translation into spanish from the management would be appreciated. another respondent commented that the level of english used was simply “too complex”, and another remarked that they would like the how-to-do-it papers to be “less long-winded”. these comments were particularly interesting in light of the fact that special attention had been directed to writing the papers with simple english. table 4. summary of respondents ̓feedback on practice documentation response yes no total read snapshot? 17 (61%) 11 (39%) 28 (100%) read how-to-do it? 16 (57%) 12 (43%) 28 (100%) easy to read? 15 (87%) 2 (13%) 17 (100%) content useful? 16 (94%) 1 (6%) 17 (100%) enough to implement? 16 (94%) 1 (6%) 17 (100%) m@n@gement, vol. 10, no. 2, 2007, 25-47 37 mechanisms of intra-organisational knowledge transfer another interesting observation from the survey related to a markets desire to chose papers to review based on perceived similarities between markets. three markets commented that when looking at the sales and marketing practices it was important to choose those papers from markets very similar to their own in terms of maturity, size and culture. these points are illustrated in the following comments: “how mature the market of the best practice is determines its relevance to us” (we, # 26), “because of our unique environment many of the practices are not so useful” (mea, # 16), “i couldnʼt relate to the practices from brazil and argentina because their markets were too big” (mea, # 9). technology there were two data sources accessed for exploring the impact of technology on knowledge distribution at the study site: intranet usage statistics and feedback from the questionnaire. two separate elements of the technology strategy were examined. part two of the questionnaire specifically sought feedback on the effectiveness of the companyʼs intranet. we covered areas including ease of access, effectiveness of intranet as a communication and distribution mechanism and frequency of access. this information was combined with and compared to information obtained directly from the statistical reports from the intranet. most respondents (68%) thought that the intranet was an effective way to communicate sales and marketing practices, although the current technology did not make it easy to access with only 36% of respondents saying that it was easy to access. three respondents commented that they were unable to access the site altogether. some of the comments made by respondents about the intranet were as follows: “it is a logical tool” (mea, # 22); “it is a most effective communication tool that helps streamline the information flow and provides benchmarking options and awareness to changes happening in different parts of the world. in times of globalization, this tool is what we need to have” (cese, # 12); “normally the intranet should be the perfect instrument. but i am always disappointed (speed/access)“ (we, # 2). from the survey, 40% of respondents indicated that they accessed the intranet on a regular basis, i.e., weekly or monthly. a review of monthly intranet statistics from october 2001 until july 2003 revealed that regular access to the site was actually lower than that reported at 25%. this gap between facts and opinions could be attributed to an honest perception that they do access the site more frequently than they do, or from a desire to please the interviewer. the 20% of respondents who had not yet looked at the intranet provided vague reasons including: “iʼm new, not done it yet” (mea, # 9), “too busy” (la, # 5 and we, # 26), “donʼt read info on pc” (we, # 3). the intranet statistics revealed that the top four markets accessing the site, by a long way, were: finland (we), argentina (la), pakistan (mea) and malta (cese). clearly some markets have better speed of access and/or are more comfortable with this form of knowledge transfer than others. m@n@gement, vol. 10, no. 2, 2007, 25-47 38 alexandre perrin and nicolas rolland the effectiveness of the monthly electronic newsletter as a communication tool was also monitored. 82% of all respondents received the monthly newsletter, 14% did not, and were subsequently added to the mailing list, and one respondent received it but never read it. comments about the newsletter were generally positive as is reflected in the following remark: “like the fact that we filter info though our newsletter” (mea, # 22). face-to-face community face-to-face mechanisms are rated as the most effective communication channel with 62% of respondents identifying a face-to-face communication channel as the way by which they heard about sales and marketing practices from other markets. the most frequently cited face-to-face communication channel was the marketing knowledge café. the marketing knowledge café is a training session which lasts three hours and is organized by the knowledge management team in nice every two months. the idea is to let an employee of one business unit (e.g., argentina) present on a powerpoint some insights on specific topics. this insight is compared with the one from an expert invited by the knowledge management team. one example was given by a session called “how to do a market research in your unit?” its popularity is clearly evidenced in respondentsʼ comments: “the most effective way of sharing best practices is through face-to-face mechanisms… the café is a good way to brainstorm new ideas” (mea, # 13); “why are there not sales and marketing practices forums now? (…) there is too much talking now at nmc meetings and not enough sharing of experience” (cese, # 25), “we want more meetings, more opportunities to share experiences with other units” (la, # 19), “i learn a lot about other markets from the marketing knowledge café. when the interviewees are talking, my brain is working/ticking, thinking what can i apply” (la, # 8). additionally, from 2000 until 2002, online sales and marketing practices face-to-face forums were run by region within the units of western europe and latin america. this was done so that forums could be combined with twice yearly regional meetings, thus achieving objectives of convenience and cost effectiveness. it was recognised that these communities of markets often had similarities in terms of language, culture, competitive environment and level of market maturity. several markets within latin america specifically commented that they would feel uncomfortable sharing practices with other regions as is evidenced in the following comments: “i would not feel comfortable sharing with africa and europe” (la, # 8), “latin america is not as advanced as europe” (la, # 18). these responses reflect a higher level of group affiliation and cohesion within the latin american region. we observed behaviours during the marketing knowledge café that led us to make this assessment. these behaviours include higher levels of informal contact. while the current model for sharing practices by region is clearly popular, other models were also considered of value with sharing of practices with markets in a similar competitive position and with similar problems to solve, also rating highly at 89% m@n@gement, vol. 10, no. 2, 2007, 25-47 39 mechanisms of intra-organisational knowledge transfer respectively. we asked units which markets they would like to share sales and marketing practices with (see table 5). the point made earlier about the high comfort level the latin american markets feel sharing practices within their region is reinforced in these results with 80% surveyed saying they would like to share practices within their region. within the mea region, 60% of the units surveyed said they would like to share within the region, with an additional unit indicating that they would like to share not only within mea, but also with la. morocco and tunisia were very specific in terms of their preferences for knowledge sharing, with each indicating the other as their preferred market for sharing experiences. these two units are nearly identical in terms of market position, competitive environment, culture and language. the egyptian market was also specific in terms of those markets they wishes to share with identifying other arabic countries including saudi arabia, qatar, yemen and the uae. the clear exception to the trend was south africa who indicated that they would gain the most value by sharing with markets with the same business culture. these markets were outside of their region and included australia and several western european markets. within the cese region, 70% of units surveyed identified their region or several markets within the region as those with whom they would get most value out of sharing sales and marketing practices with. malta was an exception to the trend indicating that they would obtain more value sharing with countries in western europe. the greek unit showed a willingness to consider practices from other markets but commented that lack of visibility on operations within these markets, made it difficult for them to assess which markets would be of most value. within the western european region, 60% of units surveyed identified countries within their region to share with. two interesting exceptions included the uk market, which indicated that they would like to share with the us (it is important to note at this juncture that the survey respondent from the uk was american). the other exception was austria who indicated that the most value for them could be obtained from sharing with markets with the same problems. this willingness to share with similar markets is an important aspect of our study. what clearly emerged was that while all channels of distritable 5. which units would like to share with which units these units like to share with… morocco, pakistan, south africa, tunisia, zimbabwe, ghana, egypt, israel greece, russia, malta, poland, turkey, ukraine austria, germany, benelux, uk, scandinavia, italy, finland argentina, paraguay, ecuador, peru, brazil, caribbean … these units middle-east africa (60%) markets outside the region (30%) any other unit (10%) central europe and south europe (70%) western europe (30%) western europe (60%) central europe and south europe (20%) usa (20%) latin america (80%) usa (20%) region middle-east africa (mea) central europe and south europe (cese) western europe (we) latin america (la) m@n@gement, vol. 10, no. 2, 2007, 25-47 40 alexandre perrin and nicolas rolland bution and communication were utilised and valued, face-to-face distribution mechanisms were valued the most highly and had the greatest impact upon effective knowledge transfer. discussion according to our observations, face-to-face relationship is the most demanded mechanism. as this way of transferring knowledge is limited in terms of costs and availability of people, we explore now the conditions under which the documentation mechanism can be an efficient way to replicate knowledge. in this part, we spotlight on the need for adaptation of mechanisms into the specific context of the need and the factors that are impacting the knowledge transfer process. adaptation of mechanisms into the organisational context our observations have helped us to assess the use of the three mechanisms for transferring knowledge within a global firm. we study now the different organisational adaptations needed to implement such mechanisms. face-to-face community. the importance of social relationships in knowledge transfer emerged as being of paramount importance and to a large extent, accounts for the popularity of face-to-face knowledge sharing forums. this could be attributed to the fact that it is easier to develop a relationship with a person in a face-to-face setting (oʼdell and grayson, 1998). while people could get most of the information about a practice via a document, it was clear that they needed the reassurance of connecting with, and personally assessing the qualities and credibility of, the person who created the practice. this was an important first step before making the decision as to whether they would adopt the practice. this point was underlined by one respondent from a western european market who said that they liked the fact that the documents provided contact details. these findings are consistent with those already reported in the literature by festinger (1957), davenport and prusak (1998), dixon (2000), and wenger et al. (2002). the mechanisms need to be adapted to the specific context of the organization to regulate the mobility of the practices around face-toface community. the knowledge manager decided to launch the marketing knowledge café to keep the social interactions that occur during forums alive. without such a place for knowledge exchange, momentum is lost and the social network destroyed. the relationship between units can vary along a key set of dimensions, including intensity of connection, communication or contact frequency, and social similarity (argote et al., 2003: 573). we have spotlighted this similarity between the units willing to exchange knowledge. this structural effect is not limited to interpersonal connections but is modelled by the use of regular social events. the marketing knowledge café helps to embed this relationship into the long-term. people from other units get m@n@gement, vol. 10, no. 2, 2007, 25-47 41 mechanisms of intra-organisational knowledge transfer more and more familiar and they start developing a short-hand language that is difficult to document. documentation. important learning from the study also emerged in terms of style, and language of documentation for a community whose first language is not english. it was evident that translation is important for some units if the communication and transfer process is to work well. in order to travel, ideas need in fact to be objectified as words or recipes, circulated through discourses and rhetorics, and re-materialised locally (gherardi and nicolini, 2000). a similar point was made with regard to the language of communication at sales and marketing practices forums. for the latin american markets, it is clear that several markets would find the forum significantly more effective in spanish. this is not surprising given that all markets except brazil within latin america communicate formally and informally in spanish. for all other regions, the language of communication between countries would nearly always be english. in order to reduce differences in terms of use of documentation, coordinators can be appointed (dixon, 2000). they would help to increase the cultural similarity of units by acting as knowledge brokers. they can translate into the local language the practices that are best rated by the face-to-face community. groups of units often fail to make full use of the documentation available because they do not surface information idiosyncratic to particular members. armʼs-length ties are better suited for transferring local and specific knowledge. as coordinators have a holistic view of the situations of the markets, they would help each unit to assess the pertinence of the codification of knowledge. by using a single template, they would package knowledge so that re-use is dramatically eased. because knowledge coming from units perceived as weak or small has little chance to become adopted by another, the use of a third-party would reduce this barrier by objectifying the practice as neutral as possible. technology. regarding technology, the findings from this study highlight some challenges in using this modern form of distribution and communication (davenport and prusak, 1998). firstly, it is not a preferred communication mechanism for many people with only 25% of respondents looking at the intranet on a regular basis. secondly, technology needs to be fast, with the users being able to quickly identify the information that meets their needs with a minimum number of key strokes, for it to be effective. technology is clearly an enabler of communication and distribution as opposed to a driver of change, as is evidenced by the fact that most people implemented a practice after they had contact in person with the owner of the practice, and not from having read the document on the intranet. this finding is consistent with the work of davenport and prusak (1998), and of oʼdell and grayson (1998). the web site is however an excellent first port of call for people interested in practices from other markets and plays an essential role in raising awareness of other practices in a geographically dispersed organisation. the different adaptations mentioned above are summarized in table 6. m@n@gement, vol. 10, no. 2, 2007, 25-47 42 alexandre perrin and nicolas rolland factors impacting transfer mechanisms based on the data, three important factors impacting the mechanisms are studied in this section according to our framework. the role of unitʼs general managers appears as the most important factor because they influence the absorptive capacity of the unit and its relationships with other units. properties of relationships: the role of general managers. where boundaries are drawn affects the value placed on knowledge and its usefulness. the need for cultural similarity has emerged as important during our study. the key issue to consider here is whether or not this cultural factor or filter is a good or bad influencer. at the heart of the matter may be the issue of risk. from a positive perspective, general managers or sales directors are employed to utilise their deep knowledge of the market to make decisions about the suitability of introducing new practices or initiatives to improve sales performance. with a higher degree of cultural fit, they may be confident that there is a lower risk, greater context specificity, less change required and a higher probability of success in introducing a new process or initiative. from a negative perspective, being highly ethnocentric may foster a caution or risk aversion that blinds individuals to new opportunities and ideas from other countries. thus while culture is a clear factor impacting on knowledge transfer, it may not be a negative one. survey respondents clearly indicated that for practices to transfer between two countries, there needs to be a high level of homogeneity between them in terms of market maturity, market size and competitive position. simply put, the greater the similarities between two countries the higher the chance of a successful transfer of practices. theses results are consistent with previous research conducted by darr et al. (1995). properties of units: external and individual factors. why were some units such prevalent adopters? our study revealed interesting findings with regard to the interplay between external and individual factors. two general managers within mea and one within la were all prevalent adopters of practices from other units. these three countries were in different parts of the world and were therefore operating in different cultural contexts. they also had different competitors and different positions of market share. our observations are that all had tough martable 6. needed adaptation of existing mechanisms adaptation needed appointment of a “best practices coordinator” creation of a “best practices forum” on the intranet launch of the “marketing knowledge café”, a face-to-face event design of a single template by an external consultant to codify the best practices in sales and marketing goal assigned increase cultural similarity of units by acting as a knowledge broker increase awareness of existing knowledge help to develop personal ownership of best practices and maintain relationships between participants help to package and market best practice to ease its understanding contexts properties of units properties of relationships between units properties of best practices m@n@gement, vol. 10, no. 2, 2007, 25-47 43 mechanisms of intra-organisational knowledge transfer ket conditions, in terms of either economic environment and/or strong competition. these external conditions had forced the manager to implement a range of new practices to survive. all had therefore significant experience of introducing change. at an individual level, each of the three general managers for these markets was rated by their internal colleagues as being very motivated. another interesting factor related to the ethnic origin of the general managers and their personal experience in operating outside of their cultural framework. all three general managers had experience in working in a different country and cultural context. they therefore had personally been in a position where their cultural assumptions and framework may have been challenged. properties of knowledge: the need for practice ownership. if the managers from these three markets can implement practices coming from markets with a different cultural context, maturity, competitive position and strength, then it begs the question that perhaps some of the reasons offered for rejection of a practice relate more to another but unstated factor. it is proposed that resistance to other practices could be related to a need for creativity, personal ownership, and control. knowledge that is not well-understood or is high in causal ambiguity is harder to transfer than less ambiguous knowledge (szulanski, 1996). comments made by some respondents revealed a level of general resistance to adopting practices from other markets. allee (1997) suggests that knowledge workers obtain their sense of fulfilment from their work through the creation of new ideas, the opportunity to display initiative and from working autonomously. clearly a practice adopted from another person does not involve the same level of creativity and ownership, and is therefore not valued as highly as an idea which they have developed themselves. research implications and limitations as was reported previously, it was evident from the studyʼs findings that the most prevalent adopters of practices from other units had tough market conditions, were very motivated, had significant experience of introducing change and had life experiences in a different cultural context. a tool for assessing the probability that a manager will be open to adopt a practice from another market and to provide advice to re-use the practice would be a good solution. the appointment of a best practice coordinator can also be considered as a valuable way to facilitate knowledge transfer. the not-invented-here syndrome can be reduced by using incentives or a neutral third-party. that is why we advocate for a triadic relationship and not a dyadic one. as mentioned earlier, research in the area of knowledge transfer focuses on the qualities of a given relationship, or dyad. it has been primarily directed at understanding how the closeness or strength of a relationship between two parties is related to the effectiveness of knowledge transfer (argote et al., 2003: 576). with the emergence of communities, this model is questioned by the multiplication of social ties m@n@gement, vol. 10, no. 2, 2007, 25-47 44 alexandre perrin and nicolas rolland and the use of a coordinator. beyond tie strength, dyadic research should include the influence of a third-party actor, a peer reviewer or a coordinator, that are parts of a social system. as researchers, we recognise the impact that our socialisation and all the biases inherent within it may have on the way in which we interpret the findings from the study, particularly with regard to the impact of culture on knowledge transfer. the impact of the researchersʼ insider role within the study site on the respondentsʼ answers needs to be recognised at this stage. for example, there was potential evidence of this in the gap that was observed between how often respondents said they accessed the intranet and how often the usage statistics indicated that they did. while the data triangulation method used helps to alleviate this situation, it is recognised that this potential bias should be taken into consideration in the review of the studyʼs findings. finally, the representative nature of the survey group, together with the broad data collection methods employed, were key strengths of our study approach. however, we perceived a key limitation of the survey group to be the lack of participation by two of the largest and most mature markets. these markets were spain and france. staff from these organisations has had a limited involvement in the practices transfer program, and appears not to be positively disposed towards the adoption of practices from other markets. investigating the reasons would have been of significant interest. another area of concern is common method bias. because many of the units were very small, only single informants were used to collect data. this can introduce a common method bias and can inflate relationships artificially (brewer and hunter, 1989). concluding remarks this study has strongly affirmed existing findings within the literature with regard to the critical importance of face-to-face interaction in knowledge transfer. it is clear that while other distribution channels such as technology and written material play a role in making knowledge available, it is the social interaction that provides the catalyst for transferring knowledge, i.e., moving knowledge from a passive state to action. this is because face-to-face communication provides so much more than words or information alone. through voice, gestures and body language, the receiver is able to assess the sourceʼs credibility and to develop an innate sense of its reliability and credibility. this is an important first step in knowledge transfer process. it is also eminently clear that the decision to take a practice from another unit is not made in an emotionally neutral state and that this factor must be taken into consideration in the design of organisational knowledge management systems and processes. the efficiency of the new knowledge integration is related to the existence of a common sense between the companyʼs different entities. this common sense is pathdependent and emerges as a result of interaction around the organizationʼs members. it preserves the specificity of knowledge transferred m@n@gement, vol. 10, no. 2, 2007, 25-47 45 mechanisms of intra-organisational knowledge transfer and, at the same time, allows the different entities to exploit this new knowledge independently. from a general perspective, the study demonstrated that, in order to be efficient, the mechanism has to be 1/business oriented –it has to help participants to answer business issues or problems, 2/coordinated, 3/monitored by a knowledge management team, 4/aligned with the evolving needs of the practitioners, and 5/easy to use and trendy –the emergence of the “webinars” and knowledge café inside the company being a real success. our study has also observed limitations in existing literature in terms of the language used for discussing barriers or resistance to knowledge transfer. it is suggested that the language currently used in literature is influenced by an attitude that sees factors limiting knowledge transfer from a negative perspective. this attitude implies a resistance to knowledge transfer, as something to be overcome or defeated. such an attitude is likely to impact negatively on the words and actions of people trying to drive change processes, and may also have the effect of creating further resistance. a clear alternative is to respect the personal filtering and decision making processes that all managers possess –and to encourage them to take the seeds of ideas within practice and to tailor it to reflect their unique market circumstances. alexandre perrin is lecturer in the strategy department of audencia nantes school of management and a member of the research lab on globalization and innovation (gil). he is currently finishing his doctoral dissertation at the university of nice sophia antipolis on the practices of the knowledge manager in multinational corporations. his research focuses on the implementation of knowledge management strategies, on the governance of communities of practice and on the use of collaborative tools. nicolas rolland is professor of strategy and management at ceram business school nice sophia antipolis. his research interests are competitive strategy, knowledge transfer and networks. he holds a doctorate in management and a master in economy and management from the university of grenoble. he conducts numerous research actions for companies such as danone, schneider or boeing and he is an academic member of french community for knowledge management (cop-1). m@n@gement, vol. 10, no. 2, 2007, 25-47 46 alexandre perrin and nicolas rolland � allee, v. 1997 the knowledge evolution: expanding organizational intelligence, boston, ma: butterworth-heinemann. � argote, l., and p. ingram 2000 knowledge transfer: a basis for competitive advantage in firms, organizational behavior and human decision processes, 82: 1, 150-169. � argote, l., b. mcevily, and r. reagans 2003 managing knowledge in organizations: an integrative framework and review of emerging themes, management science, 49: 4, 571-582. � argyris, c., and d. a. schön 1978 organizational learning, reading, ma: addison-wesley. � baum, j. a. c., and p. ingram 1998 survival-enhancing learning in the manhattan hotel industry, 1898-1980, management science, 44: 7, 996-1016. � baumard, p. 1996 organisations déconcertées : la gestion stratégique de la connaissance, paris : masson. � brewer, j. d., and a. hunter 1989 multi-method research: a synthesis of styles, newbury park, ca: sage. � brown, j. s., and p. duguid 1991 organizational learning and communities-of-practice: toward a unified view of working, learning, and innovation, organization science, 2: 1, 40-57. � cohen, w. m., and d. a. levinthal 1990 absorptive capacity: a new perspective on learning and innovation, administrative science quarterly, 35: 1, 128-152. � daft, r. l., and r. h. lengel 1984 information richness: a new approach to managerial behavior and organization design, in b. m. staw and l. l. cummings (eds.), research in organizational behavior, vol. 6, greenwich, ct: jai press, 191-233. � darr, e. d., l. argote, and d. epple 1995 the acquisition, transfer, and depreciation of knowledge in service organizations: productivity in franchises, management science, 41: 11, 1750-1762. � davenport, t. h., and l. prusak 1998 working knowledge: how organizations manage what they know, boston, ma: harvard business school press. � dixon, n. m. 2000 common knowledge: how companies thrive by sharing what they know, boston, ma: harvard business school press. � easterby-smith, m. 1994 evaluating management development, training, and education, aldershot, uk: gower. � eisenhardt, k. m. 1989 building theories from case study research, academy of management review, 14: 4, 532-550. � festinger, l. 1957 a theory of cognitive dissonance, evanston, il: row, peterson. � foss, n. j., and t. pedersen 2002 transferring knowledge in mncs: the role of sources of subsidiary knowledge and organizational context, journal of international management, 8: 1, 49-67. � gherardi, s., and d. nicolini 2000 to transfer is to transform: the circulation of safety knowledge, organization, 7: 2, 329-348. � gupta, a. k., and v. govindarajan 1986 resource sharing among sbus: strategic antecedents and administrative implications, academy of management journal, 29: 4, 695-714. � gupta, a. k., and v. govindarajan 2000 knowledge flows within multinational corporations, strategic management journal, 21: 4, 473-496. � hansen, m. t. 2002 knowledge networks: explaining effective knowledge sharing in multiunit companies, organization science, 13: 3, 232-248. � hansen, m. t., n. nohria, and t. tierney 1999 whatʼs your strategy for managing knowledge?, harvard business review, 79: 2, 106-116. � kostova, t. 1999 transnational transfer of strategic organizational practices: a contextual perspective, academy of management review, 24: 2, 308-324. � kostova, t., and k. roth 2002 adoption of an organizational practice by subsidiaries of multinational corporations: institutional and relational effects, academy of management journal, 45: 1, 215-233. � kvale, s. 1983 the qualitative research interview: a phenomenological and a hermeneutical mode of understanding, journal of phenomenological psychology, 14: 2, 171-196. � lei, d., j. w. slocum, and r. a. pitts 1999 designing organizations for competitive advantage: the power of unlearning and learning, organizational dynamics, 27: 3, 24-38. references m@n@gement, vol. 10, no. 2, 2007, 25-47 47 mechanisms of intra-organisational knowledge transfer � mehrabian, a. 1968 inference of attitude from the posture, orientation, and distance of a communicator, journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 32: 3, 296-308. � nadler, j., l. thompson, and l. van boven 2003 learning negotiation skills: four models of knowledge creation and transfer, management science, 49: 4, 529–540. � nonaka, i. 1991 the knowledge-creating company, harvard business review, 69: 6, 96-104. � nonaka, i., and h. takeuchi 1995 the knowledge creating company: how japanese companies create the dynamics of innovation, new york: oxford university press. � oʼdell, c., and c. j. grayson 1998 if only we knew what we know: identification and transfer of internal best practices, california management review, 40: 3, 154-174. � perry, c., and l. coote 1994 process of a case study research methodology: tool for management development?, annual conference of australian and new zealand academy of management, wellington, new zealand. � porter, m. e. 1985 competitive advantage: creating and sustaining superior performance, new york: free press. � probst, g., s. raub, and k. romhardt 2000 managing knowledge: building blocks for success, new york: wiley. � reagans, r., and b. mcevily 2003 network structure and knowledge transfer: the transfer problem revisited, working paper, new york: columbia university. � shannon, c. e. 1949 the mathematical theory of communication, urbana, il: university of illinois press. � simonin, b. 1999 ambiguity and the process of knowledge transfer in strategic alliances, strategic management journal, 20: 7, 595-623. � singley, m. k., and j. r. anderson 1989 the transfer of cognitive skill, cambridge, ma: harvard university press. � szulanski, g. 1996 exploring internal stickiness: impediments to the transfer of best practice within the firm, strategic management journal, 17: winter special issue, 27-43. � szulanski, g. 2003 sticky knowledge: barriers to knowing in the firm, london: sage. � szulanski, g., and s. winter 2002 getting it right the second time, harvard business review, 80: 1, 63-69. � tsai, w. 2001 knowledge transfer in intraorganizational networks: effects of network position and absorptive capacity on business unit innovation and performance, academy of management journal, 44: 5, 996-1004. � wenger, e. 1999 communities of practice: learning, meaning, and identity, cambridge: cambridge university press. � wenger, e., r. mcdermott, and w. snyder 2002 cultivating communities of practice: a guide to managing knowledge, boston, ma: harvard business school press. � yin, r. k. 2003 case study research: design and methods, third edition, thousand oaks, ca: sage. 203 isabelle leroux and alain berrom@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 38 69 m@n@gement copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). m@n@gement is a double-blind refereed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.management-aims.com © 2010 m@n@gement and the author(s). isabelle leroux alain berro 2010 public/private negotiation and strategic co-evolution in a biocluster m@n@gement, 13(1), 38-69. m@n@gement est la revue officielle de l’aims m@n@gement is the official journal of aims issn: 1286-4892 editors: emmanuel josserand, hec, université de genève (editor in chief) jean-luc arrègle, edhec (editor) stewart clegg, university of technology, sydney (editor) philippe monin, em lyon (editor) josé pla-barber, universitat de valència (editor) linda rouleau, hec montréal (editor) michael tushman, harvard business school (editor) thibaut bardon, universté paris-dauphine, crepa hec, université de genève (editorial assistant) florence villesèche, hec, université de genève (editorial assistant) martin g. evans, university of toronto (editor emeritus) bernard forgues, emlyon business school (editor emeritus) accepted by jean-luc arrègle a s s o c i a t i o n i n t e r n a t i o n a l e d e m a n a g e m e n t s t r a t é g i q u e 38 public/private negotiation and strategic co-evolution in a biocluster m@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 38 69 public/private negotiation and strategic co-evolution in a biocluster isabelle leroux alain berro granem – umr ma 49 université d’angers et agrocampus ouest ufr droit economie gestion isabelle.leroux@univ-angers.fr irit-ut1, umr 5505, cnrs université de toulouse alain.berro@irit.fr abstract clusters are characterised by partnership practices that lead to a high level of competitiveness. however some of them encounter coordination difficulties due to conflicts over the appropriation of collective gains. this is more specifically the case of bioclusters because of their sectoral particularities and because of the different public policies that apply. stemming from an analysis of conflicts at stake in a biocluster, this article aims at bringing to light how firms and institutions strategies emerge and co-evolve as their actions are characterised by divergent interests. according to an evolutionary perspective, we propose an exploratory simulation leading to an analysis of the mutual adaptation dynamics developed by the agents involved. the results show on the one hand that firms adjust their bargaining strategies according to uncertainty and to their perception of the gains which might be generated at the collective level. on the other hand, the model shows that local authorities can play a regulatory part in the game. this exploratory research provides insight into management public modalities so as to generate cooperation and innovation within bioclusters. key-words cluster, biotechnology, co-evolution, adaptative complexe system. 39 isabelle leroux and alain berrom@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 38 69 introduction over the last fifteen years, research on industrial clusters has developed considerably, with growing interest in the phenomena of localisation, industrial organisation and the spread of innovation (krugman, 1991; brezis et al., 1993; porter, 1998). the notion of cluster is defined by porter (1998) as a group of geographically close firms and institutions, whose activities are complementary and characterised by a high level of specialisation and technological transfer. the cluster is based on dense inter-organisational networks characterised by cooperative and competitive relations. these robust connections produce collective benefits, such as quasi-rents1 due to the operation of licences or the effects of the agglomeration (klein et al., 1978; zucker and darby, 1997; dyer and singh, 1998; simonin, 1999). as the oecd’s 2007 report shows, the most significant development of geographical clusters has come about through voluntarist policies in activities linked to health, the environment or seed production, such as the medicon valley on the border between denmark and sweden. these policies of developing and supporting bioclusters are giving rise to renewed interest on the part of organisational science researchers. while the literature on biotechnology clusters focuses mainly on the high level of competitiveness in such systems of innovation, some studies relativise these successes, emphasising coordination difficulties linked to conflicts over the sharing and redistribution of resources and collective benefits (owen-smith and powell, 2003). this is especially the case of biotechnology clusters due to three characteristics specific to them. first, biotechnologies involve strong interconnections between plant, animal and human biology (argyres and liebeskind, 2002). this cross-disciplinarity requires that research communities unaccustomed to working together open up to one another. second, within biotechnology clusters, small firms are particularly dependent on the big industrial groups in pharmaceuticals and seed production, their cooperation forming an asymmetric alliance (yan and gray, 1994). this organisation, described by roijakkers et al. (2005) as a dual market organisation, is often marked by a climate of mistrust, with the small firms seeing their negotiating power diminished in the face of the large groups. finally, since biological research is not easily understood due to its technical nature, those in the public sector responsible for financing research programmes are extremely cautious when making funding decisions (leroux, 2004). the question of genetically modified organisms is highly controversial, and so potential public reactions to such decisions must be considered. another difficulty is that they are subject to pressure by the large industrial groups (bonardi et al., 2005). they therefore need to weigh up the demands of local development, the interests of the large groups and the perception of what public opinion might make of support for research in controversial areas. a complex collection of negotiation strategies emerges from all of this, and the firms’ goal is to get the resources or collective benefits for themselves. following this, the matter for the decision-makers’ attentionis that of the co-evolution of strategies in the context of uncertainty 1. the notion of quasi-rent enables the identification of revenues arising from the association of two complementary assets in a cooperative situation. the gains generated by the financial externalities that occur in clusters are thus known as organisational quasi-rents. 40 public/private negotiation and strategic co-evolution in a biocluster m@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 38 69 about the behaviour of the partners. co-evolution refers to the fact that the firms and institutions adopt evolving strategies without, however, being autonomous or self-adapting (koza and lewin, 1998; bourguin and derycke, 2005) inasmuch as they take into account the partners’ strategies, and the impact of those strategies on the biocluster. coevolution refers to continuous negotiated and situated adjustments between the different actors involved. while the notion of co-evolution is used in research literature to deal with technological diffusion (suire and vicente, 2004; steyer and zimmerman, 2004) and environmental adaptation (lewin and volberda, 1999), it is little used in developing ideas of actors’ strategies and their impact on the system as a whole. in reflecting on appropriation conflicts liable to divide firms and instit tions, the objective is to understand how these actors’ strategies emerge and evolve during negotiations for the sharing of collective gains. an exploratory study, based on a simulation model, sheds light on the mutual adaptation mechanisms at work. its results expose the dynamics at work within the different stages of negotiation strategies within a cluster, and reveal the regulatory role of the institutions. this study, therefore, paves the way for several lines of research in the public management domain as applied to clusters, and particularly the management of cooperation and innovation in local systems. the first section of this article presents the state of the art. in the second section, an exploratory methodology based on simulations is offered, the results of which are presented in the third section. the fourth and final section is dedicated to a discussion of the results. public/private strategic co-evolution in bioclusters numerous offerings in economics and organisational science raise questions regarding the appropriation and vulnerability of clusters according to different analytical views. starting with an analysis of technological diffusion (arthur, 1994), this paper goes on to look at problems linked to public policy decisions (feldman and massard, 2002; bona di et al., 2005) before finally focusing on approaches defining the different sources of opportunism and uncertainty surrounding the behaviour of partners (klein et al.,1978; zucker and darby, 1997). following, an approach to the cluster as the locus of co-evolution of local firm-institution strategies is offered (arthur et al.,1997). public/private strategies and appropriation conflicts in bioclusters cluster vulnerability is often studied in the literature as the result of congestion phenomena (arthur, 1994; suire and vicente, 2004). from this structural perspective, the technological diffusion process re ches a saturation or congestion threshold when one kind of technology becomes dominant through self-reinforcement effects. brezis et al. (1993) present an additional analysis in terms of life cycle. new technologies 41 isabelle leroux and alain berrom@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 38 69 replace the old ones, and new clusters emerge while other clusters experience a decline. clusters’ survival capacity therefore depends on the actors’ ability to ensure knowledge transfer, taking advantage of their geographic proximity. however, beyond these structural factors, the strategic behaviours of the actors also merit consideration. from the point of view of public policies, the decision-makers are driven to make a choice between the strategy of regional redistribution, based on spatial equity in the redistribution of wealth, and the policy of cluster growth based, on the contrary, on the concentration of economic activities (feldman and massard, 2002). thus, in the short term they face a dilemma between equitable redistribution and supporting innovation, knowing that the elector may express his discontent by ‘voting with his feet’. along similar lines, bonardi et al. (2005) develop the idea of a political market to analyse the links between public and private actors, with the institutions as givers and the firms as seekers of a given policy. in the case of intense rivalry between firms, the policy decision-maker will satisfy the interests of the most powerful group. this concept is limited to a view which reposes upon market-based coordination. in this example, policy is defined as a pre-existing, exogenous given, and the relations between firms and institutional actors are reduced to an exchange rather than a constructed and negotiated process. furthermore, biotechnologies excite controversy in public opinion, and pose public and private management difficulties in the light of ethical and regulatory issues (chataway et al., 2004; dasgupta and david, 1994; etzkowitz and leydesdorff, 2000; lehrer and asakawa, 2004). thus, public policy decisions have to be made which ensure the development of relations between firms and public research laboratories while taking into account the possible views of a public which does not accept genetically modified organisms. as well as approaches which focus strictly on public strategy decisions, coordination flaws within clusters are also studied relative to appropriation conflicts: conflicts about the appropriation of resources, quasi-rents or monopoly rents (klein et al., 1978; zucker and darby, 1997; simonin, 1999; hamdouch and depret, 2001). in this case, it is the opportunism of actors in uncertain situations which is in question.some actors try to appropriate these rents individually, to the detriment of the others, thus taking advantage of the incompleteness of the rules of the game established at the outset. the problem, then, for the local authorities, is to find a management style which allows the harmonisation of conflicting interests while remaining aware that they are subject to strategic influencing (bonardi et al., 2005). these conflicts of interests can be explained, firstly, by the existence of aduality between cooperation and competition within the clusters. while this duality may be emulated (teece, 1989; gulati et al., 2000), it can also lead, in certain cases, to a free-riding type of opportunistic behaviour which manifests itself in the unequal acquisition of resources or collectively generated rents (nooteboom, 1999). this is a particularly frequent occurrence within biotechnology clusters because of their cross-sector nature (health, food-processing, environment) and also the 42 public/private negotiation and strategic co-evolution in a biocluster m@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 38 69 fragmented nature of their activities, as argyres and liebeskind (2002) demonstrate. indeed, the asymmetry of information, linked to the coexistence of the different types of logic at work in the different sectors (plant, animal, health, nanotechnologies), contributes to the emergence of opportunistic behaviours. these conflicts can thus be explained by the heterogeneity of the firms involved (saviotti, 1998; powell et al., 2005; roijakkers et al., 2005). the bioclusters, like the majority of clusters, are organised as dual markets, based on partnerships between big, international ‘leader’ firms and small and medium-sized companies. yet these partnerships can lead to unbalanced power relations, opportunistic behaviour and even distrust when a small company enters into a dependence situation in relation to a large group2.this results in instability which is sometimes ‘chronic’, and even the compartmentalisation of the links between small and large firms, which might cast doubt on the performance of the biotechnology clusters. finally, coordination flaws also arise from the simultaneously public and private, highly regulated and much debated nature of biotechnological innovation activities. numerous works, such as those of lawson (2004) and sherry and teece (2004), show that conflicts arise over the negotiation of ownership rights to research materials (fragments of dna) as well as the sharing of rents from the joint operation of licences. other studies, concentrating on network dynamics, deal with the question of ‘partial embeddedness’ between public and private spheres. owen-smith and powell (2003), for example, show that research laboratories have to establish a strategic equilibrium between academic priorities (precedence rule) and industrial priorities (secrets rule) in order to avoid ‘the danger of being captured – instrumentalised – by industrial interests’ (p. 1695). as suggested by chataway et al. (2004), leroux (2004) and rausser et al.(2000), stra tegic relations between firms and local authorities are above all asymmetric power relations. every appropriation conflict masks a power conflict (dockès, 1999), just as is the case with alliances, particularly asymmetric ones (yan and gray, 1994). working from stylised facts, leroux (2004) shows that firms develop negotiation strategies aimed at getting collectively generated resources and influencing the decisions of local authorities, guarantors of the general interest. if the firms develop more or less opportunistic strategies to get the quasi-rents for themselves, the local authorities are capable of expressing their discontent through a reduction in the allocation of public aid. neverth less, the firms can respond to this with a threat of disengagement. in this way, the relationship becomes one of negotiation in the face of ultimatum, and is characterised by uncertainty. the local authorities have to live with uncertainty surrounding the implantation on their territory of the firms concerned, and the firms with uncertainty surrounding the possibility of securing public resources. at this point, the local authorities are in a position where they must make concessions rather than be responsible for a company’s relocation. furthermore, these local authorities develop strategies to get the quasi-rents through taxing, or from encouraging the firms to finance local research. the income from taxes is then redistributed in different ways: direct 2. asymmetric alliances pose even more stability problems because of the asymmetry of gains which can result. whatever the nature of the gain that is sought through the alliance, there is always the risk that this gain will be less than the investment that is sought (kale et al., 2000). whether we look at a competences approach, or a transaction costs approach, the problem posed is clearly one of appropriation (prévot, 2007) and of opportunism, as proposed by williamson (1999). the risk of conflict remains, even alongside the effects of reputation and confidence (gulati, 1995 ; doz, 1996 ; dollinger et al., 1997). 43 isabelle leroux and alain berrom@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 38 69 finance (loans, subsidies) or indirect (exemptions); benefits in kind of a private nature (buildings) or public (infrastructure); staff services. complex and sometimes ambivalent negotiation strategies arise from these inter-organisational relations. the actors, firms and institutions thus find themselves in a doubly uncertain situation: uncertainty over the strategic behaviours of the partners in the short, medium and long term and uncertainty about the cluster’s regenerative ability. while these analyses greatly help to explain firm-institution conflicts, they only provide a snapshot of the most likely situations without de ling with their evolution over time, or their impact on cluster performance. this is a matter of looking at the links between the adaptation of opportunistic behaviours in uncertain situations and the biocluster’s vulnerability. from this perspective, the co-evolution approach can contribute to a dynamic analysis of mutual strategic adaptations within bioclusters. towards an approach to bioclusters based on strategic co-evolution co-evolution, in its widest sense, describes the transformations and reciprocal adaptations between two living species during the course of their evolution. from this viewpoint, the biocluster may be seen as a complex evolving system (nicolis and prigogine, 1994; janszen and degenaars, 1998). what is interesting in this approach is that it takes into account internal adaptation and decision-making mechanisms, both in their development and their reversal. based on such a variety of partnerships and strategies linking private and public players, though, the evolutionary trajectory of the cluster can prove to be unstable, or even, in some cases, chaotic (luukkonen, 2005; mangematin et al., 2003; stuart and sorenson, 2003). consequently, in the development of lines of questioning on evolutionary trajectories (mangematin et al., 2003) and on the strategic dimension of coordination (chataway et al., 2004; rausser et al., 2000; etzkowitz and leydesdorff, 2000), this a proach enables the dynamic analysis of actors’ strategies in uncertain situations. approaches which concentrate on strategic co-evolution within bioclusters are, in the literature, based on behavioural models from an evolutionary standpoint (arthur et al., 1997; kirman, 1997) directly linked to the cognitive paradigm (simon, 1955; walliser, 2000). five major principles govern these coordinations in such models : 1) the principle of the heterogeneity of the agents; 2) the variability principle, which matches the system’s endogenous capacity to produce new trajectories dependent on internal behavioural mutations; 3) the path dependency principle, which refers to learning effects and to auto-rei forcement mechanisms leading to some irreversibility in the evolutionary dynamic; 4) the inductive learning principle, according to which the agents are individually part of a cognitive problem-resolution process and learn and adapt their behaviour according to their experience; and 5) the situated rationality principle, according to which agents’ rationality is formed through interaction and leads to adaptive agents. the agents are thus part of the relations within which the formalisation of knowledge is ‘impregnated 44 public/private negotiation and strategic co-evolution in a biocluster m@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 38 69 with the singularity or the context’ (ponsard, 1994, p.171). every agent is viewed as an ‘acting’ subject in the sense that he constructs his own objectives in an intentional and contingent manner. the evolutionary approach is freed, therefore, from the fiction of the representative agent by replacing the notion of limited rationality with the notion of situated rationality (vriend, 2000). viewed from this evolutionary perspective, the biocluster can be understood as a complex, evolving system (nicolis and prigonine, 1994; janszen and degenaars, 1998). the interesting factor in this approach is that it takes account of internal mechanisms of adaptation and decision-making, concerning both their emergence and their reversal. however, the co-evolution models arising from this approach, even a ter numerous refinements, deal little with the appropriation strategies of public and private agents. the literature offers many models of network externalities, such as that of david et al. (1998), which summons up the neighbourliness of interactions to show the emergence of niche technologies, or the works of steyer and zimmermann (2004), who use a relational structure model to show how ‘leader’ agents influence the evolutionary trajectories of the cluster. other models show how altruistic behaviours can emerge in a cluster. mitteldorf and wilson (2000), for example, argue that dense links are important to the emergence of altruism. nevertheless, while these models make a big contribution to cluster analysis, they have difficulty in dealing in a linked way with the questions of mutual adaptation of strategies and of cluster viability in situations of behavioural uncertainty. this remains, therefore, a path to explore. in distinguishing firms’ motivations, which satisfy their private interests, and also the motivations of the local authorities, which satisfy the general interest, the question of the co-evolution of strategies aimed at appropriating resources is posed here. what opportunistic strategies are put into action by public and private actors in uncertain situations? how do these strategies evolve over time according to their impact on cluster performance? here it is necessary to open up a ne line of research into the strategic dynamics of bioclusters, and to extend the analysis to public decision-makers who are subject to firms’ influences. research methodology artificial life3 simulations are enjoying growing popularity in organisational science, as reported by the special editions of the american journal of sociology in 2005 and the academy of management review in 2007 attest (cartier and forgues, 2006 ; brabazon and o’neill, 2006; davis et al., 2007). the advantage of a simulation is that it enables researchers to study systematically the behavioural patterns to be integrated adaptively into their « world model » (marney and tarber, 2000; vriend, 2000). it consists of a simplified representation of reality which aims to establish links between start and end variables, and which can be used to explain a real situation or to predict outcomes (gilbert and troitzch, 1999). the simulation has a triple advantage (cartier and for3. artificial life was defined by langton in 1989 as the study of man-made systems which present behaviours characteristic of natural living systems. an artificial life system can reproduce itself ; an artificial life system is capable of adaptation. 45 isabelle leroux and alain berrom@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 38 69 gues, 2006; davis et al., 2007); it allows the simple formalisation of a complex reality and proves to be a powerful tool for the development of theory ; it allows proximity to the experimental conditions, and the study of different cause and effect relationships, by varying the model’s outset conditions; it is heuristic, and helps to generate findings by producing artefacts. artificial life heuristics stage interacting agents, whose actions are based on the rules of autonomous behaviour. natural selection then acts on these agents’ characteristics. the notion of emergence is at the core of the analysis, understood as the spontaneous appearance of a micro-regularity emerging from the interaction (arthur et al., 1997). artificial life assigns centrality to the interaction’s cognitive element, and more particularly to inductive learning. the agents are involved as individuals in a problem-solving process. they learn and adapt through a variety of cognitive processes which aim to convert the information – resulting from the experiment in a complex and changing environment – into action. simulations are constructed based on different methods. the most frequently used are cellular robots, multi-agent systems and genetic algorithms. cellular robots were born of von neumann’s (1966) work on self-replicating systems. today, they are widely used in research on neighbourly interactions, and are particularly suited to the study of local phenomena or competitive market situations (roehrich, 2006). multiagent systems are physical or virtual entities which act in communication with other agents. each agent optimises individual objectives according to available resources and to his perception of the environment (ferber, 1995; wilensky, 2000). this kind of method is applied to concrete problems such as search engines in electronic commerce (cartier and forgues, 2006). genetic algorithms (holland, 1975) are also much used in management science for modelling emerging complex phenomena. considered the most standard tools, they consist of the instrumentalisation of an optimising function (goldberg, 1989) and are based on mutation and crossover operators. from a technical point of view, the principle of the genetic algorithm is to set up an initial population of individuals which then have to evolve and reproduce according to a natural selection process leading to progressively better adapted individuals. in management, they are used to represent the organisation, each gene representing a characteristic of the organisation or of its constituent agents. the internal validity of the results of these different methods has been tested in numerous studies. according to masuch and lapotin (1989), the simulation enables the certain identification of causal relations. external validity is harder to determine with this type of method. as cartier and forgues (2006) observe, it is necessary to ensure beforehand that the results are not dependent on the model’s principal parameters. moreover, it is necessary to be sure of the representativeness of the simulated reality, aligning significantly with field observations (cartier and forgues, 2006). 46 public/private negotiation and strategic co-evolution in a biocluster m@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 38 69 design of the simulation model the simulation model presented here is the simplified metaphor of a biocluster. it is a schematic model (thietart, 2003) in the sense that relationship notions are here restricted only to firms’ and local authorities’ strategies. it does not attempt to recognise the totality of the research object, which is the cluster, but simply the public/private strategic interactions and their co-evolution. the preferred method within this research is an artificial life simulation based on a genetic algorithm involving mutating and crossover operators (holland, 1975; goldberg, 1989). the advantage of the algorithm is that it enables agents systematically to research behavioural coherence to be integrated adaptively into their world model, so that they can pick up any emerging micro-regularities (marney and tarber, 2000; vriend, 2000). here, the behaviour of the firms and institutions is formalised through a games theory approach. there are two reasons for this choice of theoretical model. first, the internal validity of game theory models has been widely tested (ellingsen, 1997). it constitutes a robust mathem tical approach for strategy problems in operational research and economics. second, it contributes to the study of the behaviour of individuals facing antagonistic situations. it demonstrates more precisely the variety of rational strategies possible in situations where an actor’s gains depend not only on his behaviour and the rules of the game but also on that of the other participants, who may pursue different or contradictory objectives (schelling, 1960). the model is described here according to the narrative method, which consists of deconstructing every action of the agents and reconstituting each one of them in the global adaptive process. according to goldspink (2002), it is the most appropriate method for presenting the design of simulation models specifying rigorously the nature of the interactions between agents. strategic interactions within a biocluster or ‘world model’ in the model offered here, the actors negotiate for a share of a quasi-rent, represented by a cake. it is artificial life modelling of a game of demand under ultimatum, making players interact and negotiate in pairs (ellingsen, 1997). thus, when the players respectively want to get a large portion of the cake, by more or less opportunistic means, the negotiation fails. in the opposite case, everyone goes away with the requested portion. the firms are modelled as ‘obstinate’ agents (obs), whose demands are independent of those of their adversaries. as they participate in the performance of the cluster, they want to get a share of the cake that they decide themselves according to their profitability objectives and their opportunistic tendencies. some of them ask for a major part of the cake (more than 50%), while others ask for a portion less than or equal to 50%. the local authorities are modelled as ‘sophisticated’ agents (soph) which adapt their demands to the expectations of their adversaries rather than meeting with failure. as guarantors of the general interest they choose to adapt to the firms’ demands in situations of uncertainty over the future of the latter. they have a tendency, then, to make ‘concessions’, their objective being to encourage the implantation of 47 isabelle leroux and alain berrom@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 38 69 these firms on their territory, to stimulate local research partnerships and thus to support territorial performance. nevertheless, they remain under the ultimatum of the firms who, when they want to influence the local authorities, threaten to disengage. furthermore, when two local authorities negotiate together, they share the cake 50-50. this equal share is in keeping with their wish to preserve the general interest and avoid any conflict. determining the demand each firm’s demand di is based on two constituents, the expected size of the cake, and the portion requested : the strategy consisting of demanding di with i = 0.5 is called the fair strategy which a portion such as i > 0.5 is demanded is called a greedy strategy. other strategies, such as i < 0.5, they are called modest strategies. local institutions, whose strategy is marked r, are able to observe the adversary’s demand strategy and to adapt their demand to the expected demand of this adversary rather than endure a failure. consequently, when an institution meets a firm demanding di, it makes the following demand dr : dr = tegr di avec dr ≥ 0 as with the firms, the institutions can also be led to failure if they overestimate the size of the cake. the payment function if firm i demands di and firm j demands dj, then player i gets the following payment : пij = di if di + dj ≤ t, 0 otherwise if the sum of di and dj exceeds the real size of the cake t, the negotiation fails, and the two players win nothing. in the opposite case the surpluses are lost, and thus a badly judged negotiation thus contributes the waste of collective gains within the cluster. when an institution negotiates with a firm it obtains пri = tegr – di if tegr ≤ t and di ≤ t 48 public/private negotiation and strategic co-evolution in a biocluster m@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 38 69 and when two institutions negotiate, they obtain : пr1r2 = tegr1/2 si (tegr1+tegr2)/2 ≤ t the payment matrix is shown below. table 1. payment matrix obstinate di sophisticated r1 obstinate dj sophisticated r2 di dj di tegr2-di tegr1-dj dj tegr1/2 tegr2/2 implementation of the genetic algorithm and model validity internal validity of the model was sought through the use of three means: the choice of the algorithm and its sequentiality; the robustness of the chosen parameters; the behavioural structure of the game. the genetic algorithm, whose sequentiality is described in appendix i, consists of an optimising function (goldberg, 1989) into which three evolution operators, selection / crossover / mutation are introduced. these operators have a double function (schoenauer et al., 1996): the genetic process exploits the already-known neighbouring zones and simultaneously explores all the unknown zones beyond this proximity (eve dilemma – exploitation versus exploration). the choice of a genetic algorithm suits this research work’s objective, to be able to analyse the adaptive dynamic of different populations of agents, and to identify the mechanisms affecting this adaptation process and the emergence of micro-regularities (bruderer and singh, 1996; davis et al., 2007)4 . thus each agent is determined by its genotype (appendix 1), which consists of both the expected size of the cake and its sharing strategy. in the model, the population of firms and institutions amounts to 1000 agents, which corresponds to a real, medium-sized cluster5. the initial size of the cake is t = 1 and the variation interval is [0.1; 2.0]. this finite interval is intended to reinforce the model’s realism, since a cluster cannot grow exponentially. the population of firms and obstinate agents (obs) is divided into seven profiles represented by discrete intervals (table 2) between 0 and 100. the choice of seven profiles is large enough to ensure technically the representativeness of possible demands, while guaranteeing the legibility of the results on a histogram. strength tests carried out on fifteen profiles produced identical results (figure 6 appendix 3) but reduced the legibility of the graphs. each profile was arbitrarily fixed and corresponds to the portion of cake demanded. table 2. the seven profiles of firms profile name explanation profile type obs 7 obs 21 obs 35 obs 50 obs 64 obs 78 obs 92 firms whose demand is 7 % firms whose demand is 21 % firms whose demand is 35 % firms whose demand is 50 % firms whose demand is 64 % firms whose demand is 78 % firms whose demand is 92 % modest fair greedy 4. we invite the reader to refer to these two key articles presenting in-depth analyses of the validity of different tools used in artificial life. 5. table 3 in annexe 2 offers a synthesis of the parameters used in the different simulations. 49 isabelle leroux and alain berrom@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 38 69 the simulations were based on the following evolutionary parameters : a rate of mutation of 10% ; a crossover rate of 50% ; the initial distribution of each profile (obs and soph) was 12,5% at the game’s outset. according to schoenauer et al.’s internal validity tests (1996), the choice of these parameters allows the maintenance of both of selective pressure on the population so as to ensure the convergence of the algorithm, and also of the genetic diversity of the population so as to avoid too a rapid convergence, because every algorithm risks generating an excessive duplication of certain individuals which generate high gains. in this way, the loss of genetic diversity can bias the evolutionary process. the technical solution is to introduce, exogenously, a continuous rate of mutation. the ideal mutation rate is fixed at 10% for this technical reason, which is well identified in computer science research (schoenauer et al., 1996). as for robustness, different mutation rates were tested, from 5% to 12,5%, which brought about no change to these results (figure 7, annexe 3). at 2,5% the results were distorted by early convergences ; from 15% the mutation rate disturbed the convergence of the algorithm and, furthermore, rendered the graphs illegible (figure 7, annexe 3). the crossover rate was fixed at 50%, in keeping with classic robustness references (schoenauer et al., 1996). it corresponds to a so-called ‘sexual’ reproduction of the population of agents: pairs of individuals – ‘parents’ – generate ‘child’ individuals by a genetic process focused on teg. a rate of 50% is usually chosen to maintain the diversity of the population while allowing the convergence of the algorithm: too weak a reproduction rate for the agents prevents the learning process from happening; on the other hand, a crossover parameter of more than 50% contributes to precocious convergence of the algorithm. even if there are numerous interconnections, the agents do not systematically negotiate with the whole population, but only with certain partners when this proves to be necessary. consequently, at each negotiating round, the agents negotiate with a representative sample of 10% of the total population. then every agent is assessed according to the gains he is capable of generating. in this artificial world, certain agents are linked by a so-called relational proximity (grossetti, 1998). as porter (1998) shows, the cluster is based on interconnected networks of firms and institutions. the hypothesis that certain agents have more direct relationships with each other informs the integration of this characteristic into the simulation model. thus, although firms and institutions negotiate with all the members of the cluster (notation phase), they only exchange information about the size of the cake with partners they have noticed adopting the same strategy as them during the negotiation phase (crossover phase). consequently, while some agents are unable to recognise their adversary’s strategy at the beginning, they can, nevertheless, learn it from experience during the negotiation process through trial and error. this relational proximity established between agents who opt for similar strategies enables them selectively to exchange information and places them in a single strategic approach. 50 public/private negotiation and strategic co-evolution in a biocluster m@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 38 69 the model’s internal validity is also reinforced by the structure of the ultimatum game. this enables the clear and systematic identification of the links between agents’ behaviour and the gains that they generate, that is, the causal relations during an algorithmic sequence (goldspink, 2002). in this ultimatum game, every instance of strategic interaction and all gains generated by agents negotiating two by two are explicit and readily identifiable in the payment matrix (table 1). in terms of external validity, great importance is attributed to the repr sentativeness of the model, which depends on the stylised facts described earlier (rausser et al., 2000; chataway et al., 2004; leroux, 2004) and aims to be as close to reality as possible. however, it is quite obvious that this type of model, as is currently being debated, would be unable to create an identical reproduction of reality since, as stated at the beginning of this section, it is a schematic model. nevertheless, its strength is its ability to restrict the analysis to modes of interaction that can be isolated to facilitate the identification of evolution and to observe endogenously generated artefacts. as argued in the works of axelrod (1997), any simulation integrating non-linear evolution processes poses the problem of path depende cy. thus, a simulation can be found to be conditioned by sensitivity to the initial conditions, the system’s response to an endogenous distu bance being dependent on the model’s structure and the sequential adaptation process. no one simulation, then, will be identical to another. a research work based on this methodology generally reveals a weaker generalisation property than classic statistical analysis (goldspink, 2002). its external validity should therefore be moderated according to this sensitivity. however, and this is a significant subject of debate in the social sciences, the authors support the view of axelrod (1997) according to which a simulation’s interest is not in its ability to develop exact predictions, which are valid in all circumstances. the strength of a simulation such as the one used here is that it enables the identification of typical behaviours within a system of agents which constitutes a metaphorical world and whose results are a valuable example of behavioural analysis. it provides elements to identify the emergence conditions of microb havioural regularities in a system of co-evolving actors, thus building up analytical elements that the researcher can use in the reality of a cluster. it remains true that the external validity of a simulation can be improved. according to axelrod (1997) and goldspink (2002), it is imperative to relaunch the simulations and to develop statistical an lyses of the results in order to have the most exact identification possible of the different emerging micro-regularities. from this viewpoint, every simulation should be systematically repeated a thousand times, in such a manner as to be sure of the emerging results. for each simulation, the equilibria between the different populations of agents can be identified using a statistical recognition technique (described in appendix 1), thus avoiding any error in the interpretation of the results. 51 isabelle leroux and alain berrom@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 38 69 results as cartier and forgues (2006) assert, the advantage of a simulation is that it enables the variation of the starting conditions, or of the exogenous rules of the game, in order to analyse the effect on the final result. consequently, the results presented here are those that emerged from three simulations which were gradually increased in complexity. in a cordance with the initial questions being examined, these three simulations aim to find out the mechanisms of firm-institution strategic co-evolution in uncertain situations: (1) the aim of the first simulation (s1) was to study the strategic co-evolution of the firms and institutions in the absence of uncertainty over the size of the cake, in such a way as to be able to compare this certain situation with situations characterised by uncertainty; (2) the aim of the second simulation was to study the strategic co-evolution of the firms and institutions when uncertainty about the size of the cake was introduced; (3) the aim of the third simulation was to study the strategic co-evolution of the firms and institutions in the presence of both uncertainty about the size of the cake and of opportunistic behaviours contributing to a reduction in cluster performance. simulation s1: the size of the cake is known and invariable the size of the cake is t = 1 and does not change during the negotiation process. the simulation enables observation of the strategies adopted by the agents, their co-evolution and possible changes of direction, stage by stage, over 500 periods or generations. the simulations were relaunched a thousand times and turned out the same way in 100% of cases. the results show that the negotiation strategies evolve in two distinct phases (figure 1). first, the local institutions constituted the majority of the total population during the first 20 periods. these negotiations ended in equal shares of the cake, that is 50/50. then, this very large presence of concession-making institutions contributed to the emergence of the greediest strategies (92% of the cake) which constituted, in the end, the majority of the population represented, besides a small proportion of firms whose demand was 78%. with no uncertainty about the size of the cake, then, it can be seen that the most opportunistic strategies take the lead in the negotiations. the local institutions are not unfamiliar with this, and unintentionally play a distributive: in making concessions they contribute to the increase in the most opportunistic strategies to the detriment of fair or modest strategies. s1 outcome results: when the quasi-rents are known and stable over time, the firms tend to opt for very opportunistic strategies. in this, they rely on the concession-making institutions which involuntarily play a distributive role. 52 public/private negotiation and strategic co-evolution in a biocluster m@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 38 69 figure 1. example of the evolution of negotiation strategies adopted by the agents in simulation s1 simulation s2: the size of the cake is unknown which leads to uncertainty the size of the cake is unknown and the agents have to estimate it. any overestimation will be damaging to them, this being an ultimatum game. here the firms and the institutions have an endogenous capacity to modify their respective demands d. they estimate the size of the cake according to a learning process focused on teg and made possible through recourse to mutating and crossover operators. in this way, each agent has the capacity to assess teg, and every new assessment leads to a modification of demand d. the chance of failure is high, therefore, since the agents can overestimate or underestimate the size of the cake. this, however, is fixed at t = 1. the launching of 1000 simulations produced the following resulting variations (figure 2): i) in 46,2% of cases the negotiation process stabilised around the most opportunistic firms, whose demand was 92%, and the local institutions. as in simulation 1, the most opportunistic strategies were made possible due to the strength of the presence of local institutions during the first phases of the process. ii) in 29,6% of cases, the negotiation process stabilised around the firms whose demands amounted to either 78% or 64% on one side, and the local institutions on the other. 53 isabelle leroux and alain berrom@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 38 69 iii) in 22,4% of cases, the negotiation stabilised around the firms whose demands are described as fair, that is 50% of the cake, and the local institutions. iv) in 1% of cases, the negotiation process stabilised around the firms whose demand amounted to 35% of the cake. in these very rare cases, the local institutions disappeared, to the benefit of the firms making the most modest or fair demands. v) in 0,8% of cases, an evolutionary process accident can be seen, which makes it impossible to interpret the results of the simulation, and which constitutes an incompressible error margin. figure 2. percentage of equilibria obtained between sophisticated and obstinate over 1 000 simulations s2 when the size of the cake is unknown and the agents have to estimate it, the results vary and depend on the endogenous capacity of these agents to find it as quickly as possible. the winners are those who make the nearest assessment as quickly as possible, while also exchanging this information with the partners who have the lowest failure record in the evaluation process. in 46.2% of these simulated cases, the most opportunistic firms very rapidly drew benefit from the large presence of local institutions in the first 40 periods (figure 3). in the other cases, the majority, the development of much more cautious strategies can be seen. in the absence of precise knowledge about the real size of the cake, the firms made less opportunistic demands. the role of the local institutions remained just as important in this simulation because they reduced the possibility of failure in the phase of assessment of the size of the cake. in this way, when the size of the cake was unknown, the institutions also played a distributive role. in very rare cases (1%), the firms whose strategies were the most modest were able to survive without the local institutions, as they themselves played a distributive role. s2 outcome results: generally, the firms develop less opportunistic strategies in situations of uncertainty about future collective benefits, while taking advantage of «the concession-making» institutions. 54 public/private negotiation and strategic co-evolution in a biocluster m@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 38 69 figure 3. example of a negotiation process stabilising around the most opportunistic sophisticated and obstinate profiles, s2 simulation simulation s3: the size of the cake varies according to the strategies adopted the size of the cake, which here is analogous to the cluster’s performance, becomes variable. the suggested is that when a firm opts for opportunistic strategies leading to the failure of the negotiation, this contributes to the reduction of the size of this cake. conversely, when the agents choose strategies which are less opportunistic, or only slightly opportunistic, this contributes to the augmentation of the size of the cake. it is therefore necessary to observe how the strategies coevolve in these conditions, which of these strategies will be developed, and what the role of the institutions is going to be. in technical terms, a parameter called influence k was applied to t. if in the previous round (n 1) the number of successful negotiations was greater than the number of failures, then t increased from 0.01. in the opposite case, it reduced from 0.01. the choice of this parameter k = 0.01 was arbitrarily fixed at a low level. the objective was to establish a causal link between the agents’ behaviour and the modification of the size of the cake, without provoking a radical collapse of the system. the underlying hypothesis is that coordination flaws can cause a disturbance in the system, but cannot cause its total collapse as may be the case at the time of a major economic crisis (buyers backing out, etc.). the results show that the agents adapted their behaviour according to its impact on the size of the cake. because of this, the negotiation pro55 isabelle leroux and alain berrom@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 38 69 cess did not stabilise over time and evolved according to different phases (figure 4). the firms modified their behaviour in such a way as to maintain the size of the cake or make it grow. they opted for cautious, fair or modest behaviours when this outcome was threatened (when it shrank dramatically) and opted for the most opportunistic strategies when the cake reached a size close to the upper limit. figure 4. example of the evolution of negotiation strategies, simulation s3 for example, period [275; 375] is marked out by a considerable presence of cautious firms whose demand was 64% (figure 5). these cautious behaviours contribute significantly to the growth of the cake to the upper limit. once this was achieved, a change from cautious strategies of 64% to highly optimistic strategies of 92% could be seen. however, this was made possible by the presence of the local institutions which contributed to the reduction of negotiation failures, consequently avoiding any radical reduction in cluster performance. thus, when the latter was threatened by behaviours which were largely too opportunistic, the local institutions emerged and played a regulatory role, allowing the cake to grow again. in this simulation, the performance of the cluster was maintained thanks to the local institutions. s3 outcome results: when there is uncertainty about the gains that may be generated, and the cluster performance is threatened, the local authorities help to compensate for the effects of the most opportunistic behaviours. 56 public/private negotiation and strategic co-evolution in a biocluster m@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 38 69 figure 5. evolution during period [275 ; 375], simulation s3 discussion these simulations provide some factors upon which to reflect concerning firm-institution strategic co-evolution within a biocluster. broadly speaking, the co-evolution approach contributes to an initial consideration of the phasing dynamics of negotiation strategies within a biocluster. the agents adjust their strategies according to the effects of their own behaviour on the performance of the system. this type of simulation model could be very useful for further investigation into the coordination relations intrinsic to bioclusters, which until now have been difficult to grasp (chataway et al., 2004; saviotti, 1998). whereas the model’s internal validity hinges on the adoption of crossed validation factors, its external validity needs to be dealt with in a particular way because of the path dependency phenomenon inherent in all non-linear simulations. more precisely, the representativeness of the model was understood on two levels. at the micro-behavioural level, conformity of the modelled behaviour of the firms and institutions to reality was ensured by drawing on stylised facts developed by chataway et al., (2004), leroux (2004) and rausser et al. (2000). at the level of emerging regularities, the results correspond to the real behaviours resulting from interaction within clusters: behavioural phase dynamics and strategy reversal and collective management of uncertainty and its possible op57 isabelle leroux and alain berrom@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 38 69 portunistic exploitation. as axelrod (1997) points out, the systematic statistical analysis of results contributes to a very precise identification of the situated behavioural micro-regularities. these micro-regularities constitute as many new analytical elements as the researcher in management could find in the real situation of a cluster. the results moderate the hypothesis according to which the principle of cooperation-competition systematically produces emulation (teece, 1989) and they raise the question of the vulnerability of clusters. the artificial life paradigm thus allows stage by stage observation of how the agents instrumentalise their relations (owen-smith and powell, 2003) and modify their strategies in a complex and changing environment. at any moment, a system accident, seen as an artefact, may considerably challenge the cluster’s evolution dynamic. here we are opening up a line of thought on the link between the nature of inter-organisational strategic relations and the cluster’s potential vulnerability. these simulations also enable an exploration of the very complex relations linking the firms and the local public institutions while also casting light on their regulatory role. implicitly, it appears that the latter have a power that one could associate with the power of the weak presented by schelling (1960) and underlined by dockès (1999). this is because, without the institutions, the durability of the cluster could not have been assured in simulation s3. they are the key figures in strategic coordination, even if the situation (withdrawal threats and concessions) is not in their favour at the outset. later, the model confirms one of the major ambiguities which can be found in stylised facts, and which concerns the public/private relationships in a biocluster (leroux, 2004). on the one hand, the local institutions bring the firms their aid, particularly financial aid, so as to encourage their establishment locally. on the other hand, this support frequently contributes to the emergence of opportunistic strategies, the firms gaining the most benefit being those with great negotiation power due to their credible threat strategies. this then opens a line of research devoted to questions of territorial governance and strategic management in uncertain situations (powell et al., 2005; gulati et al., 2000). from a management point of view, particularly where public-sector management is concerned, the task of the researchers is to engage in reflection on the nature of systemic risks with the aim of offering local authorities a better understanding of the strategic relations in clusters. however, while the studies conducted thus far emphasise the importance of uncertainty to the behaviour of firms in a cooperation-competition context (argyres and liebeskind, 2002) and heterogeneity (saviotti, 1998; powell et al., 2005; roijakkers et al., 2005), these simulations assist in refining their role in the coordinations. when the firms are in a situation of uncertainty concerning the gains that might be generated, they tend to opt for less opportunistic appropriation behaviours. if the public actor does not want to be subject to pressure by the more powerful groups (bonardi et al., 2005), it could be in his interest to withold some information on the gains which may be collectively produced and redistributed. a line of thought opens up here: should the public actor 58 public/private negotiation and strategic co-evolution in a biocluster m@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 38 69 maintain a certain level of uncertainty to reduce the risk that opportunistic behaviours might emerge? however, these simulations can be refined technically. the first refinement would be to include more heterogeneous agents (e.g.research laboratories) and interactions in order to reinforce the model’s realism. the second refinement is the integration of geographic proximity to allow the study of the impact of distance on actors’ strategies. furthermore, this simulation model paves the way to new explorations of the nature of public/private conflicts within the bioclusters. a suitable approach would be to develop longitudinal empirical analyses from a sample of several clusters, so as to achieve a deeper analysis of those conflicts, the resolution processes adopted, and the impacts on the evolution of the system. conclusion the objective of this article was to use the results of artificial life simulations to understand the strategic co-evolution of the firms and institutions in a biocluster, when there is behavioural uncertainty. considering the research trails developed and the refinements possible, the analysis and discussion of the results consist of three principal classes of implications: theoretical, methodological and practical. from the theoretical viewpoint, this research contributes to reflections on the vulnerability of clusters, approaching the subject not from a structural perspective focused on the phenomena of technological diffusion, but in the context of the strategic paradigm. the simulations enable a better understanding of the public/private actors’ games by adopting an innovative approach to the role of behavioural uncertainty in strategic decisions. moreover, they help in the analysis of conflict, power and the definition of the strategic rules of the game which are endogenous to a complex evolving system. this approach allows, for example, a glimpse of possible new ways of understanding the alliances, particularly for explaining competition phenomena or to shed new light on asymmetric alliances and their co-evolution. from the methodological viewpoint, the simulation proved to be a powerful and original research method, even though it is still underused in management science. genetic algorithms are particularly suited to the analysis of emerging strategic phenomena, as is argued in the work of lee et al. (2002) on the maintenance of strategic groups, or studies from marketing (roehrich, 2006) mentioned previously. a promising line of research is opened up for researchers in management who want to involve themselves more in research on the strategies of actors within clusters in general. from the practical viewpoint, this simulation continues the work carried out on the relations between firms and institutions and the strategies for the sharing of gains. for this reason, it allows a better understanding of the way local authorities manage resources and how it may be possible to exploit uncertainty to reduce the risks of opportunism. the trains of thought which follow from this fit naturally into the current question of the management of 59 isabelle leroux and alain berrom@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 38 69 competitive poles / french clusters (oecd summary, 2007), that is, the role of public actors in the creation of conditions that are favourable to cooperation and innovation. isabelle leroux is a lecturer in industrial economics at angers university in france. her research, at the intersection of economics and management, deals with the analysis of territory governance as well as the strategic analysis of firms and local governments’ behaviour. more specifically, she works on strategic alliances, coalitions and bargaining games in local networks. the application of her work is mainly in competitive clustering; however, she also works on strategic networks in social economics. alain berro is a lecturer in computer science at toulouse capitole university in france. his main research interests are multi-objective optimisations and optimisations in dynamic environments. his analyses are focused on the study of robustness tests and on the improvement of the different existing methods of optimisation. his research lead to new heuristics based on evolutionary techniques applied to economic and managerial problems. acknowledgements : first, we would like to thank alain desreumaux and the reviewers and sub-editors of m@n@gement, who contributed to many improvements since the initial paper and simulation. we are also keen to thank frédérique chédotel from tours university, paul muller from haute alsace university, camille baulant from angers university and eric rigamonti from essca angers business school for the precious advice they gave us at the various stages of writing and reviewing. 60 public/private negotiation and strategic co-evolution in a biocluster m@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 38 69 references . argyres, n., and liebeskind j. (2002). governance inseparability and the evolution of us biotechnology industry, journal of economic behavior and organization, 47, 197-219. . arthur, b. (1994). increasing returns and path dependence in the economy. ann arbor; university of michigan press. . arthur, w. b., durlauf, s. n., and lane, d. (1997). the economy as an evolving complex system ii, sfi studies in the sciences of complexity, 27, addison-westley. . axelrod, r. m. (1997). the complexity of cooperation: agentbased models of competition and collaboration, princeton university press. . berro, a., and leroux i. (2005). a simulation of strategic bargainings within industrial clusters : towards the « power of the weak » emergence ? , 45th congress of the european regional science association, 23-27 august, amsterdam. . bonardi, j. p., hillman, a. j., and keim, g. d. (2005). the attractiveness of political markets : implications for firm strategy, academy of management review, 30(2), 397413. . bourguin, g., and derycke, a. (2005), systèmes interactifs en co-évolution. réflexions sur les apports de la théorie de l’activité au support des pratiques collectives distribuées, revue d’interaction homme-machine, 6(1), 1-31. . brabazon, a., and o’neill, m. (2006). biologically inspired algorithms for financial modelling. berlin: springer. . brenner, t. (2001). simulating the evolution of localised industrial clusters. an identification of the basic mechanisms, journal of artificial societies and social simulation, 4(3). . brezis , e. s., krugman, p., and tsiddon, d. (1993). leapfrogging in international competition : a theory of cycles in national technological leadership, american economic review, 83(5), 1211-1219. . bruderer, e., and singh, j. s. (1996). organizational evolution, learning and selection : a genetic-algorithm-based model, academy of management journal, 39, 1322-1349. . cartier, m., a and forgues, b. (2006). intérêt de la simulation pour les sciences de gestion, revue française de gestion, 6(165), 125-137. . chataway, j., tait, j., and wield, d. (2004). understanding company r&d strategies in agro-biotechnology : trajectories and blind spots, research policy, 33, 1041-1057. . dasgupta, p., and david, p. (1994). toward a new economics of science, research policy, 23, 487-521. . david, p. a., foray, d., and dalle, j. m. (1998). marshallian externalities and the emergence and spatial stability of technological enclaves, economics of innovation and new technology, 6(2 & 3), 147-182. . davis, j. p., eisenhardt, k. m., and bingham, c. b. (2007). developing theory through simulation methods, academy of management review, 32(2), 480-499. . dockès, p. (1999). pouvoir et autorité en économie, economica, paris. . dollinger, m. j., golden p. a., and saxton, t. (1997). the effect of reputation on the decision to joint venture, strategic management journal, 18(2), 127-140. . doz, y. l. (1996). the evolution of cooperation in strategic alliances : initial conditions or learning processes, strategic management journal, 17, 55-83. . dyer, j., and singh, h. (1998), the relational view : cooperative strategy and sources of interorganizational competitive advantage, academy of management review, 23, 660-679. . ellingsen, t. (1997). the evolution of bargaining behavior, quaterly journal of economics, 112(2), 581-602. 61 isabelle leroux and alain berrom@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 38 69 . etzkowitz, h., and leydesdorff, l. (2000). the dynamics of innovation : from national systems and mode 2 to a triple helix of university-industry-government relations, research policy, 29, 109-123. . feldman, m. p., and massard, n. (2002). institutions and systems in the geography of innovation, berlin: springer. . ferber, j. (1995). les systèmes multi-agents, vers une intelligence collective. paris: intereditions. . gaffard, j. l. (1990). economie industrielle et de l’innovation, paris: précis dalloz . gilbert, n., and troitzsch, k. (1999). simulation for the social scientist. philadelphia; open university press. . goldberg, d. e. (1989). genetic algorithms in search, optimization and machine learning, reading, ma : addison-wesley. . goldspink, c. (2002). methodological implications of complex systems approaches to sociality : simulation as a foundation for knowledge, journal of artificial societies and social simulation, 5(1). . grossetti, m. (1998). la proximité en sociologie : une réflexion à partir des systèmes sociaux d’innovation. in m. bellet, t. kirat & c. largeronleteno (eds), proximités : approches multiformes (pp.83-100). lyon: editions hermès. . gulati, r. (1995). does familiarity breed trust ? the implications of repeated ties on contractual choice in alliances, academy of management journal, 38, 85-112. . gulati, r., nohria, n., and zaheer, a. (2000); strategic networks, strategic management journal, 21(3), 203-215. . hamdouch, a., and depret, m. h. (2001); la nouvelle économie industrielle de la pharmacie. structures industrielles, dynamiques d’innovation et stratégies commerciales, biocampus, elsevier, paris. . holland, j. h. (1975). adaptation in natural and artificial systems : an introduction with application to biology, control and artificial intelligence, ann arbor; university of michigan press. . janszen, f., and degenaar, g. (1998). a dynamic analysis of the relations between the structure and the process of national systems of innovation using computer simulation; the case of dutch biotechnological sector, research policy, 27, 37-54. . kale, p., singh h., and perlmutter, h. (2000). learning and protection of proprietary assets in strategic alliances : building relational capital, strategic management journal, 21, 217-237. . kirman, a. p. (1997). the economy as an interactive system. in w. b. arthur, s. n. durlauf & d. lane (eds), the economy as an evolving complex system ii, sfi studies in the sciences of complexity, 27 (pp. 491531). santa fe: addison-wesley. . klein, b., crawford, g., and alchian, a. (1978). vertical integration, appropriable rents and the competitive contracting process, journal of law and economics, 21, 297-326. . knuth, d. (1998). the art of computer programming, 3, addison-wesley, united-states. . koza, m. p., and lewin, a. y. (1998). the co-evolution of strategic alliances, organization science, 9(3), 255-264. . krugman, p., (1991). history and industry location. the case of manufacturing belt, american economic review, 81, 80-83. . langton, c. g. (1989). artificial life, the proceedings of an interdisciplinary workshop on the synthesis and simulation of living systems held. santa fe institute in the sciences of complexity : addison-wesley . lawson, c. (2004). patenting genetic materials’ unresolved issues and promoting competition in biotechnology, information economics and policy, 16, 92-112. . lee, j., lee, k., and rho, s. (2002). an evolutionary perspective on strategic group emergence : a genetic algorithmbased model, strategic management journal, 23, 727-746. . lehrer, m., and asakawa, k. (2004). rethinking the public sector : idiosyncrasies of biotechnology commercialization, research policy, 33, 921-938. 62 public/private negotiation and strategic co-evolution in a biocluster m@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 38 69 . leroux, i. (2004). les ambivalences des coordinations locales entre négociation, conflits et enjeux de pouvoir. le cas des partenariats constitutifs d’une génopole à toulouse, revue d’economie régionale et urbaine, 4, 513-538. . lewin, a. y., and volberda, h. w. (1999). prolegomena on coevolution : a framework for research on strategy and new organizational forms», organization science, 10(5), 519-534. . luukkonen, t. (2005). variability in organisational forms of biotechnology firms, research policy, 34, 555-570. . mangematin, v., lemarié, s., boissin, jp., catherine, d., corolleur, f., coronini, r., and trommetter, m. (2003). development of smes and heterogeneity of trajectories : the case of biotechnology in france, research policy, 32, 621-638. . masuch m., and lapotin, p. (1989). beyond garbage cans : an ai model of organizational choice, administrative science quaterly, 34(1), 38-67. . marney, j. p., and tarber, f. e. (2000). why do simulation? towards a working epistemology for practitioners of the dark arts, journal of artificial societies and social simulations, 4(3), october. . mitteldorf, j., and wilson, d. s. (2000). population viscosity and the evolution of altruism, journal of theoretical biology, 204, 481-496. . nooteboom, b. (1999). the dynamic efficiency of networks, in grandori (ed), interfirm networks : organization and industrial competitiveness, london routhledge, 91-119. . nicolis, g., and prigogine, i. (1994). the fourth european framework program and research on complex systems, the university facing up its european responsabilities, pisa, 23-26, november. . ocde (2007). vers des pôles d’activités dynamiques : politiques nationales, synthèse, juin. . owen-smith, j., and powell, w. (2003). the expanding role of university patenting in the life sciences : assessing the importance of experience and connectivity, research policy, 32, 1695-1711. . ponssard, j. p. (1994). formalisation des connaissances, apprentissage organisationnel et rationalité interactive, in orléans a. (sous la direction de), analyse économique des conventions, puf economie, paris, 169-187. . porter, m. (1998). clusters and the new economics of competition, harvard business review, 76, 77-90. . powell, w., white, d., koput, k., and owen-smith, j. (2005). network dynamics and field evolution : the growth of interorganizational collaboration in the life sciences, american journal of sociology, 110(4), 11321205. . prévot, f. (2007). coopetition et management des compétences, revue française de gestion, 176, 183-202. . rausser, g., simon, l., and ameden, h. (2000). public-private alliances in biotechnology. can they narrow the knowledge gaps between rich and poor ?, food policy, 25, 499-513. . roehrich, g. (2006). simulation du marché et de la concurrence par les automates cellulaires, international congress « marketing trends », venice, 20th-21st january. . roijakkers, n., hagedoorn, j., and van kranenburg, h. (2005). dual market structures and the likelihood of repeated ties – evidence from pharmaceutical biotechnology, research policy, 34, 235-245. . saviotti, p. (1998), industrial structure and the dynamics of knowledge generation in biotechnology, in senker (ed), biotechnology and competitive advantage, edward elgar, cheltenham, 9-43. . schelling, t. (1960). the strategy of conflict, harvard college: harvard university press. . schoenauer, m., sebag, m., jouve, f., lamy, b., and maitournam, h. (1996). evolutionary identification of macromechanical models. in p.-j. angeline & k.-e. kinnear jr. (eds), advances in genetic programming ii (pp.467-488). cambridge, ma: mit press. 63 isabelle leroux and alain berrom@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 38 69 . sherry, e., and teece, d. (2004). royalties, evolving patent rights, and the value of innovation, research policy, 33, 179-191. . simon, h. (1955). a behavioral model of rational choice, quaterly journal of economics, 69, 99118. . simonin, b. l. (1999). ambiguity and the process of knowledge transfer in strategic alliances, strategic management journal, 20, 595-623. . steyer, a., and zimmermann, j. b. (2004). influence sociale et diffusion de l’innovation, mathematics and social sciences, 4(168), 43-57. . stuart, t., and sorenson, o. (2003). the geography of opportunity : spatial heterogeneity in founding rates and the performance of biotechnology firms, research policy, 32, 229-253. . suire, r., and vicente, j. (2004). les dynamiques de proximité de la netéconomie : formation et stabilité des clusters tic, 4èmes journées de la proximité, juin, marseille, france. . teece, d. j. (1989). competition and co-operation : striking the right balance, california management review, 31(3), 25-37. . thietart, r-a (2003). méthodes de recherche en management, 2ème édition, paris: dunod. . von neumann, j. (1966). theory of automata : construction, reproduction, homogeneity, in the theory of self reproducing automata, champaign: university of illinois press. . vriend, n. j. (2000). an illustration of the essential difference between individual and social learning and its consequences for computational analyses, journal of economic dynamics and control, 24, 1-19. . walliser, b. (2000). l’économie cognitive. paris: odile jacob . wilensky, u. (2000). modeling emergent phenomena with starlogo, working paper, northwestern university. . williamson, oe. (1999). strategy research : governance and competence perspectives, strategic management journal, 20, 1087-1108. . yan, a., and gray, b. (1994) «bargaining power, management control, and performance in united states – china joint venture: a comparative case study», academy of management journal, 37(6), 1478-1517. . zucker, l. g., and darby, m. r. (1997). present at the biotechnology revolution : transformation of technological identity for a large incumbent pharmaceutical firm, research policy, 26, 429-446. 64 public/private negotiation and strategic co-evolution in a biocluster m@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 38 69 appendix 1 : simulation process algorithm the diagram below shows the operation of the genetic algorithm used. 1. the initialisation phase attributed to each agent in the population, in a random or a guided way, a value which related to its genetic characteristics, in other words its profile (its negotiation strategy) and the expected size of the cake. 2. the notation phase determined a mark for each agent, representing the agent’s gain expectation in a negotiation. this phase allowed the evaluation of the quality of each agent’s strategy. in order to do this: a. a 10% sample of the population was randomly selected. b. then, one by one, every agent in the population negotiated with every agent in the sample and thus obtained some gains (see paragraph entitled the payment function). c. by dividing the sum of an agent’s gains by the number of negotiations effected, we calculated the agent’s expectation of gains. 3. the goal of the selection phase was to choose the most highly performing agents, in other words those who have a high expectation of gain, and therefore had a good strategy. a ranking selection was used because this ensured that the probability of 65 isabelle leroux and alain berrom@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 38 69 selecting an agent was close to said agent’s mark ratio, and to the total of the marks of all the agents in the population. the selection by rank first sorted the population by fitness; next, each agent was ascribed a rank according to a positioning relative to the others. in this way all the agents had a chance of being selected. 4. the modification phase effected a genetic intermixing of the selected agents by means of the crossover operator, and maintained the genetic diversity by means of the mutating operator. a. crossover only operated between two agents with the same profile. the children resulting from this inherited the profile of the parents. the value of the expected size of the cake then either equalled that of one of the parents or was a different value. to calculate this different value, a number x between -0.25 and 1.25 was randomly selected, then tegchild = x * tegparent1 + (1-x) * tegparent2 was calculated. b. mutation randomly modified one or several genetic characteristics of an agent. following a mutation, then, an agent could change strategy or the expected size of the cake. in this case it was an exogenous mutation. 5. return to phase 2. language used the model was implemented in java. the specification of the math. random function [specification java.util.random], which enables the generation of random numbers between [0; 1] guarantees that the seed of the pseudo-random number generator is new and unique at each launch of the program (knuth, 1998). equilibrium detection technique in the cases of simulations s1 and s2, the evolution in the proportions of each strategy can be seen for each generation, for 500 generations. to detect equilibrium, the average and the interval of its proportion in the population for the last 100 generations was calculated for each strategy. next, the two highest averages were identified to find the established equilibrium. but this equilibrium was only confirmed definitively if the following two conditions were fulfilled: 1) the standard deviations associated with the two strategies participating in the equilibrium situation were less than 0,25; 2) the smallest proportion of strategies participating in the equilibrium was over 5%. regarding the first condition, this is because too large a standard deviation can lead to the supposition that a change of equilibrium occurred in the last 100 generations. in this case, as the equilibrium had not been stable for long enough, it could not be confirmed. the second condition was established so as to eliminate the cases of very early convergence linked to a loss of genetic diversity. 66 public/private negotiation and strategic co-evolution in a biocluster m@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 38 69 appendix 2 : the simulation parameters table 3. common parameters, rates of mutation and crossover. appendix 3 : robustness tests 1. number of profiles the choice of 7 profiles is sufficiently large to ensure the representativeness of the possible demands while guaranteeing the legibility of the results on a histogram. the simulation was tested with 15 profiles, obtaining identical results; using 15 profiles provided no additional elements of analysis and rendered the graphs barely legible. figure 6. percentage of equilibrium obtained between sophisticated and obstinate over 1 000 s2 simulations with 15 profiles simulation s1 simulation s2 simulation s3 common parameters initial size of the cake : 1 variation interval of the size of the cake : [0.1 ; 2.0] number of agents in the population : 1 000 initial distribution of each profile : 12.5 % ranking selection mutation rate crossover rate 10 % modification of agent’s profile. 0 % all the individuals know the size of the cake so they are not seeking its expected size. 10 % modification of agent’s profile or of the expected size of the cake. 50 % there is only crossover between two « parents » with the same profile. the « children » take after them. the value of expected size of the cake therefore equals one of the expected sizes of the cake of the « parents » or a different value. 67 isabelle leroux and alain berrom@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 38 69 2. mutation rates the following graphs show the equilibrium percentages between sophisticated and obstinate obtained with 1000 s2 simulations. for each graph, the mutation rate used is indicated. as can be seen, from 5% to 12,5% the graphs give similar results. when the mutation rate is 2,5%, the errors (left-hand column) are essentially due to cases of early convergence. with a mutation rate of 15%, it can be seen that the proportion of equilibrium between the obs 92% population and the soph population becomes very high. too high a mutation rate which is too high disturbs the evolution by modifying the genetic characteristics of too many individuals and artificially favouring the individuals with an elevated expectation of gains. therefore, below 5% and above 15% the results cannot be used, for purely technical reasons. figure 7. graphs obtained with modification of the mutation rates 2,5 % 5 % 7,5 % 10 % 68 public/private negotiation and strategic co-evolution in a biocluster m@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 38 69 12,5 % 15 % 69 isabelle leroux and alain berrom@n@gement vol. 13 no. 1, 2010, 38 69 52garcia francisco garcía lillo and bartolomé marco lajara 2002 new venture competitive strategies and performance: an empirical study, m@n@gement, 5(2): 127-145. m@n@gement is a double-blind reviewed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.dmsp.dauphine.fr/management/ © 2001 m@n@gement and the author(s). issn: 1286-4892 editors: martin evans, u. of toronto bernard forgues, u. of paris 12 http://www.dmsp.dauphine.fr/management/ http://www.dmsp.dauphine.fr/management/ m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 2, 2002, 127-145 127 francisco garcía lillo . bartolomé marco lajara universidad de alicantedepartamento de organización de empresas email: f.garcia@ua.es universidad de alicante departamento de organización de empresas email: bartolome.marco@ua.es new venture competitive strategies and performance: an empirical study introduction in recent years, interest among entrepreneurship researchers has surged in attempting to better understand the nature of the strategies employed by new venture firms (mcdougall and robinson, 1990; carter, stearns, and reynolds, 1991; mullins, cardozo, reynolds, and miller, 1991; carter, stearns, reynolds, and miller, 1992, 1994; ostgaard and birley, 1993) and to identify the relationships between the strategies employed by such ventures, the environments in which they operate, and the performance which ensues (cooper, willard, and woo, 1986; chaganti, chaganti, and mahajan, 1989; cardozo, mclaughlin, harmon, reynolds, and miller, 1990; feeser and willard, 1990; stearns, carter, and reynolds, 1991; tsai, macmillan, and low, 1991; hoy, mcdougall, and dsouza, 1992; mullins and cardozo, 1993; ostgaard and birley, 1993; chandler and hanks, 1994; bamford, dean, and mcdougall, 1997; ireland and hitt, 1997). a recurrent theme in much of this research has been to characterize new venture strategies as belonging to one of several archetypes or types. empirical research into the relationships between strategic type, environment, and performance, however, has been hampered by problems in the conceptual definition and measurement of such new venture strategies (mullins and cardozo, 1993: 72). some studies have employed strategy typologies drawn from the strategic management literature (miles and snow, 1978; porter, 1980) to characterize and measure new venture strategies (e.g., hambrick and lei, 1985; shithis paper presents the results of a survey of 74 owner-managed small companies in alicante (spain), ex-ploring the existence and performance implications of new venture competitive strategies. a factor analytic pro-cedure and cluster analysis confirmed the existence of multiple strategies which new venture firms follow. four strategic clusters of firms were uncovered: 1/ differentiation, 2/ innovation, 3/ product offering, and 4/ aggressive growth with narrow special products. a scheffé posteriori contrast test revealed different “performance patterns” between these clusters. mailto:f.garcia@ua.es mailto:bartolome.marco@ua.es m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 2, 2002, 127-145 128 francisco garcía lillo and bartolome marco lajara manski, cardozo, mullins, reynolds, and miller, 1991). shimanski et al. (1991) point out, however, that the miles and snow characterization of strategies as prospectors, analyzers, defenders, and reactors does not easily fit the new venture context. new ventures have, at the outset, neither customers nor markets to defend, and new firms usually find it necessary to focus their energies and limited resources on one or a few target markets, rather than behaving as prospectors. furthermore, the measures used to identify strategic types in empirical research have questionable reliability and validity (conant, mokwa, and varadarajan, 1990). other studies have begun afresh, unencumbered by traditional thinking about strategies, and have used cluster analysis to empirically derive taxonomies (or archetypes) of new venture strategies (e.g., mcdougall and robinson, 1990; carter et al., 1991; carter et al., 1992, 1994; ostgaard and birley, 1993). indeed «this taxonomy-oriented research stream represents a significant development in business strategy content research» (fahey and christensen, 1986: 175). however, despite the potential of this taxonomy-oriented research stream, fahey and christensen (1986) note that the research effort is largely non-cumulative and to date, little convergence has emerged in the categories of strategy types. feeser and willard (1990) also note that relatively little research has examined relationships between dimensions of strategy for new firms and performance. for example, although robinson and pearce (1988) identified such dimensions and the performance correlates, their results were based on a cross-sectional sample of 97 established manufacturing business units in the u.s. with an average size of 278 employees. clearly, such firms may not be representative of the spanish new an independent venture. while mcdougall (1987) investigated new ventures (less than eight years old), her sample was limited to fairly large (some corporate) ventures in the information processing industry. the question is therefore how industry specific her strategic archetypes are and also how relevant they are to new independent small ventures. moreover, none of these studies have attempted to measure the impact of new venture strategies on the performance of the venture at the point of venture formation. therefore, the research question addressed in this paper is: which initial strategies are associated with higher performance? theoretical background strategic alternatives development of the strategy construct in the literature reflects the assumption that firms share considerable commonalities. this view has led to a number of classification schemes which assume that a limited number of strategic archetypes capture the essence of most competitive postures. these typologies reflect generic strategies often broadly applied across all industries, organization types, or organizam@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 2, 2002, 127-145 129 new venture competitive strategies and performance tion sizes. herbert and deresky (1987) provide an insightful comparison of several widely recognized “grand strategy” typologies. conceptually, the use of typologies of firm strategy is appealing. typologies provide a method for clustering apparently diverse characteristics across firms into a few common representations. many researchers in the application of typologies, however, ignore the diversity that can exist within types in an effort to make the data “fit” the typology. it is our contention that strategy types are most diverse among new ventures and this diversity is a function of a different pattern of competitive position objectives, investment strategies, and competitive advantages (hofer and schendel, 1978). in this respect, we concur with mcdougall and robinson’s (1990) conclusion following a study of 247 new venture ceos from the information processing industry. the findings in their study suggest that many different forms of these strategy types are available for new ventures to select among. the following analysis focuses on the diversity of the initial strategies that new ventures pursue across a broad variety of industries. new venture strategies the development of strategic typologies has greatly influenced research on small firms. however, much of the writing about new venture strategies has dealt with the debate over whether new ventures a/ must avoid direct competition with large firms and pursue “niche” strategies or, b/ can risk an aggressive, proactive assault and compete on a broad front. these discussions tend to overlook the distinction between the start-up of an autonomous firm with limited resources, and the entry intro a new market by an established firm backed by considerable resources. the assumption underlying the “niche” perspective is that a start-up organization suffers from the “liability of newness” (stinchcombe, 1965) in which limits in both resources and organizational learning constrain its chances for survival and success. such new ventures have traditionally been encouraged to design specialized, high-quality products targeted to market segments overlooked by large, more established firms (hosmer, 1957; broom and longenecker, 1971; cohn and lindberg, 1974) rather than attempting to compete on the basis of price (deeks, 1976; stegall, steinmetz and kline, 1976). more recently, researchers have argued that new ventures should consider a broader range of strategic alternatives, including head-to-head competition with market leaders (miller and camp, 1985; macmillan and day, 1987). typifying the rationale underlying this challenge, biggadike (1976) argued that unless new ventures enter markets aggressively, on a large scale, they penalize themselves by lacking the broad appeal of their competitors. such a strategy would obviously require substantial resources, appropriate for an established firm entering a major market for the first time (carter et al., 1992: 153). mcdougall and robinson (1990) recently characterized the basic thrusts of these two bodies of literature (niche versus aggressiveness) m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 2, 2002, 127-145 130 francisco garcía lillo and bartolome marco lajara as an important foundation, but challenged the “measurement” of strategy that underlies the work. in an attempt to further differentiate new venture strategies, they examined the strategic actions of firms in the information processing industry. using cluster analysis they identified eight different competitive strategies: 1/ aggressive growth via commodity type products to numerous markets with small customer orders; 2/ aggressive growth via price competitive new products to large customers; 3/ aggressive growth with narrow, special products priced competitively to a few larger buyers; 4/ controlled growth with broad product range to many markets and extensive backward integration; 5/ controlled growth via premium priced products sold directly to consumers; 6/ limited growth in small niches offering a superior product and high customer service; 7/ average growth via steady development of new channels, brand/name id, and heavy promotion; and 8/ limited growth selling infrequently purchased products to numerous markets with some forward integration. mcdougall and robinson (1990) intentionally restricted their study to one broad industry to control for the impact of industry differences. in this way, they sought to examine new venture strategies across different competitive methods rather than across a variety of industries. this important body of research raises an important question: how industry specific are the strategy archetypes that evolved in the firms studied by mcdougall and robinson? are these archetypes peculiar to the information processing industry or are there generic strategies among new ventures that can be generalized across industries? if so, are the strategies similar to those depicted in the extant strategy literature that focuses on new ventures? these and others questions guided the present study. data and variables data collection the data for the study were gathered by means of interviews conducted during year 2000 at 74 new ventures in alicante (spain). prior to the main field study the questionnaire was tested in a pilot study by means of face-to-face interviews with ten of the respondents to examine its clarity and suitability for the manufacturing industry in alicante. in the actual field research, 67 entrepreneurs were interviewed face-to-face by the first author using the comprehensive structured questionnaire (see appendix). the remaining of the questionnaires were received by fax/mail. respondents were asked to indicate on a 5-point bi-polar scale the emphasis their business had placed on each in establishing their competitive orientation during the last three years and relative to competitors (galbraith and schendel, 1983). nineteen variables describing a firm’s competitive strategy and practice along the dimensions of product/service innovation, marketing, differentiation and focus/scope were selected from the review of new venture/small business strategies or constructed/refined in order to capture the nature of new venture competitive strategies. the selection of nineteen competm@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 2, 2002, 127-145 131 new venture competitive strategies and performance itive methods for inclusion in the instrument of measure was accomplished through several procedures. competitive dimensions studied in previous new venture literature (biggadike, 1976; hobson and morrison, 1983; sandberg, 1984; macmillan and day, 1987) were first extracted. questionnaire items used by previous new venture researchers (biggadike, 1976; miller and camp, 1985; macmillan and day, 1987; mcdougall and robinson, 1990) and strategy researchers studying relatively small, established firms (hambrick, 1983; dess and davis, 1984; robinson and pearce, 1988) served as a second source. in order to ensure a high response rate, despite the length and complexity of the questionnaire, preliminary phone calls were made to the owner/entrepreneur of each venture. since the questionnaire included variables on business performance, the respondents were assured of full confidentiality. the indices generated were reviewed for internal consistency (cronbach’s α) to meet nunnally’s (1978) criteria for acceptable reliability. the research sample covered 63.79% of the initial population of new ventures in the area. a chi-square analysis confirmed that survey respondents did not significantly differ (p = 0.05 level) from non-respondents on firm size or firm geographical location. thus, the sample does not appear to exhibit any size or location bias, when compared to the initial directory of firms analyzed, composed of a total of 116 companies obtained of the s.a.b.e. data base. characteristics of the entrepreneurs: socio-demographic variables 83% of the respondents were males and 17% females. the average age was 31: 23% were under the age of 25, 51.4% were 25-34 years old, 20.3% were 35-44 years old, and only 5.4% were over 45 years old. two-third of the respondents had parents who had run independent businesses. the educational level of the respondents was high in comparison with the general population: only 39.2% had primary education and the remaining 60.8% had, at least, secondary education. characteristics of the new firms of the ventures studied, 56.8% were start-ups in 1995, 28.4% in 1996 and 14.9% in 1997. the average size of these small and new firms measured by number of employees was 13.7. indeed, more than one-fourth of the ventures, 29.7%, had up to five employees; 5,4% employed only one other person. the average sales was $893,889. eighteen main categories of sic codes, sic 22 to sic 39 (for manufacturing), were selected for this study. the most common groups of sic codes were 3143 (men’s footwear), 3144 (women’s footwear), and 3149 (footwear, nec), accounting for 33.8% of the sample. in terms of the number of companies, the province of alicante accounts for 78.5% of all firms involved in the footwear sector in the region of levante and 50% of footwear firms in spain. in terms of employment, the province of alicante represents 76.4% of employed persons in footwear in the region of levante, or 42.4% in the country as a whole. m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 2, 2002, 127-145 132 francisco garcía lillo and bartolome marco lajara performance measure the venture’s performance was measured with a modified version of an instrument developed initially by gupta and govindarajan (1984). the respondents were first asked to indicate on a 5-point likert-type scale, ranging from “of little importance” to “extremely important”, the degree of importance their firm attaches to each of the following financial performance criteria: return on investment (roi), return on equity (roe), and growth. these “importance” scores were mathematically adjusted to sum to 1 for the purpose of minimizing the impact of individual bias. the respondents were then asked to indicate on another 5 point likert-type scale, ranging from “highly dissatisfied” to “highly satisfied”, the extent to which their firm’s top managers were satisfied with their firm’s performance on each of these same financial performance criteria (roi, roe, and growth). these “satisfaction” scores were multiplied by the “importance” scores in order to compute a weighted average performance index for each firm (gupta and govindarajan, 1984). the subjective measure of performance was chosen over objective data for several reasons. first, small firms are often very reluctant to provide “hard” financial data (fiorito and laforge, 1986; sapienza, smith, and gannon, 1988). its was therefore felt that more complete financial information could be obtained with a subjective measure. second, objective financial data on the sampled firms were not publicly available, making it impossible to check the accuracy of any reported financial performance figures. third, assuming that accurate financial data were reported, such data on small firms are difficult to interpret (cooper, 1979). finally, absolute scores on financial performance criteria are affected by industry-related factors (gupta and govindarajan, 1984; miller and toulouse, 1986; gupta, 1987; covin and covin, 1990). as such, directly comparing the objective financial data obtained for firms in different industries could be misleading. this final concern was thought to be particularly critical given the diverse industry settings represented in the sample. several researchers have suggested that subjective performance measures may be appropriate given the restrictions imposed by objective measures (e.g., cooper, 1984; dess and robinson, 1984; gupta and govindarajan, 1984). recently, jennings and young (1990) considered the validity of using subjective measures of performance. as they suggested, the development of subjective and objective measures of entrepreneurial activity is of paramount importance. their results suggested a significant overlap between objective and subjective measures of entrepreneurship. dess and robinson (1984) also found that subjective measures of return on assets and sales growth correlated significantly with their objective counterparts and encouraged their use when objective measures were not available. furthermore, sapienza et al. (1988) concluded that both objective and subjective measures can be useful in small business research. m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 2, 2002, 127-145 133 new venture competitive strategies and performance analysis and results an r-mode principal components analysis (pca), with varimax rotation, was used to reduce the data and develop and test the convergent validity of meaningful constructs (kmo = .676). for the purpose of describing the underlying factor structure, the “eigenvalue-one criterion” (rummel, 1970: 362) was used to determine the number of components to extract for further analysis. the component loadings, commonalities and sum of squares of component loadings produced by an orthogonal varimax rotation are displayed in table 1. after the varimax rotation, the first six components (out of a total of nineteen) accounted for 70.722% of the total variance. each strategic variable loaded on at least one component with a minimum component loading of 0.517 for “use only existing channels of distribution”. reliability of the items loading on each factor (those with factor loading greater than 0.60) was examined by calculating a coefficient alpha (cronbach, 1951) across items within each factor. coefficient alphas ranging from 0.568 to 0.818 met nunnally’s (1978) criteria for acceptable reliability. a common methodological weakness that might threaten the reliability and validity of the factor analytic results is the possible instability of the factor loadings. instability of the factor loadings because of sampling error may result from the use of a relatively small ratio of subjects table 1. strategy variables: varimax rotated component matrix kaiser-mayer-olkin = 0.679 communalityvariables varimax rotated components s 06 s 19 s 10 s 01 s 13 s 15 s 07 s 14 s 04 s 05 s 16 s 11 s 17 s 18 s 08 s 12 s 09 s 03 s 02 eigenvalue % variance 1 -.842 .760 -.746 .720 -.517 -.127 .055 .117 .044 .062 .446 .022 -.173 .032 .326 -.169 -.083 .186 -.086 3.082 16.221% 2 .049 .033 -.127 -.210 .003 .767 .736 .695 -.607 .096 -.010 .251 -.220 .185 -.003 .259 .156 .176 .238 2.380 12.527% 3 -.232 -.110 -.056 .161 .020 .112 .269 -.110 -.440 .795 .704 .629 .196 .130 .007 -.005 -.093 -.015 .552 2.279 11.996% 4 .083 .115 .157 .052 .440 -.095 .235 .041 .360 .237 -.050 .302 .795 .704 -.131 .317 -.451 .020 -.076 2.042 10.748% 5 .127 -.075 .153 -.160 .249 .139 .259 -.123 -.105 -.214 .289 -.087 .006 .177 -.750 .730 .651 .065 .139 1.956 10.294% 6 -.050 .205 .215 .351 .091 .187 .029 .443 .171 .157 .071 -.132 .192 -.171 .035 .017 .322 .754 .655 1.698 8.935% h2 .741 .823 .639 .733 .772 .791 .740 .687 .771 .670 .575 .729 .532 .722 .680 .786 .786 .609 .651 70.722% m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 2, 2002, 127-145 134 francisco garcía lillo and bartolome marco lajara (n = 74) to measures (n = 19). this ratio of 3.89 approaches but does not exceed the desirable ratio of four or five to one advocated by some authors (hair, anderson, tatham, and grablowsky, 1979). the sample size does exceed the ratio suggested by lawley and maxwell (1971) for the maximum likelihood solution method of confirmatory factor analysis. they suggested that this test is appropriate if the sample contains at least 51 more cases than the number of variables under consideration. furthermore, given the exploratory nature of the research question as well as constraints—time, resources, availability of firms—inherent in field research, the sample size of this study is not considered a significant limitation in interpreting the results. on the basis of the component loadings the six components are given descriptive labels in table 2 with the variables listed in order of the magnitude of their corresponding component loading. examination of the component loadings showed that the pca mostly grouped together items which, on a priori grounds, might have been regarded as very similar; the components could consequently readily be given names. a correspondence between the factor structure identified in this study and those identified in previous studies using many of the same variables enhanced the convergent validity of the study (venkataraman and grant, 1986). the pattern of strategic behavior in the first factor is commonly identified in the strategy literature as low cost leadership. four competitive methods (those with factor loadings greater than 0.60) load on this factor (see table 2): s06 (lowest price offering), s19 (entered the market(s) on a large scale with rapid, immediate growth objectives), s10 (emphasis on serviceable product quality), and s01 (manufacturing commodity type products). the second factor has four competitive methods loading on it: s15 (customers make infrequent purchases), s07 (high level of advertising and promotion expense), s14 (large number of customers) and s04 (continued new product development). for new ventures selling products for which customers make infrequent purchases, a rational way in which to build an adequate level of sales would be to cultivate a broad market base. so factor 2 reflects a rather straightforward pattern of strategic behavior easily characterized by its four factor loadings. a major emphasis on both product and process innovation, comprises factor 3. the pattern of strategic behavior reflected by the two competitive methods, s17 and s18, loading on the fourth factor represents, essentially, two central marketing aspects of the strategy of a firm: distribution and number of customer segments. factor 5 explained 51% of the variance of s08 (lowest cost per unit not an overriding concern). a more moderate emphasis is placed on s12 (developing brand identification and name recognition) and s09 (excess capacity tolerated in anticipation of future growth). factor 6 differentiates firms based on their manufacturing of a broad range of products to many customers and markets. although the r-mode principal components analysis (pca) reveals six distinct dimensions of strategic focus, we assume that firm strategy is a multidimensional construct which represents a composite or m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 2, 2002, 127-145 135 new venture competitive strategies and performance “bundle” of actions. as such, our interest is in how these six dimensions coalesce into distinct patterns that represent strategy archetypes. we chose cluster analysis as the analytical tool to identify these “patterns” of strategic attributes because it offers two distinct advantages. the first advantage cluster analysis offers is that it overcomes limitations in the way strategy has been operationalized in previous research. often strategy is treated as a vector of scores which venkatraman and prescott (1990) contended may produce misleading results. in these approaches researchers treat each dimension of strategy as having equal importance. venkatraman and prescott (1990) argued that the weighting of the dimensions should reflect the differential emphasis that corresponds to the deployment of firm’s resources. cluster analysis provides one solution to this concern since it classifies data on the basis of patterns of observed differences and similarities. the second advantage of cluster analysis for the present study is that unlike other statistical methods for classification such as discriminant analysis, cluster analysis makes no prior assumptions about differences in the population being studied (hair et al., 1979). thus, we could explore the data for patterns of strategy among new ventures. the six dimensions of strategy attributes from the r-mode principal components analysis (pca) were used as variables in the cluster table 2. strategic variables associated with each factor (and loadings†) †. a negative loading reflects emphasis on the left anchor of the bipolar instrument (see appendix). factor 1 2 3 4 5 6 competitive aspects emphasized low cost leadership s06 lowest price offering (-.842) s19 entered the market(s) on a large scale with rapid, immediate growth objectives (.760) 10 emphasis on serviceable product quality (-.746) s01 manufacturing commodity type products (.720) marketing differentiation s15 customers make infrequent purchases (.767) s07 high level of advertising and promotion expense (.736) s14 large number of customers (.695) s04 continued new product development (-.607) product and process innovation s05 innovation in manufacturing processes (.795) s16 average customer order large (.704) s11 ownership of patents or other proprietary knowledge (.629) broad market segmentation s17 sell products to numerous market segments (.795) s18 many channels of distribution (.704) differentiation vs. low cost s08 lowest cost per unit of product not an overriding concern for new venture (-.750) s12 developing brand identification and name recognition (.730) s09 excess capacity tolerated in anticipation of future growth (.651) distribution s03 serving broad markets (.754) s02 providing a broad range of products (.655) m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 2, 2002, 127-145 136 francisco garcía lillo and bartolome marco lajara analysis. we computed these dimensions by summing the items loading above 0.60 on each factor and dividing by the number of applicable responses. because cluster algorithms are sensitive to the presence of outliers we standardized the six strategy dimensions by computing z-scores (aldenderfer and blashfield, 1984). additionally, we dropped cases whose values on any of the six dimensions were greater than 2.5 standard deviations from the mean. the degree of skewedness required that 2.7% of the cases be dropped to achieve normality on this variable. following punj and stewart (1983) and ketchen and shook (1996), we adopted a two-step cluster analysis technique. in this technique, a hierarchical agglomerative method is first used to produce centroid estimates and determine the appropriate number of cluster. the centroid estimates generated in the first step are then used in the second step to set an iterative partitioning method for the final cluster solution. ward’s (1963) minimum variance method was used to determine cluster linkage. ward’s method maximizes intercluster differences across a set of clustering variables (everitt, 1974). one of the most crucial steps in cluster analysis is determining the number of clusters that best structure the data. often this decision is made by graphing a hierarchical tree (dendogram) against the fusion or amalgamation coefficients and detecting when a “flattening” in the graph occurs. the subjectivity of this approach led mojena and wishart (1980) to develop a heuristic procedure for determining when a “significant jump” in the fusion coefficients occurs that signals an optimal partitioning (mojena, 1977; mojena and wishart, 1980). aldenderfer and blashfield (1984) provide an example for calculating this “stopping rule”. applying mojena and wishart’s test to the results of our hierarchical agglomerative analysis indicates that four clusters best describe the data. from this preliminary analysis we used the centroids associated with the four-cluster solution as initial starting values in an iterative partitioning analysis (using spss quick cluster). refining the clusters in this second stage yields a more optimal solution. the overall significance of the cluster solutions obtained was tested by means of a oneway analysis of variance, anova, based on the assumption that the scores in each of the various groups have approximately the same variance. however, because the various groups do not contain the same number of subjects, a bartlett’s box f-test on the within-cell variances was used to test for homogeneity among variances. table 3 shows the mean (standardized deviations) clusters scores on each of the six principal components with component 1 shown first followed by component 2 and 3, etc. the group of four was however be retained for the purpose of the resulting generalized descriptions of the clusters described below and for new venture performance comparisons. cluster 1: differentiation (n = 13) of the four clusters, this cluster has the smallest membership. the firms in this cluster exhibit a high negative score on factor 1, followed m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 2, 2002, 127-145 137 new venture competitive strategies and performance by negative scores on factors 6, 4 and 2. this cluster of firms focuses on one fundamental strategic orientation: a classic differentiation strategy offering a superior product accompanied by a high level of customer service. a narrow range of products is provided to a small number of customers and few markets segments. cluster 2: innovation (n = 25) this group of firms shows a consistent high score on all the strategy variables related to innovation and development, and in particular use of product-related patents. they further provide their products at a competitive price. the firms sell to numerous market segments using numerous channels, with an emphasis on developing new channels of distribution. cluster 3: product offering (n = 14) marketing of a broad range of tried and true products to a large number of customer is the primary means of competing for this group of firms. moreover, this group of firms shows an above average emphasis on developing brand identification and name recognition, continued new product development and a high level of advertising and promotion. cluster 4: aggressive growth with narrow special products (n = 20) this group of firms is focused in its market approach, as indicated by a narrow range of products, small number of customers, few market segments and minimal use of advertising and promotion. this archetype appears to follow biggadike’s (1976) and miller and camp’s (1985) recommendation of a large-scale entry. the apparent focus on table 3. summary of cluster analysis results: the four clusters solution† †. table 3 shows the mean cluster scores (standardized deviations) on each of the six strategic factors from the pca ‡. c1: cluster 1; c2: cluster 2; c3: cluster 3; c4: cluster 4. factor(s) cluster 1 (n = 13) cluster 2 (n = 25) cluster 3 (n = 14) cluster 4 (n = 20) f sig. f scheffé test p > .05 factor 1 factor 2 factor 3 factor 4 factor 5 factor 6 -1.516 (.658) -.405 (.927) -0.075 (1.046) -.666 (.627) 0.006 (.771) -.702 (.966) .318 (.783) .336 (.831) .822 (.835) .802 (.729) -.397 (.628) .663 (.393) .235 (1.014) .801 (.933) -.502 (.641) -.611 (.549) 1.156 (.462) .812 (.000) .442 (.342) -.720 (.743) -.649 (.679) -.120 (1.123) -.569 (.786) -1.021 (.700) 23.668 11.308 14.906 13.674 20.953 44.395 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 c2>c1‡ c3>c1 c4>c1 c2>c4 c3>c1 c3>c4 c2>c3 c2>c4 c2>c1 c2>c3 c2>c4 c3>c1 c3>c2 c3>c4 c2>c1 c2>c4 c3>c1 c3>c4 m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 2, 2002, 127-145 138 francisco garcía lillo and bartolome marco lajara a specific customer group provides a degree of security to the new ventures in this cluster. to evaluate the accuracy of the presented taxonomy, a stepwise discriminant analysis model was produced based in the original “raw” data for the firms which had values on all the strategy variables. mahalanobis’ distance criteria was used to select variables entered into each step of the analysis. thus, variables with a probability of or greater than the .05 level of significance were included in the analysis. the final discriminant analysis model which maximized the mahalanobis distance between the groups included twelve out of the original nineteen variables and correctly classified 95.8% of the firms, providing reassuring support for discriminant validity (venkataraman and grant, 1986). the cluster analysis suggest that while patterns of strategic behavior may be “generic” in the sense of being relevant across industries, the idea that most firms emphasize only one pattern of strategic behavior is not supported. rather, the firms appear to follow multiple patterns of strategic behavior, supporting the findings of other studies (robinson and pearce, 1985; mcdougall, 1987; feeser and willard, 1990; mcdougall and robinson, 1990; carter et al., 1991; ostgaard and birley, 1993). indeed, sandberg (1986) proposed and found some support for venture performance, being superior when two or more competitive strategies are used in concert. in this context, the performance question becomes one that whether growth and performance differences exist between the six different strategic orientations (groups) found to exist among the sample firms. the next step in the analysis was to compare performance amongst the four clusters of strategic groups. one-way analysis of variance, anova, and the kruskall-wallis h-test were performed to decide whether there were significant differences amongst the strategic groups (clusters) on the basis of their mean values for the performance measure. because the various groups do not contain the same number of subjects, the barlett-box f-statistics was used to evaluate the assumption on homogeneity of variances. table 4 indicates that the four strategic groups were significantly different (p = .001) from one another with regard to performance. the kruskall-wallis h-test indicates the same result. to determine where the significant differences lie, scheffé’s posterior contrast test was used to compare all possible pairs of performance means. among the various multiple comparisons (duncan’s multiple range test, tukey, games-howell) test, scheffé’s is considered to be the most conservative test (huck, cormier, and bounds, 1974; dess and davis, 1984). this test also offers the advantages of applicability to groups of unequal size and is relatively insensitive to departures from normality and homogeneity of variances (hays, 1963). the scheffé test for significant differences among the groups on the performance measure shows that only the mean value for group 1 “differentiation” is significantly greater than the mean value for group 4 “aggressive growth with narrow special products”. none of the other differences are significant. m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 2, 2002, 127-145 139 new venture competitive strategies and performance discussion and conclusion findings distinct and different competitive strategies were found to exist among new ventures. four clusters or archetypes among new ventures in the manufacturing industry were so identified because of key differences in elements of the new venture strategies they employ. the nature of each strategy has essentially been answered in the previous description of strategies emphasized by firms in each of the four clusters. these four new venture strategies appear consistent with general strategy descriptions in the new venture literature. new ventures strategies discussed in the literature like niche strategies, aggressive or leader attacking strategies, and differentiation all found reinforcement among the four new venture strategic groups identified in this research. but far from simple replication, the findings of this study expand the richness associated with most of these descriptions. the issue of biggadike’s (1976) argument for an “aggressive growth strategy” serves to illustrate the depth associated with our findings. evidence exists that some ventures are pursuing strategies consistent with a large-scale entry strategy, but there was also clear evidence that ventures are pursuing the prescription of van de ven, hudson, and schroeder (1984) that new ventures should initially pursue a niche strategy entering selected markets on a small scale with incremental expansion (mcdougall and robinson, 1990: 461). parallels between the strategy archetypes identified in the present study and those discerned in earlier works are especially noteworthy since the firms previously studied were designated as small, not new. mcdougall and robinson’s (1990) research is the exception and merits special comment. examining new ventures in the information processing industry, mcdougall and robinson (1990) identified eight strategy archetypes. 1/ aggressive growth via selling commodity type products to numerous markets with small customer orders; 2/ aggressive growth via price competitive new products to large customers; 3/ aggressive table 4. summary of cluster analysis results and performance relationships: anova and kruskall-wallis h-test results performance between groups within groups total degrees of freedom 3 68 71 x2 = 18.348 mean square 5.207 .855 p = .01 f-ratio 6.089 p-value .001 analysis of variance (anova) kruskall-wallis h-test m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 2, 2002, 127-145 140 francisco garcía lillo and bartolome marco lajara growth with narrow, special products priced competitively to a few larger buyers; 4/ controlled growth with broad product range sold to many markets and extensive backward integration; 5/ controlled growth via premium priced products sold directly to consumers; 6/ limited growth in small niches via offering a superior product and high customer service; 7/ average growth via steady development of new channels, brand/name id, and heavy promotion; and 8/ limited growth via selling infrequently purchased products to numerous markets with some forward integration. in ex post analysis they categorized the strategies according to market coverage (broad vs. narrow markets) and scope (niche vs. aggressive strategies). several of the archetypes they described parallel those identified in the present study. in this respect, we concur with mcdougall and robinson’s (1990) conclusion following a study of 247 new venture ceos from the information processing industry. the findings in their study suggest that many different strategy types are available for new ventures to select among. we do not suggest that the four archetypes identified in this study, each one which reflecting a unique strategic orientation as well as different levels of performance, represent a complete picture of new venture strategies. we lack, for instance, information on new ventures that failed, which may represent additional unique forms of strategic archetypes. neither can we claim that we have exhausted every components of a strategy in the administration of our questionnaire. however, we can suggest that the application of a few strategic archetypes based on studies of large firms may well overlook the robust development of strategies among new ventures. limitations of the study limitations of this study should be noted: 1/ the study was exploratory in nature. it was pursued to contribute a context for eventual theory development rather than prematurely attempting to test any theory about new venture strategy. such testing would be premature given the limited development of new venture strategy theories or paradigms. the diversity across the four archetypes identified in this study suggests the need for further exploratory research into the nature and variety of new venture strategies. this research stream should be helpful for scholars interested in the study of new venture strategies and ultimately helpful to new venture managers as relevant guidelines emerge; 2/ the relatively small sample of firms in the field study may lead to some instability in the factor loadings (kim and mueller, 1978; nunnally, 1978). however, given the exploratory nature of the study and resource constraints inherent in field research, this limitation is not considered a major barrier in interpreting the results; 3/ although we attempted to use the best performing clustering methods available, cluster analysis is a less exact procedure than statistics that are based on the general linear model. some researchers have endorsed ward’s (1963) method as the best hierarchical agglomerative clustering procedure (e.g., mojena, 1977), but it has a known tendency to create hyperm@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 2, 2002, 127-145 141 new venture competitive strategies and performance spheroid (n-dimensional spherical) clusters as opposed to other possible shapes. use of a different clustering algorithm might have yielded different cluster centers and, thus different relative cluster sizes. similarly, mojena’s stopping rule is one of the most highly regarded of many possible ways of determining the optimal number of clusters. it is, however, based on fusion coefficients (the value at which a new cluster is formed); stopping rules based on other criteria, such as explained versus unexplained variance, might have suggested that a different number of clusters was optimal. at the same time, the observed convergence with the extensive literature on new venture strategy increases confidence in the generalizability of this cluster solution. future research further research into new venture strategies should begin to build a theory or typology that guides the creation, understanding, and integration of new venture strategy alternatives. while not specifically examined in this study, future research should begin to explore patterns of emphasis on different strategic variables across a variety of industries. numerous researchers have suggested connections between the growth rates of industries and the components of business strategy necessary for competition in those industries. for example, porter (1980) identifies strategies for firms competing in emerging, maturing, and declining industries, thus implying a connection between specific business practices or competitive tactics and the growth rates of industries. thus, there is ample reason to suggest that the content of the competitive strategies of new ventures might vary across their industry growth dimension. still other researchers have suggested connections between the strategic breadth of business firms and the components of business strategy necessary for their success and survival. hamermesch, anderson , and harris (1978) suggest that successful firms with low breadth strategies tend to share many detailed components of strategy on a specific level such as creative market segmentation, limited by highly efficient r&d, and strong individual (as opposed to team) leadership. endnote. the authors would like to express their appreciation for the insightful comments made by the anonymous reviewers as well the co-editors of m@n@gement, martin evans, and bernard forgues. francisco garcía lillo (ph.d., university of alicante) is a lecturer in entrepreneurship and strategic management at the university of alicante (spain). his main research interest is on entrepreneurship. bartolomé marco lajara is a lecturer in business administration at the university of alicante (spain). he holds a phd in economic and business; his doctoral dissertation m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 2, 2002, 127-145 142 francisco garcía lillo and bartolome marco lajara ■ aldenderfer, m. s., and r. k. blashfield 1984 cluster analysis, beverly hills, ca: sage. ■ bamford, c. e., t. j. dean, and p. p. mcdougall 1997 initial strategies and new venture growth: an examination of the effectiveness of broad vs. narrow breadth strategies, in p. d. reynolds, w. d. bygrave, n. m. carter, p. davidsson, w. b. gartner, c. m. mason, and p. p. mcdougall (eds.), frontiers of entrepreneurship research, babson park, ma: center for entrepreneurial studies, babson college, 375-389. ■ biggadike, e. r. 1976 entry, strategy, and performance, unpublished doctoral dissertation, boston, ma: harvard business school. ■ broom, h. n., and j. g. longenecker 1971 small business management, 3rd ed., cincinnati, oh: south-western. ■ cardozo, r. n., k. mclaughlin, b. harmon, p. d. reynolds, and b. miller 1990 product-market strategies and new business growth, in l. e. apple, and t. p. hustad (eds.), product development: prospering in a rapidly changing world, mount laurel, nj: product development and management association. ■ carter, n. m., t. m. stearns, and p. d. reynolds 1991, strategy and initial competencies: achieving “fit” in new ventures, inaugural global conference on entrepreneurship research, london: imperial college, 18-20 february. ■ carter, n. m., t. m. stearns, p. d. reynolds, and b. a. miller 1992 new venture strategies: generic or industry specific, in s. birley, and i. c. macmillan (eds.), international perspectives on entrepreneurship research, advanced series in management, vol. 18, amsterdam: northholland, 151-168. ■ carter, n. m., t. m. stearns, p. d. reynolds, and b. a. miller 1994, new venture strategies: theory development with an empirical base, strategic management journal, 15(1): 21-41. ■ chaganti, r., r. chaganti, and v. mahajan 1989 profitable small business strategies under different types of competition, entrepreneurship theory and practice, 13(3): 21-35. ■ chandler, g. n., and s. h. hanks 1994 market attractiveness, resourcebased capabilities, venture strategies, and venture performance, journal of business venturing, 9(4): 331-349. ■ cohn, t., and r. a. lindberg 1974 survival and growth: management strategies for small firms, new york, ny: amacon. ■ conant, j. s., m. p. mokwa, and p. r. varadarajan 1990 strategic types, distinctive marketing competencies and organizational performance: a multiple measures-based study, strategic management journal, 11(5): 365-383. ■ cooper, a. c. 1979 strategic management: new ventures and small business, in d. e. schendel, and c. w. hofer (eds.), strategic management: a new view of business policy and planning, boston, ma: little, brown and co., 316-327. ■ cooper, a. c., g. e. willard, and c. y. woo 1986 strategies of high-performing new and small firms: a reexamination of the niche concept, journal of business venturing, 1(3): 247-260. ■ cooper, r. g. 1984 how new product strategies impact on performance, journal of product innovation management, 1(1): 5-18. ■ covin, j. g., and t. j. covin 1990 competitive aggressiveness, environmental context, and small firm performance, entrepreneurship theory and practice, 14(4): 35-50. ■ cronbach, l. j. 1951 coefficient alpha and the internal structure of tests, psychometrika, 16, 297-334. ■ deeks, j. 1976 the small firm owner-manager, new york, ny: praeger. ■ dess, g. g., and p. s. davis, 1984 porter’s (1980) generic strategies as determinants of strategic group membership and organizational performance, academy of management journal, 27(3): 467-488. ■ dess, g. g., and r. b. robinson 1984 measuring organizational performance in the absence of objective measures: the case of the privately-held firm and conglomerate business unit, strategic management journal, 5(3): 265-274. references focused on strategic alliances. his primary areas of research cover strategic alliances, entrepreneurship, and strategic management. m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 2, 2002, 127-145 143 new venture competitive strategies and performance ■ everitt, b. 1974 cluster analysis, new york, ny: john wiley and sons. ■ fahey, l., and h. k. christensen 1986 evaluating the research on strategy content, journal of management, 12(2): 167-183. ■ feeser, h. r., and g. e. willard 1990 founding strategy and performance: a comparison of high and low growth high tech firms, strategic management journal, 11(2): 87-98. ■ fiorito, s. s., and r. w. laforge 1986 a marketing strategy analysis of small retailers, american journal of small business, 10(4): 7-17. ■ galbraith, c., and d. e. schendel 1983 an empirical analysis of strategy types, strategic management journal, 4(2): 153-173. ■ gupta, a. k. 1987 sbu strategies, corporate-sbu relations, and sbu effectiveness in strategy implementation, academy of management journal, 30(3): 477-500. ■ gupta, a. k., and v. govindarajan 1984 business unit strategy, managerial characteristics, and business unit effectiveness at strategy implementation, academy of management journal, 27(1): 25-41. ■ hair, j. f., r. e. anderson, r. l. tatham, and b. j. grablowsky 1979 multivariate data analysis, tulsa, ok: petroleum. ■ hambrick, d. c. 1983 some tests of the effectiveness and functional attributes of miles and snow’s strategic types, academy of management journal, 26(1): 5-26. ■ hambrick, d. c., and d. lei 1985 toward an empirical prioritization of contingency variables for business strategy, academy of management journal, 28(4): 763-788. ■ hamermesh, r. g., m. j. anderson, and j. e. harris 1978 strategies for low market share businesses, harvard business review, 56(3): 95-102. ■ hays, w. l. 1963 statistics, new york, ny: holt, rinehart and winston. ■ herbert, t. t., and h. deresky 1987 generic strategies: an empirical investigation of typology validity and strategy content, strategic management journal, 8(2): 135-147. ■ hobson, e. l., and l. m. morrison 1983 how do corporate start-up ventures fare?, in j. a. hornaday, j. a. timmons, and k. h. vesper (eds.), frontiers of entrepreneurship research, wellesley, ma: center for entrepreneurial studies, babson college, 390-410. ■ hofer, c. w., and d. e. schendel 1978 strategy formulation: analytical concepts, st. paul, mn: west publishing. ■ hosmer, l. 1957 small manufacturing enterprises, harvard business review, 35: 111-122. ■ hoy, f., p. p. mcdougall, and d. e. dsouza 1992 strategies and environments of highgrowth firms, in d. l. sexton, and j. d. kasarda (eds.), the state of the art of entrepreneurship, boston, ma: psw-kent, 341-357. ■ huck, s., w. cormier, and w. bounds 1974 reading statistics and research, new york, ny: harper & row. ■ ireland, r. d., and m. a. hitt 1997 performance strategies for highgrowth entrepreneurial firms, in p. d. reynolds, w. d. bygrave, n. m. carter, p. davidsson, w. b. gartner, c. m. mason, and p. p. mcdougall (eds.), frontiers of entrepreneurship research, babson park, ma: center for entrepreneurial studies, babson college, 90-104. ■ jennings, d. f., and d. m. young 1990 an empirical comparison between objective and subjective measures of the product innovation domain of corporate entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship theory and practice, 15(1): 53-66. ■ ketchen, d. j., and c. l. shook 1996 the application of cluster analysis in strategic management research: an analysis and critique, strategic management journal, 17(6): 441-458. ■ kim, j., and c. mueller 1978 factor analysis: statistical methods and practical issues, beverley hills, ca: sage. ■ lawley, d. n., and a. e. maxwell 1971 factor analysis as a statistical method, london: butterworths. ■ macmillan, i. c., and d. l. day 1987 corporate ventures into industrial markets: dynamics of aggressive entry, journal of business venturing, 2(1): 29-39. ■ mcdougall, p. p. 1987 an analysis of strategy, entry barriers, and origin as factors explaining new venture performance, unpublished doctoral dissertation, columbia, sc: university of south carolina. ■ mcdougall, p. p., and r. b. robinson 1990 new venture strategies: an empirical identification of eight “archetypes” of competitive strategies for entry, strategic management journal, 11(6): 447-467. ■ miles, r. e., and c. c. snow 1978 organizational strategy, structure and process, new york, ny: mcgraw-hill. ■ miller, a., and b. camp 1985 exploring determinants of success in corporate ventures, journal of business venturing, 1(1): 87-105. m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 2, 2002, 127-145 144 francisco garcía lillo and bartolome marco lajara ■ miller, d., and j.-m. toulouse 1986 strategy, structure, ceo personality and performance in small firms, american journal of small business, 10(3): 47-62. ■ mojena, r. 1977 hierarchical grouping methods and stopping rules-an evaluation, computer journal, 20(4): 359-363. ■ mojena, r., and d. wishart 1980 stopping rules for ward’s clustering method, proceedings of compstat, heidelberg: physika-verlag, 426-432. ■ mullins, j. w., and r. n. cardozo 1993 new venture strategies and start-up environment: concepts, measurement, and a research agenda, in s. birley, and i. c. mac-millan (eds.), entrepreneurship research: global perspectives, advanced series in management, 19, amsterdam: north-holland, 71-86. ■ mullins, j. w., r. n. cardozo, p. d. reynolds, and b. miller 1991 new business strategies: an exploratory examination, inaugural global conference on entrepreneurship, london: imperial college, 18-20 february. ■ nunnally, j. c. 1978 psychometric theory, 2nd ed., new york, ny: mcgraw-hill. ■ ostgaard, t. a., and s. birley 1993 competitive strategies and new venture growth, in n. c. churchill, s. birley, w. d. bygrave, j. doutriaux, e. j. gatewood, f. s. hoy, and w. e. wetzel, jr. (eds.), frontiers of entrepreneurship research, babson park, ma: center for entrepreneurial studies, babson college, 73-87. ■ porter, m. e. 1980 competitive strategy. techniques for analyzing industries and competitors, new york, ny: free press. ■ punj, g., and d. w. stewart 1983 cluster analysis in marketing research: review and suggestions for application, journal of marketing research, 20(2): 134-148. ■ robinson, r. b., and j. a. pearce 1985 the structure of generic strategies and their impact on business unit performance, academy of management best papers proceedings, 35-39. ■ robinson, r. b., and j. a. pearce 1988 planned patterns of strategic behavior and their relationship to business unit performance, strategic management journal, 9(1): 43-60. ■ rummel, r. j. 1970 applied factor analysis, evanston, il: northwestern university press. ■ sandberg, w. r. 1984 the determinants of new venture performance: strategy, industry structure, and entrepreneur, unpublished doctoral dissertation, athens, ga: university of georgia. ■ sandberg, w. r. 1986 new venture performance. the role of strategy and industry structure, lexington, ma: lexington books. ■ sapienza, h. j., k. g. smith, and m. j. gannon 1988 using subjective evaluations of organizational performance in small business research, american journal of small business, 12(3): 45-53. ■ shimanski, j. m., r. n. cardozo, j. w. mullins, p. d. reynolds, and b. miller 1991 evolution of competitive strategy in new firms, in g. e. hills, and r. w. laforge (eds.), research at the marketing/ entrepreneurship interface, chicago, il: university of illinois at chicago, 129-146. ■ stearns, t. m., n. m. carter, and p. d. reynolds 1991 strategy-environment interaction affecting new firm growth, inaugural global conference on entrepreneurship research, london: imperial college, 18-20 february. ■ stegall, d. p., l.l. steinmetz, and j. b. kline 1976 managing the small business, homewood, il: irwin. ■ stinchcombe, a. l. 1965 social structure and organizations, in j. g. march (ed.), handbook of organizations, chicago, il: rand mcnally, 142-193. ■ tsai, w. m. h., i. c. macmillan, and m. b. low 1991 effects of strategy and environment on corporate venture success in industrial markets, journal of business venturing, 6(1): 9-28. ■ van de ven, a. h., r. hudson, and d. m. schroeder 1984 designing new business start-ups: entrepreneurial, organizational, and ecological considerations, journal of management, 10(1): 87-107. ■ venkataraman, n., and j. h. grant 1986 construct measurement in organizational strategy research: a critique and proposal, academy of management review, 11(1): 71-87. ■ venkatraman, n., and j. e. prescott 1990 environment-strategy coalignment: an empirical test of its performance implications, strategic management journal, 11(1): 1-23. ■ ward, j. 1963 hierarchical grouping to optimize and objective function, journal of the american statistical association, 58, 236-244 m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 2, 2002, 127-145 145 new venture competitive strategies and performance appendix: questionnaire " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " manufacturing specialty products providing a narrow range of products serving limited or specific geographic markets continued new products development reliance on proven manufacturing processes lowest price offering minimal advertising and promotion expense lowest cost per unit not an overriding concern high capacity utilization emphasis on serviceable product quality reliance on public domain processes and technologies let brand identification and name recognition take care of themselves use only existing channels of distribution small number of customers customers make frequent purchases average customer order small sell products to one market segment single channel of distribution entered the market(s) on a small scale with steady, incremental growth objectives each of the following items consists of a pair of statements representing the two extremes on different methods by which businesses may compete. please consider each statement as it relates to your business unit relative to competitors. place an x at the position on the scales that best describes the emphasis your business unit has placed on each in establishing your competitive posture since entering the market place. manufacturing commodity type products providing a broad range of products serving broad markets maintaining current products innovation in manufacturing processes premium pricing policy high level of advertising and promotion expense continuing, overriding concern for lowest cost per unit excess capacity tolerated in anticipation of future growth emphasis on superior product quality ownership of patents or other proprietary knowledge developing brand identification and name recognition develop new channels of distribution large number of customers customers make infrequent purchases average customer order large sell products to numerous market segments many channels of distribution entered the market(s) on a large scale with rapid, immediate growth objectives 51drodge edward n. drodge 2002 career counseling at the confluence of complexity science and new career, m@n@gement, 5(1): 49-62. m@n@gement is a double-blind reviewed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.dmsp.dauphine.fr/management/ © 2001 m@n@gement and the author(s). issn: 1286-4892 editors: martin evans, u. of toronto bernard forgues, u. of paris 12 http://www.dmsp.dauphine.fr/management/ m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 49-62 special issue: careers and new science 49 edward n. drodge royal canadian mounted police email: edward.drodge@rcmp-grc.gc.ca career counseling at the confluence of complexity science and new career new ways of looking at naturalistic and social phenomena provided by chaos theory, complexity theory, and self-organization—“complexity science” (mathews, white, and long, 1999), hold great promise for the field of career development. it is important to state at the outset that this paper is not proposing another theory of career development based on complexity science; there are currently many excellent models with a long history of research (see, brown, brooks and associates, 1996). nevertheless, complexity science does provide a powerful metaphor for understanding both human career development and the development of the career concept, and offers important pragmatic insights about evolving issues at the intersection of these two systems. for example, an important discovery derived from complexity science is that unpredictability is the status quo for all complex systems including human ones. as the nobel laureate physicist, murray gell-mann noted, «the most obvious effect of chaos is to enhance enormously the effect of ignorance of prior outcomes…» (1999: 6). a key question arising from such an acknowledgement is what complexity science offers by way of descriptive and prescriptive information in the domain of career development beyond that provided by current methodological and ontological models. complexity science gives us cause to reflect on the prevailing models of theory and practice in the field of career development, particularly as to how those models might be based on the false premises of stability, predictability, and linearity. this is a significant theme throughout the present paper. concurrent with the emergence of complexity science we have a “new career” (arnold and jackson, 1997) perspective that compels career counselors to examine critically the prevailing models of practhe complexity science metaphor provides an opportunity for imaginative innovations in the field of career counseling. chaos, complexity, and self-organization are particularly important in light of the demands placed on individuals confronting the “new career” culture. this article describes the key conceptual structures of the complexity science metaphor for counseling, in general, and elaborates on the connections between those conceptual structures for the field of career counseling practice and theory at the dawn of the new career era. mailto:edward.drodge@rcmp-grc.gc.ca m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 49-62 special issue: careers and new science 50 edward n. drodge tice. complexity science and new career share metaphorical concepts such as deterministic non-linearity, bifurcation, complexity, and self-organization, therefore, understanding the implications of one can assist in shaping the application of the other. by understanding how unpredictable events occur and function in naturalistic systems, career counselors, for example, can normalize a client’s experiencing of uncertainty in the career system and, furthermore, assist the client to more effectively cope with future uncertainty through developing effective responses to present conditions. normalizing clients’ experiences of anxiety and confusion is an important counseling activity that entails providing additional information and empirical data, describing the affective responses that the client might experience, and outlining some sense of duration (timeframe) for the current situation. the underlying message to the client is “you are not alone in having such experiences about career dislocations”. in short, complexity science is a rich metaphor with the potential of providing a fresh perspective on the dynamics of the career development system and, ultimately, better meeting the needs of career counseling clients. this is another key theme that will be discussed in the present paper. metaphor is valuable to a culture because it provides the conceptual lenses that allow the culture to understand itself, represent its activities to the larger world, and create new metaphors that sustain the life of the culture. academic endeavor in all disciplines hinges on the ability to create new metaphors to explain phenomena. in the case of career development, particularly career counseling, it is difficult to jettison ways of knowing that are fundamentally a part of that culture in order to permit genuinely fresh ways of examining the counseling enterprise. on the other hand, uncritical acceptance of a new metaphor may foster values incompatible with the goals of career counseling, or may recycle beliefs that the profession had previously sought to distance itself from. it is difficult to predict what undesirable effects might creep into career counseling practice because of uncritical acquiescence to a theory. however, lacunae in clinical practice and research are only evident when another metaphor creates the ground against which the discipline of career counseling can be more clearly examined. in this case, complexity science has drawn attention to the point that the more varied and numerous the relationships between entities (cells, molecules, individuals), the more likely that a new, more functional pattern of existence might develop. while this point may have been tacitly understood in career development, greater knowledge about the nature of those interactions has important implications for the career consultant working with individuals navigating the new career. this is the final broad theme to be elaborated in the paper at hand. the metaphorical overlap between complexity science and new career may be translated to the practical work of career counselors working with a range of client concerns. and while this paper provides a basic sketch of such activities for the practice of career counseling, these prescriptions are not particularly novel, rather they are an attempt to m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 49-62 special issue: careers and new science 51 career counseling bridge the gap between new career and complexity science. the main points are: — the certainty of uncertainty in the new career; — the necessity of personal and skills flexibility; — interpersonal competence; — lifelong learning; — critical self-reflection. the work of hall and his colleagues (hall, 1996b; hall and moss, 1998) will be central to the discussion of new career because of its emphasis on the altered psychological context of contemporary work life, particularly its relational perspective (fostering a culture of interpersonal care in organizations) on career development. defillippi and arthur’s (1994) discussion of the “boundaryless career” also informs the new career theme explored in this paper. finally, lewin and regine’s (2000) compelling portrayal of business organizations that have embraced complexity science offers insights about the pressures individuals must confront within organizations that have adapted to the new business climate. the narratives derived from their work provide a background tapestry for the figural work of the career consultant engaged with the individuals at the heart of all organizations. much of the ensuing discussion about career counseling illustrates how principles of nonlinear dynamics might be fruitful for the field of career development. this should not be misunderstood as an attempt to create yet another paradigm, rather as one of many «pragmatic and progressive approaches to experience that would enable us to learn to transform our deep-seated and emotional grasping after a ground» (varela, thompson, and rosch, 1991). at the confluence of complexity science and new career the instability of the “ground” is something to be utilized to the benefit of career development, and not to be naively avoided and feared. new career the phrase, “new career”, was used by arnold and jackson (1997) in a symposium on the challenges facing career counselors in light of the rapid changes occurring in the technological, economic, and information domains of western society. it is important to underscore the point that the so-called new career is not a global phenomenon; most of the world’s population continues to live in severe economic hardship. and, of course, there are many traditional societies for whom the notion of a new career is meaningless and there is little economic hardship. from a career development perspective, individuals in most so-called “developing nations” struggle with more fundamental issues such as finding work at all. however, from an organizational standpoint, the psychological contract, defined as the complex relationship of benefits, contributions, and satisfaction between employer and employee, has been altered in all parts of the world as a result of the shift in global economics. as a result, and the point being raised by this brief interlude, is that this paper is necessarily limited by the cultural connotam@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 49-62 special issue: careers and new science 52 edward n. drodge tions of using a concept such as new career because it does not mean the same thing to all individuals in all parts of the world. the new career defies precise conceptualization no matter what the cultural context. nevertheless, one can point to the broadening of the term “career” to include those aspects of self that shape, and are shaped by, the activities one engages in during the process of living in the world. in this sense, then, career is no longer bound exclusively to traditional notions about work-life that connote a circumscribed set of activities that one engages in for a great portion of one’s life. nor does one’s career largely define one’s identity, rather it is the other way around, developing a clearer understanding of one’s identity is seen to be central in shaping one’s career. furthermore, the phrase new career connotes a shift in those traditions about work toward a radically altered career vision that includes: — more frequent job changes; — greater uncertainty about work opportunities and job longevity; — more demands on individual skills, particularly problem-solving and creativity; — more intense involvement in team-building and team work; — more time committed to personal and skill development through continuing education. the “protean career” (hall, 1996b) is a useful starting point in defining the changed psychological contract that exists in the new career: «the protean career is a process which the person, not the organization, is managing. it consists of all of the person’s varied experiences in education, training, work in several organizations, changes in occupational field, etc. the protean person’s own personal choices and search for self-fulfillment are the unifying or integrative elements in his or her life. the criterion of success is internal (psychological success), not external» (hall and mirvis, 1996: 20). clearly, this holistic view of the empowered individual is consonant with the systems, narrative, and constructivist positions that have emerged in the social sciences within the past decade. and central to all of these perspectives is the relational dimension, improving interpersonal relationships and personal meaningfulness within organizations, that occupies center stage in hall’s discussion of the organizational responsibilities and career consulting implications of the new career. the critical issue for career counselors is, how do we assist individuals to make the transition to this position where self-knowledge, relational development, and empowerment are integrated into one’s career development? in terms of the organizational culture, hall and moss (1998) have summarized the fallout of downsizing, divestiture, and the global economy by identifying three stages in the psychological contracts that companies have with their employees. companies are either in current trauma, are trauma survivors, or have evolved to a state where continuous learning is the status quo. furthermore, in research cited by hall and moss (1998), they contend that it takes about seven years for the new career relationship between employer and employees to reach this third stage of adjustment where continuous learning and the relational m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 49-62 special issue: careers and new science 53 career counseling aspects of the career culture are deeply entrenched. career counselors have an important role to play in this period of adjustment as hall and mirvis (1996) noted. the emergence of a new career perspective should not be interpreted as a signal for the rejection of existing models of career development and career counseling. on the contrary, the perspective offered by self-organization and complexity studies makes it clear that diversity is necessary for change and improvement to systems. in this sense, both complexity science and the new career perspective share much with the constructivist position in counseling that emphasizes multiple ways of knowing, the centrality of narrative, and the importance of observing and addressing patterns of relating. indeed, constructivism in psychotherapy is addressed (mahoney and moes, 1997) in a recent american psychological association book on the topic of chaos theory and psychology (masterpasqua and perna, 1997). however, unlike the position taken by many constructivists to reject previously dominant paradigms within counseling, complexity science implies embracing any and all metaphors for understanding career phenomena and their concomitant approaches in working with individuals confronting new career difficulties. hall (1996b) has presented a relational theory of career development grounded in the premise that an individual’s career in the contemporary context must encompass continuous learning, flexibility, as well as personal meaningfulness and connection with the larger community. this “protean career” (hall and mirvis, 1996) has taken some time to be realized by many individuals because the shift in the nature of career has occurred rapidly and there is a psychological lag in the human response to this altered reality. the unpredictability and complexity of the new career may present a daunting task for many individuals resulting in a sense of helplessness that career planning is impossible. despite this, neither counselors nor clients seeking career guidance should assume that unpredictability is an excuse for apathy and inaction where one’s career is concerned. on the contrary, i contend that complexity science can be an antidote to meaninglessness and a source of empowerment in one’s career. in the remainder of the paper i present what i take to be the key lessons to be learned from chaos and complexity theory, and briefly describe the implications for career counselors in the new career climate. networks of relationships complexity science suggests increasing the number of connections and amount of energy invested in our interpersonal relationships so that we increase the chances of something new and better emerging. that “something new and better” inevitably implicates the career domain by virtue of the importance we ascribe to our career life. in discussing the self-organization of life on earth, goodwin (1994: 174) said, «life doesn’t need dna to get started; it needs a rich network of facilitating relationships». career counseling should not be considered as a de-contextualized activity separate from the personal and interpersonal world of clients. the new career more aptly includes the m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 49-62 special issue: careers and new science 54 edward n. drodge entire life domain of individuals, therefore career counseling can no longer simply focus on work life. in particular, career counseling should more directly assist clients to attend to their interpersonal relations because the new career places greater demands on the ability to work closely with others in a small group in a facilitative manner. insight from kauffman’s (1995) work on complexity is valuable in this regard for a number of reasons. for instance, chaos exists when there are a large number of functional units sparsely connected to each other. by increasing the number of connections between each unit, order was observed to develop. for social science there are a couple of important points to be made based on this observation. first of all, creativity is born out of chaos. that is, when individuals interact with others for a period of time there is greater opportunity for adaptation and learning to occur. however, few interactions with fewer individuals inhibit the chances that the individual will change. the ordered regime that the individual resides in will be preserved. people often seek career counseling when the ordered regime in which they live no longer feels satisfying. one task for a career counselor, then, might be to assist with the development of interpersonal skills so that the individual is more capable of social interaction with people from diverse backgrounds with diverse interests and personalities on a variety of new tasks. this personal development process might be accomplished in the context of group counseling, attending workshops, seeking retraining or educational upgrading, or simply socializing with others in a new activity. the basic issue is to encourage greater social interaction in an attempt to trigger some new ways of engaging with the social sphere. the more varied and numerous the social relationships between individuals, the greater the chance that a new, more functional pattern of existence might develop. as constructivists mahoney and moes have suggested, «at many levels, research indicates that variability in activity is at least a prerequisite to change, and often an integral element in the creative solutions or expressions that may emerge» (mahoney and moes, 1997: 192). fostering this network of relationships is not as simple as the foregoing would suggest. it presumes strong ego functioning on the part of the client to initiate and sustain the kind of interpersonal relations being indicated. in the absence of such ego strength, personal therapy as a precursor to career development activities might be warranted. hall (1996a: 319-320) refer to «secure bases» and «developmental sanctuaries» in discussing the career counselor as a broker. these are concepts from the object relations and attachment fields (e.g., winnicott, 1958; bowlby, 1969), and reflect the importance of self-reflection and self-knowledge as the bases for healthy relationships. clearly, another important avenue for career counseling is assisting with the development of career-related relationships that are supportive and facilitative as opposed to antagonistic and competitive. the career counselor may act to stimulate the client to seek/engage in mentoring relationships or opportunities to receive/engage in coaching. more directly within an organization, a career counselor can act as a consultant to aid in the development of networks, support groups, and m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 49-62 special issue: careers and new science 55 career counseling team building. but all such activities are contingent upon healthy relational skills in the first instance, and this is something that personal counseling can assist with. to summarize, counseling efforts to assist individuals in building a network of interpersonal relationships provide opportunities for learning about self and learning about career options. the kinds of counseling activities described in the foregoing section also highlight the point that there are no clearly defined boundaries between career counseling and personal counseling. in both cases there is a whole human being experiencing some dissatisfaction cognitively and emotionally that cannot be split into discrete aspects of self other than at a purely rational level. work life and emotional life are inseparable domains of experience. inevitability of change and embracing uncertainty embracing the certainty of uncertainty seems fundamental to understanding both complexity science and new career, but this entails more than passive acceptance of a sterile phrase. it requires the dynamic struggle of counselors and clients to understand that innumerable contingencies culminate in the position that both the counselor and client find themselves in, and that there are ways of utilizing uncertainty in a constructive manner. the “assess, interpret, and match” approach widely used to address client’s career choice indecision, for example, is seen to be an attempt to invoke order in a domain where disorder is the natural state of the complex system defined by person, environment, and behavior. it is far more realistic and proactive to foster an attitude of open-mindedness and experimentation in clients than to continue pigeon-holing individuals through matching clients and careers. business management guru tom peters (1987) urges people to energize their lives and careers by “re-potting” themselves every five years. similarly, hall (1996b) argues that individuals set short-term work goals lasting between three and five years. so, a short-term view of career is an important mindset for career counselors to adopt and to encourage in clients. this task entails valuing career indecision as a normal part of career development, not pathologizing it. the barrage of assessments frequently accompanying career counseling has the potential to fosters clients’ dependence on both the counselor and the method, and to create the false belief that their career is outside and beyond their ken. technical rationality and linearity creep into career counseling when interest inventories, aptitude tests, and personality measures take center stage in career counseling. such practices do not stimulate clients to find meaning, connection, and community, key elements of relational theory in organizations (hall, 1996b) that are so valuable in light of the new career. it is important not to forget that diversity is a key element in stimulating creativity and growth. one contention made in this paper is the necessity of eclecticism. therefore, the wholesale trashing of career assessment procedures and tools is not recommended because this would reduce the diversity of approaches that might be useful for clients. m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 49-62 special issue: careers and new science 56 edward n. drodge similarly, all theories of career development have some merit and should be used some of the time. but, no theory should be used all of the time to the exclusion of others that may have meaning for a particular client at a given moment in time. it is poor practice to delude people into believing that testing, interpreting, and matching them to a career is an infallible practice, for this entails prediction, and even extremely short-term prediction of complex systems is at best an exercise in probability. nevertheless, finding a good fit between person and work environment is a good short-term strategy for counselors and clients to engage in. it is a misguided practice when long-term career planning is the goal because of the volatility of the contemporary work world, changing cultural beliefs about the meaning of work, and the changing needs and interests of individuals. career counselors often encounter clients who are terribly uncertain about their career choice, or they are experiencing an existential crisis that leaves a hole in the life they are leading. uncertainty and meaningfulness are tightly bound. when one is certain about something then one if filled with meaning and purpose, indeed people are driven when they have such certainty. on the other hand, uncertainty leads one to seek answers and this can feel like one is constantly being fragmented into multiple selves unless one develops the key insight that uncertainty is the natural state of the world. complexity science can play a role in developing this insight for clients that the safety net of rationality, so powerful in our traditional understanding of the career development process, is a myth. rational scientific thought, the product of the enlightenment, has erroneously bestowed human thinking and action as linear, predictable, and inevitable. as a result, human thinking and action about events has come to be characterized by an avoidance of chance, and a totally negative view of contingency and unpredictability. but complexity science has revealed that rationality and linearity are human products reflecting our epistemology and not the “natural” state of living systems. natural systems, human societies, and humans themselves are largely unpredictable and nonlinear. a philosophical shift is necessary to recognize that the natural state of human existence is precisely one of contingency and non-rationality. without making the point sound too nihilistic, there is little point in perpetuating a client’s false belief in the rationality of the world, or that one can control all dimensions of one’s life through contrivance, as if one could control one’s career destiny simply by doing the “right” things. counseling, in a generic sense, has always attempted to seek out the resources that clients possess, to accentuate the strengths and possibilities in a negative turn of events in order to build coping ability and stimulate productive change. re-framing change, even those aspects of career life such as downsizing and turnover, as positive events is an important counseling strategy. viewing forced changes in one’s career as a negative event is energy wasting and counter-intuitive given the body of evidence from chaos and complexity theory that all physical and chemical systems are in a state of perpetual flux in response to the smallest change in conditions. why should something as complex m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 49-62 special issue: careers and new science 57 career counseling as one’s career life be immune from similar changes in conditions? it is far more productive to accept the natural uncertainty prevailing in the world and to examine one’s personal resources (interpersonal skills, network, work skills, knowledge) that allow one to move forward with one’s career. what is different here is the emphasis on altering the mind-set, a subtle attempt at a philosophical shift about career development, indeed about the nature of the self. diversity a diversity of agents in a system increases the potential creativity and adaptability of that system (goodwin, 1994; kauffman, 1995; lewin, 1999). the famous belosov-zhabotinsky reaction (prigogine and stengers, 1984), wherein a mixture of organic and inorganic molecules in a petri dish spontaneously generate a series of colored concentric circles that appear and disappear, is a vivid example of how a diverse array of freely interacting entities is capable of generating novelty. similarly, diverse cellular automata generated by a computer demonstrate a complex range of emergent behavior as they interact with one another, simultaneously inhabiting a digital landscape and altering that landscape as a result of their interactive behavior. boolean networks are another example of how increasing the number of connections between individual cells in a matrix leads to widespread, constantly changing interactions between those cells. both feedback and feed forward are operating between individuals in such non-equillibrium systems so that there is a constant ebb and flow of conditions. if the individual cell, automata, or molecule is somehow restricted in its interactions, or isolated from others, the overall level of diversity of that particular system is decreased and there is a concomitant loss of potential creativity and adaptability. at the human scale, diversity is apparent in the variety of social, physiological, cultural, and psychological structures and belief systems that exist. in the realm of career development, diversity is realized by the wealth of resources that are available to individuals and organizations. self-help groups, email, cyber-meetings, conferences, training sessions, team-building, and work retreats are some of the ways that modern organizations increase the networking between individuals that can generate greater adaptability and increased creativity. the savvy career counselor is an expert in motivating clients to utilize this wealth of resources in the service of personal change. motivated clients are empowered individuals, and empowerment is the wellspring for organizational change. counselors, by assisting with personal motivation, goal-setting, and incremental behavioral change, can trigger further systemic change in a feedback loop. by recognizing the diverse world we live in and the potential for creativity that may be unleashed by freely interacting and engaged individuals, career counselors expand the range of career development options that exist for a motivated, goal-directed, self-learner. part of the counselor’s work is to promote self-knowledge and the benefits of lifelong learning. the new career is synonymous with the imperative to engage in continuous upgrading and acquisition of skills m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 49-62 special issue: careers and new science 58 edward n. drodge to remain competitive and adaptable in the face of prevailing changes in the world of work. again, the knowledge gained from our understanding of pattern, self-organization, and complexity is helpful for conceptualizing the types of activities necessary in the new career. for example, it is important to trigger client change, but also to raise the level of self-awareness concerning how change occurs and the necessity of re-inventing oneself in the face of constant change. by actively participating in and experiencing the multiplicity of career paths that exist, individuals feel empowered to change the course of their lives. thus, counselors work to encourage acting as opposed to reacting, engaging with others as an alternative to excessive self-consciousness, and stimulating the unexpected as opposed to fearing it. consonant with a recommended strategy proposed by hall (1996b) concerning the realities of the new career, counselors should actively work to de-emphasize the importance previously attributed to task mastery so as to highlight the value of continuous learning. career mobility is as valuable as peak performance for career development. that is, the personal skills associated with career mobility previously undervalued, indeed regarded negatively by organizations are now justly seen to be a vital skill set for individuals in the new career. thus, along with promoting this psychological shift, counselors must continue to be career information specialists, assessment experts, educators, and personal counselors. all of the tools at a counselor’s disposal are potentially useful in triggering personal change. career counselors using the knowledge derived from complexity science are aware that individuals fall easily into a preferred basin of attraction, that is, a personal space that is familiar and secure but that may be stagnant and ungratifying. strategies that encourage risk-taking and that challenge cherished beliefs and cognitive styles are essential for kick-starting the change process. the edge of chaos the metaphor of chaos theory should not be interpreted as a call for counselors to foster chaos, in the colloquial sense, in clients as a prelude to awakening their creative impulses. this would be dangerous and unethical. mahoney and moes (1997: 192) suggest that «periods of destabilization are not always preludes to the emergence of a healthier and happier system». nevertheless, in order for career development to occur it may be necessary for the person to experience some kind of instability and we know that the social, cultural, and psychological worlds we inhabit are non-equillibrium systems, hence naturally unstable. the key for counselors is to normalize this experience, to work through the difficulties via supportive counseling, and to enlist both the personal resources of the client and the resources in the environment in order to navigate the instability. normalizing here simply means engaging the client in a rational discussion about the natural, widespread state of uncertainty in human affairs, the world, and perhaps the universe. “at the edge of chaos” is synonymous with the openness of a system, being poised to adjust current behavior in synchrony with the environm@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 49-62 special issue: careers and new science 59 career counseling ment. for career development this means being proactive and adaptable. specific counseling strategies in light of this might assist clients to use resources that provide information about corporate goals and plans, that direct clients to advanced technology tools and courses, and to newsletters that announce conferences and supply inspirational narratives about career change and success in the new career climate. being poised might also entail preparing an electronic resume that is posted on the web, or becoming certified on a variety of tasks that are connected to one’s skills or to one’s leisure activities. fitness landscapes (lewin, 1999) are constantly changing as complexity science points out, and this is particularly evident in the new career. to avoid running hard just to stay in the same place (the “red queen effect”), it is critical that individuals take steps to get them near the edge of chaos, that fruitful zone where small changes in the landscape can be handled easily without triggering excessive stress on the system. pattern fractals are examples of apparent chaos that contain beautiful patterns (order). the chaos is determinate, that is, a precise mathematical model generates the fractal and small perturbations during iterations of one variable will eventually lead to some pattern. but all complex systems need to run awhile for pattern to become apparent and close scrutiny needs to be paid to the details to see the shape of the pattern. understanding the “cause” of the pattern is not particularly important; after all, it is a simple logistic equation. but knowing that a small shift in a variable can alter the pattern is a powerful metaphor for seeing the possibility of human change. altering some aspect of one’s cognitions, feelings, or behavior can trigger a cascade of changes resulting in a more positive career, a new fractal of living. career counselors can be helpful in reflecting the client’s pattern of relating to others and to self. of course this pattern is commonly understood as personality, the relatively enduring aspects of an individual’s behavior, emotions, and thinking that may be largely unknown to that person. the counselor, then, acts as a mirror to reflect those recurring patterns that were hindering the client and to highlight any emerging patterns that may signal change. coping with and thriving in the new career requires that individuals develop an awareness of the cultural and personal biases they bring forth. such self-knowledge is a cornerstone of the relational perspective (hall, 1996b) on career life and fits nicely within the general model emerging from new science that emphasizes learning about one’s psychological needs, personality, interpersonal skills, and career skills as a prelude to fostering flexibility and adaptability. organizational systems, too, fall into basins of attraction, a preferred way of functioning (a pattern) that may suddenly be found to be rigid, unproductive, and costly in both human and financial terms. external consultants may be needed to make the unconscious, imperceptible, dysfunctional pattern of behaving recognizable to the organization as a precursor to jolting the system out of its basin. the ironic aspect of pattern is that it is typically more obvious to someone outside the sysm@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 49-62 special issue: careers and new science 60 edward n. drodge tem than someone living within it, whether that system is an organization or an individual person. career consultants have a range of tools at their disposal to make detection and reflection of patterns valid to the client, including interest inventories, values assessments, personality tests, and structured interview protocols. the key for optimal use of such instruments is the openness and motivation of the client for intervention and change. conclusion fundamentally, humans are complex adaptive systems living amidst other complex systems. the career system is one significant aspect of human life that is simultaneously defined by human social-cultural conduct, and is a powerful shaper of human identity and behavior. currently, there are multiple changes occurring in the career system signifying a new pattern of human relating that poses new challenges for individuals, families, and society. the new career encompasses greater uncertainty and change than has been previously experienced by generations of workers in western culture. there are greater pressures on individuals to enhance their professional skills and interpersonal qualities necessitating lifelong learning and continual adaptation. the global economy’s pressure to improve productivity and efficiency places paradoxical demands on individuals to work more independently for longer hours, while also promoting a cooperative, small-team approach to problem-solve and produce creative solutions. the new career is also characterized by rapid technological change that cycles individuals through occupational purges and splurges. in sum, contemporary work careers are synonymous with change. given this state of complexity, predicting where the next boom and bust might occur, and as a result, aiding individuals who are embarking on work careers or otherwise requiring a change of career, may best be regarded as an impossible if not unwarranted exercise. complexity science, situated in recent theoretical and research advances in mathematics, physics, biology, and chemistry, has come to be significant for the social sciences by virtue of its metaphorical resonance with human systems phenomena. complexity science has highlighted the inevitability of change and the beauty of unpredictability. the absence of foreshadowing and plot linearity in a story does not detract from its essential wholeness, neither from its intelligibility and meaning. indeed, just as structural and content shifts that provide new metaphors stimulate a creative surge in literature, concepts such as deterministic non-linearity, bifurcation, complexity, and self-organization aid in re-framing our understanding in a field such as career counseling. the complexity science metaphor invites career counselors to embrace uncertainty and chaos as a precursor to order and change. in practical terms, complexity science provides a broad strategy that involves working with clients to recognize patterns evolving in the work career domain and patterns in their own personal and interpersonal m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 49-62 special issue: careers and new science 61 career counseling functioning as a first step towards a bifurcation (change) point. the importance of developing rich networks of relationships that stimulate creative work in clients is also apparent in the metaphor of complexity and self-organization. lifelong learning, critical self-evaluation, and acceptance of the fact that there are multiple ways of knowing are also implied as tasks for career counselors in their work with clients. career counseling, then, makes a significant step towards being united with the discipline of counseling as a whole, jettisoning its more circumscribed, functionary role. for counselor educators, complexity science offers an inclusive rather than exclusionary perspective regarding the role of theory in career counseling. recent career development formulations emphasize constructivist and social cognitive descriptions with the implication that other models may be mere artifacts worthy of our curiosity. complexity science makes it clear that theoretical heterogeneity is necessary because no single theory can account for all career experiences. all, rather than one, is the credo of complexity science because diversity is the fuel for creativity. theoretical eclecticism is, therefore, an important mainstay of counseling pedagogy along with multiculturalism and anti-racist discourse. in short, career counseling is energized by complexity science because of the open-endedness symbolized by order out of chaos. nearly all accounts of complexity science as it is applied to social science exude confidence and optimism about the opportunities for change and creativity. most importantly, these accounts also advocate a culture of caring and wholeness. edward n. drodge completed his doctorate in the area of counseling at the university of toronto. he has taught at memorial university of newfoundland and the university of ottawa, and currently works as a researcher with the royal canadian mounted police. references ■ arnold, j., and c. jackson 1997 the new career: issues and challenges, british journal of guidance and counselling, 25: 427-433. ■ bowlby, j. 1969 attachment and loss, vol. 1, new york, ny: basic books. ■ brown, d., l. brooks, and associates 1996 career choice and development, 3rd ed., san francisco, ca: jossey-bass. ■ defillippi, r. j., and m. b. arthur 1994 the boundaryless career: a competency-based perspective, journal of organizational behavior, 15(4): 307324. ■ gell-mann, m. 1999 fundamental sources of unpredictability, in c. rossi, s. bastianoni, a. donati, and n. marchettini (eds.), tempos in science and nature: structures, relations, and complexity, annals of the new york academy of sciences, vol. 879, new york, ny: the new york academy of sciences, 1-7. ■ goodwin, b. 1994 how the leopard changes its spots: the evolution of complexity, london: orion. ■ hall, d. t. (ed.) 1996 the career is dead, long live the career: a relational approach to careers, san francisco, ca: jossey-bass. ■ hall, d. t., and j. e. moss 1998 the new protean career contract: helping organizations and employees adapt, organizational dynamics, 26(3): 22-37. m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 49-62 special issue: careers and new science 62 edward n. drodge ■ kauffman, s. 1995 at home in the universe: the search for laws of self-organization and complexity, new york, ny: oxford university press. ■ lewin, r. 1999 complexity: life at the edge of chaos, 2nd ed., chicago, il: university of chicago press. ■ lewin, r., and b. regine 2000 the soul at work: listen, respond, let go: embracing complexity science for business success, new york, ny: simon & schuster. ■ mahoney, m. j., and a. j. moes 1997 complexity and psychotherapy: promising dialogues and practical issues, in f. masterpasqua and p. a. perna (eds.), the psychological meaning of chaos: translating theory into practice, washington, dc: american psychological association, 177-198. ■ masterpasqua, f., and p. a. perna 1997 the psychological meaning of chaos: translating theory into practice, washington, dc: american psychological association. ■ mathews, k. m., m. c. white, and r. g. long 1999 why study the complexity sciences in the social sciences?, human relations, 52(4): 439-461. ■ peters, t. j. 1987 thriving on chaos: handbook for a management revolution, new york, ny: knopf. ■ prigogine, i., and i. stengers 1984 order out of chaos: man’s new dialogue with nature, toronto: bantam books. ■ varela, f. j., e. thompson, and e. rosch 1991 the embodied mind: cognitive science and human experience, cambridge, ma: mit press. ■ winnicott, d. w. 1958 collected papers: through paediatrics to psycho-analysis, london: tavistock. 203 stéphanie tillement, céline cholez, thomas reverdym@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 230-265 special issue: reliability and resilience as dimensions of organizational performance’ m@n@gement copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). m@n@gement is a double-blind refereed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.management-aims.com © 2009 m@n@gement and the author(s). stéphanie tillement, céline cholez, thomas reverdy 2009 assessing organizational resilience: an interactionist approach m@n@gement, 12(4), 230-265. m@n@gement est la revue officielle de l’aims m@n@gement is the journal official of aims issn: 1286-4892 editors: emmanuel josserand, hec, université de genève (editor in chief) jean-luc arrègle, edhec (editor) stewart clegg, university of technology, sydney (editor) martin kornberger, university of technology, sydney (editor) philippe monin, em lyon (editor) josé pla-barber, universitat de valència (editor) linda rouleau, hec montréal (editor) michael tushman, harvard business school (editor) thibaut bardon, universté paris-dauphine, crepa hec, université de genève (editorial assistant) florence villeseche, hec, université de genève (editorial assistant) martin g. evans, university of toronto (editor emeritus) bernard forgues, emlyon business school (editor emeritus) volume 12, no. 4. special issue: “reliability and resilience as dimensions of organizational performance’” guest editors: erik hollnagel, benoît journé and hervé laroche. m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 230-265 special issue: reliability and resilience as dimensions of organizational performance’ 230 assessing organizational resilience: an interactionist approach assessing organizational resilience: an interactionist approach stéphanie tillement céline cholez thomas reverdy université pierre mendes france, grenoble pacte politique – organisation stephanie.tillement@upmf-grenoble.fr université pierre mendes france, grenoble pacte politique – organisation celine.cholez@upmf-grenoble.fr université pierre mendes france, grenoble pacte politique – organisation thomas.reverdy@upmf-grenoble.fr this article addresses the issue of organizational resilience in a structural context marked by complexity, change and distribution of activities between interdependent occupational groups. we adopt an interactionist approach, relying mostly on the works of e.c. hughes and a. strauss to show how articulation within and between groups can affect the achievement of organizational goals (safety and production) in the face of unexpected events. the paper is based on an empirical study of teams involved in major modernization projects of the rail transport system and facing critical, risky and very constrained work situations. our empirical results describe in depth the nature of arrangements and negotiations made within and between occupational groups to articulate the work. we show how organizational conditions affect these arrangements and finally the resilience of the project organization and groups within it. we then discuss our results in four main points, aiming to give a more general scope to our results. our first two points demonstrate how professional rivalries and asymmetric relations lead to a displacement in organizational goals and affect resilience. our third point assesses the role and the limits of both informal and formal arrangements in articulation and resilience. we finally show how adopting an interactionist perspective questions the notion of resilience for an organization as a whole. keywords: organizational resilience, reliability, structural interactionism, work, division of labor, articulation, occupational groups, modernization project, signaling. introduction the concept of “organizational resilience” stirs real interest amongst risk-management researchers. it is derived from the generalization of the concept of resilience in psychology, referring to “a fundamental quality of individuals, groups, organizations and systems as a whole to respond productively to a significant change that disrupts 231 stéphanie tillement, céline cholez, thomas reverdym@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 230-265 special issue: reliability and resilience as dimensions of organizational performance’ the expected pattern of events without engaging in an extended period of regressive behavior” (horne & orr, 1998: 31). the emergence of the concept of resilience is linked to a change of paradigm for safety management. indeed, safety used to be seen as a static concept: it was assumed “that safety, once established, could be maintained by requiring that human performance stayed within prescribed boundaries or norms” (woods & hollnagel, 2006: 4). safety relied on predicting dangers and preventing them from happening, by implementing barriers and new safety rules. in this view, humans were considered as sources of unreliability, since their behavior was not totally predictable and they could therefore make errors. since the 1980s, researchers, by studying successes or failures in complex organizations, have shown the positive contribution of humans and groups to safety (recovery from critical situations, improvization in the face of non-prescribed situations, adaptation to a modification of the environment...). in this view, safety is a dynamic concept which recognizes the positive role of changes, adaptation, adjustments and fluctuation management made by humans and groups to cope with complexity and unexpected events. the variability of work situations is not seen as something that should be eliminated, but as something ordinary and intrinsic. the challenge for safety management is to be able to cope with this variability, i.e. with unanticipated, unexpected events. according to hale (2006: 40), resilience becomes a useful concept when it is defined as “the ability in difficult conditions to stay within the safe envelope and avoid accidents”. the concept of “organizational resilience” recognizes that risk control depends on the capacity of an organization to take account of “irregular variations, disruptions and degradation of expected working conditions” (hollnagel, leveson & woods, 2006: 347), or the organization’s skills in managing the unexpected (weick & sutcliff, 2001). thus, “a high reliability organization is one that exhibits resilience, among other qualities, in the face of unanticipated occurrences” (kendra & wachtendorf, 2003: 14). the “resilient organization” works a bit like a reed in bad weather: it bends but does not break under pressure, whilst a tree, which is more rigid, would have broken. in the literature, the nature of “unexpected occurrences” or “disturbances” of the workflow which are studied can vary from unforeseen aspects of the activity (hollnagel, leveson & woods, 2006), continuous stress, or major incidents (hollnagel, 2006), to a crisis affecting the organization, including an element of trauma (kendra & wachtendorf, 2003). in this paper, we will define resilience as the ability to manage disturbances of the normal workflow and to regain a dynamically stable state which allows the organization’s goals of production and safety to be achieved. researchers have identified several abilities on which resilience depends: forward planning, perception and reaction to variations (hollnagel, leveson & woods, 2006), the ability to interpret events and manage complexities, improvisation (rerup, 2001), the redefinition of roles, and the ability immediately to correct errors and learn from them (weick & sutcliff, 2001). the literature particularly emphasizes the fact that a resilient system must be flexible and adaptive (hollnagel & woods, m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 230-265 special issue: reliability and resilience as dimensions of organizational performance’ 232 assessing organizational resilience: an interactionist approach 2006). organizational forms which allow flexibility are characterized by the presence of informal work practices, local autonomy of action, management systems for feedback, learning and continual improvement (mcdonald, 2006). according to weick & sutcliffe (2001), high reliability organizations (hros) are those able to preserve flexibility in the face of disturbances: they respond to disturbances with new learning rather than new rules or procedures. we see, then, a clear link between resilience and flexibility or adaptation: to regain a dynamically stable state, and thus to be resilient, an organization needs to be flexible and adaptive. since researchers who work on resilience adopt a systemic approach, coordination between groups or teams is recognized as an important issue for an organization’s resilience. researches emphasize the fact that accidents are non-linear phenomena (perrow, 1984), which means that “the safety of an organization can not be derived from a linear combination of the parts, but rather depends on the way in which they are coupled and how coordination across these parts is fragmented or synchronized” (hollnagel & woods, 2006 : 354). however, few studies really concentrate on the concrete forms of coordination within and between teams, and on their impact on organizational goals and survival. we either find works that focus on macro-level issues, such as cross-scale interactions or conflict goals inside an organization (woods, 2006), or works that study interactions and adjustments inside a team coping with an unexpected event, i.e. micro-level analysis (weick, 1993). the sociology of work, especially interactionism, offers a theoretical framework through which to study the coordination process within and between groups in a dynamic way. in this paper, we rely mostly on strauss’s work and on his concept of “articulation work”. strauss defines his approach as “structural or pragmatist interactionism” (clarke, 1991). strauss (1985, 1988, 1999), relying mostly on hughes’s conception of work and occupations, proposes a framework through which to analyze interactions between occupational groups within a division of labor. its roots lie deep within traditional chicago concerns with the interactional processes by which tasks are shared, distributed and negotiated between groups, and thus by which boundaries between groups are constructed. in this view, boundaries are places of cooperation or potential conflict. the unit of analysis is the work itself, and behind that, all the actions and interactions necessary to perform a given piece of work. to study the work, the analysis is not limited to the observation of communication, symbolism, universe of discourses or linguistic interactions, but also investigates more tangible facts, such as activities, the workplace, technologies, artefacts (plans, machines, etc) or organizations (including the division of labor and rules) 1. hughes (1951) emphasizes the interdependence of occupational groups resulting from the division of labor which leads to a distribution of tasks within the organization. the coordination of tasks and team members is subject to permanent readjustments “because the numerous interconnected and sequential tasks […] will not automatically organize themselves into appropriate action and time sequences” 1. this approach noticeably differs from symbolic interactionism, grounded in mead’s work, and from the work of weick (deeply inspired by mead) and goffman. for these authors, the unit of analysis is the situation. both adopt rather a micro level of analysis, and analyze how individuals select pertinent cues in a situation and interpret them to make sense of it. goffman studies mostly interpersonal relations and everyday interactions by focusing on face to face interactions, communication and linguistic exchanges. weick focuses on the nature and the quality of interactions between individuals within a group. however, the organizational and structural conditions are not really taken into account. the importance of the symbolic dimension in interactions (developed by mead) is present in the work of strauss. however, by focusing on actions and interactions needed to perform the work, he also questions and analyzes the role of non-human actors, organizational context and historical or biographical elements. 233 stéphanie tillement, céline cholez, thomas reverdym@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 230-265 special issue: reliability and resilience as dimensions of organizational performance’ (strauss, 1985). since there are different groups in charge of different types of work, “there must be arrangements in place [...] in order for articulation to occur” (corbin & strauss, 1993: 74). articulation is always questioned, threatened by the contingencies of the workflow: it is the work that “gets things back on track in the face of the unexpected, and modifies action to accommodate unanticipated contingencies” (star & strauss, 1999: 10). articulation is grounded in a division of labor which has “social-psychological nuances in it” (hughes, 1951): to each occupational group are associated identities, statuses and boundaries resulting from competition for control of task areas. it pertains to the perception that the different groups have of their tasks (which tasks are considered noble and reputable, or, conversely, have little respect or are without interest). the arrangements which are worked out within and between occupation groups will depend on these perceptions, on the distribution of power within the organization and on work situations. to articulate their work the different actors negotiate, persuade and make more or less “tacit understandings” in order to rank priorities, resolve time-related conflicts and finally construct a “negotiated order” (strauss, 1988). negotiations will encompass the statuses (abbott, 1988; bechky, 2003), the meanings of actors, their tasks, responsibilities, obligations, commitments, conceptual structures and time-related issues (hampson & junor, 2005). even if these negotiations or arrangements can be institutionalized in formal procedures, they will have to be permanently reworked in order to adapt to work contingencies and because not all the structural and organizational conditions that will affect the work performance can be anticipated. corbin & strauss (1993) indicate that articulation is only possible thanks to a complex, multi-level network of arrangements within and between occupational groups. within an occupational group, these arrangements pertain to questions such as: what type of work, by whom, where, for how long, with which goals? between occupational groups, besides the questions listed above, the arrangements will have something to do with: what resources, technologies, suppliers, delays? in this article we intend to show how the sociology of occupational groups can shed new light on the concept of resilience in socio-technical complex systems, characterized by activities distributed among numerous occupational groups and major safety issues. if we consider that resilience “is concerned with understanding how well the system adapts and to what range or sources of variation” (woods & cook, 2006: 69), assessing the resilience of an organization (and teams within it) involves identifying the forms taken by the adaptations to disturbances of the workflow, through the arrangements reworking process within and between occupational groups. adopting an interactionist perspective will allow us to question the notion of resilience by highlighting the limits of organizational arrangements in the face of an accumulation of disturbances of the workflow. it emphasizes particularly how occupational rivalries, asymmetrical positions and power struggles within and between occupational groups affect the arrangement-making process and the definition of organizational goals. it re-establishes the protecm@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 230-265 special issue: reliability and resilience as dimensions of organizational performance’ 234 assessing organizational resilience: an interactionist approach tive role of formal procedures which enable weakened occupational groups to reaffirm their professional identity and to defend their integrity in the face of constant disturbances. it underlines the importance of informal boundaries and the difficulty of assessing the resilience of an organization as a whole when work is distributed among numerous occupational groups. this paper is based on an empirical study of critical work situations in which work is distributed between numerous occupational groups dealing with complex activities (linked either to old technologies requiring modification or new technologies being designed). our study focuses on teams (implementation and project ones) involved in major modernization projects of the rail transport system. these renewal projects aim at adding a new automation system to the existing and currently operating system. these projects involve designing a new, automated system to replace partially the existing one; although some of the older technologies will be conserved, they will require substantial modification in order to work with the automated system. strauss emphasizes two major issues linked to project unfolding. firstly, lots of unexpected outcomes disrupt the workflow, thus “contingencies and outcomes of responses to contingencies are central” (strauss, 1988, atkinson et al., 2006). secondly, as projects involve various but interdependent occupational groups, they require strong coordination mechanisms between tasks and project members. since those projects also entail technological changes, they lead to a redistribution of tasks, statuses and territories amongst occupational groups. to build our demonstration, we focused on adjustments across occupational groups within the project organization, in reaction to disturbances of the normal (or planned) workflow. we carried out an in-depth analysis of several major incidents linked to implementation operations on signaling equipment. an ethnographical study at the heart of this project organization allowed us to consolidate our analysis of organizational factors which degrade reliability. we questioned the resilience of a given professional group and of the project organization as a whole in the face of two types of disturbances: continual stress linked to nonnegotiable project contingencies and major mishaps. we aim at identifying more precisely the nature of adjustments and negotiations made according to the types of unexpected events and the category of individuals or groups affected, and the effects of those adjustments on the different occupational groups. the paper is built as follows: we begin by exposing in detail the research setting and our methodology. we then present our main results. we first focus on the interactions and adjustments within a given occupational group, i.e. the signaling implementation team, to identify under which conditions this team can be called resilient or not. we show that the resilience of a team is increased when unexpected events are managed within a strong “community of practice”. secondly, we observe interactions and negotiations between two occupational groups: the signaling implementation team and the automation project team. we aim at showing how the organizational and structural conditions influence the negotiations between these occupational groups, and vice 235 stéphanie tillement, céline cholez, thomas reverdym@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 230-265 special issue: reliability and resilience as dimensions of organizational performance’ versa, and finally affect the resilience of the implementation team and of the whole project. thirdly, we come back to the incidents we studied to understand how the different occupational groups react to major incidents and to assess the resilience of the system when coping with major mishaps. finally, we show the ways in which the notions of occupational groups and articulation work are a pertinent analytical model to evaluate resilience in organizations in which work is distributed between various interdependent teams. research context and methodology research setting this research took place in a rail transport company currently undergoing a major equipment-renewal phase in order to provide a safer but also more efficient transport system (whilst reducing the intervals between trains to increase transport capacity). this gave rise to the concomitant launch of several major projects affecting more than half of the network’s lines, the aim of which was to automate the existing rail transport system. the occupational groups upon which this research focuses are involved in these automation projects. the projects primarily involve the automation of train-driving systems. this means adding new, computerized automation systems. in order to ensure effective, safe operation, these computerized systems are interfaced with large amounts of older equipment, such as electro-mechanical signaling devices (detection of trains and information from the control room and from other drivers, etc). this older equipment also needs to be modified in order to be adapted to the computerized train-driving systems. the work situations are particularly critical because the modernization projects concern infrastructures which are used for passenger transport on a daily basis. modifications are progressively introduced during operational downtime, in other words at night. the conditions under which these modifications are implemented increase the risks associated with those operations. in this case, work is undertaken on existing installations which are in operation. the phasing of operations is, therefore, very important: throughout the period of the project (several years), partial modifications are made almost nightly, to very tight deadlines (between 3 and 4 hours), tested and checked before services start up again at 5 o’clock in the morning. after the work is completed, the system must, therefore, be perfectly safe, but also ready for operating. several technical configurations (old and new) coexist during relatively long periods and that must not impact operations: the trains continue to carry passengers. the distributed nature of the project. project organizations are a classic example of work situations marked by change, instability and dispersal. in the particular case which we study, the distributed nature of work in the modernization projects depends on several factors. m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 230-265 special issue: reliability and resilience as dimensions of organizational performance’ 236 assessing organizational resilience: an interactionist approach the concomitant launch of several major projects leads to structural reorganizations (creation of project organization, gathering of engineering activities, etc). the introduction of computerized systems within the rail transport system leads to a redistribution of competences and power relations within the organization between occupational groups in charge of old and new technologies. these projects involve a very large number of participants divided in various technical specialties. each technical specialty requires highly specific knowledge and competences. in these projects, activities are also distributed in time and space. firstly, different temporalities are juxtaposed. the projects last from 5 to 10 years, formal important steps are defined in the project (functional specifications, design, implementation, validation, etc), and work is planned a year in advance and then readjusted monthly and weekly. moreover, the modifications are implemented during the night: implementation teams have only about three hours to work. this requires very precise description and planning of tasks and each unexpected event can have severe consequence in the shortterm (operating disruption and delay), but also in the longterm (it can induce planning modification, and affect the work of several occupational groups which will have to be readjusted). finally, the activities are distributed in space: for each technical specialty, some tasks are carried out at the office (specifications, design, verifications, etc) while others (implementation and validation tasks) are carried out during the night, close to the installations. this spatial division of work requires effective communication between night and day teams. figure 1: main occupational groups within the project organization the complex nature of the project besides the distribution of the activities and the technical heterogeneity of the project, the different teams involved in the automation project are faced with many challenges. (1) the different sub-systems, in particular the automation and the electro-mechanical ones, are closely interdependent and might interact in unforeseen ways (perrow, 1984). thus, there is a risk of technical incompatibility between signaling and automation or between signaling engineering and contractors on account of the technical interfaces involved. it is important to ensure that the modifications are interoperable and that a modification to one 237 stéphanie tillement, céline cholez, thomas reverdym@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 230-265 special issue: reliability and resilience as dimensions of organizational performance’ part of the system will not compromise the operation of another. (2) the modernization projects engage new technologies which have not yet been designed and have never previously been in operation. the project team cannot really depend on any real past experience, and some aspects cannot be defined or planned beforehand, which makes scheduling very difficult. (3) the different sub-systems are developed concurrently: if the requirements of one sub-system evolve, this might imply a resumption of the design activities in another sub-system. (4) these different teams face many uncertainties and the unanticipated events are more likely to happen and to propagate from teams to teams (from sub-systems to sub-systems) in an unexpected manner. (5) operations are not interrupted during the implementation phase even though the rail transport system is constantly changing as new systems are introduced and old ones are modified. for all these reasons, the projects which we study are significantly more complex than previous projects undertaken by this company. table 1. preparation and responsibilities of signaling technicians, automation engineers and project managers professional training formal roles and responsibilities major issue (discourse) signaling technicians, engineers two-year professional training diploma in electromechanics to engineering degree 3 main roles: project managers: following the design and the implementation for their subsystem, organizing (by planning) implementation operations, managing the subcontracts. work supervisors: organizing and supervising implementation operations during works nights. verifiers: verifying electro-mechanical diagrams and test logs made by designers, supervising validation tests of new signaling systems. ensuring industrial safety under pressure (tight deadlines, numerous modifications to specifications or work planning) signaling subcontractors maximum twoyear professional training diploma in electro-mechanics designing signaling diagrams, carrying out the implementation operations (mostly cabling) and validation tests. ensuring the reliability of the implementation operations industrial project team ipt (automation engineers) engineering degree 3 main roles: design manager: reformulating the client’s needs in terms of technical constraints and performance objectives ensuring the coherence between the system’s interfaces coordinating safety activities carrying out design, verification and validation activities examining functional modifications implementation manager: carrying out detailed industrial design and implementation activities coordinating implementation activities and organizing operations examining technical modifications industrial project manager: representing the ipt towards the project manager and managing the ipt technical coordination of the project controlling the design and the implementation of the computerized sub-system within the agreed deadline/budget project managers engineering degree managing the project globally global coordination of the project (the technical coordination is delegated to the industrial project manager) resolving any disputes between the client and subcontractors managing the whole project within the agreed deadline/budget m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 230-265 special issue: reliability and resilience as dimensions of organizational performance’ 238 assessing organizational resilience: an interactionist approach research approach this article is based on a three-year study of how actors manage to deal with unexpected events (and then to control risks) in a work context characterized by distributed and complex activities. to carry out this research, we were integrated into the “risk control” department of the rail transport company. this department was concerned about the company’s ability to control risks in the current organizational context. two major incidents concerning the “signaling” team actually occurred in the framework of automation projects. these two incidents were particularly serious and occurred just several months apart. the signaling engineering team was shaken by the sequence of events and questioned its capacity to control the risks linked to modifications being carried out on a very large number of points on the network. the fallout went beyond this occupational community: the directors of the technical and operating units demanded explanations. they also came to confirm the worries of the “risk control” department, which asked us to carry out an analysis of the incidents in question. formal enquiries were launched, workers held responsible and possible sanctions mooted. these incidents attracted our attention for a number of reasons. they were all linked to work intended to modify signaling equipment. the first incident showed a lack of vigilance and a certain weariness on the part of designers-checkers. the second incident related to design and was typical of a complex system: the modification carried out had unexpected effects on other systems. once we gained access to the signaling engineering department, we had the possibility to interview people, and to observe work situations. thanks to the signaling technicians, we were able to contact the automation project team members and to interview them. our aim was to pinpoint the organizational, structural and occupational factors that could explain these incidents. we adopted a qualitative and systemic approach and had the opportunity to gather data from different sources (interviews, observations and documents) and from various points of view: the signaling technicians directly involved in the incidents, their peers, their superiors, the project members, i.e. automation engineers with whom the signaling technicians are in interaction. we adopt a pragmatic approach to generate rather than test theory. our sampling was first open, as questioning, to allow the concepts (especially the unforeseen ones) to emerge from the data. the sampling became more selective as research progressed: we later chose people to interview or sites to observe in order to make pertinent comparisons and to develop and link core categories which emerged from the data (corbin & strauss, 1998). throughout this research, we paid special attention to unexpected events (incidents, technical or organizational lapses, etc). focusing on interruptions to the workflow is a useful way of understanding both reliability and coordination issues, since articulation work is mostly invisible during normal workflow and through rationalized models of work; it is brought to light when the planned workflow is disturbed. our approach was then to focus on these unexpected events (especially near-misses) in order to understand how people reacted to them according to their occupation and position within the organization. 239 stéphanie tillement, céline cholez, thomas reverdym@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 230-265 special issue: reliability and resilience as dimensions of organizational performance’ data collection we collected three main types of data, namely semi-structured interviews, meeting and field work observations, and documents (plans, schemes, incident reports, etc), from people involved in the automation projects (signaling technicians and engineers, automation project engineers and project managers). the interviews and observations constituted our major data sets. the archival data were used to gain an initial insight into the incidents and to understand the rationalized models of work; they enabled us to validate our findings further and to identify structural indicators. we collected and analyzed the data over a period of two and a half years, as shown in table 2, which indicates the type, amount and timing of data collection. interviews we interviewed signaling team members, project team members and safety engineers involved in the automation projects or in less strategic projects. the people we asked for an interview were free to refuse and, when they agreed to meet us, their anonymity was guaranteed. we conducted 49 interviews, as detailed in table 2. all of the people involved were part of the engineering department, which is a large, multilevel, multi-functional and hierarchical unit. we began by interviewing the signaling technicians directly involved in the incidents. then, to ensure that our sample was representative, we interviewed workers of different statuses and functions and with differing levels of experience in the field. we asked the relevant individuals about the activities involved in their daily work, the different tasks that they had to accomplish and the way in which they went about doing so. we paid special attention to the kind of disturbances to the normal workflow which they were facing, and to how and with whom they were interacting to organize and plan their work and rearticulate it when disturbances occurred. it soon became evident to us that the project organization they were in and their interactions (interdependence) with the project managers were a source of difficulty, since many disturbances were linked to the development of the automation system. thus, to have a more systemic and objective view, we interviewed the project team members: automation engineers and project managers. here, our questions primarily concerned the existing organization, the formally defined roles of the different individuals, the documents which accompany their work activities and how the different teams involved in the project coordinated with one another. we closed the interviews when we achieved data saturation, i.e. when no new issues were emerging. interviews were face-to-face and conducted in the workplace, usually in the interviewee’s office. all the interviewees were very busy individuals, dealing with unexpected events modifying their planned work, so interviews were often rescheduled or even in some cases cancelled. however, participants were generally very cooperative and even willing to talk about their work. our interviews lasted on average two and a half hours. m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 230-265 special issue: reliability and resilience as dimensions of organizational performance’ 240 assessing organizational resilience: an interactionist approach observations even though interviews provide a great deal of information, they are insufficient to give access to concrete work practices and articulation work. thus, we wanted to observe technicians during the implementation phase to assess the complexity of the technical devices, the work conditions and environment at night and the difficulties and risks they had to deal with, and to see the work practices and coordination mechanisms “on the ground”. we adopted an opportunist approach, consisting of asking the interviewees (especially the signaling engineers in charge of implementation) if it was possible to accompany a team during modification work. we thus gained permission to observe implementation teams for five nights and three days. this provided us with more “situated” details about the importance and the characteristics of the physical installation and of the drawings, the division of labor between individuals and the way workers were reacting to unexpected events. indeed, each night we observed, workers had to deal with unforeseen contingencies which disrupted the planned workflow. we also had the opportunity (thanks to our position in the risk management department) to observe the inter-departmental meeting, in which major incidents were collectively analyzed. it helped us to understand the negotiating processes by which causes were found and responsibilities assigned. each time we found out about the occurrence of a major incident in the framework of a modifications project, we asked the risk department head if we could attend the meeting. we were thus authorized to observe seven inter-departmental meetings. for both the works and the meetings, we recorded as much of the conversation as possible. documents we collected two major types of archival documents in order to understand better the formal project organization, formal definition of roles and incident analysis. on the one hand, we collected job descriptions, project management plans, procedures and safety rules, organizational charts and signaling and automation schemes and drawings. this helped us to compare the way in which the work was prescribed and divided with how interviewees described their tasks and what we had observed. on the other hand, we obtained the incident reports for six major incidents occurring during modification works, including four in signaling. these enabled us to compare the causes and responsibilities pointed out in these reports with the ones we identified during our study. 241 stéphanie tillement, céline cholez, thomas reverdym@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 230-265 special issue: reliability and resilience as dimensions of organizational performance’ table 2. data collection and analysis amount of data time of collection analysis and use in theory development interviews preliminary interviews with signaling technicians involved in incidents. individual recorded interviews with signaling technicians, engineers and subcontractors, and with project managers and members of the automation project. 49 interviews: 26 signaling technicians, 22 project team members or managers, the engineering department head 1500 pages middle of year 1 through to middle of year 3 transcribed interviews coded (first manually then with nvivo tool): close examination of qualitative data to name and categorize phenomena. continual review of data to identify the core categories and concepts and the relations between them in order to explain organizational limits to the capacity of resilience. observations in-depth observations of works during both night and day, and observations from post-incident meetings field observations (6 nights and three days) 7 meetings 130 pages end of year 1 through to middle of year 3 transcription of field notes. observing and understanding work practices and contingencies which disrupt the workflow. identifying tacit knowledge, negotiations and arrangements, especially when unanticipated events occur during workflow. understanding how individuals or groups analyze and explain incidents and negotiate to identify causes and to allocate responsibilities. documents internal documents from signaling team and automation project team (job description, procedures, safety rules, project management plans, signaling and automation schemes, incident reports) 250 pages middle of year 1 through to end of year 3 understanding structural context. identifying formal roles and responsibilities. analyzing formal causes and responsibilities identified in the incident reports. all 1880 pages data analysis our analysis is based on procedures and techniques used to develop “grounded theory” (corbin & strauss, 1998). all our data were subject to in-depth analysis, based mostly on a comparison process: we were looking to identify the themes cited from within the different technical specialties, identify similarities and differences in the way in which these themes were addressed and, finally, associate the two. we tried to articulate two levels of analysis (the organizational level and the group level) in order to gain a global understanding of the phenomenon we wanted to explain. to analyze each interview, we paid special attention to the vocabulary and the linguistic register used by the interviewee. we distinguished during the analysis process between what referred to tangible facts (work documents, formal organization, incidents…) and what reflected the interviewee’s point of view. we read the recorded and transcribed interviews attentively to divide them up into sequences. to each sequence corresponded a subtheme. we then grouped together the different sub-themes under general themes, i.e. categories (corbin & strauss, 1998). field notes and documents came to enrich the analysis model we had built, as well as the interviews made throughout the research. regarding the observations, we adopted two complementary positions: on the one hand, we focused on the “work activity” which means that we followed a given actor in different workplaces, temporalities, circumstances and observed the way he was interacting with other workers; on the other hand, we observed “work situations”, which enabled us to analyze interactions, m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 230-265 special issue: reliability and resilience as dimensions of organizational performance’ 242 assessing organizational resilience: an interactionist approach actions, negotiations between several actors individuals during a sequence of a given activity, geographically and temporally situated (it was the point of view we chose to study in inter-department meetings). throughout our research we made several formal feedbacks (to the signaling team head and to project managers during a formal meeting) and we encouraged some of the interviewees to read drafts of our work: their feedbacks, both formal and more informal, have helped us to refine our results by showing them to the people concerned. we then identified the core categories (corbin & strauss, 1998) resulting from our analysis and we formulate our hypothesis by linking these categories. results2 when the arrangements break down: the signaling team confronted with two major incidents the incidents in the night of february 14th to 15th 2006 3, modification works to signaling equipment were carried out at station “x” on the red line, in order to be adapted to the forthcoming automation of this line. the objective was to run installation tests on a new switching system, involving a change in the signaling logic: it meant checking that the signals matched with the position of the switch (left or right), i.e. that they pointed the train in the right direction. during the whole night, the workers had to deal with different unexpected dysfunctions (breakdown of equipment, problems of communication with the operating agents...) which they managed to solve. at 4.35am the trials were completed. at 4.55am the equipment and workers returned to the station: no-one was now on the tracks. at 5.10am, the final tests were carried out remotely, from the station: the situation was considered normal. at 5.45am, the workers, who were still in the station, were informed of a problem with the switch signal: the signal was green and, therefore, the driver was authorized to go through it, even though he would be going in the wrong direction. the workers returned immediately to the signal and observed an oversight in the reopening of the electrical supply controlling the signal, i.e. the system was still in project configuration. after corrective work, a further test was carried out: the situation was now normal and the workers left the station. the green signal had temporarily authorized the driver to go onto a track where another train was stationary. a train collision was narrowly avoided! in the night of april 17th to 18th, works and tests were carried out at station “y” on the red line. only sub-contractors were present since the modifications carried out were considered minor and without any operational incidences. this work was completed during the night of april 18th to 19th. at 6am, after the test passage of two trains (to ensure that no anomalies occurred), as required by the regulations, the sub-contractors called the company to inform them of the post-work situation. the conclusion was clear: “nothing to report”. at 11.16am, 2. empirical and general results (discussion) are presented in a synthetic way at the end of the ‘discussion’ part (table 3). 3. for confidentiality reasons, the dates of the incidents as well as their locations have been modified. however, the intervals between these incidents have been respected. 243 stéphanie tillement, céline cholez, thomas reverdym@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 230-265 special issue: reliability and resilience as dimensions of organizational performance’ the signaling engineering group was informed of a signaling anomaly at station “y”, which suggested an “absence”: the train at the station virtually disappeared: it was no longer electrically detected and, therefore, the signals intended to protect it stayed green and the central control tower did not see them. there was nothing to stop a train positioned behind it from moving forward […] and hitting the “ghost train”. the seriousness of the situation was assessed immediately and all traffic was stopped. the work carried out on the previous nights was thought to be the root cause. the signaling project manager responsible for this operation went to the area in which the dysfunction had occurred and informed the sub-contractor of the situation, who also attended the site. together, they checked all the plans concerning the modification carried out during the previous nights; they then realized that this modification had a functional impact on signaling logics which was not identified at the time of the design and verification process. they therefore made modifications to the equipment to secure the zone temporarily. at 3.25pm, the situation was back to normal: traffic could re-start. the signaling workers had to review all the designs in order to secure this zone on a permanent basis. once again, a train collision was only just averted and traffic was stopped for 4 hours. the accidental uncovering of the problems by comparing these incidents, we see that the signalmen were not able to detect the problems, in spite of all the tests they carried out. problems were always discovered by an operating agent (a driver or rail-traffic controller), by chance. in the first case, it was the conductor who could physically see what was happening and raised the alarm. neither the signaling technicians nor the rail-traffic controller detected the problem. in the second case, thanks to an agent who had to go on the tracks, the rail-traffic controller paid special attention to the traffic and finally discovered the “absence” by chance. we can deduce from this, firstly, that the verification of all diagrams does not always guarantee that they are error-free; secondly, that tests carried out “in the field” do not always enable the workers to detect errors; and, thirdly, that the defective operations can go unnoticed. the time of process solving: a collective process as soon as a problem is discovered, the signalmen in charge of modification are informed and have to attend the scene of the incident. several cases are possible: either the incident is discovered during the night before the operating restart (first incident), or the incident is discovered after the operating restart (second incident). in the first case, the signalmen are allowed and encouraged to fix the problem themselves. in the second case, the maintenance team is called and is responsible for fixing the problem. in any event, the signaling technicians and engineers (both from the company and from the subcontractors) are always called to help them solve the problem. the process of problem solving is always collective. we observe, in particular, a strong cohesion between the technician responsible for the modification and the subcontractor. they analyze the problem and find the solution together. in other words, thanks to their shared skills, experience and representations, they collectively make sense of the unforeseen critical situations. the m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 230-265 special issue: reliability and resilience as dimensions of organizational performance’ 244 assessing organizational resilience: an interactionist approach new drawings are made immediately on test, and the double checking is carried out between them. once the incidents are solved: the time of reappraisal and doubts these two incidents were particularly serious and occurred just several months apart. the signaling implementation team was shaken by the sequence of events and questioned its capacity to control the risks linked to modifications being carried out at a very large number of points on the network. this led to many debates (and to more formal inquiries) within the occupational community, including the sub-contractors, in order to make sense of what had just happened. this crises revealed how the roles and the responsibilities were allocated by those involved and which tasks were considered complex and ‘“noble” within this community, but also the boundaries of this occupational group, that is to say which signalmen included or rejected from this community. this showed that the boundaries of this occupational group were not those defined by the company. the sub-contractors were clearly part of the community, whereas youth and works supervisors were not seen as signalmen, and therefore not treated “on an equal basis”. as we will demonstrate later, this leads us to reconsider the formal work control process and the independence between the firm and the subcontractor. an initial causal analysis quickly brought to light the fact that the incidents occurred in a high-pressure production context, particularly due to the deadlines of the different projects. “this operation has been subject to successive modifications (studies completely reworked) at the request of the project. respecting an evolving, tight schedule means slicing up interventions and increasing risks”. (incident report) “successive delays in functional specifications at the system level (automations) generate multiple phasings which require successive and partial reworks on studies that have already been done globally, to carry out trials in a context where pressure is on in terms of schedule”. (incident report) the formal validation processes for the design and implementation plans, based on dual controls (i.e. organizational redundancy), would appear not to have ensured the reliability of the operations carried out on the nights in question. “these trials are based on the competencies of the agents. after every operation, the workers wait for the first two trains to come through in each direction (in compliance with prevailing regulations)”. (incident report). “the trial log described the test for modifications on one circuit, but not modifications to the other circuits. the impact on the other circuits was not shown either during the trial log draft, or during verifications, or during field trials”. (incident report). however, the workers involved in these incidents were mostly experienced and considered highly competent within their own occupational community. this dramatically increased the malaise of the whole signaling community. the dominant feelings amongst senior as well as junior members were the lack of recognition from their hierarchy and retrospective fear. “personally, that’s what really got to me... retrospective fear. because there, we focus on this incident, but we fiddle with the whole of the line and when we 245 stéphanie tillement, céline cholez, thomas reverdym@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 230-265 special issue: reliability and resilience as dimensions of organizational performance’ make modifications, it’s like that all the way down the railway line! you should see some work situations. it’s amazing what’s going on. so things like that… we’ve got dozens and dozens all the time… is what shocks people, retrospective fear, fear that one day, we’ll miss something which has some nasty consequences” (signaling engineer directly involved in the incident). the incident reports and the interviews with the signalmen directly involved in the incidents show two distinct types of causes: internal (competencies, formal control process, redundancies, etc) and external (production pressure, design modifications due to the automation part, etc). this clearly reveals a number of problems with coordination and calls into question the roles of adjustments within and between occupational communities to achieve both safety and production goals in a very tense context where the planned workflow is disturbed by many unforeseen contingencies. formal procedure and informal arrangements within an occupational group in this section, we will examine how the different tasks are distributed and coordinated within the signaling team, which concrete practices form the basis of the modification of existing signaling installations, and how the signalmen adapt to the contingencies of the workflow, especially unexpected ones. rail signaling is as old as the rail transport system. it has always played a crucial role in rail safety, since it is the role of signaling to prevent the two major rail transport risks: collision and derailment. the occupational community in charge of rail signaling is thus an old community which has acquired routine practices and specific skills over the years, especially in order to achieve their production goals and to control risks. some of these practices have progressively been rationalized and formalized. formal rules as a resource for an occupational group within the signaling team, there is a division of work between functions, mostly according to the phase of a particular project (specifications, design, implementation). in terms of implementation, activities are divided up between workers from the company and sub-contractors: some of the work is indeed sub-contracted, although a representative of the company will be present in a supervisory capacity. in theory, error-free, reliable signaling modification operations require a formal control process called “dual verification”. this means that any document (drawing, plan, specification and test logs) will be checked twice: once by a person from the group having created the document and a second time by a person from the group working downstream on the modification chain. thus, the design plan will be verified by a person from the implementation group, and the implementation plan prepared by a sub-contractor will be checked by a person from the implementation group. checks are documented in “opinion forms” in which any errors and modifications to be made to the document are entered. at the end of this process, the document is validated. as defined formally, the two checks are supposedly independent, i.e. the actors are not supposed to have any exchange outside the opinion forms. once m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 230-265 special issue: reliability and resilience as dimensions of organizational performance’ 246 assessing organizational resilience: an interactionist approach all the necessary documents have been validated, the works phase begins, during which the equipment is modified, followed by the test phase where checks are carried out to ensure the modifications allow the installations to function properly and safely. this formal process also aims at articulating formally and at ensuring the sequence of tasks to modify a signaling installation. a complex activity which requires practical and experiential knowledge signaling engineering requires very specific and sophisticated skills. apart from technical knowledge of signaling logic (electro-mechanical technology), it is very important to have a clear understanding of existing equipment and its specificities. the task also requires a high capacity for concentration and vigilance (vaughan, 1997) throughout the modification management process: verification of plans, cabling of equipment installed and technical tests. moreover, formal documents (procedures, rail regulations) supply very little information on the precise nature of the tasks to be carried out on account of their very general nature. this is also explained by the fact that signaling equipment is not generic and, therefore, it is impossible to prescribe precise operating procedures. for each area of the network there is different equipment, depending on the network’s age, the equipment used, etc. competence is based on a keen knowledge of different installations and the capacity to adapt to the associated specificities and risks. thus, the most experienced members have learnt to be sceptical of dual verification and test logs: it is not because there is dual verification that the design work is flawless. on account of this, nothing totally guarantees that the test log, which is created from implementation plans, contains no errors or covers absolutely every angle. the occupational community as a resource to cope with hazard and complexity teamwork plays a crucial role in the development of “mindfulness” (weick and sutcliffe, 2001) throughout the modification management process. “we need to have a different perspective because it is true that when we are involved in a project over many months, our objectivity is affected. therefore, the fact of having an outsider taking a different perspective gives rise to autocriticism. finally, more or less all of us tend to end up putting objectivity back on the rails. it gets us to check with each other. for big projects, it’s crucial.” (signalman) in spite of the formal processes and division of work, we observe a certain level of flexibility, but also a relatively shared and coherent vision of the work to be done and methods to be used. on top of the formal double-check procedures, there are less formal forms of doubling-up or redundancies: each person involved, if they have the necessary skills, will, when they carry out their part of the task, re-check whether the previous task has been done correctly. “this is unquestionably a relatively complicated area and, when we are working alone, it is not easy. we need to be able to sound out those around us. there are areas like that where being alone is not a good thing. you need to be able to ask questions around you on areas which seem a little complex to us, where we may have difficulties… it’s good to be able to go and knock on 247 stéphanie tillement, céline cholez, thomas reverdym@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 230-265 special issue: reliability and resilience as dimensions of organizational performance’ someone’s door and get a different perspective”. (signalman) whilst certain individuals are formally entrusted with coordinating specific aspects of a project, they are far from being the only ones to play this coordination role. everyone, more or less discretely, seeks to inter-connect the work and “hold together” its different aspects (strauss, 1988). more than the formal dual verification procedure, risk control is primarily dependent upon adjustments, understandings and informal arrangements between signaling engineers, and especially with subcontractors doing signaling works. the designers will talk about plans face-to-face, or go onto the night shift with partially modified documents, with the intention of checking certain points directly when they get to the site. these adjustments also allow the construction of collective competencies. it is a fact that informal regulation encourages workers to exchange and talk about their problems and difficulties (within the occupational community) and divide out the tasks, depending on competencies, with each technician not necessarily having the same experience of the technology, or the same knowledge of the sections of track affected by the modification faced with dead-ends, the technicians will talk to each other. “when we have a problem, we go and see whether someone else has come across it or whether someone has an answer. even if it’s someone who is not working on it, we can ask all the same. we manage our own activity, but we can ask questions if we have such-and-such a concern. (…) our offices are all close to each other and so, very often, when we come across a problem in our work, something which seems odd, somebody will say to us “yes…i’ve seen that, that happened to me”. (signalman) problems can therefore “migrate” within the team, from the requester to the most experienced and the most competent member. we observe what weick and sutcliffe (2001) call “deference to expertise”, typical of highly reliable organizations: this is the most competent person faced with the given problem at the local level who is allowed to take a decision. this not only enables a solution to the problem to be found easily, but also strengthens occupational group cohesion and improves knowledge and practical know-how within the signaling team. an occupational community weakened by rationalization of work and youth arrival however, signaling engineering has undergone major changes in the make-up of its teams. with the arrival of young, less experienced technicians, a new division of work and competencies has arisen. whilst before, the designers also piloted works, today this task is the responsibility of the project manager who sub-contracts implementation. the young engineers who have become the main interfaces between design and work do not have the same level of technical competencies and cannot understand and check the work of the designer-verifiers. “people come and work here with their bts (two-year professional training diploma in electro-mechanics) and we let them loose on these projects; you have to believe me, it’s complicated! it’s said that it takes between 5 and 10 years to understand signaling. and even after 20 years, we don’t know everything, and we can all make mistakes”. (signalman) “training in the past was based on apprenticeship, and we had much more m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 230-265 special issue: reliability and resilience as dimensions of organizational performance’ 248 assessing organizational resilience: an interactionist approach time; we could double people up and take them to the work sites during the day, during the night. (…) but all that has gone and it’s a real pity, because that’s where we learnt the most”. (signalman) for major projects, the type of training favored in the past (i.e. apprenticeship) has largely been abandoned on account of limited resources. young people only receive theoretical training and are assigned to projects as soon as possible. finally, design and verification operations for plans are increasingly the domain of a handful of the most experienced people. thus, informal redundancy based on the overlapping of competencies between all workers no longer really exists. it is more a one-way counselling relationship from the “old hands” to the new arrivals. the more experienced members have few people to whom they can turn. “before, what made the robustness of the signaling, not to say the robustness of everything? it’s simple: for a given work, you had always a guy there, asking: “why did you do this? why did you do that?”, that’s what made the robustness, the fact that x guys were there, having nothing to do, at least it kept them busy, it was good, as you say: there is no stupid questions. that’s why it went well everywhere. there were redundancies, apprenticeship, etc... today, we realize that with the economical system and “the whole bit”, what happens? it’s a chain now, and to go from the step a to the step b, there is only one guy, there is no more this doubling up, the difficulty’s there! and with the pressure, the problem is that the guy explodes and this leads to difficulties.” (signalman) experienced workers are also assigned to the biggest and most complex projects. the danger is that they become swamped in the number of tasks to be carried out and lost under a pile of documents connected to the project. indeed, with the projects, a certain “bureaucratic accountability” is developing (vaughan, 1999): everything has to be written, tracked and signed, which sometimes leads the older workers to neglect technical tasks (such as the second, informal opinion that they expressed on all plans in the past). this also leads to a change in the way in which regulations are obeyed. the more experienced workers, whilst recognizing the importance of these rules and traceability in particular, do not have total confidence in them. they know how to get around them and make the most of their “practical” and “experienced-based” know-how (vaughan, 1997), in particular given unexpected occurrences where formal documents do not serve much purpose. on the other hand, the younger workers place great faith in regulations. their philosophy is as follows: “if i respect the rules, i will have done my utmost to avoid an incident”. the same applies to test logs: the younger workers are incapable of referring to the electro-mechanical plans from which the test logs originate, and, therefore, are unarmed if mistakes slip into the trial logs. “the flip-side of this formalization is that people tend to hide behind documents. i don’t want to seem like an old warrior, but not so long ago, we worked mostly on the plans and people perhaps visualized the diagrams better.” (signalman). informal checking is, therefore, less systematic or less effective. the very element that makes the team flexible and highly reliable is being challenged by the progressive diminishing of occupational competencies and all forms of redundancy. the team’s resilience is progressively 249 stéphanie tillement, céline cholez, thomas reverdym@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 230-265 special issue: reliability and resilience as dimensions of organizational performance’ declining. it would probably take just one major unexpected occurrence or exceptional workload for the team to start making mistakes and not be able to detect them. finally, we see that the management of unexpected events is facilitated/made easier in an occupational community with overlapping competencies, transfer of know-how, mutual aid and mutual control. thanks to inter-understandings, trust and a shared perception of “a job well done”, arrangements in this community are in place and working well, such as informal forms of redundancies or doubling up: they allow them to be flexible and reactive when faced with unexpected events. however, changes in organizational and structural conditions affect arrangements within an occupational community and necessitate a reworking of arrangements. articulation between different occupational groups since the activities are distributed and inter-dependent within the project organization, they require strong coordination processes to align the different tasks and make them fit together. the special work that enables this is the “articulation work” (strauss, 1988). this involves paying attention to negotiations, more or less tacit understandings and adjustments between teams within the project organization. the redistribution of competencies and positions between occupational groups the introduction of new automation technology has led to a repositioning of the different occupations. indeed, in the previous technical system used to direct trains, signaling (electro-mechanical technology) was primarily responsible for averting major risks. with the onset of computerized systems, the automation engineers are now at the heart of the system and the signalmen have somehow lost their central position within the overall system. in particular, until now, signaling technologies were at the heart of collision prevention. with automation, the computer system is progressively taking responsibility for collision prevention. the computer system is tagged onto existing signaling equipment, which provides information on train positions. in other words, in order to be perfectly reliable, the system must now combine three checks to ascertain whether (i) the signaling equipment already in place, (ii) the interface between signaling equipment and automation and (iii) the automation system itself are all functioning properly. we have moved from a situation where the signaling engineers were the main contributors to risk prevention to a situation where the responsibility is shared between automation engineers and signaling engineers. with automation, a new form of risk has arisen: that of technical incoherence, particularly in the interfaces between the automatic system and existing signaling equipment. these new risks are the subject of real concern, both for automation engineers and signaling engineers. moreover, project management has been entrusted mainly to the automation engineers and teams in charge of older technologies are considered as service providers working at their behest, according to needs generated through the development of automation systems, and without too much concern for the availability of resources. m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 230-265 special issue: reliability and resilience as dimensions of organizational performance’ 250 assessing organizational resilience: an interactionist approach difficult inter-understandings between the two occupational groups our study first shows that these two occupational groups have divergent representations concerning the nature of occupations and on the appropriate risk control practices. “today, one of the difficulties is that the system engineers don’t speak signaling, and the signalmen don’t speak system.” (signalman) contrary to automation systems, a new and innovative technology that will evolve over time, signaling is considered traditional technology. behind the “traditional” label, automation engineers implicitly mean that the technology and the associated practices have been fully tried and tested and are, therefore, controlled whatever the context. signalmen reject the “traditional technology” label that the automation engineers give them: the environment in which signaling operates has become so complex that their operations cannot be qualified as “traditional” and “controlled”. the signaling engineers now have to deal with technologies and work situations that they do not understand. “we are taking new computerized systems on board…and we say, well signaling…we know that, so it’s not a problem. except that signaling is understood in a given environment, but that environment is changing. and these environments… when we are reasoning no longer in signaling sub-systems but in overall systems, these other sub-systems have a direct impact on signaling and its functioning and there we have no experience…” (signaling designer) “currently, we are creating new stuff in signaling which has never been tried and tested which means we have no absolute guarantee on functional and safety aspects. but our bosses continue to consider that signaling is something that is known and controlled and that the guys know how it works. no, i’m sorry, we have changed environment and we are in the process of reinventing elements of signaling…and there, there is a real risk. and what’s sure is that they don’t understand that today. they just don’t understand”. (signaling designer) the automation engineers, on the other hand, criticize the signaling engineers for not taking an interest in new system risks, but focusing only on risks that are inherent to signaling and, by extension, their riskprevention methods. “when they (the signaling engineers) validate their diagrams and all that, they’re not worried at all about system safety, they’re worried about obeying the rules listed in the signaling instructions and that’s all. and so the safety of the whole is based on the analyses of these instructions upstream. it is upstream that we need to take a hold of it because after, it is too late, and it takes time”. (automation engineer) these criticisms crystallize divergences on practices upon which risk prevention should be based, but also on the position of safety issues in the occupational group’s identity. on the signaling engineers’ side, risk control is first based on the rigorous application of formalized design rules but there is no real prior risk analysis (in the fmeca 4 or operational safety sense of the term). the risks are then identified on the ground, near to the equipment and in a very practical way. designers, developers and checkers must adapt to the variable nature of situations and equipment in place (their ageing, etc). the “subject matter”, the “technical object” in its “resistance” to human logic, played a vital role here and many problems are solved on 4. failure modes, effects and criticality analysis 251 stéphanie tillement, céline cholez, thomas reverdym@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 230-265 special issue: reliability and resilience as dimensions of organizational performance’ the ground and working with cables. on the automation system side, all safety analyses and tests are carried out upstream, before they are actually installed on-site and, more often than not, using formal methods and simulator tests. on-site, the testing of the automation elements is monitored by supervisors. if the tests are not compliant with their test logs, they must attempt nothing on-site; in fact, they are not asked to think about the causes of these non-conformities. they just look at their results:; it is up to the engineers to analyze them and to decide on any corrective action relating to the software. the field phase during which the equipment is physically installed is, therefore, much less critical in automation systems than in signaling. on the software side, the tests carried out upstream during design ensure that the system is reliable; it is at this moment that the reliability of the software has to be checked. once installed, improper cabling cannot lead to safety issues. in signaling engineering, on the other hand, the field phase is really critical: a single bad connection can trigger a safety incident. “in signaling, it’s very delicate, because you have only got yourself to blame. there is no system above. we are in a signal box and it’s completely autonomous. if you get it wrong, there’s no system above us which will necessarily pick up the mistake. whilst, on the software part, with all the loops and redundancies built in, safety is more diffuse.” (automation engineer) the different interpretations of risk control partly explain the conflicts or at least the separation between these occupational groups. signaling engineers’ practice is not understood by the automation engineers, who criticize their deadlines and verification procedures. “the problem with signaling engineering is that you have a specifier, a specification verifier, a designer, a design verifier, an implementer, an implementation verifier… so, to make a modification, it takes more or less a year. so, imagine the case of [this project] where there are several hundred modifications! we know it’s the sinews of war.” (automation engineer) in fact, these different interpretations of risk control reflect tensions between these “occupational groups” (bechky, 2003). in the medium term, the signaling engineers are in danger of losing the “noble” part of their profession. as a project manager confided to us, “the signaling engineers remind me of the gauls in the roman empire”. this metaphor perfectly illustrates what is going on between the two groups: the gauls are indeed seen as an archaic community which is using old, or even obsolete, tools. the romans represent modernity, but also the invaders coming to conquer the gauls’ land. in keeping with the metaphor, the signaling engineers are there to resist the automation system “invaders”. if risk control practices are questioned to such a degree on both sides, it is because it is not only safety which is at stake, but also (and above all) performance in developing the projects. since not everything can be planned in advance, performance can only be achieved through flexibility and reactivity to cope with unexpected events. these abilities have to be shared and balanced to cope with complexity and interdependencies. m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 230-265 special issue: reliability and resilience as dimensions of organizational performance’ 252 assessing organizational resilience: an interactionist approach we will, however, show that the division of work, which induces competition between occupational groups, and the fact that there is not a shared representation of work and risk control practices, have important consequences for negotiations between groups. how structural and organizational conditions affect “structuring articulation” 5 we will first focus on the way in which the division of labor limits or at least frames negotiations between occupational groups. we will call “structuring articulation” the global level of articulation which aims to organize work between occupational communities. this includes formal coordination mechanisms as well as routines and common representations of work. if we observe the many adjustments within the signaling engineering team, the same does not apply when we cross the “community of practice” border. thus, between signaling engineering and the project team, negotiations, understandings (informal ones in particular) seem no longer to exist. there is a fault line between signaling and the project which compromises cooperation between the two. there is no regulation governing the number of requests, no negotiation over workload and no collective discussion about the best way of organizing requests between signaling technicians and the project team. the automation engineers perceive the other groups as the main causes of project delays and exert permanent pressure to ensure that their modification requests are processed. (concerning signaling engineering verification practices) “it’s very slow, very slow. we go quicker than they do, they get us behind and that’s why the dates i’m giving you keep getting postponed.” (automation engineer) signaling engineers cannot make the project teams understand the difficulties that they have in completing their tasks, and the risks that they have to take. their occupational ethic is profoundly linked to controlling railway safety. but in the organizational context described, they say that they can no longer guarantee safety. “what is getting really hard is this sort of political speak. in meetings, we say that safety is the department’s number one priority, but if you don’t put the staff there to supervise the contractors, it just doesn’t add up.” (signalman) between the different occupational groups there is “structural secrecy”, a concept that vaughan (1988) uses to understand why organizational deviance in a given group is not perceived by anyone outside the group: errors or difficulties encountered are rarely fed back or discussed. secrecy is induced by the very structure of the organization: division of work, hierarchy, physical distance and power struggles segmentalize knowledge about objectives and tasks and make the actions of one part invisible to the other. like the gauls, the signaling engineers go off into their occupational corner and exchange less and less information with those from outside the group, while continuing to pursue their own objectives (metiu, 2004). this is also explained by the rivalries between occupational groups and, more precisely, between the group which delegates risk (here, the automation engineers) and that which actually takes that risk (the signaling engineering). he who delegates risk will also be quick to ac5. we borrow the terms “structuring articulation” and “trajectory articulation” from grosjean and lacoste (1999). 253 stéphanie tillement, céline cholez, thomas reverdym@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 230-265 special issue: reliability and resilience as dimensions of organizational performance’ cuse the other group if mistakes are made. an informal standard within the colleague group will then come into being for fear that errors may be used by the others: errors are only discussed in your own occupational group because “the colleague group would consider that it alone fully understands the technical contingencies and that it should, therefore, be given the sole right to say when a mistake has been made” (hughes, 1951). of course, this creates opacity, which is primarily based on “the feeling that outsiders will never understand the full context of risk and contingency that makes colleagues so tight-lipped”. the modernization of equipment thus leads to a wholly paradoxical situation: occupational rivalry, exacerbated by different risk-assessment practices, does not help us to understand new risks induced by technological hybridization. there is no “collective state of awareness” (weick & sutcliffe, 2001), which limits “continuous adjustments that prevent errors from accumulating and enlarging”. each part has its own interpretation of risks, and the most appropriate means to control them, and ignores the particular situation of others involved in the project. concerns are not shared between teams, each of which focuses on its own turf. how the lack of negotiation between occupational groups affects “trajectory articulation” we will call “trajectory articulation” the articulation work performed to align the different tasks needed to carry out a modification. in our case, we observe the trajectory of a modification in signaling. in principle, signaling engineering intervenes after automation engineering on the basis of its specifications. however, on account of time constraints, operations cannot be carried out sequentially: the signaling engineers have to anticipate and launch their studies with information and specifications which are often very approximate. they might make hypotheses as to the way in which signaling will interface with new automation systems. however, these hypotheses are often called into question during the project, when knowledge of the automation part improves and the system evolves. this leads to constant recourse to the design plans. once launched, however, the signaling operations are very difficult to modify because, each time, the whole dual verification process has to be re-done. “what i’m saying is that generally what happens is that the project team know what they want, but they don’t understand the constraints, so all these preliminary meetings, which last over several years before we get any financing, are intended to finalize the project in the finest detail… during this time, we have to work, but we still have no definitive solutions, let’s say. it sure gets very complicated.” (signalman) furthermore, for the signaling engineers, the accumulation of modification requests raises questions. it is a fact that the difficulties encountered by the automation engineers in developing their new system and interfacing it with existing equipment leads to unjustified emergencies or repetitive modifications which are perceived as incoherent by the signaling engineers. “and sometimes we do stuff in a mad rush, but it turns out to be for nothing. well, i say for nothing… we are asked to do it quickly and, therefore, we do it quickly and, at the end of the day, it’s used or it’s not used, but later….they’ve squeezed us and if we hadn’t done it so quickly, it would have been better.” (signalman) m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 230-265 special issue: reliability and resilience as dimensions of organizational performance’ 254 assessing organizational resilience: an interactionist approach “to tell you the truth, i’ve already had cases where you have had to speed things up… we were getting the test logs a bit late, normally i think it’s 15 days minimum before the work begins, and sometimes we get them less than a week before. it’s very commonplace, especially with small projects”. (signalman) the pressure exerted by the project managers on the signaling engineers, and the many and incoherent requests, bring about a sort of weariness and a feeling that the safety issue is not really shared within the organization, and with that comes a degree of demotivation. this demotivation makes people less vigilant, both individually and collectively. everybody goes into their corner and experience-sharing and problem-sharing, previously the real strength of the signaling team, become difficult. as we saw previously, risk-prevention practice, based on various formal and informal redundancies, is very sensitive to workload. the signaling engineers have to accept a work overload which will quickly erode the redundancies which, until now, guaranteed a high level of reliability (woods, 2005). “the guys that manage the schedules sometimes try to put pressure on us by saying, “when are you going to check it? when are you going to check it?” and then, “go on then….when are you going to get down to it?” but what they mean is “so….the it people are waiting for them, contractually we need to do it,” and the guys….i think they just feel great pressure… a bit of pressure is put on and that causes problems, because they want to shorten the schedules, and we don’t have the input documents and we’ve got all these procedures which mean that…. it’s just heavy going”. (signalman) the signaling team then has to take unreasonable risks, for example by doing only partial dual verifications. informal redundancy does not allow compensating the one for the other, since each actor is focused on his part and does not have the time to worry about what his colleague is doing. “no, but it all adds up, and it means we can’t work calmly and it just doesn’t help; the atmosphere is deteriorating. that’s clear. and then you’ve got pressure and stress and there’s no way around it… someone who’s working so many hours at night, who doesn’t have much time to recuperate, at some point in time, if he’s working all alone, there’s a chance he is going to cock up. even for the schematic diagrams, we get to the crunch and we have to get documents together as quickly as we can and we do them as quickly as we can and they get handed in with loads of mistakes… that’s just not right!” (signalman) little by little, the doubling-up practices are abandoned, whereas previously it was these that helped control risk, leading to a form of “organizational deviance” or “routine non-conformity” (vaughan, 1999). this organizational deviance is produced or even encouraged by the organization and the structural conditions (comprising relationships between groups and representations). the risks are perceived by the signaling engineers individually but they are not subject to a collective initiative. formal rules as a professional reaction to deviance our study shows that the incidents were perceived very differently by the signaling team and the project team. if the emotion was high within the signaling community, the project team members showed very little 255 stéphanie tillement, céline cholez, thomas reverdym@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 230-265 special issue: reliability and resilience as dimensions of organizational performance’ concern for these events: either they had never heard of them, or they had interpreted them as having no relationship with the project, except in a sense that they might delay it. in other words, the feedback which was limited to the signaling engineers’ team did not lead to their questioning project management more globally. however, these incidents were seen as a strong indication for signaling engineers, showing that time pressure and shifting constraints led to dangerous situations. and this signal (vaughan, 1997) was not heard or taken into account by the project teams which made no modification to their working methods. faced with this situation, the signaling engineering management team saw no other alternative to attempt to maintain safety and get the project teams to take their constraints into account than making their organization more rigid through formalization. the signaling team thus chose to monitor their internal control and redundancy rules more strictly so as to avoid potentially being held responsible again. new procedures, such as impact analyses, were even created, which sought to analyze all the risks associated with a new modification and tracking them. the workers, therefore, did not deviate from the formal dual verification process. further to the incidents, they collectively decided to abandon informal night verification and no longer work under emergency conditions. they would no longer compromise to guarantee the delays at any cost. “we don’t work last minute in this area, or…. i should say, now i refuse to. i have always tried to get stuff out in time. given what happened recently, i’m taking my time. it was a real wake-up call!” (signalman) they cite respect for the dual verification procedure (and the associated regulatory verification times) to justify any delays and, through this, try to reduce the number of modifications which progressively add to their workload. recourse to strict application of procedures leads to rigidification. rigidity reduces the system’s capacity to face up to unplanned events and to bounce back when under pressure. rigidification of design and verification practices thus exerts an impact on the project: longer deadlines, worsening of the conflict between the project team and the signaling team, no in-depth dialogue on the risks of the new socio-technical system, etc. negotiations with the project teams, in particular on resources, has not got any better. the question of deadlines is even thornier and more inclined to worsen the conflicts than help to resolve them. also, this strict respect for procedures leads to isolation of the different people involved; there is less sharing of experience and the workers increasingly face problems alone. however, the signalmen use the formal procedure to reassert their professionalism: it allows them to regain trust in their occupational groups and in their interactional and technical competencies. finally, this allows them to rework new arrangements with which they can perform their work under the structural and organizational conditions. m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 230-265 special issue: reliability and resilience as dimensions of organizational performance’ 256 assessing organizational resilience: an interactionist approach discussion by approaching organizational resilience from the issue of articulation between occupational groups, we shifted the attention to look not only at interactions between individuals within a given group nor purely at organizational or structural aspects, but also at the articulation between occupational groups, characterized by symbolic and identity issues. our research highlights the fact that resilience can be qualified more precisely when you focus on informal arrangements thanks to which tasks are articulated and negotiated within the organization and on the inter-group dynamics which affect these arrangements. addressing the notion of resilience in this specific perspective sheds light on the question of trade-offs between goals so as to show how informal articulation can lead to a displacement of both occupational and organizational goals. in continuation of this thinking process, our research questions the effects of formal and informal coordination mechanisms on resilience: whereas informal arrangements are required to cope with unexpected disturbances, formal rules can have a structuring and protective role and help to rebalance asymmetric arrangements. organizational resilience is affected by professional rivalries and asymmetric relations understanding articulation involves taking a special look at the types of negotiations (proposed, imposed, non-existent, etc) which are allowed by the structural context (division of labor, rules, etc) and the characteristics of each occupational group (tacit and contextual knowledge, meanings, tasks, obligations, etc). the division of labor positions the occupational groups in relation to one another by distributing tasks as well as statuses, roles, identities and meanings. each occupational group has its own territory, and thus we observe discontinuities between occupational groups. as mork et al (2008) emphasize, the analysis of “discontinuities between occupational communities” and their impact on workflow still has a lot to teach us. the question is to identify where the discontinuities are and how those involved manage to transcend them. workplace studies (star, 1989; wenger, 1998; strauss, 1988) have clearly shown the extent to which cooperation between members belonging to different occupational groups, “social worlds” or “communities of practice” can be difficult and will substantially influence work performance. several of the origins of these tensions and “misunderstandings” have been identified: a high degree of bureaucratic partitioning; highly specialized knowledge which is difficult to transfer (carlile, 2004); spatial difference (metiu, 2004); the existence of divergent interests (metiu, 2004); identity-related issues (wenger, 2003; mork et al 2008) and the lack of shared objectives and meanings (star, 1989). the division of labor also affects the ways in which the different actors perceive what is possible or not to negotiate for them and the others (strauss, 2002). further, as strauss emphasizes (2002), the forms taken by the negotiations encompass the occupational groups’ features, i.e. the representations of their tasks, their obligations and 257 stéphanie tillement, céline cholez, thomas reverdym@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 230-265 special issue: reliability and resilience as dimensions of organizational performance’ interests, their expertise, the competencies to which they attach value, their identity and their autonomy. individuals negotiate as members and even representatives of their occupational group; the interests of their community (as the protection of their occupational territory) can prevail upon the global interests of the whole organization. in the case studied, the technological changes have led to a redistribution of competencies within the organization, and especially to the emergence of a new occupational group. technological innovation projects can lead to the redefinition of occupational territories (abbott, 1988; mork et al, 2008; bechky, 2002), questioning the roles, identities and statuses of certain groups within the organization (metiu, 2004), leading to deliberate obstacles to cooperation (development of opacity, intra-organizational competition), obstacles in the management of unforeseen outcomes and the absence of formal and informal regulation between the different teams. coordination can be severely affected by the division of work, the tendency to depersonalize relationships as well as physical distance or competition between occupational groups. within the project organization, the occupational group in charge of new technologies seems to be more powerful than the one in charge of old technologies. the latter is thus unable to negotiate the constraints and the additional workload resulting from the project’s unanticipated contingencies. finally, professional rivalries and asymmetric relations reduce the resilience of the weakest group, and, as we showed, the resilience of the whole organization. asymmetric articulation between the different occupational groups leads to a displacement in performance and safety goals the researchers that study the resilience of an organization, such as nasa (woods, 2005), emphasize trade-offs between safety and production goals or between long-term and short-term goals. as they define the organization as a whole, they have little consideration for the different parts (occupational groups) which all contribute to production and safety goals in a different manner. the issue of divergences regarding the definition of goals between occupational groups is not really addressed. yet, the fact that the different occupational groups which compose the organization define goals in the same way is nothing obvious. indeed, in spite of common formal organizational goals, each occupational group has different main objectives and defines production and safety in a specific way. on one side, the emphasis is on production regarding the project development, i.e. staying within the agreed deadline or budget. safety is viewed in a systemic way, regarding the interface between the different sub-systems: the safety of the system is said to depend on formal methods of proving and on the testing of simulators. on the other hand, the main goal is to perform the work without degrading the safety of daily operations. of course, the signalmen are concerned about deadlines and budgets, but this merely constitutes more constraints they have to deal with to perform their work safely rather than goals that they will defend. our study shows the extent to m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 230-265 special issue: reliability and resilience as dimensions of organizational performance’ 258 assessing organizational resilience: an interactionist approach which two inter-dependent occupational groups which contribute to the same organizational project and are part of the same organization can have different views of the work objectives. these views are competing, but are not really expressed beyond the boundaries of a given occupational group. the definition of goals is linked to the division of labor and the characteristics of each occupational group. it pertains to the perception that the different groups have of their tasks, their roles and of what constitutes a job well done. in our study, automation engineers benefit from a privileged position which allows them to impose their goals to weakened groups. to achieve these goals, the others groups have to rework arrangements permanently within their occupational community. these arrangements are mostly tacit, and thus invisible to the rest of the organization, and even to their peers and their hierarchy. they seem to enable the weakest group to manage the unexpected events coming from the project and to achieve production goals. this therefore gives an illusion of resilience. but these arrangements in a tense context lead to deviations which disarticulate the formal procedure of verification and lead to a shift in formal boundaries: the members of the weakest group abandon some formal coordination and control mechanisms to the advantage of tacit understandings. thus, the arrangements conversely impact the division of labor by strengthening the link between individuals belonging to the same occupational group and facing similar work situations (regardless of the organization to which they belong). at the same time, this reinforces the opacity of their work and isolates them even more. the negotiations between these two groups are even more difficult. as a consequence, safety is compromised; production goals (imposed by the high-ground group 6) prevail over safety goals. formal procedures as a resource for the weakest occupational group to shape interactions with inter-dependent groups to face unexpected events and work disruption, and thus to be resilient, flexibility and adaptation are said to be needed (weick & sutcliffe, 2007; hollnagel, 2006). weick & sutcliffe (2007) emphasize the fact that a resilient and highly reliable organization is one that is able to learn from errors rather than increasing rigidity by focusing on rules. however, researchers, such as rasmussen or reason, also stress the importance of procedures and standardization to control risks. our study, by focusing on cross-occupational interactions, enables going past the apparent contradiction between formal and informal practices (mcdonald, 2006). it reveals that individuals in a given occupational group will use informal arrangements as well as formal procedures to cope with various types of disruptions of the workflow: accumulation of modification requests, workload increase, lack of resources or supplies, major incidents, etc. both formal and informal practices express the workers’ professionalism. moreover, both formal and informal practices play an important role in articulating the work. the distinction we have established between “structuring” and “trajectory” 6. by “high-ground group”, we design the group which benefits from a privileged position within the organization, i.e. the group which has most power within the organization. 259 stéphanie tillement, céline cholez, thomas reverdym@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 230-265 special issue: reliability and resilience as dimensions of organizational performance’ articulation enables us to study the conditions of resilience in detail. firstly, our results underline the limits of “trajectory articulation” in a context of professional rivalries and asymmetric relations, since the accumulation of informal adjustments can lead to deviance. we show that, in distributed organization, each individual can be seen as an “articulation agent” (strauss, 2002) which takes charge of a part of the articulation work. this role is officious and the articulation work, given the forms it takes (negotiations, tacit understandings, coercion), stay largely invisible. it allows flexibility and a certain fluidity in the sequence of tasks, but represents a very high cost for those involved. when no satisfactory arrangements and negotiations are reached between interdependent groups, the weakest group has to bear all of the extra work necessary to rearticulate the trajectory of a modification if disruptions to the normal work-flow occur. with all the unexpected events which disarticulate the work, the articulation of the tasks ends up representing an important workload which is not formalized anywhere in explicit rules. the adjustments which allow flexibility and production become uncontrollable and lead to deviations. the extra work performed by each actor individual to fit the different segments of work together cannot be controlled or evaluated by the organization. in this case, deviations cannot be detected by the organization and so they lead to safety problems. secondly, due to the unclear and unstable nature of the distribution of tasks between occupational groups and the lack of mutual understanding between old and new groups, there are no collective and shared arrangements for “structuring articulation” (neither common work routines nor formal coordination mechanisms). resorting to formal procedures can be the only interactional strategy for the weakest group which has difficulties in negotiating with inter-dependent parties to create “structuring articulation”. we can distinguish at least three purposes for this strategy: it makes the positioning of the weakest group in the organization and its difficulties more visible, it restores cohesion and trust among peers and it allows them to exercise some control over the size of their workload, which is not otherwise negotiated. with excessive adjustments, a breaking point is reached when arrangements lead to deviations and mishaps: major incidents occur. the relations of power and the lack of inter-understandings which have been progressively constructed can explain the fact that, even in extreme situations, the division of labor and the power relationships within it, which constrain the work of the high-ground group, are not questioned. the only solution that the organizationally weakest group can find is to focus on formal rules and reinforce them, which makes the whole organization more rigid. this enables them to regulate the workload. for this reason, in post-incident situations, the occupational groups and their hierarchy focus more frequently on rules. in a context of tension, this reaction increases the conflicts between occupational groups. this situation is particularly unbearable in a project context. in the studied case, a punctual solution is applied to a more global problem. the lack of negotiations and the competition between occupational groups prevent the organization from learning from errors and from constructing satisfactory arrangements for both the project and the occupational m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 230-265 special issue: reliability and resilience as dimensions of organizational performance’ 260 assessing organizational resilience: an interactionist approach groups within it. there is no real thinking about the redistribution of constraints within the organization and thus no improvement in the management of unexpected events. the interactionist perspective questions the notion of resilience for an organization as a whole our study shows that the resilience of a given occupational group does not implicate the resilience of the whole organization and vice versa. depending on the group and the situation being observed in the organization, the diagnosis will be different. within the organization, every occupational group is able to define what resilience means for it. moreover, these different definitions will not necessarily be shared: it depends both on structural and organizational conditions and on the internal functioning and informal rules of occupational groups. it is possible to point out the durability of an institution, or to identify whether the objectives of a given project are achieved or not, but assessing resilience implies defining the cost it represents for the different occupational groups involved to do so. when confronted with a crisis or an important change that shatters its expertise, an occupational group seems more likely to focus back on its own priorities and to defend its community and occupational territory and thus to manifest some rigidity and resistance as a way to regain their professional bearings. a dynamic approach shows that these diagnoses can also vary depending on the organizational context. in the course of organizational life, permanent rearrangements modify compromises between groups and the balances between objectives: the organization is always evolving. who will finally have the legitimacy to judge if the new equilibrium is acceptable or if the organization has been able to recover stability? table 3. assessing resilience by considering intraand inter-group dynamics: results obtained using an interactionist analytical framework empirical results general results articulation within an occupational group (og) formal procedure as a resource for an og to control the reliability of operations and to articulate the sequence of tasks practical and experiential knowledge as a resource to adapt to work contingencies and to compensate for the incomplete nature of the formal rules and procedures the occupational community as a means of remaining mindful and to cope with hazard and complexity changes in organizational and structural conditions (arrival of young, inexperienced technicians, fewer apprenticeships) diminish the occupational competencies and all forms of redundancy. these changes affect arrangements within an occupational community => the team’s resilience is progressively declining resilience of a team is increased when unexpected events are managed within a strong “community of practice” articulation between ogs the launch of major projects leads to a new division of labor, thus to a redistribution of tasks, competencies and position between ogs difficult inter-understandings between the two occupational groups structural and organizational conditions affect “structuring articulation” => no regulation governing the number of requests, no negotiation on workload and no collective discussion on the best way of organizing requests between them the lack of negotiation between occupational groups affects “trajectory articulation” => formal and informal doubling-up practices are abandoned => organizational deviance organizational resilience is affected by professional rivalries and asymmetric relations asymmetric articulation between the different occupational groups leads to a displacement in performance and safety goals reaction of interdependent ogs to a major mishaps in the weakest og high emotion within the weakest group very little concern showed by the project team interactional strategy of the weakest group in the face of major mishaps = recourse to strict application of procedures, rigidification of the work processes and organization formal procedures as a resource for the weakest occupational group to shape interactions with inter-dependent groups. 261 stéphanie tillement, céline cholez, thomas reverdym@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 230-265 special issue: reliability and resilience as dimensions of organizational performance’ conclusion to conclude, even though the occupational dynamics reported in this study would not be reproduced identically in other settings, the findings illustrate that the intra and inter-groups dynamics should be taking into account to assess the resilience of an organization in which activities are distributed between different occupational groups. from a methodological point of view, this involves taking a special look at workplace interactions between occupational groups within a division of labor. power and position of the different inter-dependent occupational groups are influential regarding organizational resilience: the actors improvise, adapt and redefine roles as members of an occupational group to defend their occupational territory and their expertise. moreover, the trade-offs between safety and production goals can be explained in the light of relations of power and identities, since the more powerful occupational group can impose its goals without negotiations on workload and resource allocation. thus, our study shows that the question of goals is problematic, since the fact that the different occupational groups within a division of labor have the same goals and the same definition of what is production and what is safety is nothing obvious. this should be carefully studied and could perhaps enable more to be learnt about what enhances resilience than only taking trade-offs between production and safety into account. even if the link between the failure to balance safety risks with intense production pressures and accidents has been shown (woods, 2003), it seems to us that it is an interesting result to show the importance of occupational groups’ identities and relations of power on resilience. furthermore, talking about the arrangements made to cope with unexpected events questions the boundaries between occupational groups and the extent to which arrangements made within an occupational group enhances the resilience of the organization. moreover, arrangements (especially within an occupational group) can be very opaque and thus make it difficult for those involved to detect the limits beyond which these arrangements become deviant. we showed that resilience is situated in the sense that it is dependent on the situation and the point of view considered. we thus believe we shed new light on resilience by paying special attention to arrangements’ networks (including formal and informal practices) amongst all the interdependent occupational groups within the division of labor, and not only within a given occupational group. m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 230-265 special issue: reliability and resilience as dimensions of organizational performance’ 262 assessing organizational resilience: an interactionist approach stéphanie tillement is a phd student at pacte (politique, action collective, territoire) in grenoble. she is interested in the field of risk management and articulation processes within distributed work contexts. she currently participates in a research program on industrial safety, supported by the foundation for an industrial safety culture (foncsi). her work falls within the framework of industrial cooperation within a railway company. celine cholez is assistant professor at grenoble university. she teaches sociology of work at the industrial engineering department in the polytechnic institute of grenoble. she belongs to pacte lab and is interested in the (re)working-out of abilities in situations of interaction (inter-organizational, inter-occupational). she carried out several researches in different industrial contexts: innovation dynamics and industrialization processes in the power industry, articulation work between different occupations (delivery services, industrial medicine). her work has been published in la revue d’anthropologie des connaissances. thomas reverdy is associate professor at grenoble university. he teaches organization theory and sociology at the industrial engineering department in the polytechnic institute of grenoble. he belongs to pacte lab. his research interests include organizational tensions and micro-processes of institutional change in modernization projects, risks and environmental management, and industrial partnerships. his articles have been published in international studies in management and organization, revue française de sociologie and in sociologie du travail. this research was supported by the foundation for an industrial safety culture (foncsi). 263 stéphanie tillement, céline cholez, thomas reverdym@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 230-265 special issue: reliability and resilience as dimensions of organizational performance’ references . abbott, a. (1988). the system of professions: an essay on the division of expert labor. chicago, il: university of chicago press. . aggeri, f., & segrestin, b. (2002). comment concilier innovation et réduction des délais ? quelques leçons tirées du développement de la laguna ii. gérer et comprendre (annales des mines), 67, 30-42. . atkinson, r., crawford, l., & ward, s. (2006). fundamental uncertainties in projects and the scope of project management: rethinking project management. international journal of project management, 24(8), 687-698. . bechky, b. a. (2003). object lessons: workplace artifacts as representations of occupational jurisdiction. american journal of sociology, 109(3), 720–752. . bechky, b. a. (2003). sharing meaning across occupational communities: the transformation of understanding on a production floor. organization science, 14(3), 312-330. . carlile, p. r. (2004). transferring, translating and transforming: an integrative framework for managing knowledge across boundaries. organization science, 15(5), 555568. . clarke, a. e. (1991). social worlds/arenas as organizational theory. in d. maines, (eds.), social organization and social processes: essays in honor of anselm strauss (pp. 119-158). new york: aldine de gruyter. . corbin, j. m., & strauss, a. l. (1998). basics of qualitative research: techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory (2nd edition). thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. . corbin, j. m., & strauss, a. l. (1993). the articulation of work through interaction. the sociological quarterly, 34(1), 71-83. . fujimura, j. h. (1987). constructing ‘do-able’ problems in cancer research: articulating alignment. social studies of science, 17(2), 257-293. . grosjean, m., & lacoste, m. (1999). communication et intelligence collective. le travail à l’hôpital. paris: puf. . hampson, i., & junor, a. (2005). invisible work, invisible skills: interactive customer service as articulation work. new technology, work and employment, 20(2), 166-181. . heimann, l. (2005). repeated failures in the management of high risk technologies. european management journal, 23(1), 105-117. . hollnagel, e., & woods, d. d., & leveson, n. (eds.). (2006). resilience engineering: concepts and precepts. brookfield, vt: ashgate publishing company. . horne, j. f. iii., & orr, j. e. (1998). assessing behaviors that create resilient organizations. employment relations today, 24(4), 29-39. . hughes, e. c. (1951). mistakes at work. canadian journal of economics and political science, 17, 320-27. . hughes, e. c. (1971). the sociological eye: selected papers. chicago: adline. . kendra, j. m., & wachtendorf, t. (2003). elements of resilience after the world trade center disaster: reconstituting new york city’s emergency operations centre. disasters, 27(1), 37-53. . metiu, a. m. (2004). escalation of disengagement across distributed groups: ownership and opacity. insead working paper series, 1-53. . mork, b. e., aanestad, m., hanseth, o., & grisot, m. (2008). conflicting epistemic cultures and obstacles for learning across communities of practice. knowledge and process management, 15(1), 12-23. . perrow, c. (1984). normal accidents. new york: basic books. . perrow, c. (1999). organizing to reduce the vulnerabilities of complexity. journal of contingencies and crisis management, 7(3), 150-155. . rerup, c. (2001). “houston, we have a problem”: anticipation and improvisation as sources of organizational resilience. comportamento organizacional e gestao, 7(1), 27-44. m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 230-265 special issue: reliability and resilience as dimensions of organizational performance’ 264 assessing organizational resilience: an interactionist approach . star, l. s., & griesemer, j. r. (1989). institutional ecology, `translations’ and boundary objects: amateurs and professionals in berkeley’s museum of vertebrate zoology. social studies of science, 19(3), 387-420. . star, l. s., & strauss, a. l. (1999). layers of silence, arenas of voice: the ecology of visible and invisible work. computer supported cooperative work, 8(1), 9-30. . strauss, a. (1992). la trame de la négociation. sociologie qualitative et interactionnisme. paris : l’harmattan. . strauss, a. (1988). the articulation of project work: an organizational process. the sociological quarterly, 29(2), 163-178. . strauss, a. (1985). work and the division of labor. the sociological quarterly, 26(1), 1-19. . vaughan, d. (1996). the challenger launch decision: risky technology, culture, and deviance at nasa. chicago: university of chicago press. . vaughan, d. (1999). the dark side of organizations: mistake, misconduct, and disaster. annual review of sociology, 25, 271-305. . vaughan, d. (1997). the trickle-down effect: policy decisions, risky work and the challenger tragedy. california management review, 39(2), 80-102. . weick, k. e., & sutcliffe, k. m. (2001). managing the unexpected: assuring high performance in an age of complexity. san francisco: jossey-bass. . weick, k. e. (1993). the collapse of sensemaking in organizations: the mann gulch disaster. administrative science quarterly, 38(4), 628-652. . wenger e. (2003). communities of practice and social learning systems. in d. nicolini, s. gherardi, & y. dvora (eds.), knowing in organizations, a practice-based approach (pp. 76-100). armonk, ny: m.e sharpe. . wolf, f., & berniker, e. (1999). validating normal accident theory: chemical accidents, fires and explosions in petroleum refineries, high consequences engineering conference, sandia national laboratories, albuquerque, nm, usa. . woods, d. d. (2005). creating foresight: lessons for enhancing resilience from columbia. in w. h starbuck, & m. farjoun (eds), organization at the limit: lessons from the columbia disaster (pp. 289-308). malden, ma: blackwell publishing. 265 stéphanie tillement, céline cholez, thomas reverdym@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 230-265 special issue: reliability and resilience as dimensions of organizational performance’ m@n@gement, vol. 1, no. 1, 1998, 1-22 1 christian de cock the article considers the discourse surrounding culture change programmes in two british manufacturing organisations. the analysis of organisational discourse is pursued as a means of revealing the indeterminacy of organisational experiences and the problems inherent to the introduction of generic change approaches such as tqm (total quality management) and bpr (business process reengineering). an examination of the discourse used in the case companies will show an intricate set of structural, cultural, economic, and personal pressures passing through the tqm/bpr concepts. organisational actors from all hierarchical levels are shown to be “disciplined” by the change discourse to various degrees. three discursive movements are examined: the imposition/ introduction of a hegemonic discourse, the resistance to this discourse, and the appropriation of the discourse by line managers to reconstitute their actions and those of senior management. the outcome of these movements is a contested set of stories, full of contradiction and ambiguity. if the change discourse is to be embodied in local practices it cannot remain purely monologic, but has to engage in a dialogic relationship with existing and emerging concepts and meanings. introduction: organisational discourse and culture change «to claim that the researcher somehow explores the real world directly, without mediation of language, and then represents, mirrors, or translates that world into a precise word picture is today unthinkable.» (van maanen, 1996, p.378). the language we employ to describe what we take to be the facticity of organisational life has become a focus of interest in recent years. organisational researchers have become increasingly sensitive to the fact that organisational life, like any other human activity, cannot be separated from the discursive fields of which it is an integral part (barrett, thomas, and hocevar, 1995; hatch, 1996; van maanen, 1995). the idea that language has a role in the constitution of reality has gained prevalence in a wide segment of social studies primarily as a result of work in social construction and natural language philosophy (phillips and hardy, 1997). this idea emphasises that discourses create ways of understanding the world, they do not mirror reality department of business and management, school of business and economics, university of exeter, exeter ex4 4pu, uk telephone (school): +44 139 226 3218 fax (department): +44 139 226 3242 organisational change and discourse: hegemony, resistance and reconstitution m@n@gement, vol. 1, no. 1, 1998, 1-22 2 (rorty, 1980). the organisational discourse perspective does not deny that social events do have causes and social institutions effects, but organisational actors necessarily operate in the cognitive domain, namely a domain within which they interact with their own descriptions (geertz, 1980), and they cognise situations with the terms they have available. discourse can be seen as a historically contingent body of regularised practices of language that are condoned by a particular community. it is made up of rules and procedures that construct and legitimate the way we see things and talk about them. these practices make possible certain statements and communicational practices while disallowing others (casey, 1995). discourse not only restricts, limits and arranges what can and cannot be said about the phenomena within its domain; it also empowers (and disempowers) certain agents to speak on this or that question or fact. in many respects discourse empowers certain agents to create representations, and thereby to authoritatively pronounce on the shape and form of the world (prior, 1997). in using a particular discourse actors not only secure the right to speak but they maintain or challenge power relations. consequently, discourses reproduce and transform power relations and are, therefore, political processes (phillips and hardy, 1997). over the past decade, the most popular discourses1 aimed at trying to change organisational practices have been those of total quality management (tqm) and business process reengineering (bpr). these discourses are typified by terms such as empowerment, culture change, cross-disciplinary teams, work process flow, internal customers and continuous improvement. from an organisational discourse perspective the tqm and bpr rhetorics can be seen as ways of constructing realities or schemes for sensemaking (kieser, 1997). through a particular change discourse (examples of this can be found in company videos, newsletters and management presentations), senior managers attempt to define the normative expectations of their employees’ role. in constructing the organisation as one thing as opposed to another, certain lines of action are invited and others discouraged. the popularity of the tqm and bpr rhetoric in the practitioner orientated literature has been matched by a rising scepticism in the more academically orientated literature (e.g. alvesson and willmott, 1996; boje and winsor, 1993), leading to accusations of faddism (e.g. aldag, 1997; ramsay, 1996) or, even worse, of undermining worker dignity and efficacy (steingard and fitzgibbons, 1993). in this paper i am not so much concerned with the meaning of tqm or bpr in an abstract sense; rather i intend to capture experiences, as expressed in organisational stories, resulting from the imposition of the tqm/bpr discourse in two case companies. in a final discussion section i will provide a grounded critique of the bpr and tqm rhetorics based on these stories. 1. they were certainly lucrative from the consultants’ point of view. a senior partner at andersen consulting is reported to have proclaimed: «god bless mike hammer» after having estimated yearly worldwide company revenues of $700 million as a direct result of bpr consultancy work (thackray, 1993). grounding and representation of the research this study can be situated within a growing body of storytelling research (for an elaborate overview of this literature see, for example, boyce, 1996). i understand by “story” a report about an event, a situation, a little world, as seen through the eyes of the storytellers who report about their relations with an object or objects in that world (hummel, 1991). stories do not merely recount events. they are the products of severe editing. as such they are inventions rather than discoveries (weick, 1995). storytellers are not concerned with “facts-asinformation” but with “facts-as-experience”, turning every-day experience into meaningful stories. in doing so, the storytellers neither accept nor reject “reality”. instead they seek to mould it in a distinct way (gabriel, 1995). stories and storytelling are not just diversion. stories connect facts, store complex summaries in retrievable form, and help people comprehend complex environments (weick and browning, 1986). the storytelling literature places great importance on narrative ways of knowing. the distinction with more traditional ways of organising reality was aptly captured by barry and elmes (1997b): «there are two basic ways we, as social beings, construct and organize reality. the logicoscientific mode seeks truth through empirical verification; its goal is the reduction of uncertainty and its language is regulated by requirements of consistency and noncontradiction. the narrative mode, in contrast, emphasizes the creation of good stories that are contextually and temporally bound. this perspective leads not to certainties but to kaleidoscopic understandings.» (barry and elmes, 1997b, p. 847)2. fisher’s work (e.g. 1984; 1985) is referenced consistently in the storytelling literature (e.g. boje, 1991; boyce, 1996; weick and browning, 1986). he is credited with coining the term “narrative paradigm” which encompasses various narrative ways of organising reality. within the narrative paradigm people are portrayed as meditative as well as calculative thinkers who judge the reasoning in stories by how well the story hangs together and how fully it rings true with experience. the meaning and value of a story are always a matter of how it stands with or against other stories. there is no story that is not embedded in other stories. one considers not the truth per se of the stories, but the consequences of accepting them as truth after a determination of their truth qualities as assessed by the tests of narrative probability and narrative fidelity3 (fisher, 1985). if organisations are “webs of meaning” (geertz, 1973) then no one can stand outside those webs. the researcher, or any other “expert” for that matter, is a storyteller just like everyone else4. no matter how strictly a case is argued, it will always be a story, an interpretation of some aspect of the world which is historically and culturally grounded and shaped by human personality (weick and browning, 1986). czarniawska (1997, p. 26) pointed out that while «narratives on organisations» (the traditional ways of writing about organisations) are m@n@gement, vol. 1, no. 1, 1998, 1-22 3 2. butler (1997) makes very much the same point when he contrasts the essential difference between stories and experiments as a basis for empirical social inquiry. 3. narrative probability refers to formal features of a story conceived as a discrete sequence of thought and/or action in life or literature; it concerns the question of whether a story hangs together. narrative fidelity concerns the “truth qualities” of the story, the degree to which it accords with the logic of good reasons: the soundness of its reasoning and the value of its values (fisher, 1985). 4. instead of discovering enduring facts of organisational life and reporting them through neutral description, the researcher actively creates truth by assigning meaning to the phenomena he or she observes and experiences. it thus becomes difficult to conceive of any possibility of an “accurate” or even an “impartial” representation of “organisational reality”. in the very act of constructing data out of experience, the researcher singles out some things as worthy of note and relegates others to the background, thus eliminating any possibility of providing “pure” description, sometimes referred to light-heartedly as “immaculate perception” (wolcott, 1994). usually stylised in the «only true story» format, «narratives in organisations» are manifold. the storytelling research tries to preserve this plurality. the kaleidoscopic aspect of storytelling research can be witnessed in many examples of this literature. in what follows i provide a very brief selection. martin (1990) deconstructs and reconstructs an organisational story of a mere six lines from a feminist point of view. she explores how apparently well-intentioned organisational practices can reify, rather than alleviate, gender inequalities. barry and elmes (1997a) take a narrative view of strategy. they investigate how tellings of strategy fundamentally influence strategic choice and action and highlight the discursive, social nature of the strategy project, linking it to cultural and historical contexts. boje (1991) offers a first-hand observation of storytelling as it is performed naturally in an organisation. his work draws attention to the uses of storytelling by internal and external stakeholders and to the dynamics which vary story performance. these stakeholders posit alternative stories with alternative motives and implications to the very same underlying historical incident. in his study of the discourses surrounding the disney corporation boje (1995) traces the ways in which the official and the nonofficial accounts play with the same story elements but come away with very different readings and then analyses the relationship of the nonofficial accounts to the dominant legend of an official, happy, and profitable organisation. all stories about disney are found to cover up a great deal of ambiguity. boje concludes that: «organizations cannot be registered as one story, but instead are a multiplicity, a plurality of stories and story interpretations in struggle with one another… more important, organizational life is more indeterminate, more differentiated, more chaotic, than it is simple, systematic, monological, and hierarchical.» (p. 1001). the analysis of the reengineering movement by boje, rosile, dennehy and summers (1997) is perhaps of greatest direct relevance to this paper. boje and co-workers deconstruct the concept of reengineering as found in hammer and champy’s (1993) text and tapes from hammer’s “performances” at management seminars and pull out the storytelling aspects in the bpr discourse. hammer and champy promise a set of general principles that will reinvent companies in the postindustrial age but what appears to be a revolution or revision is actually more of the same, «a storyteller’s fictive revisioning of the american dream» (boje et al., 1997, p. 639). for example, boje et al. (p.647) show how 19 reengineering themes can be reread as bureaucratic themes. the common theme running through these examples is that of «powerful storytellers propagandising their version of reality as the reality that other storytellers are to live in5.» the authors show, often through a deconstruction of various stories, how discourse is used to impose power over others, and how these “hegemonic discourses” can be opened up to various readings. in this sense all the authors build on lyotard’s (1984) concept of the “grand narrative” as totalising account. in considering the impact of the tqm/bpr discourse in the two case organisations i will elaborate on this theme. in the case organisations m@n@gement, vol. 1, no. 1, 1998, 1-22 4 5. a quote derived from a suggestion of one of the referees. senior people were asking others to live out a particular script, partially drafted by management gurus. this set in motion a whole chain of discursive movements. the empirical section that follows consists of two parts. the first part contains a description of the contextual embedding of two change programmes. the second part considers the official change discourse, the reaction of organisational members (both in terms of resistance and of “reconstitution” of practices) and the conflicting meanings which finally emerge from the encounter between the two. it will take the form of a mix of interpretation and mini-stories by organisational actors. i will try to represent the local hodgepodge of sensemaking by quoting some of the voices of the actors involved. inevitably, i will have to impose a certain formal coherence on a virtual chaos of events and interpretations. there is no need to maintain the illusion that “those people” talk for themselves; indeed they do not (cf. czarniawska, 1997). but at least i try to pay them a compliment by making the reader clearly aware of the fact that there are different languages being spoken. representation is ultimately always self-presentation. even when we allow others to speak, when we talk about or for them, we are taking over their voice (denzin, 1994). not an ideal situation, but as martin argued: «it is difficult to imagine how to give up the author-ity game, without reducing the researcher to the role of a secretary or a publisher.» (martin, 1992, p.201). empirical insights «the adventures first,» said the gryphon in an impatient tone: «explanations take such a dreadful time.» (carroll 1865/1982, p.95). the empirical findings represented here are based on a research intervention over the period 1992-1994 in two divisions of two large british manufacturing organisations: pilkington insulation ltd. and british nuclear fuels fuel division. these divisions will be referred to in this paper as pil and bnfl. the intervention was concerned with the study of the introduction of the latest concrete manifestations of planned organisational change: tqm (total quality management) and bpr (business process reengineering). these approaches were described at the time as the two latest expressions of an increasing sophistication in management techniques and principles. bpr was introduced in bnfl under the label “rightsizing”, in pil the cats (competitive advantage through service) programme was based on the bpr principles and philosophy. the tqm and bpr inspired change programmes were introduced chronologically in the case companies (roughly separated by a 3-year time gap) and were represented as distinct change approaches in the official change discourse. however, i will conflate the tqm and bpr constructs when i talk about “tqm/bpr discourse” in my interpretation, as i see these constructs as part of a hegemonic discourse that tries to sell a particular story of m@n@gement, vol. 1, no. 1, 1998, 1-22 5 organisational reality6. in any case, the conceptual distinction proposed in the official change discourse was not shared throughout the organisation. most of the data used to build a picture of the introduction of planned change programmes were derived either from semistructured interviews or company documents: 35 managers were interviewed in pil and 41 in bnfl. the interviews covered people in managerial roles at various hierarchical levels and various departments in the divisions. contextual embedding of the change programmes economic reality, resulting in the perceived need to «increase organisational effectiveness and efficiency in order to ensure survival in an increasingly competitive market7», formed a powerful driver for instigating change in both case companies. the link between external and internal pressures for change was provided by the discourse of senior managers. senior managers conceptualised the latest change programmes as the expression of an increasing sophistication in managing change («building on what we’ve already achieved»). the change programmes were presented/explained as a way to ensure the ultimate survival of the organisation, reduce internal inefficiencies, and involve people more in the working of the organisation. consultants played a significant role in both case companies in establishing the initial conceptualisation of the change programmes by senior management. this conceptualisation involved moving the organisation from its present state to a future, more desirable state and was underpinned by the journey metaphor8. frustrations created by the existing organisational set-up with its old rules and rigid departmental structures (i.e. dissatisfaction with the status quo, «we cannot keep running our organisation this way») were fully exploited in this discourse. economic pressures for change in bnfl fuel division identified by senior managers included: the disappearing market for fuel division’s main product (magnox), the privatisation of the electricity industry (and the accompanying move from cost-plus to fixed price contracts), and increasing international competition. when tqm was introduced (1990) these economic difficulties could be foreseen but were not yet tangible in day-to-day activities. the main perceived driver behind rightsizing was the demand of nuclear electric and scottish nuclear to bring prices for nuclear fuel down by 20%. this translated into a 20% or more reduction in the workforce. although rightsizing was partly initiated by the desire to grasp organisational problems at their root, something which tqm seemed to be unable to achieve, the main driving force behind the initiative was beyond any doubt external. apart from these economic pressures, bnfl was not immune to the politics surrounding the nuclear industry in the uk. a less explicit, but very forceful driver in fuel division, was the need to “look good” and thus be considered as a candidate for privatisation when nuclear electric and scottish nuclear would cut their ties with the government. m@n@gement, vol. 1, no. 1, 1998, 1-22 6 7. a phrase pulled from the pil newletter (summer, 1990) 8. «tqm is like starting on a road that goes on forever. tqm will never end for any of us. we will always be asking: “what are the next steps we should be taking?”» (the bnfl quality handbook, 1990, p.39). «we are on a long journey of continuous improvement…» (pil newsletter, autumn 1991). 6. i am aware that in doing so i am implicitly taking a stance against the official change discourse. managers in fuel division saw themselves as the most progressive in the whole of the uk group. the desire to keep up this image of being in touch with the latest developments in management thinking constituted a further driving force to start the tqm and rightsizing change programmes. frustrations about demarcations (both vertical and horizontal) exerted a strong pressure for change and were fully exploited during the introduction of the tqm programme. the demarcation was apparent at managerial level in strong departmentalism and clear hierarchical distinctions. there also existed strong demarcations at shop floor level (e.g. the different “trades”). tqm and rightsizing were explicitly conceived as a way to replace the old rules («keep your head down and do as you are told», empire building) by new ones (challenge things, get involved, «we are all in this together»). pil had been operating in a far more competitive environment than bnfl and had faced harsh trading conditions since 1989. even within the pilkington group, pil was perceived as being «at the sharp end of things». prices of its main products had fallen by 60% (adjusted for inflation) between 1988 and 1993 as pil struggled to maintain its market share. jobs had been cut mercilessly in order to survive. economic pressures had been a major driver in the introduction of the change programmes. internal drivers for change in pil were a reaction to very similar problems which had been identified in the 1969 productivity programme in the pilkington group: working relationships which were stifling any initiative (demarcation), wasteful practices and lack of involvement of employees. the internal drive for cats seemed to have been twofold: a frustration with tqm that it did not «deliver the goods» and the desire of the new ceo to make an impression on the organisation. the cats programme initially also benefited from the contrast with the inaction of tqm (e.g. by building on existing dissatisfaction with tqm). pil directors took pride in being at the forefront of management thinking and were quick to take up any new developments in the management field. pil was generally considered to be a “social laboratory” for the rest of the pilkington group. the need to keep up this image of being a front-runner (a main driving force behind the introduction of the change programmes) was partly due to the fact that pil was not a core business for the pilkington group and therefore could be abandoned at any time. later events proved that this fear was not unfounded9. interpreting the change discourse the mini stories provided here should give the reader a «flavour of the politics of language played out in a discursive field10». the aim is not to use them to “prove” my interpretation is the only possible one. nevertheless, i believe it is important that the reader gets some insight in what kind of language was used by the various organisational actors. i decided on a textual strategy of keeping the interpretation and quotes pertaining to particular assertions separate (rather than illusm@n@gement, vol. 1, no. 1, 1998, 1-22 7 9. in june 1994 pil was sold to the owens-corning fiberglass corporation. 10. a suggestion by one of the reviewers on how to restructure the first draft of the paper. the vague descriptions of managerial positions after the quotes are a compromise between the need to give some indication of the speaker’s hierarchical position while protecting his/her anonimity. trating every assertion with some quote or other) in order not to play the puppeteer too much. although the order i impose here over the chaotic is largely artificial, the quotes are not and should bring the section to life. my order takes the form of three movements: the imposition/introduction of a hegemonic discourse, the resistance to this discourse, and the appropriation of the discourse by organisational actors to reconstitute their actions and those of senior management. at the very least, this representation should provide a kaleidoscopic understanding of the phenomenon of “resistance to change”. conventionally this resistance is interpreted as psychological backwardness (usually attributed to people at the lower levels of the hierarchy) and senior managers are often encouraged to be relentless in responding to resistance11. once we step outside the hegemonic discourse, “resistance” becomes the right to question the ideas that are presented as unavoidable. the result may be a rejection or an appropriation, a translation of the hegemonic discourse for one’s own purposes (czarniawska, 1997). in a final interpretative move i summarise the dominant and marginalised meanings temporarily co-existing, thus undermining the idea of any permanent order. imposition of a hegemonic discourse «it seems to me that your power is a hidden power, because people only think of you as communicating reality, but in communicating reality, you construct reality.» (hines, 1988, p.257). the tqm and bpr discourse can be seen in part as a reflection of the necessity for large corporations to find new and innovative ways of competing constructively, of managing fragmented workforces and facilitating their survival in threatening circumstances (kerfoot and knights, 1995). it allows the organisation to tell itself as a coherent, centred, and strategically organised set of arrangements (law, 1994). the discourse of tqm and bpr is powerful partly because it is made to appear complete and neutral, thus hiding the tensions and incompletion. it emerges and assumes the mantle of common sense, as a new normality that subsumes that which came before (knights and murray, 1994). in espousing the tqm/bpr discourse organisational members can gain status and specific identities, but they also re-enact a dominant set of power relations (deetz, 1998). what is good for the company is supposed to be perceived by employees as being good for them (keenoy, 1997). tqm/bpr is presented as “the only way to be” if the organisation is to survive and jobs to be preserved. «i am sure we are like any other organisation in that you think that you know what tqm is but it is only when you get further and further into it that you realise how big it is and the way it interacts with the business. tqm was seen as an umbrella initiative 4 years ago. the level that we are at now is that we see it as an integral part of the business process, an operating philosophy. we are at a stage where continuous improm@n@gement, vol. 1, no. 1, 1998, 1-22 8 11. boje et al. (1997, p. 655) dig out a nice quote from hammer in this respect: «let them buck, let them speak up, then break the colt down.» vement is genuinely recognised as a necessity. it is now also built into our strategic and business plans. tqm has come of age. we understand what it means now. we understand what we need to do to be world class. what we need to do is prioritise and focus tightly on the critical areas which are going to advance us on the world class ladder.» (senior manager, bnfl). «the philosophy and techniques of tqm have helped to overcome the inertia of this massive project [building of a new plant]. we tended to become more focused on giving people a better service, talk to other parts of the division. we had personal contracts with r&d where they promised to deliver us the goods by certain dates. and people took pride in working to achieve that.» (senior manager, bnfl). «it’s the only way to be. if you’re not in the club you’re dead.» (senior manager pil). «there is the outward image you would like to give if someone asks you at a senior level whether you agree with tqm; you are likely to say yes. because if you say no..., it's a bit like the emperor's new clothes, it's incorrect from a career point of view.» (middle manager, bnfl). i had some first hand experience of the operation of hegemonic tendencies during my research intervention. when presenting my material to senior managers in bnfl the research findings were treated very defensively. concern was expressed that my findings were overly negative. the apprehension which was expressed by most interviewees was brushed aside as «hat will be very easy to overcome» (sic). contradictions and deviating opinions were eloquently explained away. even the managers i had interviewed and found very willing to discuss all sorts of problems displayed a totally different behaviour pattern in this final meeting. eventually it was decided to extract four or five key issues from my research report and to «bnfl-ise» (sic) them. in effect this meant: fit it in with the official company discourse. although i had informally agreed to make a series of presentations to lower level managers, this offer was now diplomatically turned down (something which had been predicted by one of the line managers)12. resistance to the tqm/bpr discourse narratives are necessarily incomplete. their attempts to tell and embody arrangements tend to encounter resistances (law, 1994). organisational members are not simply passive agents, easily seduced by the tqm/bpr discourse (parker, 1997). they quickly call attention to inconsistencies between the assumptions that the change discourse espouses and the historical patterns of authority relations that they have experienced (wilkinson, godfrey, and marchington, 1997). for example, in the case companies actions taken under the tqm label reflected the same structure of power that the tqm discourse was ostensibly meant to challenge and change. the tqm discourse m@n@gement, vol. 1, no. 1, 1998, 1-22 9 12. boyce (1995, p.126) relates a similar incident while examining collective sensemaking and storytelling at a non-profit organisation. when the themes and stories emerging in the study did not confirm the president’s desired direction, the study became invisible. and its concerns with trust, commitment and “having the right attitude”, seemed in direct contradiction with its actual introduction and its effects on the organisational members. in bnfl the change directive arrived as a fait accompli, with little reflection of local concerns, dissent, or alternative views. as the change process unfolded, many of the old cultural rules tended to corrupt the new rules. for example, “playing the tqm game” became a new way of empire building; managers who wanted promotion had to be “seen” to support tqm. expectations of operational managers were that vertical demarcations would become less pronounced (and they did to some extent) but many were disappointed by the perceived commitment shown by colleagues, senior managers and the director. to many tqm had become part of the political games that were played in the organisation and was no longer seen as way to make bnfl a better organisation. apathy set in. although in the official change discourse rightsizing was presented as a way of delivering the drastic changes tqm failed to produce, in practice the programme was perceived by operational managers as being driven by external constituencies (i.e. the need to cut costs by at least 20% by any means). this led to extreme apprehension which undermined the programme. this apprehension was further amplified by people's anxiety about their employment prospects in the “rightsized” bnfl. «tqm was wonderfully done [ironic]. “we are going to become a better organisation, therefore you will love tqm, whether you like it or not”. there was a video from the chief executive “i am determined that we are going to become a better organisation; we are going to participate [slams fist on table]”. not: “i have the desire” or “we would like you to…” the words were awful. whoever sanctioned that video should have been shot... it sent us a terrible message. no vision about it, completely top down, no input, no ownership…» (middle manager, bnfl). «people have been asked to join teams and are reluctant to do so because they don't feel they are getting anywhere. it takes up a tremendous amount of time to move a small step. there is the perception there is a lot of fuss about nothing. they formalised it, got people's photographs everywhere; that somehow justifies the time, money, and effort it has taken to do this. i was a sturdy follower of tqm for a long time. i initiated a lot of quality improvement teams and even i now think “why are we bothering?” we seem to be driven into doing something. that is where the problem lies. it is almost as if we are driven to make changes for the sake of making changes rather than living with the fact that people are going to make changes in their own area in their own time.» (middle manager, bnfl). «people leaving and not being replaced, is that rightsizing?» (ironic voice junior manager, bnfl). in pil a significant number of employees had come to believe there m@n@gement, vol. 1, no. 1, 1998, 1-22 10 was a necessary link between the tqm programme and job reductions and thus many rejected all proposed changes under the tqm banner. they referred to two major redundancy rounds coinciding with the implementation of tqm. furthermore, since the same work had to be done by far less people, managers became subject to a lot of additional pressure. consequently they resented having to spend time on issues that they perceived as not directly related to “doing the job” (e.g. tqm meetings). tqm then became «the damn thing that had to be done». furthermore, any changes which required a considerable amount of resources (either money or manpower) were not made because all resources needed to be focused on the day-to-day survival. this constraint was most apparent in the allocation of resources. only a particular type of change —small, efficiency improvements which did not require any up-front investment— was possible on a recurrent and reliable basis. inevitably, the tqm discourse tended to get trivialised. many managers made sense of tqm by using the experiences of the old change programmes (these were framed negatively, i.e. trumpet celebrations and no changes in actual working practices). under the cats label changes were introduced and implemented at great pace. however, over time doubts began to surface about the value of the cats programme. an elite had been created (pil managers who were working closely with the consultants) and all managers were put under a great amount of pressure. some clearly expressed the feeling they were «being pushed around». this made many managers very apprehensive about the whole exercise. doubts had begun to surface concerning the value and sincerity of the cats programme at the end of my research intervention. «tqm, continuous improvement, we have got to give a better service, and yet our resources are cut again and again. fundamentally, that is the contradiction we have got. people certainly think they are tight on time and therefore have not the time and resources to do what the organisation says we are doing: tqm, spending time to get it right.» (senior manager pil). «i believe the managers need to stand up for themselves a bit more to the directors. the middle management are getting squeezed in between the staff and directors. i see a lot of our conditions are changing, at the stroke of a pen, without consultations: this is it guys.» (middle manager, pil). «we had these tqm story sheets. a couple of those were wrong. i say that quite confidently. the conclusions drawn from these tqm initiatives were incorrect from a scientific point of view. that is the sort of daft things we were doing. trying to impress people with success stories. one was about labelling in the warehouse. it was said that because of tqm the number of errors had gone down. the evidence clearly showed that with the introduction of the new scheme the number of m@n@gement, vol. 1, no. 1, 1998, 1-22 11 errors had gone up. you don’t need many of those before you say: this is all wrong.» (middle manager, pil). appropriation of the tqm/ bpr discourse dominant discourses are totalising only for those who view them as such; they are replete with fissures within which people engage in their individual practices of sensemaking. organisational actors will try to appropriate the discourse, translate it for their own needs, “authorise” it as it were (cf. czarniawska, 1997). thus the change discourse becomes a double-edged sword whereby operational managers can “reconstitute” their practices and those of senior management as much as senior management could do the same to operational managers. if senior managers talk about working within a tqm philosophy, then there is an opening for their subordinates to represent themselves and their superiors within the same logic (parker, 1997; wilkinson et al., 1997). it then no longer is a question of being for or against tqm/bpr. the issue becomes: how do the different parties involved reshape their interests in the context of tqm/bpr (munro, 1995)? for example, buying into the change discourse can be a possible way of signalling to those with the power to promote that managers are not averse to change, but that while they are prepared to look critically at the system in which they work, they will not unduly rock the organisational boat (huczynski, 1993). of course, there is no guarantee that this strategy will necessarily work to an individual’s advantage. «tqm got me a promotion… you'll notice that wherever you go, wherever there is a tqm co-ordinator, there has evolved a little empire, someone got a promotion out of it.» (middle manager, bnfl). «people belittle tqm but the way they work is within the tqm philosophy anyway. they say: “why call it tqm? we’ve always done that”. i’ve never come across anyone saying “we’re not doing it because it is tqm”. teamworking, taking responsibility for their own quality is seen by people as the normal way to work.» (middle manager, bnfl). «for example, there was a tqm lunch scheduled by one of our directors so that he could speak to a wide variety of people. now the date has been moved back. unfortunately people predicted that this would happen. they feel a bit let down and wonder “is that what tqm is about?”. it is the same with cutting down costs. we are saying to people “you can't just use as many pencils as you want” and then you see someone in a more senior position having a grand lunch somewhere or travel first class... it is not essential but people feel there are different rules that apply for different people and that undermines tqm. tqm then becomes a very easy label to blame things or people. instead of the individual, tqm gets the slant.» (middle manager, pil). m@n@gement, vol. 1, no. 1, 1998, 1-22 12 «i know people find me a pain at times but i have always tried to do as near a perfect job as i could. tqm therefore was absolutely superb. i thought “great, at last somebody else is going to do the same sort of things”. there were all sorts of problems in r&d at the time and i tried to get things put right. as a result of that i got branded as 'incomplete' and had a salary cut. you conclude what you like from that. obviously it is only me who says so but i genuinely tried to do something about things under the banner of tqm and that is what happened.» (middle manager, pil). «cats was an opportunity for us to show to the board how important we are in the organisation providing computer services.» (junior manager, pil). «people did not take other people seriously when they were trying to do something about it [organisational problems]. one could quote a hundred examples which prove that the board did not really understand what it was about and what the consequences of it were.» (middle manager, pil). outcomes: a confusing and contested set of meanings the discourse promulgated by the senior management became increasingly irrelevant as a significant number of operational managers saw it as «high flying language» which had very few connections with the day-to-day work. the meaning attached to outcomes and events as managers made sense of actions, or lack of these, by colleagues and the top team became increasingly inconsistent with the company message. as the official change discourse tried to control actors’ sensemaking, it effectively marginalised alternative meanings attached to outcomes, issues, and events and got progressively more out of touch with lived organisational experiences. eventually this discourse would be stretched to breaking point. the way the companies coped was eventually to drop a particular change discourse (the tqm discourse) in favour of a new discourse which promised to alleviate all the existing problems (rightsizing or cats discourse). however, towards the end of the research intervention this “new” discourse had generated just as many alternative meanings among organisational members. tables 1 and 2 contain some examples of the “official” view on certain issues and cultural rules and the requisite alternative meanings attached to these same issues and cultural rules. m@n@gement, vol. 1, no. 1, 1998, 1-22 13 m@n@gement, vol. 1, no. 1, 1998, 1-22 14 13. the reader may have noticed that i already incorporated some reviewers’ comments in this text (see footnotes 5 and 10). of course, most of the reviewers’ comments are of no direct interest to the reader (such as those concerning the lack of focus, theoretical basis, and interpretation in the first version of this paper). i limit myself to those comments i believe a reader might offer him/herself. the methodological reflections on “voice” offered earlier in the paper still apply. tqm is the continuous improvement in the performance of bnfl, in meeting safely and cost effectively, agreed requirements of internal and external customers, by releasing the potential of all employees. an organisation that is extremely responsive, lean, flexible, process oriented, customer oriented, works closely with suppliers, no stocks, no lead times, empowered, highly motivated. that is the goal. this was not just change for change’s sake, but change which would give enough improvement and benefit to be worth doing. what we did was go back to fundamental questions and ask what business have we got and if we were starting from scratch again how would we organise and run them? i viewed rightsizing positively because it actually made us set some positive targets for reducing our cost which we did not have in tqm. that is what this division needs. had it not been for that, we would still have been fiddling at the edges. come up with initiatives, challenge, try and seek better ways of doing things. if you're not happy with the answer you get from your supervisor, go one line up. the hierarchy is not sacrosanct. there is certainly the attitude that tqm is the practical alternative to work. a lot of the meetings could just be held for tqm's sake. people who are never invited to them feel they are carrying the new culture, that they are doing the work, send out the fuel to the gates to make money. when you talk to the guys on the shop floor, they just see it as mechanisms for spending money. they don’t see it as beneficial to them. rightsizing is nothing more than a demanning exercise. the intention may have been originally there to streamline the workforce and put people in the right work but that is not how it is perceived now. certain directors are settling old scores on the rightsizing. they are targeting certain individuals and put undue pressure on them. rightsizing was implemented overnight. the troops didn’t get to know about it until the 11th hour. are they hiding something or does it just tend to happen that way? i’m not sure. people are faced with a fait accompli and so experience it negatively. the advice to get on and survive comfortably? dead easy: keep your head down, do your own work, stick to it, make sure that you get plenty of paper out, follow the rules. stay on the right side of the right people, get your head down and get working. table 1. meanings of the tqm/rightsizing discourse and cultural rules in bnfl official meanings alternative meanings discussion «the meaning of contribution emerges not from the presentation of brute facts, but rather from the development of honest claims to convey knowledge intended for academic audiences.» (locke and golden-biddle, 1997, p.1026). the aim of this last section is to pull together some key themes and to convey what sense i make of the magnificent muddle i have presented so far. i will refer explicitly to several of the reviewers’ comments in this discussion. organisational tales can be told in many ways and different readers can potentially unlock different narratives from the same text. as the reviewers have contributed significantly in shaping the particular story i am telling about my field experiences, i decided to give them some kind of “voice” in the paper. they are the best substitute for a reader the author has to work with, thus allowing me to engage in at least something which approaches a real discussion13. the cynical reader may see this, with some justification, as part of a rhetorical strategy to support the validity of my story (cf. locke and golden-biddle, 1997). this section is structured around two different suggestions/objections of reviewers. a first objection forces me to confront the “use-value” of my interpretation: why did i not provide an analysis that is of immediate help to managers? two subtly different interpretations from the reviewers will then lead into a grounded appraisal of the tqm/bpr rhetorics. in this final part i will also indicate how i conceive of the “contribution” of my text. a “useless” interpretation? «you need to forget trying to find solutions to problems of tqm in the writings of text analysts, and look at the organizational learning literature for why some interventions succeed and fail.» (reviewer 2, revision1).» m@n@gement, vol. 1, no. 1, 1998, 1-22 15 once the tqm had started you found people far more willing to sit around the table and solve a problem mutually. there are very definite changes as far as that is concerned. the tqm is on-going and although it is a very gradual change in culture it is there, although it has had its highs and lows. it is more alive now than it has been for the last year. tqm will give the company an advantage over its competitors so we can stay in business. to make us an efficient company, save money. also enhance our reputation with the customers and involve people more in the workings of the company. the cats project particularly, it has challenged the way people work. cats delivered what tqm promised to achieve. it's a fairly open style. reasonably informal, with quite a lot of space given without necessarily reinforcing that that space is given. there is very little in this organisation that if you want to do it, people actually stop you from doing it. don't be afraid of challenging what you do. there are very few pockets in the organisation that would resent challenge. it just never came into being really. everybody went on courses, got the literature, notices everywhere... but i don't think it made an impact on people. there was no connection with the daily work. practical consequences? none whatsoever. it degenerated from very fine philosophical principles to a cartoon on the notice board they churned out once a week. many of the work force see it as the route to further job reductions and we have lost 35% of our work force over the past two years. the ideals of it are wonderful but in reality they are very hard to achieve. “people are your most important asset” is an awkward thing to say when in the same breath we got rid of people. there were all these good ideas supposedly coming out of the cats project. we had suggested those many years ago but no one had given them any backing. an outside group of people comes in led by a couple of people from within our organisation and suddenly work is getting done… i think it is a question of who is taking the credit? even if you know about certain things that are key issues to the company and should be spoken about at a senior level i would be very careful about how to do that. you don't just speak out. if you want to get on you must be afraid of upsetting the apple cart. to get on? do as you are told and don't rock the boat. i'm sorry but i'm absolutely dead serious on that. table 2. meanings of the tqm/cats discourse and cultural rules in pil official meanings alternative meanings because my unit of analysis is not the change project itself, but the discourse surrounding it, many organisational issues may fade in the background. the particular problem with the ambiguous picture i have sketched is that it does not really provide what the market wants (cf. deetz, 1995). because people (managers especially) want simple solutions and explanations there is a pressure to provide them. hence the tendency to produce texts which limit concepts to those with which one particular social group is ideologically comfortable or to those which highlight only the variables which are easily manipulable by managerial interests (watson, 1994). in particular managers want to know the exact reasons why change interventions succeed or fail. but the false clarity that results when bowing to “market pressures” is often part and parcel of the dominant discourse, the discourse of those who think everything goes without saying (bourdieu, 1990). a practical problem in looking for clearly delineated causes of success or failure is that it is hard to know why, when, and if a change attempt has failed, precisely because of the many competing discourses. the inability to successfully transform an organisation may be attributable to a multitude of factors and there are no hard and fast standards for assessing the results of a change programme. one can always point to some positive developments and ascribe them to an intervention, even when the organisation as a whole is worse off for it (miller, greenwood, and hinnings, 1997). the key participants in any change process have an elementary interest in portraying the costly process as a worthwhile and successful endeavour (kieser, 1997). these difficulties are further exacerbated by the propaganda image of tqm and bpr in the popular press which implies that, as success is nearly universal, difficulties must be related to the exceptional obstructiveness or inadequacy of some of the parties involved locally (ramsay, 1996). incidentally, both pil and bnfl were identified by the dti (department of trade and industry) as “best practice” companies in the area of tqm. apparently they were managing quite well within the context of british industry. at the very least, external constituencies were impressed. however, the companies faced the same tensions which are widely reported in the organisational literature and which remain unresolved for the vast majority of companies who engage in a culture change programme. for example, how is the demand for continuously higher performance to be reconciled with the ideal of teamwork (gergen and whitney, 1996), teamwork and increased flexibility with “voluntary” redundancies (de cock, 1998), empowerment with the increased routinisation of tasks (boje and winsor, 1993), cost-cutting with quality enhancement (legge, 1995)? this very much raises the question whether culture change programmes are the most appropriate means of securing organisational change (keenoy, 1997; legge, 1995)? it is an issue i will address in the final part. m@n@gement, vol. 1, no. 1, 1998, 1-22 16 contributions to a grounded critique of the tqm/bpr rhetorics «maybe it is not an image of propaganda, but propaganda is the change strategy in effect, to enhance careers, in these feudal kingdoms.» (reviewer 1, revision 1). «while the rhetoric is anti-bureaucracy, the design puts in place an even more bureaucratic (top down), mechanistic (one best procedure and process designed in), and certainly less democratic design…» (reviewer 1, revision 2). «how are tqm and bpr these kind of [totalising] discourses?… on the face of it they seem anything but totalizing in that they engender open-hearted resistance and criticism that is held in check not by the discourses but by the power structure and the implicit threat of unemployment or demotion. so, i was not convinced that discourse is totalizing anything or dominating or hegemonizing.» (reviewer 2, revision 2). despite the lip service paid to issues such as “empowerment” and “teamwork”, the change initiatives tended to be imposed as totalising solutions in the case organisations. the mini-stories put into doubt whether the celebration of “empowerment” and “teamwork” under the tqm or bpr umbrella can be fully reconciled with the lived experience of employees if they simultaneously encounter a reduction in their job security and an intensification in the pace and pressures of their work (cf. willmott, 1995). however, i am rather hesitant to point to some machiavellian plot or a «capitalist schema of alienation, dehumanization, and totalitarianism» (steingard and fitzgibbons, 1993, p.32) behind the tqm/bpr discourse. power/politics issues are part of the fabric of organisational life in our late 20th century capitalist society and not a set of actions and behaviours which can be simply bracketed or reified (for example, by pointing a finger at the evils of tqm). the tqm/bpr discourses, as used by senior managers, to a great extent reproduce rather than transform power relations which continuously confront organisational actors (de cock, 1998). of course, the tqm/bpr discourse has political consequences in that some organisational actors potentially stand to loose and others to gain from it. but it is not all that clear who are the powerful «who seem to be able to define the story of others for others» (to use a quote from one of the reviewers again). all organisational actors are “disciplined” by the change discourse to some extent. certainly, by virtue of their position senior managers have more opportunities to propagandise their version of reality, «to define the story of others for others». but even senior managers are limited in what they can and cannot do. as argued earlier, there is no story that is not embedded in other stories, and the tqm/bpr story lines are embedded in more macro-stories of the changes in industry and economic life. organisations have to be m@n@gement, vol. 1, no. 1, 1998, 1-22 17 seen to be adopting the latest change discourse to demonstrate their legitimacy and rationality to significant others in the environment, even if their senior managers are not convinced of the value of this discourse. if senior managers do not appear to use the latest change discourse, then external stakeholders’ expectations that the organisation is run rationally will tend to be disappointed, and stakeholders may withdraw their support from the organisation, thereby increasing the likelihood that the organisation and its managers will fail (abrahamson, 1996). in this way all organisational actors are “disciplined” by the global change discourse. policy makers need to develop a coherent and plausible local discourse in response to these global discourses. they need to envisage an alternative way of institutional functioning, and this can be done only if they can articulate an alternative mission and establish an alternative discourse in terms of which reforms may be contemplated. in this sense «ideological hegemony, far from being pernicious…, is a necessary prerequisite for challenging the status quo» (tsoukas and papoulias, 1996, p.861). the problem with discourses such as tqm/bpr is that they are generic discourses and therefore difficult to link to actual practices in a straightforward way. in order for the tqm/bpr discourse to embody local practices, a sensitivity to the parochial forms of reality that terms such as multi-functional teams, continuous improvement, empowerment, and the like sustain has to be developed (cf. gergen and thatchenkery, 1996). many managers and change agents realise that they should not follow deming’s, crosby’s or hammer’s rules religiously but is very difficult to break free of the tqm/bpr discourse precisely because it has been presented as natural, all-pervasive, “the only way to be”. perhaps some kind of hegemonic discourse is an inevitable first step to introduce change, but it is debatable whether a generic hegemonic discourse is the best starting point. organisational actors’ understandings reside, first and foremost, in the practices in which they participate. therefore, there will always exist an important asymmetry between the rules-as-represented (for example, in the tqm discourse) and the rules-as-guide-in-practice, the latter being far richer (tsoukas, 1996). thus the three movements of hegemony-resistance-constitution will surface in all organisations to a greater or lesser extent, leading to the ambiguous sensemaking i tried to capture in the mini-stories. the comment from reviewer 2 that the tqm/bpr discourses do not seem to totalise anything in practice (i.e. in pil and bnfl) is correct. however, this does not mean that the bpr/tqm discourse is not totalising/hegemonic in its basic intent. the discourse very much tries to forcefully “sell” (supported by videos, seminars, and glossy brochures) a particular version of organisational reality14. it is just that, for better or for worse (depending on one’s perspective), this totalising discourse has to compete with many other stories. what emerges ultimately is a unique combination of random events, sectional interests and existing routines. as martin and frost eloquently put it: «[t]here is no ‘happy acculturated forever after’ ending the change attempts. in all likelihood, there is no ‘forever after’ m@n@gement, vol. 1, no. 1, 1998, 1-22 18 14. as i clarified in an earlier point, this is not necessarily unique of the tqm/bpr discourse. this discourse is just the latest forum in which organisational power games are being played out. m@n@gement, vol. 1, no. 1, 1998, 1-22 19 in the script. at best, there may be some combination of agreement, dispute, and confusion that can be stitched together by human agency, as managers and others move the action along, accomplish some objective, and then regroup around subsequent problems, issues, and opportunities.» (martin and frost, 1996, p.614). managers who are serious about “change” will have to engage creatively with the various meanings created by the imposition of the hegemonic/monologic discourse and reflect on the dynamic unfolding of concrete interactions within a particular socio-temporal context, which should result in the acceptance of some kind of polyphony. thus the hegemonic discourse would have to disappear or mutate over time if it is to have some lasting impact on organisational practices. the purely managerial interpretation and storytelling of the organisation and the world around it (the grand narrative) will have to be supplemented with local stories. these stories will not be decided upon by senior managers and consultants. thus the organisational storytelling should become richer over time and go beyond the well-rehearsed script of saying something «about record profits due to a dramatically shortened cycle time and include great things employees have to say about the changes.» (boje et al., 1997, p.655). the immediate implication is that any change process is more dynamic and recursive than the traditional linear or stage models with their underlying journey metaphor imply. these models which permeate the practitioners’ literature do not explain anything other than the order they try to prescribe in the first place. so if readers get away with the feeling that stage models are totally self-referential, see them for what they are (part of the popular consultants’ script), that would be at least one simple take-away product of this article. within a narrative approach the differences between story lines are at least as informative and useful as the formulation of an overarching account (barry and elmes, 1997b). through the juxtapositioning of different accounts, the tqm and bpr constructs can become more contextualised and, thereby, more imbued with meaning. thus i hope to have contributed to a grounded critique of the tqm and bpr discourses as well as to the burgeoning literature on storytelling. ultimately my reflections can be only a contribution to a continuing debate about ways of organising, rather than a contribution to our knowledge of organisations. but most importantly… i hope you enjoyed reading my particular story and got something useful out of it, however you define “useful”. endnote: my sincerest gratitude goes out to the four reviewers for helping me to tell my story through the various revisions. some sections, especially those tackling storytelling, almost could have been co-written by them. i integrated some of the reviewers’ suggestions and concerns to acknowledge their contribution to the construction of the text. the usual disclaimers apply. m@n@gement, vol. 1, no. 1, 1998, 1-22 20 ■ abrahamson, eric 1996 management fashion, academy of management review, 21:1, 254-285. ■ aldag, ramon j. 1997 moving sofas and exhuming woodchucks: on relevance, impact, and the following of fads, journal of management inquiry, 6:1, 8-16. ■ alvesson, mats, and hugh willmott 1996 making sense of management: a critical introduction, london: sage. ■ barrett, frank j., gail f. thomas, and susan p. hocevar 1995 the central role of discourse in large-scale change: a social construction perspective, journal of applied behavioral science, 31: 3, 352-372. ■ barry, david, and michael elmes 1997a strategy retold: toward a narrative view of strategic discourse, academy of management review, 22:2, 429-452. ■ barry, david, and michael elmes 1997b on paradigms and narratives: barry and elmes' response, academy of management review, 22:4, 847-849. ■ boje, david m. 1991 the storytelling organization: a study of story performance in an officesupply firm, administrative science quarterly, 36:1, 106-126. ■ boje, david m. 1995 stories of the storytelling organization: a postmodern analysis of disney as "tamara-land", academy of management journal, 38:4, 997-1035. ■ boje, david m., and robert d. winsor 1993 the resurrection of taylorism: total quality management's hidden agenda, journal of organizational change management, 6:4, 57-70. ■ boje, david m., grace a. rosile, robert dennehy, and debra j. summers 1997 restorying reengineering: some deconstructions and postmodern alternatives, communication research, 24:6, 631-668. ■ bourdieu, pierre 1990 the logic of practice, cambridge: polity. ■ boyce, mary e. 1995 collective centring and collective sense-making in the stories and storytelling of one organization, organization studies, 16:1, 107-137. ■ boyce, m. e. 1996 organizational story and storytelling: a critical review, journal of organizational change management, 9:5, 5-26. ■ butler, richard 1997 stories and experiments in social inquiry, organization studies, 18:6, 927-948. ■ carroll, lewis 1982 the complete illustrated works of lewis carroll, london: chancellor press (alice in wonderland was first published in 1865). ■ casey, catherine 1995 work, self and society: after industrialism, london: routledge. ■ czarniawska, barbara 1997 narrating the organization: dramas of institutional identity, chicago: university of chicago press. ■ de cock, christian 1998 "it seems to fill my head with ideas": a few thoughts on postmodernism, tqm, and bpr, journal of management inquiry, 7:2, 144-153. ■ deetz, stanley 1995 the social production of knowledge and the commercial artifact, in l. l. cummings, and peter j. frost (eds.), publishing in the organizational sciences, 2nd ed., london: sage, 4463. ■ deetz, stanley 1998 discursive formations, strategized subordination and self-surveillance, in alan mckinlay & ken starkey (eds.), foucault, management and organization theory: from panopticon to technologies of self, london: sage, 151-172. ■ denzin, norman k. 1994 the art and politics of interpretation, in norman k. denzin, and yvonna s. lincoln (eds.), handbook of qualitative research, london: sage, 500-515. ■ fisher, walter r. 1984 narration as a human communication paradigm: the case of public moral argument, communication monographs, 51:1, 1-22. ■ fisher, walter r. 1985 the narrative paradigm: an elaboration, communication monographs, 52:4, 347-367. ■ gabriel, yannis 1995 the unmanaged organization: stories, fantasies and subjectivity, organization studies, 16:3, 477-501. ■ geertz, clifford 1973 thick description: toward an interpretive theory of culture, in clifford geertz (ed.), the interpretation of cultures: selected essays, new york: basic books, 3-30. ■ geertz, clifford 1980 blurred genres: the refiguration of social thought, the american scholar, 49, 165-179. references m@n@gement, vol. 1, no. 1, 1998, 1-22 21 ■ gergen, kenneth j., and tojo joseph thatchenkery 1996 organization science as social construction: postmodern potentials, journal of applied behavioral science, 32:4, 356-377. ■ gergen, kenneth j., and diana whitney 1996 technologies of representation in the global corporation: power and polyphony, in david m. boje, robert p. gephart jr., and tojo joseph thatchenkery (eds.), postmodern management and organization theory, thousand oaks: sage, 331-357. ■ hammer, michael, and james champy 1993 reengineering the corporation: a manifesto for business revolution, new york: harperbusiness. ■ hatch, mary jo 1996 the role of the researcher: an analysis of narrative position in organization theory, journal of management inquiry, 5:4, 359-374. ■ hines, ruth 1988 financial accounting: in communicating reality, we construct reality, accounting, organizations and society, 13:3, 251-261. ■ huczynski, andrzej 1993 management gurus: what makes them and how to become one, london: routledge. ■ hummel, ralph p. 1991 stories managers tell: why they are as valid as science, public administration review, 51, 31-41. ■ keenoy, tom 1997 hrmism and the languages of representation, journal of management studies, 34:5, 825-841. ■ kerfoot, deborah, and david knights 1995 empowering the 'quality' worker?, in adrian wilkinson, and hugh willmott (eds.), making quality critical: new perspectives on organizational change, london: routledge, 219-239. ■ kieser, alfred 1997 rhetoric and myth in management fashion, organization, 4:1, 49-74. ■ knights, david, and fergus murray 1994 managers divided, chichester: john wiley. ■ law, john 1994 organization, narrative and strategy, in john hassard, and martin parker (eds.), towards a new theory of organizations, london: routledge, 248-268. ■ legge, karen 1995 human resource management: rhetorics and realities, london: macmillan. ■ locke, karen, and karen golden-biddle 1997 constructing opportunities for contribution: structuring intertextual coherence and "problematizing" in organizational studies, academy of management journal, 40:5, 1023-1062. ■ lyotard, jean-françois 1984 the postmodern condition: a report on knowledge, manchester: manchester university press. ■ martin, joanne 1990 deconstructing organizational taboos: the suppression of gender conflict in organizations, organization science, 1:4, 339-359. ■ martin, joanne 1992 cultures in organizations: three perspectives, new york: oxford university press. ■ martin, joanne, and peter j. frost 1996 the organizational culture war games: a struggle for intellectual dominance, in stewart r. clegg, cynthia hardy, and walter r. nord (eds.), handbook of organization studies, london: sage, 599-621. ■ miller, danny, royston greenwood, and bob hinnings 1997 creative chaos versus munificent momentum: the schism between normative and academic views of organizational change, journal of management inquiry, 6:1, 71-78. ■ munro, rolland 1995 governing the new province of quality, in adrian wilkinson, and hugh willmott (eds.), making quality critical: new perspectives on organizational change, london: routledge, 127-155. ■ parker, martin 1997 organizations and citizenship, organization, 4:1, 75-92. ■ phillips, nelson, and cynthia hardy 1997 managing multiple identities: discourse, legitimacy and resources in the uk refugee system, organization, 4:2, 159-185. ■ prior, lindsay 1997 following in foucault's footsteps: text and context in qualitative research, in david silverman (ed.), qualitative research: theory, method & practice, london: sage, 63-79. ■ ramsay, harvie 1996 managing sceptically: a critique of organizational fashion, in stewart r. clegg, and gill palmer (eds.), the politics of management knowledge, london: sage, 155-172. ■ rorty, richard 1980 philosophy and the mirror of nature, oxford: blackwell. ■ steingard, david s., and dale e. fitzgibbons 1993 a postmodern deconstruction of total quality management, journal of organizational change management, 6:5, 27-42. ■ thackray, john 1993 fads, fixes and fictions, management today, june, 40-42. m@n@gement, vol. 1, no. 1, 1998, 1-22 22 ■ tsoukas, haridimos 1996 the firm as a distributed knowledge system: a constructionist approach, strategic management journal, 17, winter special issue, 11-25. ■ tsoukas, haridimos, and demetrios b. papoulias 1996 understanding social reforms: a conceptual analysis, journal of the operational research society, 47:7, 853-863. ■ van maanen, john 1995 an end to innocence: the ethnography of ethnography, in john van maanen (ed.), representation in ethnography, london: sage, 1-35. ■ van maanen, john 1996 on the matter of voice, journal of management inquiry, 5, 4, 375-381. ■ watson, tony 1994 towards a managerially relevant but non-managerialist organization theory, in john hassard, and martin parker (eds.), towards a new theory of organizations, london: routledge, 209-224. ■ weick, karl e. 1995 sensemaking in organizations, london: sage. ■ weick, karl e., and larry d. browning 1986 argument and narration in organizational communication, journal of management, 12, 2, 243-259. ■ wilkinson, adrian, graham godfrey, and mick marchington 1997 argument and narration in organizational communication, journal of management, 12, 2, 243-259. ■ willmott, hugh 1995 the odd couple?: re-engineering business processes; managing human relations, new technology, work and employment, 10, 2, 89-98. ■ wolcott, harry f. 1994 transforming qualitative data: description, analysis, and interpretation, london: sage. 117 j-f. coget, c. haag, a-m. bonnefousm@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 118-141 m@n@gement issn: 1286-4892 editors: emmanuel josserand, hec, université de genève (editor in chief) jean-luc arrègle, edhec (editor) stewart clegg, university of technology, sydney (editor) esteban garcia canal, universidad de oviedo (editor) louis hébert, hec montréal (editor) martin kornberger, university of technology, sydney (editor) josé pla-barber, universitat de valència (editor) michael tushman, harvard business school (editor) martin g. evans, university of toronto (editor emeritus) bernard forgues, emlyon business school (editor emeritus) copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). m@n@gement is a double-blind refereed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.management-aims.com © 2009 m@n@gement and the author(s). jean-francois coget 2009 christophe haag annabel-mauve bonnefous le rôle de l’émotion dans la prise de décision intuitive : zoom sur les réalisateurs-décideurs en période de tournage. m@n@gement, 12(2), 118-141. accepté par louis hébert m@n@gement est la revue officielle de l’aims m@n@gement is the journal official of aims m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 118-141 118 le rôle de l’émotion dans la prise de décision intuitive : zoom sur les réalisateursdécideurs en période de tournage le rôle de l’émotion dans la prise de décision intuitive : zoom sur les réalisateurs-décideurs en période de tournage la plupart des chercheurs s’accordent sur le fait que l’émotion est une caractéristique essentielle de la prise de décision intuitive (pdi), mais rares sont ceux qui ont étudié le phénomène de façon empirique. de ce fait, on ne sait pas précisément comment l’émotion interagit avec le processus de prise de décision. cet article se propose de commencer à élucider le rôle de l’émotion dans la pdi par une étude empirique de type exploratoire portant sur les réalisateurs de cinéma en période de tournage. les résultats de l’étude montrent que la pdi peut être influencée par trois types d’émotions : les émotions liées à une expertise sur la décision à prendre, les émotions liées à une expérience émotionnelle antérieure sans lien direct avec la décision, ou les émotions spontanées sans lien avec une expertise ou une expérience passée. nous explicitons aussi les conditions d’élaboration d’une prise de décision rationnelle (pdr) ainsi que de la délégation de la prise de décision (dpd) qui remplacent parfois, et dans des circonstances bien précises, le processus de prise de décision intuitive. nous concluons cet article en évoquant les implications tant managériales que théoriques des résultats de cette étude. mots clés : prise de décision intuitive, émotion, méthode qualitative. while most researchers agree that emotions play an important role in the process of intuitive decision-making (idm), few have investigated that role empirically. this article aims at filling that gap by investigating the role of emotion in idm through an exploratory study of movie directors in the field. the data suggests that three types of emotions can influence idm: emotions related to expertise, emotions related to a non-task relevant experience, or spontaneous emotions that are unrelated to either expertise or past experiences. our data also suggests the conditions under which idm is replaced by rational decision making (rdm), or the delegation of decision making (ddm). we derive theoretical and managerial implications based on our findings. key-words: intuitive decision-making, emotion, qualitative method. jean-francois coget christophe haag annabel-mauve bonnefous california polytechnic state university jcoget@calpoly.edu emlyon business school haag@em-lyon.com reims management school am.bonnefous@reims-ms.fr 119 j-f. coget, c. haag, a-m. bonnefousm@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 118-141 introduction les deux seuls psychologues à avoir reçu un prix nobel en économie, simon (1968) et kahneman (1979), ont été récompensés pour avoir contribué à discréditer le mythe de la prise de décision rationnelle (pdr). la pdr, illustrée par la théorie des jeux (von neuman & morgenstern, 1944), a été critiquée parce qu’elle présuppose la rationalité de l’acteur en toutes circonstances, et la sélection d’une solution nécessairement optimale car résultant d’une analyse consciente et rigoureuse de l’éventail des possibilités qui s’offrent à l’individu. l’observation des pratiques réelles montre que les individus s’écartent souvent de ce schéma lorsqu’ils prennent une décision. c’est particulièrement vrai dans le cas que nous étudions ici : celui des réalisateurs de cinéma qui doivent prendre des décisions rapides mais néanmoins cruciales lorsqu’ils sont dans la phase de production d’un film, c’est-à-dire dans l’ambiance survoltée d’un plateau de tournage. « en fait, c’est très instinctif comme démarche : ce n’est pas du tout intellectuel », nous commente l’un des réalisateurs étudiés lorsqu’il tente de décrire sa manière de prendre une décision. les décisions de ce type, prises dans l’instant, au cœur de l’action, sans réflexion analytique consciente, sont appelées « intuitives » par opposition aux décisions « rationnelles ». simon (1987) a été l’un des premiers chercheurs à étudier la prise de décision intuitive (pdi). depuis, un nombre croissant de chercheurs ont étudié ce processus de décision pour tenter d’en expliquer le subtil mécanisme (burke & miller, 1999; dane & pratt, 2007; frantz, 2003; hayashi, 2001; hogarth, 2001; kahneman, 2003; khatri & ng, 2000; sadler-smith & shefy, 2004; sayegh, anthony, & perrewé, 2004; sinclair, ashkanasy, chattopadhyay, & boyle, 2002). des études empiriques ont démontré le lien entre émotion et prise de décision (damasio, 1998; frijda, 1986; isen, 2000; lazarus, 1999; ledoux, 1996; schwarz, 2000), mais celles-ci ne précisent pas vraiment la nature de ce lien. cet article se propose d’apporter des éclairages supplémentaires sur ce lien en présentant les résultats d’une recherche empirique de type qualitatif inductif qui nous permettra de mieux cerner les conditions d’élaboration de la pdi et le rôle de l’émotion dans ce processus. pour cela, nous présenterons tout d’abord les théories et les recherches existantes sur la pdi ainsi que sur le lien entre émotion et prise de décision, en montrant à chaque fois les zones d’ombre qui subsistent dans la littérature. puis nous décrirons nos choix méthodologiques en expliquant notamment pourquoi l’étude de réalisateurs de film en période de tournage est particulièrement pertinente pour notre sujet. nous présenterons ensuite les résultats de notre étude qui permettent de distinguer trois processus de pdi et nous montrerons qu’en l’absence d’émotion, le décideur a tendance à laisser aux autres le soin de décider pour lui, ce que nous avons appelé la délégation de la prise de décision (dpd). enfin, les implications théoriques et pratiques de notre modèle seront exposées ainsi que ses limites et ses perspectives de développement. m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 118-141 120 le rôle de l’émotion dans la prise de décision intuitive : zoom sur les réalisateursdécideurs en période de tournage la prise de décision intuitive en sciences de gestion la pdi est récemment devenue un sujet d’étude légitime en management (dane & pratt, 2007; sinclair & ashkanasy, 2005) en raison du nombre croissant de dirigeants qui reconnaissent utiliser fréquemment leur intuition dans la prise de décision stratégique (burke & miller, 1999). selon sadler-smith & shefy (2004), plus ils gravissent les échelons hiérarchiques et plus les manageurs utilisent la pdi. bob lutz, par exemple, attribue le développement de la dodge viper, qu’il estime être la plus importante décision stratégique qu’il ait prise à la tête de chrysler, à une intuition (hayashi, 2001). certains auteurs estiment qu’en situation de crise, la pdi peut avoir des conséquences stratégiques majeures pour une organisation (mitroff, 2004; sayegh, et al., 2004). la pdi, phénomène par nature intangible et difficile à cerner, a fait l’objet de plusieurs tentatives de définitions dont nous donnons ici quelques exemples (pour une revue complète, voir dane & pratt, 2007). shirley & langan-fox (1996: 564) définissent la pdi comme un processus qui implique « le sentiment de savoir avec certitude, sur la base d’informations incomplètes et sans réflexion rationnelle consciente ». pour burke miller (1999: 92), il s’agit d’« un processus cognitif fondé sur les expériences passées et les données émotionnelles du décideur ». sinclair & ashkanasy (2005) définissent la pdi comme un mode de traitement non-séquentiel de l’information, composé à la fois d’éléments cognitifs et affectifs, qui aboutit à un savoir direct, sans qu’il soit fait recours à un raisonnement conscient. enfin, dans leur revue de la littérature, dane & pratt (2007) définissent la pdi comme un processus rapide et non conscient qui produit des jugements chargés affectivement sur la base d’associations holistiques. cette définition, que nous utiliserons dans cet article, met en évidence l’importance de l’émotion dans la pdi. prise de décision intuitive versus prise de décision rationnelle la pdr constitue encore aujourd’hui le paradigme dominant dans le domaine de la prise de décision et elle se distingue de la pdi par quatre aspects principaux. tout d’abord, la pdr repose sur un processus cognitif conscient et extensif, donc lent, alors que la pdi repose principalement sur des processus non conscients, donc plus rapide (hogarth, 2001; lieberman, 2000; shapiro & spence, 1997). deuxièmement, alors que la pdr s’appuie sur des connaissances abstraites et explicites, des études sur des champions d’échecs, des musiciens virtuoses, des athlètes et des mathématiciens ont montré que la pdi est fondée sur l’expertise (shapiro & spence, 1997; simon, 1987). par la pratique et l’entraînement, durant lesquels ils reçoivent des « feed-back » extensifs, les experts développent une connaissance tacite spécifique, liée à une ou plusieurs tâches précises, qui leur permet de prendre des décisions rapides et précises dans un domaine d’activité particulier, de façon quasi magique (ericsson & charness, 1994; nonaka, 1995; 121 j-f. coget, c. haag, a-m. bonnefousm@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 118-141 simon, 1987). de façon générale, la plupart des chercheurs s’accordent sur le fait que la pdi repose sur l’expérience passée, c’est-à-dire la somme des événements constitutifs de la vie d’un individu (burke & miller, 1999; epstein, 1994; hogarth, 2001). troisièmement, la pdr est un processus séquentiel qui repose sur des relations causales bien définies, alors que la pdi est un processus holistique qui repose sur des associations libres (epstein, 1994; kahneman, 2003). quatrièmement, l’émotion n’entre pas dans le processus de pdr et elle a longtemps été considérée comme susceptible de le biaiser (janis, 1977), alors que la plupart des chercheurs considèrent l’émotion comme une caractéristique essentielle de la pdi (burke & miller, 1999; dane & pratt, 2007; kahneman, 2003; noordink & ashkanasy, 2004; sadler-smith & shefy, 2004; sinclair & ashkanasy, 2005). pour comprendre de quelle manière les émotions impactent précisément la pdi, il est important dans un premier temps de définir le concept d’émotion. définition de l’émotion il existe actuellement quatre grandes approches théoriques de l’émotion : la théorie physiologique, la théorie darwinienne, la théorie cognitive et la théorie socioconstructiviste (pour une revue exhaustive, voir cornelius, 1996). la mise en perspective réciproque de ces quatre approches a permis de construire la définition suivante : l’émotion est un état affectif accompagné de réactions physiologiques – comme le fait de rougir, l’accélération du rythme cardiaque, les tremblements et la transpiration (james, 1884; janet, 1926) – qui est provoqué par des stimuli internes ou externes, et que l’on évalue par rapport à ses conséquences positives ou négatives sur notre bien-être (frijda, 1986; lazarus, 1999; scherer, schorr, & johnstone, 2001). les émotions sont en général de courte durée (ekman, 1994), elles ont une intensité – forte ou faible – et une valence – agréable ou désagréable – (feldman, 1995; russell, 1999). certaines émotions, souvent de forte intensité comme la joie ou la peur, peuvent être reconnues par l’expression du visage (ekman, 1994), par les gestes et le ton de la voix (scherer, 1986), ainsi que par des signaux verbaux (rimé, corsini, & herbette, 2002). cette clarification du concept d’émotion nous permet à présent d’envisager les liens entre l’émotion et la prise de décision. émotion et prise de décision managériale les chercheurs adoptant une approche cognitive de l’émotion furent les premiers à mettre en évidence un lien positif entre émotion et prise de décision (frijda, 1986; lazarus & folkman, 1984; scherer, et al., 2001). ils développèrent la théorie de l’évaluation cognitive, connue sous le nom d’appraisal theory. selon cette théorie, l’émotion est un processus cognitif qui permet à un individu d’évaluer la signification des stimuli internes ou externes, au regard de ses préoccupations et de ses objectifs. selon la valence de l’émotion, l’individu va modifier son approche de l’action et prendre la décision qui maximisera au mieux son bien-être (frijda, 1986). schwarz & clore (1983) démontrent notamment qu’un état émotionnel m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 118-141 122 le rôle de l’émotion dans la prise de décision intuitive : zoom sur les réalisateursdécideurs en période de tournage positif ou négatif influence la manière dont les individus jugent le monde extérieur ; ils se fondent ainsi sur leurs sentiments présents, de façon heuristique, pour guider leur jugement et prendre des décisions dans des situations complexes. plus récemment, lerner & keltner (2000) ont affiné ce résultat en montrant que des émotions de même valence, comme la peur et la colère, ont des effets différents sur le jugement : sous l’influence de la peur l’individu a tendance à juger les événements à venir de façon pessimiste, tandis que sous l’influence de la colère il a tendance à les juger de façon optimiste. de leur côté, smith & ellsworth (1985) identifient plusieurs dimensions de l’évaluation cognitive des émotions, telles que le contrôle et la certitude, qui influencent le jugement. par exemple, la peur est associée à une situation qui est évaluée cognitivement comme menaçante, mais sans qu’il y ait certitude sur la cause de la menace, ou sur la capacité de l’individu à faire face à la menace. la colère, cependant, bien qu’elle soit aussi associée à une situation qui est évaluée cognitivement comme menaçante, est accompagnée de certitude vis-à-vis de la cause de cette menace et de la capacité de l’individu à y faire face. dans le contexte organisationnel, isen (2000) a étudié l’impact d’un état émotionnel positif sur les décisions risquées et complexes. elle a démontré de façon expérimentale que les personnes se trouvant dans un état émotionnel positif sont plus averses au risque que celles qui sont d’humeur négative ou neutre (isen & patrick, 1983). il semble également qu’un état émotionnel positif facilite la prise de décision complexe en réduisant la confusion et en augmentant la capacité d’assimilation de l’information. par exemple, les sujets chez qui l’on a induit un état émotionnel positif obtiennent des résultats meilleurs et plus rapides que les autres lorsqu’ils prennent une décision complexe comme acheter une voiture ou prendre une décision médicale (estrada, isen, & young, 1997; isen & means, 1983). dans une autre étude, des étudiants de mba mis dans un état d’humeur positif sont apparus plus performants que les autres lors d’un exercice de simulation managériale (staw & barsade, 1993). de leur côté, forgas & george (2001) ont construit un modèle théorique sur l’influence de l’affect sur la prise de décision, appelé affective infusion model. ils font ainsi l’hypothèse que l’humeur influe sur le contenu de la prise de décision car elle pousse les décideurs à ne sélectionner dans leur mémoire que les informations qui sont congruentes avec leur humeur présente. cette sélection par l’affect s’opérerait d’ailleurs plus fréquemment lorsque le processus de traitement de l’information est complexe (forgas & george, 2001). enfin, la recherche en neurosciences a elle aussi confirmé le lien physiologique entre émotion et prise de décision. damasio (1998) a démontré que les individus ne peuvent pas prendre de décisions lorsque les régions de leur cerveau associées au processus émotionnel ont été endommagées. il a émis l’hypothèse selon laquelle les événements critiques qui mènent à des émotions fortes créent des « marqueurs somatiques » dans la mémoire d’une personne. lorsque celle-ci se trouve confrontée à des événements semblables, ces marqueurs somatiques provoquent la même émotion chez elle, ce qui l’amène à prendre des 123 j-f. coget, c. haag, a-m. bonnefousm@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 118-141 décisions sans processus cognitif conscient. ledoux (1996) a fourni d’autres preuves neurobiologiques du lien entre émotion et prise de décision, en montrant que l’amygdale limbique, considérée comme le siège du processus émotionnel, fournit de l’information au cortex supérieur, considéré comme le siège de la prise de décision. plusieurs chercheurs ont donc montré dans différents champs disciplinaires l’importance de l’émotion dans la prise de décision en général. notre étude se propose d’apporter des éléments de connaissance empirique pour approfondir ce sujet, et plus particulièrement en ce qui concerne la pdi. pour cela, nous avons utilisé une méthode de recherche innovante qui combine les méthodologies éprouvées dans le domaine de la pdi et les nouvelles technologies dont nous disposons aujourd’hui, que nous décrivons ci-après. méthode les rares études empiriques menées sur la pdi utilisent trois méthodologies distinctes : (1) l’expérimentation (isen & means, 1983; kahneman, 2003), (2) le protocole d’introspection à haute voix (ericsson & simon, 1980, 1984), et (3) l’observation et l’interview d’experts en action (hoffman, shadbolt, burton, & klein, 1995; klein, 1998). le protocole expérimental, essentiellement utilisé par les partisans d’une approche comportementale de la prise de décision (isen & means, 1983; kahneman, 2003; kahneman, slovic, & tversky, 1987; kahneman & tversky, 1979), consiste à demander aux sujets expérimentaux de choisir entre plusieurs alternatives risquées et d’observer de quelle manière leur choix s’écarte d’un choix optimal déterminé par un calcul de probabilité. bien que ce dispositif favorise le traitement statistique des données, il ne permet pas de découvrir le processus réel de la prise de décision car il se concentre uniquement sur son résultat. le protocole d’introspection à haute voix, inventé par de groot (1978), consiste à inviter un expert reconnu à décrire à haute voix son activité mentale alors qu’il résout un problème dans son domaine d’expertise (ericsson & simon, 1980, 1984; hoffman et al., 1995). poursuivant le travail pionnier d’ericsson et de simon, les partisans de l’approche « naturaliste » de la prise de décision (klein, 1993, 1998; klein, wolf, militello, & zsambok, 1995; lipshitz, klein, orasanu, & salas, 2001) défendent l’utilisation de méthodes qualitatives non intrusives, telles que l’observation et l’interview rétrospective, pour étudier des experts prenant des décisions sur le terrain plutôt que dans des situations fictives. lors d’entretiens rétrospectifs, structurés ou non structurés, les experts sont invités à décrire leur processus cognitif lors de situations réelles de prise de décision (hoffman, et al., 1995). cette méthode est congruente avec la méthode des incidents critiques (flanagan, 1954) où des experts décrivent rétrospectivement leur expérience subjective lors d’incidents critiques. la méthode que nous avons utilisée pour cette recherche s’inscrit dans le courant naturaliste et s’inspire plus particulièrement de la méthode des incidents critiques (flanagan, 1954), de l’introspection à haute voix m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 118-141 124 le rôle de l’émotion dans la prise de décision intuitive : zoom sur les réalisateursdécideurs en période de tournage (ericsson et simon, 1980, 1984), de l’investigation clinique (schein, 1987, 1990, 2001) et de l’analyse interactionnelle (jordan et henderson, 1995). il s’agit de « l’investigation dialogique » (coget, 2009), qui repose sur des entretiens semi-directifs avec des experts au sujet de situations professionnelles réelles, auxquels nous rajoutons un élément nouveau : le suivi vidéo de ces experts sur le terrain. l’intérêt de la vidéo est de capturer une situation avec plus de détails et moins de distorsions que si l’on faisait seulement appel à la mémoire que les participants et le chercheur ont des incidents étudiés. cela permet aussi d’étudier les rationalisations ex-post des participants (weick, 1979). nous décrivons dans la partie « collecte des données » la manière dont nous avons mis en œuvre cette méthode d’investigation sur le terrain. choix et caractéristiques de la population étudiée une étape importante de la préparation de la recherche fut de déterminer la population au sein de laquelle la pdi pouvait être fréquente et facilement observable. notre revue de la littérature indique que la pdi est le plus fréquemment observée lorsque les personnes étudiées ont un fort pouvoir de décision, qu’elles agissent sous de fortes pressions de temps, dans des situations de crises, complexes et incertaines (burke & miller, 1999; dane & pratt, 2007; hayashi, 2001; khatri & ng, 2000; sadler-smith & shefy, 2004; sayegh, et al., 2004). plusieurs populations conviennent à cette description : dirigeants d’entreprise en situation de crise, pompiers éteignant un incendie, soldats en situation de combat, officiers de police sur le terrain… (kaempf, klein, thordsen, & wolf, 1996; klein, 1998). les réalisateurs de film en période de tournage réunissent eux aussi ces conditions ; lors d’un tournage, le réalisateur est en position de décideur, il dirige une équipe et des acteurs, il doit coordonner leurs activités pour produire un film conforme au script, mais aussi à sa propre vision et aux exigences de la société de production, tout en respectant les limites de temps et de budgets fixées. la pression est donc particulièrement élevée lors d’un tournage. de plus, bart & guber (2002) ont récemment montré que les émotions étaient plus librement exprimées dans l’industrie des loisirs que dans d’autres secteurs, ce qui les rend plus facilement observables. de ce fait, les réalisateurs de cinéma en phase de production sont apparus comme une population adéquate au projet de notre recherche, d’autant plus qu’ils ont rarement fait l’objet d’investigations empiriques (murphy & ensher, 2008). nous avons choisi une stratégie de recherche de type qualitatif inductif pour cerner au mieux le phénomène de la pdi. sept réalisateurs de cinéma ont été étudiés lors de tournages alors qu’ils dirigeaient des équipes de 15 à 40 personnes selon le type de film (4 courts-métrages, 3 longs-métrages) et le budget qui leur était alloué (de 20 000 $ à 1 000 000 de $). trois d’entre eux étaient des réalisateurs professionnels et quatre des étudiants en cinéma dans une grande université de la côte ouest des états-unis, qui tournaient un court-métrage dans le cadre de leur master en réalisation de cinéma. il s’agit de quatre hommes et de trois femmes, avec une moyenne d’âge de 39 ans et ayant réalisé 125 j-f. coget, c. haag, a-m. bonnefousm@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 118-141 3,5 films en moyenne. ils ont des origines ethniques variées (un afroaméricain, un américain d’origine asiatique, un américain d’origine arabe, quatre américains d’origine européenne) et des parcours de vie différents : robert et jeremy étaient acteurs auparavant, martin avait été directeur technique pour le théâtre et la télévision, elizabeth était écrivain, scénariste et psychologue. victor était monteur et spécialiste des effets spéciaux, vicky travaillait dans la conception de décors, et michelle n’avait pas d’expérience professionnelle avant ses études de cinéma. ces noms sont bien sûr fictifs afin de protéger l’identité des participants. collecte des données la collecte des données a été réalisée par le premier auteur selon la méthode de « l’investigation dialogique » évoquée précédemment et que nous allons détailler ici. avant le tournage, un entretien semi-directif d’une heure et demie a été organisé avec chaque réalisateur. le but était de recueillir des données concernant leur éducation, leurs expériences dans la réalisation et à des postes de dirigeant, leur philosophie du management, et les événements qui ont influencé leur vision du monde. ces entretiens ont permis aux chercheurs d’identifier des expériences clés qui pourraient influencer la manière dont chaque réalisateur interprète intuitivement les événements qui se déroulent sur le plateau et quel genre de situation pourrait provoquer des émotions fortes. puis les réalisateurs ont été équipés de micros sans fil et ont été filmés pendant toute une journée de tournage (en moyenne 9 heures de film par réalisateur). l’objectif était de comprendre comment les réalisateurs prenaient des décisions « à la volée », et quelles étaient leur(s) réaction(s) psychologique(s) et comportementale(s) lors de cette prise de décision. sur le plateau, des données d’archive ont été collectées en parallèle : la fiche de présence (call sheet)1 , le script2 et la liste de tournage (shot list)3 . ces documents ont aidé à identifier les différents membres de l’équipe et les acteurs observés ainsi que leur rôle, et à comprendre quand la situation s’écartait du projet d’origine. après le tournage, 41 séquences vidéo représentant des prises de décision critiques des réalisateurs ont été sélectionnées selon la méthode des incidents critiques (flanagan, 1954). nos critères pour sélectionner un incident étaient : (1) qu’il représente une opportunité de prise de décision cruciale pour le réalisateur, (2) que le réalisateur quitte son mode de fonctionnement « normal », par exemple en perdant son sang-froid, en faisant preuve d’une grande créativité, dans des situations de crise, stressantes ou très chargées affectivement, circonstances qui ont toutes été associées à la pdi (dane & pratt, 2007; khatri & ng, 2000; sayegh, et al., 2004; sinclair & ashkanasy, 2005). afin de repérer les situations cruciales de prise de décision pour un réalisateur de cinéma, le premier auteur s’est inséré dans le milieu du cinéma à los angeles pendant plus de trois ans, a suivi un cours de mise en scène de cinéma à ucla et a étudié la littérature américaine consacrée au cinéma. la sélection des épisodes s’apparente à l’échantillonnage théorique décrit par glaser & strauss (1967), qui consiste à choisir les situations 1. une liste de toutes les personnes présentes sur le plateau, leur fonction et leur contact. 2. annotée par le réalisateur, lorsque c’était possible. 3. cette liste donne notamment des informations sur les scènes à tourner, leur ordre, le temps de tournage qu’elles sont censées prendre, les membres de l’équipe et les acteurs concernés. m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 118-141 126 le rôle de l’émotion dans la prise de décision intuitive : zoom sur les réalisateursdécideurs en période de tournage qui sont le plus à même d’éclairer le phénomène étudié. ces séquences durent de 1 à 5 minutes et correspondent à 5 ou 6 séquences par réalisateur. nous avons réalisé un double codage des séquences vidéo aboutissant à l’exclusion de trois d’entre elles dont la criticité était discutable, ramenant ainsi l’échantillon à 38 incidents critiques utilisables. après la sélection des incidents critiques, les réalisateurs ont été à nouveau interviewés. il leur a été demandé de se remémorer le jour où ils avaient été filmés et de commenter les incidents significatifs qui leur étaient restés en mémoire. ils étaient aussi invités à fournir des informations sur des événements précédant ou suivant cette journée pouvant éclairer les incidents répertoriés. en général, les réalisateurs se sont souvenus d’un à trois incidents critiques ayant fait l’objet d’une prise de décision cruciale, qui étaient inclus dans l’échantillon. les réalisateurs interrogés ont par ailleurs confirmé que les autres incidents sélectionnés étaient également des cas de prises de décision importantes. puis ils ont visionné les séquences, les ont commentées et ont répondu aux questions du chercheur au sujet de leur ressenti, leurs sentiments, leurs intentions, ce qu’ils croyaient et ce qu’ils pensaient, ce qu’ils étaient en train d’accomplir à ce moment-là. l’enregistrement vidéo les a aidés à se souvenir de détails minimes concernant ce qu’ils avaient vécu émotionnellement et cognitivement, en particulier lorsque la vidéo montrait leur visage et que le moment était intense. analyse des données la triangulation des données des entretiens, des extraits vidéo et des documents a permis de mettre au jour six catégories pour classer et comparer les incidents critiques : les émotions ressenties par le réalisateur, la valence dominante de l’incident pour le réalisateur, le type de prise de décision utilisé, et le cas échéant, le type de régulation émotionnelle utilisée, le type d’expérience ou le type de compétence mobilisée. les émotions ressenties par le réalisateur ont été repérées sur les extraits vidéo à partir des expressions du visage, de la gestuelle, du ton de la voix et des signaux verbaux des réalisateurs, autant d’indicateurs de l’émotion (cf. partie : « définition de l’émotion »). les entretiens complémentaires ont permis de saisir plus précisément les émotions ressenties par les réalisateurs, leur succession ou leur superposition, et nous les avons alors classées à l’aide de la matrice de de rivera (1984) qui comporte 24 émotions telles que la colère, le dégoût ou encore la tristesse. chaque réalisateur pouvant ressentir successivement plusieurs émotions lors d’un même incident critique, nous avons choisi de déterminer une valence dominante – négative, neutre, positive – de l’incident. par exemple, un incident critique au cours duquel un réalisateur a ressenti du dégoût, de l’angoisse et de la colère sera codé avec une valence négative. la possibilité de réguler les émotions ressenties lors d’un incident n’avait pas été envisagée dans le canevas initial de la recherche, mais elle est apparue comme un aspect influent du phénomène de pdi lors de l’analyse des données. par régulation de l’émotion, nous 127 j-f. coget, c. haag, a-m. bonnefousm@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 118-141 entendons tous les efforts déployés pour augmenter, maintenir ou réduire un ou plusieurs composants d’une émotion (côté, 2005; gross, 1998, salovey & mayer, 1990). les rares recherches existantes sur ce thème4 permettent néanmoins de distinguer deux sortes de régulation de l’émotion : la régulation centrée sur l’extérieur et la régulation centrée sur l’intérieur. la première amène l’individu à changer sa relation avec l’environnement externe ou à tenter de la transformer. la seconde provoque une modification des processus psychologiques internes de la personne, comme celui de réprimer des perceptions, contenir des émotions ou d’en moduler l’expression. lorsque l’existence d’une régulation émotionnelle était confirmée par un réalisateur lors de l’entretien complémentaire, elle était alors codée en fonction de son orientation externe ou interne. enfin, si les réalisateurs avaient mobilisé une expérience émotionnelle passée ou une compétence professionnelle, celle-ci était déterminée en fonction des données recueillies lors des entretiens initiaux et complémentaires. chaque prise de décision critique a ensuite été déterminée comme étant de l’ordre de la pdr ou de la pdi. à partir de l’entretien complémentaire, nous avons jugé le processus comme étant une pdr lorsque le réalisateur se souvenait clairement d’avoir envisagé de multiples possibilités, de les avoir évaluées et d’en avoir choisi une sur la base d’un raisonnement logique. une décision fut classée pdi lorsque le répondant se souvenait clairement d’avoir pris une décision rapide, sans avoir analysé formellement la situation. ici encore, la validité du codage réalisé a été vérifiée par un double codage5. résultats notre étude des réalisateurs sur leurs plateaux de tournage a fait émerger plusieurs résultats qui viennent approfondir, interroger et parfois contredire les travaux de recherche antérieurs sur la prise de décision intuitive. elle montre tout d’abord que le premier facteur qui influence le déroulement de la prise de décision est le fait que le réalisateur présente une familiarité ou non avec la situation. cette familiarité peut venir de l’expertise du réalisateur dans la décision à prendre, ou du souvenir d’une expérience émotionnelle réactivée par la situation mais qui n’est pas nécessairement en lien avec la tâche elle-même. la plupart des chercheurs ont jusqu’à présent estimé que la pdi était fondée exclusivement sur l’expertise (ericsson & charness, 1994; simon, 1987), or notre étude montre que, sans expertise, des décideurs peuvent aussi procéder à une pdi qui sera alors fondée sur des expériences émotionnelles antérieures, ou sur des émotions immédiates provoquées par la situation lorsque celle-ci ne leur est pas familière. de plus, l’étude a révélé que la présence d’une expertise ne conduit pas nécessairement à une pdi ; ce sera la présence ou l’absence d’émotions qui orientera un expert vers une pdi ou une pdr. le rôle des émotions dans la pdi est aussi précisé ; elles vont tout d’abord agir comme un « agent de liaison » qui permet de mettre en 4. nous trouvons notamment des travaux en psycho-dynamique et en gestion du stress qui se rejoignent sur la distinction entre deux types de régulation (freud,1946; lazarus & folkman, 1984). 5. le taux d’accord intercodeur est de 89 %. les incidents ayant fait l’objet de désaccords ont été retravaillés jusqu’à aboutir à un accord entre les deux codeurs. m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 118-141 128 le rôle de l’émotion dans la prise de décision intuitive : zoom sur les réalisateursdécideurs en période de tournage relation l’expertise ou l’expérience émotionnelle antérieure de l’individu avec la situation présente. puis l’émotion va servir à fixer une ligne de conduite pour le décideur et à éviter qu’il en dévie. nous pouvons faire ici une analogie entre le rôle joué par l’émotion dans la pdi et le fonctionnement d’un gyroscope pour la navigation aérienne : l’émotion connecte l’expertise ou l’expérience antérieure avec la situation présente, fixe un cap pour la prise de décision et effectue des corrections lorsque des éléments extérieurs cherchent à faire dévier l’individu de son cap. pour cela, des émotions de mal-être vont être ressenties par l’individu à chaque fois qu’un signal externe tente de le faire changer d’avis. de même, il ressentira des émotions de bien-être à chaque fois qu’un signal externe confirmera sa décision ou se produira en sa faveur. le décideur régule ainsi les informations du présent pour conserver l’orientation de sa décision dont il a alors l’assurance qu’elle est la meilleure possible. enfin, un résultat surprenant est apparu au cours de la recherche ; lorsqu’un décideur n’a ni expertise ni expériences émotionnelles en lien avec la situation et qu’il ne ressent pas d’émotions immédiates, nous avons constaté que le réalisateur délègue sa prise de décision à des alliés de confiance, ce que nous appelons la délégation de la prise de décision (dpd). nous allons maintenant détailler et illustrer ces résultats en décrivant cinq processus de prise de décision que nous avons pu observer et qui soutiennent nos résultats : la pdi fondée sur l’expertise, la pdr fondée sur l’expertise, la pdi fondée sur l’expérience émotionnelle, la pdi fondée sur l’émotion non familière et la dpd fondée sur l’absence d’émotions. le schéma 1 résume ces cinq processus de prise de décision et la manière dont l’émotion – ou l’absence d’émotion – oriente le choix d’un individu vers une pdi, une pdr et une dpd. figure 1 : les cinq processus de prise de décision menant à la pdi, la pdr ou la dpd. 129 j-f. coget, c. haag, a-m. bonnefousm@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 118-141 la pdi fondée sur l’expertise nous avons tout d’abord observé que des émotions comme la sérénité, l’assurance, l’angoisse, l’agacement, la honte, la culpabilité, la fierté et le soulagement avaient un rôle d’« agent de liaison » entre les connaissances expertes du réalisateur et le type de décision qu’il allait prendre. un exemple extrait des vidéos de vicky permet d’illustrer ce résultat. vicky avait décidé de faire travailler kevin, un enfant acteur, au-delà de la limite de temps réglementaire, car elle avait besoin de faire encore quelques prises avec lui et qu’il s’agissait du dernier jour de tournage de kevin. pour cela, elle dut demander la permission à la mère de l’enfant ainsi qu’à son professeur, qui avait été engagé pour faire la classe à kevin lorsqu’il ne tournait pas. voici les commentaires de vicky sur cet épisode : je ne voulais pas avoir cette conversation [avec la mère], mais il le fallait. […] nous avions déjà le couteau sous la gorge au niveau du temps, et je savais que kevin était fatigué, mais j’avais besoin de quelques prises supplémentaires avec lui. […] quand [la mère] a dit « ça ne me dérange pas » […], j’ai regardé le professeur dans l’attente d’un signe d’approbation, mais elle levait les yeux au ciel. […] j’ai regardé ma montre pour gagner un peu de temps […] et je me disais : « oh, m…, m…. ! est-ce que j’abuse ? je garde ce gosse en heures sup! » […] j’ai regardé la prof et j’ai vu qu’elle n’allait rien faire, je lui ai tourné le dos et j’ai pensé : « voilà, connasse, j’ai gagné ! » […] je me sentais coupable, puis je me suis dit : « après tout, il s’amuse bien. ca craint un peu, mais ça ne lui prendra qu’une heure dans sa vie, […] ca arrive tout le temps de mordre sur les horaires » et puis j’ai commencé à rire, parce que j’ai pensé à la tête [de la prof], l’air dramatique qu’elle avait, c’était trop drôle. dans cet exemple, vicky a deux préoccupations opposées : l’une professionnelle, boucler toutes les scènes dont elle a besoin, et l’autre personnelle, à savoir le sentiment d’exploiter ses acteurs. dans l’entretien initial, elle a mentionné le fait que cette préoccupation personnelle la hantait souvent : elle avait l’impression de mettre ses acteurs en esclavage. malgré cela, elle savait par expertise quand il était nécessaire de pousser ses acteurs au-delà de leurs limites au nom de la qualité du film. lors de l’entretien initial, vicky avait donné l’exemple d’un tournage dans le désert de la vallée de la mort, en californie, où elle avait poussé ses acteurs à la limite du coup de chaleur, et d’un autre tournage où elle avait maintenu ses acteurs dans l’eau froide d’une piscine pendant très longtemps. en se référant à ces expériences professionnelles antérieures, vicky avait l’intuition qu’elle devait garder l’enfant acteur plus longtemps pour améliorer certaines prises. la désapprobation du professeur aurait pu infléchir sa position et la faire changer d’avis, au lieu de cela elle a ressenti une profonde colère. cette colère agissait comme un signal qui lui rappelait la justesse de son choix et évitait ainsi qu’elle ne dévie de son cap. cependant, elle a aussi ressenti de la culpabilité après coup et devait réguler ce sentiment pour rester dans un état de bien-être, ce qu’elle fit par la rationalisation et l’humour. la pdr fondée sur l’expertise les réalisateurs peuvent aussi prendre des décisions rationnelles en se servant de leur expertise et de leur familiarité avec la situation : ils s’appuient sur leur expertise pour se créer des choix multiples, qu’ils m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 118-141 130 le rôle de l’émotion dans la prise de décision intuitive : zoom sur les réalisateursdécideurs en période de tournage comparent ensuite consciemment avant de faire un choix. la préférence pour un choix n’est pas, alors, fondée sur une émotion mais sur un processus rationnel. nous illustrons ce résultat par un exemple dans lequel victor, le réalisateur, décide de simuler une explosion avec une lumière orange au lieu d’une barre de feu, pour des raisons de sécurité. les lumières orange créent des effets moins réalistes que les barres de feu qui provoquent de vraies flammes, mais le tournage avait lieu sur un champs de pétrole désaffecté où l’usage du feu était strictement réglementé. victor a commenté sa décision d’abandonner son projet initial de la manière suivante : ce qu’on vous a dit à la réunion de production […] s’envole en fumée quand vous êtes sur le plateau et qu’un gars [de la sécurité] s’amène et dit : « vous ne pouvez pas faire ça. » c’est juste une question d’adaptation, j’imagine. […] si vous ne tenez pas compte d’une considération de sécurité, en tant que réalisateur, vous êtes responsable. cela vous renvoie au désastre de la quatrième dimension , où l’acteur et deux enfants ont été tués. dans l’entretien initial, victor a mentionné qu’il avait travaillé de nombreuses années comme directeur des effets spéciaux, accumulant ainsi des connaissances dans ce domaine. son expertise lui a dicté l’importance du respect de la sécurité dans le choix à prendre. victor a ainsi examiné plusieurs options et a consulté son personnel de sécurité, ses directeurs des effets spéciaux, son directeur de production et son régisseur. il a envisagé de placer la barre de feu dans différentes positions de sécurité anti-feu, mais aucune d’entre elles ne lui permettait de tourner la scène qu’il voulait. il a ainsi décidé rationnellement de se rabattre sur les lumières orange après avoir vérifié que son directeur de la photographie validait cette solution. en se fondant sur son expertise, victor a pris une décision rationnelle dans laquelle il a opté pour la sécurité du tournage au détriment de la qualité artistique de la scène. dans l’entretien complémentaire, victor a indiqué qu’il n’avait ressenti aucune émotion au cours de cet épisode. notre analyse de la vidéo n’en a pas détecté non plus. néanmoins, il est toujours possible que des émotions aient été ressenties, mais avec une intensité si faible qu’elles ne pouvaient pas être détectées. la pdi fondée sur l’experience émotionnelle l’expertise est un ensemble de connaissances spécifiques à une tâche que les experts acquièrent par une pratique répétée et sans cesse étudiée et corrigée (ericsson & charness, 1994; nonaka, 1995). par contraste, l’expérience émotionnelle est acquise quand un individu est confronté à des événements majeurs dans sa vie qui provoquent chez lui des émotions vives (brown & kulik, 1977). un seul événement suffit à inscrire durablement l’expérience émotionnelle dans la mémoire (parrott & spackman, 2000). l’événement n’a pas besoin d’être en lien avec la tâche et n’est pas nécessairement analysé après coup. en somme, les expériences émotionnelles sont de forts sentiments issus du passé qui sont restés figés dans la mémoire et qui peuvent être facilement réactivés par une situation jugée similaire (scherer, 1984). les deux exemples suivants illustrent la façon dont les expériences émotionnelles sont mobilisées dans la pdi. 131 j-f. coget, c. haag, a-m. bonnefousm@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 118-141 dans le premier exemple, jeremy, le réalisateur, a eu une dispute avec une de ses actrices, laura, qui menaçait de démissionner parce qu’elle était en conflit personnel avec une autre actrice. cela se passa au milieu du tournage, alors que de nombreuses scènes avaient déjà été tournées avec elle. dans l’entretien complémentaire, jeremy a révélé que si laura avait mis sa menace à exécution, cela aurait porté un coup fatal à la production. sur le moment, jeremy a réagi de manière intuitive : il a pris laura à part et l’a intimidée pendant un quart d’heure en lui criant dessus, en l’insultant, en la menaçant comme si sa vie à lui était en jeu, jusqu’à ce qu’il soit sûr qu’elle reste sur le plateau. c’est ainsi qu’il a commenté cet épisode : « je voulais la voir seule pour que ce soit absolument clair […] que je n’avais absolument pas peur de ses menaces superflues, et pour qu’elle sache qu’elle pouvait bien faire sa mijaurée toute la nuit, que ça ne servirait à rien, ok ? » jeremy a choisi sa tactique de gros bras sans prendre en considération d’autres options, car la menace de laura avait réactivé une expérience émotionnelle antérieure. elle l’avait ramené à sa période d’adolescence, lorsqu’il était membre d’un gang à los angeles. jeremy avait mentionné cette adolescence particulière lors de l’entretien initial, et lors de l’entretien complémentaire il a explicité sa réaction en la liant à ce vécu : on apprend ça dans la rue : quand un type pointe une arme sur toi, neuf fois sur dix, il ne va pas appuyer sur la gâchette. il veut juste te faire peur. alors […] la première chose que tu lui dis c’est : « tu ferais mieux d’appuyer sur la gâchette parce que sinon je vais te tuer quand t’auras arrêté de me mettre en joue. maintenant que t’as dégainé, tu ferais mieux de me tuer parce que sinon t’es mort. t’as menacé ma vie. » c’est à ce moment que tu vas prendre la mesure de son engagement. parce que s’il veut vraiment te tuer, de toute manière t’es mort. dans un autre extrait vidéo, michelle, une jeune réalisatrice américaine d’origine chinoise, est en désaccord avec caroline, une actrice chinoise âgée jouant une grand-mère qui ne parle que le chinois tandis que sa petite-fille ne parle que l’anglais. l’idée de ce film est en fait née de la propre expérience de michelle avec ses grand-mères et de la difficulté qu’elle a eue à communiquer avec elles. caroline avait le sentiment qu’on rabaissait son personnage en le considérant comme inculte et stupide, ce qui, selon elle, allait renforcer les stéréotypes sur les femmes chinoises dans l’opinion publique américaine. pour michelle, le film ne traitait pas directement de la grand-mère, mais plutôt du conflit des cultures et des générations au travers de la relation entre la petite-fille et la grand-mère. une longue discussion s’ensuivit et il fallut attendre plus d’une heure avant de pouvoir recommencer le tournage. michelle prit intuitivement la décision d’accepter les exigences de caroline, et ce malgré sa frustration et son agacement : j’étais un peu étonnée […] je me souviens de m’être sentie vraiment frustrée […]. je me souviens distinctement de m’être dit à un moment donné que j’avais vraiment envie de lui donner une claque […] elle était beaucoup plus âgée que moi, alors seulement par respect pour la différence d’âge entre nous, j’ai accepté […] j’étais bloquée jusqu’à ce que j’arrive à trouver un compromis […] mais j’ai compris qu’on tournait en rond. la décision intuitive de michelle est en lien avec sa relation problémam@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 118-141 132 le rôle de l’émotion dans la prise de décision intuitive : zoom sur les réalisateursdécideurs en période de tournage tique passée avec sa propre grand-mère chinoise, à qui elle avait fait référence dans l’entretien initial. elle aurait pu utiliser son autorité de réalisatrice pour écourter la discussion et imposer son choix, mais elle a pourtant décidé de rester calme et respectueuse, comme elle l’avait fait par le passé avec sa grand-mère. elle a régulé sa colère et son agacement en les réprimant et en jouant les apparences (hochschild, 1983). la pdi fondée sur l’émotion sans familiarité notre étude montre que les décideurs peuvent procéder à une pdi même lorsqu’ils ne possèdent ni expertise ni expérience émotionnelle en lien avec la décision à prendre. ils s’appuient alors sur leurs émotions présentes et cherchent à maximiser leur bien-être dans la prise de décision (lazarus, 1999). il existe aujourd’hui deux explications sur la manière dont ces émotions se forment : celle de l’approche évolutionniste et celle de l’approche cognitive. l’approche évolutionniste des émotions affirme que les émotions ressenties dans l’instant viennent de tendances innées, comme celle de fuir les bêtes sauvages, communes à l’ensemble des membres d’une espèce et servant à gérer les problèmes essentiels de survie (darwin, 1894; ekman, 1994; izard, 1993; plutchik, 1980). l’approche cognitive des émotions soutient que les émotions ressenties dans des situations non familières viennent d’une évaluation cognitive automatique de la situation (frijda, 1986; lazarus, 1999). le processus de cette évaluation cognitive peut être décrit de la manière suivante : l’individu se retrouve confronté à de multiples stimuli externes, il procède alors à une évaluation dite « primaire » qui consiste à juger de la pertinence d’un stimulus au regard de sa préoccupation immédiate. la plupart des stimuli sont rejetés, considérés comme non pertinents. lorsqu’ils sont jugés pertinents, ils sont codés positivement ou négativement, selon qu’ils favorisent ou menacent le bien-être de l’individu. cette évaluation est automatique et inconsciente la plupart du temps, et elle se réalise très rapidement. puis l’individu procède à une évaluation dite « secondaire » au cours de laquelle il évalue l’importance et l’urgence de chaque stimulus conservé dans son cadre d’analyse et doté d’une valence positive ou négative. il se forme ainsi une « structure situationnelle de sens » à partir de laquelle la situation est appréhendée en termes d’actions possibles, qui se manifestent sous forme de tendances à agir, c’est-à-dire d’émotions (frijda, 1986). l’exemple suivant illustre la pdi fondée sur des émotions ressenties spontanément dans une situation non familière. il implique martin, le réalisateur, et barbara, une actrice. dans la scène qui était sur le point d’être tournée, barbara était censée montrer des émotions intenses car son mari, qu’elle croyait blessé dans un accident de voiture, allait rentrer à la maison sain et sauf. barbara avait un air très sérieux en se préparant pour la scène. martin interpréta cela comme de la tension et essaya de la détendre, mais elle rejeta ses indications et resta concentrée sur l’interprétation émotionnelle qu’elle s’apprêtait à donner. martin se sentit alors rejeté et eut peur de se confronter à son actrice. il décida intuitivement de laisser barbara interpréter la scène comme elle le désirait, bien que son interprétation ne lui semblât guère adaptée. voici ses commentaires sur cet épisode : 133 j-f. coget, c. haag, a-m. bonnefousm@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 118-141 c’est une scène émotionnelle. c’est un gros plan [sur barbara] et elle était très tendue. […] [ce qui n’est] pas une bonne chose […] car les acteurs ne peuvent pas jouer quand ils sont tendus. […] [j’avais l’impression] d’entendre siffler un serpent à sonnette. […] elle était fermée et déterminée : quoi qu’elle ait décidé de faire, elle allait le faire. […] [pendant le tournage de la scène] je regardais les prises pour voir lesquelles allaient me servir, je savais que j’étais en train de filmer des choses que je ne pourrais pas utiliser, parce qu’elle surjouait par rapport au thème de ma scène. […] je crois que si j’avais eu davantage d’expérience, j’aurais empêché ça. […] dans mon esprit, j’ai imaginé qu’au montage, je refocaliserais la scène sur la fille au lieu de la mère [interprétée par barbara]. […] j’aurais pu intervenir et arrêter ça […] et j’aurais dû, probablement. […] je réfléchissais à ma solution de rechange au lieu de me battre pour obtenir toutes les scènes comme je les avais envisagées. martin n’aimait pas l’interprétation de son actrice, mais il ne l’a pas redirigée parce qu’il avait peur d’elle, comme l’indique son impression d’entendre « siffler un serpent à sonnette » lorsqu’il essayait de s’adresser à elle. il était cependant anxieux de ne pas obtenir l’interprétation qu’il désirait. il a donc dû réguler son anxiété en repensant la scène, en la recentrant sur une autre actrice, la fille, ce qui perturbait son plan d’origine. a posteriori, martin reconnaît qu’il se mentait à lui-même. il réduisait son anxiété en pensant à une solution future qui pourrait contrebalancer le choix qu’il venait de faire en laissant l’actrice interpréter à sa manière la scène. ce choix fut pris sur l’instant, en fonction de l’émotion qu’il ressentait face à une situation qu’il rencontrait pour la première fois. la dpd dans des situations non familières dans les situations où les réalisateurs n’avaient ni expertise ni expérience émotionnelle, et au cours desquelles ils ne ressentaient aucune émotion, nous avons observé qu’ils déléguaient toujours leur prise de décision à des alliés de confiance. cela nous a particulièrement surpris, car nous nous attendions à voir les décideurs procéder à une pdr dans ce type de situation. on pourrait soutenir que la délégation est une décision rationnelle, mais il est apparu qu’il s’agissait davantage d’un acquiescement apathique à l’intervention des membres de l’équipe plus experts que d’une décision active. ce résultat est cependant moins définitif que les autres, puisqu’il a été observé seulement dans quatre cas sur les trente-huit incidents critiques analysés. l’exemple suivant illustre ce genre de situation. c’était la fin d’une nuit de tournage. le temps se gâta tout à coup, rendant les conditions de tournage très difficiles. à ce stade, l’équipe, et en particulier le régisseur et le directeur de la photographie, décida de tourner chaque scène restante en une prise, choisissant ainsi la rapidité au détriment de la qualité. victor, le réalisateur, d’ordinaire très scrupuleux sur la qualité, écouta son équipe et la laissa prendre les décisions à sa place : on était très proche de la fin, et il commençait à vraiment faire froid, avec beaucoup de vent. à un moment donné, le vent était si fort que […] l’éclairagiste a commencé à remballer sa lumière. […] donc j’ai dû commencer à aller de plus en plus vite. [...] c’était vraiment inattendu, imprévu. et en gros, pour le régisseur, le tout, c’était de mettre les plans les plus importants en boîte, et […] d’abandonner mon projet de plans variés […] et j’étais tout à fait pour. […] j’ai vraiment laissé mon équipe travailler comme elle l’entendait. m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 118-141 134 le rôle de l’émotion dans la prise de décision intuitive : zoom sur les réalisateursdécideurs en période de tournage victor ne savait pas comment se sortir de cette situation de crise. il ne ressentait aucune émotion concernant ce qui se passait. il n’avait plus d’énergie et était incapable de prendre une décision, hormis celle de faire confiance à son équipe. ce résultat est cohérent avec l’idée que les émotions sont nécessaires pour prendre des décisions (damasio, 1998 ; scherer, 1984), du moins dans les situations où il y a peu de temps pour s’arrêter et réfléchir à la situation. implications théoriques et managériales de l’étude l’objectif de cette étude était de mieux cerner le processus de prise de décision intuitive (pdi) et le rôle joué par les émotions dans ce processus. la mise en lumière de cinq processus de prise de décision dans lesquels l’émotion – ou l’absence d’émotion – joue un rôle fondamental dans l’orientation d’un individu vers un type de prise de décision nous permet à présent de mettre en perspective les travaux de recherche antérieurs sur le processus de décision ainsi que les pratiques en matière de formation des décideurs. premièrement, l’étude montre que lorsqu’un décideur présente une expertise par rapport à une situation professionnelle familière et qu’il ressent des émotions, il procède à une pdi en se concentrant seulement sur un choix guidé par ses émotions, sans prendre le temps de considérer d’autres options. ce résultat contredit l’hypothèse selon laquelle la pdi réalisée par les experts serait une automatisation de la pdr sans implication d’émotions (simon, 1987). notre étude révèle que les émotions jouent tout d’abord un rôle d’ « agent de liaison » entre les connaissances de l’expert et la situation présente. puis elles signalent à l’individu les stimuli externes qui peuvent le faire dévier de son choix initial et l’aident à les réguler efficacement. les émotions engendrées par l’expertise mènent en général à de meilleurs résultats que les autres car elles sont associées à des actions répétées, d’après les réalisateurs qui se sont exprimés spontanément sur l’efficacité de leurs décisions. cette observation peut avoir des implications pratiques pour la formation des spécialistes qui doivent avoir fréquemment recours à la pdi, comme les pilotes de chasse mais aussi les dirigeants d’entreprise et les employés qui travaillent dans des environnements complexes et turbulents (eisenhardt, 2000), dans des organisations à haute fiabilité (bigley & roberts, 2001), ou qui sont amenés à faire face à des situations de crise (mitroff, 2004). les commentaires extensifs que les formateurs leur fournissent lors des séances de débriefing (ericsson & charness, 1994) ne devraient pas seulement concerner les connaissances et les actions de l’élève en formation, mais aussi les émotions que celui-ci a ressenties en situation et la manière dont elles se sont immiscées dans ses actions. les émotions qui ont mené à des actions couronnées de succès devraient être écoutées et renforcées, tandis que celles qui ont conduit à des actions inefficaces devraient être gardées sous contrôle. de nombreux essais 135 j-f. coget, c. haag, a-m. bonnefousm@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 118-141 sont probablement nécessaires pour que les apprentis apprennent à faire la distinction entre les émotions qui facilitent leur prise de décision et leurs actions, et celles qui les freinent. deuxièmement, toujours en contradiction avec simon (1987), nos résultats montrent que lorsque les décideurs ont une expertise sur une situation professionnelle familière mais ne ressentent aucune émotion, ils procèdent à une pdr plutôt qu’à une pdi. en fait, il est apparu que la pdr ne se produit que lorsqu’il y a expertise, ce qui permet aux décideurs de comparer différentes options possibles en fonction de leurs connaissances dans le domaine concerné. lorsque les décideurs n’ont pas d’expertise et ne ressentent aucune émotion, ils ne peuvent pas prendre une décision seuls et doivent déléguer leur décision à des collaborateurs qu’ils estiment compétents (dpd). ce résultat contredit donc l’idée selon laquelle des débutants peuvent procéder de façon efficace à une pdr en analysant logiquement une nouvelle situation en partant de zéro, du moins dans des situations critiques sous contrainte de temps. par ailleurs, ce résultat valide l’idée selon laquelle une décision ne peut être prise en l’absence d’émotions (damasio, 1998; scherer, 1984). en effet, même lorsque les réalisateurs procédaient à des pdr fondées sur leur expertise, nous ne pouvions pas éliminer la possibilité qu’ils aient ressenti des émotions sans en avoir conscience. si nous avions eu recours à des moyens de mesure biologiques des émotions, tels que le scanner ou la conductance dermo-électrique – qui sont utilisés dans des expériences de laboratoire –, nous aurions peut-être pu détecter des émotions (damasio, 1998; ledoux, 1996). il est donc nécessaire de réaliser des études plus approfondies sur ce thème. troisièmement, l’un de nos résultats clés est que la pdi peut se produire en l’absence d’expertise. dans ces cas-là, l’intuition se manifeste sous la forme d’une émotion qui dicte le cours des décisions prises. cette émotion peut provenir soit d’une expérience émotionnelle passée, soit de l’instinct, soit de l’évaluation cognitive instantanée de la situation. d’après les réalisateurs interviewés, cette manière de prendre une décision intuitive est généralement moins efficace que lorsque la personne dispose d’une expertise sur la situation. mais on peut supposer que cette efficacité augmente lorsque les décideurs favorisent les émotions qui les poussent à accomplir des actions courageuses et à tenter de dépasser leurs limites par la régulation des émotions telles que la peur, l’anxiété ou la culpabilité. ce résultat est cohérent avec les recherches sur l’intelligence émotionnelle (ie), qui montrent que les individus dotés d’une meilleure capacité à réguler leurs émotions prennent de meilleures décisions (goleman, 1995; goleman, boyatzis, & mckee, 2002; salovey & mayer, 1990). ce résultat est également consistant avec les recherches sur les mécanismes de défense, qui classifient différents types de mécanismes de régulation d’émotions selon leur degré d’adaptabilité (freud, 1920 ; kets de vries, 1989). il serait intéressant de poursuivre les recherches en cherchant à savoir si les gens dotés d’une forte ie ou ceux qui utilisent des mécanismes de défense plus adaptatifs prennent de meilleures décisions intuitives, en particulier dans les situations où ils n’ont pas m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 118-141 136 le rôle de l’émotion dans la prise de décision intuitive : zoom sur les réalisateursdécideurs en période de tournage d’expertise. de telles recherches fourniraient une perspective nouvelle pour la recherche sur la façon d’améliorer la pdi. dane & pratt (2007) suggèrent actuellement que la principale manière d’améliorer l’efficacité de la pdi est de l’utiliser uniquement lorsque l’on dispose d’une expertise dans le domaine à traiter. il s’agit certes d’un conseil avisé, mais qui n’est d’aucun secours pour des décideurs qui doivent prendre des décisions rapides et efficaces dans un laps de temps réduit, sans avoir d’expertise particulière dans le domaine, et qui prendront de toute façon une décision intuitive. on trouve du côté de la psychanalyse des premiers éléments de réponse pour améliorer cette pdi sans expertise, notamment quand elle repose sur une expérience émotionnelle antérieure. en effet, la psychanalyse s’efforce de réinterpréter des expériences clés du passé (freud, 1920), elle peut donc permettre à l’individu d’analyser les épisodes émotionnels intenses de sa vie pour tirer des enseignements conscients de ces événements. il pourra ainsi les voir sous un jour différent, envisager d’autres actions pour ne pas répéter les erreurs du passé ou valider l’efficacité d’une réaction en face d’une situation particulière. la pratique du « feed-back » (schön, 1983), qui fournit aux praticiens un cadre d’analyse et d’amélioration de leurs pratiques, bien qu’elle n’ait pas été conçue directement dans le but d’améliorer la pdi, pourrait fournir une méthode plus adaptée au monde du travail que la psychanalyse pour examiner la façon dont le passé d’une personne peut influer sur ses pdi. cette étude admet bien sûr quelques limites dont la mise en lumière permet d’envisager de nouvelles perspectives de recherche. la première est liée à la stratégie de recherche utilisée – l’étude de cas – et au caractère exploratoire de la recherche ; il s’agit de la difficulté de généralisation des résultats (yin, 2008). de nouvelles recherches peuvent venir renforcer et approfondir nos résultats en dupliquant l’étude sur d’autres populations travaillant dans d’autres secteurs d’activité et présentant un contexte de prise de décision similaire à celle que nous avons étudiée (cf. « méthode »). il faut également noter que la population que nous avons choisie est très spécifique. néanmoins, rarement étudiée en sciences de gestion, elle peut devenir un objet d’étude particulièrement pertinent au regard des travaux de mintzberg sur le travail des managers (mintzberg, 1975). en effet, mintzberg montre que le travail des cadres est de plus en plus segmenté et nécessite de leur part une plus grande réactivité et des prises de décision extrêmement rapides. leur travail devient ainsi plus dynamique, moins prévisible, et son rythme ne cesse de s’accélérer (cascio, 2003; eisenhardt, 2000) ; les conditions d’un plateau de tournage pourraient alors constituer un laboratoire des conditions de travail de demain et permettre des travaux de recherche prospectifs. enfin, nous remarquons que la plupart des épisodes de prise de décision que nous avons pu observer impliquent des émotions plus négatives que positives. il se peut qu’il y ait une différence essentielle entre l’impact des émotions positives et celui des émotions négatives sur la pdi, et ce point mérite de faire l’objet d’autres recherches. par exemple, bourgeois & eisenhardt (1988) ont suggéré un lien possible entre 137 j-f. coget, c. haag, a-m. bonnefousm@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 118-141 la présence d’émotions négatives et la prise de décision politique dans les environnements à haute vélocité, ce qui se traduirait par une prise de décision stratégique plutôt inefficace. il serait intéressant de confirmer et d’approfondir cette hypothèse dans des recherches futures. conclusion beaucoup d’avancées ont été faites dans le sens de la démystification de la rationalité et dans le domaine de la prise de décision depuis simon (1968) (pour une revue, voir laroche, 1995). la recherche sur la pdi rejoint désormais ce qu’un grand nombre de praticiens savaient déjà : à savoir qu’il est important de suivre son instinct et d’écouter ses émotions (culbert & ullmen, 2001; kisfalvi & pitcher, 2003). notre étude permet d’approfondir le mécanisme de la prise de décision en mettant en exergue le rôle que l’émotion – ou l’absence d’émotion – joue dans l’orientation d’un individu vers un type de décision. nous espérons avoir apporté par ce biais une contribution intéressante au champ de la recherche sur la prise de décision tant sur le plan théorique que méthodologique. nos résultats, parce qu’ils viennent confirmer certaines connaissances du domaine et en interroger d’autres, ouvrent de nouvelles perspectives de recherche et nous invitons à présent les chercheurs à étendre et affiner nos résultats dans des recherches ultérieures. remerciements : nous tenons à remercier louis hébert et les deux évaluateurs anonymes pour leurs commentaires avisés ayant permis d’améliorer notre article. merci également à samuel culbert pour son aide. jean-françois coget est professeur de management à orfalea college of business à calpoly, san luis obispo. il était auparavant professeur à hec paris, et détient un ph. d. en management de la anderson school à ucla. ses travaux de recherche portent sur le rôle des émotions et de l’intuition dans les pratiques du management. christophe haag est professeur de management et comportement organisationnel à emlyon business school. il détient un doctorat en sciences de gestion de l’escp-eap et de l’université de paris x, et a complété un programme de recherche postdoctoral à l’insead. ses travaux de recherche portent notamment sur l’utilisation intelligente des émotions dans le top management, dans la communication corporate et politique et dans la prise de décision stratégique. annabel-mauve bonnefous est professeur de management à reims management school. ses travaux de recherche portent sur le développement durable, la responsabilité sociale de l’entreprise et l’éthique du dirigeant. elle s’intéresse plus particulièrement à l’opérationnalisation de ces concepts dans le secteur de l’eau et de l’énergie nucléaire. m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 118-141 138 le rôle de l’émotion dans la prise de décision intuitive : zoom sur les réalisateursdécideurs en période de tournage références . bart, p., & guber, p. (2002). shoot out: surviving fame and (mis) fortune in hollywood. new york: g.p. putnam’s sons. . bigley, g. a., & roberts, k. h. (2001). the incident command system: highreliability organizing for complex and volatile task environments. academy of management journal, 44(6), 12811300. . bourgeois, l. j., & eisenhardt, k. m. (1988). strategic decision processes in high velocity environments: four cases in the microcomputer industry. management science, 34(7), 816-835. . brown, r., & kulik, j. (1977). flashbulb memories. cognition, 5(1), 73-99. . burke, l.a., & miller, m.k. (1999). taking the mystery out of intuitive decision-making. academy of management executive, 13(4), 91-99. . cascio, w. f. (2003). changes in workers, work, and organizations. in w. c. borman, d. r. ilgen, & r. j. klimoski (eds.), handbook of psychology (pp. 401–422). hoboken, nj: john wiley and sons. . coget, j. f. (2009). dialogical inquiry: an extension of schein’s clinical inquiry. the journal of applied behavioral science, 45(1), 90-105. . cornelius, r. r. (1996). the science of emotion: research and tradition in the psychology of emotions. upper saddle river, nj: prentice hall. . côté, s. (2005). a social interaction model of the effects of emotion regulation on work strain. academy of management review, 30(3), 509-530. . culbert, s. a., & ullmen, j. b. (2001). don’t kill the bosses: escaping the hierarchy trap. san francisco: berrettkoehler. . damasio, a. (1998). descartes’ error: emotion, reason, and the human brain. new york: bard/avon books. . dane, e., & pratt, m. (2007). exploring intuition and its role in managerial decision-making. academy of management review, 32(1), 33-54. . darwin, c. (1894). the expression of the emotions in man and animals. new york: d. appleton. . de rivera, j. h. (1984). the structure of emotional relationships. in p. shaver (ed.), review of personality and social psychology, (vol. 5, pp. 116-145). beverly hills, ca: sage. . eisenhardt, k. (2000). paradox, spirals, ambivalence: the new language of change and pluralism. academy of management review, 25(4), 703-705. . ekman, p. (1994). strong evidence for universal in facial expressions: a reply to russell’s mistaken critique. psychological bulletin, 115(2), 268-287. . epstein, s. (1994). integration of the cognitive and the psychodynamic unconscious. american psychologist, 49(8), 709-724. . ericsson, k. a., & simon, h. a. (1980). verbal reports as data. psychological review, 87(3), 215-251. . ericsson, k. a., & simon, h. a. (1984). protocol analysis: verbal reports as data. cambridge, ma: mit press. . ericsson, k. a., & charness, n. (1994). expert performance. american psychologist, 49(8), 725-747. . estrada, c. a., isen, a. m., & young, m. j. (1997). positive affect facilitates integration of information and decreases anchoring in reasoning among physicians. organizational behavior and human decision processes, 72(1), 117-135. . feldman, l. a. (1995). variations in the circumplex structure of emotion. personality and social psychology bulletin, 21(8), 806-817. . flanagan, j. (1954). the critical incident technique. psychological bulletin, 51(4), 327-358. . forgas, j. p., & george, j. m. (2001). affective influences on judgments and behavior in organizations: an information processing perspective. organizational behavior and human decision processes, 86(1), 3-34. . frantz, r. (2003). herbert simon. artificial intelligence as a framework for understanding intuition. journal of economic psychology, 24(2), 265-277. 139 j-f. coget, c. haag, a-m. bonnefousm@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 118-141 . hogarth, r. m. (2001). educating intuition. chicago: the university of chicago press. . isen, a. m., & means, b. (1983). the influence of positive affect on decision-making strategy. social cognition, 2(1), 18-31. . isen, a. m., & patrick, r. (1983). the effect of positive feelings on risktaking: when the chips are down. organizational behavior and human performance, 31(2), 194-202. . isen, a. m. (2000). positive affect and decision making. in m. lewis & j. haviland-jones (eds.), handbook of emotions (vol. 2, pp. 417435). new york: the guilford press. . izard, c. e. (1992). basic emotions, relations among emotions, and emotion-cognition relations. psychological review, 99(3), 561-565. . james, w. (1884). what is an emotion? mind, 9(34), 188205. . janet, p. (1926). de l’angoisse à l’extase : etude sur les croyances et les sentiments. paris: librairie félix alcan. . janis, i. (1977). decision making: a psychological analysis of conflict, choice, and commitment. new york: free press. . jordan, b., & henderson, a. (1995). interaction analysis: foundations and practice. the journal of the learning sciences, 4(1), 39-103. . freud, s. (1920). a general introduction to psychoanalysis. new york: boni and liveright. . frijda, n. h. (1986). the emotions. cambridge: cambridge university press. . glaser, b. g., & strauss, a. l. (1967). the discovery of grounded theory. chicago: aldine. . goleman, d. (1995). emotional intelligence. new york: bantam books. . goleman, d., boyatzis, r. e., & mckee, a. (2002). primal leadership: realizing the power of emotional intelligence. boston, mass.: harvard business school press. . de groot, a. d. (1946). thought and choice in chess. the hague, netherlands: mouton. . gross, j. (1998). the emerging field of emotion regulation: an integrative review. review of general psychology, 2(3), 271-299. . hayashi, a. (2001). when to trust your gut. harvard business review, 78(2), 59-65. . hochschild, a. (1983). the managed heart: commercialization of human feelings. berkeley: university of california press. . hoffman, r. r., shadbolt, n. r., burton, a. m., & klein, g. (1995). eliciting knowledge from experts: a methodological analysis. organizational behavior and human decision processes, 62(2), 129-158. . kaempf, g., klein, g., thordsen, m., & wolf, s. (1996). decision making in complex commandand-control environments. human factors, 38(2), 206-219. . kahneman, d. (2003). a perspective on judgment and choice: mapping bounded rationality. american psychologist, 58(9), 697-720. . kahneman, d., slovic, p., & tversky, a. (1987). judgment under uncertainty: heuristics and biases. cambridge; ny: cambridge university press. . kahneman, d., & tversky, a. (1979). prospect theory: an analysis of decision under risk. econometrica, 2(march), 263-292. . kets de vries, m. f. (1989). leaders who self-destruct: the causes and cures. organizational dynamics, 17(4), 5-17. . khatri, n., & ng, h. a. (2000). the role of intuition in strategic decision making. human relations, 53(1), 57-86. . kisfalvi, v., & pitcher, p. (2003). doing what feels right: the influence of ceo character and emotions on top management team dynamics. journal of management inquiry, 12(1), 42-66. . klein, g. (1993). a recognition-primed decisions (rpd) model of rapid decision making. in g. klein, j. orasanu, r. calderwood, & c. zsambok (eds.), decision making in action: models and methods (pp. 138-147). norwood, ct: ablex. m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 118-141 140 le rôle de l’émotion dans la prise de décision intuitive : zoom sur les réalisateursdécideurs en période de tournage . klein, g. (1998). sources of power: how people make decisions. cambridge, ma: mit press. . klein, g., wolf, s., militello, l., & zsambok, c. (1995). characteristics of skilled option generation in chess. organization behavior and human decision processes, 62(1), 63-69. . laroche, h. (1995). from decision to action in organizations: decision-making as a social representation. organization science, 6(1), 62-75. . lazarus, r. (1999). stress and emotion: a new synthesis. new york: springer publishing company. . lazarus, r., & folkman, s. (1984). stress, appraisal, and coping. new york: springer. . ledoux, j. e. (1996). the emotional brain: the mysterious underpinnings of emotional life. malden, ma: blackwell. . lerner, j. s., & keltner, d. (2000). beyond valence: toward a model of emotion-specific influences on judgment and choice. cognition & emotion, 14(4), 473-493. . lieberman, m. d. (2000). intuition: a social cognitive neuroscience approach. psychological bulletin, 126(1), 109-37. . lipshitz, r., klein, g., orasanu, j., & salas, e. (2001). focus article: taking stock of naturalistic decision making. journal of behavioral decision making, 14(5), 331-352. . mintzberg, h. (1975). the manager’s job: folklore and fact. harvard business review, 53(4), 49-61. . mitroff, i. (2004). crisis leadership: planning for the unthinkable. new york: john wiley & sons. . murphy, s. e., & ensher, e. a. (2008). a qualitative analysis of charismatic leadership in creative teams: the case of television directors. the leadership quarterly, 19(3), 335-352. . nonaka, i. t. (1995). the knowledge creating company. new york: oxford university press. . noordink, p. j., & ashkanasy, n. m. (2004). intuition, emotion, and expertise in financial trading: a study of the subjective experience of decision-making. conference proceeding: the 64th annual meetings of the academy of management. new orleans, louisiana, usa. . parrott, g. w., & spackman, m. p. (2000). emotion and memory. in m. lewis & j. haviland-jones (eds.), handbook of emotions (vol. 2, pp. 476-490). new york: the guilford press. . plutchik, r. (1980). emotion: a psychoevolutionary synthesis. new york: harper & row. . rimé, b., corsini, s., & herbette, g. (2002). emotion, verbal expression, and the social sharing of emotion. in s. r. fussell (ed.), the verbal communication of emotions: interdisciplinary perspectives (pp. 185-208). mawhaw, nj: erlbaum. . russell, j. a. (1999). core affect, prototypical emotional episodes, and other things called emotion: dissecting the elephant. journal of personality and social psychology, 76(5), 805-819. . sadler-smith, e., & shefy, e. (2004). the intuitive executive: understanding and applying ‘gut feel’ in decision-making. academy of management executive, 18(4), 76-91. . salovey, p. , & mayer, j. d. (1990). emotional intelligence. imagination, cognition and personality, 9(3), 185-211. . sayegh, l., anthony, w. p., & perrewé, p. (2004). managerial decision-making under crisis: the role of emotion in an intuitive decision process. human resource management review, 14(2), 179-199. . schein, e. h. (1987). the clinical perspective in fieldwork. london: sage. . schein, e. h. (1990). a general philosophy of helping: process consultation. sloan management review, 31(3), 57-64. . schein, e. h. (2001). clinical inquiry/research. in p. reason & h. bradbury (eds.), handbook of action research: participative inquiry and practice (pp. 228-237). london: sage. . scherer, k. r. (1984). on the nature and function of emotion: a component process approach. in k. r. scherer & p. ekman (eds.), approaches to emotion (pp. 293-317). hillsdale, nj: erlbaum. 141 j-f. coget, c. haag, a-m. bonnefousm@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 118-141 . scherer, k. r., schorr, a., & johnstone, t. (2001). appraisal processes in emotion: theory, methods, research. oxford, new york: oxford university press. . schön, d. a. (1983). the reflective practitioner: how professionals think in action. london: temple smith. . schwarz, n. (2000). emotion, cognition, and decision making. cognition & emotion, 14(4), 433440. . schwarz, n., & clore, g. l. (1983). mood, misattribution, and judgments of well-being: informative and directive functions of affective states. journal of personality and social psychology, 45(3), 513-523. . shapiro, s., & spence, m.t. (1997). managerial intuition: a conceptual and operational framework. business horizons, 40(1), 63-68. . shirley, d., & langan-fox, j. (1996). intuition: a review of the literature. psychological reports, 79(2), 563-584. . simon, h. a. (1968). administrative behavior: a study of decision-making processes in administrative organization. new york: macmillan. . simon, h. a. (1987). making management decisions: the role of intuition and emotion. academy of management executive, 1(1), 57-64. . sinclair, m., & ashkanasy, n. m. (2005). intuition: myth or a decision-making tool. management learning, 36(3), 353-370. . sinclair, m., ashkanasy, n. m., chattopadhyay, p., & boyle, m. v. (2002). determinants of intuitive decision making in management: the moderating role of affect. in n. m. ashkanasy, w. j. zerbe, & c. e. j. härtel (eds.), managing emotions in the workplace (pp. 143-163). armonk, ny: m.e. sharpe. . smith, c. a., & ellsworth, p. c. (1985). patterns of cognitive appraisal in emotion. journal of personality and social psychology, 48(4), 813-838. . staw, b. m., & barsade, s. g. (1993). affect and managerial performance: a test of the sadder-but-wiser vs. happier-and-smarter hypotheses. administrative science quarterly, 38(2), 304-331. . von neuman, j., & morgenstern, o. (1944). theory of games and economic behavior. new york: wiley. . weick, k. e. (1979). the social psychology of organizing. new york: random house. . yin, r. k. (2008). case study research: design and methods (4th ed.). thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. 81 c. roquillym@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 142-175 m@n@gement copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). m@n@gement is a double-blind refereed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.management-aims.com © 2009 m@n@gement and the author(s). christophe roquilly 2009 le cas de l’iphone en tant qu’illustration du rôle des ressources juridiques et de la capacité juridique dans le management de l’innovation m@n@gement, 12 (2), 142-175. accepté par louis hébert m@n@gement est la revue officielle de l’aims m@n@gement is the journal official of aims issn: 1286-4892 editors: emmanuel josserand, hec, université de genève (editor in chief) jean-luc arrègle, edhec (editor) stewart clegg, university of technology, sydney (editor) esteban garcia canal, universidad de oviedo (editor) louis hébert, hec montréal (editor) martin kornberger, university of technology, sydney (editor) josé pla-barber, universitat de valència (editor) michael tushman, harvard business school (editor) martin g. evans, university of toronto (editor emeritus) bernard forgues, emlyon business school (editor emeritus) m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 142-175 142 le cas de l’iphone en tant qu’illustration du rôle des ressources juridiques et de la capacité juridique dans le management de l’innovation le cas de l’iphone en tant qu’illustration du rôle des ressources juridiques et de la capacité juridique dans le management de l’innovation christophe roquilly professeur directeur du centre de recherche legaledhec edhec business school christophe.roquilly@edhec.edu l’introduction de l’iphone sur le marché constitue une illustration intéressante de la manière dont une entreprise peut créer, coordonner et exploiter des ressources juridiques afin de soutenir une stratégie d’innovation. ces ressources, développées à partir des données offertes par l’environnement juridique externe, ont pour objectif de protéger et de soutenir la valeur des autres ressources de l’entreprise. l’aptitude de celle-ci – et plus particulièrement de apple dans le cas qui nous intéresse – à déterminer quelles ressources juridiques sont le plus à même de contribuer à la préservation et à la valorisation des autres ressources peut être qualifiée de capacité juridique de l’entreprise. la mobilisation des ressources juridiques est elle-même susceptible d’être porteuse de risques au regard de l’environnement juridique externe, que ce soit en termes de conformité réglementaire ou au regard des ressources juridiques détenues par les autres entreprises. dans cet article, nous nous attachons à mettre en évidence comment apple a exprimé sa capacité juridique en mettant en place et en coordonnant diverses ressources juridiques, afin de soutenir l’introduction de l’iphone sur le marché. nous montrons également pour quelles raisons les ressources juridiques déployées par apple peuvent tout autant constituer un risque juridique dont l’appréciation renvoie également à la capacité juridique de l’entreprise. nous concluons en proposant de possibles pistes pour de futurs travaux. mots-clés : droit et stratégie, innovation, management de l’innovation, risques juridiques, ressources juridiques, capacité juridique, apple, iphone, étude de cas the introduction of the iphone onto the market is a perfect illustration of the way in which companies can generate legal resources in order to support their innovation strategies. such resources, which are developed using elements from the external legal sphere, are designed to protect and increase the value of a firm’s other resources. a firm’s legal capability – in this case that of apple – is expressed by its ability to determine which legal resources are best adapted to create this value (taking into account the fact that they may present a risk in relation to the legal sphere), whether in respect of regulatory compliance or the legal resources held by other firms. key words: law and strategy, innovation, innovation management, legal risks, legal resources, legal capability, apple, iphone, case study 143 c. roquillym@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 142-175 introduction en janvier 2007, steve jobs, le directeur général d’apple, annonçait lors de la macworld convention la sortie imminente d’un nouveau produit : l’iphone. sans présumer du succès de celui-ci, ni de la stratégie dans laquelle il s’inscrit, apple semble confirmer ici ce que ketchen jr. et al. (2007) qualifient de « disruptive orientation », c’est-à-dire une réelle aptitude à satisfaire les besoins futurs des consommateurs. l’innovation a toujours été au cœur de la stratégie d’apple, si l’on se réfère à la distinction entre innovation et invention opérée par schumpeter (1934). apple répond à un certain nombre de critères de la firme innovante tels qu’énoncés par lepak et al. (2007) : l’évolution dans un environnement technologique incertain, la gestion par des managers entrepreunariaux, le bénéfice de larges réseaux sociaux, et une capacité organisationnelle à transformer de la connaissance en nouvelle connaissance. l’iphone se caractérise par l’agrégation de diverses fonctionnalités (téléphonie, internet, lecture de fichiers musicaux et vidéo, etc.). cette agrégation est soutenue par un design et un marketing forts, comme apple l’avait déjà éprouvé avec l’ipod1 ou la sortie de l’imac en 1998. ce dernier produit contenait assez peu de modifications technologiques substantielles, mais se différenciait des ordinateurs personnels existants par un design radical (petkova & rindova, 2006). l’innovation peut évidemment résider dans l’aspect esthétique du produit, qui capte le consommateur en jouant sur ses réactions sensorielles, cognitives et émotionnelles, et cet esthétisme est susceptible de créer de la valeur pour le consommateur, voire de la capturer (bowman & ambrosini, 2000). steve jobs insiste d’ailleurs lui-même plus sur l’importance du marketing que sur la dimension inventive2. au-delà de ses caractéristiques propres, l’iphone s’inscrit dans une sorte d’écosystème, en vue de construire une véritable convergence numérique. l’une des meilleures illustrations de cette convergence est la procédure d’activation de l’iphone telle que les consommateurs l’ont découverte. elle passe en effet par la plate-forme itunes (et même en principe par la création d’un compte sur itunes), que l’on peut considérer comme étant au cœur de cette convergence. le caractère d’actif stratégique de la plate-forme itunes est difficilement contestable. selon l’étude menée par le ndp group, itunes est avec wall mart le distributeur de musique le plus populaire aux états-unis. itunes store comptait en 2008 plus de 50 millions de clients, 6 millions de chansons en catalogue, et a vendu plus de 4 milliards de chansons. tout possesseur d’un iphone est par conséquent un utilisateur d’itunes et même un client (ne serait-ce que potentiel) de cette plate-forme. la stratégie d’apple est fondée sur cette interconnexion des produits et des services, la valeur du réseau augmentant grâce aux demandes des consommateurs pour les produits ou services complémentaires (par exemple itunes pour un utilisateur de l’iphone), et inversement (sharpe & olufunmilayo, 2007). l’animation de la communauté des utilisateurs est dans ce contexte déterminante, en particulier pour recueillir leurs avis sur les produits, les possibles améliorations, voire même pour susciter le développement de 1. voir j. scanlon, business week online, january 7, 2007, wlnr 341835. 2. voir interview in “the seeds of apple’s innovation”, business week, 12 october 2004. m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 142-175 144 le cas de l’iphone en tant qu’illustration du rôle des ressources juridiques et de la capacité juridique dans le management de l’innovation nouvelles applications (mcalexander, et al., 2002), comme c’est le cas pour l’iphone avec le sdk (cf. infra). quels que soient les objectifs de vente atteints avec l’iphone (apple s’est fixé pour objectif 10 millions d’exemplaires d’ici la fin 2008, mais le nombre exact de produits vendus à ce jour reste un vaste sujet de controverse3), l’innovation est au cœur de la stratégie d’apple, comme le montre encore l’annonce par l’entreprise de sa volonté de se développer sur le marché de la vidéo numérique par le biais de itunes movie rentals, en coopération avec des sociétés telles que mgm, warner bros, walt disney studios, 20th century fox. pour mener à bien l’introduction et le développement de l’iphone sur le marché, conformément à un modèle économique sur lequel nous reviendrons plus amplement, apple doit mobiliser un certain nombre de ressources et de capacités, pour reprendre la terminologie propre à l’approche par les ressources. celles qui se forment à partir des données juridiques de l’environnement externe présentent en l’espèce une importance toute particulière dans la mesure où elles permettent à apple de protéger et de développer la valeur de son innovation. après avoir explicité le cadre conceptuel dans lequel s’inscrit notre étude du cas iphone, ainsi que la méthodologie utilisée, nous montrons comment apple a construit un portefeuille de ressources juridiques destiné à soutenir sa stratégie, et comment sa capacité juridique s’exprime dans l’adaptation de ses ressources juridiques aux contraintes de l’environnement réglementaire. nous mettons ensuite en évidence le paradoxe des ressources juridiques et de leur déploiement. en effet, les droits de propriété qui en découlent peuvent entrer en conflit avec les droits détenus par d’autres entreprises ou avec les règles de fonctionnement du marché. apple doit par conséquent gérer ces risques juridiques en tenant compte de ses propres ressources, de sa stratégie, et des données clés stratégiques de l’environnement extérieur. nous concluons en proposant quelques pistes pour de futurs travaux. cadre conceptuel un cadre de référence : l’approche par les ressources l’importance de la détention d’un portefeuille de ressources pour le développement de la firme a été mise en exergue par penrose (1959), puis rubin (1973). il peut servir de point de départ à la diversification (wernerfelt, 1984). hansen et wernerfelt (1989) montrent que la combinaison de facteurs internes et externes peut expliquer la performance de la firme. parmi les facteurs externes, le paramètre juridique est identifié à part entière, et sa contribution aux facteurs stratégiques de l’industrie est reconnue (voir notamment amit & schoemaker, 1993). les pressions réglementaires constituent un déterminant habituel de la conduite des entreprises (christmann, 2004) et restreignent le nombre d’options possibles en termes de ressources (oliver, 1997). dès lors que la loi s’affirme comme un système de récompenses et de sanctions substantives par rapport à des organisations ayant leurs propres 3. voir http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/ post/20080123-the-truth-about-the-iphonessales-numbers.html 145 c. roquillym@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 142-175 objectifs, le risque est présent (edelman & suchman, 1997). toutefois ces facteurs juridiques externes sont tout autant une source d’opportunités, et divers auteurs mettent en évidence l’effet incitatif de certaines réglementations pour les entrepreneurs (notamment lee, et al., 2007; maijoor & van witteloostuijn, 1996). mais les données de l’environnement externe ne sont pas propres à une firme en particulier et ne peuvent expliquer les différences de performance entre firmes concurrentes. ces différences seraient donc à rechercher au niveau des ressources spécifiques à chaque firme. l’approche par les ressources s’est attachée à démontrer comment l’enchaînement ressources-capacités-compétences centrales pouvait conduire à la création d’avantages concurrentiels durables. les ressources peuvent être définies comme étant un stock de facteurs disponibles qui sont détenus ou contrôlés par une firme (amit & schoemaker, 1993; wernerfelt, 1984). elles peuvent être classées selon diverses catégories : tangibles, intangibles, organisationnelles, marginales (métais, 2004), et leur accumulation – ainsi que leur exploitation – est déterminante pour la firme (grant, 1991; sirmon, et al., 2007). le rôle et l’importance des ressources juridiques méritent cependant une plus ample formalisation, dans la continuité de travaux tels que ceux de hall (1992) ou de argyris et mayer (2007). l’identification des ressources juridiques au sein du portefeuille de ressources de l’entreprise nous définissons les ressources juridiques comme étant, d’une part, les ressources générant des droits (en particulier des droits de propriété) et qui peuvent être considérées comme des ressources « objets » : contrats, structures sociales, droits de propriété intellectuelle, etc. leur raison d’être est de protéger, de sécuriser ou d’accroître la valeur des autres types de ressources, en s’appuyant sur les éléments provenant de l’environnement juridique externe, que nous appelons la sphère juridique. cette sécurité est assurée par le fait que la structure légale conférée aux diverses ressources de la firme génère en sa faveur des droits dont la valeur et le respect peuvent être revendiqués en justice. d’autre part, il existe des ressources juridiques liées aux savoirs et savoir-faire détenus par les experts juridiques, et qui sont utilisés pour identifier les éléments provenant de la sphère juridique et produire des ressources juridiques « objets ». cette distinction entre deux types de ressources juridiques rejoint la taxinomie élaborée par miller et shamsie (1996), qui distinguent les ressources fondées sur la propriété (présentant une plus grande valeur dans les environnements stables) et celles fondées sur la connaissance (présentant une plus grande valeur dans les environnements incertains). les ressources juridiques « objets » se caractérisent en général par le fait qu’elles doivent être évolutives. en effet, et en dehors même de l’évolution des autres ressources de l’entreprise, les ressources juridiques doivent tenir compte des changements qui affectent la sphère juridique, sous peine de voir leur effet positif réduit ou supprimé, ou même de le transformer en effet négatif. tel est le cas lorsqu’une clause d’un contrat, ou des statuts d’une société, vient à être jugée comme abusive ou illicite. comme léonardbarton (1992) l’a montré de manière générale pour les ressources, les ressources juridiques ne peuvent être statiques. m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 142-175 146 le cas de l’iphone en tant qu’illustration du rôle des ressources juridiques et de la capacité juridique dans le management de l’innovation les droits de propriété intellectuelle, des ressources juridiques centrales pour l’innovation de nombreux auteurs mettent en évidence l’importance des droits de propriété intellectuelle, qui se trouvent parfois au cœur de la stratégie de la firme (marron & steel, 2000; smarzynska, 2002 ; smith, 2001; varsakelis, 2001). ces droits, tels que les brevets et les marques déposées, sont des ressources juridiques dans la mesure où ils ont nécessité de la part de l’entreprise une décision et une démarche volontaire en vue de se voir attribuer des droits de propriété. ils peuvent revêtir un caractère central dès lors qu’ils constituent une ressource pouvant générer un avantage concurrentiel en fournissant un leadership technologique à court terme (reitzig, 2004). cet avantage peut même être durable lorsque les droits de propriété intellectuelle contribuent au développement d’un standard industriel (voir bekkers, et al., 2002, pour le cas de la technologie gsm ; et grindley & teece, 1997, pour les secteurs de l’électronique et des semi-conducteurs). parmi tous les droits de propriété intellectuelle, les brevets ont fait l’objet d’une copieuse littérature. leur caractère d’actif stratégique dans les industries fortement basées sur la concurrence, et l’aptitude de l’entreprise à en produire régulièrement, peuvent constituer une source importante d’avantages concurrentiels (somaya, 2003). plus généralement, les brevets sont perçus comme une mesure de la capacité d’innovation de la firme (griliches, 1990) et comme une contribution à sa performance globable (markman, et al., 2004). le brevet peut aussi avoir une fonction plus offensive, à savoir empêcher des entreprises concurrentes de créer cette ressource juridique qui serait susceptible de constituer une menace pour l’entreprise. certains chercheurs l’envisagent également comme un moyen de dissuader les concurrents de faire état de leurs propres brevets, le portefeuille de brevets étant alors construit en tant que véritable « contre-menace » (somaya, 2003). l’expression de la capacité juridique à travers l’aptitude à gérer des ressources juridiques quant à la capacité, amit et schoemaker (1993) la définissent comme étant l’aptitude de l’entreprise à déployer ses ressources, en les articulant avec des process organisationnels en vue d’atteindre le but recherché. la capacité juridique résiderait alors dans l’aptitude de l’entreprise à intégrer les données issues de la sphère juridique en vue de développer des ressources juridiques, en les alignant avec les opportunités et les menaces extérieures, afin de préserver ou d’accroître la valeur des autres ressources. selon nous, la capacité juridique de la firme s’exprime nécessairement de manière dynamique. en effet, pour teece et al. (1997), la capacité dynamique est l’aptitude à intégrer, construire et reconfigurer les ressources et les compétences internes et externes afin de répondre à des environnements changeant rapidement. lepak et al. (2007) mettent en avant que la littérature relative à la capacité dynamique se concentre sur les facteurs internes de la firme, montrant l’importance de la création de savoir, d’apprentissage et d’entrepreunariat. étant donné que la sphère juridique est en perpétuelle évolution – le droit n’étant pas une donnée figée –, les savoirs des juristes doivent répondre à une mise à jour constante. de plus, la 147 c. roquillym@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 142-175 transformation des ressources juridiques, si elle est rendue nécessaire par l’évolution de la sphère juridique, doit être opérée en lien avec les autres fonctions de l’entreprise concernées, étant donné qu’elle a un effet sur la protection et la valorisation des autres ressources. cette capacité juridique dynamique, que bagley (2008) qualifie de « legal astuteness », nécessite des routines et des process permettant les échanges d’information et les coordinations d’expertises entre juristes et non-juristes, comme le montrent argyris et mayer (2007) dans le domaine des contrats. la capacité juridique mobilise deux types d’aptitude. la première s’exprime dans la gestion de l’environnement réglementaire (ce que beardsley et al. [2005] désignent par « management regulation »), et la seconde se traduit par la qualité des relations au sein de l’entreprise en vue de créer les ressources juridiques les plus à même de soutenir sa stratégie. la manifestation de la capacité juridique à travers la coordination des droits de propriété intellectuelle entre eux, et avec les autres ressources de l’entreprise pisano et teece (2007) mettent en avant le fait que l’essentiel n’est pas de créer de la valeur à partir de l’innovation, mais de la capturer. les marques déposées et les brevets apportent une structure juridique à l’innovation commerciale, d’une part, et à l’innovation technologique, d’autre part, à condition qu’il existe au sein de la sphère juridique un fort régime d’appropriation de l’innovation. le monopole d’exploitation conféré par le droit à la marque et le brevet, ou encore par le droit d’auteur, permet à l’entreprise de capturer, sur une durée parfois excessive, la valeur créée par l’innovation. la capacité juridique va s’exprimer dans l’aptitude de l’entreprise à choisir les droits de propriété intellectuelle les plus à même de soutenir sa stratégie. selon reitzig (2004), l’entreprise doit se poser des questions clés : comment les droits de propriété intellectuelle affectent-ils la structure de l’industrie ? quelles options créent-ils par rapport aux concurrents ? comment peuvent-ils générer des barrières à l’entrée ? peuvent-ils permettre d’acquérir un pouvoir vertical au sein de la chaîne de valeur ? le brevet, en particulier, peut constituer une ressource clé, mais qui présente néanmoins l’inconvénient de rendre public ce qui fait le caractère innovant d’une technologie (d’un procédé ou d’un produit). les secrets de fabrique peuvent s’avérer plus effectifs pour les produits technologiques ayant un cycle de vie court (horstmann, et al., 1985), en particulier quand la copie ne nécessite pas de ressources significatives (arora & fosfuri, 2003). la nature d’un secteur d’activités va influencer le choix entre le recours au brevet ou au secret de fabrique (arundel, 2001; denicolo & franzoni, 2004). le brevet est aussi susceptible d’apporter une protection plus vigoureuse aux programmes d’ordinateur (logiciels), car plus dissuasive, mais qui est en la matière de plus en plus contestée (lévèque & ménière, 2004, 2006). il présente donc en l’espèce un certain degré d’incertitude. le choix des droits de propriété intellectuelle, et donc des ressources juridiques, les plus aptes à soutenir la création de valeur exige une coordination entre juristes (internes ou externes) et équipes de r & d. cette coordination peut même se révéler déterminante (grindley & teem@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 142-175 148 le cas de l’iphone en tant qu’illustration du rôle des ressources juridiques et de la capacité juridique dans le management de l’innovation ce, 1997; somaya, et al., 2007). la capacité juridique de l’entreprise se traduit également par l’aptitude à coordonner les ressources juridiques, telles que les droits de propriété intellectuelle, avec les ressources technologiques. ainsi, l’intégrité d’un logiciel peut être préservée à travers le recours au droit d’auteur et/ou au brevet, combiné à des moyens techniques de verrouillage. mais ces derniers sont toutefois sujets à caution lorsque les effets de réseau sont forts (conner & rumelt, 1991; shy & thisse, 1999). le caractère dynamique de la capacité juridique doit s’apprécier à travers l’habileté générale de l’entreprise à régénérer sa base de connaissances juridiques, pour reprendre la formule employée par iansiti et clark (1994). ainsi, les juristes doivent exercer leur veille active afin d’être en mesure d’anticiper – voire de provoquer – les évolutions de l’environnement réglementaire ou les variations dans le portefeuille de ressources juridiques des concurrents. en modifiant régulièrement le déploiement des compétences de ses juristes, l’entreprise tente de répondre aux spécificités de sa stratégie et de créer de la nouvelle valeur. l’affirmation de la capacité juridique dans la prise en compte des risques découlant des ressources juridiques développées par l’entreprise la création et le développement des ressources juridiques entraînent une forme de paradoxe. en effet, ces ressources ont notamment pour objet d’apporter de la sécurité juridique à l’entreprise. en lui conférant des droits opposables aux tiers, que ceux-ci soient des concurrents, des partenaires ou des consommateurs, les ressources juridiques « objets » soutiennent la création de valeur et apportent une structure juridique à sa stratégie. mais, en même temps, ces ressources sont potentiellement génératrices d’insécurité juridique, sachant qu’elles peuvent aussi être porteuses de risques non juridiques (par exemple des clauses contractuelles trop contraignantes qui entraînent une perte de clientèle, ou une structure sociale dissuadant l’entrée de nouveaux investisseurs). le niveau de risque juridique va croître avec la taille du portefeuille de droits de propriété intellectuelle de l’entreprise. plus cette dernière accumule des nouvelles marques déposées et des demandes de brevets, plus elle augmente le risque d’entrer en conflit avec des droits antérieurs (bhatia & carey, 2007). aux états-unis, la complexité des mécanismes de dépôt de brevet, la lourdeur des procédures et les situations de concurrence sur l’innovation ont engendré un environnement propice à des contentieux longs et coûteux. la crainte d’une judiciarisation des litiges conduit bien souvent à une transaction (jaffe & lerner, 2004). ce paradoxe lié à la création et à l’exploitation des ressources juridiques se concrétise aussi dans la possible atteinte aux règles du droit de la concurrence. en se dotant de droits particulièrement forts, qu’ils proviennent du recours à des mécanismes institutionnels conférant des monopoles d’exploitation, ou du recours à des mécanismes contractuels donnant naissance à des droits exclusifs ou préférentiels de distribution d’un produit ou d’un service, l’entreprise recherche la création d’avantages concurrentiels. l’avantage concurrentiel doit être la 149 c. roquillym@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 142-175 conséquence de l’aptitude de la firme à faire le meilleur usage possible de ses ressources, notamment juridiques, et non d’une manipulation déloyale du marché (boscheck, 1994) ou d’une mise en péril des ressources des concurrents (elhauge, 2003). la combinaison de diverses ressources, par exemple par le biais de couplage de technologies, est susceptible de créer des barrières à l’entrée (hylton & salinger, 2001), surtout quand il existe un fort effet de réseau (gifford, 2002; swanson & baumol, 2005). également, certains accords interentreprises dont l’intérêt commun est d’éliminer des concurrents peuvent porter atteinte au marché (maurer & scotchmer, 2006). l’anticipation des risques de violation du droit de la concurrence revêt un caractère stratégique pour l’entreprise (collins & jeffrey brown, 1997), d’autant que les autorités de régulation – telles que la commission européenne ou la federal trade commission aux états-unis – sont de plus en plus sévères. la capacité juridique de l’entreprise doit par conséquent s’apprécier aussi à travers son aptitude à imaginer la réalité et l’étendue des risques juridiques découlant de ses propres ressources juridiques. elle doit également amener l’entreprise à déterminer si ces ressources juridiques demeurent une opportunité pour sa stratégie ou s’affirment au contraire comme une menace qu’il convient d’éviter. la crainte des risques pouvant provenir de l’exploitation d’une opportunité – notamment juridique – peut pousser les dirigeants à ne pas la saisir (chattopadhyay, et al., 2001). méthodologie notre propos est d’illustrer deux propositions principales pouvant être déduites du cadre conceptuel précédemment développé. la première proposition peut être résumée de la manière suivante : dans le cadre d’une stratégie d’innovation, la capacité juridique s’exprime d’abord par l’aptitude à créer, à accumuler et à coordonner des ressources juridiques. ces dernières peuvent être d’origine institutionnelle (par exemple les droits de propriété intellectuelle) ou d’origine contractuelle (notamment les contrats de partenariat ou de distribution). la capacité juridique s’exprime aussi à travers l’articulation de ces ressources juridiques avec les autres ressources contrôlées par l’entreprise. la seconde proposition découle du paradoxe lié au recours aux ressources juridiques en vue de créer un avantage concurrentiel. ce recours a non seulement pour but de protéger la valeur créée par l’entreprise, mais également de la capturer sur la durée la plus longue possible. en poursuivant cet objectif, l’entreprise augmente en même temps son niveau de risque juridique. l’attitude de l’entreprise à l’égard de ce risque sera fonction de diverses variables, et en particulier sa taille, les ressources dont elle dispose, le marché sur lequel elle se trouve, sa stratégie. le choix du cas de l’iphone en tant qu’illustration a été dicté par plusieurs critères. d’une part, le caractère emblématique de l’entreprise et du produit dans le secteur des technologies de l’information et de la communication. d’autre part, le lien existant entre la double convergence recherchée par apple (convergence des fonctionnalités au sein de l’iphone ; convergence de l’iphone avec les autres produits proposés m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 142-175 150 le cas de l’iphone en tant qu’illustration du rôle des ressources juridiques et de la capacité juridique dans le management de l’innovation par apple) et les ressources juridiques devant être déployées. enfin, le fait qu’il constitue un exemple topique de la manière dont la création et le déploiement de ressources juridiques peuvent soutenir une stratégie d’innovation, tout en constituant potentiellement une source de risque juridique. notre revue de littérature s’est portée sur diverses catégories de travaux – dédiés à l’approche par les ressources, à la propriété intellectuelle, à l’analyse de l’impact de l’environnement juridique sur la stratégie d’entreprise, et aux stratégies juridiques – afin de pouvoir mobiliser les concepts et références utiles à l’analyse du cas que nous avons choisi. bien évidemment, dans un souci de synthèse et de concision, nous avons dû opérer une sélection parmi ces références pour l’élaboration de la bibliographie propre à notre article. le cadre conceptuel étant fixé, nous avons collecté le maximum d’informations pertinentes relatives au cas iphone, et disponibles aussi bien dans la presse que sur des sites internet, spécialisés ou généralistes. nous avons également étudié les bases de données de l’institut national de la propriété industrielle (inpi), du united states patent and trademark office (uspto), et d’autres offices de marques et brevets, ainsi que les données contractuelles disponibles, et avons échangé avec certains acteurs des entreprises concernées qui n’ont toutefois pas souhaité être identifiés dans notre article. à partir de toutes ces informations, nous avons pu formaliser une analyse du cas iphone permettant d’illustrer l’importance du rôle des ressources et de la capacité juridiques au soutien d’une stratégie d’innovation et de soutenir les deux propositions énoncées précédemment. la construction de ressources juridiques pour preserver et developper la valeur generee par l’iphone en tant qu’innovation dans cette section nous examinons quelles ressources juridiques ont été créées par apple en tirant parti des opportunités offertes par la sphère juridique, en distinguant d’une part le recours aux droits de propriété intellectuelle, et d’autre part la mise en œuvre d’un schéma contractuel spécifique. l’accumulation et la coordination des droits de propriété intellectuelle : des ressources juridique centrales pour l’innovation pour soutenir sa stratégie d’innovation marquée par l’introduction de l’iphone sur le marché, apple a largement recouru aux droits de propriété intellectuelle. la construction d’un portefeuille de marques déposées : une ressource juridique indispensable les marques déposées donnent à l’entreprise une structure légale pour l’innovation commerciale. la valeur créée par la distinctivité du signe 151 c. roquillym@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 142-175 désignant le produit doit être préservée de tout risque d’affaiblissement pouvant être généré par la proximité recherchée par un signe identique ou similaire. en se dotant d’une marque déposée, l’entreprise tire parti de règles de droit qui vont lui conférer un monopole d’exploitation sur le signe distinctif, pour une durée potentiellement illimitée dans la mesure où l’enregistrement est, dans de nombreux pays, renouvelable indéfiniment. pour l’entreprise développant une stratégie internationale, la nature même du droit des marques incite à multiplier les ressources juridiques (en l’espèce les marques déposées) étant donné que la protection conférée par le droit des marques n’a en principe qu’une portée territoriale (nationale), exception faite de la marque communautaire. la préservation de la marque iphone grâce au droit des marques revêt une importance particulière car elle s’inscrit dans une architecture de signes distinctifs construisant l’image de l’entreprise sur la durée (imac, ibook, ipod, etc.). ainsi, apple a enregistré la marque iphone, et quelques autres déclinaisons de ce signe, dans divers pays. apple a fait plusieurs demandes d’enregistrement (janvier, mars et décembre 2007) auprès de l’uspto. de telles demandes sont susceptibles de révéler certaines intentions stratégiques, notamment de diversification. il n’est pas forcément opportun pour l’entreprise d’opérer trop en amont la demande d’enregistrement, sachant qu’une telle tactique est de toute façon limitée par l’obligation d’exploitation de la marque dans le délai imparti. cependant, plus l’entreprise attend pour faire enregistrer les marques qu’elle souhaite pouvoir exploiter, plus le risque de voir une autre entreprise prendre l’initiative augmente. c’est pourquoi apple a commencé à préserver le signe « iphone » dès septembre 2006, par le biais d’une société qu’elle a constituée dans l’état du delaware. celle-ci a formulé la demande d’enregistrement après avoir déposé la marque en mars 2006 à trinidad-et-tobago. la stratégie dans laquelle s’inscrit l’introduction de l’iphone sur le marché étant de dimension internationale (plusieurs marchés nationaux sont visés), apple a déposé cinq demandes d’enregistrement au titre de la marque communautaire, lui permettant de couvrir trente-quatre classes de produits et de services. d’autres dépôts ont aussi été réalisés en france, au royaume-uni, en allemagne (pays dans lesquels l’iphone est distribué officiellement), ainsi que dans des pays où l’iphone n’est pas encore disponible (au 1er février 2008), tels que le canada. la difficulté réside ici dans la coordination des diverses démarches d’enregistrement, puis dans la gestion des droits de propriété intellectuelle que l’enregistrement de la marque va conférer à son propriétaire. les ressources juridiques ainsi créées peuvent s’épuiser et sont limitées territorialement de par la nature même du droit des marques. cet élément revêt une importance particulière lorsqu’il prend place dans une stratégie internationale, comme c’est le cas pour apple. la construction d’un portefeuille de noms de domaine : une ressource juridique complémentaire avec le développement d’internet et de l’économie numérique, le nom de domaine s’est imposé comme un signe d’attractivité de la clientèle complémentaire à la marque. il constitue une autre ressource juridique possible, car il confère un droit d’usage à celui qui le détient. à la difm@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 142-175 152 le cas de l’iphone en tant qu’illustration du rôle des ressources juridiques et de la capacité juridique dans le management de l’innovation férence de la marque enregistrée, le nom de domaine n’est pas limité territorialement (apple détient le droit d’usage des noms de domaine iphone.com et iphone.org pour le monde entier) ; il n’est pas un droit de propriété intellectuelle et son statut juridique se construit au fil du temps par l’action de la jurisprudence. la multitude des racines de nom de domaine, qu’elles soient génériques ou propres à un pays, augmente considérablement le degré d’incertitude pour l’entreprise. le nom de domaine iphone.com, détenu par apple, cohabite aujourd’hui avec les noms de domaine iphone.net, détenu par la société cisco ; iphone.fr, détenu par une agence de communication française ; iphone.biz, iphone.us et iphone.uk détenus par des tiers mais qui conduisent à une page internet vierge. ils pourraient toutefois être activés et utilisés pour attirer des clients sur d’autres produits ou services que l’iphone. le nom de domaine iphone.eu est utilisé par une start-up belge, et iphone.de conduit à une page internet faisant la promotion du blackberry, sous la mention « big apple » (toutes ces données ont été collectées le 22 avril 2008). dans ce maquis de ressources potentiellement conflictuelles, le droit des marques permet a priori de renforcer le degré de protection du signe distinctif. le conflit entre, par exemple, iphone.com et iphone.de, serait réglé de manière incertaine par le biais de la jurisprudence sur les conflits entre noms de domaine. le recours au droit sur la marque iphone dont dispose apple permet de réduire cette incertitude (katz jones, 1999). d’autres centaines de noms de domaine incluent le signe iphone. il serait vain pour apple de vouloir recourir à ses ressources juridiques pour éradiquer l’intégralité de ces noms de domaine. il importe que ces derniers ne soient que marginalement visibles sur internet, et apple peut utiliser ses ressources marketing à cet effet (référencement de iphone.com, promotion, marketing viral, etc.). ressources juridiques et ressources marketing doivent être combinées afin de capturer la valeur du signe « iphone » sur internet. la construction d’un portefeuille de brevets : un choix stratégique pour apple les brevets sont une ressource juridique pour les mêmes raisons que les marques déposées. ils font naître des droits au profit de leur titulaire, correspondant au contenu des revendications, et qui sont opposables aux tiers. la création de cette ressource juridique présente néanmoins l’inconvénient de rendre public ce qui fait le caractère innovant d’une technologie (d’un procédé ou d’un produit). steve jobs a déclaré que plus de deux cents demandes de brevets avaient été déposées auprès de l’uspto afin de protéger les technologies supportant les diverses fonctionnalités de l’iphone. apple a préféré mener une tactique consistant à déposer le plus de demandes possibles plutôt que de se limiter aux seules innovations clés, pour répondre aux objectifs énoncés ci-dessus, sans présumer néanmoins des secrets de fabrique existants. en analysant les données disponibles dans la base de l’uspto, une vingtaine de brevets requis par apple apparaissent plus déterminants que d’autres. les demandes ont été déposées entre décembre 2005 et août 2007, suivant un rythme régulier. il est important de noter que dans certains pays, comme la france, le brevet sur un modèle n’existe pas, et c’est donc le droit des dessins et modèles qui 153 c. roquillym@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 142-175 offrira la protection recherchée. une parfaite compréhension des divers mécanismes de préservation de l’innovation, en vigueur dans les différents territoires cibles de l’entreprise, est indispensable afin d’assurer la meilleure coordination possible des différentes ressources juridiques potentielles. comme pour la marque déposée, la protection apportée par la détention d’un brevet a un caractère territorial (elle s’applique sur le territoire d’un pays en particulier). apple a de ce fait déposé de nombreuses demandes de brevets pour l’union européenne, en tirant parti du droit de priorité offert par la convention de paris. là encore, une identification et une maîtrise de l’articulation entre les diverses procédures sont indispensables dans la création des ressources juridiques et leur coordination. la combinaison des brevets et des marques déposées permet parfois à l’entreprise de continuer à générer d’importants revenus, même après l’expiration du brevet, comme dans le cas de bayer avec l’aspirine. le droit d’auteur : un complément au portefeuille de ressources juridiques bâti autour de la propriété intellectuelle le droit d’auteur (ou le copyright dans les pays de common law) complète le portefeuille de ressources juridiques constitué par les droits de propriété intellectuelle. il s’agit certes d’une ressource facile à élaborer dans la mesure où elle est automatique dès lors que la création en cause est une œuvre de l’esprit au sens du code de la propriété intellectuelle ; aucune demande ou formalité d’enregistrement n’est à réaliser. les logiciels embarqués sur l’iphone peuvent bénéficier de la protection donnée par le copyright (yoches & levine, 1989), sachant que l’entreprise dispose aux états-unis de trois options en la matière : secret de fabrique, copyright ou brevet (oz, 1995). le droit d’auteur sert aussi à protéger d’autres créations qui contribuent à l’esthétisme de l’iphone, telles que les icônes originales figurant sur l’écran. en janvier 2007, un internaute qui avait reproduit sur son blog une capture d’écran de l’iphone ainsi qu’un lien hypertexte conduisant vers un site expliquant comment installer l’écran de l’iphone sur un pocketpc, a reçu de la part d’apple une mise en garde fondée sur le copyright 4. aux états-unis, l’efficacité du copyright comme mécanisme de préservation des verrous technologiques empêchant le fonctionnement des applications provenant d’autres sources que la itunes application store, sera d’ailleurs liée à l’aptitude d’apple à faire valoir ses arguments devant le copyright office. ce dernier émet en effet des règles d’interprétation du digital millenium copyright act (dmca), particulièrement importantes dans la fixation des frontières entre les comportements violant les copyrights et les pratiques d’ingénierie inversée destinées à favoriser l’interopérabilité des produits avec des logiciels indépendants. cette aptitude relève du « management regulation », auquel nous avons fait référence dans la section relative au cadre conceptuel. l’introduction de l’iphone sur le marché témoigne de l’importance d’agréger de nombreuses ressources juridiques construites en saisissant les opportunités offertes par la sphère juridique en matière de droits de propriété intellectuelle. le choix des ressources juridiques doit se faire en fonction de ce qu’elles apportent dans la protection et le développement de la valeur générée par l’innovation, qu’elle soit de nature 4. voir http://www.paulobrien.net/node/62 m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 142-175 154 le cas de l’iphone en tant qu’illustration du rôle des ressources juridiques et de la capacité juridique dans le management de l’innovation technologique, commerciale ou esthétique, et être adaptées en fonction des évolutions des données de la sphère juridique. par exemple, la décision judiciaire rendue dans le cadre de l’affaire grain processing corp. c/ american maize products corp. pourrait avoir pour effet de réduire potentiellement les indemnisations du préjudice économique subi par les titulaires de brevets suite à un comportement contrefaisant (hausman, et al., 2007). une telle décision peut influencer l’entreprise dans le choix des modes de protection de ses innovations. les contrats, des ressources juridiques nécessaires pour disséminer l’innovation sur le marché et ajouter de la valeur les contrats constituent la deuxième grande catégorie de ressources juridiques, et l’aptitude à les élaborer conformément aux données clefs de la sphère juridique et aux diverses ressources de l’entreprise fait partie intégrante de la capacité juridique (argyris & mayer, 2007). des ressources juridiques pour assurer la diffusion du produit pour permettre le développement de l’iphone sur le marché, apple a besoin de partenaires, aussi bien pour accéder à un réseau de téléphonie mobile que pour fournir des contenus aux utilisateurs. même s’il est difficile de définir exactement ce qu’est l’iphone en tant que produit, il est notamment un téléphone mobile. apple ne maîtrisant aucun réseau de téléphonie mobile, il lui fallait nouer une alliance avec un opérateur, sachant qu’une technologie ou un actif spécifique ne peut pas toujours être acquis rapidement, surtout quand le secteur concerné est réglementé – ce qui est le cas des télécommunications (inkpen & ross, 2001). selon randall stephenson, directeur général d’at&t en 2007, le marché des télécommunications est actuellement bouleversé par divers phénomènes, notamment l’accélération de la transition vers le sans-fil et la place prépondérante occupée par les divertissements. les opérateurs ont besoin d’être de plus en plus centrés sur l’innovation, et at&t souhaite créer de la valeur avec du contenu5. apple peut apporter, dans le cadre de cette alliance avec at&t, des ressources complémentaires à celles contrôlées par son partenaire, et développer sa courbe d’apprentissage sur le marché de la téléphonie mobile. deux questions se posent : comment permettre à l’iphone d’offrir une fonctionnalité de téléphonie mobile, d’une part, et comment assurer la distribution du produit, d’autre part ? de plus, ces questions doivent être résolues pour d’autres marchés que le marché américain. le tableau 1 résume la situation au 1er janvier 2008, pour les pays où l’iphone est officiellement distribué. 5. redefining the industry to remain relevant – the significance of at&t’s big bet on mobile, http://globalhumancapital.org/ archives/165-att-ceo-unveils-telecomsvision-at-convergence.html, 3 août, 2007. 155 c. roquillym@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 142-175 tableau 1 : modalités de distribution de l’iphone dans le réseau officiel états-unis france royaume-uni allemagne opérateur exclusivité at&t partenariat 5 ans non-exclusivité orange partenariat 5 ans exclusivité o2 partenariat 5 ans exclusivité t-mobile partenariat 5 ans tarif abonnement * 47 € 2 ans abonnement 138 € de frais de résiliation 49 € 2 ans abonnement 53,5 € 1 an abonnement 46,6 € 18 mois abonnement 49 € 2 ans abonnement distributeur boutiques apple site internet apple boutiques at&t site internet at&t boutiques orange distributeurs agréés par apple mais ayant l’obligation de se fournir auprès d’orange boutiques o2 site internet o2 boutiques carphone site internet carphone boutiques apple site internet apple boutiques t-mobile site internet t-mobile prix du produit ** 314 € (initialement 472 €) 399 € si forfait orange 649 € sans forfait +100 € déblocage dans les 6 mois 358,6 € 399 € coût total pour l’acheteur 361 € 448 € 649 € + frais abonnement autre opérateur 749 € + frais abonnement autre opérateur 405 € 448 € * il existe différents niveaux de tarif. nous avons choisi les tarifs offrant des prestations comparables dans chaque pays cible, pour un iphone 8gb. ** en avril 2008, les prix ont sensiblement baissé. o2 a réduit le prix de l’iphone 8gb de 127 euros, et t-mobile l’a diminué de 300 euros. cela signifie--il que ces opérateurs subventionnent maintenant le produit ? cela signifie-t-il qu’apple revoit sa stratégie, ou plus certainement que les produits de la première génération sont « bradés » en attendant la mise sur le marché de la seconde génération d’iphone ? le tableau 1 montre qu’apple a choisi un modèle de partenariat fondé sur une double exclusivité : l’opérateur partenaire bénéficie d’une exclusivité sur le territoire de référence (ainsi at&t est l’opérateur exclusif pour l’iphone sur le territoire des états-unis) et il est le distributeur exclusif du produit sur le territoire de référence. au royaume-uni, il y a en fait deux distributeurs, o2 et carphone, apple craignant qu’o2 ne puisse assurer une couverture suffisante du territoire. la seule exception au modèle de la « double exclusivité » est la france. orange est le grossiste exclusif de l’iphone sur le territoire français, mais pas l’opérateur exclusif. une contrainte externe provenant de la sphère juridique est la cause de cette exception au modèle économique élaboré par apple. le code de la consommation français interdit les ventes liées ou subordonnées, et ce compris la vente liée à une prestation de services. le consommateur intéressé par un iphone doit avoir la possibilité de l’acheter auprès du grossiste exclusif (en l’espèce orange) ou d’un distributeur agréé par apple et fourni par orange, sans avoir à souscrire obligatoirement un abonnement auprès de cet opérateur. cette pression réglementaire est renforcée par une décision de l’art (autorité de régulation des télécommunications en france) du 8 décembre 2005, prévoyant que le verrouillage d’un téléphone pour qu’il ne fonctionne que sur le réseau d’un seul opérateur ne peut excéder la durée de six m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 142-175 156 le cas de l’iphone en tant qu’illustration du rôle des ressources juridiques et de la capacité juridique dans le management de l’innovation mois. le déverrouillage de l’iphone avant la fin de ce délai nécessite le versement de 100 euros supplémentaires à orange. la réponse à la contrainte réglementaire a donc consisté à dissuader le consommateur d’acheter l’iphone hors abonnement, en créant une discrimination par le prix. l’alliance stratégique entre apple et les opérateurs concernés est de nature contractuelle. le contrat doit contenir des clauses spécifiques, telles que les droits à l’information sur toutes transactions pertinentes, la confidentialité, les restrictions quant à l’utilisation des informations protégées, la résiliation du contrat, etc. (reuer, et al., 2006). le contrat passé entre apple et at&t prévoit une exclusivité de cinq ans, un reversement par at&t à apple d’un pourcentage des revenus perçus grâce à l’iphone, la restriction pour apple de développer une version de l’iphone compatible avec les réseaux cdma – utilisés par les concurrents d’at&t. l’exclusivité est au cœur du contrat. les contrats de distribution exclusive sont d’ailleurs traditionnellement perçus par les fabricants comme un moyen de contrôler l’image de leur marque (scherer, 1999; collard & roquilly, 2002; gavil, 2004), et par les distributeurs comme un levier permettant de réduire les ressources potentiellement disponibles pour les concurrents (capron & chatain, 2008) afin, notamment, de récupérer une partie de leur clientèle. en juillet 2007, 40 % des personnes ayant contracté avec at&t dans le cadre de l’achat de l’iphone étaient de nouveaux clients. en février 2008, 50 % des clients ayant acheté l’iphone auprès d’orange avec l’abonnement étaient précédemment clients d’un autre opérateur. les effets secondaires du choix de modèle économique et contractuel : le développement d’un marché parallèle une telle stratégie de double exclusivité (accès au réseau de téléphonie et distribution) a nécessairement deux effets secondaires indésirables, mais pouvant néanmoins être anticipés. les consommateurs intéressés par le produit mais abonnés auprès d’un opérateur différent des partenaires d’apple vont souhaiter pouvoir utiliser l’iphone alors même qu’il est verrouillé pour ne fonctionner que sur le réseau de l’opérateur partenaire. un membre du congrès américain, edward markey, a ainsi déclaré en juillet 2007 que « le problème avec l’iphone est que le couplage iphone–at&t est une sorte de service «hotel california» : vous pouvez vous enregistrer à tout moment, mais vous ne pouvez jamais quitter ». par ailleurs, la différence de prix entre les états-unis et l’europe, renforcée par le cours du dollar par rapport à l’euro, crée une incitation aux importations parallèles. des programmes de déverrouillage de l’iphone ont été développés et sont aujourd’hui aisément accessibles sur internet. le risque de voir de nombreux exemplaires de l’iphone circuler en dehors de son réseau officiel de distribution et fonctionner sur d’autres réseaux que ceux des opérateurs partenaires est devenu réalité. les programmes de déblocage permettent à l’iphone d’être utilisé dans des pays où aucun partenariat n’a encore été passé avec un opérateur et augmentent donc le nombre de ventes réalisées par apple. le marché chinois en est une illustration. ils perturbent néanmoins le modèle économique choisi et portent surtout préjudice aux opérateurs partenaires. l’expérience montre qu’aucune ressource, contractuelle ou technolo157 c. roquillym@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 142-175 gique, ne peut totalement éviter l’apparition d’un marché parallèle, lorsque les conditions favorables à celui-ci sont réunies. qu’il soit qualifié de « gray market » (cespedes, et al., 1988) ou d’importation parallèle (duhan & sheffet, 1988), s’est donc développé un marché de l’iphone débloqué, aussi bien au niveau national qu’international. l’identification de ce marché par les consommateurs est facilitée par internet, et en particulier les moteurs de recherche et le référencement. pour illustration, l’utilisation, par un internaute identifié comme étant connecté à partir du territoire français, du mot clef « iphone » sur le moteur de recherche google, fait apparaître un lien commercial vers le site d’un distributeur parallèle français. la coordination de ressources technologiques et juridiques : moyen de gestion du risque de développement d’un marché parallèle les réponses au risque de circulation d’exemplaires de l’iphone en dehors de son réseau officiel sont à la fois de nature juridique et de nature technique, et portent aussi bien sur la cause du problème (les programmes de déblocage) que sur sa matérialisation (la création d’un marché parallèle). la ressource technologique permet, lors des mises à jour sur itunes, de rebloquer l’iphone qui a été débloqué par le biais d’un programme « pirate ». certes ce dernier est lui-même mis à jour pour débloquer à nouveau le produit, mais le consommateur peut toujours craindre une détérioration de son iphone ou la perte de certaines fonctionnalités. la version « non officielle » de l’iphone n’intéresse pas le consommateur ayant une aversion pour le risque. la ressource technologique est ici effectivement coordonnée avec une ressource juridique. l’utilisation du « logiciel de l’apple iphone » fait l’objet d’un contrat de licence. le consommateur, bien que propriétaire de son iphone, n’est pas propriétaire du logiciel, et doit se conformer à la section 1201 du digital millenium act qui prévoit le caractère illégal du contournement du blocage digital afin d’accéder à un contenu protégé par un droit d’auteur. mais l’us copyright office a élaboré plusieurs exemptions, dont une au bénéfice des consommateurs qui souhaitent débloquer leur téléphone mobile et accéder à un réseau (voir cleary, 2008 ; haubenreich, 2008). d’ailleurs, concernant la mise à disposition du public des programmes de déblocage, seule une entreprise britannique, uniquephones, qui prévoyait de vendre un programme permettant à des utilisateurs ne résidant pas aux états-unis de débloquer des iphone provenant du marché américain, semble avoir fait l’objet d’une menace d’assignation en justice de la part d’apple, pour atteinte au droit d’auteur et dissémination d’un programme illégal. apple utilise également la ressource contractuelle pour supprimer la garantie sur l’iphone dans certaines hypothèses, en particulier pour tout dommage causé par le fonctionnement du produit hors des utilisations permises ou prévues décrites par l’entreprise, ou pour toute intervention effectuée par une personne qui n’est pas un représentant d’apple. une dernière mesure contractuelle porte sur le nombre d’iphone qu’un seul et même consommateur peut acheter (toutes ces remarques relatives aux dispositions contractuelles découlent de notre analyse du contrat de licence de logiciel de l’apple iphone et des garanties contractuelm@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 142-175 158 le cas de l’iphone en tant qu’illustration du rôle des ressources juridiques et de la capacité juridique dans le management de l’innovation les). apple doit donc coordonner des ressources juridiques contractuelles – les clauses contrôlant la revente de l’iphone hors réseau exclusif et celles relatives aux garanties de l’acheteur –, des ressources juridiques relevant de l’expertise dans les actions en justice en matière de marchés parallèles, et des ressources marketing (connaissance des marchés, des réseaux d’approvisionnement, etc.). à ces ressources viennent s’ajouter les droits que détient apple sur ses marques, et notamment le signe « iphone ». en effet, le droit des marques est historiquement l’outil utilisé pour lutter contre les marchés parallèles (cross, et al., 1990). le principe d’épuisement des droits de propriété intellectuelle peut varier en fonction des pays – épuisement national, européen, international – (kobak jr, 2005; maskus & chen, 2004). le recours aux juges pour sanctionner et faire interdire les importations parallèles peut s’avérer très efficace dans l’union européenne ou aux états-unis (radding, 2006; sloane, 2004), à condition de l’appuyer sur une politique contractuelle stricte (antia & frazier, 2001). la capacité juridique d’apple se matérialise dans le cas présent par son aptitude à mobiliser diverses ressources, notamment juridiques, pour gérer le risque de voir les marchés parallèles s’épanouir au détriment de son modèle économique initial, et à coordonner ces ressources en fonction du but recherché. le choix des ressources à mobiliser dépend de deux facteurs, à savoir d’une part le type de risque et d’autre part le mode de gestion du risque, comme l’illustre le tableau 2. tableau 2 : déploiement des ressources selon le type de risque et le mode de gestion choisi type de risque pour apple mode de gestion du risque risque non juridique risque juridique gestion juridique risque non juridique : le développement d’un marché parallèle international de l’iphone officieusement débloqué gestion juridique : mise en place d’une politique de contrat de distribution exclusive, permettant de poursuivre les revendeurs parallèles pour concurrence déloyale et contrefaçon de marque risque juridique : une class action basée sur le fait qu’apple refuse d’honorer la garantie contractuelle si l’iphone a été officieusement débloqué gestion juridique : mise en place d’une politique contractuelle solide et claire, rejetant toute garantie pour un iphone officieusement débloqué gestion non juridique risque non juridique : le développement d’un marché international de l’iphone officieusement débloqué gestion non juridique : utilisation de certaines technologies afin de rebloquer l’iphone débloqué risque juridique : une class action basée sur le fait qu’apple refuse d’honorer la garantie contractuelle si l’iphone a été officieusement débloqué gestion non juridique : les iphone sont également vendus officiellement débloqués, mais avec une discrimination de prix, quel que soit l’opérateur choisi par le consommateur 159 c. roquillym@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 142-175 les contrats avec les créateurs de contenus : des ressources juridiques nécessaires pour ajouter de la valeur la ressource contractuelle n’est pas seulement importante pour organiser juridiquement les relations avec les opérateurs et les consommateurs, et agir à l’encontre de ceux qui portent atteinte à l’intégrité du réseau ainsi élaboré. elle doit aussi être mobilisée en vue d’apporter contenus et applications créant de la valeur au profit des utilisateurs (pisano & teece, 2007). les partenariats passés avec youtube et google entrent parfaitement dans cette logique. la convergence existant entre l’iphone et la plate-forme itunes – qui est la porte d’enregistrement obligatoire du produit – est la clef de l’accès aux contenus musicaux. lancé au printemps 2003, itunes music store (itms) a permis à apple de devenir, en janvier 2008, le premier vendeur de musique aux étatsunis, avec 19 % de part de marché. pour structurer le partenariat avec les cinq labels musicaux majeurs, le contrat a constitué une ressource sensible, qui a notamment permis à apple d’être maître de sa politique de prix. la combinaison des ressources technologiques et juridiques se trouve à nouveau au cœur de la problématique car l’industrie musicale a fait d’un système de gestion des droits digitaux (« digital rights management », drm) efficace la condition préalable à tout contrat de licence en vue de distribuer en ligne de la musique (palfrey, 2005). les conditions d’utilisation des contenus accessibles sur l’iphone se retrouvent dans les conditions générales iphone – notamment pour l’accès à google maps et youtube – et les droits du consommateur quant aux fichiers musicaux accessibles via itunes sont déterminés par les conditions générales du service de la itunes store. à partir du moment où des iphone non officiellement débloqués ont commencé à circuler, de nombreux développeurs ont créé des applications. l’effet de réseau a été très fort, et il était paradoxal qu’un utilisateur de cette version bénéficie de plus de création de valeur qu’un utilisateur d’une version officielle. après avoir observé l’évolution de ces développements dans un cadre non contractuel, apple a mis en place une structure contractuelle et une plate-forme technologique (appelée iphone dev center). le contrat iphone sdk prévoit notamment que les développeurs concernés bénéficient d’une licence limitée, non exclusive, personnelle, révocable, non transférable et non souslicenciable. les applications développées ne pourront être installées sur l’iphone que si elles ont été préalablement approuvées, signées et testées, dans le cadre d’un contrat de licence de développement de programme iphone. apple se réserve le droit d’accepter ou de refuser ces applications. elles devront également se conformer à certaines dispositions, telles que ne pas contenir de codes exécutables. la capacité juridique s’exprime ici dans l’aptitude à élaborer un cadre contractuel favorable à la création de valeur grâce à de nombreuses applications, tout en préservant l’intégrité de la technologie et l’image de marque de l’entreprise. m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 142-175 160 le cas de l’iphone en tant qu’illustration du rôle des ressources juridiques et de la capacité juridique dans le management de l’innovation l’introduction de l’iphone sur le marché, une illustration de l’aptitude à construire un réseau de ressources juridiques comme nous venons de le voir, les ressources juridiques mobilisées par apple pour soutenir l’introduction et le développement de l’iphone sur le marché, qu’il s’agisse des droits de propriété intellectuelle, des contrats, ou encore de l’expertise juridique, servent bien à préserver et à accroître la valeur des autres ressources, notamment technologiques et marketing. elles sont construites à partir des données de la sphère juridique et des opportunités qu’elles offrent pour élaborer un cadre juridique pouvant être revendiqué devant un juge. elles illustrent totalement la première proposition avancée dans la section relative à la méthodologie, et selon laquelle la capacité juridique s’exprime en premier lieu par l’aptitude à créer, à accumuler et à coordonner des ressources juridiques (en l’espèce des marques déposées, des demandes de brevets, des droits d’auteur, des contrats de partenariat et de distribution). cette capacité juridique est nécessairement dynamique. ainsi, de nouvelles ressources juridiques vont être créées selon les évolutions de l’environnement, ce que nous avons pu vérifier à travers la contractualisation des applications pour l’iphone. de la même manière, l’émergence de nouvelles menaces telles que l’explosion d’un marché parallèle, nécessite des ajustements permanents entre les ressources juridiques (droits de propriété intellectuelle et contrats) et les ressources technologiques et marketing (techniques de verrouillage du produit, identification des sources d’approvisionnement parallèle). au cœur de la stratégie d’innovation, la capacité juridique se matérialise en l’espèce par la construction d’un réseau de ressources juridiques, à vocation défensive et offensive, comme le montre le schéma 1. schéma 1 : ressources juridiques et convergence digitale 161 c. roquillym@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 142-175 ce réseau structuré à base de droits de propriété, détenus en propre par apple ou exploités grâce à des contrats passés avec les titulaires de ces droits (éditeurs, développeurs de contenus et d’applications), soutient la convergence entre les fonctionnalités au sein de l’iphone, et entre les divers produits, services et contenus créés par l’entreprise ou apportés par ses partenaires : imac, ibook, ipod, ipodtouch, iphone, apple tv, itunes, safari, contenus édités par disney corp. et emi, etc.. ils doivent tous concourir à la construction d’un nouveau style de vie numérique. produits, accessoires, systèmes, plates-formes, contenus s’ajoutent réciproquement de la valeur. dans cette logique de convergence digitale, les diverses ressources mobilisées par apple, qu’elles soient juridiques, technologiques ou marketing, se complètent et se renforcent mutuellement. pour preuve la manière dont apple gère le risque de voir proliférer des versions « officieusement débloquées » de l’iphone, susceptibles d’affaiblir le contrôle qu’apple souhaite exercer sur son produit et les technologies afférentes. des ressources juridiques d’origine institutionnelle ont pour objectif de protéger l’intégrité de ces technologies. des ressources juridiques d’origine contractuelle donnent à apple la possibilité de structurer un réseau d’opérateurs et de distributeurs partenaires, en vue d’améliorer sa connaissance d’un marché nouveau pour l’entreprise (celui de la téléphonie mobile). les contrats passés avec les développeurs d’applications présentent l’intérêt d’ajouter de la valeur supplémentaire à l’iphone, dans un cadre maîtrisé par apple. sachant qu’un réseau de distribution fermé peut être perméable, la ressource technologique (en particulier la procédure de mise à jour des programmes par le biais de la plate-forme itunes) peut en renforcer la solidité. quant à la ressource marketing, et en particulier la notoriété de la marque iphone (elle-même soutenue par une politique active de dépôt de marques), elle sera utilisée pour appuyer la visibilité du modèle contractuel choisi par apple et marginaliser les offres parallèles disponibles sur internet. les ressources juridiques, source de conflit avec les donnees de la sphere juridique : un risque pour apple dans cette section, nous montrons comment les ressources juridiques peuvent elles-mêmes représenter une source de risque juridique pour apple, soit parce qu’elles sont susceptibles de se heurter à des ressources juridiques détenues par d’autres entreprises, soit parce qu’elles portent potentiellement atteinte aux règles du droit de la concurrence. l’aptitude de l’entreprise à intégrer dans ses choix stratégiques cette prise en compte des risques juridiques découlant de ses propres décisions juridiques contribue aussi à forger son niveau de capacité juridique, conformément à la seconde proposition formulée dans le cadre de la section dédiée à la méthodologie. m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 142-175 162 le cas de l’iphone en tant qu’illustration du rôle des ressources juridiques et de la capacité juridique dans le management de l’innovation le risque de conflits entre droits de propriété intellectuelle le risque de conflit entre ressources juridiques : la gestion des risques liés aux droits sur la marque iphone les droits de propriété intellectuelle, en tant que ressources juridiques, confèrent à l’entreprise des monopoles d’exploitation susceptibles de lui donner un avantage concurrentiel. mais les règles gouvernant dans la plupart des pays l’examen des demandes d’enregistrement d’une marque ou d’un brevet constituent une source de conflit potentiel dans la course aux monopoles. dans le cas des marques, il n’appartient pas à l’office des marques compétent de déterminer si le signe que souhaite enregistrer l’entreprise peut entrer en conflit avec un signe déposé antérieurement par une autre entreprise. seule une recherche d’antériorité permet de réduire l’incertitude, sans toutefois pouvoir l’éliminer totalement. dans ce contexte, l’entreprise est confrontée à une série d’options : éviter le risque de conflit (l’entreprise renonce à déposer et à exploiter la marque), l’accepter (elle décide d’enregistrer et d’exploiter la marque), le contourner (elle modifie significativement le signe concerné), le transformer (elle négocie un contrat de licence ou de coexistence avec la marque antérieure). la décision de créer une ressource juridique potentiellement porteuse de risque doit être fonction de certains critères : valeur du signe convoité pour les deux entreprises, capacité à négocier, capacité à assumer un conflit judiciaire – tant sur le plan économique que sur celui de la réputation. c’est dans l’aptitude à intégrer ces paramètres avant de se positionner sur la ressource juridique que s’exprime la capacité juridique de l’entreprise. concernant le signe « iphone », apple a été confronté à la prise de risque. le degré d’incertitude était ici renforcé par la dimension internationale de la stratégie, et donc par la rencontre d’une multiplicité d’environnements juridiques et économiques. aux états-unis, apple a délibérément choisi la seconde solution. au vu de la chronologie des événements (voir annexe 1), le subterfuge semble évident, sachant que la déclaration déposée le 4 mai 2006 par cisco était accompagnée d’une photographie du produit, qui était jusqu’alors revêtu de la marque « linksys cit 2000 », cette dernière étant recouverte sur l’emballage du produit par un autocollant « iphone » ! apple aurait pu essayer de le déjouer en contestant devant le juge la validité de la déclaration d’utilisation. il n’est guère surprenant qu’après avoir assigné apple devant la united states district court for the northern district of california pour contrefaçon, concurrence déloyale et atteinte à la réputation6, cisco ait accepté de passer un accord avec apple. face à l’incertitude liée à la possible décision du juge, et tenant compte du fait que l’association « iphone-linksys » n’est quasiment pas visible pour le consommateur moyen ciblé par l’iphone d’apple, apple a préféré partager la ressource juridique. d’autres procédures de contestation de la marque iphone déposée par apple sont en cours aux états-unis, au royaume-uni et au canada. au japon, marché très intéressant pour apple, aiphone co. a affirmé qu’elle est propriétaire depuis longtemps des droits sur la marque aiphone – d’ailleurs déposée au royaume-uni depuis le 6. tous les litiges cités à titre d’exemple ont été trouvés dans la base de données de docs. justia.com. 163 c. roquillym@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 142-175 2 mai 1972 – qui présente une similarité phonétique avec la marque iphone. finalement, les deux firmes ont passé « un accord amical ». en résumé, on constate qu’apple, face au risque lié à la création d’une ressource juridique (opposition au dépôt de marque ou action en justice), fait un choix offensif, principalement dicté par la recherche de cohérence au sein de son portefeuille de marques (imac, ibook, ipod, itunes, iphone). le risque de conflit entre ressources juridiques : la gestion des risques liés aux brevets sur l’iphone le même mode de raisonnement fondé sur le risque découlant du choix d’une ressource juridique s’applique pour les brevets, de manière encore plus prononcée. l’aversion pour le risque en matière de brevets est plus importante qu’en matière de marques (gibson, 2007). le niveau d’incertitude lié au système d’attribution des brevets est de plus en plus élevé, en particulier aux états-unis. ce contexte propice au risque a pour conséquence le développement d’entreprises spécialisées dans la recherche de brevets contestables. rim, fabricant du fameux blackberry, en a fait la douloureuse expérience en versant 450 millions de dollars à ntp inc., afin de régler à l’amiable un contentieux en matière de contrefaçon de brevets. le nombre de demandes de brevets déposées par apple semble montrer que l’entreprise a une fois de plus privilégié une démarche offensive de création de ressources juridiques, en étant prête à assumer le risque de conflit potentiel avec des ressources juridiques appartenant à autrui. plusieurs procédures judiciaires ont été engagées à l’encontre d’apple pour violation de brevets (août, décembre 2007). on notera que deux plaintes ont été déposées devant la u.s. court for the eastern district of texas, identifiée par le site trolltracker comme étant particulièrement accueillante en matière d’action en contrefaçon de brevet. dès lors que la sphère juridique recèle un segment propice à l’exercice de certains droits, l’information doit être intégrée afin d’anticiper l’affirmation de leurs ressources juridiques par des tiers hostiles. la situation d’apple au niveau des demandes de brevets que l’entreprise a effectuées sur l’iphone est représentative des conditions créant le risque de conflit avec d’autres ressources juridiques : un environnement juridique offrant des opportunités de création de ressources juridiques, mais où règne un certain niveau d’incertitude ; une accumulation des ressources juridiques (brevets) qui augmente le risque d’entrer en conflit avec des ressources préexistantes (les brevets d’autres entreprises) ; une entreprise solvable et disposant des ressources pour assumer une éventuelle transaction (apple) ; un produit pour lequel l’image de marque est fondée sur l’innovation, et donc sur un recours massif aux brevets (l’iphone). dans le meilleur des cas, apple verra les plaintes engagées être rejetées, et conservera ses ressources juridiques lui permettant, notamment, de préserver la valeur de ses innovations et d’empêcher la création de certaines ressources par ses concurrents. dans le pire des cas, on peut penser qu’apple négociera un contrat de licence, comme ce fut le cas avec burst.com qui l’avait poursuivi pour violation de brevets relatifs au téléchargement sur internet de contenus musicaux. en novembre 2007, apple a obtenu ce contrat en échange de 10 millions de dollars. m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 142-175 164 le cas de l’iphone en tant qu’illustration du rôle des ressources juridiques et de la capacité juridique dans le management de l’innovation le risque de conflit avec le principe de libre jeu de la concurrence : le déploiement des ressources sur un marché pertinent en recherchant un avantage concurrentiel, l’entreprise doit anticiper le conflit potentiel avec le droit de la concurrence (bush & gelb, 2005; fried & oviatt, 1989) et en imaginer les possibles conséquences. cette atteinte peut provenir des moyens utilisés pour créer l’avantage concurrentiel ou parce qu’il confère à l’entreprise un monopole trop fort sur le marché. le déploiement des ressources juridiques que constituent les droits de propriété intellectuelle, et tout particulièrement les brevets, peut fausser le jeu de la concurrence et fermer artificiellement la porte d’entrée à un marché. la balance à trouver entre la légitime préservation des innovations par le droit des brevets et le maintien d’un libre jeu de la concurrence est délicate (lemley, 2007). le déploiement par apple des droits de propriété intellectuelle capturant de la valeur pour l’iphone ne semblait pas pouvoir conduire directement à un mauvais fonctionnement du libre jeu de la concurrence sur un marché qu’il conviendrait d’ailleurs de définir. cette définition du marché pertinent constitue le pivot de tout management des risques de violation des règles du droit de la concurrence. plus le marché sera défini restrictivement, plus le risque d’atteinte à son bon fonctionnement sera élevé (kirkwood, 2004). sa détermination est encore plus délicate quand il faut tenir compte des changements technologiques et de leurs effets sur la concurrence future et sur le pouvoir de marché. ainsi l’iphone relève-t-il du marché des téléphones mobiles ? de celui des services de téléphonie mobile ? est-ce un cluster market (regroupement des deux marchés) ? ou encore un autre ? la détermination du marché pertinent a son importance dans l’hypothèse où deux situations seraient analysées : l’accord d’exclusivité passé entre apple et un opérateur d’une part, et le couplage iphone-itunes, d’autre part. le risque juridique est bien ici lié au modèle économique choisi par apple et aux ressources élaborées et coordonnées par l’entreprise, à savoir les contrats et les verrouillages technologiques. la gestion des risques juridiques liés aux contrats de partenariat passés avec les opérateurs de téléphonie mobile le contrat passé entre apple et, par exemple, orange en france ou t-mobile en allemagne, peut être qualifié d’accord vertical, sachant que dans certains pays il est accompagné d’une exclusivité quant au réseau téléphonique partenaire. selon les pays, la confrontation du modèle contractuel au droit de la concurrence présente un niveau de risque plus ou moins élevé (gavil, 2004). aux états-unis, un accord d’exclusivité n’est pas illégal per se. toutefois, de récentes décisions de cours d’appel semblent montrer une évolution moins favorable sur le terrain de la section 2 du sherman act. cette dernière ne trouve néanmoins à s’appliquer que si l’entreprise détient (ou pourrait détenir) un pouvoir de monopole grâce à l’accord d’exclusivité. si l’on prend comme référence l’un des marchés possibles précédemment cités, ni apple, ni l’opérateur ne paraissent bénéficier de cette situation et le 165 c. roquillym@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 142-175 risque de sanction par le droit de la concurrence semble minime. au niveau européen, les accords de distribution exclusive peuvent bénéficier du règlement d’exemption 2790/99 s’ils répondent à certaines conditions. les entreprises concernées doivent donc être attentives à ne pas insérer de clauses « noires » dans le contrat, sous peine de créer une ressource juridique qui sera plus une source de menace que d’opportunité. si le contrat d’exclusivité ne répond pas aux critères du règlement d’exemption, il reste la possibilité d’obtenir une exemption à titre individuel. la question du recours à une éventuelle exemption ne se pose même pas si l’entente verticale en question n’atteint pas un certain seuil de sensibilité. la nature même du marché en cause (si l’on prend l’un de ceux cités précédemment) peut laisser penser que ce seuil ne serait pas atteint dans le cas de l’iphone. mais un contrat d’exclusivité peut ne pas porter atteinte au libre jeu de la concurrence sur le marché européen, tout en étant potentiellement problématique au niveau national (la concurrence est ici analysée sur un marché national, nécessairement plus restreint). le conseil de la concurrence français, saisi par bouygues télécom, concurrent d’orange, a rendu le 17 décembre 2008 une décision ordonnant des mesures conservatoires à l’encontre des sociétés apple et orange. cette décision a été confirmée par un arrêt de la cour d’appel de paris, en date du 4 février 2009. ces mesures conservatoires se traduisent principalement par l’ordre donné à apple et france télécom de suspendre les dispositions du contrat de partenariat qui faisait d’orange l’opérateur mobile exclusif de l’iphone pour la france, de même que celles désignant orange comme grossiste habilité à titre exclusif à acheter des iphone à des fins de distribution sur le territoire français. au soutien de sa décision, l’autorité de concurrence retient l’existence dans les contrats passés entre apple et orange de clauses « noires » empêchant toute application du règlement d’exemption européen. pour retenir le risque d’atteinte à la concurrence et justifier les mesures provisoires, le conseil de la concurrence prend en considération la durée longue de l’exclusivité (cinq ans) et la difficulté pour le consommateur de contourner ce monopole. il en ressort un risque de cloisonnement du marché et un renforcement de la position d’orange sur le marché des services de téléphonie mobile. il est intéressant de souligner que le conseil de la concurrence et la cour d’appel de paris ont intégré dans leur analyse des données relevant de ce que nous avons qualifié précédemment de convergence digitale : la prédominance de la plate-forme itunes et le succès rencontré par l’ipod. l’autorité de concurrence a aussi apprécié de manière dynamique le positionnement de l’iphone sur le marché, en observant l’évolution des chiffres de vente et des parts de marché. la légalité du contrat passé entre apple et orange est déterminante, notamment parce qu’elle conditionne, au regard du droit français de la concurrence déloyale, la possibilité d’obtenir la condamnation des revendeurs parallèles (roquilly, 1997). si le modèle contractuel est remis en cause par la voie judiciaire, la lutte contre les réseaux parallèles deviendra beaucoup plus délicate. concernant l’australie, capperton et corones (2007) expliquent que le contrat d’exclusivité est prohibé m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 142-175 166 le cas de l’iphone en tant qu’illustration du rôle des ressources juridiques et de la capacité juridique dans le management de l’innovation par le trade practices act de 1974, et le fait que l’activation de l’iphone ne soit possible qu’en exclusivité sur un seul réseau de téléphonie mobile peut être considéré comme une forme de contrat d’exclusivité illégal per se. même si la « double exclusivité » est contournée par une discrimination par le prix (comme en france), ce texte pourrait quand même s’appliquer. la ressource contractuelle peut donc constituer un risque selon le segment territorial concerné au sein de la sphère juridique et en fonction du marché pertinent retenu. la capacité juridique doit s’exprimer à travers l’adaptation du contrat aux particularités de chaque réglementation de la concurrence, à l’évolution de la jurisprudence en la matière, ainsi que, le cas échéant, à une transformation du modèle économique (d’un modèle exclusif vers un modèle standard). la gestion des risques juridiques liés aux contrats de partenariat avec les éditeurs de musique et aux contrats avec les consommateurs les autres ressources dont l’utilisation est susceptible d’entraîner une application du droit de la concurrence renvoient à la coordination entre les contrats de partenariat passés avec les éditeurs de musique, les contrats passés avec les consommateurs via itunes store, les contrats passés avec les acheteurs d’iphone, et le recours au fairplay drm (technologie de verrouillage des fichiers). d’une certaine façon, l’accès à la plate-forme itunes est « préinstallé » sur l’iphone et l’acheteur d’un iphone doit s’y inscrire pour activer le produit. le couplage ipod-itunes store est devenu un classique de l’analyse économique et juridique sur la pratique des ventes liées, et de nombreuses juridictions ou autorités de régulation sont amenées à prendre position. la coordination de diverses ressources par apple – technologiques (et notamment le fairplay drm), marketing, juridiques – a amené l’entreprise à détenir 80 % de part de marché des fichiers musicaux légalement téléchargeables aux états-unis. les contrats de partenariat avec les éditeurs musicaux et le recours au fairplay drm constituent deux ressources clés. le fairplay drm, qui est une variante du standard aac (advanced audio coding), permet de contrôler la redistribution de la musique digitale achetée sur itunes, mais limite l’interopérabilité avec les autres baladeurs numériques et les autres boutiques en ligne (george & chandak, 2005). la question des standards drm est très controversée, sachant que les acteurs majeurs du marché (apple et microsoft) ont des standards concurrents et viables (fairplay aac et wma) (manara, 2008; palfrey, 2005 ; sharpe & olufunmilayo). en avril 2004, la commission européenne a publié une communication afin d’expliquer ce qu’elle attend d’un standard drm7. elle avait eu l’occasion en 2002, dans sa décision ifpi simulcasting, de montrer sa volonté de s’assurer que l’innovation peut continuer à s’épanouir dans le cadre de l’utilisation des technologies digitales, sans qu’une entreprise seule puisse abuser de sa position sur le marché afin d’extraire des rentes de monopole8. le couplage ipod-itunes a fait l’objet de plusieurs plaintes, aux états-unis et dans l’union européenne, le motif principal étant l’absence d’interopérabilité des fichiers musicaux 7. the management of copyright and related rights in the internal market, brussels, april 16, 2004, com (2004), 261 final. 8. case comp/c2/38.014 ifpi simulcasting, 8 october 2002, oj l 107, 30 april 2003. 167 c. roquillym@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 142-175 encodés achetés sur la plate-forme itunes. au niveau de l’union européenne, les décisions de diverses autorités de régulation ont été favorables à apple (notamment le conseil de la concurrence français, par une décision du 9 novembre 2004, et, aux pays-bas, l’autorité de la concurrence, qui a considéré par une décision du 6 septembre 2007 que le marché pertinent n’était pas suffisamment défini et qu’il n’y avait pas d’abus, car pas de couplage direct). les utilisateurs peuvent copier les fichiers sur cd, les transférer sur le disque dur de leur ordinateur, pour ensuite les transférer sur un autre baladeur numérique que l’ipod. les utilisateurs peuvent également transférer sur leur ipod des fichiers musicaux provenant d’autres boutiques en ligne. l’abus dans le recours à ses ressources, notamment juridiques et technologiques, par apple, n’a donc pour l’instant pas été retenu. en revanche, la segmentation et le compartimentage des marchés nationaux par le biais d’une discrimination par les prix présentaient de toute évidence un risque plus important pour apple. c’est pour cette raison que l’entreprise s’est engagée, le 9 janvier 2008, à revoir sa politique de prix de la musique digitale en europe, ce qui a amené la commission européenne à déclarer qu’elle abandonnait son enquête à l’égard d’apple. une gestion nécessairement dynamique eu égard à l’évolution des stratégies contractuelles le nouveau contrat passé entre apple et emi (2 avril 2007) autorise apple à distribuer tout le catalogue digital de musiques d’emi sans drm. les consommateurs ont maintenant le choix entre deux offres : une sur les fichiers musicaux avec drm, à un prix de 99 cents, l’autre sur les fichiers libres de tout drm, à un prix de $1.29, avec une meilleure qualité de son. apple a su coordonner ses ressources afin de dominer le marché à partir d’un modèle économique fondé sur les drm, pour ensuite évoluer vers un modèle sans drm. ce modèle présente toutefois des limites dans la liberté qu’il (re)donne aux consommateurs. comme le note la cour d’appel de paris dans son arrêt du 4 février 2009, les consommateurs possédant déjà une bibliothèque musicale constituée à partir des fichiers achetés sur itunes store, devront acquitter 0,30 euro par chanson pour les convertir au format sans drm. ce surcoût est de nature à freiner les migrations vers la concurrence. le modèle économique est susceptible de nouvelles évolutions. un accès illimité à itunes store pourrait être proposé à tout acheteur d’un terminal, moyennant un surcoût de $1009. dans une telle hypothèse de modèle économique, le couplage illicite sera difficile à démontrer dès lors que le consommateur pourra acheter l’ipod avec ou sans accès illimité à itunes, ou acheter à l’unité les fichiers musicaux sur itunes. toutes ces réflexions sont certes relatives au couplage ipod-itunes, mais peuvent être transposées au couplage iphone-itunes étant donné que la coordination économique entre le produit et le service est identique. les contrats doivent être modifiés selon la possible évolution du modèle économique et, le cas échéant, en fonction du degré de risque qu’ils présenteront par rapport au droit de la concurrence. 9. http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/03/19/ apple-free-music-with-ipods m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 142-175 168 le cas de l’iphone en tant qu’illustration du rôle des ressources juridiques et de la capacité juridique dans le management de l’innovation l’introduction de l’iphone sur le marché, une illustration de l’aptitude de l’entreprise à gérer les risques juridiques issus du déploiement de ses ressources rappelons que selon la seconde proposition formulée dans la section relative à la méthodologie, la capacité juridique de l’entreprise s’exprime également à travers la manière dont elle gère les risques juridiques issus du déploiement de ses ressources, notamment juridiques. comme nous l’avons vu, apple a délibérément adopté une posture offensive dans l’accumulation des droits de propriété intellectuelle, assumant le risque de voir augmenter les conflits avec les titulaires de droits de propriété intellectuelle antérieurs. en accentuant, par sa stratégie marketing, l’emprise exercée sur le marché grâce aux droits de propriété intellectuelle, apple accroît encore le risque de conflit avec d’autres entreprises. celles-ci pourront en effet bénéficier de l’effet médiatique inhérent à un litige lié à l’iphone, l’un des produits phares de ces deux dernières années. en coordonnant ses droits de propriété intellectuelle, qui ont été adaptés aux divers environnements réglementaires, apple a voulu renforcer sa position sur le marché et capturer la valeur qu’elle a su créer. les clauses utilisées dans certains contrats, couplées au leadership d’apple sur le marché des baladeurs numériques et des plates-formes de téléchargement légal de fichiers musicaux, ainsi qu’aux technologies de verrouillage, ont renforcé le risque d’application du droit de la concurrence. la décision du conseil de la concurrence français pourrait être perçue comme un signe de gestion déficiente du risque juridique, et donc d’une faible capacité juridique. on peut penser, bien au contraire, que apple a su utiliser diverses ressources juridiques, coordonnées avec des ressources marketing et technologiques, afin de capturer le maximum de valeur dans un laps de temps relativement réduit. eu égard aux clauses contractuelles évoquées précédemment, une décision hostile de la part du conseil de la concurrence était prévisible. nous considérons que cette décision ne présente pas réellement d’effet perturbateur sur la stratégie d’apple ; elle libère l’entreprise d’un modèle économique dont celle-ci a pu tirer parti, pour évoluer vers un modèle plus ouvert qui permettra à apple de vendre un nombre plus important de produits. 169 c. roquillym@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 142-175 conclusion comme nous l’avons vu, l’étude du cas particulier de l’introduction par apple de l’iphone sur le marché permet d’illustrer les deux propositions avancées dans la section relative à la méthodologie. l’accumulation et la coordination par apple de ressources juridiques – qu’il s’agisse de droits de propriété intellectuelle ou de contrats – soutiennent la stratégie d’innovation de l’entreprise et doivent concourir à la création d’avantages concurrentiels. ces ressources juridiques confèrent à apple une base juridique solide, dont la vocation est aussi bien offensive que défensive. l’aptitude juridique ainsi exprimée – qualifiée de capacité juridique de l’entreprise – n’est pas sans influence sur le marché, notamment sur les concurrents. les droits de propriété intellectuelle et les contrats qu’ils permettent de construire sont coordonnés avec des ressources technologiques et marketing et donnent à apple la possibilité de structurer un modèle économique qui influence le marché. ce dernier réagissant, apple doit alors veiller à faire évoluer ses ressources juridiques, si nécessaire. cela peut être particulièrement le cas si les risques juridiques découlant des ressources juridiques deviennent une menace stratégique (par exemple un risque d’atteinte majeure aux règles du droit de la concurrence, susceptible d’entraîner une modification du modèle économique, ou un affaiblissement de la valeur des droits de propriété intellectuelle). la capacité juridique est par nature dynamique, car potentiellement en reconfiguration permanente. plusieurs variables pourraient expliquer la manière dont s’exprime la capacité juridique d’apple, entre autres la taille de l’entreprise, les ressources financières dont elle dispose, ses objectifs stratégiques. ces éléments conditionnent une faible aversion pour le risque juridique. apple a montré une attitude résolument offensive en matière de droits de propriété intellectuelle et de politique contractuelle, malgré les risques de conflit avec des droits extérieurs, qu’il s’agisse de droits de propriété ou de règles préservant le libre jeu de la concurrence. dans notre article, nous avons mis en évidence comment une entreprise, dans le cadre d’une stratégie d’innovation, peut utiliser les données provenant de la sphère juridique pour construire, coordonner et déployer des ressources juridiques. ces dernières viennent soutenir la création et la capture de valeur, jusqu’aux limites permises par la loi. lorsque ces limites sont franchies, il peut s’agir d’une décision assumée par l’entreprise, en considération des enjeux stratégiques et des ressources à sa disposition. s’exprime ainsi une capacité juridique qui ne se limite pas à une aptitude à la conformité réglementaire, mais qui tire son efficacité d’une habileté à évaluer les champs de possible juridiques et à en déduire des décisions juridiques alignées avec la stratégie. nous sommes toutefois conscients des nombreuses limites de notre article, ainsi que des interrogations qu’il suscite. ainsi, concernant la coordination entre les ressources juridiques et les autres ressources, de futures recherches pourraient être menées afin de déterminer quels sont les process et les routines les plus à même d’accroître la qualité de cette coordination, en particulier lorsque la politique contractuelle m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 142-175 170 le cas de l’iphone en tant qu’illustration du rôle des ressources juridiques et de la capacité juridique dans le management de l’innovation est élaborée à partir de droits de propriété intellectuelle. de la même manière, la question de savoir comment choisir et équilibrer le recours à des ressources juridiques ou à d’autres ressources – afin de gérer les risques – qui renvoie aux alternatives non exclusives présentées dans la matrice du tableau 2, pourrait donner lieu à des travaux portant sur un échantillon significatif d’entreprises, soit dans un même secteur d’activités, soit dans des secteurs d’activités différents. nous avons pu constater que les ressources juridiques développées par apple pour soutenir l’introduction de l’iphone sur le marché génèrent des risques juridiques. le lien entre le type de ressources juridiques, les caractéristiques du marché, les spécificités de l’entreprise, d’une part, et la nature ainsi que la gravité des risques juridiques découlant de l’exploitation des ressources juridiques d’autre part, pourrait être étudié sur un échantillon plus large. nous avons aussi émis l’hypothèse selon laquelle l’attitude de l’entreprise face aux risques juridiques liés à l’exploitation des ressources juridiques va être conditionnée par les autres ressources qu’elle détient, ainsi que par sa stratégie. une analyse pourrait être menée sur un échantillon d’entreprises présentant des caractéristiques similaires à celles d’apple, en vue de vérifier cette corrélation. enfin, au-delà des questions relatives au déploiement des ressources juridiques et à l’expression de la capacité juridique, et du cas particulier d’apple, une interrogation majeure demeure. l’articulation entre ressources juridiques et capacité juridique peut-elle donner naissance à une compétence clé, source d’avantage concurrentiel durable ? pour répondre à cette question, il conviendrait de rechercher si les critères mis en évidence par barney (1991) sont réunis, ce qui revient à se demander si les ressources et la capacité juridiques concernées sont rares, inimitables, non substituables et valables (au sens où elles permettent d’éviter de la destruction de valeur ou de créer de la valeur). des travaux pourraient être consacrés à une étude concentrée sur un secteur d’activités. enfin, il serait utile de pouvoir déterminer s’il existe différents modes de formation et d’expression d’une compétence clé juridique. il est en effet raisonnablement concevable que cette compétence, quand elle existe, s’appuie sur des ressources variables selon des caractéristiques propres à l’entreprise. remerciements : l’auteur tient à remercier vivement pour leurs relectures et leurs remarques très utiles cédric manara, emmanuel métais et philippe véry, ainsi que louis hébert et les trois relecteurs anonymes ayant été chargés d’évaluer cet article et qui en ont permis l’amélioration et la publication. les erreurs et lacunes qui pourraient persister demeurent l’entière responsabilité de l’auteur. il tient également à remercier florence villesèche pour sa patience. christophe roquilly est professeur de droit à l’edhec business school où il dirige le centre de recherche legaledhec sur la performance juridique et la compétitivité des entreprises. après avoir occupé diverses fonctions au sein de l’edhec, et notamment celle de doyen du corps professoral, il se consacre aujourd’hui à ses activités d’enseignement et de recherche, tout particulièrement dans le domaine des interfaces entre le droit, le management et la stratégie d’entreprise. 171 c. roquillym@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 142-175 mars 1996 1998 novembre 1999 mars 2000 2001 juin 2003 16 novembre 2004 16 novembre 2005 4 mai 2006 16 mai 2006 janvier 2007 février 2007 demande d’ enregistre-ment de la marque « iphone » par infogear lancement par infogear d’un téléphone internet la marque « iphone » est enregistrée au profit d’ infogear cisco prend le contrôle d’ infogear cisco tente sans succès de lancer un nouveau modèle cisco prend le contrôle de linksys group cisco doit faire une déclaration d’usage auprès de l’ustpo cisco déclare l’usage ultime délai pour la déclaration d’usage apple annonce la sortie imminente de l’iphone accord ciscoapple annexe 1 chronologie du litige apple-cisco sur la marque « iphone » m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 142-175 172 le cas de l’iphone en tant qu’illustration du rôle des ressources juridiques et de la capacité juridique dans le management de l’innovation . boscheck r. (1994). competitive advantage: superior offer or unfair dominance. california management review 37(1), 132-151. . bowman, c., & ambrosini, v. (2000). value creation versus value capture: towards a coherent definition of value in strategy. british journal of management, 11(1), 1-15. . bush, d., & gelb, b. d. (2005). when marketing practices raise antitrust concerns. mit sloan management review, 46(4), 73-81. . capperton, d., & corones, s. g. (2007). technological tying of the apple iphone: unlawful in australia? queensland university of technology law and justice journal, 7(2), 51-374. . capron, l., & chatain, o. (2008). acting upon competitors’ resources through interventions in factor markets and political markets 2008 academy of management review, 33(1), 97-121. . cespedes, f. v., corey, e. r., & rangan, v. k. (1988). gray market: causes and cures. harvard business review, 66(4), 75-82. . chattopadhyay, p., glick, w. h., & huber g. p. (2001). organizational actions in response to threats and opportunities. academy of management journal, 44(5), 937-955. . christmann, p. (2004). multinational companies and the natural environment: determinants of global environmental policy standardization. academy of management journal, 47(5), 747-760. . cleary, p. j. (2008). the apple cat and the fanboy mouse: unlocking the apple iphone. north carolina journal of law & technology, 9(2), 295-322. références . amit, r., & schoemaker, p. j. h. (1993). strategic assets and organizational rent. strategic. management journal, 14(1), 33-46. . antia, k. d., & frazier, g. l. (2001). the severity of contract enforcement in interfirm channel relationships. journal of marketing, 65(4), 67-81. . argyris, n., & mayer, k. j. (2007). contract design as a firm capability: an integration of learning and transaction cost perspectives. academy of management review, 32(4), 1060 1077. . arora a., & fosfuri, a. (2003). licensing the market for technology. journal of economic behavior and organization, 52(1), 272-295. . arundel, a. (2001). the relative effectiveness of patents and secrecy for appropriation. research policy, 30(4), 611-624. . bagley, c. e. (2008). winning legally: the value of legal astuteness. academy of management review, 33(2), 378-390. . barney, j. b. (1991). firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. journal of management, 17(1), 99-120. . beardsley, s. c., bugrov, d., & enriquez, l. (2005). the role of regulation in strategy. mc kinsey quarterly, 4, 92-102. . bekkers, r., duysters, g., & verspagen, b. (2002). intellectual property rights, strategic technology agreements and market structure: the case of gsm. research policy, 31(7), 1141-1161. . bhatia, v., & carey, g. (2007). patenting for profits. mit sloan management review, 48(4), 15-16 . collard, c., & roquilly, c. (2002). closed distribution network and e-commerce: antitrust issues. international review of law, computers and technology, 16(1), 81-92. . collins, p., & jeffrey brown, d. (1997). national antitrust laws in a continental economy: a comparison of canadian and american antitrust laws. antitrust law journal, 65(2), 495-534. . conner, k. r., & rumelt, r. p. (1991). software piracy: an analysis of protection strategies. management science, 37, 125-139. . cross, j., stephans, j., & ben-cross, j., stephans, j., & benjamin, r. e. (1990). gray markets: a legal review and public policy perspective; journal of public policy and marketing, 9, 183–194. . denicolo, v., & franzoni, l. a. (2004). patents, secrets, and the first inventor defense. journal of economics and management strategy, 13(3), 517-538. . duhan, d. f., & sheffet, m. j. (1988). gray markets and the legal status of parallel importation. journal of marketing, 52(3), 75-83. . edelman, l. b., & suchman, l. c., (1997). the legal environment of organizations. annual review of sociology, 23, 479-515. . elhauge, e. (2003). defining better monopolization standards. stanford law review, 56(2), 253344. . fried, v. h., & oviatt, b. m. (1989). michael porter’s missing chapter: the risk of antitrust violations. academy of management executive, 3(1), 49-55. 173 c. roquillym@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 142-175 . gavil, a. i. (2004). exclusionary distribution strategies by dominant firms, striking a better balance. antitrust law journal, 72, 3-81. . george, c. e., & chandak, n. (2005). issues and challenges in securing interoperability of drm systems in the digital music market. international review of law, computers & technology , 20(3), 271-285. . gibson, j. (2007). risk aversion and rights accreditation in intellectual property law. the yale law journal, 116(5), 882-951. . gifford, d. j. (2002). the antitrust/intellectual property interface: an emerging solution to an intractable problem. hofstra law review, 31, 398-418. . grant, r. m. (1991). the resource-based theory of competitive advantage: implications for strategy formulation. california management review, 33(3), 114-135. . griliches, z. (1990). patent statistics as economic indicators: a survey. journal of economic litterature, 28(4), 1661-1707. . grindley, p. c., & teece, d. j. (1997). managing intellectual capital: licensing and crosslicensing in semiconductors and electronics. california management review, 39(2), 8-41. . hall, r. (1992). the strategic analysis of intangible resources. strategic management journal, 13(2), 135-144. . hansen, g. s., & wernerfelt, b. (1989). determinants of firm performance: the relative importance of economic and organizational factors. strategic management journal, 10(5), 399-411. . haubenreich, j. (2008). the iphone and the dmca: locking the hands of consumers. vanderbilt law review, 61(5), 1507-1553. . hausman, j. a., leonard, g. k., & sidak, g. j. (2007). patent damages and real options: how judicial characterization of noninfringing alternatives reduces incentives to innovate. berkeley technology law journal, 22(2), 825-853. . horstmann, i., mac donald, g. m., & slivinski, a. (1985). patents as information transfer mechanisms: to patent or (maybe) not to patent, journal of political economy, 93(5), 837858. . hylton, k. n., & salinger, m. (2001). tying law and policy: a decision-theoretic approach. antitrust law journal, 69(2), 469-526. . iansiti m., & clark k. b. (1994). integration and dynamic capability: evidence from product development in automobiles and mainframe computers, industrial and corporate change, 3(3), 557-605. . inkpen, a. c., & ross, j. (2001). why do some strategic alliances persist beyond their useful life. california management review, 44(1), 132-148. . jaffe, a., & lerner, j. (2004). innovation and its discontents: how our broken patent system is endangering innovation and progress, and what to do about it. princeton; nj: university press. . katz jones, l. (1999). trademark.com: trademark law in cyberspace. alberta law review, 37(4), 991-1017. . ketchen jr, d. j., hult, g. t. m., & slater, s. f. (2007). toward greater understanding of market orientation and the resource-based view. strategic management journal, 28(9), 961-964. . kirkwood, j. b. (2004). consumers, economics and antitrust in kirkwood, j. b. (eds.), research in law and economics, v. 21, (pp.1-62). elsevier. . kobak jr, j. b. (2005). exhaustion of intellectual property rights and international trade global economy journal, 5(1), 1-13. . lee, s. h., peng, m. w., & barney j. b. (2007). bankruptcy law and entrepreneuship development: a real options perspective. academy of management review, 32(1), 257-272. . lemley, m. (2007). a new balance between ip and antitrust. southwestern journal of law and trade in americas, 13, 237-256. . leonard-barton, d. (1992). core capabilities and core rigidities: a paradox in product development. strategic management journal, 13(8), 111-125. . lepak, d. p., smith, k. g., & taylor, m. s. (2007). value creation and value capture: a multi-level perspective. academy of management review, 32(1), 180-194. . lévêque, f., & ménière, y. (2004). the economics of patents and copyright. berkeley: berkeley electronic press. . lévêque, f., & ménière y. (2006). ipr portection of software: copyright, patent and/or open source. serci workshop, helsinki. m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 142-175 174 le cas de l’iphone en tant qu’illustration du rôle des ressources juridiques et de la capacité juridique dans le management de l’innovation . oliver, c. (1997). sustainable competitive advantage: combining institutional and resourcebased views. strategic management journal, 18(9), 697-713. . oz, e. (1995). software: intellectual property protection alternatives. journal of systems management, 46(4), 50-57. . palfrey, j. (2005). holding out for an interoperable drm standard. in c. b. graber, c. govoni, m. girsberger, & m. nerrova (eds.), digital rights management: the end of collecting societies?, berne: staempfli publishers ltd. . penrose, e. (1959). the theory of the growth of the firm. new york: john wiley & sons. . petkova, a. p., & rindova, v .p. (2006). when is a new thing a good thing? technological change, product form design and perceptions of value for product innovations. wonderground annual conference on innovation and design, lisbonne. . pisano, g. p., & teece, d. j. (2007). how to capture value from innovation: shaping intellectual property and industry architecture. california management review, 50(1), 278-296. . radding, r. j. (2006). trademark owners beware: use of alternate sales channels jeopardizes enforcement against gray market goods. intellectual property and technology law journal, 18(2), 8-11. . reitzig, m. (2004). strategic management of intellectual property. mit sloan management review, 45(3), 35-40. . maijoor, s., & van witteloos-maijoor, s., & van witteloostuijn, a. (1996). an empirical test of the resource-based theory: strategic regulation in the dutch audit industry. strategic management journal, 17(7), 549 569. . manara, c. (2008). musique en ligne, interopérabilité et avantage concurrentiel. concurrences, 2, 63-75. . markman, g. d., espina, m. i., & phan p. h. (2004). patents as surrogates for inimitable and non-substitutable resources. journal of management, 30(4), 529-544. . marron, d., & steel, d. (2000). which countries protect intellectual property? the case of software piracy. economic inquiry, 38(2), 159-174. . maskus, k .e., & chen, y. (2004). vertical price control and parallel imports: theory and evidence. review of international economics, 12(4), 551570. . maurer, s. m., & scotchmer, s. (2006). profit neutrality in licensing: the boundary between antitrust law and patent law. american law and economics review, 8(3), 476-522. . métais, e. (2004). stratégie et ressources de l’entreprise. paris : economica. . mcalexander, j. h., schouten, j. w., & koenig, h. f. (2002). building brand community. journal of marketing, 66(1), 38-54. . miller, d., & shamsie, j. (1996). the resource-based view of the firm in two environments: the hollywood film studios from 1936 to 1965. academy of management journal, 39(13), 519-543. . reuer, j. j., arino, a., & mel-reuer, j. j., arino, a., & mellewight, t. (2006). entrepreneurial alliances as contractual forms, iese business school working paper n° 527, http://www.iese.edu/research/pdfs/di-0527-e.pdf. . roquilly, c. (1997). le droit au service d’une stratégie d’entreprise : le cas des réseaux de distribution sélective. droit et patrimoine, 55, 35-42. . rubin p.h. (1973). the expansion of firms. journal of political economy 81(4): 936-949. . sharpe, n. f., & olufunmilayo, b. a. (2007). is apple playing fair? navigating the ipod fairplay drm controversy. northwestern journal of technology and intellectual property, 5(2), 331-349. . scherer, f. m. (1999). retail distribution channel barriers to international trade. antitrust law journal, 66(1), 77-112. . schumpeter, j. a. (1934). the theory of economic development. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. (new york: oxford university press, 1961). . shy, o., & thisse, j. f. (1999). a strategic approach to software protection. journal of economics and management strategy, 8, 163-190. . sirmon, d. g., hitt, m. a., & ireland, r. d. (2007). managing firm resources in dynamic environments to create value: looking inside the black box. academy of management review, 32(1), 273-292. . sloane, p. s. (2004). preventing the unauthorized importation of altered gray market goods: practical suggestions for us traders and owners. intellectual property and technology law journal, 16(6), 12-15. 175 c. roquillym@n@gement vol. 12 no. 2, 2009, 142-175 . smarzynska, b. k. (2002). composition of foreign direct investment and protection of intellectual property rights. policy research working paper 2786, washington d. c.: the world bank. . smith, p. j. (2001). how do foreign patent rights affect u.s. exports, affiliate sales, and licenses? journal of international economics, 55(2), 411-439. . somaya, d. (2003). strategic determinants of decisions not to settle patent litigation. strategic management journal, 24(1), 17-38. . somaya, d., williamson, i. o, & zhang, x. (2007). combining patent law expertise with r&d for patenting performance. organization science, 18(6), 922-937. . swanson, d. g., & baumol, w. j. (2005). reasonable and non-discriminatory (rand) royalties, standards selection, and control of market power. antitrust law journal, 73(1), 1-58. . teece, d. j., pisano, g., & shuen, a. (1997). dynamic capabilities and strategic management. strategic management journal, 18(7), 509-533. . varsakelis, n. c. (2001). the impact of patent protection, economic openness and national culture on r&d investment: a cross-country empirical investigation. research policy, 30(7), 1059-1068. . wernerfelt, b. (1984). a resource-based view of the firm. strategic management journal, 5(2), 171-180. . yoches, e. r., & levine, a. j. (1989). basic principles of copyright protection for computer software. cacm, 32(5), 541-545. 51lichtenstein benyamin m. bergmann lichtenstein, john r. ogilvie, and mark mendenhall 2002 non-linear dynamics in entrepreneurial and management careers, m@n@gement, 5(1): 31-47. m@n@gement is a double-blind reviewed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.dmsp.dauphine.fr/management/ © 2001 m@n@gement and the author(s). issn: 1286-4892 editors: martin evans, u. of toronto bernard forgues, u. of paris 12 http://www.dmsp.dauphine.fr/management/ m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 31-47 special issue: careers and new science 31 benyamin m. bergmann lichtenstein . john r. ogilvie . mark mendenhall university of hartford email: benyamin@mail.hartford.edu university of hartford email: ogilvie@mail.hartford.edu university of tennessee, chattanooga email: mark-mendenhall@utc.edu non-linear dynamics in entrepreneurial and management careers introduction career development is an important topic in human resource management (callanan and greenhaus, 1999) and in career theory (hall and associates, 1986). the conventional wisdom about career development typically involves three steps: 1/ assessing ones skills, interests, and preferences; 2/ identifying objectives and a realistic plan; and 3/ obtaining training and relevant experiences to follow the plan (london and stumpf, 1982). underlying this approach is the assumption that careers progress over time in small steps through intra-organizational job changes that incrementally increase the individual’s level of responsibility and skill. movement and upward directionality have also imbued the early career literature (jennings, 1971; hall, 1986). jennings was one of the earlier writers to assert that movement was a vital aspect of managing a career; jobs should be changed every two years. rationally choosing the next job, having a clear plan and moving in that direction was important for career success. however, not everyone portrayed careers as systematic progression upward. schein (1978: 22) explained that in career stages, «each cycle contains smooth, even stretches as well as bumpy, obstruction-filled stretches.» recent developments in career and organization theory support the need for a new way to understand careers. first, organizations have dramatic changes in 21st century careers have generated the need for a new set of theoretical lenses that view careers in a more dynamic, fluid way. several characteristics of this new complexity lens that directly apply to dynamic career systems include discontinuities in career progression, non-proportionality of effects of effort, sensitive dependence on initial conditions, viewing a system in terms of constraints and triggers for change, and the impact of mutual causality of structural emergence. two extensive case studies are presented and explained using these concepts, providing an expanded understanding of careers in management and in entrepreneurship. mailto:benyamin@mail.hartford.edu mailto:ogilvie@mail.hartford.edu mailto:mark-mendenhall@utc.edu m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 31-47 special issue: careers and new science 32 benyamin m. bergmann lichtenstein, john r. ogilvie, and mark mendenhall become flatter and more de-centralized, leaving fewer steps in an orderly vertical career progression (gutteridge, 1986). second, the nature of the job—one of the core foundations of traditional career theory—is fundamentally changing. the notion of a “job” as a fixed entity is becoming less relevant in many industries, where formal jobs are being replaced by more temporary, fluid assignments (bridges, 1994; parker and arthur, 2000). moreover, in many industries these dynamic and innovative projects are not simply designed and carried out by large corporations; instead, “temporary organizations” are formed when a market opportunity is linked to a set of competencies that individuals within the industry can enact (faulkner and anderson, 1987). as such, individuals within one of these dynamic industries gain competencies by working on projects within multiple organizations, some of which disappear when the project is completed (jones and defillippi, 1996; jones and lichtenstein, 2000). thus, careers frequently move across traditional organization boundaries and can evolve in unique ways. prominent career theorists of the last two decades, like schein and hall, have also recognized that careers are not as systematic they can sometimes be depicted. organizations have become less orderly and more complex entities (brown and eisenhardt, 1997; dooley, 1997; kelly and allison, 1999), while careers are increasingly recognized as uneven, obstacle-laden processes (lichtenstein and mendenhall, 2002). taken in the context of the dramatic changes in organizational design and environmental dynamism, a more radical reformulation of career thinking may be necessary (bird, 1998). in response to this need, a new set of theoretical lenses is emerging that views careers in a more dynamic, fluid way. a dynamic approach questions the old wisdom of careers as a linear, hierarchical progression that is centered around a specific organization. for example, arthur and his colleagues (arthur, 1994; arthur and rousseau, 1996) used the label “boundaryless careers” to define career progressions that focus on one’s skills and competencies as they develop through participation in projects and assignments spanning several organizations over time. the new sciences can help explain and make sense of a dynamic view of careers as competency development and career progression (gleick, 1987; wheatley, 1993; bird, 1998). one branch of the new science is “complexity” research, which focuses on the emergence of structures in interdependent systems such as careers (holland, 1998; anderson, 1999; black, 1999; kelly and allison, 1999). according to insights from complexity science, the emergence of structures, like the progression of competencies, is not a linear, incremental process, but happens in a discontinuous, unpredictable fashion from apparently chaotic origins (lichtenstein, 2000a). when understood in the context of dynamic interactive systems like project ventures, non-linearity also provides a pragmatic framework for making sense of careers that cross traditional boundaries as opportunities present themselves (lichtenstein and mendenhall, 2002). this paper will present a few key principles of emergent order from a complexity perspective, and relate them to the dynamic organizing that m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 31-47 special issue: careers and new science 33 non-linear dynamics in entrepreneurial and management careers happens in boundaryless careers. these concepts will be illustrated through two extended case examples, with the goal of helping individuals understand how their careers are impacted by system-wide dynamics like non-linearity and emergence. non-linearity in careers defining characteristics of emergent order careers can be understood as dynamic, interactive systems in which competencies meet opportunities in unexpected ways (bird, 1994; defillippi and arthur, 1994; arthur and rousseau, 1996). a useful vocabulary for understanding and explaining these qualities can be drawn from complexity science and dynamic systems theories (gleick, 1987; dooley, 1997; eve, horsfall and lee, 1997). the characteristics of complexity research that apply to dynamic career systems include discontinuities in career progression (thelan and smith, 1994), nonproportionality of effects of effort (goerner, 1994), sensitive dependence on initial conditions (thiétart and forgues, 1995), and viewing a system in terms of constraints and triggers for change (lichtenstein, 2000a). each of these concepts will be briefly introduced, then illustrated in two case studies that follow. one of the hallmarks of complexity is the recognition that systems do not develop in incremental, gradual ways, but through discontinuities— cycles of slow movement punctuated by bursts of change. on the surface, a period of densely clustered events appears to indicate intense progress, whereas periods with virtually no movement can feel like stagnation. however, theories of complexity recognize that all events are interdependent, which means that every experience, however seemingly inconsequential, is inexorably linked to the evolution of the system as a whole. this creates an often unnoticed cumulative buildup of experiences which, if properly triggered, can “explode” into an emergent structure that brings all of the events together in a new, unexpected way. a closely linked aspect of dynamic systems is non-proportionality. in traditional linear systems models, a given input will cause a proportional output response. in contrast, a dynamic system rarely exhibits this kind of regular behavior. instead in an interdependent system that has built up a lot of cumulative energy and experience, outputs are not directly proportional to inputs. for example, after an especially challenging day during a period of high stress and intensity, our response to a small problem may be much more explosive than the problem actually warrants. likewise, career experiences can exhibit this quality of non-proportionality. the pace of new projects or assignments can vary over time (bridges, 1994) as can the results or outcomes derived from them relative to the amount of effort (jones and defillippi, 1996). initial efforts may yield little benefits despite extensive efforts, while later efforts with minimal effort can lead to unexpectedly large outcomes. these nonproportionalities are inherent to dynamic systems like careers. m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 31-47 special issue: careers and new science 34 benyamin m. bergmann lichtenstein, john r. ogilvie, and mark mendenhall a third characteristic of dynamic systems is sensitive dependence on initial conditions. in conventional terms, system outputs loop back to the inputs, providing feedback. when the feedback loops in dynamic complex systems are non-proportional, the systems take on special properties that are referred to as chaos. chaotic systems appear random, but from a mathematical perspective, at every point in time the system remains within a specific region of behavior, called an attractor. the key insight from chaos theory is that the entire system attractor is highly sensitive to initial conditions (lorenz, 1963; gleick, 1987). in other words, one small action or distinction made early on in the system’s formation will be dramatically amplified over time, creating a chain reaction that can transform the system itself (briggs and peat, 1989). at the same time, a particular issue or quality can become embedded in the system, keeping it stuck within a relatively small arena of behavior. fourth, dynamic systems can be explained with reference to external constraints on action, and internal triggers for change. constraints are more than blocks or impediments—they are system-wide issues that limit the total amount of energy that can flow into the system itself. triggers are also systemic, creating “cubic centimeters of chance” that can be leveraged if and when the individual is open to them. more than opportunities, triggers are critical change points, which can allow individuals to generate a new attractor or region of behavior for their career. these four qualities offer a new lens with which to view traditional and non-traditional careers. these can be illustrated through the following case of sarah, whose 20-year career appears traditional and organization centered. however, the new lens from dynamic systems theory helps identify discontinuous elements in her career, the periods of nonproportional activity, the sensitive dependence on initial conditions in her career, and the impact of external constraints and systemic triggers that she used to create new opportunities for herself. sarah’s management career sarah began her career after high school working as a licensing clerk for a security firm. sensing little future in this position, she enrolled in a computer school and received a certificate in office information systems. sarah applied her training to her next jobs, first as a technician for two years and then as a word processing supervisor for another two years. she worked well and pleased her boss. however, he liked her performance so much that he would not allow her to apply for other jobs in the large insurance company. sarah became frustrated by the stagnation and apparent lack of opportunities. she explored a new industry, making a lateral move to an executive secretary position at a locally based manufacturing corporation, reporting to a divisional vice president of finance. here, she acquired additional competencies such as presentation and budgeting skills; however, the division was closed down a few years later. m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 31-47 special issue: careers and new science 35 non-linear dynamics in entrepreneurial and management careers sarah transferred to corporate headquarters in 1991. due to her strong performance, she was appointed to a payroll consolidation project that her boss was running. she enjoyed work on this project and learned about the compensation side of human resources. one manager on the task force offered her a job as an hr associate. sarah had not completed her bachelor’s degree; hence she was limited to the associate position instead of a generalist one with more responsibility. still, this position expanded her horizons. her assignments involved assisting in the restructuring of a unit, a project that extended her prior work on payroll consolidation. this work was somewhat out of the range of the typical hr associate’s assignments. the manager who hired her into the restructuring position then left. a new manager, karen, took a special interest in sarah (becoming her mentor) and giving her new assignments to stretch and develop her such as gathering data and completing equal employment opportunity reports, merit planning, and benefits. sarah then took another roughly lateral step to one of the divisional headquarters. sarah’s new boss was a financial manager who judgmentally scrutinized sarah’s work while not developing her skill base. during this manager’s tenure, sarah became interested in an hr generalist position; however, the lack of a college degree limited her progress. she made a proposal for on-the-job training and movement into a hr generalist position but her critical manager declined, stressing the need for a college degree. sarah had been taking two courses a semester pursuing her baccalaureate degree but had about sixteen courses remaining. some months later around 1995, sarah applied for a generalist position at a nearby division of the corporation. this was a heavy manufacturing division and sarah worked extensively with labor representatives, further building her hr skill repertoire. she continued here for four years quietly developing her skills. in 1999, she applied for a promotion into another corporate division. the first time she did not receive the position (because of her degree). the position was given to a journalism major without much background in hr. when this individual did not work out, sarah was called and asked to apply again for the position. this time she received the offer. later that year she was nominated as the division’s united way representative. individuals are chosen for this role because of their reputation, personality and high potential in the organization. sarah had mixed feelings about the position. it offered her visibility with senior management and opportunities to network, but the prior representative was laid off upon returning from the full time service assignment. after speaking about her concerns with karen her mentor, she accepted the offer and found the assignment helpful in developing new competencies such as public speaking, organization building and leadership. as the united way activities were finishing, a corporate-wide freeze on hiring was established, confirming her earlier fears. then, someone left in the management of expatriates area, and sarah was told that she had to take this position. she started training for the new position and began training a replacement for her current position. m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 31-47 special issue: careers and new science 36 benyamin m. bergmann lichtenstein, john r. ogilvie, and mark mendenhall then, that position was withdrawn, and she returned to the hr generalist position she had held prior to the united way post. she again has a new boss and that individual is offering her enriching experiences, such as greater involvement in business partnering with internal clients. her managers have repeatedly encouraged her to complete her degree and she is making progress. they have also suggested that enrollment in their executive mba program is possible in the near future after completion of her bachelor’s degree. the non-linear dynamics in sarah’s career sarah’s career involved several discontinuities. she began her work career as a licensing clerk, then moved to office systems as a technician and then as a supervisor and finally executive secretary work before making a larger jump into human resources. the periods in between these moves lasted from a few months to several years, including the period of technical schooling between her clerking and office systems careers. although her modal time in positions was two years, the intervals were neither regular nor predictable. since moving into the field of hr, she has spent approximately three and one-half years in the associate position and another four as a generalist before moving to another division and accepting the united way staff position, which lasted a 3-4 months. although she is currently experiencing some uncertainty about the immediate future, her career seems poised for another shift or abrupt change. as with the prior changes, the timing of this one will be variable and hard to predict. second, her career was not strictly progressive in terms of regular upward movements. the move from office systems supervisor to executive secretary entailed some increase in status but was mostly lateral. even the move from executive secretary to hr associate was not a large upward step, but more lateral in nature. it was, nonetheless, a major change in function and raised the ceiling for later progression. although the steps were irregular and uneven, the development of skills was cumulative. the office systems and listening skills of secretarial work are useful for hr systems and listening to clients needs in a partnering context. this cumulation of competencies has been more crucial to her career development than the few promotions she has received. third, sarah’s career exhibited several instances of non-proportionality. in some periods she worked long and hard with no apparent payoff. for example, she spent 3-4 years in labor activities when she began as an hr associate, with no tangible consequence. at other times she made larger moves, due to an unexpected opportunity, such as the payroll consolidation project or the united way position. fourth, project opportunities and competency development were a key to her success. these short-term assignments provided access to people and to the generation of new skills that she could leverage in ways that significantly expanded her career options. for example, the m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 31-47 special issue: careers and new science 37 non-linear dynamics in entrepreneurial and management careers initial restructuring position proved to be a breakthrough opportunity. here, she gained a positive reputation, leading to recognition by a manager that hired her into a new, expanded role. this position developed career momentum and initial energy. similarly, the united way position extended her reputation throughout the corporation, interacting with representatives and senior management from all divisions. these contacts will lead to new potential opportunities that have yet to be realized. finally, the presence of constraints and triggers were significant and crucial to her career. two of her bosses became roadblocks to her success, keeping her away from desired opportunities. her lack of a college degree was often mentioned as a constraint, yet she was still able to gain access to jobs with higher responsibility, in part due to her commitment and progress toward completing the degree. she also used education as a trigger in her technical training, which provided the initial impetus for movement into office systems. karen continues to serve as sarah’s mentor, pointing out opportunities and giving advice. even during this stagnant period, she maintained contact with karen to remain motivated and to find out about possible opportunities. sarah’s case highlights the role of projects and of mentors in creating trigger points for change. at the same time, these triggers would have been ineffective without the long periods of very slow but patient competency building, which set the stage for her to take advantage of a confluence of opportunities. as such, the internal dynamics of careers can take on a life of their own, as competencies cumulate and emerge as structural opportunities that bring the individual into new realms of competency development. emergent career opportunities represent situations for learning and growth for both the individual and the company. from the individual perspective, each project assignment allowed sarah to expand her skill base by pursuing tasks and facing situations she had not previously faced. from the organizational perspective, sarah provided needed resources for the achievement of specific organizational goals. in this way the development of career competencies has motivating benefits for the individuals involved and for the larger organizational system. as such, the continuous development and learning of members is a critical component of sustaining competitive advantage, and is a hallmark of dynamic careers systems thinking (hall and associates, 1986; morrison and hock, 1986; lichtenstein and mendenhall, 1999; boyatzis and kolb, 2000) for boundaryless careers, the actual outcomes of projects may be less important than development of competencies of individuals working on them. thus, learning organizations encourage risk-taking and new projects as a means of pushing individual and organization competencies (bowen, clark, holloway and wheelwright, 1994). as these project experiences contribute nonlinearly to individual career development, so do the contributions of individuals contribute nonlinearly project and organizational success. these concepts are illustrated in the following entrepreneurial case study. m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 31-47 special issue: careers and new science 38 benyamin m. bergmann lichtenstein, john r. ogilvie, and mark mendenhall michael’s entrepreneurial career michael’s diverse and entrepreneurial career started after receiving his college degree—a b.a. in history. although he graduated from a prestigious liberal arts college, in his words he «never set out to do anything.» at the same time, he recognized two skills that he knew he could be confident in: he was an excellent salesman, with an ability to sell just about anything to anyone. michael was also the most persistent and diligent person he knew. he took a job selling cars in a large local dealership, making what was then (particularly to a college graduate) a significant amount of money. his parents, however, along with his mentors and other family members, decried his new job, arguing that being an automobile salesman did not befit his phi beta kappa education. they insisted that he use his degree in a more “productive” way. after several months of arguments, he agreed to take a job at “region national bank,” where his starting salary was half of his previous income. he worked for four years there and at two other evening jobs just to stay ahead of his expenses. by 29 years old he had lost his job, was virtually broke and had very little that looked positive in his future. fortunately, he did secure a position at “bigco business credit” as a lending officer in the machinery and equipment sector. living paycheck to paycheck, he felt he had begun to develop an interesting career. after some time he was asked to develop new “lending specialties” at bigco—lines of credit for industries in which there was no history of business financing. in other words, he was given stacks of reject loan files, and told to «do something with these files!» the stack of rejects represented businesses that no one was willing to lend to, and michael was giving the task of creating business credit programs for these industries. michael was innovative and persistent, and pioneered capitalization programs for numerous emerging or misunderstood industries including jet aircraft, investment-grade diamonds, fine arts, and the exploration of in-ground oil and gas. in each case, he had to learn everything about the industry and develop his own acumen for convincing large financial institutions to finance these areas. his persistence and sales acumen paid off, and he was successful in initiating and institutionalizing the practice of business credit financing for companies in these areas of commerce. one of the areas he became involved in was the communications industry, creating a specialty in the financing of radio, television, cable, and satellite businesses. of all the industries he had worked with, this one was the most interesting and dynamic, and he threw himself into it. by the late 1970s bigco business credit was the only institutional lender to private communications companies in america, initiating over $350 million in loans annually. in 1981 bigco was sold to barclays’ bank, and michael found himself part of a slow and massive international bureaucracy which did not fit his style. a year later he quit, having only two real assets to his name— a $50,000 nest egg, and a reputation for being the only source of m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 31-47 special issue: careers and new science 39 non-linear dynamics in entrepreneurial and management careers financing in the radio and television broadcasting industries. he made a spontaneous decision to set up a company helping others buy and finance radio and tv stations. he knew how to structure financing deals, and he figured that by charging a fee for work he had been doing for more than half a decade, he could lead his own entrepreneurial business. michael chose a partner with whom he had worked in the past, and they got started using only their own meager capital. with virtually no excess cash they secured the temporary use of a large storage closet in a friend’s office building, turned it into an office by setting up two phone lines on cheap metal desks, and put themselves in high gear. their first deal was a small television station in vermont, which they agreed to purchase for $4,000,000. after agreeing to the purchase— without knowing where the capital would come from—michael and his partner got on the telephone day and night, seeking financing for the turn-around station. they pulled the deal together and bought and managed the station, which flourished under their leadership. four years later they sold the tv station for nearly $25,000,000. this initial deal drew the attention of a large-scale investor, who wanted to develop an entire consortium of stations. the investor wanted to meet michael and his partner in their office, which the investor assumed would be a well-appointed corporate headquarters in a fancy professional building. michael and his partner quickly said yes to the visit, and, thinking on their feet, rented a fancy conference room in an across-the-hall law firm. acting as if the conference room was their own, they brought in a delicious meal and a meaty proposal, and won the bid for the work. within a week of the financing deadline michael and his partner had raised over $100,000,000 and tied up what would be the initial linchpin deal in their entrepreneurial business. setting up this high-profile consortium was the initial catalyst to their long-term success. from 1982 to 1995 the small company generated an annual average of $350 million in loan deals, creating the largest private investment-banking firm for the communications industry in america. in addition to financing deals worth over $2.25 billion, michael and his partner purchased and managed their own group of stations which grew to 20 radio and 10 television companies throughout the united states. connections between michael’s and sarah’s career like sarah, michael’s early career exhibited several qualities of nonlinearity. he experienced several periods of minimal external development punctuated by larger, unexpected shifts in jobs and in competency development. like sara, michael’s movements were not progressive—his shift from salesman to banking clerk left him with less money and less responsibility, and his enforced move to work with rejected loans could have been experienced as a step backward in his portfolio. similar to sarah his college degree acted as a kind of conm@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 31-47 special issue: carrers and new science 40 benyamin m. bergmann lichtenstein, john r. ogilvie, and mark mendenhall straint—although sarah’s lack of career limited the pace of her development, michael’s “prestigious” alma mater also created limits to his early development. michael’s early decisions, like sarah’s, set up initial conditions that affected key opportunities; in both cases their entire career history reveals a “sensitive dependence” on these initial conditions, which generated a constrained arena within which their career decisions and opportunities were “attracted” over time. mutual causality and the emergence of order a big difference between sarah and michael is the dramatic emergence of structure in michael’s entrepreneurial career, generated through serendipity, non-proportionality, and another important construct of non-linearity: mutual causality. mutual causality is a quality that appears in some dynamic systems, where the causation of one element in the system immediately catalyzes the creation of another element in the system, which in turn generates more of the first element, which then generates more of the second, and so on, in an accelerating feedback loop (goerner, 1994). examples of these types of mutually catalytic systems have been found in arenas as diverse as biochemistry (eigen and schuster, 1979), economics (arthur, 1990; day and chen, 1993), and social evolution (jantsch, 1980; adams, 1988). according to scholars of non-linear dynamics and self-organization, when interdependent systems exhibit mutual causality, new structures can emerge spontaneously, generating dramatic possibilities for the system. at bigco business credit, the need to create funding programs in new or risky industries generated a new position to solve this need. at the same time, michael’s innovative and persistent approach to developing these specialties generated an opportunity in each of these industries: as soon as one business found funding or capitalization, another business in the industry learned about the potential and made contact with michael’s new department. this increased need catalyzed an increase of resources at michael’s command as his superiors recognized his success. this increase in resources and success catalyzed more attention on the programs, thus increasing requests and participation by other businesses in the industry. in this way, the industrybased need for these funding programs, and michael’s ability to satisfy this need, exemplifies a mutually causal system. as much as the businesses’ needs catalyzed michael’s position, so michael’s position catalyzed similar businesses’ needs, which catalyzed an increase in michael’s responsibilities, and so on, in an expanding spiral of dynamic activity. even more powerful is the mutually causal impact that michael and his partner had on the growth of the radio and television industry. here again, the needs and possibilities of organizations in the communications industry were the catalyst for michael’s development of financing opportunities in that industry. at the same time, these financing opportunities were catalysts for the growth of the industry. from 1982 through 1995, television and radio financing in the u.s. grew dramatically with double-digit percentage growth increases in most years. m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 31-47 special issue: careers and new science 41 non-linear dynamics in entrepreneurial and management careers michael’s firm was an important element of that increase; but more importantly, his unique approach to business finance and management was a catalyst for that industry’s growth. the billions of dollars of acquisition capital provided by michael’s firm was a very substantial accelerant to fuel the industry’s dramatic growth. moreover, his internal management system became widely accepted, and is now utilized throughout the industry. mutual causality was at the root of michael’s entrepreneurial success, creating a business that generated a cash flow of $5,000,000 (annual average) and revenues in the tens of millions of dollars. according to theories of self-organization (prigogine and stengers, 1984; lichtenstein, 1998), emergent structures like entrepreneurial businesses are the natural result of interactions within these highly dynamic systems. when these interactions display mutual causality, an increase in energy and resources can push the system to a far-from-equilibrium state, sparking the spontaneous generation of new structures that have the capacity to take in even more of these resource opportunities (swenson, 1989; 1992; lichtenstein, 2000a; 2000b). as capacity increases, so does the recognition and acting on external opportunity, a dynamic that is particularly crucial in entrepreneurial firms (shane and venkataraman, 2000). competency development, responsibility, and emergence in careers like the emergence of entrepreneurial business, the emergence of competencies in careers can also be viewed using the tools of new science. consistent with previous arguments, competency development is nonlinear and is best developed in interactive, responsive systems exhibiting interdependence and mutual causality. responsibility and opportunity are essential elements of this process (arthur and rousseau, 1996). an individual in a “protean career” requires a high level of self-awareness and personal responsibility to succeed (hall, 1986). taking responsibility for continuously improving one’s skills is the key to increase opportunities for learning and success. this interaction was expressed by both sarah and michael, and the science of complexity helps explain how this interaction works. although taking responsibility for continuously improving skills and developing competencies are keys for successful project-based work, some may question how this process is nonlinear. the principle of mutual causality provides one explanation. competence or capability and responsibility influence one another in mutual ways—they both emerge in the wake of the other. career theorists have shown how learning and growth arise in interactions that are interdependent, mutual and reciprocal (hall, 1986). for these project-based systems to work, shared responsibility between the individuals is needed. for example, katzenbach and smith (1993) identified responsibility as a key element to the success of team-based systems, most of which are based in projects. responsibility and responsiveness produce nonlinear learning, which in turn led to new opportunities (keeney, 1983). both cases reflect a responsiveness to opportunity as the individuals m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 31-47 special issue: careers and new science 42 benyamin m. bergmann lichtenstein, john r. ogilvie, and mark mendenhall develop their competencies preparing them for the next opportunity, whenever it may arise. these cycles of movement are also nonlinear in the sense that developing competencies, making social contacts, and taking on new responsibilities require energy expenditures that may not yield proportionate returns. sarah’s responsibility for her ongoing education, and her desire to continue learning in each position she held, has generated non-proportional affects in her career, exemplified by an initial slow build-up of competencies, until two key projects expanded her capacity in nonlinear ways, generating important new opportunities for her career. in michael’s case, responsibility has always been a key to his career success, as he said very directly: «i made my career by being the guy at the circus who walks behind the elephant with the shovel. i trained myself to be the most dependable person, the “go-to” guy in every situation. there’s nothing that i won’t do; this has given me the reputation of being dependable, reliable, and someone to be counted on. with this level of responsibility, one’s competency grows over years and years, which increases the contacts and competencies one can gain over time. the implications of this and the other facets of non-linearity are discussed next. implications of a non-linear approach to careers viewing careers from a nonlinear dynamic perspective generates a number of practical implications. rather than recommending specific actions per se, these suggestions are meant to educate and motivate individuals to take certain categories of actions over time that may influence their work lives in a positive manner. similarly, to the extent that managers can shift their mindsets regarding careers—recognizing that careers are not controllable in a linear sense but are emergent in a nonlinear sense—healthier strategies for career management strategies should ensue. for both individuals and managers, implications from non-linear dynamics include perseverance and responsibility, careers as containers for competencies, seeing mistakes as learning, and taking advantage of leverage points. perseverance and responsibility as mentioned above, when individuals exhibit responsibility in their career, the competencies, skills, and contacts generated are not in proportion to the energy the individual expends. this nonlinear process is expressed by a logarithmic curve—earlier in the career more work produces little outward development, whereas over time there are bigger and bigger rewards for the energy one puts in. when one changes professions these levels of development do not drop to zero; previous learning accumulates over the long term, creating new opportunities that may seem disconnected from one’s previous expertise (mirvis and hall, 1996). m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 31-47 special issue: careers and new science 43 non-linear dynamics in entrepreneurial and management careers from the nonlinear perspective, the progress can be viewed from the long-term results of various inputs into the system over time. rather than focusing on the socio-economic status of a single job (e.g., how much the job pays) the non-linear career creator will focus on the numerous skills s/he is learning at any time, and on how those skills can be applied in other areas. in addition, shifting from being reactive against the appearance of a job to being responsive to the job’s learning potential can allow one to identify new opportunities and take advantage of them. in other words, by trusting perseverance, and by continuously enacting an ability to respond in a network, positive change can be produced (lichtenstein and mendenhall, 2002). careers as containers for competencies numerous scholars of knowledge-based careers have recognized the importance of key competencies such as “knowing-why”, “knowinghow”, and “knowing-what” in boundaryless careers (bird, 1994; defillippi and arthur, 1994; jones and defillippi, 1996). specifically, “knowing-why” identifies the passions and meanings individuals make of their careers (jones and lichtenstein, 2000), and the interplay of these individual values with the culture of the specific company or industry one is working in (parker and arthur, 2000). “knowing-how” identifies the individual-based knowledge necessary for accomplishing a job, and the company-based and industry-based knowledge necessary for creating new opportunities and building a career. “knowingwhom” identifies the social contacts that can provide these opportunities or resources, whether inside an organization or throughout an entire industry network. from a non-linear perspective, then, competency development and lifelong learning are satisfying and crucial elements for building a successful career (lichtenstein and mendenhall, 2002). seeing mistakes as learning another useful implication of non-linear perspectives focuses on how these competencies are gained over time. because the career creator understands the logarithmic nature of a career, behaviors that were once labeled as failures can now be evaluated as “learning” and as “investments.” similarly, behaviors once labeled as “successes” are more accurately seen as “evidences of learning” and “gaining competencies,” or the interaction between external circumstances and individuals’ efforts to learn and grow. overall the goal of learning is the long-term accumulation of skills and experience, rather than individual approach to a particular job or task. in this sense, every career experience provides some “transferable skills” (bolles, 1978) that can build up and be leveraged over time. taking advantage of leverage points in the process of constant learning, are there principles or conditions that support career success over career failure? as mentioned above, the competencies of knowing-what, knowing-how and knowing-whom can push one’s career forward into an accelerating motion (jones and m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 31-47 special issue: careers and new science 44 benyamin m. bergmann lichtenstein, john r. ogilvie, and mark mendenhall defillipi (1996). however, in and of themselves, these skills may not necessarily produce a functional career. a greater level of success revolves around finding and using leverage points. leverage points are catalysts, elements of a system that if toggled can produce large, amplified effects (holland, 1998). where an individual fully takes responsibility in his/her career and has a choice to behavior in their professional life, the leverage points can be best identified and used. the qualities of self-awareness, responsiveness, learning, and listening are keys to finding these levers of opportunity (lichtenstein and mendenhall, 2002). when one’s actions are consistent with the competencies of response-ability, freedom and willingness, those actions will be felt more powerfully, leading to greater longterm benefits in one’s career. an awareness of the dynamical and emergent nature of career systems and a willingness to constantly learn about those dynamics increase the likelihood that these leverage points will be identified and acted on, improving one’s career in unexpected, non-linear ways. conclusion: individual and societal responsibility for dynamic careers both sarah and michael experienced this nonlinear growth, which put each of them in positions to leverage the past for greater and greater benefits in the present and future. others in jobs like sarah’s position have not moved or grown. perhaps they have not been as responsive or as skilled or had the benefit of mentors who could provide opportunities for mutual gain. if someone is not connected to a social network that encourages such opportunities, an initial career pattern may continuously repeat itself, where the individual simply does not have the tools to break out of it. these individuals become stuck in single jobs or dead-end careers. at some point, they cease to exert more than minimal effort, since no amount of momentum appears to generate a shift in that behavior pattern (lichtenstein and mendenhall, 2002). in other cases, it is the lack of social opportunity that constricts the amount of responsibility that one can take for their own learning and competency development. that is, some individuals find themselves in limiting social structures that are self-reinforcing of defeat and failure. even if they decided to re-exert themselves, they no longer have opportunities and the reputation to interact and affect the system. in other words, it is the lack of social opportunity that limits the amount of responsibility that one can take for their learning and competency development. in these cases, although the individuals may recognize that responsibility is a key to competency, there are internal and social constrains on the type of responsibility that can be expressed, and on the long-term potentialities that can be reached. though responsibility is an inexorable catalyst for nonlinear emergence, the capacity to take responsibility is socially defined as much as it is individually learned (robbins, 1991; csikszentmihalyi, 1993). in this way society is implicated as an actor in individual careers, for the m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 31-47 special issue: careers and new science 45 non-linear dynamics in entrepreneurial and management careers ability to gain access to necessary initial career opportunities is moderated by issues of socioeconomic class and other sociological effects. yet, as the cases of sarah and michael demonstrate, within those constraints each person has the capacity to utilize their responsibility to a great extent. we would suggest that the extent to which individuals do exert high levels of responsibility and aspiration for developing competencies, they will generate careers that are nonlinear, dynamic, and expansive. this expansive quality may be a key to generating a successful managerial profession or creating a unique new venture. if so, then non-linear dynamics and complexity theory can be useful for understanding and enacting entrepreneurial and management careers. endnote. special thanks to payal gada for her editing of the third section, and especially to helmi cotter for her wonderful support and friendship. benyamin m. bergmann lichtenstein is an assistant professor of entrepreneurship and management at the barney school of business, university of hartford. his entrepreneurship research focuses on the emergence of new firms, learning in new companies, and major transformations in small business. benyamin is exploring unique approaches to entrepreneurial resource acquisition and leveraging competencies for new business growth. as director of the entrepreneurial studies program at the barney school, benyamin has dramatically expanded participation in the major over the past three years, and has helped several students get into business themselves. john r. ogilvie, associate professor of management, received his ph.d. in industrial/ organizational psychology from michigan state university and has taught courses in human resource management, organizational behavior, and bargaining & negotiations at the university of hartford since 1988. his research has explored issues related to organizational commitment, group feedback and nonlinear information processing, and nonlinear system dynamics in careers. he has also co-authored a cd-rom simulation and workbook on strategic assessment of human resources. mark mendenhall holds the j. burton frierson chair of excellence in business leadership in the college of business administration at the university of tennessee, chattanooga. he is past president of the international division of the academy of management. he has co-authored 7 books, the most recent being: developing global business leaders: policies, processes, and innovations (2001, with torsten kühlmann and günter stahl; quorum books) and has published numerous research articles on international human resource management issues which have appeared in such journals as: academy of management review, sloan management review, journal of international business studies, management international review, international journal of intercultural relations, columbia journal of world business, journal of management inquiry, journal of management history, and human resource management. mark has done consulting work for ibm-asia pacific, ibm-japan, national aeronautic and space administration (nasa), boeing, the space & rocket center (nasa), st3.com, the dixie group, and has also presented numerous training seminars on leadership and other management-related issues. m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 31-47 special issue: careers and new science 46 benyamin m. bergmann lichtenstein, john r. ogilvie, and mark mendenhall references ■ adams, r. n. 1988 the eighth day: social evolution as the self-organization of energy, austin, tx: university of texas. ■ anderson, p. 1999 complexity theory and organization science, organization science, 10(3): 216-232. ■ arthur, m. b. 1994 the boundaryless career: a new perspective for organizational inquiry, journal of organizational behavior, 15(4): 295-306. ■ arthur, m. b., and d. m. rousseau (eds.) 1996 the boundaryless career: a new employment principle for a new organizational era, new york, ny: oxford university press. ■ arthur, w. b. 1990 positive feedbacks in the economy, scientific american, 262:2: 92-99. ■ bird, a. 1994 careers as repositories of knowledge: a new perspective on boundaryless careers, journal of organizational behavior, 15(4): 325-344. ■ bird, a. 1998 toward a new science of careers: models and metaphors from the physical sciences, academy of management conference, boston, ma. ■ black, j. 1999 editor's introduction: entrepreneurial implications arising from complexity theories’ fundamental assumptions, journal of business and entrepreneurship, 11(special issue): iii-ix. ■ bolles, r. n. 1978 what color is your parachute?, berkeley, ca: ten speed press. ■ bowen, h. k., k. b. clark, c. a. holloway, and s. c. wheelwright 1994 development projects: the engine of renewal, harvard business review, 75(5): 110-120. ■ boyatzis, r., and d. kolb 2000 performance, learning and development as modes of growth and adaptation throughout our lives and careers, in m. peiperl, m. arthur, r. goffee, and t. morris (eds.), career frontiers, new york, ny: oxford university press: 7698. ■ bridges, w. 1994 job shift: how to prosper in a workplace without jobs, reading, ma: addision-wesley. ■ briggs, j., and f. d. peat 1989 turbulent mirror: an illustrated guide to chaos theory and the science of wholeness, new york, ny: harper & row. ■ brown, s. l., and k. m. eisenhardt 1997 the art of continuous change: linking complexity theory and time-paced evolution in relentlessly shifting organizations, administrative science quarterly, 42(1): 1-34. ■ callanan, g. a., and j. h. greenhaus 1999 personal and career development: the best and worst of times, in a. i. kraut and a. k. korman (eds.), evolving practices in human resource management: responses to a changing world of work, san francisco, ca: jossey-bass, 146-171. ■ csikszentmihalyi, m. 1993 the evolving self: a psychology for the third millennium, new york, ny: harpercollins. ■ day, r., and p. chen 1993 nonliner dynamics and evolutionary economics, new york, ny: oxford university press. ■ defillippi, r. j., and m. b. arthur 1994 the boundaryless career: a competency-based perspective, journal of organizational behavior, 15(4): 307-324. ■ dooley, k. 1997 a complex adaptive systems model of organization change, nonlinear dynamics, psychology and life sciences, 1(1): 69-97. ■ eigen, m., and p. schuster 1979 the hypercycle: a principle of natural self-organization, berlin, springer-verlag. ■ eve, r. a., s. horsfall, and m. e. lee (eds.) 1997 chaos, complexity, and sociology: myths, models, and theories, thousand oaks, ca: sage. ■ faulkner, r. r., and a. b. anderson 1987 short-term projects and emergent careers: evidence from hollywood, american journal of sociology, 92(4): 879-909. ■ gleick, j. 1987 chaos: making a new science, new york, ny: penguin. ■ goerner, s. j. 1994 chaos and the evolving ecological universe, langhorne, pa: gordon and breach. ■ gutteridge, t. 1986 organizational career development systems: the state of the practice, in d. t. hall and associates (eds.), career development in organizations, san francisco, ca: jossey-bass, 50-94. ■ hall, d. t. 1986 breaking career routines: midcareer choice and identity development, in d. t. hall and associates (eds.), career development in organizations, san francisco, ca: jossey-bass, 120-159. ■ hall, d. t., and associates (eds.) 1986 career development in organizations, san francisco, ca: jossey-bass. ■ holland, j. h. 1998 emergence: from chaos to order, new york, ny: perseus books. m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 31-47 special issue: careers and new science 47 non-linear dynamics in entrepreneurial and management careers ■ jantsch, e. 1980 the self-organizing universe: scientific and human implications of the emerging paradigm of evolution, new york, ny: pergamon press. ■ jennings, e. e. 1971 routes to the executive suite, new york, ny: mcgraw-hill. ■ jones, c., and r. defillippi 1996 back to the future in film: combining industryand self-knowledge to meet career challenges of the 21st century, academy of management executive, 10(4): 89-104. ■ jones, c., and b. lichtenstein 2000 the ‘architecture’ of careers: how career competencies reveal firm dominant logic in professional services, in m. peiperl, m. arthur, r. goffee, and t. morris (eds.), career frontiers, new york, ny: oxford university press: 153-176. ■ katzenbach, j. r., and d. k. smith 1993 the wisdom of teams: creating the high-performance organization, boston, ma: harvard business school press. ■ keeney, b. p. 1983 aesthetics of change, new york, ny: guilford press. ■ kelly, s., and m. a. allison 1999 the complexity advantage, new york, ny: mcgraw hill. ■ lichtenstein, b. m. b. 1998 self-organized change in entrepreneurial ventures: a dynamic, non-linear model, unpublished doctoral dissertation, boston, ma: boston college/umi. ■ lichtenstein, b. 2000a emergence as a process of selforganizing: new assumptions and insights from the study of nonlinear dynamic systems, journal of organizational change management, 13(6): 526-544. ■ lichtenstein, b. 2000b self-organized transitions: a pattern amid the “chaos” of transformative change, academy of management executive, 14(4): 128-141. ■ lichtenstein, b., and m. mendenhall 1999 emergent order in boundaryless careers, in m. p. e. cunha and c. a. marques (eds.), organization science: organizational change in a changing context, lisboa, instituto superior de psicologia aplicada, 481-488. ■ lichtenstein, b., and m. mendenhall 2002 non-linearity and responsibility: emergent order in 21st century careers, human relations, 55: 53-80. ■ london, m., and s. a. stumpf 1982 managing careers, reading, ma: addison-wesley. ■ lorenz, e. n. 1963 deterministic nonperiodic flow, journal of the atmospheric sciences, 20: 130-141. ■ mirvis, p., and d. t. hall 1996 psychological success and the boundaryless career, in m. b. arthur and d. m. rousseau (eds.), the boundaryless career: a new employment principle for a new organizational era, new york, ny: oxford university press, 237255. ■ morrison, r., and r. hock 1986 career building: learning from cumulative work experience, in d. t. hall and associates (eds.), career development in organizations, san francisco, ca: jossey-bass. ■ parker, p., and m. arthur 2000 careers, organizing, and community, in m. peiperl, m. arthur, r. goffee, and t. morris (eds.), career frontiers, new york, ny: oxford university press, 99122. ■ prigogine, i., and i. stengers 1984 order out of chaos: man’s new dialogue with nature, new york, ny: bantam books. ■ robbins, a. 1991 awaken the giant within, new york, ny: summit books. ■ schein, e. h. 1978 career dynamics: matching individual and organizational needs, reading, ma: addison-wesley. ■ shane, s., and s. venkataraman 2000 the promise of entrepreneurship as a field of research, academy of management review, 25(1): 217-226. ■ swenson, r. 1989 emergent attractors and the law of maximum entropy production: foundations to a theory of general evolution, systems research, 6(3): 187-197. ■ swenson, r. 1992 order, evolution, and natural law: fundamental relations in complex system theory, in c. negoita (ed.), cybernetics and applied systems, new york, ny: marcel dekker, 125-147. ■ thelan, e., and l. b. smith 1994 a dynamic systems approach to the development of cognition and action, cambridge, ma: mit press. ■ thiétart, r. a., and b. forgues 1995 chaos theory and organization, organization science, 6(1):19-31. ■ wheatley, m. 1993 leadership and the new science: learning about organization from an orderly universe, san francisco, ca: berrett-koehler. 184giordano paperback: 376 pages publisher: oxford university press (2014) language: english isbn: 978-0198703082 unplugged book reviews special forum: around the communicative constitution of organizations perspective françois cooren, eero vaara, ann langley & haridimos tsoukas (2014), language and communication at work: discourse, narrativity and organizing. perspectives on process organization studies, oxford: oxford university press. reviewed by yvonne giordano gredeg (umr 7123), université de nice sophia-antipolis yvonne.giordano@unice.fr the unplugged section edits some book reviews special forums dedicated to a topic, an author or a theoretical perspective. this second forum considers three important volumes gravitating around the communicative constitution of organizations perspective. originated in a seminal contribution from one of our reviewers, robert mcphee, who based his work on giddens’s structuration theory, this perspective experienced different avenues and forms now a “rather heterogeneous theoretical endeavor” (schoeneborn et al., 2014). montreal school of organizational communication constitutes one of the main pillars of this perspective; james r. taylor and françois cooren recently offered some stimulating volumes, carving out their own path within organizational communication studies. the cco perspective has significantly disseminated in the field of organizing studies and an effective conversation henceforth unfolds with various discursive studies. l’évènement fondateur du contrat social ne remonte pas à quelque petit matin préhistorique de l’humanité ; on le repasse à chaque conversation. bougnoux (1989: 254) ! the fourth work in the series perspectives on process organization studies is linked to the annual international symposium on process organization studies (june 2012). this collection is devoted to voices that claim that organizations have to be explored as processes in the making (hernes, 2007 ; langley & tsoukas, 2010). françois cooren, eero vaara, ann langley, and m@n@gement 2015, vol. 18(4): 321-328 321 1.‘in his latest book, cooren (2015) explains how we can differentiate between discourse with a “d” as relatively durable, and institutionalized, focusing on repetition, and reproduction (textual modality), and discourse with a “d”, as erratic, grounded and local which focuses on the eventful character of conversation and interaction (conversational modality) (see, in particular, pp. 4−10). haridimos tsoukas invite us to articulate organizational process research studies with various theoretical discursive perspectives, using the fruitful metaphor of work. main purpose and structure of the volume ! as mentioned at the very beginning of the book, language and communication at work means many things and can be related to a large variety of theoretical and methodological approaches. for decades, linguistics, discourse1 analysis and communication studies have gained a respectable status in the organizational literature, especially since the eighties, with the “interpretive turn” (putnam & pacanowsky, 1983). nevertheless, they were often used in a functionalist or restrictive way by organizational scholars. language and communication were focused on language alone as if they were in a vacuum and detached from other sociomaterial practices, activities, and actions. organizations, in turn, were often metaphorically understood as containers of communication (putnam, phillips, chapman, 1994), as “a bracketed space in which communication occurs” (ashcraft, kuhn & cooren, 2009: 9). ! at the same time, and since then, other scholars have maintained that language and communication have to move beyond these narrow views. not only are they part of organizational life (or work) (borzeix & fraenkel, 2001) but they are also constitutive of work (engeström & middleton, 1996; lacoste, 2001) − and, more widely − organizing (boden, 1994; cooren, taylor & van every, 2006; mcphee & zaug, 2000; putnam, et al., 1994; putnam & nicotera, 2009; taylor, 1993; taylor & van every, 2000; weick, 1979). part of this book is deeply embedded in this last approach. the editors add two other intricate processual questions: how language and communication actually work, i.e. do things in the broad contexts of organizing and what role they play as part of strategic and institutional work in and around organizational phenomena (p. 2). moreover, the main purpose is to articulate various theoretical views of language and communication (at work) with organizational processual perspectives, which are the essence of these annual series. the challenge is exciting: ‘knitting’ these views with organizations-in-the-making streams of research constitutes a new step for cross-disciplinary studies that will illuminate the organizational process research agenda (langley, smallman, tsoukas & van de ven, 2013; tsoukas & chia, 2002). ! the book consists of 13 chapters, including the introduction, which is written by françois cooren, eero vaara, ann langley, and haridimos tsoukas. the authors come from different disciplines, thus establishing a valuable dialogue between them: communication, (socio)linguistics, sociology, psychology, organizational behavior, management and organization studies, marketing, strategic management. broadening the scope of “(at) work” to include pluralistic meanings opens up various avenues for collaboration between organizational and communication research, as suggested by ashcraft et al. (2009). many of the chapters are based on empirical material and employ various strategies and methods, such as ethnomethodology/conversation analysis (chapter 4), ethnography (chapters 3, 6, 11, and 12), narrative analysis (chapter 10), and critical discourse analysis (chapter 3). other chapters are more conceptual and theoretically oriented (chapters 2 and 5), illustrative (chapters 7 and 8), or questioning of methodology (chapters 9 and 13). ! another interesting feature of the book is the large variety of contexts and settings under scrutiny: meetings (chapters 3, 4, and 5), a large electricity company (chapter 5), a mountaineering expedition (chapter 6), the design of a large organization (chapter 7), a management coaching conversation (chapter m@n@gement, vol. 18(4): 321-328! book reviews special forum 322 2. james r. taylor is considered as the founding father of the montréal school of organizational communication, at the origin of the constitutive view that we briefly sum up hereafter. 8), the famous 2005 stanford commencement speech given by steve jobs (chapter 10), the resuscitation bay of an emergency department (chapter 11), three regional health authorities (chapter 12), and the research process itself (chapter 13) . ! the editors suggest that one should read the volume through four ‘lenses,’ and reflect on the methodological questions and challenges they open up. ! the four lenses are as follows: − the constitutive role and power of communication; − the discursive and communicative practices that form a constitutive part of the daily life of organizations; − the emphasis on temporal (and spatial) construction and reconstruction in discursive practices; − the connection of discursive practices with other social and material ones. through the book: an overview of the four lenses these four lenses are unequally present through the book but all in all, the different chapters illustrate how they can help us to theorize how “discursive work” matters for processual research studies. communication as constitutive of organization (cco) to a greater or lesser extent, the entire book may be read as a defense of a ‘strong’ view of communication which flows through some scholars as a way of theorizing communication as well as organizations. as mentioned above, the first restrictive/functionalist perspectives maintained that communication was “located within a reified, materialistic organizational structure” (putnam, et al., 1994: 375). according to us, after the first “révolution de palais” (taylor, 2003: 3) of the interpretive turn (putnam & pacanowsky, 1983) mentioned earlier, the second one happened when james taylor’s (1993)2 “conversation/text theory” gave rise to more radical views of communication, subsequently embedded in what scholars labelled “communication as constitutive of organization” (cco) (mcphee & zaug, 2000; putnam & nicotera, 2009). ! to put it briefly, this perspective will develop the idea of the organizing properties of communication, the term “constitutive” being referred to and interpreted in various ways, and not necessary familiar to all organizational and management scholars. taking the ‘stronger’ version, communication cannot be reduced to what people say and write even if interactions are taken up in subsequent encounters: they are not sufficient to constitute an organization (cooren, 2015; cooren & fairhurst, 2009). the argument goes beyond interactional patterns as building blocks of the organization (boden, 1994). incorporating latour’s work (1996, 2005), the cco turn focuses “on how and what people do things locally, but […] extend[s] this action-oriented approach to […] non-human actors, which can have textual forms [statuses, rules, protocols] or not [spatial arrangements, uniforms, furniture]” (cooren & fairhurst, 2009: 124 and 137). cco scholars do not focus solely on human interactions and sensemaking activities; they extend the concept of communication to what nonhumans do. thus, this turn has to be understood, not as a refinement of other theories, but as a radical shift: “discourse (or communication in general) constitutes the very means by which organizational forms […] are brought into being” […]. discourse consists of a series of acts that transforms the world, as minimal and iterative as these transformations may be” (cooren, 2015: 12 and 59, author’s emphasis). the introduction and part of the present volume are book reviews special forum" m@n@gement, vol. 18(4): 321-328 323 clearly constitutive-oriented: “it is through communication that we get organized and act collectively” (p. 10). four chapters can be clearly included in the (radical) cco approach. ! honoring the founder of this constitutive turn, the core of the volume opens up with chapter 2, written by james taylor himself, inspired by the reading and re-examination of thomas hobbes’s leviathan. he discusses the emergence and construction of the organization as an entity with the identity of a person who then is repeatedly reconstructed in the conversations and texts generated by their members. through this process − impersonating the organization − these members can thereby establish their own authority (taylor & van every, 2014) as its agents, translators, and representatives. by reversing austin’s (1962) concept of “speech act”, chapter 5 focuses on “action discursivity”: if words do things, acts speak also. why ? because acts involved in collective activity – considered as a dialogical discourse – are also signs which point to socially built meanings, across time and space, that is to say instituted and stabilized areas of meanings. clearly embedded in the constitutive view, chapter 7 analyzes the design of a large organization as a communicative constitution of space. we can remember that, by expanding our conception of language and communication, not only words but also spatial arrangements, habits, practices, furniture, artifacts, principles, and values, do also communicate. this chapter illustrates how a strong version of communication can reframe the topic of design activity associated with organizational space. using “a sociomaterially−informed cco view” (p. 163), the authors aim to extend it to design, linking the interactional with the material space of design’s enactment: “[t]o design […] is to do sociomaterial work, and that work can be illuminated by cco-based visions of relational agency, authoritative texts, and spaces” (p. 167). spatial arrangements tell us something about what or who is made present or absent in and through them. chapter 11 refers to the same approach and will be discussed later. practices of language use more than 20 years ago, in her provocative work, boden (1994: 8), claimed that the business of talk is “not just fleeting details of the moment”. as part of the daily life of organizations, discursive practices may be observed as micro-interactions per se, focusing on a very local level. they can also be explored as (re)producing, confirming features, procedures, and routines, and transforming the social or organizational life by the way. “[organizations] are constituted moment to moment, interaction to interaction, day to day – across the durée of institutional time” (ibidem). many chapters are inspired by this work, adding or articulating other theoretical traditions such as critical discourse analysis or rhetoric. ! in chapter 8, micro-practices of management coaching are carefully analyzed through a conversation with a middle manager, a specific form of talkat-work. the authors differentiate between discursive views (historically forms of ideas) and discursive practices (locally/contextually produced achievements). they wonder which discourses the speakers draw upon within their narrations, and how they enact them through discursive practices (p. 179). the analysis of four episodes of a conversation shows how a set of predefined managerial discourses tend to be actively (re-)enacted by the coach. at the same time, “the coach tunes in to the manager’s discourse in a supposedly sympathetic way by highlighting, mirroring, and commenting on the emotionally laden aspects of the narration” (p. 190) while enrolling him in her favored interpretations. the analysis “leads to the assumption that management coaching attempts to indirectly shape employees’ behavior by controlling the intimate constructions of their selves” (p. 191). chapter 10 explores how myths are created and sustained. drawing on different literatures, the chapter provides a three-part framework based on narrative analysis and the literature about myths, in order to analyze the famous m@n@gement, vol. 18(4): 321-328! book reviews special forum 324 2005 stanford commencement speech given by steve jobs. “the speech can be seen as narrative-at-work as it reveals rhetorical processes at play when constructing and reconstructing organizational myths” (p. 8). myth-making is analyzed as a process in which myths of heroic business leaders are communicatively created, maintained, reproduced, and institutionalized through time and spaces. ! chapters 3 and 4 echo a recurrent theme in critical studies: language and communication are not power and control-free (fairclough, 2005; mumby, 1988). these scholars aim at denouncing forms of control, inequality, and oppression that language use contributes to producing, reproducing, and also altering. meetings are central loci of these processes: in chapter 3, ruth wodak shows how language is demanding work in a meeting of european union decisionmakers, in particular when analyzing the micro-level discursive dynamics involved (p. 6). from an ethnomethodology-driven perspective, chapter 4 analyzes a strategy meeting through the first-order practices of its members. it focuses on how people use category-bound reasoning procedures through which “they make their own organization”. talk actively brings into being organizational attributes, as people use accounts of power(-talk) and politics(-talk) during social interactions to make sense in meetings. the authors show that studying language-in-use in naturally occurring interactions is a fruitful contribution to grasping how accounts by members “not only describe the world, but […] reveal its constitution” (p. 75). while critical studies treat power and politics primarily as external ‘forces,’ operating ‘outside’ talk, and constraining/shaping social action, here, power and politics are analyzed as unstable outcomes of a never-ending sensemaking process that members accomplish themselves. communicating as timing and spacing ! this third lens is less present throughout the book. this is surprising, because the very purpose of the series is directly linked to time/timing, which is at the heart of all processes (langley et al., 2013). if other chapters include time/ timing, only two (chapters 6 and 11) tackle “a key question related to the processual paradigm, i.e. how language and communication allow us to enact specific times and spaces in which we can then navigate” (p. 11). these two chapters echo in part the special issue of organization (november 2004), where cooren and fairhurst (2004: 794-795), by means of a detailed schematic analysis of organizational interactions, showed “how interactions contribute – and sometimes fail to contribute – to the fabrication of spatio-temporal closures which define the structures of organizing processes”. this early study opened up new ways of analyzing coordination processes, particularly in high-reliability organizing (ibid.: 805). in doing so, they have given flesh to the concept of “double interact” in weick’s (1979) research, which has greatly inspired organization and communication theories (putnam & nicotera, 2009). ! mengis and hohmann (chapter 11) focus on the work of collaborators in the resuscitation bay of an emergency department. based on a focused ethnography, they study how multiple professional groups have to coordinate in order to stabilize and diagnose a critically ill patient when the task at hand evolves and develops in unexpected directions (p. 261). three temporal practices are identified: fabricating the present, re-performing the past in the present, and expanding the future present. recent past and imminent future are conversationally and materially drawn into the present. coordinating involves temporal work, so time is not understood as a contextual ‘given’ background within which coordination practices are embedded: it is an outcome of communicative activity. time is neither in the analytical background nor an objective reality but the “active – both conversational and material – drawing together […] of the temporally distributed attempts of coordinating work” (p. 263). book reviews special forum" m@n@gement, vol. 18(4): 321-328 325 in keeping with the cco approach, the study also highlights “how materiality and its close entanglement with conversational practices come into play” (p. 286). ! located in a more ‘exotic’ place – a mountaineering expedition in south patagonia – chapter 6 is inspired by cooren and fairhurst’s (2004) frame mentioned above. it shows how, in this specific project-based organization, “time, space and calculation are not only discursively and conversationally constructed: they are also constitutive of the expedition in and of itself” (p. 139). coping with non-human entities − the raging ocean and the stormy weather ‘spoke’ very loudly − insufficient information gathering and unexpected disruptions, the initial project (crossing the darwin cordillera for the first time in history) turned into a modest few “firsts” in a limited area around mount shipton/darwin. “the crow’s flight” as a context-specific chronotope (bakhtin) was used as a flexible unit of timeand space-communicative calculation during the expedition and afterward, in a subsequent movie and conferences. it allowed the climbers to make sense of unexpected situations when sensemaking was a daily puzzle, so that they could frame and reframe spatiotemporal objectives as well as the project itself through time and space. placing language and communication in their sociomaterial context ! we can interpret such a title in at least two ways: − a ‘loose’ one, considering that materiality is the background and language and communication the figure. such a meaning is another way of going back to the container metaphor or of bringing human-centered interactions and meaning making into the center of the picture. if communication never takes place in a vacuum, materiality is the ground upon which communication stands up; − a second way, more disruptive, is first related to the work of bruno latour (1996, 2005) and then re-appropriated by the cco turn, and also by other scholars who argue for bringing materiality back in (carlile, nicolini, langley & tsoukas, 2013/2014). both consider that “who or what communicates can certainly be individuals, but also architectural elements, artifacts, and even principles, ideas or values” (cooren, 2015: 9). saying that communication never takes place in a vacuum suggests that we must examine the interrelationships of communication and other social and material practices. language and communication are not only ‘beside’ a material world; they are entangled (gherardi, 2012; jones, 2013/2014) in a world which ‘speaks’ also because nonhuman entities do things. this is not just to say that the cco turn is sociomaterially sensitive, but also that agency results from a hybridization of humans and non-humans. reconceptualizing communication in this way “acknowledges the interactions between entities of variable ontologies” (cooren & fairhurst, 2009: 139), and not only human beings. ! chapter 11 (discussed above) shows how “organizational actors coordinate their distributed activities by mobilizing a textual world of understandings and a sociomaterial world of practical concerns in conversations” (authors’ emphasis) (p. 264). in the same vein, chapter 7 shows that assemblages of heterogeneous elements (interests, persons, technologies) produce agency, realized through interactive events. using a practice lens (nicolini, 2012), chapter 12 shows how moral judgment making is enacted, “in situ, by individuals through their dialogical interactions with co-present others, as well as with non-present or ‘imagined’ others, and material artifacts at hand” (p. 299). the framework emphasizes that such an accomplishment is not only a local achievement; it takes into account the wider group of non-present actors and other authoritative resources as “fairness”, as a higher-order principle which transcends the ‘here’ and ‘now’ of the contingent local interactions. m@n@gement, vol. 18(4): 321-328! book reviews special forum 326 reflecting on our challenges for a constitutive view of organiz-ing two chapters notably respond to this invitation. chapter 9 brings the reader from the present state of storytelling research to “the cutting edge of process theory in storytelling” (p. 197). david boje and rohny saylors explore “‘quantum storytelling’ as a new kind of ontological perspective that helps to better understand processual aspects of organizational narrativity” (p. 8). chapter 13 brings an interesting methodological perspective by challenging conventional research as well as conceptions of researcher’s reflexivity. drawing on lévinas’s work, the authors contend for “an ethical openness to the other [i.e. professional participants] and an exposure to the teaching of the other – a vulnerability of the self [i.e. the researcher]” (p. 327). this provocative perspective locates reflexivity in inter-subjective (conversational) experiencing and not only in the researcher “as a peculiar kind of self-controlling, knowledge-generating, reflexive voyeur” (p.  326). by doing so, the power and perils of this position they name “other-vulnerability”, leave the researcher (and the research process) in an open – but uncomfortable position. he moves from the frozen “said” to a knowing-with standpoint − the “saying” − while sacrificing his self-security of knowing-about (p. 331). thus, such a position calls for a humbling and a subordination of the researcher as an ‘expert’ vis-à-vis his conversational partners as other experts too. going further ? ! by emphasizing the role that discursive perspectives (in general) play in unfolding organizational processes, the volume encourages scholars to go on with language and communication as a part of but also as constitutive of them. if some chapters resolutely challenge existing traditions, others apply them to specific organizational contexts and processes at various levels of analysis. the whole book – dedicated to process organization studies − intends to show that we have to depart from a narrow view of communication per se: if matter matters, language and communication also matter, be they in the details of local interactions or in more ‘macro’ unfolding processes. communication not only brings organizations alive in bounded episodes, but also transforms them through time and space. ! in their highly stimulating survey, ashcraft et al. (2009: 2) invited “management and communication scholars to a common conversation”, stressing that fruitful interdisciplinary collaborations could be engaged. we could add that many of the practice-based scholars share many views with the language and communication literature (e.g. gherardi, 2012; nicolini, 2012), and more specifically on the subject of organizational materiality. the same closeness appears when reading the previous volume in this series, how matter matters. objects, artifacts and materiality in organization studies3 (carlile et al., 2013/2014). readers interested in the cco approach will find many chapters which seem to be very close to it, in particular those written by john shotter and mathew jones. these convergences about ontological and epistemological foundations could pave the way for developing promising collaborative research avenues – perhaps in a future symposium? book reviews special forum" m@n@gement, vol. 18(4): 321-328 327 references ashcraft, k.l., kuhn, t.r. & cooren, f. (2009). c o n s t i t u t i o n a l a m e n d m e n t s : “ m a t e r i a l i z i n g ” organizational communication. the academy of management annals, 3(1), 1-64. austin, j.l. (1962). how to do things with words. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. boden, d. (1994). the business of talk. organization in action. cambridge: polity press. borzeix a. & fraenkel, b. (eds.). (2001). langage et travail. communication, cognition, action. paris: cnrs editions. bougnoux, d. (1989). vices et vertus des cercles. l’autoréférence en poétique et pragmatique. paris: la découverte. carlile, p.r., nicolini, d., langley, a., & h. tsoukas, h. (eds.), (2013/2014). how matter matters. objects, artifacts and materiality in organization studies. oxford: oxford university press. cooren, f. (2015). organizational discourse. cambridge: polity press. cooren, f. & fairhurst, g.t. (2004). speech timing and spacing: the phenomenon of organizational closure. organization, 11(6), 793-824. cooren, f. & fairhurst, g.t. (2009). dislocation and stabilization: how to scale up from interactions to organization. in putnam, l.l., & nicotera, a.m. (eds.). building theories of organization. the constitutive role of communication (pp. 117-152). new york, ny: routledge. cooren, f., taylor, j.r. & van every, e. (eds.). (2006). communication as organizing. mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum. engeström, y & middleton, d. (1996). cognition and communication at work. cambridge: cambridge university press. f a i r c l o u g h , g . h . ( 2 0 0 5 ) . d i s c o u r s e a n a l y s i s i n organization studies: the case for critical realism. organization studies, 26(6), 915-939. gherardi, s. (2012). how to conduct a practice-based study. problems and methods. cheltenham: edward elgar. hernes, t. (2007). understanding organization as process. london: routledge. jones, m. (2013/2014). untangling sociomateriality. in carlile, p.r., nicolini, d., langley, a., & h. tsoukas, h. (eds.). how matter matters. objects, artifacts and materiality in organization studies (pp. 197-226). oxford: oxford university press. lacoste, m. (2001). quand communiquer, c’est coordonner. communication à l’hôpital et coordination des équipes. in borzeix a. & fraenkel, b. (eds.), (2001). langage et travail. communication, cognition, action (pp. 323-342). paris: cnrs editions. langley, a., smallman, c., tsoukas, h. & van de ven, a. (2013). process studies of change in organization and management: unveiling temporality, activity, and flow. academy of management journal, 56(1), 1-13. langley, a. & tsoukas, h. (2010). introducing perspectives on process organization studies. in hernes, t. & maitlis, s. (eds.). process, sensemaking and organizing (pp. 1-26). oxford: oxford university press. latour, b. (1996). on interobjectivity. mind, culture and activity, 3(4), 228-245. latour, b. (2005). reassembling the social: an introduction to actor-network theory. oxford: oxford university press. mcphee, r.d. & zaug, p. (2000). the communicative constitution of organizations: a framework for explanation. the electronic journal of communication/ la revue electronique de communication, 10(1/2), 1-16. mumby, d.k. (1988). communication and power in o r g a n i z a t i o n s : discourse, ideology a n d d o m i n a t i o n . norwood, nj: ablex. n i c o l i n i , d . ( 2 0 1 2 ) . practice theory, work and organization: an introduction. oxford: oxford university press. putnam, l.l. & nicotera, a.m. (eds.). (2009) building theories of organization. the constitutive role of communication. new york, ny: routledge. putnam, l.l. & pacanowsky, m. (eds.). (1983). communication in organizations. an interpretive approach. beverly hills, ca: sage. putnam. l.l., phillips. n. & chapman. p. (1994). metaphors of communication and organization. in clegg, s.r., hardy, c. & nord, w.r. (eds.). handbook of organizational studies (pp. 375-408). thousand oaks, ca: sage. schoeneborn, d., blaschke, s., cooren, f., mcphee, r.d., seidl, d. & taylor, j.r. (2014). the three schools of cco thinking : interactive dialogue and systematic comparison. management communication quarterly, 28(2), 285-316. shotter, j. (2014). reflections on sociomateriality and dialogicality in organization studies: from ‘interto intra-thinking’… in performing practices. in carlile, p.r., nicolini, d., langley, a. & tsoukas, h. (eds.). how matter matters. objects, artifacts and materiality in organization studies (pp. 32-57). oxford: oxford university press. ta y l o r, j . r . ( 1 9 9 3 ) . r e t h i n k i n g t h e t h e o r y o f organizational communication: how to read an organization. norwood, nj: ablex. taylor, j.r. (2003). organizational communication: is it a discipline?. the kurt baschwitz lecture. university of amsterdam, june 12, 22p. taylor, j.r. & van every, e. (2000). the emergent organization. communication as its site and surface. mahwah: lawrence erlbaum. taylor j.r. & van every, e. (2014). when organizations fail: why authority matters. new york, nk: routledge. tsoukas, h. & chia, r. (2002). on organizational becoming: rethinking organizational change. organization science, 13(5), 567-582. weick, k.e. (1979). the social psychology of organizing. 2nd ed., new york, ny: random house. www.management-aims.com m@n@gement, vol. 18(4): 321-328! book reviews special forum 328 3. the symposium took place in june 2011.  73casanueva � markus reihlen, thorsten klaas-wissing, and torsten ringberg 2007 metatheories in management studies: reflections upon individualism, holism, and systemism, m@n@gement, 10: 3, 49-69. accepted by co-editor hugh gunz copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). m@n@gement is a double-blind refereed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.management-aims.com © 2007 m@n@gement and the author(s). m@n@gement issn: 1286-4892 editors: alain desreumaux, u. de lille i martin evans, u. of toronto bernard forgues, u. de lille i hugh gunz, u. of toronto martina menguzzato, u. de valència m@n@gement est la revue officielle de lʼaims m@n@gement is the official journal of aims http://www.management-aims.com http://www.strategie-aims.com m@n@gement, vol. 10, no. 3, 2007, 49-69 49 markus reihlen . thorsten klaas-wissing . torsten ringberg chair of international managementrwth aachen email: markus.reihlen@im.rwth-aachen.de chair of logistics management universität st.gallen email: thorsten.klaas@unisg.ch school of business administration university of wisconsin-milwaukee email: ringberg@uwm.edu metatheories in management studies: reflections upon individualism, holism, and systemism three metatheoretical positions, known as individualism, holism, and systemism, are salient in management research programs. the world views of individualism and holism in particular are a matter of controversy between social scientists, leading to serious shortcomings in the prevailing research programs. as we argue in this paper, neither view is adequate. a cogent alternative to both is systemism, which integrates the valuable insights of individualism and holism without their drawbacks. the paper illustrates the specific implications of each of these world views for knowledge management research. introduction: the rivalry between metatheoretical positions in the development of theories to describe and explain the behavior of economies, companies, and individuals, researchers have, consciously or otherwise, relied on metatheoretical ways of looking at human behavior. metatheories in this sense are not theories, as such, relating to an empirical (real) object of investigation like enterprise, management behavior, or market transactions, but come into play at an earlier stage. looked at generally, a metatheory is a collection of fundamental assumptions on which the investigation of research and technological problems is based. in this sense, metatheoretical assumptions are the nutriment for reflections upon theories (bunge, 1999: 178). the views embraced by management scholars are based on a variety of assumptions relating to at least three components (bunge, 1996: 242-243). firstly, they assume a view on the nature of socio-economic phenomena (ontological assumptions). should we see firms as accumulations of individuals who coordinate their mutual relationships through contracts, as collective action-units with goals of their own, or as systems integrated into society, which are neither totally independent of, nor entirely determined by, their environment? secondly, there are assumptions relating to what form of investigation is appropriate to the object in question (epistemological and methodological assumpmailto:markus.reihlen@im.rwth-aachen.de mailto:thorsten.klaas@unisg.ch mailto:ringberg@uwm.edu m@n@gement, vol. 10, no. 3, 2007, 49-69 50 markus reihlen, thorsten klaas-wissing, and torsten ringberg tions); these are partly determined already by the first set of assumptions, but this is not always necessarily the case. what is an appropriate method for investigating organizations? should we rely on empirical facts, on our reason, or on intuition? can we investigate organizations by studying their component parts, or via their global characteristics (e.g., social structures)? thirdly, a metatheoretical perspective of this kind is tied up with assumptions relating to values and norms of social and economic actions (axiologic-moral assumptions). should we see the freedom of the individual (maximization of individual benefit) or his/her responsibility to the community at large (maximization of collective benefit) as the primary goal of socio-economic action? in the social sciences, a number of different, internally consistent metatheoretical world views have established themselves, and these are reflected in economic and management theories. in this connection, there has been, since the älterer methodenstreit (controversy over methods) between menger (1883; 1884) and schmoller (1883), a debate between individualist (otherwise voluntarist or atomist) and holist (otherwise collectivist, structuralist or determinist) positions, propagated by such prominent social philosophers as weber, popper, von hayek, marx, durkheim, and parsons (for an overview, see o'neill, 1973; vanberg, 1975). to date, leading social and economic research programs have developed along this dual track into individualist and holist approaches without, however, overcoming the reasons for their differences. this becomes immediately clear when one realizes that individualists basically want to explain socio-economic phenomena by using features of the elements of social systems, thereby losing sight of an important event, namely phenomena with emergent property features. conversely, the holist position is equally problematic, as it focuses on the structures and thereby gives more prominence to collective than to individual features, thus leaving unexplained compositional features in the system. in the social sciences, and in particular in organization and management theories, efforts to integrate the two approaches have received recognition from different theoretical views (e.g., giddens, 1984; granovetter, 1985; krohn and küppers, 1990; kauffman, 1993; dosi and nelson, 1994; sikora, 1994; mckelvey, 2001). the emerging alternative “third way” between individualism and holism was more recently formulated into a coherent metatheoretical approach by the philosopher mario bunge (1979; 1989; 1996; 1998; 2000). his so-called systemism accounts for both individual agency and social context in explaining social systems and has become influential in philosophy. however, it has yet to gain a stronger foothold within management research which is still dominated by either individualistic or holistic approaches. our objective in this paper is to explore contradictory ontological, epistemological, methodological, and axiologic-moral assumptions of the two existing metatheories and show how systemism incorporates the advantages of the previous two. to demonstrate the application of each metatheory, we analyze particular contradictions within the knowledge management discourse. systemism is introduced through a socio-cognitive approach that enables management researchers to m@n@gement, vol. 10, no. 3, 2007, 49-69 51 metatheories in management studies: reflections upon individualism, holism, and systemism envision the synthesis of individualism and holism within a coherent and internally consistent theoretical framework. we present our ideas as a discussion of metatheoretical positions in the form of dialogues between a teacher and a student. after that, the central conflicts between existing theoretical positions will be brought out in a fictitious disputation between the teachers of each rival view. dialogue on individualism student: please explain the fundamental essence of organizations (societies). teacher: organizations are aggregates of people (along with means of production), whose interactions are regulated by institutionalized conventions. the essence of an organization is determined by individual features of its members, who are assumed to have a high degree of psychological and social autonomy. the co-existence of members is based on a small number of behavioral norms, which are derived from principles of mutual tolerance and recognition. the characteristics of an organization thus result from the sum of the characteristics of its members. this means: an organization has no characteristics other than those already present in its individual members. as such, the notion that there is such a thing as a community as an independent unit is simply false. an organization as a whole possesses no independent characteristics of its own that emerge from the whole (on the concept of emergence, see bunge, 1979; krohn and küppers, 1992; silberstein and mcgeever, 1999). thus an organization as a whole and/or a unit cannot interact with other organizations, exert influence on its members or develop in any manner that is disassociated from influence and coercion induced through activities, interactions and attitudes of organizational actors (hayek, 1952; popper, 1957; buchanan, 1984; bunge, 1996: 243-258). student: how then am i to analyze organizations in order to gain new insights into their essence? teacher: as popper (1962: 341) once explained: «the belief in the empirical existence of social wholes or collectives, which may be described as naïve collectivism, has to be replaced by the demand that social phenomena, including collectives, should be analyzed in terms of individuals». given that organizations do not have an ontological essence, the question needs to be rephrased such that it inquires about how individual action can be effectively coordinated and appear as a united entity. that is, we need to look at individuals as separable elements within the system, for this is the source of enlightenment regarding socio-economic phenomena. a social phenomenon can only be explained as an entity by exploring knowledge about the dispositions, attitudes, interests and behavior of individuals, and registering them in individual terms. it is the relations between individuals that form the foundation for the perceived totality of the organization. we must therefore reduce the whole to its components (i.e., individual action), in order to draw conclusions from these components about the m@n@gement, vol. 10, no. 3, 2007, 49-69 52 markus reihlen, thorsten klaas-wissing, and torsten ringberg behavior of the whole. this procedure could be called the “reductionist technique” (müller-merbach, 1992: 858; 1994). this approach is called “methodological individualism”, which seeks to explain socioeconomic phenomena by laws which relate to individual behavior (weber, 1922; bohnen, 1975; schanz, 1977; lenk, 1987; weede, 1992; bunge, 1996). student: please give me an example of such a procedure or way of thinking from the knowledge management discourse. teacher: the influence of individualism can be clearly recognized in for example decision theory, neo-classical economics, in new institutional economics and generally among liberalists. leading individualists relevant to our age include adam smith (1848), friedrich von hayek (1952), gary becker (1976) and james buchanan (1984). individualists in the knowledge field emphasize an internalist (endogenous) way of inquiring into the nature of knowledge (bunge, 1998). individualism is inherent in theories favoring personal determinism according to which knowledge is the result of cognitive dispositional sources such as intelligence, acumen, creativity, reflection and the like. this theoretical position finds important protagonists in the literature. for instance, radical constructivists like von glasersfeld (1995) argue that people operate in their own very private, self-constructed worlds. social interaction allows for interpersonal communication, but this adaptation does not and cannot change the fact that the material of an individualʼs meaning is composed of or emerges from his or her subjective experiences (glasersfeld, 1995: 137). in a similar vein, cognitive psychology (e.g., newell and simon, 1972; anderson, 1983), postmodernism (e.g., lyotard, 1986; kilduff and mehra, 1997), and rational choice theory (e.g., becker, 1976; coleman, 1990) argue that agents have a great degree of cognitive autonomy. while these researchers accommodate the framework of social context and interaction, actors are still portrayed as cognitively unique (etzioni, 1988). this uniqueness of the individual is considered as the main source of value creation. for instance, in an analysis of forty-three german firms in the chemical, the electrical, and the mechanical industries, ernst, leptien and vitt (2000) show that key innovations were tied to a few key scientists and/or product developers. this leads me to conclude that, in analyzing knowledge processes within and across firms, we should start with the assumption of the primacy of the individual. student: what social values and standards are reflected in the view of the world and investigation perspective represented by individualism? teacher: the individual and his or her self-interest enjoy the highest esteem. for a free development of personal interests to occur, a liberal (social) order is indispensable, for only thereby can people achieve things which are greater than their own intellect would allow. institutions are only there to safeguard and promote the freedoms and interests of the individual. accordingly, the starting point of the social order is the market, because it allows the free and self-regulatory harmonization of individual transactions (bunge, 1989). at this point, i return once more to von hayek (1952: 47-48), who hit the nail on the head m@n@gement, vol. 10, no. 3, 2007, 49-69 53 metatheories in management studies: reflections upon individualism, holism, and systemism when he expressed the view that: «what individualism teaches us is that society is only greater than the individual to the extent that it is free. as soon as it is subject to direction or force, it is restricted to the dimensions of the individual intellect which controls or directs it». dialogue on holism student: please explain to me the fundamental essence of organizations (societies). teacher: organizations are totalities (systems) with characteristics of their own that cannot be explained by the characteristics of their actors (elements). for as laszlo (1996: 5) aptly notes: «the large groups we thus come to know appear to establish their own “personalities”. even if most of their individual members change, the groupsʼ characteristics tend to be preserved». an organization as a whole thus possesses fundamentally distinctive attributes, which give it a “supra-individual” identity. for this reason, the behavior of organizations and their members must be seen as an inseparable unit. the idea of individualism that organizations are to be seen as aggregates of individual decisions and preferences implies a view of people as under-socialized beings (see granovetter, 1985). by contrast, in holism, individual decisions are understood as reflecting collective attributes. organizations have a life and structure of their own, which cannot be explained by individual decisions but rather by a collective dynamic that emerges on its own based on the intersection of many different sets of opinions. within holism, organizations are regarded as totalities with particular features that emerge from the totality itself, and that cannot be identified by studying the contribution of individual members. with organizations as autonomous and inseparable units, the interaction between organizations can only be seen as an interaction between one totality with that of another. consequently, organizational developments and/or changes are also supra-individual phenomena, which establish frameworks that condition the behavior of actors (durkheim, 1967; geertz, 1973; luhmann, 1984; gergen, 1985; willke, 1989). thus, an organization and its inherent structures persist even as its members are replaced. student: teacher, i just learned from individualism that, in order to understand social phenomena, we have to understand individual agency. how can you account for individual agency within your conception of a world of collectivities? teacher: agency requires cognitive frameworks and intentions. as a holist i would raise the question: where do these frameworks and intentions come from? can we possibly assume that they are the results of cognitively free individuals? i believe not, because we would ignore the social origin of our intentionality and knowing. as the russian psychologist vygotski (1978) suggests, knowing is embedded in the cultural heritage of a society, without which the development of the individual mind is impossible. it is an illusion to think about a subject who is free of social determination. m@n@gement, vol. 10, no. 3, 2007, 49-69 54 markus reihlen, thorsten klaas-wissing, and torsten ringberg student: how then am i to analyze organizations in order to gain new insights into their essence? teacher: look at the totality of the system in which you are interested, for this is the source of enlightenment regarding socio-economic phenomena and the behavior of the individual actor. only an investigation of the totality can lead to proper insights into organizations because an examination of their elements provide few, if any, insights into emergent properties of organizations. this methodological perspective also represents the position held by laszlo (1996: 4), when he says: «we feel that we can safely disregard the unique individuality of the members of such units as long as there are certain types of members in certain proportions and relationships. it does not matter who does this job or that—as long there is someone to do it». a total phenomenon, whether organizational or social or both, accordingly can only be explained by virtue of itself as a unit and not by recourse to its elements. the motives for the behavior of the individual members are, thus, ultimately to be understood by reference to the framework conditions, which are determined by the organization as a whole. this procedure could be called an “embedding technique” (müller-merbach, 1992: 860; 1994), for insights into the behavior of individuals can be derived from their place in the surrounding context. the way socioeconomic systems function can only be explained as regularities which relate to the system as a whole. the approach to obtain insights is called “methodological holism” and stands in contrast to methodological individualism, which investigates micro-regularities. rather, methodological holism is based on the view that behavior is explained by macro-regularities (see schanz, 1977; bunge, 1996, 1998). student: i have difficulties seeing myself conducting holistic studies. isnʼt it a great advantage of methodological individualism that it reduces the social complexity to individuals who are observable within a social system? what else should i investigate in order to understand social wholes as you suggest? teacher: reducing complexity is of no value in itself. we should not assume that mental processes are the result of free will, since this socalled free will is always embedded in social forces not of its own making. if you want to investigate social wholes, then study society-wide social forces such as the zeitgeist, industry recipes (spender, 1989) or thought communities (fleck, 1979). student: please give me an example of such a procedure or way of thinking from the knowledge management discourse. teacher: the basic holist ideas mostly have their origin outside the tradition of economic thought. the sociologists émile durkheim (1967), talcott parsons (1951)1, and niklas luhmann (1984) are regarded as the chief pioneers of collectivism. it would be wrong, however, to seek the roots of collectivism solely outside the economic sciences. already in the 1920s, heinrich niklisch (1932: 294-307) was developing basic collectivist ideas in his thoughts on business management. if we take the more recent knowledge management literature, holism is reflected in an externalist (or exogenous) way of inquiring into the nature of knowledge (bunge, 1998). externalists view knowledge as being con1. while it must be acknowledged that parsons has made the attempt to take account of the principles of individualism through the development of a theory of action, bohnen (1975: 64) thinks that no theoretical connection remains between these individualistic ideas and the collectivist ideas borrowed from durkheim, which, however, left a considerable mark on his sociological thought. m@n@gement, vol. 10, no. 3, 2007, 49-69 55 metatheories in management studies: reflections upon individualism, holism, and systemism structed, maintained, and transferred through social practices or discourses (making knowledge transfer dependent on individualsʼ membership of interpretive communities). this position is a variant of structuralism, which, until the mid-1980s, served as a major epistemological foundation within the social sciences, most notably cultural anthropology, social psychology, and sociology (lévi-strauss, 1966; sahlins, 1976). more recently, holism has become an influential theoretical position in management studies under the heading of social constructionism (scherer and dowling, 1995; mir and watson, 2000). especially researchers in the knowledge management field have adopted a (neo-)vygotskyan (e.g., blackler, 1993; spender, 1995) and situated learning perspective (e.g., lave and wenger, 1991; brown and duguid, 2001), emphasizing the social and interactive foundation of knowledge. accordingly, human cognition is inseparable from specific socio-cultural contexts. from the social constructionist perspective, humans are embedded in a socially constructed reality; they are products of signifying activities, which are culturally specific and largely tacit. what can be considered as knowledge or reality is socially negotiated. the focus is «on the cooperative development and implementation of shared functional meanings that arise when two or more people interact» (raskin, 2002: 17). consequently, holists argue that our thinking and acting is largely driven by thought worlds (dougherty, 1992) or a community of practices (wenger, 1998). organizations as systems possess a sort of communitized, collective expertise, a collective mind, and thus a capacity for organizational learning and innovation (willke, 1998: 6). therefore, we have to imagine knowledge less as being embodied in the heads of human beings, but more in the operational forms and practices of a social system. this knowledge on the part of the organization resides in the person-independent, anonymized systems of rules and informal norms, which define the way people within an organization operate. the question, which we have to ask ourselves in the context of organizational knowledge management thus consists of how organizations as collective entities acquire the ability to learn and to innovate as systems. the idea of the internalists—that thinking and acting are to be seen as the result of individual attributes—is regarded by externalists as an under-socialized view of human beings. to this end, we must devote our clear attention to the emergent development of a common experiential context, a collective mind, and an organizational system of meaning (willke, 1998; yanow, 2000). student: what moral standards are reflected in the view of the world and the investigation perspective represented by holism? teacher: the highest esteem is enjoyed by the social and organizational whole. the actions of the individual are valued according to their contribution to the collective (firm, economy, etc.); the norms are learned by the individual during the socialization process and adherence to them is maintained through social control mechanisms. the idea that a strong society is founded ultimately on a valid system of values and held together by close social ties presupposes a powerful state and, at company level, a powerful management to ensure that m@n@gement, vol. 10, no. 3, 2007, 49-69 56 markus reihlen, thorsten klaas-wissing, and torsten ringberg the communal goals are adhered to. it follows from this that it is collective forms or frameworks that guide the actions of individual members. the community has precedence over the individual and shapes his or her feelings, his or her thoughts, and his or her goals and actions (see etzioni, 1988; bunge, 1989). student: as one who read popperʼs (1963) the open society and its enemies, i would argue that your position is anti-libertarian. popper would call you “an enemy of the free society”. teacher: how do you know which social arrangements will best serve the individual when the individual is portrayed as free of all particular determination? if individual liberty has any meaning, it has to be understood within the structure of social constraints. liberty is not a fixed conception, isolated from socio-cultural forces. people cannot resist the socializing collectivity, as it forms their perception of freedom in the first place (ogilvy, 1977). dialogue on systemism student: please explain to me the fundamental essence of organizations (societies). teacher: organizations are neither purely aggregates of individuals nor are they holistic entities. rather, they are characterized by individuals as well as processes, structures and environmental constraints. systems are distinguished both by the characteristics of their members and systemic or global characteristics, which cannot be reduced to any particular element. it includes, for example, a companyʼs atmosphere and a prevailing management ideology, which emerge based on the intersection of the systemʼs properties (i.e., individuals, processes, structures, etc.). to explain the behavior of organizations and individuals, insights from individualism and holism must be integrated. accordingly, the behavior of a person is determined on the one hand by her formal and informal social network and on the other by her dispositions (i.e., skills, motives, preferences, experiences, and expectations). systemic explanations embrace both individual (micro-level) and structural (macro-level) features of a system. if we look at just one of the two levels, then we expose ourselves to the justified criticism that we are propagating a one-sided explanation. the interaction between organizations is to be seen as an interaction between people, whereby people act in the name of the organization they represent. routines, norms, and perceived structures of the organization not only act to constrain them: they are also what allows and empowers them to make binding decisions in the first place (bunge, 1979, 1996). student: iʼm not quite sure if i really understood your synthesis of individualism and holism. from my understanding, individualism is like rational choice theory, that would not deny the existence and influence of macro-variables such as interest rates, scarcity of resources, and political ideologies. however, individualism would conceptualize them as contextual constraints on individual action. so what is the difference between your systemic ontology and more moderate versions of indim@n@gement, vol. 10, no. 3, 2007, 49-69 57 metatheories in management studies: reflections upon individualism, holism, and systemism vidualism like, for instance, boudonʼs (1981) contextual or neo-individualism? teacher: moderate individualism is coming closer to my systemic approach because it takes notice of structural feature of social systems. however, the concept is muddled in the sense that it attempts to explain social phenomena in terms of individual attributes and contextual constraints but without offering a comprehensive ontological framework within which the interaction between agency and structure is explained. individuals are socialized with the cultural heritage that not only constrains but also enables individual action (giddens, 1984). these systemic structures emerge or submerge through social interaction of individuals who engage in communicating, teaching, trading, or using power. as social scientists, we should not only study the nature of individuals, even if we do conceptualize them as contextualized actors, but also the factors (e.g., power, position, norms) that influence social interactions, and through which social ties and bonds emerge or submerge. student: how then am i to analyze organizations in order to gain new insights into their essence? teacher: if you wish to understand organizations, you must understand their individuals, their structures, their processes and their environment. these are the foundations on which the description, explanation and prediction of the behavior of organizations and their members are based. you must ask yourself by what needs, preferences, intentions, talents and actions members are driven; to what extent existing structures influence conservative and progressive behavior patterns; and to what extent the organizationʼs socio-economic, political, cultural, and environmental factors affect individual behavior. this systemic approach thus combines the reductionist and embedding techniques by investigating individuals as both influencing and being influenced by systems (organizations) (bunge, 1983, 1996; giddens, 1984; granovetter, 1985). student: i learned from methodological holism that explanations should refer to structural features of a system like a dominant ideology or discourse. methodological individualism taught me, on the other hand, that social phenomena should take recourse in individual properties like motivation, cognitive dispositions, and volitions. as you explained to me, systemic explanations should combine reductionistic and holistic explanations. i do see this as a great disadvantage to social theorizing, as the main causal relation is not clear a priori. holists argue for the primacy of structure over action and individualists suggest the opposite. both positions have the advantage that they propose unidirectional causal relations. teacher: simplicity is neither a sufficient criterion for truth nor for effective actions. to explain the behavior of organizations and their members, the insights of individualists and holists must be truly integrated. to investigate organizations from a systemic view, researchers have to move away from a one-sided deterministic model of causation. onesided determinism regards the locus of the causes either in environmental (e.g., cultural beliefs and norms, social feedback) or disposim@n@gement, vol. 10, no. 3, 2007, 49-69 58 markus reihlen, thorsten klaas-wissing, and torsten ringberg tional determinants (e.g., creativity, experience, motivation) assumed to operate in a unidirectional manner. systemic explanations favor a reciprocal conception of causation (bandura, 1986; bunge, 1996), which elucidates social processes in terms of individual mental processes and interaction with the social environment. the concept of reciprocality implies that cognitive and other personal factors, as well as environmental factors, influence each person interactively (bandura, 1986: 23). the degree to which environmental or individual factors influence mental and behavioral processes varies according to individual dispositions, situations, and activities, each of which has to be investigated within a particular organizational setting. systemic explanations are more comprehensive and complex than their individualist or holist counterparts, as they focus on both individual (microlevel) and structural (macro-level) features within a system (i.e., investigating people within socio-economic entities). student: please give me an example of such a procedure or way of thinking from the knowledge management discourse. teacher: a systemic theory of knowing and knowledge management parallels research on socio-cognitive approaches to knowledge creation (nonaka, 1994) and transfer (ringberg and reihlen, forthcoming). the latter includes the interaction between mental workings of the intentional subject and feedback from the socio-cultural environment. piaget (1977: 4) supports this position in his description of cognitive systems as both open, in the sense that they undergo exchanges with the milieu, and closed, as they undergo epistemic cycles of cognitive schema development that are highly constructive and which largely take place within the mind, independently of external sensory input. in piagetʼs terms, these socio-physical adaptive cognitive processes consist of cognitive assimilation and accommodation—assimilation being the conservative process in which individuals establish meaning by integrating new elements into existing cognitive structures, and accommodation being the more creative process that involves sense making of events that do not match well with an individualʼs existing interpretative frameworks, yet are too important to ignore. it is during the accommodation process that conceptual schemas are changed and new cognitive patterns inculcated, enabling the individual to adjust to (i.e., reframe the interpretation of) environmental feedbacks (piaget, 1971, 1977; glasersfeld, 1995). whereas social structures provide the context and social feedback mechanisms, the mind, cognition, volition, emotion, and the senses (including neurological factors and faculties) remain indispensable for creating, challenging, questioning, conjecturing, categorizing, inferring, problem-solving, criticizing, and negotiating the meaning of environmental inputs. this point of view is also reflected in vygotskyʼs (1978: 86) work, in which knowledge evolves within a «zone of proximal development», i.e., the twilight zone between what a learner can achieve through independent problem-solving and what can be accomplished with the help of the socio-cultural resources and social feedback (i.e., dialogue, mentoring, and teaching). a socio-cognitive approach includes the piagetian concept of subjective meaning construction linked with the social interactionist concepts m@n@gement, vol. 10, no. 3, 2007, 49-69 59 metatheories in management studies: reflections upon individualism, holism, and systemism introduced by vygotsky and mead. vygotsky (1962) and mead (1967) argue that knowledge and learning are fundamentally co-constructions within a socio-cultural space. that is, the ongoing exchange between the mind and the environment in «communities of interaction» (nonaka, 1994: 15) results in a steady increase in the complexity of individualsʼ mental dispositions. this follows degrandpre (2000: 724), who argues, that as a person experiences the consequences of his or her action in ecological context, the possibility of new knowledge arises. the relation of the individual and the social structure is therefore mutually complementary and co-evolving, where the development of either part not only depends on the other but is made possible through the productive existence of the other (vogel, 2000; heinrich, 2004). consequently, the dynamic processes involved in knowledge transfer can only be fully appreciated if researchers take into account both cognitive dispositions (individualism) and social feedback mechanisms (holism). this follows cole and wertsch (2002: 2), who point out that the development of the mind is constituted from the interweaving of biological processes and the appropriation of the social fabric that establishes networks of interaction. knowledge processing, thus, is predicated on influences from both the socio-cultural environment and the intentional mind. in other words, once we acknowledge that people are both serfs and masters of cultural activities (e.g., on organizational culture) it follows that individuals are both involuntarily guided by, yet also intentionally influence, the very same activities. student: what social values and standards are reflected in the view of the world and investigation perspective represented by systemism? teacher: systemism assumes that both the individual and the organization are embedded in a socio-economic framework. for this reason, systemism implies a liberal order on the one hand, in order to ensure that individuals can pursue their own interests, ideas and preferences. on the other hand, it always pleads for a restriction on individual freedoms whenever the selfish enforcement of individual interests is deleterious to long-term co-existence in a society. while individualism singles out personal freedom, and holism collective obligation as social values to be pursued, systemism combines the two into a society where personal freedom comes with social responsibility. what we need are individuals embedded within a community, who are capable of taking responsibility, a community which is far more integrated than each individual alone seeking to maximize his or her own benefits. on the other hand, such a community is far less socializing and restrictive than the holist vision of society (etzioni, 1988; bunge, 1989). disputation of the teachers chairman: now that the basic positions have been laid out in their essentials i would like to invite the three teachers to discuss the systemic approach, located mid-way between individualism and holism. is this a practicable and fruitful metatheoretical approach? m@n@gement, vol. 10, no. 3, 2007, 49-69 60 markus reihlen, thorsten klaas-wissing, and torsten ringberg individualist: the systemic integration appears, at first sight, worthy of consideration. yet, after further consideration, a significant weakness reveals itself in the idea of emergence. it is noted that social systems can give rise to phenomena which are the results of social processes and not inherent in the individual. but is it not the case that the social structure is ultimately always derivable from the characteristics of individuals? for this reason, it seems to me to be more promising for the solution of sociological and management problems to only use psychological approaches. as bohnen (1975: 86) argues, this enables us «to fall back once more on the basic ideas of the research program whose rules have determined the individualist-utilitarian tradition of sociological thought from the outset». i think that we can do without the concept of emergence entirely. social systems have no emergent properties in and of themselves, as the latter consist entirely of individual inputs. in addition, a weakness of this kind of “emergent” viewpoint is that it makes systemic characteristics appear mystical, with emergent properties growing out of social processes that are unpredictable. whereas individual behavior is predictable based on motives and/or professional background, i donʼt see how you can make any scientific predictions of action patterns based on such ambiguous constructs as dominant discourse and norms in society, let alone organizational cultures in an industry. systemist: i think there is a fundamental misunderstanding here. let me therefore first explain why we cannot dispense with the concept of emergence. let us, for example, take the individualist understanding of the market, which as a rule is regarded as the place of economic exchange between those with something to offer and those with an interest in acquiring it. if we were to take the individualist proposal to its logical conclusion, we would have to view markets through the mindʼs eye of psychological theories, and possibly decision and game theories. markets consist of rules and regulations that are indifferent to who implement, enforce, and obey them. they exist detached from the personal characteristics of any one individual. the success of an entrepreneur depends for this reason not only on individual talent, available capital, and personal contacts (micro-variables), but also on market-entry barriers, interest rates, the availability of resources, exchange rates, business cycles and so on (macro-variables). if we refuse to acknowledge that these macro-variables are properties of systems, which we cannot simply explain by recourse to individual characteristics, we are unable to understand and explain the development and decline of systems. thus, it is perhaps not surprising that neo-classical micro-economics is challenged by, and finds it difficult to account for, the influence of macro-economic fringe conditions on business behavior and thus largely ignores them (bunge, 1996, 1998). your second misunderstanding with respect to the concept of emergence lies in your understanding of it as something unpredictable. the problem here is that if we were to understand emergent properties as an epistemological category, the latter can be justifiably accused of being opaque, a quality which we as scholars cannot accept. yet, on the other hand, we cannot easily dispense with the existence of norms, m@n@gement, vol. 10, no. 3, 2007, 49-69 61 metatheories in management studies: reflections upon individualism, holism, and systemism rules, and regulations either. luckily, this gordian knot can be untied by regarding emergent properties as an ontological category. an ontological category differs from an epistemological category, as the former refers to the nature of things such as that organizations are composed of people, structures, and processes, and are embedded within an environment, whereas an epistemological category refers to our concepts of things which can be fuzzy or exact, testable or untestable, true or false. thus, emergent properties like organizational culture or political order are neither unexplainable nor unpredictable phenomena; they are simply features of social systems emerging from the interaction of individuals. holist: i have no problems, of course, with the notion of emergent properties of a system, as it is a central element in my view of the world. however, to me, the systemic approach does not seem to be fundamentally differentiated from individualism. although you introduce the concept of social structure, you do not take this construct to its logical conclusion. paralleling durkheimʼs perspective, ideas are manifestations of social conditions. he made this abundantly clear when he took religion as an example of a symbolic expression and preservation of social structures regardless of its enforcersʼ individual dispositions. he expresses it thus: «while it might be disputed that, without exception, social phenomena impose themselves on the individual from outside, any such doubts seem to be excluded in respect of faith and religious customs, moral rules or the whole array of laws, in other words in respect of the characteristic phenomena of collective life. they are all (…) proof of the fact that these kinds of action and thought are not the work of the individual, but of a force that transcends him.» (durkheim, 1967: 72, authors' translation). if we extend these ideas to knowledge management, then we have to understand organizations as meaning systems with specific convictions, values and symbols, which exist relatively independently of each individual. this implies, as recently suggested by yanow (2000), that our analysis has to focus on how individuals learn collectively and interactively. what is required is to explore how collective meaning emerges from individualsʼ interacting with artifacts and the socio-cultural context. for this reason, systems preserve and reconstitute something like a collective mind, within which new members are socialized and which characterizes their thinking and behavior. this is what collective learning is all about: changing collective meaning systems. for me, your position is nothing other than moderate individualism. systemist: while i understand your position, which is based on the hypothesis that organizations have the capacity for collective cognition, or that all ideas are the product of social conditions, there are various reasons, which i shall try to explain, why i cannot share such a radically externalist position. you proceed from a one-sided relationship between action and structure. i would therefore like to take your own example, which attributes to organizations a communitized, collective entity which can learn with a supra-mind that exists independently of specific individuals. this hypothesis is dubious for a number m@n@gement, vol. 10, no. 3, 2007, 49-69 62 markus reihlen, thorsten klaas-wissing, and torsten ringberg of reasons (boudon, 1990; bunge, 1998: 225-239; ringberg and reihlen, forthcoming). for one thing, organizations have no brains which can act in a cognitive fashion. i regard this as a great error on the part of the holists. even a public debate, or a text in a book, only becomes a cognitive element when someone takes note of it and it thus triggers neuro-biological processes in the participant. secondly, new inventions or discoveries do not arise unless extraordinary personalities break with established patterns of thought. without them, technological or scientific revolutions would be inconceivable. their motivational and cognitive problems cannot simply be explained by external social forces, as you argue. moreover, your hypothesis takes no account of the recognition by almost every school of psychology— with the exception of classical behaviorism—that any external stimulus can trigger different ideas and cerebral processes across individuals. in your argument, you overlook that artifacts and collective meaning structures are still subject to individual perception and cognition. for instance, in an empirical study on computer-mediated knowledge management systems, reihlen and ringberg (2006) demonstrate that knowledge artifacts always depend on peopleʼs understandings and interpretations. even within an interpretative community of consultants, these individuals had various interpretations of the same knowledge artifact. this leads us back to a valuable insight drawn from research conducted within an individualistic tradition, namely internalism, according to which, actors process external stimuli sometimes in an idiosyncratic and subjective fashion. thus, people become builders of their own world (baudrillard, 1985), creating and reshaping prevalent representations according to personal life stories (derrida, 1976). as a result, the emphasis on systemic properties should not lead us to the mistaken conclusion that individual cognition, emotions, and volitions are merely surrogates for collective meaning systems, as favored by social constructionism. i plead therefore for the investigation that tacks back and forth between individuals and organizations (including their socio-cultural origin) without giving priority to one or the other party. only through such an integrative approach can we account for how particular rules materialize and, not least, the differential meanings of these rules. it follows that different individuals perceive a very different organization, and that these perspectives are shared among subsets of an organization rather than assuming the existence of an overly strong community. individualist: in my opinion, this view goes hand-in-hand with a problematic ethical orientation on the part of systemism. ethics is concerned with the moral evaluation of wrong social behavior. but who is to make such judgment and by which norms? for me, freedom is the highest good. society must ensure that this freedom of the individual is sustained. however, your argumentation appeals to the presence of a higher social order or morality. the problem with this is that your morality is not my morality. thus, it is an illusion to think that shared moral standards can be established in a society. even if this were possible, i do not think it is desirable, as shared moral principles are restrictive and presuppose a higher authority, which i, as you can m@n@gement, vol. 10, no. 3, 2007, 49-69 63 metatheories in management studies: reflections upon individualism, holism, and systemism imagine, reject. i prefer to go along with hayek (1945), who emphasizes that knowledge in society and organizations is essentially dispersed. in other words, «knowledge [is] not given to anyone in its totality» (p. 520). this statement, of course, also holds for knowledge about moral standards; therefore i believe that a truly knowledge-creating social order is one which is not based on solidarity fostering a cooperative order that turns a productive community into a collective of group thinkers. instead, we have to organize a free knowledge market where individuals are held together largely by economic relations and compete against each other based on their individual merits (hayek, 1976: 112-113). systemist: i know that this position is very widespread among moral nihilists, hedonists, liberalists and ethical individualists. i agree with you to the extent that your criticism is at least partly correct, when it is applied to ethical holism, as it positively crushes the individual. individualism teaches us that people need a measure of autonomy in order to take the initiative and to develop curiosity, creativity, and the urge to discover—which all ultimately form the foundation for knowledge creation and the development of original and unconventional ideas. initiative and enterprise can hardly be steered from without, however, but are based in large measure on the intrinsic motivation (deci, 1992) of actors. to put it differently, without a measure of individual freedom we have no social dynamics which are required for all progressive societies and organizations. raising selfish interests above the interests of others leads, however, to the weakening or dissolution of social relationships, which hold a society or organization together. radical individualism is therefore morally and socially destructive because it would undermine any viable public life. moreover, individualistic societies cause substantial coordination problems. individual freedom opens up the possibility to define oneʼs own goals, to act according to oneʼs own convictions and values, and to pursue oneʼs own interests. the appearance of unbridled individualism in a society is an indicator and cause of social disintegration, which, even from the economic viewpoint, does not lead to an efficient commonwealth, for we cannot do without cooperative elements in society. a limit must therefore be set to the selfish enforcement of personal interests (the credo of an individualistic moral system) where these stand in the way of lasting relations because actions motivated purely by self-interest lead merely to negative coordination; individuals then only allow other peopleʼs initiatives when these do not stand in the way of their own interests. collective action however presupposes positive coordination, which seeks the ability of mutually dependent actors to work together as a team, and to adhere to collectively binding rules and procedures. the sharing of knowledge for the joint formulation and reformulation of problems can only be ensured by cooperative behavior where actors make their best individual contributions for solving complex issues (scharpf, 1993). what counts for society as a whole also counts for organizations and in particular for “good” knowledge management practices. in a number of studies, it is shown that knowledge creation and transfer is strongly supported within a socio-culturm@n@gement, vol. 10, no. 3, 2007, 49-69 64 markus reihlen, thorsten klaas-wissing, and torsten ringberg al context that stimulates social values such as fairness (janssen, 2004), teamwork (enberg, lindkvist, and tell, 2006), or transactive knowledge sharing (wegner, 1986). the assumption that a society is, or could be, held together purely by economic relationships is rather problematic. doubtless, economic relations between actors are an indispensable element of our social world, but they are not the only relevant ones. alongside economic relationships, there are also political (e.g., power), religious (e.g., beliefs), and cultural relationships (e.g., learning, beliefs, sense of self identity, transfer of knowledge), many of which tie in with or become expressed as moral values and all of which play an indispensable role in the explanation of the essence even of what constitutes economic objects such as prosperity as well as the very investigation of firms and entire economies (bunge, 1996, 1998). to summarize: to me, both individualism and holism are morally dubious. however, the two positions mark valuable opposite poles—individual orientation versus community orientation—which are both essential and worth preserving. my systemic view tries, therefore, to integrate the good aspects of both, without adopting their problematic points. conclusion the individualism-holism debate has left deep rifts in the conceptual orientation of the social sciences, which have been difficult to bridge. from the point of view of management studies, theoretical and empirical research has proceeded along this dual track without overcoming, let alone seriously addressing, this dichotomy (e.g., astley and van de ven, 1983; earley and gibson, 1998). it is certainly no exaggeration to say that progress in the social sciences in general, and management studies in particular, depends directly on resolving this philosophical dilemma, as it would enable researchers to combine the best of each intellectual trajectory for the investigation of socio-economic facts. we can once more pick up the knowledge management field as our illustrative example. individualists, as we argued, emphasize an internalist (endogenous) and holists an externalist (or exogenous) way of inquiring into the nature of knowledge. whereas individualism is unconcerned with the social part, and holist research shuts out the cognitive part in knowledge production and transfer, management research would benefit from accommodating both (individual) mind and (collective) culture in its attempt to understand the processes involved in knowledge creation and dissemination. from a systemic perspective, we suggest that individuals are as much molded by biological as by socio-historical forces (ringberg and reihlen, forthcoming). in order to integrate the individual mind and the collective aspect of knowledge, we need to view culture and its social force as ultimately resulting from individual actions and interactions. although individuals are never fully free to interpret the world around them because their thinking and acting are influenced by prior values, social norms (traditions), education, as well as by natural (e.g., biological) circumstances, m@n@gement, vol. 10, no. 3, 2007, 49-69 65 metatheories in management studies: reflections upon individualism, holism, and systemism every individual is still an active interpreter of the world, taking into account the dynamic and ever changing scenarios that stem from the actual and potential actions or inactions of others. as a result, individual thinking and acting are not mutually independent but interdependent. in other words, cultural structure and the cognizing mind are interlinked and interdependent. without the cognizing and socially acting individual, no social structure would exist because social systems emerge and are held together by individual actions and minds. we do not intend to make any definitive judgment on any metatheory at this point, even though we favor systemism. ultimately, the observer must make his or her own judgment. but the following should be remembered: a metatheoretical position can, in principle, be chosen in two ways. the first possibility consists of examining a particular metatheory to see to what extent it is compatible with oneʼs own prior philosophical and ideological orientation. this represents a dogmatic approach. it is simple, but unscientific. the second, more laborious, way involves considering whether the metatheory in question provides a reasonable foundation for concrete research programs, which allow a profound description and explanation of socio-economic facts as well as fruitful recommendations for the formation of actual practice. a procedure of this kind presupposes a deeper argumentative approach to the available positions (bunge, 1996: 9). the debate set out here is designed to clarify certain arguments, positions, and problems by presenting metatheoretical perspectives within a scholarly discussion. markus reihlen is a visiting professor at the chair of international management, rwth aachen university. his current research addresses knowledge transfer processes within and across organizations. his most recent publications appeared in the international journal of service industry management, journal of management studies, and research in the sociology of organizations. thorsten klaas-wissing is a project manager and a research fellow at the university of st.gallen, chair of logistics management. after he received his ph.d. from the university of cologne, he worked for about 4 years as a management consultant before joining the university of st.gallen. he recently co-edited (with w. delfmann) strategic supply chain design: theory, concepts, and applications, köln: kölner wissenschaftsverlag, 2007. torsten ringberg (ph.d., pennsylvania state university) is an assistant professor of marketing at the university of wisconsin-milwaukee. he researches socio-cultural factors and their influence on the transfer of meaning in b-2-c, and b-2-c interactions (i.e., brand, communication, knowledge). his most recent publications appeared in journal of marketing, journal of management studies, and research in the sociology of organizations. m@n@gement, vol. 10, no. 3, 2007, 49-69 66 markus reihlen, thorsten klaas-wissing, and torsten ringberg � anderson, j. r. 1983 the architecture of cognition, cambridge, ma.: harvard university press. � astley, w. g., and a. h. van de ven 1983 central perspectives and debates in organization theory, administrative science quarterly, 28: 2, 245-273. � bandura, a. 1986 social foundations of thought and action: a social cognitive theory, englewood cliffs, nj: prentice-hall. � baudrillard, j. 1985 the ecstasy of communication, in h. foster (ed.), postmodern culture, london: pluto press, 126-134. � becker, g. s. 1976 the economic approach to human behavior, chicago, il: university of chicago press. � blackler, f. 1993 knowledge and the theory of organizations: organizations as activity systems and the reframing of management, journal of management studies, 30: 6, 863-884. � bohnen, a. 1975 individualismus und gesellschaftstheorie. eine betrachtung zu zwei rivalisierenden soziologischen erkenntnisprogrammen, tübingen: mohr. � boudon, r. 1981 the logic of social action: an introduction to sociological analysis, london: routledge & kegan paul. � boudon, r. 1990 on relativism, in p. weingartner and g. j. w. dorn (eds.), studies on mario bungeʼs treatise, amsterdam: rodopi, 229-243. � brown, j. s., and p. duguid 2001 knowledge and organization: a social-practice perspective, organization science, 12: 2, 198-213. � buchanan, j. m. 1984 die grenzen der freiheit. zwischen anarchie und leviathan, tübingen: mohr. � bunge, m. 1979 treatise on basic philosophy, vol. 4: ontology ii: a world of systems, dordrecht: reidel. � bunge, m. 1983 treatise on basic philosophy, vol. 5: epistemology & methodology i: exploring the world, dordrecht: reidel. � bunge, m. 1989 treatise on basic philosophy, vol. 8: ethics: the good and the right, dordrecht: reidel � bunge, m. 1996 finding philosophy in social science, new haven, ct: yale university press. � bunge, m. 1998 social science under debate, toronto: university of toronto press. � bunge, m. 1999 dictionary of philosophy, amherst, ny: prometheus books. � bunge, m. 2000 systemism: the alternative to individualism and holism, journal of socio-economics, 29: 2, 147-159. � cole, m., and j. v. wertsch 2002 beyond the individual-social antimony in discussions of piaget and vygotsky, retrieved 4 december 2007 from: http://www.prometheus.org.uk/publishing/ files/coleandwertschonpiagetandvy gotsky.pdf � coleman, j. s. 1990 foundations of social theory, cambridge, ma: harvard university press. � deci, e. l. 1992 introduction: the history of motivation in psychology and its relevance for management, in v. h. vroom and e. l. deci (eds.), management and motivation, 2nd ed., london: penguin, 9-29. � degrandpre, r. j. 2000 a science of meaning: can behaviorism bring meaning to psychological science?, american psychologist, 55: 7, 721-739. � derrida, j. 1976 of grammatology, baltimore, md: johns hopkins university press. � dosi, g., and r. r. nelson 1994 an introduction to evolutionary theories in economics, journal of evolutionary economics, 4: 3, 153-172. � dougherty, d. 1992 interpretive barriers to successful product innovation in large firms, organization science, 3: 2, 179-202. � durkheim, e. 1967 soziologie und philosophie, frankfurt/main: suhrkamp. � earley, p. c., and c. b. gibson 1998 taking the stock in our progress on individualism-collectivism: 100 years of solidarity and community, journal of management, 24: 3, 265-305. � enberg, c., l. lindkvist, and f. tell 2006 exploring the dynamics of knowledge integration: acting and interacting in project teams, management learning, 37: 2, 143-165. � ernst, h., c. leptien, and u. vitt 2000 inventors are not alike: the distribution of patenting output among industrial r&d personnel, ieee transactions on engineering management, 47: 2, 184-199. � etzioni, a. 1988 the moral dimension: toward a new economics, new york: free press. � fleck, l. 1979 genesis and development of scientific fact, chicago, il: university of chicago press. references m@n@gement, vol. 10, no. 3, 2007, 49-69 67 metatheories in management studies: reflections upon individualism, holism, and systemism � geertz, c. 1973 the interpretations of cultures: selected essays, new york: basic books. � gergen, k. j. 1985 the social constructionist movement in modern psychology, american psychologist, 40: 3, 266-275. � giddens, a. 1984 the constitution of society: outline of the theory of structuration, cambridge: polity. � glasersfeld, e. v. 1995 radical constructivism: a way of knowing and learning, london: falmer press. � granovetter, m. s. 1985 economic action and social structure: the problem of embeddedness, american journal of sociology, 91: 3, 481-510. � hayek, f. a. v. 1945 the use of knowledge in society, american economic review, 35: 4, 519-530. � hayek, f. a. v. 1952 individualismus und wirtschaftliche ordnung, erlenbach: rentsch. � hayek, f. a. v. 1976 law, legislation and liberty: a new statement of the liberal principles of justice and political economy. the mirage of social justice, chicago, il: routledge & kegan paul. � heinrich, j. 2004 cultural group selection, coevolutionary processes and large-scale cooperation, journal of economic behavior & organization, 53: 1, 3-35. � janssen, o. 2004 how fairness perceptions make innovative behavior more or less stressful, journal of organizational behavior, 25: 2, 201-215. � kauffman, s. a. 1993 the origins of order: self organization and selection in evolution, new york: oxford university press. � kilduff, m., and a. mehra 1997 postmodernism and organizational research, academy of management review, 22: 2, 453-481. � krohn, w., and g. küppers (eds.) 1990 selforganization: portrait of a scientific revolution, dordrecht: kluwer. � krohn, w., and g. küppers (eds.) 1992 emergenz: die entstehung von ordnung, organisation und bedeutung, frankfurt/main: suhrkamp. � laszlo, e. 1996 the systems view of the world: a holistic vision for our time, cresskill, nj: hampton. � lave, j., and e. wenger 1991 situated learning: legitimate peripheral participation, cambridge: cambridge university press. � lenk, h. 1987 zwischen sozialpsychologie und sozialphilosophie, frankfurt/m.: suhrkamp. � lévi-strauss, c. 1966 the savage mind, london: weidenfeld & nicolson. � luhmann, n. 1984 soziale systeme: grundriss einer allgemeinen theorie, frankfurt/main: suhrkamp. � lyotard, j.-f. 1986 the postmodern condition: a report on knowledge, manchester: manchester university press. � mckelvey, b. 2001 what is complexity science? it is really order-creation science, emergence, 3: 1, 137-157. � mead, g. h. 1967 mind, self and society: from the standpoint of a social behaviorist, chicago, il: university of chicago press. � menger, c. 1883 untersuchungen über die methode der socialwissenschaften und der politischen ökonomie insbesondere, leipzig: duncker & humblot. � menger, c. 1884 die irrtümer des historismus in der deutschen nationalökonomie, vienna: hölder. � mir, r., and a. watson 2000 strategic management and the philosophy of science: the case for a constructivist methodology, strategic management journal, 21: 9, 941-953. � müller-merbach, h. 1992 vier arten von systemansätzen, dargestellt in lehrgesprächen, zeitschrift für betriebswirtschaft, 62: 8, 853-876. � müller-merbach, h. 1994 a system of system approach, interfaces, 24: 4, 16-25. � newell, a., and h. a. simon 1972 human problem solving, englewood cliffs, nj: prentice-hall. � nicklisch, h. 1932 die betriebswirtschaft, 7th ed., stuttgart: poeschel. � nonaka, i. 1994 a dynamic theory of organizational knowledge creation, organization science, 5: 1, 14-37. � ogilvy, j. 1977 many dimensional man: decentralizing self, society, and the sacred, new york: oxford university press. � o'neill, j. (ed.) 1973 modes of individualism and collectivism, london: heinemann. � parsons, t. 1951 the social system, new york: the free press. � piaget, j. 1971 genetic epistemology, new york: w. w. norton & co. � piaget, j. 1977 the development of thought: equilibration and cognitive structures, new york: the viking press. � popper, k. r. 1957 the poverty of historicism, boston: beacon press. m@n@gement, vol. 10, no. 3, 2007, 49-69 68 markus reihlen, thorsten klaas-wissing, and torsten ringberg � popper, k. r. 1962 conjectures and refutations: the growth of scientific knowledge, new york: basic books. � popper, k. r. 1963 the open society and its enemies, 4th ed., princeton, nj: princeton university press. � raskin, j. d. 2002 constructivism in psychology: personal construct psychology, radical constructivism, and social constructionism, in j. d. raskin, and s. k. bridges (eds.), studies in meaning: exploring constructivist psychology, new york: pace university press, 1-25. � reihlen, m., and t. ringberg 2006 computer-mediated knowledge systems in consultancy firms: do they work?, research in the sociology of organizations, 24, 307-336. � ringberg, t., and m. reihlen forthcoming toward a socio-cognitive approach to knowledge transfer, journal of management studies. � sahlins, m. d. 1976 culture and practical reason, chicago, il: university of chicago press. � schanz, g. 1977 grundlagen der verhaltenstheoretischen betriebswirtschaftslehre, tübingen: mohr. � scharpf, f. w. 1993 coordination in hierarchies and networks, in f. w. scharpf (ed.), games in hierarchies and networks: analytical and empirical approaches to the study of governance institutions, frankfurt/m.: campus, 125-165. � scherer, a. g., and m. j. dowling 1995 toward a reconciliation of the theorypluralism in strategic management, incommensurability and the constructionist approach of the erlangen school, in p. shrivistava and c. stubbart (eds.), advances in strategic management, greenwich, ct: jai press, 195-248. � schmoller, g. 1883 zur methodologie der staatsund sozialwissenschaften, in g. schmoller (ed.), jahrbuch für gesetzgebung, verwaltung und volkswirthschaft im deutschen reich, 7. jahrgang, leipzig: duncker & humblot, 239-258. � sikora, k. 1994 betriebswirtschaftslehre als ökonomische soziotechnologie im sinne von mario bunge, in w. f. fischer-winkelmann (ed.), das theorie-praxis-problem in der betriebswirtschaftslehre. tagung der kommission wissenschaftstheorie, wiesbaden: gabler, 175-220. � silberstein, m., and j. mcgeever 1999 the search for ontological emergence, the philosophical quarterly, 49: 195, 182-200. � smith, a. 1848 an inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations, aberdeen: clark. � spender, j.-c. 1989 industry recipes: an enquiry into the nature and sources of managerial judgement, oxford: blackwell. � spender, j.-c. 1995 organizations are activity systems, not merely systems of thought, advances in strategic management, 12b, 153-174. � vanberg, v. 1975 die zwei soziologien: individualismus und kollektivismus in der sozialtheorie, tübingen: mohr. � vogel, c. 2000 anthropologische spuren. zur natur des menschen, stuttgart: hirzel verlag. � vygotsky, l. s. 1962 thought and language, 2nd ed., cambridge, ma: mit press. � vygotsky, l. s. 1978 mind in society: the development of higher psychological processes, cambridge, ma: harvard university press. � weber, m. 1922 gesammelte aufsätze zur wissenschaftslehre, tübingen: mohr. � weede, e. 1992 mensch und gesellschaft. soziologie aus der perspektive des methodologischen individualismus, tübingen: mohr. � wegner, d. m. 1986 transactive memory: a contemporary analysis of the group mind, in b. mullen, and g. b. goethals (eds.), theories of group behavior, new york: springer, 185-208. � wenger, e. 1998 communities of practice: learning, meaning, and identity, cambridge: cambridge university press. � willke, h. 1989 systemtheorie entwickelter gesellschaften: zusatz dynamik und riskanz moderner gesellschaftlicher selbstorganisation, weinheim: juventa. � willke, h. 1998 systemisches wissensmanagement, stuttgart: lucius & lucius. � yanow, d. 2000 seeing organizational learning: a ʻculturalʼ view, organization, 7: 2, 247-268. m@n@gement, vol. 10, no. 3, 2007, 49-69 69 metatheories in management studies: reflections upon individualism, holism, and systemism ontology of systemism 1. society is a system of changing subsystems. 2. being a system, society has systemic, or global properties. while some of these are resultant (or reducible), others are emergent, though rooted in the individual components and their interplay. 3. interaction between two social systems is an individual-individual affair, where each individual acts on behalf of the system he or she represents. the members of a social system can act severally upon a single individual, and the behavior of each individual is determined by the place he holds in society, as well as by his genetic endowment, experience, and expectations. and every social change is a change in the structure of a society, hence a change at both the social and the individual levels. epistemology of systemism 1. social science is the study of social systems: their changing composition, environment, and structure. 2 social facts are to be accounted for (described, explained, or forecast) in terms of social systems and their individual components – with their needs, wants, beliefs, intentions, actions, and interactions – in their natural and social environment. in turn, individual behavior is to be accounted for in terms of all the relevant features, biological, psychological, and social, of the individual-in-society. 3 hypotheses and theories in social science are to be tested against environmental and social (in particular, demographic, sociological, economic, political, and cultural) data. however, some social data are built out of data concerning individuals, for these alone are directly observable. morals of systemism 1. whereas all individuals can be valuable, the more valuable ones are those who render useful services to others. 2. enjoying (biopsychosocial) well-being and helping others to live constitute the summum bonum. 3. the only legitimate function of a social system is to promote the (biopsychosocial) well-being of its members or those of other social systems, without preventing anyone from meeting their basic needs. appendix: synopsis of mario bunge’s systemism (bunge, 1996: 267-268) 184vasquez paperback: 242 pages publisher: routledge (2014) language: english isbn: 978-0415741668 unplugged book reviews special forum: around the communicative constitution of organizations perspective james r. taylor & elizabeth van every (2014), when organization fails. why authority matters, new york, ny: routledge. reviewed by consuelo vasquez université du québec à montréal, canada vasquez.consuelo@uqam.ca the unplugged section edits some book reviews special forums dedicated to a topic, an author or a theoretical perspective. this second forum considers three important volumes gravitating around the communicative constitution of organizations perspective. originated in a seminal contribution from one of our reviewers, robert mcphee, who based his work on giddens’s structuration theory, this perspective experienced different avenues and forms now a “rather heterogeneous theoretical endeavor” (schoeneborn et al., 2014). montreal school of organizational communication constitutes one of the main pillars of this perspective; james r. taylor and françois cooren recently offered some stimulating volumes, carving out their own path within organizational communication studies. the cco perspective has significantly disseminated in the field of organizing studies and an effective conversation henceforth unfolds with various discursive studies. ! following the emergent organization (2000) and the situated organization (2011), james r. taylor and elizabeth van every pursue their inquiry into the communicative constitution of organization in their latest book, entitled when organization fails: why authority matters (hereafter, why authority matters). as the third part of what can be thought of as a trilogy, this book extends the communicational framework developed by the authors in their previous books to study organization and organizing. this framework can be summarized by the following thesis: organization essentially consists of interconnected processes of communication; this is defined as the recursive articulation of conversations and texts. hence, for taylor and van every, organization emerges in communication as described in text – organization becomes an object toward which actors coorient their actions – and realized in conversation – organization is enacted by actors through situated interaction. m@n@gement 2015, vol. 18(4): 309-313 309 ! while the emergent organization offered the theoretical grounding for developing the ‘communicative constitution of organization’ or cco thesis, the situated organization presented the pragmatist standpoint of this framework and put it to work through several empirical studies. so what does why authority matters add? as the authors themselves suggest in the opening sentences of the introduction: ‘[this book] is an inquiry into the role of authority in the constitution of organization’ (taylor & van every, 2014, p. xiii). the focus on authority as the ‘foundation’ and the ‘unifying force’ of organization (p. xx) is thus the driver behind and the main contribution of this book. let us note that taylor and van every’s interest in authority has come a long way (cf. taylor, 1993; taylor & van every, 2000). yet it is in why authority matters that the authors are able to offer a strong and systematic account of the nature and practice of authority in organization. more specifically, the main contribution of this book lies in its attentiveness to authority as a communicational phenomenon, and one that is key in the establishment of organizations. it follows that when authority is not accomplished – when there is confusion about who has authority and how it must work – then, as the title of the book suggests, organizations fail. ! to inquire into the role of authority in organization, the authors propose a two-step structure based on their pragmatic approach to the study of organizational phenomena: the first part of the book presents the conceptual framework, while the second part puts the framework to work through two case studies. taken together, the two sections of the book allow us to understand authority as a property of communication in practice, which is one of the main arguments developed in why authority matters. in what follows, i will sketch out the main ideas of the two sections of the book. i will then reflect on some of the questions that this book poses for further engaging with the ‘communicative constitution of organization’ or cco thesis. ! the theoretical framework presented in part 1 is based on three premises: (1) communication plays a constitutive role in generating the system of authority that holds organization together; (2) organization is constituted by a transaction linking agents to a beneficiary associated with the organization and thus with its purposes and values; and (3) the beneficiary (i.e., the organization) is a source of authority for those who represent it, yet it can only act through their voices and agencies. this results in different and often conflicted readings of the purposes of the organization, which, if not properly negotiated, can result in organizational crisis. following this reasoning, the main question taylor and van every ask is: how is the organization to exercise authority when its values and purposes have become confused and problematic? the answer can be found in what the authors call imbrication, which ‘involves a sequential authorship that gives actions and activities a new meaning at each new phase of re-authoring’ (2014: 28, see also, taylor, 2011). in other words, imbrication allows the construction of a common narrative about organizational purposes, values and goals, while recognizing different interpretations or micro-stories of the different communities of practice that compose the organization. when successful, imbrication establishes and legitimatizes the collective authoring that gives meaning to the activities and actions of these communities. in keeping with this idea, an organization fails when imbrication fails; that is, when communities of practice are not able to collectively rewrite the organizational text and give this text the authority required to guide the actions and meanings of organizational actors. ! the second part of why authority matters invites the reader to follow the intricacies of two case studies that deal with authority (or the lack of it!) and the ensuing organizational failures related to the confusion between different interpretations of authority (in other words: no imbrication!). the first case narrates the events that led to the cancellation of seven days, a popular canadian television program aired in the 1970s by the canadian broadcasting corporation (cbc). the second case presents the story of the integrated m@n@gement, vol. 18(4): 309-313! book reviews special forum 310 national crime information system (incis), introduced during the 1990s by the new zealand police and abandoned a few years later at a cost of millions of dollars to the new zealand government. i will not discuss the details of these cases here but rather focus on their commonality and on what they tell us about authority in practice. ! while these cases happened in very distinct organizational and societal contexts, and in different times, they both present stories of innovation: a new genre of television program and mode of production, and a new technology of surveillance, respectively. innovation plays an important role here as it sets the context for re-questioning authority; the authority of expertise (related to knowledge) and that of position (related to hierarchical structures) are confronted in both cases by new ways of doing and organizing. for example, in seven days, the new television genre that the producers of the program proposed – and that was very well received by the audience – changed top managers’ traditional conception of television broadcasting. this led to two questions: who was in charge – the person with the expertise or the person in a position of authority – and how decisions were to be made. as for incis, this new technology entailed new procedures, activities and tasks for the police department, which were developed and managed by a new team in charge of the implementation, called the incis team. this team, mainly composed of software designers and internal consultants, had to battle for their authority as incis representatives, which was an extremely difficult task considering the culture and hierarchical structure of the police department. in both cases, innovation mixed up the lines of authority and generated opposition between the authority of expertise and the authority of position. ! these cases also show the importance of the socio-historical context of organizing: canadian television broadcasting in the 1970s and the new zealand governmental context in the 1990s were characterized by particular issues that had major implications for the development of the events narrated in why authority matters. as taylor and van every aptly recall, ‘none of what happens in the organization, […] takes place in a vacuum’ (2014: 202). seven days’ producers and managers, as well as the incis designers and internal consultants, understood that the implications of their decisions were wider than the organization they worked for: other rules had to be taken into account. context mattered in these cases because it grounded the accomplishment of authority, but also because it showed that authority also depends on ‘the outside’ of the organization. another issue that mattered in these two cases was leadership. both cases show how leadership failed, not because it did not exist, but because it was not collectively authorized as such. the founder and main producer of seven days was not legitimized by top management as the being the person ‘authorized’ to make the decisions related to the program. the same goes for incis’s project manager who was never recognized in the police department as the legitimate spokesperson for this project. leadership can be gained only if it comes with authority: not only a formal and normed authority, but also a practical and sensible authority that needs to be legitimized for it to be exerted. ! to summarize, these cases illustrate well the idea that authority is not a property of an individual or a position: authority is enacted in practices, but more importantly it governs those practices. authority is both the frame for action and, as mentioned above, the law or contract of the transaction between the agents and the beneficiary. as taylor and van every note, it is the double nature of authority – that of ‘authoring’ and ‘authorization’ – that makes it a crucial phenomenon for ‘holding the organization together’. as the cases show, if there are too many lines of authority, if the purposes and goals of the organization are distinct or if different views (managerial and experts) conflict, then there is no common understanding of the governing rule; there is no authority. innovation triggers the need for renegotiating the rules of the transaction between the agents book reviews special forum! m@n@gement, vol. 18(4): 309-313 311 (organizational actors) and the beneficiary (the organization), which also implies the renegotiation of who is authorized to talk on behalf of the organization. ! now that i have reviewed the main ideas presented in why authority matters, let me now explore some of the questions regarding the communicative constitution of organization or cco thesis that were triggered by reading this book. the first question relates to the way authority is described and applied in the case studies. as mentioned above, the definition of authority presented by taylor and van every is quite general (and i think this is an advantage of such a definition): a property of relationship that holds organization together. yet, in the cases, authority is often referred to in terms of the distinction between the authority of position and that of expertise. it is worth noting that the starting point of taylor and van every’s (2014: 3) definition of authority is barley’s (1996) wellknown analysis of technicians’ work, in which ‘[he] identified the basis of all claims to authority as either hierarchical office (position) or skilled practice (expertise)’. based on barley’s work, taylor and van every (2014) argue that today’s organizations strongly rely on a horizontal distribution of work in which authority is defined by expertise. yet, the vertical distribution of authority (authority of position) is still the main model for many large organizations. this paradoxical arrangement is, following the authors, what defines (and makes difficult) the accomplishment of authority – an argument that they defend in the analysis of the two case studies. ! now, i wonder if authority is really only about the conflict between expertise and position. what about other forms of organizing, such as project organizing, nonprofit organizing, freelancing and entrepreneurship, that do not follow a horizontal distribution of authority? the two cases described in the book refer to formal and public organizations – the canadian broadcasting corporation and the new zealand police – and barley’s research was based in hospitals. could it be possible that these particular organizational contexts illustrate only one of the many ways that authority works in organization (albeit a predominant one)? i would suggest that reducing authority to ‘position versus expertise’ is quite problematic as it does not account for the array of modes of organizing. if we consider that authority is a property of relationship (i.e., communication) and we agree that communication constitutes organization, and that there are many forms of organizations ‘out there’, then it seems possible to envisage that different configurations of authority could exist. ! my second question relates to the materiality of authority. again, the definition of authority deployed in the book, both in the theoretical framework and in the case studies, suggests a language-based view of authority. this view is emphasized, for example, by the narrative approach that underlines the case studies (see p. xxi) and also by the conversation/text dynamic which, as mentioned above, is at the heart of taylor and van every’s definition of organizational communication (and thus of authority). and yet the cases present material contexts of innovation related to television broadcasting and the implementation of a new technology. considering the emphasis on materiality that has lately emerged in organizational communication, and more specifically in the communicative constitution of organization approach (see for example, ashcraft et al, 2009), i was expecting a deeper engagement with the materiality of authority. taylor and van every do mention that, in the incis case, technology played an important role in the position versus expertise conflict, but this remains a general argument about the ‘plenum of agencies’ (cooren, 2006) that characterizes organization. what about the role of artifacts, such as procedures, norms, charts, powerpoint presentations, in legitimizing, authorizing, and contesting? and the physical arrangements of the organizational environment or the bodies and emotions that express or retain manifestations of authority? materials have inherent properties for enduring through space and time and for m@n@gement, vol. 18(4): 309-313! book reviews special forum 312 holding together the organization, which seems to be an important feature of authority. how do they contribute to the constitution of authority? ! a final question concerns the pragmatic approach that sustains taylor and van every’s proposition for studying authority and, more generally, for understanding the communicative constitution of organization. pragmatism, as the authors note referring to peirce, begins with observation. it follows that theoretical propositions are not built a priori from observable facts but generated by a mode of reasoning that peirce called ‘abduction’. this inferential mode of reasoning, which is at the basis of the pragmatist approach, implies a search for the meaning of the facts situated on the facts themselves. while i completely agree with peirce’s proposition, and i do believe that the abductive mode of reasoning fits well with an inquiry into the communicative constitution of organization, i had the feeling, while reading the book, that this reasoning followed rather a deductive thought process (i.e. the development of a hypothesis which is then validated or contested by empirical studies). can this feeling be related to the structure of the book, which, as mentioned, presented first the theoretical framework and then the case studies? is it because the studies relied on second-order data (for seven days) and only on interviews (for incis), and that the ‘facts’ were difficult to observe directly? the result was for me somewhat disturbing and made me think about the need in organization studies for alternative – and maybe unexplored – methodological avenues for rendering and writing about the process of abduction when inquiring about organizations. ! reading when organization fails: why authority matters – like any of taylor and van every’s books – was thought-provoking as it opened new theoretical horizons for the inquiry into the communicative constitution of organization. by adding authority to the communication–organization equation, this book adds a missing piece to the organizational communication and organization studies puzzle. indeed, authority matters, we may conclude. as for when (or how) organization fails, i believe more empirical studies are needed to further (abductively) explore this idea. references barley, s.r. (1996). technicians in the workplace: ethnographic evidence for bringing work into organizational studies. administrative science quarterly, 41(3), 404-441. cooren, f. (2006), the organizational world as a plenum of agencies, in cooren f., taylor, j. r. et van every, e. j. (eds.), communication as organizing: empirical and theoretical explorations in the dynamic of text and conversation (pp. 81-100). mahwah, nj, lawrence erlbaum. schoeneborn, d., blaschke, s., cooren, f., mcphee, r.d., seidl, d. & taylor, j.r. (2014). the three schools of cco thinking : interactive dialogue and systematic comparison. management communication quarterly, 28(2), 285-316. taylor, j. r. (1993). rethinking the theory of organizational communication: how to read an organization. norwood, nj: ablex publishing corporation. taylor, j. r. (2011). organization as (imbricated) configuring of transactions. organization studies, 32(9),1273–1294. taylor, j.r. & van every, e.j. (2000). the emergent organization: communication as its site and surface. mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum. taylor, j.r. & van every, e.j. (2011). the situated organization. case studies in the pragmatics of communication research. new york, ny: routledge. taylor, j.r. & van every, e.e. (2014). when organization fails. why authority matters. new york, ny: routledge. www.management-aims.com book reviews special forum! m@n@gement, vol. 18(4): 309-313 313 32bensebaa m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 2, 2000, 57-79 57 faouzi bensebaa l’objectif principal de l’action stratégique consiste en la création et en la préservation dans le temps de l’avantage concurrentiel. cet article estime que cet objectif peut être atteint par l’engagement des seules actions n’entraînant pas de réactions. quatre caractéristiques liées aux actions (irréversibilité, spécificité, innovation et intensité) et trois caractéristiques associées aux réactions (occurrence, imitation et délai) sont testées dans le secteur de la presse magazine en france (presse “news” et presse économique). les résultats montrent que les actions irréversibles, innovantes et intenses provoquent beaucoup de réactions, alors que les actions spécifiques n’entraînent que peu de réponses. ce qui émerge, cependant, est l’importance du délai de réaction, permettant aux firmes de se soustraire, pour un temps, à la concurrence. vers la fin de l’année 1993, la préparation d’un nouveau quotidien du matin n’était plus qu’un secret de polichinelle : un journal allait voir le jour dans le segment déjà très encombré de la presse parisienne du matin. une campagne de publicité se chargea d’annoncer au grand public que le 10 janvier 1994, infomatin devait être présent dans les kiosques au prix modique de 3 frf (décision médias, 1994). l’arrivée de ce nouveau quotidien national déclencha le 5 janvier 1994, soit quelques jours avant la sortie d’infomatin, la riposte du parisien, qui abattit ses cartes en lançant une édition nationale au prix de 3,50 frf, sous le titre d’aujourd’hui (décisions médias, 1995). le 15 février 1995, l’essentiel du management, nouveau titre de la presse économique appartenant au groupe prisma presse, vint enrichir ce segment spécialisé. le mensuel l’entreprise, concurrent principal du nouveau titre, décida d’offrir dorénavant à ses lecteurs un supplément gratuit consacré à la gestion du temps. parallèlement, il lança une campagne de publicité à destination de la presse professionnelle pour convaincre les annonceurs et une campagne de promotion pour chaque numéro (décisions médias, 1995). ces différents mouvements illustrent les comportements des firmes qui, constamment, engagent des actions offensives, dans la quête d’avantages concurrentiels, ou défensives, pour préserver ceux préalablement acquis ou contrecarrer les objectifs des firmes rivales. d’une manière ultime, le succès ou l’échec des mouvements offensifs dépend des réponses (ou des non-réponses) des concurrents (chen et macmillan, 1992 ; chen et miller, 1994). ces mouvements traduisent également l’interdépendance permanente liant les firmes les unes aux autres tant dans leurs décisions que dans les résultats de leurs décisions (cotta, 1970) et constituent l’essence de la concurrence université de marne-la-vallée email: bensebaa@univ-mlv.fr actions stratégiques et réactions des entreprises m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 2, 2000, 57-79 58 (macmillan, 1982 ; caves, 1984). la compréhension de cette interdépendance (qui est, dans les exemples cités, de fait mais qui peut être seulement perçue, imaginée) est d’une importance primordiale en stratégie. en effet, le succès d’une stratégie donnée dépend souvent des réactions des firmes rivales, mais ces réactions ne peuvent être connues qu’après les faits. ce qui peut sembler ex-ante comme une stratégie efficace peut se révéler désastreux si les firmes concurrentes réagissent d’une manière non attendue (venkataraman, chen et macmillan, 1997). pourquoi, de ce fait, les firmes ignorent-elles certains mouvements et réagissent-elles à d’autres ? est-ce la nature et l’intensité des actions qui vont susciter l’intérêt de l’autre, à savoir la ou les firmes rivales du secteur ? peu de recherches, cependant, ont été consacrées à l’observation détaillée de ces comportements, de ces actions-réactions qui caractérisent pourtant les stratégies des acteurs (desreumeaux et bréchet, 1998). en effet, beaucoup de travaux se contentent d’examiner les stratégies concurrentielles via des résultats agrégés comme les parts de marché, les roi ou les profits réalisés (jacobson, 1990). face à ce type de démarches, l’étude des actions-réactions, ou plus précisément des actions ne suscitant pas de réponses, c’est-à-dire du processus conduisant efficacement aux avantages concurrentiels, semble d’un grand intérêt pour la théorie de la stratégie. l’objectif de cette recherche est de proposer une contribution à une telle étude en posant la question suivante : quelles sont les caractéristiques des actions n’entraînant pas de réactions ? cet article est organisé en trois parties. dans un premier temps, nous présenterons brièvement la littérature récente consacrée à l’étude des actions et des réactions concurrentielles. nous suggérerons ainsi, que contrairement aux approches par les structures, macroscopiques par définition, l’approche par l’étude détaillée des comportements des firmes est un point de départ pertinent pour comprendre les fonctionnements dynamiques des firmes (schumpeter, 1934) et partant, les stratégies qu’elles mettent en œuvre. dans un deuxième temps, nous décrirons les caractéristiques des actions (irréversibilité, intensité, innovation et spécificité) et des réactions (occurrence, imitation et délai) retenues dans cette recherche tout en justifiant leur choix. enfin, nous présenterons et discuterons les résultats obtenus. actions et strategies des entreprises deux points retiennent l’attention de cette première partie : les fondements théoriques de ce travail et les déterminants de l’interaction des firmes. fondements theoriques la perspective développée dans cet article propose d’étudier les stratégies concurrentielles au moyen de l’analyse systématique des actions concrètes et tangibles entreprises par les firmes (smith, grimm et gannon, 1992). la seconde caractéristique de cette approche est qu’elle estime que les succès des stratégies des firmes dépendent de la qualité des actions, de l’occurrence des réactions, de leur nature et de leur vitesse, se démarquant ainsi du concept traditionnel de l’avantage concurrentiel durable. cette perspective1 a donné lieu à trois séries de travaux (hambrick, cho et chen, 1996). la première série utilise la dyade action-réaction et cherche à montrer que la réaction peut être prédite par les caractéristiques de l’action, par celles de la firme ayant pris l’initiative d’agir et enfin par celles de la firme répondante (macmillan, mccaffery et van wijk, 1985 ; bettis et weeks, 1987 ; smith, grimm, chen et gannon, 1989 ; smith, grimm, gannon et chen, 1991 ; chen et macmillan, 1992 ; chen, smith et grimm, 1992 ; chen et miller, 1994). la deuxième série explore le comportement concurrentiel en insistant sur les facteurs humains et organisationnels, sur les éléments structurels et sur l’impact des comportements concurrentiels sur la performance (smith et al., 1991 ; schomburg, grimm et smith, 1994 ; chen et hambrick, 1995 ; baum et korn, 1996 ; hambrick et al., 1996 ; smith, grimm, wally et young, 1997). la troisième série, enfin, étudie les implications de l’inertie organisationnelle sur la performance (miller et chen, 1994) et s’intéresse à la simplicité des mouvements concurrentiels (miller et chen, 1996a) et à leur non-conformité (miller et chen, 1996b). ces différents travaux reprennent les réflexions de schumpeter et de l’école autrichienne (jacobson, 1992) concernant la fluidité de la concurrence et l’évolution des firmes à partir de l’engagement constant d’actions et de réactions. c’est dans ce sens qu’il faut comprendre les recherches de la première série qui, se focalisant sur l’étude microéconomique des comportements des firmes, considèrent que la performance est le fruit des actions entreprises, quoique ce résultat ne puisse être tenu pour définitivement acquis dans la mesure où il peut être remis en cause par les réponses des firmes rivales (d’aveni, 1995). l’approche proposée va, cependant, dans son ensemble, audelà des réflexions de l’école autrichienne puisqu’elle ne se contente pas d’affirmer le caractère dynamique de l’environnement des firmes et sa nature, par définition, instable. elle cherche à comprendre les déterminants des mouvements concurrentiels et partant, de la stratégie globale et de la performance des entreprises. a titre d’exemple, macmillan et al. (1985) ont montré que le temps de réponse à l’introduction de nouveaux produits est lié à l’impact, réel ou perçu, de ces produits sur l’activité sectorielle. de la même manière, des chercheurs ont voulu expliquer que la réponse des firmes rivales (probabilité, délai, etc.) peut être prédite par les caractéristiques des actions (chen et al., 1992), ainsi que par celles des firmes actives ou répondantes (chen et macmillan, 1992). d’autres chercheurs ont proposé comme facteurs déterminant les comportements concurrentiels, la taille des firmes (chen et hambrick, 1995), leur capacité de collecte de l’information (smith et al., 1991) la croissance du marché (miller et chen, 1994) et le profil des managers (hambrick et al., 1996). m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 2, 2000, 57-79 59 1. l’analyse des comportements des firmes, à partir des actions qu’elles entreprennent, remonte probablement aux écrits de schumpeter. la même démarche peut être retrouvée dans les travaux de perroux (1973) ainsi que dans ceux de cotta (1970). toutefois, c’est grâce principalement au strategic management research group de l’université du maryland (usa) dont les travaux, entamés en 1984, ont donné lieu à des publications majeures (notamment celle de smith et al., 1992) que la démarche, axée sur les actions et les réactions des firmes, a commencé à être mieux formalisée, mieux conceptualisée et connue. l’objectif des travaux développés dans cette optique est d’aboutir à une théorie permettant la prédiction du comportement de l’autre, estimant ainsi que les jeux des acteurs visent à peser, d’une manière délibérée, sur le champ concurrentiel. bien entendu, aucune certitude ne peut être établie quant à l’exacte correspondance entre les réactions effectives et les prévisions établies entre les firmes. mais les erreurs de prévision n’entraînent pas forcément l’échec. en effet, si les actions engagées sont définies et engagées avec l’idée que les réactions vont avoir lieu et que celles-ci ne se produisent pas, le résultat n’en est que meilleur. sur le long terme cependant, le succès d’une stratégie est étroitement lié à l’acuité de la prévision et la stratégie idéale est celle qui permet à la firme d’être là où la concurrence n’est pas (smith et al., 1992) puisqu’il est préférable que la firme avance “masquée” pour prétendre atteindre à moindre coût ses objectifs (sun tzu, 1978). cet article se veut une contribution à l’étude des stratégies concurrentielles au moyen de l’étude détaillée des actions et des réactions des acteurs. il épouse le profil de la première série de travaux évoqués cidessus pour explorer les caractéristiques des actions permettant l’évitement de la concurrence et l’obtention de la performance. il cherche ainsi à valider les conclusions de ces travaux en s’intéressant au secteur de la presse magazine en france. determinants de l’interaction des firmes l’examen des actions et des réactions jette une lumière nouvelle sur les stratégies concurrentielles en accordant une place significative à l’interaction des firmes. celle-ci est la caractéristique fondamentale de leur univers, social par définition, et dans lequel les entreprises exercent des activités les unes avec les autres et les unes contre les autres et où également elles élaborent des projets (kœnig, 1996 ; desreumeaux et bréchet, 1998). l’hypothèse de travail dans cette recherche est que les firmes sont hétérogènes, singulières parce qu’elles sont différentes en termes de ressources, de culture, d’histoire, d’objectifs, de champs des possibles, de champs d’influences et de contraintes, etc. de ce fait, elles n’ont pas les mêmes moyens de s’entre-influencer, ce qui signifie que certains projets vont s’imposer alors que d’autres vont échouer. en d’autres termes, des actions vont être plus efficaces que d’autres et la réussite de certaines actions indique que les firmes à la source de ces manœuvres ont été en mesure d’imposer leurs volontés dans la relation sociale qu’elles ont avec leurs rivales, obtenant ainsi le pouvoir désiré. cette relation n’est pas symétrique et celle qui émerge, dissymétrique, indique que la réaction n’est pas égale à l’action, que l’action n’est pas équipollente à la réaction et que l’interdépendance est atténuée et limitée (perroux, 1973). a partir de là, l’action, dans cette recherche, qu’elle cherche l’influence, la subordination ou la coercition, est un mouvement intentionnel autonome, par exemple une baisse de prix, une campagne publicitaire, une amélioration du produit, etc., engagé par une firme, dans le but m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 2, 2000, 57-79 60 d’obtenir un avantage sur un ou plusieurs concurrents ou d’améliorer ou défendre sa position concurrentielle (chen, 1988 ; smith et al., 1992). dans le même esprit, nous définissons la réaction comme un contremouvement entrepris par une firme rivale pour défendre ou améliorer sa situation, sa performance ou sa position dans le secteur en réponse à l’action. la confrontation des actions et des réactions est une confrontation de projets, de stratégies, mais le succès des actions va être étroitement lié aux réponses des concurrents (chen et macmillan, 1992 ; smith et al., 1992 ; chen et miller, 1994) et donc de la nature des actions entreprises. il est préférable bien entendu d’apprécier cette confrontation en dynamique. cependant, le résultat de cette interaction, statique par définition, indique l’occurrence de réactions aux actions entreprises, tout en gardant à l’esprit que la compensation n’est jamais complète. lorsqu’il n’y a pas de réactions aux actions entreprises, la relation interactive ne peut logiquement être exprimée et le résultat ne peut pas l’être également. ces difficultés majeures du système actionsréactions peuvent être tournées cependant en admettant que les actions, les réactions et le résultat de l’interaction n’ont de signification que par référence à une série d’opérations et à une période. le but de cette démarche est d’arriver à identifier les actions ne suscitant pas de réactions au cours d’une période donnée, pour que la stratégie, combinaison de pouvoir et de pari, puisse guider ex-ante en décelant les possibilités de succès. actions-reactions et evitement de la concurrence l’engagement d’actions par les firmes dans une quête efficace d’avantages concurrentiels se déroule sous des conditions d’incertitude. celle-ci est omniprésente, parce que les activités des firmes se déroulent dans le temps. celui-ci est porteur de variables de mémoire et de variables de projets, lesquels ont lieu dans un avenir inconnu par définition et contenant le risque. de ce fait, l’information émise, transmise et réceptionnée par les firmes, dans le cadre de leur interdépendance, n’est jamais parfaite (grimm et smith, 1997). toutefois, certaines firmes ont le pouvoir d’influencer le niveau d’incertitude de leurs rivales. en effet, et c’est l’idée de base de cette recherche, dans le champ concurrentiel incertain, les firmes, visant à rendre la relation sociale la plus dissymétrique possible, soit cherchent à rendre les actions entreprises franchement incompréhensibles, soit les veulent suffisamment explicites pour clarifier les comportements engagés et indiquer le degré d’implication. ces objectifs sont possibles parce que l’information, définie ici comme une combinaison de messages et de signaux, est omniprésente dans les projets, illustrés par les actions. en effet, « les concurrents, par leur comportement, fournissent des signaux de mille manières différentes. certains signaux sont émis pour donner le change, d’autres sont des avertissements, d’autres sont m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 2, 2000, 57-79 61 encore le témoignage d’un engagement sérieux dans un sens déterminé. les signaux du marché sont des moyens indirects de communication avec tous ceux qui œuvrent sur le marché, et le comportement des concurrents peut, dans son entier ou presque, fournir des informations utiles à l’analyse de la concurrence et à la formulation d’une stratégie » (porter, 1980, p. 83). ces signaux constituent la source principale de l’information recherchée par les firmes qui s’y appuient pour essayer de comprendre les intentions de leurs concurrents et définir ainsi leurs propres comportements. par définition, ces signaux sont multiples, aussi leur regroupement via des caractéristiques communes aux actions est-il indispensable. caracteristiques des actions quatre caractéristiques associées aux actions sont proposées : leur irréversibilité, leur intensité, leur caractère innovant et enfin leur spécificité. le choix de ces caractéristiques est dicté clairement par le souci d’observer les actions permettant l’évitement de la concurrence en annihilant l’interdépendance des acteurs ou la minimisant. et c’est le niveau d’incertitude auquel font face les firmes et sur lequel vont peser les firmes initiatrices qui va servir de dénominateur commun aux caractéristiques retenues. en effet, l’incertitude associée aux actions irréversibles, intenses et spécifiques est supposée faible alors qu’elle est estimée forte pour les actions innovantes. irreversibilite de l’action les firmes peuvent engager des actions dont le coût est élevé et irréversible. ces actions, dites “ricardiennes” (grimm et smith, 1997), s’appuient sur des ressources que possède la firme ou qu’elle est en mesure de mobiliser. il ne s’agit pas ici de discuter de l’origine de ces ressources ou de chercher à établir des liens entre la possession de ressources idiosyncratiques et l’avantage concurrentiel (au sens de la théorie des ressources, cf. foss, 1997). il s’agit de montrer que les ressources rendent les firmes aptes à entreprendre certains types d’actions. les firmes rivales, informées sur l’importance des ressources nécessitées par ce type d’actions et sur leurs propres ressources, anticipent le caractère irrévocable des actions entreprises et de ce fait, l’irréversibilité peut servir de signal crédible des engagements des firmes (schelling, 1960 ; porter, 1980) et à cause des coûts irrécupérables, la sortie est difficile, rendant ainsi la concurrence peu disputable au sens de la théorie des marchés contestables (baumol, panzar et willig, 1982). l’irréversibilité de l’action, signalant d’une manière claire l’engagement des firmes entreprenantes, peut, de ce fait, façonner d’une manière significative les réponses des concurrents. celles-ci vont être peu nombreuses. quand elles ont lieu, leur occurrence survient après un délai significatif et à cause de l’importance des coûts, elles vont être faiblement mimétiques. m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 2, 2000, 57-79 62 intensite de l’action l’intensité des actions traduit le degré de menace exercé sur les concurrents d’une firme donnée et provoque des effets différents selon les acteurs en présence. en effet, le degré de menace va dépendre de la perception par les concurrents de l’action engagée lesquels, en général, perçoivent mal les implications des mouvements qui ne les menacent pas directement et de ce fait, sont moins enclins à réagir. dutton et duncan (1987) affirment que les managers ont tendance à répondre fortement aux actions ressenties comme menaçantes. porter (1980) argue également qu’un concurrent est généralement motivé pour entreprendre des réponses rapides et décisives s’il considère que l’action engagée est menaçante, le degré de menace est alors négativement associé au délai de réponse (macmillan et al., 1985). en outre, la forte dépendance d’un marché pousse les firmes à réagir d’une manière agressive et rapide à la menace d’un nouvel entrant (tsai, macmillan et low, 1991) ainsi, si une action affecte directement les marchés clés des concurrents, ces derniers répondront probablement rapidement pour montrer leur engagement à défendre leurs marchés. cependant, la caractéristique mise en évidence dans cette recherche repose sur la forte intensité de l’action qui, par définition, requiert des ressources et de ce fait, peut être également qualifiée de “ricardienne” (grimm et smith, 1997). les réactions vont être liées à la fois à l’importance des ressources engagées et au degré de menace perçu (macmillan et al., 1985 ; chen, 1988). aussi les actions intenses entraînent-elles peu de réactions et seulement après un délai significatif. en termes d’imitation, celle-ci ne peut être que faible, les firmes réagissant surtout pour défendre leurs positions avec des moyens dont elles ont la maîtrise et leurs réponses sont rapportées à leur propre situation. specificite de l’action la spécificité de l’action est définie par la faiblesse des marchés ou clients ciblés par le comportement de la firme. l’action spécifique s’oppose par définition à l’action intense. elle fait partie du répertoire habituel des firmes présentes dans le secteur et à partir de là, l’information est claire car les signaux émis peuvent être compris correctement par les acteurs en présence. les firmes ne cherchent pas explicitement à se soustraire à l’interdépendance, mais comme les moyens mobilisés ne sont guère importants, les actions spécifiques sont considérées comme peu menaçantes car conformes aux mouvements connus (miller et chen, 1996a) et légitimes (dimaggio et powell, 1991). cette concurrence conventionnelle ne suscite pas normalement de réactions hostiles (miller et chen, 1996a) et peut être liée à l’âge des acteurs du secteur (meyer et zucker, 1989), leur taille (haveman, 1993), la relative faiblesse du taux de croissance du marché (dimaggio, 1991) et la performance passée (milliken et lant, 1991). en liaison avec cette conformité, un effet “boule-de-neige” (farell et saloner, 1985) peut cepenm@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 2, 2000, 57-79 63 dant se produire, quand une ou quelques firmes commencent à répondre et il peut être anticipé qu’une action d’une faible spécificité entraîne, à terme, beaucoup de réactions ainsi, lorsque les actions sont très spécifiques, les réponses peuvent être nombreuses, mimétiques et le délai de réaction court. action innovante chercher à éviter les concurrents par le biais d’une action innovante consiste à introduire une nouvelle variable dans le jeu de la concurrence. ce type d’action émane par construction d’une seule firme et crée l’instabilité en remettant en cause l’ordre qui prévalait jusque-là. cette action dite “entrepreneuriale” au sens de schumpeter (grimm et smith, 1997) repose sur la mise en œuvre de nouvelles combinaisons à partir de ressources existantes (schumpeter, 1934). puisque ces actions sont entrepreneuriales, elle tirent profit de l’innovation et de l’avantage du “premier entrant” (oster, 1990). les réactions peuvent cependant être envisagées puisque les ressources mobilisées n’ont pas forcément de caractère unique. mais les actions innovantes retardent les réactions en exploitant l’incertitude, qui est ici importante, et les “points aveugles” (porter, 1980). en effet, les réponses peuvent être décalées parce que les firmes rivales sont incertaines quant à l’issue de l’action entreprise ou ne perçoivent pas son occurrence. prahalad et bettis (1986) estiment qu’une logique dominante sous-tendant les schémas cognitifs des managers permet de comprendre la manière dont ces dirigeants conceptualisent leur activité et prennent les décisions d’allocation des ressources. les actions innovantes exploitent ainsi cette logique qui peut s’avérer lourde de conséquences lorsque les conditions de l’environnement changent (grimm et smith, 1997). de ce fait, les actions qui potentiellement retardent les réactions sont celles qui sont associées à des niveaux élevés d’incertitude et d’asymétrie d’information. aussi les réactions aux actions innovantes vont-elles être peu nombreuses et lentes. quand elles se produisent, cependant, elles sont mimétiques car les firmes constatent le succès des actions engagées au moyen de l’amélioration des parts de marché et/ou de la performance. sur la base de l’incertitude attachée à chaque caractéristique d’action, des conjectures sont établies dans cette recherche (tableau 1). m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 2, 2000, 57-79 64 tableau 1. influence des caractéristiques des actions sur les réactions caractéristiques des actions contenu informationnel réponses des firmes rivales actions irréversibles actions intenses actions spécifiques actions innovantes difficile à interpréter, incertain difficile à interpréter, incertain facile à interpréter, plus familier, moins incertain difficile à interpréter (sauf s’il y a succès) peu de réactions, délai de réaction long, faible imitation peu de réactions, délai de réaction long, faible imitation beaucoup de réactions, délai de réaction court, imitation forte peu de réactions, délai de réaction long, imitation forte caracteristiques des reactions trois caractéristiques associées aux réactions sont proposées dans ce travail : l’occurrence des réactions, le délai de réaction et l’imitation. occurrence des reactions l’occurrence des réactions peut signifier que les firmes initiatrices n’ont pu imposer leur volonté et peser sur le jeu concurrentiel. l’interdépendance est de nouveau présente et la relation sociale peut redevenir symétrique sans que la compensation soit totale. l’absence de réaction peut être associée à deux hypothèses. soit la stratégie des firmes initiatrices est efficace, soit l’inertie est délibérée (miller et chen, 1994) à cause notamment de facteurs organisationnels (taille, structure, nature du marché des firmes, etc.) ou humains (profil du management, par exemple). sans entrer dans des considérations éloignées de l’objet de cette recherche, il nous semble que l’inaction, si elle est voulue, ne peut être que temporaire. en effet, si les firmes constatant l’action ne répondent pas, cela signifie que l’avantage obtenu, via la ou les actions, ne remet pas en cause d’une manière décisive la hiérarchie établie antérieurement. ce qui indique que tant que les seuils de réaction n’ont pas été atteints, il y a absence de réponse. delai de reaction le délai de réaction est une variable fondamentale (smith et al., 1989 ; bukszar, 1997) dans l’approche proposée dans cette recherche et donne tout son sens au système action-réaction et au résultat de l’interaction. il repose, par commodité, sur le temps du calendrier pour apprécier la période d’action et le déclenchement de la première réaction. rendu ainsi mesurable, il permet d’apprécier l’efficacité de l’action engagée, c’est-à-dire le décalage obtenu entre l’action et la réaction. « toutes choses égales par ailleurs, une firme voudra entreprendre la manœuvre qui lui donne le plus de temps avant que ses concurrents puissent lancer des représailles efficaces » (porter, 1980, p. 105). et également, « les principes clés de l'interaction entre firmes concurrentes consistent à trouver des manœuvres stratégiques qui bénéficieront de délais de riposte, ou à entreprendre des manœuvres de nature à maximiser ces délais » (porter, 1980, p.108). imitation les réactions ayant lieu sous des conditions d’incertitude au même titre que les actions, elles sont forcément influencées par l’observation de ces dernières, mais les firmes sont cependant sélectives dans leur imitation (korn et baum, 1999). ainsi, les actions des firmes leaders, de grande taille et performantes attirent probablement davantage l’imitation car leurs succès indiquent qu’elles ont entrepris quelque chose d’approprié. l’imitation des actions de ce type de firmes vise à partager les mêmes succès et/ou à acquérir et améliorer la légitimité (dimaggio et powell, 1983). m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 2, 2000, 57-79 65 chercher à obtenir des avantages de “second entrant” (lieberman et montgomery, 1988) en suivant le pionnier ou l’innovateur pousse également à l’imitation. celle-ci est également présente lorsque les actions sont répétées et les firmes se servent de la fréquence pour apprécier la valeur de ce type de comportements, sous des conditions d’incertitude (dimaggio et powell, 1983). d’une manière générale, cependant, les firmes imitent les actions engagées et adoptées par un grand nombre d’acteurs mais imitent principalement les actions obtenant le succès. l’occurrence des réactions, leur délai de réalisation et leur type mimétique constituent ainsi les trois attributs des réponses proposés dans ce travail. l’interaction des firmes via les actions entreprises doit, cependant, être appréciée en tenant compte des caractéristiques d’une manière conjointe et non exclusive. la figure 1 regroupe nos propos concernant la nature des actions et des réactions. m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 2, 2000, 57-79 66 irreversibilité occurrence imitation délai de réactionreaction action innovation spécificité intensité figure 1. l’interaction concurrentielle champ operationnel et methodologie le choix du secteur pour tester et discuter les conjectures mises en place (tableau 1), nous avons choisi de travailler sur le secteur de la presse magazine en france, et ceci pour quatre raisons : la concurrence qui s’y déroule est intense ; les frontières de ce secteur sont aisément identifiables ; les acteurs majeurs sont en concurrence directe ; les informations proviennent de sources secondaires de bonne qualité. face à l’abondance des titres de la presse magazine, nous avons porté notre attention sur deux segments, celui des “news”, c’est-à-dire l’evénement du jeudi, l’express, le nouvel observateur, le point, et celui de la presse économique, capital, challenges, enjeux les echos, l’entreprise, l’essentiel du management, l’expansion, le nouvel economiste. m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 2, 2000, 57-79 67 reperage des actions et des reactions et periode d’observation l’identification des actions et des réactions s’est faite au moyen de sources secondaires, à travers l’analyse de contenu (jauch, osborn et martin, 1980) de six revues sectorielles : cb news, correspondance de la presse, décision médias, echo de la presse, médias pouvoirs, stratégie. le choix de ces revues comme sources secondaires de qualité a été validé par six informants du secteur. parallèlement à cette collecte de données, 21 entretiens avec les dirigeants et les informants du secteur ont été menés dans un souci d’appréciation de la nature du secteur, de compréhension de ses différentes facettes et des conditions dans lesquelles les actions et les réactions ont eu lieu. le recueil des données a porté sur deux périodes, 1985-1995 pour ce qui concerne la presse “news” et 1990-1995 pour la presse économique et s’est déroulé en deux étapes. d’abord, nous avons identifié tous les comportements rapportés par les revues spécialisées. ensuite, nous avons repéré les réactions au moyen de mots clés, « en réaction à », « sous la pression de », « suite à ». ces réactions ont permis de remonter aux actions pour constituer l’événement concurrentiel. les actions non suivies de réponses ont été retrouvées dans un premier temps par élimination. dans un second temps, nous les avons confirmées au moyen de mots clés, « lancement d’un supplément de », « sortie d’un cahier », « nouvelle formule de », et en vérifiant, d’une manière longitudinale, qu’aucune réaction à ces actions n’existe. si aucune réaction n’avait été repérée durant la période d’observation, nous avons estimé que les actions codées n’avaient pas provoqué de réponses. nous avons préféré l’utilisation de mots clés pour le repérage des comportements concurrentiels aux impressions des managers pour éliminer les biais inhérents à ce type d’outils. mais la méthode de collecte adoptée n’est pas non plus exempte de biais. en effet, le risque était de se retrouver prisonnier des choix des journalistes, de leur grille d’examen, de leurs théories implicites et de leur interprétation. là aussi, notre choix de l’analyse de contenu de plusieurs revues sectorielles a visé certes à comprendre les deux facettes du secteur de la presse, mais également à vérifier la véracité des événements rapportés, réduisant ainsi les limites du mode de collecte des informations. reste un dernier point sensible de notre démarche. il s’agit de la période d’observation elle-même. pour éliminer les événements du début de la période se rapportant à des actions antérieures, nous n’avons tenu compte que des actions autonomes démarrant au début de 1985 pour la presse “news” (pour être précis, la période démarre le 19/11/1984 avec l’arrivée de l’evénement du jeudi) et 1990 pour la presse économique. en ce qui concerne la fin de la période d’observation, les actions engagées à la fin de celles-ci ont été écartées. les actions estimées n’ayant pas provoqué de réactions et identifiées du début à la fin de la période ont été conservées, les réponses après la période ne pouvant pas être significatives. en outre, ces interprétations ont été corroborées par les informants du secteur. mise en adequation des concepts retenus et des informations recueillies la base de données constituée à partir des actions et des réactions observées a subi, à son tour, un codage. il s’agit cette fois-ci de repérer les événements concurrentiels en fonction des concepts clés adoptés, à savoir l’irréversibilité des actions, leur intensité, leur spécificité et leur innovation. cette démarche dite de quantification consiste en un codage systématique de tous les événements qualitatifs selon les caractéristiques prédéterminées. cette démarche permet de vérifier des théories dynamiques intégrant des phénomènes de rétroaction causale, de prendre en compte différents processus et de déboucher sur une conceptualisation claire (langley, 1997). dans cet esprit, l’irréversibilité est appréciée selon trois modalités : la mise en place d’une nouvelle formule, le changement du responsable de la rédaction (par exemple, l’arrivée au “news” l’express, en septembre 1995, comme rédactrice en chef, de christine ockrent, figure médiatique jouant un rôle de premier plan dans le monde des médias est une décision stratégique significative) et enfin les mouvements de type fusion-acquisition (groupement d’intérêt economique entre le point et le nouvel observateur, acquisition du fichier des abonnés de science et vie economie par l’expansion, etc.). l’intensité de l’action est appréciée selon son degré le plus élevé : elle est considérée élevée si tous les marchés du titre sont affectés. par exemple, une nouvelle formule va toucher la vente au numéro, l’abonnement ainsi que les annonceurs. d’une manière similaire, la baisse des prix par un titre va menacer tous les marchés des firmes concurrentes. en revanche, l’amélioration du contenu, d’une manière subtile et discrète, ne va pas menacer à court terme les concurrents. le repérage de cette caractéristique est effectué à partir de l’impact de l’action sur les trois marchés des concurrents : vente au numéro, abonnement et pagination publicitaire. l’intensité est également appréciée lorsqu’elle s’applique à un marché qui peut être considéré comme décisif par les firmes rivales. ainsi, l’intensité est codée suivant six modalités : la mise en place d’une nouvelle formule, le changement du responsable de la rédaction, la baisse des prix, la diversification (lancement de l’observateur des carrières par le nouvel observateur, lancement de télé câble hebdo par l’express, lancement de l’opération “top livres” par l’express, etc.), l’association avec un autre média, et les mouvements de type fusion/acquisition. la spécificité des mouvements est importante dans la mesure où le secteur étudié a comme attribut essentiel le double marché, celui de la diffusion et celui de la publicité. en général, le succès sur le premier marché se traduit par un succès sur le second marché. comme corollaire, tout échec en matière de diffusion a des conséquences sur la demande effective des annonceurs. en outre, la diffusion est ventilée en vente au numéro et en vente par abonnement. les titres cherchent m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 2, 2000, 57-79 68 à obtenir un pourcentage significatif d’abonnés, d’une manière quelque peu similaire aux firmes qui cherchent la fidélité à leur marque. la recherche de l’abonnement est une recherche de l’inertie, à travers l’établissement de contrats de longue durée. ces lecteurs permanents peuvent constituer un portefeuille monnayable auprès des annonceurs. d’un autre côté, la vente au numéro suppose, bien entendu, un autre type de fidélité des lecteurs à travers le visuel, les rubriques, les sujets traités, mais cette fidélisation et la recherche de lecteurs marginaux sont coûteuses puisqu’elles supposent des comportements concurrentiels et des investissements continus. aussi, si une action porte sur la vente au numéro, la réaction sera-t-elle liée à la dépendance des concurrents à l’égard de la vente au numéro ou de la vente par abonnement. le même raisonnement est valable pour les actions portant sur la vente par abonnement. les modalités retenues doivent donc prendre en compte ces trois marchés, à savoir la diffusion, l’abonnement et la publicité. le codage repère ainsi les 15 modalités suivantes : baisse des prix, promotion (création d’un club pour fidéliser les lecteurs, organisation d’une journée “relations publiques”, etc.), couplage publicitaire avec d’autres titres du groupe, abonnement (baisse du prix de l’abonnement, offre de cadeaux et de produits aux abonnés, etc.), changement de maquette, changement de jour de parution, création de nouvelles rubriques, développement des annonces, association avec un autre média, création d’un cahier, ajout d’hors séries et suppléments, régie publicitaire (recrutement d’une nouvelle équipe publicitaire, externalisation ou internalisation de la publicité, etc.), mise en place d’un service télématique, tarifs publicitaires (baisse des tarifs, offre promotionnelle, etc.), et campagne publicitaire. le repérage du caractère innovant des actions est un peu plus complexe dans la mesure où une action innovante dans un segment ne l’est pas forcément dans l’autre. pour être considérée comme innovante, une action doit être nouvelle pour les concurrents dans le segment considéré. cela a été le cas quand, par exemple, le nouvel observateur a introduit pour la première fois des pages économiques au début de l’année 1985. six modalités permettent de repérer des actions innovantes dans le segment “news” : une baisse des prix, une nouvelle maquette, le changement de jour de parution, l’introduction de nouvelles rubriques, l’ajout d’un cahier, et la régie publicitaire. dans le segment “presse économique”, une seule modalité dénote une action innovation : la baisse des prix. concernant les réactions, il s’agit de repérer leur éventuelle occurrence, le délai avec lequel elles se produisent, et leur mimétisme avec l’action qui est à leur origine. les occurrences des réactions sont comptées à partir de la première réaction et durant toute la période étudiée. le délai de réaction est mesuré par le nombre de jours s’écoulant entre le déclenchement de l’action et la première réaction. si la réaction a lieu avant le déclenchement de l’action suite à une m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 2, 2000, 57-79 69 annonce par exemple, le délai est estimé égal à 0. l’imitation est une variable muette prenant la valeur 1 quand la réaction est de nature identique à l’action (prix contre prix, nouvelle formule contre nouvelle formule, par exemple), et 0 dans le cas contraire. au total, il y a donc 19 modalités à repérer pour les actions, à quoi s’ajoutent l’occurrence, le délai et l’imitation pour les réactions. concernant les actions, les modalités peuvent se chevaucher, c’est-àdire que plusieurs modalités peuvent concerner un même événement concurrentiel. une “nouvelle formule” par exemple est un événement irréversible, mais en même temps c’est une action de forte intensité puisqu’elle menace les différents marchés des concurrents. de la même manière, une action prix peut afficher un caractère innovant mais en même temps menacer la vente au numéro. si cette vente fléchit, et si la vente par abonnement, soit est faible d’une manière structurelle, soit baisse, entraînant par la même occasion la défection des annonceurs, l’action prix peut menacer sérieusement les concurrents. analyse des resultats, interpretation et implications le codage des données à partir de l’analyse de contenu des six revues sectorielles évoquées a permis la constitution d’un échantillon de 120 actions concurrentes et 38 réactions répertoriées pour la presse “news” et 86 actions et 23 réactions relevées pour la presse économique. le tableau 2 relève les différents mouvements concurrentiels, tant pour la presse “news” que pour la presse économique. le segment “news”, constitué de 4 titres, affiche plus d’actions (120 actions, taux de réaction : 31,7 %) que le segment de la presse économique, composé de 7 titres (86 actions, taux de réaction : 26,7 %). en outre, les données obtenues permettent de constater, d’un côté, une similitude en termes d’actions importantes (nouvelle formule, prix, changement de rédacteur, etc.) et d’un autre côté, des différences significatives sur les actions de type maquette, diversification produit, changement de jour de parution, association avec un autre média, tarifs publicitaires et campagne publicitaires… le tableau 3 présente les actions et réactions selon les quatre caractéristiques prises en compte dans cette recherche, le délai de réaction, ainsi que le nombre de réactions mimétiques. ainsi, pour la presse “news”, 19 réactions sont engagées en réponse aux 15 actions irréversibles, soit 127 %. de même, 74 %, 6 %, et 39 % de réactions sont observées pour les actions intenses, spécifiques et innovantes, alors que pour la presse économique, 123 %, 133 %, 3 %, et 200 % sont constatées pour les mêmes types d’actions. on observe donc un nombre de réactions relativement important, sauf pour les actions spécifiques. en termes de provenance, elles émanent de la plupart des acteurs des segments considérés, même si dans certains cas, une firme répond plusieurs fois et de différentes façons. les délais de réponse sont appréciés au moyen de la médiane et de la médiale. le calcul de la médiane vise à atténuer les effets des m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 2, 2000, 57-79 70 m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 2, 2000, 57-79 71 tableau 2. codage et fréquence des mouvements concurrentiels caractéristiques* actions réactions caractéristiques* actions réactions p r e s s e “ n e w s ” p r e s s e é c o n o m i q u e mouvements concurrentiels irrév./int. irrév./int. int./spéc./inno. spéc. spéc. spéc. spéc./inno. spéc./inno. spéc./inno. spéc. int. int./spéc. spéc./inno. spéc. spéc./inno. spéc. spéc. spéc. irrév./int. 8 (6,67%) 4 (3,33%) 2 (1,67%) 7 (5,83%) 3 (2,50%) 5 (4,17%) 6 (5,00%) 3 (2,50%) 4 (3,33%) 9 (7,50%) 12 (10,00%) 6 (5,00%) 2 (1,67%) 21 (17,50%) 6 (5,00%) 2 (1,67%) 3 (2,50%) 14 (11,67%) 3 (2,50%) 120 (100,00%) 5 (13,16%) 1 (2,63%) 2 (5,26%) 0 (0,00%) 1 (2,63%) 0 (0,00%) 6 (15,79%) 4 (10,53%) 1 (2,63%) 1 (2,63%) 4 (10,53%) 1 (2,63%) 1 (2,63%) 0 (0,00%) 3 (7,89%) 1 (2,63%) 3 (7,98%) 4 (10,53%) 0 (0,00%) 38 (100,00%) irrév./int. irrév./int. int./spéc./inno. spéc. spéc. spéc. spéc. spéc. spéc. spéc. int. int./spéc. spéc. spéc. spéc. spéc. spéc. spéc. irrév./int. 9 (10,47%) 3 (3,49%) 2 (2,33%) 5 (5,81%) 3 (3,49%) 1 (1,16%) 2 (2,33%) 1 (1,16%) 4 (4,65%) 1 (1,16%) 0 (0,00%) 0 (0,00%) 0 (0,00%) 26 (30,23%) 4 (4,65%) 2 (2,33%) 16 (18,60%) 6 (6,98%) 1 (1,16%) 86 (100,00%) 5 (21,74%) 1 (4,35%) 4 (17,39%) 1 (4,35%) 2 (8,70%) 2 (8,70%) 0 (0,00%) 0 (0,00%) 1 (4,35%) 0 (0,00%) 0 (0,00%) 0 (0,00%) 1 (4,35 %) 0 (0,00%) 0 (0,00%) 0 (0,00%) 0 (0,00%) 4 (17,39%) 2 (8,70%) 23 (100,00%) nouvelle formule rédacteur en chef prix promotion couplage publicitaire abonnement maquette changement de jour de parution nouvelles rubriques développement des annonces diversification association avec un autre média cahier hors-série/suppléments régie publicitaire télématique tarifs publicitaires campagne publicitaire fusions/acquisitions total * irrév. = irréversible ; int. = intense ; spéc. = spécifique ; inno. = innovant. tableau 3. réactions engagées en fonction des caractéristiques des actions nombre de réactions délai de réaction médian (en jours) délai de réaction médial (en jours) nombre d’imitations 38† 19 26 6 9 23† 16 20 2 4 189 137 233 67 180 650 269 327 1755 695 844 743 18† 1 5 5 7 4† 1 4 2 4 presse “news” (n = 120)† actions irréversibles (n = 15) actions intenses (n = 35) actions spécifiques (n = 93) actions innovantes (n = 23) presse économique (n = 86)† actions irréversibles (n = 13) actions intenses (n = 15) actions spécifiques (n = 73) actions innovantes (n = 2) † = les totaux ne correspondent pas à la somme des valeurs indiquées en dessous car une même action ou réaction peut avoir plusieurs caractéristiques. ‡ = la médiane et la médiale pour les réactions aux actions spécifiques (presse “news” et presse économique) n’ont pas fait l’objet de calculs à cause de la faiblesse de l’échantillon et de l’instantanéité de certaines réactions. les chiffres présentés correspondent aux délais de réaction observés. 0 ; 0 ; 0 ; 30 ;30 ; 900 ‡ 0 ; 600 ‡ observations extrêmes, alors que celui de la médiale permet de prendre en compte la totalité du caractère des observations. les délais de réactions médians aux actions innovantes sont supérieurs aux délais de réponse aux actions irréversibles et intenses. le délai de réaction médial aux actions innovantes demeure le plus important pour la presse “news” alors que pour la presse économique, c’est le délai médial de réaction aux actions intenses qui est le plus élevé. les réactions aux actions spécifiques (pour les deux segments confondus) sont le plus souvent instantanées (4 sur 8). globalement, les délais sont-ils longs ou courts ? partant de l’idée de délai de réalisation du produit —dans notre cas, le délai de réalisation d’un numéro est évalué à 3 semaines (junqua, 1995)— nous avons estimé qu’un délai de 30 jours peut être considéré comme court pour les deux segments. toutefois, le délai peut être nul et par conséquent court si la réaction a lieu soit avant le déclenchement, soit en même temps que l’exécution de l’action parce que celle-ci a fait l’objet d’annonces. au-delà de ce temps, les réactions sont dites lentes et partant, le délai long. le tableau 3 montre, ainsi, que les délais de réaction médians et médiaux sont importants pour les actions irréversibles, intenses et innovantes. en revanche, seulement deux réactions sur huit sont entreprises avec un délai significatif pour les actions spécifiques. en termes d’imitation, celle-ci est faible sauf pour les actions spécifiques (5 imitations sur 6 réactions pour la presse “news” et 2 imitations sur 2 réactions pour la presse économique) et pour les actions innovantes (7 imitations sur 9 réactions pour la presse “news” et 4 imitations sur 4 réactions pour la presse économique). comme nous l’avons déjà évoqué, un score de 0 est donné aux réactions non mimétiques et de 1 à celles qui sont mimétiques. aussi les imitations constatées signifient-elles qu’il y a eu des réactions strictement identiques aux actions entreprises (nouvelle formule contre nouvelle formule, baisse des prix contre baisse des prix, etc.). la comparaison des réponses obtenues avec les réponses attendues (tableau 4) permet de noter (1) que le nombre de réactions aux actions irréversibles, intenses et innovantes, prévu faible, s’est révélé important, (2) que le nombre de réactions aux actions spécifiques, attendue élevé, est finalement peu important. m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 2, 2000, 57-79 72 tableau 4. comparaisons des caractéristiques attendues et obtenues caractéristiques des actions réponses attendues réponses obtenues actions irréversibles actions intenses actions spécifiques actions innovantes peu de réactions, délai de réaction long, imitation faible peu de réactions, délai de réaction long, imitation faible beaucoup de réactions, délai de réaction court, imitation forte peu de réactions, délai de réaction long, imitation forte beaucoup de réactions, délai de réaction long, imitation faible beaucoup de réactions, délai de réaction long, imitation faible peu de réactions, délai de réaction long, imitation faible beaucoup de réactions, délai de réaction long, imitation forte m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 2, 2000, 57-79 73 concentrons-nous d’abord sur les actions irréversibles et intenses pour lesquelles les réactions constatées indiquent que l’évitement de la concurrence ne fut guère possible. la mise en place d’actions irréversibles moyennant des coûts importants difficilement récupérables ne constitue pas un comportement discret. c’est plutôt un engagement fort de la firme initiatrice et cet engagement est au cœur de l’idée de stratégie (ghemawat, 1991 ; laroche, 1998). dans l’univers concurrentiel étudié, l’engagement vise à signaler aux firmes rivales la nature du comportement entrepris et permet d’échapper à l’interdépendance au moyen de l’instauration d’une relation sociale dissymétrique. ce type d’actions, coûteuses, comme nous l’avons dit, nécessitent par définition des ressources “ricardiennes” (grimm et smith, 1997). ce sont également des actions qu’il faut rapprocher des “jeux dominants” reposant sur des facteurs stratégiques observables (deemers, hafsi, jorgensen et molz, 1997). ces jeux sont le plus souvent l’œuvre de leaders ou d’entreprises relativement fortes du secteur. au même titre que les investissements traditionnels, la mise à contribution de ressources pour ce type d’actions par les firmes (et/ou leurs partenaires financiers) obéit à la maximisation des résultats attendus, la constatation de la probité de ces derniers n’est cependant envisageable qu’à l’issue d’un certain délai (laroche, 1998). ce raisonnement peut être également étendu aux actions intenses, dont l’ampleur nécessite des ressources conséquentes et dont la visibilité est significative. qu’est-ce qui justifie les réactions ? l’engagement d’actions intenses et irréversibles repose sur l’attente d’une augmentation de la demande s’adressant à la firme initiatrice, ce qui permettra l’amélioration de sa position de marché et partant, l’émergence de profits “anormaux”. trois éléments peuvent être avancés pour comprendre l’importance des réactions enregistrées : l’équilibre entre les ressources des firmes concurrentes ; le degré de menace ; l’interdépendance des firmes en matière de clients/marchés (grimm et smith,1997). dans les deux segments examinés, hormis le cas de l’evénement du jeudi, relativement indépendant au début de la période étudiée, les titres sont adossés à des groupes de presse ou industriels (junqua, 1995) en mesure de supporter des investissements dont le rendement ne peut être constaté qu’au bout d’un certain temps. des “nouvelles formules” nécessitant des dépenses d’au moins 15 millions de frf (junqua, 1995) supposent des engagements conséquents. en termes de menace, il est important de signaler que les chiffres de la presse ne sont guère secrets. ils sont diffusés annuellement d’une manière officielle par l’office de justification de la diffusion (organisme tripartite regroupant les annonceurs, les éditeurs et les messageries), mais ils sont également disponibles sur une base plus courte. il semblerait que les mouvements entrepris se traduisent par des améliorations de la performance pour les firmes initiatrices et souvent par une stagnation ou une baisse des taux de croissance pour les autres firmes, d’où les réactions constatées. ces réactions indiquent également que l’absence de ressources suffisantes et correspondant à celles qui ont été mises en œuvre par les firmes initiatrices n’arrête pas les réactions des firmes lorsque le degré de menace perçu est élevé. sur le plan de l’interdépendance, deux éléments pourraient expliquer les résultats : la croissance du marché et le nombre de concurrents. concernant le premier point, la croissance est faible pour la période étudiée pour un segment (21 % pour la presse “news”, soit environ 2 % par an en moyenne) et forte pour le second segment (195 % pour la presse économique, soit environ 33 % par an en moyenne). cette faiblesse de la croissance dans le premier segment est liée à la maturité du secteur (deemers et al., 1997). de ce fait, la concurrence est aiguë. la forte croissance sur le second segment repose sur l’arrivée de nouveaux acteurs qui en ont changé la configuration, indiquant ainsi que, même dans un secteur en formation (deemers et al., 1997), les comportements frontaux peuvent être parfois significatifs. quand au second point, le nombre de concurrents est de 4 durant toute la période d’étude pour la presse “news” et passe de 4 à 7 à la fin de la période d’étude pour la presse économique. ces deux éléments ne peuvent cependant être mis en évidence que si la firme identifie les acteurs du segment comme concurrents et connaît son marché. il ne s’agit pas ici de mettre en avant le groupe stratégique (au sens de mcgee et thomas [1986]) auquel appartiendrait la firme, mais les segments étudiés peuvent être considéré comme “oligopoles cognitifs” (porac et thomas, 1990) délimités par le profil de leurs clients/lecteurs. cette approche, très présente en marketing (clark et montgomery, 1998), estime que les concurrents sont proches et interdépendants si leurs clients sont similaires en termes d’attitudes, c’est-à-dire en termes de profils et de comportements. dans le monde de la presse, l’adéquation produit/client est nécessairement importante et les titres des deux segments étudiés affichent les mêmes configurations de clients/lecteurs. l’interdépendance concurrentielle explique ainsi les réactions constatées, même si elles sont retardées. concernant les actions innovantes, “entrepreneuriales” (schumpeter, 1934 ; grimm et smith, 1997), elles reposent, nous l’avons dit, sur l’incertitude, l’asymétrie concurrentielle et l’exploitation des “points aveugles” (porter, 1980), elles sont dites également “périphériques” (deemers et al., 1997). porter (1980, p. 65) affirme que les actions qui utilisent les points aveugles « offrent une probabilité plus faible de représailles immédiates [et] pour lesquelles les représailles, une fois engagées, seront inefficaces ». certes, les réactions ont été nombreuses (notamment pour le segment de la presse économique ; cf. tableau 3) mais ce constat ne doit pas nous tromper et le nombre de réactions doit être absolument associé au délai de réaction, ici très significatif (le délai médial est de 1755 jours pour la presse “news” et de 743 jours pour la presse économique). de nouveau, la mobilisation de l’interdépendance cognitive (porac et thomas, 1990) permet de comprendre les réactions des firmes une fois les succès des actions innovantes constatés, après avoir laissé les firmes initiatrices “essuyer les plâtres” (lorino et tarondeau, 1998). les réactions à ce type d’actions ont lieu quelle que soit la taille de l’acteur les ayant orchestrées. pour les actions irréversibles, intenses, et innovantes, l’imitation correspond à celle qui a été prévue. ainsi, elle est faible pour les actions m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 2, 2000, 57-79 74 irréversibles et intenses, les firmes se défendant avec les ressources dont elles disposent et qui font leur force. elle est forte pour les actions innovantes, car l’introduction d’une variable nouvelle dans le jeu de la concurrence, lorsqu’elle débouche sur le succès conduit les firmes rivales à accorder à cette variable la même importance que la firme l’ayant mise en œuvre (cotta, 1970). cette imitation est d’autant plus importante que les variables jusque là en vigueur deviennent caduques. imiter ne signifie pas, toutefois, que le déplacement de la demande obtenue par le succès de l’action innovante va être annihilé, sous prétexte que la même chose est offerte par la majorité des firmes. a ce niveau, le phénomène d’hystérésis de la demande doit être souligné. l’imitation n’est pas cependant toujours justifiée. comme le montre la théorie institutionnelle (dimaggio et powell, 1991), les entreprises interdépendantes imitent parfois sans raison valable, estimant que le marché attend d’elles ce type de comportements. les résultats en termes d’occurrence des réactions spécifiques prennent à contre-pied les attentes. les réactions sont peu nombreuses alors que nous les attendions fort importantes. ces actions, quoique habituelles et simples, rencontrent peu d’échos (6 réactions pour 93 actions spécifiques dans la presse “news” et 2 réactions pour 73 actions dans la presse économique). elles n’exploitent ni l’incertitude ni les points aveugles et les ressources devant être mobilisées sont peu importantes. elles sont de nature conventionnelles (miller et chen, 1996a), légitimes (dimaggio et powell, 1991) et veulent éviter les réactions hostiles (chen et miller, 1994). ces actions de faible intensité empêchent les entreprises d’entrer dans la zone d’interdépendance, d’où la faiblesse des réactions, de l’imitation et l’importance du délai de réponse dans certains cas (deux réactions de 600 et de 900 jours). revenons cependant aux actions irréversibles et innovantes. celles-ci furent engagées par exemple par deux titres de la presse économique : capital et l’essentiel du management. malgré les réactions, quoique retardées, des firmes installées, les deux publications ont pu s’installer et obtenir un leadership pour capital en termes de parts de marché et qui est resté valable jusqu’à la fin de l’étude. la compréhension de cette situation peut être liée à la combinaison de deux formes d’actions : entrepreneuriales et “ricardiennes” (grimm et smith, 1997). elles sont ricardiennes parce que les deux titres appartiennent à des groupes de presse puissants, déjà présents dans d’autres segments et dans d’autres pays, pouvant ainsi mobiliser d’importantes ressources. elles sont entrepreneuriales dans la mesure où seule l’innovation peut bousculer l’ordre des choses et la hiérarchie existante et rompre les liens avec les clients-lecteurs, tenus par des habitudes de lecture et/ou des contrats d’abonnement. ces démarches, le groupe chapeautant les deux titres les a expérimentées sur d’autres segments (junqua, 1995) et c’est une combinaison de jeux dominants et de jeux périphériques. les théoriciens évolutionnistes nous enseignent, par ailleurs, que les organisations se souviennent en faisant et que les actions engagées m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 2, 2000, 57-79 75 permettent aux firmes d’apprendre en repérant celles qui sont efficaces (grimm et smith, 1997). lorsque le succès est obtenu, en termes de non-occurrence de réponses, de délai de réaction et/ou de profit, ces actions sont routinisées dans le répertoire des firmes. une fois les résultats acquis, les firmes renforcent leur position de marché (le leadership) et font preuve d’inertie intelligente (très peu d’actions observables pour capital par exemple) tout en disposant de moyens d’exercer des actions préventives. ce qui semble émerger comme élément commun à trois des quatre caractéristiques étudiées est le délai de réaction (cf. tableau 3). l’importance du délai est associée au temps de mobilisation et de mise en œuvre des ressources pour les actions irréversibles et intenses, à la mauvaise perception par les acteurs pour les actions innovantes et au caractère routinier. plus ce délai est important, plus il est bénéfique pour l’entreprise initiatrice lorsque la demande est favorable, lui permettant d’occuper sur une période une position monopolistique. c’est pour ça que l’on peut observer, dans l’économie moderne, de période en période, des ensembles renouvelés de firmes monopolistiques (perroux, 1973). en revanche, ce délai peut être intéressant pour la firme répondante si celle-ci choisit d’observer les essais/ erreurs des firmes initiatrices notamment en cas d’actions innovantes, et apprendre presque par procuration (korn et baum, 1999). en résumé, l’évitement de la concurrence doit être apprécié à l’aune du délai de réaction. la longueur de celui-ci peut être obtenue par des actions entrepreneuriales, ricardiennes, simples et conventionnelles, ou la combinaison des trois, puisque la stratégie est à la fois une affaire de pouvoir et de pari. les actions étudiées dans ce travail semblent correspondre à ces attentes. conclusion cette recherche a posé la question : quelles sont les caractéristiques des actions n’entraînant pas de réactions ? le travail mené a montré que les quatre caractéristiques étudiées permettent de se soustraire à la concurrence, soit par la non-occurrence de réactions, soit par les difficultés d’imitation, soit surtout par le délai de réaction, qui émerge comme variable fondamentale des stratégies d’évitement de la concurrence, permettant ainsi aux firmes de se soustraire à l’interdépendance et d’occuper des positions monopolistiques temporaires. ce résultat semble suggérer que l’évitement de la concurrence via des actions subtilement identifiées et articulées est possible, alertant ainsi les stratèges sur le développement possible de relations concurrentielles avantageuses. la conclusion principale, cependant, est que l’interaction concurrentielle est une question centrale de la stratégie et du management stratégique. certes, ce travail a amélioré notre compréhension des déterminants de cette interaction et de l’asymétrie concurrentielle en explorant quatre caractéristiques d’actions, mais cette m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 2, 2000, 57-79 76 recherche devrait être complétée en essayant d’identifier d’autres caractéristiques et en tentant d’apporter des réponses situées à d’autres niveaux d’analyse. on pourrait ainsi passer de l’action à l’acteur et se demander par exemple pourquoi les firmes réagissent à certains acteurs et pas à d’autres. le lien entre actions, réactions et performance mériterait également d’être creusé. note: l’auteur remercie les quatre évaluateurs anonymes pour leurs commentaires de versions antérieures de cet article. il exprime également sa reconnaissance à bernard forgues pour ses remarques précieuses. faouzi bensebaa est maître de conférences en sciences de gestion à l'université de marne-la-vallée. ses travaux de recherche portent sur les stratégies concurrentielles des firmes, notamment sur les comportements d'évitement de la concurrence et la concurrence multi-points. il s'intéresse également à la théorie des ressources et aux questions tant méthodologiques qu'épistémologiques. m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 2, 2000, 57-79 77 references ■ baum, joel a. c., and helaine j. korn 1996 competitive dynamics of interfirm rivalry, academy of management journal, 39:2, 255-291. ■ baumol, william j., john c. panzar, and robert d. willig 1982 contestable markets and the theory of industry structure, new york: harcourt, brace, jovanovich. ■ bettis, richard a., and david weeks 1987 financial returns and strategic interaction: the case of instant photography, strategic management journal, 8:6, 549-563. ■ bukszar, ed 1997 the impact of time lags in competitor response on competition, canadian journal of administrative sciences/ revue canadienne des sciences de l’administration, 14:2, 166-177. ■ caves, richard e. 1984 economic analysis and the quest for competitive advantage, american economic review, 74:2, 127-132. ■ chen, ming-jer 1988 competitive strategic interaction: a study of competitive actions and responses, unpublished doctoral dissertation, college park: university of maryland. ■ chen, ming-jer, and donald c. hambrick 1995 speed, stealth, and selective attack: how small firms differ from large firms in competitive behavior, academy of management journal, 38:2, 453482. ■ chen, ming-jer, and ian c. macmillan 1992 nonresponse and delayed response to competitive moves: the roles of competitor dependence and action irreversibility, academy of management journal, 35:3, 539-570. ■ chen, ming-jer, and miller, danny 1994 competitive attack, retaliation and performance: an expectancy-valence framework, strategic management journal, 15:2, 85-102 ■ chen, ming-jer, ken g. smith, and curtis m. grimm 1992 action characteristics as predictors of competitive responses, management science, 38:3, 439-455. ■ clark, bruce h., and david b. montgomery 1998 managerial identification of competitors, working paper, 98-127, cambridge: marketing science institute. ■ cotta, alain 1970 les choix économiques de la grande entreprise, paris : dunod. ■ d’aveni, richard 1995 hypercompétition, paris : vuibert. m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 2, 2000, 57-79 78 ■ décisions médias 1994 janvier. ■ décisions médias 1995 mars. ■ deemers, christiane, taïeb hafsi , jan jorgensen, and richard molz 1997 industry dynamics of cooperative strategy: dominant and peripheral games, in paul w. beamish and j. peter killing (eds.), cooperative strategies:north american perspectives, san francisco: the new lexington press, 111-132. ■ desreumeaux, alain, et jean-pierre bréchet 1998 quelle(s) théorie(s) de la firme pour les sciences de gestion ?, economies et sociétés, série s.g., 8-9, 539-566. ■ dimaggio, paul j. 1991 constructing an organizational field as a professional project: u.s. art museums, 1920-1940, in walter w. powell and paul j. dimaggio (eds.), the new institutionalism in organizational analysis, chicago: university of chicago press, 267-292. ■ dimaggio, paul j., and walter w. powell 1983 the iron cage revisited: institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields, american sociological review, 48:2, 147-160. ■ dimaggio, paul j., and walter w. powell 1991 introduction, in walter w. powell and paul j dimaggio (eds.), the new institutionalism in organizational analysis, chicago: university of chicago press, 1-38. ■ dutton, jane e., and robert b. duncan 1987 the creation of momentum for change through the process of strategic issue diagnosis, strategic management journal, 8:3, 279 295. ■ farell, joseph, and garth saloner 1985 standardization, compatibility, and innovation, rand journal of economics, 16:1, 70-83. ■ foss, nicolai j. 1997 ressources and strategy: a brief overview of themes and contributions in nicolai j. foss (ed.), ressources, firms and strategies: a reader in the resource-based perspective, oxford: oxford university press, 3-18. ■ ghemawat, pankaj 1991 commitment: the dynamic of strategy, new york: free press. ■ grimm, curtis m., and ken g. smith 1997 strategy as action: industry rivalry and coordination, cincinnati: southwestern college publishing. ■ hambrick, donald c., theresa seung cho, and ming-jer chen 1996 the influence of top management team heterogeneity on firms’ competitive moves, administrative science quarterly, 41:4, 659-684. ■ haveman, heather a. 1993 follow the leader: mimetic isomorphism and entry into new markets, administrative science quarterly, 38:4, 593-627. ■ jacobson, robert 1990 unobservable effects and business performance, marketing science, 9:1, 74-85. ■ jacobson, robert 1992 the “austrian” school of strategy, academy of management review, 17:4, 782-807. ■ jauch, lawrence r., richard n. osborn, and thomas n. martin 1980 structured content analysis of cases: a complementary method for organizational research, academy of management review, 5:4, 517-525. ■ junqua, daniel 1995 la presse écrite et audiovisuelle, paris : cfpj. ■ kœnig, gérard 1996 management stratégique : paradoxes, interactions et apprentissages, paris : nathan. ■ korn, helaine j., and joel a. c. baum 1999 chance, imitative, and strategic antecedents to multimarket contact, academy of management journal, 42:2, 171-193. ■ langley, ann 1997 l’étude des processus stratégiques : défis conceptuels et analytiques, management international, 2:1, 37-50 ■ laroche, hervé 1998 les figures de la décision dans les organisations, economies et sociétés, série s.g., 8-9, 331-350. ■ lieberman, marvin b., and david b. montgomery 1988 first mover advantages, strategic management journal, 9: summer special issue, 41-58. ■ lorino, philippe, et jean-claude tarondeau 1998 de la stratégie aux processus stratégiques, revue française de gestion, 117: 5-17. ■ macmillan, ian c. 1982 seizing competitive initiative, journal of business strategy, 2:4, 43-57. ■ macmillan, ian, mary lynn mccaffery, and gilles van wijk 1985 competitors’ responses to easily imitated new products—exploring commercial banking product introductions, strategic management journal, 6:1, 75-86. ■ mcgee, john, and howard thomas 1986 strategic groups: theory, research and taxonomy, strategic management journal, 7:2, 141-160. ■ meyer, marshall w., and lynne g. zucker 1989 permanently failing organizations, newbury park: sage. ■ miller, danny, and ming-jer chen 1994 sources and consequences of competitive inertia: a study of the us airline industry, administrative science quarterly, 39:1, 1-23. m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 2, 2000, 57-79 79 ■ miller, danny, and ming-jer chen 1996a the simplicity of competitive repertoires: an empirical analysis, strategic management journal, 17:6, 419439. ■ miller, danny, and ming-jer chen 1996b nonconformity in competitive repertoires: a sociological view of markets, social forces, 74:4, 1209-1234. ■ milliken, frances j., and theresa k. lant 1991 the effect of an organization’s recent performance history on strategic persistence and change: the role of managerial interpretations, in paul shrivastava, anne huff, and jane dutton (eds.), advances in strategic management, vol. 7, greenwich: jai press, 129-156. ■ oster, sharon m. 1990 modern competitive analysis, new york: oxford university press. ■ perroux, françois 1973 pouvoir et economie, paris: bordas. ■ porac, joseph f., and howard thomas 1990 taxonomic mental models in competitor definition, academy of management review, 15:2, 224-240. ■ porter, michael e. 1980 choix stratégiques et concurrence : techniques d'analyse des secteurs et de la concurrence dans l'industrie, paris: economica. ■ prahalad, c.k., and richard a. bettis 1986 the dominant logic: a new linkage between diversity and performance, strategic management journal, 7:6, 485-501. ■ schelling, thomas c. 1960 the strategy of conflict, cambridge: harvard university press. ■ schomburg, august jr., curtis m. grimm, and ken g. smith 1994 avoiding new product warfare: the role of industry structure, in paul shrivastava, anne s. huff, and jane e. dutton (eds.), advances in strategic management, vol. 10a, greenwich: jai press, 145-174. ■ schumpeter, joseph a. 1934 the theory of economic development: an inquiry into profits, capital, credit, interest, and the business cycle, cambridge: harvard university press. ■ smith, ken g., curtis m. grimm, and martin j. gannon 1992 dynamics of competitive strategy, newbury park: sage. ■ smith, ken g., curtis m. grimm, ming-jer chen, and martin j. gannon 1989 predictors of response time to competitive strategic actions: preliminary theory and evidence, journal of business research, 18:3, 245-258. ■ smith, ken g., curtis m. grimm, martin j. gannon, and ming-jer chen 1991 organizational information processing, competitive responses, and performance in the us domestic airline industry, academy of management journal, 34:1, 60-85. ■ smith, ken g., curtis m. grimm, stefan wally, and greg young 1997 strategic groups and rivalrous firm behavior: towards a reconciliation, strategic management journal, 18:2, 149-157. ■ sun, tzu 1978 l’art de la guerre, paris: flammarion. ■ tsai, william ming-hone, ian c. macmillan, and murray b. low 1991 effects of strategy and environment on corporate venture success in industrial markets, journal of business venturing, 6:1, 9-28. ■ venkataraman, s., ming-jer chen, and ian c. macmillan 1997 anticipating reactions: factors that shape competitor responses, in george s. day, david j. reibstein, and robert e. gunther (eds.), wharton on dynamic competitive strategy, new york: wiley, 198-219. 51chakrabarti indranil chakrabarti, and sheila r. chakrabarti 2002 have we been too successful in making corporations organism-like?, m@n@gement, 5(1): 89-104. m@n@gement is a double-blind reviewed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.dmsp.dauphine.fr/management/ © 2001 m@n@gement and the author(s). issn: 1286-4892 editors: martin evans, u. of toronto bernard forgues, u. of paris 12 http://www.dmsp.dauphine.fr/management/ http://www.dmsp.dauphine.fr/management/ m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 89-104 special issue: careers and new science 89 indranil chakrabarti . sheila r. chakrabarti xavier institute of management bhubaneswar, orissa, india email: indranil@ximb.ac.in have we been too successful in making corporations organism-like? introduction a futuristic essay, published in the science journal, nature, has called for deeper reflection about making artifacts more and more like organisms. in that not-too-distant scenario, ever newer innovations in computer science, biochemistry, and nanotechnology, have led to the creation of linked electronic-organic systems (leos). these human-like entities are «complete organisms», with their own wants and aspirations. they then ask for citizenship—of the country of their origin, the usa—and one of them also announces an «intention to run for president» (anderson, 2000: 281). perhaps the need for reflection is no less when the organism-like artifacts are not physical, like leos, but social, like corporations, as this paper suggests through an examination of the organizational career. the paper contends that the organizational career has been an important organizing device in making corporations quite like organisms, and more. thus the paper argues that most corporations have actually for long been very much like organisms, including, even, the highly bureaucratic form, which from the dawn of management has been likened to a machine, and whose design has been often seen as the very opposite of organisms (weber, 1946; burns and stalker, 1961). three propositions are advanced, which relate to these contentions. in conclusion, referring to the outmoding of the organizational career in the wake of the present turbulent environthis paper questions the persistent prescription, which has now also received a fillip from “new science”, for corporations to be more like organisms, especially in response to turbulence in the business environment such as exists in present times. we contend that another outcome of the prevailing turbulence, the trend towards the organizational career being outmoded, is particularly ironic because the organizational career, we argue, has been the organizing device that helped corporations become organism-like and more. it has done so in three significant ways: in developing the capacity to outlive their constituent individuals, just as multi-cellular organisms outlive their cells; in developing purposefulness—the capacity to choose and set goals of one’s own accord; and in developing even higher flexibility than organisms. finally, alluding to misgivings about prospective organism-like physical artifacts, the paper suggests deeper studies on the social artifact, the corporation, as being already too organism-like. mailto:indranil@ximb.ac.in m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 89-104 special issue: careers and new science 90 indranil chakrabarti and sheila r. chakrabarti ment (arthur and rousseau, 1996; osterman, 1996; capelli, 1999; walsh, 2001), the paper wonders whether this is in fact a consequence of our being too successful in making corporations organismlike. the issue gains a higher significance because, over the years, many management and organization thinkers have urged for the corporation to be designed more like organisms, and not machines, especially when the outside environment is turbulent (for example, see the review in morgan, 1986). recent and protracted all-round turbulence in the business environment has been no exception (daft, 2001). these exhortations have received an additional fillip with the rise of “new science” at about the same time, and the move to go beyond newtonian ideas which are being associated with an excessively mechanistic world-view. this is seen in influential works like the writings of margaret j. wheatley (1994, 1996), a pivot for this special issue (bird, gunz, and arthur, 2002), who strongly argues that most corporations have continued to be mistakenly designed like machines, as a legacy of the newtonian mind-set in management, when they should instead have been like organisms (wheatley, 1994). the paper suggests that such views may require closer scrutiny. organisms, physical artifacts like leos, and also social artifacts like corporations may all be seen as examples of “complex adaptive systems”, whose studies murray gell-mann (1994)—nobel laureate physicist and now a leading luminary of “new science”—has championed. this paper suggests that they may be usefully examined along the two attributes, “purposefulness” and “complexity-grappling capability”. these attributes, as noted in the next section, are among the defining characteristics of organisms. these are then also shown to have arisen in corporations. spontaneous and deliberate order among the various ideas in the loose assemblage that is “new science”, a central theme is the spontaneous emergence and persistence of order in nature, most remarkably as and in organisms. it is also perhaps this wonderment which has kindled the interest of wheatley (1994) and other workers from management and the social sciences. why should the spontaneous emergence of organisms be so startling? there are many reasons, including the wonderment of life emerging from non-living constituents. but a central one is around the hallowed principle of entropy, also known as the second law of thermodynamics. one way to visualize the law of entropy is that realities do not spontaneously move to higher levels of order; they remain either at the same level or move to lower levels. consistent with the law is the commonplace observation that a broken glass jar would not spontaneously become whole; it would remain at the same level of order, and by and by move to still lower levels. m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 89-104 special issue: careers and new science 91 making corporations organism-like arthur eddington, among the foremost physicists of the previous century and a noted commentator on science, is said to have observed that a new idea may challenge any of the established laws and theories and still deserve a serious consideration; except for one: if it is «against the second law of thermodynamics, i can give you no hope; there is nothing for it but to collapse in deepest humiliation» (coveney and highfield, 1990: 33). spontaneous emergence of organisms in nature is so startling because, seemingly, it appears to go contrary to this hallowed law. ontogenic evolution, as from child to adult, and phylogenic evolution, as from the early primates to humans, represent the puzzling emergence of even higher levels of order. science has offered ever richer explanations as to how such wonders may be possible (see reviews in prigogine and stengers, 1984; gleick, 1987; schrödinger, 1992; gell-mann, 1994). but the wonderment persists; as wheatley (1994: 19) asks: «if entropy is the rule, why does life flourish?» by the same count, the seemingly ordinary capacity of humans and other organisms to deliberately create order, as in making an artifact, is perhaps even more startling. since the existence of organisms is itself surprising, given nature’s propensity to disorder, the organism’s own capacity to create order for itself, at will, is all the more amazing. in his work towards a general theory of living systems, the nobel laureate biologist jacques monod observes that: «every artifact is a product made by a living being which through it expresses, in a particularly conspicuous manner, one of the fundamental characteristics common to all living beings without exception (…) we shall maintain that the [living beings] are distinct from all other structures or systems present in the universe by this characteristic property which we shall call teleonomy» (monod, 1972: 20; italics in the original). teleonomy may be paraphrased as the capacity to seek goals, independently. the goals may include, according to monod (1972), virtually all projects or pursuits of a living being: from the making of artifacts by beavers, to the metabolism process in bacteria. chakrabarti and chakrabarti (1999) suggest that perhaps there are two distinct kinds of teleonomy or independent goal-seeking capacity. they tentatively call them, «autonomic teleonomy», being more involuntary, and «conscious teleonomy», being more deliberate. for example, the goal-seeking involved in the complex metabolism process within the organism relates more to autonomic teleonomy; whereas goal-seeking as in food gathering from the outer environment relates more to conscious teleonomy. they further suggest that conscious teleonomy may in turn be unbundled into two distinct, complementary attributes: one, the capacity to choose and decide on a purpose; and the other, the capacity to pursue a purpose, grappling with the various complexities on the way. for example, a robot or a computer possesses varied levels of the latter attribute, which the chakrabartis (1999) call «complexity-grappling capability». but they do not (as yet) possess the former, which chakrabarti and chakrabarti (1999) contend as m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 89-104 special issue: careers and new science 92 indranil chakrabarti and sheila r. chakrabarti identical to «purposefulness». an entity is purposeful if it can choose and set goals of its own accord. the attribute is already wellnoted in writings in management (ackoff, 1981; 1994; 1999), and systems thinking (ackoff and emery 1972; flood and jackson, 1991; checkland, 1994); similar ideas are also present in other literatures, such as organization theory (barnard, 1938; cyert and march, 1959), motivation theory (locke and latham, 1996), and economics—especially the so-called “austrian school” (ekelund and hebert, 1997). autonomic teleonomy may be readily seen as associated with the development and maintenance of order within the organism itself. purposefulness and complexity-grappling capability, besides supplementing autonomic teleonomy, also enable the organism to do an amazing variety of deliberate order creating activities in the surrounding environment. artifact making is indeed «a particularly conspicuous» example (monod 1972: 20). organizing as social artifact making making physical artifacts—«whether a honeycomb, a dam built by beavers, a paleolithic hatchet, or a spacecraft» (monod, 1972: 21)—is just one category of deliberate order creating activity. below we consider another, “organizing” (weick, 1969), which, for our present purpose, may be seen as the activity of engaging in deliberate collective formation, typically with fellow members of the same species, to create a social artifact, such as organizations. it may be useful to briefly first consider machines. like other physical artifacts these also represent order created deliberately from inanimate matter. yet these are distinct from a nest, a tool, or a sculpture. what distinguishes them? machines are physical artifacts which have been equipped with varied kinds and levels of complexity-grappling capabilities, including, at times, the capacity to make other artifacts. thus with their complexity-grappling capabilities, machines support humans’ purposefulness by pursuing the goals set for them. similarly, social artifacts—such as organizations—have also been equipped with varied kinds and levels of complexity-grappling capabilities to pursue goals set for them. only humans, and rather recent humans at that, have been able to create machines. but organizing is perhaps a much older phenomenon, observed in even very primitive organisms. consider the case of dictyostelium discoideum, a unicellular ameba (ivanitsky, krinsky, and mornev, 1987: 72; coveney and highfield, 1990: 230-1). when food is plentiful, these move about singly, ignoring one another. however, when the food supply runs short, a large number of them (around 100,000), through a set of extremely intricate processes taking several hours (a very long period, from the ameba’s timeframe), organize themselves into a single multi-cellular system, called plasmodium. unlike the ameba, this entity has differentiated m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 89-104 special issue: careers and new science 93 making corporations organism-like locomotion organs with which it «starts moving in search of food», doing this «faster than an individual ameba would» (ivanitsky et al., 1987: 72). the plasmodium may be seen as a social artifact, made of and by the amebas, to attain a common goal. the close correspondence with the social artifacts we humans create, such as organizations, is worth noting. for example, writing on why we at all need to create organizations, weiner (1960: 148) notes: «the purpose of all organizations is to deal with a set of externally imposed conditions which the individual is incapable of handling by himself and which require integration of his activities with the activities of others. if the organization is to succeed, the individual must replace his independence and autonomy of function with cooperative actions». clearly, this would hold just as well for the amebas creating the plasmodium. acute food scarcity is the external condition, requiring an effective and efficient search, far and wide, for new food stores. the individual ameba is incapable of handling this singly, but creating the plasmodium significantly enhances the likelihood of success. w. richard scott’s (1992: 29) observations on organizations, in his text-treatise on the subject, also correspond very well to the plasmodium: «from the rational system perspective, organizations are instruments designed to attain specific goals». further, scott (1992: 23) distinguishes such «instruments», or artifacts, from other types of collectivities: «it is the combination of relatively high goal specificity and relatively high formalization that distinguishes organizations from other types of collectivities (…) such as primary groups, families, communities». the plasmodium would fulfil both these criteria because it clearly represents very high formalization, as for example, in the making and functioning of the limbs, deliberately designed and developed by the amebas to ensure faster movement. the plasmodium is also mandated to pursue a specific goal—locating and reaching a new food store as soon as it can. the goal specificity is particularly noteworthy. having «located a food store, the plasmodium “breaks down” into free amoebas which resume their individual existence» (ivanitsky et al., 1987: 72), feasting voraciously. it may be useful to note that the plasmodium has been endowed by the amebas with only complexity-grappling capability, of a certain kind, but no purposefulness. thus, quite like the machines that we humans have made to date (as distinct from, for example, the futuristic leos), the plasmodium cannot choose and set goals of its own accord. it can only help pursue the specific goals set for it. undoubtedly, the attributes purposefulness and complexity-grappling capability have reached a very advanced level in humans (chakrabarti and chakrabarti, 2001). this is also reflected in the prodigious advancement in the making of artifacts: not only physical, but also social. the latter has involved the innovation of varied organizing devices, which in turn enabled the creation of ever newer kinds of organizations. we next consider the organizational career as one such important innovation. m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 89-104 special issue: careers and new science 94 indranil chakrabarti and sheila r. chakrabarti organizational career and the "ever-moving" corporation discussions in the recent years around the “boundaryless career”, by drawing a contrast, actually help sharpen the longstanding view of careers as “bounded” or “organizational” (arthur and rousseau, 1996), which is our present focus. further, the commentators on this new trend clearly emphasize the continuing importance of the organizational career «as a legitimate base of enquiry» (arthur and rousseau, 1996: 6). the phenomenon of career has rightly been seen as «slippery to grasp» (bird et al., 2002: 3). but there is a wide consensus around one distinguishing feature: that it is a two-faced one. thus the chicago sociologists have seen career as a «janus-like concept that oriented attention simultaneously in two directions» (barley, 1989: 45); schein (1997: 38) refers to the «internal and external meaning» of career; arthur and rousseau (1996: 15) distinguish career studies from related social science by this «duality of perspective». for the organizational career, perhaps this unique duality arises because it represents a dynamic frame connecting two entities, the individual and the organization. the dynamic frame comprises a sequence of roles and movements, typically lateral and also upward, though the actual pattern may be much more complicated (kanter, 1977). the two perspectives follow from the two entities which it connects—the individual and the organization—and though not always, there «will usually be some correspondence» (schein, 1997: 39) between them. indeed career management, as an ongoing organizing activity, is seen as designing and implementing the dynamic frame in a way that optimizes both the changing needs of the organization and the evolving preferences and capabilities of individuals (herriot, 1996). this is why we refer to the organizing device as: the organizational career as a connecting dynamic frame (occdf). while very many species show organizing activities (encyclopaedia britannica, 1987), we see no phenomenon like the occdf in them. indeed, even for humans we find that the phenomenon appears very late, much after the origin of civilizations, only with the creation of special organizations such as the army, the civil bureaucracy, and the church. proliferation of the occdf happens still later—after the rise of corporations and the era of organizational society (thompson, 1967; scott, 1992; miles and snow, 1996). what distinguishes these organizations? clearly they are very large and complex. but even the plasmodium is complex, especially vis-àvis the constituting entities, unicellular amebas, and it is certainly very large, with a membership of more than 100,000 individuals. yet they have nothing like the occdf. a central distinguishing feature, we suggest, is to do with the expected life-span for which the social artifact has been designed. we suggest that it is with these organizations characterized by the occdf, that, perhaps for the first time, any organism succeeded in deliberately creating social artifacts which may outlive any of the constituent indim@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 89-104 special issue: careers and new science 95 making corporations organism-like viduals. thus new individuals join the artifact knowing that it has existed before their joining, and/or is likely to continue to exist even after they leave. max weber, «the godfather of organization theory» (scott, 1994: 3), has described such an organization as an «ever-moving mechanism» (weber, 1946: 228), meaning that it could be indefinitely ongoing. we suggest that the organizing device occdf contributed to this capacity: “ever-moving”. it would be of interest to note that natural organisms also have the capacity to outlive their individual cells, if multi-cellular, and the individual molecules, if unicellular. thus the occdf enabled the organization to be quite like the organism on this count; actually more, because unlike organisms, these social artifacts could potentially outlive endless batches of individual members. to appreciate the enormity of the organizing feat, and to also further the comparison with the organism (say, multi-cellular) on this attribute, consider just the following two design requirements which are by no means exhaustive: — regular development of varied specialized cells/individuals of the appropriate quality and quantity, even as the organism/organization goes about its usual activities; — periodic and highly efficient replacement of the specialized cells/individuals, so that even as batches of them get phased out, the organism/organization maintains a steady state. these and other related processes take place spontaneously within the organism (maturana, mpodozis and letelier, 1995). for example, the cells are not required to be deliberately trained in their skills, no matter how high the specialization, nor periodically re-trained to take up other lateral or yet more critical responsibilities. similarly, the high compatibility—or what williamson (1996) may call, “asset specificity”—between the cells and the organism does not need to be deliberately nurtured; the cells come coded to be highly asset specific vis-à-vis the organism. even the periodic replacement of cells, while the organism continues with its usual activities, does not need to be deliberately governed. when the individual members of a species try to create a social artifact which may outlive the very constituent individuals, these and other design challenges have to be deliberately solved. this makes the achievement that much more remarkable. we suggest that the innovation of the organizing device occdf helped achieve most of these design challenges. thus with the spread of the corporate world, the organizing device came to be almost as ubiquitous as the “ever-moving” corporations themselves. consider the five generic configurations into which, following mintzberg (1979, 1991), the myriad organization designs of actual corporations have been often classified (daft, 1998; robbins, 1998). these are: entrepreneurial structure, machine bureaucracy (also called the functional form), professional bureaucracy, divisional form, and adhocracy—of which the matrix design is an important subset. apart from firms that are entrepreneurial, or such adhocracies as are intended for rather short duration—both may be seen as not quite “ever-moving”—corporations with organization designs within any of m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 89-104 special issue: careers and new science 96 indranil chakrabarti and sheila r. chakrabarti the other configurations, or their combines, are characterized by the occdf. accordingly, miles and snow (1996: 102) note the continued relevance of the organizational career even as the «organizational forms evolved from functional to divisional and matrix». we thus propose: proposition 1: it is perhaps with the innovative device of the organizational career as a connecting dynamic frame (occdf) that social artifacts developed the capacity to outlive their constituent individuals, similar to the natural organisms, which can also outlive their constituent cells/molecules; and even more, because the occdf enabled organizations, like, for example, corporations, to outlive potentially endless batches of constituents, thus giving them the capacity to be “ever-moving” (weber, 1946: 228). organizational career and the purposeful corporation besides enabling the organization to outlive its constituent individuals, the occdf also helped it to be like the organism in another important way. as we argue below, it contributed to the transition from being mere «instruments designed to attain specific goals» (scott, 1992: 29) —like any other artifact, social or physical—to being able to choose and set goals of its own accord. in other words, the organization could also become purposeful, quite like the natural organism. visualize a hypothetical scenario in which, through richer organizing innovations, amebas have enabled the plasmodium to outlive any individual ameba. entire batches of amebas, who together made the plasmodium, may get phased out but the plasmodium continues in its pursuit. newer amebas join the plasmodium knowing that it has been in existence before them, pursuing goal(s), and that it may continue to do so after them. thus, no individual ameba, nor even a cohort, may now be able to fully use this “ever-moving” plasmodium as an instrument. whether endowed by design or by default, such a hypothetical plasmodium may be seen as possessing some autonomy of its own, over and beyond the constituting cells, like the natural organism. the organizing device occdf opened up such a possibility for organizations. thus, scott (1992: 338) observes that these organizations «are composed not of persons but of positions», slots in the occdf, which individual persons might fill from time to time. «persons contribute to and invest in organizations specific resources over which they lose full control». the initial organizations with the occdf, not just the army or the church but even the early corporations, were institutionally confined to a narrow set of goals and domains of activities. with changing institutional arrangements, and especially in the run-up to the industrial revolution and thereafter, more and more areas of pursuit became legally permissible for the corporation (coleman, 1974; scott, 1992). in 1886, «the us supreme court ruled for the first time that a corporation should be construed as a person» (ackoff, 1994: 12), and was therem@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 89-104 special issue: careers and new science 97 making corporations organism-like by entitled to all the constitutional rights and protections extended to individual humans. these developments institutionalized the corporation as a purposeful actor, almost as free to set goals of its own accord as a free citizen. hence russell ackoff (1981, 1994, 1999), a pioneering worker on purposefulness, emphasizes that a corporation ought to be visualized as a purposeful system, comprising of individuals who are also purposeful. thus the occdf has come to connect two purposeful actors—the natural person and the corporation. the two actors may have quite distinct sets of goals and perspectives. as scott (1992: 338) notes, «from the perspective of the natural actor, organizations are agencies for achieving desired objectives. however, from the point of view of the corporate actor, (…) individual actors are means for attaining corporate ends». once the corporation could choose and set goals of its own accord, especially with the legal entitlement to do so, a typical goal has been to keep itself “alive” (scott, 1992), quite like the natural organism. however, corporations have been far more successful, at times becoming not just like the living, but literally ever-living (de geus, 1997). thus the two capacities which have followed from the occdf—to be ever-moving and purposeful—have also reinforced one another. before closing this section, it may be useful to note that the actual mechanisms by which the corporation chooses and sets goals—on which there is considerable work (scott, 1992: 284-301, for example, provides an excellent review)—has not been our concern here. our interest has been about this artifact gaining a position of significant autonomy of its own; even «independent of the people who founded it or of those who constitute its membership» (blau and scott, 1963: 1). more specifically, our focus has been on just one factor contributing to the corporation’s autonomy: the role played by the organizing device occdf. we thus propose: proposition 2: besides the legal and other institutional changes, perhaps the corporation owes its purposefulness—the capacity to choose and set goals of its own accord—also to the capacity to outlive its constituent individuals, aided by the organizational career as a connecting dynamic frame (occdf); in turn, this organizing device has come to connect two purposeful actors, the natural person and the corporation. organizational career and the flexible corporation with the increasing environmental turbulence of recent times, there is a growing view that the corporation with the occdf is not flexible enough (capelli, 1999); in particular, the occdf has been critiqued for cramping the individual and also the corporation (arthur and rousseau, 1996). along with it has come the exhortation, as in the influential work of wheatley (1994, 1996), that corporations should be more like organisms. m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 89-104 special issue: careers and new science 98 indranil chakrabarti and sheila r. chakrabarti of course, the prescription to be more like organisms, especially for corporations facing a turbulent environment, has a long tradition. for example, burns and stalker’s (1961) work, noted prominently even in recent texts of organization theory and design (jones, 1998; daft, 2001), has seen organization forms as a continuum, with “mechanistic” and “organic” at the two extremes. the former is seen as the ideal type corresponding to a stable environment, and the latter when it is turbulent. similarly, during the present period of serious environmental turbulence, texts approvingly note the shift in the mindset about corporations, from being «based on mechanical systems to one based on natural, biological systems» (daft, 2001: 24). we question the appropriateness of this well-established prescription, especially given the trend towards outmoding of the occdf. it may be useful to first note the areas of agreement. we agree that the higher the turbulence in the environment, the lower should be the formalization in the corporation. we do not have any difference with the view that the occdf may to some extent cramp the flexibility of both the individual and the corporation: this follows from their interdependence. nor do we contest that in the present turbulent conditions, the pressure for more flexibility has been an important factor for the outmoding of the occdf. what we think requires further debate is the persistent view that becoming more organism-like is the answer. because, implicit in it is the notion that these corporations are less flexible as compared to organisms. we wish to argue that the typical corporation, with the occdf, in fact, is already in many ways much more flexible than organisms. we do this by taking the extreme case, the archetypal bureaucratic organization form, which is also perhaps the oldest configuration to be associated with the occdf. it has been universally seen as the epitome of extreme formalization and rigidity. in mintzberg’s (1979, 1991) classification, as noted above, it is called a “machine bureaucracy”. one of the earliest theorizations on bureaucracy, and perhaps still the most influential, the work of weber (giddens, 1983: 202), makes a direct connection with mechanization: bureaucracy, he says, is a «human machine». weber further observes that the bureaucratic form reduces the constituent individual to a mere «cog in an ever-moving mechanism» (weber, 1946: 228). wheatley (1994: 12) echoes the same view in her comment on contemporary corporations, many of which actually have much more flexible organization designs than the machine bureaucracy. she laments that individuals in most present corporations have to function «as though they were cogs in the machinery», and urges for more organism-like designs. we wish to argue that in at least four important ways cells in the organism enjoy less flexibility than the individuals in even the machine bureaucracy, as summarized also in table 1. one, lateral mobility of the individual constituent, is uncommon in the case of the organism; for example, a skin cell of a particular finger does not in the course of routine get a transfer to the skin tissues of even anothm@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 89-104 special issue: careers and new science 99 making corporations organism-like er finger. whereas an equivalent mobility is common, and in fact routine, within the occdf in the machine bureaucracy. limited lateral mobility may be seen in the brain, say, when other neurons take up the role of a damaged part, but that is not a routine occurrence (rose, 1976). two, vertical mobility is also uncommon in the case of the organism; a skin cell does not get “promoted” to become, say a bone cell, let alone a liver or a brain cell. whereas an equivalent mobility is routine in the other case; for example, very many of the top management in such corporations have started at a rather junior level. if we consider the army, which is among the oldest and also purest examples of the machine bureaucracy, the general would have joined as an officer of the lowest rank, or even as a soldier. limited vertical mobility may be seen in organisms, when a stem cell becomes a specialized cell. but these are more like a single promotion in an entire lifetime, or rather, like graduating from apprenticeship to an actual posting to be held for life; not the sequence of promotions that may be typical of the occdf in a machine bureaucracy. three, inter-system mobility is also uncommon in the case of organisms; cells of one organism do not in the course of routine move to become part of another. inter-system mobility may not have been possible in the early machine bureaucracies, though for entirely different reasons. that was mainly because there were—and in some cases even now are—no other organizations of the same kind in society to which one could move; for example, there is only one official army in a country. such mobility, however, has since long been routine in the corporate world. finally, a typical cell from a multi-cellular organism can have no existence independent of the system. whereas an equivalent mobility for various durations, or for good, has been easily possible in the case of the machine bureaucracy, even before the rise of the «boundaryless career» (arthur and rousseau, 1996: 3). in sum, organisms may in many ways be seen as more rigid, formalized and machine-like than even these extreme examples of machinelike corporations. many of today’s corporations with the occdf are of course far more flexible. for example, the matrix form, an adhocracy, has been seen as «almost the opposite of the machine bureaucracy» (daft, 1998: 559), because of its much higher flexibility. table 1. mobility within multi-cellular organisms and bureaucratic organizations cell/individual mobility intra-system: lateral intra-system: vertical inter system independent of system(s) multi-cellular organism uncommon uncommon uncommon uncommon bureaucratic organization common common common common m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 89-104 special issue: careers and new science 100 indranil chakrabarti and sheila r. chakrabarti in a previous section we noted that the occdf also contributes to the corporation’s purposefulness—the capacity to choose and set goals of its own accord. in turn this has enabled corporations to adapt to their environment in many ways, such as in choosing «whether they are to compete or to collaborate» (morgan, 1986: 74), or in choosing a new and more desirable environmental niche, or even in changing the environment to their own choosing. despite the inertial pressures, as wellnoted by the population ecology school in organization theory, corporations often do these much more effectively than most organisms (morgan, 1986: 67-74). perhaps the most striking evidence of the corporation’s higher flexibility/adaptability, compared to the organism, comes from contrasting the processes of evolution of their design forms. organisms’ designs take millions of years to evolve. the dominant scientific view holds that the organism’s own purposefulness plays no part in the process; that is, the design does not change because the organism so chooses, nor is the new design an outcome of the organism’s choice (gell-mann, 1994). whereas not only have corporations’ designs changed dramatically within the last century alone, corporations have often had a significant say—perhaps even decisive, as some may argue (morgan, 1986)—on most of the crucial choice related questions, such as, when to change, how to change, and change to what. thus morgan (1986: 68) notes that, unlike the organism, the corporation is «able to transform itself from one kind of organization into another». indeed, that is how the organizational configurations have evolved, say from the machine bureaucracy to adhocracy, with myriad organization designs within these broad groupings. many corporations have achieved several such organization design changes in their own life-span—an impossible feat for organisms. we thus propose: proposition 3: while the persistent prescription for corporations to be more organism-like, especially when the business environment gets turbulent, assumes that they are less flexible/adaptable than organisms, perhaps the opposite is more correct: that is, most corporations, typically with the organizational career as a connecting dynamic frame (occdf), are already more flexible/adaptable than organisms; including even the extreme bureaucracy, which from the dawn of management has been seen as the epitome of the machine-like form. conclusion in this paper we have questioned the persistent prescription, which has now also received a fillip from “new science”, for corporations to be more like organisms, especially in response to turbulence in the business environment, as in present times. we have tried to show that the corporation, in important ways, has in fact long since been quite like organisms, and even more. we have also pointed out the irony of another outcome of the present turbulence, the trend towards outmoding of the organizational career, because it has been a crucial orgam@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 89-104 special issue: careers and new science 101 making corporations organism-like nizing device to help the corporation, a social artifact, to be more like organisms. we began with the observation that while the spontaneous emergence of order in nature, especially as and in organisms, has been of understandable appeal to organization and management thinkers, the attributes purposefulness and complexity-grappling capability are perhaps even more amazing, since they enable organisms to create order at will, as in the making of artifacts. we distinguished machines from other physical artifacts, for being equipped with varied kinds and levels of complexity-grappling capabilities, including, at times, the capacity to make yet other physical artifacts. social artifacts too are equipped with the desired complexity-grappling capabilities; whereas creating machines is a comparatively recent feat, creating social artifacts is a much older practice, we noted. with the innovation of the organizational career as a connecting dynamic frame (occdf), we proposed that social artifacts came to outlive their constituent individuals, quite like organisms which also outlive their constituent cells/molecules. this also enabled the social artifact to develop the capacity to be what weber (1946: 228) has called, an «ever-moving mechanism», with the potential for purposefulness, which for the corporation came to be legally formalized, making it even more like the natural person. finally, we also examined the longstanding notion that the typical corporation with the occdf is less flexible than organisms, proposing that the opposite is more true. nevertheless, the fact remains that the organizational career is now getting increasingly outmoded (arthur and rousseau, 1996; herriot, 1996; osterman, 1996). of the many reasons which have been identified for this significant trend, a central one is extreme turbulence in the business environment. as burack notes (1997: 36): «the reinvention of organizations, driven by turbulent economic and global competitive conditions, transformed career pathing for individuals and organizations alike». similarly, the new york times, while declaring the organizational career “dead”, attributes it to the extreme turbulence of “an unsettled time” (walsh, 2001). yet there is also a growing literature (such as, korten, 1995, 2000; perrow, 1996; kelly, 2001) arguing that corporations themselves are among the biggest causes of such extreme turbulence. so much so that today, for many corporations, the biggest threat in the environment is from yet other corporations. they are increasingly seen as more adversarial and at times even “cannibalizing” (korten, 1995). this has reduced the discretion for the corporation in even the pursuit of its own survival. thus in his study on the decline of the organizational career, capelli (1999: 243) finds that forced by an «array of powerful pressures», mostly from the corporate world itself, the individual corporation’s «discretion was severely limited». the oft-repeated exhortation for corporations to be yet more organismlike, as we have argued, has for long not been the answer. perhaps it is time to turn the question around. could this persistent prescription actually have been part of the problem? have we, in fact, been too m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 89-104 special issue: careers and new science 102 indranil chakrabarti and sheila r. chakrabarti successful in making corporations organism-like? the outmoding of the occdf would then be even more poignant. clearly, much critical reflection is needed; because the situation already seems no less disconcerting than the futuristic one about the leos. endnote: we thank the editors and the anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments and suggestions; these have greatly contributed to the paper. we would like to specially mention hugh gunz for cheerfully helping us along, with an appreciation of the paper’s central arguments that often seemed keener than our own. we also thank our students—of “organization theory” and especially “governance and globalization”—for being patient sounding boards as we struggle with these and other tentative ideas, as also their implications for the management profession indranil chakrabarti has a doctorate in management and a masters in science. sheila r. chakrabarti holds a first degree in electrical engineering and a masters in management. they both are at xavier institute of management, bhubaneswar, india, where he is an associate professor and she an honorary research fellow and a visiting faculty. their present research interests are around purposefulness and complexity-grappling capability: the origin, nature, evolution and implications of these two attributes. they are also interested in a deeper theory of organizations. they hope these inquiries would contribute to the generation, as also examination, of institutional design options for a humane and thriving humanity. references ■ ackoff, russell l. 1981 creating the corporate future, new york, ny: wiley. ■ ackoff, russell l. 1994 the democratic corporation, new york, ny: oxford university press. ■ ackoff, russell l. 1999 recreating the corporation: a design of organizations for the 21st century, new york, ny: oxford university press. ■ ackoff, russell l., and fred e. emery 1972 on purposeful systems, chicago, il: aldine-atherton. ■ anderson, poul 2000 consequences, nature, 405: 281. ■ arthur, michael b., and denise m. rousseau 1996 introduction: the boundaryless career as a new employment principle, in michael b. arthur and denise m. rousseau (eds.), the boundaryless career, new york, ny: oxford university press, 1-20. ■ barley, stephen r. 1989 careers, identities, and institutions: the legacy of the chicago school of sociology, in michael b. arthur, douglas t. hall and barbara s. lawrence (eds.), handbook of career theory, cambridge, ma: cambridge university press, 41-65. ■ barnard, chester i. 1938 the functions of the executive, cambridge, ma: harvard university press. ■ bird, allan, hugh p. gunz, and michael b. arthur 2002 careers in a complex world: the search for new perspectives from the “new science”, m@n@gement, 5(1): 1-14. ■ blau, peter m., and w. richard scott 1963 formal organizations, london: routledge and kegan paul. ■ burack, elmer h. 1997 career pathing, in lawrence h. peters, charles r. greer and stuart a. youngblood (eds.), the blackwell encyclopedic dictionary of human resource management, vol. ix. cambridge, ma: blackwell, 36-37. http://www.dmsp.dauphine.fr/management/papersmgmt/51bird.html m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 89-104 special issue: careers and new science 103 making corporations organism-like ■ burns, tom r., and george m. stalker 1961 the management of innovation, london: tavistock. ■ capelli, peter 1999 the new deal at work, boston, ma: harvard business school press. ■ chakrabarti, indranil, and sheila r. chakrabarti 1999 purposefulness and complexity-grappling capability: some preliminary propositions, in adrian m. castell amanda j. gregory, giles a. hindle, mathew e. james, and gillian ragsdell (eds.), synergy matters: working with systems in the 21st century, new york, ny: plenum, 427-431. ■ chakrabarti, indranil, and sheila r. chakrabarti 2001 purposefulness and complexity-grappling capability: the human case—1. strange anomaly between structure and performance of teleonomy, unpublished draft, xavier institute of management. ■ checkland, peter 1994 systems thinking, systems practice, chichester: wiley. ■ coleman, james s. 1974 power and the structure of society, new york, ny: norton. ■ coveney, peter, and roger highfield 1990 the arrow of time: the quest to solve science’s greatest mystery, london: flamingo. ■ cyert, richard m., and james g. march 1959 a behavioral theory of organizational objectives, in mason haire (ed.), modern organization theory, new york, ny: wiley, 76-90. ■ daft, richard l. 1998 organization theory and design, 6th edition, cincinnati, oh: south-western college. ■ daft, richard l. 2001 organization theory and design, 7th edition, cincinnati, oh: south-western college. ■ de geus, arie 1997 the living company, harvard business review, 75(2): 51-59. ■ ekelund, robert b. jr., and robert f. hebert 1997 a history of economic theory and method, new york, ny: mcgraw-hill. ■ encyclopedia britannica 1987 behaviour, animal, 14, chicago, il: encyclopedia britannica 704-705. ■ flood, robert l., and michael c. jackson 1991 creative problem solving, chichester: wiley. ■ gell-mann, murray 1994 the quark and the jaguar, new york, ny: freeman. ■ giddens, anthony 1983 profiles and critiques in social theory, berkeley, ca: university of california press. ■ gleick, james 1987 chaos: making a new science, london: abacus. ■ herriot, peter 1996 careers, in malcolm warner (ed.), international encyclopedia of business and management, vol 1, london: routledge, 590-601. ■ ivanitsky, genrikh r., valentin i. krinsky, and oleg a. mornev 1987 autowaves: an interdisciplinary finding, in igor m. makarov (ed.), cybernetics of living matter: nature, man, information, moscow: mir, 52-74. ■ jones, gareth r. 1998 organizational theory, reading, ma: addison-wesley. ■ kanter, rosabeth m. 1977 men and women of the corporation, new york, ny: basic books. ■ kelly, marjorie 2001 the divine right of capital: dethroning the corporate aristocracy, san francisco, ca: berrett-koehler. ■ korten, david c. 1995 when corporations rule the world, west hartford, ct: kumarian press. ■ korten, david c. 2000 the post-corporate world: life after capitalism, west hartford, ct: kumarian press. ■ locke, edwin a., and gary p. latham 1996 goal setting theory: an introduction, in richard m. steers, lyman w. porter and gregory a. bigley (eds.), motivation and leadership at work, 6th ed., singapore: mcgraw-hill, 95-121. ■ maturana, humberto, jorge mpodozis, and juan c. letelier 1995 brain, language and the origin of human mental functions, biological research, 28: 15-26. ■ miles, raymond. e., and charles. c. snow 1996 twenty-first-century careers, in michael b. arthur and denise m. rousseau (eds.), the boundaryless career, new york, ny: oxford university press, 97-115. ■ mintzberg, henry 1979 the structure of organizations, englewood cliffs, nj: prentice hall. ■ mintzberg, henry 1991 the effective organization: forces and forms, sloan management review, 32(2): 54-67. ■ monod, jacques 1972 chance and necessity: an essay on the natural philosophy of modern biology, glasgow: collins. ■ morgan, gareth 1986 images of organization, beverly hills, ca: sage. ■ osterman, paul 1996 introduction, in paul osterman (ed.), broken ladders, new york, ny: oxford university press, 1-22. ■ perrow, charles 1996 the bounded career and the demise of the civil society, in michael b. arthur and denise m. rousseau (eds.), the boundaryless career, new york, ny: oxford university press, 297-313. m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 89-104 special issue: careers and new science 104 indranil chakrabarti and sheila r. chakrabarti ■ prigogine, ilya, and isabelle stengers 1984 order out of chaos: man’s new dialogue with nature, london: flamingo. ■ robbins, stephen p. 1998 organization theory: structure, design and application, new delhi: prenticehall india. ■ rose, steven 1976 the conscious brain, harmondsworth: penguin. ■ schein, edgar h. 1997 career stages, in lawrence h. peters, charles r. greer and stuart a. youngblood (eds.), the blackwell encyclopedic dictionary of human resource management, vol. ix, cambridge, ma: blackwell, 38-40. ■ schrödinger, erwin 1992 what is life?, cambridge, ma: cambridge university press. ■ scott, w. richard 1992 organizations: rational, natural and open systems, englewood cliffs, nj: prentice-hall. ■ scott, w. richard 1994 law and organizations, in sim b. sitkin and robert j. bies (eds.), the legalistic organization, thousand oaks, ca: sage, 3-18. ■ thompson, james d. 1967 organizations in action, new york, ny: mcgraw-hill. ■ walsh, mary w. 2001 luring the best in an unsettled time, the new york times, january 30, g1. ■ weber, max 1946 from max weber: essays in sociology, hans h. gerth and c wright mills (eds.), new york: oxford university press. ■ weick, karl e. 1969 the social psychology of organizing, reading, ma: addison-wesley. ■ weiner, milton g. 1960 observations on the growth of information-processing centers, in albert h. rubenstein and chadwick j. haberstroh (eds.), some theories of organization, homewood, il: irwin-dorsey, 147-156. ■ wheatley, margaret j. 1994 leadership and the new science, san francisco, ca: berrett-koehler. ■ wheatley, margaret j. 1996 self-organization: the irresistible future of organizing, strategy and leadership, 24(4): 18-25. ■ williamson, oliver e. 1996 the mechanisms of governance, new york, ny: oxford university press. 203 valéry merminod, caroline mothe, frantz rowe m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 294-331 special issue: fiabilité et résilience comme dimensions de la performance organisationnelle m@n@gement copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). m@n@gement is a double-blind refereed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.management-aims.com © 2009 m@n@gement and the author(s). valéry merminod, caroline mothe frantz rowe 2009 effets de product lifecycle management sur la fiabilité et la productivité : une comparaison entre deux contextes de développement produit m@n@gement, 12(4), 294-331. m@n@gement est la revue officielle de l’aims m@n@gement is the journal official of aims issn: 1286-4892 editors: emmanuel josserand, hec, université de genève (editor in chief) jean-luc arrègle, edhec (editor) stewart clegg, university of technology, sydney (editor) martin kornberger, university of technology, sydney (editor) philippe monin, em lyon (editor) josé pla-barber, universitat de valència (editor) linda rouleau, hec montréal (editor) michael tushman, harvard business school (editor) thibaut bardon, universté paris-dauphine, crepa hec, université de genève (editorial assistant) florence villeseche, hec, université de genève (editorial assistant) martin g. evans, university of toronto (editor emeritus) bernard forgues, emlyon business school (editor emeritus) volume 12, no. 4. special issue: “fiabilité et résilience comme dimensions de la performance organisationnelle” guest editors: erik hollnagel, benoît journé et hervé laroche. 294 effets de product lifecycle management sur la fiabilité et la productivité : une comparaison entre deux contextes de développement produit m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 294-331 special issue: fiabilité et résilience comme dimensions de la performance organisationnelle effets de product lifecycle management sur la fiabilité et la productivité : une comparaison entre deux contextes de développement produit valéry merminod caroline mothe frantz rowe professeur skema business school, chercheur associé au lemna valery.merminod@ceram.fr professeur des universités, irege, université de savoie caroline.mothe@univ-savoie.fr professeur des universités, lemna, université de nantes chercheur associé skema business school frantz.rowe@univ-nantes.fr si de nombreuses recherches sont consacrées aux contextes de haute fiabilité, un nombre relativement limité de travaux se focalisent sur la fiabilité des processus plus classiques dans l’industrie ou les services. dans ces situations plus traditionnelles d’amélioration de la performance, le critère de fiabilité est souvent couplé à celui de la productivité. cet article appréhende la contribution de la technologie product lifecycle management (plm) à la fiabilité et à la productivité du processus de développement de nouveaux produits. à travers une étude de cas longitudinale au sein d’un groupe industriel du petit électroménager, nous étudions les effets de plm sur la productivité et la fiabilité à travers l’intégration des connaissances explicites, les routines et la vigilance des acteurs. nous mettons en avant le caractère non antagoniste de la productivité et de la fiabilité dans deux contextes différents, le codéveloppement et le développement interne, et discutons les effets conjoints de plm et du contexte sur ces deux dimensions de la performance. mots clés : développement de nouveaux produits, product lifecycle management, performance, productivité, fiabilité, intégration des connaissances, routines, vigilance. although much research is devoted to high reliability contexts, relatively few works focus on the reliability of more conventional processes in industry or services. in these more traditional situations of performance improvement, the criterion of reliability is often coupled with that of productivity. this article captures the contribution of product lifecycle management (plm) technology to the reliability and productivity of new product development. through a longitudinal case study within an industrial group of small appliances, we study the effects of plm on productivity and reliability through explicit knowledge integration, routines and actors’ vigilance. we highlight the non-adversarial nature of productivity and reliability in two different contexts, co-development and internal development, and discuss the joint effects of plm and of context on these two dimensions of performance. keywords : new product development, product lifecycle management, performance, productivity, reliability. 295 valéry merminod, caroline mothe, frantz rowe m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 294-331 special issue: fiabilité et résilience comme dimensions de la performance organisationnelle introduction deux tendances de fond influencent le management du développement produit depuis le milieu des années 1990 : la croissance des projets de codéveloppement et la distanciation accrue des équipes de développement. cette distanciation est souvent supportée par des technologies de l’information et de la communication (tic) qui servent d’espace de travail collaboratif virtuel (nijssen et frambach, 2000 ; nambisan, 2003). pour supporter un processus de développement produit de plus en plus distribué, les entreprises multiplient la mise en place de tic. au-delà des outils de conception assistée par ordinateur (cao) s’imposent des technologies émergentes pour gérer les objets de connaissance des projets et remplacer un système d’information composé d’outils hétérogènes qui se sont, historiquement, superposés. les organisations ont ainsi de plus en plus recours à la technologie plm (product lifecycle management) dans le but d’intégrer, de fluidifier et d’améliorer la performance du développement produit. l’objectif de cet article est d’analyser la contribution de plm à la performance du processus de développement, performance appréhendée sous l’angle de la fiabilité et la productivité. les processus de développement produit sont aujourd’hui dominés par une forte pression sur les délais. mettant en avant que des rentes peuvent venir à la fois d’un processus plus rapide et plus productif que celui des concurrents et d’une valeur du produit supérieure pour le client, verona (1999) indique que la mesure de l’efficience du processus de développement se fait en termes de temps d’avance sur les concurrents et de productivité. un des challenges pour ces processus sous pression temporelle constante est de gérer, en parallèle, la fiabilité de ce processus afin de garantir la qualité du produit final. mais fiabilité et productivité vont-elles de pair ou sont-elles deux orientations antagonistes ? cette question, essentielle en management de projet et dans le domaine des organisations soumises à des risques majeurs, a déjà été débattue. les recherches sur ces environnements à risque élevé montrent que l’objectif de fiabilité est antagonique à celui de productivité (weick et roberts, 1993). si le dilemme entre rapidité et temps d’apprentissage (donc fiabilité) est identifié (hatchuel, 1994 ; bourgeon, 2002), la contradiction apparaît comme moins évidente dans des industries plus classiques où l’objectif d’un très haut niveau de fiabilité n’est pas vital et peut entraîner une baisse de la productivité. les rares recherches empiriques dans ce domaine confortent l’idée d’un antagonisme. ainsi, brion (2005), dans son article sur une entreprise de téléphonie mobile, met en évidence que le temps de développement découlant du choix de fiabilisation des processus s’est allongé. dans le bâtiment, la vitesse de coordination permise par la télécopie et le téléphone, qui permet de gagner en productivité par rapport aux réunions, peut se révéler dangereuse pour réaliser les objectifs de résultat si la planification des lots, et donc la fiabilité, n’est pas respectée (marciniak et rowe, 1999). dans les industries classiques, la fiabilité du processus de développement produit ne peut être assimilée à des problèmes de sécurité et de sûreté de fonctionnement. compte tenu des résultats encore mi296 effets de product lifecycle management sur la fiabilité et la productivité : une comparaison entre deux contextes de développement produit m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 294-331 special issue: fiabilité et résilience comme dimensions de la performance organisationnelle tigés sur le dilemme productivité/fiabilité, il semble donc intéressant de contribuer à ce débat et d’examiner si la fiabilité est véritablement antagonique de la performance, et plus particulièrement de la productivité (weick et roberts, 1993) et, si oui, dans quelles conditions. notre recherche pose ainsi la question de la compatibilité de la productivité et de la fiabilité dans les activités de r & d dans l’industrie manufacturière en l’abordant selon le contexte de développement. en effet, comme pour d’autres technologies de l’information, l’impact de plm risque de dépendre du contexte dans lequel cette technologie est mise en œuvre. nous distinguons le développement interne, c’est-à-dire un développement intra-organisationnel, du codéveloppement, correspondant à un contexte interorganisationnel avec des prestataires externes (calvi et al., 2005). dans le cas du développement interne, les espaces de relations sont déjà bien structurés. ici, soit plm augmente conjointement la productivité et la fiabilité du processus de développement, soit les tâches supportées par la technologie ralentissent la productivité malgré les gains de fiabilité – comme pour des organisations soumises à des risques majeurs. dans le cas du codéveloppement, les relations sont plus complexes, notamment à cause des différences culturelles. cependant, lorsque les relations sont peu récurrentes et peu structurées, on peut supposer que, après une courte phase d’apprentissage, plm favorise la productivité et la fiabilité. cette différence de contexte de développement n’ayant pas fait l’objet d’une recherche préalable, comparer les effets respectifs de plm sur la productivité et la fiabilité selon ce contexte constitue un enjeu clé pour les entreprises aujourd’hui, à l’heure où le processus de développement est de plus en plus dispersé. dans une première partie, cet article propose un cadre conceptuel de la performance (sous l’angle de la fiabilité et de la productivité) du processus de développement produit. la deuxième partie décrit la méthodologie ainsi que l’étude de cas. nous discutons les résultats dans une troisième partie avant de conclure. productivité et fiabilité du processus de développement produit de nombreux travaux (brown et eisenhardt, 1995 ; takikonda et montoya-weiss, 2001 ; mallick et schroeder, 2005) ont été consacrés à la performance du développement produit. parmi les critères de performance les plus cités, on trouve le temps de développement (clark et fujimoto, 1991 ; brown et eisenhardt, 1995 ; takikonda et rosenthal, 2000), la performance du produit (clark et fujimoto, 1991 ; takikonda et montoya-weiss, 2001), les coûts de production (meyer et utterback, 1997 ; takikonda et rosenthal, 2000), le succès marché (meyer et utterback, 1997), le succès financier (brown et eisenhardt, 1995) et le succès commercial (zirger et maidique, 1990). si mesurer la performance du développement produit reste difficile (meyer et utterback, 1997), d’autant qu’il s’agit souvent de mesurer 297 valéry merminod, caroline mothe, frantz rowe m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 294-331 special issue: fiabilité et résilience comme dimensions de la performance organisationnelle des projets disparates, le choix de la mesure l’est tout autant compte tenu de la quantité des critères disponibles (75 ont été identifiés dans la littérature). notre choix s’est porté sur la productivité et la fiabilité. en effet, la préoccupation essentielle en matière de développement produit est de raccourcir le délai de développement en réduisant la complexité du projet en transférant certaines tâches aux fournisseurs (clark et fujimoto, 1990 ; calvi et al., 2005 ; malhotra et al., 2005) ou en en diminuant la durée. par ailleurs, la nécessité de « sortir » des produits dans de bonnes conditions de qualité implique une fiabilité élevée du processus de développement. garantir un bon niveau de fiabilité du processus de développement est donc essentiel, même si cette fiabilité peut être difficile à allier à la productivité et à une logique de réduction du délai de développement. les organisations sont donc confrontées à un management paradoxal, contraintes tant à la fiabilité qu’à la productivité du processus de développement pour assurer la tenue de délais exigeants et une qualité élevée des nouveaux produits. après avoir caractérisé le développement produit et traité l’intégration des connaissances comme une problématique clé de ce processus, nous présentons la technologie plm (i.1). nous appréhendons ensuite la fiabilité (i.2) et la productivité (i.3) comme éléments clés de la performance du processus de développement produit. caractéristiques du développement produit et émergence de plm le développement produit correspond à une activité de spécification construite à partir d’un cahier des charges donné et contrainte par les compétences disponibles (brown et eisenhardt, 1995 ; le masson et al., 2006). il correspond à un processus contrôlé afin de spécifier un système qui doit répondre à des critères définis de qualité, coût et délai (le masson et al., 2006). le développement produit, souvent fondé sur un mode d’organisation projet (garel, 1999), est critique puisqu’il assure la mise sur le marché de nouveaux produits. c’est un processus par nature complexe, incertain et contingent, qui repose sur une multitude de fonctions comme le marketing, le bureau d’étude (be), la logistique, la qualité (terssac et friedberg, 1996). se pose ainsi la question cruciale de l’intégration des différentes connaissances possédées par une grande diversité d’acteurs. intégration des connaissances : une problématique clé du développement produit le management des connaissances a été l’objet d’une importante littérature, notamment depuis l’article séminal de nonaka (1994). grant (1996) s’est, le premier, attaché au concept d’intégration des connaissances, qu’il définit comme la capacité organisationnelle clé de la firme. les capacités internes d’intégration des différents types de connaissances sont considérées comme une variable cruciale, avec les capacités technologiques, de la performance du processus de développement (verona, 1999). l’intégration des connaissances fait partie de ce que kusunoki et al. (1998) appellent, pour le développement produit, les capacités processuelles (process capabilities). elle représente la phase 298 effets de product lifecycle management sur la fiabilité et la productivité : une comparaison entre deux contextes de développement produit m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 294-331 special issue: fiabilité et résilience comme dimensions de la performance organisationnelle 3 (combinaison, qui comprend l’intégration) du modèle seci (nonaka et al., 2000). cette intégration des connaissances est particulièrement complexe dans le cadre du développement produit du fait de la spécialisation des acteurs qui appartiennent à des univers cognitifs divers et qui disposent de répertoires de connaissances hétérogènes (hoopes et postrel, 1999 ; carlile, 2002, 2004). la difficulté d’un engagement rapide dans l’action collective, propre aux équipes projet, rend d’ailleurs d’autant plus nécessaire un répertoire partagé pouvant être mobilisé rapidement (chanal, 2003). de luca et al. (2009) définissent l’intégration des connaissances comme les mécanismes formels qui assurent l’assimilation, l’analyse et l’interprétation des connaissances scientifiques et marketing. ils montrent que l’intégration des connaissances joue un rôle modérateur sur le lien entre l’orientation marché des entreprises de biotechnologies italiennes et l’efficacité de leur r & d. de manière plus spécifique au processus de développement produit, hoopes et postrel (1999) retiennent les dimensions de partage, de coordination et de coopération pour analyser l’intégration des connaissances dans le processus de développement produit : – le partage de connaissances est assimilé à la compétence de management de la circulation des différents inputs et des interactions entre acteurs. le partage repose sur ces interactions entre acteurs disposant d’expertises différentes et qui concourent à un objectif commun. – la coordination consiste à gérer des activités interdépendantes orientées vers un objectif commun (malone et crowston, 1994). elle requiert une compréhension de la gestion de la distribution des connaissances et des expertises. – la coopération correspond à la manière dont « les individus équilibrent leurs actions entre leur intérêt personnel et l’intérêt de la firme » (hoopes et postrel 1999, p. 839). nous ne retenons pas la coopération comme composante de l’intégration des connaissances car elle émane de la volonté propre des acteurs, et non d’un support de médiation des échanges comme une tic. nous considérons que la coopération relève de constructions sociales et politiques et que, dans ce cadre, la contribution des tic est assez limitée. outre le partage et la coordination, nous appréhendons l’intégration des connaissances à travers une troisième dimension, la réutilisation (ou capitalisation) des connaissances, que sambamurthy et subramani (2005) prennent en compte dans le management des connaissances par les tic. la réutilisation consiste à capitaliser sur les connaissances afin de pouvoir les utiliser ultérieurement. l’intégration des connaissances est donc vue ici, dans le cadre du développement produit, à travers le partage, la coordination et la capitalisation. nous cherchons à montrer que plm améliore la fiabilité et la productivité, notamment grâce à l’intégration des connaissances que cette technologie permet. contribution de plm à la performance du développement produit les recherches consacrées à l’impact des tic sur la performance des organisations montrent une influence tantôt positive, tantôt négative (short et venkatraman, 1992 ; strassman, 1997). certains voient le système d’information comme un contributeur direct à l’avantage 299 valéry merminod, caroline mothe, frantz rowe m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 294-331 special issue: fiabilité et résilience comme dimensions de la performance organisationnelle concurrentiel (short et venkatraman, 1992). d’autres mettent en avant les effets contingents des ressources tic (strassman, 1997) et questionnent la relation causale directe, les tic ayant alors une contribution indirecte à la performance (weill, 1992 ; rowe, 1994 ; brynjolfsson et hitt, 1996). l’apport des tic à la performance du développement produit a été démontré, que ce soit dans un cadre intra-organisationnel (iansiti et maccormack, 1997) ou interorganisationnel (pavlou et el sawy, 2006). cependant, ces recherches, faiblement contextualisées, éclairent peu sur les mécanismes de contribution des tic à la performance du développement produit. nous focalisons notre recherche sur une technologie émergente, product lifecycle management (plm), qui permet d’intégrer les connaissances explicites des acteurs projet. la technologie plm trouve son origine dans les systèmes de gestion des données techniques (sgdt) qui permettent de stocker des données techniques relatives aux produits comme les gammes, les nomenclatures, les plans produits. les solutions plm sont apparues à la fin des années 1990 lorsque ces technologies ont été capables de gérer les objets (plans, spécifications, nomenclatures) de l’ensemble des acteurs associés au développement produit : marketing, design, be, qualité, normes, etc. (batenburg et al., 2005 ; pol et al., 2005). plm, initialement adoptée dans l’aéronautique et l’automobile, s’est progressivement diffusée dans d’autres industries plus traditionnelles au début des années 2000 avec des solutions développées par des éditeurs comme dassault system, siemens ou ptc. les fonctionnalités principales de plm sont articulées autour du stockage et de la capitalisation des connaissances explicites, de leur partage, de la communication et du pilotage de projets. plm repose sur une base de données unique des objets et sur une interface hommemachine unique pour tous les acteurs du développement produit. elle facilite une vision unifiée des connaissances relatives au produit dans le cadre de la collaboration intra-organisationnelle et interorganisationnelle (mostefai et batouche, 2005). plm est donc une technologie « intégrée » (mostefai et batouche, 2005) permettant de regrouper dans une application unique les informations relatives au projet, au produit et au processus de développement. elle permet de disposer d’une représentation virtuelle d’un produit physique et de gérer virtuellement la collaboration tout au long du processus de développement grâce au stockage, à la coordination et au contrôle de toutes les informations relatives au développement : spécifications fonctionnelles, nomenclatures, caractéristiques techniques, processus d’industrialisation (grieves, 2006). cette technologie supporte une approche processus de développement produit structurée avec une logique de passage d’étapes (cf. cooper et kleinschmidt, 1990) qui repose sur cinq jalons clés : définition du périmètre, conception de la solution, développement, tests et lancement. après avoir précisé les contours de l’application plm, nous allons préciser le concept de fiabilité. 300 effets de product lifecycle management sur la fiabilité et la productivité : une comparaison entre deux contextes de développement produit m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 294-331 special issue: fiabilité et résilience comme dimensions de la performance organisationnelle la fiabilité : une première dimension de la performance du développement produit la fiabilité peut être définie comme la capacité à produire collectivement avec une qualité minimale prédéfinie, et ce de manière répétitive (hannan et freeman, 1984). alors que la qualité s’applique à l’objet développé, au produit fini, la fiabilité s’applique au processus de développement produit. elle est essentielle pour garantir la qualité du produit fini et le respect du délai de sortie de ce dernier. la fiabilité n’est pas seulement l’atteinte d’un niveau d’objectifs prédéfinis ; elle représente également la faculté de contrôler la variation des résultats (deming, 1982). la fiabilité provient d’une approche focalisée sur les contraintes opérationnelles (weick et al., 2000). l’objectif est d’identifier rapidement les problèmes de développement afin de réaliser les ajustements nécessaires au plus tôt pour améliorer le respect des engagements (butler et gray, 2006 ; yassine, 2007) et de réduire tant les problèmes de qualité liés aux erreurs (thomke et fujimoto, 2000) que le risque qu’un projet ne se réalise pas conformément aux prévisions de date d’achèvement, de coût et de spécifications (giard, 1991). nous traitons d’abord des dimensions de la fiabilité (respect des délais et diminution des erreurs) puis des moyens pour améliorer la fiabilité du processus (routines et vigilance). dimensions de la fiabilité : respect des délais et diminution des erreurs le respect des délais des projets constitue une dimension clé de la performance du développement produit (marciniak et pagerie, 1999). toutefois une difficulté réside dans le mode de calcul du retard moyen des projets, plusieurs moyens de le mesurer coexistant (garel, 1999). nous retenons l’approche stage gate de cooper et kleinschmidt (1990) et l’estimation de durée faite au début de la phase de conception. nous analysons l’écart entre le planifié et le réalisé à la date de fin de développement, qui correspond à la fin du processus d’industrialisation du produit avec l’autorisation de mise en production de masse du produit. la diminution des erreurs va de pair avec l’autre dimension de la fiabilité, le respect des délais. dans le cadre du développement produit, la détection et la correction des problèmes dès la phase amont de conception permettent d’améliorer le respect du délai de développement et la qualité du produit fini. si les problèmes sont identifiés tard, les coûts de résolution sont souvent plus importants et la nature des problèmes plus complexe (hatchuel, 1994 ; brown et eisenhardt, 1995 ; nambisan, 2003). une approche pour réduire les erreurs dans le processus de développement produit consiste à améliorer la qualité des échanges entre les acteurs en réduisant les erreurs de communication1. dans ce cadre, nous mobilisons le concept de glitch (hoopes et postrel, 1999), qui correspond à une erreur de communication, à un problème dans l’échange de connaissances, à un résultat insatisfaisant dans le cadre de relations d’échanges entre deux ou plusieurs acteurs. les glitches peuvent être évités si les acteurs disposent d’un répertoire de connaissance commun et sont capables de comprendre et d’interpréter la connaissance échangée. ils peuvent être identifiés 1. cette approche est imparfaite pour deux raisons. d’une part, certaines erreurs de conception ne peuvent être détectées lors de la phase de r & d. d’autre part, il faut se garder de vouloir systématiquement éliminer toute erreur sans en débattre car l’« erreur » fait partie de notre fonctionnement cognitif (gilbert et al., 2007) et, d’un point de vue interpersonnel, n’est peut-être qu’un désaccord d’interprétations des représentations. dans une approche pragmatique, la communication sert précisément à traiter les malentendus plus que des erreurs (boullier, 1995) sous peine d’en supporter les conséquences. 301 valéry merminod, caroline mothe, frantz rowe m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 294-331 special issue: fiabilité et résilience comme dimensions de la performance organisationnelle par les déclarations d’erreurs directement liées aux problèmes de circulation des connaissances sur les projets. hoopes et postrel (1999) ont défini quatre types de glitch : a. les problèmes de synchronisation et de non-respect des procédures d’échange et de communication ; b. le cas où les procédures d’échange sont respectées mais où une contrainte clé n’a pas été communiquée par un acteur alors qu’elle touche les autres acteurs ; c. le cas du partage de connaissances complexes où une contrainte d’un acteur n’est pas comprise par le récepteur car le problème est difficile à régler ; d. un problème non résolu à cause de l’incompréhension réciproque des contraintes entre acteurs liée à la complexité de la connaissance en question. vecteurs de fiabilité : routines et vigilance des acteurs les routines organisationnelles permettent d’améliorer la fiabilité (hardgrave et al., 2003 ; butler et gray, 2006) en réduisant les risques et en augmentant la qualité des systèmes (hardgrave et al., 2003). que ce soit à un niveau organisationnel ou individuel, les routines sont de puissants vecteurs pour assurer la fiabilité et une certaine forme d’efficacité dans l’atteinte des objectifs (butler et gray, 2006). un des objectifs de l’institutionnalisation de contrôles et de « bonnes pratiques » repose en effet sur la réduction des erreurs et de la variation des résultats. la fiabilité passe ainsi par la mise en place d’une variété de structures, notamment de contrôle (lyytinen et al., 1998). si les routines sont essentielles pour améliorer la fiabilité du processus de développement produit, elles présentent néanmoins des limites ; elles préparent mal aux situations d’incertitude (clarke, 1993) et permettent, certes, de réduire les erreurs humaines simples, mais pas de résoudre des problèmes complexes, car elles ne prévoient que des situations et des contextes connus et préétablis (journé, 2005). les routines contribuent donc au respect des procédures de développement produit mais ne sont pas suffisantes pour assurer une fiabilité globale du processus. la fiabilité repose aussi sur la vigilance personnelle et collective des acteurs (butler et gray, 2006). alors que la fiabilité par les routines permet de réduire les situations d’erreurs humaines simples, les approches fondées sur la vigilance des acteurs se focalisent sur la contextualisation des problèmes et les expertises des acteurs pour les résoudre (weick et al., 2000). pour augmenter la fiabilité dans les activités de développement, il faut motiver les acteurs, maintenir leur attention tout en leur laissant des marges de manœuvre, ce que permet une approche « semi-structurée » (okhuysen et eisenhardt, 2002). en effet, solutionner un problème complexe ne relève pas toujours d’un choix entre des options existantes, mais le plus souvent de la création de nouvelles solutions (weick et al., 2000). la différence essentielle entre la fiabilisation par les routines et celle par la vigilance des acteurs réside dans la place laissée aux acteurs dans la prise de décision (butler et gray, 2006). la vigilance des acteurs peut intervenir à deux niveaux. au niveau individuel, elle passe par la mise en place de systèmes d’incitation (formations, procédures, primes pour respect d’objectifs de formalisation de connaissances par exemple) pour encourager les acteurs à améliorer la fiabilité du développement produit. au niveau collectif, elle repose sur des décisions 302 effets de product lifecycle management sur la fiabilité et la productivité : une comparaison entre deux contextes de développement produit m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 294-331 special issue: fiabilité et résilience comme dimensions de la performance organisationnelle fondées sur des confrontations d’expertises (weick et al., 2000). la vigilance collective implique le passage d’une logique hiérarchique et centralisée à une logique partagée et plus décentralisée. elle requiert des capacités de détection rapide des problèmes et des opportunités. la fiabilité dépend donc à la fois des routines organisationnelles et du comportement des acteurs à travers leur vigilante implication. ces deux approches sont appréhendées comme complémentaires. une structuration minimale du processus de développement peut être réalisée grâce à l’aide de technologies intégrant tous les acteurs du développement produit comme plm. la mise en place de plm vise ainsi à modifier les routines organisationnelles et l’implication des acteurs afin d’améliorer la fiabilité du processus de développement (baisse des erreurs et réduction des délais). la productivité : une deuxième dimension de la performance du développement afin de rester compétitives, les organisations cherchent à réduire le temps de développement des produits. cette nécessaire accélération du processus de développement a toujours été, et reste, une des préoccupations clefs du développement de nouveaux produits (cooper et kleinschmidt, 1990 ; clark et fujimoto, 1991 ; brown et eisenhardt, 1997 ; iansiti et maccormack, 1997). un des moyens pour accélérer le développement produit est d’en améliorer la productivité, qui peut être vue à travers la productivité en valeur, l’efficience ou la productivité en nature (rowe, 1994). – la productivité en valeur correspond au rapport entre l’output mesuré en valeur monétaire et les ressources consommées. par exemple, la croissance du chiffre d’affaires par tête est un objectif stratégique qui s’exprime en productivité en valeur. mais, sauf exception, le chiffre d’affaires dépend lui-même de tellement de variables qu’il est illusoire de pouvoir démontrer quoi que ce soit à partir d’un output tel que le chiffre d’affaires ou la marge sur un produit. – il convient donc de trouver un instrument de mesure de la productivité qui soit plus proche de la problématique du traitement de l’efficience du processus étudié. une organisation améliore son efficience si elle consomme moins pour produire autant ou si elle maintient son niveau de dépenses en produisant davantage. classiquement, le coût unitaire d’un projet et, ici, le rapport entre le taux de renouvellement des produits et les ressources consommées issus du processus de développement sont considérés comme des indicateurs d’efficience. – la productivité en nature compare quant à elle les quantités produites à l’effectif donné. elle est mesurée par des indicateurs physiques comme le nombre de projets gérés rapporté à l’effectif (productivité apparente du travail) ou comme le nombre d’heures par projet. c’est cette productivité en nature que nous retenons car, comparant les quantités produites à l’effectif donné, elle fournit des indicateurs simples et opérationnels qui ont l’avantage de coller à la réalité du processus de développement produit. sous réserve que la complexité des projets soit stable au sein d’une même famille de produits, on peut, en 303 valéry merminod, caroline mothe, frantz rowe m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 294-331 special issue: fiabilité et résilience comme dimensions de la performance organisationnelle suivant la productivité en nature, en déduire la contribution des changements organisationnels et de la mise en œuvre de technologies de l’information comme plm. la mesure du temps passé sur les principales opérations de développement produit, et donc du délai de développement, constitue la mesure empiriquement retenue par les ingénieurs et les personnes en charge des réorganisations et des changements. ainsi, torkzadeh et al. (2005) définissent la productivité liée à la technologie comme « la manière dont une application informatique améliore le rendement de l’utilisateur mesuré en unité de temps » (ibid., p. 108). ce gain de rendement relatif est à la fois la mesure la plus pragmatique et celle qui permet d’identifier précisément les effets des fonctionnalités d’une technologie sur la productivité des individus au niveau de leurs tâches (kraut et al., 1989 ; goodhue et thompson, 1995 ; banker et al., 2001; torkzadeh et al., 2005). il reste toutefois difficile de mesurer la productivité en nature sur un processus de développement produit, celui-ci étant peu structuré au début du projet et comprenant de nombreuses itérations entre les acteurs sur un même objet. nous tentons de surmonter cette difficulté en mesurant les gains de productivité en nature suite au déploiement de plm de plusieurs manières : nombre de projets gérés par effectif et par an, temps de réalisation des tâches, et temps de développement. cette analyse permet d’examiner si les gains de productivité en nature ont une traduction stratégique, que ce soit à travers la capacité à développer plus de nouveaux produits ou par la réduction du temps de cycle. si de nombreuses recherches ont porté sur la productivité, le lien entre l’intégration des connaissances (permises par plm notamment) et la productivité n’a pas été démontré. les développements qui précèdent sur la vigilance des acteurs et les routines organisationnelles comme vecteurs de fiabilité, ainsi que sur le rôle clé supposé de l’intégration des connaissances pour la fiabilité, mais aussi la productivité (même si ces liens théoriques n’ont pas été démontrés dans la littérature), nous conduisent à proposer le cadre conceptuel exploratoire qui suit (cf. figure 1). il sera mis à l’épreuve dans deux contextes de développement différents, le développement interne et le codéveloppement, afin d’identifier un possible impact différencié de plm sur la performance du processus de développement selon le contexte de développement. figure 1. cadre conceptuel 304 effets de product lifecycle management sur la fiabilité et la productivité : une comparaison entre deux contextes de développement produit m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 294-331 special issue: fiabilité et résilience comme dimensions de la performance organisationnelle une étude de cas longitudinale dans deux contextes nous présentons ici la méthodologie qualitative longitudinale ainsi que l’étude de cas et les deux contextes de développement. méthodologie étude de cas longitudinale rétrospective et par observation directe cette recherche est fondée sur l’analyse des changements avant et après l’introduction de plm sur une famille de produits d’une entreprise. mesurer les gains de productivité et de fiabilité liés à la mise en place de tic est difficile dans le cas de projets de développement de nouveaux produits, ceux-ci se caractérisant par de nombreuses incertitudes. pour isoler la contribution des tic, il conviendrait d’identifier les autres facteurs qui peuvent potentiellement contribuer à expliquer les gains de productivité et de fiabilité – comme le niveau d’externalisation du produit fini, les mouvements de personnel avec les effets d’expérience, la complexité des projets ou le degré de nouveauté des projets. en nous focalisant sur une seule famille de produits, nous neutralisons un grand nombre de ces facteurs – à l’exception du niveau d’externalisation du produit fini qui peut varier à l’intérieur d’une même famille, mais qui est pris en compte dans le contexte de développement. notre approche est fondée sur une étude de cas longitudinale qui combine approche rétrospective dans le cas du développement interne et par observation directe dans le cas du codéveloppement (leonardbarton, 1990 ; eisenhardt et graebner, 2007). les études rétrospectives recomposent un événement dans le temps après que celui-ci s’est déroulé et font appel à des données secondaires archivées et à des données primaires retraçant l’évolution d’un phénomène. l’observation directe pendant trois années a permis de tester et de rejeter par des expérimentations de l’esprit de nombreuses hypothèses (campbell, 1975). de plus, l’observation ayant lieu avant, pendant et après l’introduction de plm, le design de la recherche est amélioré (campbell, 1988), même si on ne peut considérer avoir écarté tous les biais liés à l’observation. le mode de collecte et d’analyse des données est essentiel pour garantir l’objectivité des données collectées et comprendre le phénomène étudié. collecte de données les entretiens, les observations et les données secondaires (courriels et objets historisés notamment) ont constitué les données principales dans cette recherche. pour limiter les problèmes d’oubli et de rationalisation a posteriori concernant les entretiens rétrospectifs liés au cas de développement interne, nous avons recoupé les entretiens entre eux, et avec des données secondaires. nous avons demandé aux personnes interrogées de repositionner, dans un premier temps, les événements historiquement et, seulement dans un second temps, d’établir les liens entre les événements. pour accroître la validité interne, nous avons stocké la quasi-totalité des données (entretiens, documents, courriels, statistiques liées aux tâches de développement produit) sous forme 305 valéry merminod, caroline mothe, frantz rowe m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 294-331 special issue: fiabilité et résilience comme dimensions de la performance organisationnelle électronique dans une application dédiée aux méthodes qualitatives : l’application nvivo de l’éditeur qcr. l’analyse intra-cas repose sur le principe de triangulation des données : entretiens, observation, données secondaires et statistiques effectuées à partir de l’application plm. la triangulation par les méthodes passe par le recours à l’observation participante et non participante, à des entretiens enregistrés et non enregistrés, à une analyse documentaire ainsi qu’à des artefacts tels que les analyses de logs applicatifs dans plm (cf. tableau 1). tableau 1. collecte des données collecte des donnees phase de l’analyse longitudinale avant plm pendant l’implémentation de plm après plm entretiens collectifs non enregistrés 12 8 12 indépendants non enregistrés 24 22 26 individuels non enregistrés n/a n/a 25 collecte de données secondaires données secondaires tous les documents : mail, procédures, spécifications, compte rendus de réunion documents sur le paramétrage, options de paramétrage, tests... eléments de communication, formations, mails... observations notes de terrain, observation du terrain 3 jours par semaine pendant 3 ans notes de terrain quotidiennes notes de terrain quotidiennes notes de terrain quotidiennes artefacts artefacts statistiques et comptages dans les applications de développement produit qui sont encore accessibles car historiques statistiques sur plm pour nombre de projet, objets validés, objets avec indices de révision... date de déploiement de la technologie plm développement interne : février 2004 co-développement : janvier 2007 dates durée de l’analyse de février 2006 à juin 2008 nous avons conduit des entretiens avec les acteurs des projets en développement interne et en co-développement pour identifier la nature des gains de productivité. ces entretiens ont été réalisés auprès d’acteurs aux profils très différents : marketing, ingénieur développement, technicien qualité, directeur général, etc. (cf. annexe 1 pour la liste des 25 entretiens). d’une durée moyenne de 1 h 30, ces vingt-cinq entretiens ont été enregistrés et retranscrits intégralement, puis validés par les acteurs. nous avons demandé de présenter la situation avant et après l’introduction de plm afin d’examiner les changements. dans un deuxième temps, les données statistiques sur les gains (cf. annexes 2 et 3) ont été récupérées et analysées de deux façons différentes : – récupération des éléments donnés pour vérifier la qualité des informations reçues. les informations concernant la période précédant l’introduction de plm sont essentiellement les documents élaborés pendant la phase d’analyse des besoins dans le cadre de la mise en place de plm, donc des données secondaires archivées – comme les organigrammes et les cartographies des applications informatiques ou la formalisation des processus. nous avons collecté des statistiques 306 effets de product lifecycle management sur la fiabilité et la productivité : une comparaison entre deux contextes de développement produit m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 294-331 special issue: fiabilité et résilience comme dimensions de la performance organisationnelle sur les projets et sur les objets dans les applications utilisées avant plm et dans l’application plm. – vérification avec des collègues issus du même service et avec les responsables hiérarchiques, validation avec les chefs de service, les directeurs industriel et marketing de l’activité et avec la direction r & d et marketing groupe. nous avons aussi conduit une centaine d’entretiens individuels et collectifs, non enregistrés, en tant qu’observateur participant du projet plm pendant trois ans. nous avons ensuite mené, dans une dernière étape, une analyse détaillée des artefacts de productivité et fiabilité suite au déploiement de plm. codage nous avons réalisé une analyse descriptive puis un codage axial des données. l’analyse descriptive consiste à regrouper des catégories par thème. ces catégories correspondent aux unités de sens choisies ayant une signification proche (huberman et miles, 1991). concrètement, nous avons intégré les données collectées, comme les entretiens, dans le logiciel nvivo. après avoir finalisé la catégorisation descriptive, l’analyse explicative a été faite grâce à un codage de second niveau, dit « axial » (strauss et corbin, 1990). description du cas le groupe étudié est un des leaders mondiaux du petit électroménager. ce groupe français est marqué par une culture d’intégration forte née des nombreuses opérations de croissance externe menées depuis plus de trente ans. il intervient sur des marchés internationaux avec une contrainte d’innovation continue et répétée pour survivre et croître. pour assurer une plus grande réactivité, il cherche à développer des synergies entre les sites et externalise une part croissante des composants industriels et des produits finis, surtout en chine. toutefois, 40 % des produits finis sont encore fabriqués en europe. ce groupe développe plus de 200 nouveaux produits par an avec une équipe de r & d de plus de 500 personnes. plm constitue un outil triplement stratégique pour ce groupe industriel : « il y a un aspect discipline des processus qui est stratégique. le premier élément stratégique [de plm] c’est de rigoriser nos processus [de r & d]. une fois que plm est déployé, ces processus sont non seulement clairs mais aussi lisibles, c’est pratiquement impossible de s’en affranchir. il est temps de les durcir maintenant, à la fois pour des raisons de qualité mais aussi parce que le groupe continue à s’agrandir et que le besoin de standardisation est de plus en plus important » (directeur r & d groupe). dans ce groupe, rigueur et fiabilité du processus sont synonymes. les deux autres objectifs stratégiques assignés à plm sont la recherche de gains de productivité et l’aptitude de plm à accompagner le mouvement de distribution géographique des équipes et du codéveloppement sur une même plate-forme technique. la famille « soin du linge » est composée des fers à repasser, centrales vapeur et détacheurs. cette activité, qui constitue un contributeur important du résultat global de ce groupe industriel, est répartie sur plusieurs sites en europe (france et allemagne) et en chine (shan307 valéry merminod, caroline mothe, frantz rowe m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 294-331 special issue: fiabilité et résilience comme dimensions de la performance organisationnelle ghai, hong kong notamment). le développement des produits repose sur une problématique de conception plus que d’industrialisation. les produits conçus disposent d’une nomenclature importante (autour d’une centaine de composants) et peuvent se révéler relativement complexes, techniquement parlant, notamment à cause des problèmes de sécurité des produits. à partir de trois ou quatre modèles génériques par projet, des variantes de produits finis sont déclinées, variantes qui correspondent aux spécificités géographiques, électriques, juridiques et culturelles des pays de commercialisation visés. le temps moyen de développement d’un fer à repasser est de 12 mois. en développement interne, le bureau d’étude (be) principal est basé en france et développe une dizaine de projets par an. il comprend une trentaine de personnes dont six chefs de produits, une quinzaine de techniciens et deux gestionnaires des données techniques. les projets de développement interne sont considérés comme des projets complexes car ils contiennent des évolutions en termes d’architecture du produit fini et de nouveauté technologique. les ressources humaines pour le développement interne sont localisées en france et en allemagne pour les équipes techniques, et en france au siège de l’activité pour les équipes marketing. à l’inverse, pour le codéveloppement, les projets sont essentiellement liés au renouvellement et à l’animation des gammes, relativement simples au niveau technologique. les ressources pour le codéveloppement produit sont réparties entre l’europe (france et allemagne) pour le be et le marketing, et la chine pour les équipes support. l’équipe dédiée au co-développement est constituée de trois chefs de projet (ingénieurs) basés en france, trois ingénieurs support en chine, localisés chez des fournisseurs (ou proches), et deux techniciens qualité en chine. ces acteurs en chine ont pour objectif de faciliter le transfert de connaissances et l’accompagnement des fournisseurs dans le développement produit. en 2004, ce groupe industriel a décidé de déployer plm et a choisi la solution teamcenter engineering (tce) de l’éditeur siemens, un des trois leaders mondiaux. l’objectif était de mieux intégrer et d’harmoniser le processus de développement produit, auparavant morcelé. avant plm, les informations liées aux projets étaient gérées sur format papier dans plusieurs applications hétérogènes et décentralisées. les informations de gestion et de production étaient disponibles dans sap, les 2d et 3d dans les applications cao. les informations techniques étaient gérées dans une application dédiée de type sgdt. la solution plm représente un coût de 730 000 euros pour « soin du linge ». la solution plm retenue dispose de fonctionnalités de communication, de stockage et de consolidation (cf. pavlou et el sawy, 2006), synthétisées dans l’annexe 4. 308 effets de product lifecycle management sur la fiabilité et la productivité : une comparaison entre deux contextes de développement produit m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 294-331 special issue: fiabilité et résilience comme dimensions de la performance organisationnelle résultats nous présentons les résultats de la contribution de plm à la fiabilité (iii.1) et à la productivité du processus de développement produit (iii.2). ces résultats empiriques nous conduisent à élaborer certaines propositions. contribution de plm à la fiabilité du processus de développement produit après avoir traité des dimensions de la fiabilité, nous identifions les moyens permettant d’améliorer la fiabilité et les limites de la contribution de plm à la fiabilité du processus de développement produit. mesure de la fiabilité du développement produit selon le contexte respect des délais : réduction du délai moyen des retards sur les projets. suite au déploiement de plm, nous constatons une baisse des retards sur les échéances clés des projets (cf. tableau 2). ainsi, le retard moyen est passé de 20 à 12 jours sur les projets de développement interne, et de 13 à 9 sur le codéveloppement, ce qui signifie que le respect des engagements sur les projets s’est amélioré. la proportion des projets ayant un retard de moins de 30 jours augmente, ce qui témoigne d’une amélioration de la fiabilité des projets et d’une meilleure garantie quant à la date de commercialisation. cette amélioration s’explique en partie par le fait que plm permet de mieux structurer et de respecter les jalons clés des projets et, par là même, d’anticiper et de traiter plus rapidement des erreurs simples dans le partage de connaissances explicites ou des risques identifiés sur les projets. tableau 2. moyenne des retards sur les projets retard moyen sur le delai de développement prévu avant plm après plm projets de développement interne + 20 jours +12 jours nombre de projets de développement interne 10 13 % de projets de développement interne ayant moins de 30 jours de retard 76% 80% projets de co-développement + 13 jours +9 jours nombre de projets de co-développement 10 15 % de projets de co-développement ayant moins de 30 jours de retard 79% 82% s’il est difficile d’établir une relation causale directe entre l’arrivée de plm et la réduction des retards sur les projets, plusieurs éléments permettent cependant d’associer cette réduction des retards au déploiement de plm. en effet, d’une part, sur la période analysée, la complexité technique moyenne des projets n’a pas évolué. d’autre part, il n’y a pas eu non plus de mouvements importants dans les équipes, qui auraient pu avoir un impact sur la maturité des compétences des acteurs. par ailleurs, l’analyse des entretiens montre que les acteurs associent une partie significative des gains en termes de délai au déploiement de plm, qui permet, selon eux, de mieux structurer le projet, d’améliorer le partage des connaissances explicites et de réduire les erreurs de coordination. diminution des erreurs. la diminution des erreurs dans le processus de développement produit est analysée au travers des erreurs dans 309 valéry merminod, caroline mothe, frantz rowe m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 294-331 special issue: fiabilité et résilience comme dimensions de la performance organisationnelle les échanges de connaissances sur le projet. quatre types de glitches (hoopes et postrel, 1999) ont été identifiés (cf. tableau 3). nous constatons une diminution des glitches liés aux routines (glitch 1) et au respect des procédures (glitch 2). plm permet de disposer, quasiment en temps réel, de l’intégralité des informations partagées sur le projet à un endroit unique. plm a introduit plus de rigueur dans la gestion des jalons clés des projets et dans la définition d’un répertoire commun de management du projet accessible à tous les acteurs projet, ce qui évite certaines erreurs de communication sur les projets. avant plm, le partage des connaissances explicites était morcelé entre différentes applications métiers, ce qui ne permettait pas de disposer d’une vision consolidée de l’état d’avancement d’un projet. les glitches résiduels (3 et 4) correspondent à des problèmes complexes d’échange de connaissances. les tic asynchrones ne sont que de peu d’utilité pour faciliter le partage de ce type de connaissances comportant un haut niveau d’interdépendance ou de nouveauté. difficilement formalisable, ce type de partage nécessite donc des interactions synchrones entre acteurs. par ailleurs, la nature même de ces connaissances complexes, souvent tacites, explique le peu d’effet de plm pour résoudre ce type de glitch. cela nous permet d’avancer la proposition suivante2: p1 : plm améliore la fiabilité du processus de développement produit, mesurée par la baisse des erreurs et la réduction des retards sur les projets. tableau 3. erreurs de communication dans le processus de développement produit erreurs de communication sur le processus de développement produit développement interne co développement exemples de glitches fonctionnalité plm faciitant la résolution du glitch volume de glitches avant plm glitches résolus après plm volume de glitches avant plm glitches résolus après plm glitch 1 : manque de synchronisation entre les acteurs ou manque de routines organisationnelles faible quasitotalité fort quasitotalité difficultés pour retrouver des informations échangées entre les acteurs due à un probleme de stockage des données produit et rojet : multiples outils utilisés structure de stockage des données unique avec localisation des objets projet et produit difficulté de traçabilité sur les versions des documents échangés. exemple des cahiers des charges marketing avec des modifications des besoins non prises en copte par les autres départements statut et indice de réunion sur otus les objets : traçabilité manque de communication sur l’état d’avancement du projet en global pour l’ensemble des acteurs. exemple : retard sur certaines étapes partiellement ou non répercutées à l’ensemble des acteurs au projet notification et alertes glitch 2 : les procédures sont respectées mais une contrainte clef n’a pas tét communiquée relativement faible une grande partie fort une grande partie manque de représentation partagés entre tous les acteurs projet en phase de conception. les éléments 2d et 3d étaient réservés aux personnes disposent d’outil cao. certaines erreurs de conception produit n’étaient pas détectées par la qualité ou les normes en phase amont de conception. retards sur certaines taches car une contrainte n’a pas été communiquée un bon moment : exemple de changements dans le cahier des charges maarketing non répercuté à l’ensemble des acteurs visualisateur 2d et 3d disponibles pour tous les acteurs validation et diffusion des connaissances explicites par des workflows glitch 3 : complexité du partage de connaissances : connaissance non appropriée par une partie : souvent le récepteur relativement faible un nombre limité relativement fort un nombre limité difiiculté d’identification des contraintes techniques en phase de conception produit pour certains acteurs. exemple de l’équipe sav qui n’avait pas de support pour avoir une représentation du futur produit difficultés pour comprendre les contraintes mutuelles entre acteurs disposent de différentes répertoires de connaissance. exemple de rapports laboratoires qui sont trop techniques pour être compris par les équipes marketing et qui impactent la date et le qualité du produit visualisateur 2d et 3d disponibles pour tous les acteurs pas de fonctionnalité plm pour résoudre le glitch glitch 4 : complexité du partage de connaissance : connaissance ambiguë pour l’emetteur et le récepteur relativement faible aucun relativement fort aucun difficultés pour gérer la production de nouvelles connaissances pour des acteurs qui maîtrisent mal une nouvelle technologie. difficultés pour gérer les interdépendances entre acteurs multiples surtout sur la phase de conception. ainsi, en co développement, l’intégration des contraintes du fournisseur, du chef de projet et des acheteurs se révèle souvent complexe à résoudre. elle nécessite des contacts directs pour solutionner les divergences. pas de fonctionnalité plm pour résoudre le glitch pas de fonctionnalité plm pour résoudre le glitch 2. nous remercions un évaluateur anonyme qui a fait la suggestion d’aboutir à des propositions et en a également formulé quelques-unes. 310 effets de product lifecycle management sur la fiabilité et la productivité : une comparaison entre deux contextes de développement produit m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 294-331 special issue: fiabilité et résilience comme dimensions de la performance organisationnelle des gains de fiabilité plus importants dans le contexte du codéveloppement. les gains de fiabilité liés à plm sont plus importants pour le codéveloppement que pour le développement interne. ce résultat est logique dans la mesure où des routines de fiabilisation et une forte coordination, facilitée par la colocalisation des acteurs préexistaient à plm au sein du développement interne. dans le cas du codéveloppement, pour lequel la répartition géographique des acteurs (france, allemagne, chine) et l’appartenance à des sociétés différentes limitent le répertoire de connaissances commun entre les acteurs, plm contribue à renforcer ce répertoire en définissant un espace de partage, des règles communes, des objets de connaissances prédéfinis (merminod, 2007). l’accès à des fonctionnalités de représentation comme le visualisateur 3d et l’existence de fonctionnalités de traçababilité des échanges renforcent la fiabilisation des processus d’échange entre acteurs, tant internes au groupe qu’externes à celui-ci. plm a donc mis l’accent sur les routines organisationnelles, les règles communes dans la coordination opérationnelle des projets et l’implication collective des acteurs et a amélioré la fiabilité du processus de co-développement. p2 : l’amélioration de la fiabilité grâce à plm est plus sensible dans les contextes de codéveloppement que de développement interne moyens permettant les gains de fiabilité il ressort des résultats que les composantes de l’intégration des connaissances, et notamment le partage et la coordination, semblent favoriser les routines et la vigilance des acteurs. routines organisationnelles et intégration des connaissances explicites. plm a indirectement permis d’améliorer la fiabilité du processus par une meilleure coordination grâce à davantage de structuration des routines organisationnelles. l’approche stage gate de plm pour la coordination projet oblige les acteurs à formaliser davantage les objets de connaissances et à introduire plus de rigueur dans le développement produit. les échanges entre acteurs sont facilités par les workflows de validation et de diffusion des objets qui permettent aux acteurs de s’assurer que les objets sont transmis et leurs contraintes intégrées. ainsi, les contrôles sur les jalons clés du projet sont renforcés. plm renforce également la fiabilité par un partage plus général d’objets clés. en développement interne, 75 % des objets clés des jalons étaient partagés ; quasiment 100 % le sont avec plm. pour le codéveloppement nous passons de 60 % avant plm à 95 %. ces objets sont mieux contrôlés puisqu’ils sont validés dans plm (de 20 % à 90 % pour le codéveloppement, cf. tableau 4). plm permet donc d’améliorer les routines organisationnelles par un meilleur partage et une meilleure coordination du projet : « plm force à respecter les procédures groupe, à savoir le respect des principales échéances projet. avec plm, tout le monde a une manière identique de stocker, des règles ont été définies » (directeur général industrie groupe, juin 2007) 311 valéry merminod, caroline mothe, frantz rowe m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 294-331 special issue: fiabilité et résilience comme dimensions de la performance organisationnelle tableau 4. nature des routines organisationnelles améliorées nature projets de développement interne projets de co-développement avant plm après plm avant plm après plm existance des objets du projet dans arborescence projet ~ 60% ~ 90% ~ 40% ~ 90% existence du statut d’avancement sur les objets ~ 10% ~ 50% ~ 5% ~ 40% exhaustivité des objets prédéfinis sur les jalons clefs du projet ~ 75% ~ 99% ~ 60% ~ 95% validation des objets clefs du projet par le management intermédiaire ~ 40% ~ 90% ~ 20% ~ 90% workflows peu processus clefs aucun processus clefs nos observations et les entretiens montrent donc que l’amélioration relative de la fiabilité par plm est non seulement réelle mais plus grande dans le cadre du codéveloppement que dans le cas du développement interne – ce qui va dans le sens de nos propositions 1 et 2. par ailleurs, nous constatons que, si les routines sont améliorées, c’est essentiellement grâce à l’intégration des connaissances explicites (notamment le partage et la coordination) que permet plm. la dimension « réutilisation des connaissances » joue surtout dans la durée, notamment entre projets, la fiabilisation du stockage des connaissances explicites du projet dans plm permettant de capitaliser sur les connaissances existantes avec un niveau satisfaisant de confiance sur la qualité des données. p3 : l’intégration des connaissances explicites permise par plm renforce les routines organisationnelles vigilance des acteurs et intégration des connaissances explicites. plm a permis l’amélioration de la transparence dans le partage des connaissances projet et, indirectement, d’améliorer la vigilance des acteurs. une traçabilité dans le partage des objets est assurée grâce à l’historisation des objets déposés dans plm. il est ainsi possible de voir qui a déposé l’objet, qui l’a modifié et quand, et de faire ainsi l’historisation des modifications. il s’agit d’un système incitatif qui pousse les acteurs du projet à renforcer leur attention pour respecter les tâches du processus de développement. les acteurs déclarent a posteriori être davantage sensibilisés individuellement à la fiabilisation du processus de développement produit. les douze acteurs interrogés du co-développement considèrent que la plus grande structuration du processus qui s’appuie sur plm permet d’augmenter la vigilance. en revanche, seuls sept sur treize acteurs du développement interne estiment que plm a renforcé leur vigilance dans une optique de fiabilisation du processus de développement3. « plm a permis de renforcer les règles sur le processus de développement, d’amener plus de rigueur. cet outil a fait évoluer le comportement des équipes en chine qui sont plus vigilantes sur la qualité des documents échangés. elles ont tendance aussi à détecter plus tôt les problèmes sur les projets » (chef de projet codéveloppement, juin 2007). 3. dans une certaine mesure, plm a également permis de limiter certains jeux politiques d’acteurs qui consistent à ne pas diffuser l’information (hatchuel, 1994). ainsi, avant plm, certains « jouaient » avec le morcellement des connaissances explicites stockées dans plusieurs applications. avec plm, le partage des connaissances projet est plus transparent. nous avons ainsi mis en évidence une réduction de l’asymétrie informationnelle entre les acteurs projet grâce à plm. 312 effets de product lifecycle management sur la fiabilité et la productivité : une comparaison entre deux contextes de développement produit m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 294-331 special issue: fiabilité et résilience comme dimensions de la performance organisationnelle la coordination projet est davantage décentralisée avec plm grâce à la centralisation des objets et à la définition de règles et de contrôles automatisés. cela participe au renforcement de la vigilance réciproque entre les acteurs. grâce à plm, ils peuvent mieux se coordonner directement et ainsi mieux anticiper les problèmes sans intervention du chef de projet qui devait très souvent assurer un rôle de pivot dans la relation avant la mise en place de plm. plm a permis un renforcement de la confrontation des expertises notamment sur la phase de conception. ainsi, la mise à disposition du visualisateur 3d pour l’ensemble des acteurs permet à ces derniers d’analyser très tôt les éventuelles erreurs ou problèmes de conception. le département qualité a ainsi pu détecter des problèmes plus tôt sur plusieurs projets. cependant, la vigilance collective sur les projets ne dépend que partiellement de plm. en effet, la culture organisationnelle, l’organisation, la complexité des produits sont autant de facteurs qui peuvent influencer la vigilance collective des acteurs. p4 : l’intégration des connaissances explicites permise par plm améliore la vigilance des acteurs. limites de la contribution de plm à la fiabilité du processus de développement plm : support d’intégration de connaissances matures. 75 % des échanges sur les phases préliminaires de conception restent réalisés par courriel ou par interaction directe. le courriel est considéré comme plus intuitif et permet de mieux contextualiser les échanges et de limiter la diffusion des objets à un nombre restreint de personnes. les courriels font souvent 5 à 6 pages, détaillant les éléments de contexte de l’échange de documents alors que plm se limite au traitement d’objets faiblement contextualisés. plm apparaît principalement comme un outil d’intégration des connaissances matures et peu comme une solution qui supporte les processus émergents de conception. contribution de plm à la productivité du processus de développement produit nous présentons ici les résultats concernant la mesure de la productivité à travers la productivité en nature et le temps de développement produit puis l’effet de l’intégration des connaissances sur les gains de productivité ainsi que leurs limites. mesure des gains de productivité en nature selon le contexte productivité en nature. pour le développement interne, nous constatons une augmentation de 30 % des projets par an avec une légère baisse des effectifs (cf. tableau 5). la productivité apparente du travail est ainsi améliorée de 33 %. dans le cadre du codéveloppement, cette amélioration est de 10 %, compte tenu d’une augmentation de 26 % de l’effectif, hors fournisseurs chinois en charge d’une partie de la conception et de l’industrialisation. 313 valéry merminod, caroline mothe, frantz rowe m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 294-331 special issue: fiabilité et résilience comme dimensions de la performance organisationnelle tableau 5. gains de productivité apparente du travail et gain de temps relatif nature avant plm après plm evolution en % développement interne nombre de projets par an 10 13 30% effectif interne 76 74 -3% productivité apparente du travail 0,13 0,18 33% gain de rendement relatif 9,7% co développement nombre de projets par an 10 15 50% effectif interne 15 19 26% productivité apparente du travail 0;67 0,79 10% gain de rendement relatif 7,1% le gain de rendement relatif, calculé à partir des temps de réalisation des tâches de développement déclarés par les acteurs avant et après plm (cf. annexes 2 et 3), est de 9,7 % pour le développement interne et de 7,1 % en codéveloppement (tableau 5). ces résultats permettent d’établir des gains de productivité moins importants pour le codéveloppement. ces gains sont principalement imputables à plm. en effet, en raisonnant globalement pour les deux contextes, les effectifs sont relativement stables : de 2000 à 2007 comme de 2004 à 2007, les effectifs de développement ne varient que de 8 % par an en moyenne. ces mouvements concernent principalement les acteurs du marketing. ainsi, on peut considérer que les gains de productivité sont bien liés à l’introduction de l’outil et non à des changements liés à des personnels nouveaux plus qualifiés. ce sont bien les mêmes personnes, pour la plupart, qui ont fait l’objet de la comparaison. les gains de productivité par type d’acteurs, tant pour le codéveloppement que pour le développement interne, sont fournis dans les annexes 2 et 3. ils se répartissent de manière relativement homogène entre tous les métiers du développement produit. temps de développement produit. plm ne contribue pas à réduire significativement le temps de développement des nouveaux produits. en effet, il existe un temps incompressible de développement, un chemin critique sur le projet qui n’est pas touché par les gains de productivité (tableau 6). tableau 6. durée moyenne des projets avant et après plm durée moyenne de développement en mois avant plm après plm evolution en %nb projets durée nb projets durée projets de développement interne 10 12,5 mois 13 12 mois 4% projet de co-développement 10 10 mois 15 10 mois 0% si plm permet de gérer plus facilement davantage de projets en parallèle, cette technologie ne permet des gains dans le temps de développement qu’à la marge. plm permet une meilleure parallélisation des projets, mais pas de réduire le délai global de développement. en 314 effets de product lifecycle management sur la fiabilité et la productivité : une comparaison entre deux contextes de développement produit m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 294-331 special issue: fiabilité et résilience comme dimensions de la performance organisationnelle fait, plm améliore la productivité des tâches unitaires à faible valeur ajoutée : « plm ne permet pas de réduire le temps de développement du produit mais de gagner de la productivité sur certaines tâches. le développement produit passe par des jalons incontournables ; plm permet probablement de gérer plus de projets en parallèle. quand je suis arrivé, on gérait un à deux projets pilotes, maintenant on est plutôt à trois ou quatre projets par pilote » (pilote projet « soin du linge », juin 2007). p5 : plm améliore la productivité en nature du processus de développement produit. p6 : l’amélioration de la productivité en nature grâce à plm est plus sensible dans les contextes de développement interne que de codéveloppement. intégration des connaissances et gains de productivité l’intégration des connaissances explicites constitue un moyen d’améliorer la productivité du processus de développement produit. la productivité de plm passe par la capacité de l’application à améliorer les tâches de partage, de coordination des équipes et de réutilisation des connaissances (cf. tableau 7). tableau 7. productivité par l’intégration des connaissances explicites ana lyse situation avant/après déploiement de plm développement interne co-développement intégration des connaissances description gains de productivité en % gains de productivité en % partage • centralisation des ojets projets • structuration espace projet et objets clefs • visualisateur 3d disponible pour tous 5,8 % 2,9 % coordination • workflows • tableaux de bord • statuts des objets 3,1 % 2,9 % réutilisation • standardisation gestion de l’espace projet • fonctions de recherche • cas d’emploi 0,8 % 1,3 % total 9,7 % 7,1 % partage des connaissances. c’est à ce niveau que l’amélioration de productivité constatée est la plus forte. elle peut s’expliquer par certaines fonctionnalités de plm, qui assure un accès immédiat aux connaissances explicites du projet grâce à une centralisation dans une seule base de données. plm permet ainsi de passer d’un mode d’intégration des connaissances assuré par un pivot, le chef de projet, à un mode d’intégration plus décentralisé avec une disponibilité en temps réelle des objets partagés pour tous les acteurs. les workflows contribuent à fluidifier la circulation de connaissances explicites comme la validation de documents clés. grâce à plm, on observe une amélioration de la productivité avec des gains sur des micro-processus et sur des tâches unitaires comme la génération automatique de documents (fiche technique) à partir de composants stockés dans plm. des outils permettent aussi une représentation partagée du nouveau produit sur 315 valéry merminod, caroline mothe, frantz rowe m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 294-331 special issue: fiabilité et résilience comme dimensions de la performance organisationnelle la phase de conception grâce à la mise à disposition d’un visualisateur 3d accessible à tous les acteurs. cette fonctionnalité de plm facilite le travail de validation des options de conception aussi bien pour les chefs de projet que pour les acteurs marketing, qualité et/ou normes. avant plm, seuls les techniciens disposaient d’outils de conception assistée par ordinateur (cao) pour visualiser les produits en 2 ou 3 d. les gains de productivité dans le partage des connaissances explicites sont plus importants dans le cadre du développement interne (5,8 %) que dans celui du codéveloppement (2,9 %). cette différence s’explique par le fait que le partage des connaissances est amélioré entre ressources intra-organisationnelles pour le codéveloppement, mais plus difficilement avec les fournisseurs, qui accèdent indirectement aux connaissances par l’intermédiaire de l’acteur du groupe localisé chez eux. ils n’ont pas d’accès direct à plm pour des raisons de sécurité de l’accès à l’application. coordination. les gains de productivité dans la coordination sont assez sensibles, avec 3,1 % pour le développement interne et 2,9 % pour le codéveloppement produit. l’usage de plm permet d’expliquer ces gains de productivité, notamment dans le monitoring des projets grâce à la consolidation automatique des données projet dans des tableaux de bord. plm facilite la coordination par ajustements mutuels grâce à la centralisation des connaissances explicites du projet à un endroit unique ainsi que la prise en compte des prescriptions réciproques et des contraintes entre acteurs. ainsi, le responsable marketing qui met à disposition une nouvelle version de cahier des charges sait que plm constitue le référentiel projet et que les acteurs du monde technique se doivent de prendre en compte les nouvelles révisions d’objets dans plm. cela était moins facile auparavant avec les courriels. réutilisation des connaissances. les gains dans la réutilisation de connaissances explicites sont plus relatifs avec respectivement 0,8 % pour le développement interne et 1,3 % pour le co-développement. cela s’explique par le fait que l’utilisation de plm pour les projets est relativement récente : la reprise des données des anciennes applications vers plm a été limitée aux projets en cours lors de la migration. plusieurs fonctionnalités permettent d’expliquer les gains sur la réutilisation d’objets. les acteurs projet peuvent plus aisément réutiliser des connaissances explicites d’anciens projets ou de projets gérés par d’autres acteurs grâce à la structuration de l’espace de stockage des connaissances explicites des projets dans plm. plm permet aussi de capitaliser les connaissances de tous les services associés au développement produit. le service industrialisation bénéficie ainsi de la structuration des connaissances explicites dans plm – qui facilite la réutilisation de plans par exemple. avant plm, la réutilisation de connaissances d’anciens projets était marginale – et celle de composants industriels quasiment inexistante. l’existence d’une base de données unique pour tous les projets favorise la réutilisation d’objets tels que le planning ou la décomposition du coût de revient produit. les objets documentaires (cahier des charges par exemple) sont également réutilisés. 316 effets de product lifecycle management sur la fiabilité et la productivité : une comparaison entre deux contextes de développement produit m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 294-331 special issue: fiabilité et résilience comme dimensions de la performance organisationnelle p7 : l’intégration des connaissances explicites permise par plm améliore la productivité en nature du processus de développement produit. des gains de productivité liés à plm à relativiser plm permet d’automatiser certaines tâches du développement produit mais ne solutionne pas les problèmes de collaboration complexes. plm constitue une application structurante qui supporte certaines compétences organisationnelles comme l’intégration des connaissances explicites sur le processus de développement et partiellement les compétences opérationnelles (à travers le visualisateur 3d par exemple). discussion et conclusion nous avons mis en évidence que plm facilite une structuration minimale (okhuysen et eisenhardt, 2002) du processus de développement produit, ce qui permet, in fine, d’améliorer la performance en termes de productivité et de fiabilité. une approche longitudinale a permis de mieux contextualiser les résultats et de réaliser une analyse détaillée par variation de la situation avant et après l’introduction de plm. nos propositions sont supportées par les résultats qui peuvent être synthétisés en quatre points : – la fiabilité, mesurée par la baisse des délais et des erreurs, est améliorée par le renforcement des routines et la vigilance des acteurs. il ressort que ces deux aspects sont liés à l’intégration des connaissances explicites que permet plm. – plm contribue aux gains de productivité en nature sur les tâches grâce à l’intégration des connaissances mais ne permet pas de réduire le temps de développement produit, celles-ci n’étant pas sur le chemin critique. – dans le groupe étudié, et dans les deux contextes analysés, fiabilité et productivité s’accroissent toutes les deux et n’apparaissent donc pas complètement antagonistes. – toutefois, dans le contexte du codéveloppement, la fiabilité du processus augmente davantage que la productivité ; c’est l’inverse dans le cas du développement interne. nous discutons plus précisément des trois résultats suivants : la combinaison de la productivité et de la fiabilité du développement produit, l’influence du contexte sur les résultats en matière de performance, et l’intégration des connaissances explicites, grâce à laquelle plm permet cette amélioration conjointe de la productivité et de la fiabilité. combiner productivité et fiabilité du développement produit dans les environnements industriels classiques les entreprises industrielles classiques peuvent-elles combiner productivité et fiabilité dans le développement produit ? si plusieurs travaux tendent à montrer que d’autres types d’entreprises doivent faire un choix entre ces deux dimensions de la performance (weick et roberts, 317 valéry merminod, caroline mothe, frantz rowe m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 294-331 special issue: fiabilité et résilience comme dimensions de la performance organisationnelle 1993), notre recherche met en avant le caractère non antagoniste des deux dimensions, et ce dans les deux contextes étudiés. ainsi, dans l’activité de développement produit du secteur manufacturier, le respect des échéances clés du projet et la qualité du produit fini représentent des critères aussi essentiels que les gains de productivité (marciniak et pagerie, 1999) et plm contribue à conjuguer fiabilité et productivité. plm renforce les routines sans trop alourdir les tâches, ce qui accroît la fiabilité par le contrôle et la validation des objets clés à certaines étapes importantes du processus4. les routines intégrées dans le système éliminent certaines redondances – à l’inverse de ce qui se produit dans les environnements de haute fiabilité, qui nécessitent des redondances dans les processus de contrôle et des simulations d’incidents pour améliorer les capacités organisationnelles et individuelles à faire face à des situations complexes et nouvelles (weick et roberts, 1993 ; weick et alii, 1999). certes, au sein du groupe étudié, le manque de fiabilité sur le développement n’a pas de conséquence vitale, comme c’est le cas pour le nucléaire, l’atterrissage sur un porte-avions ou la gestion d’un incendie. cependant, face aux conséquences stratégiques liées au non-respect des temps de développement et de qualité vis-à-vis des clients, les entreprises cherchent à fiabiliser leurs processus. dans le cadre de la fiabilisation d’un développement « classique », il est donc important de disposer d’une démarche structurée et d’outils de contrôle qui permettent de combiner productivité et fiabilité. cette démarche reste « semi-structurée » (okhuysen et eisenhardt, 2002) dans la mesure où les outils n’exercent pas un contrôle permanent mais laissent une latitude décisionnelle indispensable dans le développement produit et renforcent la vigilance. la « discipline » et la rigueur ne signifient pas le conformisme, mais le respect de certaines routines et l’attention plus grande à ce qui est rendu visible par plm. malgré le caractère déjà bien structuré du développement interne, productivité et fiabilité ne sont pas antagonistes. la contribution des tic à la productivité et la fiabilité : fonction du contexte de développement une comparaison des résultats entre le codéveloppement des produits finis et le développement interne montre que la contribution de plm à la productivité et à la fiabilité varie en fonction de l’environnement dans lequel est réalisé le développement. productivité dans le contexte du codéveloppement, plm permet d’améliorer la fluidité dans la circulation des connaissances mais les gains globaux de productivité liés à plm (consolidation, workflows, tableaux de bord) sont relativement limités. ils sont principalement focalisés sur les chefs de projet (cf. annexe 2). au contraire, les gains de productivité dans les projets de développement interne sont significatifs, notamment grâce à l’automatisation de micro-processus (workflows) et à la rationalisation de certaines tâches du développement produit. le fait que les gains de productivité soient plus élevés dans le cas du développement interne que dans celui du co-développement s’explique de plusieurs manières. plm couvre un périmètre d’intégration des connaissances plus large 4. si nous n’avons pas explicitement étudié l’effet des routines et de la vigilance sur la productivité, c’est parce qu’il est vraisemblable que cet effet prenne la forme d’une courbe en u inversé, donc difficile à mesurer : dans un premier temps, la productivité serait améliorée par les routines et l’implication des acteurs, mais elle risque de se dégrader si les routines et la vigilance des acteurs atteignent un certain seuil. 318 effets de product lifecycle management sur la fiabilité et la productivité : une comparaison entre deux contextes de développement produit m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 294-331 special issue: fiabilité et résilience comme dimensions de la performance organisationnelle dans le cadre du développement interne que dans celui du codéveloppement où le fournisseur garde la maîtrise des outils de gpao, dispose de son propre logiciel de cao et ne partage qu’une partie des données projet avec son client. même si plm est accessible depuis les sites des fournisseurs chinois pour les équipes de notre cas, les données projet ne sont pas intégrées automatiquement sur les outils de gpao ou sur les erp, contrairement aux processus de développement interne. dans ceux-ci, les acteurs disposent d’un répertoire de connaissances commun plus large et peuvent plus facilement partager des objets. dans le cadre du développement interne, le couplage de plm avec des contacts en face à face réguliers permet des gains substantiels de productivité. dans le cadre du codéveloppement, plm facilite l’intégration de connaissances explicites, donc des gains de productivité, mais n’est d’aucun secours pour solutionner les problèmes de conception et d’industrialisation complexes qui nécessitent des déplacements d’experts venus d’europe. en résumé, le niveau d’intégration technique et la proximité géographique et structurelle des acteurs expliquent la différence en matière de gains de productivité entre les deux modes de développement. fiabilité les gains de fiabilité dans le processus de développement sont apparus, au contraire, comme plus limités dans le cadre du développement interne que dans celui du codéveloppement. plm est structurant et permet d’introduire davantage de transparence dans l’intégration des connaissances d’acteurs distants disposant de répertoires de connaissances partagées limités. le co-développement nécessite une plus grande contractualisation des échanges que le développement interne. dans ce cadre, les fonctionnalités de plm liées à la traçabilité des opérations et le renforcement des routines améliorent la fiabilité (cf. figure 3). les acteurs du codéveloppement se sentent plus vigilants suite à la mise en place de plm car ils disposent de l’ensemble des objets projet qu’ils peuvent analyser, ce qui leur permet de détecter plus tôt d’éventuels problèmes de conception ou d’industrialisation. dans le cadre du développement interne, les gains de fiabilité sont plus limités. ces gains passent davantage par une augmentation de la vigilance des acteurs (weick et roberts, 1993 ; brion, 2005) que par le renforcement des routines, qui existaient déjà. enfin, l’élargissement du périmètre d’intégration des connaissances grâce à plm permet à tous les acteurs du projet de disposer en temps réel des connaissances explicites du projet. nous avons mis en évidence que l’intégration des connaissances influence également directement la fiabilité du processus de développement produit, sans passer seulement par les routines ou la vigilance (cf. figure 2). en développement interne, l’intégration des connaissances liée à plm sur un périmètre plus large (ensemble des acteurs projet partageant les connaissances explicites dans le même espace virtuel) a eu une influence plus significative sur la fiabilité que les changements au niveau des routines et de la vigilance des acteurs. les routines et la vigilance individuelle étaient déjà développées dans cet environnement. mais c’est surtout le partage 319 valéry merminod, caroline mothe, frantz rowe m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 294-331 special issue: fiabilité et résilience comme dimensions de la performance organisationnelle transversal des objets sur un périmètre plus large qui influence la fiabilité, à la fois directement et indirectement par le renforcement de la vigilance collective. pour le codéveloppement, l’effet de l’intégration sur les routines et sur la vigilance a été plus significatif que l’élargissement du périmètre d’intégration, car le niveau initial des routines et de la vigilance était faible. figure 2. gains relatifs de l’usage de plm dans le développement interne figure 3. gains relatifs de l’usage de plm dans le codéveloppement les résultats de cette recherche nous invitent aussi à approfondir le concept de vigilance (butler et gray, 2006), traduction de mindfulness, mais qui, au plan théorique, pourrait se traduire également par « ouverture » et « implication », termes que nous avons parfois utilisés. il est intéressant que « rigueur » soit le terme qui revienne le plus souvent comme synonyme de fiabilité sur le terrain. il signifie à la fois respect du plan et de la logique de passage d’étapes clés, mais aussi attention 320 effets de product lifecycle management sur la fiabilité et la productivité : une comparaison entre deux contextes de développement produit m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 294-331 special issue: fiabilité et résilience comme dimensions de la performance organisationnelle renforcée à ce que l’on voit et à ce que l’on fait. la vigilance a donc une dimension perceptuelle favorisée par la lisibilité des représentations fournies par les outils. elle s’applique aussi bien à soi qu’aux autres acteurs et présente une dimension de responsabilité et d’implication dans l’action. dans le codéveloppement, plm permet une attention à ce que l’on voit individuellement et un renforcement de l’implication vis-à-vis de ce que l’on fait, mais aussi une meilleure vision globale du projet – surtout pour les fournisseurs étrangers – qui, elle-même, renforce la routine du passage d’étapes à respecter. dans le développement interne, plm a permis l’accès en temps réel à toutes les connaissances explicites du projet, et ce pour tous les acteurs. cela a joué un rôle plus important dans les gains de fiabilité que l’évolution des routines déjà mises en place et de la vigilance individuelle déjà présente avant plm. l’intégration des connaissances explicites pour améliorer la performance dans les contextes de haute fiabilité, la richesse de la communication entre les acteurs est facilitée par la culture organisationnelle et un répertoire de connaissances tacites partagées est essentiel (weick et roberts, 1993). dans les contextes plus « classiques », le média de communication mobilisé peut être moins « riche » (au sens de la théorie de la richesse des médias ; cf. daft et lengel, 1986). l’objectif du développement produit du groupe étudié ne requiert pas uniquement de solutionner des problèmes complexes mais également d’échanger et de partager des objets simples avec tous les acteurs projet. le caractère simultané du partage est certes encore plus essentiel dans les contextes de haute fiabilité (weick et al., 2000 ; journé, 2005) que dans ceux d’une fiabilité « classique » en environnement industriel, mais un partage synchronisé entre les acteurs du processus de développement est nécessaire dans les deux cas. plm permet de renforcer la démarche organisationnelle collective de fiabilisation du processus de développement à travers une application unique pour tous les acteurs projet, qui remplace une multitude d’espaces de stockage individuels et une démarche de fiabilisation du processus morcelée. le déploiement de plm améliore la transparence dans le partage de connaissances explicites sur les projets et, indirectement, la vigilance réciproque (weick et roberts, 1993 ; brion, 2005). ainsi, la mise à disposition des informations clés du projet à l’ensemble des acteurs permet de renforcer la capacité des équipes à s’auto-adapter plus rapidement, et de façon adéquate, à des conditions imprévues et nouvelles (brion, 2005). nous avons mis en évidence que la nature de l’intégration des connaissances explicites est différente dans les contextes de développement interne et de codéveloppement. ainsi, en développement interne, plm facilite principalement la réutilisation des connaissances explicites et optimise le partage et la coordination sur les projets. dans le codéveloppement, plm améliore surtout le partage et la coordination entre des acteurs distants mais ne contribue que marginalement à la réuti321 valéry merminod, caroline mothe, frantz rowe m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 294-331 special issue: fiabilité et résilience comme dimensions de la performance organisationnelle lisation des connaissances, les projets étant souvent négociés de manière opportuniste en fonction des expertises techniques des fournisseurs. contrairement au développement interne où les compétences sont mutualisées et réutilisées, l’approche en co-développement est davantage ponctuelle dans le groupe industriel étudié. l’intégration des connaissances paraît donc être un concept fécond pour expliquer la performance du processus de développement produit (verona, 1999 ; de luca et alii, 2009). cependant, si les outils tels que plm gèrent l’intégration des connaissances explicites (objets, documents, procédures, règles), le registre du tacite (représentations du monde, relations interpersonnelles, culture organisationnelle) et des interactions entre tacite et explicite (chanal, 2003) n’a pas été approfondi. conclusion et perspectives de recherche plm contribue à améliorer conjointement la productivité et la fiabilité du développement produit à travers l’intégration des connaissances explicites pour la plupart des acteurs concernés. cette amélioration conjointe est un résultat original qui complète ceux des travaux plus connus sur la haute fiabilité. en dépit de ses limites, plm permet de mieux structurer le processus de développement et de centraliser les données projet, ce qui renforce la transparence dans l’intégration des connaissances explicites. l’examen approfondi du phénomène dans deux contextes différents d’une même entreprise montre que celui du développement interne favorise davantage les gains de productivité que de fiabilité, alors que c’est l’inverse dans le contexte du codéveloppement. ces gains sont liés à plm et à la création induite de nouvelles routines dans le codéveloppement et plutôt au renforcement induit de la vigilance dans le développement interne. ce travail exploratoire comporte certaines limites conceptuelles et méthodologiques qui permettent d’envisager des recherches futures. si l’impact de l’intégration des connaissances explicites permise par plm sur la performance du développement produit a été mieux compris, l’effet direct de la vigilance et des routines n’a été envisagé que sur la fiabilité ; une étude complémentaire pourrait être envisagée pour la productivité. la typologie des projets de développement produit retenue est partielle. nous nous sommes limités à une distinction entre projets de développement interne et de codéveloppement. une distinction plus fine des spécificités des projets permettrait probablement d’enrichir ce travail. nous pourrions notamment introduire la complexité des projets5 au niveau technologique, organisationnel ou de marché, ou la maturité de la relation avec les fournisseurs. il serait pertinent d’envisager des recherches approfondies sur les configurations de relations avec les fournisseurs pour préciser leurs spécificités dans l’intégration des connaissances. cette recherche, limitée à la technologie plm, pourrait aussi être prolongée en intégrant une perspective plus large avec une analyse du portefeuille des tic disponibles dans les organisations. si plm constitue une technologie émergente adoptée par un nombre croissant d’or5. un projet est dit complexe (baccarini, 1996) lorsqu’il est composé de beaucoup d’éléments en interaction, l’opérationnalisation se faisant à partir du nombre d’éléments du système (différenciation) et du degré d’interaction et de relations entre ces éléments (interdépendance). 322 effets de product lifecycle management sur la fiabilité et la productivité : une comparaison entre deux contextes de développement produit m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 294-331 special issue: fiabilité et résilience comme dimensions de la performance organisationnelle ganisations industrielles, il n’en demeure pas moins vrai que d’autres technologies coexistent dans un portefeuille technologique plus large : cao, messagerie électronique, outils de web conférence, etc. il serait également intéressant de travailler sur les connaissances tacites dans les projets et sur l’importance de la volonté de coopérer en s’appuyant sur le concept de confiance dans le cadre de l’intégration de ce type de connaissances. cela permettrait notamment d’analyser l’impact du facteur culturel dans le codéveloppement. plm renforce l’interdépendance des tâches et rend donc le partage des connaissances moins dépendant de la confiance à un niveau inter-individuel. reste que la confiance, à un niveau interorganisationnel, est un préalable nécessaire afin que la technologie plm puisse être mise en place. enfin, cette exploration repose sur deux études de cas enchâssées dans une même entreprise. il serait intéressant de comparer ces résultats avec d’autres entreprises et dans d’autres secteurs d’activité. le processus de développement produit du petit électroménager est relativement simple : une comparaison avec des processus de développement plus complexes, comme dans l’aéronautique ou l’automobile, permettrait d’enrichir ces résultats. valéry merminod est professeur associé de management des systèmes d’information à skema business school. ses recherches portent sur l’usage des tic dans le cadre du développement de nouveaux produits et plus particulièrement dans des environnements inter organisationnels. caroline mothe est professeur des universités à l’institut de management de l’université de savoie et dirige l’équipe innovation et réseaux de l’irege. ses recherches portent sur le management de l’innovation, les coopérations interorganisationnelles et la gouvernance des pôles de compétitivité. frantz rowe a été professeur à l’enst paris et harvard university. ancien rédacteur en chef de systèmes d’information et management et co-chair d’icis 2008, il est associate editor de european journal of information systems. ses recherches portent sur les effets des technologies sur la transformation des organisations. 323 valéry merminod, caroline mothe, frantz rowe m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 294-331 special issue: fiabilité et résilience comme dimensions de la performance organisationnelle references . baccarini, d. (1996). the concept of complexity – a review. international journal of project management, 14(4), 201-204. . banker, r., chang, h., & kao, y. (2001). impact of information technology on public accounting firm productivity. journal of information systems, 16(2), 209222. . batenburg, r., helms, r., & versendaal, j. (2005). the maturity of product lifecycle management in dutch organizations: a strategic alignment perspective, plm’05: international conference on product life cycle management, lyon, france, http://www.cs.uu.nl/research/techreps/ repo/cs-2005/2005-009.pdf . bourgeon, l. (2002). temporal context of organizational learning in new product development projects. creativity and innovation management, 11(3), 175-183. . boullier, d. (1995). l’usager, l’utilisateur et le récepteur: 12 ans d’exploration dans les machines à communiquer, habilitation à diriger des recherches, université michel de montaigne. . brion, s. (2005). la coordination par la vigilance collective réciproque. revue française de gestion, 154(1), 143-157. . brown, s. l., & eisenhardt, k. (1995). product development: past research, present findings and future directions. academy of management review, 20(2), 343-378. . brown, s. l., & eisenhardt, k. m. (1997). the art of continuous change: linking complexity theory and time-paced evolution in relentlessly shifting organizations. administrative science quarterly, 42(1), 1-35. . brynjolfsson, e., & hitt, l. (1996). paradox lost? firm-level evidence on the return to information systems spending. management science, 42(4), 541558. . butler, b., & gray, p. (2006). reliability, mindfulness and information systems. mis quarterly, 30(2), 211224. . calvi, r., blanco, e., & koike, t. (2005). coopérer en conception pour améliorer les supply chains de demain. un défi pour les entreprises virtuelles. revue française de gestion, 156(31), 187202. . campbell, d. t. (1975). degrees of freedom and the case study. comparative political studies, 8(2), 178-193. . campbell, d. t. (1988). methodology and epistemology for social science: selected papers. e. s. overman, chicago: the university of chicago press. . carlile, p. (2002). a pragmatic view of knowledge and boundaries: boundary objects in new product development. organization science, 13(4), 442-455. . carlile, p. (2004). transferring, translating and transforming: an integrative framework for managing knowledge across boundaries. organization science, 15(5), 558-568. . chanal, v. (2003). management des connaissances et innovation : de nouveaux enjeux pour les systèmes d’information. in m.l. caronfasan & n. lesca, présent et futurs des systèmes d’information (pp. 267289). paris: pug. . clark, k., & fujimoto, t. (1990). the power of product integrity. harvard business review, 68(6), 107-118. . clark, k., & fujimoto, t. (1991). product development performance: strategy, organization and management in the world auto industry. boston, ma: harvard business school. . clarke, l. (1993). the disqualification heuristic: when do organizations misperceive risk?. research in social problems and public policy, 5(1), 289-312. . cooper, r., & kleinschmidt, e. (1990), stage gate systems for new product success. marketing management, 4(1), 20-24. . daft, r., & lengel, r. (1986). organizational information requirements, media richness and structural design. management science, 32(5), 554-571. 324 effets de product lifecycle management sur la fiabilité et la productivité : une comparaison entre deux contextes de développement produit m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 294-331 special issue: fiabilité et résilience comme dimensions de la performance organisationnelle . de luca, l., verona, g., & vi-de luca, l., verona, g., & vicari, s. (2009). market orientation and r&d effectiveness in high technology firms: an empirical investigation in the biotechnology industry. journal of product innovation management, forthcoming. . deming, w. (1982). out of the crisis. cambridge, ma: mit center for advanced engineering study. . eisenhardt, k. m., & graeb-eisenhardt, k. m., & graebner, m. (2007). theory building from cases: opportunities and challenges. academy of management journal, 50(1), 25-32. . garel, g. (1999). la mesure et la réduction des délais de développement des produits nouveaux. recherche et applications en marketing, 14(2), 29-47. . giard, v. (1991). gestion de projets. paris: economica. . gilbert, c., amalberti, r., la-gilbert, c., amalberti, r., laroche, h., & paries, j. (2007). errors and failures: towards a new safety paradigm. journal of risk research, 10(7), 959-975. . goodhue, d., & thompson, r. (1995). task-technology fit and individual performance. management information systems quarterly, 19(2), 213-236. . grant, r. m. (1996). prospering in dynamically competitive environments: organizational capability as knowledge integration. organization science, 7(4), 375-387. . grieves, m. (2006). product lifecycle management: driving the next generation of lean management. new york, ny: mcgraw hill. . hannan, m. t., & freeman, j. (1984). structural inertia and organizational change. american sociological review, 49(2), 149-164. . hardgrave, b., davis, f., & riemenschneider, c. (2003). investigating determinants of software developers’ intentions to follow methodologies. journal of management information systems, 20(1), 123-152. . hatchuel, a. (1994). apprentissages collectifs et activités de conception. revue française de gestion, 99, 20-36. . hoopes, d., & postrel, s. (1999). shared knowledge, glitches, and product development performance. strategic management journal, 20, 837-865. . iansiti, m., & maccormack, a. (1997). developing products on internet time. harvard business review, 75(5), 108117. . journé, b. (2005). etudier le management de l’imprévu : méthode dynamique d’observation in situ. finance contrôle stratégie, 8(4), 63-91. . kraut, r., sumais, s., koch, s., & kling, r. (1989). computerization, productivity and quality of work-life. communications of the acm, 32(2), 220-238. . kusunoki, k., nonaka, i., & nagata, a. (1998). organizational capabilities in product development of japanese firms: a conceptual framework and empirical findings. organization science, 9(6), 699-718. . le masson, p., hatchuel, a., & weil, b. (2006). les processus d’innovation : conception innovante et croissance des entreprises. paris: hermès lavoisier. . leonard-barton, d. (1990). a dual methodology for case studies: synergistic use of longitudinal single site with replicated multiple sites. organization science, 1(3), 248-266. . lyytinen, k., mathiassen, l., & ropponen, j. (1998). attention shaping and software risks: a categorical analysis of four classical approaches. information systems research, 9(3), 233-255. . malhotra, a., gosain, s., & el sawy, o. (2005). absorptive capacity configurations in supply chains: gearing for partner enabled market knowledge creation. management information systems quarterly, 29(1), 145-187. . mallick, d. n., & schroeder, r. g. (2005). an integrated framework for measuring product development performance in high technology industries. production and operations management, 14(2), 142-158. . malone, t., & crowston, k. (1994). the interdisciplinary study of coordination. acm computing surveys, 26(1), 87-120. 325 valéry merminod, caroline mothe, frantz rowe m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 294-331 special issue: fiabilité et résilience comme dimensions de la performance organisationnelle . marciniak, r., & pagerie, m. (1999). gestion de projet : guide pratique de la réussite de tous vos projets et produits industriels. paris: weka. . marciniak, r., & rowe, f. (1999). styles de coordination avec les soustraitants, expérience commune et performance économique : le cas de trois projets dans le bâtiment. systèmes d’information et management, 4(2), 37-64. . merminod, v. (2007). tic, partage des connaissances et fiabilité du développement produit distribué : une approche par le «glitch» au sein du groupe seb. systèmes d’information et management, 12(1), 11-38. . meyer, m., & utterback, j. (1997). metrics for managing research and development in the context of the product family. management science, 43(1), 88112. . mostefai, s., & batouche, m. (2005). data integration in product lifecycle management: an ontology-based approach, plm’05: international conference on product life cycle management, lyon, france. . nambisan, s. (2003). information systems as a reference discipline for new product development. management information systems quarterly, 27(1), 1-18. . nijssen, d., & frambach, r. (2000). determinants of the adoption of new product development tools by industrial firms. industrial marketing management, 29(2), 121-131. . nonaka, i. (1994). dynamic theory of organizational knowledge creation. organization science, 5(1), 14-37. . nonaka, i., toyama, r., & konno, n. (2000). seci, ba and leadership: a unified model of dynamic knowledge creation. long range planning, 33(1), 5-34. . okhuysen, g., & eisenhardt, k. m. (2002). integrating knowledge in groups: how formal interventions enable flexibility. organization science, 13(4), 370-386. . pavlou, p. a., & el sawy, o. (2006). from it leveraging competence to competitive advantage in turbulent environments: the case of new product development. information systems research, 17(3), 198-230. . pol, g., jared, g., merlo, c., & legardeur, j. (2005). from pdm systems to integrated project management systems: a case study, plm’05: international conference on product life cycle management, lyon, france. . roberts, k. h. (1990). some characteristics of one type of high reliability organization. organization science, 1(2), 160-176. . rowe, f. (1994). des banques et des réseaux : productivité et avantages concurrentiels. paris: economica. . short, j., & venkatraman, n. (1992). beyond business process redesign: redefining baxter’s business network. sloan management review, 34(1), 7-21. . stark, j. (2004). product lifecycle management 21st century paradigm for product realization. berlin: springer verlag, decision engineering series. . strassman, p. (1997). the squandered computer. new canaan, connecticut: the information economics press. . takikonda, m., & montoyaweiss, m. (2001). integrating operations and marketing perspectives of product innovation: the influence of organizational process factors and capabilities on development performance. management science, 47(1), 151-172. . takikonda, m., & rosenthal, s. (2000). successful implementation of product development projects: balancing firmness and flexibility in the innovation process. journal of operations management, 18(1), 401-425. . terssac, g., & friedberg, e. (1996). coopération et conception. toulouse: octares edition. . thomke, s., & fujimoto, t. (2000). the effect of «front-loading» problem solving on product development performance. journal of product innovation management, 17(2), 128-142. 326 effets de product lifecycle management sur la fiabilité et la productivité : une comparaison entre deux contextes de développement produit m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 294-331 special issue: fiabilité et résilience comme dimensions de la performance organisationnelle . torkzadeh, g., koufteros, x., & doll, j. w. (2005). confirmatory factor analysis and factorial invariance of the impact of information technology instrument. omega, 33(2), 107-118. . verona, g. (1999). a resource based view of product development. academy of management review, 24(1), 132-142. . weick, k., & roberts, k. (1993). collective mind in organizations: heedful interrelating on flight desks. administrative science quarterly, 38(3), 357-381. . weick, k., sutcliffe, k., & obstfeld, d. (1999). organizing for high reliability: processes of collective mindfulness. research in organizational behaviour, 1(21), 81123. . weick, k., & sutcliffe, k. (2000). high reliability: the power of mindfulness. in leader to leader, san francisco: drucker foundation/jossey-bass. . weill, p. (1992). the relationship between investment in information technologies and firm performance: a study of valve industry. information systems research, 3(4), 307-331. . yassine, a. (2007). investigating product development process reliability and robutness using simulation. journal of engineering design, 18(6), 545-561. . zirger, b., & maidique, m. (1990). a model of new product development: an empirical test. management science, 36(1), 867-883. 327 valéry merminod, caroline mothe, frantz rowe m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 294-331 special issue: fiabilité et résilience comme dimensions de la performance organisationnelle annexe 1. fonction des vingt-cinq personnes interrogées fonction nombre directeur r&d groupe responsable processus r&d groupe directeur industriel activité directeur marketing activité directeur be pilote projet gestionnaire données techniques responsable cao projeteur qualité technicien méthode d’industrialisation normes asistante marketing chef de produit 1 1 1 1 1 3 2 1 2 3 2 2 2 3 total 25 328 effets de product lifecycle management sur la fiabilité et la productivité : une comparaison entre deux contextes de développement produit m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 294-331 special issue: fiabilité et résilience comme dimensions de la performance organisationnelle département acteur nombre d’acteurs gains de productivité en % bureau d’étude bureau d’étude bureau d’étude bureau d’étude qualité qualité normes industrialisation marketing techniciens cao gestionnaire données techniques chef de projet directeur bureau d’etude techniciens laboratoire qualité conception techniciens normes technicien d’industrialisation chef de produit et assistante marketing 14 2 6 1 10 10 2 20 9 8,0% 10,7% 9,8% 3,3% 12,6% 7,4% 7,0% 10,5% 6,4% total 74 9,7% annexe 2. gains de productivité par type d’acteurs gains de productivité pour les projets de développement interne* (*) pour le détail des calculs, voir annexe 3. gains de productivité sur les projets de codéveloppement** (**) l’ensemble des calculs sera fourni sur demande. département acteur nombre d’acteurs gains de productivité en % bureau d’étude bureau d’étude bureau d’étude support chine support chine marketing chef de projet gestionnaire données techniques normes ingénieur développement chine qualité chine marketing 3 1 1 3 2 9 9,1% 6,7% 6,3% 7,9% 6.5% 6,4% total 19 7,1% 329 valéry merminod, caroline mothe, frantz rowe m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 294-331 special issue: fiabilité et résilience comme dimensions de la performance organisationnelle annexe 3. gains de productivité réalisés en développement interne services concernés gain type de gain détail sur le gain gain final temps gagné (en heure) % de gains par équipe pilote projet coordination répondre aux questions des acteurs qualité achat, laboratoire, méthodes 2 heures par semaine 6 pilotes projets 504 pilote projet partage gain visualisateur cao 1,5 heure par semaine 42 semaines 375 pilote projet coordination gain dans les échanges avec la smi : mise à disposition des plans et des investissement 1/2 heure par semaine 42 semaines 126 pilote projet coordination gain dans la préparation des réunions de projet 1 heure pour chaque réunion 12 réunions dans l’année qui nécessitent travail sur plan 3d 60 pilote projet réutilisation gain dans la recherche d’information sur des projets en cours ou terminée 1 heure par semaine 42 semaines 152 pilote projet partage temps de contrôle sur la standardisation des objectifs stockés dans les projets plm contrôle du respect des jalons clefs du projet 1,5 heure par semaine 42 semaines -378 6 pilote projet nombre d’heures réalisées par le service par an 9600 942 9,8 directeur be coordination gain sur la centralisation des données projet pour le pilotage : consolidation informatique et viewer 3d gain de 15 minutes par jour 5 jours 42 semaines 52,5 directeur be coordination réactivité à un problème de production sur un cablage de produit en plein mois d’aout grâce à la traçabilité sur les tests qualités réalisés pas de reprise sur 3 à 4 jours de production 3000 produits finis fabriqués par jour -> 3000*4 = 15000 produits 1 directeur be 1600 52,5 3,3 laboratoire partage centralisation informations projet sur une seule base pour technicien 2 heures par projet 10 projets laboratoire coordination gestion des demandes d’essai labo 400 à 600 demandes d’essai par an gain de productivité : 1 secrétaire laboratoire réutilisation gain archivage des données dans plm 1 heure par semaine 9 techniciens 42 semaines par an responsable laboratoire partage centralisation de toutes les données projet : cr rp, compte rendus... 2 heures par mois 10 mois 10 personnes au laboratoire nombre d’heures réalisées par le service par an 16000 2018 12,6 qualité conception viewer 3d pour les pièces et les produits finis 2 heures par mois 10 mois 20 qualité achat gain sur recherche de plans 8 heures de gain par an et par technicien effectif ; 6 techniciens 4 heurs par réparatrice effectif : 2 réparatrices 56 qualité achat gains sur workflow validation de par le chef de service gain de 3 heures par semaine 42 semaines 6 techniciens et 2 réparatrices 1006 qualité fabrication gain de temps dans la recherche de plans 1/4 heure par jour pour les 2 techniciens superieurs 42 semaines 105 10 personnes à la qualité conception et achat nombre d’heures réalisées par le service par an 16000 1189 7,4 330 effets de product lifecycle management sur la fiabilité et la productivité : une comparaison entre deux contextes de développement produit m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 294-331 special issue: fiabilité et résilience comme dimensions de la performance organisationnelle services concernés gain type de gain détail sur le gain gain final temps gagné (en heure) % de gains par équipe normes partage gain de temps sur traitement demande d’essai 1 heure par demande d’essai (de) 225 de en 2006 225 2 personnes aux normes nombre d’heures réalisées par le service par an 3200 225 7,0 industrialisation partage gains pour techniciens : mise à disposition de tous les plans dans la même base 2,5 heures par semaine 42 semaines 16 technicien 1680 industrialisation partage gains pour les ingénieurs d’industrialisation dans la recherche d’éléments techniques sur le projet ou les produits finis 2 heures par jour 42 semaines 4 ingénieurs 1680 industrialisation coordination gains sur partage d’informations avec le pilote projet : plan 3d, validation grâce aux workflows 2 heures par semaine 4 ingènieurs 336 industrialisation partage temps de chargement des plans industriels dans plm plus long que dans l’ancienne application 1/2 heure par semaine 42 semaines 16 techniciens -336 20 personnes à l’indutrialisation nombre d’heures réalisées par le service par an 3200 3360 10,5 marketing partage représentation 3d 1,5 heure par semaine 42 semaines 5 chefs de produit 315 assistante marketing partage recherche fiches techniques sur les variantes de produit fini 2 heures par semaine 42 semaines 4 assistantes marketing 336 assistante marketing réutilisation recompilation de gammes de produits finis 1 heure par semaine 42 semaines 4 assistantes marketing 168 marketing réutilisation recherches sur des projets passés : budget, planning projet ... 2 heures par mois donc 1/2 heure par semaine 42 semaines 5 chefs de produit 924 6,4 9 peronnes au marketing nombre d’heures réalisées par le service par an 14400 924 6,4 total 118400 11515,4 9,7 331 valéry merminod, caroline mothe, frantz rowe m@n@gement vol. 12 no. 4, 2009, 294-331 special issue: fiabilité et résilience comme dimensions de la performance organisationnelle annexe 4. principales fonctionnalités de la technologie plm typologie (pavlou et el samy, 2006) fonctionnalités plm communication et partage stockage et capitalisation consolidation visualisateur 3d structure projet figée tableau de bord workflows pour diffuser et valider des objets unicité de la donnée ; stockage unique à un emplacement prédéterminé et classification des objets recherche multi critères généralisation automatique d’objets en format pdf traçabilité à travers indice de révision et statut de l’objet cas de l’emploi : recherche de produits finis associés à un composant donné 73casanueva � pierre-xavier meschi 2008 impact de la corruption dʼetat sur l̓ évolution des participations européennes dans les coentreprises internationales, m@n@gement, 11: 1, 1-26. accepted by co-editor bernard forgues copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). m@n@gement is a double-blind refereed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.management-aims.com © 2007 m@n@gement and the author(s). m@n@gement issn: 1286-4892 editors: alain desreumaux, u. de lille i martin evans, u. of toronto bernard forgues, u. de lille i hugh gunz, u. of toronto martina menguzzato, u. de valència m@n@gement est la revue officielle de lʼaims m@n@gement is the official journal of aims http://www.management-aims.com http://www.management-aims.com http://www.strategie-aims.com m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 1, 2008, 1-26 1 pierre-xavier meschi université de la méditerrannée aix-marseille iiet ceram business school email: pierre_xavier.meschi@univmed.fr cet article cherche à apporter une contribution au débat sur la nature de la relation entre investissement direct étranger et corruption dʼetat dans les pays émergents. plus précisément, lʼobjectif est dʼanalyser cette relation en sʼintéressant à la survie de la participation des partenaires étrangers dans les coentreprises internationales formées avec des firmes locales de pays émergents. un échantillon de 277 partenaires européens ayant formé une coentreprise internationale au cours de lʼannée 1996 a été constitué afin de tester trois hypothèses de recherche qui ont été déduites dʼun cadre théorique transactionnel. les résultats empiriques montrent que deux mesures de la corruption dʼetat ont un effet significatif mais opposé sur la survie des coentreprises internationales : le degré dʼimprégnation de la corruption a un effet stabilisateur alors que lʼindice de corruption relative a un effet déstabilisateur. introduction quelles sont les attitudes des firmes étrangères face à la corruption dʼetat dans les pays émergents ? a regarder de plus près ce que signifie la corruption dʼetat pour un pays, pour son économie et pour les firmes qui y sont présentes, la réponse éthique à cette question devrait aller de soi. pourtant, le retrait ou lʼévitement des firmes étrangères est loin dʼêtre lʼattitude qui est automatiquement et unanimement adoptée. dans cet article, la corruption dʼetat peut être définie comme une transaction illégale entre dʼun côté, les fonctionnaires et membres du gouvernement local et de lʼautre, les firmes étrangères présentes dans le pays. pour les firmes étrangères ou les multinationales ayant investi dans un pays émergent, la corruption dʼetat est un facteur dʼincertitude de lʼenvironnement et tout accroissement de la corruption déstabilise leurs opérations industrielles et commerciales dans le pays. une évolution défavorable de lʼenvironnement, en lien avec celle de la corruption dʼetat, fait peser un risque sur le profit et peut à terme menacer la présence même des firmes étrangères dans le pays (wei, 2000 ; habib et zurawicki, 2002 ; doh et al., 2003 ; rodriguez et al. 2005 ; oʼhiggins, 2006 ; rodriguez et al., 2006). plusieurs études ont montré quʼà un niveau macro-économique, la corruption dʼetat avait des effets ravageurs sur le développement dʼun pays. parmi ces études, les traimpact de la corruption d’etat sur l’évolution des participations européennes dans les coentreprises internationales mailto:pierre_xavier.meschi@univmed.fr m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 1, 2008, 1-26 2 pierre-xavier meschi vaux pionniers de rose-ackerman en 1975 et de shleifer et vishny en 1993 ont montré que la corruption dʼetat sʼaccompagnait dʼune diminution des recettes fiscales, dʼun détournement des dépenses publiques et au final, dʼun affaiblissement généralisé de lʼetat providence. en dʼautres termes, la corruption dʼetat est un facteur de risque économique, politique et social car il accroît les inégalités sociales et la pauvreté (cartier-bresson, 2000 ; jain, 2001 ; aidt, 2003). dʼautres études (wheeler et mody, 1992 ; lambsdorff, 2000 ; wei, 2000 ; habib et zurawicki, 2002, cuervo-cazurra, 2006) ont considéré les effets négatifs de la corruption dʼetat au niveau de la firme et de lʼinvestissement direct étranger dans le pays. selon ces études, lʼopacité des règles du jeu concurrentiel, le niveau élevé des coûts opérationnels (dʼapprovisionnement, de production et de distribution), lʼaccès difficile au marché et le manque dʼefficacité des bureaucraties publiques qui sont lʼapanage des pays émergents à forte corruption dʼetat, rendent lʼinvestissement direct étranger particulièrement risqué. pourtant, lʼexamen empirique de la relation, supposée négative, entre corruption dʼetat et investissement direct étranger nʼa pas permis de la valider de façon nette et indiscutable. ainsi, wei (2000) et habib et zurawicki (2002) ont validé empiriquement lʼexistence dʼune relation négative, tandis que wheeler et mody (1992) et henisz (2000) nʼont mis en évidence aucune relation significative. de la même manière, lʼobservation des firmes étrangères confrontées à la corruption dʼetat dans certains pays émergents montre que celles-ci ont des attitudes contrastées (lambsdorff, 2000). lʼobjectif de cet article est dʼanalyser cette relation en sʼintéressant à lʼévolution de la participation des firmes étrangères dans les coentreprises formées avec des firmes locales. en dʼautres termes, nous avons choisi dʼétudier la survie dʼune forme particulière dʼinvestissement étranger, la coentreprise internationale avec un partenaire local. celle-ci se forme « quand deux ou plusieurs partenaires [issus de pays différents] mettent en commun une partie de leurs ressources au sein dʼune organisation commune et indépendante » (kogut, 1988 : 319). lʼunité dʼanalyse est dans cette recherche la survie de la participation du partenaire étranger dans la coentreprise internationale. cet article respectera le plan suivant : dans la première partie, la relation entre corruption dʼetat et survie des coentreprises dans les pays émergents sera étudiée à partir de la théorie des coûts de transaction. dans une deuxième partie, lʼanalyse transactionnelle de cette relation sera prolongée en envisageant deux mesures distinctes de la corruption dʼetat : il sʼagit du degré de pénétration ou dʼimprégnation de la corruption (corruption pervasiveness) (shleifer et vishny, 1993 ; doh et al., 2003 ; rodriguez et al., 2005) et de la corruption relative ou comparée (habib et zurawicki, 2002 ; tekin-koru, 2006). trois hypothèses de recherche seront formulées dans cette deuxième partie. lʼéchantillon de 277 partenaires étrangers, la méthode de recueil des informations, les variables ainsi que la méthode statistique dʼanalyse de survie seront détaillés dans une troisième partie. les résultats empiriques seront présentés dans une quatrième partie. enfin, la dernière partie consacrée à la discussion et la conclusion synthétisera et dism@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 1, 2008, 1-26 3 impact de la corruption dʼetat sur lʼévolution des participations européennes dans les coentreprises internationales cutera les points clés de cette recherche. elle proposera également des limites et des prolongements à cette recherche. corruption d’etat et survie des coentreprises internationales : une analyse transactionnelle la corruption dʼetat est définie comme une transaction entre deux parties —avec dʼun côté, les fonctionnaires et membres du gouvernement local et de lʼautre, les firmes étrangères— donnant lieu à un échange dʼargent, de cadeaux ou de faveurs contre un ou plusieurs services octroyés par la puissance publique. il est important de préciser que dans cette définition, la corruption nʼest pas limitée aux seuls versements dʼargent, pots-de-vin et autres largesses financières telles que lʼattribution gratuite dʼactions, lʼoctroi dʼune part du profit de la filiale locale de la firme étrangère ou encore le versement de dons à des associations ou à des partis politiques. cela peut prendre également des formes non-monétaires telles que des cadeaux ou des emplois réels ou fictifs offerts à la parentèle ou à des amis des fonctionnaires corrompus. en ce qui concerne les services rendus par la puissance publique locale aux firmes étrangères, il faut distinguer ceux qui sont réalisés en accord avec la loi (according-to-rule) de ceux contre la loi (against-the-rule) (rose-ackerman, 1975 ; husted, 1994). dans le premier cas, il sʼagit de rémunérer illégalement un fonctionnaire ou un membre du gouvernement pour un service qui relève de ses responsabilités mais que celui-ci va offrir plus rapidement (cʼest notamment le cas de lʼoctroi de permis ou de licences). dans le deuxième cas, il sʼagit de contourner la loi à lʼavantage de la firme qui paye un pot-devin (cʼest notamment le cas lors dʼappels dʼoffres publics et lʼattribution de marchés publics). dans cette perspective, la transaction de corruption est une barrière à lʼentrée (weitzel et berns, 2006) et représente un coût pour les investisseurs étrangers. ce coût de la corruption peut être assimilé à un coût de transaction au sens de williamson (1975 ; 1985). pour un investisseur étranger, le coût de la corruption dʼetat correspond à lʼensemble des dépenses occasionnées pour identifier, contacter et rémunérer les fonctionnaires corrompus mais également pour se prémunir de leurs éventuels comportements opportunistes et chantages ex post (husted, 1994). ces dépenses doivent être supportées à lʼentrée de la firme étrangère mais parfois aussi tout au long de sa présence dans le pays. en effet, si lʼinvestisseur étranger accepte la corruption et sʼy engage, il lui sera difficile à lʼavenir de refuser dʼautres demandes et de sʼen désengager. il se crée un phénomène progressif de verrouillage (lock-in) de la firme étrangère vis-à-vis des fonctionnaires corrompus qui peuvent exercer un chantage à la dénonciation. en synthèse, la corruption est un cycle dynamique et pervers qui a un coût à lʼentrée mais également à la sortie. tout développement de la corruption dʼetat accroît lʼincertitude environnementale et les coûts de transaction des firmes étrangères. dans un m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 1, 2008, 1-26 4 pierre-xavier meschi pays à forte corruption dʼetat, le choix du mode dʼentrée par la firme étrangère est stratégique. chaque mode dʼentrée, quʼil sʼagisse dʼune acquisition, dʼune filiale détenue à 100 % par la firme étrangère ou dʼune coentreprise, représente une structure de gouvernance des différentes transactions avec lʼenvironnement local (teece, 1986), au premier rang desquelles se trouve la corruption dʼetat (rodriguez et al., 2005 ; tekinkoru, 2006). parmi les différents modes dʼentrée dans un pays émergent, la coentreprise est la réponse organisationnelle la mieux adaptée à la corruption dʼetat. en effet, la coentreprise internationale associant la firme étrangère à un partenaire local est la structure de gouvernance qui minimise les coûts de transaction liés à la corruption dʼetat. cʼest grâce à son partenaire local, à sa connaissance des acteurs politiques et gouvernementaux, et à ses relations avec lʼetat que la firme étrangère peut soit contrôler la corruption dʼetat à son avantage, soit sʼen protéger ou à tout le moins en limiter les effets négatifs. la connaissance des acteurs politiques et gouvernementaux ainsi que les relations avec lʼetat constituent un actif spécifique du partenaire local. pour pouvoir en bénéficier, la firme étrangère désireuse dʼinvestir dans un pays émergent accepte de partager le contrôle et le profit de la coentreprise internationale avec son partenaire local (rodriguez et al., 2005), et dʼune manière plus générale de supporter les coûts de gouvernance élevés de la coentreprise internationale (reuer, 1998). en effet, ces coûts de gouvernance sont largement compensés par lʼaccès à cet actif spécifique du partenaire local. en sʼengageant dans une coentreprise avec un partenaire local, la firme étrangère peut bénéficier de quatre facteurs de réduction des coûts de transaction liés à la corruption dʼetat : tout dʼabord, le partenaire local permet dʼidentifier les principaux interlocuteurs au sein du processus de corruption dʼetat ; et cʼest par son entremise que le partenaire étranger y accède rapidement. deuxièmement, en collaborant avec un partenaire local, le partenaire étranger réduit son handicap de firme étrangère (liability of foreignness) (zaheer et mosakowski, 1997) et par là même gagne en légitimité locale (yiu et makino, 2002 ; rodriguez et al., 2005). en comparaison avec un investissement dans une filiale détenue à 100 %, la firme étrangère, notamment sʼil sʼagit dʼune multinationale, qui préfère opter pour une coentreprise avec une firme locale perdra plus facilement son caractère étranger pour être considérée comme un acteur quasi-local par les fonctionnaires et les membres du gouvernement local. ainsi camouflé ou dilué dans lʼenvironnement du pays émergent, le partenaire étranger est moins soumis à la corruption dʼetat que les autres firmes étrangères présentes dans le pays (mais sous dʼautres formes dʼinvestissement direct que la coentreprise). troisièmement, la formation dʼune coentreprise avec un partenaire local permet aussi de se prémunir des effets négatifs pour lʼimage et la réputation qui peuvent être liés à une implication de la firme étrangère dans des actes de corruption (luo, 2004). en effet, cʼest souvent le partenaire local, et non le partenaire étranger, qui est sollicité par des fonctionnaires ou des acteurs politiques corrompus. connaissant les différents réseaux politiques et les pratiques locales en matière de corruption, le partenaire local est considéré comme un m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 1, 2008, 1-26 5 impact de la corruption dʼetat sur lʼévolution des participations européennes dans les coentreprises internationales intermédiaire privilégié. de son coté, le partenaire étranger encourage lʼimplication du partenaire local dans le processus de corruption car cela établit un écran entre lui et ce processus. cet écran est utile à double titre. tout dʼabord, cet écran limite le verrouillage de la firme étrangère et les risques de chantage ex post des fonctionnaires corrompus. ensuite, dans lʼéventualité où la corruption est rendue publique, le partenaire étranger peut toujours protéger sa réputation et son image en prétextant quʼil ne savait pas ou que ce nʼétait pas lui. ce qui est vrai pour lʼimage et la réputation de la firme étrangère ne lʼest plus en ce qui concerne ses risques juridiques dans son pays dʼorigine. en effet, au début des années 2000, le foreign corrupt practices act, qui est le texte juridique détaillant les peines encourues par les firmes américaines sʼengageant dans un processus de corruption à lʼétranger, a intégré dans un amendement lʼidée de la coresponsabilité des firmes américaines dans le cas où leur partenaire local était condamné pour corruption : « le foreign corrupt practices act prohibe les actes de corruption réalisés grâce à des intermédiaires […]. les intermédiaires peuvent être des partenaires locaux de coentreprise. afin dʼéviter dʼêtre tenus responsables dʼun acte de corruption par lʼentremise dʼun tiers, les firmes américaines sont fortement incitées à prendre toutes les précautions nécessaires pour sʼassurer quʼelles ont formé un partenariat avec des partenaires locaux irréprochables et de bonne réputation » (u.s. department of justice, 2001, section « third party payments »). finalement, la présence du partenaire local, à coté de celle du partenaire étranger et de celle de lʼetat ou du gouvernement local, permet de créer ce que husted (1994 : 21) a appelé une gouvernance trilatérale de la corruption. dans ce cadre, le partenaire local joue à la fois un rôle de garant en cas de comportements opportunistes ex post de lʼetat ou du gouvernement local et dʼarbitre dans le cas où des conflits apparaitraient entre les parties. en synthèse, nous pouvons considérer que le partenaire local permet à la firme étrangère de minimiser les effets négatifs de la corruption dʼetat ou dans une optique plus cynique, de la contrôler à son avantage. dans ce dernier cas, la firme locale offre à son partenaire étranger un accès au processus de corruption dʼetat qui a lʼavantage dʼêtre rapide, sûr et peu risqué. en dʼautres termes, la connaissance des acteurs politiques et gouvernementaux ainsi que les relations privilégiées avec lʼetat constituent un actif stratégique pour la firme étrangère. cet actif qui est lʼune des contributions du partenaire local à la coentreprise apparaît dʼautant plus stratégique pour le partenaire étranger que la corruption dʼetat est importante dans le pays émergent. par voie de conséquence, plus la corruption dʼetat est forte, plus le partenaire étranger sera dépendant du partenaire local et plus il sera attaché au maintien en activité de leur coentreprise. hypothèses de recherche cette analyse transactionnelle de la relation entre corruption dʼetat et survie des coentreprises peut être approfondie an analysant plus finem@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 1, 2008, 1-26 6 pierre-xavier meschi ment la conception composite ou multidimensionnelle de la corruption dʼetat. il ressort des travaux de shleifer et vishny (1993), de doh et al. (2003) et de rodriguez et al. (2005) quʼune dimension importante de la corruption dʼetat est son degré de pénétration ou dʼimprégnation des différents services et niveaux de lʼetat et du gouvernement (corruption pervasiveness). en effet, la transaction illégale entre dʼun côté, les fonctionnaires et membres du gouvernement local et de lʼautre, les firmes étrangères présentes dans le pays, peut revêtir plusieurs formes. il en découle que deux pays peuvent avoir un score élevé de corruption dʼetat (selon la classification composite de transparency international par exemple) tout en présentant des pratiques variées et peu comparables de corruption. lʼidée que la corruption dʼetat possède plusieurs dimensions distinctes a été évoquée initialement par shleifer et vishny (1993), puis a été développée par doh et al. (2003) et rodriguez et al. (2005). ces derniers ont notamment discuté de lʼimpact du degré dʼimprégnation de la corruption dʼetat sur le choix du mode dʼentrée dans les pays émergents. doh et al. (2003 : 118) ont défini le degré dʼimprégnation de la corruption dʼetat comme « le nombre et la fréquence des transactions [illégales] et des individus [corrompus] auxquels la firme va être confrontée au cours dʼune période de temps donné ». en dʼautres termes, le degré dʼimprégnation de la corruption dʼetat correspond à la probabilité pour la firme étrangère dʼêtre sollicitée de manière répétée par des individus corrompus de différents niveaux hiérarchiques et services de lʼetat et du gouvernement (rodriguez et al., 2005). ainsi, une firme étrangère investissant dans un pays à forte imprégnation de la corruption dʼetat sera dans lʼimpossibilité dʼéchapper à un véritable système de transactions illégales prévalant au sein de lʼetat et du gouvernement (kwok et tadesse, 2006). de plus, une structure administrative décentralisée dans le pays, avec la présence de bureaucraties publiques à lʼéchelon fédéral, provincial mais également municipal, renforce le maillage dʼun tel système de corruption. dans un pays émergent à forte imprégnation de la corruption dʼetat, la coentreprise avec un partenaire local garde-t-elle ses atouts transactionnels pour la firme étrangère ? il est possible de répondre à cette question en analysant les quatre facteurs de réduction des coûts de transaction liés à la corruption dʼetat (identification et accès aux fonctionnaires corrompus, réduction du handicap de firme étrangère, création dʼun écran et gouvernance trilatérale de la corruption) dans un contexte de forte imprégnation de celle-ci. dans un tel contexte, collaborer avec une firme locale constitue toujours un atout à la fois pour gagner en légitimité locale et pour protéger sa réputation et son image si la corruption est révélée au grand jour. mais lʼintérêt de sʼengager dans une coentreprise avec un partenaire local sʼaccroît dès lors que les objectifs poursuivis par la firme étrangère sont dʼidentifier rapidement et clairement les principaux interlocuteurs du processus de corruption dʼetat et de se prémunir dʼéventuels comportements opportunistes des individus corrompus. lorsquʼelle pénètre et parcoure tous les niveaux, services et échelons administratifs de lʼetat, la corruption fonctionne de manière complexe, sans règles formelles, ni pratiques m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 1, 2008, 1-26 7 impact de la corruption dʼetat sur lʼévolution des participations européennes dans les coentreprises internationales codifiées. dʼune demande de corruption à lʼautre, les attentes, les règles et les pratiques sont différentes. ainsi, plus la corruption est répandue au sein de lʼetat et du gouvernement local, plus celle-ci est difficilement lisible et prédictible pour un investisseur étranger qui, dès lʼentrée dans le pays, sera lʼobjet de sollicitations nombreuses et variées de la part des services de lʼetat et du gouvernement local. en conséquence, la firme étrangère qui investit dans un pays émergent où la corruption imprègne lʼetat, est fortement incitée à créer une coentreprise et à la maintenir en activité le plus longtemps possible. ces différents éléments nous conduisent à formuler lʼhypothèse suivante : h1 : plus le degré dʼimprégnation de la corruption dʼetat dans les pays émergents est fort, moins il est probable que les partenaires étrangers mettent un terme à la coentreprise internationale, et inversement. si le degré dʼimprégnation de la corruption dʼetat se réduit dans le temps, le partenaire étranger est moins dépendant de son partenaire local et en conséquence, il est incité à mettre un terme à la coentreprise. dans ce cas précis, la diminution de lʼincertitude environnementale et des coûts de transaction liés à la corruption dʼetat rend la coentreprise internationale moins attractive que la filiale locale détenue à 100 % ou que lʼacquisition par la firme étrangère. en effet, les coûts de gouvernance sont alors plus forts pour la coentreprise que pour la filiale ou lʼacquisition. a la différence de la coentreprise internationale, ces dernières offrent à la firme étrangère un contrôle total sur leur investissement et leur profit. du strict point de vue de lʼanalyse transactionnelle, cette relation entre incertitude environnementale et internalisation de la coentreprise internationale par le partenaire étranger apparaît peu orthodoxe. en effet, lʼanalyse transactionnelle considère que lʼadoption dʼune structure de gouvernance hiérarchique est favorisée dès lors que lʼincertitude environnementale sʼaccroît (car cela conduit à une augmentation des coûts de transaction), et non lorsquʼelle se réduit (cœurderoy et quélin, 1998 ; geyskens et al., 2006). cependant en matière de management des coûts de transaction liés à la corruption dʼetat, la coentreprise internationale avec un partenaire local lʼemporte sur une structure de gouvernance hiérarchique du type filiale locale détenue à 100 % par la firme étrangère car elle est la seule structure de gouvernance susceptible dʼidentifier et dʼaccéder facilement aux fonctionnaires corrompus, de réduire lʼhandicap de firme étrangère, de créer un écran protecteur et de faciliter une gouvernance trilatérale de la corruption. avec la réduction du degré dʼimprégnation de la corruption dʼetat, il y a moins de corruption ambiante, moins dʼasymétrie dʼinformations entre les parties et moins de possibilités de comportements opportunistes et de chantages ex post de la part des fonctionnaires corrompus. dans cet environnement plus favorable à lʼinvestisseur étranger, lʼattrait de la coentreprise internationale tend à sʼestomper au profit dʼune filiale locale détenue à 100 %. il est alors possible de définir lʼhypothèse suivante : h2 : plus le degré dʼimprégnation de la corruption dʼetat se réduit dans le temps, plus il est probable que les partenaires étrangers mettent un terme à la coentreprise internationale en la rachetant. m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 1, 2008, 1-26 8 pierre-xavier meschi dans cet article, nous avons fait le choix dʼanalyser les attitudes des firmes étrangères face à la corruption dʼetat à partir de la théorie des coûts de transaction. aussi lorsquʼelle évalue les coûts de transaction liés à la corruption dʼetat dans un pays émergent, une analyse transactionnelle doit-elle prendre davantage en considération les ressources de la firme étrangère, et notamment sa connaissance et son expérience de la corruption. cette connaissance va naturellement sʼacquérir dans le contexte local de la firme étrangère, cʼest-à-dire dans son propre pays. en effet, il est rare quʼune firme découvre la corruption à lʼoccasion dʼun investissement à lʼétranger. nombre de firmes américaines, européennes et japonaises ont déjà été confrontées à des transactions illégales ou à des pratiques de corruption sur leur marché local. de ces expériences locales de corruption, les firmes vont retirer une connaissance, voire même une expertise en management de la corruption (cuervo-cazurra, 2006). des expositions répétées à des transactions illégales sur leur propre marché local permettent aux firmes dʼêtre sensibilisées aux subtilités, aux codes et signaux implicites dʼun processus qui pour le profane reste opaque, tacite et difficilement décodable. cette connaissance leur sera utile lorsquʼelles seront amenées à investir dans des pays à forte corruption dʼetat. celle-ci sera dʼautant plus utile que le niveau de corruption du pays dʼorigine de lʼinvestisseur étranger sera proche de celui du pays où il investit. ce constat sʼappuie sur les notions de distance psychique (johanson et vahlne, 1977 ; 1990) et de distance culturelle (kogut et singh, 1988). les études sur la distance psychique et culturelle considèrent que les firmes réussissent mieux leur développement dans un nouveau pays lorsque celui-ci est perçu psychologiquement et culturellement proche de leur pays dʼorigine. inversement, plus la distance psychique et culturelle est grande, plus le risque dʼun échec de lʼinvestissement est fort. cette relation négative entre distance psychique et culturelle et performance de lʼinvestissement à lʼétranger sʼexplique en regard de deux facteurs : il sʼagit de lʼincertitude environnementale à laquelle est confrontée la firme étrangère et de sa capacité dʼapprentissage et dʼadaptation au pays ; lʼintensité de ces deux facteurs découlant directement du niveau de distance psychique et culturelle entre pays dʼorigine et pays dʼinvestissement. comme lʼont expliqué habib et zurawicki (2002 : 295), la corruption en tant que « composante des coutumes et des habitudes locales en matière administrative et managériale », doit être intégrée dans lʼévaluation de la distance psychique et culturelle. plus spécifiquement, cela renvoie à la notion de corruption relative ou comparée qui peut être définie comme la différence entre le niveau de corruption du pays de la firme étrangère et celui du pays émergent (habib et zurawicki, 2002). dans cette perspective, lʼanalyse de la relation entre corruption dʼetat et survie des coentreprises internationales tend à se détacher du niveau absolu de corruption pour se rapprocher dʼun niveau comparé qui a lʼavantage dʼintroduire les notions dʼexpérience et dʼapprentissage de la corruption. ainsi, la capacité dʼune firme étrangère à gérer, seule ou avec lʼaide dʼun partenaire local, lʼincertitude environm@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 1, 2008, 1-26 9 impact de la corruption dʼetat sur lʼévolution des participations européennes dans les coentreprises internationales nementale et les coûts de transaction liés à la corruption dʼetat est déterminée largement par la différence entre le niveau de corruption du pays dʼorigine de lʼinvestisseur étranger et celui du pays dʼinvestissement. si cette différence est forte, la firme étrangère devra faire face à un surcroît dʼincertitude environnementale et de coûts de transaction liés à la corruption dʼetat. ces conditions défavorables vont fortement inciter la firme étrangère dʼune part, à former une coentreprise internationale avec un partenaire local pour y faire face et dʼautre part, à chercher à la maintenir en activité le plus longtemps possible. nous pouvons alors formuler lʼhypothèse suivante : h3 : plus la différence de corruption dʼetat entre le pays dʼorigine et le pays dʼinvestissement est forte, moins il est probable que les partenaires étrangers mettent un terme à la coentreprise internationale, et inversement. méthodologie : echantillon, analyse de survie et variables cet article sʼappuie sur un échantillon de 277 firmes européennes qui ont annoncé la formation dʼune coentreprise internationale implantée dans un pays émergent au cours de la période comprise entre le 1er janvier 1996 et le 31 décembre 1996. ces annonces ont été collectées à partir des bases de données factiva, lexisnexis et mergerstat. chaque partenaire européen de lʼéchantillon est associé à au moins un partenaire local au sein de la coentreprise internationale. les pays émergents ont été sélectionnés à partir des classifications du fonds monétaire international, de la banque mondiale et du journal the economist. la répartition des pays émergents sélectionnés dans cet article est présentée dans lʼannexe 1. dans cette recherche, lʼunité dʼanalyse nʼest pas la coentreprise mais la participation du partenaire européen dans la coentreprise. dans cette optique, la survie de la participation du partenaire étranger est reliée à lʼévolution de cette participation au cours du temps. en nous appuyant sur les analyses de survie des coentreprises (franko, 1971 ; park et russo, 1996 ; barkema et al., 1997 ; shi, 1998 ; meschi, 2005), trois évolutions sont possibles pour les partenaires étrangers présents dans les coentreprises internationales : la première est la sortie de la coentreprise et elle se réalise soit par la cession de la participation du partenaire étranger, soit par la dissolution de la coentreprise dans son intégralité. la deuxième est lʼinternalisation de la coentreprise. cela correspond à lʼacquisition de la participation du partenaire local et à la transformation de la coentreprise en filiale détenue à 100 % par la firme étrangère. la troisième est le maintien en lʼétat de la coentreprise avec les mêmes partenaires quʼà sa création. les deux premières évolutions conduisent à la disparition de la coentreprise tandis que la dernière nous informe de sa survie. en sʼappuyant sur la méthode de lʼanalyse de lʼhistoire des événements (event history analysis), nous avons suivi lʼévolution de chaque participation (cession, dissolution de la coentreprise, internalisation de 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 1, 2008, 1-26 10 pierre-xavier meschi la participation du partenaire local ou maintien en lʼétat) sur une période à risque, allant de la date dʼinvestissement en 1996 à janvier 2007. tout au long de cette période à risque de 10 années, nous avons identifié les partenaires européens dont la coentreprise était encore en activité et ceux qui avaient dissout, cédé ou racheté la coentreprise. dans cette optique, nous avons exploité et croisé différentes sources dʼinformations. tout dʼabord, lʼanalyse longitudinale de chaque coentreprise a été rendue possible grâce aux bases de données factiva, lexisnexis et mergerstat, aux rapports annuels dʼactivité et aux archives sur internet des partenaires européens. puis nous avons contacté et questionné par courriel (via la rubrique « relations avec les investisseurs » ou « contact » de leur site internet) et par téléphone tous les partenaires européens de lʼéchantillon. au total, 118 partenaires européens ont mis un terme à leur coentreprise avant la fin de la période à risque (soit 42,6% de lʼéchantillon) : 20 partenaires ont opté pour la dissolution de la coentreprise, 56 pour la cession de leur participation au partenaire local et 42 pour lʼinternalisation de la participation du partenaire local et la transformation de la coentreprise en filiale. la figure 1 présente la courbe de survie de la participation des partenaires européens dans les coentreprises internationales. plus précisément, elle détaille année après année, sur lʼensemble de la période à risque, le nombre de partenaires européens dont la coentreprise a été dissoute, cédée ou rachetée. elle permet ainsi de suivre dans le temps lʼévolution du taux de survie cumulée de la participation des partenaires européens de cet échantillon. figure 1. evolution annuelle du taux de survie de la participation des partenaires européens dans les coentreprises internationales 1,0 0,9 0,8 0,7 0,6 0,5 0,4 taux de survie cumulée durée (années) m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 1, 2008, 1-26 11 impact de la corruption dʼetat sur lʼévolution des participations européennes dans les coentreprises internationales afin de tester les hypothèses de recherche, deux variables dépendantes ont été utilisées et mesurées selon un codage binaire (0, 1). la première variable dépendante correspond à une mesure indifférenciée de la survie de la participation des partenaires européens : la valeur 0 a été donnée aux partenaires européens dont la coentreprise était encore en vie à la date du 1er janvier 2007. la valeur 1 a été attribuée aux partenaires européens qui ont dissout, cédé leur participation au partenaire local ou racheté la participation du partenaire local avant la date du 1er janvier 2007. la deuxième variable, qui a été conçue pour tester spécifiquement lʼhypothèse 2, correspond à une mesure dʼinternalisation de la coentreprise par les partenaires européens. celle-ci a été construite en donnant la valeur 0 aux partenaires européens dont la participation est restée inchangée jusquʼà la date du 1er janvier 2007 ainsi quʼà ceux ayant dissout leur coentreprise ou cédé leur participation au partenaire local. la valeur 1 a été attribuée aux partenaires européens qui ont racheté la participation du partenaire local. a partir dʼun modèle simple de survie (i.e., sans spécification de forme paramétrique), il a été possible dʼestimer successivement un taux de risque (hazard rate) de la participation des partenaires européens et une probabilité dʼinternalisation de la coentreprise de la manière suivante (kalbfleisch et prentice, 1980 ; allison, 1984) : h(t) ou fonction de risque = λt avec t = 1, 2, …, t et 0 < λt < 1 λt est le taux de risque correspondant à lʼintervalle de temps t à lʼintérieur de la période à risque. le taux de risque est lʼinverse du taux de survie. le taux de risque est défini comme « la probabilité quʼun individu vive un événement particulier à lʼintérieur dʼun intervalle de temps [t, t+s], sachant que cet individu entre dans une période à risque à partir de t » (allison, 1984 : 23). par conséquent, la séquence de λ1 à λt correspond à lʼévolution annuelle du taux de risque de la participation dʼun partenaire européen donné. lʼimpact des variables de corruption dʼetat sur la probabilité de survie (ou sur le taux de risque) a été testé à partir dʼun modèle des risques proportionnels (proportional hazards model) de cox (1972) : h(t) ou fonction de risque = exp(βxt)λt xt est le vecteur des variables de corruption dʼetat à lʼintervalle de temps t à lʼintérieur de la période à risque et β est le vecteur des coefficients de régression. afin dʼidentifier précisément lʼeffet temporel de la corruption dʼetat sur la participation des partenaires européens, chaque variable explicative a été introduite dans un modèle de régression de cox sous la forme dʼun construit variant avec le temps (timevarying construct). un tel modèle de régression est qualifié de modèle de cox à prédicteurs chronologiques. ainsi, les différentes variables de corruption dʼetat ont été estimées pour chaque année de la période à risque (i.e., de 1996 à 2006). plus précisément, trois variables de corruption dʼetat ont été introduites dans ce modèle de cox à prédicteurs chronologiques. lʼannexe 2 présente la distribution et lʼévolution temporelle de ces trois variables de corruption dʼetat. la première variable correspond au degré de pénétration ou dʼimprégnation de la corruption au sein des différents services et niveaux de lʼetat et du gouvernement. cette mesure a été développée et exploim@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 1, 2008, 1-26 12 pierre-xavier meschi tée dans les travaux de shleifer et vishny (1993), de doh et al. (2003) et de rodriguez et al. (2005). parmi les différents scores de corruption existants, celui de political risk services est le plus pertinent pour évaluer le degré dʼimprégnation de la corruption dʼetat. en effet, ce score est calculé à partir des indicateurs suivants (wei, 1995 : 3) : « les membres du gouvernement sont-il susceptibles dʼexiger des transactions illégales ? […] les versements de pots-de-vin sont-ils une pratique courante à tous les niveaux de lʼetat ? ». il faut noter également que le score de political risk services correspond à une échelle de mesure des conséquences négatives du degré dʼimprégnation de la corruption dʼetat pour les investisseurs étrangers. afin de faciliter son interprétation, nous avons modifié lʼéchelle initiale du score de political risk services (allant de 0 à 6) pour obtenir une échelle allant de 0 (absence de corruption) à 1 (corruption fortement répandue). la deuxième variable a été construite à partir du score de political risk services. il sʼagit dʼune mesure de la variation annuelle de ce score. cette variable a été développée spécifiquement pour tester lʼhypothèse 2 associant variation annuelle du degré dʼimprégnation de la corruption dʼetat et probabilité dʼinternalisation de la coentreprise internationale par les partenaires étrangers. la troisième et dernière variable renvoie à une mesure de corruption relative ou comparée (habib et zurawicki, 2002). il sʼagit de la différence entre le niveau de corruption du pays dʼorigine du partenaire étranger et celui du pays émergent. pour mesurer cette variable, nous nous sommes inspirés de la méthode de calcul de lʼindice de distance culturelle proposée par kogut et singh (1988). a partir de cette méthode, il a été possible dʼobtenir un indice de corruption relative. la formule de calcul de lʼindice de corruption relative (icr) est la suivante : icr = (sci – scj)2 / vij sci est le score de corruption dʼetat du pays dʼinvestissement i et scj est celui du pays dʼorigine du partenaire européen. vij est la variance des scores de corruption dʼetat pour lʼensemble des pays présents dans la base de données. pour mesurer cet indice de corruption relative, nous avons utilisé le score composite de transparency international. il sʼagit du score de corruption dʼetat le plus fréquemment utilisé dans la littérature (wei, 2000 ; svensson, 2005 ; kaufmann et al., 2005). le score de transparency international est obtenu en combinant et pondérant plus dʼune vingtaine de classements et dʼévaluations de la corruption dʼetat. transparency international cherche à évaluer le niveau de corruption dʼun pays en envisageant son impact négatif au niveau de lʼinvestissement direct étranger mais également au niveau macroéconomique, politique, social et plus généralement au niveau de la société civile. le score de transparency international est compris entre 0 (forte corruption) et 10 (absence de corruption). cʼest un score ordinal ou de classement des différents pays. afin de faciliter son interprétation, nous avons décidé de le recalculer en le positionnant sur une échelle allant de 0 (absence de corruption) à 1 (forte corruption). des variables de contrôle ont été introduites dans lʼanalyse car cellesci ont souvent été considérées comme des déterminants de la survie m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 1, 2008, 1-26 13 impact de la corruption dʼetat sur lʼévolution des participations européennes dans les coentreprises internationales des coentreprises dans la littérature. il sʼagit du nombre de partenaires, du montant du contrat (mesuré en millions de dollars us), des quatre principaux secteurs dʼactivité (par ordre dʼimportance, chimie et produits associés, automobile, équipement et composants électroniques et électriques, et extraction pétrolière et gazière) présents au sein de lʼéchantillon (ils sont mesurés par une variable muette, 0-oui, 1-non), de la part de capital de la coentreprise qui est détenu par le partenaire européen (mesurée en pourcentage) et de lʼexpérience pays des partenaires européens (mesurée par le nombre de coentreprises internationales formées dans le pays par les firmes européennes entre 1986 et 1995, soit dix années avant le début de la période à risque). les tableaux 1 et 2 présentent respectivement la distribution des secteurs dʼactivité des partenaires européens de lʼéchantillon et la description des autres variables de contrôle ainsi que les corrélations. tableau 1. secteurs dʼactivité des entreprises de l̓ échantillon nombre 69 37 23 15 133 277 pourcentage 24,9 13,4 8,3 5,4 48,0 100,0 secteur dʼactivité (code sic à 2 chiffres) chimie et produits associés automobile equipement et composants électroniques et électriques extraction pétrolière et gazière autres total tableau 2. description statistiques des variables et corrélations variables 1. imprégnation de la corruptiona 2. variation annuelle de lʼimprégnation 3. corruption relative 4. nombre de partenaires 5. montant du contrat 6. part de capital 7. chimie et produits associés 8. automobile 9. equippement et composants 10. extraction pétrolière et gazière 11. expérience pays moyenne (écart-type) 1,29 (0,63) 146,73 (355,26) 50,35 (14,39) 1,64 (3,88) 1 0,08 0,32*** 0,12 0,02 0,07 0,01 0,07 0,12** 0,09 0,24*** 2 -0,03 –0,03 –0,01 0,01 0,02 –0,02 –0 ,01 0, 02 –0,06 3 0,03 –0,00 0,04 –0,12* 0,03 0,10 0,23*** –0,14** 4 0,13** –0,52*** –0,10* –0,01 –0,07 0,20*** 0,14** 5 –0,13** 0,1* –0,07 –0,10 0,20*** 0,08 6 0,12** –0,05 0,06 –0,20*** 0,12** 7 –0,23*** –0,17*** –0,14** 0,058 8 –0,12** –0,09 –0,10* 9 –0,07 0,01 10 –0,062 a : moyenne sur lʼensemble de la période à risque ; * : p < 0,1 ; ** : p < 0,05 ; *** : p < 0,01 (test bilatéral) m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 1, 2008, 1-26 14 pierre-xavier meschi tteesstt ddeess hhyyppootthhèèsseess eett rrééssuullttaattss le tableau 2 présente les corrélations entre les différentes variables indépendantes et de contrôle. en laissant de côté la forte corrélation impliquant le score dʼimprégnation de la corruption dʼetat et lʼindice de corruption relative, il ressort de ce tableau que les plus fortes corrélations concernent la variable “extraction pétrolière et gazière”. il faut noter également que la présence de corrélations significatives et positives entre lʼinvestissement dans le secteur de lʼextraction pétrolière et gazière et les variables de corruption dʼetat est un résultat cohérent avec celui obtenu par certaines études sur la corruption (endémique) dans le secteur des ressources naturelles (ades et di tella, 1999 ; oʼhiggins, 2006). en-dehors de cette observation, la matrice des corrélations ne soulève pas de problèmes particuliers de colinéarité entre variables indépendantes et de contrôle. afin de tester les différentes hypothèses de recherche, plusieurs modèles de risques proportionnels sont présentés dans le tableau 3. celui-ci détaille respectivement les coefficients des modèles de risques proportionnels pour le taux de risque de la participation des partenaires étrangers et pour la probabilité dʼinternalisation des coentreprises internationales. en-dehors du modèle 1 qui concerne exclusivement les variables de contrôle, chaque modèle examine lʼimpact dʼune seule et unique variable de corruption, et cela afin dʼéviter les problèmes de colinéarité évoqués précédemment. il ressort du tableau 3 que la qualité dʼajustement des différents modèles est moyenne. cʼest le modèle 3 qui présente lʼajustement statistique le plus significatif (à p < 0,01). plus précisément, lʼanalyse des coefficients des différents modèles nous montre que seule lʼhypothèse 1 est validée ; les autres (à savoir, les hypothèses 2 et 3) étant invalidées. les différentes hypothèses de recherche ont été élaborées en sʼappuyant sur lʼanalyse transactionnelle de la relation entre corruption dʼetat et survie de la participation des partenaires étrangers dans les coentreprises internationales. lʼhypothèse 1 prédisait une relation négative entre une dimension spécifique de la corruption dʼetat, son degré dʼimprégnation, et le taux de risque de la participation des partenaires étrangers. le coefficient significatif et négatif du score dʼimprégnation de la corruption dʼetat dans les pays émergents nous permet de valider lʼhypothèse 1. en dʼautres termes, il apparaît que plus le score dʼimprégnation de la corruption dʼetat dans les pays émergents est fort, moins il est probable que les partenaires étrangers mettent un terme à la coentreprise internationale, et inversement. la figure 2 a été réalisé afin de mieux appréhender cette relation. celui-ci distingue lʼévolution annuelle du taux de risque selon que la firme étrangère ait investi dans un pays émergent à fort ou à faible degré dʼimprégnation de la corruption dʼetat. reprenant une méthode de césure proposée dans plusieurs études empiriques (voir notamment tsai, 2001 et miller et eden, 2006), la distinction de lʼéchantillon entre “faible degré dʼimprégnation” et “fort degré dʼimprégnation” sʼest faite à partir du degré moyen dʼimprégnation de la corruption dʼetat m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 1, 2008, 1-26 15 impact de la corruption dʼetat sur lʼévolution des participations européennes dans les coentreprises internationales t a b le a u 3 . m od èl es d es ri sq ue s pr op or tio nn el s de c ox im pr ég na tio n de la c or ru pt io n va ria tio n an nu el le d e lʼim pr ég na tio n in di ce d e co rru pt io n re la tiv e no m br e de p ar te na ire s m on ta nt d u co nt ra t ( lo g) pa rt de c ap ita l ch im ie e t p ro du its a ss oc ié s au to m ob ile eq uip em en t e t c om po sa nt s éle ctr on iqu es e t é lec tri qu es ex tra ct io n pé tro liè re e t g az iè re ex pé rie nc e pa ys ra tio d e vr ai se m bl an ce ch i-2 (m od èl e) n (p ar en th ès es : no m br e de c oe nt re pr ise s int er ro m pu es ) b† –0 ,2 9 –0 ,0 7 –0 ,0 1 –0 ,3 3 –0 ,3 7 –0 ,3 0 –0 ,4 5 –0 ,0 4 –6 21 ,4 3 10 ,7 5 27 7 (1 18 ) e. s. ‡ (0 ,2 0) * (0 ,1 6) (0 ,0 1) * (0 ,2 4) * (0 ,3 1) (0 ,3 6) (0 ,4 8) (0 ,0 3) b -0 ,3 4 –0 ,2 4 –0 ,0 8 –0 ,0 1 –0 ,2 8 –0 ,2 8 –0 ,1 8 –0 ,3 5 –0 ,0 3 –6 19 ,0 8 15 ,4 5* 27 7 (1 18 ) e. s. (0 ,1 6) ** (0 ,2 0) (0 ,1 6) (0 ,0 1) (0 ,2 4) (0 ,3 1) (0 ,3 7) (0 ,4 8) (0 ,0 3) b 0, 03 –0 ,2 8 –0 ,0 3 –0 ,0 1 –0 ,2 1 –0 ,3 9 –0 ,3 4 –0 ,8 3 –0 ,0 2 –6 13 ,8 7 25 ,8 6* ** 27 7 (1 18 ) e. s. (0 ,0 1) ** * (0 ,1 9) * (0 ,1 5) (0 ,0 1) * (0 ,2 4) (0 ,3 1) (0 ,3 6) (0 ,4 9) (0 ,0 3) b –0 ,4 6 –0 ,4 7 –0 ,4 5 –0 ,0 0 0, 16 –0 ,3 4 –0 ,6 7 –0 ,3 8 –0 ,1 8 –2 03 ,8 8 16 ,0 8* 27 7 (4 2) e. s. (0 ,2 9) (0 ,4 4) (0 ,2 7) * (0 ,0 1) (0 ,3 8) (0 ,5 5) (0 ,7 5) (1 ,0 5) (0 ,1 2) le s co ef fic ie nt s po sit ifs in di qu en t q uʼ un e au gm en ta tio n de la v al eu r d es v ar ia bl es d e co rru pt io n dʼ et at e t d e co nt rô le s e tra du it à la fo is pa r u ne d im in ut io n de la p ro ba bi lité d e su rv ie d e la p ar tic ip at io n de s pa rte na ire s eu ro pé en s (m od èl es 2 e t 3 ) e t p ar u ne a ug m en ta tio n de la p ro ba bi lité d ʼin te rn al isa tio n de s co en tre pr ise s in te rn atio na le s pa r l es p ar te na ire s eu ro pé en s (m od èl e 4) , e t i nv er se m en t. †: p ar am èt re e st im é ; ‡ : e rre ur s ta nd ar d ; * : p < 0, 10 ; ** : p < 0, 05 ; ** * : p < 0 ,0 1. m od èl e 1 ré fé re nc e (b as el in e) m od èl e 2 ta ux d e ris qu e m od èl e 3 ta ux d e ris qu e m od èl e 4 in te rn al isa tio n m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 1, 2008, 1-26 16 pierre-xavier meschi (moyenne = 0,626) et de lʼécart-type (0,099). le degré dʼimprégnation de la corruption dʼetat a été qualifié de fort quand ce degré était supérieur à 0,725 (correspondant à lʼaddition de la moyenne et de lʼécarttype) et de faible quand ce degré était inférieur à 0,527 (correspondant à la soustraction de la moyenne par lʼécart-type). la figure 2 confirme la relation négative qui a été établie précédemment. mais elle précise également que cette relation négative nʼapparaît clairement quʼaprès la quatrième année dʼexistence des coentreprises internationales de lʼéchantillon. entre lʼannée de formation et la fin de la quatrième année dʼexistence des coentreprises internationales, il ne semble pas y avoir de différences significatives de taux de risque entre pays émergents à fort ou à faible degré dʼimprégnation de la corruption dʼetat. lʼhypothèse 2 considérait quʼil était fortement probable que les partenaires étrangers internalisent et transforment la coentreprise internationale en filiale lorsque le degré dʼimprégnation de la corruption dʼetat baissait au cours du temps. cette deuxième hypothèse nʼest pas validée. pour les partenaires étrangers, le choix dʼacquérir la coentreprise internationale ne semble pas déterminé par la variation annuelle du score dʼimprégnation de la corruption dʼetat. le coefficient significatif et positif de lʼindice de corruption relative ne permet pas de valider lʼhypothèse 3 qui prédisait un impact négatif. il ressort du tableau 3 que plus la différence entre le niveau de corruption du pays dʼorigine de lʼinvestisseur étranger et celui du pays dʼinvestissement est forte, plus il est probable que les partenaires étrangers mettent un terme à la coentreprise internationale, et inver0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 figure 2. evolution annuelle du taux de survie de la participation des partenaires européens selon le degré dʼimprégnation de la corruption dʼetat 1,0 0,9 0,8 0,7 0,6 0,5 0,4 taux de survie cumulée durée (années) faible degré dʼimprégniation fort degré dʼimprégniation m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 1, 2008, 1-26 17 impact de la corruption dʼetat sur lʼévolution des participations européennes dans les coentreprises internationales sement. en distinguant lʼévolution annuelle du taux de risque selon que lʼindice de corruption relative soit faible ou fort, la figure 3 confirme la relation positive entre ces deux variables. parmi les variables de contrôle, il en ressort deux qui présentent un impact significatif sur le taux de risque de la participation des partenaires étrangers : le nombre de partenaires et la part de capital détenu par le partenaire européen. plus précisément, le tableau 3 montre que la probabilité de survie des coentreprises internationales est plus forte pour celles ayant un nombre de partenaires étrangers et locaux supérieur à trois et des partenaires étrangers majoritaires au capital. il faut noter également que la probabilité de survie ne diffère pas significativement selon les secteurs étudiés (automobile, chimie, équipement et composants électroniques et électriques et extraction pétrolière et gazière). discussion et conclusion lʼobjectif de ce papier était dʼanalyser la relation entre corruption dʼetat dans les pays émergents et survie de la participation des partenaires étrangers dans les coentreprises internationales. nous avons fait le choix dʼétudier cette relation à partir de la théorie des coûts de transaction. tout dʼabord, ce choix a été motivé par la nature fondamentalement transactionnelle de la corruption dʼetat. ensuite, lʼanalyse transactionnelle permettait dʼenvisager la coentreprise internationale comme une structure de gouvernance ou de management de la cor0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 figure 3. evolution annuelle du taux de survie de la participation des partenaires européens selon lʼindice de corruption relative 1,0 0,9 0,8 0,7 0,6 0,5 0,4 taux de survie cumulée durée (années) indice de corruption relative élevé indice de corruption relative faible m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 1, 2008, 1-26 18 pierre-xavier meschi ruption. enfin, la théorie des coûts de transaction permettait de mieux comprendre la situation de dépendance de la firme étrangère vis-à-vis de son partenaire local et son attachement à la survie de la coentreprise internationale dans un contexte de forte corruption dʼetat. audelà de lʼanalyse transactionnelle de la survie de la participation des partenaires étrangers dans les coentreprises internationales, il sʼagissait ici de sʼintéresser plus généralement aux attitudes des firmes étrangères face à la corruption dʼetat dans les pays émergents. des réactions significatives à la corruption dʼetat ont été observées au sein des 277 firmes européennes de lʼéchantillon. ces réactions sont paradoxales à première vue. en effet, il ressort du tableau 3 que deux variables de corruption dʼetat, le degré dʼimprégnation de la corruption et lʼindice de corruption relative, ont un impact significatif mais opposé sur la survie de la participation des partenaires étrangers : le degré dʼimprégnation de la corruption a un effet stabilisateur sur les partenaires étrangers et leur coentreprise internationale alors que lʼindice de corruption relative a un effet déstabilisateur. le paradoxe réside dans le constat que les firmes étrangères sont affectées différemment par deux variables qui sont censées mesurer le même phénomène. il est néanmoins possible dʼexpliquer un tel paradoxe en considérant que le degré dʼimprégnation de la corruption et lʼindice de corruption relative ne mesurent pas le même phénomène et quʼen conséquence, leur impact sur la survie ne soit pas comparable. dans le cas du degré dʼimprégnation de la corruption, cette variable est mesurée à partir du score de political risk services qui évalue la corruption dʼetat dʼun pays et ses conséquences négatives pour la firme, et plus spécifiquement pour lʼinvestisseur étranger. le score de political risk services cherche à identifier ce que la corruption dʼetat dʼun pays induit en termes de barrières à lʼentrée et à la sortie pour un investisseur étranger. en réalité, ce score ne donne pas une valeur brute de la corruption dʼetat et de son imprégnation dans les différents niveaux et services de lʼetat et du gouvernement. il restitue plutôt la dimension risque dʼaffaires (business risk) que comporte le degré dʼimprégnation de la corruption. dans le cas de lʼindice de corruption relative, cette variable est déduite du score composite de transparency international. celui-ci est considéré comme composite car il est issu dʼune méta-analyse de plus dʼune vingtaine de classements de la corruption dʼetat. le score composite de transparency international cherche à évaluer la corruption dʼetat en se plaçant du point de vue de la firme mais également du point de vue macroéconomique, politique, social et de la société civile. en dʼautres termes, il sʼagit dʼun score pluriel du point de vue des acteurs concernés et au-delà dʼune mesure de la corruption, celui-ci peut être rapproché dʼune mesure du risque pays ou de lʼincertitude environnementale. ce caractère systémique du score composite de transparency international a été confirmé dans lʼétude de svensson en 2005. celui-ci a montré que parmi différents scores de corruption (dont celui du political risk services), celui de transparency international affichait le plus grand nombre de corrélations significatives avec les indicateurs utilisés dans son étude : pnb/habitant, m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 1, 2008, 1-26 19 impact de la corruption dʼetat sur lʼévolution des participations européennes dans les coentreprises internationales nombre dʼannées dʼétudes, liberté de la presse, importations/pnb et nombre de jours requis par lʼadministration pour créer son entreprise. de son coté, le score du political risk services apparaissait significativement corrélé quʼavec le pnb/habitant et le nombre de jours requis par lʼadministration pour créer son entreprise. si le degré dʼimprégnation de la corruption et lʼindice de corruption relative ne renvoient pas au même phénomène, il est alors possible de considérer que ces deux variables nʼont pas le même effet sur les investisseurs étrangers. ainsi, un degré élevé dʼimprégnation de la corruption accroît le risque dʼaffaires des firmes étrangères en multipliant les barrières à lʼentrée et à la sortie du pays. dans un tel contexte, la collaboration avec un partenaire local au sein dʼune coentreprise internationale est la seule option pour la firme étrangère désireuse dʼinvestir dans un pays à forte imprégnation de la corruption dʼetat. en effet, si elle ne veut pas voir son investissement retardé ou pénalisé par lʼetat ou le gouvernement local, la firme étrangère doit sʼentendre avec un partenaire local dont lʼune des contributions stratégiques à la coentreprise sera de réduire les coûts de transaction liés à la corruption dʼetat (en facilitant lʼidentification et lʼaccès aux fonctionnaires corrompus, la réduction de son handicap de firme étrangère, la création dʼun écran et la gouvernance trilatérale de la corruption). tant que les barrières à lʼentrée et à la sortie se maintiennent, la coentreprise demeure la seule option possible, ce qui explique lʼeffet stabilisateur du degré dʼimprégnation de la corruption. comme le degré dʼimprégnation de la corruption, lʼindice de corruption relative est un indicateur du risque dʼaffaires. cependant, lʼindice de corruption relative nʼest pas seulement un indicateur du risque dʼaffaires. il nous renseigne également sur la situation macroéconomique, politique, sociale, etc., et plus généralement sur le niveau dʼincertitude environnementale dʼun pays. plus précisément, cʼest la différence entre le niveau de corruption du pays dʼorigine de lʼinvestisseur étranger et celui du pays dʼinvestissement qui va déterminer le niveau dʼincertitude environnementale. si cette différence est forte, la firme étrangère devra faire face à un niveau dʼincertitude environnementale et de coûts de transaction liés à la corruption dʼetat auxquels elle nʼa pas lʼhabitude sur son marché local. a lʼentrée dans le pays, lʼinvestisseur étranger est fortement incité à former une coentreprise internationale avec un partenaire local pour faire face à cette forte distance psychique et culturelle et pour se protéger des conditions défavorables de lʼenvironnement. si ces conditions défavorables de lʼenvironnement du pays se maintiennent, ce nʼest plus seulement à un problème de corruption ou de distance psychique ou culturelle auquel vont être confrontées les firmes étrangères mais à un problème plus général dʼappauvrissement de la population, dʼinstabilité politique, dʼagitations sociales et de crise économique dʼun pays. la question va alors se poser pour la firme étrangère de la pertinence de son investissement et de son maintien dans le pays. dans la mesure où lʼindice de corruption relative ne diminue pas, le risque pays devient difficilement supportable au cours du temps par la firme étrangère qui peut être amenée à désinvestir et quitter le pays. en poursuivant cette logique m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 1, 2008, 1-26 20 pierre-xavier meschi explicative, il apparaît quʼun indice élevé de corruption relative détermine la probabilité mais également la modalité de rupture de la coentreprise internationale par les partenaires étrangers. lʼannexe 3 apporte une confirmation à cette logique explicative en montrant que les modalités de rupture des coentreprises internationales (internalisation, dissolution et cession) sont affectées différemment par lʼindice de corruption relative. un indice élevé de corruption relative sʼaccompagne au cours du temps par une forte probabilité de dissolution et de cession des coentreprises internationales alors que cette variable de corruption dʼetat nʼa aucun impact sur la probabilité dʼinternalisation. ainsi, la formation dʼune coentreprise internationale mais aussi sa cession ou sa dissolution par les partenaires étrangers sont la conséquence dʼun indice de corruption relative qui est élevé à lʼentrée dans le pays et le reste au cours du temps. ces différents constats appellent des commentaires quant à lʼutilisation de la théorie des coûts de transaction pour mieux comprendre la relation entre corruption dʼetat dans les pays émergents et survie de la participation des partenaires étrangers dans les coentreprises internationales. nos résultats ne sʼinscrivent que partiellement dans les propositions de cette théorie. il ressort de ce papier que lʼanalyse transactionnelle apporte des éléments importants de compréhension de la relation entre comportements des firmes étrangères et corruption dʼetat, notamment lorsque cette dernière est analysée comme un risque dʼaffaires. dans cette optique, la coentreprise internationale est la structure de gouvernance qui minimise les coûts de transaction liés à la corruption dʼetat. dès lors que la corruption dépasse le seul champ de la firme et devient un indicateur plus général de risque pays, la coentreprise internationale perd sa spécificité transactionnelle et se retrouve comme nʼimporte quelle firme locale dont la survie dépend de la nature et de lʼévolution des conditions (macroéconomiques, politiques, sociales et sociétales) du pays. le déterminisme environnemental qui a été observé au niveau des partenaires étrangers confrontés à un indice élevé de corruption relative requiert le recours à un cadre théorique explicatif distinct de celui de la théorie des coûts de transaction. un tel cadre théorique explicatif pourrait exploiter les théories de lʼécologie des populations dʼorganisations (hannan et freeman, 1977 ; caroll et delacroix, 1982) et de lʼorganisation industrielle (bain, 1956 ; porter, 1980 ; scherer, 1980) qui sʼappuyant conjointement sur une rationalité de sélection environnementale, défendent une relation négative entre incertitude environnementale et survie des firmes. cet article présente un certain nombre de limites. celles-ci pourraient être atténuées et constituer autant de prolongements à cette recherche. les limites de cet article sont principalement liées à la mesure de la survie de la participation des partenaires étrangers dans les coentreprises internationales. nous avons considéré dans cet article que le partenaire étranger était celui qui choisissait librement de céder, dissoudre ou internaliser la coentreprise internationale. en ce sens, la réalité a été simplifiée en écartant les procédures dʼoptions, call et put, à la disposition du partenaire local, qui peuvent forcer le partenaire étranger à céder, dissoudre ou racheter la coentreprise m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 1, 2008, 1-26 21 impact de la corruption dʼetat sur lʼévolution des participations européennes dans les coentreprises internationales internationale. une deuxième limite est liée à la nature de la demande de corruption dans cet article. en effet, la demande peut émaner des etats et gouvernements locaux. dans ce sens, la corruption dʼetat est une question dʼextorsion et les firmes étrangères se trouvent dans la situation de gérer les demandes de corruption avancées par les etats et les gouvernements locaux. cependant, une autre demande de corruption peut exister : les firmes étrangères sont également susceptibles de développer des stratégies de corruption en relation avec des facteurs tels que la structure de lʼindustrie ou les facteurs internes à la firme. dans ce cas, le mode dʼentrée et la survie de la participation peuvent être influencés par dʼautres facteurs que lʼimprégnation de la corruption dʼétat, comme par exemple, la place de la corruption dans la stratégie de lʼentreprise. lʼimportance de la place des coentreprises internationales formées en chine au sein de lʼéchantillon (plus dʼun tiers de lʼéchantillon) représente une troisième limite. afin de vérifier la stabilité de nos résultats, des tests statistiques complémentaires ont été réalisés sur un sous-échantillon excluant les coentreprises internationales implantées en chine. il en est ressorti que lʼimpact des différentes mesures de corruption dʼetat était proche du modèle initial même si cet impact perdait en significativité. ceci nous conduit à considérer une certaine influence chinoise sur les résultats obtenus. une dernière limite est liée à la focalisation sur une seule forme dʼinvestissement direct étranger dans les pays émergents. en ne sʼappuyant que sur un échantillon de firmes étrangères engagées dans des coentreprises internationales, il apparaît difficile de tirer des conclusions définitives sur les attitudes des firmes étrangères face à la corruption dʼetat dans les pays émergents. une extension de cette recherche aux autres formes dʼinvestissement direct étranger (acquisition et filiale) devrait être envisagée. cela permettrait dʼavoir une vision plus complète de la relation entre corruption dʼetat et survie des firmes étrangères dans les pays émergents et de considérer lʼexistence de réactions différenciées à la corruption dʼetat selon la forme dʼinvestissement direct étranger. note. je tiens à remercier les quatre évaluateurs et bernard forgues pour la qualité du travail de synthèse, de relecture ainsi que pour les suggestions et remarques qui ont été faites sur les différentes versions de lʼarticle. une première version de cet article a été présentée en 2005 à la 22nd eastern academy of management conference (cape town), où il a reçu le john yanouzas award for outstanding paper et en 2007 à la xvième conférence de lʼassociation internationale de management stratégique (montréal). pierre-xavier meschi est professeur à lʼuniversité de la méditerranée (aix-marseille ii) et au ceram où il enseigne la stratégie. il mène actuellement des recherches sur le management et la performance des coentreprises et des acquisitions internationales dans les pays émergents. ses derniers travaux ont été publiés dans asia pacific journal of management, finance contrôle stratégie, international business review, human relations, journal of world business, journal of international management, journal of international business studies, management international review et revue française de gestion. � ades, a., et r. di tella 1999 rents, competition and corruption, american economic review, 89: 4, 982-993. � aidt, t. s. 2003 economic analysis of corruption: a survey, the economic journal, 113: 491, 632-652. � allison, p. d. 1984 event history analysis: regression for longitudinal event data, new york: sage. � bain, j. s. 1956 barriers to new competition, cambridge ma: harvard university press. � barkema, h. g., o. shenkar, f. vermeulen, et j. h. bell 1997 working abroad, working with others: how firms learn to operate international joint ventures, academy of management journal, 40: 2, 426-442. � carroll, g. r., et j. delacroix 1982 organizational mortality in the newspaper industries of argentina and ireland: an ecological approach, administrative science quarterly, 27: 2, 169-198. � cartier-bresson, j. 2000 corruption, libéralisation et démocratisation, revue tiers monde, 161, 9-22. � cœurderoy, r., et b. quélin 1998 la théorie des coûts de transaction : fondements théoriques et implications managériales, in h. laroche et j.-p. nioche (dir.), repenser la stratégie, paris : vuibert, 26-60. � cuervo-cazurra, a. 2006 who cares about corruption?, journal of international business studies, 37: 6, 807-822. � doh, j. p., p. rodriguez, k. uhlenbruck, j. collins, et l. eden 2003 coping with corruption in foreign markets, academy of management executive, 17: 3, 114-127. � franko, l. g. 1971 joint venture survival in multinational corporations, new york: praeger. � geyskens, i., j.-b. steenkamp, et n. kumar 2006 make, buy, or ally: a transaction cost theory meta-analysis, academy of management journal, 49: 3, 519-543. � habib, m., et l. zurawicki 2002 corruption and foreign direct investment, journal of international business studies, 33: 2, 291-307. � hannan, m. t., et j. freeman 1977 the population ecology of organizations, american journal of sociology, 82: 5, 929-964. � henisz, w. j. 2000 the institutional environment for multinational investment, journal of law, economics and organization, 16: 2, 334-364. � husted, b. w. 1994 honor among thieves: a transactioncost interpretation of corruption in third world countries, business ethics quarterly, 4: 1, 17-27. � jain, a. k. 2001 corruption: a review, journal of economic surveys, 15: 1, 71-121. � johanson, j., et j.-e. vahlne 1977 the internationalization process of the firm: a model of knowledge development and incresing foreign market commitments, journal of international business studies, 8: 3, 23-32. � johanson, j., et j.-e. vahlne 1990 the mechanism of internationalisation, international marketing review, 7: 4, 11-24. � kalbfleisch, j. d., et r. l. prentice 1980 the statistical analysis of failure time data, london: wiley. � kaufmann, d., a. kraay, et m. mastruzzi 2005 governance matters iv: governance indicators for 1996-2004, world bank policy research working paper, 3630. � kogut, b. 1988 joint ventures: theoretical and empirical perspectives, strategic management journal, 9: 4, 319-332. � kogut, b., et h. singh 1988 the effect of national culture on the choice of entry mode, journal of international business studies, 19: 3, 411-432. � kwok, c., et s. tadesse 2006 the mnc as an agent of change for host-country institutions: fdi and corruption, journal of international business studies, 37: 6, 767-785. � lambsdorff, j.g. 2000 de la propension des exportateurs à verser des pots-de-vin : lʼimpact sur les échanges, revue tiers monde, 161, 89-116. � luo, y. 2004 an organizational perspective of corruption, management and organization review, 1: 1, 119-154. � meschi, p.-x. 2005 environmental uncertainty and survival of international joint ventures: the case of political and economic risk in emerging countries, european management review, 2: 2, 143-152 � oʼhiggins, e. 2006 corruption, underdevelopment and extractive resource industries: addressing the vicious cycle, business ethics quarterly, 16: 2, 235254. � park, s. h., et m. v. russo 1996 when competition eclipses cooperation: an event history analysis of joint venture failure, management science, 42: 6, 875-890. m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 1, 2008, 1-26 22 pierre-xavier meschi references m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 1, 2008, 1-26 23 impact de la corruption dʼetat sur lʼévolution des participations européennes dans les coentreprises internationales � porter, m.e. 1980 competitive strategy, new york: free press. � reuer, j. j. 1998 international joint venture instability and corporate strategy, insead working paper, 98/55/sm. � rodriguez, p., k. uhlenbruck, et l. eden 2005 government corruption and the entry strategies of multinational, academy of management review, 30: 2, 383-396. � rodriguez, p., d. s. siegel, a. hillman, et l. eden 2006 three lenses on the multinational enterprise: politics, corruption and corporate social responsibility, journal of international business studies, 37: 6, 733-746. � rose-ackerman, s. 1975 the economics of corruption, journal of public economics, 4: 2, 187-203. � scherer, f.m. 1980 industrial market structure and economic performance, chicago: rand-macnally. � shi, y. 1998 the effects of tasks on semiconductor start-up alliance dissolution: a structuration perspective, journal of high technology management research, 9: 1, 87-114. � shleifer, a., et r. w. vishny 1998 the grabbing hand, government pathologies and their cures, cambridge ma: harvard university press. � svensson, j. 2005 eight questions about corruption, journal of economic perspectives, 19: 3, 19-42. � teece, d.j. 1986 transaction cost economics and the multinational enterprise: an assessment, journal of economic behavior and organization, 7: 1, 21-45. � tekin-koru, a. 2006 corruption and the ownership composition of the multinational firm at the time of entry: evidence from turkey, journal of economics and finance, 30: 2, 251-269. � u.s. department of justice 2001 lay-personʼs guide to foreign corrupt practices act. consulté le 4 mars 2008 : http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/fraud/ docs/dojdocb.html � wei, s.-j. 2000 how taxing is corruption on international investors?, review of economics and statistics, 82: 1, 1-11. � weitzel, u., et s. berns 2006 cross-border takeovers, corruption and related aspects of governance, journal of international business studies, 37: 6, 786-806. � wheeler, d., et a. mody 1992 international investment location decisions: the case of u.s. firms, journal of international economics, 33: 1-2, 57-76. � williamson, o. e. 1975 markets and hierarchies: analysis and antitrust implications, new york: free press. � williamson, o. e. 1985 the economic institutions of capitalism: firms, markets, relational contracting, new york: free press. � yiu, d., et s. makino 2002 the choice between joint venture and wholly owned subsidiary: an institutional perspective, organization science, 13: 6, 667-683. � zaheer, s., et e. mosakowski 1997 the dynamics of the liability of foreignness: a global study of survival in financial services, strategic management journal, 18: 6, 439-464. http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/fraud/docs/dojdocb.html m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 1, 2008, 1-26 24 pierre-xavier meschi annexe 1 : implantation geographique des coentreprises de l’echantillon nombre 2 2 2 4 2 1 10 2 3 106 2 1 4 2 1 3 31 6 1 2 3 1 10 2 1 pourcentage 0,7 0,7 0,7 1,4 0,7 0,4 3,6 0,7 1,1 38,3 0,7 0,4 1,4 0,7 0,4 1,1 11,2 2,2 0,4 0,7 1,1 0,4 3,6 0,7 0,4 pays émergents algérie angola arabie saoudite argentine bolivie botswana brésil bulgarie chili chine colombie croatie egypte emirats arabes unis guinée hongrie inde indonésie iran israël kazakhstan lituanie malaisie mexique moldavie nombre 1 1 1 1 2 1 3 8 2 3 1 2 3 9 2 1 1 13 1 1 3 5 3 4 1 277 pourcentage 0,4 0,4 0,4 0,4 0,7 0,4 1,1 2,9 0,7 1,1 0,4 0,7 1,1 3,2 0,7 0,4 0,4 4,7 0,4 0,4 1,1 1,8 1,1 1,4 0,4 100,0 pays émergents maroc mozambique myanmar oman pakistan pérou philippines pologne qatar rép. dʼafrique du sud rép. dominicaine rép. tchèque roumanie russie serbie slovénie sri lanka thaïlande tunisie turquie ukraine ouzbékistan venezuela vietnam zimbabwe total m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 1, 2008, 1-26 25 impact de la corruption dʼetat sur lʼévolution des participations européennes dans les coentreprises internationales annexe 2 : description statistique et évolution annuelle des variables de corruption d’etat moyenne 0,55 3,86 0,56 0,03 3,72 0,58 0,04 3,68 0,59 0,08 3,83 0,66 0,11 3,81 0,69 0,07 3,32 0,71 0,06 3,43 0,63 –0,10 4,14 0,62 0,01 4,62 0,66 0,06 5,05 0,65 -0,01 4,84 ecart type 0,14 2,04 0,14 0,13 1,95 0,14 0,22 2,14 0,12 0,35 2,19 0,17 0,19 2,12 0,15 0,24 1,89 0,13 0,17 2,13 0,10 0,14 2,15 0,09 0,21 2,22 0,08 0,14 2,21 0,08 0,06 2,20 minimum 0,17 0,00 0,17 –0,32 0,01 0,17 –0,25 0,00 0,17 –0,32 0,02 0,17 –0,25 0,01 0,34 –0,49 0,00 0,34 –0,25 0,00 0,34 –0,49 0,02 0,50 –0,25 0,02 0,26 –0,49 0,01 0,26 –0,30 0,00 maximum 0,67 9,72 0,83 1,00 9,46 0,83 1,94 9,46 0,83 1,94 9,83 0,83 0,97 10,82 1,00 1,94 10,09 1,00 1,94 9,46 1,00 0,47 9,46 1,00 0,97 10,17 1,00 0,50 10,92 1,00 0,15 10,88 1996 score dʼimprégnation de la corruption indice de corruption relative 1997 score dʼimprégnation de la corruption variation annuelle du score dʼimprégnation (1996-1997) indice de corruption relative 1998 score dʼimprégnation de la corruption variation annuelle du score dʼimprégnation (1997-1998) indice de corruption relative 1999 score dʼimprégnation de la corruption variation annuelle du score dʼimprégnation (1998-1999) indice de corruption relative 2000 score dʼimprégnation de la corruption variation annuelle du score dʼimprégnation (1999-2000) indice de corruption relative 2001 score dʼimprégnation de la corruption variation annuelle du score dʼimprégnation (2000-2001) indice de corruption relative 2002 score dʼimprégnation de la corruption variation annuelle du score dʼimprégnation (2001-2002) indice de corruption relative 2003 score dʼimprégnation de la corruption variation annuelle du score dʼimprégnation (2002-2003) indice de corruption relative 2004 score dʼimprégnation de la corruption variation annuelle du score dʼimprégnation (2003-2004) indice de corruption relative 2005 score dʼimprégnation de la corruption variation annuelle du score dʼimprégnation (2004-2005) indice de corruption relative 2006 score dʼimprégnation de la corruption variation annuelle du score dʼimprégnation (2005-2006) indice de corruption relative m@n@gement, vol. 11, no. 1, 2008, 1-26 26 pierre-xavier meschi annexe 3 : corruption d’etat et probabilités d’internalisation, de dissolution ou de cession des coentreprises internationales les variables dʼinternalisation, de dissolution et de cession des coentreprises internationales par les partenaires étrangers ont été construites de la manière suivante : dans le cas de la variable dʼinternalisation, la valeur 0 a été donnée aux partenaires européens dont la participation est restée inchangée jusquʼà la date du 1er janvier 2007 ainsi quʼà ceux ayant dissout leur coentreprise ou cédé leur participation au partenaire local. la valeur 1 a été attribuée aux partenaires européens qui ont racheté la participation du partenaire local (soit 42 partenaires européens sur 277). dans le cas de la variable de dissolution, la valeur 0 a été donnée aux partenaires européens dont la participation est restée inchangée jusquʼà la date du 1er janvier 2007 ainsi quʼà ceux ayant internalisé ou cédé leur coentreprise. la valeur 1 a été attribuée aux partenaires européens qui ont dissout la coentreprise internationale (soit 20 partenaires européens). dans le cas de la variable de cession, la valeur 0 a été donnée aux partenaires européens dont la participation est restée inchangée jusquʼà la date du 1er janvier 2007 ainsi quʼà ceux ayant dissout ou racheté leur coentreprise. la valeur 1 a été attribuée aux partenaires européens qui ont cédé leur participation au partenaire local (soit 56 partenaires européens). indice de corruption relative ratio de vraisemblance chi-2 (modèle) n probabilité d i̓nternalisation 0,01† (0,08) –450,59 0,01 42 probabilité de dissolution 0,12 (0,11)* –217,95 1,22* 20 probabilité de cession 0,12 (0,06)** –619,37 3,75** 56 † les coefficients positifs indiquent quʼune augmentation de la valeur de lʼindice de corruption relative se traduit par une augmentation de la probabilité dʼinternalisation, de dissolution ou de cession des coentreprises internationales par les partenaires européens. les erreurs standards sont présentées entre parenthèses * : p < 0,10 ; ** : p < 0,05 (test bilatéral). 175bartunek paperback: 152 pages publisher: sage (2013) language: english isbn: 978-1446255933 unplugged book reviews special forum: about doing research mats alvesson & jörgen sandberg (2013), constructing research questions: doing interesting research, los angeles, ca: sage. reviewed by jean m. bartunek department of management and organization, boston college bartunek@bc.edu the unplugged section edits some book reviews special forums dedicated to a topic, an author or a theoretical perspective. this first forum considers three very stimulating and rejuvenating volumes for academics in organization and management studies about research methods. they offer some new insights about problematizing, theorizing and academic writing which may contribute to regain scientific imagination. ! alvesson and sandberg’s book constructing research questions: doing interesting research adds an intriguing and challenging perspective to discussions about theorizing. not only is it extremely interesting to read, but it is also very well constructed. in this review i will try to respond to the book in a way that acknowledges its contributions whilst also raising a couple of ideas about some of its central points. i will begin by introducing the context in which i use the material in the book, before summarizing its main points and contributions and, finally, initiating a one-sided dialog with the book, reflecting on some of the content that stands out for me and some of the questions it raises. the context in which i use the material from the book ! i sometimes teach a class to doctoral students in which i focus on how to theorize. in that class, the primary template for theorizing which my students and i have used for years is david whetten’s chapter “modeling theoretic propositions” in anne huff’s (2009) book designing research for publication. the chapter walks participants through the steps of theorizing, starting with developing constructs, then moving on to developing links between constructs, m@n@gement 2014, vol. 17(5): 404-409 404 understanding why these links are as they are and, finally, identifying conceptual and contextual assumptions that likely underlie the constructs and their links. ! understanding why certain constructs link with other constructs has been a cornerstone of management (and broader social science) theorizing for decades (bacharach, 1989). in a very well-known essay, sutton and staw (1995) argue that answering the question “why?” is the primary defining characteristic of theory. scholars such as paul dimaggio (1995) and karl weick (1995) suggest that providing a clear-cut answer to the question “why?” might not be necessary for all theorizing, but in scholarly work about theorizing there is still a strong focus on “why?”. of course, this emphasis is one of the reasons why institutional theory, population ecology, identity theory, cognitive dissonance, and so forth have become so popular. they provide ready-made answers to the question of “why” two or more constructs are linked. ! on the other hand, whetten’s chapter describes contextual and conceptual assumptions as specifying “the terms and conditions governing appropriate application or ‘safe use’ … it follows that making your assumptions explicit helps you think critically about your theoretic arguments” (p. 225). for my students (and for me) it is nowhere near as difficult to determine assumptions following whetten’s approach as it is to make explicit the answer to the question “why?” in theory. however, what whetten's approach lacks is a framework that can challenge these assumptions. ! answering the question “why?” may be the sine qua non of theorizing but as murray davis (1971) made evident more than forty years ago, answering that question doesn’t necessarily make theory and theorizing interesting. rather, what makes a theory “interesting” is how it treats assumptions, whether it accepts or challenges them. well-articulated answers to the question “why?”, no matter how difficult these are to accomplish, will achieve publication but will not necessarily lead readers to become enthusiastic about a particular contribution. summary of the book ! in this book, alvesson and sandberg have focused squarely on assumptions and their role in fostering interesting theorizing. for them, questions about assumptions come not at the end of a theoretical construction (as they do in whetten’s chapter) but at its very beginning, in formulating the research questions that precede constructs and their links. that is, alvesson and sandberg emphasize the importance of identifying and challenging assumptions in the initial crafting of a study, not waiting until the end of its conceptual development in order to identify the boundaries within which a possible conceptual contribution is confined. ! alvesson’s and sandberg’s (2011) academy of management review paper, which summarizes some of the main ideas in this book, has certainly gained a good deal of attention. it is cited considerably and, it seems to me, trotted out regularly by reviewers of scholarly submissions who think the submission is boring and ought to stir things up a bit in order to be judged as having enough value to warrant publishing. ! constructing research questions builds (explicitly) on the earlier work of alvesson and sandberg in several journal articles (including alvesson & sandberg, 2011; sandberg & alvesson, 2011). it is relatively short with a very clear and helpful outline that is faithfully followed. it is an excellent teaching tool; one of the particularly useful contributions of the book is that it shows how much goes into the competent development of any type of research question, regardless of whether it challenges assumptions or not. m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 404-409! book reviews special forum: about doing research 405 ! fortunately, the book contains no major challenging of assumptions on how to construct a book and/or guide readers in reading it. it is so well outlined and plotted that in this section of the review i will simply summarize the major aspects of each chapter. ! chapter 1 describes the importance of formulating good research questions for theory development; indeed, the formulation of these questions may be the most critical aspect of research. it also emphasizes “that problematization – … questioning the assumptions underlying existing theory in some significant ways – is fundamental to the construction of innovative research questions and, thus, to the development of interesting and influential theories” (p. 2). the focus in the book is on how such problematization can be accomplished, with the expectation, following davis (1971), that problematization will lead to theories that are “more likely to become influential in academic disciplines and sometimes also more broadly in society” (p. 5). problematization is much more likely to accomplish this than the more typical “gap-spotting” approach to research. ! chapter 2 describes how the contexts in which research questions are constructed and formulated affect the resulting questions. it notes, for example, that “all research questions are constructed and formulated within certain frameworks, such as disciplinary, theoretical or methodological perspectives, but also within culturally taken-for-granted understandings” (p. 14). other contextual factors that are likely to have an impact include the availability of research funding, the interests of other (typically senior) researchers in one’s own department or core group and, fortunately, the researcher’s own interests. ! chapter 3 emphasizes gap-spotting as the prevalent way of constructing social science research questions. building in part on golden-biddle and locke (2007), it describes several means of gap-spotting in social science. the authors do note, however, that the published presentation of research questions as gapspotting may be more prevalent than the actual formulation of the questions as gap-spotting, simply because the norms for presenting research questions in terms of spotting gaps are so strong. ! chapter 4 investigates the presented research questions in 119 journal articles and finds that even though some of these questions reflect “complex, constructive, and sometimes creative processes … [none of them] actually make an ambitious, deliberate attempt to challenge the assumptions underlying existing theories about the subject matter in question” (p. 41). this then limits the possibilities of their interesting and influential contribution. ! chapter 5 presents the major contribution of the book, the development of problematization as a way of generating research questions. rejecting some approaches to problematization, such as pre-packaged approaches challenging the assumptions of all non-critical studies in similar ways, the authors instead advocate a genuine problematization approach that includes challenging not only assumptions that underlie others' theoretical position but also one’s own assumptions. in fact, problematization starts with “a dialectical interrogation of one's own familiar (or home) position, other theoretical stances, and the domain of literature targeted for assumption challenging” (p. 49). ! problematization thus involves understanding the assumptions underlying a particular subject matter and then, based on this understanding, generating new types of inquiry. several methodological principles are presented “for identifying, articulating and challenging assumptions” including “(1) identifying a domain of literature; (2) identifying and articulating the assumptions underlying this domain; (3) evaluating these; (4) developing an alternative assumption ground; (5) considering it in relation to its audience; and (6) evaluating the alternative assumption ground” (p. 56). each of these is developed in depth alongside practical illustrations of scholarly papers that challenge assumptions. ! in chapter 6 alvesson and sandberg use their methodology to problematize two theories reflected in two frequently cited articles: dutton, book reviews special forum: about doing research! m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 404-409 406 dukerich and harquail’s (1994) work on the study of identity in organizations and west and zimmerman’s (1987) study of gender. they walk through all the steps developed in prior chapters as these would be used in scholarly practice. ! chapter 7 includes several reasons that explain why gap-spotting is so influential even though it reduces the chances of creating interesting theories. in particular, it highlights the social norms that regulate what is publishable or not, as indicated by the small number of approved journals in which publications “count” in many social science fields. also described are an “accumulation” norm of presenting findings in a way that shows how they explicitly add to prior literature in many fields, a “crediting” norm “which stresses the need to build on and acknowledge the work of other scholars” (p. 98), and emphasis on careful analysis and statistical treatments without comparable attention to whether the data address the major questions asked. ! alvesson and sandberg ask: who can change these norms? perhaps governments can, by changing the criteria they use to assess scholarly work and broadening the outlets that “count.” perhaps universities can, by placing greater emphasis on citation impact than on particular journals and extending time clocks for tenure. or perhaps academics can change scholarly norms by rating the innovativeness and originality of ideas more highly and allowing more room for creativity in responding to reviews. ! finally, chapter 8 summarizes the general arguments of the book and emphasizes that the authors do not advocate problematization as the only approach in formulating research questions, as sometimes gap-spotting is appropriate. they conclude by arguing in favor of theory development that actively searches for opportunities to let empirical material “inspire rethinking conventional ideas and categories” (p. 120), with the hope of finding the unanticipated, not just the predictable. one-sided dialoging with the book ! this book is interesting and inspiring in many ways. it is well worth grappling with its critiques and several thoughts come to mind following a close reading. ! first, in chapter 5 the book gives some illustrative examples of articles that have successfully challenged assumptions. the articles cited are mostly well known ones whose challenged assumptions are recognized post hoc. i wonder, however, about everyday assumption challenging. i would have liked to see the working through of this on a less “famous” level, including in articles-in-progress that attempt to challenge assumptions in a meaningful way. i have reviewed several such submissions that challenge assumptions but did so unknowingly and it is unlikely that this is what the authors have in mind. ! second, i agree with the notion that it is of value to produce interesting research and theorizing but i don’t think that producing interesting work is confined to challenging assumptions. an analysis by bartunek, rynes & ireland, 2006 (p. 12) indicates several factors – in addition to challenging assumptions – that affect how interesting an article is. these include the “quality of the article [i.e. the study itself], how well it was written, the newness of its theory and findings, the importance of its practical implications, and the extent of its impact on subsequent research.” davis’s (1971) framework, while extremely valuable, does not comprise all the potential factors that make an article interesting. ! third, my graduate training was in experimental social psychology, a discipline in which – as in similar social science disciplines – the assumption is that, once formulated, the research questions (and hypotheses) don’t change. this assumption is so widespread that it is often considered unethical if a m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 404-409! book reviews special forum: about doing research 407 question and hypothesis change midstream. however, this assumption is also casually challenged on a regular basis in organizational research: reviewers sometimes help authors think of “better” research questions that fit their data better, and, as noted above, they challenge assumptions more. is this condonable? where in the research process should challenging assumptions (ethically) be acceptable? ! fourth, the book reminds me of another type of assumption challenging. in 1974 (and then in subsequent books) argyris and schön formulated a description of double loop learning as opposed to single loop learning. single loop learning involves learning that occurs within what argyris and schön call “governing variables, terms that undoubtedly be substituted for underlying assumptions.” double loop learning, which they consider very rare, involves learning in ways that challenge these governing variables or underlying assumptions. argyris and schön developed tools to help foster double loop learning (e.g. the left-hand column and ladder of inference). these are designed to help individuals and larger groups recognize that they have an assumption ground, what it is, what it means to operate within it and, finally, challenge it. linking argyris and schön’s materials with alvesson and sandberg’s book makes it evident that what alvesson and sandberg are talking about here is something much bigger than scholarly competence, especially given their expectation that challenging assumptions should challenge one’s own assumptions, not just provide a programmed challenge to others. developing the ability to challenge one’s own and others’ scholarly assumptions involves personal development, not just intellectual dexterity. ! thus, in conclusion, this book suggests that scholarly development may also be able to foster personal cognitive development. it also indicates that activities designed to develop individual learning in practice settings – such as those discussed by argyris & schön (1974) – may also help to foster scholarly development. perhaps i should use one of these exercises next time i teach a class on how to develop theory. ! this possibility suggests a good way to end the review. alvesson and sandberg’s book – whether or not this was intentional – provides a challenge to many people’s assumptions about the links between practice and scholarship. namely, that the successful challenging of scholarly assumptions may be fostered by exercises that scholars have designed for practitioners. this is definitely not the standard assumption. wouldn’t it be interesting if their book helped to challenge that assumption? references alvesson m. & sandberg j. (2011). generating research questions through problematization.  academy of management review, 36(2), 247-271. argyris c. & schön, d.a. (1974). theory in practice: increasing professional effectiveness. new york, ny: jossey-bass. bacharach s.b. (1989). organizational theories: some criteria for evaluation. academy of management review, 14(3), 496-515. bartunek j.m., rynes s.l. & ireland d.r. (2006). what makes management research interesting, and why does it matter? academy of management journal, 49(1), 9-15. davis m.s. (1971). that's interesting! towards a phenomenology of sociology and a sociology of phenomenology, philosophy of the social sciences, 1(4), 309-44. dimaggio p.j. (1995). comments on "what theory is not". administrative science quarterly, 40(3), 391397. dutton j., dukerich j. & harquail c. (1994). organizational images and member identification. administrative science quarterly, 39(2), 239-263. golden-biddle, k. & locke k. (2007). composing qualitative research. thousand oaks, ca: sage. huff a.s. (2009). designing research for publication. los angeles, ca: sage. sandberg j. and alvesson m. (2011) ways of constructing r e s e a r c h q u e s t i o n s : g a p s p o t t i n g o r problematization? organization, 18(1), 23-44. sutton r.i. & staw, b.m. (1995). what theory is not. administrative science quarterly, 40(3), 371 384. weick, k. e. 1995. what theory is not, theorizing is. administrative science quarterly, 40(3), 385 390. book reviews special forum: about doing research! m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 404-409 408 west c. & zimmerman d.h. (1987). doing gender, gender and society, 1(2), 125-51. whetten d.a. (2009). modeling theoretic propositions. in a. s. huff, designing research for publication (pp. 217 -250). los angeles, ca: sage. www.management-aims.com m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 404-409! book reviews special forum: about doing research 409 174sarasvathy sarassarasvathy isidore horween research professor darden school of business university of virginia raghavan chair professor in entrepreneurship, indian institute of management, bangalor sarasvathys@darden.virginia.edui unplugged "carte blanche" the downside of entrepreneurial opportunities by saras sarasvathy in the original tradition of the "unplugged" section, "carte blanche" grants a wild card to world-class scholars to share their own perspective on novel ways to conceive of management today. they may offer new avenues and draw up an agenda for a specific research question. authors have to be invited to submit to the "carte blanche" series by one of the editors. abstract. the conceptualization of opportunities at the core of the research field of entrepreneurship has led to a growing stream of interesting work. this essay seeks to build on that scholarship and focus the conversation on the downside of opportunities. focusing on the downside puts the person back in the personopportunity nexus, puts the nexus into the stream of literature on occupational choice and shows how effectual logic may be applied to the occupational choice problem, especially in dealing with findings from prospect theory on loss aversion in human behavior. ! ! i have never been a fan of universal definitions for important phenomena at the heart of a field of research. on the one hand, universal definitions fail because they are never universal. there is always someone who has or comes up with a different conceptualization that merits attention. take something as simple (?) as gender. when we define gender as male and female, we leave out transgendered people. moreover, the simple dichotomy makes us blind to conceptualizing gender as a continuum, which affords relevant insights into important phenomena such as creativity (harrington & anderson, 1981; jönsson & carlsson, 2000; norlander, erixon, & archer, 2000). on the other hand, nearuniversal or generally accepted definitions that are too focused or too precise tend to narrow down a field of research in ways that are detrimental to the intellectual development of the field, even when they may enable legitimization and institutionalization. for example, if we (as some do) defined the entire field of strategic management as the pursuit of sustained competitive advantage within m@n@gement 2014, vol. 17(4): 305-315 305 mailto:sarasvathys@darden.virginia.edu mailto:sarasvathys@darden.virginia.edu mailto:sarasvathys@darden.virginia.edu mailto:sarasvathys@darden.virginia.edu existing markets, we would become blind to the possibility that markets may be endogenous to strategic action (barney, 1991; peteraf, 1993), or shy away from studying exactly when and how organizational failure could and should be firms’ chosen objective (dew, goldfarb, & sarasvathy, 2006). contrarian perspectives have been an integral part of intellectual progress, be it godel’s challenge to formal mathematics (smullyan, 1992) or arrow’s impossibility theorem, which shook the foundations of welfare economics (arrow, 1950). ! yet some broad agreement on a cluster of loosely related definitions can be useful and may even be necessary for a field to come together at the core and cumulate knowledge in a rigorous way. conceptualizations of “opportunities” serve this less sweeping yet more valuable purpose in the field of entrepreneurship. i deliberately use the plural here not only because there are several different kinds of entrepreneurial opportunities in the world but also because there are a multiplicity of definitions of entrepreneurial opportunities even within the field of research as practiced by scholars in the academy of management. and that, in my opinion, is a positive thing. ! let us consider a few examples. note that my selection is most likely neither complete nor representative. it is simply an ad hoc assembly that allows us to glimpse at once the difficulties and possibilities of placing opportunities at the heart of entrepreneurship research while acknowledging their importance and value from practical and pedagogical standpoints. ! in his seminal essay on the distinctive domain of entrepreneurship, venkataraman (1997) proposes that “entrepreneurship as a scholarly field seeks to understand how opportunities to bring into existence "future" goods and services are discovered, created, and exploited, by whom, and with what consequences” (1997: 120; italics in the original). this puts opportunities at the center of the field of research. but venkataraman (1997) does not define entrepreneurial opportunities per se. his later, better-known and highly cited coauthored article appears to build on casson’s definition of opportunities, as follows: entrepreneurial opportunities are those situations in which new goods, services, raw materials, and organizing methods can be introduced and sold at greater than their cost of production (casson, 1982). although recognition of entrepreneurial opportunities is a subjective process, the opportunities themselves are objective phenomena that are not known to all parties at all times (shane & venkataraman, 2000). ! this definition has led to ontological debates in the field as to whether opportunities are objective constructs or subjective perceptions (alvarez & barney, 2013; dimov, 2007, 2011; eckhardt & shane, 2013; mcmullen, plummer, & acs, 2007; sarason, dean, & dillard, 2006; vaghely & julien, 2010), whether they can be perceived ex ante even if they exist objectively at all (davidsson, 2003; dimov, 2011), and whether they are generated by forces external to the entrepreneurial process or endogenous to the actions of entrepreneurs (de carolis & saparito, 2006; sarasvathy, dew, velamuri, & venkataraman, 2003; venkataraman, sarasvathy, dew, & forster, 2012). shane has argued rather firmly that opportunities arise from technological, demographic, and regulatory changes largely outside the entrepreneurial process (shane, 2000). i have argued otherwise, mentioning sources that are not antithetical to the three which shane mentions but additional to them (sarasvathy, 2008). my view, shared by my colleague and co-author venkataraman, is that there is no need to make an absolute choice between these alternative points of view. instead, the debates are pointing to a taxonomy that can form a productive basis for research using multiple theoretical perspectives and every empirical method imaginable. m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 305-315! "carte blanche" 306 ! while a variety of spirited debates continue on the pros and cons of treating opportunities as the central phenomena of entrepreneurship research, empirical work has flourished around the recognition, discovery, and creation, amongst other things, of opportunities, for-profit, nonprofit and social ventures, and even new markets and new institutions (corbett, 2007; corner & ho, 2010; dutta & crossan, 2005; mueller, 2007; saemundsson & dahlstrand, 2005; van gelderen, van der sluis, & jansen, 2005). yet almost all this research emphasizes the upside potential of opportunities, with downside issues either ignored or relegated to heuristics and biases of one kind or another. for example, the literature stream on occupational choice models entrepreneurial opportunities as the probability of achieving risk-adjusted expected return (amit, muller, & cockburn, 1995; douglas & shepherd, 2000; evans & jovanovic, 1989; kihlstrom & laffont, 1979). the literature stream on overconfidence bias argues that entrepreneurs tend to overestimate the upside potential, thereby underestimating downside risk (baron, 2000; busenitz & barney, 1997; camerer & lovallo, 1999). in general, extant research on opportunities pays less attention to how entrepreneurs think about, manage, and cope with downside risk than how they perceive, pursue, and achieve the upside potential of opportunities. ! the very word “opportunity” has positive connotations. it brings to mind success, achievement, prosperity, and even health and happiness. the word entices. we instinctively suspect that even those who fear the downside sigh in wishful fantasies about the upside. it brings to mind self-help books that urge us to view our misfortunes as opportunities. merely “seeing” something as an opportunity, it seems, can deliver us from the downside. the shining clarity of the upside enables—nay, empowers—us to overcome any risks it may entail or any hurdles that may come our way in its pursuit. ! yet the most compelling opportunities are the ones where the upside is not clear, but the downside is clear or can be defined and brought within one’s control (dew, sarasvathy, read, & wiltbank, 2009). for if the upside is clear, that will attract a multitude of competitors, many of whom may be better suited both in terms of talent and treasure to pursue it. with the downside under control, and the upside unclear, it is highly likely that only those who care about the upside in ways other than externally defined metrics of “winning” will pursue the opportunity. in other words, unclear upsides act as selection mechanisms that cue in intrinsic motivation. more importantly, intrinsically motivated entrepreneurs and their stakeholders will seek not merely to reach the upside they care about, but to keep pushing its frontiers upward even as they achieve it. the rest of this essay is an elaboration of this argument. ! many of my insights into questions worth pursuing in research come from the classroom and interactions with students struggling with practical issues which arise when starting, running, and growing new ventures. in terms of entrepreneurial opportunities, i have encountered at least four typical situations with which my students struggle. for ease of reading and for the fun of writing, i will first introduce the four scenarios in theatrical fashion (also illustrated in figure 1 for readers who find my tastes in drama a little tedious). thereafter, i will show how these scenarios fit into a model of entrepreneurial opportunities organized according to both upside and downside aspects of each opportunity. "carte blanche"! m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 305-315 307 figure 1. upside and downside salience of entrepreneurial opportunities curtains rise: passionate peter ! we have all encountered peter. perhaps we even believe peter is the only “true” entrepreneur. peter is passionate about his venture idea. in fact, it is not merely an idea to him. he is convinced that his venture is doable and worth doing and that he should do it without regard to the downside. failure is not an option for peter. and he has a thousand arguments why the upside is going to be great, even overwhelming. he has data; he has passion; he is persistent. peter is not on the job market. while his classmates are sweating in suits trying to line up as many interviews as they can, peter is busy working on his venture, making prototypes, presentations and pitches. peter is usually distracted in class. while he has no problems calling up customers and investors and energetically moving them toward deals, he finds it very difficult to compromise if those deals don’t happen on his own terms. peter doesn’t often seek out meetings during office hours, but every time i see him in or out of my office, he has exciting stories of potential progress and previous triumphs over obstacles of all kinds. no cautionary tales about downside possibilities bring peter’s enthusiasm down; he simply does not hear them. the lights dim: level-headed laura ! laura is very different from peter. laura has already lined up a job, but she is also keen on starting a venture sooner or later in life, and preferably sooner. laura too has been working hard on her venture, collecting data, building prototypes, and constructing pitch-decks. she is busy setting up meetings with potential stakeholders to garner commitments and is often in my room asking for advice on how to deal with decisions facing her: what to change vs what to fight for; how to respond to new opportunities that some of these changes open up; which stakeholders to heed and which to ignore; and so on. perhaps because of this, laura is bullish about her efforts and yet not entirely sure what the upside will be or how big or how close. laura’s biggest struggle is with calculating her m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 305-315! "carte blanche" 308 affordable loss. she keeps bringing up the opportunity-cost issue and repeatedly asks me how she will know whether to walk away from her job offer or not. a firm knock on the door: confident candice ! candice does not like sharing her idea with others. she asked the most detailed questions on intellectual property in class. she is not keen on cofounders and would prefer to go it alone. she is very attentive in class and is most likely to raise her hand, along with endless doubts about how and why certain actions and techniques and advice may or may not work for her particular venture. like peter, candice is convinced about the upside of her venture and is not open to substantive changes suggested by stakeholders. unlike peter, however, she definitely craves external validation before she will take the plunge. and like laura, candice has lined up a job that she admits she does not much care about given her passion for her new venture. after several meetings with her, i convinced her to reach out to a variety of stakeholders, including top managers of existing companies that she sees as her competitors. she is now in my office on the verge of tears because one of them made her a job offer to build her venture within his company. of course, she is now even more convinced about the upside of the opportunity and is sad and mad that she followed my advice and did not go at it alone. the phone rings: aspiring ajay ! ajay is an alumnus who graduated five years ago and has since then been working in industry and doing very well. ajay tells me he is finally ready to take the plunge. he has a couple of different venture ideas, all within the industry he has been working in. he laughs and recalls the bird-in-hand principle. he explains that he has been building relationships with key stakeholders and that he is now ready to ask some of them to come aboard his new venture. i ask ajay about his family situation and savings and whether he has thought through his affordable loss in terms of time, money, and emotion. ajay answers in the affirmative. he then goes on to describe possible revenue models for his ideas and what it might take to secure them. his excitement becomes more evident as he talks but he invites me to shoot holes in his premises and asks if he can see me in person for a more detailed discussion. when i ask him if the meeting is to decide whether to leave his job to start the venture, ajay replies calmly that he’s already given notice to his employer, so the meeting is to focus on execution of the new venture. ! it is not difficult to imagine specific opportunities that fit each of these theatrical scenarios; the theoretical insight embedded in them reveals itself, however, when we imagine these four scenarios around the exact same venture idea or opportunity. theoretical framework ! in developing theoretical insights as suggested above, we need to tackle the ontological problem of whether opportunities are found or made. even if we take an ontologically objective stance towards the single opportunity that our four potential entrepreneurs are exploring, we need to consider two ex-post cases: one in which the perceived opportunity is realized and one in which it fails to materialize. ! the first theoretical insight that comes to mind here is the notion of personopportunity nexus. even when the opportunity exists in an ontologically objective "carte blanche"! m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 305-315 309 manner, the particular beliefs and circumstances of each potential entrepreneur make the decision facing them fundamentally different. assuming that all four students are capable of executing well on their ventures, we can connect their immediate decisions with eventual outcomes in certain practically informed yet theoretically useful ways. case 1: perceived opportunity is realized ! peter would naturally pursue the opportunity without worrying about the downside and so will reap the upside benefits of it. laura, meanwhile, may decide not to pursue it and hence lose out on the eventual upside. candice, like peter, will likely pursue the opportunity, but, unlike peter, she will reap only a part of the upside since she has to share a large portion of it with her employer. ajay, like peter and candice, will also pursue the opportunity and avail himself of the upside to the same extent, or almost the same extent, as peter. the only difference is that ajay will probably sleep more soundly more often than peter. ! this is because beliefs about the opportunity and individual circumstances are not entirely independent. beliefs about the opportunity may also influence the circumstances of the potential entrepreneur. peter, for example, did not even look for a job and so does not have to deal with the opportunity-cost problem that prevented laura from seizing the opportunity. similarly, actions to shore up the downside influence circumstances and beliefs. the job offer from a potential competitor convinces candice about the upside, while ajay’s savings and network of high potential contacts allow him to sleep better at night. case 2: perceived opportunity fails to materialize ! in this case, laura is unaffected since she did not pursue the opportunity. candice may simply settle into her job and move on to other projects within the company employing her. peter and ajay, however, face rather stark choices now. peter can either continue to persist for as long as he is physically able or give up in despair as reality hits him sooner or later. ajay, too, has to face the decision to quit. since control over the downside is important to him, he is likely to face that decision sooner than peter. depending on when he decides to quit, ajay can either go back on the job market or start another venture after taking inventory of his bird-in-hand resources and affordable loss considerations at the moment of quitting on the failed opportunity. case 3: perceived opportunities are endogenous to action ! an entirely different case to consider is when our four students perceive the opportunity at hand not as exogenous to their actions but as subject to being shaped and even constructed through their actions. in this case, all four students are likely to pursue the opportunity they perceive. the way they pursue it is likely to be very different, however. peter will probably chart a visionary path searching for true believers and learning to pitch, sell, convince, compel, and persuade stakeholders to work with him. to the extent that he finds these stakeholders, he is likely to succeed in making his vision a reality. laura, on the other hand, will likely proceed in a more causal fashion, relying on external data, customer validation, and investor input to build the venture of her dreams. like peter, since she is not inclined to deviate from her vision, laura will succeed only to the extent that like-minded people sign on to work with her. unlike peter, however, since she worries more about the downside, she is likely to move more slowly and prudently. hence, while the venture she ends up building may be smaller than peter’s, it will most probably endure better. yet, laura’s success is subject to the m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 305-315! "carte blanche" 310 same constraint as peter’s, namely an unwillingness to change the original vision in response to input from others. ! without that constraint, candice and ajay will not only be able to shape the perceived opportunity into new venture success, but they are also likely to come up with more opportunities along the way, and those opportunities will be more innovative in nature. since they are not tethered to a pre-determined vision of the opportunity and maintain a constructive stance toward opportunities in general, they remain free to innovate, morph, and create. given that candice builds her opportunities within an existing firm while ajay ventures on his own, however, their long-term outcomes may turn out to be very different as well. ! notice, however, that while peter and laura may be focusing their constructive energies too narrowly on their own visions, candice and ajay may very well spread themselves too thinly over a variety of exciting possibilities that distract them from building any one of them to endure and thrive. it is here, of course, that proceeding effectually, through pre-commitments from self-selected stakeholders, becomes a useful lesson for potential entrepreneurs to learn. case 4: accidental opportunities ! in the theoretical framework and theatrical scenarios constructed thus far, i have assumed a certain amount of rational thought and deliberate choice on the part of my students. this is of course an artifact of casting my entire theatrical production with mba students. in the real world, people often start ventures without resort to such cognitive deliberations. they may be: pushed through necessity (grameen families in bangladesh) or contingency, in response to life’s tragedies (steve mariotti, founder of nfte, and slavica singer, founder of the entrepreneurship program at the university of osijek) and unanticipated windfalls (cynthia stafford, founder of queen nefertari productions); or may start ventures as a joke (gary dahl, founder of pet rock), or to enact quixotic visions (17th century scottish entrepreneur william paterson), or through utopian zeal (kellogg), and may even be dragged reluctantly into another person’s ambitions (the original founders of starbucks, and kiran mazumdar-shaw, founder of biocon). ! while i am sympathetic to critics who see my theoretical “framework” above as an unjustified attempt to impose neat theoretical “stories” on the giddy, irrational, messy, emotional, animal spirits of actual entrepreneurship set in the mud of kierkegaard’s existential reality, i would still like to doggedly advocate the importance and usefulness of such “stories”, even when applied to the more human and humane list in case 4 here. in fact, i would argue that the framework is particularly useful for incorporating the people, ventures, and opportunities on this list precisely because these entrepreneurs exemplify the importance of intrinsic motivation disconnected from the predictable consequences deemed desirable through extrinsic metrics. it is precisely because viable and valuable ventures often arise from human action that is not consequence-driven within a “rational” rubric of some sort that we need to focus, embrace, and leverage the downside rather than the upside of entrepreneurship opportunities. ! in sum, in all four cases in the foregoing exposition, i have argued the need to more explicitly incorporate the downside potential of opportunities into our research. yet this line of argument might immediately raise a few flags for behavioral scholars, especially those working within the venerable stream of research in prospect theory (kahneman & tversky, 1979, 1984). "carte blanche"! m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 305-315 311 how does the current framework dovetail with prospect theory? ! prospect theory has demonstrated the fact that human beings are more averse to losses than they are motivated by gains. my urging potential entrepreneurs to come to grips with downside possibilities before they even begin seems to fly in the face of findings about loss aversion. wouldn’t paying attention to the downside reduce the number of people wanting to start ventures in the first place? furthermore, given the growing policy and financial incentives designed to entice more people to become entrepreneurs, would the framework presented here not become counter-productive to those worthwhile efforts? ! well, yes and no. ! yes. and that would be a good thing, because i am not at all convinced about the value of “incentivizing” more people to start ventures. first, such incentives may constitute a perverse selection mechanism whereby people start ventures not because they want to, but because the incentives entice them to, both by removing liquidity constraints and by increasing the “cool” factor of entrepreneurship. consider this in light of what we know from creativity research, namely that intrinsic motivation is the strongest predictor of innovation (amabile, 1996; sternberg, 1999). ! second, this selecting of people without intrinsic motivation is further propelled by the fact that most incentives are designed without rigorous investigations into what potential entrepreneurs actually value or want or should value and want. in a recent empirical examination of this issue, ramesh, dew, read, and sarasvathy (2014) found that the incentives potential entrepreneurs value the most actually cost less to provide than the resources policymakers currently spend in the (mostly) financial incentives they offer. ! third, these incentives divert valuable taxpayer resources away from more effective, albeit long-term, investments such as education, including entrepreneurship education toward a short-sighted race to the bottom, where cities and countries compete to offer more and more enticements that cost them more and more money. this frenetic competition has the unhealthy side effect of ignoring and even shutting out existing entrepreneurs who are beginning to do well and could perhaps use those resources to scale up to create more jobs and income growth. moreover, it also disincentivizes those who failed in their first venture but have learned valuable lessons that could lead them to restart more efficacious ones next. ! fourth, a larger percentage of people who become entrepreneurs in response to financial incentives rather than through intrinsic motivation are likely to fail, and as the failure rate increases, fewer people are likely to be intrinsically motivated to venture in the future. ! and no. because, by limiting incentives and expanding entrepreneurship beyond potential entrepreneurs, we could actually end up with more, higherquality jobs while reducing the number of ventures started. ! in a recent article, my co-author and i showed why conceptualizing entrepreneurship as a method rather than as a phenomenon could be of considerable importance (sarasvathy & venkataraman, 2011). there we offered an analogy with the history of the scientific method and also contrasted the constituent elements of both methods. here, i would like to offer a counterfactual argument. what if we had decided to treat the rise of science in the way that we are approaching the rise of entrepreneurship? what if we had “incentivized” potential scientists instead of educating them, starting with everyone in m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 305-315! "carte blanche" 312 elementary and middle school and slowly beginning to broaden and deepen applications in high school, then offering specializations and expertise through undergraduate and graduate programs? what if we had decided what to teach at each level by focusing on successful versus unsuccessful scientists rather than painstakingly working out the internal logic, practical techniques, and experiential teaching methods based on actual experiences of working scientists? ! this brings me back to the content of the entrepreneurial method that we need to be teaching to everyone just as we teach science. developing the content of this method without falling prey to post-hoc theorizing based on socalled “success factors” requires us to invest in careful thinking. this thinking should square with extant findings from rigorous research into human experience and build on the history of ideas to date. in other words, should the content of the entrepreneurial method emerge from the actual experiences of entrepreneurs, both successful and otherwise, but ignore human experience more broadly? this is clearly not the case, hence the need to pay attention to well-established theories from outside the field of entrepreneurship as well. prospect theory is a case in point. ! loss aversion is a fact of human behavior. not only do we dislike losses, but we tend to go even further out of our way to avoid them than we would to obtain gains. at first glance, this suggests that some form of denial about the downside would be an appropriate strategy for encouraging potential entrepreneurs to actually take the plunge. however, experienced entrepreneurs learn the hard way that denial may not be the best or only strategy here. a more useful strategy might be to actively gain control over the downside through the affordable loss principle. ! affordable loss has at least two components, one independent of the opportunity being envisioned or designed and the other closely intertwining the person and the opportunity. potential entrepreneurs can calculate their idiosyncratic affordable loss without taking into account any particular venture opportunity. the only opportunity of interest here is the opportunity to become an entrepreneur. this calculation entails pre-committing to certain outer bounds on investment such as time, money, effort, and emotion. a potential entrepreneur can say to herself, “i am willing to invest about 10% of my current savings and a year of nights and weekends in building this opportunity.” ! in parallel or subsequent to this calculation she can define a set of bounds on her willingness to lose on particular opportunities. depending on individual circumstances, beliefs, and abilities, potential entrepreneurs might start with one or more opportunities. they may even start with none, simply generating possible venture ideas or initial courses of action based on who they are and what and whom they know. choices depend less on upside potential than on whether particular opportunities are worth pursuing or creating, even if the entrepreneur ends up losing whatever she has set aside as affordable loss. this focuses the decision maker’s attention on the value of the upside potential in non-financial terms. in other words, the opportunities envisioned have to cross the higher threshold of loss aversion rather than the lower one of gain-seeking. the potential entrepreneur is no longer deducting the probability of failing from the expected gains, but examining the value of the venture in terms of certain failure and asking if it would still be worth attempting. the tough love embodied in this criterion has the opposite psychological effect of upside incentives. it cues in intrinsic motivation. it forges prospect theory into an effective selection mechanism. finally, it is less costly for taxpayers. ! in sum, a focus on the downside such as the incessant repetition in the media and even in academic journals about exaggerated failure rates and biases such as overconfidence may disincentivize potential entrepreneurs, including those who are intrinsically motivated. when combined with financial incentives that increase entry that in turn increase exit, this tom-tomming of the downside "carte blanche"! m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 305-315 313 gains momentum and serves to further increase the disincentives to start new ventures . however, training potential entrepreneurs to proactively control the downside, both in personal terms and in terms of the opportunities they envision, will have the opposite effect. beginning with affordable loss calculations and learning techniques such as bootstrapping and bricolage can not only encourage potential entrepreneurs to start ventures, but also cue in intrinsic motivation and even reduce actual costs of failure, should failure occur, thereby increasing potential restarts in the future. ! now consider the possible impact of teaching these techniques not only to potential entrepreneurs but to everyone, as part of the broader education system, starting earlier rather than later in elementary to high school. what an opportunity that would be for the human species! the question facing us is not whether we can afford to take the plunge, but whether we can afford not to. references alvarez, s. a., & barney, j. b. (2013). epistemology, opportunities, and entrepreneurship: comments on venkataraman et al.(2012) and shane (2012). academy of management review, 38(1), 154-157. amabile, t. m. (1996). creativity and innovation in organizations, boston, ma: harvard business school. amit, r., muller, e., & cockburn, i. (1995). opportunity costs and entrepreneurial activity. journal of business venturing, 10(2), 95-106. arrow, k. j. (1950). a difficulty in the concept of social welfare. the journal of political economy, 58(4), 328-346. barney, j. (1991). firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. journal of management, 17(1), 99-120. baron, r. a. (2000). counterfactual thinking and venture formation: the potential effects of thinking about "what might have been". journal of business venturing, 15(1), 79-91. busenitz, l. w., & barney, j. b. (1997). differences between entrepreneurs and managers in large organizations: biases and heuristics in strategic decision-making. journal of business venturing, 12(1), 9-30. camerer, c., & lovallo, d. (1999). overconfidence and excess entry: an experimental approach. the american economic review, 89(1), 306-318. corbett, a. c. (2007). learning asymmetries and the discovery of entrepreneurial opportunities. journal of business venturing, 22(1), 97-118. corner, p. d., & ho, m. (2010). how opportunities develop in social entrepreneurship. entrepreneurship: theory & practice, 34(4): 635-659. davidsson, p. (2003). the domain of entrepreneurship research: some suggestions. in j. a. katz, d. a. shepherd (ed.) cognitive approaches to entrepreneurship research (advances in entrepreneurship, firm emergence and growth), 6: 315-372. bingley: emerald group publishing. de carolis, d. m., & saparito, p. (2006). social capital, cognition, and entrepreneurial opportunities: a theoretical framework. entrepreneurship: theory & practice, 30(1), 41-56. dew, n., goldfarb, b., & sarasvathy, s. (2006). optimal inertia: when organizations should fail. in j.a.c. baum, s.d. dobrev, a. van witteloostuijn (ed.), ecology and strategy (advances in strategic management), 23, 73-99, bingley, emerald group publishing limited. dew, n., sarasvathy, s. d., read, s., & wiltbank, r. (2009). affordable loss: behavioral economic aspects of the plunge decision. strategic entrepreneurship journal, 3(2), 105-126. dimov, d. (2007). beyond the single-person, singleinsight attribution in understanding entrepreneurial opportunities. entrepreneurship: theory & practice, 31(5), 713-731. dimov, d. (2011). grappling with the unbearable e l u s i v e n e s s o f e n t r e p r e n e u r i a l o p p o r t u n i t i e s . entrepreneurship theory and practice, 35(1), 57-81. d o u g l a s , e . j . , & s h e p h e r d , d . a . ( 2 0 0 0 ) . entrepreneurship as a utility maximizing response. journal of business venturing, 15(3), 231-251. dutta, d. k., & crossan, m. m. (2005). the nature of entrepreneurial opportunities: understanding the process using the 4i organizational learning framework. entrepreneurship: theory & practice, 29(4), 425-449. eckhardt, j. t., & shane, s. a. (2013). response to the commentaries: the individual-opportunity (io) nexus integrates objective and subjective aspects of entrepreneurship. academy of management review, 38(1), 160-163. evans, d. s., & jovanovic, b. (1989). an estimated model of entrepreneurial choice under liquidity constraints. the journal of political economy, 97(4), 808-827. harrington, d. m., & anderson, s. m. (1981). creativity, m a s c u l i n i t y, f e m i n i n i t y, a n d t h r e e m o d e l s o f psychological androgyny. journal of personality and social psychology, 41(4), 744. jönsson, p., & carlsson, i. (2000). androgyny and creativity: a study of the relationship between a b a l a n c e d s e x‐r o l e a n d c r e a t i v e f u n c t i o n i n g . scandinavian journal of psychology, 41(4), 269-274. kahneman, d., & tversky, a. (1979). prospect theory: an analysis of decision under risk. econometrica, 47(2), 263-291. m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 305-315! "carte blanche" 314 kahneman, d., & tversky, a. (1984), choices, values, and frames. american psychologist, 39(4), 341. kihlstrom, r. e., & laffont, j. j. (1979), a general equilibrium entrepreneurial theory of firm formation based on risk aversion. the journal of political economy, 87(4), 719-748. mcmullen, j. s., plummer, l. a., & acs, z. j. (2007). what is an entrepreneurial opportunity? small business economics, 28(4), 273-283. m u e l l e r, p. ( 2 0 0 7 ) . e x p l o i t i n g e n t r e p r e n e u r i a l opportunities: the impact of entrepreneurship on growth. small business economics, 28(4), 355-362. norlander, t., erixon, a., & archer, t. (2000). psychological androgyny and creativity: dynamics of gender-role and personality trait. social behavior and personality: an international journal, 28(5), 423-435. peteraf, m. a. (1993), the cornerstones of competitive advantage: a resource‐based view. strategic management journal, 14(3), 179-191. ramesh, a., dew, n., read, s., & sarasvathy, s. d. (2014). the market for entrepreneurs. working paper. saemundsson, r. g., & dahlstrand, ö. l. (2005). how business opportunities constrain young technologybased firms from growing into medium-sized firms. small business economics, 24(2), 113-129. sarason, y., dean, t., & dillard, j. f. (2006). entrepreneurship as the nexus of individual and opportunity: a structuration view. journal of business venturing, 21(3), 286-305. sarasvathy, s. d. (2008). effectuation: elements of entrepreneurial expertise. cheltenham: edward elgar. sarasvathy, s. d., dew, n., velamuri, s. r., & ve n k a t a r a m a n , s . ( 2 0 0 3 ) . t h r e e v i e w s o f entrepreneurial opportunity. in z. j. acs, & d. b. audretsch (eds.), handbook of entrepreneurship research: an interdisciplinary survey and introduction, 1, 141-160, new york, ny: springer. sarasvathy, s. d., & venkataraman, s. (2011). entrepreneurship as method: open questions for an entrepreneurial future. entrepreneurship: theory and practice, 35(1), 113-135. shane, s., & venkataraman, s. (2000). the promise of entrepreneurship as a field of research. academy of management review, 25(1), 217-226. shane, s. a. (2000). a general theory of entrepreneurship: the individual-opportunity nexus, cheltenham: edward elgar publishing. smullyan, r. m. (1992). gödel's incompleteness theorems, oxford: oxford university press. sternberg, r. j. (1999). handbook of creativity, cambridge, ma: cambridge university press. vaghely, i. p., & julien, p.-a. (2010). are opportunities recognized or constructed?: an information perspective on entrepreneurial opportunity identification. journal of business venturing, 25(1), 73-86. van gelderen, m., van der sluis, l., & jansen, p. (2005). learning opportunities and learning behaviours of small business starters: relations with goal achievement, skill development and satisfaction. small business economics, 25(1), 97-108. venkataraman, s. (1997), the distinctive domain of entrepreneurship research, bingley: jai press. venkataraman, s., sarasvathy, s. d., dew, n., & forster, w. r. (2012). reflexions on the 2010 amr decade award: whither the promise? moving forward with entrepreneurship as a science of the artificial. academy of management review, 37(1), 21-33. © the author(s) www.management-aims.com "carte blanche"! m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 305-315 315 http://www.management-aims.com http://www.management-aims.com 53zafirovski milan zafirovski 2002 the social construction of production: an application of economic sociology, m@n@gement, 5(2): 147-174. m@n@gement is a double-blind reviewed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.dmsp.dauphine.fr/management/ © 2001 m@n@gement and the author(s). issn: 1286-4892 editors: martin evans, u. of toronto bernard forgues, u. of paris 12 http://www.dmsp.dauphine.fr/management/ http://www.dmsp.dauphine.fr/management/ m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 2, 2002, 147-174 147 milan zafirovski university of north texasdepartment of sociology email: milanzafir@yahoo.com the social construction of production: an application of economic sociology the purported contribution of this paper is acknowledging the social character of production and related activities, as well as continuing a line of cognate research within economic sociology. the paper’s key assumption is the social, including institutional, cultural and historical, construction of production, particularly its market-based types. the purpose of this paper is to show that market-based and (superficially) gain-seeking production, just as distribution, exchange and consumption, is a dependent variable of certain social conditions rather than being a natural universal. with that purpose in mind, the paper proceeds in the following way. the first section sets the stage for the analysis of production processes by reconsidering the neoclassical production function within economics. the second section outlines and contrasts pluralist (socioeconomic) and single-cause (purely economic) approaches to production and related phenomena. in the third section the pluralist approach is put in work by redefining production and identifying nonproductive gain-seeking methods. the approach is subject to tentative empirical evaluation in the fourth section by adducing the pertinent evidence with bearing on production and related economic processes. a concluding section discusses some theoretical and methodological implications of the preceding. the neoclassical production function revisited in the neoclassical production function, y = f(k, l)—as anticipated by marginalists like wicksell (1954) and formulated by cobb and douglas the present article represents an attempt at analyzing the social construction of production activities under a market economy. for that purpose, attempts are made to identify some social forces underlying and determining these activities. such forces are exemplified in the exogenous, especially institutional, political and cultural, conditioning of capitalist production. the article also reviews relevant evidence to empirically evaluate the premise of the social construction of production. the article’s purpose is to contribute toward the growing literature in the social construction of economic, including managerial, behavior. mailto:milanzafir@yahoo.com m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 3, 2002, 147-174 148 milan zafirovski in the late 1920s—output or product (y) is a homogeneous (degree one) function of two productive factors or inputs, namely capital (k) and labor (l), whose shares are assumed constant (cobb and douglas, 1928; klump and de la grandville, 2000). this is simply a «standard, neoclassical, constant-returns-to-scale aggregate production function», though with a potential for diminishing returns1 (weitzman, 1996: 207) suggested by the principle of diminishing marginal productivity. thus, the cobb-douglas function specifies the relations of output to these two inputs by estimating coefficients of elasticity (percentage changes) of production with respect to labor (0.3) and capital (0.7), respectively. in particular, the cobb-douglass capital coefficient of output elasticity (0.7) is seen as a main variable in the production function, though in the schumpeterian model (schumpeter, 1939) this coefficient is lower (e.g., 0.5-0.6) than its estimates under the «maintained hypothesis of neoclassical theory» (howitt, 2000: 830). a generalization of the cobb-douglas is the solow (1957: 312) production function aiming at «offering a bit of variety» by introducing technological progress with an exponential rate over long periods without changes in labor and capital. however, this generalization still envisions the possibility of ever-increasing per capita output, even with no technical progress, but due to increases in capital, with a threshold saving rate assumed to generate investments large enough for this output to grow forever (klump and de la grandville, 2000). another generalization is the klem production function (klein, 1983), y = f(k, l, e, m), which links output with, alongside capital and labor, other inputs like energy (e) and materials (m) (thus reflecting the impact of the oil crisis in the early 1970s). the common thread of these formulations of the neoclassical production function is viewing the latter as a technical construction (williamson, 1998). the underlying premise is that some combination of inputs generates a definite level of output in a mechanical, almost automatic manner, just as combining chemical elements produces a composite in a technological process. on this account, it looks like a chemical or technological formula saying that to obtain a given composite or output requires mixing in definite proportions certain doses of elements or inputs. no wonder, these proportions are called “technical coefficients” of production or of elasticity of substitution of productive factors, and the ratio of inputs to output the “marginal rate of transformation” in a technological sense. such a production function thus evinces a mechanical and technological bias, a characteristic common for neoclassical economics in its effort to model itself after physics and mechanics. an alternative path from economic sociology is treating the production function as consisting of a complex social process rather than a chemical-like or technological one. this treatment presupposes «recognizing that the agents in the economy are human» (thaler, 1991: xxi), that economic processes involve relations between humans rather than between inputs, outputs and other quantities. notably, it describes managers, entrepreneurs and producers as «human decision-makers [having] very human limitations [and dealing with a] very complex and 1. however, weitzman (1996: 208) argues that the expansionary power of a combinatoric growth process tends to overwhelm the «potential diminishing returns of a neoclassical production function.» m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 2, 2002, 147-174 149 social construction of production demanding world» (thaler, 1991: 22). hence, production becomes a domain of social action, a set of relations between such human agents as different from those between technological elements (inputs) and composites (output). however, humans participate in production as well as other economic processes as social creatures rather than as “natural” persons or asocial creatures in the image of robinson crusoe (dimaggio, 1994). however, to say that production is a social process done by human beings is not enough to counter the technical conception of it. a more effective counter-argument would be that, like the economy overall, production is a matter in managerial coordination and social organization, and thus, as j. s. mill put it long ago, “human institution”. this makes an organizational or institutional perspective on production a meaningful and legitimate endeavor. according to this perspective, producer (and other) firms are social organizations and institutions, including governance structures, not technological production functions, thus organizational rather than technical constructions2 (williamson, 1998: 75-77). further, technical production functions are rooted in certain institutional orders that are contingent on the conditions of the social environment, as stressed by institutional economics. for the sake of treating production as a matter in social action and organization, an additional useful organizational perspective can be xefficiency and related theories emphasizing governance aspects in economic organizations. x-efficiency theory notes that standard microeconomics cannot cope with the sub-optimal allocation of managers as an important type of inefficiency or distortion in production while centering on relative price and quantity distortions or allocative inefficiency (leibenstein, 1966). since managerial actors determine both their own productivity and that of all cooperating units in an organization, the actual loss caused by such a misallocation of resources can be substantial, even larger than that due to price/quantity distortions. however, standard microeconomics precludes examining this problem by assuming that firms are entities making automatic optimalinput decisions apart from those, often sub-optimal, of its managers as human decision makers, which is an obvious contradiction and thus cannot be coped with. alternatively, x-efficiency—i.e. an undefined type—is generally associated with effective managerial decision-making and thus the behavior of human actors in production by contrast to allocative efficiency which mainstream economics attributes to the reallocation of resources (e.g., eliminating monopoly and tariffs). the specific determinants and forms of x-efficiency include intra-plant motivational, external motivational and non-market input efficiencies. obviously, motivation or incentive is a major though not the only factor and component of x-efficiency thus understood. for example, in organizations in which motivation is weak, management is likely to allow a considerable slack in its operation and not seek cost-improving methods, though x-efficiency theory depends in no way on the assumption of cost-minimization and profit maximization by all firms3. that x-efficiency is a matter of managerial and thus human motivation and conduct in production is indicated by the «simple fact» that indi2. in this connection, williamson (1998:75-77) makes a suggestion for treating firms as governance structures rather than production functions, the first being organizational constructions, and the second technical constructions as conceived in conventional microeconomic theory. 3. according to leibenstein and maital (1992: 433), the «site of the battleground between opponents of x-efficiency and its adherents has often been the concept of maximization: whether individuals and firms always maximize utility or profit. x-efficiency is based on (…) the max/nonmax postulate, which allows for, but never precludes, maximizing behavior.» m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 3, 2002, 147-174 150 milan zafirovski viduals and organizations do not work as hard as they are expected to do by received theory (leibenstein, 1966: 407). hence, if x-efficiency is reportedly much more significant than its allocative form, this implies that production is more of a problem of human coordination and social organization than of a mechanical combination of inputs into outputs or an automatic allocation of resources by an invisible hand. thus, improvements in x-efficiency are found to be a more important factor of increased production than those in allocative efficiency. in a recent empirical estimation, amounts gained by increasing allocative efficiency are trivial in contrast to those from decreasing x-inefficiency as frequently significant (leibenstein and maital, 1992). hence, x-(in)efficiency and thus the human managerial element is far from being a random component but a determinative factor in production and other activities in organizations4. a hinted above, the neoclassical production function assumes that the relations between inputs and outputs are fully determinate to the effect of the former having a fixed specification and yielding a fixed performance, just as those between chemical elements and composites in a technological process. presumably, certain technical coefficients of production indicating the ratio or elasticity of substitution between capital and labor will generate determinate quantities of output as indicated by the marginal rate of transformation of the former into the latter, by analogy to transforming definite chemical elements into a composite. however, x-efficiency theory argues that the relationship between inputs and outputs in the process of production is not determinate in a technological sense. thus, contrary to the conventional assumption, inputs can have a fixed technical coefficient or specification and yields a variable rather than fixed output or performance, as well as both variable specification and performance, as shown by many labor services. and x-inefficiency relates to the possibility for obtaining variable rather than fixed output and performance from given units of inputs. the main reasons for this in-determinacy lie in, first, contract incompleteness, second, the non-market character of some factors of production, third, lack of complete specification or knowledge of the production function, and, fourth, competing firms’ tendency to tacit cooperation as well as imitation with respect to technique due to interdependence and uncertainty. for instance, labor contracts are often incomplete or implicit, as a large part in them is left to customs, authority and motivational techniques available to management, even to individual discretion and judgment. also, the production function is not always fully specified and known, given the lack of accurate knowledge or predictions of what will happen in the case of changes in the technical coefficients or input ratios. additionally, some important production factors are often not marketed or, if they are, not equally accessible to all potential buyers, a case in point being management knowledge. as a result, «it is one thing to purchase or hire inputs in a given combination; it is something else to get a predetermined output out of them» (leibenstein, 1966: 408). formally, this points to the impertinence of deterministic situations and the importance of «stochastic elements inherent in production and other economic activities» (rosen, 1997: 195). substan4. in formal terms, a measure of x-inefficiency is the magnitude of the nonnoise component of the error term in the econometric estimation of production functions (leibenstein and maital, 1992) m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 2, 2002, 147-174 151 social construction of production tively, it implies that production outcomes are far from being determined by strictly market transactions or purely technological processes. in sum, x-efficiency theory suggests rejection of the neoclassical production function as a technical construction. in positive terms, it conceives production and related economic processes as a problem in social organization and managerial coordination, and to that extent of human action. presented below are additional related arguments for such a conception and, alternatively, against the neoclassical production function as a technical construction. somewhat ironically, one line of such arguments originates from some variations of neoclassical economics, and implicitly refutes its production function on explicit economic, and implicit social, grounds as opposed to technological considerations. for illustration, schumpeter (1939: 189-190) states that rational production in a market economy never rests on «exclusively technological considerations» insofar as productive factors are in limited quantities in society, and thus the socio-economic dimension is «always necessary for the guidance of production». further, he emphasizes that the latter dimension tends to be primary to the former in most cases in the market economy, observing that the life of the means of production such as machines or buildings «is not purely a technological but an economic variable». the above statements thus point to the inadequacy of the notion of a production function as a technical construction, as well as to the adoption of an alternative concept of production as a socio-economic process with its own rationale beyond, even opposed to, technological considerations. less importantly for our purpose, schumpeter (1939) also implies that the neoclassical production function might not be fully consistent with the actual occurrence of business cycles and other economic fluctuations (e.g., seasonal trends). as regards the relations between the technical dimension of production and business cycles, he observes that the average lifetime of a machine is usually longer than any such (medium-run) cycle. in turn, he holds that obsolete machinery is not typically replaced in prosperity but rather recession or depression, as their intense competition forces organizations to install the newest disposable types. one might argue that if the production function were an invariable technical construction with fixed input and output specifications, it would not be subject to such cyclical replacements of the former and the fluctuations in the latter, except for those coming from natural phenomena. but these latter are of reportedly secondary importance in business cycles. as some economists suggest, one can hardly argue today in light of the historical experience that business cycles are outcomes of physical and other mysterious processes (e.g., sun spots) rather than of socialeconomic changes (eichenbaum, 1997). however, it can also be argued that there can be technological elements and processes in production that are overwhelmed by larger business cycles within the economy. to the extent, the neoclassical production function as a technological construction would not be necessarily incompatible with economic fluctuations. m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 3, 2002, 147-174 152 milan zafirovski to summarize the discussion thus far, an alternative perspective views production at both firm and economy-wide levels as a matter in human action and coordination and thus of social organization and institutions. the argument for an organizational or institutional alternative rests on the fact that production functions are admittedly grounded in social organizations and institutions, such as firms as decision-making units, accounting standards, even the «political sphere» (samuelson 1983: 7, 117). pluralist and single-factor approaches to production the ensuing outlines a pluralist approach to production and related economic processes, which is compared and contrast with its alternatives. the pluralist approach originates in the frame of reference of economic sociology as an interdisciplinary discipline understood as a sociological perspective on economic phenomena, including production (smelser and swedberg, 1994: 3). specifically, it applies such sociological perspectives as networks, groups, social structures or institutions, social controls, cultural context, and the like. in particular, it identifies and emphasizes the institutional factors of economic behavior. generally, economic sociology centers on what weber (1933) calls “sociological categories of economic action” or “sociological relationships in the economic sphere” composed of the «production, distribution, exchange, and consumption of scarce goods and services» (smelser and swedberg, 1994: 3). hence, a pluralist sociological approach treats production as a social phenomenon existing and operating within the setting of society, not just as a market process. such an approach focuses on the multiplexity of social variables in production and emphasizes its social, including institutional, logic and arrangement. by contrast, the pure economic approach to production is premised on a doubtful single-cause conception by virtue of its inclusion of only one class of variables5, excluding other categories, or reducing them to this class or relegating them to a residual term. admittedly, such approaches can be theoretically dubious in the face of the empirical multiplicity of social systems in the «real world» (arrow, 1997: 765). this is especially so insofar as they exclude pre-market or extra-economic factors as explanatory variables in production though these can be relevant as well (sachs and warner, 1997). the above applies to any single-factorial approaches to production, as they represent a monistic causal epistemology that fails to do justice to an inherently pluralist ontology6. at this juncture, however, one should recognize that many (though not all) economists resorting to single-cause approaches really do not want to describe and explain reality as much as to offer a normative theory of economic behavior. most economists rarely make or observe the distinction between normative or prescriptive and descriptive or positive models of production and other economic phenomena (thaler, 1991: 3). as hinted, the neoclassical production function appears as a 5. this single-cause approach to production can be illustrated by y = α + βxx + ε, where y is vector of modes of production behaviors and processes, x is the vector of market variables, including within interaction terms: x1x2, x2x3..., α is a vector of intercepts or constants, β a vector of coefficients showing the influence of x, including within interaction effects of the particular components of x, on y, and ε is a vector of residual terms pertaining to other, nonmarket or social variables virtually “presumed dead”, i.e., insignificant, unobservable or non-identifiable. 6. analogously, such a pluralist ontology of production can be represented by: y = α + βxx + βzz + βww + ε, where y is a vector of modes of production behaviors and processes, x and z are vectors of rational and non-rational explanatory variables, respectively, w is a vector of interaction terms representing the interactions between elements of x and z, α is a vector of constants, βx + βz are vectors of coefficients, including interaction effects from within each vector for x and z, respectively, βw is a vector of regression coefficients expressing the interaction effects of the combined components of both x and z on y, and ε a vector of residuals entailing nonsocial, e.g., physical or psychological, variables. in formal terms, in addition to the vector of noneconomic variables z, a multivariate, sociological perspective on production includes interaction terms within this vector, e.g., z1z2, z2z3, z1z3..., as well as interaction terms combing components of both matrices, such as z1z1, x2z2, x1z3..., in addition to the interaction terms within matrix x. via decomposition of vector z into z2-z4, and omitting interaction terms, one gets: y = α + β1x + β2z2 + β3z3 + β4z4 + ε, where x stands for gain or gain and related rational-economic variables, the impact of which on production epitomizes the neoclassical hypothesis. z2 represents social interaction variables, such as interpersonal ties and networks, in production, reflecting the pareto-simmel-simon sociopsychological hypothesis. z3 means social-cultural variables, such as rules, institutions, values, and symbols (including status), as assumed by the durkheimveblen-polanyi normative-institutional hypothesis of production. z4 signifies variables like power and domination within the marx-myrdal-weber socio-political hypothesis of production (weber, 1933; myrdal, 1953; marx, 1967). table 1. estimates of the residual in the neoclassical production function for the u.s. m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 2, 2002, 147-174 153 social construction of production normative prescription or technological recipe of what should be done (e.g., obtain fixed output from inputs with a fixed specification) rather than a description of what is or may be actually happening (e.g., variable output resulting from inputs of fixed or variable specifications). overall, many mainstream economists proceed on the “as if” assumption, substitute value judgments for factual statements, and sacrifice realism and complexity to parsimonious clean modeling and simplicity, though some less orthodox (e.g., hirschman, 1984) make a case for complicating economic discourse, and against parsimony. by contrast, economic sociologists try to describe and explain variation in production and the economy overall, and thus in order to adequately specify their models they are logically predisposed to incorporate non-economic variables, though this applies less to rational choice theorists. as a result, economic sociology models of production and related phenomena tend to be pluralistic and multi-layered (hodgson, 1998), thus less parsimonious and clean than those of economists. as some analysts (hirsch, michaels and friedman, 1987) put it, the difference between contemporary sociologists and pure economists is one between dirty hands and clean models. more specific to our concern, the difference between economic and sociological approaches can be tentatively illustrated on the case of the production residual. in particular, the growth residual in the aggregate neoclassical production function far from representing unexplained variation might be an important explanatory variable in a sociological approach. the reported (griliches, 1996: 1327) high value of the residual presumably indicating such unexplained variance in the production function indicates such a possibility (see table 1). reportedly, «only a small proportion» of gnp increase is explained by input increases in labor and capital, as the «unexplained residual» accounts for about 50-80% of production growth in developed countries (leibenstein, 1966: 404). therefore, «everyone is aware that the lion’s share of growth is accounted for by the residual as that part of the rate of growth in output not explained by rates of growth of inputs in a standard, neoclassical aggregate production function» (weitzman, total economy period 1870-1914 1904-1937 1869-1938 1869-1928 1870-1950 1899-1948 1869-1878 to 1944-53 1909-1949 in output 27 na† 37 31 na na 48 52 in output per man 100 median 89 na 88 92 87 86 88 source: based on griliches (1996: 1327). † na = not available m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 3, 2002, 147-174 154 milan zafirovski 1996: 207). economists have traditionally viewed such an index of unexplained variation in the production function as a measure of their «ignorance» (griliches, 1996: 1324), with the all-important residual becoming a mystery variable. in formal terms, this points to the inadequacies of standard econometric models to explain production and productivity. admittedly, economists’ resort to the residual as an explanatory variable of the variation in the production function is a «powerful indictment of the limitations of the neoclassical framework» (dougherty and jorgenson, 1996: 29). thus, the reported «lopsided importance [of the residual] should be sobering, if not discouraging, to students of economic growth» (griliches, 1996: 1324). the question can arise as to what the black box of the residual comprises or represents. one answer is that the residual encompasses a range of such non-input production factors as technological change and knowledge, education of the labor force, etc., as well as motivational or incentive x-efficiency elements (leibenstein, 1966). in this view, manifestations of the residual include cost reduction in the production of existing products without inventions, the introduction of innovations in production processes and of new commodities or quality improvements in consumer goods and inputs. specifically, cost reductions are attributed to improvements in x-efficiency and regarded as an important component of the observed residual in production. in turn, new technical and other knowledge is seen as part of the residual but in the form of dissemination rather than invention of such knowledge. so are the responses by firms to competitive and other economic pressures. formally, econometric (regression) analyses decompose the production residual into unobservable or random and inefficiency or systematic components, including a measure of x-inefficiency as the value of the extra-noise element of the error term (leibenstein and maital, 1992). other similar answers interpret the residual in terms of a measure of technological change (greenwood, hercowitz, and krussel, 1997), of technology-generated productivity (dougherty and jorgenson, 1996), or of technical knowledge (weitzman, 1996). as regards the latter, for example, some economists remark that the «unopened black box [of the residual contains the] production function for new knowledge, [with the latter seen as a] exogenously determined function [of research efforts in the] spirit of a conventional relation between inputs and outputs» (weitzman, 1996: 210). since the residual represents previously untried combinations of existing technical and other ideas assumed to grow more rapidly than any other elements of the economy, it makes production a combinatoric process offsetting the potential for diminishing returns in the neoclassical function. hence, the residual is taken to be determined by the amount and productivity of the resources allocated to creating useful new ideas as additions to the existing stock of technical knowledge. however, such purely economic-technological identifications and interpretations of the residual are only partly useful for a social approach to production seeking to identify non-economic and non-technical factors as well. further, some economists have misgivings about such prom@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 2, 2002, 147-174 155 social construction of production ductivity and technology interpretations of the residual. first, disturbing factors, such as imperfect competition, overhead costs, unmeasured variation in factor utilization, operate to make the residual less than a good measure of productivity growth (rotemberg and woodford, 1996). second, other analysts doubt the technological interpretation of the residual as reflecting stochastic movements in the aggregate production technology, and instead point to variable capital utilization and labor hoarding as the cause of these movements, viz. external-shock propagation (burnside and eichenbaum, 1996). in addition, those interpretations of the residual in terms of technical knowledge (weitzman, 1996) need to take into account the fact that the latter is a particular facet of social knowledge, namely a category that is socially created, diffused and reproduced. only in the sense of socially held technical knowledge can one say that the latter is a «main determinant of economic activity in every economy» (arrow, 1994: 6). thus understood, technical knowledge and other information can contribute, in part, toward opening the back box of the production residual. admittedly, technical knowledge, just as information overall, is an «especially significant case of an irreducibly social category» (arrow, 1994: 1) in the economy. if this is true, then the residual cum technical knowledge becomes such a social category as well, which adumbrates or allows the possibility for an alternative sociological explanation and interpretation outlined next. however, a coherent and elaborate sociological explanation of the production residual is undeveloped, virtually absent, in the literature. in light of this, only broad outlines of and general suggestions for such an explanation can be offered at this juncture. an obvious broad way to go is to associate, as the general working hypothesis, the residual not only with productivity and technology, including technical knowledge, but also with extra-economic variables in the process of production. in this hypothesis, such an unexplained index of variation in production can also reflect certain social factors, ranging from politics to institutions to culture, overlooked or minimized by the purely economic approach. a specific variation of this hypothesis is, for example, the impact of political variables like public capital on micro and macro (state-level) cobb-douglas production functions (garcia-mila, mcguire, and porter, 1996). admittedly, lacking a comprehensive set of social variables models of production, including growth, are «plagued by left-out-variable errors of great importance» (sachs and warner, 1997: 186). methodologically, this procedure commits the misspecification or omission of important explanatory variables in production. a possible analytical framework for sociologically approaching and interpreting the production residual at the micro-level of organization is what schumpeter (1939) calls the “sociology of enterprise” as an inquiry into the social conditions of entrepreneurship. moreover, in his view the sociology of enterprise probes much further than the conditions producing and shaping, favoring or inhibit entrepreneurial activity and into the structure and the very foundations of capitalist society. both in a narrow and a broader sense, the sociology of enterprise would represent an alternative to the neoclassical conception and m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 3, 2002, 147-174 156 milan zafirovski function of production. in a narrow sense, it incorporates entrepreneurship as an additional explanatory factor of productive activities, thus of the production residual, at organizational level, a variable in turn absent from the standard neoclassical function based on capital and labor inputs. in a broader sense, the sociology of enterprise takes into account what the neoclassical function consistently excludes or neglects, viz. the structure and the very foundations of capitalist society as an over-arching social factor of production in a market economy. in other words, the sociology of business firms is premised on the social construction of economic organization (kristensen, 1999). hence, the suggestion that we should look beyond the realm of abstracted economic processes to explain why these are subject to variation and diversity, viz. why the nature of business firms differs and why markets (or formations of firms) are organized differently across societies and history (kristensen, 1999). in turn this comparative-historical approach implies a diachronic position on economic processes as an alternative to the synchronic view of the economy presently dominating mainstream microeconomics (piore, 1996). some concrete alternative explanations, e.g,. trade policy and competitiveness, strategic management7, etc. might be useful to understanding economic sociology’s approach described above. for instance, social institutions as well as policies (e.g., trade and tariff policy) can, and reportedly do, greatly affect domestic market structure and international competitiveness8 (porter, 1984). relatedly, different industrial cultures (or industrial systems) are observed to have effects on the degree of international economic openness and so on the thickness of the domestic market (mclaren, 2000). specifically, great international openness as grounded on a certain industrial culture tends to thicken the market by fostering less vertically integrated (leaner) firms, which generates gains from trade different from those assumed by the received theory. for instance, japan-usa institutional-cultural differences lead to those along a large number of dimensions in management, viz. internal and external firm structure, the extent and style of outsourcing (mclaren, 2000). another similar example concerns the role of relative bargaining power in international trade. as analysts argue (mclaren, 1997), bilateral trade negotiations based on different countries’ relative bargaining power can have strategic disadvantages for a small country like canada vs. the usa, which while are not recognized in trade theory are harmful on balance. moreover, the very anticipation of such trade negotiations negatively impacts a small country’s bargaining power (in equilibrium). alternatively, a small country such as canada could enhance its social welfare by pre-committing never to negotiate on free trade with a large and would-be dominating country like the usa; and if this is impossible, the second-best option is to use protection to decrease dependence on trade with the latter. since the loss of national bargaining power reportedly impinges on all facets of the relations between these countries, then the trade-off implies that the small country must pay a price in sovereignty for the benefits of free trade (mclaren, 1997). 7. hemmasi, graf, and kellogg (1990) observe that strategic management scholars posit conditional relationships between firms, with industry competitive environment as a contingency variable, a proxy for product life cycle, required capital investment, types of production technologies, long-term profit prospects, etc., which are assumed to affect strategic decisions and the intensity of competition in an industry. 8. porter (1984) analyzes the role of tariff policies in a small open spatial economy such as canada. assuming increasing returns to scale in the production technology of the manufacturing sector as well as transportation costs, he present examples showing that imposition of import tariffs on this sector can improve social welfare, though this creates a monopoly position in the protected industry for some firm and its production are higher than those of foreign firms. m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 2, 2002, 147-174 157 social construction of production the preceding hints at the possibility of a sociological interpretation of the production residual at the macro-level of society. specifically, a possible path toward such a sociological interpretation is linking a country’s economic development to its institutional and policy arrangements as well as its ideology and culture, including work ethic9, as presumably residual factors. as some studies find, the «imitation of the evolution in advanced countries appears in combination with different, indigenously determined elements [which] is particularly true of the institutional instruments used and even more so of ideologies» (gerschenkron, 1992: 127). to be sure, this linkage should be done with precaution, as it is «dangerous to attribute to institutions or other factors, whatever residual cannot be otherwise explained» (fortin and lemieux, 1997: 77). on the balance, assuming institutional and other social structuration in production as a working hypothesis still may be preferable to treating the residual as a mystery variable, at least within economic sociology or institutional economics. at the minimum, this assumption can help illuminate, as parsons (1937) put it, some dark spots in the production residual. relatedly, as institutional economists suggest (coase, 1998; williamson, 1998), social institutions impact production as well as transaction costs. admittedly, just as production costs, the latter or the costs of exchange «depend on the institutions of a country: its legal system, its political system, its social system, its educational system, its culture, etc.» (coase, 1998: 73). in particular, there is the «influence of the laws, of the social system, and of the culture» on information costs as a major component of transaction cost (coase, 1998: 73). consequently, the firm is suggested to be reconceptualized as a governance structure, so an institutional or organizational construction, rather than as a mere production function, i.e., a technical construction (williamson, 1998: 75-77). admittedly, technological economies of scale and related technical or physical aspects in no way exhaust possibilities, since organizational efficiencies also exist attributable to the alignment of governance structures. notably, cultural beliefs embedded in existing social institutions admittedly direct the process of organizational innovation and adoption (greif, 1998: 82). moreover, some economists imply that the residual at a macro-level might be dominated by institutional and related components not included in the standard aggregate production (cobb-douglas or solow) function. admittedly, the most important explanation of variations in production or income between societies is the difference in their institutions and thus social norms (as well as policies), not those in endowments of any of the standard productive factors nor differential access to technology (olson, 1996: 3). this observation suggests, first, that the standard production function premised on two or three production factors (the third is land) generates a large unexplained variance or residual, second, that technology and related factors cannot explain this variance. third and most important, it implies that, instead, institutional arrangements as underscored by certain social rules constitute such an explanatory variable. namely, if different institutions and social norms are observed to be the most important explanation of the varia9. a seminal work on this matter is weber’s (1933) protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism. however, as a referee commented, the connection between the two has no direct bearing on the production residual, though it may motivate a sociological or culturalist interpretation of it. m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 3, 2002, 147-174 158 milan zafirovski tion in the aggregate production function across countries, yet excluded from this function on methodological or conceptual grounds, then they can be plausibly interpreted as the main, though not the only, component of the residual. if so, then the preceding epitomizes the consequences of differing social institutions and norms on the size and characteristics of the production residual. moreover, it suggests that generally social institutions «govern the performance of an economy» (coase, 1998: 73). to that extent, this provides important elements for a sociological explanation and interpretation of the residual in particular and of production in general, with the above qualifications. at such, it represents a preliminary step toward identifying particular institutional arrangements, socio-cultural conditions or policies that could explain changes in production and thus the residual in the neoclassical function. applications of the sociological approach to production general considerations what follows is an application of weberian economic sociology10 or sociological economics11 to the analysis of production for gain or profit seeking. in his view, gain seeking is an activity oriented to opportunities for seeking new powers of control over goods. gain seeking is economic if oriented to acquisition by peaceful methods or the exploitation of market situations, and, conversely, extra-economic if it uses different means, including force and violence (as discussed below). in particular, production for gain is oriented to market situations in the aim at increasing what weber (1933) calls control over goods, especially productive factors, rather than simply securing means for consumption. what is distinctive of this framework for analyzing production is not its definition of the latter, but its focus on the cultural and motivational importance (martinelli and smelser, 1990: 9-10) of this and related phenomena dealt with by pure economics as well. as hinted, this involves treating production for gain from the stance of the sociological categories of the economy. the ontological rationale for such methodological treatment lies in that production and other (rational) economic activity is to an important degree, as weber (1933) put it, determined by non-economic events and actions. like exchange, distribution and consumption, production for gain can be, in a weberian framework, a traditional or conventional activity and thus non-rational in economic terms, as well as economically rational action in intentions and results. no doubt, production activities often strive for realizing profit opportunities or wealth acquisition. however, they also may, as weber (1933) observes, oriented to aims of non-productive, including status, positional or luxurious consumption, and be irrational in this respect. a case in point is the behavior of what he calls monopolies of status groups (e.g., medieval guilds) as functional equivalents of veblen’s (1908) leisure classes also defined by such (conspicuous) consumption. but even weber’s capitalistic monopolies 10. in parsons’ (1947: 53) specification, weber’s economic sociology explores the «specific connexion of economic rationality with settled routine conditions [particularly] the peculiar connexion between institutional patterns, backed by moral sentiments, and the “self-interest”». in a recent exposition of weberian economic sociology, swedberg (1998: 217, note 17) characterizes parsons’ (1947) as being the most important commentary in this respect, viz. on weber’s analysis of sociological categories of economic action (a chapter of economy and society [1968]). 11. some neoclassical economists like knight (1958: 18-19) observed that in retrospect the historical economic school «has broadened out, particularly in germany, under such leaders as max weber and weber sombart into what is often called sociological economics, a position also well presented in france», viz. durkheimian-type economic sociology (sociologie économique). m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 2, 2002, 147-174 159 social construction of production are not entirely immune to such tendencies toward unproductive nonrational consumption for which production is the means, as witnessed by the behavior of contemporary mutants of status groups and leisure classes. in marx’s (1967: 596) description, even modern monopoly capitalists have a «fellow feeling for his own adam» to the point of treating capital accumulation as abstinence from pleasure or unproductive consumption rather than, as do their classical counterparts, looking on the latter as a sin against their function and as, in senior’s (1951: 58-59) words, «abstinence from accumulating». what he, apparently adumbrating veblen, calls a conventional degree of prodigality represents an exhibition of wealth and thus a source of credit in society or social status. but the above two tendencies often clash with each other to the point of developing what marx (1967: 598) describes as a «faustian conflict between the passion for accumulation and the desire for enjoyment» in the breast of capitalist entrepreneurs («two souls alas, do dwell within his breast; the one is ever parting from the other»). for weber (1933), this conflict persists in modern, postprotestant capitalism in which religious asceticism escaped, as he put it, from the “cage”, though he usually attributes the desire for enjoyment to pre-capitalist status groups, and the passion for accumulation to capitalist classes. generally, weber (1933) conceives production as a process underscored both by instrumental or formal and value or substantive rationality. specifically, the instrumental or formal rationality of production and other economic action denotes the degree of quantitative speculation or accounting that is technically feasible and factually implemented. in this sense, production for gain represents what weber (1933) calls instrumentally-rational action, and consequently managerial activity is characterized by rational orientation. by contrast, the value or substantive rationality of production represents the extent to which provision with valuable objects by economic action is made according to certain criteria of ultimate, including moral and religious, values. in this regard, production becomes value-rational action which is essentially irrational in economic or instrumental terms. accordingly, production and related economic behavior can be not only rational but also economically nonproductive (davidson and ekelund, 1994) or non-rational, yet having some social justification. for example, weber (1933) invokes the luxury industries in france and the rest of europe in late feudalism and early capitalism, as an historical instance of the latter. in his historical description, luxury consumption was conducive to the development of economically irrational forms of production like small work shops in france and elsewhere in europe during the period. this suggests that production itself may be non-rational in terms of its means and methods. one source of such irrational forms of production is its reliance on traditional, customary, conventional and similar rules and methods. for instance, marshall observes the deep and controlling influence of traditions and conventions on production methods and on the character of producers, especially in the long run. in weber’s (1933) description, cases of traditional non-rational production include, alongside irrational luxury forms, producing goods that are m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 3, 2002, 147-174 160 milan zafirovski exchanged as gifts between friends, heroes, chiefs, and princes in precapitalist societies. traditional, conventional and other economically non-rational conditions and methods of production are exemplified in those based on polanyi’s principles of reciprocity and redistribution as well as unproductive consumption or personal usage. that production is characterized by an interpenetration of economic and extra-economic ends is indicated by that when producers, managers and other agents pursue material goals in their interactions with others, these are typically «combined with striving for sociability, approval, status and power as well» (granovetter, 1992: 234). as regards the latter, for example, some mainstream economists admit that the «assumption that individuals pursue their own materialistic ends, which economists employ to explain individual behavior in the marketplace, pales in innocence alongside the actions those who seek political power have taken to achieve their ends» (mueller, 1996: 346). particularly, researchers (mcclelland and burnham, 1995) find that power is the great motivator in managerial and related economic behavior. further, they observe that in motivational terms successful managers (especially) in large centralized organizations have a greater need for power defined as a concern for influencing people than a need for achievement though the latter is more prominent in their decentralized counterparts. in turn, they cast doubt on weber’s (and other writers’) association of managerial achievement motivation with the protestant ethic of hard work. in their view, almost the precise opposite is true to the effect that managers and others with a high need for achievement seek to reduce their work by becoming more efficient, i.e., by obtaining the same result with less effort or in less time (mcclelland and burnham, 1995). in this sense, the protestant and any ethic of hard work, perhaps counter-intuitively, falls short of complete efficiency and rationality. this seems in part ironic given the much-celebrated impact of protestant doctrines on the spirit and practice of modern capitalism at least since weber (1933). however, recent studies (collins, 1997) suggest that protestantism was not the only factor in the historical emergence and expansion of capitalist production. in this view, such non-protestant doctrines as buddhism, especially its religious economy in the monasteries, played a significant historical role in the emergence as well as development of what is identified as the capitalist mode of production in asia centuries ago. more frequently, researchers notice the strong effect of confucianism on the nature and development of capitalist production in this region recently, with some attributing the rise of the east asian economic tigers, including china, to this cultural pattern. for some of them, this east-asian development model, just as that of protestant europe and america, re-actualizes the broader question as to «what extent the economic and sociocultural features are causally linked» (berger and hsiao, 1993: 5). in comparative terms, the observed economic effect of buddhism and confucianism in asia appears as an analogue to the muchcelebrated impact of protestantism on western europe and north america12. 12. a reviewer commented that the discussion of the protestant work ethic is an historical relic because, first, there are a limited number of people in the world who could legitimately be described as being influenced by this branch of christianity, and, second, it fails to account for such things as the success of the pacific rim, or of ireland’s recent economic boom. yet, others like berger (1991) insist on the major role of the protestant work ethic or economic culture in the contemporary “capitalist revolution”. m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 2, 2002, 147-174 161 social construction of production in any case, the observation that power or influence is perhaps the greatest motivator in managerial behavior implies that production and related activities are conditioned by extra-economic factors as well. simply, managers and other economic actors engage in such processes activities not just for money (frey, 1997). thus, gain is not necessarily an end in itself (danner, 1996: 57), but rather an efficient means to attaining other goals of non-economic character, letting gains be their own reward (dore, 1992: 177). for example, observers note that in modern japan patriotism virtually supplements profit seeking in the production and search for export markets (dore, 1992: 170), which exemplifies the role of cultural values and norms13 in the economy. in this sense, production can be characterized as the process of extraeconomic valuation and a mode of, as parsons (1937) would put it, normative action. the preceding suggests that production and other economic activity can exist even, as schumpeter (1939) allows for, in the absence of rational motives or the presence of non-rational motivations thus seeking to meet the observed need for power and other non-economic motives rather than material gain in production is far from being irrational. in retrospect, though these motives «have largely been absent from economic thinking since smith, it does not follow that their pursuit is nonrational» (granovetter, 1992: 234). no doubt, one counter-argument can be that it is irrelevant why people want to accumulate wealth, as long as they want to. simply observing that there are more ultimate ends behind the apparent motives for gain or wealth does not mount a serious attack on the economic model. this much can be admitted as valid. still, such observations of multiple layers of motives or means-end chains have at least the merit of pointing to the plurality and complexity of motivation in production and the economy, thus contributing to complicating economic discourse and against parsimony (hirschman, 1984). a probably more compelling argument is that the motive for gain and wealth is a definite social and historical construct. for in other places and times, such as what weber (1933) calls status, pre-capitalist societies, other variables, besides monetary gain, determine or signal one’s worthiness or holiness. in particular, the profit motive represents, to paraphrase parsons (1937), an institutionalized motivation at the level of social systems or structures and an internalized inducement at that of individual actors or personalities. in consequence, production for gain becomes a phase of institutional behavior within a certain social system, culture and historical time such as modern capitalism. this suggests that gain and other motives that drive production are subject to a process of social formation, including institutional structuration and cultural construction. the process thus links these motives with institutional, cultural and other social-structural factors that are operative in production and pertinent for explaining economic behaviors and outcomes. in this regard, motivations for production and other economic activity manifest themselves as institutional-structural effects14. hence, whether gain and/or other variables will motivate production and other economic behavior is a function of institutional, structural, cultural and 13. according to bourdieu (1988: 19-22), the intrinsic motivation hypothesis applies to normative-institutional compliance in that economic agents «show pure disinterested respect» for social norms and institutions irrespective of the direct profits from it. simply, people follow norms not only for material gain and other extrinsic incentives as pure economists often impute. 14. i thank a referee for this insight, namely that institutional-structural effects on production look like motives. m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 3, 2002, 147-174 162 milan zafirovski other social variables. as such, like other preferences, motives for production become variables or phenomena to be explained in social and historical terms rather than constants or parameters to be taken as given. the same can be said of production activities and outcomes. for instance, capitalist production, including its industrial-technological components, rather than being a universal was socially and historically specific, as it «occurred in western europe [a fact] ignored in standard theory» (findlay, 1996: 50). to summarize, production can be oriented to realizing gain as an extrinsic incentive and represent instrumental action expressing formal economic rationality. however, it may also be induced by intrinsic motivation, including absolute or transcendental values, to which gain serves as a means or intermediate goal. production for gain and nonproductive methods of acquisition historically, according to weber (1933) and most economists, there have been two general methods of gain-seeking: productive and its nonproductive alternatives. gain-seeking or wealth accumulation is economic if it involves acquisition by peaceful methods, viz. what weber (1933) calls exploitation of market opportunities. a case in point is market-based production or appropriation of goods via free, economically rational exchange. alternative non-productive methods are exemplified by gain seeking or wealth accumulation by violence, force, and the like. in the view of weber (1933), acquisition by force proceeds according to its particular laws, and differs from that oriented to gains from exchange and production. cases in point are what he calls robber or politically oriented capitalism, with its non-productive or extra-economic means of gain-seeking, as opposed to modern capitalism resorting to production and related methods. specifically, for weber (1933: 1118) the «structure and spirit of robber capitalism differs radically from rational management of an ordinary capitalist large-scale enterprise and is most similar to same old-age phenomena: the huge rapacious enterprises and occasional trade with its mixture of piracy and slave hunting». though this statement posits a radical separation between these two modes of gain seeking, they are to be regarded in ideal-typical or analytical terms. thereby, rational management of a capitalist enterprise or acquisition by production and robber capitalism or acquisition by force become pure ideal types, abstractions, or analytical constructs. this holds true insofar as the two forms of acquisition are often intertwined, in various proportions, with each other in traditional and contemporary societies. in this regard, the difference between robber capitalism and rational capitalist enterprise appears less radical than suggested, a matter of degree rather than substance. further, the distinction is apt to overlook the role of force, violence, and related factors like domination and conflict in acquisition by production and exchange, or rational capitalist enterprise. the latter is far from ruling out, as weber (1933) implies, what he attributes to robber capitalism, viz. predatory, colonial and fiscal profits from domination by force or a position of power sustained by a political authority. m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 2, 2002, 147-174 163 social construction of production a societal case in point is what marx (1967) and others identify as monopoly capitalism or imperialism, including its contemporary variations, as the mature or late stage of a capitalist economy. this case based on, as habermas (1975: 33) put it, an «oligopolistic market structure» entails some combination of acquisition by production and acquisition by force rather than only the former. generally, it is characterized by an admixture of, in weber’s (1933: 942-943) terms, «domination by virtue of a constellation of interests» or economic power and «domination by virtue of authority» or political power. in turn, both types of domination can rest on, inter alia, force, which suggests that the latter, especially the threat of its use, is not necessarily ruled out even in acquisition by production or market transactions. obvious instances include some monopolistic practices by large corporations in the usa, as witnessed by the frequent resort to force, threats, intimidation, extortion, and related means by the proverbial american robber barons and their modern proxies. thus, «histories of the origins of the great fortunes in the usa [and elsewhere] reveal the extent to which the rivals engage in extra-market activities to eliminate their competitors» (shaffer, 1996: 640). generally, changes in market variables like relative prices by redistributing income (i.e., losses to some and gains to others) often induce those «adversely affected to resort to extra-market measures, including force, to redress their grievances» (shaffer, 1996: 640). and those victorious, be they social groups or countries, in the past struggles (alongside their heirs) tend to use their «spoils to enhance their incomes and then used this income to acquire additional assets, with corresponding distribution effects» (shaffer, 1996: 640). no wonder, by virtue of the use or threat of force such practices often look like mafia-type activities. in particular, the element of force has been paradigmatic for capital-labor relations in modern american capitalism, affecting their respective positions in the system of production and thus their distributive shares or incomes. a case in point is the historical and still persisting use of force or its threat by america’s large corporations to avert, counteract or eliminate the labor movement as well as the latter’s countervailing recourse to similar means. on the global scale, war or threat of force in international relations is a frequent instrument of acquisition in late capitalism, ranging from british colonialism in the 19th century to german expansionism prior to the two world wars to the american “empire of liberty” since wwii and especially the 1990s. moreover, war may be not exogenous (as most economists think), but endogenous to the market economy since violent conflicts can arise from changes in the distribution of income, technological changes and rent-seeking activity (shaffer, 1996). in short, the market can be a cause of war, not just a force for peace. thus, «many of the past threats which exploded into military confrontations were nurtured by the marketing efforts of rent-seekers» (shaffer, 1996: 643). a case in point is the american military-industrial complex with its «marketing as a form of rent-seeking that attempts to influence political preference functions to increase the demand for public goods [weapons] provided by private firms» (shaffer, 1996: 641). in another increasingly prominent tendency, the «potential for large gains and m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 3, 2002, 147-174 164 milan zafirovski losses is a potential motivation for private firms to use, or push governments to use, extra-market means to secure control of oil supplies» (shaffer, 1996: 640). again an obvious exemplar is the us government’s proclivity to engage in wars for oil (e.g., the gulf war) or use other extra-market means to control its supply (mainly) to the benefits of its large corporations. on this account, production in a market economy is not always defined by a disjunction between the two types of gain seeking, as most economists optimistically think, but by their conjunction, though in varying ratios dependent on the social framework and historical stage. in general, it suggests that the present distribution of assets both within and across countries «did not come only through voluntary market transactions [as] past seizures provide a historical precedent and a possible justification for future seizures, which could lead to conflict» (shaffer, 1996: 640). in turn, the aforesaid casts doubt on the tendency for most economists since smith to dissociate acquisition by force from the free market economy seen as inherently peaceful and civilizing (hirschman, 1977). they view trade in freely competitive markets as the best example of the market as a force for peace reaching a pareto optimum15 (shaffer, 1996: 639). for instance, reminiscent of weber’s (1933) distinction between robber and bourgeois capitalism schumpeter (1939) dissociates imperialism based on acquisition by force from the latter, but associates it with pre-capitalist societies, as does keynes (1972) albeit more implicitly. this dissociation flies in the face of a history/reality, e.g., the british east india company’s subjugation of india, wwi and ii, etc., that points instead to more complex, if not opposite, relations between acquisition by force and modern capitalism. overall, «these interactions between the economic and political variables can have many ramifications [as] rivalry among large firms can exacerbate tensions among governments» (shaffer, 1996: 640). historically, this decoupling of force as well as power, domination and conflict from the market system had the function of providing a political argument and thus ideological legitimation for modern capitalism against its alternatives (hirschman, 1977). no wonder, acquisition by force is a particularly weak aspect of seemingly value-free economic analysis, an aspect reflecting what critiques calls the nirvana (or static optimality) approach premised on the ideas of equilibrium, free competition, harmony of interests, universal consensus, peace and justice, and the like. however, given the observed presence and salience of this and related variables in production and the economy overall, this might be a dubious approach that is missing an important aspect of economic and social life. the empirical significance of the sociological framework for analyzing production this section tentatively estimates the empirical significance of the sociological framework for analyzing production. generally, many 15. shaffer (1996: 639) objects that the «positive sum game of the sub-optimal state is thus transformed into the zero sum game of the optimal one. [then] players, motivated by self-interests, will resort to extra-market activities, including force, to enhance their incomes. ironically, the very success of the voluntary market allocation mechanism in maximizing welfare may spell its doom». m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 2, 2002, 147-174 165 social construction of production empirical and historical studies find significant effects of a plurality of social variables on production as well as markets and the economy as a whole. in particular, these variables include power, institutions and culture. for instance, in light of the role of these variables in comparative economic behavior some analysts describe economic organizations as institutional and cultural arrangements permeated by power relations. specifically, they are depicted as «arenas within which some things will tend to “hang together” and be adopted by powerplayers as a bundle, while other forms of combination may be far less likely to occur as a coherent package» (clegg, 1994: 44). hence, since power, institutions and organizations are seen as culturally irremediable, it is suggested that the theory of business organization and management «must always be a power as well as institutional and cultural theory» (clegg, 1994: 45). in this regard, such a theory admittedly becomes some sort of political statement, and, as stated, to «pretend otherwise would be either naive or duplicitous» (clegg, hardy, and nord, 1996: 8). the implied rationale is that business organizations just as markets are underscored by political variables to the point of becoming, to paraphrase some neoclassical economists (robertson, 1952; coase, 1988), islands of conscious power in the sea of spontaneous productive cooperation. in other words, a political approach is premised on the view of organizations and markets as politics, as the latter operate during various stages of market or organizational development, viz. formation, stability, and transformation (fligstein, 2001). in particular, this approach posits that organizations and markets are intimately linked with states or governments. notably, recent research finds that state structures or bureaucracies (captured in the “weberianness scale”) significantly influence economic growth and investment levels in most developing countries (evans and rauch, 1999). overall, according to the new paradigm of economic sociology or political economy, the principal function of the state is the reconstruction of markets, and expressed in its role in control of productive assets, the structure of recurring resource allocation, means of payment, and managing international boundaries (block, 1994). empirical research emphasizes the role of political and institutional variables relative to individual utility maximization in the historical organization and development of production in market economies16 such as england and japan. specifically, class divisions and power struggles among groups for control over production and markets, rather than individual utility optimization, are the decisive variable in economic development in these societies (lie, 1992). other studies present similar findings about the development of the organization of production in japan, korea, and taiwan, suggesting that non-economic forces, above all authority relations, primarily determine this process. arguably, profit and efficiency arguments are too narrow to explain production and organizational forms by comparison to power explanation with its «historical and structural adequacy» (hamilton and biggart, 1988: 52). the inference is that the principal variables 16. as a referee remarked, «there is always the issue that neo-classical economic models only seek to explain market behavior, thus citing examples from other social systems that may be less capitalist and more statist (e.g., britain, sweden, japan) is not a fair comparison». these comparisons mostly refer to the formative or liberal stages of the development of capitalist production in these societies, with britain as the first capitalist or industrial nation (crafts 1998). also, the present differences between these and more capitalist/less statist societies seem more in degree than substance; for example, even the american economy can hardly be described as pure capitalism. m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 3, 2002, 147-174 166 milan zafirovski in explaining the organization of production might not be economic but institutional and political, namely patterns of authority relations in society. for instance, a study reports the significant impact of social institutions or institutional logics on the rise of the automobile industries in south korea, taiwan, spain and argentina, thus corroborating an institutional perspective on economic development (biggart and guillén, 1999). institutional and other social variables have historically been prominent in production and other economic processes even in the first industrial nation or capitalist economy, england, since the industrial revolution (crafts, 1998). as historical studies suggest, a better understanding of these processes requires taking into account the role of institutional arrangements and policy choices in total factor productivity, and thus england’s social capacity, including outstanding learning capabilities, for the growth of production (crafts, 1996). in institutional terms, the economic transformation in eastern europe since the 1990s is perhaps reminiscent of the industrial revolution in england and other western countries. to paraphrase marx (1967), by virtue of their common or similar institutional factors, both appear as specific cases of the capitalist primitive accumulation though in different societies and at different times. to take one example, a recent study (spenner, olga, thore, land, and jones, 1998) of the economic transformation in east europe’s post-socialist economies reports that their findings support neo-institutional perspectives of organizational sociology over neoclassical economic interpretations. specifically, it finds that the strongest signal in the data on firm production and market activities is path dependence in organizational performance, which favors neo-institutional explanations. in light of such findings, some writers (e.g., fligstein, 1996) suggest that economic sociology is the proper framework for approaching production, market and other processes in these societies. so do by implication heterodox economists (e.g., stanfield, 1999), who deploring the analyses and recommendations (e.g., shock market therapy) of what they call amateur institutional [i.e., neoclassical] economists propose as an alternative institutionalism in the classical tradition of durkheim (1933) and veblen (1908). similarly, economic sociologists (stinchcombe, 1997) praise the virtues of old institutionalism versus its new versions and imply that the former is a better framework for analyzing the transformation of productive organization in these societies. also, empirical studies of factor markets emphasize their social construction by contrast to the purely economic determination. proposing a sociological model of labor markets that focuses on their organizational constraints and institutional embeddedness, a study reports that the findings do not support the economic assumptions of perfect competition, equilibrium, profit maximization, etc. (sakamato and chen, 1991). other research suggests that labor markets are not only or mainly direct reflections of capital resources and constraints (hodson and kaufman, 1982). rather, they are autonomous structures of labor resources and liabilities as determined not just by free competition but also by the constraints of power this signifies that by virtue emphasizm@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 2, 2002, 147-174 167 social construction of production ing a single aspect of the functioning of labor and other input markets, economic models are incomplete neglecting social relations, the interactional character of power in particular. in this regard, production and other economic activities manifest themselves as socially and culturally constrained. a case in point is the observed tendency for the rhetoric of disputes over earnings to be stated in judgments of fairness indicating that moral dimensions figure prominently in income distribution thus affecting production itself (smith, 1990). even leading contemporary economists observe and emphasize the salience of fairness considerations in labor markets, which are on this account characterized as social institutions (arrow, 1998). in passing, these findings contradict the underlying non-fairness assumption of mainstream economics, which reflects a «resistance to explanation of economic actions in moral terms [even though this is] not logically required» (thaler, 1991: 221). assuming that producers and other agents seek to maximize their profit or utility regardless of any ethical considerations of fair play, this is essentially a hypothesis of machiavellian-style self-seeking with guile. the non-fairness hypothesis thus postulates profit optimization by any means on the part of agents construed as relentlessly egoistic monads (frank, 1996) reminiscent of robinson crusoe (conlisk, 1996). an overall finding of sociological research on production is that social structure is a key variable in explaining the motivation and behavior of producer organizations (burt, 1988). in particular, price and power, or market and hierarchical methods, are observed to operate in various combinations in both intraand inter-organizational transactions (eccles and white, 1988). this contradicts the economic position that regards them as operating in isolation, and thus as mutually exclusive and socially disembedded procedures. while market and authority are usually deemed alternative social mechanisms for the organization of production or resource allocation, actual (interor intra-firm) transactions can combine both. the utilization of multiple methods in a single organization signifies that the total network of internal production and other transactions is a «complex web of varying degrees of market and hierarchical mechanisms» (eccles and white, 1988: s48). similarly, other researchers suggest that a political-cultural rather than an economic model satisfactorily accounts for the patterns of a firm’s productive and market activities. whereas the latter is capable of defining strategies and choices after the fact, the former examines the impact of competing conceptions of control on productive efficiency. specifically, the organizational embeddedness of production rather than ownership or financial resources acts as a «more important cause of actions of firms than anything else» (fligstein and brantley, 1992: 303-304). in this connection, some empirical studies analyze the sources and consequences of social embeddedness for the economic performance of organizations and find significant network effects (uzzi, 1996). as reported, social embeddedness is an exchange system with unique opportunities in relation to markets such that organizations organized in networks display higher survival chances than those maintaining arm’s-length market relationships, m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 3, 2002, 147-174 168 milan zafirovski though these positive effects reach a threshold. for example, embeddedness in the making of financial capital is reportedly prominent in the sense that personal relations and networks are beneficial to organizations seeking financing, with those embedding transactions with lenders in social attachments obtaining lower interest rates on loans (uzzi, 1999). these findings exemplify the presence and salience of social networks in the operation of organizations, markets, and the economy overall17. notably, certain networks between organizations are also observed in the realm of production. a study identifies the following types of networks of production (powell and smith-doerr, 1994): regional (e.g., manufacturing in italy, silicon valley, etc.), research and development, business groups (e.g., japanese keiretsu), and strategic alliances (e.g., joint ventures). in addition, research reports significant effects of social relations and networks on productive cooperation within economic and other organizations. reportedly, linking production and such relations, such as by employing people from the same social networks (e.g., the same community), or by creating opportunities for social interaction among employees tend to facilitate cooperation in production18 (spagnolo, 1999: 3). sociological studies of production in a market economy indicate that capital or money is not just an economic variable, but a social category affected by cultural and institutional factors (zelizer, 1996). they highlight the limits of a utilitarian or economic conception of productive capital and market money, concluding that these, while partly autonomous, are interdependent with historical systems of cultural meanings and structures of social relations. relatedly, other studies show that the socio-cultural, especially symbolic, dimensions of accounting as calculation in terms of money are salient in the development of capitalist production (carruthers and espeland, 1991). reportedly, capital accounting dealing with production variables, e.g., cost and revenue accounts, is largely a rhetoric device dressed in a vocabulary of rationality rather than an embodiment or instrument of the latter. accounts are more relevant as ex-post justifications or rationalizations of past decisions than as tools for rational decision-making about production activities, which signifies that accounting plays a crucial rhetorical role in legitimating capitalism. in consequence, rationality as linked with capital accounting has become a compelling institutionalized creation myth for organizational decisions. many empirical studies as well as theoretical analyses challenge the conventional treatment of production and other markets as economic mechanisms. the common thread of these studies and analyses is the social concept of a market (arrow, 1994), especially the view of markets as social structures (swedberg, 1994). most importantly to our concern, they suggest that production or producer markets are complex social categories rather than economic mechanisms. specifically, as economic sociologists (white, 1981) observe, production markets are social structures or induced role structures, where individual producers seek to reproduce their set of action by monitoring each other’s actions. as such, a production market constitutes an act 17. the concept of social network has become from a «metaphor to describe patterns of informal ties within organizations, to a portrait of how the environments of organizations are constructed, to a formal research tool for analyzing power and autonomy» (powell and smith-doerr, 1994: 369). 18. as reported, linking social and production relations facilitates cooperation in production for the following reasons: 1/ because of available social capital (defined as the slack of enforcement power present in social relations) that can discipline behavior in production; 2/ because of the substitution of payoffs from social and production relations (thus social capital being produced endogenously by the linking); 3/ because the linking engenders trust transfers; and 4/ because it reveals information about actor’s situation (spagnolo, 1999: 1-3). m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 2, 2002, 147-174 169 social construction of production that is “got together” by a set of producers compatibly arrayed along certain dimensions (e.g., the quality of production as perceived by their consumers). in particular, some studies (podolny, 1993) identify the properties of production markets as status orders. as such, these markets appear as entities that are socially constructed and sustained, i.e., defined in terms of the perceptions of producers as market participants. thus production markets involve producers that are differentiated or stratified in terms of their status, prestige or reputation usually (but not invariably) linked with the perceived properties of their products (e.g., brand names). such status differentiation does not seem to be limited to, though being most transparent and prevalent in, markets for luxuries (e.g., luxury cars, etc.). further, observations and studies suggest that status or reputation in production (and consumption) markets is not only a means to realize material gains, but an end in itself in relation to which these are an intermediate goal or instrument. admittedly, while in existing economic theory, wealth is valuable only for its implied consumption rewards, in reality producers and other actors acquire it for its resulting social status as well (bakshi and chen, 1996). moreover, this study observes that social status is a major explanatory variable in the operation of some types of market (e.g., stock-markets) and price formation (share prices) that are directly or indirectly related to production. in a similar vein, others find that economic agents often act prompted by the desire to attain social status by signaling wealth through conspicuous consumption (bagwell and bernheim, 1996). by directly affecting consumption, concerns for status thereby indirectly but significantly impact production. in historical terms, such an impact of status concerns on production has been persistent and prominent. reportedly, material wealth as well as religion, education, entertainment and personal display often represent status goods, as they become visible emblems of group membership and individual ranking, thus stimulating material production (collins, 1990). this suggests that material production (particularly) in a market economy is affected and characterized by different levels of stratification as well as subject to tendencies toward stabilization or expansion and fluctuations or crises. production markets represents realms of social stratification and differentiation in that they reportedly always have some tendency toward unequal exchanges and economic inequality (collins, 1990). for instance, successful political-alliance making or military expansion tends to stimulate lowerlevel production markets. historically, production markets as social structures display a tendency toward expansion and stabilization. on the other hand, stratifying and related tendencies within (especially) superordinate production markets at their most politicized pole lead to periodic or cyclical crises in market systems. these tendencies thus exemplify effects of what schumpeter (1939) called, in reference to the depression of the 1930s, sociological reasons on fluctuations or cycles in production. as he observed, during the depression sociological factors or non-economic causes played a dominant m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 3, 2002, 147-174 170 milan zafirovski part in its drama. more particularly, in keynes’ (1972) depiction of this event, such causes were largely institutional and political, as he pointed to the economically irrational behavior of the policy makers, viz. the central banks, including the u.s. federal reserve board. this indicates that the turning point, upward or downward, of a cycle in production is often caused by exogenous social, including political, factors, just as, relatedly, relative prices can be, in keynes’s (1972: 173) words, «knocked about by the most fleeting influences of politics and sentiment». concluding comments the paper has presented outlines of a sociological perspective on production that is carried out along the lines of empirical economic sociology. the main assumption has been the social construction of economic production, particularly its market-based variations. marketbased production, like distribution, exchange and consumption, is a social construct contingent on definite institutional arrangements and historical conditions rather than being a cultural universal. thereby the paper’s aim has been to contribute to the growing literature in the social construction of economic activities, including production and management. the epistemological rationale for such endeavors has been a complex ontology of production and related economic activities. specifically, the rationale has been derived from the observed reality or possibility that gain, profit and related economic elements in production often turn out to be immediate and the most transparent expressions of other extraeconomic variables. these have ranged from power as to status, sociality, fairness, religious values, traditions, emotions, etc., as the great motivators of managerial or productive activities, as documented by a stream of empirical-historical research reviewed here. for that reason, similar to arguing price determination by means of supply and demand, to argue that production is driven by gain is merely to restate rather than solve the problem insofar as the challenge is to identify the underlying forces operating in the process. at least some of these deeper forces have been detected to exist and operate in the exogenous determination of capitalist production by various social , including institutional, political and cultural, conditions. milan zafirovski is assistant professor of sociology at university of north texas, the usa. he received his ph. d. in economics from university of cyril and methodius, republic of macedonia, and his ph. d. in sociology from florida international university, the usa. he has authored the book exchange, action and social structure: elements of economic sociology (greenwood press, 2001), as well as a number of journal articles in economic sociology and other fields. m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 2, 2002, 147-174 171 social construction of production ■ arrow, k. 1994 methodological individualism and social knowledge, american economic review, 84(2): 1-9. ■ arrow, k. 1997 invaluable goods, journal of economic literature, 35(2): 757-765. ■ arrow, k. 1998 what has economics to say about racial discrimination? journal of economic perspectives, 12(2): 91-100. ■ bagwell, l., and d. bernheim 1996 veblen effects in a theory of conspicuous consumption, american economic review, 86(3): 349-373. ■ bakshi, g., and z. chen 1996 the spirit of capitalism and stock-market prices, american economic review, 86(1): 133-157. ■ berger, p. l. 1991 the capitalist revolution: fifty propositions about prosperity, equality, and liberty, new york: basic books. ■ berger, p. l., and h.-h. m. hsiao (eds.) 1993 in search of an east asian development model, new brunswick, nj: transaction books. ■ biggart, n., and m. guillén 1999 developing difference: social organization and the rise of the auto industries of south korea, taiwan, spain and argentina, american sociological review, 64(5): 722-748. ■ block, f. 1994 the role of the state in the economy, in n. smelser and r. swedberg (eds.), the handbook of economic sociology, princeton, nj: princeton university press, 691-710. ■ bourdieu, p. 1988 outline of a theory of practice, cambridge, ma: cambridge university press. ■ burnside, c., and m. eichenbaum 1996 factor-hoarding and the propagation of business-cycle shocks, american economic review, 86(5): 1154-1172. ■ burt, r. s. 1988 the stability of american markets, american journal of sociology, 94(2): 356-395. ■ carruthers, b. g., and w. n. espeland 1991 accounting for rationality: doubleentry bookkeeping and the rhetoric of economic rationality, american journal of sociology, 97(1): 31-69. ■ clegg, s. 1994 power and institutions in the theory of organizations, in j. hassard and m. parker (eds.), towards a new theory of organizations, london: routledge. ■ clegg, s. r., c. hardy, and w. r. nord, (eds.) 1996 handbook of organization studies, thousand oaks, ca: sage. ■ coase, r. 1988 the firm, the market, and the law, in r. h. coase (ed.), the firm, the market, and the law, chicago, il: university of chicago press, 1-31. ■ coase, r. 1998 the new institutional economics, american economic review, 88(2): 72-74. ■ cobb, c. w., and p. h. douglas 1928 a theory of production, american economic review, 18(1, supplement): 139165. ■ collins, r. 1990 market dynamics as the engine of historical change, sociological theory, 8(2): 111-135. ■ collins, r. 1997 an asian route to capitalism: religious economy and the origin of self-transforming growth in japan, american sociological review, 62(6): 843-865. ■ conlisk, j. 1996 why bounded rationality? journal of economic literature, 34(2): 669-700. ■ crafts, n. 1996 the first industrial revolution: a guided tour for growth economists, american economic review, 86(2): 197-201. ■ crafts, n. 1998 forging ahead and falling behind: the rise and relative decline of the first industrial nation, journal of economic perspectives, 12(2): 193-210. ■ danner, p. 1996 gain-seeking: the economic nexus, in e. o’boyle (ed.), social economics: premises, findings, and policies, london: routledge, 47-57. ■ davidson, a. b., and r. b. ekelund, jr. 1994 can entrepreneurship be “unproductive?” towards an evolutionary interpretation, review of social economy, 52(4): 266-279. ■ dimaggio, p. 1994 culture and economy, in n. smelser and r. swedberg (eds.), the handbook of economic sociology, princeton, nj: princeton university press, 27-57. ■ dore, r.1992 goodwill and the spirit of market capitalism, in m. granovetter and r. swedberg (eds.), the sociology of economic life, boulder, co: westview press, 158-180. ■ dougherty, c., and d. jorgenson 1996 international comparisons of the sources of economic growth, american economic review, 86(2): 25-29. ■ durkheim, e. 1933 the division of labor in society, (tr. g. simpson), glencoe, il: free press. ■ eccles, r. g., and h. c. white 1988 price and authority in inter-profit center transactions, american journal of sociology, 94(supplement): s17-s51. references m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 3, 2002, 147-174 172 milan zafirovski ■ eichenbaum, m. 1997 some thoughts on practical stabilization policy, american economic review 87(2): 236-239. ■ evans, p., and j. rauch 1999 bureaucracy and growth: a crossnational analysis of the effects of “weberian” state structures, american sociological review, 64(5): 748-766. ■ fligstein, n. 2001 the architecture of markets: an economic sociology of twenty-first century capitalist societies, princeton, nj: princeton university press. ■ fligstein, n. 1996 the economic sociology of the transitions from socialism, american journal of sociology, 101(4): 1074-1081. ■ fligstein, n., and p. brantley 1992 bank control, owner control, or organizational dynamics: who controls the large modern corporation, american journal of sociology, 98(2): 280-307. ■ findlay, r. 1996 modeling global interdependence: centers, peripheries, and frontiers, american economic review, 86(2): 4751. ■ fortin, n., and t. lemieux 1997 institutional changes and rising wage inequality: is there a linkage? journal of economic perspectives, 11(2): 75-96. ■ frank, r. 1996, the political economy of preference falsification: timur kuran’s private truths, public lies, journal of economic literature, 34(1): 115-123. ■ frey, b. 1997 nor just for money: an economic theory of personal motivation, lyme, ct: elgar. ■ garcia-mila t., t. mcguire, and r. porter 1996 the effect of public capital in statelevel production functions reconsidered, review of economics and statistics, 78(1): 177-180. ■ gerschenkron, a. 1992 economic backwardness in historical perspective, in m. granovetter and r. swedberg (eds.), the sociology of economic life, boulder, co: westview press, 111-130. ■ granovetter, m. 1992 the sociological and economic approaches to labor market analysis: a social structural view, in m. granovetter and r. swedberg (eds.), the sociology of economic life, boulder, co: westview press, 233-263. ■ greenwood, j., z. hercowitz, and p. krussel 1997 long-run implications of investmentspecific technological change, american economic review, 87(3): 342-362. ■ greif, a. 1998 historical and comparative institutional analysis, american economic review, 88(2): 80-84. ■ griliches, z. 1996 the discovery of the residual: a historical note, journal of economic literature, 34(3): 1324-1330. ■ habermas, j. 1975 legitimation crisis, boston, ma: beacon press. ■ hamilton, g. g., and n. w. biggart 1988 market, culture, and authority: a comparative analysis of management and organization in the far east, american journal of sociology, 94(supplement): s52-s94. ■ hemmasi, m., l. graf, and c. e. kellogg 1990 industry structure, competitive rivalry, and firm profitability, journal of behavioral economics, 19(4): 431-448. ■ hirsch, p., s. michaels, and r. friedman 1987 clean models versus dirty hands: why economics is different from sociology, theory and society, 16(3): 317-336. ■ hirschman, a. o. 1977 the passions and the interests: political arguments for capitalism before its triumph, princeton, nj: princeton university press. ■ hirschman, a. o. 1984 against parsimony: three easy ways of complicating some categories of economic discourse, american economic review, 74(2): 89-96. ■ hodgson, g. 1998 the approach of institutional economics, journal of economic literature, 36(1): 166-192. ■ hodson, r., and r. l. kaufman 1982 economic dualism: a critical review, american sociological review, 47(6): 727-739. ■ howitt, p. 2000 endogenous growth and cross-country income differences, american economic review, 90(4): 829-846. ■ keynes, j. m. 1972 essays in persuasion, london: macmillan st.martin’s press. ■ klein, l. 1983 the economics of supply and demand, baltimore, md: johns hopkins university press. ■ klump, r., and o. de la grandville 2000 economic growth and the elasticity of substitution: two theorems and some suggestions, american economic review, 90(1): 282-291. ■ knight, f. 1958 on the history and method of economics: selected essays, chicago, il: university of chicago press. ■ kristensen, p. 1999 toward a new sociology of business firms: promises and challenges in the national business-systems approach, international studies of management and organization, 29(2): 94-112. ■ leibenstein, h. 1966 allocative efficiency vs. "x-efficiency", american economic review, 56(3): 392-415. ■ leibenstein, h., and s. maital 1992 empirical estimation and partitioning of xinefficiency: a data-envelopment approach, american economic review, 82(3): 428-434. m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 2, 2002, 147-174 173 social construction of production ■ lie, j. 1992 the concept of mode of exchange, american sociological review, 57(4): 508-523. ■ martinelli, a., and n. smelser 1990 economic sociology: historical threads and analytical issues, current sociology, 38(2/3): 1-49. ■ marx, k. 1967 capital: a critique of political economy, vol.1, new york: international publishers. ■ mcclelland, d., and d. burnham 1995 power is the great motivator, harvard business review, 73(1): 126-135. ■ mclaren, j. 1997 size, sunk costs, and judge bowker’s objection to free trade, american economic review, 87(3): 400-420. ■ mclaren, j. 2000 globalization and vertical structure, american economic review, 90(5): 1239-1254. ■ mueller, d. 1996 constitutional democracy, new york: oxford university press. ■ myrdal, g. 1953 the political element in the development of economic theory, london: routledge and kegan paul. ■ olson, m., jr. 1996 big bills left on the sidewalk: why some nations are rich, and others poor, journal of economic perspectives, 10(2): 3-24. ■ parsons, t. 1937 the structure of social action, new york: free press. ■ parsons, t. 1947 introduction to max weber, the theory of social and economic organization, new york: free press, 3-86. ■ piore, m. 1996 review of the handbook of economic sociology, journal of economic literature, 34(2): 741-754. ■ podolny, j. m. 1993 a status-based model of market competition, american journal of sociology, 98(4): 829-872. ■ porter, r. h. 1984 tariff policies in a small open spatial economy, canadian journal of economics, 17(2):, 270-282. ■ powell, w., and l. smith-doerr 1994 networks and economic life, in n. smelser and r. swedberg (eds.), the handbook of economic sociology, princeton, nj: princeton university press, 368-402. ■ robertson, d. 1952 utility and all that, and other essays, london: allen and unwin. ■ rosen, s. 1997 manufactured inequality, journal of labor economics, 15(2): 189-197. ■ rotemberg, j., and m. woodford 1996 real-business-cycle models and the forecastable movements in output, hours, and consumption, american economic review, 86(1): 71-89. ■ sachs, j., and a. warner 1997 fundamental sources of long-run growth, american economic review, 87(2): 184-193. ■ sakamato, a., and m. chen 991 inequality and attainment in a dual labor market, american sociological review, 56(3): 295-308. ■ samuelson, p.1983 foundations of economic analysis, cambridge, ma: harvard university press. ■ schumpeter, j. a. 1939 business cycles: a theoretical, historical, and statistical analysis of the capitalist process, new york : mcgrawhill. ■ senior, n. w. 1951 an outline of the science of political economy, new york: kelley. ■ shaffer e. h. 1996 peace, war and the market, canadian journal of economics, 29(special issue: part 2): s639-s643. ■ smelser, n., and r. swedberg 1994 the handbook of economic sociology, princeton, nj: princeton university press. ■ smith m. r. 1990 what is new in “new structuralist” analyses of earnings, american sociological review, 55(6): 827-841. ■ solow, r. m. 1957 technical change and the aggregate production function, review of economics and statistics, 39(3): 312-320. ■ spagnolo, g. 1999 social relations and cooperation in organizations, journal of economic behavior and organization, 38(1): 1-25. ■ spenner, k., o. suhomlinova, o., s. thore, k. land, and d. jones 1998 strong legacies and weak markets: bulgarian state-owned enterprises during early transition, american sociological review, 63(4): 599-617. ■ stanfield, j. 1999 the scope, method, and significance of original institutional economics, journal of economic issues, 33(2): 230-242. ■ stinchcombe, a. 1997 on the virtues of the old institutionalism, annual review of sociology, 23: 1-18. ■ swedberg, r. 1994 markets as social structures, in n. smelser and r. swedberg (eds.), the handbook of economic sociology, princeton, nj: princeton university press, 255-282. ■ swedberg, r. 1998 max weber and the idea of economic sociology, princeton, nj: princeton university press. ■ thaler, r. 1991 quasi-rational economics, new york: russell sage foundation. m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 3, 2002, 147-174 174 milan zafirovski ■ uzzi, b. 1996 the sources and consequences of embeddedness for the economic performance of organizations: the network effect, american sociological review, 61(4): 674:698. ■ uzzi, b. 1999 embeddedness in the making of financial capital: how social relations and networks benefit firms seeking financing, american sociological review, 64(4): 481-505. ■ veblen, t. 1908 the theory of the leisure class: an economic study of institutions, new york: macmillan. ■ weber, m. 1933 the protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism, (tr. t. parsons), new york: scribner. ■ weber, m. 1968 economy and society: an outline of interpretive sociology, new york: bedminster press. ■ weitzman, m. 1996 hybridizing growth theory, american economic review, 86(2): 207-212. ■ white, h. c. 1981 where do markets come from?, american journal of sociology, 87(3): 517-547. ■ wicksell, k 1954 value, capital and rent, london: allen and unwin. ■ williamson, o. 1998 the institutions of governance, american economic review, 88(2): 75-79. ■ zelizer, v. a. 1996 the social meaning of money, new york: basicbooks. 80 unplugged international management, should we abandon the myth of cultural hybridity? a re-examination of the contribution of postcolonial and decolonial approaches hèla yousfi* associate professor, université paris-dauphine psl research university, cnrs, umr 7088, drm, 75016 paris, france abstract the postcolonial and decolonial approaches open the way for a rich analysis of the material and cultural conditions in which international management operates, is spread, interpreted, and implemented. they also offer food for thought on the possibilities, tensions, and resistance associated with reinventing alternative organizations more respectful of the dignity of all, while still providing knowledge that is socially and politically useful for oppressed and marginalized groups. nevertheless, and despite their undeniable contribution to the theoretical development of critical approaches in international management, these perspectives are faced with challenges and difficulties in both intellectual and empirical terms. in this article, i suggest a series of ways forward, which might allow for the renewal of the critical fruitfulness of this intellectual and political project, crucial to face the contemporary challenges of international management. in the colonies, the foreigner arriving from elsewhere imposed himself with the help of his cannons and his machines. despite successful domestication, despite appropriation, the colonizer always remains a foreigner. it is not the factories, the estates, or the bank account which primarily characterize the ‘ruling class.’ the ruling species is first and foremost the outsider from elsewhere, different from the indigenous population, ‘the others.’ franz fanon “f rance will be able to freely bring to morocco civilization, wealth and peace.” this is how, on november 19, 1911, the petit journal, a popular mass-circulation daily newspaper, referred to france’s civilizing mission and justified the colonization of the moroccan people. the accompanying illustration shows marianne wearing a phr ygian bonnet and a tunic bearing the colors of france. she is depicted, head held high, well-lit, like a radiant sun, symbolizing peace and benevolence. she is disproportionately large in comparison with others around her. these broad shoulders allow to suppor t her heavy burdens, and her generous chest makes her a fine nur turing mother. tiny moroccans are bowing down before her. marianne offers instruction (the book) and techniques of ‘civilization’ (the plow), which procure ‘wealth’ (shown as abundance from which pieces of gold fall). the civilizing mission characteristic of the colonial enterprise has its origin in the ‘modernity project’ born of enlightenment philosophy. the modernity project assumes that the creative purpose is primary, and that this permits human beings to master nature, to evolve, and to ensure ‘progress’ by liberating themselves from archaic thought structures, from ‘traditions.’ we shift from a religious vision of the history of humanity to a secular vision marked by scientific models of evolutionism, favoring a perception of culture as a process of social development. in a european context, characterized by imperial expansion and european technological and industrial advancement, this vision of culture was used to assume a hierarchy, not only in political and economic terms but also in terms of cultural development among different societies and diverse social groups (bauman, 1973). several decades later, immediately following the second world war and the intensification of national liberation struggles, we find once again the same rhetoric but freshly redesigned, with the notion of ‘development’ in international economic relations. on january 20, 1949, american president harry truman explained, ‘we must engage in a new audacious program, and use our scientific advancement and our industrial expertise to promote the improvement of living conditions and economic growth in underdeveloped regions.’ it is the *corresponding author: hèla yousfi, email: hela.yousfi@dauphine.psl.eu © 2021 hèla yousfi. citation: m@n@gement 2021: 24(1): 80–89 http://dx.doi.org/10.37725/mgmt.v24i1.6309 published by aims, with the support of the institute for humanities and social sciences (inshs). this is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution-noncommercial 4.0 international license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), permitting all non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. mailto:hela.yousfi@dauphine.psl.eu http://dx.doi.org/10.37725/mgmt.v24i1.6309 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ unplugged 81 should we abandon the myth of cultural hybridity? notion of ‘underdevelopment,’1 which will be used in this discourse to characterize disadvantaged nations to which the marshall plan, with which europe was familiar, should be extended. until that point, this help had only been granted to a few countries in latin america, as part of a global strategy to prevent communism. the concept of ‘development’ is very close to that of the ‘civilizing mission.’ we find the same elements in this quotation: american technical superiority would justify the ‘civilizing mission,’ which would also include the economic dimension, and a strong social and cultural overtone. as the economic dimension was considered to be less patronizing, it would be established gradually with, from the 1950s on, the appearance of a specific literature on development devoted to countries in this category, designated as the ‘third world’ (guillaumont, 1985). it is in this intellectual and political context that the theory of modernization emerged. the theoreticians of modernization, lewis (1954), mcclelland (1964), and parsons (1967), propose models with universal variables, which provide a binary model distinguishing modern societies from those labelled as traditional. they contend that the culture of so-called ‘underdeveloped’ countries constitutes an obstacle to development. the implicit hypothesis is that the technological, economic, and intellectual progress of ‘victorious’ nations should be emulated by the people of the ‘poorest, least civilized’ countries of the world. the legacy of the theory of modernization marks the works of harbison and myers (1959) and farmer and richman (1965) who contend that a convergence of socio-economic development in all countries would also result in the ‘convergence of cultures’ and management practices throughout the world, even if this type of universal convergence might take a number of decades. the application of management principles would not only enhance economic growth and overcome cultural resistance but also help democracy to take root. the first critiques of the theory of modernization in the literature on economic development drew upon neo-marxist doctrines and postcolonial and decolonial studies (yousfi, 2010). these stressed the fact that the theory of modernization seriously neglected external political factors affecting societies, such as colonialism and imperialism, as well as new forms of economic and political domination. neo-marxist doctrines, such as the theory of dependence, emphasized the structure of the global economy as a source of underdevelopment (amin, 1976; arrighi, 1978; wallerstein, 1976) and focused on how the relations between the ‘center’ and the ‘periphery’ explain the blockage of development in countries on the ‘periphery,’ and that this blockage is the fruit of the imperialism of countries at the ‘center.’ for their part, postcolonial and 1. the term ‘underdevelopment’ has been widely criticized by marxist and postcolonial approaches, and it is no longer used. it was eventually replaced by the term ‘third world’ and then by the ‘global south.’ decolonial studies have centered their critical analysis on the discourse around universalism, historicism, and humanism, which they interpret as rhetoric, the goal of which is to legitimize both the colonial enterprise and development policies. universalism is the discourse of ‘western’ colonial power, which defines itself as bearing a superior and universal ideal. historicism, in recognizing irreversible progress in the human world, defends a linear trajectory of development, with the west as the model for ‘underdeveloped’ countries to follow (escobar, 1995; ferguson, 1990). and humanism supports the ethical and theoretical depiction not of all humans but rather of ‘non-westerners’ as inferior, and legitimizes the economic policy of ‘under-development,’ which would allow them access to the ranks of ‘human beings.’ stuart hall’s formula in 1992 ‘l’occident et les autres’ is probably the best translation of this perspective. in this article, after a brief digression to discuss the genealogy and state of the current social science debate on the contributions of postcolonial and decolonial approaches, i return to the way in which this literature has influenced critical approaches in international management. then, i reference the tensions and theoretical and practical challenges, which postcolonial and decolonial approaches in international management must face. i conclude by outlining a series of ways forward, which might allow for the renewal of the critical fruitfulness of this intellectual and political project. postcolonial and decolonial critiques: an epistemological stance, a theory or a political project? postcolonial studies are an anglophone school of thought born in the 1980s in australian, british and north american universities, which analyzes the influences of british and french colonial legacies on colonized societies, as well as the persistent effects, even after independence, of the power structure governing relations between countries of the north and the south. this approach was inspired by a number of different sources, including the critique of orientalism by edward said, the africanism of yves mudimébe, the literary critique of writers from india, from the caribbean and africa and the indian group of ‘subaltern’ studies, such as ranjit guha, gayatri chakravorty spivak and homi bhabha. this approach draws heavily upon the philosophical critique of so-called western epistemology, in conjunction with the ‘french theory’ and postmodern and poststructuralist anthropology and sociology of the 1980s. largely inspired by the work of  michel foucault, gilles deleuze, and jacques derrida, and also by psychoanalytical theories, such as that of jacques lacan  on language and identity, the originality of the postcolonial school of thought lies in its contribution to filling a historical and philosophical vacuum, which is that of the analysis of the colonial unplugged82 hèla yousfi fact in all its diversity. this approach takes on the mission of revealing the mechanisms of political and economic colonial domination, and also the colonial representations and epistemic violence of which the colonized were victims, as well as their survival, which remains problematic to this day. in fact, all of these contributions, which are, moreover, quite disparate and which should not be considered as a single corpus as if this were a question of a homogeneous vision of the world or of a paradigm, oblige us to consider hitherto unseen questions, which must touch upon the ethnocentrism of modern european thought inherited from an intellectual tradition of the enlightenment. their central focus is a radical re-questioning of the self-proclaimed universalism of the enlightenment tradition. while these works, largely tied to the marxist and post-marxist tradition, question the tendency of the dominant intellectual production to proclaim the validity of certain analytical categories independent of local cultures and historical specificities, they also aim to go beyond a certain form of marxist universalism, which is suspected of suffering from the same intellectual blindness concerning the local social and cultural dynamics agitating societies of the south. they explain that notions of class, capitalism, and exploitation cannot be valid everywhere, as they cannot recognize the diversity of social, economic, and political relations in europe, as well as in africa or asia (chakrabarty, 2008). later, toward the end of the 1990s and the start of the 2000s, we witness the emergence of decolonial theories, theoretical genealogies which are rooted in south american hispanic and lusophone intellectual and popular history. these take up the postcolonial critiques and, while radicalizing their ambitions and significance (racist, capitalist, sexist, etc.), make the theorization of oppression a means of political struggle. this school of thought intends to overcome the ethnocentrism of the postcolonial critique, limited as it is to the field of reflection specific to the legacy of northern european empires of the 19th century, by reinstating the latin american experience from the outset. the dark underside of modernity, according to the argentinian philosopher dussel (2009), neither begin with the enlightenment, nor with the industrial revolution; it starts in 1492 with the pseudo-discovery of the americas. among those adopting this approach, we find the argentinian semiologist walter mignolo, the puerto rican sociologist ramon grosfoguel, the colombian anthropologist arturo escobar, and the peruvian sociologist aníbal quijano. beyond the historical roots of decolonial studies in latin american thought, this approach claims to differ from postcolonial studies in its focus on the indissociable character of modernity and coloniality introduced starting in 1492 (boidin, 2009). the objective is to reveal the persistence of the global coloniality of power, knowledge, and being after decolonization. the notion of global coloniality of power refers to the complex and dynamic intertwining of economic phenomena and of sociocultural and political processes produced by patriarchal reproduction, colonialism, capitalism, and globalization (mignolo, 2000). later, the pioneers of feminist decolonial thought, chandra talpdade mohanty, maria lugones, and many others, remind us that the world’s colonial racialization is gendered. in other words, capitalist economic exploitation is a system that combines and exacerbates the colonial, social, sexual, and racial divisions of labor. finally, decolonial studies differ from postcolonial studies, in that the former call for the recognition of an epistemic diversity through the rehabilitation of ‘subaltern thinkers,’ conceived as the central component of global modern or colonial decolonization, leading toward what the philosopher of latin-american liberation enrique dussel calls ‘transmodernity’ (grosfoguel, 2010). in this respect, it is useful to remember that, while postcolonial and decolonial approaches owe a great deal to proponents of the french theory but also to intellectual, literary, and artistic trends, which focused on the colonial question in france in the 1950s, including aimé césaire and his discourse on colonialism, albert memmi  (the colonizer and the colonized), and franz fanon (the wretched of the earth or black skin, white masks), the introduction of postcolonial and decolonial studies in french social science gave rise to three types of critiques: united states-centrism, manichaeism, and essentialism. the work of jean-françois bayart ‘les études postcoloniales: un carnaval académique,’ published in 2010, is, without doubt, the work most emblematic of the problematic reception of postcolonial and decolonial studies in france. certain authors explain that this french resistance is inherent to the historicity of the french revolution, the unitary orientation of the ‘one and indivisible’ republic, little inclined to recognize itself in multiculturalism, as the proponents of postcolonial studies complain. others specify that french reticence to embrace postcolonial and decolonial studies instead signals the uniqueness of french colonial history and a different configuration of the academic field, which is, instead, invested in other traditions of critical research, inspired by foucault and bourdieu, or historical perspectives (marie-claude, 2007). this resistance clearly also explains the quasi-absence of these approaches from francophone critical managerial literature. the postcolonial and decolonial studies, however, remain fundamentally heterogeneous and do not call into question the flows and blending of the past heritage, prior and contemporary to colonization. the debates they engender concern not only identity and culture, nor even the marginalization of minority and racialized groups in western societies. they are tied to identifying traces of a certain continuity in the forms of material and symbolic violence the origin of which can be found in the history of colonization and which are still manifest today in the treatment of dominated groups in western societies but also in the relations between countries of the north and the south. there is really no one postcolonial or decolonial unplugged 83 should we abandon the myth of cultural hybridity? theory, but rather a series of places, authors, and conjunctures offering a critique of the effects of the colonial heritage, which was subsequently worked on and displaced by this question of the relationship between the challenges of decolonization and the tasks of political, economic, and intellectual emancipation of countries of the south. the aim of this eminently political intellectual project revolves around three dimensions: resistance to the dominant representations; a consideration of colonial history and its effects on the contemporary world, in terms of an examination of shared experience; and finally, the hope for reciprocal recognition, giving back to each one its own history, culture, and dignity. international management under the lens of postcolonial and decolonial approaches postcolonial and decolonial approaches in international management perceived globalization with the hegemony of the american model as a colonization of knowledge and of the representation of what constitutes good management. they are interested in the way with which western epistemology has guided and constrained the knowledge production in organization theory by colonizing the depictions of organizational practices of non-western countries (banerjee & prasad, 2008; cooke, 2004; mir, 2003). obviously, the celebrated 2003 work edited by prasad, postcolonial theory and organizational analysis: a critical engagement, constitutes the pivotal moment for postcolonial approaches in management and organization. this book attempts to respond to a question, rarely posed in the discipline of management, that is, one concerning the consequences of modern western colonialism for both organizational practices and intellectual production in management. this school of thought is interested in a number of subjects, including the links between colonialism and industrialization, the depiction of the figure of the (colonized) worker as docile, the relations between organizations and colonial administration, the convergence of colonial and managerial ideologies, and the similarities between colonial regimes and international regimes as global systems of control. in that respect, it is useful to recall that due to the domination of positivist approaches, the domain of international or intercultural management has been most resistant to the contribution of critical perspectives (jack & westwood, 2009, p. 871). with the success of the american industrial system after the second world war and its spread internationally, americanization became synonymous with modernization, and the american management style was naturalized in managerial discourse and development policies (cooke, 2004; djelic, 1998; kipping, engwall, & üsdiken, 2008; mir, 2003; westwood & jack, 2007). it was only starting in the 2000s that a number of voices were raised in the english-speaking world to insist on the potential of critical research in this field. international management, therefore, is becoming an excellent laboratory for postcolonial approaches, notably in the anglophone milieu. for example, it is a matter of exploring the role of new practices of contemporary imperialism, referred to as neo-colonial, which replace direct colonial occupation with an ever-expanding role for international institutions, such as the world bank, the world trade organization (wto), and the international monetary fund (imf), in maintaining the economic and political dependence of countries of the south. other studies have been interested in deconstructing such concepts as social responsibility or sustainable development to show the ‘colonizing’ ambition or ‘domination’ behind these instruments. these are considered as bearers of western domination by multinationals who would like to assert their power and neutralize the resistance of local populations in the countries of the south (gantman, yousfi & alcadipani, 2015). another trend in postcolonial management studies has focused on a critical examination of the celebration of diversity, inclusion, and multiculturalism as just and equitable principles of international management (kaasila-pakanen, 2015). starting from the hypothesis that the enterprise is, first and foremost, a space historically subject to power relations or domination, multiculturalism underlying the notion of diversity is studied from this perspective as an instrument of control inherent to broader institutional power structures. cultural diversity management is perceived as a discourse produced by the dominant actors and would, above all, resemble a mechanism to control minorities. under this light, multiculturalism, which is a corollary of diversity management, is suspected of reifying simplistic and reductionist categories of culture and identity, thus reinforcing inequalities (jack, 2015). the postcolonial critique, therefore, reveals the persistence of subtle and implicit references of control and domination in the discourse around cultural diversity, which run counter to attitudes of tolerance and equality of treatment advocated by the classic perspectives on diversity management. the emphasis on the benefits of managing cultural diversity, the importance of managers’ intercultural skills, and management measures allowing for ‘inclusion,’ which abound in this dominant literature are, ultimately, not that surprising, as these are much more manageable options than tackling the difficult work of the decolonization of knowledge and denouncing relationships of domination or even disturbing the established hegemonic order. in summary, postcolonial approaches in international management have shown that despite the public international management discourse according to which the primary issue is a recognition of the other, the categories used may act as technologies of control, employed to ‘discipline’ and manage the tensions and contradictions stemming from differences, and as a result, serve to neutralize the subversive potential for resistance by those being subjugated. shortly thereafter, a number of studies more influenced by the new contributions of decolonial theories, in particular by unplugged84 hèla yousfi brazilian and argentinian researchers, radicalized the project and adopted as an agenda for the decolonization of knowledge in international management (alcadipani & faria, 2014; ibarra-colado, 2006). they denounced the hegemony of american managerial literature, which sees the importation of american management knowledge as the only way to strengthen the economies of the countries of the south and improve the productivity of local enterprises (alcadipani, khan, gantman, & nkomo, 2012). they adopt as their mission the deconstruction of the self-proclaimed universality of the western, notably american, managerial literature through a political project favoring intellectual production coming from the south. from this perspective, jack and westwood (2009) speak of the importance of ‘decolonizing’ international and intercultural management’s research methodologies by emphasizing reflexivity and the need to rehabilitate indigenous research and methodologies in order to avoid american and european ethnocentrism (dar, 2018; gantman et al., 2015). now these studies were soon confronted with two fundamental tensions. the first concerned the material and symbolic difficulty associated with a number of centuries of economic, political, and intellectual colonization preventing ‘subaltern and indigenous’ people from speaking for themselves (seremani & clegg, 2016). besides the intellectuals of the diaspora living in the north, a very few authors from the south are cited in organizational studies, including critical perspectives. this absence can be explained by the ethnocentrism of the assessment frameworks used by the dominant western journals in the management field, as well as by the lack of financial means in the countries of the south, crucial for intellectual produc tion and its dissemination. consequently, it is not surprising to observe that postcolonial and decolonial perspectives have especially flourished in brazil, india, and south africa, relatively economically and politically powerful countries. the second tension relates to the difficulty of constructing adequate criteria for identifying so-called ‘indigenous’ sites and/ or methodologies in a world where traces of the hegemonic undertaking of globalization are ubiquitous. and the central question raised in the postcolonial and decolonial school of thought becomes: how one can recognize cultural roots while avoiding essentialism, and how one can take into account the cultural melange or mixture, without imposing colonial categories when one considers various ways of organizing and working and different trajectories to construct an identity in the countries of the south (islam, 2012; nkomo, 2011)? hybridity: a miraculous antidote to essentialism? the response to this question is found in the emergence of hybridity as a new concept and an antidote to essentialism. largely inspired by the pioneering work of homi bhabha (1984, 1994, 1996), the terms ‘hybridity’ and ‘hybridization’ have become key concepts in postcolonial and decolonial approaches, and are increasingly used in the organizational literature to examine the effects of the ‘colonial’ encounter on the transformation of management practices in countries of the south (dar, 2018; frenkel, 2006, 2008; seremani & clegg, 2016; yousfi, 2013). contrary to said (1979), who clearly distinguishes between the colonizer and the colonized, bhabha considers the reciprocal effects of the colonizer on the colonized and vice versa within the colonial encounter. his concept of the ‘third space of enunciation’ positions hybridity as a transformative site within which the colonizer and the colonized are presented with new possibilities to describe the identity of self and of the other, and to invent new forms of political agency and of subversion (parry, 1994). imposed western knowledge is combined with different indigenous knowledge, leading to the creation of a hybrid version, which simultaneously indicates the effect of the dominant power and the resistance to it. from this viewpoint, the ‘colonized’ are not satisfied with merely importing western management knowhow; they are capable of resisting creatively and of subtly subverting the knowledge imposed on them by the ‘colonizers,’ thus blurring the binary distinctions between the western and local discourse. consequently, in international management, a number of authors have explored hybridization as a recurrent phenomenon when american management knowledge is confronted with local realities (alcadipani & rosa, 2011; frenkel, 2005). contrary to approaches based on translation (czarniawska & sevón, 1996; doorewaard & van bijsterveld, 2001), neo-institutional (kostova & roth, 2002; zeitlin & herrigel, 2000), and intercultural approaches (jackson, 2002; tayeb, 2001), which have contributed in various ways to the reassessment of the hypothesis of homogenization, the postcolonial and decolonial perspectives have the significant merit of being able to clarify the dynamics of power or domination within the global system, all while considering issues of production and diffusion of western management and organizational knowledge in the countries of the south (cooke, 2004; prasad, 2003). moreover, the mobilization of hybridity/hybridization would reveal that western and non-western borders are profoundly ambivalent constructs. as momentary and simultaneous places and expressions of the past and of the present, of inclusion and exclusion, of difference and of similarity, organizations become the new sites of disrupted borders. applied to intercultural management, the notions of hybridity and ambivalence advance more complex conceptualizations of the cultural difference as hybrid and fluid, always evolving. these notions would refashion organizational actors’ identities, classically homogenized and reified in multiple, mobile, and provisional constructions, more precisely adapted to the living conditions and learning inherent in the vagueness of a global world in transformation. now, while the concept of unplugged 85 should we abandon the myth of cultural hybridity? ‘hybridity’ is seductive because it offers a framework, which has radically revisited intercultural approaches (replacing the hypothesis of cultural domination and/or or cultural essentialism with mutual contamination, the subversion and ambivalence characterizing contacts between cultures), it raises a number of theoretical and empirical challenges. here, we distinguish two types of critiques. an initial series of critiques question the uses of the notion of hybridity in the managerial literature. a second series of more radical critiques question the relevance of the concept of hybridity in grasping the issues of power/domination that shape north–south relations today. critiques bearing on the notion of hybridity highlight the fact that its noncritical and decontextualized transposition could be problematic, since it risks neglecting the role played by historical and cultural contexts from which this phenomenon of hybridity emerges (lo, khoo, & gilbert, 2000; werbner, 2001). a contextualized approach to the process of hybridization in the countries of the south should take into account the fact that the process of americanization was preceded by previous european colonial efforts to introduce their own models of productivity into the framework of the colonial mission (frenkel & shenhav, 2003; gantman & parker, 2006). furthermore, the diversity of trajectories and experiences of processes of managerial hybridization in the countries of the south, the local historical power dynamics, and the array of local cultural meanings that shape knowledge, identities, and hybrid practices all remain largely unexplored (yousfi, 2014). a second series of critiques concern the conceptualization of culture inherent in the notion of hybridity. hybridity in bhabha’s sense, with its focus on the effects of the colonial encounter, conveys the idea that the formation of identity is not limited to assumptions about national or other distinctions and considers culture as a malleable, dynamic, and adaptable social fact. from this perspective, any cultural continuity over long periods of time is rejected, since it implicitly presupposes the absence of a capacity for collective and individual agency, critical for changing social structures. thus, although the tradition/modernity dichotomy inherent to the modernity project is radically criticized in postcolonial and decolonial approaches, it is reproduced in the priority given to ‘individual agency’ and ‘social transformation,’ and also in the implicit hypothesis according to which cultural continuity is supposed to impede progress. however, empirically, we find evidence of both widespread cultural change and stability in distinct cultural references (yousfi, 2010). furthermore, theories celebrating hybridity as the antidote to cultural essentialism ignore the fact that national cultures are also, for the actors themselves, the matrices of ethical values and shared references shaping the way in which they perceive and may resist domination (dupuis, davel, & chanlat, 2007; d’iribarne, 2009; werbner, 2001). neither do they take into account the fact that although cultures change over time, certain forms of continuity associated with what today seem rather outmoded concepts, such as ‘the spirit of a nation’ (montesquieu, 1748), ‘national character’ (weber, 1905), and ‘a world of avatars’ (geertz, 1973), may persist and could prove indispensable to better comprehending the way in which the heterogeneity of values or of social groups in a given society is expressed in more stable cultural references and shapes the relationship between culture and individual agency. along these lines, d’iribarne (2003) builds on the work of bloch (1939), highlighting the diversity of conceptions of the free man (as opposed to the serf) in medieval europe, and reveals traces of this in the modern world. he brings to the fore the existence of different conceptions of liberty in anglophone, german, and french milieus, largely due to the legacy of visions of the free man dating back to these societies’ pre-democratic past. these various national cultural conceptions of liberty produce their own forms of domination, transgression, and resistance based on more stable references and judgment criteria (yousfi, 2010). the most radical critique of the notion of hybridity comes from ajari (2019), the author of ‘la dignité ou la mort, ethique et politique de la race.’ to that celebrated claim of homi bhabha that ‘the way we conceptualize difference is important,’ norman ajari responds that it is the daily realty of death experienced by subaltern groups, which produces the black person or the muslim and not sociological conceptualizations and essentializing discourse. he points to the limitations of the theoretical sequence characterized by a radical anti-essentialism, opened up by french philosophy in the latter part of the twentieth century (derrida, foucault, and deluze) and developed in the globalized university through a variety of theoretical initiatives under the labels of ‘poststructuralism,’ ‘deconstruction,’ or ‘postmodernity.’ he explains that the socially constructed character of race or identity, broadly established and admitted in poststructuralist and/or postcolonial critiques, is ineffective when faced with the spectacle of mutilated bodies, corpses floating in the mediterranean or countless humiliations and the daily exploitation of the bodies of immigrants or workers in the countries of the global south. reconnecting with the little-known history of the radical thought of black worlds, he demonstrates eloquently and in great details the fact that it is the violence of structural and historic international inequality, which produces race and not sociological articles. for him, the insistence of deconstruction theories on the necessity of abolishing antagonistic political polarities by means of ‘hybridity’ weakens the critique itself just where it claims to be putting it into action. according to norman ajari, poststructuralist discourse on the fluidity of identities and the malleability of cultures only leads to a sort of narcissism of inexistence, in light of which the more political agents are biddable, not classifiable, and hazy, the more the discourse of deconstruction provides them the capacity to act. whether they are unplugged86 hèla yousfi promoting assimilation into western societies or an african revaluation, the politics of identities and representations in vogue in recent decades have flourished as a result of the same misreading of life and death questions, which has made a brutal return with the covid-19 crisis and the ‘black lives matter’ movement. these policies remain powerless before the spectacle of death and the exploitation of inferiorized and racialized groups. and the franco-algerian philosopher seloua luste boulbina best summarizes this contradiction: “michel foucault was merely a traveler in brazil and not a resident, a distinguished guest and not an irregular migrant, a white man and not a black woman. clearly, this is why he was dreaming, writing of not having a face, or of losing his face (…). for the resident, the irregular migrant, the black woman, not having a face is not an ideal or a dream, it is an experience, a reality, a nightmare. so, on the contrary, there are those who express themselves to have a face.” (boulbina, 2008, p. 83) conclusion together, these postcolonial and decolonial perspectives that should not be seen as a homogeneous body of work or as a unified paradigm oblige us to consider new questions, which cannot leave untouched dominant positivist theories or classical critical theories. these perspectives claim that the dominant cultural and intellectual production is caught up in injustices of contemporaneity, of the future, and of the past by recognizing the impact of the colonial enterprise on the violent spread of modernity, as well as on the rupture or mutilation of local theoretical and empirical and/or indigenous knowledge. the importance of the contributions presented here resides in their promise to contribute to a growing awareness of common historical processes, of cultural reciprocity, and of diasporic tendencies of the globalizing world around more complex and multiple conceptualizations of domination or power relations, of paths of resistance and their effects on the transformations of current social, political, and economic relationships. in international management, postcolonial and decolonial studies reveal the unconscious references buried in organizational discourse and practice, which claim to be pluralist, multicultural, and inclusive, and which are deployed to neutralize the eruption of the difference and resistance with which any intellectual and political hegemony is confronted. these postcolonial and decolonial analyses open the way for a reflection on the material and cultural conditions in which management operates, is spread, interpreted, and applied, and offers food for thought on the possibilities, tensions, and resistance associated with reinventing alternative organizations more respectful of the dignity of all, while still providing knowledge that is intellectually, socially, and politically useful for oppressed and marginalized groups. nevertheless, and despite their undeniable contribution to the theoretical development of critical interpretations in international management, these perspectives must engage in dialogues on three key questions, which are becoming urgent, in both intellectual and empirical terms, and will further their development as analytical grids of contemporary challenges of international management: first, they tend to stem from literary analysis, neglecting the material structure in which the discourse is produced. postcolonial and decolonial studies are less concerned with practices that would be documented by fieldwork or archives than with the discourse and representations from which they dissert and even extrapolate in a sometimes, abusive fashion. thus, postcolonial and decolonial inspired studies in international management limit themselves to discourse rather than effective practices, making an exploration of the ambivalence of phenomena at play in international encounters impossible. they are reduced to a reflective project, imposing a precise vocabulary on those who wish to employ it, and few approaches examine the way in which the dominant discourse concretely impacts local actors’ practices and the way they resist and reinvent management methods imposed on them. while rehabilitation of power or domination relationships in the analysis of discourse in international management is beneficial in postcolonial and decolonial approaches, the concrete effects of these power relationships on practices are largely ignored. efforts to provide for further exploration of the material, political, and economic structure, in which the hegemonic discourse in international management is inscribed, as well as of the managerial or organizational practices, which emerge from it, are sorely needed. second, there is a classic tension between ‘the particular’ and ‘the universal’ in postcolonial and decolonial approaches. the focus of these approaches on the perpetual construction of cultures does not allow us to grasp the way with which national cultures produce their own forms of domination, transgression, and resistance based on cultural references and more stable judgment criteria. consequently, critical perspectives in international management should be developed to better take into account the interaction between (1) conscious, intersubjective, and political processes of reinterpretation and negotiation of imported practices; and (2) all the less negotiable and more stable realms of local cultural meanings. moreover, it is this research path, from an enhanced anthropological perspective (geertz, 1973; ibn khaldûn, 1967; mauss, 1968), which will allow us to move away from both the glorification of what is local and the posture of denunciations, both of which are certainly useful but insufficient to truly grasp the conditions of economic and political transformation in countries of the south, while recognizing the ambivalent effects of american hegemonic discourse (yousfi, 2014). it is less a matter of exploring the hybridity associated with the culture or identity, which would emerge from the colonial encounter than of unplugged 87 should we abandon the myth of cultural hybridity? working with a heightened awareness of the situation in which the translation or appropriation of formations of political and economic, colonial and post-colonial history in an anthropological and political context is always unique. third, the question of the transformative scope of this eminently political intellectual project has arisen. the concern with anti-essentialism in conjunction with the weight of the myth of modernity underlying most of these postcolonial and decolonial perspectives makes it difficult to analyze the relationship between the individual agency firmly entrenched in the project of modernity and the impact of structures of political and economic domination (giddens, 1984). a persistent question in most postcolonial and decolonial studies is that of the balance to be found between a universalizing position, which flatly refuses to recognize the colonial period as a core foundation of colonized and colonizing societies, while avoiding consigning the indigenous peoples to a fantasy colonial condition. the responses to this, as mentioned previously, varied between two tendencies: that which focuses on international management as a combination of controls integrated in mutually constitutive material and discursive structures of international management at the risk of minimizing the agency of oppressed or subaltern groups. and this comes from works on hybridity, which claim that employees from ‘subaltern’ groups are not passive receptacles of control, but rather, as actors, they reflect on this and act in such a way as to more or less conform, and through their reflections and actions, they can eventually create a space for their own micro-emancipation. from this perspective, while the stake is an expression of anti-essentialism aiming to deconstruct social and political determinism through insistence on micro-processes of emancipation, the risk is great of seeing the first political ambition of postcolonial and decolonial studies, a radical reassessment of power or domination relationships, relegated to the back burner. obviously, norman ajari’s suggestion (2019) to consider the question from the angle of dignity offers an alternative path to critical analysis. largely inspired by franz fanon and his concept of sovereignty-dignity, he reminds us that there is no dignity without power, and calls for replacing the ethics of recognition underlying the concepts of integration, inclusion, or multiculturalism, popularized by european moral philosophy, of which hegel was the most emblematic figure, with a decolonial theory of dignity. this cannot be deciphered simply according to the principles of a moral law, the goal of which would be to render the domination and exploitation imperceptible; it can only proceed from historical and relational ethics. according to him, only a theory of dignity capable of putting back at the heart of the debate the material living conditions of subaltern individuals, forms of ‘life-death’ and the history of political, artistic, and intellectual revolts led by blacks and oppressed groups to impose their denied humanity that we may decipher the ongoing liberation processes. it is this relational and historical ethics of dignity that one is able to see in the processes of resistance led by oppressed groups against the dominant groups’ moral norms of recognition. under this light, authentic recognition comes from self-affirmation of the dignity of oppressed groups, forcing the dominant society to break with traditional modalities of recognition. finally, the aim of postcolonial and decolonial perspectives in international management consists less of explaining the world and providing instruments directly adapted to action than of acquiring sufficient understanding to provide the actors the essential keys to interpret their experience. however, these perspectives may be of some practical use since, like psychanalysis, in explaining par ticular behavior and its consequences depending on the case, they may lead to the modification of this behavior and/or its persistence. postcolonial and decolonial perspectives were cer tainly not intended to cure society’s ills. yet, taking note of the effects produced by the malaise resulting from major political, intellectual, and historical reshuffle following the – interminable – end of empires, and the paths of resistance at work may suggest a fruitful point of view with respect to the conditions of disalienation of a par ticular era. from a theoretical viewpoint, the challenge is, thus, to substitute for the fluidity of hybridity in international management, the more complex question of the coexistence of a number of different temporalities and subjectivities stemming from political, economic, and epistemic violence in the international encounter. from a political perspective, the issue is to substitute for the question of inclusion and cultural diversity the question – cer tainly riskier for the dominant power – of the destruction of the political, economic, and symbolic order, enabling individuals, groups, and peoples, long and  methodically oppressed and exploited, to recover their dignity. references ajari, n. (2019). la dignité ou la mort: éthique et politique de la race. la découverte. alcadipani, r. & faria, a. (2014). fighting latin american marginality in international business. critical perspectives on international business, 10(1–2), 107–117. doi: 10.1108/cpoib-11-2013-0047 alcadipani, r., khan, f. r., gantman, e. & nkomo, s. (2012). southern voices in management and organization knowledge. organization, 12(2), 131– 143. doi: 10.1177/1350508411431910 alcadipani, r. & reis rosa, a. (2011). from grobal management to glocal management: latin american perspectives as a counter-dominant management epistemology. canadian journal of administrative sciences, 28(4), 453–466. doi: 10.1002/cjas.165 amin, s. (1976). unequal development: an essay on the social formations of peripheral capitalism. harvester press. arrighi, g. (1978). the geometry of imperialism: the limits of hobson’s paradigm. nlb. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/cpoib-11-2013-0047 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1350508411431910 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/cjas.165 unplugged88 hèla yousfi banerjee, s. b. & prasad, a. (2008). introduction to the special issue on “critical reflections on management and organizations: a postcolonial perspective.” critical perspectives on international business, 4(2/3), 90–98. doi: 10.1108/17422040810869963 bauman, z. (1973). culture as praxis. routledge. bhabha, h. (1984). of mimicry and man: the ambivalence of colonial discourse. october, 28, 125–133. doi: 10.2307/778467 bhabha, h. (1994). the location of culture. routledge. bhabha, h. (1996). culture’s in-between. in s. hall & p. du gay (eds.), questions of cultural identity (pp. 53–60). sage. bloch, m. (1939). la société féodale. albin michel, (1968 [1939]). boidin, c. (2009). études décoloniales et postcoloniales dans les débats français. cahiers des amériques latines, 62, 129–140. doi: 10.4000/cal.1620 boulbina, s. l. (2008). le singe de kafka et autres propos sur la colonie. sens public. chakrabarty, d. (2008). provincializing europe: postcolonial thought and historical difference. princeton university press. cooke, b. (2004). the managing of the (third) world. organization, 11(5), 603–629. doi: 10.1177/1350508404044063 czarniawska, b. & sevón, g. (eds.) (1996). translating organizational change. de gruyter. dar, s. (2018). de-colonizing the boundary-object. organization studies, 39(4), 565–584. doi: 10.1177/0170840617708003 d’iribarne, p. (2003). trois figures de la liberté. annales. histoire, sciences sociales, 58(5), 953–978. doi: 10.1017/s0395264900018084 d’iribarne, p. (2009). conceptualising national cultures: an anthropological perspective. european journal of international management, 3(2), 6. doi: 10.1504/ejim.2009.024320 djelic, m-l. (1998). exporting the american model: the post-war transformation of european business. oxford university press. doorewaard, h. & van bijsterveld, m. (2001). the osmosis of ideas: an  analysis of the integrated approach to it management from a translation theory perspective. organization, 8(1), 55–76. doi: 10.1177/ 135050840181004 dupuis, j-p., davel, e. & chanlat, j-f. (2007). culture and development, the continuing tension between modern standards and local contexts, culture, institutions and development, new insights into an old debate (pp. 20–64). routledge. dussel, e. (2009). pour un dialogue mondial entre traditions philosophiques. cahiers des amériques latines, 62(2009/3), 111–127. doi: 10.4000/ cal.1619 escobar, a. (1995). encountering development: the making and unmaking of the third world. princeton university press. farmer, r. n. & richman. b. n. (1965). comparative management and economic progress. homewood. ferguson, j. (1990). the anti-politics machine: development, depoliticization, and bureaucratic power in lesotho. cup archive. frenkel, m. (2005). the politics of translation: how state-level political relations affect the cross-national travel of management ideas. organization, 12(2), 275–301. doi: 10.1177/1350508405051191 frenkel, m. (2006). from binarism back to hybridity: a postcolonial reading of management and organization studies. organization studies, 27(6), 855–876. doi: 10.1177/0170840606064086 frenkel, m. (2008). the multinational corporation as a third space: rethinking international management discourse on knowledge transfer through homi bhabha. academy of management review, 33(4), 924–942. doi: 10.5465/amr.2008.34422002 frenkel, m. & shenhav, y. (2003). from americanization to colonization: the diffusion of productivity models revisited. organization studies, 24(9), 1537–1561. doi: 10.1177/0170840603249006 gantman, e. r. & parker, m. (2006). comprador management?: organizing management knowledge in argentina (1975–2003). critical perspectives on international business, 2(1), 25–40. doi: 10.1108/17422040610644144 gantman, e. r., yousfi, h. & alcadipani, r. (2015). challenging anglo-saxon dominance in management and organizational knowledge. revista de administração de empresas, 55(2), 6. doi: 10.1590/s0034-759020150202 geertz, c. (1973). the interpretation of cultures. basic books. giddens, a. (1984). the constitution of society: outline of the theory of structuration. university of california press. grosfoguel, r. (2010). vers une décolonisation des « uni-versalismes » occidentaux : le « pluri-versalisme décolonial », d’aimé césaire aux zapatistes. in a. mbembe (ed.), ruptures postcoloniales: les nouveaux visages de la société française (pp. 119–138). la découverte. guillaumont, p. (1985). economie du développement: dynamique interne du développement (vol. 2). presses universitaires de france-puf. hall, s. (1992). the west and the rest: discourse and power. in t. d. gupta, c. e. james, c. andersen, g-e. galabuzi & r. c. a. maaka (eds.), race and racialization (2nd ed., pp. 85–95). canadian scholars. harbison, f. & myers, c. a. (1959). management in the industrial world: an international analysis. mcgraw-hill. ibarra-colado, e. (2006). organization studies and epistemic coloniality in latin america: thinking otherness from the margins. organization, 13(4), 463–488. doi: 10.1177/1350508406065851 ibn khaldûn, a. (1967). discours sur l’histoire universelle (al-muqaddima). annales, 25(3), 754–755. islam, g. (2012). can the subaltern eat? anthropophagic culture as a brazilian lens on post-colonial theory. organization, 19(2), 159–180. doi: 10.1177/1350508411429396 jack, g. (2015). advancing postcolonial approaches in critical diversity studies. in r. bendl, i. bleijenbergh, e. henttonen & a. j. mills (eds.), the oxford handbook of diversity in organizations (pp. 153–174). oxford university press. jack, g. & westwood, r. (2009). international and cross-cultural management studies: a postcolonial reading. springer. doi: 10.1057/9780230248441 jackson, t. (2002). the management of people across cultures: valuing people differently. human resource management, 41(4), 455–475. doi: 10.1002/hrm.10054 kaasila-pakanen, a-l. (2015). a postcolonial deconstruction of diversity management and multiculturalism. in r. bendl, i. bleijenbergh, e. henttonen & a. j. mills (eds.), the oxford handbook of diversity in organizations (pp. 175–194). oxford university press. kipping, m., engwall, l. & üsdiken, b. (2008). preface: the transfer of management knowledge to peripheral countries. international studies of management and organization, 38(4), 3–16. doi: 10.2753/ imo0020-8825380400 kostova, t. & roth, k. (2002). adoption of an organizational practice by subsidiaries of multinational corporations: institutional and relational effects. academy of management journal, 45(1), 215–233. doi: 10.2307/3069293 lewis, w. a. (1954). economic development with unlimited supplies of labour. the manchester school, 22(2), 139–191. doi: 10.1111/j.14679957.1954.tb00021.x lo, j., khoo, t. & gilbert, h. (2000). new formations in asian-australian cultural politics. journal of australian studies, 24(65), 1–12. doi: 10.1080/14443050009387580 marie-claude, s. (2007). la situation postcoloniale: les études postcoloniales dans le débat français. presses de la fondation nationale des sciences politiques. mauss, m. (1968) [1950]. sociologie et anthropologie. puf. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/17422040810869963 http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/778467 http://dx.doi.org/10.4000/cal.1620 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1350508404044063 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0170840617708003 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0395264900018084 http://dx.doi.org/10.1504/ejim.2009.024320 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/135050840181004 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/135050840181004 http://dx.doi.org/10.4000/cal.1619 http://dx.doi.org/10.4000/cal.1619 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1350508405051191 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0170840606064086 http://dx.doi.org/10.5465/amr.2008.34422002 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0170840603249006 http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/17422040610644144 http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/s0034-759020150202 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1350508406065851 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1350508411429396 http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/9780230248441 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/hrm.10054 http://dx.doi.org/10.2753/imo0020-8825380400 http://dx.doi.org/10.2753/imo0020-8825380400 http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3069293 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9957.1954.tb00021.x http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9957.1954.tb00021.x http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14443050009387580 unplugged 89 should we abandon the myth of cultural hybridity? mcclelland, d. c. (1964). business drive and national achievement. in a. etzioni & e. etizioni (eds.), social change (pp. 165–178). basic books. mignolo, w. d. (2000/2012). local histories/global designs: coloniality, subaltern knowledges, and border thinking. princeton university press. mir, a. (2003). the hegemonic discourse of management texts. journal  of  management education, 27(6), 734–738. doi: 10.1177/ 1052562903257944 montesquieu, c. d. s. (1748). de l’esprit des lois. firmin didot frères. nkomo, s. m. (2011). a postcolonial and anti-colonial reading of “african” leadership and management in organization studies: tensions, contradictions and possibilities. organization, 18(3), 365–386. doi: 10.1177/ 1350508411398731 parr y, b. (1994). signs of our times: discussion of homi bhabha’s the  location of culture. third text, 8(28–29), 5–24. doi: 10.1080/ 09528829408576499 parsons, t. (1967). structure of social action. free press. prasad, a. (ed.). (2003). postcolonial theory and organizational analysis: a critical engagement. palgrave. said, e. w. (1979). orientalism. vintage. seremani, t. w. & clegg, s. (2016). postcolonialism, organization, and management theor y: the role of “epistemological third spaces.” journal of management inquir y, 25(2), 171–183. doi: 10.1177/ 1056492615589973 tayeb, m. (2001). conducting research across cultures: overcoming drawbacks and obstacles. international journal of cross cultural management, 1(1), 91–108. doi: 10.1177/147059580111009 wallerstein, i. (1976). the capitalist world economy: essays. cambridge university press. weber, m. (1905). the protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism. scirbner press. werbner, p. (2001). the limits of cultural hybridity: on ritual monsters, poetic licence and contested postcolonial purifications. journal of the royal anthropological institute, 7(1), 133–152. westwood, r. i. & jack, g. (2007). manifesto for a post-colonial international business and management studies: a provocation. critical perspectives on international business, 3(3), 56–83. yousfi h. (2010). culture and development: the continuing tension between modern standards and local contexts. in j. p. platteau & r. peccoud (eds.). culture, institutions and development, new insights into an old debate (p. 57). routledge. yousfi, h. (2014). rethinking hybridity in postcolonial contexts: what changes and what persists? the tunisian case of poulina’s managers. organization studies, 35(3), 393–421. zeitlin, j. & herrigel, g. (2000). americanization and its limits: reworking us technology and management in post-war europe and japan. work employment and society, 43(2), 588–589. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1052562903257944 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1052562903257944 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1350508411398731 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1350508411398731 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09528829408576499 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09528829408576499 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1056492615589973 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1056492615589973 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/147059580111009 thomas loilier et albéric tellier 2004 comment peut-on se faire confiance sans se voir ? le cas du développement des logiciels libres m@n@gement, 7(3): 275-306. m@n@gement is a double-blind reviewed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.dmsp.dauphine.fr/management/ © 2004 m@n@gement and the author(s). issn: 1286-4892 editors: martin evans, u. of toronto bernard forgues, u. of paris 12 http://www.dmsp.dauphine.fr/management/ http://www.dmsp.dauphine.fr/management/ m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 275-306 special issue: practicing collaboration 275 thomas loilier . albéric tellier université de caen basse-normandieinstitut d’administration des entreprises email: loilier@iae.unicaen.fr université de caen basse-normandie institut d’administration des entreprises email: tellier@iae.unicaen.fr comment peut-on se faire confiance sans se voir ? le cas du développement des logiciels libres cette recherche porte sur la collaboration au sein des réseaux d’innovation distants. ces équipes-projets sont constituées d’individus dispersés géographiquement, réunis temporairement, et utilisant les technologies de l’information et de la communication comme support de communication et de mise en place du projet. la littérature consacrée aux relations entre les acteurs d’un réseau fait de la confiance le principal mode de coordination. or, il semble admis que cette confiance s’appuie essentiellement sur la connaissance de l’autre et le face-à-face. notre objectif est d’étudier les conditions dans lesquelles la confiance peut être un mode de coordination quand il n’y a pas d’interaction directe sur le même lieu entre les acteurs du projet d’innovation. pour répondre à cette question, nous analysons le fonctionnement d’équipes de développement de logiciels libres associées au projet linux. il apparaît que l’absence d’interactions directes et simultanées limite considérablement la confiance interpersonnelle. cette absence est compensée par une confiance institutionnelle élevée mais aussi par un dispositif formalisé de contrôle, dont la combinaison permet d’assurer un niveau de performance élevé. aussi, nous nous éloignons des approches privilégiant la confiance comme une alternative au contrôle pour préférer un point de vue intégrateur. en particulier, le contrôle sanction peut être utilisé sans démotiver les membres de la communauté linux parce qu’il vient compléter un système global de contrôle qui s’apparente à un contrôle social. introduction on assiste depuis quelques années à un foisonnement des travaux sur la capacité des technologies de l’information et de la communication (tic) à permettre des configurations nouvelles de réseau d’innovation (par exemple howells, 1995). différents outils permettent aujourd’hui des échanges écrits asynchrones (e-mail, faq) et synchrones (chat) mais aussi une communication visuelle synchrone à distance non codifiée (visioconférence, salle de maquettage 3d…). il devient donc possible à des individus éloignés géographiquement de se coordonner par ajustement mutuel sans passer par une phase préalable de codification1 (rallet, 1997 ; gallié, 2003). vo l o n t i e r s qualifiés de e-réseaux (loilier et te l l i e r, 2003), d’équipes virtuelles (lipnack et stamps, 1997 ; potter, 2000) ou encore d’équipes virtuelles globales (jarvenpaa et leidner, 1999), ces équipes-projets sont constituées d’individus dispersés géographiquement, parfois issus d’organisations et de cultures différentes et réunis temporaire1. les individus se contentent d’écrire, de parler ou de dessiner. mailto:loilier@iae.unicaen.fr mailto:tellier@iae.unicaen.fr m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 275-306 special issue: practicing collaboration 276 thomas loilier . albéric tellier ment (pour la durée du projet). ils utilisent principalement les tic comme support de communication et de mise en place du projet glob a l . notre ambition est de contribuer à une meilleure compréhension des modes de coordination des membres des réseaux d’innovation distants. la littérature consacrée aux relations entre les acteurs économiques, et plus particulièrement aux réseaux, fait de la confiance le principal mode de coordination des formes hybrides (powell, 1987). or, il semble largement admis que la confiance à l’œuvre dans les réseaux s’appuie au moins pour partie sur la connaissance de l’autre et le face-à-face. notre objectif est donc de comprendre comment la confiance parvient à se développer au sein des organisations distantes sachant que ces dernières ne peuvent s’appuyer que très épisodiquement sur la proximité géographique—en particulier le face-àface—au contraire des équipes-projets classiques. de nombreux travaux ont été menés depuis quelques années sur le développement et le maintien de la confiance dans les équipes-projets dispersées géographiquement (o’hara-devereaux et johansen, 1 9 9 4 ; iacono et weisband, 1997 ; lipnack et stamps, 1997 ; duarte et snyder, 1999 ; jarvenpaa et leidner, 1999 ; crisp et jarvenpaa, 2000 ; maznevski et chudoba, 2000 ; bos, gergle, olson et olson, 2001 ; kanawattanachai et yoo, 2002 ; panteli, 2003). ces recherches s’attachent essentiellement à tester l’hypothèse centrale d’handy (1995) selon laquelle la confiance nécessite des contacts entre les individus. dès lors, les auteurs se focalisent sur la confiance entre les individus comme facteur clé de succès du travail à l’intérieur de ces équipes (kanawattanachai et yoo, 2002 : 189). en dépit d’apports indéniables, ces travaux nécessitent d’être enrichis sur deux points : les dimensions étudiées de la confiance et la prise en compte d’un possible enchevêtrement des mécanismes de coordination. d’une part, si la confiance peut naître de relations entre des individus, elle peut également se développer à des niveaux supérieurs, notamment des collectifs organisés, et reposer sur des compétences techniques ou une réputation morale. d’autre part, il peut être délicat d’analyser le rôle de la confiance dans ce type d’équipe sans intégrer les autres modes de coordination, notamment les dispositifs de contrôle qui peuvent pallier les difficultés du travail collaboratif distant. cet article est donc construit autour de la question de la construction de la confiance : dans quelles conditions la confiance peut-elle être un mode de coordination quand il n’y a pas d’interaction directe sur le même lieu entre les acteurs du projet d’innovat i o n ? pour y répondre, nous analysons le fonctionnement des équipes de développement des logiciels libres, plus particulièrement celles associées au projet linux. la conception de ces logiciels libres, dont la réussite n’est aujourd’hui contestée par personne, est fondée sur une communauté de développeurs indépendants disséminés géographiquement et, le plus souvent, non intéressés d’un point de vue commercial. en somme, ces logiciels ont été développés par un réseau de développeurs qui se font confiance sans se voir ni se connaître perm@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 275-306 special issue: practicing collaboration 277 comment peut-on se faire confiance sans se voir ? le cas du développement des logiciels libres sonnellement et qui utilisent essentiellement les tic comme mode de communication. au sens strict, la communauté des logiciels libres n’est pas une équipe virtuelle globale mais un ensemble d’équipes virtuelles (un réseau d’équipes) travaillant chacune sur des projets distincts au sein d’un objectif partagé : la construction d’une offre libre intégrée en informatique (logiciels, serveurs, système d’exploitation…), alternative au modèle propriétaire développé notamment par microsoft. le niveau d’analyse retenu dans cette recherche est donc l’équipe-projet constituée d’individus a priori dispersés géographiquement. au sein de ces équipes, les face-à-face sont quasi-inexistants, les acteurs ne se connaissant que via leur réputation au sein de la communauté (“egoboo”) et leur activité sur les forums de discussion et les listes de diffusion. il s’agit donc d’un cas extrême au sens d’eisenhardt (1989) méritant une analyse approfondie de la production de la confiance en son sein. la première partie de l’article permet de revenir sur la notion de confiance et d’aborder les spécificités du fonctionnement des réseaux d’innovation distants qui incitent à une vision enchevêtrée des mécanismes de coordination. la deuxième partie de ce travail présente le cas choisi et la méthodologie retenue. enfin, la troisième partie analyse les conditions de production de la confiance dans ces équipes puis discute les résultats mis en évidence. innovation collaborative, organisation distante et confiance un retour sur la notion de confiance qu’est-ce que la confiance ? la question est simple, la réponse plus qu’ardue tant ce concept « est subtil, diffus et difficile à saisir » (nooteboom, 1996 : 990). au sein des recherches anglo-saxonnes, cette complexité s’est notamment traduite par une grande diversité sémantique qui ne simplifie pas la prise de contact avec cette notion (notamment fukuyama, 1995 et mayer, davis et schoorman, 1995). outre la distinction entre trust et confidence maintenant largement discutée, de nombreux auteurs ont cherché à imposer des conventions sémantiques pour combattre cette complexité. nooteboom (2002) prend par exemple le parti de distinguer la confiance au sens large (reliability) de la confiance stricte liée au calcul de l’intérêt personnel (“real” trust). la subtilité de cette notion se retrouve aussi fort logiquement dans l’étude de ce que n’est pas la confiance. contrairement aux idées reçues, lewicki, mcallister et bies (1998) montrent que confiance et défiance ne sont pas opposées mais bien détachées. autrement dit, au sein d’une même relation, ces deux comportements peuvent tout à fait coexister. la confiance est donc une notion aux multiples facettes difficilement réductible. elle peut être définie comme « l’anticipation qu’un partenaire à l’échange ne s’engagera pas dans un comportement opportuniste, même en présence d’incitations compensatrices de court terme et d’une incertim@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 275-306 special issue: practicing collaboration 278 thomas loilier . albéric tellier tude sur les bénéfices à long terme » (chiles et mcmackin, 1996 : 85). cette analyse donne cependant une vision économique de la confiance. le recours à ce mode de coordination en complément de l’autorité et de la hiérarchie est guidé par des motifs d’efficacité (atteinte des objectifs du réseau) et d’efficience (au moindre coût). cette approche s’avère primordiale mais pas unique : la confiance n’est pas simplement économique mais aussi sociologique et psychologique. rooks, raub, selten et tazelaar (2000) ont montré que les caractéristiques intrinsèques d’une transaction (investissement spécifique, ampleur et incertitude) ne suffisent pas à expliquer les efforts de management et la confiance accordée par chacune des deux parties impliquées dans la transaction. pour les comprendre, il faut tenir compte de l’encastrement social de la transaction dans sa dimension temporelle (répétitivité des échanges passés), réticulaire (relation avec un tiers et/ou d’autres firmes) et institutionnelle (existence d’institutions sociales qui tiennent compte de conventions et d’engagements crédibles). l’une des distinctions les plus communes concerne ensuite le niveau de la confiance. elle permet, dans la lignée des travaux de luhmann (1979) et giddens (1990), de dissocier la confiance interpersonnelle (personal trust) de la confiance systémique (system trust). la première caractérise la confiance placée dans les individus, la seconde celle relative à un système dans son ensemble (par exemple le système bancaire). cette dernière transcende l’expérience personnelle ou les relations de face-à-face et n’implique pas la croyance qu’un individu ou un groupe d’individus soit digne de confiance. si l’on aff ine l’analyse, la confiance interpersonnelle peut être décomposée en deux dimensions : intentionnelle et de compétence (sako, 1991)2. la première concerne la croyance qu’un individu respectera ses engagements sans faire preuve d’opportunisme, la seconde qu’il en détient les capacités notamment en termes de formation et d’expérience professionnelle. enfin, il est fréquent d’opposer deux formes de confiance personnelle : l’une est fondée sur les normes et l’autre sur le calcul et l’intérêt. la première associe la confiance à une fiabilité dans le comportement (l’individu qui fait confiance pense que l’autre respectera les normes). la confiance calculatoire revient à donner à la confiance une dimension rationnelle, chacun cherchant alors à maximiser son utilité espérée. nous avons déjà souligné que cette approche strictement économique nous semblait réductrice. en outre, elle n’ajoute rien à l’analyse classique de prise de décision en économ i e3. finalement, il ressort de ces différents travaux plusieurs distinctions porteuses de sens qui invitent à employer le pluriel : de la confiance, il devient plus judicieux de parler des confiances. il apparaît cependant que la nature et les caractéristiques de la confiance dépendent de son mode de construction (mangematin, 1999 : 31). dans certains cas, ce mode va permettre l’émergence d’une confiance partagée par l’ensemble d’une communauté. dans d’autres situations, la confiance se limitera à des relations interpersonnelles. dans un second temps, la nature de la confiance produite par le mode de construction va influer sur la coordination des activités. en d’autres termes, le rôle de la 2. mayer et al. (1995) distinguent trois dimensions : la capacité, la bienveillance et l’intégrité. la première renvoie aux aptitudes et compétences des parties en présence, la deuxième à leurs manifestations de dispositions positives et la dernière à leur qualité de caractère (honnêteté, fidélité, esprit d’ouverture…). cependant, la proximité d’acception des deux dernières dimensions invite assez logiquement à leur rapprochement. 3. nous ne faisons ici que reprendre l’argument développé par williamson (1993) sur l’inutilité du concept de confiance calculatrice qui n’est jamais que le pendant de l’opportunisme. m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 275-306 special issue: practicing collaboration 279 comment peut-on se faire confiance sans se voir ? le cas du développement des logiciels libres confiance dans la coordination des activités innovatrices dépend de sa nature et donc de ses conditions de production. l’analyse de son efficacité dans des réseaux d’innovation ne peut donc pas se faire sans référence à ses modes de production (mangematin, 1999 : 32). si l’on choisit de focaliser son attention sur les différents mécanismes de production de la confiance, la distinction opérée par zucker (1986) s’avère alors centrale. elle distingue trois formes de confiance selon leur mode de production : la confiance intuitu personæ (characteristic based trust), relationnelle4 (process-based trust) et institutionnelle (institutional based trust) comme le précise le tableau 1. la confiance intuitu personæ naît des caractéristiques personnelles des individus. ceux-ci peuvent par exemple appartenir à une même ethnie, famille ou encore religion. ces caractéristiques, qui ne peuvent être produites à volonté, sont exogènes à la relation des acteurs. la confiance relationnelle est en revanche inséparable de la relation proprement dite. elle est finalement issue du savoir que l’on peut détenir sur l’autre grâce à des actions répétées (loyauté passée, logique de don/contre don…) ou des informations, provenant d’un tiers, relatives à sa fiabilité (réputation par exemple). ces deux formes de confiance sont avant tout interpersonnelles. la confiance institutionnelle est d’une autre nature. systémique, elle peut exister entre individus sans que ceux-ci ne se connaissent ou n’aient d’interactions directes les uns avec les autres. cette confiance caractérise celle que l’on place dans les institutions formelles comme par exemple les lois. selon zucker (1986), il s’agit d’une reconstruction de la confiance produite localement par les acteurs qui s’avère extérieure au contexte de l’échange. elle peut prendre deux formes : un ensemble de signaux (par exemple une marque, un diplôme, la norme iso…) émis par l’un des protagonistes qui réduit le champ de ses comportements possibles ou l’intrusion d’un tiers dans la relation qui peut notamment rassurer les acteurs sur le résultat de cette relation (par exemple une compagnie d’assurance). au-delà de ces différents modes de construction, la confiance est un mode de coordination qui, lorsqu’il est utilisé dans les réseaux d’innovation, présente des caractéristiques prononcées. tableau 1. les différents modes de production de la confiance* modes de production/ mécanismes de la confiance confiance intuitu personæ confiance relationnelle confiance institutionnelle fondements de la confiance caractéristiques propres d’un individu (la confiance est donc ici attachée à une personne) echanges passés ou attendus, réputation, don/contre don une structure sociale formelle garantissant les attributs d’un individu ou d’une organisation e x e m p l e s famille, communauté, ethnie, culture, religion… loyauté, engagement… règles, code éthique, standards professionnels, normes, marques… *: adapté de zucker (1986). 4. que l’on traduit parfois par confiance interactive. m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 275-306 special issue: practicing collaboration 280 thomas loilier . albéric tellier les modalites de coordination des acteurs dans les reseaux d’innovation le réseau d’innovation peut se définir comme un ensemble coordonné d’acteurs hétérogènes (laboratoires privés ou publics, entreprises, clients, fournisseurs, organismes financiers...) qui participent activement et collectivement à la conception, à l’élaboration, à la fabrication et à la diffusion d’une innovation (d’après maillat, 1996 : 84). une des caractéristiques premières du réseau est qu’aucun des acteurs qui le compose ne dispose a priori de l’intégralité des actifs indispensables au projet, chacun recherchant alors l’acquisition d’actifs complémentaires (teece, 1987). au delà de cette caractéristique majeure maintenant bien connue, les réseaux d’innovation présentent des spécificités qui interpellent la confiance et qui conduisent à introduire des modalités de coordination originales. dans le cas du processus d’innovation, un certain nombre d’actifs spécifiques ne préexistent pas à la décision de s’engager dans le projet. ces actifs spécifiques dits endogènes (boissin, 1999), se construisent en marchant, au fil du processus d’innovation5. cette co-construction s’observe particulièrement au sein des communautés d’innovation où la mise en commun d’actifs complémentaires donne lieu à un apprentissage collectif (le “faire avec”) qui peu à peu devient un actif spécifique de première importance. le cas le plus radical est sans conteste celui où le volet émergent (mintzberg et waters, 1985) du projet d’innovation est si prégnant que la communauté d’innovation ne peut savoir ex ante quels seront les actifs spécifiques qu’elle va réellement développer, ce qui peut notamment entraîner des modifications dans la configuration du réseau à mesure que le projet prend forme (l’enrôlement d’un partenaire nouveau par exemple). accepter de participer à un tel réseau revient à s’engager dans un processus dont on ne peut a priori évaluer les coûts et les bénéfices pour chacun des participants puisqu’il s’avère difficile d’imaginer les résultats du travail collaboratif. planque (1991) et maillat (1998) notent ainsi que les acteurs d’un réseau d’innovation sont amenés à investir dans le projet avant même d’être certains de réussir et qu’ils procèdent ensuite par essais-erreurs et réorientations successives. dès lors, il est crucial de pouvoir s’engager avec des partenaires de confiance qui feront de leur mieux pour arriver à des résultats. la logique d’échange entre les acteurs du réseau d’innovation est celle du don/contre don : ce que donne chaque acteur au reste de la communauté (compétence technique, réputation, information stratégique…) ne fait pas l’objet d’une compensation immédiate mais d’une compensation différée dont la nature n’est pas définie au moment de l’échange (ferrary, 2002). ce système permet le développement de la confiance si les échanges sont équitables c’est-à-dire s’ils « consistent à aider le partenaire lorsqu’il en exprime le besoin et inversement, à ce qu’il fasse de même lorsque l’occasion s’en présente » (bouty, 1999 : 10). l’incertitude qui pèse sur l’aboutissement des projets d’innovation conduit les acteurs à mobiliser les partenaires du réseau par des accords très informels. mais pour limiter les risques d’appropriation 5. certaines compétences humaines (routines individuelles ou organisationnelles) ou physiques (nouveaux procédés, nouvelles machines, nouveaux produits…) vont se développer à mesure de l’avancement du processus d’innovation et doivent donc être considérées comme la résultante du travail coopératif. m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 275-306 special issue: practicing collaboration 281 comment peut-on se faire confiance sans se voir ? le cas du développement des logi ciels libres unilatérale, plus largement les comportements opportunistes, les acteurs du réseau doivent socialiser leurs échanges, c’est-à-dire les inscrire dans un groupe social qui a ses règles de fonctionnement, ses coutumes, ses rites... d’une part, cette socialisation accroît le coût des trahisons en augmentant le coût économique (exclusion des projets futurs) de coûts symboliques et sociaux (exclusion des manifestations propres au groupe social) ; d’autre part, elle assure l’optimalité de la régulation par le don puisque le comportement opportuniste sera sanctionné même s’il n’y a pas de contrat formel. la sanction est dans ce cas sociale et non légale : les informations sur le comportement opportuniste seront diffusées au sein du réseau et inciteront chacun des membres à refuser toute nouvelle collaboration avec le tricheur (ferrary, 2002). ainsi, si la confiance est un mode de coordination possible du réseau, il est néanmoins nécessaire de disposer d’outils de résolution de conflits, de dispositifs de sanction, de définition des engagements…. même si le réseau utilise plutôt les normes de réciprocité (logique du don/contre don) et les effets de réputation, il mobilise également le contrat et la routine. en effet, tous ces dispositifs de coordination ne sont pas exclusifs. en d’autres termes, une forme de gouvernance (le réseau, le marché et la hiérarchie) utilise la plupart du temps une combinaison d’outils de coordination enchevêtrés (bradach et eccles, 1989). cet enchevêtrement des mécanismes de coordination se retrouve dans les travaux qui ont mis en avant les limites de la confiance comme mode unique de coordination. dans les équipes virtuelles, la confiance construite est généralement considérée comme fragile (crisp et jarvenpaa, 2000) et des dispositifs de contrôle, même simplifiés, sont indispensables pour éviter les mauvaises surprises. brulhart et favoreu (2003 : 10) notent que la faiblesse ou l’absence de contrôle génère des incertitudes qui se traduisent pour les acteurs par une perte de repère et un accroissement de la déviance. il s’avère ainsi indispensable de mettre en place des sécurités contractuelles qui conforteront chacune des parties dans l’idée que chacun des membres du réseau adoptera un comportement coopératif (poppo et zenger, 2002). même si chaque acteur pose l’hypothèse que les autres membres ont la volonté réelle de coopérer et que les comportements opportunistes seront ainsi quasi-absents, il est impératif de disposer d’une règle de réciprocité qui assure l’équité des transactions (josserand, 2001 : 19). dans le cas du réseau d’innovation, cette règle est celle de l’exclusion des individus qui ne se révèlent pas dignes de confiance. l’existence de cette règle, qui agît comme un garde-fou, sécurise les acteurs, incite au comportement coopératif (par exemple la transmission d’information) lequel, en retour, alimente la confiance au sein du réseau. ainsi, non seulement le contrôle et la confiance sont des modes de coordination complémentaires mais ils s’influencent mutuellement (goold et campbell, 1987). outre la confiance et le contrôle, deux autres modes de coordination peuvent être mobilisés dans le cadre de l’enchevêtrement : le contrat et le type de technologie à travers notamment le concept de modularim@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 275-306 special issue: practicing collaboration 282 thomas loilier . albéric tellier té. contrat et confiance doivent être compris comme des modes de coordination complémentaires (brousseau, 2001), la confiance permettant tout à la fois de gérer la relation au quotidien et de pallier l’incomplétude dudit contrat. cette complémentarité est exacerbée dans le cadre des activités d’innovation où l’initiative, difficile à prendre en compte a priori dans un engagement contractuel, est un facteur clé de succès. la confiance permet ainsi de gérer efficacement et à moindre coût la contractualisation. en retour, les contrats peuvent être des générateurs de confiance grâce à leur contenu (création de garanties crédibles) mais aussi en tant que processus. le processus de contractualisation s’avère en effet générateur de confiance grâce à sa valeur symbolique et aux signaux coopératifs générés qui initient et entretiennent les « fragiles conjectures de confiances » (brousseau, 2001 : 77). la technologie est, à travers ses caractéristiques, également assimilable à un mode de coordination. mangematin (1996) montre notamment comment celle-ci peut exercer une influence sur le mode de division du travail. la notion de modularité est ici centrale. une technologie est dite modulaire lorsqu’elle permet l’intégration de différents sous-systèmes (les modules) dans des combinaisons variées sans changer l’architecture globale du système (langlois et robertson, 1992). la modularité du système permet une autonomie réelle des équipes et une possibilité de tests rapides de solutions alternatives favorisant un apprentissage de type essai-erreur. en terme de coordination, le réseau d’équipes est faiblement couplé, chaque équipe pouvant travailler de manière indépendante (le besoin d’ajustement entre partenaires est limité) en concentrant son attention sur des composants ou modules particuliers. par ailleurs, si les technologies développées sont complémentaires, la valeur de la technologie dans son ensemble est supérieure à la somme des valeurs de chaque module, cette particularité créant une incitation intrinsèque à l’innovation (mangematin, 1996). la production de confiance dans les réseaux distants d’innovation les actes de confiance au sein des réseaux prennent la forme d’engagements qui, dans les projets d’innovation, s’intègrent dans une dialectique de dons et contre dons. elle introduit une réciprocité dans l’échange déjà étudiée dans les relations entre les acteurs de l’innovation en général (bouty, 1999, ferrary, 2002) et ceux des logiciels libres en particulier (loilier, 2002). le mécanisme du don analysé notamment par mauss (1950) en anthropologie, puis par perroux (1960) en économie, se décompose en trois séquences : donner, recevoir puis rendre. il convient bien à l’acte innovateur puisqu’il est luimême un pari : il ne suppose aucun retour certain. celui qui reçoit le don peut choisir de l’accepter ou de le refuser. s’il l’accepte, il va à son tour donner pour rééquilibrer la relation : il rend. après évaluation de ce contre don, un nouveau cycle peut alors être enclenché. on assiste alors à un processus d’engagement progressif qui construit la m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 275-306 special issue: practicing collaboration 283 comment peut-on se faire confiance sans se voir ? le cas du développement des logiciels libres confiance comme le montrent gomez, korine et masclef (2003) dans le cas de l’alliance renault-nissan. la rationalité du don est ainsi ambivalente dans la mesure où : — tout don suppose la confiance puisque celui qui donne se trouve dans l’impossibilité d’évaluer a priori la valeur de l’éventuel contre don. faire un don est donc un acte incertain qui peut être éloigné de la rationalité économique stricte ; — le don n’est pas désintéressé dans la mesure où il présuppose un contre don. le don « fournit aux individus des motivations personnelles qui permettent la contribution de tous au bon déroulement des échanges au niveau collectif » (douglas, 1989 : 111). perroux (1960) a d’ailleurs montré que, sous certaines conditions, la logique du don peut tout à fait renforcer l’ordre marchand. le problème posé par la distance entre les acteurs de l’innovation réside dans la difficulté de rencontre en face-à-face ou, plus généralement, de connaissance personnelle de l’autre. comment parier sur la valeur du contre don quand on ne connaît pas l’autre ? même si les tic s’avèrent des moyens de communication puissants, il est largement admis que la construction de la confiance interpersonnelle passe avant tout par les face-à-face et les échanges directs entre les acteurs. aussi cette forme de confiance est peu développée dans les réseaux distants. ceux-ci mobilisent davantage la confiance système et tout particulièrement la confiance institutionnelle pour pallier l’anonymat des acteurs. cette dernière permet en effet, comme l’a démontré zucker (1986), de se détacher des protagonistes en garantissant soit l’identité et la qualité de l’intermédiaire soit le respect de la qualité via des normes. il est important de noter ici que cette confiance de niveau supérieur ne remplace par la confiance interpersonnelle (puisqu’au final ce sont bien les individus qui échangent) mais permet de la générer en socialisant l’échange. celui-ci ne s’effectue plus hors contexte mais devient encastré et c’est cet encastrement qui produit la confiance. si les acteurs ne peuvent être proches par leur connaissance mutuelle, ils vont le devenir à travers la connaissance partagée d’un tiers ou d’une institution (règle, norme…) qui va redonner du lien social et donc de la proximité. bien entendu, cette proximité est d’autant plus efficace que tous ont connaissance de l’institution et s’y conforment (mangematin, 2003)6. comment parvient-on à créer un contexte favorable à ces actes de confiance ? en analysant les travaux qui ont cherché à caractériser les conditions nécessaires à la production de la confiance dans les organisations virtuelles (handy, 1995), les coopérations technologiques (rallet et torre, 2001 ; ingham et mothe, 2003), les équipes virtuelles globales (jarvenpaa et leidner, 1999 ; lurey et raisinghani, 2001), les équipes de r&d virtuelles (duarte et snyder, 1999 ; maznevski et chudoba, 2000 ; nemiro, 2001 ; letaief et favier, 2003) ou, plus largement, dans les formes hybrides (nohria et eccles, 1992 ; mangematin, 1999 ; moon et sproull, 2000), il est possible de mettre en avant neuf conditions de production de la confiance. le tableau 2 précise ces conditions. 6. cook et luo (2003), à la suite notamment de ho et weigelt (2001), montrent comment les normes peuvent être utilisées comme des vecteurs de confiance dans le cas des achats par internet. dans ce cas, elles permettent des transferts de confiance d’un tiers (l’organisme qui se porte garant de la transaction) vers un inconnu (en l’occurrence le vendeur). ce processus de transfert n’est possible que si l’acheteur est capable d’identifier les sources de preuve de la confiance et d’établir l’existence d’un lien de confiance entre la source de la preuve et le partenaire inconnu. m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 275-306 special issue: practicing collaboration 284 thomas loilier . albéric tellier la suite de cet article vise l’étude du fonctionnement d’équipes-projets de la communauté des logiciels libres, en particulier celles dédiées au projet linux. notre objectif est de vérifier la présence ou l’absence des conditions recensées afin d’analyser les modes de production (tableau 1) de la confiance entre des acteurs “étrangers”. presentation du cas et de la methode de recherche la deuxième partie est l’occasion de revenir sur l’histoire des logiciels libres et de présenter le dispositif de sélection et de catégorisation des données secondaires. presentation du cas : le developpement des logiciels libres et le projet linux apparus au milieu des années quatre-vingt, les logiciels libres mobilisent aujourd’hui plusieurs milliers de programmeurs indépendants. l’analyse des liens unissant ces informaticiens géographiquement disséminés a conduit à retenir le terme de communauté ou de réseau tableau 2. les conditions de production de la confiance dans les réseaux distants conditions 1. constitution et identification claire du groupe de travail autour d’un objectif commun 2. définition des objectifs et des délais 3. mise en place de mécanismes d’apprentissage 4. mise en place de possibilités de contacts entre les membres 5. relations antérieures fondées sur des liens professionnels 6. définition des engagements et obligations de chacun 7. mise en place de procédures de sanctions et d’éviction 8. définition d’unités de pilotage du projet qui ont autorité sur le reste du réseau 9. création de routines communes aux membres de la communauté principaux arguments avancés les membres de l’équipe ne peuvent avoir confiance que dans des individus qu’ils connaissent, qu’ils ont vu travailler. cette condition tend à limiter la taille des équipes d’innovation (handy, 1995) la confiance nécessite que le travail soit limité dans le temps et/ou par un objectif clair (jarvenpaa et leidner, 1999). la confiance « illimitée » est irréaliste (handy, 1995). la clarification des objectifs augmente par ailleurs l’efficacité et la créativité des équipes virtuelles (lurey et raisinghani, 2001 ; nemiro, 2001). globalement, moins le projet est structuré, plus difficile est la coopération à distance (rallet et torre, 2001) le sentiment de confiance est étroitement lié à la capacité d’apprendre des autres en échange du travail accompli à l’intérieur du projet collectif (handy, 1995 ; ingham et mothe, 2003) tout au long du projet, il doit être possible aux membres de se rencontrer (handy, 1995), d’échanger (jarvenpaa et leidner, 1999 ; nohria et eccles, 1992). ces liens interpersonnels favorisent en outre la créativité (nemiro, 2001 ; letaief et favier, 2003). la planification des occasions de rencontre augmente l’efficacité du travail accompli (maznevski et chudoba, 2000) les acteurs ont tendance à faire confiance à des partenaires avec lesquels ils ont l’habitude de travailler. la proximité « organisationnelle » (rallet et torre, 2001), c’est-à-dire les relations antérieures fondées sur des liens professionnels, génère de la confiance chaque membre du projet doit connaître les engagements et obligations des partenaires (handy, 1995) quand un acteur du réseau ne réalise pas ce pour quoi il a été intégré, par « ruse » ou par manque de compétences, il doit être possible de l’évincer (handy, 1995) le réseau peut fonctionner avec un « leader » unique ou une collection de « leaders ». dans ce cas, les zones de compétences doivent être clairement définies (handy, 1995) les routines rappellent ce qui est tenu comme acquis (« background expectations »), balisent le champ des possibles (vision commune) et les interprétations des actions de l’autre (mangematin, 1999) m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 275-306 special issue: practicing collaboration 285 comment peut-on se faire confiance sans se voir ? le cas du développement des logiciels libres communautaire pour caractériser ce modèle innovateur qui intrigue les observateurs et les chercheurs. l’histoire du logiciel libre est en fait indissociable de celle d’unix, système d’exploitation développé à partir de la fin des années soixante dans les laboratoires bell, filiale d’at&t (logerot, 2003). etant en situation de monopole dans le secteur des télécommunications, at&t s’était engagée auprès du gouvernement fédéral américain à ne pas se développer dans l’informatique (machines et logiciels). c’est la raison pour laquelle, dès 1975, la société a offert aux universités et centres de recherche un accès gratuit au code source d’unix. une des conséquences majeures de cette mise à disposition est que le développement d’unix va être largement le fait de ses premiers utilisateurs qui vont proposer un nombre important de versions7. cependant, le démantèlement d’at&t en huit sociétés distinctes lui permet de commercialiser, en 1984, unix system v et de mettre ainsi fin au libre accès au code source. la même année, richard stallman, un ancien chercheur du laboratoire d’intelligence artificielle du massachusetts institute of technology, décide de développer un système d’exploitation totalement libre qui sera compatible avec unix. il baptise d’ailleurs son projet “gnu” pour « gnu is not unix ». en 1985, stallman crée la free software foundation pour, d’une part, récolter des fonds pour le projet gnu et, d’autre part, commercialiser les copies des logiciels libres accompagnées d’un ensemble de prestations annexes telles que l’édition papier de manuels d’utilisation, l’assistance technique, la mise à disposition du cd d’installation… l’ambition de stallman est de proposer une alternative à la logique propriétaire qui est alors en train de s’imposer dans le monde de l’informatique. il définit un nouveau type de licence, la gnu general public licence (gnu-gpl), dans laquelle le propriétaire du code source accorde aux utilisateurs le droit de le copier, le distribuer et le modifier. pour garantir ces niveaux de liberté, ces logiciels sont protégés par le copyleft (l’opposé du copyright) qui interdit de dissimuler le code source du logiciel ainsi que celui de tous ses dérivés. chaque utilisateur peut ainsi, dans une logique globale de création de valeur, améliorer le logiciel qu’il a reçu (gratuitement ou non) et ainsi rendre à la communauté ce qu’elle lui a donné8. progressivement, un certain nombre de projets, qualifiés d’open source, et de sites dédiés à la communauté gnu vont se développer. leur objectif est de concevoir des programmes complémentaires et de faciliter le transfert d’expérience de chaque utilisateur. de même, différentes licences open sour ce vont être proposées (lesser general public license—lgpl, berkeley software design—bsd…) même si la gnu-gpl est de loin la plus utilisée (mangolte, 2003 : 2). en 1990, bon nombre d’éléments constitutifs du système d’exploitation de stallman sont réalisés mais des retards ont été pris dans la conception du noyau du système. or, en 1991, linus torvalds, étudiant finlandais de l’université d’helsinki, modifie le système unix pour qu’il fonctionne sur des micro-ordinateurs. une fois les lignes et les codes diff usés sur internet, il reçoit rapidement d’internautes programmeurs des améliorations qu’il intègre à son système d’exploitation qu’il a baptisé 7. c’est la raison pour laquelle il existe de nombreuses versions d’unix, pas toujours compatibles, et que l’histoire de ce système d’exploitation est assez complexe. le lecteur intéressé pourra se référer à l’ouvrage de logerot (2003). 8. tout utilisateur d’un logiciel libre dispose de la possibilité de l’acquérir gratuitement (don) mais est aussi invité à fournir un contre don qui peut prendre au moins trois formes : contribuer à la pérennité du produit en augmentant mécaniquement le nombre de ses adeptes ; tester le produit et ainsi faire bénéficier l’ensemble de la communauté des utilisateurs de l’expérimentation ; concevoir des programmes informatiques libres, fondés sur le copyleft, qui viennent renforcer l’offre open source (loilier, 2002). m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 275-306 special issue: practicing collaboration 286 thomas loilier . albéric tellier linux (le x est une référence à unix). en particulier, en combinant linux avec des éléments de gnu, des programmeurs vont parvenir à un système libre complet pouvant fonctionner sur n’importe quelle machine9. en mars 1994, torvalds publie la version 1.0 du noyau linux (linux kernel) avec une aide en ligne, bientôt suivie par d’autres versions de plus en plus abouties et comportant de plus en plus de fonctionnalités. linux est aujourd’hui un système d’exploitation constitué d’éléments d’origines diverses, notamment développés par la communauté open source. le noyau du système est un fichier chargé en mémoire lors de l’initialisation de la machine qui contient l’ensemble des pilotes permettant d’assurer l’interface entre les applications utilisées et la machine. le noyau est constamment disponible sous deux versions : une version dite de production (à utiliser) et une version dite de développement destinée à être améliorée. linus to rvalds est la seule personne apte à approuver les modifications apportées au noyau. le centre névralgique de la communauté linux est le site http://www.kernel.org (logerot, 2003 : 27-31). en juillet 2002, linux kernel (version 2.5.25) représentait plus de trois millions de lignes de codes et 2.263 contributeurs identifiés (ghosh et david, 2003). en 2003, linux est le système d’exploitation de 1 3 , 7 % des serveurs informatiques dans le monde (ferrary et vi d a l , 2004 : 2). la deuxième vague de développement de l’environnement linux a consisté à proposer un catalogue de produits liés de qualité. la gamme des logiciels libres est aujourd’hui assez étoffée : interface graphique, traitement de texte, tableur, traitement d’images, opérations graphiques, gestion de base de données… mais il serait erroné de penser que la logique du projet gnu/linux est strictement philanthropique et communautaire : elle s’apparente plutôt à une logique hybride, associant dons et services marchands. autour de la communauté des logiciels libres gravitent diverses entreprises à vocation commerciale. après l’arrivée de nombreux acteurs de l’informatique tels qu’ibm, intel, dell, hp et des distributeurs spécialisés, les sociétés de services et d’ingénierie informatique (ssii) ont elles aussi franchi le pas. en offrant des prestations sur mesure, elles ont fait exploser le marché : linux, logiciel libre d’inspiration communautaire a commencé à devenir un véritable enjeu économique. il existe aujourd’hui plusieurs sous-communautés distinctes indissociables de projets très clairement identifiés, parfois concurrents : projet openoffice (développement d’une suite bureautique concurrente de microsoft office), projet apache (serveur web libre), sendmail (agent de messagerie)… plus de 72.000 projets de logiciels libres étaient référencés sur le site sourceforge.net en décembre 2003. la taille et la durée de vie de ces équipes-projets, qui constituent la communauté des logiciels libres, sont très variables puisque la plupart d’entre elles disparait lorsque les objectifs du projet sont atteints. à l’intérieur de cette communauté, les sources utilisées nous permettent d’analyser plus précisément le fonctionnement des équipes dédiées au système d’exploitation linux, à son noyau (le kernel) et au projet freenet (logiciel réseau de type peer-to-peer). 9. linux correspond ainsi à une version modifiée du système d’exploitation gnu par substitution d’un noyau par un autre. il serait donc plus juste de parler de système d’exploitation gnu/linux, ce que réclame stallman. http://www.kernel.org http://sourceforge.net m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 275-306 special issue: practicing collaboration 287 comment peut-on se faire confiance sans se voir ? le cas du développement des logiciels libres methode de recueil et de traitement des donnees notre observation s’appuie sur une ré-interprétation de travaux menés sur la communauté des logiciels libres. il semble désormais largement admis de produire des connaissances en s’appuyant exclusivement sur des données secondaires. l’article de weick (1993) sur l’incendie de mann gulch, qui s’appuie exclusivement sur l’ouvrage de maclean, young men and fire, en est une illustration flagrante. le travail du chercheur devient alors un exercice de ré-interprétation des matériaux empiriques produits par d’autres. les développements suivants ont pour objectif, d’une part, de justifier le recours à ce type de matériaux et de présenter la manière dont les données ont été sélectionnées, et d’autre part, de préciser les opérations de catégorisation et de codage qui nous permettent d’analyser les données et de tirer des enseignements du cas. choix de la methode et selection des donnees le choix de la ré-interprétation peut être justifié à deux niveaux : l’objet étudié et la variété des données disponibles. le cas des logiciels libres (et en particulier celui du projet linux) fait l’objet d’une attention soutenue de la part des chercheurs en organisation. celle-ci se traduit ces dernières années par une quantité de données collectées1 0 très importante matérialisée notamment par des numéros spéciaux de revues réputées (en particulier celui de research policy en 2003), des articles réguliers dans ces mêmes revues et des revues dédiées (en particulier first monday—peer-reviewed journal on the internet). la densité de ce matériau empirique incite à le réutiliser, à retravailler son interprétation. ensuite, il est instructif de noter que le nombre élevé d’études empiriques s’accompagne d’une grande variété dans les objectifs des recherches, le mode de production des données et leur nature. celle-ci garantit une vision globale assez fidèle de l’objet “réseau des logiciels libres” et permet ponctuellement d’utiliser les techniques de triangulation pour s’assurer de la robustesse des interprétations des enquêtes. concrètement, quatre sources de données principales ont été privilégiées : le projet floss (2002), l’analyse de ghosh et david (2003), l’étude empirique de krishnamurthy (2002) et enfin l’analyse mono-cas de von krogh, spaeth et lakhani (2003). elles sont présentées en détail en annexe et ont été ponctuellement renforcées par d’autres travaux académiques menés sur l’open source, systématiquement mentionnés dans le paragraphe consacré aux résultats de l’analyse. en outre, différents sites de la communauté des logiciels libres, des articles de presse et des ouvrages grand public ont été ponctuellement utilisés. l’utilisation de données secondaires implique cependant une procédure stricte de sélection du matériau empirique. il est en effet indubitable que la qualité des données utilisées s’avère le meilleur gage de la qualité même de la ré-interprétation proposée. stewart (1984) pro10. cette masse importante de données est sans doute aussi liée à la bonne volonté des acteurs eux-mêmes qui placent la transparence au cœur de leur activité et qui font preuve de beaucoup d’intérêt pour les analyses des chercheurs en sciences sociales. il faut aussi y voir ici une illustration de la composition de cette communauté : elle est avant tout alimentée par les chercheurs des centres de recherches universitaires en informatique qui accueillent donc avec bienveillance les “intrusions scientifiques” de leurs collègues des sciences sociales. m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 275-306 special issue: practicing collaboration 288 thomas loilier . albéric tellier pose un cadre systématique d’évaluation des sources de données secondaires en six points. il s’agit alors pour le chercheur-utilisateur d’être capable de répondre sans difficulté majeure aux six questions détaillées dans le tableau 3 ; cette facilité de réponse étant un indicateur de la qualité des données considérées. l’annexe montre clairement que les quatre sources principales de données secondaires utilisées permettent des réponses claires et précises à au moins cinq des six questions posées par stewart (1984) et s’avèrent donc des sources de données de haute qualité. categorisation et codage des donnees l’objectif de la recherche est de comprendre comment des équipesprojets composées d’individus distants géographiquement parviennent à créer et maintenir entre eux un sentiment de confiance. les conditions recensées précédemment (tableau 2) ont été utilisées comme des catégories a priori (huberman et miles, 1991) suffisamment précises pour ne pas nécessiter de redéfinitions ultérieures (lincoln et guba, 1985) et présentées sous forme de thèmes. ce choix du thème comme étendue de la catégorie est lié à la méthode retenue pour l’étude de cas (comparaison de données secondaires) et aux matériaux utilisés (des articles de recherches aux objectifs variés) (allard-poesi, drucker-godard et ehlinger, 2003 : 461). le contenu des différents textes utilisés a été ensuite découpé en unités d’analyses, elles-mêmes classées dans les catégories définies. les unités d’analyse retenues sont des portions de phrases, des phrases entières, voire des groupes de phrases se rapportant à un même thème. il s’agit ainsi d’unités de sens (allard-poesi, 2003) dont l’utilisation est cohérente avec l’objectif de la recherche qui est de décrire, comprendre et analyser le fonctionnement d’équipes-projets distantes. la taille des unités d’analyse a été validée par les deux critères de lincoln et guba (1985 : 345) : l’unité d’analyse sélectionnée doit aider à développer une compréhension, à faire sens au regard des questions de recherche posées ; elle doit être interprétable en l’absence d’informations additionnelles. l’inférence retenue pour lier les unités retenues aux catégories est l’inclusion (l’unité x est un type de catégorie y). l’opération d’attribution d’une unité d’analyse à une catétableau 3. un cadre d’évaluation systématique des données secondaires* 1. quel était le but de la collecte primaire ? 2. qui était responsable de la collecte ? 3. quelle information a été recueillie ? 4. quand l’information a-t-elle été recueillie ? 5. comment a-t-on obtenu l’information ? 6. l’information est-elle corroborée par d’autres sources ? *: stewart (1984). m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 275-306 special issue: practicing collaboration 289 comment peut-on se faire confiance sans se voir ? le cas du développement des logiciels libres gorie se fait sans interprétation. il s’agit donc d’un codage ouvert (strauss et corbin, 1990) ou descriptif (huberman et miles, 1991). finalement, les documents sélectionnés ont fait l’objet « d’analyses thématiques qualitatives » (bardin, 1993 : 148) destinées à vérifier la présence ou l’absence des catégories en tenant compte du contexte dans lequel le texte a été rédigé (notamment les objectifs de l’article et les contraintes éditoriales) (allard-poesi et al., 2003 : 460-463). le matériau empirique a été traité et synthétisé au moyen d’une métamatrice non ordonnée (huberman et miles, 1991). ce protocole a été testé par une procédure de double codage (weber, 1990). il s’agissait de vérifier la définition des unités d’analyses et leur classification dans les catégories (fiabilité inter-codeurs) et de traiter les divergences. le résultat de ce codage descriptif et son analyse sont présentés ciaprès. la confiance dans la communaute des logiciels libres : resultats et discussion dans cette troisième partie, les résultats issus de la catégorisation des données sélectionnées sont tout d’abord présentés. ils font ensuite l’objet d’une discussion qui est l’occasion de revenir sur la question initiale et de s’interroger sur la validité externe du cas. les conditions de production de la confiance dans la communaute des logiciels libres : resultat s pour structurer notre analyse, nous avons distingué les conditions de l’émergence d’un comportement coopératif (conditions 1 à 5) des mécanismes de contrôle et de pilotage qui permettent les sanctions et facilitent le fonctionnement de la communauté (conditions 6 à 9). le developpement de la confiance au sein de la communaute les deux premières conditions [1 ; 2]1 1 mettent en exergue un besoin de structuration des projets d’innovation distants. sur ce point, l’analyse du fonctionnement de la communauté linux montre tout d’abord que la taille des équipes de développeurs est assez faible [1]. dans la version 1.0 de linux kernel, 76,6 % des modules ont été développés par des équipes de moins de 10 personnes (ghosh et david, 2003). la multitude des petites équipes est permise par la grande modularité du projet qui permet la spécialisation, le développement sans contrainte de coordination (moon et sproull, 2000) puisque c’est l’architecture générale du système qui assure la cohérence de l’ensemble. d’ailleurs, le nombre de développeurs travaillant sur plusieurs modules est très faible. dans toutes les versions de linux kernel, plus de 70 % des auteurs travaillent sur un seul module (ghosh et david, 2003). plus généralement, seulement 5 % des développeurs de logiciels libres sont impliqués simultanément dans 6 projets ou plus, 56 % travaillant sur seulement un ou deux projets (ghosh, glott, krieger et robles, 2002). si les listes de diffusion (mailing-lists) ont pour mission 11. les numéros entre crochets renvoient au codage des catégories effectué dans le tableau 2. m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 275-306 special issue: practicing collaboration 290 thomas loilier . albéric tellier première d’informer les membres sur des questions techniques, elles jouent également un rôle prépondérant dans l’organisation des projets et la répartition des tâches [2]. la liste du noyau kernel compte plus de 3.500 destinataires et des listes dédiées à des éléments particuliers du noyau (subsystems) se développent (hertel, nierder et herrmann, 2003). au delà, des sites centralisent les projets et les classent en fonction du stade de développement. par exemple, sourceforge.net est une plate-forme qui a été créée dans le but de référencer les projets open source et de faciliter la collaboration entre les développeurs en offrant notamment des outils de développement et en gérant des forums de discussion (garcia et steinmueller, 2003 : 10). les trois conditions suivantes [3 ; 4 ; 5] sont relatives à la nature des relations entre les membres. l’utilisation de standards de communication (netiquette guidelines), la publication systématique des travaux, l’archivage des questions posées (faq) et des pages de résolution de problèmes facilitent l’accès à l’information et constituent de véritables mécanismes d’apprentissage [3] très largement utilisés : chaque projet de logiciel libre a en moyenne deux forums de discussion propres et deux listes de diffusion (krishnamurthy, 2002). il faut cependant souligner que la modularité réduit considérablement les besoins de communication dans le travail de développement. pour ghosh et david (2003), il est faux de croire que dans le projet linux (et plus largement les projets open source) les développements sont véritablement collaboratifs. la plupart des modules sont conçus par un ou deux développeurs. pourtant, les auteurs multiplient les contacts électroniques avec les membres de la communauté [4]. dans la version 2.0.30 de linux kernel, 75 % échangent des informations avec plus de 50 membres ; 30 % ayant même plus de 150 interlocuteurs (ghosh et david, 2003). en d’autres termes, le travail technique n’impose pas des échanges fréquents et pourtant ces échanges ont lieu. ce besoin de communiquer avec des membres de la communauté, non exigé par des contraintes techniques liées au développement, renforce la thèse selon laquelle les acteurs cherchent à socialiser les échanges. la particularité du cas linux vient plutôt de la manière dont ces échanges se réalisent [4]. même si des manifestations sont organisées dans le monde entier pour permettre aux membres de la communauté de se rencontrer physiquement, les acteurs privilégient des moyens de communication électroniques. la dissémination des équipes étant totale, et la taille des équipes et le nombre de projets intégrés par les développeurs étant limités, les acteurs ne semblent pas exploiter des liens professionnels dans la constitution des équipes. cela ne signifie pas pour autant l’absence d’évaluation des compétences des membres ni de hiérarchie. d’une part, tout auteur dont la contribution est intégrée au code source peut indiquer son nom, son adresse électronique et l’organisation qui le soutient. ce système de citation permet une reconnaissance par les pairs d’une expertise technique, augmente la réputation de l’auteur et facilite son intégration dans d’autres projets [5] (harhoff, henkel et von hippel , 2003). 94 % des développeurs de logiciels libres déclarent signer leurs contributions (ghosh et al., 2002). dans certains projets (par exemple m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 275-306 special issue: practicing collaboration 291 comment peut-on se faire confiance sans se voir ? le cas du développement des logiciels libres debian), celui qui se voit attribuer la responsabilité d’un module a le privilège d’obtenir une adresse électronique officielle (de type pseudonyme@debian.org) pour signaler son statut au reste de la communauté et augmenter sa réputation (ferrary et vidal, 2004 : 13). d’autre part, les observations qui ont été menées sur le fonctionnement des forums de discussion et des listes de diffusion (von krogh et al., 2003) montrent que les nouveaux entrants sont observés pendant quelques semaines, voire quelques mois, avant d’être véritablement intégrés aux discussions. pendant cette phase d’évaluation, véritable processus d’adhésion (joining script) aux valeurs et habitudes de la communauté (garcia et steinmueller, 2003), les participants doivent démontrer leurs compétences en offrant une contribution jugée significative, c’est-à-dire donner à la communauté avant de pouvoir recevoir1 2. dans le cas du projet apache, si tous les développeurs peuvent librement contribuer au projet, seuls ceux qui ont démontré des compétences spécifiques se verront attribuer, par un vote des fondateurs du projet, des responsabilités particulières (markus, manville et agres, 2000 : 21). finalement, les cinq conditions au développement de la confiance sont bien mises en évidence dans la communauté linux même si les contacts entre les individus se font essentiellement par l’intermédiaire des tic. il est ensuite important se s’interroger sur les outils de gestion de la confiance pouvant agir comme des mécanismes de contrôle et de pilotage (tableau 2, conditions 6 à 9). le controle et le pilotage dans les projets open source une des particularités de la communauté des logiciels libres vient de la communication systématique sur internet des obligations, règles et autres normes de conduite auxquelles les membres doivent se soumettre [6] (hertel et al., 2003). il faut tout d’abord souligner que, dans les premières années de la communauté, des efforts ont été menés par les fondateurs pour préciser les droits et obligations des membres. il s’agissait tout d’abord de définir les conditions à remplir pour qu’un logiciel puisse être qualifié d’open source. l’open source definition précise ainsi les “9 commandements de l’open source” devant être respectés dans tous les projets. (müller, yamagata, wall et dougherty, 2001). les possibilités offertes aux utilisateurs de ces logiciels libres ont également été précisées1 3. enfin, la manière de se comporter dans les forums de discussion, et notamment de poser des questions, a été réglementée. ces règles de conduite sont compilées dans le document “comment poser les questions de manière intelligente” disponible sur différents sites (par exemple le site français de linux). certains forums ont des pages dédiées aux obligations de leurs membres (guidelines). l’esprit communautaire qui règne au sein de ces réseaux ne suffit pas à éviter les comportements opportunistes et les désaccords quant aux axes de développement à privilégier. l’opportunisme est contrôlé grâce à l’infrastructure technologique qui permet de signaler rapidement aux membres le non respect des règles de la communauté par 12. edwards (2001) distingue ainsi les learners, nouveaux entrants qui souhaitent intégrer la communauté et les insiders, membres qui participent activement aux projets et qui jouissent d’une réputation technique. 13. il en découle quatre niveaux de liberté : 0/l’exécution du logiciel est libre, quel que soit son usage ; 1/l’étude du fonctionnement du programme est libre et donc adaptable aux besoins de chacun (accès au code source) ; 2/la distribution du logiciel est libre ; 3/l’amélioration, la transformation et la communication du logiciel sont libres. m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 275-306 special issue: practicing collaboration 292 thomas loilier . albéric tellier certains membres [7]. le succès de ce réseau serait en partie lié à la manière dont les pratiques d’échanges d’informations ont été encouragées et la rétention sanctionnée (moon et sproull, 2000). les sanctions sont centrées sur la réputation. trois niveaux de sanctions existent : 1/“read the f… manual” : la personne est invitée à relire les ressources documentaires ; 2/“death penalty” : la personne est considérée comme indésirable et ignorée, au moins pour un temps, dans les forums de discussion ; 3/“reputation die and grow hard” : la personne indésirable est référencée sur les sites web accessibles à partir des moteurs de recherche. il lui sera très difficile d’intégrer de nouvelles équipes ou des forums de discussion (tayon, 2002). on peut ajouter ici que la mission proposée par stallman a probablement facilité l’intégration culturelle. la communauté des logiciels libres s’est en effet constituée autour de l’objectif de proposer un modèle alternatif à celui des éditeurs propriétaires (notamment microsoft). cette mission et la présence d’un adversaire clairement identifié tendent à renforcer la cohésion. les études menées sur les motivations des membres des projets open source ont d’ailleurs souligné la volonté affirmée de participer à la lutte contre les logiciels propriétaires et la dimension politique de la communauté (bezroukov, 1999 ; ghosh et al., 2002 ; hertel et al., 2003). les désaccords sont fréquents sur le réseau et portent notamment sur les options techniques à privilégier (garcia et steinmueller, 2003). même si la communauté linux a été qualifiée de modèle “bazar” (raymond, 1998), l’analyse de son fonctionnement montre la présence d’unités de pilotage qui ont autorité sur le reste du réseau [8]. tout d’abord, la communauté est hiérarchisée avec un noyau stratégique (lorenzoni et baden-fuller, 1995), la free software foundation, qui joue un rôle de coordination en étant à l’origine de plus de 17 % de l’ensemble des projets développés par la communauté (ghosh et prakash, 2000). cette fondation a également un rôle de contrôle puisqu’elle s’assure du respect de la licence gnu (notamment du copy left), encourage les membres à lui communiquer les cas de violation de cette licence et prend en charge les poursuites judiciaires (o’mahony, 2003 : 1187-1188). ensuite, les projets sont généralement pilotés par des administrateurs (en fait des programmeurs mainteneurs) en nombre limité qui contrôlent le développement et décident ou non d’intégrer les contributions nouvelles. le cycle de développement d’un logiciel libre suit généralement les étapes suivantes (edwards, 2001) : 1/un leader propose une version 0 d’un logiciel en précisant ses objectifs et en fournissant le code source ; 2/des contributeurs décident librement d’intégrer le projet (création d’une équipe virtuelle), téléchargent ces éléments et identifient les problèmes et les possibilités d’amélioration ; 3/les propositions sont adressées au leader et à l’équipe virtuelle via une liste de diffusion dédiée ; 4/les corrections sont discutées, parfois évaluées par des procédures de vote en ligne ; 5/le lea der introduit les solutions validées et propose une version 1 en téléchargement, etc. l’étude de krishnamurthy (2002) sur cent projets open source a montré qu’il y avait en moyenne deux administrateurs par projet (le mode étant égal à 1). par exemple, linus torvalds, qui m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 275-306 special issue: practicing collaboration 293 comment peut-on se faire confiance sans se voir ? le cas du développement des logiciels libres se définit lui-même comme un “dictateur bénévole” (hertel et al., 2003 : 1161), est le seul qui puisse accepter l’intégration de nouveaux éléments (patches) dans le module kernel. la communauté linux est ainsi pilotée par diverses unités centrales qui sont à l’origine des projets et dont l’expertise technique est reconnue. ces unités définissent les règles de base régissant les relations entre les membres, orientent les tâches réalisées à la périphérie et facilitent la mise en réseau en étant des points de rencontre entre les acteurs et des diffuseurs d’informations. garcia et steinmueller (2003) parlent à ce sujet d’autorité distribuée au sein de la communauté. dans certains cas, le fondateur d’un projet délègue une partie de son autorité à différents administrateurs qui ont en charge le développement de modules liés. c’est ainsi que linus torvalds s’est entouré de “lieutenants de confiance” (trusted lieutenants) pour concevoir différents patches et assurer la sélection des propositions des membres de la communauté (markus et al., 2000 : 22). il y a bien ici une collection de leaders avec des zones de compétences clairement définies [8]. l’autorité est cependant légitime et non statutaire puisqu’officiellement, tout individu peut librement intégrer ou quitter une équipe de développement1 4. finalement, la formalisation initiale des droits et obligations des membres, l’utilisation de standards de communication, la diffusion des pratiques répréhensibles et le contrôle réalisé par les unités de pilotage contribuent à créer des routines partagées [9] et, au-delà, permettent d’envisager le réseau linux comme une communauté de pratique (wenger, 1998 ; loilier, 2002) structurée par un projet historique commun (le projet gnu), un engagement mutuel (le copyleft et les quatre niveaux de liberté de la communauté) et un répertoire partagé (ressources tangibles : prototypes, maquettes, ou intangibles : routines, procédures, symboles…). les neuf conditions recensées par la littérature (tableau 2) ont donc été mises au jour dans le cas étudié. elles font maintenant l’objet d’une discussion qui permet d’analyser la nature de la confiance finalement produite. nature et role de la confiance dans la communaute linux : discussion les apports de la recherche les éléments exposés ci-dessus offrent une perspective très analytique du processus de confiance au sein de la communauté des logiciels libres. le premier apport de cette recherche passe par un retour explicite à la question fondatrice de notre réflexion : dans quelles conditions la confiance peut-elle être un mode de coordination quand il n’y a pas d’interaction directe sur le même lieu entre les acteurs ? notre réponse, à la lumière de l’analyse du cas des logiciels libres, est la suivante : la logique du don/contre don qui gouverne les équipes d’innovation et la réputation dont peuvent bénéficier certains membres montrent qu’il peut exister une confiance relationnelle au sein d’une équipe. toutefois, celle-ci s’avère insuffisante pour constituer un mode de coordination efficace. celui-ci s’appuie sur une confiance institu14. les projets open source respectent en effet la règle de la “bifurcation” (forking) : tout individu en désaccord avec les décisions prises par l’administrateur peut créer un nouveau projet pour exploiter d’autres choix techniques. raymond (1999) note cependant que cette possibilité n’est quasiment jamais exploitée par les membres qui considèrent qu’elle serait de nature à affaiblir la communauté. m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 275-306 special issue: practicing collaboration 294 thomas loilier . albéric tellier tionnelle grâce à des signaux émis par l’organisation (ici des règles et des codes éthiques principalement) qui sont complétés par des procédures de contrôle. donc, il peut y avoir confiance sans se voir sous double condition de l’existence d’une confiance institutionnelle élevée et de la présence d’un dispositif de contrôle sanction. les développements suivants reviennent sur cette double condition et sur la nature de la relation entre confiance relationnelle et confiance institutionnelle. il nous semble que la dissémination géographique des acteurs des projets open source limite la confiance relationnelle qui se développe avec la relation. ce résultat va à l’encontre de jarvenpaa et leidner (1999) qui ont montré que la confiance personnelle peut être maintenue et développée dans les équipes virtuelles via les tic. cependant, les projets étudiés par ces auteurs diffèrent sensiblement de ceux analysés dans ce travail. d’une part, l’objectif à atteindre et les délais sont précisés d’emblée et ne nécessitent pas une co-création d’actifs spécifiques. d’autre part, les équipes constituées s’apparentent à des réseaux convergents, au sens de callon, laredo, rabeharisoa, gonard et leray (1992). dans ce type de situation, chaque participant a une connaissance précise de la composition de l’équipe et a la possibilité de contacter tous les membres. ainsi, la densité du réseau relationnel est maximale puisque tous les éléments sont reliés entre eux par des liens directs (aldrich et zimmer, 1986). or, dans la communauté des logiciels libres, la modularité des projets, les tâches assurées par les leaders, l’utilisation massive de moyens de communication asynchrone et la dispersion géographique ne permettent pas à chaque individu une connaissance précise de la constitution de l’équipe dédiée au projet et la multiplication des contacts avec chacun de ses membres. en d’autres termes, la densité du réseau relationnel est nettement plus faible. en revanche, les deux ressorts majeurs de la confiance (ressort moral ou technique) sont tout à fait présents au sein de la communauté. ils prennent la forme d’une confiance institutionnelle (zucker, 1986 ; mangematin, 1999) dite aussi “confiance système” (brousseau, geoffron et weinstein, 1997). celle-ci peut être qualifiée de contextuelle : on ne fait plus confiance à l’autre (trust) mais à l’ensemble du contexte dans lequel s’insère la relation (confidence). la confiance repose sur la conviction que le partenaire respectera le copyleft (plus généralement les règles et normes sociales en vigueur) et non plus sur la personnalité des coopérants. la confiance attribuée à l’un des membres de la communauté n’est plus séparable de celle inspirée par le système. cette confiance système est-elle suffisante ? autrement dit, les formes de confiance (relationnelle et institutionnelle) sont-elles substituables ? zucker (1986) puis greenwald et stiglitz (1992) répondent plutôt par l’affirmative. zucker (1986) montre notamment que la disparition de la confiance relationnelle est palliée par la production d’une confiance institutionnelle, la réciproque étant fausse. toutefois, nos résultats semblent plutôt plaider en faveur d’une complémentarité des deux confiances dans la lignée de mangematin (1996). celui-ci montre clairement que les coopérations institutionnelles de recherche produisent de la confiance relationnelle, les chercheurs et ingénieurs développant m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 275-306 special issue: practicing collaboration 295 comment peut-on se faire confiance sans se voir ? le cas du développement des logiciels libres souvent des liens individuels privilégiés s’appuyant sur la logique de don/contre don. nous nous inscrivons dans le même courant complémentariste : aucune des deux confiances n’est en soi suffisante, l’absence de l’une ou l’autre devant être palliée par des dispositifs explicites ou implicites. notre analyse offre un exemple éclairant de ce type de dispositif. l’absence (ou la quasi-absence) d’interactions directes et simultanées (en face-à-face ou en temps réel) limite considérablement la confiance relationnelle. cette absence est certes compensée par une confiance institutionnelle élevée mais aussi (et surtout) par un dispositif formalisé de contrôle. c’est la combinaison de la confiance institutionnelle et du contrôle qui permet d’assurer un niveau de performance élevé au réseau distant. aussi, nous nous éloignons des approches privilégiant la confiance comme une alternative au contrôle pour préférer un point de vue intégrateur. dans des environnements de plus en plus turbulents, la confiance peut être complétée avec profit par des dispositifs formels (goold et campbell, 1987). sitkin (1995) précise notamment l’importance des règles formelles et des procédures standardisées dans l’institutionnalisation de la confiance. brulhart et favoreu (2003) mettent à jour l’influence positive du contrôle sur la confiance dans 219 partenariats logistiques issus du secteur de l’agro-alimentaire. précisément, le contrôle est ici composé de deux dimensions : le suivi et l’évaluation (formalisation de procédures) et la formalisation des accords (utilisation d’un contrat). notre recherche permet donc d’étendre ce résultat à un cas exemplaire de développement d’une innovation de produit dans un secteur de haute technologie, l’informat i q u e . elle permet aussi une autre extension des résultats issus du courant intégratif. implicitement, ses auteurs se focalisent davantage sur le contrôle système producteur d’informations et de connaissances que sur le contrôle interprété comme un système de surveillance et de sanction. ce contrôle dit rationnel est en effet négativement connoté. les mécanismes formels de contrôle sont souvent perçus par ceux qui les subissent comme un manque de confiance du partenaire. en retour, les acteurs contrôlés réduisent eux-mêmes leur confiance visà-vis de leur partenaire (argyris, 1952). dans leur critique acerbe de l’économie des coûts de transaction, goshal et moran (1996) dressent un bilan sévère du contrôle rationnel. en s’appuyant sur une revue de la littérature, ils notent notamment : — que le contrôle rationnel engendre un sentiment de défiance des contrôleurs vers les contrôlés ; — qu’il menace la motivation et l’implication des contrôlés ; — qu’il détériore l’image que les contrôlés se font d’eux-mêmes. or, nos résultats montrent que ce contrôle sanction peut être utilisé sans démotiver les intrapreneurs de la communauté linux. il existe clairement une procédure de sanction et d’éviction (reputation die and grow hard) qui permet de limiter les risques qu’une personne indésirable parvienne à intégrer de nouvelles équipes et/ou des forums de discussion15. ce contrôle ex post n’est toutefois efficace que parce qu’il vient compléter un système global de contrôle qui s’apparente à 15. concrètement, cette personne est référencée sur les sites web accessibles à partir des moteurs de recherche. m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 275-306 special issue: practicing collaboration 296 thomas loilier . albéric tellier un contrôle social (ouchi, 1979). efficiente dans les clans, cette forme de contrôle vise la création d’une intégration normative incitant les individus à internaliser les valeurs et les buts de l’organisation. notre analyse semble montrer que, dans un réseau d’équipes virtuelles, le contrôle sanction peut être appliqué avec efficacité s’il est couplé à des dispositifs de contrôle social. la complémentarité confiance/contrôle peut donc être étendue au contrôle sanction. il s’agit là d’un résultat novateur dans la mesure où, jusqu’à présent, cette forme de contrôle et la confiance étaient plutôt jugées antinomiques. il nous semble que l’on peut émettre l’hypothèse que ce contrôle sanction est l’une des conditions de production de la confiance relationnelle au sein des équipes étudiées. lorsqu’un individu opportuniste ou incompétent est détecté, il est évincé grâce au dispositif sanction. il s’avère donc possible de faire confiance à un individu sur la base de sa réputation parce que celle-ci repose sur des mécanismes de sanction (orléan, 1994 : 18). la validite externe du cas le second développement de cette discussion des résultats explore la validité externe de la recherche. cette capacité à générer de la confiance en matière d’innovation sans se voir est-elle réplicable, réutilisable dans d’autres contextes ? si oui, à quelles conditions ? trois spécificités fortes du modèle de développement des logiciels libres doivent être soulignées ici : la faible proportion des connaissances tacites dans l’informatique, la systématisation de l’apprentissage expérimental et l’organisation particulière des équipes-projets. il est maintenant admis que la conception de l’innovation repose sur la mise en œuvre de savoirs à la fois tacites et formalisés. le savoir formalisé (explicite, objectif) est une forme de connaissance non visqueuse1 6 (von hippel, 1994) puisqu’elle peut être transmise, codifiée sans perte d’intégrité. le savoir tacite est par opposition une forme de connaissance impossible ou très difficile à communiquer par un discours écrit. en fait, le savoir formalisé est d’essence scientifique et échappe à son détenteur alors que la connaissance tacite est intimement liée à ce dernier (reix, 1995). la proximité physique des acteurs est généralement considérée comme un moyen de diffusion de la partie non codifiable des connaissances et de limitation des coûts d’information (par exemple belis-bergouignan, 1997). deux caractéristiques expliquent au moins pour partie le desserrement de la contrainte géographique. d’une part, l’informatique, et notamment le développement des logiciels, est un secteur dans lequel la part des connaissances tacites est considérée comme très faible. d’autre part, les acteurs ont pu exploiter trois éléments nécessaires à la codification (cowan et foray, 1997) : une grammaire communément acceptée, un vocabulaire partagé et un répertoire de phrases fabriquées à partir des deux éléments précédents. ces trois éléments sont en effet explicitement présents au sein de la communauté des logiciels libres avec respectivement un langage de programmation commun (le langage c), des compétences en algorithmique partagées par l’ensemble des acteurs1 7 et le noyau kernel écrit par linus torvalds (cohendet, créplet et dupouët, 2003). on comprend donc aisément que la confiance tech16. la “viscosité” (stickiness) d’une information tient compte de son coût d’acquisition, de transfert et d’utilisation par les autres acteurs du réseau. cette viscosité est fonction de trois variables : la nature de l’information elle-même, la quantité d’information à échanger et les capacités intellectuelles des acteurs concernés. 17. l’étude menée dans le cadre du projet floss a montré que 70 % des développeurs possèdent un diplôme universitaire et que 44,5 % sont des programmeurs et analystes programmeurs (ghosh et al., 2002). m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 275-306 special issue: practicing collaboration 297 comment peut-on se faire confiance sans se voir ? le cas du développement des logiciels libres nique n’ait pas besoin de face-à-face pour être présente au sein de la communauté dans la mesure où l’immense majorité des connaissances nécessaires à la bonne réalisation du projet est accessible à distance via internet. ensuite, l’utilisation massive des tic dans le processus innovateur a permis le développement de l’apprentissage entre les membres de la communauté avec en particulier la construction de sites de résolution de problèmes et d’archivage des questions posées (faq). mais c’est sans doute l’apprentissage expérimental (lundvall, 2000) qui est au cœur du processus de développement. si cette capacité à expérimenter l’innovation délibérément auprès des utilisateurs pendant le processus de production n’est pas nouvelle1 8, elle a atteint avec les logiciels libres un niveau d’intensité très élevé. celle-ci est liée au fait que, dès les débuts du projet, les développeurs étaient aussi les utilisateurs des applications produites et pouvaient donc en même temps identifier des problèmes et proposer les améliorations. cette absence de séparation entre les innovateurs et les utilisateurs (dang-nguyen et pénard, 1999 ; loilier, 2002) a rendu ces apprentissages expérimentaux particulièrement efficients grâce aux supports de communication fournis par les tic, et ce malgré l’absence de face-à-face. enfin, l’organisation même des projets de la communauté open source est très particulière. deux caractéristiques liées s’avèrent incontournables pour comprendre le fonctionnement des équipes virtuelles en général et la construction de la confiance en particulier : la taille des équipes et la modularité des projets. l’analyse très précise de ghosh et david (2003) sur la communauté des développeurs du noyau linux met en évidence la petite taille des équipes de développement au sein de ces projets. pour une large part, elles ne dépassent pas cinq développeurs, un nombre significatif des modules étant même l’œuvre d’acteurs i n d i v i d u e l s1 9. par ailleurs, plus de 70 % des développeurs ne participent qu’à un seul projet de développement au sein de la communauté. ce processus d’innovation qui mobilise une multitude d’équipes de taille réduite n’est possible que parce que le projet linux est modulaire. la modularité est directement issue des objectifs initiaux du projet de stallman qui était de concevoir un système multi-tâches (autorisant le lancement simultané de plusieurs applications) (mangolte, 2003 : 4). cet objectif a impliqué une séparation stricte entre le noyau, qui gère les accès à la machine, et les applications utilisateurs qui n’accèdent pas directement aux ressources machines (logerot, 2003 : 31). d’une part, les programmes peuvent ainsi être développés indépendamment les uns des autres. d’autre part, un effort a dû être effectué pour standardiser les liens (l’interface) entre les programmes et le noyau. c’est finalement cette interface standardisée qui assure la cohérence de l’ensemble, autorise l’indépendance des équipes et, plus largement, permet un développement du projet linux sans véritable planification des tâches. on retrouve dans le cas des logiciels libres un phénomène déjà observé dans les autres branches de l’informatique, notamment le h a r d ware (baldwin et clark, 1997 ; langlois, 2002) : la modularité offre au concepteur de module une grande liberté dans la conception car il n’a pas à communiquer ses décisions aux concepteurs des autres modules 18. voir notamment les travaux précurseurs de von hippel (1986) à propos des lead users. 19. en 1997, les équipes composées de 2 à 5 développeurs ont mené 40 % de la totalité des projets de cette communauté, auxquels il faut ajouter 5 % de projets menés individuellement. en juillet 2002, ces projets menés par au plus cinq individus représentaient encore plus de 31 % du nombre total des projets développés. par ailleurs, il est important de noter que cette utilisation massive d’équipes très réduites (au maximum composées de cinq acteurs) était plus importante aux débuts de la communauté : en mars 1994 (première version de linux), ces équipes représentaient plus de 65 % des projets développés (ghosh et david, 2003). m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 275-306 special issue: practicing collaboration 298 thomas loilier . albéric tellier et à l’architecte du système. en revanche, la présence d’un l e a d e r, q u i a le monopole sur les modifications du noyau, et qui ajoute les modules de manière incrémentale, permet d’inscrire l’intérêt de la coopération dans la technique. le concepteur de modules doit en effet se conformer aux normes de la communauté et gagner sa confiance pour voir son développement intégré. finalement, organisation des projets, taille limitée des équipes et modularité expliquent qu’à l’intérieur d’un projet le besoin de coordination est plutôt faible. par conséquent, le besoin de confiance interpersonnelle (appréhendée comme un outil de coordination) est lui aussi plutôt faible. autrement dit, si la communauté des logiciels libres s’est développée sans réel besoin de face-à-face, c’est donc, au moins pour partie, parce que son besoin de coordination à l’intérieur de chaque projet était lui-même de faible intensité. conclusion au terme de cet article, il apparaît que la confiance à l’œuvre dans les équipes d’innovation distantes de la communauté des logiciels libres ne se fonde pas sur le développement des relations personnelles entre les individus mais relève d’un niveau supérieur : la confiance système ou institutionnelle. cela ne signifie pas que la confiance interpersonnelle (notamment dans sa forme relationnelle) n’existe pas (la dialectique du don/contre don est bien au cœur des équipes étudiées) mais que son utilisation comme outil de coordination s’appuie sur le développement de la confiance institutionnelle. toutefois, dans ce réseau distant, cette dernière ne s’avère pas suffisante pour construire une confiance interpersonnelle. elle doit être complétée par l’utilisation de dispositifs de contrôle plus classiques alliant contrôle social et rationnel. le modèle d’organisation des logiciels libres, souvent présenté comme révolutionnaire et anarchique, n’est donc pas si désordonné que cela. même si l’on se trouve en présence d’une organisation en réseau, il demeure des liens hiérarchiques, c’est-à-dire la possibilité de donner des ordres et d’influer sur le comportement des autres membres (josserand, 2001 : 18). la confiance à l’œuvre au sein de ces équipes n’est pas naïve. les mécanismes de contrôle sont bien présents dans cette communauté à travers un contrôle social mais aussi, de manière plus surprenante, à travers un contrôle rationnel s’appuyant notamment sur des procédures de sanction très précises. il s’avère donc possible de se faire confiance sans se voir pour innover en développant une confiance système à toute épreuve complétée par un système de contrôle rigoureux. ces résultats peuvent être rapprochés des travaux qui ont fait du territoire une solution de confiance qui facilite à la fois coordination, coconstruction du résultat et socialisation des échanges (diminution de l’incertitude quant aux comportements des acteurs durant le processus d’innovation). au sein d’une équipe-projet classique, la confrontation des points de vue, la divulgation d’informations stratégiques, plus largement les interactions fréquentes en face-à-face, facilitent la construction d’une confiance interpersonnelle et constituent sans m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 275-306 special issue: practicing collaboration 299 comment peut-on se faire confiance sans se voir ? le cas du développement des logiciels libres doute des moyens de contrôle informel des intentions véritables et des compétences des partenaires. en d’autres termes, confiance et contrôle informel se développent au sein de l’équipe. les relations de face-à-face fournissent aux individus des occasions de montrer leurs compétences et leur capacité à donner autant d’informations qu’ils en reçoivent et d’approfondir leurs connaissances réciproques. or, dans le cas d’un réseau distant, il n’est pas possible d’utiliser la proximité géographique pour générer de la confiance entre les partenaires. ainsi, si les tic permettent le développement de réseaux d’innovation distants, elle conduisent également à introduire des modalités d’organisation et de régulation totalement nouvelles, en particulier parce q u e les itérations, négociations et compromis entre les acteurs, indispensables à tout projet d’innovation, sont largement modifiés. notamment, la confiance va naître en dehors de l’équipe, à un niveau supérieur, en référence à des pratiques, des normes partagées par une communauté qui incluent des procédures formelles de sanction. il serait toutefois très audacieux de tenter une généralisation de ce travail et ce pour au moins deux raisons. la première est liée aux spécificités fortes du cas des logiciels libres. d’abord, l’informatique est un secteur dans lequel la part des connaissances tacites est considérée comme faible (ce qui limite la nécessité du recours au face-à-face). ensuite, les équipes virtuelles dédiées à l’open source peuvent utiliser de manière exacerbée l’apprentissage expérimental puisque les tic constituent à la fois un moyen (actif disponible pour atteindre l’objectif du projet) et la production (actif co-construit au fil du temps) des utilisateurs-producteurs des projets. enfin, au sein de ces équipes-projets, de taille réduite, le besoin de coordination est plutôt faible du fait de la grande modularité des projets. la seconde raison est issue du choix méthodologique effectué dans cette recherche. en effet, la décision de porter essentiellement son attention sur le développement du système d’exploitation linux, un indéniable succès, peut constituer un biais important. de très nombreux autres projets sont développés au sein de la communauté open source et tous n’aboutissent pas à une large diffusion. il faut garder à l’esprit que cette communauté est aussi constituée d’équipes qui ont échoué, de logiciels qui ne seront jamais utilisés. en outre, de nombreux projets ne peuvent profiter d’une médiatisation aussi grande que linux, en partie liée à l’histoire et à la personnalité de linus torvalds et d’un adversaire aussi clairement identifié. en effet, l’objectif de proposer un système d’exploitation alternatif à celui de microsoft a sans aucun doute renforcé la cohésion de développeurs informatiques investis dès lors d’une véritable mission. ce travail nécessite donc d’être enrichi par des recherches futures sur un échantillon de projets plus représentatif de la communauté des logiciels libres. il serait notamment intéressant d’utiliser des sites référençant les projets comme sourceforge.net qui permettent d’exploiter des données primaires de type : date de démarrage, durée du projet, nombre, profils et coordonnées des développeurs… il y a sans aucun doute matière à de nouvelles recherches fructueuses sur les liens qui unissent les membres de ce réseau si particulier. http://sourceforge.net m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 275-306 special issue: practicing collaboration 300 thomas loilier . albéric tellier note. les auteurs tiennent à remercier les trois évaluateurs de la revue pour la richesse de leurs observations et commentaires ainsi que gérard kœnig pour ses conseils, remarques et encouragements des plus stimulants. thomas loilier est maître de conférences habilité à diriger les recherches à l’iae de caen basse-normandie. au sein du cime (caen-innovation-marché-entreprise), ses recherches portent sur le management stratégique. en particulier, elles se focalisent sur la gestion de l’innovation tant dans ses aspects organisationnels (management des équipes-projets) que stratégiques (politique coopérative de l’entreprise innovatrice). albéric tellier est maître de conférences habilité à diriger les recherches à l’iae de caen basse-normandie. les recherches qu’il mène au sein du centre de recherche de l’iae (cime) portent sur le management de l’innovation. ses travaux se focalisent notamment sur la configuration et le fonctionnement des réseaux d’innovation, les situations de compétition technologique et les stratégies collectives d’innovation. references ■ aldrich, h. e., and c. zimmer 1986 entrepreneurship through social networks, in d. l. sexton and r. w. smiler (eds.), the art of science of entrepre-neurship, new york: ballinger, 3-23. ■ allard-poesi, f. 2003 coder les données, in y. giordano (ed.), conduire un projet de recherche : une perspective qualitative, colombelles : ems, 245-290. ■ allard-poesi, f., c. druckergodard et s. ehlinger 2003 analyses de représentations et de discours, in r. a. thiétart (ed.), méthodes de recherche en management, 2ème édition, paris : dunod, 449-475. ■ argyris, c. 1952 the impact of budgets on people, new-york: controllership foundation. ■ baldwin, c. y., and k. b. clark 1997 managing in an age of modularity, har vard business review, 75: 5, 84-93. ■ bardin, l. 1993 l’analyse de contenu, paris : puf. ■ belis-bergouignan, m. c. 1997 coopérations inter-firmes en r&d et contrainte de proximité : le cas de l’industrie pharmaceutique, revue d’eco nomie industrielle, 81: 3, 59-76. ■ bezroukov, n. 1999 a second look at the cathedral and the bazaar, first monday, 4: 12. ■ boissin, o. 1999 la construction des actifs spécifiques : une analyse critique de la théorie des coûts de transaction, revue d’econo mie industrielle, 90: 4, 7-24. ■ bos, n., d. gergle, j. s. olson and g. m. olson 2001 being there versus seeing there: trust via video, working paper, crew, ann arbor: university of michigan, school of information. ■ bouty, i. 1999 décision individuelle d’échange au sein des réseaux informels : entreprise, chercheurs et communauté technologique, actes de la viiième conférence de l’aims, ecp, chatenay-malabry, 2628 mai. ■ bradach, j., and r. eccles 1989 markets versus hierarchies: from ideal types to plural forms, annual review of sociology, 15, 97-118. ■ brousseau, e. 2001 confiance ou contrat, confiance et contrat, in f. aubert et j.-p. sylvestre (eds.), confiance et rationalité, versailles : inra editions, les colloques, 97, 65-80. ■ brousseau, e., p. geoffron et o. weinstein 1997 confiance, connaissances et relations inter-firmes, in b. guilhon, p. huard, m. orillard et j.-b. zimmermann (eds.), economie de la connaissance et orga nisations : entreprises, territoires, réseaux, paris : l’harmattan, 402-433. m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 275-306 special issue: practicing collaboration 301 comment peut-on se faire confiance sans se voir ? le cas du développement des logiciels libres ■ brulhart, f., et c. favoreu 2003 les modes de coordination et d’organisation des partenariats inter firmes: exploration du rôle et de l’impact respectifs du contrôle et de la confiance au travers du courant intégratif, xiième conférence de l’aims, tunis, les côtes de carthage, 4-6 juin. ■ callon, m., p. laredo, v. rabeharisoa, t. gonard and t. leray 1992 the management and evaluation of technological programs and the dynamics of techno-economic networks: the case of the afme, research policy, 21: 3, 215-236. ■ chanal, v. 2000 la structuration d’un projet d’innovation par la communication électronique, actes de la ixème conférence de l’aims, montpellier, 24-26 mai. ■ chiles, t. h., and j. f. mcmackin 1996 integrating variable risk preferences, trust and transaction cost economics, academy of management review, 21: 1, 73-99. ■ cohendet, p., f. créplet et o. dupouët 2003 innovation organisationnelle, communautés de pratique et communautés épistémiques : le cas de linux, revue française de gestion, 29: 146, 99-121. ■ cook, p. c., and w. luo 2003 the role of third-party seals in building trust online, e-service journal, 2: 3, 71-84. ■ cowan, r., and d. foray 1997 the economics of codification and the diffusion of knowledge, industrial and corporate change, 6: 3, 594-622. ■ crisp, c. b., and s. l. jarvenpaa 2000 trust over time in global virtual te a m s , annual academy of management meeting, toronto, on, august 4-9. ■ dang-nguyen, g., et t. pénard 1999 don et coopération dans internet : une nouvelle organisation économique ?, terminal, 80/81, 95-116. ■ douglas, m. 1989 il n’y a pas de don gratuit : introduction à l’édition anglaise de l’essai sur le don de m. mauss, revue trimestrielle du mauss, 4: 2, 99-115. ■ duarte, d. l., and n. t. snyder 1999 mastering virtual teams: strategies, tools, and techniques that succeed, san francisco, ca: jossey-bass. ■ edwards, k. 2001 epistemic communities, situated learning and open source software development, working paper for epistemic cultures and the practice of interdisciplinarity workshop, trondheim: norges teknisk naturvitenskapelige universitet. ■ eisenhardt, k. 1989 building theories from case study research, academy of management review, 14: 4, 532-550. ■ ferrary, m. 2002 pour une théorie de l’échange dans les réseaux sociaux, un essai sur le don dans les réseaux industriels de la silicon valley, in i. huault (ed.), la construction sociale de l’entreprise : autour des travaux de mark granovet ter, colombelles : ems, 61-86. ■ ferrary, m., et p. vidal 2004 les leçons de management de la communauté linux, xiiième conférence de l’aims, le havre, 1-4 juin. ■ fukuyama, f. 1995 trust: the social virtues and the cre ation of prosperity, new york: free press. ■ gallié, e. p. 2003 une grille d’analyse de l’usage des tic dans les différentes étapes de la coopération technologique, sciences de la société, 59, 118-134. ■ garcia, j. m., and w. e. steinmueller 2003 the open source way of working: a new paradigm for the division of labour in software development ?, ink research working paper, spru, 1, brighton: university of sussex. ■ ghosh, r. a., r. glott, b. krieger and g. robles 2002 free/libre and open source software: survey and study – part 4: survey of developers, floss final report, maastricht : university of maastricht, international institute of infonomics, http://www.infonomics.nl/floss/report/ ■ ghosh, r. a., and p. a. david 2003 the nature and composition of the linux kernel developer community: a dynamic analysis, working paper, nsf open source software project, stanford, ca: stanford institute for economic policy research. ■ ghosh, r. a., and v. v. prakash 2000 orbiten free software survey, first monday, 5: 7. ■ giddens, a. 1990 the consequences of modernity, cambridge, ma: polity press. ■ gomez, p.-y., h. korine et o. masclef 2003 alliance stratégique et construction de la confiance : le cas renault-nissan, in v. mangematin et c. thuderoz (eds.), des mondes de confiance, paris : cnrs editions, 203-218. ■ goold, m., and a. campbell 1987 strategies and styles: the role of the center in managing diversified corpo rations, new-york: blackwell. ■ goshal, s., and p. moran 1996 bad for practice: a critique of the transaction cost theory, academy of management review, 21: 1, 13-47. ■ greenwald, b., and j. e. stiglitz 1992 information, finance and markets: the architecture of allocative mechanisms, in v. zamagni (ed.), finance and the enterprise, london: academic press. ■ handy, c. 1995 trust and the virtual organization, har vard business review, 73: 3, 40-50. http://www.infonomics.nl/floss/report/ m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 275-306 special issue: practicing collaboration 302 thomas loilier . albéric tellier ■ harhoff, d., j. henkel and e. von hippel 2003 profiting from voluntary information spillovers: how users benefit by freely revealing their innovations, research policy, 32: 10, 1753-1769. ■ hertel, g., s. nierder and s. herrmann 2003 motivation of software developers in open source projects: an internetbased survey of contributors to the linux kernel, research policy, 32: 7, 1159-1177. ■ ho, t. h., and k. weigelt 2001 trust building among strangers, work ing paper, 99-008, philadelphia, pa: university of pennsylvania, wharton marketing department. ■ howells, j. 1995 going global: the use of ict networks in research and development, research policy, 24: 2, 169-184. ■ huberman, a. m. et m. b. miles 1991 analyse des données qualitatives, recueil de nouvelles méthodes, bruxelles : de boeck université. ■ iacono, c. s., and s. weisband 1997 developing trust in virtual teams, in . f. nunamaker, jr., and r. h. sprague, jr. (eds.), proceeding of the 30th hawaii international conference on system sciences, vol. 2, piscataway, nj: ieee, 412-420. ■ ingham, m., et c. mothe 2003 confiance et apprentissages au sein d’une alliance technologique, revue française de gestion, 29: 143, 111128. ■ jarvenpaa, s. l., and d. e. leidner 1999 communication and trust in global virtual teams, organization science, 10: 6, 791-815. ■ josserand, e. 2001 l’entreprise en réseau, paris : vu ib e r t . ■ kanawattanachai, p., and y. yoo 2002 dynamic nature of trust in virtual teams, journal of strategic information systems, 11, 187-213. ■ krishnamurthy, s. 2002 cave or community? an empirical examination of 100 mature open source projects, first monday, 7: 6. ■ langlois, r. n. 2002 modularity in technology and organization, journal of economic behavior and organization, 49: 1, 19-37. ■ langlois, r. n., and p. l. robertson 1992 networks and innovation in a modular system: lessons from the microcomputer and stereo component industries, research policy, 21: 4, 297-313. ■ letaief, r., et m. favier 2003 vers une meilleure compréhension de la créativité au sein des équipes virtuelles globales, grh et tic, journée d’étude et de recherche, laboratoire crepa, université de paris dauphine, mai. ■ lewicki, r. j., d. j. mcallister and r. j. bies 1998 trust and distrust: new relationships and realities, academy of manage ment review, 23: 4, 438-458. ■ lincoln, y. s., and e. g. guba 1985 naturalistic inquiry, london: sage. ■ lipnack, j., and j. stamps 1997 virtual teams: reaching across space, time and organizations with technolo gy, new york: wiley. ■ logerot, p. 2003 linux ou windows ?, paris : dunod. ■ loilier, t. 2002 gestion de l’innovation : quels enseignements tirer du cas des logiciels libres ?, finance-contrôle-stratégie, 5: 3, 141-168. ■ loilier, t., et a. tellier 2003 quelles configurations pour les réseaux innovateurs ?, in h. laroche, p. joffre et f. fréry (eds.), perspectives en management stratégique, tome 9, colombelles : ems, 159-183. ■ lorenzoni, g., and c. baden-fuller 1995 creating a strategic center to manage a web of partners, california manage ment review, 37: 3, 146-163. ■ luhmann, n. 1979 trust and power, london: wiley. ■ lundvall, b.-å. 2000 understanding the role of education in the learning economy: the contribution of economics, in oecd-ceri, knowledge management in the learn ing society, paris, oecd, 11-35. ■ lurey, j. s., and m. s. raisinghani 2001 an empirical study of best practices in virtual teams, information and man agement, 38: 8, 523-544. ■ maillat, d. 1998 organisations productives territorialisées et milieu innovateur, in g. loinger et j.-c. némery (eds.), recomposition et développement des territoires, paris : l’harmattan, 47-68. ■ maillat, d. 1996 systèmes territoriaux de production et milieux innovateurs, in ocde réseaux d’entreprises et développe ment local, paris : les editions de l’ocde, 75-90. ■ mangematin, v. 1996 the simultaneous shaping of organization and technology within co-operative agreements, in r. coombs, p. saviotti, a. richards et v. walsh (eds), networks and technology collabora tion, london: elgar, 119-141. ■ mangematin, v. 1999 la confiance : un mode de coordination dont l’utilisation dépend de ses conditions de production, in c. thuredoz, v. mangematin et d. harrisson (eds.), la confiance, approches écono miques et sociologiques, paris : gaëtan morin, 31-56. ■ mangematin, v. 2003 cléopâtre et son goûteur, in v. mangematin et c. thuderoz (eds.), des mondes de confiance, paris : cnrs editions, 121-126. m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 275-306 special issue: practicing collaboration 303 comment peut-on se faire confiance sans se voir ? le cas du développement des logiciels libres ■ mangolte, p. a. 2003 le chaudron magique et l’invention collective, cahier de recherche, cepn (iide), villetaneuse : université paris-nord. ■ markus, m. l., manville b. and c. e. agres 2000 what makes a virtual organization wo r k ? , sloan management review, 42: 1, 13-26. ■ mauss, m. 1950 essai sur le don : forme et raison de l’échange dans les sociétés archaïques, in sociologie et anthropo logie, paris : puf, 143-279. ■ mayer, r., j. h. davis and f. d. schoorman 1995 an integrative model of organizational trust, academy of management review, 20: 3, 709-734. ■ maznevski, m., and k. m. chudoba 2000 bridging space over time: global virtual team dynamics and effectiveness, organization science, 11: 5, 473-492. ■ minzberg, h., and j. a. waters 1985 of strategies, deliberate and emergent, strategic management journal, 6: 3, 257-272. ■ moon, j. y., and l. sproull 2000 essence of distributed work: the case of the linux kernel, first monday, 5: 11 . ■ müller, m., h. yamagata, l. wall and d. dougherty 2001 le logiciel libre, paris : o’reilly. ■ nemiro, j.e. 2001 assessing the climate for creativity in virtual teams, in m. beyerlein, d. johnson and s. beyerlein (eds.), virtu al teams, advances in interdisciplinary studies of work teams, greenwich, ct: jai press, 59-84. ■ nohria, n., and r. g. eccles 1992 face-to-face: making network organizations work, in n. nohria and r. g. eccles (eds.), networks and organiza tions: structure, form and action, boston, ma: harvard business school press, 288-308. ■ nooteboom, b. 1996 trust, opportunism and governance: a process and control model, organiza tion studies, 17: 6, 985-1010. ■ nooteboom, b. 2002 trust: forms, foundations, functions, failures and figures, cheltenham : elgar. ■ o’hara-devereaux, m., and r. johansen 1994 global work: bridging distance, cul ture and time, san francisco, ca: jossey-bass. ■ o’mahony, s. 2003 guarding the commons: how community managed software projects protect their work, research policy, 32: 7, 11 7 9 11 9 8 . ■ orléan, a. 1994 sur le rôle respectif de la confiance et de l’intérêt dans la constitution de l’ordre marchand, cahier de recherche, crea n°9403a, paris : ecole polytechnique. ■ ouchi, w. 1979 markets, bureaucracies and clans, administrative science quarterly, 25: 3, 129-141. ■ panteli, n. 2003 situating trust within virtual teams, working paper, n°20, bath: university of bath, school of management. ■ perroux, f. 1960 economie et société : contrainte, échange, don, paris : puf. ■ planque, b. 1991 note sur la notion de réseau d’innovation : réseaux contractuels et réseaux conventionnels, revue d’economie régionale et urbaine, 3-4, 295-320. ■ poppo, l., and t. zenger 2002 do formal contracts and relational governance function as substitutes or complements?, strategic management journal, 23: 8, 707-725. ■ potter, r. e. 2000 virtual team interaction: assessment, consequences and management, team performance management, 6: 78, 131-149. ■ powell, w. w. 1987 hybrid organizational arrangements: new form or transitional development?, california management review, 30: 1, 67-87. ■ rallet, a. 1997 les technologies de l’information et de la communication et la coordination à distance dans les activités de recherche d’innovation, in a. torre, a. rallet et y. lung (eds.), organisation spatiale et coordination des activités d’innovation des entreprises, rapport pour le commissariat général au plan. pessac : ierso université bordeaux iv, 77-96. ■ rallet, a., et a. torre 2001 proximité géographique ou proximité organisationnelle ? une analyse spatiale des coopérations technologiques dans les réseaux localisés d’innovation, economie appliquée, 54: 1, 147171. ■ raymond, e. s. 1998 the cathedral and the bazaar, the first monday journal of the internet, 3: 3, 1-24. ■ raymond, e. s. 1999 the cathedral and the bazaar: mus ings on linux and open source by an accidental revolutionary, sebastopol: o’reilly. ■ reix, r. 1995 savoir tacite et savoir formalisé dans l’entreprise, revue française de ges tion, 21: 105, 17-28. ■ rooks, g., w. raub, r. selten and f. tazelaar 2000 how inter-firm co-operation depends on social embeddedness: a vignette study, acta sociologica, 43: 2, 123137. ■ sako, m. 1991 the role of trust in japanese buyersupplier relationships, ricerche eco nomiche, 155: 2-3, 375-399. ■ sitkin, s. b. 1995 on the positive effect of legalization on trust, research on negotiation in organizations, vol. 5, greenwich, ct: jai press, 185-217. m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 275-306 special issue: practicing collaboration 304 thomas loilier . albéric tellier ■ stewart, d. 1984 secondary research: information sources and methods, newbury park, ca: sage. ■ strauss, a. l., and j. corbin 1990 basics of qualitative research: grounded theory procedures and techniques, thousand oaks, ca: sage. ■ tayon, j. 2002 le projet linux est-il un modèle possible d’entreprise innovante?, cahier de recherche, v. 1.20, cnam, chaire de développement des systèmes d’organisation. ■ teece, d. j. 1987 profiting from technological innovation: implications for integration, collaboration, licensing and public policy, in d. j. teece (ed.), the competitive chal lenge, new york: harper & row, 185219. ■ von hippel, e. 1986 lead user: a source of novel products concepts, management science, 32: 7, 791-805. ■ von hippel, e. 1994 sticky information and the locus of problem solving: implications for innovation, management science, 40: 4, 429-439. ■ von krogh, g., s. spaeth and k. r. lakhani 2003 community, joining, and specialization in open source software innovation: a case study, research policy, 32: 7, 1217-1241. ■ wayner, p. 2000 free for all: how linux and the free software movement undercuts the high-tech titans, new york: harperbusiness. ■ weber, r. p. 1990 basic content analysis, newbury park, ca: sage. ■ weick, k. e. 1993 the collapse of sensemaking in organizations: the mann gulch disaster, administrative science quarterly, 38: 4, 628-652. ■ wenger, e. 1998 communities of practice: learning, meaning and identity, cambridge: cambridge university press. ■ williamson, o. e. 1993 calculativeness, trust and economic organization, journal of law and eco nomics, 36: 1, 453-500. ■ zucker, l. 1986 production of trust: institutional sources of economic structure: 18401920, in b. staw and l. cummings (eds.) research in organizational behavior, vol. 8, greenwich, ct: jai press, 53-111. m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 275-306 special issue: practicing collaboration 305 comment peut-on se faire confiance sans se voir ? le cas du développement des logiciels libres cette annexe a deux objectifs : une présentation synthétique des quatre sources principales utilisées en insistant sur le mode de production des données, et une évaluation synthétique de chacune d’elles grâce à la grille de stewart (1984). le projet floss (ghosh et al., 2002) mené par ghosh et son équipe, ce projet de recherche est fondé sur une enquête en ligne portant sur 2.784 développeurs membres de la communauté des logiciels libres. financé par l’international institute of infonomics de l’université de maastricht, cette enquête fait aujourd’hui référence tant pour ses résultats que pour leur mode de production. en effet, le recueil des données par questionnaire a été directement confié à la communauté elle-même, permettant ainsi un échantillon large et diversifié. par ailleurs, un travail de validation des résultats a été effectué sur un sous-échantillon de 500 développeurs. le tableau a1 montre que les critères de stewart sont aisément remplis avec en particulier une volonté très nette de corroborer les résultats obtenus avec deux autres enquêtes majeures. le lecteur intéressé trouvera des informations complémentaires sur ce projet sur le site http://www.infonomics.nl/floss/report/. le projet licks (ghosh et david, 2003) mené en partenariat par l’international institute of infonomics de maastricht et l’internet institute de l’université de standford, ce projet, financé par la nsf, vise à compléter le projet floss en étudiant l’évolution de la communauté et en se focalisant exclusivement sur une partie de cette communauté : celle centrée sur le développement du noyau linux. les auteurs ont choisi d’utiliser des techniques de statistique comparative en analysant les caractéristiques de développement de trois versions de ce noyau : linux 1.0 (mars 1994), linux 2.0.30 (avril 1997) et linux 2.5.25 (juillet 2002). la technique de recueil des données et plus généralement la méthodologie employée sont décrites en détail dans ghosh (2002, disponible sur le site http://dxm.org/papers/toulouse2/). comme dans le cas précédent, on peut noter que les six critères de stewart s’avèrent remplis. annexe : précisions méthodologiques tableau a1. evaluation du projet floss (ghosh et al., 2002) grâce à la grille de stewart (1984) source objectifs de la collecte responsabilité de la collecte nature des informations collectées période de recueil mode de production corroboration de l’information ghosh, r. a., r. glott, b. krieger, and g. robles (2002), free/libre and open source software: survey and study – part 4: survey of developers, floss final report, maastricht: university of maastricht, international institute of infonomics, disponible sur http://www.infonomics.nl/floss/report/. découvrir les motivations des développeurs découvrir les modes d’organisation de la communauté des logiciels libres découvrir les caractéristiques individuelles (âge, expérience, rémunération motivations…) des acteurs de la communauté les chercheurs dans un premier temps puis, par effet boule de neige, les membres de la communauté euxmêmes (auto-administration du questionnaire) sur les trois thèmes précités (motivations, modes d’organisation et caractéristiques individuelles), un mix de données qualitatives et quantitatives février 2002 avril 2002 questionnaire en ligne oui : the widi survey et the hacker survey of bcg tableau a2. evaluation du projet licks (ghosh et david, 2003) grâce à la grille de stewart (1984) source objectifs de la collecte responsabilité de la collecte nature des informations collectées période de recueil mode de production corroboration de l’information ghosh, r. a., and p. a. david (2003), the nature and composition of the linux kernel developer community: a dynamic analysis, working paper, nsf open source software project, stanford, ca: stanford institute for economic policy research analyser l’évolution de la communauté des développeurs du projet linux kernel à travers l’évolution de la distribution de la production de lignes de codes signées par un auteur r. a. ghosh données quantitatives : tailles des équipes, nombre total de développeurs, nombre de sous-projets identifiés, nombre de collaborations inter-projets, part des lignes de codes anonymes 2002 extraction automatique de données par des outils informatiques développés pour l’occasion par ghosh et prakash et mis en œuvre par prakash oui : orbiten survey 2000 (ghosh et prakash) et projet floss http://www.infonomics.nl/floss/report/ m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 275-306 special issue: practicing collaboration 306 thomas loilier . albéric tellier la recherche de von krogh, spaeth et lakhani (2003) cette recherche présente l’originalité de s’être focalisée sur un projet particulier (le projet freenet) et non sur un échantillon important de projets comme les trois autres sources utilisées. cette variété dans la méthode s’est avérée très fructueuse. on peut aussi noter la volonté de précision des auteurs qui ont mobilisé quatre modes de recueils de données complémentaires afin de pouvoir effectuer eux-mêmes des triangulations. là encore, cette source de données remplit les six critères de stewart. la recherche de krishnamurthy (2002) cette dernière source est sans doute moins ambitieuse que les trois précédentes mais s’avère utile par l’originalité de ses objectifs et donc des données recueillies concernant notamment la taille des équipes de développeurs. on peut noter que le dernier critère de stewart ne s’avère pas complètement rempli. toutefois, nous avons nous-même corroboré les données relatives à la taille des équipes avec les données issues du projet licks. en revanche, il n’a pas été possible de corroborer les données relatives à la nature des cent contributeurs les plus importants de la communauté. tableau a3. evaluation de la recherche de von krogh et al. (2003) grâce à la grille de stewart (1984) source objectifs de la collecte responsabilité de la collecte nature des informations collectées période de recueil mode de production corroboration de l’information von krogh, g., s. spaeth, and k. r. lakhani (2003), community, joining, and specialization in open source software innovation: a case study, research policy, 32: 7, 1217-1241 comprendre comment un nouveau développeur intègre la communauté existante comprendre comment il contribue à la production de nouveaux logiciels g. von krogh, s. spaeth, k. r. lakhan,iauxquels s’est ajouté e. von hippel données qualitatives : caractéristiques individuelles des développeurs et du projet étudié ainsi que les comportements et motivations des acteurs données quantitatives : nombre de développeurs et nombre d’emails échangés durant la durée du projet janvier 2000 – mai 2001 quatre modes distincts : 1/entretiens téléphoniques de type semi-directif ; 2/contenu des emails échangés au sein de la mailing list du projet ; 3/logiciel d’extraction des données permettant d’analyser la progression du projet (à travers les modifications du code source de freenet) ; 4/documents complémentaires (pages web, faq…) oui, en particulier avec les autres articles du numéro spécial de research policy et von hippel et von krogh (2003), wayner (2000) et raymond (1999) tableau a4. evaluation de la recherche de krishnamurthy (2002) grâce à la grille de stewart (1984) source objectifs de la collecte responsabilité de la collecte nature des informations collectées période de recueil mode de production corroboration de l’information krishnamurthy, s. (2002), cave or community? an empirical examination of 100 mature open source projects, first monday, 7: 6 analyser le mode de production des logiciels libres montrer que ce mode est davantage lié à des acteurs individuels solitaires (lone production model) qu’à une communauté travaillant collectivement sur des projets communs (community production model) s. krishnamurthy données quantitatives : taille des équipes de développeurs données qualitatives : nature des cent contributeurs les plus importants de la communauté (universités, individus, entreprises privées…) 23 avril 2003 – 1er mai 2003 compilation manuelle des données relatives aux cent projets étudiés disponibles sur le site sourceforge.net partiellement avec le projet licks (2003) http://sourceforge.net 185voicesen directed by brian knappenberger producted by luminant media and unjustsus films http://www.takepart.com/ internets-own-boy unplugged voices: the internet's own boy: the story of aaron swartz (2014) research in management and organization may only gain by being inspired from arts, culture and humanities in order to rethink practices but also to nourish its own perspectives. life in organizations is artificially separate from ordinary life: all of mundane objects are thus conducive to astonishment, inspiration, and even problematization. the unplugged subsection “voices” gives the opportunity to academics and non-academics to deliver an interpretation about an object from the cultural or artistic world. interpreted objects are or not directly related to organizational life, resonate or not with the moment, but share some intriguing features. these interpretations suggest a patchwork of variations on the same object. m@n@gement 2015, vol. 18(5): 357-371 357 http://www.takepart.com/internets-own-boy http://www.takepart.com/internets-own-boy http://www.takepart.com/internets-own-boy http://www.takepart.com/internets-own-boy aaron swartz: management or life ! "there is one truly serious philosophical problem and that is suicide. judging whether life is or is not worth living, is to answer the fundamental question of philosophy" (my translation). those words from albert camus’s 1942 the myth of sisyphus may resonate with the dramatic story of aaron swartz. academics in management studies may be inclined to relate it to some organizational concerns but suicide necessarily goes beyond and remains a painful question mark. also because management is just or mostly a matter of life. some rare people are not able to come in the truman show. their extreme lucidity prevents them from accepting the inescapable dose of lying that makes possible the organizational play. common decency, in orwell’s vocabulary, accompanies them in everyday practice but makes life unbearable as social interactions become hopeless. loneliness of enterprising the self is exhausting. aaron swartz was one of those. ! m@n@gement, vol. 18(5): 357-371! voices the internet's own boy 358 olivier germain, esg uqam germain.olivier@uqam.ca mailto:germain.olivier@uqam.ca mailto:germain.olivier@uqam.ca e viral essay entrepreneurship goes viral: the invention of deviant enterprising selves unjust laws exist; shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them, and obey them until we have succeeded, or shall we transgress them at once? henry david thoreau ! with these opening words, the fascinating story of aaron swartz unravels on the screen. swartz is described in the 2014 biographical documentary the internet's own boy: the story of aaron swartz not only as a child prodigy who was already reading by the age of three, but also as someone who became fascinated with the potential of the world wide web and its associated technology to change the world into something better. he took an active role in writing the rss web feed format when he was 14, was involved in the development of the web.py website framework, and became a partner of the social news site reddit after it merged with his own company, infogami. swartz also helped to develop the non-profit organization creative commons, and founded demand progress, an online political advocacy group with the aim of defending civil liberties. he is described on wikipedia as ‘an american computer programmer, entrepreneur, writer, political organizer, and internet hacktivist.’ ! it is certainly a captivating life that is depicted in the biopic, but one that sadly ended all too early. on 11 january 2013, at the age of 26, aaron swartz committed suicide in his apartment in crown heights, brooklyn, new york. he left behind not only the legacy of his accomplishments and transgressions, but also an internet community mourning the visionary who, according to his girlfriend, brought hope to all ‘members of the future.’ swartz’s own role model, sir tim berners-lee, creator of the world wide web, posted the following tweet about the loss of aaron: aaron dead. world wanderers, we have lost a wise elder. hackers for right, we are one down. parents all, we have lost a child. let us weep. ! in the documentary the internet’s own boy, swartz is referred to as a revolutionary. the piece tells the story of his initiative to download millions of documents from the academic archive jstor, which ultimately led to his death. swartz was charged with computer and wire fraud—but what, in fact, were his intentions? in the film, one if his friends says, ‘he was not a thief, he was trying to make a point,’ just trying to ‘fix the world.’ did he wish to use the information to make personal profit, or to make it accessible to the public for free? the prosecution process against swartz is depicted in the film as a witch hunt by a us government buoyed by the fact that the massachusetts institute of technology (mit) remained ‘neutral.’ the film includes accusations that the us government was trying to make an example of swartz, and claims that ‘he was killed by the government’ and that ‘mit betrayed its most basic principles.’ voices the internet's own boy! m@n@gement, vol. 18(5): 357-371 359 karin berglund, stockholm business school, sweden karin.berglund@sbs.su.se http://web.py http://web.py mailto:karin.berglund@sbs.su.se mailto:karin.berglund@sbs.su.se ! the aaron swartz documentary is worth watching for anyone interested in justice, and particularly in understanding today’s opportunities for creating and organizing innovative online social and civil rights movements. but also, for anyone with a background in entrepreneurship studies, and with a particular interest in how entrepreneurship has become the linchpin of almost all activity, everywhere, for everyone, the documentary invites reflection on the explosion of new kinds of entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship that have emerged in recent times. ! during the past few decades, entrepreneurship has ‘gone viral,’ spreading to the most unlikely contexts. it has transcended its boundaries as a stand-alone concept to combine well with numerous prefixes such as social, environmental, community, regional, ethnic, women’s, and so on. in this vein, it has been subject to the most unexpected adaptation. to give just a few examples, entrepreneurship provides opportunities for ex-criminals to exploit their creativity and for women from ethnic minorities to gain a sense of community and create working lives for themselves, and a path for girls in upper secondary school to free themselves from old teaching dogma (berglund and skoglund, 2015). ! entrepreneurship is thus no longer associated only with its ability to bring about economic change, and has become a mechanism for solving all kinds of problems. swartz’s story exemplifies this new, extended function. while he can be described as a typical, conventional entrepreneur in his role as a technology inventor starting up exciting, ‘hot’ new businesses, he can also be viewed as a ‘non-entrepreneur,’ ‘totally unexcited about starting businesses and making money’ as is emphasised in the film. at the end of the documentary, swartz’s father reflects on the difference between his son and other famous tech entrepreneurs who have come to change everyday life in contemporary western society: ! if you look at steve jobs and steve wozniak they started by selling a blue box which was a thing designed to fraud the phone companies. if you look at bill gates and paul hallon they initially started the business by using computers that were at harvard, which was pretty clearly against the rules. the difference between aaron and the people i just mentioned is that aaron wanted to make the world a better place, he just didn't want to make money. ! aaron swartz can therefore be distinguished from contemporary, conventional entrepreneurs, because, according to his father, he is not as interested in making personal profit as in making the world a better place. because swartz’s activities aim to protect civil society through questioning systemic errors, trying to re-establish boundaries between the private and the public sector, and paving the way for social change, he could be described as a ‘social’ or ‘societal’ entrepreneur (cf. hjorth and steyaert, 2008; berglund, johannisson and schwartz, 2012). social entrepreneurs are being identified as a unique new breed, marking a sharp contrast to the traditional model of profitorientated entrepreneurs. of interest here is how the newand the old-style entrepreneur can be seen to coexist, in the documentary about aaron swartz,. this, given the similarities as well as the differences between the oldand the new-style entrepreneur, prompts reflection on how this new phenomenon has expanded entrepreneurship discourse. ! beginning with the swartz story, it can be concluded that the positions of the old versus the new entrepreneur are not mutually exclusive, but are, in fact, quite compatible. understanding entrepreneurial identities as being underpinned by an ‘enterprising self’ makes this comprehensible. the enterprising self gives rise to various entrepreneurial identities as it urges us to adapt to survive, take m@n@gement, vol. 18(5): 357-371! voices the internet's own boy 360 initiative, learn and move on from experienced difficulties, and change life direction when necessary. hence, the enterprising self is made up of the fundamental characteristics humans need in order to become autonomous, selfregulating, and responsible individuals. the way in which the new, sociallyconcerned entrepreneurs take responsibility, not only for themselves, their employees, stakeholders and customers, but also in terms of their engagement with civil society and their wish to alleviate social injustice, suggests that they represent a morally advanced version of the entrepreneur. ! through their endeavors to make the world a better place, social entrepreneurs involve themselves in matters that traditionally fall under the remit of political systems and national government. their involvement in such matters blurs boundaries and creates a new private/public borderland. their role as transgressors in this respect may, however, place them under pressure. it has also been found that their strong commitment to what they believe to be meaningful work comes at a cost of personal self-sacrifice, for instance, in terms of family, friends, and close relationships (see, for example, dempsey and sanders, 2010). ! social entrepreneurs are, almost without exception, described as ‘morally superior’ individuals. such a morally driven person may often tend to suppress her or his own vulnerability, self-doubt, and insecurities when striving to achieve social justice and change. scharff (2015) shows how this aspect of the enterprising self, which she attributes to living in a liberal society where many individuals continually strive towards self-improvement, can turn people against themselves through self-competition and self-critique. the ability of enterprising selves to be autonomous, repress their vulnerabilities, take responsibility, and be concerned about social change may create a division between them and ‘others’ who can be blamed for not living up to this standard (scharff, 2015; see also the pressure placed on social enterprise employees to work harder for less or no money in dempsey and sanders, 2010). this may have the ironic, and perhaps counterproductive, consequence of inverting their moral hegemony if they then become uncompromising and judgmental of others’ deviance from the principles that underpin their aims. ! the point i would like to make here is that even if it is possible to claim that swartz is both an ‘old’ and a ‘new’ entrepreneur – entrepreneurial identities that differ at one level but that are both underpinned by the enterprising self – it shows how easily this interpretation can be applied, and how easy it is to leave out other aspects that may not fit at all within the analysis of an enterprising self. in swartz’ story there is definitely a disturbing noise that intensified the more i thought about whether it is appropriate to analyze swartz’ ambitions to make the world a better place as this advanced enterprising self with a well-developed sense of responsibility. this question kept returning to me, asking for another analytical turn. ! swartz does not appear to be interested in describing himself in one particular way, which is common among entrepreneurs of all kinds. his interests lie in explaining in detail what it is he is doing and how it relates to the potential for correcting systemic errors and effecting social change. he emphasizes how uncomfortable he felt in the business world, where he found himself trapped and locked in (for instance during the time when he moved his company to the san francisco office). while he does not seem to place a high value on wealth, profit or economic success, neither does he reject them in order to establish his stance as a social entrepreneur. instead, he focuses on how issues of public interest can be reformed through internet technology. moreover, swartz appears to show little interest in using business as a means for slow, gradual change. he instead makes radical statements through different actions that reveal the possibilities of the internet. some of these actions were executed in the shadows and interpreted as being illegal. ironically, swartz was charged with the intention to voices the internet's own boy! m@n@gement, vol. 18(5): 357-371 361 use the information he ‘stole’ for self-gain. he was thus effectively charged with theft, which would seem to class him as an entrepreneur with a personal profit incentive. however, he does not defend himself from that position, and instead speaks out about what he perceives to be the injustice that publically supported research and the knowledge it generates are effectively paid for twice, and are not made freely accessible to all global citizens. he appears to hold on to a hope that justice will be done once the facts of this are made clear. ! thus, swartz deviates from the generally accepted idea of the enterprising self in several ways. for instance, he does not take the initiative to survive by resisting the accusations or attempting to escape the situation. while this deviates from the norm, it does not represent the passive and indolent antithesis of the active enterprising self,. while swartz’s response may appear to be atypically inert, his steadfastness enables him to hold on to the general principles of justice and civil rights. ! whether this new, alternative kind of entrepreneur is an outlier or a natural progression of the species needs further attention and study. there is a certain research tradition, with a tendency to heroize, that pays attention to the idea of the autonomous entrepreneur, and another that tries to develop an understanding of how unchained, liberal enterprising selves, while seeking to fulfill their potential, ironically shackle themselves up in a web of responsibility and vulnerability. whilst the former is typically narrated in management and business literature as the free individual (who conquers the market), the other has a tendency to be narrated in political science and critical culture literature as the governed individual (who has to survive at the market). however, with the raise of the new social entrepreneurs the boundaries are blurred, which also blurs the distinction between conquering/surviving the case of aaron swartz, well demonstrates that there is a deeper complexity to such individuals, which may present a challenge to such clear-cut accepted notions that may be reinforced in both management and business research and in political science and critical culture research. ! when one of aaron’s two brothers reflects upon his desire to change the world and correct injustices ‘just by explaining the world very clearly to people,’ a researcher may fully relate to this position and hope that more nuanced and thoughtful stories of others like him, who also seek to change the world, may emerge to help us understand the challenges we face in the 21st century. although aaron swartz died tragically, it must be remembered that a community continues to exist which is working together to protect civil liberties and pass on his legacy. references b e r g l u n d , k . & s k o g l u n d , a . ( 2 0 1 5 ) s o c i a l entrepreneurship: to defend society from itself (57-77), i n f a y o l l e , a l a i n a n d r i o t , p h i l i p p e ( e d s . ) institutionalization of entrepreneurship: hopes and pitfalls for entrepreneurship research?, routledge. berglund, k., johannisson, b. & schwartz, b. (2012) societal entrepreneurship: positioning, penetrating, promoting, cheltenham: edward elgar. dempsey, s. e., & sanders, m. l. (2010). meaningful work? nonprofit marketization and work/life imbalance in popular autobiographies of social entrepreneurship. organization, 17(4), 437-459. scharff, c. (2015). the psychic life of neoliberalism: mapping the contours of entrepreneurial subjectivity. theory, culture & society, steyaert, c., & hjorth, d. (eds.). (2008). entrepreneurship as social change: a third new movements in entrepreneurship book. edward elgar publishing. m@n@gement, vol. 18(5): 357-371! voices the internet's own boy 362 pursuing the legacy of aaron swartz, one tweet at a time. a screenshotdriven essay ! aaron swartz not only believed in the idea that access to knowledge should be linked to fundamental principles of freedom and justice, but also in the enabling role of the internet in this endeavor. like other internet activists such as peter sunde, the co-founder of the pirate bay1, swartz defended the idea of a decentralized and open internet through which every single user could become a disseminator of knowledge. ! in the inspiring yet dramatic documentary the internet’s own boy: the story of aaron swartz, we can see how swartz used the internet to free scientific knowledge that was locked up in protected databases. in his manifesto, he claimed that sharing copyrighted information, though illegal, is a moral imperative: “we need to take information, wherever it is stored, make our copies and share them with the world” (swartz, 2008). following actions that were aimed at realizing this goal, swartz became a target of the authorities and was facing federal charges of up to 35 years in prison when he committed suicide in 2013 at the age of only 26. ! as an academic, it is impossible to watch swartz’s tragic story without feeling involved. as we academics perform our day-to-day work, we are embroiled in a paradoxical situation that continues to feed the system swartz was denouncing: we access paywalled journals for which our universities pay escalating costs2 just to be able to read the work of our colleagues (who have handed over their copyrights to publishers); we instruct our students to do the same by making them mandatory reading on our courses; and we rely on publishing in those journals for career advancement, knowing that most of them cannot be accessed by the public, nor by a great number of scientists working for institutions that are unable to afford them. ! the inevitable question raised by swartz’s biopic is whether we as academics can morally justify keeping the privilege of access to scientific knowledge for ourselves while a significant part of the world is left out. a growing number of academics are now answering this question by engaging in the battle surrounding open access. whether modest or vigorous, their actions become visible through social networking sites such as twitter. this microblogging platform is indeed increasingly being used by academics from all disciplines to engage in discussions about methods, literature, and ethics3. it is also becoming a space where their experience of work is expressed. such informal uses of twitter by academics to narrate their work to people inside and outside their universities do not correspond to any form of organizational requirement (sergi & bonneau, 2015). the questioning and thoughts shared by scholars these days are exposed on twitter through their own initiative, in an open and communal fashion. in this “screenshot-driven essay,” i would like to examine, one tweet at a time, some traces left on twitter by academics who still pursue the contemporary legacy of aaron swartz. voices the internet's own boy! m@n@gement, vol. 18(5): 357-371 363 claudine bonneau, esg-uqam bonneau.claudine@uqam.ca 1. in 2003, peter sunde, fredrik neij and gottfrid svartholm started the pirate bay, a file-sharing website. in 2009, they were convicted of “assisting [others] in copyright infringement.” sunde was incarcerated in 2014 and released a year later (mollen, 2015). 2. big players such as elsevier, springer, taylor & francis, wiley-blackwell, and wolters kluwer base their profitable business model on the “free labor” provided by scientists (gershman, 2014) and “determine annually increasing subscription rates that make up a considerable amount of research spending, leaving academic libraries w i t h n o o t h e r c h o i c e b u t t o c a n c e l subscriptions” (larivière, haustein, & mongeon, 2015, p.11). 3. research has shown that twitter is used by one in 40 scholars (priem, 2011). mailto:bonneau.claudine@uqam.ca mailto:bonneau.claudine@uqam.ca twitter’s affordance of visibility ! i have selected twitter as the focal site of this brief guided tour because its functionalities afford visibility in very specific ways. twitter has more than 302 million monthly active users (twitter, 2015) and since its opening in 2006 it has offered a fast and lightweight means for individuals to publish information for personal and professional purposes. the limited length of tweets (140 characters) shapes how they are written and read, making it easy to publish and skim large amounts of content quickly. when created, new twitter accounts are public by default, meaning that anyone can follow them without asking for permission. unless users configure their account to make it private, their publications and conversations are visible, facilitating the discovery of users and messages through serendipity. in practice, this broadcasting capability creates high visibility and open communication with non-targeted users, as there is no need to indicate an intended addressee in a tweet. when messages are retweeted (i.e., shared by other users), they can reach a larger audience than the author’s own list of followers. ! the addition of the hashtag symbol (#) in front of keywords (e.g., #openaccess) was developed by users as a convention for categorizing subject matter. hashtags also affect the visibility of tweets, because users can access all tweets that are using the same hashtag by clicking on it. this facilitates the articulation of collective activities on a specific topic, which can lead to conversations and community building. many regular hashtags emerged from twitter usage by academics4, providing them with opportunities to interact with each other. the example of the #icanhazpdf hashtag especially echoes the mission of aaron swartz. #icanhazpdf: when a hashtag is used to circumvent paywalls ! swartz thought that those who can access knowledge have a duty to share it with the world, for example, by filling download requests for others. this is exactly what the #icanhazpdf hashtag is about, as it facilitates peer-to-peer access to scholarly articles that would otherwise be denied to users behind a paywall. ! it all started in 2011, when andrea kuszewski, a cognitive scientist, suggested the use of the #icanhazpdf hashtag to anyone who wanted to request an article to which they did not have access (see figure 1)5. figure 1. kuszewski’s tweet suggesting the adoption of the #icanhazpdf hashtag when requesting a paper m@n@gement, vol. 18(5): 357-371! voices the internet's own boy 364 4. for example, #phdchat, #acwri, and #scholarsunday. 5. the sentence “i can haz pdf” is a reference to t h e p o p u l a r c a t m e m e “ i c a n h a s cheezburger?” (terdiman, 2008). ! the mechanics of this are rather simple: the requestor posts a tweet including the reference and/or link to a paywalled paper along with the #icanhazpdf hashtag (as in figure 2). other users browsing the hashtagged messages can then reply privately to the requestor to ask for their email address and send them the pdf file (outside of twitter), assuming they have access to it through their own institutional subscriptions. figure 2. a typical example of a tweet using the #icanhazpdf hashtag to request a specific paywalled paper ! researchers who have studied the #icanhazpdf community have pointed out that the use of this unauthorized method is not an isolated phenomenon and that it is continuing to grow (gardner & gardner, 2015). the electronic frontier foundation (harmon, 2015) has related this practice to article 27 of the united nations universal declaration of human rights, which says that everyone deserves the right “to share in scientific advancement and its benefits” (united nations, 1948). the use of this hashtag perpetuates the culture of sharing promoted by swartz and has been described as a form of “guerilla [sic] open access” in the tradition of his manifesto (dunn, coiera, & mandl, 2014). when tweets call for acts of collective civil disobedience and boycott ! in the spirit of the battle for open access that has taken place on twitter, there have been several instances of tweets calling for diverse forms of protest against academic institutions. one such instance concerns the prosecution of aaron swartz, which is discussed in his biopic mentioned above. in late 2010 to early 2011, while swartz was working as a research fellow at harvard university, he used a guest account on the network of the massachusetts institute of technology (mit) to bulk download the journal archives of the jstor database with a python script swartz had written that grabbed articles one after the other. he initially used mit’s wi-fi connection to access the jstor website, but when jstor cut off the access he entered an unlocked wiring closet located in mit’s basement and plugged his laptop directly into a network jack (hockenberry, 2013). his equipment was found by the authorities, which did not stop the download but instead installed a surveillance camera (a still from the surveillance recording can be seen in figure 3). voices the internet's own boy! m@n@gement, vol. 18(5): 357-371 365 figure 3. swartz used mit’s network to access jstor’s database and was caught by a surveillance camera, as shown in the documentary the internet’s own boy: the story of aaron swartz (43:05) ! swartz was arrested soon after by mit police and the us secret service. elliot peters, his defense attorney claimed they have been gathering evidence to make a case6. to this day, many of swartz’s supporters feel that mit played a role in his prosecution, even though the institution publicly distanced itself from the case and tried to maintain a position of neutrality (bombardieri, 2014). mit was accused of not defending swartz, despite being recognized as “a place that encourages hacking in the bigger sense of the word7.” the incident led some members of the academic community to take to twitter, invoking mit’s treatment of swartz to incite colleagues to decline invitations made by the institution (one such tweet can be seen in figure 4). figure 4. an example of a tweet invoking the name of aaron swartz when calling for the boycott of invitations from mit m@n@gement, vol. 18(5): 357-371! voices the internet's own boy 366 6. as mentioned by elliot peters in swartz’s biopic (41:51). 7. a quote from the legal scholar lawrence lessig, who is interviewed in swartz’s biopic (1:07:29). ! another example of a call for collective civil disobedience explicitly refers to swartz’s guerilla open access manifesto. in a letter published on november 30, 2015 a collective of 14 scholars urged academics “to emerge from hiding and put our names behind this act of resistance” (custodians online, 2015). this letter was published in reaction to the copyright infringement lawsuit filed by elsevier in june 2015 against library genesis and sci-hub, which are both websites used for the unauthorized sharing of research papers (harmon, 2015). the letter has since been shared and retweeted on twitter by a number of academics who have endorsed it (a retweet of a link to the letter appears in figure 5). figure 5. a collective named custodians online published an online letter in which they quote swartz’s guerilla open access manifesto ! twitter also contains multiple declarations of a boycott directed toward elsevier (e.g., figure 6) following the decision by tilburg university in the netherlands to boycott the publisher (wijkhuijs, 2015) and the resignation of the editorial board of the journal lingua in protest over the refusal of the journal’s publisher to convert the title to completely open access (jaschik, 2015). voices the internet's own boy! m@n@gement, vol. 18(5): 357-371 367 figure 6. a researcher in human behavioral ecology used twitter to publicly declare her boycott of elsevier journals. concluding remarks ! these tweets make tangible and visible actions that are often conducted in the form of behind‑the‑scenes work that is usually not accessible to people outside these situations (star & strauss, 1999). once released “into the wild,” these short textual traces can spark online conversations (sergi & bonneau, 2015). they have the potential to transform an individual opinion, observation or action into a collectively discussed idea. ! of course, the academics who are tweeting about their open-accessrelated actions are not putting themselves at risk for the cause in the same ways swartz did. but taken together, all these recurrent forms of micro-resistance contribute something toward the continuation of aaron swartz’s mission, and hence pay tribute to his memory. references bombardieri, m. (2014). the inside story of mit and aaron swartz. the boston globe, retrieved from https:// www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/03/29/the-insides t o r y m i t a n d a a r o n s w a r t z / yvjz5p6vhapjusreuan7si/story.html custodians online. (2015). in solidarity with library genesis and sci-hub. retrieved from http:// custodians.online/ dunn, a. g., coiera, e., & mandl, k. d. (2014). is biblioleaks inevitable? journal of medical internet research, 16(4). gardner, c. c., & gardner, g. j. (2015). bypassing interlibrary loan via twitter: an exploration of# icanhazpdf requests. in the association of college & research libraries (acrl) conference, 95–101. gershman, s. (2014). the exploitative economics of academic publishing. the boston globe. retrieved from http://www.betaboston.com/news/2014/05/06/theexploitative-economics-of-academic-publishing/ harmon, e. (2015). what if elsevier and researchers quit p l a y i n g h i d e a n d s e e k ? e l e c t r o n i c f r o n t i e r foundation. retrieved from https://www.eff.org/ deeplinks/2015/12/what-if-elsevier-and-researchersquit-playing-hide-and-seek hockenberry, b. l. (2013). the guerilla open access manifesto: aaron swartz, open access and the sharing imperative. lavery library faculty/staff publications. retrieved from http://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/library_pub/6 jaschik, s. (2015). language of protest. inside higher ed. retrieved from https://www.insidehighered.com/news/ 2015/11/02/editors-and-editorial-board-quit-toplinguistics-journal-protest-subscription-fees larivière, v., haustein, s., & mongeon, p. (2015). the oligopoly of academic publishers in the digital era. plos one, 10(6), 1–15. mollen, j. (2015). pirate bay founder: “i have given up.” m o t h e r b o a r d . r e t r i e v e d f r o m h t t p : / / motherboard.vice.com/read/pirate-bay-founder-petersunde-i-have-given-up?utm_source=vicefbca m@n@gement, vol. 18(5): 357-371! voices the internet's own boy 368 https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/03/29/the-inside-story-mit-and-aaron-swartz/yvjz5p6vhapjusreuan7si/story.html https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/03/29/the-inside-story-mit-and-aaron-swartz/yvjz5p6vhapjusreuan7si/story.html https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/03/29/the-inside-story-mit-and-aaron-swartz/yvjz5p6vhapjusreuan7si/story.html https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/03/29/the-inside-story-mit-and-aaron-swartz/yvjz5p6vhapjusreuan7si/story.html https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/03/29/the-inside-story-mit-and-aaron-swartz/yvjz5p6vhapjusreuan7si/story.html https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/03/29/the-inside-story-mit-and-aaron-swartz/yvjz5p6vhapjusreuan7si/story.html https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/03/29/the-inside-story-mit-and-aaron-swartz/yvjz5p6vhapjusreuan7si/story.html https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/03/29/the-inside-story-mit-and-aaron-swartz/yvjz5p6vhapjusreuan7si/story.html http://custodians.online http://custodians.online http://custodians.online http://custodians.online http://www.betaboston.com/news/2014/05/06/the-exploitative-economics-of-academic-publishing/ http://www.betaboston.com/news/2014/05/06/the-exploitative-economics-of-academic-publishing/ http://www.betaboston.com/news/2014/05/06/the-exploitative-economics-of-academic-publishing/ http://www.betaboston.com/news/2014/05/06/the-exploitative-economics-of-academic-publishing/ https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2015/12/what-if-elsevier-and-researchers-quit-playing-hide-and-seek https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2015/12/what-if-elsevier-and-researchers-quit-playing-hide-and-seek https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2015/12/what-if-elsevier-and-researchers-quit-playing-hide-and-seek https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2015/12/what-if-elsevier-and-researchers-quit-playing-hide-and-seek https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2015/12/what-if-elsevier-and-researchers-quit-playing-hide-and-seek https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2015/12/what-if-elsevier-and-researchers-quit-playing-hide-and-seek http://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/library_pub/6 http://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/library_pub/6 https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/11/02/editors-and-editorial-board-quit-top-linguistics-journal-protest-subscription-feeslarivi https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/11/02/editors-and-editorial-board-quit-top-linguistics-journal-protest-subscription-feeslarivi https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/11/02/editors-and-editorial-board-quit-top-linguistics-journal-protest-subscription-feeslarivi https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/11/02/editors-and-editorial-board-quit-top-linguistics-journal-protest-subscription-feeslarivi https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/11/02/editors-and-editorial-board-quit-top-linguistics-journal-protest-subscription-feeslarivi https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/11/02/editors-and-editorial-board-quit-top-linguistics-journal-protest-subscription-feeslarivi https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/11/02/editors-and-editorial-board-quit-top-linguistics-journal-protest-subscription-feeslarivi https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/11/02/editors-and-editorial-board-quit-top-linguistics-journal-protest-subscription-feeslarivi http://motherboard.vice.com/read/pirate-bay-founder-peter-sunde-i-have-given-up?utm_source=vicefbca http://motherboard.vice.com/read/pirate-bay-founder-peter-sunde-i-have-given-up?utm_source=vicefbca http://motherboard.vice.com/read/pirate-bay-founder-peter-sunde-i-have-given-up?utm_source=vicefbca http://motherboard.vice.com/read/pirate-bay-founder-peter-sunde-i-have-given-up?utm_source=vicefbca http://motherboard.vice.com/read/pirate-bay-founder-peter-sunde-i-have-given-up?utm_source=vicefbca http://motherboard.vice.com/read/pirate-bay-founder-peter-sunde-i-have-given-up?utm_source=vicefbca priem, j. (2011). as scholars undertake a great migration to online publishing, altmetrics stands to provide an academic measurement of twitter and other online activity. the impact blog london school of economic and political science. retrieved from http:// blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2011/11/21/ altmetrics-twitter/ sergi, v., & bonneau, c. (2015). when talk is text  : the performativity of working out loud on twitter. in 31st egos colloquium, sub-theme 16  : organization as communication  : the performative power of talk. athens. star, s. l., & strauss, a. (1999). layers of silence , arenas of voice  : the ecology of visible and invisible work. computer supported cooperative work, (1995), 9–30. swartz, a. (2008). guerilla open access manifesto. archive.org. retrieved from https://archive.org/stream/ guerillaopenaccessmanifesto/goamjuly2008_djvu.txt terdiman, d. (2008). the history of i can has c h e e z b u r g e r. c n e t . r e t r i e v e d f r o m h t t p : / / w w w. c n e t . c o m / n e w s / t h e h i s t o r y o f i c a n h a s cheezburger/ twitter. (2015). about us. retrieved from https:// about.twitter.com/company united nations. (1948). the universal declaration of human rights. retrieved from http://www.un.org/en/ universal-declaration-human-rights/index.html wijkhuijs, j. (2015). dutch universities start their elsevier boycott plan. univers. retrieved from https:// universonline.nl/2015/07/02/dutch-universities-starttheir-elsevier-boycott-plan voices the internet's own boy! m@n@gement, vol. 18(5): 357-371 369 http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2011/11/21/altmetrics-twitter/ http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2011/11/21/altmetrics-twitter/ http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2011/11/21/altmetrics-twitter/ http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2011/11/21/altmetrics-twitter/ http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2011/11/21/altmetrics-twitter/ http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2011/11/21/altmetrics-twitter/ https://archive.org/stream/guerillaopenaccessmanifesto/goamjuly2008_djvu.txt https://archive.org/stream/guerillaopenaccessmanifesto/goamjuly2008_djvu.txt https://archive.org/stream/guerillaopenaccessmanifesto/goamjuly2008_djvu.txt https://archive.org/stream/guerillaopenaccessmanifesto/goamjuly2008_djvu.txt http://www.cnet.com/news/the-history-of-i-can-has-cheezburger/ http://www.cnet.com/news/the-history-of-i-can-has-cheezburger/ http://www.cnet.com/news/the-history-of-i-can-has-cheezburger/ http://www.cnet.com/news/the-history-of-i-can-has-cheezburger/ http://www.cnet.com/news/the-history-of-i-can-has-cheezburger/ http://www.cnet.com/news/the-history-of-i-can-has-cheezburger/ https://about.twitter.com/company https://about.twitter.com/company https://about.twitter.com/company https://about.twitter.com/company http://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/index.html http://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/index.html http://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/index.html http://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/index.html https://universonline.nl/2015/07/02/dutch-universities-start-their-elsevier-boycott-plan https://universonline.nl/2015/07/02/dutch-universities-start-their-elsevier-boycott-plan https://universonline.nl/2015/07/02/dutch-universities-start-their-elsevier-boycott-plan https://universonline.nl/2015/07/02/dutch-universities-start-their-elsevier-boycott-plan https://universonline.nl/2015/07/02/dutch-universities-start-their-elsevier-boycott-plan https://universonline.nl/2015/07/02/dutch-universities-start-their-elsevier-boycott-plan ten haiku’s on “the internet’s own boy” (1) brilliant: smarter than everyone else in the room means waiting – catch up! (2) who gets heard is for the gatekeeper’s to decide visibility (3) fair use? whatever i do is probably wrong. post my work? jail time! (4) information is free for those who can pay the price. access for all? (5) creative commons greener pastures when access is allowed wisely (6) scholarship: a ship built for curiosity corporation owned (7) motive ascertained in manifesto missive ambiguous truth (8) the lesson of fear is that fear is the lesson speak truth to power (9) numberless are the world’s wonders… are caught in the net of his mind (10) why go on living? you never know how it will end until it ends m@n@gement, vol. 18(5): 357-371! voices the internet's own boy 370 william b. garner, copenhagen business school & california lutheran university william.b.gartner@gmail.com mailto:william.b.gartner@gmail.com mailto:william.b.gartner@gmail.com www.management-aims.com voices the internet's own boy! m@n@gement, vol. 18(5): 357-371 371 32pandit m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 2, 2000, 31-56 31 naresh r. pandit despite the frequent incidence of corporate turnaround and over two decades of research effort, our understanding of the phenomenon is very incomplete. a review of forty-seven studies of turnaround reveals two main reasons for this state of affairs. firstly, problems with research design: the phenomenon has been poorly defined resulting in unrepresentative cases being selected for analysis; many important research questions have either been ignored or asked too infrequently resulting in explanations that are simplistic; and, the validity of the findings of qualitative studies is limited due, on the whole, to poor methodological execution. secondly, investigations have largely been ad hoc in that they have either proceeded without a priori theoretical guidance or have failed to relate findings to extant theory ex post. recommendations for future research based on stronger research designs and stronger theory are advanced in the hope that rapid advancement will ensue. introduction writing nearly two decades after the appearance of the first published journal article on corporate turnaround, winn (1993, p. 48), emphasising « inconclusive results », stated: « while companies facing near-bankruptcy, market losses, or substandard performance are increasing in frequency, strategy researchers have provided little help for the managers charged with turning around deteriorating performance. » similarly, arogyaswamy, barker and yasai-ardekani (1995, p. 493) comment: « there are many unanswered questions about what characteristics set turnaround firms apart from firms which continue to decline and eventually fail. » this paper argues that two main reasons account for these inconclusive results. firstly, most studies suffer from research design1 problems which have resulted in weak findings. secondly, investigations have largely been ad hoc in that they have either proceeded without a priori theoretical guidance or have failed to relate findings to extant theory ex post. accordingly, the subject has failed to fully benefit from relevant, potentially productive, extant theory. the argument is structured as follows. the next section broadly defines the phenomenon and establishes its importance by reporting estimates of its incidence. next, the research designs of existing studies are analysed along three interdependent dimensions: the various definitions of corporate manchester business school university of manchester email: n.pandit@fs2.mbs.ac.uk some recommendations for improved research on corporate turnaround 1. research design is defined here in the terms of easterby-smith, thorpe, and lowe (1991, p. 21): « the overall configuration of a piece of research: what kind of evidence is gathered from where, and how such evidence is interpreted in order to provide good answers to the basic research question[s]. » m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 2, 2000, 31-56 32 turnaround that have been used; basic research questions that have been posed; and, the various methodologies that have been employed to provide answers to these questions. recommendations for future research are drawn and stated as they arise and pulled together at the end of the section to specify the types of research design that future studies could pursue. the penultimate section demonstrates the virtual absence of theory-based studies and proceeds to outline some current relevant theoretical ideas on the sources of competitive advantage and the nature of organisational survival that could usefully inform future research efforts. a final section concludes. problem definition and importance a corporate turnaround may be defined simply as the recovery of a firm’s economic performance following an existence-threatening decline. the decline may occur over several years although there are situations when extraordinary events occurring over a shorter period of time can place a firm in peril. a successful recovery, in its most subdued form, may involve mere survival with economic performance only just acceptable to the firm’s various stakeholders. on the other hand, in its most positive form, the recovery may lead to the firm achieving sustainable, superior competitive positions in its chosen areas of activity. how prevalent is the phenomenon? five studies have attempted to answer this question. schendel, patton and riggs (1976) scanned standard and poor’s compustat database over the period 1952-71 and found that of the 1,800 firms included, 666 (37%) suffered at least one four-year period of uninterrupted decline in net income normalised by gross national product (gnp) growth (that is, if growth in net income was less than gnp growth, the firm was defined to be in decline). of these, only 68 (10%) recovered according to the authors’ criteria: four years of increase in gnp normalised net income with allowance for a two year deviation between downturn and upturn phases. in a later study, bibeault (1982) examined the corporate records of the 4,090 listed companies (representing 70% of the corporate assets and 90% of the net profits of us industry) of the new york stock exchange, the american stock exchange, and the nasdaq/overthe-counter exchange over the period 1967-76. he identified 1,094 (approximately 27%) companies which had either suffered sustained losses in net income or a severe earnings decline (defined as greater than or equal to 80%). of these firms, only 369 (approximately 33%) experienced a turnaround in terms of net earnings during the same period. in other words, approximately 66 % failed to recover. in the third study attempting to estimate the incidence of turnaround, hambrick and schecter (1983) surveyed the profit impact of market strategy (pims) database which contained information on 200 corporations and 2,000 business units. they focused on mature industrial product businesses and identified 770. of these, 260 (33%) were classified as low performers and of these, only 53 (20%) successfully recovered; in other words, 80% failed to recover according to their criteria. slatter’s (1984) analysis of publicly quoted companies in the uk over the period 1961-76 revealed that approximately 20% of the 2,100 firms in his sample were in need of turnaround. what is perhaps more significant is that, on average, only one in four of the firms that suffered declining performance for at least three successive years actually managed to recover. the remaining firms either became insolvent, or more commonly, were acquired. finally, chowdhury and lang’s (1996) analysis of us small firm (less than 500 employees) turnarounds in four 4-digit sic industrial classifications over the period 1984-87 revealed that 153 (8%) of the 1,918 publicly traded small firms on the dialog information services’ disclosure database were in need of turnaround according to their criteria (i.e., they were, on average, over a two year period, earning less than the opportunity cost of capital). of these, only 27 (17.6%) recovered (i.e., average roi over the subsequent two year period equal to or greater than opportunity cost of capital). on the basis of the studies that have attempted to establish the empirical importance of corporate turnaround, two conclusions may be drawn: firstly, the incidence of turnaround situations is significant; and secondly, of those firms suffering significant and/or sustained declining performance, a greater number proceed to fail rather than recover. it seems reasonable to assert that a better understanding of turnaround could lead to a greater number of declining firms successfully recovering and it is on this basis that this paper proceeds. review of research designs the extant literature the first task was to identify the literature on corporate turnaround that would be included in the review. in order to restrict the sample to the most developed pieces, two criteria for inclusion were employed: (a) the study should be empirically-based (i.e., based on collected data or personal experience); and, (b) the study’s findings should have been published in book-form or as an article in an academic or practitioneroriented journal. the scanning of the bibliographic database abi/inform (which contains abstracts and indexes from 900 business journals and dates back to 1971) using the key words “turnaround,” “turnaround management,” “recovery,” “crisis,” “organisational decline” and “declining performance” yielded a number of publications that met the two criteria for inclusion. a study of the references contained within these works yielded further relevant publications. a total of forty-seven studies were identified (see appendix 1). the first appeared in 1976 and the most recent (at time of sampling) in 1996. the research designs of each of these studies were decomposed into three dimensions: definitions of corporate turnaround; basic research questions; and, methodology. m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 2, 2000, 31-56 33 definitions of corporate turnaround logically, any definition of turnaround should address two issues: the definition and measurement of performance; and, the definition of a turnaround cycle, that is, a period of poor performance (the decline phase) followed by a recovery in performance (the recovery phase). many studies define performance in terms of profitability alone. seven (schendel and patton, 1976; schendel et al., 1976; hamermesh, 1977; bibeault, 1982; slatter, 1984; o’neill, 1986b; and thain and goldthorpe, 1989a, 1989b) use nominal pre-tax profit (of these, only slatter converts nominal pre-tax profit into real pre-tax profit) and five (graham and richards, 1979; hambrick and schecter, 1983; pant, 1991; chakraborty and dixit, 1992; and chowdhury and lang, 1996) use profitability indicating accounting ratios (either return on total assets [roa] or return on investment [roi]). however, defining turnarounds on the basis of profitability alone is problematic. baden-fuller and stopford (1992) demonstrate that a gradual loss of competitiveness is often not reflected as a gradual deterioration in profitability. rather, profitability may decline very slowly at first and then suddenly plummet (see figure 1). similarly, there may be a time lag between improvements in competitiveness and subsequent profit improvement. baden-fuller and stopford explain the decline lag as the result of top management’s small-scale and partial response to the initial, admittedly weak, signs of impending failure. for researchers, the problem is exacerbated by the tendency of managerial manipulation of accounting-based measures of profitability (“window dressing”) in declining performance contexts (griffiths, 1992). m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 2, 2000, 31-56 34 high profits strong competitiveness losses poor competitiveness time competitiveness profits figure 1. behaviour of profits with falling competitiveness (baden-fuller and stopford, 1992, p. 124) a further related point on time lags can be made with respect to the firm that is successful in that its market capitalisation is rising rapidly but, at the same time, it is making losses. this situation can arise when investors believe the company to be viable and expect profits in the longer term2. clearly, in such cases, assessment of turnaround performance based on current profitability alone would be misguided. just as the management of firms in decline need to pick up signals of decline from many sources, turnaround researchers need to use measures for sample selection based on a variety of indicators. going part of the way to address this problem, a number of studies use multiple accounting-based indicators of performance. thiétart (1988) uses roi and market share; and barker and mone (1994) and robbins and pearce (1992) use roi and return on sales (ros). grinyer, mayes and mckiernan (1990) take the most comprehensive stance by employing multiple criteria which relate to key stakeholders in the firm. however, with these studies, the problems of performance/indicator lags and accounting manipulation referred to remain. ideally, a triangulated approach that uses non-accounting based indicators to corroborate accounting based indicators is desirable. two studies use human judgement to supplement accounting-based definitions of bad or good performance. zimmerman (1989) requires a consensus among stakeholders (investors, board members and managers) and robbins and pearce (1992) require agreement from one of the firm’s executives that a turnaround had occurred. this approach does have the advantage of capturing the ability of expert witnesses to take contextual variation into account and this could be considered particularly valuable given the heterogeneity of turnaround cases (schendel et al., 1976). of course, a weakness of using judgement alone is that it has the potential to be highly subjective. moving on to the second definitional issue, turnaround cycles, schendel et al. (1976) distinguish between temporary declines in performance, which are considered to be normal, and more permanent and damaging declines. the latter type is benchmarked against time and gnp growth. specifically, a downturn phase is defined as four years of uninterrupted decline in net income as normalised by gnp growth. that is, if growth in net income is less than growth in gnp for four consecutive years, the firm is in need of a turnaround. recovery or successful turnaround is defined as four years of increase in gnp normalised net income with allowance for a two year deviation between the downturn and upturn phase. schendel and patton (1976) employ a similar definition except that they fit a regression line to the downturn and upturn performance data to allow for slight deviations from the trend. the main problem with this approach is that it fails to discriminate between genuine and contrived turnaround cases. firstly, the benchmark is flawed. consider, for example, a firm that is performing better than its competitors but is also operating in a difficult business environment at a time when the general economy is booming. in this case, the firm, although an above average performer amongst its peers, may be earning returns below gnp growth and so, according to schendel m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 2, 2000, 31-56 35 2. which can be very long in new and/or high technology areas, where considerable time and resources are required to build the business. a celebrated example is the internet bookseller amazon.com which, despite heavy losses, has enjoyed a trend of rising market capitalisation. et al. (1976) and schendel and patton’s (1976) criteria, would be defined as poor performer in need of turnaround. equally, the opposite case would hold with relatively poor performing firms earning returns greater than gnp growth not being selected as turnaround candidates. secondly, performance relative to the benchmark is not specified finely enough. firms with performance slightly below or above gnp growth would be included together with firms with performance that is significantly below and above gnp growth. a number of studies provide more satisfactory benchmarks and specifications. o’neill (1986b) opts for industry average net income as a benchmark and defines turnaround as a situation in which three years decline in net income relative to industry average is followed by at least two out of the following three years when net income is greater than the industry average. similarly, for pant (1991), if a firm’s roa is in the bottom 25% of its primary industry for two consecutive years (t = 1 and t = 2) it is defined as a poor performer. following a four year interval period (t = 3-6) if the firm’s roa is in the top 25% of the industry for two consecutive years (t = 7 and t = 8) then it is defined as a successful turnaround case. if, however, it remains in the bottom 25% for t = 7 and t = 8, then it is defined as an unsuccessful turnaround case. however, even these approaches are problematic as the use of industry average performance as a benchmark is highly controversial. the implicit assumption is that firm performance is largely a function of industry characteristics rather than industry performance being largely a function of the abilities of the firms that constitute it. accordingly, a firm earning low returns in an industry composed of low performing firms may not be considered a turnaround candidate whilst a firm earning the same returns in an industry composed of high performing firms may be. this “industry matters most” school of thought has its roots in the work of bain (1951) who observed that some industries were more profitable than others and proceeded to argue that it was the characteristics of the industry that caused the profitability of incumbent firms. more recently arguments along these lines have been put by porter (1980) and scherer and ross (1990). however, a growing body of evidence suggests that the importance of industry membership has been overstated. schmalensee’s (1985) cross-sectional study of the performance of firms in a wide range of us industries concludes that industry membership accounts for only 14% of the profit variance across firms. rumelt (1991), combining cross-sectional and time-series methods, goes further to demonstrate that industry effects account for only 8.3% of profit variance across business units. conversely, firm specific effects (business unit and corporate effects combined) account for 47.2 % of profit variance. accordingly, industry membership has, at best, a small causal effect on firm profitability. if the average profitability of an industry is high or low, this is largely due to the characteristics of incumbent firms and not the characteristics of the industry to which they belong. the implication is that defining declining performance and turnaround success relative to average industry performance is unsatisfactory. poor or good performance is largely a function of what goes on inside m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 2, 2000, 31-56 36 firms and so should be gauged relative to benchmarks of poor or good performance generally. hambrick and schecter (1983) adopt just such an approach by using the opportunity cost of capital as a benchmark. they define a downturn phase as pre-tax roi less than 10% for two successive years. this equates with an after tax roi of approximately 5% which is less than the cost of capital during the period of the study. as for recovery: « ‘success’ was defined as a business that achieved an average ending roi (years three and four) of at least 20 per cent… an unsuccessful turnaround was a business whose ending roi was still less than 10 per cent. » (hambrick and schecter, 1983, p. 238.) similarly, chowdhury and lang (1996) define a downturn phase as average pre-tax roi less than 10% for two successive years (therefore, after tax roi equals 5% which is less than the cost of capital during the period of the study) the upturn phase as average pre-tax roi greater than or equal to 10% over a two year period (accordingly, posttax roi is at least 5%). recommendations it seems that much research has proceeded on the basis of research samples consisting of many unrepresentative cases. it is no wonder then that progress has been slow. a recommendation for the future is that samples should consist of cases that fit a generally agreed conceptualisation of what a turnaround is. the suggestion here is that turnaround candidates are firms who’s very existence is threatened unless radical action is taken and successful recovery cases demonstrate improved and sustainable environmental adaptation. time lags between competitiveness and profitability mean that identifying cases of turnaround on the basis of profitability alone is unacceptable. even the use of multiple accounting measures, although a step in the right direction, is flawed due to the possibility of accounting manipulation in declining performance contexts. a triangulated approach that looks for consensus among accounting-based indicators and expert opinion seems to be the best way forward. in addition, measures of decline and recovery need to be gauged relative to appropriate benchmarks. ties with the performance of the economy as a whole (gnp) or with industry average performance are flawed. rather, generally accepted benchmarks are the best way forward and a good example is the use of the opportunity cost of capital. basic research questions given the time-based nature of the phenomenon it seems natural to categorise and analyse basic research questions using a time-based analytical framework such as the content, context, and process framework proposed by pettigrew (pettigrew, 1987, 1990, 1992): « broadly speaking, the ‘what’ of change is encapsulated under the label content, much of the ‘why’ of change is derived from an analysis of inner and outer context, and the ‘how’ of change can be understood from an analysis of process. » (pettigrew, 1987, p. 5.) m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 2, 2000, 31-56 37 he continues: « unstated but central to the mode of analysis implied […] is the need to explore content, context and process linkages through time. » (pettigrew, 1987, p. 6. emphasis added.) pettigrew (1990) maintains that much research on organisational change has concentrated on content/outer context issues whilst research examining inner context and process issues has been rare. research addressing all three categories of analysis simultaneously has been even rarer. a similar situation holds for research on turnaround. fourteen (30%) of the forty-seven studies (schendel et al., 1976; hofer, 1980; bibeault, 1982; taylor, 1982/3; hambrick and schecter, 1983; slatter, 1984; melin, 1985; o’neill, 1986b; thiétart, 1988; thain and goldthorpe, 1989b; ketelhohn, jarillo, and kubes, 1991; brege and brandes, 1993; chowdhury and lang, 1996; and martin and riddell, 1996) question the content of turnaround strategies. a typical example is: « in general, which strategic moves are associated with turnaround success? […] are there any combinations of strategic moves, that is, strategies, that are especially common routes back to profitability? » (hambrick and schecter, 1983, p. 231.) of questions relating to turnaround context, ten (21%) studies (schendel et al., 1976; bibeault, 1982; slatter, 1984; thain and goldthorpe, 1989a; grinyer et al., 1990; gopal, 1991; chakraborty and dixit, 1992; robbins and pearce, 1992; brege and brandes, 1993; and martin and riddell, 1996) focus on the causes of declining performance. typical statements are: « before we can start to talk sensibly about turnaround strategies, we need to have a good understanding of just how and why firms find themselves in a crisis situation. » (slatter, 1984, p. 24.) « just as a competent medical practitioner needs to understand the causes of disease, a competent turnaround manager must understand the causes of decline. » (thain and goldthorpe, 1989a, p. 59.) only seven (15%) studies (bibeault, 1982; slatter, 1984; stopford and baden-fuller, 1990; chakraborty and dixit, 1992; brege and brandes, 1993; armenakis and fredenberger, 1995; and martin and riddell, 1996) tackle questions relating to the process of turnaround in depth. most attention has been directed towards the identification of the characteristics of successful turnaround managers, although three studies (bibeault, 1982; slatter, 1984; and stopford and baden-fuller, 1990) go further to detail common paths or stages toward successful recovery, and two studies (slatter, 1984; and stopford and baden-fuller, 1990) examine senior management mindsets that lead to and prolong crisis situations. recommendations in general, it is clear that many important questions have either been ignored completely or asked too infrequently. it seems that simple questions focusing on easily available and measurable data have been asked most often whilst more complex questions requiring difficult to obtain and messy data have been avoided. thus, questions relating to m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 2, 2000, 31-56 38 the content of turnaround strategies are reasonably frequent, whilst those relating to the context and process of turnaround are rare. with respect to context, the causes of decline as a factor shaping appropriate recovery actions has been explored reasonably thoroughly and, in general, recovery actions that tackle the cause(s) of decline have been found to be more successful than those that do not. other contextual variables have been relatively neglected by the field as a whole although certain studies point to their potential significance. hofer (1980) focuses on the severity of the crisis, as a contextual factor determining the appropriateness of certain recovery actions. he finds that in situations where the crisis facing the firm is not severe, small changes such as cost pruning can effect recovery. however, when the crisis facing the firm is more severe, more dramatic changes such as asset reduction or market reorientation are required. he elucidates his findings by means of a break-even diagram which is depicted in adapted form in figure 2. m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 2, 2000, 31-56 39 £ fixed costs total revenues dcba output total costs capacity break-even point + asset reduction activities + revenue increasing activities cost reduction activities figure 2. the relationship between the severity of the crisis and appropriate recovery actions (adapted from hofer, 1980, p. 27) if the firm is operating in any of the corridors a, b or c it is in need of a recovery strategy in order to get to corridor d where returns at least cover the opportunity cost of capital3. cost reduction activities are appropriate if the firm is operating in corridors a, b or c. if the firm is operating in corridors a or b then revenue increasing activities are required in addition to cost reduction activities. finally, if the firm is operating in corridor a, asset reduction activities are required in addition to revenue increasing and cost reduction activities. a third contextual factor, the attitude of stakeholders, is addressed by slatter (1984). he argues that stakeholders can influence recovery strategies in two ways: firstly they can stipulate which actions can be 3. costs are accounting and not economic costs and therefore do not include opportunity cost. pursued and in what priority; and, secondly, they can rule out certain actions and modes of implementation. in most recovery cases, the firm’s banks are important stakeholders that influence recovery actions. other stakeholders of importance include trade unions (which could oppose recovery actions such as reducing costs through redundancies) and government. unlike research on organisational change in general, research on turnaround has neglected the firm’s outer context. earlier, the findings of schmalensee (1985) and rumelt (1991) were reported to support the argument that industry effects account for only a small proportion of profit variation among firms in general. however, although the effects are smaller than first thought, they are still significant (between 8.3 and 14%) and so it is surprising that only a few studies have systematically researched the relationships between industry characteristics and appropriate recovery actions. of these studies, pant (1991) is the most comprehensive and rigorous. slatter (1984) examines different recovery actions according to industry stage finding, for example, that successful recovery actions in mature environments are different from those in fast growth environments. extending the firm’s outer context, the impact of the macroeconomic environment on recovery content and process has also been neglected with only two studies addressing the issue. changes in the macroeconomic environment, over which the firm has no direct control, contribute to recovery in 16% of the successful recoveries in bibeault's (1982) sample and about one-third of successful recoveries in slatter's (1984) sample. in particular, cyclical upswings, improved commodity prices, and favourable exchange rate movements are cited. finally, slatter (1984) is the only study to explicitly identify the firm’s historical strategy as a contextual factor. actions taken in the past are found to constrain or facilitate certain recovery actions and so constitute important contextual elements shaping the content and process of appropriate recovery strategies. in summary, in addition to the causes of decline, four categories of potentially influential contextual factors have been identified: the severity of the crisis; the attitude of the stakeholders; the firm’s outer context (industry characteristics and the macroeconomic environment); and, the firm’s historical strategy. many, if not all, of these contextual factors could play an important role in any explanation of the turnaround phenomenon and so should be addressed in future research. with respect to process, the characteristics of successful turnaround managers has been explored most. other process questions have been neglected by the field as a whole although, as with the discussion of context above, certain studies point to their potential significance. the characteristics or mindsets of senior management that lead to or prolong crisis situations is an issue that has received scant attention. this is unfortunate as senior management are not only the changefacilitators that, when successful, transform the organisation (guth and ginsberg, 1990) but are also the change-inhibitors that lead the organm@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 2, 2000, 31-56 40 isation into crisis (grinyer and spender, 1979a, 1979b) in the first place. slatter (1984, p. 61) states: « the forces causing decline are present, to some degree, in all firms. why is it, therefore, that some firms are able to cope successfully with the problems they face while others end up in a turnaround situation? » he proceeds to outline a four stage model of crisis development: crisis denial, when senior management overlook the signals of failure; hidden crisis, when the crisis is explained away in the belief that it will disappear and so no action is taken in response; organisational disintegration, when some action is taken but the need for radical change is underestimated; and organisational collapse, characterised by the inability to take action. this final stage is followed either by failure or successful recovery usually lead by a new management team. on the basis that prevention is better than cure, further research effort into this important area is recommended. the identification of common triggers that begin the recovery process is another interesting area that only a few studies have addressed. schendel and patton (1976, p. 237) find that performance deterioration beyond a certain level is necessary before radical change is triggered: « during the decline phase the rate of profit margin decline for turnaround firms is more than twice as great as for stagnating firms. this large decrease suggests a severe performance failure is first necessary to motivate turnaround action. » taylor’s research provides some rationale for this: « necessity is the mother of invention. it often requires a crisis to stimulate new initiatives, and to persuade boards of directors to take radical measures and to accept new approaches which they would not normally be prepared to consider. to quote dr johnson: “when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates the mind wonderfully.” » (taylor, 1982/3, p. 13.) grinyer et al. (1990) focus not on the level of performance deterioration required to trigger change but on the form of the trigger. table 1 summarises their findings. m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 2, 2000, 31-56 41 table 1. triggers for change % of firms citing this factor intervention from external bodies change of ownership or the threat of such a change new chief executive recognition by management of problems perception by management of new opportunities 30 25 55 35 10 adapted from grinyer, mayes, and mckiernan (1990, p. 120). a third interesting process issue that has been generally neglected is the identification of a general sequence of successful recovery actions. bibeault (1982), slatter (1984) and stopford and baden-fuller (1990) are exceptions. all three studies find that successful recoveries tend to follow a path of top management change, simplification through retrenchment and, growth built on new-built capabilities. this area is potentially the most fruitful for practising managers faced with turning around an organisation and deserves more attention in future research. table 2 summarises the discussion of basic research questions thus far. m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 2, 2000, 31-56 42 table 2. summary of basic research questions frequently addressed largely ignored content context process what actions are successful and unsuccessful turnaround strategies composed of? what are the causes of decline? what are the characteristics of successful turnaround managers? — how are appropriate recovery actions shaped by the: — severity of the crisis facing the firm? — attitude of stakeholders? — firm’s outer context? — firm’s historical strategy? what senior management mindsets lead to and prolong crisis situations? what are are the triggers that begin the recovery process? is there a general sequence of successful recovery actions? in this sub-section, important turnaround context and process lines of inquiry that have been ignored by the literature as a whole have been identified by highlighting studies that have exceptionally pursued them. a central issue that the body of literature as a whole has failed to properly address is the identification and testing of links between the content of turnaround strategies, the context in which they occur, and the process by which they are implemented. such effort, if well executed, could lead to richer explanations of the phenomenon. pettigrew states (1987, p. 6): « in my view, theoretically sound and practically useful research on strategic change should involve the continuous interplay among ideas about the context, the process and the content of change, together with skill in regulating the relations among the three. » research methodologies a wide variety of research methodologies have been employed although only a few studies elucidate in formal terms the key aspects. accordingly, much of what is presented in tables 3, 4 and 5 is deduced rather than reproduced. five dimensions are tabulated: — unit of analysis. e.g., corporation, division, strategic business unit (sbu), manager, or consultant; — sample characteristics. e.g., sample size, successful and unsuccessful turnarounds (mixed) or just successful turnarounds (t/a); — time period of analysis; — data source(s). e.g., interview, questionnaire, participant observation, public archives, database, anecdotal. — methodology. quantitative, qualitative4, combination. 4. the term qualitative methodology refers here to any kind of research that produces findings not arrived at by means of statistical procedures or other means of quantification (tesch, 1989). this does not mean that quantitative data is not used, but rather that, if it is, the analysis is qualitative. this analysis essentially produces a story and not a set of statistics. m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 2, 2000, 31-56 43 t a b le 3 . a ne cd ot al s tu di es a u th o rs u n it o f a n a ly si s s a m p le c h a ra ct e ri st ic s t im e p e ri o d d a ta s o u rc e s m e th o d o lo g y r e m ic k (1 9 8 0 ) ta yl o r (1 9 8 2 /3 ) b ru n e tt i (1 9 8 7 ) m o d ia n o ( 1 9 8 7 ) w h itn e y (1 9 8 7 ) d i p ri m io ( 1 9 8 8 ) r e ic h e rt ( 1 9 8 8 ) m a rs h a ll (1 9 8 9 ) r a m a kr is h n a n a n d s h a h ( 1 9 8 9 ) r o se ( 1 9 8 9 ) s ch e re r (1 9 8 9 ) w ym a n ( 1 9 8 9 ) k e te lh o h n , ja ri llo , a n d k u b e s (1 9 9 1 ) a rm e n a ki s a n d f re d e n b e rg e r (1 9 9 5 ) q u a lit a tiv e q u a lit a tiv e q u a lit a tiv e : lit e ra tu re re vi e w a n d s yn th e si s q u a lit a tiv e q u a lit a tiv e q u a lit a tiv e q u a lit a tiv e q u a lit a tiv e q u a lit a tiv e q u a lit a tiv e q u a lit a tiv e q u a lit a tiv e q u a lit a tiv e q u a lit a tiv e a n e cd o ta l a n e cd o ta l m a n a g e m e n t co n tr o l lit e ra tu re a n e cd o ta l p e rs o n a l e xp e ri e n ce , a n e cd o ta l a n e cd o ta l in te rv ie w w ith t u rn a ro u n d c e o in te rv ie w — a n e cd o ta l/c o m p a n y a rc h iv e s in te rv ie w s w ith 8 0 t u rn a ro u n d m a n a g e rs ; re vi e w o f 6 0 0 a rt ic le s; re vi e w o f 3 0 0 c a se s tu d ie s a n e cd o ta l im d b u si n e ss s ch o o l m b a co n su lti n g p ro je ct s a n e cd o ta l — — — — 1 9 7 2 -8 5 — 1 9 8 2 -8 8 1 9 8 6 -8 9 — 1 9 8 4 -8 8 — — 1 9 8 0 s 1 9 9 0 s — — — m a n u fa ct u ri n g f ir m s in g re a t b ri ta in — — 1 l a rg e u s l e is u re co rp o ra tio n , t /a † 1 e m in e n t tu rn a ro u n d e xp e rt — 1 u k r e ta il fir m , t /a — — e u ro p e a n f ir m s n o ta b le t u rn a ro u n d co rp o ra tio n s e xp e ri e n ce s o f a f e w tu rn a ro u n d m a n a g e rs — — c o rp o ra tio n — — c o rp o ra tio n in d iv id u a l — c o rp o ra tio n l ite ra tu re o n s u b je ct , ca se s tu d ie s, tu rn a ro u n d m a n a g e rs — c o rp o ra tio n c o rp o ra tio n † “t /a ” = t u rn a ro u n d m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 2, 2000, 31-56 44 t a b le 4 . la rg e s am pl e s tu di es a u th o rs u n it o f a n a ly si s s a m p le c h a ra ct e ri st ic s t im e p e ri o d d a ta s o u rc e s m e th o d o lo g y s ch e n d e l a n d p a tt o n ( 1 9 7 6 ) s ch e n d e l, p a tt o n , a n d r ig g s (1 9 7 6 ) b ib e a u lt (1 9 8 2 ) h a m b ri ck a n d s ch e ct e r (1 9 8 3 ) s la tt e r (1 9 8 4 ) o ’n e ill ( 1 9 8 6 b ) t h ié ta rt ( 1 9 8 8 ) g o p a l (1 9 9 1 ) p a n t (1 9 9 1 ) r o b b in s a n d p e a rc e ( 1 9 9 2 ) b a rk e r a n d m o n e (1 9 9 4 ) c h o w d h u ry a n d l a n g ( 1 9 9 6 ) c o m b in a tio n : q u a n tit a tiv e a n a ly si s o f a cc o u n tin g d a ta ; co n te n t a n a ly si s o f te xt u a l d a ta c o m b in a tio n c o m b in a tio n q u a n tit a tiv e ( o l s , cl u st e r a n a ly si s, c ro ss -t a b u la tio n , ch isq u a re , m u lti p le r e g re ss io n ) c o m b in a tio n q u a n tit a tiv e ( d is cr im in a n t a n a ly si s, u n iv a ri a te t -t e st s, c ro ss s e ctio n a l) q u a n tit a tiv e ( cl u st e r a n a ly si s, cr o ss s e ct io n a l re g re ss io n a n a ly si s) c o m b in a tio n q u a n tit a tiv e ( m u lti va ri a te s ta tis tic s) q u a n tit a tiv e q u a n tit a tiv e q u a n tit a tiv e ( lo g is tic r e g re ss io n , p ro fil e a n a ly si s a n d u n iv a ri a te tte st s) p u b lic a rc h iv e s (c o m p u st a t) ; se co n d a ry q u a lit a tiv e s o u rc e s (a n n u a l re p o rt s, e tc .) p u b lic a rc h iv e s ( c o m p u st a t) q u e st io n n a ir e s to 8 1 c h ie f e xe cu tiv e s a n d 1 6 t u rn a ro u n d e xp e rt s; p u b lic a rc h iv e s p ro fit i m p a ct o f m a rk e t s tr a te g ie s (p im s ) d a ta b a se p u b lic a rc h iv e s, q u e st io n n a ir e s p u b lic a rc h iv e s ( c o m p u st a t) p im s p u b lic a rc h iv e s, i n te rv ie w s, q u e stio n n a ir e s p u b lic a rc h iv e s ( c o m p u st a t) q u e st io n n a ir e , p u b lic /c o m p a n y a rc h iv e s p u b lic a rc h iv e s ( c o m p u st a t) d ia lo g i n fo rm a tio n s e rv ic e ’s d is cl o su re d a ta b a se 1 9 5 2 -7 1 1 9 5 2 -7 1 1 9 6 7 -7 6 m id -t o la te 1 9 7 0 s 1 9 6 1 -7 6 1 9 5 9 -7 8 — — 1 9 7 0 -8 2 1 9 7 6 -8 5 1 9 7 6 -8 5 1 9 8 4 -8 7 m ix e d : 3 6 m a tc h e d p a ir s o f u s fir m s fr o m 2 0 f o u r d ig it cl a ss e s 5 4 u s m a n u fa ct u ri n g f ir m s, t /a † 8 1 m a tu re u s fir m s, 1 6 tu rn a ro u n d e xp e rt s, t /a m ix e d : 2 6 0 u s m a n u fa ct u ri n g s b u s in m a tu re i n d u st ry e n vi ro n m e n ts , m a tc h e d p a ir s 4 0 u k p u b lic ly q u o te d f ir m s, m ix e d : 3 0 t /a , 1 0 n o n t /a 5 1 u s co m m e rc ia l b a n ks , m ix e d : 3 1 t /a , 2 0 n o n t /a 2 1 7 s b u s fo rm in g s ix s tr a te g ic g ro u p s 1 2 0 in d ia n o rg a n iz a tio n s 1 3 7 u s m a n u fa ct u ri n g f ir m s, m ix e d : 6 4 t /a , 7 3 n o n t /a 3 2 u s t e xt ile m ill p ro d u ct f ir m s, t /a 3 2 u s t e xt ile m ill p ro d u ct f ir m s, t /a 1 5 3 p u b lic ly t ra d e d s m a ll u s fir m s in 4 f o u r d ig it m a n u fa ct u rin g s ic c la ss e s, m ix e d : 2 7 t /a , 1 2 6 n o n t /a c o rp o ra tio n c o rp o ra tio n c o rp o ra tio n /s b u s b u c o rp o ra tio n c o rp o ra tio n s b u c o rp o ra tio n c o rp o ra tio n c o rp o ra tio n c o rp o ra tio n c o rp o ra tio n † “t /a ” = t u rn a ro u n d m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 2, 2000, 31-56 45 t a b le 5 . lo ng itu di na l c as e s tu di es a u th o rs u n it o f a n a ly si s s a m p le c h a ra ct e ri st ic s t im e p e ri o d d a ta s o u rc e s m e th o d o lo g y c a rr in g to n a n d a u re lio ( 1 9 7 6 ) h a m e rm e sh ( 1 9 7 7 ) g ra h a m a n d r ic h a rd s (1 9 7 9 ) h o fe r (1 9 8 0 ) ja n ze n ( 1 9 8 3 ) b e lli sa ri o ( 1 9 8 5 ) m e lin ( 1 9 8 5 ) m ü lle r (1 9 8 5 ) s e a b ri g h t (1 9 8 5 ) c o lin o ( 1 9 8 6 ) o ’n e ill ( 1 9 8 6 a ) z im m e rm a n ( 1 9 8 6 ) m ill e r a n d v a g h e fi (1 9 8 7 ) z im m e rm a n ( 1 9 8 9 ) g ri n ye r, m a ye s, a n d m ck ie rn a n ( 1 9 9 0 ) h a rd y (1 9 9 0 ) s to p fo rd a n d b a d e n -f u lle r (1 9 9 0 ) t h a in a n d g o ld th o rp e (1 9 8 9 a ,b ,1 9 9 0 ) c h a kr a b o rt y a n d d ix it (1 9 9 2 ) b re g e a n d b ra n d e s (1 9 9 3 ) m a rt in a n d r id d e ll (1 9 9 6 ) q u a lit a tiv e q u a lit a tiv e c o m b in a tio n q u a lit a tiv e q u a lit a tiv e q u a lit a tiv e q u a lit a tiv e q u a lit a tiv e q u a lit a tiv e q u a lit a tiv e c o m b in a tio n q u a lit a tiv e q u a lit a tiv e c o m b in a tio n c o m b in a tio n q u a lit a tiv e . q u a lit a tiv e c o m b in a tio n q u a n tit a tiv e q u a lit a tiv e q u a lit a tiv e q u e st io n n a ir e s in te rv ie w s w ith e xp e ri e n ce d m a n a g e rs , se co n d a ry s o u rc e s (p u b lic d o m a in ) p u b lic a n d c o m p a n y a rc h iv e s p u b lic a n d c o m p a n y a rc h iv e s c o m p a n y a rc h iv e s p e rs o n a l e xp e ri e n ce / co m p a n y a rc h iv e /a n e cd o ta l p u b lic a n d c o m p a n y a rc h iv e s q u e st io n n a ir e s c o m p a n y a rc h iv e s/ a n e cd o ta l p e rs o n a l e xp e ri e n ce , co m p a n y a rc h iv e s, a n e cd o ta l p u b lis h e d c a se h is to ri e s fr o m f o rt u n e p u b lic a rc h iv e s p u b lic a n d c o m p a n y a rc h iv e s f in a n ci a l re co rd s, m a n u sc ri p ts , ca se h is to ri e s, i n te rv ie w s in te rv ie w s, p u b lic d o m a in m a te ri a l: a n n u a l re p o rt s, t e xt lin e m u lti p le s e ve ra l h u n d re d i n te rv ie w s n e w sp a p e r a n d i n ve st m e n t a n a ly st s re p o rt s, q u e st io n n a ir e s, i n te rv ie w s c o m p a n y a rc h iv e s m u lti p le s e m ist ru ct u re d i n te rv ie w s w ith 2 5 se n io r m a n a g e rs a n d u n io n o ff ic ia ls , a n n u a l co m p a n y re p o rt s 1 9 7 3 -7 5 1 9 6 2 -7 5 1 9 5 7 -7 6 1 9 5 1 -7 8 1 9 7 1 -7 7 1 9 8 0 -8 4 1 9 7 0 -8 0 — 1 9 7 1 -8 0 1 9 8 3 -8 6 1 9 7 0 s — 1 9 7 8 -8 1 1 9 0 2 -8 7 1 9 7 0 -8 4 1 9 7 8 -8 8 e a rl y 1 9 7 0 s1 9 8 8 1 9 7 4 -8 9 1 9 8 3 -8 8 1 9 8 2 -9 1 1 9 4 6 -9 3 1 s m a ll u s f ir m , t /a † m ix e d : 4 d iv is io n s w ith in 2 l a rg e d iv e rs ifi e d u s m a n u fa ct u ri n g f ir m s 1 0 u s r a il b a se d h o ld in g f ir m s, m a tc h e d p a ir s m ix e d : 1 2 u s f ir m s in 1 0 d iff e re n t in d u st ri e s 1 o w n e r co n tr o lle d n o rw e g ia n f ir m , t /a 1 l a rg e i ta lia n s ta te o w n e d te le co m m u n ic a tio n s fir m , t /a m ix e d : 6 s ca n d in a vi a n t v m a n u fa ct u re rs 2 0 t u rn a ro u n d e xp e rt s 1 u k m a il o rd e r/ re ta il fu rn itu re f ir m , t /a 1 u s h ig h -t e ch m u lti n a tio n a l, q u a si g o ve rn m e n ta l o rg a n is a tio n , t /a 9 u s m a n u fa ct u ri n g a n d 4 u s s e rv ic e fir m s, m ix e d : 9 t /a a n d 4 n o n t /a 4 u s m a n u fa ct u ri n g f ir m s, m ix e d : 2 t /a , 2 n o n t /a 1 l a rg e u s a u to m o b ile m a n u fa ct u re r, t /a 1 5 m a tu re u s m a n u fa ct u ri n g f ir m s, m ix e d : 8 t /a , 7 n o n t /a 2 5 u k p l c s in 1 3 i n d u st ri e s, m ix e d : m a tc h e d p a ir s 9 b ri tis h a n d c a n a d ia n p u b lic a n d p ri va te o rg a n is a tio n s, m ix e d 6 m a n u fa ct u re rs i n 4 i n d u st ri e s m a tc h e d a g a in st 4 l e ss s u cc e ss fu l co m p e tit o rs a n d 5 e q u a lly s u cc e ss fu l co m p e tit o rs 2 7 c a n a d ia n f ir m s, m ix e d 1 s ta te -o w n e d p h a rm a ce u tic a l fir m , t /a 1 l a rg e s w e d is h i n d u st ri a l fir m , t /a 1 u s o w n e d s co tt is h c o m p a n y, t /a c o rp o ra tio n d iv is io n a l s b u s b u /s in g le in d u st ry f ir m s u n cl e a r c o rp o ra tio n s b u t u rn a ro u n d e xp e rt s c o rp o ra tio n c o rp o ra tio n c o rp o ra tio n c o rp o ra tio n c o rp o ra tio n c o rp o ra tio n c o rp o ra tio n c o rp o ra tio n s b u c o rp o ra tio n c o rp o ra tio n c o rp o ra tio n c o rp o ra tio n † “t /a ” = t u rn a ro u n d the forty-seven studies fall into three categories: “anecdotal” studies, “large sample” studies (sample sizes greater than 30), and “longitudinal case” studies. fourteen studies (see table 3) employ “anecdotal” methodologies. the unit of analysis is not always apparent and anecdotal data, often from unspecified sources, is presented and assessed qualitatively. usually, the study simply documents the experiences of a particular chief executive officer. of the group of twelve “large sample” studies (table 4), eight rely on secondary data stored in publicly available databases: schendel and patton (1976), schendel et al. (1976), o’neill (1986b), pant (1991) and barker and mone (1994) use standard and poor’s compustat computer tape as their primary data source; hambrick and schecter (1983) and thiétart (1988) use the pims database; and chowdhury and lang (1996) use dialog information services’ disclosure database. the remaining four studies (bibeault, 1982; slatter, 1984; gopal, 1991; and robbins and pearce, 1992) rely on a mixture of primary and secondary data. the predominant approach of the large sample studies is to generate quantitative results through the comparison of successful and unsuccessful turnaround firms (t/a’s and non t/a’s) whilst attempting to hold broad environmental factors constant. of the set of twenty-one “longitudinal case” studies (see table 5), nine describe the successful turnaround of a single case. of the remaining twelve, eleven compare cases of successful turnaround with similar but failing cases with a view to isolate themes in both scenarios and suggests contingency frameworks for analysis. in general these studies utilise qualitative methods to analyse multiple primary and secondary data and five (graham and richards, 1979; o’neill, 1986a; thain and goldthorpe, 1989a,b, 1990; zimmerman, 1989; and grinyer et al., 1990) combine their qualitative methods with quantitative methods. recommendations whilst anecdotal studies are rich in terms of issues addressed, their general lack of established methodological protocol means that their results and conclusions are of limited validity. even so, they can serve as good starting points for more orthodox research such as the group of twelve “large sample” studies (table 4) which are more systematic and rigorous. these studies have usefully identified relevant concepts and categories and suggested basic relationships between these, and further studies along these lines are encouraged, particularly ones which quantitatively analyse data on the context and process issues that have been largely ignored to date. as stated earlier however, great care needs to be taken with respect to sample composition and so to steer away from simple case selection techniques based on accounting data alone. however, a problem with large sample studies is that their analysis tends to be partial. research resource scarcity means that increasing the number of cases carries an opportunity cost, usually in the form of less analytical depth and breadth per case (easterby-smith, thorpe, m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 2, 2000, 31-56 46 and lowe, 1991). this is true of existing studies of turnaround which have concentrated on the content of recovery strategies with only occasional, always limited, attention paid to context and process issues. of course, this important limitation can be tackled by small-sample longitudinal case studies which can produce more holistic accounts and supporting rationale for the empirical regularities uncovered by large sample quantitative studies. longitudinal case studies are potentially able to generate more holistic explanations both within and between cases. explanation that are able to reveal the interaction between content, context, and process over time. however, given this potential, the vast majority of turnaround studies using this research style are disappointing since they fail to use recognised qualitative methodologies. in this sense, the more general concerns of schendel are echoed (1992, p. 3): « too much strategy research proceeds in an ad hoc fashion without clear protocols that can be replicated and authenticated. » indeed, of the twenty-one studies only one (hardy, 1990) follows a rigorous, systematic, internally consistent and established qualitative research protocol —the case study method advocated by yin (1984) amongst others. accordingly, the study addresses the recognised and established qualitative research quality criteria of construct validity, internal validity, external validity and reliability and goes beyond the analysis of a single case by employing a comparative design focusing on the identification of patterns, structures and underlying logics across several cases. the clear recommendation here is for future research to employ recognised methodologies such as yin’s. overall then, the call is not for a particular methodology to dominate, but rather for methodological pluralism, with different approaches working in concert. with this in mind, and by pulling together the main recommendations stated earlier, the question that requires an explicit answer is: “how exactly should future research on corporate turnaround be designed?” better definitions the logic is simple: better definitions of turnaround will lead to more representative samples, the analysis of which will lead to better explanations. this holds for both quantitative and qualitative approaches. a turnaround should involve an existence-threatening decline in performance followed by a recovery that ensures at least survival but preferably achieves sustainable competitive advantage. definitions of an “existence-threatening decline in performance” and “recovery” should be based on a combination of corroborating accounting-based and expert witness-based indicators. thus, an existence-threatening decline in performance may be characterised by returns well below the opportunity cost of capital and a consensus amongst different expert witnesses (drawn, for example, from the firm’s stakeholders) that the firm could not survive under the prevailing conditions. similarly, a recovery may be characterised as returns at least equal to the opportunity cost of capital and a consensus amongst different expert witnesses that the firm had a viable future. m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 2, 2000, 31-56 47 better research questions research questions need to be more problem-based if they are to lead to better explanations. the problem of corporate turnaround is a complex one involving interactions between the content of recovery strategies, the context in which they occur, and the process by which they are implemented. research questions need to reflect this. reporting the content of successful turnaround strategies, although useful, does not take us very far. what we need a better understanding of is how appropriate content varies according to different contexts and how the delivery of appropriate content varies over time. better methodologies because of the observed trade-off between large sample quantitative studies (less breadth and depth, more empirical generalisability) and small sample qualitative case studies (more breadth and depth, less empirical generalisability) better explanations of turnaround depend on both approaches working in concert. the problem with the studies to date is that whilst all of the “large sample” studies employ recognised quantitative methodological protocols, only one of the “longitudinal case” studies employs a recognised qualitative method. this is not to say that the findings of the remaining “longitudinal case” studies are not useful, but rather that the validity of their findings is suspect. there are many qualitative protocols that explicitly aim to improve the validity of case study research and it is not the goal here to identify all of these and suggest a preferred approach. suffice it to say that, in future, case study researchers should employ a recognised qualitative research protocol. good starting points are the classic works by miles and huberman (1994), ragin (1987) and yin (1984). a theoretical basis for the study of corporate turnaround in addition to weaknesses with respect to research design, studies of corporate turnaround have been, on the whole, guilty of theoretical neglect. of the forty-seven under review here only three relate their investigations to relevant existing theory. ramakrishnan and shah (1989) apply the systems approach to the problem of turnaround while stopford and baden-fuller (1990) discuss the utility of the rational school of thought. pant (1991) questions the extent to which the structure-conduct-performance framework of industrial economics is useful in the analysis of the attributes of turnaround firms: « do turnaround firms differ in their structural characteristics from nonturnaround firms? and, can these structural characteristics be used in a model that distinguishes turnaround firms from non-turnaround firms? » (p. 624.) of course, it is not a necessary condition that good research must be guided by theory; at least one generally accepted methodology (glaser and strauss, 1967) advocates a style of research that purposefully avoids a priori theoretical guidance. rather, the suggestion here is that m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 2, 2000, 31-56 48 m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 2, 2000, 31-56 49 research efforts should be related to extant theory in some way. that is, if the research is not guided by theory a priori, then the results of the research should be compared to the predictions of extant theory ex post (eisenhardt, 1989). both ways, a study’s findings would then be able to make a theoretical contribution either by confirming the predictions of existing theory or by providing evidence that calls for theory modification. what relevant extant theory might future research be related to? since corporate turnaround is clearly about the loosing of competitive advantage, the threat of extinction, and the subsequent regaining of competitive advantage, it seems appropriate to begin by focusing on current theoretical ideas on the sources of competitive advantage and the nature of organisational survival. a perspective on the nature of firm-level competitive advantage that has gained currency recently explains performance variation with reference to unique resources contained within the firm. this resource-based theory of the firm defines resources as tangible and intangible assets that affect the firm’s ability to implement strategies to improve its efficiency and effectiveness (penrose, 1959; barney, 1991). tangible assets are propertybased and include plant and equipment, geographic location, physical technology and access to raw materials. intangible assets are knowledge-based and include organisational routines and the abilities of individual employees (miller and shamsie, 1996). key resources are rare, difficult to imitate and valuable. according to this view, the firm achieves competitive advantage by exploiting its resources to create competencies which are valued in the market place (prahalad and hamel, 1990). however, over time, as the firm’s environment changes, these competencies may erode in value and so may require replacing. as such, the central problem facing the firm is the need to balance the exploitation of existing competencies with the exploration of new competencies in order to ensure long-run survival: « the basic problem confronting an organization is to engage in sufficient exploitation to ensure its current viability and, at the same time, to devote enough energy to exploration to ensure its future viability. survival requires a balance, and the precise mix of exploitation and exploration that is optimal is hard to specify. » (levinthal and march, 1993, p. 105.) achieving balance between the activities of exploitation and exploration is problematic in that there is a tendency for firms to over-exploit and under-explore because of the activities’ differing distributions of costs and benefits over time and space and because they compete for scarce resources within the organisation (pursuing one entails less capacity to pursue the other). adaptive processes characteristically improve the exploitation of existing competencies as this is more immediate, less remote from the centre of the firm, and so less risky. these advantages for exploitation cumulate in a path-dependent process characterised by positive feedback (arthur, 1989; david, 1985): exploiting a competence leads to increased productivity allowing further refinement of the competence which leads to further increases in productivity and so on. what the firm already does well is enhanced at the expense of the enhanced flexibility and innovative capacity that would come about via exploration. however, since long-run survival « depends on sustaining a reasonable level of exploration, these tendencies to increase exploitation and reduce exploration make adaptive processes potentially self-destructive. » (march, 1991, p. 73, emphasis added)5. two conceptual questions arise in this context: (a) “what mechanisms enable organisations to achieve balance between exploitation and exploration?;” and (b) “which of these mechanisms may corporate turnaround be a manifestation of?” volberda and baden-fuller’s (1996) work is particularly instructive here. they identify four generic mechanisms that, employed individually or in conjunction, solve the problem of achieving balance. they label these mechanisms “selection,” “network,” “hierarchy,” and “time.” briefly, with selection it is the market that solves the problem as if by an “invisible hand.” resource scarcity and competition compel the firm to “unconsciously” select a bundle of ventures that lead to competencies that co-evolve with the environmental sources of competitive advantage and so ensure long-run balance and survival (williamson, 1975; hannan and freeman, 1984). the network mechanism also solves the problem externally. here, the firm operating in a network or cluster, co-evolves to achieve balance by adapting to the evolving demands made on it by its network partners (miles and snow, 1986, 1994). in contrast, with the hierarchy mechanism, exploitation and exploration are tackled separately by different sub-units within the firm (chandler, 1962; galunic and eisenhardt, 1996). sub-units maybe separated by level (front-line, middle-line, corporate) or spatially (operating core vs. new venture). accordingly, maintaining balance is primarily an administrative process initiated by the firm’s management. as with the hierarchy mechanism, it is forces within the firm that are central to the time mechanism. the main difference is that the problem of achieving balance between exploitation and exploration is resolved not contemporaneously but temporally in a process of punctuated equilibrium (tushman and romanelli, 1985; baden-fuller and stopford, 1992): a period dominated by exploitation (stability) is followed by a period dominated by exploration (radical renewal). volberda and baden-fuller (1996) argue that different types of firms adopt different mechanisms to resolve the problem of maintaining balance between exploitation and exploration. for example, acquisitive conglomerates such as hanson and btr are good examples of the selection mechanism at work while the network mechanism tends to prevail among high technology small firms, and oil companies have successfully employed the hierarchy mechanism. companies that have successfully turned-around (pandit, 1998) seem to be good examples of the time mechanism in action. an alternative to the “outside the firm”/“inside the firm” categorisation of the four mechanisms, that underlines the distinctiveness of the time mechanism and therefore the possible distinctiveness of the turnaround phenomenon, is a dichotomy based on the scale of the organisational adaptation to environmental change (pandit, 1997). the m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 2, 2000, 31-56 50 5. for completeness, it is worth mentioning that it is possible for firms to selfdestruct due to cumulative over-exploration. consider a group of firms engaged in exploration through intensive research activity. an incumbent of the group benefits from the rich pool of external knowledge within the group and is more likely to engage in research activity itself. this leads to a richer pool of knowledge within the group which encourages incumbents to further invest in research and so on (cohen and levinthal, 1989, 1990; levinthal and march, 1993). this focus on exploration at the expense of exploitation can lead to cash flow problems that cause the firm to fail. however, this scenario is rare and firms engaged in research activities usually suffer the costs of experimentation without reaping many of its benefits (hence the need for devices such as patents to enable firms to better reap the rewards of successful exploration). first three mechanisms, selection, network, and hierarchy, may be viewed as incremental in that the process of balance and adaptation is an ongoing process of relatively small adjustments that ensure continued survival. in contrast, time is a radical mechanism involving periods of stability and slow decline followed by crisis and large scale change followed by a further period of stability: « there are cases where the crisis is one which confronts the entire organisation, and it requires a comprehensive response, not a partial one. sometimes a dramatic corporate-wide transformation may be necessary to temporarily explore new capabilities and skills. » (volberda and baden-fuller, 1996, p. 12, emphasis added). this section has drawn from current relevant theory to begin to identify a possible theoretical domain for the study of corporate turnaround. it is offered as a first step towards the theoretical enrichment of the subject and, as such, should not be regarded as all-encompassing. it suggests that the phenomenon may be regarded as a particular type of episode in organisational evolution: it describes how, over time, successful organisations fail to adapt to environmental changes, loose competitive advantage, and come close to extinction but, at some point, are able to radically change and recover, and once again become successful organisations. as such, according to volberda and baden-fuller’s (1996) scheme of organisational renewal, turnaround may be thought of as a manifestation of the time mechanism for balancing exploitation and exploration in order to ensure the long-run survival of the organisation. this time mechanism seems distinctive from other mechanisms that have the same objective in that it is not primarily characterised by on-going small scale ecological adjustments. rather, it involves an evolutionary process primarily characterised by punctuated equilibrium: a period of stability is followed by a period of dramatic upheaval. research in the future could usefully test and/or extend this conceptualisation or offer alternative approaches. either way, a theoretical contribution would be made and one would expect the advancement of our understanding of the phenomenon to ensue. conclusion despite over two decades of research effort, our understanding of corporate turnaround is very incomplete. this paper has argued that this is due to weaknesses in the research designs of existing studies and their collective failure to relate their findings to extant theory. with respect to research designs, there has been an over-reliance on simple accounting measures to indicate a turnaround situation and, often, these indicators have not been suitably benchmarked. as a result, most samples include dubious cases. until the phenomenon is properly sampled progress will be continue to be slow. in addition, many important questions have either been ignored or asked too infrequently. whilst questions relating to the content of turnaround stratem@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 2, 2000, 31-56 51 gies are reasonably frequent, those relating to the context and process of turnaround are rare. in particular, contextual factors that have been relatively neglected include the severity of the crisis, the attitude of stakeholders, the firm’s outer context and, the firm’s historical strategy. many, if not all, of these contextual factors could play an important role in a robust explanation of corporate turnaround. process issues that have been largely ignored, but have the potential to enhance a general theory of turnaround, include the characteristics or mindsets of senior management that lead to or prolong crisis situations, the identification of common triggers that begin the recovery process and, the identification of a general sequence to successful recovery actions. in future, the basic research questions of studies investigating turnarounds should at least aim to unpack the important elements of content, context and process. better still, it is hoped that some studies will go one important step further and systematically investigate relationships between the three categories. also, whilst large sample studies have provided useful findings, there inevitably partial analyses leave many questions unanswered. longitudinal case study investigations, have great potential here but this potential has remained largely unrealised due to poor execution. with respect to theory, most research efforts have been ad hoc in that they have either proceeded without a priori theoretical guidance or have failed to relate findings to extant theory ex post. accordingly, opportunities to make potentially productive theoretical contributions have been missed. all of these factors, lack of care with respect to samples, the overlooking of important research questions, poor methodological execution, and theoretical neglect have colluded to leave the subject area explanatorily weak. it is hoped that, by outlining the shortcomings of the extant literature and by providing recommendations for future research, stronger findings will result leading to significant and rapid theoretical advancement, thereby providing academics with a better understanding, and practising managers with better guidance in terms of what to do in a turnaround situation, how to do it, and why it works. endnote: this study was supported by a tom lupton scholarship from the manchester business school, university of manchester, uk. my thanks to tony cockerill, john westwood, bobby balgobin and christian de cock for their helpful comments. the usual disclaimer applies. naresh r. pandit is lecturer in economics at manchester business school, university of manchester, uk. he teaches economics and strategic management on all of the school's postgraduate programmes as well as on shorter courses run by the school's executive development centre. his main research interests are corporate turnaround among small and large firms and the economics of industrial clustering. he has published over a dozen articles in refereed journals and has contributed to research reports for the department of trade and industry (uk), the european community, the economic and social research council (uk) and cambridge econometrics amongst others. m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 2, 2000, 31-56 52 m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 2, 2000, 31-56 53 references ■ armenakis, achilles a., and william b. fredenberger 1995 process strategies for turnaround change agents: crisis and non-crisis situations, journal of strategic change, 4:1, 19-31. ■ arogyaswamy, kamala, vincent l. barker iii, and masoud yasai-ardekani 1995 firm turnarounds: an integrative twostage model, journal of management studies, 32:4, 493-525. ■ arthur, w. brian 1989 competing technologies, increasing returns, and lock-in by historical events, economic journal, 99:394, 116-131. ■ baden-fuller, charles, and john m. stopford 1992 rejuvenating the mature business: the competitive challenge, london: routledge. ■ bain, joe s. 1951 relation of profit rate to industry concentration: american manufacturing 1936-1940, quarterly journal of economics, 65:3, 293-324. ■ barker, vincent l. iii, and mark a. mone 1994 retrenchment: cause of turnaround or consequence of decline?, strategic management journal, 15: 5, 395-405. ■ barney, jay 1991 firm resources and sustained competitive advantage, journal of management, 17:1, 99-120. ■ bellisario, marisa 1985 the turnaround at italtel, long range planning, 18:6, 21-24. ■ bibeault, donald b. 1982 corporate turnaround: how managers turn losers into winners, new york: mcgraw-hill. ■ brege, staffan, and ove brandes 1993 the successful double turnaround of asea and abb: twenty lessons, journal of strategic change, 2:4, 185205. ■ brunetti, giorgio 1987 management control requirements in organisational turnaround processes, economia aziendale, 6:3, 307-315. ■ carrington, james h., and jeanne m. aurelio 1976 survival tactics for the small business, business horizons, 19:1, 13-24. ■ chakraborty, s. and s. dixit 1992 developing a turnaround strategy— a case study approach, omega, 20:3, 345-352. ■ chandler, alfred. d. 1962 strategy and structure: chapters in the history of the industrial entreprise, cambridge: mit press. ■ chowdhury, shamsud, and james r. lang 1996 turnaround in small firms—an assessment of efficiency strategies, journal of business research, 36:2, 169-178. ■ cohen, wesley m., and daniel a. levinthal 1989 innovation and learning: the two faces of r&d, economic journal, 99:397, 569-596. ■ cohen, wesley m., and daniel a. levinthal 1990 absorptive capacity: a new perspective on learning and innovation, administrative science quarterly, 35:1, 128-152. ■ colino, richard r. 1986 turnaround strategies for an international organization, journal of business strategy, 7:2, 52-61. ■ david, paul. a. 1985 clio and the economics of qwerty, american economic review, 75:2, 332337. ■ di primio, anthony 1988 when turnaround management works, journal of business strategy, 9:1, 6164. ■ easterby-smith, mark, richard thorpe, and andy lowe 1991 management research: an introduction, london: sage. ■ eisenhardt, kathleen m. 1989 building theories from case study research. academy of management review, 14:4, 532-550. ■ galunic, d. charles, and kathleen m. eisenhardt 1996 the evolution of intracorporate domains: divisional charter losses in high technology, multidivisional corporations, organization science, 7:3, 255-282. ■ glaser, barney g., and anselm l. strauss 1967 the discovery of grounded theory: strategies for qualitative research, chicago: aldine. ■ gopal, r. 1991 turning around sick companies— the indian experience, long range planning, 24:3, 79-83. ■ graham, kenneth r., and max d. richards 1979 relative performance deterioration, management and strategic change in rail-based holding companies, in richard c. huseman (ed.), academy of management best papers proceedings, briarcliff manor: academy of management, 108-12. ■ griffiths, ian 1992 creative accounting, london: routledge. m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 2, 2000, 31-56 54 ■ grinyer, peter h., and j. c. spender 1979a turnaround: managerial recipes for strategic success, associated business publications. ■ grinyer, p. h., and j. c. spender 1979b recipes, crises, and adaption in mature businesses, international studies of management & organisation, 9:3, 113-33. ■ grinyer, peter h., david mayes, and peter mckiernan 1990 the sharpbenders: achieving a sustained improvement in performance, long range planning, 23:1, 116-125. ■ guth, william d., and ari ginsberg 1990 guest editors’ introduction: corporate entrepreneurship, strategic management journal, 11: summer special issue, 5-15. ■ hambrick, donald c., and steven m. schecter 1983 turnaround strategies for mature industrial-product business units, academy of management journal, 26:2, 231-248. ■ hamermesh, richard g. 1977 responding to divisional profit crisis, harvard business review, 55:2, 124130. ■ hannan, michael t., and john freeman 1984 structural inertia and organizational change, american sociological review, 49:2, 149-164. ■ hardy, cynthia 1990 strategies for retrenchment and turnaround: the politics of survival, new york: de gruyter. ■ hofer, charles w. 1980 turnaround strategies, the journal of business strategy, 1:1, 19-31. ■ janzen, l. t. 1983 company rescue—an example, long range planning, 16:6, 88-93. ■ ketelhohn, werner, jose carlos jarillo, and z. jan kubes 1991 turnaround management is not rambo management, european management journal, 9:2, 117-120. ■ levinthal, daniel a., and james g. march 1993 the myopia of learning, strategic management journal, 14:winter special issue, 95-112. ■ march, james g. 1991 exploration and exploitation in organizational learning, organization science, 2:1, 71-87. ■ marshall, christy 1989 turnaround king, business month, 133:2, 40-43. ■ martin, graeme, and tom riddell 1996 ‘the wee outfit that decked ibm’: ‘manufacturing’ strategic change and leadership in the ‘cash’, strategic change, 5:1, 3-25. ■ melin, leif 1985 strategies in managing turnaround, long range planning, 18:1, 80-86. ■ miles, matthew b., and a. michael huberman 1994 qualitative data analysis: an expended sourcebook, 2nd ed., london: sage. ■ miles, raymond e., and charles c. snow 1986 organizations: new concepts for new forms, california management review, 28:3, 62-73. ■ miles, raymond e., and charles c. snow 1994 fit, failure, and the hall of fame: how companies succeed or fail, new york: free press. ■ miller, danny, and jamal shamsie 1996 the resource-based view of the firm in two environments: the hollywood film studios from 1936 to 1965, academy of management journal, 39:3, 519-543. ■ miller, richard e., and m. reza vaghefi 1987 the new chrysler corporation: fall and rise, journal of management case studies, 3:3, 251-268. ■ modiano, philip 1987 made in great britain: lessons from manufacturing turnarounds, european management journal, 5:3, 174-179. ■ müller, rainer 1985 corporate crisis management, long range planning, 18:5, 38-48. ■ o’neill, hugh m. 1986a an analysis of the turnaround strategy in commercial banking, journal of management studies, 23:2, 165-188. ■ o’neill, hugh m. 1986b turnaround and recovery: what strategy do you need?, long range planning, 19:1, 80-88. ■ pandit, naresh r. 1997 towards a synthesis of the rationalist and incrementalist approaches to strategy formulation, international journal of management, 14:1, 47-56. ■ pandit, naresh r. 1998 british steel corporation: probably the biggest turnaround story in uk industrial history, strategic change, 7:2, 65-79. ■ pant, laurie w. 1991 an investigation of industry and firm structural characteristics in corporate turnarounds, journal of management studies, 28:6, 623-643. ■ penrose, edith 1959 the theory of the growth of the firm, london: blackwell. ■ pettigrew, andrew m. 1987 researching strategic change, in andrew m. pettigrew (ed.) the management of strategic change, oxford: blackwell, 1-14. ■ pettigrew, andrew m. 1990 longitudinal field research on change: theory and practice, organization science, 1:3, 267-292. m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 2, 2000, 31-56 55 ■ pettigrew, andrew m. 1992 the character and significance of strategy process research, strategic management journal, 13:winter special issue, 5-16. ■ porter, michael e. 1980 competitive strategy: techniques for analyzing industries and competitors, new york: free press. ■ prahalad, c. k., and gary hamel 1990 the core competence of the corporation, harvard business review, 68:3, 79-91. ■ ragin, charles c. 1987 the comparative method: moving beyond qualitative and quantitative strategies, los angeles: university of california press. ■ ramakrishnan, k., and s. k. shah 1989 a systems approach for corporate turnarounds, business, 39:3, 26-31. ■ reichert, jack f. 1988 brunswick’s dramatic turnaround [interview transcript], journal of business strategy, 9:1, 4-7. ■ remick, carl 1980 time for a turnaround? take comfort, take stock, take action, sam advanced management journal, 45:4, 4-15. ■ robbins, d. keith, and john a. pearce ii 1992 turnaround: retrenchment and recovery, strategic management journal, 13:4, 287-309. ■ rose, don 1989 woolworth’s drive for excellence, long range planning, 22:1, 28-31. ■ rumelt, richard p. 1991 how much does industry matter? strategic management journal, 12:3, 167-185. ■ schendel, dan e. 1992 introduction to the winter 1992 special issue: fundamental themes in strategy process research, strategic management journal, 13:winter special issue, 1-3. ■ schendel, dan e., and g. r. patton 1976 corporate stagnation and turnaround, journal of economics and business, 28:3, 236-41. ■ schendel, dan, g. r. patton, and james riggs 1976 corporate turnaround strategies: a study of profit decline and recovery, journal of general management, 3:3, 3-11. ■ scherer, f. m., and david ross 1990 industrial market structure and economic performance, 3rd ed., boston: houghton mifflin. ■ scherer, philip s. 1989 the turnaround consultant steers corporate renewal, journal of management consulting, 5:1, 17-24. ■ schmalensee, richard 1985 do markets differ much? american economic review, 75:3, 341-351. ■ seabright, j. w. 1985 turnaround at mfi—from a troubled mail-order firm to a leading furniture retailer, long range planning, 18:4, 27-32. ■ slatter, stuart 1984 corporate recovery, harmondsworth: penguin. ■ stopford, john m., and charles baden-fuller 1990 corporate rejuvenation, journal of management studies, 27:4, 399-415. ■ taylor, bernard 1982/3 turnaround, recovery and growth: the way through the crisis, journal of general management, 8:2, 5-13. ■ tesch, renata, 1989 the correspondence between different kinds of qualitative analysis and different kinds of software, paper presented at the symposium on qualitative knowledge and computing, university of surrey, 11-12 july. ■ thain, donald h., and richard l. goldthorpe 1989a turnaround management: causes of decline, business quarterly, 54:1, 5562. ■ thain, donald h., and richard l. goldthorpe 1989b turnaround management: recovery strategies, business quarterly, 54:2, 713. ■ thain, donald h., and richard l. goldthorpe 1990 turnaround management: how to do it, business quarterly, 54:3, 39-47. ■ thiétart, r. a. 1988 success strategies for businesses that perform poorly, interfaces, 18:3, 32-45. ■ tushman, michael l., and elaine romanelli 1985 organizational evolution: a metamorphosis model of convergence and reorientation, in larry l. cummings and barry m. staw (eds.), research in organizational behavior, vol. 7, greenwich: jai press, 171-222. ■ volberda, henk w., and charles baden-fuller 1996 strategic renewal from an evolutionary perspective: four dynamic mechanisms, working paper, management report series, 266, rotterdam school of management. ■ whitney, john o. 1987 turnaround management every day, harvard business review, 65:5, 49-55. ■ williamson, oliver e. 1975 markets and hierarchies: analysis and antitrust implications. a study in the economics of internal organization, new york: free press. ■ winn, joan 1993 performance measures for corporate decline and turnaround, journal of general management, 19:2, 48-63. ■ wyman, stephen b. 1989 turning around the troubled bank, journal of commercial bank lending, 71:11, 36-44. ■ yin, robert k. 1984 case study research: design and methods, sage: london. ■ zimmerman, frederick m. 1986 turnaround—a painful learning process, long range planning, 19:4, 104-114. ■ zimmerman, frederick m. 1989 managing a successful turnaround, long range planning, 22:3, 105-124. m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 2, 2000, 31-56 56 appendix: the literature on corporate turnaround assessed in this study 1. armenakis and fredenberger (1995) 2. barker and mone (1994) 3. bellisario (1985) 4. bibeault (1982) 5. brege and brandes (1993) 6. brunetti (1987) 7. carrington and aurelio (1976) 8. chakraborty and dixit (1992) 9. chowdhury and lang (1996) 10. colino (1986) 11. di primio (1988) 12. gopal (1991) 13. graham and richards (1979) 14. grinyer, mayes, and mckiernan (1990) 15. hambrick and schecter (1983) 16. hamermesh (1977) 17. hardy (1990) 18. hofer (1980) 19. janzen (1983) 20. ketelhohn, jarillo, and kubes (1991) 21. marshall (1989) 22. martin and riddell (1996) 23. melin (1985) 24. miller and vaghefi (1987) 25. modiano (1987) 26. müller (1985) 27. o’neill (1986a) 28. o’neill (1986b) 29. pant (1991) 30. ramakrishnan and shah (1989) 31. reichert (1988) 32. remick (1980) 33. robbins and pearce (1992) 34. rose (1989) 35. schendel and patton (1976) 36. schendel, patton and riggs (1976) 37. scherer (1989) 38. seabright (1985) 39. slatter (1984) 40. stopford and baden-fuller (1990) 41. taylor (1982/3) 42. thain and goldthorpe (1989a, 1989b, 1990) 43. thiétart (1988) 44. whitney (1987) 45. wyman (1989) 46. zimmerman (1986) 47. zimmerman (1989) 73casanueva (page 1) ingo winkler 2006 personale führung in unternehmensnetzwerken: eine analyse der netzwerkliteratur m@n@gement, 9: 2, 49-71. m@n@gement is a double-blind reviewed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.dmsp.dauphine.fr/management/ © 2006 m@n@gement and the author(s). issn: 1286-4892 editors: alain desreumaux, u. de lille i martin evans, u. of toronto bernard forgues, u. de lille i hugh gunz, u. of toronto martina menguzzato, u. de valència http://www.dmsp.dauphine.fr/management/ http://www.dmsp.dauphine.fr/management/ m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 2, 2006, 49-71 49 ingo winkler technische universität chemnitzfakultät für wirtschaftswissenschaften email: ingo.winkler@wirtschaft.tu-chemnitz.de personale führung in unternehmensnetzwerken. eine analyse der netzwerkliteratur ausgehend von führungsrelevanten unterschieden zwischen kooperativen unternehmensnetzwerken und klassischen unternehmen wird in diesem beitrag der frage nachgegangen, wie man führung in solchen netzwerken konzeptualisieren kann. hierzu werden die literatur zu kooperativen unternehmensnetzwerken analysiert und begriffliche inhalte eines verständnisses von führung herausgearbeitet. auf basis der ergebnisse der literaturanalyse lässt sich führung in kooperativen unternehmensnetzwerken als kollektiv, informal, parallel, wechselnd und somit temporär kennzeichnen. es werden drei zentrale elemente eines verständnisses von führung in solchen netzwerken aufgezeigt; der einfluss der unterschiedlichen ziele und interessen der netzwerkakteure auf art und inhalt von führung, die vielfältigen interaktionsprozesse zwischen den netzwerkteilnehmern als brennpunkte für die entstehung, reproduktion und veränderung von führung sowie das sich etablierende mehrführertum. einleitung «obwohl netzwerkorganisationen heute in aller munde sind, ist bislang ungeklärt, was personale führung in netzwerken heißt und für netzwerke bedeutet» (sydow, 1999: 279). in der netzwerkforschung wird zwar argumentiert, dass in netzwerken direkte führung eine erhöhte relevanz hat (shamir, 1999; huxham, 2003; huxham und vangen 2004) und für netzwerke neue formen von führung gebraucht werden (huxham und vangen, 2000), jedoch wird kaum geklärt, was unter führung in netzwerken verstanden wird und welche unterschiede sich zu bisherigen führungsverständnissen, -konzeptionen und -theorien ergeben. betrachtet man die bisherige forschung, so liegen nur wenige beiträge vor, die sich explizit mit personaler führung in unternehmensnetzwerken beschäftigen (vgl. shamir, 1999; sydow, 1999; brass, galaskiewicz, greve und tsai, 2004; winkler, 2004). ein großteil der netzwerkliteratur thematisiert jedoch theoretisch-konzeptionell und/oder empirisch die entwicklung, steuerung und koordination von unternehmensnetzwerken. in diesen quellen, so die diesem artikel zugrunde liegende annahme, lassen sich eine reihe von aspekten zu direkten interaktionsbeziehungen zwischen den netzwerkakteuren und deren steuerungswirkung identifizieren. mailto:ingo.winkler@wirtschaft.tu-chemnitz.de m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 2, 2006, 49-71 50 ingo winkler ziel des vorliegenden beitrages ist es, auf basis einer analyse der netzwerkliteratur, begriffliche inhalte eines verständnisses von personaler führung in unternehmensnetzwerken herauszuarbeiten. der artikel betrachtet kooperative netzwerke zwischen unternehmen, wobei berücksichtigt wird, dass solche unternehmensnetzwerke zwar in der mehrzahl aber nicht ausschließlich aus unternehmen, sondern auch aus koordinatoren, beratern bzw. beratungsfirmen sowie vertretern der öffentlichen hand oder von forschungsinstitutionen bestehen. als netzwerkakteure werden in diesem beitrag menschen verstanden, die als vertreter bzw. repräsentant einer organisation bzw. eines teiles einer organisation und/oder als individuum, allein oder in einer gruppe interorganisationale beziehungen eingehen, unterhalten oder abbrechen (winkler, 2004). unternehmensnetzwerke werden somit aus einer so genannten interpersonalen perspektive betrachtet. im gegensatz zur strukturalen oder institutionalistischen perspektive konzentriert sich ein solcher ansatz mehr auf die einbettung von menschen in organisationen oder allgemeiner in ein soziales system. handeln in unternehmensnetzwerken knüpft dabei an den individuellen akteuren an (schenk, 1984; voß, 2002). gerade eine netzwerkorganisation ist durch sozialen austausch gekennzeichnet (franke, 1999). aufgrund früherer erfahrungen miteinander und/oder wiederholter interaktionen während der zusammenarbeit lernen sich die akteure persönlich kennen. die sich daraus entwickelnden sozialbeziehungen haben wesentlichen einfluss darauf, mit wem man zukünftig zusammenarbeitet und welche form des sozialen und damit auch geschäftlichen umgangs praktiziert wird. somit haben, trotz aller ökonomischen kalküle, letztlich die persönlichen beziehungen der akteure wesentlichen einfluss auf art und umfang der zusammenarbeit innerhalb des netzwerkes (johannisson, 1987; sydow und windeler, 2000) und somit auch auf dessen steuerung. unternehmensnetzwerke werden in anlehnung an sydow (1992) als eine auf die realisierung von wettbewerbsvorteilen zielende organisationsform ökonomischer aktivitäten verstanden, die sich durch komplex reziproke, eher kooperative denn kompetitive und relativ stabile beziehungen zwischen rechtlich selbständigen, wirtschaftlich jedoch zumeist abhängigen unternehmen auszeichnet, definiert. kooperative unternehmensnetzwerke werden zudem durch freiwillige mitgliedschaft der netzwerkteilnehmer, die existenz gemeinsamer ziele sowie das fehlen zentraler steuerung charakterisiert. sie weisen somit auch elemente von regionalen netzwerken (sydow, 1992) auf, wie z.b. das fehlen strategischer führung durch eine einzelne unternehmung, die eher emergente und informale struktur sowie die wechselnden interaktionsbeziehungen. kooperative unternehmensnetzwerke zeichnen sich durch eine eher kollektive steuerung aus, die durch verhandlungen, kompromisse sowie gemeinsame entscheidungen gekennzeichnet ist. sie sind somit dynamische netzwerke (snow, miles und coleman, 1992), bei denen sich die netzwerkakteure auf ihre jeweilige kernkompetenz bzw. das kerngeschäft konzentrieren. das zentrale antriebsmoment der zusammenarbeit ist dabei die verwirklichung von m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 2, 2006, 49-71 51 personale führung in unternehmensnetzwerken synergieeffekten. die beziehungen in kooperativen unternehmensnetzwerken sind fluid und in eine informale struktur eingebettet. häufig haben verschiedene projekte unterschiedliche mitgliederkonfigurationen. zudem treten netzwerkunternehmen je nach ihren internen oder externen zielen und anforderungen ein oder aus (franke, 1999). die netzwerkakteure sind sich dabei i.d.r. bewusst, dass die zusammenarbeit oft auf eine bestimmte zeit begrenzt ist. die organisation kooperativer unternehmensnetzwerke wird häufig durch einen so genannten netzwerkbroker oder netzwerkkoordinator realisiert. diese position wird entweder durch ein mitglied aus einem der netzwerkunternehmen oder durch eine externe person übernommen. personale führung wird in diesem beitrag in anlehnung an neuberger (2002) als interaktionsprozess definiert, bei dem eine oder mehrere personen in einem bestimmten kontext das handeln individueller oder kollektiver akteure legitimerweise konditionieren. der hinweis auf die legitimation personaler führung in der definition bedeutet einerseits, dass führerschaft zugeschrieben und andererseits, dass führungsanspruch anerkannt werden muss. im weiteren wird personalführung, personale führung und führung synonym, im sinne dieser definition verwendet. der artikel ist wie folgt aufgebaut. zunächst wird das konzeptionelle framework zur untersuchung von führung in kooperativen unternehmensnetzwerken entworfen. dieses macht insbesondere an den führungsrelevanten unterschieden solcher netzwerke im vergleich zu klassischen, durch formale hierarchie gekennzeichneten unternehmen fest. aus dem bezugssystem werden die forschungsfragestellung für die literaturanalyse sowie die zentralen analyseaspekte abgeleitet. daran anschließend wird die literaturauswahl sowie die methodische vorgehensweise erläutert. nachfolgend werden die ergebnisse der literaturanalyse, gegliedert nach den zur untersuchung herangezogenen kriterien, beschrieben. in den schlussfolgerungen werden drei zentrale elemente eines verständnisses von führung in kooperativen unternehmensnetzwerken abgeleitet. zudem werden weitere forschungsbedarfe aufgezeigt. ein konzeptionelles framework zur untersuchung von führung in kooperativen unternehmensnetzwerken unternehmensnetzwerke im allgemeinen und kooperative unternehmensnetzwerke im besonderen weisen in ihrer formation und organisation eine reihe von unterschieden zu klassischen unternehmen auf, die auch relevant für ein verständnis von führung in solchen netzwerken sind. relevant sind diese differenzen insbesondere deshalb, weil sie den rahmen markieren, in dem sich die direkten interaktionsbeziehungen zwischen den akteuren entwickeln. somit bilden diese im folgenden als führungsrelevant bezeichneten differenzen das konzeptuelle framework für die analyse der literatur. die folgende darstellung konzentriert sich auf die, zum teil idealtypische hervorhebung sechs m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 2, 2006, 49-71 52 ingo winkler wichtiger führungsrelevanter unterschiede: den allgemeinen kontext der interaktionsbeziehungen, die art der zusammenarbeit der akteure, die führerund geführtenrollen, die machtverteilung, die einflussbeziehungen sowie die existenz vorspezifizierter ziele. betrachtet man den kontext, in dem interaktionsbeziehungen zwischen den akteuren stattfinden, so kann man diesen innerhalb klassischer unternehmen als stabil und zum teil sicher beschreiben. strukturen, normen und werte sind weitgehend etabliert, insbesondere existiert und wirkt die formale struktur mit informalen momenten. in kooperativen unternehmensnetzwerken stellt sich dieser kontext oft als unsicher (z.b. hinsichtlich ziel, dauer, ergebnis der zusammenarbeit) und mehrdeutig (z.b. hinsichtlich anerkannter verhaltensweisen, bewertungsmaßstäbe) dar (shamir, 1999). «[u]nklare zuständigkeiten, ungeregelte, kommunikationswege, ungeplante abhängigkeiten und ambiguitäten, ungewollte verunsicherungen usw.» (sydow, 1999: 284) sind die folge. strukturen, normen und werte etablieren sich in netzwerken erst im laufe der zusammenarbeit wobei sich häufig eine informale struktur, zum teil mit formalen elementen (z.b. ein koordinator), entwickelt. die art der zusammenarbeit lässt sich in klassischen unternehmen als freiwillig, vertraglich gebunden (arbeitsvertrag) und i.d.r. intensiv kennzeichnen, wobei die freiwilligkeit (inkl. der exit-option) für die beteiligten akteure aufgrund mangelnder alternativen häufig eingeschränkt ist. auch die zusammenarbeit in kooperativen unternehmensnetzwerken findet auf freiwilliger basis statt, jedoch existiert hier eine z.t. nur partielle und fluide kooperation mit häufig geringer vertraglicher bindung. die akteure haben eine recht hohe autonomie (sydow, 1999) und ihr commitment gegenüber dem netzwerk ist —zumindest zu beginn der zusammenarbeit— eher gering. in klassischen unternehmen sind führerund geführtenrollen von vorn herein definiert und an die formale hierarchie gebunden. auch wenn sich führung in unternehmen manchmal anders darstellt, als formal geplant, wirkt die formale festlegung von rollen und rollenaufgaben im interaktionsprozess. kooperative unternehmensnetzwerke basieren demgegenüber nicht auf einer formalen hierarchischen ordnung. somit sind auch führungsrollen und deren aufgaben i.d.r. nicht festgelegt, sondern entstehen vielmehr im formationsund organisationsprozess der zusammenarbeit. häufig wird die netzwerkkoordination gemeinsam oder durch einen kollektiv festgelegten akteur wahrgenommen (windeler, 2001). auch die machtverteilung wird in klassischen unternehmen i.d.r. klar zugunsten von führungsrollen konzipiert. es existieren und wirken formale machtstrukturen und -ressourcen. in kooperativen netzwerken ist macht demgegenüber prinzipiell polyzentrisch verteilt (sydow, 1995), wobei die akteure wechselseitig voneinander abhängig sind. obring (1992) spricht hier von einem emergenten polyzentrismus, der von wechselseitiger abhängigkeit von zwei oder mehreren organisationen geprägt ist. somit gilt: «[l]eadership and power are dispersed among autonomous organizations» (cummings, 1984: 399). formale machtstrukturen existieren nicht oder nur in begrenztem umfang. m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 2, 2006, 49-71 53 personale führung in unternehmensnetzwerken mit der machtverteilung im zusammenhang stehend, werden in unternehmen auch die einflussbeziehungen als klar definiert angenommen. einfluss wird überwiegend als unidirektional konzipiert und von der führungskraft, z.b. per anweisung, auf die geführten ausgeübt. in kooperativen unternehmensnetzwerken sind einflussbeziehungen oft unklar und sie können sich im laufe der zusammenarbeit verschieben. gemeinsame bzw. abgestimmte handlungen und entscheidungen der akteure werden nicht per weisung durch eine «übergeordnete planungsund kontrollinstanz» (wetzel, aderhold, baitsch und keiser, 2001: 22) verordnet, sondern durch wiederholte abstimmungsund verhandlungsprozesse hergestellt. für unternehmen wird i.d.r. angenommen, dass bestimmte, meist klar definierte und (von oben) vorgegebene ziele existieren (huxham und vangen, 2001). führung soll, zumindest wenn man dem großteil von führungsauffassungen folgt, auf die erreichung dieser ziele hinwirken (steinle, 1995; hughes, ginnett und curphy, 1996). in kooperativen unternehmensnetzwerken findet demgegenüber in aller regel ein mehr oder weniger dauerhafter abstimmungsprozess zur festlegung gemeinsamer ziele statt. die zielaushandlung erfolgt dabei auf basis der unterschiedlichen interessen der beteiligten akteure. diese sechs unterschiede zwischen klassischen unternehmen und kooperativen unternehmensnetzwerken markieren, kontingenztheoretisch argumentiert, den rahmen, in dem die interaktionsbeziehungen der akteure und die sich daraus entwickelnden strukturen und regeln eingebettet sind. aus diesem rahmen, der im vorliegenden artikel als konzeptionelles framework für die untersuchung der netzwerkliteratur dient, werden im folgenden die forschungsfragestellung sowie die analysekriterien entwickelt. forschungsfragestellung wenn kooperative unternehmensnetzwerke führungsrelevante unterschiede zu klassischen unternehmen aufweisen, dann stellt sich u.a. die frage, wie man führung in solchen netzwerken konzeptualisieren kann. das herausarbeiten begrifflicher inhalte eines verständnisses von führung in kooperativen unternehmensnetzwerken bildet den zentralen untersuchungsfokus dieses beitrages. hierbei wird angenommen, dass arbeiten, die sie sich theoretisch und/oder empirisch mit der entwicklung, steuerung und koordination von unternehmensnetzwerken befassen, auch aussagen zu direkten interaktionsbeziehungen zwischen den netzwerkakteuren und deren steuerungswirkung beinhalten. anhand der analyse dieser netzwerkliteratur wird aufgezeigt, wie das themenfeld der personalen führung in der vorhandenen literatur zu unternehmensnetzwerken thematisiert wird. das im vorangegangenen abschnitt entwickelte theoretische framework liefert dabei eine reihe von anhaltspunkten, an welchen kriterien eine untersuchung ansetzen kann. die hier vorgestellte analyse bezieht sich insbesondere auf die folgenden, typischerweise mit führung im zusammenhang gebrachten aspekte. erstens wird unterm@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 2, 2006, 49-71 54 ingo winkler sucht, wie die entstehung von führerschaft in kooperativen unternehmensnetzwerken in der netzwerkliteratur konzeptualisiert wird. das fehlen einer formalen hierarchie und somit vordefinierter rollen lässt emergente, durch die einzelinteressen der netzwerkakteure beeinflusste erwarten. zweitens werden die arten und aufgaben spezifischer führungsrollen analysiert. hierbei wird insbesondere auf rollen fokussiert, die koordinationsaufgaben übernehmen sollen. drittens werden die machtressourcen und machtbeziehungen näher betrachtet. das fehlen einer formalen hierarchie und somit positionsspezifischer machtquellen wirft u.a. die frage nach relevanten machtressourcen sowie sich daraus entwickelnden beziehungen zwischen den akteuren auf. viertens und an den vorherigen punkt anschließend, werden einfluss und einflussbeziehungen thematisiert. in kooperativen unternehmensnetzwerken sind diese, wie bereits dargestellt, oft unklar und nicht ex ante formuliert. was das jedoch konkret für ein verständnis von führung in solchen netzwerken bedeutet wird anhand der literatur herausgearbeitet. fünftens wird auf die häufig postulierte zieldiversität in kooperativen netzwerken fokussiert. hier wird u.a. das mögliche spannungsverhältnis zwischen individuellen und kollektiven zielen betrachtet. methodisches vorgehen literaturauswahl die auswahl der in die literaturanalyse einbezogenen theoretischen wie empirischen quellen erfolgte in vier schritten. hierbei wurde sich jeweils am titel, an der kurzfassung (bei zeitschriftenbeiträgen und zum teil bei beiträgen aus sammelwerken) und am inhaltsverzeichnis (insbesondere bei monografien) orientiert. erstens fokussiert die analyse auf kooperativ geprägte unternehmensnetzwerke, wobei quellen bis januar 2005 eingearbeitet wurden. hierbei konnte zunächst auf eine umfangreiche sammlung aus früheren forschungsprojekten zurückgegriffen werden. die literaturverzeichnisse der relevanten quellen wurden zudem auf weitere arbeiten hin untersucht. darüber hinaus wurden auch recherchen in literaturdatenbanken durchgeführt. in einem zweiten schritt wurde der entstandene literaturpool darauf hin überprüft, ob die quellen steuerungsbzw. managementaspekte zum inhalt haben. dies erfolgte unter der annahme, dass dieser teil der netzwerkliteratur aspekte der entwicklung und lenkung solcher netzwerke thematisiert. drittens wurde das sample hinsichtlich der betonung direkter interaktionsbeziehungen und ihrer steuerungswirkung weiter qualifiziert. wie bereits dargelegt, werden darin überdurchschnittlich stark die sozialen interaktionsbeziehungen zwischen den netzwerkakteuren und somit auch relevante aspekte des entstehens, der reproduktion und änderung so genannter führungsbeziehungen thematisiert. dabei wurden quellen ausgeblendet, die sich eher mit aspekten der unternehmensführung und ihrer anwendung auf netzwerke beschäftigen (z.b. netzwerkconm@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 2, 2006, 49-71 55 personale führung in unternehmensnetzwerken trolling). in einem vierten schritt wurde die beschränkung auf unternehmensnetzwerke zum teil aufgehoben. die suche nach relevanten quellen ergab, dass in der literatur zu netzwerken von non-profitorganisationen aspekte der personalen führung schon seit einiger zeit diskutiert werden (u.a. bryson und crosby, 1992; chrislip und larson, 1994; feyerherm, 1994; vangen und huxham, 2003). der in dieser literatur konzeptualisierte kontext einer «shared power world» (bryson und crosby, 1992: 17) ist vor allem gekennzeichnet durch erhöhte komplexität, unbestimmtheit, turbulenzen und risiko, verschwimmen von vormals unterscheidbaren gegebenheiten, fragmentierung, division, separation und das begleitende bedürfnis der integration, die spannungsfelder individuum vs. gemeinschaft und wettbewerb vs. kooperation sowie schwindende möglichkeiten des zentralen managements und der steuerung. dieses konzept weist eine reihe von parallelen zum kontext in unternehmensnetzwerken auf, so dass aussagen partiell übertragbar sind. die übertragbarkeit wird zudem in den letzten jahren insbesondere von chris huxham demonstriert, die auf der basis ihrer umfangreichen untersuchungen in nonprofit-netzwerken weitreichende ableitungen auch für andere interorganisationale netzwerke macht (u.a. huxham und vangen, 2001; huxham und beech, 2002; beech und huxham, 2003; huxham und vangen, 2004). folglich werden die aussagen dieser quellen selektiv in die analyse einbezogen. das beschriebene auswahlverfahren führte zu etwa 80 quellen, die als relevant eingestuft und in die analyse einbezogen wurden. jedoch sichert es, wie im übrigen jede andere vorgehensweise, keine vollständigkeit; einerseits, da die identifikation relevanter quellen anhand titel, kurzfassung und gliederung werke ausblendet, die im text eventuell interessante und für diesen beitrag relevante passagen beinhalten und andererseits, da auch ich keinen kompletten überblick über die netzwerkforschung habe und somit nicht alle veröffentlichungen zum thema übersehen kann. literaturanalyse die untersuchung der quellen wurde in form einer strukturellen inhaltsanalyse durchgeführt. «sie hat das ziel, bestimmte aspekte aus dem material herauszufiltern und unter vorher festgelegten ordnungskriterien einen querschnitt durch das material zu legen oder das material unter bestimmten kriterien einzuschätzen» (mayring, 1995: 211). die in der forschungsfragestellung spezifizierten fünf kriterien wurden dabei als analyseraster verwendet. somit erfolgte die analyse der relevanten quellen anhand der aspekte emergente vs. geplante führerschaft, arten und aufgaben spezifischer führungsrollen, machtressourcen und machtbeziehungen, einflussbeziehungen sowie ziele und zielerreichung. in der vorliegenden inhaltsanalyse wurde die netzwerkliteratur anhand der untersuchungskriterien aufgebrochen. hierbei wurden die während der literaturauswahl als relevant definierten quellen daraufhin untersucht, welches bzw. welche der analysekriterien von den m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 2, 2006, 49-71 56 ingo winkler autoren im text adressiert werden. konkret wurden diese quellen gelesen und wesentliche inhalte den einzelnen analysekriterien zugeordnet. je nach art der quelle (theoretisch oder empirisch) wurde dabei besonderes augenmerk auf die ergebnisse und schlussfolgerungen (bei empirischen quellen) oder auf verwendete ansätze und ableitungen (bei theoretischen quellen) gelegt. hierbei wurden durch eine reihe von quellen gleich mehrere kriterien adressiert, so dass verschiedene aspekte herausgefiltert werden konnten. die so entstandenen textelemente wurden in das analyseraster eingeordnet. dadurch entstand ein pool an aussagen und (teil-) konzepten, die um die einzelnen kriterien des analyserasters gruppiert waren. diese wurden innerhalb der einzelnen analysemerkmale geordnet und zum teil miteinander verknüpft. hierbei war es jedoch wichtig, die differenziertheit der ergebnisse zu erhalten und die verbale darstellung nicht zu sehr zu glätten. die untersuchten quellen wurden somit einer zusammenfassenden inhaltsanalyse unterzogen, die vorwiegend selektiv arbeitet (mayring, 1995). mit dem gewählten vorgehen wurde die literatur aufgebrochen und unterschiedlichen kategorien zugeordnet. ergebnisse emergente vs. geplante führerschaft die beziehungen in unternehmensnetzwerken sind nicht a priori festgelegt, sondern resultieren aus der zusammenarbeit der akteure (håkansson und snehota, 1995). strukturen und prozesse in netzwerken unterliegen dabei nur zu einem teil aktiver planung und kontrolle (sydow, 1995). zusätzlich emergieren strukturen oder wie håkansson und johanson es in anlehnung an weick (1969) ausdrücken: «activity chains and structures (…) are enacted; they are emergent phenomena that are formed and modified through different interaction amongst the actors» (håkansson und johanson, 1993: 37). es entsteht spontane ordnung (schertler, 1995), die zudem über die absicht und wirkung von einzelhandlungen hinausgeht (wetzel et al., 2001). dominanzund einflussstrukturen bzw. —potentiale emergieren häufig unbewusst und unintendiert durch die aktivitäten der netzwerkmitglieder. welcher akteur in welcher situation eine führungsrolle innehat bzw. haben soll, ist kaum planbar und zeigt sich oft erst in der konkreten interaktion. zudem existieren auf überbetrieblicher ebene nur wenig formale strukturen und regeln, die das verhalten der akteure lenken. das ist der grund, weshalb die rolle von emergenten oder informalen führern bzw. emergenter oder informaler führung in der netzwerkliteratur stark betont wird (huxham und vangen, 2001). jedoch haben die netzwerkakteure durch ihre aktive beteiligung an der etablierung der interorganisationalen domäne und dem festlegen der spielregeln der kooperation (ortmann und schnelle, 2000) die möglichkeit, strukturen auch in ihrem sinne zu gestalten. dass dies für die führung des netzwerkes nicht unwesentlich ist, zeigt sich daran, m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 2, 2006, 49-71 57 personale führung in unternehmensnetzwerken dass einmal existierende strukturen, normen und regeln etablieren, die im weiteren die möglichkeiten der akteure bestimmen, ihre interessen durchzusetzen (ebers und jarillo, 1997/1998; huxham und vangen, 2001; pitsis, kornberger und clegg, 2004; winkler, 2004). insbesondere die strukturierung der internen netzwerkaktivitäten dahingehend, dass man eine zentrale position in der netzwerkstruktur (z.b. boje und whetten, 1981; hoffman, stearns und shrader, 1990; dyer und singh, 1998) und/oder eine gatekeeper-position (z.b. elg und johansson, 1997) erreicht, sichert nach meinung vieler autoren langfristig die möglichkeit, das netzwerk zumindest partiell zu kontrollieren und somit einmal geschaffene strukturen zu erhalten. jedoch binden solche strukturen auch den initiator selbst, so dass aktive einflussnahme auf die entstehung von strukturen im netzwerkimmanenten spannungsverhältnis von autonomie und abhängigkeit stattfindet (renz, 1998). die schaffung und erhaltung von strukturen und damit potentieller einflussund kontrollmöglichkeiten geschieht nach sydow und windeler (1994) durch die folgenden vier basalen funktionen des managements von unternehmensnetzwerken: selektion geeigneter interaktionspartner, regulation der aktivitäten und der beziehungen zwischen den organisationen, allokation der ressourcen zwischen den organisationen sowie ökonomische evaluation der interorganisationalen beziehungen. indem mit hilfe dieser basalen funktionen netzwerkbeziehungen interaktiv produziert, reproduziert und verändert werden, bilden sie ansatzpunkte für die akteure, aktiv in die entstehung und erhaltung von strukturen einzugreifen und somit führend tätig zu werden. in einer aktiven rolle widerspiegelt sich dabei auch führungsanspruch. versuche, die strukturen des netzwerkes in eine bestimmte richtung zu entwickeln und somit u.u. eine dominante stellung im beziehungsgeflecht des netzwerkes zu erlangen, sind verhaltensweisen, welche die umsetzung eigener ziele unterstützen sollen (obring, 1992; winkler, 2004). es existieren bisher nur wenige arbeiten, die die entstehung von führung in netzwerken und somit auch die damit zusammenhängende rolle aktiver und emergenter prozesse thematisieren. für die vorliegende untersuchung relevante ausnahmen bilden die studien von feyerherm (1994) und wetzel et al. (2001). feyerherm verfolgte in ihrer untersuchung von führung in gemeinschaftlich agierenden, interorganisationalen gruppen im umweltschutz die kernfrage: warum werden bestimmte personen als führer interpretiert und welches verhalten führt zu dieser interpretation? (feyerherm, 1994). die ergebnisse, welche auf kooperative unternehmensnetzwerke übertragbar sind, zeigen, dass personen aus sehr unterschiedlichen gründen heraus als führungsakteur interpretiert werden, wobei sich personengebundene verhaltensmuster und spezifische umstände unterscheiden lassen. zu den verhaltensmustern gehören nach feyerherm erstens das sichtbarmachen der (unterschiedlichen) denkweisen und annahmen der beteiligten, z.b. bezüglich deren interessen sowie gewünschten ergebnissen. als konkrete verhaltensbeispiele sind hier das offerieren m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 2, 2006, 49-71 58 ingo winkler von meinungen sowie die bereitstellung von informationen und verständniskontexten zu nennen. zweitens ist das aufzeigen von alternativen durch unterstützen und erleichtern so genannter positiver interaktionen ein verhaltensmuster, aufgrund dessen akteure im netzwerk als führungspersonen gesehen werden. aus dieser perspektive würde sich führung in netzwerken quasi über inhalte realisieren. «die person oder gruppe bzw. das unternehmen mit den stärksten inhalten, mit der erfolgreichsten zukunftsperspektive, wird für alle anderen die höchste attraktion entwickeln» (fourier, 1997: 3). derjenige akteur erlangt somit führerschaft, der aufgrund seines verhaltens am besten geeignet scheint, die ziele des netzwerkes bzw. der anderen akteure zu verwirklichen. drittens kann das initiieren kollektiver handlungen durch strukturbildung sowie die entwicklung und präsentation von vorschlägen ebenfalls als verhalten gesehen werden, aufgrund dessen führung bestimmten netzwerkakteuren zugeschrieben wird (feyerherm, 1994). die von feyerherm angeführten spezifischen umstände beziehen sich insbesondere auf soziale, politische und ökonomische traditionen, welche die art beeinflussen, wie menschen führer sehen (auch bryson und crosby, 1992). das bedeutet, dass so genannte implizite führungsverständnisse (lord, 1985; lord und foti, 1986) auch einen einfluss bei der entstehung von führerschaft in netzwerken haben. wetzel et al. (2001) zeigen, dass die entstehung von führung und damit von asymmetrien in unternehmensnetzwerken zum teil unintendiert erfolgt und somit führerschaft von anderen attribuiert wird (calder, 1977). bei der netzwerkentstehung ist zu beobachten, dass sich einzelne akteure, insbesondere die promotoren, stark für das netzwerk engagieren. «sie werben für die sache bzw. idee, sie investieren zeit und energie, müssen gegen widerstände hartnäckig ankämpfen und überzeugungsarbeit leisten» (wetzel et al., 2001: 16). dieses engagement führt dazu, dass (führungs-)rollen und damit verbundene rechte emergieren, auch ohne dass es dazu gemeinsame entscheide gegeben hat. die akteure, denen solche führungsrollen durch netzwerkinterne und -externe attribuiert werden, identifizieren sich schließlich selbst damit, was dazu führen kann, dass ihr weiteres verhalten nun auch auf die wahrung dieser rollen und des damit verbundenen einflusspotentials fokussiert ist. arten und aufgaben spezifischer führungsrollen einhergehend mit der i.d.r. kollektiven organisation kooperativer unternehmensnetzwerke und dem fehlen einer formalen hierarchischen ordnung kommt es zu einer verschiebung der traditionellen rollen von führer und geführten. «the individuals acting on behalf of their organization in a business relationship take on other roles in other contexts» (håkansson und snehota, 1995: 15). netzwerkakteure stehen bei unternehmensübergreifender zusammenarbeit in kooperativen unternehmensnetzwerken häufig personen gleicher innerbetrieblicher hierarchieebene gegenüber oder personen einer niedrigeren oder höheren innerbetrieblichen hierarchieebene, jedoch aus einem m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 2, 2006, 49-71 59 personale führung in unternehmensnetzwerken anderen unternehmen. beides hat zur folge, dass die akteure sich mit neuen rollenanforderungen konfrontiert sehen (z.b. bryman, bresnen, beardsworth, ford und keil, 1987; house 1995; aderhold und wetzel, 2005). innerbetriebliche rollenmuster der vorgesetzten-mitarbeiter-beziehungen können auf überbetrieblicher ebene kaum oder nur sehr begrenzt fortgeschrieben werden. in der literatur werden als veränderte rollen mit führungsaufgaben im netzwerk funktionenorientiert u.a. so genannte broker-rollen (u.a. miles und snow, 1986; göransson und schuh 1997), boundary spanning-rollen (u.a. sydow, 1992; sydow, 1995) sowie linking pin-rollen (grandori und soda, 1995) betont. die aufgaben von netzwerkakteuren in diesen grenzübergreifenden rollen sind neben anderen die suche und weitergabe führungsrelevanter informationen innerhalb und außerhalb des unternehmungsnetzwerkes, das aushandeln von verträgen und die überwachung ihrer einhaltung sowie die führung von mitarbeitern, die ihrerseits solche rollen bekleiden (cummings, 1984; sydow 1995). vangen und huxham (2003) verstehen darüber hinaus die entwicklung einer spezifischen infrastruktur, die den netzwerkmitgliedern eine partizipative teilnahme an der zusammenarbeit ermöglicht, als eine zentrale aufgabe von akteuren in einer führungsrolle. in diesem zusammenhang ist auch die integrationsaufgabe hervorzuheben. ähnlich wie in anderen organisationsformen arbeiten in netzwerken akteure mit unterschiedlichen erwartungen, kompetenzen, zielen und interessen zusammen, die aufeinander abgestimmt werden müssen, um kollektive handlung zu ermöglichen (pitsis et al., 2004). daran anschließend wird integration und koordination häufig als zentrale aufgabe von netzwerkakteuren thematisiert (cummings, 1984) und die in diesem sinne tätigen akteure, als akteure mit führungswirkung: «the main function (…) becomes that of being “centres of gravity” in the midst of weakening frameworks, and balancing the centrifugal forces exerted by loosely coupled structures» (shamir, 1999: 59; hervorhebungen im original). in der letzten zeit wird zudem die moderationsfunktion als steuerungsaufgabe genannt. moderation in unternehmensnetzwerken hat dabei die aufgabe, unterschiedliche interessen und zielstellungen auszugleichen, motivation zu fördern oder machtasymmetrien auszubalancieren (aderhold und wetzel, 2005). grenzübergreifende rollen fungieren als wesentlicher katalysator der netzwerkbeziehungen (huggins, 2000). dabei wird dem zwischenbetrieblichen schnittstellenmanagement eine hohe bedeutung beigemessen (belzer und hilbert, 1996), da hier das größte konfliktpotential gesehen wird. boyle (1994) hebt in diesem zusammenhang die rolle des caretaker hervor. dieser ist dafür verantwortlich, die sozialen beziehungen zwischen den netzwerkakteuren zu pflegen, opportunistisches verhalten zu reduzieren und dabei vertrauen aufzubauen. jedoch ist für die netzwerkakteure das ausfüllen grenzüberschreitender rollen nicht unproblematisch. «inherent to the nature of boundaryspanning positions is the likelihood that people occupying these roles will experience ambiguity and conflict» (nygaard und dahlstrom, 2002: 62). mehrdeutigkeit bezieht sich darauf, dass nur wenig klarheit darüm@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 2, 2006, 49-71 60 ingo winkler ber existiert, welches verhalten und welche ergebnisse von der person in dieser rolle erwartet werden. der aspekt des rollenkonflikts deutet auf einen hohen grad an inkongruenz oder auch inkompatibilität der erwartungen an diese rolle hin. das kann dazu führen, dass sich die akteure in überbetrieblichen interaktionen einem nicht unerheblichen rollenstress ausgesetzt sehen (nygaard und dahlstrom, 2002). dieser stress entsteht nach adams (1980) auch aufgrund der doppelrolle von personen in grenzübergreifenden rollen. einerseits sind sie in ein überbetriebliches beziehungssystem eingebunden, in dem sie mit anderen personen in ähnlichen rollen interagieren. andererseits sind sie jedoch weiterhin mitglieder ihres unternehmens und somit auch in das innerbetriebliche einflussnetz involviert (auch vangen und huxham, 2003). zusätzlich zur veränderung traditioneller rollenverständnisse wird in der literatur der aspekt thematisiert, dass die rollen im unternehmensnetzwerk auf unterschiedlichen ebenen der vernetzung von verschiedenen akteuren ausgefüllt werden. zündorf fand in den von ihm und kollegen untersuchten netzwerken zur betriebsübergreifenden problembewältigung heraus, dass sich ein ökonomisches netzwerk der manager sowie ein kollegiales netzwerk der experten etablierte, die unterschiedlich funktionierten und in denen unterschiedliche akteure führungsrollen innehatten (zündorf, 1994). franke (1999) geht noch einen schritt weiter und postuliert die parallele existenz mehrerer führungsakteure auf mehreren ebenen als eines der wichtigsten organisationsprinzipien von netzwerkorganisationen. darüber hinaus wird in der literatur auch die temporäre existenz von führungsrollen betont. situationsund problemspezifisch werden solche rollen häufig immer wieder neu ausgehandelt (winkler, 2004). führungsrollen in einem unternehmensnetzwerk können somit im zeitverlauf wechseln, wenn dies die entwicklung des netzwerkes notwendig macht (shamir, 1999), was bedeutet, dass der einfluss der einzelnen handlungszentren variieren kann (obring, 1992). «roles are continuously redefined on the basis of experience, and specific tasks are determined by negotiation. the parties to the bargain are determined not by an organization chart but by the character of the issues at hand» (chisholm, 1989: 12). führung in netzwerken kann aus dieser perspektive als eine art ad-hoc-arrangement verstanden werden, welches in umfang und dauer begrenzt ist (shamir, 1999). in diesem zusammenhang sprechen mohrmann und cohen (1995) vom quasimanager, welcher in einer gruppe die führungsrolle innehat und in einer anderen gruppe lediglich mitglied ist. machtressourcen und machtbeziehungen die organisation der beziehungen in unternehmensnetzwerken bedarf wiederholter kommunikation, entscheidung und verhandlung (ring und van de ven, 1994). dabei erfolgt eine wechselseitige abstimmung zwischen den teilnehmern (alter und hage, 1993). in der netzwerkliteratur wird i.d.r. davon ausgegangen, dass die herausbildung von kommunikations-, entscheidungsund verhandlungsstrukm@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 2, 2006, 49-71 61 personale führung in unternehmensnetzwerken turen machtdominiert (u.a. aldrich und whetten, 1981; sydow, 1992; hardy, 1994; sydow, 1995; sydow, windeler, krebs, loose und van well, 1995) sowie unter der beteiligung vieler abläuft (schertler, 1995). das in dieser hinsicht wesentliche merkmal von kooperativen unternehmensnetzwerken ist deren prinzipiell polyzentrische organisation. daran anschließend wird in der literatur die steuerung überwiegend als politischer prozess verstanden, in dem führungsund andere rollen über bargaining-prozesse, machtspiele etc. ausgehandelt werden (boje und whetten, 1981; vangen und huxham, 2003). es existieren kaum formale autoritäts-, steuerungsund kontrollstrukturen auf die sich die akteure beziehen können. somit müssen sie sich auf andere, häufig informale mechanismen und praktiken berufen, wenn sie einfluss ausüben wollen. dabei besteht die notwendigkeit, andere akteure zu involvieren und zu mobilisieren, um veränderungen zu bewirken, da kein akteur dazu allein in der lage ist (obring, 1992; håkansson und snehota, 1995; renz, 1998). die akteure können sich also, je nach art des netzwerkes, nur bedingt auf strukturelle elemente berufen. häufig müssen sie sich in eine gruppe einfügen, in der keine formale hierarchie existiert und auch informale dominanzstrukturen, «die netzinterne “hackordnung”» (reiß, 1998: 225; hervorhebungen im original), erst ausgehandelt werden (müssen). wenn die hierarchie als formale machtquelle fehlt, also akteure in netzwerken weniger positionsbezogene macht haben (shamir, 1999), so stellt sich die frage, welche machtquellen in unternehmensnetzwerken relevant sind. in der literatur werden auf netzwerkebene insbesondere drei zentrale machtquellen thematisiert. erstens ist der besitz von, der zugang zu und/oder die kontrolle über ressourcen, die für andere akteure des netzwerkes relevant sind, die quelle bzw. grundlage, aus denen abhängigkeiten und somit machtunterschiede im unternehmensnetzwerk entstehen (z.b. håkansson, 1989; sydow, 1992). diese ressourcen sind, je nach netzwerkart, unterschiedlich. so fungieren sowohl materielle (z.b. für das netzwerk relevante rohstoffe, geld), als auch immaterielle ressourcen (z.b. wissen sowie informationen und die so entstehende expertenmacht, beziehungskapital) als machtquellen. nach galaskiewicz und marsden (1978) spielt insbesondere die bewertung von ressourcen durch die involvierten akteure eine wesentliche rolle für symmetrische oder asymmetrische beziehungsmuster. je nachdem, welche ressourcen in einem konkreten netzwerk, wie bewertet werden, entwickeln sich netzwerkspezifische austauschund beziehungsmuster (auch gerybadze, 1995). zweitens wird in der netzwerkliteratur, in anlehnung an die soziale netzwerkanalyse und die mikropolitischen überlegungen von crozier und friedberg (1979), die position im beziehungsgeflecht des netzwerkes als machtquelle interpretiert (z.b. boje und whetten, 1981; cook und emerson, 1984; galaskiewicz, 1986; hoffman et al., 1990). zentralität «as a function of an organizationʼs structural position within a set of relations» (hoffman et al., 1990: 339) steht hier in direktem zusammenhang mit der möglichkeit, zugang zu relevanten ressourcen zu erhalten und macht im netzwerk auszuüben (cook und emerm@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 2, 2006, 49-71 62 ingo winkler son, 1984). je zentraler die netzwerkposition eines akteurs, desto größer ist sein einfluss bei der entscheidungsfindung und problemlösung (pitsis et al., 2004). neben einer zentralen position wird auch eine schlüsselposition, z.b. an der schnittstelle zu kunden und zulieferern oder zu wichtigen internen wie externen akteuren, als eine potentielle machtquelle interpretiert (renz, 1998; biggiero, 2001). akteure an einer solchen schnittstelle werden häufig als so genannte gatekeeper bezeichnet. sie besitzen selbst keine relevanten ressourcen, kontrollieren jedoch den zugang zu solchen (z.b. corra und willer, 2002). die damit einhergehende monopolisierung wird auf strukturelle eigenheiten des netzwerkes zurückgeführt, so dass man hier in anlehnung an die exchange network theory (willer, 1999) davon spricht, dass gatekeeper eine strukturelle machtposition innehaben. drittens, quasi als eine art mikropolitische erweiterung des häufig nur aus distributiver perspektive gebrauchten resource-dependence ansatzes, wird verhalten als potentielle quelle von macht hervorgehoben. netzwerkakteuren, die sich machtvoll verhalten, wird macht zugeschrieben (boje und whetten, 1981; winkler, 2004). aggressives oder geschicktes verhalten, das macht vorspiegelt, kann also ebenso wie der (tatsächliche) besitz von ressourcen dazu führen, dass die mitglieder eines unternehmensnetzwerkes einem akteur ein bestimmtes machtund somit einflusspotential attribuieren. bei der rekursiven stabilisierung von kooperation wird macht somit nicht nur durch den gebrauch von ressourcen, sondern auch durch den gebrauch von deutungsschema und normen sowie über sets von regeln der sinnkonstitution ausgeübt (ortmann, 1994). ähnlich sehen es elg und johansson (1997), aus deren sicht die einflussnahme auf wahrnehmungen und glauben der netzwerkakteure ebenso effektiv sein kann, wie die beeinflussung aufgrund der position im netzwerk. noch einen schritt weiter geht windeler (2001) in seiner argumentation: «macht zeigt sich in unternehmungsnetzwerken (…) nicht nur darin, wie in interaktionen und im systemgeschehen wiederkehrend sichtbar gehandelt wird, sondern auch in dem, was nicht getan wird, beziehungsweise insbesondere systemisch oder institutionell verhindert wird» (windeler, 2001: 171). machtausübung ist in unternehmensnetzwerken nie ein vollständig einseitiger, sondern immer ein wechselseitiger prozess (windeler, lutz und wirth, 2000) und die machtverteilung kann in den beziehungen zwischen den unternehmen fluktuieren (lampel und shapira, 1997). bei veränderten situationen können sich machtrelationen verschieben. so kann z.b. die aufnahme neuer mitglieder für dominante akteure problematisch werden, da die neuen akteure die beziehung redefinieren und damit bestehende machtverhältnisse in frage stellen und potentiell ändern könnten (hardy, 1994; winkler, 2004). einflussbeziehungen interorganisationale beziehungen schränken, so die vorherrschende meinung, die autonomie der beteiligten akteure ein (u.a. sydow, m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 2, 2006, 49-71 63 personale führung in unternehmensnetzwerken 1992; gerybadze, 1995; brussig, böhm-ott, drinkuth, kinkel, lay und storch, 2001). gleichzeitig ermöglichen solche beziehungen einfluss auf bzw. kontrolle über andere parteien. die an unternehmensnetzwerken beteiligten akteure versuchen, sich gegenseitig zu beeinflussen, um partiell auch eigene interessen durchzusetzen (bryson und crosby, 1992). daran anschließend kann mit feyerherm (1994) führung in netzwerken als eine art einflussnetz verstanden werden, welches viele personen der interorganisationalen gruppe umfasst. damit spricht sie einen aspekt an, der von mehreren autoren geteilt wird. so sprechen u.a. obring (1992) sowie kirsch und obring (1994) in diesem zusammenhang von einer mehrgipfligkeit von führungsstrukturen. führung im netzwerk stellt sich als kollektives mehrführertum dar und findet durch mehrere personen sowie auf mehreren ebenen statt. das bedeutet einerseits, dass gleichzeitig mehrere akteure einfluss auf das ergebnis des kollektiven verhaltens haben und andererseits, dass es akteure gibt, die auf unterschiedlichen ebenen der vernetzung verschieden hohes einflusspotential besitzen (zündorf, 1994). hierbei zeigt sich jedoch, dass der versuch von einzelnen akteuren, einfluss auf andere netzwerkmitglieder auszuüben, um dadurch die ergebnisse der zusammenarbeit mitzubestimmen, von dilemmata und schwierigkeiten begleitet wird. somit sind die ergebnisse i.d.r. nicht die, die intendiert waren (huxham und vangen, 2000). die gezielte beeinflussung von verhaltensspielräumen anderer netzwerkakteure ist in ihren wirkungen nur selten vorhersehbar, da häufig klare strukturen und regeln fehlen, auf die sich akteure bei ihren handlungen stützen können (renz, 1998; winkler, 2004). «people do not seem to be able to plan, or even to approach their problems in a fully systematic or rational (or at least controlled) way. instead, they try a number of different things, some of which “work” and some of which do not» (piore, 1990: 55; hervorhebungen im original). die wechselseitigkeit von einfluss in unternehmensnetzwerken wird insbesondere beim versuch gemeinsamer entscheidungen deutlich (z.b. obring, 1992). entscheidungen in netzwerken werden in mikropolitischen verhandlungsund wechselseitigen beeinflussungsprozessen zwischen mehreren akteuren gefällt (saxton, 1997; evers, 1998; windeler, 2001). hippe (1996) spricht in diesem zusammenhang davon, dass entscheidungsabhängigkeiten folglich als politische tauschbeziehungen aufgefasst werden können. die daran beteiligten akteure versuchen, in einer art machtund aushandlungsspiel ihre interessen zu vertreten und für sich positive entscheidungen herbeizuführen. ziele und zielerreichung in der literatur zu unternehmensnetzwerken wird einerseits der aspekt diskutiert, dass bei den netzwerkmitgliedern unterschiedliche zielund interessenlagen existieren und die akteure zumindest partiell versuchen, ihre einzelziele zu erreichen (evers, 1998). zum anderen werden mit netzwerkartiger zusammenarbeit in der regel auch m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 2, 2006, 49-71 64 ingo winkler gemeinsame ziele verfolgt. das erreichen von individuellen und gemeinsamen zielen erfolgt innerhalb des sich hier abzeichnenden spannungsfeldes, welches durch den faktor zeit zusätzliche dynamik erhält (winkler, 2004). dabei zeigt die diskussion in der literatur, dass die auffassungen bezüglich einer notwendigen übereinstimmung von zielvorstellungen der netzwerkpartner auswirkungen auf die daraus abgeleiteten aufgaben eines netzwerkmanagements haben. hier sind zwei argumentationsstränge zu beobachten. einerseits wird postuliert, dass gemeinsame bzw. geteilte ziele eine hohe bedeutung für den langfristigen erfolg der zusammenarbeit haben (u.a. aldrich und whetten, 1981; sydow et al., 1995; hippe, 1996; siebert, 1999). gemeinsame ziele tragen insbesondere zur integration der teilnehmer und stabilität der beziehungen bei. schertler (1995) erachtet sogar eine ähnlichkeit von zielen und werten auf normativer und strategischer ebene als notwendig. daraus abgeleitete führungsfunktionen im netz wären demnach das angleichen der ziele der partner, die selektive aufnahme von partnern mit ähnlichen zielen in die netzwerkgemeinschaft sowie der ausschluss von akteuren mit differierenden zielauffassungen. andererseits ist die normative setzung der notwendigen ähnlichkeit von zielen für den gemeinsamen erfolg nicht unumstritten (zu einer gegenposition z.b. obring, 1992; balling, 1997; ness und gulbrandsen, 1997; huxham, 2003; huxham und vangen, 2004). dieser zweite argumentationsstrang geht von einer notwendigen balance zwischen gemeinsamen und konkurrierenden zielen aus. danach nehmen unternehmen am netzwerk aufgrund unterschiedlicher gründe teil, sie wollen oft verschiedene ziele erreichen (ringlstetter, 1995; ness und gulbrandsen, 1997). «collaboration is much more likely among organizations with complementary expertise, and these will necessarily have different aims» (huxham und vangen, 1996: 9). für die stabilität der beziehung zwischen den beteiligten akteuren eines unternehmensnetzwerkes müssen beide in einen akzeptablen einklang gebracht werden, woraus sich die führungsfunktionen des ausbalancierens von gemeinsamen und unterschiedlichen zielen und der herstellung von, zumindest partieller, zielkompatibilität ableiten. wird der zeitliche aspekt in die betrachtungen einbezogen, so kommt ein komplexitätserhöhendes moment hinzu. zu beginn der zusammenarbeit existieren häufig keine oder nur sehr wenige gemeinsame ziele. diese entwickeln sich nach termeer und koppenjan (1997) erst im verlauf der netzwerkartigen kooperation, also während der interaktion zwischen den beteiligten akteuren (auch klijn und teisman, 1997). aus dieser perspektive beginnt gemeinsame handlung in unternehmensnetzwerken mit gemeinsamen mitteln und nicht gemeinsamen zielen (termeer und koppenjan, 1997). hinzu kommt, dass die netzwerkakteure ihre wahren gründe der teilnahme am netzwerk, bewusst oder unbewusst, nicht immer offen legen (eden und huxham, 2001). «on reflection then it is not so surprising, that reaching agreement can be very difficult» (huxham und vangen, 2004: 192). m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 2, 2006, 49-71 65 personale führung in unternehmensnetzwerken schlussfolgerungen – elemente eines verständnisses von führung in kooperativen unternehemnsnetzwerken die analyse zeigt, dass die netzwerkforschung vielfältige führungsaspekte adressiert, häufig jedoch implizit und selten systematisch. indem solche aspekte wie wechselseitige einflussversuche, zielund interessendurchsetzung oder kollektive handlungen thematisiert werden, wird damit auch die entstehung, existenz und wirkung von führungsbeziehungen und -akteuren angesprochen. wenn man die in der literaturanalyse herausgearbeiteten ergebnisse zusammenfasst betrachtet, lässt sich führung in kooperativen unternehmensnetzwerken allgemein mit den attributen kollektiv, informal, parallel, wechselnd und somit temporär kennzeichnen. zudem lassen sich auf der basis der ergebnisse drei zentrale elemente eines verständnisses von führung in solchen netzwerken herausarbeiten: die unterschiedlichen ziele und interessen der netzwerkakteure, die vielfältigen interaktionsprozesse zwischen den netzwerkteilnehmern sowie das sich etablierende mehrführertum. ein solches, durch weitere forschung notwendig zu erweiterndes verständnis fasst einerseits einen teil der bisherigen forschung zusammen und unterstützt andererseits die beschreibung und weitere untersuchung des noch relativ jungen forschungsfeldes. kooperative unternehmensnetzwerke sind heterarchisch organisierte formen überbetrieblicher zusammenarbeit, in denen akteure mit unterschiedlichen zielund interessenlagen interagieren. zieldivergenzen haben für das verständnis von führung in kooperativen unternehmensnetzwerken zwei implikationen. erstens beeinflussen ziele und interessen die bewertung eigenen und fremden verhaltens. ob beobachtete verhaltensweisen (z.b. die formulierung eines gemeinsamen ziels) oder verhaltensergebnisse (z.b. eine bestimmte konstellation des netzwerkes) auch eigene zielvorstellungen der netzwerkteilnahme erfüllen (können), ist ein wichtiges erklärungsmoment für die entstehung von führerschaft. wegen der polyzentriertheit der beziehungen existiert kein dauerhaft machtvolles element, welches die einzelinteressen bestimmten kollektiven zielen unterzuordnen vermag. somit sind die akteure relativ frei, verhalten sowie verhaltensresultate von anderen akteuren bezüglich eigener ziele und interessen zu bewerten. zweitens ist anzunehmen, dass die absicht von netzwerkteilnehmern, eigene ziele und interessen durchzusetzen, führungsanspruch generiert. versuche, andere akteure zu beeinflussen und eine dominante stellung im beziehungsgeflecht des netzwerkes zu erlangen, sind verhaltensweisen, welche die umsetzung eigener ziele unterstützen sollen. die unterschiedlichen ziele und interessen der netzwerkteilnehmer bilden hier ein element des politischen spielraums im netzwerk. aufgrund der polyzentrischen und eher informalen organisation von kooperativen unternehmensnetzwerken haben die akteure mehr möglichkeiten, auch eigene ziele zu verfolgen, z.b. beim aushandeln von übereinkünften sowie beim umgang mit kollektiv vereinbarten regeln. m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 2, 2006, 49-71 66 ingo winkler in der analysierten netzwerkliteratur wird immer wieder auf vielfältige interaktionsprozesse bezug genommen, u.a. aktive und emergente prozesse bei der entstehung von strukturen und regeln, aushandlung und einfluss als teil von politischen prozessen sowie lösungsprozesse beim umgang mit konflikten und problemen. für das verständnis von führung in kooperativen unternehmensnetzwerken sind diese prozesse zentral, da sie quasi die interaktionsbrennpunkte für die entstehung, reproduktion und veränderung von führung darstellen. in diesen prozessen entwickeln sich die beziehungen und strukturen der zusammenarbeit. es entsteht eine bestimmte art und qualität von beziehungen mit unterschiedlichen differenzierungen, die auch führungsrollen und -potentiale enthalten. gleichzeitig werden diese rollen und potentiale in interaktionsprozessen erprobt und somit reproduziert oder verändert. führungsfunktionen und -wirkung, deren konkreter inhalt sich aus dem jeweiligen charakter und der struktur der sich zwischen den akteuren etablierenden beziehungen ergibt, sind über das netzwerk verteilt. dabei ist führung nicht notwendig gleichmäßig verteilt, sondern es existieren akteure mit höherem einflusspotential sowie akteure, denen nur wenig steuerungswirkung zugeschrieben wird. führung in kooperativen unternehmensnetzwerken bedeutet das gleichzeitige zusammenwirken mehrerer führungszentren, wobei die herausbildung der konkreten verteilung oder ausprägung von führung spezifisch im laufe der entstehung und organisation des netzwerkes erfolgt. das bedeutet jedoch, dass führung in ihrer wirkung begrenzt ist. diese begrenztheit lässt sich analytisch zeitlich, funktional und örtlich näher bestimmen. einem akteur wird z.b. nur für bestimmte situationen (zeitliche begrenztheit) oder aufgaben (funktionale begrenztheit) führerschaft zugeschrieben oder ein akteur mit führungsanspruch schafft es, durch sein verhalten nur bei einem teil der netzwerkmitglieder führungsstatus zu erlangen und somit anhängerschaft zu gewinnen (örtliche begrenztheit). führung stellt sich somit als führung von ausschnitten des netzwerkes dar. die begrenztheit von führung bedeutet, dass führungsakteure, um führungswirkung zu erzielen, in der lage sein müssen, die zeitlichen, funktionalen und/oder örtlichen rahmen zu bestimmen und damit so genannte führungsbereiche abzugrenzen. die mehrdeutigkeit der netzwerkbeziehungen lässt vermuten, dass den akteuren diese abgrenzung unterschiedlich gut gelingt, so dass zugeschriebene führerschaft nicht die erwartete steuerungswirkung zeigt oder das führungsanspruch nicht umgesetzt werden kann, weil die situation oder die beteiligten netzwerkmitglieder falsch eingeschätzt wurden. direkte einflusslinien sind hierbei kaum auszumachen. vielmehr existiert ein einflussnetz, dessen wirkungen oft unscharf oder unbestimmt bleiben. neben den aufgezeigten inhaltlichen erkenntnissen, kann als ein weiteres wichtiges analyseergebnis festgehalten werden, dass das forschungsgebiet der personalführung beschreibungs-, erklärungsund verständnisansätze für die interaktionsbasierten steuerungsprozesse in unternehmensnetzwerken liefern kann. insbesondere wenn man die neuere führungsforschung heranzieht kann z.b. erklärt werden, m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 2, 2006, 49-71 67 personale führung in unternehmensnetzwerken warum und wie trotz des fehlens hierarchischer strukturen dominanz-, abhängigkeitsund einflussbeziehungen entstehen und auf welche weise diese reproduziert und gegebenenfalls verändert werden. damit kann die identifikation von führerschaft und führungswirkung in unternehmensnetzwerken dazu beitragen, das handeln der akteure sowie das handeln von netzwerken besser zu verstehen. das forschungsgebiet der personalen führung scheint somit gut geeignet, die netzwerkakteure als soziale gruppe zu fassen und somit die relevanz des sich entwickelnden personalen netzwerkes für die entstehung, entwicklung sowie den potentiellen erfolg eines unternehmensnetzwerkes aufzuzeigen. mit der in diesem beitrag durchgeführten analyse wurde ein teil der bisherigen netzwerkliteratur für ein relativ neues themengebiet interorganisationaler forschung fruchtbar gemacht. zugleich relativieren die ergebnisse den von einigen autoren angemahnten mangel an ergebnissen zu personaler führung in der bisherigen netzwerkforschung. jedoch lassen sich anhand der hier vorgestellten ergebnisse verschiedene zukünftige forschungsbedarfe aufzeigen. auf zwei wesentliche wird im folgenden kurz eingegangen. erstens ist bisher kaum eine führungstheoretische einbettung der forschungsergebnisse zu führung in unternehmensnetzwerken erfolgt. hierbei lässt sich insbesondere danach fragen, ob und inwieweit sich führungstheoretische ansätze auf dieses relativ neue forschungsgebiet übertragen lassen. zweitens sollte der prozess der entstehung, reproduktion und veränderung von führung in unternehmensnetzwerken insbesondere ziel empirischer untersuchungen sein. es ist zu erwarten, dass sich keine linearen verläufe, sondern netzwerkartig verzweigte, kreiskausale sowie direkte und indirekte pfade ergeben, die sich je nach netzwerk unterschiedlich darstellen. ingo winkler graduated in organisation studies and marketing at chemnitz university of technology. he received his doctor degree in business studies in 2004. currently he is lecturer in organisation studies at chemnitz university of technology. his research focuses on interfirm cooperation, leadership and non-standard employment. m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 2, 2006, 49-71 68 ingo winkler literatur � adams, j. s. 1980 interorganizational processes and organization boundary activities, in b. m. staw und l. l. cummings (hrsg.), research in organizational behavior, vol. 2, greenwich, ct: jai press, 321-355. � aderhold, j., und r. wetzel 2005 netzwerkmoderation : grundprobleme und gestaltungsvorschläge für ein handlungsfähiges netzwerkmanagement, zeitschrift für führung und organisation, 74: 1, 18-24. � aldrich, h. e., und d. a. whetten 1981 organization-sets, action-sets and networks: making the most of simplicity, in p. c. nystrom und w. h. starbuck (hrsg.), handbook of organizational design, vol. 1, oxford: oxford university press, 385-408. � alter, c., und j. hage 1993 organizations working together, newbury park, ca: sage. � balling, r. 1997 kooperation : strategische allianzen, netzwerke, joint-ventures und andere organisationsformen zwischenbetrieblicher zusammenarbeit in theorie und praxis, frankfurt a. m.: lang. � beech, n., und c. huxham 2003 cycles of identity formation in interorganizational collaborations, international studies of management and organizations, 33: 3, 28-52. � belzer, v., und j. hilbert 1996 virtuelle unternehmen: schlank, aber innovativ, in p. brödner, u. pekruhl und d. rehfeld (hrsg.), arbeitsteilung ohne ende?, münchen: hampp, 149-167. � biggiero, l. 2001 self-organizing processes in building entrepreneurial networks: a theoretical and empirical investigation, human systems management, 20: 3, 209-222. � boje, d. m., und d. a. whetten 1981 effects of organizational strategies and contextual constraints on centrality and attributions of influence in interorganizational networks, administrative science quarterly, 26: 3, 378395. � boyle, e. 1994 managing organizational networks in britain: the role of the caretaker, journal of general management, 19: 4, 13-23. � brass, d. j., j. galaskiewicz, h. r. greve, und w. tsai 2004 taking stock of networks and organizations: a multilevel perspective, academy of management journal, 47: 6, 795-817. � brussig, m., s. böhm-ott, a. drinkuth, s. kinkel, g. lay, und k. storch 2001 leitfaden: regionale netze erfolgreich gestalten und betreiben, frankfurt a. m.: vdma. � bryman, a., m. j. bresnen, a. d. beardsworth, j. r. ford und e. t. keil 1987 the concept of the temporary system: the case of the construction project, in n. ditomaso und s. b. bacharach (hrsg.), research in the sociology of organizations, vol. 6, greenwich, ct: jai press, 253-283. � bryson, j. m., und b. c. crosby 1992 leadership for the common good: tackling public problems in a sharedpower world, san francisco: josseybass. � calder, b. j. 1977 an attribution theory of leadership, in b. m. staw und g. r. salancik (hrsg.), new directions in organizational behavior, chicago: st. clair press, 179-204. � chisholm, d. 1989 coordination without hierarchy: informal structures in multiorganizational systems, berkeley, ca: university of california press. � chrislip, d. d., und c. e. larson 1994 collaborative leadership: how citizens and civic leaders can make a difference, san francisco: jossey-bass. � cook, k. s., und r. m emerson 1984 exchange networks and the analysis of complex organizations, in s. b. bacharach und e. j. lawler (hrsg.), research in the sociology of organizations, vol. 3, greenwich, ct: jai-press, 1-30. � corra, m., und d. willer 2002 the gatekeeper, sociological theory, 20: 2, 180-207. � crozier, m., und e. friedberg 1979 macht und organisation. die zwänge kollektiven handelns; zur politologie organisierter systeme, königstein/taunus: athenäum. � cummings, t. g. 1984 transorganizational development, in b. m. staw, und l. l. cummings (hrsg.), research in organizational behavior, vol. 6, greenwich, ct: jai press. 367422. � dyer, j. h., und h. singh 1998 the relational view: cooperative strategy and sources of interorganizational competitive advantage, academy of management review, 23: 4, 660-679. � ebers, m., und j. c. jarillo 1997/1998 the construction, forms, and consequences of industry networks, international studies of management & organization, 27: 4, 3-21. m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 2, 2006, 49-71 69 personale führung in unternehmensnetzwerken � eden, c., und c. huxham 2001 the negotiation of purpose in multiorganizational collaborative groups, journal of management studies, 38: 3, 373-391. � elg, u., und u. johansson 1997 decision making in inter-firm networks as a political process, organization studies, 18: 3, 361-384. � evers, m. 1998 strategische führung mittelständischer unternehmensnetzwerke, mering: hampp. � feyerherm, a. e. 1994 leadership in collaboration: a longitudinal study of two interorganizational rule-making groups, leadership quarterly, 5: 3/4, 253-270. � fourier, s. 1997 ideen-tipps-trends infobrief, humanagement-infobrief, 3: 4, 1-3. � franke, u. j. 1999 the virtual web as a new entrepreneurial approach to network organizations, entrepreneurship and regional development, 11: 3, 203-229. � galaskiewicz, j. 1986 interorganizational networks: mobilizing action at the metropolitan level, in r. perrucci und h. r. potter (hrsg.), networks of power: organizational actors at the national, corporate, and community levels, hawthorne, ny: aldine de gruyter, 81-96. � galaskiewicz, j., und p. v. marsden 1978 interorganizational resource networks: formal patterns of overlap, social science research, 7: 2, 89-107. � gerybadze, a. 1995 strategic alliances and process redesign: effective management and restructuring of cooperative projects and networks, berlin: de gruyter. � göransson, å., und g. schuh 1997 das netzwerkmanagement in der virtuellen fabrik, in g. müller-stewens (hrsg.), virtualisierung von organisationen, stuttgart: schäffer-poeschel, 61-82. � grandori, a., und g. soda 1995 inter-firm networks: antecedents, mechanisms and forms, organization studies, 16: 2, 183-214. � håkansson, h. 1989 corporate technological behaviour: co-operation and networks, london: routledge. � håkansson, h., und j. johanson 1993 the network as a governance structure: interfirm cooperation beyond markets and hierarchies, in g. grabher (hrsg.), the embedded firm: on the socioeconomics of industrial networks, london: routledge, 35-51. � håkansson, h., und i. snehota (hrsg.) 1995 developing relationships in business networks, london: routledge. � hardy, c. 1994 underorganized interorganizational domains: the case of refugee systems, journal of applied behavioral science, 30: 3, 278-296. � hippe, a. 1996 betrachtungsebenen und erkenntnisziele in strategischen unternehmensnetzwerken, in k. bellmann und a. hippe (hrsg.), management von unternehmensnetzwerken. internationale konzepte und praktische umsetzung, wiesbaden: gabler, 21-53. � hoffman, a. n., t. m. stearns, und c. b. shrader 1990 structure, context and centrality in interorganizational networks, journal of business research, 20: 4, 333-347. � house, r. j. 1995 leadership in the twenty-first century: a speculative inquiry, in a. howard (hrsg.), the changing nature of work, san francisco: jossey-bass, 411-450. � huggins, r. 2000 the success and failure of policyimplanted inter-firm network initiatives: motivations, processes and structure, entrepreneurship & regional development, 12: 2, 111-135. � hughes, r. l., r. c. ginnett, und g. j. curphy 1996 leadership: enhancing the lessons of experience, 2. ausgabe, chicago: irwin. � huxham, c. 2003 theorizing collaboration practice, public management review, 5: 3, 401-423. � huxham, c., und n. beech 2002 points of power in interorganizational forms: learning from a learning network, academy of management best papers proceedings, b1-b6. � huxham, c., und s. vangen 1996 working together: key themes in the management of relationships between public and non-profit organizations, international journal of public sector management, 9: 7, 5-17. � huxham, c., und s. vangen 2000 action researching the meaning of leadership for the theory and practice of inter-organizational collaboration, research paper, glasgow: university of strathclyde business school. � huxham, c., und s. vangen 2001 leadership in the shaping and implementation of collaboration agendas: how things happen in a (not quite) joined-up world, academy of management journal, 43: 6, 1159-1175. � huxham, c., und s. vangen 2004 doing things collaboratively: realizing the advantage or succumbing on inertia?, organizational dynamics, 33: 2, 190-201. � johannisson, b. 1987 anarchists and organizers: entrepreneurs in a network perspective, international studies of management & organization, 17: 1, 49-63. m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 2, 2006, 49-71 70 ingo winkler � kirsch, w., und k. obring 1994 grundrisse einer theorie der strategischen unternehmensführung, in j. engelhard und h. rehkugler (hrsg.), strategien für nationale und internationale märkte. konzepte und praktische gestaltung, wiesbaden: gabler, 1-34. � klijn, e. h., und g. r. teisman 1997 strategies and games in networks, in w. j. m. kickert, e.-h. klijn, und j. f. m. koppenjan (hrsg.), managing complex networks: strategies for the public sector, london: sage, 98-118. � lampel, j., und z. shapira 1997 the influence of decision heuristics on strategic surprises in industries with interactive norms, xiii egos colloquium, budapest, 3-5 july. � lord, r. g. 1985 an information processing approach to social perceptions, leadership and behavioral measurement in organizations, in l. l. cummings, und b. m. staw (hrsg.), research in organizational behavior, vol. 7, greenwich, ct: jai-press, 87-128. � lord, r. g., und r. j. foti 1986 schema theories, information processing, and organizational behavior, in h. p. sims, jr., und d. a. gioia (hrsg.), the thinking organization: dynamics of organizational social cognition, san francisco: jossey-bass, 20-48. � mayring, p. 1995 qualitative inhaltsanalyse, in u. flick, e. von kardorff, h. keupp, l. von rosenstiel, und s. wolff (hrsg.), handbuch qualitative sozialforschung: grundlagen, konzepte, methoden und anwendungen. 2. auflage, weinheim: beltz, 209-212. � miles, r. e., und c. c. snow 1986 organizations: new concepts for new forms, california management review, 28: 3, 62-73. � mohrman, s. a., und s. g. cohen 1995 when people get out of the box: new relationships, new systems, in a. howard (hrsg.), the changing nature of work, san francisco: jossey-bass, 365-410. � ness, h., und b. gulbrandsen 1997 external change and development of interorganizational relationships in the norwegian oil industry, xiii egos colloquium, budapest, 3-5 july. � neuberger, o. 2002 führen und führen lassen. ansätze, ergebnisse und kritik der führungsforschung, 6. auflage, stuttgart: lucius & lucius. � nygaard, a., und r. dahlstrom 2002 role stress and effectiveness in horizontal alliances, journal of marketing, 66: 2, 61-82. � obring, k. 1992 strategische unternehmensführung und polyzentrische strukturen, münchen: kirsch. � ortmann, g. 1994 lean zur rekursiven stabilisierung von kooperation, in g. schreyögg, und p. conrad (hrsg.), managementforschung 4: dramaturgie des managements laterale steuerung, berlin: walter de gruyter, 143-184. � ortmann, g., und w. schnelle 2000 medizinische qualitätsnetze: steuerung und selbststeuerung, in j. sydow, und a. windeler (hrsg.), steuerung von netzwerken: konzepte und praktiken, opladen: westdeutscher verlag, 206-233. � piore, j. m. 1990 work, labour and action: work experience in a system of flexible production, in f. pyke, g. becattini, und w. sengenberger (hrsg.), industrial districts and inter-firm co-operation in italy, genf: ilo, 52-74. � pitsis, t.s., m. kornberger, und s. clegg 2004 the art of managing relationships in interorganizational collaboration, m@n@gement, 7: 3, 47-67. � reiß, m. 1998 mythos netzwerkorganisation, zeitschrift für führung und organisation, 67: 4, 224-229. � renz, t. 1998 management in internationalen unternehmensnetzwerken, wiesbaden: gabler. � ring, p. s., und a. h. van de ven 1994 developmental processes of cooperative interorganizational relationships, academy of management review, 19: 1, 90-118. � ringlstetter, m. 1995 strategische allianzen, in h. corsten, und m. reiß (hrsg.), handbuch für unternehmensführung, wiesbaden: gabler, 695-704. � saxton, t. 1997 the effects of partner and relationship characteristics on alliance outcomes, academy of management journal, 40: 2, 443-461. � schenk, m. 1984 soziale netzwerke und kommunikation, tübingen: mohr. � schertler, w. 1995 management von unternehmenskooperationen entwurf eines bezugsrahmens, in w. schertler (hrsg.), management von unternehmenskooperationen: branchenspezifische analysen & neueste forschungsergebnisse, wien: ueberreuter, 19-54. � shamir, b. 1999 leadership in boundaryless organizations: disposable or indispensable?, european journal of work and organizational psychology, 8: 1, 49-71. � siebert. h. 1999 ökonomische analyse von unternehmensnetzwerken, in j. sydow (hrsg.), management von netzwerkorganisationen: beiträge aus der “managementforschung”, 3. auflage, wiesbaden: gabler, 7-27. http://www.dmsp.dauphine.fr/management/vol7_en.html m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 2, 2006, 49-71 71 personale führung in unternehmensnetzwerken � snow, c. c., r. e. miles, und h. j coleman jr. 1992 managing 21st century network organizations, organizational dynamics, 20: 3, 5-20. � steinle, c. 1995 führungsdefinitionen, in a. kieser, g. reber, und r. wunderer (hrsg.), handwörterbuch der führung, 2. auflage, stuttgart: c.e. poeschel, 523-533. � sydow, j. 1992 strategische netzwerke: evolution und organisation, wiesbaden: gabler. � sydow, j. 1995 netzwerkbildung und kooptation als führungsaufgabe, in a. kieser, g. reber, und r. wunderer (hrsg.), handwörterbuch der führung, stuttgart: c.e. poeschel, 1622-1635. � sydow, j. 1999 führung in netzwerkorganisationen fragen an die führungsforschung, in g. schreyögg, und j. sydow (hrsg.), managementforschung 9: führung neu gesehen, berlin: de gruyter, 279-292. � sydow, j., und a. windeler 1994 über netzwerke, virtuelle integration und interorganisationsbeziehungen, in j. sydow, und a. windeler (hrsg.), management interorganisationaler beziehungen, opladen: westdeutscher, 1-21. � sydow, j., und a. windeler 2000 steuerung von und in netzwerken perspektiven, konzepte, vor allem aber offene fragen, in j. sydow und a. windeler (hrsg.), steuerung von netzwerken: konzepte und praktiken, opladen: westdeutscher, 1-24. � sydow, j., a. windeler, m. krebs, a. loose, und b. van well 1995 organisation von netzwerken: strukturationstheoretische analysen der vermittlungspraxis in versicherungsnetzwerken, opladen: westdeutscher. � termeer, c. j. a. m., und j. f. m. koppenjan 1997 managing perceptions in networks, in w. j. m. kickert, e.-h. klijn, und j. f. m. koppenjan (hrsg.), managing complex networks: strategies for the public sector, london: sage, 79-97. � vangen, s., und c. huxham 2003 enacting leadership for collaborative advantage: dilemmas of ideology and pragmatism in the activities of partnership managers, british journal of management, 14: 1, 61-76. � voß, w. 2002 ganzheitliche bewertung von unternehmensnetzwerken. konzeption eines bewertungsmodells, frankfurt a. m.: peter lang. � weick, k. e. 1969 the social psychology of organizing, reading, ma: addison-wesley. � wetzel, r., j. aderhold, c. baitsch, und s. keiser 2001 moderation in netzwerken theoretische, didaktische und handlungsorientierte betrachtungen aus einer internen perspektive, in c. baitsch und b. müller (hrsg.), moderation in regionalen netzwerken, mering: hampp, 7-124. � willer, d. (hrsg.) 1999 network exchange theory, westport, ct: praeger. � windeler, a. 2001 unternehmungsnetzwerke konstitution und strukturation, wiesbaden: westdeutscher. � windeler, a., a. lutz, und c. wirth 2000 netzwerksteuerung durch selektion die produktion von fernsehserien in projektnetzwerken, in j. sydow, und a. windeler (hrsg.), steuerung von netzwerken: konzepte und praktiken, opladen: westdeutscher, 178-205. � winkler, i. 2004 personale führung in netzwerken kleiner und mittlerer unternehmen. theoretische und empirische betrachtungen zur entstehung, reproduktion und veränderung von führungsbeziehungen bei überbetrieblicher netzwerkartiger kooperation, mering: hampp. � zündorf, l. 1994 managerund expertennetzwerke in innovativen problemverarbeitungsprozessen, in j. sydow, und a. windeler (hrsg.), management interorganisationaler beziehungen: vertrauen, kontrolle und informationstechnik, opladen: westdeutscher, 244-257. manuela pardo del val y clara martínez fuentes 2005 resistencias al cambio organizativo: un análisis empírico en cambios reactivos y anticipativos m@n@gement, 8: 3, 47-67. m@n@gement is a double-blind reviewed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.dmsp.dauphine.fr/management/ © 2005 m@n@gement and the author(s). issn: 1286-4892 editors: martin evans, u. of toronto bernard forgues, u. of lille i m@n@gement, vol. 8, no. 3, 2005, 47-67 47 manuela pardo del val . clara martínez fuentes universitat de valènciafacultad de economía email: manoli.pardo@uv.es universitat de valència facultad de economía email: clara.martinez@uv.es resistencias al cambio organizativo: un análisis empírico en cambios reactivos y anticipativos este trabajo examina el cambio organizativo, centrándose en la distinción de los cambios según su origen y presentando una tipología que distingue entre cambios reactivos y anticipativos. asimismo, se ofrece un profundo estudio de la resistencia al cambio, compilando las contribuciones de numerosos autores en una clasificación de las resistencias en cinco grandes grupos. a partir de una investigación empírica realizada en empresas españolas, hemos analizado la importancia de las fuentes de resistencia al cambio definidas teóricamente, considerando además las peculiaridades de las resistencias para los dos tipos de cambio establecidos. el estudio secunda, en primer lugar, la relación teórica de resistencias al cambio presentada. además, los datos estadísticos muestran que determinadas fuentes de resistencia al cambio son más fuertes en los cambios anticipativos que en los reactivos, indicando a las organizaciones dónde deberán prestar especial atención durante su proceso de cambio en función de las características de éste. introduction multitud de investigaciones (lawrence, 1954; strebel, 1994; maurer, 1996; waddell y sohal, 1998, entre otras) subrayan que las causas del fracaso de muchas iniciativas de cambio se encuentran en las resistencias encontradas. las resistencias a los cambios introducen costes y retrasos en la organización (ansoff y mcdonnell, 1990) difíciles de haber sido considerados previamente (lorenzo, 2000). por otra parte, una gran parte de trabajos (lawrence, 1954; goldstein, 1988; beer y eisenstat, 1996; waddell y sohal, 1998; piderit, 2000) también afirman que se puede obtener cierta utilidad a las resistencias al cambio. en este sentido, maurer (1996) defiende que aprender a trabajar eficientemente con aquellos que se resisten al cambio puede suponer la diferencia entre un cambio exitoso y un fracaso. en cualquier caso, las resistencias que van apareciendo en los procesos de cambio deben ser consideradas para asegurar, en la medida de lo posible, que la organización pueda alcanzar las ventajas derivadas de la adopción de la novedad a introducir. considerando, pues, la importancia del tema, este trabajo persigue profundizar en el conocimiento de la resistencia al cambio a través de m@n@gement, vol. 8, no. 3, 2005, 47-67 48 manuela pardo del val y clara martínez fuentes una exposición teórica del concepto1, para después ofrecer los resultados de una investigación empírica realizada a empresas españolas que han atravesado un proceso de cambio y en la que se analizaron las principales fuentes de resistencia, así como su relación con los tipos de cambio en los que habían surgido. concluiremos que las tres fuentes de resistencia que más dificultan los cambios organizativos pertenecen a la fase de implantación y que las resistencias son más habituales en los cambios que surgen como anticipación a fenómenos frente a aquellos que reaccionan a las circunstancias cambiantes. marco teórico cambio y resistencia al cambio la primera dificultad que nos encontramos a la hora de definir qué se entiende por cambio organizativo es la abundancia de términos que tienen significados similares y que conviene, en primer lugar, identificar y aclarar. algunas investigaciones hacen referencia a los conceptos de innovación, transformación y transición. en algunas ocasiones, innovación viene asociada a cambios relacionados con el campo tecnológico, pero no siempre es así. en el marco de este trabajo, entenderemos innovación, transición y transformación como sinónimos de cambio, considerando que no perdemos ningún matiz fundamental con tal identificación. la palabra renovación también es habitual en la literatura de cambio organizativo. en este caso vamos a decantarnos por aportar una diferencia entre renovación y cambio, puesto que entendemos que una renovación consiste en un cambio a gran escala, mientras que el concepto de cambio acepta diferentes graduaciones. por tanto, una renovación siempre será un cambio, pero un cambio no siempre será una renovación. con estas aclaraciones previas, pasamos a describir qué entendemos por cambio. el cambio organizativo es una observación empírica de diferencia en forma, calidad o estado a lo largo del tiempo en una entidad organizativa (van de ven y poole, 1995), a partir de la introducción deliberada de nuevas formas de pensar, actuar y operar (schalk, campbell y freese, 1998), persiguiendo una adaptación al entorno (child y smith, 1987; barr, stimpert y huff, 1992; leana y barry, 2000) o una mejora de resultados (keck y tushman, 1993; boeker, 1997). tal y como se ha definido el cambio, nos enfrentamos a un amplio abanico de situaciones que conviene distinguir haciendo uso de determinadas dimensiones que nos permitan establecer tipos de cambio organizativo. este trabajo acude al origen de los cambios, al tratarse de una variable comúnmente utilizada en la literatura para diseñar tipologías de cambios (nadler y tushman, 1989; strebel, 1994; appelbaum, st-pierre y glavas, 1998, entre otros). así, los cambios se pueden definir dentro de un continuo que parte de cambios que surgen reaccionando a determinadas circunstancias a otros que surgen anticipándose. con el fin de facilitar el uso de esta dimensión, describiremos los dos extremos del continuo y sus características, pero siempre 1. cabe advertir que este trabajo se basa en un marco conceptual fundamentado en las teorías tradicionales positivistas, sin menoscabo de la interesante aportación que podría realizarse desde otras perspectivas. m@n@gement, vol. 8, no. 3, 2005, 47-67 49 resistencias al cambio organizativo teniendo en cuenta que los cambios que se observan en la realidad de las organizaciones no tienen por qué asociarse con un tipo puro, sino que más bien se trata de una gradación, en cuyos extremos se sitúan las descripciones que a continuación presentamos. diremos que un cambio es reactivo cuando surge como respuesta a un fenómeno (nadler y tushman, 1989), es decir, la dirección identifica la necesidad del cambio y prepara los pasos necesarios para que la organización supere las presiones del entorno (appelbaum et al., 1998). el cambio reactivo se da, pues, cuando las fuerzas que mueven hacia el cambio están teniendo o van a tener en breve un fuerte impacto negativo en el resultado de la organización y, en consecuencia, la están forzando a alterar su situación actual (strebel, 1994). cuando el cambio se inicia como anticipación a situaciones externas que se puedan producir le llamaremos cambio anticipativo o proactivo (nadler y tushman, 1989; appelbaum et al., 1998). en este tipo de cambio la organización está funcionando bien y las fuerzas hacia el cambio todavía no afectan en modo alguno al resultado (strebel, 1994). una vez introducido el concepto de cambio organizativo y presentada una tipología, procederemos a analizar el término resistencia. la resistencia al cambio es definida por ansoff y mcdonnell (1990) como un fenómeno que afecta al proceso de cambio retrasando su inicio, retrasando y dificultando su implantación y aumentando su costo, y/o saboteándolo o absorbiéndolo dentro de la confusión de otras prioridades. otros autores (zaltman y duncan, 1977; maurer, 1996) recurren a definir la resistencia al cambio considerándolo desde la dimensión complementaria, afirmando que se trata de toda conducta que trata de mantener el status quo que se encuentra amenazado ante cualquier intento de alterarlo. esta perspectiva nos permite introducir el concepto de inercia. denominaremos inercia a la falta de flexibilidad y de intención de cambiar, al estado natural de la organización (nelson y winter, 1997) o, visto desde el lado positivo (rumelt, 1995), inercia es la persistencia firme de las formas y funciones actuales. el término “resistencia al cambio”, según dent y goldberg (1999) se ha ido alterado desde sus orígenes, asumiendo que siempre surgen focos de resistencia y fomentando que tales expectativas se autocumplan, cuando los cambios no plantean necesariamente resistencia. dent y powley (2002), tras un estudio exploratorio en el que concluyen que las personas que se han visto envueltas en cambios ofrecen 1,9 veces más información positiva que negativa de los mismos, llegan a afirmar que la concepción general de resistencia al cambio no sólo es incorrecta, sino que es precisamente lo que impide a menudo el éxito de los procesos de cambio. por el contrario, otros autores (trader-leigh, 2002; laframboise, nelson y schmaltz, 2003, entre otros) aportan investigaciones empíricas que, en su juicio, confirman que el éxito del cambio sólo es posible si se prevén las resistencias que van a encontrarse, puesto que los cambios siempre satisfacen a un colectivo y perjudican a otro/s. por último, macri, tagliaventi y bertolotti (2002) aportan una nueva perspectiva en cuanto a la existencia o no de resistencias/inercia mediante m@n@gement, vol. 8, no. 3, 2005, 47-67 50 manuela pardo del val y clara martínez fuentes un estudio cualitativo según el cual las empresas, tienden a la inercia debido al comportamiento oportunista de los miembros, que se resisten a compartir sus conocimientos e impiden el aprendizaje organizativo necesario para el cambio, pero, al mismo tiempo, el mercado fuerza a las empresas a fomentar el cambio a través de las relaciones de la empresa con sus proveedores y clientes. es decir, que surge un equilibrio entre ambas fuerzas contrarias que va haciendo avanzar a las empresas pero que inmediatamente después las hace resistentes al cambio. nuestro trabajo opta por considerar que la inercia será beneficiosa cuando las formas actuales sean eficientes y, cuando no lo son, se convierte en un problema, pues plantea un obstáculo al proceso de cambio. waddell y sohal (1998) insisten en ver el carácter positivo de las resistencias al cambio, pues gracias a esta inercia se recuerda la falacia de considerar el cambio en sí como inherentemente beneficioso para la organización. la resistencia al cambio juega un papel fundamental en la estabilidad de la organización, frente a todas aquellas presiones externas e internas que tratan de empujarla al cambio. además, cualquier fuente de resistencia está indicando que se debería prestar atención a determinados aspectos del cambio que podrían ser inapropiados y buscar la eliminación de esos obstáculos, sin más, equivale a subestimar la información que éstos nos ofrecen2. asimismo, krantz (1999), que disiente de la opinión de dent y goldberg (1999) en cuanto a la inexistencia de resistencia al cambio, da la razón a estos últimos en cuanto a que sí es cierto que las organizaciones deberían dejar de culpar a la resistencia al cambio de sus fracasos y comenzar a considerar las utilidades que ésta brinda. en nuestro trabajo coincidimos plenamente con esta postura y a continuación procederemos a identificar el origen de esa resistencia, sin olvidar que el objetivo final debe ser aprovechar la información que la misma nos ofrece para alcanzar el éxito en el proceso de cambio. rumelt (1995) plantea un modelo que apunta cinco fuentes básicas de inercia, que representan cinco niveles, de tal modo que la superación de uno lleva al siguiente nivel. vamos a seguir esta clasificación, por ser la que a nuestro juicio hemos encontrado más ordenada, coherente y exhaustiva, y trataremos de completarla incluyendo en ella las aportaciones de otros autores que asimismo han apuntado diferentes obstáculos o fuentes de inercia. al tratar de completar dicha clasificación, hemos decidido alterar algunas de las denominaciones iniciales para que incluyan los nuevos conceptos que hemos incorporado. de esta forma, las fuentes de inercia que hemos considerado son (1) percepción distorsionada, barreras de interpretación o prioridades estratégicas confusas, (2) escasa motivación, (3) falta de respuesta creativa, (4) barreras político-culturales y (5) otras fuentes de resistencia. aunque rumelt (1995) insiste en que la inercia es un problema tanto en la formulación como en la implantación de la estrategia, en su trabajo no separa las fuentes de inercia en función de dichas fases. nosotros hemos tratado de establecer tal distinción, y así, de las cinco fuentes, situamos a las tres primeras como resistencias generadas durante la fase de formulación, puesto que aluden a factores que difi2. de hecho, waddell y sohal (1998) se lamentan de que no se han desarrollado técnicas para aprovechar la utilidad de las resistencias, a lo que mabin, forgeson y green (2001) responden que mediante la teoría de las restricciones (theory of constraints), pese a no estar generalmente considerada como parte de la literatura sobre gestión del cambio, es posible aportar herramientas y un marco global desde el cual utilizar la resistencia, fragmentándola en capas que pueden secuenciarse y aprovecharse positivamente. m@n@gement, vol. 8, no. 3, 2005, 47-67 51 resistencias al cambio organizativo cultan el análisis de la situación y la evaluación de las distintas alternativas de cambio. las dos fuentes restantes las consideramos inercia en la implantación, ya que suponen un obstáculo una vez se ha formulado el cambio y se plantea la puesta en marcha del mismo. esta clasificación, junto con la pormenorización de las fuentes de inercia, se recoge en la tabla 1. a continuación realizaremos una descripción de las mismas, aludiendo a los autores que las han evidenciado. resistencias e inercias en la fase de formulación del cambio para evitar el fracaso de un proceso de cambio, las primeras resistencias a salvar se sitúan en la fase de formulación del mismo. en concreto, rumelt (1995) señala que las principales barreras a evitar se enmarcan en tres grupos, que son las percepciones distorsionadas, la falta de motivación y la falta de respuesta creativa. en relación con el primer grupo de resistencias, debemos indicar que el inicio del cambio se da con la percepción de la necesidad del mismo, de modo que una falsa percepción inicial será la primera barrera al cambio. estas percepciones distorsionadas equivalen a lo tabla 1. fuentes de resistencia o inercia* inercias en la fase de formulación percepción distorsionada, barreras interpretativas, o prioridades estratégicas confusas miopía negación perpetuación de las ideas asunciones implícitas barreras de comunicación silencio organizativo escasa motivación costes directos del cambio costes de canibalización subsidiación cruzada fracasos pasados diferencia de intereses entre empleados y gerencia falta de respuesta creativa rapidez y complejidad resignación visión estratégica inadecuada inercias en la fase de implantación barreras político-culturales políticas departamentales creencias irreconciliables entre grupos valores arraigados dimensión social de los cambios clima de implantación y relación entre valores del cambio y valores de la organización otras fuentes de resistencia inacción del liderazgo rutinas altamente interiorizadas problemas de acción colectiva carencia de capacidades cinismo *: fuente: elaboración propia a partir de rumelt (1995). m@n@gement, vol. 8, no. 3, 2005, 47-67 52 manuela pardo del val y clara martínez fuentes que hutt, walker y frankwick (1995) denominan barreras interpretativas, y beer y eisenstat (1996) definen como prioridades estratégicas confusas. cada participante en una decisión estratégica tiene su propia interpretación de los objetivos estratégicos y de su importancia y, por lo tanto, tiene sus propias percepciones. es fundamental que todos los actores tengan una visión clara acerca de la naturaleza del cambio (trader-leigh, 2002). rumelt (1995) señala que puede existir una percepción incorrecta debido a tres factores, que nosotros completaremos con otros tres. el primero es la miopía o incapacidad de la empresa para evaluar el futuro, puesto que las organizaciones a menudo están tan preocupadas con el día a día, que no se tiene la conciencia de que exista un problema y que éste exija un cambio (rumelt, 1995; krüger, 1996). en segundo lugar, la negación o rechazo a todo aquello contrario a lo que se espera o se desea, bien sea por miedo o por autocomplacencia de éxitos pasados; este rechazo puede provenir de un orgullo excesivo de éxitos pasados, o de miedo a la nueva situación que se vislumbra (starbuck, greve y hedberg, 1978; laframboise et al., 2003). por último, rumelt (1995) apunta a la percepción incorrecta, achacada a la perpetuación de las ideas, ya sea por modelos de pensamiento predominantes o por asimilación de situaciones actuales a otras pasadas (rumelt, 1995; krüger, 1996; zeffane, 1996). un factor más que incluimos en este primer grupo de resistencias es el apuntado por starbuck et al. (1978) como asunciones implícitas, al señalar que a menudo las asunciones sobre las que se asientan las percepciones y los comportamientos de los miembros de la organización están implícitas; si fuesen explícitas se podrían discutir e incluso cambiar, pero al ser implícitas no se ven y pueden permanecer siempre, distorsionando la realidad. asimismo, una causa de percepción distorsionada aparece con las barreras de comunicación. hutt et al. (1995) denominan barreras de comunicación al hecho de que los departamentos desarrollan un lenguaje compartido que refleja similitudes en la interpretación, comprensión y respuesta a la información de los miembros; quienes no están familiarizados con ese lenguaje pueden distorsionar la información o malinterpretarla, y por tanto, surge una percepción distorsionada de la situación, siendo necesario el diálogo (de cock, 1998). por último, cierra el primer grupo de resistencias el silencio organizativo. morrison y milliken (2000) acuñan este término para denominar el fenómeno común en muchas organizaciones, por el cual los empleados ocultan o callan determinada información sobre potenciales problemas o preocupaciones en general, de modo que este silencio organizativo acaba convirtiéndose en un potencial impedimento al cambio, ya que no se dispone de toda la información necesaria para tomar las decisiones correctas (nemeth, 1997; teare y monk, 2002). el segundo gran grupo de resistencias dentro de esta fase de formulación del cambio es la falta de motivación. aunque la percepción sea correcta, el proceso de cambio puede quedar paralizado porque no se observa suficientemente la necesidad del mismo y por tanto no se está motivado hacia el cambio. m@n@gement, vol. 8, no. 3, 2005, 47-67 53 resistencias al cambio organizativo la falta de motivación hacia el cambio puede tener como fuentes los costes directos implicados en el cambio, los costes de canibalización —que los nuevos productos sean causa del declive de otros—, y los problemas derivados de subsidiación cruzada (rumelt, 1995). a estas fuentes, asociadas a los costes, se añaden la falta de motivación por miedo a un nuevo fracaso, debido a la imagen que han dejado implantaciones pasadas poco efectivas (lorenzo, 2000) o incluso intentos anteriores de iniciar un cambio que posteriormente han quedado sólo en una propuesta (laframboise et al., 2003), y una última, según la cual los empleados pueden encontrarse faltos de motivación cuando la valoración que hacen de los resultados a conseguir con el cambio difiere de los resultados considerados por la gerencia (waddell y sohal, 1998). lindblom (1994) introduce en este sentido un concepto sumamente interesante como es el de impairment, traducible como debilitación, con el que coincide asimismo argyris (1994). según estos autores, el impairment surge cuando el colectivo contrario al cambio tiene un alto poder en la organización, poder que utiliza para enmascarar la situación y fomentar el mantenimiento del status quo. así, podría reducirse la motivación hacia el cambio si ese grupo de más poder no coincide con la opinión de la gerencia respecto al cambio y decide aplicar sus esfuerzos en conseguir que el resto de la organización no sienta los motivos para cambiar. el tercer grupo de resistencias al cambio consiste en la falta de respuesta creativa, que se puede concretar en falta de orientación para el cambio, debido a deficiencias en el análisis de la situación o a falta de decisión. podemos evaluarla a partir de tres factores. el primero es la velocidad y complejidad de los cambios en el entorno, que no permiten un análisis adecuado de la realidad. la capacidad de análisis se bloquea cuando las circunstancias se mueven muy rápido, al igual que ocurre cuando la situación es demasiado compleja (rumelt, 1995). el segundo factor es la resignación o tendencia a creer que los obstáculos son naturales, inevitables y sin solución, puesto que en ese caso el cambio queda impedido (rumelt, 1995). los directivos pierden su creatividad en la búsqueda de soluciones cuando asumen esta resignación. en tercer lugar, la falta de respuesta creativa puede provenir de una visión estratégica inadecuada, debido a falta de compromiso claro de la alta dirección con el cambio. si no se genera confianza en el apoyo de la alta dirección a la visión, ésta no podrá ser efectiva, porque los demás miembros de la organización la considerarán como un plan más, que será alterado con otro en breve, luego no surgirá compromiso con el mismo (rumelt, 1995). kotter (1996) afirma que las transformaciones exitosas se caracterizan por una gran coalición de personas que respaldan la inequívoca decisión del líder de cambiar. resistencias e inercias en la fase de implantación del cambio las tres fuentes de inercia anteriores pueden superarse y, sin embargo, todavía persistirán otras resistencias, que llevarían al cambio al m@n@gement, vol. 8, no. 3, 2005, 47-67 54 manuela pardo del val y clara martínez fuentes fracaso en su implantación y, por tanto, a la falta total de efectividad del mismo. la implantación es el paso crítico entre la decisión de adoptar el cambio y el uso rutinario del mismo en la organización (klein y sorra, 1996). tal y como afirma maurer (1996) el cambio mejor formulado y concebido puede venirse abajo por la resistencia a implantarlo. las fuentes de resistencia en esta fase, según rumelt (1995), son en primer lugar barreras político-culturales, seguidas de un abanico de obstáculos que, por su carácter variado, hemos agrupado bajo el epígrafe de “otras fuentes de resistencia”. en cuanto a las barreras político-culturales3, es importante conocer que, aun siendo conscientes de la necesidad de iniciar el cambio, existiendo motivos suficientes, y conscientes de la dirección a seguir, a veces el cambio no se emprende debido a estas barreras organizativas internas que actúan como obstáculos del proceso. las primeras fuentes de inercia en este grupo son las políticas departamentales —luchas de poder internas—, una de las fuentes más obvias, puesto que los cambios siempre traen ganadores y perdedores y, por tanto, los departamentos que no vayan a salir beneficiados originarán resistencia. los cambios, especialmente los significativos, alteran el equilibrio de poder entre los grupos, generando resistencia de quienes se ven amenazados (trader-leigh, 2002). en otro sentido, pero también se puede considerar en este punto, beer, eisenstat y spector (1990) citan la coordinación interdepartamental como un factor que, si no existe, puede llegar a suponer un obstáculo al cambio. asimismo, beer y eisenstat (1996) destacan de su estudio que unas de las barreras más habituales son una pobre coordinación interfuncional y una pobre comunicación vertical. las segundas barreras son las creencias irreconciliables entre grupos. a menudo diferentes individuos o grupos en la organización tienen opiniones distintas sobre la naturaleza de los problemas y/o sobre su solución (rumelt, 1995). ante estos desacuerdos no existe una salida única y dependerá de la importancia de la velocidad de respuesta, de la intención de mantener un proceso de toma de decisiones participativo, de la relación entre los grupos en conflicto4… en cualquier caso, parece obvio que las creencias irreconciliables entre grupos fomentan la inercia. en tercer lugar, aparecen los valores arraigados. rumelt (1995) sostiene que los valores de individuos, grupos o de la organización y su lealtad emocional hacia determinados productos, políticas o formas de actuar pueden fácilmente ser los más grandes impedimentos al cambio. se trata de un factor también analizado por krüger (1996), quien afirma que cuanto más fuerte sea la cultura de la organización, más difícil es el cambio. el cuarto tipo de barreras político-culturales deviene de la dimensión social de los cambios. lawrence (1954) achaca la mayor parte de las resistencias a los cambios al hecho de que, a menudo, sólo se considera la dimensión técnica de los mismos, olvidándose que los cambios conllevan una dimensión social, en el sentido de que los implicados consideran que se están alterando sus relaciones con la organización (laframbroise et al., 2003). las causas tradicionales de resistencia al 3. al entender la cultura tal y como es definida por schein (1985) como los supuestos y presunciones que comparten los miembros de una organización y que afecta a todos los aspectos de la empresa, consideramos que ésta podría facilitar los cambios pero también dificultarlos seriamente. puesto que este trabajo trata de enumerar las fuentes de resistencia, nos limitaremos al análisis de la cultura organizativa como posible obstaculizadora bajo determinadas circunstancias. 4. una amplia información acerca de los conflictos entre grupos con valores diferentes se puede encontrar en la investigación de klein y sorra (1996). m@n@gement, vol. 8, no. 3, 2005, 47-67 55 resistencias al cambio organizativo cambio desde la perspectiva social son básicamente dos, la obsesión que generalmente acompaña al promotor del cambio y que le lleva a descuidar otros aspectos que pudieran estar preocupando al resto de implicados y; pasar por alto la experiencia que tienen los encargados de implantar el cambio, de modo que no sólo se está renunciando a utilizarla, sino que les envía un mensaje de subestimación que no puede sino traducirse en resistencia por su parte. strebel (1996) también considera esta dimensión social como un aspecto fundamental, aunque le da una denominación distinta, cuya traducción literal es compacto personal, equivalente a lo que otros autores —ver hiltrop (1995) o schalk et al. (1998)— llaman el contrato psicológico y que consiste en la relación recíproca entre empleados y organizaciones. strebel (1996) sostiene que las resistencias al cambio surgen cuando no se tiene suficientemente en cuenta esta relación, ya sea en su dimensión formal, psicológica o social. la última barrera político-cultural es la que relaciona el clima de implantación y la adaptación entre los valores del cambio y los de la organización. klein y sorra (1996) plantean la existencia de dos factores que, al cruzarlos, exponen diferentes situaciones de apoyo o resistencia al cambio. se trata del clima bajo en que se realiza la implantación, y la adecuación o ajuste entre los valores que subyacen al cambio y los valores de los miembros de la organización. cuanto más consistentemente perciban los empleados que las políticas y prácticas de implantación de un cambio están fomentando y recompensando su uso, más fuerte es el clima para la implantación de dicho cambio. la resistencia de los empleados a la implantación del cambio aparece sólo cuando el clima de implantación es fuerte y la adaptación entre el cambio y los valores es negativa —opinión compartida también por otros autores como schalk et al. (1998)—, porque la resistencia surge sólo ante una fuerza opresora —clima fuerte de implantación— donde, además, se pretenda imponer un cambio contrario a los valores imperantes. por último, superando todos los obstáculos anteriores, el cambio puede fracasar por motivos varios que hemos reunido en el quinto grupo. el primero es la inacción del liderazgo, la inmovilidad de los directivos por temores a lo desconocido, así como por miedo a la alteración del status quo (rumelt, 1995; maurer, 1996; burdett, 1999). el segundo conjunto de resistencias de este último grupo aluden a unas rutinas altamente interiorizadas porque, al no ser completo el conocimiento y comprensión de determinados procesos complejos, cualquier cambio en alguno de sus aspectos puede traer consecuencias imprevisibles y, por tanto, la organización genera rutinas que interioriza para tratar de evitar esos cambios (rumelt, 1995), que aumentan monótonamente con la antigüedad de la organización (hannan y freeman, 1984), ya que las organizaciones de mayor edad aparentemente tienen más facilidad de ser reproducibles debido a las rutinas que tienen creadas5. en cuanto a los problemas de acción colectiva, según rumelt (1995) se deben considerar dos perspectivas. la primera es la cuestión de quién va a dar el primer paso, y la segunda, la cultura de la organización y su nivel de adaptación. 5. la interiorización de las rutinas como fuente de inercia queda ampliamente desarrollada en el enfoque de la ecología de las poblaciones. m@n@gement, vol. 8, no. 3, 2005, 47-67 56 manuela pardo del val y clara martínez fuentes una fuente de resistencia al cambio surge también cuando existe un gap entre las actividades que exige el cambio y las competencias o capacidades con que cuenta la empresa, es decir, si existe una carencia de las capacidades necesarias para emprender el cambio exitosamente (rumelt, 1995; teare y monk, 2002). cerramos la lista de resistencias o inercias con las originadas por el cinismo. aun cuando todo lo mencionado hasta aquí no impidiese el cambio, una actitud cínica por parte de los implicados en su implantación sí puede hacerlo (reichers, wanous y austin, 1997; teare y monk, 2002). el cinismo es una importante barrera al cambio, puesto que implica una pérdida de confianza en los líderes del cambio. los orígenes del cinismo pueden ser producto de la historia de la organización respecto a sus intentos de cambio, consideración en la que también coincide maurer (1996), o bien pueden deberse a una predisposición a ver las cosas desde una perspectiva cínica (reichers et al., 1997). tras esta exposición teórica, afrontamos el objetivo de nuestra investigación empírica, que consistirá, en primer lugar, en comprobar si las fuentes de resistencia fruto del estudio teórico coinciden con las observadas en la práctica empresarial. seguidamente, analizaremos la asociación entre los dos tipos de cambio identificados en la teoría y las resistencias que ambos encuentran. análisis empírico descripción y metodología de investigación la investigación empírica llevada a cabo y que nos permitirá alcanzar nuestro objetivo, ha consistido en el envío de un cuestionario, por correo ordinario y por correo electrónico, a una muestra aleatoria de empresas españolas, con el único requisito de que éstas contasen con más de 50 empleados. esta cantidad fue considerada para eliminar de la muestra aquellas empresas que podrían enmascarar con sus características específicas de pequeñas empresas la existencia de algunas resistencias. por otra parte, teniendo en cuenta la definición de cambio considerada, entendimos que toda empresa ha pasado por algún tipo de cambio en los últimos tiempos, por lo que se les pidió inicialmente que describiesen un cambio reciente que hubiesen atravesado —en los últimos tres años— para responder sobre él. el cuestionario se dirigió al director de la empresa o, en su defecto, a un directivo que hubiese protagonizado el cambio sobre el que se pretendía reflexionar. a lo largo de las preguntas, los destinatarios respondieron a diversas cuestiones relacionadas con el cambio seleccionado, entre las cuales se encontraba un listado que describía los factores enumerados previamente en el apartado teórico como resistencias a los cambios. se le solicitaba al entrevistado que señalase el grado de fuerza con el que cada resistencia había aparecido en el cambio, ofreciéndole cinco opciones, a partir de una escala de puntos que iba desde 1 para aquel factor que no se consideraba una resism@n@gement, vol. 8, no. 3, 2005, 47-67 57 resistencias al cambio organizativo tencia encontrada durante el proceso de cambio, hasta un 5 para señalar aquellas resistencias cuya incidencia fue tan fuerte que obligó a replantearse el cambio. el número de respuestas válidas obtenido ascendió a 86. a modo de breve descripción de las empresas que componen nuestra investigación y de los cambios que se han analizado, señalaremos que el 60% de la muestra está compuesta por empresas industriales, siendo los subsectores más representados el de fabricación de componentes y aparatos, seguidos del químico y la construcción, aunque también respondieron empresas de hostelería, sanidad, banca y medios de comunicación, entre otras. respecto a su tamaño, cabe destacar que aproximadamente la mitad tiene un volumen de facturación superior a 30 millones de euros anuales y sólo el 15% está por debajo de los 6 millones. asimismo, alrededor de una tercera parte de las empresas cuenta con menos de 100 empleados, un segundo tercio se encuentra en el intervalo entre 100 y 300 y la tercera parte restante tiene un número de empleados superior a los 300. la respuesta proviene mayoritariamente de directivos medios, muy en especial de directores de calidad y financieros, aunque cerca de un 17% ocupan el cargo de director general. se trata mayoritariamente de personal con más de 3 años de antigüedad en la empresa —sólo el 20% señalaba un período inferior—, destacando que casi el 40% dice llevar más de 10 años. la formación de los entrevistados es fundamentalmente de nivel universitario —alrededor del 70% del total y el 95% de los que respondieron acerca de esta cuestión. sólo el 10% se identifican como mujeres y el 60% aproximadamente hombres, quedando un 30% sin poder definir el sexo. en cuanto al tipo de cambio acerca del que han respondido las empresas, observamos que ha estado relativamente distribuido, pudiendo destacar que una de cada cuatro encuestas responden a una reestructuración organizativa. los otros dos cambios más habituales son la puesta en marcha de un sistema de gestión de la calidad o gestión medioambiental (18,82%) y los procesos de fusión, adquisición o acuerdos de cooperación (16,47%). el resto de cambios son más minoritarios, tal y como se aprecia en la tabla 2, que además muestra si dichos cambios han sido acometidos desde una perspectiva reactiva o anticipativa. tabla 2. cambios analizados frecuencia 12 (14,12 %) 8 (9,41 %) 11 (12,94 %) 4 (4,71 %) 14 (16,47 %) 16 (18,82 %) 20 (23,53 %) c a m b i o s r e a c t i v o s 66,7 % 50,0 % 54,5 % 75,0 % 42,8 % 50,0 % 30,0 % n o d e f i n i d o 12,5 % 27,3 % 28,6 % 6,2 % 30,0 % c a m b i o s a n t i c i p a t i v o s 33,3 % 37,5 % 18,2 % 25,0 % 28,6 % 43,8 % 40,0 % nuevo proceso productivo, maquinaria ... nuevo grupo de clientes nuevo producto nuevo mercado geográfico fusión, adquisición, cooperación gestión de la calidad o gestión medioambiental reestructuración organizativa m@n@gement, vol. 8, no. 3, 2005, 47-67 58 manuela pardo del val y clara martínez fuentes para situar el cambio dentro de los dos tipos extremos definidos teóricamente, expusimos al entrevistado a dos afirmaciones contrapuestas —ver cuestionario en el a n e x o6—, valoradas en 1 (descripción de cambio reactivo) y 5 (ídem para cambio anticipativo), solicitándole que se ubicase entre ambas. de este modo, observamos que nuestra muestra recoge una media de 2,68, es decir, cambios que tienden a ser más reactivos que anticipativos, puesto que las respuestas son más cercanas al nivel 2, característica de un cambio reactivo. en cualquier caso, se trata de posicionamientos muy relativos, al ser una cifra muy cercana al valor intermedio entre ambos tipos. resultados obtenidos vamos a comenzar por exponer un análisis descriptivo de las resistencias encontradas en los cambios que se analizaron. las respuestas que se obtuvieron en cuanto a la incidencia de las fuentes de resistencia fueron las que aparecen en la tabla 3. las medias que aparecen son el resultado de las valoraciones de los entrevistados, que debían elegir entre un 1 cuando la resistencia nunca ocurrió, un 2 cuando ésta no presentó graves problemas al plan de cambio y así hasta un 5 para aquellas fuentes de resistencia que obligaron a la organización a alterar el proceso de cambio inicialmente previsto —ver la pregunta 5 en el cuestionario del anexo. como se puede advertir, ninguna media es inferior a 1,5. teniendo en cuenta que el 1 significaba que la resistencia no existió como tal, entendemos que superar el 1,5 indica que todas las fuentes de resistencia enumeradas han afectado en mayor o menor medida en los procesos de cambio analizados y, por tanto, este análisis descriptivo respalda nuestro planteamiento teórico. tabla 3. fuentes de resistencia o inercia, ordenadas por medias media 2,70 2,42 2,42 2,31 2,31 2,27 2,23 2,20 2,15 2,11 2,05 2,04 2,04 2,01 1,96 1,94 1,84 1,67 1,65 resistencia o inercia valores arraigados políticas departamentales no existían las capacidades necesarias falta de motivación por costes de canibalización y subsidiación cruzada creencias irreconciliables entre grupos diferencia de intereses entre empleados y dirección barreras de comunicación silencio organizativo falta de motivación por los costes directos del cambio miopía, negación, perpetuación de las ideas, asunciones implícitas falta de respuesta creativa por rapidez y complejidad del entorno falta de respuesta creativa por visión estratégica inadecuada valores del cambio contrarios a los de la organización descuido de la dimensión social por obsesión del promotor del cambio falta de respuesta creativa por resignación inacción del liderazgo, rutinas altam interiorizadas, problemas de acción colectiva cinismo descuido de la dimensión social por obviar la experiencia de los encargados fracasos pasados 6. en el cuestionario aparecen cuatro grupos de afirmaciones contrapuestas, puesto que la investigación completa contempla asimismo otras tipologías de cambio. para operar con la que aquí nos atañe —cambios anticipativos/reactivos— se utilizó sólo el segundo grupo de afirmaciones. m@n@gement, vol. 8, no. 3, 2005, 47-67 59 resistencias al cambio organizativo la encuesta permitía a los entrevistados añadir otras resistencias y han sido muy pocos los que han hecho uso de esta opción, es más, de los tres cuestionarios que habían introducido un ítem se comprobó que éste podía incluirse en alguno de los ya mencionados sin perder poder explicativo —en esos casos las empresas pretendían resaltar uno de los aspectos ya citados pero no añadían ningún nuevo factor. este hecho señala, además, que no sólo la lista teórica es adecuada, sino que también está completa. se observa que la media de las respuestas que reciben las resistencias está entre las puntuaciones de 1,65 (mínima) y 2,70 (máxima), lo que significa que las resistencias han existido pero no han sido en general de media lo suficientemente fuertes para dificultar seriamente el proceso de cambio, teniendo en cuenta que la escala permite puntuar hasta 5. la fuente de resistencia con media más alta ha sido la existencia de unos valores arraigados que dificultaban el cambio —dentro del grupo de barreras político-culturales, en la fase de implantación. le sigue la ausencia de capacidades necesarias para el cambio y la resistencia asociada a determinados departamentos que podrían salir perjudicados. a continuación, aparecen resistencias ligadas a costes y por creencias irreconciliables entre grupos. si examinamos la respuesta a las resistencias según los grupos a los que pertenecen (ver tabla 4), veremos que los primeros lugares en la lista de las puntuaciones medias son ocupados por resistencias que tabla 4. fuentes de resistencia o inercia, ordenadas por grupos media 2,11 2,23 2,20 2,15 2,31 1,65 2,27 2,05 1,96 2,04 2,42 2,31 2,70 2,01 1,67 2,04 1,94 2,42 1,84 percepción distorsionada, barreras interpretativas, o prioridades estratégicas confusas miopía, negación, perpetuación de las ideas, asunciones implícitas barreras de comunicación silencio organizativo escasa motivación falta de motivación por los costes directos del cambio falta de motivación por costes de canibalización y subsidiación cruzada fracasos pasados diferencia de intereses entre empleados y dirección falta de respuesta creativa falta de respuesta creativa por rapidez y complejidad del entorno falta de respuesta creativa por resignación falta de respuesta creativa por visión estratégica inadecuada barreras político-culturales políticas departamentales creencias irreconciliables entre grupos valores arraigados descuido de la dimensión social por obsesión del promotor del cambio descuido de la dimensión social por obviar la experiencia de los encargados valores del cambio contrarios a los de la organización otras fuentes de resistencia inacción del liderazgo, rutinas altam interiorizadas, problemas de acción colectiva no existían las capacidades necesarias cinismo orden 10º 7º 8º 9º 4º 19º 6º 11º 15º 12º 2º 5º 1º 14º 18º 13º 16º 3º 17º m@n@gement, vol. 8, no. 3, 2005, 47-67 60 manuela pardo del val y clara martínez fuentes aparecen en la fase de implantación del cambio. además, en el primer tercio —del primero al sexto— no hay ninguna correspondiente al grupo primero de barreras interpretativas y percepción distorsionada, ni del grupo tercero o falta de respuesta creativa. ocurre lo mismo con el tercio final —del decimotercero en adelante—, es decir, que las resistencias menos importantes tampoco están relacionadas con estos dos grupos sino que se refieren más a cuestiones varias que no presentan una homogeneidad para ser calificadas de conjunto. así, podríamos concluir que, aunque los cambios no muestran obstáculos o inercias fuertes que los impidan, aparecen más resistencias en la fase de implantación. además, las derivadas de la percepción de la realidad, si bien no son consideradas fundamentales, sí afectan al proceso de cambio, obligando a las empresas a prestar una atención especial a estos temas. de acuerdo con los tipos de cambio identificados tras la revisión de la literatura, hemos procedido a examinar si existen diferencias entre las resistencias encontradas en un tipo de cambio y otro. a tal fin, en la tabla 5 repetimos el análisis de frecuencias distinguiendo en esta ocasión entre los dos tipos de cambio presentados, cambios reactivos y cambios anticipativos. a partir de los tipos definidos, consideramos que los cambios son reactivos cuando el entrevistado marca un 1 o un 2; los cambios anticipativos, a su vez, se delimitan cuando la respuesta a esta clasificación es 4 ó 57. seguidamente, para comprobar si existen diferencias significativas entre la incidencia de las resistencias en un tipo de cambio y otro se realizó un análisis de varianzas, siendo la media de las resistencias la variable dependiente y el tipo de cambio el factor. la última columna, que recoge al estadístico f junto con su significación, muestra en qué resistencias existe mayor diferencia entre las identificadas en los cambios reactivos y en los anticipativos. este dato nos permite observar que las mayores diferencias están en el descui7. el valor intermedio (3) quedaba teóricamente para aquellos cambios que no podían ubicarse en ninguna de las dos definiciones propuestas. así, si las empresas no se decantaban por ubicar cómo era ese cambio, decidimos no utilizarlo en la parte de nuestros análisis que se basaban en esta tipología. el número de empresas que respondieron con este valor fue de 15 (17,4% de las observaciones) y consideramos que la mejor solución era resignarnos a perder esta pequeña parte de la muestra total. tabla 5. fuentes de resistencia distinguiendo tipos de cambio c a m b i o s r e a c t i v o s 1,95 2,00 2,08 2,33 2,40 1,77 2,10 1,98 2,03 1,87 2,30 2,05 2,45 1,78 1,48 1,90 1,78 2,55 1,80 c a m b i o s a n t i c i p a t i v o s 2,21 2,55 2,45 2,00 2,24 1,62 2,50 1,93 1,79 2,03 2,52 2,72 2,86 2,41 1,86 2,21 1,93 2,46 2,00 f 0,89 4,44** 1,49 1,35 0,25 0,24 1,96 0,02 0,76 0,33 0,39 4,43** 1,48 5,22** 3,05* 0,92 0,31 0,05 0,37 resistencia o inercia miopía, negación, perpetuación de las ideas, asunciones implícitas barreras de comunicación silencio organizativo falta de motivación por los costes directos del cambio falta de motivación por costes de canibalización y subsidiación cruzada fracasos pasados diferencia de intereses entre empleados y dirección falta de respuesta creativa por rapidez y complejidad del entorno falta de respuesta creativa por resignación falta de respuesta creativa por visión estratégica inadecuada políticas departamentales creencias irreconciliables entre grupos valores arraigados descuido de la dimensión social por obsesión del promotor del cambio descuido de la dimensión social por obviar la experiencia de los encargados valores del cambio contrarios a los de la organización inacción del liderazgo, rutinas altam interiorizadas, problemas de acción colectiva no existían las capacidades necesarias cinismo * p < 0,05; ** p < 0,01 m@n@gement, vol. 8, no. 3, 2005, 47-67 61 resistencias al cambio organizativo do de la dimensión social que acompaña a las situaciones en que el promotor del cambio se obceca u obsesiona, así como en los problemas derivados de las creencias irreconciliables entre grupos y las barreras de comunicación. en menor medida, pero también existe diferente consideración según el cambio sea reactivo o anticipativo para la resistencia asociada al descuido de la dimensión social derivado del menosprecio a los encargados. en el resto de fuentes de resistencia, las diferencias en función del tipo de cambio no son significativas. un dato a observar es que, en todas las resistencias donde se puede afirmar que existen diferencias, el valor de la resistencia es siempre más alto para los cambios anticipativos. es decir, que cuando una organización pretende adelantarse a un acontecimiento iniciando un cambio, las resistencias derivadas del descuido de la dimensión social, de las creencias irreconciliables entre grupos y de las barreras de comunicación son significativamente mayores que cuando el cambio se produce como reacción a un fenómeno. si analizamos el grado de importancia de estas fuentes de resistencia que presentan diferencias según el tipo de cambio, observamos que ninguna de ellas se encuentra en posiciones destacadas a nivel general. lo curioso es que las tres diferencias más significativas sirven para incrementar la importancia de la resistencia a la que aluden desde posiciones intermedias hacia niveles sensiblemente superiores. así, las barreras de comunicación, que en los cambios reactivos ocupan el décimo lugar, se convierten en la tercera fuente de mayor resistencia para los cambios anticipativos. del mismo modo, las creencias irreconciliables entre grupos pasan de un octavo lugar en cambios reactivos al segundo factor más importante en los cambios anticipativos. el incremento en importancia es menor para el descuido de la dimensión social, que en ambos casos parte de sendos decimosexto y decimonoveno puesto para alcanzar el octavo y decimoséptimo respectivamente. en el siguiente apartado discutiremos las reflexiones que se pueden realizar a partir de estos resultados. discusión y conclusiones las fuentes de resistencia son un factor esencial a considerar en un proceso de cambio, puesto que de una adecuada gestión de las mismas depende gran parte de su éxito o fracaso. entendemos por resistencia al cambio todo fenómeno que obstaculice el proceso en su inicio o su desarrollo a través de un intento de mantener la situación previa existente, estableciendo por tanto una similitud entre los conceptos de resistencia e inercia al cambio. la literatura ha aportado numerosos estudios que enumeran fuentes de resistencia o inercia al cambio. este trabajo ha mantenido la clasificación en cinco grupos de rumelt (1995), completándola con aportaciones de otros autores. en el estudio empírico nuestra investigación, realizada a empresas españolas, da soporte a dicha enumeración teórica de resistencias. m@n@gement, vol. 8, no. 3, 2005, 47-67 62 manuela pardo del val y clara martínez fuentes el estudio empírico indica que la relación de fuentes de resistencia considerada es completa y exhaustiva. además, los datos señalan que las resistencias más importantes surgen en la fase de implantación de los cambios. esta observación respalda la relevancia de esta fase, recordando a las empresas que los esfuerzos no pueden decaer tras la formulación de las estrategias de cambio. a menudo, las organizaciones dedican numerosos recursos a formular una buena estrategia y consideran, erróneamente, que esto garantiza el éxito, sin tener en cuenta que las mejores estrategias pueden fracasar si se descuidan los factores que aparecen en la fase de implantación. asimismo, la investigación ha permitido ordenar la importancia de las resistencias, para posteriormente distinguir cómo afectan las mismas a los cambios anticipativos y reactivos. de esta comparativa, se puede concluir que las cuatro fuentes de resistencia que presentan diferencias entre ambos tipos de cambio afectan con mayor intensidad a los cambios anticipativos. es más, el hecho de que el origen del cambio se encuentre en anticiparse al entorno va vinculado a una mayor importancia de dichas fuentes de resistencia en comparación con el resto. reflexionando acerca de estos resultados, podríamos remitirnos a la esencia de la tipología utilizada para encontrar un razonamiento que los respalde. en concreto, recordemos que un cambio anticipativo es por definición más incierto para los miembros de la organización, puesto que los impulsores del cambio están pidiendo una actuación previa a un peligro o una oportunidad potencial, que todavía no se observa. quizá estriba ahí el hecho de que las resistencias a cambios menos comprensibles o evidentes sean mayores que en situaciones donde las circunstancias que mueven al cambio son patentes para todos. o quizá sería oportuno introducir aquí el análisis que realizan los economistas experimentales, según los cuales una combinación de predisposiciones o tendencias cognitivas y de presiones organizativas llevan a los directivos a realizar predicciones excesivamente optimistas en sus decisiones, exagerando los beneficios posibles y minusvalorando los potenciales escollos. evitar este sobre-optimismo es posible mediante técnicas de análisis que aporten una visión externa más objetiva sobre los resultados posibles de una iniciativa, además de la tradicional percepción interna de los problemas (kahneman y lovallo, 1993; lovallo y kahneman, 2003). seria conveniente meditar también si estos resultados nos están apuntando hacia una consideración de las resistencias de carácter positivo, tal y como ya varios investigadores promulgan (krantz, 1999; mabin et al., 2001; waddell y sohal, 1998). si las fuentes de resistencia son mayores en los cambios anticipativos, podríamos suponer que la resistencia juega un papel de advertencia en cuanto a los factores menos comprensibles y que, en el momento del cambio, pueden traer más problemas y llevar al fracaso del mismo. es decir, que la organización puede aprovechar la resistencia al cambio y extraer de la misma una interesante utilidad. no obstante, se trata de una reflexión demasiado aventurada para que se pueda considerar una conclusión efectiva de este trabajo y requeriría una investigación más profunda. m@n@gement, vol. 8, no. 3, 2005, 47-67 63 resistencias al cambio organizativo este trabajo aporta, pues, valiosas lecciones tanto a la comunidad académica como al mundo empresarial. desde el punto de vista académico, la investigación realizada contribuye al conocimiento de las resistencias a los cambios a partir de un compendio de anteriores trabajos, que se comprueba posteriormente con un estudio empírico, incidiendo además en la distinción de la intensidad de las resistencias según los tipos de cambio. en el ámbito empresarial, por su parte, se ofrecen una serie de consideraciones que ayudarán a los responsables de los cambios a valorar a qué aspectos deberán prestar especial atención en el momento de acometer un cambio organizativo, ayudándose de su interpretación de si el cambio es reactivo o anticipativo para conocer mejor las posibles fuentes de resistencias. no obstante, conviene dejar patentes algunas limitaciones del estudio que deben ser valoradas. la principal limitación deviene del número de encuestas que, si bien es suficiente teniendo en cuenta las herramientas estadísticas de que se hace uso en los análisis, hubiese sido deseable contar con una cantidad mayor. por otra parte, en cuanto al instrumento de recogida de la información, cabe insistir que el cuestionario ha sido rellenado por los destinatarios sin la supervisión directa del investigador, por lo que cabe la duda razonable de si se ha comprendido plenamente el sentido de los enunciados que definían las fuentes de resistencia al cambio. incluso, podría valorarse un serio problema de atribución, puesto que los entrevistados, al ser protagonistas del cambio, podrían estar identificando los problemas encontrados con factores externos, atribuyéndose a sí mismos sólo los resultados positivos. además, la ya extensa longitud del cuestionario nos impidió añadir preguntas que hubiesen sido de gran interés, especialmente qué colectivos proponían los cambios, lo cual podría tener una alta relación con las fuentes de resistencia encontradas. en cualquier caso, creemos haber alcanzado nuestros objetivos y sin duda estamos ante un buen punto de partida para ampliar hacia futuras investigaciones, en las que confiamos poder paliar este tipo de limitaciones, así como abordar otras cuestiones interesantes, como las etapas del proceso o las circunstancias que rodean a las empresas que afrontan determinados tipos de cambio. nota. las autoras desean agradecer a todas las empresas que se prestaron al estudio empírico su valiosa colaboración, a nuestro compañero joaquín aldás por su impagable ayuda, a los cuatro revisores anónimos que han posibilitado la mejora de este artículo hasta su redacción actual y al editor de la revista, porque trabajar con él ha sido todo un placer. a todos ellos, gracias. manuela pardo del val es profesora contratada doctora en el departamento de dirección de empresas “juan josé renau piqueras” de la universitat de valència, en el que imparte docencia sobre dirección estratégica y dirección de recursos humanos. los temas de interés en la investigación de la dra. pardo son el cambio organizativo y la dirección participativa. sus trabajos se han publicado en revistas como management decision, the leadership and organization development journal o cuadernos de dirección y economía de la empresa. m@n@gement, vol. 8, no. 3, 2005, 47-67 64 manuela pardo del val y clara martínez fuentes clara martínez fuentes es profesora titular en el departamento de dirección de empresas “juan josé renau piqueras” de la universitat de valència. sus investigaciones, al igual que su docencia, se orientan hacia el campo de la dirección estratégica, la calidad y el turismo, y ha publicado sus trabajos en revistas como cuadernos de direc ción y economía de la empresa, managing service quality, o the international journal of quality & reliability management, entre otras. references  ansoff, h. i., y e. j. mcdonnell 1990 implanting strategic management, 2ª edición, new york: prentice hall.  appelbaum, s. h., n. st-pierre y w. glavas 1998 strategic organizational change: the role of leadership, learning, motivation and productivity, management decision, 36: 5, 289-301.  argyris, c. 1994 organizational defensive routines, journal of public administration research and theory, 3: 4, 343-355.  barr, p. s., j. l. stimpert y a. s. huff 1992 cognitive change, strategic action, and organizational renewal, strategic management journal, 13: summer special issue, 15-36.  beer, m. y r. a. eisenstat 1996 developing an organization capable of implementing strategy and learning, human relations, 49: 5, 597-619.  beer, m., r. a. eisenstat y b. spector 1990 why change programs don’t produce change, harvard business review, 68: 6, 158-166.  boeker, w. 1997 strategic change: the influence of managerial characteristics and organizational growth, academy of manage ment journal, 40: 1, 152-170.  burdett, j. o. 1999 leadership in change and the wisdom of a gentleman, participation and empowerment: an international jour nal, 7: 1, 5-14.  child, j. y c. smith 1987 the context and process of organizational transformation: cadbury limited in its sector, journal of management studies, 24: 6, 565-593.  de cock, c. 1998 organisational change and discourse: hegemony, resistance and reconstitution, m@n@gement, 1: 1, 1-22.  dent, e. b. y s. g. goldberg 1999 challenging “resistance to change”, journal of applied behavioral science, 35: 1, 25-41.  dent, e. b. y e. h. powley 2002 employees actually embrace change: the chimera of resistance, journal of applied management and entrepreneurship, 7: 2, 56-63.  goldstein, j. 1988 a far-from-equilibrium systems approach to resistance to change, organizational dynamics, 17: 2, 16-26.  hannan, m. t. y j. freeman 1984 structural inertia and organizational change, american sociological review, 49: 2, 149-164.  hiltrop, j. m. 1995 the changing psychological contract: the human resource challenge of the 1990’s, european management jour nal, 13: 3, 286-294.  hutt, m. d., b. a. walker y g. l. frankwick 1995 hurdle the cross-functional barriers to strategic change, sloan management review, 36: 3, 22-30.  kahneman, d. y d. lovallo 1993 timid choices and bold forecasts: a cognitive perspective on risk taking, management science, 39: 1, 17-31.  keck, s. l. y m. l. tushman 1993 environmental and organizational context and executive team structure, academy of management journal, 36: 6, 1314-1344.  klein, k. j. y j. s. sorra 1996 the challenge of innovation implementation, academy of management review, 21: 4, 1055-1080.  kotter, j. p. 1996 leading change, boston, ma: harvard business school press.  krantz, j. 1999 comment on “challenging ‘resistance to change’”, journal of applied behav ioral science, 35: 1, 42-44.  krüger, w. 1996 implementation: the core task of change management, cems business review, 1, 77-96. m@n@gement, vol. 8, no. 3, 2005, 47-67 65 resistencias al cambio organizativo  laframboise, d., r. l. nelson y j. schmaltz 2003 managing resistance to change in workplace accommodation projects, journal of facilities management, 1: 4, 306-321.  lawrence, p. r. 1954 how to deal with resistance to change, harvard business review, 32: 3, 49-57.  leana, c. r. y b. barry 2000 stability and change as simultaneous experiences in organizational life, academy of management review, 25: 4, 753-759.  lindblom, c. e. 1994 modes of inquiry, journal of public administration research and theory, 4: 3, 327-341.  lorenzo, j. d. 2000 barreras en los procesos de cambio en las organizaciones: estudio de un caso, comunicación presentada al x congreso nacional de acede, oviedo, 3-5 septiembre.  lovallo, d. y d. kahneman 2003 delusions of success: how optimism undermines executives’ decisions, harvard business review, 81: 7, 5663.  mabin, v. j., s. forgeson y l. green 2001 harnessing resistance: using the theory of constraints to assist change management, journal of european industrial training, 25: 2/3/4, 168-191.  macri, d. m., m. r. tagliaventi y f. bertolotti 2002 a grounded theory for resistance to change in a small organization, jour nal of organizational change manage ment, 15: 3, 292-310.  maurer, r. 1996 using resistance to build support for change, journal for quality and partic ipation, 19: 3, 56-63.  morrison, e. w. y f. j. milliken 2000 organizational silence: a barrier to change and development in a pluralistic world, academy of management review, 25: 4, 706-725.  nadler, d. a. y m. l. tushman 1989 organizational frame bending: principles for managing reorientation, academy of management executive, 3: 3, 194-204.  nelson, r. r. y s. g. winter 1997 an evolutionary theory of economic change, en n. j. foss (ed.), resources, firms and strategies: a reader in the resource-based per spective, oxford: oxford university press, 82-102.  nemeth, c. j. 1997 managing innovation: when less is more, california management review, 40: 1, 59-74.  piderit, s. k. 2000 rethinking resistance and recognizing ambivalence: a multidimensional view of attitudes toward an organizational change, academy of manage ment review, 25: 4, 783-794.  reichers, a. e., j. p. wanous y j. t. austin 1997 understanding and managing cynicism about organizational change, acade my of management executive, 11: 1, 48-59.  rumelt, r. p. 1995 inertia and transformation, en c. a. montgomery (ed.), resource-based and evolutionary theories of the firm: towards a synthesis, boston, ma: kluwer, 101-132.  schalk, r., j. w. campbell y c. freese 1998 change and employee behaviour, leadership & organization develop ment journal, 19: 3, 157-163.  schein, e. h. 1985 organizational culture and leadership, san francisco, ca: jossey-bass.  starbuck, w. h., a. greve y b. l. t. hedberg 1978 responding to crisis, journal of busi ness administration, 9: 2, 111-137.  strebel, p. 1994 choosing the right change path, cali fornia management review, 36: 2, 2951.  strebel, p. 1996 why do employees resist change?, harvard business review, 74: 3, 8692.  teare, r. y s. monk 2002 learning from change, international journal of contemporary hospitality management, 14: 7, 334-340.  trader-leigh, k. e. 2002 case study: identifying resistance in managing change, journal of organi zational change management, 15: 2, 138-155.  van de ven, a. h. y m. s. poole 1995 explaining development and change in organizations, academy of manage ment review, 20: 3, 510-540.  waddell, d. y a. s. sohal 1998 resistance: a constructive tool for change management, management decision, 36: 8, 543-548.  zaltman, g. y r. duncan 1977 strategies for planned change, new york: wiley.  zeffane, r. 1996 dynamics of strategic change: critical issues in fostering positive organizational change, leadership & organiza tion development journal, 17: 7, 3643. m@n@gement, vol. 8, no. 3, 2005, 47-67 66 manuela pardo del val y clara martínez fuentes 1. nos proponemos analizar un cambio que haya ocurrido en su empresa. para ello, señale de entre las siguientes situaciones una por la que haya atravesado su empresa en los últimos 2 ó 3 años. a partir de este momento todas las preguntas que le formulemos estarán relacionadas con el cambio que vd. haya elegido analizar. recuerde señalar sólo una respuesta:  hemos introducido un nuevo proceso productivo, una maquinaria o un equipo técnico nuevos  nos hemos dirigido hacia un nuevo grupo de clientes, con los consiguientes cambios en herramientas de marketing y en adecuaciones de nuestro producto o servicio  hemos introducido en el mercado un nuevo producto y por tanto también una nueva forma de producirlo, promocionarlo y comercializarlo  hemos ampliado nuestro mercado objetivo, dirigiéndonos a clientes de otras regiones dentro del país o a clientes extranjeros  hemos atravesado un proceso de fusión, una adquisición, o una alianza de cooperación con otra/s empresa/s  hemos iniciado un programa de gestión de la calidad o de gestión medioambiental  hemos reestructurado la empresa, creando o suprimiendo un departamento, o modificando la relación entre los existentes recuerde: el resto del cuestionario deberá responderlo en base al cambio elegido en esta pregunta 2. concrete en pocas palabras en qué ha consistido exactamente el cambio señalado ................................................................................................................................................................................................................. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 3. señale en qué grado se identifica más el cambio ocurrido en su empresa con una de las dos afirmaciones siguientes: 1: totalmente de acuerdo con a; 2: más de acuerdo con a que con b; 3: igual de acuerdo con ambas; 4: más de acuerdo con b que con a; 5: totalmente de acuerdo con b 4. valore en qué medida las afirmaciones siguientes describen una situación que tuvo lugar en su empresa antes o durante el cambio, marcando con un círculo el nivel correspondiente: 1: nunca ocurrió eso; 2: ocurrió pero no afectó mucho a nuestros planes de cambio; 3: ocurrió y afectó en cierta medida; 4: ocurrió y difi cultó el cambio seriamente; 5: ocurrió y nos obligó a alterar la forma en que habíamos previsto el cambio anexo: cuestionario utilizado 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 opción a hemos tenido un cambio de algunos aspectos puntuales, pero en esencia la empresa sigue igual las condiciones del entorno nos indicaban que el cambio debía producirse (reaccionamos) la supervivencia de la empresa estaba en juego si no se realizaba el cambio el cambio se realizó con tiempo, meditando durante todo el proceso opción b el cambio ha sido radical, hoy ya no somos la misma empresa que antes considerábamos que tarde o temprano habría que cambiar y decidió anticiparse consideramos que el cambio nos brindaba una oportunidad interesante el cambio fue rápido, las etapas de planificación y ejecución de tareas fueron ambas muy breves 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 1. existía cierta percepción distorsionada de la situación (por dificultad de la empresa para evaluar el futuro, por rechazo a todo aquello contrario a lo que se espera o se desea, o por ideas tan asumidas que no se percibía la necesidad de cambiar) 2. surgieron dificultades en cuanto a la interpretación y comprensión de determinada información que era fundamental para entender el cambio 3. algunas personas no se atrevieron a expresar sus preocupaciones u opiniones, que nos hubiesen ayudado en ese momento 4. la interrupción del funcionamiento habitual para entrar en una situación de cambio conllevaba unos costes muy altos para la empresa 5. el cambio nos podría traer ventajas, pero también nos supondría pérdidas en otras partes, y aunque nuestro funcionamiento no era el mejor, lo que perdíamos por un lado se compensaba por otro y por eso no estábamos especialmente motivados hacia el cambio 6. ya se habían intentado otros cambios y nos habían traído tan malos resultados que el interés por iniciar uno nuevo quedaba mermado 7. los empleados en general no hacían una valoración de los resultados a conseguir con el cambio tan positiva como la que hacía la gerencia y por eso el cambio no les interesaba 8. las circunstancias cambiaban tan rápido y la situación era tan compleja que nos resultaba difícil encontrar una respuesta creativa 9. nuestra situación era en gran parte producto de la situación general del sector, de modo que estábamos bastante resignados a que las cosas funcionasen de esa manera y por eso tampoco buscábamos soluciones insistentemente 10. la dirección de la empresa no conseguía transmitir claramente sus intenciones con el cambio al resto de empleados 11. los valores de la organización eran tan distintos de los intereses de los empleados que éstos no se sentían inclinados hacia el cambio 12. el cambio iba a generar una situación en la que algunos departamentos saldrían menos beneficiados, y éstos generaron cierta resistencia 13. había grupos en la empresa que tenían sentimientos dispares y contradictorios respecto al cambio y eso no permitía su adecuada implantación 14. en general, en la empresa existía una cierta forma de hacer las cosas, unos valores, que estaban profundamente arraigados y costaba cambiarlos 15. al promotor del cambio le acompañaba una obsesión que le llevaba a descuidar otros aspectos que pudieran estar preocupando al resto de implicados 16. no tuvimos en cuenta la experiencia que tienen los encargados a la hora de implantar el cambio, renunciando a utilizarla y además generando un sentimiento de subestima que se tradujo en una resistencia por su parte 17. los directivos temían la incertidumbre, no se atrevían a alterar la situación existente, y las rutinas establecidas que existían actuaban como resistencia frente a las novedades. así, a pesar de que generalmente se admitía la necesidad de cambiar, no había nadie que diese el primer paso 18. el cambio que necesitábamos exigía unas capacidades con las que la empresa en ese momento no contaba 19. surgió una actitud cínica de cara al cambio por parte de los empleados 20. otros (especificar): 21. otros (especificar): m@n@gement, vol. 8, no. 3, 2005, 47-67 67 resistencias al cambio organizativo 5. señale su grado de acuerdo con las siguientes afirmaciones: 1: en desacuerdo; 2: algo de acuerdo; 3: de acuerdo; 4: bastante de acuerdo; 5: muy de acuerdo 6. valore los resultados que ha tenido el cambio para su empresa. indique primero si responde en base a una medición objetiva o si son percepciones personales, y marque con un círculo el aumento o reducción: ++: fuerte incremento; +: ligero incremento; =: no se ha visto afectado; –: ligera disminución; – –: fuerte disminución datos de clasificación: sector de actividad de la empresa: industrial  servicios  negocios a los que se dedica: ............................................................................................................................................................... forma jurídica: ...................................... ¿es una empresa familiar? si  no  en caso afirmativo, generación: ................. volumen de facturación anual: ............................................................................. año de fundación: ...................... número de empleados (equivalente a tiempo completo) : ...................... indique el número de trabajadores de su empresa con: formación universitaria: ................bachillerato o fp: ................ enseñanza obligatoria: ................. sin titulación ..................... ¿desea recibir los resultados de la investigación? si  no  los siguientes datos son voluntarios. garantizamos el anonimato de la empresa y la persona entrevistada, y estos datos nos servirán en caso de que necesitemos ponernos en contacto con vd. por algún motivo (dificultad en la recepción de las respuestas, envío posterior de los resultados, etc). nombre de la empresa: dirección: nombre de la persona que ha respondido: puesto que ocupa: antigüedad en la empresa: teléfono: fax: e-mail: formación: estudios primarios  bachillerato / f.p.  estudios universitarios  número de subordinados a su cargo: muchísimas gracias por su colaboración 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 1. en mi empresa existe una buena política de formación 2. ofrecemos cursos de formación regularmente a todos los niveles 3. durante el proceso de cambio se ofreció formación a aquellos puestos que la necesitaban para contar con nuevas habilidades 4. durante el cambio los empleados recibieron una formación que les permitió entender la situación 5. en la empresa hay un continuo flujo de información de abajo (operarios) arriba (dirección) 6. en la empresa hay un continuo flujo de información de arriba (dirección) abajo (operarios) 7. en la empresa existe un continuo flujo de información entre los departamentos 8. el sistema retributivo de la empresa premia los comportamientos innovadores 9. existen incentivos monetarios para aquellos empleados que colaboran en un cambio 10. existen incentivos no monetarios para aquellos empleados que colaboran en un cambio 11. las relaciones entre las personas de la empresa fomentan un ambiente de cambio 12. las relaciones entre superiores y subordinados fomentan un ambiente de cambio 13. la naturaleza del trabajo realizado fomenta un ambiente de cambio 14. la empresa muestra claramente hasta qué punto valora un ambiente de cambio 15. los valores y creencias de la empresa respecto al cambio quedaban patentes para todos 16. los empleados han sido conscientes durante el cambio de la confianza que la empresa tiene en ellos 17. los empleados han sido conscientes durante el cambio de que la alta dirección lo apoyaba a pesar de los errores que pudieran cometerse debido a la situación de incertidumbre 18. los directivos han sabido imponerse durante el cambio a través de una autoridad no formal 19. los directivos han pretendido implicar a los empleados durante el cambio 20. los directivos han conseguido implicar a los empleados durante el cambio 21. los empleados en general consideraban que los cambios eran necesarios 22. los empleados en general consideraban que la empresa era capaz de afrontar el cambio con éxito 23. los empleados estaban satisfechos con la situación previa al cambio 24. la alta dirección apoyó el cambio en todo momento 25. el apoyo de la alta dirección al cambio se comunicó al resto de la empresa 26. los empleados estaban en general involucrados con el cambio medición objetiva                   percepción personal                   cifra de ventas costes margen de beneficios productividad de la empresa calidad del trabajo terminado satisfacción de los clientes tiempo que se tarda en completar las tareas mejora de la posición competitiva en el sector cuota de mercado satisfacción de los empleados con su trabajo absentismo laboral número de días de huelga conflictos laborales rotación de la plantilla jubilaciones anticipadas número de trabajadores rejuvenecimiento de la plantilla eventualidad de la mano de obra ++ ++ ++ ++ ++ ++ ++ ++ ++ ++ ++ ++ ++ ++ ++ ++ ++ ++ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 73casanueva volume 9, no. 3. special issue: “doing case study research in organizations” guest editors: ann langley and isabelle royer � geneviève musca 2006 une stratégie de recherche processuelle : l'étude longitudinale de cas enchâssés, m@n@gement, 9: 3, 145-168. copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). m@n@gement is a double-blind refereed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.management-aims.com © 2006 m@n@gement and the author(s). m@n@gement issn: 1286-4892 editors: alain desreumaux, u. de lille i martin evans, u. of toronto bernard forgues, u. de lille i hugh gunz, u. of toronto martina menguzzato, u. de valència m@n@gement est la revue officielle de lʼaims m@n@gement is the official journal of aims http://www.management-aims.com http://www.management-aims.com http://www.strategie-aims.com m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 153-176 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 153 geneviève musca université paris x nanterreceros email: genevieve.musca@u-paris10.fr une stratégie de recherche processuelle : l’étude longitudinale de cas enchâssés cet article décrit une stratégie particulière de recherche sur des processus organisationnels : lʼétude longitudinale de cas enchâssés. elle peut être définie comme une étude de cas longitudinale comportant plusieurs sous-unités dʼanalyse et dans laquelle des investigations sont menées à la fois au niveau du cas dʼensemble et des sous-unités. lʼarticle apporte un éclairage sur lʼintérêt de ce design spécifique pour des recherches visant à développer des théories processuelles de phénomènes complexes comme lʼinnovation, lʼapprentissage, la dynamique des compétences dans lʼorganisation. ce design permet en particulier de mener une étude empirique longitudinale en comparant différentes sous-unités au sein dʼun cas unique, dans une perspective de génération de théorie. lʼarticle insiste également sur les aspects pratiques de la mise en œuvre de ce design, au niveau de la sélection des unités, de la collecte des données et de leur analyse. le propos est illustré par des exemples concrets. nous pensons que cet article peut éclairer lʼapport potentiel et les difficultés de ce design pour dʼautres recherches processuelles, et contribuer ainsi aux réflexions actuelles sur les aspects méthodologiques des études empiriques longitudinales. introduction lʼintérêt des chercheurs en gestion pour les théories processuelles et les phénomènes dynamiques comme lʼapprentissage organisationnel, lʼinnovation ou le changement stratégique sʼest considérablement accru depuis une quinzaine dʼannées (pettigrew, woodman et cameron, 2001 ; van de ven et poole, 2005). deux types de recherches sur ces sujets peuvent être distingués (langley, 1999) : les recherches formulant des théories a priori et les testant sur des séries de données historiques, et les recherches choisissant de les étudier en plan rapproché à partir de données terrain détaillées pour essayer dʼen extraire des théories (pettigrew, 1990 ; van de ven, 1992 ; langley, 1999). cʼest à ce deuxième type de recherche que nous nous intéressons ici. des recherches sur le changement à la fois utiles pour la théorie et la pratique doivent explorer à la fois les contextes, les contenus et les processus, ainsi que leurs interactions au cours du temps (pettigrew et al., 2001). les chercheurs sont alors confrontés à un double défi : il sʼagit à la fois dʼattraper le réel au vol et dʼétudier des processus à long terme dans leur contexte naturel, ce qui conduit à y considérer de multiples niveaux dʼanalyse interconnectés (barley, 1990 ; pettigrew et al., 2001). ils ont donc besoin de méthodes appropriées pour étudier ces mailto:genevieve.musca@u-paris10.fr m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 153-176 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 154 geneviève musca phénomènes dynamiques afin dʼappréhender les causalités multiples, les boucles de rétroaction au sein dʼun même contexte (langley, 1999). lʼétude de cas est une stratégie de recherche qui, dans la lignée des travaux de glaser et strauss (1967), permet dʼexplorer des phénomènes complexes et peu connus afin dʼen capturer la richesse et dʼy identifier des patterns, dans une optique de génération de théorie (eisenhardt, 1989 ; dougherty, 2002 ; yin, 2003). cependant, lorsquʼil sʼagit dʼétudier un processus, la conduite dʼétudes de cas est un vrai défi et se heurte à de nombreuses difficultés de collecte et dʼanalyse des données. plusieurs chercheurs ont proposé des pistes méthodologiques pour la réalisation dʼétudes empiriques longitudinales visant à générer de la théorie (pettigrew, 1990 ; langley, 1999 ; van de ven et poole, 2005). un design enchâssé (embedded), permettant dʼapprofondir des analyses réalisées en comparant des variations intraorganisationnelles à un instant donné et au cours du temps, semble particulièrement approprié à la conduite dʼune étude empirique longitudinale (pettigrew, 1990 ; yin, 2003). cependant, peu de travaux ont abordé spécifiquement les caractéristiques et la mise en œuvre de ce design. une étude longitudinale de cas enchâssés comporte plusieurs sous-unités dʼanalyse au sein du cas et des investigations sont menées à la fois au niveau du cas dʼensemble et des sous-unités (yin, 2003). lʼobjectif de cet article est de contribuer à préciser en quoi lʼétude longitudinale de cas enchâssés est un design approprié pour mener une recherche processuelle, et de souligner son intérêt et ses limites. notre propos nʼest pas de montrer que ce design est meilleur quʼun autre, mais de suggérer les objectifs de recherche et les circonstances pour lesquels il peut être pertinent dʼy recourir, ainsi que les écueils à éviter. nous visons ainsi à contribuer aux réflexions actuelles sur les méthodes de recherche processuelle en apportant cet éclairage partiel mais, nous lʼespérons, néanmoins utile. la première partie de cet article présente les principales caractéristiques de lʼétude longitudinale de cas enchâssés. la deuxième partie sʼintéresse plus spécifiquement aux aspects méthodologiques de sa mise en œuvre, et en particulier à lʼaccès au terrain, au traitement et à lʼanalyse des données. en conclusion nous revenons sur lʼintérêt, les difficultés et les perspectives de ce type dʼétudes pour conduire une recherche processuelle. une strategie d’etude de processus organisationnels lʼetude longitudinale de cas enchasses : elements de definition les différents designs des études de cas longitudinales lʼétude de cas longitudinale est un type particulier dʼétude de cas. elle peut être définie par trois éléments (forgues et vandangeon-derumez, 1999) : les données sont recueillies au cours de deux périodes m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 153-176 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 155 lʼétude longitudinale des cas enchâssés distinctes au moins, les sujets sont comparables dʼune période à lʼautre, et lʼanalyse consiste généralement à comparer les données entre deux périodes ou à retracer lʼévolution observée. comme toute étude de cas, lʼétude de cas longitudinale peut porter sur un cas unique ou sur plusieurs cas, et avoir un design enchâssé ou holistique. yin (2003) distingue quatre grands types dʼétudes de cas, selon que lʼétude porte sur un ou plusieurs cas (cas unique vs. cas multiples) et comprend une ou plusieurs unités dʼanalyse au sein de ces cas (perspective holistique vs. enchâssée ), comme le résume le tableau 1. le premier axe distingue les designs selon que lʼétude porte sur un cas unique ou sur plusieurs cas. lʼauteur indique que lorsquʼon a le choix et les ressources nécessaires, des designs de cas multiples (types 3 et 4) peuvent être préférables à des designs de cas unique dans une logique de réplication. en effet, chaque cas doit être sélectionné avec soin, soit pour prédire des résultats semblables (réplication littérale), soit pour prédire des résultats contrastés pour des raisons prévisibles (réplication théorique), ce qui permet de renforcer la validité externe de lʼétude par rapport à une étude de cas unique (yin, 2003). cependant, la conduite des études de cas multiples requiert du temps et des ressources qui vont souvent au-delà des moyens dʼun chercheur indépendant (yin, 2003). les études longitudinales multicas sont en particulier plutôt réalisées par des chercheurs travaillant en équipe, comme celles du minnesota innovation research program (van de ven, angle et poole, 1989) ou du centre for creativity strategy and change de warwick (pettigrew, 1990). le choix dʼune étude dʼun cas unique (types 1 et 2) est une stratégie de recherche fréquente en gestion. la validité externe des résultats peut alors être améliorée en les confrontant minutieusement à la littérature (eisenhardt, 1989 ; yin, 2003). le choix dʼun cas unique est approprié en cinq circonstances (yin, 2003). lʼune dʼentre elles est le cas longitudinal, lʼétude dʼun seul cas en deux moments différents au moins. son objectif est de spécifier comment certaines conditions évoluent au cours du temps, selon des intervalles temporels sélectionnés en fonction du rythme présumé auquel les changements interviennent (yin, 2003). lʼétude de cas peut comporter une ou plusieurs unités dʼanalyse. lorsque plusieurs unités sont prises en compte, il sʼagit dʼune étude de cas enchâssés (type 2). par exemple, une étude de cas enchâssés dʼun programme inclura dans lʼanalyse des éléments détaillés des différents projets financés par ce programme (tels que la composition des équipes, la fréquence des réunions, les résultats financiers des tableau 1. les grands types de designs dʼétudes de cas* cas unique type 1 type 2 cas multiples type 3 type 4 holistique (une seule unité dʼanalyse) enchâssé (unités dʼanayse multiples) * : adapté de yin (2003 : 40). m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 153-176 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 156 geneviève musca différents projets), alors quʼun design holistique (de type 1) examinera le programme dans son ensemble. le recours à un design holistique est pertinent lorsquʼil nʼest pas possible dʼidentifier des unités logiques au sein du cas, ou lorsque la théorie mobilisée pour lʼétude est ellemême de nature holistique (yin, 2003). cependant, lʼauteur identifie des écueils potentiels liés à ce design. en effet, le risque est alors de conduire lʼétude toute entière à un niveau abstrait, sans examiner le phénomène de façon détaillée. pour reprendre lʼexemple précédent, lʼétude selon un design holistique dʼun programme incluant plusieurs projets risque, en ne sʼintéressant quʼau programme dʼensemble, de ne pas permettre de collecter des données suffisamment précises et complètes au niveau des différents projets pour expliquer le succès ou lʼéchec du programme dont ils font partie. un design enchâssé offre plusieurs avantages. le fait de considérer dʼemblée plusieurs unités au sein du cas dʼensemble aide le chercheur à focaliser la recherche (yin, 2003). la prise en compte de nouvelles visions émergeant de lʼanalyse de lʼune des unités ne remet pas en cause le design initial, mais offre des opportunités significatives dʼapprofondissement des analyses réalisées dans les autres unités. lʼétude de plusieurs unités permet en effet de multiplier les angles dʼapproche du phénomène étudié, de faire émerger de nouvelles compréhensions, de les confronter à des explications rivales, et dʼen tester la pertinence auprès dʼautres unités au cours même de lʼétude, ce qui renforce sa validité interne et la validité du construit (yin, 2003). cette démarche est beaucoup plus difficile si lʼon reste au niveau du programme dans son ensemble. cependant, une étude de cas enchâssés pose également des problèmes. en particulier, le chercheur risque de focaliser ses analyses sur les différentes sous-unités considérées aux dépends des aspects plus généraux du cas dʼensemble. ce dernier devient alors le contexte de lʼétude au lieu dʼen être la cible (yin, 2003). lʼauteur reprend lʼexemple du programme comprenant plusieurs projets pour expliciter son propos. lʼévaluation de ce programme peut inclure les caractéristiques des différents projets comme sous-unités dʼanalyse, avec des données très détaillées, y compris de nature quantitative, recueillies au niveau de chacun dʼentre eux. cependant, lʼévaluation originale devient une étude multi-cas des différents projets si aucune investigation nʼest menée au niveau du programme dʼensemble. ainsi, une étude de cas enchâssés se distingue dʼune étude multi-cas en ce que lʼanalyse porte non seulement sur les différentes sous-unités au sein de ce cas, mais également sur le cas dans son ensemble, à un niveau plus large. lʼétude longitudinale de cas enchâssés nous nous intéressons dans cet article au design spécifique de lʼétude longitudinale de cas enchâssés, quʼil sʼagisse dʼune étude de cas unique ou dʼune étude menée dans le cadre dʼun design multi-cas (types 2 et 4 du tableau de yin). les différents aspects méthodologiques et pratiques abordés dans la suite de cet article nous semblent applicables à une étude longitudinale de cas multiples dans laquelle chaque cas étudié aurait un design enchâssé (yin, 2003). lʼétude lonm@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 153-176 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 157 lʼétude longitudinale des cas enchâssés gitudinale de cas enchâssés peut être définie comme une étude de cas longitudinale comportant plusieurs sous-unités dʼanalyse au sein du cas et dans laquelle des investigations sont également menées au niveau de lʼensemble du cas. il peut sʼagir dʼune étude menée de façon rétrospective ou bien en temps réel. par rapport aux préconisations de yin (2003), mener une étude en temps réel dʼun processus sans en connaître lʼissue (par exemple, étudier un processus dʼinnovation au fur et à mesure de son déroulement, sans savoir si lʼinnovation a été ou non un succès) présente lʼintérêt de minimiser les biais introduits par une étude rétrospective et maximise la possibilité de découvrir lʼinfluence de facteurs importants mais éphémères (van de ven et poole, 1995). un design bien adapte a une demarche comparative le choix dʼune étude longitudinale de cas enchâssés paraît pertinent lorsquʼon cherche à comprendre et expliquer des processus organisationnels complexes à partir de comparaisons détaillées dʼéléments du contexte réel dans lequel ils sont ancrés. comparer pour rendre compte de processus complexes le grand défi des recherches processuelles qualitatives est dʼarriver à extraire de la masse de données emmêlées et ambiguës du contexte réel des compréhensions théoriques qui permettent de les expliquer tout en en conservant la richesse et la complexité (langley, 1999). les processus organisationnels sont inextricablement liés aux contextes, aux situations réelles dans lesquels ils se produisent. des phénomènes comme le changement organisationnel ou lʼapprentissage sʼétendent dans le temps et dans lʼespace, ils ne sont ni linéaires ni singuliers, ils engagent des faisceaux de causalités multiples (pettigrew, 1990). il est donc pertinent de chercher à les appréhender non seulement au niveau dʼun cas global, mais aussi à partir de lʼétude détaillée de différentes unités, souvent imbriquées, au sein de ce cas (pettigrew, 1990 ; langley, 1999 ; yin, 2003). l'étude longitudinale de cas enchâssés semble donc appropriée pour rendre compte de façon détaillée de processus organisationnels complexes. très adapté à lʼétablissement de comparaisons entre différentes unités, ce design est cohérent avec une approche par la construction de théorie enracinée (glaser et strauss, 1967 ; strauss et corbin,1994) qui cherche à capturer la complexité du monde social en y identifiant et expliquant des dynamiques, des patterns à partir de lʼétude minutieuse dʼun contexte particulier. il convient bien à une démarche de recherche abductive (kœnig, 1993). la comparaison systématique de données détaillées, de micro événements, permet en effet de construire peu à peu des compréhensions théoriques enracinées dans le réel. lʼobjectif de lʼétude nʼest pas de proposer une généralisation statistique mais de faire émerger des résultats théoriques novateurs, dans une perspective de généralisation analytique (yin, 2003). pour effectuer ce type dʼanalyse, le chercheur doit interagir en profondeur avec des données très détaillées, riches et variées, et à différents niveaux m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 153-176 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 158 geneviève musca (dougherty, 2002). un design enchâssé permet de mener des comparaisons systématiques entre les unités sélectionnées et dʼétudier les relations entre des niveaux différents dans lʼorganisation (individus, groupes, firme). la confrontation des analyses de ces données peut faire découvrir au chercheur de nouvelles visions et lʼamener à rechercher des explications alternatives, ce qui suscite la collecte de nouvelles données, à un autre moment ou dans une autre unité, jusquʼà la saturation théorique. des faisceaux de causes multiples, des boucles de causalité et des interconnections variées entre les différentes unités considérées peuvent être révélés, ce qui multiplie les indices et favorise la triangulation des données (yin, 2003). de plus, ce design permet de combiner à la fois une méthodologie de variance et de processus du même phénomène, ce qui va dans le sens des recommandations de van de ven et poole (2005). un design enchâssé est approprié dans le cas dʼune recherche mixte portant à la fois sur le contenu et sur le processus. il permet de comparer différentes unités entre elles à un moment donné pour étudier des variables représentant un aspect important du sujet étudié (analyse synchronique), mais aussi dʼappréhender la dynamique du processus, les liens temporels entre évènements, à un niveau à la fois micro et plus macro (analyse diachronique). la recherche de barley (1990) est exemplaire des combinaisons possibles. elle vise à étudier systématiquement les différentes sources de changements liés à lʼadoption dʼune nouvelle technologie (le scanner à rayons x). lʼauteur a étudié en parallèle deux hôpitaux, et pour chacun dʼentre eux il a mené une analyse synchronique de différentes unités (technologies radio) à un moment donné, et une analyse diachronique de lʼévolution au cours du temps du comportement vis-à-vis du scanner. ces trois types dʼanalyse (synchronique, diachronique et en parallèle) représentent trois axes distincts de comparaison qui, mobilisés ensemble, permettent dʼapprofondir les analyses des chercheurs (barley, 1990). mettre en œuvre une démarche comparative : cas multiples ou cas unique ? pettigrew a mis en oeuvre ce principe dʼenchâssement dans des études multi-cas réalisées avec son équipe (pettigrew, 1990 ; pettigrew et al., 2001). différents niveaux de contexte sont pris en compte dans lʼanalyse, depuis le contexte intra-organisationnel jusquʼau contexte international. par exemple, pettigrew et whipp (1991) ont étudié les processus de changement stratégique et opérationnel dans quatre secteurs industriels britanniques. une analyse de plusieurs cas enchâssés (type 4 de la typologie de yin) leur a permis de mettre à jour des asymétries entre divers niveaux de contexte qui évoluaient chacun à un rythme différent (le secteur industriel évoluant plus rapidement que la perception quʼen avaient les acteurs dʼune firme), expliquant ainsi des performances contrastées. ce design de recherche nécessite lʼintervention conjointe de plusieurs chercheurs au cours dʼune longue période, ainsi que des moyens financiers importants1. un chercheur isolé peut difficilement le mettre en oeuvre, mais il peut en revanche mener plus facilement une étude longitudinale dʼun cas 1. dans le cas des recherches de pettigrew et de son équipe de l’université de warwick, le programme de recherche sur le changement organisationnel a démarré dans les années 1980 et a impliqué une équipe pluridisciplinaire de chercheurs expérimentés à temps plein pendant de nombreuses années (pettigrew, 1990 ; pettigrew et al., 2001). m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 153-176 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 159 lʼétude longitudinale des cas enchâssés unique avec un design enchâssé, ce qui est également intéressant dans une perspective de génération de théorie enracinée. en effet, lʼétude de plusieurs unités au sein dʼun cas unique offre des sources de variation intra-organisationnelle. langley (1999) souligne quʼil est possible, en analysant plusieurs unités au sein du cas, de scruter différentes facettes dʼun ou de plusieurs processus, à différents moments de leur déroulement. des comparaisons approfondies peuvent alors être menées, quʼil sʼagisse de plusieurs processus (comme les phénomènes dʼintraprenariat, burgelman, 1983) ou, au sein du même processus, de micro-événements (comme des interprétations dʼindividus ou de groupes distincts au sein du même processus [isabella, 1990 ; charreire petit, 1995 ; sutton, 1997]). par exemple, lipset, trow et coleman (2004) ont rendu compte de ce processus dʼanalyse de façon très détaillée, à partir de lʼétude de cas enchâssé quʼils ont réalisée sur international typographical union. cette étude comprenait de nombreuses unités dʼanalyse, de lʼorganisation dans son ensemble jusquʼaux individus qui la composent, en passant par de multiples niveaux intermédiaires. les auteurs reviennent sur ce processus « dʼanalyse interne » (lipset et al., 2004 : 123)2. il sʼagit en particulier de développer des généralisations à partir de lʼétude des variations qui se produisent au sein du système (variations dans le temps ou variations entre différentes parties du système), ou en sʼintéressant aux processus à travers lesquels ces généralisations sont présumées exister. pour ces auteurs, si ce type dʼanalyse nʼest la plupart du temps pas exhaustif (certains aspects étant tout simplement absents du cas) il a en revanche lʼavantage de focaliser lʼattention du chercheur sur les processus sous-jacents. il peut ainsi conduire à une explication plus profonde des phénomènes, et à une généralisation plus fondamentale que dʼautres types de recherche. ainsi, lʼétude longitudinale de cas enchâssés est très adaptée à des recherches visant à comprendre et expliquer des processus complexes. elle peut faciliter la génération de théorie en permettant dʼétablir des comparaisons synchroniques et diachroniques, voire en parallèle, entre données. elle nʼest cependant pas toujours facile à mener, et nous allons nous intéresser maintenant à des dispositifs méthodologiques qui peuvent en faciliter la mise en œuvre. aspects methodologiques les reproches traditionnellement adressés aux études de cas sont leur manque de rigueur, le peu de base scientifique pour la généralisation, et le fait que ce type de recherche prenne trop de temps et génère une masse de documents illisibles (yin, 2003). dès lors, une attention particulière doit être accordée aux dispositifs méthodologiques de recueil et dʼanalyse des données, et à la validité et la fiabilité de la démarche. sʼagissant des études de cas longitudinales, cette exigence est dʼautant plus grande que le chercheur passe beaucoup de temps sur le terrain, et quʼil recueille et analyse une grande quantité de données hétérogènes. 2. l’étude de lipset et al. (2004) décrit précisément la façon dont la pertinence d’une analyse peut être renforcée par des comparaisons multiples au sein d’un cas unique. publiée à l’origine en 1956, elle est citée par yin (2003) pour illustrer l’apport d’une étude de cas unique avec un design enchâssé et est reprise dans son anthologie (yin, 2004). m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 153-176 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 160 geneviève musca il nʼexiste pas de méthode spécifique pour mener une étude longitudinale de cas enchâssés. cependant, certaines méthodes de recueil et dʼanalyse de données qualitatives nous semblent pouvoir être utilisées et combinées afin de faciliter le repérage et lʼanalyse des données multiples. les paragraphes ci-dessous visent à proposer, sans exhaustivité, des pistes méthodologiques qui peuvent aider le chercheur à concevoir son propre dispositif, en fonction de sa démarche de recherche et des situations rencontrées sur le terrain. acceder au terrain lʼétude de cas longitudinale a pour objectif la compréhension et lʼexplication de processus organisationnels dans leur contexte, il convient donc dʼapporter un très grand soin à la conception dʼun dispositif qui permette de collecter des données pour la durée envisagée de lʼétude. mais lʼaccès au terrain est précaire, et le chercheur doit y accorder beaucoup dʼattention. comme lʼindique giroux (2003), il est souvent difficile à négocier, les acteurs de lʼentreprise craignant souvent que la présence du chercheur ne gêne leurs activités courantes, ou quʼil ait accès à des informations sensibles. lorsquʼun accord de principe est négocié, rien nʼest jamais gagné. des réorganisations, fermetures de sites, arrêts de projets, départs dʼinterlocuteurs clés sont fréquents. un design enchâssé permet, en choisissant a priori des sources diversifiées de collecte de données, de répartir les risques de fermeture de lʼaccès aux données entre plusieurs sous-unités. cela nécessite de maintenir un contact étroit avec le terrain tout au long de lʼétude, le chercheur doit faire preuve de souplesse et dʼopportunisme, tout en étant rigoureux par rapport aux objectifs de son étude. nous nous intéressons ici à trois aspects de lʼaccès au terrain : le choix des unités dʼanalyse, la présence du chercheur sur le terrain et le dispositif de collecte de données multiples. le choix délicat des unités dʼanalyse la question du choix des unités dʼanalyse se pose pour toute étude de cas visant à générer de la théorie. mais elle se pose à un double niveau pour un design enchâssé : celui du ou des cas dʼune part, celui des unités dʼautre part. pour le choix du ou des cas dʼensemble, les recommandations sont les mêmes que pour les autres études de cas. les cas sont choisis pour des raisons théoriques et non statistiques (glaser et strauss, 1967 ; eisenhardt, 1989), dans une logique de réplication littérale —prédiction de résultats similaires— ou de réplication théorique —prédiction de résultats contrastés pour des raisons prévisibles— (yin, 2003). pettigrew (1990) préconise de choisir des cas extrêmes ou des situations contrastées dans lesquels le chercheur pense pouvoir observer le processus auquel il sʼintéresse. en ce qui concerne le choix des sous-unités, yin (2003) ne formule pas de recommandation particulière. si lʼon se place dans une optique dʼémergence de théorie à partir de comparaisons détaillées, il convient de procéder par échantillonnage théorique jusquʼà ce que le thème soit saturé (glaser et strauss, 1967). dans cette optique, dougherty m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 153-176 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 161 lʼétude longitudinale des cas enchâssés (2002) indique que la règle de sélection doit être le contraste. les données doivent contenir des opportunités pour rechercher des contrastes entre événements, incidents, activités, dans le but de trouver le thème théorique potentiel. des bonnes données capturent des situations alternatives ou des variations de telle sorte que le chercheur puisse voir comment des visions émergent. lʼauteur note cependant quʼil est difficile de donner des critères de sélection plus précis, tout dépendant du jugement du chercheur sur le fait que la théorie émergente capture de façon plausible et utile la complexité de lʼaction sociale particulière quʼil examine. eisenhardt (1989) indique que les grands critères de sélection des cas doivent être définis dans le cadre initial de lʼétude, mais quʼil convient de rester flexible et de lʼétendre éventuellement pour examiner la pertinence de nouvelles explications surgissant au cours de lʼétude. elle note quʼeisenhardt et bourgeois (1988) ont par exemple rajouté au cours de lʼétude deux cas dans lesquels il y avait eu un changement dans la composition de lʼéquipe, afin dʼexaminer lʼimpact de ce facteur sur le processus de décision stratégique. il nous semble que le processus de sélection des unités dans des études de cas enchâssés doit sʼopérer de façon semblable. en pratique, une étude longitudinale démarre souvent par une phase exploratoire, suivie dʼune phase dʼenquête intensive puis dʼune phase de contrôle (charreire petit, 2003). cʼest lors de la phase exploratoire quʼil est possible dʼévaluer lʼadéquation du terrain par rapport à lʼobjectif poursuivi et à la question de recherche, ce qui permet de sélectionner les unités qui seront étudiées (cette sélection peut difficilement être opérée a priori et demande déjà une bonne connaissance du terrain). sʼil sʼagit dʼune étude en temps réel, il est difficile de choisir a priori des unités permettant dʼétablir des comparaisons entre une bonne et une mauvaise performance ultérieure par exemple. le chercheur peut alors sélectionner des unités qui lui paraissent offrir des éléments de contraste tout en étant pertinentes par rapport à ses questions de recherche : projets dont la nature ou lʼobjectif sont différents, groupes de niveaux hiérarchiques contrastés, acteurs de métiers et fonctions divers. il convient également de veiller lors de la sélection des unités dʼanalyse à la fréquence du recueil des données, à la durée de ce recueil et à sa granularité (le degré de précision envisagé), selon les recommandations de van de ven et poole (2002). ces considérations, centrales pour toutes les recherches empiriques longitudinales, se posent avec dʼautant plus dʼacuité quʼil sʼagit de cas enchâssés. en effet, suivant les unités considérées, les intervalles ou évènements observés peuvent évoluer différemment, ce qui soulève des problèmes pratiques importants en termes de recueil de données. lorsque lʼétude est menée en temps réel, des unités dʼanalyse peuvent même disparaître au cours de la recherche (arrêt de lʼun des projets, départ dʼun acteur…). dans ce cas, le choix de plusieurs unités dʼanalyse permet dʼassurer une base de comparaison même si lʼune de ces unités ne peut finalement plus être étudiée. mais le nombre dʼunités dʼanalyse doit cependant rester compatible avec les contraintes de faisabilité de lʼétude. le dispositif de recueil doit également assurer la collecte et le traitement dʼune grande quantité de donm@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 153-176 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 162 geneviève musca nées afin de permettre de conduire des analyses même si lʼaccès à lʼune des unités se clôture. il est cependant difficile de formuler des recommandations plus précises a priori pour le choix des unités dʼanalyse, forcément très spécifiques pour le terrain étudié et les objectifs de la recherche. aussi nous proposons de lʼillustrer plus concrètement dans lʼencadré 1, à partir de lʼexemple de lʼétude que nous avons menée sur la dynamique des compétences et capacités dans lʼorganisation (musca, 2005). encadré 1. exemple dʼétude longitudinale de cas enchâssés lʼobjectif de la recherche (musca, 2005) est de comprendre et dʼexpliquer la génération de compétences et capacités dans les équipes en charge de projets innovants, dans des situations où les problèmes sont peu structurés, et où lʼincertitude porte à la fois sur les moyens et sur les fins. la démarche abductive vise à construire une théorie enracinée de ce processus de développement à partir dʼune étude de cas longitudinale. le cas choisi, un projet de développement de contenus et services internet au sein dʼun grand groupe de presse (le projet presseweb*), correspondait aux critères dʼéchantillonnage retenus (un environnement incertain, dynamique ; un projet de développement de produits et services innovants, pouvant être étudié en temps réel, et à différents niveaux : projet dʼensemble, groupes, individus). jʼavais initialement envisagé dʼétudier également un autre projet, dans une logique de réplication littérale (yin, 2003). cependant, jʼai eu dʼune part eu lʼopportunité de suivre ce projet pendant la quasi-totalité de son déroulement (3 ans), et jʼai pu dʼautre part étudier de façon approfondie plusieurs équipes au sein du projet dʼensemble. ainsi, il mʼa paru opportun de tirer parti de cet accès privilégié à des données très riches et diverses en choisissant de conduire une étude de cas longitudinale de ce projet avec un design enchâssé. la sélection des unités dʼanalyse au sein du projet a été très itérative. jʼavais prévu de mener dʼabord une étude exploratoire et de réaliser ensuite une étude intensive permettant dʼobserver plus finement le processus de développement des compétences en temps réel. jʼai cherché lors de lʼétude exploratoire à avoir des entretiens avec des acteurs très divers (en termes de fonction, métier, origine, niveau hiérarchique) afin de recueillir des visions contrastées de ce projet qui démarrait (phase 1). lʼétude exploratoire sʼest achevée lors dʼune première réorganisation du projet. lors de la phase 2 du projet, les sites internet ont été organisés par pôle, chaque pôle visant un public spécifique et rassemblant des éditeurs, techniciens et graphistes dédiés. a la suite dʼun nouvel entretien avec le directeur général du projet, jʼai sélectionné deux des quatre pôles pour y mener une étude intensive : le pôle jeunesse (campus*) et le pôle religion (credo*). ce choix était basé sur plusieurs critères : ils étaient considérés comme les deux pôles les plus innovants et les plus emblématiques de presseweb, ils étaient a priori organisés de façon semblable, à un même niveau du projet dʼensemble, mais leurs cibles en termes de publics visés et de contenus et services à développer étaient très différentes. cette configuration me paraissait intéressante pour établir des comparaisons multiples et essayer de dégager des facteurs explicatifs. jʼai pu étudier de façon intensive de ces deux pôles pendant toute la deuxième phase du projet. je nʼavais pas initialement envisagé dʼétudier également lʼéquipe technique (techno*) en tant que telle, la plupart des techniciens ayant été dédiés à un pôle spécifique lors de la réorganisation. il est cependant apparu au cours de lʼétude de la deuxième phase du projet que les techniciens affectés aux différents pôles continuaient à considérer quʼils appartenaient avant tout à lʼéquipe technique ; ils partageaient les mêmes locaux et travaillaient encore ensemble sur un projet commun, le développement de la nouvelle plate-forme éditoriale. en outre cette équipe technique avait des caractéristiques spécifiques (jeunesse, diversité des formations, modes de résolution des problèmes) permettant de tester des explications rivales. jʼai donc choisi de lʼétudier de façon plus détaillée. a lʼissue de cette deuxième phase, une nouvelle réorganisation a eu lieu (début de la m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 153-176 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 163 lʼétude longitudinale des cas enchâssés le chercheur, de lʼobservateur au participant la présence longue du chercheur sur le terrain est un élément clé du dispositif dʼune recherche empirique longitudinale en temps réel (charreire petit, 2003). nous examinons ici certaines spécificités dʼun design enchâssé. dans toute étude de cas, le degré dʼimplication du chercheur sur le terrain peut être plus ou moins important. mais dans une étude longitudinale de cas enchâssés menée en temps réel, la présence du chercheur sur le terrain est particulièrement longue et intense. du fait de lʼétude en parallèle de plusieurs sous-unités, le chercheur est amené à y passer beaucoup de temps. les acteurs renencadré 1 (suite) phase 3 du projet). campus a été arrêté, alors que credo, considéré comme un succès, a intégré (avec tous les membres de lʼéquipe) la division correspondante de presseco, actionnaire principal de presseweb. techno a également rejoint presseco, au sein de sa nouvelle entité technico-marketing. des entretiens avec les acteurs de credo et de techno mʼont alors permis dʼaffiner certains facteurs explicatifs et dʼexplorer des pistes complémentaires. les différentes phases du projet et les principales étapes de la collecte des données sont présentées dans le tableau 2. ainsi, les projets credo et campus, sélectionnés a priori parce quʼils étaient considérés comme les plus innovants et prometteurs de presseweb, tout en ayant des cibles différentes, ont connu une évolution très contrastée. je ne pouvais pas prévoir initialement que lʼun des projets serait un succès et que lʼautre sʼarrêterait. cette évolution contrastée mʼa incitée à approfondir mes analyses et mʼa aidée à faire émerger de nouveaux facteurs explicatifs. cependant, même si ces projets avaient connu tous les deux une évolution semblable, le design de lʼétude aurait permis de mener des comparaisons très fines de leurs différences au sein dʼun même contexte organisationnel. en effet, le recueil de données très détaillées à différents niveaux (composition des deux équipes, modes de résolution des conflits, interactions formelles et informelles, insertion dans presseweb, relations avec presseco, résultats…) et au cours des trois phases du projet constituait une base solide pour mener des comparaisons et sʼinterroger sur les différences. * pseudonymes tableau 2. le projet presseweb : phases et collecte des données phase 1 (été 2001-été 2002) création et démarrage un portail internet destiné aux familles observation documents 12 entretiens semidirectifs (presseweb, presseco) phase 2 (été 2002-été 2003) réorientation et montée en puissance du projet 4 pôles (dont credo et campus) selon les publics visés (éditeurs, graphistes, techniciens) equipes transversales (dont techno) observation documents observation participante (pour campus et credo) 24 entretiens semidirectifs (tous les membres des 2 pôles + autres acteurs du projet) participation à 33 réunions formelles (campus, credo) phase 3 (depuis été 2003) réorganisation credo et techno intégrés dans presseco arrêt de campus observation documents 11 entretiens semidirectifs (credo, techno) projet presseweb caractéristiques du projet collecte des données m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 153-176 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 164 geneviève musca contrés, les situations observées sont divers mais ont des liens entre eux. il est dʼautant plus important dʼévaluer les implications de la présence du chercheur sur le terrain. son positionnement épistémologique nʼest pas neutre dans sa position vis-à-vis du terrain (hlady-rispal, 2000). le chercheur positiviste revendique une distance par rapport au terrain, tandis que le chercheur constructiviste considère quʼil co-construit la réalité avec les acteurs terrain. le réalisme épistémologique (kœnig, 1993) nous semble particulièrement pertinent pour une étude longitudinale de cas enchâssés. en effet, lʼobjectif est alors non pas de formuler des théories de portée générale mais de proposer des construits élaborés à partir dʼobservations empiriques détaillées, susceptibles dʼen expliquer certains aspects, et pouvant être discutés et amendés. un design enchâssé permet dʼobserver en gros plan des situations diverses à différents niveaux ; les interactions du chercheur avec les acteurs, même lorsquʼil est simplement présent sur le terrain, sont plus nombreuses et fréquentes que sʼil sʼagissait dʼun design holistique. ces interactions transforment la réalité observée et engendrent des perturbations quʼil sʼagit dʼévaluer en fonction du type de contribution du chercheur et de la nature de ces interactions. dans une étude de cas, le chercheur peut adopter quatre postures sur le terrain (baumard, donada, ibert et xuereb, 1999) : il peut être un participant complet, un participant-observateur, un observateur qui participe et un observateur complet. pour mener une étude longitudinale de cas enchâssés, le positionnement dʼobservateur participant est particulièrement fructueux. il permet en effet de multiplier les observations et le recueil de documents de sources diverses, dʼassister à des réunions, comités, de façon plus naturelle que lʼobservation simple et il justifie la présence au sein des équipes. les acteurs peuvent être intéressés par la possibilité de prendre du recul par rapport à leur situation journalière et apprécient une aide ponctuelle dans leur travail. en pratique, le chercheur peut cependant difficilement adopter ce positionnement unique pendant toute la durée de lʼétude et pour toutes les unités analysées. il est souvent amené à avoir différents positionnements au cours de lʼétude, variant de lʼobservation simple à lʼobservation participante, voire à la participation complète. il importe dʼêtre attentif aux impacts que ces glissements engendrent sur les situations observées, ainsi que sur la nature des données recueillies. lʼaccès initial aux différentes unités enchâssées est souvent négocié en même temps que lʼaccès au cas dʼensemble. cependant, cʼest au chercheur de poursuivre ensuite sa quête. les acteurs du terrain étudié prennent lʼhabitude de voir le chercheur dans les murs, et développent une certaine familiarité avec lui. mais il peut être accueilli très différemment dʼune unité à lʼautre et dʼune période à lʼautre, ce qui rend complexe le travail de comparaison. il est en tout état de cause difficile de respecter un strict équilibre entre les unités : les processus observés ont leurs caractéristiques propres, ils ne se déroulent pas tous au même rythme, et la disponibilité des acteurs nʼest pas identique. le maintien de la crédibilité du chercheur, par ses actions, son respect du travail des acteurs et des exigences de confidentialité, est une condition importante de son accès au terrain pendant toute la m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 153-176 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 165 lʼétude longitudinale des cas enchâssés durée nécessaire à son étude. il doit veiller à clarifier son statut et lʼutilisation quʼil fera des données collectées (giroux, 2003). cela est dʼautant plus vrai que les unités étudiées appartiennent à une même organisation, la circulation des informations concernant la réputation du encadré 2. positionnement du chercheur et recueil de données dans une étude longitudinale de cas enchâssés au cours de ma recherche (musca, 2005), jʼai adopté un positionnement différent selon les phases de lʼétude (observation et observation-participante). le positionnement dʼobservateur-participant mʼa permis dʼêtre présente sur le terrain à des moments opportuns (rédaction des comptes-rendus de toutes les réunions formalisées de credo par exemple) et dʼavoir accès à des informations multiples, riches et variées. cependant, cette démarche nʼest pas simple à mettre en œuvre, elle est très consommatrice de temps et peut générer des tensions entre les rôles de participant et de chercheur (groleau, 2003). par exemple, des pressions pouvaient sʼexercer pour que je joue un rôle plus important dans le projet alors que ce nʼétait pas la démarche choisie. il était alors nécessaire que je rappelle clairement lʼobjet de ma recherche et mon positionnement. il me semble indispensable de ne pas hésiter à le faire très régulièrement tout au long de lʼétude. en effet, les situations et les interlocuteurs évoluent et le chercheur doit veiller à ce quʼil nʼy ait pas dʼambiguïté sur son statut. en outre, il mʼa été parfois difficile dʼétudier en tant quʼobservateur-participant plusieurs unités simultanément, alors quʼelles étaient toutes sur le même site. par exemple, des réunions se sont souvent tenues au même moment au sein de credo et campus, et je devais choisir à laquelle assister. au quotidien, mon poste de travail était installé dans le bureau de lʼune des équipes projet, ce qui a été très précieux pour lʼétude de son fonctionnement et a permis dʼavoir accès à un grand nombre dʼinformations (interactions, ambiance, contexte…) sans interrompre les activités des acteurs. en revanche, mes relations avec les autres équipes sont restées plus distantes, et lʼaccès aux informations a été moins fluide. ainsi, dans ma recherche, le volume et la nature des données recueillies pour chacune des unités ont été différents. par exemple, si en phase 2 le nombre dʼentretiens réalisés ou de réunions formelles auxquelles jʼai pu assister était comparable pour credo et campus, de même que le type de documents recueillis, la nature et le volume des observations directes ont été différents et se sont avérés plus riches dans le cas de credo. dans un design enchâssé, il est très important que le chercheur maintienne sa crédibilité tout au long de lʼétude (giroux, 2003). les informations circulent très vite entre les unités, et un faux pas peut rapidement fermer des accès. jʼai donc essayé de favoriser lʼétablissement de relations de confiance avec les acteurs du projet. ma simple présence sur le site était en effet délicate en période de restructuration, le risque principal étant dʼapparaître comme un espion de la direction générale. ce risque était particulièrement élevé du fait de lʼobjet de lʼétude, lʼobservation du développement de compétences. jʼai expliqué clairement aux acteurs, à plusieurs reprises, lʼobjectif de ma recherche. jʼai également insisté sur le fait que les informations recueillies étaient exclusivement destinées à cette recherche et restaient confidentielles. les présentations de résultats intermédiaires de lʼétude à des membres de lʼéquipe projet restaient assez générales (il nʼétait pas possible par exemple dʼattribuer un verbatim à un acteur particulier). en dehors des réunions de lancement et de présentation des rapports dʼétape, je nʼai pas eu de contact direct avec le directeur général et je suis restée le plus longtemps possible avec les équipes. jʼai aussi essayé de montrer aux acteurs que je respectais leur travail et leurs contraintes. jʼai veillé à ne pas les déranger en période dʼactivité intense, et je leur ai apporté à lʼoccasion une aide ponctuelle. je me suis efforcée dʼacquérir rapidement des connaissances de base sur le projet lui-même (aspects éditoriaux, techniques et graphiques, vocabulaire, interlocuteurs), mais aussi sur son environnement (actionnaires, sous-traitants, concurrents, marché…), afin de poser des questions plus pertinentes. la phase exploratoire et les interactions informelles lors des déjeuners et cafés ont été à cet égard très utiles. le fait dʼétudier plusieurs unités a multiplié les occasions dʼobservation, ce qui a renforcé ma connaissance globale du terrain. par exemple, lʼapprentissage des aspects techniques réalisé au niveau du projet dʼensemble a été largement réutilisé pour chacun des sous-projets étudiés ensuite. m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 153-176 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 166 geneviève musca chercheur y est alors très rapide. lʼencadré 2 propose une illustration de lʼintérêt et des difficultés des relations entre le chercheur et son terrain au cours dʼune étude longitudinale de cas enchâssés. des données multiples les données recueillies au cours dʼune étude de cas longitudinale sont multiples, quʼil sʼagisse dʼun design holistique ou enchâssé. il nʼy a pas de méthode spécifique de recueil de données mais plutôt des combinaisons ingénieuses de dispositifs méthodologiques (charreire petit, 2003), en fonction de lʼobjectif de lʼétude et de la nature des analyses que le chercheur souhaite mener. les données processuelles sont ambiguës, multiformes, et la notion dʼévénement est elle-même complexe (van de ven et poole, 1995). le plus souvent, différents types de données sont recueillis : entretiens libres ou semi-directifs, observations directes (réunions, comités, situations plus informelles) retranscrites dans le journal de recherche, documents divers (rapports, comptes-rendus de réunions, notes internes, maquettes…). lorsquʼil sʼagit de cas enchâssés, la multiplication des niveaux de collecte accroît le risque dʼasphyxier sous une avalanche de données (pettigrew, 1990). la mise en place dʼun dispositif rigoureux de conservation et dʼorganisation des données dès le début de la collecte est dʼautant plus nécessaire (retranscriptions des entretiens, systèmes dʼarchivage, multiplication des sauvegardes). dans toute étude longitudinale, le chercheur est amené à faire des choix (giroux, 2003), mais un design enchâssé multiplie les choix à opérer. le chercheur doit sʼefforcer, comme pour toute étude de cas, de rencontrer lʼensemble des personnes concernées par la problématique à des positions et niveaux hiérarchiques variés. mais il doit en outre sʼinterroger sur la périodicité des rencontres tant au niveau du cas dʼensemble quʼau niveau des différentes unités dʼanalyse, tout en veillant à la faisabilité de son étude. des choix sont également à faire au niveau de lʼobservation. dans une étude longitudinale de cas enchâssés, la difficulté de lʼobservation est accrue par rapport à dʼautres études de cas. il faut en effet suivre en parallèle plusieurs unités qui ont chacune leur rythme propre et leur spécificité. sur le plan pratique, le chercheur doit alors quotidiennement opérer des choix entre les réunions, évènements, interactions à observer dans les différentes unités, comme lʼillustre lʼencadré 2. il doit donc être attentif à la proximité géographique des unités lors de leur sélection, tout particulièrement sʼil est seul pour réaliser lʼétude. les choix à opérer pour le recueil de documents sont également difficiles. le type de documents recueillis nʼest pas spécifique à un design enchâssé, mais leur masse potentielle est multipliée, puisquʼils sont collectés dans chaque unité ainsi quʼau niveau du cas dʼensemble. le chercheur doit donc choisir avec attention les documents à recueillir, en fonction de leur pertinence par rapport à lʼobjet de la recherche, afin de limiter le coût de leur traitement (giroux, 2003). il importe donc de sʼinterroger régulièrement sur lʼintérêt de la collecte par rapport à la problématique et aux données déjà collectées. dans la perspective de la théorie enracim@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 153-176 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 167 lʼétude longitudinale des cas enchâssés née, la collecte peut sʼarrêter lorsque cet apport semble marginal (saturation). une bonne connaissance du contexte dʼensemble du cas, apportée entre autres par lʼétude exploratoire, favorise une sélection pertinente. le maintien dʼun équilibre dans le recueil de données entre les unités est donc délicat à gérer, à la fois à un instant donné et dans la durée. en même temps, le chercheur doit être flexible et ne pas négliger des sources potentielles de données non planifiées initialement, si elles peuvent être utiles à son objectif de recherche. il arrive par exemple fréquemment quʼun acteur indique quʼil serait intéressant de rencontrer tel autre acteur ou dʼassister à une réunion impromptue, et les données recueillies ainsi permettent dʼaffiner lʼanalyse. le fait de mener lʼétude à plusieurs niveaux accroît aussi la flexibilité par rapport à des difficultés imprévues. par exemple, lʼarrêt dʼun sous-projet dans un projet dʼensemble ne remet pas lʼétude en cause si elle peut être poursuivie au niveau des autres sous-projets et du cas dʼensemble tout en restant cohérente avec la démarche de recherche. parmi les choix à opérer, le chercheur doit donc, au cours de sa collecte, veiller à multiplier les sources de preuves afin de favoriser la triangulation des données (yin, 2003), puisque le design enchâssé lui permet dʼaccéder à des sources diverses, selon différents points de vue. lʼencadré 2 propose une illustration du statut du chercheur et du recueil de données dans une étude longitudinale de cas enchâssés. analyser lʼavalanche de donnees trois types dʼactivités peuvent être distingués dans une démarche dʼanalyse qualitative selon miles et huberman (2003) : la condensation des données, leur présentation et lʼélaboration et vérification des conclusions. ces trois activités sont menées en parallèle, avec des allers-retours et itérations au fur et à mesure de lʼavancement de lʼanalyse. nous nʼy revenons pas ici en détail, mais nous en rappelons certains aspects spécifiques ou critiques pour des études longitudinales de cas enchâssés. condenser les données nous avons souligné lʼimportance dʼun bon système de stockage et de sauvegarde des multiples données recueillies au cours dʼune étude longitudinale. même dans ces conditions, le chercheur risque dʼavoir du mal à se repérer et à en tirer du sens. différentes techniques peuvent lʼaider à réduire la masse des données et à en opérer un premier traitement plus propice à lʼanalyse (forgues et vandangeon-derumez, 1999). le recours à ces techniques est utile pour toute étude de cas longitudinale, mais il est encore plus approprié lorsquʼil sʼagit de cas enchâssés qui, nous lʼavons vu, permettent de collecter une masse considérable de données à des niveaux et des moments différents. traiter les données aide alors le chercheur à les brasser, à les organiser sous une forme immédiatement lisible, et constitue déjà une première étape de lʼanalyse. la recommandation de miles et huberman (2003) de traiter les données au fur et à mesure de leur collecte et non m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 153-176 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 168 geneviève musca pas ex post est très importante pour un design enchâssé. en effet, lʼabondance des données à recueillir peut masquer des lacunes, et la durée de lʼétude ne facilite pas la prise de recul. effectuer un premier traitement des donnés au fur et à mesure de la collecte permet de révéler des données manquantes ou incomplètes, mais aussi de faire émerger des points clés et de nouvelles hypothèses. ainsi, le traitement en cours de collecte guide le chercheur pour la poursuite de ses investigations sur le terrain, lui permet de rechercher des informations manquantes, dʼapprofondir ses analyses, et de tester des hypothèses rivales. cʼest un mécanisme clé de structuration et de simplification des données, et donc un processus intellectuel critique pour tous les chercheurs engagés dans des études de cas longitudinales comparatives (pettigrew, 1990). plusieurs méthodes de traitement des données en cours de collecte sont décrites par strauss et corbin (1994) et miles et huberman (2003) : fiches de synthèse de réunions et dʼentretiens, mémos, journal de recherche, rédaction intermédiaire du cas et codage. elles peuvent être utilisées et combinées lors dʼune étude longitudinale de cas enchâssés. nous revenons ici sur deux dʼentre elles : les monographies et le codage. le chercheur peut réaliser des monographies intermédiaires au niveau des différentes unités sélectionnées au sein du cas, ainsi quʼau niveau du cas dʼensemble. il opère alors une première mise en ordre sous forme narrative des données à recueillir en décrivant la situation observée ainsi que son évolution temporelle et en synthétisant une grande masse dʼinformations. les monographies fournissent des éléments de base pour établir des comparaisons, font apparaître des points communs et des différences dans les évolutions observées, et suggèrent des schémas dʼinterprétation et des premiers éléments théoriques (forgues et vandangeon-derumez, 1999). le processus de codage constitue également un traitement des données qui nous semble très important dans la conduite dʼune étude longitudinale de cas enchâssés. une fois lʼunité de traitement définie (mot, phrase, paragraphe…), il permet en effet dʼordonner partiellement ces données et de commencer à les comparer systématiquement afin de générer des interprétations. dans une démarche purement inductive (glaser et strauss, 1967), des concepts empiriques (sensitive concepts) émergent directement de lʼobservation du terrain. dans une démarche inductive modérée, le cadre conceptuel et la grille de lecture des données cadrent la collecte des données (mbengue et vandangeon-derumez, 1999). le plan de codage pour décomposer la variable processuelle peut être plus ou moins complexe (pettigrew, 1990 ; van de ven et poole, 2002), mais le processus de codage donne toujours lieu à des itérations entre données mises en forme, littérature et nouvelles données. dans une étude longitudinale de cas enchâssés, cela permet de faire évoluer la grille de codage au fur et à mesure du déroulement de lʼétude et de prendre en compte les nouvelles données et interprétations, sans figer prématurément lʼanalyse. ce processus itératif est intéressant dans une perspective de génération de théorie, mais il est très lourd (recodage de lʼensemble des entretiens lors dʼune modification de la grille de codage par exemple). m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 153-176 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 169 lʼétude longitudinale des cas enchâssés dans cette optique, lʼutilisation de logiciels dʼanalyse de données qualitatives facilite le traitement de la masse de données générées par une étude de cas enchâssés. bournois, point et voynnet-fourboul (2002) distinguent deux grandes catégories de logiciels de ce type. la première est celle des logiciels dʼanalyse lexicale (comme sphinx) ou de contexte (comme neurotext) qui fondent leur analyse sur la fréquence de co-occurrences. ces logiciels peuvent aider à traiter un large volume de données très rapidement et à classer par exemple des mots-clés en fonction de contextes (neurotext), mais ne permettent cependant pas dʼinterpréter les données. la deuxième catégorie est constituée de logiciels plus particulièrement adaptés à des recherches orientées vers la construction théorique: nvivo (arborescence hiérarchique) et atlas.ti (réseau conceptuel). pour les auteurs, le choix de lʼun ou lʼautre de ces logiciels dépend du temps disponible pour la recherche dʼune part, du volume et de lʼhétérogénéité des données recueillies dʼautre part. ils indiquent que pour traiter une masse importante de données (ce qui est a priori le cas pour une étude longitudinale de cas enchâssés), nvivo est mieux adapté mais demande beaucoup de temps disponible. nvivo permet en effet une grande souplesse dans la manipulation des codes (fusion de codes en une catégorie plus large ou opération contraire, indexation hiérarchique des noeuds par exemple). il facilite aussi des opérations de catégorisation des données (bardin, 1998), et de comptages dʼoccurrences ou de cooccurrences, ce qui peut générer de nouvelles idées et inciter à rechercher de nouvelles relations (dougherty, 2002). ces logiciels ne se substituent pas au chercheur, mais ils permettent dʼinteragir en profondeur avec les données tout en introduisant de la souplesse et de la flexibilité (dougherty, 2002). comme le note voynnetfourboul (2002), un logiciel de ce type facilite la manipulation de données multiples de façon plus itérative, moins linéaire, cʼest un support encadré 3. exemple dʼutilisation dʼun logiciel dʼanalyse qualitative dans une étude longitudinale de cas enchâssés dans ma recherche (musca, 2005), j̓ ai défini pour le codage des entretiens une première liste de codes (codage thématique) à partir du cadre conceptuel. je l̓ ai organisée selon les grandes catégories de pettigrew (1990) : contexte, contenu, processus. le logiciel nvivo mʼa permis de revoir et de réarranger cette liste de façon souple, au fil des itérations entre terrain et littérature. cette souplesse sʼest avérée particulièrement utile pour prendre en compte de nouveaux thèmes émergeant au fur et à mesure du traitement des données recueillies dans des unités différentes et à des moments divers. le comptage dʼoccurrences (couplage de nvivo avec des tableaux excel) mʼa également aidée à focaliser mon attention sur certaines explications émergeant de la comparaison entre unités du cas. par exemple, les interactions des membres de l̓ une des équipes projet avec la maison mère et les partenaires extérieurs me semblaient plus fréquentes que celles de l̓ autre équipe projet. le comptage dʼoccurrences a montré que les verbatims se rapportant à ces interactions était presque deux fois plus nombreux dans les entretiens des acteurs de la première équipe. cela mʼa incitée à réexaminer les données et à approfondir certaines explications. jʼai en revanche regretté de ne pouvoir générer automatiquement des tableaux avec des extraits de verbatims ou des représentations graphiques adéquates. il me semble que ce serait une piste intéressante à explorer, de même que les perspectives ouvertes par le couplage de nvivo avec des logiciels dʼanalyse lexicale (maltese, 2004) que je nʼai pas pu expérimenter dans le cadre de ma recherche. m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 153-176 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 170 geneviève musca qui aide le chercheur à étudier dynamiquement la complexité en identifiant plus rapidement les similarités ou les différences entre verbatims. lʼencadré 3 propose une illustration de lʼutilisation dʼun logiciel dʼanalyse qualitative dans une étude longitudinale de cas enchâssés. présenter les données la présentation des données est très importante dans une analyse qualitative. pour miles et huberman (2003 : 29), un format de présentation est un « assemblage organisé dʼinformations qui permet de tirer des conclusions et de passer à lʼaction ». les auteurs proposent plusieurs formats de présentation de données qualitatives (matrices, tableaux, graphiques et diagrammes), que le chercheur peut combiner en fonction des besoins de son étude. une étude longitudinale de cas enchâssés nʼimplique pas de recourir à un format particulier, et le chercheur peut créer ses propres formats, mais aussi utilement sʼinspirer des formats proposés par ces auteurs. les formats choisis doivent présenter de façon claire les différentes dimensions importantes pour lʼanalyse au sein de chaque unité ainsi que pour lʼanalyse inter-unités, de même que leur évolution au cours du temps. ils doivent également faciliter lʼanalyse des relations entre ces unités et le cas, ainsi que celle du cas dʼensemble. les différentes matrices proposées par miles et huberman (2003) semblent particulièrement adaptées à cet objecencadré 4. illustration de lʼutilisation de matrices le format des matrices mʼa semblé particulièrement adapté pour présenter et organiser les données recueillies au cours de ma recherche (musca, 2005). en effet, les possibilités dʼordonnancement et de comparaison des données étaient multiples, et il était difficile de choisir celles qui étaient les plus pertinentes pour lʼanalyse. ma démarche a été très itérative. jʼai dʼabord construit des formats de présentation partiellement ordonnés, en mʼinspirant de ceux proposés par miles et huberman (2003) : relevé des incidents et matrices “liste de contrôle” par phase et par projet, ce qui mʼa aidé à rédiger des monographies. jʼai ensuite élaboré des matrices spécifiques pour approfondir certains thèmes apparus comme significatifs lors des premières analyses (par exemple, les activités frontières, la cohésion dʼéquipe, le développement de telle compétence par équipe et par phase) et pour croiser certains dʼentre eux (par exemple, la matrice croisant pour les trois phases du projet les deux thèmes “construction de la compétence écriture interactive” et “interactions journalistes/techniciens”). ces matrices mʼont permis de présenter de façon synthétique un grand nombre dʼinformations, elles ont été très utiles pour mettre à jour des liens, des thèmes importants, des évolutions contrastées, et mʼaider à les analyser. des difficultés sont cependant à signaler : la construction de matrices est très longue, de multiples itérations ont été nécessaires avant de trouver des formats qui mʼont semblé appropriés. certaines matrices se sont finalement révélées peu exploitables. en outre, le fait dʼinclure des verbatims typiques dans la plupart des matrices, afin de conserver dans la mesure du possible la richesse des données et de ne pas écarter des éléments pouvant ensuite sʼavérer importants, rendait leur manipulation très lourde. enfin, jʼai rencontré des difficultés pour insérer ces matrices (plus de 150 pages dans la version détaillée) au moment de la rédaction du texte final. jʼai finalement choisi de les présenter sous une forme plus synthétique dans un fascicule séparé dʼune quarantaine de pages. ainsi, le lecteur peut en parallèle lire les différentes analyses dans le volume principal et se rapporter aux matrices auxquelles ces analyses se réfèrent précisément. a la réflexion, il me semble que le temps consacré à la construction des matrices pourrait être réduit en automatisant dʼavantage leur processus de construction. il vaudrait la peine de réfléchir ex ante aux moyens informatiques qui permettraient de lier bases de données des verbatims, logiciels de codage des données et tableaux excel par exemple. m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 153-176 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 171 lʼétude longitudinale des cas enchâssés tif. dans sa thèse, charreire petit (1995) recourt par exemple largement à ce format pour présenter les divers matériaux qualitatifs recueillis et lʼévolution des dimensions importantes au cours du temps. lʼencadré 4 fournit un autre exemple dʼutilisation de matrices dans une étude longitudinale de cas enchâssés. elaborer et vérifier les analyses il nʼy a pas de technique particulière pour élaborer les conclusions dʼune étude processuelle comprenant plusieurs unités, il sʼagit plutôt dʼun processus de bricolage (charreire petit, 2003), mobilisant différents formats et dispositifs en fonction des objectifs de la recherche. lʼintérêt dʼun design enchâssé réside largement dans la possibilité dʼanalyser à la fois les différentes unités, le cas dans son ensemble, et leurs interactions réciproques. la prise en compte de niveaux multiples pousse le chercheur à approfondir ses analyses pour essayer de comprendre les similitudes ou contrastes relevés. en ce sens, un design enchâssé peut lʼaider à formuler des propositions sur des phénomènes quʼil aurait été difficile dʼappréhender avec un design holistique, comme lʼillustre lʼencadré 5. sans présenter ici de façon exhaustive les différentes techniques dʼélaboration des analyses, nous pouvons indiquer que les formats partiellement ordonnés évoqués ci-dessus aident à extraire du sens de la masse des données. les matrices facilitent lʼétablissement de comparaisons systématiques et la compréhension de lʼévolution des phénomènes. la rédaction de monographies par unité permet de synthétiser un grand nombre dʼinformations, et la rédaction du cas dʼenencadré 5. illustration de lʼapport dʼun design enchâssé pour lʼélaboration des analyses la prise en compte des différents niveaux dʼanalyse mʼa conduit à formuler des propositions théoriques que je nʼaurais a priori pas pu émettre avec un design holistique (musca, 2005). en particulier, lʼétude des interactions entre les unités, le cas dʼensemble presseweb et lʼorganisation presseco sʼest avérée déterminante pour la compréhension du processus de développement de compétences et capacités. lʼanalyse du projet presseweb a en effet permis de bien comprendre le contexte du déroulement du projet dʼensemble en prenant en compte des éléments plus difficilement perceptibles au niveau dʼune unité (création du projet, relations avec presseco, départ dʼun actionnaire…). cependant, plusieurs éléments mʼauraient échappé si mon analyse nʼavait porté que sur ce niveau. lʼétude en plan rapproché des différentes unités (credo, campus, techno), en suscitant des interrogations sur leur évolution contrastée au sein dʼun même contexte organisationnel, a permis de focaliser la recherche sur des micro-processus, des pratiques quotidiennes qui peuvent expliquer ces contrastes. par exemple, lʼanalyse de ces unités a permis de faire émerger le rôle de bricolages et de mini expérimentations communes (mises en oeuvre par deux ou trois acteurs dʼorigine fonctionnelle différente) pour expliquer le développement de compétences collectives dans une équipe projet. cela nʼaurait a priori pas pu être mis en évidence avec un design holistique. le design enchâssé mʼa également permis dʼétudier les interactions entre trois niveaux dʼanalyse. ainsi, jʼai pu observer et comparer les relations des équipes projets avec presseweb, mais aussi avec presseco. lʼétude du type et de la fréquence des interactions directes de credo, campus et techno avec presseco sʼest avérée déterminante pour expliquer leurs performances contrastées. un design holistique nʼaurait pas permis dʼappréhender les interactions entre ces différents niveaux. m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 153-176 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 172 geneviève musca semble aide à en communiquer une vision dʼensemble claire, compréhensible et bien structurée. a cet égard, lʼinsertion de verbatims est intéressante, elle permet au lecteur dʼaccéder à des données brutes et plus vivantes, et lui fournit des éléments pour la construction de sa propre compréhension du cas. mais les règles dʼinsertion de ces verbatims doivent être très claires et rigoureuses. le défi central dans une étude processuelle de cas enchâssés consiste à réussir à sʼéloigner de données entremêlées et multiformes pour aller vers une forme de compréhension théorique qui en conserve la richesse et le dynamisme, tout en étant accessible et potentiellement utile aux autres (langley, 1999). parmi les sept stratégies principales distinguées par lʼauteur pour atteindre cet objectif, nous avons évoqué plus haut deux dʼentre elles, qui paraissaient particulièrement pertinentes pour une étude longitudinale de cas enchâssés : la stratégie de la théorie enracinée et les stratégies graphiques (matrices en particulier). mais dʼautres stratégies dʼanalyses peuvent être mises en œuvre suivant lʼobjectif de la recherche. langley (1999) suggère en outre quʼil est souvent souhaitable de combiner plusieurs de ces stratégies entre elles. miles et huberman (2003) proposent également différentes tactiques dʼinterprétation des données qui aident à construire du sens et sont utiles dans le cas dʼétudes longitudinales de cas enchâssés : regrouper des patterns, essayer de leur trouver du sens, compter des fréquences dʼapparition (mots, thèmes), établir des contrastes et des comparaisons. la vérification des analyses repose sur différentes tactiques. la validité et la fiabilité sont des critères essentiels de lʼévaluation des apports potentiels de la recherche. dans le cas dʼune recherche qualitative, plusieurs auteurs ont détaillé des critères spécifiques de validité et de fiabilité (denzin et lincoln, 1994 ; miles et huberman, 2003 ; yin, 2003). ils sont applicables aux études longitudinales, et particulièrement lorsquʼil sʼagit dʼétudes longitudinales de cas enchâssés menées en temps réel. les principaux critères de validité interne sont alors la triangulation des données, la présence longue du chercheur sur le terrain, la saturation des données, le test dʼhypothèses rivales et la validation des interprétations par les répondants (charreire petit, 2003). en ce qui concerne la validité externe, lorsquʼil sʼagit dʼun cas unique, et même si lʼétude de plusieurs unités facilite la comparaison, il est nécessaire dʼenraciner les construits explicatifs dans les données et de bien les relier à la littérature afin de renforcer leur crédibilité et leur validité externe (eisenhardt, 1989) et de faciliter leur utilisation éventuelle pour dʼautres contextes parents (passeron, 1991), dans une logique de réplication (généralisation analytique). en ce qui concerne la fiabilité de la recherche, il faut dans ce type dʼétude longitudinale porter une attention particulière à la documentation des procédures suivies et à la présentation des différentes données et étapes de la recherche. il est également nécessaire dʼêtre attentif aux sources dʼerreur pouvant affaiblir les conclusions du chercheur (charreire petit, 2003 ; miles et huberman, 2003). drucker-godard, ehlinger et grenier (1999) indiquent quʼil est aussi utile en rendant compte dʼune recherche dʼévoquer le paradigme perm@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 153-176 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 173 lʼétude longitudinale des cas enchâssés sonnel du chercheur (passeron, 1991), cʼest-à-dire des données relatives au chercheur lui-même qui permettent de mieux comprendre sa démarche dʼanalyse (comme sa formation académique ou son expérience professionnelle). ainsi groleau (2003) souligne, en citant lʼexemple dʼorr (1996), que le partage dʼun même cadre de référence avec la communauté observée permet de sʼy intégrer rapidement, mais peut aussi amener le chercheur à négliger de recueillir des informations paraissant évidentes. lʼencadré 6 propose également une illustration de ce phénomène. nous avons donc présenté dans cette partie des pistes qui peuvent aider le chercheur souhaitant sʼengager dans une étude longitudinale de cas enchâssés à concevoir son propre dispositif méthodologique, en fonction des objectifs de sa recherche et du terrain choisi. il ne sʼagit bien sûr pas dʼun panorama exhaustif, mais plutôt dʼun guide à compléter et amender au fur et à mesure des recherches. conclusion lʼintérêt des chercheurs pour la dynamique de processus organisationnels comme le changement, lʼinnovation ou lʼapprentissage est croissant depuis une quinzaine dʼannées. cependant, lʼétude empirique de ces processus pose de nombreux problèmes (langley, 1999 ; pettigrew et al., 2001 ; van de ven et poole, 2005). lʼun dʼentre eux est dʼordre méthodologique : quels sont les dispositifs qui permettent de recueillir et dʼanalyser des données suffisamment riches et variées encadré 6. illustration de lʼinfluence du paradigme personnel du chercheur mon expérience professionnelle antérieure (direction stratégique de la filiale multimédia dʼun grand groupe —autre que presseco— et direction de plusieurs projets internet dans ce groupe) a sans doute influencé ma façon dʼappréhender le terrain (musca, 2005). cela a eu des effets bénéfiques. jʼavais une bonne connaissance du contexte global et des exigences de la vie en entreprise, ce qui a accéléré ma compréhension des enjeux du projet et des activités. je nʼai pas eu besoin dʼinterrompre trop souvent le travail des acteurs pour demander des explications générales, et jʼai pu en revanche passer dʼavantage de temps pour approfondir certains points. même si mon statut de chercheur était clairement identifié, quelques acteurs connaissaient également mon expérience professionnelle antérieure, ce qui a sans doute favorisé lʼétablissement dʼune confiance mutuelle et le partage de nombreuses informations lors de conversations informelles. jʼavais cependant conscience que je risquais de mʼimpliquer beaucoup dans lʼorganisation (ce que je ne souhaitais pas pour cette recherche), et je me suis donc efforcée de maintenir une certaine distance avec le terrain, ce qui mʼa parfois paru frustrant. avec le recul, il me semble que jʼai peut-être trop limité mes interventions, et quʼil était possible dʼavoir un rôle plus actif dans lʼorganisation tout en restant un observateur-participant. prendre par exemple en charge la rédaction non seulement des comptes-rendus de réunions mais aussi de rapports, notices ou plaquettes de présentation aurait pu permettre dʼapprofondir la connaissance de lʼorganisation et dʼaccroître les interactions avec les acteurs tout en les aidant dans leur travail. par ailleurs, cette familiarité avec les projets internet mʼa parfois conduite à accorder moins dʼattention à des éléments qui me paraissaient naturels sur le terrain (objectifs flous et changeants par exemple). les discussions avec dʼautres chercheurs ont été à cet égard très précieuses, elles mʼont aidée à y prêter dʼavantage dʼattention. le maintien dʼun lien avec les participants du projet, même après la phase dʼobservation intensive, mʼa également permis de reconstituer certaines informations manquantes. m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 153-176 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 174 geneviève musca sur une longue période ? nous avons essayé de montrer que lʼétude longitudinale de cas enchâssés (yin, 2003) était une stratégie de recherche pertinente pour appréhender ces phénomènes. la prise en compte de plusieurs unités dʼanalyse et de leurs interactions permet en effet dʼétudier un processus en profondeur et à plusieurs niveaux de lʼorganisation. le questionnement du chercheur et sa créativité sont guidés par la recherche dʼexplications des similitudes et les contrastes relevés. ce design de recherche est cependant lourd et contraignant à mettre en œuvre, et un chercheur isolé peut hésiter à le choisir. les pistes méthodologiques proposées ici visent à lʼaider à le mettre en oeuvre tout en évitant certains écueils. elles ne sont bien sûr pas exhaustives. de nombreux aspects méthodologiques doivent être approfondis, en ce qui concerne en particulier la rigueur et la lisibilité des dispositifs de collecte et dʼanalyse des données. ainsi, des réflexions sont à mener pour améliorer lʼorganisation des données, mais aussi la combinaison de différentes stratégies pour rendre compte de la recherche (langley, 1999). le défi est de réussir à mener ce type de recherche en en démontrant la profondeur et lʼétendue (dougherty, 2002). chaque nouvelle recherche contribue à enrichir et à amender la palette des dispositifs envisagés, en fonction des objectifs du chercheur, de son ancrage épistémologique et de la nature du terrain. en cela, sʼengager dans une étude longitudinale de cas enchâssés demeure une démarche à la fois exigeante, délicate et passionnante. note. lʼauteur tient à remercier lʼévaluateur anonyme ainsi que les deux rédactrices en chef invitées pour le numéro spécial de m@n@gement, ann langley et isabelle royer, pour la richesse de leurs remarques et commentaires qui ont permis dʼaméliorer de façon substantielle la qualité de cet article. elle remercie également gérard kœnig pour ses précieux conseils méthodologiques prodigués tout au long de la thèse. geneviève musca est maître de conférences à lʼuniversité paris 10-nanterre et membre du ceros. ancienne élève de lʼécole normale supérieure, agrégée de sciences économiques et sociales, elle a travaillé plusieurs années dans de grandes entreprises (télécommunications, aéronautique, médias) avant dʼobtenir un doctorat en sciences de gestion à lʼuniversité paris 12. ses travaux de recherche portent principalement sur la génération de compétences et de capacités dynamiques dans les projets dʼinnovation et le management des équipes. m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 153-176 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 175 lʼétude longitudinale des cas enchâssés references � bardin, l. 1998 lʼanalyse de contenu, 9e édition, paris : puf. � barley, s. r. 1990 images of imaging: notes on doing longitudinal field work, organization science, 1: 3, 220-247. � baumard, p., c. donada, j. ibert, et j.-m. xuereb 1999 la collecte des données et la gestion de leurs sources, in r.-a. thiétart (ed.) méthodes de recherche en management, paris : dunod, 224-256. � bournois, f., s. point, et c. voynnet-fourboul 2002 lʼanalyse de données qualitatives assistées par ordinateur : une évaluation, revue française de gestion, 28: 137, 71-84. � burgelman, r. a. 1983 a process model of internal corporate venturing in the diversified major firm, administrative science quartely, 28: 2, 223-244. � charreire petit, s.1995 lʼapprentissage organisationnel, proposition dʼun modèle : le cas dʼune innovation managériale, thèse de doctorat non publiée, paris : université parisdauphine. � charreire petit, s. 2003 lʼétude empirique longitudinale, onnaing : e-thèque. � dougherty, d. 2002 grounded theory research methods, in j. a. c. baum (ed.), companion to organizations, oxford : blackwell, 849866. � drucker-godard, c., s. ehlinger, et c. grenier 1999 validité et fiabilité de la recherche, in r.-a. thiétart (ed.), méthodes de recherche en management, paris : dunod , 257-287. � eisenhardt, k. m. 1989 building theories from case study research, academy of management review, 14 : 4, 532-550. � eisenhardt, k. m., et l. j. bourgeois, iii 1988 politics of strategic decision making in high-velocity environments: toward a midrange theory, academy of management journal, 31: 4, 737-770. � forgues, b., et i. vandangeon-derumez 1999 analyses longitudinales, in r.-a. thiétart (ed.), méthodes de recherche en management, paris : dunod, 422-448. � giroux n. 2003 lʼétude de cas, in y. giordano (ed.), conduire un projet de recherche : une perspective qualitative, colombelles : ems, 41-84. � glaser, b. g., et a. l. strauss 1967 the discovery of grounded theory: strategies for qualitative research, chicago, il: aldine. � groleau, c. 2003 lʼobservation, in y. giordano (ed.), conduire un projet de recherche : une perspective qualitative, colombelles : ems, 211-244. � denzin, n. k., et y. s. lincoln (eds.) 1994 handbook of qualitative research, thousand oaks, ca: sage. � hlady-rispal, m. 2000 une stratégie de recherché en gestion : lʼétude de cas, revue française de gestion, 127, 61-70. � isabella, l. a.1990 evolving interpretations as a change unfolds: how managers construe key organizational events, academy of management journal, 33: 1, 7-41. � kœnig, g. 1993 production de la connaissance et constitution des pratiques organisationnelles, revue de gestion des ressources humaines, 9, 4-17. � langley, a. 1999 strategies for theorizing from process data, academy of management review, 24: 4, 691-710. � lipset, s. m., m. a.trow, et j. s. coleman 2004 union democracy: the internal politics of the international typographical union, in r. k. yin (ed.), the case study anthology, thousand oaks, ca: sage, 113-124. � maltese, l. 2004 approche par les ressources dʼun évènement sportif : application au cas des tournois de tennis internationaux français, thèse de doctorat non publiée, aix: université dʼaix marseille. � mbengue, a., et i. vandangeon-derumez 1999 analyse causale et modélisation, in r.a. thiétart (ed.), méthodes de recherche en management, paris : dunod , 335-372. � miles, m. b., et a. m. huberman 2003 analyse des données qualitatives, 2e édition, bruxelles: de boeck université. � musca, g. 2005 la dynamique des compétences et des capacités dans lʼorganisation : le cas dʼéquipes en charge de projets innovants, thèse de doctorat non publiée, créteil: université paris xii. � orr, j. e. 1996 talking about machines: an ethnography of a modern job, ithaca, ny: ilr press. � passeron, j.-c. 1991 le raisonnement sociologique : lʼespace non poppérien du raisonnement naturel, paris : nathan. m@n@gement, vol. 9, no. 3, 2006, 153-176 special issue: doing case study research in organizations 176 geneviève musca � pettigrew, a. m. 1990 longitudinal field research on change: theory and practice, organization science, 1: 3, 267-292. � pettigrew, a. m., r. w. woodman, et k. s. cameron 2001 studying organizational change and development: challenges for future research, academy of management journal, 44: 4, 697-713. � pettigrew, a. m., et r. whipp 1991 managing change for competitive success, oxford: blackwell. � strauss, a., et j. corbin 1994 grounded theory methodology: an overview, in n. k. denzin et y. s. lincoln (eds.), handbook of qualitative research, thousand oaks, ca: sage, 273-285. � sutton, r. i. 1997 the virtues of closet qualitative research, organization science, 8: 1, 97-106. � van de ven, a. h. 1992 suggestions for studying strategy process: a research note, strategic management journal, 13: summer special issue, 169-191. � van de ven, a. h., et m. s. poole 2005 alternative approaches for studying organizational change, organization studies, 26: 9, 1377-1404. � van de ven, a. h., et m. s. poole 2002 field research methods, in j. a. c. baum (ed.), companion to organizations, oxford: blackwell, 867-888. � van de ven, a. h., et m. s. poole 1995 explaining development and change in organizations, academy of management review, 20: 3, 510-540. � van de ven, a. h., h. l. angle, et m. s. poole (eds.) 1989 research on the management of innovation: the minnesota studies, new york: harper & row. � voynnet-fourboul, c. 2002 lʼanalyse de données qualitatives assistée par ordinateur, onnaing : ethèque. � yin, r. k. 2003 case study research: design and methods, 3rd edition, thousand oaks, ca: sage. � yin, r. k. (ed.) 2004 the case study anthology, thousand oaks, ca: sage. origines du capital social et avantages concurrentiels des firmes familiales jean-luc arrègle, rodolphe durand et philippe very 2004 origines du capital social et avantages concurrentiels des firmes familiales m@n@gement, 7(1): 13-36. m@n@gement is a double-blind reviewed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.dmsp.dauphine.fr/management/ © 2004 m@n@gement and the author(s). issn: 1286-4892 editors: martin evans, u. of toronto bernard forgues, u. of paris 12 http://www.dmsp.dauphine.fr/management http://www.dmsp.dauphine.fr/management m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 2, 2004, 13-36 13 jean-luc arrègle . rodolphe durand . philippe ve r y edheccampus de nice email: jean-luc.arregle@edhec.edu e.m.lyon ecole de management email: rdurand@em-lyon.com edhec campus de nice email: philippe.very@edhec.edu origines du capital social et avantages concurrentiels des firmes familiales introduction pourquoi les entreprises familiales diffèrent-elles des autres en matière de compétitivité ? la nature particulière des entreprises familiales leur permet-elle d’avoir des sources originales d’avantages concurrentiels ? telle est la problématique à laquelle cet article veut contribuer en utilisant le concept de capital social afin de montrer pourquoi et comment les entreprises familiales peuvent disposer de ressources et d’aptitudes organisationnelles distinctives. la recherche sur les firmes familiales se développe de façon spectaculaire depuis plusieurs années. ainsi, les recherches sur ce type de firme sont produites à un rythme près de cinq fois plus important qu’il y a 25 ans (sirmon et hitt, 2003) bénéficiant de l’apport varié de nombreuses disciplines. d’une part, les études soulignent l’importance des entreprises familiales dans la sphère économique : dans les pays occidentaux, environ les deux tiers des entreprises peuvent être définies comme familiales et contribuent à plus de 50% des pnb respectifs (astrachan et kolenko, 1994 ; ibrahim et ellis, 1994). pour ne citer que quelques chiffres : en allemagne, 80% des entreprises sont familiales (reidel, 1994) représentant 66% du pnb et, selon l’étude d’allouche il est indéniable que les entreprises familiales possèdent des caractéristiques de gestion qui leurs sont propres, nées de l’imbrication de la famille et de l’entreprise. il est aussi indéniable que les sources propres de compétitivité de ces entreprises manquent encore d’assises théoriques fortes. dans ce papier, nous cherchons à renforcer ces assises, en recourant à la théorie du capital social, elle-même fondée sur l’approche par les ressources. appliquée aux firmes familiales, cette théorie contribue à expliquer l’existence de sources particulières de compétitivité. plus précisément, l’existence d’un capital social familial, qui a été démontrée dans les recherches passées sur la famille, influence la création et le développement d’un capital social propre à l’entreprise familiale, qui est lui-même source potentielle d’avantages pour la firme. mailto:jean-luc.arregle@edhec.edu mailto:rdurand@em-lyon.com mailto:philippe.very@edhec.edu m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 2, 2004, 13-36 14 jean-luc arrègle, rodolphe durand et philippe very et amann (1995), sur les 500 plus grandes entreprises industrielles à actionnariat français, 59% sont familiales. d’autre part, les recherches soulignent la spécificité des firmes familiales sur les plans organisationnel, culturel et stratégique (voir par exemple, barnes et hershov, 1976 ; dailey et reuschling, 1980 ; beckhard et dyer, 1983 ; lansberg, 1983 ; goffee et scase, 1985 ; gasse, theberge et naud, 1988 ; handler et kram, 1988 ; mérigot et hirigoyen, 1988 ; daily et dollinger, 1992 ; kaslow et kaslow, 1992 ; daily et thomson, 1994 ; cromie, stephenson et monteith, 1995 ; boles, 1996 ; haddadj et d'andria, 1998) avec, notamment, un fort accent mis sur le problème crucial de la succession dans ce type d’entreprise (chua, chrisman et sharma, 2003). sur le thème plus précis de la compétitivité, les résultats vont généralement dans le sens d’une supériorité des firmes familiales sur les nonfamiliales. pour cela, une longue liste d’avantages a été identifiée sans pour autant analyser de façon structurée les spécificités des firmes familiales à la base de ces avantages. cet article n’étudie pas à proprement parler les différents avantages concurrentiels des firmes familiales mais se concentre sur les mécanismes qui, en amont, expliquent la spécificité concurrentielle de ces firmes. notamment, nous dégageons la notion de familiarisme c’est-à-dire le chevauchement fructueux des deux capitaux sociaux de l’entreprise familiale, à savoir celui de la famille et celui de l’entreprise, comme pouvant être à l’origine de nombre des avantages concurrentiels communément attribués aux entreprises familiales. en préambule, signalons que les entreprises familiales ont fait l’objet de multiples définitions. pour clarifier notre propos, nous appellerons entreprise familiale toute firme correspondant à la définition de litz (1995) : une entreprise familiale se caractérise par la concentration du pouvoir et de la propriété en de mêmes mains, celles d'une famille, dont les membres cherchent à maintenir des liens sociaux et des influences au sein de l'organisation. pour litz, ces entreprises possèdent trois caractéristiques fondamentales, à savoir la multiplicité des rôles joués par les membres de la famille, l’influence que peut exercer l’institution familiale sur la vie de l’entreprise et l’intention de continuité inter-générationnelle. dans la première partie de cet article, nous évoquons les facteurs de compétitivité identifiés dans les recherches passées sur les entreprises familiales et le concept de familiarisme. dans une deuxième partie, nous montrons pourquoi la théorie du capital social peut apporter un éclairage important sur les sources de la compétitivité des entreprises familiales et comment le capital social de l’entreprise est lié au capital social de la famille propriétaire. puis nous examinons comment ces particularités peuvent être sources de compétitivité sur les marchés. dans une troisième partie, nous soulignons la diversité des firmes familiales sur le plan de leur familiarisme en identifiant quelques dimensions ou événements expliquant cette hétérogénéité. enfin, en conclusion, nous déterminons les conséquences managériales de notre approche et dessinons quelques pistes de recherche prometteuses. m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 2, 2004, 13-36 15 origines du capital social et avantages concurrentiels des firmes familiales competitivite des firmes familiales et capital social des avantages certains mais fragmentés de nombreux thèmes se retrouvent dans les sujets de recherche sur les entreprises familiales. sans prétendre à une quelconque exhaustivité, les sujets importants sont l’étude de la relation famille-entreprise à un instant donné (impacts réciproques de la famille sur l’entreprise), son évolution au cours du temps (succession, évolution et génération...), et les performances et avantages des entreprises familiales par rapport aux firmes non familiales. sur le dernier point, les recherches démontrent généralement la supériorité des firmes familiales par rapport aux entreprises non-familiales (charreaux, 1991 ; allouche et amann, 1995, 1998 ; gallo et vilaseca, 1996 ; anderson et reeb, 2003). habbershon et williams (1999) ont dressé une liste des particularités émanant de la recherche qui pourraient expliquer ce surcroît de performance. une version complétée de cette liste est présentée en annexe 1. cet inventaire souffre cependant de plusieurs faiblesses. tout d’abord, l’éventail des avantages recensés est particulièrement vaste, incluant plus de 30 facteurs relatifs à quatre dimensions. ensuite, les recherches empiriques citées reposent sur une grande diversité des définitions retenues pour sélectionner la population des entreprises dites familiales, ainsi que sur une grande diversité des méthodologies utilisées. ces constats incitent à conclure que la comparaison des recherches est sujette à caution et que la généralisation des résultats s’applique uniquement à la population sujette de l’enquête. il y a donc une grande fragmentation des recherches et des difficultés à tirer des conclusions valables pour les entreprises correspondant à la définition de litz (1995) que nous avons retenue. cette diversité a eu des effets bénéfiques en apportant une certaine richesse de points de vue mais le manque de cohésion a aussi fortement limité les développements relatifs à la compréhension des firmes familiales et à leur spécificité par rapport aux autres types d’entreprises (wortman, 1994 ; habbershon et williams, 1999). aussi comment théoriquement relier les deux particularités fondamentales des entreprises familiales ? a savoir, 1/ leur performance relative meilleure, et 2/ leur caractéristique structurelle, c’est-à-dire les liens existant entre la famille et l’entreprise : lien de nature sociale, car certains acteurs jouent un rôle à la fois dans l’entreprise et dans la famille (kepner, 1983 ; kaslow et kaslow, 1992 ; wortman, 1994 ; tagiuri et davis, 1996), et lien économique, car l’entreprise constitue souvent une part importante de la richesse de la famille (bauer, 1993). suivant biggart et castanias (2001) qui montrent la nécessité de prendre en compte les relations sociales dans les décisions économiques, non pas comme des obstacles, mais comme des moyens ou des catalyseurs, nous nous sommes intéressés à la nature particulière du capital social des entreprises familiales afin d’y chercher les sources éventuelles de leurs avantages spécifiques. m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 2, 2004, 13-36 16 jean-luc arrègle, rodolphe durand et philippe very approche par l’agence et par les ressources le choix de cet angle d’analyse était également renforcé par les limites de la théorie de l’agence dans son application aux firmes familiales (durand et vargas, 2003). selon la théorie de l’agence, l’entreprise familiale devrait fonctionner de manière remarquable puisque les risques de comportements déviants des agents sont réduits : il y a généralement confusion des rôles de principal et d’agent, les acteurs familiaux sont tous “dans le même bateau” et n’ont pas d’intérêt à agir contre ce qui représente leur capital et patrimoine (fama et jensen, 1983). ceci pourrait donc expliquer les origines des avantages des firmes familiales. cependant, l’application de la théorie de l’agence aux cas des entreprises familiales est délicate. en eff e t , d’une part, les hypothèses de fonctionnement efficient des marchés de capitaux et du travail, soubassements de la théorie de l’agence, sont remises en cause pour les entreprises familiales qui utilisent des modes de financement et de contractualisation hétérodoxes (gomezmejia, nunez-nickel et gutierrez, 2001). d’autre part, aux coûts d’agence classiques de contrôle et d’incitation viennent s’ajouter ce que certains ont appelé les coûts de l’altruisme propres à l’entreprise familiale (schulze, lubatkin, dino et buchholtz, 2001). enfin, la recherche récente met également en avant des processus d’échange intergénérationnels que la théorie de l’agence a du mal à intégrer ( wade-benzoni, 2002). la démarche qui est la nôtre, fondée sur la théorie du capital social, évite ces écueils. elle ne postule pas de conditions particulières sur le fonctionnement des marchés des capitaux ou du travail, peut intégrer les effets de l’altruisme, et contient une dimension temporelle intrinsèque. elle a déjà été partiellement utilisée par habbershon et williams (1999) dans un cadre particulier, celui du courant des ressources. selon l’approche de habbershon et williams (1999), la question de la spécificité des performances des entreprises familiales en stratégie revient à étudier en quoi les processus organisationnels spécifiques à une entreprise familiale peuvent correspondre à des ressources ou compétences (wernerfelt, 1984 ; barney, 1991) valorisables, rares, non imitables et difficilement substituables par des entreprises concurrentes (y compris familiales) et ainsi, à comprendre les sources de leurs avantages organisationnels (barney et zajac, 1994). ainsi, habbershon et williams (1999: 11) introduisent le concept de familiness qui correspond aux « ressources uniques que possède une entreprise suite aux systèmes d’interactions entre la famille, les membres de la famille et l’activité ». en effet, une grande partie des avantages des firmes familiales provient de processus organisationnels originaux, hérités de l’aspect familial de l’entreprise, et qui se prêtent particulièrement bien à une analyse selon l’approche fondée sur les ressources. nous traduisons la notion de familiness par familiarisme, au double sens de ce qui est propre à une famille mais aussi au sens plus commun de ce qui semble familier et donc proche en termes sociaux ou cognitifs. m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 2, 2004, 13-36 17 origines du capital social et avantages concurrentiels des firmes familiales malgré tout, habbershon et williams (1999) s’arrêtent à la reconnaissance de l’originalité stratégique des firmes familiales, résidant dans les interactions entre la famille, les membres de la famille et l’entreprise. nous poussons plus en amont l’analyse et cherchons à montrer que les interrelations entre le capital social de l’entreprise et le capital social des membres de la famille est à la source des caractéristiques des avantages concurrentiels couramment attribués aux firmes familiales. définition du capital social la notion de capital social permet de caractériser ces interactions, de les analyser, et de les gérer à la différence de l’approche de habbershon et williams (1999) qui reste très descriptive, peu opérationnelle et élusive. si leur définition du familiarisme propose un lien entre les avantages concurrentiels et les ressources provenant des interactions, l’utilisation du concept de capital social permet de prolonger et de compléter cette approche en identifiant les racines de ces avantages concurrentiels. dans la continuité des travaux de nahapiet et ghoshal (1998) ou bolino, turnley et bloodgood (2002), qui montrent que le capital social est une ressource (au sens du courant des ressources), ceci revient à présenter le capital social de la firme familiale comme pouvant être la ressource fondamentale pour ce type de firme par rapport aux autres types d’org a n i s a t i o n s . le capital social est l’ensemble des ressources que les individus peuvent obtenir par la connaissance d’autres individus, en faisant partie d’un réseau social avec eux, ou simplement en étant connu d’eux et ayant une bonne réputation (baron et markman, 2000). de nombreuses définitions ont été proposées mais elles ont toutes comme point commun que la bienveillance que les autres ont envers un acteur peut être une source de valeur, c’est-à-dire que les ressources sociales inhérentes aux relations peuvent être utilisées à des fins économiques (coleman, 1988 ; burt, 1992; biggart et castanias, 2001). ainsi les acteurs peuvent retirer des bénéfices de leur appartenance à des réseaux sociaux (portes, 1998). la notion de capital social recouvre la structure et le contenu des relations sociales d’un acteur (adler et kwon, 2002) c’est-à-dire le réseau de relations mais aussi le volume du capital de différentes natures qu’il permet de mobiliser par procuration. pour qu’un acteur bénéficie d’un capital social, trois conditions doivent être vérifiées : 1/ il doit disposer de l’opportunité d’entrer dans des transactions sociales (les connections du réseau s o c i a l ) ; 2/ les membres du réseau social doivent être motivés pour agir en faveur de l’acteur ; et 3/ ils doivent avoir la capacité de le faire (adler et kwon, 2002). par ailleurs, les effets bénéfiques du capital social relèvent, de façon générale, de trois catégories, non mutuellement exclusives : information et recherche, coercition-attrait, et influence (biggart et castanias, 2001 ; adler et kwon, 2002). m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 2, 2004, 13-36 18 jean-luc arrègle, rodolphe durand et philippe very premièrement, les membres du réseau peuvent utiliser leurs relations sociales pour générer de l’information qui est utile pour eux-mêmes ou le groupe. ce phénomène à été décrit dans les recherches au niveau individuel, du groupe ou d’entreprises (useem, 1980 ; domhoff, 1983 ; palmer, 1983). cet effet bénéfique vis-à-vis de l’information est souligné par coleman (1988) : les relations développées à des fins sociales peuvent jouer sur les coûts de recherche et d’accès aux informations. ce point a été encore plus étudié par la théorie des réseaux en analysant comment les connections sociales peuvent augmenter la vraisemblance qu’un acteur trouve la bonne information (granovetter, 1973 ; burt, 1992). deuxièmement, les relations sociales peuvent aussi induire des pressions de type normatif (koenig et gogel, 1981 ; granovetter, 1992). biggart et castanias (2001) identifient quatre façons par lesquelles les relations sociales peuvent agir de façon coercitive ou attractive sur les actions économiques : le recrutement, les obligations, la surveillance, et la discipline. par exemple, le recrutement au sein d’un réseau de relations utilise de façon implicite la pression des membres du réseau pour garantir la qualité du travailleur et pour le d i s c i p l i n e r. de la même façon, des relations sociales régulières permettent aux acteurs de surveiller les relations économiques et les c o m p o r t e m e n t s . troisièmement, grâce à ses relations sociales un membre du réseau peut bénéficier d’une influence et d’un pouvoir plus ou moins forts (adler et kwon, 2002). ceci permet à cet (ou ces) acteur(s) de faire réaliser certaines actions aux autres et ainsi d’atteindre ses objectifs. ce point est notamment constaté par coleman (1988) dans son analyse du sénat américain et du rôle du senate club qui permet à certains sénateurs d’avoir une influence importante sur les autres et de s’en servir pour faire voter leurs prop o s i t i o n s . ces différents effets du capital social ont, par exemple, été constatés dans des travaux sur les entrepreneurs (voir par exemple dubini et aldrich, 1991 ; renzulli, aldrich et moody, 2000). ainsi, le capital social individuel dont peut disposer un entrepreneur pour créer ou développer son entreprise a un impact sur sa réussite dans la réalisation de ses objectifs (dubini et aldrich, 1991 ; aldrich, 1999 ; renzulli, aldrich et moody, 2000). a côté de ces aspects bénéfiques, il existe aussi des facettes négatives du capital social qui sont moins mises en avant dans les recherches en management mais n’en existent pas moins pour autant. ces conséquences négatives sont principalement au nombre de quatre (portes, 1998: 15) : l’exclusion des “extérieurs” au réseau social, des demandes de solidarité ou d’entraide excessives entre les membres du groupe, une restriction de la liberté individuelle et des normes qui freinent la réussite et le développement des membres du groupe. en plus de contraintes de place, l’objectif de cet article étant les sources d’avantages de firmes familiales, ces faiblesses et difficultés engendrées par certains types de capital social ne seront donc pas développées dans cet article. m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 2, 2004, 13-36 19 origines du capital social et avantages concurrentiels des firmes familiales origine des specificites du capital social de la firme familiale capital social de famille et capital social d’entreprise le concept et l’intérêt du capital social ayant été présentés, il est à présent possible de s’intéresser au cas particulier du capital social des firmes familiales à partir de la question suivante : l’entreprise familiale est-elle à même de développer un capital social particulier ? comme cela a déjà été souligné, il existe une interpénétration forte entre le monde social de la famille et le monde économique de l’entreprise familiale. par exemple, ceci est visible lorsque certains des avantages des firmes familiales mentionnés par la recherche (cf. annexe 1) sont considérés : l’efficacité de la prise de décision, la réputation de la famille et l’attention portée au développement de la marque (généralement le nom de famille), le capital “patient”... de même, au cœur de la notion de familiarisme se trouvent les interactions entre la famille (le réseau familial) et l’entreprise. les recherches en management ont maintes fois montré et insisté sur le fait que les rôles de chef d'entreprise et de chef de famille sont étroitement liés (davis et tagiuri, 1982 ; wortman, 1994 ; gersick et al., 1997). kepner (1983) détaille également les relations étroites qui existent entre le système familial et l’entreprise en expliquant qu’ils ne peuvent être séparés ou isolés sans risquer de créer une rupture fatale à un des deux. kaslow et kaslow (1992: 312) expliquent aussi que dans « les dynamiques familiales, les questions de genre et de pouvoir, structures hiérarchiques, et attitudes vis-à-vis de l’argent et du travail n’ont pas seulement un impact sur la vie du foyer familial mais vont aussi probablement influencer l’activité et la façon de penser des membres de la famille dans le monde du travail ». le concept de capital social permet de faire le lien et de comprendre les relations entre ces deux mondes éminemment interreliés. en effet, d’une part, les dimensions mises en avant dans la notion de familiarisme sont précisément les interactions existantes entre membres de la famille qui ont, éventuellement, des effets bénéfiques sur l’entreprise et constituent ou soutiennent ses avantages concurrentiels. ces interactions au sein de la famille correspondent exactement à la définition du capital social appliqué au réseau familial. d’autre part, le capital social est aussi une caractéristique importante d’une entreprise au travers des relations d’échange avec ses parties prenantes (clients, fournisseurs et employés) et peut générer des avantages concurrentiels pour des firmes (nahapiet et ghoshal, 1998 ; leana et van buren, 1999 ; burt, 2000 ; adler et kwon, 2002). ainsi, la notion de capital social est applicable aux deux mondes coexistants dans la firme familiale : la famille et l’entreprise. le capital social de la famille peut donc structurer de façon prégnante le capital social de l’entreprise, et réciproquement (kepner, 1983). la présence de membres familiaux dans les hautes instances de l’entreprise, dans les fonctions de direction et d’administration, contribue à diffuser de m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 2, 2004, 13-36 20 jean-luc arrègle, rodolphe durand et philippe very part et d’autre des perceptions de la réalité élaborées dans l’un des deux mondes. par ce partage et au travers de ces échanges, il y a interaction entre les deux capitaux sociaux, interaction qui permet de comprendre de façon originale les relations famille-entreprise et, ensuite, de porter un regard stratégique sur ces relations. l’étude du capital social de la famille s’impose donc pour mieux cerner les caractéristiques du capital social de l’entreprise. la famille, génératrice de capital social la famille est un système social régi par des lois et habitudes pour prendre soin des besoins de ses membres. elle maintient une cohésion entre ses membres au cours du temps et des épreuves à travers des relations interpersonnelles fondées sur l’émotion et l’affection ainsi qu’un sens de la responsabilité et de la loyauté vis-à-vis du système familial. en plus d’apporter une sécurité sur le plan économique à ses membres, la famille doit satisfaire un profond besoin social et émotionnel d’appartenance, d’affection, d’intimité et fournir un sens identitaire (kepner, 1983:60). il existe différent types de systèmes familiaux qui peuvent être décrits de plusieurs façons. par exemple, pour kepner (1983), un système familial peut se caractériser par la façon dont il gère les conflits et les différences, l’individualisation, l’expression des émotions, l’acceptation du changement, de la séparation et des pertes (décès). un autre modèle est souvent utilisé pour décrire les types de famille : le circumplex d’olson (olson, 1986). dans ce modèle, deux composants fondamentaux constituent le système familial : la cohésion de la famille et son adaptabilité. selon quatre niveaux différents (de faible à élevé) pour chacune de ces deux dimensions, olson identifie 16 types de systèmes familiaux qui seront plus ou moins bénéfiques pour leurs membres (maynard et olson, 1987). ainsi, les familles qui se trouvent aux extrêmes de chaque dimension ont des problèmes et peuvent être qualifiées de pathologiques, alors que les familles plus équilibrées semblent mieux fonctionner. en outre, d’après la perspective institutionnelle, la famille est une institution qui contribue à façonner les attitudes et comportements de ses membres. pour berger et luckmann (1967), chaque individu développe sa propre conception de la réalité au cours du temps et en particulier pendant son enfance où la famille lui inculque des schémas cognitifs et comportementaux. bourdieu (1994: 139), quant à lui, souligne le rôle joué par la famille qui est le résultat « d’un véritable travail d’institution, à la fois rituel et technique, visant à instituer durablement en chacun des membres de l’unité instituée des sentiments propres à assurer l’intégration qui est la condition de l’existence et de la persistance de cette unité ». ceci se matérialise dans l’esprit de famille qui est « générateur de dévouements, de générosités, de solidarités » (bourdieu, 1994: 140) et qui fait que les membres de la famille se comportent comme un sujet collectif et non comme un simple agrégat d’individus. la famille est également perméable à la logique économique car elle a un patrimoine qui unit ses membres mais peut aussi les diviser en créant une concurrence entre eux. la famille doit donc imposer m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 2, 2004, 13-36 21 origines du capital social et avantages concurrentiels des firmes familiales des conduites à ses membres, notamment à travers le capital social familial, pour maintenir cette unité (bourdieu, 1994). comme cela apparaît dans les lignes précédentes, le concept de capital social s’applique logiquement à la famille. par ses caractéristiques et son fonctionnement, la famille est une source, un utilisateur et un créateur de capital social (bubolz, 2001). le concept de capital social permet de fédérer différentes idées qui existaient déjà sur la famille (bubolz, 2001). la famille a été un terrain important d’application de ce concept (portes, 1998) comme le montrent de nombreux travaux tels ceux d’aldrich (1999), à propos de l’impact du capital social de la famille sur la réussite économique des entrepreneurs, de coleman (1988), mclanahan et sandefur (1994), parcel et menaghan (1994) ou encore hagan, macmillan et wheaton (1996). selon ses caractéristiques, la famille crée un capital social qui aura donc des effets plus ou moins bénéfiques pour ses membres. de la famille au capital social de la firme familiale a l’origine est donc le capital social de la famille. reprenons la perspective institutionnelle présentée ci-dessus pour expliquer comment ce capital familial influence celui de l’entreprise. de nombreuses institutions influencent le management de l’entreprise (north, 1990 ; whitley, 1992). les “institutions de proximité”, telles les systèmes politiques et financiers ou les réglementations, exercent une influence essentiellement coercitive sur les pratiques managériales, en ce sens qu’elles définissent un ensemble de contraintes et d’opportunités pour les entreprises et leurs dirigeants (dimaggio et powell, 1983). les “institutions éducatives”, comme la famille ou l’école ont une influence davantage normative ou mimétique sur les organisations et leurs membres, parce qu’elles contribuent à structurer les comportements autour de concepts comme la confiance, la coopération ou l’identité (whitley, 1992). whitley a essentiellement utilisé la perspective institutionnelle pour expliquer des différences nationales entre pratiques de management. dans le même ordre d’idées, bhappu (2000) explique le management, la stratégie et la structure des entreprises japonaises par les caractéristiques de la famille japonaise. appliquons le même type de raisonnement à l’entreprise familiale. la famille conçue comme une institution devrait affecter les pratiques managériales dans la firme familiale. en décrivant le capital social de la famille, nous avons souligné que la famille, à l’instar d’autres institutions éducatives, communique des connaissances explicites à tous ses membres afin que ceux-ci acquièrent un savoir et des pratiques qui ont conduit par le passé à des résultats favorables. de plus, la famille imprègne ses membres d’une connaissance collective qui représente l’ensemble des valeurs sociales et des normes de comportement portées par le groupe familial. par conséquent, les membres d’une famille qui travaillent dans l’entreprise familiale devraient logiquement se comporter et agir de façon cohérente avec l’éducation qu’ils ont reçue au sein de leur famille. m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 2, 2004, 13-36 22 jean-luc arrègle, rodolphe durand et philippe very selon la définition que nous avons retenue pour les firmes familiales, ces membres de la famille ont des rôles importants dans l’entreprise d’un point de vue qualitatif et/ou quantitatif, transférant éventuellement certaines caractéristiques de “l’esprit de famille” à l’entreprise. ils auront, peut-être inconsciemment, tendance à développer des réseaux sur le modèle qu’ils ont connu au sein du giron familial en s’inspirant des interactions familiales pour dessiner les interactions dans leur réseau d’entreprise. en d’autres termes, le management de l’entreprise familiale est enracinée (embedded) dans l’héritage admi nistratif familial, concept similaire à l’héritage administratif utilisé par bartlett et ghoshal (1989) pour décrire les évolutions organisationnelles des multinationales, ou encore à l’héritage administratif national (calori, lubatkin, véry et veiga, 1997). de fait, puisqu’il y a enracinement, comprendre le management de l’entreprise familial requiert de comprendre les relations sociales au sein de la famille. en résumé, l’existence de membres communs à la famille et au collectif de l’entreprise suggère que les apprentissages effectués au sein de la famille, transpirent dans le management de l’entreprise tel qu’il est conçu et appliqué par les dirigeants familiaux. en contribuant fortement à construire le comportement et les schémas de pensée de ses membres, la famille a un impact direct sur la constitution du capital social de l’entreprise. examen des particularités du capital social de la firme familiale l’entreprise familiale se distingue donc de ses consœurs non-familiales par cette relation entre deux capitaux sociaux. explorons davantage ce lien, en partant des travaux de nahapiet et ghoshal (1998) sur le développement du capital social. selon ces auteurs, la création du capital social de l’entreprise dépend de quatre facteurs principaux : le temps, l’interdépendance entre les membres du réseau, leur interaction et le “bouclage” des relations. etudions successivement chaque facteur dans le contexte de l’entreprise familiale. la stabilité du réseau au cours du temps elle est nécessaire à l’émergence de relations sociales fortes, potentiellement créatrices de différenciation au sein de l’entreprise familiale. la spécificité familiale peut jouer sur cette stabilité de deux façons : la stabilité de l’éducation reçue au sein de la cellule familiale indépendamment de l’entreprise et le maintien au sein de la famille de la propriété et souvent du pouvoir (dynastie). le premier aspect, c’est la fonction même de la famille en tant qu’institution qui est de perdurer à travers les générations (voir ci-dessus), en maintenant des liens sociaux et des principes d’éducation (kellerhals, 1987). les normes en usage au sein d’une famille jouent un rôle fort et forgent des comportements récurrents, génération après génération, comportements qui sont assez stables et attendus par les membres de la famille (bettenhausen et murnighan, 1991). cette rémanence des attitudes, schémas de pensée et comportements sugm@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 2, 2004, 13-36 23 origines du capital social et avantages concurrentiels des firmes familiales gère que le capital social de l’entreprise familiale devrait rester plutôt stable dans le temps, puisqu’il y a reproduction plus ou moins consciente du capital familial. selon le second aspect, l’entreprise familiale se caractérise par la stabilité du pouvoir et de la propriété. en témoignent les travaux de bauer et bertin-mourot (1987, 1996) sur les grandes entreprises françaises, qui ont démontré l’existence d’une “loi” dynastique : le futur dirigeant d’un grand groupe familial a toutes chances d’être un membre de la famille. la famille tend donc à induire une forte stabilité dans le capital social de l’entreprise par le truchement de la stabilité du capital social familial. l’interdépendance comme gersick, davis, hampton et lansberg (1997) l’ont montré, les membres de la famille du créateur sont concernés par l’entreprise, car elle fait partie du patrimoine collectif. c’est d’ailleurs souvent un des biens principaux de la famille (bauer, 1993). de fait, les membres employés par l’entreprise ou actionnaires travaillent à la valorisation d’un capital commun. en ce sens, les uns ont besoin des autres pour faire fructifier leur patrimoine et le faire évoluer comme souhaité. lorsque l’heure de la succession sonnera, le patrimoine familial, entreprise comprise, devra être cédé aux héritiers. de surcroît, il existe des coûts psychologiques liés à la sortie du capital (revente des parts), l’affectif rentrant fortement en ligne de compte : le départ est parfois assimilé à une trahison de la famille et de ses valeurs (gotman, 1988 ; masson et gotman, 1991). enfin, les recherches sur l’altruisme (schulze, lubatkin et dino, 2003xx) soulignent la prééminence d’un intérêt familial commun en intégrant la prise en compte des préférences des autres membres de la famille dans la courbe d’utilité des décideurs. de fait, les membres de la famille appartenant au réseau de l’entreprise partagent la même préoccupation : décider et agir dans l’intérêt de la famille. puisqu’il y a influence mimétique ou normative sur le capital social de l’entreprise, on peut raisonnablement penser que les acteurs externes du réseau doivent aussi se préoccuper du bien familial pour demeurer membres actifs. leurs choix ou conseils ne peuvent faire fi de l’intérêt de la famille. finalement, le réseau d’entreprise se caractérise donc par l’interdépendance de nombreux acteurs, interdépendance liée à l’existence d’un patrimoine collectif. cette interdépendance peut être à la fois interet intra-générationnelle, interne et externe à la famille. les interactions krister ahlström expliquait la nécessité de constituer un conseil des familles pour débattre des questions importantes pour l’entreprise (magretta, 1998). puisque les logiques d’actionnaire, d’employé et de membre familial ne convergent pas forcément, la prise de décision tend à être difficile. nordqvist et melin (2001) ont discuté l’importance de ce processus d’interactions pour décider la stratégie de l’entreprise familiale. de surcroît, les membres familiaux de l’entreprise ont l’occasion de se rencontrer en dehors de leur lieu de travail, dans le cadre de la vie de famille. les interactions se poursuivent donc en d’autres m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 2, 2004, 13-36 24 jean-luc arrègle, rodolphe durand et philippe very espaces et en d’autres temps : les frontières entre travail et famille sont susceptibles d’être floues. cette originalité des interactions entre membres de la famille peut aussi permettre de façonner la dimension structurelle du capital social de l’entreprise au bénéfice des membres de la firme familiale. les interactions déjà existantes entre membres de la famille peuvent être utilisées pour organiser l’architecture du réseau de pouvoir en choisissant les postes occupés par les membres de la famille au sein de l’entreprise. on sait par exemple que de nombreuses firmes familiales privilégient le recrutement de leurs membres au sein de l’organisation (sirmon et hitt, 2003). la morphologie du capital social de la firme familiale n’est donc pas subie ou émergente mais elle peut être, au moins en partie, conçue selon les desiderata, intérêts, et compétences des membres de la famille. enfin, les interactions avec clients, banquiers et autres parties prenantes externes peuvent être nombreuses et intenses (yeung et soh, 2000). par exemple, les membres de l’entreprise familiale tendent à entretenir des relations interpersonnelles fortes avec leurs clients (longenecker, moore et schoen, 1989 ; lyman, 1991). plusieurs recherches centrées sur le management des entreprises familiales chinoises ont identifié des interactions importantes avec les clients, mais aussi fournisseurs et banquiers (redding, 1995 ; yeung, 2000a, 2000b). en outre, le processus de succession dans l’entreprise familiale se caractérise par la création et le maintien de ces relations intenses avec les parties prenantes clés (fox, nilakant et hamilton, 1996 ; drozdow et carroll, 1997). de tels résultats suggèrent qu’au delà des interactions au sein de l’entreprise, les membres de la famille tendent à développer un réseau d’interactions avec des acteurs externes et, ainsi, ils peuvent fortement modeler la structure, l’étendue, et la valeur du capital social de la famille et de l’entreprise familiale. le bouclage compte tenu du poids que peut avoir la famille dans le management de l’entreprise et dans la composition de l’équipe de direction, le bouclage du réseau de la firme familiale est influencé par le bouclage du réseau familial. ce dernier est codifié. il faut être membre de la famille pour intégrer le réseau, qui reproduit le mécanisme du droit du sang, ou ascription, au travers des générations. ce type de réseau est donc fermé, et d’accès difficile. la densité des liens à l’intérieur du réseau familial, un autre aspect du bouclage, dépend de l’intensité et de la nature des relations sociales que ses membres entretiennent. ce réseau familial va jouer, de façon plus ou moins forte selon les entreprises, sur le bouclage du réseau de la firme familiale, notamment par l’influence mimétique et normative que peut avoir, ici aussi, le capital social familial. en résumé, sur chacun des 4 facteurs favorisant l’émergence d’un capital social fort, la firme familiale est susceptible de se distinguer de l’entreprise non-familiale du fait même de sa nature particulière, et donc de se créer un capital social spécifique caractérisant le familiam@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 2, 2004, 13-36 25 origines du capital social et avantages concurrentiels des firmes familiales risme de l’entreprise familiale. selon ces développements, le familiarisme peut alors être défini comme le degré d’interaction entre les deux capitaux sociaux, celui de la famille et celui de l’entreprise. plus ce degré de familiarisme serait élevé, plus l’entreprise aurait la capacité de se créer un avantage concurrentiel typiquement familial. telle est la conclusion logique de nos développements théoriques. les firmes familiales possèdent donc une caractéristique propre : leur capital social est influencé par le capital social de la famille propriétaire. en d’autres termes l’approche par le capital social, couplée à l’utilisation de la perspective institutionnelle, contribue à expliquer les sources spécifiques de compétitivité propres à ces entreprises. jusqu’ici, notre propos a été général, en ce sens que nous avons raisonné en considérant globalement toutes les entreprises satisfaisant la définition de litz (1995). et pourtant cette population des entreprises familiales est loin d’être homogène dans ses pratiques (gersick et al., 1997) et dans sa capacité à se créer des avantages concurrentiels (habbershon et williams, 1999). ce point est développé dans la partie suivante en s’intéressant aux facteurs de diversité du familiarisme. diversité et évolution du familiarisme les recherches en management ont montré l’existence de facteurs d’évolution et de diversité en matière de capital social développé par les entreprises (gersick et al., 1997 ; baron et markman, 2000 ; adler et kwon, 2002 ; sirmon et hitt, 2003). dans le cas de l’entreprise familiale, il convient non seulement de s’intéresser aux facteurs de diversité et d’évolution du capital social de l’entreprise familiale, mais aussi aux causes de diversité et d’évolution du capital social familial. c’est ce que sous-tendent nos développements théoriques. d’une part, des différences au niveau du capital social familial risquent de se traduire par des différences dans le degré de familiarisme, et donc dans la capacité de l’entreprise à tirer un avantage typiquement familial. d’autre part, une évolution du capital social familial peut modifier le degré de familiarisme, avec des conséquences identiques. en nous appuyant sur les recherches passées, examinons les facteurs de diversité et d’évolution caractérisant les entreprises familiales. ces facteurs sont regroupés en deux catégories : les facteurs d’hétérogénéité liés à la famille ; ceux liés à la fois à la famille et l’entreprise. l’éventail proposé ne prétend pas à l’exhaustivité : l’objectif est de montrer en quoi nos développements théoriques à partir du concept de capital social peuvent aider à comprendre l’hétérogénéité des sources de compétitivité. facteurs d’hétérogénéité et d’évolution liés à la famille trois variables au moins, dont deux sont liées, contribuent à expliquer le degré de familiarisme : la structuration de la famille, sa taille et la définition qu’en donnent les dirigeants de l’entreprise. m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 2, 2004, 13-36 26 jean-luc arrègle, rodolphe durand et philippe very la structure familiale pour les anthropologues de la famille, les normes et obligations mutuelles varient grandement d’une famille à une autre. autant le processus de socialisation intra-familiale est identique pour tous les membres, autant il y a de fortes différences entre ces processus entre familles. todd (1983) a par exemple dressé une typologie des structures familiales à travers le monde, montrant comment certaines sont régies de façon autoritaire par un patriarche alors que d’autres sont très libertaires et laissent beaucoup d’autonomie aux enfants pour fonder et gérer leur propre foyer. certains chercheurs ont souligné que ces différences devaient être sources de différences profondes dans le management des entreprises familiales (véry et raytcheva, 2001). en matière de capital social, cette diversité suggère que le degré d’interaction et d’interdépendance entre membres du réseau de l’entreprise peut fortement varier d’une entreprise à l’autre. dans la lignée des anthropologues, de nombreuses autres typologies traitant du management familial ou du degré de cohésion entre membres ont été développées par psychologues et sociologues, comme celle d’olson (1986) citée auparavant. ces catégorisations militent elles aussi pour une hétérogénéité du capital social familial. la taille et la définition de la famille l’histoire de la famille accompagne celle de l’entreprise. les enfants du fondateur se marient, introduisant de nouveaux membres, gendres et brus, au sein de la famille. ils donnent naissance aux petits-enfants du fondateur. avec l’augmentation quantitative de la famille du créateur, les liens et interactions évoluent (gersick et al., 1997) : le fondateur interagit fortement avec ses descendants directs, mais perd de vue les petits-enfants de ses frères et sœurs. ainsi, le noyau familial, celui où se déroule l’essentiel des interactions, se modifie avec le temps et l’accroissement de la famille. certains dirigeants se posent alors la question de redéfinir la famille : les époux des enfants, les cousins de plus en plus éloignés font-ils toujours partie de la famille et ont-ils les mêmes droits que les autres membres sur le patrimoine familial (gotman, 1988 ; bauer, 1993 ; cromie, stephenson et monteith, 1995) ? cette question est d’ordre ontologique : elle réfère à la définition de la famille à un instant t, à ce qui peut être partagé ou non, délégué ou non, et aux paradigmes communs et représentations partagées qui uniront ses membres. une famille définie étroitement constitue en général un groupe à forte interaction. une famille étendue forme un groupe à multiples connections et forte diversité en matière d’intensité des interactions. quel que soit le choix, le changement de taille et éventuellement de définition n’entraîne pas simultanément un changement de même nature dans l’entreprise. alors que la famille s’agrandit, les membres de la famille impliqués dans l’entreprise ne changent pas automatiquement. en bref, le réseau de l’entreprise est composé en partie de membres familiaux dont certains appartiennent à des branches familiales à faible interaction avec le fondateur et sa descendance directe, ce qui peut induire une plus grande diversité cognitive, relationnelle… c’est m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 2, 2004, 13-36 27 origines du capital social et avantages concurrentiels des firmes familiales pourquoi les réseaux peuvent tendre à se différencier et les liens sociaux à se relâcher. en conséquence, l’influence du capital social familial sur le capital social de l’entreprise peut diminuer au cours du temps avec cette fragmentation des réseaux. même si la famille est source de stabilité, son évolution, en particulier avec l’avènement de nouvelles générations, est source de perturbation et de modification du lien entre les capitaux sociaux familiaux et entrepreneuriaux. facteurs d’hétérogénéité et d’évolution liés à la fois à la famille et à l’entreprise enfin, des facteurs propres au capital social de la famille comme de l’entreprise, et difficilement dissociables, conduisent également à une hétérogénéité du degré de familiarisme. il s’agit de la génération au pouvoir et de la succession pour lesquels des “déchirures” dans le capital social peuvent se produire remettant en cause la continuité nécessaire au développement du capital social. la génération au pouvoir entre le cas du fils unique du créateur et le cas de l’entreprise de troisième génération à dizaines d’actionnaires familiaux et plusieurs générations travaillant au sein de l’entreprise, il y a un écart très important en matière de management des relations entre acteurs et de nature du capital social mobilisable (gersick et al., 1997). dans le premier cas, un réseau social stable, fortement interdépendant, où les interactions sont nombreuses et riches, et qui est relativement fermé (“bouclé”) donne lieu à une imbrication forte du capital familial avec le capital de l’entreprise. le familiarisme est alors élevé et potentiellement à la source d’avantages concurrentiels. dans le second cas, le réseau social devient moins stable du fait de l’adjonction de nombreuses histoires particulières à l’histoire de la famille souche, les interdépendances sont moins fortes, les interactions moins récurrentes et périphériques, et le bouclage plus difficile. dès lors, le familiarisme de l’entreprise s’étiole avec ses sources d’avantages concurrentiels. le problème de la succession le départ du dirigeant principal–souvent le fondateur–, acteur et connecteur des deux réseaux, peut remettre en cause le lien entre réseau familial et réseau d’entreprise. la succession du pouvoir peut entraîner une lutte entre les groupes sur le nom du successeur ; elle peut aussi affaiblir la cohésion du réseau familial lorsqu’il y a compétition pour le poste entre membres familiaux. de nombreuses recherches ont montré le rôle critique de la période de succession dans la survie des firmes familiales. d’où l’importance de la préparation à la succession (barach, gantisky, carson et doochin, 1988) et la grande attention portée à ce thème dans les recherches sur les firmes familiales (cadieux et lorrain, 2003). d’un côté, lors d’une dissension ou d’une vacance, le tissu social peut être déchiré et des creux dans la structure du réseau apparaissent, laissant filer le capital social famim@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 2, 2004, 13-36 28 jean-luc arrègle, rodolphe durand et philippe very lial et amoindrissant le familiarisme. du côté du capital social de l’entreprise, plusieurs recherches ont montré que les dirigeants familiaux ont tendance à développer des relations interpersonnelles très fortes au sein de leur réseau d’entreprise (longenecker et al., 1989 ; lyman, 1991 ; redding, 1995 ; yeung, 2000a, 2000b). par conséquent, si le nouveau dirigeant n’a pas été introduit dans ce réseau, ou s’il n’entretient pas le même type de relations, ou encore s’il cherche à créer un réseau, le capital social accumulé par son prédécesseur est susceptible de s’affaiblir fortement, menant également à une dégradation du niveau de familiarisme. en bref, la structure familiale, la taille de la famille et la définition qu’en font ses membres contribuent à expliquer la diversité du capital social familial et ses répercussions sur le degré de familiarisme caractérisant l’entreprise familiale. un changement dans la taille ou la définition est susceptible d’engendrer une évolution de ce degré de familiarisme. selon la génération qui tient les rênes de l’entreprise, les interactions famille-entreprise seront plus ou moins intenses. quand la succession du pouvoir doit être organisée, le degré de familiarisme a aussi de fortes chances d’évoluer avec les tensions entre groupes et avec l’avènement du nouveau dirigeant. il apparaît donc que de nombreuses variables sont susceptibles d’expliquer l’hétérogénéité des entreprises familiales en matière de compétitivité, que l’on compare les firmes à un instant donné ou que l’on étudie leur évolution au cours du temps. l’approche théorique fondée sur le capital social semble ouvrir une voie riche pour analyser les sources de compétitivité propres aux entreprises familiales. conclusion le capital social semble donc pouvoir contribuer de façon importante à l’étude des firmes familiales. une approche fondée sur le familiarisme permet de dépasser les limites inhérentes à la théorie de l’agence lorsqu’elle s’applique aux firmes familiales : en particulier les postulats de base concernant les rôles régulateurs exercés par les marchés du travail et des capitaux ne sont plus suffisants lorsqu’on aborde la théorie de l’entreprise familiale par l’angle du capital social. en outre, l’analyse à partir du degré de familiarisme, portée par les interrelations entre le capital social de la famille et celui de l’entreprise, permet de remonter à la source des différents avantages concurrentiels, attribués le plus souvent à juste raison aux entreprises familiales. parmi les directions à privilégier pour la recherche future, l’étude empirique du lien capitaux sociaux-avantage concurrentiel-performance apparaît primordiale. en effet, l’intérêt de l’approche par le capital social ne serait que renforcé si les chercheurs identifiaient les contextes et conditions dans lesquelles l’existence d’un capital social est associée à la performance de l’entreprise. de telles recherches ne pourraient d’ailleurs faire l’impasse sur les aspects négatifs du capital social, au sens de portes (1998). une comparaison des réussites et échecs aiderait à préciser le rôle joué par le capital social et son management. m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 2, 2004, 13-36 29 origines du capital social et avantages concurrentiels des firmes familiales en outre, il reste à définir les types d’actions à engager pour prendre appui aussi bien qu’éviter les pièges de la liaison étroite entre le capital social de la famille et le capital social de l’entreprise, afin d’aboutir à une diversité de pratiques managériales en relation avec la diversité des familles. l’ambition de cet article était de réfléchir en quoi la nature particulière des entreprises familiales pouvait leur permettre d’avoir des sources originales d’avantages concurrentiels. l’introduction de la notion de familiarisme, fondé sur le capital social de la famille et en liaison avec le capital social de la firme, ouvre une voie de réponse intéressante. l’idée sous-tendant notre discussion de l’origine du familiarisme, aussi bien que des facteurs conduisant à des degrés variables de familiarisme au sein des entreprises familiales, est qu’à un fort degré de familiarisme correspond une probabilité plus grande de dégager un des nombreux avantages concurrentiels possibles, reconnus et attribués à ces entreprises (annexe 1). cette originalité concurrentielle pourrait d’ailleurs expliquer comment des organisations qui paraissaient dépassées il y a une vingtaine d’années sont aujourd’hui considérées de façon favorable, y compris par les milieux financiers, vis-à-vis des autres formes d’entreprises pour prendre toute leur place dans le capitalisme de notre époque. il est donc stratégique que les firmes familiales s’interrogent sur leurs particularités, et l’approche par la notion de familiarisme est en cela utile. au travers des déterminants du capital social et des facteurs influençant l’évolution du degré de familiarisme, les propriétaires et les managers des firmes familiales ont une grille d’analyse leur permettant de relier les particularités de la famille et de l’entreprise en terme de capital social avec les avantages concurrentiels présents ou disparus. ils peuvent conduire cette analyse de manière statique et descriptive mais aussi de manière plus dynamique en s’interrogeant sur les évolutions des caractéristiques de la famille (structuration, taille, définition), de l’entreprise (taille, évolutions de l’environnement concurrentiel, santé de l’entreprise), et des problèmes de génération et de succession. cette approche managériale ne peut cependant être que contingent e : selon le type d’activités, la nature de l’environnement et de la concurrence, certains aspects du capital social de la firme familiale et de la famille seront plus ou moins utiles. un type de capital social de la famille et de la firme correspond à un type de stratégie et d’environnement. par exemple, dans le cadre d’un environnement turbulent, il sera plus important que le capital social familial n’ait pas un e ffet isolant avec une dimension cognitive qui favorise un repli sur soi et un immobilisme préjudiciable. de même, il sera important que la structure de ces réseaux assure une bonne diversité des informations recueillies et des ressources disponibles en évitant les redondances. si la dimension cognitive favorise l’ouverture, le débat et le changement, alors il faudra la conserver en mettant en place des institutions (conseil de famille…) qui assurent sa pérennité face à l’augmentation de la taille de la famille ou avec le nombre de générations… m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 2, 2004, 13-36 30 jean-luc arrègle, rodolphe durand et philippe very il serait trop long de détailler ici toutes ces liaisons et les décisions managériales et familiales qui en relèvent. l’objectif de cet article était de proposer, de façon originale, un premier pas qui est celui de l’utilisation du capital social comme théorie intégrative des spécificités stratégiques des firmes familiales. dans un second temps et dans un autre travail, il sera ensuite possible d’utiliser les liens développés ici. il est cependant important de souligner que, dans le cadre d’une approche proactive, les managers d’entreprises familiales doivent agir et faire en sorte que leur familiarisme ne soit pas, comme souvent, le résultat d’heureuses coïncidences et d’aléas familiaux. note. les auteurs remercient les évaluateurs anonymes pour leurs commentaires et suggestions qui ont permis d’améliorer cet article, ainsi que jihène zouiten pour son aide. jean-luc arrègle est professeur de management stratégique à edhec business school, nice, france. il a publié plusieurs articles dans des revues et associations scientifiques françaises et internationales sur les stratégies fondées sur les ressources, les joint ventures internationales, et les stratégies des p.m.i. françaises. ses domaines de recherche portent principalement sur le capital social, les alliances internationales et l’approche resource based. rodolphe durand est professeur de stratégie d'entreprise à l'ecole de management de lyon (e.m.lyon). ses domaines de compétences particuliers sont la construction et la défense d'un avantage concurrentiel et la conception évolutionniste de la stratégie. il a publié ses travaux dans strategic management journal, american journal of sociology, organization studies, ou journal of business venturing. philippe very est à la fois professeur de management stratégique et directeur académique à edhec business school, france. il est l’auteur de nombreuses publications, dont de nombreuses dans des revues internationales. il est l’auteur de l’ouvrage récent intitulé des fusions et des hommes (editions d’organisation), qui a reçu le prix manpower 2003 du meilleur ouvrage de ressources humaines. ses recherches portent principalement sur le management des fusions et acquisitions. il travaille aussi sur deux autres champs, à savoir le gouvernement d’entreprise et le pilotage de l’entreprise familiale. m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 2, 2004, 13-36 31 origines du capital social et avantages concurrentiels des firmes familiales ■ adler, p. s. et s.w. kwon 2002 social capital : prospects for a new concept, academy of management review, 27(1): 17-40. ■ aldrich, h. 1999 organizations evolving, thousand oaks, ca: sage. ■ allouche, j. et b. amann 1995 le retour triomphant du capitalisme familial : gestionnaires et organisations, toulouse : presse de l'université des sciences sociales de toulouse. ■ allouche j. et b. amann 1998 la confiance : une explication aux performances des entreprises familiales, economie et société, série sciences de gestion, 8-9: 129-154. ■ anderson, r. c. et d. m. reeb 2003 founding-family ownership and firm performance: evidence from the s&p 500, journal of finance, 58(3): 13011329. ■ aronoff, c. e. et j. l. ward 1995 family-owned businesses: a thing of the past or a model for the future, family business review, 8(2): 121-130. ■ astrachan, j. h. 1988 family firm and community culture, family business review, 1(2): 165-189. ■ astrachan, j. h. et t. a. kolenko 1994 a neglected factor explaining family business success: human resources practices, family business review, 7(3): 251-262. ■ barach, j. a., j. gantisky, j. a. carson et b. a. doochin 1988 entry of the next generation: strategic challenges for family business, journal of small business management, 26(2): 49-56. ■ barnes, l. b. et s. a. hershov 1976 transfering power in a family business, harvard business review, 54(4): 105-114. ■ barney, j. b. 1991 firm resources and sustained competitive advantage, journal of manage ment, 17(1): 99-120. ■ barney, j. b. et e. j. zajac 1994 competitive organizational behavior: toward an organizationally based theory of competitive advantage, strategic management journal, 15(8): 5-9. ■ baron, r. a. et g. d. markman 2000 beyond social capital: how social skills can enhance entrepreneurs' success, academy of management executive, 14(1): 106-115. ■ bartlett, c. a. et s. ghoshal 1989 managing across borders: the trans national solution, boston, ma: harvard business school press. ■ bauer, m. 1993 les patrons de pme entre le pouvoir, l'entreprise et la famille, paris: intereditions. ■ bauer, m. et b. bertin-mourot 1987 les "200" : comment devient-on un grand patron?, paris: seuil. ■ bauer, m. et b. bertin-mourot 1996 vers un modèle européen de dirigeants ? comparaison allemagne/ france/grande bretagne, paris : cnrs et boyden research center on leadership. ■ beckhard, r. et w. dyer 1983 managing change in the family firm: issues and strategies, sloan manage ment review, 24(3): 59-65. ■ berger, p. et t. luckman 1967 the social construction of reality: a treatise in the sociology of knowledge, london: penguin press. ■ bettenhausen, k. l. et j. k. murnighan 1991 the development of an intragroup norm and the effects of interpersonal and structural challenges, administra tive science quarterly, 36(1): 20-35. ■ bhappu, a. d. 2000 the japanese family: an institutional logic for japanese corporate networks and japanese management, academy of management review, 25(2): 409-415. ■ biggart, n. w. et r. p. castanias 2001 collaterized social relations: the social in economic calculation, ameri can journal of economics and sociolo gy, 60(2): 471-500. ■ boles, j. s. 1996 influences of work-family conflict on job satisfaction, life satisfaction, and quitting intentions among business owners: the case of the family-operated businesses, family business review, 9(1): 61-74. ■ bolino, m. c., w. h. turnley et j. m. bloodgood 2002 citizenship behavior and the creation of social capital in organizations, aca demy of management review, 27(4): 505-522. ■ bourdieu, p. 1994 raisons pratiques, coll. points essais, paris : seuil. ■ bubolz, m. 2001 family as source, user, and builder of social capital, journal of socio-econo mics, 30(2): 129-131. ■ burt, r. s. 1992 structural holes: the social structure of competition, cambridge, ma: harvard university press. references m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 2, 2004, 13-36 32 jean-luc arrègle, rodolphe durand et philippe very ■ burt, r. s. 2000 the network structure of social capital, in r. sutton et b. y. staw (eds.), research in organizational behavior, vol. 22, greenwich, ct: jai press, 345-423. ■ cadieux, l. et j. lorrain 2003 la succession dans les pme familiales : une réflexion sur l'état de nos connaissances et sur nos modes d'intervention, organisations et territoires, 12(1): 25-32. ■ calori, r., m. lubatkin, p. very et j. veiga 1997 modeling the origins of nationally-bound administrative heritages: a historical institutional analysis of french and british firms, organization science, 8(6): 681-696. ■ charreaux, g. 1991 structures de propriété, relation d'agence et performance financière, revue economique, 42(3): 521-542. ■ chua, j. h., j. j. chrisman et p. sharma 2003 succession and nonsuccession concerns of family firms and agency relationship with nonfamily managers, family business review, 16(2): 89-108. ■ coleman, j. s. 1988 social capital in the creation of human capital, american journal of sociology, 94(supplement: organizations and institutions: sociological and economic approaches to the analysis of social structure): 95-120. ■ cromie, s., b. stephenson et d. monteith 1995 the management of family firms: an empirical investigation, international small business journal, 13(4): 11-34. ■ dailey, r. c., et t. h. rueschling 1980 human resources management in family owned companies, journal of general management, 5(3): 49-56. ■ daily, c. et m. dollinger 1992 an empirical examination of ownership structure in family and professionally managed firms, family business review, 5(2): 117-136. ■ daily, c. et s. s. thomson 1994 ownership structure, strategic posture and firm growth: an empirical examination, family business review, 7(3): 237-249. ■ davis, j. a. et r. tagiuri 1982 bivalent attributes of the family firm, santa barbara, ca: owner managed business institute. ■ de visscher, f. m., c. f. aronoff et j. l. ward, 1995 financing transitions: managing capi tal and liquidity in the family busi ness, marietta, ga: business owner resources. ■ dimaggio, p. et w. powell 1983 the iron cage revisited: institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields, american sociological review, 48(2): 147-160. ■ domhoff, g. w. 1983 who rules america now?, englewood cliffs, nj: prentice-hall. ■ donckels, r. et e. frohlich 1991 are family businesses really diff e r e n t ? european experiences from strato s , family business review, 4(2): 149-160. ■ dreux, d. r. 1990 financing family business: alternatives to selling out or going public, f a m i l y business review, 3(3): 225-243. ■ drozdow, n. et v. p. carroll 1997 tools for strategy development in family firms, sloan management review, 39(1): 75-88. ■ dubini, p. et h. aldrich 1991 personal and extended networks are central to the entrepreneurial process, journal of business venturing, 6(5): 305-313. ■ durand, r. et v. vargas 2003 ownership, organization, and private f i r m ’s efficient use of resources, s t r a t e gic management journal, 23(7): 667-676. ■ dyer, w. g., jr. 1986 culture change in family firms: antici pating and managing business and family transitions, san francisco, ca: josey-bass. ■ fama, e. f. et m. c. jensen 1983 separation of ownership and control, journal of law and economics, 26(2): 301-325. ■ fiegener, m. k., b. m. brown, r. a. prince et k. m. file 1994 a comparison of successor development in family and nonfamily business, family business review, 7(4): 313-329. ■ fox, m., v. nilakant et r. t. hamilton 1996 managing succession in family owned businesses, international small busi ness journal, 15(1): 15-25. ■ gallo, m. a. et a. vilaseca 1996 finance in family business, family business review, 9(4): 387-401. ■ gasse, y., g. theberge et j. naud 1988 la continuité dans la pme familiale, revue internationale pme, 1(1): 43-56. ■ gersick, k. e., j. a. davis, m. hampton et i. lansberg 1997 generation to generation: a life cycle of the family business, boston, ma: harvard business school press. ■ goffee, r. et r. scase 1985 proprietorial control in family firms: some functions of “quasi-organic” management system, journal of mana gement studies, 22(1): 53-68. ■ gomez-mejia, l. r, m. nunez-nickel et i. gutierrez 2001 the role of family ties in agency contracts, academy of management journal, 44(1): 81-96. ■ gotman, a. 1988 héritier, paris: puf. m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 2, 2004, 13-36 33 origines du capital social et avantages concurrentiels des firmes familiales ■ granovetter, m. s. 1973 the strength of weak ties, american journal of sociology, 78:(6), 13601380. ■ granovetter, m. s. 1992 problems of explanation in economic sociology, in n. nohria et r. g. eccles (eds.), networks and organization: structure, form and action, boston, ma: harvard business press, 25-56. ■ habbershon, t. g. et m. l. williams 1999 a resource-based framework for assessing the strategic advantages of family firms, family business review, 12(1): 1-25. ■ haddadj, s. et a. d’andria 1998 transmissions internes et transmissions externes dans les pme françaises: existe-t-il des différences de changements stratégiques et d'orientations stratégiques ?, revue internatio nale pme, 11(4): 45-65. ■ hagan, j., r. macmillan et b. wheaton 1996 new kid in town: social capital and the life courses effects of family migration in children, american socio logy review, 61(3): 368-385. ■ handler, w. c. 1989 managing the family firm succession process: the next-generation family member’s experience, unpublished doctoral dissertation, boston, ma: school of management, boston university. ■ handler, w. c. 1992 succession experience of the next generation, family business review, 5(3): 283-307. ■ handler, w. c. et k. e. kram 1988 succession in family firms: the problem of resistance, family business review, 1(4): 361-381. ■ harvey, s. j. 1999 owners as manager, extended horizons and the family firm, international journal of the economics of business, 6(1): 41-55. ■ hirigoyen, g. 1982 le comportement financier des moyennes entreprises industrielles familiales, banque, 417: 588-593. ■ hirigoyen, g. 1984 peut-on parler d'une politique de dividendes dans les moyennes entreprises familiales non-cotées ?, banque, 436: 207-210. ■ ibrahim, a. b. et w. h. ellis 1994 family business management: concepts and practice, dubuque, ia: kendal-hunt. ■ johnson, s. c. 1990 why we'll never go public, family business, 1(4): 16-21. ■ kaslow, f. w. et s. kaslow 1992 the family that works together: special problems of family businesses, in s. zedeck (ed.), work, families and organizations, san francisco, ca: josey-bass, 312-361. ■ kellerhals, j. 1987 les types d'interaction dans la famille, l'année sociologique, 37: 154-179. ■ kepner, e. 1983 the family and the firm: a coevolutionary perspective, organizational dyna mics, 12(1): 57-70. ■ koenig, t. et r. gogel 1981 interlocking corporate directorships as a social network, american journal of economics and sociology, 40(1): 37-50. ■ lansberg, s. 1983 managing human resources in family firms: the problem of institutional overlap, organizational dynamics, 12(1): 39-46. ■ leana, c. r. et h. j. van buren, 1999 organizational social capital and employment practices, academy of management review, 24(3): 538-555. ■ levering, r. et m. moskowitz 1993 the ten best companies to work for in america, business and society review, 85(1): 26-38 ■ litz, r. a. 1995 the family business: toward definitional clarity, academy of management best papers proceedings, 100-104. ■ longenecker, j., c. moore et j. schoen 1989 consumer perceptions of familyowned service industries: a study of the “family” cue in the funeral home industry, the annual meeting of the international council on small busi ness, québec, québec, canada. ■ lyman, a. r. 1991 customer service: does family ownership make a difference?, family business review, 4(3): 303-324. ■ magretta, j. 1998 governing the family-owned entreprise: an interview with finland's krister ahlström, harvard business review, 76(1): 11 3 1 2 3 . ■ maherault, l. 1999 des caractéristiques financières spécifiques aux entreprises familiales noncotées, revue du financier, 114: 59-75. ■ masson, a. et a. gotman 1991 l'un transmet, l'autre hérite..., econo mie et prévision, 100-101: 207-230. ■ maynard, p. e. et d. h. olson 1987 circumplex model of family systems: a treatment tool in family counseling, journal of counseling and develop ment, 65(9): 502-504. ■ mcconaughy, d. l., m. c. walker, g. v. henderson et c. s. mishra 1995 founding family controlled firms: efficiency and value, european financial management association meeting, l o n d o n . ■ mclanahan, s. et g. sandefur 1994 growing up with a single parent: what hurts, what helps, cambridge, ma: harvard university press. ■ mérigot, j.-g. et g. hirigoyen 1988 la transmission des pme familiales: un constat régional, revue internationale pme, 1(1): 57-76. m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 2, 2004, 13-36 34 jean-luc arrègle, rodolphe durand et philippe very ■ monsen, j. r. 1969 ownership and management: the effect of separation on performance, business horizons, 12(4): 46-52. ■ nahapiet, j. et s. ghoshal 1998 social capital, intellectual capital, and the organizational advantage, acade my of management review, 23(2): 242-266. ■ nordqvist, m. et l. melin 2001 exploring the dynamics of family firms: linking corporate governance to strategy change, 17th egos collo quium, lyon, 5-7 juillet. ■ north, d.c. 1990 institutions, institutional change and economic performance, cambridge, ma: cambridge university press. ■ olson, d. h. 1986 circumplex model vii: validation studies and faces iii, family process, 25(3): 337-351. ■ palmer, d. r. 1983 broken ties: interlocking directorates and intercorporate coordination, admi nistrative science quarterly, 28(1): 40-55. ■ parcel, t. l. et e. g. menaghan 1994 parents’ jobs and children’s lives, new york, ny: aldine de gruyter. ■ pervin, a. 1997 a conversation with henry mintzberg, family business review, 10(2): 185-198. ■ porter, m. e. 1992 capital disadvantage: america’s failing capital investment system, har vard business review, 70(5): 65-82. ■ portes, a. 1998 social capital: its origins and applications in modern sociology, annual review of sociology, 24(1): 1-24. ■ poza, e. j., t. alfred et a. maheshwari 1997 stakeholder perceptions of culture and management practices in family and family firms: a preliminary report, family business review, 10(2): 135-155. ■ prokesch, s. 1986 renewing traditional values, the new york times, june, 10: d1. ■ redding, s. g. 1995 overseas chinese networks: understanding the enigma, long range plan ning, 28(1): 61-69. ■ reidel, h. 1994 family business in germany, family business network newsletter, 9: 6. ■ renzulli, l. a., h. aldrich et j. moody 2000 family matters: gender, networks, and entrepreneurial outcomes, social forces, 79(2): 523-547. ■ resenblatt, p. c., l. demik, r. m. anderson et p. a. johnson 1985 the family in business: understanding and dealing with challenges entrepre neurial families face, san francisco, ca: josey-bass. ■ schulze, w., m. lubatkin et r. dino 2003a exploring the agency consequences of ownership dispersion among the directors of private family firms, aca demy of management journal, 46(2): 179-195. ■ schulze, w., m .lubatkin et r. dino 2003b toward a theory of agency and altruism in family firms, journal of business venturing, 18(4): 473-491. ■ schulze, w., m. lubatkin, r. dino et a. buchholtz 2001 agency relationships in family firms: theory and evidence, organization science, 12(2): 99-117. ■ sirmon, d. et m. a. hitt 2003 creating wealth in family business through managing resources, entre preneurship theory & practice, 27(4): 339-358. ■ swinth, r. l. et k. l. vinton 1993 do family-owned businesses have a strategic advantage in international joint venture?, family business review, 6(1): 19-30. ■ tagiuri r. et j. a. davis 1996 bivalent attributes of the family firm, family business review, 9(2): 199-208 ■ todd, e. 1983 la troisième planète : structures fami liales et systèmes idéologiques, paris: seuil. ■ trehan, n. 2000 usage de la société holding par des entreprises personnelles et familiales: application aux entreprises de moyenne dimension pratiquant une stratégie de croissance externe, ixème confé rence internationale de management stratégique, montpellier, 24-26 mai. ■ useem, m. 1980 corporations and the corporate elite, annual review of sociology, 6: 41-77. ■ very, p. et s. raytcheva 2001 influence of family structure on the management of family firms: an investigation of succession issues, 1 7 t h egos colloquium, lyon, 5-7 juillet. ■ wade-benzoni, k. 2002 a golden rule over time: reciprocity in intergenerational allocation decisions, academy of management jour nal, 45(5): 1011-1028. ■ ward, j. l. 1988 the special role of strategic planning for family businesses, family busi ness review, 1(2): 105-107. ■ ward, j. l. 1997 growing the family business: special challenges and best practices, family business review, 10(4): 323-337. ■ ward, j. l. et c. e. aronoff 1991 trust gives you the advantage, nation’s business, 79(8): 42-45. ■ wernerfelt, b. 1984 a resource-based view of the firm, s t r a tegic management journal, 5(2): 171-180. ■ whitley, r. 1992 european business system, firms and markets in their national contexts, london: sage. m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 2, 2004, 13-36 35 origines du capital social et avantages concurrentiels des firmes familiales ■ wortman, m. s. j. 1994 theoretical foundations for familyowned business: a conceptual and research-based paradigm, family business review, 7(1): 3-27. ■ yeung, h. w. 2000a limits to the growth of family-owned business? the case of chinese transnational corporations from hong-kong, family business review, 13(1): 55-70. ■ yeung, h. w. 2000b strategic control and coordination in chinese business firms, journal of asian business, 16(1): 95-123. ■ yeung, h. w. et t. m. soh 2000 corporate governance and the global reach of chinese family firms in singapore, seoul journal of economics, 13(3): 301. m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 2, 2004, 13-36 36 jean-luc arrègle, rodolphe durand et philippe very avantages des firmes familiales avantages stratégiques mettent l’accent sur le potentiel de croissance plutôt que sur la croissance des ventes à court terme ; moins réactif aux cycles économiques, plus constant dans l’orientation coûts de transaction inférieurs réduction des coûts d’agence membres de la famille sont plus productifs que les autres développent des alliances avec d’autres firmes familiales réputation de la famille et les relations avec les partenaires externes sont plus fortes et régies par des valeurs portent plus d’attention au développement de la marque meilleure réputation et crédibilité pratiques de travail plus flexibles meilleure attention à la r&d avantages financiers meilleur management de la structure du capital et allocation des ressources capital “patient”, investissements dans des opportunités avec des rentabilités à long terme sans contraintes à court terme coût du capital plus faible plus indépendantes financièrement plus performantes économiquement utilisent plus les contrôles informels, coûts de contrôle et monitoring inférieurs les concurrents ont peu d’information sur l’état financier de l’entreprise avantages de ressources humaines coûts de recrutement et des rh inférieurs meilleures pratiques managériales confiance, motivation et loyauté supérieures développement du leadership empowerment partage de valeurs au travers de plusieurs cultures ; surmontent les barrières culturelles plus efficacement mettent l’accent sur les valeurs personnelles et de la famille plutôt que sur les valeurs d’entreprise. reconnues pour leur intégrité et engagement dans les relat i o n s avantages organisationnels meilleure créativité plus réactives aux changements de l’environnement la prise de décision peut être centralisée, augmentant l’efficacité et l’efficience annexe 1 : principaux avantages des entreprises familiales* auteurs hirigoyen, 1982, 1984 ; donckels et frohlich, 1991 ; daily et dollinger, 1992; daily et thomson, 1994 ; harvey, 1999 aronoff et ward, 1995 aronoff et ward, 1995; mcconaughy et al., 1995 resenblatt et al., 1985 ; levering et moscowitz, 1993 ward, 1997 lyman, 1991 dreux, 1990 ; porter, 1992 ; allouche et amann, 1995 ward et aronoff, 1991 ; tagiuri et davis, 1996 goffee et scase, 1985. poza et al., 1997 ward, 1997 monsen, 1969 ; dyer, 1986 ; astrachan, 1988 dreux, 1990 ; de visscher et al., 1995 aronoff et ward, 1995 maherault, 1998 ; trehan, 2000 charreaux, 1991 daily et dollinger, 1992 johnson, 1990 ; gallo et vilaseca, 1996 levering et moscowitz, 1993 prokesch, 1986 ward, 1988 ; tagiuri et davis, 1996 fiegener, brown, prince et file, 1994 handler, 1989, 1992 swinth et vinton, 1993 lyman, 1991 pervin, 1997 dreux, 1990 goffee et scase, 1985 ; tagiuri et davis, 1996 ; ward, 1997 * tableau fondé sur le recensement de habbershon et williams (1999) et complété par les auteurs. a note on the evolution of the french management scholarship, 1994-2014 vincent mangematin grenoble ecole de management vincent.mangematin@grenoble-em.com mustapha belkhouja grenoble ecole de management mustapha.belkhouja@grenoble-em.com from the editors a note on the evolution of the french management scholarship, 1994-2014 vincent mangematin � mustapha belkhouja abstract. this editorial note1 pictures the evolution of french management scholarship, 10 years after the takeoff of research at the international level. it analyses the decoupling between the consolidation of the industry with the french research in management which is still emerging. it suggests that institutionalized patterns have been imported from international bodies. to explore this evolution, we analyze the international image of french scholarship as it is revealed on the web of science. we discuss the relative evolution of business schools and university departments in research and their relative performances in terms of scientific production (number of articles) and visibility (number of citations). finally, we consider the effects of on-going strategies and the sustainability of imitation during the industry’s consolidation phase. we show how strategic convergence and imitation lead to red queen effects and prevent organizations from achieving and sustaining strategic differentiation in the medium term. the coexistence of private business schools (usually linked to chambers of commerce) and management departments (business schools) within universities is a specific characteristic of the french context. historically, research was performed in universities, while business schools had a more professional and practice orientation. this has changed dramatically over the last 20 years, with the generalization of business school research and the greater international openness of universities. business schools and universities have been rapidly transforming to address international audiences and markets. ten years ago, the french research in management was dominated by universities while few business schools were emerging (e.g., hec, essec and em lyon). what is the current situation in 2015 for the french context and what can we learn from ten years evolution? ! this note analyses the simultaneous process of consolidation of the french higher education management organizations (business schools and universities) through merger and acquisition and the processes of research capability creation. the transformation of business higher education organizations has been quicker than the transformation of management scholarship. ! we first present the evolution of the french business higher education industry. when we are speaking about organizations (business schools or universities), we use the term ‘industry’ to refer to the sector as a whole. when we describe the evolution of research, we use the term ‘field’ to refer to one of the specific activities of business higher education organizations: the creation of new knowledge. we then explore the competition on markets for business higher m@n@gement 2015, vol. 18(3): 194-204 194 1. this is an editorial note which has been reviewed by the editors and which does not follow the “normal” double blind review process. mailto:vincent.mangematin@grenoble-em.com?subject= mailto:vincent.mangematin@grenoble-em.com?subject= mailto:vincent.mangematin@grenoble-em.com?subject= mailto:vincent.mangematin@grenoble-em.com?subject= mailto:mustapha.belkhouja@grenoble-em.com?subject= mailto:mustapha.belkhouja@grenoble-em.com?subject= education in what is becoming a highly institutionalized industry, focusing on the evolution of business school rankings over the past couple of decades. we also reflect on the evolution of french business scholarship and on the on-going concentration of the sector’s strategies, and question their effects and the sustainability of imitation during the consolidation phase of the industry. we show how strategic convergence and imitation lead to ‘red queen’ effects. strategic convergence prevents organizations from achieving strategic differentiation, a situation which is not sustainable in the medium run. two processes decoupled ! the development paths of business education parallel the classic models of industry development. industry life cycle theories display successive well defined phases of industry development, each related to its specific development stage initial, rapid growth or consolidation. the initial phase is characterized by a few organizations either entering an existing industry or constituting an entirely new industry which define the norms and set the product standards here the creation of new business schools, with the norms being those of knowledge production. these new business schools are based on distinctive pedagogical or research skills, and are also linked with emerging markets in europe and in developing countries. norms emerged, both for business schools and the business and management scientific community at large. journals were created and the community emerged with strong professionalization. after the gordon report, case based teaching and research seem to have been the pillars of the new industry and emerged as its dominant design (anderson & tushman, 1990). accreditation bodies such aacsb, equis, amba were set up and participate in the diffusion of a standardized model, which took place by mimetism rather than by conformity to accreditation criteria. in the usa, this emerging period ended in the 2000s, when international competition became more intense (mangematin & baden-fuller, 2007). during the same period in france, only hec, essec, em lyon and university of toulouse (mostly the micro-economic and finance departments) had international publication track records. ! as industries mature, dominant global standards start to be adapted locally: similar processes took place in both academic research and the organization of business schools. accreditations led to the standardization of the process of producing qualified students and certified new knowledge while rankings order the business schools that compete nationally and internationally. the consolidation of the business higher education industry around a dominant design implies the growth of business schools, as well as the mergers or internationalization of some of them. typically, industry consolidation phases are characterized by industry shake-outs (klepper, 1997) and an increase in firms’ mean sizes (afuah & utterback, 1997; agarwal & tripsas, 2008), which also suggests that innovation in pedagogy or in research require more resources: firms internalize resources that are initially created externally, and concentrate on the most promising research avenues. at the industry level, we might speculate that the changing nature of competition leads to different development patterns. french business higher education entered a shake-out phase in late 2000, about ten years after the usa, uk and northern europe. ! the industry has changed a lot over the last 10 years, with an international homogenization of training curriculum (lmd), mergers of business schools (neoma, kedge), failure of some of them (such as esc chambery bought out by inseec) and the restructuring of universities (see table 1 and table 2 for further information). m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 194-204! vincent mangematin & mustapha belkhouja 195 table 1. m&a in french business school year new name m&a organization 2009 skema business school esc lille, ceram business school 2012 france business school (fbs) esc amiens, esc brest, esc clermont, escem tours-poitiers, escg orléans – escem 2012 inseec alpes savoie esc chambéry bought out by inseec 2012 em lyon esc saint etienne bought out by em lyon 2013 kedge business school bordeaux ecole de management (bem), euromed 2013 neoma business school rouen business school, reims business school table 2. concentration of french universities 2014 university concentrations univ lorraine univ nancy 1, nancy 2, univ metz and ecole des mines univ aix marseille univ aix marseille 1, 2, 3; lest; iae; cereq ; cnrs paristech ensmp, csi, cgs etc.; enst; ensae; crest; ceras univ lille univ lille 1, 2, 3 univ grenoble univ grenoble stendhal, pierre mendes france, inp, cerag, gael, iep; iepe; iut univ strasbourg univ strasbourg 1, 2, 3 ; cnrs beta univ nice gredeg; latapses; univ nice; cnrs agroparistech inapg, inra grignon univ paris sud paris evry, paris 11; paris orsay univ paris nord univ paris; cnrs; univ paris est univ marne la vallee; latts; irg upec; univ paris ouest univ nanterre; economix; ecole polytech crg, crea; cmap univ toulouse univ toulouse 1, 2, 3; lerna; inra lerna; idei both industry life cycle and entrepreneurship theories predict the increasing specialization of firms during the consolidation stage. boone et al (2013) argue that, up to a certain threshold of homogeneity, new entrants opting for differentiation strategies will enhance their life chances. santos et al. (santos & eisenhardt, 2009) analyzes new entrants’ strategies to distinguish themselves from the crowd and to challenge existing performance criteria. in contrast, neoinstititutionalist scholars have argued that highly institutionalized fields favor institutional entrepreneurship on the part of incumbents (greenwood & suddaby, 2006), as maintaining position or status requires long term investment. ! how do business schools and universities react during the industry consolidation phase, under high isomorphic pressures? how do french higher education organizations combine emergence and consolidation simultaneously? research is one component of the industry, and we focus on this field as it represents a major investment for all business higher education organizations, from the editors! m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 194-204 196 which has been a limiting factor over recent decades. in 2004, french business research was dominated by the universities, but was very fragmented. business schools research visibility was limited to essec, hec and em lyon, each of which contributed more than 50 papers annually to international business journals. by 2014, the field still remained polarized, with the coexistence of business schools and universities. this paper analyses the evolution of french business scholarship between 2004 and 2013. it discusses the lower maturity of the business research field and the consolidation dynamics of the industry. data and methods ! to explore the evolution of french business research, we focus both on publications and citations. the total number of papers published and the number of citations result from the long term strategies of actors in the business higher education field. while the number of articles published in different journals measures production, citations represent evidence of visibility, as authors draw from the extant stock of knowledge of the cited sub-discipline. assessing research based on citations resembles a ‘democratic’ vote of the scientific community as evidenced by their propensity to recognize formally and openly the importance of other researchers’ work. ! we adopted an organizational approach. indeed, citations recognize scientists’ contributions, and so represent individual academic achievements. however, aggregated at the organizational level, they reveal scholars’ visibility within their individual organizations and academic networks, and the academic status of the organization. ! data were collected from the web of science database in dec 2014 covering publications from 1994 to 2013. the database contains detailed information about articles published in peer-review academic journals, including author names, article title, year of publication, journal name, and of particular interest to us full reference lists. the database contains about 364 of the most prestigious business journals, covering all relevant research areas in management, business, and business and finance. the web of science does not include management journals published in french. the data covers the period 1994-2013, as the web of science only started collecting data on social science papers in 1990. ! first, we counted the number of publications in each year, which represents the production output of each organization in that year. we obtain this number by counting all the articles published by authors from the same organization in a given year. second, we identified the total number of citations that each article had received up to december 2014, which reflects its accumulated visibility up to that point. the total number of citations received by each organization is the sum of the citations received by each article that has an author from that organization. it is relevant to consider the total number of citations: as the citation half-life i.e. the median age of the articles that are cited in the journal of citation reports (jcr) for the year in management (and more generally in social sciences) is high, papers need time to be cited and anteriority in the field counts. finally, we mapped out the co-authorship profile of each organization to better understand the scientific knowledge production space. ! we use the perimeter in 2014 to describe the landscape, and we use the 2014 names instead of the 2004 ones (see tables 1 & 2). m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 194-204! vincent mangematin & mustapha belkhouja 197 results france remains marginal ! the study of management has been us centric (mangematin and badenfuller, 2007) over the last four decades. reasons have been advanced for us dominance, including supply conditions and the proximity to research sites (companies) where new ideas are being tested (baden-fuller & hwee ang, 2001). in recent years, this us centricity has been contested, first by european business schools and more recently from asia; and these challenges have resulted in some subtle changes in the rules of the game and attempts by us players to hold on to their dominance. ! however, france remains marginal. europe is dominated by the uk, the netherlands and germany. the uk has been booming and outperforming continental europe for the last 15 years. as a very open country with nine universities, the netherlands was slightly ahead of the others until 2005, when german publication numbers rose to keep pace with dutch, and then took off in 2010. figure 1. evolution of european production numbers ! the evolution of the number of citations by country follows the same path, with three leading countries, uk, the netherlands and germany and a group of followers including france, italy and spain, the last two of which have recently caught up. more articles published by universities, better visibility of business schools ! after homogenization of organization names and reprocessing, our dataset includes more than 370 different organizations, 160 of them are public sector research organizations (psros 89 universities or ecoles normales supérieures and other public sector research organizations, including engineering schools); 41 business schools and more than 170 other organizations such as companies, banks or international organizations (like the oecd) located in france. as table 3 shows, the production multiplied almost by 10 between our two extreme periods of 1994-1998 and 2009-2013. however, due to fragmentation, the averaged numbers of publication per organization show that business schools are actually publishing more, per organization, leading to higher visibility. from the editors! m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 194-204 198 table 3. evolution of the number of articles per organization type 1994-1998 1999-2003 2004-2008 2009-2013 total multiplied by … between 1994-1988 and 2009-2013 business schools (n=41)business schools (n=41)business schools (n=41)business schools (n=41)business schools (n=41)business schools (n=41)business schools (n=41) number of articles published 136 296 440 1249 2121 9.2 number of citations received 6997 17549 11490 7397 43433 6.2 universities (n=160)universities (n=160)universities (n=160)universities (n=160)universities (n=160)universities (n=160)universities (n=160) number of articles published 164 327 645 1637 2773 16.9 number of citations received 6725 9948 9288 5599 31560 4.7 other organizations (n=159)other organizations (n=159)other organizations (n=159)other organizations (n=159)other organizations (n=159)other organizations (n=159)other organizations (n=159) number of articles published 28 54 79 227 388 13.8 number of citations received 470 2511 1055 603 4639 9.9 total organizations (n=360)total organizations (n=360)total organizations (n=360)total organizations (n=360)total organizations (n=360)total organizations (n=360)total organizations (n=360) number of articles published 328 677 1164 3113 5282 16.1 number of citations received 14192 30008 21833 13599 79632 5.6 ! regarding citations, table 3 reveals that the scientific production of authors from business schools seems to be much more influential. although universities have published more during the last twelve years, business schools were more cited when comparing both numbers and the average numbers of citations. this table shows that papers published by business schools receive on average more citations than papers published by universities (20.47 citation per paper on average vs. 13.88 respectively). in addition, it reveals that together, the 41 business schools have received a total of 43,433 citations (i.e., around 1059 citation per business school on average), whereas the 160 universities have received in total 31,560 citations (i.e., 197 citations on average per university). so, table 3 suggests that business schools, which combine a higher average number of citations per organization and higher number of citations per article, are more visible internationally than universities and psros. ! table 3 also shows that number of citations per period tend to decrease over time as the more recent papers have less time to be cited. this is a mechanical effect. as the citation half-life is up to 7 years for 90% of the journals, and up to 10 for 1/3 of the journals, history counts. citation patterns are highly persistent the zoom on individual organizations table 4 shows the significant presence of business schools and their take-off after 2004 in terms of production. to describe the latest evolution, we rank organization by their number of articles published during the last period (2009-2013). compared to a similar previous analysis (mangematin, 2004), while insead remains an outlier, the general landscape of management research in france changes dramatically. first, if we exclude insead which is highly specific, universities within the top 15 were producing the double than the business schools in the top 15 during the 1994-1998 period while they produce less in the 2009-2013 period. business schools have been consistently investing in academic research: each of the schools in the top 15 has internationalized and implemented similar research policies. m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 194-204! vincent mangematin & mustapha belkhouja 199 table 4. the top 15 producing organizations by number of articles published during the 2009-2013 period type 1994-1998 1999-2003 2004-2008 2009-2013 total (rank) insead bs 87 178 174 195 634 (1) paristech (incl. hec and polytech) pole 28 44 105 292 469 (2) hec bs 14 23 59 171 267 (3) univ toulouse (incl. idei) univ 21 39 60 126 246 (4) edhec bs 0 5 21 97 123 (11) kedge bs 1 3 19 95 118 (13) em lyon bs 8 25 39 92 164 (6) univ paris 09 univ 13 16 39 90 158 (7) univ lille univ 3 6 17 85 111 (14) essec bs 16 33 40 81 170 (5) univ paris 01 univ 13 17 32 80 142 (8) paristech (excl. hec and polytech) univ 12 16 31 74 133 (9) grenoble em bs 4 7 21 73 105 (15) univ aix marseille univ 11 13 32 73 129 (10) neoma bs 1 3 3 72 79 (16) univ paris est univ 8 8 33 72 121 (12) ! second, hec demonstrates an outstanding growth and has consolidated its leadership in knowledge production, which really took off after 2005. if we include hec and polytechnique within paristech, it becomes a booming organization2. hec, univ toulouse and insead have been consistently in the first three since 2004, and have increased their lead over their direct followers in the most recent years. ! insead receives almost twice more citations than the 8 other business schools listed in table 3 during the last 20 years (26,140 and 15,348 citations in total respectively), even if there is a catch up during the last period. when we look at the total number of publications over the four periods, hec comes second after insead, with about 4,500 citations (and growth has been rapid). then, there isa a group of three challengers em lyon, essec and univ toulouse – which each have around 3,000 citations. the next group is made mostly of universities (univ paris 9, univ paris 01, polytechnique and univ lille); numbers have been high (more than 1,000 citations in total for each organization) but their evolution moderate. finally there is a group of emerging business schools (neoma, kedge, edhec and grenoble em), which have published less than 900 papers in total since 1994. table 5 suggests that paristech as a pole may benefit from hec visibility if the brands are clearly associated. for citations, anteriority plays an important role; organizations involved in scientific production earlier have had longer to gain high numbers of citations than more recent ones. from the editors! m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 194-204 200 2. however, as hec and ecole polytechnique are the two most famous brands in france for higher education, we choose to keep then separate. table 5. the first 15 organizations in citation (ranked by the last period) number of citations type 1994-1998 1999-2003 2004-2008 2009-2013 total (rank) insead bs 5026 13150 6243 1721 26140 (1) paristech (incl. hec and polytech) pole 2026 1924 2108 1987 8045 (2) hec bs 803 1028 1434 1327 4592 (3) escp europe bs 0 200 400 855 1455 (11) em lyon bs 424 1037 906 662 3029 (6) univ toulouse (incl. idei) univ 964 1219 993 516 3692 (4) paristech (excl. hec and polytech) univ 402 323 523 498 1746 (9) essec bs 584 1420 716 477 3197 (5) neoma bs 27 118 49 404 598 (16) edhec bs 0 119 309 374 802 (15) kedge bs 44 60 406 344 854 (14) grenoble em bs 59 105 429 278 871 (13) univ lille univ 617 69 328 274 1288 (12) univ paris 09 univ 178 548 560 260 1546 (10) univ paris est univ 743 257 605 249 1854 (8) ecole polytech univ 848 573 311 236 1968 (7) emerging research field ! as our previous analysis suggests, universities are growing less rapidly than business schools both in terms of publications and citations. it seems that these two groups of organizations have been following different trajectories. table  4 complements this analysis by presenting the ranking movements of french organizations in terms of production and citations. we have split the top 15 ranking into 3 classes, and counted for each the number of movements that could be inter-class changes, entries or exits. the organizations that increased their inter-class ranking are in green, and those that decreased are in red. this table yields two main findings. 1the usual suspects continue to dominate the field, for the last 20 years: univ. toulouse, hec, insead have consistently been in the top 5. 2there is high instability of the players. the french business higher education industry has seen maturing as revealed by entry/exit. for instance, the last period witnesses the entry of kedge and edhec both of which resulted from mergers of business schools into the top 5. kedge’s achievements, as well as those of neoma, result not only from the merger but also from endogenous growth based on its research investments. their mergers seem to have been an opportunity to strengthen their international orientation. edhec has an outstanding growth based on specialisation in finance. m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 194-204! vincent mangematin & mustapha belkhouja 201 table 6. evolution of french organizations in terms of production 1994-1998 1999-2003 2004-2008 2009-2013 1 insead insead insead insead 2 univ toulouse univ toulouse univ toulouse hec 3 essec essec hec univ toulouse 4 hec em lyon essec edhec 5 univ paris 09 hec em lyon kedge 6 univ paris 01 univ grenoble univ paris 09 em lyon 7 paristech univ paris 01 univ paris est univ paris 09 8 univ aix marseille univ paris 09 univ paris 01 univ lille 9 em lyon paristech univ aix marseille essec 10 univ paris est univ strasbourg paristech univ paris 01 11 univ grenoble univ lyon univ strasbourg paristech 12 univ paris nord univ aix marseille univ nice univ aix marseille 13 univ nice univ paris 06 ecole polytech grenoble em 14 univ paris 06 univ franche comte univ grenoble univ paris est 15 agroparistech univ paris est grenoble em neoma number of movementsnumber of movements 10 7 8 grey: organizations which are moving up from one group (of five) to the upper group compare to the previous period black: organizations which are moving down from one group (of five) to the lower group compare to the previous period grey: organizations which are moving up from one group (of five) to the upper group compare to the previous period black: organizations which are moving down from one group (of five) to the lower group compare to the previous period grey: organizations which are moving up from one group (of five) to the upper group compare to the previous period black: organizations which are moving down from one group (of five) to the lower group compare to the previous period grey: organizations which are moving up from one group (of five) to the upper group compare to the previous period black: organizations which are moving down from one group (of five) to the lower group compare to the previous period grey: organizations which are moving up from one group (of five) to the upper group compare to the previous period black: organizations which are moving down from one group (of five) to the lower group compare to the previous period ! to conclude, our analysis shows that the industry of higher education is highly contestable and unstable, despite the isomorphic pressures involved. rankings, accreditations, national evaluation systems have contributed to setting up the industry’s organization. however, research strategies have been implemented in different ways. french organizations produce a small numbers of papers, and the success of their research strategies makes major differences in terms of production and citations. furthermore, if analyzed in terms of industry life cycle, the research field is maturing but not yet mature. it is mainly due to the expansion of the market, which allows entry to newcomers. for the industry of business higher education, the shake-out process started recently, with mergers and acquisitions as well as failures. what do we learn? unsustainable red queen effect ! the business higher education industry is still expanding and the number of players is growing. research has been booming over the last 10 years, especially. the number of publications and the subsequent number of citations is expanding rapidly. competitors are all running pretty fast – so every actor has to run faster and faster to stay in the race. ! van valen, (1973) has used the term red queen effect (rqe) to describe the on-going adaptation of living organisms to a changing environment (see, delacour & liarte, 2012 for a review) . he crafted this notion by analogy with from the editors! m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 194-204 202 3. http://poetsandquants.com/2014/07/16/thes h o c k i n g l y h i g h c o s t o f a n a c a d e m i c article-400k/ http://poetsandquants.com/2014/07/16/the-shockingly-high-cost-of-an-academic-article-400k/ http://poetsandquants.com/2014/07/16/the-shockingly-high-cost-of-an-academic-article-400k/ http://poetsandquants.com/2014/07/16/the-shockingly-high-cost-of-an-academic-article-400k/ http://poetsandquants.com/2014/07/16/the-shockingly-high-cost-of-an-academic-article-400k/ http://poetsandquants.com/2014/07/16/the-shockingly-high-cost-of-an-academic-article-400k/ http://poetsandquants.com/2014/07/16/the-shockingly-high-cost-of-an-academic-article-400k/ lewis carroll’s novel (through the looking glass) in which the red queen explains to alice, “here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. if you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!”. lampel and shamsie (2005) explain that “the red queen competition describes competitive rivalry in which firms must increase their investment in order to maintain their existing market position while at the same time failing to earn returns that are commensurate with higher investments”. ! rqe perspective sheds new light on business schools’ differentiation and imitation strategies. french business schools and university management departments have been following differentiation and imitation strategies simultaneously: differentiation as they partner with a large variety of other actors, or specialize in different sub-disciplines such as finance at univ. toulouse or edhec: imitation, as they all invest in the production of academic research, focusing on international journals so as to conform to accreditation criteria and rankings. as the target is constantly moving, and because the investment required to compete is constantly growing3, most resources are dedicated to imitate the leading organizations. ! it seems that the red queen effect is one of the consequences of the simultaneous co-existence of the entry into the maturation phase of the industry life cycle and of the emergence of the research field. however, rqe situations are not sustainable: speculative bubbles form and crises may speed up industry consolidation. to maintain the distance between themselves and their followers, leaders may push for alternative, more conservative indicators such as citations to assess research. depending on how the criteria are implemented, the effects on competition may differ. the evolution of criteria of evaluation and ranking from publication to citation may deeply influence further strategies: citations are far less actionable indicators than publications. you can increase the level of publications by increasing investment, but it is more difficult to get to be a part of networks of scholars who know, appreciate and discuss your work. a move toward impact? ! research has represented a major investment for business schools and universities over the last two decades. articles are produced, but the on-going questions concern the extent to which contributions and results impact the business world, education and future research. ! the uk’s research impact assessment opens avenues to document the extent to which research is impactful for businesses, and equis and aacsb are amending their assessment apparatus to evaluate the impact of research on education more effectively. ! the ranking based on citations is more stable than ones based on publication for leading american business schools which have been accumulating greater numbers of citations (more than 10,000) compared to less than 5,000 for hec in france. the number of citations maintains the hierarchy of business schools and increases the gaps between them. with greater concern about impact, the move from production to impact is becoming clearer and clearer. governments, public authorities and companies are more willing to invest in impactful research rather than research article production, even if the two may be highly connected (but not always). ! finally, with mergers and acquisitions in the industry, one of the open questions remains the brand. how can you keep your brand in the case of such changes? to what extent are brand names transferable? what happens about mergers or grouping if each organization is set on keeping its brand? m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 194-204! vincent mangematin & mustapha belkhouja 203 references afuah a. & utterback j. m. (1997). responding to structural industry changes: a technological evolution perspective. industrial and corporate change, 6(1): 183-202. agarwal r. & tripsas m. 2008. technology and industry evolution. in s. shane (ed.), handbook of technology and innovation management. new york, ny: john wilez & sons. anderson p. & tushman m.l. (1990). technological discontinuities and dominant designs: a cyclical models of technological change. administrative science quarterly, 35(4): 604-633. baden-fuller c. & hwee ang s. (2001). building reputations: the role of alliance in the european business school scene. long range planning, 34(6), 741-755. delacour h. & liarte s. (2012). le red queen effect: principle, synthesis and implication for strategy. m@n@gement, 15(3): 70-88. greenwood r. & suddaby r. (2006). institutional entrepreneurship in mature fields: the big five accounting firms. academy of management journal, 49(1): 27-48. klepper s. (1997). industry life cycles. industrial and corporate change, 6(1): 145-181. lampel j., & shamsie j. (2005). escalating investments and declining returns: red queen competition in the motion picture industry. working paper. mangematin, v. (2004). l'influence internationale de la recherche en gestion produite en france : une analyse à partir des publications dans les revues du ssci : 1991-2002. working paper. mangematin v. & baden-fuller c. (2007). global contests in the production of business knowledge: regional centres and individual business schools. long range planning, 41(1): 117-139. santos f.m. & eisenhardt k.m. (2009). constructing markets and shaping boundaries: entrepreneurial power in nascent fields. academy of management journal, 52(4): 643-671. van valen l. (1973). a new evolutionary law. evolutionary theory, 1(1): v. © the author(s) www.management-aims.com from the editors! m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 194-204 204 175hallin paperback: 334 pages publisher: copenhagen business school press (2013) language: english isbn: 978-8763002509 1. retrieved 2014-05-36 unplugged book reviews special forum: about doing research hervé corvellec (2013), what is theory? answers from the social and cultural sciences, copenhagen: copenhagen business school press. reviewed by anette hallin mälardalen university, västerås, sweden anette.hallin@mdh.se the unplugged section edits some book reviews special forums dedicated to a topic, an author or a theoretical perspective. this first forum considers three very stimulating and rejuvenating volumes for academics in organization and management studies about research methods. they offer some new insights about problematizing, theorizing and academic writing which may contribute to regain scientific imagination. what is theory? and who needs to know? ! let me begin by saying that if you are looking for a straightforward answer to what theory is, what is theory? answers from the social and cultural sciences is not the book for you. for a simple answer to that question, the knowledge seeker should turn to other sources. wikipedia, for example, often criticized for being unscientific, provides a basic definition: “a group of ideas meant to explain a certain topic, such as a single or collection of fact(s), event(s), or phenomen(a) (on)”1 . with such an answer only a click away, it comes as no surprise that the question in the title of what is theory? answers from the social and cultural sciences merely serves the rhetorical function of initiating a discussion regarding the history and use of theory in the social and cultural sciences rather than providing a clear-cut definition. ! in his introduction to the book, the editor, professor of business administration hervé corvellec, provides a personal account of what inspired him to edit a book about theory in the social and cultural sciences. a junior colleague was attributing the weaknesses of bachelor’s theses to “a presumed authorial lack of understanding of what theory is about” (p. 9). having heard the argument before, corvellec nodded but kept to himself that he was not at all sure that there is a definite answer to the question of what theory is: m@n@gement 2014, vol. 17(5): 410-416 410 i went home dogged by a double feeling of cowardice and negligence, at not having admitted my ignorance and at not helping my students to better answer a question that is obviously so central to their studies. (ibid) ! this personal narrative is a very interesting opening to the book, which could be interpreted as the editor’s personal quest to investigate a question that arose in his mind through a conversation with his junior colleague, and one in which we, the readers, are invited to participate by contemplating the various contributions in the book. it also creates expectations regarding a possible answer as to how to deal with the pedagogical problem of explaining “theory” to undergraduate students, however. the structure of the book ! what is theory? answers from the social and cultural sciences consists of 18 chapters, of which 16 are linked in pairs, written by one senior and one junior researcher from different areas of social science. the fields represented include the history of ideas, the theory of science, science and technology studies, management and organization theory, sociology, ethnology, economics, political science, and human geography. this results in eight pairs of chapters (chapters 2-17), plus an introductory chapter written by corvellec (chapter 1) and a postface chapter written by professor of rhetoric mats rosengren (chapter 18). the even chapters, written by senior researchers in the different fields, are followed by odd chapters written by junior researchers, who were asked by the editor to comment upon the text produced by their older peers. the editor explains in chapter 1 that “senior” in this context means that the author was born prior to 1961, which was the random year chosen by the editor as the dividing line between “senior” and “junior.” ! the first three pairs of chapters after the introduction (chapters 2-7) provide a general discussion regarding the history of the concept of theory, the relationship between the philosophy of science and theory of science, and the role of theory users (sic) in theory development. in chapter 2, for example, sveneric liedman sketches the history of the concept of theory, demonstrating how the ancient greek view of theory as a form of contemplation has influenced both modern and postmodern views of theory, and in chapter 4, margareta hallberg discusses how the emergence of theory differs in the philosophy of science and the theory of science. ! the use of theory in the various fields of social science is most often discussed by the junior authors. edda magna, for example, elaborates in chapter 3 on the status of theory in the discipline of the history of theory as a response to sven-eric liedman, and tommy jensen argues in his chapter (7) for a theory that takes the pragmatist’s perspective seriously, thereby partly criticizing barbara czarniawska’s claim in the previous chapter that theorizing is carried out to construct a plot. ! the next five pairs of chapters (8-17) focus on the status of theory in the disciplines of each author. depending on how one reads the chapters, however, this division is not entirely clear; it seems as if the authors are depicting the history of theory or the emergence of theory in the specific field that they represent, or discussing the use of theory in their field or in social science in general. ! in chapter 10, (senior) ethnologists billy ehn and orvar löfgren provide a personal account of why, when, and how theory came to infuse the field of ethnology, and in chapter 12, (senior) economist lars pålsson syll not only provides “a critical realist perspective” on theory in the field of economics but also engages in a discussion on the shortcomings of current neoclassical economic theory and the failures of mainstream (macro-) economics. in the following m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 410-416! book reviews special forum: about doing research 411 chapter (13), (junior) economist fredrik hansen nuances the discussion, and together, the two chapters provide a welcome and interesting contribution to the debate in the public media on the shortcomings of economic models. ! in chapter 14, (senior) political scientist morten ougaard describes the status of political theory versus theory in political science and later, in chapter 17, (junior) cultural geographer louise fabian delineates “the spatial turn” in the humanities and social sciences. read as a whole, the book highlights a number of various traditions and views on the concept of theory, as well as of specific theories that have been influential in the various disciplines. the book ends with a reflection provided by mats rosengren, who traces the word “theory” back to its linguistic roots, highlighting the multilayered nature of the concept and remarking that it comes as no surprise that the book displays a bricolage of ideas and interpretations of the concept. merits of dialogicity ! it is easy to share rosengren’s view. what is theory? answers from the social and cultural sciences is a rich book, and hence rather a difficult work to review. to provide a simple answer to the simple but frequently asked question “is this a good book?” is just impossible. the volume is far too complex and slippery. ! the multitude of perspectives is certainly a strength. by inviting junior scholars to engage in dialogue with senior colleagues, the richness of the theory of social and cultural science and the complexity of the question posed in the book’s title are highlighted and deepened. the pålsson syll-hansen debate, as well as the czarniawska-jensen dialogue – to mention only two – may be understood as decentralizing and dis-unifying forces, whereas the attempts from (mostly senior) researchers to sketch the history of theory in their fields may be seen as attempts to unify and centralize the concept. the chapters thus constitute a dialogue in which centrifugal as well as centripetal utterances together create a heteroglossia (cf bakhtin, 1934-35/1981) of a kind that proves corvellec’s point: there is no definite answer to the question “what is theory?”. the breadth of disciplines represented by the contributors also makes the book rich and relevant to researchers interested in various fields of theory in social and cultural science in general, as well as in the specific sub-disciplines, since reading about how theory is viewed by scholars in other fields also sheds light on one’s own assumptions. ! particularly interesting is the pair of chapters written by ethnologists billy ehn, orvar löfgren and fredrik schoug. in their chapter (10: “theory – a personal matter”), ehn and löfgren write the history of a field (ethnology) that for some time was “theory-less.” ehn and löfgren describe how theory emerged as a need among researchers to further the understanding of the research paradigm they were active in. by drawing on their own (empirical) practices as ethnologists they argue that theory is closely related to scientific practice, and hence very personal. bringing up the difficulties involved in understanding this as a researcher, the chapter thus nicely illustrates how theory is part of the “glasses” one wears when doing research. ! in response to ehn and löfgrens’ claim that theory is personal, fredrik schoug’s chapter (11: “theory – a professional matter”) brings the student back into the narrative, arguing that theory is and should be important in undergraduate and graduate education, since understanding and working with theories develops a person’s intellectual ability, which is important regardless of the kind of post-ba or -ma degree one pursues. together, this pair of chapters touches upon the question implicitly mooted in corvellec’s introductory chapter of how and why theory should be dealt with as part of an undergraduate education. book reviews special forum: about doing research! m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 410-416 412 another well-written chapter is elena esposito’s contribution (chapter 8) on theory in sociology and sociological theories, which contains an interesting reflection on how sociology seems to have become “the natural reference of all reflections on the meanings and forms of theory” (p. 130). this is certainly true for large parts of organization and management research. esposito rhetorically asks what role theory can have today, after the “discovery of circularity,” i.e. the idea that the world depends on the observer. if theory is the very foundation on the basis of which research is carried out, is it at all possible to move out of this or are we blind to – and thereby trapped by – the theoretical concepts that we use also when doing empirical studies? the chapter surely sketches a very different position of theory in sociology compared to the position of theory in ethnology as described by ehn and löfgren. the arbitrariness of “senior” and “junior” ! even though what is theory? answers from the social and cultural sciences will (and should) turn up on several reading lists, the book does have its limitations. there are linguistic errors that should have been found and corrected. the layout of the cover is misplaced, depicting a bird which appears to be uttering the subtitle of the book to a giraffe.this is more reminiscent of children’s literature than of a serious discussion on theory. ! besides such matters, however, the division of authors into “senior” and “junior” is somewhat strange. to establish the authors’ age (whether they were born before or after 1961) as an arbitrary line of demarcation between “junior” and “senior” is, as corvellec also confesses, rather arbitrary, especially since age does not necessarily indicate that an author is more or less senior or junior in a scientific field; this has more to do with how long one has been active as researcher. this arbitrary decision builds on the assumption that the researcher has followed a straight path from secondary school to university and on to phd, postgraduate research and so on, an assumption that does not necessarily correspond to reality. this may seem trivial, but could in fact matter, since time outside of academia could affect a researcher’s view on theory as well as on the relationship between theory and “reality.” missing: reflection on performativity and the craft of theorizing ! somewhat more surprising is the lack of reflection in the book on the performative aspect of the book itself and on the craft of theorizing, i.e. the link between theory and methodology. ! there have been many attempts at defining what theory is, as well as what theory is not. some of the more widely cited pieces within the field of organization and management studies include articles by whetten (1989) and sutton and staw (1995). corvellec argues that it is “simply dangerous” to formulate a definite answer to the question of what theory is, since it “expresses a dogmatic stance that entails the risk of leading academia into a form of collegial or political control” (p. 15). this is a perfectly acceptable stance; many scholars within the social and cultural sciences today would agree with corvellec. ! however, through the (at least in parts) authoritative discourse in which many authors in the book engage, this volume does in fact work in the very same manner that corvellec deems risky. the reason being, of course, that a book like what is theory? has a performative impact, leading theory to be defined regardless of the editor’s good intentions. ! the performativity of theory is, in fact, a perspective that is strangely missing from the book. even though it is mentioned by several authors, for example by (junior) sociologist tereza stöckelová and (junior) economist fredrik m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 410-416! book reviews special forum: about doing research 413 hansen, both of whom refer to the performative aspect of knowledge as developed in the traditions of science and technology studies (in sociology) and social studies of finance (in economics) (see, for example, callon, 1998; law, 2004; mackenzie, muniesa, & siu, 2008), theory in its performative aspect is mentioned only briefly at the end of those contributors’ respective chapters (5/13). this is a pity, since not only is the performativity of theory a perspective that could serve as a good (theoretical) answer to the question as to why theory may not be defined, but it also helps underscore the moral obligations of the researcher when theorizing. this is because from a performative perspective theory is not only a way of describing the world in abstract terms, but is also seen to act upon the world, and this, in turn, raises questions about the responsibility of theorists and the effects of theorizing. ! the moral obligation of theorizing is an issue that has been debated recently in several sub-fields of social and cultural sciences. one example is literary theorist terry eagleton’s “after theory,” in which eagleton argues that dimensions such as truth, objectivity, and morality should be included in, not excluded from, (cultural) theories (eagleton, 2003). another example is management scholar sumantra ghoshal’s claims that by “propagating ideologically inspired amoral theories, business schools have actively freed their students from any sense of moral responsibility”, blaming management scholars for ruining good management practice with bad (i.e. ethically unaware) theories (ghoshal, 2005:76). ! it must be acknowledged that the moral and ethical dimensions of theory are touched upon by several authors, primarily junior scholars, in the book, for example by tommy jensen in chapter 7 and sara edenheim in chapter 9. but the discussion is somewhat lost in their attempts to write clever comments to their senior peers, with jensen expanding on theory as narrative and plot and edenheim discussing the distinction between writers versus researchers. both of these chapters contribute to the richness of the book, but rather than dealing with the (moral and ethical) effects of theory, they expand on the role of the theorist in a rather philosophical way. ! related to the performativity of theories, and also largely missing from the book, is the craft of theorizing. how theories are crafted was brought up already by karl e. weick, who argued that theorizing is important when aiming at understanding what theory is, as a response to sutton and staw’s proposition of what theory is not (sutton & staw, 1995; weick, 1995). products of the theorizing process do not emerge as perfect theories, weick argues, but as approximations. this means that the process of theorizing is as interesting as theory in itself (ibid). ! how theories come into existence is an implicit theme in what is theory? answers from the social and cultural sciences. but how theory and methodology are interlinked and how theory is crafted in the daily practice of doing research and through the choice of particular methodologies, is not explicitly discussed (cf llewelyn, 2003; van maanen, sørensen, & mitchell, 2007). this means that the “thick” performance of doing research (cf sergi & hallin, 2011) is largely missing from the book, with the exception of the chapter by ethnologists ehn and löfgren as described above (chapter 12). to assume that the reader is aware of, how theory may be crafted through the use of analogies and metaphors, model building and the construction of typologies is however bold, and it is a pity that such a discussion is not present in the book since this would have provided a much needed contribution. so…“what is theory?” (asks the student) ! the task of reviewing a book entitled what is theory? answers from the social and cultural sciences is to be approached with great humility. this is not only because the performativity of the question easily provokes the reader to book reviews special forum: about doing research! m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 410-416 414 attempt to formulate an ostensive answer of her own (cf latour, 1986) but also because it is apparent to anyone involved in the production of social science that this is a question with no definite answer. to review such a book in terms of its content is thus quite a difficult task. who can say whether the answer provided in the book is right or wrong? or what is missing? to a reviewer, the title of the book may seem a clever way of avoiding criticism – entitling the book with a question to which there is no apparent single answer will of course mean that all attempts at pointing to what is missing in the book could probably be easily accounted for. ! this does not mean, however, that the question in the book’s title is unimportant. it has been said that theory is “the currency of our scholarly realm,” as corvellec also points out when referring to a recent article (corley & gioia, 2011:12), and the value of this currency is steadily increasing, not least through the growing trend of publish or perish in combination with the requirement of providing a theoretical contribution when presenting one’s research. ! even though corvellec firmly establishes as early as in his introduction that there is no definite answer to the question, the episode of the junior colleague and the student illustrates the fact that there is a need for a book that deals with the question of theory, not least in relation to undergraduate (and graduate) students’ thesis-writing. ! it is not surprising that the answer to the question in the title of the book is provided not through one coherent answer but through a bulk of different and sometimes contradicting propositions; this is in fact typical of the social sciences rooted in the interpretative tradition. in the social and cultural sciences, theory is not “a single object or a single language” (hunter, 2006:80). ! corvellec argues that students should “learn to orient themselves among the possible answers to the question” (p. 10). i am not sure that what is theory? answers from social and cultural sciences is a book that would work for undergraduate or even graduate students, though, even though these, according to the text at the back of the book, are among the target audience. the book is probably too philosophical and requires a frame of reference that a student, certainly at the undergraduate level and probably also at the graduate level, does not have. and apart from the contributions by ehn, löfgren and schoug, the book does not contain a coherent discussion of the pedagogical dilemma of how to explain “what theory is” to a student at the undergraduate level. this means that the burning question that inspired corvellec to edit the book remains: how does one answer a student who wants to know what theory is? references bakhtin m. (1934-35/1981). discourse in the novel. in m. holquist (ed.), the dialogic imagination: four essays (pp. 259-422). austin, tx: university of texas press. callon m. (ed.). (1998). laws of the market. oxford: blackwell publishers. corley k.g. & gioia d.a. (2011). building theory about theory building: what constitutes a theoretical contribution? academy of management review, 36(1), 12-32. eagleton t. (2003). after theory. london: penguin books. ghoshal s. (2005). bad management theories are destroying good management practices. academy of management learning & education, 4(1), 75-91. hunter i. (2006). the history of theory. critical inquiry, 33(1), 78-112. latour b. (1986). the powers of association. in j. law (ed.), power, action and belief. a new sociology of knowledge? (vol. 32, pp. 264-280). london: routledge & kegan paul. law j. (2004). after method. mess in social science research. london: routledge. llewelyn s. (2003). what counts as "theory" in qualitative management and accounting reserch? introducing five l e v e l s o f t h e o r i z i n g . a c c o u n t i n g , a u d i t i n g & accountability journal, 16(4), 662-708. mackenzie,d. muniesa f. & siu l. (eds.). (2008). do economists shape the markets? on the performativity of economics. princeton, nj: princeton university press. sergi v. & hallin a. (2011). thick performances, not just thick descriptions: the processual nature of doing qualitative research. qualitative research in organizations and management, 6(2), 191-208. sutton r.i., & staw b.m. (1995). what theory is not. administrative science quarterly, 40(3), 371-384. van maanen j., sørensen j.b. & mitchell t.r. (2007). introduction to special topif forum. the interplay between theory and method. academy of management review, 32(4), 1145-1154. m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 410-416! book reviews special forum: about doing research 415 weick k.e. (1995). what theory is not, theorizing is. administrative science quarterly, 40(3), 385-390. © the author(s) www.management-aims.com book reviews special forum: about doing research! m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 410-416 416 51gunz hugh p. gunz, allan bird, and michael b. arthur 2002 response to baruch: we weren’t seeking canonization, just a hearing, m@n@gement, 5(1): 23-29. m@n@gement is a double-blind reviewed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.dmsp.dauphine.fr/management/ © 2001 m@n@gement and the author(s). issn: 1286-4892 editors: martin evans, u. of toronto bernard forgues, u. of paris 12 http://www.dmsp.dauphine.fr/management/ m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 23-29 special issue: careers and new science 23 hugh p. gunz . allan bird . michael b. arthur university of toronto email: hugh.gunz@utoronto.ca university of missouri-st. louis email: birdal@msx.umsl.edu suffolk university email: marthur@suffolk.edu response to baruch: we weren’t seeking canonization, just a hearing scholarship is conversation huff’s (1999) dictum, that scholarship is conversation, nicely frames baruch’s commentary (2002, this issue) on our introduction (gunz, bird, and arthur, 2002, this issue) and this response to baruch. when a group has been working with an idea for as long as we have on this, it’s always good to have a quizzical eye cast over the project and to have to answer the question: was it worth doing? as we hint at the beginning of our introduction, this thought has never been far from us, either, and it needs answering. the question is particularly germane to the present exercise because, not to put too fine a point on it, “new science” (we still dislike the term) has attracted more than a few cranks. some of the ideas that have emerged from the physical sciences over the past century are so far away from everyday experience that they seem quite bizarre. these ideas include, for example, objects shrinking along one dimension and gaining mass as they go faster with respect to an observer as predicted by einstein’s special theory of relativity, or electrons “tunneling” through what ought to be impervious barriers (the so-called “tunneling effect,” which is now being put to use in the scanning tunneling electron microscope and certain designs of transistor). it is little surprise, then, that mystical and bizarre connections occasionally get made and enthusiastically promulgated by people who misunderstand the theory underpinning these odd phenomena, and whose contributions puzzle and irritate people who don’t. words get we respond to the points raised by baruch in his critique of our introduction. we believe the critique is helpful because it directs our attention to some important questions that need addressing when applying ideas from one branch of science to another. we argue that there is value in looking elsewhere for ideas, provided that it is done carefully and with rigour. mailto:hugh.gunz@utoronto.ca mailto:birdal@msx.umsl.edu mailto:marthur@suffolk.edu m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 23-29 special issue: careers and new science 24 hugh p. gunz, alan bird, and michael b. arthur into the discourse and are used indiscriminately without any regard to their original meaning: “nonlinearity” and “entropy” come to mind as prime examples of overworked terms which have become detached in the minds of many from the concepts whence they sprang. that’s not to say that these ideas don’t have profound existential implications, of course. for example, the second law of thermodynamics, which states that the entropy of the universe tends to a maximum—i.e., that the universe will eventually run down—gets people thinking about fundamental issues as few other physical laws do. but the first trap that awaits anyone trying to make the kind of connections we are attempting here is, quite simply, have we misunderstood the ideas we are drawing on so badly that our whole argument is nonsense? this possibility has worried us from the beginning, and although nothing has emerged so far which suggests that we have fallen into the trap it is still there. however, it is not the nub of baruch’s argument. he has five basic points, which deserve addressing. they are: 1/ introducing ideas from non-social sciences is premature given the state of theoretical development of the careers field; 2/ the physical sciences are just too different from the social sciences to be useful; 3/ the world of careers is changing so rapidly at the moment that it is inappropriate to attempt theoretical synthesis; 4/ it would have been better to introduce the ideas into the behavioural sciences generally before descending to the careers particularly; and 5/ the project dialogue does not involve physical scientists whose intellectual property the ideas are. we address each of these criticisms in turn. why build an elaborate, high-technology superstructure when the foundations are incomplete? baruch uses a nice metaphor to describe our venture, accusing us of trying to add a glass and titanium top to a building with inadequate foundations. he points out that we acknowledge that the careers field is still in a state of theoretical turmoil—or, more precisely, that it lacks any real integration. careers, he argues, are so complex that nobody has come up with a unifying theory. so haven’t we got our priorities wrong? surely we should be concentrating on making the best of what we already have before we search elsewhere for ideas? implicitly, he is making the point that our project is a distraction from more serious scholarly activity. he gives the example of the psychological contract, a robust concept making something of a comeback recently which still has plenty of life left in it. until we have really exploited its possibilities to the fullest, and similarly for other ideas from the social sciences (he specifically identifies socio-psychology, presumably on the basis of his assertion that «first and foremost, the career is individual “property”» [p. 16]), we should stick to our knitting. as is evident from our introduction, we agree that the careers field lacks integration. but we fundamentally reject baruch’s conclusion from this: we see no reason why we should not explore other fields for m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 23-29 special issue: careers and new science 25 response to baruch help. to borrow his metaphor, we see our project not as building elegant superstructures on buildings with inadequate foundations, but as looking for alternative foundation-construction technologies. we see that the present foundations appear unable to cope with either the nature of the ground we are building on, or the complex architecture they are intended to support. as we imply in our opening comments here, we do not believe that foggy thinking is acceptable in ventures such as this. there is, it seems to us, a particular obligation on anyone trying to introduce unconventional ideas to a field to make sure that they are doing so with precision and clarity; naïve but uninformed enthusiasm is both inadequate and misleading. but that is different from saying that nobody should look for unconventional ideas. we made the point in the introduction that creativity can spring from putting together previously-unconnected ideas. to draw on an example from physical science, spectroscopy was sharply disconnected from chemistry in the nineteenth century: the former was about studying the curious spectra emitted by the elements, and the latter was about trying to understand the structure of matter and how it reacts. it was only when chemists got interested in the bizarre ideas surfacing in twentieth century quantum theory that connections started to be made and an elegant theoretical structure built: spectra and chemical behaviour were two manifestations of the electronic structure of both atoms and molecules, and spectra provided valuable chemical diagnostic information. there is a further implication of baruch’s point. in arguing, as he does, that we haven’t yet adequately explored the possibilities of social science theory—and we don’t disagree with this at all—he could ask: how will we know when we have? who is authorized to make this decision? this, of course, leads us into very difficult territory. the issue of who authorizes work as “good science” has always been a thorny one, and the peer review system is as vulnerable to it as any; the literature is replete with stories about ideas which subsequently became highly influential but which took some time to find a publisher. but even at a practical level, how do we know when nothing more will emerge from the tired group of ideas that we have limited ourselves to working with? we don’t want to be thought of as overselling the potential contribution of the ideas in this collection of papers, and of course it is possible that our project ultimately will lead nowhere, but we believe that the kind of thought censorship that baruch suggests is fundamentally antithetical to the scientific process. there is also implicit in baruch’s position an assumption that “first movers” or “pioneers” are more legitimate than those who follow after. in contrast, we would argue that the justification of good science, any good science, is that it explains. new paradigms, new concepts and new theories supplant old ones when they provide better—clearer, simpler, more precise—explanations of the world (van maanen, 1995). if new science perspectives on careers can do this, what would then be the point of first “filling in the gaps” around existing perspectives? m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 23-29 special issue: careers and new science 26 hugh p. gunz, alan bird, and michael b. arthur the physical sciences are just too different baruch’s next point is that the social and physical sciences are qualitatively so different from each other that ideas from the latter simply can’t be used in the former. he quotes shultz’s dictum that atoms and molecules don’t talk back; in other words, that the social sciences differ from the physical sciences in that they are concerned with objects that reflect on their context, that can develop and transform. the physical sciences, he argues, are about falsification, while the social sciences are about association. indeed, he says, given how long “new science” has been with us, surely the obvious inference to draw about what we are attempting is that other scholars have realized that the exercise is futile? he argues that we have partially taken this point— that the two branches of science are too different from each other for the one to help the other—when we say that for much of the time an effort such as ours has to dwell at the level of metaphor. apart from raising a minor objection, that we point out in the introduction that we are by no means the first social scientists to import ideas from the physical sciences, we are left wondering: so what is the precise nature of baruch’s objection? at one point he argues eloquently that metaphor «can be advantageous, in the sense that the analogy can enhance the understanding of relevant phenomena,» (p. 18) citing pondy in support of this view. he adds that: «the new science can definitely offer new and relevant metaphors to add to our understanding of the phenomena of careers.» (p. 18) however, he then proceeds: «will it be sufficient to develop new career theory? the answer, i argue, is negative.» (p. 18) why? if metaphor can be helpful, why shouldn’t we explore it to see what it offers? what is so limiting about careers theory that it cannot benefit? furthermore, not all of the papers in the collection work at only a metaphorical level. moreover, the most common concepts to run through them—for example emergence, nonlinearity, and self-organization—spring from complexity theory, which has already been widely used in the social sciences. whether these papers succeed in their attempt is another matter, of course; our point is simply that some of our authors have indeed tried to transcend the use of metaphor. the world of careers is changing so rapidly that now is not the time to attempt a theoretical synthesis icons of organizational career practice have been falling so fast recently, baruch argues, that we live in too uncertain a world for it to be wise to indulge in new theory-building. there is certainly something to be said for this view. if the empirical object of one’s theory is unstable, how can a theory connect with it? we have two responses to this argument: 1/ good theory should transcend—even, explain—changes in the phenomena it addresses; and 2/ we’re not m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 23-29 special issue: careers and new science 27 response to baruch sure that the change going on is enough to invalidate what we’re trying to do. our first point is, perhaps, rather purist, but it needs to be made. it seems to us that any theory of careers which could not cope, for example, with explaining the relationship between different kinds of organizational form and the careers of the people who move within and between these organizational forms, is a pretty inadequate theory. it has been fashionable of late to argue that much work on work careers has assumed far too readily that careers take place within bureaucratic organizations, an assumption which is untrue for an increasing proportion of the working population. yet this argument neglects a great deal of important work, including seminal studies by the chicago school under the influence of everett hughes (1958), gouldner’s (1958) identification in of cosmopolitan as well as local careers, the recognition of occupational communities (van maanen and barley, 1984), and so on. in other words, not only have careers scholars recognized for a long time that work careers come in an enormous variety of shapes and sizes, they have been identifying them, classifying them and trying to build theory around them. many careers scholars are trying to build better theories that encompass these many shapes and sizes (see, for example, the collection of papers in arthur and rousseau, 1996), and we see no reason to pause in our efforts. on the contrary, we think that the challenge is to see if we can put frameworks together which help us to make sense of the changes we are seeing, and that is very much the thrust of many of the papers in this collection. our second point addresses an empirical issue. there is by no means unanimity in the scholarly community that the organizational career is dead and that the careers world really is in the turmoil that baruch holds it to be. some, for example, have argued that the “boundaryless career” has been oversold as a concept (e.g., nicholson, 1996), while others argue that for much of the working population it is an unaffordable luxury (perrow, 1996). so while baruch’s view is certainly fashionable, and there is plenty of evidence that the world has changed since the post-world war ii boom during which much early careers research was done, we think it premature to conclude that present-day careers are so much in flux and unknowable that they cannot be the subject of theory-building. ideas from the new sciences should first be applied to the social sciences generally baruch’s point here is that «perhaps the way forward to benefit from the new science theories would be to see how they contribute to the behavioral sciences in general, and then to apply them to career theory rather than bring them through the back door of career theory, a field in its infancy.» (p. 20). we disagree. we find it hard to imagine how baruch’s recommendam@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 23-29 special issue: careers and new science 28 hugh p. gunz, alan bird, and michael b. arthur tion could be carried out, which perhaps indicates our own limitations. but more than that: barley (1989) argues that the contribution of the chicago school was, inter alia, to demonstrate the centrality of career to the understanding of social structures. if so, then surely careers are a wonderful starting-point to explore the potential contribution of the new sciences to social science theory in general? no physical scientists were involved in the project baruch is not quite correct in this assertion—the project did involve contributions from people from the physical sciences and engineering—but he is substantially correct. early on we spent time with colleagues in the physical sciences trying to gain a better understanding of the concepts and theories that so intrigued us. they patiently pointed out errors in our understanding and suggested books and articles that would help us clarify our thinking. the reaction of these colleagues to our efforts was itself intriguing. often they would ask how we could possibly apply such concepts to social phenomena that they viewed as infinitely more complex than the physical phenomena they chose to study? as we shared our perspective on how we saw that new science might apply to careers they usually became intrigued by the possibilities. nevertheless, the views expressed here are ours, not theirs. we feel reasonably confident that we haven’t misrepresented new science concepts, but also accept that our understanding is still imperfect. all we can say is that we tried to take counsel from the world of physical science, even though it wasn’t easy to do so. conclusion despite our differences with baruch’s position, we are grateful that he has raised the objections he has. conversations of this kind are vital to developing ideas and testing them properly. some wag once noted that the art of conversation consists in keeping your mind clear while the other person is talking, so that you don’t forget what you were going to say next. we wonder to what extent baruch on the one hand, and we three on the other hand, stand as cases in point? we leave it to the reader to reach his or her own conclusions. we close by returning to a point we introduced above. ideas that are new to a field are often unpopular and get rejected by the prevailing orthodoxy. sometimes they richly deserve this fate, but sometimes they can be very helpful, and every now and then they turn the field on its head. we don’t mean to claim that we think we will turn the careers field on its head, but we are intrigued by the ideas the authors of these papers have been working with. how are we going to bring fresh thinking into our field if we previously dismiss any attempt to do so? m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 23-29 special issue: careers and new science 29 response to baruch references ■ arthur, m. b., and d. m. rousseau, (eds.) 1996 the boundaryless career: a new employment principle for a new organizational era, new york, ny: oxford university press. ■ barley, s. r. 1989 careers, identities, and institutions: the legacy of the chicago school of sociology, in m. b. arthur, d. t. hall, and b. s. lawrence (eds.), handbook of career theory, cambridge, ma: cambridge university press, 41-65. ■ gouldner, a. w. 1958 cosmopolitans and locals: toward an analysis of latent social roles ii, administrative science quarterly, 2(4): 444-480. ■ huff, a. s. 1999 writing for scholarly publication, thousand oaks, ca: sage. ■ hughes, e. c. 1958 men and their work, glencoe, il: free press. ■ nicholson, n. 1996 career systems in crisis: change and opportunity in the information age, academy of management executive, 10(4): 40-51. ■ perrow, c. 1996 the bounded career and the demise of the civil society, in m. b. arthur, and d. m. rousseau (eds.), the boundaryless career: a new employment principle for a new organizational era, new york, ny: oxford university press, 297-313. ■ van maanen, j. 1995 fear and loathing in organization studies, organization science, 6(6): 687-92. ■ van maanen, j., and s. r. barley 1984 occupational communities: culture and control in organizations, in b. m. staw and l. l. cummings (eds.), research in organizational behavior, vol. 6, greenwich, ct: jai press, 287365. hugh p. gunz has phds in chemistry and organizational behaviour. he is currently professor of organizational behaviour at the university of toronto, having previously taught at university of manchester. he has published papers on the careers of managers, professionals and others, the management of technical professionals, and management education, and is the author of the book careers and corporate cultures. his research interests include the structure of managerial careers in and between organizations and their impact on firms’ strategic management, the application of complexity science to careers, and ethical dilemmas experienced by employed professionals. allan bird is eiichi shibusawa-seigo arai professor of japanese studies in the college of business administration, university of missouri-st. louis. his work has appeared in the academy of management journal, the strategic management journal, the journal of organizational behavior, the journal of international business studies and other academic and practitioner journals. allan’s career-related interests are two-fold, with one research stream focusing on the careers of japanese executives and the other focusing on a conception of careers as repositories of knowledge. michael b. arthur is professor of management at the sawyer school of management, suffolk university, boston. he has written and researched widely on the subject of careers, including as editor of the handbook of career theory (1989), the boundaryless career (1996) and career frontiers (2000). michael is also a co-author of the new careers (1999) and of a series of articles into the application of “intelligent career” principles in the contemporary economy. his research focuses on alternative ways to link between individual career theory and collective action. michael holds mba and phd degrees from cranfield university, uk. hrm, strategy, and operational performance alberto bayo-moriones and javier merino-díaz de cerio 2002 human resource management, strategy and operational performance in the spanish manufacturing industry, m@n@gement, 5(3): 175-199. m@n@gement is a double-blind reviewed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.dmsp.dauphine.fr/management/ © 2002 m@n@gement and the author(s). issn: 1286-4892 editors: martin evans, u. of toronto bernard forgues, u. of paris 12 http://www.dmsp.dauphine.fr/management/ http://www.dmsp.dauphine.fr/management/ m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 3, 2002, 175-199 175 alberto bayo-moriones . javier merino-díaz de cerio universidad pública de navarradepartamento de gestión de empresas email: abayom@unavarra.es universidad pública de navarra departamento de gestión de empresas email: jmerino@unavarra.es human resource management, strategy and operational performance in the spanish manufacturing industry it is commonly accepted that the people working for a firm are one of its main assets and one of the factors in determining its progress. workers’ qualities, attitudes and behaviour in the workplace, together with other factors, play an important role in determining a company’s success or lack of it. although this type of resource is one over which companies do not have complete control, there do exist certain instruments to enable them to exert their influence on the quality and performance of the human capital on which they rely. the human resource management (hrm) practices that they adopt will have a vital influence in this area and thereby on the performance achieved by the firm. in recent years references have begun to appear in the literature regarding a series of hrm practices that are named high-performance, high-commitment or innovative, and are said to help firms to achieve significant improvements in performance. the aim of these practices is to achieve a more valuable workforce, by selecting and retaining the in recent years companies have begun to implement a series of human resource management (hrm) practices that are referred to in the literature as high-performance or high-commitment. among others these practices include employee involvement, training and organisational incentive plans. in this study we attempt to determine how and to what extent the adoption of this type of practices affects the firm’s performance record. we focus specifically on the impact hrm has on operational performance. moreover, we test if the impact of highcommitment practices on firm performance is contingent on the strategy followed by the firm. we try to detect possible differences in the relationship between hrm and the different kinds of operational results (efficiency, quality, and time). for this aim we use a database covering an initial sample of 965 factories each with a workforce of over 50 employees. we begin with a review of the literature before going on to present the descriptive statistics for the variables to be used and, finally, testing the relationship between hrm and operational performance through the estimation of several ordered probit models. our results reveal the presence of a positive, statistically significant correlation between the adoption of high-commitment practices and improvements in quality and time-based performance. we also find that this effect is universal and not dependent on the strategy used by the firm. mailto:abayom@unavarra.es mailto:jmerino@unavarra.es m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 3, 2002, 175-199 176 alberto bayo-moriones and javier merino-díaz de cerio more highly skilled individuals, and to increase motivation in the existing workforce by getting its members to adopt the firm’s objectives as their own. this is accompanied by structuring and organising tasks in such a way as to obtain the maximum benefit from the increased capacity and motivation thus achieved among the workers. these practices include, for example, the provision of training for the workers, broader job definitions and meticulous personnel selection processes. at the same time it is stated that these practices may not have the same effect in all firms. potential benefits may depend on the type of strategy being employed in the firm; a particular strategy may enable a firm to draw more benefit from the behaviour and abilities generated by high-commitment practices. this study attempts to test the hypothesis that a firm’s style of personnel management influences its operational performance. thus it will be that firms implementing high-performance practices will register more outstanding improvements in results. we will also analyse the effect of hrm on firm performance to determine whether this is universal or contingent on the strategy of the firm. the environment in which we intend to test this hypothesis is the spanish industrial sector. using an initial sample of close to 1,000 spanish manufacturing plants we will try to discover whether findings in similar sectors in other parts of the world are also applicable to spain. this study aims to offer an analysis of the relationship between hrm practices in the operational context and various performance measurements (efficiency, quality and time-based measures) both from the universal and the contingency perspective. we consider this to be a significant contribution of the article, in view of the general scarcity of empirical studies with this sort of focus, the few that exist applying mainly to the us context. in the next section we carry out a review of existing empirical findings regarding the connection between combinations of hrm practices and business results, while in the following one we explore the role of strategy in moderating the relationship between hrm and performance. we then devote a section to a brief explanation of the importance of operational results in factory management. we then define the research objectives of the article. the following section begins with a few remarks regarding data collection methods, before going on to define the variables to be used in our subsequent empirical analysis and defining the estimating framework. we then estimate the effect of personnel management on a plant’s performance and analyse the results obtained. we finish with a discussion of the main conclusions to be drawn from our study. hrm and its impact on results workers are key elements in the running of a firm and as such play an important part in the firm’s success in reaching its objectives. human resources, taken to be «the pool of human capital under the firm’s control in a direct employment relationship» (wright, mcmahan and m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 3, 2002, 175-199 177 human resource management, strategy, and operational performance mcwilliams, 1994: 304), can provide the firm with a source of competitive advantage with respect to its rivals. this is possible because of the series of requirements that the workers fulfil (wright and mcmahan, 1992; wright et al., 1994). the first of these is the value added to the company’s production processes, the contribution made by each individual having its effect on the results obtained by the organisation as a whole. also, since individuals are not all the same, their characteristics are in limited supply in the market. in addition, these resources are difficult to imitate, since it is not easy to identify the exact source of the competitive advantage and reproduce the basic conditions necessary for it to occur. finally, this type of resource is not easily replaced; though short-term substitutes may be found, it is unlikely that they result in a sustainable competitive advantage anything like that provided by human resources. for a firm to find the human capital to provide it with a sustained competitive advantage is not just a matter of luck. it depends rather on the action the firm is prepared to undertake towards that end. it is through personnel management practices that firms try to obtain the human resources that will give them the advantage when it comes to holding their own against other companies. it is the human resources themselves, however, and not the practices, that make up the source of competitive advantage. personnel management practices do not qualify as sources of sustainable competitive advantage, since they are perfectly replaceable and quite likely to be copied by other firms. they are, nevertheless, necessary, not only for the firm’s human capital to develop but also to enable it to be employed in such a way as to ensure improvements in the company’s performance. if hrm practices help to create better human capital in the firm and, thereby, a sustained competitive advantage, it is reasonable to assume some sort of connection between the way in which personnel is managed and the results obtained by the firm. there are numerous empirical studies that deal with the influence of individual personnel management practices on different performance measurements. among these we would find quality circles (katz, kochan and gobeille, 1983), recruitment (holzer, 1987), worker training (bartel, 1994), profit-sharing schemes (weitzman and kruse, 1990) and information sharing (morishima, 1991). other investigations have attempted to examine the individual impact of not one but several of these practices. these would include investigations carried out by kalleberg and moody (1994), delaney and huselid (1996), black and lynch (2000; 2001), cappelli and neumark (2001), harel and tzafrir (1999) and fey, björkman and pavlovskaya (2000). finally, there are some studies that take a global perspective on the relationship between personnel management and performance, taking the view that practices are not applied separately but in conjunction with one another. instead of looking at the impact of one specific practice, they study the total joint effect of the way in which the different aspects of personnel management are dealt with, particularly the adoption of high-performance practices. studies such as those of huselid (1995) and macduffie (1995) are among these. there are sevm@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 3, 2002, 175-199 178 alberto bayo-moriones and javier merino-díaz de cerio eral articles that offer an in-depth critical review of this literature. among them we must mention those of dyer and reeves (1995), becker and gerhart (1996), huselid and becker (1996), ichniowski , kochan, levine, olson and strauss (1996), guest (1997), whitfield and poole (1997), and becker and huselid (1998). this last type of empirical studies, and here we would include our own, analyse a wide range of measurements. among them we find, for example, such measurements of hrm performance as the ability to attract and retain employees (kalleberg and moody, 1994), management-worker relations (wood and de menezes, 1998), turnover (huselid, 1995; becker and huselid, 1998; wood and de menezes, 1998), absenteeism (wood and de menezes, 1998; hoque, 1999), workers’ commitment to the company (hoque, 1999), job satisfaction among workers (hoque, 1999) and indices that capture several of these outcomes (liouville and bayad, 1998). in addition to these, we also see measurements of financial results, which are an indication of the firm’s overall performance. among others we might mention productivity (ichniowski, 1990; huselid, 1995), profitability (huselid and becker, 1996), customer satisfaction (kalleberg and moody, 1994), tobin’s q (ichniowski, 1990; huselid, 1995) or the firm’s market value (becker and huselid, 1998). finally, we find studies which, like ours, are concerned with analysing the effect of hrm on aspects of operational performance, such as the hours of labour required to manufacture a particular product (arthur, 1994; macduffie, 1995), the percentage of programmed time that the production line is in operation (ichniowski and shaw, 1999; ichniowski, shaw and prennushi, 1997), the defects rate (arthur, 1994; macduffie, 1995) or the percentage of production that meets the required quality standards (ichniowski and shaw, 1999; ichniowski et al., 1997). there are also works that take as their dependent variable indices that capture the firm’s overall performance in this area. these would include liouville and bayad (1998), who incorporate aspects such as defects costs, and youndt, snell, dean and lepak (1996), who include the degree of utilisation of equipment, minimisation of waste, product quality and in-time delivery. broadly speaking, all the studies that address this issue, irrespective of the type of operational result on which they are focused, show the introduction of high-commitment hrm practices to have an impact not only on the plant’s productive system performance but also on business performance. the moderating role of strategy it has been underlined in the literature that, when adopting their hrm practices, firms must take into account the desirability of fit between these practices and firm strategy (baird and meshoulam, 1988). as a consequence, one of the main goals of strategic human resource management is to ensure that hrm is integrated with the strategy and the strategic needs of the firm in order to gain competitive advantage (wright and sherman, 1999). different ways of competing in the marm@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 3, 2002, 175-199 179 human resource management, strategy, and operational performance ket require different characteristics, behaviour and attitudes on the part of workers, and these differences are fundamentally the result of applying different hrm policies (schuler and jackson, 1987; wright and mcmahan, 1992). this contingency perspective leads to the expectation that the competitive strategy the firm pursues in the market moderates the relationship between hrm and performance (tichy, fombrun and devanna, 1982; miles and snow, 1984; schuler and jackson, 1987). the literature, however, does not make it quite clear in what direction this mediation actually works. miles and snow (1984) argue that defender firms may, in their effort to achieve stability through efficiency, find it better to establish a long term relationship with their workers, by offering them job security, establishing internal labour markets and investing in their training. this would reduce the turnover of employees, thereby making reactions on the part of the workforce easier to predict. in contrast to this, prospector firms have difficulty in investing in their workforce, since they can not be sure what type of demands they will have to make on them in the future, so they would not benefit from a high-commitment hrm approach. schuler and jackson (1987), arthur (1992) and youndt et al. (1996), using the categories established by porter (1980) in as far as these can be compared to those of miles and snow, suggest the opposite relationship. arthur (1992) claims that a cost leadership strategy is hardly likely to benefit from the introduction of innovative schemes in hrm. firms attempting to compete on the market in this way will do everything they can to keep their costs to a minimum, a feat that is easier to achieve via a traditional style of management. this enables standardised goods to be produced through strict division of labour, thereby keeping costs low, since, by not requiring highly qualified personnel, it reduces the need for worker training. this makes employees easily replaceable, thereby eliminating the need for the firm to increase wages in order to keep them on. nor, of course, can we ignore the savings to be made from avoiding the costs involved in setting up and running high-performance programmes. those firms that choose to adopt a strategy of differentiation, on the other hand, must be flexible enough to adapt in order to meet the various demands their clients may make on them (arthur, 1992). in this state of affairs, rather than being responsible for a limited number of tasks, workers will be required to carry out a variety of activities and they are likely to find themselves in situations in which they must decide, of their own accord, how to proceed (youndt et al., 1996). adequate training is essential, if workers are to live up to this challenge. they must also be sufficiently motivated to make the choices that will serve the best interests of the firm. there is no question but that this can be better achieved via high-commitment hrm than through traditional methods. regarding the empirical evidence, huselid (1995) finds limited evidence for the impact of hrm on performance contingent on competitive strategy. however, hoque (1999) finds that the best-performing hotels are those that practise high-commitment management coupled m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 3, 2002, 175-199 180 alberto bayo-moriones and javier merino-díaz de cerio with a quality strategy. similar results are reached by youndt et al. (1996): human capital-enhancing systems have stronger effects when adopted together with a quality manufacturing strategy. operational performance the subject of the measurement, evaluation and conceptualisation of operational performance in a company is a recurrent theme in the different areas of the academic literature. one of the first general classifications, and one that has been widely used, is that of venkatraman and ramanujam (1986). they adopt a strategic management perspective and focus on the measurement to establish a division between financial and operational performance, with the emphasis on the latter. following a similar line, kaplan and norton (1992) believe that the traditional measurements of financial performance are no longer valid for today’s business demands. therefore, they consider that operational measurements of management are needed when dealing with customer satisfaction, internal processes and activities directed at improvement and innovation in the organisation, which lead to future financial returns. manufacturing performance, which encompasses part of the operational performance previously mentioned, is commonly used in the field of operations management. this type of result takes into account the company’s performance in reaching its basic objectives, that is, productivity, quality and service. there are several studies which aim to establish a classification of this kind of results (corbett and van wassenhove, 1993; neely, gregory and platts, 1995; filippini, forza and vinelli, 1998). for example, corbett and van wassenhove’s model considers three dimensions of performance: cost or efficiency, quality and time. efficiency refers to the best possible use of all available resources in order to maximise output. this results in low cost products thanks to the reduction of waste and enables the factory to give value to customers. traditionally quality has been defined in terms of conformance to specification and hence quality-based measures of performance have focused on issues such as the number of defects produced and the cost of quality. with the advent of total quality management (tqm) the emphasis has shifted away from conformance to specification and moved towards customer satisfaction. in either case, firms must obtain high levels of quality performance in order to improve or, at least, maintain their level of competitiveness. the first dimension of time-based performance is reliability. this means fulfilling delivery commitments. on-time deliveries may have a significant impact on customer satisfaction, which makes it an issue to be taken seriously in operations management. the second time-related dimension refers to the speed of production processes, which is frequently measured as the time elapsing between materials reception and delivery of product to the customer. one of the main goals of justm@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 3, 2002, 175-199 181 human resource management, strategy, and operational performance in-time (jit) and other production planning and control systems (e.g., optimised production technology) is to improve the flow of production processes, in order to respond more rapidly to customer demands. research objectives as we have explained above, both the theoretical and empirical literature suggest that the way in which the employees of a plant are managed has a significant impact on its performance. organisational success can be largely explained by the hrm practices that have been applied. companies that have implemented a bundle of high-performance work practices, in other words, a hrm system aimed at improving people’s capabilities and motivation, outperform rivals that have not done so. it has also been indicated that some literature additionally emphasises the mediating role of strategy in the link between hrm and performance. we have also stated that operational performance measures are the most effective means of assessing how a factory has been managed. in this article we intend to analyse the impact of high-commitment practices on operational results. we understand that, according to the literature quoted earlier, the most immediate and direct effects of hrm in a factory should be on manufacturing performance, as financial results can be affected by other variables that cannot be controlled from an operations management point of view. this article aims to contribute to the literature in several ways. first of all, it attempts to ascertain whether the impact that high-commitment management is found to have on firm performance in other countries also holds in spain. we investigate whether high-performance work practices lead to better performance. secondly, we also test the contingency hypothesis of the relationship between hrm and performance in the spanish context. thirdly, we focus specifically on the impact hrm has on operational performance, using a large sample of manufacturing establishments. finally, we examine data to discover whether there is any difference in the relationship between hrm and the different types of operational results. we try to assess whether high-performance work practices are a useful means for factory managers to achieve all of their various manufacturing goals or if their effect varies for each individual measure of operational results. methodology data the spanish manufacturing industry constitutes the scope of our study. the concept of manufacturing industry is clearly defined in the national classification of economic activity (nace), which includes all the manufacturing industries (from code 15 to code 37) with the exception of oil refining and the treatment of nuclear fuel (code 23). m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 3, 2002, 175-199 182 alberto bayo-moriones and javier merino-díaz de cerio fixing the unit of analysis was an important matter to settle. two possibilities were initially open to us: we could choose either the company or the plant as the focus of our study. we opted for the latter, basing our choice on the fact that in the industrial sector, the plant is the business unit of most strategic importance for the implementation of the practices that would be considered in our study. these practices are adopted in the plant, and therefore, it is at this level where problems arise and where the results must be analysed. moreover, the answers to the different questions raised are expected to be more reliable when taken from the plant; since the knowledge of these issues is greater even if only because of greater proximity. another aspect of the field of application to be determined was the size of the plants. the industrial plants included in our sample employ 50 or more workers. this limit has been used in other studies relating to this area (see osterman, 1994). it serves to cover a wide spectrum of the population employed in spanish industry. it also simplifies the fieldwork. following these criteria, the population consisted of 6,013 plants. the aim was to achieve a sample of 1,000 units, stratified according to sector and size. the larger-size stratum was represented at 50% in the sample design. for the two remaining size strata, a fixed number of 30 interviews was allocated to each sector; the rest of the interviews being allocated among sectors proportionally. the sample allocated to each of the strata within a sector was also distributed proportionally. a random selection of plants was taken from each stratum for interview. the survey was based on a questionnaire that was made up, pre-tested, and then modified in different ways to form the final questionnaire. the questions on hrm refer to blue-collar workers. the fact that we refer to a specific group of workers creates problems, as far as the generalisation of the results to other professions is concerned. however, by limiting the type of job considered, we are better able to compare the different units we have studied, as there can be several significantly different internal labour markets within a given company. as we had foreseen from the start, most of the questionnaires (more than three quarter, in fact) were filled in by either the plant manager or the production manager. the questionnaire covered different issues, all linked to production. it was meant to be answered by someone with a broad understanding of both the organisational aspects of the plant and the technical side, though knowledge of the latter was less crucial. nevertheless, the complexity of the questionnaire did not mean it could not be understood by any of the plant managers with knowledge of the areas under study. after making 3,246 telephone calls to make the necessary appointments, 965 valid interviews were conducted. this represents a response rate of 29.72% and constitutes the initial sample for which we have information. m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 3, 2002, 175-199 183 human resource management, strategy, and operational performance measures of variables measuring high-commitment hrm practices a look at the different empirical studies to be found in the literature dealing with high-commitment hrm practices soon reveals a lack of unanimity surrounding the practices that ought to be included under this general heading. it sometimes even happens that practices considered by some authors to be synonymous with high-performance hrm systems, are taken by others to be more closely related to traditional personnel management systems. for the purpose of the present study, the choice of practices to be included in the category of high-commitment management was made with various points in mind. we first turned our attention to those practices most often included in investigations into innovations in hrm. a second consideration involved the restrictions imposed upon us by the questionnaire we were using; we could obviously only include in our study those practices about which we had data. taking these details into account, we included the practices that were most often mentioned in the literature and that also figured in our database. we then added a number of other variables which, though absent from other studies, appeared to us to fit into the management philosophy we wished to investigate. the use of employees already working for the organisation to fill vacancies further up in the hierarchy is a variable common to all the different studies of high-performance hrm practices. respondents were asked to show on a scale of one to five how many of their current supervisors and skilled technicians had previously had jobs on the shop floor. this scale has been transformed into a scale from 0 to 1 to create the variable promotion. another factor that encourages workers’ identification with the firm is their confidence in being able to keep their jobs. the security variable equals the percentage of permanent employees. the criteria applied in the selection and recruitment of new workers give some indication of how the firm is being run, since they reveal what type of qualities and behaviour is being sought after in candidates for jobs in the firm. the binary variable selection tells us whether one of the two main factors considered when selecting and taking on new workers gives priority to personality characteristics or the ability to work as part of a team and learn new skills, rather than focusing on higher qualifications and a closer match between the technical requirements of the job and the abilities and technical skills possessed by the candidate. the effort made by the firm to train its workers also serves as an indication of its concern for the future of its workforce. training is equal to 1 if some workers have received any formal training within the past year. as for the content of that training, grouptrain equals the percentage of hours of training provided by the firm devoted to teamwork and problem solving techniques. there are several issues relating to wage systems that must be included. wagelevel is a binary variable that indicates whether the workers’ m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 3, 2002, 175-199 184 alberto bayo-moriones and javier merino-díaz de cerio average wage is above the average for the same type of workers in the same sector and the same region. plantinc shows whether or not the plant uses for the majority of its workers incentive schemes based in any way on its operations or financial performance. knowpay indicates whether the main factor in determining the majority of workers’ wages is their level of professional skill, as opposed to other criteria, such as the nature of their job or their length of service in the firm. several of the aspects included refer to the nature of the job. on the one hand, there is the existence of autonomous work teams, which is measured by the variable team. the use of job rotation among shopfloor workers is captured by the variable rotation, which takes values from a scale of 0 to 1 (the initial values obtained from the questionnaire were based on a scale of 1 to 4). self-inspection by the majority of workers as a quality management technique is represented by the selfins dichotomous variable. respondents were asked in the interview to indicate on a scale of 0 to 10 the degree to which their workers were allowed to plan and organise their own work. the variable autonomy is the outcome of dividing these initial values by 10 and therefore assumes values between 0 and 1. specific action designed to increase the participation of workers in the running of the firm may take the form of schemes to collect individual suggestions or the creation of groups of workers to meet periodically in order to identify problems related with their work and propose possible solutions. these two instruments are reflected in the binary variables suggestion and groups, respectively. the use of methods to allow communication to take place between workers and company management is an issue that needs to be taken into account when dealing with the attempt to get workers to identify with the firm. while periodic meetings with employees in order to inform them about company issues creates a downward flow of communication, conducting surveys in which employees are asked about their degree of job satisfaction sets up a flow of communication in the opposite direction. this type of action is captured by the variables meetings and surveys. opendoor, meanwhile, indicates whether or not the firm has organised open-days in an attempt to involve employees and the surrounding community and to create links between the workers’ private environment and the firm that employs them. table 1 contains the most relevant descriptive statistics for the seventeen hrm practices that we have defined as high-performance. this table shows that the adoption of the different practices in spanish industry varies considerably. as far as diffusion is concerned, at one extreme we find training in teamwork and problem solving techniques and plant incentives, in which application is the least intense. two further practices, with a diffusion limited to around 20%, and both contributing to increasing worker involvement, are, first of all, surveys to detect job satisfaction and, second, the organisation of open days. meanwhile, only a quarter of the plants interviewed included workers’ level of knowledge and skills when fixing the basis for their wages. moreover, workers are given very little autonomy in their jobs. m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 3, 2002, 175-199 185 human resource management, strategy, and operational performance m e a n .6 7 .8 0 .0 7 .4 2 .1 2 .2 5 .4 7 .4 7 .9 0 .2 5 .3 9 .5 7 .5 9 .2 1 .1 9 .6 7 .8 0 s .d .† .3 0 .4 0 .1 3 .4 9 .3 2 .4 3 .5 0 .2 9 .3 1 .2 9 .4 9 .5 0 .4 9 .4 1 .3 9 .4 7 .2 1 1 .0 3 .0 1 .0 5 .0 1 .0 3 -. 0 7 * .0 6 -. 0 1 -. 0 2 .0 1 .0 3 .0 4 .0 2 .0 4 .0 4 .0 5 2 .2 9 ** * .0 5 .0 8 ** .0 9 ** * .1 1 ** * .1 5 ** * .0 6 * .0 8 ** .2 8 ** * .2 9 ** * .3 3 ** * .1 7 ** * .1 5 ** * .0 7 ** .1 5 ** * 3 .1 2 ** * .1 0 ** * .0 2 .1 1 ** * .1 2 ** * .0 2 .0 4 .2 0 ** * .1 0 ** * .1 2 ** * .1 5 ** * .1 0 ** * .1 1 ** * .0 8 ** 4 .0 4 .0 3 -. 0 1 .0 7 * -. 0 5 .0 0 .0 9 ** .0 1 .1 0 ** * .0 9 ** .0 3 .0 1 .0 8 ** 5 -. 0 5 .0 2 .0 8 ** .0 7 * .0 7 * .1 1 ** * .0 5 .1 0 ** * .1 2 ** * .0 6 * .0 1 .0 0 6 -. 0 4 .0 3 .0 1 -. 0 2 .0 3 .0 1 .1 0 ** * .0 5 .0 1 -. 0 4 .0 4 7 .0 6 * .0 5 .2 2 ** * .1 8 ** * .0 9 ** * .1 4 ** * .1 5 ** * .1 4 ** * .0 3 .0 0 8 .0 3 .0 5 .1 1 ** * .0 1 .1 3 ** * .0 7 * .0 8 ** .0 1 .0 5 9 .0 4 .0 3 .1 0 ** * .0 9 ** * .1 0 ** * .0 7 ** -. 0 1 .0 2 1 0 .1 9 ** * .1 5 ** * .1 2 ** * .1 5 ** * .0 9 ** .0 2 .0 1 11 .2 9 ** * .3 4 ** * .3 2 ** * .2 3 ** * .0 3 .0 3 1 2 .3 4 ** * .2 4 ** * .1 7 ** * .0 7 ** .0 7 * 1 3 .2 8 ** * .2 2 ** * .0 9 ** * .0 7 * 1 4 .2 8 ** * .1 0 ** * -. 0 1 1 5 .0 4 .0 5 1 6 .0 7 * v a ri a b le 1 . p ro m o tio n 2 . t ra in in g 3 . g ro u p tr a in 4 . w a g e le ve l 5 . p la n tin c 6 . k n o w p a y 7 . te a m 8 . r o ta tio n 9 . s e lfi n s 1 0 . a u to n o m y 11 . g ro u p s 1 2 . s u g g e st io n 1 3 . m e e tin g 1 4 . s u rv e y 1 5 . o p e n d o o r 1 6 . s e le ct io n 1 7 . s e cu ri ty t a b le 1 . m e a n , st a n d a rd d e vi a tio n , a n d c o rr e la tio n m a tr ix f o r h r m p ra ct ic e s (n = 7 5 8 ) † : st a n d a rd d e vi a tio n ; ** *: p < .0 1 ; ** : p < .0 5 ; *: p < .1 0 . m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 3, 2002, 175-199 186 alberto bayo-moriones and javier merino-díaz de cerio at the other extreme, we have self-inspection by the workers of the quality of the products they manufacture. this is common practice in 90% of the plants interviewed. there is also very widespread provision of some kind of formal training for production workers (80% of the sample) and a high proportion of permanent employees. though to a more moderate extent, we should also mention the widespread application of personality-based criteria in personnel selection processes, as well as frequent use of internal promotion in order to fill posts as job vacancies occur within the organisation. highly relevant observations can be made from the associations between the different practices and how they interrelate. a close look at the correlation table will provide some very interesting information in this respect. as was to be expected, the correlation coefficients are overwhelmingly positive, and among the negative only one is significantly distinct from 0. in all, of the 136 coefficients that make up the matrix, only eleven are negative. it can be seen how some of the practices considered possess an individual diffusion profile that falls far wide of the trend followed by most of the rest. this casts serious doubts on the theory that high-commitment practices are implemented in such a way as to remain consistent with one another. however, this phenomenon may also be interpreted as an indication of error in the theoretical definition of the practices that make up the subject of our investigation. in other words, it may be that some of the practices included fail to complement the rest. in relation to this issue, there is evidence to suggest that paying workers above the going rate, providing them with job security, rewarding them for their knowledge and offering them internal promotion are practices that have very little connection with other aspects of highcommitment management. the case of the promotion variable is particularly remarkable, in that it fails to register even a single positive correlation significantly distinct from 0 with any of the remaining sixteen practices analysed. this echoes the results obtained in becker and huselid (1998) and points to the need for further theoretical investigation into the relationship of this feature of internal labour markets and the rest of the hrm system. when there is a great number of practices to be analysed, as in the case in hand, the investigator is faced with two possible ways of evaluating the degree to which hrm can be considered to be based on high-commitment. the first of these involves taking the variables refering to the use of individual practices and creating an index that measures the extent to which high-performance employment practices are being applied (e.g., wood and albanese, 1995; pil and macduffie, 1996; mcnabb and whitfield, 1999). the second option is to classify firms according to their level of application of the whole set of practices under consideration (arthur, 1992). it is thus possible to opt for a more or less continuous measurement or for using a nominal variable. for the purposes of the present study, we will apply both options, since this will help in ascertaining whether the results obtained are robust in relation to the procedure used to evaluate the way in which human resources are managed. m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 3, 2002, 175-199 187 human resource management, strategy, and operational performance the index we intend to use for the present study is the sum of the seventeen variables defining high-commitment practices taking place in the establishment; this will be labelled hrmindex. in order to group the plants according to the degree to which they have introduced high-commitment practices into their management of human resources, we classify them by means of cluster analysis. we begin by carrying out an agglomerative analysis using a ward hierarchical procedure and the square of the euclidean distance. from this we are able to deduce that the optimum number of groups to be formed is 2. taking the results of this first analysis as our initial centroids, we then perform a non-hierarchical cluster analysis using two groups. this process gives two groups. table 2 shows the number of plants in each group, the mean value in each group for the variables and the statistical significance of the chi-squared statistic. judging from the frequencies of the different hrm practices examined, the first of the groups is the one that can be classed as containing the firms where high-performance hrm practices have been introduced. the second group, meanwhile, is made up of plants that continue to practise traditional methods of personnel management, placing the emphasis on strict control of workers’ actions. hrmgroup is a binary variable that takes a value of 1 when the plant belongs to the first group taken from the cluster analysis, that is, plants that include high-commitment practices in their hrm, and a value of 0 otherwise. table 2. association between hrm practices and groups resulting from cluster analysis variable 1. promotion 2. training 3. grouptrain 4. wagelevel 5. plantinc 6. knowpay 7. team 8. rotation 9. selfins 10. autonomy 11. groups 12. suggestion 13. meeting 14. survey 15. opendoor 16. selection 17. security n mean .67 .80 .07 .42 .12 .25 .47 .47 .90 .25 .39 .57 .59 .21 .19 .67 .80 758 mean group 1 .69 .96 .10 .46 .31 .28 .58 .50 .93 .31 .65 .83 .91 .36 .30 .72 .81 415 mean group 2 .65 .60 .05 .37 .07 .20 .33 .43 .85 .18 .07 .25 .21 .04 .06 .62 .78 343 chi-2 p-value .042 .000 .000 .016 .000 .010 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .002 .044 m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 3, 2002, 175-199 188 alberto bayo-moriones and javier merino-díaz de cerio it can be clearly seen how the first group includes most of the plants where the adoption of the seventeen practices considered is most intense. moreover, it must also be emphasised that differences between the two groups are always significant, although on two of the variables, promotion and security, the difference is not quite as marked as on the rest. these findings coincide reasonably closely with the conclusions drawn from our previous analysis of correlation in the implementation of these practices. operational performance measures it is important to explain the two characteristics of the measurements of performance we have used in this study. first of all, they measure the degree of improvement in the different performance indicators of the plant in the last three years. the different manufacturing performance dimensions, which are measured in absolute terms, depend largely on the technology being used and type of process being undertaken at the plant. therefore, it becomes difficult to establish comparisons when the data are obtained from a group of heterogeneous plants, even when the sector is introduced as a control variable. the other noteworthy characteristic is the subjectivity of the information used. results of a subjective nature are often used in research on organisations. some studies have demonstrated a strong relationship between objective and subjective measures of financial performance. this may serve as a justification for the use of this kind of performance (dess and robinson, 1984; venkatraman and ramanujam, 1987; powell, 1995). the indicator for efficiency (cost performance) used here is efficiency; this refers to improvement in the percentage of productive hours in relation to the total number of hours of direct presence of the workforce. it reflects waste and inefficiency in the productive system and identifies unproductive time resulting from organisational problems (lack of material, breakdowns, problems with quality, etc.). the two indicators of improvement in quality performance correspond to a definition of product quality as conformance with specifications and they are defined as the percentage of defective products. quality1 measures improvement in the percentage of defective finished products, that is, the number of defective finished units divided by the total number of finished units manufactured in the plant. quality2 measures improvement in the percentage of defective unfinished products, that is, it refers to the percentage of defective units that have been detected in the intermediate stages of the manufacturing process, and not at the end of it. we also use two indicators for time performance. time1 indicates the improvement in the percentage of delivery dates fulfilled, which is a typical measurement of punctuality, and considered a basic aspect of customer service. time2 indicates improvement in the reduction of the time taken from the moment the material is received to the moment the product is delivered to the customer. this serves as an indicator of process speed (lead time). the five performance variables are discrete variables. they take a value of 0 for plants whose manufacturing results have not improved m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 3, 2002, 175-199 189 human resource management, strategy, and operational performance in the last three years, 1 for those whose results have improved slightly and 2 for those whose results have improved greatly. control variables the first control variable is the size of the plant, measured by the natural logarithm of the number of employees that work in the factory (lnsize). this is a common means of measuring establishment size. technology has great significance in any attempt to explain the operational results achieved by the plant. technical features are measured by the variable automation, which aims to capture the degree of automation in the plant. the questionnaire enquired after four technical features that were felt to be directly related to the degree of automation: namely, robots or programmable automatons, automatic materials storage and retrieval systems, computer integrated manufacturing and computer networks for the processing of the plant’s production data. by applying factor analysis to these four variables, a single factor is obtained with an eigenvalue greater than 1, which accounts for just over 47% of the variance. the factor loadings on these variables are greater than .44. automation is defined as the average of the four variables mentioned. competitive pressure can force firms into striving to improve operational performance if they wish to survive in the market or maintain and improve their financial results. the level of competition being faced by the firm is captured by the variable competition. this uses a scale of 1 to 5 to assess the evolution of competition levels over the last three years in the sector in which the plant operates. a score of 1 on this scale indicates a large decrease, whereas a score of 5 represents a large increase. qualassur is a binary variable that assesses whether the plant has set up a quality assurance system. it reveals whether the factory is following a quality strategy by establishing organisational routines aimed at preventing defective products from reaching the customer. finally, strategy is a variable defining the relative importance attached by the management of the plant to the question of quality in comparison to cost; when both quality and cost are given the same importance strategy takes a value of 100. table 3 shows the average and standard deviation of the dependent variables, control variables and hrmgroup and hrmindex. it also shows the correlation between hrmgroup, hrmindex, performance variables and control variables. this table enables us to see how the plants included in the sample remain at intermediate levels of automation, though slightly below the exact mid-point. however, the plants that participated in the study claimed that the competition they had to face had increased over the three years previous to the interview. it is also worth mentioning the effort that is going into increasing quality assurance at the plants, since 71% of the manufacturers claim to have set up systems to deal with this. as was to be expected, the vast majority of the plants report improvements in the different plant performance areas considered, that is, efficiency in the use of resources, quality, and the speed at which they m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 3, 2002, 175-199 190 alberto bayo-moriones and javier merino-díaz de cerio mean 4.88 4.18 3.48 .71 161.79 .81 .82 .83 .90 1.01 .44 7.86 s.d.† .85 2.36 .89 .45 85.59 .71 .70 .70 .72 .75 .50 2.48 1 .318*** -.036 .280*** .012 .103** .095** .109*** .065 .110*** .226*** .287*** 2 .041 .296*** .081** .138*** .164*** .211*** .126*** .255*** .293*** .350*** 3 .011 -.004 .027 .053 .016 -.007 .061 .004 -.033 4 .059 .141*** .217*** .208*** .138*** .193*** .314*** .347*** 5 -.028 .006 .006 -.005 -.002 .045 -.034 6 .405*** .457*** .506*** .288*** .114*** .127*** 7 .797*** .491*** .286*** .197*** .208*** 8 .540*** .372*** .183*** .214*** 9 .356*** .200*** .150*** 10 .207*** .217*** 11 .747*** variable 1. lnsize 2. automation 3. competition 4. qualassur 5. strategy 6. efficiency 7. quality1 8. quality2 9. time1 10. time2 11. hrmgroup 12. hrmindex table 3. mean, standard deviation, and correlations between results variables, control variables, hrmgroup and hrmindex (n = 758) †: standard deviation; ***: p<.01; **: p<.05; *: p<.10. complete the different stages in the productive cycle. analysis of the correlation matrix brings us to the conclusion that no incompatibilities are present in the performance attaining processes in the different areas of operations management at the plant. plants that have improved their performance in one of the three areas considered are more likely also to have improved in the remaining areas. table 3 also offers a simple profile of the plants that have opted to introduce high-commitment. the larger the size of the plant, the greater the likelihood of its introducing this type of practices. likewise, in the area of technology, there is clear evidence to show that these tend to be plants with more highly automated processes, and where it will be more usual to find quality assurance schemes in progress. estimation framework given the nature of our dependent variables, the question of whether hrm leads to differences in operational results will be tested by estimating ordered probit models (maddala, 1983). for each dependent variable three different models are constructed. the first of these includes only control variables, the second incorporates the hrmgroup variable and its interaction with strategy and the third substitutes hrmgroup with the hrmindex variable, which is our other measurement of the prevalence of high-performance hrm practices, also including the interaction term. to deal with the multicollinearity problems of the multiplicative interaction terms we have made a linear transformation known as “centering”, in which the mean value for a variable is subtracted from each score (macduffie, 1995). by using two variables to measure the adoption of high-performance practices, we aim to obtain a clearer picture of the impact that such practices have on plant performance. although in our estimations we control by activity sector through eleven dummy variables, the coefficients do not appear in the corresponding tables. m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 3, 2002, 175-199 191 human resource management, strategy, and operational performance results tables 4, 5 and 6 show results for the ordered probit models estimated to examine the determinants of plant performance. table 4 is an analysis of the efficiency of the production system, table 5 deals with quality and table 6 with time-related performance. efficiency table 4 shows the results of the ordered probit models estimated for improvement in efficiency, measured in terms of changes in the proportion of productive hours over the total number of hours of direct labour. though the model proves significant, results are not entirely satisfactory, owing to the low pseudo-r2 value. out of all the control variables included, both the level of automation and the installation of quality assurance systems register coefficients significantly distinct from 0. these, therefore, are factors that enhance the capacity of a manufacturing plant to improve the efficiency of its production processes. the decrease in significance of the qualassur variable in the second and third models was to be expected, in view of its strong correlation with hrmgroup and hrmindex. in the second model it can be seen how the fact of belonging to the high-commitment hrm practitioners group enhances a factory’s efficiency results, though not to a significant degree. results obtained on model 3, in contrast, show that if the level of application is measured in terms of the intensity of practices adopted (hrmindex) we see the emergence table 4. ordered probit analysis for efficiency performance constant lnsize automation competition qualassur strategy hrmgroup hrmgroup × strategy hrmindex hrmindex × strategy pseudo-r2 chi-square log l n b† -.8279** .0989 .0489** .0235 .2324** -.0244 6.7 40.16*** -661.27 662 s.e.‡ .403 .064 .020 .051 .109 .056 b -.8152** .0860 .0448** .0217 .2106* -.0131 .1338 -.0021* 7.7 45.97*** -658.36 662 s.e. .4034 .065 .020 .051 .113 .057 .099 .001 b -.9993** .0829 .0432** .0255 .1955* -.0149 .0357* .0004 7.7 45.87*** -658.41 662 s.e. .409 .066 .020 .051 .113 .058 .021 .001 †: parameter estimate; ‡: standard error; ***: p<.01; **: p<.05; *: p<.10. model 1 model 2 model 3 m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 3, 2002, 175-199 192 alberto bayo-moriones and javier merino-díaz de cerio of a positive and significant impact on improvements in efficiency. the interaction term is significant only in model 2, although not with the expected sign. for the case in hand, therefore, we are unable to draw any definite conclusions regarding the relationships analysed. quality table 5 shows the results of the ordered probit models estimated for the two variables that capture the plants’ quality performance. the first three models refer to quality1, i.e., changes in the percentage of product defects, while the remaining three refer to quality2, i.e., changes in the percentage of processing defects. all six models are statistically significant and give a substantially better overall impression than those obtained when attempting to explain manufacturing efficiency. as in the previous table, both the level of automation and the installation of quality systems have a strong influence on the firm’s progress in the pursuit of quality. the two factors have a similar type of effect on the firm’s capacity to improve the quality of its products. in the case of quality1, however, a significant impact is also brought about by the evolution of the firm’s competitive position in the market. it would appear that plants feeling themselves exposed to increasing competition are forced to improve the quality of the final products that they take to market. for both product and processing defect rates, it is apparent that hrm practices being implemented help to explain the evolution of the plant’s quality performance. in the case in hand, results remain conclusive whatever method is used to measure the implementation of high-commitment practices. the explanatory capacity of the two models increases by introducing the hrmgroup variable; a similar effect also takes place with the hrmindex variable. the implementation of highcommitment hrm practices in a factory has a beneficial effect on reducing the defect rate. however, the interaction terms are significant in none of the models; therefore, the existence of complementarities between strategy and the adoption of hrm practices is disregarded in explaining quality performance. time-based performance table 6 shows the results of the ordered probit models estimated to explain trends over the last three years in the two indicators used to evaluate speed of action, which are the percentage of on-time deliveries and the time that elapses between receiving the materials and delivering to the client. it can be seen that all six models are significant and help to explain the variables being analysed. once again we find that quality assurance systems and high levels of automation in product processing help firms to achieve improvements in time-based performances. in the case of time2 it is also possible to see the effect of competition on the results obtained by the firms in this respect. plants that come under higher levels of competitive pressure make a greater effort to reduce the time that elapses between receivm@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 3, 2002, 175-199 193 human resource management, strategy, and operational performance t a b le 5 . o rd er ed p ro bi t a na ly si s fo r qu al ity p er fo rm an ce c o n st a n t l n si ze a u to m a tio n c o m p e tit io n q u a la ss u r s tr a te g y h r m g ro u p h r m g ro u p × s tr a te g y h r m in d e x h r m in d e x × s tr a te g y p se u d o -r 2 c h isq u a re l o g l n b † -. 5 3 8 1 .0 0 6 8 .0 6 1 4 ** * .0 9 8 9 * .4 7 6 1 ** * -. 0 2 7 6 1 2 .7 7 6 .4 3 ** * -6 2 5 .5 0 6 5 4 s. e .‡ .3 5 7 .0 5 9 .0 2 1 .0 5 1 .1 0 8 .0 5 4 b -. 5 9 2 4 * -. 0 1 9 6 .0 5 11 ** .1 0 3 6 * .4 1 8 2 ** * -. 0 1 5 4 .3 0 2 3 ** * -. 0 0 0 1 1 4 .1 8 5 .8 3 ** * -6 2 0 .8 0 6 5 4 s. e . .3 5 7 .0 6 0 .0 2 1 .0 5 1 .1 11 .0 5 5 .0 9 9 .0 0 1 b -. 8 7 7 9 ** -. 0 3 1 6 .0 4 5 8 ** .1 0 8 2 ** .4 1 2 4 ** * -. 0 1 7 2 .0 6 9 4 ** * -. 0 0 0 1 1 4 .4 8 7 .8 3 ** * -6 1 9 .8 0 6 5 4 s. e . .3 5 9 .0 6 0 .0 2 1 .0 5 1 .1 11 .0 5 4 .0 2 1 .0 0 1 † : p a ra m e te r e st im a te ; ‡ : st a n d a rd e rr o r; * ** : p < .0 1 ; ** : p < .0 5 ; *: p < .1 0 . m o d e l 1 m o d e l 2 m o d e l 3 b -. 5 1 4 7 .0 5 3 8 .0 8 7 0 ** * .0 4 0 0 .4 3 0 9 ** * -. 0 2 3 8 1 2 .6 7 6 .8 1 ** * -6 3 1 .0 5 6 5 9 s. e . .3 6 4 .0 6 1 .0 2 1 .0 5 0 .1 0 9 .0 5 6 b -. 5 3 4 8 .0 4 2 9 9 .0 7 9 9 ** * .0 4 2 5 .3 8 5 5 ** * -. 0 1 3 7 .2 2 3 0 ** -. 0 0 0 2 1 3 .4 8 2 .0 5 ** * -6 2 8 .4 3 6 5 9 s. e . .3 6 5 .0 6 1 .0 2 1 .0 5 0 .1 11 .0 5 7 .0 9 9 .0 0 1 b -. 8 2 6 7 ** .0 3 0 0 .0 7 2 9 ** * .0 4 9 2 .3 6 6 2 ** * -. 0 1 4 3 .0 6 6 5 ** * -. 0 0 0 1 1 4 .2 8 7 .3 2 ** * -6 3 5 .0 6 6 5 9 s. e . .3 6 8 .0 6 1 .0 2 1 .0 5 0 .1 11 .0 5 6 .0 2 1 .0 0 1 m o d e l 1 m o d e l 2 m o d e l 3 q u a lit y1 q u a lit y2 m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 3, 2002, 175-199 194 alberto bayo-moriones and javier merino-díaz de cerio t a b le 6 . o rd er ed p ro bi t a na ly si s fo r tim eba se d pe rfo rm an ce c o n st a n t l n si ze a u to m a tio n c o m p e tit io n q u a la ss u r s tr a te g y h r m g ro u p h r m g ro u p × s tr a te g y h r m in d e x h r m in d e x × s tr a te g y p se u d o -r 2 c h isq u a re l o g l n b † -. 2 0 6 6 .0 3 5 6 .0 5 9 2 ** * .0 2 3 2 .3 11 2 ** * .0 0 4 7 9 .3 5 7 .6 0 ** * -6 8 0 .6 2 6 7 5 s. e .‡ .3 6 6 .0 6 0 .0 2 0 .0 4 9 .1 0 5 .0 5 3 b -. 2 4 8 7 -. 0 1 4 6 .0 4 6 3 6 ** .0 2 8 7 .2 3 7 9 ** .0 1 8 4 .3 8 6 0 ** * -. 0 0 0 8 1 0 .7 7 4 .3 0 ** * -6 7 2 .2 7 6 7 5 s. e . .3 7 1 .0 6 1 .0 2 0 .0 5 0 .1 0 6 .0 5 5 .0 9 6 .0 0 1 b -. 4 8 1 3 -. 0 1 0 5 .0 4 7 8 ** .0 2 9 1 .2 5 5 4 ** .0 1 8 3 .0 5 7 8 ** * .0 0 0 2 11 .8 6 6 .8 3 ** * -6 7 6 .0 0 6 7 5 s. e . .3 7 8 .0 6 1 .0 2 0 .0 5 0 .1 0 6 .0 5 5 .0 2 0 .0 0 0 2 † : p a ra m e te r e st im a te ; ‡ : st a n d a rd e rr o r; * ** : p < .0 1 ; ** : p < .0 5 ; *: p < .1 0 . m o d e l 1 m o d e l 2 m o d e l 3 b -. 4 5 4 0 -. 0 0 2 9 .1 1 8 8 ** * .0 9 2 7 * .3 4 0 6 ** * -. 0 1 3 5 11 .8 1 0 0 .2 6 ** * -7 0 1 .9 0 7 0 2 s. e . .3 5 3 .0 5 7 .0 2 1 .0 4 9 .1 0 2 .0 4 9 b -. 4 9 9 0 .0 1 4 9 .1 0 8 4 ** * .0 9 6 7 * .2 7 4 3 ** * -. 0 0 0 8 .3 1 8 7 ** * .0 0 0 1 1 2 .9 11 1 .7 4 ** * -6 9 6 .1 6 7 0 2 s. e . .3 5 5 .0 5 7 .0 2 1 .0 5 0 .1 0 3 .0 5 0 .0 9 4 .0 0 1 b -. 7 4 4 2 ** -. 0 2 1 9 .1 0 5 4 ** * .1 0 0 2 ** .2 8 0 7 ** * -. 0 0 9 2 .0 6 0 8 ** * -. 0 0 0 1 1 3 .1 1 0 9 .8 5 ** * -6 9 7 .1 0 7 0 2 s. e . .3 6 6 .0 5 8 .0 2 1 .0 5 0 .1 0 3 .0 5 0 .0 2 0 .0 0 0 2 m o d e l 1 m o d e l 2 m o d e l 3 t im e 1 t im e 2 m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 3, 2002, 175-199 195 human resource management, strategy, and operational performance ing materials at the start of the production cycle and the moment when the product finally reaches the client, irrespective of whether or not they accompany this with action in the technological area. the conclusion that emerges yet again is that the way workers are managed has its effect on a plant’s performance. the impact of hrmgroup and hrmindex on both dependent variables is highly significant and, as with the quality results, the explanatory capacity of the models increases noticeably with the introduction of these variables. the implementation of innovative practices in the area of hrm leads not only to an increase in the percentage of on-time deliveries but also to a reduction of the amount of time the firm takes to manufacture the product and deliver it to the client. again, the interaction terms do not show any significant coefficient in the different models estimated. conclusions this study enables us to confirm that the way in which human resources are managed influences a company’s performance. generally speaking, our findings support the hypothesis that by using highperformance hrm systems, organisations can improve their chances of reaching objectives as long as they do not lose sight of other aspects, mainly of a technological nature, the explanatory capacity of which is considerable. these findings coincide largely with those of researchers into this issue in other contexts. it can not be said, however, that the impact of high-commitment hrm practices used is significant in all of the three measurements of manufacturing performance analysed. when it comes to efficiency, for example, we can not be absolutely certain that the development of high-performance hrm practices in the plant noticeably increases the likelihood of improvements, since results differ depending on how the implementation of such practices is measured. in the case of quality and time-based performance, however, there is conclusive evidence that high-commitment work practices can bring about substantial improvements in company performance. our findings also show that the strategy of the firm does not play any intermediate role between high-commitment management and performance. the positive effects of adopting high-performance practices for companies are equally significant both for firms that base their strategy on cost and for companies that give priority to quality in managing the factory. the recommendations for managers that derive from our results are straightforward. our findings encourage managers strongly to implement in their firms high-commitment practices in their management of human resources. these practices elicit behaviours and develop competencies in employees in such a way that they give rise to a series of benefits in terms of better outcomes, both in quality and time. one of the limitations of this study is a result of the context in which the empirical analysis was carried out. the fact that we have focused on the manufacturing industry, with the wide range of activities which that m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 3, 2002, 175-199 196 alberto bayo-moriones and javier merino-díaz de cerio implies, and have concentrated on only one group of employees, albeit the largest, means that our conclusions can not be made applicable to all professions and sectors. one of the shortcomings of this study is that cross section analysis, whilst revealing the type of association that exists between variables, does not provide any clear account of the causal relationships. it is not absolutely clear from the results of the study whether there is a causal relationship or a concomitant one. this issue might, therefore, be worthwhile exploring in any possible future investigation using panel data. in subsequent studies we intend to look further other issues that have not been dealt with in this one. one of these is the possibility of a complementary relationship between the practices comprised in high-commitment management. although we have looked on the system as a whole and not on individual practices, it is worth looking into the question of how these practices are interrelated and in what way this affects company performance. this analysis could reveal the importance of internal consistency in the field of personnel management. we also consider interesting to be able to analyse more deeply the use of other operational indicators different from those used in this article. in this effort a balanced scorecard approach would be extremely useful in determining the effect of high-commitment management on the performance of the factory. it will also be necessary to ascertain how far hrm practices complement other areas of plant management different from strategy. while our findings support the theory of the universal impact of these practices and rejects the contingency hypothesis on strategy, it remains to be seen whether the extent of the positive effect of high-commitment management depends on other decisions taken in the factory. the degree to which hrm complements strategy and technology will require special attention. endnote. the authors would like to thank fundación bbva, government of navarre and the spanish ministry of education (pb 98-0550) for financial support. alberto bayo-moriones is a lecturer of organization and human resource management at universidad pública de navarra, where he earned his ph.d. his main research interests are payment by results and high-commitment management systems. other research interests include the impact of hrm practices on performance and the hrm implications of quality and operations management. javier merino-díaz de cerio is a professor of organization and operations management at universidad pública de navarra. he received his ph.d. from universidad pública de navarra. his research interests are quality management, human resource management and its relationship. other research interests include innovation management, cooperation and other issues in operations management. m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 3, 2002, 175-199 197 human resource management, strategy, and operational performance ■ arthur, j. b. 1992 the link between business strategy and industrial relations systems in american steel minimills, industrial and labor relations review, 45(3): 488-506. ■ arthur, j. b. 1994 effects of human resource systems on manufacturing performance and turnover, academy of management journal, 37(3): 670-687. ■ baird, l., and i. meshoulam 1988 managing two fits of strategic human resource management, academy of management review, 13(1): 116-128. ■ bartel, a. p. 1994 productivity gains from the implementation of employee training programs, industrial relations, 33(4): 411-425. ■ becker, b., and b. gerhart 1996 the impact of human resource management on organizational performance: progress and prospects, academy of management journal, 39(4): 779-801. ■ becker, b. e., and m. a. huselid 1998 high performance work systems and firm performance: a synthesis of research and managerial implications, in g. ferris (ed.), research in personnel and human resources management, vol. 16, greenwich, ct: jai press, 53-101. ■ black, s. e., and l. m. lynch 2000 what’s driving the new economy: the benefits of workplace innovation, nber working paper series, no. 7479, cambridge, ma: national bureau of economic research. ■ black, s. e., and l. m. lynch 2001 how to compete: the impact of workplace practices and information technology on productivity, review of economics and statistics, 83(3): 434-445. ■ cappelli, p., and d. neumark 2001 do “high performance” work practices improve establishment-level outcomes?, industrial and labor relations review, 54(4): 737-775 ■ corbett, c., and l. van wassenhove 1993 trade-offs? what trade-offs? competence and competitiveness in manufacturing strategy, california management review, 35(4): 107-122. ■ delaney, j. t., and m. a. huselid 1996 the impact of human resource management practices on perceptions of organizational performance, academy of management journal, 39(4): 949-969. ■ dess, g. g., and r. b. robinson, jr. 1984 measuring organisational performance in the absence of objective measures: the case of the privately-held firm and conglomerate business unit, strategic management journal, 5(3): 265-273. ■ dyer, l., and t. reeves 1995 human resource strategies and firm performance: what do we know and where do we need to go?, international journal of human resource management, 6(3): 656-670. ■ fey, c. f., i. björkman, and a. pavlovskaya 2000 the effect of human resource management practices on firm performance in russia, international journal of human resource management, 11(1): 1-18. ■ filippini r., c. forza, and a. vinelli 1998 trade-off and compatibility between performance: definitions and empirical evidence, international journal of production research, 36(12): 3379-3406. ■ guest, d. e. 1997 human resource management and performance: a review and research agenda, international journal of human resource management, 8(3): 263-276. ■ harel, g. h., and s. s. tzafrir 1999 the effect of human resource management practices on the perceptions of organizational and market performance of the firm, human resource management, 38(3): 185-200. ■ holzer, h. j. 1987 hiring procedures in the firm: their economic determinants and outcomes, in m. m. kleiner, r. n. block, m. roomkin and s. w. salsburg (eds.), human resources and the performance of the firm, madison, wi: industrial relations research association, 243-274. ■ hoque, k. 1999 human resource management and performance in the uk hotel industry, british journal of industrial relations, 37(3): 419-443. ■ huselid, m. a. 1995 the impact of human resource management practices on turnover, productivity, and corporate financial performance, academy of management journal, 38(3): 635-672. ■ huselid, m. a., and b. e. becker 1996 methodological issues in cross-sectional and panel estimates of the human resource-firm performance link, industrial relations, 35(3): 400422. ■ ichniowski, c. 1990 human resource management systems and the performance of u.s. manufacturing businesses, nber working paper series, no. 3449, cambridge, ma: national bureau of economic research. ■ ichniowski, c., and k. shaw 1999 the effects of human resource management systems on economic performance: an international comparison of u.s. and japanese plants, management science, 45(5): 704-721. references http://papers.nber.org/papers.html http://papers.nber.org/papers.html m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 3, 2002, 175-199 198 alberto bayo-moriones and javier merino-díaz de cerio ■ ichniowski, c., k. shaw, and g. prennushi 1997 the effects of human resource management practices on productivity: a study of steel finishing lines, american economic review, 87(3): 291-313. ■ ichniowski, c., t. a. kochan, d. levine, c. olson, and g. strauss 1996 what works at work: overview and assessment, industrial relations, 35(3): 299-333. ■ kalleberg, a. l., and j. w. moody 1994 human resource management and organizational performance, american behavioral scientist, 37(7): 948-962. ■ kaplan, r. s., and d. p. norton 1992 the balanced scorecard—measures that drive performance, harvard business review, 70(1): 71-79. ■ katz, h. c., t. a. kochan, and k. r. gobeille 1983 industrial relations performance, economic performance, and qwl programs: an interplant analysis, industrial and labor relations review, 37(1): 3-17. ■ liouville, j., and m. bayad 1998 human resource management and performances: proposition and test of a causal model, human systems management, 17(3): 183-192. ■ macduffie j. p. 1995 human resource bundles and manufacturing performance: organizational logic and flexible production systems in the world auto industry, industrial and labor relations review, 48(2): 197-221. ■ maddala, g. s. 1983 limited-dependent and qualitative variables in econometrics, cambridge: cambridge university press. ■ mcnabb, r., and k. whitfield 1999 the distribution of employee participation schemes at the workplace, international journal of human resource management, 10(1): 122-136. ■ miles, r., and c. snow 1984 designing strategic human resource management systems, organizational dynamics, 13(1): 36-52. ■ morishima, m. 1991 information sharing and firm performance in japan, industrial relations, 30(1): 37-61. ■ neely, a., m. gregory, and k. platts 1995 performance measurement system design: a literature review and research agenda, international journal of operations & production management, 15(4): 80-116. ■ osterman, p. 1994 how common is workplace transformation and who adopts it?, industrial and labor relations review, 47(2): 173-188. ■ pil, f. k., and j. p. macduffie 1996 the adoption of high-involvement work practices, industrial relations, 35(3): 423-455. ■ porter, m. e. 1980 competitive strategy: techniques for analyzing industries and competitors, new york: free press. ■ powell, t. c. 1995 total quality management as competitive advantage: a review and empirical study, strategic management journal, 16(1): 15-37. ■ schuler, r. s., and s. e. jackson 1987 linking competitive strategies with human resource management practices, academy of management executive, 1(3): 207-219. ■ tichy, n. m., c. j. fombrun, and m. a. devanna 1982 strategic human resource management, sloan management review, 23(2): 47-61. ■ venkatraman, n., and v. ramanujam 1986 measurement of business performance in strategy research: a comparison of approaches, academy of management review, 11(4): 801-814. ■ venkatraman, n., and v. ramanujam 1987 measurement of business economic performance: an examination of method convergence, journal of management, 13(1): 109-122. ■ weitzman, m. l., and d. l. kruse 1990 profit sharing and productivity, in a. s. blinder (ed.), paying for productivity: a look at the evidence, washington dc: the brookings institution, 95-140. ■ whitfield k., and m. poole 1997 organizing employment for high performance: theories, evidence and policy, organization studies, 18(5): 745-764. ■ wood, s., and m. t. albanese 1995 can we speak of a high commitment management on the shop floor?, journal of management studies, 32(2): 215-247. ■ wood, s., and l. de menezes 1998 high commitment management in the u.k.: evidence from the workplace industrial relations survey, and employers’ manpower and skills practices survey, human relations, 51(4): 485-515. ■ wright, p. m., and g. c. mcmahan 1992 theoretical perspectives for strategic human resource management, journal of management, 18(2): 295-320. ■ wright, p. m., g. c. mcmahan, and a. mcwilliams 1994 human resources and sustained competitive advantage: a resourcebased perspective, international journal of human resource management, 5(2): 301-326. ■ wright, p. m., and w. s. sherman 1999 failing to find fit in strategic human resource management: theoretical and empirical problems, in p. m. wright, l. d. dyer, j. w. boudreau and g. t. milkovich (eds.), research in personnel and human resources management, supplement 4, stamford, ct: jai press, 53-74. m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 3, 2002, 175-199 199 human resource management, strategy, and operational performance ■ youndt, m. a., s. a. snell, j. w. dean, jr., and d. p. lepak 1996 human resource management, manufacturing strategy, and firm performance, academy of management journal, 39(4): 836-866. bo bernhard nielsen 2004 the role of trust in collaborative relationships: a multi-dimensional approach m@n@gement, 7(3): 239-256. m@n@gement is a double-blind reviewed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.dmsp.dauphine.fr/management/ © 2004 m@n@gement and the author(s). issn: 1286-4892 editors: martin evans, u. of toronto bernard forgues, u. of paris 12 http://www.dmsp.dauphine.fr/management/ http://www.dmsp.dauphine.fr/management/ m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 239-256 special issue: practicing collaboration 239 bo bernhard nielsen western washington universitydepartment of management email: bo.nielsen@wwu.edu the role of trust in collaborative relationships: a multi-dimensional approach although trust has been given much attention in the management literature as an explanatory factor, less research has been devoted to defining and operationalizing the role of trust, particularly in relation to interorganizational collaboration. the role of trust in collaboration is usually attributed ex post; successful alliances seem to involve trust; unsuccessful alliances do not. as such, much of the extant literature has treated trust as a residual term for the complex social-psychological processes necessary for social action to occur. yet the relationship between trust and performance remains somewhat elusive in collaborative relationships, perhaps due to the frequent application of interpersonal types of trust to interorganizational types of collaborations. based on a synthesis of research on trust with research on other aspects of collaboration, this paper identifies the multi-dimensional role played by trust in collaborative relationships. by distinguishing between different roles of trust pertaining to different phases of alliance evolution, and recognizing the recursive nature of collaborative trust, this paper attempts to respond to calls for research examining the evolution of trust and its impact on interorganizational collaborative relationships. the simultaneous focus on trust as an antecedent of relationship development, a moderator of these on outcome, and direct effects on relationship outcome has important implications for both research and practice alike. introduction collaboration across institutional, sectoral, and national boundaries is now an accepted strategic choice for most businesses competing in an increasingly competitive world. it seems somewhat of a paradox that in order to be an effective competitor in the modern economy a firm needs to be a trusted cooperator in some network. research on strategic collaboration between firms has received increasing attention in the literature during the last two decades, reflecting the increasing frequency and importance of strategic alliances in business practice. two main streams, in terms of focus, in this literature can be identified: one stream is mainly concerned with examining the underlying conditions favoring alliance formation (motivation for alliance formation and contractual, or structural, structures used in these alliances) (e.g., contractor and lorange, 1988); the other stream is occupied with investigating alliance outcomes and the impact of alliances on the partner firms (e.g., doz, 1996). contributions to both streams are based on an impressive range of theoretical mailto:bo.nielsen@wwu.edu m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 239-256 special issue: practicing collaboration 240 bo bernhard nielsen perspectives including corporate, social, economical, institutional, and political (see gray and wood, 1991) and cover a range of collaborative relations such as public-private partnerships, industrial networks, and strategic alliances (child and faulkner, 1998; genefke and mcdonald, 2001). apart from the increasing number of journal articles, there have also been several special issues (see, for example, the 1998 academy of management review special issue, the 2001 organization studies special issue, and the 2003 organization science special issue) and books (e.g., gambetta, 1988; kramer and ty l e r, 1996; lane and bachmann, 1998) devoted to the topic of trust in and between organizations. these contributions offer a host of diverse conceptualizations and interpretations of trust in the context of both intraand interorganizational collaboration as well as interpersonal collaboration. some of these contributions have aimed to provide an overview of, and synthesize theories on, trust (see, for example, kramer and ty l e r, 1996; lane and bachmann, 1998; rousseau, sitkin, burt and c a m e r e r, 1998). nevertheless, child (2001: 275) concludes: «despite the value placed on it, trust remains an undertheorized, underresearched, and therefore poorly understood phenomenon». furthermore, though several theoretical traditions have recognized the importance of trust in economic exchange, limited research exist on how trust, particularly conceptualized as a dynamic phenomenon, operates to affect the performance of interfirm exchange over time (see lane, 1998). consequently, while some empirical confusion still exists in terms of defining trust (see below) and sources of trust, the extant literature seems to agree that trust has a positive, albeit limited and indirect, impact on performance (cf. rousseau et al., 1 9 9 8 ; dirks and ferrin, 2001). this article attempts to respond to the call for more systematic research into the role of trust in business relations (e.g., koza and lewin, 1998) by shedding light on the dynamic, multi-dimensional role of trust in collaborative relationships. the article aims at achieving this through the synthesis of research on trust in interorganizational collaboration with research on other aspects of dynamic collaboration, thereby contributing to practice-oriented theory on collaboration (gray, 1989; osborn and hagedoorn, 1997). defining trust despite rousseau et al.’s (1998: 394) conclusion in their review of the trust literature that «[r]egardless of the underlying discipline of the authors (…) confident expectations and a willingness to be vulnerable are critical components of all definitions of trust», no single agreedupon interpretation of trust exists in the literature (see hosmer, 1995; currall and inkpen, 2002). whereas some scholars tend to view trust in broad terms as one’s belief and expectation about the likelihood of having a desirable action performed by the trustee (e.g., sitkin and roth, 1993), others tend to define trust in terms of one’s assessment m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 239-256 special issue: practicing collaboration 241 the role of trust in collaborative relashionships: a multi-dimensional approach of others’ goodwill and reliability in a risky exchange situation (e.g., ring and van de ven, 1994). according to becker (1996: 47), authors of this rational predictive account of trust (see lewis and we i g e r t , 1985 for a detailed description of rational prediction) «appear to eliminate what they say they describe», thereby removing core elements of trust and reducing it to pure prediction. other scholars distinguish between cognitiveand affect-based dimensions of trust (mcallister, 1995; johnson, sakano, voss, and takenouchi, 1998). similar to the rational prediction perspective described above, cognitive-based trust is based on predictability, past behavior, dependability, and fairness (rempel, holmes, and zanna, 1985). in contrast, affect-based trust is based on non-calculative reliance on the moral integrity, or goodwill, of others based on emotional bonds between individual and social interaction (lewis and weigert, 1985). consistent with this view, ring (1996) renamed these two types of trust into fragile and resilient trust, r e s p e c t i v e l y, and related them to collaborative interorganizational relationships (cior’s), arguing that resilient trust explains the relative stability of cior’s (see ring and van de ven [1994] for a definition of c i o r ) . from an economic perspective, trust emerges as a result of a cost/benefit analysis of perceived risks versus perceived (economic) gains of interaction. the perceived positive intentions in calculusbased trust derive because of credible information regarding the intentions and/or competence of another (barber, 1983). such credible information about a trustee may be provided by experience (prior relationships), others (reputation), or by certification (e.g., iso 9000). deterrence-based trust, on the other hand, fosters trust simply because the costs (sanctions) in place for breach of trust exceeds any benefits from opportunistic behavior (ring and van de ven, 1992). consistent with transaction cost economics, asset specificity effects in the form of switching costs to parties are examples of deterrencebased trust (williamson, 1985). trust is by many seen as an inherently individual-level phenomenon (e.g., zaheer, mcevily and perrone, 1998) and not specifying clearly how it translates from the individual to the organization—and beyond— may blur the theoretical development. it has often been argued that individuals, not organizations trust. however, individuals act within institutional and social contexts (institution-based trust), which introduce a degree of ambiguity about the multilevel and multidimentional nature of trust. for instance, within the transaction cost perspective (williamson, 1985), organizations (macro-level) are attributed individual (micro-level) motivations and behaviors and thus committing a “cross-level fallacy” (rousseau, 1985). this issue is addressed within relational exchange theory (e.g., dore, 1983), where personal relations generate trust and hence discourage opportunistic behavior between firms, however, neglecting to stipulate the mechanisms by which individual level action affects exchange between complex social systems, such as organizations. responding to this ambiguity, zaheer et al. (1998) took on the ambitious task of teasing out how trust at the two levels is related. their important study of buyer-supplier relationships m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 239-256 special issue: practicing collaboration 242 bo bernhard nielsen in the electrical equipment manufacturing industry found some support for the relationship between trust and performance, albeit not in the way proposed. similar to doney and cannon (1997) the study established that interpersonal trust and interorganizational trust are related but empirically and theoretically distinct concepts. interestingly, however, interorganizational trust emerges as the overriding driver of exchange performance, negotiation, and conflict, whereas interpersonal trust exerts little direct influence on those outcomes. moreover, they found that interorganizational trust is associated with lowered costs of negotiation and conflict. in contrast, interpersonal trust showed a positive association with negotiation costs, indicating that institutionalized practices and routines for dealing with a partner organization, as captured by interorganizational trust, transcend the influence of the individual boundary spanner (zaheer et al., 1998). table 1 shows different definitions and roles of trust in collaboration. table 1. the role of trust in collaboration ty p e of trust cognitivebased trust or fragile trust affect-based trust or resilient trust calculusbased trust deterrencebased trust institutionbased trust t h e o r e t i c a l g r o u n d i n g rational prediction— sociology/ psychology emotional prediction— sociology/ psychology rational choice— economics utilitarian— economics conditional— institutional economics and sociology definition assessment of reliability is based on past behavior and cognitive reasoning (lewis and wiegert, 1985) non-calculative reliance on the moral integrity, or goodwill, of others based on emotional bonds between individual and social interaction (homans, 1961; lewis and wiegert, 1985) trust emerges when the trustor perceives that the trustee intends to perform an action that is beneficial (cost/benefit) enables one party to believe that another will be trustworthy, because the costly sanctions in place for breach of trust exceeds any potential benefits from opportunistic behavior (ring and van de ven, 1992; 1994) institutional factors can act as broad supports for the critical mass of trust that sustains further risk taking and trust behavior (zucker, 1986; gulati, 1995; sitkin, 1995) level of analysis interpersonal interpersonal interpersonal/ (inter)organizational (inter)organizational (inter)organizational/ societal role of trust in collaboration antecedent role as enabling condition which facilitates formation of ongoing networks (ring, 1996; das and teng, 1998) antecedent role as firms learn from each other and develop trust over time through ongoing interaction and reciprocity (axelrod, 1984; gulati, 1993; ring, 1996) antecedent role as firms seek credible information regarding intentions and competence of partner. (luhmann, 1979) moderating and effect role as risks are continually monitored and evaluated against performance (das and teng, 1998) moderating role as institutional sanctions and assets specificity effects may act as substitutes for control (bradach and eccles, 1989) effect role as cost of sanctions may deter from opportunistic behavior in performance evaluation antecedent role as legal systems and reputational sanctions act as a deterrent from opportunism. (fukuyama, 1995) moderating role as facilitator of collaborative culture (miles and creed, 1995) effect role as trust is dependent variable (hagen and choe, 1998) m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 239-256 special issue: practicing collaboration 243 the role of trust in collaborative relashionships: a multi-dimensional approach the role of trust in collaboration in the extant literature, trust has often been treated as either 1/a determinant or an antecedent of relationship quality (anderson and narus, 1990, mohr and nevin, 1990), 2/a feature or a moderator of relationship quality (dwyer, schurr, and oh 1987), or 3/an outcome or e ffect of collaboration (zucker, 1986). for instance, anderson and narus (1990) view trust as a determinant of the amount of cooperation and the functionality of conflict between parties. similarly, trust is often modeled as an independent variable in studies of economic transactions, where high trust, perhaps based on previous experiences with a partner in a repeated game, tends to result in the decision to cooperate, which, in turn, can lead to access to economic gains (axelrod, 1984). consistent with this perspective, transaction cost economists frequently cite trust as a cause of reduced opportunism among transacting parties, resulting in lower transaction costs ( williamson, 1975). in terms of the evolution of strategic interfim collaboration, trust, modeled as an independent, antecedent variable, seems to be consistent with early stages of alliance evolution. in other studies, trust is viewed as a feature of relationships, in addition to power, communications, and goal compatibility (anderson, lodish, and weitz, 1987). consistent with this perception of trust as moderating the causal relationships of interpersonal behavior in organizations and social settings, often found in both micro-organizational behavior and social psychology (e.g., mishra and spreitzer, 1998), das and teng (1998) model the moderating effects of trust on control from an economic perspective, however, paying attention to all three roles of trust (cause, moderator, and effect) simultaneously. the moderating role of trust in collaboration implicitly assumes that trust develops incrementally as the parties move from one stage to another during the evolution of the relationship (lewicki and bunker, 1 9 9 6 ) . a third conceptualization of trust as a dependent variable (eff e c t ) models trust as the result of, for instance, institutional arrangements ( z u c k e r, 1986) or attributes of the other partner (mishra, 1996). for instance, hagen and choe (1998) propose that a combination of institutional and societal sanctioning mechanisms is largely responsible for the trust-induced cooperation in the japanese auto indust r y. similarly, doney, cannon and mullen (1998) trace the antecedent processes of trust building, posit that cultural factors, such as societal norms and values, facilitate or inhibit application of a particular process, and speculate that trustors may assign greater weight to trust developed via one cognitive process compared to a n o t h e r. the underlying assumption here is that trust is somehow related to collaborative performance—or indeed is a measure of performance itself. consequently, trust modeled as the dependent variable relates to later stages in the relationship development proc e s s . m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 239-256 special issue: practicing collaboration 244 bo bernhard nielsen multi-dimensional managerial issues of trust in collaboration trust is path-dependent and evolves over time, depending, among other things, on the social, institutional and national context. in other words, trust exists in context and is shaped by dynamics specific to particular social settings—that is trust is socially embedded (granovetter, 1985). interorganizational collaboration is also path-dependent and continuously changing over time. future-based trust is gained through agreements, made in early stages of a collaboration, in which trust serves as a substitute for formal contracts (bradach and eccles, 1989; gulati, 1995). hence, since trust is a dynamic and continuous variable, which can vary substantially both within and across relationships, as well as over time, it is conceptually important to distinguish between the role of trust at different phases of the collaborative relationship. hence, building on lewicki and bunker’s (1996) idea of the stagewise evolution of trust, the following discussion of the issues facing management in relation to trust in inter-organizational collaboration is organized around the phases of alliance development suggested by child (1998) and the core dimensions of interorganizational relationships (see parhke, 1993). table 2 outlines the different managerial issues pertaining to trust at different phases of alliance evolution. it should be noted, however, that these phases are only used to illustrate changing roles of trust and should not be considered table 2. trust and evolution of alliance relationship: managerial issues issue managerial issue(s) type(s) of trust role of trust managerial mechanism(s) operationalization of trust alliance formation partner selection and initial trust building cognitive-based trust affect-based trust calculus-based trust institution-based trust antecedent: information seeking and uncertainty (risk) reducing effect: transparency and embeddedness leads to more trust select partner with whom you have prior experience of collaboration, if no such partner is available, select partner with favorable reputation transparency, flexibility, and willingness to adapt nature and degree of physical interaction nature and degree of knowledge transfer nature and degree of adaptation and flexibility alliance implementation governance and control deterrence-based trust institution-based trust moderation: relational governance mitigating risk mediation: indirect, intervening effect on governance choice ensure goal congruency and design flexible contracts develop collaborative knowhow and capabilities model trust as partially moderating and/or mediating the effects of the antecedent variables on performance alliance evolution performance evaluation calculus-based trust deterrence-based trust institution-based trust mediating: indirect, intervening effect on objective and subjective performance effect: reducing conflict and instability caused by ambiguity in formal contracts specify method and terms of performance evaluation early during relationship development allow for flexibility but reduce ambiguity clearly communicating goals and expectations impact of interpersonal and (inter)firm trust on a combination of objective and subjective measures, assessed in the short, medium, and long-term phase m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 239-256 special issue: practicing collaboration 245 the role of trust in collaborative relashionships: a multi-dimensional approach absolute in any sense. as will be discussed later, careful attention to the dynamic, recursive, and often overlapping properties of trust as it relates to alliance evolution, is warranted. trust and alliance formation trust is often treated as a precondition for successful collaboration in the literature (e.g., lane and bachmann, 1998; cullen, johnson and sakano, 2000). as argued by ring (1997), trust is an enabling condition, which facilitates the formation of ongoing networks. others argue that a certain minimum level of interfirm trust is indispensable for any strategic alliance to be formed and to function (das and teng, 1998). however, the question remains as to how management builds initial trust in the alliance formation phase. trust improves and accelerates exchanges, as economic actors have access to more information about the predictability of other’s behaviors so as to be able to identify reliable partners in the search and partner selection (formation) phase. moreover, trust can modify partners’ intentions about future exchanges when it is based on direct experiences with previous business relationships with a partner. the desire and willingness to expend resources in the development of trust and long-term relationships is closely linked to a firm’s prior experiences with that partner and the extent to which positive or negative expectancies have been fulfilled (larson, 1992). trust earned from prior engagement serves as evidence to justify subsequent risky steps beyond the accumulated evidence (das and teng, 1998). that is, faced with a situation in which one can be taken advantage of, a natural response is to restrict one’s transactions to those who have shown themselves to be trustworthy. this is consistent with ariño, de la torre and ring (2001), who found prior experiences to be a critical determinant of future levels of relational quality. these direct experiences are likely to influence the parties’ views of each other’s capabilities and trustworthiness in the face of internal or external challenges (lewicki and bunker, 1996). it follows that if trust in business relationships initially develops on a calculative basis (shapiro, sheppard, and cheraskin, 1992), as parties try to determine the nature of their interdependence, prior experience is likely to minimize uncertainty (and increase predictability), thus impacting the evolution of trust. in lack of prior experience with a particular partner, the next logical step is to rely on the reputation of that firm, which is a direct consequence of prior relational behavior (granovetter, 1985). according to granovetter (1985: 490-491, emphasis in original): «the widespread preference for transacting with individuals with known reputation implies that few are actually content to rely on either generalized morality or institutional arrangements to guard against trouble. [instead] social relations, rather than institutionalized arrangements or generalized morality, are mainly responsible for the production of trust in economic life». research suggests that most firms are embedded in a social network of prior alliances through which they are connected with one another either directly or indirectly (kogut, shan and walker, 1993). the concept of structural embeddedness focuses on the inform@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 239-256 special issue: practicing collaboration 246 bo bernhard nielsen mational role of the position an organization occupies in the overall structure of the network (uzzi, 1996; gulati, 1998). thus, the type of network in which a firm is embedded defines the opportunities potentially available; its relative position in this structure and the types of interfirm ties it maintains defines its access to those opportunities (uzzi, 1996). within such a dense social network, reputational considerations play an important role in a firm’s potential for future alliances, because these social affiliations determine the firm’s perceived status and serve as a source of legitimacy. this is especially true for firms entering new markets or industries or collaborating across organizational and national boundaries, where affiliation with a known firm might signal quality and trustworthiness and thereby serve as a foundation for a favorable evaluation by a potential partner. an example is the establishment of foreign trade councils by many countries to support international trade, which help firms obtain valuable information about potential partner firms. for instance, whereas the business license of a focal firm can provide information about its legal capacity, registered capital, and business scope, foreign trade councils can usually provide invaluable reputational information regarding local (consumer) perceptions of the focal firm, its competitive position, and its relationship to local authorities. once the partner is selected, the basis for initial trust needs to be built. open and honest communication at the outset of any relationship is important and in terms of forming a complex business relationship even more so. communication can be described as the glue that holds together a channel of exchange. in this sense, communication can be broadly defined as «the formal as well as the informal sharing of meaningful and timely information between firms» (anderson and narus, 1990: 44). communication fosters trust by assisting in resolving disputes and aligning perceptions and expectations (etgar, 1979) and it would be impossible to theorize about trust in collaboration without paying due attention to communication. as argued by lane and beamish (1990), high quality communication leads to trust and openness and essentially to higher performance. consistently, nielsen (forthcoming) argues for the existence of a dyadic embeddedness construct, which serves as a mediator between trust and synergies of learning (innovativeness), pointing to the multi-directional and dynamic role of trust. formation of an alliance involves a search and identification process in order to find the right partner, where differences and complementarities need to be recognized and articulated. different perspectives and expectations do not necessarily lead to conflict and subsequent poor performance, however, the probability of this occurring is, all other things being equal, higher when there is a lack of transparency between the parties involved. communication and proactive information exchange as well as willingness to make adaptations according to the partnership is likely to build initial trust (webb, 1991; das and teng, 1998). from a research perspective, a multi-dimensional operationalization of trust at both the interpersonal and interorganizational level is needed, as the level of institutional flexibility in terms of policies and procedures m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 239-256 special issue: practicing collaboration 247 the role of trust in collaborative relashionships: a multi-dimensional approach for knowledge exchange, risk taking, and goal adjustment needs to be combined with cognitive and affect-based measures of interpersonal interaction. moreover, a multi-directional approach is needed in order to account for the simultaneous cause-effect roles of trust. trust and implementation in the implementation phase of the alliance, key issues for firms include, among other things, defining transaction rules, certifying exchange elements, and creating mechanisms to support decisions. in short, this phase is concerned with the governance of the alliance relationship. a large part of research on choice of governance form in alliances has been based on the distinction between equity and non-equity arrangements (pisano, 1989; osborn and baughn, 1990). equity alliances involve, by definition, common ownership, and are typically organized as joint ventures. in the market-hierarchy continuum of organizational forms, equity joint ventures most closely replicate the characteristics normally associated with hierarchies, as they entail the creation of a separate administrative structure with formal coordination and control mechanisms. non-equity alliances, on the contrary, are contractual agreements that lack shared ownership or dedicated administrative structures. hence, equity arrangements are seen as governance forms fundamentally different from non-equity alliances, which are more akin to arm’s length market exchanges (contractor and lorange, 1988). research concerning the choice between equity and non-equity contracts has traditionally focused on the level of control typical of different governance forms (das and teng, 1998). part of this literature assumes that, because equity alliances provide more control over partner behavior than non-equity alliances, non-equity arrangements require a higher level of trust than equity arrangements to effectively manage the uncertainty surrounding the alliance partner’s behavior. according to this view, through the familiarity developed in past alliances, partners build enough confidence in each other to give up the hierarchical control offered by equity forms of governance in favor of the trust-based flexibility of non-equity alliances (gulati, 1995). however, the notion that, in the absence of trust, equity arrangements protect collaborators from undesirable partner behavior more effectively than non-equity arrangements is questionable. in fact, equity and nonequity arrangements offer different sets of advantages and disadvantages in controlling partner behavior, with neither governance form dominating the other in this respect. specifically, equity alliances are believed to provide partners with more control by creating a “mutual hostage” situation that helps align the interests of all partners, since partners’ concern for their investment reduces the probability that they will behave opportunistically (williamson, 1993). however, it can be argued that the mutual hostage condition protects partners from each other while exposing them to a different type of risk. for instance, firms operating in the same markets may attempt to use an alliance to gain as much as possible from their partners while sharing as little as possible (protectiveness) of their knowledge and resources (hamel, m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 239-256 special issue: practicing collaboration 248 bo bernhard nielsen 1991). in such a context, by facilitating the unintended transfer of tacit knowledge across tightly connected organizations (hennart, 1988), joint ventures can provide a partner with greater opportunities for freeriding than non-equity alliances. in general, because they entail the establishment of an ad hoc organizational entity, equity alliances require a higher level of alliance-specific investment than non-equity alliances (das and teng, 1998), and thus a higher degree of mutual dependence and connectedness between partners (osborn and baughn, 1990). thus, in spite of the commitment they induce (and because of it), equity investments increase the difficulty and cost of exit, thus intensifying the vulnerability to undesirable partner behavior. for these reasons, equity alliances may require a higher level of confidence (trust) in a partner than non-equity arrangements (das and teng, 1998), however, this relationship may be contingent upon the nature of the collaboration (i.e., marketing of low-tech products versus r&d agreement of high-tech products). some scholars view trust as a specific type of control mechanism that governs economic transactions. accordingly, it is argued that social knowledge can be viewed as a social control mechanism that can substitute certain formal control mechanisms, such as majority equity ownership in joint ventures (sohn, 1994). social knowledge (i.e., the ability to understand and predict other’s behavior) is not the same as trust; however, one could argue that trust is a substitute for hierarchical control in organizations (e.g., zaheer and venkatraman, 1995). that is, trust is not in and by itself a control mechanism, but it might be viewed as a reason not to use objective controls. ring and van de ven (1994) support this argument in their discussion of the relationship between formal legal contract (control) and psychological contract (trust) in interfirm cooperation. empirically, gulati and singh (1998) find support for their hypothesis that alliances in which there is less trust between partners are more likely to be organized with more hierarchical governance structures than are those in which there is greater trust. hence, relational norms, such as trust, are often viewed as substitutes for complex, explicit contracts or vertical integration (granovetter, 1985; bradach and eccles, 1989). indeed, some contend that formal contracts may even undermine a firm’s capacity to develop relational governance as it signals distrust of your exchange partner and undermines trust, thereby encouraging, rather than discouraging, opportunistic behavior (ghoshal and moran, 1996). from this perspective, relational governance is regarded a substitute for formal contracts and, in the presence of relational governance, formal contracts are at best an unnecessary expense and at worst counter-productive (poppo and zenger, 2002). according to poppo and zenger (2002), however, formal contracts and relational contracts complement each other rather than act as substitutes, since well-specified contracts promote more cooperative, long-term, trusting exchange relationships. managerially, this paradox translates into the question of how to optimally mix formal and relational governance. clearly, far from all contingencies can be worked into a formal contract, hence it seems that the role of trust may be, in conjunction with formal governance, to mitm@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 239-256 special issue: practicing collaboration 249 the role of trust in collaborative relashionships: a multi-dimensional approach igate risk. indeed, most definitions of trust regard risk as an integral part of trust (das and teng, 1998). it seems evident, then, that the nature of the contractual agreement is contingent upon the level of trust developed in the initial stages of alliance formation, which in turn is contingent upon the motives (for instance exploitation versus exploration) behind the alliance and the perceived risk associated with the investment in the relationship. goal congruence and collaborative know-how (see simonin, 1997; 2000) provide the basis for assessing the extent of formal contracting needed in a given situation. practices like owning stock (e.g., stock swaps), transferring employees, having guest engineers, and using flexible legal contracts create a high degree of goal congruence and mutual trust (dyer and ouchi, 1993). building on prior research suggesting that alliances go through several stages of evolution, simonin (2000; 2002) identified five separate dimensions of his collaborative know-how construct via factor analysis. the five underlying factors pertaining to the assessed level of corporate expertise with aspects of 1/managing and monitoring, 2/negotiation, 3/search and selection, 4/knowledge and skills transfer, and 5/exiting relate directly to the moderating role of trust. as noted by several authors (e.g., brouthers, brouthers, and harris 1997), changes in the environment, business climate, venture objectives, and the commitment of partner firms warrant modifications to the original agreement, hence, the configuration of relational and formal contracts should be considered an ongoing ordeal. operationally, trust must be captured primarily at the (inter)organizational level as a moderator of the degree of goal congruency and collaborative capabilities on the degree of sanctions and specificity of contracts (control). moreover, trust may also have indirect, mediating effects on governance choice and performance. for instance, rajan, van eupen and jaspers (1997) linked the effects of trust to intrafirm team-working and organizational learning. according to ring and van de ven (1992), under conditions of high trust, developed in a longstanding relationship, both implicit and proprietary knowledge considered confidential is made available to the exchange partner. sako (1998) suggested that such easy exchange of information, in turn, makes exchange partners more open to each other and thus inclines them to explore new opportunities of collaboration, such as exploitation of new technology. hence, relational governance (trust) may mediate the relationship between antecedent variables of formal governance and control. trust and performance as the alliance relationship evolves and matures the focus shifts toward the problem of assessing performance and divvying up the profit (or loss). despite the apparent importance and frequency of strategic partnerships, many of these report only limited success (adler, brahm, and graham, 1992, beamish and delios, 1997). the literature suggests that one of the most critical factors determining alliance performance is the degree of trust between the partners (e.g., madhok, 1995; inkpen and beamish, 1997). trust has been shown to m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 239-256 special issue: practicing collaboration 250 bo bernhard nielsen increase cooperation, improve flexibility, lowering the cost of coordinating activities, and increasing the level of knowledge transfer and potential for learning. according to sherman (1992: 78) «the biggest stumbling block to the success of alliances is the lack of trust». among the few empirical studies dealing explicitly with antecedents of trust in conjunction with alliance performance is aulakh, kotabe, and sahay (1996), who addressed behavioral issues in cross-border marketing partnerships. the findings that initiating and fostering norms of continuity, flexibility, and information exchange between the firms are positively related to trust illustrates the importance of trust building ex post. the study did not, however, establish a direct significant relationship between trust and performance. similarly, dyer and chu’s (2000) study of supplier-automaker relationships in the us, japan, and korea found strong support for process-based determinants of trust for all countries but did not link it to performance. lane, salk, and lyles (2001), however, found trust to be positively associated with international joint-venture performance but, unexpectedly, not learning, perhaps a testimony to the difficulty of operationalizing both trust and learning. most researchers and practitioners can agree that trust promotes voluntary, non-obligating exchanges of assets and services between actors. consequently, a significant outcome of trust is that it facilitates tighter social relationships and hence reduces uncertainty in transactions. however, despite the seemingly obvious benefits of trust, debate on its value in organizational exchange continues to persist. williamson (1993) contends that exchange relations are calculative and explains trust in terms of efficiency and credibility. others concur that trust is ephemeral and may have little bearing on economic exchange (e.g., barney and hansen, 1994). individuals may engage in trusting actions with an intention to develop close, collaborative relationships, but if the organizations are not supportive of these actions, interorganizational benefits may never be achieved (barney and hansen 1994). in this phase, management is concerned with accurate evaluation of performance, for instance via quality control or enhancements in organizational effectiveness (subjective measures) in addition to more traditional measures of financial performance (objective measures), in order to verify the exact match between the partner’s performance and the mutual agreement (specified in the terms and conditions of the contract). trust plays a pivotal role in the evaluation of performance as it dramatically reduces the potential for conflict and instability resulting from incomplete, ambiguous formal contracts. managers should seek to agree upon and specify the exact terms of performance evaluation of the collaborative venture early on during the contract negotiations, as these may have an influence on both partner selection and the type of governance form chosen. for instance, if the motivation behind the cooperation is exploration, such as the case of many r&d agreements, the type of partner and desired trust levels (perhaps based on prior relationships and/or reputation) may lead to a looser governance structure based on flexible relational governance, where performance is measured as a combination of subjective (i.e., innovation and level m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 239-256 special issue: practicing collaboration 251 the role of trust in collaborative relashionships: a multi-dimensional approach of learning) and objective (i.e., number of patents filed and profits from commercialization) elements. although open to interpretation and negotiation, managers in this case should clearly stipulate in the contracts both how innovation and learning is evaluated and profits shared as well as who owns the rights to any patents resulting from the alliance. trust is often considered a dichotomous variable, where one is either trustworthy or not, however, recent research suggests that different levels and degrees of trust might exist or even co-exist. some authors even point to the existence of optimal trust, which is a match between trust and interdependence levels (wicks,berman and jones, 1999). as argued above, both interpersonal and (inter)organizational types of trust play a role in developing and measuring performance in collaborative relationships. consequently, both aspects of trust should be included in determining performance outcomes of these relationships, for instance, by considering the simultaneous role of trust in reducing costs associated with instability and conflict and the influence of trust on individual—and team-based—performance. both dimensions should be evaluated based on their direct and indirect contribution to both objective and subjective performance measures in the short, medium, and long-term. conclusion most practitioners and researchers agree that trust is one of the main concerns for partners in strategic collaborative relationships. in spite of this, the emerging literature has paid insufficient attention to the multidimensional role of trust in these relationships. trust among partners in collaboration is obviously important, however, in the extant literature, trust is mainly conceptualized statically as a social control mechanism based on the notion of interdependence between trustor and trustee and limited attention is paid to the evolution and cyclical nature of trust in collaborative organizational relationships (a notable exception is vangen and huxham, 2003). although some studies point to the stagewise development of trust in alliances (e.g., lewicki and bunker, 1995; 1996), most of these studies assume an incremental process of trust development as parties repeatedly interact. moreover, trust development is often separated from the very functions it is supposed to impact and treated in an isolated and often unidirectional manner. trust, however, transcends this unidirectional, incremental pattern of evolution because it acts, simultaneously, as a cause, a moderator/ mediator, and an effect at different phases of the relationship development. as illustrated in the preceding discussion, collaborative relationships do not evolve in clearly defined phases or stages. nor does collaborative trust, rather it develops as a complex systemic process involving continuous (re)evaluation and (re)adjustment across multiple dimensions of the relationship simultaneously. as the nature of the relationship changes so does the nature and role of trust. hence, in order to understand the complex nature of collaborative trust, a multim@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 239-256 special issue: practicing collaboration 252 bo bernhard nielsen dimensional approach is needed, which simultaneously pays attention to the different, multi-directional roles trust play in different phases of the collaborative relationship as well as to the different types and levels of trust involved. moreover, it is important to fully understand the recursive nature of collaborative trust development over time. for instance, as organizations make changes to their aspirations and realign their goals over time the underlying role of trust may change. this change is likely to be both a determinant and a feature of the relationship, simultaneously involving cognitive, affective, calculative, and institutional aspects of trust. the theory of the role of collaborative trust presented in this article reflects the complex, multi-dimensional management challenge that practitioners face. it is developed from a synthesis of several important strands of literature pertaining to the dynamic development of collaborative arrangements and trust. several important contributions to both research and management practice can be derived. first, the theory illustrates the multi-dimensional roles of trust pertaining to different phases of collaboration. second, without claiming to operationalize trust at different levels or phases, this article points to important underlying elements of trust operationalization pertaining to different roles of trust, which may help enrich future conceptualizations of collaborative trust. finally, trust management requires the careful assessment of different dimensions of each collaborative situation as the collaborative relationship evolves. simultaneously paying attention to how the role of trust changes as the nature of the relationship evolves and identifying the recursive patterns of interaction between elements of trust and collaboration is likely to provide practitioners with valuable cues as to how to effectively manage collaborative trust. bo bernhard nielsen is assistant professor of international business and strategy at the college of business and economics, western washington university. he earned his phd from copenhagen business school, copenhagen, denmark. dr. nielsen’s main research is within management of international strategic alliances and multinational corporations with particular emphasis on the role of sociological variables and knowledge and he has published in international journals on topics related to international business management. dr. nielsen is the co-founder of consultos.com, an innovative consulting firm specializing in strategic business development and integrated communication and brand management. http://consultos.com m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 239-256 special issue: practicing collaboration 253 the role of trust in collaborative relashionships: a multi-dimensional approach references ■ adler, n. j., r. brahm, and j. l. graham 1992 strategy implementation: a comparison of face-to-face negotiations in the people’s republic of china and the united states, strategic management journal, 13: 6, 449-466. ■ anderson, e., l. m. lodish, and b. weitz 1987 resource allocation behavior in conventional channels, journal of market ing research, 24: 1, 85-97. ■ anderson, j. c., and j. a. narus 1990 a model of distributor firm and manufacturer firm working partnerships, journal of marketing, 54: 1, 42-58. ■ ariño, a., j. de la torre, and p. s. ring 2001 relational quality: managing trust in corporate alliances, california man agement review, 44: 1, 109-131. ■ aulakh, p., m. kotabe, and a. sahay 1996 trust and performance in cross-border marketing partnerships: a behavioral approach, journal of international business studies, 27: 5, 1005-1032. ■ axelrod, r. 1984 the evolution of cooperation, new york: basic books. ■ barber, b. 1983 the logic and limits of trust, new brunswick, nj: rutgers university press. ■ barney, j. b., and m. h. hansen 1994 trustworthiness as a source of competitive advantage, strategic manage ment journal, 15: winter special issue: 175-190. ■ beamish, p. w., and a. delios 1997 improving joint venture performance through congruent measures of success, in p. beamish and p. killing (eds.), cooperative strategies: euro pean perspectives, san francisco, ca: lexington press: 103-127. ■ becker, l. c. 1996 trust as noncognitive security about motives, ethics, 107: 43-61. ■ bradach, j., and r. eccles 1989 price, authority, and trust: from ideal types to plural forms, annual review of sociology, 15: 97-118. ■ brouthers, k. d., l. e. brouthers, and p. c. harris 1997 the five stages of co-operative venture strategy process, journal of gen eral management, 23: 1, 39-53. ■ child, j. 1998 trust and international strategic alliances: the case of sino-foreign joint ventures, in c. lane and r. bachman (eds.), trust within and between organizations: conceptual issues and empirical applications, new york, ny: oxford university press: 241272. ■ child, j. 2001 trust: the fundamental bond in global collaboration, organizational dynam ics, 29: 4, 274-288. ■ child, j., and d. faulkner 1998 strategies of cooperation: managing alliances, networks, and joint ven tures, new york: oxford university press. ■ contractor, f. j., and p. lorange 1988 why should firms cooperate? the strategy and economic basis for cooperat ive ventures, in f. j. contractor and p. lorange (eds.), c o o p e r ative strategies in international busi ness, lexington, ma: lexington books: 3-30. ■ cullen, j. b., j. l. johnson, and t. sakano 2000 success through commitment and trust: the soft side of strategic alliance management, journal of world business, 35: 3, 223-240. ■ currall, s. c., and a. c. inkpen 2002 a multilevel approach to trust in joint ventures, journal of international busi ness studies, 33: 3, 479-495. ■ das, t. k., and b.-s. teng 1998 between trust and control: developing confidence in partner cooperation in alliances, academy of management review, 23: 3, 491-512. ■ dirks, k. t., and d. l. ferrin 2001 the role of trust in organizational settings, organization science, 12: 4, 450-467. ■ doney, p. m., and j. p. cannon 1997 an examination of the nature of trust in buyer-seller relationships, journal of marketing, 61: 2, 35-51. ■ doney, p. m., j. p. cannon, and m. r. rullen 1998 understanding the influence of national culture on the development of trust, academy of management review, 23: 3, 601-620. ■ dore, r. 1983 goodwill and the spirit of market capitalism, british journal of sociology, 34: 4, 459-482. ■ doz, y. l. 1996 the evolution of cooperation in strategic alliances: initial conditions, or learning processes?, strategic man agement journal, 17: summer special issue, 55-83. ■ dwyer, f. r., p. h. schurr, and s. oh 1987 developing buyer-seller relationships, journal of marketing, 51: 2, 11-27. ■ dyer, b., and w. chu 2000 the determinants of trust in supplierautomaker relationship in the us, japan, and korea, journal of interna tional business studies, 31: 2, 259285. bo bernhard nielsen 254 m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 239-256 special issue: practicing collaboration ■ dyer, j. h., and w. g. ouchi 1993 japanese-style partnerships: giving companies a competitive edge, mit sloan management review, 35: 1, 5164. ■ etgar, m. 1979 sources and types of intrachannel conflict, journal of retailing, 55: 1, 6178. ■ fukuyama, f. 1995 trust: the social virus and the cre ation of prosperity, new york: free press. ■ gambetta, d. 1988 trust: making and breaking coopera tive relations, oxford: blackwell. ■ genefke, j., and f. mcdonald 2001 effective collaboration: managing the obstacles of success, new york: palgrave. ■ ghoshal, s., and p. moran 1996 bad for practice: a critique of the transaction cost theory, academy of management review, 21: 1, 13-48. ■ granovetter, m. s. 1985 economic action and social structure: the problem of embeddedness, amer ican journal of sociology, 91: 3, 481510. ■ gray, b. 1989 collaborating: finding common ground for multi-party problems, san francisco, ca: jossey bass. ■ gray, b., and d. wood 1991 collaborative alliances, journal of applied behavioral science, 27: 1, 316. ■ gulati, r. 1993 the dynamics of alliance formation, unpublished doctoral dissertation, boston, ma: harvard university. ■ gulati, r. 1995 does familiarity breed trust? the implications of repeated ties for contractual choice in alliances, academy of management journal, 38: 1, 85-112. ■ gulati, r. 1998 alliances and networks, strategic man agement journal, 19: 4, 293-317. ■ hagen, j. m., and s. choe 1998 trust in japanese interfirm relations: institutional sanctions matter, academy of management review, 23: 3, 589601. ■ hamel, g. 1991 competition for competence and interpartner learning within international strategic alliances, strategic manage ment journal, 22: summer special issue, 83-103. ■ hennart, j.-f. 1988 a transaction costs theory of equity joint ventures, strategic management journal, 9: 4, 361-374. ■ homans, g. 1961 social behavior: its elementary forms, new york: harcourt, brace and wo r l d . ■ hosmer, l. t. 1995 trust: the connecting link between organizational theory and philosophical ethics, academy of management review, 20: 2, 379-403. ■ inkpen, a. c., and p. w. beamish 1997 knowledge, bargaining power, and the instability of international joint ventures, academy of management review, 22: 1, 177-202. ■ johnson, j. l., t. sakano, k. voss, and h. takenouchi 1998 marketing performance in u.s.japanese cooperative alliances: e ffects of multiple dimensions of tr u s t and commitment in the cultural interface, working paper, pullman, wa : washington state university. ■ kogut, b., w. shan, and g. walker 1993 competitive cooperation in biotechnology: learning through networks? in n . nohria and r. eccles (eds.), n e t w o r k s and organizations: structure, form, and action, boston, ma: harvard business school press, 348-365. ■ koza, m. p., and a. y. lewin 1998 the co-evolution of strategic alliances, organization science, 9: 3, 255-264. ■ kramer, r. m., and t. r. tyler 1996 trust in organizations: frontiers of theory and research, thousand oaks, ca: sage. ■ lane, c. 1998 introduction: theories and issues in the study of trust, in c. lane and r. bachman (eds.), trust within and between organizations: conceptual issues and empirical applications, oxford: oxford university press: 1-30. ■ lane, c., and r. bachmann 1998 trust within and between organizations: conceptual issues and empirical appli cations, oxford: oxford university press. ■ lane, h. w., and p. w. beamish 1990 cross-cultural cooperative behavior in joint ventures in ldcs, management inter national review, 30: special issue, 87-102. ■ lane, p., j. e. salk, and m. a. lyles 2001 absorptive capacity, learning, and performance in international joint ventures, strategic management journal, 22: 12, 1139-1161. ■ larson, a. 1992 network dyads in entrepreneurial settings: a study of the governance of exchange relationships, administrative science quarterly, 37: 1, 76-104. ■ lewicki, r. j., and b. b. bunker 1995 trust in relationships: a model of trust development and decline, in b. b. bunker and j. z. rubin (eds.), conflict, coop eration and justice: essays inspired by the work of morton deutsch, san francisco, ca: jossey-bass: 133-173. ■ lewicki, r. j., and b. b. bunker 1996 developing and maintaining trust in work relationships, in r. kramer and t. tyler (eds.), trust in organizations: frontiers of theory and research, thousand oaks, ca: sage: 133-173. m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 239-256 special issue: practicing collaboration 255 the role of trust in collaborative relashionships: a multi-dimensional approach ■ lewis, j. d., and a. weigert 1985 trust as a social reality, social forces, 63: 4, 967-985. ■ luhmann, n. 1979 trust and power. chichester: wiley. ■ madhok, a. 1995 revisiting multinational firms’ tolerance for joint ventures: a trust-based approach, journal of international business studies, 26: 1, 117-137. ■ mcallister, d. j. 1995 affectand cognition-based trust as foundations for interpersonal cooperation in organizations, academy of management review, 38: 1, 24-59. ■ mcknight, d. h., l. l cummings, and n. l. chervany 1998 initial trust formation in new organizational relationships, academy of management review, 23: 3, 473490. ■ miles, r. e., and w. e. d. creed 1995 organizational forms and managerial philosophies: a descriptive and analytical review, in b. m. staw and l. l. cummings (eds.), research in organi zational behavior, vol. 17, greenwich, ct: jai press, 333-372. ■ misrha, a. k. 1996 organizational responses to crisis: the centrality of trust, in r. m. kramer and t. r. tyler (eds.), trust in organi zations: frontiers of theory and research, thousand oaks, ca: sage, 261-287. ■ misrha, a. k., and g. m. spreitzer 1998 explaining how survivors respond to downsizing: the role of trust, empowerment, justice, and work redesign, academy of management review, 23: 3, 567-589. ■ mohr, j., and j. r. nevin 1990 communication strategies in marketing channels: a theoretical perspective, journal of marketing, 54: 10, 36-51. ■ nielsen, b. b. forthcoming the role of embeddedness in creating synergies in strategic alliances, journal of business research. ■ osborn, r. n., and c. c. baughn 1990 forms of interorganizational governance for multinational alliances, academy of management journal, 33: 3, 503-519. ■ osborn, r. n., and j. hagedoorn 1997 the institutionalization and evolutionary dynamics of interorganizational alliances and networks, academy of management journal, 40: 2, 261-279. ■ parkhe, a. 1993 “messy research”, methodological predispositions, and theory development in international joint ventures, a c a d e m y of management review, 19: 2, 227-268. ■ pisano, g. p. 1989 using equity participation of support exchange: evidence from the biotechnology industry, journal of law, eco nomics and organization, 5: 1, 109-126. ■ poppo, l., and t. zenger 2002 do formal contracts and relational governance function as substitutes or complements?, strategic management journal, 23: 8, 707-725. ■ rajan, a, p. van eupen, and a. jaspers 1997 britain’s flexible labour market: what next?, london: create. ■ rempel, j. k., j. g. holmes, and m. p. zanna 1985 trust in close relationships, journal of personality and social psychology, 49: 1, 95-112. ■ ring, p. s. 1996 fragile and resilient trust and their roles in economic exchange, busi ness and society, 35: 2, 148-175. ■ ring, p. s. 1997 processes facilitating reliance on trust in inter-organizational networks, in m. ebers (ed.), the formation of inter-organizational networks, oxford: oxford university press, 114-145. ■ ring, p. s., and a. h. van de ven 1992 structuring cooperative relationships between organizations, strategic man agement journal, 13: 7, 483-498. ■ ring, p. s., and a. h. van de ven 1994 developmental process of cooperative interorganizational relationships, a c a d e my of management review, 19: 1, 90-11 8 . ■ rousseau, d. m. 1985 issues of level in organizational research, in l. l. cummings and b. m. staw (eds.), research in organiza tional behavior, vol. 7, greenwich, ct: jai press: 1-37. ■ rousseau, d. m., s. b. sitkin, r. s. burt, and c. camerer 1998 not so different after all: a cross-discipline view of trust, academy of man agement review, 23: 3, 393-404. ■ sako, m. 1998 does trust improve business performance?, in c. lane and r. bachman (eds.), trust within and between orga nizations: conceptual issues and empirical applications, oxford: oxford university press: 88-117. ■ shapiro, d., b. h. sheppard, and l. cheraskin 1992 business on a handshake, negotiation journal, 8: 4, 365-377. ■ sherman, s. 1992 are strategic alliances working?, for tune, september 21: 24-29. ■ simonin, b. 1997 the importance of developing collaborative know-how: an empirical test of the learning organization, academy of management journal, 40: 5, 11 5 0 11 7 4 . ■ simonin, b. l. 2000 collaborative know-how and collaborative advantage, global focus, 12: 4, 19-34. ■ simonin, b. l. 2002 the nature of collaborative know-how, in f. j. contractor and p. lorange (eds.), cooperative strategies and alliances, oxford: elsevier science, 237-263. m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 239-256 special issue: practicing collaboration 256 bo bernhard nielsen ■ sitkin, s. b. 1995 on the positive effect of legalization on trust, in r. j. bies, r. j. lewicki, and b. h. sheppard (eds.), research on negotiation in organizations, vol. 5, greenwich, ct: jai press, 185-217. ■ sitkin, s. b., and n. l. roth 1993 explaining the limited effectiveness of legalistic “remedies” for trust/distrust, organization science, 4: 3, 367-392. ■ sohn, j. h. d. 1994 social knowledge as a control system: a proposition and evidence from the japanese fdi behavior, journal of international business studies, 25: 1, 295-324. ■ uzzi, b. 1996 the sources and consequences of embeddedness for the economic performance of organizations: the network effect, american sociological review, 61: 4, 674-698. ■ vangen, s., and c. huxham 2003 nurturing collaborative relations: building trust in interorganizational collaboration, journal of applied behavioral science, 39: 1, 5-31. ■ webb, a. 1991 coordination: a problem in public sector management, policy and politics, 19: 4, 229-241. ■ wicks, a. c., s. l. berman, and t. m. jones 1999 the structure of optimal trust: moral and strategic implications, academy of management review, 24: 1, 99-116. ■ williamson, o. e. 1975 markets and hierarchies: analysis and antitrust implication, new york: free press. ■ williamson, o. e. 1985 the economic institutions of capital ism: firm, market, relational contract ing, new york: free press. ■ williamson, o. e. 1993 opportunism and its critics, managerial and decision economics, 14: 2, 97107. ■ zaheer, a., b. mcevily, and v. perrone 1998 does trust matter? exploring the effects of interorganizational and interpersonal trust on performance, orga nization science, 9: 2, 141-159. ■ zaheer, a., and n. venkatraman 1995 relational governance as an interorganizational strategy: an empirical test of the role of trust in economic exchange, strategic management journal, 16: 5, 373-392. ■ zucker, l. g. 1986 production of trust: institutional sources of economic structure, 18401920, in b. m. staw and l. l. cummings (eds.), research in organiza tional behavior, vol. 8, greenwich, ct: jai press, 53-111. 184mcphee paperback: 224 pages publisher: polity (2015) language: english isbn: 978-0745654223 unplugged book reviews special forum: around the communicative constitution of organizations perspective françois cooren (2015), organizational discourse, cambridge: polity press. reviewed by robert mcphee arizona state university bob.mcphee@asu.edu the unplugged section edits some book reviews special forums dedicated to a topic, an author or a theoretical perspective. this second forum considers three important volumes gravitating around the communicative constitution of organizations perspective. originated in a seminal contribution from one of our reviewers, robert mcphee, who based his work on giddens’s structuration theory, this perspective experienced different avenues and forms now a “rather heterogeneous theoretical endeavor” (schoeneborn et al., 2014). montreal school of organizational communication constitutes one of the main pillars of this perspective; james r. taylor and françois cooren recently offered some stimulating volumes, carving out their own path within organizational communication studies. the cco perspective has significantly disseminated in the field of organizing studies and an effective conversation henceforth unfolds with various discursive studies. ! françois cooren’s new book, organizational discourse, is a clear, wellinformed, sensitive account of varied discursive approaches and topics in organizational studies. the book is, i would say, appropriate in difficulty for upperlevel undergraduates or graduate students beginning in management and organizational communication. it assumes little student preparation in linguistics or sociology, and cooren is very skilled and systematic about explaining technical terms and assumptions lucidly and with sustained examples. however, some prior exposure to sociolinguistic theory is more valuable than usual for increasing readers’ understanding, since sophisticated issues lurk, often overtly but with limited and mainly common-sense elaboration, in cooren’s account. it is also worth mentioning that, while the book’s special focus on discursive issues makes it most valuable as a text for courses concentrating on organizational discourse/ communication issues, its breadth makes it a real option as a textbook, or a halfterm text, in more generalized organizational behavior and communication classes. m@n@gement 2015, vol. 18(4): 314-320 314 mailto:bob.mcphee@asu.edu mailto:bob.mcphee@asu.edu ! cooren is an important scholar in discourse studies and organizational communication, and is a primary exponent of what is commonly called the montreal school of organizational communication theory. his book skillfully strikes a fine balance among three endeavors: general explanation of organizational discourse and communication-as-action issues, more focused exploration of the conception of the discursive constitution of organizations, and special use of actor-network-theoretic and montreal school vocabulary, including his special interest in concepts of material, symbolic, and collective agency (and, not yet explicated but lurking, incarnation and ventriloquism). though it covers the general organizational discourse terrain effectively, i found the implicit but straightforward presentation of the montreal position, integrating various earlier theories that influenced it, very useful because it makes the unity of the position clear, eschewing obfuscatory tangents. ! the book starts with a short chapter defining discourse and communication. cooren distinguishes between “little-d” and “big-d” discourse approaches, with the former focusing on the “eventful character of conversation and interaction, […] what people are up to when they communicate […],” while the latter emphasize speech or writing as being “representative of a typical way of thinking or speaking about a given topic or question […]” (p. 7). he goes on to discuss how nonverbal acts can “count as discourse”, and crucially defines discourse as constitutive of organizations when it is “how [they] not only work (or fail to), but also exist” (p. 12), that is, how they are brought into being or embodied. ! in the second chapter, cooren reviews six traditional perspectives, all of which provide templates that are at once theoretical and methodological, and were chosen because they give special attention to the constitutive power of discourse. here, cooren does not systematically develop the somewhat unique montreal perspective but instead lets its main concepts (e.g., imbrication) emerge during the substantive analyses. this strategy is useful for displaying the path of emergence, and the utility, of montreal school innovations. the perspectives are: 1. semiotics, the initial perspective for this chapter, is defined as “interested in the functioning of signs” (p. 17) in emphasizing the performative aspect, cooren arguably underemphasizes the extent to which semiotics has focused on typologies, articulating the different ways signs work. however, the emphasis on how signs work does allow him to develop one of his central themes, the argument that if signs work, they do things, are active, and thus agentive. of course, people must interpret the signs, but cooren posits that “these interpretations consist of recognizing what signs are doing” (p. 19; emphasis in original). 2. rhetoric is defined as “the power of words or their capacity to make a difference in specific situations” (p. 22). cooren emphasizes the power of rhetoric to define situations, and so to constitute them, by staging their interpretation in verbal forms like, for example, storytelling and narrative: “rhetoric focuses on how a specific discourse comes to stage what matters, what counts in a specific situation, whether it be facts, values, or principles” (pp. 25-26). but he follows bruno latour in analyzing the defining (and equally the constituting) of situations as determining “what or who is made to speak” (p. 24)—an even clearer move to link the realm of rhetoric to the concepts of agency/authority. 3. speech act theory is the analysis of “how we do things with words,” as initiated by john austin (1962). as part of a pretty standard account, cooren emphasizes that speech acts “tend to be controlled by who is authorized to perform them, what is supposed to be said, and in what circumstances” but can have multiple, even unintended, consequences, and that they can go beyond defining situations (rhetoric) to be able to actually transform them, by altering the world to fit the implication of the act. m@n@gement, vol. 18(4): 314-320! book reviews special forum 315 4. in a fairly conventional tack, cooren combines ethnomethodology and conversation analysis to emphasize the power of conversants to co-orient with meaningful features of interaction. in particular, he explicates the reflexivity of conversation, wherein people regard a situation as meaningful in certain ways by displaying its meaning even as they are using the situation’s meaning to guide their comments. like a play that starts in medias res, we understand the nature of the situation at the same time as we understand the particular remarks that go on in it. it thus can count on the organization even while constituting it. 5. narrative analysis emphasizes that understanding action requires a temporal contextual structure—that is, a narrative structure. this section delineates the properties that distinguish an intelligible narrative from a series of events, as well as the constituents of narratives (fully covered later in the text). narratives tie the events, agents, and discourse of an organization together but cooren also emphasizes that they are perspectival, often debated and renegotiated, and reveal evaluations that can orient the organization. but narrative analysis and the next perspective are very broad theoretic streams, and cooren is forced to pick and choose specific concepts to develop, rather than having clear and consensual perspective groundworks from which to develop. in later chapters, cooren introduces algirdis greimas’ narrative theory, which is actually central to his treatment of examples, as well as focal in his ideas of organizational constitution. frankly, at least some discussion of it belongs in this section. 6. finally, critical discourse analysis is presented as postulating that unequal power relations can arise, not directly from strength or resource differences but more basically through the effects of large-scale discourses that determine how people see their position in ongoing communication and consequently their relations to others. cooren emphasizes the power of such communication to constitute people as subjects by leading them to recognize themselves in terms of, or subject themselves to, role relations and subject positions constituted in the discourse. as people recognize themselves as the targets of, for example, insults, they are regarded as subjects who understand themselves to be possible, essentially, or deserving to be, insult targets. in the past, the montreal school has been accused of neglecting power concerns; this section shows quite well how such concerns can be dealt with, in keeping with their premises. cooren’s third chapter, the first about a classic organizational topic, examines a phenomenon that is often left implicit in textbooks about organizational processes: coordination. he argues that coordination must be “reflexively and incarnatedly enacted, mobilized, and made visible in people’s conversation” and that coordinated systems are not self-propelled objects with a “harmonizing force” to ensure cooperation but instead need to be “performed into being [,..] constantly reproduced and reaffirmed in interaction” (pp. 63, 66, 82). as in the next two chapters, this one systematically uses the six perspectives outlined above to analyze an example transcript, here a short interchange about dividing labor to pack and load a moving truck. on the face of it, the person moving, julia, does the coordinating in exchanges like this: “joey: ‘ok, julia, how do you think we should proceed?’ julia: ‘oh, i don’t know. why don’t you and patrick take care of bringing the boxes to the truck?’ patrick: ‘sounds good’” (p. 63). here cooren elaborates the montreal school insight that authority and author both originate from the latin auctor, “the creator, […] the one who initiates, protects, and sanctions” (p. 70). this connection supports the analysis of communication as specially empowered to constitute organizations. cooren notes that coordination is accomplished, not just by julia’s stipulation, but by the conversational sequencing and temporal dependence (termed imbrication) of speech acts proposing and accepting task roles, constituting authority as grounded in shared access to voice and thus shared consent. cooren mentions, in line with critical analysis, that “it is not by accident” that the males are assigned more physically demanding roles in line with ideological gender stereotypes (p. 73). perhaps book reviews special forum! m@n@gement, vol. 18(4): 314-320 316 more space would have allowed cooren to expand on the relations of rationality and ideology in organizations (for example, if the males really were stronger, is that sufficient reason to simply assign them the heavier tasks?). but the ultimate discursive perspective for coordination analysis is narrative theory as developed by algirdis greimas. greimas’ narrative approach argues that narratives are composed of specific stages and roles required to connect narrated events. narrative analysis would present task division itself as a product of narrative reasoning, which organizes, contextualizes, and legitimates the acts and actors required to load the truck, thereby constituting the organizational structure. julia is the “mandatory,” the person mandating the task of moving, and thereby has a central position for negotiating authority. but she is also part of the group “acting for” herself as the mandator, a group constituted, by the interaction and the narrative, as a collective agent, a “we”. because she can speak “in the name of” this “we,” julia’s discursive power to constitute the organization is reflexively completed. ! the topic covered in the fourth chapter is an interesting amalgam: organizational culture, identity, and ideology. cooren sees culture as a pattern of meanings, practices, and values that are cultivated (that is, “transmitted, sustained [or perpetuated], and inherited”) in a specific group (p. 85). the idea of a trait sustained over time brings the culture conception in direct relation to his idea of identity, as specific characteristics that define an entity by making it “be or look the same throughout time and space” (p. 86). he states that an organization can “be conceived as a polyphonic or plurivocal entity [...] where many different voices representing various cultures and identities can be heard, even if some seem to count more than others” (p. 90). this view is aptly examined in cooren’s analysis of a case of concertive control—exerted by members of a team who have consented to a productivity norm and identified with it. the example is unusual as a prototype of cultural or identity discourse, since the dominant voice in the episode is the elected and pretty much formalized leader, who (accompanied by two other established team members) approaches a nonconforming team member to forcefully scold him about repeated misbehavior, not even letting him ascertain if a plurivocal account exists. it certainly illustrates maintenance of a group value and practice through the discourse of an authority, but is not the kind of informal, idiosyncratic, emergent practice to which the term “organizational culture” originally pointed. ! the last substantive chapter of the book concerns meetings, which are not just loci for exchanges of information and arguments, decisions, and commitment, but episodes “intended to participate in and contribute to a larger process that gets invoked in and altered by what people are talking about” and thereby conversationally constitute and structure the organization (p. 114). the central example here is a meeting wherein the director of an african hospital and two agents of doctors without borders (dwb), who are partly funding the hospital, discussed an operational decision the director had to make. the choice was whether to leave half the professional staff at their posts during any one daily staff meeting, or have the meetings involve all staff while counting on family members to monitor patients. in probing the meeting transcript, cooren is especially systematic in taking up each of the six perspectives on discourse and using them to analyze successive stages of the meeting while exposing deeper levels of meaning-context. to briefly summarize (reversing cooren’s order): critical analysis reveals several ideological oppositions at play: the young white dwb representatives vs. the older black director, norms of western professional care vs. traditional norms of family involvement, professional structure vs. hierarchical authority-maintaining structure, and, most generally, western influence vs. the appearance of colonialism. these polarities predominantly remain implicit until the conflict shifts from the staffing issue to focus on the director’s capability to speak with authority about the best arrangement for his m@n@gement, vol. 18(4): 314-320! book reviews special forum 317 hospital, and on the possibility that the dwb representatives are blameworthy for system problems developing, at least temporarily, a narrative of confrontation rather than integration. yet, despite such polarities, institutional needs for cooperation, the legitimate power structure of the hospital, and the need on both sides to respect these constraints limit how overt conflict could become. the polarities and functional needs contextualize and influence the discursive tendencies described by other perspectives—personalized vs. indirect styles of stating arguments and making evidence claims, the move to position the system as the ultimate source of authority able to commit decision-influencing speech acts, even the choice of symbolic frames for describing time. (arguably, starting with the critical discourse perspective might have made the political impact of the remaining discursive choices clearer.) through these communicative options, the meeting crystallized the interests and tendencies of the participants while leaving grounds for polarizing decisions and future conflicts unsettled; cooren is pretty clear that such results are the consequence of agency, by all three parties to the dispute, as well as their discursive patterns. ! in this book, cooren surely achieves his primary goal of recounting perspectives on discourse and showing how each enables insights that can be woven into larger accounts. in this, he succeeds in 170 pages rather than the 500+ pages that a comparably oriented work, schiffrin’s approaches to discourse (2005), takes. of course, schiffrin speaks to a different audience and works with more range and depth in covering and comparing her discourse approaches. but cooren achieves remarkably thorough coverage of the central ideas of his perspectives, partly by showing key principles at work discursively enacting example organizational processes, while simultaneously showing how they correlate with his themes of agency and organizational constitution, and constructing a powerful argument for his integrated position. ! that position briefly emphasizes that (a) discourse has the power to constitute communicative agents; (b) such agents are entities that have the power to “make things happen” discursively; (c) agents may include signs (including material objects), people (but as subject to discursive constraints), and collectivities; (d) human agents still have a special status since they, uniquely, can recognize the meaning of other agents; (e) agents can “speak for” or “in the name of” other (especially collective) agents, thereby constituting them; and (f) the web of agents interconnected in the communication process is, by that very fact, organized, but more importantly, the power of agents to do things in discourse is what makes organizational discourse work. ! his argument is powerful, both because it integrates varied theoretical material into an interesting cohesive perspective and because it systematically draws interesting insights from increasingly complex examples. it also coheres with earlier work (e.g., 2000, 2010) that elaborates its fundamental insights. ! i would say cooren’s presentation is sound, with minor reservations noted above. and cooren builds his argument carefully, clearly, and credibly. however, despite respecting its thorough grounding, i must mention several concerns i have with cooren’s overall argument—concerns about emphasis related to issues that cooren addresses explicitly, but subordinately and in passing. first is his emphasis on the agency of discourse, and of communities spoken for by, and thus constituted by, individuals, to communicatively “author” the organization. ignoring, for brevity’s sake, common arguments about humans’ special nature as agents (partly because cooren argues for his own position so well), i am concerned about the importance of human agents as, by their very words, constituting collective agents. take the case of organizational culture. when martha scolds phil, violating norms of open discussion and rational problemsolving that might exist in the group, she might indeed be voicing an agreed sense that phil is violating the norm of cooperative responsibility. but suppose she is taking a political stance about the rigidity of that norm, and using specific book reviews special forum! m@n@gement, vol. 18(4): 314-320 318 supporters to try to impose it, despite the fact that her stance is not shared by the group, and phil knows it. then she manifestly would not be speaking “for the group” or constituting it, but making a political move masked by, for example, the word “we”—a political move that might be discussed, not supported, by the group, and contribute to the group’s disorganization. now, cooren explicitly agrees that words are contextually constrained and rely for their force on the interpretation of their receiver, and can have a disorganizing force. but a focus on the agency of words and groups may lead us to overlook the fact that interpretation is not just “recognizing what words do,” but evaluating the situational definition provisionally, arguably proposed by the speaker through the words, and reacting to it in argument, or silence, or by ignoring it, or through later debate. ! that leads to my second concern, about the macro/micro orientation of the text. cooren’s book does demonstrate, i would say, the importance of patterns of communication that produce/reproduce, transfer or share authority while achieving organizational outcomes. (surprisingly, cooren almost never refers to structuration or its exponent anthony giddens (1984).) but the concentration on authority has a drawback: it creates an emphasis on the author(s) and authorityladen communicative exchanges at the expense of the larger patterns, despite his definite statements that he wants his analysis to apply to collectivities broadly scattered in space. indeed, going by the examples and the bulk of the discussion, we could argue that cooren’s real claim is that the organization is talked into being face-to-face, and achieves univocal collective authorship, even of an organizational structure and a complex narrative plan. thus, the coordination chapter analyzes an episode where julia asserts informal authority by assigning task roles. cooren does explicitly mention the variety of media and arrangements for coordinating a collective operation. but the impressive power and persuasiveness of his argument derives from julia’s communication which, without being domineering, explicitly authors the coordination of an integrated task, to cover a group she is cooperating with, and thus creates a collective agent. but he does that at the expense of emphasizing the variety of choices, the multiplicity of sites, where the coordination of the whole group, over time, gets supplemented or departed from. ! for instance, 30 minutes after her assignment of tasks, the men allocated to move boxes might find that the box loader is falling behind and might switch tasks on their own and move to help with loading. indeed, julia’s hesitancy and inclusive rhetoric, noted by cooren (pp. 72–3), may communicate that her helpers are free to change their organization as needed (and as happens in every apartment move i have helped with). in other words, she may be abjuring authority, rather than subtly subjecting her helpers. ! in a nutshell, cooren is discussing, and should really tailor his account to, complex cases of what mintzberg calls “direct supervision,” combined in the third example with “shaky alliance,” while neglecting the other mechanisms, most notably “mutual adjustment,” the one that is most “communicative” (1990, pp. 101, 243). “adhocracies” are the form of organization where the dynamic, unadministered process of mutual adjustment is the prime coordination exercise. for these, the conceptual cluster of authority/author/collective agent/organization does not fit well. essentially, there can be no one univocal authorial voice organizing or directing the interaction, and claims to be speaking for the group are less important than tentative or modifying proposals that abjure decisive authority. so employees characteristically do not make the kinds of authority claims illustrated well in direct supervision cases. ! moreover, the actual force, and proper interpretation, of julia’s words depends on other processes occurring in various sites at unspecifiable distances from the face-to-face conversation. discourse analysis of single face-to-face settings does not envelop the range of utility of discourse analyses of m@n@gement, vol. 18(4): 314-320! book reviews special forum 319 organizational constitution, and often face-to-face processes are so embedded in less micro-level episodes that the episodes by themselves do not suffice to ground an explanation (mcphee, myers, and trethewey, 2006). ! cooren would presumably argue, validly, that authoring communication occurs in all of mintzberg’s mechanisms and in multisite processes, but insofar as that is so, the cluster of authority/author/collective agent/organization, as a theoretical resource, does not develop or explain the specific, distributed mechanics of organizing—the processes that are really demanding communicative accounts. as a mentor of mine repeatedly said, if one term (such as authority) constantly is focal in a general theory, it is actually the next distinction down that really matters. ! that leads to my third concern: that in his emphasis on authoring and authority, cooren presents an image of organization as univocal rather than polyvocal. this overlaps the argument made above, about authoring as essentially univocal. but my argument here is most directly engaged by the chapter on meetings, where the parties end up disputing, on one interpretation, the question of authority possession itself. the problem is that cooren’s example, excellent as an authority illustration, definitely shows different agents each claiming to be authoritative, first indirectly and finally quite overtly. but a meeting example like cooren’s could easily be polyvocal instead. the parties could be mutually adaptive, and the meeting could have another outcome, for instance if the group discussed the problem and generated a decision—perhaps to do a study of the range of situations where professionals defer, initially, to the treatment options suggested by families, to see how often their suggestions lead to dangerous problems. the study results might “represent” the hospital or the group in some way, but the solution might be generated without anyone defensively invoking formal authority. ! these concerns, i think, do not undermine my general impression of cooren’s book, both as a valuable and insightful theoretical integration and exposition and as a lucid, broad-ranging textbook. references cooren, f. (2000). the organizing property of communication. amsterdam: john benjamins. cooren, f. (2010). action and agency in dialogue: passion, incarnation and ventriloquism. amsterdam: john benjamins. giddens, a. (1984). the constitution of society. oxford: polity press. mcphee, r. d., myers, k. k., & trethewey, a. (2006). on collective mind and conversational analysis: response to cooren. management communication quarterly, 19(4), 311–326. mintzberg, h. (1994). the rise and fall of strategic planning. new york, ny: free press. schiffrin, d. (2005). approaches to discourse (second edition). oxford: blackwell publishers. schoeneborn, d., blaschke, s., cooren, f., mcphee, r.d., seidl, d. & taylor, j.r. (2014). the three schools of cco thinking : interactive dialogue and systematic comparison. management communication quarterly, 28(2), 285-316. www.management-aims.com book reviews special forum! m@n@gement, vol. 18(4): 314-320 320 organizational qui-vive: an intermediate approach to structuring the link between attention and action jacques orvain management des organisations de santé (ea 7348) ecole des hautes etudes en santé publique rennes, france jacques.orvain@ehesp.fr organizational qui-vive: an intermediate approach to structuring the link between attention and action jacques orvain abstract. since the pioneering work of simon, several avenues of research have investigated the attention structuring processes in organizations. while the research based directly on simon's theories focused on the role of management tools in structuring attention, more recent research based on weick's work has focused on the role of the cognitive processes of the actors rather than tools, emphasizing a particular pattern of action, namely mindfulness. in this study, we re-examine the role of tools in the structuring of attention while recognizing the empowerment of the actors as described by weick. in doing so, unlike the majority of current research, which focuses on mindfulness, we consider the existence of patterns of actions that are different from mindfulness. an empirical study in hospitals demonstrated a particular pattern of action that we call organizational qui-vive. this pattern consists of an action script, tools that support the script, and processes that channel the attention of the actors. organizational qui-vive is similar in structure to mindfulness but differs in several respects. it alerts to a specified danger, it brings consciousness into the action using tools prepared in advance and gives meaning to the action through mutual understanding. we compare the two patterns linking attention and action to point out the different structuring processes that respond to different situations. organizational qui-vive is emerging as an intermediate structuring approach that is heavily influenced by the importance of tools, but which nevertheless empowers the actors. ! since the pioneering work of simon (1983), several researchers have focused on attention as a core principle of organization and developed theoretical frameworks to express this view (gavetti, levinthal, & ocasio, 2007). three avenues of research have examined how attention is structured in organizations (ocasio, 1997). the first endeavored to show how attention could be allocated in the organization (cyert, 1992); the second how certain action scripts develop a particular attention allocation pattern that has been described as mindfulness (weick & sutcliffe, 2003); the third, known as abv (attention based view of the firm), has focused specifically on the role of attention in organizations (ocasio, 1997). ! the pattern described by weick, which is a loose form of coordination with little emphasis on tools (weick, 1976; weick & roberts, 1993), has gradually been recognized in the literature. however, the focus on mindfulness raises the question of whether there are other patterns structuring the link between attention and action in which tools could play a role. in this paper, we re-examine the role of tools in the study of patterns of coordination. in doing so we study attention structuring patterns other than mindfulness, and we explore the possibility of m@n@gement 2014, vol. 17(5): 346-370 346 mailto:jacques.orvain@ehesp.fr?subject= mailto:jacques.orvain@ehesp.fr?subject= structuring and distributing different varieties of attention in different situations (ocasio, 2011). ! through our participation in a program to improve the quality of hospital care in preventing and treating pressure ulcers, we observed a particular approach to structuring attention which, while still empowering the front-line actors, made it possible to structure the link between attention and action. among the hospitals studied, the best-performing ones had developed a form of collective coordination of attention and action, expressed as a particular pattern of action. this attention-action pattern combined an acute awareness of the issue of pressure ulcers, modes of action promoting fast response and special interaction arrangements among agents. this form of coordination, supported by the managers, was an illustration of the ability of actors to induce specific types of activity coordination by structuring attention and action. this special way of structuring attention and action which we call organizational qui vive differs from other models because of the way tools are used to emphasize attention in the execution of the action. it also alerts a network of sentinels for a previously identified hazard and makes sense of the action in the form of a special type of coordination. ! in the first section, we review the three main schools of thought that focus on attention as a powerful factor in guiding the activities in organizations. the next section presents our scope and methodology. in the results section, we first propose a structured interpretation of the attentional processes that have been developed by healthcare teams, and we then describe the functions performed by organizational qui-vive. finally, in the discussion, we show that organizational qui-vive corresponds to an intermediate approach to structuring the link between attention and action. a t t e n t i o n a n d a c t i o n s t r u c t u r i n g mechanisms ! the role of attention in organizations has been conceptualized differently depending on the period and the schools of thought. we will review the three interpretations that have had the most influence on this issue in management science, namely the structural approach (simon, 1983; cyert, 1992), the cognitive approach (weick & roberts, 1993) and the approach developed by ocasio (1997). t h e s t r u c t u r a l a p p r o a c h : a l l o c at i n g at t e n t i o n i n organizations ! simon (1983) and cyert (1992) attributed two roles to attention: the role of guiding action by indicating what was important for the organization, and the role of focusing on certain problems and the corresponding solutions. organizational allocation of attention mechanisms was highlighted as a way of structuring attention. as stated by simon (1983), rationality is not limited by the lack of information, but rather information overload is the problem. the attention of the actors becomes a scarce resource that must be channeled. to overcome the limitations of human rationality, it is possible to partition and prioritize problems and entrust the resolution to different parts of the organization. the role of the decision maker is then to allocate the questions, and the attention given to them, to various organizational actors (or groups of actors) through the structuring of the firm. with this model, simon emphasizes both the importance of noncomputational mechanisms, which are more in the nature of the social structuring m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 346-370! jacques orvain 347 of attention, and the manager's ability to influence the decision-making mechanisms by structuring the allocation of these mechanisms in the firm. ! cyert and march (1992) went further in the analysis of the structuring of attention by developing the concepts of perspective and sequential attention. according to them, the allocation of attentional processes in the organization helps identify clear perspectives assigned to different parts of the organization. problem solving involves a series of partial solutions developed by the different parts. this approach has the advantage of creating specializations, focusing the effort and providing routines and procedures that reinforce the attention in the execution. this conception of the structuring of attention in the firm highlights the role of repertoires, in other words catalogues of tools to help recognize specific signals and/or problem solving tools. these repertoires help channel perceptions or actions without fully imposing the action, since it is always possible to choose among the tools in the repertoire. repertoires can also constitute an organizational memory allowing the firm to capitalize on experience and plan for the future. the key issues here are the concept of repertoires and the ability to build enduring toolsets to support attentional mechanisms. the cognitive approach: linking attention and action ! another line of research initiated by weick focused on the link between attention and action, and in particular the collective cognitive mechanisms of sensemaking that go beyond individual rationality (weick & roberts, 1993). this school of thought differs from the first because it focuses on the cognitive processes of attention allocation, rather than tool-based processes. this view (weick, 2006; weick & sutcliffe, 2007) describes processes of collective representation of action (sensemaking), structuring of collective action based on interpersonal interactions (enacting) and forms of behavioral dependence that are built by these collective action patterns (mindfulness). these processes create action patterns that can be distinguished not only by the individual attitudes they encourage, but by the way individuals act together. the collective behavior that is thus encouraged cannot be contained in the action of a single individual. it is a result of the interrelationships between actors that channel attention into the action (weick & roberts, 1993; ocasio, 1997). ! this view reintroduces conscious thought into the action, not just as a foreshadowing of the action in its consequentialist form, but as a cognitive process of consciousness in the action. karl weick describes a special mode of linking attention and action he called mindfulness (weick & sutcliffe, 2003; weick, 2006; weick & sutcliffe, 2007). this pattern can be described as the preoccupation with failure, reluctance to simplify, sensitivity to operations, commitment to resilience and deference to expertise. these different attitudes establish a special link between attention and action that has been studied by cognitive science (chatzisarantis & hagger, 2007). ! weick's view of attention in action, despite its many qualities, is not however, without its problems, especially because it basically ignores the ability of tools to structure attention (brabet 2005; lorino, 2005a). structuring is almost exclusively expressed through the concept of sensemaking, which involves interpreting the structuring processes as the memory of the action rather than as a presupposition of the action. this is a frequent criticism of this model of the link between attention and action, which is based essentially on the constitution of attentive behaviors and excludes conventional management tools (eisenberg, 2006). the key issues here are three major themes: the role of retrospective processes of sensemaking and engagement in action, looking at action based on interpretation frameworks, and finally the use of action scripts for understanding the collective attention processes. we also note the importance of studying action scripts, which we define as a set of activities linked by a common goal. organizational qui-vive! m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 346-370 348 the activity-based approach: building attentional processes ! finally the two previous theoretical frameworks – the structural approach and the cognitive approach – were combined by ocasio (1997) who studied the primary mechanisms of development of attention in managers and in the context of strategic decision making. a few years later, ocasio (2011) continued his reflection on attention, extending it to different kinds of activities. based on recent developments in neuroscience, he classified three varieties of attention. the first type – attentional perspective – describes the ability of organizations to focus on a perspective. this is attention that can be allocated to certain previously identified issues or situations or simply determined by the social, political or economic context. this type of attention is produced by guiding the awareness and efforts of actors toward certain questions or issues. this can be done by clearly stating goals, prioritizing a project and expressing logics of action or special interests. this is often the result of top-down processes. ! the second type of attention, which ocasio calls attentional selection, describes the ability of organizations to select the issues and solutions in order to focus their efforts on the execution. attentional selection results from the choices made to address certain issues and use certain solutions rather than others. it is associated with both top-down and bottom-up mechanisms that are influenced by attentional carriers. ! finally, ocasio introduces a third variety of attention, attentional engagement, which describes the ability to engage the attention on new signals that will produce changes in sensemaking and may be a source of innovation. this variety of attention corresponds to cognitive efforts that must be made to solve problems, analyze situations and make sense of the activity. it generates variations in patterns of thinking, decision making and interpretation of situations and is often the result of bottom-up processes that start from the performance of the concrete activity and then make sense of it. ! ocasio classifies these varieties of attention to clarify the different theories of attention in organizations. although originally largely inspired by strategic decision making, this approach addresses the issue of attention much more broadly. in particular, it shows a new interest in the bottom-up relations that structure attention through processes of interpretation of activities at all levels of the organization. ! another advantage of the approach developed by ocasio is that it focuses on patterns of attention (i.e., special combinations of varieties of attention) and connects these patterns to factors such as the success of the organization and/or its ability to innovate and change. ocasio (2011) has also developed several propositions to describe the reciprocal influences among the different varieties of attention. thus, for ocasio, attentional engagement facilitates variations in perspectives based on bottom-up relationships, while attentional perspective focuses efforts and frees up resources to produce variations in forms of engagement. ultimately, this view reinstates learning as an attention-structuring process. we will use this framework to analyze the organizational qui-vive we encountered in hospital wards. ! the typology of attention proposed by ocasio describes the different patterns that lead to reliable behaviors in situations characterized by uncertainty, and in particular mindfulness as described by weick (2006). this model of coordination predominantly involves attentional engagement and facilitates the detection and performance processes that bring consciousness into the action. however, it rarely involves attentional perspective, which guides actors to specific types of actions in a top-down manner. it also rarely involves channeling attention by selection. we use the chart of attentional processes to compare organizational qui-vive and mindfulness and show how these two patterns linking attention and action differ from one another. m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 346-370! jacques orvain 349 1. the author of the article participated for three years in the program, which was concluded with a symposium attended by over a hundred participants from all institutions in the health territory on february 13, 2014. 2. for the entire program, including the original six hospitals, 25 interviews were conducted, but only those involving hospitals h1, h2 and h3 are used because they correspond to the phenomenon observed. scope and method ! the study on which this research is based is part of a skills and good practices development program involving the management of pressure ulcers in hospitals. this program, supported by a french regional health authority, initially involved six french public and private hospitals1 located in the region of brittany. difficulties in treating pressure ulcers ! the frail elderly in critical care and rehabilitation units have a very high risk of forming pressure ulcers, in other words, necrotic ulcers on pressure points between the body and the mattress. in common parlance the term bedsore is often used as a synonym. the principles of prevention and treatment are well known and taken singly are relatively simple: patients must be frequently mobilized so as not to keep the pressure of the body in the same place; malnutrition and dehydration should be avoided and personal hygiene maintained; therapeutic devices, in particular pressure redistribution mattresses, have proved effective (european pressure ulcer advisory panel and national pressure ulcer advisory panel, 2009). however, many hospital teams experience difficulties (gunningberg & stotts, 2008), because pressure ulcer management involves coordinating teams and especially paying constant attention to this often overlooked risk. the ability to structure the activity is one of the characteristics of teams that succeed in effectively managing pressure ulcers (orvain, 2013). inductive analysis of care activities ! we chose to start with the description of activities as a prerequisite for understanding the work structures. this is in line with research that considers practices as central to social organization (feldman & orlikowski, 2011). thus attention is seen not as a resource that is given, but as a resource that is built by interaction and structuring processes (giddens, 1979). the action of an individual is integrated into a collective pattern of action, which allows other members of the group to recognize the action and acknowledge it by an appropriate action in return (goffman, 1983; goffman, 1991). in order to collect the data for analysis, we used an inductive grounded theory method (strauss & corbin, 1990; charmaz, 2006). data collection in three successful hospitals ! the study focuses on three of the six hospitals involved in the regional study on pressure ulcer management practices. these three hospitals (h1, h2 and h3) were selected because their teams are known for their success in managing pressure ulcers. in these hospitals we studied in detail the link between attention and action by interviewing hospital employees, observing the work in the critical care and rehabilitation units, and participating in working meetings. ! as shown in table 1, which summarizes all the sources of data collected in this study, this article is based in particular on the 12 interviews2 with employees from hospitals h1, h2 and h3. the 12 interviewees represent the different professions involved in the management of pressure ulcers. our sample base was selected to ensure that within each hospital, representatives of different professions were interviewed (table 1 below). open-ended questions were asked during the interviews, so the participants could express themselves freely, while ensuring that the following topics were addressed: concrete care practices, use of tools (informal rules, management tools, equipment), the nature of the organizational qui-vive! m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 346-370 350 3. the people quoted all signed consent forms for participating in the study. all interviewees are quoted except two: the director of hospital h2 and the manager of hospital h1. in both cases the statements were not first hand: in the first case the remarks seemed to be a duplication of those of the doctor, and in the second case it was a person who had just started in the position and who explicitly repeated the statements of the other people interviewed. these two interviews are used in the analysis, but provide no new material that would make them worth repeating verbatim. relationships in the teams, symbolic meanings and emotions. the interviews lasted between 90 and 120 minutes and were all recorded and transcribed. they were performed between 2009 and 2010. during the interviews, the respondents often used the term “bedsore” as a synonym for "pressure ulcer." when this term was used in the interviews, it was kept in the written transcript, but in the rest of the article the term "pressure ulcer" was preferred. ! the 12 interviews were completed both by observations of care practices – the author accompanied a doctor and a nurse during a visit of the ward at hospital h1 and accompanied the nurse assistants of hospital h2 on one of their rounds – and discussions with all the teams. the discussions took place during a staff meeting (hospital h1) and more informally in the nurses' lounge (hospitals h1, h2 and h3). ! finally, the author of this article also participated in three working meetings organized as part of the regional program where participants shared information on risk identification methods, prevention and treatment practices and the equipment used. the author did not participate in the theme-based meetings organized as part of the research program, but, at plenary meetings, he was able to report on the initial results of the study and get feedback from the participants. table 1. interviews, observations and discussions at hospitals h1, h2 and h3 hospital h1 hospital h2 hospital h3 people interviewed nurse assistants 1 1 care managers 1 1 dieticians 1 directors 1 nurses 1 1 doctors 1 1 1 pharmacists 1 total interviews 4 3 5 observations 1 1 discussions 2 1 1 regional meetings 333 ! the teams raised no objections to the interviews and observations because of the medical training of the author. this enabled the researcher to be accepted and quickly immerse himself in the investigation, but professional recognition and empathy may be potential factors of bias3. ! memos were written after the discussions and meetings to encourage the emergence of analytical themes. one of these memos mentioned attention as an important mechanism. this led us to search for theoretical data on attention mechanisms to support the analysis. data analysis ! the data were analyzed and presented using the method proposed by gioia, to inductively generate a new way of understanding the empirical facts (gioia, corley, & hamilton, 2013). we began with an empirical situation that we observed several times and that we interpret (langley & abdallah, 2011). the interviews were analyzed in three phases. m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 346-370! jacques orvain 351 4. french narratives have been translated into english by a professional translator. 5. we kept the french term qui-vive because there is no real equivalent in english. qui-vive can be translated as "to be on alert," but this term does not fully describe the specific nature of the phenomenon observed. ! first, the primary phenomena, which are described by the interviews (primary results corresponding to types of action) were coded by the author using nvivo software (version 8). this consisted of constantly going back and forth between the codes and all the empirical data to specify the data structure, while remaining as close as possible to the survey data without inferring any specific meaning at first. recurring actions carried out by the three hospitals studied were grouped into 15 categories which constitute the primary coding of the interviews (tables a1 to a5 in the appendix4). ! second, the primary coding elements were grouped by the author, so as to constitute a summary in the form of sub-themes (secondary results corresponding to the development of an action script). the 15 categories previously identified were reorganized into five common sub-themes that describe a common action script. a chart showing the structure of the data and verifying the constant link between the field data and the sub-themes is provided in the results section (figure 1). the tools associated with these sub-themes were also identified at this point in the analysis and their role in the implementation of the action script was defined. ! third, the action script and corresponding tools were compared with the chosen theoretical framework to analyze the attentional processes. again, we use a flowchart to demonstrate the relationship between the action script, the role of the tools and the attentional processes (figure 2). the memos written during the study mobilized the symbolic representations of the pattern studied during specific situations. some of the memos are reproduced as narratives in the body of the article to describe these situations where the pattern is expressed. terminology ! in this study we will use various terms that we need to define. we have already defined the term "action script" as a set of different actions combined to achieve a given objective and that are observed repeatedly. in our study, the action script consists of the actions developed by the care team to prevent and treat pressure ulcers. the associated tools include repertoires of signs (assessment forms for example), action principles (decision-making rules, action logic diagrams, procedures) and toolsets of equipment (mainly therapeutic devices). these tools support and equip the action script. finally, the combination of attentional processes and an action script create a particular pattern linking attention and action. organizational qui-vive ! we call the action pattern that we have identified in the study organizational qui-vive, which we will describe below. the term qui-vive5, which was spontaneously used by several of the interviewees to describe their activities, comprises various characteristics. it emphasizes the notion of collective alert, it includes the notion of preparedness and it promotes organizational cohesion through a particular form of engagement. and by using the adjective "organizational" we emphasize the collective nature of this pattern linking attention and action. we will outline these characteristics by describing the action script that produces the pattern, then by describing the tools that support the script and finally by the attentional processes that accompany the script. organizational qui-vive! m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 346-370 352 the action script as shown in figure 1, the primary coding, and its reorganization during the secondary coding, helped identify the action script, which includes five elements: a collective alerting process; collective preparation of attention through the creation of risk recognition repertoires; action-taking channeling by common action principles; the provision of a toolset; and finally the ability to update and make sense of the action script. the coding details are presented in appendices a1 to a5. figure 1. data structure describing the action script everyone  is  involved  in  the  collective  activation  of  attention   1  attention  is  a  collective   alert  mechanismpersonal  engagement  is  elicited the  organization  shows  the  importance  it  attaches  to  attention 2  attention  is  prepared    by   creating  repertoires trivialization  is  avoided  by  raising  awareness attention  is  a  learned  technique   raising  the  alert  is  defined  as  a  specific  role 3  action-­‐taking  is  facilitated   and  channeled  by  principles   of  action 4  a  toolset  is  made  available 5  the  action  is  constantly   justified   the  situations  are  qualified  and  recognized the  transition  from  attention  to  action  is  modelled  to  occur  quickly general  principles  guide  the  action rituals  and  routines  are  established  and  constantly  reviewed toolsets  and  trainings  facilitate  the  action-­‐taking opportunities  for  immediate  action  are  given  to  operators attention  is  focused  on  the  results advisory  mechanisms  are  used  to  continually  review  the  script the  attention-­‐action  script  is  constantly  reassessed  collectively   primary  coding  categories sub-­‐themes ! the five main themes that make up the architecture of the action script are described in more detail below and are then shown in the flowchart of the pattern (figure 2). a collective alert mechanism ! in the three hospitals studied, we observed that managers emphasize the importance of collective management of pressure ulcers. the way they place their wards on alert, however, varies from one hospital to another. in hospital h1, the doctor has made the issue of pressure ulcers a personal commitment that he dramatizes and brings to center stage in the name of "good medicine." the doctor at hospital h2 however, draws attention to the major public health issues as defined by the ministry of health. finally, in hospital h3, attention to pressure ulcers is a positioning strategy of the hospital in its health territory. table a1 in the appendix reflects the collective construction of attention. the doctor at hospital h2 described this process in his ward: "there were lots of meetings with nurses, this led to the first dressing record form, we evaluated the type of bedsore and [noted] the dressing we used. a procedure was developed for the prevention of bedsores throughout the hospital. a poster was written and put up in the wards. training sessions were held."  m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 346-370! jacques orvain 353 risk recognition repertoires in order to effectively support the collective alert mechanism, pressure ulcer risk recognition repertoires are made available to team members, in particular nurse assistants who are on the front lines. the teams at the three hospitals use risk assessment forms and cards with photographs to classify the severity of pressure ulcers and indicate the possible treatments. specifically these assessment tools enable them to reclassify redness as the first stage of necrosis, which avoids trivializing these signs. other repertoires also facilitate early action processes by helping staff recognize the risk of pressure ulcers. finally, the nurse assistants and nurses at the three hospitals studied are equipped with repertoires that allow them to implement specific expertise for identifying pressure ulcers and their precursors. table a2 in the appendix describes the use of the repertoires. a nurse assistant at hospital h1 describes the process: "malnutrition and dehydration are also important. we monitor these issues. if a patient doesn't get out of bed, we know we should give him a nimbus [mattress]. if one becomes available we give it to the patient... we had a training seminar two or three years ago which lasted two hours to see how much we know. it's important to be vigilant."  facilitating and channeling action-taking by action principles ! the care teams use tools (protocols, record forms, visual aids) and special coordination processes that facilitate and guide the action. the nursing teams for example use a channeling mechanism they call "targeted handover reports" [focus charting]. "targeted handover reports" prioritize the information handed over between the teams to guide the collective efforts on a specific aspect of patient care. the vigilance for a given patient is thus transferred during shift changes. general rules of action are also established. for example, as a result of the improper use of a compression bandage, the doctor at hospital h1 reminded his team of the different causes of pressure points. in doing so, he transformed a particular collective experience into a general principle of attention on the role of pressure. this principle can be mobilized in many other situations and will empower the front-line actors to make decisions. table a3 in the appendix gives some examples of the formulation of action principles. the doctor at hospital h2 summarizes one of these principles: "we said: all patients with bedsores should have a pain chart and we checked to make sure this was the case. we monitored the situation, we conducted audits." providing a toolset ! we also observed that as soon as the early signs are seen, the health care staff in the three hospitals can act quickly thanks to the existence of a toolset. the nurse assistants at hospital h2 were trained to use a decision flowchart for the allocation of equipment, allowing them to optimize the use of the pressure redistribution mattresses available. special fortified meals were developed with the kitchen at hospital h3. this new tool shortens the time required for dietary management to be implemented. emergent processes involving the constitution of a reserve stock of meals, invented by the nurse assistants at hospital h2, also help get around dietary prescription requirements. finally, hands-on training in using the tools can result in quicker and more effective action. table a4 in the appendix gives several examples of the work of preparing the toolset, in particular by the ward managers: "the role of the manager is to ensure that the information on curative and preventative techniques is communicated and understood. when it comes to using the equipment, the manager's role is to make sure everyone is aware of what's available and that everyone works toward the same goal... new staff members arrive all the time, we need to educate everyone."  organizational qui-vive! m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 346-370 354 sensemaking ! doctors are readily available to answer the questions of nurses and nursing assistants and give the necessary explanations. this reverses the prescription rules and makes the doctors available to front-line agents. the ability to consult with the doctors for advice prevents the situation from deteriorating, keeps it in a manageable state and especially makes sense of the action undertaken. re-assessment processes are also regularly conducted. in hospital h1, patient cases are discussed after the fact at weekly staff meetings, while hospital h2 frequently conducts audits on practices to verify the results. the head of the department at hospital h3, meanwhile, participated in many conferences where he presented encouraging results on new techniques, which generated recognition for his expertise and that of his team. the pharmacist of this hospital, whose remarks are reported in table a5, expressed the need to renew the commitment of the teams by reporting on their practices: "it's important to document the care provided to get better results, to work together better. we can share know-how, the same equipment, monitor patients at risk. we can pool our knowledge."  the tools that support the action script ! the tools used in the prevention and treatment of pressure ulcers have a special importance in the management of pressure ulcers (orvain & routelous, 2012), in particular when it comes to identifying problems, choosing the actions to be taken and selecting the right equipment. they facilitate, delimit and guide the action without dictating it too specifically. we can group them into three types of tools that correspond to themes 2, 3 and 4 of the action script (see figure 1). the health care staff interviewed described first using repertoires of signs to identify people at risk, anticipate the risk of developing an ulcer and assess the severity of the risk. these repertoires also contain a number of stories that keep the experiential memory alive. ! next, principles of action form another category of tools. they are often expressed in terms of general principles which must then be interpreted by the actors. avoiding pressure points is often emphasized, whether it be the pressure of a sheet, a bandage or simply the weight of the body against the edge of a chair. this focus on pressure points guides the action based on a general principle that can be mobilized in many different situations. ! finally therapeutic equipment, mainly dressings and pressure redistribution mattresses, is a third type of toolset that guides and facilitates action-taking. ! the range of tools available (repertoires, principles, toolsets) conditions the possibility of selecting problems and solutions in the action phase. the tools also interact with other themes of the action script. for example, prior to the action phase, assessment forms for identifying patients at risk are provided as part of the institutional policy of hospital h2 in the fight against pressure ulcers, thus placing the teams on alert. after the action phase, the tools form a memory of past action that factors the experience into the equipment available. for example, the too narrow compression bandages that caused an ulcer were removed from the cabinets at hospital h1, after discussion among the team. the tools help solicit and renew the engagement of the teams. attentional processes ! each of the themes of the action script can be mapped to one of the three forms of attention proposed in the literature (ocasio, 2011). m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 346-370! jacques orvain 355 attentional perspective ! each doctor, along with the ward manager, puts the issue of pressure ulcers into perspective. alerting people to the issue of pressure ulcers is thus a collective mechanism that recruits their attention and makes each person coresponsible for collective vigilance. the nurse at hospital h1 provides an example: "preventing bedsores is on everyone's mind, even before redness appears, we set everything up, the bed, [the diet] with the dietician..."  vigilance is not a spontaneous process, but a social construct that alerts the team to a previously identified risk. the risk is put into perspective by linking it to broader perspectives that make sense of the corresponding care activities. attentional selection of problems and solutions ! in the execution phase, the action is supported by attentional selection of the problems, solutions and actions. ! first, the collective attention is supported by technical preparedness that makes it possible to identify risk situations. describing the danger encourages people to switch from simply observing to actively watching out for the event and already anticipating what action to take. next, the rules of action are usually expressed in terms of simple, easy to understand principles that enable people to take fast action and monitor the results. in this respect, the targeted handover process by the nurses was mentioned several times by the interviewees. an excerpt from table a3 shows the importance of this process for channeling the collective attention: "when we have something to say we say it. targeted handover is short, we don't spend a lot of time, we need to focus on what's important. we have our handover notebooks. we have a handover board. we look at the board and we see if there are bedsores, if there is a big bedsore, we know about it." the doctors and managers also emphasize certain principles of action they wish to promote. finally, the quality and speed of response depend on the availability of a toolset that can be used to respond to emerging events and work overload situations. the toolset gives direct access to common tools developed in advance, which provides guidance while allowing freedom in the final selection of the tool. attentional engagement ! when the meaning of the action is in doubt, the ability to consult with an expert for immediate advice helps people reassess and understand the situation. doctors, occupational therapists and dieticians therefore make themselves readily available to the teams in the wards. in the longer term, these interactions result in frequent updates to the assessment forms, action principles and tools. for all three hospitals, the goal is to make sense of the work and identify areas for improvement in the perspective that has been chosen. the manager of hospital h2 forcefully states that "in decision-making, we must readjust until things are going well. and let people know that things are going well. go from the action to the result. and the result should lead to the elimination of the problem. that's the idea. this must be [the mindset] at all times..." the entire system is regularly re-evaluated, discussed and adjusted, which helps maintain, strengthen and make sense of the collective engagement. the qui-vive pattern ! qui-vive is a pattern, as we defined it in the method section, because it closely combines an action script, special tools that support it and different types of attention. figure 2 shows the correspondence between the sequences of the action script that correspond to the five analysis themes, the tools that support the script and the three varieties of attention described by ocasio (2011). organizational qui-vive! m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 346-370 356 ! the preceding analysis has demonstrated the essential role of tools in supporting the sequences of the script associated with attentional selection. these relationships are represented in figure 2 by solid arrows linking each type of tool to a particular type of action. these tools facilitate action in the execution phase. the abundance of detail on this second form of attention shows how important it is in the pattern that we observed. figure 2. organizational qui-vive pattern 1  alerting  collectively 2  recognizing  the  risk 3  channeling  action  by   principles  of  action 4  using    a  toolset 5  making  sense  of  the   action   action  script tools repertoires principles toolset attentional  processes   attentional   selection attentional   perspective attentional   engagement ! tools also have a role, albeit more indirect, when it comes to actions corresponding to attentional perspective and attentional engagement. these relationships are shown by dotted arrows. tools prepare the way for sounding the alert and help indicate the perspective in which the action is situated. the pressure ulcer risk assessment forms are a prime example of this. tools also act as a record of past actions and make sense of the action. this adaptation of tools is particularly evident at hospital h3, which, to position itself as referral facility, invests in new technologies. ! tools thus play a triple role in attentional processes. mainly mobilized during the execution phase, they help to channel attention to the selection of risk situations and the choice of treatment tools. but they also have relationships with the other two processes. prior to the execution phase they reaffirm the perspective chosen by anticipating risk situations and prevention methods; after the fact, they constitute a memory of past actions, which reinforces the engagement in preventing and treating pressure ulcers. in the words of ocasio (2011, p 1293), tools are attentional carriers. what organizational qui-vive accomplishes ! the attention-action pattern can now be characterized by what it makes it possible to accomplish using the different varieties of attention. we can define organizational qui-vive by showing how it helps the actors anticipate the action by alerting a network of sentinels, how it equips the actors by giving them the means to act quickly and bringing consciousness into the action, and finally how it makes sense of the action and keeps the actors engaged. m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 346-370! jacques orvain 357 the doctor at hospital 2 explained during a visit that to improve the practices of her team, she draws on the major national health programs. she has worked hard on pressure ulcers and she wants to work on malnutrition in the coming years. when i asked her why she doesn't carry out these projects simultaneously, she explained to me that to change people's habits, she has to focus on one project at a time and integrate it into a general improvement program. the ward manager has set up an information sharing system by fax with general practitioners. this allows her to announce the arrival of a new patient and to collectively prepare the teams. she believes this helps make the teams aware of the person's situation and anticipate their needs, especially regarding the management of pressure ulcers for which the ward physician has set up a plan for improving practices. qui-vive anticipates the action ! the healthcare staff is placed on alert by the channeling of their attention to the development of pressure ulcers. equal attention is not paid to all kinds of events; instead a large part of the attention is focused on a particular event designated in advance. this focus on the occurrence of a particular event makes it possible to anticipate the action in the attention. thus, the team at hospital h2 obtains information from the general practitioners before the patient is admitted, which allows them to order a pressure redistribution mattress in advance when necessary. the dietician at hospital h3 has set up fortified meals, and she lets the nurse assistants decide when to administer them. this makes it possible to take early action and short-circuit the long prescription process. a dietary diagnosis can subsequently confirm or reverse this action. ! narrative 1 illustrates this property of qui-vive. it shows how the physician and healthcare manager at hospital h2 specifically channel the attention of the teams to the risk of pressure ulcers and make it part of a more general perspective of action. narrative 1. hospital h2 ! qui-vive expresses a form of collective response that closely combines awareness of the problem and ways to address it early. the tools, which are prepared in advance, encourage quick action by a group that is aware of the problem and ready to take pro-active action to address an undesirable situation designated by the organization. qui-vive brings consciousness into the collective action ! the teams are on the alert or take alert action, which does not determine the action itself but rather how the action is carried out. fast action is highly valued by teams who practice organizational qui-vive. pressure ulcers can develop at any time and anywhere, and they can worsen quickly. the teams who are used to dealing with pressure ulcers are accustomed to being vigilant and taking resilient action. the doctor at hospital h1 explained that his team takes faster action than the other teams when it comes to treating pressure ulcers. what other hospital teams see as a chronic occurrence is considered on his ward as a very acute problem along the lines of a myocardial infarction. fast action is seen as a cardinal virtue that guides the choices without waiting for an accurate diagnosis or a carefully thought out therapeutic strategy. organizational qui-vive! m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 346-370 358 treating malnutrition is an important part of the management of pressure ulcers. the treatment usually consists of costly nutritional supplements. in most wards this leads to a prescription principle that entails a long chain of command: the nurse assistant reports nutritional problems to the nurse, who alerts the doctor. the doctor prescribes a dietary assessment by the dietician and then the supplements will be ordered from the pharmacy and ultimately administered by the nurse assistant. the dietician at hospital h3 came up with a completely different circuit to save time. she spoke to the kitchen staff and asked them to prepare meals fortified in sugars and fats. when the nurse assistants are worried about the nutritional health of a patient, they order him this type of meal. the dietician goes to the kitchen every day and sees which patients have had fortified meals. she then establishes a more accurate diagnosis and reports to the doctor, who prescribes more sophisticated supplements. the patient did not have to wait for an immediate solution to his nutritional difficulties. ! narrative 2 shows how the desire to take fast action changes the ways the action is carried out. narrative 2. hospital h3 ! organizational qui-vive brings consciousness into the action by indicating particular cognitive methods for the performance of the action. it promotes collective attitudes of vigilance and speed that will condition both the choice and the sequence of actions. this conception of action, supported by attention-action patterns, differs from the more classical cognitive vision that introduces a gap between thought and action. in the classical conception of action, solutions are chosen prior to the reflection on how they will be carried out (marshall, 2008). with organizational qui-vive, it is not so much the action itself that is anticipated as the manner in which it can be accomplished. in the example provided in narrative 2, the rules of prescription were reversed to meet the need for quick action. qui-vive prevailed over the conventional process of diagnosis followed by treatment. qui-vive makes sense of the action and supports engagement qui-vive is a collective expertise that facilitates mutual understanding among the different professions. the actions implemented by front-line actors can trigger actions by other actors. for example, the arrival of a patient with a pressure ulcer at hospital h3 will immediately raise an alert for the doctor, the dietician and the occupational therapist. hospital h1 (narrative 3) provides another example of this mutual understanding process, in which a new interpretation of the causes of pressure points is developed based on a shared experience. all the team members are thus bound by common interpretations that determine how they deal with pressure ulcers and create reciprocal engagements. this gives a collective sense to each person's actions. m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 346-370! jacques orvain 359 during a visit to hospital h1, i witnessed an adverse event. the ward physician took me to see a patient presenting redness on one leg. two nurses accompanied us. recently a new nurse applied too narrow a compression bandage on the patient's leg. the doctor commented on the event and explained that the pressure of the bandage probably impeded blood flow. at first, this appeared to me to be a routine event, but i later realized during various meetings that the information had spread quickly and was being commented on throughout the ward. the collective emotion aroused by the event led to the creation and rapid spread of new collective knowledge. everyone is now aware that it is important to pay attention to the width of compression bandages. the ward manager plans to make it a rule and inform newcomers to the ward because they do not have the same experience as the more senior agents. narrative 3. hospital h1 ! ! organizational qui-vive is actually a kind of ideal of the action to be undertaken, or in other words a primary framework for action as described in goffman's frames of experience (1991). this ideal guides perspectives, leads to mutual understanding of actors and aligns their individual actions. in this type of action, the actors gain empowerment, but by making use of a particular attentionaction pattern, namely organizational qui-vive. the organizational qui-vive pattern is a rhetoric of action (lorino, 2005b), a narrative principle that enables actors to situate their contributions in a collective pattern of action (pentland & feldman, 2008). discussion ! contemporary approaches to safety in hospital healthcare have recently moved away from a standard instrumental conception of risk management. the processes that are based on long chains of reporting and feedback have reached their limits and do not result in substantial gains (saintoyant, duhamel & minvielle, 2012). the coordination models based on quick feedback mechanisms and a stronger link between attention and action, according to the mindfulness principle, are considered both as effective and as ushering in a new culture (vogus, sutcliffe, & weick, 2010). however, the emphasis on mindfulness overlooks the tools routinely used to ensure safety in healthcare. ! in comparing organizational qui-vive and mindfulness using the categories of attention proposed by ocasio (2011), we will first discuss the distinguishing features of the pattern that we observed. we can then extend this reflection by considering that qui-vive belongs to a broader range of patterns linking attention and action that are used to respond to different situations. finally the use of this coordination model in other areas than healthcare can be discussed and we will also show its limitations. this will open up new avenues of research. organizational qui-vive and mindfulness ! with the concept of mindfulness, weick and sutcliffe (2006) semantically emphasize the issue of mindful attention in action. weick attaches great importance to the immediate or retrospective nature of this attention rather than its ability to anticipate. we have shown, however, how organizational qui-vive can anticipate the action in the attention. this difference can be further explained by comparing the two patterns based on the three varieties of attention. the two patterns, which both create a strong link between attention and action, are organizational qui-vive! m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 346-370 360 compared based on the different varieties of attention in the table below (table 2). table 2. comparison of different patterns linking attention and action type of attention qui-vive mindfulness perspective early vigilance with respect to a particular risk mind open to all perspectives selection tools prepared in advance rather than tinkering (bricolage) intelligent tinkering (bricolage) engagement reassurance as to the meaning of the action and adjustments as needed sensemaking during the course of the action ! attentional perspective. qui-vive prepares sentinels for a particular type of event without necessarily indicating exactly what action to undertake. this early vigilance points out the perspectives and possibilities for action. mindfulness however has a much broader perspective. it focuses attention on a situation where a coming event is quite unexpected, hence the title of weick's book: "managing the unexpected" (weick & sutcliffe, 2007). for organizational qui-vive, this aspect of attention is important because it channels vigilance. the importance of guiding perspectives calls to mind the distinction between sensegiving and sensemaking (gioia & chittipeddi, 1991). attentional perspective is based on channeling perspectives, which gives meaning to the action, while sensemaking occurs during or after the action. in other words, while mindfulness emphasizes sensemaking, organizational qui-vive emphasizes attentional perspective. ! attentional selection. qui-vive empowers actors by providing them with shared knowledge and a range of shared actions through significant investment in the preparation of tools that will equip the action. in contrast, mindfulness recommends seeking out expertise that is distributed in the organization, it encourages opportunities for bricolage to invent solutions, but it does not anticipate these opportunities. invention and innovation are important resources of attention for the mindfulness pattern, while organizational qui-vive is essentially based on a toolset prepared in advance. bricolage does exist in quivive, but the resulting action tends to become an enduring resource that will anticipate future situations. ! attentional engagement. qui-vive can content itself with supporting the action without creating new types of engagement. it simply needs to reaffirm the primary meaning of the action. in contrast, mindfulness invests heavily in making sense of the action and creating new types of engagement in the action. for mindfulness, changing the meaning of the action helps manage unexpected situations by not limiting actors to an initial pattern of interpretation. in contrast, for organizational qui-vive the goal is to reaffirm the perspectives selected. again, organizational qui-vive can make new sense of an action, but the effort made to define perspectives and engage the attention towards a particular risk is greater. qui-vive is an intermediate approach to structuring coordination ! weick distinguishes two types of couplings that directly affect the opposing principles of efficiency and reliability (orton & weick, 1990; weick & roberts, 1993). the first type, described as a tight coupling between actors, is often used in situations where there are very few unexpected events, with low-risk m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 346-370! jacques orvain 361 technologies and direct reporting lines. in contrast, the second type of coupling is described as a loose coupling between actors. mindfulness is part of a loosely coupled system. this type of coupling is used in complex situations where the actions to be undertaken cannot be predicted accurately because interactions play an important role. by focusing on pre-defined tools, organizational qui-vive moves towards tighter couplings along a continuum that allows for coordination models that vary between loose couplings and tight couplings. qui-vive appears as an intermediate approach to structuring the link between attention and action. ! this idea of a continuum supports the theory developed by levinthal and rerup (2006), who state that mindfulness does not exclude routines but rather that the two are complementary (see also levinthal & warglien, 1999). the need to use different varieties of attention has also been described in the management of rare crises (rerup, 2009). because the different types of loose couplings are distinguished by the importance granted to one or the other of the varieties of attention described by ocasio, it is possible to contextualize the action in the field of safety (elsbach, barr & hargadon, 2005; journé & raulet-crosset, 2008, hollnagel, 2009). transferability and limitations of organizational qui-vive ! the attitudes that are specific to organizational qui-vive, and that we observed in the hospitals during this study, can be extrapolated to enhance the reliability of organizations in general. in different contexts, different situations may arise. in the case of a known risk that may occur at any time, the reliability of the organization is based on the ability to select the varieties of attention and to prepare tools to respond to the situation. this will empower the front-line actors, while delimiting the range of solutions based on the type of tools made available. however, when the risk is totally random, the mindfulness pattern seems more appropriate because it helps make sense of the action without prejudging the circumstances. ! the different patterns linking attention and action actually organize an attention economy: they can optimize the use of attention, and they can degrade its performance. the qui-vive pattern, and probably even more so the mindfulness pattern, by calling for vigilance, may indeed run the risk of generating burnout among front-line actors. qui-vive could exacerbate the worries of the actors and undermine their performance. this is one of the limitations of this pattern, which cannot be applied in all types of situations because of the risk of burnout. clearly, it is necessary to contextualize the use of organizational qui-vive. ! the limitations of organizational qui-vive give rise to new research questions. it would be interesting to study how the different attention-action patterns emerge in organizations. are the patterns different depending on the functions and work schedules within the organization? do we observe mimicry or, conversely, segregation in the choice of patterns? are there processes for transitioning from one pattern to another depending on the evolution of risk? all these questions typically fit into the program of simon, march and cyert on the possibilities of allocating attention within organizations (simon, 1983; cyert & march, 1992). conclusion ! the study of a particular type of care in hospitals has revealed a common pattern linking attention and action we have called organizational qui-vive. the centerpiece of the organizational qui-vive pattern consists of an action script and organizational qui-vive! m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 346-370 362 tools that support different attentional processes. organizational qui-vive recruits different types of attention that have been described in the literature: attentional perspective, attentional selection and attentional engagement in the action. ! organizational qui-vive creates a working organization that structures, in a particular manner, the link between attention and action, but it is different from other patterns linking attention and action. it stands out in particular from mindfulness as described by weick, which has been used to characterize safety processes in hospital settings (vogus & sutcliffe, 2007). in both cases, the description of the activity relies heavily on a close relationship between attention and action. but in the case of organizational qui-vive the focus is on the first two categories of attention (attentional perspective and attentional selection), while in mindfulness the last category predominates (attentional engagement). in addition, predefined tools play a more important role in organizational qui-vive. these different patterns linking attention and action are part of a larger family of coordination involving more or less loosely coupled activities. these couplings provide a framework for the actors while still empowering them, which may have applications far beyond risk management in hospitals. references brabet, j. (2005). enacter l'enaction: une lecture subjective des travaux de karl e. weick. in d. autissier, & f. bensebaa (eds.), les défis du sensemaking en entreprise: karl weick et les sciences de gestion (pp. 75-95). paris: economica. charmaz, k. (2006). constructing grounded theory; a practical guide through qualitative analysis. london: sage publications. chatzisarantis, n.l.d., & hagger, m.s. (2007). mindfulness and the intention-behavior relationship within the theory of planned behavior. personality and social psychology bulletin, 33(5), 663-676. cyert, r.m., & march, j.g. (1992). a behavioral theory of the firm. new york, ny: wiley. eisenberg, e.m. (2006). karl weick and the aesthetics of contingency. organization studies, 27(11), 1693-1707. elsbach, k.d., barr, p.s., & hargadon, a.b. (2005). identifying situated cognition in organizations. organization science, 16(4), 422-433. european pressure ulcer advisory panel and national pressure ulcer advisory panel (2009). prevention and treatment of pressure ulcers: quick reference guide. washington dc: national pressure ulcer advisory panel. feldman, m.s., & orlikowski, w.j. (2011). theorizing practice and practicing theory. organization science, 22(5), 1240-1253. gavetti, g., levinthal, d., & ocasio, w. (2007). neocarnegie: the carnegie school's past, present, and reconstructing for the future. organization science, 18(3), 523-536. giddens, a. (1979). central problems in social theory. london: palgrave macmilan. gioia, d.a., & chittipeddi, k. (1991). sensemaking and sensegiving in strategic change initiation. strategic management journal, 12(6), 433-448. gioia, d.a., corley, k.g., & hamilton, a.l. (2013). seeking qualitative rigor in inductive research: notes on the gioia methodology. organizational research methods, 16(1), 15-31. goffman, e. (1983). the interaction order: american sociological association, 1982 presidential address. american sociological review, 48(1), 1-17. goffman, e. (1991). les cadres de l'expérience. paris: les editions de minuit. gunningberg, l., & stotts, n.a. (2008). tracking quality over time: what do pressure ulcer data show? international journal for quality in health care, 20(4), 246-253. hollnagel, e., & journé, b. (2009). fiabilité et résilience c o m m e d i m e n s i o n d e l a p e r f o r m a n c e organisationelle. m@n@gement, 12(4), 224-229. journé, b., & raulet-crosset, n. (2008). le concept de situation: contribution à l'analyse de l'activité managériale dans un contexte d'ambiguïté et d'incertitude. m@n@gement, 11(1), 27-55. langley, a., & abdallah ,c. (2011). templates and turns in qualitative studies of strategy and management. in d.d. bergh, & d.j. ketchen (eds.), building methodological bridges (research methodology in strategy and management, vol 6) (pp.201-235). bingley: emerald group. levinthal, d., & rerup, c. (2006). crossing an apparent c h a s m : b r i d g i n g m i n d f u l a n d l e s s m i n d f u l perspectives on organizational learning. organization science, 17(4), 502-513. levinthal, d.a., & warglien, m. (1999). landscape design: designing for local action in complex worlds. organization science, 10(3), 342-357. l o r i n o , p. ( 2 0 0 5 a ) . l e s i n s t r u m e n t s , p r é s e n c e fantomatique dans l'oeuvre de karl e. weick. in d. autissier, & f. bensebaa (eds.), les défis du sensemaking en entreprise: karl weick et les sciences de gestion (pp.49-73). paris: economica. lorino, p. (2005b). contrôle de gestion et mise en intrigue de l'action collective. revue française de gestion, 31(159), 189-212. m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 346-370! jacques orvain 363 marshall, n. (2008). cognitive and practice-based theories of organizational knowledge and learning: incompatible or complementary? management learning, 39(4), 413-435. ocasio, w. (1997). towards an attention-based view of the firm. strategic management journal, 18(s1), 187-206. ocasio, w. (2011). attention to attention. organization science, 22(5), 1286-1296. orton, j.d., & weick, k.e. (1990). loosely coupled s y s t e m s : a r e c o n c e p t u a l i z a t i o n . a c a d e m y o f management review, 15(2), 203-223. orvain,j. (2013). les mécanismes de structuration de l'activité des équipes de soins: etude de cas sur la gestion des ulcères de pression. journal de gestion et d'economie médicales, 31(2-3), 121-141. orvain, j., & routelous, c. (2012). comment les objets construisent nos façons d'agir: les dispositifs d'habilitation et de déshabilitation du sujet. in g. dorthe (ed.), studia philosophica: aux limites de la condition humaine, santé, justice, pouvoir. (pp.101-108). basel: schwabe verlag. pentland, b.t., & feldman, m.s. (2008). designing routines: on the folly of designing artifacts, while hoping for patterns of action. information and organization, 18(4), 235-250. rerup, c. (2009). attentional triangulation: learning from unexpected rare crises. organization science, 20(5), 876-893. saintoyant, v., duhamel, g., & minvielle, e. (2012). gestion des risques associés aux soins: état des lieux et perspectives. pratiques et organisation des soins, 43(1), 35-45. simon,h. (1983). administration et processus de décision. paris: economica. strauss, a., & corbin, j. (1990). basics of qualitative research: techniques and procedures for developping grounded theory. newbury park, ca: sage. vogus, t.j., & sutcliffe, k.m. (2007). the safety organizing scale: development and validation of a behavioral measure of safety culture in hospital nursing units. medical care, 45(1). weick, k., & sutcliffe, k. (2006). mindfulness and the quality of organizational attention. organization science, 17(4), 514-524. weick, k., & sutcliffe, k. (2007). managing the unexpected: resilient performance in an age of uncertainty. san francisco, ca: jossey-bass. weick,k.e. (1976). educational organizations as loosely coupled systems. administrative science quarterly, 21(1), 1-19. weick, k.e. (2006). faith, evidence, and action: better guesses in an unknowable world. organization studies, 27(11), 1723-1736. weick, k.e., & roberts, k.h. (1993). collective mind in organizations: heedful interrelating on flight decks. administrative science quarterly, 38(3), 357-381. weick, k.e., & sutcliffe, k.m. (2003). hospitals as cultures of entrapment: a re-analysis of the bristol royal infirmary. california management review, 45(2), 73-84. organizational qui-vive! m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 346-370 364 appendix a. structure of primary and secondary themes table a1. attention is a collective alert mechanism everyone is involved in the collective activation of attention "when patients arrive, it's the first thing we look for... bedsores are not normal, it's our boss who said that. we follow along, but he's right." (nurse assistant h1) "preventing bedsores is on everyone's mind, even before redness appears, we set everything up, the bed, [the diet] with the dietician... the whole team is involved in the process." (nurse h1) "here it is not completely hierarchical, everyone should give the alert, everyone has a role, if you use too many tools that can be counter-productive. what's important is not to achieve quality for quality's sake what's important is when the team follows along, i think that's great. i don't want to be a bedsore specialist, it is better to provide training. work on the culture of the ward. (doctor h2) "here in the hospital we pay attention to changing [patient] positions and hydration. it's rare to see bedsores. if the patients arrive with bedsores, they don't leave with them, that's just how it is! this shows that we provide good care." (nurse assistant h3) personal engagement is elicited "compared to 25 years ago, things have changed, it’s had a huge effect... on our ward we are very attentive to this issue, and we’re successful. i'm totally sincere. our boss taught us that." (nurse assistant h1) "for me it was clear: i am the person of reference for bedsores in the hospital, so there absolutely cannot be any bedsores on the ward. there is multidisciplinary communication, the nurse assistant knows that people will pay attention to what she says. (doctor h3) "we've encouraged the staff, be it the nurse assistants or the nurses, by showing them, getting them directly involved." (doctor h3) the organization shows the importance it attaches to attention. "the message spreads quickly throughout the team. the first time a new girl had to say that a red spot had appeared, it wasn't easy. the fact that there is this fear, we do everything we can to make sure we provide the best care possible." (nurse h1) "there were lots of meetings with nurses, this led to the first dressing record form, we evaluated the type of bedsore and the dressing we used. a procedure was developed for the prevention of bedsores throughout the hospital. a poster was written and put up in the wards. training sessions were held." (doctor h2) the hospital has a good reputation in this area. the families don't pay attention to this issue. it's more among hospitals, we judge our colleagues." (pharmacist h3) m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 346-370 365 table a2. attention is prepared by creating repertoires trivialization is avoided by raising awareness. "i act based on my emotions because if we trivialize it we simply don't see it any more. there is a fatalism that sets in." (doctor h1) "bedsores are not inevitable. the nurse assistants' vigilance is the most important thing. they are the first people who should be trained. if they don't give the alert, none of the rest will work." (doctor h2) "the general public is not really aware of this issue, people need to be more attentive, there should be therapeutic education on the importance of nutrition. the general public is uninformed and not educated about the issue. there is a fatalistic attitude." (dietician h3) attention is a learned technique. "malnutrition and dehydration are also important. we monitor these... issues. if a patient doesn't get out of bed, we know we should give him a nimbus [mattress]. if one becomes available we give it to the patient... we had a training seminar two or three years ago which lasted two hours to see how much we know. it's important to be vigilant." (nurse assistant h1) "a dynamic system has been set up: first a dressing group in 2002, a dressing record form for traceability, staff training, a handbook was produced." (doctor h2) "it was very hard, because i wanted there to be trained nurse assistants, i.e. certified... so we had to assess their knowledge and they realized that in fact they didn't necessarily have the knowledge and therefore the skills couldn't be fully implemented." (manager h2) "the nurses talk openly about the issue. they dare to say that there are bedsores. that makes people want to review the stages of severity, i do that from time to time. we could calculate the impact of nutrition based on the stages. (dietician h3) raising the alert is defined as a specific role "it's based on people, discussions, communication. dr. b is a great actor. when redness appears he puts on a big show [of being upset]." (nurse h1) "the nurse assistants have been educated, whenever there is redness they report it, they give the alert. this is really the first thing, it's what's most important." (doctor h2) "the nurse assistants play a major role in terms of observing and reporting if there is a risk. we raise the alert." (nurse assistant h3) organizational qui-vive! m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 346-370 366 table a3. action-taking is facilitated and channeled by principles of action the situations are qualified and recognized "the doctor talks about it regularly, both explaining preventive methods, focusing on it when he goes to see this kind of thing. when there is a problem he focuses on it and gets everything going right away." (nurse h1) "we held a meeting where we made everything very clear. when i receive someone i indicate it on the schedule, i indicate where she is coming from, why she is coming and what her level of autonomy is. why she is coming, whether she has bedsores or not." (manager h2) the transition from attention to action is modelled to occur quickly. "when we have something to say we say it. targeted handover is short, we don't spend a lot of time, we need to focus on what's important. we have our handover notebooks. we have a handover board. we look at the board and we see if there are bedsores, if there is a big bedsore, we know about it." (nurse assistant h1) general principles guide the action "we said: all patients with bedsores should have a pain chart and we checked to make sure this was the case. we monitored the situation, we conducted audits. we set up dressing record forms in the wards. we had 2 types of record forms, now it's computerized." (doctor h2) "and at that point we said, well, we just have to work. we start with an observation, an observation that there are things that are not acceptable. so we can't let these things go because there is an impact on the patient, there is an impact on the caregiver. here there are a lot of things that are done in terms of training about patient abuse." (manager h2) table a4. a toolset is made available rituals and routines are established and constantly reviewed "the nurses and assistants know what to do. the problem is to make sure they do it at the right time. so i say it has to be an obsession... it has to become second nature. we can't forget important things, it's an automatic ritual." (doctor h1) "in all the different hospitals, we need to provide the same management and care. we need to have the same monitoring, for patients who are in transit." (pharmacist h3) "for direct admissions, we developed a form that we send by internet to the doctor who sends it back by internet to provide us information about the person's condition. we created the form and sent it to all the general practitioners. based on that, i fill out my info sheet, a label. i put it on the card that goes on the wall chart." (manager h2) "when i did the audit i went to see if they used focus charting and targeted handover methods. targeted handover was introduced in 2008. targeted handover makes sure things are documented in the patient chart." (doctor h2) toolsets and trainings facilitate the action-taking "a well-organized team will make the best use of everyone’s skills. you have to have the knowledge, training, hands-on training, and then find the best way to get the entire staff to work efficiently. the problem with bedsores is that to prevent them you have to take quick action. in wards where we're used to [managing this type of risk], things are organized. (doctor h1) "the role of the manager is to ensure that the information on curative and preventative techniques is communicated and understood. when it comes to using the equipment, the manager's role is to make sure everyone is aware of what's available and that everyone works toward the same goal... new staff members arrive all the time, we need to educate everyone." (nurse h1) "information is provided on the correct use of dressings for each stage. the nurses talk openly about the issue." (dietician h3) opportunities for immediate action are given to operators "we established a flow chart to decide which type of mattress to use. we realized that the mattresses were not assigned correctly. the nimbus mattress was assigned to people who didn't need it. we don't indicate the specific type because i want to involve the nurse assistants and nurses in the decision." (doctor h2) "here we do an admission assessment, there is a protocol on the treatment carts showing how to recognize the different stages. there is a booklet that helps determine the stage. we have a basic list for the dressings, but everyone sort of works on their own. there is a broad range [of dressings], on the wards they don't always know which to use. it isn’t easy to [choose which to use] based on category or class. [the doctor] does the most complicated dressings. so the nurse is motivated [to learn and improve]." (pharmacist h3) m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 346-370! jacques orvain 367 table a5. the action is constantly justified (sensemaking) attention is focused on the results we know that we're being effective when the bedsores are gone... on the team, if there is a bedsore, we ask ourselves what we did wrong. and we'll be three times more vigilant when treating it." (nurse assistant h1) "in decision-making, we must readjust until things are going well and let people know that things are going well. go from the action to the result. and the result should lead to the elimination of the problem. that's the idea. this must be [the mindset] at all times and we should see the person's condition improve or see the problem resolved." (manager h2) advisory mechanisms are used to continually review the script "when you're worried about a particular patient, when there is a problem, redness, a friction blister, whatever. we know we can ask [the doctor] for advice, ask what kind of dressing we should use. when we ask for advice, we know he pays attention, when we need advice we know we can ask and he will listen and tell us how to treat [the bedsore], which dressing to use, what product to use, and even how to apply it. (nurse h1) "i try to go see as many wounds as possible. my colleagues do as well. when we look at the wound we talk to the nurses, they let us know when there are difficulties, they have their ideas and i have mine; we come to a consensus." (doctor h2) as soon as there is a wound somewhere there is a request for consultation both externally and internally. if there are bedsores on the third floor, they will ask the doctor." (doctor h3) "the home health nurses tell me how upsetting it is. they don't know what to do. they may be very effective, but when it's necessary we can take the patient back and treat him with powerful painkillers. there has to be a recourse strategy. we have an environment that makes it possible to use resources that require a safe environment. we can priorities the recourse process." (doctor h3) the attention-action script is constantly reassessed collectively "[at the staff meeting] the doctor reports on each patient, explaining what the patient has, explaining the therapy used, the treatments, the progression and what will comes next for the patient... the doctor explains, and each person gives his opinion on the progression, what we think, if there needs to be an adjustment in any area." (nurse h1) "we use premedication a lot, we have a large consumption of opioids. we routinely evaluate pain based on pain scales. if it hurts we don't do it, the doctor, nurses and nurse assistants discuss things together to decide whether we should do it." (doctor h2) "it's important to document the care provided to get better results, to work together better. we can share know-how, the same equipment, monitor patients at risk. we can pool our knowledge." (pharmacist h3) jacques orvain is professor  at ehesp (french school of public health). his research focuses on organizational behavior in healthcare and medico-social organizations, specifically on structuring mechanisms within these organizations. he is a medical doctor, specialized in epidemiology and got a phd in management science in 2012. from 1996 to 2008 he held managerial positions: he was vice president of medical services and health economic evaluation in hmr (usa), director of evaluation in  anaes (paris, france) and vice dean for studies and research in ensp (rennes, france). organizational qui-vive! m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 346-370 368 © the author(s) www.management-aims.com m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 346-370! jacques orvain 369 © the author(s) www.management-aims.com organizational qui-vive! m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 346-370 370 resource dependence and power-balancing operations in alliances: the role of market redefinition strategies paul chiambaretto mrm montpellier business school, i3-crg, ecole polytechnique, cnrs, université paris-saclay p.chiambaretto@montpellier-bs.com resource dependence and power-balancing operations in alliances: the role of market redefinition strategies paul chiambaretto abstract. this article studies power imbalances in alliances. more precisely, we seek to understand how – and under what circumstances – firms can leverage market redefinition strategies to change the structure of their markets and to reduce the bargaining power of actual or potential partners. based on resource dependence theory, our analysis examines the causes of disproportionate power in alliances and describes various power-balancing operations that can be implemented to reduce dependence. in previous research, the presence of alternative sources that might reduce resource dependence has been given exogenously, and the set of power-balancing operations has been rather limited. based on the alliance literature, the bargaining power literature and the market redefinition literature, we elaborate a theoretical framework to study the extent to which firms can leverage market redefinition strategies to shape the structure of their markets, in general, and reduce the bargaining power of partners, in particular. we illustrate our theoretical framework by means of multiple case studies and discuss our conclusions. focusing on air-rail intermodal strategies, we emphasise that firms can proactively redesign their market boundaries to find new partners. these market redefinition strategies reduce dependence on powerful partners in the traditional market and offer new strategic partnership options for firms. in addition, we note that processes can be implemented to increase the quality offered by these new substitutes. finally, we elucidate several theoretical and managerial implications regarding the role of market redefinition strategies in alliance development. ! building on the resource dependence theory (rdt) literature (hillman et al., 2009; pfeffer & salancik, 1978; pfeffer, 2005), we study the issue of power imbalances in alliances (casciaro & piskorski, 2005; xia, 2011). more precisely, we seek to understand how – and under what circumstances – firms can leverage market redefinition strategies to change the structure of their markets and reduce the bargaining power of actual or potential partners, in particular. ! rdt is a particularly relevant framework because it integrates the concept of power (through dependence on a partner) into the study of relationships between actors and among alliances (huxham & beech, 2008). several authors have analysed power imbalance issues from the perspective of rdt and specifically considered the case of alliances (casciaro & piskorski, 2005; xia, 2011). power imbalances can result from holding a unique position in an alliance network (cook et al., 1983; gnyawali & madhavan, 2001; polidoro et al., 2011), from having special access to critical resources (medcof, 2001; yan & gray, 1994), or from one partner believing the alliance to be of little strategic importance (inkpen & beamish, 1997). regardless of the source of the power m@n@gement 2015, vol. 18(3): 205-233 205 mailto:p.chiambaretto@montpellier-bs.com?subject= mailto:p.chiambaretto@montpellier-bs.com?subject= imbalance, the more powerful partner typically extracts more value from a partnership at the expense of the weaker partner (friedkin, 1986; klein et al., 1978). to avoid this situation, the weak firm can implement a set of actions; when applied to alliances, these “power-balancing operations” (emerson, 1962) can involve using a third party to moderate the threat of the powerful partner (bae & gargiulo, 2004) or finding other partners to access these resources (xia, 2011). in fact, the rdt view of alliances is agential because it proposes that a firm can manage power in its alliance portfolio (huxham & beech, 2008). we investigate new possible actions to reduce dependence on partners (and to reduce dependence on partners’ power, as a consequence). ! recent contributions to the literature have emphasised the central role of partner substitutability in the instability of alliances (greve et al., 2013; katila et al., 2008; rahman and korn, in press; xia, 2011). the presence of outside options clearly influences relationships between partners because of the possibility of partnering with other firms when an alliance fails. however, most articles limit the inquiry of partner substitution to the same market, although firms may have realistic options for partners in different markets. this limitation contradicts various studies finding that firms can proactively define their markets (geroski, 1998; kim & mauborgne, 2005; santos & eisenhardt, 2009). by redefining its market boundaries, a firm can increase the set of its potential partners. a focal firm with more substitutable current partners is able to reduce the bargaining power of those partners. in fact, as a firm contributes to the convergence of markets (hacklin et al., 2009; pennings & puranam, 2001), it may reduce its dependence on powerful partners and may find more profitable ways to access critical resources. it thus appears to be crucial to understand the links between market redefinition strategies and power-balancing operations in alliances. thus, we formulate our research question as the following: how and under what circumstances can firms leverage market redefinition strategies to change the structure of their markets and, more specifically, to reduce the bargaining power of actual or potential partners? ! thus, based on the alliance literature, the bargaining power literature and the market redefinition literature, we elaborate a theoretical framework to elucidate how firms can leverage market redefinition strategies to generally reshape their markets and reduce the bargaining power of their current and potential partners, in particular. methodologically, we draw from hoffmann (2007) or vaara & monin (2010) and illustrate our theoretical framework through multiple case studies (yin, 2009). our aim is not to test the external validity of our framework but to verify its usefulness in illuminating the application of market redefinition strategies to reduce the bargaining power of actual or potential partners. the combination of several cases allows us to implement what yin (2009) calls a “theoretical replication”. in other words, our multiple case setting provides us with the opportunity to classify our cases to cover different theoretical conditions. in undertaking these efforts, we managed to yield results that support our theoretical predictions. ! we conduct this research by studying air-rail intermodal strategies (i.e., alliances in which an airline cooperates with a rail operator to access cities that it cannot serve alone, whether for legal or economic reasons). focusing on the french market, we observe that these intermodal alliances are created to bypass national airlines, whose power is exceedingly strong. by redefining the boundaries of their markets, foreign airlines seeking access to the french market have increased the number of outside options for purposes of selecting the most profitable option. ! our findings show that market redefinition strategies can be designed to reduce dependence on a powerful potential or actual partner (i.e., a national airline). from a theoretical perspective, we aim to extend the classical view of resource dependence and power in alliances. the traditional approach was m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 205-233! paul chiambaretto 206 essentially deterministic because the weak firm’s degree of freedom was limited. by giving the focal (weak) firm the opportunity to proactively shift its market boundaries, our new approach increases the number of options available to it. in fact, the focal firm can redesign its market to access new substitutes. as more comparable outside options become accessible, the focal (weak) firm reduces its dependence on the strong partner and can enter into more profitable partnerships. with this approach, we propose that firms can activate several parameters (e.g., shared goals and the number and quality of substitutes) to reduce their dependence on powerful partners and escape deterministic patterns in the alliances that they establish. in addition, we observe that firms can implement processes to increase the quality offered by these new substitutes. the introduction of these new “variables” into the assessment of resource dependence allows us to analyse alliance bargaining issues in greater detail. ! this research contributes to three different streams in the literature. first, our study contributes to the existing literature on alliance formation and partner selection (casciaro & piskorski, 2005; shah & swaminathan, 2008). in addition to the traditional factors highlighted in the literature – including the complementarity and compatibility of partners – this research underlines the crucial role played by the existence of substitutes (bae & gargiulo, 2004; greve et al., 2013). we show how firms can benefit from the availability of substitutes when negotiating a value-sharing scheme with a partner in an alliance. second, our research contributes to the literature on bargaining power by analysing in greater detail the factors that impact the dependence between two partners (bae & gargiulo, 2004; emerson, 1962). more precisely, we show that the number of outside options or substitutes is not exogenously determined and that firms can change the number of substitutes by changing their own vision and their definition of their market. we also highlight that substitutability is a multidimensional concept integrating not only the number but also the quality of substitutes. furthermore, we contribute to the research focusing on power-balancing operations (bae & gargiulo, 2004; emerson, 1962; katila et al., 2008; xia, 2011) by considering market redefinition strategies as a new type of power-balancing operation. finally, we make a twofold contribution to the market redefinition literature. first, whereas the previous literature has studied how alliances can contribute to redefining market boundaries (chiambaretto & dumez, 2012; lew & sinkovics, 2013; ozcan & eisenhardt, 2009), we study the relationship in reverse by analysing how market redefinition strategies can impact alliances. second, we underscore that firms can strengthen market convergence by implementing processes such as common norms or translation procedures to foster cooperation and interactions between firms in both markets. theoretical background resource dependence and alliances ! rdt’s main objective has been to understand the behaviour of an organisation by replacing it within its environment (pfeffer & salancik, 1978). according to rdt, a firm’s behaviour is essentially affected by how it accesses the critical resources that it needs in its environment. in fact, the concept of power plays a crucial role in rdt because control over the strategic resources in a firm’s environment is essential (ulrich & barney, 1984)1. by accessing key external resources, firms attempt to reduce other firms’ power over them while increasing their own power over others (hillman et al., 2009). ! this vision of firms posits that firms are not autonomous and are consequently highly interdependent. this interdependence leads to uncertainty ressource dependence & power balancing operations in alliances! m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 205-233 207 1. the concept of resources in rdt and in the resource-based view can be understood as complementary. although it is not the goal of this research article, we admit that combining these two theories “allows consideration of both an i n t e r n a l l y f o c u s e d p e r s p e c t i v e o f h o w organizations specify resource needs and an e x t e r n a l l y f o c u s e d p e r s p e c t i v e o f h o w o r g a n i z a t i o n s o b t a i n t h e s e v a l u a b l e resources.” (hillman et al., 2009, p. 1417) some studies, such as murray et al. (2005), have indeed shown the added value of combining these theories. however, in the remainder of this article, we will adopt mainly a rdt view of alliances. because a firm’s strategies rely on the actions of other firms. to reduce this resource dependence, a firm can absorb scarce resources by through mergers or alliances (drees & heugens, 2013; haleblian et al., 2009). in the remainder of the paper, we define an alliance as a voluntary arrangement between firms that involves the exchange, sharing, or co-development of products, technologies, or services (gulati, 1998).! ! nevertheless, this notion of resource interdependence is overly vague because it combines different dimensions that should be distinguished (casciaro & piskorski, 2005; gulati & sytch, 2007). the ambiguity results from the symmetry implied by the notion of resource interdependence, which is rarely observed. in fact, in most dyadic relations, one of the actors is more powerful than the other. casciaro & piskorski (2005) suggest distinguishing two dimensions of resource interdependence: power imbalance and mutual dependence. power imbalance refers to the difference in the power of each actor over the other. this type of imbalance can be measured as the difference or ratio between the two dependencies (lawler & yoon, 1996). in parallel, mutual dependence is a means of assessing the existence of bilateral dependencies in a dyad. this dimension can be calculated as the sum or the average of actors’ dependence on one another (bacharach & lawler, 1981). ! this distinction is central because it changes the predictions of rdt, which traditionally posits that a high level of interdependence will foster cooperation between firms (using alliances or mergers). however, casciaro and piskorski (2005) emphasise that greater power imbalance in a dyad is associated with a reduced likelihood of creating an alliance. indeed, a powerful partner has little incentive to create an alliance with a weak partner because such an alliance would mean that the powerful partner would share its competitive advantage for no reason, thus ceding its power and sharing its favourable conditions. however, when mutual dependence is high, both firms have strong incentives to cooperate because they have few outside partners. based on these results, we posit that power plays a central role in alliance formation and stability. more precisely, we believe that power imbalances are crucial in explaining alliance dynamics. power imbalance and balancing operations ! to understand power imbalances and mutual dependence variations, it is essential to first examine the definition of power. until the 1960s, power was not formalised in any real sense. the commonly agreed-upon definition came from weber, who defined power as the ability of an actor to realise his will even against the will of other actors. however, this vision of power was problematic because it implied that an actor is powerful without considering context. in his seminal contribution, emerson (1962:32) noted that “power is a property of a social relation; it is not an attribute of an actor.” this founding approach has completely altered our vision of power and has inspired many authors, including crozier and friedberg (1977) and dimaggio and powell (1983). in the remainder of this article, we adopt emerson’s vision of power because it allows us to clearly identify the different components and drivers of power. more precisely, following his approach, we can determine how a firm’s power over a partner may evolve as parameters change. ! following emerson’s definition, actor i is not powerful; instead, actor i has power over another actor (actor j). the power of actor i over actor j (pi/j) can thus be defined as the amount of resistance on the part of j that can potentially be overcome by i. in fact, power implicitly resides in the other’s dependence: the more dependent a partner is, the more power the focal firm has over that partner. the dependence of actor i on actor j (di/j) is thus (1) directly proportional to i’s need for resources that are mediated by j and (2) inversely proportional to the number of alternative actors able to provide the same resources to i. one of the m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 205-233! paul chiambaretto 208 key contributions of emerson (1962) has been to link power and dependence in the following equation: pi/j=dj/i. if we apply these definitions of power to resources, then we observe that stating that actor i has power over j implies that (1) actor j needs actor i to realise its objectives and that (2) actor i has privileged access to resources that are critical to actor j. ! as observed by huxham and beech (2008), there is an extensive literature analysing power in inter-organisational relationships. several contributions have thus attempted to identify the sources of power in inter-organisational relationships (bae & gargiulo, 2004; polidoro et al., 2011), the consequences of power in value-sharing processes and punitive actions (kumar et al., 1998; yan & gray, 1994) and/or the impact of power on alliance dynamics (das & teng, 2000; gnyawali & madhavan, 2001). whatever the type of contribution, the question of power in inter-organisational relationships has frequently been associated with the idea of imbalance (huxham & beech, 2008). differences in terms of power (i.e., dependence) between two actors are central to explaining alliance dynamics (cummings & holmberg, 2012). ! considering that power imbalances can be harmful, emerson (1962) defined a set of power-balancing operations. one option consists of reducing the cost of a relationship by reducing the resistance that can be overcome. by adjusting its goals towards those of the powerful partner, the weak firm suffers less from any power that may be exerted. the second option involves diminishing the importance of the goals that can be mediated by the powerful actor. in this case, the weaker firm diminishes the likelihood of a hostile intervention by the stronger firm. finally, the third option is to cultivate alternative sources to reach the objective (for instance, by cooperating with other firms that have access to the same critical resources) to render the powerful partner less essential. ! as applied to alliances, these power-balancing operations involve different solutions, such as using a third party to moderate the threat of the powerful partner (bae & gargiulo, 2004), implementing defence mechanisms (katila et al., 2008), or finding other partners with access to these same (or similar) resources (xia, 2011). the common idea underlying these contributions is to change the structure of the alliance network to reduce the bargaining power of brokers (burt, 1992; ryall & sorenson, 2007). these actions reduce the centrality of the powerful partner in either the strategy or the network of the focal firm. ! if these power-balancing operations are useful, they remain traditional in scope: the firm can avoid or bypass a partner but only within the same market or industry. in so doing, a firm does not have leverage on the number of substitutes because that number is set by the boundaries of the market. however, as has been shown in several key contributions (greve et al., 2013; xia, 2011), partnering or threatening to partner with substitutes may play a significant role in explaining the focal firm’s alliance dynamics. nevertheless, substitutes must be understood not only as alternative partners within the same industry but also as partners belonging to neighbouring industries or markets. it thus appears crucial to investigate in detail the role that can be played by market redefinition in powerbalancing operations. redefinition of market boundaries ! alliances have always been related to strategies involving market redefinition. in fact, one of the first justifications for creating alliances was to enter new markets (dussauge & garrette, 1999; kogut, 1988), particularly international markets (pan & tse, 2000; tse et al., 1997). historically, markets have been regarded as an exogenous element of the environment in which firms evolve (venkatraman & prescott, 1990). the structure and characteristics of the market are given to the firm, whose conduct is relatively predetermined (porter, 1980). ressource dependence & power balancing operations in alliances! m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 205-233 209 ! in the 1990s, a new vision of markets emerged with the idea that strategy is not necessarily passive but can result from an original vision of the market (hamel & prahalad, 1994). according to this new approach, firms can proactively influence their environments by changing the rules of the industry (araujo, 2007; callon, 1998; kim & mauborgne, 2005). this modelling role is even stronger when a market is relatively new and undefined (santos & eisenhardt, 2009). the reality may be subtler because firms may simultaneously structure their environment while being affected by it (geroski, 1998). the structure of the market is then the result of these interactions as firms contribute to the emergence and the strengthening of specific market boundaries through their actions (depeyre & dumez, 2008; dumez & jeunemaitre, 2010; muniesa et al., 2007). ! alliances are among the actions implemented by firms to structure their markets. alliances are particularly relevant when a market is emergent because they allow the first entrepreneurs to position their newly created market vis-à-vis other firms (ozcan & eisenhardt, 2009). by creating alliances or bundles of products, firms can combine neighbouring markets and blur existing boundaries (bauer, 2005; chiambaretto & dumez, 2012; gassmann et al., 2010). these strategies contribute to the convergence of existing markets and provide opportunities for changing market rules (hacklin et al., 2009; joshi et al., 1998; lind, 2005; pennings & puranam, 2001). in fact, interindustry alliances not only change market rules but also improve the competitive position of firms within the new reference market (lew & sinkovics, 2013). ! combining these different insights, we observe that most solutions to reducing power imbalances in alliances have involved remaining in the same market. this traditional vision maintains markets or networks as elements exogenously given to the focal firm. in the following section, we create a theoretical framework to elucidate how – and under what circumstances – firms can leverage market redefinition strategies to change the structure of their markets and reduce the bargaining power of actual or potential partners, in particular. theoretical framework introducing new variables to analyse resource dependence ! as discussed above, emerson (1962) was one of the first authors to formally link dependence and power. he detailed the drivers of dependence between two actors in the following manner. the dependence, di/j, of actor i on actor j is based (1) on i’s motivational investment in goals mediated by j and (2) on the availability of these goals to i outside of the i-j relation. to reduce this dependence, rdt (pfeffer & salancik, 1978) posits that a firm will attempt to absorb this constraint using either a merger or an alliance (casciaro & piskorski, 2005; xia, 2011). ! based on these studies, we can define the dependence of a firm i on a firm j using the following notation: di/j(α ,r,s). we do not provide an algebraic formula linking the different components, i.e. α ,r and s.; instead, our aim is to introduce new variables that play a role in the definition of this dependence. more precisely, we explain how dependence evolves when the values of the parameters change. in this notation, α represents the share of firm i’s goals that are mediated by a partner j; r measures the amount of resources that firm i wants to access using firm j; and represents the substitutability of alternative sources. in fact, s is an index measuring the number of substitutes and their quality. we propose to m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 205-233! paul chiambaretto 210 define as follows: s = βkskk=1 n∑ . in this formula, s counts the number of substitutes, whereas βk assesses the quality of the substitute sk (ranging from 0 for low substitutability to 1 for high substitutability). ! based on emerson, we can draw several conclusions concerning the evolution of firm i’s dependence. we are fully aware that these variables are not entirely independent. for instance, when share α of firm i’s goal that is mediated by j increases, it is likely that the number of resources r that firm i wants to access through j will also increase. however, the goal of this section is to implement a comparative-statics reasoning, which means that, ceteris paribus, we observe how the dependence of firm i evolves when only one of the parameters changes. ! with respect to the effect of the share of i’s goal that is mediated by j, when j is more central to i’s realisation of its objectives, firm i is likely to exhibit greater dependence on firm j. in other words, if j’s market is crucial to i’s international development, then i’s dependence on j will increase. consequently, when α increases, di/j should also increase. ! the centrality of firm j can also be assessed through the number of resources that firm i seeks access to through j. because firm j has access to a large number of resources that are central to firm i, firm i’s dependence increases. in other words, when r increases, di/j also increases. ! however, higher substitutability (in terms of resources or partners) reduces firm i’s dependence on firm j. the existence of outside comparable solutions allows firm i to study other options in the event that j attempts to take advantage of its power. consequently, when s increases, di/j should be lower. ! it is important to note that this substitutability index combines the number and quality of each substitute. indeed, a higher number of potential substitutes indicates that firm i has higher bargaining power with respect to a partnership with firm j. consequently, when n increases, di/j decreases. however, the concept of substitutability should not be limited to a particular number of firms but should also account for quality issues. to be a credible alternative to partner j, a substitute must offer a level of quality that is similar to that of firm j. in other words, an improvement of the quality βk of a given substitute also reduces di/j. we summarise the effects of these parameters in table 1. table 1. the effects of parameters on the dependence of a firm i on a firm j r e d u c i n g d e p e n d e n c e t h r o u g h m a r k e t r e d e f i n i t i o n strategies ! before explaining how market redefinition strategies can be used by firms, we return to how resource dependence generally influences the likelihood of alliance formation. distinguishing among several scenarios, we investigate the ressource dependence & power balancing operations in alliances! m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 205-233 211 parameters effect on di/j( α ,r,s) share of i’s goals mediated by j (α ) positive number of resources that i seeks access to using j (r) positive substitutability of alternative sources (s) negative total number of substitutes (n) negative quality of substitutes (β ) negative relevance for focal firm i of forming an alliance with firm j and the relevance of remaining within the same market. the traditional approach: resource dependence levels and alliance formation ! in this section, we focus on two components of alliance formation: the likelihood of creating an alliance and partner selection. we investigate the specific case in which firm i seeks access to resources to which firm j has exclusive access. this case is the most interesting case because it is the situation in which firm j has strong bargaining power when the firm i seeks to create an alliance. we study several scenarios to analyse the conditions under which an alliance is formed. the variations among the different scenarios are derived from the distinction made by casciaro and piskorski (2005) concerning resource dependence, which stipulates that it is crucial to draw a distinction between the positive effects of mutual dependence on alliance formation and the negative effects of power imbalance. each dimension may take two values – low and high – such that we can generate four scenarios to structure our reasoning (table 2). table 2. effects of mutual dependence and power imbalance on alliance formation mutual dependencemutual dependence low high power imbalance low scenario 1 no alliance or alliance with low strategic risk scenario 2 stable alliance with balanced power between partnerspower imbalance high scenario 3 unstable and unfair alliance for the weak partner (with current outside options) scenario 4 unstable and unfair alliance for the weak partner (without outside options) scenario 1: firms i and j have a low level of interest in one another’s resources ! the first scenario described in table 2 is a situation in which each firm is moderately dependent on the other, with a low level of power imbalance. thus, in this case, forming an alliance is not crucial for either firm’s success. the low level of mutual dependence means that firm i will not be ready to make sacrifices to gain access to firm j’s resources. these resources are not essential for i’s success, and thus, there appear to be two solutions. if j decides to cooperate, then an alliance will be formed, but it will remain secondary for both firms i and j. conversely, if firm j refuses to cooperate, then i will leave the negotiations and focus on other resources that are more strategic to its development. scenario 2: focal firm i owns several resources to which firm j would also like to have access and vice versa ! this scenario may occur when two firms each own a given set of resources and have high complementarities, which is frequently the case when both firms are of similar size. under these circumstances, each firm wants to gain access to the other firm’s resources. the bargaining process is relatively balanced because each firm has valuable resources to exchange with the other (lehiany & chiambaretto, 2014). because firm i wants to access several resources through firm j, we can conclude that its dependence on j is high. however, because we observe the same phenomenon for firm j, we are in a situation in which both di/j m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 205-233! paul chiambaretto 212 and dj/i are large. in this case, the relationship between firms i and j presents a high level of mutual dependence, and their power imbalance appears to be relatively limited. consistent with casciaro and piskorski (2005), we can conclude that under these circumstances, an alliance with a fair sharing scheme should be created. scenario 3: firm j’s resources are more important to firm i than i’s resources are to j ! this scenario can arise under various circumstances. for instance, a size difference can clearly affect the relative dependence of two firms because the smaller firm will typically have fewer attractive resources to offer the larger firm (ahuja, 2000; baum et al., 2000; vandaie & zaheer, 2014). the presence of alternative sources for firm j yields a lower degree of attractiveness for the resources that firm i has access to. in this case, the share of j’s goals mediated by i is clearly lower than firm i’s share. the effect in terms of dependence is straightforward: di/j is higher than dj/i. in fact, the low level of dj/i reduces the mutual dependence of both firms while increasing the power imbalance in favour of firm j. any profit-sharing scheme is likely to be unfair (bae & gargiulo, 2004; cui, 2013; friedkin, 1986), thus reducing the probability that a stable alliance between the firms will be created. scenario 4: firm j’s resources are important and are not easily substitutable for focal firm i’s objectives ! the absence of alternative sources for focal firm i to access firm j’s resources makes j a key actor: the centrality of its position in the realisation of firm i’s objectives allows us to characterise firm j as a broker (burt, 1992) that benefits from exclusive access to critical resources. in this case, i’s dependence on j is high because focal firm i does not have any outside options. this situation is similar to the previous scenario: di/j is larger than dj/i. however, the high level of increases the mutual dependence of both firms, but the increased power imbalance in favour of firm j reduces the likelihood of a stable alliance (casciaro & piskorski, 2005). redefining markets to reduce dependence on a powerful partner ! scenarios 3 and 4 are the most interesting, as they allow us to identify cases in which potential partner j benefits from significant power over focal firm i. nevertheless, these two cases present different characteristics. in scenario 3, it may be possible for firm i to find substitutes for firm j’s resources, but such substitution is not possible in scenario 4. we now investigate the substitutability of resources in greater detail. ! traditionally, in the alliance and power literature, the issue of resources has been investigated at the level of a single market. for instance, focusing on the problem of partner selection, researchers have essentially studied the characteristics of potential partners within a single market (bierly & gallagher, 2007; shah & swaminathan, 2008). several contributions have clearly integrated the possibilities for firms to cooperate with organisations from other industries, such as universities or research labs (baum et al., 2000; zaheer & george, 2004). however, these cross-industry alliances do not generally have an influence on final offers to customers and frequently remain in the initial stages of production, such as r&d (garcia-canal & sanchez-lorda, 2007; santamaria & surroca, 2011). ! this restrictive view of the close environment of a firm leads to an artificial reduction in the alternatives that it considers (cummings & holmberg, 2009). in fact, there are many different ways to consider the market in which a firm evolves (curran & goodfellow, 1990): geography, technology, customer needs, and other ressource dependence & power balancing operations in alliances! m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 205-233 213 considerations. depending on the criterion selected by the firm to define its market, the resources and consequently the strategies implemented will change. by redefining its market (either in terms of criteria or by extending boundaries), a firm can discover new opportunities and reduce the constraints that it previously confronted (gassmann et al., 2010). these opportunities encompass new resources or new access to existing resources. following this approach, the market is no longer exogenously given to the firm but is now the result of its vision and its strategic actions (depeyre & dumez, 2008; muniesa et al., 2007). ! the traditional reasoning related to working with an unavoidable partner involved reducing the importance of the goals mediated by that firm (emerson, 1962). this reasoning relied on the assumption that the number of substitutes was exogenously given; in other words, a firm could not create new substitutes. the only parameters that might be changed were the share of goals mediated by the other firm (α ) and the number of resources desired (r). this restrictive set of strategic options served to reduce firms’ options and might thus have put them in unprofitable situations. ! as discussed above, a new way of considering markets emerged during the 1990s (hamel & prahalad, 1994; kim & mauborgne, 2005). firms can now proactively design their markets, shift their boundaries, and create new business models in accordance with their visions (araujo, 2007; depeyre & dumez, 2008; santos and eisenhardt, 2009). as a firm redefines its market boundaries, it reconfigures the firms with which it competes and those with which it can cooperate (gassmann et al., 2010). with more outside options available in the newly designed market, the focal firm has access to more substitutes. applied to the i/j relationship, when focal firm i redefines its market with respect to firm j by integrating more substitutes (such as a firm from a neighbouring market), it gains access to more outside options and reduces its dependence on firm j (lavie, 2007; cui, 2013). ! in other words, by redefining its market boundaries, focal firm i can extract itself from the four-scenario configuration proposed by casciaro and piskorski (2005). shifting the market boundaries can be seen as a way to add a dimension to table 2. depending on its ability to cooperate with firms from neighbouring markets, focal firm i will be able to create (or not create) a fair alliance with partner j or with a partner from a neighbouring market. research methods research design and empirical setting ! in this article, we draw from the methodology developed in hoffmann (2007) or vaara and monin (2008) and illustrate our theoretical framework through a multiple case study (yin, 2009). this approach does not aim to test the external validity of our framework but aims instead to test its usefulness and to shed light on how market redefinition strategies can be used by firms when selecting partners for a fair alliance. such an approach is less conventional than the grounded theory-based inductive approach used in most alliance studies (ariño & ring, 2010; lavie & singh, 2011). nevertheless, several authors have noted the usefulness of using case studies to illustrate and discuss theoretical insights (bogenrieder & noteboom, 2004; de rond & bouchikhi, 2004; hoffmann, 2007; vaara & monin, 2010). as explained by hoffmann (2007), this research strategy has several advantages relative to other methods. first, compared with inductive approaches, its theory development is better grounded in the previous literature and less dependent on the specific case studied. second, as opposed to large empirical studies testing hypotheses with large samples, this research m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 205-233! paul chiambaretto 214 method allows for an in-depth investigation of a phenomenon by considering the context of different firms. finally, with a pre-existing theoretical framework, the case selection and data collection are more relevant to the research question than in a purely inductive study. ! the cases studied allow us to implement what yin (2009) calls a “theoretical replication”. in other words, our multiple case study provides us with the opportunity to classify our cases to cover different theoretical conditions that we previously identified in developing our theoretical framework. these variations in the theoretical conditions (primarily regarding power imbalances and mutual dependence) are linked with different outcomes regarding both the formation of an alliance and market redefinition strategies. in so doing, we managed to allow different results to emerge but for predictable reasons that we have developed in our theoretical framework. ! to study market redefinition strategies, we sought to investigate markets that were converging, i.e., markets whose boundaries were becoming blurry (choi &valikangas, 2001; gassmann et al., 2010). this convergence could come from different drivers, such as technology and actors’ strategies (hacklin et al., 2009). in addition, to link market redefinition strategies to alliances, we also had to observe cross-industry strategies, such as alliances (joshi et al., 1998; stieglitz, 2003). two converging markets were found that meet all the required criteria: the air and rail transport industries in europe. over the last twenty years, the development of the high-speed train (hst) has intensified in europe (givoni, 2006). with its increased speed, the train has become a reliable alternative to planes for short distances (less than 800 km), and competition between the two modes of transport has become fierce (ivaldi & vibes, 2008). from the consumer’s perspective, the convergence of the two markets became official when legal cases clearly established that air and rail transport modes now belong to the same market (chiambaretto &decker, 2012). ! beyond this competitive view, some authors have noted the emergence of cooperative strategies between airline and rail operators (givoni & banister, 2006, 2007; socorro & viecens, 2013). these cooperative strategies refer to the notion of intermodality, which can be defined as “the characteristic of a transport system, that allows at least two different modes to be used in an integrated manner in a door-to door transport chain” (european commission, 1997: 6). thus, airlines may create alliances with rail operators either to substitute for unprofitable flights or to increase the size of the network using trains. these intermodal strategies have played a more central role in airlines’ strategies as the number of intermodal passengers has significantly increased. for instance, at paris-cdg airport, air-rail intermodal traffic increased by more than 250% between 1999 and 2014, whereas air traffic increased by less than 50% during the same period (direction générale de l’aviation civile, 2015). these market redefinition strategies are actively in use, and the question is emerging regarding the role of bargaining power in their formation. data collection and analysis ! we collected data from primary and secondary sources to gather more information and to increase the quality of our data using triangulation techniques (eisenhardt, 1989; gibbert et al., 2008; lincoln & guba, 1985). data were collected for the 2009-2012 period, when air and rail services were already considered to belong to the same relevant market. during this period, several intermodal agreements existed in europe, and we had the opportunity to speak with the partners in more than 60% of the then-current intermodal agreements. ! with respect to the primary data, we conducted 41 semistructured interviews in 24 different organisations (details in the appendix). we attempted to diversify the institutions studied to account for the perspectives of all stakeholders ressource dependence & power balancing operations in alliances! m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 205-233 215 2. depending on the organisation’s structure and strategy, the person in charge of signing alliances may be at the international headquarters (vp alliances or vp network) or in the focal country (country manager, commercial director, head of network, etc.). and to implement a “replication analysis” (yin, 2009). different types of organisations were analysed, such as airlines that use (or that have used) intermodal strategies, airlines that refuse to use intermodality, airports, and rail operators. we interviewed different categories of managers: country managers, alliance managers, marketing directors (depending on the firm), industry experts, and other managers. for each session, the goal was to interview the person in charge of entering into the intermodal alliance2. when interviewees offered the opportunity to meet other colleagues in charge of airline alliances or intermodal agreements, several interviews were then conducted within the same organisation. the duration of these interviews ranged from 35 to 135 minutes, with an average length of 73 minutes. we notified the managers that these interviews would remain confidential; to ensure confidentiality, notes were taken manually. ! in parallel, we collected secondary data from various sources. we collected information on the airlines and the various alliances using press articles in specialised journals (airline business magazines, air transport world, air & cosmos, etc.) and in economic journals referenced in databases such as factiva. official reports from the airlines and internal documents provided by the interviewees were also collected. furthermore, legal cases allowed us to understand the legal stakes of considering airlines and rail operators as belonging to the same market. finally, we attended various conferences at which airline executives explained their intermodal strategies. secondary data were thus used to understand the context in which each organisation was operating and evolving at the time both to prepare for the interview and to verify the truth of the interviewees’ declarations. in summary, secondary sources allowed us to gather more information and increase the quality of our data using triangulation techniques (gibbert et al., 2008). the various sources are summarised in table 3. table 3. data sources category of source type of data number primary sources semistructured interviews airports intermodal airlines non-intermodal airlines industry experts rail operators rail infrastructure managers 41 4 13 11 4 4 3 secondary sources press articles internal documents official reports empirical articles and books legal cases conferences 50+ 12 16 11 3 11 ! after collecting these elements, they were coded to test whether there were patterns in the decision-making process leading to the formation of an intermodal alliance (miles & huberman, 1994; thomas, 2006). the reasoning was abductive in nature. the phases of empirical investigation were alternated with theoretical reviews. two stages were identified in the analysis process. the first round of coding followed the literature and our theoretical background to identify the criteria used by airlines to select partners and redefine their markets. there was a strong emphasis on comments related to power issues and competitive position. thus, this first round was essentially deductive. a second inductive round of coding was then undertaken to reveal the sources of power imbalances and the airlines’ solutions to address these imbalances, such as market redefinition strategies. the combination of these different phases allowed m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 205-233! paul chiambaretto 216 us to analyse our data with background theory in mind (aliseda, 2006) while remaining open to new information. the context of the study ! before developing our findings, we briefly describe the context of our study and provide some definitions. we aim to study how airlines seek to access cities in a given country. several relevant parties interact in this geographic market. nal is the national airline of the focal country and is the most powerful actor at the airport of the national capital city (ncc). this actor is particularly central because it is frequently the only airline that is permitted or able to carry passengers to a national secondary city (nsc). ! other countries that also have airlines surround this focal country. fal is the foreign airline of a neighbouring country3. fal has access to some secondary cities of the focal country and may act as a substitute to access these nscs when passengers connect at the foreign capital city (fcc). moreover, we note ial4, which is a distant country’s international airline, which flies only to capital cities (nccs and fccs). the capital city of this international country is named icc, whereas its secondary cities are called iscs. our research results from the study of several ials; these studies are noted as ial1, ial2, and so forth. finally, regarding the neighbouring market, we note that the national rail operator (nro) of the focal country links the ncc to nscs. these different actors and notations are summarised in figure 1. ! in our study, the level of analysis is related to an international airline ial’s choice of setting up an alliance and of redefining its market boundaries. consequently, our level of analysis is the firm and more precisely we will focus our attention on an international airline ial’s various strategies regarding its alliances and market boundaries. figure 1. configurations and actions of airlines and rail operators ressource dependence & power balancing operations in alliances! m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 205-233 217 3. fal is a hypothetical name encompassing all the foreign airlines of a neighbouring country with direct access to some secondary cities. 4. ial is a hypothetical name encompassing all the international airlines from distant countries which fly only to the capital cities. findings the necessity to create alliances to access markets ! most airlines aim to engage in a global network; in other words, airlines seek to develop their commercial presence worldwide. these expansion strategies can be explained by a set of factors related to costs and revenues. with respect to revenues, a large number of destinations increases the attractiveness of an airline compared with its competitors. this effect essentially results from network effects, such that every time a new destination is added, the number of potential routes increases exponentially (goedeking, 2010; vasigh et al., 2013). beyond this purely mechanical effect, a larger network improves an airline’s brand awareness throughout the world (shaw, 2011). notably, airlines are characterised by high fixed costs. consequently, an extended network typically contributes to developing economies of scale and scope, improving the load factor on primary routes while decreasing the unit cost per passenger (belobaba et al., 2009; holloway, 2008). by increasing revenues and decreasing costs, large networks are expected to improve airlines’ profitability. ! when airlines have previously attempted to develop a truly global network on their own, most have failed (see, e.g., pan american world airways, which declared bankruptcy in 1991). it is actually difficult for a single airline to fly to all global destinations, either because of resource problems (e.g., financial resources or planes) or because they do not have traffic rights (odoni, 2009; park, 1997). to compensate for missing resources or traffic rights, airlines rely on alliances to access distant cities. a vice-president of an airline confirmed this reasoning: “our airline can’t open routes to all cities. we have to consider the market of a foreign country globally and create an alliance with a local airline to improve our access beyond the city we serve.” (marketing vice-president, nal) ! thus, airlines rely on alliances to surmount barriers to entry (chiambaretto & dumez, 2016; gudmundsson & lechner, 2006; iatrou & oretti, 2007). this vision of alliances is essentially relevant for complementary alliances (i.e., alliances that link the networks of two airlines to increase the number of destinations offered). these complementary agreements link partners’ route networks by allowing a firm to place its code on flights to destinations that it does not serve. in this case, complementary agreements elevate an airline’s presence by placing its airline code on more cities. such complementary agreements might be assimilated to link alliances when complementary resources are combined in an alliance (dussauge et al., 2000; mitchell et al., 2002). these complementary alliances are generally contrasted with parallel alliances created to address overcapacity issues by improving capacity utilisation (i.e., the load factor) of a particular flight without extending the airline’s routes and scope (oum et al., 1996; park, 1997). by contrast, parallel alliances might be associated with scale alliances when supplementary resources are added by partners (dussauge et al., 2000; mitchell et al., 2002). in our case, we focus on complementary alliances that offer an ial access to secondary cities in the focal country. partner selection and bargaining power ! once an international airline has decided to create an alliance to serve a given city, it must select a partner (bierly & gallagher, 2007; holmberg & cummings, 2009). depending on the composition of its previous alliance portfolio m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 205-233! paul chiambaretto 218 (hoffmann, 2005; wassmer, 2010; wassmer & dussauge, 2012), an international airline ial may encounter different situations. if several airlines serve the targeted national secondary city (nsc1) ! when a country is sufficiently large to host several domestic airlines or when the target secondary city is attractive to foreign markets, there may be several airlines that serve the secondary city. returning to figure 1, we take the example of nsc1, in which the secondary city is served by the national airline nal but also by fal, an airline from a neighbouring country. from the perspective of an international airline ial, a choice between several partners is beneficial for at least two reasons. first, this option places the international airline ial in a good bargaining position, and second, it allows ial to find a partner that fits well with its own characteristics. for instance, partnering with fal is a way to access secondary cities in the focal country without having to cooperate with the national airline nal. using the notations of the theoretical framework to describe this configuration to access the secondary city nsc1, the parameter s here takes a high value, s+. consequently, the international airline ial exhibits a lower level dependency on the national airline nal (dial/nal(..., ..., s+)) and can cooperate with a substitute, such as fal. “a passenger living in nsc1 can fly to icc [international capital city] using our alliance with fal. indeed, fal offers flights to four secondary cities in the [focal] country. in fact, the alliance allows us to increase our offerings to and from regional cities without having to use new resources.” (country manager, ial 11) ! to select the partner, our interviews revealed that the international airline ial considers several characteristics, such as network complementarity, technical and brand compatibility, financial health, and membership in a global alliance (such as star alliance, skyteam, or oneworld), among others. for instance, when a potential partner belongs to the same global alliance as the international airline ial, the negotiation will be friendlier because the potential partners may already be cooperating in other markets. in addition, belonging to the same global alliance improves the reputation and trust of the potential partner. the process of sharing jointly created value is central to the bargaining process. frequently, a partner is selected according to the share of benefits given to the international airline ial. the more value a potential partner wants to retain, the lower its attractiveness is compared with other airlines. when the national airline nal exclusively serves the targeted national secondary city (nsc2) ! for certain destinations, economic or legal constraints may lead to the presence of a single airline, referred to in this case study as nal. if there is only a single firm that can access certain resources and if these resources are critical to other firms, then such a firm becomes a broker and can take advantage of its position. consequently, it is unlikely that the national airline nal will relinquish its advantage to another firm, particularly a competitor. this case can be modelled using the theoretical framework with the parameter staking a smaller value . the implication is quite straightforward in this case with a higher level of dependence on the national airline nal (dial/nal(..., ..., s-)) indeed, this situation was addressed and explained by the marketing director of ial 5: ressource dependence & power balancing operations in alliances! m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 205-233 219 “we are clearly in competition with nal on the route between the ncc and the icc. there is no reason for them to cooperate with us and give us access to nsc2.” (commercial director, ial 5) ! if the international airline ial must access these destinations, the national airline nal clearly enjoys strong bargaining power because of the absence of substitutes. in other words, if these destinations are essential for the development of international airline ial, then the parameter α takes a high value α + . under these circumstances, the dependence of the international airline ial on nal (dial/nal(α + , ..., ...) increases. consequently, the national airline nal may agree to sign an agreement to provide access to these secondary cities, but the price paid by the international airline ial will be high. the country manager of ial 7 explained this feeding mechanism and the pricing policy: “to feed international flights, airlines must sign partnerships with other airlines to bring passengers from secondary cities to the capital city [ncc] that they serve. if ial, the international airline, has a pro-rating agreement with the national airline, then a reasonable share of the total price of the ticket is given to nal. however, if it is a simple agreement, the national airline asks for a very high price (more than $500) for the feeder flight, which is absolutely not profitable for the international airline. these pro-rate agreements are signed only if the national airline agrees. however it doesn’t have any incentive to sign a pro-rating agreement with a competitor.” (country manager, ial 7) ! in this configuration, the national airline nal attempts to extract as much value as possible from the agreement. the more dependent the international airline ial is, the higher the price that is charged for feeder flights. this agreement clearly reduces the competitiveness of ial on long-distance flights, such that it may attempt to find more profitable solutions. ! to be as exhaustive as possible, we note that this bargaining power is not always used by nal. indeed, nal can encounter a symmetrical situation when it seeks to access secondary cities in foreign countries. if nal exerts too much pressure on the ial to access secondary cities, then nal may confront the same problem in the ial’s country. consequently, when both airlines (nal and ial) are dependent (dial/nal(..., r+, ...)≈ dnal/ial(..., r+, ...)), the bargaining power of the partners is far more balanced. this situation was confirmed by one of the country manager interviewees: “when we have to serve key markets, we sign special agreements with nal (for instance, for the city nsc2). the price charged is high, but it is the result of a negotiation. in fact, it is a two-way negotiation, as we discuss the price to access the secondary cities using nal, while nal discusses the price to access our secondary cities using our airline.” (country manager, ial 11) ! when the international airline ial has few destinations to offer to the national airline nal, nal’s strong bargaining power typically leads to excessive prices. to remain profitable, some international airlines ial have developed breakthrough strategies to access these destinations by bypassing the national airline nal. m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 205-233! paul chiambaretto 220 redefining market boundaries to reduce dependence on nal using market convergence to develop cross-industry offers ! over the last thirty years, the development of the hst in europe has contributed to the convergence of air and rail transport (campos & de rus, 2009). for the first time, this technological convergence has led to the development of strong competition between the two transportation modes (ivaldi & vibes, 2008). each time a new high-speed line has been inaugurated, air traffic has plummeted (chiambaretto, 2013; dobruszkes, 2011). this strong competition clearly affects the national airline nal’s flights to domestic destinations: “nal has been facing a central competitor over the last years: the highspeed train. we have lengthy experience with this competition, such that we can assess with precision the impact (in terms of market share) of the introduction of a new high-speed line. the high-speed train is particularly relevant for travel times below three hours. it clearly reduces our market share, and it is nonsense for us to compete on some of those routes.” (strategy vice-president, nal) ! the technological convergence is so strong that regulators now consider air and rail transport to belong to the same relevant market for distances below 800 kilometres (chiambaretto & decker, 2012). this notion of convergence can be considered from two perspectives: substitution or complementarity (greenstein & khanna, 1997; pennings & puranam, 2001). indeed, the convergence of two markets offers new opportunities to create an offer that links products from previously separated markets (dumez & jeunemaître, 2004; gassmann et al., 2010; ghosh & balachander, 2007). ! this situation is precisely what occurred when the air and rail transport markets merged. rather than considering the convergence only in terms of competition, some firms from both markets decided to cooperate (givoni & banister, 2006, 2007). their new offers combine two tickets into a single ticket: a rail ticket from the secondary city to the hub and an airline ticket for the long-haul trip. to develop such offers, airlines and rail operators required an interface between the two markets. this interface consisted of two levels of infrastructures: intermodal airports and it systems. in terms of building facilities, to make air and rail products as seamless as possible, intermodal airports have been developed with a train station inside the airport (dobruszkes & givoni, 2013). however, the real convergence arose from it systems. to bring these intermodal offers to consumers, rail offers were “translated” into the language of airlines. train stations were given airport codes, and the trains offered in these combined tickets have a flight number. this conversion task was necessary to make these products appear in the reservation systems of travel agencies. “as we put our own airline code on the trains, our offer appears on reservation systems as if we were doing the entire trip on our own airline. this allows us to be better displayed in the reservation systems.” (country manager, ial 2) ! in a virtual sense, these combined products appear in reservation systems as if the entire trip is on the airline. consequently, the international airline ial might significantly increase the number of destinations that it serves within the country of the rail operator. the logic behind the agreement is exactly the same as that used for airline alliances. this situation is confirmed in the following extract: ressource dependence & power balancing operations in alliances! m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 205-233 221 “this partnership with [the national rail operator] nro is coherent with our strategy, which consists of creating alliances with local partners in markets with a strong potential in secondary cities. it is important for an airline to have access to the entire market and not only access to the airport we fly to. several markets are accessed using airline alliances. however, when it is not possible to cooperate with an airline, we use intermodal solutions and create alliances with rail operators.” (alliance vice president, ial 9) using cross-industry offers to reduce dependence on the national airline nal ! redefining market boundaries is complicated, and firms generally prefer to remain within the same market. some airlines have been able to remain within their traditional markets and to obtain lower prices from the national airline nal simply by threatening to cooperate with the national rail operator (nro). without needing to actually redefine its market, the international airline ial has simply redefined its potential market in order to threaten the national airline nal by increasing the number of its potential partners. in other words, redesigning the market boundaries increased the value of the parameter to . this strongly reduced the international airline’s dependence on the national airline nal (. consequently, the national airline might agree to give better conditions to the international airline ial. an example of such behaviour was explained by one of the commercial managers: “for nsc 2, we explained to nal that we could get passengers with the high-speed train. it improved our position to negotiate with nal, and they agreed to lower their prices. that’s precisely why we still fly with nal and haven’t developed any intermodal agreement.” (sales manager, ial 1) ! however, airlines sometimes have no choice and actually do redefine their markets. in this context, the main driver for market redefinition is the excessive power of the national airline nal. airlines clearly use alliances with rail operators as second-best solutions. most airline managers confirmed that intermodal solutions are an alternative to a national airiline nal’s monopoly that has sufficient power to enable it to charge the international airline ial high prices for an alliance. even if the national rail operator nro is also in a monopoly situation, its public status implies that it charges the same price to all airlines without any preference to avoid foreclosure issues. a manager of the national rail operator nro confirmed this obligation: “as a public monopoly, we can’t refuse to cooperate with an airline that would like to become a partner. the price charged is the same for all partners; they just have to reach some targets in terms of number of seats sold.” (head of intermodal operations, nro) ! because the national rail operator nro does not exert power like the national airline nal, nro’s prices for an alliance are lower than those charged by nal. this situation clearly results in the increased competitiveness of the international airline ial. a country manager described the effects of this situation: “in addition, since the price of a train ticket is lower than the price charged by [the national airline] nal, we charge only a small amount of this price in the total price of the ticket. this clearly improved our competitive position compared to nal on the route between the [national capital city] ncc and the [international capital city] icc. with this agreement, it is easier for us to offer a cheap ticket than when we had to collaborate with nal.” (country manager, ial 7) m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 205-233! paul chiambaretto 222 ! in addition, access to these destinations reduces dependence on nal. these market redefinition strategies clearly minimise the possibility that nal will exert power over the international airline ial. in fact, as they shift market boundaries, these international airlines ial have created substitutes that reduce the centrality of the national airline nal. these airlines have not only found other sources to access these destinations but also reduced the share of their goals (i.e., destinations) mediated by nal. in fact, because the national rail operator nro serves destinations that the national airline nal does not serve, these intermodal alliances have created new markets for some international airlines. “globally, this agreement has been fruitful for us. in fact, it even gave us the possibility to become a leader for destinations that we had previously neglected.” (commercial director, ial 5) ! however, these market redefinition strategies have limits. in fact, even if an effort has been made to change the rail product to fit airline standards (e.g., flight number, airport code), the product remains not as seamless as airline managers or passengers would like (chiambaretto et al., 2013). many operational issues remain unsolved, and these problems reduce the quality of substitution. the quality and compatibility of a substitute are important in the partner selection process, and at this point, the substitution is incomplete. linking this observation to our framework, rail partners happen to be partial substitutes, i.e., partners whose quality parameter β is less than 1. as a consequence, as explained by an alliance vice-president, the hst currently remains a second choice. “as the prices charged by the [national airline] nal were too high, we turned to the rail operator nro. of course, it was a second choice because transferring from a plane to a train is not very seamless. we even have to broadcast a video on the planes landing at [the national capital city] ncc in which we explain how the transfer to the train must be done.” (alliance vice-president, ial 9) ! after having described how and why some international airlines have implemented air-rail intermodal strategies, we put our cases in perspective to observe redundant alliance structures and market redefinition behaviours. discussion interpreting the cases within the theoretical framework ! thus far, we have shown that international airlines consider various key factors before deciding to redefine their market boundaries and signing an air-rail intermodal alliance. however, showing excerpts from a limited number of interviews may give the misleading impression that we are only showing part of the story. we might have selected the quotes that justify our ideas merely to tell a nice story. to be as transparent as possible, we show how our cases allow us to implement a theoretical replication (yin, 2009). in other words, we classify our cases to cover different theoretical conditions. in so doing, we elicit different results, but for predictable reasons that are detailed in the discussion section below. ! our cases showed us that several key factors affected the bargaining power of the international airline ial when negotiating with the national airline nal: (1) the relative size between the potential partners, (2) membership in ressource dependence & power balancing operations in alliances! m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 205-233 223 nal’s global alliance, and (3) membership in the foreign airline fal’s global alliance. we then link these categories with the concepts of (4) mutual dependence, (5) power imbalance and (6) the presence of outside options in the current market (i.e., other potential partners offering the same resource). we thus classify our different cases along these dimensions and observe the implications in terms of market redefinition strategies in table 4. ! several lessons can be drawn from this cross-case analysis. first, despite our theoretical framework and the predictions from casciaro and piskorski (2005), the presence of a high level of mutual dependence and a low level of power imbalance is not a sufficient reason to create an alliance. the presence or absence of outside options must be considered (greve et al., 2013). indeed, we observe that an international airline ial will create an alliance with nal only if there is a high level of mutual dependence with a low power imbalance and in the absence of outside options. ! second, we observe that airlines belonging to a global airline alliance will have access to substitutes for nal. consequently, they will prefer developing traditional airline alliances. firms that are members of the same global alliance (star alliance, skyteam, etc.) have a high level of mutual dependence with nal or fal because both firms have resources (i.e., destinations) that are valuable for the other, which is even more important when partners are approximately the same size. these firms can thus sign an alliance with nal or fal while remaining within their traditional market. ! conversely, independent international airlines ial that are smaller than the national airline nal are not attractive partners. consequently, the level of mutual dependence is low, and the power imbalance is high. it is thus unlikely that the national airline nal will agree to a fair alliance with airlines such as the international airline ial. in addition, the absence of outside options in the current market puts them in a weak position. these firms thus have a strong incentive to redefine their market boundaries and to find other partners outside of their traditional market. these results confirm the results of wassmer and dussauge (2011, 2012), who showed that new alliance formations must take into account the existing stock of alliances (in this case, membership in a global airline alliance). independent international airlines will thus want to redefine their market boundaries to find substitute partners in other markets. the existence of standardisation processes to implement market-redefining alliances ! it is simplistic to posit that firms can proactively redefine their market boundaries to find new partners. in fact, we previously noted that substitutability has two components: the number of substitutes (n) and their quality (βk ). as a firm redefines its market boundaries, it gains access to more potential partners, but the substitutability of such partners is lower than that of previous partners (lew and sinkovics, 2013). this market redefinition is frequently based on a new vision of the market – for instance, shifting from a technology to a product perspective. for instance, in our setting, airlines implementing intermodal strategies have shifted from a product vision (i.e., only firms that use airplanes are included in the market) to a needs vision (i.e., all firms that carry passengers from point a to point b within a reasonable travel time are included in the market). consequently, the products in the newly integrated market present different characteristics that are not necessarily compatible with the focal firm’s products. m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 205-233! paul chiambaretto 224 ressource dependence & power balancing operations in alliances! m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 205-233 225 ta bl e 4. c ro ss -c as e an al ys is ta bl e 4. c ro ss -c as e an al ys is ta bl e 4. c ro ss -c as e an al ys is ta bl e 4. c ro ss -c as e an al ys is ta bl e 4. c ro ss -c as e an al ys is ta bl e 4. c ro ss -c as e an al ys is ta bl e 4. c ro ss -c as e an al ys is ta bl e 4. c ro ss -c as e an al ys is ta bl e 4. c ro ss -c as e an al ys is ta bl e 4. c ro ss -c as e an al ys is ta bl e 4. c ro ss -c as e an al ys is ta bl e 4. c ro ss -c as e an al ys is e m pi ric al fa ct or s at s ta ke in p ar tn er se le ct io n e m pi ric al fa ct or s at s ta ke in p ar tn er se le ct io n e m pi ric al fa ct or s at s ta ke in p ar tn er se le ct io n th eo re tic al fa ct or s at s ta ke in p ar tn er se le ct io n th eo re tic al fa ct or s at s ta ke in p ar tn er se le ct io n th eo re tic al fa ct or s at s ta ke in p ar tn er se le ct io n m ar ke t r ed efi ni tio n st ra te gy m ar ke t r ed efi ni tio n st ra te gy m ar ke t r ed efi ni tio n st ra te gy c as es a ttr ac tiv e fo r t he na tio na l a irl in e n a l (s iz e / st at us / co m pl em en ta ry de st in at io ns ) m em be r o f n a l' s gl ob al al lia nc e m em be r o f t he fo re ig n ai rli ne fa l' s gl ob al al lia nc e m ut ua l de pe nd en ce w ith n a l p ow er im ba la nc e w ith n a l o ut si de op tio ns o n th e cu rr en t m ar ke t tr ad iti on a irl in e al lia nc e w ith n a l (s am e m ar ke t) tr ad iti on al a irl in e al lia nc e w ith f a l (s am e m ar ke t) a irra il in te rm od al al lia nc e (m ar ke t re de fin iti on ) ia l 1 ia l 4 ia l 8 ia l 10 ia l 13 ye s n o ye s h ig h lo w ye s n o ye s n o ia l 11 ia l 12 n o n o ye s lo w h ig h ye s n o ye s n o ia l 3 ia l 6 ye s ye s n o h ig h lo w n o ye s n o n o ia l 2 ia l 5 ia l 7 ia l 9 ia l 14 n o n o n o lo w h ig h n o n o n o ye s ! the reasoning is identical for partner firms. new partners are not perfect substitutes for partners that belong to the restricted-view market. we thus considered this dimension by stipulating that for a given potential partner k, substitutability is assessed by βk , which captures the quality of the substitution (e.g., in terms of compatibility). these compatibility issues have been central to the convergence of air and rail products. even when firms attempt to foster product standardisation (e.g., by giving airport codes to train stations), substitutability is not complete, and extending to a neighbouring market generally remains a second choice. ! however, our cases have shown that the substitutability of a partner is not exogenously given and that it can evolve. firms from neighbouring markets can become better substitutes by implementing the appropriate processes. indeed, when searching for a partner in a neighbouring market, a firm must ascertain that the interface between partners and markets will be as seamless as possible. several strategies may be adapted to define new standards for the cross-industry alliance. if one of the industries is clearly more “advanced” (e.g., in terms of customer service), then the industry with the best practices will be used as a reference to establish new cross-industry standards. however, if there is no optimal solution between the two industries, then a compromise may be found by combining standards. again, the bargaining power between the two partners will play a significant role in adopting these new cross-industry standards. the opportunity for one of the partners to cooperate with other firms to define standards will act as a credible threat in negotiations. ! ultimately, the consequence of this market redefinition strategy is a strong reduction in the international airline ial’s dependence on the national airline nal. in fact, ceteris paribus, we reach a situation in which dial/nal may even become lower than dnal/ial. under this configuration, the power imbalance would be inverted in favour of the international airline ial, such that it may prefer cooperating with a substitute from a new market (the national rail operator nro) rather than cooperating with the national airline nal. ! considering the attractiveness of such market redefinition strategies, other international airlines may also decide to follow this strategy and bypass the national airline nal. in so doing, they contribute to strengthening the convergence of these neighbouring markets. as more airlines redefine their market boundaries, managers and customers become accustomed to these new cross-industry alliances and products. these firms not only will have contributed to the emergence of these new market boundaries but also will have strengthened them through their own actions (depeyre & dumez, 2008; dumez & jeunemaitre, 2010; muniesa et al., 2007). contributions to the alliance, bargaining power and market redefinition literatures ! to understand how and under what circumstances firms can leverage market redefinition strategies to change the structure of their markets and reduce the bargaining power of actual or potential partners, in particular, we built our study on three different literatures: the alliance literature, the bargaining power literature and the market redefinition literature. in this section, we will show our contribution to each field. ! first, our study contributes to the existing literature on alliance formation and partner selection (casciaro & piskorski, 2005; shah & swaminathan, 2008). in addition to the traditional factors at stake – including the complementarity and compatibility of partners – this study underlines the crucial role of the existence of substitutes (bae & gargiulo, 2004; greve et al., 2013). we show how firms can benefit from the existence of substitutes when negotiating a value-sharing scheme with a partner in an alliance. weak firms can thus use the presence of m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 205-233! paul chiambaretto 226 substitutes as a weapon to obtain better terms from a stronger partner. in addition, we show that firms do not have an exogenously given number of substitutes. when looking for or negotiating with a potential partner, a firm can redefine its market boundaries to artificially increase the number of potential partners and – as a result – potential substitutes. in so doing, a weak firm can either threaten a powerful partner that it will work with another partner to obtain better commercial conditions or actually collaborate with a firm from a neighbouring market. ! second, our research contributes to the literature on bargaining power by analysing in greater detail the factors that impact the dependence between two partners (bae & gargiulo, 2004; emerson, 1962). more precisely, we show that the number of outside options or substitutes is not exogenously set and that firms can change the number of substitutes by changing their own vision and definition of their market. in addition, we highlight that substitutability is a multidimensional concept integrating not only the number of substitutes but also their quality. taking into account the quality – and thus the credibility – of a potential substitute is essential when addressing issues of power and dependence between two partners. finally, we contribute to the research focusing on power-balancing operations (bae & gargiulo, 2004; emerson, 1962; katila et al., 2008; xia, 2011) by considering market redefinition strategies as a new type of power-balancing operation. ! finally, our contribution to the market redefinition literature is twofold. first, whereas the previous literature has studied how alliances can contribute to redefining market boundaries (chiambaretto & dumez, 2012; lew & sinkovics, 2013; ozcan & eisenhardt, 2009), we study the relationship the other way round by analysing how market redefinition strategies can impact alliances. we thus show that blurred market boundaries contribute to changing the bargaining power between potential partners within a market by increasing the number of potential substitutes. second, we underscore that firms can strengthen market convergence by implementing processes such as common norms or translation procedures to foster cooperation and interactions between firms from different markets. conclusion ! the main objective of this article was to understand how and under what circumstances firms can leverage market redefinition strategies to change the structure of their markets and reduce the bargaining power of actual or potential partners, in particular. ! when encountering a powerful partner (e.g., because of its exclusive access to key resources), a firm can implement different power-balancing operations to reduce its dependence. previous contributions have treated the existence of alternative sources for these resources as exogenously given, such that the set of power-balancing operations was rather limited. in this article, we emphasise the possibility that firms might proactively design their market boundaries, enabling them to seek new substitutes. these market redefinition strategies reduce dependence on powerful partners and offer new strategic options in terms of partnership for the focal firm. we also underscore how firms must implement standardisation processes in developing cross-industry alliances. ! we can draw several theoretical and managerial implications from this research. from a theoretical perspective, we aimed to extend the classical view of resource dependence and power in alliances. under the traditional view, the components of dependence are exogenously given. as a consequence, this approach was essentially deterministic because the degree of freedom for the ressource dependence & power balancing operations in alliances! m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 205-233 227 weak firm was limited. by providing the focal firm with the opportunity to proactively shift its market boundaries, our new approach increases the number of options available. in fact, the focal firm can redesign its market to increase its access to new substitutes. as more comparable outside options become accessible, the focal firm can reduce its dependence on a strong partner and enter into more profitable partnerships. with these contributions, we propose that firms can activate several parameters (e.g., shared goals, number and quality of substitutes) to reduce their dependence on powerful partners and escape from deterministic patterns in the alliances that they establish. ! from a managerial perspective, this article encourages managers to adopt a broader view of their markets when selecting new partners. if firms remain within the traditional boundaries of the market, their options may be limited, and their alliances might quickly become unprofitable. however, as firms adopt a more global view, resource-dependent firms have an increased likelihood of finding partners that fit well with their needs. in fact, the central idea of this contribution is that it is possible to escape from powerful partners by jettisoning this deterministic view of dependence in alliances. ! this study has several limitations that offer directions for future research. an initial set of limitations arises from our empirical background. it is important to note that market convergence has been possible in our case only because there was previous technological convergence (hacklin et al., 2009). in other words, airlines have been able to find partners in the rail industry (market convergence) only because the hst previously existed and was offering reliable alternatives (technological convergence). the firms studied were not at the origin of this technological convergence. instead, these firms seized upon the opportunity presented by the existence of new substitutes and transformed competitors into partners. this limitation is important, and it would thus be interesting to study a case in which a partner has contributed to technological convergence (and, secondarily, to market convergence) from the beginning. however, with respect to the empirical background, we note that the monopoly status of nro has had a clear effect on its pricing policy and relative attractiveness. it is crucial for us to study whether these market redefinition strategies hold when new potential partners do not benefit from a special status (such as that of nro in our case). finally, with respect to our theoretical framework, we investigated the dependence between two firms globally. although we indicated that the presence of several markets created some effects of cross-dependence, we did not detail the underlying mechanisms. consequently, for further research, we suggest investigating the manner in which multimarket contact can affect the dependence and validity of our results. ! based on these conclusions, we believe that the additional study of market redefinition strategies in a resource dependence framework might be promising. references ahuja g. (2000). the duality of collaboration: inducements and opportunities in the formation of interfirm linkages. strategic management journal, 21(3): 317–343. aliseda a. (2006). abductive reasoning. new york ny; springer. araujo l. (2007). markets, market-making and marketing. marketing theory, 7(3): 211–226. ariño a & ring p.s. 2010. the role of fairness in alliance formation. strategic management journal, 31(10): 1054–1087. bacharach s.b. & lawler e.j. 1981. bargaining, power, tactics, and outcomes,the jossey-bass social and behavioral science series. san francisco, ca: josseybass. bae j & gargiulo m. (2004). partner substitutability, alliance network structure and firm profitability in the telecommunications industry. academy of management journal 47(6): 843–859. bauer j.m. (2005). bundling, differentiation, alliances and m e r g e r s  : c o n v e r g e n c e s t r a t e g i e s i n u . s . communication markets  : dynamic solutions to policy failures. communications and stratégies, (60): 59–83. baum j.a.c, calabrese t & silverman b/s. (2000). don’t go it alone: alliance network composition and startups’ performance in canadian biotechnology. strategic management journal, 21(3): 267–294. belobaba p, odoni a.r. & barnhart c. (2009). the global airline industry. chichester: wiley. m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 205-233! paul chiambaretto 228 bierly p.e. & gallagher s. (2007). explaining alliance partner selection: fit, trust and strategic expediency. long range planning, 40(2): 134–153. bogenrieder i.& nooteboom b. (2004). learning groups: what types are there? a theoretical analysis and an empirical study in a consultancy firm. organization studies, 25(2): 287–313. burt r. (1992). structural holes: the social structure of competition. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. callon m. (1998). introduction: the embeddedness of economic markets in economics. in callon m (ed), the laws of the market. oxford: basil blackwell. campos j. & de rus g. (2009). some stylized facts about high-speed rail: a review of hsr experiences around the world. transport policy, 16(1): 19–28. casciaro t. & piskorski m.j. (2005). power imbalance, mutual dependence, and constraint absorption: a closer look at resource dependence theory. administrative science quarterly, 50(2): 167–199. chiambaretto p. (2013). strategic reactions of regional airports facing the competition of the high-speed train – lessons from france. journal of airport management, 7(1): 62–70. chiambaretto p., baudelaire c & lavril t. (2013). measuring the willingness-to-pay of air-rail intermodal passengers. journal of air transport management, 26: 50–54. chiambaretto p. & decker c. (2012). air–rail intermodal a g r e e m e n t s : b a l a n c i n g t h e c o m p e t i t i o n a n d environmental effects. journal of air transport management, 23: 36–40. chiambaretto p. & dumez h. (2012). le rôle du bundling dans la stratégie marketing des entreprises: une synthèse. recherche et applications en marketing, 27(2): 91–106. chiambaretto p. & dumez h. (2016). toward a typology of coopetition: a multilevel approach. international studies of management and organization, 46(3), forthcoming. choi d. & valikangas l. (2001). patterns of strategy innovation. european management journal, 19(4): 424–429. cook k.s., emerson r.m., gillmore m.r. & yamagishi t. (1983). the distribution of power in exchange networks: theory and experimental results. american journal of sociology, 89(2): 275–305. crozier m. & friedberg e. (1977). l’acteur et le système. paris: seuil. cui a.s. (2013). portfolio dynamics and alliance termination: the contingent role of resource dissimilarity. journal of marketing, 77(3): 15–32. cummings j.l & holmberg s.r. 2012. best-fit alliance partners: the use of critical success factors in a comprehensive partner selection process. long range planning, 45(2–3): 136–159. curran j.g.m & goodfellow j.h. 1990. theoretical and practical issues in the determination of market boundaries. european journal of marketing, 24(1): 16– 28. das t.k & teng b-s. (2000). instabilities of strategic a l l i a n c e s : a n i n t e r n a l te n s i o n s p e r s p e c t i v e . organization science, 11(1): 77–101. de rond m. & bouchikhi h. (2004). on the dialectics of strategic alliances. organization science, 15(1): 56– 69. depeyre c. & dumez h. 2008. what is a market? a wittgensteinian exercise. european management review, 5(4): 225–231. derose k. (1992). contextualism and knowledge attributions. philosophy and phenomenological research, 52(4): 913–929. dimaggio p.j & powell w.w. (1983). the iron cage revisited: institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields. american sociological review, 48(2): 147. direction générale de l’aviation civile. (2015). enquête sur la complémentarité modale avion-train. paris. dobruszkes f. (2011). high-speed rail and air transport competition in western europe: a supply-oriented perspective. transport policy, 18(6): 870–879. dobruszkes f.& givoni m. (2013). competition, integration, substitution: myths and realities concerning the relationship between high-speed rail and air transport in europe, in budd l., griggs s., howarth d. (eds), sustainable aviation futures, bingley: emerald. drees jm & heugens p. (2013). synthesizing and extending resource dependence theory a metaanalysis. journal of management, 39(6): 1666–1698. dumez h. & jeunemaître a. (2004). les stratégies de déstabilisation de la concurrence  : déverrouillage et recombinaison du marché. revue française de gestion, 30(148): 195–206 dumez h. & jeunemaître a. (2010). the management of o r g a n i z a t i o n a l b o u n d a r i e s : a c a s e s t u d y. m@n@gement, 13(3): 151–171.. dussauge p. & garrette b. (1999). cooperative strategy : competing successfully through strategic alliances. new york, ny:. j. wiley. dussauge p., garrette b. & mitchell w. (2000). learning from competing partners: outcomes and durations of scale and link alliances in europe, north america and asia. strategic management journal, 21(2): 99–126. eisenhardt .k.m. (1989). building theories from case study research. academy of management review, 14(4): 532–550. emerson r.m. (1962). power-dependence relations. american sociological review, 27(1): 31–41. european commission. (1997). intermodality and intermodal freight transport in the european union,. communication from the commission to the european parliament and the council. friedkin n.e. (1986). a formal theory of social power. the journal of mathematical sociology, 12(2): 103–126. garcía-canal e. & sánchez-lorda p. 2007. one more only if it is one of us. the number of partners and the stock market reaction to domestic and international alliance formation in eu telecom firms. international business review, 16(1): 83–108. gassmann o., zeschky m., wolff t. & stahl m. (2010). crossing the industry-line: breakthrough innovation through cross-industry alliances with ‘non-suppliers’. long range planning, 43(5–6): 639–654. geroski p. (1998). thinking creatively about markets. international journal of industrial organization, 16(6): 677–695. ghosh b. & balachander s. (2007). research note— competitive bundling and counterbundling with generalist and specialist firms. management science, 53(1): 159–168. ressource dependence & power balancing operations in alliances! m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 205-233 229 gibbert m., ruigrok w. & wicki b. (2008). what passes as a rigorous case study? strategic management journal 29(13): 1465–1474. givoni m. (2006). development and impact of the modern high‐speed train: a review. transport reviews, 26(5): 593–611. givoni m. & banister d. (2006). airline and railway integration. transport policy, 13(5): 386–397. givoni m. & banister d. (2007). role of the railways in the future of air transport. transportation planning and technology 30(1): 95–112. glaser b. & strauss a. (1967). the discovery of grounded theory: strategies for qualitative research. london: aldine de gruyter. gnyawali d.r. & madhavan r. (2001). cooperative networks and competitive dynamics: a structural embeddedness perspective. academy of management review, 26(3): 431–445. goedeking p. (2010). networks in aviation: strategies and structures. london: springer. greenstein s. & khanna t. (1997). what does industry convergence mean? in yoffie d (ed)., competing in the age of digital convergence, boston, ma: harvard business school press. greve h.r., mitsuhashi h. & baum j.a.c. (2013). greener pastures: outside options and strategic alliance withdrawal. organization science, 24(1): 79–98. gudmundsson s.v. & lechner c. (2006). multilateral airline alliances: balancing strategic constraints and opportunities. journal of air transport management, 12(3): 153–158. gulati r. (1998). alliances and networks. strategic management journal, 19(4): 293–317. gulati r. & sytch m. (2007). dependence asymmetry and joint dependence in interorganizational relationships: effects of embeddedness on a manufacturer’s p e r f o r m a n c e i n p r o c u r e m e n t r e l a t i o n s h i p s . administrative science quarterly, 52(1): 32–69. hacklin f., marxt c. & fahrni f. (2009). coevolutionary cycles of convergence: an extrapolation from the ict industry. technological forecasting and social change 76(6): 723–736. haleblian j., devers c.e., mcnamara g., carpenter m.a. & davison r.b. (2009). taking stock of what we know about mergers and acquisitions: a review and research agenda. journal of management, 35(3): 469–502. hamel g. & prahalad ck. 1994. competing for the future. harvard business review, 72(4): 122–128. hillman a.j, withers m.c. collins b.j. (2009). resource d e p e n d e n c e t h e o r y : a r e v i e w. j o u r n a l o f management 35(6): 1404–1427. hoffmann w.h. (2007). strategies for managing a portfolio of alliances. strategic management journal, 28(8): 827–856. holloway s. (2008). straight and level: practical airline economics. london: ashgate publishing, ltd. holmberg s.r. & cummings j.l. (2009). building successful strategic alliances: strategic process and analytical tool for selecting partner industries and firms. long range planning, 42(2): 164–193. huxham c. & beech n. (2008). inter-organizational power. in, ring p.s, huxham c., ebers m. & cropper s. (eds). the oxford handbook of inter-organizational relations. oxford university press: oxford. iatrou k. & oretti m. (2007). airline choices for the future : from alliances to mergers. burlington: ashgate. inkpen a.c. & beamish p.w. (1997). knowledge, bargaining power, and the instability of international joint ventures. the academy of management review, 22(1): 177–202. ivaldi m. & vibes c. (2008). price competition in the intercity passenger transport market: a simulation model. journal of transport economics and policy, 42(2): 225–254. joshi m.p, kashlak r.j. & sherman h.d. (1998). how alliances are reshaping telecommunications. long range planning, 31(4): 542–548. katila r. & rosenberger j/d & eisenhardt k.m. (2008). swimming with sharks: technology ventures, defense m e c h a n i s m s a n d c o r p o r a t e r e l a t i o n s h i p s . administrative science quarterly, 53(2): 295–332. kim w. & mauborgne r. (2005). blue ocean strategy: how to create uncontested market space and make the competition irrelevant. boston, ma: harvard business school press. klein b, crawford r.g., alchian a.a. (1978). vertical integration, appropriable rents, and the competitive contracting process. journal of law and economics, 21(2): 297–326. kogut b. (1988). joint ventures: theoretical and empirical perspectives. strategic management journal, 9(4): 319–332. kumar n, scheer l.k & steenkamp j. (1998). interdependence, punitive capability, and the reciprocation of punitive actions in channel relationships. journal of marketing research, 35(2): 225. lavie d. (2007). alliance portfolios and firm performance: a study of value creation and appropriation in the u.s. software industry. strategic management journal, 28(12): 1187–1212. lawler e.j & yoon j. (1996). commitment in exchange relations: test of a theory of relational cohesion. american sociological review, 61(1): 89. lehiany b. & chiambaretto, p. (2014). asma: un dispositif d’analyse séquentielle et multidimensionnelle des alliances. management international 18, 85–105. lew y.k. & sinkovics r/r. (2013). crossing borders and industry sectors: behavioral governance in strategic alliances and product innovation for competitive advantage. long range planning, 46(1–2): 13–38. lincoln y.s., guba e.g. (1985). naturalistic inquiry, beverly hills , ca: sage publications. lind j. (2005). ubiquitous convergence: market definitions generated by technological change and the industry life cycle, druid conference medcof j.w. (2001). resource-based strategy and managerial power in networks of internationally dispersed technology units. strategic management journal, 22(11): 999–1012. miles m.b. & huberman a.m. (1994). qualitative data analysis  : an expanded sourcebook. thousand oaks, ca: sage. m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 205-233! paul chiambaretto 230 mitchell w., dussauge p. & garrette b. (2002). alliances with competitors: how to combine and protect key resources? creativity and innovation management 11(3): 203–223. muniesa f., millo y., callon m. (2007). an introduction to market devices. the sociological review, 55: 1–12. murray j.y., kotabe m., zhou j.n. (2005). strategic alliance-based sourcing and market performance: evidence from foreign firms operating in china. journal of international business studies, 36(2): 187–208. odoni, a. (2009). the international institutional and regulatory environment. in belobaba p., odoni a.r. & barnhart c. (eds),the global airline industry; 19–46. chichester:john wiley and sons. oum t.h., park j-h.& zhang a. (1996). the effects of airline code sharing agreements on firm conduct and international airfares. journal of transport economics and policy, 30(2): 187–202. ozcan p. & eisenhardt k. (2009). origin of alliance portfolios: entrepreneurs, network strategies, and firm performance. the academy of management journal, 52(2): 246–279. pan y & tse d.k. (2000). the hierarchical model of market entry modes. journal of international business studies, 31(4): 535–554. park j-h. (1997). the effects of airline alliances on markets and economic welfare. transportation research part e: logistics and transportation review, 33(3): 181–195. pennings j. & puranam p. (2001). market convergence and firm strategy: new directions for theory and research. ecis conference, the future of innovation studies, eidhoven. pfeffer j. (2005). developing resource dependence theory: how theory is affected by its environment. in smith k. & hitt m. (eds), great minds in management: the process of theory development. oxford, ny: oxford university press. pfeffer j. & salancik g. (1978). the external control of organizations: a resource dependence perspective. new york, ny: harper and row. polidoro f., ahuja g. & mitchell w. (2011). when the social structure overshadows competitive incentives: the effects of network embeddedness on joint venture dissolution. academy of management journal, 54(1): 203–223. porter m. (1980). competitive strategy: techniques for analyzing industries and competitors. new york, ny: the free press. rahman n. & korn h.j. (in press). alliance longevity: examining relational and operational antecedents. long range planning. ryall m.d. & sorenson o. (2007). brokers and competitive advantage. management science, 53(4): 566–583. santamaria l. & surroca j. (2011). matching the goals and impacts of r&d collaboration. european management review, 8(2): 95–109. santos f.m. & eisenhardt k.m. (2009). constructing markets and shaping boundaries: entrepreneurial power in nascent fields. academy of management journal, 52(4): 643–671. shah r.h. & swaminathan v. (2008). factors influencing partner selection in strategic alliances: the moderating role of alliance context. strategic management journal 29(5): 471–494. shaw s. (2011). airline marketing and management. farnham: ashgate. socorro m.p. & viecens m.f. (2013). the effects of airline and high speed train integration. transportation research part a: policy and practice, 49: 160–177. stieglitz n. (2003). digital dynamics and types of industry convergence: the evolution of the handheld computers market. in christensen j, maskell p (eds), the industrial dynamics of the new digital economy,. cheltenham: edward elgar. thomas d.r. (2006). a general inductive approach for analyzing qualitative evaluation data. american journal of evaluation, 27(2): 237–246. tse d.k., pan y. & au k. (1997). how mncs choose entry modes and form alliances: the china experience. journal of international business studies, 28(4): 779– 805. ulrich d. & barney j.b. 1984. perspectives in organizations: resource dependence, efficiency, and population. the academy of management review, 9(3): 471. vaara e. & monin p. (2008). a recursive perspective on discursive legitimation and organizational action in mergers and acquisitions. organization science, 21(1): 3–22. vandaie r. & zaheer a. 2014. surviving bear hugs: firm capability, large partner alliances, and growth. strategic management journal 35(4): 566–577. vasigh b, fleming k. & tacker t. 2013. introduction to air transport economics: from theory to applications. burlington: ashgate. venkatraman n. & prescott j.e. (1990). environmentstrategy coalignment: an empirical test of its performance implications. strategic management journal, 11(1): 1–23. wassmer u. & dussauge p. (2011). value creation in alliance portfolios: the benefits and costs of network resource interdependencies. european management review, 8(1): 47–64. wassmer u. & dussauge p. (2012). network resource stocks and flows: how do alliance portfolios affect the v a l u e o f n e w a l l i a n c e f o r m a t i o n s ? s t r a t e g i c management journal, 33(7): 871–883. xia j. (2011). mutual dependence, partner substitutability, and repeated partnership: the survival of cross-border alliances. strategic management journal, 32(3): 229– 253. yan a & gray b. (1994). bargaining power, management control, and performance in united states-china joint ventures: a comparative case study. academy of management journal, 37(6): 1478–1517. yin r.k. (2009). case study research  : design and methods. , los angeles, ca: sage. yin r.k. (2012). applications of case study research., thousand oaks , ca: sage. zaheer a, george v.p. (2004). reach out or reach within? performance implications of alliances and location in biotechnology. managerial and decision economics, 25(6-7): 437–452. ressource dependence & power balancing operations in alliances! m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 205-233 231 appendix a. information regarding interviews type of firm code interviewee(s) number of destinations member of the same global alliance as nal member of the same global alliance as fal intermodal airport ncc head of intermodal operations chief engineer in charge of intermodal airports strategy analyst in charge of intermodality nsc head of intermodal operations foreign airline fal sales manager 215 no yes no industry expertie1 industry expert ie2 researcher on intermodality ie3 journalist (x2) international airline ial1 sales manager for the focal country 175 no yes no ial2 country manager 4 no no yes ial3 sales manager for the focal country 101 yes no no ial4 sales manager for the focal country 73 no yes no ial5 commercial director for the focal country (x2) 14 no no yes ial 6 vp europe commercial director for the focal country 343 yes no no ial 7 country manager 36 no no yes ial 8 country manager 95 no yes no ial 9 vp alliances (x2) business development manager (x2) 92 no no yes ial 10 country manager 100 no yes no ial 11 country manager head of external relations 66 no yes no ial 12 country manager 65 no yes no ial 13 commercial director for the focal country 376 no yes no ial 14 sales manager in charge of alliances 36 no no yes national airline nal vp marketing vp strategy alliance manager strategy analyst in charge of rail competition and intermodality (x2) 204 yes no yes national rail operator nro head of intermodal operations (x2) head of ncc airport's train station (x2) professional association pa1 country manager (x2) rail infrastructure operator rio head of strategy head of intermodal projects in ncc area head of intermodal project in nsc area m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 205-233! paul chiambaretto 232 paul chiambaretto is assistant professor of marketing and strategy at montpellier business school. he is also associate researcher at ecole polytechnique. his main research topics are inter-organizational relationships such as alliances and coopetition. he also work on co-branding and bundling strategies. he has developed a strong expertise on air and rail transportation industries. his research has been published in several international journals.. acknowledgements. the author would like to thank laure cabantous, sébastien liarte, the three anonymous reviewers and the aims for their help to improve this article. this research received financial support from the french national research agency through the program "investments for the future" under reference number anr-10-labx-11-01. © the author(s) www.management-aims.com ressource dependence & power balancing operations in alliances! m@n@gement, vol. 18(3): 205-233 233 m@n@gement, vol. 12, no. 1, 2009. 1-27 1 bertrand venard m@n@gement issn: 1286-4892 editors: emmanuel josserand, hec, université de genève (editor in chief) jean-luc arrègle, université du luxembourg (editor) stewart clegg, university of technology, sydney (editor) louis hébert, hec montréal (editor) martin kornberger, university of technology, sydney (editor) martina menguzzato-boulard, universitat de valència (editor) michael tushman, harvard business school (editor) martin g. evans, university of toronto (editor emeritus) bernard forgues, emlyon business school (editor emeritus) copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). m@n@gement is a double-blind refereed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.management-aims.com © 2008 m@n@gement and the author(s). bertrand venard 2009 corruption in emerging countries: a matter of isomorphism, m@n@gement 12(1), 1-27. accepted by hugh gunz m@n@gement est la revue officielle de l’aims m@n@gement is the journal official of aims m@n@gement, vol. 12, no. 1, 2009. 1-27 2 corruption in emerging countries: a matter of isomorphism corruption in emerging countries: a matter of isomorphism this paper, based on neo-institutional literature, focuses on the influence of organizational isomorphism on corruption in emerging countries. a questionnaire was administered in face-to-face interviews with top executives in firms across various economic sectors in emerging countries. our findings lead us to conclude that corruption is influenced by coercive, mimetic and competitive isomorphism. this study indicates that the higher the quality of a given institutional framework, the lower the level of corrupt behaviour. furthermore, we suggest that corruption is explained by mimetism within the same economic sector. we thus conclude that a firm is more likely to resort to corruption if its competitors already adopt corrupt behaviour. introduction corruption is often characterized as one of the single greatest obstacles to economic and social development (world bank, 2000; united nations, 2002, 2008; aguilera & adera, 2008). despite its negative impact, corruption has spread worldwide for diverse reasons including the low salaries earned by civil servants, the availability of economic rents from which bribes may be extracted and/or the under-development of legal systems (shleifer & vishny, 1998; rose-ackerman, 1978, 1999). a key reason for the survival of corruption is the weakness of institutional frameworks. indeed, the higher the quality of an institutional framework, the lower the chances of corruption (world bank, 1997, 2000). social, cultural, economic and political institutions undoubtedly influence societies and organizations (scott, 1995, 2001) and these institutional forces may explain why organizations have become increasingly similar (dimaggio & powell, 1983; powell & dimaggio, 1991) and pursue similar actions including corrupt behaviour. many authors agree on the following definition of corruption: “a manipulation of powers of government or sale of government property, or both by government officials for personal use” (shleifer & vishny, 1993; jain, 1998). this definition is quite similar to that given by morris “ a behaviour by a public official that deviates from public interest” (1991) or the definition from the world bank, a leading international body that studies the issue, and which defines corruption as “the abuse of public bertrand venard audencia school of management, nantes bvenard@audencia.com m@n@gement, vol. 12, no. 1, 2009. 1-27 3 bertrand venard office for private gain” (world bank, 1997: 8). thus, corruption is usually defined as the misuse of public power for private benefit (lambsdorff, 2007). we need to be careful, however, for there is a certain degree of discord with regard to the definition. some researchers, for example, have studied corruption between private firms (not corruption involving public office), but this is not our focus. other researchers have taken a wider stance in their perspective of corruption (ashforth, gioia, robinson, & travino, 2008). instead of “abuse of private office” as in the world bank definition, they substitute the word “authority” (rodriguez, siegel, hillman, & eden, 2006) thereby including various types of corruption. in this paper, we have adopted the more limited, but relatively common definition of corruption (shleifer & vishny, 1993; jain, 1998). relying on neo-institutional literature, this paper focuses on the influence of organizational isomorphism on corruption in emerging countries. our aim is to examine the institutional reasons for corruption using a model based on empirical research in emerging countries. a questionnaire was administrated in person to top executives from firms across various economic sectors in emerging countries. the paper is motivated by the social and economic importance of corruption. corruption is a major ethical social issue for any country. furthermore, since studies have correlated an increase in corruption with economic decline (mauro, 1995; rose-ackerman, 2002), the topic is also economically relevant. the paper includes various research contributions. firstly, the study is based on direct data collection, which is currently lacking in research on corruption. this is understandable in view of the hidden nature of the phenomenon. most research on corruption relies on macroeconomic data, specifically based on a broad evaluation of the issue by organizations such as transparency international. this paper is based on a large-scale empirical survey conducted in 26 emerging countries. another added-value of this paper is our use of the organisational isomorphism model to study corruption. in particular, we developed the hypothesis that corruption by any firm is influenced by the magnitude of unfair behaviour adopted by its competitors. a major contribution of this paper is our finding that corruption is largely explained by the mimetism of peers. practically speaking, a firm may decide to use corruption when its competitors adopt unfair behaviour. we also explain corruption by coercive and competitive isomorphism. the first section of the paper is a literature review concerning corruption and organizational isomorphism in the context of emerging countries. the main findings from the theoretical literature review led us to empirical research building. the second section addresses the empirical research conducted and the methods adopted. the paper progresses to an examination of the empirical results, including a description of the results of the structural equation model. this analysis leads to our conclusion. m@n@gement, vol. 12, no. 1, 2009. 1-27 4 corruption in emerging countries: a matter of isomorphism theoretical background for many years, scholars have been working in various fields of social science to connect institutions with the structure and behaviour of organizations. the new institutionalism has tried to provide fresh answers to old questions about how social choices are shaped, mediated, and channeled by institutional arrangements (powell & dimaggio, 1991). in this perspective, some key work was conducted by dimaggio and powell who introduced the idea of organizational isomorphism to understand similarities in firms (1983). isomorphism is a “constraining process that forces one unit in a population to resemble other units that face the same set of environmental conditions.” the process of isomorphism concerns various types of behaviours, including corruption. the study of organizational isomorphism is a key to understanding an organizational decision to adopt corrupt practices. hence, in the next section, we discuss the various types of isomorphism which underpin our diverse hypotheses. competitive isomorphism is the pressure to adopt behaviour similar to that of the competition (hannan & freeman, 1977; aldrich, 1979). the link between competition and corruption has been studied by various authors including goldsmith (1999) who argued that corruption is negatively correlated with different indicators of economic freedom. however, ades and ditella stated that, in theory, the effect of competition on corruption is ambiguous (1999). lambsdorff (2007) also argued that economic liberalization does not immediately reduce corruption. using the number of years a country has been open to trade as a proxy for competition, sachs and warner showed that, in many cases, economic reform paid off after a few years in terms of accelerated growth of gdp (1995). their research suggests that the increase in competition may not reduce corruption immediately. other empirical results show that the number of years of open trade (proxy for competition) is negatively correlated to corruption (leite & weidemann, 1999; treisman, 2000). therefore the first effect of competition may be an increase in corruption (tavares, 2007; venard, 2008). for example, an executive may have been given high-level targets by his/her hierarchy, and when confronted with intense competition, he or she may use corruption to achieve the required results (clinard, 1983). many emerging countries have been characterized by lack of competition. therefore, in the first stage of economic liberalization processes, firms in emerging countries may try to secure rents from or with corrupt government officials. in its second phase, increased competition will lead to a decline in corruption. given the scope of the research concerning emerging countries new to competition (sachs & warner, 1995), the competitive isomorphism perspective leads to our first hypothesis h1: ‘a positive relationship exists between the intensity of competition between firms and the level of corruption.’ m@n@gement, vol. 12, no. 1, 2009. 1-27 5 bertrand venard institutional isomorphism is the similarity among firms resulting from the institutional environment. the institutional environment is the set of key external institutions that constrain any organization to adopt an organizational form. hawley proposed the principle of isomorphism, in which the similarity between organizations reflects the similarity of their environments and variation in organizational forms reflects the diversity of environments (1950, 1968). the key issue is to determine the fundamental mechanisms through which isomorphic change occurs. dimaggio and powell identified three mechanisms: coercive, mimetic, and normative (1983, 1991). coercive isomorphism is the homogenization of organizations caused by the pressure exercised on a given organization by other organizations. an example of a powerful organization is the state (scott, 1995), since firms are influenced by rules institutionalized and legitimized by the state (meyer & rowan, 1977). the state defines institutional frameworks that influence organizations by establishing rules, inspecting the conformity of firms, and handing out rewards or punishments (scott, 1995: 35). figure 1. hypothesized model explaining the level of corruption in firms in emerging countries. m@n@gement, vol. 12, no. 1, 2009. 1-27 6 corruption in emerging countries: a matter of isomorphism many scholars and international agencies have noted an institutional impact on corruption. studies have shown that it is necessary to build appropriate regulative institutions to reduce corruption (world bank, 1997, 2000). for example, based on empirical research, dreher, kotsogiannis and mccorriston showed that the higher the institutional quality, the lower the use of corruption (2005). therefore, to fight corruption, the european bank for reconstruction and development (ebrd), the world bank, the united nations, and the organisation for economic co-operation and development (oecd) proposed improving the quality of institutional frameworks. the question is therefore to define the quality of a given institutional framework. in this paper, we define the strength of an institutional framework through the strength of variables, including the quality of the legal framework, the quality of law enforcement, and the quality of the financial markets (each variable is clarified separately hereafter). firstly, the legal framework is an important variable in the analysis of institutional systems (scott, 1995). as stated by dimaggio and powell, “the existence of a common legal environment affects many aspects of an organization’s behaviour and structure” (1983). one example of regulation is the “convention on combating bribery of foreign public officials in international business transactions,” promulgated in 1997 (oecd, 2007). the oecd anti-bribery convention requires countries to impose tough sanctions – including fines and imprisonment – for bribery of foreign public officials, also referred to as “foreign bribery.” the laws are norms that are drawn up to guide the actions of all economic actors within an institutional framework. laws that define the forbidden, such as corruption, and also constrain these behaviours with negative incentives (such as punishments) are set out to deter non-appropriate action. laws are crucial not only for the protection of contracts and private property, but also to limit the ability of officials to prey on private property and solicit bribes. a strong legal environment is greatly needed by emerging countries to fight corruption (rodriguez & ehrichs, 2007). in a study of 61 countries, kimbro noted the impact of the quality of legal systems on corruption (2002). thus, governments seeking to fight corruption need to strengthen the laws that punish corruption (rodriguez et al. 2007). secondly, while laws are important, they are useless without enforcement. north (1990) emphasized the importance of efficient legal systems to enforce contracts, a determinant for economic growth. thus, the ability of governments to enforce laws is crucial in assessing the quality of an institutional environment, especially in its ability to influence corruption. the legal framework not only refers to laws but also includes the creation of regulatory institutions that monitor competition, securities markets, banking, trade, patents and other economic sectors that require business law enforcement (shleifer & vishny, 1998). to explain the effect of law enforcement on corruption, we should consider the scenario in which a country has enacted anticorruption regulations, but lacks complete application of these laws. in such cases, the laws are rendered useless in fighting corruption. thus, experts recommend that to ensure anti-corruption laws are efm@n@gement, vol. 12, no. 1, 2009. 1-27 7 bertrand venard fectively enforced, the enforcement process must be monitored (rodriguez et al., 2007: 310). various strategies to reduce corruption are thus connected, such as anti-corruption laws which must incorporate strong law enforcement policies (pope, 2000). thirdly, the financial system is also an important aspect of the institutional environment (zysman, 1983; szego, 1993). whitley (1999) suggested that the assessment of an institutional framework should be partly based on an evaluation of the quality of the financial markets. thus, it is possible to differentiate between various countries when analysing the characteristics of their different types of financial institutions (cox, 1986). some studies have shown the link between the quality of the financial market and the level of corruption, concluding that low international financial integration (the degree to which an economy does not restrain cross-border financial transactions) is positively correlated to an increase in corruption (edison et al., 2002). rivera-batiz also showed that countries with widespread corruption suffer from low rates of return on capital before the liberalization of international financial transactions (2001). of course, the quality of financial markets depends on various dimensions. the critical criteria for evaluating a financial market focus on the processes by which capital is more or less easily available (whitley, 1999: 49; venard & hanafi, 2008). if capital is easier to procure, it is also easier for firms to finance their activities and so investing in a new economic project such as product development or the creation of a foreign subsidiary will be easier to fund. in this paper, the quality of a given financial market is thus an evaluation of its various key components, which implies that capital is easy for firms to access. in view of the preceding discussion, our hypothesis is that the higher the quality of the institutional environments (quality of law, law enforcement and financial markets), the lower the level of corruption. our hypothesis is therefore h2 “a negative relationship exists between the quality of the institutional environment and the level of corruption.” furthermore, our definition of the quality of the institutional environment leads to the following hypotheses: h2a “a positive relationship exists between the quality of the legal framework and the quality of the institutional environment.” h2b “a positive relationship exists between the quality of law enforcement and the quality of the institutional environment.” h2c “a positive relationship exists between the quality of the financial market and the quality of the institutional environment.” another important mechanism of institutional isomorphism is mimetism. mimetic isomorphism is often analyzed as a key factor of homogenization in the institutional literature (mizruchi & fein, 1999). mimetism is defined as copying actions of business peers (dimaggio & powell, 1983). a firm’s decision to adopt corrupt behaviour could therefore be linked to its competitor’s behaviour (venard & hanafi, 2008). corruption is not only an individual action, but is also a social action influenced by the behaviour of other social actors. rose-ackerman noted that membership to a reference group implies mimetism with regard to corruption (2002). the reference group for an organization is a group of firms in m@n@gement, vol. 12, no. 1, 2009. 1-27 8 corruption in emerging countries: a matter of isomorphism the same market sector and a participant in the reference group might imitate the corrupt behaviour of the other members. thus, if firms in an economic sector adopt a large degree of unfair behaviour (not only corrupt behaviour), a specific enterprise in the same sector will certainly imitate this behaviour and will use corruption as a means to achieve its financial objectives. we define unfair behaviour in this paper as the likelihood of firms to be dishonest. an firm using unfair behaviour is one that does not respect local regulations, such as paying government taxes, or which fails to observe or follow trade regulation. if many firms within the same economic sector practice unfair behaviour, they will have a competitive advantage over any given ‘honest’ firm. for example, failure to pay taxes will reduce the ‘unfair’ firm’s costs. to preserve its economic rents, the reaction of the ‘honest’ firm may be to imitate the behaviour of its reference group. our second hypothesis is therefore h3: “a positive relationship exists between unfair behaviour by competitors and the level of corruption.” finally, the last institutional isomorphism concept is normative isomorphism, which refers to the fact that organizations are influenced by rules that introduce a prescriptive, evaluative, and obligatory dimension into social life (scott, 1995: 37). societal norms may be introduced in various ways. for example, march and olsen noted that much of an organization’s behaviour is governed by organizational processes such as strategies, objectives, and conventions (1989). in this article, we will analyse a particular example of normative isomorphism in which norms were introduce by the headquarters of multinationals for its subsidiaries. thus, a local subsidiary of a multinational will face considerable pressure to respect the various norms adopted by the multinational’s headquarters. for example, the top management of a multinational could issue various recommendations and internal procedures, which become internal norms shared by the group’s various entities. the question then becomes what influence this normative isomorphism has on the potential for corruption. it is recognized that developed countries have a much lower level of corruption than emerging countries (mauro, 1995). transparency international has documented the lowest levels of corruption in the richest countries (rodriguez et al., 2007). furthermore, the oecd “convention on combating bribery of foreign public officials in international business transactions” recommends that countries impose tough sanctions – including fines and imprisonment – on their multinationals for bribery of foreign public officials. most multinationals are headquartered in developed countries (this trend is changing but was not prevalent at the time of our survey). therefore, we might expect that if multinationals in developed countries invest in enterprises within emerging countries, then the multinationals will extend their ethical norms to their subsidiaries and will seek to reduce corrupt practices. the importance of ethical norms transmitted by multinationals to their subsidiaries will be correlated with the importance of the foreign financial stake within the capital of the subsidiary. the greater the financial participation of the multinational in its subsidiary, the greater the normative isomorphism should be and thus, the lesser the chance of corruption in the subsidiary. our next hypothesis h4 is m@n@gement, vol. 12, no. 1, 2009. 1-27 9 bertrand venard therefore: “a negative relationship exists between foreign financial participation in local firms in emerging countries and the level of corruption in firms.” at macroeconomic level, government intervention is crucial in building appropriate business systems (whitley, 1999). key institutions need to be created via state intervention. the construction of a legal framework is a sufficient example to emphasize the need for state intervention. in the invisible hand model, the government restricts itself to providing public goods, such as regulations and law enforcement, and leaves most allocation decisions to the private sector (frye & shleifer, 1997). at microeconomic level, however, governments can be interventionist but also unorganized, and thus may have a larger number of bureaucrats pursuing personal agendas, including taking bribes (shleifer & vishny, 1993). a number of authors have described the phenomena of the politicisation of economic activity (johnson, kaufman, & zoidolobaton, 1998). politicisation of an economic activity describes the exercise of control rights over firms by politicians and bureaucrats (johnson et al., 1998). government interventions designed to correct market failures require the use of different bureaucrats to make decisions, but also may create opportunities for politicians and civil servants to adopt corrupt behaviour and demand bribes (acemoglu & verdier, 2000: 95). when politicians and civil servants have some residual control rights over firms, they may use this power to serve their private interests and ask for bribes. practically speaking, when a politician has some power over a private firm, he/she may use this power to develop corruption to his/her benefit. from the point of view of a private firm, its key executives may feel that they lack the required state protection, and some politicians may use this lack of protection to gain power over the private firm. in this case, the executives may develop corrupt relations with public officials to protect their property (sonin, 2003). thus, there is a major difference between a government’s influence in implementing a ‘friendly’ business environment (notably with an adequate legal framework and law enforcement base) and the intervention of a government in the functioning of private firms. on a macroeconomic level, political intervention leads to the transformation of an institutional context. the government restricts itself to providing public goods (frye & shleifer, 1997), and this leads to a decline in corruption. at microeconomic level, however, the government could interfere in the decisions of private firms, creating opportunities for corruption. thus, government intervention in the operations of private firms could lead to a certain amount of corruption (acemoglu & verdier, 2000). our last hypothesis is therefore: h5 “in emerging countries, a positive relationship exists between the level of politicisation of economic activity and the level of corruption.” m@n@gement, vol. 12, no. 1, 2009. 1-27 10 corruption in emerging countries: a matter of isomorphism methods sample to test our theoretical model, a method of direct data collection through face-to-face interviews was used. the sample was composed of 4104 firms in 26 countries. the survey was conducted as part of the ebrd (european bank for reconstruction and development) and world bank business environment and enterprise performance survey. the population of business organisations was studied in each country in order to obtain a breakdown of private sector firms. this was necessary in order to conduct the survey using a quota method. table 1 and 2 describe various elements of the sample. the sample was built via the quota method using three criteria: industry category, number of employees, and location. the final sample was similar to the three criteria of the population of private firms in the different countries. accurate sampling of organisations was crucial in order to ensure that the research findings were representative. data collection interviews were conducted with managers or owners of firms through site visits in 26 countries from june 1998 through to august 1998. since our research focused on the link between organizational isomorphism and corruption, the period of time is not crucial. our objective was to test theoretical hypotheses concerning corruption in various national contexts and not to describe corruption in emerging countries at the end of the 1990s. the respondents were 30% company owners, 17% chief executive officers/company presidents, 24% directors and 14% financial officers/accountants. the remaining (15%) had other managerial positions. different interviewers were used in the various countries. table 1 gives the list of countries and the number of interviews per country. the diversity of the 26 countries allowed us to test our hypotheses in various national contexts. a test questionnaire was administered via five interviews in each country. after the questionnaires were completed, the companies were contacted by phone to ensure that the firm matched the relevant quota criteria and to arrange an appointment with the prospective respondent. interviews were conducted face-toface using the specially designed questionnaire to assess the level of corruption. the questionnaire was translated into various languages. most interviews lasted between one and two hours. the questionnaire was divided into two parts. the first part concerned the description of both the firm and the respondent. the second part contained 70 questions to assess various aspects of the business environment, the importance of corruption, and various elements concerning corruption experiences and practices (see appendix 1 for the questionnaire). the interviews were carried out in the respondents’ offices by trained interviewers. one in six interviews was audited by a phone call to the respondent to check that the interview was conducted properly. some questions were repeated to ensure accuracy. m@n@gement, vol. 12, no. 1, 2009. 1-27 11 bertrand venard table 1. list of countries involved in the empirical research and number of questionnaires per country. country number of questionnaires % of questionnaires albania 163 4 armenia 125 3 azerbaijan 137 3.3 belarus 132 3.2 bosnia 127 3.1 bulgaria 130 3.2 croatia 127 3.1 czech republic 149 3.6 estonia 132 3.2 georgia 129 3.1 hungary 147 3.6 kazakhstan 147 3.6 kyrgyzstan 132 3.2 latvia 166 4.0 lithuania 112 2.7 macedonia 136 3.3 moldova 139 3.4 poland 246 6.0 rep serpska 65 1.6 romania 125 3.0 russia 552 13.5 slovakia 138 3.4 slovenia 125 3.0 turkey 150 3.7 ukraine 247 6.0 uzbekistan 126 3.1 total 4104 100.0 table 2. description of the sample according to the sampling criteria. description of the sample number of respondents % of questionnaires capital city 1248 30 other towns with over 1 million inhabitants 244 6 between 250,000 and 1,000,000 inhabitants 524 13 between 50,000 and 249,999 inhabitants 780 19 below 50,000 inhabitants 1308 32 total 4104 100% very small firms (fewer than 9 employees) 1100 27 small firms (10-49) 905 22 medium firms (50-199 employees) 1171 29 large firms (200+ employees) 928 23 total 4104 100% agriculture, farming, fishing, forestry 456 11 mining, quarrying, energy 56 1 manufacturing 1249 30 building, construction 376 9 trade, wholesale 566 14 retail 577 14 transport (air, land, sea) 240 6 financial services 70 2 personal services: health, welfare, education and others 230 6 business services 249 6 total 4104 100% private companies 3470 85 state-owned firms 634 15 total 4104 100% financial stake by a foreign company 513 13 no financial stake by a foreign company 3591 87 total 4104 100% m@n@gement, vol. 12, no. 1, 2009. 1-27 12 corruption in emerging countries: a matter of isomorphism measures partial least square (pls) generates statistics to test the reliability and validity of constructs with two or more indicators. as shown in table 3, the indexes had at least a cronbach’s α above 0.77, which is above the suggested reliability level of 0.70 indicated by the literature (nunnally, 1978). for all the variables (except the internationalization variable), an exploratory factor analysis (efa) was conducted across all the various items (each item corresponded to a question). for all the variables, we had sufficient convergence to suggest that it was valid to incorporate all of the items into one measure. for each variable, the efa identified only one dimension. reliability was also evaluated using the dillon-goldstein’s rho. a rho superior to 0.6 indicates that the variance of a variable explains at least 60% of the variance of the corresponding measure (fornell & larker, 1981). as table 3 shows, this was the case for all the variables in our model. in order to assess the scale structure, we performed a confirmatory factor analysis on all the items related to the eight latent variables previously identified and validated by the exploratory factor analyses. all in all, the analysis proved satisfactory, as the root mean square error of approximation (rmsea) was 0.068, a fairly good value with regards to the complexity of the analysis (eight latent variables and 60 measurement variables). in addition, all the loadings had significant parameter estimates (t test >2) and the joreskog’s rhos were all above the 0.7 threshold, hence validating the overall structure of our scales. the dependent ‘corruption’ variable was specified in line with our hypotheses as “a manipulation of powers of government or sale of government property, or both by government officials for personal use” (jain, 1998). in studying corruption, it is important to avoid asking whether corruption is inherently good or bad. johnson pointed out that such questions are futile as the answer depends on the standards of a country and also on the elements of comparison (johnson, in ward, 1989: 17). the level of corruption was then evaluated as the frequency of unofficial payments by firms to public officials for garnering various services or other advantages. in order to characterize and measure this variable, a set of seven questions was given to the respondents. for each question, the respondent had to indicate frequency using a 1-6 never/always scale (the same scale was used for all the questions). a sample question is: “how often do firms like yours need to make extra, unofficial payments to public officials to gain government contracts nowadays?” as mentioned earlier, exploratory factor analysis (efa) across the seven questions indicated sufficient convergence to suggest that it was valid to incorporate all of them into one measure (cronbach’s α = 0.84). the efa identified only one dimension for this variable. the same methodology was used for the other variables (see table 3). for example, we evaluated the intensity of competition with a set of six questions. the degree of competition in an industry hinges on five forces: the threat of new entrants, the bargaining power of customers, the bargaining power of suppliers, the threat of substitute products or services (where applicable) and jockeying among current contestants (porter, 1979, 1980). therefore, in order to measure the intensity of competition, a set of six statements was given to respondents, using a scale of 1-to-6 m@n@gement, vol. 12, no. 1, 2009. 1-27 13 bertrand venard (1 for low and 6 for very high) to evaluate the pressure from competitors (this includes new entrants and current contestants, both local and foreign) and the pressure from customers in key strategic decisions, such as “please rate the influence of the pressure from domestic competitors on key decisions about your business.” exploratory factor analysis (efa) across the six items indicated sufficient convergence to suggest that it was valid to incorporate all six items into one measure (cronbach’s α = 0.82). the efa identified only one dimension for this variable. to evaluate the quality of law enforcement, we used the quality of the public service in general as a proxy. it is difficult to assess the quality of law enforcement if the respondent has never been involved in any legal action. therefore, we assumed that the stronger the public services, the stronger the capacity of law enforcement. each top manager was asked a set of questions, including ‘could you please rate the overall quality and efficiency of services delivered by the judiciary/courts?’ (see appendix 1 for the questionnaire). another sample concerned the evaluation of the quality of financial markets. thus, the higher the quality of a financial market, the more money banks have to lend, making it easier to gain access to foreign banks, and easier to access non-bank equity investors. in turn, bank paperwork decreases, the bureaucracy gets a loan, and so the cycle continues. our respondents evaluated all the preceding elements. we used six questions to assess the quality of the financial markets such as “can you tell how problematic bank paperwork and bureaucracy is for the operations and growth of your institution?” the efa identified again only one dimension with a cronbach’s α = 0.77. questions for all the variables are provided in appendix 1. table 3: description of variables. construct hypotheses number of items mean s.d. cronbach’s α rho of dillongoldstein level of corruption 7 1.6284 1.0864 0.84 0.88 intensity of competition h1 6 3.5790 1.6323 0.82 0.87 quality of the institutional framework h2 10 3.5968 1.6361 0.81 0.85 quality of the legal framework h2a 5 2.9454 1.3993 0.82 0.87 law enforcement h2b 11 3.7059 1.2618 0.83 0.87 quality of the financial market h2c 6 3.8060 1.7626 0.77 0.85 unfair behaviour by competitors h3 9 3.4811 1.7839 0.86 0.89 internationalization h4 1 7.3306 22.6415 politicisation of economic activity h5 7 1.8424 1.4553 0.86 0.89 m@n@gement, vol. 12, no. 1, 2009. 1-27 14 corruption in emerging countries: a matter of isomorphism data analysis our theoretical model was tested using a structural equation modelling technique called partial least squares, pls (wold, 1985). the pls method is oriented toward predictive applications and the explanation of variance as a regression, in which r2 and the significance of relationships among constructs (using ordinary least squares, ols techniques) indicate how well a model performs (barclay, higgins & thompson, 1995). conceptually, pls is “an iterative combination of principal components analysis relating measures to constructs, and a path analysis permitting the construction of a system of constructs” (barclay et al., 1995: 290). the pls approach generates estimates of standardized regression coefficients (i.e., path coefficients), which can then be used to assess the relationships between latent variables. pls also generates factor loadings of the items used, which are interpretable within the context of principal components analysis (bookstein, 1986). pls does not make assumptions about (1) data distributions to estimate model parameters, (2) observation independence, or (3) variable metrics (wold, 1985). these unrestrictive assumptions led us to select pls over other structural modelling techniques (see barclay et al., 1995, for a detailed explanation of the pls technique). table 4: intercorrelations between the various variables. variable politicisation of economic activity unfair behaviour by competitors quality of the institutional framework intensity of competition internationalization importance of corruption law enforcement quality of the financial market quality of the legal framework politicisation of economic activity 1.0000 unfair behaviour by competitors 0.1046 1.0000 quality of the institutional framework -0.0498 -0.4257 1.0000 intensity of competition 0.0237 0.2674 -0.1368 1.0000 internationalization -0.0224 -0.0589 0.0831 0.0722 1.0000 importance of corruption 0.0811 0.2189 -0.2378 0.1441 0.0481 1.0000 law enforcement -0.0166 -0.1283 0.3592 0.0404 0.0013 -0.2429 1.0000 quality of the financial market -0.0588 -0.3644 0.4671 -0.1826 0.0866 -0.2668 0.2192 1.0000 quality of the legal framework 0.0306 -0.0885 0.2816 -0.0116 0.0271 -0.1728 0.3869 0.1694 1.0000 n =4104, all correlations are significant at p < 0.05. m@n@gement, vol. 12, no. 1, 2009. 1-27 15 bertrand venard intercorrelations of all the variables used in this study are provided in table 4. partial support for our hypotheses can be seen in the correlation matrix provided. the quality of business systems is positively correlated with both the quality of the legal framework (r = + 0.28, p<0.05), the quality of law enforcement (r = + 0.36, p<0.05) and the quality of the financial markets (r = + 0.47, p<0.05). as predicted, the intensity of competition also correlated positively with the importance of corruption (r = + 0.14, p<0.05). furthermore, the importance of corruption was significantly and negatively correlated with the quality of the business environment (r = 0.24, p<0.05). the level of corruption correlated positively with unfair behaviour by competitors (r = + 0.22, p<0.05) and the politicisation of economic activity also correlated positively with the level of corruption. all these correlations are in line with our theoretical model. however, surprisingly and contrary to our prediction, the importance of the foreign stake in the local subsidiary correlated only slightly positively with the level of corruption (r = + 0.05, p<0.05). table 5 : results of partial least squares analysis factor correlation contribution to r2 path coefficient t student quality of institutional framework r2 0.3013 h2a quality of the legal framework 0.2816 11.9959 0.1284 10.0481 h2b quality of law enforcement 0.3592 26.5241 0.2226 8.47469 h2c quality of thr financial market 0.4671 61.4790 0.3966 42.6308 level of corruption r2 0.0882 h1 intensity of the competition 0.1441 13.3829 0.0819 8.1917 h2 quality of the institutional framework -0.2378 48.1504 -0.1786 -13.3092 h3 unfair behaviour by competitors 0.2189 29.4475 0.1186 7.3926 h4 internationalization 0.0481 3.5685 0.0654 5.0073 h5 politicisation of economic activity 0.0811 5.4507 0.0593 2.9352 m@n@gement, vol. 12, no. 1, 2009. 1-27 16 corruption in emerging countries: a matter of isomorphism the results of the pls analysis used to test the hypotheses are summarized in table 5. the following results were obtained. most of our hypotheses were supported by our empirical data. our first hypothesis 1 concerning competitive isomorphism is supported. we predicted that the higher the intensity of competition, the higher the potential for corruption. the path coefficient between the intensity of competition and the level of corruption was positive and significant (β = 0.14, p<.05). the relationship between the quality of the business environment and the level of corruption was negative and significant (β = 0.24, p<.05), lending support to hypothesis 2. therefore, we support the coercive isomorphism hypothesis. the relationship between the quality of the business environment and the quality of the legal framework was positive and significant (β = 0.28, p<.05). the relationship between the quality of the business environment and the quality of law enforcement was positive and significant (β = 0.36, p<.05). the relationship between the quality of the business environment and the quality of the financial market was also positive and significant (β = 0.47, p<.05). these results support our hypotheses h2a, h2b and h2c. the relationship between the level of unfair behaviour by competitors and the level of corruption was positive and significant (β = 0.22, p<.05). our data supports hypothesis 3 concerning mimetic isomorphism. furthermore, the relationship between the level of internationalisation and the level of corruption was only slightly positive (β = 0.05, p<.05) and the contribution to r² was very limited at 3.57%. therefore, we must reject hypothesis h4 concerning normative isomorphism. finally, we also have to reject hypothesis h5 concerning the link between the politicisation of the economic activity and the level of corruption as our data shows a positive but marginal relationship between these aspects (β = + 0.08 p<.05) and a very limited contribution to the r² at 5.45%. our model explaining the quality of the business environment is significant, with an r² of 0.3109 (see table 3). the combination of variables predicts 30% of the variance concerning the quality of the business environment. overall, the basic model shown in figure 1 and tested using pls supports six of the hypotheses in this study with an r² of 0.08. our model gives a stimulating explanation of corruption with respect to environmental and organizational factors. first, we predicted that an increase in competition in emerging countries is likely to lead to an increase in corrupt behaviour. we ascertained a positive relationship between the intensity of competition and the level of corruption. competitive isomorphism on the issue of corruption was supported by our empirical data. our data shows that the higher the level of competition, the higher the level of corruption. this result can be explained by the fact that in the first stage of economic development, firms in emerging countries facing greater competition may try to increase or secure market shares partially through the use of corruption. an increase in competition leads firms in emerging countries to protect rents through corruption. second, the coercive isomorphism hypothesis was also supported by our data: i.e., the higher the quality of a business system, the lower the level of corruption. indeed, as firms are dependent on the regum@n@gement, vol. 12, no. 1, 2009. 1-27 17 bertrand venard lative institutional environment, they adopt structures and behaviours accordingly. the quality of the business system (notably the quality of the legal framework, the quality of law enforcement and the quality of financial markets) influences the level of corruption in firms in emerging countries. third, mimetic isomorphism explains the potential level of corruption. if the competitors of a firm have high levels of unfair practice, a firm is more likely to adopt corrupt behaviour. this is in line with the theory of the reference-group’s influence on corruption (rose-ackerman, 2002), namely that unfair endogenous behaviour exists between enterprises in the same economic sector. fourth, the normative isomorphism hypothesis was not supported. our hypothesis was that the greater the stake of a multinational in a subsidiary, the lower its use of corruption. our empirical data showed no evidence of this. as a matter of fact, the correlation between the foreign financial participation in the subsidiary and corruption was marginal at 0.05. the effect of multinational investments on the level of corruption is not significant. furthermore, the contribution to the r² is also marginal at less than 4% of the r² (3.57%). these results imply independence between both variables. not all multinationals appear to consistently extend ethical behaviour to their subsidiaries. it is possible that if multinationals face risky investment environments and are confronted by high corruption in emerging countries, they may allow their subsidiaries to engage in corruption. furthermore, even if a multinational owns a significant stake of the capital in a local firm, it does not stop the local firm from using corruption. fifth, our theoretical development leads us to predict that the more politicians and bureaucrats exercise control rights over firms, the more likely organizations are to adopt corrupt behaviour. despite the politicisation of economic activity and the level corruption being positively correlated, this correlation is marginal with only a minor impact on the overall r². we identified independence between both variables. this could be explained by the fact that the politicisation of economic activity creates both corruption opportunities for bureaucrats and also the possibility to control organizations, implying a potential reduction in corruption. in emerging countries, if politicians and bureaucrats exercise control over firms, this may lead to a higher level of corruption but only marginally higher. however, as our model suggests, a total economic free-for-all (i.e. no state economic intervention at all) will not lead to a decline in corruption. government intervention is necessary to build a correct institutional framework and, in particular, to create an appropriate legal framework and enforce the law. m@n@gement, vol. 12, no. 1, 2009. 1-27 18 corruption in emerging countries: a matter of isomorphism conclusion despite various major reforms led by top international bodies, corruption is still rampant in various emerging countries and this phenomenon undermines their economic development. a weak institutional framework is often described as key factor in the prevalence of corruption. based on neo-institutional literature, our research aimed to show the influence of organizational isomorphism on corruption in emerging countries. this type of research is difficult because the central concept of corruption is hidden by nature. to explore the issue further, we used a direct data collection method through interviews with executives in emerging countries. a questionnaire was designed with various statements linked to a quantitative scale of answers. this allowed us to use a quantitative methodology to analyze the collected information. we opted for the pls approach to test our theoretical model. the model developed provides an integrated approach to the study of the relationship between corruption and organizational isomorphism. our empirical data allowed us to test various theoretical hypotheses. we tested various key hypotheses concerning the influence of organizational isomorphism on corruption in firms in emerging countries. we showed that the quality of the institutional framework (law, law enforcement, quality of financial markets) has a negative impact on the level of corruption. the ‘better’ the quality of the institutional environment, the fewer the instances of corruption. coercive isomorphism is a key factor in explaining various levels of corruption. there is a need for state intervention in order to build an appropriate business system (law, law enforcement, quality of financial markets). however, intervention should be limited and the state should allow private firms the freedom to make decisions within an adequate institutional framework. the greater the level of state intervention in the decisions of private firms, the more likely the bureaucrats will find opportunities to take bribes. furthermore, mimetic isomorphism is a strong argument to explain the extent of corruption. firms in emerging countries tend to imitate each other’s behaviour. a new enterprise in an emerging country is very likely to follow the corrupt behaviour of its successful competitors, for example. our empirical data also showed that the greater the level of competition, the greater the degree of corruption and thus firms in emerging countries facing an increase in corruption may try to secure rents by using unethical practices. the limitations of our study are largely related to our sample population. despite being conducted in many countries with 4104 interviews, this research relies on one-on-one interviews in each firm, in other words, only one executive was interviewed in each firm, on the assumption that one respondent could describe the phenomenon completely and accurately. this is nonetheless quite common in prior research in the field of corruption (lancaster & montinola, 2001). m@n@gement, vol. 12, no. 1, 2009. 1-27 19 bertrand venard our study shows that firms are influenced by the institutional environment in their decisions making regarding corrupt behaviour when dealing with governments. since human capital that is uncorrupted is the engine of economic development (wilhelm, 2002), it is important for emerging countries to find ways to reduce levels of corruption. exploring the impact of corruption on economic development through further studies should be considered a major field priority for economic decision-makers and researchers. bertrand venard is professor of management at audencia nantes school of management, a leading graduate business school in france. he had various visiting positions at the london business school (marie curie fellow), the university of cambridge (lloyd’s of london fellow) and the wharton business school (sloan fellow). he is still a research fellow at the financial institutions center of the wharton school. he has published more than 30 academic articles in the field of organizational theories. his main research interests concern financial institutions, corruption in emerging countries and corporate deviance in organizations. m@n@gement, vol. 12, no. 1, 2009. 1-27 20 corruption in emerging countries: a matter of isomorphism references . acemoglu, d., & verdier, t. 2000. the choice between market failures and corruption. american economic review, 90(1), 194-211. . ades, a., & di tella, r. 1999. rents, competition, and corruption. american economic review, 89(4), 982-993. . aldrich, h. 1979. organizations and environments. englewood cliffs, nj: prentice-hall. . aguilera, r. & vadera, a. 2008. the dark side of authority: antecedents, mechanisms, and outcomes of organizational corruption. journal of business ethics, 77(4), 431-449. . ashforth, b.e, gioia, d.a., robinson, s.l., & travino, l.k. 2008. re-viewing organizational corruption. academy of management review, 33(3), 670-684. . barclay, d.w., higgins, c.a., & thompson, r.l. 1995. the partial least square (pls) approach to causal modeling: personal computer adoption and use as an illustration. technology studies, 2, 285309. . bookstein, f. 1986. the elements of latent variable models: a cautionary lecture. in m. lamb, a. brown, & b. rogoff (eds.), advances in developmental psychology (pp. 203230). hillsdale, nj: lawrence erlbaum associates. . clinard, m.b. 1983. corporate ethics and crime. the role of middle management. beverly hills: sage. . cox, a. 1986. state, finance and industry. brighton, uk: harvester wheatsheaf. . dimaggio, p.j., & powell, w.w. 1983. the iron cage revisited: institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields. american sociological review, 48(2), 147-160. . dreher, a., kotsogiannis c., & mccorriston, s. 2005. how do institutions affect corruption and the shadow economy? presented at the 2005 european public choice society conference, durham, uk, march 31-april 3. . fornell, c., & larcker, d.f., 1981. evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement errors. journal of marketing research, 18(1), 39-50. . frye, t., & shleifer, a. 1997. the invisible hand and the grabbing hand. american economic review, 87(2), 354-358. . goldsmith, a. 1999. slapping the grabbing hand: correlates of political corruption in emerging countries. the american journal of economics and sociology, 58(4), 866-883. . hawley, a.h. 1950. human ecology. new york: ronald press. . hawley, a.h. 1968. human ecology. in d.l. sills (ed.), international encyclopaedia of the social sciences (pp. 328-337). new york: macmillan. . hannan, m.t., & freeman, j. 1977. the population ecology of organizations. american journal of sociology, 82(5), 929-964. . jain, a.k. (ed.) 1998. economics of corruption. dordrecht: kluwer. . johnson. s., kaufmann, d., & zoido-lobaton, p. 1998. government in transition. regulatory discretion and the unofficial economy. american economic review, 88(2), 387392. . kimbro, m. 2002. a cross-country empirical investigation of corruption and its relationship to economic, cultural, and monitoring institutions: an examination of the role of accounting and financial statements quality. journal of accounting, auditing and finance, 17(4), 325-349. . lambsdorff, j. 2007, the institutional economics of corruption and reform. cambridge: cambridge university press. . lancaster, t.d., & montinola, g.r. 2001. comparative political corruption: issues of operationalization and measurement. studies in comparative international development, 36(3), 3-28. . leite, c., & weidemann, j. 1999. does mother nature corrupt? natural resources, corruption and economic growth. international monetary fund working paper 99/85, july. . march, j., & olsen, j. 1989. rediscovering institutions: the organizational basis of politics. new york: free press. m@n@gement, vol. 12, no. 1, 2009. 1-27 21 bertrand venard . mauro, p. 1995. corruption and growth. quarterly journal of economics, 110(3), 681712. . meyer, j.w., & rowan, b. 1977. institutionalized organizations: formal structure as myth and ceremony. american journal of sociology, 83(1), 340-363. . mizruchi, m., & fein, l. 1999. the social construction of organizational knowledge: a study of the uses of coercive, mimetic and normative isomorphism. administrative science quarterly, 44(4), 653683. . morris, s.d. 1991. corruption and politics in contemporary mexico, tuscaloosa, al: university of alabama press. . north, d.c. 1990. institutions, institutional change and economic performance. cambridge: cambridge university press. . nunnally, j.c. 1978. psychometric theory. new york: mcgraw-hill. . oecd, 2007. oecd working group on bribery annual report. paris: oecd. . pope, j. 2000. confronting corruption. the elements of a national integrity system. germany: transparency international. . porter, m. 1979. how competitive forces shape strategy. harvard business review, 57(2), 137-145. . porter, m. 1980. competitive strategy. new york: free press. . powell, w.w., & dimaggio, p.j. 1991. the new institutionalism in organizational analysis. chicago: university of chicago press. . rivera-batiz, f. 2001. international financial liberalization, corruption and economic growth. review of international economics, 9(4), 727-737. . rodriguez, d., & ehrichs, l. 2007. global corruption report, 2007. corruption in judicial systems. cambridge: cambridge university press & transparency international. . rodriguez, p., siegel, d.s., hillman, a., & eden, l. 2006. three lenses on the multinational enterprise: politics, corruption, and corporate social responsibility. journal of international business studies, 37, 733-746. . rose-ackerman, s. 1978. corruption. a study in political economy. new york: academic press. . rose-ackerman, s. 1999. corruption and government. causes, consequences, and reform. cambridge: cambridge university press. . rose-ackerman, s. 2002. grand corruption and the ethics of global business. journal of banking and finance, 26(9), 1889-1918. . sachs, j.d., & warner, a., 1995. economic reform and the process of global integration. brookings papers on economic activity, 25(1), 1-118. . scott, r. 1995. institutions and organizations. thousand oaks, ca: sage. . shleifer, a., & vishny, r.w. 1993. corruption. quarterly journal of economics, 108(3), 599-617. . shleifer, a., & vishny, r. 1998. the grabbing hand: government pathologies and their cures. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. . sonin, k. 2003. why the rich may favor poor protection of property rights. journal of comparative economics, 31(4), 715-731. . szego, g. 1993. introduction on banks and capital markets in former planned countries. their role in establishing a market economy. journal of banking and finance, 17(5), 773-783. . tavares, s.c. 2007. do rapid political and trade liberalizations increase corruption? european journal of political economy, 23(4), 1053-1076. . treisman, d. 2000. the causes of corruption: a crossnational study. journal of public economics, 76, 399-457. . united nations, 2002. global dynamics of corruption. vienna: united nations development programme. m@n@gement, vol. 12, no. 1, 2009. 1-27 22 corruption in emerging countries: a matter of isomorphism . world bank, 1997. helping countries combat corruption. poverty reduction and economic management unit, report, june. . world bank, 2000. reforming public institutions and strengthening governance. public sector group, poverty reduction and economic management network, report, november. . zysman, j. 1983. governments, markets and growth: financial systems and the politics of industrial change. ithaca, ny: cornell university press. . united nations, 2008. tackling corruption, transforming lives. india: united nations development programme & macmillan. . venard, b., & hanafi, m. 2008. organizational isomorphism and corruption in financial institutions: empirical research in emerging countries. journal of business ethics, 81, 481–498. . venard. b. 2008. organizational isomorphism and corruption: an empirical research in russia. journal of business ethics, (online first article) . ward, p. 1989. corruption development and inequality. soft touch or hard graft? london: routledge. . wilhelm, p. 2002. international validation of the corruption perceptions index: implications for business ethics and entrepreneurship education. journal of business ethics, 35(3), 177-189. . whitley, r. 1994. dominant forms of economic organization in market economies. organization studies, 15(2), 153-182. . whitley, r. 1999. divergent capitalisms: the social structuring and change of business systems? oxford: oxford university press. . wold, h. 1985. system analysis by partial least square. in p. nijkamp, h. leitner, & n. wrigley (eds.) measuring the immeasurable (pp. 221-252). dordrecht: martinus nijhoff. m@n@gement, vol. 12, no. 1, 2009. 1-27 23 bertrand venard m@n@gement, vol. 12, no. 1, 2009. 1-27 24 corruption in emerging countries: a matter of isomorphism appendix 1. questionnaire concept : level of corruption how often do firms like yours need to make extra, unofficial payments to public officials to get connected to public services nowadays? how often do firms like yours need to make extra, unofficial payments to public officials to get licences and permits nowadays? how often do firms like yours need to make extra, unofficial payments to public officials to deal with taxes and tax collection nowadays? how often do firms like yours need to make extra, unofficial payments to public officials to gain government contracts nowadays? how often do firms like yours need to make extra, unofficial payments to public officials when dealing with customs / imports nowadays? how often do firms like yours need to make extra, unofficial payments to public officials when dealing with courts nowadays? how often do firms like yours need to make extra, unofficial payments to public officials to influence the content of new laws, decrees or regulations nowadays? h1 intensity of competition please rate the influence of the pressure from domestic competitors on key decisions about your business with respect to “developing new products and markets.” please rate the influence of the pressure from foreign competitors on key decisions about your business with respect to “developing new products and markets.” please rate the influence of the pressure from customers on key decisions about your business with respect to “developing new products and markets.” please rate the influence of the pressure from domestic competitors on key decisions about your business with respect to “reducing the production costs of existing products.” please rate the influence of the pressure from foreign competitors on key decisions about your business with respect to “reducing the production costs of existing products.” please rate the influence of the pressure from customers on key decisions about your business with respect to “reducing the production costs of existing products.” h2 quality of the institutional framework (1) can you tell me how problematic financing is for the operations and growth of your business? can you tell me how problematic infrastructures are (e.g. telephone, electricity, water, roads, land) for the operations and growth of your business? m@n@gement, vol. 12, no. 1, 2009. 1-27 25 bertrand venard can you tell me how problematic taxes and regulations are for the operations and growth of your business? can you tell me how problematic policy instability / uncertainty is for the operations and growth of your business? can you tell me how problematic inflation is for the operations and growth of your business? can you tell me how problematic exchange rates are for the operations and growth of your business? can you tell me how problematic the functioning of the judiciary is for the operations and growth of your business? can you tell me how problematic street crime, theft and public disorder are for the operations and growth of your business? can you tell me how problematic organized crime and the mafia are for the operations and growth of your business? can you tell me how problematic anti-competitive practices by government or private enterprises are? h2a quality of the legal framework thinking about our country’s legal system, how often do you associate the following descriptions “fair and impartial” with the court system in resolving business disputes? thinking about our country’s legal system, how often do you associate the following descriptions “honest/uncorrupted” with the court system in resolving business disputes? thinking about our country’s legal system, how often do you associate the following descriptions “quick” with the court system in resolving business disputes? thinking about our country’s legal system, how often do you associate the following descriptions “affordable” with the court system in resolving business disputes? thinking about our country’s legal system, how often do you associate the following descriptions “consistent/reliable” with the court system in resolving business disputes? h2b law enforcement (evaluated by the quality of public service) could you please rate the overall quality and efficiency of services delivered by the customs service? could you please rate the overall quality and efficiency of services delivered by the judiciary / courts? could you please rate the overall quality and efficiency of services delivered by the roads department? could you please rate the overall quality and efficiency of services delivered by the postal agency? could you please rate the overall quality and efficiency of services delivered by the telephone service? could you please rate the overall quality and efficiency of services delivered by the electric power company? m@n@gement, vol. 12, no. 1, 2009. 1-27 26 corruption in emerging countries: a matter of isomorphism could you please rate the overall quality and efficiency of services delivered by the water/sewerage agency? could you please rate the overall quality and efficiency of services delivered by the public health care service? could you please rate the overall quality and efficiency of services delivered by the education services? could you please rate the overall quality and efficiency of services delivered by the police? could you please rate the overall quality and efficiency of services delivered by the armed forces/military? h2c quality of the financial market can you tell me how problematic bank paperwork and bureaucracy are for the operations and growth of your institution? can you tell me how problematic high interest rates are for the operations and growth of your institution? can you tell me how problematic the need for special connections with banks and financial institutions is for the operations and growth of your institution? can you tell me how problematic the lack of access to long-term bank loans is for the operations and growth of your institution? can you tell me how problematic the lack of access to foreign banks is for the operations and growth of your institution? can you tell me how problematic the lack of access to non bank equity/investors/partners is for the operations and growth of your institution? h3 unfair behaviour by competitors can you tell me how serious a problem the following practices of your competitors are for your firm? they avoid sales tax or tax on profits. can you tell me how serious a problem the following practices of your competitors are for your firm? they do not pay duties or observe trade regulations. can you tell me how serious a problem the following practices of your competitors are for your firm? foreign producers sell below international prices. can you tell me how serious a problem the following practices of your competitors are for your firm? domestic producers unfairly sell below prices. can you tell me how serious a problem the following practices of your competitors are for your firm? they avoid labour taxes / regulations can you tell me how serious a problem the following practices of your competitors are for your firm? they violate my copyrights, patents or trademarks. can you tell me how serious a problem the following practices of your competitors are for your firm? they collude to limit my access to credit, supplies, land, equipment or customers. can you tell me how serious a problem the following practices of your competitors are for your firm? they receive subsidies (including the toleration of tax arrears) from national / local government. m@n@gement, vol. 12, no. 1, 2009. 1-27 27 bertrand venard can you tell me how serious a problem the following practices of your competitors are for your firm? they have preferential access to credit, infrastructure services or customers. h5 politicisation of economic activity how often does the government intervene in the investment decisions made by your firm? how often does the government intervene in the employment decisions made by your firm? how often does the government intervene in the sales decisions made by your firm? how often does the government intervene in the pricing decisions made by your firm? how often does the government intervene in the merger/acquisitions decisios made by your firm? how often does the government intervene in the dividends decisions made by your firm? how often does the government intervene in the wages decisions made by your firm? (1) to facilitate interpretation of the results we re-scaled the variable “quality of the institutional framework” in the following way: (re-scaled answer) = 6 – (original answer). thus, a higher value corresponds to a higher quality of the institutional framework. 51baruch yehuda baruch 2002 developing career theory based on “new science”: a futile exercise? the devil’s advocate commentary, m@n@gement, 5(1): 15-21. m@n@gement is a double-blind reviewed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.dmsp.dauphine.fr/management/ © 2001 m@n@gement and the author(s). issn: 1286-4892 editors: martin evans, u. of toronto bernard forgues, u. of paris 12 http://www.dmsp.dauphine.fr/management/ m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 15-21 special issue: careers and new science 15 yehuda baruch university of east anglia school of management email: y.baruch@uea.ac.uk developing career theory based on “new science”: a futile exercise? the devil’s advocate commentary the development of theory for the field of careers is still in its infancy. several attempts have been made to develop and establish career theory. this current attempt seeks to do so on the strength of “new science”, described earlier by bird, gunz and arthur (2002, this issue) as a set of concepts, principles and themes from the physical sciences addressing the inadequacies of reductionist classical scientific methods. on the one hand, the idea to build such a theoretical contribution on the foundations of new science is plausible. on the other, it may prove too ambitious. i will argue here for the latter, using a metaphor from engineering and architecture: inviting scholars to use new science theory to build career theory seems like concentrating on planning and devising a top cover of glass and titanium construction to a building which does not yet have its foundations set right. career, be it taken as «life-stories of people» (bird et al., 2002: 3) or as a process of development of the employee along a path of experience and jobs in one or more organizations (baruch and rosenstein, 1992), is a complex concept, originating in several different frameworks. arthur, hall and lawrence (1989a) have indicated that the concept of a career is not the property of any one theoretical or disciplinary view. they presented eight viewpoints on the career concept (psychology, social psychology, sociology, anthropology, economics, political science, history, and geography), all within the boundaries of the behavioral sciences. this list seems to provide comprehensive coverage, apart from the apparent lack of an organizational theory perspective. within these boundaries, scholars struggle to develop a coherent career theory. this aim has not yet been fulfilled. in addition to the while admiring the plausible attempt of developing career theory further, via new science ideas and framework, i argue that career theory should first start with establishing a career theory based on the behavioral and management sciences. i suggest caution when transforming ideas that may fit minerals and plants into the realm of human thinking, feeling, and behaving.in particular, career theory should reflect the changing nature of socio-economic systems and work environments, and these may not be best reflected in new science concepts. mailto:y.baruch@uea.ac.uk m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 15-21 special issue: careers and new science 16 yehuda baruch complexity of careers we are witnessing rapid environmental changes that makes it look unrealistic, even without the introduction of new science into this field. the devil’s advocate argument presented here offers a focus on traditional fields of study before embarking on a new, trendy, search based on the ethos of new science and new age concepts. indeed the area of career theory needs further development, and more is being done now via innovative conceptual frameworks originating in the traditional fields mentioned above. in particular the field can benefit from combining such frameworks, as has been done in the study of expatriation, for example, where work has combined innovative concepts from psychology (such as the psychological contract) and modern geography and culture studies to better understand this aspect of careers (cf. guzzo, nooman and elron, 1994). more needs to be done in the field of organizational theory which, at the present stage, offers fertile ground for further developments in career theory. empirical work may also help to generate innovative theoretical models, for example studies based on organizational practices (cf. baruch and peiperl, 2000). an in-depth exploration of the nature of careers analysis of careers should take place at several levels. first and foremost, the career is individual “property”; thus much of its study falls within psychology and social psychology. however, in dealing with careers we usually refer to working careers, and work is associated with organizations. of course working careers are just part of the overall perspective that should be made while studying people’s career. in particular there is a vast literature on the work vs. non-work facets of life. although much of the study of career began with the establishment of large work organizations following the industrial revolution, large organizations existed in the past. clear career paths were developed in most civilian authorities and armies. in the bible moses received advice on how to develop a managerial structure for the israelites, based on a span of control of 10 for each managerial level (including policies for selection and promotion). ancient bureaucratic structures taken to the extreme by the roman army and catholic church structure stayed comparatively unchanged during the last millennium. the industrial revolution took this structure, with its clear career system, and adopted it by means of the ideas of fayol, taylor and follet, and it was good enough for many years. however the post-modern combination of the it revolution, globalization and competitive edge creates a basis for different types of career systems and concepts. hall’s “protean” career (1996), the “boundaryless” career of arthur (1994), and peiperl and baruch’s “post-corporate” career (1997), all suggested alternatives to the common and rigid structure of career systems. most of these models reflect a transition from a career that is m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 15-21 special issue: careers and new science 17 devil’s advocate commentary set and managed by the organization along clear, direct paths, to individual-led developmental processes, multi-directional and high risk. can these changes be accommodated by and better understood via new science? there is a significant difference between the natural and the behavioral sciences: the natural sciences look for a set of rules or formulas to explain phenomena. as such, even one case in which the theory does not hold true is enough to topple it down. in the behavioral sciences we look for associations, trends, a multitude of explanations, contingencies, and never expect a single rule. moreover, in the behavioral sciences, the exceptions are sometimes the focus of study and may be the more interesting and relevant subject. such is the case of the study of leadership—not how will the majority behave, but how a specific few will act, in particular under crisis circumstances. people change, people can develop and transform. they can adopt new behaviors, beliefs and even values. physical material does not, and as implied from alfred schultz book the phenomenology of the social world (schultz, 1967: 33, 221), the advantage of natural sciences on the behavioral sciences is that atoms and molecules don’t talk back. the argument here suggests that due to the complexity of both human beings and organizations, any attempt to offer a grounded all-encompassing theory for the understanding of careers is doomed to be inadequate. indeed, there is not yet an agreed, comprehensive career theory. certain theories may make a limited contribution, but this will be restricted to segments of career behavior, type or sector of organizations, or other limited distinctions. this was illustrated in the handbook of career theory (arthur, hall, and lawrence, 1989b), which comprises a set of fragmented concepts, all relevant and contributing to career theory. why, then new science? the temptation is great, and ideas offered by new science concept sound appealing and catchy. as will be indicated later, certain ideas originating from the new science can support an understanding of career phenomena, but to a limited extent (mostly as metaphors). in addition, the success of a few such as katz and kahn (1978) with their open system theory which originated in thermodynamics, or lewin’s (1951) field theory, which originated in physics, can raise hopes for a replication of such success. in what ways can the new science be useful? the use of metaphors in many fields of study has been proven a solid and very fruitful idea for theory development. metaphor is «the applim@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 15-21 special issue: careers and new science 18 yehuda baruch cation of a name or a descriptive term or phrase to an object or action to which it is imaginatively but not literally applicable (e.g., a glaring error)» (the concise oxford dictionary, 1990). the use of metaphors in the study of organizations has contributed to the development of organizational as well as many other types of theory. the advantage of using metaphors in understanding organizations has been well demonstrated by morgan (1980, 1993, 1997) in his conceptual framework. metaphors transposed from more established sciences for use within the science of management can be advantageous, in the sense that the analogy can enhance the understanding of relevant phenomena. «metaphor facilitates change by making the strange familiar, but in that very process it deepens the meaning or values of the organization by giving them expression in novel situations» (pondy, 1983: 164). the new science can definitely offer new and relevant metaphors to add to our understanding of the phenomena of careers. will it be sufficient to develop new career theory? the answer, i argue, is negative. bird et al. partially admit this when saying: «in many cases there is little choice: many physical sciences deal with phenomena which simply cannot be identified at the social level of analysis, so the only possible contribution is metaphorical» (2002: 6-7). but they also say: «on the other hand wheatley’s treatment of “new science” includes objects that are emergent phenomena, such as skill sets, unfolding relationships, and adaptions to the work environment. here it is possible to conceive of frameworks, which might move beyond the realm of metaphor, and, possibly, supply models which themselves could form the basis of useful careers theory» (2002: 7). to add to the argument for this devil’s advocate is the claim that the nature of careers is changing as a result of the widespread change happening in the larger socio-economic systems of which careers are an integral part. environmental and economic changes (e.g., globalization) have a strong impact on people’s lives. subsequently new types of career conceptual framework and career systems emerged: career resilience (waterman, waterman, and collard 1994), the boundaryless career (arthur 1994; arthur and rousseau, 1996), the post-corporate career (peiperl and baruch, 1997) and the protean career (hall, 1996; hall and moss 1998). these concurrent career concepts are in fact interrelated, and all trying to bridge the gap between the traditional career theories, which fit well with former organizational frameworks, and contemporary developments of a competitive, global business environment, frequent redundancies, and high individualization of values. the common denominator for these concepts is the need for a theory that will accommodate current phenomena, such as the flexible nature of organizational and individual life. all of these are manifested by the “new psychological contract”, another contemporary concept (rousseau, 1995, 1996). even this concept emerged following a long line of scholarly development of the concept of psychological contract. the idea of the “psychological contract” was first put forward by levinson, price, munden, mandl, and solley m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 15-21 special issue: careers and new science 19 devil’s advocate commentary (1962), and developed later by kotter and others, (kotter 1973; schein 1980; nicholson and johns, 1985) before moving on to the “new” psychological contract (robinson, kraatz, and rousseau 1994; rousseau, 1995, 1996). this indicates, perhaps, that we should better look for career theory within the socio-psychology paradigms rather than to look for salvation in the “glossy” area of so-called new science. new science indeed? new science—how new? very few of us were living when schroedinger and heisenberg published their theories (1920), and people who are now retired were at the beginning of their academic careers when lorenz came up with chaos theory (1963). these theories have been with us for a long time, and many opportunities to apply them have been available to scholars. why, then, were they not utilized? two possible explanations are first, that scholars were realistic in realizing the limited potential of these theories to support or build new theories in the behavioral science, and second, that these great opportunities were overlooked by unaware or negligent scholars. i would opt for the first explanation. divergence, convergence the search for all-encompassing career theory focuses on the idea of convergence theory. however contingent theories proved to be effective in the behavioral sciences, especially in organizational settings. so it may be, as bird et al. (2002: 5) themselves suggest: «our primary motivation [in introducing yet more perspectives] springs from our quest for ideas that might help us draw the field together.» yet they add not one but several new attempts to generate career theory. they claim to have a two-pronged objective, to be interested in the extent to which new science perspectives better illuminate our understanding of careers, and in the extent to which new perspectives on careers (in contrast to static notions of “work” or “jobs”) can contribute more broadly to the interpretations of social science. it is not at all clear how and why new science will provide the long looked-for missing link. have we yet fully utilized the opportunities and all aspects of behavioral sciences? to use a different metaphor, my argument here is that we need to choose between two roads for the development of career theory. one is bumpy and troublesome, and sometimes leads forward; the other is a fast-lane but partially tested in limited situations with little apparent relation to factors of choice, subjective relationships, and other characteristics of living organisms. two way communication huff (1999) tells us that scholarship is conversation. we learn and develop our thinking and writing in a scholarly way through real conm@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 15-21 special issue: careers and new science 20 yehuda baruch versation with our colleagues. this was proven to be a forceful vehicle for developments in the behavioral sciences. scholars from different fields of studies such as psychology, sociology, political studies, etc. join forces to write collaborative papers. the conversational process huff describes is manifested through a multitude of publications by different scholars originating in various paradigms and published in journals that appreciate and accept contributions from all parts of the behavioral sciences. however, the level of collaboration and conversational discussion between the behavioral sciences and the natural sciences is minimal, and contributions such as wheatley (1992) are the exception rather than the rule. even in this special issue it is noticeable that collaboration and conversation exists within the borders of behavioral sciences, but that the authors’ list does not include leading scholars from field of physics, biology or chemistry (perhaps there is no “chemistry” between people of these professions—another metaphor with good but limited power). conclusion to sum up the devil’s advocate response to this plausible but futile attempt: using new science may be interesting, certainly fashionable, and very thought-provoking, but not necessary useful for the thorough development of career theory. perhaps the way forward to benefit from the new science theories would be to see how they contribute to the behavioral sciences in general, and then to apply them to career theory rather than bring them through the back door of career theory, a field in its infancy. indeed career theorists need to learn from other disciplines, but they should be choosy where to look for help. endnote: it should be emphasized that my commentary came as a response only to the introductory piece by bird et al. (2002, this issue). at the time of writing my contribution i had not had the opportunity to read the various papers in this special issue. i hope that reading them will make me change my mind yehuda baruch is a reader in organizational behavior and human resource management at uea, norwich, uk and a visiting associate professor at the university of texas at arlington, usa; formerly he was a research fellow at london business school. he holds a b.sc. in electronic engineering (ben gurion, israel), and a m.sc. and d.sc. in management and behavioral sciences (the technion, israel). after being a project manager in high technology industry he embarked on a career in academia. his research interests are careers, strategic and global hrm, and technology impact on management. he has published more than 50 papers in these fields in a number of journals, including human relations, human resource management, organizational dynamics, and organization studies. m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 15-21 special issue: careers and new science 21 devil’s advocate commentary references ■ arthur, m. b. 1994 the boundaryless career: a new perspective for organizational inquiry, journal of organizational behavior, 15(4): 295-306. ■ arthur, m. b., d. t. hall, and b. s. lawrence 1989a generating new directions in career theory: the case for a transdisciplinary approach, in m. b. arthur, d. t. hall, and b. s. lawrence (eds.), handbook of career theory, cambridge, ma: cambridge university press, 7-25. ■ arthur, m. b., d. t. hall, and b. s. lawrence (eds.) 1989b handbook of career theory, cambridge, ma: cambridge university press. ■ arthur, m. b., and d. m. rousseau (eds.) 1996 the boundaryless career: a new employment principle for a new organizational era, oxford: oxford university press. ■ baruch, y., and m. peiperl 2000 career management practices: an empirical survey and theoretical implications, human resource management, 39(4): 347-366. ■ baruch, y., and e. rosenstein 1992 career planning and managing in high tech organizations, international journal of human resource management, 3(3): 477-496. ■ bird, a., h. gunz, and m. arthur 2002 careers in a complex world: the search for new perspectives from the “new science”, m@n@gement, 5(1): 1-14. ■ guzzo, r. a., k. a. nooman, and e. elron 1994 expatriate managers and the psychological contract, journal of applied psychology, 79(4): 617-626. ■ hall, d. t., and associates 1996 the career is dead—long live the career: a relational approach to careers, san francisco, ca: jossey-bass. ■ hall, d. t., and j. e. moss 1998 the new protean career contract: helping organizations and employees adapt, organizational dynamics, 26(3): 22-37. ■ huff, a. s. 1999 writing for scholarly publication, thousand oaks, ca: sage. ■ katz, d., and r. l. kahn 1978 the social psychology of organizations, new york, ny: wiley. ■ kotter, j. 1973 the psychological contract: managing the joining-up process, california management review, 15(3): 91-99. ■ levinson, h., c. price, k. munden, h. mandl, and c. solley 1962 men, management, and mental health, cambridge ma: harvard university press. ■ lewin, k. 1951 field theory in social science, new york, ny: harper and row. ■ morgan, g. 1980 paradigms, metaphors and puzzle solving in organization theory, administrative science quarterly, 25(4): 605-622. ■ morgan, g. 1993 imaginization: the art of creative management, newbury park, ca: sage. ■ morgan, g. 1997 images of organizations, thousand oaks, ca: sage. ■ nicholson, n., and g. johns 1985 the absence culture and the psychological contract: who’s in control of absence, academy of management review, 10(3): 397-407. ■ peiperl, m. a., and y. baruch 1997 back to square zero: the post-corporate career, organizational dynamics, 25(4): 7-22. ■ pondy, l. r. 1983 the role of metaphors and myths in organization and in the facilitation of change, in l. r. pondy, p. j. frost, g. morgan, and t. c. dandridge (eds.), organizational symbolism, greenwich, ct: jai press, 157-166. ■ robinson, s. l., m. s. kraatz, and d. m. rousseau 1994 changing obligations and the psychological contract: a longitudinal study, academy of management journal, 37(1): 137-152. ■ rousseau, d. m. 1995 psychological contracts in organizations, thousand oaks, ca: sage. ■ rousseau, d. m. 1996 changing the deal while keeping the people, academy of management executive, 10(1): 50-59. ■ schein, e. h. 1980 organizational psychology, 3rd edition, englewood cliffs, nj: prentice-hall. ■ schultz, a. 1967 the phenomenology of the social world, evanston, il: northwestern university press. ■ waterman, r. h. jr., j. a. waterman, and b. a. collard, 1994 toward a career-resilient workforce, harvard business review, 72(4): 87-95. ■ wheatley, m. j. 1992 leadership and the new science: learning about organization from an orderly universe, san francisco, ca: berrett-koehler. http://www.dmsp.dauphine.fr/management/papersmgmt/51bird.html 33vaara m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 3, 2000, 81-110 81 eero vaara cultural differences are often used as explanations of organizational problems following mergers. this paper argues that this literature is to a large extent based on a realist epistemology where too little emphasis has been placed on the constructive processes. to partially bridge this gap, this study adopts a sensemaking approach to studying the (re)construction of cultural conceptions in the merger context. the study is based on extensive ethnographic material from eight cases of finnish-swedish mergers and acquisitions. the analysis of this material leads to a specification of three concurrent cultural sensemaking processes through which the top decision makers involved in the post-merger integration processes make sense of and enact cultural conceptions. first, this cultural sensemaking involves a search for rational understanding of cultural characteristics and differences. second, cultural sensemaking also includes more or less suppressed emotional identification with either of the merging sides. third, cultural sensemaking also involves purposeful manipulation of the cultural conceptions for more or less legitimate purposes. based on this distinction, this study leads to specific propositions concerning how cultural conceptions are formed in post-merger organizations. hence, the analysis helps us to understand that cultural conceptions are not only reflections of “real” cultural differences but are also products of complex cognitive, emotional and political processes. helsinki school of economics and business administration department of international business email: evaara@hkkk.fi constructions of cultural differences in post-merger change processes: a sensemaking perspective on finnish-swedish cases organizational culture studies do not form a coherent paradigm. the divisions in these studies and between scholars have even been referred to as wars (martin and frost, 1996). in this literature, one can find significant differences in terms of epistemological, methodological, theoretical and even ideological views1. a significant demarcation exists between studies with a realist perspective and those with a social constructionist perspective. the former focus on cultures as existing systems of beliefs and practices (e.g., schein, 1992). this is in line with an anthropological tradition that seeks to understand what is characteristic in the behavior of particular groups of people and how that may distinguish them from others. this view emphasizes the real, for example the institutional, foundations of cultures. in his widely-used framework, schein (1992), for instance, distinguishes three levels of culture: artifacts (visible, tangible, audible results of activity grounded 1. excellent reviews of this literature are provided by pettigrew (1979), turner (1986), aaltio-marjosola (1991), frost, moore, louis, lundberg, and martin (1991), kunda (1991), alvesson and berg (1992), lindstead and grafton-small (1992), martin (1992), hatch (1993), willmott (1993), schultz (1994), martin and frost (1996), and parker (2000). m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 3, 2000, 81-110 82 in values and assumptions), values (social principles, philosophies, goals and standards considered to have intrinsic worth) and basic assumptions (taken-for-granted beliefs concerning reality and human nature). much of the literature on international organizational culture comparisons has followed this tradition. for example, hofstede (1997) seeks to understand the typical features of a national culture in the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the representatives of one nationality from another. characteristic of the social constructionist perspective is a focus on the actors’ interpretations or constructions of cultures. this is in line with the sociological tradition according to which it is this epistemological layer in social life that is often the most meaningful when talking about social action (e.g., berger and luckmann, 1966). this means focus on the processes of construction: how the actors define their characteristics and those of others. according to this view, culture is an ongoing interpretation process rather than a stable structure of values and norms. it should be noted that there are significant differences among these constructionist standpoints. a milder version emphasizes the role of interpretive processes as mechanisms through which cultures are created and recreated. a radical constructivist view is to claim that the cultures and cultural differences only exist when people become conscious of them in social interaction. rather than contradictory perspectives or incommensurable paradigms, it is suggested here that the realist and constructionist perspectives highlight different epistemological layers. for example, hatch (1993) combines schein’s theory (1992) and ideas drawn from symbolic interpretive studies in a model where the actors make sense of “real” cultures in interpretation processes and then enact these interpretations in consequent actions. this means that a dialectic understanding of organizational cultures should take into account both the real manifestations of these cultures and the reflexive processes where the actors make sense of their cultures. during the past decade, cultural differences have been increasingly used as explanations of post-merger2 problems and failures. researchers have pointed to differences in organizational cultures as major causes of internal problems (sales and mirvis, 1984; buono and bowditch, 1989; datta, 1991; chatterjee, lubatkin, schweiger, and weber, 1992; weber, 1996). this literature has concentrated on the cultural integration processes and primarily sought explanations for post-merger problems in cultural clashes (davis, 1968; sales and mirvis, 1984; buono, bowditch and lewis, 1985; walter, 1985; datta, 1991; chatterjee et al., 1992; cartwright and cooper, 1993; weber, 1996). others have focused on national cultural differences and claimed that these make cross-border mergers problematic (calori, lubatkin and very, 1994; morosini and singh, 1994; olie, 1994; weber, shenkar and raveh, 1996; gertsen, søderberg and torp, 1998). this paper argues that much of this cultural literature on post-merger integration is based on a realist conception of organizational cultures. 2. the term “merger” has two meanings in the context of combining organizations. merger can refer to any form of combination of organizations, initiated by different types of contracts. the more specific meaning that separates mergers from acquisitions is that a merger is a combination of organizations which are rather similar in size and which create an organization where neither party can clearly be seen as the acquirer. mergers and acquisitions are here referred to as mergers if there in no particular need to distinguish different types. this has led to a well-established understanding of how cultural differences may create problems in organizational change processes by highlighting such issues as the incompatibility of beliefs and values (datta, 1991; cartwright and cooper, 1992; olie, 1994), the central role of acculturation processes and acculturative stress (nahavandi and malekzadeh, 1988) and different national institutional systems as underlying structures sustaining cultural differences (very, lubatkin, calori, and veiga, 1997). although researchers adopting a social constructionist perspective are few in number, they have provided interesting discoveries highlighting the importance of the actors’ own interpretations of cultural differences (gertsen and søderberg, 1998; kleppestø, 1998). however, these studies have not explicitly distinguished different processes and mechanisms when studying actors’ interpretations and constructions of cultural conceptions in the merger context. the purpose of this paper is to study organizational actors’ interpretations of cultural differences in post-merger integration processes from a sensemaking perspective (weick, 1995). the focus is on how actors at the upper echelons of corporate hierarchy make sense of cultures and cultural differences when they are making decisions concerning major organizational changes. the role of these actors is important as their actions have a fundamental impact on the course of these organizational processes. they are, however, faced with a paradoxical situation; they are supposed to manage the cultural integration process while themselves making sense of cultural differences. this study draws on extensive empirical evidence from eight cases of finnish-swedish mergers. although the context is evidently crucial when studying these sensemaking processes, it is argued here that such processes concerning the self and the other are also likely to be similar in other cross-cultural contexts. thus the findings in the finnish-swedish context can, with due reflection, also be generalized to other international contexts. the analysis of this material leads to specification of three concurrent cultural sensemaking processes through which the top decision makers involved in the post-merger integration processes make sense of and enact cultural conceptions. first, this cultural sensemaking involves a search for rational understanding of cultural characteristics and differences. second, cultural sensemaking also includes more or less suppressed emotional identification with either of the merging sides. third, cultural sensemaking also involves purposeful manipulation of the cultural conceptions for more or less legitimate purposes. based on this distinction, this study leads to specific propositions concerning how cultural conceptions are being formed in the post-merger organizations. in this way, the analysis helps to understand that cultural conceptions are not only reflections of “real” cultural differences but also products of complex cognitive, emotional and political processes. m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 3, 2000, 81-110 83 different perspectives on post-merger cultural change processes from the mid-1980s, we have seen a proliferation of studies taking a cultural perspective on mergers focusing on organizational-level (e.g., nahavandi and malekzadeh, 1988; buono and bowditch, 1989; datta, 1991; chatterjee et al., 1992; mirvis and marks, 1992; weber, 1996) or national-level dynamics (e.g., olie 1994; gertsen et al., 1998). in general, these studies have been motivated by a need to understand and manage the often encountered post-merger organizational problems. for this purpose, the cultural discourse has offered convenient conceptual tools that have shifted attention from “overly rational” strategic considerations to more “irrational organizational reality” or from “hard” to “soft” issues. it is fair to say that many of these studies have not clearly articulated their epistemological stances and that culture has often remained an epithet describing a general interest in these multifaceted processes. however, most of the studies are characterized by a realist conception of organizational cultures where little attention has been focused on the actors’ own interpretation processes (gertsen et al., 1998). notable exceptions are studies by kleppestø (1993, 1998) and gertsen and søderberg (1998), which have explicitly taken a social constructionist perspective on post-merger cultural change processes. a central theme in these cultural studies has been that decision makers rarely pay enough attention to cultural differences while concentrating on more strategic issues (jemison and sitkin, 1986; kleppestø, 1993; greenwood, hinings and brown, 1994). the result may on the one hand be manifested in organizational problems created by unrealistic change programs and on the other hand in disappointments in terms of the synergy achieved. another central theme is recognition of a long-term perspective when talking about cultural integration or acculturation. changes in those beliefs and practices that are the core of organizational identities are especially difficult. it is often argued that it is precisely this type of cultural integration as opposed to more operational integration that takes the longest time (shrivastava, 1986). a general finding of the studies of cross-border mergers has been that national cultural differences create particularly strong impediments to integration and thus create more cumbersome problems than national settings (kogut and singh, 1988; morosini and singh, 1994; olie, 1994; gertsen et al., 1998). the reasons for this can be traced to different national institutional systems sustaining particular beliefs and practices (e.g., calori, lubatkin, very, and veiga, 1997). a third overall theme has been an underlying political setting where the representatives of the previously separate cultures are seen as the two opposing camps. a central finding of these studies is that post-merger change processes are particularly problematic if they create political settings of the type of cultural juxtaposition where the actors identify themselves with particular cultures. many case studies provide ample m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 3, 2000, 81-110 84 illustrations of such processes where traces of the cultural confrontation last for extremely long periods of time (e.g., olie, 1996). however, there has in general been little explicit recognition of the actual political processes in the aftermath of mergers and acquisitions. much of the literature in this field has endorsed the argument that cultural differences create problems in organizational integration processes. in the crudest sense, this has been reflected in the “cultural distance” ideology; analyses examining the relation between cultural differences and post-merger success (e.g., datta, 1991; chatterjee et al., 1992). empirical studies have also clearly indicated that such a relationship exists (datta, 1991; chatterjee et al., 1992). in international settings, drawing on hofstede’s (1997) and trompenaars’ (1993) work, this has meant research designs illustrating how mergers between culturally closer national cultures indeed lead to better outcomes than those between more distant cultures (see morosini and singh, 1994). the contrary argument that cultural differences can also be a source of value has received little attention until recent studies. krishnan, miller and judge (1997) have, however, illustrated how cultural diversity can benefit top management decision making. morosini, shane and singh (1998) have shown how cross-border mergers between culturally distant countries may outperform mergers between culturally closer countries. it has also been argued that it is not initial cultural differences per se that create problems. according to the “cultural fit” or “cultural compatibility” perspective (cartwright and cooper, 1992; larsson, 1993), the most problematic situations would be those where the beliefs and values of the organizational members are contradictory. according to this view, beliefs and values that do not conflict are not likely to create particular problems. others, like nahavandi and malekzadeh (1993), calori, lubatkin and very (1994) and morosini and singh (1994), have also developed the argument that the adopted integration strategies should be culturally compatible. researchers have also claimed that it is the acculturation processes that people should turn their attention to. drawing on berry’s work (1980), nahavandi and malekzadeh (1988) have elaborated a model where acculturation can proceed in four different ways: assimilation, integration, separation and deculturation3. central to this model is on the one hand the actors’ willingness to preserve their own culture and on the other their perception of the attractiveness of the other culture. “assimilation” means replacing one’s culture with the new culture, “deculturation” giving up one’s culture without adopting the new culture, “separation” maintaining one’s own culture with rejection of the other culture and “integration” maintaining one’s own cultural elements while moving towards the new culture. for example, elsass and veiga (1994) have later further elaborated these ideas and illustrated how the acculturation processes are affected, for instance, by organizational performance. very et al. (1997) and very, lubatkin and calori (1998), in turn, have linked cultural comparisons to theories of social movem@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 3, 2000, 81-110 85 3. berry (1980, p. 215) defines acculturation as «changes induced in (two cultural) systems as a result of the diffusion of cultural elements in both directions». ment (david, 1977) and procedural justice (kim and mauborgne, 1991). their insight is that acculturative stress can be understood by three types of social comparisons: «are our present circumstances as favorable and just as someone else’s circumstances?», «are our present circumstances as favorable and just as our past?» and «will our future be as favorable and just as our present?» (very et al., 1998, p. 92). highlighting another aspect of these processes, recent studies have turned attention to issues of communication and rhetoric. for example, kleppestø (1998) has argued that it is the communicative aspects of identification processes that help us to understand the outcomes of organizational integration processes. he points to controversial issues that have symbolic importance for the actors. similarly, gertsen and søderberg (1998) have emphasized the role of communication in these cultural identification processes. a central finding of these studies is that communication is often characterized by a tendency to highlight cultural differences. these studies also show how these communicated interpretations have a fundamental effect on behavior of the organizational members and the consequent course of the organizational change processes. while these constructionist studies have provided valuable knowledge of the actors’ cultural interpretations in post-merger change processes, there is still little knowledge of the processes where organizational actors take stands on cultures and cultural differences. in particular, there is little understanding of how managers at the upper echelons of management make sense of cultural differences. towards a sensemaking approach to post-merger cultural change processes it is suggested here that adopting a “sensemaking” perspective is a fruitful approach to studying how managers at the upper echelons of management make sense of cultures and cultural differences. sensemaking is understood as an epithet or metaconcept that highlights the role of internal discussions in organizational processes (dutton and jackson, 1987; porac, thomas and baden-fuller, 1989; dutton and dukerich, 1991; gioia and chittipeddi, 1991; czarniawska-joerges, 1992; weick, 1995; gioia and thomas, 1996; brown and jones, 2000)4. essential in cultural sensemaking processes is that they are grounded in identity construction (sackman, 1991; weick, 1995)5. cultural sensemaking processes are thus quests for cultural identity characterized by such questions as “who are we?” and “who are the others?”. this identity construction is situation-specific in the sense that the actors’ identities are always related to the identities of others. cultural conceptions are thus constructed by distinguishing oneself from another group by noting and emphasizing the cultural differences that appear important. this means that much of the cultural sensemaking m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 3, 2000, 81-110 86 4. for a review of different perspectives on sensemaking, see weick (1995). 5. this implies close linkages to social identity theory (see tajfel and turner, 1979; ashforth and mael, 1989) and selfcategorization theory (see turner, 1985). is about the construction of cultural differences. when one confronts a new culture, the image of one’s own culture is also modified. this emphasizes the processual nature of cultural identities and is at the very heart of critiques of realist studies on cultures that provide a static picture of organizational cultures. by pointing to the actors’ interpretations, the sensemaking perspective also means taking such issues as cultural stereotypes seriously because their (re)construction and use is a significant part of social life. the sensemaking metaphor provides a convenient conceptualization as it clearly points to two epistemological layers in cultural integration processes: cultures as real belief systems (to be made sense of) and actors’ interpretations (the outcomes of sensemaking processes). the perspective consequently does not undermine the “real” differences in beliefs and practices of the previously separate organizations sustained, for example, institutional systems. however, it focuses attention on the processes where the organizational actors construct their (simplified) conceptions of cultural differences. especially in the context of mergers between complex organizations, these conceptions are often likely to be abstract-level, stereotype-like constructions that may be plagued by intentional or unintentional distortions. understanding these interpretations as sensemaking processes provides a perspective that highlights the need to reduce ambiguity by creating shared understandings of specifically important questions or issues. this is what is particularly important for organizational actors (at the upper echelons of management) who are engaged in making different types of social comparisons between and across the organizations and furthermore have to make significant decisions concerning the integration of the formerly separate organizations (hambrick and cannella, 1993; very et al., 1997). in view of the following analysis, it is useful to emphasize that sensemaking as a social activity is not only purely based on cognitive processes, but also involves emotional (fineman, 1996) and political (hardy and clegg, 1996) elements. in brief, one can analytically distinguish rational, emotional and political sensemaking processes. we can understand sensemaking as a rational activity where the actors develop understanding of specific phenomena, for example, explanations for unexpected or particularly important events or outcomes (e.g., louis, 1980; weick, 1995). such rationality should not, however, be seen as “overall rationality” in the strong sense of the term but rather cognitive activity characterized by context-specific rationality, usually characterized by various types of cognitive bias. in the postmerger context, this means that the actors, for example, try to solve practical problems and seek explanations for the problems encountered through an analysis of organizational and national level cultural differences. sensemaking as identity-building also involves emotions6. in the postmerger context, especially important are developing emotions concerning the other side. these emotions are already likely to develop at the stage when the actors confront the first news concerning the mergm@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 3, 2000, 81-110 87 6. the terms “affect”, “emotion” and “feeling” are used interchangably here. it is important to distinguish valence (positive-negative) and arousal in emotional states. the focus here is not on elaboration of different kinds of emotions but on an understanding of the consequences of positive or negative emotions for the cultural sensemaking processes of the organizational actors. for a discussion of different concepts describing emotional states, see frijda (1994). m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 3, 2000, 81-110 88 er. however, significant and personally or socially dramatic experiences concerning the integration projects are specifically likely to be manifested emotionally. these emotions —as they deal with the relations between the merger parties— are obviously an important part of acculturation. they can also lead to more or less salient cognitive categories or cultural attributes in the internal discussions within the postmerger organization. the sensemaking processes also involve socio-political components that can be conceptualized as “arguing”, “manipulation”, “management of meaning” or “political rhetoric” (huff, 1988; weick, 1995; hopkins and reicher, 1996; salk, 1997). this means more or less intentional argumentation for specific purposes in order to construct specific representations of the previously separate organizations, the new postmerger organization and their attributes. research design and methods the research design: empirical material on finnish-swedish cases the empirical analysis is based on extensive ethnographic material gathered in a long-term research project on finnish-swedish mergers, where i have concentrated on the integration processes and specifically on the political and cultural aspects of these processes (see vaara, 1999a, 1999b, forthcoming). the finnish-swedish setting provides an interesting arena for such a study because, for example, hofstede’s (1997) studies indicate that the assumed cultural differences between finnish and swedish organizations are small. according to his results, in terms of “femininitymasculinity”, “individualism-collectivism” and “power distance”, the finnish and swedish organization cultures differ only slightly. it is only in the case of “uncertainty avoidance” where the differences may be significant, the swedes obtaining a higher score. it can also be argued that many of the institutional foundations of the finnish and swedish societies and industrial sectors are fairly similar due to a common history, similar institutional structures and geographical proximity. nevertheless, during the past decade there has been increasing discussion highlighting significant cultural differences between finnish and swedish organizations (e.g., laine-sveiby, 1987; 1991; lilius, 1993; suutari, 1996; ekwall and karlsson, 1999). laine-sveiby (1991) has, for example, distinguished such differences as the tendency of swedes to value discussion more than finns, and the preference of finns for more rapid decisions than their swedish counterparts. the finnish-swedish setting thus provides an opportunity to examine the relations between national stereotypes and more refined conceptions concerning the particular organizations and their members. the national stereotypes typically function as the first interpretive pattern while more fine-grained perceptions develop over time with increasing knowledge of the particular setting. the focus of the analysis is therefore not on the superficial rhetoric of national cultural stereotypes but m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 3, 2000, 81-110 89 on the more significant concrete organizational cultural differences emphasized by the actors. this empirical analysis draws on extensive empirical material concerning eight cases of finnish-swedish mergers and acquisitions. the cases summarized in table 1 are all historically significant cases of cross-national integration in different industries between finland and sweden. table 1. cases in the focus of the analysis focus of analysis status at the end of 1997 industry year of merger/ acquisition merger/acquisition integration between partek’s previous cargo handling operations (nummi and multilift) and hiab-foco integration between the finnish organization (former ovako) and the swedish organization (former skf steel) integration between former strömberg’s and former asea’s drives and motors production within the asea and abb group integration between the finnish operations (former nokia is) and the swedish operations (former ericsson is) integration of swedish datema’s operations with the tietotehdas group integration between the operations of former tampella packaging and former esselte well within tampella and enso groups integration between isku’s business-to-business furniture production and the operations of the swedish units (sundo, facit and direktlaminat) integration between the finnish and swedish operations hiab is part of the cargotec group of partek corporation owners redivided the company at the end of 1991; the remaining parts—imatra steel and ovako—operate independently asea and brown boveri joined forces in 1988; strömberg is a part of the global abb corporation nokia data was sold to icl in 1991; these operations are part of fujitsu’s global operations these operations are a part of tieto corporation (tietotehdas) tampella’s cardboard production was sold to enso in 1993; these operations are now part of the enso group the swedish units are part of isku svenska integration is to a large extent in the planning stage cranes special steel electrical engineering computers computer services cardboard furniture banking 1984 1985 1986 1987 1987 1988 1993 1997 finnish partek’s acquisition of swedish hiab-foco merger between finnish ovako and swedish skf steel swedish asea’s acquisition of finnish strömberg finnish nokia’s acquisition of swedish ericsson information systems finnish tietotehdas's acquisition of swedish datema finnish tampella’s acquisition of swedish esselte well finnish isku’s acquisitions of the swedish companies sundo, facit and direktlaminat merger between merita and nordbanken the finnish partek corporation’s acquisition of the swedish hiab-foco took place in stages in 1984-1985. at the time, it was the largest finnish acquisition ever made in sweden. a fundamental motive for the acquisition was to develop partek’s existing cargo handling equipment business to make the finnish corporation less dependent on its core business, which was construction materials. the acquisition was followed by change efforts: for example, reorganizing the acquired company and integrating the marketing channels of hiab-foco with those of nummi, multilift and norba (partek’s existing cargo handling units). this integration work also led to the creation of cargotec—a new corporate level inside partek. partek has thereafter grown signifim@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 3, 2000, 81-110 90 cantly in this sector. hiab has, however, remained a rather independent company within cargotec and partek. the case is generally considered a success story and received wide attention in the finnish and swedish press. at the time, the merger between the finnish ovako and the swedish skf steel in 1985 was the largest merger that had ever taken place between finnish and swedish corporations. a fundamental motive for the merger was that the previous owners wanted to create a new special steel corporation from which their interest could gradually be divested. the merger was followed by significant changes in terms of divestments and new acquisitions. internally, however, the organization was plagued by continuous debate between different parties. after a market collapse, the owners decided to redivide the finnish-swedish corporation in 1991. this case is seen as the ultimate example of unsuccessful finnish-swedish organizational integration. the swedish asea’s acquisition of the finnish strömberg in 1986 was the largest swedish acquisition in finland ever. a fundamental motive for the acquisition was the development of the swedish-based electrical engineering group into a global player. this acquisition was followed by significant changes in the finnish organization and respective changes in sweden. asea merged with the swiss brown boveri in 1988; gradual integration of the operations of the companies belonging to this group followed. at the finnish end, this has meant significant investments and growth in the drives and motors sectors but disinvestments in others. this case is regarded as a success story, and it has received wide recognition in the european press. the finnish nokia’s acquisition of ericsson information systems’ data handling division in 1987 was a widely publicized case. a fundamental motive for the acquisition was the willingness of the finnish electronics company to grow in this lucrative area. the acquisition led to the development of nokia data, comprising nokia information systems and ericsson information systems’ data division. these integration efforts led to significant changes in the swedish organization, which made it a famous case in both finnish and swedish media. efforts to build an integrated finnish-swedish corporation ended when nokia sold this business to the british icl (owned by the japanese fujitsu). this case is generally considered unsuccessful. the finnish tietotehdas’s acquisition of the swedish datema in 1987 was motivated by a desire to internationalize the finnish computer service group’s operations. the acquisition was followed by an internal crisis and a heavy rationalization program in the swedish company in 1987-1990. later, datema has become a rather independent part of the finnish tieto group. this case bears the stigma of ultimate failure and is often referred to by the finnish and swedish press as a case of what not to do. the finnish conglomerate tampella’s acquisition of the swedish esselte well in 1989 was motivated by the desire to develop tampella’s cardboard production sector into an international group. this led to the development of tampella packaging. the acquisition was followed m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 3, 2000, 81-110 91 by further acquisitions, for example, in italy. however, specific integration projects, such as the use of fluting (a component in cardboard production) produced in finland for esselte well, did not lead to concrete results in the following years. the situation changed when the finnish forest sector group enso acquired this business from tampella in 1993. this case has not received a great deal of public attention and has a neutral image. in 1993, the finnish furniture manufacturer isku acquired three smaller companies—sundo, facit and direktlaminat—operating in the same sector in sweden. in addition to being advantageous financial investments, these acquisitions were seen by isku’s representatives as a specific opportunity to sell finnish-made products through these channels in sweden. although the acquisition has been followed by specific integration efforts, the swedish units have continued to operate rather independently. the case has not received wide public attention, but is generally regarded as a success. the largest finnish-swedish merger so far, the combination of the finnish merita and the swedish nordbanken, was announced in 1997. the acquisition has been followed by preliminary decisions as to how to integrate the finnish and swedish operations. at this point, the case, which has received a great deal of public attention, is generally regarded as fairly successful. all these cases are horizontal mergers involving the integration of organizations operating in similar areas. all of the cases were initially justified by ideas to create synergistic benefits through the integration of the previously separate operations in different areas. the cases were also, especially in the beginning, characterized by a high regard for independence. in this sense, the cases can be roughly considered as belonging to the “symbiotic” category—characterized by a high need for integration (strategic interdependence) and high regard for autonomy—in the typology of haspeslagh and jemison (1991). later, however, integration proceeded slower than expected in several cases, especially in the case of the merger between the finnish ovako and the swedish skf steel and in the case of isku’s acquisitions in sweden. in all these cases, there were also significant differences in various areas as to the progress of integration, which makes it problematic to treat the cases as pure types in any category. although some of the cases can more clearly than others be seen as acquisitions, it should be emphasized that all the cases have involved the integration of similar operations on both sides in a manner where it is difficult to unequivocally label either side as the dominant or more powerful organization. on interviews and other empirical material interviews with more than 200 key decision-makers, many of whom were interviewed several times, form the core of the empirical material, as summarized in table 2. the first interviews concerning the cases were made as early as 1992-1993, although most were conducted between 1994-1997. in the cases of the swedish asea’s acquim@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 3, 2000, 81-110 92 sition of the finnish strömberg, the finnish nokia’s acquisition of the swedish ericsson information systems, the finnish tietotehdas’s acquisition of the swedish datema, with the exception of follow-up interviews, the interviews were conducted between 1992 and 1994. in the case of the finnish tampella’s acquisition of the swedish esselte well, the interviews were conducted mainly between 1993-1994. in the case of the finnish partek’s acquisition of the swedish hiab-foco and in the case of the merger between the finnish ovako and the swedish skf steel, the research project was more detailed and clearly longitudinal in nature, and the interviews were conducted between 1993-1996 and 1992-1997. in the case of the finnish isku’s acquisitions in sweden, the research efforts, including participant observation, focused on 1995-1998, while in the case of the merger between the finnish merita and the swedish nordbanken the research concentrated on 1998. 193 interviewees were board members or other persons representing the owners, members of corporate top management, members of division or unit management or middle managers in key positions in the organizations in question. they can thus be seen as central actors involved in making difficult decisions concerning the integration of the operations of the formerly separate organizations, although obviously their perspectives differ depending on their position, role or professional identity. the interviewees also include other members of the organizations, union representatives and consultants who have played major roles in the post-merger or post-acquisition change processes (in total 15). in addition, i met and interviewed many employees, industry experts and competitors’ representatives to gain important background information (not included in the numbers). table 2. information on the interviews conducted number of interviewees finns swedes others number of interviews merger/acquisition n a t i o n a l i t y 36 31 20 24 22 21 39 7 8 208 22 20 13 17 15 16 23 5 4 135 14 10 7 6 6 5 16 2 4 70 — 1 — 1 1 — — — — 3 45 46 25 27 26 26 51 7 10 263 finnish partek’s acquisition of swedish hiab-foco merger between finnish ovako and swedish skf steel swedish asea’s acquisition of finnish strömberg finnish nokia’s acquisition of swedish ericsson information systems finnish tietotehdas's acquisition of swedish datema finnish tampella’s acquisition of swedish esselte well finnish isku’s acquisitions of the swedish companies sundo, facit and direktlaminat merger between merita and nordbanken others total m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 3, 2000, 81-110 93 in these interviews, a story-telling approach was used, as is usually the case with ethnographic research (van maanen, 1988). in practice, the interviewees were asked to recount their experiences of the postmerger change processes in semi-structured thematic interviews. the interviews lasted usually for two or three hours, ranging from only a little more than half an hour to more than six hours. when i interviewed finns, we spoke finnish, except in a few cases where swedish was used. when i interviewed swedes, we spoke swedish. most of the interviews were tape-recorded. most of the tape-recorded interviews were later completely or partially transcribed verbatim. in addition to this extensive interview material, the analysis benefited from documents such as minutes of meetings, more or less formal plans, many types of financial and technical reports, copies of presentations held, memos, letters and even notes in personal diaries. the analysis of this material told a great deal about the actual sensemaking processes, and it also helped to place the interviewees’ retrospective accounts into the right contexts. in the case of isku’s acquisitions in sweden, there was also an opportunity to act as a participant observer and to be present at many formal and informal meetings where these issues were discussed. this participant observer role provided numerous opportunities to learn about the thoughts and considerations of the people involved in private discussions in various official forums but especially unofficially. the analysis the analysis was inductive in nature, resembling the classical ideas of grounded theory (glaser and strauss, 1967) and analytical generalization (sayer, 1992). in fact, the very idea for this study emerged after it had become apparent that cultural differences seem to be socially constructed through complex organizational processes. after having made some preliminary observations and developed some initial ideas concerning the social construction of cultural differences in these processes, a more rigorous analysis focused on the interview material gathered (either transcripts or notes). the approach was to focus on specific integration projects rather than taking the merger cases themselves as the units of analysis to be understood and explained. this was a choice that made it possible to avoid the problems associated with crude categorizing of long and complex histories. at a later stage, i further found it meaningful to concentrate on a particular interviewee’s experiences rather than to take the integration projects as cases to be (re)constructed. on this basis, i analyzed the interview material by paying specific attention to sections and parts where they spoke explicitly or implicitly about cultural characteristics and differences. i then started to search for common themes, categories and patterns in the sections, which clearly dealt with construction of cultural understanding. this led to thematic categorizations based on “problems/no problems”, “success/ failure”, “hostility/friendliness”, “strong emotions/weak emotions”, “cultural programming/no cultural programming”, and “internal politics/no m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 3, 2000, 81-110 94 internal politics”. i also made an analytical distinction between “sensemaking in action” and “retrospective reconstruction in interviews” in specifically interesting examples to be able to distinguish these two epistemological layers. from this emerged three different categories of sensemaking, which could be understood as the three sensemaking process types: a search for rational understanding, emotional identification and socio-political manipulation. this kind of ethnographic research is not without its problems. first, this analysis concentrated on particularly revealing examples that had played a major role in internal discussions. this may result in a tendency to concentrate on “juicy stories”, while mundane aspects of cultural sensemaking processes receive little attention. second, retrospective construction is a cumbersome issue in any study trying to capture interpretations in particular historical settings (e.g., barley, 1990)7. in this particular study, documentary material could help to understand how historical processes are described in retrospective narratives. however, specifically important was participant observation in the isku case as it provided rich first-hand evidence. third, studies of cultural interpretations are also always affected by the cultural origin of the researcher and his/her relation to the interviewees. i tried to offset this by speaking swedish with the swedish interviewees and emphasizing my role as a “neutral” observer. however, in any case, my finnish cultural identity made it sometimes easier to connect with the finnish interviewees rather than the swedish ones. cultural sensemaking as a search for rational understanding, emotional identification and socio-political manipulation in finnish-swedish mergers the analysis of the finnish-swedish mergers leads to a distinction and elaboration of three interrelated cultural sensemaking processes: — cultural sensemaking as a search for rational understanding; — cultural sensemaking as emotional identification; — cultural sensemaking as socio-political manipulation. cultural sensemaking as a search for rational understanding for the top decision makers, an essential part of managing the postmerger integration processes was a more or less intentional search for rational understanding of the cultural differences between the previously separate organizations. this cognitive process was characterized problem-solving and explanation-building as the actors tried to develop objective understanding of the organizations when confronted with major challenges in the post-merger integration projects. this often resulted in deliberate learning efforts but also involved other elements as the actors tried to make rational sense of the cultural characteristics of the merging organizations and the differences in the respective beliefs, norms, values and practices. 7. this highlights three epistemological layers: cultures as real structures, actors’ interpretations of cultures in historical settings and actors’ retrospective narratives of these processes. m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 3, 2000, 81-110 95 this search for rational understanding was an inherent part of the planning and negotiation processes preceding the merger for those actors who had been involved in these stages, although they often retrospectively claimed that they could «dedicate too little time for cultural issues» when faced with the time pressure characterizing these stages (see also duhaime and schwenk, 1985; jemison and sitkin, 1986). the closing of the deal and the announcement of the merger were also such events that created a particular need to learn about the existing differences in the structures and processes of the merging organizations. however, a central finding of the analysis is that especially experienced integration problems appeared to trigger this search for rational understanding while less problematic experiences apparently led to less active sensemaking. in fact, the interviews clearly indicate that they started to pay attention to cultural differences or incompatibilities when they had experienced «difficulties in cooperation» between the two parties, when specific integration projects «had not resulted in the expected outcome», or when the organizations in question «otherwise had problems». this often meant discoveries of cultural differences or incompatibilities as causes of the problems. the interviews provide numerous examples where the actors had discovered how the beliefs and practices of the formerly separate organizations differed in ways that hindered cooperation and made it very difficult to integrate the operations of the organizations. this was the case, for example, half a year after the finnish tietotehdas’s acquisition of the swedish datema when the swedish organization found itself in serious problems. a key finnish manager of tietotehdas described how they had discovered that cultural differences were the causes of these problems: «i remember (…) how we gradually learned to understand how the problems ultimately were created by our cultural differences. you didn’t get them at the first glance, but gradually we learned to see the differences that you just cannot fight.» the actors could point to generally held cultural stereotypes. the finns typically described how they had found the swedes «softer», «more democratic» and «less effective» decision makers than themselves while the swedes could describe how they had learned that the finns were «more aggressive», «less democratic» and «more straightforward» than themselves. these characterizations echo the findings of previous research on finnish-swedish cultural differences (lainesveiby, 1991; ekwall and karlsson, 1999). in most cases, this was nevertheless a process where stereotypical cultural conceptions were transformed into organization-, unit-, systemor subculture-specific understandings. a swedish manager of sundo (acquired by the finnish isku) described common experiences on the swedish side: «we have learned that these general characterizations of finns and swedes are of limited value. what is important is that we learn to understand how we differ in more concrete ways. during these years we have come to understand how people at isku think and specifically how the people there think of design or marketing.» in fact, the actors’ accounts illustrate how increased knowledge of organizational practices and their differences was often—from a normative learning perspective—the most valuable outcome of these learning processes. in a typical example, a manager of the finnish partek corporation described their learning experiences after ten years of problematic integration efforts following the acquisition of hiabfoco: «what we learned was that the hiab [swedish] culture was very different from that of the finnish units. what was essential was that their views on such practical issues as manufacturing, product design and quality were different. it is these concrete things that make the difference.» interestingly, the actors recounted that in the finnish-swedish context they often did not expect to find cultural differences due to their preconception of the similarity of the finnish and swedish organization cultures. in fact, the interviewees stressed that subtle unrecognized differences created the problems. this can be seen as a paradox of cultural proximity. as such, this is consistent with the findings of o’grady and lane (1996) and larsson and risberg (1998) that precisely undetected cultural differences are the causes of organizational problems. a finnish manager of ovako steel described this phenomenon in an illuminating way: «we thought that the finns and swedes are [relatively] similar. (…) it took me three years to understand that there were real cultural differences [refers to decision making]. i think much of the misunderstandings could have been avoided if i had just seen the cultural differences beforehand.» while this can be taken as evidence of the importance of paying attention to the “real” organizational and national differences, it also points to the fact that attention was focused on these subtle differences and the cultural conceptions were enacted only after the problems experienced created a need to explain the experiences. like cultural differences per se, these problematic projects also produced conceptions of incompatibility. in a typical example, a finnish manager described their experiences in unsuccessful attempts to integrate the steel production operations within ovako steel: «it was in these projects where we tried to agree upon a common strategy for production and r&d that we [finns] learned how culturally distant the swedes were. in brief, it came down to different views on cleanness and further processing. for them, the production of clean steel was important. for us, it was the further processing. these are ultimately conflicting goals.» similarly, a manager of the finnish isku described their learning experiences when trying to sell finnish-made products via the acquired swedish units: «we found that the culture was simply different. they [refers later to both designers and consumers] are not used to our functional design. they [swedes] look for rounder shapes and are not attracted to birch as material [as finns are].» m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 3, 2000, 81-110 96 characteristic of these processes was that the problems encountered were often spread internally in the form of stories where the failures or disappointments were clearly attributed to cultural differences and incompatibility. in retrospective interviews, it was typical that the actors referred not only to their own direct experiences but also to experiences their colleagues had had. characteristic of these processes was that particular projects were given great emphasis in creating understandings of cultural differences, even though some of the experiences could be very situation-specific. the interviews indicate that less problematic integration projects did not lead so clearly to conceptions of cultural similarities or differences in the organizations. however, the actors described numerous cases of projects where differences in beliefs or values had not created problems or where these differences could even be exploited as sources of synergy or value. especially important in this sense were the projects that had been «very successful» or «exceeded the expectations». hence as «unexpected» or «particularly important» cases, these experiences thus required explanation. this was needed, for example, to understand the «success factors» that the actors could later benefit from. at a general level, the actors pointed to such characteristics as «democracy» or «international orientation» when talking about features of the swedish organizations that could benefit the finnish side. they talked about «speed of decision making» when referring to the finnish features that could benefit the swedes. however, the organization-specific cultural differences were usually seen as the most significant for understanding the concrete outcomes of organizational integration. this was probably most apparent in the case of the swedish asea’s acquisition of the finnish strömberg, as described by a swedish manager: «this is a perfect example where the different organizational cultures fit together and synergy is created. they [finns] had this special knowledge in specific areas [refers later to production of drivers and motors], which benefited the whole group. we [swedes] had the marketing channels and experience.» cultural sensemaking as emotional identification while the top managerial decision makers were, by virtue of their position, supposed to develop «objective understanding of the cultural differences» or «abstain from taking stands», they, however, were at another level also bound to their previous cultural and national backgrounds. this became most apparent in the case of particularly dramatic changes when social comparisons between and across the two merging organizations evoked strong emotional responses. the analysis specifically points to how the developing emotions concerning the other side can result in cultural alienation or attachment. the announcement of the merger news was as such a major trigger for emotional reactions. in brief, when the news was seen as negative or m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 3, 2000, 81-110 97 m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 3, 2000, 81-110 98 the anticipated changes appeared threatening, there was a tendency to identify oneself increasingly with one’s own side and distance oneself from the other8. a typical experience was described by a finnish manager of the former ovako steel in the face of severe future threats as follows: «i think that when we were afraid of the future of finnish steel production the people were united on our side. (…) if we had had our differences before as to what to concentrate on we were now all one group.» the interviewees who had later experienced a new merger or acquisition could refer to a common experience when confronted with new threats of changes, as described by a manager of the former tampella: «nothing unites people on both sides more than a new acquisition. this was really what happened here [refers to the subsequent acquisition by enso].» when the anticipated changes were seen as positive news, there was a tendency to feel cultural bonding in the organizations. this was typically the case when the acquirer was seen as a «rescuer» or «savior», as described by a manager of the swedish hiab-foco after the finnish partek had acquired the unit facing serious organizational and financial problems: «what happened was that we became happy. partek was seen as a rescuer. we had our doubts, but basically wanted to become part of partek.» in general, negative emotions created in the organizational change processes had a powerful effect on the actors’ conceptions of cultural differences. a swedish manager of datema described their negative experiences after the company had been acquired by the finnish tietotehdas as follows: «we could really see that we don’t belong together. after all these [problems], the organization [swedish unit] started to feel like the finns were our enemies.» in these internal discussions, the actors could also bring in historical events perceived as «wrongdoings» or «injustices». as a finnish manager of tietotehdas put it after their difficult experiences half a year after the initial acquisition of the swedish datema: «in those situations [the crisis of datema and tietotehdas], many of us [finns] remembered that the swedes had always escaped responsibility and made us work and pay the bills [refers probably to the period of finland under swedish regime]. no more, we decided.» although such cases could be merely interpretations of particular moments, specific interviewees also recounted how incidents such as sports events (e.g., ice hockey matches) could affect their views and behavior. in the words of a key member of the corporate management of the finnish isku: «we were pissed off [after the finns had lost an ice hockey match]. so we felt good when we showed them who had the power.» while on the finnish side one could talk about xenophobia, such examples were much less common in the swedish actors’ stories9. 8. this echoes kleppestø’s study (1998) where he showed how employees tended to stick to their own practices when confronted with threats of change. 9. one explanation is that some of the swedish interviewees could find it difficult to tell such experiences to a finnish interviewer. m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 3, 2000, 81-110 99 the interviews, in fact, suggest that finns tend to manifest an inferiority complex, often referred to as «a little brother complex», towards the swedes, linked to particular historical interpretations or sheer envy. this was described by a finnish manager of nokia data as follows: «after all this time, it is easy to see that during those times our behavior was not only driven by rational calculation but national pride. we wanted to show the swedes that we were not the underdeveloped neighbor, but the party in control.» the swedes tend to suffer from undermining the values and practices of the finnish culture, often referred to as «a big brother complex». as a swedish manager of hiab-foco put it when describing their experiences of being acquired by the finnish partek: «we [swedes] have to be careful not to regard ourselves as superior. when there were problems and rows i think many of the people in huddiksval [main production unit in sweden] started to feel increasingly superior.» it is important to note that cultural rhetoric in the form of stories of symbolic events or myths was a particularly effective mechanism in spreading emotionally-laden cultural characterizations. a swedish manager of esselte well put it as follows when describing integration efforts after the company had been acquired by the finnish tampella: «it so easily happens that we start to tell these stories about each other. it is easy to pick up on them when you are frustrated or angry. (…) but the consequences can be severe.» the interviews clearly indicate that positive experiences created a sense of belonging together and a general tendency to regard cultural differences as insignificant. as a finnish manager of partek put it: «there was a sense of belonging after all these joint efforts that had shown how we can do things together.» often in the most positive cases the actors eventually identified with the new corporate culture being built rather than with either of the previously separate organization cultures. although the importance of shared understandsings and common identity have been highlighted, for example, by buono et al. (1985) and olie (1994), the importance of this new culture has in general received little attention in prior research. this type of development was described by a finnish manager of strömberg after asea had acquired the company: «central was that we were building a new group, not becoming part of a swedish company. we could also influence what this [new abb] would be like.» a swedish manager of abb described the same development as follows: «the key issue was that we were developing something new that all of us could believe in. it was not swedish, it was not swiss, it was not finnish. we were creating a new group that people could belong to.» the interviewees also recounted how in situations of animosity or antagonism, negative features were often attributed to the other side in the organizational discussions. this was best exemplified in the case of ovako steel, where a finnish manager recounted the emotions on the finnish side as follows: m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 3, 2000, 81-110 100 «in that situation [most difficult crisis period], we [people in imatra] had a clear view of the swedes. they represented everything bad. every idea from them was seen in a negative light.» a swedish manager described their experiences during the same period: «we had at that time little faith in our finnish colleagues. they turned out to be men who could not carry out what they had promised. there is a clear cultural difference.» interestingly, «lack of honesty» or «untrustworthiness» were precisely the terms often used by finnish interviewees when describing their experiences of the other side during periods of crisis. a common experience was that in emotional turmoil, initial interpretations were strengthened by rather narrow-minded interpretations of specific incidents. a finnish manager of ovako steel recounted their experiences after five years of unsuccessful integration efforts: «then we were really disappointed. we hold a very negative view of the swedes in general. i think that (…) in the heat of the moment (…) we wanted to see them [swedish managers] in a negative light. everything they said or did in these meetings was on our side (…) at least by me (…) seen as examples of dishonesty characteristic of the swedes.» in turn, positive emotions often seemed to produce positive characterizations of the other side in the organizational discussions. such positive attributions were especially evident in the actors’ accounts of change projects that had benefited their own organization. a typical example was described by a manager of the finnish strömberg in explaining the changes following the company’s acquisition of the swedish asea: «what happened was that we saw many positive changes. i remember many discussions at strömberg where we talked about the swedes really being very positive partners, both in terms of their technical and managerial skills. i think that many of us had to adjust our views.» the interviews also illustrate how these positive attributions were strengthened by internal discussions of positive experiences. for example, a manager of the finnish partek described their positive experiences ten years after the acquisition of swedish hiab-foco as follows: «it was a question of us becoming increasingly well aware of the swedish operations. we learned to respect their culture. what was important were the talks where we [in finland] compared our experiences and learned more positive things about them [swedes].» cultural sensemaking as socio-political manipulation the interviews also indicate how the cultural conceptions were influenced by the socio-political dynamics of the integration projects. the most legitimate manifestations of this were the top decision makers’ intentional efforts to lessen cultural confrontation and to develop a new m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 3, 2000, 81-110 101 common identity. the top management actors often saw this «cultural management», «engineering» or «management of meaning» as their responsibility towards the organizations. this was most clearly illustrated in specific cultural programs in the form of statements of goals and values or specific seminars held. accordingly, in these messages the top management actors often emphasized cultural compatibility of beliefs and values and tried to create a sense of togetherness10. this was seen as especially important in cases where there was concern that the people «on the acquired side» would react negatively to a «takeover» of their company. as a key manager of the swedish asea put it when describing their efforts after the acquisition of finnish strömberg: «we knew that we had to make people see that we are one. i was really afraid of the cultural clashes after the swedes had taken over. so we dedicated much time and energy on the development of a new common culture, later abb culture.» however, it was also seen as important to avoid «us versus them» feelings in the settings characterized by a «balance of power». for example, a swedish manager of merita-nordbanken described their cultural programs as follows: «these [cultural seminars] have been part of the game where we [key managers] have tried to maintain the power balance. we have tried to show that both cultures are valuable, not so different and clearly contribute to our joint future.» the actors often told about the positive effects of these kinds of efforts both as means to learn about cultural differences and lessen emotionally-laden cultural confrontation. for example, the finnish manager of merita-nordbanken summarized their positive experiences as follows: «i think that this work has definitely been worthwhile. it has made people think about the differences in a positive way and alleviated the sense of a match between finland and sweden [in finnish “maaotteluhenki”].» however, the actors could also point out how these types of international «cultural manipulation» efforts could become self-destructive when reinstituting cultural stereotypes. for example, the ceo of former nokia data put it bluntly when describing their lack of success in integration the finnish and swedish operations: «what the cultural seminars produced was fuel to the flames. they gave the people a sense that we are different and a means to escape responsibility.» these programs could also be misinterpreted as cultural dominance and consequently evoke emotions of anger. this was described by a manager of the former ericsson information systems referring to the same seminars: «what these efforts essentially were […] they wanted to make us finnish. that i think did not serve any purpose except to make many of us feel disappointed.» claims concerning cultural differences and incompatibility could particularly be used as political tools when resisting specific changes. the internal discussions among and between key decision makers were 10. this is similar to the findings of social identity theorists who have examined the use of national and other social categorizations in politicized rhetoric (hopkins and reicher, 1996). politically charged processes. many of these discussions were related to changes that had fundamental consequences for the particular units, their employees, and careers of the managers. consequently, there was often an open or underlying setting where the actors were trying to secure the future of their units or make the most out of the situation. this meant that claims concerning abstract issues such as cultural differences could be used as political arguments. this could mean that it became a goal per se to defend one’s own culture in the internal discussions by emphasizing the positive features of particular practices and by downplaying the positive features of the other side. a finnish manager described the internal debates in ovako steel: «we [finns] on the one side and they [swedes] on the other were simultaneously trying to convince others that it was precisely our way of operating that was the best. this certainly had a bad influence on the organization.» this could also mean that the finns could refer to specific traditions of their own as «cultural features» and argue that particular changes would not work or would be unacceptable. they could specifically argue that certain systems or ways of thinking would never work in the particular organizational context because of the «cultural mismatches». the actors could rationalize how their organizational practices were essential parts of the finnish or swedish culture and that challenging these issues would be a waste of time or have harmful consequences. for example, in the ovako steel case, interviewees on both sides retrospectively confessed that they had often exaggerated the incompatibility of practices in the internal debates. the swedes had argued forcefully that clean special steel could not be made with continuous casting technology when they wanted to avoid a possible shutdown or cutbacks on their side. the finns respectively emphasized that swedish production practices could not work for their customers when arguing against a possible shutdown of the production unit in imatra. in the words of a finnish manager: «what we did was that we turned into spokespersons [in finnish “puhemies”] in the internal [management] meetings.» in a more recent case, a finnish member of the board of directors of merita-nordbanken could tell how they (on the finnish side) had felt it necessary to emphasize cultural differences when trying to defend the future of a rather large finnish service unit: «we stuck together in claiming that it has been our tradition to provide such service for our corporate clients. i must admit that we did exaggerate the issue.» a particularly interesting finding is the common experience that representatives of particular cultures have significant power in these internal sensemaking processes due to their superior knowledge of the specific circumstances. this is hard for the other side or the corporate management to dismiss. in this context one can talk about the «powerlessness of corporate management», implying that in many internal m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 3, 2000, 81-110 102 debates the formal power of the corporate managers was more than offset by the specific knowledge of the representatives of particular units. such an instance was reported by a finnish manager of the former nokia data: «we [at the corporate level] tried to make them [swedes] adopt our way of thinking [concerning marketing]. but it was difficult when they could come up with such good reasons as to why this would not work. their culture was different. and how could we argue when they had done so [marketed and sold computer technology] for years and we were the newcomers.» the analysis also suggests that cultural differences or incompatibility serve as convenient attribution targets for failures or unsuccessful projects while successes are less clearly associated with cultural conceptions. the actors often wanted more or less consciously to disacknowledge managerial responsibility for failures. for this purpose, references to cultural differences were particularly effective. a manager of the finnish tampella described internal discussions concerning failed integration efforts after the acquisition of the swedish esselte well as follows: «i remember so clearly how the head of the acquired unit would hide behind cultural differences. when we asked why the project had failed he said that it was not our fault but the cultural differences.» in turn, the actors’ experiences indicated that successes were less frequently attributed to a lack of problematic cultural differences or positive differences in the internal discussions. it was often the case that the actors used the terms of the «strategic discourse» more than the «cultural discourse». in fact, recounting positive experiences rarely meant reference to «cultural differences» but more to concepts such as «strategic fit», «synergy», «value» or «transfer of knowledge». in other words, the «cultural rhetoric» was mainly associated with problems while the «strategic rhetoric» was associated with positive outcomes this was often a result of a deliberate desire to emphasize their own actions, typically choices made, strategies developed or leadership manifested. a characteristic example was that of asea’s acquisition of strömberg, where key actors often recounted successful projects by highlighting their own actions, as shown by the words of a finnish manager in charge of an integration project: «what was interesting to observe was that so many [key managers] were promoting their own careers by pointing out how they had made this or that. success was seen as a result of their own strategies while little attention was paid to the fact that our [strömberg’s] products really fit their [asea’s and later abb’s] organization and that our cultures could complement each other.» m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 3, 2000, 81-110 103 conclusion this article has concentrated on the cultural sensemaking processes in finnish-swedish mergers. this can be seen as a contribution to the existing research on cross-border mergers, where studies based on constructionist perspectives are still scarce (kleppestø, 1993, 1998; gertsen and søderberg, 1998). the analysis has led to a distinction of three concurrent cultural sensemaking processes labeled as «search for rational understanding», «emotional identification» and «socio-political manipulation». although the distinction of the three processes is an analytical effort, this analysis has shown that all of these processes are important in terms of understanding the role of cultural conceptions in post-merger organizational change processes. in brief, the search for rational understanding is the process that most clearly resembles the ideal (and naive) view of cultural learning involving observation and analysis of “real” cultural differences. the empirical analysis, however, illustrates how this search is plagued by specific tendencies such as the problem-driven nature of the process itself. interestingly, this indicates that problematic integration projects often lead to clear conceptions of cultural differences or incompatibility while less problematic experiences are less clearly associated with cultural conceptions. this is an important finding that partly helps to understand why unsuccessful rather than successful experiences are often linked with cultural differences (e.g., krishnan et al., 1997; morosini et al., 1998). emotional identification with either side of the merging organizations is another key process in post-merger cultural sensemaking. this process is often suppressed as the actors intentionally try to refrain from taking sides. however, this process is easily triggered when confronted with major changes in the merging organizations. rather than providing a pre-emptive analysis on these complex processes, the evidence illustrates how fear of change, anger and other negative emotions easily lead to cultural confrontation and how positive emotions are respectively linked with cultural attachment. the evidence also shows how negative emotions produce negative and positive cultural attributes, strengthening cultural alienation or attachment. in this sense, international mergers and acquisitions are clearly particularly problematic, as much of this antagonistic rhetoric may stem from xenophobic interpretations of national juxtaposition. the analysis also shows that cultural sensemaking involves a process of socio-political manipulation. the revelation of this process is important as the inherent political settings have to a large extent been neglected in prior research on mergers. in fact, there are only few examples in prior studies on mergers (mirvis and marks, 1992; vaara, 1999a) and joint ventures (salk, 1997) that have given specific attention to this political side of cultural attributions. this analysis, however, illustrates how claims concerning cultural differences may, however, be used as political tools when promoting or resisting organizational changes. a particularly interesting discovery is that representatives of m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 3, 2000, 81-110 104 m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 3, 2000, 81-110 105 specific cultures have significant power in the internal debates due to their superior knowledge of the beliefs and practices in the organization (culture) in question. this is clearly a specific problem in international mergers because, for example due to geographical distance, the actors may often have only a relatively superficial understanding of the beliefs and practices of the other side. this study also shows how organizational actors often find cultural differences convenient attribution targets. consequently, failures or unsuccessful experiences are often purposefully attributed to cultural differences, while successes are explained by other factors, such as the management’s actions. in addition to the cognitive tendecy to search explanations for problems in cultural difference, this provides another explanation to the tendency to link cultural differences with failure. the analysis has thus led to specific propositions concerning the postmerger cultural sensemaking processes, as summarized in table 3. these propositions should be taken as preliminary findings that warrant further corroboration and specification in future research. table 3. propositions concerning cultural sensemaking processes in the post-merger context propositions cultural sensemaking as a search for rational understanding cultural sensemaking as emotional identification cultural sensemaking as socio-political manipulation 1.— problematic integration projects often lead to conceptions of cultural differences or incompatibility while less problematic experiences are less clearly associated with cultural conceptions 2.— negative emotions tend to produce cultural alienation and thus conceptions of cultural differences or incompatibility while positive emotions lead to cultural attachment 3.— negative emotions usually produce negative and positive emotions positive cultural attributions 4.— change promotion often produces conceptions of cultural similarity and compatibility while change resistance leads to conceptions of cultural differences and incompatibility 5.— cultural differences and incompatibility serve as convenient attribution targets for failures it should also be emphasized that the relations and interlinkages between the sensemaking processes require both conceptual development and focused empirical research efforts. a logical step further would be to examine how, for example, cognitive and affective mechanisms are entwined or operate together (fineman, 1996). it would be particularly interesting to see how emotions are turned into specific cognitions. there is also a need for studies that distinguish more clearly different epistemological layers in actors’ accounts of organizational change processes. future studies could concentrate on the actors’ narratives (see czarniawska, 1997) and thereby examine the relation between retrospective accounts and sensemaking processes in actual organizational processes. these studies could also focus on interesting phenomena such as using cultural differences as scapegoats in retrospective narratives of these processes (e.g., brown and jones, 2000). in addition to these more general propositions concerning the sensemaking processes, the study reveals two particularly interesting tendencies that may often characterize cultural sensemaking in the context of neighboring countries with close cultural-historical ties. first, the finnish-swedish setting manifests a paradox of cultural proximity: the problem of disregarding actual cultural differences in a context of assumed cultural proximity. this finding partially explains the experiences that sometimes cultural differences between close cultures are more problematic than those between distant cultures as in the former case the differences easily remain unrecognized (see also o’grady and lane, 1996; larsson and risberg, 1998). these findings cast serious doubt on the cultural distance ideology (e.g., hofstede, 1997). second, the analysis of the finnish-swedish evidence manifests an historical inferiority-superiority relation. the evidence indicates how finns may suffer from a “little brother” or inferiority complex vis-à-vis the swedes, while the swedes may easily see themselves as “big brothers” or undermine the value of the finnish beliefs and practices. these syndromes may be myths, but they are easily evoked in situations of internal turmoil. what does this study then tell about the “reality” of the top decision makers in cross-border cultural integration processes? this reality seems to be characterized by a need to position oneself outside the merging organizations and have an objective view of cultural differences. however, at the same time, as most of the members come from the previously separate organizations and represent different nationalities, they are at another level emotionally bound to these cultures. their situation can even resemble schizophrenia as they are thus forced to think rationally and manage the creation of the new postmerger culture while suffering from cultural biases—being emotionally attached to their previous organizational and national culture. this reality becomes even more complex when one takes into account the political side of their activities, meaning more or less legitimate attempts to lead the formation of the new culture and to use cultural rhetoric to pursue specific agendas. this paper has concentrated on organizational actors’ cultural sensemaking processes in the context of post-merger integration. as such, the sensemaking perspective taken does not undermine the realistic approach to organizational or national cultures, which has dominated research in this area (buono and bowditch, 1989; cartwright and cooper, 1992; morosini and singh, 1994; weber, 1996). it rather complements it by highlighting another epistemological layer: the role that cultural sensemaking processes play in the world of the decision makers when they are dealing with complex questions concerning organizational integration in the aftermath of mergers and acquisitions. this constructive process has received little attention in prior research on mergers and acquisitions focusing attention primarily on the initial cultural differences as predictors of consequent organizational problems. nevertheless, it is important to understand how the dominant m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 3, 2000, 81-110 106 cultural conceptions in postmodern organizations created by mergers are firmly related to the actors’ experiences of actual integration efforts. thus conceptions of cultural differences are not only reflections of real cultural differences but are also constructed through complex cognitive, emotional and political sensemaking processes within the post-merger organization. endnote. the author wishes to thank the three anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments on the earlier versions of this paper. eero vaara is a professor at the department of international business at the helsinki school of economics and business administration. his current research interests focus on organizational change (particularly mergers and acquisitions), managerial and organizational discourse and narratives, and epistemological questions in organization and management research. m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 3, 2000, 81-110 107 references ■ aaltio-marjosola, iiris 1991 cultural change in a business enterprise: studying a major organizational change and its impact on culture, working paper, helsinki: helsinki school of economics and business administration. ■ alvesson, mats, and per o. berg 1992 corporate culture and organizational symbolism, berlin: de gruyter. ■ ashforth, blake e., and fred a. mael 1989 social identity theory and the organization, academy of management review, 14:1, 20-39. ■ barley, stephen r. 1990 images of imaging: notes on doing longitudinal fieldwork, organization science, 3:2, 220-247. ■ berger, peter l., and thomas luckmann 1966 the social construction of reality, new york: doubleday. ■ berry, john w. 1980 acculturation as varieties of adaptation, in amado m. padilla (ed.), acculturation: theory, models and some new findings, boulder: westview press, 9-25. ■ brown, andrew d., and matthew jones 2000 honourable members and dishonourable deeds: sensemaking, impression management and leitimation in the "arms of iraq affair", human relations, 53:5, 655-690. ■ buono, anthony f., and james l. bowditch 1989 the human side of mergers and acquisitions: managing collisions between people, cultures, and organizations, san francisco: jossey-bass. ■ buono, anthony f., james l. bowditch, and john w. lewis iii 1985 when cultures collide: the anatomy of a merger, human relations, 38:5, 477-500. ■ calori, roland, michael lubatkin, and philippe very 1994 control mechanisms in cross-border acquisitions: an international comparison, organization studies, 15:3, 361379. ■ calori, roland, michael lubatkin, philippe very, and john f. veiga 1997 modelling the origins of nationallybound administrative heritages: a historical institutional analysis of french and british firms, organization science, 8:6, 681-696. ■ cartwright, susan, and cary l. cooper 1992 mergers and acquisitions: the human factor, oxford: butterworth-heinemann. ■ cartwright, susan, and cary l. cooper 1993 the role of culture compatibility in successful organizational marriage, academy of management executive, 7:2, 57-70. m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 3, 2000, 81-110 108 ■ chatterjee, sayan, michael h. lubatkin, david m. schweiger, and yaakov weber 1992 cultural differences and shareholder value in related mergers: linking equity and human capital, strategic management journal, 13:5, 319-334. ■ czarniawska, barbara 1997 narrating the organization, chicago: university of chicago press. ■ czarniawska-joerges, barbara 1992 exploring complex organizations: a cultural perspective, newbury park: sage. ■ datta, deepak k. 1991 organizational fit and acquisition performance: effects of post-acquisition integration, strategic management journal, 12:4, 281-297. ■ david, kenneth 1977 epilogue: what shall we mean by changing identities?, in kenneth david (ed.), the new wind: changing identities in south asia, in the series world anthropology: proceedings of the ninth international conference of anthropological and ethnological sciences, the hague: mouton, 443-517. ■ davis, richard e. 1968 compatibility in corporate marriages, harvard business review, 46: 4,86-93. ■ duhaime, irene m., and charles r. schwenk 1985 conjectures on cognitive simplification in acquisition and divestment decision making, academy of management review, 10:2, 287-295. ■ dutton, jane e., and janet m. dukerich 1991 keeping an eye on the mirror: image and identity in organizational adaptation, academy of management journal, 34:3, 517-554. ■ dutton, jane e., and susan e. jackson 1987 categorizing strategic issues: links to organizational action, academy of management review, 12:1, 76-90. ■ ekwall, anita, and svenolof karlsson, 1999 kohtaaminen suomi-ruotsi – kirja kulttuurieroista ja johtajuudesta, vaasa: storkamp media. ■ elsass, priscilla m., and john f. veiga 1994 acculturation in acquired organizations: a force-field perspective, human relations, 47:4, 431-453. ■ fineman, stephen 1996 emotion and organizing, in stewart r. clegg, cynthia hardy, and walter r. nord (eds.), handbook of organization studies, london: sage, 543-564. ■ frijda, nico h. 1994 varieties of affect: emotions and episodes, moods, and sentiments, in paul ekman and richard j. davidson (eds.), the nature of emotion: fundamental questions, new york: oxford university press, 59-67. ■ frost, peter j.,larry f. moore, meryl reis louis, craig c. lundberg, and joanne martin 1991 reframing organizational culture, newbury park: sage. ■ gertsen, martine c., and anne-marie søderberg 1998 foreign acquisitions in denmark: cultural and communicative dimensions, in martine c. gertsen, anne-marie søderberg, and jens e. torp (eds.), cultural dimensions of international mergers and acquisitions, berlin: de gruyter, 167-196. ■ gertsen, martine c., anne-marie søderberg, and jens e. torp 1998 different approaches to understanding of culture in mergers and acquisitions, in martine c. gertsen, anne-marie søderberg, and jens e. torp (eds.), cultural dimensions of international mergers and acquisitions, berlin: de gruyter, 17-38. ■ gioia, dennis a., and james b. thomas 1996 identity, image, and issue interpretation: sensemaking during strategic change in academia, administrative science quarterly, 41:3, 370-403. ■ gioia, dennis a., and kumar chittipeddi 1991 sensemaking and sensegiving in strategic change initiation, strategic management journal, 12:6, 433-448. ■ glaser, barney g., and anselm l. strauss 1967 the discovery of grounded theory: strategies for qualitative research, chicago: aldine. ■ greenwood, royston, c. r. hinings, and john brown 1994 merging professional service firms, organization science, 5:2, 239-257. ■ hambrick, donald c., and albert a. cannella 1993 relative standing: a framework for understanding the departures of acquired executives, academy of management journal, 36:4, 733-762. ■ hardy, cynthia, and stewart r. clegg 1996 some dare call it power, in stewart r. clegg, cynthia hardy, and walter r. nord (eds.), handbook of organization studies, london: sage, 622-641. ■ harris, stanley g. 1994 organizational culture and individual sensemaking: a schema-based perspective, organization science, 5:3, 309-321. ■ haspeslagh, philippe c., and david b. jemison 1991 managing acquisitions: creating value through corporate renewal, new york: free press. ■ hatch, mary jo 1993 the dynamics of organizational culture, academy of management review, 18:4, 657-693. ■ hofstede, geert 1997 cultures and organizations: software of the mind, new york: mcgraw-hill. m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 3, 2000, 81-110 109 ■ hopkins, nick, and steve reicher 1996 the construction of social categories and processes of social change: arguing about national identities, in glynis m. breakwell and evanthia lyons (eds.), changing european identities: social psychological analyses of social change, oxford: butterworth-heinemann, 69-93. ■ huff, anne s. 1988 politics and argument as means of coping with ambiguity and change, in louis r. pondy, richard j. boland, jr., and howard thomas (eds.) managing ambiguity and change, new york: wiley, 79-90. ■ jemison, david b., and sam b. sitkin 1986 corporate acquisitions: a process perspective, academy of management review, 11:1, 145-163. ■ kim. w. chan, and renee a. mauborgne 1991 implementing global strategies: the role of procedural justice, strategic management journal, 12: summer special issue, 125-144. ■ kleppestø, stein 1993 kultur och identitet vid företagsuppköp och fusioner, stockholm: nerenius & santérus förlag. ■ kleppestø, stein 1998 a quest for social identity—the pragmatics of communication in mergers and acquisitions, in martine c. gertsen, anne-marie søderberg, and jens e. torp (eds.), cultural dimensions of international mergers and acquisitions, berlin: de gruyter, 147-168. ■ kogut, bruce, and harbir singh 1988 the effect of natural culture on the choice of entry mode, journal of international business studies, 19:2, 411-432. ■ krishnan, hema a., alex miller, and william q. judge 1997 diversification and top management team complementarity: is performance improved by merging similar or dissimilar teams?, strategic management journal, 18:5, 361-374. ■ kunda, giddeon 1991 engineering culture: control and commitment in a high-tech corporation, philadelphia: temple university press. ■ laine-sveiby, kati 1987 svenskhet som strategi, stockholm: timbro. ■ laine-sveiby, kati 1991 suomalaisuus strategiana, juva: wsoy. ■ larsson, rikard 1993 barriers to acculturation in mergers and acquisitions: strategic human resource implications, journal of european business education, 2:2, 1-18. ■ larsson, rikard, and anette risberg 1998 cultural awareness and national versus corporate barriers to acculturation, in martine c. gertsen, anne-marie søderberg, and jens e. torp (eds.), cultural dimensions of international mergers and acquisitions, berlin: de gruyter, 39-56. ■ lilius, mikael 1993 företagskulturen i finländska och svenska företag, ekonomiska samfundets tidskrift, 46:2, 89-94. ■ lindstead, stephen, and robert grafton-small 1992 on reading organizational culture, organization studies, 13:3, 331-355. ■ louis, meryl r. 1980 surprise and sensemaking: what newcomers experience in entering unfamiliar organizational settings, administrative science quarterly, 25:1, 226251. ■ martin, joanne 1992 cultures in organizations: three perspectives, new york: oxford university press. ■ martin, joanne, and peter frost 1996 the organizational culture war games: a struggle for intellectual dominance, in stewart r. clegg, cynthia hardy, and walter r. nord (eds.), handbook of organization studies, london: sage, 599-621. ■ mirvis, philip h., and mitchell lee marks 1992 managing the merger, englewood cliffs: prentice hall. ■ morosini, piero, and harbir singh 1994 post-cross-border acquisitions: implementing ‘national-culture-compatible’ strategies to improve performance, european management journal, 12:4, 390-400. ■ morosini, piero, s. shane, and harbir singh 1998 national cultural difference and crossborder acquisition performance, journal of international business studies, 29:1, 137-158. ■ nahavandi, afsaneh, and ali r. malekzadeh 1988 acculturation in mergers and acquisitions, academy of management review, 13:1, 79-90. ■ nahavandi, afsaneh, and ali r. malekzadeh 1993 organizational culture in the management of mergers, westport: quorum books. ■ o’grady, shawna, and henry w. lane 1996 the psychic distance paradox, journal of international business studies, 27:2, 309-333. ■ olie, rené 1994 shades of culture and institutions in international mergers, organization studies, 15:3, 381-405. ■ olie, rené 1996 european transnational mergers, maastricht: proeschrift rijskuniversiteit limburg. ■ parker, martin 2000 organizational culture and identity: unity and division at work, london: sage. ■ pettigrew, andrew 1979 on studying organizational cultures, administrative science quarterly, 24:4, 570-581. m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 3, 2000, 81-110 110 ■ porac, joseph f., h. thomas, and charles badenfuller 1989 competitive groups as cognitive communities: the case of scottish knitwear manufacturers, journal of management studies, 26:4, 397-416. ■ sackmann, sonja a. 1991 cultural knowledge in organizations: exploring the collective mind, newbury park: sage. ■ sales, amy l., and philip h. mirvis 1984 when cultures collide: issues in acquisitions, in john r. kimberley and robert e. quinn (eds.), new futures: the challenge of managing corporate transitions, homewood: dow jonesirwin, 107-133. ■ salk, jane 1997 partners and other strangers: cultural boundaries and cross-cultural encounters in international joint venture teams, international studies of management & organization, 26:4, 4872. ■ sayer, andrew 1992 method in social science: a realist approach, london: routledge. ■ schein, edgar h. 1992 organizational culture and leadership, san francisco: jossey-bass. ■ schultz, majken 1994 on studying organizational cultures: diagnosis and understanding, berlin: de gruyter. ■ shrivastava, paul 1986 postmerger integration, journal of business strategy, 7:1, 65-76. ■ suutari, vesa 1996 variation in the average leadership behaviour of managers across countries: finnish expatriates’ experiences from germany, sweden, france and great britain, the international journal of human resource management, 7:3, 677-707. ■ tajfel, henri, and john c. turner 1979 an integrative theory of intergroup conflict, in william g. austin and stephen worchel (eds.), the social psychology of intergroup relations, monterey: brooks/cole, 33-47. ■ trompenaars, fons 1993 riding the waves of culture: understanding cultural diversity in business, london: brealey. ■ turner, barry a. 1986 sociological aspects of organizational symbolism, organization studies, 7:1, 101-115. ■ turner, john c. 1985 social categorization and the selfconcept: a social cognitive theory of group behaviour, in edward j. lawler (ed.), advances in group processes: theory and research, vol. 2, greenwich: jai press, 77-121. ■ vaara, eero 1999a towards a rediscovery of organizational politics: essays on organizational integration following mergers and acquisitions, helsinki: helsinki school of economics and business administration. ■ vaara, eero 1999b cultural differences and postmerger problems: misconceptions and cognitive simplifications, nordiske organisasjonsstudier, 1:2, 59-88. ■ vaara, eero forthcoming role-bound actors in corporate combination: a study of decision making in change processes following a merger, scandinavian journal of management. ■ van maanen, john 1988 tales of the field: on writing ethnography, chicago: the university of chicago press. ■ very, philippe, michael lubatkin, and roland calori 1998 a cross-national assessment of acculturative stress in recent european mergers, in martine c. gertsen, annemarie søderberg, and jens e. torp (eds.), cultural dimensions of international mergers and acquisitions, berlin: de gruyter, 85-110. ■ very, philippe, michael lubatkin, roland calori, and john veiga 1997 relative standing and the performance of recently acquired european firms, strategic management journal, 18:8, 593-614. ■ walter, gordon a. 1985 culture collisions in mergers and acquisitions, in peter j. frost, larry f. moore, meryl reis louis, craig c. lundberg, and joanne martin (eds.), organizational culture, beverly hills: sage, 301-314. ■ weber, yaakov 1996 corporate cultural fit and performance in mergers and acquisitions, human relations, 49:9, 1181-1202. ■ weber, yaakov, oded shenkar, and adi raveh 1996 national and corporate cultural fit in mergers/acquisitions: an exploratory study, managament science, 42:8, 1215-1227. ■ weick, karl e. 1995 sensemaking in organizations, thousand oaks: sage. ■ willmott, hugh 1993 strength is ignorance; slavery is freedom: managing culture in modern organizations, journal of management studies, 30:4, 515-552. 34galve m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 4, 2000, 111-134 111 carmen galve górriz . raquel ortega lapiedra el objetivo de este trabajo es contribuir a un mayor entendimiento sobre las implicaciones de la organización del trabajo, en particular “equipos de trabajo”, en el performance de la empresa. el estudio que se presenta es eminentemente empírico, donde aplicándose una metodología integradora, tanto cualitativa como cuantitativa (con el objeto de minimizar las carencias que ambos métodos presentan de forma aislada), se busca analizar la relación existente entre trabajo en equipo y performance, a través del estudio concreto de las dos plantas productivas de una compañía industrial española filial de una de las más importantes multinacionales alemanas pertenecientes al sector metal, tomando como indicadores de dicho performance la productividad laboral, la calidad y el absentismo productivo, con el objeto de recoger aspectos de actitud y comportamiento además de los puramente económicos. los resultados revelan que la eficacia del grupo depende, previsiblemente, del clima tecnológico y del clima que crea la dirección a través de su influencia en el diseño de las tareas, en la composición del grupo, y en el contexto organizacional, siendo muy importantes también el diseño organizativo y la cultura de la empresa. universidad de zaragoza facultad de ciencias económicas y empresariales email: cgalve@posta.unizar.es rortega@posta.unizar.es equipos de trabajo y performance: un análisis empírico a nivel de planta productiva en los últimos años ha habido un interés creciente académico y empresarial por estudiar nuevos diseños de organización del trabajo, siendo el trabajo en grupo una de las más destacadas caracterizaciones de estos diseños. entre la gran variedad de definiciones existentes del grupo de trabajo, y dado que nuestro estudio se centra en los equipos de trabajo, nosotros hemos seleccionado, al igual que otros autores (sundstrom, demeuse, y futrell, 1990; guzzo y dickson, 1996; cohen y bailey, 1997), la dada en el trabajo de hackman (1987), quién se basó, a su vez, en el trabajo de alderfer (1977): un grupo de trabajo es un conjunto de individuos que son interdependientes en sus tareas, comparten la responsabilidad de los resultados, se ven así mismos y son vistos por los otros como una entidad social intacta que pertenece a un sistema social mayor (por ejemplo una unidad de negocio o una corporación) y que dirigen sus relaciones dentro de los límites de la organización. esta definición recoge tanto el aspecto de grupo formal, aquel que se crea con el fin de cumplir ciertos objetivos específicos y realizar tareas concretas que se relacionan claramente con la misión de la organizam@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 4, 2000, 111-134 112 ción, como implícitamente el aspecto de grupo informal o psicológico. en relación a los grupos informales o psicológicos, schein señala que los seres humanos no se limitan al trabajo o a ingresar en una organización, puesto que éstos poseen necesidades y por tanto buscarán la realización de alguna de estas necesidades mediante el desarrollo de una serie de relaciones con otros miembros de la organización. si la ubicación física de las personas, la naturaleza del trabajo y el esquema cronológico de su empleo lo permite, estas relaciones formales desarrollarán grupos informales. schein (1980) señala que los grupos informales pueden ser la clave para facilitar la integración de los objetivos organizativos y de las necesidades personales; el grupo de trabajo formal que es, a su vez, grupo psicológico se convierte en una fuente generosa de lealtad, de devoción y de energía al servicio de los objetivos organizativos. uno de los hallazgos más corrientes que procede del estudio de los grupos en las organizaciones, es que la mayor parte de los grupos en las organizaciones cumplen funciones tanto formales, aquellas que se asignan al grupo y de las cuales se siente oficialmente responsable, como psicológicas y personales, aquellas relacionadas con la satisfacción de las necesidades de afiliación, de identificación y autoestima. los trabajos clásicos realizados por mayo, roethlisberger y dickson, en la planta de hawthorne de la western electric company en chicago1, mostraron claramente la existencia de las organizaciones sociales informales y sus efectos sobre el rendimiento en la tarea. otros estudios empíricos que resaltan la importancia de las relaciones sociales dentro de la organización son los estudios del instituto tavistock sobre los efectos de los cambios tecnológicos en la industria del carbón de la gran bretaña2. los sociólogos asociados al instituto de tavistock de londres a partir de sus estudios sobre el cambio de tecnología en la industria minera del carbón y de la reelaboración del trabajo en las industrias textiles de la india, enunciaron el concepto del sistema sociotécnico. el sistema sociotécnico exige que una organización productiva o parte de ella sea una combinación de tecnología (exigencias de la tarea, ambiente físico, equipo disponible) y al mismo tiempo un sistema social (un sistema de relaciones entre aquellos que realizan la tarea). los sistemas tecnológico y social se hallan en interacción mutua y recíproca y cada uno determina al otro. otro ejemplo empírico más reciente que nos permite evidenciar conclusiones similares a las que acabamos de exponer, es el análisis del cambio tan drástico experimentado en la industria del automóvil durante las dos últimas décadas. la supresión de las barreras al comercio internacional, la segmentación del mercado de masas, unida a la actual recesión económica, han propiciado un fuerte cambio en el sector del automóvil, en el cual la competencia ya no es sólo cuestión de coste económico sino también de calidad. esta situación ha forzado a las compañías automovilísticas a buscar nuevas alternativas de organización industrial, distintas del sistema de organización taylorista, que conjugue las ventajas de eficiencia y nivel de calidad, con las provenientes de la flexibilidad para adaptarse a un mercado cambiante que demanda una mayor variedad de modelos. ante esta necesi2. estos estudios aparecen en la obra de trist y bamforth (1951). también en trist, higgin, murray, y pollack (1963). 1. en la obra de roethlisberger y dickson (1939) aparece la descripción original de estas investigaciones. dad vigente de superación del modelo taylorista se han desarrollado dos alternativas: el modelo de producción ajustada japonés, basado en el modelo taylorista tradicional con el propósito de perfeccionarlo y hacerlo más competitivo, y el modelo de neoartesanía sueco3, cuyo objetivo es buscar la satisfacción del trabajador como modo de lograr un rendimiento a escala mundial. aunque los modelos japonés y sueco, parten de conceptos base completamente diferentes, ambos modelos presentan un importante punto en común, el trabajo en equipos autónomos con la consiguiente delegación de responsabilidades en los mismos. ambos modelos presentan, en términos comparativos, ventajas e inconvenientes, sin embargo no es posible manifestar de forma clara la supremacía de uno sobre el otro; regout (1992) concluye que es necesario crear una nueva síntesis entre las contribuciones de la producción ajustada y las de la neoartesanía para lograr una conjunción entre la más alta eficiencia y la más alta calidad de las condiciones de trabajo. este es el gran desafío de la segunda mitad de la década de los 90, la realización de una producción ajustada centrada en la persona. lo comentado hasta ahora justifica la necesidad de investigar sobre las condiciones que facilitan la satisfacción de las necesidades psicológicas en los grupos formales de trabajo como clave de éxito de la eficacia de los grupos de trabajo, entendiendo por eficacia la capacidad del grupo para contribuir a la consecución de los objetivos de la organización. cohen y bailey (1997), con el objeto de analizar los factores que influyen en la eficacia del grupo, proponen un modelo teórico, que recoge básicamente los mismos elementos o factores a los propuestos por schein (1980) aunque con un mayor desglose por categorías. los autores señalan que la eficacia del grupo depende de factores del entorno (características de la industria y turbulencia del entorno), factores de diseño (características de las tareas del grupo y de la organización que pueden ser directamente manipuladas por el directivo con el fin de crear las condiciones necesarias para la consecución de una actuación eficaz del equipo; el directivo puede influir en el diseño de las tareas estableciendo el grado de interdependencia entre las mismas, en el diseño de la composición del grupo a través del tamaño, demografía y diversidad de los miembros del equipo, y en el contexto organizacional a través de las políticas de recompensas, supervisión, entrenamiento y recursos), factores de proceso de grupos (se refiere a interacciones, comunicación y conflictos entre los miembros del grupo y entre grupos) y rasgos psicológicos del grupo (conocimientos, emociones y creencias compartidas entre los miembros del grupo). en principio, todos los factores influyen de forma directa en la eficacia del grupo, aunque también existen influencias indirectas sobre la misma cuando se consideran las interdependencias existentes entre los factores; cohen y bailey (1997) señalan que los factores de diseño, que vienen determinados en gran parte por los factores del entorno, son los más importantes en determinar la eficacia del grupo, puesto que, además de su influencia directa, tienen una influencia indirecta sobre la eficacia del grupo, vía su influencia en los rasgos psicológicos y procesos de grupo. los autores reconocen, al m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 4, 2000, 111-134 113 3. numerosos académicos han comparado el sistema de producción japonés con los modelos suecos de grupos de trabajo autónomos, entre ellos: ellegard, engstrom, y nilsson (1991), bennett y karlsson (1992), berggren (1992), adler y cole (1993). igual que schein, que los rasgos psicológicos constituyen un fenómeno real a nivel de grupo, puesto que éstos influyen directamente en la eficacia del equipo e indirectamente a través de dar forma a las interacciones internas y externas. los procesos de grupo, pueden, a su vez, llegar a convertirse en rasgos psicológicos como por ejemplo normas o estados afectivos. a su vez, los resultados, en términos de eficacia del grupo, influyen recíprocamente en el resto de factores. el objetivo general de este trabajo es contribuir a un mayor entendimiento sobre las implicaciones de la organización del trabajo, en particular equipos de trabajo, en el performance de la empresa. para ello, el trabajo se apoya en un modelo teórico que propone un enfoque de carácter integrador que argumenta como una organización será más eficiente cuando sus políticas y prácticas de recursos humanos sean consistentes entre sí y con el entorno interno organizacional en el que están operando. el trabajo es eminentemente empírico, donde aplicándose una metodología integradora, tanto cualitativa como cuantitativa, se busca analizar la relación existente entre trabajo en equipo y performance, a través del estudio concreto de una compañía industrial española filial de una multinacional alemana. el estudio se enmarca dentro de una literatura interesada en conocer cuáles son los determinantes de la eficacia del grupo, evaluada ésta en términos de satisfacción de los objetivos de la organización y de las necesidades personales de los miembros del grupo, schein (1980), cohen y bailey (1997)4. sus principales aportaciones con respecto a estos trabajos es la evidencia empírica extraída de un marco institucional sustancialmente diferente del anglosajón y japonés contemplado en las referencias citadas, y la metodología utilizada, que combina un análisis cualitativo y cuantitativo con el objeto de minimizar los sesgos que cada uno de estos análisis presenta por separado. el análisis empírico, cuantitativo y cualitativo, se desarrolla a nivel de planta productiva de la empresa x s.a., subsidiaria española de una multinacional alemana ubicada en el sector metal con dos plantas productivas a y b. el análisis de las dos plantas productivas se realiza por separado, puesto que aunque las dos se encuentran en un marco común, en términos de contexto externo, cada planta es gestionada según su casuística particular. de esta forma, se ha profundizado en los porqués de las distintas implicaciones que el trabajo en equipo tiene en ambas plantas; analizando aspectos relacionados con el proceso productivo, diseño organizativo, políticas de rrhh y cultura. la investigación empírica se ha basado en información recogida fundamentalmente de tres fuentes: entrevistas (con directivos, mandos intermedios, empleados y representantes sindicales), documentación formal de la compañía y observación directa; información que ha sido triangulada desde estas tres fuentes con el objetivo de validarla y de evitar posibles sesgos. las conclusiones que se obtienen deben valorarse teniendo en cuenta que las plantas productivas estudiadas no son una muestra representativa del conjunto de las plantas productivas españolas. se trata de dos plantas productivas de una empresa española filial de una multinacional alemana, lo que implica que es una empresa grande y con un nivel de administración y gestión por encima del promedio. m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 4, 2000, 111-134 114 4. el planteamiento teórico de cohen y bailey (1997) sobre los factores que influyen en la eficacia del grupo es el resultado de una revisión a la literatura empírica más reciente sobre el tema. entre los trabajos más interesantes a destacar: nieva, fleishman, y reick (1985), levine y tyson (1990), cordery, mueller, y smith (1991), magjuka y baldwin (1991), pearson (1992), campion, medsker, y higgs (1993), cotton (1993), izumi (1993), wagner (1994), batt y appelbaum (1995), macduffie (1995), vinokur-kaplan (1995), wageman (1995), cohen, ledford, y spreitzer (1996). el trabajo se estructura de la siguiente forma: en el primer epígrafe se analiza cualitativamente los distintos factores comentados que intervienen en la eficacia del grupo: factores ambientales o de diseño (relacionados con el clima tecnológico y con el clima que crea la dirección), factores de pertenencia al grupo que recogen los factores de procesos (relacionados con la estructura organizativa utilizada), y los factores psicológicos del grupo (relacionados con la selección del personal para la formación de los grupos). en el segundo epígrafe, y con el objeto de completar el análisis cualitativo, se realiza un análisis cuantitativo del impacto de los equipos de trabajo en el performance de tres secciones pertenecientes a las plantas analizadas (sección de montaje y esmaltería para la planta a y sección de montaje para la planta b) a partir de un modelo de ecuaciones simultáneas cuyos parámetros se estiman utilizando el método de mínimos cuadrados en tres etapas (3sls). analisis empírico cualitativo la planta productiva “a” factores ambientales y de diseño en relación al proceso productivo, la planta productiva a, con una plantilla que oscila entre 700 y 800 empleados, es una planta multiproducto distribuida en dos subplantas productivas separadas (cada una de ellas especializada en una gama de productos) pero con servicios de apoyo comunes. la estructura básica de los distintos productos que se obtienen del paso de las materias primas por las secciones de mecanización (prensas y soldaduras) y recubrimientos (esmaltería y pintura) adquiere posteriormente su diferenciación (traducida en diferentes modelos) en su paso por la sección de montaje, sección encargada de incorporar los elementos funcionales y estéticos que complementan y diferencian los productos que se fabrican. la sección de mecanización se caracteriza por ser muy intensiva en capital con poca intervención humana, y con un grado de diferenciación del producto prácticamente nulo, al igual que en la sección de pintura. por el contrario, la sección de esmaltería, aunque intensiva en capital productivo, se caracteriza por contar con un proceso productivo modular que le otorga de una movilidad funcional, flexibilidad y capacidad productiva combinatoria que la convierten en una sección más óptima que las anteriores para las políticas de organización del trabajo de carácter participativo. la sección de montaje se caracteriza por ser muy intensiva en capital humano, donde la intervención humana es realmente importante, dado que esta sección es la encargada de diferenciar el producto en sus distintos modelos partiendo de un módulo representativo de una familia. esta familia de modelos/producto se ejecuta en programas nivelados bajo la filosofía de justo a tiempo (just in time, jit) con el fin de conseguir una producción flexible; flexibilidad que se consigue mediante la utilización de un sistema de arrastre (sistema kanban) que dirige y controla la producción m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 4, 2000, 111-134 115 en los distintos centros de trabajo, de forma que los productos se fabrican todos los días en función de las diferentes necesidades que demanda el mercado en cada momento. sin embargo, desde un punto de vista tecnológico hay que señalar que la sección de montaje está diseñada en forma de línea de montaje, lo que dificulta el desarrollo de las condiciones ambientales y sociales óptimas para una acción colectiva eficaz, ya que la ubicación física de las personas a lo largo de la cadena de montaje no favorece el desarrollo de grupos informales que son la clave para facilitar la eficacia del grupo a través de la integración de los objetivos organizativos con los psicológicos y personales de los miembros del mismo; el grupo de trabajo formal que es, a su vez, grupo psicológico o informal se convierte en una fuente generosa de lealtad, devoción y energía al servicio de los objetivos organizativos (schein, 1980). factores de diseño o clima creado por la dirección en relación a los factores de diseño de las tareas, en esta planta siempre ha existido cierto grado de participación en los procesos de toma de decisiones, pero esta práctica se formaliza hace 6 o 7 años cuando toma forma el concepto de gestión de la calidad total, que se materializa fundamentalmente en la gestión de procesos y problemas. es precisamente en este contexto cuando surgen los equipos de trabajo como respuesta a la participación del personal de base y como filosofía global de la compañía, cuyo objetivo es dirigir a todas las personas implicadas en el proceso hacia la mejora continua en el desempeño de todas las tareas involucradas en dicho proceso. el equipo de trabajo debe identificar los problemas o las oportunidades de mejora y poner en marcha las sugerencias o acciones correctivas oportunas para tratar de resolver estos problemas y de aprovechar las oportunidades. en relación a las características del grupo, los equipos de trabajo tienen carácter permanente, están constituidos por 10 o 15 personas pertenecientes a la misma área funcional, son gestionados por un líder perteneciente al grupo, que no emerge de forma natural (por elección de los propios miembros del grupo) sino que es designado. los miembros del grupo suelen reunirse diariamente cinco minutos durante la jornada laboral y periódicamente, cada quince días o un mes, durante una hora. en estas reuniones se ponen de manifiesto todas las oportunidades de mejora o problemas susceptibles de ser solucionados. respecto al contexto organizacional o políticas de recursos humanos, específicamente las políticas de formación y remuneración no favorecen la implementación de los equipos de trabajo; ni siquiera los líderes de los grupos reciben una formación propiamente dicha sobre lo que es trabajar en equipo de acuerdo con las características de la planta. la información sobre los equipos de trabajo viene desde la central alemana, donde el formador da, y a nivel muy general, una serie de cursillos a los líderes de toda europa sin hacer referencia a la casuística particular de cada planta. todo ello ha provocado que el operario entienda la práctica de trabajo en equipo como un mayor tiempo de permanencia en la empresa, sin ningún tipo de recompensa personal, monetaria o en especie como incentivos al mayor esfuerzo reclamado por la empresa. m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 4, 2000, 111-134 116 factores de proceso los factores de proceso (referentes a interacciones, comunicación y conflictos entre los miembros del grupo y entre grupos) pueden analizarse a través del estudio del diseño organizativo de la planta en cuestión. la estructura organizativa de la planta a es compleja. en primer lugar, la planta se subdivide en dos subplantas, que fabrican un total de cuatro productos, con un director técnico en cada una de ellas. en segundo lugar, además del departamento técnico, se encuentran los departamentos de ventas, marketing y distribución y el departamento de contabilidad y finanzas del cual depende el de recursos humanos. todos estos departamentos informan tanto al responsable español como al alemán del área geográfica y del producto que corresponda, lo cual supone costes de coordinación importantes y una falta de flexibilidad y de capacidad de adaptación a las nuevas exigencias de organización del trabajo. este diseño organizativo tan jerarquizado no favorece la eficacia de los equipos de trabajo. cuando surge un problema dentro de un equipo, el líder, normalmente un operario, trata de resolver dicho problema recogiendo ideas y posibles soluciones, pero se enfrenta a un problema jerárquico al tener que informar al encargado de la sección correspondiente, quien a su vez tendrá que informar al responsable del nivel jerárquico superior, y así sucesivamente, lo que provoca roces entre las partes, retrasos en la solución del problema, y como consecuencia última de todo ello una insatisfacción para las personas que actúan en la estructura y la sustentan. además de todos estos factores, que no contribuyen a la formación y eficacia de los equipos, la propia historia de la empresa también provoca una desconfianza de sus empleados hacia esta política de carácter aparentemente participativo. todos los indicios de cambio hacia un estilo de dirección menos autoritario no se han desarrollado correctamente a través de un plan, en cuyo diseño estén involucrados todos los empleados de la organización, lo que ha generado desconfianza; los operarios no entienden porque se les impide participar en la elaboración del plan y posteriormente se les pide que colaboren de acuerdo al plan establecido. los empleados de la planta no creen en absoluto en el trabajo en equipo, simplemente piensan que se ha intentado satisfacer una estrategia empresarial al servicio de la multinacional. todas las características de los factores y hechos comentados provocaron que los grupos fueran muriendo por falta de motivación y alicientes, ya que no había ningún tipo de incentivos y sí muchas críticas por el resto de la plantilla de otras secciones que no trabajaban en grupo. la planta productiva “b” factores ambientales y de diseño la planta b, con una plantilla de alrededor de 500 trabajadores, es una planta más reivindicativa a nivel laboral pero pionera en lo que se refiere a proceso productivo, tecnología, y políticas de organización m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 4, 2000, 111-134 117 m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 4, 2000, 111-134 118 del trabajo. su carácter de planta monoproducto, así como las características de su proceso productivo que se centra fundamentalmente en la sección de montaje, la predisponen más favorablemente para la formación de equipos de trabajo. por su importancia, es necesario destacar el inicio de una nueva filosofía de organización del trabajo, a principios de la década de los 90, resultado de la implantación del proyecto cip (la mejora continua de procesos) y lernstatt (aprendizaje en el puesto de trabajo), inspirada en la metodología de la casa matriz alemana. se trata de un plan piloto a desarrollar en la planta b, para extenderlo después al resto de las plantas españolas del grupo. el proyecto cip se puso en marcha en la planta b durante el año 1993 y se instrumentó a través de la creación y desarrollo de diferentes grupos de trabajo, que debidamente formados, se centraban en la obtención de una serie de objetivos estratégicos a medio plazo, fundamentalmente basados en la calidad total como sistema de gestión empresarial. estos grupos de trabajo se han ido perfilando y diseñando para llegar al objetivo “top”, punto fuerte de la filosofía de grupo en cuanto a organización del trabajo; una filosofía con una estrategia clara: gestión de calidad total y cambio cultural. el proceso de transformación iniciado en 1993, se fundamenta en tres pilares básicos a juicio del director de la planta: 1/ calidad total, base del cip, cuyo objetivo es cubrir satisfactoriamente las expectativas de los clientes con la involucración de todos los operarios en la realización de este objetivo; 2/ just-in time, que da lugar a que la fabricación esté en función del cliente que compra el aparato, ya que se incorpora un mantenimiento productivo total (tpm), es decir un mantenimiento preventivo de los sistemas que asegure que éstos estén siempre listos y a punto para fabricar; en este proceso se incluye el smed (single minute exchange), que supone la reducción de los tiempos de cambio a un sólo minuto, lo que favorece la producción mezclada de lotes cada vez más pequeños por modelo, “mixing”, una logística orientada a trabajar con poco almacén de materias y partes intermedias, lo cual influye positivamente en la eficiencia; 3/ estilo de gestión, el cual se basa: en la descentralización de las decisiones a través de grupos o equipos de trabajo; en el desarrollo de las capacidades, tanto a nivel individual como de grupo; y en la práctica de una alta integración de sus miembros con los objetivos generales de la planta, permitiendo y fomentando la participación. por otra parte, y paralelamente al proyecto cip, en la planta b se inicia en 1993 un plan de inversiones denominado “plan ergón”, proyecto que es aprobado definitivamente en enero de 1994; plan de inversiones con el que alemania pretende convertir a la planta b en la planta modelo del grupo en europa, no sólo a nivel técnico y productivo, sino también a nivel organizativo y humano. este plan supone una transformación tecnológica que va a servir de marco ideal para implantar los nuevos sistemas de participación basados en la formación natural de áreas de trabajo, dentro de la misma estructura técnico-organizativa, lo cual favorece la implementación y eficacia de los equipos de trabajo, puesto que la formación del grupo formal permite m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 4, 2000, 111-134 119 la formación del grupo informal. el gran proyecto de ingeniería consiste en la transformación de las dos cadenas de montaje en cuatro módulos, islas de montaje o minicadenas, donde cada módulo está compuesto por quince personas, cuyos puestos de trabajo agrupan un mayor contenido de tareas y una mayor visión de conjunto. el jefe del equipo, que es un operario más, tiene además las funciones de dar información hacía dentro y hacía fuera del módulo, distribuye la carga de trabajo, recoge sugerencias para mejorar los procedimientos y se encarga del control de calidad de la producción del equipo; de esta forma con la ayuda necesaria del equipo, los defectos se localizan en el propio módulo. el equipo es responsable de toda la fase de montaje desde que entra el producto en su módulo hasta que sale, con el fin de dar a todos los operarios que trabajan en el módulo una visión suficientemente amplia de todos los trabajos que se realizan y una preparación suficiente para desempeñar cualquiera de las funciones a desarrollar. adicionalmente, se ha dotado a los módulos de la tecnología más avanzada con el fin de reducir al mínimo el esfuerzo físico y las posturas incómodas. al operario se le presenta el producto en la posición y altura adecuada para la realización de cada tarea. adicionalmente, los módulos tienen forma de u para que el input este cerca del output y para que a todo el equipo le resulte fácil conocer el resultado de su trabajo. por otro lado, los operarios no tienen un puesto fijo, sino que van rotando según los periodos y la formación alcanzada. en relación al contexto organizacional o políticas de recursos humanos, los cambios que se producen, sobre todo, en la política de formación y de retribución favorecen la implementación y eficacia de los equipos de trabajo. la política de formación, a raíz del nuevo proceso productivo, ha sido fundamental a todos los niveles. el tiempo de formación implica una parada de la producción, cada 15 días en las distintas secciones, con el objetivo de que los operarios que trabajan en ellas tengan una sesión de formación y de intercambio de opiniones. por su parte la política de retribución incluye un cambio importante, al introducir una prima variable de grupo que refuerza el trabajo en equipo, una prima basada en la productividad y la calidad. esta política de retribución que, aunque, es común en las dos plantas productivas, se refuerza, especialmente, en la planta b con un sistema de evaluación y control en los grupos de trabajo por parte del coordinador “top”; la participación es premiada con pequeñas retribuciones en especie y promociones para aquel personal que se involucre en los equipos de trabajo. factores de proceso el cambio en el proceso de fabricación ha sido el punto de partida para realizar cambios a todos los niveles organizativos. se decide modificar la estructura organizativa de la planta a nivel de fábrica, intentando crear una organización más plana y descentralizada que haga eficiente el nuevo entorno productivo. para ello se ponen en marcha dos acciones: la primera acción consiste en desarrollar un programa de formación dirigido a los mandos, con el fin de ir inculcando en los mismos la responsabilidad que deben asumir como gerentes de su propio m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 4, 2000, 111-134 120 negocio; la segunda acción consiste en organizar y distribuir la planta por secciones, de forma que cada encargado sea responsable de su propia cuenta de resultados. de esta forma se producen cambios importantes en el comité industrial incorporando directivos con un estilo de dirección más integrado y coherente basado en la comunicación abierta y en la participación. este cambio de estilo de dirección se acoge, en principio, con cierto recelo que se va, posteriormente, relajando a medida que los mandos van asumiendo mayor autonomía y responsabilidad sobre la marcha de su sección. este cambio de actitud es provocado, con toda seguridad, porque por primera vez sienten que la teoría se lleva a la práctica y se actúa con coherencia, ya que les llegan los mismos conceptos a través de diferentes fuentes, desde su propio mando natural y sesiones de formación, así como desde la realidad cotidiana que por primera vez encaja con los proyectos de despacho. adicionalmente, surge el interés de la compañía por conocer la opinión de los empleados a través de encuestas de actitud y opinión donde se analizan temas relativos a: organización, condiciones y satisfacción del trabajo; seguridad en el empleo, retribución, formación, comunicación y resultado y desarrollo. en lo que se refiere a la relación con la casa matriz, la autonomía de esta planta con respecto a la casa matriz es prácticamente absoluta, este hecho se debe fundamentalmente a que los resultados en niveles de producción y calidad son extraordinarios, por lo que no se considera necesario el control desde la casa matriz. tras el análisis de las dos plantas productivas, es importante destacar que aunque ambas plantas pertenecen a la misma multinacional, con una política homogeneizadora común para todas las plantas del grupo, dichas plantas cuentan con una casuística y unas características internas referentes a proceso productivo, diseño organizativo, políticas de personal y cultura tan diferentes que hace especialmente atractivo su análisis comparativo. el esquema 1 recoge una síntesis de las características de los distintos factores que influyen en la eficacia del grupo. en relación a la planta a, los equipos de trabajo se introducen en un contexto interno que no favorece su eficacia. en relación a los factores ambientales y de diseño, en primer lugar, y desde un punto de vista tecnológico el proceso productivo caracterizado por líneas de montaje en las que se obtienen cuatro productos diferentes no favorece el desarrollo de las condiciones ambientales y sociales óptimas para conseguir una acción colectiva eficaz; en segundo lugar, el directivo no ha sabido crear las condiciones necesarias para una actuación eficaz del equipo, ya que esta práctica de recursos humanos se introduce en un contexto de cultura organizacional unida a resultados (propia de estructuras organizativas jerarquizadas), sin que se de ningún tipo de formación previa a los mandos intermedios, directivos y empleados sobre como organizar, dirigir y trabajar en equipo. esta situación provoca una ausencia de apoyo y compromiso auténtico de la alta dirección que imposibilita las modificaciones necesarias en las políticas de personal (selección, formación y retribución) para la implantación con éxito del trabajo en equipo. adicionalmente, los grupos no han sido m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 4, 2000, 111-134 121 formados de forma voluntaria sino controlada por la dirección, quien interviene activamente en la designación de los líderes; hecho que no favorece la composición y autonomía del grupo. en relación a los factores de proceso de grupos, la estructura organizativa jerárquica de la planta, caracterizada por la especialización de tareas y una comunicación vertical, no ha favorecido la interacción entre miembros del grupo y entre grupos y, a su vez, ha provocado roces entre los líderes de los equipos y los capataces de la sección con las consiguientes ineficiencias; factores que influyen directamente en los rasgos psicológicos del grupo, y que no han permitido la creación de un clima de confianza entre sus miembros, necesario para la satisfacción de las necesidades psicológicas y personales. en relación a la planta b, los equipos de trabajo se introducen en un contexto interno que favorece su implementación y eficacia. en primer lugar, los factores ambientales relacionados con el cambio en el proceso productivo son consistentes y coherentes con los factores de diseño (relacionados con las características de las tareas de grupo y del contexto organizacional), los cuales favorecen la implementación de las políticas participativas y por tanto la eficacia del grupo; la transformación tecnológica relacionada con la transición de las cadenas de montaje a las islas de montaje, ha servido de marco ideal para implementar los nuevos sistemas de participación basados en la formación natural de áreas de trabajo. en segundo lugar, y en relación a los factores de proceso de grupo, la estructura organizativa más plana y participativa ha permitido la interacción y comunicación entre los miembros del grupo; en la planta b todos los departamentos están relacionados con la producción y reportan directamente al director de la fabriesquema 1. perfiles comparados de la planta a y la planta b planta “a” planta “b”factores multiproducto líneas de montaje lotes pequeños y producción nivelada producción centrada en esmaltería y montaje jit y kanban comunicación formal y restrictiva actuaciones aisladas de desarrollo de políticas participativas poco énfasis en la formación de operarios para el objetivo de trabajo en equipo ausencia de incentivos no se conoce la opinión de los trabajadores más jerárquico y complejo división por plantas, funciones productos y mercados menos autonomía necesidad de reportar a muchos jefes compleja organizacionalmente más dependiente de la mnc monoproducto islas de montaje lotes muy pequeños y producción mezclada producción centrada en montaje jit con tpm y smed comunicación informal y abierta coherencia y continuidad de políticas participativas enfasis en la formación de los operarios para que se involucren en el nuevo proceso productivo y en la filosofía de grupo, incluso asumiendo costes pequeños incentivos de retribución en especie y promoción encuestas de actitud y de opinión más plano y sencillo división por funciones y mercados mayor autonomía todas las divisiones reportan al director de la fábrica compleja laboralmente más independiente de la mnc factores ambientales y de diseño proceso productivo factores de diseño factores de proceso cultura m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 4, 2000, 111-134 122 ca, lo que favorece sobremanera la comunicación horizontal. por otro lado, es importante resaltar que en la planta no existe un departamento de recursos humanos, sin embargo existe la figura del coordinador “top”, la cual es fundamental para el control y diseño de las políticas de organización del trabajo. el coordinador se encarga de integrar a los empleados en los objetivos de la empresa, se comunica con ellos y les hacer ver que son ellos lo que conocen las raíces de los problemas que puedan surgir y los que pueden aportar las soluciones correctas a los mismos. además, el coordinador ha diseñado un pequeño aliciente, una simbólica remuneración en especie (productos que se fabrican en el grupo) en función del grado de participación en los grupos; se trata de un incentivo lo suficientemente pequeño como para evitar comportamientos oportunistas, pero lo suficientemente representativo como para apoyar la filosofía de participación, la cual refuerza los aspectos psicológicos y de satisfacción del empleado. también es importante resaltar que en esta planta se ha tenido una gran coherencia y continuidad en todos los proyectos relativos a la organización del trabajo, por lo que los trabajadores no han tenido la sensación de confusión y han sabido siempre cual era el objetivo de la dirección en lo que a la organización se refiere. análisis empírico cuantitativo el objetivo de este epígrafe es realizar un análisis cuantitativo, que complemente el análisis empírico cualitativo anterior, del impacto de los equipos de trabajo en el performance de algunas secciones de las dos plantas productivas de la compañía objeto de nuestro estudio, tomando como indicadores de dicho performance la productividad laboral, la calidad y el absentismo productivo. en concreto se analizan las secciones de montaje y esmaltaría en la planta productiva a y la sección de montaje en la planta productiva b. desde el punto de vista de la contrastación econométrica, y tras el análisis empírico cualitativo de las plantas, las proposiciones de partida sobre la relación existente entre equipos de trabajo y performance se resumen en las siguientes: proposición 1: el equipo de trabajo tendrá una influencia negativa o bien nula en el performance de las secciones correspondientes a la planta a, previsiblemente debido a que esta práctica se introduce en un contexto interno que no favorece la implementación del equipo de trabajo ni la eficacia del mismo. proposición 2: el equipo de trabajo tendrá una influencia positiva en el performance de las sección productiva correspondiente a la planta b, previsiblemente debido a que esta práctica se introduce en un contexto interno que si favorece la implementación del equipo de trabajo y la eficacia del mismo. para llevar a cabo el análisis estadístico de la relación existente entre esta política participativa, equipos de trabajo y el performance empresarial, se ha seleccionado para la planta a un periodo de 72 meses, desde enero de 1992 hasta diciembre de 1997, que define un marco m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 4, 2000, 111-134 123 temporal lo suficientemente representativo. para la planta b, al estar disponibles los datos sólo de forma anual, se ha tomado el máximo periodo posible, 17 años, desde el año 1981 hasta el año 1997. especificación del modelo y de la metodología econométrica las variables dependientes para nuestro estudio han sido la calidad, la productividad laboral, y el absentismo productivo, medidas similares a las utilizadas por banker, field, schroeder, y sinha (1996), hackman (1991) o macduffie (1995). como medida de calidad, q, se utiliza un índice que establece la relación entre número de unidades defectuosas y el número de aparatos fabricados. cuanto más bajo sea este índice, menor será el número de aparatos que pasan por reparación, es decir los procesos serán mejores (los aparatos salen bien a la primera) y menores serán los problemas con las piezas del proveedor. la información disponible sobre este índice es mensual para la planta a y anual para la planta b. la variable dependiente productividad laboral, pl, se mide a través del ratio que relaciona el número de unidades producidas sin defectos sobre el total de horas de producción en la sección correspondiente, siendo también mensual la información disponible para la planta a y anual para la planta b. en relación al absentismo, absen, se utiliza el índice usado en la compañía, el cual pone en relación las horas de absentismo productivo, (excluyendo sucesos atípicos como vacaciones fuera de fecha, horas de asamblea y compensaciones, horas de huelga u horas de votaciones), y la plantilla media ponderada por las horas efectivas trabajadas. entre las variables independientes utilizadas, explicativas de la eficiencia empresarial, tenemos en primer lugar nuestra variable de interés, objeto del análisis, que trata de recoger el impacto de los equipos de trabajo, et. para ello se utiliza una variable discreta que adopta el valor uno cuando la práctica de equipos de trabajo está presente en la sección que se analiza y en el mes o año concreto, y cero en el resto de los casos en los que no está presente esta práctica5. con el objeto de aislar el impacto del equipo de trabajo sobre el performance de otras variables que también pueden afectar de forma importante a la calidad y productividad empresarial, se han incorporado, siguiendo a hayes y clark (1985), unas variables de control que afectan de forma importante al proceso productivo, relacionadas con políticas relativas a fuerza laboral y con políticas que afectan a la confusión en planta. con respecto al grupo de prácticas relativas a fuerza laboral, el trabajo incluye las siguientes variables: 1/ horas extraordinarias, he, variable medida a través de la relación número de horas extraordinarias realizadas en la sección entre el número de trabajadores en la sección; la información sobre esta relación es mensual para la planta a y anual para la planta b; 2/ variaciones en la plantilla, var, medida 5. para el caso de la planta a, en ambas secciones, esmaltería y montaje, la implementación de la política equipos de trabajo se hace efectiva en diciembre del año 1994, abandonándose esta política en el caso de la sección de montaje en febrero de 1996, mientras que para la sección de esmaltería se mantiene hasta mayo de ese mismo año. posteriormente, debido a la implantación de la filosofía “top” en todas las plantas del grupo de la multinacional, se volvió a poner en marcha a finales de 1997. en la planta b, desde su implantación en diciembre del año 1994, la política de equipos de trabajo continúa ininterrumpidamente. m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 4, 2000, 111-134 124 a través del ratio que relaciona la diferencia existente entre la plantilla del periodo (mensual o anual) y la plantilla media del periodo total de análisis (72 meses o 17 años) con respecto a la plantilla media del periodo total de análisis; es decir esta variable recoge la tasa de variación de la plantilla con respecto a la plantilla media para cada sección; 3/ utilización no prevista de mano de obra, mo, medida a través de la relación tiempo de utilización de mano de obra directa no prevista por el ciclo de trabajo entre horas productivas previstas y concedidas al mismo, es decir se recogen aspectos tales como excesos de tiempo en producción directa, preparaciones y reoperaciones, así como trabajos indirectos de apoyo, cesiones y paros debidos a la producción; y 4/ horas de paro, hu, variable que mide la relación horas de paro (debidas a sucesos relativos a asambleas, votaciones, conflictos laborales o cualquier otro motivo excepcional) con respecto al número de horas efectivas trabajadas en cada sección. entre las variables independientes de control que tratan de recoger la confusión en la planta, el trabajo incluye: 1/ grado de complejidad del producto, comple, tomando directamente la medida de complejidad que se utiliza en la planta; donde se considera que la sección más compleja es aquella en la que cuesta más tiempo la realización del producto respecto al resto de las secciones; esta variable se incluye solamente en caso de medir el performance en términos de calidad y no se incluye cuando medimos éste en términos de productividad, dada la correlación tan importante existente entre las dos variables (teniendo en cuenta que la variable complejidad viene medida a través de una aproximación que recogería la inversa de la productividad); 2/ utilización de la capacidad del equipo productivo, cue, medida a través de la relación entre tiempo productivo y tiempo disponible; 3/ órdenes cambiantes, cam, dentro de la cual se incluye la incorporación de un tercer turno en la planta de montaje; se mide utilizando una variable discreta que adoptará el valor uno en los meses en que está presente el tercer turno y cero para el resto; y 4/ experimentos realizados en la planta, incluye dos variables que tratan de recoger dos hechos concretos que han afectado durante este periodo a la productividad y calidad. en primer lugar, la incorporación de nuevos productos en las plantas, con algunos ajustes en la tecnología, que han ido sustituyendo las versiones anteriores de los productos objeto de nuestro estudio, pdto; hecho que se mide a través de una variable dummy que adoptará el valor uno en aquellos meses o años donde están presentes los dos productos y cero en el resto. y, en segundo lugar, la incorporación de la empresa a la normativa iso 9000, iso, medida a través de una variable dummy la cual adoptará el valor uno para aquellos meses o años en que se incorpora la normativa y cero en el resto. en síntesis, el objetivo último de la introducción de las variables de control es excluir el impacto de aquellos factores de costes que explicarían las diferencias en los niveles de calidad y productividad en la planta durante el periodo de estudio y que no se deben a la política de trabajo en equipo propiamente dicha. basándonos en el modelo de banker y otros (1996), e incluyendo la variable absentismo, para cada una de las secciones, nuestro modelo se formula como sigue: m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 4, 2000, 111-134 125 para la sección de esmaltería6: qjt = α0j + α1jetjt + α2jhejt + α3jvarjt + α4jmojt + α5jabsenjt + α6jcomplejt + α7jpdtojt + α8jisojt + α9jpljt + µ1 pljt = ß0j + ß1jetjt + ß2jhejt + ß3jvarjt + ß4jmojt + ß5jabsenjt + ß6jpdtojt + ß7jisojt + ß8jqjt + µ2 absenjt = γ0j + γ1jetjt + γ2jhejt + γ3jvarjt + γ4jhujt + µ3 j = sección esmaltería; t = 1…72 meses. para la sección de montaje: qit = α0i + α1ietit + α2iheit + α3ivarit + α4imoit + α5iabsenit + α6icompleit + α7icueit + α8icamit + α9ipdtoit + α10iisoit + α11iplit + µ1 plit = ß0i + ß1ietit + ß2iheit + ß3ivarit + ß4imoit + ß5iabsenit + ß6icueit + ß7icamit + ß8ipdtoit + ß9iisoit + ß10iqit + µ2 absenit = γ0i + γ1ietit + γ2iheit + γ3ivarit + γ4ihuit + µ3 i = sección montaje; t = 1…72 meses ó t = 1…17 años. en el análisis de la sección de esmaltería no se incluye ni la variable capacidad de utilización, cue, ni la variable cambio, cam, puesto que ambas se refieren específicamente a la sección de montaje. el modelo especificado recoge tres regresiones, para cada sección, donde las variables endógenas a explicar son la calidad, la productividad laboral y el absentismo productivo respectivamente, en función de algunas de las variables explicativas anteriormente comentadas. la estimación del modelo a través del método de mínimos cuadrados ordinarios, mco, nos daría estimaciones de los parámetros inconsistentes, debido a que las variables explicativas no son independientes del término del error µi. el problema que se presenta es que las funciones de productividad, calidad y absentismo deben considerarse de forma simultánea y no de forma aislada puesto que todas ellas guardan relación entre sí; en concreto, la calidad viene explicada por las variables endógenas productividad del trabajador y el absentismo productivo, y la productividad del trabajador viene explicada, a su vez, por el nivel de calidad y el absentismo. con el objeto de obtener estimaciones consistentes, para los parámetros del modelo de ecuaciones simultáneas, uno de los métodos generales que se utiliza es el método de mínimos cuadrados en dos etapas (2sls), consistente en desarrollar la estimación en dos pasos: primero, se estiman mediante mco las distintas ecuaciones en forma reducida, es decir se regresionan cada una de las variables endógenas sobre, únicamente, las variables exógenas al sistema; de esta forma se obtienen unas predicciones para las variables endógenas. y en segundo lugar, y en el modelo estructural inicial del que se parte, se reemplazan las variables explicativas endógenas por las predicciones obtenidas en el paso anterior y se estiman las distintas ecuaciones por mco, obteniéndose estimaciones de los parámetros consistentes. sin embargo, en el caso particular de que existan correlaciones entre los términos de error de las distintas ecuaciones, el método de estimación por mínimos cuadrados ordinarios en tres etapas (3sls) es más eficiente que el 2sls 6. variables: q : calidad et : equipo de trabajo he : horas extraordinarias var : variaciones en la plantilla mo : utilización no prevista de mano de obra absen : absentismo comple : grado de complejidad del producto pdto : incorporación de nuevos productos iso : incorporación de la empressa a la normativa iso 9000 pl : productividad laboral hu : horas de paro cue : utilización de la capacidad del equipo productivo cam : órdenes cambiantes al considerar la información correspondiente a la matriz de covarianzas de las perturbaciones; matriz de correlaciones que es desconocida y que por tanto es necesario estimarla. para ello se obtienen primero las estimaciones 2sls de cada una de las ecuaciones del modelo por separado. a partir de ellas, se obtienen los vectores de residuos de cada ecuación. dichos vectores se utilizan para estimar los distintos componentes de la matriz. de este modo dos de las tres etapas de mínimos cuadrados a los que se refiere el nombre de este estimador provienen de la obtención de los residuos necesarios para estimar dicha matriz. la tercera etapa es la estimación mínimos cuadrados generalizados de todas las ecuaciones del sistema simultáneamente7. resultados de las estimaciones por mínimos cuadrados en tres etapas (3sls) planta “a” el análisis econométrico, sobre las implicaciones de los equipos de trabajo en el performance, se centra en las secciones de esmaltería y montaje, por tratarse de las secciones más apropiadas para la incorporación de esta práctica. la sección de mecanización queda excluida del análisis por tratarse de una sección muy intensiva en capital productivo con poca intervención humana. adicionalmente, el análisis se realiza para un único producto debido a la gran importancia que las dos secciones anteriores tienen en la consecución del mismo. la tabla 1 resume las estimaciones de los parámetros, del modelo de ecuaciones simultáneas, por mínimos cuadrados en tres etapas (3sls) para las secciones de esmaltería y montaje respectivamente. de los mismos se desprende la confirmación de nuestra hipótesis 1 de partida, puesto que el coeficiente de la variable “equipo de trabajo”, et, no es significativo para ninguna medida de performance y en ninguna de las secciones. la no influencia del equipo de trabajo en el performance se debe previsiblemente, apoyándonos en el análisis cualitativo anterior, a que esta práctica se introduce en un contexto interno que no favorece su eficacia. con respecto a las estimaciones de las variables de control que recogen aquellos factores, distintos a los relacionados con la práctica equipo de trabajo, y que explican las diferencias en productividad, calidad y absentismo en la planta durante el periodo de estudio, los resultados más importantes que se obtienen son los siguientes. con respecto a la variable productividad y para la sección de esmaltería, los resultados revelan que las diferencias en productividad, durante el periodo analizado, se explican fundamentalmente por diferencias en la utilización no prevista de mano de obra; el coeficiente que acompaña a la variable mo, negativo y significativo al 1%, es igual a -2,02 lo que indica que un incremento del uno por ciento en la tasa de tiempo de utilización de mano de obra directa no prevista (por reparaciones, reoperaciones, trabajos indirectos de apoyo, etc.). m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 4, 2000, 111-134 126 7. para un análisis más detallado de la metodología véase maddala (1996) y novales (1993). c te e t h e v a r m o h u a b s e n c o m pl e c u e c a m p d t o is o q r 2 m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 4, 2000, 111-134 127 t a b la 1 . r e su lta d o s d e l a s e st im a ci o n e sp o r m ín im o s cu a d ra d o s e n t re s e ta p a s (3 s l s ): p la n ta “ a ” s e cc ió n e sm al te ría q p l a b s e n s ec ció n m on ta je q p l a b s e n -0 ,0 1 (-0 ,3 ) 4, 13 (0 ,3 3) 0, 16 * (9 ,8 ) -0 ,1 (-0 ,4 8) 0, 97 (1 ,3 5) 0, 09 * (1 1, 7) 0, 00 1 (0 ,2 ) 0, 6 (0 ,3 5) 0, 00 1 (0 ,5 ) -0 ,0 2 (-1 ,2 ) 0, 00 3 (0 ,0 2) 0, 02 (1 ,3 ) 0, 00 1* (2 ,7 7) -0 ,2 2 (-0 ,6 5) 0, 00 5 (1 ,5 5) 0, 00 5* * (1 ,9 ) 0, 00 3 (0 ,1 0) 0, 00 1 (0 ,4 3) 0, 01 (0 ,5 7) 1, 2 (0 ,2 2) -0 ,0 1* * (-1 ,6 7) -0 ,0 3 (-0 ,7 ) -0 ,2 4 (0 ,9 5) 0, 08 ** (-1 ,8 2) -0 ,1 6 (-0 ,6 8) -2 ,0 2* (-2 ,6 3) — 0 ,2 (1 ,2 ) 0, 56 (0 ,3 9) — — — 1 ,0 8* (3 ,7 ) — — 1 ,1 4* (3 ,7 ) 0, 18 (0 ,4 8) -0 ,6 7 (-0 ,4 8) — 0 ,1 8 (0 ,5 ) 0, 66 (0 ,4 1) — 0, 51 (1 ,5 5) — — 0 ,0 5 (0 ,5 ) — — — — — 1 ,1 5 (0 ,9 ) 0, 1 (0 ,0 8) — — — — -0 ,0 7* (-2 ,2 ) 0, 1 (0 ,2 1) — 0, 03 * (3 ,9 8) -2 ,6 2 (-0 ,5 0) — 0 ,4 4* * (1 ,8 8) 0, 08 (0 ,2 6) — -0 ,0 4* (-4 ,4 7) 7, 23 (0 ,7 9) — -0 ,0 8* (-3 ,3 ) 0, 08 (0 ,1 2) — — 1 ,3 3 (0 ,6 7) — — -0 ,8 5 (-0 ,1 2) — 0, 68 0, 15 0, 21 0, 33 0, 27 0, 19 c te : c on st an te ; e t : e qu ip os d e tr ab aj o; h e : h or as e xt ra or di na ri as ; v a r : v ar ia ci on es e n la p la nt il la ; m o : u ti li za ci ón n o pr ev is ta d e m an o de o br a; h u : h or as d e pa ro ; a b s e n : a bs en ti sm o; c o m p l e : g ra do d e co m pl ej id ad d el p ro du ct o; c u e : u ti li za ci ón d e la c ap ac id ad d el e qu ip o pr od uc ti vo ; c a m : ó rd en es c am bi an te s; p d t o : in co rp or ac ió n de n ue vo s pr odu ct os ; is o : i nc or po ra ci ón d e la e m pr es sa a l a no rm at iv a is o 9 00 0; q : c al id ad ; p l : p ro du ct iv id ad l ab or al . n = 7 2 . l o s va lo re s e n tr e p a ré n te si s so n l o s e st a d ís tic o s ts tu d e n t. * p a rá m e tr o s ig n ifi ca tiv o a l 1 % ** p a rá m e tr o s ig n ifi ca tiv o a l 1 0 % m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 4, 2000, 111-134 128 con respecto al tiempo de mano de obra productiva prevista se traduce en una disminución del dos por cien en la productividad del trabajador. recordemos que la sección de esmaltería, aunque es muy intensiva en capital productivo, se caracteriza por contar con un proceso productivo modular que permite una movilidad funcional, flexibilidad y capacidad productiva combinatoria que hace que el entorno productivo sea complejo y poco especializado, lo que provoca que se produzcan paros en la producción por cambios de troqueles, así como excesos de tiempo en preparaciones, reoperaciones y en trabajos indirectos de apoyo. los resultados correspondientes a la sección de montaje revelan que no existen diferencias en productividad, durante el periodo de análisis, que sean explicadas por las variables de control consideradas. en relación a la variable calidad y para ambas secciones, los resultados constatan que las diferencias en calidad durante el periodo de análisis, se deben fundamentalmente: 1/ a diferencias en el número de horas extraordinarias realizadas por empleado; el coeficiente que acompaña a la variable he es positivo y significativo al 1 y 10 % en las secciones de esmaltería y montaje respectivamente, lo que indica que el porcentaje de unidades defectuosas aumenta a medida que aumenta el número de horas extraordinarias realizadas por trabajador, aunque la productividad no se vea afectada; hecho que revela la posible insatisfacción del trabajador por realizar horas extraordinarias de forma obligatoria, que le induce a prestar menos atención en el proceso productivo; hay que resaltar que el valor tan pequeño del coeficiente (0,001 y 0,005 para la sección de esmaltería y montaje respectivamente) se debe a las diferencias en el fraccionamiento de las variables (las horas extraordinarias se dividen por número de trabajadores, y el número de unidades defectuosas se dividen por el número total de productos fabricados); 2/ a la introducción de un nuevo producto en la planta; el coeficiente que acompaña a la variable pdto es positivo y significativo al 1% para la sección de esmaltería y al 10 % para la sección de montaje, lo cual nos indica un periodo de ajuste en el que se reduce la calidad (aumenta el porcentaje de piezas defectuosas) hasta la total puesta en funcionamiento del nuevo producto; 3/ a diferencias en la normativa de calidad. la incorporación de la normativa de calidad iso 9000 mejora el nivel de calidad, puesto que el coeficiente que acompaña a la variable es negativo y significativo, revelando un menor número de productos defectuosos y por tanto una mayor calidad de los mismos; al incorporar la normativa y aplicar controles desde los proveedores hasta las líneas, se provoca una agilización del proceso y, por consiguiente, una mejora de la calidad. es necesario tener en cuenta que en la sección de esmaltería es muy difícil que se puedan detectar fallos y subsanarlos a mitad del proceso, por lo que es necesario controlar la calidad en todas las fases implicadas en la cadena vertical; este hecho es fundamental para comprender la ausencia del impacto de esta normativa en la productividad; y 4/ a la incorporación de un turno adicional en la sección de montaje, el cual supone una mayor calidad (coeficiente negativo y significativo) previsiblemente debido a que este nuevo turno se cubre habitualmenm@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 4, 2000, 111-134 129 te con trabajadores no permanentes que estarán incentivados a prestar una mayor atención con la esperanza de conseguir una permanencia en la empresa. por último y con respecto a la variable endógena absentismo, las diferencias de esta variable a lo largo del periodo se deben fundamentalmente a diferencias en la proporción existente entre número de horas de paro (relativas a conflictos laborales, huelgas, asambleas, votaciones o cualquier otro motivo excepcional) y número de horas efectivas trabajadas; el impacto positivo de la variable hu sobre el absentismo productivo es perfectamente comprensible si tenemos en cuenta que la histórica conflictividad de la planta junto con la política paternalista de la empresa favorecen el que una gran parte de los trabajadores se acojan a bajas laborales, cuando intuyen problemas de tipo reivindicativo en la planta, con el fin de no verse penalizados por la suspensión de sueldos durante el conflicto laboral, que invariablemente se suele producir en las negociaciones de convenios colectivos. adicionalmente, aunque con una significatividad inferior, las variaciones en la variabilidad de la plantilla también explican las variaciones en absentismo productivo durante el periodo de análisis; el coeficiente que acompaña a la variable var es negativo y significativo al 10 %, lo que sugiere que la movilidad funcional de la plantilla provoca un descenso en el absentismo en ambas secciones pero por razones distintas: en la sección de esmaltería al estar caracterizada por un proceso productivo complejo, aunque mecanizado, los trabajadores tienen incentivos a la movilidad funcional. y en la sección de montaje, aunque muy intensiva en mano de obra, los puestos de trabajo son muy rutinarios (al estar la cadena de montaje dispuesta en forma de línea) por lo que los operarios tienen incentivos a la movilidad funcional con el objeto de amortiguar la tediosa labor que supone trabajar en un mismo puesto en la línea de montaje. planta “b” en esta planta, cuyo proceso productivo está distribuido en tres secciones (mecánica, montaje y pintura), el análisis empírico cuantitativo se centra en la sección de montaje, quedando excluidas del análisis las otras dos secciones por ser muy intensivas en capital con poca intervención humana. por otro lado, y debido a que no todos los datos de las variables que se han considerado para la planta a están disponibles para la planta b, se han considerado como variables de fuerza laboral: horas extraordinarias, he, variación de la plantilla, var, y utilización de la mano de obra, mo; y como variables de confusión: introducción de un nuevo producto, pdto, e incorporación de la normativa de calidad iso. ambos grupos de variables se miden de la misma forma que hemos expuesto en el caso de la planta a. la tabla 2 resume los resultados de las estimaciones, del modelo ecuaciones simultáneas, por mínimos cuadrados en tres etapas para la sección de montaje de la planta b. los resultados confirman nuestra hipótesis 2, el equipo de trabajo tienen una influencia positiva y m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 4, 2000, 111-134 130 significativa sobre la productividad laboral. esta influencia positiva en la productividad del trabajador, se debe, previsiblemente, apoyándonos en el análisis cualitativo anterior, a la mejor gestión de esta práctica participativa de “equipos de trabajo”, en la planta b, unida a un profundo cambio en el proceso productivo que hace compatible la satisfacción de los objetivos de la organización junto con las necesidades personales de los trabajadores. sin embargo, los resultados de la contrastación empírica, en contra de la hipótesis 2 de partida, revelan que el equipo de trabajo no influye en la calidad ni en el absentismo productivo, siendo el último resultado consistente con el de pearson (1992), quien no encuentra diferencias en absentismo entre los equipos autónomos y los tradicionales. con respecto a las estimaciones de las variables de control que recogen aquellos factores, distintos a la implementación de los equipos de trabajo, que explican diferencias en calidad, productividad y absentismo en la sección de montaje durante el periodo de análisis, los resultados más importantes que se desprenden de la tabla 2 son los siguientes. las diferencias en productividad se explican fundamentalmente: 1/ por diferencias en la utilización de mano de obra no prevista; la variable que mide la utilización de mano de obra no prevista, mo, influye de forma negativa en la productividad laboral. esta influencia negativa en la productividad laboral podría explicarse por distintos factores entre los que podemos destacar: el mantenimiento durante mucho tiempo de una considerable parte de la plantilla en situación flotante con renovaciones semestrales, los excesos de tiempo habidos como consecuencia del periodo de adaptación a los nuevos módulos de montaje, y la incorporación de un nuevo producto que ha supuesto costes importantes por aprendizaje y averías; 2/ por diferencias en la variabilidad de la plantilla, cuyo coeficiente adopta un valor positivo y significativo al 1%, lo que parece indicar que una mayor rotación de los trabajadores en las tareas da lugar a una eficiencia productiva, previsicte et he var mo absen pdto iso q r2 tabla 2. resultados de las estimaciones por mínimos cuadrados en tres etapas (3sls): planta “b” sección montaje q pl absen 0,009 (0,376) 0,86* (12,89) 4,563* (2,726) -0,016 (-1,55) 0,074* (2,57) 0,336 (0,658) 0,025* (2,53) 0,051** (1,68) -1,992* (-3,031) -0,042 (-1,390) 0,197* (2,315) 9,130* (5,172) 0,009 (0,729) -0,019* (-5,292) 0,137 (1,536) -0,001 (0,004) 0,006 (0,008) — -0,057 (-0,545) -0,021 (-0,746) — 0,004 (0,036) 0,2* (6,66) — — -0,005 (-0,126) — 0,60 0,97 0,77 cte : constante; et : equipos de trabajo; he : horas extraordinarias; var : variaciones en la plantilla; mo : utilización no prevista de mano de obra; absen : absentismo; pdto : incorporación de nuevos productos; iso : incorporación de la empressa a la normativa iso 9000; q : calidad; pl : productividad laboral. n = 17. los valores entre paréntesis son los estadísticos t-student. * parámetro significativo al 1 % ** parámetro significativo al 10 % m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 4, 2000, 111-134 131 blemente como consecuencia de que estos se sienten psicológicamente más motivados en una nueva función laboral frente a sentirse atrapado, en una tarea rutinaria; y 3/ por la incorporación de la normativa iso. la incorporación de la normativa de calidad permite detectar en menos tiempo los aparatos defectuosos, lo que se traduce en una mayor eficiencia productiva. las diferencias en calidad, durante el periodo, se explican por diferencias en el número de horas extraordinarias realizadas por trabajador; el coeficiente de la variable he es positivo y significativo, lo que indica que a medida que aumenta el número de horas extraordinarias realizadas por trabajador se incrementa el porcentaje de piezas defectuosas (peor calidad), reflejando como la insatisfacción del empleado a realizar horas extraordinarias le induce a prestar poca atención al proceso productivo. las diferencias en el nivel de absentismo productivo, en el periodo de estudio, se deben fundamentalmente a: 1/ diferencias en el número de horas extraordinarias realizadas por trabajador, cuyo coeficiente negativo y significativo indica que los trabajadores se ven más incentivados a trabajar en horas extraordinarias dedicadas a cubrir puntas de producción, puesto que las mismas son retribuidas por encima del doble de la retribución correspondiente a una hora habitual, lo cual no es contradictorio con que las horas extraordinarias tengan una influencia negativa en la calidad, es decir cobrar más no implica trabajar mejor; y 2/ a diferencias en la variabilidad de la plantilla, cuyo coeficiente positivo y significativo indica, de forma contraria a lo ocurrido en la planta a, que un incremento en la tasa de variabilidad de la plantilla produce un aumento en el absentismo productivo de esta sección. la explicación a este resultado dada la estrategia de la empresa en cuanto a organización del trabajo se refiere (que exige involucrarse en programas de formación y rotación de puestos con el objetivo de beneficiarse de las primas de calidad), previsiblemente se encuentra en que la presión sindical ejerce un peso superior al impacto positivo derivado de la prima de calidad y en que los empleados que trabajan en puestos cómodos no quieren cambiar a otros con un nivel de saturación superior. comentarios finales y conclusiones a lo largo de este trabajo, y en concreto en el análisis empírico cualitativo, se pone de manifiesto que son los factores internos y, en particular, la capacidad de los gestores de las empresas para desarrollar estrategias y estructuras eficaces, lo que puede hacer de los recursos internos de cualquier compañía una ventaja competitiva frente al resto de las empresas. no obstante, el centrar la ventaja competitiva de las empresas en el capital humano, no exige solamente cambios en los factores de diseño interno de las compañías sino que también depende del apoyo que reciba esta práctica por parte del apoyo de los mecanismos institucionales de la economía (salas, 1993). sin embargo, en el caso analizado en este trabajo se ha prestado especial atención a los factores de contexto o marco institucional interno, ya que las unidades de análisis han sido las dos plantas productivas pertenecientes a una misma empresa, por lo que los elementos o factores referentes al contexto o marco institucional externo son idénticos para las mismas. en nuestro análisis revelamos que la eficacia de un grupo de trabajo puede depender del clima tecnológico y del clima que crea la dirección a través de su influencia en el diseño de tareas, en la composición del grupo, y en el contexto organizacional; siendo también muy importantes las características de la estructura organizativa. en el caso analizado, a nivel cualitativo, se obtienen dos resultados principales: 1/ los equipos de trabajo desarrollados en la planta a surgen en un contexto donde ni el proceso productivo (centrado en líneas de montaje), ni el diseño organizativo jerárquico, ni las políticas de rrhh (que no han tenido continuidad ni coherencia a lo largo del tiempo, en lo que a equipos de trabajo se refiere) han favorecido la eficacia del equipo de trabajo; circunstancias que nos permiten explicar posteriormente en el análisis cuantitativo, aunque de forma especulativa puesto que las mismas no se contrastan, la no influencia de los equipos de trabajo en el performance; 2/ los equipos de trabajo implementados en la planta b combinan aspectos técnicos y económicos propios de los modelos japoneses con aspectos sociales y humanos propios de los modelos suecos, lo cual previsiblemente explica, en cierta medida, el impacto positivo de los equipos de trabajo en la productividad laboral, obtenido en el análisis cuantitativo. adicionalmente, el que la relación de la filial-casa matriz con cada una de las plantas sea radicalmente distinta, puede ser un determinante clave para el éxito o fracaso de cualquier política de rrhh. en base al análisis realizado, la planta b es una planta especialmente cuidada desde alemania, de hecho es un objetivo del grupo alemán convertirla en la planta líder en europa respecto al producto que fabrica, fundamentalmente por los buenos resultados que ha obtenido desde que pertenece al grupo multinacional; este objetivo ha supuesto grandes inversiones por parte de la casa matriz, no sólo a nivel técnico y productivo, sino también un gran apoyo a nivel organizativo y humano (proyecto cip, top), que ha permitido una mayor integración entre los objetivos de la organización y los objetivos personales de los trabajadores; por lo que se puede concluir en base a este caso, que adicionalmente a los aspectos organizacionales internos, la influencia y apoyo que desde la casa matriz se preste a la filial será determinante para el éxito o fracaso de determinadas prácticas de rrhh, en este caso la implantación de los grupos de trabajo. nota. los autores agradecen la ayuda de la cicyt a través del proyecto de investigación sec1999-1087-c02-01. carmen galve es profesora titular del departamento de economía y dirección de empresas de la facultad de ciencias económicas y empresariales de la universidad de m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 4, 2000, 111-134 132 zaragoza (españa). sus temas de interés en investigación se centran en estructura de propiedad, recursos humanos y medio ambiente. raquel ortega es profesora asociada del departamento de economía y dirección de empresas de la facultad de ciencias económicas y empresariales de la universidad de zaragoza (españa). sus temas de interés en investigación se centran fundamentalmente en estrategia de recursos humanos y resultados. m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 4, 2000, 111-134 133 referencias ■ adler, paul s. y robert e. cole 1993 designed for learning: a tale of two autoplants, sloan management review, 34:3, 85-94. ■ alderfer, clayton p. 1977 group and intergroup relations, en j. richard hackman y j. lloyd suttle (eds), improving life at work: behavioral science approaches to organizational change, santa monica: goodyear, 227-296. ■ banker, rajiv d., joy m. field, roger g. schroeder, y kingshuk k. sinha 1996 impact of work teams on manufacturing performance: a longitudinal field study, academy of management journal, 39:4, 867-890. ■ batt, rosemary y eileen appelbaum 1995 worker participation in diverse settings: does the form affect the outcome, and if so, who benefits?, british journal of industrial relations, 33:3, 353-378. ■ bennett, david y ulf karlsson 1992 work organization as a basis for competition: the transition of car assembly in sweden, international studies of management & organization, 22:4, 4960. ■ berggren, christian 1992 alternatives to lean production: work organization in the swedish auto industry, ithaca: ilr press. ■ campion, michael a., gina j. medsker, y a. catherine higgs 1993 relations between work group characteristics and effectiveness: implications for designing effective work groups, personnel pyschology, 46:4, 823-850. ■ cohen, susan g., gerald e. ledford, jr. y gretchen m. spreitzer 1996 a predictive model of self-managing work team effectiveness, human relations, 49:5, 643-676. ■ cohen, susan g., y diane e. bailey 1997 what makes teams work: group effectiveness research from the shop floor to the executive suite, journal of management, 23:3, 239-290. ■ cordery, john l., walter s. mueller, y leigh m. smith 1991 attitudinal and behavioral effects of autonomous group working: a longitudinal field study, academy of management journal, 34:2, 464-476. ■ cotton, john l. 1993 employee involvement: methods for improving performance and work attitudes, newbury park: sage. ■ ellegard, kevin, theodore engstrom, y kjell nilsson, 1991 reforming industrial work: principles and realities in the planning of volvo´s car assembly plant in udevalla, stockholm, stockholm: swedish work environment fund. ■ guzzo, richard a., y marcus w. dickson 1996 teams in organizations: recent research on performance and effectiveness, in mark r. rosenzweig y lyman w. porter (eds.), annual review of psychology, 47, 307-338. ■ hackman, j. richard 1987 the design of work teams, en jay w lorsch (ed.), handbook of organizational behavior, englewood cliffs: prentice-hall, 315-342. ■ hackman, j. richard 1991 work teams in organizations: an orienting framework, en j. richard hackman (ed.), groups that work (and those that don´t), san francisco: jossey-bass, 1-14. ■ hayes, robert h., y kim b. clark 1985 exploring the sources of productivity differences at the factory level, en kim b. clark, robert h. hayes, y christopher lorenz (eds), the uneasy alliance: managing the productivitytechnology dilemma, boston: harvard business school press, 151-188. ■ levine david i., y laura d. tyson 1990 participation, productivity and the firm´s environment, en alan s. blinder (ed.), paying for productivity: a look at the evidence, washington, d.c: brookings institution, 183-243. m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 4, 2000, 111-134 134 ■ macduffie, john paul 1995 human resource bundles and manufacturing performance: organizational logic and flexible production systems in the world auto industry, industrial & labor relations review, 48:2, 197-221. ■ maddala, g. s. 1996 introducción a la econometría, 2da ed., méxico: prentice hall hispanoamericana. ■ magjuka, richard j., y timothy t. baldwin 1991 team-based employee involvement programs: effects of design and administration, personnel psychology, 44:4, 793-812. ■ nieva, v. f., edwin a fleishman, y a. reick 1985 team dimensions: their identity, their measurement, and their relationships, research note 85-12, washington, d.c.: u.s. army. research institute for the behavioral and social sciences. ■ novales, alfonso 1993 econometría, 2da ed., madrid: mcgraw-hill. ■ pearson, cecil a. l. 1992 autonomous workgroups: an evaluation at an industrial site, human relations, 45:9, 905-936. ■ regout, s. 1992 new forms of work organization—a typology, european participation monitor, 3, 31-34. ■ roethlisberger, f. j., y william j. dickson 1939 management and the worker: an account of a research program conducted by the western electric company, hawthorne works, chicago, cambridge: harvard university press. ■ salas, vicente 1993 factores de competitividad empresarial: consideraciones generales, papeles de economía española, 56:3, 379401. ■ schein, edgar 1980 psicología de la organización, madrid: dosat. ■ sundstrom, eric, kenneth p. demeuse, y david futrell 1990 work teams: aplications and effectiveness, american psychologist, 45, 120133. ■ trist, eric l., y ken w. bamforth 1951 some social and psychological consequences of the longwall method of coal–getting, human relations, 4:1, 338. ■ trist, eric l., george higgin, hugh murray, y albert pollack 1963 organizational choice: capabilities of groups at the coal face under changing technologies: the loss, re-discovery & transformation of a work tradition, london: tavistock publications. ■ vinokur-kaplan, diane 1995 treatment teams that work (and those that don’t ): an application of hackman’s group effectiveness model to interdisciplinary teams in psychiatric hospitals, journal of applied behavioral science, 31:3, 303-327. ■ wageman, ruth 1995 interdependence and group effectiveness, administrative science quaterly, 40:1, 145-180. ■ wagner, john a., iii 1994 participation´s effect on performance and satisfaction: a reconsideration of research evidence, academy of management review, 19:2, 312-330. 08 unp 223 houtbeckers 2019 m@n@gement 2019, vol. 22(3): 514-516 stranger things in academia unplugged voices eeva houtbeckers
 research in management and organization can only gain by being inspired from arts, culture and humanities in order to rethink practices but also to nourish its own perspectives. life in organizations is artificially separate from ordinary life: all mundane objects are thus conducive to astonishment, inspiration, and even problematization. the unplugged subsection “voices” gives the opportunity to academics and non-academics to deliver an interpretation of an object from the cultural or artistic world. interpreted objects mayor may not be directly related to organizational life, and may or may not resonate with the moment, but share some intriguing features. these interpretations suggest a patchwork of variations on the same object. as an avid speculative fiction fan, i value the feeling of strangeness. this might explain why i work in academia, from which many strange things still arise after a decade. stranger things is a speculative fiction television series that presents parallel worlds: our world and  an upsidedown alternative dimension. in this piece i elaborate the analogies between stranger things (season 1) and academia. in stranger things, the upside-down dimension is a dark nightmare version of our world. secret experiments conducted in a government institution bring to light a connection between these worlds and release a monster that visits our world in which it instils terror. however, the classical division of good and evil becomes distorted as the first season progresses: the problem drinker is a small-town sheriff, who believes that things are strange when others refuse to believe; the troubled father of a missing child is predominantly after a damages claim; a new kid on the block causes jealousy among a tight-knit group of children; a head of scientific experiments pushes his protégée in the name of fighting external threats to his nation. even the scary monster needs to eat in order to survive and provide care for the implied next generation. at the same time, one of the main characters is stuck in the upside-down dimension, hiding from the monster while, due to toxic air, life slowly departs him. i see analogies between academia and the worlds in stranger things. in academia, there seems to be a nonverbal agreement among some that other fields (i.e. the other dimension) are upside-down. this is because they do not value aspects that are considered important in �514 eeva houtbeckers department of design aalto university finland eeva.houtbeckers@aalto.fi m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 514-516 eeva houtbeckers academia: freedom of thought; flexibility; goals beyond personal benefit; generating knowledge and challenging understandings; raising the next generation of independent thinkers and so on. the other side is scary, distorted, and strange. however, when observing the realities of contemporary academic work, i’m starting to think that it is actually academia itself that is placed on the wrong side. a discourse exists of demanding ever increasing efficiency in the name of the knowledge economy, echoed by policy-makers and higher -education management. in the name of survival, we have scientists and researchers obeying and producing more and more of what isabelle stengers calls “fast science” (2017), resulting in countless publications for the sake of publications that no one has time to read. we have both less and less small-student groups and time for debate. we place more emphasis on individuals’ cvs than on solving the critical issues for humanity and ecosystems. i have started to wonder, what if i am stuck in the upside-down dimension? what if i’m living in a dimension of toxic air and a constant fear of disappearing? when will the monster get me? like the key characters in stranger things, what if i’m stuck on the dark and gloomy side, which slowly sucks all life out of me and uses me to augment evil? however, don’t get me wrong: it would be lovely to execute tasks with clear targets, such as nailing that journal article submission for an a-list journal or “playing the game” of getting that competitive research funding. both tasks completed, i would feel like the queen or king of my department. yet, would that be enough? at the same time, scientists and researchers have warned for decades about the disastrous ecological chain reaction that has already wiped out too many non-human species and is fast approaching large mammals, like humans. instead of listening to the warnings, short-term economic gain rules the world, which results in favouring development and growth (latouche, 2009). paradoxically, (but, aptly, in the very spirit of stranger things) worldwide socio-ecological problems, as a context of my research, seem less bleak than the situation in academia. while policy-makers are reluctant to adopt new measures to modify (western) lifestyles to the limits of our planet, i see an unpredictable strength in local and global movements that i have been studying. in short, for me, pernicious socioecological issues generate hope and, conversely, academia as a potential place in which to address such socio-ecological issues generates anxiety. as a result, i am truly puzzled as to the role of a sole researcher in this entire mess and to what can be done. yet, analysing the situation further makes things even less blackand-white. rather, academic work is experiencing major changes that result in similar labour market changes, as already experienced in the field of culture for decades (lingo & tepper, 2013). people are increasingly required to manage and sanction their own work, academic work communities are crumbling, and the neoliberal expectations set by various parties put a burden on highereducation institutions. interestingly, these trends in work, labour, and the economy penetrate all fields, not only academia. thus, my personal anxiety about work conditions in academia � 515 unplugged voices m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 514-516 is not just personal anymore but is a symptom of a phenomenon that is larger than myself. in stranger things, the connection between worlds requires a massive energy burst. after all, in speculative fiction things have to be explained plausibly (in some sub-genres, preferably with scientific facts derived from physics). in academia, however, i wonder if anyone can find such an energy tide that could link academia with the other world(s) and release whatever is trapped in the upside-down dimension in order to restore balance. i have a feeling that a sole effort is insufficient but many people in collaboration can make a difference. yet, as macy and johnstone (2012) suggest, change comes from within when respecting our fears, insecurities, and anxieties before trying to solve them. monsters are only scary when they pick one prey at a time. fighting them together makes all the difference, as stranger things has shown us. references latouche, s. (2009), farewell to growth, cambridge: polity press. lingo, e. l., & tepper, s. j. (2013). looking back, looking forward: arts-based careers and creative work. work and occupations, 40(4), 337–363. macy, j., & johnstone, c. (2012), active hope: how to face the mess we’re in without going crazy, novato, california: new world library. stengers, i. (2017), another science is possible: a manifesto for slow science, (english edition), cambridge, uk: polity. � 516 99cover allan bird, hugh p. gunz, and michael b. arthur 2002 careers in a complex world: the search for new perspectives from the “new science”, m@n@gement, 5(1): 1-14. m@n@gement is a double-blind reviewed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.dmsp.dauphine.fr/management/ © 2001 m@n@gement and the author(s). issn: 1286-4892 editors: martin evans, u. of toronto bernard forgues, u. of paris 12 http://www.dmsp.dauphine.fr/management/ m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 1-14 special issue: careers and new science 1 allan bird . hugh p. gunz . michael b. arthur university of missouri-st louis email: birdal@msx.umsl.edu university of toronto email: hugh.gunz@utoronto.ca suffolk university email: marthur@acad.suffolk.edu careers in a complex world: the search for new perspectives from the “new science” this collection of papers had its origins in a workshop meeting of a small group of scholars who shared an interest in the study of work careers. the group was trying to explore an idea: were there concepts and models from the physical sciences—for example, evolutionary biology, complexity theory, quantum theory—that might provide helpful insights for their own field? others were working with this idea in different branches of the social sciences, perhaps the best known at the time in management social sciences being wheatley (1992). however, nobody seemed to be doing so in the careers field. at the end of the meeting views in the group ranged from enthusiasm to skepticism. part of this reflected a not unreasonable discomfort: how much did they really understand the ideas they were discussing? it is a characteristic of fields such as quantum theory that they puzzle even those closest to them1, and nobody in the group could claim such familiarity. but part of the range of reactions stemmed from a different uncertainty, which still runs through this collection of papers: can one import ideas from such different areas of science, even assuming one understands them adequately? and if one does, how does this help? many members of the group continued to work on their ideas. a call for papers found more potential contributors to the project, and eventually, after the usual processes of attrition that such exercises involve, the papers in this special issue emerged. in this introduction we shall trace the ideas that underpinned the thinking behind the original workshop, explain what we mean by the terms “career” and “new science”, and the papers that comprise this special issue represent a variety of attempts at exploring the potential contributions to careers scholarship that might emerge from applying concepts and models from the so-called “new sciences,” a term widely used to denote a large area of enquiry in the physical and complexity sciences. this article introduces the special issue. it explains its origins, and defines the territory that it covers, specifically, the kinds of career on which the articles focus, the meaning of the term “new science,” and the kind of connections that we believe can be made between the two. finally, we briefly introduce each of the papers in the special issue. 1. «the whole fifty years of conscious brooding have not brought me nearer to the answer to the question “what are light quanta?” nowadays every scalawag believes that he knows what they are, but he deceives himself.» (einstein, 1951); nor was feynman notably more comfortable with «understanding the world view that quantum mechanics represents (…) i haven’t got to the point that this stuff is obvious to me» (cited in gleick, 1992: 436). mailto:birdal@msx.umsl.edu mailto:hugh.gunz@utoronto.ca mailto:marthur@acad.suffolk.edu m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 1-14 special issue: careers and new science 2 allan bird, hugh p. gunz, and michael b. arthur introduce both the major themes that run through the papers and the papers themselves. it is important to be clear about what we shall not be doing in this introduction. the fields of science from which the authors eclectically draw their ideas are vast and changing rapidly. we can do no more than refer to a few key ideas from these fields; we cannot pretend to “explain” them, even if we were qualified to do so. we shall leave more detailed accounts of the ideas that the authors worked with to the authors themselves. nor will we be attempting to argue conclusively for or against the success of our collective enterprise; indeed, we include one contribution (baruch) that argues that it is «plausible but futile» (2002, this issue: 20). we believe that the ideas in the papers are intriguing and provocative, but the real test of their usefulness will come from a great deal more exploration than this preliminary survey can give them. our purpose here is to do no more than try to convince the reader that the question of what connects careers and the “new science” is worth raising. the spark that lit this project can be briefly described as follows. careers—and here we focus on one specific form of career, commonly referred to as the “work career”—are extremely complex social phenomena which can be studied from many different angles. in addition, they appear to be changing dramatically as new economic orders emerge. this combination of complexity and change is a theme that can be found in a great deal of turn-of-the-century writing in the social sciences, and an increasing number of scholars have turned to the physical sciences to look for approaches that might help them make sense of it all. our aim, quite simply, was to see whether careers scholarship might benefit from these approaches too. next, we expand on these points. the term “career” is extraordinarily varied in its meaning. as we shall argue below, even in the restricted sense we use the term here (the work career), careers are so integral a part of the social fabric that they are extremely complex phenomena. it is, therefore, perhaps not surprising that they have attracted scholars from so many different disciplines to study them (van maanen, 1977; arthur, lawrence and hall, 1989a). this diversity of disciplines has produced a diverse and rich set of insights (see, for example, nystrom and mcarthur, 1989). this, in turn, has given rise to regular attempts to take stock of the state of the field (e.g., arthur, lawrence, and hall, 1989b; peiperl, arthur, goffee, and morris, 2000). in addition, there is evidence in western economies that the nature of careers is changing as a result of the widespread change happening in the larger socioeconomic systems of which careers are an integral part. business activity is carried out in an increasingly global context, introducing a wider variety of cultural, regulatory and institutional considerations into the conduct of work. at a growing rate organizations themselves are undergoing downsizings, mergers, realignments and restructurings. more and more, interfirm relationships are characterized by continuously shifting webs of strategic alliances and contractual networks, in turn changing the social contract between employer and m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 1-14 special issue: careers and new science 3 introduction employee away from long-term, informal and implicit understandings, towards contractual and short-term arrangements. it is less common than it was to encounter writers who see careers occurring within fixed lattices of stable organizations over time. instead, discussions of newly emerging career phenomena tend to be framed in terms such as “careers by reputation” (kanter, 1989), “boundaryless careers” (arthur and rousseau, 1996) and “careers as repositories of knowledge” (bird, 1996), a trend which reflects a search for new understandings of what constitute these emerging careers and how best to describe them. other areas of social enquiry are also encountering similar problems of complexity and turbulence (kiel and elliott, 1996). perhaps as a result, a growing number of researchers (cf., drazin and sandelands, 1992; wheatley, 1992; parker and stacey, 1994; kiel and elliott, 1996; eve, horsfall, and lee, 1997; white, brazeal, and friedman, 1997) have suggested turning to the physical sciences, specifically those which have proven successful in dealing with highly complex phenomena. while many such proponents within the management sciences have focused specifically on chaos and complexity theory, wheatley (1992) suggests that a wider avenue of inquiry—quantum physics, chaos/complexity theory, field theory, and evolutionary biology—may offer fertile sites for developing at least metaphorical, and possibly literal, understandings of new managerial and organizational phenomena. our aim in this collection of papers is to try to show that separately, and as a group, these fields provide provocative perspectives for the development of career theory. in this special issue, we take wheatley’s lead in exploring the contribution that a range of perspectives from what she called “new science” (a term we explain below) can make to an improved understanding of careers. to begin with, we define the sense in which the term “career” will be used in the following papers, outline the variety of approaches that have been taken to studying it, and explain why we felt that, despite this plethora of approaches, we wanted to introduce yet more. careers we shall take careers to be the life-stories of people; as noted above, the part of their life-stories in which we are specifically interested is one commonly referred to as the “work career”. these work careers collectively shape and are shaped by the institutions within and between which people live their lives, taking form from, and lending form to, these institutions along the way. for this reason the study of careers can lead in so many directions that the phenomenon can prove slippery to grasp. a comprehensive review of these directions is well beyond the scope of an introduction such as this. we shall, however, briefly refer to a few of the major approaches that have been taken, in order to give a sense of their diversity. careers may be approached from many different levels of analysis. at the individual level of analysis they are specifically about the life-stories to which we have just referred. at the organizational and supram@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 1-14 special issue: careers and new science 4 allan bird, hugh p. gunz, and michael b. arthur organizational levels, careers are demographic phenomena, in which the objects of interest are mobility patterns within and between organizations, geographical areas, generations, and so forth. in addition, the object of interest may be the role of individual choice in the shaping of careers, the socioeconomic factors that constrain this choice, or the ways in which constraints might be enacted by the individuals experiencing them. even the overtones attracted by the word “career” say much about the society in which the observer lives. in western economies it is common for the term to imply progress, typically in connection with work: progress up some imagined corporate ladder, or progress in the personal development of an artistic life. but the group of chicago sociologists led by everett hughes who were responsible for many of the concepts that have been introduced into the careers lexicon, focused also on the individual career-holder’s perspective, the subjective aspect of careers; for example, hughes and his students were «just as willing to talk about the careers of marijuana users (…) as they were about the careers of doctors (…) and executives» (barley, 1989: 45). they drew attention to what they called the “ontological duality” of the career: «career was a janus-like concept that oriented attention simultaneously in two directions (…). on one hand, careers pointed to those institutional forms of participation characteristic of some social world: a stream of more or less identifiable positions, offices, statuses, and situations that served as landmarks for gauging a person’s movement through the social milieu (…). on the other hand, the notion pointed away from the career’s structure toward the individual’s experience of the career’s unfolding. this, the so-called subjective face of the career, consisted of the meanings individuals attributed to their careers, the sense they made of their becoming.» (barley, 1989: 49). in different societies the predominant form of economic activity can change the nature of careers dramatically. recent research on careers in asian societies (baba, granrose, and bird, 1995; chow, 1995; lin, 1995; peng, 1995) points to significant differences among nations with regard to regulatory systems as well as firm and industry organizing structures leading to diverse conceptualizations of careers and disparate career processes and structures. as these few brief examples suggest, it is not surprising that the field is so balkanized. careers thread their way throughout the social canvas, and there is very little in social enquiry that they do not pass by. in addition to hughes’ group of sociologists who are seen by many as the founders of the field, a brief and highly selective list of the disciplines that have contributed to the careers field would include sociologists interested in intergenerational mobility and societal life-changes, the structure and behavior of business elite studies specifically, and the social origins and demography of managers in general; organizational demographers studying the factors underlying promotion rates and mobility; labor economists investigating the structure of interand intra-firm labor markets; organizational theorists working on the structure of careers within and between organizations; developmental psychologists investigating the life-stages through which people pass; m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 1-14 special issue: careers and new science 5 introduction educational and other psychologists involved in education and counseling; social psychologists and sociologists with an interest in the patterns of work experience and the interaction of the many roles which people experience sequentially and in parallel; sociologists and social psychologists with an interest in comparative studies of careers in different societies, and in the impact of new organizational forms on careers in developed societies; strategic management and finance scholars studying the impact of managerial background on the strategic behavior of companies and their experience with capital markets. with such a diversity of approaches, why are we trying to introduce yet more? paradoxically, our primary motivation springs from our quest for ideas that might help us draw the field together. much of the work to which we have briefly referred has been shaped by the intellectual traditions from which it emerged; the results are not so much contradictory as scattered. perhaps if we can adopt a perspective that is radically different from these, we may come up with insights that are sufficiently novel to spark the creative insights that will generate the theory that will, in turn, allow us to start drawing these threads together. for example, as we shall see in one of the papers in this collection (gunz, lichtenstein and long), complexity theory is proving remarkably successful in showing commonalities between what have been thought hitherto to be quite unconnected phenomena; the founders of cybernetics experienced much the same thing in the 1940s (beer, 1976). creativity, after all, often flows from viewing problems from differing frames of reference (koestler, 1964). of course our aim is grand, perhaps even pretentious, and we have no way of knowing whether it will succeed. but it did at least seem worth a try. what is “new science”? new science is a label—and, as we shall see below, a somewhat misleading one—that has been used to encompass a diverse set of concepts, principles and theories spanning an increasingly larger quadrant of the physical sciences universe. these fields have a rigorous grounding in traditional scientific method and in an empirical perspective. new science is not new age, nor is it postmodern, though adherents of both often seek to adopt its principles. developing within the physical sciences, new science addresses the inherent inadequacies of reductionist classical models of science but, nevertheless, remains firmly grounded within a scientific tradition that emphasizes rigor and empirical validation. the boundary surrounding the new science is extremely fuzzy. for some, it can be as exclusive as a focus on nonlinearity, while for others it can be very inclusive. as currently addressed among managerial and organizational scholars and practitioners, new science perspectives and concepts have been grouped under several headings but with a strong interest in emergent phenomena such as chaos (parker and stacey, 1994), complexity (lewin, 1951) and complex adaptive systems (garcia, 1996). wheatley’s (1992) attempt to use m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 1-14 special issue: careers and new science 6 allan bird, hugh p. gunz, and michael b. arthur concepts from a variety of physical sciences to illuminate the understanding of leadership drew on an eclectic selection, ranging from quantum physics to chaos theory. in a recent survey of various disciplines within the physical sciences, however, lichtenstein (2000) argues that new science concepts range far beyond those specific to the mathematical fields of chaos theory, non-linear dynamics and complex dynamical systems. it is important to recognize that “new science” is a misnomer for the many sciences that tend to get grouped under this heading: new science is not new. some of its central concepts and principles can be readily recognized in mid-nineteenth-century writing on thermodynamics, and even the more recent fields that are typically included, such as chaos and complexity theory, are several decades old. the new sciences may be novel to some of us whose last encounter with the physical sciences was high school chemistry and physics, and that perhaps explains the origin of the term. were it not for the way the term seems to have been appropriated by social scientists interested in searching for useful ideas in non-social-scientific fields, we would have preferred not to have used it. but since it does appear to have, at least for now, achieved a certain presence, we shall use it here. the influence of new science in the social sciences is not a recent phenomenon. for example, mead’s (1932) ideas on process and emergence reflect an awareness of the dynamics of complexity. similarly, lewin (1951) drew directly from contemporary writings on quantum physics in developing his concepts supporting field theory in the social sciences. turning toward early writings on organizational and managerial theory, follett’s writings are replete with references to concepts drawn from new science (mendenhall, macomber, and cutright, 2000). more recently, ogilvy and schwartz (1980) foreshadowed many of the streams of thought that will be addressed in the papers of this special issue, in fields ranging as widely as mathematics, physics, ecology, psychology, linguistics, politics, philosophy and the arts. within each field they identified shifts in thinking—for example from a focus on continuous functions to mapping discontinuities, from universality to complementarity, and from equilibrium to far-from-equilibrium systems—and argued that these represented an “emerging paradigm” in western thought. later in this chapter, we will suggest some examples of analogies between ideas from the new sciences and career phenomena. one such example is the so-called butterfly effect, which emerged from non-linear dynamics. just as the weather can be conceived as extraordinarily sensitive to trivial changes in the wind, so can careers be thought of as extraordinarily sensitive to seemingly trivial events, such as chance encounters. we return to these themes in the next section, in which we explore some of the insights that the new sciences potentially provide to career theory. but first, we need to focus on an obvious implication of the use of the term “analogy”. can the new sciences only contribute to career theory at the level of analogy (or metaphor), or are there more rigorous models that can be imported? in many cases there is little choice: many physical sciences deal with phenomena which simply cannot be identified at the social level of m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 1-14 special issue: careers and new science 7 introduction analysis, so the only possible contribution is metaphorical. quantum mechanics, for example, deals exclusively with the very small, and has nothing whatsoever to do with people. on the other hand wheatley’s treatment of “new science” includes objects that are emergent phenomena, such as skill sets, unfolding relationships, and adaptations to the work environment. here it is possible to conceive of frameworks, which might move beyond the realm of metaphor, and, possibly, supply models which themselves could form the basis of useful careers theory. yet, as wheatley (and, of course, morgan, 1986) showed, even the introduction of fresh metaphors to an established field can be enlightening—for example, the use of field theory concepts and the notion of “action at a distance” to describe the power of vision and mission statements within an organization (wheatley, 1992). this has encouraged us to make a similar attempt to “apply” such ideas to the field of careers. it is important to distinguish between the enlightening use of metaphor and the discovery of an analogy, which, while intriguing, does not advance understanding. for example, perhaps the most obvious parallel between physical and social sciences lies in the recognition that the observer and the observed are inextricably connected. heisenberg’s “uncertainty principle”, which emerged from quantum theory, quantifies the uncertainty surrounding our knowledge of a particle’s behavior as a result of observing it. its central thesis, that observation changes that which is observed, was enunciated at much the same time as the hawthorne effect in social science. this is not the subjectivity of certain postmodernists who assert that there is no objective reality (price, 1977), but an acceptance of the reality that the process of observation is real too. although scholars in the physical sciences believe in an objective reality, they recognize that the observer is an influential part of that reality (e.g., prigogine and stengers, 1984: 42). by the same token, a researcher can never be sure that the apparently simple act of asking someone to tell their life story does not set thought processes in train which cause the subject to reinterpret their past and rethink their future. however, for the analogy with heisenberg to be useful to a social scientist one needs a good answer to the question: what have we learned by identifying the link that we didn’t know before? heisenberg’s mathematics is about subatomic particles interacting with photons, so it is not immediately obvious how they help the social scientist. the challenge faced by the authors of this collection of papers is to see whether they can move beyond uninstructive analogy either to enlightening metaphor or to useful model. we now examine these connections in greater detail. careers and the new science what, then, are the kinds of association that can be made between careers and the new science? table 1 exemplifies several possibilities. the list is neither systematic nor comprehensive, but simply a m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 1-14 special issue: careers and new science 8 allan bird, hugh p. gunz, and michael b. arthur set of illustrations of how the ideas from new science might be borrowed to re-frame career phenomena. it is derived from several sources, among which we found the work of both liechtenstein (forthcoming) and turner (1997) particularly helpful. some terms have now crept into popular usage, others remain obscure, but all of them hold out opportunities for us to re-frame the way we conceive of the world of career. we have already mentioned the “butterfly effect,” concerned with the emergence of apparently random events from distant and seemingly trivial influences. it must often seem that way with careers, as employment systems respond to new production arrangements in distant countries, or when technological advances have unpredictable effects on the demand for certain kinds of workers. however, as turner (1997: xiv) points out, unpredictable does not mean unintelligible. people’s life stories are replete with tales of chance events bringing unanticipated consequences. perhaps we can be more open to chance from the start, and less distracted by orderly but potentially deceptive pictures of, for example, continuous employment or linear career progression? a related idea from chaos theory is that of a “strange attractor.” the “attractor” of a system is the path that the system follows over time (strictly, the path that the system follows through its state space). chaotic systems appear to behave randomly, in the sense that there seems to be no pattern to what happens to them. yet if the path of a chaotic system is plotted over time, a pattern does indeed emerge, such as the famous butterfly-shaped attractor discovered by lorenz (1963). it is this pattern that has been called a “strange” attractor, to distinguish it from the different kinds of attractors associated with systems that behave in simpler ways. it carries with it the intriguing implication that, if it turns out that career systems behave chaotically as so many complex systems do, there may paradoxically be patterns that can be uncovered in their behavior. what about various strands of complexity theory, which suggest that the complex systems of social mobility we call careers may play a key role in absorbing shocks and ensuring a greater degree of continuity than is often supposed? to some extent this is a return to the sociologist’s concept of careers as systems of social reproduction (gunz, 1989: 33-34), but with the important difference that it may contain within it the seeds of a theory of the dynamic behavior of career systems. it may also provide a framework for computer-based modeling to study the behavior of complex career systems similar to the remarkably successful modeling of other systems too complex to be studied by traditional analytic methods (e.g., kauffman, 1973; bak and chen, 1991). the preceding paragraphs anticipate much of the work of the contributors to this volume. for example, a number of authors explore the possibility that the emergent property of a chaotic system called its attractor might provide a useful model for making sense of unpredictable career phenomena. others examine concepts from recent work on self-organization in systems as disparate as the genome and m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 1-14 special issue: careers and new science 9 introduction core idea sensitivity to initial conditions strange attractor: the pattern traced by the state of a chaotic system over time iteration and self-similarity across different scales particle-wave duality: both fundamental particles such as electrons, and electromagnetic energy “packets” (photons), behave both as particles and as waves action and change arise from within self-organization at farfrom-equilibrium chemical reactions generating products which in turn affect the rate of the reactions that generated them simple underlying rules leading to emergent complex order the nervous system functioning as a network of interactions that specify the way an organism relates to its environment the world is made up of interdependent systems table 1. disciplines and theories of new science with possible applications to careers originating discipline mathematics quantum theoretical physics complexity theory thermodynamics chemistry theoretical biology biology of cognition interdisciplinary new science non-linear dynamics chaos fractals wave mechanics selforganization dissipative structures autocatalysis complexity autopoiesis systems thinking example the “butterfly effect” of weather changes at a remote distance from the point of disturbance the changing velocity and direction of a waterwheel, as the turning of buckets affects the distribution of incoming water replication and iteration of a basic “form”, such as the parts of a fern leaf and its overall shape tunneling effect: electrons penetrate barriers which ought to be impervious to them, because their wave functions extend beyond what would appear to be their “surface” if they were thought of as particles dynamic action and change within an ecosystem give rise to stability and growth of that system open systems such as living organisms, which dissipate entropy and import energy continuously in order to maintain themselves a “chemical clock” in which the reaction process produces rhythmic color changes comparatively simple rules governing the interaction between the large number of genes in the human genome produces surprisingly ordered behavior in the genome (“order for free”: kauffman, 1995) living systems—bacteria, vegetables, animals, etc.—are organized as sets of relations among their components, and these relations create the boundary between the system and its outside environment life forms involve interdependent systems, e.g., rabbits, lynxes and foxes, whereby each system affects the other careers analogy chance introductions or unforeseen circumstances having dramatic effects out of all proportion to their apparent importance, perhaps by influencing differences in career opportunities for two apparently similar actors the patterns in people’s life stories, such as patterns of employment, which exist despite changes in external circumstances characteristics of individual behavior and personality being replicated at the level of the work group or larger institution even the most impervious career boundary can be crossed by even the most unlikely person self-organizing of a company work force into current and new responsibilities and outcomes as skills and markets develop over time social structures as open systems maintain themselves by importing energy, materials and people to replace exports of people, goods, services and waste materials, thereby providing career opportunities for the people a process whereby people experience new career pathways and provide role models which in turn accelerate subsequent movement along the same pathways a limited set of human needs producing a complex range of career behaviors the tendency for employment systems to reproduce themselves and thereby, shape, rather than be shaped by, the external market for work careers unfold through interdependent employment, occupational and labor market systems that both affect and are affected by career behavior the first three columns of the table are adapted from b. m. lichtenstein (2000), valid or vacuous: a definition and assessment of “new paradigm” research in management, american behavioral scientist, 43 (8): 1334-1366, and used by permission. m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, xxx-xxx special issue: carrers and new science 10 allan bird, hugh p. gunz, and michael b. arthur piles of sand, and show that there are reasons for expecting that career systems might also display similar emergent behaviors. these in turn might help to understand why, for example, organizations might experience sudden spasms of turnover. these explorations are examples of making use of what turner (1997: xi) calls «a new anthology of recognizable shapes». they also usefully direct attention, as turner points out, to the inherent stability that complexity theory, and perhaps other new science formulations, can confer. a final observation to be made about new science here concerns its potential relevance to the study of careers. much social science research, and more specifically careers research, suffers from frequent bouts of self-doubt over its relevance to the larger society. however, new science suggests both a connectivity across the physical sciences and, as table 1 illustrates, a possible bridge to the social sciences. though still incompletely constructed, the shape of such a bridge is sketched out by harvey and reed (1996), who have posited a framework for delineating the relationship between the physical and the social worlds with regard to research methodologies. they argue that, though there is divergence between the physical and social sciences in a/ the degree of deterministic suppositions, and b/ the extent to which we can specify system properties, it is nevertheless possible to identify similarities. these similarities encourage the invocation of theoretical perspectives from the physical sciences in the hope that we can advance our understanding. they encourage a hope for this volume that careers research predicated on a new science paradigm may connect us to a larger world, perhaps far larger than many of us might previously have imagined. the contributions that follow this collection of papers consists of five pieces exploring different aspects of the territory we have briefly scanned above. the first paper in the collection, by lichtenstein, ogilvie and mendenhall, introduces concepts from complexity research and dynamic system theories—discontinuity, non-proportionality of effect, mutual causality, sensitive dependence on initial conditions and viewing systems in terms of external constraints on action and internal triggers for change. applying these concepts to career events, they demonstrate through case examples the explanatory power of a non-linear dynamics perspective. they conclude by considering the implications of a non-linear perspective. they note that recognition of non-proportionality and mutual causation should lead to an emphasis on perseverance and responsibility on the part of individuals. moreover, sensitivity to initial conditions and a focus on internal triggers suggest the need to look for leverage points in career events that will allow for significant shifts in opportunities and outcomes. drodge continues with the theme of the individual-level implications of complexity science by exploring the ways in which it can help the career counselor whose clients are struggling with multiple changes in m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 1-14 special issue: careers and new science 11 introduction the career system posing new challenges which encompass greater uncertainty and change than hitherto experienced in western cultures. he argues that complexity science and the new career share a number of metaphorical concepts such as non-linearity, bifurcation, complexity and self-organization, providing rich opportunities for counselors to address clients’ experiences of uncertainty and helping them to understand the patterns that might be underlying their careers. by showing order in apparent disorder, complexity science provides a metaphor that involves working with clients «to recognize patterns evolving in the work career domain and patterns in their own personal and interpersonal functioning as a first step to a (…) change (…) point.» (pp. 60-61). gunz, long and lichtenstein examine a number of threads in the complexity literature for clues about the self-organizing properties of career systems. systems as diverse as sandpiles, earthquake zones and the genome appear to evolve naturally to a state of “self-organizing criticality” on the boundary between a frozen, unchanging stability and an unstable, unpredictable chaos. published data from white’s (1970) study of clergymen and pinfield’s (1995) study of a forest products company’s employees are interpreted as characteristic of systems at “the edge of chaos”. the authors proceed to raise the possibility that the labour market, too, may exist at this boundary state, which allows change without that change leading to collapse. the paper speculates on some of the necessary conditions for labour markets to exist in this state, and therefore to accommodate career adaptation in a changing economic environment. chakrabarti and chakrabarti inject a cautionary note into the argument supporting the end of the organizational career. they explore the nature of emergent order in organizations, and of the organizational career as a connecting frame between the individual and the organization. they argue that the increasingly common exhortation that organizations should be more like organisms than machines misses the point that organisms are in many ways more rigid, formalized and machine-like than the bureaucratic organization. the organizational career was, they argue, an important organizing innovation that allowed organizations to connect two purposeful entities: the natural person, and the synthetic, “corporate” person. while acknowledging that organizational careers are becoming outmoded, the authors remind us that they play an important role in allowing organizations to exhibit the goal-seeking behavior central to their purpose. the final contribution by parker and arthur comes at the special issue’s theme from a different direction. undertaking the development of a survey instrument in order to study properties of “intelligent careers”, the authors begin with a traditional quantitative approach only to become frustrated with the constraints that they meet. qualitative methods offer an alternative perspective, but the authors feel that they are being pushed into a different corner, being forced to choose between two approaches, quantitative and qualitative. retiring from the field to search for alternative conceptualizations of the phenomenon in order to overcome traditional methodological constraints, m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 1-14 special issue: careers and new science 12 allan bird, hugh p. gunz, and michael b. arthur they find encouragement in new science to resist the limitations that normal science would impose. as a consequence of adjusting their theoretical framework they find a resolution to their methodological concerns. the parker and arthur contribution closes this collection on a note we hope will apply to many subsequent research endeavors. it is that the twin themes of normal science constraints and new science possibilities may come together to help the researcher make more informed choices about his or her work. we have left the first contribution in the collection, by baruch, to introduce last. written as a critique of this introduction, it clearly invites debate and we follow it with a brief rejoinder of our own. baruch adopts the role of a friendly curmudgeon, arguing that in an area of research characterized by so much diversity, the introduction of new science perspectives exacerbates rather than ameliorates the confusion. we were particularly pleased to include it in the collection, because it returns us to the doubt we raised at the beginning of this introduction: it usefully challenges the basic precepts of this project. as such, it makes a most fitting contribution. allan bird is eiichi shibusawa-seigo arai professor of japanese studies in the college of business administration, university of missouri-st. louis. his work has appeared in the academy of management journal, the strategic management journal, the journal of organizational behavior, the journal of international business studies and other academic and practitioner journals. allan’s career-related interests are two-fold, with one research stream focusing on the careers of japanese executives and the other focusing on a conception of careers as repositories of knowledge. hugh p. gunz has phds in chemistry and organizational behaviour. he is currently professor of organizational behaviour at the university of toronto, having previously taught at university of manchester. he has published papers on the careers of managers, professionals and others, the management of technical professionals, and management education, and is the author of the book careers and corporate cultures. his research interests include the structure of managerial careers in and between organizations and their impact on firmsí strategic management, the application of complexity science to careers, and ethical dilemmas experienced by employed professionals. michael b. arthur is professor of management at the sawyer school of management, suffolk university, boston. he has written and researched widely on the subject of careers, including as editor of the handbook of career theory (1989), the boundaryless career (1996) and career frontiers (2000). michael is also a co-author of the new careers (1999) and of a series of articles into the application of “intelligent career” principles in the contemporary economy. his research focuses on alternative ways to link between individual career theory and collective action. michael holds mba and phd degrees from cranfield university, uk. m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 1-14 special issue: careers and new science 13 introduction references ■ arthur, m. b., d. t. hall, and b. s. lawrence 1989a generating new directions in career theory: the case for a transdisciplinary approach, in m. b. arthur, d. t. hall, and b. s. lawrence, (eds.), handbook of career theory, cambridge: cambridge university press, 7-25. ■ arthur, m. b., b. s. lawrence, and d. t. hall (eds.) 1989b handbook of career theory, cambridge: cambridge university press. ■ arthur, m., and d. rousseau 1996 introduction: the boundaryless career as a new employment principle, in m. arthur and d. rousseau (eds.), the boundaryless career. new york: oxford university press, 3-20. ■ back, k. w. 1997 chaos and complexity: necessary myths, in r. a. eve, s. horsfall and m. e. lee (eds.), chaos, complexity, and sociology, thousand oaks, ca: sage, 39-51. ■ baba, m., c. granrose, and a. bird 1995 career planning and development of managers employed in japanese firms and in u.s. subsidiaries in japan, journal of asian business, 11(3): 71-96. ■ bak, p., and k. chen 1991 self-organized criticality, scientific american, 264(1): 46-53. ■ barley, s. r. 1989 careers, identities, and institutions: the legacy of the chicago school of sociology, in m. b. arthur, d. t. hall, and b. s. lawrence ( eds.), handbook of career theory, cambridge: cambridge university press, 41-65. ■ baruch, y. 2002 self-organized criticality developing career theory based on “new science”: a futile exercise? the devil’s advocate commentary, m@n@gement, 5(1): 15-21. ■ beer, s. 1976 personal communication. ■ bird, a. 1996 careers as repositories of knowledge: considerations for boundaryless careers, in m. arthur and d. rousseau (eds.), the boundaryless career, new york: oxford university press, 150-168. ■ chow, r. y. 1995 career planning and development for hong kong chinese managers, journal of asian business, 11(3): 27-54. ■ drazin, r., and l. sandelands 1992 autogenesis: a perspective on the process of organizing, organization science, 3(2): 230-149. ■ einstein, a. 1951 letter to m. besso, 12 december 1951, in p. speziali (ed.), albert einstein, michele besso, correspondance 19031955, paris: hermann, 1972, pp. 256257. [this english translation of the excerpt can be found in j. stachel (1986), einstein and the quantum: fifty years of struggle, in r. g. colodny, a. coffa, et al. (eds.), from quarks to quasars: philosophical problems of modern physics, pittsburgh, pa: university of pittsburgh press]. ■ eve, r. a., s. horsfall, and m. e. lee (eds.) 1997 chaos, complexity, and sociology, thousand oaks, ca: sage. ■ garcia, e. a. 1996 use of complex adaptive systems in organizational studies, paper presented in the symposium “the evolution of complexity: evolutionary and cybernetic foundations of transdisciplinary integration”, brussels: free university of brussels. retrieved feb. 2002 from: http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/einmag_abstr/ eagarcia.html ■ gleick, j. 1992 genius: the life and science of richard feynman, new york: vintage books. ■ gunz, h. p. 1989 careers and corporate cultures: managerial mobility in large corporations, oxford: blackwell. ■ hall, d. t. 1996 protean careers of the 21st century, academy of management executive, 10(4): 8-16. ■ harvey, l. d., and m. reed 1996 social science as the study of complex systems, in l. d. kiel and e. elliott (eds.), chaos theory in the social sciences, ann arbor, mi: university of michigan press, 295-323. ■ hughes, e. c. 1937 institutional office and the person, american journal of sociology, 43: 404-13. ■ kanter, r. m. 1989 the new managerial work, harvard business review, 67(6): 85-92. ■ kauffman, s. a. 1993 the origins of order: self-organization and selection in evolution, new york, ny: oxford university press. ■ kauffman, s. 1995 at home in the universe: the search for laws of self-organization and complexity, new york, ny: oxford university press. ■ kiel, l. d., and e. elliott 1996 chaos theory in the social sciences, ann arbor, mi: university of michigan press. ■ koestler, a. 1964 the act of creation, new york, ny: macmillan. ■ lewin, k. 1951 field theory in social sciences, new york, ny: harper & row. http://www.dmsp.dauphine.fr/management/papersmgmt/51baruch.html m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 1-14 special issue: careers and new science 14 allan bird, hugh p. gunz, and michael b. arthur ■ lichtenstein b. m. 2000 valid or vacuous: a definition and assessment of “new paradigm” research in management, american behavioral scientist, 43 (8): 13341366. ■ lin, r. y. 1995 how individualism-collectivism influences asian and u.s. managers in choosing their career goals and tactics, journal of asian business, 11(3): 97-116. ■ lorenz, e. n. 1963 deterministic nonperiodic flow, journal of the atmospheric sciences, 20(2): 130-141 ■ mead, g. h. 1938 the philosophy of the act, edited by c. w. morris, j. m. brewster, a. m. dunham, and d. l. miller, chicago, il: open court. ■ mendenhall, m., j. macomber, and m. cutright 2000 mary parker follett: prophet of chaos and complexity, journal of management history, 6(4): 191-204. ■ mihata, k. 1997 the persistence of emergence, in r. a. eve, s. horsfall and m. e. lee (eds.), chaos, complexity, and sociology, thousand oaks, ca: sage, 30-38. ■ miles, r. e., and c. c. snow 1996 twenty-first century careers, in m. arthur and d. rousseau (eds.), the boundaryless career, new york, ny: oxford university press, 97-115. ■ morgan, g. 1986 images of organization, beverly hills, ca: sage. ■ nystrom, p. c., and a. w. mcarthur 1989 propositions linking organizations and careers, in m. b. arthur, d. t. hall, and b. s. lawrence (eds.), handbook of career theory, cambridge: cambridge university press, 490-505. ■ ogilvy, j., and p. schwartz 1979 the emergent paradigm: changing patterns of thought and belief, stanford, ca: sri. ■ parker, d., and r. stacey 1994 chaos, management and economics: the implications of non-linear thinking, london: institute of economic affairs. ■ peiperl, m., m. arthur, r. goffee, and t. morris (eds.) 2000 career frontiers: new conceptions of working lives, oxford: oxford university press. ■ peng, t. k. 1995 career planning and development of managers in taiwan, journal of asian business, 11(3): 55-70. ■ pinfield, l. 1995 the operation 0f internal labour markets: staffing actions and vacancy chains, new york, ny: plenum. ■ price, b. 1997 the myth of postmodern science, in r. a. eve, s. horsfall, and m. e. lee (eds.), chaos, complexity, and sociology, thousand oaks, ca: sage, 3-14. ■ prigogine, i., and i. stenger 1984 order out of chaos, new york, ny: bantam. ■ turner, f. 1997 chaos and social science, in r. a. eve, s. horsfall, and m. e. lee (eds.), chaos, complexity, and sociology, thousand oaks, ca: sage, xi-xxvii. ■ van maanen, j. (ed.) 1977 organizational careers: some new perspectives, london: wiley. ■ wheatley, m. j. 1992 leadership and the new science, san francisco, ca: berrett-koehler. ■ white, h. c. 1970 chains of opportunity, cambridge, ma: harvard university press. ■ white, m. c., d. brazeal, and w. friedman 1997 the evolution of organizations: suggestions from complexity theory about the interplay between natural selection and adaptation, human relations, 50(11): 1383-1401. m@n@gement, vol. 12, no. 1, 2009. 52-79 1 á. martínez sánchez, m. pérez pérez, p. de luis carnicer, j. vela jiménez m@n@gement issn: 1286-4892 editors: emmanuel josserand, hec, université de genève (editor in chief) jean-luc arrègle, université du luxembourg (editor) stewart clegg, university of technology, sydney (editor) louis hébert, hec montréal (editor) martin kornberger, university of technology, sydney (editor) martina menguzzato-boulard, universitat de valència (editor) michael tushman, harvard business school (editor) martin g. evans, university of toronto (editor emeritus) bernard forgues, emlyon business school (editor emeritus) copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). m@n@gement is a double-blind refereed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.management-aims.com © 2008 m@n@gement and the author(s). ángel martínez sánchez 2009 manuela pérez pérez pilar de luis carnicer mª josé vela jiménez teletrabajo, flexibilidad de recursos humanos y resultados de la empresa. m@n@gement 12(1), 52-79. m@n@gement est la revue officielle de l’aims m@n@gement is the journal official of aims accepted by martina menguzzato m@n@gement, vol. 12, no. 1, 2009. 52-79 52 teletrabajo, flexibilidad de recursos humanos y resultados de la empresa teletrabajo, flexibilidad de recursos humanos y resultados de la empresa ángel martínez sánchez manuela pérez pérez pilar de luis carnicer mª josé vela jiménez este artículo analiza la relación de la flexibilidad de los recursos humanos con la adopción del teletrabajo y los resultados de la empresa. los datos de una encuesta realizada a 156 empresas españolas indican que el uso de prácticas flexibles de recursos humanos (flexibilidad funcional y flexibilidad numérica interna) está asociado de forma positiva con el uso del teletrabajo, y que de forma conjunta están asociadas positivamente, aunque con escaso valor predictivo, con los resultados de la empresa. las prácticas de flexibilidad externa no están asociadas con el teletrabajo, pero lo están negativamente con los resultados empresariales. el artículo analiza también las implicaciones para la gestión de las empresas interesadas en el teletrabajo y la flexibilidad de los recursos humanos. introduccion las primeras aplicaciones del teletrabajo datan ya de la década de los años setenta, pero el número de teletrabajadores fue inicialmente muy escaso debido, por un lado, a una combinación de limitaciones y de costes elevados de las tecnologías en aquel tiempo, y, por otro lado, a la desconfianza de las empresas. por teletrabajo, nos referimos en este artículo a una forma de organización del trabajo que utiliza las tecnologías de la información y las telecomunicaciones para hacer posible que los gerentes y empleados accedan a su actividad laboral desde diversas localizaciones remotas (kurland & bailey, 1999; nilles, 1998; sullivan, 2003). a principios de la década de los noventa, el teletrabajo fue ‘redescubierto’ y utilizado como una alternativa en la organización del trabajo para reducir los desplazamientos laborales, departamento de economía y dirección de empresas, centro politécnico superior, zaragoza anmarzan@unizar.es departamento de economía y dirección de empresas, centro politécnico superior, zaragoza manuela.perez@unizar.es departamento de economía y dirección de empresas, centro politécnico superior, zaragoza pluis@unizar.es departamento de economía y dirección de empresas, escuela de estudios empresariales, zaragoza mjvela@unizar.es m@n@gement, vol. 12, no. 1, 2009. 52-79 53 á. martínez sánchez, m. pérez pérez, p. de luis carnicer, j. vela jiménez mejorar la conciliación de la vida laboral y personal, y ser así la fuente de otro conjunto de ventajas económicas y sociales, lo cual llevó a un rápido crecimiento de la difusión entre empresas industriales y de servicios (venkatesh, 2000). sin embargo, aunque el número de teletrabajadores ha aumentado de forma significativa desde principios de los años noventa, la difusión del teletrabajo permanece por debajo de sus expectativas (european commission, 2000; gareis, 2003; itac, 2000). la lenta difusión del teletrabajo contrastada con las previsiones que se vienen realizando desde hace varios años puede resultar sorprendente si la comparamos con el acelerado desarrollo y abaratamiento de las tecnologías que lo posibilitan. pero lo cierto es que muchos investigadores han propuesto y evidenciado que la adopción del teletrabajo se debe más a otros factores que a los puramente tecnológicos. por ejemplo, stanworth (1997) señala que la adopción del teletrabajo es una construcción social más que tecnológica. clear & dickson (2005) evidencian que la autonomía del trabajador es un factor más crítico que la disponibilidad de la tecnología para facilitar la implementación del teletrabajo. jackson (1999) argumenta que no puede prescindirse de los factores sociales, culturales y políticos al estudiar la adopción del teletrabajo. illegems, verbeke & s´jegers (2001) y pérez, martínez & de luis (2003, 2005) también encuentran que los factores organizativos explican mejor la adopción del teletrabajo que los factores tecnológicos. otros autores analizan la influencia del género en las percepciones individuales y el uso del teletrabajo (mokhtarian, bagley, hulse & salomón, 1998; wilson & greenhill, 2004), o las cuestiones relacionadas con la conciliación de la vida laboral y personal para explicar la adopción del teletrabajo (duxbury, higgins & mills, 1992; harris, 2003; madsen, 2003; sullivan & lewis, 2001; tietze, 2002). esta enumeración de trabajos diversos, sin conexión entre sí, indica la relevancia que tienen los aspectos organizativos y de recursos humanos en la adopción del teletrabajo. la revisión de la literatura del teletrabajo nos muestra que no existen, en la medida de nuestros conocimientos, estudios empíricos que hayan analizado la relación de la flexibilidad de los recursos humanos con la adopción del teletrabajo y los resultados de la empresa. el teletrabajo es un elemento de flexibilidad para los empleados que desean conciliar su vida personal y laboral, lo cual se facilita en el marco de la flexibilidad del trabajo, en el marco de las oficinas flexibles o de la externalización del trabajo. de esta misma manera, la flexibilidad es una de las rutinas organizativas que desarrollan capacidades dinámicas en la empresa (bhattacharya, gibson & doty, 2005). por lo tanto, analizar la relación de la flexibilidad de los recursos humanos con el teletrabajo puede contribuir a explicar la adopción del teletrabajo y a mejorar la gestión en entornos de incertidumbre que precisan de flexibilidad por parte de la empresa. aunque diversos estudios han evidenciado una relación positiva entre el uso de las políticas de recursos humanos y los resultados de la empresa (chan, shaffer & snape, 2004; delaney & huselid, 1996; eaton, 2003; huselid, 1995), aún persiste el debate sobre la naturaleza y las causas explicativas de dicha relación. además, la flexibilidad de los recursos m@n@gement, vol. 12, no. 1, 2009. 52-79 54 teletrabajo, flexibilidad de recursos humanos y resultados de la empresa humanos es considerada uno de los principales determinantes de los resultados de la empresa, pero ésta es un área que todavía permanece sin desarrollarse, tanto en términos teóricos como empíricos (michie & sheehan, 2005). el propósito principal de este artículo es contribuir a la literatura de gestión del teletrabajo y de los recursos humanos, contrastando un modelo que explica la adopción del teletrabajo dentro del contexto de las prácticas de flexibilidad de recursos humanos, y que analiza su impacto en los resultados de la empresa. otra contribución del artículo, aunque secundaria, es que centra el estudio empírico en españa, uno de los países europeos donde las barreras al teletrabajo son más altas que en el resto de europa (empirica, 2000). los resultados del último estudio llevado a cabo entre los países miembros de la europa de los 15, el plan de acción eeuropa 20051, indican que, en los dos o tres primeros años del siglo xxi, el porcentaje de teletrabajadores en la unión europea se ha duplicado llegando a representar el 13% de su fuerza laboral. si bien, al igual que en décadas anteriores, los países del norte siguen teniendo porcentajes superiores de teletrabajadores que en el resto de europa, llegando incluso a sobrepasar a los estados unidos. este es el caso de holanda cuyo porcentaje de teletrabajadores alcanza el 26,4% de su fuerza laboral. le sigue muy de cerca finlandia y dinamarca con un 21,8% y 21,5%, respectivamente, suecia con un 18,7%, el reino unido con un 17,3% y alemania con un 16,6%. a pesar de que el último estudio presentado en españa en noviembre de 2007 (vestergaard & bellé, 2007) muestra datos reveladores acerca del incremento sustancial de trabajadores que desarrollan su actividad laboral desde sus casas, españa se encuentra entre los cuatro países con menor porcentaje de teletrabajadores de europa con tan sólo un 3,7%; le sigue hungría con un 3,6%, portugal con un 3,4% y, por último, rumanía con un 2%. estas diferencias pueden explicarse por un conjunto de factores, tales como la facilidad de acceso a la tecnología, el tipo de cultura predominante en el trabajo, o el grado de urbanización (ellen & hempstead, 2002; huws, jagger & o´regan, 1999; huws, jagger & bates, 2001). por ejemplo, los empleados en muchas ciudades españolas viven cerca de su trabajo, están más acostumbrados a socializar en el trabajo, y los gerentes prefieren controlar a sus empleados más por la presencia física en el puesto de trabajo que por sus resultados (europublic, 2001). sin embargo, la población activa española ya ha empezado a demandar estrategias de flexibilidad, como horario más flexible, planes de conciliación de vida personal y laboral e incluso el uso del teletrabajo, con el fin de acabar con el interminable horario laboral existente en españa, tan atípico del resto de europa, de 9 a 8 en muchas empresas, con una larga pausa al mediodía para comer. el resto del artículo se estructura de la siguiente manera. el próximo apartado revisa el marco teórico del estudio y plantea las hipótesis de investigación. el tercer apartado explica la metodología del estudio empírico. el cuarto apartado describe los resultados, seguido de su discusión en el quinto. finalmente, el artículo concluye con las limitaciones y sugerencias para futuras investigaciones. 1 el plan de acción eeuropa 2005 se puso en marcha en el consejo europeo de sevilla en junio de 2002 y fue aprobado en consejo de ministros en la resolución eeuropa en enero de 2003. su objetivo fue el desarrollo de servicios públicos modernos y dinámicos para e-business por medio de una extensa disponibilidad y de acceso a banda ancha a precios competitivos así como una infraestructura segura de información. para más información ver: http://ec.europa. eu/information_society/eeurope/2005/index_en.htm m@n@gement, vol. 12, no. 1, 2009. 52-79 55 á. martínez sánchez, m. pérez pérez, p. de luis carnicer, j. vela jiménez marco teorico e hipotesis teletrabajo, flexibilidad de recursos humanos y ventaja competitiva de acuerdo con la teoría de recursos y capacidades, el éxito de una empresa depende, en gran medida, de los recursos que posee y controla (wernerfelt, 1984), y que son valiosos, escasos, difíciles de imitar y difíciles de sustituir (barney, 1991). los recursos pueden ser activos o capacidades: los activos, que pueden ser tangibles o intangibles, son poseídos y controlados por la empresa; las capacidades son conjuntos intangibles de habilidades y conocimientos acumulados que se utilizan mediante rutinas organizativas (teece, pisano & shuen, 1997). se considera que las capacidades son la fuente principal de ventaja competitiva de la empresa (galbreath, 2005). dado que el ajuste entre la organización y el entorno no es fácil de conseguir de manera independiente, las empresas que son capaces de hacerlo disponen de un recurso que puede ser una fuente importante de ventaja competitiva sostenible. carmeli (2001) estudió el impacto percibido de 22 recursos intangibles ‘claves’ y encontró que la capacidad para gestionar los cambios y el ajuste con el entorno (flexibilidad) era uno de los recursos más importantes de diferenciación entre las empresas con mejores resultados y las que tienen peores resultados. verdú et al. (2004) encontraron que un buen ajuste entre la flexibilidad real y la necesaria estaba positivamente relacionado con los resultados de la empresa. también se considera que la flexibilidad, especialmente la de los recursos humanos, es una de las rutinas organizativas que contribuyen a crear capacidades dinámicas en la empresa (bhattacharya et al., 2005; grant, 1996). la mayoría de las definiciones de flexibilidad se refieren a la capacidad de hacer frente a una variedad de necesidades en un entorno dinámico. por ejemplo, wright & snell (1998) definen la flexibilidad como la capacidad de una empresa para reconfigurar con rapidez sus recursos y actividades en respuesta a las demandas del entorno. en este contexto de cambio e incertidumbre, las empresas han de combinar distintas formas de flexibilidad y adoptar prácticas flexibles de recursos humanos para competir con éxito (gittleman, horrigan & joyce, 1998). al mismo tiempo, las tecnologías de la información y las telecomunicaciones han hecho el trabajo más portátil y ubicuo (mobible), lo que aumenta la flexibilidad del empleado para organizar su trabajo (moen, 1996). según upton (1995) la flexibilidad depende más de los recursos humanos que de los recursos tecnológicos. la flexibilidad de los recursos humanos es un elemento de la interacción entre la gerencia y los empleados y entre los empleados y los activos tangibles de la empresa. esta interacción, así como el conocimiento de los empleados y gerentes, genera ventajas competitivas sostenibles porque son complejas, especializadas y tácitas (fahy, 2002; mcevily & chakravarthy, 2002; wright, dunford & snell, 2001). de acuerdo con atkinson (1984), la flexibilidad de los recursos humanos tiene al menos dos dimensiones: una funcional y otra numérica2 . la dimensión funcional se refiere a la polivalencia de funciones que pueden realizar los empleados y que 2 una tercera dimensión señalada por atkinson (1984) y otros investigadores es la flexibilidad financiera que está relacionada con el grado en que los incentivos económicos motivan la flexibilidad funcional y numérica. este artículo incluye solo las dos dimensiones anteriormente mencionadas porque la flexibilidad financiera puede ser considerada un precedente o motivador de la flexibilidad funcional y numérica. m@n@gement, vol. 12, no. 1, 2009. 52-79 56 teletrabajo, flexibilidad de recursos humanos y resultados de la empresa hace más adaptable su asignación a tareas distintas. la dimensión numérica se refiere al ajuste del volumen de trabajo que puede ser realizado mediante, por ejemplo, un horario flexible o empleados a tiempo parcial (flexibilidad numérica interna), o mediante, por ejemplo, empleados temporales o contingentes (flexibilidad numérica externa). la adopción de algunas prácticas flexibles de trabajo puede señalar un cambio hacia un aumento de la flexibilidad de recursos humanos, que desarrolle capacidades dinámicas imbuidas (infundidas) en la experiencia y aprendizaje organizativos, y que sean difíciles de imitar. una práctica flexible de organización del trabajo es el teletrabajo. la introducción del teletrabajo puede considerarse como parte de una estrategia global hacia la flexibilidad en el puesto de trabajo. el teletrabajo puede ayudar en periodos de transformación organizativa (daniels, lamond & standen, 2001), y puede asimismo contribuir a externalizar actividades en la empresa. la implementación del teletrabajo permite con frecuencia un mejor control sobre el espacio laboral, las instalaciones de apoyo y los equipos, especialmente durante periodos de expansión del negocio o cuando los clientes se encuentran muy dispersos geográficamente (nilles, 1998). además, el teletrabajo ofrece flexibilidad a los empleados para reducir desplazamientos a la empresa y facilitarles la conciliación de su vida personal y laboral. la literatura revela que la adopción del teletrabajo depende más de factores organizativos y de recursos humanos, que de factores tecnológicos (bailey & kurland, 2002; illegems et al., 2001; pérez et al., 2003, 2005). la implementación del teletrabajo requiere del compromiso voluntario de los empleados para trabajar a distancia (nilles, 1998), así como de la confianza mutua entre los empleados y sus supervisores. los supervisores deben confiar en que sus empleados realizan el trabajo sin su supervisión directa, y los empleados deben confiar en que sus supervisores no les marginarán en su desarrollo profesional por no mantener una presencia visible continuada en la empresa (harrington & ruppel, 1999; neufeld & fang, 2005). en este sentido, existe un conjunto de prácticas de recursos humanos que contribuyen al desarrollo profesional de los empleados, y a reforzar su compromiso organizativo con la empresa. estas prácticas pueden facilitar la generación de la confianza necesaria para la implementación con éxito del teletrabajo. los supervisores pueden tener más confianza en que sus empleados teletrabajen si son más autónomos y autoeficaces (clear & dickson, 2005; raghuram, wiesenfield & garud, 2003). por su parte, los empleados pueden tener más confianza en que sus supervisores les valoren si la empresa asume el coste de la implantación de prácticas de desarrollo de los recursos humanos y de medidas de apoyo a los empleados, como las ayudas para guardería, vivienda o estudios. de acuerdo con esta exposición argumental, la flexibilidad puede estar relacionada positivamente con la adopción del teletrabajo y los resultados de la empresa. pero para que el teletrabajo pueda desarrollar rutinas organizativas que generen capacidades dinámicas en la empresa, será necesaria la implementación de prácticas de recursos humanos que desarrollen profesionalmente a los empleados y creen m@n@gement, vol. 12, no. 1, 2009. 52-79 57 á. martínez sánchez, m. pérez pérez, p. de luis carnicer, j. vela jiménez un clima de mutua confianza y compromiso organizativo. este artículo propone un modelo de investigación en el que las prácticas de apoyo a los recursos humanos (desarrollo y beneficios sociales) están positivamente relacionadas con la adopción del teletrabajo, el cual contribuye de forma positiva a los resultados empresariales. hipótesis de la investigación la figura 1 muestra el modelo de análisis y los próximos párrafos desarrollan las hipótesis de investigación. el modelo plantea que la intensidad de adopción del teletrabajo se explica positivamente por el grado de acceso de los empleados a las prácticas de desarrollo de recursos humanos y a los beneficios sociales de la empresa. como variables de control de la adopción del teletrabajo se utilizan el porcentaje de empleados del conocimiento en la plantilla de la empresa, y el grado de rotación laboral en el sector. el modelo propone también que el teletrabajo y otras prácticas de flexibilidad laboral influyen en los resultados de la empresa. figura 1. modelo de análisis desarrollo de recursos humanos desarrollo de recursos humanos para que los programas de teletrabajo tengan éxito, no es suficiente con disponer de tecnologías que posibiliten el trabajo a distancia ni que se adapte el proceso de trabajo para un entorno virtual como el del teletrabajo (tomaskovic-devey & risman, 1993; zamindar, 1996). también se necesita una cultura organizativa orientada a la evaluación por resultados y al fomento de la autonomía y de la responsabilidad de los recursos humanos (clear & dickson, 2005; harrington & ruppel, 1999). la literatura sobre el diseño del trabajo señala que los empleados con autonomía están más satisfechos con su trabajo y son más productivos (loscocco, 1997; parker, wall & jackson, 1997). otra cuestión es que los empleados que participan en el diseño y planificación de sus tareas pueden ser más capaces de trabajar a distancia porque conocen mejor su trabajo y la forma de organizarse fuera de la m@n@gement, vol. 12, no. 1, 2009. 52-79 58 teletrabajo, flexibilidad de recursos humanos y resultados de la empresa empresa (pérez et al., 2003, 2005). también hay que tener en cuenta que los teletrabajadores han de depender menos de sus compañeros de trabajo para resolver los problemas que les surjan en casa o en otra localización remota (nilles, 1998). por consiguiente, el acceso de los empleados a las prácticas de recursos humanos tales como la participación en el diseño del trabajo, la formación en el puesto de trabajo, o la autonomía en la toma de decisiones, puede aumentar la autoeficacia de los empleados para coordinar y ejecutar sus tareas. en este sentido, raghuram et al. (2003) evidenciaron que los teletrabajadores más autoeficaces son los que obtienen mejores resultados. sin las prácticas de desarrollo de recursos humanos, resultaría más difícil extender el teletrabajo más allá de los cuadros directivos, ya que no puede asegurarse que los empleados dispongan del conjunto de habilidades necesarias para trabajar a distancia. por ejemplo, sin la formación adecuada, el teletrabajo puede ser una experiencia limitada porque la falta de habilidades introduciría restricciones sobre cuándo y dónde pueden trabajar los empleados (ruppel & harrington, 1995). como consecuencia, se plantea la siguiente hipótesis: h1. el grado de acceso de los empleados a las prácticas de desarrollo de recursos humanos está relacionado positivamente con el porcentaje de adopción del teletrabajo en la empresa. beneficios sociales a los empleados además del desarrollo formativo de los empleados para que puedan trabajar a distancia, hacen falta gastos y compensaciones por parte de la empresa para remunerar a los teletrabajadores para, por ejemplo, la compra o el uso de tecnologías de la información y de las telecomunicaciones (nilles, 1998). este tipo de compensaciones son objeto de negociación en el establecimiento del contrato o acuerdo de teletrabajo entre la empresa y el empleado. la adopción del teletrabajo será más factible si, a igualdad de otros condicionantes, la empresa dispone de beneficios sociales o programas de apoyo a los empleados cualificados y directivos que puedan hacerse extensivos a los teletrabajadores. en particular, los programas de seguros de la empresa para los empleados resultan de interés a los teletrabajadores, puesto que los riesgos inherentes a la realización de actividades laborales en el hogar, quizás no estén cubiertos por las pólizas de seguro del hogar que tengan los empleados en sus casas. sin embargo, algunos autores argumentan que el teletrabajo forma parte de los incentivos que se ofrecen a los empleados cualificados (konrad & mangel, 2000; nilles, 1998). existen beneficios sociales como, por ejemplo, las ayudas económicas para guarderías que facilitan la conciliación personal y laboral de los empleados. en este sentido, el teletrabajo aporta a los empleados cualificados y directivos la posibilidad de esta conciliación. varios estudios (por ejemplo, felstead, jewson, phizacklea & walters, 2002) evidencian que las personas con una posición más ventajosa en el mercado laboral, disponen de más opciones sobre cómo realizar su trabajo. dado que la difusión de prácticas de conciliación es limitada y reciente entre las empresas españolas (poelmans, chinchilla & cardona, 2003), es posible que la adopción del teletrabajo esté más presente en aquellas empresas m@n@gement, vol. 12, no. 1, 2009. 52-79 59 á. martínez sánchez, m. pérez pérez, p. de luis carnicer, j. vela jiménez que ya disponen de beneficios sociales orientados a dicha conciliación como las ayudas a guarderías. un tercer y último argumento que puede darse a favor de los beneficios sociales como antecedentes necesarios del teletrabajo, es el hecho de que las personas que no ocupen cargos directivos pero que teletrabajan perciben en ocasiones que pueden quedar marginadas de las promociones y de ciertas asignaciones de proyectos (bailey & kurland, 2002). esta circunstancia hace que el teletrabajo a tiempo completo y durante largos periodos de tiempo sea menos frecuente que el teletrabajo a tiempo parcial; es decir, repartiendo horas o días a la semana entre la ubicación de la empresa y la del teletrabajo (empirica, 2000). un posible facilitador de la adopción del teletrabajo para estas personas sería la de disponer de programas de beneficios sociales que incluyesen compensaciones directas en forma de seguros o planes de pensiones que evidenciaran una orientación a largo plazo de la empresa respecto a los empleados. estos beneficios sociales constituyen un tipo de compensación que puede estar más relacionada con los resultados a medio y largo plazo de la empresa y que puede ayudar al teletrabajador a considerar esta opción laboral dentro de un marco más estable en el tiempo. en consecuencia, la adopción del teletrabajo puede verse favorecida por la disponibilidad de programas de beneficios sociales a los empleados, y por ello planteamos la siguiente hipótesis: h2. el grado de acceso de los empleados a los beneficios sociales está relacionado positivamente con el porcentaje de adopción del teletrabajo en la empresa. variables de control se han considerado dos variables de control junto con estos antecedentes del grado de apoyo a los recursos humanos en la empresa: el porcentaje de empleados del conocimiento en la plantilla, y la percepción de rotación laboral en el sector. estas variables de control pueden condicionar el grado de apoyo empresarial a sus recursos humanos. respecto a la primera variable, las estadísticas señalan que el teletrabajo es más frecuente entre los gerentes y los empleados del conocimiento (empirica, 2000; gillespie, richardson & cornford, 1995; huws, 1996). haddon & brynin (2005) evidenciaron en un estudio de adopción del teletrabajo en cinco países que el teletrabajo es mayoritariamente una práctica laboral de los directivos y profesionales y que, en cierta medida, refleja un estatus social; ningún otro grupo laboral tenía una mayor proporción de teletrabajadores en los datos analizados. también hay evidencias que indican que los empleados con conocimientos valiosos, y que no son ni gerentes ni empleados móviles, pueden teletrabajar debido a su mayor poder de negociación con los empleadores (clear & dickson, 2005). respecto a la segunda variable de control, la rotación laboral, la literatura señala que el teletrabajo reduce el absentismo laboral (collins, 2005) y la rotación de empleados (chaudron, 1995; haddon & lewis, 1994; pearlson & saunders, 2001). estas ventajas del teletrabajo pueden ser más relevantes en los sectores donde haya una alta rotación laboral porque en ellos el poder de atracción o retención de los empleados puede ser mucho mayor gracias a las prácticas flexibles de trabajo existentes en la empresa. m@n@gement, vol. 12, no. 1, 2009. 52-79 60 teletrabajo, flexibilidad de recursos humanos y resultados de la empresa teletrabajo y resultados de la empresa las hipótesis siguientes están relacionadas con el impacto del teletrabajo y de la flexibilidad de los recursos humanos en los resultados de la empresa. si bien la inclusión de dimensiones de flexibilidad en el trabajo hace más complejo el modelo de la figura 1 que si únicamente se analizara la relación entre teletrabajo y resultados de la empresa, este añadido es necesario para poder destacar cual es la contribución relativa del teletrabajo a los resultados empresariales frente a la contribución que también pueden tener otras prácticas de flexibilidad laboral. respecto al teletrabajo, su adopción en la empresa puede aumentar la productividad del empleado y su compromiso organizativo, lo cual contribuye a mejorar los resultados empresariales (collins, 2005; felstead et al., 2002; nilles, 1998). en primer lugar, la revisión de la literatura (bailey & kurland, 2002) indica que en términos netos se produce un aumento de la productividad de los empleados cuando teletrabajan; si bien, es cierto que fuera del entorno laboral tradicional, principalmente en el teletrabajo en casa, pueden surgir distracciones que obligan a un control por parte de los supervisores y a un autocontrol del propio teletrabajador en su hogar con el resto de la familia y las ocupaciones domésticas, teletrabajar fuera del entorno laboral tradicional tiene también sus efectos positivos sobre la productividad en términos del ahorro de tiempo en desplazamientos y de la mayor concentración en el trabajo que se consigue por las menores interrupciones de los compañeros de trabajo. otro argumento significativo es el efecto de los teletrabajadores en la infraestructura tecnológica de la empresa. para implantar con éxito un programa de teletrabajo, hace falta instalar un sistema de comunicaciones adecuado. la mejora en las infraestructuras ayuda a optimizar las operaciones dentro de la empresa, consiguiendo así un aumento de la productividad global (watad & disanzo, 2000). además de la contribución positiva a la productividad, existen otros efectos positivos potenciales del teletrabajo sobre los resultados de la empresa: reducción del espacio de oficina necesario, disminución del absentismo y de la rotación laboral, y mejor orientación a resultados (chaudron, 1995; collins, 2005; illegems & verbeke, 2004; kurland & bailey, 1999). como consecuencia de estos efectos, se propone que el teletrabajo puede contribuir de forma positiva a los resultados de la empresa a nivel organizativo. no obstante, dado que el teletrabajo es solo una de las prácticas flexibles con las que la empresa obtiene flexibilidad y mejora los resultados, es de esperar que dicha contribución sea marginal. h3. el porcentaje de adopción del teletrabajo en la empresa está relacionada positivamente con los resultados empresariales. otras prácticas flexibles de recursos humanos y resultados de la empresa además del teletrabajo, existen otras prácticas flexibles de recursos humanos con las que la empresa obtiene flexibilidad y mejora sus resultados: flexibilidad funcional, flexibilidad numérica interna y flexibilidad numérica externa. en primer lugar, se propone una relación m@n@gement, vol. 12, no. 1, 2009. 52-79 61 á. martínez sánchez, m. pérez pérez, p. de luis carnicer, j. vela jiménez positiva entre flexibilidad funcional y los resultados de la empresa. se admite con frecuencia que la flexibilidad funcional se traduce en una ‘humanización’ del trabajo para los empleados como resultado del aumento de la seguridad en el empleo y del enriquecimiento en el contenido y variedad de las tareas por realizar. al igual que otras formas de flexibilidad laboral, la flexibilidad funcional posibilita que las empresas disminuyan sus costes laborales, pero también permite mejorar la calidad de vida laboral de los empleados reduciendo el trabajo monótono y repetitivo. con las prácticas flexibles de trabajo que facilitan la flexibilidad funcional, las empresas obtienen ganancias de productividad y los empleados aumentan su polivalencia y cualificación (chan et al., 2004; delaney & huselid, 1996; huselid, 1995). los resultados positivos de la flexibilidad funcional para empresas y empleados van más allá de la eficiencia, tales como una mayor identificación con el negocio, la mejora del trabajo en equipo y la mejora de la imagen de la empresa en el mercado (kelliher & riley, 2003). en segundo lugar, las prácticas de flexibilidad numérica interna pueden también contribuir de forma positiva a los resultados de la empresa. este efecto positivo puede producirse por causas directas e indirectas. mencionamos aquí el efecto indirecto únicamente a efectos teóricos aunque no incluyamos en el modelo a ninguna variable para contrastarlo. algunas prácticas de flexibilidad numérica interna –por ejemplo, el horario flexibleaumentan la satisfacción laboral de los empleados, lo que redunda en un mayor compromiso organizativo que contribuye a mejorar los resultados empresariales (arthur, 2003; eaton, 2003; konrad & mangel, 2000). este efecto indirecto es común para todas las prácticas internas, tanto funcionales como numéricas. en cuanto a los efectos directos, prácticas flexibles como el contrato a tiempo parcial, las horas extraordinarias o la reducción de jornada permiten a la empresa ahorrar costes laborales. este ahorro puede ser en los costes de contratación cuando con las horas extra se hace innecesario el aumento de la plantilla si tiene que aumentar la producción. también pueden reducirse los costes de despido si con la reducción de jornada puede hacerse frente a una caída de la demanda y de la producción sin tener que presentar un expediente de regulación de empleo, evitando los costes de dicho proceso. otro efecto directo es el de los costes de absentismo y de pérdida de productividad que se evitan con prácticas como el horario flexible, el cual posibilita que los empleados puedan conciliar su vida personal y laboral sin tener que recurrir al absentismo para hacerlo. estas prácticas pueden entonces mejorar las relaciones laborales, que es uno de los ítems valorados en el constructo de resultados del modelo (véase tabla 2), lo que a su vez puede traducirse en una menor conflictividad laboral con el ahorro de costes que ello conlleva. por tanto, es de esperar que en nuestro estudio la flexibilidad numérica interna esté positivamente relacionada con los resultados de la empresa. en tercer y último lugar, se añade la influencia de la flexibilidad numérica externa en los resultados de la empresa. esta flexibilidad implica la contratación y despido de trabajadores, el uso de empleados temporales y la contratación de externos como autónomos. aunque estas m@n@gement, vol. 12, no. 1, 2009. 52-79 62 teletrabajo, flexibilidad de recursos humanos y resultados de la empresa prácticas flexibles pueden contribuir a reducir costes laborales, también pueden debilitar el compromiso organizativo de estos empleados, en comparación con el de los trabajadores fijos, lo que puede influir de forma negativa en los resultados de innovación (michie & sheehan, 2005; posthuma, campion & vargas, 2005). las personas recién contratadas necesitan un periodo de socialización durante el cual tienen que adaptarse a su nueva empresa o puesto de trabajo, lo que puede tener consecuencias negativas para la productividad, y tanto más cuanto mayor sea el porcentaje de despidos y empleados temporales de la empresa (cascio, 2000). por ello, se plantea la siguiente hipótesis que relaciona las tres dimensiones de flexibilidad laboral con los resultados de la empresa: h4. el uso de la flexibilidad funcional y de la flexibilidad numérica interna están relacionados positivamente con los resultados de la empresa, mientras que el uso de la flexibilidad numérica externa lo está negativamente. relaciones de otras prácticas flexibles de trabajo con el teletrabajo para finalizar, se proponen algunas relaciones asociativas que pueden existir entre el uso de otras prácticas flexibles y el de la adopción del teletrabajo. la inclusión de estas relaciones no pretende explorar nexos causales potenciales entre variables, como en las hipótesis planteadas hasta ahora, sino simplemente poner de manifiesto que la adopción de otras prácticas flexibles puede estar asociada a la del teletrabajo, ya sea de forma positiva o negativa. en este sentido, se propone que la flexibilidad funcional y la flexibilidad numérica interna están asociadas positivamente con la adopción del teletrabajo. respecto a la flexibilidad funcional, se observa que los empleados que tienen acceso a las prácticas de flexibilidad funcional (equipos polivalentes, formación multifuncional, etc.) son quienes mayormente forman parte del núcleo competitivo de la empresa (personal de i+d, etc.), mientras que los empleados que se dedican a actividades periféricas no tienen acceso a las mismas y tienen un menor grado de seguridad en el empleo (atkinson, 1984). pues bien, las estadísticas señalan también que existe una mayor preferencia a ofrecer el teletrabajo a las personas que forman parte del núcleo competitivo de la empresa como, por ejemplo, los directivos y empleados del conocimiento (clear & dickson, 2005; haddon & brynin, 2005), es decir a quienes precisamente se les ofrecen por su trabajo las prácticas de flexibilidad funcional. algunas prácticas flexibles que se les ofrecen a los empleados del núcleo para que puedan realizar mejor su trabajo pueden entonces facilitar la adopción del teletrabajo. por su parte, las prácticas de flexibilidad numérica interna pueden estar también asociadas de forma positiva con la adopción del teletrabajo. por ejemplo, las personas que trabajan a tiempo parcial -lo cual constituye una situación de flexibilidad numérica internamuestran una mayor preferencia por el teletrabajo que las personas que trabajan a tiempo completo (peters, tidjens & wetzels, 2004; popuri & bhat, 2003) porque en ambos casos puede existir la necesidad de reducir el tiempo dedicado al trabajo para conciliar mejor la vida personal y lam@n@gement, vol. 12, no. 1, 2009. 52-79 63 á. martínez sánchez, m. pérez pérez, p. de luis carnicer, j. vela jiménez boral o por tener que atender limitaciones temporales en el desplazamiento al trabajo. el horario flexible, que es otra práctica de flexibilidad numérica interna, puede facilitar también la adopción del teletrabajo porque permite coordinar la actividad de los teletrabajadores con la de otros empleados. es decir, la no presencia física permanente de los teletrabajadores en la empresa hace necesaria la coordinación con sus colegas y supervisores de trabajo para establecer unas pautas de intercambio de información y de evaluación de resultados. ello precisa que los supervisores sean flexibles para facilitar las necesidades de acceso temporal de los teletrabajadores a determinados sistemas de comunicación en la empresa. en consecuencia, por estos y otros ejemplos esperamos una relación positiva entre el uso de prácticas de flexibilidad numérica interna y el porcentaje de adopción del teletrabajo en la empresa. respecto a la flexibilidad numérica externa, se propone una relación negativa con la adopción del teletrabajo, porque las empresas suelen ofrecer el teletrabajo a los empleados más antiguos y de confianza (gillespie et al., 1995; huws, 1996; peters et al., 2004) en vez de a los empleados que acaban de llegar a la empresa o tienen una relación contractual a término con ésta. el motivo es quizás que el teletrabajo requiere esfuerzos adicionales de formación por parte de la empresa, y estos esfuerzos de formación se priorizan en mayor parte para los empleados del núcleo competitivo que para los empleados temporales de la periferia de la empresa (atkinson, 1984). h5. el uso de la flexibilidad funcional y de la flexibilidad numérica interna están asociados positivamente con el porcentaje de adopción del teletrabajo en la empresa, mientras que el uso de la flexibilidad numérica externa está asociado negativamente con el porcentaje de adopción del teletrabajo en la empresa. la próxima sección explica la metodología del estudio realizado para contrastar estas hipótesis, seguido de los resultados obtenidos y de su discusión. metodologia muestra y procedimiento los datos utilizados para el estudio empírico proceden de una encuesta a una muestra de 156 empresas españolas: 97 empresas industriales proveedoras del sector de la automoción, y 59 empresas de servicios en los sectores de la telecomunicación, software y consultoría. estos sectores se escogieron para obtener variaciones sustanciales en el entorno de las empresas, pero con la característica común de que son sectores con alta necesidad de flexibilidad y que son también usuarios intensivos de tecnologías de la información y las telecomunicaciones. la población de empresas proveedoras de automoción estaba formada por 362 empresas listadas en la asociación sernauto de proveedores de automoción en españa, mientras que la población de las empresas de servicios la constituyen las 230 empresas listadas en la edición del año 2004 del anuario m@n@gement, vol. 12, no. 1, 2009. 52-79 64 teletrabajo, flexibilidad de recursos humanos y resultados de la empresa dun & bradstreet de las 50.000 mayores empresas españolas. la tasa de respuesta conjunta del 26,3% (26,7% para las empresas proveedoras de automoción y 25,6% para las de servicios) resulta bastante satisfactoria para un estudio postal en españa y es similar a la de estudios sobre flexibilidad dirigidos a directivos de empresa (bhattacharya et al., 2005). la unidad de análisis es la empresa. no se ha utilizado el establecimiento como unidad de análisis porque las empresas pueden obtener a menudo flexibilidad dividiendo el trabajo de forma distinta entre varios establecimientos. la tabla 1 recoge la ficha técnica de la investigación realizada. tabla 1. ficha técnica de la investigación característica encuesta universo o población objeto de estudio ámbito geográfico/temporal unidad muestral tamaño muestral/tasa de respuesta error muestral/nivel de confianza fecha de realización del trabajo de campo personas encuestadas empresas españolas (proveedoras) de automoción, telecomunicaciones, software y servicios de información a empresas. todo el territorio nacional / anual: ejercicio 2004 empresa 156 encuestas validas / 26,3% 6,7% / 95% enero a junio de 2005 director/a general y de rrhh de la empresa la encuesta se realizó entre enero y junio del año 2005 mediante un cuestionario estructurado dirigido por correo al director o directora general y al director o directora de recursos humanos de la empresa. se enviaron dos cartas a cada empresa y la carta de presentación para cada directivo les solicitaba que participasen en el estudio cumplimentando el cuestionario adjunto, o que lo transmitiesen a la persona más cualificada en la empresa para responderlo. la persona con el cargo de director general era la responsable de facilitar la información sobre los resultados de la empresa, mientras que la persona con el cargo de director de recursos humanos era la responsable de la información sobre teletrabajo y prácticas flexibles de recursos humanos. se comprobó, con una llamada telefónica posterior de aclaración de los datos, que la persona que respondía a ambas partes del cuestionario no fuese la misma para evitar los sesgos derivados del modelo mental de la persona que cumplimenta el cuestionario en cuanto al uso del teletrabajo y las prácticas flexibles y su impacto en los resultados empresariales. una vez cumplimentado el cuestionario, se solicitaba que lo devolviesen en sobres facilitados al efecto. no se ofreció ningún tipo de incentivo para cumplimentar el cuestionario, pero se prometió enviar los resultados del estudio, una vez que estuvieran disponibles. el borrador del cuestionario se contrastó primero con académicos y m@n@gement, vol. 12, no. 1, 2009. 52-79 65 á. martínez sánchez, m. pérez pérez, p. de luis carnicer, j. vela jiménez profesionales para comprobar la validez de su contenido y la terminología utilizada, realizándose algunos cambios con las sugerencias incorporadas en el proceso. con el cuestionario modificado se hizo una prueba piloto con cuatro empresas para evaluar su grado de adecuación para la población objetivo. después del primer envío se realizaron otros dos envíos recordatorios. medición de las variables la tabla 2 indica la forma de medición de las variables utilizadas en el estudio. la intensidad de adopción del teletrabajo se midió, al igual que en otros estudios (por ejemplo, pérez et al., 2005), como el porcentaje de teletrabajadores en la plantilla: teletrabajadores en casa, teletrabajadores móviles y teletrabajadores en telecentros. estos son los tres tipos habituales de teletrabajo (bailey & kurland, 2002). el teletrabajo en casa se refiere a empleados que trabajan en su casa de una forma regular o la utilizan como base de trabajo (harris, 2003). en los telecentros, los empleados trabajan a la vez fuera de su casa y del lugar habitual de trabajo de la empresa, en una localización que es conveniente para los empleados y clientes con el fin de reducir los desplazamientos laborales. los teletrabajadores móviles son personas que se desplazan con frecuencia y que utilizan las tecnologías de la información y las telecomunicaciones para trabajar desde cualquier parte y comunicarse con la oficina tanto como sea necesario desde otras localizaciones (agentes comerciales, por ejemplo). los teletrabajadores contabilizados en este estudio tenían que estar al menos un día a la semana fuera del lugar habitual de trabajo de la empresa. no se exigió la existencia de ningún programa formal de teletrabajo, dado que algunos autores consideran que una parte importante del teletrabajo se realiza o se inicia de una forma voluntaria y formal, y queda oculto por tanto a las estadísticas (clear & dickson, 2005). por su parte, el uso de la flexibilidad funcional, numérica interna y numérica externa se midió por la ratio del número de empleados que utilizaban estas prácticas dividido por el número total de empleados en la empresa. para comparar las diferencias entre empresas adoptantes y no adoptantes del teletrabajo, se calculó también el porcentaje de prácticas flexibles que utilizaban las empresas encuestadas. las ratios de flexibilidad funcional y flexibilidad numérica interna pueden ser mayores que la unidad porque en el numerador se contabilizan todos los empleados que usan las prácticas de cada grupo, por lo que puede haber empleados que utilicen más de una práctica distinta. las medidas utilizadas de flexibilidad son de elaboración propia pero adaptadas de las listas de prácticas utilizadas en otros estudios (cappelli & neumark, 2001; houseman, 2001; michie & sheehan, 2005). las prácticas incluidas (véase tabla 2) son las que, según la revisión de la literatura, responden a las definiciones conceptuales de la flexibilidad funcional, numérica interna y numérica externa que se han realizado en el apartado 2.1. m@n@gement, vol. 12, no. 1, 2009. 52-79 66 teletrabajo, flexibilidad de recursos humanos y resultados de la empresa tabla 2. elaboración de las variables variable descripción teletrabajo porcentaje de teletrabajadores en la plantilla. flexibilidad funcional número de empleados que utilizan las siguientes prácticas de flexibilidad funcional interna, dividido por el número total de empleados: rotación de tareas, equipos polivalentes de trabajo, calidad total, círculos de calidad y resolución de problemas, participación de empleados en diseño y planificación de sus tareas. flexibilidad numérica interna número de empleados que utilizan las siguientes prácticas de flexibilidad numérica interna, dividido por el número total de empleados en la plantilla: semana compartida, contrato a tiempo parcial, horario flexible, horas extra y reducción de jornada laboral. flexibilidad numérica externa número de empleados temporales, a término, empleados contingentes y despidos, dividido por el número total de empleados. empleados del conocimiento porcentaje de empleados del conocimiento en la plantilla. se calculó dividiendo el número de empleados cuyo conocimiento dificultaría la competitividad de la empresa si se marcharan de ella (científicos, ingenieros, etc.) por el número total de empleados. no se establecieron categorías para la población de empresas, sino que se dejaron flexibles para respetar la situación propia de cada sector. desarrollo de empleados constructo de 6 ítems (alfa de cronbach=0,866) relacionados con el grado en que los empleados de la empresa tienen acceso a prácticas de desarrollo de recursos humanos, y medidos en escalas likert de 7 puntos con los extremos “muy pocos empleados (=1) y “todos los empleados” (=7). los items utilizados son: ‘ofrecemos formación centrada en el desarrollo del equipo, las habilidades del trabajo en equipo y el uso de tecnologías de la información y las comunicaciones’, ‘ofrecemos oportunidades de desarrollo interno múltiples para que los empleados puedan moverse entre múltiples áreas funcionales de la empresa’, ‘la dirección permite a los empleados que sean altamente autónomos y que regulen su propio comportamiento’, ‘nos aseguramos de que los empleados sean conscientes de las oportunidades de promoción interna’, ‘se informa a todo el personal de la estrategia de la empresa, así como de la posición de mercado y las presiones competitivas a las que se enfrenta la empresa’ y ‘se estimula a los empleados para que sugieran mejoras, y éstas son formalmente reconocidas y recompensadas por su contribución’. beneficios para empleados constructo de 2 ítems (alfa de cronbach=0,626)relacionados con el grado en que los empleados tienen acceso a beneficios sociales en la empresa, y medidos en escalas likert de 7 puntos con los extremos “muy pocos empleados (=1) y “todos los empleados” (=7). los items incluidos son: ‘los empleados disponen de beneficios sociales de compensación indirecta como la guardería o prestaciones para vivienda’ y ‘los empleados disponen de beneficios sociales directos como pensiones y contratos de seguros’. rotación de empleados grado en el que la rotación de empleados es alta en el sector, y medido en escala likert de 7 puntos con los extremos “totalmente en desacuerdo” (=1) y “totalmente de acuerdo” (=7). resultados financieros constructo de 4 ítems (alfa de cronbach=0,918) de resultados de la empresa en comparación con sus competidores, y medidos en escalas likert de 7 puntos con los extremos “el peor del sector” (=1) y “el mejor del sector” (=7): rentabilidad sobre activos, rentabilidad sobre ventas, resultado financiero global y crecimiento de la cuota de mercado. resultados de innovación y relaciones constructo de 5 ítems (alfa de cronbach=0,901) de resultados de la empresa en comparación con sus competidores, y medidos en escalas likert de 7 puntos con los extremos “el peor del sector” (=1) y “el mejor del sector” (=7): innovación de producto, innovación de proceso, relaciones laborales, relaciones con clientes y relaciones con proveedores. flexibilidad estratégica constructo de 3 ítems (alfa de cronbach=0,865) medidos en escalas likert de 7 puntos con los extremos “totalmente en desacuerdo” (=1) y “totalmente de acuerdo” (=7). esta flexibilidad es la capacidad de la empresa para adaptarse a cambios en el entorno rápidos e imprevistos que tengan un impacto significativo en los resultados de la empresa (sanchez, 1995). los items son: ‘la empresa reacciona muy rápidamente a las nuevas demandas de los clientes’, ‘la empresa reacciona muy rápidamente a los aumentos y disminuciones de la demanda’, y ‘la empresa tiene varias opciones para enfrentarse a los cambios en el entorno’. las dos principales variables independientes son la de “desarrollo de empleados” y la de “beneficios para empleados”. en la tabla 2 se específican los items de cada una de ellas y el alfa de cronbach de los constructos respectivos. la variable de “desarrollo de empleados” se ha medido con un constructo de 6 items adaptados de otros estudios (cappelli & neumark, 2001; chan et al., 2004; collins & smith, 2006), mientras que la variable “beneficios para empleados” se ha medido a través de un instrumento de elaboración propia con 2 items adaptados de gittleman et al. (1998). el alfa de cronbach de esta variable es de 0,626, levemente inferior al valor de 0,7 recomendado por nunnally (1978) pero que se ha decidido mantener m@n@gement, vol. 12, no. 1, 2009. 52-79 67 á. martínez sánchez, m. pérez pérez, p. de luis carnicer, j. vela jiménez pues siguiendo a hair, black, anderson & tatham (1998) el valor mínimo en las escalas exploratorias puede ser de 0,6. respecto a los resultados de la empresa, la tabla 2 indica cómo se midieron tres tipos de resultados: financieros, de innovación y relaciones, y flexibilidad estratégica. no se preguntaron datos cuantitativos de resultados para evitar un posible rechazo a contestar el cuestionario por este motivo3. a pesar de utilizar percepciones directivas en la valoración de los resultados en nuestro estudio, otros trabajos han evidenciado que las percepciones directivas son consistentes con la evaluación objetiva de la empresa (dess & robinson, 1984; venkatraman & ramanujam, 1986; wall et al., 2004). las tres medidas de resultados se utilizaron en la regresión como variables dependientes para contrastar la influencia del teletrabajo y otras prácticas flexibles de recursos humanos en los resultados de la empresa. la razón por la cual se han utilizado estas tres dimensiones de resultados es para tener en cuenta que el teletrabajo puede tener un conjunto diverso de efectos que no se limitan a los resultados financieros sino que también pueden influir en las relaciones laborales dentro de la empresa y en la capacidad de flexibilidad de la empresa para reaccionar a los cambios del entorno (kurland & bailey, 1999; nilles, 1998). se creó una base de datos con la información obtenida en la encuesta y se analizó estadísticamente con el programa spss 14.0. previamente al análisis estadístico se efectuó la validez de las escalas. con antelación a la recogida de datos se comprobó la validez de contenido con la revisión de la literatura y con el test previo al cuestionario. con los datos recogidos se comprobó después: la unidimensionalidad de las escalas con el análisis factorial exploratorio de componentes principales; la fiabilidad de dichas escalas con el alfa de cronbach, de forma que dicho valor fuese superior como mínimo al 0,6 recomendado para escalas exploratorias (hair et al., 1998); y la validez discriminante de forma que ninguno de los intervalos de confianza entre cada par de dimensiones de la escala incluyera el valor de 1 al 95% de significación (hair et al., 1998). en la tabla 2 se indican el alfa de cronbach de cada una de las escalas y en la tabla 3 el intervalo de confianza de las escalas para las que se exige validez discriminante desde el punto de vista de la explicación del modelo. tabla 3. correlaciones y validez discriminante de las escalas coeficiente correlación intervalo de confianza desarrollo empleados – beneficios sociales resultados financieros – resultados de innovación resultados financieros – flexibilidad estratégica resultados de innovación – flexibilidad estratégica 0,137 0,670 0,480 0,576 0,037 – 0,237 0,580 – 0,760 0,380 – 0,580 0,480 – 0,684 el análisis estadístico realizado fue descriptivo de las variables incluidas en el estudio, y se efectuó un análisis de regresión y una comparación de medias para contrastar las hipótesis. en el estudio de las diferencias de variables de flexibilidad de recursos humanos entre empresas adoptantes del teletrabajo, se consideró como empresas 3 no obstante, se comprobó con la base de datos sabi que al menos para los resultados financieros, había una correlación positiva y significativa entre las percepciones directivas y los resultados cuantitativos de sabi. m@n@gement, vol. 12, no. 1, 2009. 52-79 68 teletrabajo, flexibilidad de recursos humanos y resultados de la empresa más adoptantes del teletrabajo a aquellas con un porcentaje de teletrabajadores en la plantilla superior al promedio de las empresas adoptantes (≥18,62%), mientras que las empresas menos adoptantes del teletrabajo eran las que tenían un porcentaje de teletrabajadores por debajo de la media de las empresas adoptantes (<18,62%). se realizaron dos regresiones lineales, la primera para analizar los antecedentes del teletrabajo y la segunda para analizar el impacto del teletrabajo y la flexibilidad de los recursos humanos en los resultados de la empresa. resultados la tabla 4 muestra la estadística descriptiva y las correlaciones bivariadas de las variables del estudio. la tabla 5 muestra el número y porcentaje de empresas encuestadas que han adoptado el teletrabajo y algunas de las otras prácticas flexibles de trabajo. el porcentaje de empresas adoptantes del teletrabajo es de un 25%, siendo mayor en las empresas de servicios que en las industriales. el 51% de las empresas dispone de horario flexible, y de ellas casi un 39% dispone también del teletrabajo para gerentes y empleados. para las otras empresas no adoptantes del teletrabajo pero que tienen horario flexible, el uso de estas prácticas flexibles de trabajo podría ser una influencia positiva en la adopción del teletrabajo si permitiesen a sus empleados trabajar fuera de la empresa. la tabla 6 muestra los resultados del primer conjunto de regresiones lineales, en la que se explica el porcentaje de empleados que utilizan el teletrabajo. hay tres regresiones en la tabla: muestra total, empresas industriales y empresas de servicios. los resultados de la muestra total indican que todas las variables independientes de la regresión son estadísticamente significativas, tanto las dos variables de control como las dos variables de apoyo a los recursos humanos, lo cual corrobora las hipótesis h1 y h2. las regresiones para cada grupo de empresas muestran que los antecedentes planteados del teletrabajo son estadísticamente significativos en ambos casos. las diferencias únicamente se producen en las variables de control, lo que puede indicar diferencias en el entorno de ambos grupos de empresas. tabla 4. estadística descriptiva media d.t. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1.teletrabajo 2.flex. func. 3.flex.num.int 4.flex.num.ext 5.empl.clave 6.des.empl. 7.benef.social. 8.rot.empl. 9.res.financ. 10.res.innova. 11.flex.estrat. 0,04 1,30 0,52 0,19 0,25 4,33 1,58 3,73 4,60 4,78 5,28 0,10 1,02 0,60 0,19 0,21 1,43 1,19 1,82 1,07 1,18 1,26 ,548** ,259** ,138 ,342** ,405** ,374** ,409** ,368** ,389** ,294** ,396** ,087 ,180* ,520** ,375** ,190* ,401** ,365** ,232** ,036 -,049 ,347** ,216** ,211** ,242** ,260** ,231** -,047 ,073 ,035 ,365** -,111 -,026 -,148+ ,103 -,019 ,058 ,165* ,169* ,044 ,137+ ,090 ,417** ,692** ,385** ,058 ,368** ,382** ,315** ,048 ,224** ,131 ,670** ,480** ,576** nivel de significación: +p<0,1 *p<0,05 **p<0,01 m@n@gement, vol. 12, no. 1, 2009. 52-79 69 á. martínez sánchez, m. pérez pérez, p. de luis carnicer, j. vela jiménez tabla 5. uso de prácticas flexibles de trabajo en las empresas encuestadas muestra total (n= 156) industria (n= 97) servicios (n=59) tabla 6. regresión lineal del porcentaje de teletrabajadores en la plantilla la tabla 7 muestra el porcentaje de empleados del conocimiento que tiene acceso al teletrabajo y a otras prácticas flexibles de trabajo en las empresas adoptantes de cada práctica. los datos indican que el teletrabajo es más frecuente entre los empleados del conocimiento, y la diferencia es mayor entre las empresas industriales que en las empresas de servicios, aunque las diferencias no son estadísticamente significativas. en cuanto a las prácticas flexibles recogidas en la tabla, únicamente se da una diferencia significativa para los equipos polivalentes, los cuales son utilizados de forma significativa por un mayor porcentaje de empleados del conocimiento en las empresas de servicios que en las industriales. tabla 7. porcentaje de empleados del conocimiento que utilizan prácticas de trabajo flexible (solo en las empresas adoptantes de cada práctica) n % n % n % teletrabajo rotación de tareas equipos polivalentes horario flexible reducción de jornada 40 103 94 80 62 25,6 66,0 60,3 51,3 39,7 11 66 59 35 31 11,3 68,0 60,8 36,1 32,0 29 37 35 45 31 49,2 62,7 59,3 76,3 52,5 muestra total (n=156) industria (n=97) servicios (n=59) empleados del conocimiento rotación de empleados desarrollo de empleados beneficios para empleados estadísticas del modelo 0,224** (3,371) 0,283** (4,181) 0,213** (2,708) 0,248** (3,293) r2 aj. = 0,365 f = 23,32** 0,196* (2,029) -0,075 (0,774) 0,225** (2,843) 0,347** (3,308) r2 aj. = 0,218 f = 14,20** 0,111 (1,231) 0,388** (4,426) 0,328** (2,961) 0,350** (3,313) r2 aj. = 0,574 f = 20,52** coeficientes beta estandarizados; valores de t-student entre paréntesis nivel de significación: +p<0,1 *p<0,05 **p<0,01 teletrabajo rotación de tareas equipos polivalentes horario flexible reducción de jornada conocimiento 43,6 33,6 51,2 65,8 10,3 otros 11,5 35,7 36,3 35,0 11,5 conocimiento 53,1 29,7 46,0 59,8 7,9 otros 7,2 37,1 31,6 19,2 9,2 conocimiento 39,9 40,4 60,0+ 70,4 12,7 otros 13,2 33,2 43,9 46,5 13,6 nivel de significación: +p<0,1 muestra total (n= 156) industria (n= 97) servicios (n=59) m@n@gement, vol. 12, no. 1, 2009. 52-79 70 teletrabajo, flexibilidad de recursos humanos y resultados de la empresa la tabla 8 muestra el segundo conjunto de regresiones lineales, en la que se explica la influencia del teletrabajo y otras prácticas flexibles de recursos humanos en los resultados de la empresa. hay tres regresiones en la tabla, una para cada variable de resultados: resultados financieros, resultados de innovación y relaciones, y flexibilidad estratégica. el porcentaje de adopción del teletrabajo está relacionado significativa y positivamente con las tres medidas de resultados de la empresa, lo que apoya la hipótesis h3 del estudio. la hipótesis h4 queda apoyada también porque las variables de flexibilidad utilizadas resultan significativas para la mayoría de las dimensiones de resultados y en la dirección planteada en la hipótesis. así, la flexibilidad funcional está relacionada positivamente con los resultados financieros y de innovación, la flexibilidad numérica interna está relacionada positivamente con las tres medidas de resultados, y la flexibilidad numérica externa está relacionada negativamente con los resultados financieros de la empresa y la flexibilidad estratégica. tabla 8. regresión lineal de tres medidas de resultados de la empresa finalmente, la tabla 9 muestra la comparación de las dimensiones de flexibilidad de recursos humanos entre empresas adoptantes y no adoptantes del teletrabajo, y entre empresas más adoptantes y menos adoptantes. los resultados indican que las empresas adoptantes del teletrabajo tienen valores más altos en todas las dimensiones de flexibilidad utilizadas. la comparación de las empresas adoptantes del teletrabajo -excluyendo a las no adoptantes del análisismuestra que las más adoptantes tienen valores más altos de flexibilidad funcional y de flexibilidad numérica interna que las empresas menos adoptantes del teletrabajo. no se observan diferencias estadísticas significativas de flexibilidad numérica externa entre las empresas más adoptantes y menos adoptantes del teletrabajo. tabla 9. comparación de la flexibilidad de recursos humanos entre empresas adoptantes y no adoptantes del teletrabajo, y entre adoptantes del teletrabajo de alta intensidad y baja intensidad financieros innovación y relaciones flexibilidad estratégica teletrabajo flexibilidad funcional flexibilidad numérica interna flexibilidad numérica externa estadísticas del modelo 0,254** (3,097) 0,225* (2,622) 0,131+ (1,635) -0,193* (2,594) r2 aj. = 0,210 f = 11,15** 0,296** (3,552) 0,148+ (1,698) 0,149+ (1,832) -0,115 (1,523) r2 aj. = 0,184 f = 9,63** 0,268** (3,136) 0,014 (0,153) 0,215* (2,580) -0,242** (3,124) r2 aj. = 0,146 f = 7,52** coeficientes beta estandarizados; valores de t-student entre paréntesis nivel de significación: +p<0,1 *p<0,05 **p<0,01 adoptante no adoptante adopción alta adopción baja porcentaje de prácticas de flexibilidad funcional adoptadas en la empresa flexibilidad funcional porcentaje de prácticas de flexibilidad numérica interna adoptadas en la empresa flexibilidad numérica interna flexibilidad numérica externa 93,6** 2,46** 48,5** 0,81** 0,25* 60,9 1,08 30,5 0,42 0,17 94,7** 2,76** 57,8* 0,96 0,29 76,1 1,53 40,0 0,67 0,21 las empresas con nivel de adopción alto del teletrabajo son aquellas que tienen un porcentaje de teletrabajadores en la plantilla por encima de la media (≥18,62%), mientras que las empresas con adopción baja del teletrabajo son las que tienen un porcentaje de teletrabajadores en la plantilla por debajo de la media (<18,62%). comparaciones de medias con t-test; nivel de significación: +p<0,1 *p<0,05 **p<0,01 m@n@gement, vol. 12, no. 1, 2009. 52-79 71 á. martínez sánchez, m. pérez pérez, p. de luis carnicer, j. vela jiménez discusion los análisis de las interacciones entre las distintas formas de flexibilidad y el estudio de su impacto en los resultados de la empresa son importantes para entender la relación entre la capacidad de control dinámico de la gerencia y la capacidad de respuesta de la empresa. los resultados de la investigación evidencian, en un principio, que las prácticas de flexibilidad externa están menos asociadas con la magnitud de adopción del teletrabajo que las prácticas de flexibilidad interna. de esta manera, no hemos encontrado diferencias significativas de la flexibilidad numérica externa entre las empresas adoptantes del teletrabajo. este resultado apoya la literatura del teletrabajo sobre la necesidad de ofrecer el teletrabajo a empleados con experiencia y antigüedad en la empresa (nilles, 1998). además, el uso de la flexibilidad numérica externa está negativamente relacionado con los resultados financieros y la flexibilidad estratégica de la empresa. el hecho de que la flexibilidad funcional esté positivamente asociada con el teletrabajo pero la flexibilidad numérica externa no lo esté, puede indicar que las empresas con teletrabajo tienen una orientación más funcional que numérica externa. pensamos que las relaciones entre dimensiones de flexibilidad y resultados que no han sido significativas no invalidan sustancialmente la hipótesis h4, sino que ponen de manifiesto la complejidad de la relación entre flexibilidad y resultados, justificando así la necesidad de utilizar distintas medidas en el estudio de la relación entre ambas variables en próximos estudios. por ejemplo, que la flexibilidad funcional no esté relacionada significativamente con la flexibilidad estratégica pero si con los resultados financieros y los de relaciones laborales nos indica que las prácticas de flexibilidad funcional puede que no mejoren las capacidades de adaptación de la empresa al entorno pero que quizás si lo hagan las prácticas de flexibilidad numérica interna. las empresas que deseen mejorar su capacidad de adaptación al entorno debieran dar prioridad entonces a la adopción de prácticas de flexibilidad numérica frente a las de flexibilidad funcional. asimismo, la ausencia de relación entre la flexibilidad numérica externa y los resultados de innovación y relaciones laborales puede deberse a que las prácticas de flexibilidad numérica externa no se aplican en el área de innovación de las empresas, a diferencia de las prácticas de flexibilidad funcional y numérica interna, de las que si que se benefician los empleados dedicados al área de innovación que forman parte del núcleo de la empresa, según la terminología centroperiferia del modelo de atkinson (1984) de la empresa flexible. en cuanto a uno de los objetivos principales de este trabajo, el que hayamos obtenido como resultado que el teletrabajo está positivamente relacionado con los resultados de la empresa, apoya la literatura sobre flexibilidad laboral que sugiere que los trabajadores están más satisfechos en el trabajo cuando tienen la capacidad de adaptar sus tareas laborales a sus propias necesidades. dado que el teletrabajo permite, a priori, conciliar la vida personal y laboral de los empleados, puede ofrecer también más oportunidades para alcanzar una mayor satisfacción en el trabajo. no obstante nuestros datos también muestran que el teletrabajo está más asociado positivamente con los resultados de la empresa que otras prácticas de flexibilidad laboral como la flexibilidad funcional (por ejemplo, la rotación de tareas) o la flexibilidad numérica interna (por ejemplo, el horario flexible). este resultado apoya m@n@gement, vol. 12, no. 1, 2009. 52-79 72 teletrabajo, flexibilidad de recursos humanos y resultados de la empresa otros estudios que también indican un efecto diferenciado del teletrabajo en comparación con otras dimensiones de flexibilidad. por ejemplo, rau & hyland (2002) señalan que el teletrabajo facilita más la transición de los empleados entre sus roles laborales y personales, que las prácticas de horario flexible, y que ello puede aumentar más la productividad del empleado y su satisfacción en el trabajo. en relación con los antecedentes del teletrabajo, se ha evidenciado que el nivel de acceso a las prácticas de desarrollo de recursos humanos está asociado positivamente con la magnitud de adopción del teletrabajo. el resultado apoya otros estudios que evidencian que una característica determinante de los programas de selección de teletrabajadores es la búsqueda de capacidades de autogestión y de los individuos que precisan demostrar su capacidad para organizar sus agendas de trabajo, establecer prioridades, cumplir objetivos y valorar su propio resultado (raghuram et al., 2003). todos los teletrabajadores disfrutan, por definición, de algún tipo de discrecionalidad para organizar sus actividades laborales. nuestra tipología de teletrabajadores incluye en mayor proporción a empleados del conocimiento, cuya actividad en el pasado precisaba en su totalidad del trabajo en la oficina, pero que en la actualidad puede realizarse, en parte, a distancia gracias a las tecnologías de la información y las telecomunicaciones. estos empleados tienen una mayor autonomía laboral que requiere de las prácticas de desarrollo de recursos humanos. además pueden ser tan valiosos para la empresa que su pérdida podría representar un cierto riesgo para las operaciones de la empresa, por lo que son capaces de negociar condiciones de trabajo a distancia durante parte de su jornada laboral para hacer frente a necesidades personales como, por ejemplo, una enfermedad o la deslocalización de un cónyuge o pareja. en consecuencia, la adopción del teletrabajo –al menos cuando se aplica a aquellas personas que no son gerentes o empleados móvilespuede basarse en la calidad de los conocimientos de tales empleados. de hecho, este estudio corrobora que el teletrabajo es más frecuente en las empresas con mayor porcentaje de empleados del conocimiento, hecho ya contrastado en otros estudios (empirica, 2000; felstead et al., 2002). las diferencias observadas en la tabla 6 que indican que la variable de control del porcentaje de empleados del conocimiento es significativa en las empresas industriales pero no en las de servicios resaltan aún más la importancia de esta variable. hay que tener en cuenta que en las empresas industriales existe una distinción más clara entre empleados del conocimiento que pueden realizar tareas a distancia y los empleados de la cadena o del taller que no pueden realizar sus tareas a distancia. en cambio, en las empresas de servicios existe una mayor diversidad de tareas que son susceptibles de realizarse a distancia, por lo que es perfectamente explicable que no se muestre significativa la variable de los empleados del conocimiento, al estar más difundido el teletrabajo entre distintos tipos de empleados en las empresas de servicios. por otra parte, hay también estudios (por ejemplo, arthur, 2003) que señalan que la relación positiva entre prácticas flexibles de trabajo, como el horario flexible, y los resultados empresariales, es mayor en las empresas con mayor porcentaje de empleados del conocimiento. nuestro estudio evidencia una relación positiva entre la intensidad de uso de la flexibilidad m@n@gement, vol. 12, no. 1, 2009. 52-79 73 á. martínez sánchez, m. pérez pérez, p. de luis carnicer, j. vela jiménez numérica interna y los resultados empresariales. también hemos evidenciado que el porcentaje de empleados que utilizan prácticas de flexibilidad interna, como el horario flexible, es mayor entre el grupo de empleados del conocimiento que en el resto de empleados. nuestros resultados apoyan entonces otros estudios de la literatura que resaltan un mayor uso de las prácticas de flexibilidad interna entre los empleados del conocimiento y cómo estas prácticas influyen o están positivamente relacionadas con los resultados empresariales. los trabajadores del conocimiento contribuyen a la innovación y mejora de los resultados de la empresa, así que tienen más necesidad o disponibilidad de una flexibilidad horaria que pueden conseguir también a través del teletrabajo. no obstante, los efectos positivos del teletrabajo y otras prácticas flexibles de recursos humanos sobre los resultados, aunque pequeños, pueden ser estériles debido a los posibles efectos negativos de las largas jornadas de trabajo en nuestro país, así como de la creciente difusión de prácticas funcionales (como la calidad total) que puede aumentar la carga de trabajo de los empleados. españa es quizás el país de la unión europea con la jornada laboral más larga y atípica, lo que dificulta la conciliación de la vida laboral y familiar; debido, por ejemplo, al desajuste entre los horarios de los colegios y los horarios laborales (de unas dos a tres horas), lo aumenta la necesidad de prácticas flexibles. sin embargo, la difusión de las prácticas flexibles dirigidas explícitamente a conciliar la vida laboral y familiar es muy limitada y reciente (poelmans et al., 2003). así, la mayor parte del personal de trabajo en nuestro estudio no podía trabajar fuera de la empresa durante el horario estándar de trabajo, lo que puede ser además un reflejo de una falta de adecuación de las tareas al teletrabajo o una preferencia por el control visual ante la falta de confianza de los gerentes hacia sus empleados. por lo tanto, la difusión de prácticas de desarrollo de recursos humanos, así como la implantación de determinados cambios en la distribución de las horas de trabajo en las empresas españolas podría favorecer las actitudes de los empleados hacia el teletrabajo lo que, a su vez, podría reforzar el impacto positivo de estas prácticas laborales flexibles en los resultados empresariales. conclusion este estudio ha analizado varios antecedentes de la adopción del teletrabajo y su relación con los resultados de la empresa. los datos de una encuesta realizada a 156 empresas españolas indican que el uso de prácticas flexibles de recursos humanos (como la flexibilidad funcional y la flexibilidad numérica interna) está asociado de forma positiva con el uso del teletrabajo, y que de forma conjunta todas estas prácticas están asociadas positivamente, aunque con escaso valor predictivo, con los resultados de la empresa. sin embargo, las prácticas de flexibilidad externa de recursos humanos no están asociadas con la adopción del teletrabajo, pero lo están negativamente con los resultados empresariales. m@n@gement, vol. 12, no. 1, 2009. 52-79 74 teletrabajo, flexibilidad de recursos humanos y resultados de la empresa existen varias limitaciones en este estudio. la primera limitación es el uso de datos transversales mediante una encuesta, lo que impide profundizar en la naturaleza de las relaciones causales. para entender mejor las relaciones entre el teletrabajo y otras prácticas flexibles con los resultados de la empresa serían necesario lleva a cabo estudios longitudinales y cualitativos. la segunda limitación es la de haber obtenido la información de fuentes directivas. un estudio posterior dirigido a los empleados de estas empresas sobre la percepción de algunas variables de este estudio -por ejemplo, el grado de acceso a las prácticas de desarrollo de empleadospodría revelar las posibles contradicciones existentes entre lo que los directivos opinan que existe y lo que los empleados perciben que existe de verdad. asimismo, podría plantearse de forma explícita para otro trabajo, si existen diferencias de percepción entre los directivos encuestados sobre las cuestiones de flexibilidad, objetivo que no buscábamos con el diseño del cuestionario utilizado y que constituye por lo tanto una tercera limitación adicional del estudio realizado. la cuarta sería el pequeño tamaño de la muestra, ya que puede constituir una limitación adicional en la medida que limite la potencia de los datos estadísticos. no obstante, el porcentaje de respuesta obtenido nos permite confiar en la representatividad de la muestra sobre los sectores analizados. la quinta limitación es la valoración de la flexibilidad dentro de la empresa. en la medida en que las empresas pueden obtener flexibilidad funcional y numérica por medio de sus relaciones con otras empresas situadas en redes –como es el caso de las relaciones con empresas de trabajo temporalla unidad más apropiada de análisis puede que sea la red, definida por las relaciones entre las empresas y los intermediarios del mercado laboral de los cuales contratan sus trabajadores y subcontratan algunas de sus funciones. próximas investigaciones en otros entornos de regulación podrían analizar si formas de flexibilidad externa están asociadas con el teletrabajo. por último, existe la limitación de que con la metodología de análisis utilizada no es posible valorar el efecto indirecto que tiene la flexibilidad en los resultados, dado que en el modelo planteado la flexibilidad afecta directamente la adopción del teletrabajo que a su vez influye en los resultados. aunque nuestro propósito era únicamente explorar posibles relaciones asociativas entre flexibilidad de recursos humanos y teletrabajo, próximos estudios que analicen más dimensiones interrelacionadas de teletrabajo, flexibilidad y resultados podrían utilizar ecuaciones estructurales o ecuaciones simultáneas para descomponer el efecto total de la flexibilidad en sus efectos directos e indirectos respectivos. esta metodología también permitiría analizar los efectos indirectos de las prácticas de flexibilidad interna en los resultados empresariales a través del compromiso organizativo de los empleados. en cuanto a las futuras líneas de investigación, aparte de las que se derivan de las limitaciones del estudio, se podría evaluar si la adopción del teletrabajo refuerza o no el impacto de otras prácticas flexibles de trabajo sobre los resultados de la empresa. el teletrabajo constituye un mecanismo para superar las cargas de trabajo y para liberar a los empleados de un horario fijo, al menos parcialmente. por tanto, el uso m@n@gement, vol. 12, no. 1, 2009. 52-79 75 á. martínez sánchez, m. pérez pérez, p. de luis carnicer, j. vela jiménez simultáneo del teletrabajo y de otras prácticas flexibles de trabajo puede tener un impacto mayor en los resultados de la empresa. los gerentes tendrían que analizar la posible sinergia existente entre distintas prácticas flexibles de trabajo para mejorar la flexibilidad y los resultados de la empresa. angel martínez-sánchez is an associate professor at the department of business management at the university of zaragoza in spain. he received his ph.d. in engineering from the university of zaragoza and has been a research fellow at universities in europe, north america, australia and japan. dr sanchez´s research interests focus on innovation and technology management, production and supply chain management, teleworking and information technologies, human resources management, and gender. he has published in journals such as: international journal of operations and production management, journal of product innovation management, r&d management, technovation, and supply chain management, as well as numerous conference proceedings, books and research reports. manuela pérez-pérez is an associate professor at the department of business management at the university of zaragoza in spain. she received her ph.d. in economics and business administration from the university of zaragoza. her research interests include teleworking and information technologies, human resources management, gender, and production and supply chain management. she has published in journals such as: international journal of operations and production management, journal of product innovation management, supply chain management, and technovation, as well as numerous conference proceedings, books and research reports. maría josé vela-jiménez is an associate professor at the department of business management at the university of zaragoza in spain. she holds a ph.d. in economics and business administration. current research interests include human resources management, teleworking, and gender. she has published in journals such as: international journal of operations and production management, and technovation, as well as numerous conference proceedings, books and research reports. pilar de-luis-carnicer is an associate professor at the department of business management at the university of zaragoza in spain. she received her ph.d. in economics and business administration from the university of zaragoza. her research interests include gender, human resources management, and teleworking. she has published in journals such as: international journal of operations and production management, personnel review, and technovation, as well as numerous conference proceedings, books and research reports. m@n@gement, vol. 12, no. 1, 2009. 52-79 76 teletrabajo, flexibilidad de recursos humanos y resultados de la empresa referencias . arthur, m. m. (2003). share price reactions to work-family initiatives: an institutional perspective. academy of management journal, 46(4), 497-505. . atkinson, j. (1984). manpower strategies for flexible organisations. personnel management, 16(2), 28-31. . bailey, d. e. & kurland, n. b. (2002). a review of telework research: findings, new directions, and lessons for the study of modern work. journal of organizational behavior, 23(4), 383-400. . barney, j. (1991). firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. journal of management, 17(1), 99-110. . bhattacharya, m., gibson, d. e. & doty, d. h. (2005). the effects of flexibility in employee skills, employee behaviors, and human resource practices on firm performance. journal of management, 31(4), 622-640. . cappelli, p. & neumark, d. (2001). do “high-performance” work practices improves establishment-level outcomes?. industrial and labor relations review, 54(4), 737-775. . carmeli, a. (2001). highand low-performance firms: do they have different profiles of perceived core intangible resources and business environment?technovation, 21(10), 661671. . cascio, w. f. (2000). managing a virtual workplace. academy of management executive, 14(3), 81-90. . chan, l. m., shaffer, m. a. & snape, e. (2004). in search of sustained competitive advantage: the impact of organizational culture, competitive strategy and human resource management practices on firm performance. international journal of human resource management, 15(1), 17-35. . chaudron, d. (1995). the ‘far-out’ success of teleworking. supervisory management, 40(1), 1-2. . clear, f. & dickson, k. (2005). teleworking practice in small and medium-sized firms: management style and worker autonomy. new technology, work and employment, 20(3), 218-233. . collins, m. (2005). the (not so simple) case for teleworking: a study at lloyd´s of london. new technology, work and employment, 20(2), 115-132. . daniels, k., lamond, d. & standen, p. (2001). teleworking: frameworks for organizational research. journal of management studies, 38(8), 1151-1185. . delaney, j. t. & huselid, m. a. (1996). the impact of human resource management practices on perceptions of organizational performance. academy of management journal, 39(4), 949-969. . dess, g. g. & robinson, r. b. jr. (1984). measuring organizational performance in the absence of objective measures. strategic management journal, 5(3), 265-273. . duxbury, l. e., higgins, c. a. & mills, s. (1992). after-hours telecommuting and workfamily conflict: a comparative analysis. information systems research, 3(2), 173-190. . eaton, s. c. (2003). if you can use them: flexibility policies, organizational commitment, and perceived performance. industrial relations, 42(3), 145-167. . ellen, i. g. & hempstead, k. (2002) telecommuting and the demand for urban living: a preliminary look at white-collar workers. urban studies, 39(4), 749-766. . empirica (2000). conditions for the development of new ways of working and electronic commerce in spain. final report, electronic commerce and telework trend, madrid: empirica & dyr. . european commission (2000). ework 2000: status report on new ways to work in the information society. brussels: directorate-general xiiib. . europublic (2001). culture and the it revolution, november 2008 <http://www.europublic.com/ html/articles/itrev.html>. . fahy, j. (2002). a resource-based analysis of sustainable competitive advantage in a global environment. international business review, 11(1), 57-78. . felstead, a., jewson, n., phizacklea, a. m. & walters, s. (2002). the option to work at home: another privilege for the favoured few? new technology, work and employment, 17(3), 204-223. . galbreath, j. (2005). which resources matter the most to firm success? an exploratory study of resource-based theory, technovation, 25, 979-987. . gareis, k. (2003). the intensity of telework in 2002 in the eu, switzerland and the usa. bonn: empirica. . gillespie, a., richardson, r. & cornford, j. (1995). review of teleworking in britain: implications for public policy. london: report to the parliamentary office of science and technology. . gittleman, m., horrigan, m. & joyce, m. (1998). flexible workplace practices: evidence from a nationally representative survey. industrial and labor relations review, 52(1), 99-115. m@n@gement, vol. 12, no. 1, 2009. 52-79 77 á. martínez sánchez, m. pérez pérez, p. de luis carnicer, j. vela jiménez . grant, r. m. (1996). prospering in dynamically-competitive environments: organizational capability as knowledge integration. organization sciences, 7(4), 375-387. . haddon, l. & lewis, a. (1994). the experience of teleworking: an annotated review. the international journal of human resource management, 5(1), 193-223. . haddon, l. & brynin, m. (2005). the character of telework and the characteristics of teleworkers. new technology, work and employment, 20(6), 34-46. . hair, j. f. jr., black, w. c., anderson, r. e., & tatham, r. l. (1998). multivariate data analysis (fifth ed.). englewood cliffs, nj: prentice-hall. . harrington, s. j. & ruppel, c. p. (1999). telecommuting: a test of trust, competing values, and relative advantage. ieee transactions on professional communication, 42(4), 223-239. . harris, l. (2003). home-based teleworking and the employment relationship. personnel review, 32(4), 422-437. . houseman, s. (2001). why employers use flexible staffing arrangements: evidence from an establishment survey. industrial and labor relations review, 55(1), 149-170. . huselid, m. a. (1995). the impact of human resource management practices on turnover, productivity, and corporate financial performance. academy of management journal, 38(3), 635-672. . huws, u. (1996). teleworking: an overview of the research. london: analytica social and economic research ltd. . huws, u, jagger, n & o’regan, s. (1999). teleworking and globalisation. london: institute for employment studies. . huws u, jagger n, & bates p. (2001). where the butterfly alights: the global location of ework. london: institute for employment studies. . illegems, v., verbeke, a. & s´jegers, r. (2001). the organizational context of teleworking implementation. technological forecasting and social change, 68(2), 275-291. . illegems, v. & verbeke, a. (2004). telework: what does it mean for management? long range planning, 37(4), 319-334. . itac (2000). telework america 2000. washington, dc: international telework association council. . jackson, p. j. (1999). organisational change and virtual teams: strategic and operational integration. information systems journal, 9(4), 313-332. . kelliher, c. & riley, m. (2003). beyond efficiency: some by-products of functional flexibility. the service industries journal, 23(4), 98-113. . konrad, a. m. & mangel, r. (2000). the impact of work-life programs on firm productivity. strategic management journal, 21(12), 1225-1237. . kurland, n. b. & bailey, d. e. (1999). telework: the advantages and challenges of working here, there, anywhere and anytime. organizational dynamics, 28(2), 53-68. . loscocco, k. a. (1997). work-family linkages among self-employed women and men. journal of vocational behavior, 50(2), 204-226. . macevily, s. & chakravarthy, b. (2002). the persistence of knowledge-based advantage: an empirical test for product performance and technological knowledge. strategic management journal, 23(4), 285-305. . madsen, s. r. (2003). the effects of home-based teleworking on work-family conflict. human resource development quarterly, 14(1), 35-58. . michie, j. & sheehan, m. (2005). business strategy, human resources, labour market flexibility and competitive advantage. international journal of human resource management, 16(3), 445-464. . moen, p. (1996). a life course perspective on retirement, gender, and well-being. journal of occupational health psychology, 1(2), 131144. . mokhtarian, p., bagley, m., hulse, l. & salomon, i. (1996). the influence of gender and occupation on individual perceptions of telecommuting. proceedings, 2nd national conference on women’s travel issues, baltimore, maryland, october 23-25. . neufeld, d. j. & fang, y. (2005). individual, social and situational determinants of telecommuter productivity. information & management, 42(7), 10371049. . nilles, j. m. (1998). managing telework: strategies for managing the virtual workforce. new york, ny: john wiley & sons. . nunnally, j. c. (1978). psychometric theory (2nd ed.). new york, ny: mcgraw-hill. m@n@gement, vol. 12, no. 1, 2009. 52-79 78 teletrabajo, flexibilidad de recursos humanos y resultados de la empresa . parker, s. k., wall, t. d. & jackson, p. r. (1997). that´s not my job: developing flexible employee work orientations. academy of management journal, 40, 899-929. . pearlson, k. e. & saunders, c. s. (2001). there´s no place like home: managing telecommuting paradoxes. academy of management executive, 15(2), 117128. . pérez, m., martínez, a. & de luis, p. (2003). the organizational implications of human resources managers´ perception of teleworking. personnel review, 32(6), 733-755. . pérez, m., martínez, a. & de luis, p. (2005). teletrabajo y teorías organizacionales: análisis empírico de su viabilidad y difusión potencial. revista europea de dirección y economía de la empresa, 14(2), 125-144. . peters, p., tijdens, k. g. & wetzels, c. (2004). employees´ opportunities, preferences, and practices in telecommuting adoption. information & management, 41(4), 469-482. . poelmans, s. a. i., chinchilla, n. & cardona, p. (2003). the adoption of family-friendly hrm policies – competing for scarce resources in the labour market. international journal of manpower, 24(2), 128-147. . popuri, y. d. & bhat, c. r. (2003). on modelling choice and frequency of home-based telecommuting. transportation research, record 1858, 55-60. . posthuma, r. a., campion, m. a. & vargas, a. l. (2005). predicting counterproductive performance among temporary workers: a note. industrial relations, 44(3), 550-554. . raghuram, s., wiesenfield, b. & garud, r. (2003). technology enabled work: the role of self-efficacy in determining telecommuter adjustment and structuring behavior. journal of vocational behavior, 63(2), 180-198. . rau, b. l. & hyland, m. a. m. (2002). role conflict and flexible work arrangements: the effects on applicant attraction. personnel psychology, 55(1), 111-136. . ruppel , c. p. & harrington, s. j. (1995). telework: an innovation where nobody is getting on the band-wagon. database advances, 26(2-3), 87-104. . sanchez, r. (1995). strategic flexibility in product competition. strategic management journal, 16(s1), 135-159. . stanworth, c. (1997). telework and the information age. new technology, work and employment, 13(1), 51-62. . sullivan, c. (2003). what´s in a name? definitions and conceptualisations of teleworking and homeworking. new technology, work and employment, 18(3), 158-165. . sullivan, c. & lewis, s. (2001). home-based telework, gender, and the synchronization of work and family: perspectives of teleworkers and their co-residents. gender, work and organization, 8(2), 123-145. . teece, d., pisano, g. & shuen, a. (1997). dynamic capabilities and strategic management. strategic management journal, 18(7), 509-533. . tietze, s. (2002). when “work” comes “home”: coping strategies of teleworkers and their families. journal of business ethics, 41(4), 385-396. . tomaskovic-devey, d. & risman, b. j. (1993). telecommuting innovation and organization: a contingency theory of labor process change. social science quarterly, 74(2), 367-385. . upton, d. m. (1995). what really makes factories flexible? harvard business review, 73(4), 74-84. . venkatesh, v. (2000). creating an effective training environment for enhancing telework. international journal of human-computer studies, 6, 991-1005. . venkatraman, n. & ramanujam, v. (1986) measurement of business performance in strategy research: a comparison of approaches. academy of management review, 11(4), 801-814. . verdú, a. j., lloréns, f. j. & garcía, v. j. (2004). the concept of fit in services flexibility research: an empirical approach. international journal of service industry management, 15(5), 499-514. . verstergaard, l. & bellé, a. (2007). situación y tendencias de la movilidad en españa 2007. idc españa, <http:// media.noticias.com/static/tendenciasmovilidad.pdf>, november 2007. . wall, t. d., michie, j., patterson, m., wood, s. j., sheehan, m., clegg, c. w. & west, m. (2004). on the validity of subjective measures of company performance. personnel psychology, 57(1), 95-118. . watad, m. & disanzo, f. (2000). case study. the synergism of telecommuting and office automation. sloan management review, 41(2), 85-97. . wernerfelt, b. (1984). a resource-based view of the firm. strategic management journal, 5(2), 171-180. m@n@gement, vol. 12, no. 1, 2009. 52-79 79 á. martínez sánchez, m. pérez pérez, p. de luis carnicer, j. vela jiménez . wilson, m. & greenhill, a. (2004). gender and teleworking identities in the risk society: a research agenda. new technology, work and employment, 19(3), 207-221. . wright, p. m. & snell, s. a. (1998). toward a unifying framework for exploring fit and flexibility in strategic human resource management. academy of management review, 23(4), 756-772. . wright, p. m., dunford, b. b. & snell, s. a. (2001). human resources and the resource based view of the firm. journal of management, 27(6), 701-721. . zamindar, m. (1996). factors behind the adoption of telework as discovered through statistical analysis of employer opinions. in a. luukinen (ed.) directions of telework in finland: report by the finnish experience with telework project (pp. 51-57). helsinki, finland: ministry of labor – publication of labor administration. 51gunz2 hugh p. gunz, benyamin m. bergmann lichtenstein, and rebecca g. long 2002 self-organization in career systems: a view from complexity science, m@n@gement, 5(1): 63-88. m@n@gement is a double-blind reviewed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.dmsp.dauphine.fr/management/ © 2001 m@n@gement and the author(s). issn: 1286-4892 editors: martin evans, u. of toronto bernard forgues, u. of paris 12 http://www.dmsp.dauphine.fr/management/ m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 63-88 special issue: careers and new science 63 hugh p. gunz . benyamin m. bergmann lichtenstein . rebecca g. long university of toronto email: hugh.gunz@utoronto.ca university of hartford email: benyamin@mail.hartford.edu mississippi state university email: rlong@cobilan.msstate.edu self-organization in career systems: a view from complexity science introduction until the end of the 1980s it is probably fair to say that the primary goal of most careers researchers was to uncover the laws governing individual careers as orderly systems of progression within (e.g., mahoney and milkovich, 1973; stewman and konda, 1983; rosenbaum, 1984; pfeffer, 1985; stewman, 1986; forbes, 1987; sonnenfeld and peiperl, 1988; gunz, 1989a) or between organizations (e.g., white, 1970; payne and payne, 1983; yamaguchi, 1983; hout, 1984; sobel, hout and duncan, 1985; hachen, 1992). more recently, the emphasis in the literature has increasingly been placed on interorganizational, so-called “boundaryless” careers (arthur and rousseau, 1996). that is, careers are being conceptualized by some theorists as more fluid arrangements based on networks of people who come together to work on specific project ventures. the orderliness of career movement within welldefined organizational boundaries disappears in this perspective. although in this paper we share a concern for patterns of career mobility, we change the unit of analysis and move to the organizational and supra-organizational level of career systems (a term we define below; cf. lawrence, 1990). specifically, we are interested in the patterns of career movement that are evident within any group of work roles whose boundary may or may not be coterminous with an organization. although there is evidence that career systems are influenced by and this paper seeks to understand the dynamics of career systems by exploring how the study of other complex systems can shed light on the complex careers that are becoming increasingly the norm. we begin by defining career systems as a set of work roles and the influx of people occupying those roles, within an organization or in “boundaryless” industries. then, we explain numerous patterns in career systems—described as “self-organization”—through rigorous metaphors drawn from studies of “self-organized criticality” (bak, 1995) and adaptation in interconnected networks (kauffman, 1993). implications for strategic human resource management and careers research are identified. mailto:hugh.gunz@utoronto.ca mailto:benyamin@mail.hartford.edu mailto:rlong@cobilan.msstate.edu m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 63-88 special issue: careers and new science 64 hugh p. gunz, benyamin m. bergmann lichtenstein and rebecca g. long influence the strategic choices implemented by organizational decision makers (gunz and jalland, 1996a), little is known of the dynamic behaviour of these career systems—for example, how quickly they respond to changes, how stable they are over time—even when they are bounded by a single organization, much less when they span organizations in the complex patterns now being described. in this paper we take a small step toward understanding the dynamics of career systems at these multiple levels, by exploring how these complex systems can be understood by exploring the study of other complex systems. according to research in the complexity sciences, a surprising range of complex systems seem to organize themselves so as to avoid two extremes: too much order, and too little order (kauffman, 1993; brown and eisenhardt, 1997). studies of spontaneous order emerging from seemingly random events (kauffman, 1993; bak, 1996) suggest that many systems evolve to a stable state at the “edge of chaos,” allowing them to adapt to change without losing their integrity. here, we explore the possibility that career systems may exhibit similar behaviour. in this paper we first define our unit of analysis, the career system. next, we introduce two current approaches to understanding complex system behavior, and examine the case for classifying career systems as complex phenomena in the sense that these approaches use. we suggest ways in which these approaches might be used to examine career systems. finally, we speculate on the paths down which this approach might lead, on the kind of research that might test these speculations, and on some of the difficulties that stand in the way. careers as complex systems career systems and career streams in this paper we are interested in the dynamic behaviour of career systems. a career system comprises a set of work roles and the people occupying the roles, enclosed by a somewhat arbitrary definitional boundary (although some boundary definitions may have more utility than others). these boundaries are arbitrary in the sense that career systems are not concrete entities, but are analytical devices manipulated by the observer. a career system might include, for example, all careers available in the car-making industry, or all careers available within the united kingdom, or all banking careers located in new york city or all the careers associated with the lockheed corporation. for our purposes, we need only assume that career populations of interest can be identified. from this perspective, career systems are well seen as the context for individual careers1. following nicholson (1984), we use the term “work role” to denote an individual’s amalgam of employment status and job content. the career system boundary may enclose many kinds of entities, for example an organization, part of an organization, a collection of organizations within a geographical area or an industry sector, or an occupation (tolbert, 1. we thank an anonymous reviewer for this very clear way of explaining the concept. m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 63-88 special issue: careers and new science 65 self-organization in career systems 1996). over time one’s work roles are created and disappear, and people add and drop these roles from their portfolio of activities. as a result people seem to “move” across the mosaic of work roles enclosed by the boundary, sometimes crossing the boundary in either direction. so the object of interest in a career system is the pattern of movement between work roles and across the boundaries. a career system, as we have defined it here, is open in von bertalanffy’s (1968) sense. there is a constant outflow of people across the boundary as a result of, for example, voluntary departures, transfers, firings, retirements or deaths. for the system to remain viable, then, it needs a corresponding inflow of people to replace these losses (and to feed growth, if any): without constant renewal, it eventually vanishes2. suppose, for example, the career system we are interested in is that of company x (i.e., the boundary surrounds company x). as we have defined it here, the career system is pretty well synonymous with the firm’s internal labour market (doeringer and piore, 1971): the work roles are defined by the firm’s organization chart, and they change as the firm is reorganized. people add and drop roles as their careers develop; they cross the boundary into the career system when they join the firm, and cross the boundary out when they leave. some of the roles may be temporary, for example those occupied by contract workers, who might also occupy similar roles in other organizational career systems, as occurs in some consulting practices. alternatively, a career system boundary could be drawn around an industry, in which case the movement of people within the career system will be both within and between firms, and the creation and destruction of roles can also be the consequence of the birth and death of firms, their mergers and acquisitions, and so on. silicon valley provides a particularly vivid example of a mixed industrial and geographical career system, in which the boundary surrounds an industry sector within a geographical area. in that context, a ferment of creativity results in companies constantly appearing, growing rapidly, and disappearing, generating flows of people between these companies (saxenian, 1996). these flows are maintained by a continuous influx of young recruits trained in the numerous top universities surrounding the bay area (e.g., university of california at berkeley and santa cruz, stanford university, and the california state universities in san francisco, san jose, and hayward). likewise, many seasoned professionals leave the system to pursue careers in associated industries (e.g., high-tech media, engineering, communication, entertainment, etc.). the patterns of movement recognizable in career systems have been called “career streams” (gunz and jalland, 1996a), where specific streams are differentiated by the point of entry and promotion criteria (sonnenfeld and peiperl, 1988), the extent to which promotion depends on tournament-like rules (rosenbaum, 1984; forbes, 1987), the arenas in which “promotion venturis” (i.e., bottlenecks) crop up (stewman and konda, 1983; stewman, 1986), and the characteristic pattern of vertical, horizontal and diagonal moves which may be found (gunz, 1989a). our knowledge of these patterns is surprisingly limited, and many observers believe that the patterns are in a state of consid2. our thanks to one reviewer for pointing out that our arguments (particularly those for self-organization) might lead to the impression that «complexity theories are strongly aligned to neo-liberal principles of market forces.» such was certainly not our intention. as we have noted elsewhere, our usage of the principles of self-organization are strictly meant to explain the dynamics of career system behavior. m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 63-88 special issue: careers and new science 66 hugh p. gunz, benyamin m. bergmann lichtenstein and rebecca g. long erable flux. yet it is crucial that we do understand them, because they delineate the processes which shape people’s work lives and the behaviour of the work organizations and industries with which they are associated (gunz and jalland, 1996a). careers and complex systems at the individual level of analysis the objective career is the series of positions that someone holds over the course of their working life, as reported, for example, in their résumé. it is the part of an individual’s career that is “visible” to the outside world, and contrasts with the subjective career, which is «the moving perspective in which the person sees his life as a whole and interprets the meaning of his various attributes, actions and the things which happen to him» (hughes, 1937: 409-410). career systems then, as we have defined them, are patterns of movement of people between jobs within and between organizations; mapping this movement is, in effect, examining a set of objective careers in aggregate. these patterns in career systems and career streams have traditionally have been thought of as being directed by managers or by individuals developing their own careers (schein, 1978; hall, 1986). people are hired, promoted, moved sideways, and fired under managerial control. similarly, reorganizations, mergers, downsizing, and organizational births and deaths happen because someone decides they should. according to this voluntaristic perspective (astley and van de ven, 1983), individuals make career decisions by choosing from a range of options they seek out. in this paper, however, we are attempting something different. we are interested in exploring the extent to which the behaviour of a career system might be a consequence of the properties that are inherent in the system itself. this approach is emergent because it aims to discover whether there are regularities in the behaviour of career systems that are not the consequence of the intentions of individual actors, but instead are a manifestation of the internal dynamics of complex career systems (mckelvey, 1997, 1999). furthermore, o’neill (1989) argues that the dynamics of systems behaviour can be explained by looking to its component systems (i.e., in our case, individuals), while the functional meaning of behaviour can be explained in terms of the system itself (i.e., the career). long, white and mathews (2001) have related o’neill’s assertions to gidden’s (1979) structuration theory in which: «he deals with the recursive and dual nature of society: structure emerges from activities at the interactional level, but structural arrangements inform activities at the individual interactional level. structure is an abstract framework of relations derived from a cumulative history of action and interaction» (long, white and mathews, 2001: 10). thus, we should note that an emergence perspective in career systems does not exclude the possibility of voluntarism. it represents a focus on the structure of opportunity (white, 1970) present within a m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 63-88 special issue: careers and new science 67 self-organization in career systems social setting (here, the career system); but the people making their careers within the career system may still exercise choice as well as affect the system in the way they take advantage of these opportunities (gunz, 1989b) or avoids its threats (nicholson, 1996). we shall describe evidence from research on career system phenomena called “vacancy chains” (the chain of vacancies which ensue when a vacancy crops up in an organization) which suggests that the patterns of occasional upheaval that are typically observed in local labour markets may be a healthy sign that the career system is maintaining itself in a particular state of “self-organization.” research on complex systems suggests that this state is highly desirable, because it permits organizational change and development without everything lapsing into impossible-to-manage chaos (brown and eisenhardt, 1997; anderson, 1999a; 1999b). our point will be that this behaviour is not the result of a conscious decision on the part of any single individual in the system but rather that career systems may organize themselves as a consequence of the way vacancies are filled. this may sound somewhat mystical, but it is not intended to be: we are not imputing any kind of intentionality to the system. examples of systems displaying surprising degrees of collective behaviour are well known in the natural world (gleick, 1987; waldrop, 1992; capra, 1996). scientists have found instances of self-organization in physical systems (haken, 1977), biochemical systems (glansdorff and prigogine, 1971; eigen and schuster, 1979), genetics (kauffman, 1993), and neuro-physiological phenomena (freeman, 1991; kahn and hobson, 1993). social scientists have also identified numerous instances of self-organizing behavior in diverse contexts such as the emergence of the state (carniero, 1970; 1987), the evolution of cities and societies (adams, 1988; dyke, 1988), economic behavior (boulding, 1978; anderson, arrow and pines, 1988; krugman, 1996), and in the development and change of groups (gersick, 1991; smith and gemmill, 1991) and organizations (leifer, 1989; lichtenstein, 2000). we shall be arguing that there is evidence to suggest that career systems may be self-organized in a similar way. to summarize, then, a career system comprises a set of work roles and the people occupying the roles, enclosed by a boundary. the boundary can enclose many different kinds of social systems, e.g., organizational, regional, and industry-wide. we now turn to recent approaches to understanding the behaviour of complex systems, and suggest how they might be used to model career systems. self-organizing dynamics in careers two approaches to self-organization are useful for understanding career dynamics. the first is termed “self-organized criticality,” and is associated with the work of per bak and his colleagues (e.g., bak and chen, 1991; bak, 1996). in the modeling of simple systems they identified a complex pattern of self-organization that can also explain the dynamics of earthquakes, ecosystem change, turbulence in fluids, and m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 63-88 special issue: careers and new science 68 hugh p. gunz, benyamin m. bergmann lichtenstein and rebecca g. long stock market behavior, among other diverse phenomena. the second approach was pioneered by kauffman (1993), whose work on evolutionary biology led to the characterization of an alternative form of selforganized complexity, based on a framework of “nk network” modeling. exploring the state of self-organised criticality through a detailed study of chain reactions in open systems, bak found that a wide range of dynamic systems naturally order themselves in a state of self-organized criticality (soc). this state is self-organized because systems appear to move into it spontaneously, without intervention on the part of any system agents. the term criticality, which comes from physics and physical chemistry, is a condition that lies on a transition boundary between two more stable states. the fundamental hypothesis in soc research is that the chain reactions characterizing these systems follow a power-law distribution. probably the best-known example of power law behaviour in nature is the gutenberg-richter law, which describes the distribution of the energy released by earthquakes (winslow, 1997). within a given geographical zone, earthquakes follow a power law distribution: if the logarithm of the energy released by an earthquake is plotted against the logarithm of the frequency of earthquakes of that size, a straight line results; put more crudely, there are few large earthquakes and many small ones. this, supporters of the soc concept argue, is evidence that the earth’s crust evolves to a state of soc (bak and chen, 1991). soc can be illustrated through the well-known sandpile experiment (bak and chen, 1991). a steady stream of sand grains is dropped onto a disk of a certain size. gradually the sandpile builds up until some of the sand begins falling off the edge. at some point the sandpile will stop growing because, on average, as much sand is falling off the disk as is being added. the pile has now reached a critical state. whenever too much sand ends up on the pile, it becomes supercritical, and collapses to its critical state again. in this state of soc the behaviour of the pile as a whole is predictable: overall, the sandpile will maintain its slope. but the fate of individual sand particles as they are added to the pile is much less predictable. some of the individual grains will stay where they land. in other cases, a falling grain will displace other grains which, in turn, displace yet others, creating a mini-avalanche that cascades down the side of the pile. most of these avalanches are small, but every so often one occurs that is much larger. thus, although sand is being added at a uniform rate to the top of the pile, it falls off the bottom in a series of avalanches varying in size. over the long term, the size of these avalanches follows a power law distribution (bak, 1996). the power law behaviour of these systems has an important implication for dynamic systems of many types, namely: large events are rare, but normal. everyone is familiar with the way active earthquake areas m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 63-88 special issue: careers and new science 69 self-organization in career systems produce many small quakes and, every so often, a massive one; this is the behaviour described by the gutenburg-richter law. in a metaphorical sense, if career systems were to display this power law behaviour, they would exhibit a continual series of small chains of events (we return below to consider what these chains of events might be), and, every so often, a large one. similarly, bak and sneppen (1993), in their discussion of the power law behaviour of species extinctions in the fossil record, point out that soc does not exclude the possibility that large cataclysmic events (such as the impact of a massive meteorite) may be responsible for extinctions. the important implication, however, is that these cataclysmic events, like large avalanches on the sandpile, are a normal aspect of the system’s dynamics. although it is not possible to predict precisely when these large changes will happen, they are a completely expectable result of the self-organizing dynamics of the complex system. so while it is natural to try to find an explanation for a massive event, whether it be a major earthquake, a catastrophic species extinction, or a major upheaval in a career system, it may be that there is no explanation per se, other than to recognize the internal, emergent dynamics of such systems that have evolved to the “edge of chaos.” in the next section we consider what these chains of events might mean in the context of career systems, and what might be driving them. the dynamics of self-organisation in career systems two basic components can be used to explain soc in physical systems and career systems. drivers are the inputs that increase stress within the system; and stress-relieving chain reactions are the system’s way of maintaining itself in a stable, self-organized state. to return to our examples in physical systems, the driver for soc in a sandpile is the steady input of grains of sand to the pile, and the driver for soc in an earthquake zone is the relative movement of tectonic plates (table 1). table 1. drivers and stress relievers in self-organized criticality driver stress-relieving chain reaction catastrophe (if stress was not relieved) sandpile sand grains being added avalanches of sand grains supercriticality: collapse of pile earthquake zone tectonic plate movements slippage of one part of crust past another, i.e., an earthquake catastrophic reconfiguration of the earth’s crust career system loss of people from career system, changes in work roles vacancy chains (e.g. turnover, layoffs, new jobs/roles) organizational failure; major upheaval of labour market m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 63-88 special issue: careers and new science 70 hugh p. gunz, benyamin m. bergmann lichtenstein and rebecca g. long as we explained above, sandpiles relieve the build-up of system stress through occasional avalanches of sand grains, just as earthquakes are a chain reaction of movements in the earth’s crust which relieve geological stresses caused by tectonic plate motion. so what might the equivalent drivers and stress-relieving chain reactions be in career systems? we defined a career system as a set of work roles and the people occupying the roles, enclosed by a boundary. in general terms, then, change in career systems consists of people joining and leaving the system, people moving from one role to another, people adding or dropping roles from their portfolios of activity, and roles appearing and disappearing. for simplicity we shall consider here only situations in which 1/ each person occupies no more than one role, and 2/ each role can only support only one person. real life is more complicated than this, of course. in practice it is possible for someone to occupy more than one role if the roles are, for example, the project-based activities of a freelance professional, and there is also a variety of innovative ways of sharing roles. however, our simplification is not a bad approximation to reality. the simplification allows us to make a number of statements about career systems. first, a person can only be in the career system if there is a role for them to fill. second, they can only move from one role to another (for example in order to be promoted) if there are vacant roles for them to move to. third, if a person leaves the career system (for example by retiring, dying, or joining another career system) they create a vacancy that someone can fill from within the career system, or from outside the system. fourth, when a role is created an opportunity for movement is also created by virtue of the vacancy that the new role generates. finally, the elimination of a role forces the role incumbent to move to another role, either inside or outside the career system. this simplified model of a career system underpins a stream of research deriving from that of white (1970), based on the concept of the “vacancy chain.” according to this research, there are two logically equivalent ways to view mobility within a labour market (white, 1970; stewman, 1986), 1/ by tracking the movement of people from role to role, and 2/ by tracking the “movement” of the vacancies that are created as people leave roles. most research in this area has adopted the latter, vacancy chain perspective, and we shall adopt it here. a chain begins when a vacancy is created in a career system, perhaps by someone retiring, being fired, or by a shift in work roles. if the vacancy is filled from within the career system, a new vacancy is created, and the chain continues. as a simple example, imagine the career system in a consumer products firm (i.e., the career system boundary surrounds the firm). the vacancy chain is initiated when the ceo retires. the vp marketing may be promoted to fill the vacancy left by the departed ceo, creating a vacancy for a vp marketing. the vacancy propagates itself through the career system until it is either filled by importing someone across the career system boundary, or the position is eliminated. the vacancy chain might equally have been terminated through a reorganization that combined two positions; indeed, reorgam@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 63-88 special issue: careers and new science 71 self-organization in career systems nizations have been found to be a common method for terminating vacancy chains (pinfield, 1995). vacancy chains have been studied amongst clergymen (white, 1970), public school administrators (brown, 1975), police managers (stewman, 1975a, 1975b) and forest product managers (pinfield, 1995). the vacancy chain perspective focuses on the drivers within career systems, and on stress-releasing chain reactions. two main kinds of process emerge as potential drivers to increase stress in career systems: 1/ people leaving the career system, and 2/ work roles being restructured. vacancies are created when people leave the career system, and through reorganizations in which roles are created, for example as a result of organizational growth. too many vacancies can create a stress condition within the career system: if there are not enough trained people to do the work, life becomes very stressful for those who are still in the system. but restructuring can also result in fewer work roles, and downsizing is a well-documented source of stress within career systems. in knowledge-based industries like film and software engineering (jones, 1996), work roles are created when new project ventures require staffing with contingent labor; these roles are then eliminated at the project’s completion (matusik and hill, 1998). vacancy chains are the potential stress-relieving chain reaction. when stresses build up in the kinds of way we have just outlined, they are relieved by a series of personnel moves. a build-up of vacancies, for example, can trigger a number of chains of events. in addition to the obvious, a wave of recruitment, jobs may be reorganized to reduce the need for people, or people may be moved in from other parts of the organization, and each course of action has the potential to set off further vacancy chains. in each case what we are describing are situations in which a vacancy chain relieves the stresses created by the personnel shortage. in some cases the chain may be short—a vacancy which is filled from outside has a length of one; in other cases it may be long, as might be the situation if a complex set of personnel moves flow from the decision to call on other parts of the organization to help. the issue, however, is not the specific cause of each chain, but the internal emergent dynamics of all the chains within the career system. like earthquake zones, whose internal dynamics exhibit power-law behavior, we would posit that the dynamics of career-level vacancy chains may also exhibit power law behavior, and thus be internally organized, or selforganized. according to this hypothesis, if the distribution of the lengths of the vacancy chains follows a power law distribution, the career system in question may be in a state of self-organized criticality. next, we reanalyze published data to see if this power law phenomena is evident in career systems. evidence of soc in career systems the average length of vacancy chains tends to be low, often around three (white, 1970; stewman, 1986; pinfield, 1995). vacancy chains are very difficult to measure, requiring either excellent published data or m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, xxx-xxx special issue: carrers and new science 72 hugh p. gunz, benyamin m. bergmann lichtenstein and rebecca g. long a high level of access to a company’s operations. white’s team of researchers carefully combed through the published records of three american churches (the episcopalian, methodist and presbyterian), recording movements of ministers from one congregation to the next. pinfield’s team interviewed the managers of a forest products company (“forestco”) who made staffing decisions, tracing chains of moves forwards and backwards, as well as using the company’s personnel records to trace all the personnel moves they could find. so the career system boundaries in question surrounded each of the three churches in white’s study, and surrounded forestco in pinfield’s study. chain length distributions were published by white (1970) for the episcopalian and presbyterian data, and by pinfield (1995) for all chains he identified (table 2). log-log plots of chain length against frequency of chain (figure 1) do suggest a power law relationship, because this relationship between chain length and number of chain events of each length, if plotted on a log-log graph, should reveal a straight line (bak and chen, 1991). as figure 1 shows, these vacancy chains do indeed show power law relationships. markov chain modeling (white, 1970: 23-24) also predicts that if the probability that a vacancy chain is terminated is the same at each step along the chain, then a power law should be the result. note that in these data the shortest chain lengths in some cases are a little under-represented. these are, methodologically, the hardest to detect because they are completed in the shortest time and so for example may be missed when year-by-year personnel records are being compared; this may provide at least some of the explanation for the convexity of the lines in figure 1. if indeed power law behaviour is an indication of soc, then these data suggest that the careers systems studied by white and pinfield have evolved into this adaptive state. it is certainly intriguing that vacancy chain length distributions from such different organizations with such table 2. white (1970) and pinfield (1995) vacancy chain length distributions 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 53.31 27.39 8.15 5.44 1.75 2.01 0.98 0.38 0.33 0.17 0.00 0.09 49.3 19.4 18.7 2.9 5.3 1.6 0.9 0.0 0.8 1.2 — — 49.8 23.0 15.5 4.7 3.6 2.4 0.6 0.0 0.5 0.0 — — — 68 48 28 10 10 3 3 2 — — — 5 decades 1922-23 1959-60 late 1980s vacancy chain length episcopalian presbyterian forest service white pinfield frequency distributions m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 63-88 special issue: careers and new science 73 self-organization in career systems different kinds of hierarchy, over such a broad length of time (from 1912 until the late 1980s), should display such similar characteristics to each other. to summarize, data from studies of vacancy chains are consistent with the hypothesis that at least some career systems are in a state of soc. but the studies we have reviewed were of bounded, organizational labour markets. it remains to be seen whether more fluid, boundaryless career systems exhibit the same behaviour, and there is a great deal more work needed to identify the interconnectedness of vacancy chains before we can state with any confidence that career systems really do show soc. thus far, we have discussed what the drivers of soc are and how they seem to operate in career systems. the final issue we want to explore is why these mechanisms seem to operate in career systems. why might vacancy chains follow a power law distribution? the answer may be found in the complexity study of nk networks, which we turn to next. careers as an adaptive network a description of nk networks in the previous section we showed that the distribution of vacancy chain lengths in two published studies approximated to a power law, suggesting that the career systems might be in a state of soc. but we said nothfigure 1. log-log plots of vacancy chain distributions 1 10 chain length 100 10 1 0.1 0.01 f re q u e n cy ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼▼ ▼▼ ▼ ▼ ● episcopalian presbyterian (1922-23) ▼ presbyterian (1959-60) ▲ forestco ▼ ▼ ▼ m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 63-88 special issue: careers and new science 74 hugh p. gunz, benyamin m. bergmann lichtenstein and rebecca g. long ing about what might cause the vacancy chains to follow this distribution. next, we shall argue a tentative case that so-called nk network modeling may provide a way of looking inside this black box. we believe that career systems can be modeled as an adaptive network, described by kauffman (1993, 1995) and others in terms of an nk network (levinthal, 1997; levinthal and warglien, 1999; mckelvey, 1999). an nk network consists of n nodes, each of which is acting on other nodes in the network. each node is connected to a certain number k of other nodes. so, for example if k = 1, each node receives input from one other node; if k = 4 the network would resembles a simple fishnet. the most interconnected situation would occur if k = n, where each node receives input from every other node as well as from itself; this situation can overload the system, forcing it into a state that is chaotic and unpredictable (see appendix for details). kauffman (1995) extends the nk model to show how it can be used to analyze the overall fitness of the system. he uses so-called fitness landscapes, which are familiar to biologists as a way of modeling a system’s fitness. each point on the landscape represents a particular combination of the system’s state variables, and the higher the “altitude” of that point on the landscape, the fitter the system. fitness is defined in a way appropriate to the system; for an organism, it typically means its fitness in terms of natural selection processes. let us define “fitness” for our observer defined career system as the overall fit between people and work roles within the career system. for example, a career system with a well-organized set of work roles that are filled with people who relate well to their colleagues are who well suited to their tasks, is in a high-fitness state. a fitness landscape which is flat and featureless describes a system whose fitness does not change much, if at all. for example, if a career system had this kind of landscape the implication is that there is no way to distinguish between any arrangement of people and roles within the system: any arrangement is pretty much as good (i.e., as fit) as any other. by contrast, a rugged fitness landscape with sharp peaks and deep valleys describes a situation in which changing the system’s state variables, even slightly, makes a great deal of difference to its overall fitness. again, if a career system had this kind of fitness landscape the implication is that it makes a very great difference to its overall fitness if even small changes are made to the allocation of people between roles. one small change might improve things dramatically (i.e., by moving the system up a high peak) or make them drastically worse (by plunging it into a deep valley). kauffman (1995) shows how these landscape features vary with k or the number of information sources connected to a particular node. networks with low values of k (e.g., k = 1) have smooth fitness landscapes with few peaks. these systems are “frozen;” they have very few directions toward which they can evolve and a limited number of ideal states. this makes k = 1 (simple/stable) systems non-adaptive and vulnerable to ecological change. in contrast, nk networks with high values of k (complex/unstable) are highly chaotic and unpredictable. their landscapes are very “rugged,” so that any change yields m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 63-88 special issue: careers and new science 75 self-organization in career systems essentially random results: it might result in a dramatic increase in fitness or an even more drastic decrease in fitness, and because the peaks and valleys are so sharp, the next move will be equally unpredictable in its outcome. kauffman found that nk landscapes with low (but greater than 1) values of k exhibit particular advantages. they have a few peaks clustered together, so change is more predictable and it becomes more possible for the system to improve its fitness. indeed when k = 2 a remarkable amount of order is observed in a binary nk network (a network in which the behaviour of the nodes is governed by simple boolean rules), regardless of the number of nodes (see appendix). kauffman calls this k = 2 orderly behaviour “order for free", because it is an intrinsic (emergent) property of the network. next, we consider its possibilities for modeling career systems. career systems as an nk network let us revisualize a career system as an nk network in which each of the n nodes represent n specific work roles in order to understand what k might mean in this context, we need to shift from the organizational perspective of vacancy chains to the individual perspective of vacancy-filling processes. people are constantly moving through the system as vacancy chains get started and terminated. when a vacancy occurs, a search process is instituted to fill it. let us define k as the average number of realistic possible sources that are considered by human resources (hr) managers and other searchers who are trying to fill the vacancy. the realism condition is important because people typically are capable of coming up with a broad range of potential sources, although they seriously consider only a few of these (gunz and jalland, 1996b). in one case the search may be extremely straightforward; for example, everybody knows that there is only one candidate for the job, and she gets it: end of search. here, k = 1. alternatively, the search may be quite complex: the searchers may cast their net very widely and consider candidates from an extremely broad range of possibilities; k here would be a much larger number3. as mentioned above, nk networks with k = 1 are highly predictable but unadaptive. it seems likely that the k = 1 career system is of this nature. vacancies that occur in the career system are filled predictably and systematically, yielding very little change throughout the system. a family firm in which everyone knows that each position has one and one only potential successor (e.g., everyone knows that the eldest daughter will succeed her father when he retires) is an example of a k = 1 career system. in this case, the limited searches make it unlikely that the best, or anything approaching the best, candidates are being placed in each work role as it falls vacant. in our apocryphal family firm, for example, the eldest daughter may be the worst possible choice for the top job. as a result, it is highly unlikely that the overall fitness of the career system will reach an optimal state. 3. a reviewer made the interesting suggestion that firms could also be considered as elements in an nk network, such that n is the number of employing organizations, each of which may employ more or fewer people, and k is the number of alternative employment opportunities realistically reachable from each firm. we have not explored this possibility in this paper because the change in level of analysis would require considerably more space; but we are intrigued by its potential. m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 63-88 special issue: careers and new science 76 hugh p. gunz, benyamin m. bergmann lichtenstein and rebecca g. long nk networks with large values of k behave chaotically (kauffman, 1993). what would a high-k career systems look like? imagine an organization or industry in which every work role has a nearly unlimited number of successors. in this case, the occupants of work roles are highly aware of all potential vacancies, and their day-to-day behaviour is likely to be negatively affected through anticipatory socialization and all the myriad political games that are played as people try to manage their career prospects. the more interconnected this career network becomes, the more havoc these political games play for individuals and their organizations. moreover, these competitive games intensify when a work role falls vacant, as people jockey to be considered for that role. if the overall level of interconnectivity is too high, such as in a very rugged nk landscape, the system can collapse into chaos. in this case, a vacancy chain in a too highly interconnected system would result in either major improvement or major decline, and it will be virtually impossible to predict which of these outcomes is the more probable. the resulting outcomes can have unpredictable, even chaotic results on the behaviors of those who were not chosen. this would be a highly unadaptive situation indeed. the vacancy chain data we reviewed above suggest that career systems may settle in an intermediate position between unadaptive and chaotic states, namely a state of self-organized criticality. given that low values of k result in non-adaptive, frozen system states, and very high levels of k result in chaotic systems, we suggest that well-adapted career systems have values of k that are not very large. how might we conceptualize k in practice? according to our definition of k, two versions of the parameter can be identified: 1/ the number of sources for each position that might be formally considered for a vacancy, i.e., as defined by a formal succession planning system are denoted “formal k” or kf, and 2/ the number of actual sources that are considered when a job falls vacant as “informal k” or ki. as any hr manager will attest, it is much more difficult than it seems to maintain the substantial slate of candidates for each managerial job, especially key posts, that a well-run succession planning system requires (see, e.g., hall and goodale, 1986: 403-405). moreover, even if it is possible to compile some or all of the slates, by the time they are needed they are likely to be out of date because it is just as time-consuming to maintain them as it is to construct them in the first place. based on practical considerations such as these, as well as the normal limits to cognition that one expects to encounter, kf might be limited in size, even in well-run organizations. given this distinction, what values might be found in practice? senior managers often report that they try to have three candidates for each senior post, suggesting that typically, at most, kf = 3. ki is likely to be different, because it is the number of people who are actually considered, who may or may not be on the formal succession slate for the position. it could be higher than kf if, for example, the position is an important one and there is a great deal of interest in it. however, given that we defined k as the number of positions seriously considered, and given normal limits on managers’ time, pressures to act, and limits to m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 63-88 special issue: careers and new science 77 self-organization in career systems cognition, it would not be surprising if ki were lower than this. so although we have no direct evidence, it would not be surprising if k were in the 2-3 range, which could provide the necessary condition for self-organization. this result is remarkably close to the results found by kauffman. to summarize, nk network modeling suggests an alternative way of viewing career systems, in terms of the number of roles within the system (n) and the average number of people (k) considered for vacancies when they occur. work on binary nk network models suggests that for very low values of k, the career system may respond so sluggishly to the drivers of change that the overall fitness of the system will suffer: too many people will be in the wrong jobs. by contrast, high values of k will result in chaotic situations in which any change triggers wide-reaching and unpredictable upheavals. the intermediate state of soc, which for binary nk networks appears to be where k = 2, may be a situation in which the career system is able to respond to change without lapsing into chaos. if so, then there are some fascinating questions that can be asked about the behaviour of career systems in this state, to which we turn. discussion we have explored some ideas from the field of complexity theory, and shown their applicability to the study of career systems. many natural systems evolve into a state which has been called self-organized criticality. systems maintain themselves in a state of soc by means of chain reactions which follow a power law distribution: they are mostly small but occasionally are large. by defining a career system in terms of movements across a stream of work roles, we showed that vacancy chains from some previously published studies approximate to this power law behaviour. this result, which is also predicted by markov chain analysis, suggests that career systems can evolve into a state of soc. next, we drew on nk networks to analyze the mechanisms underlying this apparent self-organized behavior. because our aim is speculative we have limited ourselves to showing that there are features of career systems that resemble nk binary networks, suggesting a potentially fruitful approach to analyzing them. we now turn to the question: what might this mean in practice? first, our complexity perspective changes the way one might view major labour market upheavals. systems in a state of soc appear to maintain themselves in that condition through a series of chain reactions, most small but some large. if a career system is in this state, we can expect periodic dramatic upheavals, albeit at rare intervals but without any particular reason for them to happen other than chance. anecdotally, this does seem to match well with experience: labour markets do, every so often, seem suddenly to get very active as an unusually large number of people shuffle between jobs. as one example, a japanese bank has a well-designed succession management system, m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 63-88 special issue: careers and new science 78 hugh p. gunz, benyamin m. bergmann lichtenstein and rebecca g. long but every so often there appears to be great upheaval and confusion at senior levels (bird, 1997). it turns out that at the level below the board, k is comparatively high because there are several potential routes to top management, and this was found to be the source of the movement (bird, 1997). yet, far from being an indication of trouble, these periodic large-scale chain reactions in a labour market can be seen as a signal that the system is adjusting well to change and is maintaining itself in a healthy state. a second implication relates to the close relationship between career systems and organizational change processes. pinfield’s (1995) findings are consistent with the conclusion that the distribution of vacancy chain lengths, with a high proportion of short chains, is closely linked to processes of organizational change and renewal: «if job structures are in a modest state of flux, and vacancies are used as opportunities to reorganize, vacancy chains will exhibit predominantly short lengths [making internal labour markets] responsive and adaptive to environmental change» (pinfield, 1995: 21). forestco had been undergoing substantial reorientation and reorganization, and he found that chains were often terminated by a re-organization. white’s organizations were, not surprisingly, more stable, but even in churches congregations were merged or split, terminating or generating vacancy chains. avalanches of movement provide opportunities for organizational change as work roles become detached from the people who have personal investments in their maintenance. a career system in the frozen state, which may turn out to be, for example, the consequence of k = 1, has little potential for organizational change because it is a system which, by definition, has few possibilities for innovating when it comes to finding new role incumbents. even with k = 1, of course, work roles can be removed, set up, combined or split, but the rigidity of the career system reduces decision-makers’ freedom to find creative staffing solutions for the new mosaic. on the other hand, a high k career system implies that there are far fewer constraints to organizational change, and perhaps too much room for creativity. high values of k imply that the searches to fill vacancies will be very broad, which can initiate a chain of events with unpredictable impacts on the overall career system and the way the mosaic of work roles operates. for example, imagine a team developing an important new product. how difficult it would be to maintain a sense of direction when, every time a vacancy crops up or a reorganization happens elsewhere in the firm, every member of the team becomes vulnerable to becoming swept up in the personnel movements that ensue. the intermediate soc condition, with k at a lower number but greater than 1, avoids these uncomfortable extremes. change is matched by a moderately wide search to find the most appropriate people to fill roles. the power law distribution of vacancy chains—there are many short chains and a few long ones—implies that disturbances initiated by change in one part of the work role mosaic typically leave most of the rest of the mosaic undisturbed. in other words, career systems in this state do not respond chaotically to change. furthermore, our brief m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 63-88 special issue: careers and new science 79 self-organization in career systems review of adaptability of fitness landscapes suggests that it is easier for a low-k system’s fitness to improve in response to change than it is for high-k situations, in which the outcome is much less predictable. thus, a major implication of exploring career systems from a self-organizing perspective is that the state of soc might confer a high degree of adaptability within the system, being adaptive to external changes without lapsing into predictable stability or unpredictable chaos. this intuitive result appears warranted from a careers perspective. for example, the turbulence that most organizations are experiencing (and, most observers argue, will continue to experience) makes the k = 1 state unlikely to be stable in the medium term. likewise, it is easy to imagine that chaotic career systems are so unsettling to their occupants that they are naturally avoided (nicholson, 1996). if these assumptions are correct, it follows that the soc condition may well be stable for career systems in periods of long-term organizational and industrial change. implications for strategic hr management what are the implications of career systems being in a state of soc? we consider two: those of the power law distribution of vacancy chain lengths, and of the system’s tendency to remain adaptive. the observation that vacancy chain lengths follow a power law distribution implies that a career system which, for most of the time, experiences fairly short vacancy chains will, sometimes and unpredictably, experience a long one. why should this be of interest? first, traditional views of hr management readily build up a picture of a well-managed career system as one in which people move smoothly and predictably across the mosaic of work roles. to be sure, examples of uncharacteristically large upheavals are familiar, for example, a mass exodus of talent that sometimes overtakes high-technology companies when opportunities emerge elsewhere, a difficult succession process that spreads its tentacles much further through the firm than anyone expected, or an industry-wide reorganization that can affect tens of thousands of jobs across multiple organizations. typically these major changes are taken as signals that something has gone terribly wrong, especially if nothing like them has happened for some time; and, indeed, they can be extremely disorienting and distressing for the people swept up in them. but according to the hypothesis of soc, largescale avalanches mean that the system is adjusting itself to change in a normal and healthy way. in other words, we should expect a career system to respond to the drivers of losing people and reorganization with a series of vacancy chains of varying length, mainly short but a few long, following a power law distribution. second, we return to the boundaryless hypothesis in careers (i.e., careers are not limited by a single organization or industry) and to recent work by kauffman and his colleagues (kauffman, 1995: 252264). very briefly, they explored the impact of dividing the nk network into “patches” of nodes in which the behaviour of individual nodes is m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 63-88 special issue: careers and new science 80 hugh p. gunz, benyamin m. bergmann lichtenstein and rebecca g. long governed by their impact on the patch to which they belong, rather than their impact on the network as a whole. it turns out that for high values of k, chaos can be avoided by dividing the network into patches of a given size (which varies with k). this finding raises the intriguing possibility that in highly interconnected career networks (e.g., project-based networks of geographically-based industries), chaos can be avoided by re-inventing the boundaries of the networks, by re-establishing the scope of the career system. (see gunz, evans and jalland, 2000). future directions our aim in this paper has been speculative: is it possible to use ideas from the emerging science of complexity to gain new insights into the behaviour of career systems? we have demonstrated that some career systems appear to display a key feature of self-organization, namely a power law distribution of vacancy chains, and we have explored some of the implications of this outcome. yet a great deal of work needs to be done to validate and explore our speculations. there are several initial approaches that could be taken, and we conclude by briefly referring to a few. although published studies of vacancy chains are rare, it may be possible to undertake further secondary analysis of data on career change in different industries in order to look for further evidence of power-law distributions. more probably, longitudinal analysis of labour markets will be needed to investigate branching processes of different kinds, their causal factors (that is, the processes underlying the avalanches of change that we argue here are responsible for driving soc in labour markets), and their frequencies. this might allow us to study the ways in which the exponent of the power law may change over time. in this way some sense of the evolution of industry dynamics may be indicated, as well as the pace of such changes in the long term. such a comparative method might bring us closer to being able to establish whether some labour markets are more self-organized than others, and in which ways. if vacancy chains are the key to self-organization, then we need to consider the meaning of the concept in the context of the mosaic of work roles which we have used here to conceptualize career systems. can they be viewed more broadly, and if so, might career systems be even more explainable in terms of self-organized criticality. we have described vacancy chain analysis in terms of one-to-one chains: a vacancy is created, someone fills it, creating a second vacancy, and so on. but this is clearly an oversimplification. white (1970: 59) identified compound vacancy chains: sometimes when an incumbent leaves a compound job, it is split, and different people are the replacements in different congregations. the result is a compound vacancy chain. white traced what he termed the main vacancy chain, which normally ran through the largest congregation, and treated the subsidiary chains separately. but it could be argued that if we are m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 63-88 special issue: careers and new science 81 self-organization in career systems examining career systems for the analogue of the sandpile avalanche or earthquake, we should treat the compound chain as a single phenomenon rather than breaking it into main and subsidiary chains. indeed, there are at least three other common labour market phenomena which cause more complex branching processes which, in turn, may trigger larger avalanches which are invisible if only one-to-one chains are being examined. first, when a senior figure such as a ceo leaves and the position is filled, for example by a senior vp, it is not unknown for some of the unsuccessful senior vps to resign in the knowledge that their chances of becoming ceo are now greater elsewhere: one initial vacancy (created by the departing ceo) has created several vacancies at the vp level. second, senior managers hired away by a competitor will occasionally take several of their protégés with them; similarly, executives who start their own companies in a boundaryless industry often choose partners from informal networks or previous contacts in other jobs (saxenian, 1996). third, a few people leaving an organization, especially if they were all in the same job category, can sometimes unsettle their former colleagues to the point at which many more leave. similarly, if the labour market in question spans a geographical region, it is possible to imagine complex cascades of moves, as firms start up and draw in labour from surrounding firms (saxenian, 1996) which, as a result, may experience decline and lay off more people, as firms close down putting people on the labour market, depressing local economic conditions and putting yet more people out of work, and so on. so a rewarding further direction for empirical work might be to explore the nature of vacancy chains in this broader sense, in answer to the question: have we been missing something which might help us understand the adaptive behaviour of career systems? we do not mean to imply that the examples we gave in the previous paragraph are particularly common, but the possibility should at least be entertained that it is valid to regard them as linked events. if so, then it might be that the slight convexity that we noted in some of the log-log plots of vacancy chains (figure 1) might be reduced at the long chain end as well. we have hypothesized that there is a parameter k, which we suggested might be observed in two variants, formal kf and informal ki, and which should be a predictor of whether career systems are in a frozen, self-organized critical, or chaotic state. it may be possible to design a cross-sectional study to test this hypothesis. k should be measurable in a variety of ways: by means of interviewing managers involved in search processes, questionnaire instruments, reviewing hr succession planning data, hr policies, and observational studies. outcome measures may be more difficult to define. ideally they would include vacancy chain data, but this may well be impractical in a cross-sectional study. alternative data sources could include total numbers of personnel moves and their distribution across the organization, and perceptual data on the impact of vacancies across the organization and the stability of the career system. m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 63-88 special issue: careers and new science 82 hugh p. gunz, benyamin m. bergmann lichtenstein and rebecca g. long it would be interesting to try to adapt the modeling approaches used in studies of soc in other kinds of system to help answer the question of whether and how the adaptability of organizations and industries may vary with parameters such as k and the decision rules governing vacancy-filling processes (the analogue of the boolean rules of nk networks). what kind of combinations of parameters, if any, might generate self-organizing behaviour in model career systems, and what practical implications would these combinations have for succession management? what limits are there to boundarylessness in labour markets in which search behaviour is of any real complexity? we do not wish to minimize the difficulty of the kind of research we envisage. vacancy chains are time-consuming and resource-intensive to study, and need either excellent published data of a kind which conventional published sources simply do not make available, or a high level of access either to detailed personnel records or to the people behind the records. in addition, many of our predictions imply the need to be able to measure career system fitness, which will need some care to operationalize. when ideas are being transplanted from one field to another it is always hard to know whether something new is being said or whether one has simply found new words to describe an old problem. of course it sometimes happens that even though nothing new has been said, the new constructs invoke metaphors that invigorate creativity. but the question remains: have we simply relabeled old career issues in new complexity bottles, or have we identified a genuinely new way of viewing career phenomena? we believe that the approach we have outlined does suggest a new way of approaching the analysis of career system behaviour. if it is the case that career systems have innate properties which draw them into a state which is not only stable over the medium term but creates an environment conducive to organizational change, and that this emerges spontaneously and not as a result of conscious managerial decision-making, then we should be able to detect the processes that underlie this self-organization. whether they turn out to be vacancy chains governed by power law behaviour, and whether or not there is a parameter we have called here k that plays a part, remains speculative at this stage. but the implications of self-organization in career systems for ideas of human agency are too fascinating to leave uninvestigated. hugh p. gunz trained as a chemist in new zealand, and has phds in chemistry and organizational behaviour. his career started in the petrochemical industry, and he has taught on the faculties of manchester business school and the university of toronto’s joseph l rotman school of management, where he is professor of organizational behaviour. he has published papers on the careers of managers, professionals and others, the management of technical professionals, and management education. he is the author of the book careers and corporate cultures, published by basil blackwell. his research interests include the structure of managerial careers in and between organizations and their impact on firmsí strategic management, the application of complexity science to careers, and ethical dilemmas experienced by employed professionals. m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 63-88 special issue: careers and new science 83 self-organization in career systems references ■ adams, richard n. 1988 the eighth day: social evolution as the self-organization of energy, austin, tx: university of texas. ■ anderson, phillip w. 1996 call for papers: applications of complexity theory to organization science, informs winter conference, atlanta. ■ anderson, phillip w. 1999a complexity theory and organization science, organization science, 10(3): 216-232. ■ anderson, phillip w. 1999b seven levers for guiding the evolving enterprise, in john h. clippinger (ed.), the biology of business: decoding the natural laws of enterprise, san francisco, ca: jossey-bass, 113-152. ■ anderson, phillip w., kenneth j. arrow, and davis pines 1988 the economy as an evolving complex system, redwood city, ca: addisonwesley. ■ arthur, michael b., priscilla h. claman, and robert j. defillippi 1995 intelligent enterprise, intelligent careers, academy of management executive, 9(4): 7-20. ■ arthur, michael b., and denise m. rousseau, (eds.) 1996 the boundaryless career: a new employment principle for a new organizational era, new york, ny: oxford university press. ■ astley, graham w., and andrew h. van de ven 1983 central perspectives and debates in organization theory, administrative science quarterly, 28(2): 245-73. ■ bak, per 1996 how nature works: the science of self-organized criticality, new york, ny: copernicus. ■ bak, per, and kan chen 1991 self-organized criticality, scientific american, 264(1): 46-53. ■ bak, per, and kim sneppen 1993 punctuated equilibrium and criticality in a simple model of evolution, physical review letters, 71(24): 4083-86. ■ best, michael h., and robert forrant 1996 community-based careers and economic virtue: arming, disarming and rearming the springfield, western massachusetts, metalworking region, in michael b. arthur and denise m. rousseau (eds.), the boundaryless career: a new employment principle for a new organizational era, new york, ny: oxford university press, 314330. ■ bird, allan 1997 personal communication. ■ boulding, kenneth e. 1978 ecodynamics: a new theory of societal evolution, newbury park, ca: sage. benyamin m. bergmann lichtenstein is an assistant professor of entrepreneurship and management at the barney school of business, university of hartford. his entrepreneurship research focuses on the emergence of new firms, learning in new companies, and major transformations in small business. benyamin is exploring unique approaches to entrepreneurial resource acquisition and leveraging competencies for new business growth. as director of the entrepreneurial studies program at the barney school, benyamin has dramatically expanded participation in the major over the past three years, and has helped several students get into business themselves. rebecca g. long is an associate professor of management at mississippi state university. she received her ph.d. from louisiana state university. her largest current research interests center around the complexity sciences and their theoretical and methodological uses in organization studies. her other interests lie in the areas of employee mobility and advancement, externalization of labor, and strategic human resources management. she has had publications in such journals as the academy of management journal, organization research methods, journal of management, human relations, journal of management inquiry, advances in industrial & labor relations and group & organization management. m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 63-88 special issue: careers and new science 84 hugh p. gunz, benyamin m. bergmann lichtenstein and rebecca g. long ■ brown, d. j. 1975 men against chance, unpublished ph.d. dissertation, chicago, il: university of chicago. ■ brown, shona, and kathleen eisenhardt 1997 the art of continuous change: linking complexity theory and time-based evolution in relentlessly shifting organizations, administrative science quarterly, 42(1): 1-34. ■ capra, fritjof 1996 the web of life: a new scientific understanding of living systems, new york, ny: anchor books. ■ carneiro, robert 1970 a theory of the origin of the state, science, 169(3947): 733-738. ■ carneiro, robert 1987 the evolution of complexity in human societies and its mathematical expression, international journal of comparative sociology, 28(3-4): 111-128. ■ doeringer, peter b., and michael j. piore 1971 internal labor markets and manpower analysis, lexington, ma: heath. ■ dyke, charles 1988 cities as dissipative structures, in bruce h. weber, david j. depew and james d. smith (eds.), entropy, information and evolution: new perspectives on physical and biological evolution, cambridge, ma: mit press, 355-367. ■ eigen, manfred, and peter schuster 1979 the hypercycle: a principle of natural self-organization, berlin: springer-verlag. ■ forbes, j. benjamin 1987 early intraorganizational mobility: patterns and influences, academy of management journal, 30(1): 110-125. ■ freeman, walter 1991 the physiology of perception, scientific american, 264(2): 78-85. ■ frette, vidar, kim christensen, and anders malthe-sorenssen 1996 avalanche dynamics in a pile of rice, nature, 379(6560): 49-52. ■ gersick, connie 1991 revolutionary change theories: a multilevel exploration of the punctuated equilibrium paradigm, academy of management review, 16(1): 10-36. ■ giddens, anthony 1979 central problems in social theory: action, structure, and contradiction in social analysis, berkeley, ca: university of california press. ■ glansdorff, paul, and ilya prigogine 1971 thermodynamic theory of structure, stability, and fluctuations, new york, ny: wiley. ■ gleick, james 1987 chaos: making a new science, new york, ny: penguin. ■ gunz, hugh p. 1989a careers and corporate cultures: managerial mobility in large corporations, oxford: basil blackwell. ■ gunz, hugh p. 1989b the dual meaning of managerial careers: organizational and individual levels of analysis, journal of management studies, 26(3): 225-50. ■ gunz, hugh p., martin g. evans, and r. michael jalland 2000 career boundaries in a “boundaryless” world, in maury a. peiperl, michael b. arthur, rob goffee, and tim morris (eds.), career frontiers: new conceptions of working lives, oxford: oxford university press, 24-53. ■ gunz, hugh p., and r. michael jalland 1996a managerial careers and business strategies, academy of management review, 21(3): 718-756. ■ gunz, hugh p., and r. michael jalland 1996b measuring barriers to mobility in organizations: a study of career prospects for senior administrators in a large university, best paper proceedings for the annual meeting of the academy of management, cincinnati, ohio, august. ■ hachen, david s., jr. 1992 industrial characteristics and job mobility rates, american sociological review, 57(1): 39-55. ■ haken, hermann 1977 synergetics: an introduction: nonequilibrium phase transitions and selforganization in physics, chemistry, and biology, berlin: springer-verlag. ■ hall, david, and associates 1986 career development in organizations, san francisco, ca: jossey-bass. ■ hall, douglas t., and james g. goodale 1986 human resource management: strategy, design, and implementation, glenview, il: scott, foresman. ■ hout, michael 1984 status, autonomy, and training in occupational mobility, american journal of sociology, 89(6): 1379-1409. ■ hughes, everett c. 1937 institutional office and the person, american journal of sociology, 43(3): 404-413. ■ jones, candy 1996 careers in project networks: the case of the film industry, in michael b. arthur and denise m. rousseau (eds.), the boundaryless career: a new employment principle for a new organizational era, new york, ny: oxford university press, 58-75. ■ kahn, david, and allan j. hobson 1993 self-organization theory of dreaming, dreaming, 3(3): 151-178. ■ kardar, mehran 1996 avalanche theory in rice, nature, 379(22): 22. ■ kauffman, stuart a. 1993 the origins of order: self-organization and selection in evolution, new york, ny: oxford university press. ■ kauffman, stuart a. 1995 at home in the universe: the search for laws of self-organization and complexity, new york, ny: oxford university press. m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 63-88 special issue: careers and new science 85 self-organization in career systems ■ krugman, paul r. 1996 the self-organizing economy, cambridge, ma: blackwell. ■ lawrence, barbara s. 1990 at the crossroads: a multiple-level explanation of individual attainment, organization science, 1(1): 65-85. ■ leifer, richard 1989 understanding organizational transformation using a dissipative structure model, human relations, 42(10): 899916. ■ levinthal, daniel 1997 adaptation on rugged landscapes, management science, 43(7): 934-950. ■ levinthal, daniel and massimo warglien 1999 landscape design: designing for local action in complex worlds, organization science, 10(3): 342-357. ■ lichtenstein, benyamin 2000 self-organized transitions in the development journey: a pattern amidst the "chaos" of transformative change in entrepreneurial ventures, academy of management executive, 14(4): 128-141. ■ long, rebecca, michael c. white, and k. michael mathews 2000 self organizing systems, complexity theory and levels of analysis, working paper, msstate, ms: mississippi state university, dpt of mis. ■ mahoney, tom a., and george t. milkovich 1973 an investigation of the internal labor market concept, proceedings of the academy of management, minneapolis, minnesota, academy of management. ■ matusik, sharon f., and charles w. hill 1998 the utilization of contingent work, knowledge creation, and competitive advantage, academy of management review, 23(3): 680-697. ■ mckelvey, bill 1997 quasi-natural organization science, organization science, 8(4): 351-380. ■ mckelvey, bill 1999a self-organization, complexity catastrophe, and microstate models at the edge of chaos, in joel baum and bill mckelvey (eds.), variations in organization science: in honor of donald t. campbell, thousand oaks, ca: sage, 279-310. ■ mckelvey, bill 1999b toward a campbellian realist organization science, in joel baum and bill mckelvey (eds.), variations in organization science: in honor of donald t. campbell, thousand oaks, ca: sage, 383-412. ■ nicholson, nigel 1984 a theory of work role transitions, administrative science quarterly, 29(2): 172-191. ■ nicholson, nigel 1996 career systems in crisis: change and opportunity in the information age, academy of management executive, 10(4): 40-51. ■ o’neill, r.v. 1989 perspectives in hierarchy and scale, in jonathan roughgarden, robert m. may, and simon a. levin (eds.), perspectives in ecological theory, princeton, nj: princeton university press, 140-156. ■ payne, geoff, and jonathan payne 1983 occupational and industrial transition in social mobility, british journal of sociology, 34(1): 72-92. ■ pfeffer, jeffrey 1985 organizational demography: implications for management, california management review, 28(1): 67-81. ■ pinfield, lawrence t. 1995 the operation of internal labor markets: staffing actions and vacancy chains, new york, ny: plenum. ■ rosenbaum, james e. 1984 career mobility in a corporate hierarchy, london: academic press. ■ saxenian, annalee 1996 beyond boundaries: open labor markets and learning in silicon valley, in michael b. arthur and denise m. rousseau (eds.), the boundaryless career: a new employment principle for a new organizational era, new york, ny: oxford university press, 23-39. ■ schein, edgar h. 1978 career dynamics: matching individual and organizational needs, reading, ma: addison-wesley. ■ smith, charles, and gary gemmill 1991 self-organization in small groups: a study of group effectiveness within non-equilibrium conditions, human relations, 44(7): 697-716. ■ smith, michaela y., and ralph stacey 1997 governance and cooperative networks: an adaptive systems perspective, technological forecasting and social change, 54(1): 79-94. ■ sobel, michael e., michael hout and otis d. duncan 1985 exchange, structure and symmetry in occupational mobility, american journal of sociology, 91(2): 359-72. ■ sole, ricard v., susanna c. manrubia, michael benton, and per bak 1997 self-similarity of extinction statistics in the fossil record, nature, 388(6644): 764-67. ■ sonnenfeld, jeffrey a., and maury a. peiperl 1988 staffing policy as a strategic response: a typology of career systems, academy of management review, 13(4): 588-600. ■ stewman, shelby 1975a an application of job vacancy chain model to a civil service internal labor market, journal of mathematical sociology, 4(1): 37-59. ■ stewman, shelby 1975b two markov models of system occupational mobility: underlying conceptualizations and empirical tests, american sociological review, 40(3): 298-321. ■ stewman, shelby 1986 demographic models of internal labor markets, administrative science quarterly, 31(2): 212-247. ■ stewman, shelby, and suresh l. konda 1983 careers and organizational labor markets: demographic models of organizational behavior, american journal of sociology, 88(4): 637-85. ■ tolbert, pamela s. 1996 occupations, organizations and boundaryless careers, in michael b. arthur and denise m. rousseau (eds.), the boundaryless career: a new employment principle for a new organizational era, new york: oxford university press, 331-349. ■ von bertalanffy, ludwig 1968 general system theory: foundations, development, applications., new york, ny: george braziller. ■ waldrop, m. mitchell 1992 complexity: the emerging science at the edge of order and chaos, new york, ny: simon & schuster. ■ white, harrison c. 1970 chains of opportunity: system models of mobility in organizations, cambridge, ma: harvard university press. ■ winslow, nathan 1997 introduction to self-organized criticality and earthquakes, http://www.geo.lsa.umich.edu/~ruff/ geo105.w97/soc/soceq.html. ■ yamaguchi, kazuo 1983 the structure of intergenerational occupational mobility: generality and specificity in resources, channels and barriers, american journal of sociology, 88(4): 718-745. m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 63-88 special issue: careers and new science 86 hugh p. gunz, benyamin m. bergmann lichtenstein and rebecca g. long appendix: fitness landscapes the behaviour of each node in the nk network is governed by some kind of algorithm describing how it responds to different combinations of inputs. the simplest version (kauffman, 1993) specifies that all inputs are binary (i.e., they take the value either of 1 or 0), and that each node’s behaviour is governed by boolean rules. so, for example, a node in a k = 2 network might follow an “if” logic: it generates a 1 if it is receiving a 1 from either or both of its inputs. obviously, for a k = n network (assuming n is any size at all), the boolean rules for each node would be extremely complex. kauffman used computer discrete event simulations to study the behaviour of these nk networks. imagine a k = n network with its nodes in an arbitrary arrangement of states: because the network is binary, each node is either “on” or “off”. consider what happens after an imaginary tick of the clock. each node examines its inputs and applies its boolean rules to them, remaining in the same state, or changing from “on” to “off” or vice versa, as its rules specify. each node then sends the output of this computation to every other node it is connected to, including itself. next, each node examines the new inputs, and repeats the process. eventually the network will return to its original state, having followed a path of changes kauffman calls its state cycle. but for a network with only 200 nodes, the state cycle is somewhat long: it has of the order of 1030 states (kauffman, 1995: 82). even if the network took only a microsecond to pass from state to state it would take billions of times the life of the universe to traverse the complete cycle. its behaviour is clearly chaotic, because although it is governed by deterministic, boolean rules, for all practical purposes it is random: it will never be http://www.geo.lsa.umich.edu/~ruff/geo105.w97/soc/soceq.html m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 63-88 special issue: careers and new science 87 self-organization in career systems observed to follow the same path twice. at the opposite end of the complexity scale, however, k = 1 networks do nothing of any interest: very quickly, they reach a frozen state and remain there. if we were to flip one node in a k = n network, over-riding the boolean rules it is following, the system will probably be pushed into a different state cycle, of which there are n/e in a k = n network. of course, with 1030 states in either cycle we would never know that this has happened: the network’s behaviour would seem as random as before. on the other hand, if we were to do this to a k = 1 network, we would see it settle very quickly into a new pattern and stay there. kauffman (1995) extends the nk model to show how it can be used to analyze the overall fitness of the system. he uses so-called fitness landscapes, which are familiar to biologists as a means of conceptualizing the way a system’s fitness varies as its key variables vary. each point on the landscape represents a particular state of the system (i.e., a particular combination of its state variables), and the higher the “altitude” of that point on the landscape, the fitter the system. fitness is defined in a way appropriate to the system; for an organism, it typically means its fitness in terms of natural selection processes. space does not allow a full account of fitness landscapes: here, we shall focus on two features of landscapes, their “ruggedness” and the arrangement of their peaks. kauffman (1995) shows how these features vary with k. nk networks with high values of k have very rugged landscapes with a random arrangement of sharp peaks scattered randomly. networks with low values of k have smooth landscapes with few peaks. for intermediate values of k, there are a moderate number of peaks, and they tend to be clustered together rather than scattered randomly across the landscape. let us define “fitness” for a career system as the overall fit between people and work roles within the career system. for example, a career system which currently has a well-organized set of work roles filled with people who are well suited to their tasks and relate well to their colleagues, is in a high-fitness state. since very low values of k are associated with fitness landscapes with very few peaks, there are very few directions in which low-k systems can evolve to improve their overall fitness, and a very limited number of ideal states. the k = 1 career system, then, may be a slow-changing, ponderous beast which is vulnerable to ecological change. so because low k fitness landscapes have few peaks, there are few choices to be made for improving the fitness of the system, reinforcing pressures to isomorphism and its attendant risks of sectoral vulnerability to environmental change. networks with high k have very rugged fitness landscapes (kauffman, 1995): they have a great many, randomly-arranged, peaks. a change in the system initiated by a vacancy in a high-k career system could, virtually at random, improve overall system fitness or make it worse. it is rather like walking blindfold across a landscape littered with peaks and chasms: the outcome of every step could be catastrophic, and even if it leads higher, the system can easily become trapped in a suboptimal state because there are so many randomly-scattered peaks like this one. m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 63-88 special issue: careers and new science 88 hugh p. gunz, benyamin m. bergmann lichtenstein and rebecca g. long nk landscapes with low (but greater than 1) values of k have a smaller number of peaks clustered comparatively closely together (as opposed to chaotic landscapes which have a very large number of peaks scattered all over the landscape), which confers a particular advantage on the system. there are a reasonable number of peaks so that it is possible for a system to evolve to more than one destination, so avoiding becoming trapped in an evolutionary dead end. but because the peaks are clustered, it is easier for the system to improve on its situation by moving from a low peak to a higher one. 51parker polly parker, and michael b. arthur 2002 bringing “new science” into careers research, m@n@gement, 5(1): 105-125. m@n@gement is a double-blind reviewed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.dmsp.dauphine.fr/management/ © 2001 m@n@gement and the author(s). issn: 1286-4892 editors: martin evans, u. of toronto bernard forgues, u. of paris 12 http://www.dmsp.dauphine.fr/management/ m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 105-125 special issue: careers and new science 105 polly parker . michael b arthur university of auckland email: p.parker@auckland.ac.nz suffolk university email: marthur@suffolk.edu bringing “new science” into careers research social science research is at an interesting juncture. its accepted tradition, stemming from the physical sciences, involves an «objective, logical and systematic method of analysis devised to permit the accumulation of reliable knowledge» (lastrucci, 1963: 6). however, this “traditional science” methodology has come under increasing scrutiny. an alternative “new science” approach (wheatley, 1992) suggests recent physical science views of shifting, interdependent and selforganizing relationships provide alternative inspiration. moreover, this alternative approach suggests a range of new ways to think about careers research (bird, gunz and arthur, 2002, this issue). kuhn (1970: 36) describes traditional science—“normal” science—presuming a puzzle metaphor. the presumption is that problems can be reduced to distinct forms such as crosswords or jigsaw puzzles. in these puzzles the parts remain the same, only fit together one way, and are fixed in relation to each other. the puzzle metaphor suggests that careers will unfold through prevailing organizational or institutional parts, namely jobs. however, the jigsaw puzzle metaphor does not work very well any more for many of the problems intriguing much of the contemporary scientific community, even though in kuhn’s terms this may still be “normal” (i.e., non-paradigm-shifting) science. those problems—reflecting ideas in chaos theory, complexity theory and non-linear systems (e.g., holland, 1996; capra, 1996)—involve seeing the relationships between the parts, as well as the larger pattern that the relationships create, as constantly changing. such views resonate with contemporary ideas about how adaptive, self-organizing career processes contribute to the economic and social world (weick, 1996). this paper reflects on the first author’s attempts to adapt traditional social science methods to her own purpose. the research involved developing a methodology to explore the subjective career, concerned with people’s internal, self-referential views of their unfolding career experiences. the paper describes a series of problems encountered along the way, stemming directly or indirectly from the rigidity of traditional science assumptions. in contrast, the authors find encouragement in contemporary ideas about “new science,” and its imagery of a self-organizing, non-linear and interdependent world. the journey leads to philosopher paul cilliers’ principles of complex social systems, which provide an alternative, and more affirming, platform for the kind of research undertaken. mailto:p.parker@auckland.ac.nz mailto:marthur@suffolk.edu m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 105-125 special issue: careers and new science 106 polly parker and michael b. arthur the traditions of social science research place the contemporary careers researcher on the horns of a dilemma. can changing relationships be explored through methodologies which presume that those relationships will endure? can a supposedly non-linear world be reconciled with the linear assumptions on which most social science methods are based? can these methods be adapted to accommodate interdependence rather than assuming separate independent and dependent variables? even if the methods are adaptable, how will the adaptations be seen by the gatekeepers—the academic supervisors and journal reviewers—of social science research? does the common distinction between quantitative and qualitative research help or hinder the troubled researcher? this paper will explore how questions such as these were experienced in a recent career research project. the purpose of the research project, begun in 1995, was to develop an understanding of individuals’ subjective careers based on a new conception of the career, namely the “intelligent career” (arthur, claman and defillippi, 1995). this conception was inspired by previous work on the subjective side of the career (e.g., schein 1978; barley, 1989), reflecting the meaning that people ascribe to their own career situations, in contrast to the objective career reflecting the normative roles and sequences of roles suggested by prevailing organizational and occupational structures. the subjective career involves the internal interpretation of personal experiences, the internally perceived place of work in the whole of one’s life context, and the internal sense an individual makes of the unfolding of events over time (barley, 1989). the subjective side has been broadly argued to be increasingly significant as individuals are called on take greater responsibility for both the direction and interpretation of their unfolding careers (arthur and rousseau, 1996a; hall, 1996). we anticipated that the subjective career data we sought might well be elicited through a card sort technique, known as a “q-sort,” and described to offer «a fundamental theory of subjectivity, beginning and ending with expressions of self-reference» (ozer, 1993: 104). this is not a conventional research paper. our primary aim is not to report on the findings of a research project. rather, our aim is to describe the difficulties we encountered and the learning we drew as the project progressed. in particular we will attempt to show how several of our difficulties stemmed from the application of traditional social science assumptions. we will then turn to suggest that “new science” offers an alternative set of assumptions more compatible with our research purpose, and with the conception of career behind it. we will close by encouraging careers researchers to take the ideas of new science to heart, rather than to be constrained by the increasingly questionable assumptions to which traditional social science adheres. the “intelligent career” our point of departure was the intelligent career (arthur et al., 1995), originally conceived as a response to quinn’s (1992) ideas about m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 105-125 special issue: careers and new science 107 bringing new science into career research “intelligent enterprise.” quinn’s “new paradigm” saw company success stemming from the perpetual accumulation and conversion of “intellectual resources” into desired customer outputs (quinn, 1992: 213). he envisioned a turbulent environment, including a turbulent employment environment, as a permanent rather than passing feature of the economy companies faced. he also described employment as “voluntary” in that «the best people [didn’t] have to work for [any] particular company,» staying only as long as they wanted to be there (quinn, 1992: 151). the challenge for both company and career adaptation concurred with other viewpoints asserting that employment mobility would be an enduring and important feature of the emerging economy (bridges, 1994; drucker, 1994). quinn’s work overlaps with a broader set of ideas linking company success to the underlying “core competencies” through which the company does its business (d’aveni, 1994; hamel and prahalad, 1994). these competencies fall into three distinct categories concerned with a company’s culture, know-how and networks respectively (hall, 1992). briefly, culture encompasses the dominant values and beliefs through which a company functions, know-how involves a company’s accumulated skills and expertise, and networks represent the relationships through which a company participates in the economic marketplace. the intelligent career framework responds to these categories by suggesting three corresponding “ways of knowing”—labeled knowing-why, knowing-how, and knowing-whom (arthur et al., 1995). the framework takes quinn’s and other writers’ assertion of “voluntary” employment to heart. accordingly, the career actor is seen as a temporary investor in his or her present company, rather than as subservient to the company’s proclaimed (and often shifting) goals and objectives. the three ways of knowing may be briefly described as follows. knowing-why relates to company culture, and involves themes of individual motivation, the construction of personal meaning, and the expression of identity through work. knowing-why further incorporates attitudes to and accommodation of a person’s family, and sentiments about other non-work aspects of life that affect career choice, adaptability and commitment. knowing-how links to overall company know-how, and reflects the skills and expertise a person brings to his or her work situation. however, people may well bring, or may wish to develop, broader knowinghow competencies than their present job demands. people may therefore be expected to seek to change their work arrangements to enhance future career opportunities and employability. knowing-whom involves the internal and external relationships that contribute to a company’s networks. some relationships are prescribed by the company’s job expectations, others grow from less formal beginnings. connections to other company departments, suppliers, customers and so on can support people’s career purposes, as can contacts with family, friends, and professional acquaintances. it is fundamental to the intelligent career framework that the three ways of knowing are interdependent. for example, a person’s (knowingm@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 105-125 special issue: careers and new science 108 polly parker and michael b. arthur why) career motivation can be expected to influence his or her further investment in (knowing-how) expertise, as well as in (knowing-whom) relationship-building to help develop that expertise. in turn, fresh expertise and new relationships can be expected to influence future (knowing-why) motivation, and so on. it is also fundamental that the interactions will change over time. yesterday’s (knowing-why) enthusiasm or (knowing-how) learning agenda or (knowing-whom) affiliations can be expected to change in the light of subsequent experience. the intelligent career view sees people, like their employer companies, to be engaged in perpetual adaptation. each of these three types of knowledge also has interrelated referents: the job, the company, the professional domain, and the industry. again as careers develop, one or other of these domains may be salient to the individual. in addition, learning in one domain may contribute to knowledge in another. the research project as previously stated, the intention of the research project was to explore subjective career data, based on the intelligent career framework. the preliminary plan for the project was as follows. the initial research participants would be mba graduates, an accessible local population that was predictably already adjusting to “voluntary” employment principles (kotter, 1995). preliminary evidence of the population’s career concerns would be gathered from a series of case studies. these would precede three focus groups with mba graduate participants, which would draw on the intelligent career framework in promoting participants’ discussion of their own career behavior. the focus group transcripts would provide the raw data from which two methodologies would be developed. in the first, a traditional paper and pencil questionnaire covering each of the intelligent career domains was developed. the data from this was analyzed through factor analytic techniques. second, the same data from the focus groups together with the insights developed from the factor analysis data were used to develop items to be used in a card sorting exercise. it was felt that these alternative methods would provide useful triangulation of the concepts implied by intelligent career theory. in addition, we expected that the traditional questionnaire and the card sort items would provide a convergent picture of the careers involved1. research experiences over the course of the ensuing research, several experiences reflected a tension between traditional social science principles and the authors’ aspirations. these involved the initial adoption of factor analysis, the further interpretation of factor analysis results, the principles underlying a relevant branch of social science research called qmethodology, the approach to scoring the card sort results, and the 1. when the project was launched the first author was a graduate student in an urban business school with a substantial population of local mba alumni and mba students that made the research project viable. as a graduate student, her work would be subject to both internal advisors’ and external assessors’ approval of her research program, and of its appropriateness in the field of social science research. we mention this because of the subsequent challenges involved in conducting and reporting the research. the second author was a visiting professor when the research project began, and an originator of the intelligent career approach (defillippi and arthur, 1994; arthur, claman and defillipi, 1995). we will tell our story as it happened, citing the academic references we drew upon at the time, so that the reader may better relate to the experiences reported. m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 105-125 special issue: careers and new science 109 bringing new science into career research distinction between quantitative and qualitative methodologies2. these experiences are described below. adopting factor analysis: the research proceeded smoothly through its case study, focus group and questionnaire phases. a content analysis of the focus group transcripts suggested a total of 87 prospective card sort items, broken down into 35 knowing-why, 26 knowing-how and 26 knowing-whom items respectively. example items were: “i want to contribute to innovation at work” (knowing-why), “i pursue skills and knowledge specific to my occupation” (knowing-how), and “i develop and maintain relationships inside my industry” (knowing-whom). the items were included on a questionnaire distributed among current mba students (the student were all part-time, and therefore active in their own careers). ninety-five students responded out of 110 approached. our first attempt at factor analysis was a conventional one, to enter all of the questionnaire items into the factor analysis at the same time (harman, 1976). the results were not encouraging; there was only limited evidence for three distinct knowing-why, knowing-how and knowing-whom dimensions. our next conventional approach was to ask the analysis to confirm a three-factor solution, but again the results failed to provide the distinctions sought. the items that loaded together included items representing more than one of the three ways of knowing that our framework assumed. however, we saw these results to be consistent with our expectations, inasmuch as the intelligent career framework anticipated the kind of interdependence among knowingwhy, knowing-how and knowing-whom items that the factor analysis had found. this led to the first predicament: the conflict between our underlying theory and the restrictions imposed by the formal factor analysis model. we then proceeded to investigate each of the knowing-why, knowinghow and knowing-whom arenas separately. now we saw a much clearer picture. most of the factors derived could be readily interpreted and labeled from visual inspection of their constituent items. the analysis of the knowing-why variables produced twelve factors, using 26 of 35 items, covering such topics as social contribution, innovation, flexibility, concern for family, work atmosphere, and influence over others. the anlaysis of the knowing-how variables produced ten factors, using 23 of 26 items, covering for example distinctive skills, project activities, working with others, coaching, and strategic thinking. the analysis of knowing-whom variables produced ten factors, using 24 of 26 items, such as feedback, external work relationships, internal company support, industry support and mentoring (tables 1, 2 and 3)3. the opportunity for visual inspection of the factor analysis results also allowed for further reflection on exceptional cases where the suggested links among a factor’s variables appeared unclear. interpreting factor analysis results as already noted, we did not envision a questionnaire as the end result of the research. we understood that forced-choice questionnaires risked «missing or misinterpreting meaning from the respondent’s (subjective) frame of reference» (mckeown and thomas, 1988: 23). 2. one other issue that could not be addressed here is the problem of exploring what we believe to be a dynamic situation through a snapshot—that is data collected at one point in time. we recognize this limitation of our research but view this episode of data gathering as the first in a planned set of follow-up investigations. 3. all data in tables 1 to 3 are from parker (1996: 144-148). a normative factor analysis following recommended methodological guidelines was performed on the variables within each of the knowing-why, knowing-how, and knowing-whom categories. accordingly, factors were extracted for each category to account for at least 70% of the total variance in the results obtained (stevens, 1986, tabachnik and fidell, 1989). the most effective solutions came from 12 factors accounting for 75.7% of variance (knowing-why), 10 factors accounting for 80% of variance (knowing-how) and 10 factors accounting for 83.6% of variance (knowing-whom). a cutoff factor loading of .526 was established in accordance with guidelines for smaller samples provided by stevens (1986: 344). complex variables are shown each time they exceed the cutoff factor loading. m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 105-125 special issue: careers and new science 110 polly parker and michael b. arthur table 1. factor analysis results: knowing-why factors 1: societal 2:innovation 3: challenge 4: flexibility 5: family 6: supportive work atmosphere 7: stability 8: security 9: approval 10: personal ambition 11: influence/environment 12: influence/others loading items .889 making a contribution to society .815 doing something useful for others .604 being trustworthy at work .578 deriving personal meaning from my work .838 contributing to innovation at work .806 experimenting with new activities and ideas .535 being enterprising in my work .526 being open to future opportunities .763 working in a competitive environment .799 having flexibility to organize my daily schedule .660 having flexibility in long term planning of my work .635 having autonomy to develop new ideas .570 being adaptive to a changing environment .809 sharing work & life responsibilities with my partner .784 providing for my family .825 working in a supportive atmosphere .590 working for a firm that reflects my values .759 maintaining predictability in my work arrangements .737 maintaining stability in my present location .850 seeking & maintaining employment security .667 gaining external approval through my work .600 working in an industry that matters .834 having employment to suit my lifestyle .629 fulfilling personal goals through my work .788 exerting influence over a changing environment .710 exerting influence over others table 2. factor analysis results: knowing-how factors 1: skills and knowledge 2: distinctive skills 3: learning 4: working with others 5: projects 6:leadership 7: coaching 8: developing new knowledge 9: strategic thinking 10: job situations loading items .906 pursuing and maintaining qualifications specific to my industry .809 pursuing and maintaining qualifications specific to my company .691 developing skills and knowledge valued by my industry .691 pursuing and maintaining qualifications specific to my occupation .897 pursuing and maintaining qualifications that make me distinctive from others .895 developing skills and knowledge that make me distinctive from others .777 gaining training & development that prepares me for my current job .727 working with individuals from whom i can learn .586 developing skills and knowledge that are valued by my company .848 being better able to work with other people .738 being able to resolve differences with other people .586 being able to bring out the best in other people† .714 working on projects rather than a continuous job .712 doing a job as part of a meaningful project .550 performing meaningful projects within my job .856 being a better leader .668 being open to fresh ideas .733 being a better coach to other people .562 becoming more responsive to external change .746 becoming better able to work under pressure .551 developing generalized rather than specialized skills .749 becoming a strategic thinker .586 being able to bring out the best in other people† .759 working in job situations from which i can learn † complex variable included twice. m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 105-125 special issue: careers and new science 111 bringing new science into career research our interest was merely exploratory, in that we sought to investigate and learn from the factor analysis data. however, the normative procedures of factor analysis, this time in association with established questionnaire design practices, created further tension. the normative approach was based on a traditional science goal of identifying and distinguishing among separate theoretical dimensions. accordingly, it suggested the deletion of problem items, reflected in “non-loading” variables excluded from the factors identified, or in single-factor variables that did not fall into any larger pattern (bryman and cramer, 1994). similarly, it suggested dropping “complex variables” that were incorporated into more than one of the factors suggested (tabachnik and fidell, 1989). the suggested deletions did not concur with our underlying concern with the intelligent career, or more broadly with the subjective career. our theory suggested that people would not necessarily conform to pre-determined dimensions of behavior, but instead would ascribe their own meanings to the items involved. dropping the problem items would have denied people the opportunity to ascribe meaning to these in the next stage of the research. we sought to develop a card sort that would elicit these meanings. we were therefore reluctant to drop the table 3. factor analysis results: knowing-whom factors 1: learning through feedback 2: gaining support 3: mentoring 4: company specific relationships 5: external relationships 6: support/potential 7: work relationships 8: suppliers 9: internal support 10: working in teams loading items .737 using relationships to get feedback on my skills and knowledge .715 spending time with people from whom i can learn .646 identifying and reaching people from whom i can learn .644 using relationships to gain feedback on my abilities .617 developing and maintaining relationships with others in my occupation .608 using relationships to gain feedback on my performance .590 using relationships to acquire new information† .855 getting to know people who will advance my reputation .836 developing relationships to access new information .618 gaining support from people outside my company .586 getting to know people who can act as mentors for me .550 using relationships to acquire new information† .868 spending time with people who can learn from me .820 giving access to people who can learn from me .859 gaining support from people inside my company .684 developing relationships with people inside my company .751 developing and maintaining relationships with family .593 developing and maintaining relationships with outside my company .532 developing and maintaining relationships with competitors .823 developing and maintaining relationships to provide social support .550 using relationships to gain feedback on my potential .810 developing and maintaining relationships with others in my industry .793 developing and maintaining relationships with suppliers .854 giving support to people inside my industry .879 working in teams to learn † complex variable included twice. m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 105-125 special issue: careers and new science 112 polly parker and michael b. arthur problem items, especially in cases where we recalled the enthusiasm with which certain focus group participants had spoken about the issues involved. for example, a normative response to factor analysis would have been to drop items such as the single-factor variable that did not meet the cutoff factor loading “i want to work in a competitive environment” (knowing-why), the non-loading variable “i seek training and development beyond my current job” (knowing-how), and the complex variable “i develop and maintain relationships with previous employers” (knowing-whom). yet in all three cases we had evidence that these items held distinct importance for some of the research participants. a different kind of problem occurred when factor analysis results suggested that we merge items into a single construct when our theory suggested otherwise. for example, the factor analysis merged the three (knowing-how) items “i pursue skills and knowledge specific to my company,” “i pursue skills and knowledge specific to my occupation,” and “i pursue skills and knowledge specific to my industry.” however, from the intelligent career standpoint company, occupation and industry were three distinct contexts that could attract distinct kinds of career investments (defillippi and arthur, 1994). (a case in point would be the mobile high-technology worker seeking cutting-edge occupational experience rather than particular company or industry experience.) we found the opportunity provided by factor analysis to consider data such as this to be genuinely helpful. we deliberated over the observation that only a minority of questionnaire respondents—all of them still mba students—made the distinctions between three kinds of career investment that our theory suggested. we reflected back on the previous focus group discussions we had heard. we recalled the strategies that experienced people had described to seek out transferable knowledge and preserve employability. we concluded that a minority of questionnaire respondents could be harbingers of change, proponents of new forms of career whose differences might be highlighted rather than neglected. we therefore chose in this instance not to proceed as factor analysis would suggest, that is we chose not to combine the items indicated4. q-sort methodology the goal of eliciting data about the subjective side of people’s careers led us to consider the use of the q-sort methodology (stephenson, 1953). (the qualifier “q” is meant to distinguish the person-centered methodology from the population-centered “r-methodology” where r indicates regression analysis.) q-methodology involves a process similar to the one we anticipated when our own card sort would be complete. people are asked to select and rank cards based on the underlying meaning and importance that the card sort items hold for the person. the method has been described as serving «the scientific study of human subjectivity», that is, of «a person’s communication of his or her point of view» (mckeown and thomas, 1988: 12). we were further intrigued by q-methodology because of its proponents’ discomfort with factor analysis. for example, stephenson’s (1953: 3) original work 4. this does not mean that our sample was inappropriate. it does mean, as suggested earlier, that different people had different meanings for their card selections; differences that were washed out using the traditional factor analytic techniques. m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 105-125 special issue: careers and new science 113 bringing new science into career research argued that factor analysis «assumes that everyone has the same psychological attribute in some degree,» and that the factor analysts’ pride in “pure objectivity” had interfered with the possibilities for new theory development. what we found was that the q-sort originator’s enthusiasm for exploring the person’s subjective perspective had not been universally sustained. in particular, one prominent branch of q-methodology has departed from stephenson’s concern with the subjective self. this branch, underlying the development of the california psychological inventory, firmly locates the psychoanalyst or counselor as “judge” of the person’s responses (block, 1978). the associated q-sort technique is described to provide «a convenient means of objectifying the impressions and personality formulations of observers» (block, 1978: 4, italics added), while neglecting participants’ own interpretations. according to this technique, a person’s subjective view is «simply a curiosity piece and not a datum of science» (block, 1978: 35). this is clearly inconsistent with our own focus on the subjective career, and thereby on the person as the “judge” of his or her own career behavior. scoring card sort results q-methodology also provided an established method for weighting the importance of successive card sort selections, assuming a two-tailed normal statistical distribution, to provide summary group data (carr, 1992). this was important to us, since at the time we were concerned to develop a methodology to capture inter-subjective data—namely, shared meanings among people whose careers exhibited common characteristics that we sought to study5. the basic idea, inspired by recent developments on focus group thinking (krueger and king, 1998), was to share the most important card sort selections with a focus group of representative participants. we needed a consistent way of determining not only the frequency of selection but also the relative importance, based on people’s individual rankings, of the card sort items, a problem with which the proponents of q-methodology had already grappled. however, we could not apply the q-methodology approach directly. its assumption of a two-tailed normal distribution derives from a longstanding recommendation to develop a “balanced design” of cards, namely equal numbers of opposite kinds of statements (stephenson, 1953). for example this would involve including an equal number of statements about job mobility as about job stability, it would also involve an equal number of statements about working alone or working in collaboration. in turn, the research participant would be asked to provide a set of cards with equal numbers reflecting both positive and negative responses, to cover both ends of the underlying dimensions being explored. by this stage of the project we had moved beyond our original sample and developed the card sort to allow respondents to choose from a total of 111 items. the card sort required up to 45 minutes to complete, and we asked for only positive responses, that is to select the items 5. we worked on this methodology along with kerr inkson during 1997, and first presented it in early 1998. a paper based on that presentation has since been published (parker and arthur, 2000), and a phd dissertation extending the methodology has since been completed (parker, 2000). m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 105-125 special issue: careers and new science 114 polly parker and michael b. arthur that were most descriptive of a person’s present career behavior. we anticipated a practical problem in extending the time to complete the card sort to incorporate the balanced set approach. this however was not the main reason for our decision. we wanted to focus on the attraction the person felt toward alternative opportunities for determining her or his career progression. to put it another way, our focus was on the investments people were making in their careers rather than the investments they were not making. moreover, we saw our card sort bringing a social psychological focus, concerned with the interplay, or mutual attraction, between people and the kind of career situations they sought out. the idea of a balanced set didn’t appeal to us. in the circumstances, we chose to modify the traditional two-tailed weighting system that had been derived for the balanced set approach. we used the same assumption of a normal distribution, and we predicted the size of our card decks as if a full balanced set of items had been included. we then came up with a weighting system based on that predicted size. we saw our modification as respectful of both the social psychological approach we adopted and previous q-sort traditions. however, we felt vulnerable to the reaction we might receive from established q-sort users. this, we feared, would mirror the same kind of conventional thinking we had found in factor analysis, and press us to assume a series of separate (and therefore two-tailed) dimensions6. gathering inter-subjective data one of our hopes for the card sort was that it would help in the gathering of inter-subjective data, namely shared understanding «occurring between or among (or accessible to) two or more separate subjects or conscious minds» (dreier, 1996: 107). for this purpose, we were trying out a methodology, initially with management consultants and sexual abuse counselors, based on aggregate group data. the approach involved identifying the most important card sort items across the group as a whole, and then feeding this information back to a focus group of the workers in question. in turn, the workers would be asked to discuss and interpret the meaning behind the items. the methodology would have the advantage over a straightforward focus group in that the act of administering the card sort captured critical subjective career data, and in turn obliged the focus group to concentrate on that in their discussion. we determined the most important card sort items based on which cards carried the highest average weight. however, we also gave the focus groups information about the frequency with which the same cards were chosen. both data points appeared to be useful. the weights appeared to help the groups’ allocation of time, and the relative attention they paid to each item that they were asked to discuss. the frequencies gave a clearer sense of how often the selected cards were chosen among the workers in question. the focus groups themselves were characterized by a high level of energy among their participants, so that people persisted in the search for shared interpretations. 6. there was a concern that the items were derived from a local and perhaps idiosyncratic mba population, and therefore of limited applicability to a larger population of workers. an exercise was conducted to explore (then) recent sources about the changing nature of work and careers, focusing on harvard mbas (kotter, 1995), middle managers (heckscher, 1995), the broader restructuring of work (bridges, 1994) and emerging contributions to the exploration of boundaryless careers (arthur and rousseau, 1996b). there was also an opportunity to inspect reported motivations behind 200 job situations explored in a concurrent national study (inkson, pringle and arthur, 1996). as a result the items retained after factor analysis were refined and additional items were added, culminating in 40, 36 and 35 items under each of the knowing-why; knowing-how and knowing-whom headings respectively. m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 105-125 special issue: careers and new science 115 bringing new science into career research however, we now came upon an obstacle from an unexpected quarter. a sympathetic reviewer of the work nevertheless recommended that we disregard the one-tailed weighting system that we had developed. the recommendation appeared to reflect the reviewer’s own identification with qualitative research as a separate and distinct area of inquiry from quantitative research. the recommendation also seemed to reflect a political argument: why invite the gatekeepers of quantitative social science methodology to criticize the research on their own terms? why not simply exclude those gatekeepers from the conversation? why not just report the most frequently selected items? we seemed caught in the middle of an argument between traditional quantitative social science and its qualitative opponent. however, we did not see the logic in joining either side of the argument to the exclusion of the other. linking quantitative and qualitative inquiry for the reasons described above, we had now adapted traditional science methods—spanning both factor analysis and q-methodology—to our own purposes. along the way we discovered that we were not alone in our discomfort with what “normal” social science seemed to be requiring of us; we encountered support for our approach in a well-regarded reference source on traditional social science techniques. specifically, nunnally and bernstein (1994: 330) suggest that factor analysis «is useful only to the extent that it aids in the development of principles of human behavior.» they also suggest that «there has been a tendency to overdo the mathematical requirements of factor analysis» resulting in «a bad case of “the tail wagging the dog.”» the authors propose that the experimenter should simply ask «how much will this help in my program of research?» (nunnally and bernstein, 1994: 330). however, the established practice that we had encountered over the course of our study seemed very much out of sympathy with these authors’ recommendations. by this time we had also field-tested our preliminary version of the card sort with over 350 clients, either individually or in pilot workshops (where clients worked together, under supervision, in discussing their card sort selections) (parker, 1997). the feedback we got from that testing was encouraging. most respondents reported that the card sort helped them bring to the surface and express their most pressing career concerns, and that the range of cards was adequate for that purpose. the subjective career was evident in some of the sharp distinctions in the way people spoke about the same card sort item. the three ways of knowing made intuitive sense for people in the way that they reflected on their career past and anticipated the future. they could see, for example, how the impact and interplay of their (knowingwhy) enthusiasm and (knowing-whom) experiences of mentoring modified their subsequent (knowing-how) career investments, and how these in turn played back on earlier investments. our field experience led us to ask if we might find greater support for our work outside the domain of traditional social science. m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 105-125 special issue: careers and new science 116 polly parker and michael b. arthur from traditional science to “new science” the difficulties described above drew us toward alternative social science arguments that would better support our work and through it the elicitation of the subjective side of the career on which we were focused. at this juncture three sets of arguments appealed to us. one was to join in with the critics of traditional social science methodologies, another was to join the proponents of qualitative research, while a third was to adopt “new science,” much like wheatley (1992), as a guiding metaphor. join the critics we were not alone in feeling the constraints of traditional science guidelines. earlier proponents of the subjective career had been harshly criticized by wilensky (1961: 523) who urged that we «define career in structural terms [as] a succession of related jobs, arranged in a hierarchy of prestige, through which persons move in an ordered (more-or-less) predictable sequence.» as a result even proponents of the subjective career were cautious about its place in the research agenda, conceding «problems in terms of validity and reliability of measurement» in the data that could be collected (stebbins, 1970: 42). however, the price for such caution may be considerable. sutton and staw (1995: 380) suggest it has given rise to a community of social science researchers who are «primarily trained in data collection techniques and the latest analytical tools, not the nuances of theory building.» they add that those researchers’ inclinations are to fit concepts and arguments around «what has been measured and discovered [instead of appreciating] that major contributions can be made when data are more illustrative than definitive.» (sutton and staw, 1995: 380). whatever the leanings of other researchers, our own research interests resonated with weick’s (1989: 524) argument that the «contribution of social science does not lie in validated knowledge, but rather in the suggestion of relationships and connections that had previously not been suspected, relationships that change actions and perspectives.» as our research project was underway these sentiments were echoed by turner (1997: xiv) who argued that individual freedom to act preceded the discovery of new meanings, which in turn preceded further actions. therefore, the «mathematical science of statistics (…) the most sophisticated and widely used tool of social science [gave] a severely limited picture of social systems» (turner, 1997: xxvii). we drew encouragement from these arguments, but their influence over the kind of career research being sanctioned appeared limited. the great majority of published research on careers still emphasized objective career rather subjective career phenomena (arthur and rousseau, 1996a). meanwhile, the work of turner (1997) and others suggested different possibilities. m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 105-125 special issue: careers and new science 117 bringing new science into career research stay qualitative as we have already noted, the criticisms of the traditional social science methods coincided with a trend towards alternative qualitative research. enthusiasts for this kind of research were increasingly challenging the traditional science view that interpretive methods were «unreliable, impressionistic and non-objective» (denzin and lincoln, 1994: 5). one encouraging strand of qualitative research came from the field of participative inquiry. according to its originator, this also stands «in marked contrast to orthodox social research» (reason, 1994: 332) in its emphasis on the subjective self. participative inquiry, like the concept of the intelligent career, envisions the interplay of people’s subjective and objective worlds evolving over time, and sees this evolution occurring through «the reflective action of persons and communities» (reason, 1994: 333). to constrain people’s opportunities for reflection, based on the strictures of traditional social science, therefore seemed counterproductive. to paraphrase reason (1994: 325) it would have excluded data that may have been most important to the thinking and interpretation of the career actors themselves. the voices of qualitative social science researchers frequently traced back to the chicago school of sociology, from where much of the theory underlying the subjective career first originated (barley, 1989). other voices traced back to overlapping ideas of berger and luckman (1966) on the social construction of reality, or of bateson (1972) on a subjectively-constituted world. yet other voices spoke for the importance of personal choice and agency in economic activity (ellig and thatchenkery, 1996). the common factor was one of the subjective self as a critical contributor to career behavior and its outcomes for both self and society. all of these voices appeared to be congruent with the concept of the intelligent career, but incongruent with the orthodoxy of traditional science that would restrict how people might describe their careers. adopt the “new science” metaphor our discomfort with traditional social science, and our search for support for our research interests drew us toward “new science,” what wheatley (1992: ix) has called the territory of «hypotheses and discoveries in biology, chemistry and physics that challenge us to reshape our fundamental world view.» new science thinking directly challenges the suitability of traditional reductionist methodologies that once dominated the physical sciences (gleick, 1987). by analogy, it also challenges the suitability of the traditional methodologies used in the social sciences (mathews, white, and long, 1999). new science supports a primary focus on the whole rather than the parts, and thereby a systems focus, accommodating the dynamic properties that have been described as «a recurring preoccupation of social theory over the centuries» (cohen, 1999: 374). as a result, certain social science writers are now adopting the language of this new (physical) science as an «intriguing [new] way to think about the world» (tetenbaum, 1998: 32). m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 105-125 special issue: careers and new science 118 polly parker and michael b. arthur most applications of new science we found used its ideas metaphorically, to suggest new descriptions of how the social world might function (kiel and elliott, 1996; church, 1999). metaphors play a key role in shaping our conception of phenomena through their «formative impact on language, on the construction and establishment of meaning, and on the development of theory and knowledge» (morgan, 1993: 277). for example, social system elements have been viewed to exhibit the new science principle of interdependence, meaning that people (and so careers) mutually affect each other instead of being tied to a one-way cause-effect sequence (goerner, 1995). variety and disorder, in contrast to linear relationships, have been seen as «a feature of the social life world itself rather than of bad behavior [or] imperfect social controls…» (young, 1996: 220). the elements of the social world have also be described to be self-organizing, that is to create their own order from “human agency,” namely acting on our own behalves, as «the grounding point for all human and human-impacted activity» (loye, 1995: 26). the generation of fresh energy is seen to underlie the process through which «humans individually and collectively try to bring the world into their orbit of control» (baker, 1993: 138-139). we found encouragement in the words of the previously cited writers. we were also encouraged by their shared appetite for alternative methodologies that would be concerned, as one authorship team put it, to «seek out and understand the nonlinear dimensions of social life lying just below the surface of seemingly staid, equilibrated institutions and groups» (harvey and reed, 1996: 321). what troubled us now was the choice that faced us. it appeared largely as a direct choice between quantitative and qualitative methodologies. in taking the qualitative path, we could usefully adopt “new science” ideas in a metaphorical sense to describe the phenomena under study. however, that path would stop short of tackling the principles on which traditional social science was based. we wanted to do more in confronting, rather than (as we saw it) circumnavigating those principles. the properties of complex social systems it is clear—as this volume attests—that we are engaged in a much larger debate than we can resolve here. social science research is only at the beginning of a protracted and uncertain journey into the application of “new science” thinking (harvey and reed, 1996, lewin, 1999). until that journey has progressed, we are largely stuck with the social science research tools we have. however, our experience suggests that misunderstandings can be reduced, and more diverse research experiments encouraged, if we can move toward a shared understanding of the principles underlying “new (social) science” research endeavors. in this regard we have recently been introduced to the work of cilliers (1998), a philosopher whose careful treatment of one branch of “new science,” complexity theory, invites attention. cilliers m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 105-125 special issue: careers and new science 119 bringing new science into career research stands back from the tangle of recent engagement with new science ideas to suggest a set of ten properties, drawn from complexity theory, which he sees underlying what he calls the «complex social systems» of social and economic life (cilliers, 1998: 3-7, 119-121). we found his work a helpful reference point for the sharpening of our own ideas, as well as for its engagement with post-modernism, a popular inspiration for the proponents of alternative research methods (clegg, hardy and nord, 1996). we were also encouraged by early reactions to cilliers’ work, including complimentary words from an eminent philosopher of science describing it as «cogently argued, important and original» and another philosopher’s review that it exhibited «a considerable command of both post-modernism and the scientific fields under discussion»7. we found a modified set of seven of the properties cilliers describes to be particularly relevant to the difficulties we have reported here. we describe those seven properties below, and briefly relate each of them to the problems we encountered. the element is the person the fundamental element in complex social systems is the person. moreover, a «large number of elements [such as] the economically active people in a country» (cilliers, 1998: 3, 6) are necessary for a system to be understood in complex systems terms. also, with a large number of elements (and therefore of careers), conventional analytic methods of understanding become increasingly impractical. part of our struggle with the normative use of factor analysis was its reductionist approach to understanding people, rather than accommodating or celebrating individual uniqueness as the “intelligent career” framework suggests. moreover, if we shift for a moment from social systems to the person as a system, we can find further support in cillier’s work. in his view of the human brain and its problem-solving capacities, cilliers (1998: 26-35) describes a process based on «connectionism» and interdependence among the brain’s components. the description aligns much more comfortably with our idea of interplay among the three “ways of knowing” than it does with the search of traditional factor analysis for separate, and usually orthogonal, dimensions. people interact dynamically people are engaged in constant interaction. interactions are “rich” in the sense that one person is typically influenced by a number of other people. interactions provide for the transfer of information, as occurs among economic agents—that is, as occurs among people with overlapping career interests. in our conception of the intelligent career, we saw dynamic interaction occurring through a person’s knowing-whom network of relationships. we also believe that information flowing through this network of relationships would affect a person’s knowing-how career-relevant skills and knowing-why career-relevant motivation. our framework once more seems compatible with a complex social systems approach, but 7. the first review comes from mary hesse, widely respected author of revolutions and reconstructions in philosophy of science and appears on the cilliers book jacket. the second review comes from spurrett (1999). m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 105-125 special issue: careers and new science 120 polly parker and michael b. arthur incompatible with the formal structure of factor analysis. for others that were presently established in the research community, the evidence of interdependence among our proposed dimensions was seen as undermining our theoretical position. interactions are non-linear non-linear interactions are a precondition for complex social systems, and in turn for self-organization. this means that elements cannot be reliably combined into a smaller number of categories, as they usually are combined in traditional analytic approaches. one consequence of nonlinear interactions is that small causes (that is, taking a course because it fit into one’s schedule of having all courses on monday and tuesday, which resulted in falling in love with a subject area, which resulted in declaring a major, which in turn resulted in a career in that domain) can have large effects, and vice-versa. here, we simply repeat a point already made. our approach was not concerned with finding linear associations, for either the individual person (as career actor engaging through the three ways of knowing) or for the social system (as it was shaped through peoples’ interdependent career behaviors). our approach therefore tried to make more selective use of the available methodologies of traditional social science, and in particular more selective use of factor analysis. in doing so we sought to avoid any presumption of linear relationships. interactions are short-ranged people usually interact with their immediate neighbors through local clusters. however, this does not preclude either the people or their host clusters from producing large, and non-linear, system-wide effects. here we are particularly grateful for cilliers’ insight. we mentioned earlier that part of our intended research project was to develop a methodology to elicit inter-subjective data—that is, shared meanings stemming from what cilliers calls local clusters. we used focus groups to draw out these meanings, and through them an appreciation of the cluster’s mutual engagement (wenger, 1998) with the larger career systems with which they were engaged. our choice to weight and report aggregated card sort results to focus group members appeared helpful to the members’ conversations, and consistent with cilliers’ view about the extent of local cluster interactions. in other words, cilliers’ view affirms our weighting system approach, rather than suggesting we avoid it for fear of any academic gatekeeper’s objections. there are loops in the interconnections feedback loops are essential to the survival of complex social systems. both positive and negative forms of feedback are necessary. these lead to people’s reflection and self-transformation (and in turn career transformation). at both the intra-personal level (among the three ways of knowing) and the inter-personal level (among career actors), our approach accomm@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 105-125 special issue: careers and new science 121 bringing new science into career research modated the basic idea of feedback loops. however, our approach fell foul of the assumptions of linear correlation that underlie factor analysis and other established quantitative social science methods. despite the widespread appreciation of feedback loops in the physical sciences, they have not been widely recognized in what are seen as the traditional “objective” methodologies of social science (kerlinger, 1986)8. thus, although we found traditional science methods useful and adaptable to our purpose, we were discouraged from using them by representatives of both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. complex systems are open systems complex systems are usually associated with living things, and interact with other complex systems. conceptions of “closed” company or occupational or national career systems are framed by their observers, rather than characteristic of the systems themselves. our intelligent career approach, and its extension of the underlying philosophy that people are mobile and—to paraphrase quinn (1992: 151)—«don’t have to work for any single company» respect this view. however, the tradition of career theory reflects a pattern of what may be characterized as “closed system” approaches, based on assumptions of people staying in the occupations or organizations in which they currently work. we can only resort to conjecture along the lines of the previously cited work of sutton and staw (1995), and suggest this may occur because of the way social scientists have been trained. it may be a regrettable secondary effect that this training interferes with the acceptance of alternative research designs. complex systems operate under conditions far from equilibrium social systems require a constant flow of energy to survive and evolve. the dynamics of supply and demand, including labor market dynamics affecting careers, prevent any prospect of equilibrium. from a complex systems perspective, equilibrium is «another word for death» (cilliers, 1998: 4). once more, this property concurs with the underlying conception of the adaptive, motivation-driven, knowledge-seeking and relationship-centered conception of the intelligent career that underlay our research project. it differs from the assumption we encountered that underpins traditional methodologies, concerning both the psychology of the person (possessing relatively static, orthogonal attributes) and the environment (the supposedly enduring host company or occupational or economy-wide employment system) in which the person’s career played out. in sum, cilliers provides encouragement for the intelligent career view at the same time as he challenges the assumptions of the traditional social science principles we faced in our research project. the question emerges “what is the point of engaging with social science methodologies whose assumptions are inconsistent with the research being undertaken?” our answer—and emphatically so given the dearth of present alternatives—is to be more selective about the way 8. recent developments in longitudinal analysis and structural equation modeling are beginning to find their way into our fields. m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 105-125 special issue: careers and new science 122 polly parker and michael b. arthur the methodologies are applied. to draw an analogy from the physical sciences, einstein’s theory of relativity may have superseded newton’s laws, but newtonian tools still serve much research very well. in our experience, we found the same for the tools of traditional social science. we were grateful to have access to them, and found it helpful to adapt them to our research agenda. it was in the assumptions of the academic keepers of the tools where our problems lay. we submit that, in the light of complexity theory and other “new science” advances, these assumptions are becoming increasingly inappropriate. they are too often the tail that wags the dog. conclusion we have described how the “discipline” of traditional science raised obstacles to our research program. we found exploratory factor analysis was useful. however, the mainstream position on the use of factor analysis was problematic. it was inconsistent with the interdependence among the three ways of knowing that our underlying (intelligent career) theory predicted. we also found that the recommended way of dealing with problem items, notably “non-loading” and complex factors, was insensitive to our concern to represent and investigate the subjective career, a cornerstone of our theoretical approach. we found qmethodology to be helpful. however, we were troubled by a prominent development that sought to “objectify” the interpretation of results, and by a “two-tailed” weighting system insensitive to our purpose. we identified with a range of arguments from qualitative methodologies, and found those beneficial in interpreting our use of traditional social science techniques. however, the arguments included a suggestion to avoid the techniques of traditional social science, rather than adapt them in the way we had done. our problems stemmed from long-standing assumptions of traditional quantitative social science, in particular regarding equilibrium, linear relationships and objectivity of the findings reported. in contrast, we found the ideas of “new science” more supportive. at least at a metaphorical level, non-linear systems, interdependence, self-organizing and other related concepts seemed more consistent with the assumptions underlying the intelligent career framework. we turned to a philosophical interpretation of one branch of “new science,” complexity theory (cilliers, 1998), and found seven properties of complex social systems relevant to our work. these properties affirmed our investment in the research undertaken, and in the selective use of traditional social science methodologies we had made. to close, we submit that, as with physical science, the methodologies developed from the ideas of traditional social science can still be useful. however, we submit that this use ought not to be constrained by what seem to be increasingly questionable theoretical assumptions. careers research can still use established methodologies to explore alternative “new science” principles. we hope it will be allowed to do so. m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 105-125 special issue: careers and new science 123 bringing new science into career research endnote: we are deeply indebted to kerr inkson for his exceptional insight and unswerving support as supervisor of the research that this paper reports, and to hugh gunz and martin evans for the painstaking editorial help they gave us before this article went to press. polly parker is a lecturer in the school of business and economics at the university of auckland, new zealand. polly’s previous work as an educator, counsellor and career consultant has informed her principal interest of career development. her phd, from the university of auckland, is on “career communities”; she has published on this and on contemporary career development. her current research interests include practical applications of the intelligent career card sort, dual career couples and the contribution of career communities. michael b. arthur is professor of management at the sawyer school of management, suffolk university, boston. he has written and researched widely on the subject of careers, including as editor of the handbook of career theory (1989), the boundaryless career (1996) and career frontiers (2000). michael is also a co-author of the new careers (1999) and of a series of articles into the application of “intelligent career” principles in the contemporary economy. his research focuses on alternative ways to link between individual career theory and collective action. michael holds mba and phd degrees from cranfield university, uk. references ■ arthur, m. b., p. h. claman, and r. j. defillippi 1995 intelligent enterprise, intelligent careers, academy of management executive, 9(4): 7-20. ■ arthur, m. b., and d. m. rousseau 1996a introduction: the boundaryless career as a new employment principle, in m. b. arthur and d. m. rousseau (eds.), the boundaryless career: a new employment principle for a new organizational era, new york, ny: oxford university press, 3-20. ■ arthur, m. b. and d. m. rousseau 1996b the boundaryless career: a new employment principle for a new organizational era, new york, ny: oxford university press. ■ baker, p. l. 1993 chaos, order and sociological theory, sociological inquiry, 63(2): 123-149. ■ barley, s. r. 1989 careers, identities and institutions: the legacy of the chicago school of sociology, in m. b. arthur, d. t. hall, and b. s. lawrence (eds.), handbook of career theory, new york, ny: cambridge university press, 41-65. ■ bateson, g. 1972 steps to an ecology of mind, new york, ny: ballantine. ■ berger, p. l., and t. luckmann 1966 the social construction of reality: a treatise in the sociology of knowledge, harmondsworth: penguin. ■ bird, a., h. gunz, and m. b. arthur 2002 careers in a complex world: the search for new perspectives from the “new science”, m@n@gement, 5(1): 1-14. ■ block, j. 1978 the q-sort method in personality assessment and psychiatric research, palo alto, ca: consulting psychologists press. ■ bridges, w. 1994 jobshift: how to prosper in a workplace without jobs, reading, ma: addison-wesley. ■ bryman, a., and d. cramer 1994 quantitative data analysis for social scientists, revised edition, london: routledge. http://www.dmsp.dauphine.fr/management/papersmgmt/51bird.html m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 105-125 special issue: careers and new science 124 polly parker and michael b. arthur ■ capra, f. 1996 the web of life: a new understanding of living systems, new york, ny: anchor books. ■ carr, s. c. 1992 a primer on the use of q-technique factor analysis, measurement and evaluation in counseling and development, 25: 133-158. ■ clegg, s. r., c. hardy, and w. r. nord 1996 handbook of organizational studies, london: sage. ■ cilliers, p. 1998 complexity and postmodernism: understanding complex systems, london: routledge. ■ cohen, m. 1999 commentary on the organization science special issue on complexity, organization science, 10(3): 373-376. ■ d’aveni, r. 1994 hypercompetition: managing the dynamics of strategic maneuvering, new york, ny: free press. ■ defillippi, r. j., and m. b. arthur 1994 the boundaryless career: a competency-based perspective, journal of organizational behavior, 15(4): 307-324. ■ denzin, n. k., and y. s. lincoln 1994 entering the field of qualitative research, in n. k. denzin, and y. s. lincoln (eds.), handbook of qualitative research, thousand oaks, ca: sage, 500-515. ■ dooley, d. 1984 social research methods, engelwood cliffs, nj: prentice hall. ■ dreier, o. 1996 re-searching psychotherapeutic practice, in s. chaiklin and j. lave (eds.), perspectives on activity and context, new york: cambridge university press, 104-124. ■ drucker, p. f. 1994 the age of social transformation, atlantic monthly, 274(5): 53-80. ■ ellig, j., and t. j. thatchenkery 1996 subjectivism, discovery, and boundaryless careers: an austrian perspective, in m. b. arthur and d. m. rousseau (eds.), the boundaryless career: a new employment principle for a new organizational era, new york, ny: oxford university press, 171186. ■ gleick, j. 1987 chaos: making of a new science, new york: penguin. ■ goerner, 1995 chaos, evolution, and deep ecology, in r. robertson and a. combs (eds.), chaos theory in psychology and life sciences, hillsdale, nj: erlbaum, 1738. ■ hall, d. t. 1996 the career is dead—long live the career: a relational approach to careers, san francisco, ca: josseybass. ■ hall, r. 1992 the strategic analysis of intangible resources, strategic management journal, 13(2): 135-144. ■ hamel, g., and c. k. prahalad 1994 competing for the future, boston, ma: harvard business school press. ■ harman, h. h. 1976 modern factor analysis, 3rd edition, chicago, il: chicago university press. ■ harvey, d. l., and m. reed 1996 social science as the study of complex systems, in l. d. kiel and e. elliott (eds.), chaos theory in the social sciences: foundations and applications, ann arbor, mi: university of michigan press, 295-323. ■ heckscher, c. 1995 white-collar blues: management loyalties in an age of corporate restructuring, new york, ny: basic books. ■ holland, j. h. 1996 hidden order: how adaptation builds complexity, reading, ma: helix books. ■ inkson, k. 1995 effects of changing economic conditions on managerial job change and careers, british journal of management, 6(3): 183-194. ■ inkson, k., j. pringle, and m. b. arthur 1996 the enactment of careers, paper presented at the british academy of management, university of aston, september. ■ kerlinger, f. n. 1986 foundations of behavioral research, 3rd edition, new york: holt, rinehart & winston. ■ kiel, l. d., and e. elliott 1996 chaos theory in the social sciences: foundations and applications, ann arbor, mi: university of michigan press. ■ kotter, j. p. 1995 the new rules. how to succeed in today’s post corporate world, new york, ny: the free press. ■ krueger, r. a., and j. a. king 1998 involving community members in focus groups, focus group kit, vol. 5, thousand oaks, ca: sage. ■ kuhn, t. s. 1970 the structure of scientific revolutions, chicago, il: university of chicago press. ■ lastrucci, c. l. 1963 the scientific approach: basic principles of the scientific method, cambridge, ma: schenkman. ■ lewin, a. y. 1999 application of complexity theory to organization science, organization science, 10(3): 215-215. ■ loye, d. 1995 prediction in chaotic social, economic, and political conditions: the conflict between traditional chaos theory and the psychology of prediction, and some implications for general theory, world futures, 44(1), 15-31. m@n@gement, vol. 5, no. 1, 2002, 105-125 special issue: careers and new science 125 bringing new science into career research ■ mathews, k. m., m. c. white, and r. g. long 1999 why study the complexity sciences in the social sciences?, human relations, 52(4): 439-462. ■ mckeown, b., and d. thomas 1988 q methodology, quantitative applications in the social sciences series, newbury park, ca: sage. ■ morgan, d. l. 1993 successful focus groups: advancing the state of the art, newbury park, ca: sage. ■ nunnally, j. c. and i. h. bernstein 1994 psychometric theory, 3rd edition, new york, ny: mcgraw-hill. ■ ozer, d. j. 1993 the q-sort method and the study of personality development, in d. c. funder, r. d. parke, c. tomlinson-keasey, and k. widaman (eds.), studying lives through time: personality and development, washington, dc: american psychological association, 147-168. ■ parker, p. 1996 the new career paradigm: an exploration of intelligent career behavior among mba graduates and students, unpublished master’s thesis, auckland: the university of auckland. ■ parker, p. 1997 eliciting the subjective career, paper presented at the australian and new zealand academy of management conference, melbourne, december. ■ parker, p. 2000 career communities, unpublished doctoral dissertation, auckland: university of auckland. ■ parker, p., and m. b. arthur 2000 careers, organizing and community, in m. a. peiperl, m. b. arthur, r. goffee, and t. morris (eds.), career frontiers: new conceptions of working lives, oxford: oxford university press, 99121. ■ quinn, j. b. 1992 intelligent enterprise: a knowledge and service based paradigm for industry, new york, ny: the free press. ■ reason, p. 1994 three approaches to participative inquiry, in n. k. denzin and y. s. lincoln (eds.), handbook of qualitative research, thousand oaks, ca: sage, 324-339. ■ schein, e. h. 1978 career dynamics: matching individual and organizational needs, reading, ma: addison-wesley. ■ spurrett, d. 1999 book review of “complexity and postmodernism,” south african journal of philosophy, 18(2): 258-274. ■ stebbins, r. a. 1970 career: the subjective approach, sociology quarterly, 11(1): 32-49. ■ stephenson, w. 1953 the study of behavior: q-technique and its methodology, chicago, il: university of chicago press. ■ stevens, j. 1986 applied multivariate statistics for the social sciences, hillsdale, nj: erlbaum. ■ sutton, r. i., and b. m. staw 1995 what theory is not, administrative science quarterly, 40(3), 371-384. ■ tabachnick, b. g., and l. s. fidell 1989 using multivariate statistics, 2nd edition, new york, ny: harper collins. ■ tetenbaum, t. j. 1998 shifting paradigms: from newton to chaos, organizational dynamics, 26(4): 21-32. ■ turner, f. 1997 chaos and social science, in r. a. eve, s. horsfall, and m. e. lee (eds.), chaos, complexity and sociology: myths, models and theories, thousand oaks, ca: sage, xi-xxvii. ■ weick, k. e. 1989 theory construction as disciplined imagination, academy of management review, 14(4): 516-531. ■ weick, k. e. 1996 enactment and the boundaryless career: organizing as we work, in m. b. arthur and d. m rousseau (eds.), the boundaryless career: a new employment principle for a new organizational era, new york: oxford university press, 40-57. ■ wenger, e. 1998 communities of practice: learning, meaning and identity, cambridge: cambridge university press. ■ wheatley, m. j. 1992 leadership and the new science: learning about organization from an orderly universe, san francisco, ca: berret-koehler. ■ wilensky, h. l. 1961 orderly careers and social participation: the impact of work history on social integration in the middle mass, american sociological review, 26(4): 521-539. ■ young, t. r. 1996 chaos theory and social dynamics: foundations of postmodern social science, in r. robertson and a. combs (eds.), chaos theory in psychology and the life sciences, hillsdale, nj: erlbaum, 289-305. 05 223 hudson 2019 m@n@gement 2019, vol. 22(3): 487-495 fuck, fuck, fuck: reflexivity and fidelity in reporting swearwords in management research bryant ashley hudson method's corner accepted by co-chief editor thomas roulet abstract. in this essay, i confront a problem i encountered at a recent academic conference wherein the words and sentiments of research respondents were unfortunately and unnecessarily silenced and edited – perhaps due to presenters’ unfortunate and needless regard for the supposed impropriety of the respondents’ language. i argue that such silencing and editing is not only unfaithful to our respondents; it is also unfaithful to our project as social scientists. i briefly review some of the literature on qualitative interviewing and the importance of positionality, relationality and reflexivity between the interviewer and the participant. i apply some of these prescriptions to the reporting of data in presentations and manuscripts. i then point out some examples of how rude or swearwords have been appropriately used in management and other journals and end with a plea that we remain true to the language and settings that are so important for our understanding of social and organizational life. keywords: swearwords, interpretative research, reflexivity, fidelity, data presentation introduction at a recent paper development workshop sponsored by a top tier journal which focused on disruption, division and displacement, several papers were presented that used field studies conducted in some very difficult and heart-rending organizational settings. these included refugee camps and resettlement centers, military triage and surgery centers, and treatment and recovery centers for those affected by natural disasters. the quality of the fieldwork was impressive and the stories of human tragedy and triumph were moving. yet too often, during presentations of data, the quotes and language, the words actually used and often shown on the presentation screens, were not spoken by the presenters as they read quotes aloud. presenters appeared to self-censor in order to silence strong and rude language. they would skip, hum, substitute and otherwise edit the words of the people involved in those extreme situations, most likely in the misguided hope of not giving offence to the audience. personally, i found this editing and silencing itself more shocking and offensive than any of the language that might have been used. i believe that such editing and silencing not only does a grave injustice to the people studied, i think it does a disservice to our own professional agenda. i wish to outline my reasons below. �487 bryant ashley hudson iéseg school of management lem-cnrs 9221 france b.hudson@ieseg.fr m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 487-495 bryant ashley hudson interpretive research the purpose of most qualitative research methods in management and organizational studies is to gain a rich and deep understanding of the practices, relationships and meaning-making of those persons engaged in organizational processes and circumstances (burrell & morgan, 1979; strauss & corbin, 1990). the importance of gaining access to and understanding of the descriptions and expressions of those persons is crucial for interpreting and understanding how they experience and make sense of their social conditions and arrangements. it follows that the researcher and the research participant must come to share a commitment to an open and safe environment in order for the researcher to gain the trust of the participant (alvesson, 2003). then, and only then, might the participant feel free to express their perhaps most authentic or personal responses to and remembrances of organizational life, or at the very least, a mutually constructed “valued, coherent self-image” (alvesson, 2003: 20) in the telling of their experiences. unfortunately, for most qualitative researchers, much of our training focuses primarily on asking questions and not nearly enough on listening to the responses (edwards & holland, 2013; ezzy, 2010) or on building the relationships necessary to elicit genuine responses. while this is most obviously so in ethnographies and interviews, it is also the case for other forms of qualitative, interpretive data gathering such as diaries, blogs, discussion boards and private papers, where a high level of openness and presence is necessary to appropriately attend to and take in the data. much attention has been paid of late to the positionality of the qualitative researcher and the participant in interviews. often, the researcher is understood, by both the researcher and the participant, as the expert with the authority to determine the questions, the “appropriate” responses and the interpretations of the expressions given by the participant. but as many have pointed out (alvesson, 2003; denzin, 2001; mauthner & doucet, 2003; smart, 2009), the interview is a social coconstruction of the information and sense-making (neukirch, rouleau, mellet, sitri & de vogüé, 2018; weick, sutcliffe & obstfeld, 2005) provided, and the ultimate interpretation of the experiences is shared. in many ways, this is also true of the interaction between the reader and the text of archival forms of data (adkins, 2002; bucholtz, 2001; macbeth, 2001). an appropriate self-reflexivity (bento, 2017; macbeth, 2001; mauthner & doucet, 2003) and even humility on the part of the researcher is required in the eliciting and interpretation of spoken and written expressions of the social and physical reality of persons interacting in and with organizations. of particular importance is the need to avoid silencing the interview participant, allowing for more complete expressions of thoughts and actions. this includes the emotional and physical expressions of the participant (ezzy, 2010; smart, 2009). interpretive interviewing and other forms of data gathering require that interviewers carefully attend to voice, speech, word choices, visual cues, emotional states and other expressions of the participant, such that, as benjamin (1988: 192) suggested, “the act of knowing can be felt as communion, not conquest”. in this way researchers are often able to give “voice to the voiceless” (smart, 2009: 299), both those that are seldom the subjects of our research – as in the situations i described above – and those who might self-censor or avoid difficult, and even shocking, topics and descriptions. clearly, this same reflexivity, this openness to the participant, trust and communion applies to the reporting of that data in our manuscripts and presentations. while training and guidance for writing up our qualitative �488 fuck, fuck, fuck: reflexivity and fidelity in reporting swearwords in management research m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 487-495 analysis and findings does not get as much attention as do data gathering and analytic techniques, the current consensus generally calls for more rather than less presentation of the raw data, in the form of quotes, both in the text and in presentation tables. the use of the verbatim quote has become a way of bringing “real lives” into the sociological text. the extent to which this is a successful way of making sociological accounts more authentic or “real” is open to debate (or even refutation), but … the aim seems to be to “get closer” to real people and also to make sociological texts have texture. (smart, 2009: 299) verbatim quotes also allow for greater plausibility and credibility of the author’s interpretation of the data. certainly, then, our position as researchers requires us to respect the accuracy and genuineness of that unsilenced voice in those quotes, both in manuscript and in presentation form. while presentation of data in a manuscript, page or word limits from journals often force us to make difficult choices concerning what and how much data we can include, nonetheless respect for our participants and humility as stewards of the data shared, as well as boldness and courage in what we show, are often required of us as we do so. swearwords and silencing voices as might be expected, the data gleaned and presented in the workshop described above included many quotes and excerpts from observations, interviews, diaries and other archival sources that used both affecting and, in many cases, quite strong language, language that represented the height and depth of disbelief, disorientation, frustration and anguish, and occasionally hope, that such situations most certainly engender. often that language was what we in the polite world of academia and unruffled social life refer to as rude, swearing, inappropriate or unacceptable. yet the language presented was immediate, raw, even shocking and, at least in my view, entirely appropriate and, more importantly, honest and true to the situation and lived experience of the informants, whether the language was in the moment or reflective of past experience. that presenters would then skip, hum or otherwise silence that language as they read it aloud was very disturbing to me. swearwords matter those quoted in these presentations have lived, and are often still living, in the situations characterized at this workshop and elsewhere, through extremely difficult and often perilous situations. their words and their voices reflect the realistic responses, thoughts and reactions to the difficulties, stresses and threats that they face. our research participants have given us a very precious gift and allowed us to peer into the often unvarnished and vulnerable parts of their lives and their experiences. having most often been assured of the thin veil of anonymity, they have opened their hearts and thoughts to our prodding and probing and allowed us to see what, in other circumstances, they may very well have wished to keep private, if not secret, from even close family and friends. but if we, as researchers, try in our offices, laboratories, conferences and manuscripts to clean up the data, to make it acceptable, even antiseptic, we do a grave injustice to those people. in attempting to do so, even a little bit, we prove � 489 m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 487-495 bryant ashley hudson ourselves untrustworthy, unappreciative and even biased as we treat their words in any way other than as they offer them. unless our respondents have asked us to not quote them directly, we dare not afford them the disrespect and discounting of that vulnerability and openness they have shared. avoiding, editing or silencing their voices because we are afraid their words might somehow offend either the audiences we seek to address or some socially constructed sense of propriety or even internalized shaming is to disrespect and discount those voices. perhaps we have been taught, both in our primary socialization and in our academic training, to avoid such impropriety or risk of offence, or even that the use of such language is somehow a poor reflection of our own character. but that does not give us license, it does not give us the right, to impose those constraints on others who have indeed opened their innermost thoughts and feeling to us. to do so is unfaithful, disrespectful and fundamentally unjust. further, when we try to make the language of our interviewees and respondents socially acceptable, we put our own project at risk. again, as social scientists our research agenda is to discover, uncover and represent social life and social organizing in all its richness, complexity and variety. our agenda requires us, then, to be faithful to our data. if we edit or silence language, no matter how potentially offensive, we systematically bias that data and hide from view much of that richness and variety. we remove some of the dimensionality and therefore the antecedents, processes and outcomes of social life and social organizing. for example, the recent move by some scholars of institutional theory to examine the role of emotions in how people engage in organizational life and in institutional processes requires considering, reporting and examining not just socially “nice” emotions such as love and joy, but raw, deep and often ugly emotions such as shame, fear and rage. but these emotions, which people often try to either cover up or ignore in everyday social settings, can often be most readily accessed through language, specifically language that represents the raw, deep and ugly nature of both the emotion and situation that elicits it. if we censor, if we edit or silence that language, we likely will also fail to uncover not only the emotions at play, but also other forms of engagement, reaction, sense-making, evaluation and action that such language might reveal. perhaps, often our desire or instinct to tidy our data derives from our sense as social scientists that we must maintain some appropriate distance from our research participants as a form of avoiding bias in our findings and conclusions. indeed, some have held that disinterestedness is an essential characteristic of good scholarship (merton, 1942/1979). such disinterestedness is often perceived as requiring a certain objectivity and dispassionate engagement with our data and perhaps even a need to ignore or censor the “outliers”, data that seems inappropriate and therefore unimportant. but the falseness of such a myth of disinterestedness has long been revealed (gouldner, 1962; see also hudson & okhuysen, 2014). there is no such thing as a disinterested or thoroughly objective researcher. indeed, even if we attempt a level of disinterestedness and objectivity, a true disinterestedness or objectivity would require, rather than forbid, engaging the full range of our data, no matter how socially questionable, unpleasant or potentially offensive it might be. as reflected in the workshop i attended, management scholarship has recently begun to examine more and more extreme or uncomfortable aspects of organizational life (claus, rond, howard-grenville & lodge, 2019). organizational misconduct, dirty work, stigmatized organizations and even the call for this workshop and the special topic forum associated �490 fuck, fuck, fuck: reflexivity and fidelity in reporting swearwords in management research m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 487-495 with it on disruption, division and displacement, are all topic areas that management scholars have paid little attention to until very recently. but as new scholarship, new field settings and new topic areas emerge, new (or rather very old but taboo) language also emerges. we must make room for that language that describes and illuminates these situations, being true to both the empirical setting and our respondents and to the conditions and situations they find themselves in. fortunately, there have been some recent publications in top tier management journals that have challenged our limited notions of what is appropriate to study and what is appropriate to publish, including language that might previously have been edited. for example, gill and burrow (2018) recently published a study on restaurant kitchen staff that included quotes of staff using the word “fuck”. creed, dejordy and lok (2010) also reported the word “fuck” as used by one of their participants. helms and patterson (2014) and massa, helms, voronov and wang (2017) each reported the word “shit”, as did spicer (2013). bothello and roulet (forthcoming) published the word “bullshit”. massa’s (2017) recent examination of the online community anonymous reports several potentially offensive labels of others used in that setting, words such as “fags”, “bastards” and “bitches”. the publication of swearwords has also shown up in the leading journals of our sister disciplines, such as sociology (duneier, 2002; green, 2007; healy, 2017), psychology (etengoff & daiute, 2014; jay & jay, 2013; toolis & hammack, 2015) and anthropology (bourgois, 1996; groes-green, 2010; pandian, 2012) . these examples 1 are just a few that i am aware of. no doubt, many more exist. importantly, these authors, and their editors and publishers, are genuinely to be congratulated on honestly reporting and using the language of their settings, no matter how potentially offensive it is. let us follow fearlessly their excellent examples. implications for data gathering importantly, the use of swearwords and other forms of strong language can alert us as investigators to interesting and often crucial aspects of the experience and sense-making of our participants, as key cues to direct us to explore further (down, garrety & badham, 2006; kisfalvi, 2006). swearwords tell us something important is going on. indeed, our own discomfort with swearwords is not only about our own bias but is data that is useful to be aware of. it is important to convey both that sense and the interpretation of it to our audiences. as we listen to and for such swearwords, perhaps we should probe more deeply the experiences, the sense-making, the aesthetic judgements and the emotions that strong language indicates. as we exercise our own reflexivity while participating in that co-construction, trust-making and communion with our participants discussed above, swearwords may be the crucial intersection where deeply held and deeply felt co-interpretations and intersubjective sharing can emerge. again, this is most certainly applicable in interviews and ethnographies, but should be applicable to written forms of data as well. swearwords and strong language point us to areas probably deserving of greater investigation. � 491 1. unsurprisingly, i could not find any examples in economics. m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 487-495 bryant ashley hudson conclusion and applications as academics and as people engaged in social life, we owe it to our participants and to ourselves to cast off outworn and restricting notions of what kinds of social life and language are appropriate for study and publication. the importance of studying organizational and social life in extreme and difficult settings (claus, rond, howard-grenville & lodge, 2019), focused on disruption, division and displacement, involving “the examination of distasteful – and occasionally objectionable, despicable, and disgusting – activities, work, and organizations” (hudson & okhuysen, 2014: 242) or even the ugly or grotesque (creed et al., 2019) is becoming clearer and thus such studies are becoming more frequently engaged. so, then must our methods of investigation, data collection, analysis and presentations adjust. these extreme cases as data settings and methodologies are already proving to bring to light processes of organizing and organizations that may be overlooked or hidden in more normal settings. the literatures on emotion and organizations and institutions have clearly benefited and will continue to do so. literatures on organizational trust (hasel, 2013; jones & george, 1998; nielsen, 2004; sitkin & roth, 1993), organizational climate (trau, 2015), micro-level processes of macrolevel phenomena (such as strategy (felin, foss & ployhart, 2015) and institutionalism (gehman, lounsbur & greenwood, 2016; powell & colyvas, 2008)), individual (bhatt, van riel & baumann, 2016; grima & beaujolin-bellet, 2014) and organizational identity and image (gioia, schultz & corley, 2000), and many more literatures may benefit greatly from exploring these topics in extreme settings. but in doing so, we must be honest and true to our participants and to their reality of social and organizational life. we must discover and present the rich diversity of that life, including its rawness, its ugliness and its desperation. we must allow the raw emotions and evocations that such aspects of life elicit. and we must do so without worry that revealing those aspects of life and emotions might somehow give offense. �492 fuck, fuck, fuck: reflexivity and fidelity in reporting swearwords in management research m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 487-495 references adkins, l. (2002). reflexivity and the politics of qualitative research. in t. may (ed.). qualitative research in action (pp.332-348). london, england : sage publications ltd. a l v e s s o n , m . ( 2 0 0 3 ) . b e y o n d n e o p o s i t i v i s t s , romantics, and localists: a reflexive approach to interviews in organizational research. academy of management review, 28(1), 13-33. b e n j a m i n , j . ( 1 9 8 8 ) , t h e b o n d s o f l o v e : psychoanalysis, feminism, and the problem of domination, new york, ny: pantheon. bento, r.f. (2017). reflexivity in research: three encounters and the ‘i’-index. m@n@gement, 20(5), 523-528. bhatt, m., van riel, c.b. & baumann, m. (2016). planned organizational identity change: insights from practice. in m.g. pratt, m. schultz, b.e. ashforth & d. ravasi (eds.), the oxford handbook of organizational identity (pp. 436-454). oxford: oxford university press. bothello, j. & roulet, t.j. (2018). the imposter syndrome, or the mis-representation of self in academic life. journal of management studies, 56(4), 854-861. bourgois, p.j. (1996). confronting anthropology, education, and inner‐city apartheid. american anthropologist, 98(2), 249-258. bucholtz, m. (2001). reflexivity and critique in discourse analysis. critique of anthropology, 21(2), 165-183. burrell, g. & morgan, g. (1979), sociological paradigms and organisational analysis: elements of the sociology of corporate life, london: heinemann. claus, l., de rond, m., howard-grenville, j., & lodge, j. (2019). when fieldwork hurts: on the lived experience of conducting research in unsettling contexts. in t. zilber, j. amis, & j. mair (eds.), the p r o d u c t i o n o f m a n a g e r i a l k n o w l e d g e a n d organizational theory: new approaches to writing, producing and consuming theory (pp. 157-172). bingley, united kingdom: emerald publishing limited. creed, w.e d., dejordy, r. & lok, j. (2010). being the change: resolving institutional contradiction through identity work. academy of management journal, 53(6), 1336-1364. creed, w.e.d., taylor, s.s. & hudson, b.a. (2019). institutional aesthetics: embodied ways of knowing and institutional processes. organization studies, doi.org/10.1177/0170840619835254. denzin, n.k. (2001). the reflexive interview and a performative social science. qualitative research, 1(1), 23-46. down, s., garrety, k. & badham, r. (2006). fear and loathing in the field: emotional dissonance and i d e n t i t y wo r k i n e t h n o g r a p h i c r e s e a r c h . m@n@gement, 9(3), 95-115. duneier, m. (2002). what kind of combat sport is sociology? american journal of sociology, 107(6), 1551-1576. edwards, r. & holland, j. (2013), what is qualitative interviewing?, london, new york, ny: bloomsbury academic. etengoff, c. & daiute, c. (2014). family members’ uses of religion in post-coming-out conflicts with their gay relative. psychology of religion and spirituality, 6(1), 33. ezzy, d. (2010). qualitative interviewing as an embodied emotional performance. qualitative inquiry, 16(3), 163-170. felin, t., foss, n.j. & ployhart, r.e. (2015). the microfoundations movement in strategy and organization theory. academy of management annals, 9(1), 575-632. gehman, j., lounsbury, m. & greenwood, r. (eds.). (2016). how institutions matter: from the micro foundations of institutional impacts to the macro consequences of institutional arrangements. how institutions matter!, 48a, 1-34. bingley, united kingdom: emerald group publishing limited. gill, m.j. & burrow, r. (2018). the function of fear in institutional maintenance: feeling frightened as an essential ingredient in haute cuisine. organization studies, 39(4), 445-465. gioia, d.a., schultz, m. & corley, k.g. (2000). organizational identity, image, and adaptive instability. academy of management review, 25(1), 63-81. gouldner, a.w. (1962). anti-minotaur: the myth of a value-free sociology. social problems, 9(3), 199-213. green, a.i. (2007). queer theory and sociology: locating the subject and the self in sexuality studies. sociological theory, 25(1), 26-45. grima, f. & beaujolin-bellet, r. (2014). rebuilding one's identity after a social conflict against the closure of a site: the case of union leaders. m@n@gement, 17(5), 371-403. groes-green, c. (2010). orgies of the moment: bataille’s anthropology of transgression and the defiance of danger in post-socialist mozambique. anthropological theory, 10(4), 385-407. hasel, m.c. (2013). a question of context: the influence of trust on leadership effectiveness during crisis. m@n@gement, 16(3), 264-293. healy, k. (2017). fuck nuance. sociological theory, 35(2), 118-127. helms, w.s. & patterson, k.d. (2014). eliciting acceptance for “illicit” organizations: the positive iimplications of stigma for mma organizations. a c a d e m y o f m a n a g e m e n t j o u r n a l , 5 7 ( 5 ) , 1453-1484. hudson, b.a. & okhuysen, g.a. (2014). taboo topics: structural barriers to the study of organizational stigma. journal of management inquiry, 23(3), 242-253. jay, k.l. & jay, t.b. (2013). a child's garden of curses: a gender, historical, and age-related evaluation of the taboo lexicon. the american journal of psychology, 126(4), 459-475. � 493 https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840619835254 m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 487-495 bryant ashley hudson jones, g.r. & george, j.m. (1998). the experience and evolution of trust: implications for cooperation and teamwork. the academy of management review, 23(3), 531-546. kisfalvi, v. (2006). subjectivity and emotions as sources of insight in an ethnographic case study: a tale of the field. m@n@gement, 9(3), 117-135. macbeth, d. (2001). on “reflexivity” in qualitative research: two readings, and a third. qualitative inquiry, 7(1), 35-68. massa, f.g. (2017). guardians of the internet: building and sustaining the anonymous online community. organization studies, 38(7), 959-988. massa, f.g., helms, w.s., voronov, m. & wang, l. (2017). emotions uncorked: inspiring evangelism for the emerging practice of cool-climate winemaking in ontario. academy of management journal, 60(2), 461-499. mauthner, n.s. & doucet, a. (2003). reflexive accounts and accounts of reflexivity in qualitative data analysis. sociology, 37(3), 413-431. merton, r.k. (1942/1979). the normative structure of science. in r.k. merton (ed.), the sociology of science: theoretical and empirical investigations (pp. 267-280). chicago, il: university of chicago press. neukirch, g.m., rouleau, l., mellet, c., sitri, f. & de vogüé, s. (2018). from boat to bags: the role of material chronotopes in adaptive sensemaking. m@n@gement, 21(2), 705-737. nielsen, b.b. (2004). the role of trust in collaborative relationships: a multi-dimensional approach. m@n@gement, 7(3), 239-256. pandian, a. (2012). the time of anthropology: notes from a field of contemporary experience. cultural anthropology, 27(4), 547-571. powell, w.w. & colyvas, j.a. (2008). microfoundations of institutional theory. in r. greenwood, c. oliver, k. sahlin & r. suddaby (eds.), the sage handbook of organizational institutionalism (pp. 276-298). london: sage publications ltd. sitkin, s.b. & roth, n.l. (1993). explaining the limited effectiveness of legalistic “remedies” for trust/ distrust. organization science, 4(3), 367. smart, c. (2009). shifting horizons: reflections on qualitative methods. feminist theory, 10(3), 295-308. spicer, a. (2013). shooting the shit: the role of bullshit in organisations. m@n@gement, 16(5), 653-666. strauss, a.c. & corbin, j.m. (1990), basics of qualitative research: grounded theory procedures and techniques, (2nd edition), thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. toolis, e.e. & hammack, p.l. (2015). the lived experience of homeless youth: a narrative approach. qualitative psychology, 2(1), 50. trau, r.n.c. (2015). the impact of discriminatory climate perceptions on the composition of intraorganizational development networks, psychosocial support, and job and career attitudes of employees with an invisible stigma. human resource management, 54(2), 345-366. weick, k.e., sutcliffe, k.m. & obstfeld, d. (2005). organizing and the process of sensemaking. organization science, 16(4), 409. �494 fuck, fuck, fuck: reflexivity and fidelity in reporting swearwords in management research m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 487-495 bryant ashley hudson is a professor of management at iéseg school of management, paris, france. he received his ph.d. from the university of texas at dallas. he studies organizational stigma, stigmatized emotions in institutional processes, organizational scandals and knowledge taboos in a variety of contexts, including gay and lesbian organizations, abortion service providers and major national industries. his work appears in the academy of management review, academy of management journal, organization science, organization studies, journal of management inquiry, international studies in management and organization and organization. acknowledgments: the author would like to thank gerardo a. okhuysen and co-editor thomas j. roulet for their generous feedback and encouragement. � 495 185voiceseng m@n@gement 2015, vol. 18(5): 372-387 unplugged voices:
 the internet's own boy: the story of
 aaron swartz (2014)
 research in management and organization may only gain by being inspired from arts, culture and humanities in order to rethink practices but also to nourish its own perspectives. life in organizations is artificially separate from ordinary life: all of mundane objects are thus conducive to astonishment, inspiration, and even problematization. the unplugged subsection “voices” gives the opportunity to academics and non-academics to deliver an interpretation about an object from the cultural or artistic world. interpreted objects are or not directly related to organizational life, resonate or not with the moment, but share some intriguing features. these interpretations suggest a patchwork of variations on the same object. �372 directed by brian knappenberger production: luminant media and unjustsus films http://www.takepart.com/internets-own-boy http://www.takepart.com/internets-own-boy http://www.takepart.com/internets-own-boy m@n@gement, vol. 18(5): 372-387 voices the internet's own boy introduction aaron swartz, and civil liberties at risk "i don’t like standing near the edge of a platform when an express train is passing through. i like to stand back and, if possible, get a pillar between me and the train. i don’t like to stand by the side of a ship and look down into the water. a second’s action would end everything. a few drops of desperation" sir winston leonard spencer-churchill1 the feeling of shame is one of the biggest motives in philosophy, assured deleuze, reading primo levi. in one way or another, it may even be the common thread that binds across the diversity of professions, experiences and life choices the contributions that follow and that examine this special aaron “if this is a man,” swartz. what kind of despair pushes one to accomplish the irredeemable act? can we see a unique pattern in the suicides of primo levi, stefan zweig, kurt cobain or the eternal temptation of a winston churchill to throw himself overboard? we think here, of course, of emile durkheim, the great scholar of suicide. but rather than citing him, we preferred to hear a few testimonials. the four contributing authors deliver their versions and translations of the phenomenon of aaron swartz and in light of their respective fields and concerns. this is what comprises the richness of these intersecting viewpoints, whether they come from an entrepreneur or a writer intrigued by the power of finance and media; a journalist who likes to keep a low profile yet who is quite aware of the workings of the world of politics and media; one of the finest connoisseurs of the music industry; or a professor of management who has crossed the paths of the three others by way of his projects. all of these contributors also share a common passion and conviction, namely that language is and will always be a weapon. in these regards, we will read the essays, explanations, alarm bells and warnings as invitations to think further. in all cases, what unites these texts is the common hope that one day the world of tomorrow could be something other than what it has always been; namely one where the masses would have the right, the opportunity and the means to live their own life more than living a life determined by a small handful of people in small, closed circles. because the main and foremost message of this aaron swartz, who we imagine so well riding his bike, was: don’t ever give up when others are seeking to take away your freedom. in this publication, the editor olivier germain took the freedom to introduce this somewhat disparate and far-fetched set of views into an academic community that is, by and large, more used to operating in the more formal peer-review setting. perhaps this is also why these writings also give rise to something that seems like an aberration: something that neither a machine nor any algorithm could ever conceive of. with this aberration we associate the image of a kid, with a smile on his face, revealing in the mischief he was fomenting when he connected his hard drive to the server and started downloading—yet all the while probably unknowing of the true risk he was taking on. �373 1. extract from churchill taken from the diaries of lord moran : the struggle for survival, 1940– 1965, norman s. berg publisher, limited, june 1, 1976. cited by ghaemi s., “winston churchill and his ‘black dog’ of  greatness,” the conversation, jan. 23, 2015. https://theconversation.com/ winston-churchill-and-his-black-dog-of-greatness36570 jean-philippe denis, 
 ritm, université paris-sud jean-philippe.denis@u-psud.fr https://theconversation.com/winston-chur mailto:jean-philippe.denis@u-psud.fr https://theconversation.com/winston-chur mailto:jean-philippe.denis@u-psud.fr voices the internet's own boy m@n@gement, vol. 18(5): 372-387 the editor as well as the authors are grateful to the editors-in-chief of the magazine m@n@gement for having engaged in this initiative and for giving them considerable leeway in completing it in their own terms. �374 m@n@gement, vol. 18(5): 372-387 voices the internet's own boy how we killed aaron swartz brian knappenberger wanted to honor his friend’s death with a freely licensed film, available free of charge on the internet, thereby embodying the values of one of the biggest defenders of knowledge. he created a work that did justice to his friend, about the massacre on intelligence. a genius of the internet with an angel face, unknown to the public and not taken to distinctions and awards or to showy effects, aaron swartz was very much loved in his close circle. the latter included people who had made a name for themselves, such as tim berners lee, inventor of the web; larry lessig, the expert on cyberspace law; and cory doctorow, agitator of the free internet. it also included close friends and accomplices who more or less understood aaron’s social and especially his moral codes. together they shared dreams, projects and a part of their childhood. i never knew aaron; i didn’t have the chance to get to know him. yet some of his friends became mine. and through them i realized that i was, indeed, intrigued by him. aaron worked non-stop and lived only for his ideas. he was an old soul in a young body, which he neglected. the latter retaliated by torturing him with an ulceritis colitis that laid him flat. gradually, he began to distrust everything he swallowed—food as well as information. aaron was meticulous, demanding, probably unbearable. he insisted on taking a path of integrity, contemptuous of facility. he fought against complacency. persuaded that he was right, he could get quite riled up when he felt misunderstood. aaron had grand ideas and was already showing the traits of an almost frightfully ambitious man. he was the king of hackers, in a noble sense: he liked to understand how systems worked (computers, the media, politics) with the view to ensuring that these can benefit the greatest number of people and the public at large. according to him, the internet, as the global cortex that never sleeps, was intended to help humanity come to fruition, to assume its real power and raison d’être. his goal was not to get rich, famous or immortal but to advance humanity by giving it a consciousness of itself. solitary, independent, arresting, aaron found himself, knowingly so, at the center of a historic opportunity. he understood that technology could be used not only to have fun and entertain but also to enslave and subjugate. the time of his birth coincided with the nascency of the internet. he grew up with the internet, and died with it. at the very least, the internet sweetens the pill. it is a place for sharing the extraneous, for doling out likes and looking at cat photos. it allows one to forget reality, or at least to render it more palatable. yet, the essence of the material is sealed behind pay-for-access platforms or submerged somewhere in the masses of “media porn.” as the promise of emancipating or advancing humankind, the internet is a powerful surveillance tool, and one that defines dreams, tastes and desires. it shapes destinies, even life itself. as such, it is a path for attaining freedom yet also a tool, if not a weapon, for imposing social control. the fbi had had him on their radar for years. aaron was too talented, too free. money did not interest him. he had become a millionaire almost by accident, as a cofounder of the highly popular social media network reddit). as a staunch defender of the freedom of knowledge and information, he decried the media and the publishing industry. finally, rubbing shoulders with the established intelligentsia of silicon valley at the tender age of 14, he was indeed a prodigy. aaron wanted to act, to have an impact on reality. yet he never recovered from what he witnessed. he saw idealists become ruined by marketeers and businessmen, saw the internet get stripped off its substance on the altar of profit. he �375 flore vasseur, french writer vasseur.flore@gmail.com mailto:vasseur.flore@gmail.com mailto:vasseur.flore@gmail.com voices the internet's own boy m@n@gement, vol. 18(5): 372-387 saw money take over the playing ground, as it had done in politics, education, nature and human relationships. aaron saw, before everyone else did, corruption in action. more than a programmer, he was a genius. a visionary, he understood the matrix and the forces at work. for the authorities, aaron was dangerous; not because he was stealing credit cards but because he wanted to liberate knowledge. throughout his life, aaron worked for the dissemination of knowledge, with open access. he wanted scientists to be able to capitalize on each other’s work without having to pay or start from scratch. he downloaded, in huge volumes, scientific publications protected by copyright from the servers of mit. his aim was to create a huge open access encyclopedia of research. yet, he crossed the rubicon and was drawn into a kafkaesque trial. the us government stopped him by prosecuting him and threatening him with 35 years in prison. essentially, aaron’s exceptional destiny was thwarted by the fortresses of a post-911 america. his fault was to have believed deep down that his country valued intelligence and courage. he believed in the good intentions of his country. in rights, justice and common sense. the insanity of the plot launched against him by judge holder stopped him in his tracks. america hates intelligence once it begins to veer from its logic of profitability. it is suspicious of those who raise questions and holds those in contempt who confront it with its own mirror image. ironically, the bill & melinda gates foundation, which draws its astronomical power from trading a locked code, annually invests nearly twice the who budget for scientific research projects. it announced in 2015 that it would from then on make each of its donations dependent on the removal of copyright, as aspired for by aaron swartz. yet that came late, much too late. aaron did not live to see his impact on reality. the life of aaron was one marked by a terrible misunderstanding and a tragic reflection of what has become of the leading power in the world. it also shows that the ignorance of one’s contemporaries is possibly more difficult to grapple with than the maliciousness of a government. he sent out warnings, but we looked elsewhere. fighting alone, he eventually capitulated. in this way, aaron has become a symbol for youth and for all those who are in some way seeking to transcend beyond a predetermined course. �376 m@n@gement, vol. 18(5): 372-387 voices the internet's own boy aaron swartz, patron saint of the free interne on december 4, 2015, three weeks after the deadly attacks in paris, le monde published an internal memo from the french ministry of the interior about the fight against terrorism on the web. in the wake of information act, proposed after the attacks of charlie hebdo and a hypercacher in january, and enacted in july of 2015, what could be more logical for the french government to do than to exploit the fear or ambient apathy that prevailed in the population in order to enforce further liberty-destroying laws. the main targets of the memo were free wifi and shared connections, internet cafes, telephone cards and, above all, a tool still poorly identified by the public at large but well known to web actors and defenders of anonymity: tor (aka the onion router) created to counter a growing state surveillance apparatus, tor is a navigation system preserving the anonymity of research and exchanges. as such it is solicited by journalists and political dissidents in danger in their country of origin and who seek to communicate without risk. tor is thus a platform offering “hidden” services, the most essential of which, especially for journalists and their sources, is the protection of anonymity in the most secure way possible. so, in reading this article from le monde, which shows yet again how the state erodes our civil liberties, some bird names verbal abuse came to mind, followed by, very soon therafter, a first and a last name: aaron swartz. i’m neither a programmer nor a coder or cracker/hacker. however, my curiosity as a journalist led me to read an article a few years ago about a young american who fought for the free internet combining technological prowess, strategy and political activism. aaron swartz was then facing multiple charges based on a law on computer security dating from 1986. in light of the rapid pace of evolution of technologies, tools and practices, it goes without saying that this law was very outdated. unfortunately, despite receiving considerable backing from others on a continuing basis, aaron swartz was unable to bear the weight of this trial and killed himself on january 11, 2013 in new york, at the age of 26 years. one year later, the film director brian knappenberger presented a documentary tribute at the sundance film festival called the internet’s own boy: a story of aaron swartz—obviously open access, as aaron would have wanted. the documentary opens with the following reflection by henry david thoreau (civil disobedience, 1849), which pretty much sums up the tone of the film: “unjust laws exist; shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them, and obey them until we have succeeded, or shall we transgress them at once?” i urge any journalist to see this documentary. indeed, i consider it essential for understanding the pressing need in this day and age to fight for our freedoms as citizens and journalists and for the protection of sources. aaron swartz’s story is characterized by innovation, commitment and self-education, and by putting his skills and computer engineering genius to the service of others, driven mainly by a spontaneous and pragmatic altruism. the documentary by knappenberger retraces the path of aaron since his childhood: curious, with a zealous love for learning, he knew how to read perfectly at the age of three and began, at the same age, to be interested in the family computer. at 12, he already knew how to program and create infobase, which can today be regarded as the precedessor of wikipedia. at the age of 13, aaron �377 candice marchal, french journalist voices the internet's own boy m@n@gement, vol. 18(5): 372-387 was on a committee that developed the rss (dissemination and content update tool) together with tim berners-lee, inventor of the world wide web and himself an ardent fighter for an open internet for all. from age 15 on, aaron examined the question of copyright and joined lawrence lessig, a renowned advocate of internet freedom, around the creative commons project seeking to advance the ready availability of culture on the internet. he subsequently launched open library, a free database listing all books published in all languages, in whole or in part. thus, aaron swartz positioned himself clearly in favor of a cost-free, open and shared internet from a very young age. he was committed to ensuring public access to the public domain. to demonstrate the failings of pacer, the pay-perpage public access to court electronic records system, he even downloaded 20 million pages from the federal court. indeed, this action earned him his first runin with the law. contemptuous of the education provided at school, aaron compensated his absences with extensive reading on the networks. he could not understand why academic publications were retrieved by a company that then resold them on a subscription basis to universities and students. and he decried the inequity of this system in which students from poor countries were thus unable to gain access to these publications. in his eyes, the legacy of scientists should be free and not appropriated by commercial companies. in 2011, connecting to servers at mit, he orchestrated the massive download of 4.8 million scientific articles. yet this time he was dealing with secret service agencies whose role had been strengthened considerably with the patriot act, resulting in a legal case that took on epic proportions. the early 2010s were characterized by widespread social unrest, wikileaks, the arab spring, anonymous and protest movements. aaron developed political aspirations. he worked against sopa (stop online piracy act) and pipa, two bills that threatened the freedom of expression and civil liberties of internet users. he created demand progress, a pressure group using the internet to influence political parties about public freedom, including through large-scale online petitions. eventually he was followed and supported by all the web giants and the two bills ended up being postponed. but as aaron’s activism stepped up, the response of the government likewise heightened, whereby the charges against him increased from 4 to 13. long before edward snowden, aaron swartz was worried about governments spying on their own citizens. before his death, he was working on securedrop, an information protection site that served in particular to allow whistleblowers to send their documents without jeopardizing their safety. this secure data transmission was to become tor—the famous tor which the government of france now wants to ban. i was quite dismayed in early 2015 when the bill on intelligence (projet de loi relatif au renseignement) was underway to see such few reactions from journalists. the bill has since been (largely) enacted in the whirlwind of the urgency and emotion of the attacks earlier that year. as a surveillance law, the loi relative au renseignement now fundamentally affects our individual freedoms not only as citizens but also as journalists, since it eliminates all means to secure our sources. in other words, we may soon face insurmountable obstacles when seeking ways to encrypt our messages. watching the documentary film we are sometimes inclined to question the point of aaron’s actions in light of the gargantuan feat he was seeking to accomplish. however, his tenacity and the resistance he mobilized succeeded in tipping the scale. it stopped the passing of sopa and pipa and forced the government to acknowledge and respect what a small consortium of experts had to say about a communication system that they themselves had trouble understanding. perhaps that is what is lacking in france: a committed public figure and collectives who can work hand in hand with the legislature. there is quadrature du net, which does phenomenal work in teaching and activism yet which lacks human and fi�378 m@n@gement, vol. 18(5): 372-387 voices the internet's own boy nancial resources. and in brussels there is european digital rights, a digital liberties advocacy group, which barely has a handful of individuals where a staff of 20 people would be needed. aaron’s legacy is immense in the fields of it and cyber activism. beyond the human loss, we also regret the loss of a free spirit, a gifted rebel and a member of the generation called “the children of the internet.” after his death, two us senators reformed the 1986 law about computer fraud. this new law is called aaron’s law. �379 voices the internet's own boy m@n@gement, vol. 18(5): 372-387 aaron swartz, or a mythology resurrected « unjust laws exist; shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them, and obey them until we have succeeded, or shall we transgress them at once?” in some ways, this question posed by henry david thoreau is a self-fulfilling prophecy, such as prevails in mythology, in that it invites us to envision such a transgression in the first place. indeed, is injustice not a scourge to overcome “with all necessary means,” as malcolm x said? enter aaron swartz, the perfect candidate for the role of the shining knight of the internet. young, of a stunning beauty unique to timid types bordering on autism, endowed with a superior intellect ... yet with one sizeable flaw. in the french slang (argot) of french rap, he might have been termed a “babtou fragile” (in turn derived from “toubab,” an african term for white person), also used more colloquially to refer to a caucasian male susceptible to having frayed nerves. these emotions, combined with the phenomenal pressure of a court case, led him to commit the irreversible act: a suicide committed in his brooklyn apartment on january 11, 2013, by hanging. at 26 years of age. his body was discovered by taren stinebrickner-kauffman, his fiancée. arrested two years earlier, almost to the day, on the harvard campus by a secret services agent, aaron was in many ways treated worse than a terrorist involved in the bombing of the twin towers. his crime? having copied almost all the information contained in jstor, an mit database (massachusetts institute of technology) containing a vast amount of academic articles. he did so first via his official account as a university researcher at harvard and then, once blocked due to an excessive download, through his own laptop which he connected directly to the mit server. aaron’s laptop was discovered by employees in the closet where he had hooked it up. yet, instead of unplugging it, the university authorities left it in place and installed a video camera allowing to identify the culprit once he or she came to recuperate the laptop. smile, big brother is filming you. what followed was a spate of incidents having a butterfly effect, or rather an atomic bomb effect, which brought the young prodigy to his downfall. a million dollars in legal fees, the sword of damocles of a prison sentence, a criminal record, plus being treated as a threat to society. ... all that for so-called computer crimes motivated by the rather noble ideal that information should belong to the people and not to corporations who sequester it and disseminate it only for financial gain. when i saw the documentary film the internet’s own boy: the story of aaron swartz, i discovered the sad story of aaron. a fighter for the web who during his short life had a huge impact on the internet operation (see his wikipedia page, a site on which he collaborated extensively, to learn about his commitments, discoveries and activism). first observation: i’m convinced that somewhere in hollywood, on the desk of some film producer, perhaps that of harvey weinstein, lies the draft of a screenplay based on the dramatic fate of aaron. leonardo di caprio is perhaps a little too old for the role, but one might imagine a jesse eisenberg, who played mark zuckerberg in david fincher’s the social network, embody this idealist and libertarian icarus who burns his wings when confronted with the faceless monster that is the power in place. i am sure that within a few years, at maximum, aaron will be resurrected in a blockbuster movie full of suspense, even if his sad ending �380 olivier cachin, is a french journalist, writer, speaker and radio host on mouv. he is the author of 15 books on music and urban culture m@n@gement, vol. 18(5): 372-387 voices the internet's own boy would require a departure from the happy ending tradition of hollywoodian blockbusters productions. second reflection: in discovering the history of this internet wunderkind, i remembered a rather mainstream tv series from the 1970s, the persuaders. in the space of a few seconds, i saw images unfolding before me of the parallel evolution of the two heroes, played by roger moore and tony curtis. one was born rich and moved effortlessly from a director’s office to a polo match, and the other was born poor and grew up in a ghetto, scrambling to make a living by any means possible, such as playing the horses and flirting with illegality. in my mental analogy, roger moore was aaron swartz and tony curtis was eazy-e, the founder of the rap group nwa (niggaz with attitude). indeed, as swartz, nwa was under heavy pressure from the authorities, in his case the fbi. yet, what really happened to this group that made the headlines and put gangsta rap on the map of popular music, this ultra-violent version of hip hop of the late 1980s? after the release of their debut album straight outta compton (followed by the eponymous hollywood biopic of the group released in late 2015), nwa received a letter from the fbi, stating it was at odds with one of the songs from the album, namely “fuck tha police.” the manager of nwa, a jew from cleveland who had managed the american tours of david bowie and van morrison, was terrified. eazy-e, the group leader, was too. they knew that the fbi, founded by the machiavellian j. edgar hoover, was an organization that had broken more than one individual, union, party or collective, be it black or white, over the years. the first reaction was fear. the fbi had killed malcolm x, say those who are always quick to scream conspiracy—yet who nonetheless proved to be right. then they had the bright idea, which changed everything and turned the tide, of evoking the first amendment of the us constitution, guaranteeing the freedom of expression. as perhaps the most powerful weapon of the constitution, this amendment forms the backbone of the american mentality and the main means with which to forge an ultimate consensus. and in the context of that process of contesting the threat from the fbi, a truth rose to the surface: the letter had not been sent by the management of the institution but by one of its zealous employees. the man had spoken in the name of the institution without having been mandated to do so, and was subsequently demoted. ultimately then the fbi, while utterly disapproving of the “fuck tha police” song, conceded that the group has the right to express its hatred of the blue uniforms of the lapd (los angeles police department). thus, freedom of expression won over censorship, with the result that there was neither a trial nor the type of ruthless defamation such as malcolm x had been the victim of. on the contrary, the fbi intervention had earned nwa free publicity and added to building up its profile as a storied public figure. as “the group that defied the fbi,” nwa had thus enhanced its standing. eazy-e died prematurely too, but unlike aaron it was not pressure from above that got the better of his life, it was aids. he died at the age of 30, at the peak of his glory. a violent death can be one way in which a reputation in the cyberworld can become immortalized. as an icon who suffered a tragic ending, aaron swartz may also conjure up kurt cobain, frontman of the rock band nirvana who committed suicide and who represented the rock revival of the 1990s. the commonality between aaron swartz and kurt cobain? both would have been under the spotlight for a long time had they overcome their demons and an inherent sense of guilt. it’s not primarily their tragic death that made them a legend, it’s what they did with their lives. killing himself at the age of 26, aaron was almost part of the 27 club, which kurt had joined on april 5, 1994 by shooting himself with a shotgun in his seattle-area home. their premature endings remind us that genius is fragile, as befits a babtou. aaron, had he been born in compton, would have been perfect in the role of a gangsta rap nerd in niggaz with attitude. the brain of a rap-slash-bonnot �381 voices the internet's own boy m@n@gement, vol. 18(5): 372-387 gang. if he had assimilated the hip hop codes, he too would have known that the only way to escape from the deadly ambit of a government attack is to return its own violence against itself. in other words, he would have retaliated with a counter-attack that reversed the roles and transformed the assailant into a victim, as in kung fu. then, as a kung fu master of the 2010s, he would have been the geek who can nonetheless stay balanced while doing a sidekick against the u.s. attorney carmen ortiz. an enticing scenario for an alternate history novel. “show my head to the people, it is worth seeing,” said georges jacques danton before being guillotined. to this day, the spirit of aaron swartz appears to linger, haunting the conscience of those who pushed him to his death, and to serve as an emblem of the struggle of the altruistic david against the goliath of repression. the achievements of aaron swartz will continue to be prized by a grateful cybernation who will ensure him an electronic perpetuity verging on immortality. like an ancient mythology, resurrected to life. �382 m@n@gement, vol. 18(5): 372-387 voices the internet's own boy we all have something of aaron swartz in us. i don’t remember what day it was. but i know perfectly well that it was by telephone that the news reached me. he was dead. i didn’t know, then, how old he was. i would have guessed, say, 29 years. it was in 2006, or 2007. no, neither of those. i don’t know anymore, namely because all this time i’ve been devoting considerable energy into not thinking about it. even if the tears, which often catch me by surprise, come back regularly to remind me of this day which i thought to have been erased from my consciousness. thus, it wasn’t entirely a coincidence that the two songs that first opened my eyes to the universe of the rapper booba were “my definition” and “pitbull.” on the one hand, this “on y pousse un peu d’travers / skate, bmx, et puis nique la ratp / tout ça rythmé de rap music.” on the other hand, “pitbull” has extracts from “mistral gagnant,” by the french singer renaud. “mistral gagnant,” perhaps my favorite song, without doubt because it makes me think of aaron so much. in any event, it is this song that i chose to sing on the day of the funeral of my grandmother. of course, in memory to one of my « bro’ », primarily, yet secondarily for her, who had buried a son and a grandson in the space of only a few weeks. just before leaving herself. after having sung, before letting her go, i also read a poem by rimbaud. the one which speaks of a sleeper, “the sleeper in the valley.” it is this poem that his grandmother who was also my grandmother made me work on when i was a kid. on that day, the “sleeper in the valley” was for me, obviously, the face of her grandson. not me, the other one. the one who died. on a turn in a night club that had gone wrong, it seems. who finished first as scrap, outside. and for him, on the bottom of a cliff. without life. when it hits you, you’re not ready. since nothing can prepare you for that. all images get shuffled up: the granddaughter who grows up without her dad; the pranks we did as kids, during vacations; dinner a few weeks before, when he told me about his passion of photographing people’s eyes, “because the eyes are the soul ....” then there were his eternal deep waters that he got himself into, like the time he planted his 205 gti in a tree, and where he too could very likely have stayed. besides, he was the only one among us, when we were kids and riding bicycles, who managed this performance: end up in a car’s windshield with skull fracture at the end of the journey. i remember listening to rap with him. i thought it would go wrong, and that he was listening to pretty weird stuff, stuff that i hadn’t been listening to any longer for a long time. not, in any case, since i had seriously considered that the studies were over, that it seemed that i should become a bit more serious, like having kids and earning a living. just before he died, he seemed to be catching a glimpse of a way out. i found him calmer. he had left the paris region and his stomping grounds. he had separated from his partner. he claimed that they had managed to not tear each other apart too much, to ease the transition for their daughter. once in the south, he intended to stay there. there was sun. he had plans to open his own garage one day. i even think he found a new girlfriend, the one i met on the day of his funeral, and who chose bob marley as a soundtrack accompanying him until the very end. why does all that in general and he in particular come to mind when i think of the first time i met aaron swartz? because aaron was not dead at the time, yet he made me think of him. because aaron’s battles echoed some of his, and ultimately mine. for example, saving the freedom of the internet could also be seen �383 jean-philippe denis, ritm, université paris-sud. jean-philippe denis is a professor at ritm – université paris sud and editor-in-chief of the revue française de gestion (rfg). in addition, he is the founder and facilitator of the rfg–xerfi partnership (http:// www.xerficanal.com) and a columnist at french online journal the conversation. http://www.xerficanal.com http://www.xerficanal.com voices the internet's own boy m@n@gement, vol. 18(5): 372-387 as a way of tearing down the walls that keep youth from escaping the banlieus where they are stuck. in that sense, how can one not be captivated some way by this hacker? how can one not love him, this david who decides to tackle all these goliaths? when i learned of the death of aaron, like all others who had heard of his story and his career, i was obviously shook up. in fact, for all the reasons stated above, i was more than shook up. because deep down, aaron’s rope struck me as eerily similar to the bottom of the cliff where he had fallen—or maybe even pushed. strangely, the death of aaron quashed any interest on my part in the question of open access. probably because it was he, or his energy, who touched me more than the meaning of his struggle. this is how i resolved the issue: i read bourdieu again, revisited foucault, and made sure to cull out the essential from girard. i had long since lost faith in people, or mankind. i had learned a long time ago that today’s idealism and good intentions often pave the way for tomorrow’s hell. and, under these circumstances, it seemed worth a try to at least try to cope. to get ahead in a life where the key to survival means above all to resist the temptation to haggle over the which idiots and nutcases fight over. the aspiration to “change the world” had for a long time been something that i was increasingly leaving up to politicians seeking electoral victories. because it was since the beginning of time that the rich exploited the poor. and because in this field, the human imagination is fertile and the paths without limits ... when the internet’s own boy came out, i watched it the same day. i was like everyone impressed with the story of the genius and his dreams and mad ambition. and i soon realized that beyond the story about aaron as an individual and public figure, the film also did its part to establish the debate on open access. yet, i quickly realized that that debate wasn’t mine. i saw through the inanity of this battle, or at least through the motifs justifying it. because, if providing free access to articles were to suffice for people to read them, then college professors and high school teachers wouldn’t be so bad off. and they wouldn’t need to put so much effort into making recalcitrant kids take to reading. it is also because too few articles in my field seemed important enough to read, or to be governed by anything other than the enhancement of its author’s profile, to make us fight to the extent of risking our lives to make them available and accessible to all. i even gave my own broadcast where i advocated people not to die for open access, now that harvard had demonstrated the best way to increase the impact factor and visibility of its professors. this came, of course, at a dawn of a new digital era where more than ever before the winner takes it all and the rest of the world is left to share the crumbs. in that context i gradually left aaron aside. in any event, his image, or aura, was already voraciously exploited by those driven by promoting open access. in that context, one never thinks much about the employees of publishing houses, which could have well been riding on the same wave as those publishers who have, obviously, benefited more than their share. in this world that was looming on the horizon, where open access was at the point of making the strong even stronger, and the weak even weaker, where the only law that was going to impose itself was the law of the jungle, i therefore sought other means to be faithful to the memories of those who have risked and lost their lives. that’s how i came to examine the issue of hip hop in general and that of rap specifically. to this way of getting in tune with the body and of coping with despair by putting it into words, images and music. these rap rhymes, flows and samples are strategic sources of regeneration since they empower people by giving them a voice. in one of booba’s raps, he sees it as “des risques et du son, ma définition”. some risks, some sound, his definition. just beautiful. �384 m@n@gement, vol. 18(5): 372-387 voices the internet's own boy this music, this poetry of a new kind, triggers effects. it enters your blood stream, takes over your brain and moves your body. hip hop does not wait for you to come to read or listen to it. it imposes itself through the force of words swayed like fists. it is, in a way, the only way to move forward for those who have never felt rooted in the first place, “le ciel sait que l’on saigne, sous nos cagoules…heaven knows we bleed under our hoods ...” raps booba in “pitbull.” with rap, you discover that you are not alone in bleeding. and from that you draw a new strength: the one provided by the collective when you discover that the defeated are bound by a common destiny. when i got interested in the hip hop industry, i discovered the trauma of the death of 2 pac, and that biggie small was also part of the pantheon of ghosts. which is also what renders american culture so uniquely fascinating and revolting at the same time: it worships equal opportunity; yet to achieve this, it gives the right to bear arms, even enshrining it into its constitution. in other words, the right to the american dream for all transpires from every pore, yet it is primarily through weapons that minorities, and especially blacks, die. thus, although propagating lofty ideals, it ultimately does nothing to uphold them. a judge will persecute you simply because you did not have the legal rights and the most sacred of rights of all in america is that of property. whether you like it or not, it’s clint eastwood, starring in his own film gran torino, who represents it better than anyone else, this america. indeed, it is america that wanted to challenge aaron swartz. and it is america that would have won the fight in the name of a higher principle without which its multi-cultural society would collapse overnight under the weight of tensions between its communities. when, following american rap, after the jay-zs and kanye wests, i became interested in french rap, i discovered bram’s, a best friend of booba and some others. he committed suicide by jumping out a window. from what i gather, he never managed to leave the ghetto. it was with him that booba hung out on the streets, and it was with reference to bram’s that booba has a number tattooed on his face: “le négro nous a quittés, j’me suis fait tatouer le 7” (when the negro left us, i tattooed a 7 on my head)— thereby immortalizing bram’s. like a figure of impossibility, despite the successes, in spite of everything we want, to overcome his demons. he did not hang himself, like aaron swartz, did not “fall” off a cliff either, but threw himself out the window. it is this bram’s whom the song “2 pac” by booba is about, to which the video clip “comme une étoile” pays hommage, and to whom each of booba’s concerts are dedicated, as evidenced by the video “paname.” ibrahim, better known in the french hip-hop industry as bram’s. today, looking back on all this with several years of a distance, i believe that we all have something of an aaron swartz in us. but just something. because the worlds of the internet, twitter and other arenas are also those where pedophiles exhibit pictures of children playing with peckers of adult men. in fact, we’re a little too old to believe in the naive dream that one day there might no longer be night clubs with vip corners where champagne flows freely. where some people might find themselves between « good » people. and where there will always be someone who will dream being part of the hollywood game. because there will always be images that keep me awake, of the egyptian revolution that eventually finish in bloodshed and rape, on tahrir square. because men go mad when subjugated to the force of the crowd. so, of aaron swartz i have above all this image of someone with an eternally bad conscience for having left his own turf, so to speak, in that he has left so many behind him and cannot take everyone with him. of aaron swartz i retain that he regretted having to go to mit rather than harvard, where he might have been better trained in the art of patience and strategy. there they would have taught him the art of boxing with the weapons of the enemy. and he might have been less intoxicated with the dream of an internet that could one day be free and �385 voices the internet's own boy m@n@gement, vol. 18(5): 372-387 of the notion that rendering knowledge available (“open”) would suffice to make people more interested in it and to use it to change the world. had that been the case, aaron might still be alive. at the bottom of the cliff, we might have found nothing or not, in any case, a dead body. and thus armed, bram’s, perhaps, like others, would not have chosen to give up. in the terms of a complex dialogical analysis of an edgar morin, we might say that we could be happy to cultivate this something that we all have within us, of an aaron swartz or a bram’s. but, by fighting every day for it, it may last as long as possible. so, by first taking the example of those who hold on to life rather than those who give up and choose to put an end to their journey, or who take so many risks that they end up smashed against a tree or at the bottom of a precipice. the best example might be steve jobs: what if, after all, death was the greatest gift of life? and if, remembering that we will die one day would be the best means to never give up and stop believing that we could have something to lose? and if one day, like aaron, biggie, 2 pac, bram’s, like all them we were to end up breathless, that would be the first way to expose oneself and to consider that we should be guided at all times by the best of our passions? and if it was the way of thinking effectively that all the rest is, after all, just secondary? i do not know if noah swartz, aaron’s brother, will read this text. but i just wanted to tell him that i felt as if i understood him perfectly by reading his text. that i imagine perfectly how to be the brother of a deceased person, one who was moreover adored, it not the simplest fate. and that he should therefore now try to rap bigger than himself, but above all for himself. because there he will find a new strength: that of continuing. that fight is winnable. it is also the best protection against those who project onto noah swartz or others the image of the model who represented the missing brother, but which is not necessarily the combat of those who are still alive. some are obviously sincere. others may have other ideas in mind. of those who make you stumble, one day, off a cliff. empty pockets. without a phone or wallet. since they took care to steal them from you before pushing you down. the fight for open access is ultimately not much when compared with the appetite for knowledge and experience. because it is that which primarily liberates and emancipates. and this fight is not won by the hope that one day the world might work differently. but by experience and thus through kicks in the mouth, given and received. until the final gong. wishing it would sound as late as possible. www.management-aims.com �386 http://www.management-aims.com m@n@gement, vol. 18(5): 372-387 voices the internet's own boy www.management-aims.com �387 31chanal m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 1, 2000, 1-30 1 valérie chanal cet article présente la théorie des communautés de pratique et de l’apprentissage développée par etienne wenger dans son ouvrage communities of practice: learning, meaning and identity. l’ouvrage défend une perspective sociale de l’apprentissage, inséré dans les pratiques collectives au sein des communautés de pratique. il offre une grille de lecture originale des phénomènes d’apprentissage collectif, de création de significations et d’identité. l’article propose dans un premier temps une synthèse des apports théoriques de l’ouvrage de wenger centrés sur le concept de communauté de pratique et ses liens théoriques avec l’apprentissage collectif. il présente ensuite les parties de l’ouvrage traitant de la conception d’architectures d’apprentissage dans des organisations considérées comme des constellations de communautés de pratique interconnectées. pour terminer, nous cherchons à appliquer le dispositif conceptuel de wenger au management par projet afin d’en discuter à la fois les apports et les limites dans ce contexte précis. il apparaît que la théorie des communautés de pratique fournit des concepts utiles pour interpréter certaines tensions inhérentes au management par projet. en revanche, l’assimilation de la notion de projet à celle de pratique pose des difficultés d’ordre théorique. la confrontation de ces deux concepts ouvre une réflexion sur un enrichissement mutuel entre la théorie des communautés de pratique et les travaux sur le management par projet. introduction les recherches consacrées à l’apprentissage organisationnel, déjà anciennes, connaissent depuis quelques années un regain d’attention (koenig, 1994). après une période de forte divergence et de morcellement des travaux, allant des sciences économiques (courbes d’apprentissage) à la psychologie cognitive, on observe des tentatives de trouver des points de convergence entre différentes approches afin de contribuer à une théorie de l’apprentissage organisationnel. c’est ainsi que se développent des travaux qui cherchent à articuler : — le niveau individuel ou cognitif et le niveau organisationnel (cohen, 1991 ; kim, 1993) ; — les recherches à visée principalement descriptive et les recherches à visée prescriptive pouvant déboucher sur la formulation de recommandations utiles aux entreprises (moingeon et ramanantsoa, 1995 ; argyris et schön, 1996) ; université de savoie irege email: valerie.chanal@univ-savoie.fr communautés de pratique et management par projet : a propos de l'ouvrage de wenger (1998) communities of practice: learning, meaning and identity m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 1, 2000, 1-30 2 — les différents processus de traitement d’information qui contribuent au processus d’apprentissage (cohen et levinthal, 1990 ; huber, 1991) ; — les capacités d’adaptation de l’organisation et les processus de sélection naturelle de l’environnement (levitt et march, 1988 ; levinthal, 1991) ; — l’apprentissage basé sur l’expérience et l’apprentissage basé sur l’exploration de nouvelles solutions (march, 1991 ; argyris, 1995). enfin, la relation entre le savoir et l’action est au cœur des réflexions sur l’apprentissage (brown et duguid, 1991 ; garvin, 1993 ; argyris, 1995 ; argyris et schön , 1996 ; cook et brown, 1999) et appelle une véritable théorie de l’action organisée. etienne wenger, dans son dernier ouvrage "communities of practice: learning, meaning and identity" (1998), adopte un point de vue transversal à tous ces travaux et développe une théorie de l’apprentissage dont il nous a paru utile de rendre compte dans cet article. tout d’abord, wenger propose un niveau d’analyse de l’apprentissage qui est celui des communautés de pratique. il réalise ainsi une articulation réussie entre le niveau individuel et le niveau organisationnel sur laquelle butent de nombreux travaux sur l’apprentissage organisationnel. cette focalisation sur les communautés de pratique présente en outre l’intérêt de proposer aux chercheurs un objet d’étude plus facilement observable que la cognition individuelle ou l’organisation réifiée dans son ensemble. enfin, en prenant la notion de pratique sociale comme point d’entrée à sa théorie de l’apprentissage, il ouvre de nouvelles perspectives sur la relation entre les connaissances organisationnelles et l’action collective. dans cet article, nous procéderons en trois temps. après une présentation synthétique de la structure et du contenu de l’ouvrage sont abordés, dans une première partie, les concepts centraux développés par l’auteur ainsi que les courants théoriques dans lesquels il inscrit son travail. cette partie théorique est consacrée aux notions de pratique et de communauté de pratique et aux liens entre la pratique et l’apprentissage. la deuxième partie développe un aspect du travail de wenger de nature plus ingénierique qui étudie les modalités de la conception d’organisations apprenantes. sont abordées en particulier la question des frontières entre les pratiques, et les principales tensions à résoudre pour créer des conditions organisationnelles favorables à l’apprentissage. ce choix de présentation ne suit pas strictement le plan adopté par l’auteur (les frontières sont notamment traitées dans la première partie du livre consacrée à la pratique), et fait par ailleurs l’impasse sur la deuxième partie de l’ouvrage concernant l’identité. en effet, comme l’indique l’auteur lui-même, la question de l’identité déborde le concept de communauté de pratique en s’intéressant d’un côté à l’individu, dans une perspective sociale, de l’autre côté aux processus d’identification et aux structures sociales dans leur ensemble. c’est pourquoi, nous préférons restreindre notre champ d’analyse aux parties qui concernent directement les communautés de pratique et leurs liens avec l’apprentissage organisationnel. il nous est apparu intéressant pour terminer de tenter de confronter la théorie des communautés de pratique aux situations de management par projet. le management par projet soulève en effet des questions liées à l’engagement collectif, aux frontières, et plus généralement à l’apprentissage, qui sont traitées dans l’ouvrage de wenger. dans quelle mesure peut-on considérer les équipes projet comme des communautés de pratique ? en quoi cette théorie est-elle mobilisable dans une perspective ingénierique, pour concevoir des organisations par projets et animer des équipes projet ? telles sont les questions stimulées par la lecture de l’ouvrage de wenger que nous souhaitons discuter ici. presentation generale de l’ouvrage "communities of practice" commence par la présentation d’une étude de cas qui est le service de gestion des dossiers de remboursement dans une entreprise américaine d’assurance maladie. le cas se veut extrêmement concret, émaillé de nombreuses anecdotes, et vise à décrire par le menu la journée type d’un agent de traitement des dossiers. cette description met en lumière que ces agents, qui effectuent en apparence des tâches très routinières avec assez peu d’autonomie, sont en fait conduits à inventer constamment des solutions locales aux problèmes rencontrés. il s’agit notamment pour eux d’interpréter des situations médicales ou administratives complexes afin de les ranger dans telle ou telle catégorie et effectuer ainsi un traitement approprié. les agents traitent le plus souvent ces situations ambiguës en s’engageant dans des interactions informelles avec leurs collègues, c’est à dire dans une pratique sociale. l’auteur s’appuie sur cet exemple pour introduire la notion de communauté de pratique. les agents de traitement forment une communauté au sens où ils travaillent avec d’autres personnes dont ils partagent les mêmes conditions. leur pratique commune génère des solutions à certaines tensions institutionnelles comme le fait d’avoir à arbitrer entre le temps passé à traiter les dossiers et le temps passé à répondre aux appels téléphoniques des clients. elle constitue également un support à la mémoire collective en permettant aux individus d’effectuer correctement leur travail sans avoir à en maîtriser tous les aspects et en constituant une structure d’accueil et de formation pour les nouveaux embauchés. la pratique contribue également à créer des cadres d’interprétation et des mots de vocabulaire nécessaires à l’accomplissement des tâches. enfin, elle rend acceptable pour les individus ce travail plutôt monotone en développant une atmosphère agréable faite de rituels, d’habitudes, d’histoires partagées. la capacité du cas à éclairer le concept de communauté de pratique est cependant limitée en comparaison avec les développements théoriques qui suivent. son principal intérêt est davantage d’amener le lecteur à saisir toute la complexité du concept et de la réalité qu’il recouvre. a travers cet exemple, l’auteur montre notamment l’imbricam@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 1, 2000, 1-30 3 tion constante du travail individuel et du travail de groupe, des procédures formalisées et des arrangements avec les procédures, de la connaissance et de l’ignorance. comme le note l’auteur avec humour, ces personnes ne viennent pas au bureau pour former une communauté de pratique, mais pour gagner leur vie ! il donne ainsi avec ce cas le ton général de l’ouvrage, construit au plan théorique sur la notion de dualité ou de tension dialectique, et en même temps fortement ancré sur l’expérience vécue des individus au travail. la première partie de l’ouvrage aborde les concepts de pratique et de communauté de pratique et permet à l’auteur d’introduire sa vision de l’apprentissage comme une participation sociale où se négocient les significations relatives à l’action. cette partie traite également des notions de frontières entre différentes communautés et propose de considérer les organisations non plus seulement sous l’angle des structures formelles, mais comme des « constellations de communautés de pratique » plus ou moins formalisées (p. 127). la seconde partie étudie la question de l’identité vue comme une participation négociée dans une communauté de pratique et une trajectoire d’apprentissage. après avoir abordé l’apprentissage sous l’angle de la pratique collective, cette partie effectue un zoom sur l’individu mais toujours avec une perspective sociale. sont traitées ici les questions de l’identification et des structures sociales, des relations entre l’individuel et le collectif et des différents modes d’appartenance aux communautés de pratique. comme indiqué plus haut, nous ne présenterons pas ici le contenu de cette partie. l’ouvrage propose enfin dans une dernière partie un modèle de conception d’organisations apprenantes et de dispositifs d’apprentissage. les communautes de pratique : une theorie sociale de l’apprentissage nous présentons dans cette partie les concepts de pratique et de communauté de pratique, autour de la notion de négociation de sens (negotiation of meaning)1. pour wenger, la négociation des significations au cours de l’action constitue en effet le niveau le plus pertinent pour analyser les pratiques collectives. cette approche sociale de la pratique permet d’introduire ensuite la vision de l’apprentissage de wenger, qui est replacée dans son contexte théorique. les concepts de pratique et de communaute de pratique le concept de pratique la pratique est ce qui permet aux agents de traitement des dossiers de remboursement d’accomplir correctement leur mission et de vivre une expérience satisfaisante au travail. pour wenger, la pratique relève du “faire”, dans ses dimensions à la fois historiques et sociales, et m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 1, 2000, 1-30 4 1. nous traduisons “meaning” indifféremment par sens ou signification. nous établirons cependant une nuance entre la négociation de sens de wenger et la construction du sens (sensemaking) de weick (1995). dans sa capacité à produire de la structure et une signification aux actions. ce concept de pratique inclut à la fois le champ de l’explicite (le langage, les outils, les documents, les symboles, les procédures, les règles que les différentes pratiques rendent explicites), et le registre du tacite (relations implicites, conventions, hypothèses, représentations sur le monde). toutefois, contrairement à nonaka (1994) ou à cook et brown (1999), wenger ne juge pas utile d’opposer les dimensions tacites et explicites de la pratique dans la mesure où il considère que les deux aspects sont toujours présents dans toute forme de connaissance. il préfère construire son argumentation sur la dualité participation / réification présentée ci-après. de même, wenger n’oppose pas la pratique à la théorie, arguant que nous avons tous des théories et des cadres de compréhension du monde qui orientent notre pratique. pour autant, même si la pratique produit des théories, elle reste une pratique. comme le dit l’auteur (p. 49) : « les choses doivent être faites, les relations établies, les processus inventés, les situations interprétés, les artefacts produits, les conflits résolus ». nous reviendrons plus loin sur les ancrages théoriques du concept de pratique développé par l’auteur, pour construire le lien avec la notion d’apprentissage. la negociation de sens reposant sur la dualite participation / reification pour l’auteur, la production sociale des significations est le niveau le plus pertinent pour l’analyse des pratiques. l’attribution de significations à nos expériences ou à nos actions relève d’un processus que wenger appelle la négociation de sens. la négociation de sens peut impliquer le langage et des conversations entre individus, mais peut également s’appuyer sur des éléments tacites comme des conventions. on retrouve ici la distinction proposée par giddens (1984) entre la conscience discursive qui représente tout ce que les acteurs peuvent exprimer de façon verbale sur les conditions sociales de leur propre action et la conscience pratique qui recouvre tout ce que les acteurs savent ou croient des conditions de leur action, mais n’expriment pas de façon discursive. la dimension sociale de la construction du sens a été développée par d’autres auteurs notamment weick (1995), sans que celui-ci ne développe aussi clairement cette notion de négociation. selon notre interprétation, le concept de négociation de sens de wenger partage avec celui de création de sens (sensemaking) de weick (1995) un caractère à la fois dynamique et en construction : il s’agit de créer, d’inventer, de mettre en scène, des interprétations sur une situation vécue. en revanche, la notion de négociation de sens défendue par wenger relève beaucoup plus à notre sens d’une perspective sociale et étroitement incorporée à la pratique. ainsi, wenger précise qu’il faut comprendre le terme “négocier” dans ces deux sens habituels : dans le sens de “négocier un prix” (c’est la dimension sociale) et dans celui de “négocier un virage” (c’est la dimension pratique liée au savoir-faire). en ce sens, l’approche de wenger s’inscrit plus clairement que celle de weick dans la lignée des travaux sur l’action située sur lesquels nous reviendrons. m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 1, 2000, 1-30 5 m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 1, 2000, 1-30 6 pour wenger, la continuité des significations2 à travers le temps et l’espace s’appuie sur une dualité fondamentale entre la participation des acteurs à la vie sociale et un processus de réification qui consiste à créer des points de focalisation autour desquels la négociation de sens peut s’organiser. cette dualité participation / réification constitue le coeur de la théorie sociale de l’apprentissage défendue dans cet ouvrage (figure 1). figure 1. la dualité de la participation et de la réification dans les communautés de pratiques (wenger, 1998, p. 63) le terme de participation est utilisé ici pour décrire l’expérience des acteurs qui s’engagent activement dans des projets sociaux. la réification est un processus qui consiste à donner forme à l’expérience en produisant des artefacts qui la figent en quelque sorte, du moins pour un temps. elle peut prendre la forme d’un concept abstrait (comme la “démocratie”), d’outils, de symboles, d’histoires, de mots. la réification recouvre ainsi un grand nombre de processus comme fabriquer, concevoir, représenter, nommer, décrire, percevoir, etc. dire que la participation et la réification forment une dualité signifie que ces deux dimensions sont articulées dans une tension dynamique. d’un côté la participation peut compenser les limitations inhérentes à la réification, notamment son aspect relativement figé et général : par exemple un juge est là pour interpréter un texte de loi en fonction d’une situation donnée ou bien un comité de direction décide d’organiser une réunion de travail pour présenter une nouvelle stratégie afin d’éviter les incompréhensions. de l’autre côté la réification vient compenser le caractère évanescent et contextuel de la participation : ainsi, on prend des notes pour se rappeler les décisions prises au cours d’une réunion, on utilise des modèles ou des outils de représentation pour clarifier nos intentions. la continuité et la richesse des significations produites au cours des interactions vont ainsi dépendre d’un bon équilibrage entre 2. la pratique est le lieu où se négocient les significations liées à l’action. pour que la pratique soit source d’apprentissage collectif et de structure sociale, ce qui est un des arguments principaux de wenger, il faut une certaine continuité des significations, ce qui n’empêche pas leur évolution au cours du temps. monde négociation expérience signification reification participation vivre dans le monde appartenance agir interragir projection instruments mutualité formes documents points d’attention participation et réification. si la participation l’emporte, il peut manquer de matériel de référence pour négocier les significations. en revanche, si c’est la réification qui prévaut, il peut manquer d’opportunités de régénérer les significations en fonction des situations concrètes. l’auteur insiste sur le fait qu’il serait simplificateur d’assimiler la dualité participation / réification à la distinction habituelle entre les savoirs tacites et explicites. la participation peut être tout à fait explicite, comme le fait de participer à une réunion de travail organisée, de même que la réification peut s’appuyer sur des perceptions tacites, comme le fait de peindre un tableau. le concept de communaute le fait d’associer la notion de pratique à celle de communauté lui confère un tour plus opératoire en la distinguant de termes plus conceptuels comme culture, activité, ou structure. trois dimensions permettent selon l’auteur de caractériser le type de relation qui fait qu’une pratique constitue la source de cohérence d’un groupe d’individus : l’engagement mutuel (mutual engagement), une entreprise commune (joint enterprise), et un répertoire partagé (shared repertoire). l’engagement mutuel. wenger définit l’appartenance à une communauté de pratique comme le résultat d’un engagement des individus dans des actions dont ils négocient le sens les uns avec les autres. il est à noter toutefois que l’auteur définit la plupart de ses concepts en creux. il consacre ainsi de nombreuses lignes à préciser ce que n’est pas une communauté de pratique : ce n’est ni un groupe, ni une équipe, ni un réseau. l’appartenance à une communauté ne peut se limiter au fait par exemple d’avoir un titre, son nom dans un organigramme, des relations personnelles avec tel ou tel, ou simplement à la proximité géographique. l’engagement mutuel est la source d’une cohérence (on pourrait dire de structure sociale) dont une des missions de la pratique est précisément de l’entretenir. il est basé sur la complémentarité des compétences, et sur la capacité des individus à “connecter” efficacement leurs connaissances avec celles des autres. nous retrouvons la même notion de connexion de connaissances comme base à l’apprentissage chez cohen et levinthal (1990) ou von krogh, roos et slocum (1994). la nécessité d’une connexion des compétences est particulièrement évidente dans le cas des communautés où l’engagement mutuel suppose des contributions complémentaires comme c’est notamment le cas dans les équipes projet transversales. en effet, l’engagement dans une pratique n’exclut pas la multi-appartenance à plusieurs communautés comme le précise l’auteur dans le chapitre consacré aux frontières des pratiques. mais la complémentarité des connaissances s’applique aussi selon wenger quand il y a redondance des compétences, comme dans l’exemple du traitement des dossiers médicaux. dans ce cas aussi, les personnes sont amenées à s’aider mutuellement, et la compétence qui consiste à savoir aider et se faire aider est en réalité plus importante que le fait d’être capable de répondre soi-même à toutes les questions. l’engagement mutuel suppose ainsi un rapport d’entre-aide entre les participants, nécessaire au partage de connaissances sur la pratique. m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 1, 2000, 1-30 7 une entreprise commune. l’entreprise commune est le résultat d’un processus collectif permanent de négociation qui reflète pour wenger la complexité de la dynamique de l’engagement mutuel3. le fait de négocier des actions communes crée des relations de responsabilité mutuelle entre les personnes impliquées. certains aspects de la responsabilité des membres du groupe peuvent être réifiés comme des règles, des objectifs, et d’autres peuvent demeurer au niveau de la participation. wenger note que la pratique consiste à constamment interpréter et intégrer les aspects réifiés liés à la responsabilité. cependant, les membres expérimentés sont en général capables de faire la part des choses entre les standards réifiés, autrement dit la norme, et un engagement spontané dans la pratique. il est à noter que wenger fait peu référence à la notion d’orientation vers un objectif commun. il souligne que l’entreprise conjointe ne se limite pas à la définition d’un objectif mais recouvre en fait davantage les actions collectives dans ce qu’elles ont d’immédiat. un répertoire partagé. au cours du temps, l’engagement au sein d’une pratique commune crée des ressources qui permettent la négociation de significations. ces ressources forment le répertoire partagé d’une communauté qui inclut des supports physiques tels que des prototypes ou des maquettes, des routines, des mots, des outils, des procédures, des histoires, des gestes, des symboles, des concepts que la communauté a créés ou adoptés au cours de son existence et qui sont devenus peu à peu partie intégrante de sa pratique. on repère là des similitudes avec la conception de giddens (1984) du structurel défini comme un ensemble de règles et de ressources engagées dans la production et la reproduction des systèmes sociaux, et qui leur donnent une “solidité” dans le temps et dans l’espace. c’est du reste ce que suggère wenger, un peu plus loin dans l’ouvrage (p. 96), lorsqu’il dit : « dire que l’apprentissage est ce qui donne naissance à une communauté de pratique revient à dire que l’apprentissage est une source de structure sociale. mais c’est une structure émergente. » m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 1, 2000, 1-30 8 tableau 1. caractéristiques de l’engagement commun dans une communauté de pratique (d’après wenger, 1998, p. 125-126) des relations mutuelles soutenues (qu’elles soient harmonieuses ou conflictuelles) des manières communes de s’engager à faire des choses ensemble l’absence de préambules introductifs dans les conversations, comme si les interactions formaient un processus continu dans le temps savoir ce que les autres savent, ce qu’ils peuvent faire, et comment ils peuvent contribuer à l’action collective un jargon, des raccourcis dans la communication, des histoires partagées, des plaisanteries internes au groupe un discours partagé qui reflète une certaine façon de voir le monde. 3. a propos de la proximité conceptuelle entre la notion d’engagement mutuel et celle d’entreprise conjointe, un des évaluateurs propose l’interprétation suivante : l’entreprise commune est le tissu changeant des interactions et des actions collectives auquel les acteurs se connectent (engagement). nous souscrivons à cette lecture qui nous paraît fidèle à la pensée de wenger. dans le chapitre consacré à la localité de la pratique, wenger résume certaines caractéristiques des communautés de pratique qui peuvent aider à comprendre ce concept d’engagement mutuel (tableau 1). le répertoire partagé combine deux caractéristiques qui en font une ressource pour la négociation de significations : il s’appuie sur des interprétations qui constituent des points de référence tout en maintenant une part d’ambiguïté. les éléments comme les mots, les artefacts, les gestes sont utiles dans la mesure où ils témoignent d’un engagement mutuel passé et peuvent être remobilisés dans de nouvelles situations, assurant ainsi une continuité aux pratiques. en même temps, l’ambiguïté qui subsiste autour de ces objets est nécessaire car elle laisse du jeu pour la négociation de nouvelles significations. a cet égard, l’auteur insiste sur le fait que le sens partagé (shared meaning) n’est pas une condition nécessaire ni le résultat obligatoire d’une pratique partagée (shared practice), rejoignant en cela l’analyse de fiol (1994) ou de weick (1995). les travaux d’allardpoesi (1997) suggèrent également que les représentations collectives sont des artefacts sociaux transitoires qui ne sont pas obligatoirement réappropriés par les individus après les interactions sociales. elles servent de points d’ancrage à la création de signification dans l’instant et ne doivent donc pas être confondues avec des modèles mentaux communs. pour wenger, les divergences d’interprétation ne doivent être traitées et résolues que lorsqu’elles constituent un obstacle à l’engagement commun. dans les autres cas, elles doivent être considérées comme des occasions de négociation de nouvelles significations. c’est pourquoi le répertoire partagé des communautés de pratique ne doit pas être compris comme une sorte de plate-forme servant de base à un consensus collectif, mais comme un ensemble de ressources mobilisables pour la négociation des significations dans les situations d’interactions. communaute de pratique et apprentissage les liens théoriques entre pratique et apprentissage. wenger mobilise deux axes théoriques principaux pour tracer les contours de ce qu’il définit comme une théorie sociale de l’apprentissage (figure 2). m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 1, 2000, 1-30 9 théorie sociale de l’apprentissage théories de la pratique théories de l’identité théories de la structure sociale théories de l’expérience située figure 2. les deux axes principaux de la théorie sociale de l’apprentissage de wenger (1998, p. 12) le premier axe reflète la tension entre les théories sociales qui donnent la primauté aux structures et celles qui donnent la primauté à l’expérience individuelle des agents. en se plaçant dans cette articulation structure / action, l’auteur s’inscrit clairement dans la lignée de la théorie de la structuration de giddens (1984). dans ce cadre théorique de la dualité du structurel, il considère que l’apprentissage des acteurs se construit au quotidien dans la pratique tout en contribuant à la transformation des structures sociales. wenger renvoie, dans les notes de fin d’ouvrage, à un grand nombre de travaux qu’il regroupe sous le terme générique “d’expérience située” : la phénoménologie en philosophie, la psychologie cognitive, et, dans le champ des sciences sociales, l’interactionnisme, l’ethnométhodologie et l’action située. ces travaux sont cités, semble-t-il, davantage pour situer l’auteur dans un courant de pensée que pour en discuter avec précision les apports théoriques. il apparaît toutefois que l’auteur partage avec la théorie de l’action située l’idée que toute action doit être comprise en fonction du contexte (ou de la situation) dans lequel elle s’est passée, un contexte souvent dominé par les influences historiques et culturelles (suchman, 1987 ; norman, 1993). la notion de négociation de sens s’inspire, comme nous l’avons vu, de celle de création collective de sens mise en avant par les tenants de la théorie de l’énaction (varela, thomson et rosch, 1993). ces derniers considèrent que la cognition consiste en la mise en scène ou “l’énaction” d’un monde partagé de significations. le deuxième axe de la théorie de l’apprentissage de wenger cherche à relier les théories de la pratique à celles de l’identité. les théories de la pratique sociale s’intéressent aux activités quotidiennes des individus tandis que les théories de l’identité traitent de la formation sociale des individus. dans ces notes bibliographiques, l’auteur se réfère, sans les discuter plus avant, à la conception marxienne de la praxis et aux travaux de bourdieu qu’il considère comme un des plus importants théoriciens de la pratique. wenger adopte pour partie une position philosophique inspirée de la notion de praxis4, en considérant que la réalité organisationnelle n’existe qu’à travers les pratiques. a propos des structures organisationnelles et de l’institutionnalisation (p. 243), il rappelle notamment que l’institutionnalisation ne produit rien en soi, et que ce sont les communautés de pratique qui constituent le lieu du “vrai travail”. en revanche, il n’exclut pas la réflexion sur la pratique de la notion de pratique, ce que suggère au contraire la notion marxienne de praxis (henry, 1976), et précise que pour lui, la pratique regroupe l’action et la réflexion sur l’action. au-delà de cette perspective philosophique, on peut rapprocher la conception de la pratique de wenger de celle défendue par morin (1977, p. 157) qui définit la praxis comme « un ensemble d’activités qui effectuent transformations, productions, performances, à partir d’une compétence ». enfin, le caractère à la fois organisé et organisant de la pratique se retrouve dans la notion d’habitus de bourdieu5 dont s’inspire également wenger. avec les notions de communauté de pratique et d’articulation participation / réification, wenger se place en quelque sorte entre la perspective de la praxis, centrée sur les activités individuelles, en particulier le travail, et celle m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 1, 2000, 1-30 10 4. nous remercions l’un des évaluateurs d’avoir porté à notre connaissance l’ouvrage de henry (1976) qui interroge en détail, en particulier dans le chapitre iv, la conception philosophique de la praxis chez marx et hegel. 5. bourdieu (1980, p. 88) définit les habitus comme des « structures structurées prédisposées à fonctionner comme structures structurantes, c’est à dire en tant que principes générateurs et organisateurs de pratiques et de représentations ». m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 1, 2000, 1-30 11 de l’habitus, centrée sur les régularités et les structures sociales. cependant, à la différence de bourdieu, wenger considère les pratiques comme une structure émergente plutôt qu’une structure sociale sous-jacente ayant une existence par elle-même. cette structure, que wenger désigne en fait souvent par “apprentissage” émerge dans la dualité participation / réification, et tire par conséquent ses caractéristiques à la fois de la pratique en cours, et d’éléments extérieurs ou antérieurs à la pratique enregistrés dans le répertoire partagé. en liant au plan théorique les notions de pratique et d’identité, wenger défend l’idée que l’apprentissage des individus et des groupes permet en même temps l’évolution des pratiques, l’intégration de nouveaux membres dans une communauté de pratique, et le développement et la transformation des identités individuelles. les modalites de l’apprentissage par la pratique les communautés de pratique sont considérées par wenger comme le support d’une « histoire partagée d’apprentissage » (p. 86). cette histoire se construit peu à peu en combinant la participation et la réification, qui constituent des formes à la fois de mémorisation et d’oubli. ainsi les artefacts produits au cours de pratiques passées tendent à perpétuer des répertoires au delà des circonstances qui les ont justifiés la première fois. pour illustrer la notion d’apprentissage dans la pratique, wenger note que les personnes chargées du traitement des dossiers médicaux ne parlent jamais de leur travail en terme d’apprentissage, principalement en raison du fait que leur pratique se confond avec leur apprentissage. en relation avec les trois dimensions des communautés de pratique développées précédemment, wenger démontre que l’apprentissage dans la pratique inclut les processus suivants : — des formes d’engagement mutuel qui évoluent dans le temps (par exemple découvrir comment s’engager, développer des relations utiles à l’action, établir qui sait quoi, etc.) ; — comprendre et harmoniser l’entreprise commune, en particulier réconcilier les interprétations conflictuelles sur la nature et les objectifs de l’activité ; — développer des répertoires, des styles de fonctionnement, des discours (renégocier les significations de divers éléments, adopter des outils ou en produire de nouveaux, inventer de nouveaux termes, en abandonner d’autres, raconter des histoires de pratiques passées). on pourrait opposer à cette argumentation que si l’apprentissage est permanent et se confond ainsi avec la pratique, alors tout est apprentissage, ce qui vide le concept de sa substance. wenger répond à cela qu’on peut repérer un apprentissage significatif à ce qu’il affecte ces trois dimensions de la pratique : notre capacité d’engagement, la compréhension de pourquoi nous nous engageons et du sens de l’activité commune, et le développement d’un répertoire adapté à la pratique. il considère par exemple que les processus éducatifs basés sur la participation, que l’on appelle justement en français “l’apprentissage” (apprenticeship) sont efficaces non seulement au plan pédagogique, mais aussi parce qu’ils sont en quelque sorte corrects du point de vue épistémologique. de même, il juge l’introduction des étudiants en doctorat dans le monde académique par leurs professeurs comme une forme d’apprentissage, dans la mesure où cela vise à développer la légitimité de nouveaux membres à participer de façon compétente à une communauté de pratique. la conception d’organisations apprenantes dans la dernière partie de l’ouvrage, wenger amorce une réflexion sur les questions relatives à la conception d’organisations apprenantes. sa vision de l’organisation est celle d’une « constellation de communautés de pratiques » (p. 127) interconnectées les unes aux autres. la connexion des pratiques introduit la notion de frontière des pratiques et des éléments ou des personnes capables de “voyager” à travers les différentes pratiques. partant de là, il propose un modèle intégrant les principales dimensions à prendre en compte pour concevoir des organisations apprenantes. ces dimensions, présentées sous la forme de tensions “créatrices” (dialectique que l’on retrouve chez senge, 1990 ou chez martinet, 1990a, 1990b) posent à notre avis les jalons d’un véritable programme de recherche sur une ingénierie organisationnelle orientée vers l’apprentissage et la gestion des compétences. les organisations vues comme des constellations de communaute de pratique certaines configurations sociales sont trop larges pour être assimilées à des communautés de pratique, selon la définition relativement stricte proposée par wenger. l’auteur suggère alors de les considérer comme des constellations de communautés de pratique (ccp) interconnectées. pour autant, toute forme sociale n’est pas une ccp. les communautés de pratique ne forment des constellations qu’à certaines conditions : — elles partagent des racines historiques ; — elles ont des projets inter-reliés ; — elles appartiennent à une même institution ; — elles ont des membres en commun ; — elles partagent des artefacts ; — elles ont des proximités d’interaction, notamment géographiques ; — elles sont en concurrence pour les mêmes ressources. le concept de ccp nous paraît riche en ce qu’il englobe un certain nombre d’autres conceptions des organisations. la focalisation sur les pratiques plutôt que sur les structures formelles conduit a s’intéresser aux théories d’action plutôt qu’aux théories officielles des organisations et à privilégier la création collective de significations, ce que l’on retrouve dans les approches socio-cognitives des organisations (weick, 1995), ou dans les travaux de argyris et schön (1996) sur l’apm@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 1, 2000, 1-30 12 prentissage organisationnel. la notion de communauté met l’accent sur des dimensions humaines et sociales. ainsi, senge, kleiner, roberts, ross, et smith (1994) considèrent que l’organisation vue comme une communauté intègre six processus-clé qu’ils appellent les “6 c” : l’aptitude (capability) à se renouveler, l’engagement mutuel (mutual commitment), la contribution au reste de l’organisation, la continuité des pratiques, la collaboration au delà des frontières de la pratique, et enfin la conscience des droits et devoirs de chaque membre vis à vis de l’organisation. enfin, le concept de constellation implique, comme l’indique wenger, des interactions entre les pratiques. a ce titre, cette conception se rapproche d’une vision systémique des organisations, avec toutefois une nuance. il s’agit de penser les interactions entre pratiques, plutôt que de privilégier les flux d’information, ce qui est le point d’ancrage des théories des organisations comme systèmes de traitement de l’information (newell et simon, 1972) ou même comme systèmes d’interprétation (daft et weick, 1984). cette articulation des activités, plutôt que des structures, se retrouve dans de nouvelles formes de management fondées sur la reconception des processus organisationnels (business process reengineering). la notion de constellation suppose également une réflexion sur la continuité des pratiques dans le temps et dans l’espace afin d’assurer une cohérence à l’organisation au delà des différentes pratiques qui la composent. ce souci de la continuité et de la cohérence organisationnelle se retrouve dans les travaux qui mettent l’accent sur les routines organisationnelles (nelson et winter, 1982 ; argyris, 1995) ou sur la culture. ainsi, une ccp est plus qu’un réseau de relations interpersonnelles, car elle s’appuie sur une histoire partagée autour de laquelle les pratiques peuvent s’organiser. la conception des organisations comme des ccp permet à notre sens d’interpréter certains dysfonctionnements liés à un manque d’interactions entre les pratiques : pilotage non centré sur les processus et cloisonnement des activités, problèmes d’intégration suite à des fusions d’entreprises qui ne partagent pas d’histoire ou de culture commune, recherche de synergies au plan stratégique, etc. ainsi, la théorie des ccp nous semble riche pour interpréter des processus sociaux et humains internes à l’organisation et les processus d’interactions entre les pratiques. elle nous apparaît en revanche plus limitée pour comprendre les interactions de l’organisation avec son environnement, sauf à considérer cette dernière comme faisant partie d’une ccp plus large, qu’il conviendrait alors de qualifier. les communautés de pratique se définissent en partie par la façon dont elles négocient leur place dans les différentes constellations auxquelles elles appartiennent. la continuité des ccp est assurée par les relations entre les communautés qui la constituent et qui impliquent des objets frontière, des recouvrements entre pratiques, des éléments de discours qui voyagent à travers les frontières et se combinent pour former des discours plus larges. en ce sens, les discours sont les éléments des répertoires les plus “exportables” et peuvent ainsi assurer des formes de continuité entre les pratiques. la dualité entre la partim@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 1, 2000, 1-30 13 cipation et la réification s’applique encore aux ensembles plus vastes que sont les organisations. a ce titre, celles-ci peuvent être considérées sous l’angle de la réification (l’organisation conçue, ou l’institution) et sous l’angle de la participation (une constellation de pratiques). les frontieres des communautes de pratique les communautés de pratique sont définies par wenger dans leurs relations avec leur environnement aussi bien d’un point de vue spatial que temporel. le point de vue spatial vise à repérer les connexions d’une pratique avec le reste de l’organisation. le point de vue temporel consiste à étudier la dynamique d’évolution des pratiques dans le temps. ceci introduit la notion de frontière d’une communauté, frontière qui peut être réifiée par des marques explicites d’appartenance (titres, habillement, rites d’initiation), ou bien se manifester au cours des participations, notamment grâce à la capacité intuitive des acteurs à distinguer entre l’intérieur et l’extérieur d’une communauté. les connexions entre différentes communautés de pratique ou bien entre une communauté et le reste du paysage social peuvent être assurées soit par des objets appelés “objets frontière” (boundary objects) soit par des individus appelés “courtiers” (brokers). wenger (p. 109) définit le courtage ainsi : « j’appelle courtage le recours à la multi-appartenance pour transférer des éléments d’une pratique vers une autre pratique. » il attribue à ces personnes un rôle d’import-export d’éléments entre différentes pratiques plutôt qu’un rôle à sens unique de représentation d’une pratique vers l’extérieur. c’est pourquoi nous préférerons ici l’appellation “acteurs interface” qui mobilise le concept d’interface tel qu’il est développé par lévy (1990) : pour cet auteur, la notion d’interface renvoie à des opérations de traduction, de mise en contact de milieux hétérogènes. la notion d’interface peut s’étendre au delà du domaine des artefacts, et donc concerner des personnes humaines, puisque, pour l’auteur, tout ce qui est traduction, transformation, passage, est de l’ordre de l’interface. les objets frontiere tous les objets ou artefacts6 qui appartiennent à plusieurs pratiques sont susceptibles de jouer le rôle d’objets frontière. pour wenger, quatre caractéristiques principales permettent aux artefacts d’être des objets frontière : — la modularité. l’objet est constitué de plusieurs parties pouvant être mobilisées dans différentes situations, comme un journal composé de plusieurs articles s’adressant à différents lecteurs ; — l’abstraction. le caractère général de l’objet frontière oblige à un certain niveau d’abstraction, comme une carte qui ne représente que certaines caractéristiques du terrain ; — la polyvalence. l’objet doit pouvoir servir à plusieurs activités, donc plusieurs pratiques ; — la standardisation. l’information contenue dans un objet frontière doit être sous une forme directement interprétable pour être utilisée localement. m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 1, 2000, 1-30 14 6. par artefacts, nous entendons ici des éléments réifiés, pouvant être des objets concrets (prototypes, outils de gestion…) ou symboliques (mots du langage par exemple). selon ces caractéristiques, tous les éléments du répertoire partagé des communautés de pratique ne peuvent jouer le rôle d’objet frontière. une maquette, par exemple, aura le plus souvent une fonction dédiée à une pratique et ne sera pas réutilisable pour une autre pratique. en revanche, on peut imaginer que des logiciels, des procédures qualité, des éléments de vocabulaire, puissent voyager entre plusieurs pratiques. il est donc intéressant, dans la perspective de la connexion des différentes pratiques, de repérer les artefacts qui peuvent assurer la fonction d’objet frontière, et ceux qui par nature demeurent spécifiques à une pratique. les acteurs interface certaines personnes, de par leur appartenance simultanée à plusieurs communautés, sont en mesure de transférer des éléments d’une pratique vers une autre pratique et de jouer ainsi le rôle d’interface. wenger fait remarquer que le rôle des dirigeants, souvent évoqué du point de vue du leadership uniquement, consiste en fait à assurer l’interface entre plusieurs pratiques. la position d’acteur interface est à la fois complexe et difficile à assurer. elle suppose des compétences de traduction7, de coordination, et de mise en cohérence de différentes perspectives. en même temps, les acteurs interface peuvent se trouver dans une position inconfortable, tiraillés entre deux tendances opposées : soit être attirés au cœur de la pratique et devenir des membres à part entière, soit être rejetés comme des intrus n’ayant pas suffisamment de légitimité. ainsi le rôle d’interface nécessite une capacité à gérer simultanément l’appartenance et la non appartenance, avec une distance suffisante pour apporter une perspective différente et assez de légitimité pour être écouté. d’autres formes d’interfaces entre les pratiques sont décrites dans l’ouvrage. nous ne citerons que celles-ci : — un objet frontière accompagné d’une personne interface. l’objet frontière peut dans certains cas nécessiter un médiateur pour établir le pont entre plusieurs pratiques ; — des pratiques communes, c’est à dire des zones d’intersection entre plusieurs communautés (comités de direction, équipes transversales, par exemple) ; — les périphéries des pratiques définies comme des régions frontières qui fournissent des accès à la pratique sans avoir les exigences d’une participation complète, notamment en terme d’engagement. c’est le cas par exemple des consultants qui peuvent intervenir dans une communauté tout en restant à la périphérie de la pratique de ses membres. le design d’organisations apprenantes : une gestion dialectique. wenger s’appuie dans la dernière partie du livre sur sa vision de l’apprentissage développée tout au long de l’ouvrage. cela lui permet de poser comme préalable qu’il n’est pas possible de générer intentionm@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 1, 2000, 1-30 15 7. on retrouve dans la définition du courtage chez wenger certains éléments de la métaphore de la traduction de latour (1989, p. 189), qui en donne la définition suivante : « en plus de son sens linguistique —l'établissement d'une correspondance entre deux versions d'un même texte dans deux langues différentes— il faut lui donner un sens géométrique de translation. parler de traduction d'intérêts signifie à la fois que l'on propose de nouvelles interprétations et que l'on déplace des ensembles. » wenger indique notamment que les courtiers facilitent les transactions et permettent l'apprentissage en introduisant des éléments d'une pratique dans une autre pratique. il suggère également que ceux-ci, par cette opération de transfert, contribuent à la création de nouvelles significations. m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 1, 2000, 1-30 16 il met en garde le lecteur contre une assimilation hâtive de ces dualités avec le couple formel / informel, même si parfois, les distinctions qu’il opère entre ces quatre dimensions, en particulier entre le couple participation / réification et le couple conçu / émergent ne sont pas toujours très évidentes. ces dimensions sont présentées sous forme de tensions dialectiques et l’auteur propose davantage des pistes d’interrogation qu’il ne fournit de réponse toute faite. la dualite participation / reification il s’agit là, pour schématiser, de concevoir l’articulation entre les outils et les personnes. les questions principales à se poser sont, à cet égard : quoi réifier, quand, et surtout, en fonction de quelle forme de participation. ces questions sont loin d’être triviales, car il nous semble que de nombreux outils sont élaborés dans les organisations (chartes, procédures, guides, etc.) sans que l’on s’interroge précisément sur la nature des pratiques auxquelles ces outils sont destinés. pour wenger, l’institutionnalisation, qui est une réification réflexive portant sur la stratégie, les rôles, les règles, les procédures, les histoires, etc., doit être avant tout au service de la pratique. ainsi l’auteur nous met en garde contre une vision naïve qui consiste à penser qu’il suffit d’institutionnaliser un certain nombre d’éléments pour garantir l’efficacité figure 3. quatre dimensions du design d'organisations apprenantes (wenger, 1998, p. 232) nellement de l’apprentissage, car l’apprentissage a lieu de toutes les façons, qu’on le veuille ou non. tout au plus est-il possible de réfléchir aux dimensions de l’organisation sur lesquelles on peut agir pour créer des “architectures d’apprentissage”. wenger propose de considérer quatre dimensions pour le design organisationnel : l’équilibre entre la participation et la réification, entre le conçu et l’émergent, entre le local et le global, et entre l’identification et la négociabilité (figure 3). design d’organisations apprenantes réification participation global local conçu émergent identification négociabilité des pratiques. le design organisationnel doit donc s’interroger sur les éléments qui doivent être institutionnalisés (réifiés) et sur les situations où il est plus efficace de compter davantage sur la participation. la dualite conçu / emergent cette dimension paraît très proche de la dimension précédente participation / réification. la nuance que nous y voyons est que le couple conçu / émergent est relatif aux structures organisationnelles plus qu’aux outils concrets de réification. la question qui se pose à ce niveau concerne l’équilibrage entre une structure institutionnelle imposée et une structure qui émerge d’une certaine récurrence des pratiques. les institutions proposent des modèles types de responsabilité, des répertoires de règles ou de procédures, mais chaque communauté de pratique doit incorporer ces artefacts institutionnels dans sa propre pratique, et décider, selon la situation spécifique, quel sens leur attribuer, comment et quand les utiliser, quand les ignorer. sans fournir de réponse définitive sur ces points, wenger suggère de faire en sorte que le design de la structure reste minimal pour laisser de l’espace aux pratiques émergentes tout en étant suffisamment présent pour contribuer à la cohérence à l’organisation. la dualite local / global nous avons vu qu’une organisation peut être considérée comme une constellation de pratiques, ce qui signifie qu’elle dépasse les limites de l’engagement de ses membres dans une pratique concrète. en réalité, comme le souligne l’auteur, l’engagement dans une pratique a surtout une portée locale. dès lors, l’organisation pourrait être vue comme une sorte de superstructure englobant les différentes pratiques qui la constituent. a cette vision traditionnelle, qui placerait pour schématiser le formel au sommet et l’informel à la base, wenger oppose une approche plus dynamique du design organisationnel. dans cette perspective, le design de la structure peut être vu comme un objet frontière, autrement dit un élément de réification autour duquel les communautés de pratique négocient leur contribution et leur position au sein de l’organisation. c’est pourquoi il considère qu’il est tout aussi important de concevoir des canaux de communication entre les pratiques que de créer des formes institutionnelles servant de référence commune à toutes les pratiques. le design organisationnel consiste alors à coordonner les multiples formes de compétences (knowledgeabilities) qui s’exercent dans les différentes pratiques. l’articulation local / global est avant tout une question de frontière. il s’agit de permettre la connexion des compétences entre pratiques, par la création d’interfaces, que ce soit des objets frontière ou des personnes interface dont l’appartenance multiple permet d’assurer le lien entre différents niveaux de pratique. la dualite identification / negociabilite dans la partie consacrée à l’identité, wenger définit l’identification comme le processus par lequel les différentes formes d’appartenance m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 1, 2000, 1-30 17 aux communautés de pratique sont constitutives de l’identité des individus. le concept de négociabilité fait référence à la capacité et la légitimité des individus à contribuer aux communautés, prendre des responsabilités, et exercer une influence sur les significations qui importent au sein d’un groupe social. cette notion n’est pas sans lien selon nous avec celle de zone d’incertitude de crozier et friedberg (1977). le champ de l’identification d’une communauté de pratique inclut à la fois les façons d’organiser la participation de ses membres en interne (identification des individus aux communautés) et ses modes d’appartenance à l’organisation dans son ensemble (identification de la communauté de pratique à l’organisation). le champ de la négociation inclut le contrôle de la communauté sur ses propres activités, et sa capacité à influencer son environnement institutionnel à travers les significations qu’elle produit. les zones d’identification et de négociation ne se recouvrent pas totalement : certains individus peuvent appartenir à des groupes dans lesquels ils ont peu de choses à négocier, de même qu’ils peuvent négocier dans des groupes dont ils ne partagent pas la pratique. modifier l’espace de négociabilité revient à rendre négociable des choses qui ne l’étaient pas auparavant. cette redéfinition de ce qui est négociable a un impact sur les processus d’identification car elle ouvre potentiellement le champ d’intervention et d’engagement des individus dans des zones qui leur étaient inconnues ou fermées jusqu’alors. cette tension identification / négociabilité se retrouve par exemple dans la recherche de westley (1990) sur la participation des cadres intermédiaires aux conversations stratégiques. comme elle le montre, le choix d’associer ou d’exclure certaines personnes des conversations stratégiques a un effet à la fois sur leur identité professionnelle (certaines personnes se sentent dévalorisées de n’être pas conviées aux réunions stratégiques) et sur l’étendue de leur zone d’influence. après ce tour d’horizon de l’ouvrage de wenger, nous interrogeons dans la partie suivante le caractère opératoire de sa théorie des pratiques et de l’apprentissage, en voyant dans quelle mesure il est pertinent de la transposer à la question du management par projet. le management par projet a la lumiere de la theorie des communautes de pratique la lecture de l’ouvrage de wenger a suscité chez nous des questionnements et des analogies concernant le management par projet pour la gestion de l’innovation. cela n’est pourtant nullement suggéré par l’auteur pour qui une communauté de pratique ne doit pas être assimilée à un groupe ou une task-force. il nous semble cependant que certains concepts forts du travail de wenger (participation, réification, répertoires partagés, frontières) peuvent être mobilisés pour comprendre, avec un éclairage théorique différent, le fonctionnement des équipes projet. c’est pourquoi dans cette dernière partie nous réflém@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 1, 2000, 1-30 18 chissons à la possibilité de transposer la théorie des communautés de pratique aux situations de projet d’innovation, d’abord au plan théorique, puis au plan du design organisationnel. peut-on considerer les equipes projet comme des communautes de pratique ? des travaux récents sur le management par projet mettent en évidence l’importance des processus socio-cognitifs au sein des équipes projet d’innovation tels que la création de nouvelles significations (nonaka, 1990 ; flichy, 1995), la délibération collective et la négociation (purser, pasmore et tenkasi, 1992 ; midler, 1993, garel et midler, 1995), la production de nouvelles connaissances organisationnelles (hatchuel, 1994, paraponaris, 1998). les processus d’innovation sont du reste considérés comme étant au cœur de l’apprentissage organisationnel (hatchuel, 1994 ; hughes et chafin, 1996). autant de préoccupations et de perspectives qui nous semblent proches des thèmes développés dans l’ouvrage de wenger que nous venons de présenter. si nous passons la notion d’équipe projet à la “moulinette” théorique des communautés de pratique, nous trouvons certaines proximités théoriques entre équipe projet et communauté de pratique, mais aussi des distances dont il convient de tenir compte. proximites theoriques entre les equipes projet et les communautés de pratique en première analyse, il est possible d’appliquer aux équipes projet d’innovation les trois dimensions qui caractérisent les communautés de pratique : — une forme d’engagement mutuel au sens où les membres d’une équipe projet sont engagés collectivement dans des actions dont ils négocient le sens les uns avec les autres. cette négociation de sens se cristallise notamment autour de la définition du cadre d’usage et du cadre de fonctionnement du nouveau produit (flichy, 1995) ; — un projet commun (le projet d’innovation), dont le sens évolue au cours du temps, et qui crée des relations de responsabilité mutuelle entre les membres du projet ; — un répertoire partagé, qui va s’élaborer peu à peu et qui peut inclure des supports physiques (maquettes, prototypes), des documents (cahiers des charges, documents de projet), des termes ou des concepts, mais aussi des histoires, des mythes, des symboles. limites a considerer les equipes projet comme des communautes de pratique la transposition de la théorie des communautés de pratiques au management des équipes projet d’innovation doit cependant être conduite avec précaution, car l’exemple sur lequel s’appuie wenger est un groupe dont les compétences se recouvrent fortement et dans lequel le problème de la communication inter-métiers ne se pose pas. une autre recherche sur les communautés de pratique (brown et m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 1, 2000, 1-30 19 duguid, 1991) prend également comme exemple un groupe de techniciens de maintenance de photocopieurs, exerçant le même métier dans l’organisation étudiée. de plus, wenger insiste sur l’histoire et la durée de collaboration d’une communauté (notamment pour que le répertoire partagé puisse se constituer dans le temps) et c’est pour cela qu’il considère qu’une task-force ou un groupe de travail ne peuvent pas être considérés comme des communautés de pratique. enfin, wenger nous parle surtout de la pratique dans ses manifestations au quotidien et dans sa dimension récursive : la pratique est générée par et génère de la structure organisationnelle et de l’apprentissage. en revanche, il parle peu de la dimension stratégique de la pratique autrement que par le sens que les acteurs lui attribuent. si nous pouvons user de cette métaphore, la pratique telle qu’elle est définie par wenger, nous apparaît comme un fleuve qui s’écoule, avec sa régularité, mais aussi ses accidents de parcours, alors que le projet correspondrait à la construction d’un barrage, c’est à dire une pratique finalisée et limitée dans le temps, et venant, par son caractère unique et exceptionnel, modifier les pratiques routinières de l’organisation. les points communs et les points de divergence que nous voyons entre la pratique telle qu’elle est définie par wenger, et la notion de projet, sont synthétisés dans le tableau 2. m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 1, 2000, 1-30 20 tableau 2. communautés de pratique et équipes projet : proximité et distance des concepts proximités entre les équipes projet et les communautés de pratique limites à considérer les équipes projet comme des communautés de pratique 1.— une équipe projet nécessite un engagement commun de la part de ses membres. 2.— par définition, les membres d'un projet sont engagés dans une entreprise commune, dont ils négocient les objectifs et le sens des actions. 3.— le fonctionnement d'une équipe projet s'appuie sur, et crée, un répertoire partagé qui inclut des éléments réifiés (textes, documents, maquettes) et des éléments liés à la participation (relations interpersonnelles, modes de fonctionnement…). 1.— la pratique telle qu'elle est présentée par wenger est plutôt homogène alors que les équipes projet sont constituées de pratiques hétérogènes issues des différents métiers qui les constituent. 2.— la pratique s'appuie sur une histoire partagée, un background commun. ce n'est pas toujours le cas d'un projet qui démarre. de même le projet est limité dans le temps. 3.— la pratique semble selon wenger peu orientée par un objectif commun, alors que le projet se définit principalement par sa finalité. après cette réflexion d’ordre théorique sur la compatibilité entre les concepts de pratique et de projet, nous étudions, d’un point de vue plus opérationnel, les apports possibles de la théorie des communautés de pratique pour le management par projet. reflexions sur les apports de la theorie des communautes de pratique pour le management par projet les équipes projet dédiées à la conception de nouveaux produits sont le plus souvent transversales c’est à dire qu’elles regroupent des personnes issues de métiers différents dans l’organisation (recherche, développement, marketing, commercial, qualité, etc.). de fait, de nombreux travaux sur le management par projet traitent du problème de la projet coordination inter-métiers, souvent considéré comme un problème de communication entre des personnes d’univers et de langage différents (lorino, 1996 ; moisdon et weil, 1992). a la lumière des apports théoriques de wenger, on pourrait considérer cette question aussi sous l’angle de l’engagement commun dans une pratique, de la négociation du projet, et de la constitution d’un répertoire partagé permettant d’assurer au mieux cette coordination. elle peut aussi être vue comme un problème d’interface entre les différentes communautés de pratique formées par les métiers d’origine. dans ce cas, il s’agit de voir quels sont les outils et les personnes qui peuvent assurer au mieux cette fonction d’interface entre les différents métiers (figure 4). m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 1, 2000, 1-30 21 figure 4. le problème de la coordination inter-métiers : une question d'engagement collectif et une question d'interface projet — engagement mutuel — négociation d’un projet commun — constitution d’un répertoire partagé objets frontière personnes interface interface le projet vu comme une communauté de pratique le projet vu comme une interface entre pratiques enfin, se pose la question de la place des projets au sein des organisations vues comme des constellations de communautés de pratique, ou des constellations de projets. en d’autres termes : comment assurer la connexion des projets entre eux ? comment les projets peuventils s’appuyer sur les compétences organisationnelles et en même temps venir enrichir le répertoire des compétences ? nous abordons ci-après ces différents points, en mettant en relation de récents travaux sur le management par projet, et les questions soulevées par wenger à propos des communautés de pratique : l’engagement mutuel, l’élaboration d’un répertoire partagé, la gestion des interfaces, l’apprentissage collectif. l’engagement mutuel dans les equipes projet la question de l’engagement mutuel dans une équipe projet est bien résumée par midler (1995, p. 75) en ces termes : « un projet est un système social créé à partir de rien, avec des gens pris ici et là et mis dans une “bulle” : ils savent bien que leur avenir ne sera pas là, et très vite, il faut que le management organise de la solidarité et de la confiance ». ainsi la situation des équipes projet est différente de celle des communautés de pratique à évolution lente où les anciens ont le temps d’accueillir et de former peu à peu des nouveaux venus. dans les équipes projet ad-hoc, il s’agit de parvenir rapidement à un fort niveau d’engagement de la part d’individus qui n’ont peut-être jamais travaillé ensemble auparavant. la question de la responsabilité est généralement évoquée à propos du chef de projet alors qu’elle se pose de la même manière pour tous les membres de l’équipe, qui doivent développer des relations de responsabilité mutuelle autour du projet. dans son ouvrage l’auto qui n’existait pas, midler (1993) indique que la responsabilité et la légitimité du chef de projet s’appuient d’une part sur le pouvoir que lui confère sa position officielle dans l’organigramme, mais aussi et surtout sur un art de l’influence basé sur l’intéressement des acteurs partenaires, sur la communication, sur l’évaluation et sur la négociation. on retrouve ici, exprimée différemment, la dualité participation / réification : le chef de projet a besoin à la fois d’une reconnaissance officielle de son rôle (réification), mais aussi d’un talent personnel de négociateur (participation). cette dualité se retrouve également dans les questionnements sur le niveau de contrôle qu’il convient d’appliquer aux projets, et sur le niveau de détail des procédures de gestion de projet que l’organisation est en droit ou en mesure d’imposer. midler (1993) note la tendance actuelle du management de projet chez renault à passer d’un système de contrôle centralisé à des formes d’auto-contrôle des projets, par ceux qui en sont les acteurs de base. on observe ainsi un mouvement vers un allégement de la structure au profit de la participation des acteurs, tout en cherchant à maintenir une cohérence entre les projets par le recours à une méthodologie commune. c’est ainsi que midler (1993, p. 71) note : « on ne peut attendre des relations informelles qu’elles suppléent à l’absence de méthodologies de travail collectif ». la tension entre la participation et la réification dans la gestion de projet peut finalement être résumée par cette remarque de l’auteur (p. 83) : « la gestion de projet tient donc à un judicieux équilibre entre deux principes : rechercher les compromis entre les acteurs et accepter de ce fait que le projet évolue sous leurs pressions, mais d’un autre côté, pouvoir affirmer une identité autonome, pour que le projet ne devienne pas l’otage des stratégies des intervenants ». le repertoire partage des equipes projet la difficulté d’un engagement rapide dans l’action collective, propre aux équipes projet, rend d’autant plus nécessaire l’existence d’un répertoire partagé, pouvant être mobilisé rapidement. les équipes projet transversales étant souvent constituées dans un souci de rapidité des processus de développement, il n’est pas question de consacrer la durée totale d’un projet à élaborer un répertoire de référence. celuici devra être opérationnel le plus rapidement possible, ce qui pose notamment le problème de la réutilisation des outils d’un projet à l’autre. les éléments du répertoire partagé doivent constituer des supports à la communication et à la négociation de significations, comme le souligne midler (1995, p. 77) : « les problèmes de communication entre professionnels ne viennent pas de ce que chacun ne connaît pas le métier de l’autre, mais très généralement des limites rencontrées m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 1, 2000, 1-30 22 dans la rationalisation de son propre point de vue. par exemple le fabricant regarde le plan et ne peut pas dire s’il peut faire la pièce : le problème réside donc bien dans la mise en forme de sa compétence technique dans ce type de situation. cela suppose une capacité de rationalisation, d’abstraction, de simulation qui fait souvent défaut aujourd’hui ». le répertoire partagé inclut également un langage que les acteurs vont pouvoir mobiliser rapidement dans la communication relative au projet. la réification d’un langage relatif à la gestion de projet peut venir faciliter la communication d’acteurs provenant d’horizons professionnels différents. un document de référence qui propose des repères méthodologiques, tout en précisant les significations de concepts comme “valeur”, “marketing”, “chef de projet”, contribue en quelque sorte à mettre à niveau les représentations des membres de l’équipe sur des concepts de base, et lui permet de négocier des significations plus riches en focalisant les échanges sur les questions importantes du projet (chanal, 1999). enfin, les nouvelles technologies permettant de réaliser du maquettage virtuel ou physique rapide, de même que les technologies de l’information qui permettent l’échange en temps réel de plans, de schémas, de documents, constituent une ressource importante pour enrichir de façon dynamique le répertoire partagé des équipes projet. la frontière des projets et la gestion des interfaces la question de la coordination inter-métiers dans les équipes projet est aussi abordée sous l’angle de la gestion des interfaces. il est cependant nécessaire d’aller au delà d’une compréhension du rôle des “gatekeepers” comme un simple rôle de collecte et de diffusion de l’information (macdonald et williams, 1993). les acteurs d’interface, ainsi que les qualifient moisdon et weil (1992) ont un rôle et une responsabilité proche de ce qui est décrit par wenger à propos des courtiers dans les communautés de pratique : ce sont des “facilitateurs” de débat qui interviennent parfois comme médiateurs dans la recherche de compromis difficiles (moisdon et weil, 1992). nous pourrions rajouter à ces caractéristiques la compétence de traduction entre les langages des métiers. comme l’indique lorino (1996, p. 103) : « pour décloisonner les métiers, il faut leur permettre de se parler : développer des langages inter-métiers (langages universels) ou des moyens de traduction d’un métier à l’autre ». le langage inter-métiers appartient plutôt au registre de la réification. on le retrouve dans certains langages fortement structurés comme le langage de la qualité. la traduction appartient quant à elle plutôt au registre de la participation car elle dépend nécessairement du contexte et peut s’appuyer soit sur des acteurs interface capables d’assurer cette traduction, soit sur des objets frontière qui facilitent l’échange inter-métiers. la question de la frontière peut être également abordée sous l’angle des positions des acteurs dans les pratiques (au centre ou à la périphérie), et de la légitimité qui en découle. en d’autres termes, comment être un acteur interface compétent, capable d’assurer la relation m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 1, 2000, 1-30 23 entre une équipe projet et son environnement en gérant l’équilibre subtil entre une appartenance complète au projet (“les mains dans le cambouis”), et une trop grande distance qui peut se faire au détriment de la légitimité à intervenir dans la négociation. ce type de tension s’exerce généralement au niveau du responsable du projet, qui est celui qui assure le plus souvent l’interface entre le projet et le reste de l’organisation. l’apprentissage organisationnel dans les organisations orientees par projets si l’on se réfère à la définition que donne wenger de l’apprentissage dans la pratique, on peut dire qu’au niveau d’une équipe projet, l’apprentissage se manifeste par la capacité des membres : — à inventer des formes d’engagement collectif et à développer des relations de coopération en étant capables de “connecter” les compétences requises pour le projet ; — à interpréter et à négocier les significations relatives au projet (quels sont les enjeux stratégiques du projet, quels sont les objectifs, les compétences requises, les risques ?) ; — à développer un répertoire partagé, qui devra trouver un équilibre entre la continuité des pratiques passées, par la réutilisation d’artefacts, et l’invention de nouveaux artefacts, termes ou cadres d’interprétation. le premier point a été évoqué par hatchuel (1994) qui indique que l’apprentissage collectif, dans les activités de conception, ne se limite pas au processus de coordination entre acteurs, mais suppose un processus de formation et de transformation des acteurs. selon hatchuel, cette formation de l’acteur projet (en particulier le chef de projet), se manifeste dans le type de savoir mis en œuvre par l’individu dans l’action collective. l’auteur distingue les “savoir-faire”, modélisables sous formes de règles de production, les “savoir-comprendre”, axés sur la résolution de problèmes complexes, et les “savoir-combiner”, qui caractérisent le savoir du stratège et du négociateur. ces différentes formes de savoir constituent bien des modes différents de connexion des connaissances, qui sont, comme nous l’avons développé, une des bases de l’apprentissage dans la pratique. le deuxième point concerne la capacité des acteurs à donner du sens à l’action collective et à leur projet. cela nécessite un cadre d’interprétation stratégique, sans lequel les individus ne peuvent construire une compréhension commune des enjeux du projet, de ses objectifs, et des moyens à mettre en œuvre pour atteindre ces objectifs (purser et al., 1992 ; chanal, 1999). le processus de négociation de sens repose également, comme nous l’avons vu, sur des acteurs interface qui jouent le rôle de facilitateurs de débat (moisdon et weil, 1992). enfin, la délibération s’organise et prend appui sur le répertoire partagé, et sur l’équilibre participation / réification. l’arbitrage entre la standardisation des procédures de gestion de projet et l’autonomie des projets est une question que certains praticiens posent en ces termes : « si les projets sont singuliers, la standardisation des processus de m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 1, 2000, 1-30 24 conduite de projet ou des processus métiers et fonctions est un frein à la performance. il y a donc un danger à s’engager, en particulier à travers l’application des normes iso 9000 ou les démarches de reengineering, vers une standardisation des processus dans l’entreprise. » (jolivet, 1995, p. 66). en même temps, la nécessité d’avoir un répertoire de ressources quasiment prêt à l’emploi pour accélérer le temps d’apprentissage suppose qu’un certain nombre d’éléments de ce répertoire (comme des termes génériques ou des méthodes souples de gestion de projet) soient réutilisables d’un projet à l’autre. une compréhension trop locale des processus d’apprentissage, au niveau de la pratique de chaque projet, occulte cependant une question essentielle, qui est celle du transfert de connaissances des projets vers l’organisation, et de l’organisation vers les projets. il est difficile de répondre concrètement à cette question, sinon en s’appuyant sur les travaux relatifs aux méthodes et aux technologies visant une capitalisation des savoir-faire (e.g., ballay, 1997). le management par projet : un management paradoxal au total, les concepts centraux du travail de wenger et les questions qu’il évoque à propos du design d’architectures d’apprentissage peuvent contribuer à illustrer une conception du management nécessairement dialectique (ou paradoxal, pour rependre la terminologie de martinet, 1990a, 1990b) des projets d’innovation (figure 5). le couple conçu / émergent caractérise un des principaux dilemmes de l’innovation qui doit réaliser un compromis entre l’exploitation intelligente des ressources de l’entreprise (c’est-à-dire la structure et les compétences organisationnelles), et l’exploration de nouvelles voies qui rompent avec les routines établies (nonaka, 1990 ; march, 1991). m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 1, 2000, 1-30 25 figure 5. le management par projet : un management paradoxal réification participation conçu emergent identification local global négociabilité d’après martinet (1990a, p. 233) le couple participation / réification conduit à s’interroger sur ce qui doit être réifié dans l’organisation (par exemple, des méthodes de gestion de projet, communes à tous les projets) et sur le niveau souhaitable d’autonomie des acteurs, non seulement dans le cadre des projets, mais pour inventer et susciter de nouveaux projets. le couple local / global renvoie à la question des interfaces entre les projets et le reste de l’organisation : il s’agit d’arbitrer entre un principe d’économie et de cumul des compétences (en repérant les éléments qui peuvent jouer le rôle d’objets frontière) et un principe de créativité et d’efficacité au plan local. la question des interfaces nous amène également à réfléchir aux rôles et aux profils des acteurs interface : comment gérer les trajectoires professionnelles des individus de telle sorte qu’ils puissent jouer ce rôle de connexion entre les pratiques ? enfin, le couple identification / négociabilité pose la question d’un processus d’identification rapide des acteurs projet (peut-être par le développement d’une “culture projet” et d’un métier de chef de projet), et du maintien de zones d’incertitude et d’ambiguïté dans la définition des rôles des participants. conclusion la théorie des communautés de pratique d’etienne wenger contribue à renouveler notre compréhension de l’apprentissage organisationnel. en se plaçant dans une perspective sociale, au niveau de groupes de travail, l’auteur permet de dépasser le débat traditionnel entre l’apprentissage individuel et l’apprentissage collectif. dans la perspective développée par wenger, non seulement l’apprentissage a toujours une dimension sociale, mais de plus, il se manifeste principalement dans les interactions sociales de personnes engagées dans une pratique commune. dès lors, ainsi que le note giddens (1984, p. 75), « la compétence des agents s’ancre davantage dans la conscience pratique que dans la conscience discursive ». pour autant, la conscience discursive n’est pas à mettre au second plan car elle permet de réifier des expériences qui vont servir de point de focalisation pour la négociation des significations relatives à de nouvelles pratiques. après avoir présenté les grandes lignes de cette théorie, nous avons souhaité les confronter à certaines problématiques de la gestion par projet, en particulier le problème de la coordination inter-métiers, car elles nous semblaient pouvoir être interprétées à la lumière de ce cadre théorique. la théorie des communautés de pratique permet d’interpréter certaines tensions inhérentes au management par projet, mises en évidence par les chercheurs du domaine : autonomie vs. contrôle , engagement dans les projets vs. expertise métier, solutions inventées localement vs. réutilisation des compétences, etc. dans ce cadre, la gestion des projets, encore plus peut-être que la gestion des pratiques récurrentes, apparaît bien comme une forme de management param@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 1, 2000, 1-30 26 doxal (martinet, 1990a, 1990b) qui s’exerce dans un certain nombre de tensions. l’apport de wenger est par ailleurs de nous fournir des points de repère riches sur un certain nombre de concepts clé, utiles à la compréhension de l’action collective : communauté de pratique, dualité participation / réification, répertoire partagé, objet frontière, acteur interface, constellation de communautés de pratiques. cependant, l’assimilation de la notion de projet à celle de pratique ne va pas sans poser des questions d’ordre théorique, comme nous l’avons vu. en particulier, la pratique apparaît comme récurrente, non finie dans le temps, alors que le projet est par définition borné dans le temps et dans l’espace, et de plus tendu vers son résultat final. il est possible que cette difficulté conceptuelle provienne pour une grande part de notre interprétation particulière de la notion de pratique chez wenger, influencée par l’exemple de départ qui décrit une activité routinière. pour le reste, la majorité des concepts importants développés par l’auteur semblent, comme nous l’avons montré, suffisamment englobants pour prendre en compte aussi la réalité des projets. l’analogie pratiques / projets renvoie aussi à un débat plus théorique autour des perspectives de la théorie de l’action située. comme l’indique norman (1993), certains chercheurs critiques à l’égard de l’action située en ont une interprétation quelque peu caricaturale selon laquelle les compétences des acteurs sont prêtes à l’emploi pour être mobilisées dans l’instant, sans planification préalable, uniquement en fonction du contexte de la situation. il est clair que selon cette lecture, il est difficile d’intégrer la dimension stratégique ou téléologique des projets d’innovation, dans le cadre de la théorie des communautés de pratique. mais nous pensons que l’approche de wenger est beaucoup plus subtile, justement parce qu’elle est construite sur l’idée de dualité ou de tension créatrice entre la participation et la réification. dans cette perspective, il serait erroné selon nous de considérer les pratiques comme des activités par essence routinières et peu finalisées. les projets constituent aussi une forme de pratique, avec des contraintes particulières en termes de resserrement de l’espace / temps et d’hétérogénéité des compétences. car au fond, comme l’indique midler (1993, p. 108) : « le déroulement d’un projet apparaît comme un concentré de tout ce qu’une entreprise vit généralement sur plusieurs décennies ». dès lors, l’approche “pratiques” et l’approche “projets” peuvent trouver matière à s’enrichir mutuellement. d’un côté, considérer les projets sous l’angle des pratiques peut nous conduire à nous intéresser aux questions d’engagement commun, de répertoire partagé, d’interfaces entre les projets. cela peut aussi contribuer à étudier les projets autrement qu’à travers le spectre traditionnel coûtsdélais-qualité, en s’intéressant simplement à ce que font les gens au jour le jour. de l’autre côté, la théorie des communautés de pratique pourrait chercher à s’enrichir de questionnements spécifiques aux situations de projet, qui sont liées pour partie à ce caractère “concentré” des projets : comment, par exemple, favoriser un engagement quasi immédiat de la part des acteurs, comment constituer un répertoire partagé mobilisable rapidement, comment créer des interfaces m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 1, 2000, 1-30 27 ■ allard-poesi, florence 1997 nature et processus d'émergence des representations collectives dans les groupes de travail restreints, thèse de doctorat non publiée, paris : université paris dauphine. ■ argyris, chris (ed.) 1995 savoir pour agir : surmonter les obstacles à l'apprentissage organisationnel, paris : interéditions. ■ argyris, chris, and donald schön 1996 organizational learning ii: theory, method, and practice, reading: addison wesley. ■ ballay, jean-françois 1997 capitaliser et transmettre les savoirfaire de l'entreprise, paris : eyrolles, coll. der edf. ■ bourdieu, pierre 1980 le sens pratique, paris : editions de minuit. ■ brown, john seely, and paul duguid 1991 organizational learning and communities-of-practice: toward a unified view of working, learning and innovation, organization science, 2:1, 40-57. references entre les projets et une capitalisation des compétences au delà des projets. de plus, le management par projet recouvre de nombreuses configurations aussi bien spatiales que temporelles qui tranchent avec l’image relativement stable des communautés de pratique. au niveau spatial, on note une évolution dans les groupes multinationaux vers des équipes projet distribuées, qui communiquent essentiellement par messagerie électronique. peut-on alors parler de pratique commune en dehors d’un contexte de co-présence ? au niveau temporel, l’engagement des individus dans les équipes projet peut être à géométrie variable, avec un engagement plus ou moins grand des personnes à différents moments du projet. tout cela pose le problème de la stabilité de la pratique des projets et donc du management par projet comme source de structure organisationnelle et d’apprentissage collectif. pour terminer, nous ne saurions qu’encourager les lecteurs à lire l’ouvrage de wenger, qui aborde de nombreuses questions importantes de l’action organisationnelle, que nous n’avons pu présenter dans le cadre de cet article. note: l'auteur tient à remercier le rédacteur en chef bernard forgues, ainsi que les deux évaluateurs anonymes de la revue m@n@gement pour la richesse et le caractère très stimulant de leurs commentaires apportés au cours de la révision de cet article. valérie chanal est maître de conférences en sciences de gestion à l'université de savoie. ses travaux de recherche portent sur le management de l'innovation, dans ses dimensions stratégiques et organisationnelles, notamment la question de la coordination des acteurs dans les équipes projet. elle s'intéresse également à l'utilisation des technologies de l'information et de la communication pour la conception et le pilotage de projets d'innovation. m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 1, 2000, 1-30 28 m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 1, 2000, 1-30 29 ■ chanal, valérie 1999 management de l'innovation : la prise en compte du langage des acteurs des projets, actes de la viiième conférence internationale de management stratégique, paris, mai. ■ cohen, michael d. 1991 individual learning and organizational routine: emerging connections, organization science, 2:1, 135-139. ■ cohen, wesley m., and daniel a. levinthal 1990 absorptive capacity: a new perspective on learning and innovation, administrative science quarterly, 35:1, 128-152. ■ cook, scott d. n., and john s. brown 1999 bridging epistemologies: the generative dance between organizational knowledge and organizational knowing, organization science, 10:4, 381-400. ■ crozier, michel, et erhard friedberg 1977 l'acteur et le système, paris : seuil. ■ daft, richard l., and karl e. weick 1984 toward a model of organizations as interpretation systems, academy of management review, 9:2, 284-295. ■ fiol, c. marlene 1994 consensus, diversity, and learning in organizations, organization science, 5:3, 403-420. ■ flichy, patrice 1995 l'innovation technique. récents développements en sciences sociales : vers une nouvelle théorie de l'innovation, paris : la découverte, série sciences et sociétés. ■ garel, gilles, et christophe midler 1995 concourance, processus cognitifs et régulation économique, revue française de gestion, 104, 87-101. ■ garvin, david 1993 building a learning organization, harvard business review, july-august, 78-91. ■ giddens, anthony 1984 the constitution of society, berkeley: university of california press. ■ hatchuel, armand 1994 apprentissages collectifs et activités de conception, revue française de gestion, 99, 109-119. ■ henry, michel 1976 marx i : une philosophie de la réalité, paris : gallimard. ■ huber, georges p. 1991 organizational learning: the contributing processes and the literatures, organization science, 2:1, 88-115. ■ hugues, g. david, and don c. chafin 1996 turning new product development into a continuous learning process, journal of product innovation management, 13, 89-104. ■ jolivet, françois 1995 peut-on éviter les dysfonctionnements ?, l'expansion management review, 76, 62-70. ■ kim, daniel 1993 the link between individual and organizational learning, sloan management review, 35:1, 37-50. ■ koenig, gérard 1994 l’apprentissage organisationnel : repérage des lieux, revue française de gestion, 97, 76-83. ■ latour, bruno 1989 la science en action, paris : la découverte. ■ levinthal, daniel a. 1991 organizational adaptation and environmental selection—interrelated processes of change, organization science, 2:1, 140-145. ■ levitt, barbara, and james g. march 1988 organizational learning, annual review of sociology, 14, 319-340. ■ levy, pierre 1990 les technologies de l'intelligence : l'avenir de la pensée à l'ère informatique, paris : la découverte, coll. point sciences. ■ lorino, philippe 1996 méthodes et pratiques de la performance : le guide du pilotage, paris : editions d'organisations. ■ macdonald, stuart, and christine williams 1993 beyond the boundary: an information perspective on the role of the gatekeeper in the organization, journal of product innovation management, 10:5, 417-427. ■ march, james g. 1991 exploration and exploitation in organizational learning, organization science, 2:1, 71-87. ■ martinet, alain charles 1990a epistémologie de la stratégie, in alain charles martinet (ed.), epistémologies et sciences de gestion, paris : economica, 211-236. ■ martinet, alain charles 1990b la logique paradoxale du management stratégique, cahiers lyonnais de recherche en gestion, 11, 197-209, lyon : iae de lyon. ■ midler, christophe 1993 l'auto qui n'existait pas : management des projets et transformation de l'entreprise, paris : interéditions. ■ midler, christophe 1995 une affaire d'apprentissage collectif, l'expansion management review, 76, 71-79. ■ moingeon, bernard, et bernard ramanantsoa 1995 l'apprentissage organisationnel : éléments pour une discussion, in chris argyris (ed.), savoir pour agir : surmonter les obstacles à l'apprentissage organisationnel, paris : intereditions. m@n@gement, vol. 3, no. 1, 2000, 1-30 30 ■ moisdon, jean-claude, et benoît weil 1992 groupes transversaux et coordination technique dans la conception d'un nouveau véhicule, cahiers de recherche du cgs, 3, paris : ecole des mines. ■ morin, edgar 1977 la méthode, tome 1 : la nature de la nature, paris : seuil. ■ nelson, richard r., and sydney g. winter 1982 an evolutionary theory of economic change, cambridge: harvard university press. ■ newell, allen, and herbert a. simon 1972 human problem solving, englewood cliffs: prentice hall. ■ nonaka, ikujiro 1990 redundant, overlapping organization: a japanese approach to managing the innovation process, california management review, 32:3, 27-38. ■ nonaka, ikujiro 1994 a dynamic theory of organizational knowledge creation, organization science, 5:1, 14-37. ■ norman, donald 1993 cognition in the head and in the world: an introduction to the special issue on situated action, cognitive science, 17:1, 1-6. ■ paraponaris, claude 1998 management par projets : le rôle des interactions professionnelles dans la constitution du savoir organisationnel, actes de la viième conférence internationale de management stratégique, louvain-la-neuve, mai. ■ purser, ronald, william pasmore, and ramkrishnan tenkasi 1992 the influence of deliberations on learning in new product development teams, journal of engineering and technology management, 9, 1-28. ■ senge, peter 1990 the leader's new work: building learning organizations, sloan management review, 32:1, 7-23. ■ senge, peter, art kleiner, charlotte roberts, richard ross, and bryan smith 1994 the fifth discipline fieldbook, newyork: currency doubleday. ■ suchman, lucy 1987 plans and situated action: the problem of human-machine communication, new-york: cambridge university press. ■ varela, francisco j., evan thomson, et eleanor rosch 1993 l'inscription corporelle de l'esprit, paris : seuil. ■ von krogh, georg, johan roos, and ken slocum 1994 an essay on corporate epistemology, strategic management journal, 15, 5371. ■ weick, karl e. 1995 sensemaking in organizations, thousand oaks: sage. ■ wenger, etienne 1998 communities of practice: learning, meaning and identity, new york: cambridge university press. ■ westley, frances r. 1990 middle managers and strategy: microdynamics of inclusion, strategic management journal, 11, 337-351. 06 unp 223 karakilic 2019 m@n@gement 2019, vol. 22(3): 496-506 acting up with hardt and negri: capitalism in the biopolitical context unplugged the critical corner emrah karakilic abstract. since the early 2000s, we have been witnessing the interpolation of the notion of biopolitics into the domain of radical thought. in this endeavour, hardt and negri’s contribution lies in locating the transformation of capitalism following its industrial form in the biopolitical context, which is largely attained through the infusion of marxist concepts (i.e. living labour and real subsumption) into profoundly modulated foucauldian concepts (i.e. biopolitics and biopower). the objective of this paper is to shed light on the key elements of hardt and negri’s philosophical and theoretical-political fusion between marx and foucault, whereby a promising argument is proposed for the subversive bodies who are eager to act up against the forces of capital, that is, the social powers of biopolitical production can no longer be contained in capitalist biopower. introduction michael hardt and antonio negri’s recent research programme is described by danilo zolo as ‘a philosophical and theoretical-political syntax … that trans-figures fundamental categories of marxism, interpolating them with elements drawn from a broad span of western philosophical literature’ (2008: 12). in particular, negri (2008a: 13) characterises his late research with hardt as a ‘hybrid’ between italian operaist marxism and the poststructuralist perspectives of french political philosophy, in which a prominent role is given to michel foucault. this hybrid, in my view, directs us towards an intellectually fruitful terrain as its implications are as much promising as they are controversial. in this short piece, it is not my objective to elaborate ‘a thousand roads that link the creative review of marxism to the revolutionary conception of biopolitics elaborated by foucault’ (negri, 2008b: 231). nor is it to discuss rabinow and rose’s (2006), toscano’s (2007), and lemke’s (2011) critique of hardt and negri’s reading of foucault in general, and of their appropriation of the concepts of biopolitics and biopower in a way which is in contradiction with foucault’s anti-totalising, anti-universal, nominalist methodology in particular. rather, my objective is to engage in hardt and negri’s philosophical and theoretical-political fusion in which a promising argument for the dissidents is developed: ‘capital no longer �496 emrah karakilic research fellow rsb lab, nottingham business school, nottingham trent university united kingdom emrah.karakilic@ntu.ac.uk m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 496-506 emrah karakilic succeeds in grasping the productivity of labour power; [capitalist] biopower is no longer able to hold back biopolitical productivity’ (negri, 2008b: 43). biopower versus biopolitics one of the axioms inscribed in foucault’s work is that where powers are continually made and remade, bodies resist. hardt and negri (2009) underline the dual nature of power as one of the distinguishing markers of foucault’s theory of power at large, which was developed in discipline and punish (1991) and the first volume of the history of sexuality (1990). in this duality of power, firstly, one is given the complex ways in which the disciplinary regimes exercise social command through a diffuse network of dispositifs, which might be thought of as the material, affective, and cognitive apparatuses that work on the production of subjectivity. secondly, one is immediately provided with “other to power” or even “another power” which remains categorically unnamed. the latter could be best defined, according to hardt and negri, ‘an alternative production of subjectivity, which not only resists power but also seeks autonomy from it’ (2009: 56). recognising that power in foucault is always double, negri and hardt invite readers to reconsider the concepts of biopower and biopolitics. the authors argue that ‘history cannot be understood merely as the horizon on which biopower configures reality through domination’ (hardt and negri, 2009: 31). there always flourish spaces of confrontation against the power that is imposed on subjects, that is, ‘the power over life’ (revel, 2002). in other words, the power that administers and produces life is continually confronted by a resistance which derives from the desire to feel, think, and exist differently. this resistance activating desire is defined as ‘power of life’ (hardt and negri, 2009: 57). hardt and negri thus expose the difference between two powers; biopower is separate in its form from the power of life with which we move towards emancipation. in order to stress this fundamental difference, hardt and negri adopt a terminological distinction between biopower and biopolitics which remained somewhat veiled in foucault : ‘the former could be defined as the power over life and 1 the latter as the power of life to resist and determine an alternative production of subjectivity’ (2009: 57). in my view, one can find more sophisticated approximation to biopolitics in negri’s reflections on empire (2008a). negri (2008a: 70-71) shows in the reflections that he is not unfamiliar with the way in which foucault initially formulates the notion of biopolitics, that is, a technology of power, that concerns itself (through governmental practices and localised rationalities of biopower) with governing the health, hygiene, nutrition, sexuality and fertility of a ‘population’, where population is understood as ‘an ensemble of coexisting living beings who present particular ontological/ biological features and whose life is susceptible to be controlled with the purpose of guaranteeing, via a better management of labour-power, an ordered growth of society’ (2008a: 71). in the same text, nevertheless, negri defends his own interpretation of biopolitics (and biopower) by underlining a tension within foucault’s works. negri argues that biopolitics within the early texts of foucault is delineated as a police science [polizeiwissenschaft], that is, the science of the maintenance of social order of populations. later, nevertheless, it �497 1. foucault uses biopolitics as a synonym for biopower in some texts, and yet he uses it as the opposite of biopower in others (see lemke, 2011). unplugged the critical corner m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 496-506 comes to ‘mark the moment of surpassing public law, and therefore every political function that lies within the traditional state-society dichotomy’ (negri, 2008a: 72). biopolitics, in other words, denotes ‘a political economy of life in general’, ‘a general fabric that covers the entire relationship between state and society’ (negri, 2008a: 72). the emergence of this second perspective, according to negri, drives us to a t-junction: ‘should we think of biopolitics as an ensemble of biopowers that derive from the activity of government or, on the contrary, can we say that, to the extent that power has invested the whole of life, thus life too becomes a power [potere]?’ (2008a: 72). negri turns to the second formulation and ‘lends the analytic of biopolitics the full ontological weight’ (toscano, 2007: 118). biopolitics is no longer viewed as ‘as an internal articulation of the governmental practices and rationalities of biopower’ (toscano, 2007: 114). on the contrary, it is recast as ‘a power expressed by life itself, not only in labour and language, but also in bodies, in affects, desires and sexuality’, that is, as ‘a sort of counter-power, of a potenza, a production of subjectivity that exists as a moment of de-subjectification’ (negri, 2008a: 72). let me quote a short passage from commonwealth to make (hardt and) negri’s position clearer: our reading not only identifies biopolitics with the localised productive powers of life –that is, the production of affects and languages through social cooperation and the interaction of bodies and desires, the invention of new forms of the relation to the self and others, and so forth – but also affirms biopolitics as the creation of new subjectivities that are presented at once as resistance and de-subjectification. (hardt and negri, 2009: 58-59) in this way, negri and hardt bring forward a polemical argument that biopolitics and biopower are actually within an antagonistic relationship, or better biopolitics is biopower’s antagonist: ‘history is determined by the biopolitical antagonisms and resistances to biopower’ (hardt and negri, 2009: 31). in other words, the entire development of humanity ‘is dominated by this insubordination of life (the power of life) against power (the domination of life)’ (negri, 2008c: 207). what we have here then is a distinction between the categories of biopower and biopolitics at a level which is not close to foucault’s own. negri speaks of biopower as ‘the big structures and functions of power’ imposing ‘command over life its technologies and its mechanisms of power [from the top]’ (2008a: 73). and, he speaks of biopolitics ‘when the critical analysis of command is done from the viewpoint of experiences of subjectivation and freedom, in short, from the bottom’ (2008a: 73-4). in brief, as toscano summarises, ‘biopower is on the side of subjection and control, while biopolitics is rethought in terms of subjectivity and freedom’ (2007: 118) .2 capitalism in biopolitical context hardt and negri’s research collaboration has been oriented towards locating the transformation of capitalist production following the industrial period on the biopolitical horizon. the key aspect of their project has been contained in the subjectivation of foucauldian concepts through their interpolation with marxian concepts, i.e. the infusion of marxist living � 498 2. we should note here that the transformation of these categories in this way also confirms negri’s position concerning the end of possibility of any sort of mediation and dialectic under the “real subsumption” under capital. in his 1 9 8 9 b o o k t h e p o l i t i c s o f subversion, negri openly declared that ‘mediation is dead. the production of goods takes place t h r o u g h d o m i n a t i o n . t h e relationship between production and reproduction, domination/ p r o fi t a n d r e s i s t a n c e / w a g e s cannot be harmonised’ (1989: 183). m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 496-506 emrah karakilic labour into foucauldian biopolitical labour, and marxist real subsumption 3 4 into foucauldian biopower. but, first and foremost, what does capitalism in biopolitical context mean? in the main, it designates the fabric of social production, defining the period of post-industrial capitalism. namely, it defines ‘cognitive capitalism’ (moulier-boutang, 2011; vercellone 2007) in which ‘capital … presents [itself] as biopower’ (negri, 2008b: 4). by biopolitical context, it is suggested, on the one hand, that ‘capitalist power has invested social relations in their entirety’ (2008b: 235). this precisely corresponds to ‘the total subjection of life to the economic political rules’ (2008b: 172). nevertheless, it is in this very context, on the other hand, that the totalitarian self-assertion of biopower is ‘no longer able to hold back biopolitical productivity … by new subjects and by new social and political configurations’ (2008b: 230-243). the biopolitical context is thus characterised by ‘capital’s wholesale invasion of life but, at the same time, by the resistance and reaction of [biopolitical] labour power against capital’ (2008b: 182). the biopolitical context is, therefore, ‘both a mark of the most endemic control and a sign of a new insurgency’ (toscano, 2007: 112). it is precisely in this biopolitical context that both the impasse and possibility of crossing the threshold of cognitive capitalism are intelligible. allow me to break this down a little. according to negri, capital in the contemporary capitalism expresses itself as biopower, to wit a eugenic command and control upon the entirety of life from top. it increasingly orients itself towards integrating the entire productive potential of subjects into valorisation process. capital, in other words, ‘traverses imperiously (and attempts to configure) all the moments which produce value’ (negri, 2008b: 75). and it does so by ‘regulating social life from its interior, following it, interpreting it, absorbing it, and rearticulating it’ (hardt and negri, 2000: 23). by capitalist biopower, then, one might think of ‘the power [of capital] that acts to destroy humanity in order to put it at the service of productivity and profit’ (negri, 2008b: 32). for the sake of accumulation ad infinitum, capital ‘invests the dimensions o f t h e e c o n o m i c , t h o s e o f t h e p o l i t i c a l , [ a n d ] t h o s e o f consciousness’ (2008b: 172, emphasis added). capitalist biopower is therefore ‘another name for the real subsumption of society under capital’ (hardt and negri, 2000: 365). the ”culmination” of real subsumption of society under capital corresponds to such a level of capitalist invasion that not only does it concern the synchronisation of industrial production with everyday life (i.e. social factory) but also capital’s attempt to subsume the social bios itself, that is, the ways of life, the mode of living: ‘the entire life made of needs and desires’ (negri, 1997: 37). in other words, it concerns the subsumption of all social forces under capital. at this level, hardt and negri argue, ‘there is nothing, no “naked life”, no external standpoint, that can be posed outside this field permeated by money; nothing escapes money [read as money-capital]’ (2000: 32). the tendency of capital’s invasion of bios, thebecoming-of-capital-biopower, has informed morini and fumagalli (2010), fumagalli (2011), and fumagalli and lucarelli (2011) to introduce the concept of biocapitalism, referring to ‘a process of accumulation that is … founded on the exploitation of the entirety of human faculties’ (morini and �499 3. for negri and operaismo, living labour is an ontological principle of production. living labour has a l w a y s a t e n d e n c y t o b e autonomous, engaging in the processes of self-valorisation. negri writes that ‘the theme p r o p o s e d b y m a r x i s t h e omniexpansive creativity of living labour. living labour constructs the world, creatively modelling, ex novo, the materials it touches… its projection on the world is ontological, its prostheses are ontological, its constructions are constructions of new being: the first result of this indefinite process is the construction of the subject’ (2002: 403). 4. marx uses the concepts of ‘formal subsumption of labour u n d e r c a p i t a l ’ a n d ‘ r e a l subsumption of labour under capital’ in the results of the i m m e d i a t e p r o c e s s o f production (1990: 1019-1038) to make a distinction between capitalist production proper ( t h e l a t t e r ) f r o m e a r l y mercantilist production (the former). however, in the same text, he highlights the the tendency of capitalism proper to invest the entire society beyond the factory, to wit the tendency of the subordination of social in its totality. unplugged the critical corner m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 496-506 fumagalli, 2010: 235). the formula of today’s capitalist production is polemically argued to be ‘the production of money by means of the commodification of bios, m-c(bios)-m’ (morini and fumagalli, 2010: 239). now, at this point, we must note that for the operaisti mode of thought, the constituent power is always anterior, that is, there is a primacy of proletarian subjectivity. the-becoming-of-capital-biopower is accordingly explained as ‘a consequence of the potent struggles [of the 1960s and 1970s] whereby insurgent multitudes have forced an increasingly polyvalent and microphysical response by capitalist power’ (toscano, 2007: 199). in more precise terms, the shift of power of capital into biopower is discerned as a response to the transformation of social ontology with the rise of the biopolitical production and its paradigmatic labouring figure, the monster . capital, in other words, has tendentially 5 come to express itself as biopower so as to command the emerging modality of social production, that is, biopolitical production, in which labour tends to create not only the means of social life but the social life itself, namely social relations, forms of life, and the subjectivity itself. ‘one might still conceive of economic production as an engagement of the subject with nature, a transformation of the object through labour, but increasingly the “nature” that biopolitical labour transforms is subjectivity itself’ (hardt and negri, 2009: 172). along the same lines, moulier-boutang argues that ‘whereas industrial capitalism could be characterised as the production of commodities by means of commodities, cognitive capitalism … produces living by means of the living. it is immediately production of life, and thus it is bioproduction’ (2011: 55). hardt and negri conceptualise the biopolitical context as a janusfaced notion, comprising of two unmediatable totalities: capitalist biopower and biopolitical production. when negri says that ‘biopolitical context is an extension of class struggle’ (2008a: 74), he does two things: first, he reaffirms that it was precisely the potent struggles of workers in the 1960s and 1970s that moved the production to the biopolitical horizon. second, more significantly, he speculatively offers that the social powers of biopolitical production can no longer be contained in capitalist biopower, and hence there is a growing rupture of capital into two antagonistic subjectivities. but, how does negri argue that capitalist biopower is no longer able to hold back biopolitical labour? the answer lies in the argument that biopolitical production increasingly exceeds the bounds set in its relation to capital. by excedence, one might envision two ideas. firstly, vercellone speaks of ‘the d r i v i n g r o l e o f t h e p r o d u c t i o n o f k n o w l e d g e s b y m e a n s o f knowledges’ (2007: 16) and argues that ‘the labour-force’s capacity for learning and creativity replaces fixed capital as the key factor in accumulation’ (2013: 435). he summarises the great mutation from industrial capitalism to cognitive capitalism in the following formula: ‘we pass from the static management of resources to the dynamic management of [the set of] knowledges’ (2007: 33). that is to say, the knowledge mobilised by living labour is now hegemonic with regard to the knowledge incorporated in dead labour. this signifies the increasing importance of living knowledge of labour over dead knowledge of capital. along the same lines, moulier-boutang writes that ‘the essential point is no longer the expenditure of human labour-power, but that of invention-power: � 500 5. ‘the monster becomes the real political and technical subject of the production of commodities and reproduction of life. the monster has become biopolitical … he is no longer a margin, a residue, a leftover: he is internal, totalising m o v e m e n t , a s u b j e c t . h e expresses power’ (negri, 2008c: 206-7). m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 496-506 emrah karakilic the living know-how that cannot be reduced to machines’ (2011: 32). this indicates that the living knowledge of labour has to be continuously mobilised and managed by capital. therefore, on the one side, we affirm that capital desires to set in motion and absorb the living knowledge of labour, on which the value and wealth increasingly rest. on the other side, however, labour in a knowledge-based production is not crystallised in a final product that is then divorced from the producer. for example, a research article, code, design, analysis, solution, etc. is different from a car, furniture, textile product, etc. because they cannot be divorced from the worker as these products keep residing in the living subjects who produced them in the first place. therefore, biopolitical labour tendentially overflows the subsumption mechanisms set by capitalist biopower. secondly, and in a direct connection with the first argument, in industrial capitalism, which finds its fulfilment in the taylorist-fordist production process, one’s innovative, creative, technical capacities are rigorously confined to the specific production space. consider, for instance, an assembly line worker working in a cable assembly factory. the whole ensemble of technological and mechanical knowledge the worker has accumulated through her/his lifetime are hardly put into work, and more significantly, those put into work are almost exclusively site specific (e.g. the factory workshop). however, the production of immaterial products or immaterial elements of material products (e.g. their symbolic, aesthetic, and social value) immediately mobilises workers to actualise and develop their creative, intellectual, communicative, know-how, cooperative, and alike capacities. furthermore, the fruits of biopolitical labour power, which cannot be confined by corporate walls, exceed work and spill over different spheres of life (as economists call externalities), and they begin to produce the common forms of wealth. this is point where one might begin to envision the linkage between excedence of biopolitical labour power and the accumulation of its fruits in the common. de angelis (2004),  hardt and negri (2004, 2009),  fuchs (2010), hardt (2011), and vercellone (2017) have theorised  biopolitical production with its connection to the concept of common. what is meant by the common? typically, the common denotes the wealth of nature (e.g. earth, water, air, elements, animal life) to be shared by all humanity. in other words, the common refers to the natural world, harbouring the natural resources, outside of society. by a fair extension, the common also denotes ‘those results of social production that are necessary for social interaction and further production’ (hardt and negri, 2009: viii, emphasis added). the concept of common thus permeates equally all spheres of life, blurring the division between nature and culture, referring not only to the fruits of nature shared by human beings but also, and above all, to the artificial common(s): the creative, social, knowledge common(s); for example, the languages we construct, the knowledge we create, the social practices we enact. according to this second formulation, the common makes an appearance both at the beginning (as a presupposition) and at the end (as an outcome) of biopolitical production. to put it more precisely, the common consists of both the results, as well as the means of biopolitical production. in terms of being the presupposition, it might appear convincingly in mind that biopolitical labour performs, and it can actually only perform only on the terrain of common. indeed, no one produces all alone but only within and through the spectres of the others’ past and �501 unplugged the critical corner m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 496-506 present existence. consider, for example, the production of ideas, knowledge, solutions, images, codes, language, and so forth. these products cannot really be produced by such a persona of “genius” in an ivory tower, that is, by a human being who is entirely isolated from the accumulated common intellect.  marx elegantly notes that knowledge and such products are ‘universal labour’, that is, ‘brought about partly by the cooperation of men now living, but partly also by building on earlier work’ (1992: 199). as hardt and negri maintain, ‘our common knowledge is the foundation of all new production of knowledge; linguistic community is the basis of all linguistic innovation; … and our common social image bank makes possible the creation of new images’ (2004: 148). the workers then must have an open-direct access to the common intellect in order to produce. this open-direct access to the common is essential for one’s creativity, productivity, and more importantly for the realisation of one’s potentiality. the outcome of biopolitical production, on the other side, exceeds and accrues to the common that then becomes a condition for the expanded production. the results of biopolitical production are not identical to material products, for they immediately tend towards being common through their circulation in social, cultural, and digital networks. gorz argues that when knowledge is produced and diffused, ‘it no longer has proprietors’ (1997: 18, my translation). from the perspective of economics, moulier-boutang argues that today scarcity is no longer fatal. what we witness is that the ‘digital world restores abundance that had been destroyed partly or fully by industrial organisation of scarcity of commons’ (2013: 86). in other words, since the results of biopolitical production can be coded in the digital media, reproduced, and delivered virtually at zero marginal cost, we may speak of the inversion of scarcity of commons in terms of immaterial products. so, what we have here is a sort of virtuous cycle which is typical of biopolitical production process. workers in biopolitical labour, through working on the accumulated common forms of wealth, create new commons which, in turn, becomes the base (i.e. raw materials) for expanded production. fuchs (2010) upholds that all humans benefit from the commons: the present generation works on the commons produced in the past and then hands over the enriched commons to the future generation. from what we have noted until now, we can discern another aspect of biopolitical production. consider, for instance, the production of scientific knowledge. the potential outcome in our case might be a journal paper, monograph, conference speech, series of lectures, accruing to the general intellect and, at the same time, contributing to the ground basis for the production of further scientific knowledge. we have already pointed this out. in addition, the production of scientific knowledge necessitates, by its nature, engagement in communication, cooperation, collaboration, affective relation etc. between researchers, students, supervisors, editors, reviewers, and fellow academicians. marx writes that ‘communal labour … simply involves the direct cooperation of individuals’ (1992: 199).  no scientific knowledge, no idea, no computer code, no natural language, no artificial language, no authorship etc. can be produced without this sort of engagement. from this point of view, the common appears at the centre as well. that is to say, the biopolitical production is increasingly conducted in the common. in this respect, negri puts that: � 502 m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 496-506 emrah karakilic we assume not only that value is constructed within social production (which is obvious), but also that social production today presents itself in a manner which increasingly has the quality of the common, in other words as a multiplicity of increasingly cooperative activities within the process of production. (2008a: 183) to sum up, the general outlines of the technical composition and excedence of biopolitical labour indicate the growing autonomy of the labour process. first, the workers of diffuse intellectuality tend to get direct access to the common where the raw materials of production are located. they work on it in cooperation and collaboration and produce a new product that leans towards the common, which facilitates tomorrow’s production. in addition, hardt and negri recognise that ‘labour itself tends to produce the means of interaction, communication, and cooperation for production directly’ (2004: 147). producers, in this context, are virtually in no need of a figure from “outside” (e.g. so-called leaders, capital owners, board of directors, shareholders, state representatives) that would administer the design, surveillance, and control, or better “management” of the labour process. production tendentially reveals itself as a sort of shared; a common process inasmuch as the essential aspects of economic production no longer have to be made available by an “outsider” because these aspects increasingly flourish internally within the networks of production (i.e. by-product). conclusion: a political opening in today’s capitalism, hardt and negri bring forward, the economic production is biopolitical and increasingly conducted in the common. in this regard, vercellone (2010) asserts that the functions and responsibilities associated with ‘capital ownership’ and ‘functionary capital’ (marx, 1992) increasingly vanish from the production process as superfluous. there appears a widening breach within capital-labour relation which reveals itself as a political opening, or kairos (i.e. the opportune moment of breaking the chronological time of repetitiveness). the emergence of kairos allows us to think of the ultimate project of exodus, that is, ‘the process of subtraction from the relationship with capital by means of actualising the potential autonomy of labour-power’ (hardt and negri, 2009: 152-3). it consists in the refusal of capitalist biopower and its subsuming apparatuses. it concerns the transformation of the relationship of production and mode of social organization under which we live -and mostly suffer. but, who can organise the project of exodus in the direction of emancipation? the answer lies in the biopolitical character of today’s economic production. it might be read as bio-political in the sense that the qualities, capacities, abilities of the workers and the activities these workers perform in the process of production (e.g. the cooperation, collaboration, and communication of singularities in the common) are immediately political -perhaps, in the hannah arendt-ian sense. on this aspect, hardt and negri state that: in the biopolitical context … the production of ideas, images, codes, languages, knowledges, affects, and the like, through horizontal networks of communication and cooperation, tends toward the autonomous production of the common, which is to say, the production and reproduction of forms of life. and the production and �503 unplugged the critical corner m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 496-506 reproduction of forms of life is a very precise definition of political action. (2009: 364) it is, at the same time, understood as bio-political, in the sense that what is produced is not objects for subjects but the subjectivity itself which is not quite separable from the political realm. the productive activity in the biopolitical context, therefore, might be conceptualised as ‘a political act of self-making’ (hardt and negri, 2009: 175). in industrial production, the means of cooperation (largely vertical) were provided by the owners of means of production, labour was subsumed under capital in real terms, and labour was not sovereign. marx writes that: the co-operation of wage-labourers is entirely brought about by the capital that employs them. their unification into one single productive body, and the establishment of a connection between their individual functions, lies outside their competence. these things are not their own act, but the act of capital that brings them together and maintains them in that situation … an industrial army of workers under the command of a capitalist requires, like a real army, officers (managers) and n.c.o.s (foremen, overseers), who command during the labour process in the name of capital. (marx, 1990: 449-450) in today’s production, however, labour creates cooperative encounters, it is increasingly more autonomous, and the networks of cooperation are horizontal. these are only some of the relevant aspects of economic production that suggest that today workers can actually “do” without the governance, surveillance, and control of managers; they can organise the production process within and through the common by using their own means of interaction, collaboration, communication, cooperation, and so forth. workers, in other words, have all the capacities for reversal and creating alternative forms of producing and living. however, we must always bear in mind that the political opening just signals the possibility of a new political composition of labour. the democratic and political potentiality of biopolitical labour never culminates in the organisation of exodus in an abrupt manner. the potential has to be transformed into actu by the means of political action and organisation. the ultimate desire is emancipation through the process of subtraction from capitalist biopower. exodus, in contemporary capitalism, is promising only with the protection and expansion of the common and the means of political action and organisation. � 504 m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 496-506 emrah karakilic references de angelis, m. (2004).separating the doing and the deed: capital and the continuous character of enclosures. historical materialism, 12(2), 57–87. fuchs c (2010). labor in informational capitalism and on the internet. the information society, 26(3), 179–196. foucault, m. (1990), the history of sexuality, vol. 1: an introduction, new york: vintage books. foucault, m. (1991), discipline and punish: the birth of the prison, harmondsworth: penguin. fumagalli, a. (2011).twenty theses on contemporary capitalism (cognitive biocapitalism). angelaki, 16(3), 7–17. fumagalli, a. & lucarelli, s. (2011). valorization and financialisation in cognitive biocapitalism. investment management and financial innovation, 8(1), 88–103. gorz, a. (1997), misères du present, richesses du possible, paris: galilée. hardt, m. (2011) reclaim the common in communism. t h e g u a r d i a n , 3 f e b r u a r y. a v a i l a b l e a t : www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/feb/03/ c o m m u n i s m c a p i t a l i s m s o c i a l i s m p r o p e r t y (accessed 1 july 2019). hardt, m. & negri, a. (2000), empire, cambridge, ma: harvard university press. hardt, m. & negri, a. (2004), multitude: war and democracy in the age of empire, new york: penguin. hardt, m. & negri, a. (2009), commonwealth, cambridge, ma: harvard university press. lemke, t. (2011), biopolitics: an advanced introduction, new york: new york university press. marx, k. (1990), capital: a critique of political economy, v. 1, london: penguin. marx, k. (1992), capital: a critique of political economy, v. 3, london: penguin. morini, c. & fumagalli, a. (2010). life put to work: towards a life theory of value. ephemera, 10(3/4), 234–252. moulier-boutang, y. (2011), cognitive capitalism, cambridge: polity. moulier-boutang, y. (2013). is the cup of struggle on the battle of intellectual property rights half full or half void? a question of method and some concrete consequences. knowledge cultures, 1(4), 84–98. negri, a. (1989), the politics of subversion: a manifesto for the twenty-first century, cambridge: polity. negri, a. (1992), il potere costituente. saggio sulle alternative del moderno, rome: manifestolibri. negri, a. (1997). reappropriations of public space. common sense, 21, 31-40. negri, a. (2008a), reflections on empire, cambridge: polity. negri, a. (2008b), empire and beyond, cambridge: polity. negri, a. (2008c) the political monster: power and naked life. in a. negri & c. casarino, praise of the common: a conversation on philosophy and politics (pp. 193-219). minneapolis: university of minneapolis press. rabinow, p. & rose, n. (2006). biopower today. biosocieties, 1(2), 195–217.  revel, j. (2002), dictionnaire foucault, paris: ellipses. toscano, a. (2007) always already only now: negri and the biopolitical. in t.s murphy & a.k mustapha (eds.), the philosophy of antonio negri: revolution in theory (pp. 109–129). london: pluto press. vercellone, c. (2007) from formal subsumption to general intellect: elements for a marxist reading of the thesis of cognitive capitalism. historical materialism, 15(1), 13–36. vercellone, c. (2013) from the mass-worker to cognitive labour: historical and theoretical considerations. in m. linder m. & k.h roth (eds.), beyond marx: theorising the global labour relations of the twenty-first century (pp. 417-45). leiden: koninklijke brill nv. vercellone, c. (2017) the common as a mode of p r o d u c t i o n . i n a c o n f e r e n c e b y the research centre on labour and global produc tion at queen mary university of london. available at: generation-online.org/c/fc_rent14.htm (accessed 7 february 2019). zolo, d. (2008) a conversation about empire. in a. negri, reflections on empire (pp. 11-32). cambridge: polity. �505 https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/feb/03/communism-capitalismsocialism-property http://generation-online.org/c/fc_rent14.htm unplugged the critical corner m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 496-506 acknowledgments: the author would like to thank to the editors of m@n@gement in general, and the editor of unplugged section, olivier germain, in particular for accepting such a speculative piece. i also would like to thank my colleague natalie toms (miss nando) who proofread the text. � 506 192bernardeng marie-josée bernard em lyon business school m.j.bernard@em-lyon.com saulo dubard barbosa em lyon business school barbosa@em-lyon.com resilience and entrepreneurship: a dynamic and biographical approach to the entrepreneurial act marie-josée bernard � saulo dubard barbosa abstract. resilience in the literature of entrepreneurship is largely presented as a personality trait of the entrepreneur. our approach is to study it as a process and to explore in detail the role that a resilience dynamic can play in the decision to become an entrepreneur. we recorded the life stories of three resilient entrepreneurs and analysed in detail their experiences, which include a total of 206 critical events. from this analysis, we have drawn up a model based on trauma theory as a trigger of the resilience process, highlighting the key elements that feed this process. we note that several of these elements are precursors to the entrepreneurial initiative: resilience mentors offer the emotional support necessary to enable the individual to build a social network; commitment to action enables experiences and interactions that are a source of learning; interim victories and self-esteem work bring the legitimacy and self-confidence that are indispensable to becoming an entrepreneur later on. finally, the search for meaning and coherence highlights the gaps between the personal values of the individual and the managerial practices of the employer organisation, thereby contributing to encouraging the individual towards entrepreneurship and shaping his or her business start-up project. thus our study demonstrates that the resilience dynamic can play a multidimensional role at the interface of causal factors leading to entrepreneurship. ! to date, literature in the field of entrepreneurship has understood the concept of resilience as a response to a difficult or even extreme context (danes, lee, amarapurkar, stafford, haynes & brewton, 2009), or otherwise as a personality trait, quality or ability of the entrepreneur (hayward, forster, sarasvathy & fredrickson, 2010). whilst studies of entrepreneurship use the concept of resilience in a more or less nuanced way, it is viewed in most studies as a form of emotional and cognitive ability that is useful for the entrepreneur, particularly when bouncing back after failures connected to their entrepreneurial initiative. resilience is thus considered an asset when facing difficulties and not as a dynamic driving force of sufficient strength to be considered the catalyst for starting out on the entrepreneurial process itself. the result is a burgeoning body of literature that, until recently, has studied the impact of resilience on entrepreneurship whilst underestimating the aspect of process and evolution in relation to resilience in the life trajectory of individuals. ! this paper aims to study resilience as a dynamic process, by questioning its role in the decision to become an entrepreneur. we thus focus on the resilience dynamic sparked by significant life events, causing trauma, and occurring prior to the decision to embark on an entrepreneurial m@n@gement 2016, vol. 19(2): 89-123 89 mailto:m.j.bernard@em-lyon.com%0d?subject= mailto:m.j.bernard@em-lyon.com%0d?subject= mailto:m.j.bernard@em-lyon.com%0d?subject= mailto:m.j.bernard@em-lyon.com%0d?subject= mailto:barbosa@em-lyon.com?subject= mailto:barbosa@em-lyon.com?subject= project. it is clear that not all entrepreneurs are resilient and that it is not necessary to go through a process of resilience (or to have experienced a traumatic event) in order to become an entrepreneur. however, the works of albert shapero on the concept of displacement (shapero, 1975; shapero & sokol, 1982) suggest that certain critical events relating to the life contexts of individuals can drive them to the decision to become entrepreneurs and to take action. in order to further understanding of the socio-psychological factors linking displacement and the decision to become an entrepreneur, a focus on the processes of resilience can create new theoretical points of reference in order to better place each displacement within the life trajectory of individuals. thus, we hope to contribute to the study of the decision to become an entrepreneur and engagement in the entrepreneurial process by exploring the following question: what role can the resilience dynamic play in triggering the decision to become an entrepreneur? ! we explore this question through a study of three “revelatory” (as described by gioia, corley & hamilton, 2013) life stories, from three entrepreneurs whose evolution we followed and whom we interviewed regularly from 2006 to 2010. we present a complete study of these three life stories, which we encoded with reference to both themes and concepts. we thus develop a model that highlights the key factors in the resilience process, including its origins, development and the key factors contributing to the decision to become an entrepreneur. ! the notion of process is at the centre of our study because it is an idea that is relevant to all the major concepts upon which we draw. firstly, we look at resilience as a dynamic process of absorbing a shock that has been experienced, of putting oneself back together, and of producing meaning from an experience, all through interactions with one’s environment, which is a support and aide to the dynamic itself (anaut, 2005; charreire petit & cusin, 2013; cyrulnik & duval, 2006). subsequently, we explore the role of this dynamic in triggering the decision to become an entrepreneur. despite differences in how it is defined, researchers in the field agree on the fact that entrepreneurship is a process (fayolle, 2007; gartner, 1985; shane, 2012; shane & venkataraman, 2000; steyaert & hjorth, 2007; verstraete & fayolle, 2004). for example, bygrave (1989: 21) affirms: “entrepreneurship is a process of becoming rather than a state of being.” bruyat (1993) distinguishes three main stages of the entrepreneurial process, namely, the triggering of the process, commitment or taking action, and the survival/failure/development phase. our focus on the initial decision to become an entrepreneur aims to illuminate the first phases of the entrepreneurial process, particularly the moment it is triggered, in order to better “understand the dynamics leading an individual to move to an active phase of development of a business start-up project” (bruyat, 1993: 299). ! by investigating the role played by the resilience dynamic in the triggering of the decision to become an entrepreneur, this paper complements other research studies which are starting to open up to a more dynamic approach to resilience in the field of management. for example, a process-oriented and dynamic vision of resilience is very present in the study of organisational resilience (altintas & royer, 2009; bégin & chabaud, 2010; hollnagel, journé & laroche, 2009; merminod, mothe & rowe, 2009; tillement, cholez & reverdy, 2009) and the individual trajectories of whistle-blowers (charreire petit & cusin, 2013). in entrepreneurship, a collective work coordinated by martine brasseur (2009) started to evoke the concept of a resilience dynamic within the specific perspective of social inclusion. bernard (2008) suggests a m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 89-123 marie-josée bernard & saulo dubard barbosa 90 1. charreire petit & cusin (2013) analyse the trajectory of resilience of footballer jacques glassmann since his whistle-blowing incident in 1993. we allowed the subjects of our study to choose freely the temporal framework of their life story accounts during our interviews so they were able to come back spontaneously to events in their childhood. “theoretical meeting” between entrepreneurship and the resilience dynamic. moreover, a number of researchers have taken an interest in narrative approaches in order to study entrepreneurial phenomena (gartner, 2007; garud & giuliani, 2013), given the importance of the diachronic and synchronic dimensions of the entrepreneurial process (bygrave, 1989; bruyat, 1993; fayolle, 2007; gartner, 1985, 1990; shane, 2012; steyaert & hjorth, 2007).  ! this paper is structured in the following way: in the first section, we revisit the theoretical underpinnings of the concept of resilience in the relevant literature from the field of psychology and present its principal applications with regard to the literature on entrepreneurship. we then lay down the conceptual basis that will be developed and completed by our empirical study, with a detailed explanation of our methodology given in the second section. the third section sets out the results of our study, presenting the model of the resilience process that we created through the analysis of the three life journeys studied. we conclude this article with a thorough discussion of the contributions of the study, as well as its limitations and future research pathways which may stem from it in literature dealing with entrepreneurship. t h e o r e t i c a l b a s i s o f r e s i l i e n c e a n d i t s applications in entrepreneurship ! the origin of the concept of resilience is to be found in the physics of materials. within this framework of reference, resilience describes “the resistance of materials subjected to a forceful shock and a structure’s capacity to absorb the kinetic energy of its environment without breaking” (dictionnaire robert). ! the concept of resilience was then “invested” by the field of psychology in the 1950s with the first studies by emmy werner, and her publications of 1971. since then, literature in the field of social sciences has seen a profusion of studies relating to the theme of resilience, which reflect the lack of consensus that persists to this day on the definition of the concept (luthar, cicchetti & becker, 2000; mccubbin, 2001). however, a certain number of writers believe that the definition of resilience must absolutely include two essential conditions, namely: exposure to a context of adversity corresponding to a serious threat, a significant source of stress, a trauma, and secondly, a positive adaptation translating into some sort of evolution, despite the risks taken and obstacles to development (bonanno, 2012; luthar et al., 2000; masten & coatsworth, 1998; mccubbin, 2001; théorêt, 2005). ! charreire petit & cusin (2013) have identified different definitions of resilience in the literature and use three dimensions in their study: absorption of shocks sustained, reconstruction, particularly in the professional sphere, and the production of meaning from the situation experienced. we also use these dimensions in our research whilst taking into account the complete life stories of the people studied1. ! in the literature of psychology the different approaches to resilience can be grouped into three major research threads which have developed contrasting positions: the first is highly focussed on the study of conditions for emergence of resilience, in terms of risk factors and protection factors and the dynamic of these factors (garmezy 1991; rutter, 2006; werner, bierman, & french, 1971; werner & smith, 1982); the second is concerned with resilience in terms of personality traits, abilities and behaviour of resilience and entrepreneurship m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 89-123 91 individuals (bonanno, 2004; gunnar, 1978; joubert & raeburn, 1998; poilpot, 1999); the third centres on the intrapsychic dimension of resilience and interactions with the environment, which acts as an aide and support of the dynamic itself (anaut, 2005; cyrulnik & duval, 2006; lecomte et al., 2005). we note that, to date, the two first approaches have been used in entrepreneurship literature but the third is much less studied. resilience in the literature of entrepreneurship ! in order to carry out our literature review on the concept of resilience in entrepreneurship, we have used two simple heuristics. firstly, we searched for academic articles dealing explicitly with the concept of resilience in the field of entrepreneurship. subsequently, in view of our research question, we concentrated on articles dealing with the phases preceding the entrepreneurial process, which bring to light the different ways of triggering the process whilst implicitly or explicitly evoking concepts close to the notion of resilience. this method allowed us to identify two major categories of approaches to resilience in entrepreneurship literature: those that favour the concept of trait, ability or quality; and those that put forward the contextual dimension by seeing resilience as a response to an extremely difficult situation. ! a third branch of research studying reactions to entrepreneurial failure also uses concepts close to the notion of resilience (such as coping, stress and resistance) but does not explicitly deal with this idea and focusses, by definition, on the later phases of the entrepreneurial process (byrne et shepherd, 2015; jenkins, wiklund & brundin, 2014; shepherd, 2003; shepherd, patzelt & wolfe, 2011). as a result, we will not cover these studies here. neither will we deal with works referring to the concept of resilience or coping in the context of career management (arora & rangnekar, 2014; baker caza & milton, 2012; mclarnon & rothstein, 2013; nandkeolyar, shaffer, li, ekkirala & bagger, 2014), which are largely removed from our research question and the field of entrepreneurship. ! appendix a gives an overview highlighting the main approaches to the concept of resilience in entrepreneurship literature. none of these studies elucidate the mechanisms of resilience, resilience is simply identified in different forms. the definitions of different facets of resilience, as a cognitive and emotional capacity, carry with them the key assumption that resilience comprises a positive ability: namely, the ability to adapt to risky or highly stressful situations. the concept of resilience is therefore seen as a personality trait2 associated with other positive traits, but stripped of context and any process-related dimension. these works tend to neglect the dynamic aspect of the psychological and vital process that resilience represents. ! concerning the works that approach resilience as a response to a difficult situation, they often tend to make an amalgam between what is described as a context of adversity and the term “resilient”. for example, there is a wealth of literature on the economic resilience of regions, defined by their capacity to deal with economic crises (huggins et thompson, 2015; williams & vorley, 2014). most of these works do not analyse the individual and neglect studies on resilience from the field of psychology. the term “resilience” becomes a simple qualifier for regions and companies capable of surmounting the crisis. ! finally, even works that focus on the psychology of the entrepreneur (such as those by bullough & renko, 2013, and bullough et al., 2014) conclude by presenting resilience as a quality and positive emotion. whilst this view may certainly be interesting, it very often neglects the essential m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 89-123 marie-josée bernard & saulo dubard barbosa 92 2. the first phrase of the article by manzanogarcia & ayala calvo (2013) is telling: “an entrepreneur is an individual with a special gift…” (p. 245). historical dimension of the occurrence of trauma and its consequences in the process of reconstruction of the individual (cyrulnik & seron, 2003; ferrenczi, 1934/2006). the concept of displacement: a precursor of resilience in the field of entrepreneurship ! whilst the main research threads linked to the concept of resilience in entrepreneurship do not take enough interest in the dynamic aspect and the role of the resilience process in the phases preceding the decision to become an entrepreneur, it should be noted that the studies developed by shapero and colleagues (shapero, 1975, 1982; shapero & sokol, 1982) represent an exception. according to shapero (1982), significant life events (such as a job loss, migration, family-related events, etc.) can trigger the decision to become an entrepreneur. in such contexts, the individuals have not necessarily changed, but their perceptions of “new” circumstances have evolved. the entrepreneurial potential may be present, but it requires a “displacement” in order to show itself. ! indeed, shapero uses the term “displacement” to show that the occurrence of a significant phenomenon, positive or negative, could trigger the decision to become an entrepreneur. when he talks about an individual delaying the move towards entrepreneurship, shapero cites difficult situations experienced either in the professional sphere or in social or family life, or even happier circumstances relating to encouragement to realise other ambitions. the typology of events/displacements presented by shapero certainly constitutes a source of information worthy of further attention in seeking to understand the triggering of the decision to choose entrepreneurship. ! however, this typology only presents the event/displacement in a descriptive dimension. in fact, shapero only considers a few possible events, rarely their intensity, and never the resilience mechanisms that assist the individual in getting on with life and moving past the displacements through transforming them. in his works, the concept of event is dealt with in a contextual and “exogenous” way, even if shapero offers the view that: “some displacements are internal to the entrepreneur in that they are generated without reference to anything but the passage of time” (1982: 72). ! studies on entrepreneurial intention draw on certain elements of shapiro’s model, notably in order to combine them with the theory of planned behaviour (krueger, 1993; krueger, reilly, & carsrud, 2000). nonetheless, in most of these works, the concept of displacement is left aside. determinants on entrepreneurial intention are thus understood in terms of individual attitudes and perceptions in relation to social norms and the control the individual might have over the results of their action (ajzen, 1991, 2002; krueger & carsrud, 1993), and in terms of perceived feasibility and desirability (krueger et al., 2000). consequently, these studies place emphasis on the individual (or social) characteristics that contribute to increasing or decreasing entrepreneurial intent, but only rarely touch on the move to act and not at all on past trauma and the resilience dynamic that may well trigger this move to act. ! in order to study in greater depth those resilience mechanisms that may potentially contribute to the transformation of a difficulty or displacement into an entrepreneurial act, we look at the personal history of individuals, the critical events of their lives and the way they have experienced them. we therefore recorded information on the life stories of three entrepreneurs who experienced a significant trauma in their childhood followed by different types of adversity all through their lives. we resilience and entrepreneurship m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 89-123 93 then questioned the role played by the resilience dynamic in their decision to become entrepreneurs. research method ! in view of our research question, we employed a qualitative and longitudinal method for the study of the life trajectories of our three resilient entrepreneurs. this method encouraged moving back and fourth between the chosen subject area and literature relating to the concepts covered. it is inspired by “grounded theory” (glaser & strauss, 1967; strauss & corbin, 1998). we also adopted a biographical approach, which requires compiling extremely detailed information on the life stories of the chosen subjects in order to better understand the process studied in a longitudinal way. choice of participants ! in the spirit of “theoretical sampling” (glaser & strauss, 1967), we selected entrepreneurs likely to provide us with a wealth of material, who clearly highlight the relationships between the concepts of resilience and entrepreneurship (this choice was the subject of numerous in-depth discussions with dr. cyrulnik). for us, it was essential to find “revealing” cases in the sense employed by gioia et al. (2013), i.e., cases presenting a strong potential in terms of shedding new light on a little-studied phenomenon (langley & abdallah, 2011), namely, the role of the resilience process in triggering the decision to become an entrepreneur. ! to begin with, the individuals interviewed first met with the lead author in a pedagogical context and their progress through the stages of their business start-up project (preceding phases, start-up phase, and development phase for the longest-running project) was then followed (more or less) closely. having ensured that a prior agreement was reached with regard to the suggested procedure, the lead author commenced a series of interviews with each entrepreneur. as the interviews progressed, the interviewees confided their experiences to the interviewer and made connections naturally between their current projects and significant life events, including those from their early childhood. ! the extreme delicacy required in asking the interviewees to speak as openly as possible about the significant events in their lives, including the most difficult, should be highlighted as the concept of resilience was clearly presented from the beginning of the study. thanks to the trust established previously with the lead author, whose professional ethics were checked by the three entrepreneurs, the interviewees agreed to make themselves available to allow us to carry out the different stages of our work in terms of gathering information about their life experiences. table 1 below details the profiles of the study’s participants. gathering information and recording life experiences ! recording of interviews was carried out by the lead author. she undertook six to eight interviews in successive stages with each interviewee, totalling between nine and twelve interview hours per person, not counting the many informal discussions resulting from the interviews. from the start of the study, she maintained regular contact with each interviewee at every stage of development and data processing. m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 89-123 marie-josée bernard & saulo dubard barbosa 94 ta bl e 1. o ve rv ie w o f e nt re pr en eu rs ' p ro fil es a nd th e bu si ne ss es c re at ed ta bl e 1. o ve rv ie w o f e nt re pr en eu rs ' p ro fil es a nd th e bu si ne ss es c re at ed ta bl e 1. o ve rv ie w o f e nt re pr en eu rs ' p ro fil es a nd th e bu si ne ss es c re at ed ta bl e 1. o ve rv ie w o f e nt re pr en eu rs ' p ro fil es a nd th e bu si ne ss es c re at ed li fe s to ry 1 to m as li fe s to ry 2 – m at hi eu li fe s to ry 3 – yv es n um be r o f i nt er vi ew s (a ve ra ge du ra tio n: 1 .5 h ou rs ) s ep te m be r 2 00 6 to j an ua ry 2 00 7: 4 s ep te m be r t o d ec em be r 2 00 7: 3 s ta rt of 2 00 8: 1 s ep te m be r 2 00 6 to j an ua ry 2 00 7: 3 s ep te m be r t o d ec em be r 2 00 7: 3 s ta rt of 2 00 8: 1 s ep te m be r 2 00 6 to j an ua ry 2 00 7: 3 s ep te m be r t o d ec em be r 2 00 7: 2 s ta rt of 2 00 8: 1 o rig in al tr au m at ic e ve nt s ill ne ss w ith lo ng -te rm h os pi ta lis at io n d is ab ili ty a ba nd on m en t – b irt h in a w ar -z on e – e xi le a do pt io n w ith m is tre at m en t s ep ar at io n an d di st an ce a fte r y ou ng er b ro th er ’s b irt h im po ss ib ili ty o f g oi ng to s ec on da ry s ch oo l d iffi cu lt fa m ily c on te xt : d is cr im in at io n am on gs t si bl in gs , f at he r’s a lc oh ol is m n at ur e of re si lie nc e as it fi rs t ap pe ar ed fa m ily re la tio ns h ig hle ve l s po rts in vo lv em en t i n sp or ts a ss oc ia tio n im po rta nc e of h is o w n fa m ily r el ig io us a nd s pi rit ua l in vo lv em en t i n as so ci at io n an d so ci al d im en si on im po rta nc e of o w n fa m ily in ve st m en t i n pr of es si on al tr ai ne es hi p in vo lv em en t i n po lit ic s an d as so ci at io n c re at io n of e nt re pr en eu ria l a ct iv iti es p at er na l r es po ns ib ili ty p re -e nt re pr en eu rs hi p tra in in g d ou bl e en gi ne er in g di pl om a, w ith sp ec ia lis at io n in it a nd a pp lie d m at he m at ic s. b us in es s sc ho ol fo llo w ed b y re la te d tra in in g at th e in s e a d a nd a t t he im d . “s el f-t au gh t” b e p in e le ct ric s – in -c om pa ny m an ag em en t t ra in in g w ith la rg e co m pa ny – d u (u ni ve rs ity d ip lo m a) in a dd ic tio n st ud ie s p re -c re at io n re sp on si bi lit y m an ag em en t o f i t de pa rtm en t a nd o th er po st s w ith re sp on si bi lit y, n ot ab ly in b an ki ng or ga ni sa tio ns . n um be r 2 p os iti on in a la rg e m ul tin at io na l r eg io na l m an ag em en t e xe cu tiv e m an ag er a ge a t t im e of b us in es s st ar t-u p 44 33 54 ye ar o f s ta rtup 20 04 20 06 20 00 c om pa ny a ct iv ity r ec ru itm en t a nd c on su lta nc y fo r t he em pl oy m en t o f p eo pl e w ith d is ab ili tie s: th e co m pa ny a im s to a ss is t o th er b us in es se s to re cr ui t d is ab le d w or ke rs a nd o ffe rs ad vi ce o n th is , w hi ls t f os te rin g an a pp ro ac h to d iff er en ce a nd h ow to in te gr at e th e sk ill s of th es e pe op le . fi na nc e an d su pp or t f or n ew e nt re pr en eu rs : t he co m pa ny a im s to e nc ou ra ge a nd d em oc ra tis e in ve st m en t a nd c re at e fru itf ul m ee tin gs b et w ee n th e en tre pr en eu ria l a nd in ve st m en t w or ld s. p re ve nt io n, tr ai ni ng a nd s up po rt fo r c om pa ni es o n th e ris ks a nd p sy ch oso ci al a sp ec ts o f a dd ic tio n: th e ai m of th e co m pa ny is to p re ve nt a dd ic tio ns a nd ra is e aw ar en es s of h ea lth a t w or k. t he fi rs t a im s w er e di ag no si s an d pr ev en tio n pr oc ed ur es a nd tr ai ni ng o n th e ris ks o f a lc oh ol is m in o rg an is at io ns . resilience and entrepreneurship m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 89-123 95 ! the first series of interviews was carried out between september 2006 and january 2007. the second round of meetings took place between september and december 2007. after completion of the data gathering, a summary of critical events was drawn up for each interviewee, naming each event and connecting it to the impact produced on the individual. the events in question are very varied in nature and have multidimensional effects. the lead author then submitted the information to the interviewees and we continued our analytical investigation following these discussions. the first line of table 1 details the number of of interviews carried out with each person for each stage of the data collection. the duration of the interviews varied between one and two hours. obviously this does not include informal exchanges (by telephone or e-mail) maintained on a more or less regular basis until the end of 2010. ! despite the workload involved, we opted for complete transcription of the discourse of each interviewee. the transcriptions were completed following the interview stage and were submitted twice to each interviewee, in 2008 and 2009. the transcriptions required approximately 80 hours of work. the text for each transcription represents between 40 and 45 pages for each story. ! the transcriptions were also subject to successive proofreading, both by ourselves and the interviewees. in 2008 and 2009 the lead author looked at all the work again, listening for a second time to the recorded interviews with each of the three entrepreneurs, taking the time to allow each person to comment. these confirmation meetings were also recorded. table 2 below presents a summary of the life stories studied. table 2. summary of each of the three life stories story 1 – tomas the subject was aged 44 when he embarked on his entrepreneurship project. he started a consulting company for the recruitment of disabled persons. he is disabled himself, following a bout of polio, which was discovered very early on. as a child, he faced many challenges connected with his health. in adolescence he developed a passion for table tennis, which became his primary “springboard” for resilience. he became a high-level sportsperson in this sport and won all the titles associated with a top-level champion, in parallel he also pursued a successful professional career. story 2 – mathieu the subject was 33 years old when he started his company. he started a micro-fund company for entrepreneurs with a view to democratising access to finance. he is of a mixed vietnamese and french cultural background, born during the vietnam war and abandoned by his mother. he was raised in an orphanage until he was adopted by a french family, who later started to mistreat him. he discovered faith, which became an essential element in his life and led him to get involved in social projects from his adolescence. this constitutes a key element of his resilience. he adopted a child himself, which represented a major event for him, and founded a family, which, to date, has four children, including one with a disability. he studied business. he held management positions in international companies before becoming an entrepreneur. story 3 –yves the subject created his company at the age of 54. it aims to prevent the risk of addiction in companies, in particular, alcoholism. he is self-taught (with no formal education), which is one of his greatest regrets. he started his working career as a labourer. he very quickly progressed to other activities and joined a multinational company, firstly as a salesperson before quickly climbing the ladder to become part of the top level of management in france. he turned to alcohol during his career, which would become a key element of his life. he lived his personal, professional and family life with intensity. he developed different forms of commitment, undertaking commercial activities in addition to his salaried position. he experienced a difficult company takeover, which ended in resounding failure. he lost everything he had and became an alcoholic, before starting on a painful process of healing, and as part of that momentum, he created his company. m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 89-123 marie-josée bernard & saulo dubard barbosa 96 coding and analysis of life experiences ! the interviews supplied information through linguistic structures, which were a source of specific lexical choices and provided the “foundations” of the coding. thus, we mapped out the discourse of each person, which allowed us to bring out the different concepts used throughout the analysis. through this work we also created “life experience maps” that allowed us to visualise the different types of information relating to the resilience process. the design of our process puts into perspective the special role of starting a business within this experience map. ! it is important to underline the role of the co-author in the coding and analysis of the life experiences as communicated by our interviewees. since the trust established between the lead author and the participants was essential in order to gather information, the fact that the co-author had never met the three interviewees allowed him to bring an outside perspective and thus reduce the potential level of interpretation bias which might stem from a close relationship with the participants. this aligns with the approach adopted by gioia and colleagues: one member of the research team embedded in the ground work and another bringing an outside perspective to the research (gioia, corley & hamilton, 2013; langley & abdallah, 2011). ! thus, our analysis procedure was the subject of coding and double coding work carried out by both authors. we employed open coding and axial coding, which we adapted and simplified. at the first stage, we carried out simple coding, during which each author individually analysed each interview and carried out a first coding, moving between the literature review and the transcriptions. we then proceeded to a double coding, during which we looked at our first individual analyses in order to establish together the different categories to maintain and allowing us the follow up with a detailed structuring of the information contained in the life experience accounts. ! we also established a chronology of the main events for each life story, identifying the context and the consequences of each event. we identified 47 critical events in story 1, 92 critical events in story 2 and 67 critical events in story 3. this chronology of events was discussed and agreed upon with each participant. we analysed the conditions under which each event occurred, as well as the impact of each event on the person in terms of his evolution on a dynamic trajectory. this meticulous work corresponds to the suggestions of van de ven (2007) for research on longitudinal processes. this author suggests that the size of the sample in this kind of study should not be judged on the number of cases studied but above all by the number of events identified in the process of change affecting each case (van de ven, 2007, p. 212-213). tables summing up in detail the critical events of each life story are available from the authors. ! tables 1 and 2 present a summary of the traumatic events experienced by the participants in their childhoods, the constituent elements of the first manifestations of their resilience, as well as the elements that were closest in time to the start of their entrepreneurial projects: training and professional experiences prior to entrepreneurship, age, date of creation and activity of the business. we note that research in the field of entrepreneurship has often focussed on these latter elements. for example, several studies have shown that the professional experience and knowledge acquired prior to starting a business have a significant effect on the intention to become an entrepreneur (krueger, 1993) and on the identification of entrepreneurial opportunities (shane, 2000). in fact, we find several indications of this in the life stories of our three entrepreneurs: resilience and entrepreneurship m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 89-123 97 3. commitment is evoked here as commitment to oneself. commitment pushes the individual towards a dynamic of future action. it is a multidimensional construct, according the the model of meyer and herscovitch (2001). 4. creed et al. (2010) organise their data in a similar way, presenting verbatim extracts demonstrating each first-order code. 5. corley & gioia (2004) organise their data by second-order theme. taking on responsibility and management positions, participating in professional or associative networks, commitments and taking initiative in different fields (sports, politics, associations, even entrepreneurial initiatives). however, these elements do not appear sufficient in explaining the nature of the entrepreneurial decisions of the three individuals. for example, there is nothing in the engineering training of tomas (story 1), or in his job as director of an it department for a bank, that could entirely explain his decision to create a recruitment consultancy company for the recruitment of disabled persons. the identification of the entrepreneurial opportunity (if we wish to describe it in such a way) can only be understood if we take into account the fact that the individual concerned is himself disabled, and that he experienced different kinds of difficulties and discrimination with regard to his disability. ! in addition, when we compare the life stories of each participant with the literature on resilience, it becomes clear that certain elements are often evoked as “professional or extra-professional experience prior to entrepreneurship”, which can in effect be constituent elements in the resilience process. this is the case with the strong and diverse forms of commitment demonstrated by the three entrepreneurs studied. having listened to their stories and conducted a detailed analysis of them, we note that this commitment to action3 can be interpreted as a search for meaning and a response, in a way, to difficult experiences lived throughout their lives to date. ! in the following sections we will go into further detail and discuss these points through a meticulous analysis of each life story studied. in light of our research question on the role of the resilience dynamic in triggering the decision to become an entrepreneur, we judged it relevant to make an attempt at establishing a model, because whilst tables 1 and 2 may suggest a link between the decision to become an entrepreneur and the difficulties experienced, they do not make explicit the process of resilience underlying each story. in order to make this process clear, we adopt an approach similar to those used in studies employing grounded theory, ethnography and, more generally, qualitative research methods (ashforth, kreiner, clark & fugate, 2007; corley & gioia, 2004; creed, dejordy & lok, 2010; gioia, 1998; gioia et al., 2013; kreiner, hollensbe & sheep, 2006; langley & abdallah, 2011; van maanen, 1979). specifically, we include first order data (taken directly from verbatim passages) as well as second order data (from more abstract concepts that we developed through the transcription of our interviews). we therefore follow the approach adopted by corley and gioia (2004) and detailed by gioia et al. (2013). figure 1 below shows the structure of our data after coding, with verbatim passages showing our first order codes4. appendix b supplies supplementary passages supporting the interpretation of our results, this time organised by second-order theme5. m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 89-123 marie-josée bernard & saulo dubard barbosa 98 figure 1. structure of data after coding results ! using our double coding method explained in figure 1 and the chronology of the principal life events of each entrepreneur, we constructed a model of the resilience process that contributes to triggering the decision to become an entrepreneur. this is presented in figure 2 in order to offer a whole structure for the emergent theory (or intermediate theory, in the sense applied by david, 2004) that we then go on to develop. table a2 of the appendix provides representative verbatim extracts for the main themes highlighted in figures 1 and 2, in order to add supplementary data supporting our interpretation of the results. ! resilience and entrepreneurship m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 89-123 99 figure 2. process of resilience contributing data supporting to triggering the entrepreneurship decision ! the model that we present in figure 2 is emergent as it is the result of our empirical study. in order to ensure clarity when reading the model, we have kept the second order themes and the dimensions featured in each stage of the process. as is the case with most intermediate theories, the arrows are there to suggest causality and a processional continuity requiring further study. in addition, the linear aspect of the model aims to simplify understanding and should not erase the numerous possible iterations and interactions which are elemental in feeding a complex living system. we present below an overview of the contribution of the resilience process to triggering the decision to become an entrepreneur, before giving detail on the constituent elements of each stage of this process. ! the process begins with the appearance of a traumatic experience which generally occurs during the individual’s early childhood. the trauma is multidimensional: the original “wounds” are often reopened and the primary trauma can therefore be followed by secondary trauma. the original trauma creates an acquired vulnerability in the subject, which makes them particularly receptive to different signals that may be perceived throughout their lives. these different signals can then send the individual back, sometimes unconsciously, to the traumatic experience: this constitutes a “reactivation of the trauma” and takes place throughout the individual’s lifetime. ! the traumatic experience leads to a number of consequences for the individual. other than the reactivation of the trauma, the principal consequences of the trauma observed are an emotional impact and a feeling of difference. when the individual is confronted with a shock and experiences the trauma, he or she firstly puts in place different defence mechanisms in order to survive. the after-shock creates a series of sensitive and complex processes that are psychological, emotional, physical and relational. the emotional impact and feeling of difference are part of this, because the individual is affected (or even broken) and wounded in terms of his relationships with others. these complex and difficult relations play a role in the emergence and reinforcement of the feeling of difference, and can create discriminatory phenomena with regard to the individual. each reactivation of the trauma sends the individual back to the emotional and relational configuration experienced at the time of the original trauma. ! in the first instance, the trauma thus leads to a psychological disorganisation which the individual must deal with. consequently, the person concerned starts and demands a process of reconstruction during which the ability required to overcome the trauma must be developed. this ability, a sine qua non when talking about a resilience process, m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 89-123 marie-josée bernard & saulo dubard barbosa 100 6. in order to protect the identity of those interviewed, all names have been modified. presupposes that certain essential criteria for the repair of the psychological system are met. this means resilience mentors, self-esteem, different forms of commitment and interim victories. these four elements tend to interact and contribute to re-establishing in the individual confidence in his or herself and others, and in life, which is essential in developing one’s own resilience and overcoming trauma in a process of reconstruction. ! every critical event reported in our interviewees’ life stories has an effect not just on the individual, in psychological, emotional and relational terms, but also on the subject’s evolution dynamic, in terms of the search for meaning and coherence, which pushes them to discover new contexts, mobilise new momentum and develop new capabilities. this search for meaning leads the individual to make the decision to get out of incoherent contexts and thus triggers the emergence of a business start-up project. for the individual, the project provides meaning, as it emerges during a process whereby the individual is asking questions about his or her essential values. finally, the decision to become an entrepreneur is triggered both by factors internal to the individual (such as a lack of recognition, a feeling of betrayal and unfairness, confrontation with discrimination) and external (such as the existence of a real demand, expressed by others). ! the detail of these different elements will be discussed in the following section, with a distinction made between three phases of the process, namely, its origin, the development of the pre-entrepreneurship resilience process, and the emergence of the business start-up project. this distinction is rather didactic: in reality it is very difficult to identify with any exactitude the start and end of each phase of the process due to the numerous possible interactions. these three phases allow a better understanding of the process and remain coherent within a diachronic approach. origins of the resilience process ! in order to fully understand the concept of resilience it is important to understand what triggers the resilience process itself. it originates in the “trauma” resulting from one or more experiences. it may have one cause or originate from a multitude of factors. in the three life stories we analysed, the original traumas are found in the childhoods of the individuals. in story 1, tomas6 recounts these events as follows: "i was born in a family of modest social standing, my mother was a house wife, my father was a labourer, he had two jobs, he worked between 12 and 14 hours a day. […] i was born in 61. i was born in january and should have been vaccinated in against polio in july/ august but i wasn’t vaccinated, because the doctor thought it was too hot. at the beginning of september, i was infected with polio. i was eight months old. i was in hospital for six months. from the age of three to five i was in a specialised centre. i have flashbacks to this period. […] i had quite a lot of operations". ! very clearly, these events have a very strong emotional impact on the individual. in tomas’ case, this impact was strengthened by the highlycharged emotional reaction within his family. "in the case of my family, this illness was a bit like a curse from god; my parents are practising catholics, for them at the time it was a bit resilience and entrepreneurship m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 89-123 101 like: “we must have done something wrong to have a son who got an illness like that”" ! this emotional impact is accompanied by a feeling of difference, which sets in and develops throughout the individual’s life. when i was a teenager, i could still walk, i was with a friend, there was a girl he knew, she came over, he said to her: “this is tomas”, he bent over and put his two arms on my walking sticks. he said to the girl “see, if he didn’t have those (indicating the sticks) he wouldn’t be a bad catch!” ! the resilience process of mathieu, in story 2, also originated in the traumatic events of his childhood, in particular his birth in a country at war, being abandoned by his biological mother and adopted by a french family who mistreated him (see appendix 2). ! in story 3, the origin of the process was also connected to a difficult family situation, where an emotional impact and feeling of difference were also very present. with an alcoholic father and having been discriminated against in favour of his siblings, particularly following the birth of his younger brother, yves had to face his mother not allowing him to go on to secondary school. this trauma marks the start of his developmental journey he would later qualify himself as “self-taught”. development of the resilience process prior to entrepreneurship ! as indicated in the literature review, resilience includes two essential dimensions: the occurrence of trauma (or confrontation with strong adversity) and the ability of the person to overcome the trauma. certain factors seem to be particularly important and necessary to the construction of this ability: meeting/finding resilience mentors, commitment to action, interim victories and the re-conquest of self-esteem. resilience mentors ! the idea of the resilience mentor goes back to the idea of social support, an outstretched hand, goodwill, social connection. in order to reconstruct oneself it is essential to be able to forge links, trust others again and sometimes break a vicious circle of isolation. every individual, child or adult, who has been damaged in a significant way can only have a balanced psychological life again through exterior supports. individuals need “affectionate nourishment” (cyrulnik, 2000) allowing them to reboot their lives and their mind-set. what cannot be treated through the intrapsychic must be able to be dealt with in part through the interactional. resilience mentors quite naturally include family members in the first instance, those with whom the individual who has experienced a psychological aggression has a strong emotional relationship. when the family is lacking, or a cause of the trauma, we have noted that individuals have the ability to look for other connections and supports which can “nourish” them. for example, mathieu expresses the crucial importance of meeting others and help from others in particularly difficult times: "the people i’ve met along the way have all helped me at one point or another. i met a chaplain at a time when i was contemplating suicide. i was not well at all… he understood what was happening immediately. he said “no, don’t do that, your life is precious." m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 89-123 marie-josée bernard & saulo dubard barbosa 102 ! tomas also attests to the importance of resilience mentors in his childhood, talking about the primary school teacher who “did everything she could to make sure that things went as well as possible” at school. then, as an adult, he had support from the managing director of the company he worked for in order to train and take part in the 1992 paralympic games. ! yves, as someone who is self-taught, also recognises the importance of resilience mentors. firstly, in the personal treatment he was given by the company he worked for for a long part of his life and which gave him the training that he hadn’t been able to gain via an academic pathway, then, at alcoholics anonymous. so the resilience mentor can be both an institution as well as a physical person, whatever its place, status or position. commitment to action ! in the resilience process that we’ve analysed, the individual is constantly searching for meaning and wants to commit. each person shows a form of commitment which seems to be a response to the nature of the trauma experienced. thus, with his physical disability and in response to the discrimination experienced, tomas developed a commitment to sports which led him to become a paralympic champion and the world number one in table tennis. as for yves, in his quest for understanding and perhaps recognition, he developed an intense political commitment. mathieu developed a religious commitment far removed from that of his adoptive family. this commitment for him symbolises the acceptance of difference, in contrast to the total refusal of this by his parents. "as a child, i was fascinated by the lives of the saints, religious people, missionaries, sister emmanuelle, st. francis of assisi, who opposed general indifference. i was fascinated by the commitments they made, how they went further than themselves. the opposite to how my parents’ faith manifested itself." ! these different forms of commitment are in fact a source of diverse experiences and major interactions in the process of self-reconstruction. they are also an important source of learning. interim victories ! in the quest for reconstruction and repair of the psychological system, an individual who has experienced trauma commits, often with the help of a resilience mentor, to actions marked by victories. these small and large victories contribute to to the reconstruction of self-esteem and are often perceived as bridges to other achievements. each victory gives the individual the desire to go further, do better and fix new objectives. the sports activities of tomas demonstrate this: "when i became european champion for the first time, it started to amuse me to say to myself, “i would really like to be world number one”. the idea effectively became reality i think in seoul when i became olympic champion, i said to myself “if i was able to become olympic champion that means i’m able to be the world number one”. […] i went to see my manager and said “i would like to train for the barcelona games as best as i can, in order to become paralympic champion and world number one”. that was my objective in sport". resilience and entrepreneurship m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 89-123 103 ! interim victories vary in nature and occur in the different spheres of an individual’s life. for tomas, the birth of his son is an illustration of this: "the competition in sport is an achievement. the birth of a baby is a beautiful beginning. these feelings are comparable in terms of their intensity. although having child is much more important than having a title! " ! for mathieu, it was in the academic and school sphere that he experienced a few failures and some interim victories which he perceives to be amongst the most significant in his life. these victories seem to have helped him to “find the right path”. ! for yves, the first victories took place in his professional life, which he started quite young. he describes them as his “first creations”. the re-conquest of self-esteem ! in the reconstruction dynamic of the psychic apparatus specific to the resilience process, work on self-esteem is fundamental (cyrulnik & duval, 2006). resilience mentors, various forms of commitment and interim victories seem to contribute to this considerably. tomas illustrates this again in relation to his high-level sporting career: "i played matches, i felt untouchable, i remember. (i said to myself) “anything could happen but i can’t lose”. you feel like you’re invulnerable, it’s psychological, of course you are vulnerable". ! tomas therefore clearly evokes the particular feeling of the state of “grace” present when an individual feels his own level of excellence within. the theme of invulnerability has been at the centre of theoretical debates on resilience and seems to be connected to the feeling of self-efficacy. indeed, sport was a key factor in tomas’ resilience process, both in reinforcing his image, his self-esteem and his legitimacy. ! the re-conquest of self-esteem is not just symbolic. interim victories are real victories, with tangible results. for example, the high-level sports achievements of tomas contribute to the legitimacy of his company in its mission to promote the integration of disabled people into the world of work. in turn, mathieu explains that: "the fact that i was trained in imd and at insead [two significant victories for the individual] doesn’t just increase self-confidence, it gives access to networks, to people with high levels of skill, in very high places". ! feeling victorious, or even invulnerable, does not necessarily imply a blind optimism or excessive self-confidence. in fact, our three interviewees evoke “luck” to explain in part the conditions of their success. this evocation of luck is the expression of a rather positive world view, which is quite common in people who have entered into a resilience process (cyrulnik, 2002; cyrulnik & duval, 2006; werner et smith, 1982). tomas does it explicitly in relation to his sports performance. mathieu also expresses this relationship with luck as being part of the reason for his desire to help others. he highlights this several times, particularly in relation to his trip to vietnam as an adult. "the trip to vietnam was a sort of “return to sender” of what i had received, to say to myself that i was lucky to avoid communism, to m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 89-123 marie-josée bernard & saulo dubard barbosa 104 be well-educated, to have a recognised qualification, and so to use this luck by giving it to others in vietnam". ! yves also evokes luck in relation to his life journey. he does it in two relatively distinct ways. the first by using the most common meaning of the word luck: he evokes being lucky to have received management training in a large company, being lucky to have had contact with important political figures, lucky to have met alcoholics anonymous. the second in the context of an idea of “protection” that has always been with him and prevented him from complete destruction of his psychic apparatus. "something, which has been a constant throughout my life, i knew when i was on the edge, at the limit, that there was a force that always stopped me before total destruction, in all areas of life, it’s a bit like the presence of a kind of angel or intuition and perhaps my own luck". the quest for meaning and coherence ! throughout their lives, the entrepreneurs we interviewed for this study were looking for meaning and a professional project that would be coherent with themselves. their experiences prior to entrepreneurship led them into confrontation with the incoherences of the organisations they were involved with. these confrontations were often a source of reactivation of the trauma they had known. for example, in story 1, tomas tells us about the discovery of a discriminatory evaluation made when he was taken on at the company he worked for: "i went to look at my personal file […]. there were two things written: “limited intelligence but solid good sense”. just that, it has a strange effect! […] the second thing was: “we can recruit this candidate, but be careful if we need to fire him, his disability might be a problem”. […] when you read things like that, it feels strange…" ! tomas talks about both the anger and the feeling of humiliation experienced in the face of discrimination due to a disability. this type of event has an important symbolic impact in the subject’s consciousness and acts as a reactivation of trauma. at each reactivation of the trauma, the individual is called by the dissonance between himself and the situations encountered. he then asks himself questions about where his choices are leading. in the case of tomas, the incoherences of the organisation that employed him and the successive reactivations of the original trauma led him to the conclusion that he no longer felt that “his place” was in the company. "when [my boss] left he said “the best person to replace me is tomas”. that didn’t happen. […] a bit later there was another similar opportunity. so i sent an e-mail to say that i was interested in the post. i had no reply, until the day i learnt that someone else had been appointed […] i almost felt like it was the end… one day someone said: 'they had a hard time finding someone, they offered it to everyone”. i said to myself “this is not the place for me any more'." ! these passages show the superposition of different sorts of events, which will lead to the emergence of an idea for a business start-up project and the decision to become an entrepreneur: a feeling of betrayal, lack of recognition, discrimination in relation to a disability, as well as conflict with resilience and entrepreneurship m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 89-123 105 the values of the company the individual works for, particularly concerning the incoherences in management practice. the quest for meaning and coherence that is part of the resilience process led tomas to the idea of creating his own company. ! in story 2, mathieu’s life story is marked by conflicts with authority and a very sensitive relationship with the hierarchy. this is directly connected to the power struggle in his family, which contributed to his developing a rebellious attitude in order to face the incomprehension, violence, refusal of difference and poor treatment by the family. this independent mind-set, allied with the quest for meaning, contributed to the development of his position in relation to leaving the company he worked for before becoming an entrepreneur. one particular trigger was when there was an organisational change leading to a difficult situation and reactivation of his original trauma. "the manager, with whom i had a good connection, took me on straightaway for a mission representing french businesses to official organisations and businesses in vietnam. and i felt that i was in harmony. but he was fired while the mission was in progress and i was far away. the new president didn’t agree with the mission, he stopped everything, he didn’t support me at all. […] i found myself isolated, with no support, no means, with a feeling of total abandonment." ! thus the individual evokes a key moment for him, an essential part of the quest to find himself, because it was a question of going back to the country of his birth and also of taking on a mission in which he played the role of messenger, of “ambassador” between two worlds. in this mission, he found himself with no support and talks openly of “abandonment”, which in effect constitutes a reactivation of trauma. it is interesting to see that later, he built his company on the idea of “building a bridge between two worlds”. ! in story 3, we were able to identify two stages in the entrepreneurial initiative of yves, who experienced two approaches and two very different projects. the first stage was characterised by a takeover with a certain number of risk factors ending in an extremely violent failure. this failure provoked a reactivation of the original trauma and led to his finding solace in alcohol, which is also a trauma. alcohol addiction, with its violent effects, marked the individual’s deepest fall and subsequently triggered the beginning of his “resurrection”, as we have seen, with the help of alcoholics anonymous. in fact, when he lost the first company and turned to alcohol, his father died and there was a feeling of total failure, reinforced by the humiliation with regard to previous partners. so the creation of his own company seemed like an opportunity for the individual to reconstruct himself. "i was wearing virtual hand-cuffs, i spent 10 years in isolation, i wasn’t likely to go far, every night i went back to my cell. […] i didn’t exist; i didn’t exist any more. i had to completely reconstruct myself individually and socially. the role of (the company created) allowed me to take back my place in society, to get back my self-esteem, a restoration of the image and installation of the image of (the company created), that i took back, where i took back my place again". m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 89-123 marie-josée bernard & saulo dubard barbosa 106 emergence of the business start-up project ! the idea of starting a company therefore appeared for our interviewees as a way of getting away from incoherence and an opportunity to build a professional project more in tune with the individual’s personal values. incoherence, as we have seen, is often linked to the individual’s professional situation and – particularly to his relationship with the organisations within which he has evolved. for example, in story 1, tomas was confronted with the accumulation of a series of tangible signs that had a strong symbolic dimension and a strong internal impact on him, leading him to the conclusion that his place was no longer within the company. these tangible signs included: discrimination (not open, but present) in relation to his disability, the chance discovery of this discrimination, the refusal to be considered for a new position with no explanation, the confrontation of injustice and incoherence with regard to the management practices during the company’s restructuring. finally, all these signs of incoherence and their accumulation would contribute to a first decision to get out of the current situation and to the emergence of the idea of creating his own company. ! the emergence process for the idea of entrepreneurship is thus composed of a host of internal triggers, amongst which we have notably identified the lack of recognition, confrontation with discrimination, and the feeling of betrayal and injustice. obviously, these internal triggers are connected to the reactivation of trauma, to the emotional impact resulting from it, the feeling of difference, as well as to self-esteem and the desire to commit to a project with meaning. the company start-up project seems to emerge during a process whereby the individual is looking not just to get away from situational incoherences, but also to get back to what is essential to him. in the case of tomas: "the fact of wanting to affirm difference, that difference is a source of wealth, is something that impacts a business, (and) me". ! this aspect in no way excludes the fact that the process can also be triggered by the gradual realisation that there is a real demand, expressed by third parties. it often takes the form of an external trigger to the individual, a trigger that goes beyond the incoherence experienced and which allows the individual to see an entrepreneurship opportunity that is coherent with oneself. "something clicked and it was quite funny. […] my brother in law said to me: 'do you know anyone who could help companies develop their recruitment of disabled candidates, because my hr manager is looking for something like that and doesn’t know who to ask'". ! thus, the emerging start-up project is closely connected to the individual’s personal trajectory and in tune with their personal values. in the case of mathieu, that translated through a networking project between investors and budding entrepreneurs, which corresponded to his desire to contribute to society, have a project, and particularly to link two different worlds in order to help the less fortunate. "today, i find the same thing as i experienced on my journey, being between two worlds. […] the point of the project is to allow entrepreneurs who have good ideas to realise their ideas and to resilience and entrepreneurship m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 89-123 107 allow them to avoid failure, for those who haven’t been able to access these kinds of people". ! the company created by tomas also reflects his life journey. his main mission is to contribute to the professional and social integration of disabled people. thus, it gives meaning, in a very concrete way, to the feeling of difference he experienced throughout his life. in tomas’ project we find a desire, similarly felt by mathieu, to help others and balance the economic and human aspects of the professional world: “business cannot discount humanity”. ! this is also shared by yves, whose company aims to take away the taboo surrounding addictions (mainly alcoholism) and to improve health and well-being at work. thus, for the three entrepreneurs we interviewed, the businesses they created reflect not just the life experiences of their creators, but also an opportunity to reconstruct their identity by building projects in tune with their deepest values and beliefs. discussion ! from our empirical data we have described the resilience process as a complex system where the individual, confronted with one (or more) traumatic event(s), begins by putting in place a host of protection, and then reconstruction mechanisms. the first help the individual to make his way in life whilst rendering him particularly sensitive to environment signals that may reactivate the trauma experienced. the second turns him towards the future. in this process, meeting with resilience mentors, commitment to various forms of action and initiatives, interim victories and reconstruction of self-esteem, play an essential role for the subtle repair of the individual’s psychic apparatus. finally, the quest for meaning and coherence contributes to highlighting the existing gulfs between the personal values of the individual and the contexts and practices with which he is confronted. in the resilience process, sensitivity to incoherence plays an important role: it manifests itself through a quest for meaning leading the subjects little by little to find a way out of the contexts that no longer offer coherence and sufficient meaning to be, and act, in harmony with oneself. the process of reconstruction of the person leads them to to the decision to leave the incoherent context behind and contributes to the emergence of a business start-up project. ! thus, to the question “what role can the resilience dynamic play in triggering the decision to become an entrepreneur?”, our study gives a nuanced response. on the one hand, the analysis of the three life trajectories that we studied suggests that several constituent elements of a resilience process contribute to triggering a future entrepreneurial initiative. resilience mentors lay the first stones for the construction of a social support network for the future entrepreneur. the different forms of commitment are a source of experience and learning. interim victories strengthen self-esteem and consequently the confidence required to become an entrepreneur one day. finally, the quest for meaning and coherence highlights the situational incoherence that triggers new life choices. in this way, the resilience dynamic plays a fundamental role in triggering the decision to become an entrepreneur and in the whole journey leading up to that decision. it also contributes to giving meaning to the entrepreneurial project by focussing attention of the individual on their m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 89-123 marie-josée bernard & saulo dubard barbosa 108 essential values and the problems connected to the traumas they experienced. ! on the other hand, the analysis of the three life journeys studied also shows the importance of factors external to the individual in the triggering of the entrepreneurship decision. examples include the conversation between tomas and his brother in law, the change of the president in the organisation where mathieu was working, or the meetings at alcoholics anonymous attended by yves. it is here that the concept of displacement advanced by shapero takes on its full meaning as an “exogenous” event in the individual’s life. the “internal” displacement remains, however, shaped by the resilience dynamic in the three life journeys studied. ! thus, our study shows that a resilience dynamic can play an important role in triggering the decision to become an entrepreneur and that this in no way excludes other factors that may contribute to this decision, including factors external to the individual. resilience is therefore not a necessary or sufficient condition to trigger the entrepreneurship decision. however, the components of the resilience dynamic strengthen the elements often associated with starting a company, such as selfconfidence, building a social support network, the search for coherence and commitment to action. bruyat reminds us in his thesis that the creation of a company is not “a process initiated by one or more causes that are necessary and sufficient, or by necessary causes (which would be identifiable), but by a host of tangled causalities inscribed in a systemic dynamic” (1993, p. 103-104). our study suggests that resilience, being itself a systemic dynamic, can be part of the host of tangled causalities that push certain individuals towards entrepreneurship. academic contributions study of resilience in entrepreneurship ! research relating to the role of resilience in entrepreneurship have been highly influenced by the area of positive psychology (fredrickson, 1998, 2001, 2003) and have employed the notion of resilience above all as a quality needed to respond to a difficult context (bullough & renko, 2013; bullough et al., 2014) and to bounce back when faced with the failure of an entrepreneurial initiative (hayward et al., 2010 ; shepherd, 2003; shepherd et al., 2011). few works in the field have approached resilience in the context of “life in general” and, to our knowledge, no study has looked at the life stories of entrepreneurs in order to examine resilience as a process. this article contributes to correcting this deficit. it is an important contribution that should be pursued further, since whilst a qualifier similar to a character trait may be difficult to modify, a process can be more easily influenced once its key elements are understood. examining resilience as a process in the lives of certain entrepreneurs can therefore highlight a number of elements relating to the nature of their motivations, the emergence of their projects, as well as their persistence in the face of adversity. ! specifically, our study reveals that in the resilience process, positive emotions are not immediately a given, they emerge over the course of a process of post-traumatic disengagement and are not present ex-nihilio. they are the fruit of different interactions, in particular with resilience mentors. they are the consequence of work on the psychic apparatus, which needs to restore itself and find meaning even in catastrophic circumstances. finally, positive emotions, such as self-confidence, seem to emerge over the course of a journey that mixes reactivations of the trauma and interim victories, commitment to action and the quest for coherence. all resilience and entrepreneurship m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 89-123 109 of these components of the resilience process encourage an internal displacement in the individual towards entrepreneurship, thus contributing to the intersection of overlapping causalities that may trigger the entrepreneurship decision. ! our approach to resilience as a process joins up with the research thread in the field of psychology looking at the intrapsychic dimension of resilience and interactions with the environment as a support to the dynamic itself (anaut, 2005; cyrulnik & duval, 2006; lecomte et al., 2005). in management literature, our study adds to the body of research evoking the resilience dynamic in various contexts, such as in social integration (brasseur, 2009), family businesses (bégin & chabaud, 2010), companies going through periods of crisis (altintas & royer, 2009), and the resilient trajectory of whistle-blowers (charreire petit & cusin, 2013). finally, in the field of entrepreneurship, our study joins the narrative approach put forward by gartner (2007) in order to increase awareness of “entrepreneurial stories”. in so doing, we widen the body of literature on resilience in entrepreneurship, moving the focus from resilience as a quality of the entrepreneur in a difficult situation towards a process-related view in which the resilience dynamic can contribute not only to increasing the intention to become an entrepreneur, but also to actually becoming one. the study of the decision to become an entrepreneur ! this study contributes to research on the decision to become an entrepreneur by bringing in grounded theory (glaser & strauss, 1967; strauss & corbin, 1998) to construct an intermediate theory (david, 2004) on the role of the resilience dynamic in triggering this decision. we therefore extend the modelling of the entrepreneurial process put forward by bruyat (1993). this modelling takes into account the concept of displacement suggested by shapero (1975) and allows quite a wide conception, including values, preferences, characteristics and individual experiences, to be interpreted as part of the notion of perceived instantaneous strategic configuration by the creator. however, bruyat (1993) doesn’t draw on the concept of resilience and does not enter into a systematic analysis of the life journeys of entrepreneurs. his observations on the quest for meaning and coherence undertaken by a good number of entrepreneurs remains, nonetheless in tune with ours. the search for coherence between the project and the individual, which is at the centre of bruyat’s (1993) thesis, largely explains the decision of individuals that we interviewed. ! our study also contributes to updating and adding depth to the concept of displacement (shapero, 1975, 1981; shapero & sokol, 1982), which has been gradually left aside by other works on entrepreneurial intentions. as formulated by shapero, this concept remains limited to critical situations and events that directly trigger the decision to become an entrepreneur. the hidden, internal side of displacement has been ignored. yet this complex dimension that is difficult to access seems to us to be essential in explaining the real reason for taking entrepreneurial action. ! thus, the creation of a business, which is the tangible result, is as much determined by exogenous variables that influence the individual’s decisions as by variables that are internal to the individual. our study shows that the trigger does come from events that are elements of life experience. the power of these events to trigger entrepreneurship resides in the fact that they resonate with salient times in the individual’s life journey. these events fuel the individual’s attitudes and motivation, and make possible the conscious decision to choose entrepreneurship. m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 89-123 marie-josée bernard & saulo dubard barbosa 110 by focussing on the triggering of the decision to choose entrepreneurship and the resilience process preceding this decision, our study also brings a specific contribution to the field of study looking at entrepreneurship decision-making. despite a certain lack of structure in this field of research (dubard barbosa, 2014; shepherd, williams & patzelt, 2015), due in particular to the profusion of empirical studies, we note that studies relating to the decision to choose entrepreneurship tend to adopt either a socioeconomic approach identifying “push” and “pull” factors in this decision (delmar & wennberg, 2010; thornton, 1999), or an approach based on cognitive psychology focussing on concepts such as heuristics and cognitive bias, mental representations and risk perception, among others (baron, 2004; busenitz & barney, 1997; dubard barbosa, 2008; grégoire, corbett & mcmullen, 2011; mitchell et al, 2007). in this latter approach, resilience is seen as a positive quality in entrepreneurs, similar to a character trait (bullough et al., 2014; hayward et al., 2010). our study offers an alternative explanation for the decision to become an entrepreneur, based on a process-related view of resilience. managerial contributions ! our study suggests that understanding the resilience process as a way of decoding individuals’ reactions in the face of significant and symbolic life events can be a key to understanding their decision to choose entrepreneurship. this study may have interesting implications regarding support for those with start-up projects. more specifically, incubator workers and experts who adopt an educative approach to support entrepreneurship (fourcade & krichewsky, 2014; vial & caparrosmencacci, 2007) can benefit from information gathering and analysis in relation to life stories of potential entrepreneurs in order to better understand their motivations and ways of interacting with others. from such analysis, the support worker can identify areas for improvement in the support relationship as well as for the relations of the future entrepreneur with different stakeholders in the new business. ! despite the different constraints of entrepreneur support systems (duquenne, 2014), a number of actors from the academic and professional spheres agree that the individual should be at the centre of the support system (fourcade & krichewsky, 2014; mitrano-méda & véran, 2014; stjean & audet, 2009; vial & caparros-mencacci, 2007). this approach brings to the fore the relational aspects of individuals as well as the need for continual learning of the attitudes, methods and skills that need to be used both by the support worker and the would-be entrepreneur. support for those going through a resilience process may need very particular attention regarding these relational aspects as well as deeper reflection on the values and practices that the would-be entrepreneur wishes to integrate into the start-up project. limitations of the study ! our work presents limitations that should be taken into account in interpreting our results and our “intermediate theory” (david, 2004), as well as in carrying out future research into resilience in entrepreneurship. most of these limitations are connected to the nature of our empirical work. ! firstly, we studied three life stories that could be characterised as “revealing” (gioia et al., 2013), in particular due to the presence of especially intense original traumatic experiences. this approach is interesting in order to generate intermediate theories in an inductive way resilience and entrepreneurship m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 89-123 111 (eisenhardt, 1989; gioia et al., 2013; langley & abdallah, 2011). nonetheless, this methodological choice makes it difficult to project generalisations from the results to a larger population of entrepreneurs or individuals who have not experienced trauma or who have experienced different kinds of trauma. we suggest that the presence of particularly deep traumatic “wounds” plays an “amplifying effect” which allows one to better understand the mechanisms of human functioning. this hypothesis constitutes an interesting research area for the future. ! the small number of cases studied is a limitation and it would be interesting to be able to look at a wider number of life stories. however, the diachronic and synchronic processing of the testimonials requires significant resources which makes a larger case study difficult. in our study, in order to ensure an in-depth analysis of the life stories we recorded, and to afford them greater attention over the course of the study, it was not realistic to include more testimonials. as a reminder, we analysed a total of 206 critical events from the three life stories. each story shows the process of change experienced by the subject over time. in this type of processrelated research, the number of events analysed is a more relevant indicator than the number of cases for inferring the validity and reliability of the results (van de ven, 2007). ! the closeness of the lead author to the interviewees could be a source of bias, particularly with regard to the intervention of the subjectivity of the researcher in the interpretation of the data collected. we planned our research in such a way as to reduce this potential bias. firstly, we suggested proofreading of transcriptions and a second listening of the recorded interviews for each entrepreneur in order to have a double confirmation from them. subsequently, we also involved them in certain stages of the validation of the data processing (notably with regard to the validation of critical events). finally, we carried out a double coding of the life stories, which allowed the co-author to compare his analysis of the stories with the lead author’s interpretations. we would also underline the fact that the co-author had no contact with the interviewees. ! the biographical approach that we adopted is not without its limitations either. on the one hand, it allowed us to think about the events and the temporality of a life journey in a different way. “the analysis of the life stories allows an understanding of the influence of the multiple repertoires of action plans incorporated and interiorised by the subject through the course of their social experiences, whilst respecting the improbable character of intentionality or conscious strategy” (lahire, 1998 in pailot, 2003, p. 23). on the other hand, the biographical method can be considered limited in its ability to realise the real role of the unconscious in the expression of life stories. these develop, by definition, in the rationality of the discourse. although personal stories “are born of a real attachment to the world, in what life does, passions, desires, ideas, conceptual systems” and may be “as much efforts to grasp the confusion and complexity of the human condition” (josselson, 1998, p. 896), they are used as “a means by which both subjects and researchers form our understandings and grasp the meaning.” (p. 896-897). as a result, the analysis of life stories remains limited in its approach to unconscious processes by the same qualities that make it an excellent method for studying individual trajectories, critical events in a life journey, decisions and their contexts and, lastly, “the complexity of the human condition”. ! in view of the limitations discussed here, our study does not allow us to generalise a direct causality between the resilience process and the triggering of a “virtuous” entrepreneurial process for the individual. the three life trajectories we studied simply show that the resilience dynamic m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 89-123 marie-josée bernard & saulo dubard barbosa 112 7. we would like to thank one of the anonymous evaluators of m@n@gement for having drawn our attention to this point. can contribute to triggering the decision to become an entrepreneur. the fact that the three entrepreneurs interviewed state that they have found coherence and personal achievement in their business start-up projects cannot be generalised to other entrepreneurs and should not be interpreted as a definitive result. the link between the resilience process and entrepreneurship can be virtuous at a given moment, and it can also be precarious, since creating a business is an interim victory that can transform into defeat and even trauma, depending on the social, economic and psychological conditions of its evolution7. as the portuguese writer and nobel prize winner for literature, josé saramago, has stated: “what is bad about victories is that they are not definitive. what is good about defeats is that they are not definitive either”.   future research pathways ! an open dialogue between the concepts of resilience and entrepreneurship has been suggested by bernard (2008). our study offers several research pathways in this direction, both on a “macro” level (comparing different processes and examining different phases of the process) and a “micro” level (by further developing the concepts raised). ! on a more general level, studying the conditions for “success” of the resilience process remains a very pertinent question in the field of psychology. this question can be developed in two ways in the field of entrepreneurship. firstly, with regard to the decision to choose entrepreneurship, it would be interesting to explore the conditions under which different resilience processes lead or do not lead to starting a business. to do so, a longitudinal study of a panel of individuals larger than ours would be required, individuals identified as being at an earlier stage of their life journey and followed preferably from childhood, as in the pioneering work of werner and colleagues (werner et al., 1971; werner & smith, 1982). ! secondly, it would be interesting to examine the conditions under which the resilience process contributes to the success of an entrepreneurial project. with this approach, it would be necessary to question the role of the resilience dynamic following the decision to choose entrepreneurship, particularly concerning the development of the new business, its growth, its takeover or closure. several studies have focussed on the notion of resilience as the ability of the entrepreneur to bounce back after failure (hayward et al., 2010; shepherd, 2003; shepherd et al., 2011), to persist in pursuing entrepreneurial opportunity (holland & shepherd, 2011), or to weather environmental crises (davidsson & gordon, 2016; essen et al., 2015) and natural catastrophes (danes et al., 2009). however, to our knowledge there are no studies on the role that different components of resilience could play on decisions relating to growth or termination of a company, or even on the evolution of the entrepreneurial project. our study shows that the resilience dynamic plays an important role in triggering the decision to become an entrepreneur and in defining the direction of the entrepreneurial project beforehand, through a quest for meaning and coherence. it would be interesting to study how this quest could influence the evolution of companies set up. ! on a more micro level, our study demonstrates a series of first and second order concepts that can supply the vocabulary to discuss resilience in entrepreneurship more easily. future research might explore this further in order to create a “grammar guide”. for example, the concept of quest for meaning and coherence has a strong explanatory potential, since it refers to a driving force to action in those people we interviewed. the links resilience and entrepreneurship m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 89-123 113 between a quest for meaning, process of self-reconstruction, decision to break out of incoherent contexts and the emergence of the start-up project, could be further developed. similarly, the role of internal and external triggers, as well as their link to the project’s creation of meaning, could be explored further. our study therefore provides an intermediate theory, a vocabulary, a range of interconnected concepts and an integration model with the aim of shining new light on the resilience dynamic and its role in triggering the decision to choose entrepreneurship. exploring the concepts developed, adding to the theory put forward or even criticising it by focussing on different parts of the model, all constitute research pathways that may increase our knowledge of resilience in entrepreneurship and our ability to discuss it and influence it, or support it through entrepreneurship mentoring and support services. references ajzen, i. (1991). the theory of planned behavior, organizational behavior and human decision processes, 50(2), 179-211. ajzen, i. (2002). perceived behavioural control, selfefficacy, locus of control, and the theory of planned behavior, journal of applied social psychology, 32(4), 665-683. altintas, g., & royer, i. (2009). renforcement de la résilience par un apprentissage post-crise  : une étude longitudinale sur deux périodes de turbulence, m@n@gement, 12(4), 266-293. anaut, m. (2003). la résilience  : surmonter les traumatismes, paris : nathan université. anaut, m. (2005). le concept de résilience et ses applications cliniques, recherche en soins infirmiers, 82, 4-11. arora, r., & rangnekar, s. (2014). workplace mentoring and career resilience: an empirical test, the psychologist-manager journal, 17(3), 205-220. ashforth, b. e., kreiner, g. e., clark, m. a., & fugate, m. (2007). normalizing dirty work: managerial tactics for countering occupational taint. academy of management journal, 50(1), 149-174. ayala calvo, j. c., & manzano garcia, g. (2010). established business owners’ success: influencing f a c t o r s . j o u r n a l o f d e v e l o p m e n t a l entrepreneurship, 15(3): 263-286. ayala calvo, j. c., & manzano-garcia, g. (2014). the resilience of the entrepreneur. influence on the success of the business. a longitudinal analysis, journal of economic psychology, 42, 126-135. baker caza, b., & milton, l. p. (2012). resilience at work: building capability in the face of adversity. in k. s. cameron & g. m. spreitzer (eds.), the oxford handbook of positive organizational scholarship (pp. 895-908), new york, ny: oxford university press. baron, r. a. (2004). the cognitive perspective  : a valuable tool for answering entrepreneurship’s basic “why” questions, journal of business venturing, 19(2): 221-239.  bégin, l., & chabaud, d. (2010). la résilience des organisations  : la cas d’une entreprise familiale, revue française de gestion, 200, 127-142. bernard, m.-j. (2008). l’entrepreneuriat comme un processus de résilience  : les bases d’un dialogue entre deux concepts. revue internationale de psychosociologie, xv(32), 119-140. bonanno, g. a. (2004). loss, trauma, and human resilience: have we underestimated the human capacity to thrive after extremely aversive events ?, american psychologist, 59(1), 20-28. bonanno, g. a. (2012). uses and abuses of the resilience construct: loss, trauma, and healthrelated adversities, social science & medicine, 74, 753-756. bullough, a., & renko, m. (2013). entrepreneurial resilience during challenging times, business horizons, 56, 343-350. bullough, a., renko, m., & myatt, t. (2014). danger zone entrepreneurs: the importance of resilience and self-efficacy for entrepreneurial intentions, entrepreneurship theory and practice, 38(3), 473-499. branzei, o., & abdelnour, s. (2010). another day, another dollar: enterprise resilience under terrorism in developing countries. journal of international business studies, 41(5), 804-825. brasseur, m. (coord.) (2009). entrepreneuriat et insertion. paris : bruylant. bruyat, c. (1993). création d'entreprise : contributions épistémologiques et modélisation. thèse de doctorat. université de grenoble ii, grenoble. busenitz, l. w., & barney, j. b. (1997). differences between entrepreneurs and managers in large organizations: biases and heuristics in strategic decision-making, journal of business venturing, 12(1): 9-30.  bygrave, w. d. (1989). the entrepreneurship paradigm (i): a philosophical look at its research methodologies, entrepreneurship theory and practice, 14(1), 7-26. byrne, o., & shepherd, d. a. (2015). different strokes for different folks: entrepreneurial narratives of emotion, cognition, and making sense of business failure, entrepreneurship theory and practice, 39(2), 375-405. chakravorti, b. (2010). finding competitive advantage in adversity. harvard business review, 88(11): 102-108. charreire petit, s., & cusin, j. (2013). whistleblowing et résilience : analyse d’une trajectoire individuelle. m@n@gement, 16(2), 141-175. m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 89-123 marie-josée bernard & saulo dubard barbosa 114 connor, k. m., & davidson, j. r. (2003). development of a new resilience scale: the connor-davidson resilience scale (cd-risc). depression and anxiety, 18(2), 76-82. corley, k. g., & gioia, d. a. (2004). identity ambiguity and change in the wake of a corporate spin-off. administrative science quarterly, 49(2), 173-208. creed, w. e. d., dejordy, r., & lok, j. (2010). being the change: resolving institutional contradiction through identity work, academy of management journal, 53(6), 1336-1364. cyrulnik, b. (2000). les nourritures affectives, paris  : odile jacob. cyrulnik, b. (2002). un merveilleux malheur, paris  : odile jacob. cyrulnik, b., & duval, p. (2006). psychanalyse et résilience, paris: odile jacob. cyrulnik, b., & seron, c. (2003). la résilience ou comment renaître de sa souffrance, paris: fabert. dahles, h., & susilowati, t. p. (2015). business resilience in times of growth and crisis, annals of tourism research, 51, 34-50. danes, s. m., lee, j., amarapurkar, s., stafford, k., haynes, g., & brewton, k. e. (2009). determinants of family business resilience after a natural disaster b y g e n d e r o f b u s i n e s s o w n e r. j o u r n a l o f developmental entrepreneurship, 14(4): 333-354. david, a. (2004). etudes de cas et généralisation scientifique en sciences de gestion, 13ème conférence de l’aims, normandie, vallée de seine. davidsson, p., & gordon, s. r. (2016). much ado about nothing? the surprising persistence of nascent entrepreneurs through macroeconomic crisis, entrepreneurship theory and practice, 40(4), 915-941. dawley, s., pike, a., & tomaney, j. (2010). towards the resilient region?, local economy, 25: 650-667. delmar, f., & wennberg, k. (2010). knowledge intensive entrepreneurship: the birth, growth and demise of entrepreneurial firms. cheltenham: edward elgar.  dewald, j., & bowen, f. (2010). storm clouds and silver linings: responding to disruptive innovations through cognitive resilience, entrepreneurship: theory & practice, 34(1): 197-218. drnovsek, m., örtqvist, d., & wincent, j. (2010). the effectiveness of coping strategies used by entrepreneurs and their impact on personal wellbeing and venture performance, zbornik radova ekonomski fakultet u rijeka, 28(2),193-220. dubard barbosa, s. (2008). la perception du risque dans la décision de création d’entreprise. thèse de doctorat, université pierre mendès france, grenoble.  dubard barbosa, s. (2014). revisiting entrepreneurship research from a decision-making perspective. in a. f a y o l l e ( e d . ) , h a n d b o o k o f r e s e a r c h o n entrepreneurship  : what we know and what we need to know (pp. 389-426). cheltenham: edward elgar. duquenne, l. (2014). l'illusion de l'accompagnement, entreprendre & innover, 2-3 (21-22), 77-89. duening, t. (2010). five minds for the entrepreneurial future: cognitive skills as the intellectual foundation for next generation entrepreneurship curricula, the journal of entrepreneurship, 19(1), 1-22. eisenhardt, k. m. (1989). building theories from case study research, academy of management review, 14(4), 532-550. essen, m. van, strike, v. m., carney, m., & sapp, s. (2015). the resilient family firm: stakeholder outcomes and institutional effects, corporate governance: an international review, 23(3), 167-183. fayolle, a. (2007). entrepreneurship and new value creation: the dynamic of the entrepreneurial process, new york, ny: cambridge university press. ferrenczi, s. (1934/2006). le traumatisme, paris  : payot. fourcade, f., & krichewsky, m. (2014). accompagner, une pratique qui s’apprend, entreprendre & innover, 2-3 (21-22), 47-52. fredrickson, b.i., (1998) what good are positive emotions ?, review of general psychology, 2(3), 300-319. fredrickson, b.i.,(2001) the role of positive emotions in positive psychology, american psychologist, 56(3), 218-226. fredrickson, b.i. (2003). the value of positive emotions. american scientist, 91(4), 330-335. garmezy, n. (1991). resiliency and vulnerability to adverse developmental outcomes associated with poverty. the american behavioral scientist, 34(4), 416-430. gartner, w. b. (1985). a conceptual framework for describing the phenomenon of new venture creation, academy of management review, 10(4), 696-706. gartner, w b. (1990). what are we talking about when we talk about entrepreneurship ?, journal of business venturing, 5(1), 15. gartner, w. b. (2007). entrepreneurial narrative and a science of the imagination. journal of business venturing, 22(5), 613-627. garud, r., & giuliani, a. p. (2013). a narrative perspective on entrepreneurial opportunities. academy of management review, 38(1), 157-160. gioia, d. a. (1998). from individual to organizational identity. in d. a. whetten, & p. c. godfrey (eds.), identity in organizations: building theory through conversations,17-31. thousand oaks, ca: sage. gioia, d. a., corley, k. g., & hamilton, a. l. (2013). seeking qualitative rigor in inductive research: notes on the gioia methodology, organizational research methods, 16(1), 15-31. glaser, b., & strauss, a. (1967). the discovery of grounded theory: strategies for qualitative research, chicago, il: aldine. grégoire, d. a., corbett, a. d., & mcmullen, j. s. ( 2 0 1 1 ) .  t h e c o g n i t i v e p e r s p e c t i v e i n entrepreneurship: an agenda for future research, journal of management studies, 48(6), 1443-1477. resilience and entrepreneurship m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 89-123 115 gunnar-von gnechten., m. r. (1978). changing a frightening toy into a pleasant toy by allowing the infant to control its actions, developmental psychology, 14(2), 157-162. hayward, m. l. a., forster, w. r., sarasvathy, s. d., & fredrickson, b. l. (2010). beyond hubris: how highly confident entrepreneurs rebound to venture again, journal of business venturing, 25(6), 569-578. holland, d. v., & shepherd, d. a. (2011). deciding to persist: adversity, values, and entrepreneurs’ decision policies. entrepreneurship theory and practice, 37(2), 331-358. hollnagel, e., journé, b., & laroche, h. (2009). fiabilité et résilience comme dimensions de la performance organisationnelle  : introduction, m@n@gement, 12(4), 224-229. h u g g i n s , r . , & t h o m p s o n , p. ( 2 0 1 5 ) . l o c a l entrepreneurial resilience and culture: the role of social values in fostering economic recovery. cambridge journal of regions, economy and society, 8(2), 313-330. jenkins, a. s., wiklund, j., & brundin, e. (2014). individual responses to firm failure: appraisals, grief, and the influence of prior failure experience, journal of business venturing, 29(1), 17-33. josselson, r. (1998). le récit comme mode de savoir. revue française de psychanalyse, 3(62), 895-908. joubert, n., & raeburn, j. (1998). mental health promotion: people, power and passion, the international journal of mental health promotion, inaugural issue, 15-22. kaplan, h. b. (2006). understanding the concept of resilience. in s. goldstein & r.b. brooks (eds.), handbook of resilience in children (pp. 39-47). new york, ny: kluwer academic/plenum. kreiner, g. e., hollensbe, e. c., & sheep, m. l. (2006). where is the "me" among the "we"? identity work and the search for optimal balance, academy of management journal, 49(5), 1031-1057. k r u e g e r, n . f. ( 1 9 9 3 ) . t h e i m p a c t o f p r i o r entrepreneurial exposure on perceptions of new venture feasibility and desirability, entrepreneurship theory and practice, 18(1), 5-21. krueger, n. f., & brazeal, d. (1994). entrepreneurial p o t e n t i a l a n d p o t e n t i a l e n t r e p r e n e u r s , entrepreneurship theory and practice, 18(3), 91-104. krueger, n. f., reilly, m. d., & carsrud, a. l. (2000). entrepreneurial intentions: a competing models approach. journal of business venturing, 15(5/6), 411-432. lahire, b. (1998). l’homme pluriel  : les ressorts de l’action, paris : nathan. langley, a., & abdallah, c. (2011). templates and turns in qualitative studies of strategy and management. in d. bergh & d. ketchen (eds.), building methodological bridges: research methodology in strategy and management, vol. 6, (pp. 105-140). bingley: emerald group. lecomte, j., balegno, l., comenares, m. e., coutanceau, r., aiguesvives, c., delage, m., benghozi, p., fournet, d., gore, c., roure, m.t., lejeune, a., manciaux, m., & cyrulnik, b. (dir.) (2005). vivre devant soi  : être résilient, et après  ? paris : editions du journal des psychologues. luthar, s. s., cicchetti, d., & becker, b. (2000). the construct of resilience: a critical evaluation and guidelines for future work, child development, 71(3), 543-562. manzano-garcia, g., & ayala calvo, j. c. (2013). psychometric properties of connor-davidson resilience scale in a spanish sample of entrepreneurs, psicothema, 25(2), 245-251. masten, a. s., & coatsworth, j. d. (1998). the development of competence in favorable and unfavorable environments: lessons from research on successful children, american psychologist, 53(2), 205-220. mccubbin, l. (2001). challenges to the definition of resilience. paper presented at the annual meeting of the american psychological association, san francisco, ca, august 24-28. mclarnon, m. j., & rothstein, m. g. (2013). development and initial validation of the workplace resilience inventory. journal of personnel psychology, 12, 63-73. merminod, v., mothe, c., & rowe, f. (2009). effets de product lifecycle management sur la fiabilité et la productivité  : une comparaison entre deux c o n t e x t e s d e d é v e l o p p e m e n t p r o d u i t , m@n@gement, 12(4), 294-331. meyer, j p., & herscovitch, l. (2001). commitment in the workplace: toward a general model, human resource management review, 11(3), 299-326. mitchell, r. k., busenitz, l. w., bird, b., gaglio, c. m., mcmullen, j. s., morse, e. a., & smith, j. b. (2007). the central question in entrepreneurial cognition research 2007, entrepreneurship theory and practice, 31(1), 1-27. mitrano-méda, s., & véran, l. (2014). une modélisation du processus de mentorat entrepreneurial et sa mise en application. management international, 18(4), 68-79. nandkeolyar, a. k., shaffer, j. a., li, a., ekkirala, s., & bagger, j. (2014). surviving an abusive supervisor: the joint roles of conscientiousness and coping strategies, journal of applied psychology, 99(1), 138-150. ngah, r., & salleh, z. (2015). emotional intelligence and entrepreneurs' innovativeness towards entrepreneurial success: a preliminary study, american journal of economics, 5(2), 285-290. p a i l o t , p. ( 2 0 0 3 ) . m é t h o d e b i o g r a p h i q u e e t entrepreneuriat. revue de l’entrepreneuriat, 2(1), 19-41. poilpot, m.-p. (1999). souffrir, mais se construire, ramonville-saint-agne: erès. rutter, m. (2006). implications of resilience concepts for scientific understanding. annals new york academy of science, 1094, 1-12. shane, scott. (2000). prior knowledge and the discovery of entrepreneurial opportunities, organization science, 11(4), 448-469. m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 89-123 marie-josée bernard & saulo dubard barbosa 116 shane, scott. (2012). reflections on the 2010 amr decade award: delivering on the promise of entrepreneurship as a field of research, academy of management review, 37(1), 10-20. shane, scott, & vankataraman, s. (2000). the promise of entrepreneurship as a field of research, academy of management review, 25(1), 217-226. shapero, a. (1975). the displaced, uncomfortable entrepreneur, psychology today, 9(6), 83-88. shapero, a. (1981). self-renewing economies. economic development commentary, 5(apr.), 19-22. shapero, a., & sokol, l. (1982). the social dimensions of entrepreneurship. in c. kent, d. sexton, & k. vesper (eds.), encyclopedia of entrepreneurship, 72-90. englewood cliffs, nj: prentice hall. shepherd, d. a. (2003). learning from business failure: propositions of grief recovery for the self-employed, academy of management review, 28(2), 318-328. shepherd, d. a., patzelt, h., & wolfe, m. (2011). moving forward from project failure: negative emotions, affect commitment, and learning from the experience, academy of management journal, 54(6), 1229-1259. shepherd, d. a., williams, t. a., & patzelt, h. (2015). thinking about entrepreneurial decision making: r e v i e w a n d r e s e a r c h a g e n d a , j o u r n a l o f management, 41(1), 11-46. s h i g l e y, d . ( 2 0 1 0 ) . s t r i k i n g o u t : a r e y o u r entrepreneurial fantasies worth living?, psychology today, 43(6): 50-51. st-jean, e., & audet, j. (2009). factors leading to satisfaction in a mentoring scheme for novice entrepreneurs, international journal of evidence based coaching and mentoring, 7(1), 148-161. steyaert, c., & hjorth, d. (2007). entrepreneurship as s o c i a l c h a n g e : a t h i r d m o v e m e n t s i n entrepreneurship book. northampton, ma: edward elgar publishing. strauss, a., & corbin, j. (1998). basics of qualitative research: techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory, thousand oaks, london, new delhi: sage publications. théorêt, m. (2005). la résilience, de l’observation du phénomène ver l’appropriation du concept par l’éducation. revue des sciences de l’education, 31(3), 633-658. t h o r n t o n , p. h . ( 1 9 9 9 ) . t h e s o c i o l o g y o f entrepreneurship, annual review of sociology, 25, 19-46. tillement, s., cholez, c., & reverdy, t. (2009). a s s e s s i n g o r g a n i z a t i o n a l r e s i l i e n c e : a n interactionist approach. m@n@gement, 12(4), 230-265. van de ven, a. h. (2007). engaged scholarship: a guide for organizational and social research, oxford: oxford university press. van maanen, j. (1979). the fact of fiction in organizational ethnography, administrative science quarterly, 24(4), 539-550. verstraete, t., & fayolle, a. (2004). quatre paradigmes pour cerner le domaine de recherche en entrepreneuriat. 7ème congrès cifepme c o n g r è s i n t e r n a t i o n a l f r a n c o p h o n e e n entrepreneuriat et pme, montpellier, 27-29 octobre. v i a l , m . , & c a p a r r o s m e n c a c c i , n . ( 2 0 0 7 ) . l’accompagnement professionnel ? méthode à l’usage des praticiens exerçant une fonction éducative, bruxelles : de boeck. werner, e e., bierman, j. m., & french, f. e. (1971). the children of kauai: a longitudinal study from the prenatal period to age ten, honolulu, th: university of hawaii press. werner, e e., & smith, r s. (1982). vulnerable but invincible: a study of resilient children and youth. new york, ny: mcgraw-hill. williams, n., & vorley, t. (2014). economic resilience and entrepreneurship: lessons from the sheffield city region, entrepreneurship & regional development, 26(3-4), 257-281. resilience and entrepreneurship m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 89-123 117 authors use of the concept of resilience in entrepreneurship approach ayala calvo & manzanogarcia (2010) resilience is a dimension of the entrepreneur’s human capital, in the same way as concepts of locus of control and need for achievement. resilience as a trait, quality or skill.ayala calvo & manzanogarcia (2014) manzano-garcia & ayala calvo (2013) resilience is a quality of entrepreneurs. the authors distinguish three dimensions of resilience: hardiness, the ability to find resources and optimism. they find that these three dimensions contribute to the success of the entrepreneur. resilience as a trait, quality or skill. dewald & bowen (2010) organisational resilience is put forward as a cognitive framework and seen as an organisational capacity to adopt new routines when faced with threats and opportunities created by innovation. resilience as a trait, quality or skill. duening (2010) resilience is put forward as one of five new cognitive talents recognised in entrepreneurs to be developed in education and entrepreneurship. resilience as a trait, quality or skill. drnovsek, örtqvist, & wincent (2010) resilience is indirectly evoked by the concept of coping as the ability to face heightened stress and generative of performance and well-being. resilience as a trait, quality or skill. hayward et al. (2010) resilience is a positive quality associated with an entrepreneur’s confidence and ability to rebound and create new companies after a failure. the writers distinguish three types of resilience: emotional, social and financial. resilience as a trait, quality or skill. ngah & salleh (2015) resilience is implicitly suggested as a characteristic linked to emotional intelligence and the innovative abilities of entrepreneurs. resilience as a trait, quality or skill. shigley (2010) resilience corresponds to a resistance skill and is an entrepreneurial quality like optimism, sense of autonomy and tolerance of risks. resilience as a trait, quality or skill. branzei & abdelnour (2010) the authors observe the emergence of entrepreneurial activities in contexts of extreme adversity, such as terrorism. resilience plays a role in resistance to conditions of adversity and has a positive influence on the revenue of entrepreneurs. resilience as a response to difficult context or events. chakravorti (2010) the author evokes resilience indirectly, placing the accent on the fact that difficult environments offer opportunities for entrepreneurs. resilience as a response to difficult context or events. dahles & susilowati (2015) dawley, pike, & tomaney (2010) williams & vorley (2014) the authors focus on the concept of economic resilience, as the ability of regions and communities to bounce back after recessions and economic shocks, natural disasters or political crises. resilience as a response to difficult context or events. holland & shepherd (2011) resilience is indirectly evoked through the decision to persist in pursuing entrepreneurial opportunity in a context of adversity. resilience as a response to difficult context or events. krueger & brazeal (1994) resilience is associated with the concept of entrepreneurial potential and seen as dependent on a “nourishing” environment in terms of social and cultural support and support for information, knowledge and resources. resilience as a response to difficult context or events. shapero (1975, 1981) shapero & sokol (1982) the concept of displacement following a traumatic event is put forward as an element of moving to the entrepreneurship act. resilience is implied in the energy of displacement. economic resilience following a difficult event depends on an environment that is socially, culturally and materially supportive. resilience as a response to difficult context or events. bullough & renko (2013) bullough, renko, & myatt (2014) resilience is the ability to continue to live after adversity. the authors examine the effect of the ability on the intention to become an entrepreneur in afghanistan and the united states. resilience both as a quality and a response to a difficult context danes et al. (2009) resilience is approached as a family characteristic for facing natural catastrophes. resilience both as a quality and a response to a difficult context davidsson & gordon (2016) the authors analyse the response from a sample of budding entrepreneurs in australia facing the macro-economic crisis of 2008-2009. they note that it did not have a direct effect on the behaviour of entrepreneurs, but did not find any signs of of creative resilience in their sample, suggesting that their persistence could be explained by other factors. resilience both as a quality and a response to a difficult context essen, strike, carney, & sapp (2015) resilience is approached as a characteristic of family businesses allowing them to get through the macro-economic crisis whilst maintaining their commitments to employees. resilience both as a quality and a response to a difficult context appendix a. different approaches to the concept of resilience in entrepreneurship m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 89-123 marie-josée bernard & saulo dubard barbosa 118 theme representative quotes origins of the processorigins of the process traumatic experience “i was adopted when i was one and a half […] i discovered resilience myself when i adopted a little boy and took an interest in adoption and those who have been adopted. that’s when i understood the concept of resilience and that today there is a very clear link for me with what i am doing professionally. […] i was born in vietnam in 1973, during the war, and i left vietnam in 1975. when i read up on adoption in relation to my son, i understood things about my own adoption and what is known as the trauma of abandonment.” (mathieu, story 2) “first of all, i didn’t choose my life […] when my younger brother was born, my mother pushed me away from the family and my brother. i spent long periods far away from home, and all my holidays without my parents or my brother […] there was a difference between my brother and i, he went on to study, i didn’t. i think that stayed with me my whole life. my mother said to me one day ‘your brother is more intelligent than you are, that’s why he’s studying’” (yves, story 3) consequences of trauma “there is a real difference between them (my adoptive parents) and me in terms of our attitude. it caused many conflicts. i lived with complete refusal of my difference. […] in vietnam, there is a very natural view of things that here, in the environment i arrived in, were very different […] all that i took as a refusal of difference.” (mathieu, story 2) development of the resilience process prior to entrepreneurship development of the resilience process prior to entrepreneurship process of reconstructionprocess of reconstruction resilience mentors “the company gave me an education that society, and my family, did not give me. it was the company that trained me.” (yves, story 3) “i was reborn there on the 26th january. there was a meeting at alcoholics anonymous […] at this meeting i met the person who would take part in starting my business, who supported me for a long time and opened doors for me” (yves, story 3) “[in order to create my company] i had to work hard to pass my du (university diploma) with the administration of the hospitals because there was no system of validating experience. […] luckily, i found myself with an older doctor, a dependent alcoholic. he had lost everything. he was a kind of mentor who allowed me to pass my du.” (yves, story 3) committment “i learned about being a politician from p.m. (a well-known politician), i learned a lot. i went through some very intense times. […] i did the european elections. i was a campaign manager.” (yves, story 3) interim victories “at that time the best option was the “s” science studies pathway. they made me take the s option, i didn’t really want that but it was a bit forced on me. my brother had done that, my sister had done it, so i had to do it! in fact, i made a mistake and at the end of the first year i was asking myself questions […] [finally] i finished in economics and did really well. i had found the right pathway, i knew the economics option was the right one for me.” (mathieu, story 2) “i was 17 and a half, 18. […] i already wanted out of the situation [labouring]. i found myself work, it was me who found a job. i joined a company where i could use the knowledge i had in electricity in a research unit. i started to create things, perhaps that was my first creation, my first victory…” (yves, story 3) reconquering selfesteem “for four years, since seoul, i had been winning loads of things. […] i was so confident, i had been training for six months, i made sure i told everyone!” (tomas, story 1) “in sport, there is a lot of luck. you have to do everything you can to get there, but after that success or failure in a competition is not ruled by that. i had quite a lot of luck. between playing at a certain level and winning, it’s something else. what helped me a lot was saying to myself : ‘i’ve done everything i can to get there’ ” (tomas, story 1) decision to get out of incoherent contextsdecision to get out of incoherent contexts quest for meaning and coherence “i was in a kind of fog of contradictions and paradoxes, which would later lead me to creating [my company]” (yves, story 3) “the people who took over the company were very pushy. my boss left […] when he left he said ‘the best person to replace me is tomas’, naming me. that didn’t happen […]. a bit later there was another similar opportunity. so i sent an e-mail to say that i was interested in the post. i had no reply, until the day i learnt that someone else had been appointed […] i almost felt like it was the end… one day someone said: ‘they had a hard time finding someone, they offered it to everyone’. i said to myself ‘this is not the place for me any more’ ”. (tomas, story 1) appendix b. supplementary data supporting the interpretation of results resilience and entrepreneurship m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 89-123 119 theme representative quotes emergence of the start-up projectemergence of the start-up project internal triggers “i had nothing, i was finished. […] it was a time with moments of real, profound solitude”.   (yves, story 3) “i found myself in contact with social extremes, i thought i had to do something. the importance of personal and social failure is too strong, the question is: how to help the greatest number of entrepreneurs who have good ideas to not be amongst the 100,000 who will fail?” (mathieu, story 2) external triggers “i found a job as a representative which allowed me to put some money aside. […] the work i was doing was unbearable.” (yves, story 3) “there were two triggers. i read an article on the internet [… and] the second, was the realisation that there are lots of people who want to start their own business: 200,000 start-ups. there are 100,000 who in two to three years will fail. a failure rate of 50%. […]” (mathieu, story 2) meaning of the project “i want to give meaning to economic projects and give economic value to a social project. i don’t want to be on the extremes, i am in the middle, not everything is black or white. […] my project is to help people to stand up. give people a chance.” (mathieu, story 2) “three years ago we were working on disability, now we are working on difference […] the best way of living together is to accept that others are different. it is not the other who is different to me, it is the both of us who are different from one another. when you say to someone ‘you’re different to me’, the difference is borne by the other person, you put yourself in the correct place and the other must move towards you. […] difference is borne by yourself first (tomas, story 1) m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 89-123 marie-josée bernard & saulo dubard barbosa 120 marie-josée bernard is doctor in sciences of management, she is holder of a post master degree in philosophy and in human resources management. she was human resources manager. she is professor in management, leadership, and human development at em lyon business school, and executive and career coach. expert in the field of the entrepreneurial resilience, research topic of which she is at the origin of emergence, she published several articles, chapters on this subject since 2006, and a book in 2016: «entrepreneuriat, course of life and resilience », editions l’harmattan. saulo dubard barbosa is associate professor at emlyon business school, where he currently teaches new venture creation and social entrepreneurship at different levels. his main research interests are on decision making under uncertainty, venture creation, and social change. his doctoral dissertation, on the risk perception associated with new venture creation, received the 2009 best doctoral dissertation award by the fnege and the french entrepreneurship & innovation academy. resilience and entrepreneurship m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 89-123 121 © the author(s) www.management-aims.com m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 89-123 marie-josée bernard & saulo dubard barbosa 122 © the author(s) www.management-aims.com resilience and entrepreneurship m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 89-123 123 193mandalaki m@n@gement 2016, vol. 19(3): 203-227 organisational indulgences or abuse 
 of indulgences: can good actions somehow wipe out corporate sins? 
 
 emmanouela mandalaki ! patrick o’sullivan abstract. assessment of the overall moral stature of organisations is notoriously difficult. this is partly of course because they are collective entities but also because they rarely present a clear-cut picture in respect of moral stance: we will typically find that while organisations engage in wrong-doing, they also engage in “right-doing”, often with a view to compensating in some typically unspecified way for their wrongdoing. the purpose of this conceptual paper is to bring a new perspective to understanding this somewhat paradoxical organisational behaviour. we suggest that by drawing in an analogical manner on the ancient catholic conception of proper indulgences and abuses of indulgence, we can develop a fruitful way to understand compensatory right doing activity as well as a powerful normative tool for morally assessing such activity. this locates the paper firmly within the field of business ethics but it also yields some interesting insights regarding the motivations of certain organisational behaviours. we finally suggest that we can conceptualise an organisation’s activity in this respect along a kind of moral spectrum that stretches from pure organisational impostorism1 through abuse of indulgence to proper indulgence and we suggest some illustrations of these from well-known business cases. ‘here’s to what matters’ says mcdonald’s (joseph, 2014) to respond to accusations of contributing to obesity problems worldwide (robinson et al, 2005; caterer & hotelkeeper, 2003). with this slogan, the ronald mcdonald’s house charities foundation donates money to children’s hospitals to contribute to the lives of children in need (joseph, 2014). beyond its philanthropic activity, the company has launched children’s happy meals with less fat and has increased its salad and fruit offering (datamonitor, 2004), while it has also introduced mini-gyms in some of its restaurants (business insurance, 2006) to address customers’ concerns for a healthy lifestyle. however, mcdonald’s still maintains its unhealthy food offering, and so it continues to be accused of wrong-doing by activists and customers. what motivates such inconsistent corporate behaviour and apparently contradictory ethical stances? our discussion, aims to provide a novel lens through which such corporate profiles can be morally evaluated. recent research around the idea of restorative actions following corporate malfeasance, has shown that companies tend to do more good in one domain of their activity when they have previously done more bad in a different domain, with some variation across industries (kotchen & moon, 2012). however, while a certain body of literature empirically investigates organizational malfeasance and has identified factors leading organizations to perform unethical activities (e.g. jones & kavanagh, 1996; trevino, �203 1. we are aware that we are creating here a new term, which we think is appropriate as a precise description of the phenomenon we are investigating. the term should not be confused with the psychological term impostor syndrome, which denotes a psychological condition. in fact impostor syndrome denotes a psychological condition of lack of self-esteem quite the opposite from what we are describing as organisational impostorism: it denotes people who are genuinely talented but believe themselves to be frauds. what we will describe here as organisational impostorism is actually a situation where an organisation is falsely posturing as morally upright when in fact it is not in reality behaving at all ethically. emmanouela mandalaki grenoble ecole de management em_mandalaki@yahoo.gr patrick o’sullivan grenoble ecole de management patrick.osullivan@grenoble-em.com m@n@gement, vol. 19(3): 203-227 emmanouela mandalaki & patrick o’sullivan 1986), little has been done to approach the issue philosophically and to try to decompose the elements of such immoral organizational behaviour and its relation with subsequent right-doing behaviour. however, while the stream of corporate wrongdoing scandals (e.g., enron, worldcom, barclays, volkswagen among others) continues or even intensifies, we also witness the phenomenon of widespread philanthropic activity or other forms of morally praiseworthy activity by companies. quite often, such philanthropic activity is performed by the selfsame companies that have been accused of wrongdoing (kotchen and moon, 2012). when organizations with increased ethical activity are accused also of involvement in unethical practices, this raises the question of whether maintaining a well-developed ethical profile somehow provides a good “alibi” or excuse for organizations to be involved in wrong-doing. the current paper aims to understand the potential motivation of organizations behind maintaining such apparently inconsistent ethical profiles and to assess it philosophically. aiming to explain this paradox, the paper seeks to develop a philosophical understanding, by analogy, of the fundamental motivation leading organizations to engage in actions of social compensation, like charitable donations or other philanthropy, following involvement in wrongdoing. in particular, since these right-doing actions are often engaged in by companies which are involved in greater evils, it would appear that the companies are involved in some kind of implicit logic of indirect compensation for wrongdoing done elsewhere. however, it is equally possible that the philanthropy and right-doing activities are intended to be little more than a diversionary public relations tactic designed to burnish corporate image and to distract attention from wrongdoings. we suggest that in order to make more sense of all of this, we can draw on what we see as an intriguing analogy between such corporate “compensatory” actions, and the notion of “indulgences” of the catholic church defined as “the remission before god of the temporal punishment due for sins already forgiven as far as their guilt is concerned” (paul vi, 1967). we intend to transfer the old idea of indulgences (as also that of abuse of indulgences) to a contemporary market environment and thereby to make sense of the extent to which commitment to good actions can somehow wipe out the effect of unethical actions previously performed or continuing to be performed by organisations. we use the term analogy with a certain philosophical trepidation knowing that it has generated quite a literature both in epistemology over the centuries (discussions of argument by analogy for the existence of god, etc.) and even recently in the management area (e.g., oswick, keenoy & grant, 2002). we are proposing the term in a philosophically non-loaded manner. we use the term analogy to mean an equivalence of principle or of certain essential aspects between two phenomena but not of every singular detail between these phenomena. thus, we simply argue that certain types of corporate good actions designed to offset evils generated elsewhere are in terms of moral principle essentially equivalent to ancient catholic indulgences or more often to the abuse of such indulgences (as we shall define in detail below), even if the actions are not undertaken in a religious context or intended as a device to head off suffering in an afterlife. the current paper contributes to the business ethics literature in various ways. first, we transfer the principle of indulgences into the contemporary market environment through philosophically analysing compensatory business practices following wrong-doing and decomposing the moral elements triggering such behaviour. in so doing, we enrich �204 organisational indulgences or abuse of indulgence m@n@gement, vol. 19(3): 203-227 organizational level literature discussing the relation between good and bad corporate deeds (e.g., kotchen and moon, 2012; chatterji and toffel, 2010; muller and kraussl, 2011) to understand such apparently inconsistent corporate profiles in terms of quest for indulgence. secondly, through making the analogy of organizational moral practices with the principle of indulgences and the possible abuses of these, we propose a taxonomy of different types of indulgence-seeking corporate behaviour depending on the real intent involved in such acts and the consequences of those acts. using the catholic principle of indulgences as a prism allows us to identify the defining characteristics for this taxonomy. to illustrate our argument, we then describe real cases of corporate scandals and assess them critically in the light of the principle of true or abusive indulgences, as defined in our discussion. our reflection extends and hopefully will illuminate current debates on corporate malfeasance through transferring the idea of indulgences, a notion that has been largely understudied in relation to management, from the theological to the business ethics literature. corporate wrongdoing and (compensatory) r i g h t d o i n g i n r e c e n t o r g a n i s at i o n a l literature organizational level literature has broadly discussed the relationship between good and bad organizational deeds, without a particular focus on the potentially indulgent nature of those. however, since organizations are made up by collectives of individuals, organizational misconduct often originates as unethical activity of individuals or small groups within the organisation (greve et al, 2010). to that extent it will be possible to seek insights regarding good and bad corporate deeds using the prism of indulgences, a famous or indeed infamous practice of the mediaeval catholic church. while in its mediaeval incarnation it was mainly applied at an individual level, it could also apply to group actions in certain cases. that we should be turning to what may seem a surprising source for illumination of business behaviour, namely to an ancient religious practice, in a secular age should not seem so surprising if we consider some strands of the existing csr literature. literature on historical csr has discussed individual moral sense in respect of compassion and good deeds directed towards collective social welfare as an important attribute shaping organizational csr (roberts, 2009) and sees moral accountability as a reflection of managers’ philosophical and religious backgrounds (parker, 2014). particularly, parker (2014) provides a review of the 19th century british industrialists’ (owen, salt, lever and cadbury) successful csr practices to propose a connection between successful csr and individual, moral convictions emanating from christian religious beliefs associating faith with good deeds (e.g., jenkins, 2002). evidence from victorian england also associates industries’ charitable practices more with christian religious beliefs and altruistic attitudes than corporate reputation. such accounts suggest that contemporary csr could also sometimes be driven by genuine good will to serve the society and not necessarily subordinated to the instrumental achievement of corporate financial objectives and reputation. it will be evident that the extensive discussions by islamic scholars of the requisite features of morally responsible (halal) finance are also linking religious convictions with proper business practice; while in thailand the increasingly influential discussion of the principles of a “sufficiency �205 m@n@gement, vol. 19(3): 203-227 emmanouela mandalaki & patrick o’sullivan economy” draw directly on certain buddhist ideas of moderation in all things (middle way2). when dealing with the broadly defined area of organizational good and bad deeds, contemporary literature has however typically been more secular and cynical. for example, yu and yu (2011) found that spending on corporate lobbying allows organizations to cover corporate fraud for longer periods and that such spending is intensified in fraudulent as opposed to non-fraudulent periods. corporate fraud literature also posits that ethical decision making and post-fraud csr reflect acknowledgment of misconduct and intention to make up for previous fraudulent practices as well as in some instances a commitment to prevent future engagement in fraud (rodgers, söderbom and guiral, 2014). recent literature has also reported a positive association between tax avoidance and corporate csr positing that firms with low csr reputation tend to engage in csr to restore their reputation (watson, 2015). in respect of organisational csr focusing on firms’ philanthropic responsibilities (schwartz and caroll, 2003; geva, 2008) beyond legal and economic ones, some studies have shown that socially irresponsible behaviour (i.e., activity negatively impacting stakeholders interests; strike, gao, & bansal, 2006) in one aspect of organizational activity triggers socially responsible behaviour in other dimensions of csr. particularly, kotchen and moon (2012) investigated 3000 publicly traded us firms to conclude that firms engaging in socially irresponsible behaviour in areas related to human rights, environmental or social welfare (e.g., oil spills) invest higher in csr in similar areas of activity to restore corporate reputation. similarly, chatterji and toffel (2010) found that firms accused of negative environmental impact subsequently improved their environmental practices to compensate for the alleged wrong-doing. conversely, literature argues that when highly publicized firms are accused of irresponsible corporate governance, they use csr in another area of activity as an offset mechanism (kotchen and moon, 2012), thus suggesting a higher focus on restoring reputation as opposed to genuinely righting the wrongdoing. various other authors also view corporate philanthropy as a way to offset bad reputation and social irresponsibility and argue that it is used as an impression management (perks, farache, shukla & berry, 2013) and public relations tool to enhance firms’ ethical profiles (saiia, carroll, and buchholtz, 2003). similarly, some literature argues that corporate philanthropy is instrumentally used to make the ‘business case for csr’ (i.e., csr purely motivated by profitability objectives). for instance, walmart’s significant contribution in hurricane katrina’s relief operations contributed significantly to offset its reputation and long-term profitability for previous alleged unethical labour practices (barbaro and gillis, 2005). last but not least, recent research has investigated an inverse relationship between good and bad corporate deeds suggesting that involvement in csr provides organizations with the needed moral credentials to be able to engage in more csi (corporate social irresponsibility) afterwards (ormiston and wong, 2013). in the context of our analysis (to be developed in detail below) this latter is what we will explain as prospective purchase of indulgence. schrempf-stirling and colleagues (2016) recently provided a new perspective in the literature through discussing how corporate wrong-doing by previous generations of managers is dealt with by current managers. even though our discussion is not concerned with the generation of the manager per se, it aims to enrich this line of thinking by proposing a new lens through which corporate efforts to right previous wrong-doing can be �206 2. on islamic financial principles and the prohibition of interest on loans see a variety of contemporary works such as kettell b (2011). on the principles of a sufficiency economy see o’sullivan p allington n & esposito m (2015), chapter 14; or avery g & bergsteiner h (2016) chapters 2 and 3. organisational indulgences or abuse of indulgence m@n@gement, vol. 19(3): 203-227 morally evaluated. the above literature provides wide-ranging evidence of a relationship between ethical and unethical business practices. it thus appears that csr is often regarded as intended to compensate for csi either retrospectively or prospectively. in the light of the notion of indulgences (which we explain in detail below), we will argue by analogy that organizational involvement in right-doing following wrong-doing can be understood as indulgence-seeking behaviour on the part of organizations especially where no attempt is made at a precise cost benefit quantification of the offsetting csr and csi. however, in those cases where organisations take no steps to end or at least significantly to reduce the wrongdoing, what is often involved is not proper indulgence but rather a recrudescence of the ancient abuse of indulgences as clearly explained in the next section. we will therefore argue that a very useful insight into the nature of the apparently paradoxical relationship between csr and csi can be found by seeing it through the lens of or as analogous to the catholic conception of indulgence. whether this offsetting csr is used as an impression management mechanism or also involves genuine will to right the original wrongdoing will (as explained below) determine whether it is proper indulgence or abuse of indulgence. the latter will be directly relevant to our normative evaluation of the phenomenon since we take abuse of indulgence to be a patent moral evil3. our analysis will also lead us to suggest a possible taxonomy of different indulgent seeking corporate behaviours. indulgences: some perspectives from moral philosophy and religion the original notion of indulgences we take as our starting point the theological discussion of indulgences that is the traditional catholic position from which all of the subsequent controversy, abuses and discussion of indulgences has followed. the catholic church defines indulgences as “the remission before god of the temporal punishment due for sins already forgiven as far as their guilt is concerned’ (paul vi, 1967). we now discuss the moral components of this ancient phenomenon to draw an analogy between the catholic principle of indulgences and corporate involvement in both ethical and unethical practices. in so doing, we aim to discuss whether or not the implicit idea of moral compensation is in fact philosophically justified. discussion of this latter point will require that we delve into some of the arcane detail of the theory and even theology of indulgences and of the abuse of indulgences. inherent in any such discussion of indulgences are the closely related catholic doctrines of confession, forgiveness and temporal punishment. through the sacrament of penance or confession, the church forgives sinners demonstrating genuine contrition for their wrongdoings (jesson, 2002) and has developed various types of practice for such confession. for instance, exomologesis (i.e., contrition in the form of public confession) constitutes one of those practices and there is also the wellknown act of private confession in a church confessional box to a priest. it is vital for forgiveness by the church that the asserted contrition be genuine; that is be sincere and reflect a real state of sorrow or regret by the sinner; and real regret logically implies a resolve by the sinner not to repeat the same evil actions (schaff, 1882). insincere or merely perfunctory sorrow or regret, which does not include the intention to avoid the same �207 3. this is of course a normative moral judgment but we make it without apology just as one might judge murder or systematic deliberate dishonesty as wrong. m@n@gement, vol. 19(3): 203-227 emmanouela mandalaki & patrick o’sullivan sins in the future, is not genuine contrition and does not elicit forgiveness in confession. thinkers from the empiricist or positivist traditions might have difficulty with this concept of genuine contrition since it is entirely subjective and only the sinner can know for sure if their contrition is genuine. it is not something readily observable by another person nor can it reliably be established even by questioning the subject (since they might well lie). however, we would submit that every self-conscious individual knows in their mind and heart when an expression of sorrow is sincere and when it is merely perfunctory utterance of certain words which are not a true reflection of sentiments felt. in the same vein, any person can also know if they really want to try to avoid repeating certain evil actions in the future even if sometimes they may be less certain of whether they will succeed: the spirit may be willing but the flesh may be weak. the key point is that the spirit be willing! the catholic position stresses that in view of the infinite forgiving love of god, guilt and the consequence of eternal punishment can be absolved even for very serious sins as long as the sinner genuinely repents. thus, even when heavy sinners express true contrition and seek forgiveness through confession, once the forgiveness is accorded and thus eternal punishment absolved, they are only subject to a temporal (i.e. timelimited as opposed to eternal) punishment intended to provide compensation to a victim or satisfaction to god for the sin committed (jesson, 2002). this temporal punishment is said to be a requirement of natural or divine justice. for example, in the case of a theft, once forgiveness of the sin of theft has been accorded in confession, the thief is still bound in natural justice to make restitution of the stolen goods. another idea of significant importance in the christian religious tradition, is that of charitable donation or more generally doing “good works” or philanthropy (bremner, 1996; benbaji & heyd, 2001). such good acts are also encouraged in many other religions such as in buddhism for example or in the muslim zakat4, but it has a particular significance in catholic christianity that we now explore. here charitable donation is considered to fulfil or “serve” the temporal punishment requirement, since it is intended to enhance others’ well-being and can compensate for previous wrong-doing. since it is often not possible to make direct restitution for previous wrongdoing (for example in the case of murder), the temporal punishment requirement can then be met by more general charitable donations and good works. this is precisely the definition of indulgences in the catholic doctrine, as cited above. however it has always to be emphasised, that the temporal punishment cannot eliminate the guilt of sin5. the guilt of sin can only be eliminated through confession and acknowledgement of the wrongdoing committed accompanied by a genuine contrition involving repentance for the evil caused and a commitment not to repeat the evil in the future. charitable donation and good works come into play only after acknowledgement of guilt and the genuine contrition; and they are intended to fulfil only the natural justice requirements of temporal punishment and restitution (kent, 1910). there is thus no question of charitable donation and other good works leading prospectively or retrospectively to forgiveness of wrongdoing; they can only come into play in relation to the temporal punishment and they can at most generate an indulgence in respect of the temporal punishment/restitution requirements. moreover they can become effective only when there is genuine contrition involving a commitment never to engage again in the wrongdoing for which they are meant to fulfil �208 4. zakat is the requirement that any good-living muslim should devote 2% of their wealth to helping and supporting those less wealthy than themselves. 5. on the strict catholic doctrine in respect of indulgences, on the meanings of the various t e r m s a n d o n t h e c h u r c h ’ s r e p e a t e d condemnation of abuses thereof see kent ( 1 9 1 0 ) i n t h e n e w a d v e n t c a t h o l i c encyclopedia. organisational indulgences or abuse of indulgence m@n@gement, vol. 19(3): 203-227 the temporal punishment (schaff, 1882); and so proper indulgence could never be prospective. this latter requirement, as we will see, completely undermines the potential claim to “indulgence” or forgiveness that often motivates corporate donations and good works. to satisfy the requirement, businesses would need to truly repent for previously unethical behaviour and commit to never repeat it again in the future, while also engaging, where possible, in direct actions of offsetting the adverse effects of such behaviour. to understand the logic of certain business activities today and draw parallels with the idea of indulgences, we can further draw on another historically significant aspect of the catholic position: the abuse of indulgences (kent, 1910; schaff, 1882). throughout the ages, it has proved highly tempting for people to fall into the belief that by spending enough on good works, sins can be forgiven often in advance even of the sin being committed. unfortunately there have also been lower level church representatives (quaestores or brokers of indulgences)6, who encouraged such behaviours; in effect selling indulgences to elicit forgiveness of sins not only retrospectively but also prospectively. these practices were a perversion of the true position of the catholic church on indulgences and they were condemned by a series of popes and councils of the church (kent, 1910). they were rampant especially in the 13th and 14th centuries and were indeed the most prominent abuse in the catholic church which led martin luther in 1517 to initiate the reformation with the 95 theses of wittenburg (schaff, 1882). we will now review some examples of indulgences in medieval times and we draw a comparison with current organizational activity. organisational indulgences in mediaeval times the notion of indulgence is usually thought of in relation to individuals but given that, as we will argue later, certain activities of business organisations can be considered as analogous to indulgence seeking, it is interesting to see if in mediaeval times there were any instances of indulgences for organisations. indeed, as a result of the connection between church and civil matters, mediaeval guilds were considered corporations with religious character due to their donations to the church and charitable giving, and thus were often granted indulgence by the church. a notable example was that of the guild of merchants (founded in 1466 in rostock) which was granted plenary indulgence by sixtus iv( 1471-84) once during their lives and once at the time of death. then, in the early sixteenth century, cardinal raimund peraudi granted a new indulgence of 100 days to the guild anytime they transferred a dead guild member to the grave or provided support to the brotherhood (paulus, 1922). another similar medieval example is that of the marksmen groups, whose defensive role was crucial in protecting the society and the church from hostile attacks. the latter, in combination with the fact that marksmen groups were deeply religious, led the church to recognize them as religious groups and grant them indulgences (paulus, 1922). notably, in 1445, the bishop of merseburg granted them an indulgence of 40 days for their religious good works. later, the bishop alexander of forli granted an indulgence of 100 days to the group’s members participating in the marksmen’s religious services. however, as mentioned above, besides grant of true indulgences, incidents of abuse of indulgences were also widespread in mediaeval times. one of the main abuses of indulgence leading to the disillusion of luther, was the indulgence given by popes leo x and julius ii to those that �209 6. in kent (1910) a detailed account of proper indulgence, the various types of abuse of indulgence and indulgence brokerage can be found. m@n@gement, vol. 19(3): 203-227 emmanouela mandalaki & patrick o’sullivan participated in the construction of st. peter’s in rome, while indulgences were also traded for contribution to other good purposes (like construction of hospitals and bridges as well as participation in raids against the turks). a notable example of an indulgence sold to medieval ‘organizations’ was that of leo x’s sale of indulgence to the italian hospital s.spirito in 1516, while indulgences were also sold to the hospital of nuremberg in 1515 and of strasburg in 1518 (schaff, 1882). another group oriented indulgence was initially sold by alexander vi, in 1502 and later extended by julius ii, to finance the christian knights fighting against the russians. it may also be noted that in a remarkable bridge between the ancient abuses and our own times, the sicilian mafia to this day believes itself to be “protected” against divine eternal punishment for its wrongdoings by the payment of generous sums of money to the local clergy and bishops in sicily. this practice would appear to date from some obscure papal bull of the middle ages but in a contemporary work on the sicilian mafia and its diverse activities by andrea camilleri (camilleri, 1993), it is shown that the sicilian mafia still engage in this practice of generous donation to the church which they appear to see as some kind of insurance against eternal damnation. it has to be said that the contemporary belief is based more on superstition rather than a tenable religious position, since the church while gladly accepting the donations does not of course today officially grant such indulgences. there is also of course a poignant parallel between such superstitious seeking of protection against divine punishment and the protection rackets for businesses, which over much of italy to this day represent the mainstay of mafia revenues. the above provide evidence on the practice of indulgence in mediaeval ages and allows us to draw parallels with current organisational practice. we see organisational practice as the resultant of collective choices made by individuals (without however falling into a methodological individualism), and thus very likely to be motivated by similar considerations as individual actions (greve et al, 2010). we propose to apply the concept of indulgences in business to organizational as opposed to individual engagement in right and wrong-doing, an approach which seems at once logical and can provide a new perspective to the extant literature. indulgences in current organizational practice when discussing organizational engagement in both ethical and unethical activities, the question arises of whether organizational attempts to right previous wrong-doing reflect attitudes of compensation intended to offset the wrongdoing, and thus in effect the idea of indulgences. however in the light of the concept of indulgences, there is a key philosophical clarification to be entered if the analogy is made: before there can be any question of indulgence, there has to be contrition and a genuine resolution to avoid the wrongdoing in the future; a bit of mere green-washing for example is certainly not enough. it is of course possible that when organisations seek to compensate for some wrongdoing in one area of activity by good works in another, they are thinking somehow in a utilitarian manner (mill and bentham, 1987). that is to say that they are thinking in terms of a felicific calculus of pleasure and pain, in which they would argue that the net impact of their good and bad actions is such as to generate a net increase in human happiness; and so that they are, in utilitarian terms, morally good organisations. undoubtedly, that kind of utilitarian thinking is in some cases vaguely in the mind of managers engaging in compensatory philanthropy (kotchen and moon, 2012). however, upon examination, it is not very �210 organisational indulgences or abuse of indulgence m@n@gement, vol. 19(3): 203-227 plausible. rarely if ever do organisations carry out an actual cost-benefit analysis to measure exactly the overall net happiness impact of their activities through compensatory philanthropy. measurement by companies of their net carbon footprint or net global warming impact might represent to a degree an exception to this but it relates only to a company’s impact on the environment: global warming gas (co2 etc) emissions (wright, kemp & williams, 2011)7. in most cases, organisations do not and probably dare not measure the overall impact of their activities. could for example philanthropic activity by tobacco firms (or generous donations to the european commission8) ever compensate for the health ravages caused by long-term smoking or for tobacco-related healthcare costs? the latter suggests that the goal of organisations who seek to offset or to distract attention from their wrongdoings, generated in one area by charity and good works in another area is not so much a utilitarian compensation as some kind of grant of indulgence from the society in which they are operating. thus, the parallel with the classical catholic conception will be very evident, the key difference being that now it is not the church that is asked to grant the indulgence but the society at large (public opinion) or its government (as with the tobacco lobby in the eu). however, embarrassingly for the companies or organisations that seek the indulgence of society, the parallel is typically not with indulgences as properly understood and practised but with the abuse of indulgences. as explained above, essential to the grant of an indulgence is the prior forgiveness of the wrongdoing, which presupposes genuine contrition and resolution not to repeat the wrongdoing. when contemporary companies and organisations engage in philanthropy, they rarely have the slightest intention of correcting the initial wrongdoing which triggers the philanthropic attempt to gain indulgence. there may be some noble exceptions where socially responsible companies not only compensate generously victims of industrial accidents or pollution but also put in place strong safeguards intending to avoid similar events in the future. where the latter is the case, we can say that such corporate behaviours reflect genuine intentions to right previous wrong-doing, and thus are cases of proper indulgence. however, when a company simply continues with the same harmful activity, with no real effort to eliminate the social harm involved, hoping somehow to compensate this by “good works” elsewhere, this is precisely the abuse of indulgences (i.e., payment in order to obtain forgiveness retrospectively or even prospectively without any intention to right the initial wrong). as such, it deserves in our view to be condemned with the same moral fervour as martin luther had condemned the abuses of indulgences by certain elements in the catholic church at the time of the protestant reformation9. we suspect unfortunately that this is probably the most typical type of indulgence seeking syndrome to be found in contemporary business if for no other reason than its ease of adoption (really eliminating wrongdoings that are endemic to an existing business model often being much more challenging for an organisation). but this is at this stage a conjecture which could be empirically investigated in future studies using our proposed framework of analysis. �211 7. for theoretical discussion of the calculation of carbon footprint see wright, l.; kemp, s.; williams, i. (2011). "'carbon footprinting': towards a universally a c c e p t e d d e fi n i t i o n " i n c a r b o n management 2 (1): 61–72. for an idea of how companies can in practice go about calculation of this there are a number of ngo applications for doing this: see for example http:// w w w . m y c l i m a t e . o r g / ? g c l i d = c i h q s r o r 4 8 s c f t u o 0 w o d d 4 k b a w accessed 28 march 2016. 8. in a very interesting exposé carried out by france 2 television « cash investigation : the tobacco lobby in europe  » aired 07 octrober 2014 t was revealed that the giant tobacco firm philip morris pays millions of euros annually into the eu budget in a secret deal which the p r o g r a m m e r e v e a l e d b u t w h i c h t h e commission had souught to keep confidential. 9. it is worth remarking that the catholic church at the counter-reformation council of trent (intermittently held between 1545 and 1563) stung by the criticisms of luther and all too aware that serious abuses were rampant decreed that «  in granting indulgences the  council  desires that moderation be observed in accordance with the ancient approved  custom  of the  church, lest through excessive ease  ecclesiastical discipline  be weakened; and further, seeking to correct the abuses that have crept in it  decrees  that all criminal gain therewith connected shall be entirely done away with as a source of grievous abuse among the  christian  people; and as to o t h e r d i s o r d e r s a r i s i n g from  superstition,  ignorance, irreverence, or any  cause  whatsoever--since these, on account of the widespread corruption, cannot b e r e m o v e d b y s p e c i a l p r o h i b i t i o n s — the council  lays upon each bishop the duty of finding out such abuses as exist in his own  diocese, of bringing them before the next  provincial synod, and of reporting them, with the assent of the other  bishops, to the  roman pontiff, by whose authority and prudence  measures will be taken for the welfare of the  church  at large, so that the benefit of indulgences may be bestowed on all the faithful by means at once pious, holy, and free from corruption”. http://www.myclimate.org/?gclid=cihqsror48scftuo0wodd4kbaw http://www.myclimate.org/?gclid=cihqsror48scftuo0wodd4kbaw http://www.myclimate.org/?gclid=cihqsror48scftuo0wodd4kbaw http://www.myclimate.org/?gclid=cihqsror48scftuo0wodd4kbaw m@n@gement, vol. 19(3): 203-227 emmanouela mandalaki & patrick o’sullivan the nuances of corporate indulgence seeking in practice a framework for practical identification of indulgence syndromes we turn now to discuss practical examples of contemporary company actions to illustrate the relevance of the indulgences analogy for understanding and evaluating corporate right-doing and wrongdoing behaviour. we will first distinguish a number of different theoretical scenarios as a framework for understanding the various possible cases, before suggesting that corporate actions can be conceived on a spectrum that runs from outright insincere posturing (which we will label as organisational impostorism) through abuse of indulgence to proper indulgence. it will be evident from what we have already seen above on the distinction between proper indulgence and abuse of indulgence that central to the distinction is the question of the intention of the actor(s) in question. evaluating current corporate activity using the prism of indulgences we propose that a proper indulgence arises when the wrongdoer has repented for a previous bad act and sincerely intends not to repeat it in the future. a wrongdoer seeking proper indulgence moreover intends to engage at least in good actions if not direct compensation of those who have been wronged. further, we argue that an abuse of indulgence arises when the intention not to repeat the same or a similar wrongdoing is not present10, even though the wrong-doer may demonstrate a genuine interest to benefit the societies it influences though engagement in rightdoing in other areas of activity. hence it is clear that the crucial distinction between proper and abusive indulgence hinges entirely on the intentions of the wrongdoer after a past misdeed. however, deciding and morally evaluating whether a particular company is seeking proper indulgence or merely abusing the indulgence notion becomes a major challenge, given that establishment of the intentions of actors in any practical situation can hardly be based on external observation. indeed even interviewing actors as to their intentions may not help, since actors may often lie about their intentions (especially when actions impact on company reputation). considering that actors might declare false intentions leads us to distinguish a third possibility concerning corporate right-doing after wrongdoing. it would be possible not only that a company might not intend to refrain from repeating the wrongdoing, but also that they had no real intention even to do some compensatory good deeds. their commitment to do good things could be entirely perfunctory, superficial or false. this involves entirely insincere posturing by the company in respect of right doing and we will call this position organizational impostorism. an example of organizational impostorism would be green-washing, which has been extensively discussed and researched in the environmentalist literature as well as in ethics of marketing (see hamman and kapelus, 2004 for a definition). thus, we recognise a third possibility (beyond the simple contrast of proper vs. abusive indulgences) in respect of corporate right-doing after wrongdoing, namely organisational impostorism (although strictly speaking in this last case there is no right-doing after the wrongdoing). moreover further reflection suggests that since human actions may often have a multiplicity of motives, we need to think of these cases as key markers along a spectrum of intention and motivation of right-doing after wrongdoing that stretches from organisational impostorism (at the lowest end of the scale in terms of moral worth) through abuse of indulgences to proper indulgence (highest end of the scale). �212 10. indeed an abuse of indulgence would also arise if even though the intention to refrain from wrongdoing in the future is present the wrongdoer refuses to compensate those wronged directly where this is possible. however this is not the key case for our purposes here and would, we conjecture, in practice be unusual. organisational indulgences or abuse of indulgence m@n@gement, vol. 19(3): 203-227 if this spectrum can seem like a promising conceptualisation of the whole phenomenon of corporate right-doing after wrongdoing and if we are to use it in practice to make moral assessments, there remains the practical question of how we are to observe intentions of corporate actors. given the longstanding role of intentionality in the discussions of moral philosophy and its centrality to the moral evaluation of actions in for example the work of kant, it is not surprising that the definition and observation of intention have been the subject of considerable attention in moral philosophy. malle and knobe (1997) argue that to evaluate the intention of an action one must consider the actor’s skills, desire to achieve a goal, beliefs about the action, degree of awareness of the action, etc. but the challenge remains how to observe all of this empirically. we would propose that one possible way would be to look at the consequences produced by the actions under study. to have an intention to accomplish an action is to will the consequences of that action to be actualised and indeed for the intention to be sincere the actor must carry out the practical actions that realisation of the willed consequences requires. otherwise, the actor is only paying lip service to the declared intention which in that case is not genuine if not non-existent. knobe (2003) for example proposed explicitly that we judge an action’s intentionality based on the consequences it brings about. while this approach may seem ambiguous or confusing to those who would see moral theories as being either deontological or consequentialist, we are not at all shocked by the idea that both intention and consequences may be relevant to the moral evaluation of actions. the dichotomy is arguably a false one since in the first place an intention implies a will to bring about a future state of affairs and so a set of consequences. moreover as suggested above, intention is non-existent unless associated with a set of actions which can reasonably be expected to bring about the practical consequences that are willed in the intention. in the light of what we have said regarding the attainment of intended consequences as an indicator of intentionality, we propose to make a comparison between declared organisational intentions and actual observable moral behaviours and their consequences. failure of willed consequences to materialise may not always imply absence of intention to produce the consequences, since the world is full of uncertainty and surprises which can prevent the desired consequences from being realised. “the best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men gang oft agley” (burns, 1785). however, where consequences and proclaimed intent coincide, we can confidently presume the presence of intention. conversely, when the willed consequences expressed in intentions/proclamations fail to be realised, we must at least be very sceptical as to the expressed intention. indeed, unless there is some very good practical reason to explain why an actor failed to attain the willed result, we must presume that the intention simply was not present. this is what malle and knobe (1997) are referring to when they emphasise that having an intention implies inter alia having information and a set of beliefs regarding the way to attain the intended goals of actions. from all of these considerations and the definitions that we have provided above with regards to each type of indulgence seeking behaviour, we are led to propose a conceptualisation of corporate right-doing after wrongdoing as a spectrum of possibilities ranging from organizational impostorism through abuse of indulgences to proper indulgence (see table  1). it will be interesting for purposes of an ethical appraisal of companies engaged in right-doing after wrongdoing to locate them �213 m@n@gement, vol. 19(3): 203-227 emmanouela mandalaki & patrick o’sullivan conceptually on a spectrum. we attempt to do so in a few high profile illustrative cases below. for ease of reference when discussing the cases, we conceptualize our spectral taxonomy on table 1. on this table we would suggest that as we move from left to right, we are moving downwards on a scale of moral worthiness or ethicality. table 1 summarises key features of the points along the spectral conceptualization of the phenomena that we study. the first column of our table specifies the criteria that we identify for each indulgent seeking attitude, while the final row of the table (in bold capital letters), is meant to be read independently of the rest of the content and refers to our moral evaluation (moral worthiness) of the various types of indulgences as identified above. table 1. taxonomy of indulgent seeking behaviours we will now give some illustrative examples of how certain companies engaging in right-doing after wrongdoing can be evaluated using our framework. these are not intended to be detailed case studies but rather broad illustrations of how different companies can be located at clearly different points on our conceptual spectrum. future researchers may be able to use such a framework to locate many other companies than those discussed in our examples. �214 criteria of indulgent seeking behavior proper indulgence abuse of indulgence organisational impostorism repentance for previous wrongdoing the organization shows genuine repentance for the previously committed wrongdoing and intention directly to compensate for the wrong-doing if possible. the organization doesn’t show true repentance for the previously committed wrongdoing nor does it intend directly to compensate for this. the organisation hasn’t genuinely repented for the previously committed wrongdoing nor does it intend to compensate for this. intention to repeat unethical actions the organization shows genuine intention not to repeat the same unethical actions again. the organization is likely to re-engage in the alleged wrong-doing. the organization reengages in the alleged wrongdoing. willingness to produce positive societal returns through actions of compensation and other csr the organization has the genuine will to produce and typically actually produces positive societal benefits through actions of compensation and other csr. the organization however demonstrates genuine intention to produce positive societal benefits elsewhere through philanthropic activity and other csr and typically succeeds in actually doing so in practice. the organization lacks any intention to produce positive outcomes with the aim to benefit the society and typically doesn’t actually produce any. if the organization engages in csr or philanthropy at all, it is for reputational purposes only. degree of moral worthiness high medium low organisational indulgences or abuse of indulgence m@n@gement, vol. 19(3): 203-227 illustrations: locating corporations involved in indulgence seeking behaviour on the spectrum the purpose of this subsection is not to present what we might call methodologically a detailed case study analysis but rather to give some concrete examples of the previously proposed spectral taxonomy of indulgence seeking organizational behaviour. we will simply delve into some readily available secondary data regarding 3 well known and welldocumented business cases in a purely illustrative way to substantiate and demonstrate the applicability and analytical pertinence of our previously proposed taxonomy. the first case that we discuss is the siemens bribery scandal, which was revealed a few years ago. we discuss the company’s response to the scandal and the major cultural restructuring that it implemented to respond to the accusations. we present the siemens case as an example of proper indulgence by clearly showing how this case associates to the definition of proper indulgence as provided in the above taxonomy. further, we present the shell case of environmental pollution and we mention the steps that shell took as a response to the accusations that it received upon revelation of the scandal. we present this case study as an example of abuse of indulgence by clearly identifying in the case the characteristics corresponding to this category, according to the criteria that we have identified in the above spectral taxonomy. last but not least, we discuss the bp case of environmental pollution as well as the company’s responses to such accusations and we explain why we consider it to be an example of organisational impostorism. siemens: an apparent case of proper indulgence a widely known case of involvement in corporate malfeasance is that of siemens. siemens was caught and accused of offering bribes of millions of euros to “phoney consultants’ contracts, false bills and shell firms” to win contracts (gow, 2008; dietz & gillespie, 2012). corruption in the form of bribes to governmental officials had started soon after the wwii (when bribery could still legally be deductible as an expense) and soon became deeply engrained in the company’s culture, as a way to sustain business operations. the company’s top executives, supervised the internally encouraged bribing system and some of them later admitted: "it was about keeping the business unit alive and not jeopardizing thousands of jobs overnight. we thought we had to do it, otherwise we'd ruin the company." (steinberg, 2013). the latter led us justice department officials to consider bribery as siemens’ business model and shows how such corruption had become a fully rationalized and institutionalized company practice. however, when this behaviour was publicly disclosed, the company was confronted with public outrage and a damaged reputation. the eventual court verdicts required siemens to pay thousands of millions to national governments to settle lawsuits. however, following those disclosures, the company showed remorse and willingness to cooperate with the us and other justice departments through conducting exhaustive internal audits intended to uncover the roots of the problem and take corrective action (steinberg, 2013). siemens’ cooperative response to the bribery scandal, led the tax authorities to reduce the fine from 2.7 billion to 800 million (steinberg, 2013). notably, the company started the internal �215 m@n@gement, vol. 19(3): 203-227 emmanouela mandalaki & patrick o’sullivan audits soon before the external ones were completed and put in place remediation processes, the results of which it disclosed to the prosecutors. the company’s cooperative efforts were well regarded by the public eye as a genuine intention to change culture, eradicate bribery and compensate for the wrong-doing. additionally, in the frame of this investigation, siemens sued a number of its top management executives accused of the bribery incidents (miller, 2008), demonstrating thereby acknowledgement of wrong-doing and willingness to change policy. to better tackle the bribery scandal and set strong foundations for change, siemens hired a new ceo, peter löscher. löscher introduced mechanisms intended to change the company’s culture and communicated to all siemens employees the need to do so (löscher, 2012; steinberg, 2013). by making significant structural changes, streamlining company operations and placing emphasis on reinforcing company values and customer relations, löscher soon managed to achieve significant cultural change (löscher, 2012). notably, the new ceo encouraged all employees to confess previous personal involvement in wrong-doing and rewarded them for showing remorse, while he fired the ones falsely admitting lack of involvement in bribery. the latter led employees to recognize the huge negative impact of bribery on the company’s healthy functioning and to refuse governmental officials’ monetary requests (steinberg, 2013). in his effort to maintain rightful and respectful relations with siemens’ customers, löscher took measures to strengthen customer relations. internally, he introduced training programs and hotlines for employee and customer assistance as well as amnesty programs intended to support the big-scale cultural change that he was envisaging. he also put strategic emphasis on the newly developed environmental portfolio intended to push forward the company’s sustainable business practices. at the same time, siemens had also been heavily active in csr projects involving charitable donation and disaster relief of populations in need (siemens website), following the alleged wrongdoings. for instance, the company has developed the caring hands initiative, encouraging employee participation in charitable donations, volunteerism and disaster relief operations. in that way, siemens ensures employee active engagement in enhancing the living standards of the societies, within which the company operates. the company also supports financially various charities (e.g. charities fighting children liver disease, etc.), to provide financial and psychological assistance to underprivileged parts of the population (siemens website). in a nutshell, siemens is an example of a company that has gone through severe accusations of wrong-doing, which it has acknowledged and has put in place serious mechanisms intended to wipe out the negative impact of its previous malpractices. as characterized by analysts ‘this is a company that went very wrong but after much commitment and hard work is starting to get it right’ (steinberg, 2013). siemen’s efforts to compensate for the alleged wrong-doing have been recognized by various stakeholders. a representative of amnesty international that closely followed the siemens case, said: "there is a sea change.... there are new processes, new people, and new procedures, but that does not make a difference in the world unless there is a change in culture." as it has been admitted by internal and external company stakeholders ‘cultural change is exactly what has been accomplished’ (steinberg, 2013). most analysts therefore appear to agree that siemens has truly admitted the previously committed wrong-doing and has expressed a clear commitment not to repeat the �216 organisational indulgences or abuse of indulgence m@n@gement, vol. 19(3): 203-227 same corrupt wrongdoings again together with a willingness to engage in compensatory csr. siemens has also made concerted efforts to cease bribery and corruption in its business processes especially in less developed countries (dougherty, 2008; dietz & gillespie, 2012) and to the best of our knowledge the company hasn’t been accused of similar wrong-doing, since. the fact that siemens also engages in “good works” with tangible positive effects (steinberg, 2013) demonstrates apparent intention not to repeat similar scandals in the future. evaluating the siemens case through the prism of our spectral taxonomy, we can identify in it all of the above identified characteristics of proper indulgence. siemens appears to be a company that recognized its engagement in wrong-doing and responded to this through major cultural restructuring and multi-faceted right-doing. the latter demonstrates a genuine repentance and intention to compensate for the wrong-doing and not commit to similar unethical deeds in the future. also, considering its involvement in csr and other socially beneficial programs, siemens produces positive results for the communities it operates, thus also satisfying the third requirement of our definition of proper indulgence. the latter taken together suggest that in terms of our taxonomy, siemens is an apparent case of proper indulgence. however, it is of course prudent to maintain one’s reservations in making this judgment, since given the complexity characterizing organizational practices of such giant corporations, the need to satisfy certain organizational interests could easily lead the firm to re-engage in corrupt behaviour in the future. however, for the moment siemens would appear to be maintaining a successful, strict anti-corruption stance, demonstrating thereby a true intention not to repeat similar wrong-doing in the future. shell: an apparent case of abuse of indulgence in nigeria another case reflecting indulgence seeking behaviour is that of shell, one of world’s largest oil production companies with international reach. a crucial hub for shell’s production activity is nigeria, where the company first set up its operations in 1958. since then, the company has been claiming a vital role in the country through engagement in economic, social and political matters. however, during its long activity in the area, shell has many times become object of public scrutiny and has been put in the spotlight for wrong-doing. overall, the company has had a controversial ethical profile especially with regards to oil pollution (hennchen, 2014). specifically, following two major oilspills in ogoniland in 2008 and 2009 (hennchen, 2014), the company was accused of incompetence to function according to internationally recommended safety measures, for inadequate maintenance of its pipelines as well as ineffective remediation causing environmental pollution beyond internationally accepted standards (unep 2011, p. 12). notably, in august 2011, the company’s acknowledgement of involvement in those oil-spills, due to failure of equipment, sparked public outcry on the part of activists, the media and other stakeholders. the latter didn’t just impact on the company’s reputation but also led activists to demand that the company’s licence to operate in the region be revoked (standard, 2011). shell partially accepted the claims while it also accused the state of failure to tackle refining and oil theft causing detrimental social and environmental consequences. the company’s acceptance of certain claims was already interpreted as a sign of recognition of wrong-doing and a will �217 m@n@gement, vol. 19(3): 203-227 emmanouela mandalaki & patrick o’sullivan to assume accountability for it. at the same time, the financial indemnification that was imposed by the court on the company served as a kind of compensation for those two oil spills, in the spirit of restoring social justice, while it was also recognized that it was not enough to compensate for decades of environmental pollution and wrong-doing (hennchen, 2014). notably, the head of the centre of environment and human rights in port harcourt mentioned ‘we are happy with the news that shell could be forced to clean up the environmental devastation it has caused and to pay more than $400 m in compensation. but our jubilation is overshadowed by more than five decades of environmental and social injustice yet to be addressed. (naagbanton, 2011). later, in 2013, shell was brought before the hague district court, for accusations related to 5 other oil spills. finally, 4 of those were attributed to the nigerian government’s inability to tackle criminal activities in the region (hennchen, 2014). this was welcomed by shell representatives who corroborated that oil spills are caused by criminal activity and oil theft (okonedo, 2013), while they confirmed that the company’s csr programme is especially designed to tackle proactively any kind of social and environmental damage. activists however interpreted this response as an excuse intended to cover the company’s poor provision for equipment maintenance. along the same lines, leaked documents have brought to light evidence that shell’s environmental and socially directed actual practices are not in line with the csr commitments outlined in the company’s official csr framework (vidal, 2012; browne, 2006). for instance, shell has been accused of bribing governmental officials as well as being involved in some pronounced cases of human rights violations (leader et al, 2012), for which it accepted to pay to resolve the dispute. even though the company never accepted those accusations (royal dutch shell, 2009a), the fact that it consented to pay to settle the dispute was interpreted as a sign of guilt by concerned stakeholders (hennchen, 2014). however, the above significantly contrast with the company’s reputation as a leader in csr initiatives ranking it 20th in sustainable initiatives worldwide (corporate knights, 2010). similarly, shell has been the first oil company to support the declaration of human rights while it has been awarded the 2011 british-american business channing corporate citizenship award for involvement in out-standing csr initiatives (hennchen, 2014). in the absence of organised governmental responses (ite, 2004; ite, 2007), in nigeria, many stakeholders attest to the company’s crucial role in the region. notably, a member of ngo nidprodev stated that: ‘communities cannot survive without shell’s provision of socio-economic services, because the government is not doing anything and thus they ask shell to stay or come back’ (hennchen, 2014). shell has been active in community development projects in the region since 1937. the company’s csr strategy has evolved over three phases reflecting different levels of social involvement (ite, 2007). until 1998, shell superficially engaged in community assistance programs. in the period 1998-2004, the company engaged in more structured community development programs, which were at times characterized by inadequate control. however, since 2004, shell has laid out a promising and highly monitored sustainable community development (scd) agenda focusing on economically and socially empowering local communities through partnerships with local stakeholders (ngos, international organizations, governmental bodies, etc). shell is also investing large amounts of its profits in the necessary equipment and infrastructure, to �218 organisational indulgences or abuse of indulgence m@n@gement, vol. 19(3): 203-227 ensure equal provision of health and social care to all community members without any discrimination, in the extended niger delta area, where people are often effectively excluded from medical care. shell’s latest efforts to right previous wrong-doing through the scd programs have been both internally and externally motivated. at an internal level, shell is continuously improving its practices as a result of internal audits, while at an external level, shell is realizing its social responsibility to act in favour of the communities in need through putting in place mechanisms intended to make up for the absence of organized governmental responses (boele et al., 2001b). similarly, the company has integrated in its policy ngos concerns and criticism in a way to better respond to their needs (grayson and hodges, 2004). through inviting stakeholders’ active participation in company workshops and becoming subject to open evaluation, shell seeks to address stakeholders needs (shell international, 2002), reflecting an intention to correct past malpractices related to the environmental and social impact of its wrongdoing in the extended area of the niger delta. considering shell’s increasing involvement in sustainable community development projects like construction of schools, etc. and unlike its previous unsuccessful sustainability efforts, since 2004, shell seems genuinely motivated to make up for the adverse effects of its past malpractices. the latter demonstrate a somehow genuine effort to actively contribute to social welfare. however, even though shell seems to have conducted an effort to restructure its csr agenda, the company is still often accused of not delivering on its promises and of committing similar unethical behaviours, like inability to abide by international regulations of environmental protection (zalik, 2004; frynas, 2005), inadequate change efforts and poor social reach. friends of earth (foe) have repeatedly accused shell of not satisfying its social commitments and of using csr as a way to secure access to communities and continue its unsustainable practices (foe, 2005). moreover, successful implementation of the shell scd programs depends on various external and internal factors beyond genuine good will, such as legislation, company culture, bureaucracy, governmental regulations etc. thus, for the latter reasons, even though the company has demonstrated true intention to stop repeating its past unethical practices, it is still often accused of repeating previous wrong-doing. similarly, the fierce criticism that shell has received by the public sphere for involvement in governmental official bribes (hennchen, 2014), leads us to think that such practices might have imbued the company’s culture broadly with regards to achieving governmental favouring. all the above suggest that even though shell has taken a number of measures demonstrating genuine intention to make up for past allegations, it still often engages in misconduct. the latter is especially true considering that shell remains accused of some residual environmental irresponsibility in the niger delta area. some analysts characterize shell efforts as purely cosmetic (zalek, 2004), while others also argue for the company’s intent to drive serious changes in its operations and positively impact on the society (grayson and hodges, 2004; ite, 2007). more recent accounts also acknowledge that shell represents a notable example of how an organization strikes a compromise between conflicting demands to effectively respond to external pressures (hennchen, 2014). whatever the motivation, it remains true that shell has engaged in some real right-doing (nwachukwu, 2011), while not directly or completely addressing the original wrong-doing (or even repeating the wrong-doing). �219 m@n@gement, vol. 19(3): 203-227 emmanouela mandalaki & patrick o’sullivan evaluating shell’s practices in light of our proposed taxonomy, the company can be seen as an example of a company moving across our proposed spectrum as time passes. this is to say, that in the ‘90s, when the company’s compensation efforts were perceived as purely cosmetic, shell could be seen as being nearer to a case of organisational impostorism (here expressed through green-washing in effect). however, considering that under increased stakeholder pressure, shell has initiated the scd sustainable program intended to meaningfully compensate for the damages of its past unethical activity, we argue that shell is currently located somewhere in between abuse of indulgences and proper indulgence, probably closer to the former. thus, we argue that shell reflects roughly a case satisfying the characteristics of abuse of indulgences, as identified above, whereby the company keeps with business as usual in respect of the wrong-doings and doesn’t demonstrate genuine repentance for the previous malfeasance. the company nonetheless demonstrates a genuine will to enhance societal welfare broadly by engaging in social activities producing positive returns for the involved communities. bp: an apparent case of organisational impostorism as seen above, at the lowest end of the moral continuum lies organizational impostorism, which we have defined as purely perfunctory, impression-driven organizational behaviour lacking the underlying motivation to bring about any significant lasting and sustainable socially beneficial results. a well-documented case illustrating such an impostor behaviour is that of bp (beyond petroleum; ex british petroleum: de wolf and mejri, 2013). in its long history, the petroleum giant has experienced a string of accusations of damaging the environment through its oil spills (in 1965, 2005, 2010), culminating with the major incident of the 2010 deep water horizon oil spill, in the gulf of mexico, which killed 11 people and caused irreparable environmental damage in the coast of louisiana (de wolf and mejri, 2013; griggs, 2010). besides the considerable social and environmental impact caused by the oil spills (notably the 2005 spill claimed 15 deaths and 175 injured), the latter have also had adverse economic impact, in particular in the tourism, oyster harvesting and fishing sectors of the inflicted regions (alijani, mancuso, omar and ordogne, 2010). in addition to the external impact, bp oil spills have also damaged the company’s ethical reputation with ethical investors stating that the company ranks low in environmental awareness among other big multinationals (de wolf and mejri, 2013). the public’s response to bp environmental misconduct was expressed by product boycott, lack of trust in the company’s activities and the worst reputation in the us, while bp also faced litigations from a number of ngos like the animal welfare institute (de wolf and mejri, 2013). in response to the environmental and reputational damage, in 2000 (well before the deep water horizon incident), bp initiated an elaborate pr strategy, intended to enhance the company’s environmental reputation. notably, the company introduced a new logo with a green and yellow sun and was renamed to ‘beyond petroleum’ (in lieu of british petroleum), while it also invested more than $200million in its pr and marketing campaign (mejri and de wolf, 2013). the company’s green communication strategy led it to be awarded consumer prizes for social responsibility and rank among the most socially responsible firms in the us, while many believed that the company had really started changing culture. beyond the communication tools, bp also introduced new renewable energy sources �220 organisational indulgences or abuse of indulgence m@n@gement, vol. 19(3): 203-227 and technologies that allowed it to pursue more environmentally friendly activities while it was also among the first companies to release a sustainability report. however, considering the deepwater horizon oil spill, in 2010 which followed the purportedly green pr and production strategyit can clearly be suggested that bp was not really motivated to stop committing the environmental crimes it had been accused of. particularly, following the 2010 spill, bp was too slow to respond, thus demonstrating that the firm hadn’t learnt from its past history and still completely lacked an emergency plan in case of engineering and machinery failures (griggs, 2010). since of course accidents can always happen, it is the absence of a detailed damage limitation plan in the event of pollution accidents, which suggests that bp did not really have the intention to correct its irresponsible behaviour with regards to damaging oil spills. this led analysts and many of the public to view bp as a clear example of green-washing (mejri and de wolf, 2013), using green marketing as a way to mislead the public without demonstrating any genuine will to right the previous wrong-doing or to produce any positive environmental impact. (green washing as already mentioned in above is one clear example from the area of environmental responsibilities of what we have called organizational impostorism). bp initially tried to accuse other parties of the spill, while bp’s ceo, tony hayward, didn’t show any apologetic intentions but rather characterized it as a negligible accident given the huge size of the ocean. notably, bp took 5 days to start responding to the leakages and deliberately announced less amounts of oil spilling in the ocean than was actually the case (1000 barrels a day in lieu of 5000), while also legally bound its employees not to disclose any kind of information to the public eye (mejri and de wolf, 2013). later, the company initiated an elaborate pr strategy expressing apology to the public, showing the former ceo apologizing for the spill, while soon after, it changed ceo, to disassociate its reputation from the hated figure of tony hayward. however, bp’s postspill communication strategy was often evaluated as an effort to displace responsibility to other actors, like engineers and contracting parties, without really taking full responsibility of the blame. the company also showed false ‘photo-shopped’ pictures of coast cleaning, thus causing further public outrage and leaving no room for doubt as to its green-washing intent (mejri and de wolf, 2013)! as a result of the huge damage it caused in different levels, bp was repeatedly sued and agreed to pay high amounts of money to settle lawsuits. notably it had to pay $5billion in claims, $2.6billion to support the local fish market as well as $105million for provision of health services to the impacted regions, while also committing to provide 21-year medical consultation to the victims (mejri and de wolf, 2013). however, even 5 years after the spill, the company hasn’t yet managed to make up for the adverse effects and analysts estimate that it will still take a long time until the coast fully recovers (theguardian.com). bp’s overall idling behaviour seems to represent a focus on profit over safety revealing lack of genuine effort to compensate for the wrong-doing caused by the oil spills. considering the bp case and the company’s attempts to deal with the post-oil spill reputational damage, it is clear that bp has focused its efforts more on marketing a repentant corporate image than actually taking measures to ensure structural changes towards environmentally friendly operations. notably, even after the 2010 major spill, an evaluation of the response plan developed by bp (griggs, 2010) showed that the plan lacked a clear explanation of how exactly the company would use available �221 m@n@gement, vol. 19(3): 203-227 emmanouela mandalaki & patrick o’sullivan equipment to prevent or respond to future potential spills; in particular in the event of another incident at a big distance from the coast. considering the above, we would argue that the bp case combines all the characteristics of what we defined above as organisational impostorism (here expressed through greenwashing behaviour). that is to say that not only the company lacks genuine will to right previous wrongdoing but also any intention to really benefit the societies that it is involved with. bp doesn’t demonstrate any genuine repentance for the previous wrong-doing but rather appears to engage in some superficial right-doing which intends to market a socially responsible profile, while in fact keeping with business as usual. future research we certainly hope that our research provides a fresh perspective to organisational literature and practice, on corporate wrongdoing and right doing as well as csr and csi, by extending the concept of and moral debates on indulgences from the individual to the organizational level and from the mediaeval religious setting to that of contemporary business organisations. the study thereby opens an avenue for future research to further explore the idea of indulgences in a contemporary organisational context as well as to identify potential factors leading organizations to engage in any one of the three types of the identified indulgence seeking behaviours. an obvious avenue for future research could be to test empirically our theoretical reflections across different organisational and country settings, thus drawing a map of indulgent seeking behaviours across organisational environments. since our study remains purely conceptual and focuses on moral evaluation of and not quantification of corporate moral behaviour, it was not our intention to propose quantifiable measures of corporate behaviour. however, our conceptual reasoning could be used by future researchers to develop appropriate measures of the different corporate indulgent seeking behaviours identified on our spectral framework, and in the light of which corporate ethical and unethical behaviour could be morally evaluated. moreover, future research could empirically try to explore how such organisational behaviour is perceived by the concerned populations as well as the extent to which indulgent seeking behaviour on the part of organizations manages to compensate (in the eyes of the relevant public) for the wrong-doing previously performed. the latter could be done through interviewing victims of corporate malfeasance in areas that have been affected by the adverse effects of organisational malpractices. future research could also investigate whether wrongdoing and compensatory right-doing tendencies are different in developed vs. developing nations, in particular since developed countries’ institutional contexts are often more regulated than developing country ones, thus limiting organisational ability to engage in socially harmful activities while pursuing profits. one other dimension of our argument that future research could develop is the question of who is granting the indulgence, if we accept the application of the indulgence analogy in the contemporary business context. in other words, one could explore in depth from whom the organisations are seeking approval for right doing following wrongdoing: is it the general public, the mass media or social networks (not necessarily the same as the general public), boards of directors (especially supervisory boards in the german 2 board system) governments or even religious authorities in certain states. in this paper we have deliberately left that �222 organisational indulgences or abuse of indulgence m@n@gement, vol. 19(3): 203-227 question open contenting ourselves with a vague notion of organisations seeking somehow approval at the ‘court of public opinion’. conclusion in this article we have sought to bring together two areas of thought that rarely intersect, namely the contemporary theory of organizations and the old mediaeval christian discussions of indulgences. reflecting on the subtleties of that ancient debate, we examine the catholic idea of indulgences and that of abuse of indulgences and we draw parallels with aspects of current business activity. in our philosophical reflection we have identified three types of indulgence-seeking behaviours in which contemporary organisations engage, in order somehow to right previous wrong-doing: organisational impostorism, abuse of indulgences and proper indulgence. whereas proper indulgences involve repentance and the resolve not to repeat the wrongdoing for the sin to be absolved and indulgence to be granted, much current organisational practice rather parallels the abuse of indulgences, that is to say that the wrongdoer seeks retrospectively or even prospectively to ‘buy’ forgiveness with no resolve to refrain from the wrongdoing in the future and so no real repentance. organisational behaviour in these contexts is often not motivated by any intention to abstain from similar wrong-doing in the future but only by an intention to produce some positive returns to the society through rightdoing elsewhere, while keeping with business as usual. the latter is unambiguously analogous to the ancient abuse of indulgences; and we have argued that it deserves to be evaluated with the same moral opprobrium as the ancient abuse of indulgences in the catholic church. we also propose a framework regarding the degree of ethicality present in organisational behaviour in respect of indulgence and abuse of indulgence. we have suggested a conceptual spectrum, which we visualize in table 1, that runs from pure insincere posturing or organisational impostorism, reflecting deceptive public relations where there is no attempt to amend for previous wrongdoing, through abuse of indulgences, where the organisation engages in some real right-doing while continuing with business as usual to the case of proper indulgence, where the organisation not only engages in right-doing but also endeavours to ensure as far as possible that the original wrongdoing is eliminated and not repeated. it is worth-remarking in conclusion that indulgence seeking behaviour and abuse of indulgences can also be found in the nongovernmental organisation (ngos) sector. despite intense and undoubted involvement in various charitable and social enhancement projects, gibelman and gelman (2000) argue that in some cases, ngos also commit to more or less unethical practices in ancillary areas of their activity. examples of ngos that have been publicly accused of involvement in unethical practices such as embezzlement of public money, fraud and bribery are the bavarian red cross in germany, the association of cancer research in france and the women’s royal voluntary service in england (gibelman & gelman, 2000). it would appear that insofar as such, ngos are apparently insouciant regarding such activities as gibelman and gelman expose that they view them as forgivable given the extensive and genuine charitable work they are doing elsewhere. this again exemplifies indulgence seeking reasoning; and if the ngos persist in the wrongs identified, it is indeed abuse of indulgence. considering the above mentioned examples of diverse organizations engaging in right doing behaviour following wrong-doing as well as �223 m@n@gement, vol. 19(3): 203-227 emmanouela mandalaki & patrick o’sullivan empirical evidence citing intensified engagement in csr following involvement in csi (kotchen & moon, 2012), we can see that the principle of indulgences, and particularly that of indulgence abuse is alive and has been transferred wholesale even if unwittingly into today’s market environment. we would argue furthermore that the abuse of indulgences deserves the same unambiguous moral condemnation as it received in the late mediaeval period; while organisational impostorism is plainly immoral reflecting blatant dishonesty and deception. in conclusion, we believe that the spectral conception of organisational behaviour in the aftermath of wrongdoing, which we have outlined in this article, could prove to be a very fruitful tool for future research across cultures and organisations of all kinds in business ethics and in organisational theory. locating organisations on this spectral framework could also be a merciless way of revealing and evaluating their moral stance. references
 alijani, g. s., mancuso, l. c., omar, a., & ordogne, n. g. (2012). a gumbo of catastrophic effectsthe effects of the bp oil spill measured during the oil spill and six months after the oil spill on three towns in south louisiana. entrepreneurial executive, 17, 1–12. avery, g & bergsteiner, h. (2016). sufficiency thinking: thailand’s gift to an unsustainable world. sydney: allen & unwin. barbaro m, gillis j. (2005). wal-mart at forefront of hurricane relief. washington post, 6 .retrieved at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/ article/ 2005/09/05/ar2005090501598.html (29 june 2010). benbaji, h., & heyd, d. (2001). the charitable perspective: forgiveness and toleration as s u p e r e r o g a t o r y .  c a n a d i a n j o u r n a l o f philosophy, 31(4), 567-586. boele r, fabig h, wheeler d. (2001b). shell, nigeria a n d t h e o g o n i . a s t u d y i n u n s u s t a i n a b l e development: ii. corporate social responsibility and ‘stakeholder management’ versus a rights-based approach to sustainable development. sustainable development, 9(2), 121–135. bremner, r. h. (1996). giving: charity and philanthropy in history. piscataway, nj: transaction publishers. burns r. (1785). poem “to a mouse”, retrieved at http:// www.robertburns.org/works/75.shtml camilleri a. (1993). la bolle di componenda. sellerio editore srl, palermo. a french translation by louis bonalumi (2002) exists as indulgences à la carte promeneur. paris: gallimard. chatterji, ak, & toffel, mw. (2010). how firms respond to being rated. strategic management journal, 31(9), 917–945. browne, b. (2006). the niger delta: current state of play. in u. embassy (ed.). lagos: wikileaks de wolf, d., & mejri, m. (2013). crisis communication failures : the bp case study. international journal of advances in management and economics, 2(2), 48–56. dietz, g & gillespie, n. (2012). the recovery of trust: case studies of organizational failures and trust repair. london: institute of business ethics. dougherty, c. (2008). the sheriff at siemens, at work under the justice department’s watchful eye. new york times. foei (friends of the earth international) groundwork and corpwatch. (2002). greenwash awards. pietermaritzburg: groundwork friends of the earth (foe). (2005). lessons not learned: the other shell report 2004. friends of the earth: london frynas, jg. (2005). the false developmental promise of corporate social responsibility: evidence from multinational oil companies. international affairs, 81(3), 581–598. geva, a. (2008). three models of corporate social responsibility: interrelationships between theory, research, and practice.  business and society review, 113(1), 1-41. gibelman, m., & gelman, s. (2000). very public scandals: an analysis of how and why nongovernmental organizations get in trouble. unpublished, 0820(212). griggs, j. w. (2010). bp gulf mexico oil spill. energy law journal, 32(57), 57–80. corporate knights. (2010). 2010 global 100 list. retrieved november 28, 2012, from http:// www.global100.org/annual-lists/2010global-100list.html. gow, d. (2008). siemens boss admits setting up slush funds. the guardian. grayson d, hodges a. (2004). corporate social opportunity! seven steps to make corporate social responsibility work for your business. sheffield: greenleaf. greve, h. r., palmer, d., & pozner, j. (2010). organizations gone wild: the causes, processes, and consequences of organizational misconduct. the academy of management annals, 4(1), 53– 107. doi:10.1080/19416521003654186 http://finance.siemens.com/financialservices/uk/ a b o u t _ u s / c o r p o r a t e _ r e s p o n s i b i l i t y / p a g e s / corporate_responsibility.aspx, visited on feb 20th, 2015 �224 http://www.robertburns.org/works/75.shtml http://www.robertburns.org/works/75.shtml http://www.robertburns.org/works/75.shtml http://www.robertburns.org/works/75.shtml http://finance.siemens.com/financialservices/uk/about_us/corporate_responsibility/pages/corporate_responsibility.aspx http://finance.siemens.com/financialservices/uk/about_us/corporate_responsibility/pages/corporate_responsibility.aspx http://finance.siemens.com/financialservices/uk/about_us/corporate_responsibility/pages/corporate_responsibility.aspx organisational indulgences or abuse of indulgence m@n@gement, vol. 19(3): 203-227 hamman, r and kapelus, p. (2004). corporate social responsibility in mining in southern africa: fair accountability or just greenwash? development. 47(3), 85–92. doi:10.1057/palgrave.development. 1100056 hennchen, e. (2014). royal dutch shell in nigeria: where do responsibilities end? journal of business e t h i c s , 1 2 9 ( 1 ) , 1 – 2 5 . d o i : 1 0 . 1 0 0 7 / s10551-014-2142-7 ite, ue. (2004). multinationals and corporate social responsibility in developing countries: a case study of shell in nigeria. corporate social responsibility and environmental management, 11(1), 1–11. ite, u. e. (2007). changing times and strategies  : shell’s contribution to sustainable community development in the nigerian delta, nigeria. sustainable development, 15(1), 1–14. jenkins, c. r. (2002). faith and works in paul and james. bibliotheca sacra, 159, 62-78. jesson, n. a. (2002). paradise regained: indulgences in light of the joint declaration of justification, toronto school of theology, toronto. available at h t t p s : / / e c u m e n i s m . n e t / a r c h i v e / jesson_indulgences.pdf accessed 19 march 2016. jones, g. e., & kavanagh, m. j. (1996). an experimental examination of the effects of individual and situational factors on unethical behavioral intentions in the workplace.  journal of business ethics, 15(5), 511-523. joseph, s. (2014). mcdonald's focuses on 'what m a t t e r s ' i n p u s h t o h i g h l i g h t i t s p o s i t i v e contributions. marketing week. kettell, b. (2011). islamic banking and finance. chichester: john wiley. kent, w.  (1910).  indulgences chapter in  the catholic encyclopedia.  robert appleton company, new york, accessed 11 november, 2014 from new a d v e n t :  h t t p : / / w w w. n e w a d v e n t . o r g / c a t h e n / 07783a.htm knobe, j. (2003). intentional action and side effects in ordinary language. analysis, 63(279), 190-193. kotchen, m., & moon, j. j. (2012). corporate social responsibility for irresponsibility. the be journal of economic analysis & policy, 12(1). leader, s., ong, d., van ho, t., yilmaz, a., michalowski, s., netto, u., et al. (2012). corporate liability in a new setting: shell and the changing legal landscape for the multinational oil industry in the niger delta. colchester: essex business school and human rights project. löscher, p. (2012). the ceo of siemens on using a scandal to drive change how i did it. harvard business review, 90(11), 39–42. mcdonald’s gums aim to stop trend toward supersize. (2006). business insurance, 40(49), 32. mcdonald’s case study: launching food to appeal to the health. (2004). datamonitor. retrieved at www.datamonitor.com. mcdonald's dismisses fresh lawsuit attack on obesity. (2003). caterer & hotelkeeper, 192(4261), 14 malle, b. f., & knobe, j. (1997). the folk concept of intentionality.  journal of experimental social psychology, 33(2), 101-121. mejri, m., & de wolf, d. (2013). crisis management: lessons learnt from the bp deepwater horizon spill oil. business management and strategy, 4(2), 67-90. mill, j. s., & bentham, j. (1987).  utilitarianism and other essays. london: penguin. miller., richard. (2008). siemens sues ex-execs in scandal. business insurance, 42(32). muller, a., & kraussl, r. (2011). doing good in times of need: a strategic perspective on corporate disaster donations. strategic management journal, 32(9), 911–929. doi:10.1002/smj.917 naagbanton, p. (2011). shell has admitted liability but has a long way to go to make amends. the g u a r d i a n . r e t r i e v e d f r o m h t t p : / / www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/aug/04/ shellnigeria-oil-spills. nwachukwu, c. (2011). oil spill: shell modifies data to 70% from 98%. vanguard. okonedo, t. (2013). dutch court dismisses foe claims on oil spills (news and media releases ed). abuja: royal dutch shell. ormiston, m. e., & wong, e. m. (2013). license to ill: the effects of corporate social responsibility and c e o m o r a l i d e n t i t y o n c o r p o r a t e s o c i a l irresponsibility. personnel psychology, 66(4), 861– 893. o’sullivan, p allington n & esposito m. (2015). the philosophy politics and economics of finance in the 21st century. london: routledge. oswick, c., keenoy, t., & grant, d. (2002). metaphor and analogical reasoning in organization theory: beyond orthodoxy.  academy of management review, 27(2), 294-303. parker, l. d. (2014). corporate social accountability through action: contemporary insights from british industrial pioneers. accounting, organizations and society, 39(8), 632–659. pope paul, v. i. (1979). apostolic constitution on indulgences (indulgentiarum doctrina) (january 1, 1967), no. 5. documents on the liturgy. paulus, n. (1922).  indulgences as a social factor in the middle ages. devin-adair company. perks, k. j., farache, f., shukla, p., & berry, a. (2013). c o m m u n i c a t i n g r e s p o n s i b i l i t y p r a c t i c i n g irresponsibility in csr advertisements.  journal of business research, 66(10), 1881-1888. roberts, (2009). no one is perfect: the limits of transparency and en ethic for ‘intelligent’ accountability. accounting, organizations and society, 34(8), 957-970. robinson, m. g., bloom, p. n., & lurie, n. h. (2005). combating obesity in the courts  : will lawsuits against mcdonald’s work ?. journal of public policy and marketing, 24(2), 299–306. rodgers, w., söderbom, a., & guiral, a. (2014). corporate social responsibility enhanced control systems reducing the likelihood of fraud. journal of business ethics, 131(4), 871–882. royal dutch shell. (2009a). royal dutch shell plc sustainability report 2009. london. �225 http://www.datamonitor.com m@n@gement, vol. 19(3): 203-227 emmanouela mandalaki & patrick o’sullivan saiia, dh, carroll ab, buchholtz ak. (2003). philanthropy as strategy: when corporate charity ‘begins at home’. business & society, 42(2), 169– 201. schaff, p. (1882). history of the christian church. volume vi: the middle ages, 1294-1527. schrempf-stirling, j., palazzo, g., & phillips, r. (2016). historic corporate social responsibility. academy of management review, 41(4), 700-719. . schwartz, m. s., & carroll, a. b. (2003). corporate s o c i a l r e s p o n s i b i l i t y : a t h r e e d o m a i n approach.  business ethics quarterly,  13(04), 503-530. shell international. (2002). people, planet and profits: the shell report 2001. shell centre: london spdc. (2011b). spdc action on matters addressed in t h e u n e p r e p o r t . a b u j a : s h e l l p e t r o l e u m development corporation standard, d. (2011). shell accepts responsibility for oil spill in nigeria: oil company concedes liability in case brought on behalf of thousands of nigerians. london: leigh day & co. steinberg, r. (2013). how siemens fixed its institutionalized corruption. compliance week, 48– 50. strike, v. m., gao, j., & bansal, p. (2006). being good while being bad: social responsibility and the international diversification of us firms.  journal of international business studies, 37(6), 850-862. trevino, l. k. (1986). ethical decision making in organizations: a person-situation interactionist model.  academy of management review,  11(3), 601-617. vidal, j. (2012). shell nigeria oil spill ‘60 times bigger than it claimed’. the guardian. retrieved from http://www.guardian. co.uk/environment/2012/apr/ 23/shell-nigeria-oil-spill-bigger?int cmp=122. watson, l. (2015). corporate social responsibility, tax avoidance, and earnings performance. the journal of the american taxation association, 37(2), 1–21. doi:10.2308/atax-51022 wright, l. a., kemp, s., & williams, i. (2011). ‘carbon footprinting’: towards a universally accepted definition. carbon management, 2(1), 61-72. yu, f., & yu, x. (2011). corporate lobbying and fraud detection. journal of financial and quantitative analysis, 46(6), 1865–1891. zalik a. (2004). niger delta: ‘petro violence’ and ‘partnership development’. review of african political economy, 31(101), 401–424. �226 organisational indulgences or abuse of indulgence m@n@gement, vol. 19(3): 203-227 emmanouela mandalaki holds a phd in business administration from grenoble ecole de management. emmanouela’s research interests are situated within the field of organizational behavior with a focus on organizational ethics and csr. in her research, emmanouela explores factors affecting ethical decision making of managers and organizations as well as mechanisms guiding moral evaluation of organizational wrongdoing. some of emmanouela’s research has been recently published while other is currently forthcoming for publication in internationally recognized outlets. patrick o’sullivan took his bachelors degree in philosophy politics and economics and his masters degree in economics of education at university college dublin ireland and his doctoral degree at istituto universitario europeo in firenze italy, the latter being on philosophy and methodology of the human sciences. he taught for 25 years at cardiff university business school in uk (including a secondment on behalf of cardiff university to parma in italy before moving to grenoble ecole de management in france in 2006. since moving to grenoble he has conducted significant research in the fields of business ethics, csr, sustainability and creation of shared value. he has been principal editor and written 4 chapters in each of two recent collected volumes: business ethics, a critical approach integrating ethics across the business world (published by routledge, london 2012); and more recently the philosophy politics and economics of finance in the 21st century: from hubris to disgrace (published by routledge, london 2015). the latter volume deals in depth with the ethical challenges of contemporary finance. in addition patrick has been intimately involved in development of the philosophical and methodological framework and foundations of the social progress index and has been an occasional member of the small pioneering spi team. he holds a commercial pilots license and has both played and refereed rugby union. �227 194avadikyan&lhuillery&negassi(2016).pages m@n@gement 2016, vol. 19(4): 277-304 technological innovation, organizational change, and product-related services 
 arman avadikyan � stéphane lhuillery � syoum negassi abstract. the literature regarding the determinants of servitization emphasizes the role of organizational change and usually overlooks the role of technological change. using an original sample of 1,129 german manufacturing firms, we reverse the hierarchy: product novelty is a main driver of product-related service (prs) activities. it especially boosts consulting and training services. the structure of the prs portfolio is dependent on product novelty. organizational changes toward a more flexible company or the adoption of new advanced manufacturing processes are found, with few exceptions, hardly to influence the decision to offer a product-related service. our results suggest however, that process innovation is positively linked to the breadth of service surrounding products, whereas organizational innovation is more prone to lead to a larger breadth of services surrounding customer offerings. product, process, and organizational innovation are not found to be complementary drivers of product-related service offerings. keywords: technology, innovation, organization, servitization, productrelated services. introduction when exploring the evolution of the modern manufacturing firm, scholars insist on the increasing bundling of products and services, which is variously referred to as “servitization” (vandermerwe & rada, 1988), “ s e r v i c i z a t i o n ” ( q u i n n , d o o r l e y & p a q u e t t e , 1 9 9 0 ) , “ g o i n g downstream” (wise & baumgartner, 1999), “transition to services” (oliva & kallenberg, 2003), “integrated solutions” (davies, 2004), “hybrid offerings” (ulaga & reinartz, 2011), or “product-service systems” (mont, 2002). despite some steps back (finne, brax & holmström, 2013) and some reluctance (gebauer & fleisch, 2007), there is evidence that a large and ever-increasing proportion of manufacturing firms already adopt such servitization strategies (cohen, agrawal & agrawal, 2006; fang, palmatier & steenkamp, 2008; neely, 2009; rosen, 1998; tuli, kohli & bharadwaj, 2007). based on a large international database, neely (2009) found that the proportion of manufacturing firms reporting to provide services is now at least 30%. the share is approximately 58% in the united states, 29% in germany, 25% in the uk, and 11% in japan. �277 arman avadikyan beta (umr-cnrs 7522)—université de strasbourg avady@unistra.fr stéphane lhuillery icn business school and beta (umrcnrs 7522)—université de lorraine stephane.lhuillery@icn-groupe.fr syoum negassi management science department— university of paris 1 panthéonsorbonne syoum.negassi@univ-paris1.fr mailto:avady@unistra.fr mailto:stephane.lhuillery@icn-groupe.fr mailto:syoum.negassi@univ-paris1.fr mailto:avady@unistra.fr mailto:stephane.lhuillery@icn-groupe.fr mailto:syoum.negassi@univ-paris1.fr m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 277-304 arman avadikyan & stéphane lhuillery & syoum negassi the servitization process is expected to provide competitive advantage to firms: servitized firms are more likely to compensate for the loss of revenues arising from stagnant demand or fluctuating business cycles and to initiate new growth opportunities and more stable revenues (cohen, et al., 2006; cusumano, kahl & suarez, 2015; sawhney, 2004). services are less capital-intensive to produce than products, and servitized firms tend to have higher margins (wise & baumgartner, 1999). services are a critical differentiation factor in a firm’s strategy mix and a strategic tool to develop clients’ loyalty (mathe & shapiro, 1993) and to establish barriers to entry. however, empirical studies have provided scattered and contradictory findings regarding the impact of servitization: whereas some authors have found direct positive effects (e.g., fang, et al., 2008; tether & bascavusoglu-moreau, 2012; visnjic, neely & wiengarten, 2012; visnjic & van looy, 2011), others have not (robinson & chiang, 2002; visnjic, et al., 2012). neely (2009) even found mixed results: servitization has a positive link on profitability, whereas the extent of servitization has a negative effect on profitability. findings also highlight the non-linear effects of servitization on performance and/or the differences among industries (fang, et al., 2008; suarez, cusumano & kahl, 2015; visnjic & van looy, 2013). several explanations can be put forward to explain the “servitization paradox.” a first possible explanation underlined by cusumano, kahl, & suarez, (2015) is that the results regarding servitization, with very few exceptions, rely on poor data: mono-sectorial data (eggert, hogreve, ulaga & muenkhoff, 2011, 2014; suarez, et al., 2013), small samples (antioco, moenaert, lingreen & wetzels, 2008; fang, et al., 2008), or biased samples (on listed companies, for example, fang, et al., 2008; neely, 2008; visnjic, et al., 2016) combined with the usual problems related to time lags and mismeasurement (brynjolfsson, 1993). a second related point is that studies do not properly take into account the heterogeneity of services involved and that different services do not impact performances in the same way. for example, some services can be offered to diversify activities when usual markets and performances decline, whereas other services can be offered to support products or processes introduced in growing markets. along with mathieu (2001), a distinction can also be made between services supporting products (ssps, such as installing, documenting, and repairing) and services supporting client actions (sscs, such as financing, training, and consulting) that can provide different competitive advantages to manufacturing firms (eggert, et al., 2011). a third strand of the literature emphasizes that human resources (hr) or organizational capabilities are not properly taken into consideration: there is a lack of managerial motivation and competency (gebauer, fleisch & friedli, 2005), top-manager commitment (antioco, et al., 2008; gebauer, pütz, fischer & fleisch, 2009), training activities (santamaria, nieto & miles, 2012), and service culture and mind-set (neely, 2009). other authors emphasize the absence of adequate organizational arrangements to enable firms to derive value from services (bowen, siehl & schneider, 1989; davies, brady & hobday, 2006; gebauer, et al., 2009; neu & brown, 2005; oliva & kallenberg, 2003) or a lack of slack resources (fang, et al., 2008). we contend that the main caveat likely to explain conflicting results is instead that previous studies have overlooked technology. often, the literature focuses on product quality, in which the technological or other dimensions of novelty are not explicit (ulaga & eggert, 2006). thirty years ago in a seminal paper, teece (1986) emphasized that prss can be a critical complementary asset that allows firms to exploit innovation. � 278 technological innovation, organizational change, and product-related services m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 277-304 whereas many contributions have explored the role of services on performances, very few have considered technology as a critical driver of servitization that is likely to influence performance. in the following, we contend that servitization cannot be analyzed without considering the sparking role of technological innovation. to reinstall the role of technology into the analysis of servitization, the present article addresses three main research questions: is technological change a driver of prs strategies? what is the link between technological change and organizational change as a prs driver? to what extent do these determinants depend on the type of prss considered? to answer these questions, we propose an econometric model that explains prs offerings in terms of the strategic orientations—including product innovation, process innovation, and organizational change— chosen by 1,129 german manufacturing firms. radical product innovation is found to be the main driver of prss, whereas the positive influence of organizational change and process innovation are reduced. new products and new organizations are not found to be complementary determinants of prss. a further contribution is that technology is demonstrated to influence diverse prss in different manners, shaping prs portfolios. our analysis also challenges the standard classifications of prss proposed by scholars. despite performing a cross-sectional analysis, our article offers a much more precise view than previous work in the field and addresses several gaps: it uses a large-scale sample, including multiple industries and firm sizes, and it focuses on prss, whereas many articles on servitization have mixed product-related services with product-unrelated services. the reminder of the paper is organized as follows. we first propose an integrative perspective regarding the determinants of prss in manufacturing. exploring the literature, we particularly rejuvenate the importance of technology in addition to organizational aspects for prs strategies. we first present the role of process/product innovations in servitization and then discuss the role of organizational practices. we then consider the hierarchy and heterogeneity of influences driving prs offerings. then, we present the method that we implement to test our empirical hypotheses, including the data, the different variables, and the econometric modeling. the next section presents our statistical results regarding the determinants of prs portfolios. a final section concludes and discusses the main contributions and implications of our results. we then address limitations and future research. theory and hypotheses technology and prss technology expands the opportunities for firms to offer not only new products but also new processes. new products may create opportunities to expand the importance and scope of existing prss; new products may also create opportunities for novel prss. in a similar manner, new process technologies may develop or redefine the manner in which products and prss are produced and delivered. we review the evidence regarding product and process innovation in turn. an interesting feature of the literature about servitization is that servitization is considered to be irruption of customer orientation in manufacturing organizations: servitization is considered marketand customer-driven. customers’ willingness to pay for a product will be particularly increased by prss. a particular case is when the product is innovative, either in a radical or incremental manner. in this case, prss � 279 m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 277-304 arman avadikyan & stéphane lhuillery & syoum negassi can be considered a role model of complementary assets likely to enable firms to exploit technological innovation (teece, 1986). still, the link between the degree of novelty and prss is not clear in the literature. on one hand, prss are a substitute for product innovation. oliva & kallenberg (2003) consider that services are proposed when related to an installed base of manufacturing products to expand product life cycles and to compensate for a lack of improvement. in this setting, prss can be considered a substitute to address a lack of innovation capability, and radical innovation has a crowding-out effect on prs offerings. the point can be made compatible with incremental innovation: at the end of the life cycle, incumbents introduce incremental innovation to maintain the value of their products. in this case, prss surround incremental innovation but are still a substitute for radical innovation. prss can furthermore be considered as a means for incumbents, especially in mature industries, to create switching costs for their customers. the switching costs induced by prss are less critical for recent and radically new products. a final substitution possibility is also that the introduction of a radically new product shrinks the market for services: a product with radically new autodiagnostic and auto-repair properties, for example, would dissuade firms from proposing maintenance and repair activities. a new machine with radically new user-friendly controls would also dissuade firms from offering training sessions to their customers. on the other hand, the literature about servitization often implicitly or explicitly considers technology as a threat to customers likely to face products that they do not need or do not understand. for instance, bowen, et al. (1989) asserted that customer services should be a requisite consequence when manufacturing firms differentiate their products from others through innovative technologies and designs. users may be hesitant to adopt innovative technologies because of uncertainties about product performance and quality. this phenomenon is in agreement with the marketing literature, in which extensive prss may be required to overcome barriers to the adoption of innovative products by customers (araujo & spring, 2006). prss can therefore be critical, especially for radical innovations, as their novelty is difficult for users to comprehend, and firms must help customers learn about and appropriately perform new product functionalities. the complementarity view is also supported by the fact that prss can be an interesting means of appropriation implemented by pioneers to prevent imitation (levin, et al., 1987). the empirical literature does not significantly help clarify the two views. the influence of product innovation on related services, including the degree of novelty of technological innovation, has been barely taken into consideration in empirical studies (fang, et al., 2008; neely, 2009; tether & bascavusoglu-moreau, 2012; visnjic & van looy, 2011; visnjic, et al., 2012). some empirical insights have come from expert interviews: matthyssens & vandenbempt (1998) confirmed, for instance, a strong and positive relationship between leadership in product innovation and market leadership in industrial services. econometric evidence is, however, still rare and vague: some scholars have found empirical evidence that firms with low innovative capabilities may counterbalance their weakness through higher complementary assets (rammer, czarnitzki & spielkamp, 2009), and prss may be a commonly used asset in this respect. however, eggert, et al. (2011) found indirect evidence for a positive impact of product novelty on prss. more precise is the positive and direct link found by santamaria, et al. (2012), where r&d intense firms are more likely to innovate in services. visnjic, et al. (2014) found a positive and complementary role in terms of long-term performance for the adoption of � 280 technological innovation, organizational change, and product-related services m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 277-304 a service-oriented business model and technological innovation approximated by r&d intensity. in the two previous references, productrelated services and product-unrelated services were not differentiated, but the former can be positively linked to technological innovation and the latter negatively linked to technological innovation. based on these different works, we propose a first general hypothesis related to product innovation: hypothesis 1: firms that introduce product innovations, especially pioneer products, are more likely to offer prss. because servitization is a general downstream orientation in which integration of customer and service units is performed, scholars have explored the role of adopted technologies in the servitization process. icts and advanced manufacturing technologies (amts) have been the main technologies investigated. contrary to product innovation, scholars have been able to incorporate new technological processes as a means to improve servitization: for instance, icts were first documented as an enabler of servitization (barras, 1986; kellogg & nie, 1995; lightfoot, baines & smart, 2011; windahl, andersson, berggren & nehler, 2004). information technologies and techniques help firms identify and adapt to customers’ characteristics and needs (froehle, 2006; nonaka & teece, 2001) and to transform and exploit external knowledge (joshi, chi, datta & han, 2010). these technologies and techniques thus help firms define new business opportunities and differentiate their prs offerings. icts reduce the delivery costs of services: by lowering internal information, coordination, production, and transaction costs, they help transform potential services into profitable ones. icts are also interesting because they allow new prss. for example, car rental companies can propose navigational systems. icts can also be intertwined with complementary technologies (using sensors for example) to produce or deliver new services. customers can also track online, step-by-step, the processing and delivery of their products. the strong linkages between firms and clients increase switching costs and develop future product and service opportunities. icts are, however, only one part of the technology used in manufacturing companies. they are often combined with amts—defined as a group of hardwareand software-based technologies designed to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of firms in the design, manufacturing, and testing of products—that can lead to more flexible product design, combining manufacturing efficiency and customer differentiation (hofmann & orr, 2005; lei, hitt & goldhar, 1996) . amt 1 resources and competencies may allow customization of product functionalities, quality, or reliability with the possible fast delivery of small batches. integrating computers and networks with databases, firms with recent amts are more likely to encourage their customers to interact directly on specifications, production, and delivery, thereby allowing for the synchronization of upstream cad (computer-aided design) and cae (computer-aided engineering) with downstream cam (computer-aided manufacturing) and pdm (product data management) activities. amts thus create a manufacturing system environment more favorable for prss, thereby enabling higher-value-added and extended scope of prss to be offered to customers. by integrating and standardizing the management principles of services, implementing amts in the back office may support and create new opportunities for the effective delivery of services in the � 281 1. the point is very similar for the case of flexible manufacturing systems (buzaco= & yao, 1986). m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 277-304 arman avadikyan & stéphane lhuillery & syoum negassi front office. empirical work provides many examples of service orientation and high customization in manufacturing firms that are significantly driven by not only icts but also remote-monitoring technologies (e.g., antioco, et al., 2008; barabba, et al., 2002; davies, et al., 2006; grubic, 2014). mixing product and process dimensions, some technologies such as cloud computing and/or digitalization have even been demonstrated to disrupt entire industries and create entirely new service opportunities (fichman, dos santos & ze, 2014 and references therein; sultan, 2013). indirect evidence is provided by labor studies that demonstrate that firms with amts are employing skilled labor (doms, dunne & troske, 1997), especially in service-related industries (kaiser, 2000), thereby suggesting that firms that adopt amts are more likely to identify and propose prss to their customers. specific evidence linking amt innovations with services is, however, still scarce: santamaria, et al. (2012) proposed the main empirical analysis, based on a large sample of spanish firms. their results support the general hypothesis that firms with advanced manufacturing processes are the ones that are more service-oriented. still, whereas icts can be considered a general source of servitization, amts are more related to manufacturing products and thus should be particularly relevant to achieve a subset of prs strategies. based on the reviewed literature, we pose a second hypothesis regarding technology: hypothesis 2: firms that introduce new advanced manufacturing technologies are more likely to offer prss. flexible organization and prss in the literature about servitization, firms establish appropriate organizational arrangements to manage the service production process, in which customers’ needs and market changes are key (bowen, et al., 1989; davies, 2004; galbraith, 2002; gebauer, et al., 2005, 2009; mathieu, 2001; nambisan, 2001; neu & brown, 2005; oliva & kallenberg, 2003). the literature has first explored the possibility of achieving successful services through organizational design and the creation of a separate service unit, such as a service function or a service division (gebauer, et al., 2005, 2009; oliva & kallenberg, 2003; oliva, et al., 2012). the authors usually contend that a dedicated service unit is the only means to develop service businesses inside manufacturing firms (see also o’reilly & tushman, 2004). the creation of a separate function allows some autonomy, some specialization effects, and a specific attention to clients. however, scholars have stressed that this type of organizational arrangement is not a sufficient condition for achieving effective servitization: it may validate the co-existence of product and services within the manufacturing firm, but it does not guarantee that services are customer-centered, and it may hamper the transversal development of specific prss that would satisfy the clients’ need (e.g., gebauer, et al., 2009; miller, hope, eisenstat, foote & galbraith, 2002). scholars consider two dimensions of enabling adaptation and subsequent efficient service activities: decentralization and integration. to be able to propose services, including prss, manufacturing firms should first achieve decentralization of their units (acemoglu, aghio, lelarge, van reenen & zilibotti, 2007; gebauer, et al., 2005; neu & brown, 2008), and delegate decisions and control to lower hierarchical levels. decentralization allows firms to more efficiently manage the use of information dispersed among employees and thus allow specialists to design and efficiently � 282 technological innovation, organizational change, and product-related services m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 277-304 manage customer-centric activities (galbraith, 2002) . a problem is that 2 the autonomy derived from decentralization may damage interactions with other intra-firm units and competencies. integration is thus considered a second organizational trait required by firms aiming at servitization. firms should integrate the different units through different practices, such as standardization, formalization, information systems, or cross-functional teams (galbraith, 2002; mathe & shapiro, 1993). implementation of these costly practices is considered effective because it lowers communication and coordination costs among units through better and faster responsiveness between the service unit(s) and the other functional units or customers (bowen, et al., 1989; turunen & toivonen, 2011). among these integration practices, teams seem to be considered a main solution to rapidly develop customer-specific services (see galbraith, 2002). teams are indeed particularly interesting because they are problem-solving entities, able to capitalize knowledge (lenfle & midler, 2009) and may even boost creativity, especially when complex products are provided (boning, ichniowski & shaw, 2007). both dimensions have received little systematic empirical support. regarding decentralization, the literature implicitly considers that a better information system is a means to decentralize organizations. the alreadycited results regarding the role of icts in servitization should be considered, in this perspective, as clues supporting the positive role of decentralization. bowen, et al. (1989) highlighted that implementation of control mechanisms is indeed very costly because of the rapidly changing and uncertain idiosyncratic services managed by employees. in a case study, neu & brown (2008) confirmed that servitization is enabled by senior management through delegation of decision-making authority to mid-level managers. until now, little empirical evidence regarding the role of decentralization has been available. to our knowledge, eggert, et al. (2014) is the only econometric contribution based on a large sample. the authors demonstrate that decentralized manufacturing firms are able to derive significantly higher growth revenue and profit from sscs. regarding integration, the literature is also still largely based on anecdotal evidence or case studies. using a sample of 107 international firms, antioco, et al. (2008) made a significant effort to test the link between integration and service orientation. however, the authors failed to find any significant impact of cross-functional communication on the service orientation of manufacturing firms. taking stock of these different organizational traits that a manufacturing firm should adopt to succeed in services leads us to define an organization as “organic” or “flexible” when it is characterized by few levels of hierarchy, strong decision-making power at the employee level, and strong communication among the different organizational units to better coordinate activities and employees at lower costs (bahrami, 1996; bowen, et al., 1989; burns & stalker, 1961; miller, 1986; youngdahl, 1996). such decentralization and integration are expected to enable organizations to satisfy customer needs effectively, in quality, in quantity, in design, and in a timely manner. flexible firms have better interactions with clients and other stakeholders that are also likely to provide innovative services (plé, lecocq & angot, 2010; saccani, visintin & rapaccini, 2014; von hippel, 1986). we can propose a third empirical hypothesis: hypothesis 3: firms that adopt a more flexible organization are more prone to propose prss. � 283 2. this posifve effect is well documented for products with econometric results on large samples (e.g. auh & menguc, 2007). m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 277-304 arman avadikyan & stéphane lhuillery & syoum negassi dominance, complementarity and heterogeneity the organizational and technological determinants of servitization are rarely compared. polar views can be inferred from the literature: three are worth mentioning. first, studies usually focus on the market orientation of organizational arrangements, whereas the role of technology is overlooked or considered. scholars working on servitization would rather consider that organizational change is the dominant driver of servitization: prss can be based on already existing products, but some organizational arrangements are required to be able to deliver prss (oliva & kallenberg, 2003). in this view, new organizational practices are required, but their interactions with new technologies are not considered; technology is not neutral but is a context, a determinant of servitization where the interactions with organizational dimensions are not specified (e.g. baines & lightfoot, 2013; baines, et al., 2016). in a second view, some scholars consider that prss are arranged around incremental innovations. stable core competencies can in this case be a source of rigidities that hamper the adaptation of firms (leonardbarton, 1992) and thus prevent the delivery of prss. in this view, incremental innovators are less able to adapt and to propose new prss. the solution to overcome this difficulty is to complement the incremental innovations with organizational change. the combination of organizational change and incremental innovation should thus be positive for prss even if the sole impact of incremental innovation is likely to impact prss negatively. from this perspective, the difficulties may be alleviated when radical innovation is introduced, suggesting that complementary organizational change is not required anymore. a pattern of radical innovation combined with organizational change should thus have a relatively lower impact on prss than for incremental innovation. third view considers that firms can build dynamic capabilities (teece, et al., 1997) to be able to stay innovative over time, either incrementally or radically. services are not related to an installed base but are solutions, integrated with new competencies and products allowed by organizational change (davies, 2004). product and process innovations are articulated with organizational change and even amts to propel prss. innovation and organizational change should then be observed as complementary. the degree of novelty of product innovation should be positively correlated with the degree of novelty of organizational practices. in this setting, organizational change is to be deployed either for radical innovation or for incremental innovation to be able to offer prss. the combination of organizational change and technological change is always expected to be positively related to prss. in the face of such a lack of clear predictions regarding the relative importance of the different prs determinants, empirical studies should help. in santamaria, et al. (2012), the impact of new processes and the link with customers (decentralization) were found to be positively linked to service innovation, but the difference between the two determinants was not tested. in antioco, et al. (2008), the modeling adopted hampered clear conclusions regarding the magnitude of the positive effects. their results suggested that technology is dominant over organization. there is, however, a lack of studies that allow us to generalize this result. a further problem is that to our knowledge, there is no result available regarding the complementarity issues. facing a lack of strong insights from the literature, we adopt the two following hypotheses: � 284 technological innovation, organizational change, and product-related services m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 277-304 hypothesis 4a: technological innovation is a dominant driver of prs offerings. hypothesis 4b: technological innovation and organizational change are complementary drivers of prss. some authors offered more subtle and more complete analyses in which the role of the determinants of prss changes according to the type of prs. servicing profiles may differ depending on whether the role of services is to support the introduction/development of new and innovative products to the market or to complement existing products and support the already installed product base. cusumano, kahl, & suarez (2015) recently proposed an interesting categorization of prss in which some services are oriented toward incremental innovations or to mature industries whereas others address radical innovations. the former are “smoothing” services (such as financing, repairing, training, installing, and documenting) that enable firms to maintain their margins, whereas the latter are “adapting” services (such as software and consulting) that accompany radically new products to create a margin. the degree of technological novelty will thus support different types of prss. however, scholars often use the older ssp and ssc classification (see mathieu, 2001) to argue that market pioneers should first propose ssps and then afterward propose sscs in their prs portfolio once the product novelty vanishes with its related ssp opportunities. according to eggert, et al. (2011, 2014), the heterogeneity is due to an arbitrage among competing resources: through learning, radical product innovators benefit from comparative advantages in specific resources that enable them, at low cost, to complement their product with ssps. laggards are not able to develop such competitive advantages but have relatively more resources left to invest in sscs. despite its reliance on anecdotal evidence, this type of co-evolution has been widely accepted by scholars. based on a large sample of 414 german mechanical engineering firms, eggert, et al. (2011) made a breakthrough contribution that demonstrated not only a positive and higher impact of ssps for pioneer firms (with novel products) but also a higher impact of sscs for laggards (products that are not new to the market but new to the firm) on profit growth. the heterogeneity in organizational change should be consistent with the heterogeneity in product innovation. the integration and responsiveness allowed by flexible organizations particularly encompass a better ability to interact with external bodies such as suppliers and customers. an interpretation derived is that flexibility should thus boost the opportunities to propose customer-oriented services (sscs) and to develop close customer–supplier relationships that are less critical for developing product-oriented services (ssps). once again, the empirical results are not very helpful: antioco, et al. (2008) do not find any differences in the roles of integration practices on prss, and crossfunctional communication is found to be influential neither on sscs nor on ssps. in eggert, et al. (2014), a positive role of decentralization is undeniably found for sscs, whereas the role of decentralization is not even explored for ssps. finally, we can consider that amts, including icts, are likely to help firms improve their manufacturing capabilities and to integrate them, plan them, and control them efficiently. dedrick, gurbaxani & kraemer (2003) confirmed in a review of the empirical literature that it enables fundamental changes in organizational structures. amts should, for instance, impact warehouse management, delivery, installation, or repair aspects, whereas financing or consulting activities should be enabled and influenced by cheaper and deeper communication with customers � 285 m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 277-304 arman avadikyan & stéphane lhuillery & syoum negassi regarding production processes and costs. however, it seems more difficult to determine whether amts are more prone to influence ssps than sscs. antioco, et al.’s empirical results (2008) corroborated the broad influence of icts with an impact on both ssp and ssc differentiation. according to theoretical and empirical insights, we propose the following minimal hypothesis: hypothesis 5: the impact of technological and organizational change depends on the type of prs. method data: the european manufacturing survey (ems) every two years since 1993, the fraunhofer institute for systems and innovation research (isi) has monitored technological and organizational changes in the german manufacturing industry using a written survey (“german manufacturing survey”) mailed to manufacturing companies. the survey addresses diffusion patterns of new organizational, managerial, and technological changes in addition to cooperation, relocation, and performance issues (kirner, kinkel & jaeger, 2009; lay, copani, jager & biege, 2010). since 2003, the survey has been extended to other european countries in the form of the ems. the second ems conducted during 2006, and used here, surveyed 13,426 manufacturing firms from germany with more than 19 employees that belonged to various manufacturing sectors (from 15 to 37 in the nace rev.1 classification). 3 1,663 firms responded (response rate 12.4%). some cleaning combined with the effect of missing values reduced the number of observations. the questionnaire uses specific questions regarding the introduction of organizational changes or technological processes performed over time. the organizational changes and product and process innovations can thus be identified over the 2003–2005 period. prs activities are identified in 2006. once missing values were taken into account and firms younger than four years were removed, our final sample included 1,129 firms. variables we first define the explained variables. explanatory variables are then defined in turn. table 1 reports the different variables and their definition. � 286 3. nace stands for « nomenclature stafsfque des acfvités économiques dans la communauté européenne ». technological innovation, organizational change, and product-related services m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 277-304 table 1: definition of variables we define four different explained variables. first, we identify whether a firm proposed at least one prs in 2006 (prsyes is set to 1; see table 1). a second set of variables provides more details: it is a set of seven dichotomic variables measuring the prs offerings proposed in 2006, of the seven different prss listed in the questionnaire—consulting (design, consulting, and project planning), technical documentation, software development, financial services (leasing, rental, and funding), installation, training, and repairing (maintenance and repair ) . we thus 4 want to explain what types of prss are related to innovation and organization. to be able to further characterize the differences among prs portfolios, we introduced the standard difference between sscs and ssps: the ssc index is computed as the sum of consulting, financing, and training services, whereas the ssp index is defined as the sum of documenting, software, installing, and repairing services. in fact, these indexes measure the breadth of ssps and sscs. a larger breadth of prss measures the offering of a different type of prs but not a novel prs. note also that the quality of the answers regarding prss hampered the possibility to directly define variables regarding new prss without losing the main part of our sample because of missing values. � 287 4. the quesfon used was: “which of the following services related to your products do you offer to your customers?” the “exploitafon” service is not maintained in the following because too few firms declared that they provided producfon at the locafon of their client. m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 277-304 arman avadikyan & stéphane lhuillery & syoum negassi table 2: descriptive statistics regarding the independent variables, we define product innovators using a standard approach (see oecd, 2005) relative to the 2003–2005 period. we define two levels of product innovators: among product innovators, we differentiate between those who introduced radical products —that is to say a product that was new to the market (productradic) — a n d t h o s e w h o p r o d u c e d o n l y i n c r e m e n t a l i n n o v a t i o n s (productincre) for comparison with non-innovative-product firms. thanks to the ems questionnaire, we further identify different process innovations: with regard to processes, the ems survey lists 11 different types of process innovations (see table 1) : the process index can 5 thus be computed as the sum of the new advanced manufacturing technologies implemented by firms over the 2003-2005 period . finally, organizational traits related to prss are mainly characterized by integration and decentralization practices. a firm is thus considered more flexible (flexible) when, over the 2003–2005 period , it introduced new 6 integration or new decentralization practices (see table 1). five control variables are considered. the ems questionnaire enabled us to further characterize firms according to the share of their employees with a third-level educational qualification in 2005 (skilled). also, subcontractors (subcontractor=1) are identified as well as the � 288 5. actually, three items were deleted because they were highly specific to only a few manufacturing industries: “clean rooms,” “biotech processes,” and “catalyfc conversion.” 6. a transformafon into a dichotomic variable was made but did not change our results. technological innovation, organizational change, and product-related services m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 277-304 age of firms. young firms (young=1) are firms founded after 1995 (set to 0 otherwise). the size and the sectorial effects are measured, respectively, by the logarithm of the number of employees (size). at the sectorial level, a set of four industry dummies (low-tech, medium-low-tech, mediumhigh-tech, and high-tech) defined at the two-digit level of the nace classification and measuring the sectorial level of r&d (oecd, 2002) were also computed. these sectorial dummies approximate the degree of maturity of an industry: low-tech and medium-low-tech firms approximate mature industries, whereas high-tech and medium-high-tech industries approximate young industries. econometric model our model tests the determinants of prs offerings. any manufacturing firm can, of course, introduce prss. we contend, however, that firms anticipate difficulties: those that are able to innovate and to use flexible arrangements are the ones that are more likely to derive value from prss. hence, they are more likely to launch and/or maintain prss, and thus to subsequently offer prss. adding control variables, our core model explaining prss is : where prs is a set of j variables, prs = {prsyes, consult, doc, soft, finance, install, training, repairing, ssp, ssc}; z is a set of control variables that includes graduated, young, subcontractor, size, and industry dummies; and ei are random errors. positive outcomes are expected because radical product innovators are also anticipated to be more prone to develop and maintain prs offerings than incremental product innovators � . beyond product innovation, a positive effect for process innovation: � or organizational change. � is also expected. finally, the results regarding technology are to be compared with the magnitude of the positive effect expected for organizational change toward a flexible firm. either technology is dominant over organization (h4), with � , or � and � as suggested by the literature on innovation, or organizational change is the dominant driver of servitization and � or � or � as suggested by the literature on servitization. to be able to compare magnitudes, marginal effects are computed for non-linear models. additional wald tests are conducted. comparing the coefficients between equations for the same explanatory variable, we are able to test h5. for example, because the literature suggests that the type of prs depends on the novelty of products, we test the hypothesis that the impact of radical innovation is the same for different prss (that is, and particularly sscs and ssps. comparing the coefficient within an equation, we are able to test differences in magnitude among the determinants (h4a). we introduced different variables crossing technological variables (product and process) and an organizational change variable to test for complementarity (h4b). h 1 : α j 1 > 0,α j 2 > 0a n d α j 1 > α j 2 h 2 : α j 3 > 0 α j 4 > 0) α1 > α2 > α4 α1 > α4 > α2 α3 > α4 α3 < α4 α2 < α1 < α4 α1 < α2 < α4 � 289 m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 277-304 arman avadikyan & stéphane lhuillery & syoum negassi with respect to control variables, employees with a third-level educational qualification are first introduced because they are usually associated with the ability of firms to adapt more efficiently from an organizational point of view (caroli & van reenen, 2001). we thus expect a positive effect of the share of such employees on the ability of manufacturing firms to offer prss. following acemoglu, et al. (2007), young firms have less experience with technologies and organizational arrangements. following this general idea, we therefore expect that they may be less able to offer prss than other firms. it can, however, also be argued that young high-tech firms encounter more financial constraints and, consequently, prss (including consulting and r&d, for example) are a means to survive when their products have not yet reached the market. the expected direction of the impact of the young variable is thus not well defined. a similar trade-off is expected for the variable size because large firms are supposed to be more diversified and consequently more likely to propose prss, whereas small firms may be more flexible and close to clients. indeed, the latter’s comparative advantage is their ability to provide prss to their customers. subcontractors are less likely to provide new prss surrounding their products because the contractual arrangements are likely to limit the extent of their offerings to their customers. the negative effect is likely to occur in particular when subcontracting is performed for capacity and cost reasons rather than for capability reasons. the heterogeneity of determinants can also rely on sectorial differences. for example, following cusumano, kahl & suarez, (2015), we can expect that firms in mature industries (low-tech and lowmedium-tech industries) are more prone to offer services such as “smoothing” services (financing, repairing, training, installing, or documenting), whereas sectors in a more rapidly developing phase (medium-high-tech or high-tech) are more likely to propose “adapting” services (software or consulting). to cope with the different limited dependent variables measuring prss, non-linear models were implemented. a probit model was introduced to explain the dichotomic variable prsyes. when dealing with the different types of prss introduced by firms, the strategic choices regarding these prss are not independent of each other. for example, a lack of resources may induce some arbitrage among prss, or some prss may be linked to other prss. for example, maintenance may be a critical after-sales service. a further possibility is that firms benefit from economies of scope (kowalkowski, brehmer & kindstrom, 2009). when some installing or maintenance activities are provided, consulting services can be provided at lower cost, for example. to cope with these strategic interactions and possible economies of scope in prs offerings, we implemented a multivariate probit model (as in santamaria, et al., 2012). we were therefore able to take into account the unobserved strategic orientations regarding some prs bundles offered to customers. the correlation among residuals controls for complementarity, independence, or substitutability among the different prss proposed by firms (gourieroux, 2000). hence, the prs bundling is taken into account but not assumed, as is often the case in the literature (e.g., antioco, et al., 2008; eggert, et al., 2011, 2014). still, we also implement a bivariate ordered probit model to identify the differences between ssc and ssp determinants. deploying a multivariate model, we are thus able to test h5 and the heterogeneity of the role of explanatory variables on different prss. � 290 technological innovation, organizational change, and product-related services m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 277-304 results as reported in table 2, approximately 66% of firms launched at least one new product over the 2003–2005 period. 36% of firms declared that their innovations were new to the market. only 41% of firms introduced advanced manufacturing processes during the same period (0.7 on average). new practices for a flexible organization were adopted by 12% of firms. only 12% of manufacturing firms did not offer any prs to their clients. consulting activities, documentation, software, and training were the most common prss supplied. table 3 indicates that firms proposed different types of prss with heterogeneous frequencies. it also demonstrates that firms that introduced product innovation, process innovation, and organizational innovation were more prone to be active in prss. the increment is, however, less obvious for process innovation or organizational innovation than for product innovation. table 2: descriptive statistics � 291 m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 277-304 arman avadikyan & stéphane lhuillery & syoum negassi table 3: the explained variables by our three main explanatory variables the econometric results regarding the determinants of prss are reported in table 4. the next hypotheses address the impact of product innovation on prs strategies: h1 stated that radical product innovators are more likely to introduce prss or that prs portfolio structures depend on the degree of product innovation introduced by firms. controlling for a large number of variables, product innovation is found to be a significant determinant of servitization. an incremental product innovation boosts the likelihood of offering prss by 4.5% (col. 1 in table 4), whereas the introduction of a radical product innovation during the same period makes firms twice as likely (+9%) to offer prss. a wald test confirms that radical innovation has a significant and higher impact than incremental product innovation (the wald critical value is 4.64, p<0.05). the positive effect of radical innovation holds for all prs types except financial services (col. 5, in table 4) and repairing services (col. 8), whereas incremental product innovation plays a positive and significant role only for consulting services (col. 2) and training services (col. 7). computation of marginal effects of the multivariate model allows us to interpret the magnitude of the impact of radical innovation on prss. table 6 indicates that radical innovation especially boosts the probability of developing consulting activities (+7%, col. 1 in table 1) and training activities (+7%) and also, in a minor way, documentation services (+1.4%) and repairing services (+0.8%). from table 6 (col. 1 and col. 6), we can see that when significant, the impacts of radical product innovation are about twice the impacts of incremental product innovation, in agreement with h1. radical innovation positively influences sscs and ssps (col. 9 and col. 10, respectively), whereas incremental innovation is found with a lower magnitude than radical innovation. on the whole, our results support h1 and the importance of product innovators in prs offerings. more precisely, they support the idea that radical product innovations are critical to offer prss � 292 technological innovation, organizational change, and product-related services m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 277-304 table 4: the determinants of prs � 293 m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 277-304 arman avadikyan & stéphane lhuillery & syoum negassi note: .01 ***; .05 **; .1 *, n=1129. no product innovation and mediumhigh tech are taken as the references. the independence of equations (2) to (8) is rejected (the critical value is 1129.3, p<0.01). the same is true for the independence of equations (9) and (10) (the value is 343,3,p<0.01). in other words, the decisions regarding the different prss are not made independently. the multivariate models were implemented using the geweke-hajivassiliou-keane (ghk) simulator to evaluate the integrals in the likelihood function. the bivariate ordered probit model explains the ssc and ssp indexes. sscs and ssps: the ssc index is computed as the sum of consulting, financing, and training services, whereas the ssp index is defined as the sum of documenting, software, installing, and repairing services. the coefficients in column (1) are marginal effects, but those in columns (2) to (10) are not. the marginal effects for columns (2) to (8) are reported in table 5. the wald tests are two-tailed tests. the results regarding process confirm that firms that introduced or adopted many such innovations during the past three years were more likely to launch services around their products (col. 1 in table 4). the adoption of one additional amt increased the likelihood of offering prss by 2% (col. 1, in table 4). however, process innovation was found to be linked, with p<0.1, only to consulting services (col. 2 in table 4). in contrast with the literature, our results do not provide clear support for h2 and the role of process innovation in prs strategies. they suggest, however, that new processes can help firms extend their ssp offerings (col. 10 in table 4). a similar result was found for h3. a more flexible organization was not found to influence the propensity to enter into prs activities (col. 1). the conclusion is similar when the different types of prss are scrutinized: flexibility is found to be influential only on the likelihood of doing repairing activities (col. 8). our results provide weak support for h3. organizational innovation seems to favor the number of sscs (col. 9). this result is in agreement with eggert, et al. (2014). the different coefficients can be compared to look for a hierarchy among the three determinants of prss (h4a in table 4). a set of wald tests underline that radical innovation is dominant over process innovation, whereas the dominance is not found over organizational innovation. the adoption of one additional amt increases the likelihood of offering prss by 2%, whereas the introduction of radical product innovation boosts the same probability by a significantly higher 9% (wald is 3.90, p<0.05 in col. 1, table 4). the impact of radical product innovation is found to be dominant over process for the different services, except for financial and installation services. the dominance of radical innovation is found particularly for consulting services (wald is 5.58, p<0.05), the only prs for which amts play a role. it also confirms that radical innovation is dominant for consulting and training. organizational innovation is found to be dominant over radical innovation only for repairing services. the dominance of product innovation is found to be weaker, as expected, when incremental innovation is considered: the results presented in table 4 suggest that incremental product innovation is less important than organizational innovation for installing services. when sscs and ssps are considered, the hierarchy is, however, more refined. regarding the ssp index, radical innovation is still the dominant driver, dominating process and organizational innovation. incremental product innovation impact is found to be superior to process innovation. regarding sscs, pioneer products are the only driver, the positive influence of a more flexible organization becoming significant (at � 294 technological innovation, organizational change, and product-related services m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 277-304 10%). the different results provide support for h4a, that product innovation is the main driver of prs offerings and that—despite some influences, especially on ssps—organizational change and process innovation are found to be less influential. the lack of significance of the parameters of cross-effect variables is unexpected (tables available upon request). it suggests that technology and organization or process innovation and product innovation cannot be considered complementary in terms of their impact on prs offerings. h4b is thus not supported. a consequence of this result is that the parameters reported in table 4 and table 6 provide a reliable view of the different impacts of the different determinants of prss and their hierarchies. we can finally consider to what extent the role of product novelty differs according to the type of prs (h5). to answer this question precisely, we first focus on the multivariate probit model (col. 2 to col. 8 in table 4) and perform wald tests about the heterogeneity of the positive impact of radical product innovation on prss. the wald critical value is 26.39 (with p<0.01); thus, we reject the hypothesis that the coefficients of radical product innovation are equal among the different prs types. the same result is obtained for the positive impact of incremental product innovation (wald is 12.12 at p<0.10). more precisely, it was found that pioneers in an industry are more prone to offer consulting activities (+6.6% in col. 1 in table 6) and training services (+6.7% in col. 6 in table 6), whereas their propensity to offer documentation (+1.4% in col. 2) or repairing services (+0.8% in col. 7) is enhanced only weakly. in other words, the structure of prs portfolios depends on innovation and the degree of innovation recently introduced by firms. to characterize heterogeneity, we further tested the heterogeneity of coefficients on the bivariate ordered probit model: the coefficients of radical product innovation, incremental product innovation, and even process innovation were found to be different between the two ssp and ssc classes (the wald critical values are, respectively 13.9 with p<0.01, and 5.33 with p<0.05 for col.9 and col.10 in table 4). only organizational innovation seems not to influence sscs and ssps in a different manner. our results support h5 and the idea that firms tune the structures of their prs portfolios according to the type and strength of technological innovation. table 5: correlations among the residuals of the multivariate probit model � 295 m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 277-304 arman avadikyan & stéphane lhuillery & syoum negassi table 6: partial effects of the multivariate probit model with regard to control variables, we systematically find a positive influence for the share of employees with a third-level educational qualification within a firm. the prs strategy does not usually depend on company age: neither age nor age squared is significant in the estimations reported in table 5 even if young firms exhibit a significantly lower likelihood of proposing software (col. 4). size negatively influences the probability of proposing installation services (col. 6). conversely, large firms are more prone to offer financial services and training sessions (col. 5 and col. 7, respectively). as expected, subcontractors are less likely to be involved in prs strategies. this result is, however, not found for consulting and documentation services (col. 2 and col. 3, respectively). when the coefficients of sectorial dummies are considered, our results indicate that mature (low-tech) industries are less involved in prss, regardless of the explained variable. the computation of marginal effects (table 6) further documents sectorial differences: firms that belong to mature industries are less prone to offer repairing services, installation services, or training services than are firms from medium-high-tech industries. in ferment phase (high-tech) industries, software and financial services are much more likely to be proposed by manufacturing firms (col. 3 and col. 4 in table 6). consulting services (col. 2 in table 4) are the only prss that are not less likely to be proposed in mature industries. our results suggest that young firms are not necessarily the ones with original prss or original business model proposals; rather, industry characteristics and, as formerly detailed, individual technological capabilities are more important than firm age. finally, the positive correlations among residuals (table 5) suggest that the different prs activities are complementary. the positive correlation among residuals provides little evidence for bundling patterns: some ssps are rather highly correlated with each other, thus suggesting potential ssp bundles. the same table also indicates that sscs are poorly complementary or even independent (consulting and financing services for example). table 5 demonstrates that some customer-oriented services are proposed with some specific product-oriented services: specifically, repairing is proposed with training, documentation is proposed with consulting, or training is proposed with software. these relationships are confirmed by the positive correlation among residuals in the bivariate ordered probit model (table 4) that further shows that some sscs are proposed with some specific ssps. � 296 technological innovation, organizational change, and product-related services m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 277-304 discussion and conclusions the growing importance of services led governments and scholars t o f o c u s o n k n o w l e d g e i n t e n s i v e b u s i n e s s s e r v i c e s ( k i b s ) . deindustrialization of societies are however not systematic and manufacturing firms often propose product-related services to their customers. this paper explores the determinants of such servitization. more precisely, it examines whether technology and organizational changes facilitate servitization and whether they influence the structure of service portfolios offered by manufacturing firms. we further explore to what extent the influence depends on the type of prs offered. in addition, we consider the hierarchy among the determinants of prs strategy and their complementarity. the results indicate that product novelty is a main driver of prs activities. it especially boosts consulting and training services. the structure of the prs portfolio is dependent on product novelty. organizational change toward a more flexible company or the adoption of new advanced manufacturing processes is found, with few exceptions, hardly to influence the choice of prs. however, our results suggest that process innovation is positively linked to the breadth of ssps, whereas organizational innovation drives the breadth of ssc offerings. product, process, and organizational innovation are not found to be complementary drivers of prss. in the following, we first discuss our contributions to the literature and their managerial implications. we conclude by addressing the main limitations of our study and research avenues. contributions and implications our first contribution to the literature is to provide empirical evidence that technological innovation has to be reinstalled in the prs debate, which has historically focused on the organizational dimension. our results underline that technology is not separable from prss (baines, lightfoot, benedettini & kay, 2009; baines, lightfoot, evans & neely, 2007; gebauer, et al., 2005; mathieu, 2001); rather, technological novelty of products allows and supports the ability of firms to offer prss. we further demonstrate that radical innovation is the primary determinant of prss and that incremental innovation is influential only on training or consulting activities, or on the number of ssps. this study is to our knowledge the first to clearly identify such a link using a large multi-sector sample; the causality was, until now, only suggested or indirectly obtained in the literature (see eggert, et al., 2011; sultan, 2013; tongur & engwall, 2014). our analysis offers clear consequences for the top managers who want to redefine their business model through prss. it first indicates that the introduction of prss is not a simple task that can be performed by every manufacturing firm: managers should first evaluate the degree of novelty of their products to identify related service opportunities. our results confirm the general insights derived from works on appropriation where services surrounding products as well as to be a leader and go down on the learning curve are important means to appropriate product innovation. our empirical results thus also rejuvenate old results (levin, et al., 1987) and provide details on an empirical investigation usually focused on legal appropriation tools. the importance of technology is critical also because prss depend on industry maturity as measured by its r&d intensity level. our results indicate that prss are less prone to be delivered in (medium-tech) mature industries, at odds with the ideas that mature industries are more likely to � 297 m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 277-304 arman avadikyan & stéphane lhuillery & syoum negassi propose services (see fang, et al., 2008; suarez, et al., 2013; teece 1986). our results also underline that some services are less prone to be delivered than others (cusumano, kahl & suarez, 2015). if we consider that servitization is core to the transformation of business models (visnjic, et al., 2014), our article demonstrates that business model innovations do not occur only in mature industries (as in massa & tucci, 2013; sabatier, craig-kennard & mangematin, 2012); rather, they are also more likely to emerge in medium-high-tech industries with more nascent traits even if high-tech industries are more prone to offer sscs than ssps. when firms are pioneers, top managers should thus pay more attention to complementing their product with prss when they are doing business in technological industries. an open question is that, whenever technological context and technological innovation are reinstalled as main drivers of servitization, how should managers in manufacturing firms manage servitization? our results suggest that managers with novel products should particularly pay attention to opportunities in consulting and training services when they are not at the technological frontier. prospects in documentation services and repairing services are also first to be explored. a further contribution is to investigate the characteristics of prs portfolios proposed by manufacturing firms. our empirical results emphasize that pioneers implement prs portfolios that differ from those of laggards: a difference between the determinants was even found for ssc and ssp classes. still, an empirical classification is robust when there is an internal consistency of classes and thus when the determinants of prss are similar within ssp and ssc classes (see gaiardelli, resta, martinez, pinto & albores, 2014, regarding service classifications). to test the internal robustness of the two classes, we tested the equality of the same coefficients inside ssc and ssp classes. in this case, the equality of the coefficients regarding technology and organization cannot be rejected (critical values are available upon request), thereby suggesting that the heterogeneity of determinants is rather between ssp and ssc classes than within ssp and ssc classes. the different results provide unexpected support for the conceptual classification of ssps and sscs often adopted after mathieu (2001) (e.g. antioco, et al., 2008; eggert, et al., 2011, 2014). beyond, our results failed to identify clear empirical classes of prs bundling strategies. it suggests that firms may achieve some economy of scope according to many prs arrangements. an alternative interpretation is that manufacturing firms may be myopic and unable to measure the rate of returns of the different possible sets of prss, explaining the difficulties of choosing proper arrangements and of deriving performance from prss. our results suggest that the literature considering process, product, services, and organization as an integrated system is still a normative literature: it seems that it does not explain what is going on in industry, in which the development of prss is mainly driven by the degree of product novelty. it may, however, be argued here that organizational traits are an overall characteristic of servitized firms and are not a determinant of individual prss: a more flexible organization is required when many prss are to be coordinated, which may explain why the coefficients are downward biased. to check this idea, we employed a count model explaining the total prs breadth computed as the sum of the seven possible prss that confirms the positive and significant role of organizational change (results available upon request). the results of this robustness check are thus broader than the one we obtained for ssps and thus broader than eggert, et al.’s (2014) results. managers should thus pay � 298 technological innovation, organizational change, and product-related services m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 277-304 attention to improving the flexibility of their servitized organization when coordination of several prss is addressed. a final contribution is that our analysis of the determinants of prss provides a path to solve the servitization paradox. servitization in our model depends on product innovation and not on the complementarity between technological innovation and organizational change. our result suggests that the impact of servitization on performances may thus differ depending on the proportion of leading firms in the sample or the repartition of firms among industries. such sample selection, or a service variable that may be correlated with error terms in a service-performance equation, may introduce inefficiency and inconsistency in the estimation of parameters (see hamilton & nickerson, 2003). our article contributes to the future correction of sample selection biases or the specification of a more complex servitization-performance model where servitization is explained using an equation besides the main one regarding performance . a global implication of these clues is that the rate of return 7 of prss may be different and higher than suggested by the literature. despite the apparent failure of prs strategies among industries, managers in charge of technological pioneers and flexible firms should be less averse regarding the low rate of return of prss usually found. limitations and directions for future research due to data constraints, the model has been kept parsimonious. consequently, some problems have been overlooked. the three main limitations we detail now—measurement, causality, and dynamics—also delineate steps for future research. the first limitation comes from the availability and the quality of the indicators. a limitation underlined by garcia & calantone (2002) that we already mentioned is that we do not know whether the different prss are innovative: we are thus able to identify prs innovation when the firm introduced a new category of prs but not when some prs innovations were done within a prs category. hence, we explain the level of prss by technological change and organizational change whereas further 8 measures on changes in prs strategies and a distinction between noninnovative and innovative services (not provided elsewhere by competitors) would be of great value. a second shortcoming is that the same type of prs can cover different activities. for example, training sessions can be implemented to complement the introduction of new technological products, whereas they can also be provided for mature products. a service can be sometimes classified either in an ssc or an ssp category (see cusumano, kahl & suarez, 2015). a similar problem can be encountered for organizational change because a firm can adopt temporary decentralization routines to respond to particular customers (tuli, et al., 2007). finally, some missing variables should also be mentioned. in the present article, we propose a focus on prss only. our results are original because they avoid the noise and the difficulties inherent in disentangling prss (differentiation) from product-unrelated services (diversification). still, in the present contribution, we were not able to control for product-unrelated services, whereas the decisions regarding the two types of services could be interdependent and thus be investigated in a broader multivariate model. the second main limitation in our analysis is linked to the causal � 299 7. see visnjic, wiengarten & neely (2016) for an a=empt to introduce both product innovafon and servifzafon as complementary determinants of performances. 8 .this type of shortcoming usually occurs in the economics of innovafon, where scholars commonly explain the level of producfvity by innovafon (see mairesse & mohnense, 2010 for a survey). a first-difference approach is useful less for the precision it would bring to the present analysis of prs changes than for the neutralizafon of hidden determinants that are specific to each firm and are not observed variables, assuming that these unobservable variables are fmeinvariant (wooldridge, 2010). m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 277-304 arman avadikyan & stéphane lhuillery & syoum negassi links assumed in our model. potential problems arise when the causality between the explanatory variables and the explained variables is taken into consideration. we contend that technology and organizational variables impact prss, whereas some scholars may advocate that services also drive firms to launch new (integrated) products (e.g., levitt, 1976; davies, 2004, lindberg & nordin, 2008; eggert, et al., 2011) and therefore that product innovation, process innovation and organizational changes may also be considered a consequence of prs adoption. firms learn from their customer when they enter into servitization; thus, they can use this accumulated knowledge to propose new products, new services and new organizational practices. we consider the possible complementarity between innovation and organizational drivers whereby some other sequences are possible: innovation could be a determinant of organizational change (e.g., henderson & clark, 1990) or organizational change a determinant of product innovation (e.g., zahra & nielsen, 2002) or even of amt (cardoso, pinheiro de lima & gouvea da costa, 2012). we acknowledge that these possibilities would dilute the causal links we have claimed. in the present article, because of a lack of panel data, we can explain only one side of the story: prss are explained with lagged variables suggesting causality from innovation and organization toward prss. the aim to finally understand the complete causal links remains (see visnjic, et al., 2014), which leads us to avenues for future research. a further step in this research would be to understand the frontiers of servitized firms. following vargo & lusch (2004), who redefined the service-centered activity of product firms, we can insist on the critical role of customers in the transformation of business models. efforts by scholars to incorporate sscs beside ssps in servitization studies are thus a laudable but incomplete step. considering what has been performed for user innovation following von hippel’s insights (1986), the identification of customers’ characteristics and customers' roles into servitization processes seems, from our point of view, vital. however, some competencies may rely on other types of cooperative links, crafted by firms to be able to servitize their products (windahl & lakemond, 2010). for example, software can be sub-contracted or elaborated with different types of suppliers (see sabatier, et al., 2012), thus suggesting that analysis of prss requires a more open model of servitization, à la chesbrough (2003). a third research avenue regards not the scope of prs analysis but rather the analysis of servitization dynamics. the literature often considers cycles of exploration and exploitation activities. considering radical innovation as an exploration phase, some prs cycles should also occur within a manufacturing firm. eggert, et al. (2011) suggest that the dominance of ssc and ssp should evolve over time. some prss may survive product replacement, whereas others may not (see tripsas, 1997). an implicit assumption in the literature is that technological innovation does not destroy services. the counting of prss in a portfolio that we use in this article includes this potential prs withdrawal. however, the analysis of prs destruction or redefinition due to technological innovation remains to be measured and explored.   � 300 technological innovation, organizational change, and product-related services m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 277-304 references acemoglu, d., aghion, p., lelarge, c., van reenen j. & zilibotti, f. (2007). technology, information, and the decentralization of the firm. the quarterly journal of economics, mit press, 122(4), 1759-1799. antioco, m., moenaert, r.k., lingreen, a. & wetzels, m.g.m. (2008). organizational antecedents to and consequences of service business orientations in manufacturing companies. journal of the academy of marketing science, 36(3), 337-358. araujo, l. & spring, m. (2006). services, products, and the institutional structure of production. industrial marketing management, 35, 797-805. auh, s. & menguc, b. (2007). performance implications of the direct and moderating effects of centralization and formalization on customer orientation. industrial marketing management, 36(8), 1022-1034. bahrami, h. (1996). the emerging flexible organization: perspectives from silicon valley. the california management review, 34(4), 55-75. baines, t., lightfoot, h.w., evans, s. & neely, a. (2007). state-of-the-art in product service-systems. journal of engineering manufacture, proc. imeche part b, 221(10), 1543-51. baines, t.s., lightfoot, h.w., benedettini, o. & kay, j.m. (2009). the servitization of manufacturing: a review of literature, reflection on future challenge. journal of manufacturing technology management, 20(5), 547-567. baines, t.s. & lightfoot h.w. (2013), made to serve: how manufacturers can compete through servitization and product service systems, chichester, uk: john wiley and sons. baines, t., bigdeli, a. z., bustinza, o. f., shi, v. g., baldwin, j. & ridgeway, k. (2016). servitization: revisiting the state-of-the-art and research priorities. international journal of operations and production management, forthcoming. barabba, v., huber, c., cooke, f., pudar, n., smith, j. & paich, m. (2002). a multimethod approach for creating new business models: the general motors onstar project. interfaces, vol. 32, n. 1, 20-34. barras, r. (1986). towards a theory of innovation in services. research policy, 15(4), 161-173. boning, b., ichniowski, c. & shaw, k. (2007). opportunity counts: teams and the effectiveness of production incentives. journal of labor economics, 25, 613–650. bowen, d.e., siehl, c. & schneider, b. (1989). a framework for analyzing customer service orientations in manufacturin. the academy of management review, 14(1), 75-95. brynjolfsson, e. (1993). the productivity paradox of information technology. communications of the acm, 36(12), 66-77. burns, t. & stalker, g.m. (1961), the management of innovation, londres, tavistock. b u z a c o t t , j . a . & ya o , d . d . ( 1 9 8 6 ) . f l e x i b l e manufacturing systems: a review of analytical models. management science, 32(7), 890-905. cardoso, r.d.r., pinheiro de lima, e. & gouvea da costa, s.e. (2012). identifying organizational requirements for the implementation of advanced manufacturing technologies (amt). journal of manufacturing systems, 31(3), 367-378. caroli, e. & van reenen, j. (2001). skill-biased organizational change? evidence from a panel of british, french establishments. the quarterly journal of economics, 116(4), 1449-1492. chesbrough, h.w. (2003), open innovation: the new imperative for creating and profiting from technology, harvard business press. cohen, m., agrawal, n. & agrawal, v. (2006). winning in the aftermarket. harvard business review, 84(may), 129–138. cusumano, m. a., kahl, s. j. & suarez, f. f. (2015). services, industry evolution, and the competitive strategies of product firms. strategic management journal, 36(4), 559-575. davies, a. (2004). moving into high-value integrated solutions-a value stream approach. industrial, corporate change, 13(5), 727-756. davies, a., brady, t. & hobday, m. (2006). charting a p a t h t o w a r d s i n t e g r a t e d s o l u t i o n s . s l o a n management review, 47(3), 38–49. dedrick, j., gurbaxani, v. & kraemer, k.l. (2003). information technology and economic performance: a critical review of the empirical evidence. acm computing surveys (csur), 35(1), 1-28. doms, m., dunne, t. & troske, k.r. (1997). workers, wages, and technology. the quarterly journal of economics, 112(1), 253-290. eggert, a., hogreve, j., ulaga, w. & muenkhoff, e. (2011). industrial services, product innovations, and firm profitability: a multiple-group latent growth curve analysis. industrial marketing management, 40(2), 661-670. eggert, a., hogreve, j., ulaga, w. & muenkhoff, e. (2014). revenue and profit implications of industrial service strategies. journal of service research, 17(1), 23-39. fang, e., palmatier, r. & steenkamp, j. (2008). effect of service transition strategies on firm value. journal of marketing, 72(5), 1-14. fichman, r. g., dos santos, b. l. & ze, z. (2014). digital innovation as a fundamental and powerful concept in the information systems curriculum. mis quarterly, 38(2), 329-353. finne, m., brax, s. & holmström, j. (2013). reversed servitization paths: a case analysis of two manufacturers. service business, 7(4), 513-537. froehle, c. m. (2006). service personnel, technology, and their interaction in influencing customer satisfaction. decision sciences, 37(1), 5-38. gaiardelli, p., resta, b., martinez, v., pinto, r. & albores, p. (2014). a classification model for product-service offerings. journal of cleaner production, 66, 507-519. galbraith, j.r. (2002). organizing to deliver solutions. organizational dynamics, 31(2), 194–207. � 301 m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 277-304 arman avadikyan & stéphane lhuillery & syoum negassi garcia, r. & calantone, r., (2002). a critical look at t e c h n o l o g i c a l i n n o v a t i o n t y p o l o g y a n d innovativeness terminology: a literature review. journal of product innovation management, 19 (2), 110–132. gebauer, h., (2009). an attention-based view on service orientation in the business strategy of manufacturing companies. journal of managerial psychology, 24/1, 79-98. gebauer, h., fleisch, e. & friedli, t. (2005). overcoming the service paradox in manufacturing companies. european management journal, 23(1), 14-26. gebauer, h. & fleisch, e. (2007). an investigation of the relationship between behavioral processes, motivation, investments in the service business and service revenue. industrial marketing management, 36(3), 337-348. gebauer, h., pütz, f., fischer, t. & fleisch, e. (2009). service orientation of organizational structure. journal of relationship marketing, 8(2), 103-126. gourieroux, c. (2000), econometrics of qualitative dependent variables, cambridge university press. grubic, t. (2014). servitization and remote monitoring technology: a literature review and research agenda. journal of manufacturing technology management, 25(1), 100-124. hamilton, b. h. & nickerson, j. a. (2003). correcting for endogeneity in strategic management research. strategic organization, 1(1), 51-78. henderson, r.m. & clark, k.b. (1990). architectural innovation: the reconfiguration of existing product technologies, the failure of established firms. administrative science quarterly, 35(1), 9-30. hofmann, c. & orr, s. (2005), advanced manufacturing technology adoption—the german experience. technovation, 25(7), 711-724. joshi, k. d., chi, l., datta, a. & han, s. (2010). changing the competitive landscape: continuous i n n o v a t i o n t h r o u g h i te n a b l e d k n o w l e d g e capabilities. information systems research, 21(3), 472-495. kaiser, u. (2000). new technologies and the demand for heterogeneous labor: firm-level evidence for the german business-related service sector. economics of innovation and new technology, 9(5), 465-486. kellogg, d.l. & nie, w. (1995). a framework for strategic service management. journal of operations management, 13(4), 323-337. kirner, e., kinkel s. & jaeger a. (2009). innovation paths, the innovation performance of lowtechnology firms—an empirical analysis of german industry. research policy, 38(3), 447-458. kowalkowski, c., brehmer, p. o., & kindstrom, d. (2009). managing industrial service offerings: r e q u i r e m e n t s o n c o n t e n t a n d p r o c e s s e s . international journal of services technology and management, 11(1), 42-63. lay, g., copani, g., jager, a. & biege, s. (2010). the relevance of service in european manufacturing industries. journal of service management, 21(5), 715-726. lei, d., hitt, m.a. & goldhar, j.d. (1996). advanced manufacturing technology: organizational design, strategic flexibility. organization science, 17(3), 501-523. lenfle, s. & midler, c. (2009). the launch of innovative product-related services: lessons from automotive telematics. research policy, 38(1), 156-169. leonard-barton, d. (1992). core capabilities and core rigidities: a paradox in managing new product development. strategic management journal, 13(s1), 111-125. levin, r.c, klevorick, a.k, nelson, r.r, winter, s.g, gilbert, r. & griliches, z. (1987). brookings papers on economic activity. microeconomics, special issue, no. 3, 783-831. levitt, t. (1976) the industrialization of service. harvard business review, vol. 54, 63-74. lightfoot, h.w., baines, t. & smart, p. (2011). examining the information and communication technologies enabling servitized manufacture, proceedings of the institution of mechanical engineers. journal of engineering manufacture, part b, 225(10), 1964-1968. lindberg, n. & nordin, f. (2008). from products to services and back again: towards a new service p r o c u r e m e n t l o g i c . i n d u s t r i a l m a r k e t i n g management, 37(3), 292-300. mairesse, j. & mohnen, p. (2010). using innovation surveys for econometric analysis. handbook of the economics of innovation, 2, 1129-1155. massa, l. & tucci, c.l. (2013). business model innovation. in m. dodgson, d.m. gann, n. phillips (eds.). the oxford handbook of innovation. oxford university press: oxford. mathe, h. & shapiro, r.d. (1993), integrating service strategy in the manufacturing company, london: chapman & hall. mathieu, v. (2001). service strategies within the m a n u f a c t u r i n g s e c t o r : b e n e fi t s , c o s t s , partnerships. international journal of service industry management, 12(5), 451-475. matthyssens, p. & vandenbempt, k. (1998). creating competitive advantage in industrial services. journal of business & industrial marketing, 13(4/5), 339-355. miller, d. (1986). configurations of strategy and s t r u c t u r e : to w a r d s a s y n t h e s i s . s t r a t e g i c management journal, 7(3), 233-249. miller, d., hope, q., eisenstat, r., foote, n. & galbraith, j. (2002). the problem of solutions: balancing clients and capabilities. business horizons, 45(2), 3-12. mont, o.k. (2002). clarifying the concept of product– service system. journal of cleaner production, 10(3), 237-245. nambisan, s. (2001). why service businesses are not product businesses. mit sloan management review, summer, 72-80. n e e l y, a . d . ( 2 0 0 8 ) . e x p l o r i n g t h e f i n a n c i a l c o n s e q u e n c e s o f t h e s e r v i t i z a t i o n o f manufacturing. operations management research, 2(1), 103-118. � 302 technological innovation, organizational change, and product-related services m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 277-304 neu, w.a. & brown, s.w (2005). forming successful business-to-business services in goods-dominant firms. journal of service research, 8(1), 3-17. neu, w.a. & brown, s.w. (2008). manufacturers forming successful complex business services: designing an organization to fit the market. i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f s e r v i c e i n d u s t r y management, 19(2), 232-251. nonaka, i. & teece, d.j. (eds.). (2001). managing industrial knowledge: creation, transfer and utilization. sage oecd (2002), the measurement of scientific and technological activities, frascati manual 2002, proposed standard practice for surveys on research and experimental development oecd, oecd publishing. oecd (2005), oslo manual. guidelines for collecting, interpreting innovation data, third edition, oecd, paris. oliva, r. & kallenberg, r. (2003). managing the transition from products to services. international journal of service industry management, 14(2), 160–172. oliva, r., gebauer, h. & brann, j.m. (2012). separate or integrate? assessing the impact of separation between product and service business on service performance in product manufacturing firms. journal of business-to-business. 19(4), 309-334 o'reilly, c.a., iii, & tushman m.l. (2004). the ambidextrous organization. harvard business review, 82(4), 74–81. plé l., lecocq x. & angot j. (2010). customeri n t e g r a t e d b u s i n e s s m o d e l s : a t h e o r e t i c a l framework. m@n@gement, 13(4), 226-265. quinn, j.b., doorley, t.l. & paquette, p.c. (1990). beyond products: services-based strategy. harvard business review, 68(2), 58–67. rammer, c., czarnitzki, d. & spielkamp, a. (2009). innovation success of non-r&d-performers: substituting technology by management in smes. small business economics, 33(1), 35-58. robinson, w.t. & chiang j. (2002). product development strategies for established market pioneers, early followers, late entrants. strategic management journal, 23(9), 855–866. rosen, l.d. (1998). service: the next frontier. hospital material management quarterly, 19(3), 29-34. sabatier v., craig-kennard a. & mangematin v. (2012). when technological discontinuities and disruptive business models challenge dominant industry l o g i c s : i n s i g h t s f r o m t h e d r u g s i n d u s t r y. technological forecasting and social change, 79(5), 949-962. saccani, n., visintin f. & rapaccini m. (2014). investigating the linkages between service types a n d s u p p l i e r r e l a t i o n s h i p s i n s e r v i t i z e d environments. international journal of production economics, 149(2014), 226-238. santamaria, l., nieto m.j. & miles, i. (2012). service innovation in manufacturing firms: evidence from spain. technovation, 32(2), 144-155. sawhney, m. (2004). creating growth with services. sloan management review, winter, 45(2), 34–43. suarez, f.f., cusumano m.a. & kahl, s.j. (2013). services and the business models of product firms: an empirical analysis of the software industry. management science, 59(2), 420-435. sultan, n. (2013) knowledge management in the age of cloud computing and web 2.0: experiencing the power of disruptive innovations. international journal of information management, 33(1), 160– 165. teece, d.j. (1986). profiting from technological innovation. research policy, 15(6), 285-305. teece, d., pisano, g. & shuen, a. (1997). dynamic capabilities and strategic management.strategic management journal, 18(7), 509-533. tether, b. & bascavusoglu-moreau, e. (2012). servitization: the extent and motivations for service provision amongst uk manufacturers, proceedings of druid, 19-21. tongur, s. & engwall, m. (2014). the business model dilemma of technology shifts. technovation, 34(9), 525–535. tripsas, m. (1997). unraveling the process of creative destruction: complementary assets and incumbent survival in the typesetter industry. strategic management journal, 18(s1), 119-142. tuli, k.r., kohli, a.k. & bharadwaj, s.g. (2007). rethinking customer solutions: from product bundles to relational processes. journal of marketing, 71(3), 1–17 turunen, t. & toivonen, m. (2011). organizing c u s t o m e r o r i e n t e d s e r v i c e b u s i n e s s i n manufacturing. operations management research, 4(1-2), 74-84. ulaga, w. & eggert, a. (2006). value-based differentiation in business relationships: gaining and sustaining key supplier status. journal of marketing, 70(1), 119-136. ulaga, w. & reinartz, w. (2011). hybrid offerings: how manufacturing firms combine goods, services successfully. journal of marketing, 75(6), 5-23. vandermerwe, s. & rada, j. (1988). servitization of business: adding value by adding services. european management journal, 6(4), 314–324. vargo, s.l. & lusch, r.f. (2004). evolving to a new dominant logic for marketing. journal of marketing, 68(1), 1-17. visnjic i., neely, a. & wiengarten, f. (2012). another performance paradox ? a refined view on the performance impact of servitization, working paper, cambridge service alliance, may. visnjic kastalli, i. & van looy, b. (2013). servitization: disentangling the impact of service business model innovation on manufacturing firm performance. journal of operations management, 31(4), 169-180. visnjic, i. & van looy, b. (2011). manufacturing firms diversifying into services: a conceptual, empirical assessment, proceedings of the 20th poms conference, orlando, florida. visnjic, i., wiengarten, f. & neely, a. (2016). only the brave: product innovation, service business model innovation, and their impact on performance. journal of product innovation management, 33(1): 36-52. � 303 m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 277-304 arman avadikyan & stéphane lhuillery & syoum negassi von hippel, e. (1986). lead users: a source of novel product concepts. management science, 32(7), 791-805. windahl, c. & lakemond, n. (2010). integrated solutions from a service-centered perspective: applicability and limitations in the capital goods industry. industrial marketing management, 39(8), 1278-1290. windahl, c., andersson, p., berggren, c. & nehler, c. (2004). manufacturing firms and integrated solutions: characteristics and implications. european journal of innovation management, vol. 7, no. 3, 218-28. wise, r. & baumgartner, p. (1999). go downstream-the new profit imperative in manufacturing. harvard business review, 77(5), 133-141. wooldridge, j.m. (2010), econometric analysis of cross section and panel data, mit press. youngdahl, w. (1996). an investigation of servicebased manufacturing performance relationships. international journal of operations & production management, 16(8), 29-43. zahra, s.a. & nielsen, a.p. (2002). sources of c a p a b i l i t i e s , i n t e g r a t i o n , t e c h n o l o g y commercialization. strategic management journal, 23(5), 377–398. acknowledgments: we gratefully acknowledge isi fhg in karlsruhe for data access and the useful and friendly help they provided. � 304 relational, organizational and individual antecedents of the socialization of new recruits assaad el akremi université toulouse 1 capitole assaad.el-akremi@univ-tlse1.fr mohamed ikram nasr em lyon business school nasr@em-lyon.com nathalie richebé skema sophia-antipolis cergam iae d'aix en provence nathalie.richebe@skema.edu relational, organizational and individual antecedents of the socialization of new recruits assaad el akremi � mohamed ikram nasr � nathalie richebé abstract. this article draws on research in socialization, social support and organizational justice to explore the interactions among the relational, organizational and individual determinants of newcomers' adjustment. more specifically, we examine the interactive effects of perceived supervisor support (pss), organizational socialization tactics, perceived overall justice and proactive personality on newcomers' task mastery, role clarity and job satisfaction. the results of a 2-wave longitudinal study on 104 new recruits of a large french bank point out that effective socialization is a result of a synergy between relational, organizational and individual paths. in particular, we found that the socializing effects of pss are stronger under conditions of institutionalized socialization tactics, high perceived overall justice, and high newcomers' proactivity. the theoretical and managerial implications of these results are discussed. ! joining a new firm is one of the most significant events in an employee’s career and working life. the period of socialization into the organization is usually synonymous with anxiety and uncertainty for the new recruit who has to face the demands of adapting to and integrating with the firm, all the more so since the organizational context is not only unknown but also hard to predict (miller & jablin, 1991; saks & ashforth, 2000). the degree to which new recruits manage to overcome this uncertainty and understand both what is expected of them and the tacit and explicit organizational norms, largely conditions the success of their transformation from the status of outsider to that of insider, and consequently their well-being, performance and length of service in the firm (bauer, bodner, erdogan, truxillo, & tucker, 2007). ! the socialization of new recruits is indeed essential if the firm’s distinctive competences are to be preserved (ashforth, sluss & saks, 2007; lacaze, 2007). this socialization represents a considerable economic challenge, both directly (because of the impact on recruitment costs) and indirectly (poor integration of new recruits might for example have an effect on the firm’s reputation on the job market). finally, integration is a major challenge for the recruits themselves; if they fail to integrate, they may suffer heavy consequences (stress, loss of confidence, costs of seeking a new job). the successful integration of new recruits is therefore an essential component of effective and sustainable hrm. ! the highly sensitive process of socialization (liden, bauer, & erdogan, 2004) has given rise to a wealth of literature, mainly based on uncertainty reduction theory (berger, 1979; falcione & wilson, 1988). along this line of analysis, successful integration depends on the extent to which new recruits manage to overcome the uncertainty associated with their entry into the organization (saks & ashforth, 1997). for new recruits, successful integration m@n@gement 2014, vol. 17(5): 317-345 317 mailto:nasr@em-lyon.com?subject= mailto:nasr@em-lyon.com?subject= mailto:assaad.el-akremi@univ-tlse1.f?subject= mailto:assaad.el-akremi@univ-tlse1.f?subject= mailto:nasr@em-lyon.com?subject= mailto:nasr@em-lyon.com?subject= mailto:nathalie.richebe@skema.edu?subject= mailto:nathalie.richebe@skema.edu?subject= translates into having a clear understanding of the tasks and roles to which they are assigned, internalising organizational norms and being socially wellintegrated (bauer et al., 2007; perrot, 2008). three actors play a key role in this process: (1) the new recruits themselves through the efforts they make to adopt a proactive attitude to integration; (2) the organization, thanks to the practices it implements to guide and encourage new employees’ socialization; (3) and finally the other members of the organization, in particular supervisors who are at once a source of information, support and feedback (bauer & erdogan, 2010; saks & ashforth, 1997). in further research along these lines, works inspired by the interactionist approach to socialization (reichers, 1987) highlight the central role of the interactions between new recruits and their supervisors, for it is by exchanging with others that the former derive the knowledge they need to make sense of their environment (bauer & green, 1998; jokisaari & nurmi, 2009; kammeyer-mueller, wanberg, rubenstein, & song, 2013). moreover, these studies suggest that the socialization process depends largely on the interactions between new recruits and their organizational and relational environment (ashforth et al., 2007; griffin, colella, & goparaju, 2000; reichers, 1987). ! in any case, and surprisingly, little research has until now focused systematically on the mechanisms through which the insiders, and in particular hierarchical superiors, influence the socialization of new recruits (jokisaari & nurmi, 2009; kammeyer-mueller et al., 2013). liden and his colleagues (2004: 228) for example, note that “the literature could be significantly enriched by research on specific behaviours supervisors undertake to socialise new recruits”. moreover, the way in which this relational source of socialization interacts with other socialization sources (organizational and individual), supplementing or replacing them, remains largely unknown despite a few rare recent attempts to explore this (e.g., harris, boswell, zhang, & xie, 2013; kammeyer-mueller et al., 2013). finally, these authors call for research on socialization to be decompartmentalised by introducing new variables likely to play an important role in a context of uncertainty and shed new light on the conditions for successful integration (harris et al., 2013; liden et al., 2004). ! the study below belongs to this still wide-open field of investigation. we rely on research in socialization (berger, 1979; jones, 1986; kammeyer-mueller et al., 2013; reichers, 1987), social support (eisenberger et al., 2002) and organizational justice (ambrose & schminke, 2009; lind, 2001) to explore the interactions among the relational, organizational and individual determinants of socialization. more specifically, our study has three major objectives: (1) to examine the effects of perceived supervisory support on task mastery, role clarity and new recruits’ job satisfaction; this is in line with recent studies on the active role played by managers in the socialization process (jokisaari & nurmi, 2009; kammeyer-mueller et al., 2013); (2) to echo calls for opening up the field of socialization by integrating a variable that is particularly relevant in a context of uncertainty, although it has never been studied in socialization research : overall justice perceptions (ambrose & schminke, 2009) ; (3) finally, to contribute to the interactionist stream of socialization (griffin et al., 2000  ; reichers, 1987) by examining the triple interactions among perceived supervisory support as a relational factor, the level of institutionalisation of socialization tactics and overall justice as organizational factors and the proactive personality of new recruits as an individual factor of socialization. this approach enables us to examine how these contextual and dispositional elements amplify or limit the socializing effects of supervisory support. ! from a practical point of view, our research aims to show that it is worthwhile for firms to develop global newcomers' socialization strategies that encourage coherence and complementarity among the three components, namely supervisory roles, new recruits’ individual characteristics and the socialization policy set up by the firm. m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 317-345! assaad el akremi et al. 318 theoretical framework and hypotheses ! this study aims to understand the effects of complementarity and/or substitution existing between relational, organizational and individual factors of socialization. in what follows, we develop the theoretical argument supporting our model (see figure 1 below). figure 1. theoretical model: a three-way interaction effect supervisory support as a key factor of socialization ! the literature on organizational socialization traditionally recognises the role of interpersonal relations between insiders and new recruits as a prime resource for reducing uncertainty and improving integration (reichers, 1987). in particular, much research highlights the central role of direct supervisors in the socialization process. these supervisors are both sources of information and models for young recruits (e.g., bauer & green, 1998; jokisaari, 2013; jokisaari & nurmi, 2009; kammeyer-mueller et al., 2013; liden et al., 2004; sluss & thompson, 2012; weiss, 1977). however, the mechanisms through which managers influence their new collaborators’ adjustment have not been much studied (harris et al., 2013; kammeyer-mueller et al., 2013; liden et al., 2004). kammeyer-muller and his colleagues (2013) thus remark on the fact that up till now, most research on socialization has considered supervisors either as just a “component” of the organization or as passive information sources. as a result, these authors add, we know little about their active contribution to the socialization process. ! in this respect, the concept of social support defined as the contribution of emotional, instrumental and informational support (vinokur & van ryn, 1993), offers an interesting perspective. the perception of supervisory support (eisenberger et al., 2002) is in fact likely to influence different facets of socialization by reducing new recruits’ feelings of uncertainty (falcione & wilson, 1988). such support is synonymous with benevolence and positive encouragement; by providing these very soon after new recruits enter the organization, supervisors can actively contribute to their learning and acculturation processes (jokisaari & nurmi, 2009). ! firstly, a high level of perceived support makes new recruits feel they have primary access to the technical and normative information that they need to learn about their job and do it well. this gives them an impression of personal antecedents of socialization of the new recruits! m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 317-345 319 efficiency for they feel that they are mastering their new tasks; it also results in an increase of their intrinsic motivation (harris et al., 2013; liden et al., 2004). through supervisor support, managers can also transmit information and keys for new collaborators giving them a better understanding of organizational decisions and policies, what is expected of them in terms of behaviours and performance, as well as the functional and hierarchical links between their positions and those of other organization members (bauer & green, 1998; jokisaari & nurmi, 2009). by doing this, supervisors help new recruits to make sense of their situation and appropriate their new roles. finally, the theory of affective events (weiss & cropanzano, 1996), suggests that positive interpersonal interactions such as those characterized by a perception of high supervisor support, can produce a positive emotional state and increased satisfaction. this is all the more true if interactions with superiors are perceived as new and significant and thus as a significant affective trigger for new employees in a situation of uncertainty (kammeyer-mueller et al., 2013). ! however, until now, relatively few studies have examined the effects of perceived supervisor support on the socialization of new recruits empirically (e.g., bauer & green 1998; jokisaari & nurmi, 2009; kammeyer-mueller et al., 2013; slaughter & zickar, 2006). for example jokisaari and nurmi (2009) showed that the decrease in perceived supervisor support during the first two years of an employee’s career have negative effects on the clarity of his/her role and job satisfaction. similarly, the results of kammeyer-mueller and colleagues (2013) suggest that the level of perceived supervisor support during the first week after recruitment has a significant effect on several areas of socialization. supervisor support thus appears as a critical resource for the socialization of new employees: it provides an important channel of information, models of behaviour and emotional experiences that condition recruits’ learning of new tasks and new role as well as their job satisfaction. we thus propose to retain the following hypothesis: h1. perceived supervisory support (pss) positively influences new recruits’ level of task mastery, role clarity and job satisfaction. s p e c i f i c a n d g l o b a l o r g a n i z at i o n a l c o n t i n g e n c i e s : socialization tactics and overall justice perceptions ! in their role as agents of socialization, managers operate in an organizational context that may amplify or limit the effects of their actions on the integration and adjustment of new recruits (lind et al., 2004). more specifically, new employees call on different organizational and contextual sources as well as their wider entourage to reduce their uncertainty. these sources interact with the psychological and instrumental support contributed by interpersonal sources (harris et al., 2013). in the same line of analysis, studies inspired by the interactionist approach to socialization (reichers, 1987) suggest that if we want to grasp the full complexity of the socialization process, our models must integrate the interactions and synergies among its relational, organizational and individual sources (ashforth et al., 2007; griffin, colella, & goparaju, 2000; liden et al., 2004). taking this research further, the next section focuses on the interaction between perceived supervisor support and two organizational factors that are particularly significant during the entry phase: the firm’s socialization tactics and overall justice perceptions. the role of organizational socialization tactics ! in 1979, van maanen and schein showed how certain organizational practices can influence the socialization process. these authors suggest that by m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 317-345! assaad el akremi et al. 320 setting up suitable socialization tactics, firms can reduce new recruits’ uncertainty and structure their integration process. they thus developed a typology of organizational socialization tactics comprising six continuums: collective vs. individual, formal vs. informal, sequential vs. random, fixed vs. variable, serial vs. disjunctive, and investiture vs. divestiture. ! jones (1986) was the first to empirically measure and test the van maanen and schein (1979) typology. his results suggest that the six socialization tactics can be considered as a single continuum with at one extremity, institutionalised tactics (collective, formal, sequential, fixed, serial and investiture) that reflect systematic and structured socialization; and at the other, individualised tactics (individual, informal, random, variable, disjunctive and divestiture) that correspond to the absence of any well-defined socialization programme where new recruits are left to themselves. since then, a great deal of research on socialization has adopted jones’ (1986) one-dimensional conceptualisation (e.g., ashforth et al., 2007; cable & parsons, 2001; kim, cable & kim, 2005). these studies have consistently shown that the level of institutionalisation of socialization tactics has a significant influence on the adjustment of new recruits. as uncertainty reduction theory suggests (berger, 1979; falcione & wilson, 1988), institutionalised tactics help reduce the ambiguity of the work context and encourage new recruits adhesion to organizational norms and rules. these tactics are thus associated with an improved level of task mastery, role clarity, social integration, person-job fit, organizational commitment and job satisfaction (bauer et al., 2007; saks, uggerslev, & fassina, 2007). conversely, individualised tactics correspond to socialization «  by default  » that produces poorer quality integration (bauer et al., 2007). on the basis of this research, we propose retaining the following hypothesis: h2. the level of institutionalisation of organizational socialization tactics positively influences task mastery, role clarity and job satisfaction. ! beyond these direct effects, we suggest that organizational socialization tactics interact with perceived supervisor support to determine the domains of socialization. in fact, uncertainty reduction theory (berger, 1979; falcione & wilson, 1988) and the interactionist approach to socialization (harris et al., 2013; griffin et al., 2000; reichers, 1987) suggest that new recruits, in their quest for control and predictability, will rely on information and signals both from the organizational context and from their wider entourage. these authors also suggest that these sources are interdependent and influence each other. however, the extant literature provides no clear explanation of the nature of these interactions. some authors advance the idea that the different paths to socialization (organizational, relational and individual) substitute for each other such that the effects of any one path increase when the others are lacking (e.g., liden et al., 2004). on the contrary others suggest that they complement each other and interact by synergy such that each reinforces the socializing effects of the others (e.g., harris et al., 2013; griffin et al., 2000). ! in this study, we adopt the second thesis, arguing that the institutionalisation of socialization tactics tends to amplify the beneficial effects of perceived supervisor support on new employees’ adjustment. we believe this for two reasons: firstly, institutionalised socialization tactics are more coherent with a high level of perceived supervisor support because they convey the same values of benevolence and care towards new recruits (allen & shanock, 2013; harris et al., 2013). this coherence is likely to create a synergy that amplifies the beneficial effects of perceived supervisor support on the integration of new recruits. on the contrary, for new recruits, individualised tactics indicate the organization’s disengagement, weak investment and lack of interest in them (allen & shanock, 2013; saks et al., 2007). such messages are inconsistent with, antecedents of socialization of the new recruits! m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 317-345 321 even contradictory to, a high level of support from supervisors and are likely to counter the socializing effects of the latter (harris et al., 2013). this argument is supported by the literature in communication and information processing, notably by information integration theory (anderson, 1981) and by cue consistency theory (miyazaki, grewal, & goodstein, 2005). these studies in fact show that when an individual is simultaneously in relation with several information sources, the messages and signals these convey have more weight and are thus more remarkable and useful when they are consistent and in agreement with each other than when they are disparate and contradictory. ! secondly, institutionalised socialization tactics enable new recruits to follow a systematic, organised and structured integration process (jones, 1986). these formal guidelines provided by the firm complement the less formal but more specific everyday information and explanations contributed by the supervisor (bauer & green, 1998; li, harris, boswell, & xie, 2011; sluss & thompson, 2012). the synergy between these two sources of regulation (organization and the immediate supervisor) is essential to the learning process. it is in this sense that kammeyer-mueller and colleagues (2013) think that supervisors, through their support, may interact positively with the organizational system by providing information and the social acceptance necessary for successful socialization. similarly, harris and colleagues (2013: 26) remark that “receiving consistent support and informational cues from multiple socialization sources is critical for promoting newcomers’ creative expressions.” on the basis of these arguments, we suggest that institutionalised socialization tactics amplify the effects of perceived supervisor support on the socialization of new recruits. thus, we formulate the following hypothesis: h3. organizational socialization tactics moderate the effects of perceived supervisor support on task mastery, role clarity and job satisfaction such that these effects will be stronger when socialization tactics are institutionalised than when they are individualised. the role of overall justice perceptions ! the effects of managers’ actions on their subordinates depend not only on elements close to the context (directly related to the action in question), but also on more distant and diffuse elements such as the general climate of the firm or the employees’ representations of it (harris et al., 2013). thus as well as specific socialization tactics, we suggest that the effects of perceived supervisor support on new recruits’ adjustment could be moderated by more general organizational contingencies that are particularly noticeable in times of uncertainty: overall justice perceptions. overall justice in fact corresponds to individuals’ holistic appreciation of the fairness of treatment generally received within their organization (ambrose & schminke, 2009). recent research suggests that this overall perception has effects that reach far beyond those of more specific appreciations of organizational justice (i.e. distributive, procedural and interactional: aryee, walumbwa, mondejar, & chu, 2013), particularly in contexts of uncertainty (jones & martens, 2009; lind & van den bos, 2002; priesemuth, arnaud, & schminke, 2013). the salience of feelings of overall justice in the context of socialization is justified by the fact that it reflects an overall evaluation of organizational entities (social entity justice; ambrose & schminke, 2009) corresponding to the need for social inclusion and control at times of uncertainty (bobocel, 2013). furthermore, perceptions of overall justice are developed more quickly and easily than perceptions of specific justice dimensions (distributive, procedural and interactional). it is in this sense that priesemuth and colleagues (2013: 233) suggest "that people form overall justice perceptions regarding their work environment to reduce uncertainty and increase understanding of a situation and workplace.” m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 317-345! assaad el akremi et al. 322 the theory of uncertainty management (lind & van den bos, 2002) in fact suggests that in order to manage situations of uncertainty, individuals rapidly and systematically form an overall appreciation of the fairness of their environment. this perception is based on information that is easily accessible; it comes from the individual’s initial experiences but also from observations and anticipations relative to the different facets of organizational fairness (ambrose & schminke, 2009; lind & van den bos, 2002). once formed, this perception acts as a heuristic replacing perceptions that are more difficult to construct, such as those referring to others’ loyalty for example (lind, 2001). this heuristic in fact guides individuals’ attitudes towards their environment. the feeling of justice in particular seems to act as a pivotal cognition that galvanises the transfer from « individual mode » where the person is centred on his or her short-term interests and is thus reluctant to collaborate with others for fear of rejection or exploitation, to « group mode » where the person willingly trusts others, collaborates and accepts being exposed to the risks of social interaction in order to benefit from the advantages this offers (lind, 2001: 67). ! applied to the context of socialization, this theory suggests that when faced with the uncertainty of starting out in an organization, new recruits will rapidly form an appreciation of the overall justice of their firm. those who have the impression that the firm treats its employees fairly will be more likely to engage in a collaborative approach that will enable them to take full advantage of positive interactions with insiders and in particular with their immediate superior. on the other hand, those who perceive their new firm as unfair will be less trusting and will probably derive less benefit from their wider entourage. by setting in action the transfer to « group mode », the feeling of overall justice thus cultivates the socializing effects of relational factors, especially of perceived supervisor support. moreover, overall justice produces a climate of security that contributes to reducing new recruits’ feelings of uncertainty, encourages their initiative (harris et al., 2013) and arouses positive emotions and self evaluations (barclay & kiefer, 2013; colquitt et al., 2013). this can be explained by the fact that the feeling of being fairly treated corresponds to different basic individual needs such as feelings of belonging, self-esteem and the feeling that one’s existence has meaning (cropanzano, byrne, bobocel, & rupp, 2001). because of this, justice corresponds to organizational signals that are consistent with supervisory benevolence and help, thus making new recruits more receptive to the benefits of perceived supervisor support. the above arguments lead us to propose the following hypothesis: h4. overall justice perceptions moderate the effects of perceived supervisor support on task mastery, role clarity and job satisfaction such that these effects are stronger when perceived overall justice is high than when it is low. individual contingency: the proactive personality ! since this article intends to examine the interactions among relational, organizational and individual factors of socialization, we shall now focus on a particularly important personality trait for new recruits’ adjustment: proactive personality. proactive personality can be defined as an individual disposition to take initiative, act on the environment and identify and benefit from the opportunities offered by that environment (bateman & crant, 1993; parker, bindl, & strauss, 2010; seibert, kraimer, & crant, 2001). ! recently, parker and collins (2010) showed that proactive personality is a significant antecedent to the majority of proactive behaviours at work. proactivity as a personality trait and an individual difference in new recruits should therefore be distinguished from proactive socialization behaviours (e.g. information and feedback-seeking), although the two are obviously linked (chan & schmitt, 2000; antecedents of socialization of the new recruits! m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 317-345 323 kammeyer-mueller & wanberg, 2003.) in general, research on socialization shows that the most proactive new recruits engage in behaviours of information and feedback-seeking, positive assessment of situations, relationship building and networking that enable them better to adjust and integrate socially than other personality types (e.g., ashford & black, 1996; kammeyer-mueller & wanberg, 2003; li et al., 2011; thompson, 2005). ! while we recognise the contribution of these works in helping to put the new employee at the centre of the socialization process (kammeyer-mueller et al., 2013), we have chosen here to focus on a question that is less commonly studied: that of the interaction between new recruits’ proactivity and the relational and organizational determinants of socialization (griffin et al., 2000; kim et al., 2005; li et al., 2011). we argue that the proactive personality is a boundary condition that tends to moderate the synergy effects mentioned above between perceived supervisor support and socialization tactics on one hand, and perceived supervisor support and overall justice on the other. ! in fact, proactive individuals are often described as having higher motivation and a higher need for self-actualization than others (major, turner, & fletcher, 2006; thompson, 2005). they are also more conscientious, more perseverant and are better able to identify and benefit from the opportunities of their environment (bateman & crant, 1993; miceli, near, rehg, & scotter, 2012). new recruits with a high level of proactivity also have a strong wish to control and master the situations they come up against (ashford & black, 1996). thanks to their penchant for learning objectives and career development and their capacity to make the most of favourable situations (fuller & marler, 2009), the most proactive new recruits should obtain more advantages than those who are less so, from the complementary nature and consistency between the formal guidelines of institutionalised socialization tactics and the informal information that comes with a high level of support from direct superiors. the complementarity between relational and organizational determinants of socialization constitutes an opportunity that is particularly to the advantage of the most proactive new recruits. we thus propose the following hypothesis of threeway interaction: h5. the moderating effects of the level of institutionalisation of organizational socialization tactics on the positive relationships between on one hand, perceived supervisor support and on the other, task mastery, role clarity and job satisfaction will be stronger for new recruits with a high level of proactive personality. ! proactivity and the initiative taking that goes with it involve inevitable social costs. several studies thus suggest that new recruits consider the risks of exclusion and rejection when they envisage engaging in proactive behaviours such as seeking information or feedback (e.g., miller & jablin, 1991; morrison, 1993). these behaviours, in essence visible, are often held back by fear of being rejected by the group, “losing face” through being considered incompetent and lacking autonomy or simply to avoid bothering other people. these risks are liable to damage new recruits’ relationships with other members of the firm as well as their own identity and self-esteem. ! the climate of security, trust and support correspond to the juxtaposition of a high level of overall justice and perceived supervisor support; these contribute to minimising the risks and new recruits’ apprehensions; they thus give rise to a context that encourages the expression of individual differences in terms of proactivity and initiative. this context can be beneficial to all new recruits, but even more to the most proactive among them for these individuals can give free rein to their natural tendencies without fearing exclusion, rejection or shame. in as much as they are more extrovert, more open and more likely to take initiative m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 317-345! assaad el akremi et al. 324 than the others (fuller & marler, 2009; miceli et al., 2012), the most proactive new recruits will probably get more benefit from the climate created by the synergy between high levels of overall justice and perceived supervisor support. this complementarity between the relational and organizational determinants of socialization could therefore be viewed as an opportunity for the most proactive new recruits, who would take more advantage of it. we thus posit the following hypothesis of triple interaction: h6. the moderating effect of overall justice perceptions on the positive relationships between perceived supervisor support on one hand and task mastery, role clarity and job satisfaction on the other, will be stronger for new recruits with a high level of proactive personality. methods longitudinal approach and sample ! this study was carried out in two measurement waves separated by three months with 104 new recruits of a large french bank. the bank had just recruited 140 new agents (client consultants) and agreed to support this study to gain a better understanding of the determinant factors for integrating new recruits. the questionnaires were administered electronically: an email from the research team asked new recruits to connect to the study website. the email described the objective of the study and reassured respondents that their answers would remain confidential. each participant was given an access code to connect to the site so that we could track respondents’ answers at both times of measure. at time 1, after their first week working at the bank, new recruits were asked to reply to a first questionnaire to measure their perceptions of supervisor support, socialization tactics, overall justice perceptions and proactive personality. after two reminders sent during the following two weeks, 112 questionnaires were completed, corresponding to a response rate of 80%. ! the choice to administer the first questionnaire very soon after recruits had started to work at the organization was based on the recommendations of several researchers in socialization. these stipulate that the new recruits’ perceptions are formed very rapidly after arrival, and have significant impacts on their future perceptions, attitudes and behaviours (e.g., chao et al., 1994; kammeyer-mueller et al., 2013; liden, wayne, & stilwell, 1993; major, kozlowski, chao, & garner, 1995). furthermore, this time frame is similar to that retained in several recent studies (e.g., allen & shanock, 2013; cooper-thomas & anderson, 2002; kammeyer-mueller & wanberg, 2003; dulac, coyle-shapiro, hendersen, & wayne, 2008; kammeyer-mueller et al., 2013; sluss & thompson, 2012). three months later (time 2), a second questionnaire measuring task mastery, role clarity and job satisfaction was administered. finally, 104 questionnaires were completed giving a final response rate of 73%. the average age of new recruits participating in the study is 28 years old; 69% are women and 51% have been educated to above a level of two years beyond high school (baccalaureate + 2). measures ! the scales were translated from english using brislin’s (1986) backtranslation approach. for all measures of variables, new recruits had to give their degree of agreement according to a likert type 5-point scale (from 1: completely disagree to 5 completely agree). antecedents of socialization of the new recruits! m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 317-345 325 perceived supervisor support. we adapted the scale developed by eisenberger et al. (1986, 2002) to measure perceived supervisor support. the scale comprises 7 items and presents an excellent cronbach’s alpha (α = 0.93). a sample item is: « my supervisor really cares about my well-being ». ! organizational socialization tactics. we used 12 items from the scale developed by jones (1986) to measure the degree of institutionalisation of socialization tactics. we opted for this short version because it comprises two main advantages: 1) it saves space because the questionnaires are shorter without compromising the content of the measure and (2) given the one dimensional nature of the scale, these 12 items capture the construct of organizational socialization tactics as a continuum going from individualised tactics to institutionalised tactics (allen & shanock, 2013). the cronbach’s alpha coefficient of the scale is 0.84. « i have a good knowledge of the time it will take me to go through the various stages of the training process in this organization » is a sample item from this scale. ! overall organizational justice. we used 5 items from the scale developed by ambrose and schminke (2009). this scale has very good internal reliability; cronbach’s alpha is 0.87. « overall, i’m treated fairly by my organization » is a sample item from this scale. ! proactive personality. proactive personality (claes, beheydt, & lemmens, 2005) was measured using a short version (6 items) of the scale developed by bateman and crant (1993). it has a satisfactory cronbach’s alpha (α = 0.73). a sample item is: « i am always looking for better ways to do things ». ! task mastery. to measure task mastery we used the 7-item scale developed and tested by morrison (1993, 2002). this scale has good internal reliability; the cronbach’s alpha is 0.80. a sample item is « i have learned how to successfully perform my job in an efficient manner ». ! role clarity. we used 6 items from the scale of rizzo, house and lirtzman (1970) and to items from ashford (1986) to measure role clarity. the cronbach’s alpha is 0.92. a sample item is « i know exactly what is expected of me ». ! job satisfaction. we used the 3-item scale of cammann et al. (1983) to measure job satisfaction. the cronbach’s alpha is highly satisfactory (α = 0.85). « all in all, i am satisfied with my job » is a sample item from this scale. ! control variables. we also measured demographic variables of sex, age and educational level that can influence socialization indicators (kim et al., 2005). by relying on becker’s (2005) and carlson and wu’s (2012) recommendations for using control variables, we left these variables out of the analyses, given that they were not related, or only very weakly, to both the independent and dependent variables (cf. table 1 of correlations). this “strict” approach (carlson & wu, 2012) also has the advantage of maintaining the model’s statistical power given the size of the sample. statistical analysis ! we first tested the convergent and discriminant validity of the variables of our measurement model with a series of confirmatory factor analyses (cfas) using mplus (muthén & muthén, 2010). given the size of the sample and to maintain statistical power in these analyses, we parcelled items in order to have a maximum of 3 to 4 indicators per variable according to the recommendations of little, rhemtulla, gibson and schoemann (2013). all the items in appendix 1 were retained and combined each time as averages of two or three items according to the theoretical coherence of their content (bandalos, 2002; little, cunningham, shahar, & widaman, 2002; little et al., 2013). ! we then tested our hypotheses of two-way and three-way interactions using a series of hierarchical moderated regressions and by using the bootstrap method (hayes, 2013). our analyses were based on 5000 replications generating m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 317-345! assaad el akremi et al. 326 1. we specify that our statistical process results in similar findings when overall justice, socialization tactics or even proactive personality are considered as independnet variables in the model. in fact, in the test of two-way or three-way interaction effects, changing the role of the variables such as independent or moderating makes no difference to the test of interaction effects and the results are similar. the argument should only be made about theoretical choices and coherence (dawson, 2014:11). bootstrap confidence intervals for each regression coefficient. furthermore, following the recommendation of cohen et al. (2003), before the regression analyses, we centered all the variables except the dependent variables (task mastery, clarity of role and job satisfaction). next, in a first step, we introduced the direct effects of perceived supervisor support, organizational socialization tactics, overall justice perceptions and proactive personality. the introduction of the direct effects of all these variables is a necessary step from a statistical point of view to avoid bias in the results of the interaction effects and to be able to interpret these even if the effects do not all correspond to the hypotheses of the theoretical model (aiken & west, 1991; jaccard & turrisi, 2003; aguinis & gottfredson, 2010; hayes, 2013; dawson, 2014). as suggested by dawson (2014: 2): “the inclusion of the direct effects is essential; without this step the regression equation is not complete and the results cannot be interpreted.” in a second step, we introduced all the effects of two-way interactions. finally, in a third step, we introduced all the effects of three-way interactions between on one hand perceived supervisor support, socialization tactics and proactive personality, and on the other, perceived supervisor support, perceptions of overall justice and proactive personality1. results results of confirmatory factor analyses and common method variance tests ! the results of the test of the quality of the measurement model contribute to support the convergent and discriminant validity of our variables. in fact, the 7factor model (perceived supervisor support, socialization tactics, overall justice, proactive personality, task mastery, role clarity and job satisfaction) was tested first. all the loadings relating the indicators to latent factors ware significant with an average value above 0.70. this model has an excellent fit to the data with a χ2 [253] = 324.06; nnfi = 0.96; cfi = 0.97; rmsea = 0.052 with a confidence interval ci = (0.033; 0.068). this model proved to be better, in terms of significance of χ2 difference (δχ2) tests, than a series of other models that combine: (1) socialization tactics and overall justice perceptions (δχ2 [6] = 57.09, p < 0.01); (2) perceived supervisor support and socialization tactics (δχ2 [6] = 308.35, p < 0.01); (3) perceived supervisor support and overall justice perceptions (δχ2 [6] = 279.59, p < 0.01); (4) task mastery and role clarity (δχ2 [6] = 65.98, p < 0.01). finally, our model is better than that constituted with a single factor (harman, 1976) (δχ2 [21] = 1032.29, p < 0.01). this set of results demonstrates the quality of the measurement model in terms of the variables’ convergent and discriminant validity. ! even if we used a longitudinal design with two waves of measure separated by 3 months, there is a risk of common method variance (cmv) given that the data were collected from the same source, that is, new recruits (podsakoff, mackensie & podsakoff, 2012). we therefore tested this bias risk by adding a latent method factor to our measurement model: this factor is related to the set of indicators of our variables and is supposed to capture method bias (podsakoff et al., 2012). this new model has a global fit equivalent to that of our measurement model (χ2 [245] = 316.45; nnfi = 0.96; cfi = 0.97; rmsea = 0.054). however, the amount of additional variance contributed by this model compared to ours is only 4%. the lack of significant improvement in fit indices and the weak value of additional variance contributed by adding a method factor prove the absence of common method variance in our data and hence in the analysis of our results. antecedents of socialization of the new recruits! m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 317-345 327 hypotheses tests ! the descriptive statistics, reliability and correlations among variables are shown in table 1. ! hypothesis 1 posits that perceived supervisor support positively influences new recruits’ levels of task mastery, role clarity and job satisfaction. the results presented in table 2 show that perceived supervisor support is significantly related to role clarity and job satisfaction (β = 0.30, p < 0.01 and β = 0.25, p < 0.01, respectively in columns step 1), but the direct effect of perceived supervisor support was shown not to be significant on task mastery (β = 0.05, ns., column step 1 table 2). hypothesis 1 is therefore partly supported. table 1. descriptive statistics and correlationstable 1. descriptive statistics and correlationstable 1. descriptive statistics and correlationstable 1. descriptive statistics and correlationstable 1. descriptive statistics and correlationstable 1. descriptive statistics and correlationstable 1. descriptive statistics and correlationstable 1. descriptive statistics and correlationstable 1. descriptive statistics and correlationstable 1. descriptive statistics and correlationstable 1. descriptive statistics and correlationstable 1. descriptive statistics and correlationstable 1. descriptive statistics and correlations m sd 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1. gender a 1.29 0.46 2. age b 29.33 5.77 -0.04 3. educational level c 2.55 0.99 -0.05 -0.09 4. perceived supervisor support 3.76 0.79 0.11 -0.01 -0.03 (0.93) 5. socialization tactics 3.22 0.59 0.08 -0.21* 0.01 0.47** (0.84) 6. overall justice perceptions 3.11 0.75 0.12 -0.16 0.07 0.37** 0.72** (0.87) 7. proactive personality 4.07 0.41 -0.02 -0.08 0.03 0.26** 0.13 0.09 (0.73) 8. task mastery 3.52 0.45 0.06 -0.11 0.12 0.25** 0.24* 0.1 0.31** (0.80) 9. role clarity 3.89 0.65 0.03 -0.07 0.04 0.50** 0.44** 0.38** 0.19* 0.54** (0.92) 10. job satisfaction 3.78 0.74 0.05 -0.1 0.22* 0.36** 0.33** 0.47** 0.11 0.32** 0.49** (0.85) note. n = 104. cronbach’s alpha is shown diagonally. a. for gender: (1) female; (2) male. b. age in years. c. for educational level: (1) lower than high school diploma; (2) high school diploma (baccalaureat); (3) bachelor’s degree; (4) 4 year master’s degree; (5) 5 year master’s degree or higher. † p < .10 ; * p < .05 ; ** p < .01.  note. n = 104. cronbach’s alpha is shown diagonally. a. for gender: (1) female; (2) male. b. age in years. c. for educational level: (1) lower than high school diploma; (2) high school diploma (baccalaureat); (3) bachelor’s degree; (4) 4 year master’s degree; (5) 5 year master’s degree or higher. † p < .10 ; * p < .05 ; ** p < .01.  note. n = 104. cronbach’s alpha is shown diagonally. a. for gender: (1) female; (2) male. b. age in years. c. for educational level: (1) lower than high school diploma; (2) high school diploma (baccalaureat); (3) bachelor’s degree; (4) 4 year master’s degree; (5) 5 year master’s degree or higher. † p < .10 ; * p < .05 ; ** p < .01.  note. n = 104. cronbach’s alpha is shown diagonally. a. for gender: (1) female; (2) male. b. age in years. c. for educational level: (1) lower than high school diploma; (2) high school diploma (baccalaureat); (3) bachelor’s degree; (4) 4 year master’s degree; (5) 5 year master’s degree or higher. † p < .10 ; * p < .05 ; ** p < .01.  note. n = 104. cronbach’s alpha is shown diagonally. a. for gender: (1) female; (2) male. b. age in years. c. for educational level: (1) lower than high school diploma; (2) high school diploma (baccalaureat); (3) bachelor’s degree; (4) 4 year master’s degree; (5) 5 year master’s degree or higher. † p < .10 ; * p < .05 ; ** p < .01.  note. n = 104. cronbach’s alpha is shown diagonally. a. for gender: (1) female; (2) male. b. age in years. c. for educational level: (1) lower than high school diploma; (2) high school diploma (baccalaureat); (3) bachelor’s degree; (4) 4 year master’s degree; (5) 5 year master’s degree or higher. † p < .10 ; * p < .05 ; ** p < .01.  note. n = 104. cronbach’s alpha is shown diagonally. a. for gender: (1) female; (2) male. b. age in years. c. for educational level: (1) lower than high school diploma; (2) high school diploma (baccalaureat); (3) bachelor’s degree; (4) 4 year master’s degree; (5) 5 year master’s degree or higher. † p < .10 ; * p < .05 ; ** p < .01.  note. n = 104. cronbach’s alpha is shown diagonally. a. for gender: (1) female; (2) male. b. age in years. c. for educational level: (1) lower than high school diploma; (2) high school diploma (baccalaureat); (3) bachelor’s degree; (4) 4 year master’s degree; (5) 5 year master’s degree or higher. † p < .10 ; * p < .05 ; ** p < .01.  note. n = 104. cronbach’s alpha is shown diagonally. a. for gender: (1) female; (2) male. b. age in years. c. for educational level: (1) lower than high school diploma; (2) high school diploma (baccalaureat); (3) bachelor’s degree; (4) 4 year master’s degree; (5) 5 year master’s degree or higher. † p < .10 ; * p < .05 ; ** p < .01.  note. n = 104. cronbach’s alpha is shown diagonally. a. for gender: (1) female; (2) male. b. age in years. c. for educational level: (1) lower than high school diploma; (2) high school diploma (baccalaureat); (3) bachelor’s degree; (4) 4 year master’s degree; (5) 5 year master’s degree or higher. † p < .10 ; * p < .05 ; ** p < .01.  note. n = 104. cronbach’s alpha is shown diagonally. a. for gender: (1) female; (2) male. b. age in years. c. for educational level: (1) lower than high school diploma; (2) high school diploma (baccalaureat); (3) bachelor’s degree; (4) 4 year master’s degree; (5) 5 year master’s degree or higher. † p < .10 ; * p < .05 ; ** p < .01.  note. n = 104. cronbach’s alpha is shown diagonally. a. for gender: (1) female; (2) male. b. age in years. c. for educational level: (1) lower than high school diploma; (2) high school diploma (baccalaureat); (3) bachelor’s degree; (4) 4 year master’s degree; (5) 5 year master’s degree or higher. † p < .10 ; * p < .05 ; ** p < .01.  note. n = 104. cronbach’s alpha is shown diagonally. a. for gender: (1) female; (2) male. b. age in years. c. for educational level: (1) lower than high school diploma; (2) high school diploma (baccalaureat); (3) bachelor’s degree; (4) 4 year master’s degree; (5) 5 year master’s degree or higher. † p < .10 ; * p < .05 ; ** p < .01.  ! hypothesis 2 posits that institutionalised socialization tactics positively influence task mastery, role clarity and job satisfaction. the result in table 2 for the direct effects (step 1) show that there is a significant positive link between socialization tactics and task mastery (β = 0.16, p < 0.05), role clarity (β = 0.29, p < 0.01) and job satisfaction (β = 0.26, p < 0.01). hypothesis 2 is thus supported. hypothesis 3 suggests that the effects of perceived supervisor support are moderated by socialization tactics. the results of the test of two-way interactions (step 2, table 2) show that the interaction (perceived supervisor support x tactics) has a significant impact on role clarity (β = 0.37, p < 0.01; δr2 = 0.046) and job satisfaction (β = 0.51, p < 0.01; δr2 = 0.067), but has no significant impact on task mastery (β = 0.09, ns.). in order to facilitate the interpretation of these interaction effects, we represented them graphically, following the recommendations of aiken and west (1991). figure 2 shows that the impact of m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 317-345! assaad el akremi et al. 328 perceived supervisor support on role clarity is stronger in the case of strongly institutionalised socialization tactics (mean + standard deviation) than in the case of weakly institutionalised (individualised) socialization tactics (mean – standard deviation). we also carried out a significance test of this moderating effect. for strongly institutionalised socialization tactics, the link between perceived supervisor support and role clarity is positive and significant (β = 0.43, p < 0.01) whereas this link has no significance when the institutionalisation of tactics is weak (β = 0.05, ns.). the test of difference between these two cases is also significant (t of student = 4.43, p < 0.01). figure 3 shows that the impact of perceived supervisor support on job satisfaction is positive and significant when the institutionalisation of socialization tactics is strong (β = 0.43, p < 0.01) whereas this impact becomes non significant (β = − 0.16, ns.) when the institutionalisation of socialization tactics is weak. the test of difference between the two cases is also significant (t of student = 6.10, p < 0.01). hypothesis 3 is thus partially supported. figure 2. the moderating effect of socialization tactics on the relationship between perceived supervisor support and role clarity figure 3. the moderating effect of socialization tactics on the relationship between perceived supervisor support and job satisfaction antecedents of socialization of the new recruits! m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 317-345 329 ta bl e 2. r es ul ts o f h ie ra rc hi ca l m od er at ed re gr es si on s: in te ra ct io ns b et w ee n pe rc ei ve d su pe rv is or s up po rt, s oc ia lis at io n ta ct ic s an d pr oa ct iv e pe rs on al ity ta bl e 2. r es ul ts o f h ie ra rc hi ca l m od er at ed re gr es si on s: in te ra ct io ns b et w ee n pe rc ei ve d su pe rv is or s up po rt, s oc ia lis at io n ta ct ic s an d pr oa ct iv e pe rs on al ity ta bl e 2. r es ul ts o f h ie ra rc hi ca l m od er at ed re gr es si on s: in te ra ct io ns b et w ee n pe rc ei ve d su pe rv is or s up po rt, s oc ia lis at io n ta ct ic s an d pr oa ct iv e pe rs on al ity ta bl e 2. r es ul ts o f h ie ra rc hi ca l m od er at ed re gr es si on s: in te ra ct io ns b et w ee n pe rc ei ve d su pe rv is or s up po rt, s oc ia lis at io n ta ct ic s an d pr oa ct iv e pe rs on al ity ta bl e 2. r es ul ts o f h ie ra rc hi ca l m od er at ed re gr es si on s: in te ra ct io ns b et w ee n pe rc ei ve d su pe rv is or s up po rt, s oc ia lis at io n ta ct ic s an d pr oa ct iv e pe rs on al ity ta bl e 2. r es ul ts o f h ie ra rc hi ca l m od er at ed re gr es si on s: in te ra ct io ns b et w ee n pe rc ei ve d su pe rv is or s up po rt, s oc ia lis at io n ta ct ic s an d pr oa ct iv e pe rs on al ity ta bl e 2. r es ul ts o f h ie ra rc hi ca l m od er at ed re gr es si on s: in te ra ct io ns b et w ee n pe rc ei ve d su pe rv is or s up po rt, s oc ia lis at io n ta ct ic s an d pr oa ct iv e pe rs on al ity ta bl e 2. r es ul ts o f h ie ra rc hi ca l m od er at ed re gr es si on s: in te ra ct io ns b et w ee n pe rc ei ve d su pe rv is or s up po rt, s oc ia lis at io n ta ct ic s an d pr oa ct iv e pe rs on al ity ta bl e 2. r es ul ts o f h ie ra rc hi ca l m od er at ed re gr es si on s: in te ra ct io ns b et w ee n pe rc ei ve d su pe rv is or s up po rt, s oc ia lis at io n ta ct ic s an d pr oa ct iv e pe rs on al ity ta bl e 2. r es ul ts o f h ie ra rc hi ca l m od er at ed re gr es si on s: in te ra ct io ns b et w ee n pe rc ei ve d su pe rv is or s up po rt, s oc ia lis at io n ta ct ic s an d pr oa ct iv e pe rs on al ity va ria bl es ta sk m as te ry ta sk m as te ry ta sk m as te ry r ol e cl ar ity r ol e cl ar ity r ol e cl ar ity jo b sa tis fa ct io n jo b sa tis fa ct io n jo b sa tis fa ct io n va ria bl es s te p 1 s te p 2 s te p 3 s te p 1 s te p 2 s te p 3 s te p 1 s te p 2 s te p 3 d ir ec t e ff ec ts p er ce iv ed s up er vi so r s up po rt (p s s ) 0. 05 0. 03 0. 02 0. 30 ** 0. 22 ** 0. 21 * 0. 25 ** 0. 13 0. 12 s oc ia lis at io n ta ct ic s 0. 16 * 0. 14 * 0. 23 ** 0. 29 ** 0. 28 ** 0. 30 ** 0. 26 ** 0. 25 * 0. 26 * p ro ac tiv e pe rs on al ity 0. 30 ** 0. 31 ** 0. 49 ** 0. 10 0. 19 02 4 0. 03 0. 13 0. 19 r 2 0. 15 6* * 0. 30 8* * 0. 16 3* * δ r 2 − − − tw ow ay in te ra ct io ns p s s x s oc ia lis at io n ta ct ic s 0. 09 0. 03 0. 37 ** 0. 35 ** 0. 51 ** 0. 50 ** p s s x p ro ac tiv e pe rs on al ity 0. 02 0. 18 0. 07 0. 13 0. 08 0. 14 s oc ia lis at io n ta ct ic s x p ro ac tiv e pe rs on al ity 0. 03 0. 13 -0 .3 1 -0 .3 0 -0 .3 5 -0 .3 4 r 2 0. 16 3* * 0. 35 4* * 0. 23 0* * δ r 2 0. 00 7 0. 04 6* 0. 06 7* th re ew ay in te ra ct io n p s s x s oc ia lis at io n ta ct ic s x p ro ac tiv e pe rs on al ity 0. 99 ** 0. 32 0. 28 r 2 0. 25 8* * 0. 35 8* * 0. 23 3* * δ r 2 0. 09 5* * 0. 00 4 0. 00 3 n = 1 04 . t he c oe ffi ci en ts a re n on -s ta nd ar di se d. * p < .0 5  ; * * p < .0 1.   n = 1 04 . t he c oe ffi ci en ts a re n on -s ta nd ar di se d. * p < .0 5  ; * * p < .0 1.   n = 1 04 . t he c oe ffi ci en ts a re n on -s ta nd ar di se d. * p < .0 5  ; * * p < .0 1.   n = 1 04 . t he c oe ffi ci en ts a re n on -s ta nd ar di se d. * p < .0 5  ; * * p < .0 1.   n = 1 04 . t he c oe ffi ci en ts a re n on -s ta nd ar di se d. * p < .0 5  ; * * p < .0 1.   n = 1 04 . t he c oe ffi ci en ts a re n on -s ta nd ar di se d. * p < .0 5  ; * * p < .0 1.   n = 1 04 . t he c oe ffi ci en ts a re n on -s ta nd ar di se d. * p < .0 5  ; * * p < .0 1.   n = 1 04 . t he c oe ffi ci en ts a re n on -s ta nd ar di se d. * p < .0 5  ; * * p < .0 1.   n = 1 04 . t he c oe ffi ci en ts a re n on -s ta nd ar di se d. * p < .0 5  ; * * p < .0 1.   n = 1 04 . t he c oe ffi ci en ts a re n on -s ta nd ar di se d. * p < .0 5  ; * * p < .0 1.   m@n@gement 2014, vol. 17(5): 317-345 330 hypothesis 4 posits that overall justice perceptions moderate the effects of perceived supervisor support on task mastery, role clarity and job satisfaction. the results of the analyses shown in table 3 (step 2) show that the moderating effect of overall justice perceptions is not significant for the link between perceived supervisor support and task mastery (β = − 0.01, ns.), or on the relation with role clarity (β = 0.10, ns.). however, the moderating effect of overall justice is significant on the relation between perceived supervisor support and job satisfaction (β = 0.25, p < 0.05; δr2 = 0.03). we represented this effect graphically (aiken & west, 1991). figure 4 shows that the impact of perceived supervisor support on job satisfaction is positive and significant when overall justice is strong (β = 0.31, p < 0.01), whereas this impact becomes non significant (β = − 0.06, ns.) when overall justice is weak. the test of difference between the two cases is also significant (t of student = 2.98, p < 0.01). hypothesis 4 is thus partially supported. figure 4. moderating effect of overall justice on the relationship between perceived supervisor support and job satisfaction ! hypothesis 5 posits that the moderating effects of organizational socialization tactics between perceived supervisor support on one hand and task mastery, role clarity and job satisfaction on the other are stronger for new recruits with a high level of proactive personality. the results of the test of three-way interaction (table 2, step 3) show that this interaction is significant only for task mastery (β = 0.99, p < 0.01; δr2 = 0.095). these results are supported by nonstandardised boundaries of the bootstrap confidence interval [ci = 0.42, 1.56] where there is no zero, which confirms the significance of the three-way interaction (hayes, 2013). it is important to specify that in analysing three-way interaction effects, the significance of direct effects and lower-order interaction effects (i.e. two-way interactions) are not a necessary condition, thus only the significance of the term of three-way interaction should be considered (aiken & west, 1991). to interpret this interaction effect, we followed dawson and richter’s (2006) approach and represented the triple interaction graphically. this procedure has recently been used in numerous studies (andrevski, brass, & ferrier, 2013; reinholt, pedersen, & foss, 2011; godart, maddux, shipilov, & galinsky, 2014; perry et al., 2013; zhang & peterson, 2011). figure 5 shows that for a high level of perceived supervisor support (pss), task mastery is higher in the case of strong institutionalisation of socialization tactics and for new recruits with a high level of proactive personality. the additional part of variance explained by the three-way interaction (δr2) is equal to 0.095. this value is relatively high, but remains comparable to that of other studies dealing with threeway interactions (reinholt et al, 2011; den hartog & belschak, 2012). the level of task mastery appears to be weakest for combinations where proactive personality or institutionalisation of tactics is weak. hypothesis 5 is thus partially supported. antecedents of socialization of the new recruits! m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 317-345 331 ta bl e 3. r es ul ts o f h ie ra rc hi ca l m od er at ed r eg re ss io ns : i nt er ac tio ns b et w ee n pe rc ei ve d su pe rv is or s up po rt (p s s ), o ve ra ll ju st ic e pe rc ep tio ns an d pr oa ct iv e pe rs on al ity ta bl e 3. r es ul ts o f h ie ra rc hi ca l m od er at ed r eg re ss io ns : i nt er ac tio ns b et w ee n pe rc ei ve d su pe rv is or s up po rt (p s s ), o ve ra ll ju st ic e pe rc ep tio ns an d pr oa ct iv e pe rs on al ity ta bl e 3. r es ul ts o f h ie ra rc hi ca l m od er at ed r eg re ss io ns : i nt er ac tio ns b et w ee n pe rc ei ve d su pe rv is or s up po rt (p s s ), o ve ra ll ju st ic e pe rc ep tio ns an d pr oa ct iv e pe rs on al ity ta bl e 3. r es ul ts o f h ie ra rc hi ca l m od er at ed r eg re ss io ns : i nt er ac tio ns b et w ee n pe rc ei ve d su pe rv is or s up po rt (p s s ), o ve ra ll ju st ic e pe rc ep tio ns an d pr oa ct iv e pe rs on al ity ta bl e 3. r es ul ts o f h ie ra rc hi ca l m od er at ed r eg re ss io ns : i nt er ac tio ns b et w ee n pe rc ei ve d su pe rv is or s up po rt (p s s ), o ve ra ll ju st ic e pe rc ep tio ns an d pr oa ct iv e pe rs on al ity ta bl e 3. r es ul ts o f h ie ra rc hi ca l m od er at ed r eg re ss io ns : i nt er ac tio ns b et w ee n pe rc ei ve d su pe rv is or s up po rt (p s s ), o ve ra ll ju st ic e pe rc ep tio ns an d pr oa ct iv e pe rs on al ity ta bl e 3. r es ul ts o f h ie ra rc hi ca l m od er at ed r eg re ss io ns : i nt er ac tio ns b et w ee n pe rc ei ve d su pe rv is or s up po rt (p s s ), o ve ra ll ju st ic e pe rc ep tio ns an d pr oa ct iv e pe rs on al ity ta bl e 3. r es ul ts o f h ie ra rc hi ca l m od er at ed r eg re ss io ns : i nt er ac tio ns b et w ee n pe rc ei ve d su pe rv is or s up po rt (p s s ), o ve ra ll ju st ic e pe rc ep tio ns an d pr oa ct iv e pe rs on al ity ta bl e 3. r es ul ts o f h ie ra rc hi ca l m od er at ed r eg re ss io ns : i nt er ac tio ns b et w ee n pe rc ei ve d su pe rv is or s up po rt (p s s ), o ve ra ll ju st ic e pe rc ep tio ns an d pr oa ct iv e pe rs on al ity ta bl e 3. r es ul ts o f h ie ra rc hi ca l m od er at ed r eg re ss io ns : i nt er ac tio ns b et w ee n pe rc ei ve d su pe rv is or s up po rt (p s s ), o ve ra ll ju st ic e pe rc ep tio ns an d pr oa ct iv e pe rs on al ity va ria bl es ta sk m as te ry ta sk m as te ry ta sk m as te ry r ol e c la rit y r ol e c la rit y r ol e c la rit y jo b sa tis fa ct io n jo b sa tis fa ct io n jo b sa tis fa ct io n va ria bl es s te p 1 s te p 2 s te p 3 s te p 1 s te p 2 s te p 3 s te p 1 s te p 2 s te p 3 d ir ec t e ff ec ts p er ce iv ed s up er vi so r s up po rt (p s s ) 0. 09 0. 1 0. 08 0. 33 ** 0. 30 ** 0. 29 ** 0. 20 * 0. 12 0. 11 o ve ra ll ju st ic e 0. 05 0. 01 0. 08 0. 19 ** 0. 20 ** 0. 22 ** 0. 39 ** 0. 39 ** 0. 42 ** p ro ac tiv e pe rs on al ity 0. 30 ** 0. 27 * 0. 44 ** 0. 11 0. 18 0. 24 0. 04 0. 14 0. 2 r 2 0. 12 9* * 0. 29 7* * 0. 26 3* * δ r 2 − − − tw ow ay in te ra ct io ns p s s x o ve ra ll ju st ic e -0 .0 1 -0 .0 3 0. 1 0. 09 0. 25 * 0. 24 * p s s x p ro ac tiv e pe rs on al ity -0 .0 2 0. 17 0. 07 0. 13 0. 03 0. 09 o ve ra ll ju st ic e x pr oa ct iv e pe rs on al ity 0. 04 0. 05 -0 .2 6 -0 .2 6 -0 .2 5 -0 .2 4 r 2 0. 13 0* * 0. 31 2* * 0. 29 3* * δ r 2 1 15 0. 03 0* th re ew ay in te ra ct io n p s s x o ve ra ll ju st ic e x pr oa ct iv e pe rs on al ity 0. 65 ** 0. 21 0. 23 r 2 0. 18 3* * 0. 31 4* * 0. 29 5* * δ r 2 0. 05 3* * 3 2 n = 1 04 . t he c oe ffi ci en ts a re n on -s ta nd ar di se d. * p < .0 5  ; * * p < .0 1.    n = 1 04 . t he c oe ffi ci en ts a re n on -s ta nd ar di se d. * p < .0 5  ; * * p < .0 1.    n = 1 04 . t he c oe ffi ci en ts a re n on -s ta nd ar di se d. * p < .0 5  ; * * p < .0 1.    n = 1 04 . t he c oe ffi ci en ts a re n on -s ta nd ar di se d. * p < .0 5  ; * * p < .0 1.    n = 1 04 . t he c oe ffi ci en ts a re n on -s ta nd ar di se d. * p < .0 5  ; * * p < .0 1.    n = 1 04 . t he c oe ffi ci en ts a re n on -s ta nd ar di se d. * p < .0 5  ; * * p < .0 1.    n = 1 04 . t he c oe ffi ci en ts a re n on -s ta nd ar di se d. * p < .0 5  ; * * p < .0 1.    n = 1 04 . t he c oe ffi ci en ts a re n on -s ta nd ar di se d. * p < .0 5  ; * * p < .0 1.    n = 1 04 . t he c oe ffi ci en ts a re n on -s ta nd ar di se d. * p < .0 5  ; * * p < .0 1.    n = 1 04 . t he c oe ffi ci en ts a re n on -s ta nd ar di se d. * p < .0 5  ; * * p < .0 1.    m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 317-345! assaad el akremi et al. 332 2. for job satisfaction, the results of three-way interactions tests remain stable and nonsignificant with or without the inclusion of e d u c a t i o n a l l e v e l a s a c o n t r o l v a r i a b l e (educational level was the only control variable t h a t w a s s i g n i fi c a n t l y c o r r e l a t e d t o j o b satisfaction, see table 1).  3. readers should be cautious when interpreting this additional part of variance because of the relatively small sample size and risks of collinearity between the components of two-way and three-way interactions (godart et al., 2014). we note though that the vif tests indicate the absence of any multicollinearity problem in our analyses (vif < 2). we thank the editor for drawing our attention to this issue. figure 4. moderating effect of overall justice on the relationship between perceived supervisor support and job satisfaction ! hypothesis 5 posits that the moderating effects of organizational socialization tactics between perceived supervisor support on one hand and task mastery, role clarity and job satisfaction on the other are stronger for new recruits with a high level of proactive personality. the results of the test of three-way interaction (table 2, step 3) show that this interaction is significant only for task mastery (β = 0.99, p < 0.01; δr2 = 0.095)2. these results are supported by nonstandardised boundaries of the bootstrap confidence interval [ci = 0.42, 1.56] where there is no zero, which confirms the significance of the three-way interaction (hayes, 2013). it is important to specify that in analysing three-way interaction effects, the significance of direct effects and lower-order interaction effects (i.e. two-way interactions) are not a necessary condition, thus only the significance of the term of three-way interaction should be considered (aiken & west, 1991). to interpret this interaction effect, we followed dawson and richter’s (2006) approach and represented the triple interaction graphically. this procedure has recently been used in numerous studies (andrevski, brass, & ferrier, 2013; reinholt, pedersen, & foss, 2011; godart, maddux, shipilov, & galinsky, 2014; perry et al., 2013; zhang & peterson, 2011). figure 5 shows that for a high level of perceived supervisor support (pss), task mastery is higher in the case of strong institutionalisation of socialization tactics and for new recruits with a high level of proactive personality. the additional part of variance explained by the three-way interaction (δr2) is equal to 0.095. this value is relatively high, but remains comparable to that of other studies dealing with threeway interactions (reinholt et al, 2011; den hartog & belschak, 2012)3. the level of task mastery appears to be weakest for combinations where proactive personality or institutionalisation of tactics is weak. hypothesis 5 is thus partially supported. ! hypothesis 6 posits the existence of three-way interaction between perceived supervisor support, overall justice perceptions and proactive personality on task mastery, role clarity and job satisfaction. the results presented in table 3 (step 3) show that this three-way interaction is only significant for task mastery (β = 0.65, p < 0.01; δr2 = 0.053). non-standardised boundaries of the bootstrap confidence interval [ci = 0.13, 1.17] have no zero and thus confirm the significance of the three-way interaction (hayes, 2013). furthermore, the part of additional variance explained by the three-way interaction (δr2) is equal to 0.053. this value is comparable to that of other studies dealing with three-way interactions (reinholt et al., 2011; zhang & peterson, 2011). antecedents of socialization of the new recruits! m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 317-345 333 figure 5. the three-way interaction effect between perceived supervisor support (pss), socialization tactics and proactive personality ! figure 6 presents this interaction graphically and shows that task mastery is higher when perceived supervisor support is strong, when overall justice perceptions are strong and when new recruits have a strong proactive personality. the other combinations are less significant or even irrelevant concerning the impact on task mastery. hypothesis 6 is partially supported. figure 6. the three-way interaction between perceived supervisor support (pss), overall justice and proactive personality discussion ! this study set out to examine the effects of perceived supervisor support (pss) on newcomers’ task mastery, role clarity and job satisfaction as well as the degree to which these effects are moderated by organizational and individual factors (respectively organizational socialization tactics, overall justice and m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 317-345! assaad el akremi et al. 334 proactive personality). in the section that follows, we discuss our main results, expanding on its theoretical and managerial contributions. we conclude by presenting the study’s main limits and proposing avenues for future research. theoretical contributions ! we think that this study contributes three important elements to research on socialization. our first result suggests that perceived supervisor support has a positive influence on new recruits’ role clarity and job satisfaction. this result confirms the key role attributed to supervisors in the socialization process (bauer et al., 2007; slaughter & zickar, 2006), and contribute to the recent wave of research aiming to identify how far supervisors contribute actively to new recruits’ adjustment. our study is thus in line with those of bauer and green (1998), jokisaari and nurmi (2009) and kammeyer-mueller and colleagues (2013) in suggesting that by lending their support to newcomers very early on, supervisors can help them to understand their new roles, reduce the uncertainty of the organizational context and develop job satisfaction. in the socialization process, supervisors do not only have a passive role consisting of responding to newcomers’ request for information. it is probable that from the very first day that newcomers enter the organization, supervisors have an active role consisting of supporting informing, encouraging, reassuring and guiding the new recruits in ! their quest to understand their new working environment. however, even if their role is an important one, supervisors are not the only source of socialization. the most important contribution of this research is to offer, to our knowledge, one of the first empirical tests suggesting that successful socialization depends on synergies between relational, organizational and individual factors. in fact, our results show that the positive impact of perceived supervisor support on certain indicators of socialization is amplified, firstly by the implementation of institutionalised organizational tactics (for role clarity and job satisfaction), and secondly by the guarantee of a high level of overall justice (as far satisfaction is concerned). this means in particular that if new recruits are to fully integrate the prerogatives, objectives and priorities relative to their new role, there must be harmony and coherence between the formal socialization programme defined by the firm and the everyday support recruits receive from their supervisor. furthermore, our results suggest that the most proactive new recruits benefit more from these synergies between supervisory support, socialization tactics and overall justice by mastering their tasks to a higher level. it is also interesting to note that it is only at the stage of three-way interactions that our model predicts task mastery. this could mean that the capacity of new recruits to do their new job well is the result of a conjunction between their own efforts, those of the manager, and those of the organization. ! by highlighting the importance of interactions between new recruits and their relational and organizational context, this set of results contributes to interactionist research on socialization (griffin et al., 2000; harris et al., 2013; reichers, 1987). in this stream, socialization appears as a multi-determined and complex process (perrot & campy, 2009), whose success depends on a certain “alchemy” among the various levels of influence. our research also contributes to the nascent debate on the nature of the interactions among the different antecedents of socialization in that it indicates, like harris and colleagues (2013) that the paths leading to new employees’ integration complete and reinforce each other rather than replacing each other (liden et al., 2004). ! finally a third contribution of our research relates to the role of perceived organizational justice in the socialization process. our results suggest that when new recruits think that their firm treats employees fairly, they react to the support offered by their supervisors with greater satisfaction, and also with increased mastery of their tasks for the most proactive among them. this result contributes antecedents of socialization of the new recruits! m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 317-345 335 to the literature on socialization by showing, for the first time, that overall justice could constitute an organizational factor that contributes to the integration of newcomers by creating a climate of security and trust (barclay & kiefer, 2013; harris et al., 2013) that makes them more receptive to the socializing effects of perceived supervisor support. we thus contribute to research on organizational justice by testing the precepts of uncertainty management theory (lind & van den bos, 2002) in a new context, that of socialization. our results thus corroborate the heuristic role of justice in situations of uncertainty. managerial implications ! with regard to the vital importance of the socialization process for firms’ performance and long-term future (liden et al., 2004), practitioners are continually seeking new ways of improving new recruits’ integration. our study provides a few possibilities. firstly, our results indicate that managers should pay particular attention to the way they treat newcomers and to the support they provide; and this from the very first days of employment. one possible opening is to train supervisors in constructive interpersonal communication techniques (soft and rational communication tactics) based on persuasion, listening and empathy (falbe & yukle, 1992; jokisaari & nurmi, 2009), as well as giving them training in the principles of interactional justice (skarlicki & latham, 2005). such training would enable them to be aware of the effects of their behaviours on new recruits’ integration and would improve their capacity to give newcomers the necessary support and information. another possibility would be to include support for new recruits in managers’ performance evaluation criteria (using a 360° evaluation system, for example) in order to institutionalise the importance of this type of behaviour within the firm (harris et al., 2013). if active contributions to socializing new employees have until now been considered as discretionary behaviours beyond the scope of the manager’s formal role, some recent research calls for these behaviours to be integrated into formal requirements (e.g., kammeyermueller et al., 2013). ! our results also suggest that successful socialization depends on synergies among the efforts of supervisors, the organization and the new recruits themselves. in particular, firms could amplify the socializing effects of managers’ support by setting up institutional socialization tactics and a high level of overall justice. these synergies could also be accentuated by explicitly involving managers in organizational socialization policies (sluss & thompson, 2012). this would make the signals from these two sources of socialization more coherent and complementary. limits and avenues for future research ! the results of this research should be interpreted in the light of a number of limits that open avenues for future research. firstly, the generalisation of our results is limited by the relatively small size of our sample (n = 104) and the fact that our study is restricted to the french banking sector. it would be useful to replicate the study in other sectors and other cultural contexts. it would also be interesting to test whether the heuristic role of justice during the socialization period is not dependent on the level of uncertainty perceived by new recruits (rodell & colquitt, 2009). in fact, it seems reasonable to suppose that the stronger new recruits’ feelings of uncertainty, the more they would tend to mobilise their perceptions of overall justice as a decision making heuristic to guide their judgments attitudes and behaviours. ! a second limit concerns our methodology. our data were collected from the same respondents thus generating a risk of common method variance (podsakoff et al., 2012). however, this is a longitudinal study and the two measuring times m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 317-345! assaad el akremi et al. 336 were separated by a period of 3 months in order to reduce this bias. moreover the analyses reveal the effects of two-way and three-way interactions that would have been difficult to detect in the presence of common method variance (evans, 1985). ! the reach of our results could also be limited by the timing of the empirical design. in fact, on the basis of recent theoretical and empirical arguments (e.g., allen & shanock, 2013; kammeyer-mueller et al., 2013), we chose to measure new recruits’ perceptions of supervisor support, overall justice and socialization tactics very soon after their entry into the firm. these initial perceptions could partly reflect anticipation resulting from pre-hiring interactions between the recruit and the firm (for example, during recruitment), and not only reflect the actual experience of the company during the early days of socialization. ideally, future research should measure new recruits’ anticipations, their perceptions soon after joining and several times during the first year of work in order to understand the effects of initial perceptions as well as the evolution of those perceptions. a final limit concerns the indicators of socialization examined in this study. in order to maintain the statistical power of our analyses, we chose to only include task mastery, role clarity and job satisfaction as dependent variables in our model. although these indicators do reflect the learning process and affective state of new recruits, they do not capture other important facets of socialization such as social integration and acculturation (chao et al., 1994). the theoretical reasoning developed here leads us to expect that the traditional indicators of socialization will be positively impacted by the reinforcement effects between perceived supervisor support, institutionalisation of organizational tactics, overall justice and new recruits’ level of proactivity. on the contrary, it could be different when trying to forecast how far new recruits will engage in creative and innovative behaviours such as role innovation, behaviours that are generally favoured by individualised socialization tactics. future research examining how the relational, organizational and individual pathways interact to determine these other indicators would greatly contribute to our understanding of the necessary conditions for successful socialization. ! as discussed above, these results point to a synergy between relational, organizational and individual paths to socialization. however, it is important to note that a detailed analysis of our three-way interaction results (see figures 5 and 6) reveals complex patterns of interaction where the level of one or several variables is low: the hypothesis of substitution and compensation effects cannot be completely dismissed given the high number of possible combinations and the complexity of the three-way interactions. this complexity invites continued research into the nature of the interactions among the determinants of socialization. two avenues in particular appear interesting: (1) to take account of other proximal (social integration, political knowledge about the organization, etc.) and distal (organizational commitment, intentions to stay, performance in the role and extra-role, etc.) indicators of socialization in order to examine whether the nature of these interactions (multiplicative vs. substitutive) depends on the specific characteristics of the socialization outcome studied; (2) to examine the role of each of these dimensions of organizational socialization tactics (jones, 1986; van maanen & schein, 1979) specifically and not via unidimensional conceptualisation. in fact, it is possible that some of these tactics amplify the socializing effects of perceived supervisor support (pss) whereas others replace it. for example, the institutionalisation of tactics regarding the content of socialization (sequential and fixed) could give new recruits information that completes the information from the supervisor, whereas using social tactics (serial and investiture) that encourage informal interactions between new recruits and members of the organization, could constitute a substitute for contributions of pss in terms of social integration and acculturation (liden et al., 2004). antecedents of socialization of the new recruits! m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 317-345 337 ! finally, researchers could also focus on the roles of other socializing agents such as work colleagues and mentors (bauer & green, 1998; kammeyermueller et al., 2013). the mechanisms through which these actors influence new recruits’ adjustment and the nature of the interactions between these mechanisms and the antecedents examined in our study remain largely unexplored. in general, we hope that future research will continue to explore the interactions among the organizational, relational and individual levels of socialization. the complexity of the socialization process calls for analytical frameworks that integrate existing knowledge on the determinants of new recruits’ learning and integration (ashforth et al., 2007). with this article, we hope to have contributed to this promising research stream. references aguinis h. & gottfredson r.k. (2010). best-practice recommendations for estimating interaction effects using moderated multiple regression. journal of organizational behavior, 32(8), 776-786. aiken l.s. & west s.g. (1991). multiple regression: testing and interpreting interactions, thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. allen, d.g., & shanock, l.r. (2013). perceived organizational support and embeddedness as key mechanisms connecting socialization tactics to commitment and turnover among new employees. journal of organizational behavior, 34(3), 350-369. ambrose m l., & schminke, m. (2009). the role of overall justice judgments in organizational justice research: a test of mediation. journal of applied psychology, 94(2), 491-500. anderson, n. (1981). foundations of information integration theory. new york, ny: academic press. andrevski, g., brass, d.j., & ferrier, w.j. (2013). alliance portfolio configurations and competitive action frequency. journal of management, forthcoming. aryee, s., walumbwa, f.o., mondejar, r. and chu, c.w. l. (2013), accounting for the influence of overall justice on job performance: integrating self-determination a n d s o c i a l e x c h a n g e t h e o r i e s . j o u r n a l o f management studies, forthcoming. ashford, s.j. (1986). feedback seeking in individual adaptation: a resource perspective. academy of management journal, 29(3), 465‐487. ashford, s.j., & black, j.s. (1996). proactivity during organizational entry: the role of desire for control. journal of applied psychology, 81(2), 199-214. ashforth, b.e., & saks, a.m. (1996). socialization tactics: longitudinal effects on newcomer adjustment. academy of management journal, 39(1), 149–178. ashforth, b.e., sluss, d.m., & saks, a.m. (2007). socialization tactics, proactive behavior, and newcomer learning: integrating socialization models. journal of vocational behavior, 70(3), 447-462. bandalos, d.l. (2002). the effects of item parceling on goodness-of-fit and parameter estimate bias in structural equation modeling. structural equation modeling, 9(1), 78–102. barclay, l., & kiefer, t. (2014). approach or avoid? exploring overall justice and the differential effects of p o s i t i v e a n d n e g a t i v e e m o t i o n s . j o u r n a l o f management, 40(7), 1857-1898. bateman, t.s., & crant, j.m. (1993). the proactive component of organizational behavior: a measure and correlates. journal of organizational behavior, 14(2), 103-118. bauer, t.n., & erdogan, b. (2010). organizational socialization: the effective on boarding of new employees. in s. zedeck, h. aguinis, w. cascio, m. gelfand, k. leong, s. parker, & j. zhou (eds.), handbook of industrial and organizational psychology, volume iii (pp. 51-64). washington, dc: american psychological association. bauer, t.n., & green, s.g. (1998). testing the combined effects of newcomer information seeking and manager behavior on socialization. journal of applied psychology, 83(1), 72-83. bauer, t.n., bodner, t., erdogan, b., truxillo, d., & tucker, j. (2007). newcomer adjustment during organizational socialization: a meta-analytic review of antecedents, o u t c o m e s , a n d m e t h o d s . j o u r n a l o f a p p l i e d psychology, 92(3), 707-721. becker, t. e. (2005). potential problems in the statistical control of variables in organizational research: a q u a l i t a t i v e a n a l y s i s w i t h r e c o m m e n d a t i o n s . organizational research methods, 8(3), 274-289. berger, c. r. (1979). beyond initial interaction: uncertainty, understanding, and the development of interpersonal relationships. in h. giles & r. n. st. clair (eds.), language and social psychology (pp. 122–144). baltimore, md: university park press. bobocel, d. r. (2013). coping with unfair events constructively or destructively: the roles of overall justice and self-other orientation. journal of applied psychology, 98(5), 720-731. brislin, r.w. (1986). the wording and translation of research instruments. in w.j. lonner & j.w. berry (eds.), field methods in cross-cultural research (pp. 137–164). beverly hills, ca: sage. cable, d.m., & parsons, c.k. (2001). socialization tactics and person-organization fit. personnel psychology, 54(1), 1–23. cammann, c., fichman, m., jenkins, g.d., jenkins, g. d., jr., & klesh, j. r. (1983). assessing the attitudes and perceptions of organizational members. in s.e. seashore, e.e. lawler iii, p.h. mirvis & c. cammann (eds.), assessing organizational change: a guide to methods, measures, and practices (pp. 71–138). new york, ny: wiley. m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 317-345! assaad el akremi et al. 338 carlson, k.d., & wu, j. (2012). the illusion of statistical control: control variable practice in management research. organization research methods, 15(3), 413-435. chan, d., & schmitt, n. (2000). interindividual differences in intraindividual changes in proactivity during organizational entry: a latent growth modeling approach to understanding newcomer adaptation. journal of applied psychology, 85(2), 190210. chao, g.t., o’leary-kelly, a.m., wolf, s., klein, h.j. & gardner, p. (1994). organizational socialization: its content and consequences. journal of applied psychology, 79(5), 730-743. claes, r., beheydt, c., & lemmens, b. (2005). unidimensionality of abbreviated proactive personality scales across cultures. applied psychology: an international review, 54(4), 476-489. cohen, j., cohen, p., west, s.g., & aiken, l.s. (2003). applied multiple regression/correlation analysis for the behavioral sciences. hillsdale, nj: erlbaum. colquitt, j.a., scott, b.a., rodell, j.b., long, d.m., zapata, c.p., conlon, d.e., & wesson, m.j.. (2013). justice at the millennium, a decade later: a meta-analytic test of social exchange and affect-based perspectives. journal of applied psychology, 98(2), 199-236. cooper-thomas, h.d., & anderson, n. (2002). newcomer adjustment: the relationship between organizational socialization tactics, information acquisition and attitudes. journal of occupational and organizational psychology, 75(4), 423-437. cropanzano r., byrne z.s., bobocel d.r., & rupp d.e. (2001). moral virtues, fairness heuristics, social entities, and other denizens of organizational justice. journal of vocational behavior, 58(2), 164-209. dawson, j.f. (2014). moderation in management research: what, why, when and how, journal of business and psychology, 29(1), 1-19. dawson, j. f., & richter, a. w. (2006). probing three-way interactions in moderated multiple regression: development and application of a slope difference test, journal of applied psychology, 91(4), 917-926. den hartog, d., & belschak, f.d. (2012). when does transformational leadership enhance employee proactive behavior? the role of autonomy and role breadth self-efficacy. journal of applied psychology, 97(1), 194-202. dulac, t., coyle-shapiro, j. henderson, d.j. & wayne, s.j. (2008). not all responses to breach are the same: t h e i n t e r c o n n e c t i o n o f s o c i a l e x c h a n g e a n d psychological contract processes in organizations. academy of management journal, 51(6), 1079-1098. eisenberger, r., huntington, r., hutchison, s., & sowa, d. (1986). perceived organizational support. journal of applied psychology, 71(3), 500-507. eisenberger, r., stinglhamber, f., vandenberghe, c., sucharski, i. l., & rhoades, l. (2002). perceived supervisor support: contributions to perceived organizational support and employee retention. journal of applied psychology, 87(3), 565-573. evans m. (1985). a monte carlo study of the effects of correlated method variance in moderated multiple regression analysis. organizational behavior and human decision processes, 36(3), 305-323. falbe, c.m., & yukl, g. (1992). consequences for managers of using single influence tactics and combinations of tactics. academy of management journal, 35(3), 638-652. falcione, r.l., & wilson, c.e. (1988). socialization processes in organizations. in g. m. goldhaber & g. a. b a r n e t t ( e d s . ) , h a n d b o o k o f o r g a n i z a t i o n a l communication (pp. 151-169). norwood, nj: ablex. fuller, j.b., & marler, l.e. (2009). change driven by nature: a meta-analytic review of the proactive personality literature. journal of vocational behavior, 75(3), 329-345. godart, f., maddux, w., shipilov, a. & galinsky, a. (2014) fashion with a foreign flair: professional experiences abroad facilitate the creative innovations of organizations. forthcoming. academy of management journal, forthcoming. griffin, a.e., colella, a., & goparaju, s. (2000). newcomer a n d o r g a n i z a t i o n a l s o c i a l i z a t i o n t a c t i c s : a n i n t e r a c t i o n i s t p e r s p e c t i v e . h u m a n r e s o u r c e management review, 10, 453-474. harman, h.h. (1976). modern factor analysis. chicago, il: university of chicago press. harris, t.b., li, n., boswell, w.r., zhang, x., & xie, z. (2013). getting what’s new from newcomers: empowering leadership, creativity, and adjustment in the socialization context. personnel psychology, in press hayes, a.f. (2013). introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: a regression-based approach. new york, ny: the guilford press. jaccard j. & turrisi r. (2003). interaction effects in multiple regression. thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. jokisaari, m., & nurmi, j. (2009). change in newcomers’ supervisor support and socialization outcomes after organizational entry. academy of management journal, 52(3), 527-544. jones, d.a., & martens, m. l. (2009). the mediating role of overall fairness and the moderating role of trust certainty in justice-criteria relationships: the formation and use of fairness heuristics in the workplace. journal of organizational behavior, 30(8), 1025–1051. jones, g.r. (1986). socialization tactics, self efficacy, and newcomers’ adjustments to organizations. academy of management journal, 29(2), 262-279. kammeyer-mueller, j.d., & wanberg, c.r. (2003). unwrapping the organizational entry process: disentangling multiple antecedents and their pathways to adjustment. journal of applied psychology, 88(5), 779-794. kammeyer-mueller, j.d., wanberg, c.r., rubenstein, a.l., & song, z. (2013). support, undermining, and newcomer socialization: fitting in during the first 90 days. academy of management journal, 56(4), 1104-1124. kim, t., cable, d.m., & kim, s. (2005). socialization tactics, employee proactivity, and person organization fit. journal of applied psychology, 90(2), 232-241. lacaze, d. (2007). la gestion de l’intégration en entreprise de service  : l’apport du concept de socialisation organisationnelle. management & avenir, 14(4), 9-24. antecedents of socialization of the new recruits! m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 317-345 339 li, n., harris, t.b., boswell, w.r., & xie, z. (2011). the role of organizational insiders’ developmental feedback and proactive personality on newcomers’ performance: an interactionist perspective. journal of applied psychology, 96(6), 1317-1327. liden, r.c., bauer, t.n., & erdogan, b. (2004). the role of leader-member exchange in the forming and dynamic relationship between employee and employer: implications for employee socialization, leaders and organizations. in j. coyle-shapiro, l. shore, s. taylor, & l. tetrick (eds.), the employment relationship: examining psychological and contextual perspectives (pp. 226-250). oxford, oxford university press. liden, r.c., wayne, s.j., & stilwell, d. (1993). a longitudinal study on the early development of leader member exchanges. journal of applied psychology, 78(4), 662674. lind, e.a. (2001). fairness heuristic theory: justice judgments as pivotal cognitions in organizational relations. in j. greenberg & r. cropanzano (eds.), advances in organizational justice (pp. 56-88). stanford, ca: stanford university press. lind, e.a., & van den bos, k. (2002). when fairness works: toward a general theory of uncertainty management. in b. staw & r. kramer (eds.), research in organizational behavior: an annual series of analytical essays and critical reviews (pp. 181-223). greenwich, ct: jai press. little, t.d., cunningham, w.a., shahar, g., & widaman, k.f. (2002). to parcel or not to parcel: exploring the question, weighing the merits. structural equation modeling, 9(2), 151–173. little, t.d., rhemtulla, m., gibson, k., & schoemann, a.m. (2013). why the items versus parcels controversy needn’t be one. psychological methods, 18(3), 285-300. major, d.a., kozlowski, s.w.j., chao, g.t., & gardner, p.d. (1995). a longitudinal investigation of newcomer expectations, early socialization outcomes, and the moderating effects of role development factors. journal of applied psychology, 80(3), 418-431. major, d.a., turner, j.e., & fletcher, t.d. (2006). linking proactive personality and the big five to motivation to learn and development activity. journal of applied psychology, 91(4), 927-935. miceli, m.p., near, j.p., rehg, m.t. & van scotter, j.r. (2012). predicting employee reactions to perceived organizational wrongdoing: demoralization, justice, proactive personality, and whistle-blowing. human relations, 65(8), 923-954. miller, v.d., & jablin, f.m. (1991). information seeking during organizational entry: influences, tactics, and a model of the process. academy of management review, 16(1), 92-120. miyazaki, a., grewal, d. & goodstein, r.c. (2005). the effect of multiple extrinsic cues on quality perceptions: a matter of consistency. journal of consumer research, 32(1), 146-153. morrison, e.w. (1993). newcomer information seeking: exploring types, modes, sources, and outcomes. academy of management journal, 36(3), 557-589. morrison, e.w. (2002). newcomers’ relationships: the role of social network ties during socialization. academy of management journal, 45(6), 1149-1160. muthén, l.k. & muthén, b.o. (2010). mplus statistical analysis with latent variables user’s guide. muthén & muthén. parker, s.k., & collins, c.g. (2010). taking stock: integrating and differentiating multiple proactive behaviors. journal of management, 36(3), 633-662. parker, s.k., bindl, u.k., & strauss, k. (2010). making things happen: a model of proactive motivation. journal of management, 36(4), 827-856. perrot, s. & campoy e. (2009). développement d’une é c h e l l e d e m e s u r e d e l a s o c i a l i s a t i o n organisationnelle  : une approche croisée entre processus et contenu. revue de gestion des ressources humaines, 71, 23-42. perrot, s. (2008). evolution du niveau de socialisation organisationnelle selon l’ancienneté : une analyse des premiers mois dans l’entreprise. m@n@gement, 11(3), 231-258. perrot, s., bauer, t.n., abonneau, d., campoy, e., erdogan, b., & liden, r. c. (2014). organizational socialization tactics and newcomer adjustment: the moderating role of perceived organizational support, group & organization management, 39(3), 247-273. perry, s.j., lorinkova, n.m., hunter, e.m., hubbard, a., mcmahon, j. t. (2013). when does virtuality really “work”? examining the role of work-family and virtuality in social loafing, journal of management, forthcoming. podsakoff, p.m., mackenzie, s.b., & podsakoff, n.p. (2012). sources of method bias in social science research and recommendations on how to control it. annual review of psychology, 63(1), 539-569. priesemuth, m., arnaud, a., & schminke, m. (2013). bad behavior in groups: the impact of overall justice c l i m a t e a n d f u n c t i o n a l d e p e n d e n c e o n counterproductive work behavior in work units. group & organization management, 38(2), 230-257. reichers, a.e. (1987). an interactionist perspective on n e w c o m e r s o c i a l i z a t i o n r a t e s . a c a d e m y o f management review, 12(2), 278-287. reinholt, m., pedersen, t., & foss, n. (2011). why network centrality isn’t enough: the moderating roles of motivation and ability for knowledge sharing in employee networks. academy of management journal, 54(6), 1277-1297. rizzo, j.r., house, r.j., & lirtzman, s.i. (1970). role conflict and ambiguity in complex organizations. administrative science quarterly, 15(2), 150-163. rodell, j.b., & colquitt, j.a. (2009). looking ahead in times of uncertainty: the role of anticipatory injustice in an organizational change context. journal of applied psychology, 94(4), 989-1002. saks, a. m., & ashforth, b. (1997). organizational socialization: making sense of the past and present as a prologue for the future. journal of vocational behavior, 51(2), 234-279. saks, a.m., & ashforth, b.e. (2000). the role of dispositions, entry stressors, and behavioral plasticity theory in predicting newcomers’ adjustment to work. journal of organizational behavior, 21(1), 43-62. saks, a.m., uggerslev, k.l., & fassina, n.e. (2007). socialization tactics and newcomer adjustment: a meta-analytic review and test of a model. journal of vocational behavior, 70(3), 413-446. m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 317-345! assaad el akremi et al. 340 seibert, s.e., kraimer, m.l. & crant, j.m., (2001). what do proactive people do?a longitudinal model linking proactive personality and career success. personnel psychology, 54(4), 845-874. skarlicki, d.p., & latham, g.p. (2005). how can training be used to foster organizational justice? in j. greenberg & j. colquitt (eds.), the handbook of organizational justice (pp. 499–522). mahwah, nj: erlbaum. slaughter, j.e., & zickar, m.j. (2006). a new look at the role of insiders in newcomer socialization. group and organization management, 31(2), 264-290. sluss, d.m., & thompson, b.s. (2012). socializing the newcomer: the role of leader-member exchange. organizational behavior and human decision processes, 119(1), 114-125. thompson, j.a. (2005). proactive personality and job performance: a social capital perspective. journal of applied psychology, 90(5), 1011-1017. van maanen, j., & schein, e. h. (1979). toward a theory of organizational socialization. in b. m. staw (ed.), research in organizational behavior (pp. 209-264). greenwich, ct: jai press. vinokur, a.d., & van ryn, m. (1993). social support and undermining in close relationships: their independent effects on the mental health of unemployed persons. journal of personality and social psychology, 65(2), 350-359. weiss, h.m. & cropanzano, r. (1996). affective events theory: a theoretical discussion of the structure, causes, and consequences of affective experiences at work. in b.m. staw & l.l. cummings (eds.), research in organizational behavior, 18, (pp.1-74). greenwich, ct: jai press. weiss, h. m. (1977). subordinate imitation of supervisor behavior: the role of modeling in organizational socialization. organizational behavior and human performance, 19(1), 89-105. zhang, z. & peterson, s.j. (2011). advice networks in teams: the role of transformational leadership and members’ core self-evaluations. journal of applied psychology, 96(5), 1004-1017. antecedents of socialization of the new recruits! m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 317-345 341 appendix a. measurement scales used in the study perceived supervisor support – pss (eisenberger et al., 1986, 2002) •my supervisor values my contributions to the organization’s well-being •my supervisor really cares about my well-being. •my supervisor would consider any complaint from me. •my supervisor is willing to extend itself in order to help me perform my job to the best of my ability. •my supervisor cares about my general satisfaction at work. •my supervisor takes pride in my accomplishments at work. •my supervisor fails to appreciate any extra effort from me. organizational socialization tactics (jones, 1986; ashforth & saks, 1996  ; allen & shanock, 2013) •the movement from role to role and function to function to build up experience and a track record is very apparent in this organization. •the following statement describes the attitude of my organization toward newcomers: "we like you as you are; don't change," •i haven’t had to change my attitudes and values to be accepted in this organization. •almost all of my colleagues have been supportive of me personally. •my colleagues have gone out of their way to help me adjust to this organization. •this organization put newcomers through a set of training experiences which are specifically designed to give them a thorough knowledge of job related skills. •experienced organizational members see advising or training newcomers as one of their main job responsibilities in this organization. •i am gaining a clear understanding of my role in this organization from observing my senior colleagues. •i have been generally left alone to discover what my role should be in this organization. •i have a good knowledge of the time it will take me to go through the various stages of the training process in this organization. •i can predict my future career path in this organization by observing other people's experiences. •the way in which my progress through this organization will follow a fixed timetable of events has been clearly communicated to me. overall justice (ambrose & schminke, 2009) •for the most part, this organization treats its employees fairly. •overall, i’m treated fairly by my organization. •in general, the treatment i receive around here is fair. •most of the people who work here would say they are often treated fairly. •in general, i can count on this organization to be fair. proactive personality (bateman & crant, 1993) •i am always looking for better ways to do things. •i love being a champion for my ideas even against others’ opposition. •no matter what the odds, if i believe in something i will make it happen. . •i excel at identifying opportunities. •if i see something i don’t like, i fix it. •if i believe in an idea, no obstacle will prevent me from making it happen. task mastery (morrison, 1993, 2002) •i have mastered the required tasks of my job. •i am confident about the adequacy of my job skills and abilities. m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 317-345! assaad el akremi et al. 342 •i rarely make mistakes when conducting my job assignments. •it seems to take me longer than planned to complete my job assignments. •i feel competent conducting my job assignments. •i have not fully developped the appropriate skills and abilities to successfully perform my job. •i have learned how to successfully perform my job in an efficient manner. role clarity (rizzo, house & lirtzman, 1970 ; ashford, 1986) •i know exactly what is expected of me. •it is clear to me exactly what i should do in order to perform my job better. •i know what my responsabilities are. •i get enough information about performance standards within my department. •i feel certain about how much authority i have been given to do my job. •there are clear planned goals and objectives for my job. •explanation is clear of what has to be done. •i know if my work will be acceptable to my boss. job satisfaction (cammann et al., 1983) •all in all, i am satisfied with my job. •in general, i like working here. •in general, i don’t like my job. antecedents of socialization of the new recruits! m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 317-345 343 assâad el akremi is an associate professor of human resource management and organizational behavior at the university of toulouse (france), where he is a researcher at the management research center (cnrs – umr 5303). he also is an invited professor at louvain school of management (belgium). in addition to organizational behavior, his current research interests include corporate social responsibility, franchise chains, and research methods. his research was published in strategic management journal, journal of management, human relations, journal of business ethics, entrepreneurship theory and practice, group and organization management, recherche et applications en marketing, la revue de gestion des ressources humaines et la revue relations industrielles. mohamed ikram nasr is an assistant professor of organizational behavior at emlyon business school. he holds a doctorate in management from the university of toulouse 1 capitole, france. ikram’s research interests include organizational justice dynamics and reasoning. in particular, he draws on heuristics and interactionist perspectives to study perceived fairness effects on newcomers’ adjustment during socialization. his research was presented in the academy of management annual meeting and the annual conference of the society for industrial and organizational psychology, and published in academic reviews such as la revue de gestion des ressources humaines and la revue française de gestion. nathalie richebé is a professor of organizational behavior and human resource management at skema business school. she is also an associate researcher at cergam (iae d’aix-en-provence). she holds a doctorate in management from the university paris 10 and an hdr (habilitation à diriger des recherches) from the university of grenoble. her research centers on social exchange, social regulation, skills management and organization theory. in the last five years, she published articles in m@n@gement, human resource management review, international journal of human resource management, human resource management journal, journal of management inquiry and revue française de sociologie (with an article selected in the english special issue). m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 317-345! assaad el akremi et al. 344 © the author(s) www.management-aims.com antecedents of socialization of the new recruits! m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 317-345 345 192dechampeng gaëlle dechamp coactis (ea 4161), ujm saint-etienne, university of lyon gaelle.dechamp@univ-st-etienne.fr bérangère szostak coactis (ea 4161), université lyon 2, university of lyon, berangere.szostak@univ-lyon2.fr organisational creativity and the creative territory: the nature of influence and strategic challenges for organisations gaëlle dechamp � bérangère szostak abstract. this research considers the nature of the influence of the creative territory, examined from the perspective of three levels (the underground, middleground and upperground), on the endogenous factors of organisational creativity (individual commitment, organisational context and the organisation’s ability to renew itself). the qualitative analysis of 18 smes involved in a competition for ideas highlights the fact that each level of the creative territory tends to have a different (either positive or negative) influence on the endogenous factors of organisational creativity. in order to understand these differences, this research identifies, among other things, four specific properties of the creative territory: the production of discourse, the creation of opportunities to transform the idea into a project, the roll-out of the project, and the protection o f t h e i d e a a n d t h e p r o j e c t . t h e d i s c u s s i o n t a k e s a l o o k a t organisations’  openness to their environment and the role of the individual and intellectual property in this openness. this work ultimately validates the value of integrating the creative territory into models of organisational creativity. " "when the winds of change blow, some p e o p l e b u i l d w a l l s a n d o t h e r s b u i l d windmills" (chinese proverb) " since amabile’s canonical work (1988), literature on organisational creativity has essentially focussed on the influence of individuals and internal context, which are more or less conducive to the expression of individual creativity (shalley and zhou, 2008). because organisation creativity is a situated concept (weick 2012; ford, 1996), research subsequently integrated the influence of the environment through, in particular, competitive or isomorphic pressures models (agnihotri et al., 2014; gilson et al., 2014; seibert et al., 2014). more recently, from the latter perspective, authors have demonstrated the influence of creative territory (florida, 2002, 2005) upon the actors, which constitute it (joo, mclean & yang, 2013; cohendet, grandadam & simon, 2011). the creative territory is thus defined as a space where various pieces of knowledge (scientific, industrial and symbolic) are created, where ideas emerge from and for the actors in question, i.e. organisations, communities and individuals, who benefit from the development of territorial activities (gilly, kechidi & talbot, 2014; tremblay & tremblay, 2010; cohendet et al., 2011). the organisations present in this creative territory can therefore benefit from this knowledge in order to develop their organisational creativity (carrier & szostak, 2014; joo et al., 2013; cohendet, grandadam & simon, 2011; ford, 1996). the creative territory thus encourages the renewal of these organisations (joo, m@n@gement 2016, vol. 19(2): 61-88 61 1. in the literature on organisational creativity, the terms referring to the organisation’s internal ‘environment’ and ‘context’ are often used interchangeably. to avoid any confusion, this article uses the term ‘context’ to refer to an organisation’s internal environment, and the word ‘environment’ to refer to the space which is external to the organisation. mailto:gaelle.dechamp@univ-st-etienne.fr mailto:gaelle.dechamp@univ-st-etienne.fr mailto:berangere.szostak@univ-lyon2.fr mailto:berangere.szostak@univ-lyon2.fr mclean & yang, 2013; durand, 2006; drazin, glynn & kazanjian, 1999; léonard & swap, 1999). nevertheless, these models for analysing organisational creativity (agnihotri et al., 2014; dominguez, 2013; weik, 2012) do not specify how this influence takes place. it therefore appears crucial to identify and qualify the nature of this influence. " the article is structured in four parts. the first part builds the conceptual framework for the research by differentiating the factors of influence, which are endogenous to organisational creativity from those, which are exogenous and relate to the creative territory. the second part looks at the methodology and the case study: 18 smes located in the saint étienne region, which has been recognised as a unesco ‘creative city of design’. the third part develops the results, clarifying the meaning of the link between the influence of the creative territory upon the creativity of the organisations studied, then highlights the nature of this link by identifying four properties, sub-divided into specific dimensions. finally, the last part looks at ways in which organisations can open up to their environment, before concluding with research perspectives and managerial implications. literature review " the study of organisational creativity (anderson, potocnik & zhou, 2014; parmentier, 2014; joo et al., 2013) has adopted several approaches in the past. lubart (2003) recalls the three major approaches: componential (amabile, 1988), interactionist (woodman, sawyer & griffin, 1993) and evolutionist (ford, 1996). " in this article, organisational creativity is defined as the development of ‘a valuable, useful new product, service, idea, procedure, or process by individuals working together in a complex social system’ (woodman et al., 1993: 293). more specifically, it refers to a process of creating and harnessing valuable ideas rather than promoting them, which is the subject of innovation (carrier & gélinas, 2011). while creativity and innovation are two related concepts (sarooghi, libaers & burkemper, 2015, anderson et al., 2014; amabile, 1988), they differ in terms of the status of the idea: in organisational creativity the idea is the result to be achieved, while in innovation it is the starting point. the individual is thus at the heart of organisational creativity (weik, 2012; joas, 1999) while in innovation, although the individual is important, they are no more so than other organisational factors (in particular, structure and resources) (sarooghi et al., 2015; carrier & gélinas, 2011; durand, 2006). however, individuals in organisational creativity do not operate in isolation like an artist in a studio; they work with others, are socialised, relate to and influence their contexts (carrier & gélinas, 2011; woodman et al., 1993). organisational creativity is, therefore, a concept situated in a ‘socio-cultural context’ (csikszentmihalyi, 1996, p. 35), a ‘complex social system’ (woodman, sawyer & griffin, 1993, p. 293) or a ‘domain’ (ford, 1996, p. 1115). organisational creativity can thus be examined by taking into account factors of influence, which are referred to as ‘endogenous’ because they characterise the organisation as well as those which are ‘exogenous’ because they are specific to the environment. organisational creativity directly influenced by three endogenous factors " analysis of the literature on organisational creativity highlights three main endogenous factors. the first is individual commitment (dominguez, 2013; drazin et al., 1999) to the creative process of developing new ideas. this is based on motivation (amabile, 1988; shalley et al., 2004), personality traits which are m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 61-88" gaëlle dechamp & bérangère szostak 62 favourable to creativity (amabile, 1988; csikszentmihalyi, 2006; joo, mclean & yang, 2013) such as, particularly, independence, curiosity, emotional sensitivity, strength of conviction, the ability to unify, self-confidence, an appetite for complexity and risk taking, the ability to engage in divergent thinking, experience, and specific knowledge. the extent of the individual in question’s personal network is also regarded as a factor, because this is the source of new knowledge (e.g. seibert et al., 2014; cattani & ferriani, 2008; perry-smith, 2006). in addition to the individual, there is also the organisational context, the quality of which is reflected by the organisational climate and is characterised by the degree of trust among the actors, the time devoted to the development of ideas, the promotion of risk taking and employees’ autonomy (ekvall, 1995; cerne et al., 2014). this involves taking account of the organisation’s commitment to the creative process (amabile, 1988), for example, when the idea is evaluated (harvey & kou, 2013). the type of management at work in relation to the individual involved in the process is also significant (dubois, 2013; andriopoulos, 2003), particularly in terms of motivation (parmentier & mangematin, 2009) and the allocation of resources to support their commitment (sonenshein, 2014). " the third endogenous factor relates to the organisation’s ability to renew itself (parmentier, 2014; napier & nilsson, 2006; durand, 2006). this is reflected by harnessing and exploiting new ideas which have appeared during the process (yong et al., 2014; dominguez, 2013) and through the organisation’s ability to learn (bucic & gudergan, 2004). crises, phenomena which are inherent to organisational creativity, directly influence the interpretation (or ‘sense-making’) which individuals have of a situation; if a point is repeated, it modifies the working situation which had originally been negotiated between the actors. drazin et al. (1999) illustrate this situation during crises in budget management or project planning; the manager has to imagine solutions (technological solutions, for example) in order to continue the project. this may involve often heated discussions, with the other actors involved in order to renegotiate the work situation (drazin et al., 199), but may also involve delegation of decision-making (bucic & gudergan, 2004). " based on these studies, we can see that these three endogenous factors directly influence organisational creativity, which will be greater the more the individuals are committed to the creative process, when the context is favourable to the emergence of ideas, and when the organisation is capable of renewing itself. organisational creativity under the indirect influence of the creative territory  " ford (1996),  agnihotri et al. (2014),  gilson et al. (2014), seibert et al. (2014) and anderson et al. (2014) underline the importance of the environment for the study of organisational creativity. the environment consists of the competitive market according to porter (1980), institutions (professional, cultural or legal) (dimaggio & powell, 1983; ford, 1996; washington & ventresca, 2004), and the creative territory (florida, 2002, 2005; joo et al., 2013). environmental influences are, moreover, indirect: they arise from the link between endogenous factors and organisational creativity (ford, 1996). they strengthen (or weaken) the individual’s commitment to the creative process; they make the context more (or less) favourable to the expression of ideas; they facilitate (or hinder) the harnessing of new ideas. " however, only a few rare, conceptual pieces of research look at the link between creative territory and organisational creativity (cohendet et al., 2010 and 2011;  tremblay & tremblay, 2010; cohendet & zapata, 2009; simon, 2009). these studies consider that the creative territory comprises three levels of organisational creativity and the creative territory! m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 61-88 63 interaction, consisting of individuals and/or organisations, but do not qualify the nature of the link between them. " the first level concerns the visible part of the creative territory: the upperground. the upperground consists of institutional organisations and innovative companies which are well known and recognised in the sectors of technology, art, culture and education (simon, 2009), from which the creative territory draws its creative force (gilly et al., 2014). policy direction may go handin-hand with resources being released, which thus strengthens organisations’ commitment to the creative process. " the second level of the creative territory is the underground: this encompasses exclusively individuals who are involved informally and confidentially in creative activities such as painting, design, fashion or entertainment (florida, 2002, 2005). the creativity, which is particular to the underground, participates directly in the concept of the ‘genius loci’, or the ‘spirit of place’ (norberg-schulz, 1980, p.37); this explains that individuals who are also engaged in creative processes are influenced by the resulting environment. " the last level is the middleground. this encompasses the groups, communities and associations to which the individuals mentioned above belong and which have a clear intention of participating in the development of the territory in creative terms, particularly through projects, events and competitions (cohendet et al., 2011). competitions, for example, introduce them to innovative practices (o’gorman & kautonen, 2004), which promote economic growth through the development of creative solutions (liotard & revest, 2015; hutter et al., 2011; morgan & wang, 2010). these groups lead the organisation to mix with other actors and, subsequently, to question how they operate and to learn from others. the middleground connects the other two levels of the creative territory: it ensures that the creativity of organisations is enriched by structured creativity but also by emerging and non-organised creativity (simon, 2009; parmentier, 2014). " this process of permanent exchange between the three levels leads the territory to become increasingly creative and to offer opportunities to organisations which harness valuable ideas to a greater extent (florida, 2002, 2005; tremblay & tremblay, 2010). but what process are involved? what is the nature of the influence between the creative territory and organisational creativity? illustration of the influence of the creative territory upon organisational creativity " an analysis of the literature leads us to understanding the creative territory as consisting of three levels (upperground, middleground and underground) and influencing the creativity of organisations through endogenous factors (individual commitment, organisational context, organisational ability to renew itself). the organisational creativity of all actors, whether inside or outside the creative territory, stimulates these three levels. in order to develop this research further, in this article we question the nature of this influence. our intention is to propose a theoretical conceptualisation within which the creative territory is integrated into the study of organisational creativity. figure 1 represents the framework, which will subsequently guide the exploratory research to answer this question. " given the definition of creative territory, not all organisations are directly under its influence. only those which have the desire to trigger or participate in the creation of knowledge in the territory and for its actors are affected (parmentier, 2014; cohendet et al., 2011). the decision to belong to a community, an association or a hub, or to participate in a project such as a competition around creativity, is an illustration of an organisation entering into the influence of the creative territory. consequently, organisations come and go from this influence depending on their strategy and are present there for different m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 61-88" gaëlle dechamp & bérangère szostak 64 lengths of time. this process reinforces the need to take into account the specific situation of each organisation (ford, 1996), and also the fact that they belong to the creative territory at the time of the study. this is the case of the organisations studied in the following part. figure 1. influence of the creative territory upon the organisational creativity of organisations research context and method research context " the data studied in this article were taken from a research project with the conseil général de la loire. researchers were able to participate in one of the initiatives developed as part of its ‘innovation and competitiveness’ programme. the objective of the programme was to promote the concept of an ‘innovative territory’ in a context where loire companies were (and are still) largely subcontractors for major contractors. table 1 below presents the loire territory and sets out the outline and content of the creative territory, which is the context of the study in question. " it is in this specific environment that the conseil général chose to create competitions around cross cutting subjects such as design. the competition studied here was entitled the ‘concours design concept’ (table 2). design is defined as a conceptual human activity combining culture and technique. its objectives may be industrialisation and commercialisation, but need not systematically be so (dechamp, 2000; szostak, 2006; ravasi & lojacono, 2005; berends et al., 2011; le masson et al., 2011; dechamp & szostak, 2013). organisational creativity and the creative territory! m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 61-88 65 1. the collectif designer+ is an organisation c r e a t e d i n 2 0 0 7 : h t t p : / / w w w. c o l l e c t i f designersplus.fr/. 2. the four projects in the competition and the 18 companies studied are presented in the annex (a and b). 3. the fifth project was finally discarded during the contest because the collective dimension could not be observed. table 1. features of the loire department and description of the loire creative territory the loire is a department with a surface area of 4,773km2, situated in the rhône-alpes. its economic context is strongly marked by its industrial history. in the 1960s, wealth came from traditional industries (armaments, coal, and metalwork), which have partly disappeared today. in the 2000s, public sector institutions therefore made the choice to invest in the development of design, focussing on the art school in the town of saint étienne and its long tradition of innovation. the cité du design and the international design biennial, as well as saint étienne’s status as a unesco ‘creative city of design’ are practical manifestations of this. the loire creative territory comprises the following: the upperground consists, among other things, of local public authorities (the town hall, the conseil général, the conseil régional), the cité internationale du design, higher education and research establishments, local competitiveness clusters and hubs (viaméca, pôle des technologies médicales) and a few major companies (thuasne, hef, casino). the underground includes creative individuals of all kinds: artists, inventors, arts students, etc. some make their creative status official through exhibitions, participation in third places and fablabs, and training resulting in qualifications. nevertheless, the majority continue to be a discrete population. in particular, the middleground includes collectif designers+, atelier du coin (an exhibition/sales area bringing together independent designers and artists), third places, and ‘off’ exhibition sites from the international design biennial. these communities have developed to bring together creative individuals who are isolated in the underground and who have no special relationship to the upperground; by coming together they become more visible. " table 2. presentation of the concours design concept following a call to tender by the conseil général in june 2007, an initial selection of five projects (of the nine submitted) was made by a jury of experts and institutional stakeholders. the projects were presented by clusters in the territory (loire numérique, mécaloire, pôle optique rhône-alpes, club erf entreprendre en roannais forez, and sporalec). the projects selected met several criteria: (1) a strong collective dimension with the creation of a consortium; (2) the potential development of a clean product; (3) implementation of collective project management through a specifications document supported by the clusters and the conseil général. the four projects3 which were selected and studied here each bring together: two to six smes belonging to the same cluster to guarantee institutional and industrial proximity, the leader or manager of the cluster, and between three and five designers belonging to the collectif designers+1 (a non-profit making organisation under law 1901 consisting of loire design agencies). in all, 18 companies were involved in the competition2. in the context of the competition, the designers were paid €5,000 per project by the conseil général. after five months of collective work, the ideas were presented to the final jury which chose the winners in july 2008. the three winning projects were then supported through to the prototype stage or industrialisation phase until 2010. m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 61-88" gaëlle dechamp & bérangère szostak 66 http://www.collectif-designersplus.fr http://www.collectif-designersplus.fr http://www.collectif-designersplus.fr http://www.collectif-designersplus.fr http://www.collectif-designersplus.fr http://www.collectif-designersplus.fr data collection " the position selected in this study is abductive: a literature review enabled us to confirm the existence of direct links between organisational creativity and the creative territory but, due to the lack of research into the nature of this influence, we explore the data in an inductive way. " various data are studied. interviews with smes are the main empirical material used.  we did, however, triangulate the information with other types of data: information on the companies themselves (internal documents, websites, media, site visits), all written documents relating to the competition for each of the projects (response to the call to tender, project monitoring, the jury’s decision setting out its reasoning), researchers notes during meetings with the conseil général as well as with leaders of the clusters and, finally, observations during the final phase of the competition. " individuals from the company who were involved in the competition (the manager and sometimes another employee) were interviewed, i.e. 26 actors representing 18 companies and 34 hours of interviews. three major themes were selected during the interviews: 1) presentation of the respondent, their organisation and their role within it. these answers enabled us to consider the individual’s commitment to the creative process and to characterise the quality of the context. 2) managers’ perception of design and creativity, the description of development activities for new products in their organisations. consideration of the context of organisational creativity as well as the ability to renew were addressed. 3) the background to the competition (meetings with members of the project, management methods for the partnership over time) and their feedback (lessons drawn and planned follow-up to the project); the information collated encouraged understanding of the three endogenous factors and, in particular, the ability to renew. all interviews were recorded, transcribed, approved by the respondents and used to draft one report relating to the competition4. data analysis " research is exploratory and is essentially based on the qualitative data. this approach was used not because of the nature of our data, but because our research approach is to construct rather than test (baumard & ibert, 2014). in our research, this involved positioning ourselves as interpreters of the research territory (stake, 1995), which required proximity to the actors in order to better understand them. this was possible because the organisers of the competition had requested our input to analyse their work. the approach consisted of analysing the content of the phenomenon explored here (grenier & josserand, 2014), i.e. characterising the nature of the influence of the creative territory on organisational creativity. this work led us to propose a new conceptualisation of this influence (charreire-petit & durieux, 2014). our research is focussed on the way in which actors give meaning to their experience, decisions and actions. from this perspective, we chose to concentrate largely on interviews with the 18 smes. the other data collated enabled a better understanding of the general context of the competition and shed light on the respondents’ statements. two reports5 explaining our level of understanding and our interpretations were prepared and discussed with the conseil général when we began the work (spring 2008) and then following the interviews (winter 2008-2009). these stages in the research process enabled us to measure external validity. in practical terms, interviews with the 18 smes were coded using nvivo 10 software. the three endogenous factors and the three levels of the creative territory as an exogenous factor enabled us to structure our observations (charreire-petit & durieux, 2014), as reflected in the proposal of six themes in organisational creativity and the creative territory! m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 61-88 67 4. during the round table, we explicitly indicated our status as researchers. this initial face-to-face meeting helped create a link with the actors during the interviews which were to take place later. 5. these are two 30-page and 90-page documents covering the themes of the guide, the main statements made and an analysis of each project. name of the theme coding rules (meaning of the group of words) extract from the statements theme 1: individual commitment description of their professional identity and background, their motivation, reasons for and objectives of their involvement, their role in the creative process and their external network. i contributed this idea, which i hold dearly. i am ready to promote it and share it with others.’ sme 9 theme 2: role of the organisational context the role of the organisational climate, atmosphere, good (or otherwise) relations between the actors, description of the organisation’s commitment to a creative process and to the competition. some people are faster than others. some people want to go at 200 mph and others prefer to take their time going 50 mph and everything has to arrive at the same place at the same time. when everyone is fully integrated into the project, it succeeds.’ sme 2 theme 3: organisation’s ability to renew itself the ability to change ideas, to draw lessons from successful experiences and failures, to handle crises and to recognise learning gained from a creative process and the competition. i really appreciated the experience even if we didn’t always see eye to eye with the companies and even through it was sometimes very tense. it was still very interesting to see how different people react and see what we could do next time to make it better.’ sme 10 theme 4: upperground of the creative territory identity of the actors in the upperground, description of their practical actions to generate new ideas which are useful to all actors within the creative territory. we can take something from our universities and give them back something in return, and they can work on actual concrete cases.’ sme 2 theme 5: middleground of the creative territory identity of the actors in the middleground, description of their activities within the projects/competitions which are visible to all actors in the creative territory. this [the objective of the competition] is very close to what we want to pass on to companies in the loire through collectif designer+. some of these sub-contractors will have to become producers with their expertise.’ sme 6 theme 6: underground of the creative territory identity put forward by the actors (artists, isolated creative people, etc.) of the underground, description of their confidential actions which are little, if at all, visible on the creative territory. now i say ‘light artist’ because it is a statement and i am very proud of it. before i would never have dared say i was an artist.’ sme 4 nvivo 10. with a view to guaranteeing the reliability of the coding, two of the interviews were double-coded; the cohen’s kappa coefficient was calculated based on the nvivo 10 request (without weighting the two sources): 68% intercoder agreement. this enabled us to fine-tune the meaning given to groups of words in order to classify them in categories and thus create coding rules (table 3). table 3. presentation and illustration of themes 1 to 6 coded in nvivo 10 " once each interview has been coded, we cross-referenced themes 1 to 3 on the one hand and 4 to 6 on the other, to obtain a matrix of results in nvivo (table 4). the statements where the respondents matched up endogenous factors with the level of the creative territory were thus isolated for analysis. " m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 61-88" gaëlle dechamp & bérangère szostak 68 table 4. number of cross-overs between endogenous factors and the creative territory theme 4: the upperground of the creative territory theme 5: the middleground of the creative territory theme 6: the underground of the creative territory theme 1: individual commitment 10 27 9 theme 2: quality of the organisational context 10 19 4 theme 3: organisation’s ability to renew itself 9 23 2 " the matrix proposes 113 statements in total, which indicates for the actors the existence of the influence of a creative territory upon organisational creativity. these statements emerge because they are coded simultaneously (entirely or partly) into themes which are specific to the endogenous factors or the creative territory; they are considered as emblematic of significant ideas for the organisations in question. however, this influence does not appear to work in the same way for each endogenous factor according to whether we look at the upperground, the middleground or, more discretely in our case study, the underground. this is why the statements of the nine cross-overs in the matrix were systematically analysed. initially, this stage in the analysis enabled us to appreciate the type of influence (positive, negative or neutral) of each level of the creative territory on the endogenous factors of organisational creativity of the organisations in the study. we then proceeded with a thematic analysis of the matrix by adopting an open coding approach as described by angot and milano (2014). this method enabled categories to emerge which indicate how influence takes place in the case study and enabled specific properties to be proposed for this influence as well as details of how they are expressed in practical terms to be developed through specific dimensions. the choice was made to name these properties and dimensions while remaining rooted in the territory in question. results  " our work consists of identifying the nature of influence of the creative territory upon the organisational creativity of companies. to this end, table 5 lists all the ideas reflected in the statements. we then seek to understand the meaning of this influence on the case study and propose four properties of the influence as well as dimensions reflecting the expression that they adopt. the creative territory strengthens more than it weakens the i m pa c t o f e n d o g e n o u s fa c to r s u p o n o r g a n i s at i o n a l creativity " in the study of the impact of the creative territory upon organisational creativity, it appears appropriate to distinguish three levels, because, although as a whole the upperground, middleground and underground strengthen the impact of endogenous factors, they may sometimes weaken it. to be more precise, the creative territory understood in terms of the upperground supports the involvement of the individual in the creative process, particularly by legitimating organisational creativity and the creative territory! m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 61-88 69 theme 4: the upperground of the creative territory theme 5: the middleground of the creative territory theme 6: the underground of the creative territory theme 1: individual commitment recognition of the creative individual through qualifications issued within the territory. direction of the individual’s commitment through the creation of links with other institutional actors. availability of resources enabling individuals to integrate into a network. creation of opportunities for recognised creative actors to meet. contribution of resources to the creative project led by the individual. facilitation of the transfer of knowledge and cross-fertilisation. creativity is revealed as a fundamental element in the individual. facilitation of interpersonal exchanges around creativity without any defined objective. refusal to request intellectual protection or intellectual property (in the case of patents). theme 2: quality of the organisational context provision of financial support and a legal framework for creative projects to minimise risk taking. source of extrinsic motivation. stimulation of a form of recognition towards an institution. support for the organisation to adjust itself to other actors and collaborate on a practical project. development of opportunities to exploit a ‘stock’ idea in the organisation and to generate others (development of creative slack). promotion of a positive halo around collaborative creative projects. source of disruptions in collaborative work through lack of ability to adapt to constraints. theme 3: organisation’s ability to renew itself availability of financial resources. recognition of lack of time to support organisations. stimulation of jointfunding from organisations. support for project launches, seeking new resources or integration into new clubs or associations. encouraging the organisation to exceed its paradigm (project proposals with a variety of actors, direct relationships) support for preventing and managing interorganisational crises (particularly due to intellectual property). promotion of intermediate and final results with actors in the territory. reveals lack of synchronicity between creative individuals not involved in projects relating to the organisation. the individual’s status through qualifications or by facilitating the creation of official relations with other actors who are institutionally promoted. ‘employees see that the company is making all these links with the pôle, with the cité du design (...) we want to lean against the cité du design, with the art school, to probably take on a young person.’ (sme 2) " the upperground also sets the context for relationships between actors, particularly in legal terms, which is supposed to limit opportunistic behaviour and encourage the development of the idea. it also provides financial resources: actors are thus more directly able to renew themselves in terms of lessons drawn from their experiences. ‘the agreement was signed with the conseil général and they have kept their promises. (...) whenever we have needed them, they were there, so i am satisfied with that.’ (sme 18). table 5. list of ideas characterising influence based on the analysis of the statements in the cross-over matrix " however, this development role may be hindered due to lack of time; the influence of the upperground is likely to be negative due to lack of time and, m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 61-88" gaëlle dechamp & bérangère szostak 70 hence, involvement in the organisation’s approach. it will then weaken the impact of the organisation’s ability to renew. ‘the project [with this type of project], is that it takes a huge amount of time. and nothing can be done about it. i am convinced that, on the one hand, there are groups such as the conseil général who are making requests but that, on the other hand, there are not necessarily many who respond, because too much time is needed.’ (sme 18). " the middleground may appear to have a positive influence overall on the three endogenous factors. the creative territory enables the individual to be involved in collaborations with partners who are themselves involved in creativity. this is an ‘opportunity’ for them, an ‘occasion’ to be seized in order to get to know one another better. ‘i wanted to work in partnership with my competitors.’ (sme 8) " this level of the creative territory also supports the transfer of knowledge across all these actors. in other words, it stimulates cross fertilisation through sharing original ideas. ‘in the collectif, i met many designers of objects and spaces; for me, this was entirely new.’ (sme 7) " its influence on the context level appears to be important, because the middleground, through the competition project, enabled the organisation to exploit ideas which had been put on the back burner, setting an operational framework to push actors towards action, to do ‘business’. ‘in terms of this operation, i presented [the cluster leader] with the idea of an outdoor interactive play area, because it’s a field i want to explore.’ (sme 9). " finally, the middleground facilitates the resolution of crises, particularly by helping actors to go beyond their paradigm to accept that of another, or to propose concrete solutions to difficulties (for example in the case of the management of intellectual property). not providing support during these crises may weaken the organisation’s ability to renew. ‘it would bother me if people stole my ideas, but if i allow them to use the technology on which i have been working, the more we talk the better it will be.’ (sme 4) " the last level of the creative territory, the underground, appears to have an overall negative influence upon endogenous factors. indeed, it tends to support the commitment of individuals by promoting their own creativity and by stimulating individual specificities as well as their individual paradigms.  this influence will disturb the organisational, collective climate and may therefore make it difficult to renew the organisation. ‘i’m not a salesperson, i am a creator. it’s the only thing i’m interested in.’ (sme 15). " this initial analysis of the statements suggests differences between the three levels of the creative territory (figure 2), even if, as a whole, the territory organisational creativity and the creative territory! m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 61-88 71 theme 4. the upperground of the creative territory theme 4. the upperground of the creative territory theme 4. the upperground of the creative territory theme 4. the upperground of the creative territory theme 5. the middleground of the creative territory theme 5. the middleground of the creative territory theme 5. the middleground of the creative territory theme 5. the middleground of the creative territory theme 6. the underground of the creative territory theme 6. the underground of the creative territory theme 6. the underground of the creative territory theme 6. the underground of the creative territory theme 1.individual involvement theme 2. quality of the organisational context theme 3. organisation's ability to renew itself studied in the study has a tendency towards strengthening the direct influence of endogenous factors upon organisational creativity. figure 2. proposition of the type of impact of the creative territory on the organisational creativity of the smes studied the influence of creative territory takes place through the intermediary of four distinct properties " differences in influence indicate that the creative territory is an object defined by different properties depending on its levels. the levels will have variable qualities and will thus be expressed differently. in this sense, we adopt a cross-cutting approach to the matrix to draw out four properties characterising this influence. table 6 visually represents the result presented here. table 6. nature of the links between the creative territory and the organisational creativity of smes studied black : p1 production of discourse. grey : p2 creation of opportunities to transform the idea into a project. blue : p3 roll-out of the project violet : p4 protection of the idea and the project. white squares indicate a property of the influence which is not significant to the case study. " property 1 (p1)  ‘production of discourse’: the creative territory produces discourse to promote the competition or other development opportunities which it initiates. it also promotes the actors and, in particular, the m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 61-88" gaëlle dechamp & bérangère szostak 72 organisations involved in a creative process by communicating and disseminating the (intermediate and final) results with all organisations (whether under its influence or otherwise). it showcases projects which also enables them to be legitimised. ‘the mechanical engineering iut in st étienne asked me to present my profession and to propose an awareness raising module in design to their first year students. there had already been discussions about projects with the bts at la martinière and honoré durfé.’ (sme 3) " property 2 (p2) ‘creation of opportunities to transform the idea into a project’: the creative territory is a facilitator for bringing actors together. it creates occasions and gives opportunities to actors. it stimulates their creativity by directing them in their business development (e.g. resources made available to them). it is a source of extrinsic motivation (winning the competition and obtaining funding in particular). ‘i know jacques well, so i wanted us to work together, it was an opportunity to do so’. (sme 14) ‘through the club des entreprises, we had the opportunity to respond to the conseil général’s call to tender.’ (sme 18). " property 3 (p3) – ‘roll-out of the project’: the creative territory steers relationships between the actors, supporting them to imagine the context which is most conducive to organisational creativity. it plays an important role in the case of crises in order to avoid destroying the creativity of each of the actors. it works consistently with paradigms of project actors which may be different or even opposing. ‘it was initially agreed [by the cluster leader], not to be limited to technologies mastered by the enterprise cluster in order to undertake a real reflection on the theme and not the resources.’ (sme 12) property 4 (p4) – ‘protecting the idea and the project’: the creative territory provides both the legal and moral context for the project so that actors feel safe to express their ideas and transform them into action. ‘there may perhaps be a concern about intellectual property, because this has just been copied. we are thinking it over with the pôle optique, and there was no real way to protect it.’ (sme 3). " based on these four properties, the nature of the influence of the creative territory upon organisational creativity proves to be more precise. it appears that this influence varies according to the endogenous factor in question. strengthening or weakening the impact of individual commitment doesn’t necessarily result from the same property. the four identified properties can be broken down into distinct dimensions " analysis of the statements, which are characteristic of the four properties, highlights the different dimensions or forms of expression of influence of the creative territory upon organisational creativity. this is the last result from the case study. the creative territory has an influence through the production of discourse (p1), which is consistent with the type of actors present, such as the conseil général, the town hall, universities and schools or competitive hubs. this organisational creativity and the creative territory! m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 61-88 73 discourse is expressed according to the scope of the audience (local, national, international): a state qualification validated by an establishment does not have the same impact as a local project in a region: this rationale also goes for obtaining a label such as the unesco ‘creative city’ label. it is also expressed through the subject of the discourse (is it connected to the announcement of the launch of the competition, the intermediate results or end results of the project?) and according to the speaker (what is the legitimacy of the actor speaking within the creative territory?). ‘for this project, i found it interesting to be able to lean on the conseil général, because i wanted them to be my first client. it was obvious that saint étienne should be our test bench (...); we could have gone to other communes.’ (sme 9). " the question of the allocation of resources, which is characteristic of the creation of opportunities to transform an idea into a project (p2), emerges clearly from the interviews. the impact appears to be greater on endogenous factors when this allocation covers different forms of resources (and not only financial resources). the scale of the resources mobilised and the intensity of the commitment of the creative territory in each of these are two significant dimensions in terms of studying the influence of the creative territory upon organisational creativity. moreover, we note that attachment to the creative territory of certain actors in the project contributes towards their motivation to transform the idea into a project. thus, the creative territory acts as a stimulator of two classic forms of motivation (intrinsic and extrinsic). ‘the collectif taught me a huge amount, because we had to work with designers who had more experience.’ (sme3) " the roll-out of the project (p3) indicates the role occupied by the creative territory in the different stages of the project. this role may simply relate to the transfer of ideas or the composition of the project; but creative territory may also be much more implicated by accompanying all phases of the project, potentially even leading it as head of the project (building a project team, piloting, crisis management, etc.). practical support varies. whether or not the creative territory takes on the role of project head, through its support for operational activities, it influences the impact of endogenous factors (e.g. by providing direction towards new resources if necessary and encouraging organisations to integrate new clubs or associations). ‘the esc has had little time to devote to each project. it’s a shame because it could have contributed a lot more than it did.’ (sme5) " protection of the idea and the project (p4) reveals distinct dimensions, among other things. if the creative person considers that this is not his or her main role, the organisations take a strong interest, particularly in the event of product development with a view to its commercialisation. the level of the actor is therefore important. in addition, we note that depending on the degree of advancement of the project, the question of protection is dealt with differently: during the pre-project stage and at the beginning, the actors essentially trust the legal framework imposed by the middleground; at times of crisis, the articles of the agreement connecting the actors are examined in detail to identify what the distribution of the potential value created could be. sometimes a new agreement is established to supplement or replace the legal framework previously defined by the competition. m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 61-88" gaëlle dechamp & bérangère szostak 74 propertiesproperties dimensions identified p1 production of discourse scope of the audience (local, national, international) subject of the discourse (announcing action, intermediate or final results) degree of legitimacy of the speaker (financial public institution, participating organisation) p2 creation of opportunities to transform the idea into a project breadth of resources mobilised (financial, time, material, human) intensity of the involvement of each resource (from low to high) degree of involvement in motivation (intrinsic and extrinsic) p3 roll-out of the project role occupied by the creative territory in the project (from a simple member to project leader) intensity of support for the project’s operational activities (low to high) p4 protection of the idea and the project level of the actor in question (from the individual to the group to the organisation) extent to which the project has progressed (from pre-project to post-project) ‘all companies have signed this agreement with the designers. the president of the ln signed it with the president of the collectif. things have to be dealt with immediately, if we want to continue working together. they think it is their project, and i don’t agree, although i acknowledge that they’ve done a lot of work’. (sme5) table 7. the properties and dimensions of the influence of the creative territory on organisational creativity " the dimensions of the four properties (table 7) relating to the influence of the creative territory on organisational creativity enable an evaluation of how much the integration of this exogenous factor in the analysis models enriches discussions, by studying both the discourse and, particularly, the action of the creative territory. discussion " this paper seeks to identify and characterise the nature of influence of the creative territory upon organisational creativity. it develops models of organisational creativity and enables a better understanding of the role which the creative territory plays in relation to an organisation. its strengths may be summarised in terms of the following major points. while the middleground strengthens the influence of endogenous factors, this phenomenon appears more measured for the upperground. the underground appears to have a more negative effect. the influence of the quality of the context may be disrupted by the underground, essentially because of the singularity of individuals. the influence of the individual’s commitment is strengthened by the entire creative territory. the organisation’s ability to renew is influenced heterogeneously. in addition, the creative territory influences organisational creativity according to four axes. it produces discourse with various outlines (depending on the content, scope of the audience, etc.). it creates opportunities for organisations to transform their ideas into concrete projects, particularly by allocating resources. it enables the roll-out of the project by playing a more or less involved role and, finally, it protects the idea and the project by taking into account the actor in question and the state of progress of the project. organisational creativity and the creative territory! m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 61-88 75 " highlighting the four properties and their dimensions enables a better understanding of how the creativity of the organisations studied has been influenced by the creative territory of the saint étienne region. in this last section, we have chosen to look more precisely at two points which emerge from these results: (i) opening up the organisation to the environment which extends beyond the scope of the creative territory and (ii) the role of the individual and intellectual property rights in this openness. towards a subtler model of an organisation opening up to its environment " according to teece et al. (1997) and teece (2007), the influence of the environment is significant and involves a particular organisational capacity in order to ‘sense and shape opportunities and threats, to seize opportunities, and to maintain competitiveness through enhancing, combining, protecting, and, when necessary, reconfiguring the business enterprise’s intangible and tangible assets’ (teece, 2007, p. 1319). these are dynamic capacities which enable the integration, construction or reconfiguration of knowledge and resources in order to create value. the environment thus becomes an endogenous variable for the analysis of these organisational capacities (teece, 2007). however, if we consider organisational creativity as a creative capacity (napier and nilsson, 2006; parmentier, 2014), our research highlights that, if it is known that this environment is multifaceted (between other competing spaces, the organisational field and the creative territory), it is important to study in detail the influence of the particularly heterogeneous creative territory. there has, therefore, to be a clear identification of the organisation’s environment in order to understand its impact on organisational capacities. for example, the creative territory differs from the innovative territory. this difference may be summarised by the degree of intensity of the link between the upperground and the market (low for the creative territory because of the diversity of links and actors, high for the innovative territory in order to develop specialised links). while the innovative territory is characterised by its interface with the upperground and the market (cohendet et al., 2011) in order to make innovations available to economic actors, the creative territory promotes interfaces between the three levels (underground middleground upperground) to encourage the conceptualisation and circulation of ideas, given that all actors do not have market access as their primary goal. it thus becomes relevant to identify the nature of the influence of the upperground upon the organisation, because this is the actor who straddles the two types of territory. " moreover, we note that the influence of the creative territory is conditioned by participation in a project, a competition or another mechanism, which leads us to slightly modify the permanent nature of the influence of the territory. while organisational capacities are likely to evolve due to this environment (teece, 2007), they may also be deliberately preserved for a period of time, which enables the organisation to take the time to e.g. explore in-depth newly acquired knowledge and resources as well as to preserve them internally in order to fully take control of the value created. consequently, it is notable that not only does the influence of the environment on the organisation’s capacities depend on the quality of the actors in that environment, but it may be strategically mobilised through a sequence of opening up and closing off the environment. moreover, and in reference to the so-called ‘open’ model of innovation (chesbrough, 2003), this contribution agrees with the nuances put forward by loilier and tellier (2011). indeed, they consider that the opposition (closed model versus open model) advanced by chesbrough (2003) has to be modified. this research states that organisations must open their borders in order to integrate external knowledge and stimulate technological innovation. they must also make the knowledge developed internally profitable and promote their reservoir of ideas m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 61-88" gaëlle dechamp & bérangère szostak 76 or creative slack (cohendet and simon, 2007) with external actors, disseminating their knowledge to third parties. the decision to be under the influence of the creative territory corresponds to these two objectives for the companies in question. however, absorption capacity is an essential feature of this model. moreover, it should be noted that internal r&d is a good knowledge base for achieving the two objectives cited above (loilier & tellier, 2011), which backs up our results: openness to the environment may be constructed deliberately and sequentially, depending on the desire to promote and/or protect ideas developed internally. making the most of the environment: the essential role of the individual and intellectual property rights " recent work on the micro-foundations of organisational capacities (félin et al., 2012; teece, 2007) stresses the importance of individuals and their interactions (foss, 2011), their motivation (jansen et al., 2009), their cognitive capacities (laamanen et al., 2009) and their ability to be ambidextrous (augier et al., 2009). ‘boundary spanners’ are individuals capable of identifying new opportunities and transferring knowledge from one world to another (levina et al., 2005, hsiao et al., 2012). in our work, we underline the importance of individual commitment which is, nevertheless, reflected in different ways. some individuals lead projects as the result of seizing an opportunity, others mobilise their external network (companies or institutional actors), while yet others share their knowledge and resources. this research thus enriches the existing typologies relating to boundary spanners (e.g. ancona and caldwell, 1992), by focussing on the identification of the nature of influence to which individual commitment is subject. even if, in our case, the three levels of the creative territory reinforce this commitment, they do not do so in the same way (see table 7). depending on the scope of the audience of the discourse led by the creative territory, the intensity of the resources available or the protection of the idea depending on the degree of advancement of the project, for example, the individual’s commitment may vary. " the variety of this commitment reflects the status occupied by the individual. our study indicates, notably, that for an independent person such as an artist in the underground, the question of patents is not essential, while this is less so for the same person when they are involved in a project led by the middleground. the investigation thus looks at issues around intellectual property rights (fréchet & martin, 2011) in the context of the openness of the company to its environment, in this case, the creative territory defined by three distinct levels. how can creative value be appropriated through original, new and useful ideas? this result backs up the work carried out on intellectual property rights in the context of open-innovation. while the patent is a closed system, it can strengthen open logics (pénin & wack, 2008; ayerbe & chanal, 2011), which certainly makes the context more favourable to the expression of ideas and makes the organisation adopt a position which is more likely to be renewed confidently, making the most of the value created. intellectual property rights act as a safety net in the sometimes acrobatic games undertaken by organisations in relation to the creative territory in particular and, more globally, with the environment. thus, property p4 highlighted in the case study proves to be essential for organisations to make the most of the environment. it should be noted, however, that the use of this property differs according to the level of the creative territory: the upperground sets the legal framework within which the project takes shape and the middleground addresses intellectual property rights in practice.  moreover, although it has been agreed that the open innovation model ‘relates more to the strategic status given to intellectual property rights than to mechanisms and clauses used to manage these rights which fall within a traditional transactional logic’ (loilier and tellier, 2011, p.3), it should be noted that our study shows that organisational creativity and the creative territory! m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 61-88 77 intellectual property may be invoked by the creative territory (via the upperground and the middleground) with the sole aim of encouraging collective creation. thus, the management of intellectual property is not only seen from the perspective of a financial strategy, but also as a means of encouraging collective innovation. conclusion " organisational creativity is influenced by the creative territory which produces discourse, creates opportunities, enables the roll-out of a project and protects it. the individual is the central actor in this approach and communication, motivation and trust are essential elements in the mechanisms led by the middleground. the organisation remains, however, the place where the project takes shape and is led, as well as where disputes are resolved. in this research, we put forward managerial implications by means of conclusion. initially, while the organisational creativity of all organisations contributes towards nourishing the creative territory, only those organisations involved in this area can benefit from its influence. this is, therefore, an encouragement to actors in the middleground to continue to create projects, competitions, festivals, biennials and other meeting places such as cafés, fablabs, third places, etc., to enable, initially, people from the underground to reveal their ideas so that, secondly, member organisations of such projects can harness them. moreover, to encourage a maximum number of organisations, the creative territory must continue to communicate and promote its real influence on organisational creativity. however, in order to turn this discourse into action, it is important that it considers its practical support to organisations’ projects to transform the idea into a project while helping organisations to appropriate the value of their ideas through intellectual property rights. this work therefore develops the issues raised by cohendet et al. (2011) on the role of the creative territory in relation to socio-economic actors. the presence alone of creative actors in the territory as initially described by florida (2002, 2005), does not necessarily influence organisations: it is essential to create spaces for exchange and links which encourage these actors to meet. the case shows how important it is to create a shared space within which creative projects can develop. as for organisations, they can draw from this research the fact that individual involvement is highly influenced by the creative territory. they all have an interest, therefore, in clearly identifying this space, how involvement in a project takes place and the objective of the project, as well as the qualities of the individuals involved. moreover, while their presence in the creative territory may last variable lengths of time, they may consider this as a strength, because it enables them to continually restrict their openness to others; they thus preserve some of the employees and protect their competitive advantage. " to conclude, this research merits being followed up, not least through a quantitative study to validate the meaning of the connections of influence put forward by the case study. to limit the bias of the observation of smes alone it would, moreover, be relevant to explore cases representing major companies; this would potentially complete the properties and dimensions highlighted in this paper. moreover, it would be wise to study a mechanism other than that of competitions, such as a classic call to tender, in order to enrich the initial results of this exploratory qualitative work. that said, the work, which has been carried out, shows the importance of integrating the creative territory (joo et al., 2013) into models of organisational creativity. this supports trends relating to the development of open innovation, which are considered as a key factor of success (jullien & pénin, 2014). in the case of organisational creativity, opening up to the creative territory as a source of ideas remains, nonetheless, at organisations’ m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 61-88" gaëlle dechamp & bérangère szostak 78 discretion, enabling them to retain control of their competitive advantage in the market. references agnihotri, r., rapp, a.a., andzulis, j.m. & gabler, c.b. (2014). examining the drivers and performance implications of boundary spanner creativity, journal of service research, 17(2), 164-181. amabile, t. (1988). a model of creativity and innovation in organizations, research in organizational behavior, 10(2), 123-167. ancona, d. & caldwell, d. (1992). bridging the boundary: external activity and performance of organizational teams, administrative science quarterly 37(4), 634-665. anderson, n., potocnik, k. & zhou, j. (2014). innovation and creativity in organizations: a state-of-the-science review and prospective commentary, journal of management, 40(5), 1297-1333. andriopoulos, c. (2003). six paradoxes in managing creativity: an embracing act  , long range planning, 36(4), 375 -388. angot, j. & milano, p. (2014). comment lier concepts et données  ?, in r.a. thiétart (ed.), méthodes de recherche en management, 197-218, paris: dunod. augier, m. & teece, d.j. (2009). dynamics capabilities and the role of managers in business strategy and economic performance, organization science, 20(2), 410-421. ayerbe, c. & chanal, v. (2011). quel management des dpi dans les business models ouverts ?, revue française de gestion, 1(210), 99-115. baumard, p. & ibert, j. (2014). quelles approches avec quelles données  ? in r.a. thiétart (ed), méthodes de recherche en management, 105-128, paris: dunod. berends, h., reymen, i., stultiens, r. & peutz, m. (2011). external designers in product design processes of small manufacturing firms. design studies, 32(1), 86-108. bucic, t. & gudergan, s. p. (2004). the impact of organizational settings on creativity and learning in alliances, m@n@gement, 3(7), 257 -273. carrier, c. & szostak, b. (2014). créativité, pme et entrepreneuriat  : des zones d’ombre et de lumière, revue internationale de la pme, 27(1), 13-34. carrier, c. & gelinas, s. (2011). créativité et gestion, les idées au service de l’innovation, québec: presses de l’université du québec. cattani, g. & ferriani, s. (2008). a core/periphery perspective on individual creative performance: social networks and cinematic achievements in the hollywood film industry, organization science, 19(6), 824–844. cerne, m., nerstad, c. g. l., dysvik, a. & skerlavaj ,m. (2014). what goes around comes around: knowledge hiding, perceived motivational climate, and creativity, academy of management journal, 57(1), 172–192. charreire petit, s. & durieux, f. (2014). explorer et tester : les deux voies de la recherché, in r.a. thiétart (ed.), méthodes de recherche en management, 76-104, paris: dunod. chesbrough, h.w. (2003). open innovation: the new imperative for creating and profiting from technology, boston, ma: harvard business school press. cohendet, p. & simon, l. (2007). playing across the playground: paradoxes of knowledge creation in the videogame firm, journal of organizational behavior, 28(5), 587-605. cohendet, p., grandadam, d. & simon, l. (2010). the anatomy of the creative city, industry and innovation, 17(1), 91-111. cohendet, p., grandadam, d. & simon, l. (2011). rethinking urban creativity: lessons from barcelona and montreal, city, culture and society, 2, 151-158. cohendet, p. & zapata, s. (2009). innovation and creativity: is there economic significance to the creative city?, international management, 13, 23-36. csikszentmihalyi, m. (2006). la créativité, paris: editions laffont. dechamp, g (2000). le rôle de l’environnement physique dans la stratégie de la pme de service, unpublised dissertation, université grenoble 2, france. dechamp, g. & szostak, b. (2013). regards croisés sur le design et la créativité en pme. dans t. levy-tadjine et z. su (dir.)., entrepreneuriat, pme durables et réseaux sociaux, 223-232. paris: l’harmattan. dimaggio, p.j. & powell, w.w. (1983). the iron cage revisited: institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational field, american sociological review, 48(2): 147-160. domínguez, e.s. (2013). work stressors and creativity, m@n@gement, 4(16), 479 -503. drazin, r., glynn, m. & kazanjian, r. (1999). multilevel theorizing about creativity in organizations: a sensemaking perspective, academy of management review, 24(2), 286-307. dubois, l-e. (2013). la gestion de la performance de création  : mieux comprendre les défis pour mieux les relever, revue gestion, 38(3), 16-24. durand, r. (2006). créativité organisationnelle, revue française de gestion, 32(161), 91-94. ekvall, g. (1995). participation and creativity: new forms of suggestion schemes in sweden, creativity and innovation management, 4(3), 152-159. felin, t., foss, n.j., jeimeriks, h. & madsen, t.l. (2012). microfoundations of routines and capabilities: i n d i v i d u a l s , p r o c e s s e s , s t r u c t u r e , j o u r n a l o f management studies, 49(8), 1351-1374. florida, r. (2005). the flight of the creative class. the new global competition for talent, new york, ny: harper collins. florida, r. (2002). the rise of the creative class: and how it's transforming work, leisure, community, and everyday life, new york, ny: basic books. ford, c. (1996). a theory of individual action in multiple social domains, academy of management review, 21(4), 1112-1142. organisational creativity and the creative territory! m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 61-88 79 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/s0142694x1000044x http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/s0142694x1000044x http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/s0142694x1000044x http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/s0142694x1000044x ford, c., sharfman, m. & dean, j. (2008). factors associated with creative strategic decisions, creative strategic decisions, 17(3), 171-185. ford, c. m. & gioia, d.a. (2000). factors influencing creativity in the domain of managerial decision making, journal of management, 26(4), 705-732. foss, n.j. (2011). why micro-foundations for resourcebased theory are needed and what they may look like. journal of management, 37(5), 1413–1428. frechet, m. & martin, a. (2011). la protection de l’innovation : utilisation alternative et combinée de m é t h o d e s p a r l e s e n t r e p r i s e s f r a n ç a i s e s . m@n@gement, 14(3), 120-152. gilly, jp, kechidi, m. & talbot, d. (2014). resilience of organizations and territories: the role of pivot firms, european management journal, 32(4), 596-602. gilson, l.l., maynard m.t., jones young, n.c., vartiainen, m. & hakonen, m. (2014). virtual teams research: 10 years, 10 themes, and 10 opportunities, journal of management, forthcoming. grant, a. & berry, j. w. (2011). the necessity of others is the mother of invention: intrinsic and prosocial motivations, perspective taking, and creativity, academy of management journal, 54(1), 73-96. grenier, c. & josserand, e. (2014). recherches sur le contenu et recherches sur le processus, in r.a. thiétart (ed.) méthodes de recherche en management, 129-165, paris: dunod. harrison, s. h. & rouse, e.d. (2015). an inductive study of feedback interactions over the course of creative projects, academy of management journal, 58(2), 375–404. harvey, s. & kou, c. y. (2013). collective engagement in creative tasks: the role of evaluation in the creative process in groups, administrative science quarterly, 58(3), 346–386 harvey, s. (2014). creative synthesis: exploring the process of extraordinary group creativity, academy of management review, 39(3), 324–343. heaton, j. (2004). reworking qualitative data, london: sage hemlin, s. (2009). creative knowledge environments: an interview study with group members and group leaders of university and industry r&d groups in biotechnology, creativity and innovation management, 18(4), 278-285. hsiao, r.h., dun-hou, t. & ching fang, l. (2012). collaborative knowing: the adaptive nature of crossboundary spanning, journal of management studies, 49(3), 463-491. hutter, k., hautz, j., füller j., mueller, j., & matzler, k. ( 2 0 11 ) . c o m m u n i t i t i o n : t h e t e n s i o n b e t w e e n competition and collaboration in community-based d e s i g n c o n t e s t s , c r e a t i v i t y a n d i n n o v a t i o n management, 20(1), 3-21. jansen, j.j. templeur, m.p., frans, a.j., van den bosch, j. & volberda, h.w. (2009). structural differentiation and ambidexterity : the mediation role of integration mechanisms, organization science, 20(4), 797-811. joas, h. (1999). la créativité de l’agir, paris: ed. du cerf. joo, b.-k., mclean, g. n. & yang, b. (2013). creativity and human resource development: an integrative literature review and a conceptual framework for future research, human resource development review, 12(4) 390–421. jullien, n. & penin, j. (2014). « innovation ouverte », in f. tannery, j-p. denis, t. hasfi et a-c. martinet (eds.), encyclopédie de la stratégie, 701-714, paris: vuibert. laamanen, t. & wallin, j. (2009). cognitive dynamics of capability development paths, journal of management studies 46(6), 950-981. le masson, p., hatchuel, a. & weil, b. (2011). the interplay between creativity issues and design theories: a new perspective for design management studies ?, creativity and innovation management, 20(4), 217-237. leonard, d. & swap, w. (1999). when sparks fly: igniting creativity in groups, boston, ma: harvard business school press. levina, n. & vaast, e. (2005). « the emergence of b o u n d a r y s p a n n i n g c o m p e t e n c e i n p r a c t i c e : implications for implementation and use of information systems » mis quarterly, 29(2), 335-363. liotard, i. & revest, v. (2016). le renouveau des concours aux états-unis : l'émergence de dispositifs d'incitation à l'innovation complémentaires aux brevets, revue d'economie industrielle, 153, 91-122 loilier, t. & tellier, a. (2011). que faire du modèle de l'innovation ouverte ?, revue française de gestion, 210, 69-85. lubart, t. (2003). psychologie de la créativité. paris: armand colin. morgan, j. & wang, r. (2010). tournaments for ideas, california management review, 52(2), 77–97. napier, n. k. & nilsson, m. (2006). « the development of c r e a t i v e c a p a b i l i t i e s i n a n d o u t o f c r e a t i v e organizations: three case studies  », creativity & innovation management, 15(3), 268-78. norberg-schulz, c. (1980). genius loci: towards a phenomenology of architecture, london, academy editions. o’gorman c. & kautonen m. (2004). policies to promote new knowledge-intensive industrial agglomerations. entrepreneurship and regional development, 16(6), 459-476. parmentier, g. (2014). la gestion des capacités créatives des organisations, habilitation à diriger des recherches, université p. mendes france, grenoble 2, cerag. parmentier, g. & mangematin, v. (2009). innovation et création dans le jeu vidéo, revue française de gestion, 191, 71-87. pénin, j. & wack, j.p. (2008). research tool patents and free-libre biotechnoloy: a suggested unified framework, research policy, 37(10), 1909-1921. perry-smith, j. e. (2006). social yet creative: the role of social relationships in facilitating individual creativity, academy of management journal, 49(1), 85-101. ravasi, d. & lojacono, g. (2005). managing design and designers for strategic renewal, long range planning, 38(1), 51-77. m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 61-88" gaëlle dechamp & bérangère szostak 80 sarooghi, h., libaers, d. & burkemper, a. (2015). examining the relationship between creativity and innovation: a meta-analysis of organizational, cultural and environmental factors, journal of business venturing, 30(5), 714-731.  seibert, s. e., kacmar, k. m., kraimer, m. l., downes, p.e. & noble, d. (2014). scholars' productivity. the role of research strategies and professional networks in management, journal of management, forthcoming. shalley, c. e. & zhou j. (2008). organizational creativity research: a historical overview. in j. zhou & c. e. shalley (eds.), handbook of organizational creativity, 3-31. new york, ny: lawrence erlbaum associates, shalley, c. e., zhou, j. & oldham, g. r. (2004). «  the effects of personal and contextual characteristics on creativity: where should we go from here ? », journal of management, 30(6), 933-58. simon, l. (2009). underground, upperground et middleground : les collectifs créatifs et la capacité créative de la ville, management international, 13 (se), 37-51. sonenshen, s. (2014). how organizations foster the creative use of resources, academy of management journal, 57(3), 814–848. stake, r. e. (1995). the art of case study research, london: sage. suire, r. (2013). innovation, espaces de co-working et tiers-lieux  : entre conformisme et créativité, working paper 2013-08, crem umr cnrs 6211. szostak, b. (2006). impact des facteurs organisationnels sur l’image institutionnelle des organisations. le cas des agences de design en france, unpublised dissertation, université lyon 3, france. teece, d.j. (2007). explicating dynamic capabilities: the n a t u r e a n d m i c r o f o u n d a t i o n s o f e n t e r p r i s e performance, strategic management journal, 28(13), 1319-1350 teece, d.j., pisano, g. & shuen, a. (1997). dynamic capabilities and strategic management, strategic management journal, 18(7), 509-533. tremblay, r. & tremblay, d-g. (2010). la classe créative selon richard florida  : un paradigme urbain plausible  ?, québec: editions presses universités du québec. wa s h i n g t o n , m . & ve n t r e s c a , m . ( 2 0 0 4 ) . h o w organizations change: the role of institutional support mechanisms in the incorporation of higher education visibility strategies: 1874-1995, organization science, 15(1), 82-97. weik e. (2012). introducing "the creativity of action" into institutionalist theory, m@n@gement, 5(15), 564-581. woodman, r. w., sawyer, j.e. & griffin, r.w. (1993). toward a theory of organizational creativity. academy of management review, 18(2), 293-321. yong, k., sauer, s.j. & mannix, e.a. (2014). conflict and creativity in interdisciplinary teams, small group research, 45(3), 266–289. organisational creativity and the creative territory! m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 61-88 81 appendix a. presentation of the four projects studied table a1. presentation of the four projects studied project a luminous fabric project b rfid patch project c play area project d evolving house number and nature of the economic entities concerned five entitles i.e. two smis, two design agencies, one cluster five entitles i.e. one smi, three design agencies, one cluster six entitles i.e. three smis, two design agencies, one cluster six entitles i.e. one smi, four design agencies, one cluster number of interviews 6 6 6 6 associated cluster pôle optique rhône-alpes numélink mécaloire erf key project idea a luminous fabric which can be used as a signalling element a multi-service digital card which is not in the form of a standard card. an intergenerational play area. an evolving habitat to enable people to stay at home despite illness or old age prize-winner (yes/no) yes yes no yes créativité organisationnelle et territoire créatif! m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 61-88 82 ta bl e b 2. p re se nt at io n of th e 18 s m e s st ud ie d (2 00 720 10 ) ta bl e b 2. p re se nt at io n of th e 18 s m e s st ud ie d (2 00 720 10 ) ta bl e b 2. p re se nt at io n of th e 18 s m e s st ud ie d (2 00 720 10 ) ta bl e b 2. p re se nt at io n of th e 18 s m e s st ud ie d (2 00 720 10 ) ta bl e b 2. p re se nt at io n of th e 18 s m e s st ud ie d (2 00 720 10 ) ta bl e b 2. p re se nt at io n of th e 18 s m e s st ud ie d (2 00 720 10 ) ta bl e b 2. p re se nt at io n of th e 18 s m e s st ud ie d (2 00 720 10 ) ta bl e b 2. p re se nt at io n of th e 18 s m e s st ud ie d (2 00 720 10 ) ta bl e b 2. p re se nt at io n of th e 18 s m e s st ud ie d (2 00 720 10 ) p ro je ct a lu m in ou s fa br ic p ro je ct a lu m in ou s fa br ic p ro je ct a lu m in ou s fa br ic p ro je ct a lu m in ou s fa br ic p ro je ct b r fi d p at ch p ro je ct b r fi d p at ch p ro je ct b r fi d p at ch p ro je ct b r fi d p at ch s m e 1 s m e 2 s m e 3 s m e 4 s m e 5 s m e 6 s m e 7 s m e 8 d at e of c re at io n 20 03 19 88 20 04 19 80 19 92 20 00 20 07 20 04 c on te xt o f t he cr ea tio n c re at io n c om pa ny ta ke ov er c re at io n c re at io n c om pa ny ta ke ov er c re at io n c re at io n c re at io n a ct iv iti es e ng in ee rin g ac tiv ity , te ch ni ca l s tu di es . c re at io n of el ec tri ca l l ig ht in g eq ui pm en t. a rtba se d ar tis tic cr ea tio n. c re at iv e, a rti st ic an d pe rfo rm an ce ac tiv iti es it p ro gr am m in g (s of tw ar e an d w eb si te s) s pe ci al is t d es ig n ac tiv iti es g ra ph ic d es ig n, m ul tim ed ia de si gn v is ua l c om m un ic at io n, gr ap hi c de si gn a nd w eb d es ig n e m pl oy ee s du rin g th e pr oj ec t 7 28 -3 0 1 1 10 1 1 1 h ea dq ua rte rs s t c ha m on d an d p ar is s t g en es t l er pt s ai nt é tie nn e ly on s ai nt é tie nn e s ai nt é tie nn e s ai nt é tie nn e s ai nt é tie nn e g eo gr ap hi c sc op e of th e ac tiv ity r eg io na l, na tio na l r eg io na l, na tio na l an d a lit tle in te rn at io na l r eg io na l r eg io na l, na tio na l r eg io na l r eg io na l, na tio na l r eg io na l, na tio na l a nd e ur op ea n r eg io na l, na tio na l e xp er ie nc e in de si gn ye s n o ye s ye s n o ye s ye s ye s ty pe s of c lie nt s b 2b , l ar ge co m pa ni es in st itu tio ns (s ch oo l, cl us te r) , sh op s (fr an ch is e) in st itu tio ns (c lu st er ), s m e in st itu tio n ex hi bi tio ns , in di vi du al s b 2b , l ar ge a nd sm al l c om pa ni es b 2b , l ar ge a nd sm al l c om pa ni es in st itu tio ns , in di vi du al s, s m e s an d su bs id ia rie s of m aj or co m pa ni es in st itu tio ns , s m e s an d s m is organisational creativity and the creative territory! m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 61-88 83 ta bl e a 2 (c on tin ue d) . p re se nt at io n of th e 18 s m e s st ud ie d (2 00 720 10 ) ta bl e a 2 (c on tin ue d) . p re se nt at io n of th e 18 s m e s st ud ie d (2 00 720 10 ) ta bl e a 2 (c on tin ue d) . p re se nt at io n of th e 18 s m e s st ud ie d (2 00 720 10 ) ta bl e a 2 (c on tin ue d) . p re se nt at io n of th e 18 s m e s st ud ie d (2 00 720 10 ) ta bl e a 2 (c on tin ue d) . p re se nt at io n of th e 18 s m e s st ud ie d (2 00 720 10 ) ta bl e a 2 (c on tin ue d) . p re se nt at io n of th e 18 s m e s st ud ie d (2 00 720 10 ) ta bl e a 2 (c on tin ue d) . p re se nt at io n of th e 18 s m e s st ud ie d (2 00 720 10 ) ta bl e a 2 (c on tin ue d) . p re se nt at io n of th e 18 s m e s st ud ie d (2 00 720 10 ) ta bl e a 2 (c on tin ue d) . p re se nt at io n of th e 18 s m e s st ud ie d (2 00 720 10 ) ta bl e a 2 (c on tin ue d) . p re se nt at io n of th e 18 s m e s st ud ie d (2 00 720 10 ) ta bl e a 2 (c on tin ue d) . p re se nt at io n of th e 18 s m e s st ud ie d (2 00 720 10 ) p ro je ct c . p la y ar ea p ro je ct c . p la y ar ea p ro je ct c . p la y ar ea p ro je ct c . p la y ar ea p ro je ct c . p la y ar ea p ro je ct d . e vo lv in g ho us e p ro je ct d . e vo lv in g ho us e p ro je ct d . e vo lv in g ho us e p ro je ct d . e vo lv in g ho us e p ro je ct d . e vo lv in g ho us e s m e 9 s m e 10 s m e 11 s m e 12 s m e 13 s m e 14 s m e 15 s m e 16 s m e 17 s m e 18 d at e of cr ea tio n 19 91 20 01 19 99 19 91 19 93 19 89 19 84 20 05 19 97 19 26 c on te xt o f th e cr ea tio n c re at io n c re at io n m er ge rac qu is iti on c re at io n c re at io n c re at io n c re at io n c re at io n c re at io n ta ke -o ve r a ct iv iti es o ve ra ll co nc ep tio n an d as se m bl y of c on tro l eq ui pm en t f or in du st ria l pr oc es se s on an in du st ria l si te li ve pe rfo rm an ce ar ts s ce no gr ap hy p ro du ct de si gn c ut tin g an d em bo ss in g s pe ci al is t de si gn ac tiv iti es w oo d im pr eg na tio n o th er ac tiv iti es to su pp or t co m pa ni es s pe ci al is t de si gn ac tiv iti es in te rio r d es ig ne r: in te rio r de co ra tio n an d de si gn o f h ou se s s pe ci al is t d es ig n ac tiv iti es c re at or w oo dw or k e m pl oy ee s du rin g th e pr oj ec t 4 3 32 1 (+ p ar tn er ne tw or k) 20 23 12 1 1 + pa rtn er s in th e ne tw or k 11 h ea dq ua rte rs s t c yp rie n s ai nt é tie nn e s ai nt é tie nn e ta rta ra s s av ig ne ux s ai nt é tie nn e s ai nt é tie nn e fi rm in y s t g al m ie r r oa nn e g eo gr ap hi c sc op e of th e ac tiv ity r eg io na l, na tio na l a nd e ur op e r eg io na l r eg io na l, na tio na l a nd gl ob al r eg io na l r eg io na l, na tio na l r eg io na l r eg io na l, na tio na l r eg io na l e xp er ie nc e in de si gn ye s ye s ye s ye s ye s ye s ye s ye s ye s ty pe s of cl ie nt s r es ea rc h la bo ra to rie s, in st itu tio ns , s m e s an d m aj or co m pa ni es in st itu tio ns , pr od uc t pu bl is he rs h os pi ta ls , sc ho ol s, di st rib ut or s, m aj or co m pa ni es s m e s/ s m is c re at or s, tra de rs in st itu tio ns , s m e s, m aj or co m pa ni es (g s a ), di st rib ut or s in di vi du al s b 2b (s eb , th om so n, th al ès , a qu ilu s) s m e in di vi du al s, in st itu tio na l bu ild in g re no va tio n m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 61-88" gaëlle dechamp & bérangère szostak 84 6. the statements in this section refer to the smes presented in annex 1 and to the cluster leaders. appendix b. detailed presentation of projects6 project 1 luminous fabric. the ‘pôle optique rhône alpes’ (or ora) brings together companies in the optical sector; it has supported a project whose idea was to create new products using a luminous fabric, such as luxury hotel doors or cruise ship cabins. the cluster (in agreement with the collectif designers+) took a more managerial role in the composition of the project than in later projects. the two design agencies in the collectif initially drew upon knowledge within the cluster to better understand the technology of luminous fabric. thus, these actors identified their level of technical incompetence and worked to bridge these gaps. the result was thoroughly beneficial to these actors, who now continue to use their creative skills to continue this project. in this sense, organisational creativity has been improved for company managers although they have sometimes struggled to accept the role of design agencies in the collective; organisational renewal has been implemented and it has even been voted on for the future. faced with lack of understanding during the project, the cluster leader played the role of negotiator. the cluster leader convinced smes by explaining to them the background of the entrepreneurs and the strong foundations of their partnership with these creative actors. this manoeuvre succeeded because of the frequency of relations between all the project actors: this enabled tensions to be rapidly dispelled, to create a common language within the three groups present. getting to know one another but also meeting regularly with actors in the creative territory appears to be crucial for the success of the partnership and the transfer of knowledge. project b - rfid patch. ‘loire numérique’ (which has since become ‘numélink’) is a cluster bringing together companies specialising in digital, software and hardware. the project is basically centred on one company, sme5, which develops interactive internet databases, two product design agencies and a graphic design agency. the project consists of creating a loyalty card which is shared between local services and shops. the designers propose transforming the physical card into a patch, which can be stuck to and removed from objects in daily life (mobile phone, wallet, bag, diary, etc.). the project has been a success. sme 5 was very involved in the project and was able to draw upon the creativity of the designers in the territory. it considers that the design adds significant value to their competitive advantage. this has also strengthened the renewal which began a few years earlier following submission of a company report, which was finally taken over by the director involved here: the sme undertook this change in line with actions undertaken by actors in the upperground of the creative territory. for the collectif designers+ (middleground), this project enabled the creation of ‘special relationships’ between creative actors (members of the collective in particular) and companies in the territory. this point of view is also expressed by the organisers, who consider the competition mechanism in this project as a success. it has enabled an enrichment of the designers in their professional practice with companies who have seized the opportunity of the creative territory, which has become visible thanks to the joint action of territorial actors from the upperground and the middleground. project c play area. this project is led by the ‘mécaloire’ cluster which brings together companies and institutions specialising in mechanics and related technological innovation. sme9 is a major actor in this project. three other smes, design agencies from the collectif designers+ joined the project. the objective was to design an open air play area where all generations could relax or play. parallel bars, benches, signposts, etc. were key elements of the whole; the particularity was in the use of a shared structural form enabling, like a game of organisational creativity and the creative territory! m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 61-88 85 lego©, all the elements of the whole to be created, developing a unique identity for the play area. this project is considered to have been a failure. the lack of connection between the mechanical companies, the mécaloire cluster and the collectif designers+ appears to partially explain the final situation. the agencies failed to coordinate the creative dimension, despite the proposed framework. the mechanical companies considered, among other things, that they were ‘creative actors’ and took up a competitive stance in relation to the designers rather than a partnership approach. as such, they found it difficult to recognise the legitimacy of the collectif designers+, despite the clear signals from the conseil général (budget allocated to agencies, official recognition of the collectif, etc.). one of the keys to understanding the situation resides in the differences in appreciation: the cluster did not appear to be fully convinced of what the agencies bring, which was reinforced by the lack of coordination between the three agencies. another explanation is the lack of clarity in the roles of each of the participants, particularly in terms of the intellectual property of the creative results. this difficulty was a barrier to the full fruition of the original ideal at the start of the project. this case highlights the fact that, even when all actors are aware of the others, the concrete formalities of the partnership need to be defined without ambiguity. the middleground plays an important role in facilitating mutual understanding of the objectives and must bring actors together, which the leader of the cluster in this project failed to do. without this, the actors cannot engage in the creative process; the organisational renewal of the sme even appeared to be set back, due to the institutional and industrial proximity which had been weakened. project d evolving house. this fourth initiative is based on the erf (entreprendre roanne forez) cluster, which brings together craft-related structures to share their ideas and experiences to develop their activity in the roannais forez area. this project aimed to create the ‘house of the future’, a house which could be adapted to the needs of the inhabitants (handicap, illness, young children, elderly people). sme18 and four design smes worked together on this creative project. this project was considered to be a success although the objective was not fully achieved, which was understandable, given its scale. in addition, this sme was familiar with the collectif, and rapidly understood the positive impacts which the creative territory could have upon its organisational creativity; and the agencies had the confidence to share their creative expertise. two elements can explain the success of this case: the strong involvement of the middleground, personified through the active participation of the president of the collectif in the project, and the strong involvement of the various actors: the sme and the design agencies worked together to jointly construct the problem and the solution. this put them at ease and thus supported their involvement in the creative process. m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 61-88" gaëlle dechamp & bérangère szostak 86 gaëlle dechamp is assistant professor of management sciences at the university of lyon, st etienne site. she is a member of the laboratory coactis. her interests cover the integration of creative practices (including design) in smes, innovative teaching practices and the ways of developing creative territories. she’s deputy responsible for the project “fabrique de l’innovation” of university of lyon. bérangère szostak is assistant professor at the university of lyon 2. her expertise concerns organizational creativity within firms and in the organizational field as creative industries. she is particularly interested by the integration of design within small and medium enterprises (sme) and in entrepreneurship. she has been co-editor of three special issues about organizational creativity: gestion (2013), revue internationale de la pme (2014), and management international (in progress). acknowledgements. we thank s. liarte and the three anonymous reviewers for quality, speed monitoring and decisive provide feedback in the development of this article. thanks also go to martine seville and marc fréchet to the advice given during the different stages of this work. the aims community which hosted an early version of the project in 2014 is gratefully acknowledged. organisational creativity and the creative territory! m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 61-88 87 © the author(s) www.management-aims.com m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 61-88" gaëlle dechamp & bérangère szostak 88 http://www.management-aims.com http://www.management-aims.com 01 224 ouahab&maclouf 2019 m@n@gement 2019, vol. 22(4): 537-558 diversity and struggles in critical performativity. the case of french community-supported agriculture alban ouahab ! étienne maclouf accepted by associate editor jeremy morales abstract. this article contributes to the debates about critical performativity (cp), a research program aimed at reorienting critical management studies toward affirmative and transformative research. while some scholars explain how cp can be engineered to create alternative organizations, others remain skeptical, exposing its potential for failure. we examine alternative organizations with a particular focus on the struggles in which they are entangled, such as competition with other performative programs and normative agendas. these struggles cause permanent reconfigurations to agencements and make the future effects of performative engines uncertain. to understand these reconfigurations, we look at the transformation of already established alternative organizations. we conducted a case study on french community-supported agriculture (csa), which is illustrative of cp “in the field,” looking at how the csa network can engineer local organizations. we show how the struggles between competing performative programs produce diversity, in time and space, of organizational settings and goals within the french csa movement. our contributions are twofold. firstly, because of the struggles in which it is entangled, a performative engine can create diverse and potentially competing normative content rather than a single stable agenda. secondly, deviations from the initial normative content are not neutral and may undermine the subversive potential of those agencements. ultimately, we call for a research agenda which would look beyond the implementation of subversive practices to question the way subversive agencements develop, and which would acknowledge that cp is also about struggles between competing engines. keywords: critical performativity, community-supported agriculture, alternative organizations, critical management studies, performative engine introduction the concept of critical performativity (cp) has recently gained traction among critical scholars. cp is broadly understood as “active and subversive intervention into managerial discourse and practices” (spicer, alvesson & kärreman, 2009: 538). the new challenge is to prompt the growing critical management studies (cms) community to take a more “affirmative” stance (spicer et al., 2009): to engage directly with organizations by pushing forward alternative discourses, practices and organizational models. the cp research program, which rethinks the role of critical scholars, seeks to understand under what conditions cp can be done and how. �537 alban ouahab escp europe, paris france alban.ouahab@escpeurope.eu étienne maclouf la rochelle université (iae, cerege), mnhn (cesco), largepa france etiennemaclouf@gmail.com m@n@gement, vol. 22(4): 537-558 alban ouahab & étienne maclouf different strategies, ranging from activism and interventions in alternative organizations (king, 2015; reedy & king, 2017) to support middle managers in their reflexive thinking (hartmann, 2014; schaefer & wickert, 2016; wickert & schaefer, 2015), have been proposed to promote the cp agenda. yet many scholars have expressed their skepticism about cp’s potential to transform society. for example, in downplaying the hostility toward the critical agenda, proponents of cp may underestimate its potential for failure (fleming & banerjee, 2016) and overlook the influence of multiple and competing agendas (sage, dainty & brookes, 2013). concerns have also been raised that it is necessary to acknowledge the plurality of understandings around the concept of performativity to unleash the full potential of a cp agenda (cabantous, gond, harding & learmonth, 2016; learmonth, harding, gond & cabantous, 2016). performativity should not be considered as a strictly discursive process, but should be defined as “happen[ning] through the political engineering of sociomaterial agencements” (cabantous et al., 2016: 197; leca, gond & barin-cruz, 2014). these authors seek, in particular, to incorporate developments from the sociology of science (callon, 1998b; mackenzie, 2003; mackenzie, muniesa & siu, 2007) and gender studies (butler, 1990). taking this perspective, we define cp as the enactment of subversive practices through the competition of a subversive agencement against other agencements pursuing their own agenda. although we still lack empirical cases (huault, karreman, perret & spicer, 2017), there have been detailed examples that show how cp can be engineered through material devices (leca et al., 2014). prior empirical studies of cp have focused on the formation of new organizations. our article contributes to the debates about the potential of cp by looking at the materialization and evolution of a critical agenda. we explore how a performative engine, and the alternative organizations it contributes to creating, struggle against competing performative engines. we look at how these struggles participate in reconfiguring agencements and making the future effects of performative engines uncertain. our research is grounded in a case study on community-supported agriculture (csa), an empirical case which we show to be illustrative of cp emanating from “actors in the wild” (callon, 2007: 336). csa aims to move consumption practices away from large food retailers in favor of small local places of distribution where product selection does not belong to the consumer but is negotiated according to the production capacity of farmers. it promotes the renewed direct social support of farmers by consumers, seeking to free them from the domination of agro-industrial multinational corporations (hérault-fournier, 2013). the first french csa was created in 2001 at aubagne in the south east, influenced by similar 1 us-based organizations. the model rapidly spread, with new csas emerging all over the country. a nationwide federation was created along with a specific charter, demonstrating the desire to institutionalize the model (lanciano & saleilles, 2011) around specific normative ideas, in particular organic production, direct relations and long-term engagement. our ethnographic study focuses on csas in the paris area (ile-de-france), one of the most dynamic regions in terms of the number of csas, where we analyzed ten organizations. an additional perspective was gained through the study of one csa located in the alps. some of the csas are almost twenty years old, giving us the opportunity to explore cp at an advanced stage in the organizations’ life. we interviewed members and farmers, and we documented the various ways in which actors engage with �538 1. in france, csa associations are called amaps (association pour le maintien d’une agriculture paysanne). d e s p i t e l o c a l v a r i a t i o n s a n d adaptation, amaps were created based on the american csa model. for this article in english we have d e c i d e d t o r e f e r t o t h e s e organizations as csas. diversity and struggles in critical performativity. the case of french community-supported agriculture m@n@gement, vol. 22(4): 537-558 their local csa. we also documented the functioning, concrete organizing principles and the relation of these communities to the national charter and csa federations to trace the diverse influences behind their actions. our results show that the csa network actively supports the development of alternative organizations, local csas, by translating and circulating theoretical knowledge and organizing feedback loops between local actors and the network. this network therefore acts as a performative engine. our analysis follows prior studies that demonstrate the competition between different performative programs (sage et al., 2013) and includes the influence of other alternative food networks on csa members (ripoll, 2009). our results show that the differences between programs are not neutral. rather, they reveal conflicting normative principles and the enactment of diverse different critical agendas, accounting for the multifaceted nature of french csas. our analysis offers a better understanding of the potential for cp failure or success by acknowledging the lack of a stable critical agenda performed by alternative organizations. conceptual framework the promises of a performative turn in cms the concept of cp is part of a larger "performative turn" in organization studies (mackenzie et al., 2007: 4). performativity is broadly used to move beyond the artificial distinction between discourse and action. various understandings of performativity have been developed (gond, cabantous, harding & learmonth, 2016) since austin’s first writings on the concept (1962). gender studies have looked at how actors constantly constitute their identity performatively through micro-practices (butler, 1990), while the sociology of science (callon, 1998b) has been prolific in highlighting the feedback loops between theories and a social reality they seek to describe and how scientific theories “contribute toward enacting the realities that they describe” (callon, 2007: 315). in management science, the different uses of performativity have helped scholars to rethink many phenomena, such as the strategic process (cabantous & gond, 2011; guérard, langley & seidl, 2013) or the constitution of actors’ identity (tyler & cohen, 2010). debates about performativity were initially beyond the scope of cms. cms has mainly been about denaturalizing managerial discourse and demonstrating domination at work. it has sought to develop reflexivity and a critical distance from instrumental knowledge (alvesson, 2004: 57; fournier & grey, 2000). although cms has now been institutionalized (hartmann, 2014), critical research has faced the risk of being marginalized because of a lack of relevance and its negative stance focused on denouncing alienation. to inspire an affirmative stance in cms, spicer et al. (2009) proposed a new research framework, namely critical performativity, defined as "active and subversive intervention into managerial discourse and practices" (2009: 538). if the language of managerialism can performatively create alienating and oppressive practices, then it “may equally work the other way round” (wickert & schaefer, 2015: 115). accordingly, spicer et al. proposed specific methods for interventions involving the use of mixed metaphors, working with mysteries, applying communicative actions, exploring heterotopias and engaging in micro-emancipation (2009). critical engagement has long been characterized as perilous (king, 2015). by identifying methodologies for subverting managerial discourses, cp is designed to facilitate further engaged research. � 539 m@n@gement, vol. 22(4): 537-558 alban ouahab & étienne maclouf spicer et al.'s (2009) seminal article gave rise to a new stream of academic articles expressing interest in the cp agenda. this includes papers on how to conduct research in cms by fostering subversive functionalism (hartmann, 2014), creating performative engines to expand critical projects (leca et al., 2014) and new avenues for critical studies in marketing (tadajewski, 2010) or leadership (alvesson & spicer, 2012). there have also been proposals to foster incremental rather than radical change through engagement with middle managers in mainstream organizations (schaefer & wickert, 2016; wickert & schaefer, 2015). founding research on cp highlighted the great potential of engaging with alternative organizations (parker, fournier & reedy, 2007): the exploration of such organizations, such as cooperatives (bryer, 2014), can help critical scholars focus on what might be rather than criticizing what currently exists (spicer et al., 2009). different types of alternative organizations have been explored in the cp literature. these include cooperatives (leca et al., 2014), the john lewis partnership (paranque & willmott, 2014), empresas recuperadas (esper, cabantous, barin-cruz & gond, 2017), a therapeutic art organization, a national campaign group or diy activists (king, 2015). there is still much to explore and cp studies still lack strong empirical case studies (huault et al., 2017). limits to the transformative potential of cp this first conceptualization of cp was also heavily criticized and led to vociferous debates within the community (see particularly human relations special issue, 2016). the criticism centered on the overly optimistic view of the potential of cp, its failure to account for competing performative programs and incompatible views on performativity. the idea of bringing about critical change through a cp agenda raises doubt and skepticism. engagement with practice is always a source of tension and risk of compromise (king, 2015). it can even turn out to be paralyzing, thus paradoxically preventing further action (king & learmonth, 2015). critical perspectives face a hostile neo-liberal context which hinders the spread of critical practices (fleming & banerjee, 2016). more broadly, others have argued that theory and practice are part of two different systems unable to fully communicate with each other: failure is the rule rather than the exception (knudsen, 2017). understanding failure is nevertheless a fertile empirical ground for exploring cp and the limits to its transformative potential (aggeri, 2017). failure in cp is understood as the outcome of competition between different performative programs (allen, brigham & marshall, 2018; sage et al., 2013). performative programs aimed at transforming reality confront other competing programs proposed by different actors. similarly, because performativity simultaneously happens through discursive, bodily, emotional and social practices, these different practices must be taken into account to fully acknowledge the complexity of performativity (küpers, 2017). the issue of success and failure of performative programs is thus a central concern in the current debate about cp. to pursue this debate, we will now present and follow recent theoretical developments which draw on materiality to develop a better understanding of performative process. using materiality to explore diversity and struggles in cp scholars have linked the failure of cp to the way it was first theorized, mixing incompatible understandings of performativity. they �540 diversity and struggles in critical performativity. the case of french community-supported agriculture m@n@gement, vol. 22(4): 537-558 particularly emphasize its material dimension and the contributions of the sociology of science to recent studies on performativity (cabantous et al., 2016; learmonth et al., 2016). they insist that cp is about “engineering sociomaterial agencements,” which affect the constitution of subjects beyond a strictly discursive perspective (cabantous et al., 2016: 209). they contend that clarifying the theoretical understanding of performativity in cp will unleash the concept’s full potential and overcome its limitations. we will follow cabantous et al.'s (2016) emphasis on the materiality of cp. inspired by the sociology of science (callon, 1998b; mackenzie et al., 2007), this allows us to understand performativity outside a purely discursive process by integrating non-human actors and agencements, that is “the assemblages or arrangements—which are simultaneously human and nonhuman, social and technical, textual and material—from which action springs” (mackenzie et al., 2007: 14). the explanatory potential of material perspectives in cp has been illustrated in empirical studies on the performativity of theories: materialization of the online dating industry's ideology through algorithms (roscoe & chillas, 2014); the design of sociomaterial agencements by scholars to push forward critical theories (esper et al., 2017); and the creation of incubators for cooperatives in brazil, which work as performative engines (leca et al., 2014). this last case study highlights how brazilian academics participate in the development of cooperativism by supporting local entrepreneurs who are building cooperative firms. leca et al. (2014) develop the concept of "performative engines": organizations, such as incubators, that have an interfacing role between academics and practitioners to support the realization of a particular organizational model. these engines co-construct the cooperatives. they work to “shape different environments to support the realization of alternative bodies of knowledge” (leca et al., 2014: 689). according to this perspective, something utopian can be progressively enacted. by discussing and operationalizing alternative material agencements, performative engines contribute to building alternative organizations. although this understanding of cp, incorporating material agencements, has been criticized for its definitional purity (schaefer & wickert, 2016) and intellectualism (spicer, alvesson & kärreman, 2016), it is useful to explore the struggles and competition between different programs: the performativity approach makes it possible to exhibit the struggle between worlds that are trying to prevail; it makes the struggle for life between statements visible. each statement, each model, battles to exist. but the darwinian metaphor stops there. in reality this struggle between statements is a struggle between sociotechnical agencements. (callon, 2007: 332) with the significant exception of sage et al. (2013), this question of struggles has remained absent from cp studies. different alternative organizations may simultaneously try to enforce different and even competing subversive programs, reminding us that, in actor-network theory studies, “the norm is not the smooth performance of economics but c o n fl i c t s , u p s e t s , c r i s e s , a n d c o m p e t i t i o n b e t w e e n d i ff e r e n t ‘programs’” (mackenzie et al., 2007: 16). in keeping with this understanding of cp, we define cp as the enactment of subversive practices through the competition of a subversive agencement against other agencements pursuing their own agenda. accordingly, alternative organizations can be considered with the struggles in which they are entangled. for instance, the case study on brazilian cooperatives � 541 m@n@gement, vol. 22(4): 537-558 alban ouahab & étienne maclouf illustrates the process through which local entrepreneurs become interested in creating cooperatives, particularly when receiving technical and managerial knowledge from scholars (leca et al., 2014). however, the long-term effects of performative engines remain unknown. once the technical knowledge has been acquired, entrepreneurs may go on to create subsequent businesses not as cooperative but as for-profit companies, being interested in other agencements focused on profit maximization. the stabilization of cooperatives is beyond the scope of the study. as explained above, the broader institutional context can favor other agencements (fleming & banerjee, 2016), hindering the performative effects of the brazilian cooperative incubators. in this article, we explore how a specific critical agenda is materialized and stabilized and how it evolves (cabantous et al., 2016; learmonth et al., 2016). we extend the cp research agenda by taking account of the struggles in which alternative organizations are entangled. these struggles cause permanent reconfigurations of agencements and make the future effects of performative engines uncertain. methodology a case study on csa to explore our research question, we conducted a case study on french csas . csas are alternative food networks in which consumers 2 buy a share of a local farmer’s production on a regular basis. the first french csa is relatively recent, established in 2001, but is part of an older global movement including the 1960s japanese teikei and the 1980s us csa model (ripoll, 2009). french csas were launched as a tool for sharing the risk of irregular agricultural production between farmers and consumers (lamine, 2005), for stabilizing cash flows and income for farmers (olivier & coquart, 2010) and even as an empowerment device (dubuisson-quellier & lamine, 2008). different alternative food networks coexist around the idea of a “basket system” in which a prepared assortment of produce is offered to consumers (dumain & lanciano, 2010; ripoll, 2009), but the french csa network is a key actor which has gone through an institutionalization process (lanciano & saleilles, 2011). the regional csa network (amap île-de-france), created in 2004, handles activities such as enforcing the charter, providing training sessions, institutional relations and giving advice on how to run daily activities. this network is financed through a small fee paid by each csa member , but 3 also to a large extent by state subsidies . our case study focuses on how 4 this network can (or fails to) engineer local csas. in the greater paris area, where we mainly focused our research, the first csa opened in 2003, and around 15,000 households are now spread across 300 csas supplied by around 160 farmers. csa has become the main regional actor for the development of organic farming (blanc, 2012). each csa is a non-profit association operated by independent volunteer members. we chose this case because it is an example of an alternative organization that aims to challenge mainstream economic values (bloemmen et al., 2015) by arranging and facilitating reciprocal transactions to challenge capitalism (gibson-graham, cameron & healy, 2013; parker et al., 2007). �542 2 . i n o u r a r t i c l e w e s t u d y organizations that declare themselves to be amaps (association pour le maintien d’une agriculture paysanne), regardless of their actual attachment to the csa network. the term “amap” is a registered trademark, but acknowledging this ambiguity is key to our research. 3. two kinds of participants are distinguished by the informants and defined in the different institutional documents: “amapiens” (formed from amap) refers to the consumers who sign a contract with the farmer and the “paysan en amap” is the farmer. only the consumers pay membership dues. 4. https://www.amap-idf.org/images/ imagesfck/file/1reseau/ag/2017/ strategie_financiere.pdf even though the network seeks to reduce its dependency on subsidies, they still account for 65% of its global funding. https://www.amap-idf.org/images/imagesfck/file/1reseau/ag/2017/strategie_financiere.pdf https://www.amap-idf.org/images/imagesfck/file/1reseau/ag/2017/strategie_financiere.pdf https://www.amap-idf.org/images/imagesfck/file/1reseau/ag/2017/strategie_financiere.pdf https://www.amap-idf.org/images/imagesfck/file/1reseau/ag/2017/strategie_financiere.pdf https://www.amap-idf.org/images/imagesfck/file/1reseau/ag/2017/strategie_financiere.pdf https://www.amap-idf.org/images/imagesfck/file/1reseau/ag/2017/strategie_financiere.pdf diversity and struggles in critical performativity. the case of french community-supported agriculture m@n@gement, vol. 22(4): 537-558 data collection our case study covered eleven self-declared amaps (csa associations) and we conducted twenty-four semi-structured interviews with csa members. we contacted them through their csa mailing lists and stated that we were interested in talking to all members, including those who were less supportive. in addition to twelve regular members, we interviewed six members who operated a csa and one member who worked for the regional network. we were also able to interview five farmers. these interviews covered ten csas in the paris area as well as a large one in the alps to get a sense of what might be different in another region. the main topics covered were the different food networks the interviewees participate in, recollecting how and why they came to be csa members, their activities and degree of participation in the csa, and their overall knowledge of and familiarity with food products. the general aim was to understand the different csa member profiles. the interviews enabled us to get a sense of members’ intentions (what they expect and get from their csa), and to explore how they relate to competing food networks, rather than focusing solely on their participation in the csa. these interviews revealed a broad array of practices and attitudes toward the csas, and we stopped doing formal interviews when we reached saturation. triangulation with other data, presented below, and discussions with csa members revealed that this diversity was identified as a critical issue by members of the regional network and contributed to the reliability of our findings (silverman, 2006). we completed our data collection by observing the deliveries at several csas. through non-participant observation, we wished to understand how csa principles are translated into a set of concrete daily practices. our goal was to compare the principles and official discourses with the visible practices of members. observation was also necessary to explore the materiality of the agencements and the potential role of nonhuman actors (latour & woolgar, 1979). in addition to our interviews, each csa was observed during one or two distributions. as one author had been a past member of one of the csas, the other author conducted the observation to triangulate the data. in a second stage, the latter also became a member of a csa in order to conduct participant observation and to gain inside knowledge of the organization and better understand the accounts given by our interviewees (alvesson, 2011). as the csa’s core activity only takes place once a week, full integration in the organization was necessary to better understand the daily interactions among members between two deliveries. this enabled us to find out about the issues discussed by members about activist movies and books, other alternative practices (collective housing or renewable electricity suppliers), and so on. these were more difficult to grasp and link to the csa in interviews. our participation allowed us to have many informal discussions with members, which corroborated our results and enabled us to qualify our analysis. it gave us the opportunity to meet and talk with regional network representatives and to get a better understanding of their intentions regarding the csa project. due to time constraints, it was not possible to record, transcribe and analyze all those informal discussions. we also collected and analyzed secondary data, including e-mails sent by and to csa members, documents from csa networks’ websites, the csa charter, and documents and newspaper articles about french csa history, general figures and controversies, in particular in relation to other alternative food organizations. these secondary data shed light on � 543 m@n@gement, vol. 22(4): 537-558 alban ouahab & étienne maclouf the history of csas and how their subversive position had been progressively built, and helped us to understand how controversies and conflicts between different agencements had come to be framed. data analysis our analysis aimed to explore the potential diversity of practices and organizations within french csas. consistent with previous cp case studies (esper et al., 2017; leca et al., 2014), we created a narrative from the mass of data to include a multiplicity of perspectives on csas and their development in france. to analyze performativity, we needed to examine how expert knowledge and actors’ activities inside and outside csa interact through feedback loops. we started by mapping the organizational field of csas in the paris area and the different organizational modes we were able to identify. then we described csa agencement, its key actors and its network to understand how “problematization,” “interessement” and “enrolment” happen (see callon, (1984) for a detailed description of these processes). we conducted a thematic analysis of our interviews to identify subjectivities and identities of csa members as well as declared practices related to our study (cooking habits, places for shopping, attitudes and practices toward social, economic and environmental concerns). we compared these elements with the csa charter, identified as the core of the csa mission. the charter is structured around five key principles: (1) small farming; (2) organic production; (3) food quality and affordability; (4) community education on food issues; and (5) contract-based direct sales. we then looked for connections with other performative programs, the limits of the csa performative engine and the broad range of normative ideals enacted by actors. finally, we examined how the different interviewees relate to the charter and what their concrete practices are in relation to the csa movement's declared goals. our starting point was the csa charter published by the national csa network. it represents the values and principles that the first csa actors are trying to stabilize and spread through the engineering of csa associations. empirical findings the csa institutional network as performative engine in csa, individuals create an association for organizing the weekly distribution of produce baskets. each association manages the distribution site and the delivery schedule as well as ancillary activities such as farm visits or activist movie screenings. every consumer signs a contract with a producer for a farming season (usually a semester). through this contract, the csa member commits to buying their share of the produce throughout the season and to sharing production risks. the farmer commits to supplying a vegetable basket every week, depending on production capacity (meaning that varieties and quantities fluctuate and are unknown to the csa member). in france, this movement was initiated by a couple of farmers, explicitly referring to the us-based csa model, who created their first csa in 2001. an effort was rapidly made to stabilize the movement and establish the values and principles advocated by french csa. a first regional network was created the same year and two years later, in 2003, the name “amap” was registered and the first charter to standardize the �544 diversity and struggles in critical performativity. the case of french community-supported agriculture m@n@gement, vol. 22(4): 537-558 practices of the different french csas was published. the charter defines csa’s goal as the “social and ecological transformation of agriculture and our relation to food by generating new solidarities” . therefore, 5 organizations that wish to use the amap name and benefit from the network’s services have to abide by its charter. before long, the national network was coordinating twelve regional networks that had emerged to structure and develop the 2000 local csas identified in france. collecting a per-member annual fee, local csas can benefit from the network’s endorsement and support. as we show below, the regional and national csa networks correspond to the definition of performative engines through the development of knowledge circulation, chains of translation and feedback loops (leca et al., 2014). these networks are key to understanding the development and emergence of new local csas (blanc, 2012). the vision of french csa is informed by a body of knowledge about economic relations, farming practices, public policies, and social relations between consumers and producers. it provides an alternative understanding of the food supply chain (see figure 1). this knowledge includes well-known ideas about organic production and lesser-known ideas about “agriculture paysanne” . this knowledge also circulates 6 through the networks’ websites, where specific scientific literature is made available, or via training sessions and internal communication through which the knowledge is transferred to local actors (see figure 1). local csas are thus built on the knowledge disseminated by national and regional networks. csas also actively participate in the creation of knowledge. scientific studies on csa or on organic food’s effects rely on the active cooperation of local csas and farmers. csas are often cited as an example of how to shift from a growth-dependent economy to a degrowth economy (fournier, 2008; gibson-graham et al., 2013; latouche, 2009). food safety and health issues are illustrative of this knowledge circulation. food safety was the first concern of japanese mothers and led them to create the teikei (groh & mcfadden, 1990). since then, a growing body of scientific literature has emerged on the relation between health and organic food consumption, but its results remain inconclusive (for a review, see dangour et al., 2010). it shows that academics participate in actualizing practices in conformity with the csa project in which new agricultural paradigms will lead to better health for participants. aiming to demonstrate the concrete potential health benefits of organic food, they participate in developing the measuring and calculation tools necessary for actualizing this specific world (callon, 1998a, 2007). disseminating knowledge is one way the network can act as a performative engine. the second function of the networks is translation, particularly in relation to the official charter, which translates a set of ideas, theories and critical views on agriculture into defined principles. local csas then have to adapt these principles to their local conditions (see figure 1). through the charter, the national network creates a broad normative framework for french csa. local csas have to define the precise ways in which they apply the charter. this translation role is the second way the network acts as an interface between local organizations and the knowledge and normative understanding of food practices. lastly, the networks function as a performative engine through feedback loops. through e-mails and occasional meetings, the networks � 545 5. amap charter, retrieved from http:// m i r a m a p . o r g / i m g / p d f / charte_des_amap_mars_2014-2.pdf.` 6. in france, the term “agriculture paysanne” refers to small-scale, sustainable farming that adheres to certain environmental, social and economic principles in opposition to intensive industrial agriculture. http://miramap.org/img/pdf/charte_des_amap_mars_2014-2.pdf http://miramap.org/img/pdf/charte_des_amap_mars_2014-2.pdf http://miramap.org/img/pdf/charte_des_amap_mars_2014-2.pdf http://miramap.org/img/pdf/charte_des_amap_mars_2014-2.pdf http://miramap.org/img/pdf/charte_des_amap_mars_2014-2.pdf http://miramap.org/img/pdf/charte_des_amap_mars_2014-2.pdf m@n@gement, vol. 22(4): 537-558 alban ouahab & étienne maclouf gather feedback from their members on issues such as their political positions, organizational issues or marketing opportunities. training sessions (open to all) are an opportunity to gather feedback from local actors and discover their issues. as such, regional networks have an interfacing role between the various csas. this knowledge is then reintegrated into local csas. for instance, we observed a meeting about a price-setting issue between farmers and managers of different local csas. such meetings are common when conflicts arise between members and farmers. a representative of the network was invited as a facilitator. while reiterating the csa principles, she also referred to other csa examples to explain what was a normal situation and what were unusual issues. this gave the members a sense of the different ways that csa operates outside their local association. regional and national networks thus emerge as a performative engine which “supports the realization of the organizational model” of csa (leca et al., 2014: 689). this engine initiates a broad set of supporting activities for local csas (see figure 1): it puts emerging csas in contact with available organic farmers, helps with the acquisition of agricultural land, manages institutional relations and organizes training sessions for farmers and csa members. �546 diversity and struggles in critical performativity. the case of french community-supported agriculture m@n@gement, vol. 22(4): 537-558 figure 1 . french csa actor-network as a performative engine performing alternative food practices through csa with a better understanding of how the performative engine works, we now explore these engineered organizations to understand what is being performed. members’ practices are shaped by the agencements in � 547 m@n@gement, vol. 22(4): 537-558 alban ouahab & étienne maclouf which they are enrolled. csa members engage in long-term relations with farmers, securing their access to organic food. written contracts ensure long-term payments to farmers, guaranteeing them a steady income, labels signal compliance with alternative farming practices, and csa members are guaranteed regular deliveries of local and organic products. members thus engage in alternative food practices. they also learn new skills beyond just those related to economic relations with farmers. these include, for instance, cooking and recognizing different vegetables: céline: “i mean, now i know how to cook celery properly, so i wouldn’t hesitate to buy some. yeah, like pumpkin squash— i’ve learned a few things that are part of my routine now, which absolutely wasn’t the case before.” in doing this, csa members become "drilled people" (law, 1984) who acquire the relevant skills, revealing the performativity of agencements, which creates the conditions for its own realization (see figure 2, arrow 1). materiality and non-humans are also key to understanding csa’s performativity. we note that the specific message of csa is conveyed through the products themselves. to support csa’s claims about natural agronomy (versus chemical and intensive practices) and its effects on the produce, the vegetables have to demonstrate their “naturalness.” unlike conventional vegetables, csa vegetables are neither sorted nor washed, so they have uncommon shapes, colors, and sometimes bruises and soil—evidence of alternative farming techniques and corresponding consumption practices. lettuce, for instance, demonstrates its naturalness through its capacity to attract slugs which are still present when members collect their basket. the material properties of meat also demonstrate that it has been produce through alternative farming practices: it is darker, irregular and does not produce any cooking juices. this shows that the animals are fed with grass only. other key material components of the short csa supply chain are the contracts and checks between members and farmers. these documents do not involve any intermediaries. checks are made out directly to the farmers, using their names, and two-part contracts are signed between members and farmers, with both parties being referred to by name. by naming the parties involved, these artifacts materialize the close connection between the farmers and the members and the absence of any intermediary in the value chain. in addition, labels, mostly ab and demeter (european labels for organic and biodynamic cultivation), are critical for creating trust and a shared basic understanding of agricultural practices. although there are many organic labels, these are the two most commonly used. they serve as tools for combining a broad set of agronomic practices that are translated into a single label, which is recognizable (on crates for instance) and demonstrates the farmer's concern for sustainability, health and ecological considerations. the network thus creates a framework of technical devices and social relations to foster new economic relations around food and new agricultural practices consistent with its alternative vision. finally, this shows how the network acts as a performative engine, translating a set of principles into members’ concrete food practices, which shape our food systems (see figure 2, arrow 1). �548 diversity and struggles in critical performativity. the case of french community-supported agriculture m@n@gement, vol. 22(4): 537-558 the performation of diverse and potentially contradictory practices in the csas we studied, it was obvious that the founding csa principles we identified in the charter were not being observed in the concrete practices of some of the members in our study. we give examples of practices that deviated from the charter’s principles in table 1. the charter is not binding; it is not meant to be infringed but the network and local csas lack the resources to strictly enforce it. as one representative of the network explained: “at the moment we have other things to do than to engage in a witch hunt about who is following strictly the charter and who is not.” this impossibility of strictly enforcing the charter explains how members are able to enact diverse practices but not why they do so, which is the question to which we now turn. we were left to explain a paradox: why do some csa members make the effort to join an active csa but still behave, as one interviewee told us in an informal discussion, “as if they’re shopping in a regular supermarket.” to try to understand this behavior, we integrated competing agencements into a cp framework to identify the diversity of csa practices and organizational models. figure 2 . competing food networks performing diverse practices. léa: “anyway, you have fifty delivery networks. as for us, we insist that we are different from food assembly simply because we are an association. and because we are not an intermediary. (…) and i consider that we are not dealing with the same type of people in fact. we’re different and… for sure, at first, we were the only network of this kind, so everybody was joining us. well, now you have forty-five networks, so people who just want to buy local, well, they go elsewhere because they don’t want to bother.” while exploring the development of csa through the network, we found the influence of other alternative food networks to be striking. in the � 549 m@n@gement, vol. 22(4): 537-558 alban ouahab & étienne maclouf above excerpt, léa, who worked as a volunteer for the regional network, explained that csa was competing with an increasing number of alternative food networks that might attract former csa members. these organizations pursue their own agenda through sociotechnical agencements that partly overlap with csa: the same organic labels are used and the same discourses about direct distribution are disseminated. we also learned that some farmers were supplying multiple networks simultaneously, meaning that the same vegetables circulate in diverse alternative food networks. consumers also participate in several retail channels, thus becoming actors in various competing agencements. this is particularly salient in the food retail industry where individuals use a range of channels (bellamy & léveillé, 2007). we found that the boundaries became progressively blurred between these competing agencements: corinne: “yeah, i think i did not have much of an idea of csa, you know… and then you have food assembly. you know they really bothered me. i’d read two or three articles and i did not want to be in a csa at all. in fact, that was the symbol of csa for me, food assembly. so i had a very bad… i mean, now i realize that csas work very well.” corinne, who created a csa at her university, explained that, at first, she was not able to draw a distinction between food assembly and csa. she rejected the business orientation of food assembly and it took her a 7 while to realize that csa, which was organized as a non-profit association, differs from food assembly. to summarize, we found that csas are entangled with other alternative food networks. they share various actors and influence each other through feedback loops (see arrow 3 in figure 2). the practices of csa members are performatively shaped by other agencements in which they participate. these competing agencements, while trying to enroll actors, convey different subversive or mainstream projects. they also drill actors differently to carry out specific actions (law, 1984). for instance, because other agencements manage to offer tomatoes in winter, csa members are used to having a large choice of produce, even in winter— something local producers following the rules of organic labels cannot offer. these competing agencements attract members with varying ability to sustain the dedication required by csa because, for instance, they do not know how to cook certain vegetables or because they will buy food from other retail channels. overall, making csa members more interested in these competing models may have detrimental effects that are contrary to what the csa network aimed to engineer to begin with. this is consistent with the many testimonials of csa managers complaining about members leaving csa to use food assembly services: sophie: “and if you go away for the weekend and on top of that you don’t have time to cook, it might be overwhelming. some left because they couldn’t stand it anymore, they were throwing away food they couldn’t cook, etc. so, if you don’t benefit from the social relations, from the atmosphere of chatting with a farmer and other csa members, well honestly, you just quit.” a second detrimental effect (from the network point of view) is local adaptation by csas which transform their subversive content. this happens through a feedback loop in which the members’ varied practices will lead to local adaptation of csa. consequently, because the �550 7. food assembly is a for-profit organization that acts as a broker to c o n n e c t l o c a l p r o d u c e r s a n d consumers for weekly distribution without a long-term commitment. consumers order what they want every week. diversity and struggles in critical performativity. the case of french community-supported agriculture m@n@gement, vol. 22(4): 537-558 agencement has drifted, it will not perform the necessary subversive practices among members (see figure 2). actors in the csa agencement will not necessarily create and update the agencement that was initially designed by the network. in other words, it will fail to perform the world it aimed to create in the first place. interviewer: “and for you, the fact that it is not organic is not a problem? the fact that the vegetables are not organic?” céline: “no, i am not—how can i put it? i am not obsessed with organic farming. i’m happy for the farmer, happy to know he’s watchful, that he’s not using just any chemicals, that he’s reducing them as far as possible and that to grow carrots, either you weed or your carrots are eaten by the worms. in the end, it is organic in a sense. it is a largely artisanal approach in that you produce to feed people and to feed enough. i mean to have beautiful vegetable baskets and have variety and not tiny baskets because he wasn’t able to produce enough, because he had, he had insects or i don’t know what.” (céline has been a member of a non-organic csa for five years) this excerpt reveals the partial failure of the csa performative engine. the sociomaterial agencement, based on the charter, aimed to perform a world of organic farming practices in which what is organic largely follows the labeling definitions and whose central tenet is the nonuse of chemicals. by stating that it is “organic in a sense,” céline highlights the performative failure of the agencement and how the translation deviated. this impacts csa: the farmer in céline’s community initially switched from chemical-dependent to organic production for a period of three years. after the legal period of three years had passed, he decided that it was too complicated to abide by the labels’ rules; he therefore went back to using some chemicals. this led to some protests by community members. céline did not protest and, like half the members, remained with the farmer, therefore breaking some of the csa charter’s principles. despite this significant distortion, céline has been engaged in csa for five years, which shows that membership or basic behavior is not sufficient evidence to assess the cp of a specific engine. indeed, csa organizations are expanding but some are distancing themselves from the core objectives of the alternative movement and thus reorienting their critical stance toward different ends: a departure from what was intended to be engineered by the csa network. facing the emergence of many competing networks, csas will make their model less binding in order to keep the communities attractive, i.e. able to "enroll" participants and establish their identity and social relations (callon, 1984). table 1 presents a set of adaptations by members that we encountered in our interviews, showing the concrete ways in which csa is “overflowing” (moving beyond its initial framework) (callon, 1998a). � 551 m@n@gement, vol. 22(4): 537-558 alban ouahab & étienne maclouf table 1 the diverse and conflicting practices within csas discussion critical scholars have recently developed the concept of cp to engage in affirmative critical research (spicer et al., 2009). the aim is to foster activism and interventions in alternative organizations (king, 2015; reedy & king, 2017) and to support middle managers in their reflexive thinking (hartmann, 2014; schaefer & wickert, 2016; wickert & schaefer, 2015). while some scholars have expressed their skepticism about cp, others have explored how alternative organizations could be developed through performative engines (leca et al., 2014). we extend the cp research agenda by taking account of the struggles in which alternative organizations are entangled. these struggles cause permanent �552 csa subversive ideas and goals (from the charter) materialization of corresponding practices conflicts over practices alternative practices enacted in local csas organizational engagement weekly attendance at distributions constraint of rigid schedule non-members can pick up an acquaintance's basket volunteers take turns organizing distributions hours-long presence at the distribution place some members skip their turn and more dedicated members have to manage the distributions more often farmer's presence at the distribution time spent away from the farm drop & go deliveries by farm employees solidarity with the farmer yearly payments to provide cash flows to farmers long-term engagement proves difficult for students payment only one week in advance seasonal contracts to account for variations in quantities the farming season does not correspond to members' work schedule and holidays. creation of four-week contracts visit and work occasionally on the farm long distance from urban centers and time consuming farm visits are optional social & environmental engagement favor local production lack of food diversity contract with a wholesaler to provide fruit follow organic label rules constraining mode of production engagement with a farmer who practices “semiorganic” agriculture (not full compliance with organic rules) foster biodiversity provision of unknown produce pressure to reduce production to an acceptable and “manageable” assortment of vegetables ethics in daily practices regular deliveries of “onhand” products no knowledge of incoming deliveries' content option to order and choose in advance specific vegetables prices negotiated annually at general assemblies opacity about what is included in the price prices set by the farmer transparency about conditions of the farm understanding the farmer's global market opportunities farmers deliver their lessappealing products to the csa diffusion of the csa model short supply chains make organic products affordable negotiated prices are still too high for low-income households creation of solidarity baskets paid for by betteroff members spread csa principles need for full knowledge of the csa stakes and principles members not signing/not aware of the charter organize additional events on global food issues time-consuming events most csas did not organize such events. diversity and struggles in critical performativity. the case of french community-supported agriculture m@n@gement, vol. 22(4): 537-558 reconfigurations of agencements and make the future effects of performative engines uncertain. our results show how the csa network uses knowledge circulation, translation and feedback loops to act as a performative engine. yet we observe a diversity of practices among csas. despite a common charter and vision about subverting mainstream agricultural practices, csa members—with different values and influenced by other food networks in which they participate—enact various practices that are not always fully aligned with the csa program. these dynamics transform what csa is actually doing and its critical potential. this article offers two interrelated contributions. firstly, through empirical evidence it shows that cp is not a stable program but is one that undergoes constant local adaptation by actors because of mutually influenced performative programs (sage et al., 2013). the struggles affecting the performative engine explain deviations from the initial program and transformations of alternative organizations over time. secondly, it advances our knowledge about cp’s potential for failure (fleming & banerjee, 2016). the transformations are not neutral but indicate variations of the critical content carried by the network and its normative shifts. without a stable critical agenda, the future of performative interventions is uncertain. adapting critical performative programs the case of french csa highlights the contrasting effects of the national and regional networks as performative engines. new csas are emerging thanks to financial support, farmer and volunteer training and the publication of a charter. our results nevertheless corroborate older analyses that show the local adaptation of csa principles (ripoll, 2009). a decade after these first studies on csa, the charter has evolved and the institutional network has structured itself, but the discrepancies remain. our study helps to explain local deviations as resulting from competition with other performative programs (sage et al., 2013), partially enrolling csa members and diverse food practices. through the charter and the engineering of local csas, csa institutions have created a subversive social imaginary about food, but these local csas have partially resisted this vision by implementing alternative practices inspired by competing critical programs (see figure 3). � 553 m@n@gement, vol. 22(4): 537-558 alban ouahab & étienne maclouf figure 3 . diversity and struggles in critical performativity this study questions the transformative potential of cp by showing frictions in the engine. new developments in cp research (cabantous et al., 2016; learmonth et al., 2016; leca et al., 2014) enable us to describe the concrete networks and material devices established to create new organizations and thus subvert the mainstream food system. but this goal has recently been challenged: “at times, it also seems as if the critical performativity argument is rooted in an urge to control the ways in which performativity operates, […] this resembles the managerial anxiety of not being in control, of not being on top of things, of not being able to determine the destiny of one’s actions” (spolestra & svensson, 2016: 74). in the case of french csa, we see that the engine is only partially in control. actors locally adapt their practices and consequently are not fully driven by the engine. while it is true that performative engines participate in the development of alternative organization (leca et al., 2014), our case study reveals permanent reconfigurations and a lack of control over the subversive project to implement. overall, this makes it difficult to draw conclusions about the success or failure of critical performative programs. normative drifts of critical performative programs secondly, drawing on research on competition between performative programs (allen et al., 2018; sage et al., 2013;), we show that this competition is not neutral but involves a shifting normative framework. the different practices express different agendas, revealing diverse visions of what agricultural and food practices ought to be rather than a single project defined by the engine. within a cp framework aimed at subverting practices (spicer et al., 2009), this is a key issue that takes us back to the question of which critical agenda scholars would like to push forward. defining what a critical agenda might be is not easy (adler, forbes & willmott, 2007; alvesson & deetz, 1996), but it also appears that scholars cannot control how actors in the field will apprehend the agenda. the �554 diversity and struggles in critical performativity. the case of french community-supported agriculture m@n@gement, vol. 22(4): 537-558 uncertainty around the normative dimension of cp (spicer et al., 2009) sheds light on the difficulties of an activist view of cp (king, 2015; king & learmonth, 2015). if the normative basis is shifting, a critical assessment through time of the performative engine appears necessary for considering the engineered organizations in relation to engaged scholars’ critical agenda. we therefore re-examine the role of critical scholars in light of a project with unstable normative grounds that may challenge their initial critical agenda. in doing this, we extend the cp research agenda by simultaneously considering alternative organizations and the diverse struggles in which they are entangled. these struggles cause permanent reconfigurations to agencements and make the future effects of performative engines uncertain. regarding the practical implications for the csa network, our study raises the critical issue of members leaving for other food networks. members are volunteers, which makes it difficult for them to invest time and sustainably engage in two different direct distribution networks. it is therefore vital to secure csa members’ commitment by better explaining their role in the csa and making the distinctive effects of their engagement more visible. limitations this case study remains an analysis of a performative engine developed by actors "in the wild.” further empirical research on the direct involvement of critical scholars is still needed (huault et al., 2017). secondly, to be able to explore the consequences of competing agencements in greater depth, we limited ourselves to only a few other food networks, primarily food assembly. food organizations are diverse, so are food practices (briner & sturdy, 2008), and many more competing agencements should be explored to better understand the multiplicity of performativity and how subversive agencements are influenced by broader, sometimes more mainstream organizations (fleming & banerjee, 2016). finally, our study mainly focused on csas in the paris area. it revealed a multiplicity of performativities, a variety of sociomaterial agencements and different forms of distortion. however, it does not look at other csa networks, other forms of csa and other results of these struggles between competing agencements. the small number of interviewees allowed us to analyze different food practices and engagement with csa, but not to quantify the prevalence of those profiles. conclusion our article contributes to the debates about the potential of critical performativity by looking at the struggles between different performative engines and the alternative organizations they contribute to creating. we show, through a csa case study, how these struggles contribute to reconfiguring agencements and making the future effects of performative engines uncertain. these reconfigurations show that a performative engine cannot enforce a single stable critical agenda; instead it creates diverse normative contents due to the influence of other, overlapping, performative engines. these other normative contents may be less critical or carry a different critical agenda and call for consideration of how critical performative programs develop over time. � 555 m@n@gement, vol. 22(4): 537-558 alban ouahab & étienne maclouf references adler, p.s., forbes, l.c. & willmott, h. (2007). critical m a n a g e m e n t s t u d i e s . t h e a c a d e m y o f management annals, 1(1), 119-179. aggeri, f. (2017). how can performativity contribute to m a n a g e m e n t a n d o r g a n i z a t i o n r e s e a r c h ? theoretical perspectives and analytical framework. m@n@gement, 20(1), 28-69. allen, s., brigham, m. & marshall, j. (2018). lost in delegation? (dis)organizing for sustainability. scandinavian journal of management, 34(1), 29-39. alvesson, m. (2004), knowledge work and knowledgeintensive firms, oxford, uk and new york, ny: oxford university press. alvesson, m. (2011), interpreting interviews, london: sage publications ltd. alvesson, m. & deetz, s. (1996). critical theory and postmodernism approaches to organizational studies. in s. clegg & c. hardy (eds.), studying organization. theory and method (pp. 185-211). london: sage publications ltd. alvesson, m. & spicer, a. (2012). critical leadership studies: the case for critical performativity. human relations, 65(3), 367-390. austin, j.l. (1962), how to do things with words: [the william james lectures delivered at harvard university in 1955] 2. ed., [repr.], cambridge, ma: harvard university press. bellamy, v. & léveillé, l. (2007), ‘consommation des ménages. quels lieux d’achat pour quels produits ?’, insee première (1165). blanc, j. (2012). construire l’alternative agroalimentaire: ressorts sociaux et politiques du déploiement des amap en île-de-france. norois, (224), 21-34. bloemmen, m., bobulescu, r., le, n.t. & vitari, c. (2015). microeconomic degrowth: the case of community supported agriculture. ecological economics, 112, 110-115. briner, r.b. & sturdy, a. (2008). introduction to food, work and organization. human relations, 61(7), 907-912. bryer, a.r. (2014) ‘conscious practices and purposive action: a qualitative study of accounting and social change’, critical perspectives on accounting 25(2), 93–103. butler, j. (1990), gender trouble: feminism and the subversion of identity, new york, ny: routledge. cabantous, l. & gond, j.-p. (2011). rational decision making as performative praxis: explaining rationality’s éternel retour. organization science, 22(3), 573-586. cabantous, l., gond, j.-p., harding, n. & learmonth, m. (2016). critical essay: reconsidering critical performativity. human relations, 69(2), 197-213. callon, m. (1984). ’some elements of a sociology of translation: domestication of the scallops and the fishermen of st brieuc bay’, the sociological review 32(1_suppl), 196–233. callon, m. (1998a). an essay on framing and overflowing: economic externalities revisited by sociology. the sociological review, 46(1_suppl), 244-269. callon, m. (ed.) (1998b), the laws of the markets, oxford: blackwell. callon, m. (2007). what does it mean to say that economics is performative? in d. mackenzie (ed.), d o e c o n o m i s t s m a k e m a r k e t s ? o n t h e performativity of economics (pp. 311–354). princeton, nj: princeton university press. dangour, a.d., lock, k., hayter, a., aikenhead, a., allen, e. & uauy, r. (2010). nutrition-related health effects of organic foods: a systematic review. the american journal of clinical nutrition, 92(1), 203-210. dubuisson-quellier, s. & lamine, c. (2008). consumer involvement in fair trade and local food systems: d e l e g a t i o n a n d e m p o w e r m e n t r e g i m e s . geojournal, 73(1), 55-65. dumain, a. & lanciano, e. (2010). comment ne pas faire de commerce tout en en faisant? le cas de s y s t è m e s d e p a n i e r s d i t s a l t e r n a t i f s e n agglomération lyonnaise. in e. dacheux & d. g o u j o n ( e d s . ) , r é c o n c i l i e r d é m o c r a t i e e t e c o n o m i e : l a d i m e n s i o n p o l i t i q u e d e l’entrepreneuriat en économie sociale et solidaire, (p. 141-157). paris, france: michel houdiard editions. esper, s.c., cabantous, l., barin-cruz, l. & gond, j.p. (2017). supporting alternative organizations? e x p l o r i n g s c h o l a r s ’ i n v o l v e m e n t i n t h e performativity of worker-recuperated enterprises. organization, 24(5), 671-699. f l e m i n g , p. & b a n e r j e e , s . b . ( 2 0 1 6 ) . w h e n performativity fails: implications for critical management studies. human relations, 69(2), 257-276. fournier, v. (2008). escaping from the economy: the politics of degrowth. international journal of sociology and social policy, 28(11/12), 528-545. fournier, v. & grey, c. (2000). at the critical moment: conditions and prospects for critical management studies. human relations, 53(1), 7-32. gibson-graham, j.k., cameron, j. & healy, s. (2013), take back the economy: an ethical guide for transforming our communities, minneapolis, mn: university of minnesota press. gond, j.-p., cabantous, l., harding, n. & learmonth, m. (2016) what do we mean by performativity in organizational and management theory? the uses a n d a b u s e s o f p e r f o r m a t i v i t y : o r g a n i z i n g performativity. international journal of management reviews, 18(4), 440-463. groh, t. & mcfadden, s. (1990), farms of tomorrow: community supported farms farm supported communities, bio-dynamic farming and gardening association. guérard, s., langley, a. & seidl, d. (2013). rethinking the concept of performance in strategy research: to w a r d s a p e r f o r m a t i v i t y p e r s p e c t i v e . m@n@gement, 16(5), 566-578. hartmann, r.k. (2014). subversive functionalism: for a less canonical critique in critical management studies. human relations, 67(5), 611-632. �556 diversity and struggles in critical performativity. the case of french community-supported agriculture m@n@gement, vol. 22(4): 537-558 hérault-fournier, c. (2013). est-on vraiment proche en vente directe? typologie des consommateurs en fonction de la proximité perçue dans trois formes de vente: amap, points de vente collectifs et marchés. management & avenir, 64(6), 167. huault, i., kärreman, d., perret, v. & spicer, a. (2017). introduction to the special issue. the evolving d e b a t e a b o u t c r i t i c a l p e r f o r m a t i v i t y . m@n@gement, 20(1), 1-8. king, d. (2015). the possibilities and perils of critical performativity: learning from four case studies. scandinavian journal of management, 31(2), 255-265. king, d. & learmonth, m. (2014). can critical management studies ever be “practical”? a case study in engaged scholarship. human relations, 68(3), 353-375. k n u d s e n , m . ( 2 0 1 7 ) . c o n d i t i o n s f o r c r i t i c a l performativity in a polycontextural society. m@n@gement, 20(1), 9-27. küpers, w. (2017). critical performativity and embodied performing as materio-socio-cultural practices. phenomenological perspectives on performative bodies at work. m@n@gement, 20(1), 89-106. lamine, c. (2005). settling shared uncertainties: local partnerships between producers and consumers. sociologia ruralis, 45(4), 324-345. lanciano, e. & saleilles, s. (2011). le travail institutionnel du mouvement des amap. revue française de gestion, 37(217), 155-172. latouche, s. (2009), farewell to growth, cambridge, uk: polity press. latour, b. & woolgar, s. (1979), laboratory life: the social construction of scientific facts, beverly hills: sage publications. law, j. (1984). on the methods of long-distance control: vessels, navigation and the portuguese r o u t e t o i n d i a . t h e s o c i o l o g i c a l r e v i e w , 32(1_suppl), 234-263. learmonth, m., harding, n., gond, j.-p. & cabantous, l. (2016). moving critical performativity forward. human relations, 69(2), 251-256. leca, b., gond, j.-p. & barin cruz, l. (2014). building “critical performativity engines” for deprived communities: the construction of popular cooperative incubators in brazil. organization, 21(5), 683-712. mackenzie, d. (2003). an equation and its worlds: bricolage, exemplars, disunity and performativity in financial economics. social studies of science, 33(6), 831-868. mackenzie, d.a., muniesa, f. & siu, l. (eds.) (2007). d o e c o n o m i s t s m a k e m a r k e t s ? : o n t h e performativity of economics. princeton, nj: princeton university press. olivier, v. & coquart, d. (2010). les amap: une alternative socio-économique pour des petits p r o d u c t e u r s l o c a u x  ? é c o n o m i e r u r a l e . agricultures, alimentations, territoires, (318-319), 20-36. paranque, b. & willmott, h. (2014). cooperatives— saviours or gravediggers of capitalism? critical performativity and the john lewis partnership. organization, 21(5), 604-625. parker, m., fournier, v. & reedy, p. (2007), the dictionary of alternatives: utopianism and organization, london, uk: zed books. reedy, p.c. & king, d.r. (2017). critical performativity in the field: methodological principles for activist ethnographers. organizational research methods, 22(2), 564-589. ripoll, f. (2009). le concept “amap”. promotion et mise en pratique(s) d’une nouvelle norme d’échange entre consommateurs et producteurs agricoles. géographie et cultures, (72), 99-116. roscoe, p. & chillas, s. (2014). the state of affairs: critical performativity and the online dating industry. organization, 21(6), 797-820. sage, d., dainty, a. & brookes, n. (2013). ‘thinking the ontological politics of managerial and critical performativities: an examination of project failure. scandinavian journal of management, 29(3), 282-291. schaefer, s.m. & wickert, c. (2016). on the potential of progressive performativity: definitional purity, re-engagement and empirical points of departure. human relations, 69(2), 215-224. silverman, d. (2006), interpreting qualitative data: methods for analyzing talk, text and interaction, thousand oaks, ca: sage. spicer, a., alvesson, m. & karreman, d. (2009). critical performativity: the unfinished business of critical management studies. human relations, 62(4), 537-560. spicer, a., alvesson, m. & karreman, d. (2016). extending critical performativity. human relations, 69(2), 225-249. spolestra, s. & svensson, p. (2016). critical performativity: the happy end of critical management studies?. in a. prasad (ed.), the routledge companion to critical management studies (pp. 69-79). abingdon, uk: routledge. tadajewski, m. (2010). critical marketing studies: logical empiricism, “critical performativity” and marketing practice. marketing theory, 10(2), 210-222. tyler, m. & cohen, l. (2010). spaces that matter: gender performativity and organizational space. organization studies, 31(2), 175-198. wickert, c. & schaefer, s.m. (2015). towards a progressive understanding of performativity in critical management studies. human relations, 68(1), 107-130. � 557 m@n@gement, vol. 22(4): 537-558 alban ouahab & étienne maclouf alban ouahab is a phd candidate in the management department at escp europe in paris. his current research focuses on alternative organizations (with empirical settings in csa and food co-ops) and the transformation of work in capitalist and non-capitalist contexts. étienne maclouf is a professor of organization studies at la rochelle university (cerege) and an associate researcher at the mnhn (cesco) and at the largepa. his research develops an integrative view of biodiversity conservation and the human condition, with a focus on analyzing the common dynamics of modern corporations and alternative organizations. �558 205 hamet&maurer 2017.pages m@n@gement 2017, vol. 20(5): 492-516 is management research visible outside the academic community? joanne hamet � frantz maurer accepted by former editor in chief laure cabantous abstract. we address the question of the visibility of management research for practitioners by measuring scientific journal citations in nonscientific publications. while the social and economic relevance of research in management has been largely commented, it has been more rarely measured. this is due to the fact that management research is mostly aimed at the production of knowledge rather than at giving direct prescriptions for actions. consequently, the relevance of management research is often of a conceptual, rather than instrumental, nature. while conceptual relevance is not easily measurable, the visibility of management research in managerial publications might give some insight into the perceived interest of management research to managers. we estimate the yearly number of citations in the press of a panel of 63 topranked journals in all fields of management over a 15-years period. our results show that the visibility of academic journals in the press is very modest, and mostly restricted to top-ranking (“world elite”) journals. the visibility of management research seems to have, on average, significantly increased over the period 2000-2014. we also report strong field specificities. in particular, the visibility of world elite journals in marketing has increased dramatically over the last decade, while the visibility of accounting journals has decreased. keywords: management research, visibility, relevance gap introduction each august, we come to talk with each other; during the rest of the year we read each other’s papers in our journals and write our own papers so that we may, in turn, have an audience the following august—an incestuous, closed loop. donald c. hambrick, academy of management annual meeting 1993 (presidential address) social utility is the very foundation of management science, which has been, from its birth, aimed at action and supposed to meet firms’ needs. managers and other types of “lay audiences” even compete with academics in reputation and reward allocation for applied management research (mesny & mailhot, 2012; whitley, 1984). yet, since two reports, funded by the ford and carnegie foundations, recommended basing business-school teaching on more scientific grounds (gordon & howell, 1959; pierson, 1959), the question of the relevance of management research is recurrent. this question has filled several special issues and �492 joanne hamet université de bordeaux joanne.hamet@u-bordeaux.fr frantz maurer kedge business school / université de bordeaux frantz.maurer@kedgebs.com mailto:joanne.hamet@u-bordeaux.fr mailto:frantz.maurer@kedgebs.com mailto:joanne.hamet@u-bordeaux.fr mailto:frantz.maurer@kedgebs.com m@n@gement, vol. 20(5): 492-516 joanne hamet & frantz maurer forums of academic journals, such as administrative science quarterly (asq) (1982 ) and academy of management journal (2001 , 2007 ). 1 2 3 presidents of the academy of management have also regularly addressed the “relevance gap” in their presidential addresses (bartunek, 2003; hambrick, 1994; huff, 2000; kerr, 1975; ming-jer, 2014; mowday, 1997; rousseau, 2006). the notion of practical “relevance” of research encompasses three dimensions (astley & zammuto, 1992; beyer & trice, 1982; pelz, 1978). it may either be instrumental, if the research aims at influencing managerial action; conceptual, if it influences how a practitioner conceptualizes a problem; or symbolic, if the research contributes to legitimating predetermined positions. pearce and huang (2012) argue that researchers should not aim at mere symbolic relevance; they define actionable research as research that has either conceptual or instrumental implications for action. the prolific literature on the research–practice gap can be separated into two alternative approaches. a number of papers take for granted that scientific criteria impede the relevance of research, and propose avenues for research design or research objectives that would be more in line with managerial preoccupations. this literature adopts a definition of relevance that is mostly instrumental. an alternative research stream posits that management research is relevant to practice, and attributes the lack of implementation of research results mostly to a communication problem. few articles have empirically measured the relevance gap, and the conclusions of these empirical studies vary widely depending on the definition and measure of relevance used. among the possible explanations for these contrasted results is the proposition that the production of academic science is more likely to be of conceptual, rather than instrumental, relevance (astley & zammuto, 1992; nicolai & seidl, 2010). as mesny and mailhot (2012) notice, conceptual relevance is less traceable and controllable than instrumental relevance. the dominant measure of the relevance of published research within the academic community is its citation by other researchers (kieser & leiner, 2009). this is what led hambrick (1994) to criticize the closure of the scientific community, and also what led luhmann (1994), and kieser and leiner (2009), to describe science as an auto-referential system. as kieser and leiner (2009) argue, the self-referential nature of the science system takes root in the natural differentiation of societies into specialized systems (such as science, law, economy, and policy). specialization has a positive effect on the system’s performance. the drawback is that systems lose their capacity to communicate with other systems. according to kieser and leiner (2009), it is the belonging of science and organizations to separate auto-referential systems that hinders collaboration and communication between academics and practitioners. however, organizations react to irritations, such as new concepts emanating from management science. the visibility of research to managers—and, more precisely, press releases about management research—could then be an example of such irritations. while the lack of visibility of management research outside the academic community has been widely commented upon, it has been very rarely measured. we address this gap by measuring the citations of academic management journals in the international managerial press. the �493 1. vol. 27, n°4. 2. vol. 44, n°2. 3. vol. 50, n°4. is management research visible outside the academic community? m@n@gement, vol. 20(5): 492-516 number of times a scientific publication is cited in the press might measure the visibility of the research to managers. this article is organized as follows. the first section synthetizes the relevance-gap literature and identifies the variables that could influence the visibility of research among managers. the second section presents the data and methodology. the third section summarizes the principal results. the fourth section discusses the results. the last section draws conclusions. the research-practice schism in management science a number of papers identified the causes, and proposed directions to bridge, the research–practice gap in management science (see carton & mouricou, 2017, and kieser, nicolai & seidl, 2015 for an extensive review of this literature). some researchers attribute this gap to a knowledge production problem, and consider that the lack of relevance of most management research is due to an excessive reliance on rigorous methodology. others assume that management research is relevant to managers, and attribute the research–practice gap to a knowledge transfer problem (van de ven & johnson, 2006). the knowledge production problem or the rigorrelevance debate the genesis of the rigor–relevance gap comes, historically, from an epistemological and methodological dispute. numerous papers propose that the relevance gap is caused by research design being inspired by the natural sciences and dominated by positivistic epistemology. conformity with “hard science” epistemology impedes the development of prescriptive knowledge (van aken, 2005). the positivist paradigm leads researchers to favor research designs where they distance themselves from their object of study. this distance prevents them from identifying the possible impediments to the implementation of their theories or concepts, such as managers’ real purposes and tacit knowledge, or organizational defensive routines (beer, 2001). moreover, the research of “natural” laws in management denies the fact that organizations are not natural objects, but human artifacts (susman & evered, 1978). alternative methodologies such as action research (foster, 1972), mode 2 research (huff, 2000) or design science (romme, 2003) have thus been proposed to develop research programs that can answer “real world” questions. in action research or mode 2 research, knowledge is codeveloped by researchers and practitioners, and the principal criterion of the validity of this knowledge is its workability. alternatively, the proponents of design science focus not on the science production process, but on scientific objectives, which should either be the construction or the transformation of social artifacts. design science is thus closer to architecture or engineering than to natural sciences (romme, 2003; van aken, 2005). proponents of action research, mode 2 research, and design science tend to be critical of the academic writing conventions of academic journals, and to consider that publications in those journals should not be the prime objective of research, since scientific jargon, mathematical developments and complex empirical methods are inaccessible to practitioners (buckley, ferris, bernardin & harvey, 1998; leisenring & johnson, 1994). on the other hand, failing to pass the peer review process and to get published in prestigious academic journals has been considered � 494 m@n@gement, vol. 20(5): 492-516 joanne hamet & frantz maurer as an indicator of the lack of rigor of these research designs. kieser, et al. (2015) highlight the paradox that programmatic calls for more action research get frequently published in top-ranking journals, while the results of the action research that are called for fail to find their way into the same journals. conversely, some authors argue that research need not provide immediate relevance, and that excessively close relationships between researchers and industry might even be harmful for research independence (vicari, 2013). some journals even exclude the need for relevance to practice in scientific publication (daft & lewin, 2008), or or based on the belief that an excessive focus on relevance could impair research quality (hinings & greenwood, 2002; knights, 2008; peng & dess, 2010; walsh, tushman, kimberly, starbuck & ashford, 2007). huff (2000: 55) advocates that “excessive enthusiasm for immediate relevance” tends to condemn academics to pursue “short-run research on questions of minuscule importance”, contributing little to corporate evolution. huff (2000) thus pushes academics to pursue more fundamental knowledge. empirical findings about the relevance of academic research the supposed antinomy between scientific rigor and relevance leads to variable empirical findings, depending on the measure of these two concepts. mckenzie, wright, ball and baron (2002) show that marketing practitioners are not aware of top-ranked marketing journals. brennan and ankers (2004) show that managers, in the field of business-to-business marketing, claim not to be interested in academic research and tend to be more favorably disposed toward consultants, whom they consider to be more understanding of business pressures. academics in the same field believe that their research is of potential value to managers and aspire to contribute to management practice, but consider that the publication pressures of the academic system impede the production of practiceoriented research. in the fields of finance and economics, cabantous and gond (2011) show how research concepts and models can become performative, in the sense that they influence the agent’s behaviors. as an example, these authors explain that the concept of rationality, which was developed as a theoretical assumption, has been turned into a social norm through its teaching and promotion by consultants. baldridge, floyd and markóczy (2004) asked experts to rate the 4 practical relevance of 120 articles in strategy, published in six leading management journals, in 1994 and 1995. they observed a positive relationship between the academic standard and the practical utility of research. shrivastava (1987) also shows, by assessing the rigor and usefulness of 23 research programs in strategy, that relevance is not necessarily at the expense of rigor. palmer, dick and freiburger (2009) investigate the rigor and relevance of articles published in asq from 1956 through 2004. their results suggest that articles published in asq became increasingly relevant to managers after 1976, and that about 75% of the papers published in 2004 could be considered relevant to managers. moreover, they too show that relevance need not be at the expense of rigor. in particular, empirical papers based on collected data and aiming at testing existing theories could be considered rigorous as well as relevant. using a sample of publications from asq and academy of management journal (aomj), pearce and huang (2012) show that the �495 4. the experts are members of the executive advisory board of the « a c a d e m y o f m a n a g e m e n t executive.». is management research visible outside the academic community? m@n@gement, vol. 20(5): 492-516 proportion of actionable publications has dramatically decreased from 1960 to 2010. moreover, the articles classified as actionable came mostly from the subfields of organizational behavior and organizational theory, while other subfields (especially strategy and human resources) produced less actionable research. on the contrary, bartunek and rynes (2010) observe that “implications for practice” appear increasingly in empirical papers in the five top-tier management journals they considered . consistently with 5 astley and zammuto (1992), and nicolai and seidl (2010), they observe that the content of implications for practice are mostly of conceptual or symbolic nature: “become more aware,” “conduct training,” and “learning” appear to be the most frequent recommendations. the empirical literature on research relevance is too scarce to draw significant and generalized conclusions. some results can nevertheless be highlighted. first, empirical studies do not totally confirm the assumption that research, in particular research published in top management journals, is not relevant to managers. this assumption may well be the consequence of a prejudice from managers (regarding academic research) as well as from some academics themselves (regarding top-ranked journals). second, the research–practice gap may well be field-dependent (pearce and huang, 2012). finally, the empirical findings concerning the evolution of research relevance over time are inconclusive. the knowledge transfer problem and the popularization view rousseau (2006) attributes the research–practice gap not to a lack of relevance of management research, but to a lack of practice of evidence-based management by managers. managers might fail to use scientific knowledge because they are not exposed to it (rynes, colbert & brown, 2002). shapiro, kirkman and courtney (2007) conducted a survey among members of the academy of management, and showed that while academics and practitioners are concerned by both the knowledge production and the knowledge transfer problems, they rate their concern about the latter at a slightly higher level. moreover, this concern about the knowledge transfer problem increases with academics’ and managers’ experience. kieser and leiner (2009) argue that direct communication and collaboration between researchers and practitioners is, in fact, impossible, because science and organizations belong to different auto-referential communication systems. the scientific system is aimed at producing theories and methodologies. scientific communications aim at truth, and scientific rigor suggests that uncertainty and other alternatives must be considered. conversely, organizations rely on a specific form of communication, which is aimed at decision. for the sake of efficiency, organizations cannot systematically discuss the preceding decisions. they rather define a decision channel aimed at action. decisions are associated with uncertainty about the consequences of the alternative decisions, but for the sake of efficiency, organizations need to reduce that uncertainty. they do so by using the first decisions as premises for subsequent decisions. thus, the communication system that is prevalent and efficient in organizations (in the sense that it allows decisions to be made) is very distinct from the communication system that is prevalent and efficient in the science system (in the sense that it continually challenges preceding findings). consequently, the two systems cannot directly collaborate or � 496 5. academy of management journal, journal of applied psychology, journal o f o r g a n i z a t i o n a l b e h a v i o r , organization science, and personnel psychology. m@n@gement, vol. 20(5): 492-516 joanne hamet & frantz maurer communicate. they can only irritate or provoke each other by transmitting signals that must be reprocessed by each system. new managerial ideas and concepts transmitted by management magazines might be examples of these irritations. consistently, cohen (2007) argues that the cause of the relevance gap is not the scientization of research, but rather the lack of bridging media. a stream of literature (hambrick, 1994; walsh, et al., 2007) focuses on propositions to popularize research results through bridge publications, executive education and consulting, and even websites or blogs, allowing academics to present their research results in terms that would be more understandable to managers. behind these propositions also lies the claim that the popularization of research should be more considered in rewarding academics, and should contribute positively to academic reputationbuilding. the scientific journals themselves have addressed this gap by publishing journals that are specifically aimed at a managerial audience, such as the academy of management executive or the harvard business review (hbr). however, schulz and nicolai (2015), and rynes, giluk and brown (2007), observe that the articles published in the hbr include very few citations of academic research, casting doubt on the “bridge” role of these publications. the professional press could be a bridge media for diverse reasons; it is supposed to be regularly read by managers. journalists could “translate” research results in terms that are understandable by managers. finally, business journalists could play an active role in selecting the research results that are the most potentially relevant to managers. rynes, et al. (2007) investigate, in the human resources field, to what extent managers are exposed to research results through periodicals aimed at practitioners. they identify three important research topics in which human resources managers have predominantly false ideas—namely, the role of intelligence, goal setting, and personality—as performance predictors. they show that these three topics have almost no coverage in human resources magazine, human resources management, or hbr. moreover, when the topics are covered at all, this coverage is as likely to be researchinconsistent as research-consistent. finally, apart from human resources management, the investigated academic journals provide few academic citations and little quantitative evidence. rynes, et al. (2007) interpret their results as a failure of academics to disseminate their knowledge to practitioners. however, those results might be driven by the fact that rynes, et al. (2007) purposely selected research topics with results on which managers disagree or lack knowledge. in the field of management, pearce and huang (2012) observe that the magazine the economist cited only one article published in aomj and no articles published in asq from 2006 to 2010. during the same period, the economist cited 18 articles from psychological science. pearce and huang (2012) conclude that aomj and asq might address topics that are less relevant to managers than psychological science. however, the generalization of these results is limited since pearce and huang (2012) restrict themselves to two major academic journals and only one professional publication, the economist. research questions following the popularization view, the press read by managers might contribute to the transfer of scientific knowledge to practitioners. as has been shown above, existing empirical results report a very low coverage of academic research in the press. this result suggests either that academics fail to disseminate their research results, or that these results are �497 is management research visible outside the academic community? m@n@gement, vol. 20(5): 492-516 considered unimportant or irrelevant to the managerial community. however, the empirical evidence about the visibility of management research in professional publications is still weak. to our best knowledge, existing empirical studies are restricted to a specific research field or to a limited number of journals. no empirical study has yet covered the whole span of management research. in the present paper, the visibility of management research among managers is estimated more systematically than in the previous literature, by measuring the citations in the professional press of top-tier academic journals covering different management fields. in this paper, we address the following research questions: (1) how many times, on average, are academic publications mentioned in the popular press? (2) how has the coverage of academic journals by professional publication evolved over time? for each research question, we investigate the potential influence of the journal ranking and of the management field in the visibility of academic publications. method sample selection the academic journals were selected from the 2016 journal quality list (jql) of professor anne-wil harzing . our sample is composed only of 6 management journals that are considered top-tier simultaneously by four european rankings: abs 2015 (association of business schools academic journal quality guide, united kingdom), cnrs 2015 (centre national de la recherche scientifique, france), fnege 2013 (fondation nationale pour l'enseignement de la gestion des entreprises, france), and vhb 2015 (verband der hochschullehrer für betriebswirtschaft, germany). as a result, this sample is composed of journals that are highly regarded within the academic community and that are considered to publish rigorous and academically relevant research. eight research fields are considered: accounting, entrepreneurship, finance, general management and strategy, human resources management, management information systems, marketing, and operational research . for homogeneity 7 purpose, only english-language journals are considered. finally, 31 journals were removed from the sample because their names were too generic to be used as keywords in bibliometric research (typically, finance, human resources management, and management research). the one exception is the accounting review, due to its 4* ranking. for this journal, the data were manually corrected to count the real number of press articles mentioning the journal. the final sample is composed of 63 academic journals. the list of journals is given in appendix 1. variables the proxy used to measure the visibility of an academic journal in the press (dependent variable) is defined as the ratio of the total number of � 498 6 . a v a i l a b l e a t : h t t p : / / www.harzing.com/resources/journalquality-list 7, by comparison with the jql, the field “finance and accounting” in the jql has been separated into two distinct fields—“accounting” and “finance”—due to their large number of top-tier journals. conversely, the field “international business” has been integrated into “general management and strategy.” 8, factiva “top sources” includes: press release wires, dow jones newswires, reuters newswires, major news and business sources, and the wall street journal – all sources. http://www.harzing.com/resources/journal-quality-list http://www.harzing.com/resources/journal-quality-list http://www.harzing.com/resources/journal-quality-list http://www.harzing.com/resources/journal-quality-list http://www.harzing.com/resources/journal-quality-list http://www.harzing.com/resources/journal-quality-list m@n@gement, vol. 20(5): 492-516 joanne hamet & frantz maurer citations in non-academic sources (factiva “top sources” ) during a given 8 year to the total number of articles published by this journal during the same year. the total number of articles published by each journal on a peryear basis was gathered through two databases, business source premier and econlit. the visibility could also be measured by the total number of citations. however, we tested the hypothesis that the average number of articles published by academic journals is equal across fields of management. both the one-way analysis of variance (anova) and its nonparametric counterpart, the kruskal–wallis test, reject this hypothesis at the 5% and 1% levels. since the number of articles that journals publish differs between fields, it makes sense to control for this difference in the definition of visibility (dependent variable). that explains why we define visibility as the ratio of the press mentions to the number of articles that a journal publishes. the visibility of the management sciences might also have evolved over time, due to practice or research evolution (see, for example, davis, 2015). to explore this issue, we split the 15-year period into three five-year time spans, 2000–2004, 2005–2009, and 2010–2014. pearce and huang (2012) have shown that the relevance of research might vary across academic fields. consequently, the visibility of research results to managers could also be dependent on the academic field. additionally, following the literature addressing the knowledge production problem, it can also be hypothesized that the visibility of academic research in managerial press is inversely correlated with the selectivity, or rank, of the academic journal in which it is published. to investigate the potential impact of these two factors on visibility, we used the field of management (field) of each journal in the sample and its 2015 abs ranking (rank) as two independent variables. table 1 reports the visibility of academic journals in the sample both per field of management (panel a) and per ranking (panel b) : �499 8, factiva “top sources” includes: press release wires, dow jones newswires, reuters newswires, major news and business sources, and the wall street journal – all sources. is management research visible outside the academic community? m@n@gement, vol. 20(5): 492-516 note. visibility is defined as the ratio of the total number of citations in nonacademic sources to the total number of articles published. the sample includes 63 academic journals publishing papers in eight fields of management. each of the 63 academic journals in the sample is ranked according to the abs 2015 ranking. table 1 visibility of academic research over 2000–2014 statistical analysis to test for the effect of a field-specificity and/or a journal ranking influence on visibility, we use a full factorial anova model . then, to examine 9 whether the visibility of academic journals has evolved over time, we use a repeated measures anova model, in which time is included as a threelevel factor (time), with each level corresponding to a five-year time span. last, to pinpoint which factor levels are different, we used a contrast analysis and two widespread multiple comparison procedures (bonferroni and tukey post-hoc tests) as a robustness check. empirical results visibility of management research over the 2000-2014 period as indicated in table 1, over the 15-year period, the average visibility of a journal is around 0.11, meaning that a given academic article is cited, on average, 0.11 times in the press. even though this ratio may seem low, it is considerably higher than the citations observed by pearce and huang (2012) in the financial times would imply: pearce and huang (2012) report only one citation of academy of management journal and no citation of asq over the period 2000–2006. moreover, the visibility ratio presents important variability across academic journals, ranging from 0.75 for the journal of consumer research to 0.0 for the journal of the association for information systems. the median visibility is 0.046, meaning that half of the journals in our sample are hardly visible (fewer than 5% of published papers being mentioned in the press). table 2 reports results from the two-factor anova model testing the two main effects of field and rank as well as the field-by-rank interaction term. as reported in table 2, the journal ranking (abs 2015) is the only statistically significant factor at the usual confidence levels, suggesting that the variations in visibility of management journals outside the academic community can be explained by their academic rankings. quite surprisingly, the research field does not seem to have a significant role in visibility. therefore, we will focus our attention on the main effect of rank on visibility in the remainder of this section. � 500 9.the interested reader is referred to winer, brown and michels (1991) for a discussion of such models. m@n@gement, vol. 20(5): 492-516 joanne hamet & frantz maurer † p < .10; * p < .05; ** p < .01 a power values are based on fixed-effect assumptions; .05 is used as the alpha level for the power calculations. b tests the null hypothesis that the error variance of the dependent variable (visibility) is equal across groups. this test is non-sensitive to departures of normality. the significance of levene’s test is under .01, which suggests that the equal variances assumption is violated. c the partial eta squared effect-size measure is close to medium according to cohen’s scale (cohen, 1977: 284), and is still acceptable for the factor rank in table 2. the observed power for the factor rank is very close to the benchmark of 80% proposed by cohen (1977: 53–56). these parameters indicate that this finding is not particularly sensitive to the sample size. table 2 factorial analysis of variance (anova) over the 15-year time in order to gain a deeper insight into the results from table 2, we conducted a contrast analysis to identify the differences of visibility among the three ranking levels that are distinguished by the abs 2015 ranking for top-tier journals: world elite journal (4* ranking), top journal” (4 ranking), and highly regarded journal (3 ranking). these follow-up tests are displayed in table a2-1 in appendix 2. the simple contrasts in table a2-1 (panel a) show that the average visibility of world elite journals is significantly higher than the average visibility of both top journals and highly rewarded journals. this suggests a “prestige premium”: the visibility of academic research in the popular press increases with the academic ranking. even within top-tiered academic journals, we observe a difference in visibility between sub-rankings. however, this prestige premiu” is more salient for world elite journals, while top journals seem only slightly more visible than highly regarded journals. last, orthogonal polynomial contrasts (panel b) show a significant linear trend, while the quadratic trend is not significant. the negative linear contrast suggests a decreasing linear relation between the average visibility of an academic journal and its ranking. �501 is management research visible outside the academic community? m@n@gement, vol. 20(5): 492-516 as robustness checks, we used the bonferroni and tukey post-hoc tests allowing for multiple comparisons (see table a3-1 in appendix 3). the results confirm that world elite journals are more visible than both top journals and highly regarded journals. our answer to our first research question about the visibility of academic journals is thus that this is, on average, modest, with important variations among journal rankings. even within the top-tiered journals, the most prestigious journals (i.e. ranked world elite journals) are more cited in the popular press than lower-ranked publications (top journals and highly regarded journals). table a3-1 shows that on average, the academic journals ranked as world elite are 3.9 times more visible than top-ranked journals, and 5.6 times more than highly regarded journals. this result is in contradiction with the assumption that rigor leads to less relevant research, and consistent with the results of baldridge, et al. (2004), shrivastava (1987), and palmer, et al. (2009). interestingly, the above results were obtained in the field of gen, while our empirical results are mainly driven by mkg and acc. moreover, two studies focusing on the mkg field present opposite conclusions (brennan & ankers, 2004; mckenzie, et al., 2002). mckenzie, et al. (2002) show, on a sample of 47 marketing managers, that most have not heard of a sample of marketing academic journals. however, this sample does not include the four world elite journals of the discipline. moreover, their investigation has been conducted on a time period that precedes ours. brennan and ankers (2004) analyze the results of three preceding surveys on managers’ and academics’ perceptions, conducted over the period 1999–2004. our results show that the visibility of marketing journals increased dramatically in the post-2004 period. it might be interesting to investigate whether managers’ perceptions about the relevance of research in marketing has evolved over the last ten years, following this better coverage of research results in the managerial press. evolution of management research visibility over 2000-2014 period in order to detect whether visibility evolved over time, we consider the evolution of visibility across three sub-periods: 2000–2004, 2005–2009, and 2010–2014. breaking down a whole time period into shorter time spans is a common practice in academic literature—see, for example, dai, free and gendron (2016); ferreira, storopoli and serra (2014); mellahi, frynas, sun and siegel (2016); and podsakoff, mackenzie, bachrach and podsakoff (2005). also, a five-year window is traditionally used in the management literature because it could serve as a broader platform from which generalizations could be made (robertson, blevins & duffy, 2013). we also investigated the five-year growth rate of the number of published academic articles over the whole time period of 2000–2014. the table of results is not reproduced here to save space but is available upon request. this five-year breakdown reveals two salient patterns. first, the five-year growth rate is fairly stable over the period, all fields taken together: 24.1% between 2000–2004 and 2005–2009; and 24.5 % between 2005–2009 and 2010–2014. second, the eight fields of management under review here display substantial differences in terms of their respective five-year growth rates . for example, the number of 10 articles published in the field of fin increased by 43.5% from 2005–2009 to 2010–2014, whereas the increase was only 4.6% for gen. such a huge � 502 10.the so-called five-year growth rates are calculated on an annual basis—i.e. they are equal to the mean of the number of articles published each year within the five-year sub-period. m@n@gement, vol. 20(5): 492-516 joanne hamet & frantz maurer difference can also be observed between gen (+7.9%) and mis (+45.5%) across the two five-year sub-periods 2000–2004 and 2005–2009. we conducted a repeated measures anova framework, where the within-subjects factor labeled time denotes the three considered subperiods, and the two between-subjects factors are field and rank. in such a framework, three different types of effects can be tested: (i) the main effect of time on visibility; (ii) the two first-order interaction terms— time-by-field and time-by-rank; and (iii) the second-order time-byfield-by-rank interaction term. table 3 displays the multivariate tests of significance for the aforementioned effects. the most informative and interesting result is yielded by the highest interaction term (time×field×rank). it provides evidence that the time evolution of visibility over 2000–2014 is due to the joint effect (or conjunction) of the ranking and the specific field of management in which academic journals publish. the following will thus focus on the time×field×rank secondorder interaction term. † p < .10; * p < .05; ** p < .01 a 05 is used as the alpha level for the power calculations. b box’s m test provides a multivariate test for the homogeneity of dispersion matrices. box’s m tests the null hypothesis that the observed covariance matrices of the dependent variables are equal across groups. box’s m is very sensitive to departures from normality. since the significance value of the box’s m test is lower than .01, there is reason to believe that the equal variances assumption is violated. table 3 repeated measures anova – multivariate tests �503 is management research visible outside the academic community? m@n@gement, vol. 20(5): 492-516 in order to clarify the main result from table 3 indicating a joint influence of both ranking and field on the visibility of research in management through time, we undertook an in-depth analysis of the twoorder interaction term time×field×rank reported in table 3 by using simple effects tests. these follow-up tests provide a fine-grained investigation of an interaction term when significant, such as here . table 11 4 presents the results from these simple effects tests. the focus is on analyzing effects of the ranking factor (rank) for each level of the field factor (field) over time. to save space, only statistically significant results at the usual confidence levels are reported in table 4. † p < .10; * p < .05; ** p < .01 a dependent variable: visibility b only statistically significant results are reported. note: f tests the effect of rank (abs 2015). this test is based on linearly independent pairwise comparisons among the estimated marginal means. table 4 simple effects analysis a,b among the eight disciplines of management under review in this study, only two—acc and mkg—display significant variations in visibility over time. it follows that, on average, the visibility of academic research in all fields of management except acc and mkg has not significantly changed since 2000, regardless of the prestige of academic journals in which the research was published. when time sub-periods are considered, the impact of ranking on visibility is statistically significant only for acc in the first sub-period (2000–2004), and for mkg in the two last sub-periods (2005–2014). these findings suggest an opposite pattern between these two disciplines. as before, we used the bonferroni and tukey post-hoc tests as robustness checks, including now both the field of management (field) and the three five-year sub-time periods (time) in the analysis (see table a3-2 in appendix 3). since both tests lead to the same conclusions, only bonferroni is reported. interestingly, even the difference in visibility between the two extreme rankings (world elite journal and highly regarded journal) is weakly significant at the 10% level for the acc field. table a3-2 also shows that acc has experienced a decrease in visibility from 2000– 2004 to 2005 onwards, as suggested before. as regards mkg, the results in table a3-2 are still more informative and statistically significant. the gap is widening between world elite � 504 11.note that there is no reason to conduct a simple effects analysis when the interaction term, regardless of its order, is not statistically significant at t h e u s u a l c o n fi d e n c e l e v e l s . conversely, when there is a significant interaction, the concept of main effect is not really relevant. in this situation, results must be interpreted through a decomposition of effects, i.e. analyzing effects of a factor for each level of the other one (simple effects analysis). in contrast to the main effects analysis, the simple effects tests report factor effects conditional upon the level of the other one involved in the interaction term. m@n@gement, vol. 20(5): 492-516 joanne hamet & frantz maurer journals and top journals. the former became more than twice as visible as the latter over the last ten years—see the column untitled “mean differences (i–j)” in table a3-2. in addition, there is a huge difference in visibility between world elite journals and highly regarded journals over the most recent five years. the former are nine times more visible than the latter. by contrast, the difference in visibility between the world elite journals and the two lower-ranked marketing journals is fairly constant over the 2010–2014 time span. overall, this set of results suggests that the “prestige premium” for marketing journals has increased over the last decade (2005–2014). the four top-ranked marketing journals (namely, journal of consumer psychology, journal of consumer research, journal of marketing, and journal of marketing research) were cited only 166 times in the popular press between 2000 and 2004. the number of citations of those four journals taken together reached 1,104 over the 2010–2014 period. this increase is observed for the four journals, even though it is more salient for journal of marketing and journal of marketing research. those two journals are also by far the most visible in the press during the last period. last, to provide deeper insight into the trend in visibility of academic research over the past 15 years, we conducted a polynomial contrasts analysis. as reported in table a2-2, the linear component of the time×field×rank two-order interaction term is significant at the 1% level. this finding is a stimulating message addressed to researchers in management—regardless of their own field of expertise—as it suggests that overall, the average visibility of research in management outside the academic community has increased linearly over time. although mkg is primarily concerned with what might be considered as good news, the upward trend reported in table a2-2 encompasses six of the eight disciplines of management under review in this study (acc and mis being the two exceptions). the average visibility ratio of the sample shows growth rates of 9% between the two first sub-periods and 42% between the last sub-periods. moreover, 40 journals out of 63 have experienced an increase in visibility between 2000–2004 and 2010–2014. the visibility of academic journals may be influenced by variables other than those considered in the previous analysis. in an earlier version of this paper, we tested the same two-way anova model with a covariate indicating whether or not a journal was sponsored by a professional group. podsakoff, et al. (2005) observed that the top quartile of management journals—such as academy of management review and academy of management journal—may have benefited from the fact that they are sponsored by the academy of management. clearly, such a sponsorship promotes academic journals among scholars, but it may also enhance the visibility of research in management among practitioners. surprisingly, this covariate was not statistically significant. as a robustness check, we duplicated the statistical analyses with a sample exclusive of the four outliers in terms of visibility, namely the accounting review (acc), journal of finance (fin), journal of marketing (mkg), and journal of consumer research (mkg). the aim was to check whether the results depended heavily on the visibility of these four influential cases in the data. overall, the previous empirical findings held true with this restricted sample. however, it is worthwhile noting that visibility is then driven by the field of management in which a journal publishes, and no longer by its ranking, over the whole period 2000–2014. although it is difficult to identify the specific reasons for this shift, a possible explanation is that the stratification of rankings is more modified than the �505 is management research visible outside the academic community? m@n@gement, vol. 20(5): 492-516 stratification of fields within the sample. indeed, the four journals excluded from the sample are ranked as world elite journals. our answer to our second research question is thus that, on average, academic research in management has gained momentum outside its own community over the last 15 years (2000–2014). even though this upward trend is mainly led by mkg, that holds true for most fields of management considered in this study. this is good news for the whole community of researchers engaged in promoting academic research in management among practitioners. the main notable exception to this enhanced visibility is the acc field, where the mean visibility ratio has decreased over the time period. while acc was second to fin in visibility on the 2000–2004 period, it came fifth in the 2010–2014 period, behind mkg, fin, gen, and hrm. leisenring and johnson (1994) attribute the low audience of accounting research among practitioners both to the research–practice gap and to the small number of academic publications in accounting. it is true that the number of publications in accounting, and especially in the accounting review, has significantly decreased over our period of study. however, the visibility ratio is not always correlated with the number of publications. for example, the visibility ratio of the journal of consumer research increased over the period, despite a decrease in the number of published papers that is equivalent to that of the accounting review. we leave it up to accounting researchers to investigate whether changes in research design in their field could explain this decreased visibility in the press. discussion overview of the study and main findings figure 1 displays an overview of the research framework, highlighting the two research questions investigated in this paper and the main empirical findings. the average visibility of academic research in the managerial press is segmented by: (i) field of management; (ii) ranking of academic journals; and (iii) five-year time span. the number of journals per field of management is also reported. as shown in figure 1, mkg is the most visible discipline outside the academic community, with an average visibility ratio of 24.52%, and or the least visible with a ratio lower than 1%. this compares with an overall average visibility recorded in the sample equal to 10.90% and a median visibility of 4.65%. the two research questions in figure 1 (right side) encompass the three above factors with potential effect on visibility (field, rank, and time). to put it simply, the first research question is interested in uncovering which factor or combination of factors impacts visibility, while the other focuses on the time evolution of visibility. regarding the former, we found that the average visibility of research in management outside the academic community is fairly low. in line with the statistically significant effect of the rank factor on visibility, an important dissimilarity between journal rankings is observed. specifically, the most prestigious journals (i.e. ranked world elite journals) are also the most often cited in the managerial press. as regards the second research question, we found that the visibility of management research has gained momentum outside its own community over the last 15 years, even if this upward and encouraging trend is mainly due to just one discipline (mkg). � 506 m@n@gement, vol. 20(5): 492-516 joanne hamet & frantz maurer figure 1 an overview about visibility of management research in the press academic prestige and visibility in the press can go together overall, apart from the general management field, our results tend to contradict the supposed trade-off between academic quality and practical relevance. the outstanding and most selective journals (namely, the journal of consumer research, journal of marketing, the accounting review, and journal of finance) tend to be more frequently cited in professional publications than do less prestigious publications in the same field. one possible explanation could be that the most innovative papers tend to be published in the most prestigious academic journals. podsakoff, et al. (2005) note that publication in top-tier journals is one of the most important factors used by universities in making resource allocation decisions on matters such as salary, release time, promotion and tenure decisions, and summer research support. they also explain that each publication in top-tier journal has a cumulative value of approximately $84,000 over a researcher’s career . most importantly, it increases the 12 likelihood for a researcher of being scrutinized by peers and thus being cited in subsequent publications. this would explain why researchers with the most innovative research insights try to publish them first in the most prestigious journal. the fact that top journals are significantly more visible than others could have several alternative explanations. the most prestigious universities and business schools could be both the most able to hire �507 12. podsakoff, et al. (2005) refer to a study by gomez-mejia and balkin (1992). is management research visible outside the academic community? m@n@gement, vol. 20(5): 492-516 faculty members that publish in the most prestigious journals, and the most efficient in diffusing their research to the media. universities might also tend to highlight their most prestigious publications. the prestige premium could also result from selection by the journalists themselves, who might concentrate their attention on the journal of reference in the field. promoting the visibility of academic publications it is worth noting that the two journals that are the most cited in the press, the journal of marketing and journal of consumer research, both have a “press release” page on their website, which proves that both journals actively promote their publications to the press. the american marketing association, publisher of also publishes “executive summaries” on the journal’s website. this suggests that the diffusion of research—or, following kieser and leiner (2009), the “irritation” of organizations by science—may not be a passive process, but rather needs an active strategy from the research system. it might be interesting to investigate, in a future study, a possible causality relation between the actions taken by a journal in favor of press releases, and its visibility. public diffusion of research results by press release is common in some scientific disciplines, such as health and physics. even if the scientific community is sometimes ambivalent about this “science by press release,” it may—especially in management research—be an interesting means to diffuse new scientific knowledge. moreover, if press releases are an efficient way to enhance research visibility among practitioners, an interesting conclusion would be that visibility could then be monitored, not only by management journals themselves, but also by management schools and even researchers. this might explain the observed increase of visibility in recent years. following the awareness of the research–practice gap, the ability of management schools and universities to diffuse research results is increasingly being scrutinized. business schools may well have reacted to this attention by hiring public relations specialists to write press releases translating their faculties’ research. they might also have accompanied their researchers in diffusing their research results to the media. field specificities some particularities in journal scopes and rankings might have influenced our results. the higher visibility of world elite journals might well have influenced our results on the differences of visibility among fields. two fields have no world elite journal (hrm and ent). two fields have only one world elite journal (or and mis). researchers in those fields having papers with high potential might try to get them published in connected fields or in gen journals. this publishing strategy would decrease the apparent visibility of the fields with few or no world elite journals. surprisingly however, the gen field, despite having five world elite journals, shows visibility ratios that are three times lower than the mkg field over the two last sub-periods. the low visibility in the press of academic fields such as mis, or, ent, and (to a lesser extent) hrm could have alternative interpretations. for mis and or, especially, the number of citations of academic journals in the press is 100 times lower than the number of articles published by the same journals. the choice of the press references, however, might have influenced our results. mis quarterly, for example, appears to have a very low visibility in the management press, but some press issues read by it managers could be excluded from the � 508 m@n@gement, vol. 20(5): 492-516 joanne hamet & frantz maurer factiva management database. in that case, mis quarterly could well have better visibility in its specific field even if its visibility among general managers is much lower. this could also be true for the or field. visibility is not relevance the interpretation of our research results concerning the role of the popular press in bridging the research–practice gap should be taken cautiously. first, our visibility measure is not a perfect proxy of research relevance to managers. visibility and relevance could be correlated only if press journalists are capable of identifying (among the published research) the findings that should be more relevant to managers. as aldag (1997) notes, research impact is the conjunction of several factors, such as relevance, understanding and acceptance. one should also keep in mind the risk that, when cited in the press, important elements of research might be “lost in translation” (shapiro, et al., 2007). second, our study is restricted to top-tier academic journals. this limitation has been applied in order to narrow the analysis to academic publications that could not be suspected of a lack of scientific rigor. however, the drawback is that the rigor–relevance debate can only partly be addressed in this research. while we show that within top-tier journals, world elite journals are actually more visible than other publications, we cannot exclude that less prestigious journals could be even more visible in the press. finally, some papers from the relevance-gap literature have criticized the field specialization of research (kieser, et al., 2015: 158). mode 2 research, in particular, considers that trans-disciplinary research should be more relevant to practice. in this study, we purposely excluded some trans-disciplinary journals (for example, academic journals covering both the acc and fin fields). in a following research, it might be interesting to investigate whether trans-disciplinary journals are more visible than disciplinary ones. conclusion we estimated the yearly number of citations in the press of a panel of 63 top-ranked journals in all fields of management over a 15-year period. our two main results are the following. first, academic journals in management have significant room for improvement in terms of scientific dissemination. overall, academic journals are hardly visible, and this visibility seems mostly restricted to the most prestigious academic journals. second, and more reassuring for management research, the visibility of academic journals has increased over the period 2000–2014 for most management fields, with the notable exception of acc. in particular, the visibility of world elite journals in mkg has increased dramatically over the last decade. �509 is management research visible outside the academic community? m@n@gement, vol. 20(5): 492-516 appendix 1 sample issn journal field abs 2015 cnrs 2015 fnege 2013 vhb 2015 ft50 0361-3682 accounting organizations and society acc 4* 1 1 a 1 0001-4826 accounting review (the) acc 4* 1* 1* a+ 1 0165-4101 journal of accounting & economics acc 4* 1 1 a+ 1 0021-8456 journal of accounting research acc 4* 1 1 a+ 1 1380-6653 review of accounting studies acc 4 1 1 a 1 0278-0380 auditing: a journal of practice & theory acc 3 2 2 b 0963-8180 european accounting review acc 3 2 2 a 0278-4254 journal of accounting and public policy acc 3 2 2 b 0823-9150 contemporary accounting research acc 4 2 1 a 1 1042-2587 entrepreneurship, theory and practice ent 4 1 1 a 1 0883-9026 journal of business venturing ent 4 1 1 a 1 1932-443x strategic entrepreneurship journal ent 4 2 2 a 1 0266-2426 international small business journal ent 3 2 2 c 0047-2778 journal of small business management ent 3 2 2 b 0022-1082 journal of finance (the) fin 4* 1* 1* a+ 1 0304-405x journal of financial economics fin 4* 1 1 a+ 1 0893-9454 review of financial studies fin 4* 1 1 a+ 1 0929-1199 journal of corporate finance fin 4 2 2 b 1042-9573 journal of financial intermediation fin 4 2 2 a 0022-1090 journal of financial & quantitative analysis fin 4 1 1 a 1 0378-4266 journal of banking & finance fin 3 2 1 a 0022-4367 journal of risk & insurance fin 3 2 2 a 0001-4273 academy of management journal gen 4* 1 1 a+ 1 0363-7425 academy of management review gen 4* 1* 1* a+ 1 0001-8392 administrative science quarterly gen 4* 1* 1* a+ 1 0047-2506 journal of international business studies gen 4* 1 1 a 1 0143-2095 strategic management journal gen 4* 1* 1* a 1045-3172 british journal of management gen 4 2 2 b 0022-2380 journal of management studies gen 4 1 1 a 1 1090-9516 journal of world business (columbia) gen 4 2 2 b 1740-4754 european management review gen 3 2 2 b � 510 m@n@gement, vol. 20(5): 492-516 joanne hamet & frantz maurer 1460-8545 international journal of management reviews gen 3 2 2 b 1057-7408 journal of consumer psychology mkt 4* 1 1 a 1 0093-5301 journal of consumer research mkt 4* 1 1 a+ 1 0022-2429 journal of marketing mkt 4* 1* 1* a+ 1 0022-2437 journal of marketing research mkt 4* 1 1 a+ 1 0167-8116 international journal of research in marketing mkt 4 2 1 a 0022-4359 journal of retailing mkt 4 2 2 a 1094-6705 journal of service research mkt 4 2 2 a 0092-0703 journal of the academy of marketing science mkt 4 2 2 a 1 0148-2963 journal of business research mkt 3 2 2 b 0923-0645 marketing letters mkt 3 2 2 b 0960-085x european journal of information systems mis 3 1 1 a 1350-1917 information systems journal mis 3 2 2 a 1086-4415 international journal of electronic commerce mis 3 2 2 b 0742-1222 journal of management information systems mis 4 1 1 a 1 0963-8687 journal of strategic information systems mis 3 2 2 a 0276-7783 mis quarterly mis 4* 1* 1* a+ 1 1536-9323 journal of the association for information systems mis 4 2 2 a 0018-9391 ieee transactions on engineering management or 3 2 2 b 0144-3577 international journal of operations & production management or 4 2 2 b 0925-5273 international journal of production economics or 3 1 1 b 0020-7543 international journal of production research or 3 2 2 b 0272-6963 journal of operations management or 4* 1 1 a 1 0007-1080 british journal of industrial relations hrm 4 2 2 b 0894-4865 family business review hrm 3 2 2 b 0167-4544 journal of business ethics hrm 3 2 2 b 1 0963-1798 journal of occupational & organizational psychology hrm 4 2 2 b 0894-3796 journal of organizational behavior hrm 4 2 1 a 0001-8791 journal of vocational behavior hrm 4 2 2 b 1048-9843 leadership quarterly hrm 4 2 2 a 0749-5978 organizational behavior and human decision process hrm 4 1 1 a 1 0019-7939 industrial and labor relations review hrm 3 1 2 a/b �511 is management research visible outside the academic community? m@n@gement, vol. 20(5): 492-516 appendix 2 contrast analysis table a2-1. contrast analysis between the three rankings of academic journals* † p < .10; * p < .05; ** p < .01 * dependent variable: visibility a simple contrasts compare each level of a factor to a reference level. the values for the coefficients are the differences between each factor level and this reference factor level. b when polynomial contrasts are used, the first contrasts represents the linear component (the means falling more or less on a straight line), and the second contrasts represents the quadratic component (curving upward or downward). table a2-2. polynomial contrasts analysisa † p < .10; * p < .05; ** p < .01 a .05 is used as the alpha level for the power calculations. � 512 m@n@gement, vol. 20(5): 492-516 joanne hamet & frantz maurer appendix 3 robustness checks table a3-1. multiple pairwise comparisons— bonferroni post-hoc testsa † p < .10; * p < .05; ** p < .01 a dependent variable: visibility note. the bonferroni method is based on the number of comparisons actually made, while the tukey test involves comparing each pair of means as if these two means could be the largest and smallest in the set of r means to be compared. the former (latter) performs better than the latter (former) when the number of means to be compared is small (large). however, bonferroni is more popular than tukey in academic research. for the sake of brevity, we report only the results of the bonferroni analysis. results remain unchanged when using the tukey method. table a3-2. multiple pairwise comparisons – bonferroni post-hoc testsab † p < .10; * p < .05; ** p < .01 a dependent variable: visability b to save space, only statistically significant results at the usual confidence levels are displayed. �513 is management research visible outside the academic community? m@n@gement, vol. 20(5): 492-516 references aldag, r. j. (1997). moving sofas and exhuming woodchucks on relevance, impact, and the following of fads. journal of management inquiry, 6(1), 8-16. astley, w. g. & zammuto, r. f. (1992). organization science, managerial practice, and language games. organization science, 3(4), 443-460. baldridge, d. c., floyd, s. w. & markóczy, l. (2004). are managers from mars and academicians from venus? toward an understanding of the relationship between academic quality and practical relevance. strategic management journal, 25(11), 1063-1074. bartunek, j. m. (2003). a dream for the academy. academy of management review, 28(2), 198-203. bartunek, j. m. & rynes, s. l. (2010). the construction and contributions of "implications for practice": what's in them and what might they offer? academy of management learning & education, 9(1), 100-117. beer, m. (2001). why management research findings a r e u n i m p l e m e n t a b l e : a n a c t i o n s c i e n c e perspective. reflections: the sol journal, 2(3), 58-65. beyer, j. m. & trice, h. m. (1982). the utilization process: a conceptual framework and synthesis of empirical findings. administrative science quarterly, 27, 591-622. brennan, r. & ankers, p. (2004). in search of relevance: is there an academic-practitioner divide in business-to-business marketing? marketing intelligence & planning, 22(5), 511-519. buckley, m. r., ferris, g. r., bernardin, h. j., & harvey, m. g. (1998). the disconnect between the science and practice of management. business horizons, 41(2), 31-39. cabantous, l., & gond, j.p. (2011). rational decision making as performative praxis: explaining rationality’s eternel retour. organization science, 22(3), 573-586. carton, g., & mouricou, p. (2017) is management research relevant? a systematic analysis of the rigor-relevance debate in top-tier journals (1994– 2013). m@n@gement, 20(2), 166-203. cohen, d. j. (2007). the very separate worlds of academic and practitioner publications in human resource management: reasons for the divide and concrete solutions for bridging the gap. academy of management journal, 50(5), 1013-1019. cohen, j. (1977), statistical power analysis for the behavioural sciences (rev. ed.). new york: academic. daft, r. l. & lewin, a. y. (2008). rigor and relevance in organization studies: idea migration and academic journal evolution. organization science, 19(1), 177-183. dai, n. t., free, c., & gendron, y. (2016). interviewbased research in accounting 2000-2014: a review. available at ssrn: https://ssrn.com/ abstract=2711022 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn. 2711022. davis, g. f. (2015). editorial essay: what is organizational research for? administrative science quarterly, 60, 179-188. ferreira, m. p., storopoli, j. e., & serra, f. a. r. (2014). the extant research on strategic alliances: a bibliometric study of the past two decades. in academy of management proceedings 2014(1), 10161. foster, m. (1972). an introduction to the theory and practice of action research in work organizations. human relations, 25(6), 529-556. gomez-mejia, l. r., & balkin, d. b. (1992). determinants of faculty pay: an agency theory perspective. academy of management journal, 35(5), 921-955. gordon, r., howell, j. (1959), higher education for business, new york, columbia university press. hambrick d. (1994). what if the academy actually mattered? academy of management review, 19, 11-16. hinings, c. r. & greenwood, r. (2002). disconnects and consequences in organization theory? administrative science quarterly, 47(3), 411-421. huff, a. s. (2000). changes in organizational knowledge production. academy of management review, 25(2), 288-293. kerr, s. (1975). on the folly of rewarding for a when hoping for b. academy of management journal, 18(4), 769-783. kieser, a., & leiner, l. (2009). why the rigour– relevance gap in management research is unbridgeable. journal of management studies, 46 (3), 516-533. kieser, a., nicolai, a. & seidl, d. (2015). the practical relevance of management research: turning the debate on relevance into a rigorous scientific research program. academy of management annals, 9(1), 143-233. knights, d. (2008). myopic rhetorics: reflecting epistemologically and ethically on the demand for relevance in organizational and management research. academy of management learning & education, 7(4), 537-552. leisenring, j. j., & johnson, l. t. (1994). accounting research: on the relevance of research to practice. accounting horizons, 74-79. luhmann n. (1994). the modernity of science. new german critique, 61, 9–23. available at http:// cepa.info/2768. mckenzie, c., wright, s., ball, d., & baron, p. (2002). commentary: the publications of marketing facultywho are we really talking to? european journal of marketing, 36(11/12), 1196-1208. mellahi, k., frynas, j. g., sun, p., & siegel, d. (2016). a review of the nonmarket strategy literature: toward a multi-theoretical integration. journal of management, 42(1), 143-173. mesny, a. & mailhot, c. (2012). control and traceability of research impact on practice: reframing the ' r e l e v a n c e g a p ' d e b a t e i n m a n a g e m e n t . m@n@gement, 15(2), 181-207. ming-jer, c. (2014). becoming ambicultural: a personal quest, and aspiration for organizations. academy of management review, 39(2), 119-137. � 514 https://ssrn.com/abstract=2711022 https://ssrn.com/abstract=2711022 https://ssrn.com/abstract=2711022 https://ssrn.com/abstract=2711022 http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2711022 http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2711022 http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2711022 http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2711022 http://cepa.info/2768 http://cepa.info/2768 http://cepa.info/2768 http://cepa.info/2768 m@n@gement, vol. 20(5): 492-516 joanne hamet & frantz maurer mowday, r. t. (1997). the quest for relevance. journal of management inquiry, 6(1), 27-30. nicolai a. & seidl d. (2010). that’s relevant! different forms of practical relevance in management s c i e n c e . o r g a n i z a t i o n s t u d i e s , 3 1 ( 9 1 0 ) , 1257-1285. palmer d., dick b. & freiburger, n. (2009). rigor and relevance in organization studies. journal of management inquiry, 18, 265-272. pearce j. & huang l. (2012). the decreasing value of our research to management education. academy of management learning & education, 11(2), 263-271. pelz, d. c. (1978). some expanded perspectives on the use of social science in public policy. in m. yinger & s. j. cutler (eds.), major social issues: a multidisciplinary view (pp. 346-357). new york: free press. peng, m. w. & dess, g. g. (2010). in the spirit of scholarship. academy of management learning & education, 9(2), 282-298. pierson, r. c. (1959), the education of american businessmen, new york: mcgraw hill. romme, a. g. l. (2003). making a difference: organization as design. organization science, 14, 558–573. podsakoff, p. m., mackenzie, s. b., bachrach, d. g., & podsakoff, n. p. (2005). the influence of management journals in the 1980s and 1990s. strategic management journal, 26(5), 473-488. robertson, c. j., blevins, d. p., & duffy, t. (2013). a five-year review, update, and assessment of ethics and governance in strategic management journal. journal of business ethics, 117(1), 85-91. rousseau, d. m. (2006). is there such a thing as "evidence-based management"? academy of management review, 31(2), 256-269. rynes, s. l., colbert, a. e., & brown, k. c. (2002). hr professionals' beliefs about effective human resource practices: correspondence between r e s e a r c h a n d p r a c t i c e . h u m a n r e s o u r c e management, 41(2), 149-175. rynes, s. l., giluk, t. l., brown, k. g. (2007). the very separate world of academic and practitioner periodicals in human resource management: implications for evidence-based management. academy of management journal, 50(5), 987-1008. schulz, a. & nicolai, a. t. (2015). the intellectual link b e t w e e n m a n a g e m e n t r e s e a r c h a n d popularization media: a bibliometric analysis of the h a r v a r d b u s i n e s s r e v i e w. a c a d e m y o f management learning & education, 14(1), 31-49 shapiro, d. l., kirkman, b. l., courtney, h. g. (2007). perceived solutions of the translation problem in management research. academy of management journal, 50(2), 249-266. shrivastava, p. (1987). rigor and practical usefulness of research in strategic management. strategic management journal, 8(1), 77-92. susman, g. i., & evered, r. d. (1978). an assessment of the scientific merits of action research. administrative science quarterly, 23, 582–603. van aken, j. e. (2005). management research as a design science: articulating the research products of mode 2 knowledge production in management. british journal of management, 16(1), 19–36. van de ven, a.h. & johnson, p.e. (2006). knowledge for theory and practice. academy of management review, 31(4), 802-821. vicari, s. (2013). is the problem only ours? a question of relevance in management research. european management review, 10(4), 173-181. walsh, j. p., tushman, m. l., kimberly, j. r., starbuck, b. & ashford, s. (2007). on the relationship between research and practice: debate and reflexions. journal of management inquiry, 16(2), 128-154. whitley, r. (1984), the scientific status of management research as a practically-oriented social science. journal of management studies, 21(4), 369-390. winer, b. j., brown, d. r. & michels, k. m. (1991), statistical principles in experimental design. 3rd ed, new york: mcgraw-hill.   �515 is management research visible outside the academic community? m@n@gement, vol. 20(5): 492-516 joanne hamet is professor of finance at the university of bordeaux. she heads the research team for banking and financial management in the institut de recherche en gestion des organisations (irgo). her research interests include financial markets, market microstructure, and information systems ethics. frantz maurer is associate professor of finance at kedge business school and the university of bordeaux. his research interests focus primarily on the use of copula functions in risk management, and conduct risk in the banking industry. acknowledgements. for stimulating discussions, the authors thank participants of "les etats généraux du management" (toulouse, 2016) organized every two years by the french foundation for management education (fnege). we are also most grateful to the senior editor, laure cabantous, and the two anonymous reviewers for particularly helpful comments. � 516 05 212 breton et al en 2018 m@n@gement 2018, vol. 21(2): 834-857 counting before acting? the performativity of carbon accounting called into question calculation acts and dispositifs in a big french construction company 
 morgane le breton ! franck aggeri abstract. the emerging field of carbon accounting, a system based on conventions and designed to measure greenhouse gas (ghg) emissions in companies and organizations, is currently generating interest both in industry and among researchers. the literature has however highlighted the fact that companies’ use of carbon accounting has often been limited to public relations practices and has failed to result in low-carbon strategic collective action by companies. this article explores how carbon accounting practices could be performative, that is to say, able to deeply transform companies’ practices and strategies. in order to do so, a case study of one specific company, “company v,” is examined. in particular, the process of performation through elementary calculation acts – in other words, managerial situations where speech acts are based on a calculation – is considered. we show that calculations based on carbon accounting, if repeated and integrated into a broader strategic dispositif, are performative. the contribution is twofold, for we show: first from an empirical standpoint, little-known phenomena pertaining to the actual use of carbon accounting in organizations; and second from a theoretical standpoint, the role of calculation acts in the launching and maintenance of the new form of collective action that a strategic dispositif is. keywords: performativity, felicitous conditions, calculation acts, dispositif, carbon accounting introduction we responded to a call to tender by “city x” about innovating construction. the aim was to explain the concept of the innovation, but also how to assess it and how to apply it. [thanks to all the work accumulated on carbon], we told ourselves ‘we could propose a zero-carbon building project’. the first thing we wondered was: ‘what does zero carbon mean for this specific project?’ from that step, our project staff called on a low-carbon consulting company, the company’s carbon manager and the r&d managers who were already interested in the stakes around carbon and we began to work on that project… (“zero-carbon” project manager of a subsidiary of company v) �834 morgane le breton mines paristech psl research university 
 cgs-i3, umr 9217 
 morgane.le_breton@minesparistech.fr 
 franck aggeri
 mines paristech psl research university cgs-i3, umr 9217
 franck.aggeri@mines-paristech.fr mailto:franck.aggeri@mines-paristech.fr%22%20%5ct%20%22_blank mailto:franck.aggeri@mines-paristech.fr%22%20%5ct%20%22_blank m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 834-857 morgane le breton & franck aggeri this quote is about a building company’s attempts to respond to a call to tender for an innovative construction project. the zero-carbon innovating concept was not chosen by chance. low-carbon transition has become a major societal challenge in order to reach international goals on climate change . the building sector is at the forefront of this issue 1 because it accounts for about 20% of all ghg emissions in france. the project manager was referring not only to an unclear objective about climate change, but also to a numerical value: “zero-carbon.” one could implicitly infer that this ambitious project’s value depended on how it was measured and verified. the end of the story paid tribute to this initiative because the project was eventually chosen by city x, above many others. this quote is however not entirely explicit and we had to add the following: “thanks to all the work accumulated on carbon”, found in another interview with the same project manager. this sentence highlights the fact that the “zero-carbon” project is the result of ten years of work in the company to establish low-carbon activities based on carbon accounting for building projects and the exploration of new low-carbon innovations. the key role that calculation tools play in the initiatives undertaken by company v reflect the international development of carbon accounting. in order to make companies feel more concerned about climate change, for ten years one of the solutions was to create tools and methods to calculate their ghg emissions. the implicit ideas behind the creation of carbon accounting were that, before being able to act, it was first necessary for companies to measure their ghg emissions, and that welldesigned measures were necessary if this issue was to be put on the agenda. however, carbon accounting, like social and environmental accounting more generally, seems to have spread primarily because of reporting demands by policy makers, investors and non-governmental organizations, without being a strategic issue for companies (see for instance bebbington & larrinaga, 2014; cho, laine, roberts & rodrigue, 2015) before going any further, consider the question of how we define “carbon accounting.” more than referring to a corpus of well-defined methods and institutionalized practices such as financial accounting, the term carbon accounting encompasses a set of heterogeneous methods (stechemesser & guenther, 2012) whose uses by companies have been studied very little (gibassier & schaltegger, 2015). because of the inability to directly measure ghg emissions, the idea of carbon accounting is to calculate ghg emissions by means of estimations, conventions and conversions between heterogeneous quantified data (from energy to carbon for example). ghg emissions are in fact measured in terms of tco2e and then shared between different companies’ activity parameters. the carbon issue is therefore one of the very few sustainable development subjects that proposes a generally-accepted metric and specific accounting tools. accounting calculation tools therefore have a priori an essential property: they mobilize actors through the use of numbers and calculation (miller, 2001; revellino & mouritsen, 2015; vollmer, 2007). but when it comes to carbon accounting the question remains open because even if there are accounting tools, they tackle an issue whose importance is uncertain for companies. the effects of carbon accounting are therefore � 835 1. climate change is often summarized in companies by the term “carbon” that refers to the metric used to assess ghg emissions. counting before acting? the performativity carbon accounting called into question m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 834-857 unexpected. this question raises the necessity of a precise analysis about the making of strategic practices (rouleau, 2013; whittington 2011), which in turn will further our understanding of how actors choose to use carbon accounting’s tools and what their concrete effects are. more broadly, the question is linked to one about what is constituted and “enacted” inside organizations through the use of this form of communication: numbers and calculation (fauré & rouleau, 2011; michaud, 2014; musca, rouleau & fauré, 2014). the rare studies that have been done on the actual practices of companies, through the lens of carbon accounting’s tools, mention a lack of take up of the tools by companies, specifically when standard advice is given by consultants without any accompanying support (see for example riot, 2013). the aim of this article is therefore to study the collective action dynamics of carbon accounting practices inside and outside companies. more precisely, it is to understand whether carbon accounting is able to make climate change present in companies’ strategies, that is to say, whether carbon accounting is performative. this problem is closely linked to ademe’s own questions because its objective is to rally practitioners 2 around this issue and to diffuse carbon accounting tools and understand the conditions under which they are appropriated by companies. carbon accounting is an interesting analytical object because of its potential performativity: it could manage or fail in generating a low-carbon strategy because of the presence or absence of “felicitous” conditions that enable a statement or an object to be performative (austin, 1975). its performative potential is a priori undetermined: is its power to mobilize companies enough to overcome political and economic uncertainty? without having used the performativity concept, cases of failure of carbon accounting have been reported in the literature. some authors present cases where felicitous conditions were not present (bowen & wittneben, 2011; burritt & tingey-holyoak, 2012). while a few studies describe success stories of the performativity of carbon accounting, they fail to fully explain what the felicitous conditions might have been in such cases (schaltegger & csutora, 2012; wahyuni & ratnatunga, 2015), even when the explicit project was to study the performativity of carbon accounting (vesty, telgenkamp & roscoe, 2015). this article examines the process by which a low-carbon strategy is performed through the use of carbon accounting tools. the aim is to study the performation process built through calculation acts (fauré & gramaccia, 2006, 2006; fauré et al., 2010) by emphasizing their felicitous (or infelicitous) conditions. in order to do so, we first present a literature review on performativity, calculation acts and performation. we then provide details about our empirical case study methodology, and following that we explain the results, which describe the process through which carbon accounting has been performative. finally, we discuss these results and conclude. literature review: performativity, calculation acts and performation we will first explain the definition of performativity that we have chosen in this article. it is closely linked to the communicational approach to performativity and, more precisely, to work on calculation acts. we will then focus on the study of performation, that is to say, the process by which performativity happens. � 836 2. agence de l’environnement et de la maîtrise de l’énergie, a french public a g e n c y w h o s e a i m i s t o s p r e a d sustainable practices in companies by acting directly with them (subsidies, ongoing support). it can be seen more or less as an equivalent of the energy public agency (epa) in the united states. we carried out a form of intervention research with them (david, 2012). m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 834-857 morgane le breton & franck aggeri a conceptualization of performativity: calculation acts the performativity concept, first developed in communication work, has evolved considerably from its initially formulation by j.l. austin (austin, 1975). at the time, performativity was associated with “speech acts” and more precisely with the ability of some statements to transform reality rather than describe it. the statement’s performative dimension thus replaced its solely “assessmentive” one. currently, five conceptualizations of performativity have been defined (gond, cabantous, harding & learmonth, 2015), including the communication conceptualization (cooren, 2004, 2015). from this conceptualization the “communication as practice” (cooren, kuhn, cornelissen & clark, 2011; cooren, f., taylor, j.r. & van every, e.j., 2013) approach has emerged, which is the one closest to austin’s work. whereas austin was only interested in performativity through speech acts (fraenkel, 2006), in this communicational approach to the performativity concept, distinctions are made between pure speech acts, writing acts (fraenkel, 2006) and calculation acts (fauré & gramaccia, 2006). calculation acts are “speech acts based on a calculation” (fauré & gramaccia, 2006: 1); in other words, calculations constitute a reality (fauré 2007; fauré & gramaccia, 2006; fauré & rouleau, 2011; taylor & van every, 2010). these authors describe the way in which numbers that are used by different actors in calculation, either enunciated orally or written , constitute the organization (taylor & 3 van every, 2010). however, only a few scholars in this “communication-asconstitutive” approach have specifically studied calculation acts, and most of their work is based on texts or conversations. if we are to understand narratives and communication process in organizations, we need to consider calculation-based communication, which is key in organizations where tools and numbers play a core role. unlike work on financial accounting’s performativity (miller & power, 2013; revellino & mouritsen, 2015; vollmer, 2007), where the accounting system, numbers and calculation are at the core of the analysis, the emphasis here is on the communicational situation in a broad sense (oral and writing) around calculation acts. it is when they are used in a discourse or text, pronounced in a specific context, with specific actors, that they will take part in the constitution of the organization. more precisely, which role do they play in an organization? they seem to play a role in determining the ratio of power (when they define who has the right to draw up a budget) (fauré, brummans, giroux & taylor, 2010), in the orientation of action (through the establishment of a unit of measure which serves as a basis for action in an extreme situation) (musca, et al., 2014), and in mediation (when they create a consensus in the strategic choice) (denis, langley & rouleau, 2006). their role is, however, still largely unknown in the constitution of an organization (fauré, et al., 2010): what do they constitute and how? the question is then to reveal the performation during which calculation acts constitute a reality. calculation acts’ performation in practice after having ignored them for a while, austin recognized the importance of felicitous conditions (austin, 1975) and studied them as a key concept for the analysis of performativity, through the analysis of performation processes. studying performativity has therefore become an inquiry where the goal is less the demonstration of what performs than the � 837 3. for example, during meetings between a management accountant and an engineer, where the pronunciation of the calculation makes either one of the two right. counting before acting? the performativity carbon accounting called into question m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 834-857 emphasis on how the performation occurs in practice (muniesa & callon, 2009). today, the performation process still lacks analytical research (dumez & jeunemaître, 2010), and none of the work on the subject highlights the difficulty of identifying performation or proposes an analytical framework for doing so. as regards the calculation acts stream of work, the implicit framework is based on dialogical process analysis (fauré & gramaccia, 2006; musca, et al., 2014) that can be studied in a broader framework if it is not possible to do in situ observations. the benefit of performation analysis of calculation acts is that it resolves the current issue of showing how communication concretely constitutes the organization in practice (ashcraft, kuhn & cooren, 2009; cooren, et al., 2011; taylor & van every, 2010). in order to study performation inside organizations, an analytical framework has recently been proposed to analyze how elementary acts (calculation, writing and speech) mediated by management tools are articulated to strategic and organizational processes forming a “strategic dispositif” (aggeri, 2017). from this perspective, this article focuses on 4 calculation acts only, looking at them in relation to the tools, models and dispositifs that enable them to exist, and that they in turn transform. revealing performation by way of calculation acts will therefore be highlighted in the article. the research question is thus: what kind of roles do calculation acts play in the performation process inside organizations? methodology we will successively present the goal of the empirical analysis, the case study that has been chosen, the data collection, and the general analytical process. goal of the empirical analysis the aim of this article is to identify the mechanisms at play when a company has managed to perform a low-carbon strategy with the help of carbon accounting tools. the case study chosen enables us to analyze these practices in depth. our aim was to select one carbon cutting-edge company that has developed a low-carbon strategy, in order to show how such a strategy was able to be set up. after exploring carbon accounting practices in various companies, with the help of ademe we identified one because it appeared that carbon accounting in this company was linked to a broader strategic dispositif. to be sure of that, we held six preliminary interviews with carbon managers in several companies, in order to confirm the existence of different levels of maturity with regard to carbon, that is, the level of control and diffusion of the carbon issue in the company. we finally selected a mature company that we have called v (see the 5 testimony below of members of ademe, who confirm that), and conducted an in-depth inquiry on its practices with regard to carbon. case study presentation v is a transnational french company in the building sector with about 50,000 employees and an annual turnover of €10bn in 2015. carbon issue and carbon accounting have existed in this company for ten years. � 838 4. network arranged toward a strategic aim. the concept will be further explained below. 5. the real name of the company has not been disclosed. m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 834-857 morgane le breton & franck aggeri like other big companies, v began carbon management activities because the building sector is the second biggest ghg emitter (if transportation caused by building is excluded, the industry is the biggest emitter). the stakes are particularly high insofar as this issue is globally disconnected to that of energy (because half of the ghg emissions come from building materials and not from energy used in building), and is therefore new to the company. yet there is no specific regulation to date that could force building companies to reduce their ghg emissions, even if various regulations are planned at a french and european levels. in most of the companies that we studied in recent exploratory research with ademe , carbon accounting is more constative than 6 performative. ghg emission calculations rarely lead to concrete steps by companies to reduce emissions. most of the time, there is little take-up of carbon accounting’s tools, which are used only by the carbon manager for public relations purposes. v is one of the only companies that has succeeded in implementing a strategic plan and experiments resulting in coordinated and planned ghg emission reduction activities that override business-as-usual. there truly is a kind of low-carbon strategy at v. the next question is: how has carbon accounting participated in the performation of such a low-carbon strategy? data collection ademe has participated in the diffusion of carbon accounting since the early 2000s, and to that end it has surrounded itself with companies which it closely supports. during the exploratory research done with ademe, we attended eight meetings between various actors (carbon managers in companies, officials from the french ministry of the environment, members of ademe), with whom we held twenty interviews. this enabled us to assess the different levels of maturity regarding the carbon issue. as one of our ademe interviewees explained: there is a dichotomy between companies, some of them are very advanced and have understood very well that the carbon issue is much more than only a senseless regulatory constraint, whereas others have not yet understood the stakes. you’ll see that during our next working group meeting on carbon accounting. at companies v, w and z, for instance, there is real internal expertise. (carbon expert at ademe). we were able to confirm this assessment by attending the meetings over a period of eighteen months: from october 2014 to february 2016. the purpose of these meetings was to discuss new regulations about carbon accounting, the transfer of good practice concerning carbon accounting and management, and the take-up of carbon accounting in various industries. during these meetings, we met executives from companies that we were told were cutting-edge in terms of carbon accounting’s strategic use. we thus identified v as one of the most advanced in terms of strategic practices. after a few interviews with the carbon accounting manager, he put us in contact with other members of the company who had played a role in the process, and we met with all of them. to date, we have held semi-structured interviews (that have been fully transcribed) with seven individuals who have taken part in the process (the carbon manager in a subsidiary, carbon accounting’s first creator and � 839 6. this research started in april 2014 and is still ongoing on various issues. counting before acting? the performativity carbon accounting called into question m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 834-857 expert, the r&d project manager in a subsidiary and carbon referent, a sales manager in a subsidiary, the head of environment strategy in the sustainable development department, a “low-carbon” project manager, and the carbon reporting manager: see table 1). we also had access to documentation on the subject, especially various types of softwares that model carbon accounting for different subsidiaries, presentation documents for carbon strategy, and training documents about carbon issues. we met the manager of v’s main materials supplier, who explained how a partnership between v and his company had led to the development of a low-carbon concrete. we furthermore interviewed the manager of a low-carbon label in the design of which v had taken part, v’s main carbon consultant, a carbon expert at the cstb (the scientific and technical center of the french building industry) , and some of v’s customers (those that 7 had asked for low-carbon projects). table 1 key actors interviewed to understand the low-carbon strategy process at v actors interviewed date duration carbon accounting manager in a subsidiary of v, who first instituted carbon accounting and convened the carbon committee 14th october 2014 3rd december 2014 60 min 120 min carbon manager in a subsidiary of v 12th march 2015 90 min r&d project manager and carbon referent at v 12th march 2015 90 min head of environment strategy in the sustainable development department at v 16th april 2015 90 min sales manager at a subsidiary of v 13th may 2015 90 min carbon accounting manager in a subsidiary of v, who first instituted carbon accounting and convened the carbon committee 13th october 2015 60 min “low-carbon” project manager in a subsidiary of v 12th february 2016 120 min sustainable building manager at a supplier of v 2nd march 2016 100 min corporate carbon reporting manager at v 7th september 2016 80 min manager of a low-carbon label for the building industry 29th september 2016 40 min town councilor for town planning in a big french city 6th october 2016 60 min project manager for town planning in a big french city 11th october 2016 35 min sustainable development referent at the town planning department in a big french city 11th october 2016 30 min “low-carbon” project manager in a subsidy of v 12th october 2016 60 min carbon consultant of v for the “zero-carbon” project 21st october 2016 105 min carbon expert at the french scientific and technical center for the building industry 8th november 2016 60 min carbon accounting manager in a subsidiary of v, who first instituted carbon accounting and convened the carbon committee 8th march 2017 60 min � 840 7. centre scientifique et technique du bâtiment m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 834-857 morgane le breton & franck aggeri by the end, we had held 15 semi-structured interviews to understand the case of company v. prior to that we had taken part in eight meetings involving ademe and about fifteen other carbon managers, which enabled us to compare different practices. we then presented our understanding of the process to the initial carbon manager at v, who approved it. we additionally sat in on about 20 meetings organized by ademe, attended by carbon experts, and interviewed more than 20 other carbon experts (ngo members, consultants, researchers, company experts, regulation actors). this context enabled us to make an assessment of the carbon management ecosystem and to be aware of other private or public initiatives, some of which had had consequences on v’s activity (changes in reporting standards, future regulations, etc.) general analytical process in order to study the performation of calculation acts (the way in which calculation acts’ performativity occurs), we need to explore the process by which a statement based on a calculation could have produced a reality (but could not have happened without felicitous conditions), starting from calculation practices and oral use of these calculations. the notion of “process” implies temporality and an inquiry has to be made to understand what has been constructed between the actors and between the different levels of the organization. to do so, we have used the “management situations” concept that “occurs when participants are gathered and have to accomplish, in an allocated time, a collective action leading to a result subject to an external assessment” (arnaud, 2007; girin, 1990: 2). this has enabled us to select and describe situations where calculation acts are made. we have thus paid attention to situated discourse analysis, particularly when calculations were stated, and to the documentation and tools where calculations were used. we have used this method to shed light on the way in which carbon accounting was used to make the carbon issue important in a company; in other words, how it enabled a low-carbon strategy to be implemented. results: carbon accounting’s performation into a low-carbon strategy at v in order to recount the performation process at v, we have reconstructed the history of the process in which carbon accounting was implemented in the company, and its effects. we have broadly identified three main steps for three management situations involving carbon accounting: a first step of carbon accounting’s bricolage; a second step consisting in the creation and deployment of a strategic dispositif; and a third and last step of growth of this strategic dispositif inside and outside the company (see figure 1). � 841 counting before acting? the performativity carbon accounting called into question m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 834-857 figure 1 performation’s steps for the carbon issue at v bricolage of carbon accounting since the 2000s, v, like other building companies these days, has been concerned about sustainable development. it has therefore hired employees with the skills to undertake projects to deal with this issue. one of v’s subsidiaries in the provinces, whose core trade is building (as opposed to other public works for instance), decided in 2005 to hire a carbon accounting expert, even if his mission was not directly dedicated to carbon accounting because he was asked to work on sustainable construction more broadly. at the time, the carbon issue did not exist as such at v, or at its subsidiaries. there were therefore no tools that could be used to measure carbon. but following an engineer’s logic where calculation helps in decision-making, the expert began to create a small internal tool based on that of ademe . using an r&d budget that had 8 been allocated to him, he began to do carbon accounting for a few building projects. then, in 2007, worried about the levels of ghg emissions in the industry, and expecting future regulations in this respect, the general management of the holding company to which v belongs decided to encourage all its companies to take an interest in this issue. the newly 9 hired expert was therefore noticed for his competencies in carbon accounting and was put in charge of setting up a carbon accounting system, from the initial diagnosis of ghg emissions to its systematization to all subsidiaries. after an extensive inquiry in all the subsidiaries, designed to understand each one’s individual situation (individual or collective new premises, renovation, offices, tunnels, bridges, etc.), the expert concluded that in order to reduce ghg emissions in a company where activity could be divided into many construction projects, it was necessary to mobilize field workers and particularly project managers. the idea was that they be invited to propose building projects that would release fewer ghg emissions than a traditional project. to do so, they needed an appropriate tool. the carbon expert had understood that the main characteristic for such a tool was that it had to be job-oriented, easy to use, and implemented quickly. � 842 8. the bilan carbone on which he had previously worked extensively before being hired by v. the idea rests on being able “to count in order to act”. 9. not only those in the building industry. m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 834-857 morgane le breton & franck aggeri the average project turnover at v is a few million euros and we have about 300 projects a year. if it took 15 days for the engineer to do his carbon accounting, this idea would have been given up immediately. in order to ensure that the tool was used, it had to be simple. (carbon accounting manager in a subsidiary of v, who had first instituted carbon accounting) in order to develop the first carbon accounting tool , the expert 10 surrounded himself with about 20 volunteers from different subsidiaries and one consulting firm. the experimental work carried out for pilot projects lasted a year and aimed at configuring the tool with existing figures, particularly for activities that represented too small a proportion of ghg emissions, and therefore did not warrant time spent on calculation. this pedagogical process thus enabled the volunteers to define calculation conventions (e.g. the volume of ghg emissions to be used per ton of concrete) and learn where the main ghg emissions came from on a typical construction site. all the tool design efforts were directed at its simplification to make engineers use it in the shortest time possible. therefore, in order to calculate the ghg emissions of the construction materials, which were the main source of ghg emissions (as v workers has discovered, thanks to the tool), users had only to input categories and quantities of materials (concrete type, steel, wood, etc.) that they had quantified during the design stage of the project in order to get an overall assessment of the building project’s ghg emissions. they were therefore able to think about ghg emissions before the construction and were thus able to reduce them. the tool was then tested on a broader scale, and subsequently improved. the calculation time of ghg emissions was gradually reduced to 30 minutes for trained workers. this meant that calculations could be done at different maturity stages of the project, depending on customers’ needs. “the first time that we tried to do carbon accounting, it took six months to get the data: ‘this truck comes from…” (carbon accounting manager in a subsidiary of v, who had first instituted carbon accounting). after this first stage, at the end of 2007, a carbon accounting tool prototype was ready for testing throughout the company. design and extension of a strategic dispositif from that time, in early 2008, once the tool had been implemented, the expert and his colleagues were asked to propose solutions to reduce ghg emissions. they therefore set up training on use of the tool for volunteers in each operational unit of each subsidiary. this had the effect of spreading the approach at v. it was not only project managers and r&d managers, but also salespersons who were trained in the method and shown how to complete missing data in the tool by using the price list drawn up during the design stage of the construction project. they could thus at this early stage assess the ghg emissions of the construction project. about 120 employees underwent the three-day training in the first two years. the first results released on new projects’ carbon accounting showed that one of the main ghg emission sources was materials in general, and concrete specifically. v therefore decided to buy concrete that would emit less than the average, and to that end it worked with its main provider on designing a new material to meet this requirement: � 843 10. this design followed the work already begun in his subsidiary of origin. counting before acting? the performativity carbon accounting called into question m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 834-857 we worked with a concrete provider on low-carbon concrete. we went to see them and said: we have to work together on the issue, and then we waited for a year for our lawyers to agree and once that was sorted out we were able to introduce low-carbon concrete in pilot projects. (carbon accounting manager in a subsidiary of v, who first instituted carbon accounting) as noted above, training sessions also catered for salespersons. the importance of introducing them to the approach was that it enabled them to objectify their discourse about carbon, based on carbon figures, to make potential customers aware of the variant’s design effects. in doing so, v could stand out compared to competitors that did not use this type of approach. salespersons did indeed confirm that calls to tenders usually had one “environment/quality” criterion that accounted for about 15% of the total score used to classify the different proposals, but very few asked for quantified data on carbon. before submitting their commercial proposals, salespersons usually carried out consistency tests proposed by the tool, by comparing the construction project for which they had calculated ghg emissions with a standard construction site, to check if the amount of ghg emissions calculated was similar to the standard calculation. if the customer insisted on the importance of environmental criteria, v salespersons could thus propose low-carbon options at the meetings held before the submission of the commercial proposal. in order to do so, they relied on the competencies of the operational unit’s technical manager and on the r&d manager to study the technical feasibility, the expected ghg emission reductions, and the extra costs induced by the low-carbon options that could be proposed to customers. the salesperson therefore began a discussion with the customer by submitting a commercial proposal in which he or she had to demonstrate that the proposed building project would be the best in terms of the customer’s requirements. as each differentiating element was necessary, the arguments on carbon were developed from the salesperson’s knowledge on the subject. in this respect, he or she knew which customers would be more sensitive to this issue and on whom the carbon-related arguments might have the greatest impact. the goal of this discussion was to differentiate v from competitors, by having figures that could push the commercial proposal: we have very few signals from customers. on the sustainable development side, they usually say: ‘explain to us how you suppose to reach the twelve targets?’ and so we explain for example in the proposal what we do about construction site acoustics, water management, carbon management, etc. to be differentiated, we stated in a proposal that we’d use only low-carbon concrete because we technically had the possibility to do so on this specific issue. it was an r&d initiative, they assessed the project and told us that it was possible for the same cost. so we proposed that to the customer. the carbon criterion doesn’t matter a lot but for some customers it does, and for these we try to be differentiated. (sales manager at a subsidiary of v) in 2009, v tried to diffuse its internal tool outside the company in the hope that it would acquire the legitimacy necessary for approval of the method by customers, who would then be more likely to approve the conclusions based on the tool in the commercial proposal. v asked � 844 m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 834-857 morgane le breton & franck aggeri ademe and cstb for their support, and a sectorial working group was formed to define calculation conventions used in the construction industry. at the same time, a new organizational level was created at v: carbon referents were designated in each of the 50 operational units constituting v. their role was to facilitate the carbon approach and they all chose this activity on a voluntary basis. this was a result of the decision of carbon accounting’s creators to delegate on a local scale the day-to-day implementation of this approach, so that it would be taken up in the field. as for carbon accounting’s creators, they also decided to monitor general indicators, improve the tool’s database, and experiment with low-carbon solutions for construction, at the general management level. they thus created the most relevant indicators possible in terms of monitoring and day-to-day management, such as kgco2/m2, business trips for employees, and indicators per material: concrete, wood, etc. our role at the general management is to maintain the tool up to date, to develop the carbon activity, to train workers, to hire new workers on that subject, but the daily monitoring is left to the carbon referent. (carbon reporting manager in general management at v) in addition to their operational activity, carbon referents meet a few times a year at carbon committee meetings. the carbon committee, under the aegis of the innovation division, consists of carbon management and accounting experts from the sustainable development division, and managers from public relations. the aggregation of ghg emissions of all the operational units is presented, as well as innovative solutions that some operational units might have proposed in projects. for instance, one project that used low-carbon concrete was presented at a carbon committee meeting both for being able to inspire other carbon referents and for being introduced into v communication. r&d projects were presented with a view to obtaining grants from the general management. in particular, the question of the use of new materials such as wood or steel was introduced, as they would require profound changes to the traditional building process at v, which relied mainly upon concrete. one carbon committee member explained their own experience: we have to be persuasive on an issue where signals are not very constraining: regulation does not help us, we don’t have strong signals from the international context; energy prices are low, so the carbon issue is no longer as fashionable as it was in 2009. so the carbon committee has to pass the message to field workers that ‘this is important, we have to take that route’. even if we don’t have the legitimacy to continue now, we’re beginning to notice weak signals that are put out by carbon referents. we rely on these weak signals and we try to innovate. there has been this work about lowcarbon concrete. we dared to do that! we had to insist: ‘we will make low-carbon concrete and we will decrease ghg emissions by 2% a year thanks to that!’ even if it’s not easy, we have to keep on having a carbon committee when we don’t have any regulatory constraints or any strong demand from customers. we have to look for weak signals and anticipate because we’ve noticed that investors are a little interested in the issue, a few customers already want to have low-carbon projects. and in great britain for example, they’re ahead of the times in this respect. (head of environment strategy in the sustainable development department at v). � 845 counting before acting? the performativity carbon accounting called into question m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 834-857 for r&d, we’ve studied wood and steel projects, all those kinds of solutions. we’ve calculated and looked at the benefits of these solutions, in relation to construction techniques, project costs and tons of carbon saved. (carbon accounting manager in a subsidiary of v, who was the first to institute carbon accounting) the carbon committee has thus become a place where new lowcarbon r&d projects are discussed and where the discourse is constructed in order to prove that the company will keep on counting carbon and proposing low-carbon solutions to customers, hoping that this criterion will differentiate v from its competitors. the carbon committee also takes part in the construction of discourse for the general management, in innovation, marketing and public relations division. public relations management has therefore been considered an important part of the development of a strategic dispositif. the repetition of carbon accounting information legitimizes the discourse that distinguishes v from competitors in customers’ eyes. the importance of carbon figures has such potency that communication strengthens the salespersons’ discourse in their commercial proposals. these two scales (field level and management level) complement each other in making the carbon issue exist: we’re an engineering company for which figures are important but they’re so surrounded by uncertainty that we first needed to keep improving carbon accounting. and the best way is to count each year. even if the assessment is blurred, it is relevant. from one year to another, we can see that we haven’t been mistaken and so the source we have to consider in order to reduce ghg emissions is the right one. and we communicate on that, on the ghg emissions that are consistent with our job. and it matters. for instance, low-carbon concrete, if we hadn’t done communication on ghg emissions due to materials, we wouldn’t have spoken of low-carbon concrete and no customer would have asked us for low-carbon concrete in their project. we try to be as transparent as possible in spite of the uncertainty but overall we try to be consistent with our sector issues where all our ghg emissions are largely contained in materials. this enables us to have the same discourse with the customers: ‘we want to sell solutions to reduce your carbon footprint’, and we can do that only if we calculate ghg emissions correctly. (head of environment strategy in the sustainable development department at v). a regulation on the carbon issue was passed in 2012: law l 225-102-1 in france’s commercial law that requires all major listed companies to communicate in their external reporting on at least one carbon indicator. this regulation prompted v’s management to ask for formal reporting of data. for construction projects, the work was mostly done because all project managers already had the possibility to assess the construction project’s ghg emissions, thanks to the tool. the only additional step was to make it compulsory if the call for tenders was awarded. and because v’s subsidiaries’ construction projects accounted for 90% of all of its ghg emissions, the same kind of assessment had to be done for the remaining 10%, that is, ghg emissions released by the parent company. � 846 m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 834-857 morgane le breton & franck aggeri by the 2010s the approach had largely spread across the company: calculations were done routinely (a diffusion indicator had been created for measurement: the turnover covered by projects for which carbon accounting was carried out was over 90%), and the various strategic links in the dispositif chain (carbon committee, carbon referents, general management) maintained strategic urgency around the issue. an r&d manager testified to this routine and take-up: the tool that i presented to you is the one that i developed myself from the one proposed by the general management. i wanted to become familiar with it. ghg emissions release in the form of little synthetic records. because we do ghg emission assessment before the choice of the building project, we generally give customers the conclusions of the records with the commercial proposal. we do that optionally because i thought that customers were unaware of what these emissions could represent. for instance, if we tell them that there is 200kg of co2 for one m2, that’s not meaningful to them, it doesn’t speak to them. so i’ve adapted my records by doing a graph that represents better the proposed construction project’s emissions with their criteria. salespersons implement the data and assess the ghg emissions, and i know that they do that because they come and ask me questions when they can’t manage to implement it or if it gives an unusual result. but apart from that point, i don’t have much feedback on what the customers want, i don’t even know if they’re sensitive to this issue. but there have been major projects in our operational unit where customers have asked for low-carbon concrete and have demanded justifications once the project has been completed, to prove the reduction of ghg emissions. we’ve then talked about that during the carbon committee meetings. (r&d project manager and carbon referent at v) this r&d manager developed his own tool so that he could really be familiar with it and discuss ghg emissions levels with salespersons when there was an abnormal figure, to explain it. assessments were popularized and integrated into the commercial proposal so that discussion with customers would be based on calculations. even when there was no initial demand for carbon reduction, the sales staff sometimes managed to convince customers of the importance of the issue and to introduce ghg emission targets for projects. at this point the tool was used to choose between low-carbon options that enabled the company to comply with the ghg emission levels set. by 2015, after 12 years, we can consider that the approach had been institutionalized at v. but after experimentation and its application in projects and throughout the organization (see figure 2), the goal was to move forward by setting a new challenge: big actions that give relevance to the existing low-carbon strategy and maintain it. this is the third stage: the perpetuation of the strategic dispositif. the following testimony sums it up: the initial idea behind the carbon accounting project was to have an approximate size of what we were talking about. we had two goals: to know the global amount of ghg emissions, project by project, in order to define relevant indicators, and also, to know the repartition of the ghg emissions by source: are materials or energy or transportation the biggest emitters? we have to count before � 847 counting before acting? the performativity carbon accounting called into question m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 834-857 knowing and to know before acting. without that, we can undertake actions but do things that don’t matter. the use of the tool has been more important: it is no longer used only by r&d technicians but also by production units. it’s really something that’s anchored throughout the process, for each project, ghg emissions are calculated. now that we’ve done that, we absolutely want to make the approach keep on existing and people using it routinely. (carbon accounting manager in a subsidiary of v, who has first instituted carbon accounting) figure 2 link with the different management situations where carbon accounting is practiced the challenge of the perpetuation and extension of the strategic dispositif in 2015 the new strategic orientation adopted by v’s main carbon approach actors was to maintain the approach by stimulating the various links in the dispositif. the goal was to continue to fuel interest in the carbon issue and therefore internal competencies in that respect, and to transform weak signals into strong ones. the questions facing the company were: how to go further in the implementation of low-carbon projects? how to extend the strategic dispositif inside and outside the company? in order to do so, the company launched several initiatives. first of all, carbon experts tried to boost the creation of new r&d projects in which new low-carbon innovative solutions could be tried and tested. an internal carbon tax project was devised in order to stimulate ghg emissions reduction between subsidiaries. the amount gained could be redistributed to the different subsidiaries or could subsidize low-carbon options for customers. � 848 m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 834-857 morgane le breton & franck aggeri carbon managers also envisaged extending the strategic dispositif outside the company by making stakeholders more interested in the project. if v was the only company with a low-carbon approach, it had little chance of remaining in business. that was why two of v’s stakeholders were identified by the company as crucial: regulators and customers. v had to convince regulators to adopt strong regulations on carbon, and had to make customers demand low-carbon projects. at the regulatory level, v took part, with other companies in the building industry, in the creation of a label (the bbca label), for the 11 purpose of certifying low-carbon emission projects. this label was officially registered in 2015 and was intended not only as a sign of quality for future building projects, but also to prepare future regulations, which are now being drawn up by the cstb. v thus not only monitored regulations but was also proactive in their creation. at the customer level, v wished to identify “advanced” customers that wanted to undertake ambitious low-carbon projects and that would therefore have a snowball effect on other customers. it was crucial to make such customers interested in the carbon issue if they were to be convinced of the strategic value of carbon, both outside and inside the company. v therefore set up co-development pilot projects with customers in order to explore low-carbon value. customers do not yet know the technical and methodological dimensions of ghg emissions assessment, so one of the projects was to train them in that respect and to structure a discussion on technical solutions based on figures and calculation. in 2016 an opportunity appeared: a huge call for tenders from the government of a big french city was launched. the goal was to select about 30 big architectural projects, and the call was very broad as the only criterion was to propose an innovation. v decided to propose a zerocarbon project. this breakthrough project was a showcase for v: remarkable design efforts were made to test technical solutions devised by the r&d department. various low-carbon options were explored and calculated, using the carbon accounting tool. results were discussed with projects stakeholders (consulting firm, investors) before being integrated into the proposal submitted to the customer. the selection committee was finally convinced by the project that had been chosen. for carbon managers, it was a big success with huge symbolic value, summed up by the zero-carbon project manager as follows: the only criterion was to be innovative. there was inevitably an environmental issue on which we had to say something. and we’d thought that in order to be differentiated, we had to specify it in the title of the project directly, because of course every project will propose a plant-covered roof, energy efficiency, biodiversity, in any case. we really wanted to show our will, which is why we announced a zero-carbon project, then there were discussions with the customer and before the final commercial proposal, they told us: ‘ok, we’ve understood your intention to do zero-carbon but you have to give details about how you plan to go about doing that’. from that date, we really clarified things and we did practical things. we defined inside the project team the perimeter of what we had to count to reach a zero-carbon project. so the first thing we wondered was ‘what does it mean for our building project to be zero-carbon?’ i’d been helped by the first carbon expert of v and by a consulting firm. the two main sources of ghg emissions were building � 849 11. “bâtiment bas carbone” = lowcarbon building whose label is a reference to the bbc label which means low-energy building. in france, the bbc label has been a big success. counting before acting? the performativity carbon accounting called into question m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 834-857 materials and energy consumption during the building process. we thought of ways we could reduce ghg emissions for the construction stage, then for the use stage. the problem was concrete, which caused a lot of ghg emissions, so we wondered what we could do about that. we worked on construction with wood and low-carbon concrete that enabled us to reduce ghg emissions. we went inside the calculation model on which we’d worked with the consulting firm, we worked with rough estimates to see the amount of reduction we could obtain for each ghg emission’s source, and we tested options, for example solar panels. investors trusted us by agreeing to finance the project. and finally, we were awarded the project. (“low-carbon” project manager in a subsidiary of v) the french city was particularly interested in v’s building project for two reasons: first it was an exemplary model that had never been done before and which symbolized commitment to tackling climate change; second, the city hoped to learn from this experiment. it had committed to a very ambitious climate plan where ghg emissions reduction in building projects was a major aim. through this experiment, it hoped to learn how to assess low-carbon projects in order to write building specifications better in future calls to tender and contracts. the question of the ghg emissions calculation methodology was therefore an important choice criterion in the selection of the zero-carbon project proposed by v. through this important example, v hopes that the media coverage of this project will generate snowball effects for other privateor public-sector customers. the company hopes that carbon will be an important new value for building projects. discussion on the basis of an examination of all the management situations we can affirm that carbon accounting is a practical phenomenon that is present in many decentralized calculation acts at v. calculation is used in discourse, written or oral arguments and commercial proposals through which the company makes commitments to its customers. calculations have been spread and routinized, and have produced concrete strategic effects, for example when they induce a change in the choice of materials (from concrete to wood): calculations thus enact low-carbon strategy. we note that initially calculation acts were kept up despite the lack of strong signals that could legitimize this approach outside the company. however, calculation acts are not free-standing. from our point of view, what gives them their performative force is their repetition over time, and their arrangement in a system of interdependent consistent activities. this article thus proposes a significant contribution on the role of calculation acts in performation (fauré, et al., 2010), and a secondary methodological contribution about how to analyze strategizing (rouleau, 2013). the role of calculation acts in the performation of carbon accounting the presentation of the routinization of the carbon accounting approach at v enables us to highlight the importance of calculation acts in strategy performation. calculations made by means of the carbon accounting tool become performative because they perform at three levels: first, calculation acts make the carbon issue exist in field workers’ actions (by being repeated at different times, in different management situations of � 850 m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 834-857 morgane le breton & franck aggeri commercial proposals, discussions with customers or contracts); second, calculation acts have effects on customers and other stakeholders by performing ghg emission reduction actions (when they enable low-carbon projects to be demanded or practical targets on the issue to be set); third, calculation acts have effects at a strategic level insofar as they transform the company’s strategy by taking part in the emergence of a low-carbon strategy. with their repetition, calculation acts play a role that is both static and dynamic, first in the introduction and then in the maintaining of the strategic dispositif. this second role (maintaining the strategic dispositif) can be observed when calculation acts stimulate the strategic dispositif. the empirical analysis has enabled us to show that, in addition to calculation acts, an arrangement of heterogeneous elements (discursive, material, organizational, human and cognitive) has been formed towards a strategic goal. thus, calculation acts may be more than spoken or written acts, integrated into a materiality that is central in the organization’s constitution in which tools and figures are highly structuring. being interested in calculation acts enables one to study the role of materiality in communication (ashcraft, et al., 2009). from michel foucault’s perspective, which has been followed by others, we propose to call this activity of agencing an elaboration of a “strategic dispositif” (aggeri, 2014, 12 2017; foucault, 1994; moisdon, 1997). once this activity of agencing has occurred, the strategic dispositif can be developed in time and space, that is to say, in many management situations. the extension of the strategic dispositif from inside the company (calculation by project managers, salespersons, carbon referents, r&d projects, carbon committees, carbon reporting, etc.) to outside of it (low-carbon label, sectorial working group, cstb and ademe initiatives and regulation, relationship with customers and providers, etc.) reinforces the strategic dispositif, as well as calculations. the strategic dispositif frames calculation acts and provides them with cognitive and discursive resources that enable them to have meaning. as foucault said, a dispositif is a fragile construction because it results from many initiatives built step by step by many actors facing new problems. the elaboration of a dispositif consists in a vision of strategy making, not as a planned activity by directors, but as an engineering activity by many actors at different levels. the strategy is created from strategic emergency; it is initially vague and then evolves in relation to the effects that can be observed once it has been experienced .13 this arrangement or dispositif creates felicitous conditions for decentralized and repeated calculation acts to perform a low-carbon strategy instead of being meaningless. conversely, we can assume that the reason why carbon accounting does not lead to a low-carbon strategy in other organizations is the lack of a dispositif. the answer provided by our analysis to the question “what is the role played by calculation acts in the performation process?”: calculation acts play the role of originator and upholder of the strategic dispositif. performation occurs thanks to a dual process: repetition of calculation acts during management situations, and creation of a strategic dispositif that gives them meaning. without repeated calculation acts, the dispositif is a hollow shell, but without a dispositif, calculation acts are meaningless for the actors. � 851 12. the strategic dispositif is formed by discursive elements (directors and experts’ discourse, mission statements, strategic notes, r&d fi l e s , l e g a l a n d c o m m e r c i a l documents, tool instructions) that make explicit the conditions upon which carbon can be important for customers and for various activities o f t h e c o m p a n y o r o t h e r stakeholders. the strategic dispositif also includes material elements (places where committees meet, databases, computers, tools and models) that are the infrastructure of c a l c u l a t i o n a c t s , a s w e l l a s organizational elements (structure, job instructions, formal process and all practical relations between a c t o r s ) . f i n a l l y, t h e s t r a t e g i c dispositif integrates cognitive and human elements (actors involved in the making of this carbon strategy, c o m p e t e n c i e s a b o u t c a r b o n a c c o u n t i n g t o o l s ) . 13. this strategy creation vision is linked to that theorized by the strategy-as-practice approach. see for example: whittington, (2011) and rouleau, (2013). counting before acting? the performativity carbon accounting called into question m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 834-857 how to make the performation process visible? one interesting point is that several actors at v do not consider that carbon is a strategic priority in their company. there are two reasons for this: a strategic dispositif about carbon is still fragile and can disappear if not maintained by the repetition of calculation acts; and its visibility is not easy to notice without the work of researchers. giving visibility to this performation process and felicitous conditions is therefore important (fauré & gramaccia, 2006; musca, et al., 2014). this problem is linked to that of the “as-practice” approach concerning the trickiness of revealing practices (rouleau, 2013). we have to know how to observe practices of strategy that take part in strategy performation. on a methodological level, we propose describing this performation process by identifying management situations (girin, 1990) during which performation occurs, and that enable us to accurately describe practices. conclusion first of all, this article shows a new link between studies on “strategy-as-practice” (see for example whittington, 2011), and those about “communication-as-constitutive” (see, for example, cooren, et al., 2011), by showing that calculation acts are involved in strategy making through the elaboration and maintenance of a strategic dispositif. unlike previous works on calculation acts (fauré & gramaccia, 2006; musca, et al., 2014, etc.), this analysis is based on interviews that reconstruct past events in the form of management situations instead of dialogical processes. this methodology broadens the usual methods in this approach. the analysis of calculation acts at v has enabled us to highlight two main points. first, we have been able to observe many different calculation acts, whose performativity depends on their repetition over time, in relation to a low-carbon strategy. second, these calculation acts are not freestanding; their performativity relies on internal or external felicitous conditions. obviously, the predominance of weak signals over strong signals is a weakness in the development of low-carbon strategies. we have identified that these external fragilities can be offset by a strategic dispositif that aims at framing and giving meaning to calculation acts. these dispositifs thus constitute a compulsory felicitous condition for the performativity of calculation acts, without which they would be meaningless and lack the legitimacy and resources required for their realization. the performativity of carbon accounting is a huge problem with regard to the heterogeneity of the methods, tools and practices concerned. in this article we have limited the inquiry to the study of calculation acts implied by carbon accounting in practice. as reframed, the research question consists in wondering what the effects of these calculation acts in companies’ practices are, and their ability to make carbon exist in commercial proposals, r&d projects, customer decisions or companies’ strategies. we have thereby shown that under certain conditions (the repetition of calculation acts and the fact of having a dispositif), carbon accounting actually is useful in the creation of a low-carbon strategy. this conclusion could in a way cause us to reconsider assumptions on organized hypocrisy (cho, et al., 2015) or, more broadly, on the unhinging of discourse and action (neu, warsame & pedwell, 1998), which is often equated to the fact that ghg emissions are constantly increasing worldwide. this article therefore invites other scholars to deepen the � 852 m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 834-857 morgane le breton & franck aggeri analysis (gibassier & schaltegger, 2015), inside and outside of companies, of carbon accounting practices, in order to understand their actual effects and, more broadly, the concrete actions that they involve. references aggeri, f. (2014). qu’est-ce qu’un dispositif stratégique. le libellio d’aegis, 10(1), 47-64. aggeri, f. (2017). qu’est-ce que la performativité peut apporter aux recherches en management et sur les organisations ? m@n@gement, 20(1), 28-69. arnaud, n. (2007). etudier, relever et analyser la communication organisationnelle en situation de gestion, ou comment accéder à la conversation et aux textes. communication et organisation, (32), 168-191. ashcraft, k. l., kuhn, t. r. & cooren, f. (2009). 1 c o n s t i t u t i o n a l a m e n d m e n t s : “ m a t e r i a l i z i n g ” organizational communication. academy of management annals, 3(1), 1-64. austin, j. l. (1975), how to do things with words. oxford: oxford university press. bebbington, j. & larrinaga, c. (2014). accounting and s u s t a i n a b l e d e v e l o p m e n t : a n e x p l o r a t i o n . accounting, organizations and society, 39(6), 395-413. bowen, f. & wittneben, b. (2011). carbon accounting: negotiating accuracy, consistency and certainty across organisational fields. accounting, auditing & accountability journal, 24(8), 1022-1036. burritt, r. l. & tingey-holyoak, j. (2012). forging cleaner production: the importance of academicpractitioner links for successful sustainability embedded carbon accounting. journal of cleaner production, 36, 39-47. cho, c. h., laine, m., roberts, r. w. & rodrigue, m. (2015). organized hypocrisy, organizational façades, and sustainability reporting. accounting, organizations and society, 40, 78-94. cooren, f. (2015), organizational discourse: communication and constitution, hoboken, nj: john wiley & sons. cooren, f. (2004). textual agency: how texts do things in organizational settings. organization, 11(3), 373-393. cooren, f., kuhn, t., cornelissen, j. p. & clark, t. ( 2 0 11 ) . c o m m u n i c a t i o n , o r g a n i z i n g a n d organization: an overview and introduction to the special issue. organization studies, 32(9), 1149-1170. cooren, f., taylor, j. r. & van every, e. j. (2013), communication as organizing: empirical and theoretical explorations in the dynamic of text and conversation, new york, ny: routledge. cooren, f., kuhn, t., cornelissen, j. p. & clark, t. ( 2 0 11 ) . c o m m u n i c a t i o n , o r g a n i z i n g a n d organization: an overview and introduction to the special issue. organization studies, 32(9), 1149-1170. david a. (2012). la recherche-intervention, cadre général pour la recherche en management. in r. laufer (ed.), les nouvelles fondations des sciences de gestion : éléments d'épistémologie de la recherche en management, (p. 268). paris: presses des mines. denis, j. l., langley, a. & rouleau, l. (2006). the power of numbers in strategizing. strategic organization, 4(4), 349-377. dumez, h. & jeunemaître, a. (2010). michel callon, michel foucault and the «dispositif». le libellio d'aegis, 6(4), 27-37. fauré, b. (2007). une analyse communicationnelle des outils de gestion et de contrôle. quels apports pour l e s r e c h e r c h e s e n c o m m u n i c a t i o n s o r g a n i s a t i o n n e l l e s ? . c o m m u n i c a t i o n e t organisation, (31), 108-123. fauré, b., brummans, b. h., giroux, h. & taylor, j. r. (2010). the calculation of business, or the business of calculation? accounting as organizing through everyday communication. human relations, 63(8), 1249-1273. fauré, b. & gramaccia, g. (2006). la pragmatique des chiffres dans les organisations: de l'acte de langage à l'acte de calcul. études de communication, 29(1), 25-37. fauré, b. & rouleau, l. (2011). the strategic competence of accountants and middle managers in budget making. accounting, organizations and society, 36(3), 167-182. foucault, m. (1994), dits et écrits, paris: gallimard. fraenkel, b. (2006). actes écrits, actes oraux: la performativité à l'épreuve de l'écriture. études de communication, 29(1), 69-93. gibassier, d. & schaltegger, s. (2015). carbon management accounting and reporting in practice: a c a s e s t u d y o n c o n v e r g i n g e m e r g e n t a p p r o a c h e s . s u s t a i n a b i l i t y a c c o u n t i n g , management and policy journal, 6(3), 340-365. girin, j. (1990). l’analyse empirique des situations de gestion: éléments de théorie et de méthode. in a.c martinet (ed.), epistémologies et sciences de gestion (pp.141-182). paris: economica. gond, j. p., cabantous, l., harding, n. & learmonth, m. (2015). what do we mean by performativity in organizational and management theory? the uses and abuses of performativity. international journal of management reviews, 18(4), 440-463 michaud, v. (2014). mediating the paradoxes of organizational governance through numbers. organization studies, 35(1), 75-101. miller, p. (2001). governing by numbers: why calculative practices matter. social research, 68(2), 379-396. � 853 counting before acting? the performativity carbon accounting called into question m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 834-857 miller, p. & power, m. (2013). accounting, organizing, and economizing: connecting accounting research and organization theory. academy of management annals, 7(1), 557-605. moisdon, j. c. (1997). 1. du mode d'existence des outils de gestion. actes du séminaire contradictions et dynamique des organisations, condor ix, 6. muniesa, f. & callon, m. (2009). la performativité des sciences économiques. in p. steiner & f. vatin (eds.), traité de sociologie économique (pp. 289-324). paris: puf. musca, g., rouleau, l. & fauré, b. (2014). time, space and calculation in discursive practice: insights from the crows’ flight chronotope of the darwin expedition. in f. cooren, e. vaara, a. langley & h. tsoukas (eds.), language and communication at work: discourse, narrativity and organizing perspective on process organization studies (pp. 125-146). oxford: oup. neu, d., warsame, h. & pedwell, k. (1998). managing public impressions: environmental disclosures in annual reports. accounting, organizations and society, 23(3), 265-282. revellino, s. & mouritsen, j. (2015). accounting as an engine: the performativity of calculative practices and the dynamics of innovation. management accounting research, 28, 31-49. riot, j. (2013). le management de l'environnement à travers ses instruments: de la diffusion d'outils à la construction de dynamiques d'action collective pour l ' i n n o v a t i o n e n v i r o n n e m e n t a l e , d o c t o r a l dissertation, ecole nationale supérieure des mines de paris. rouleau, l. (2013). strategy-as-practice research at a crossroads. m@n@gement, 16(5), 574-592. schaltegger, s. & csutora, m. (2012). carbon accounting for sustainability and management. status quo and challenges. journal of cleaner production, 36, 1-16. stechemesser, k., & guenther, e. (2012). carbon accounting: a systematic literature review. journal of cleaner production, 36, 17-38. taylor, j. r. & van every, e. j. (2010), the situated organization: case studies in the pragmatics of communication research, london: routledge.  vesty, g. m., telgenkamp, a. & roscoe, p. j. (2015). creating numbers: carbon and capital investment. accounting, auditing & accountability journal, 28(3), 302-324. vollmer, h. (2007). how to do more with numbers: elementary stakes, framing, keying, and the threedimensional character of numerical signs. accounting, organizations and society, 32(6), 577-600. wahyuni, d. & ratnatunga, j. (2015). carbon strategies and management practices in an uncertain carbonomic environment–lessons learned from the coal-face. journal of cleaner production, 96, 397-406. whittington, r. (2011). the practice turn in organization research: towards a disciplined transdisciplinarity. accounting, organizations and society, 36(3), 183-186. � 854 m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 834-857 morgane le breton & franck aggeri morgane le breton, phd, is interested in carbon accounting, sustainable management and corporate social responsibility (csr). her work is based on foucaldian studies, instruments and performativity. franck aggeri, is professor of management at mines paristech, psl research university. he conducts research on sustainability strategies and transitions and corporate social responsibility (csr). his research focuses on performativity of management, management technologies and instruments. his work has been published in journals such as organization studies, research policy, r&d management, m@n@gement and revue française de gestion (rfg). he recently coordinated, with mélodie cartel, a special issue of the journal entreprises et histoire called: "entreprises et changement climatique" (n°86, 2017/1). we are thankful to cnrs and aims for their financial support. � 855 counting before acting? the performativity carbon accounting called into question m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 834-857 � 856 m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 834-857 morgane le breton & franck aggeri � 857 07 unp 223 azzam 2019 m@n@gement 2019, vol. 22(3): 507-513 the disruption dilemma unplugged book review essay joshua gans (2016), cambridge, ma: mit press. “tell me what disruption is” reviewed by jamal eddine azzam tsm research (umr 5303 cnrs) toulouse school of management université toulouse 1 capitole, france jamal-eddine.azzam@tsm-education.fr since its birth, management science has been greatly concerned with the social utility of its outcomes: meeting the needs of firms (hambrick, 1994; hamet & maurer, 2017). it is therefore surprising that an “academic construct” which has been so widely disseminated among 1 managers has been so criticized. popular since the publication of christensen’s seminal works (1995, 1997), “disruption” has become one of the most widely disseminated constructs in the academic and public spheres. christensen is one of the most influential business thinkers: thinkers50 ranking; a google query yields more than 33 million results; and managers and policy makers refer to the term “disruption” . criticism 2 of disruption (in particular of christensen’s theory) are severe and relate to both conceptual (ambiguity and analytical inconsistency) and practical (lack of predictive power and of supporting empirical evidence) issues (danneels, 2004 ; henderson, 2006 ; king & baatartogtokh, 2015; lepore, 2014). despite christensen’s response to these criticisms , it remains 3 difficult for practitioners and researchers to understand the complexity, validity and practical implications of disruption. in his book the disruption dilemma, joshua gans (2016) has made a considerable effort to provide an impressive synthesis of works on disruption, whether they use this term or not. gans, a professor of strategy at the rotman school of management, university of toronto, is one of the most influential researchers in innovation, with renowned publications on the economic determinants of innovation and scientific progress, and markets for ideas and strategies for the commercialization of innovation. in this book, he proposes a broader and more reflective view of disruption through a combination of theoretical (modeling), qualitative (case studies) �507 paperback: 176 pages publisher: mit press (2016) 1. “academic construct” is used to refer to an object or form used by researchers to formalize and communicate scientific knowledge (theory, framework, tool, etc.) (warnier et al., 2015). 2 . t h e f r e n c h p r e s i d e n t emmanuel macron announced in an interview with forbes “i want m y c o u n t r y t o b e o p e n t o disruption and to these new models” www.forbes.com/sites/ randalllane/2018/05/01/exclusivefrench-president-macron-says-hewill-end-frances-notorious-exit-tax/ #76a7512b1d2b . 3. the numerous criticisms he received led christensen to reply in an article entitled “what is disruptive innovation?” in which he explained that his theory was a victim of his success and called for “refinements” (christensen et al., 2015). https://www.forbes.com/sites/randalllane/2018/05/01/exclusive-french-president-macron-says-he-will-end-frances-notorious-exit-tax/%22%20%5cl%20%2276a7512b1d2b https://www.forbes.com/sites/randalllane/2018/05/01/exclusive-french-president-macron-says-he-will-end-frances-notorious-exit-tax/%22%20%5cl%20%2276a7512b1d2b https://www.forbes.com/sites/randalllane/2018/05/01/exclusive-french-president-macron-says-he-will-end-frances-notorious-exit-tax/%22%20%5cl%20%2276a7512b1d2b https://www.forbes.com/sites/randalllane/2018/05/01/exclusive-french-president-macron-says-he-will-end-frances-notorious-exit-tax/%22%20%5cl%20%2276a7512b1d2b https://www.forbes.com/sites/randalllane/2018/05/01/exclusive-french-president-macron-says-he-will-end-frances-notorious-exit-tax/%22%20%5cl%20%2276a7512b1d2b https://www.forbes.com/sites/randalllane/2018/05/01/exclusive-french-president-macron-says-he-will-end-frances-notorious-exit-tax/%22%20%5cl%20%2276a7512b1d2b m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 507-513 jamal eddine azzam and quantitative (sectoral studies) perspectives. by doing so, gans provides the clarity required for understanding an important and often cacophonous subject. the book is structured around eight chapters (in addition to an introduction) and explains the sources of disruption as well as strategies to deal with it. chapter 2 defines disruption and distinguishes it from other factors that lead to the failure of established firms, “incumbents”, (for instance managerial frauds). the author introduces a new definition of disruption as a phenomenon that occurs “when successful firms fail because they continue to make the choices that drove their success” (gans, 2016: 9). disruptive events, the author explains, come from two sources: demand (low-end market) and supply (a new architecture). while christensen explains incumbents’ disruption as being the result of their rational choice not to adopt a “low-performing” technology that is not desired by their current customers, gans points to the inability of incumbents to adapt as another source of disruption. this alternative explanation is inspired by the results of rebecca henderson and kim b. clark (henderson & clark, 1990) on architectural innovation . these authors found that incumbents 4 fail when they are unable to internalize and introduce a new architectural innovation. the “competence” or “capability” explanation of disruption highlighted by gans is interesting and has been suggested by other researchers such as danneels (2004) and henderson (2006). gans suggests two types of disruptive innovations: demand-side disruption (disruption “à la christensen”, i.e., innovation that originates in the low-end market) and supply–demand disruption (disruption “à la henderson”, i.e., disruption that is induced by a new architecture troubling the incumbent organization). this typology is the cornerstone of the analysis developed throughout the book. chapter 3 deepens the discussion of the different sources of disruption and shows the multifaceted character of the disruption phenomenon. the author refers to various works (ron adner on the impact of price and michael tushman on the role of dominant designs) and illustrates, using the case of the mobile phone industry, how disruption can originate from the demand and/or supply side . taking this broad 5 perspective, the author considers various elements missing from christensen’s theorization but which remain important for understanding the triggers of disruption. by proceeding in this manner, gans provides an interesting explanation of how the leaders in the mobile phone industry were disrupted (a case that christensen’s theory has failed to explain). chapter 4 tackles the complex issue of predicting disruption. for the author, uncertainty is inherent in disruption “à la christensen”: it is hard to anticipate if (and how) the performance of an innovation introduced by a new entrant to a low-end market will reach the standard required by an incumbent’s customers. this uncertainty is precisely what creates a dilemma for the incumbent: should he react to an event that may or may not turn out to be disruptive, especially when the reaction involves abandoning the choices that made the incumbent successful? furthermore, the multiplicity of sources of disruption makes the task of � 508 4 . “ t h e e s s e n c e o f a n architectural innovation is the reconfiguration of an established system to link together existing components in a new way. architectural innovation is often triggered by a change in a component – perhaps size or some other subsidiary parameter of its design – that creates new interactions and new linkages with other components in the e s t a b l i s h e d p r o d u c t … architectural innovation presents established firms with a more subtle challenge. much of what the firm knows is useful and needs to be applied in the new product, but some of what it knows is not only not useful but may actually handicap the firm. recognizing what is useful and what is not, and acquiring and applying new knowledge when necessary, may be quite difficult for an established firm because o f t h e w a y k n o w l e d g e , p a r t i c u l a r l y a r c h i t e c t u r a l knowledge, is organized and managed” (henderson & clark, 1990: 12–13). 5. this choice is interesting because christensen failed in predicting the future of this industry on the basis of his theory (see “why clayton christensen worries about apple” – forbes, 2012). unplugged book review essay m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 507-513 predicting difficult, even impossible. through the cases of polaroid and kodak, the author shows the complexity of predicting the evolution of an industry despite the efforts of incumbents to identify the source of the disruption. nevertheless, gans details some of the characteristics of the industries that may be subject to disruption (industries with significant inefficiencies compared to existing technological opportunities and/or industries dominated by monopolies or oligopolies that leave unserved market segments), and he highlights the benefits of “wait and see” as a response to uncertain disruption as well as the role of holding key complementary assets as protection against disruption. chapters 5, 6 and 7 discuss the management of disruption and the set of strategic options available to incumbents. chapter 5 tackles the reactive options for managing disruption. the author discusses two options: competition by “doubling-down” (i.e., aggressive investment  in the new technology) or by “doubling-up” (i.e., alignment with the efforts of the disrupting competitor), and cooperation by “buying-up” (i.e., acquisition of the disruptor or in-licensing its technology). these are illustrated by cases from different industries (smartphones, search engines, and speech recognition) to show the wide variety and usefulness of these options. for the author, they are adapted to and valuable for managing disruption “à la christensen”. chapters 6 and 7 are dedicated to the proactive management of disruption. in chapter 6, the author discusses the benefits and limitations of the solution to disruption recommended by christensen. for christensen, an incumbent must create an independent entity to compete on a similar basis with the disruptor in the low-end market. this is summarized in one word: separation. the power of this idea has spread beyond the academic community, as evidenced by christensen’s business consulting activity. for gans, this strategy is not free of risks. through the cases of ibm and blackberry , he shows that separation can postpone the challenge of 6 disruption instead of solving it because top management has to deal with problems of coordination and conflicts between the new separate entity and the rest of the organization. the chapter 7 discusses an alternative strategy to christensen’s solution, i.e., integration . using the results of research on the 7 photolithographic alignment industry , gans shows that integration is an 8 effective response to anticipating the risk of disruption since it involves a continuous organizational evolution that allows firms to assimilate emerging innovations. for the author, the risk of disruption intensifies when a firm specializes teams by modules (subparts of a product) and focuses on the development of modular knowledge. integration promotes the development of a high level of architectural knowledge and facilitates its evolution during the transition from a technological generation to another one. however, this solution creates another dilemma: short-term leadership enabled by developing modular knowledge (i.e., what is allowed by separation and specialization) versus long-term sustainability enabled by developing architectural knowledge (i.e., what is allowed by integration). � 509 6. it should be noted here that the managers of rim (blackberry's parent company) were inspired by c h r i s t e n s e n ’ s b o o k t h e i n n o v a t o r ' s d i l e m m a w h e n thinking about which strategy to a d o p t a g a i n s t a p p l e . ( s e e castaldo 2012). 7. the integration discussed in the b o o k i s l a r g e l y i n s p i r e d b y henderson’s work. it involves: a) closely linked teams operating in heavyweight projects; b) staff rotation between the different areas of development (optics, mechanics, electronics, etc.); and c) closeness between, on the one hand, the top management team and the development teams and, on the other hand, between the company and its customers. it can be approximated to an organic structure in the sense of burns and stalker (1961). 8 . t h i s i n d u s t r y d e v e l o p s important components (usually at least 30% of the cost of a new facility) used for manufacturing devices (for more details see henderson and clark, 1990). m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 507-513 jamal eddine azzam chapter 8 is probably the most interesting for researchers who have sought the truth about disruption following the recent severe criticism (king & baatartogtokh, 2015; lepore, 2014). gans presents and discusses t h e research relating to the hard drive industry (the initial industry examined by christensen), whether it claims to be studying disruption or not. this analysis is interesting because gans presents different elements (the role of experience, origin of disruptors, etc.) that are crucial for understanding the competitive dynamics and their implications for incumbents, yet which are missing from christensen's conceptualization. gans explains that understanding the failure (or not) of incumbents requires consideration of these “missing” elements as well as options for managing disruption. hence, the author reveals a more complicated view of disruption than has been previously discussed. in my opinion, this chapter will help scholars to think of disruption differently because failing to observe the consequences predicted by christensen’s theory (i.e., failure and disappearance of established firms) does not mean that its causes are absent (i.e., disruptive forces). this is where i find this chapter to be the most interesting from a research point of view. in the final chapter, the author decries the various attempts to twist “disruption theory” to predict the decline of the leaders in any industry (starting with christensen himself when he predicted the failure of the iphone) and invites managers and researchers to focus on the management of disruption instead of challenging its existence and/or its importance. personally, i found that the book recognizes and explains many important elements of disruption, particularly its multifaced character and non-fatality if we consider the various reactive and proactive strategies to cope with it. the book naturally has some limitations, which are inherent in any work as ambitious as that undertaken by the author. in my view, there are three points that are relatively under-developed in the book and that open up promising avenues for research. the first of these relates to the role of complementary assets as protectors against disruption. using the case of the typesetting industry, gans (2016: 10) argues that “some firms may be shielded from disruptive events because they possess key complementary assets, the  value  of which is not changed and may be enhanced by those events”. however, the findings of research conducted by rothaermel and hill (2005) suggested that what is “key” is unclear. these authors studied the impact of technological discontinuities on the performance of incumbents by considering the type of complementary assets (genetic versus specialized) required for the commercialization of a new technology. they demonstrated that, depending on their type, the value of the complementary assets of incumbents can be enhanced or destroyed under technological discontinuities. in the computer and steel industries, incumbents held generic assets whose value was destroyed by technological change. however, the value of specialized assets held by established firms was reinforced by technological changes in the pharmaceutical and telecommunications industries. rothaermel and hill (2005) concluded that the impact on the performance of incumbents declined if the new technology could be commercialized through generic complementary assets, but it improved if the new technology could be commercialized through specialized complementary assets. these results clearly indicate that not all complementary assets protect against � 510 unplugged book review essay m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 507-513 disruption. explaining how and when different types of complementary assets can protect incumbents against disruptive events is a promising research question. a second point concerns the challenges of implementing reactive strategies, notably the buying-up option, in the case of disruption “à la henderson”. incumbents’ difficulties are organizational ones, as was highlighted by henderson and clark (1990: 13): “architectural innovation presents established firms with a more subtle challenge. much of what the firm knows is useful and needs to be applied in the new product, but some of what it knows is not only not useful but may actually handicap the firm. recognizing what is useful and what is not, and acquiring and applying new knowledge when necessary, may be quite difficult for an established firm because of the way knowledge, particularly architectural knowledge, is organized and managed”. therefore, a firm managing this type of disruption by “buying up” is confronted with the thorny issue of whether to integrate (or not) post acquisition. in other words, how does one merge and align two organizations structured around two conflicting architectures: that of the disruptor, organized around the new architecture, and that of the disrupted, organized around the old architecture? this issue is important not only for scholars with an interest in disruption but also for those who wish to examine the post‐acquisition integration process (colman & rouzies, 2018; marchand, 2015). a third less-explored aspect of disruption relates to the disruptor itself. the literature on disruption has mainly addressed the “disrupted side” of the phenomenon and has rarely informed the strategies adopted by disruptors or their challenges (ansari et al., 2016, 2018). gans indirectly approached this issue by referring to the results of his and his colleagues’ research on the automated speech recognition industry (marx et al., 2014). their findings show that disruptors can adopt a dynamic strategy involving product market entry before switching to a cooperative commercialization strategy. in other words, disruptors compete with incumbents by commercializing their own products to prove their value, but they cooperate with incumbents through licensing or acquisition deals once uncertainty around their innovation value dissipates. however, it is hard to conclude that coopetition is a systematic valuable strategy for the disruptor. indeed, the limited existing research on the “disruptor side” of the phenomenon is mixed: some studies have found a similar pattern, while others have not. ansari et al. (2016) observed the existence of coopetition between disruptors and incumbents: their study of the challenges faced by tivo in introducing a disruptive innovation (the digital video recorder) to the us television ecosystem revealed that the disruptor was confronted by three emergent coopetitive tensions (intertemporal, dyadic and multilateral) that required continuous strategy adjustment. however, the research conducted by snihur et al. (2018) on the disruption of the crm (customer relationship management) industry by salesforce innovation (a cloud-based software service) did not demonstrate the existence of such a strategy: the competition between salesforce and siebel (the incumbent) was not followed by cooperation between the two. these mixed findings raise an important issue: under what structural conditions does coopetition between disruptor and incumbent emerge? i believe that exploring what allows or inhibits the emergence of coopetition between disruptors and incumbents would be a � 511 m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 507-513 jamal eddine azzam fruitful research avenue for expanding our understanding of both the disruption phenomenon and coopetition strategies (cozzolino & rothaermel, 2018; robert et al., 2018; yami et al., 2016). notwithstanding these quibbles, joshua gans brings forward a welldocumented and intelligible piece of knowledge on the disruption phenomenon. the disruption dilemma is timely for researchers and managers who want to learn what disruption is, how it happens and how to deal with it. as well as recommending it to non-specialist colleagues, i highly recommend the book to anyone interested in innovation and corporate strategies. the research avenues i have highlighted invite researchers to explicitly link different research streams (disruption, mergers and acquisition, coopetition) to minimize the tendency to knowledge fragmentation, which limits our ability to address the complexity of these strategies. � 512 unplugged book review essay m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 507-513 references ansari, s., garud, r. and kumaraswamy, a. (2016) "the disruptor's dilemma: tivo and the u.s. television ecosystem."  strategic management journal, 37(9): 1829-1853 ansari, s., garud, r. and kumaraswamy, a. (2018) "perspectives on disruptive innovations." journal of management studies, 55(7):1025-1042. bower, j.l., & christensen, c.m. (1995). disruptive technologies: catching the wave. harvard business review, 73(1), 43–53. burns, t., & stalker, g.m. (1961). the management of innovation. london: tavistock. castaldo, j. (2012). how management has failed at rim: falling market share. product delays. angry investors. an exclusive, inside look at the blackberry maker’s internal chaos. canadian business [online] january 19. christensen, c.m. (1997). the innovator's dilemma: when new technologies cause great firms to fail. boston, ma: harvard business school press. christensen, c.m., raynor, m., & mcdonald, r. (2015). what is disruptive innovation? harvard business review, 93(12), 44–53. colman, h., & rouzies, a. (2018). boundary spanning and intra‐organizational mitigation: a relationship perspective on post‐acquisition integration. journal of management, doi: 10.1177/0149206318759400. c o z z o l i n o , a . , & r o t h a e r m e l , f. t. ( 2 0 1 8 ) . discontinuities, competition, and cooperation: coopetitive dynamics between incumbents and entrants. strategic management journal, doi: 10.1002/smj.2776. d a n n e e l s , e . ( 2 0 0 4 ) . d i s r u p t i v e te c h n o l o g y reconsidered: a critique and research agenda. journal of product innovation management,  21(4), 246–258. gans, j. (2016). the disruption dilemma. cambridge, ma: mit press. hambrick, d. (1994). what if the academy actually mattered? academy of management review, 19, 11–16. hamet, j., & maurer, f., (2017). is management r e s e a r c h v i s i b l e o u t s i d e t h e a c a d e m i c community? m@n@gement, 20, 492–516. henderson, r.m. (2006). the innovator’s dilemma as a problem of organizational competence. journal of product innovation management, 23, 5–11. henderson, r.m., & clark, k.b. (1990). architectural innovation: the reconfiguration of existing product technologies and the failure of established firms. administrative science quarterly, 35(1), 9–30. king, a.a.  &  baatartogtokh, b. (2015). how useful is the theory of disruptive innovation? mit sloan management review, 57(1), 77–90. lepore, j.  (2014). the disruption machine. the new yorker, 23, 30–36. marchand, m. (2015). quand le sud rachète le nord: d y n a m i q u e s d ' i n t é g r a t i o n s u p m a r k e t d e s multinationales émergentes. m@n@gement, 18(1), 31–53. marx, m., gans, j., & hsu, d. (2014). dynamic commercialization strategies for disruptive te c h n o l o g i e s : e v i d e n c e f r o m t h e s p e e c h recognition industry. management science 12, 3103–3123. robert, m., chiambaretto, p., mira, b., & le roy, f. (2018). better, faster, stronger: the impact of market-oriented coopetition on commercial product performance. m@n@gement, 21(1), 574–610. rothaermel, f.t. & hill, c.w.l. (2005). technological discontinuities and complementary assets: a l o n g i t u d i n a l s t u d y o f i n d u s t r y a n d f i r m performance. organization science, 16(1), 52-70. snihur, y., thomas, l.d.w., & burgelman, r.a. (2018). an ecosystem-level process model of business model disruption: the disruptor’s gambit.  journal of management studies, 55(7), 1278–1316. warnier, v., lecocq, x., & demil, b. (2015). théories, cadres d'analyse (frameworks) et outils en gestion. le libellio d'aegis, 11(4), 63–71. yami, s., chappert, h., & mione, a. (2016). séquences stratégiques relationnelles: le jeu coopétitif de microsoft dans le processus de normalisation ooxml. m@n@gement, 18(5), 330–356. acknowledgments: the author would like to thank to the editors of m@n@gement in general, and the editor of unplugged section, olivier germain, in particular for accepting such a speculative piece. i also would like to thank my colleague natalie toms (miss nando) who proofread the text. � 513 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/smj.2442%22%20%5ct%20%22_blank%22%20%5co%20%22clicking%20on%20this%20link%20will%20open%20the%20website%20in%20a%20new%20browser%20window http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/smj.2442%22%20%5ct%20%22_blank%22%20%5co%20%22clicking%20on%20this%20link%20will%20open%20the%20website%20in%20a%20new%20browser%20window http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/smj.2442%22%20%5ct%20%22_blank%22%20%5co%20%22clicking%20on%20this%20link%20will%20open%20the%20website%20in%20a%20new%20browser%20window 193parker m@n@gement 2016, vol. 19(3): 177-202 the impact of energizing interactions 
 on voluntary and involuntary turnover 
 andrew parker ! alexandra gerbasi abstact. in this paper we build from the theory of energetic activation to highlight the role energizing interactions play in relation to performance and turnover. we theorize that the association between energizing interactions within organizations and turnover is mediated by individual performance. we test our hypotheses using longitudinal network data collected annually within the it department of a global engineering consulting firm over a fouryear period. our study shows that when an individual perceives their interactions with others inside the organization as increasing their level of energetic activation, they have a reduced likelihood of voluntary turnover, but that this relationship is mediated by individual performance. perceiving interactions as increasing energetic activation results in higher performance, which in turn actually increases voluntary turnover. in contrast, when others perceive interactions with the focal actor as increasing their level of energetic activation it reduces the focal actor’s risk of involuntary turnover. this relationship is also mediated by performance. when others within the organization perceive interactions with the focal actor as increasing their level of energetic activation, it results in the focal actor having higher performance, which in turn reduces the focal actor’s involuntary turnover. in conclusion, we note that our findings are specific to knowledge workers with it skills and may not be generalizable to all employees. we also suggest implications for managers and potential areas for future research. social scientists have been interested in the study of turnover in organizations for decades (griffeth, hom, & gaertner, 2000; march & simon, 1958). in a recent review of turnover research, it was reported that over 1,500 academic studies have addressed the issue (holtom, mitchell, lee, & eberly, 2008). while this speaks to its relevance it also suggests that there is considerable debate about the causes of turnover. despite the large number of studies that have focused on turnover, there are surprisingly few that have taken a relational view. by a relational view we mean one that emphasizes the association between turnover and the relations between people in an organization, where people have a preference for continued interactions with others and where interactions can help facilitate positive outcomes for individuals (borgatti & foster, 2003; brass, galaskiewicz, greve, & tsai, 2004; kilduff & brass, 2010). one area of recent research attention that has incorporated a relational view is the theory of job embeddedness. this broad ranging theory postulates that an employee’s embeddedness in the workplace, that is, the extent to which they are connected to other individuals or groups, makes employees less likely to leave (felps, mitchell, hekman, lee, holtom, & harman, 2009; jiang, liu, mckay, lee, & mitchell, 2012; lee, mitchell, sablynski, burton, & holtom, 2004; mitchell, holtom, lee, �177 andrew parker grenoble ecole de management andrew.parker@grenoble-em.com alexandra gerbasi surrey business school university of surrey a.gerbasi@surrey.ac.uk m@n@gement, vol. 19(3): 177-202 andrew parker & alexandra gerbasi sablynski, & erez, 2001). the theory of job embeddedness examines how turnover is related to the number of coworkers that an individual interacts with (links), the extent to which a job fits an individual’s life (fit), and what they would be giving up by leaving a job (sacrifice) (mitchell et al., 2001). this research stream, however, has in general not sought to understand different facets of an individual’s interactions with others. one exception is the research by mossholder, settoon and henagan (2005) who found evidence that a person's instrumental relationships with others in an organization can serve to reduce the likelihood of voluntary turnover. we seek to build upon this relational view, but rather than focus on the benefits of instrumental ties (mossholder et al., 2005), we turn our attention to energizing interactions within the organization. we take an energetic activation perspective (quinn, 2007; quinn, spreitzer, & lam, 2012) and suggest that individuals can feel a sense of vitality and enthusiasm based upon their energizing interactions with others inside the organization. we theorize that this increased level of energy creates a sense of wellbeing and a positive attitude toward coworkers and the organization and ultimately decreases the risk of an individual voluntarily leaving the organization. in addition, we theorize that when others perceive interactions with the focal actor as increasing their level of energetic activation it reduces the focal actors risk of involuntary turnover as they are seen as a positive influence in the organization. we suggest, however, that it is not energizing relationships by themselves that affect turnover, but that their effect is mediated through individual performance. we postulate that energizing interactions with others increases an individual's performance and this actually increases the risk of voluntary turnover. alternatively, when an individual is seen as a positive source of energy by others it increases the focal actor’s performance and ultimately decreases their risk of involuntary turnover. we make three contributions to the literature. first, we enrich the relational approach to turnover by examining the role of energizing interactions within organizations. second, we theorize and test how two aspects of energizing interactions, those resulting in energetic activation of the focal individual and those resulting in energetic activation of those around the focal individual, have an effect on voluntary and involuntary turnover. in doing so we highlight that the role played by energizing interactions is different for the two types of turnover. third, we examine the role of performance as a mediator between energizing interactions and both voluntary and involuntary turnover. we test our argument using longitudinal network data collected annually within the it department of a global engineering consulting firm over a four-year period. as our data consists of information technology knowledge workers in an organization with few constraints regarding its ability to terminate an individual’s contract, we limit our theorizing to these type of employees and organizations. we return to this issue in the discussion section. theoretical development and hypotheses voluntary turnover turnover in itself is not necessarily detrimental to an organization as the exit of underperforming employees can be beneficial (abelson & baysinger, 1984; mcelroy, morrow, & rude, 2001). in general, however, turnover has been shown to have a negative effect on organizational performance (hancock, allen, bosco, mcdaniel, & pierce, 2013; park & shaw, 2013). a distinction is generally made between voluntary and �178 the impact of energizing interactions on turnover m@n@gement, vol. 19(3): 177-202 involuntary turnover. shaw and colleagues (1998: 511) indicate that "voluntary turnover, or a quit, reflects an employee's decision to leave an organization, whereas an instance of involuntary turnover, or a discharge, reflects an employer's decision to terminate the employment relationship." when those employees who choose to voluntarily leave are high performers, have knowledge that is not easily replaceable, or are future leaders, then the need to develop more refined explanations for turnover is critical (hausknecht & holwerda, 2013; trevor, gerhart, & boudreau, 1997)1. firms and researchers have an interest in developing a better understanding of voluntary turnover because this allows employers to better plan for replacements and minimize disruptions to work when people leave. understanding voluntary turnover is particularly important for teamwork in general, where the exit of an individual can impede the achievement of goals across multiple teams and can have negative effects on organizational performance (hausknecht & trevor, 2011; shaw, gupta, & delery, 2005). recent research on voluntary turnover has examined economic factors at the macro level and psychological and relational explanations at the micro level. at the macro level, ease of finding a new position has a positive association with turnover (joseph, ng, koh, & ang, 2007; march & simon, 1958). psychological explanations include job satisfaction, which has consistently been found to have a negative relationship with turnover (griffeth et al., 2000; liu, mitchell, lee, holtom, & hinkin, 2012). research has identified other predictors of turnover such as organizational commitment (lum, kervin, clark, reid, & sirola, 1998; mccaul, hinsz, & mccaul, 1995; meyer & allen, 1991), mentoring (payne & huffman, 2005), human resource management practices (heavey, holwerda, & hausknecht, 2013; trevor, & nyberg, 2008) and individual performance (shaw et al., 2005; trevor et al., 1997; williams & livingstone, 1994). prior research taking a relational perspective on voluntary turnover found that the exit of friends was associated with the likelihood of an individual leaving the organization (krackhardt & porter, 1985; 1986). more recently, research has shown that individuals that are more central in instrumental networks are less likely to leave an organization (mossholder et al., 2005). in addition, the theory of job embeddedness proposes that the extent to which individuals are entwined in a social web comprising social ties in the workplace predicts turnover above and beyond being involved in organizational activities that increase an individual’s investment in their job (jiang et al., 2012; mitchell et al., 2001). people who are more strongly connected to others tend to be resistant to particular shocks that might lead others to start quitting processes (mitchell & lee, 2001). these theories, however, have not explicitly considered the role that workplace interactions have on energetic activation and how this might affect turnover, nor have they addressed how this relationship is influenced by individual performance. involuntary turnover while voluntary turnover has been the focus of considerable recent research there has been limited attention paid to involuntary turnover. theories of turnover, such as job embeddedness, have had little to say regarding involuntary turnover. this type of organizational exit occurs when a firm terminates an individual's employment contract (batt & colvin, 2011). it can occur because a firm ceases to trade, because it chooses to downsize or outsource work in order to maintain or try to regain its competitive advantage. alternatively, involuntary exit can occur because an �179 1. it is important to note that “voluntary” turnover is not always voluntary. pressure is often applied to individuals to leave, especially when a firm is constrained from terminating an individual’s contract due to union agreements or legal reasons. in the firm that we study there was considerable involuntary turnover which suggests that voluntary turnover was truly voluntary. m@n@gement, vol. 19(3): 177-202 andrew parker & alexandra gerbasi employee is not a good fit or is a poor performer (bycio, hackett, & alvares, 1990; knight, & latreille, 2000; mcevoy & cascio, 1987; shaw et al., 1998). this type of exit has been defined as “a bad hiring decision that must be corrected” (shaw et al., 1998: 513) and “employer decisions to fire individual employees, rather than decisions to cut costs through mass layoffs, downsizing, early retirement buyouts, or organizational restructuring” (batt & colvin, 2011: 695). the ability of a firm to terminate an individual's contract differs by country and industry. in the firm we study, employees had “at will” contracts and did not have recourse to union or legal protection if the firm chose to terminate their contract. also there were no major organizational changes during the period of the study. we therefore limit our theorizing to involuntary turnover based upon poor performance and being a “poor fit” for the organization. while issues such as not being a good fit or being a poor performer may be the proximate causes of involuntary turnover we suggest that there is also an underlying relational mechanism that can have an influence on involuntary turnover. likewise, voluntary turnover may be associated with availability of opportunities outside the organization, human resource management practices, and job satisfaction, but again we suggest a relational mechanism can also influence an individual's decision to voluntarily exit an organization. from a theoretical perspective, however, not enough is known about what relational explanatory factors are associated with performance and both voluntary and involuntary turnover. for this we turn to recent theorization around energetic activation. energetic activation research on the role of human energy has recently become more prominent in the studies of individuals within organizations (cross, baker & parker 2003; gerbasi, porath, parker, spreitzer & cross, 2015; quinn, 2007; quinn & dutton, 2005; quinn et al., 2012; ryan & deci 2008). human energy can be divided into two components. first, individuals possess physical energy which allows them to do work (quinn et al., 2012). physical energy is a finite quantity and is expended when an individual is working. this type of energy is restored during periods of rest. second, individuals also possess a more subjective form of energy that is experienced in the form of enthusiasm towards work, what quinn and colleagues (2012) call energetic activation. the concept of energetic activation is closely aligned with other responses such as subjective energy (marks, 1977), energetic arousal (thayer, 1989), and emotional energy (collins, 1993). quinn and colleagues (2012: 6) define energetic activation as the “subjective component of a ‘biobehavioral system of activation’... experienced as feelings of vitality, vigor, or enthusiasm. it can manifest itself in emotions (feelings with short durations targeted toward a specific object, event, or person), moods (longer-lasting, less-targeted feelings), or dispositions (enduring tendencies to be energetic or not).” the emotions, moods and dispositions experienced as part of high energetic activation can result in an individual feeling enthusiasm, vitality (ryan & frederick, 1997; thayer, 1989), and zest (miller & stiver, 1997) with a desire to act within an organization in a positive way (quinn et al., 2012). alternatively, low energetic activation will have an opposite effect with an individual feeling a lack of vitality, a desire to avoid situations or individuals that lower their energetic activation (collins, 1993), and a lower inclination to act positively within an organization context (quinn et al., 2012). overall, energetic activation is an emerging but important construct of interest that is notably different than friendship or liking. �180 the impact of energizing interactions on turnover m@n@gement, vol. 19(3): 177-202 research indicates that individuals who experience energetic activation have higher performance, health, and well-being at work (lyubomirsky, king, & diener, 2005; quinn et al., 2012; saravi, 1999; spreitzer, sutcliffe, dutton, sonenshein, & grant, 2005). energetic activation like physical energy is a resource that can be expended when doing work, but like physical energy it also needs to be restored in some way. one way in which an individual’s level of energetic activation can be restored is through interactions with others. interactions with others can result in an increase in the feeling of energetic activation (baker, cross & wooten, 2003), but interactions can also result in a dampening of the feeling of being energized (gerbasi et al., 2015). recent research suggests that those individuals who experience interactions that decrease energetic activation have lower performance (gerbasi et al., 2015). while, having interactions that result in increased energetic activation is associated with having higher individual performance within an organization (baker et al., 2003; casciaro & lobo, 2008). in the following section we hypothesize that an individual's interactions with their work colleagues that increase their level of energetic activation can lower their risk of voluntarily leaving the organization. in addition, we hypothesize that when other individuals’ interactions with a focal employee positively affects their energetic activation it decreases an organization’s likelihood of terminating the contract of the focal actor. finally, we suggest how these two relationships are mediated by individual performance. energetic activation and voluntary turnover the emotions, moods and dispositions experienced as part of energetic activation (quinn et al., 2012) have multiple antecedents. for example, an individual can derive energetic activation from the work they do. in the context of the it department in our study, this could be as a result of designing an innovative solution to a potentially damaging computer virus. while we see this as important, our focus is on the effects derived from others in the workplace. if we consider energetic activation with regard to interactions inside the organization, an individual could have higher energetic activation after a meeting with someone (quinn & dutton, 2005). people who emerge from interactions with higher energetic activation are more likely to carry this positive emotion into follow-on interactions with colleagues (parker, gerbasi & porath, 2013) or into the next item of work that they address. likewise, people who have an interaction that lowers their level of energetic activation will carry the negative emotion away with them. the emotions that an individual feels as part of having a heightened or lowered feeling of energetic activation as a result of a specific event will likely dissipate as time passes after the event. however, if one individual has lengthy interactions with another then it will have an influence on their mood. finally, if an individual has frequent interactions with another or if their work is interconnected as a result of an organization’s workflow, then over time the mood is likely to evolve into a disposition. even if an individual does not have to frequently interact with someone, if they are interconnected via the organization's formal workflow, they will have to think about the individual at certain times in their weekly routines. this will likely have a longer-term impact on an individual’s disposition and overall level of energetic activation. depending how one person views another, it could have either a heightened effect on the focal individual’s level of energetic activation or a dampening effect (gerbasi et al., 2015; parker et al., 2013) �181 m@n@gement, vol. 19(3): 177-202 andrew parker & alexandra gerbasi having numerous interactions with individuals inside the organization that result in heightened energetic activation will likely result in an accumulation of energy as a resource (quinn et al., 2012) that can be used as a buffer against interactions that diminish an individual’s feeling of energetic activation (cross et al., 2003; gerbasi et al., 2015; parker et al., 2013). if an individual has more interactions that raise their level of energetic activation compared to those that lower their energetic activation, then the person will likely feel a sense of wellbeing and a belief that they can do work that can make a positive contribution to the goals of the organization (quinn & dutton, 2005). the energetic interactions with coworkers will also result in positive relationships with their colleagues that will also be closer and more stable (lawler, thye, & yoon, 2008). overall, this feeling of vitality and sense of wellbeing coupled with the positive feelings towards work colleagues will result in an individual having a positive view of the value of their job and hence will increase their preference to stay with the organization and lower the risk of voluntary exit. we formally hypothesize this as follows: hypothesis 1: people who have a high level of energetic activation as a result of interactions with colleagues inside an organization are less likely to choose to leave the organization than those who have a low level of energetic activation. energetic activation and involuntary turnover if the effect an individual’s interactions have on their level of energetic activation is likely to influence their decision to stay or exit an organization, then the inverse is also likely to be true. that is to say, aggregated perceptions of others about a particular individual can also have an effect on how the focal individual is viewed within an organization and can ultimately affect their risk of involuntary exit. we suggest that when an individual heightens the level of energetic activation of those around them then their colleagues will be attracted to and supportive of the focal individual. it has been shown that this positive behavior towards an individual occurs regardless of whether they are actually competent at what they do (casciaro & lobo, 2008). these “energizing” individuals are perceived as good team players and positive influences within the organization (cross et al., 2003; zatzick, deery, & iverson, 2015). therefore they will have a lower risk of involuntary turnover and hence will be more likely to stay with the organization. in contrast, those individuals who are perceived as not being “energizers” will be less likely to be positively viewed by others and will be considered as “bad eggs” or not a good fit for the organization (parker et al., 2013). these individuals will have a much higher risk of involuntary turnover and hence will be much less likely to be remain with the organization. hypothesis 2: people who heighten the level of energetic activation of those around them are less likely to be at risk of involuntary turnover than those who dampen the level of energetic activation of those around them. performance as a mediator of the energetic activationturnover relationship those individuals who have a heightened sense of energetic activation as a result of interactions with those around them in the �182 the impact of energizing interactions on turnover m@n@gement, vol. 19(3): 177-202 organization are likely to be more motivated. for example, in a study of employees in an information technology company casciaro and lobo (2008) found that perceiving people as energizing has a positive influence on interaction around specific tasks. the longer-term effects of an individual having increased energetic activation as a result of interactions with others with whom they work include mutual resource creation that can result in new, more effective ways of working which likely improve individual performance (gerbasi et al., 2015). there is considerable research to indicate that having positive interactions with people in the workplace increases information sharing and has a positive effect on individual performance (baldwin, bedell, & johnson, 1997; cross & cummings, 2004, shah & jehn, 1993; sparrowe, liden, wayne, & kraimer, 2001). in contrast, having interactions that diminish an individual’s sense of energetic activation results in a narrowing of an individual’s thoughts and actions (fredrickson & branigan, 2005), and decreases work related enthusiasm and motivation (baumeister, schmeichel, & vohs, 2007) which in turn lowers an individual’s intensity and persistence of effort (landy & becker, 1987). lower energetic activation ultimately results in lower levels of performance (gerbasi et al., 2015). research on the relationship between performance and voluntary turnover is inconclusive (becker & cropanzano, 2011; mcevoy, & cascio, 1987). the push-pull turnover model developed by jackofsky (1984) indicates that there is a u-shaped relationship between performance and turnover with the highest performers voluntarily leaving and the lowest performers being asked to leave an organization. research suggests that there is stronger support for low performers being asked to leave than for high performers voluntarily exiting (becker & cropanzano, 2011). with regard to voluntary turnover, on the one hand, higher performers are likely to receive increased incentives from their organization such as higher wages, higher bonuses, and faster promotion (huselid, 1995; zenger, 1992). on the other hand, higher performers are likely to garner interest from outside the organization for their knowledge and skills (gerhart, 1990; lee, gerhart, weller, & trevor, 2008). the more transferable and in demand a set of skills are in the external labor market then the more it will result in high performers with those skills being sought after by other organizations. research suggests that knowledge workers such as it engineers and practitioners have transferable skills (ertürk, & vurgun, 2015) and that during the period of our study there was a growing labor market for it professionals (international labour organization, 2016), therefore we propose that high performers in our study will have a higher risk of voluntary turnover. in sum, we hypothesize that performance will mediate the energetic activation-voluntary turnover relationship. in figure 1 we detail our conceptual model. there is a negative direct effect between having a high level of energetic activation from others and voluntary turnover (path c'), i.e., the higher the energetic activation the lower voluntary turnover. however, having a higher level of energetic activation as a result of interactions with others in the organization may result in a positive impact on performance (path a). finally having a high level of performance, in a favorable labor market, results in an increased likelihood of voluntary turnover (path b)2. �183 2. the mediation model we detail here is an example of a suppression effect whereby the indirect effect (path a*b) has the opposite sign to the direct effect (shrout & bolger, 2002). the difference in the direction of the direct and indirect effects highlights competing processes that are occurring with regard to voluntary turnover. m@n@gement, vol. 19(3): 177-202 andrew parker & alexandra gerbasi figure 1. conceptual model of individual performance mediating the energetic activation-voluntary turnover relationship we hypothesize the mediation model detailed in figure 1 as follows: hypothesis 3: the relationship between having a high level of energetic activation as a result of interactions with others in the organization and lower voluntary turnover is mediated by individual performance, such that high levels of energetic activation result in higher levels of performance and higher performance results in higher voluntary turnover. individuals who heighten the level of energetic activation of their work colleagues will not only be more popular and sought out but they will also benefit by having greater access to information and resources from the interactions with their colleagues. research indicates that greater access to resources improves individual performance (cross & cummings, 2004, sparrowe et al., 2001). alternatively, individuals who dampen the level of energetic activation of their work colleagues will be less likely to benefit from relation-based resources of those around them. unsurprisingly, most research indicates that there is an inverse relationship between performance and involuntary turnover with higher performance resulting in lower involuntary turnover (batt & colvin, 2011; bycio et al., 1990; mcevoy & cascio, 1989; wells & muchinsky, 1985). organizations are unlikely to fire their better performers unless the employee contravenes the ethical rules within an organization. therefore, we postulate that performance will mediate the energizing-involuntary turnover relationship. individuals who heighten the level of energetic activation of their colleagues will have higher levels of performance which in turn will reduce their likelihood of involuntary turnover. therefore, we suggest that performance will mediate the energetic activation-involuntary turnover relationship. in figure 2 we detail our conceptual model. there is a negative direct effect between having a high level of energetic activation to others and involuntary turnover (path c'), i.e., the higher the energetic activation the lower the involuntary turnover. being an individual that heightens the level of energetic activation in others can have a positive impact on performance (path a). finally, having a high level of performance results in a decreased likelihood of involuntary turnover (path b). �184 the impact of energizing interactions on turnover m@n@gement, vol. 19(3): 177-202 figure 2. conceptual model of individual performance mediating the energetic activation-involuntary turnover relationship we formally hypothesize the mediation model detailed in figure 2 as follows: hypothesis 4: the relationship between being perceived as an individual who heightens the level of energetic activation of their work colleagues and lower involuntary turnover is mediated by individual performance, such that high levels of energetic activation result in higher levels of performance and higher performance results in lower involuntary turnover. data and methods sample the data are from a 4-year study of the global information technology (it) department of an engineering consulting firm with over 7,000 specialists worldwide. since the 1990s, the firm has grown through a series of mergers. the head office is based in the united states, and regional offices are located throughout europe and the asia-pacific region. the globalization of the firm occurred without the establishment of consistent it processes across the organization. the initial round of research conducted within the organization came two years after a major reorganization aimed at transitioning the group from a regional to a global it department. looking at a four-year period allows us to partially control for labor market changes as well as the effect of the reorganization. during the four-year period of the study, one of the authors conducted an annual network analysis survey of the it department, during which they surveyed the entire population of the department. the number of people surveyed each year ranged from 160 to 191. in all years, the response rate to the survey was over 86%. the response rate is comparable with that of other network studies (e.g., sasovova, mehra, borgatti, & schippers, 2010; sparrowe et al., 2001). non-respondents did not significantly differ from respondents with respect to gender, location, tenure, performance or rates of turnover. of the 191 people at the beginning of the study we have complete response for 102 respondents over the four time periods. we have an additional 25 individuals from t1 that have responses for t1-t3, bringing our total to 127. in addition, we have an additional 40 respondents who we have complete data for between t2 and t4, resulting in a total of 167 observations used in our analysis. the data were collected through an online survey tool. in each of the four years (2005-2008), the same questions were asked of the �185 m@n@gement, vol. 19(3): 177-202 andrew parker & alexandra gerbasi respondents. the survey included relational questions that assessed the energizing interactions between each pair of employees within the department as well as who they went to for information. in each case, the respondents were asked to evaluate each of the other members of the it department using the roster method (marsden, 1990). demographic variables, including gender, location, and tenure were asked of each survey respondent. in addition to the survey data, we also collected hierarchy, performance and turnover data from the hr department. annual performance data were collected from the hr department at the end of each year. the turnover data for all years were collected in 2010. dependent variable data collected from the hr department indicated the year in which each individual left the firm and whether the exit was voluntary or involuntary. amongst the reasons provided for voluntary turnover, some stated the desire to continue education, others went to work for competitors, and still others left for personal or family reasons. amongst the reasons provided for those who left involuntarily were performance issues or being "not good fits” for the firm. we do not have any information on whether the voluntary leavers were forced to leave or left through choice. however, given the reasons indicated for voluntary exit, the high number of involuntary exits, and discussions with representatives from the firm we have no reason to believe that the vast majority, if not all, voluntary exits were through choice. independent variables we used two explanatory variables in our analyses. the explanatory variables assessed the extent to which interactions led to energetic activation of employees in the it department. energetic activation was measured with the following survey question adapted from cross and parker (2004) and gerbasi and colleagues (2015): “people can affect the energy and enthusiasm we have at work in various ways. interactions with some people can leave you feeling drained, [whereas] others can leave you feeling enthused about possibilities. when you interact with each person below, how does it typically affect your energy level?” respondents could indicate a value from 1 to 5, where 1 equaled strongly de-energizing and 5 equaled strongly energizing. we found that on average 14% of ties are strongly energizing, 24% are energizing, 55% are neutral, 5% are deenergizing and 2% are strongly de-energizing. the energy network data was re-coded on a 5-point scale with strongly de-energizing being coded as -2, neutral as 0, and strongly energizing as 2. we then aggregated the energetic activation responses for each individual using the freeman degree centrality routine (freeman, 1979) in ucinet 6 (borgatti, everett, & freeman, 2002) to form two measures. first, the extent to which a respondent's interactions affected their level of energetic activation -we call this energetic activation (ego). second, the extent to which other people viewed an individual as affecting their level of energetic activation - we call this energetic activation (alter). while it has been suggested that the effect of having one “strongly de-energizing” tie outweighs the effect of one “strongly energizing” tie (labianca & brass, 2006), we are unable to systematically determine if this is the case in our data and hence we count one “strongly energizing” tie as nullifying the effect of one “strongly de-energizing tie.” in addition, we chose not to dichotomize the energetic activation measure at a particular level as this would cause us to lose valuable data about the intensity of the �186 the impact of energizing interactions on turnover m@n@gement, vol. 19(3): 177-202 interactions and would potentially bias the results (maccallum, zhang, preacher, & rucker, 2002). overall, our two measures take into account both the number of ties and the valence of the ties. mediating variable our mediating variable is individual performance, as it has been shown to be a predictor of voluntary and involuntary turnover (bycio et al., 1990; jackofsky, 1984; mcevoy & cascio, 1987; salamin & hom, 2005). individual performance ratings were collected from the hr department. each individual was rated annually by their immediate supervisor on knowledge and skills, business development, client services management, project management, general management, employee leadership, and decision making. the score for each element of the ratings was evaluated on a scale of 1 (low level of performance) to 5 (exceptional performance) and the overall score was based upon the averages of the individual ratings. while the performance scores are based upon the subjective views of managers as opposed to being an objective measure, research on performance evaluations by managers indicate that they are relatively valid measures of actual performance (arvey & murphy, 1998). as a validity check on the performance variable we also analyzed our data using the average of the employee self-report scores for the same categories as above. the direction and significance of our results using the self-reported scores were the same as for the manager evaluations (results available from the authors). control variables as part of the analysis, we included various demographic control variables collected as part of the survey, for example, gender, organizational tenure, and geographic location. we control for geographic location (coded as 1 for usa and 0 for other locations)3 as it partly accounts for the variance in different economic conditions. we control for organizational tenure as it has been shown to be a consistent predictor of exit in previous studies (griffeth et al., 2000). we include a control for gender (coded 1 for females, 0 for males) as some studies have found that the likelihood of turnover is different by gender (russ & mcneilly, 1995; weisberg & kirschenbaum, 1993). we also control for whether an employee has a management role or not (coded 1 for managers, 0 for nonmanagers). in order to account for the heterogeneity of the labor market for different it skills, we created dummy variables for the eight different it functions in the department, e.g., networks/servers, security, and application development. we found no significant differences of any of the function variables on either voluntary or involuntary turnover so we have not included them in the models presented in the paper (results available from the authors). research has indicated that the more instrumental relationships an individual has with others in an organization the lower their risk of voluntary turnover (mossholder et al., 2005). therefore we control for the number of incoming and outgoing information ties each individual has in the it department. we calculated outgoing and incoming freeman degree centrality scores (freeman, 1979) using ucinet 6 (borgatti et al., 2002) from the following question: “please indicate if you get the following from each person below: information you use to accomplish your work.” outgoing freeman degree centrality scores count the number of individuals the respondent receives information from (mean = 84.41), �187 3. we tested other ways of accounting for location including a series of country level dummy variables, and regional level variables (usa, europe, asia pacific), we consistently found that the usa was significantly different from the other locations, but there were no significant differences between the other countries or regions, hence we include only a dummy variable for the usa versus all other countries in our model for the sake of parsimony. m@n@gement, vol. 19(3): 177-202 andrew parker & alexandra gerbasi whereas incoming freeman degree centrality scores count the number of individuals the respondent gives information to (mean = 77.30). to account for whether the structure of an individual's information network, as opposed to the number of their ties, has an effect on turnover we use a measure developed by burt (1995). specifically, we control for network constraint (burt, 1995), this measure accounts for the extent to which the structure of an individual’s network has a tendency to be open compared to being closed. an open network is one whereby an individual tends to have ties to others that are themselves not connected. whereas a closed network is one in which the individuals in the focal person’s network tend to have ties to each other. open networks increase the likelihood of receiving non-redundant information which has positive performance implications (burt, 1995), while closed networks are more likely to result in the growth in trust and work related norms and a feeling of being embedded within an organization (burt, 2001; coleman, 1988; 1990). in addition, we control for the proportion of energizing relationships that are reciprocated (gouldner, 1960). this helps to control for the proportion of individuals that the respondent is energized by and is energizing to within the organization. a low value indicates that the respondent is not energizing the people who energizes them, whereas a high value indicates that the respondent is energized by and energizes the same other individuals with whom they are connected. table 1 reports the descriptive statistics and pearson correlations for the variables we used in the analysis. over the four-year period there are 167 individuals with observations for at least three time periods (the minimum number of time periods necessary to conduct our analysis). employees have an average tenure of 5.95 years. overall there were fewer women than men in the it department (37%) and over half the people worked in the united states (52%) compared to europe and asia. the mean for energetic activation (ego) is 35.01 and for energetic activation (alter) the mean is 34.75. model and methods as our data consist of four different time points we assessed the relationship between turnover and energetic activation, and the mediating effects of performance using a series of panel regression models in r (r core team, 2013). in addition, to add robustness to our main effects models as well as our mediation models, we tested the effects for statistical significance using 95% bias corrected and accelerated bootstrapped confidence intervals (ci) based on 1,000 samples to avoid concerns regarding inflated type i error rate (cf. shrout & bolger, 2002). as our dependent variable is categorical we estimated a series of multinomial logistic (predicting voluntary and involuntary turnover compared to staying with the firm) panel models. in the first model we include the control variables (at t-2) to test the likelihood of voluntary and involuntary turnover compared to staying with the firm at time t. in model 2 we add the effects of the independent variables of interest, energetic activation (ego) and energetic activation (alter) at t-2. finally in model 3 we include performance at t-1 to test for mediation and use the freedman-schatzkin test (freedman & schatzkin, 1992) as recommended by mackinnon and colleagues (2002)4. this allows us to test if energetic activation at t-2 has an effect on performance at t-1, which in turn has an effect on involuntary and voluntary turnover at time t. �188 4. while there are more recent methods for testing mediation effects (e.g., preacher & hayes, 2004) these are not currently available for multinomial logistic panel models. the impact of energizing interactions on turnover m@n@gement, vol. 19(3): 177-202 �189 m@n@gement, vol. 19(3): 177-202 andrew parker & alexandra gerbasi results in table 2 we present the multinomial logistic panel regression models for voluntary and involuntary turnover. the top half of the table details the results for voluntary turnover and the bottom half details the results for involuntary turnover. model 1 includes all of the demographic control variables. we find a negative relationship between tenure and voluntary turnover. those who have been in the firm longer, are less likely to voluntarily leave the firm. we also find that individuals in managerial positions are less likely to voluntarily leave the firm. we do not find any significant relationships between the information ties or network constraint on voluntary turnover. in model 2 we build on model 1 by including the energetic activation variables, to test hypotheses 1. we find support for hypothesis 1, there is a negative and significant relationship between energetic activation (ego) and voluntary turnover (b = -0.049, p < 0.05). this suggests that the higher the level of energetic activation (the more an individual is energized by their work colleagues) an individual feels, the less likely they are to voluntarily leave the organization (i.e., they are more likely to stay with the firm). following the recommendations of wiersema & bowen (2009), to better visualize our results we plotted the marginal effects of energetic activation (ego) on turnover (figure 3). the y-axis displays the probability of each outcome occurring. the x-axis displays the energetic activation (ego). there are separate lines for each potential outcome (staying with the firm, voluntary turnover and involuntary turnover). we can see that the probability of voluntary exit decreases as energetic activation (ego) increases, while the probability of staying with the firm increases. figure 3. predicted probabilities of turnover due to energetic activation (ego) we next turn to our hypothesis predicting involuntary turnover. the bottom half of table 2 presents the estimates of the panel multinomial logistic regression models for involuntary turnover. model 1 includes the demographic, information ties, network constraint and reciprocal energy ties control variables. none of these variables was a significant predictor of involuntary turnover. in model 2 we included the energetic activation variables to test hypothesis 2. we find support for hypothesis 2, individuals with higher energetic activation (alter) (their work colleagues �190 the impact of energizing interactions on turnover m@n@gement, vol. 19(3): 177-202 find them energizing) are less likely to experience involuntary turnover (b = -0.029, p < 0.05). the more other work colleagues find a respondent to be energizing, the less likely they are to experience involuntary turnover. again we follow the recommendations of wiersema & bowen (2009), and plot the marginal effects of energetic activation (alter) on turnover (figure 4). the probability of involuntary exit decreases as energetic activation (alter) increases, while the probability of staying with the firm increases. figure 4. predicted probabilities of turnover due to energetic activation (alter) to test our two mediation hypotheses, we add the performance variable into our model. in the top half of model 3 (table 2), we see that performance positively and significantly predicts voluntary turnover (b = 1.344, p < 0.05). high performers are more likely to voluntarily leave the firm. we find that in model 3 the effect for energetic activation (ego) is no longer significant and has decreased in magnitude (b = -0.013, p > 0.05). this indicates the effect of energetic activation (ego) on voluntary turnover is mediated by performance, supporting hypothesis 3. as the signs for the main effect and the indirect effect are opposite the model is an example of a suppressor effect (shrout & bolger, 2002). additionally, we conducted the freedman & schatzkin test (freedman & schatzkin, 1992), t(165) = -5.008, p < .05, which indicates support for the mediation effect. in the bottom half of model 3 (table 2) we include performance to test for mediation and to address hypothesis 4. we find that performance negatively and significantly predicts involuntary turnover (b = -0.545, p < 0.05), and that the effect for energetic activation (alter) is no longer significant. this suggests that performance is mediating the effect of energetic activation (alter) on involuntary turnover, supporting hypothesis 4. additionally, we conducted the freedman & schatzkin test5 (freedman & schatzkin, 1992), t(165) = -5.975, p < .05, which indicates support for the mediation effect. �191 5. the freedman & schatzkin tests the difference between the adjusted and unadjusted regression coefficients (ho: τ − τ’ = 0). the correlation between τ and τ’ can be used in an equation for the standard error based on the variance and covariance of the adjusted and unadjusted regression coefficients as indicated below, where ρxi is equal to the correlation between the independent variable and the intervening variable, σt is the standard error of τ, and στ’ is the standard error of τ’. the estimate of τ − τ’ is divided by the standard error and this value is compared to the t distribution for a test of significance. m@n@gement, vol. 19(3): 177-202 andrew parker & alexandra gerbasi �192 the impact of energizing interactions on turnover m@n@gement, vol. 19(3): 177-202 �193 m@n@gement, vol. 19(3): 177-202 andrew parker & alexandra gerbasi post hoc tests in order to test whether there was reverse causation, such that prior year performance significantly predicts current year energy ties, we estimated two models, one predicting energetic activation ego and one predicting energetic activation alter (results available from the authors). the results do not support the notion of reverse causality in our data. the strongest predictor of the level of energetic activation is the corresponding information ties, rather than performance. discussion when someone leaves a job, it is rarely a total surprise. usually, bosses, colleagues, and subordinates all are aware on some level that this person is distant from them or is growing even more distant over time, in what may be a process of packing up to leave (lee & mitchell, 1994). this is true regardless of who makes the decision about how the person leaves; whether they are asked to leave or leave on their own, their departure is often signaled months and even years in advance by changes in the pattern of their social relationships on the job. years of research on embeddedness theories of turnover (felps et al., 2009; lee et al., 2004; mitchell et al., 2001) has shown that those who are more isolated on the job tend to leave at a higher rate, but the specific form this isolation takes in terms of energizing interactions has been less explored, particularly over an extended period in the same organization. our research adds to one aspect of the job embeddedness theory, that of the role of social interactions in the workplace, by showing that energizing interactions with work colleagues inside the organization have an effect on the likelihood of an individual voluntarily exiting an organization. our research indicates that individuals who have a higher level of energetic activation based upon interactions with the people with whom they work are at a lower risk of voluntary exit, i.e., they are more likely to stay with the organization. this effect, however, is mediated by performance. those individuals with higher levels of energetic activation have higher performance, but this leads to a higher risk of voluntary exit. our data are for it professionals who have transferable skills and it is likely that the positive association between performance and voluntary turnover is not generalizable to all types of skills. we return to this somewhat surprising finding below. when it comes to involuntary turnover we find that when others within the organization perceive interactions with the focal actor as increasing their level of energetic activation it reduces the focal actor’s risk of involuntary turnover, i.e., they are more likely to stay with the organization. overall, people with more work colleagues who perceive them as energizing are less likely to be fired. this relationship is also mediated by performance with those people viewed as increasing the energetic activation levels of others being more likely to be evaluated as higher performers. in turn, these individuals have a lower risk of involuntary turnover. that certain individuals do not increase the level of energetic activation of those around them corresponds with the view that they are not a good fit for the organization and ultimately this leads to their involuntary exit as a result of being poor performers. our research adds to the understanding of the role of energetic interactions in relation to turnover. previous studies (mossholder et al., 2005) examined the effect of instrumental ties on turnover. we are able to show that interactions that produce a sense of energetic activation in an �194 the impact of energizing interactions on turnover m@n@gement, vol. 19(3): 177-202 individual decrease the likelihood of voluntary turnover. overall, we believe that our results on interactions within organizations that lead to energetic activation suggest the need to develop theoretical perspectives regarding the role of social emotions, moods, and dispositions in the workplace. we add to the gathering evidence that the development of relationships at work plays a role in people’s judgments, both positive and negative, about their jobs. a person’s perceptions of others around them and the impact of these perceptions on their level of energetic activation appears to have a notable effect on their choice to remain within an organization. this direct relationship is not as straightforward as it might seem, however, as it is mediated by individual performance. our research indicates that performance mediates the relationship between energetic activation and both involuntary and voluntary exit. individuals who are seen as “energizers” by others also have higher performance, resulting in a reduced risk of involuntary exit. overall, this finding was not unexpected and fits with the push-pull model of turnover (becker & cropanzano, 2011; gerhart, 1990; jackofsky, 1984; salamin & hom, 2005). in contrast, our findings for voluntary turnover are less straightforward. the direct effect of energetic activation on voluntary turnover is negative, i.e., it reduces turnover; however the mediation effect is positive with energetic activation increasing performance and high performance resulting in increased voluntary turnover. the difference in the direction of the direct and indirect effects highlights competing processes that are occurring with regard to voluntary turnover. our mediation results for voluntary turnover are somewhat at odds with some previous research (e.g., griffeth et al., 2000) that finds a negative effect of performance on voluntary turnover. in addition, the mediation finding is contrary to embeddedness theory (felps et al, 2009; lee et al., 2004; mitchell et al., 2001). our results, however, are in accordance with research that suggests that high performing individuals, especially those with transferable skills (ertürk, & vurgun, 2015) such as it specialists, are the most likely to leave an organization as they have the most opportunities in the external labor market (becker & cropanzano, 2011; gerhart, 1990; jackofsky, 1984; salamin & hom, 2005). overall, the performance findings align with prior research indicating an inverted u-shaped relation between performance and turnover with both high and low performers being more likely to leave an organization (becker & cropanzano, 2011; gerhart, 1990; jackofsky, 1984; salamin & hom, 2005). in our case the high performers left through voluntary turnover and the low performers through involuntary turnover. limitations and future research there are specific limitations of this work that must be taken into account. first, we have looked only at the it department in one organization. the ability to make more general statements based on the findings would obviously be enhanced by looking at more than one organization and more than one functional department. it is possible that the labor market for it skills is different to that of other skills and this may change the likelihood of voluntary turnover. in addition, we have focused on a knowledge-intensive organization, employees' energizing interactions and their influence on energetic activation may be different in an organization that is not knowledge-intensive. for example, work in less knowledge intensive organizations may be less interdependent and hence individuals may have fewer ties. nevertheless, having annual demographic and network survey data over a four-year period allows us to analyze and draw conclusions that add to our understanding of the relationship between �195 m@n@gement, vol. 19(3): 177-202 andrew parker & alexandra gerbasi energetic activation, performance, and turnover over time, thereby reducing concern over attenuated relationships between predictors and turnover outcomes (griffeth et al., 2000). it also allowed us to put a considerable amount of distance between the reorganization and the end of our data collection. second, given the nature of the survey data collection, there are other turnover factors we were unable to consider within the constraints of this study, such as the influence on energetic activation of the relational ties that an individual has outside of the organization. lack of data on ties outside the organization means that we are unable to control for all of an individual's professional network. relational ties attained through activities such as consulting, conferences, workshops, etc., likely lead to greater knowledge about alternative work opportunities and an increased likelihood of an employee voluntarily exiting an organization (coff, 1999; von nordenflycht, 2010). our findings suggest that one possibility for future research is replicating this study with questions on the relationships of respondents to those inside and outside the organization. if this were done over time, it would be possible to see whether lower levels of connectedness within the organization were balanced out by greater connectedness outside the organization. third, a broader research design would allow for all aspects of job embeddedness theory to be tested (mitchell et al., 2001), i.e., in addition to our focus on the number of coworkers that an individual interacts with (links), the other two pillars of the theory could be tested with data collected on the extent to which a job fits an individual’s life (fit), and what they would be giving up by leaving a job (sacrifice). the constraints of the data collection also restricted our ability to collect data on other correlates of voluntary and involuntary turnover, including employee attitudes such as job satisfaction and organizational commitment. there are other variables that could be mediators of the energetic activation and turnover relationship such as thriving (porath, spreitzer, gibson, & garnett, 2012), self-efficacy (bandura, 1977), and resilience (luthans, 2002), these could be avenues for future research. implications for management of course, our findings also have important implications for managers. all organizations struggle with the loss of valuable talent and the concurrent costs when a valued employee leaves (ballinger, craig, cross, & gray, 2011). there is a direct cost to these departures as well as a network cost when one begins to fully appreciate the damage turnover can do by disrupting productive informal networks and critical collaborations when well-connected employees depart. our research aims to contribute to practice by showing managers that energetic interactions are associated with turnover. as such, managers who are concerned with increasing the “stickiness” of employment should work to maintain positive trends within employees’ networks such that they result in increased energetic activation of those around them. to accomplish this, managers should design and implement interventions that identify employees with stagnant or shrinking networks and develop outreach and other efforts that connect these employees to others who have a reputation for increasing the energetic activation of those people around them. our findings, however, show that it is not just a matter of creating more energetic interactions, but that human resource professionals also need to be aware that people who have increased energetic activation are also those that perform better and ultimately are at risk of voluntary �196 the impact of energizing interactions on turnover m@n@gement, vol. 19(3): 177-202 turnover. these individuals likely see the benefits and intrinsic rewards of an energizing workplace but are also tempted by alternatives outside the organization. one possible solution would be to link performance with an increase in other intrinsic rewards such as learning opportunities, as well as more tangible extrinsic rewards such as promotion opportunities, pay, and bonuses. network research methods are not just used by academics, there has also been an uptake in their use by organizations thanks to the growing applied literature on the methodology and workshops aimed at practitioners (anklam, 2007; cross & thomas, 2009). our findings indicate that practitioners who apply network research methods should pay careful attention to the extent to which employees' have energetic interactions in order to potentially spot employee departures ahead of time. the benefits of observing the patterns of interaction within and between teams and within the organization go beyond gaining a better understanding of turnover risks that are outlined here. these data would enable executives to be proactive in avoiding the loss of key talent in ways that, to date, most companies have not been able to achieve. as noted above, spotting trends in key employee networks can spark retention programming with a case management approach aimed at increasing the level of employee engagement. to that end, we hope our findings have a significant impact on organizational performance as well as individual well-being at work as employees consider how to shape their own networks (cross & thomas, 2011). conclusion while we have suspected that those people who don’t increase the energetic activation of those around them are at risk of turnover, we have seen little rigorous investigation of this issue. this research provides evidence that the level of a person’s energetic activation is predictive of their willingness to stay, and also that a person’s ability to serve as a source of energetic activation for others is predictive of an organization’s willingness to keep them employed. these findings, however, are both mediated by individual performance, but in different ways. perceiving interactions as increasing energetic activation results in higher performance, which in turn actually increases voluntary turnover. in contrast, when others perceive interactions with the focal actor as increasing their level of energetic activation it results in the focal actor having higher performance, which in turn reduces the focal actor’s involuntary turnover. our research fits into the broader research stream of turnover research by incorporating the nature of an employee’s energetic interactions into the decisions regarding turnover at the individual and firm level. references
 abelson, m., & baysinger, b. (1984). optimal and dysfunctional turnover: toward an o r g a n i z a t i o n a l l e v e l m o d e l . a c a d e m y o f management review, 9(2), 331-341. anklam, p. (2007). net work: a practical guide to creating and sustaining networks at work and in the world. burlington, ma: butterworth-heinemann. arvey, r., & murphy k. (1998). performance evaluation in work settings. annual review of psychology, 49, 141-168. baker, w., cross, r., & wooten, m. (2003). positive organizational network analysis and e n e r g i z i n g relationships. in j. cameron, j.e. dutton, & r. quinn, (eds.), positive organizational scholarship: foundations of a new discipline (pp. 328-342). san francisco, ca: berrett-koehler publishers inc. �197 m@n@gement, vol. 19(3): 177-202 andrew parker & alexandra gerbasi baldwin, t.t., bedell, m.d., & johnson, j.l. (1997). the social fabric of a team-based m.b.a. program: network effects on student satisfaction and performance. academy of management journal, 40(6), 1369-1397. ballinger, g.a., craig, e., cross, r., & gray, p. (2011). a stitch in time saves nine: leveraging networks to r e d u c e t h e c o s t s o f t u r n o v e r. c a l i f o r n i a management review, 53(4), 111-133. bandura, a. (1977). self-efficacy: toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. p s y c h o l o g i c a l review, 84(2), 191-215. batt, r., & colvin, a.j. (2011). an employment systems approach to turnover: human resources practices, quits, dismissals, and performance. academy of management journal, 54(4), 695-717. baumeister, r.f., schmeichel, b.j., & vohs, k.d. (2007). self-regulation and the executive function: the self as controlling agent. in a.w. kruglanski & e.t. higgins (eds.), social psychology: handbook of basic principles (pp. 516-539). new york, ny: the guilford press. becker, w., & cropanzano, r. (2011). dynamic aspects of voluntary turnover: an integrated approach to c u r v i l i n e a r i t y i n t h e p e r f o r m a n c e t u r n o v e r relationship. journal of applied psychology, 96(2), 233-246. borgatti, s.p., everett, m.g., & freeman, l.c. (2002). ucinet for windows: software for social network analysis. harvard, ma : analytic technologies. borgatti s.p., & foster p. (2003). the network paradigm in organizational research: a review and typology. journal of management, 29(6), 991-1013 brass, d.j., galaskiewicz, j., greve, h.r., & tsai, w. (2004). taking stock of networks and organizations: a multilevel perspective. academy of management journal, 47(6), 795-817. burt, r.s. (1995). structural holes: the social structure of competition. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. burt, r.s. (2001). structural holes versus network closure as social capital. in n. lin, k. cook & r.s. burt (eds.), social capital: theory and research (pp. 31-56). new york, ny: aldine de gruyter. bycio, p., hackett, r.d., & alvares k.m. (1990). job performance and turnover: a review and metaanalysis. applied psychology, 39(1), 47-76. casciaro, t., & lobo, m.s. (2008). when competence is irrelevant: the role of interpersonal affect in taskrelated ties. administrative science quarterly, 53(4), 655-684. coff, r.w. (1999). when competitive advantage doesn't lead to performance: the resource-based view and stakeholder bargaining power. organization science, 10(2), 119-133. coleman, j.s. (1988). social capital in the creation of human capital. american journal of sociology, 94, s95-s120. coleman, j.s. (1990). foundations of social theory. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. collins, r. (1993). emotional energy as the common denominator of rational action. rationality and society, 5, 203-230. cross, r., baker, w., & parker, a. (2003). what creates energy in organizations? mit sloan management review, 44(4), 51-56. cross, r., & cummings, j. (2004). tie and network correlates of performance in knowledge intensive work. academy of management journal, 47, 928– 937. cross, r., & parker, a. (2004). the hidden power of social networks: understanding how work really gets done in organizations. boston, ma: harvard business school press. cross, r., & thomas, r. (2009). driving results through social networks: how top organizations leverage networks for performance and growth. san francisco, ca: jossey-bass. cross, r., & thomas, r. (2011). managing yourself: a smarter way to network. harvard business review, 89(7/8), 149-153. ertürk, a., & vurgun, l. (2015). retention of it p r o f e s s i o n a l s : e x a m i n i n g t h e i n fl u e n c e o f empowerment, social exchange, and trust. journal of business research, 68(1), 34-46. felps, w., mitchell, t.r., hekman, d.w., lee, t.w., holtom, b.c., & harman, w.s. (2009). turnover contagion: how coworkers’ job embeddedness and job search behaviors influence quitting. academy of management journal, 52(3), 545-561. fredrickson, b.l., & branigan, c. (2005). positive emotions broaden the scope of attention and thought-action repertoires. cognition and emotion, 19, 313–332. freedman, l.s., & schatzkin, a. (1992). sample size for studying intermediate endpoints within intervention trials of observational studies. american journal of epidemiology, 135, 1148-1159. freeman, l.c. (1979). centrality in social networks: conceptual clarification.social networks, 1, 215– 239. gerbasi, a., porath, c.l., parker, a., spreitzer, g., & cross, r. (2015). destructive de-energizing relationships: how thriving buffers their effect on performance. journal of applied psychology, 100(5), 1423-1433. gerhart, b. (1990). voluntary turnover and alternative job opportunities. journal of applied psychology, 75(5), 467-76. gouldner, a.w. (1960). the norm of reciprocity: a preliminary statement. american sociological review, 25(2), 161-178. griffeth, r.w., hom, p.w., & gaertner, s. (2000). a meta-analysis of antecedents and correlates of employee turnover: update, moderator tests, and research implications for the next millennium. journal of management, 26(3), 463-488. hancock, j.i., allen, d.g., bosco, f.a., mcdaniel, k.r., & pierce, c.a. (2013). meta-analytic review of e m p l o y e e t u r n o v e r a s a p r e d i c t o r o f fi r m performance. journal of management, 39(3), 573-603. hausknecht, j.p., & holwerda, j.a. (2013). when does employee turnover matter? dynamic member configurations, productive capacity, and collective performance. organizational science, 24(1), 210-225. �198 the impact of energizing interactions on turnover m@n@gement, vol. 19(3): 177-202 hausknecht, j., & trevor c.o. (2011). collective turnover at the group, unit and organizational levels: evidence, issues and implications. journal of management, 37(1), 352-388. heavey, a.l., holwerda, j.a., & hausknecht, j.p. (2013). causes and consequences of collective turnover: a meta-analytic review. journal of applied psychology, 98(3), 412-453. holtom, b.c., mitchell, t.r., lee, t.w., & eberly, m.b. (2008). turnover and retention research: a glance at the past, a closer review of the present, and a venture into the future. academy of management annals, 2(1), 231-274. huselid, m.a. (1995). the impact of human resource management practices on turnover, productivity, and corporate financial performance. academy of management journal, 38(3), 635-672. international labour organization. (2016). http:// w w w. i l o . o r g / g l o b a l / s t a t i s t i c s a n d d a t a b a s e s / wcms_424979/lang--en/index.htm. data retrieved february 8, 2016. jackofsky, e. (1984). turnover and job performance: an i n t e g r a t e d p r o c e s s m o d e l . a c a d e m y o f management review, 9(1), 74-83. jiang, k., liu, d., mckay, p.f., lee, t.w., & mitchell, t.r. (2012). when and how is job embeddedness predictive of turnover? a meta-analytic investigation. journal of applied psychology, 97(5), 1077-1096. joseph, d., ng, k.y., koh, c., & ang, s. (2007). turnover of information technology professionals: a narrative review, meta-analytic structural equation modeling, and model development. mis quarterly, 31(3), 547-577. kilduff, g., & brass, d. (2010). organizational social network research: core ideas and key debates. academy of management annals, 4(1), 317-357. knight, k.g., & latreille, p.l. (2000). discipline, dismissals and complaints to employment tribunals. british journal of industrial relations, 38, 533–555. krackhardt, d., & porter, l.w. (1985). when friends leave: a structural analysis of the relationship b e t w e e n t u r n o v e r a n d s t a y e r ’ s a t t i t u d e s . administrative science quarterly, 30(2), 242-261. krackhardt, d., & porter, l.w. (1986). the snowball effect: turnover embedded in communication networks. journal of applied psychology, 71(1), 50-55. labianca, g., & brass, d.j. (2006). exploring the social ledger: negative relationships and negative asymmetry in social networks in organizations. academy of management review, 31(3), 596-614. landy, f.j., & becker, w.s. (1987). motivation theory reconsidered. research in organizational behavior, 9, 1-38. lawler, e. j., thye, s. r., & yoon, j. (2008). social exchange and micro social order. american sociological review, 73(4), 519-542. lee, t.h., gerhart, b., weller, i., & trevor, c.o. (2008). understanding voluntary turnover: path-specific job satisfaction effects and the importance of unsolicited job offers. academy of management journal, 51(4), 651-671. lee, t.w., & mitchell, t.r. (1994). an alternative approach: the unfolding model of voluntary employee turnover. academy of management review, 19(1), 51-89. lee, t.w., mitchell, t.r., sablynski, c.j., burton, j.p., & h o l t o m , b . c . ( 2 0 0 4 ) . t h e e f f e c t s o f j o b embeddedness on organizational citizenship, job performance, volitional absences, and voluntary turnover. academy of management journal, 47(5), 711-722. liu, d., mitchell, t., lee, t., holtom, b., & hinkin, t. (2012). when employees are out of step with coworkers: how job satisfaction trajectory and dispersion influence individual-and unit-level voluntary turnover. academy of management journal, 55(6), 1360-1380. lum, l., kervin, j., clark, k., reid, f., & sirola, w. (1998). explaining nursing turnover intent: job satisfaction, pay satisfaction, or organizational commitment? journal of organizational behavior, 19, 305-320. luthans, f. 2002. the need for and meaning of positive organizational behavior. journal of organizational behavior, 23, 695-706. lyubomirsky, s., king, l.a., & diener, e. (2005). the benefits of frequent positive affect: does happiness lead to success? psychological bulletin, 131(6), 803-855. maccallum, r.c, zhang, s., preacher, k., & rucker, d.d. (2002). on the practice of dichotomization of quantitative variables. psychological methods, 7(1), 19-40. mackinnon, d. p., lockwood, c. m., hoffman, j. m., west, s. g., & sheets, v. (2002). a comparison of methods to test mediation and other intervening variable effects. psychological methods, 7(1), 83-104. march, j.g., & simon, h.a. (1958). organizations. new york, ny: wiley. marks, s.r. (1977). multiple roles and role strain: some notes on human energy, time, and commitment. american sociological review, 42(6), 921-936. marsden, p.v. (1990). network data and measurement. annual review of sociology, 16, 435-463. mccaul, h.s., hinsz, v.b., & mccaul, k.d. (1995). a s s e s s i n g o r g a n i z a t i o n a l c o m m i t m e n t : a n employee's global attitude toward the organization. journal of applied behavioral science, 31(1), 80-90. mcelroy, j.c., morrow, p.c., & rude, s.n. (2001). turnover and organizational performance: a comparative analysis of the effects of voluntary, involuntary, and reduction-in-force turnover. journal of applied psychology, 86(6), 1294-1299. mcevoy, g.m., & cascio, w.f. (1987). do good or poor performers leave? a meta-analysis of the relationship between employee performance and turnover. academy of management journal, 30(4), 744-762. meyer, j., & allen, n. (1991). a three-component conceptualization of organizational commitment. human resource management review, 1(1), 61-89. miller, j.b., & stiver, i. (1997). the healing connection. boston, ma: beacon press. �199 m@n@gement, vol. 19(3): 177-202 andrew parker & alexandra gerbasi mitchell, t.r., holtom, b.c., lee, t.w., sablynski, c.j., & erez, m. (2001). why people stay: using job embeddedness to predict voluntary turnover. a c a d e m y o f m a n a g e m e n t j o u r n a l , 4 4 ( 6 ) , 1102-1121. mitchell, t.r., & lee, t.w. (2001). the unfolding model o f v o l u n t a r y e m p l o y e e t u r n o v e r a n d j o b embeddedness: foundations for a comprehensive theory of attachment. in b.m. staw & r.i. sutton (eds.), research in organizational behavior, vol. 23 (pp. 189-246). greenwich, ct: jai press. mossholder, k., settoon, r., & henagan, s. (2005). a relational perspective on turnover: examining structural, attitudinal and behavioral predictors. academy of management journal, 48(4), 607-618. park, t.y., & shaw, j.d. (2013). turnover rates and organizational performance: a meta-analysis. journal of applied psychology, 98(2), 268-309. parker, a., gerbasi, a., & porath, c.l. (2013). the effects of de-energizing ties in organizations and how to manage them. organizational dynamics, 42, 110-118. payne, s.c., & huffman, a.h. (2005). a longitudinal examination of the influence of mentoring on organizational commitment and turnover. academy of management journal, 48(1), 158-168. porath, c., spreitzer, g., gibson, c., & garnett, f.g. (2012). thriving at work: toward its measurement, construct validation, and theoretical refinement. journal of organizational behavior, 33(2), 250-275. preacher, k.j., & hayes, a.f. (2004). spss and sas procedures for estimating indirect effects in simple mediation models. behavior research methods, instruments, & computers, 36(4), 717-731. quinn, r.w. (2007). energizing others in work relationships. in j.e. dutton & b.r. ragins (eds.), positive relationships at work (pp. 73-90). mahwah: nj: lawrence erlbaum. quinn, r.w., & dutton, j.e. (2005). coordination as energy-in-conversation. academy of management review, 30(1), 36-57. quinn, r.w., spreitzer, g.m., & lam, c.f. (2012). building a sustainable model of human energy in organizations: the counterbalancing forces of resource-seeking and demand-seeking. academy of management annals, 6(1), 337-396. r core team (2013). r: a language and environment for statistical computing. r foundation for statistical computing, vienna, austria. url http:// www.r-project.org/. russ, f.a., & mcneilly, k.m. (1995). links among satisfaction, commitment, and turnover intentions: the moderating effect of experience, gender, and performance. journal of business research, 34(1), 57-65. ryan, r.m., & deci, e.l. (2008). from ego depletion to vitality: theory and findings concerning the facilitation of energy available to the self. social and personality psychology compass, 2(2), 702-717. ryan, r.m., & frederick, c. (1997). on energy, personality, and health: subjective vitality as a dynamic reflection of well-being. journal of personality, 65, 529-566. salamin, a., & hom, p.w. (2005). in search of the e l u s i v e u s h a p e d p e r f o r m a n c e – t u r n o v e r relationship: are high-performing swiss bankers more liable to quit? journal of applied psychology, 90(6), 1204-1216. saravi, f.d. (1999). energy and the brain: facts and fantasies. in s.d. sala (ed.), mind myths: exploring popular assumptions about the mind and brain (pp. 43-58). west sussex, united kingdom: wiley. sasovova, z., mehra, a., borgatti, s.p., & schippers, m.c. (2010). network churn: the effects of selfmonitoring personality on brokerage dynamics. administrative science quarterly, 55(4), 639-670. shah, p.p., & jehn, k.a. (1993). do friends perform better than acquaintances? the interaction of friendship, conflict, and task. group decision and negotiation, 2(2), 149-165. shaw, j.d., delery, j.e., jenkins, g.d., & gupta, n. (1998). an organization-level analysis of voluntary and involuntary turnover. academy of management journal, 41(5), 511-525. shaw, j.d., gupta, n., & delery, j.e. (2005). alternative conceptualizations of the relationship between voluntary turnover and organizational performance. academy of management journal, 48(1), 50-68. shrout, p. e., & bolger, n. (2002). mediation in experimental and nonexperimental studies: new procedures and recommendations. psychological methods, 7, 422-445. sparrowe, r.t., liden, r.c., wayne, s.j., & kraimer, m.l. (2001). social networks and the performance of individuals and groups. academy of management journal, 44(2), 316-325. spreitzer, g., sutcliffe, k., dutton, j., sonenshein, s., & grant, a.m. (2005). a socially embedded model of thriving at work. organization science, 16(5), 537-549. thayer, r.e. (1989). the biopsychology of mood and arousal. new york, ny: oxford university press. trevor, c.o., gerhart, b., & boudreau, j.w. (1997). vo l u n t a r y t u r n o v e r a n d j o b p e r f o r m a n c e : curvilinearity and the moderating influences of salary growth and promotions. journal of applied psychology, 82(1), 44-61. trevor, c.o., & nyberg, a.j. (2008). keeping your headcount when all about you are losing theirs: downsizing, voluntary turnover rates, and the moderating role of hr practices. academy of management journal, 51(2), 259-276. von nordenflycht, a. (2010). what is a professional service firm? toward a theory and taxonomy of k n o w l e d g e i n t e n s i v e fi r m s . a c a d e m y o f management review, 35(1), 155-174. weisberg, j., & kirschenbaum, a. (1993). gender and turnover: a re-examination of the impact of sex on intent and actual job changes. human relations, 46(8), 987-1006. wells, d.l., & muchinsky, p.m. (1985). performance a n t e c e d e n t s o f v o l u n t a r y a n d i n v o l u n t a r y managerial turnover. journal of applied psychology, 70(2), 329-336. wiersema, m. f., & bowen, h. p. (2009). the use of limited dependent variable techniques in strategy r e s e a r c h : i s s u e s a n d m e t h o d s . s t r a t e g i c management journal, 30(6), 679-692. �200 the impact of energizing interactions on turnover m@n@gement, vol. 19(3): 177-202 williams, c.r., & livingstone, l.p. (1994). another look at the relationship between performance and voluntary turnover. academy of management journal, 37(2), 269-298. zatzick, c.d., deery, s.j., & iverson, r.d. (2015). understanding the determinants of who gets laid off: does affective organizational commitment matter? human resource management, 54(6), 877-891. zenger, t.r. (1992). why do employers only reward extreme performance? examining the relationships a m o n g p e r f o r m a n c e , p a y, a n d t u r n o v e r. administrative science quarterly, 37(2), 198-219. �201 m@n@gement, vol. 19(3): 177-202 andrew parker & alexandra gerbasi andrew parker is is an assistant professor at grenoble ecole de management. his research examines social networks, knowledge sharing, innovation, and problem solving in organizations. his research has appeared in science, organization studies, journal of applied psychology, social networks, management communication quarterly, sloan management review, organizational dynamics and california management review. he is the co-author of the hidden power of social networks and co-editor of networks in the knowledge economy. he received his ph.d. from stanford university. alexandra gerbasi is a professor of organizational behavior and the director of the centre for leadership and decision-making at surrey business school at the university of surrey. she received her ph.d. is sociology from stanford university and her undergraduate degree from duke university. her research focuses on the effects of positive and negative network ties within the workplace, and their effects on performance, leadership, well-being, thriving, affect and turnover. in addition, her research addresses how individuals recognize opportunities for collaboration and advancement in their networks. her research has appeared in journal of applied psychology, journal of management, journal of organizational behavior, the leadership quarterly, social psychology quarterly, and, organizational dynamics. her research has been supported by the national science foundation and agence nationale de la recherche. acknowledgements. we are very grateful for the insightful comments of nathalie delobbe and the three reviewers. we also thank gary ballinger, rob cross and greg molecke and the participants of the 31st sunbelt international network for social network analysis conference. �202 184deschamps luis cisneros hec montréal luis.cisneros@hec.ca bérangère deschamps led, université paris 8 berangere.deschamps02@univ-paris8.fr the role of advisors and the sequence of their actions in sibling team succession luis cisneros � bérangère deschamps abstract. succession is one of the most-studied topics in family firm research. however, research into succession to more than one child remains scarce despite the practice being common. based on six case studies of successions in small and medium-sized enterprises (smes) showing strong growth, our exploratory research identifies the advisors involved in sibling team successions; it then investigates the impact of family and non-family advisors on succession to siblings. our findings show that the advisors work at three levels: business, family and individual. we propose a new categorization of advisors and pinpoint the timing of their actions. our results bring to light the importance of the hidden advisors who are, for the most part, the most trusted. ! as early as 1871 in his book l’organisation de la famille, frederick le play asked whether firms should be transferred to all the founder’s children or to just the first-born son. today, in the context of transferring a family business from one generation to another, multiple family members leading a firm is common practice (cater & justis, 2010) and considered by 42% of owners of family firms that have to transfer (mass mutual, 2007). if it is well managed, it can result in the smoothest succession process (aronoff, 1998; brockhaus, 2004). yet, in the extensive academic literature on family business succession (dalpiaz, tracey, & phillips, 2014; gilding, gregory, & cosson, 2013), the topic of family firm succession to several children is not well covered (cater & justis, 2010; farrington, venter, & boshoff, 2011; gersick, davis, mccollom hampton, & lansberg, 1997; rutherford, muse, & oswald, 2006). even in long and chrisman’s literature review of management succession in family firms (2014) there was not a single text looking at collective family successions, let alone specifically at siblings. ! towards the end of the 1990s, aronoff and astrachan (1997) and nelton (1996, 1997) pointed to the difficulty of a succession to siblings (transmitting leadership from one predecessor to several successors) and the obstacles for successors governing a family firm together; they recommended surrounding the actors in the succession process with advisors. more recently, reay, pearson, and dyer (2013) explained there was a lack of clarity regarding both what family firm advisors really do and how they bring value to the firm. this can be linked to the fact that advising focused on succession appears to represent just 2% of family firm advising (ward & handy, 1988). advisors are nonetheless often first to broach the subject of succession (montgomery & sinclair, 2000). we know they assist in planning, implementing and determining the best timing of the succession process; they can also provide support after the succession (salvato & corbetta, 2013). advisors influence important decisions and try to anticipate the future and prevent succession problems (strike, 2013). it is worth noting that, even in strike’s literature review of advisors in family firms (2012), there is no mention of any text looking at collective family successions or sibling succession. m@n@gement 2015, vol. 18(4): 282-308 282 mailto:berangere.deschamps02@univ-paris8.fr mailto:berangere.deschamps02@univ-paris8.fr mailto:berangere.deschamps02@univ-paris8.fr mailto:berangere.deschamps02@univ-paris8.fr mailto:luis.cisneros@hec.ca?subject= mailto:luis.cisneros@hec.ca?subject= mailto:berangere.deschamps02@univ-paris8.fr mailto:berangere.deschamps02@univ-paris8.fr ! we have thus identified a gap in the literature. we know that advisors are involved in family businesses and the succession process, but we know little about their role in sibling team succession. in our study, we focus on advisors involved in sibling team succession of the second or third generation of the business family (transfer of leadership by a predecessor to more than one of their children). in this way we aim to increase the body of knowledge on advising within family successions, determining who the different advisors in sibling succession are and how they are involved. our study makes four important contributions: it identifies the sequence of actions by advisors in the succession process we redefine; categorises advisors according to the level at which they act, be it family, individual or firm; identifies non-family most-trusted advisors (mtas); and finally it presents the hidden role of the predecessors’ spouses. ! we begin with a short review of literature focused on advisors who are specific to family firms and family successions. the chosen methodology then provides a comprehensive framework for understanding our exploratory, qualitative research. we base our methodology on gioia, corley, and hamilton’s approach (2013), gradually building a grounded model of the sequence of actions of each and every advisor during the sibling team succession process. after this we present the results of the six case studies; they are articulated around newly identified variables of the succession process: catalyse, structure, engage and consolidate. theoretical framework ! almost all literature on family business succession looks at the relationship between the predecessor and successor solely from a one-to-one perspective. that said, several authors (aronoff, 1998; cadieux, 2007; cadieux, lorrain, & hugron, 2002; cater & justis, 2010; gersick, et al., 1997; sonfield, et al., 2005) point out there may be cases where more than one successor is involved, although they do not research them. the literature presented below describes advisors who are present in family firms without specifying which participate in the succession process. the need for advisors to support both predecessor and successors ! succession within a family firm is difficult, partly due to the numerous actors affected by the process — both within the family and the organizational system (brockhaus, 2004; cadieux, 2007; le breton-miller, mille & steier, 2004) — and partly because of the transfer of leadership and ownership. moreover, there are psychological aspects that make the succession process challenging (gersick, et al., 1997; kets de vries, carlock, & florent-treacy, 2007); these are linked as much to the predecessor as the successor(s). succession to siblings could be a solution for treating children equitably, without privileging some to the detriment of others, thus ending the law of succession to the first born (nelton, 1996). but this issue of equality (versus fairness) is a significant factor of tension and conflict within the scope of family successions (aronoff & ward, 1992; ayres & lansberg, 1989; chrisman, kellermanns, chan, & liano, 2010; gersick, 1996). the inherent complexity of the process increases in collective successions because it is not simply the leadership of the firm that changes: there is also a fundamental change to the decision-making process and the way in which authority is exercised. the literature shows that during the succession process, both predecessors and successors change and adjust their roles (handler, 1990). the predecessor moves from leader at the beginning to mentor or advisor for the successors at the end (cater & justis, 2010). they have to work through the mourning process m@n@gement, vol. 18(4): 282-308! luis cisneros & bérangère deschamps 283 associated with rites of passage as they move from one role (head of the firm) to another (former head). ashforth (2001) speaks of psychological and physical disengagement. in parallel, the successor goes from student to leader, passing through the roles of helper and manager (cater & justis, 2010). within a sibling team succession, the additional question of collective management is raised. managing together slows decision making (aronoff, astrachan, mendosa, & ward, 1997) and creates confusion over authority (reid & karambayya, 2009). aronoff, et al. (1997) suggest abandoning “i” in favor of “we, members of the management team” while maintaining a level of responsibility that legitimises success within an identified and respected function (aronoff & ward, 1997; handler, 1991; hitt, miller & colella, 2006; lansberg, 1988, 1999). since all these adjustments are difficult, salvato and corbetta (2013) criticise the dyadic vision of succession that is limited to predecessor and successors, with the role of the former fading as that of the latter grows. for these authors, this vision does not take into account the actors who surround the succession and make an essential contribution to establishing the leadership of the successors. indeed, given the emotional aspects of the role transition, it seems that both the predecessor and the successor(s) need someone beside them: to support them in the succession process, help them take decisions and also help them organize the collective succession. ! schjoedt, monsen, pearson, barnett, and chrisman (2013) believe that relationships are more important than diverse competences when building a management team. while succession within the family limits conflicts, hostility and rivalry (morris, williams & nel, 1996), these negative elements should not be ignored. advice from a third party — providing some distance from a problem or helping maintain good relations — seems to schjoedt, et al. (2013) to be a key success factor and salvato and corbetta (2013) see external advisors as essential in changing the leadership role. the advisors become the sounding board of the new leader(s); they facilitate both the questioning and construction of the role and also, to an extent, its full assumption by the successor(s). indeed, the advisors specifically influence how the successors view themselves as leaders and affect how others see them (salvato & corbetta, 2013: 250). the role of the advisors is to make the transition to this new role easier. ! the literature discussed above shows how much predecessors and successors need advisors to support and help them in adjusting their roles but does not mention anything about advisors supporting sibling teams. advisors within family firms ! lansberg (1988) underscored the influence of advisors on family members, managers, owners and founders: they advise each from the individual’s point of view, with respect to the individual’s objectives. the literature separates advisors in family firms into different categories. sharma (2003) focused specifically on external advisors (experts, consultants, friends, clients, suppliers, the state, etc.), who are neither family members, nor involved with the ownership of the firm or with the employees. strike (2012) classifies family business advisors using the traditional model of three circles used to characterize family firms. certain advisors fall within the sphere of ownership (lawyers, tax advisors, bankers, wealth managers), others into the sphere of the family (psychologist, coach, therapist) and the remainder into the sphere of business (consultants, accountants, advisory board members, management team members). strike (2013) further distinguishes between formal advisors (content experts and process consultants) and informal advisors (trust catalysts, spouses and mentors). the author then delves further into the role of advisors in family firms, studying mtas (advisory board members, vice-presidents of finance, presidents of the firm, family office managers, external advisors). strike (2013) brings to light the role of advisors in sibling team succession! m@n@gement, vol. 18(4): 282-308 284 the subtle nature of their influence: guiding and directing attention where it is needed. deschamps, cisneros and barès (2014) take a closer look at external advisors in co-successions (equal ownership and equal leadership, co-leadership and co-ownership). these authors differentiate between permanent advisors (accountants and independent members of the advisory board) and temporary advisors (experts invited to contribute their know-how on a particular subject, for example management experts, coaches or leadership advisors). they measure the varying impact of advisors in the creation and functioning of co-successions. they show that some support the predecessor and others the successors. table 1 summarises the literature on family firm advisors. table 1. categories of advisors lansberg (1988) different advisors according to the objectives of the clients (owner, founder, manager, family) sharma (2003) external stakeholders strike (2012) formal versus informal role related to sphere of ownership, the family or the business strike (2013) most trusted advisors (mtas) deschamps, et al. (2014) permanent or temporary advisor to the predecessor or advisor to the successor ! the literature for family businesses does not really explore the roles of advisors specifically within the process of succession. however, several authors insist on the need for external actors to facilitate the transformation of the organization with the arrival of new leaders, as at the end of the succession process (aronoff & astrachan, 1997; lansberg, 1999; nelton, 1996). in addition, internal actors, namely the spouses of the predecessors, are also seen to play an important role (lansberg, 1988). the literature review can thus be said to show that, in family firms, there are advisors, of which some are mtas, but there is no study that covers advisors within the context of succession. information about sibling team succession is even scarcer. the gap in the literature is thus clearly identified. methodology ! we therefore explore the following overlooked questions: who are the different advisors in sibling succession? how are they involved in the process? for our exploratory study, we used an inductive case-study research project (eisenhardt, 1989; yin, 2008) to investigate the role of advisors in sibling successions. both the nature of our research questions and the lack of literature on this topic supported our use of the grounded theory approach to examine and understand this little-studied phenomenon (corbin & strauss, 1990). in addition, our questions led us towards a qualitative approach, to obtain deeper information that could be used to generate the conceptual framework (miles & huberman, 1994). m@n@gement, vol. 18(4): 282-308! luis cisneros & bérangère deschamps 285 exploratory qualitative research ! since the current literature overlooks the role of advisors in transferring leadership to multiple children, our exploratory research aims to provide a better understanding of the issues involved (sekaran, 2003). mccollom (1990), morris, et al. (1996) and bird, welsch, astrachan, and pistrui (2002) suggest that to analyze family business issues, qualitative research is appropriate; it allows the researcher both to gain insight into a phenomenon and be able to offer an explanation for it (lambrecht, 2005). since these points corresponded to our needs, they legitimised our choice. many authors recognise family business succession as a complex phenomenon (birley, 1986; brockhaus, 2004; cadieux, et al., 2002; chittoor & das, 2007; lambrecht, 2005; mcgivern, 1978; mickelson & worley, 2003; morris, et al., 1996; sharma, 2004); case-study research is therefore a recommended approach to explore the issues at hand. the case-study method ! the case-study approach is particularly useful in generating knowledge in exploratory situations where there is no clear single set of outcomes (patton & applebaum, 2003). several authors have analyzed family business succession issues using case studies (cadieux, 2007; cadieux, et al., 2002; chittoor & das, 2007; ibrahim, soufani, & lam, 2001; lambrecht, 2005; mazzola, marchisio, & astrachan, 2008; mickelson & worley, 2003). specifically, for yin (2008) case studies are ideal when the borders between phenomena and context are not entirely clear. it becomes possible to obtain richer data and results to analyze more complex phenomena than when using nomothetic research methodologies (larsson, 1993). case studies also provide a tool for using data from a number of sources since accurate and convincing explanations can still be derived (eisenhardt, 1989). finally, with this methodology we can “explore the evolution over the time of specific events, essential for the study of transfer of family business” (lambrecht, 2005: 269). in our research, the cases allowed us to capture the personal and professional experience of predecessors, successors and advisors as well as to uncover and highlight the core issues inherent in the collective succession process. selecting cases ! eisenhardt (1989) stated that randomisation is not a necessity when selecting cases for study. on the contrary, cases need to be strategically selected in relation to the relevant theoretical background (patton & applebaum, 2003). multiple cases allow the researcher to replicate elements: each case is considered as an independent research study that confirms — or not — the theoretical background and can also generate new insights (yin, 2008). researchers have to select cases in an iterative way to compare the findings until the incremental improvement is minimal (eisenhardt, 1989). moreover, since there is no sampling logic, there is no ideal number of cases (yin, 2008) although eisenhardt (1989) suggests a range from four to ten cases. we therefore chose six cases. ! to construct our cases in the province of quebec (qc) where there is no family firm databank, we followed the example of cadieux (2007) and cadieux, et al. (2002). we proceeded using personal contacts as well as those found via internet searches. we built our study sample based on specific criteria relevant to succession research: family businesses (limited companies) that were located in the same region (montreal and suburbs, qc, canada), private enterprises with capital entirely held by the family running the business, which were also small and medium-sized enterprises (smes) (see table 2). in all six firms retained, the leadership and the majority shareholding had been transferred between four and the role of advisors in sibling team succession! m@n@gement, vol. 18(4): 282-308 286 six years prior. we took care to look at several scenarios: four of the sibling team successions were seen as total successes — both from an economic and relational point of view (firms v, h, m, j) — while the other two showed remarkable economic results, although the succession teams were experiencing or had experienced difficulties. in three cases (firms b, v and j), even though the siblings possessed the majority of the voting shares and made all the strategic decisions, the predecessors still held some shares. table 2. general characteristics of the firms generation revenue growth (annual)* number of employees sector firm bfirm bfirm bfirm b constructionpredecessor second $20 million 150 construction successors third $45 million 200 construction firm cfirm c equipment rental and sales predecessor second $22 million 70 equipment rental and sales successors third $32 million 90 equipment rental and sales firm hfirm hfirm hfirm h hydrocarbon processing products predecessor first $32 million 180 hydrocarbon processing productssuccessors second $85 million 450 hydrocarbon processing products firm jfirm jfirm jfirm j constructionpredecessor second $28 million 45 construction successors third $58 million 80 construction firm mfirm mfirm mfirm m machiningpredecessor first $15 million 70 machining successors second $32 million 110 machining firm vfirm vfirm vfirm v financial servicespredecessor first $13 million 19 financial services successors second $58 million 80 financial services * amounts are in canadian dollars. * amounts are in canadian dollars. * amounts are in canadian dollars. * amounts are in canadian dollars. * amounts are in canadian dollars. data collection ! the snowball sampling method is “particularly applicable when the focus of study is on a sensitive issue, possibly concerning a relatively private matter” (biernacki & waldorf, 1981: 141). we used it to identify the advisors in the sibling team succession process and determine their impact on the process. the method consists of asking an interviewee for the contact details of other people who correspond to the same selection criteria so they can be interviewed in turn (biernacki & waldorf, 1981). it is possible to apply this approach when interviewees know each other well (as is the case in the family firm). data were collected through personal, semi-structured interviews (see the interview guide in the appendix). two outside readers reviewed the questions for clarity and comprehensiveness. additional data including financial records, company websites, videos, newspaper articles and company history were gathered to supplement and confirm the information from the interviews. this step was particularly important as in family business research there can be significant m@n@gement, vol. 18(4): 282-308! luis cisneros & bérangère deschamps 287 differences in the perceptions of different stakeholders. data obtained from the secondary sources helped us develop an extensive case report for each company. ! even though we collected a large amount of secondary data, the semistructured interviews formed the essence of our research: “to obtain both retrospective and real-time accounts by those people experiencing the phenomenon of theoretical interest” (gioia, et al., 2013: p. 19). interviews were conducted during formal meetings. all the principal succession stakeholders for each case study were interviewed: the predecessors, the successors and almost all the advisors (the exception being the advisor in firm v)1. we also interviewed five spouses (three of the predecessors and two of the successors) who were involved in the process (see table 3). the research was carried out between november 2010 and december 2012. we conducted 37 interviews lasting an average of two hours. table 3. the different actors in the succession process firm actor h v b c m j predecessor pierre* albert* serge * éric* karl* gabriel* successor working in the firm before the succession charles* jean * linda* françois* philippe* gérard* successor(s) who joined the firm for the collective succession louis* marie* antoine* sébastien* georges* anne* jacques* ève* samuel* lisa* permanent, external advisors michel (accountant)* franck (accountant)* * martin (accountant)* julien (accountant)* temporary advisors, supporting the succession chloé (family business consultant)* marc (coach family business consultant)* alex (family business consultant)* anne (family business consultant)* independent member of the advisory board claude* paul* sébastien* mothers of the successors/ wives of the predecessors*** odette* chantal* émilie* spouses of the successors**** nathalie* véronique* * interviewed person ** advisor involved in the succession process, who died before the beginning of our study *** in all cases, the mothers of the successors (spouses of the predecessors) were involved in the succession process **** with the exception of case m, all spouses of the successors were involved in the process * interviewed person ** advisor involved in the succession process, who died before the beginning of our study *** in all cases, the mothers of the successors (spouses of the predecessors) were involved in the succession process **** with the exception of case m, all spouses of the successors were involved in the process * interviewed person ** advisor involved in the succession process, who died before the beginning of our study *** in all cases, the mothers of the successors (spouses of the predecessors) were involved in the succession process **** with the exception of case m, all spouses of the successors were involved in the process * interviewed person ** advisor involved in the succession process, who died before the beginning of our study *** in all cases, the mothers of the successors (spouses of the predecessors) were involved in the succession process **** with the exception of case m, all spouses of the successors were involved in the process * interviewed person ** advisor involved in the succession process, who died before the beginning of our study *** in all cases, the mothers of the successors (spouses of the predecessors) were involved in the succession process **** with the exception of case m, all spouses of the successors were involved in the process * interviewed person ** advisor involved in the succession process, who died before the beginning of our study *** in all cases, the mothers of the successors (spouses of the predecessors) were involved in the succession process **** with the exception of case m, all spouses of the successors were involved in the process * interviewed person ** advisor involved in the succession process, who died before the beginning of our study *** in all cases, the mothers of the successors (spouses of the predecessors) were involved in the succession process **** with the exception of case m, all spouses of the successors were involved in the process ! a comprehensive view — covering the involvement of advisors in depth2 — was obtained from the interviewees. researchers carried out the interviews, then recorded and transcribed them. the researchers examined their notes before subsequent meetings. field observations throughout the study allowed the researchers to remain on good terms with the different actors while keeping the distance required for analysis. indeed, creating relationships of trust proved to be a useful gauge of the quality of the information gathered. the questions in the first version of the interview guide covered: general information about the company and its performance both before and after succession; profiles of the predecessor and successors; the succession process from the point of view of the predecessor; the process from the point of view of all the successors; the the role of advisors in sibling team succession! m@n@gement, vol. 18(4): 282-308 288 1. he died before our research began. 2. the interviews brought to light the important role of mothers in team succession. however, since the subject matter was sensitive, the interviews did not deal with their role directly and we were not able to meet them. advisors’ influence during the succession process; and the advisors’ point of view with regards to their involvement in the succession process. as the study advanced, we added elements based on insights from the interviews already conducted. we included as many spouses as possible in our interviews once the importance of their role became apparent. specific questions were therefore added to the guide to understand the succession process from the point of view of these spouses. the interview guide included questions that could be compared across the three main types of interviewees (predecessors, successors and advisors). data coding ! within qualitative studies, discussing the processing of the data implies asking how exactly the data content is analyzed since it essentially consists of studying verbal transcriptions. processing happened in two steps: analyzing the individual unit of production and extracting meaning from the data. the first operation was linked to the analysis of each interview. a number of problems were encountered and overcome regarding encoding practices (specifically the definition of the units for analysis), creating categories and identifying themes. the second operation was linked to understanding the dialogue, first for each interview and then for all the cases together (the researchers produced an overview of the main points of each case). an advantage of using case studies resides in the fact that, while some topics of interest are determined beforehand, others can be redefined and fine-tuned as the researcher learns from conversations with the interviewees. we therefore proceeded by cycling through multiple readings of the data to develop a data structure and added topics as they came to light. we did an iterative coding3 of recurring first-order categories and identified both emerging second-order categories and aggregate dimensions (gioia, et al., 2013) that brought to light the role of different advisors in the sibling team succession process (see figure 1). guided by the theoretical framework, we were able to gain conceptual insights from the case studies (corbin & strauss, 1990). ! figure 1 presents the structure of the data: from the first-order data supplied by the interviewees to more general second-order themes deduced by the researchers, and finally to the aggregated third-order dimensions (gioia, et al., 2013). within the first-order data, we identified the recipient of the advice provided by the various advisors and then categorized it by area or level: firm, individual or family. the figure above is not a causal model, but rather a representation of the key elements and their relationships to each other. the objective of this figure is to serve as the basis for the emergent theoretical framework and grounded theory model. data analysis ! the themes that structured the interview guides provided us with the keys for the subsequent thematic analysis, allowing us to explore the different underlying logics. once the interviews were transcribed, the research team discussed their impressions and compared their observations and notes. the researchers then summarized the information from each interview into a grid according to the 12 second-order categories presented above. six distinct and extensive case studies were formulated from the data gathered both from primary and secondary sources. the case descriptions were written independently of each other to respect the required rigor and to be coherent with the logic of replication (yin, 2008). m@n@gement, vol. 18(4): 282-308! luis cisneros & bérangère deschamps 289 3. this research was part of a larger study about stakeholders and multiple sibling successions. in this paper, we only present the categories relevant to the advisor role. ! the role of advisors in sibling team succession! m@n@gement, vol. 18(4): 282-308 290 fi gu re 1 . d at a st ru ct ur e ! to improve internal validity, we presented our analysis to the respondents for discussion and then we triangulated the data (through interviews and workshops). our multiple analyses of content were thus supported by deconstructing the dialogue with the aim of identifying and categorizing meaning on the one hand, and reconstructing the dialogue using a structure to explain the whole on the other. the unique coherence of each interview was then left behind to find a thematic coherence among interviews (blanchet & gotman, 1992). presentation of cases ! the six firms chosen can be qualified as success stories in terms of growth (increased revenues — business income in general — and number of employees). three of the firms are now second generation and the other three are third (see table 2). except for firm c, all successors are frequently invited to share their experiences in workshops as they are considered examples to follow. four of them (firms d, j, m and v) have won prizes for the quality of their succession. however, in firm b, the successors have problems interacting with each other. for the same reason, the sibling team succession in firm c can be considered a failure. indeed, at the end of the succession process, even though the business was thriving economically, two of three siblings left the firm. ! in table 4, we describe the roles of the predecessors and successors whom we interviewed and we present the way shares and leadership were distributed. the three different situations observed are illustrated: 1)  equal distribution of shares, with co-ceos (cases v, b, h and c); 2) equal distribution of shares but one sibling (the first to have joined the firm and proven his competency) is ceo and his equity partners (siblings) are his subordinates (case j); and 3)  unequal distribution of shares with the majority shareholder as the leader (case m). the results were obtained from firms that were comparable (in size, geographical location, culture, etc.). the research was carried out by one foreign researcher based in montreal for several years before the study and a second researcher based in france. the second researcher adopted an “outsider perspective whose role is to critique interpretations that might look a little too gullible” (gioia, et al., 2013: 5). both researchers participated in the data gathering and analysis so any risk of “going native” — adopting the informant’s view (gioia, et al., 2013) — was neutralized, as were any characteristics of quebec’s culture that could lead to distortion. results ! we have based this section on the structure used to present data in figure 1 to maintain continuity. impact of advisors in catalyzing the sibling team succession succession planning ! in all cases, the leaders planned their succession with the support of tax advisors, independent members of the advisory board (firms b, v and m) and external accountants (firms h, c and j). the tax advisors primarily provided guidance on the transfer of ownership (property). the independent members of the advisory board and external accountants participated in planning at the level of the companies’ strategies. “my role in this step was two-fold: to facilitate thinking about the best way to gradually transfer leadership of the company to the next generation, and to help any opportunities that should be taken during the succession process emerge” (julien, external accountant, firm j). m@n@gement, vol. 18(4): 282-308! luis cisneros & bérangère deschamps 291 ta bl e 4. r ol es a nd e qu ity d is tri bu tio n ta bl e 4. r ol es a nd e qu ity d is tri bu tio n ta bl e 4. r ol es a nd e qu ity d is tri bu tio n ta bl e 4. r ol es a nd e qu ity d is tri bu tio n ta bl e 4. r ol es a nd e qu ity d is tri bu tio n ta bl e 4. r ol es a nd e qu ity d is tri bu tio n p re de ce ss or s uc ce ss or s le ad er sh ip s ha re d is tri bu tio n o th er s ib lin gs w ith n o sh ar es b s er ge : m em be r o f t he a dv is or y bo ar d h as c on tro lli ng s ha re s li nd a: c oc e o s éb as tie n: c oc e o n o sp ec ifi c fu nc tio ns o r sp ec ifi c re sp on si bi lit ie s c ole ad er sh ip s uc ce ss or s sh ar e th e st ra te gi c de ci si on m ak in g e qu al d is tri bu tio n 50 % e ac h si bl in g c é ric : m em be r o f t he a dv is or y bo ar d n o lo ng er h as s ha re s fr an ço is : c oc e o g eo rg es : c oc e o a nn e: c oc e o n o sp ec ifi c fu nc tio ns o r sp ec ifi c re sp on si bi lit ie s c ole ad er sh ip s uc ce ss or s sh ar e th e st ra te gi c de ci si on m ak in g e qu al d is tri bu tio n 33 .3 3% e ac h si bl in g h p ie rr e: p re si de nt (h on or ar y) o f th e ad vi so ry b oa rd n o lo ng er h as s ha re s c ha rle s: s al es a nd b us in es s de ve lo pm en t d ire ct or lo ui s: o pe ra tio ns a nd pr od uc tio n di re ct or m ar ie : c om m un ic at io ns a nd h r d ire ct or c ole ad er sh ip s uc ce ss or s sh ar e th e st ra te gi c de ci si on m ak in g e qu al d is tri bu tio n 30 % e ac h si bl in g 10 % e m pl oy ee o ne b ro th er j g ab rie l: m em be r o f t he ad vi so ry b oa rd h as c on tro lli ng s ha re s g ér ar d: p re si de nt a nd c e o li sa : f in an ce d ire ct or s am ue l: p ro je ct m an ag er th e el de r b ro th er is th e c e o a nd th e ot he r c hi ld re n ar e pa rt of th e m an ag em en t t ea m th e th re e si bl in gs p ar tic ip at e in th e st ra te gi c de ci si on -m ak in g pr oc es s bu t t he e ld er b ro th er h as th e la st w or d e qu al d is tri bu tio n 33 .3 3% e ac h si bl in g m k ar l: p re si de nt (h on or ar y) n o lo ng er h as s ha re s p hi lip pe : c e o ja cq ue s: t ec hn ic al a ss oc ia te di re ct or è ve : d ire ct or o f h um an re so ur ce s th e el de r b ro th er is th e c e o a nd th e ot he r c hi ld re n ar e pa rt of th e m an ag em en t t ea m th e th re e si bl in gs p ar tic ip at e in th e st ra te gi c de ci si on -m ak in g pr oc es s bu t t he e ld er b ro th er h as th e la st w or d th e si bl in gs a re m em be rs o f t he b oa rd o f d ire ct or s, w hi ch h as to a pp ro ve th e st ra te gi c de ci si on s u ne qu al d is tri bu tio n 50 % th e el de st a nd 2 5% th e ot he r t w o si bl in gs o ne b ro th er v a lb er t: p re si de nt (h on or ar y) h as c on tro lli ng s ha re s, 5 % o f vo tin g sh ar es je an : s al es d ire ct or , c e o a nt oi ne : f in an ce d ire ct or c ole ad er sh ip s uc ce ss or s sh ar e th e st ra te gi c de ci si on m ak in g e qu al d is tri bu tio n 47 .5 % e ac h si bl in g 5% (f at he r) o ne s is te r ! m@n@gement 2015, vol. 18(4): 282-308 292 triggers for succession ! three main factors triggered the implementation of the succession process: 1) the tax advantages for predecessors and their families (highlighted by tax advisors) and the benefits (legitimacy, continuity, long-term vision, etc.) to the firm of being transferred to the successors whose abilities had been underlined by external accountants (firms h, v, c and j); 2)  the recommendations by independent members of the advisory board that the leader of the firm prepare his succession well in advance to ensure it had a positive outcome (firms b and m); and 3)  the advice of the predecessors’ spouses, who suggested to the predecessors that they should leave their firms (firms m, h, v, c and j). “i had to be very convincing, but i [finally] persuaded my husband to take more leisure time, to spend more time with the family, especially with our grandchildren, […] and to travel more together” (émilie, spouse of the predecessor, firm j). decision to transfer leadership to several children ! the first reflex of the predecessors in our study was to transmit the firm the first child to become involved in the family business. “i always thought that the firm could only have one boss. my eldest son always showed interest for carrying on [the business]. the others did not show any signs. i thought that handing over the leadership of the firm to my three children could cause conflict” (pierre, predecessor, firm h). the spouses of the predecessors were determinant in persuading them to transmit the firms to all their children and also to trust them fully (firms m, h, v, c and j). they were convinced a team of siblings could work. “luckily for me, my mother convinced my father to give me the opportunity when my brother had already been selected” (linda, successor, firm b). several actors (all non-salaried) also directly or indirectly influenced the predecessors’ decision to transmit the firm to more than one child. in cases h, v, c and j, it was the external accountant. “our accountant said to us several times that he knew of firms led by two or three children. so, françois and i decided to invite the other children to join the firm” (eric, predecessor, firm c). in cases b and m, it was the family business management consultant. in firms v and b, the independent members of the advisory board brought to light the complementary nature of siblings’ personalities, competences and profiles that could lead to a virtuous relationship in co-leadership. “the members of my advisory board persuaded me to envisage a co-leadership for my succession” (albert, predecessor firm v). impact of advisors in structuring the sibling team succession bringing children to the company ! in all the cases, at least one child already worked at the firm before the succession process began. the other siblings joined the firm to prepare for the succession. four actors played an important role in convincing these children to join the family firm: the predecessors (firms v, j, c and h), the children already working in the firm (firms b, m, h and j), the spouses of the predecessors (firms v, j, b and m) and the spouses of the successors (firms m, v, j, c and h). the latter strongly influenced the potential successors to express their desire to take over the leadership of the firm (firms h, j, v and c). “in the beginning, my husband was reluctant to join his father and his brother. he was worried that it would end badly between them. i think that my advice and encouragement really influenced his inclusion into the company” (véronique, successor’s wife, firm v). for that step, advisors are close family. moving successors into open positions and allowing them to move up from the bottom of the hierarchy ! firm c was the only one within which positions were created specifically for the children of the firm’s manager without specific company needs being predefined. in the other companies, the successors started in vacant positions, in m@n@gement, vol. 18(4): 282-308! luis cisneros & bérangère deschamps 293 line with the needs of the firm, on the recommendation of external advisors (management experts, coaches, family business experts). the children all had professional experience from outside the family firm and “were doing well” (jean, successor firm v) according to their brothers and sisters. “we needed someone in the firm with his profile and experience” (gérard, successor, firm j). ! the children gradually took on responsibilities within the family firms, which grew as they mastered different functions. on the recommendation of the external accountants (firms j and h) and independent members of the advisory board (firms m, v and b), the new members of the firm started at the bottom of the hierarchical ladder. in firms m, b and h, they were supported and advised by internal coaches. “a member of the management team coached my son. i took this decision to make the process of integration more formal and to allow him to grow without being stuck to his father” (pierre, predecessor, firm h). firm c was again the exception, since the children joined at board level — without the required expertise and with a lack of legitimacy as far as the employees were concerned. at the suggestion of the external accountant, the predecessor of firm c subsequently sent his children to the bottom of the hierarchical ladder, which they did not appreciate: “even today, i still do not understand why my father did that to us. parachuting us directly into management team positions was not a good decision, but demoting us was not a better one… we felt humiliated in the eyes of our brother who was working in the company before the succession” (georges, successor, firm c). at this point in the succession, there were family councils4 for all the firms except firm c. this played an important role in including the children in the family business: they were offered a place to express feelings about irritating elements that could spark conflict, as well as a place for mutual support. “in these meetings, we give advice and comfort to each other” (samuel, successor, firm  j). for firms m, j, and h, the final decision to make children joining the firm work up from the bottom of the companies’ hierarchies was taken within the family council; the same rule was applied for any other family members who wanted to join the firm. the family councils are composed of the predecessor, successors and the predecessor's wife, who acts also as a wife and as a mother to protect and calm conflicts. mediation between predecessors and successors ! the mediation between fathers and children was led by the predecessors’ “trustworthy advisors”; for firms m, b and v this was an independent member of the advisory board and for firms j and h, it was the external accountant. the mediator role was essential to the separation of the family and business logics. “we need an external person so that our meetings are more formal and less emotional” (serge, predecessor, firm b). the successors of firms b and v did not feel comfortable with assigning this role to the external accountant because they considered him too close to their father. but the predecessors in these firms did not feel comfortable leaving this role to any of the other external advisors (consultant, coach, family business consultant) as they needed to be “completely confident in the mediator” (pierre, predecessor, firm h). through the family councils, the predecessors’ spouses played a determinant role in intergenerational mediation. in the council meetings, the hierarchical organization of the firm faded away, allowing the successors to confront predecessors “without feeling [they were] in a weak position” (linda, successor, firm j). predecessors’ spouses seem to have a key role in the success of the structure step because they represent the roots of the family and the business. their actions influence either the individuals (husbands and children), or the family stability. structure of the management team ! in all firms, with the exception of firm c, the independent advisory board members, the external accountants and the internal coaches made active the role of advisors in sibling team succession! m@n@gement, vol. 18(4): 282-308 294 4. according to neubauer and lank (1998), the family council is a working governing body that is elected by the business family members to deliberate on family business issues. the council is usually established once the business family reaches a critical size. the family council is established as a representative governance body for coordinating the interests of the family members in their business. contributions to creating a top management team of successors and defining a new collective management structure. “working within the top management team of the company with my father, my brother and other managers from outside of the family was a real challenge. fortunately my [internal] coach advised me well with regards to the role and the functions of a member of the management team” (albert, successor, firm v). impact of advisors in engaging the sibling team succession team work ! a strong team is built by assigning responsibilities within a climate of peaceful relationships. in the cases we studied, team work among the successors did not occur naturally: four succession teams (m, v, b and h) were accompanied in the team-building process and implementing shared leadership by a family business or another external coach. “after several disagreements and conflicts, we called on a family business consultant to help [each of] us find our marks, improve communication and create synergies from our complementary profiles” (charles, successor, firm h). firms j and c did not call in experts specifically to reinforce the cohesion of the team. in the case of c, a family business consultant intervened when two of the successors threatened to leave. however, according to alex (advisor, firm c): “the bonds of trust between siblings were already broken. my work was then to facilitate a gentle exit, avoiding major confrontations, in order to preserve family relationships”. in all cases, with the exception of firm c, family advising by the external consultant was “a catalyst to reinforce bonds between children” (ève, successor, firm m). however, we must once again highlight the significant role played here by the spouses of the predecessors working from within the family council (firms j, m, b, v and h). “during the family council meetings my mother knew how to remind us of the family values and maintain family harmony” (louis, successor, firm h). delimiting the responsibilities of successors ! in three of the firms (v, h and c) the successors held functional responsibilities (sales director, finance director, human resources director, etc.) in addition to their management (co-director) functions. this matrix structure was recommended by the independent members of the advisory board (firm v) and by the external accountants (firms h and c) with the aim of facilitating the process of strategic decision making, as each person was then more responsible and legitimate in their area of expertise. “each director heads one or two functional responsibilities. for strategic decisions, we discuss [them] and make decisions as a team” (marie, successor, firm h). in firms j and m, the elder brothers were the leaders of the firm, while the other siblings were members of the management team. in cases j, v and h, the external accountants helped the children clearly differentiate their functions within the firm and share responsibilities, thus “avoiding overlaps and freeing up time” (louis, successor, firm h). in firms b and c, where the co-successors did not have well-defined functions, there was friction and misunderstandings — stressful situations arose. “today, i think that one of the main causes of the failure of the co-leadership was the overlapping of functions. we all wanted to have all the information and take decisions on everything” (françois, successor, firm c). mediation between successors ! in each case, the predecessors accompanied the successors to train and advise them on strategic decisions. the predecessors appeared to be “natural” mediators in this context. the family council was still a place for successors to “diffuse arguments between ourselves” (gérard, successor, firm j). the family council, particularly the intervention of predecessors’ spouses, played a useful m@n@gement, vol. 18(4): 282-308! luis cisneros & bérangère deschamps 295 role in managing family relationships and reducing conflicts between successors. they listen, understand and advise. they remain mothers with a particular link to their children. they knew how to “intervene in order to facilitate communication between one child and another” (jacques, successor, firm m). in addition, firms m, h and b were supported by family business consultants while firm v had a general management consultant. “to try to concentrate on the managerial aspects while at the same time taking into account the views of each [family member] is the challenge of my mandate in strategic ‘meetings’” (marc, advisor, firm b). the family business consultants appeared indispensable to adopting the behavioral codes and rules needed for the ongoing resolution of disagreements (cases m, v and h). these rules were explicit and formalized in shareholders’ agreements. “when the firm’s leaders called on me, they wanted to put in place the mechanisms to take decisions while avoiding conflict. we formulated a code of conduct and a rule book for team work” (chloé, family business consultant, firm h). in firms m, h, and b, the successors called on their external coaches to support them individually and help them develop their “collective emotional intelligence” (jacques successor, firm m). impact of advisors in consolidating the sibling team succession disengagement of the predecessor ! at the time of our research, the predecessors in firms b, j and v had not completely left the company. they were physically present, even maintaining their initial offices. while they no longer participated directly in decision making, they still wanted to be kept abreast of the situation. they still went to the company every day to play an administrative role or take care of correspondence. more importantly, their children still consulted them on strategic decisions. their role expanded when there were significant sources of conflict, for example when the predecessor was the only person to whom employees spoke (firm v). “during this period, my father’s presence created stability in our dealings with clients, suppliers and bankers” (linda, successor, firm b). in firms c, h and m, the predecessors completely disengaged. the independent advisory board member (firm m) and external accountant (firms c and h) contributed substantially to the timing for disengagement being respected. “although the predecessor had set a date for leaving, he pushed it back every time he could. as the advisor, i needed to help him decide what his priorities were, but also to help him realise that his children had more than doubled the firm’s operations and the turnover” (michel, external accountant, firm  h). however, it was now the spouses of the predecessors who began to feel they would lose their status to some extent once their husband had left the firm. they also worried about their new lives: “paradoxically, the mother, that lady who had wholeheartedly encouraged her husband to hand over the firm, now realised that she was going to lose a lot of things: her status as wife of the ceo, her office, her social function representing the firm… and on top of that, she and her husband would now be spending a lot more time together. she hadn’t prepared herself for that. consciously or unconsciously, she tried to put obstacles in the way of the hand over” (julien, external accountant, firm j). daily challenges of the successor teams ! in all six firms, the successors made decisions democratically. in firms j, h, m and c, where the management team was made up of three children, decisions were made with a majority of two out of three votes. in firms v and b, when the firms’ leaders were in disagreement, the father (predecessor) made the final decision. in cases b, c, and d, the external advisors who participated in the succession process and had been chosen by the successors, remained to the role of advisors in sibling team succession! m@n@gement, vol. 18(4): 282-308 296 support them in their strategic decision-making meetings. firms h, v and m called on new specialised consultants. none of the firms retained consultants who had been close to the predecessors. the family council continued to provide “a place for improving communication, reconciliation… and maybe even increasing complicity” (louis, successor, firm h). table 5 gives an overview of our outcomes. discussion ! our aim in this paper was to increase the body of knowledge on advising within family succession by identifying the advisors involved in a sibling team succession and, specifically, to determine their roles in the succession process. our discussion is structured by the grounded theory model (see figure 2). figure 2. sequence of advisor actions in a sibling succession a redefined four-stage succession process according to advisors’ actions ! figure 2, like the results of our study, has four parts corresponding to the four stages in the collective succession process. we describe these four stages as follows: catalyse: this groups the different steps in the decision process for a succession to more than one child; structure: looks at the preparation to include siblings into the family firm; engage: covers the organization of the firm and the roles of each actor in achieving a harmonious sibling succession; this stage extends beyond the period of joint management by predecessor and successors as the advisors are implicated in issues that go outside of the scope of its implicit duality; consolidate: shows the extent to which the successors have established themselves as co-leaders and looks at the creation of the top management team. m@n@gement, vol. 18(4): 282-308! luis cisneros & bérangère deschamps 297 ta bl e 5. s yn th es is o f t he re su lts ta bl e 5. s yn th es is o f t he re su lts ta bl e 5. s yn th es is o f t he re su lts ta bl e 5. s yn th es is o f t he re su lts ta bl e 5. s yn th es is o f t he re su lts ta bl e 5. s yn th es is o f t he re su lts ta bl e 5. s yn th es is o f t he re su lts ta bl e 5. s yn th es is o f t he re su lts le ve l le ve l fi rm fi rm in di vi du al in di vi du al fa m ily fa m ily s ta ge a dv is or a ct iv ity n on -fa m ily a dv is or fa m ily a dv is or n on -fa m ily a dv is or fa m ily a dv is or n on -fa m ily ad vi so r fa m ily a dv is or c at al ys e p la nn in g e xt er na l a cc ou nt an t ( fir m s h , c & j ) a dv is or y bo ar d m em be r ( fir m s b , v & m ) ta x ad vi so r ( fir m s b , v & m ) ta x ad vi so r ( fir m s b , v & m ) c at al ys e tr ig ge r a dv is or y bo ar d m em be r ( fir m s b & m ) e xt er na l a cc ou nt an t ( fir m s h , v , c & j ) ta x ad vi so r ( al l fir m s) p re de ce ss or s’ s po us es (fi rm s m , h , v , c & j ) ta x ad vi so r ( al l fir m s) c at al ys e m ak in g a de ci si on e xt er na l a cc ou nt an t ( fir m s h , v , c & j ) a dv is or y bo ar d m em be r ( fir m s b & v ) e xt er na l a cc ou nt an t* c on su lta nt f b (fi rm s m & b ) p re de ce ss or s’ s po us es (fi rm s m , h , v , c & j ) s tru ct ur e in cl us io n of th e ch ild re n (w ho d id n ot w or k in th e fa m ily fi rm ) p re de ce ss or (fi rm s m , v & c ) pr ed ec es so rs ’ sp ou se s (fi rm s b , j, m & v ) s uc ce ss or s’ s po us es (fi rm s h , v , c & j ) c hi ld a lre ad y w or ki ng in th e fir m (fi rm s b , h & j ) s tru ct ur e h el p th e de ve lo pm en t o f th e su cc es so rs e xt er na l a cc ou nt an t ( fir m s c ** h & j ) a dv is or y bo ar d m em be r ( fir m s m , v & b ) in te rn al c oa ch (fi rm s m & h ) p re de ce ss or s’ sp ou se s th ro ug h th e fa m ily c ou nc il (fi rm s h , b & j ) s tru ct ur e in te rg en er at io na l m ed ia tio n e xt er na l a cc ou nt an t ( fir m s h & j) a dv is or y bo ar d m em be r ( fir m s m , v & b ) a dv is or y bo ar d m em be r * (fi rm s h & j) e xt er na l a cc ou nt an t * (fi rm s h & j ) p re de ce ss or s’ s po us es (fi rm s m & h ) p re de ce ss or s’ sp ou se s th ro ug h th e fa m ily c ou nc il (fi rm s m , h , v , b & j ) s tru ct ur e im pl em en ta tio n of th e su cc es so r t ea m e xt er na l a cc ou nt an t ( fir m s h & j) a dv is or y bo ar d m em be r ( fir m s m , b & v ) in te rn al c oa ch (fi rm s h & m ) * h e is le av in g hi s ro le . ** in th e ca se o f fi rm c , t he c hi ld re n jo in ed th e fir m d ire ct ly a t t he le ve l o f t he to p m an ag em en t t ea m b ut la te r, on th e ad vi ce o f t he e xt er na l a cc ou nt an t, th ey w er e se nt to th e bo tto m o f t he hi er ar ch ic al la dd er . * h e is le av in g hi s ro le . ** in th e ca se o f fi rm c , t he c hi ld re n jo in ed th e fir m d ire ct ly a t t he le ve l o f t he to p m an ag em en t t ea m b ut la te r, on th e ad vi ce o f t he e xt er na l a cc ou nt an t, th ey w er e se nt to th e bo tto m o f t he hi er ar ch ic al la dd er . * h e is le av in g hi s ro le . ** in th e ca se o f fi rm c , t he c hi ld re n jo in ed th e fir m d ire ct ly a t t he le ve l o f t he to p m an ag em en t t ea m b ut la te r, on th e ad vi ce o f t he e xt er na l a cc ou nt an t, th ey w er e se nt to th e bo tto m o f t he hi er ar ch ic al la dd er . * h e is le av in g hi s ro le . ** in th e ca se o f fi rm c , t he c hi ld re n jo in ed th e fir m d ire ct ly a t t he le ve l o f t he to p m an ag em en t t ea m b ut la te r, on th e ad vi ce o f t he e xt er na l a cc ou nt an t, th ey w er e se nt to th e bo tto m o f t he hi er ar ch ic al la dd er . * h e is le av in g hi s ro le . ** in th e ca se o f fi rm c , t he c hi ld re n jo in ed th e fir m d ire ct ly a t t he le ve l o f t he to p m an ag em en t t ea m b ut la te r, on th e ad vi ce o f t he e xt er na l a cc ou nt an t, th ey w er e se nt to th e bo tto m o f t he hi er ar ch ic al la dd er . * h e is le av in g hi s ro le . ** in th e ca se o f fi rm c , t he c hi ld re n jo in ed th e fir m d ire ct ly a t t he le ve l o f t he to p m an ag em en t t ea m b ut la te r, on th e ad vi ce o f t he e xt er na l a cc ou nt an t, th ey w er e se nt to th e bo tto m o f t he hi er ar ch ic al la dd er . * h e is le av in g hi s ro le . ** in th e ca se o f fi rm c , t he c hi ld re n jo in ed th e fir m d ire ct ly a t t he le ve l o f t he to p m an ag em en t t ea m b ut la te r, on th e ad vi ce o f t he e xt er na l a cc ou nt an t, th ey w er e se nt to th e bo tto m o f t he hi er ar ch ic al la dd er . * h e is le av in g hi s ro le . ** in th e ca se o f fi rm c , t he c hi ld re n jo in ed th e fir m d ire ct ly a t t he le ve l o f t he to p m an ag em en t t ea m b ut la te r, on th e ad vi ce o f t he e xt er na l a cc ou nt an t, th ey w er e se nt to th e bo tto m o f t he hi er ar ch ic al la dd er . the role of advisors in sibling team succession! m@n@gement, vol. 18(4): 282-308 298 ta bl e 5 (c on tin ue d) . s yn th es is o f t he re su lts ta bl e 5 (c on tin ue d) . s yn th es is o f t he re su lts ta bl e 5 (c on tin ue d) . s yn th es is o f t he re su lts ta bl e 5 (c on tin ue d) . s yn th es is o f t he re su lts ta bl e 5 (c on tin ue d) . s yn th es is o f t he re su lts ta bl e 5 (c on tin ue d) . s yn th es is o f t he re su lts ta bl e 5 (c on tin ue d) . s yn th es is o f t he re su lts ta bl e 5 (c on tin ue d) . s yn th es is o f t he re su lts le ve l le ve l fi rm fi rm in di vi du al in di vi du al fa m ily fa m ily s ta ge a dv is or a ct iv ity n on -fa m ily a dv is or fa m ily a dv is or n on -fa m ily ad vi so r fa m ily a dv is or n on -fa m ily ad vi so r fa m ily a dv is or e ng ag e w or ki ng to ge th er (a s a te am ) c on su lta nt s fb (fi rm s m , b , h & v ) e xt er na l c oa ch (fi rm s m & h ) p re de ce ss or ’s w ife (fi rm s m , b , h & v ) p re de ce ss or s’ sp ou se s th ro ug h th e fa m ily c ou nc il (fi rm s m , j , b , h & v ) e ng ag e d el im ita tio n of re sp on si bi lit ie s e xt er na l a cc ou nt an t ( fir m s j, v & h ) a dv is or y bo ar d m em be r ( fir m v ) e ng ag e in tra ge ne ra tio na l m ed ia tio n c on su lta nt f b (fi rm s m , b & h ) m an ag em en t a dv is or (fi rm v ) e xt er na l c oa ch (fi rm s m & h ) p re de ce ss or s uc ce ss or s’ s po us es (fi rm s m , b , h & j ) p re de ce ss or s’ sp ou se s th ro ug h th e fa m ily c ou nc il (fi rm s m , b , h & j ) c on so lid at e p re de ce ss or ’s di se ng ag em en t f ro m th e fir m e xt er na l ac co un ta nt * (fi rm s h & c ) a dv is or y bo ar d m em be r * (fi rm m ) p re de ce ss or ’s w ife (fi rm s m , v , h & j ) c on so lid at e d ai ly fu nc tio ni ng o f t he su cc es so r t ea m n ew a dv is or s to th e su cc es so rs (fi rm s m , b , j & h ) p re de ce ss or (fi rm s b & v ) p re de ce ss or s uc ce ss or s’ sp ou se s th ro ug h th e fa m ily c ou nc il * h e is le av in g hi s ro le . ** in th e ca se o f fi rm c , t he c hi ld re n jo in ed th e fir m d ire ct ly a t t he le ve l o f t he to p m an ag em en t t ea m b ut la te r, on th e ad vi ce o f t he e xt er na l a cc ou nt an t, th ey w er e se nt to th e bo tto m o f t he h ie ra rc hi ca l l ad de r. * h e is le av in g hi s ro le . ** in th e ca se o f fi rm c , t he c hi ld re n jo in ed th e fir m d ire ct ly a t t he le ve l o f t he to p m an ag em en t t ea m b ut la te r, on th e ad vi ce o f t he e xt er na l a cc ou nt an t, th ey w er e se nt to th e bo tto m o f t he h ie ra rc hi ca l l ad de r. * h e is le av in g hi s ro le . ** in th e ca se o f fi rm c , t he c hi ld re n jo in ed th e fir m d ire ct ly a t t he le ve l o f t he to p m an ag em en t t ea m b ut la te r, on th e ad vi ce o f t he e xt er na l a cc ou nt an t, th ey w er e se nt to th e bo tto m o f t he h ie ra rc hi ca l l ad de r. * h e is le av in g hi s ro le . ** in th e ca se o f fi rm c , t he c hi ld re n jo in ed th e fir m d ire ct ly a t t he le ve l o f t he to p m an ag em en t t ea m b ut la te r, on th e ad vi ce o f t he e xt er na l a cc ou nt an t, th ey w er e se nt to th e bo tto m o f t he h ie ra rc hi ca l l ad de r. * h e is le av in g hi s ro le . ** in th e ca se o f fi rm c , t he c hi ld re n jo in ed th e fir m d ire ct ly a t t he le ve l o f t he to p m an ag em en t t ea m b ut la te r, on th e ad vi ce o f t he e xt er na l a cc ou nt an t, th ey w er e se nt to th e bo tto m o f t he h ie ra rc hi ca l l ad de r. * h e is le av in g hi s ro le . ** in th e ca se o f fi rm c , t he c hi ld re n jo in ed th e fir m d ire ct ly a t t he le ve l o f t he to p m an ag em en t t ea m b ut la te r, on th e ad vi ce o f t he e xt er na l a cc ou nt an t, th ey w er e se nt to th e bo tto m o f t he h ie ra rc hi ca l l ad de r. * h e is le av in g hi s ro le . ** in th e ca se o f fi rm c , t he c hi ld re n jo in ed th e fir m d ire ct ly a t t he le ve l o f t he to p m an ag em en t t ea m b ut la te r, on th e ad vi ce o f t he e xt er na l a cc ou nt an t, th ey w er e se nt to th e bo tto m o f t he h ie ra rc hi ca l l ad de r. * h e is le av in g hi s ro le . ** in th e ca se o f fi rm c , t he c hi ld re n jo in ed th e fir m d ire ct ly a t t he le ve l o f t he to p m an ag em en t t ea m b ut la te r, on th e ad vi ce o f t he e xt er na l a cc ou nt an t, th ey w er e se nt to th e bo tto m o f t he h ie ra rc hi ca l l ad de r. ! m@n@gement, vol. 18(4): 282-308! luis cisneros & bérangère deschamps 299 ! it is not simply the degree to which the successor has disengaged since, in several cases, after having transferred the ownership of the firm the predecessor remains in the new role of advisor and family mediator. ! the stages do not correspond to the traditional breakdown in the literature (handler, 1994) as they emerged from the advisors’ actions in the sibling team succession process. the stages of our model thus provide a fresh point of view from which to analyze the process and call attention to the singularity of the collective succession. indeed, the succession of a leader to several successors makes the process more complex. the new co-owners have individual fears but share blood ties and common family experiences. they therefore need advice, not only on structuring the succession from an organizational point of view (montgomery & sinclair, 2000), but also at the levels of the individual and the family. the necessity for this is illustrated by case c, where the firm’s leaders were neither advised at the individual nor at the family level, resulting in the succession failing on the level of the family. advisors at the level of the firm, the family and/or the individual ! the advisors were involved at three levels that were not exclusive and could sometimes be complementary: 1)  at the level of the firm: they had a contract or formal mandate to intervene in the organization; 2) at the level of the individual (predecessor or successor(s)): they advised with respect to the personal and professional interests of the individual; and 3)  at the level of the family: they had the objective of establishing or reinforcing family harmony. this contribution of our study to the literature on advisors in family successions goes beyond the usual separation of family, business, and ownership (hilburt-davis & dyer, 2003; lansberg, 1988; strike, 2012) and further than the other categories that we mentioned in the theoretical part of this paper. ! our research shows that neither the predecessor nor the successors are aware of the need for advice at more than one level. they are accompanied in their individual areas of concern by their personal advisors; their issues are linked either to the family, to themselves or to the organization. table 5 shows that some advisors — the external accountant for example — act on more than one level. non-family mtas ! our results confirm prior studies showing the presence of mtas among non-family advisors, namely external accountants (nicholson, shepherd, & woods, 2010) and independent members of the advisory board (lester & cannella, 2006). working as closely as possible with the predecessors, they went beyond their official roles (the roles for which they were hired) giving advice and helping the predecessors through more personal difficult decisions, such as making the choice to transfer leadership to more than one child. this finding is important and surprising as the advisors in question did not have either the qualifications or the competence to provide this type of advice. it was their experience and relationship of trust that developed with the family member over a long time, allowing the advisor to become an mta. they acted as a facilitator of the succession as they were capable of untangling the firm-individual-family relationships. this was possible thanks to their significant influence over the leaders of the family firm (strike, 2012, 2013). while the relationship with an mta sometimes extends to another generation (grubman & jaffe, 2010), the successors we studied did not retain their fathers’ mtas in stage 4, “consolidate”. our results do not allow us to conclude whether the successors already had their own mtas among the new advisors who supported them. the hidden role of the predecessors’ spouses ! the actions of predecessors’ spouses were critical to the succession process. their role intervened at an individual level with their husband at the the role of advisors in sibling team succession! m@n@gement, vol. 18(4): 282-308 300 beginning of the process; then towards husbands and children in the steps of structuring an engagement. their participation inside the family council cut their role in two: they are beside their husbands and are mothers to their children. they are the heart of the family. we consider them mtas since they had a truly trusted advising capacity. like lansberg (1988), we observed that they were often supportive of succession process and, in many cases, served as a powerful influence in mobilizing the predecessor to tackle the problems they faced during the transition. thus far, the role of mtas in family firms has not been studied to a great extent, despite the influence that they can have on family firm members (strike, 2013). in particular, the role of spouses as mtas has been overlooked in the literature. in our study, the predecessors’ spouses were present and fulfilled the natural role of confidant and advisor (giving moral and emotional support). ! while the role of spouses as advisors in the family firm has been researched (strike, 2012), the role of these individuals as mothers to successors has not. our results show that as mothers they contributed to reinforcing the family values and harmony (le breton-miller, et al., 2004). they played a supportive role for their children (the successors), helped improve family communication and also mediated between members of the family when family bonds were strained. they were very present in the family councils that they usually initiated and led. this role of predecessors’ spouses is a new element for succession research. ! the role of successors’ spouses should be quite similar to that of the predecessors’ spouses: it is at two steps of the process. their role would tend to evolve as they become ceos’ spouses. will they act in family council after the predecessor's disengagement? what about the predecessor's spouse’s disengagement? how will a family council with multiple ceos and multiple spouses be run? these are some interesting strands of research. c o n c l u s i o n s , l i m i t s a n d f u t u r e av e n u e s f o r research ! taking into account the high quality of the information we obtained from our fieldwork, we think our contribution to understanding the role of advisors within sibling team succession is significant. we shed new light on the succession process by formulating the specific stages of the collective succession. we develop the understanding of the advisors’ roles through a typology based on whether they belong to the family. we add to strike’s work (2013) by showing the clear role played by predecessors’ spouses as mtas in preserving family harmony, the mediation between generations and the relationships between successors. our contribution lies not only in defining the advisors’ role in the succession process, but also in highlighting the specific way they influence it. the results of our research contribute to a better understanding of the relationships between advisors, predecessors and several successors within the family context. this can be useful for all the owner-managers of small family businesses, whether potential predecessor or successor. lastly, our results are also of use for the advisors themselves; they help them to position themselves at each stage of the collective succession process and legitimate their roles with respect to other stakeholders. in addition, they potentially help advisors provide additional advice and, above all, to meet the requirements of family members in a collective succession, where needs evolve during the process and for each of the actors. ! nonetheless, our research remains bound by limitations. the advantage of our chosen methodology lies in allowing underlying logics to emerge and illustrate both the role as well as the impact of advisors within the context of a collective succession. however, the protocol presents limits: 1) our analysis is based on the dialogue of actors and is subject to interpretation even when recorded; m@n@gement, vol. 18(4): 282-308! luis cisneros & bérangère deschamps 301 2) although from a qualitative methodology point of view, six cases represent a significant sample, the generalization of our results would need to be supported by a quantitative study to verify the role of advisors; and 3)  the geographical region, quebec province, is a common denominator for all the cases, ensuring comparability; however, the study should be extended to other cultural contexts. ! since the need for advice changes during the succession process, there is a requirement for an overview that encompasses the stages in the process as well as the levels on which the advisors act. no advisors were appointed to accompany the whole process and all its actors. these results encouraged us to go beyond earlier studies where categories of advisors were static, to consider the relationships and the synergies that can form between actors. finally, a future avenue of research would be to compare the role of advisors in successions to other family members, such as cousins or even sonsor daughters-in-law. we could also give attention to hybrid collective successions (composed of both family members and employees of the family firm). references aronoff, c. e. (1998). megatrends in family business. family business review, 11(3), 181-192. aronoff, c., & astrachan, j. (1997). the challenges of family business governance. family business forum quarterly, 11(1), 1-2. aronoff, c. e., astrachan, j. h., mendosa, d. s., & ward, j. l. (1997). making sibling teams work: the next generation. marietta, ga: family enterprise publishers. aronoff, c. e., & ward, j. l. (1992). family business succession: the final test of greatness. marietta, ga: business owners resources. aronoff, c. e., & ward, j. l. (1997). preparing your family business for strategic change. marietta, ga: family enterprise publishers. ashforth, b. e. (2001). role transitions in organizational life: an identity-based perspective. mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum associates. ayres, g. r., & lansberg, i. (1989). achieving fairness in the family business. conference proceedings, 4 to 7 october, califonia: family firm institute conference. biernacki, p., & waldorf, d. (1981). snowball sampling: problems and techniques of chain referral sampling. sociological methods & research, 10(2), 141-163. bird, b., welsch, h., astrachan, j. h., & pistrui, d. (2002). family business research: the evolution of an academic field. family business review, 15(4), 337-350. birley, s. (1986). succession in the family firm: the i n h e r i t o r ’s v i e w. j o u r n a l o f s m a l l b u s i n e s s management, 24(3), 36-43. blanchet, a. & gotman, a. (1992). l'enquête et ses méthodes: l'entretien. paris: nathan. brockhaus, r. h. (2004). family business succession: suggestions for future research. family business review, 17(2), 165-177. cadieux, l. (2007). succession in small and medium-sized family businesses: toward a typology of predecessor roles during and after instatement of the successor. family business review, 20(2), 95-109. cadieux, l., lorrain, j., & hugron, p. (2002). succession in women-owned family businesses: a case study. family business review, 15(1), 17-30. cater, j. j., & justis, r. t. (2010). the development and implementation of shared leadership in multigenerational family firms. management research review, 33(6), 563-585. chittoor, r., & das, r. (2007). professionalization of management and succession performance: a vital linkage. family business review, 20(1), 65-79. chrisman, j. j., kellermanns, f. w., chan, k. c., & liano, k. (2010). intellectual foundations of current research in family business: an identification and review of 25 influential articles. family business review, 23(1), 9-26. corbin, j., & strauss, a. (1990). grounded theory research: procedures, canons and evaluative criteria. qualitative sociology, 13(1), 3-21. dalpiaz, e., tracey, p., & phillips, n. (2014). succession narratives in family business: the case of alessi. entrepreneurship, theory and practice, 38(6), 1375-1394. deschamps, b., cisneros, l. f., barès, f. (2014).   pme familiales québécoises: impact des parties prenantes externes à la famille dans les co-successions en fratrie. management international, 18(4), 151-163. eisenhardt, k. m. (1989). building theories from case study research. the academy of management review, 14(4), 532-550. farrington, s., venter, e., & boshoff, c. (2011). the role of selected team design elements in successful sibling teams. family business review, 20(10), 1-15. gersick, k. (1996). equal isn’t always fair. family business magazine, spring, 12-15. gersick, k., davis, j., mccollom hampton, m., & lansberg, i. (1997). generation to generation: life cycles of the family business. boston, ma: harvard business school press. gilding, m., gregory, s., & cosson, b. (2013). motives and outcomes in family business succession planning. entrepreneurship, theory and practice, 39(2), 1042-2587. gioia, d. a., corley, k. g., & hamilton, a. l. (2013). seeking qualitative rigor in inductive research notes on the gioia methodology. organizational research methods, 16(1), 15-31. the role of advisors in sibling team succession! m@n@gement, vol. 18(4): 282-308 302 grubman, j., & jaffe, d. t. (2010). client relationships and family dynamics: competencies and services necessary for truly integrated wealth management. journal of wealth management, 13(1), 16-31. handler, w. c. (1990). succession in family firms: a mutual role adjustment between owner-manager and nextgeneration family members. entrepreneurship, theory and practice, 15(3), 37-51. handler, w. (1991). key interpersonal relationships of next-generation family members in family firms. journal of small business management, 28(july), 21-32. handler, w. (1994). succession in family business: a review of the research. family business review, 7(2), 133-157. hilburt-davis, j. & dyer, w. g., jr. (2003). consulting to family businesses: a practical guide to contracting, assessment, and implementation. new york, ny: wiley. hitt, m., miller, c. c., & colella, a. (2006). organizational behavior: a strategic approach. new york, ny: wiley. ibrahim, a. b., soufani, k., & lam, j. (2001). a study of succession in large family firm. family business review, 15(3), 245-258. kets de vries, m. f. r., carlock, r. s., & florent-treacy, e. (2007). family business on the couch: a psychological perspective. west sussex, uk: wiley. lambrecht, j. (2005). multigenerational transition in family businesses: a new explanatory model. family business review, 28(4), 267-268. lansberg, i (1988).  the succession conspiracy. harvard business review, 1(2), 119-143. lansberg, i. (1999). succeeding generations. boston, ma: harvard business school press. l a r s s o n , r . ( 1 9 9 3 ) . c a s e s u r v e y m e t h o d o l o g y : quantitative analysis of patterns across case studies. the academy of management journal, 36(6), 1515-1546. le breton-miller, i., miller, d., & steier, l. p. (2004). toward an integrative model of effective fob succession. entrepreneurship, theory and practice, 28(4), 305-328. le play, m. f. (1871). l’organisation de la famille. paris: lafred mame et fils. l e s t e r, r . h . , & c a n n e l l a , a . a . , j r. ( 2 0 0 6 ) . interorganizational familiness: how family firms use interlocking directorates to build community-level social capital. entrepreneurship, theory and practice, 30(6), 755-775. long, r. g., & chrisman, j. j. (2014). management succession in family business. in l. melin, m. nordqvist & p. sharma (eds.), the sage handbook of family business (pp. 248-268). thousand oaks, ca: sage. mccollom, m. (1990). problems and perspectives in clinical research on family firms. family business review, 3(2), 245-261. mcgivern, c. (1978). the dynamics of management succession: a model of chief executive succession in the small family firm. management decision, 16(1), 32-46. massmutual (2007). american family business survey. atlanta, ga: kennesaw state, & family firm institute. mazzola p., marchisio, g., & astrachan, j. (2008). strategic planning in family business: a powerful developmental tool for the next generation. family business review, 21(3), 239-258. mickelson, r. e., & worley, c. (2003). acquiring a family firm: a case study. family business review, 16(4), 251-268. miles, m. b. & huberman, a. m. (1994) qualitative data analysis. thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. montgomery, b., & sinclair, a. (2000). all in the family. business and economic review, 46(2), 3-7. morris, m. h., williams, r. w., nel, d. (1996), factors influencing family business succession. international journal of entrepreneurial behavior and research, 2(3), 68-81. nelton, s. (1996). in love and in business: how entrepreneurial couples are changing the rules of business and marriage. new york, ny: wiley. nelton, s. (1997). major shifts in leadership lie ahead. nation’s business, 85(6), 56-57. neubauer f. & lank, a. g. (1998). the family business: its governance for sustainability. new york, ny: routledge. nicholson, h., shepherd, d., & woods, c. (2010). advising new zealand’s family businesses: current issues and opportunities. university of auckland business review, 12(1), 1-7. patton, e., & applebaum, s. h. (2003). the case for case studies in management research. management research news, 26(5), 60-72. reay, t., pearson, a. w., & dyer, g. (2013). advising family enterprise: examining the role of family firm advisors. family business review, 26(3), 209-214. reid, w., & karambayya, r. (2009). impact of dual e x e c u t i v e l e a d e r s h i p d y n a m i c s i n c r e a t i v e organizations. human relations, 62(7), 1073-1112. rutherford, m. w., muse, l. a., & oswald, s. l. (2006). a new perspective on the developmental model for family business. family business review, 19(4), 317-333. salvato, c., & corbetta, g. (2013), transitional leadership of advisors as a facilitator of successors’ leadership construction. family business review, 26(3), 235-255. schjoedt, l., monsen, e., pearson, a., barnett, t., & chrisman, j. j. (2013). new venture and family business teams: understanding team formation, c o m p o s i t i o n , b e h a v i o r s a n d p e r f o r m a n c e . entrepreneurship, theory and practice, 37(1), 1042-1057. sekaran, u. (2003). research methods for business (4th ed.). hoboken, nj: wiley. sharma, p. (2003). stakeholder mapping technique: toward the development of family firm typology. paper presented at the 62nd meeting of the academy of management, denver. sharma, p. (2004). an overview of the field of family business studies: current status and direction for the future. family business review, 17(1), 1-36. sonfield, m. c., lussier, r. n., pfeifer, s., manikutty, s., maherault, l., & verdier, l. (2005). a cross-national investigation of first-generation, second-generation and third-generation family businesses. journal of small business strategy, 16(1), 9-26. strike, v. (2012). advising the family firm: reviewing the past to build the future. family business review, 25(2), 156-177. strike, v. (2013). the most trusted advisor and the subtle advice process in family firms. family business review, 26(3), 293-313. m@n@gement, vol. 18(4): 282-308! luis cisneros & bérangère deschamps 303 ward, j. l., & handy, j. l. (1988). a survey of board practices. family business review, 1(3), 289-308. yin, r. k. (2008). case study research: design and methods (4th ed.). thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. sur la rse. revue française de gestion, 180, 131-157. the role of advisors in sibling team succession! m@n@gement, vol. 18(4): 282-308 304 appendix a. interview guide general information about the firm • sector • number of employees o before the start of the succession process o five years after the succession occurred • primary market • turnover1 o before the start of the succession process o five years after the succession occurred • members of the top management team o before the start of the succession process o five years after the succession occurred • distribution of the firm’s capital (ownership of the firm) questions for the leaders of the firm (predecessor and successor(s)) • leader’s profile o academic background o professional experience • succession process it is important to note that after each of the main questions we asked related questions: o did anyone advise or support you? excluding advisors, did other key actors give you advice? who? how? what was their [level of] involvement? how long did they advise you? who requested (or proposed) the advising process? was the advisor’s role formally or informally defined? how did you remunerate them? o questions for the predecessor § did you plan the success process? if so, could you describe how it was planned and who participated in the planning process? § what were your motivations for transferring the business? § why did you transfer [leadership of] the firm to several children? § why do you think your children joined the family firm? § how did your children join the firm? § how was the top management team structured? m@n@gement, vol. 18(4): 282-308! luis cisneros & bérangère deschamps 305 1 translator’s note: here we mean revenues or the general income of the firm § how was work carried out within the top management team? § how did you resolve delicate situations or conflicts... • ...within the top management? • ...of purely familial nature but linked to the succession process? § how were tasks and responsibilities transferred? § when did you decide to end your leadership of the firm? § what (if any) are your current roles and responsibilities? § how did you decide to leave the company? how did the [decision process] occur? o questions for the successor(s) § was the succession planned? if yes, did you participate in the process? how? § what were your motivations for joining the firm and taking over [its leadership]? § why did you agree to taking over the firm with your siblings? § at what level in the firm’s hierarchy did you join? what was your first position (responsibilities and tasks)? § how did you develop within the firm? § how was the top management team structured? § how was work carried out within the top management team? § how did you resolve delicate situations or conflicts... • ...within the top management? • ...of purely familial nature but linked to the succession process? § how were tasks and responsibilities transferred to you? § could you describe the daily functioning of the (successor) top management team? questions for non-family advisors • profile o academic background o professional experience o when did you start advising this firm? o internal advisor § what is your position in the firm? o external advisor § for what company do you work? the role of advisors in sibling team succession! m@n@gement, vol. 18(4): 282-308 306 • involvement in the [succession] process o how did you participate in the firm’s succession process? o who requested (or proposed) the advising process? o when and how did it start? o what was your involvement? who did you advise (predecessor, successor, family, firm)? o was the advising process triggered by a specific problem or goal? o was your advising role informal or formally defined? o [please describe] how you participated in the process. o did you advise different people in the company? what form did the advising take? o before the advising process, did you already know the company or the family? if yes, since when? o were you remunerated? how was remuneration determined? o how are you related to the firm’s leaders (friendship, family, professional)? o how would you describe your interaction with the members of family? are you close to members of the family? o did you give advice on topics that fell outside of your area of expertise? in which situations? were you asked [for your advice] or did you propose it without being asked? o before advising this firm, had you already participated in succession process of another company? was the succession a collective one? questions for the spouses o were you involved in any way in the family firm? o were you consulted before or during the succession process? were you involved [in the succession process]? o did you advise (or influence) members of the family who participated in the succession process? if yes, on what topic did you advise (or influence) them? were you asked [for your advice] or did you propose it without being asked? o did you play any role during the succession process (mediation, support, etc.)? m@n@gement, vol. 18(4): 282-308! luis cisneros & bérangère deschamps 307 luis cisneros is currently head of the institute for entrepreneurship national bank-hec montréal, director of the rémi-marcoux entrepreneurial track and academic director of the center for business families molson/deschênes at hec montréal. he is also a member of rogers—j.-a.-bombardier chair of entrepreneurship at hec montréal, step project (successful transgenerational entrepreneurship practices, babson, usa) and family enterprise research conference board (ferc).he has published several books, chapters, articles and study cases about entrepreneurship and small family business management.dr. cisneros holds a masters in management (university of aguascalientes, mexico), an m.sc. in management control (university parisdauphine, france) and a ph.d. in family business management (group hec paris, france). bérangère deschamps is is professor of management science at the university paris 8 and researcher at the led. she works on business transfers. in 2000, her phd focused on a type of transfer: the takeover process by external individuals. she is the author, with robert paturel, of the book "taking over a healthy company or difficulties" at dunod editions (2001, 2005, 2009). she coordinated a book with louise cadieux gathering the views of the seller and the buyer on each stage of the transfer process. since 2010, she collaborated with luis cisneros hec montreal on sibling team successions. board member of the airepme (national association research on entrepreneurship and sme), she supports sme buyers during the whole business transfer. © the author(s) www.management-aims.com the role of advisors in sibling team succession! m@n@gement, vol. 18(4): 282-308 308 03 214 demil&lecoq&warnier 2018 m@n@gement 2018, vol. 21(4): 1213-1228 “business model thinking”, business ecosystems and platforms: the new perspective on the environment of the organization benoît demil ! xavier lecocq ! vanessa warnier accepted by chief editor thomas roulet abstract. business model has allowed strategic management to depart from the “one best way” of traditional approaches, integrating the various ways to deploy resources, to create and capture value. hence, the “business model thinking” has induced major change in strategic management over the last ten years. in this essay, we take a pragmatist approach to tentatively detail the main features of the environment of the organization introduced by business model thinking. we advance that adopting a business model perspective does not mean that the environment is neglected in the strategy process. however, the environment is not considered as deterministic, and the organization does not have to fit with it or to try to change it. through a pragmatist lens, the business model is conceived as performing the ecosystem of an organization within a broader environment. therefore, we argue that the business model selects the relevant competitive landscape. this view has three main consequences. first, the environment is not the same for every organization in a given industry and the traditional concepts of strategy (entry barriers, competition intensity, bargaining power with suppliers or customers…) should be applied after the choice of business model has been made and not ex ante at the industry level. second, the ability to implement a business model relies essentially on the negotiations and interactions with the stakeholders selected through the choice or design of the business model. third, business models and ecosystems are not static but co-evolve. once defined, ecosystems progressively constrain the business models. but ecosystems also change through mutual interaction and therefore offer new opportunities for the evolution of the business models. keywords: business model, business ecosystem, environment, platform, strategic management, pragmatism introduction the introduction of the business model perspective has brought about a major change in strategic management thinking over the last ten years (massa, tucci & afuah, 2017). an insistence on innovation in the practice and discourse of managers has led to a vast literature being developed around business models as a vector of innovation (chesbrough & rosenbloom, 2002) and as a source of innovation (massa & tucci, 2014). however, while much has been written about business models, their precise implications for scholarly research and strategy practice have seldom been documented. �1213 benoît demil university of lille (iae) and lem (umr cnrs 9221) benoit.demil@iae.univ-lille1.fr xavier lecocq university of lille (iae), ieseg, and lem (umr cnrs 9221) xavier.lecocq@univ-lille1.fr vanessa warnier university of lille (iae) and lem (umr cnrs 9221) vanessa.warnier@iae.univ-lille1.fr m@n@gement, vol. 21(4): 1213-1228 benoît demil & xavier lecocq & vanessa warnier while we observe that value creation, value capture and business ecosystems are concepts that are increasingly being used, it is sometimes difficult to articulate them using the traditional strategic management repertoire. for instance, how value creation and value capture articulate with competitive advantage remains an open debate. although we cannot discuss all the concepts that have come to the fore in what can be labelled today as “business model thinking”, in this paper we elaborate on what we believe could be the consequences of the business model approach for the concept of the environment—a central element in strategy. this article has therefore been conceived as an essay. it is not our goal here to extensively review the literature on business models or to empirically study its position in the current landscape of strategic management. instead, our argument is more speculative. fifteen years of 1 research on business models, introducing concepts, frameworks and a new approach on the organization and their performance (lecocq, demil & ventura, 2010), have spurred the emergence of an innovative perspective on the environment. in this paper, we take a pragmatist approach to tentatively detail the main features of this new conception of the environment of the organization that is currently changing the face of strategic management in both research and practice. this pragmatist approach lies specifically in the rejection of a representational view of the environment (lorino, 2018: 28-33) where means and ends are considered sequentially and representation determines action. we contend, on the contrary, that the environment is experienced by organizations during action. we build on the idea that “business ecosystem” is not just a new term for “environment”. indeed, the term “ecosystem” has to be fully articulated with the concepts of ‘business model’ and ‘environment’ to fully release its potential insights. we qualify the new perspective on the environment of the organization and discuss its consequences for the practice and discipline of strategic management. this essay is organized as follows. first, we discuss the assumptions about the environment of the organization in the traditional perspective, shedding light on the self-fulfilling prophecy on the importance of the industry as a factor determining performance. second, we discuss the particularities of the business model as a research programme, describing how it promotes a new perspective on the environment. in the third section, we show that “business ecosystems” (most often organized around platforms of products, technology or markets) are increasingly replacing the dominant view of industry as the focal level of analysis for strategic management. fourth, we advance an original perspective on the concept of the business ecosystem as a selected environment. finally, in the fifth section, we contend that viewing the competitive landscape as being selected has consequences for practice and research in strategic management. �1214 1. for a recent and detailed review of the literature on business models, see for instance massa et al. (2017). “business model thinking” business ecosystems and platforms m@n@gement, vol. 21(4): 1213-1228 t h e t r a d i t i o n a l p e r s p e c t i v e o f t h e environment within strategic management and t h e s e l f f u l f i l l i n g p r o p h e c y o f t h e importance of industry t h e e n v i r o n m e n t — u n d e r s t o o d a s t h e e l e m e n t s o u t s i d e organizational boundaries—is central to strategic management. for years it has been considered as an element that should be understood and analysed when making decisions about strategy. the modern view of the environment of the firm can be traced back to the 1950s when an open-system view of organizations developed (katz & khan, 1966). this view was echoed and further developed in strategy through the lcag model (learned, christensen, andrews & guth, 1965) and the work of porter (1979), who suggested that firms have to navigate a task environment composed of suppliers, customers and competitors. later, strategy took greater account of the institutional dimension of the environment as an important driving force (see, for instance, carroll & huo, 1986; zucker, 1987). this perspective of the environment largely dominates the practice of strategy where senior executives and consultants tend to adopt a very homogeneous treatment of the environment in the strategy process. indeed, we can identify several main assumptions about the environment that can be found in most textbooks and strategy classrooms: 1. analysis of the environment comes first in the strategy process; 2. environment has an ontological reality; 3. key structuring elements of the environment include micro/macro environment and industry as a focal level of analysis; 4. first-order performance of an organization comes from the choice of the industry in which to operate; and 5. second-order performance of an organization comes from the fit of this organization with its environment. environment comes first in the strategy process. in strategic management, the environment is considered to be the first element that should be examined. strategy begins with an analysis of the environment, and it is often considered impossible to craft a strategy without a deep analysis of the context of the organization. strategic management practice relies on various frameworks (for instance porter’s five forces) to help managers and consultants structure and improve their analysis of the environment. this analysis is intended to put forward the main drivers and structuring elements of the performance of organizations. environment has an ontological reality. most strategic management practice is based on the assumption that the environment is given and has an ontological reality. components of the environment are conceived as objective, and, above all, as imposing their constraints on a focal organization. of course, the environment may eventually be interpreted differently by some actors who may find opportunities that are unseen by most other actors (barney, 1986; kirzner, 1973). clearly, some authors go further in suggesting that the environment can be viewed differently, giving more importance to the interpretation of actors and suggesting that an ontological approach to the environment is inappropriate (for instance, daft & weick, 1984). from this point of view, � 1215 m@n@gement, vol. 21(4): 1213-1228 benoît demil & xavier lecocq & vanessa warnier organizations are interpretative systems and actors have to make sense of equivocal contexts (weick, 1995). this last view is more interpretative. however, it should be noted that this is not the main approach adopted in organizations’ strategic management practice. when it comes to the practice of strategy, realistic assumptions on the ontology of the environment largely dominate, and tools are created to facilitate this analysis of the deterministic environment. key structuring elements of the environment include micro/ macro environment and industry as a focal level of analysis. the environment of an organization can generally be described at the micro level (i.e. the immediate task environment of the organization) and at the macro level (i.e. the general environment). porter’s five forces (porter, 1979) provide a framework for analysing the micro environment, while the pest (political-economic-social-technological) or pestel (politicaleconomic-social-technological-ecological-legal) model operates at the macro level. this is also, to some extent, the case for the cage distance framework, which analyses the cultural, administrative, geographic and economic differences between countries when companies are crafting their international strategy (ghemawat, 2001). since the seminal work of michael porter (1979), the concept of “industry” has been considered to be another important structuring element in the analysis of the environment. industry (or sector) appears as the main level of analysis in strategic management. competition, entry barriers and strategic groups are only some examples of central concepts in strategy associated with industry. the prominence of industry analysis in strategic management has largely driven the assimilation of environment to industry with a focus on horizontal structuration of economic organization. to take a fresh look at strategy, gadiesh and gilbert (1998) propose the need to adopt a more vertical view of economic organization. they advance the need to analyse the “profit pool” to help companies increase their profitability and growth. the authors define a profit pool as the total profits earned at all points along the industry’s value chain. the profit pool approach gives insights for the strategy of companies. however, it is worth noting that this vertical view has not made an impact on the field of strategy and that industry remains the dominant level of analysis and action domain of companies. first-order performance of an organization comes from the choice of the industry in which to operate. in the practice of strategic management practice, the performance of an organization tends to be explained, firstly, by the industry in which it has chosen to operate. this assumption comes from the industrial organization perspective and has been much debated (rumelt, 1991). however, portfolio matrices and porterian approach are based on the idea that the characteristics of some industries may lead them to better performance. the choice of the industry is, then, the most important choice in the first stage of the strategic decision-making process. thus, industry, as the main element of the environment, explains the first-order performance of the organization. by “first-order performance”, we do not mean that the choice of the industry necessarily comes first in the strategy process, nor do we mean that industry, in this view, explains a more important part of the performance of a company. we simply consider that, in this mindset, “first-order performance” is what comes first in the order of things. �1216 “business model thinking” business ecosystems and platforms m@n@gement, vol. 21(4): 1213-1228 second-order performance of an organization comes from the fit of the organization with its environment. once a choice has been made about the industry in which to operate, the organization can improve its performance by increasing its fit with the environment. indeed, in the traditional view and practice of strategy, companies must adapt to their environmental conditions. the performance of an organization is explained, secondly (in the logical order), by its fit with its environment. once again, this point has been debated and criticized (child, 1972), but this line of reasoning remains dominant in strategic management practice and is associated, for instance, with the traditional concept of “key success factors” that continues to play a central role in strategic thinking within organizations. indeed, key success factors, identified through observation of the characteristics of industry leaders, must be implemented by organizations if they want to achieve good performance in their industry. key success factors consequently appear to be the “one best way” in each sector. in concluding this section, one may ask whether, under the traditional approach to the environment, the various assumptions described above do not lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy. indeed, companies are supposed to engage at a given time in one or several industries (the more attractive ones) and in each industry they all adopt the same business model to fit with what they think are the key success factors (identified through the common factors shared by the leaders in the industry). consequently, the variance in performance is therefore greater between industries than within an industry, confirming the dominant approach of the environment whereby the performance of companies is essentially influenced by the industry lifecycle. in the end, in the traditional view of strategic management companies are considered to have one purpose (seeking competitive advantage, i.e. supernormal return profit) and a very limited set of predefined means of doing this (strategic manoeuvres), such as the generic strategies. thus, the number of options is very low and there is little room for creativity. business models as a research programme in the field of management over the last 15 years, use of the term “business model” has boomed. business models have paved the way to new conceptions for setting up new companies, but they have also driven the transformation of incumbents. at a theoretical level, business models have also impacted various fields, such as the management of information systems or technology management (wirtz, pistoia, ullrich & göttel, 2016). today, the term can be used to designate several things, which is a source of confusion. for instance, massa et al. (2017) point out that business model can designate a real attribute of a firm, a cognitive schema or a conceptual representation of an activity. beyond these ontological issues, in our view, depending on the context, the business model may designate a concept, a framework or a new perspective on organizations and their performance. this perspective has grown in the field of strategy, leading to what may be called “business model thinking”. � 1217 m@n@gement, vol. 21(4): 1213-1228 benoît demil & xavier lecocq & vanessa warnier if porter (2001) criticized the term “business model” as a fuzzy buzzword, today we can consider it as a concept in itself. for the philosophers deleuze and guattari (1991), a concept must be considered as a means to illuminate reality in a new way, giving different meanings to other concepts through new connections. moreover, new concepts may also perform reality because meanings and actions are intertwined (weick, 1995). concepts are consequently neither true nor false. under the pragmatist approach we are adopting here, some concepts are only better than others if they bring new insights and new meanings to the world. indeed, business model has renewed the meaning of some concepts such as those of value, ecosystem or strategic innovation. the concept also promotes a different view of organizations and their performance. these characteristics have led us to consider it as a new research programme in the field of strategy (demil, lecocq, ricart & zott, 2015; lecocq et al., 2010). this research programme (lakatos, 1980) differs from dominant strategic programmes, such as porterian or resource-based approaches, by adopting other assumptions that produce new consequences (lecocq et al., 2010). first, business model has rested on a configurational approach of organizations since the first studies on the topic (demil & lecocq, 2010; zott & amit, 2010). in this view, a business model is theorized as a sum of interacting elements that produce a performance. authors agree on this point, although they may have different views on the nature of the interacting elements (zott, amit & massa, 2011). second, a business model perspective focuses on the interaction between what an organization offers (its value propositions) and how it produces value with and for its stakeholders (its organization). this point lies at the heart of most of the conceptions (baden-fuller & mangematin, 2013). in entrepreneurship, george and bock point out, for instance, that “a business model is the design of organizational structures to enact a commercial opportunity” (2011: 99). third, performance appraisal takes various forms depending on the project of the actors. social entrepreneurs, for instance, may have different evaluation criteria to traditional for-profit organizations (yunus, moingeon & lehmann-ortega, 2010). thus, the traditional concept of competitive advantage is not considered as the cornerstone of this perspective. for social entrepreneurs—and probably most entrepreneurs—it has no sense. on the contrary, by promoting value creation and value capture mechanisms, the business model perspective allows various organizational forms to perform differently. finally, compared to the dominant research programmes in strategic management, the environment plays a specific role. from an entrepreneurial perspective, organizations select their environment more than they are selected by it (lecocq & demil, 2006). we will come back to this specific point later. the research on business models has largely been determined by these assumptions (warnier, lecocq & demil, 2018). for instance, the creative implementation of the configurational approach is most often developed through a design thinking approach (johansson-sköldberg et al., 2013). the logic of “modelling” (mangematin & baden-fuller, 2015) also enables prototypes of business models to be produced to “test and learn” from experimentation. this logic is now largely diffused among entrepreneurs and incumbent companies. the business model innovation �1218 “business model thinking” business ecosystems and platforms m@n@gement, vol. 21(4): 1213-1228 literature also distinguishes between the design of business models for new activities and the reconfiguration of business models for incumbents (massa & tucci, 2014). in any case, a business model is likely to produce high performance when managers create virtuous circles in the interactions between its elements (casadesus-masanell & ricart, 2010). from a managerial perspective, the business model stream has brought creativity in economic or social activities to the fore when discussing the creation of new ventures or new activities within existing companies (massa & tucci, 2014). whereas the strategic field is traditionally focused on analysis and provides little opportunity for creativity —except in frameworks such as blue ocean (kim & mauborgne, 2004), disruption (christensen, 1997) or strategic innovation (markides, 1998)— arend (2013) points out that the business model perspective is fundamentally a creative one, as it tries to innovate and to find new ways to manage an activity beyond “business as usual”. this “business model thinking”, which puts creativity at the heart of strategy, is opposed to the “one best way”, which characterizes the traditional strategy approach. several methods have been proposed in the literature to design innovative business models, targeting entrepreneurs or students (lund, byrge & nielsen, 2017). these methods may use analogy with existing business models in other industries, geographical areas or historical periods to stimulate reflections and envisage innovative ways to create and capture value (martins, rindova & greenbaum, 2015; rumble & minto, 2017). to support the design phase, several frameworks and tools have been created, such as the canvas (osterwalder & pigneur, 2010), the rcov framework (demil & lecocq, 2010), the grp model (verstraete & jouison-laffitte, 2011) or, more recently, the business model navigator (gassmann, frankenberger & csik, 2014). in each of these models, the role of the environment is reduced and embeds predominantly elements of the micro-environment of a focal organization (zott & amit, 2010). articulating business ecosystem and the environment of organizations  the specific approach of the environment in the business model literature has led, in the last few years, to the re-emergence of the notion of the business ecosystem (lecocq, mangematin, maucuer & ronteau, 2018). however, there is a need to disentangle the notions of business ecosystem and environment. indeed, to be a valuable concept, business ecosystem needs to describe something different to the previous concepts that might play a similar function in strategic management. in this section, we advance a particular articulation of environment and ecosystem. performing the business ecosystem through business model choices the business ecosystem concept (moore, 1993, 1996) has regained interest recently despite the critical comments about its foundations and definitional aspects (see koenig, 2012 for a very detailed account). we connect this new interest in the concept to the rise of the business model perspective and to the blurring of industry boundaries that is occurring in numerous industries. both concepts are related but, while business model usually focuses on focal organizations, business ecosystem develops a specific view of environment. � 1219 m@n@gement, vol. 21(4): 1213-1228 benoît demil & xavier lecocq & vanessa warnier based on a biological metaphor, moore (1993, 1996) defines an ecosystem as a community of interconnected heterogeneous actors with complementary competences and participating in a value-creation process. this process generally requires the management of interdependencies between actors, eventually orchestrated by a leading organization (gawer & cusumano, 2013), and a balance between cooperation and competition among actors. this view maintains that ecosystem differs fundamentally from the concept of environment. another characteristic of ecosystem is what it encompasses. indeed, it does not comprise only heterogeneous actors but also technologies, regulations or physical infrastructures. a typical example of this can be found in the recent development of digital platforms connecting multiple stakeholders by offering a technological interface. from a focal standpoint, the ecosystem may be defined as the part of the environment with which an organization interacts. consequently, in a pragmatist view, the ecosystem is performed by the choices—deliberate, emergent or constrained—made by an organization concerning its business model (warnier et al., 2018). indeed, as developed by hannah and eisenhardt (2018), firms have various choices for navigating nascent ecosystems. they may follow a positioning logic driven by the search for bargaining power, a competency logic driven by their pre-existing capabilities or a bottleneck logic driven by entering bottleneck components of the ecosystem to create value. through the design and implementation choices encapsulated in a business model, a company chooses its stakeholders and its importance (i.e. its bargaining power) in the ecosystem. this means that the nature of competitors or the technological infrastructure within which an organization evolves depends on these choices. to some extent, even the regulations applied to an organization depend on business model choices. for instance, as demonstrated by dewitte, billows and lecocq (2017), over the last 50 years, french food mass retailers have managed to avoid certain retail regulations by introducing a new business model when new laws have come into force. thus, the ecosystem that an organization navigates results from the decisions of top management. such a view is getting over with the artificial separation between task environment and institutional environment. choices in the business model and their consequences may be presented succinctly through our rcov framework (demil & lecocq, 2010), in which the business model encompasses three main interacting components: resources and competences, internal and external organization and value proposition (see table 1). �1220 “business model thinking” business ecosystems and platforms m@n@gement, vol. 21(4): 1213-1228 table 1. examples of choices in a business model and consequences for the ecosystem from a focal view to an ecosystemic view if the ecosystem is selected by the choice of a business model, it follows that each business model defines a specific ecosystem. at the focal level, the activity of an entrepreneur generally takes place in an ambiguous context, especially for an innovating business model. entrepreneurs generally have to ensure economic viability and at the same time legitimate their activities, acting concurrently at the institutional and task levels (van de ven, 1993). at an individual level, entrepreneurs must establish relationships, translating objectives into interest for other actors to build irreversibility and to gather resources (latour, 1992). new business models require the progressive construction and connection of heterogeneous elements to change an organization or create a new one (demil & lecocq, 2015). consequently, entrepreneurial work encompasses activities related to the framing of the project (doganova & eyquem-renault, 2009). the goal is, then, to convince and enrol other actors to gain support and open up new opportunities. entrepreneurs must also progressively establish social and material boundaries for their activities (lamont & molnàr, 2002; santos & eisenhardt, 2009). the previously mentioned activities are led from a focal standpoint. however, beyond individual actions to give flesh to their projects, entrepreneurs must also act at a collective level (schultz, marin & boal, 2014; van de ven, 1993). their business model opens up opportunities to create and capture value at the ecosystem level by establishing dyadic or collective relationships with customers, suppliers, complementors, regulators, competitors and so on. at a dyadic level, this may concern, for instance, the competencies required for building value proposition or organizational arrangements to have access to resources such as brand or intellectual property. at a collective level, the creation of professional associations or technological standards are actions that are likely to affect the legitimacy and economic viability of individual companies (david, sine & haveman, 2013). by establishing these relationships and matching their business models, entrepreneurs crystallize their value creation and value capture mechanisms at an inter-organizational level. at this stage, the business ecosystem exists on its own as an aggregate and not only as a view from the focal point of a given company. choices on… examples of choices consequences on… resources and competences using non-strategic resources developing own technological standard availability of resources in factor markets no need for partners to develop technology organization interacting with new partners direct selling bargaining power of stakeholders no need for distributors value proposition targeting unusual customers discriminating through prices intensity of competition type of customers served � 1221 m@n@gement, vol. 21(4): 1213-1228 benoît demil & xavier lecocq & vanessa warnier the new perspective on the environment of the organization based on the previous discussion, we contend that a new perspective on the environment has gradually appeared over the last ten years, fuelled—at least partially—by business model thinking. instead of promoting a deterministic conception of the environment or a fit that is imperative as a precondition of performance, it promotes the selection of the relevant environment. depending on the choices concerning its business model, an organization will insert its activities into an existing ecosystem or participate in building a new one (lecocq & demil, 2006; lecocq et al., 2010), defining which part of the environment is relevant for the organization. in this perspective, aggregates such as, industries, profit pools or markets, are no longer the ultimate references. horizontal and vertical structures are increasingly being replaced by an ecosystemic mindset in the cognitive repertoire of managers (lecocq et al., 2018). major trends such as digitalization or new social challenges are fuelling the need for a new perspective on value creation and value capture (amit & zott, 2001) and call for new organizational aggregates. needless to say, numerous industries such as transportation, energy, it and retailing are being shaken by these trends. coordination between actors is more frequently being operated through platforms, creating constellations of heterogeneous actors (individuals and/or organizations from various sectors) around a product, a resource or a technology. these platforms are empirically diverse, but a first distinction can be made between internal and external ones (gawer & cusumano, 2013). an internal platform can be defined as a set of assets from which a company will develop and produce a stream of derivative products. external platforms also propose services, technologies or products but provide the foundations upon which external actors will develop their own value proposition, such as the ecosystem built around the android operating system. in this second case, value creation is strongly associated with the direct or indirect externalities that the platform generates. these platforms enable the emergence of new, large-scale, multisided markets that cut across the traditional industries. we believe that this explains the development of the ecosystemic view—both among managers and academics—which is replacing the traditional industry mindset where collective actions used to appear at the sector level. in this perspective, the first-order performance of a focal company comes from its ability to conceive creatively or choose a business model that could create high value for the “client(s)” while also capturing high value for the focal organization (in the form of revenues). second-order performance lies in the ability to concretely implement the targeted business model, creating virtuous circles (casadesus-masanell & ricart, 2010). thus, the second-order performance comes essentially from the ability to build an ecosystem that makes the envisaged business model of the company effective. indeed, many companies fail to deliver or capture value because they are unable to wholly implement the business model they have designed or chosen. their incapacity to implement their business model can be the result of internal issues, but most of the time it arises from their difficulty in implementing the ecosystem that has been idealized. for example, many organizations fail to attract customers in the �1222 “business model thinking” business ecosystems and platforms m@n@gement, vol. 21(4): 1213-1228 way they imagined, some do not get the support of banks, and others are not followed by the producers of the complementary offers necessary for the creation of a complete system of products and services. these are only examples of cases where the business model that has been designed is not implemented in its ideal form. a consequence of first-order and second-order performance, in our perspective, (see table 2) is that the variance in performance can eventually be greater within a given industry than between industries. thus, instead of considering that we should observe more variance in performance across industries, this perspective recognizes that variance in performance among organizations comes from creativity (in the conception of the business model) and good implementation (of the business model), leaving room for important differences in performance within a given industry. table 2. the traditional and the renewed approach to the environment s e l e c t i n g t h e c o m p e t i t i v e l a n d s c a p e : consequences for research and practice  business model thinking offers a new perspective on the development of activities. as the concept is now widely being used and diffused among managers, it is not just an academic concept. companies are implementing this configurational and creative approach when considering their development. adopting a business model perspective does not mean that the environment is neglected in the strategy process. however, the environment is not considered as deterministic, and the company does not have to fit with it or to try to change it (through non-market actions, for instance). the argument we have advanced here is not a constructivist one. we do not contend that environment is interpreted in different ways. rather, we adopt a pragmatist posture that looks at how the business model is performing in the ecosystem within a broader environment (see figure 1). it is the business model that therefore selects the relevant environment. dimension traditional approach to the environment renewed approach to the environment role of the environment to be analysed for strategic decisions resources and actors to build value creation and value capture processes nature of the environment given performed relation between firms and the environment organization looks for fit with the environment organization selects the environment that will matter: the ecosystem key element structuring the analysis sector/industry ecosystem main variance in performance inter-industry among firms whether they are in the same industry or not � 1223 m@n@gement, vol. 21(4): 1213-1228 benoît demil & xavier lecocq & vanessa warnier figure 1. the interactions between the business model of the organization, the ecosystem and the environment in the business model approach, strategic management departs from the “one best way” of traditional approaches to integrate the various ways to deploy resources, to create and capture value, and to consider a venture as a success based on the various key performance indicators (kpis) defined with the business model (profit, growth, creation of social value, etc.). as argued in this essay, in business model thinking the environment is considered differently than in the traditional view of strategy. first, the environment is not given and the environment is not the same for every organization in a given industry. the environment that an organization faces (its ecosystem) is performed through its business model. thus, each organization is potentially involved in a different ecosystem, partially or largely defined by its choices. indeed, the more entrepreneurs and managers are creative in the design of their business model, the more the ecosystem of the organization will be unique and chosen instead of imposed by the dominant mindset in the industry. and, the more the competitors imitate each other in terms of their business models, the more their ecosystem will be shared and similar, and traditional strategic tools will produce the self-fulfilling prophecy where performance is mainly explained by industry characteristics. a consequence of this first point is that the competitive landscape is selected by each organization when defining its business model. another consequence is that traditional concepts of strategy (entry barriers, competition intensity, bargaining power with suppliers or customers, etc.) should be applied after the choice of business model has been made and not ex ante at the industry level. second, the ability to implement a business model relies essentially on the negotiations and interactions with the stakeholders selected by the choice or design of a business model. customers, suppliers, retailers, competitors, complementors and others must accept their role and be convinced to interact in the value creation and value capture processes under the conditions expected by the focal organization. in this view, major failures arise from the inability to build an effective ecosystem, such as in the case of mobile payment solutions where actors failed to create a coalition (ozcan & santos, 2015). this point has often been made in the innovation and platform literatures. for instance, gawer and cusumano (2013) recommend sharing a vision and rallying complementors to cocreate an ecosystem. this encompasses, among other things, working on legitimacy within the ecosystem, accepting the sharing of risks with complementors, and creating an articulated set of mutually enhancing business models for the different actors in the ecosystem. this is a central stake as most of the literature and practice associated with business models is largely focused on the design of focal business models. this implies also that the cognitive dimension of the �1224 “business model thinking” business ecosystems and platforms m@n@gement, vol. 21(4): 1213-1228 business model, which is central (baden-fuller & morgan, 2010: martins et al., 2015), should not lead to underestimating the importance of concrete implementation and management of the model so that it operates as anticipated when it is designed. thus, the relevant environment, as a performed ecosystem to interact with (more than as a set of constraints to fit with), is important in the business model perspective. the business model literature and strategic management practice in the current environment should take full account of this new mindset to understand performance levers. third, business models and ecosystems are not static but co-evolve (lewin & volberda, 1999). once defined, ecosystems, progressively constrain the business models (as depicted in figure 1), as they are constituted by relationships and investments that may be difficult to change over time due to sunk costs and path dependence. but ecosystems also change through mutual interaction (lewin & volberda, 1999) and therefore offer new opportunities for the evolution of the business models (hannah & eisenhardt, 2018). an ecosystem may evolve because of the introduction of new partners or the development of new technologies and infrastructures. similarly, a business model may produce less growth than expected (for example, because customers may be reluctant to pay the prices) or profits may decline. these situations may require small adjustments to the business model or a major reconfiguration (often referred to by the expression popular among entrepreneurs: “to pivot” a business model). but business models and ecosystems do not evolve only as a result of poor performance. indeed, they may change over time as the companies gradually discover their ecosystem in a logic of effectuation (sarasvathy, 2001). new partners are found, experience accumulates, and needs of customers are discovered. these new elements provide many opportunities for rejuvenating business models. for academics, this opens significant avenues for further research, as the progressive discovery of the performed ecosystem has not been explored, to the best of our knowledge. references amit r. & zott c. (2001). value creation in e-business. strategic management journal, 22(6), 493-520. arend r. (2013). the business model: present and f u t u r e . b e y o n d a s k e u m o r p h . s t r a t e g i c organization, 11(4), 390-402. baden-fuller c. & mangematin v. (2013). business m o d e l s : a c h a l l e n g i n g a g e n d a . s t r a t e g i c organization, 11(4), 418-427. baden-fuller c. & morgan m.s. (2010.) business models as models. long range planning, 43(2), 156-171. barney j.b. (1986). strategic factor markets: expectations, luck, and business strategy. management science, 32(10), 1231-1241. carroll g.r. & huo y.p. (1986). organizational task and i n s t i t u t i o n a l e n v i r o n m e n t s i n e c o l o g i c a l perspective: findings from the local newspaper industry. american journal of sociology, 91(4), 838-873. casadesus-masanell r. & ricart j.e. (2010). from strategy to business models and onto tactics. long range planning, 43(2), 195-215. chesbrough h. & rosenbloom r.s. (2002). the role of the business model in capturing value from innovation: evidence from xerox corporation’s technology spin-off companies. industrial and corporate change, 11(3), 529-555. child j. (1972). organizational structure, environment and performance: the role of strategic choice. sociology, 6(1), 1-22. christensen c.m. (1997), the innovator’s dilemma, boston, ma: harvard business school press. daft r.l. & weick k.e. (1984). toward a model of organizations as interpretation systems. the academy of management review, 9(2), 284-295. � 1225 m@n@gement, vol. 21(4): 1213-1228 benoît demil & xavier lecocq & vanessa warnier david r.j., sine w.d. & haveman h.a. (2013). seizing opportunity in emerging fields: how institutional entrepreneurs legitimated the professional form of management consulting. organization science, 24(2), 356-377. deleuze g. & guattari f. (1991), qu’est-ce que la philosophie? paris: les editions de minuit. demil b. & lecocq x. (2010). business model evolution: in search of dynamic consistency. long range planning, 43(2), 227-246. demil b. & lecocq x. (2015). crafting an innovative business model in an established company: the r o l e o f a r t i f a c t s . a d v a n c e s i n s t r a t e g i c management, 33, 31-58.  demil b., lecocq x., ricart j.e. & zott c. (2015). introduction to the sej special issue on business models: business models within the domain of s t r a t e g i c e n t r e p r e n e u r s h i p . s t r a t e g i c entrepreneurship journal, 9(1), 1-11. dewitte a., billows s. & lecocq x. (2017). turning regulation into business opportunities: a brief history of french food mass retailing (1949– 2015). business history, 1-22. doganova l. & eyquem-renault m. (2009). what do business models do?: innovation devices in technology entrepreneurship. research policy, 38(10), 1559-1570. gadiesh o. & gilbert j.l. (1998). profit pools: a fresh look at strategy. harvard business review, 76(3), 139-147. gassmann o., frankenberger k. & csik m. (2014), the business model navigator: 55 models that will revolutionise your business, harlow: pearson uk. gawer a. & cusumano m. (2013). industry platforms and ecosystem innovation. journal of product innovation management, 31(3), 417-433. george g. & bock a.j. (2011). the business model in practice and its implications for entrepreneurship research. entrepreneurship theory and practice, 35(1), 83-111. ghemawat p. (2001). distance still matters: the hard reality of global expansion. harvard business review, 79(8), 137-147. hannah d.p. & eisenhardt k.m. (2018). how firms navigate cooperation and competition in nascent ecosystems. strategic management journal, special issue, 1-30. katz d. & kahn r.l. (1966), the social psychology of organizations, new york, ny: john wiley. kim w.c. & mauborgne r. (2004), blue ocean strategy: how to create uncontested market space and make the competition irrelevant, boston, ma: harvard business school press. kirzner i. (1973), competition and entrepreneurship, chicago, il: university of chicago press. koenig g. (2012). le concept d’écosystème d’affaires revisité. m@n@gement, 15(2), 209-224. lakatos i. (1980), the methodology of scientific research programmes, volume 1: philosophical papers, cambridge: cambridge university press. lamont m. & molnàr v. (2002). the study of boundaries in the social sciences. annual review of sociology, 28(1), 167-195. latour b. (1992), aramis ou l'amour des techniques, paris: la découverte. learned e.p., christensen c.r., andrews k.r. & guth w.d. (1965), business policy, text and cases, homewood, il: irwin. lecocq x. & demil b. (2006). strategizing industry structure: the case of open systems in a lowtech industry’. strategic management journal, 27(9), 891-898. lecocq x., demil b. & ventura j. (2010). business models as a research program in strategic management: an appraisal based on lakatos. m@n@gement, 13(4), 214-225. lecocq, x., mangematin, v., maucuer, r. & ronteau, s. (2018). du modèle d’affaires à l’écosystème : comprendre les transformations en cours. finance contrôle stratégie, [en ligne], ns-1, advance online publication, http://journals.openedition.org/fcs/ 2072 ; doi : 10.4000/fcs.2072 lewin a.y. & volberda h. (1999). prolegomena on coevolution: a framework for research and new organizational forms. organization science, 10(5), 519-534. lorino p. (2018), pragmatism and organization studies, oxford: oxford university press. lund m., byrge c. & nielsen c. (2017). from creativity to new venture creation: a conceptual model of training for original and useful business modelling. journal of creativity and business innovation, 3(1), 65-88. mangematin v. & baden-fuller c. (eds.). (2015). introduction: business models and modelling business models. in business models and modelling (pp. pp. xi-xxii). bingley: emerald group publishing. �1226 http://journals.openedition.org/fcs/2072 http://journals.openedition.org/fcs/2072 “business model thinking” business ecosystems and platforms m@n@gement, vol. 21(4): 1213-1228 markides c. (1998). strategic innovation in established companies. sloan management review, 39(3), 31-42. martins l.l., rindova v.p. & greenbaum b.e. (2015). unlocking the hidden value of concepts: a cognitive approach to business model innovation. strategic entrepreneurship journal, 9(1), 99-117. massa l. & tucci c.l. (2014). business model innovation. in m. dodgson, d.m. gann & n. phillips (eds.), the oxford handbook of innovation management (pp. 420-441). oxford  : oxford university press. massa l., tucci c.l. & afuah a. (2017). a critical assessment of business model research. academy of management annals, 11(1), 73-104. moore j.f. (1993). predators and prey: a new ecology of competition. harvard business review, 71(3), 75-83. moore j.f. (1996), the death of competition: leadership and strategy in the age of business ecosystem, new york, ny: harperbusiness. osterwalder a. & pigneur y. (2010), business model generation: a handbook for visionaries, game changers and challengers, hoboken, nj: john wiley & sons. ozcan, p. & santos, f.m. (2015). the market that never was: turf wars and failed alliances in mobile payments. strategic management journal, 36(10), 1486-1512. porter m.e. (1979). how competitive forces shape strategy. harvard business review, 57(2), 137-145. porter m.e. (2001). strategy and the internet. harvard business review, 79, 62-78. rumble r. & minto n.a. (2017). how to use analogies for creative business modelling. journal of business strategy, 38(2), 76-82. rumelt r.p. (1991). how much does industry matter? strategic management journal, 12(3), 167-185. santos f.m. & eisenhardt k.m. (2009). constructing markets and shaping boundaries: entrepreneurial a g e n c y i n n a s c e n t f i e l d s . a c a d e m y o f management journal, 52(4), 643-671. sarasvathy s.d. (2001). causation and effectuation: toward a theoretical shift from economic inevitability to entrepreneurial contingency. academy of management review, 26(2), 243-263. schultz p.l., marin a. & boal k.b. (2014). the impact of media on the legitimacy of new market categories: the case of broadband internet. journal of business venturing, 29(1), 34-54. van de ven a.h. (1993). the development of an infrastructure for entrepreneurship. journal of business venturing, 8(3), 211-230. verstraete t. & jouison-laffitte e. (2011), a business model for entrepreneurship, cheltenham: edward elgar publishing. warnier v., lecocq x. & demil b. (2018). les business models dans les champs de l'innovation et de l'entrepreneuriat. discussion et pistes de recherche. revue de l'entrepreneuriat, 17(2), 113-131. weick k.e. (1995), sensemaking in organizations, thousand oaks, ca: sage. wirtz b.w., pistoia a., ullrich s. & göttel v. (2016). business models: origin, development and future research perspectives. long range planning, 49(1), 36-54. yunus m., moingeon b. & lehmann-ortega l. (2010). building social business models: lessons from the grameen experience. long range planning, 43(2-3), 308-325. zott c. & amit r. (2010). business model design: an activity perspective. long range planning, 43(2-3), 216-226. zott c., amit r. & massa l. (2011). the business model: recent developments and future research. journal of management, 37(4), 1019-1042. zucker l.g. (1987). institutional theories of organization. annual review of sociology, 13, 443-464. � 1227 m@n@gement, vol. 21(4): 1213-1228 benoît demil & xavier lecocq & vanessa warnier benoît demil is professor of strategic management and innovation at the university of lille (iae), france. he is currently president of the french association of strategic management (aims) and former director of lille economics and management (lem), a cnrs lab. his research interests cover strategic management and entrepreneurship, and more particularly business model approach and business history. his research has been published in ranked french and international journals such as revue française de gestion, long range planning, m@n@gement, strategic management journal, organization studies. he is also a co-author of stratégie et business models (pearson, 2013). xavier lecocq is professor in strategic management and innovation at the university of lille (iae), france, and at ieseg school of management, france. his research deals with business models and with collaborative forms of organization (open source, crowdsourcing, networks, collaborative innovation, etc.) and has been published in journals such as advances in strategic management, business history, california management review, long range planning, m@n@gement, mit sloan management review, organization studies, revue française de gestion, strategic entrepreneurship journal, strategic management journal. he is an associate editor of european management review. vanessa warnier is professor in strategic management and innovation at university of lille (iae), france. she is a researcher at lem (umr cnrs 9221). her research is dedicated to the renewal of resource-based view and to business models. her work has been published among others in management decision, mit sloan management review and revue française de gestion. vanessa has also authored several books about strategic management and business models. acknowledgments: the authors would like to thank all the colleagues who made helpful comments on previous versions of this work. we are particularly grateful to alain desreumaux, frédéric garcias, zoé le squeren, jonathan sambugaro and xavier weppe. �1228 04 214 cabantous&sergi 2018 m@n@gement 2018, vol. 21(4): 1229-1243 seeing the potentialities at the intersection: a reflection on performativity and processuality mindsets laure cabantous ! viviane sergi abstract. in this paper, we propose to approach performativity and processuality as mindsets. we suggest that researchers interested by or pursuing performative studies should recognize more explicitly the inherent processuality of performativity. after offering broad overviews on performativity and process thinking, we highlight that both mindsets rest on a similar view of reality as processual, and both share a strong commitment to qualitative empirical work. in spite of the differences that exist between the two mindsets—such as their treatment of agency, the place of socio-materiality and their approach to continuity and change—we contend that acknowledging and engaging more directly with processuality benefits performative studies, as it helps these studies to deal with some of the challenges they often face. in doing so, performative studies could refine their analyses of managerial and organizational phenomena and would also increase their contribution to our field. keywords: performativity, process thinking, management and organization studies introduction the last two decades or so have been quite exciting in management and organization studies, both in empirical and conceptual terms. a vast array of new topics has entered our research field, expanding our area of interest. similarly, concepts that are new to our discipline have inspired researchers to shed light on unexplored dimensions of management and organizations. performativity is one of these concepts. building on different research traditions, organization scholars have mobilized the concept of performativity to study a variety of phenomena, ranging from the constitution of identities in the work place (e.g. rittenhofer & gatrell 2012), to the power effects of accountancy and strategy discourses (e.g. fauré, brummans, giroux & taylor, 2010; kornberger & clegg 2011), the multiple facets of the concept of performance and values (albu 2018; guérard, langley & seidl 2013; küpers 2017; reinhold 2017), the co-constitution of organizational theories and realities (e.g. cabantous & gond 2011; vásquez, bencherki, cooren, & sergi, 2018), and scholars’ subversive engagement and role in fostering emancipatory organizational change (e.g. esper. cabantous, barin cruz & gond, 2017; fleming & banerjee 2016; knudsen 2017). this variety in the mobilization of performativity has in turn prompted welcome reviews of the concept’s place in our field. these reviews have highlighted the diversity of research traditions (e.g. gond, cabantous, harding & learmonth, 2016) or discussed the commonalities �1229 laure cabantous cass business school city, university of london laure.cabantous.1@city.ac.uk viviane sergi esg uqam sergi.viviane@uqam.ca m@n@gement, vol. 21(4):1229-1243 laure cabantous & viviane sergi underlying them (e.g. muniesa 2014; 2018; garud, gehman & tharchen 2018). while we see clear potential in developing a performative research agenda in organization studies, especially for phenomena that have so far been approached from a representational perspective (e.g. garud, gehman & giuliani 2018), this paper’s spirit is different: our objective is not to review past performativity research in organization studies but to initiate a reflection on the similarities, differences and potential cross-fertilization between performative analyses of organizational phenomena and another tradition that has flourished in our field: process thinking.1 process thinking, another of these lively streams that has gained increasing recognition in organization studies over the past decades, made some of its first marked appearances in our field through the concept of becoming, as discussed by chia (1997, 1999), tsoukas and chia (2002) and nayak and chia (2011), whose contributions pointed to the potential of pragmatist philosophy for our explorations of organizational phenomena. furthermore, by acknowledging the relevance of this tradition for organizational thinking, these authors, as did hernes (2009, 2014) and cooper (as early as 1976, but also in his subsequent contributions), invited organization scholars to adopt a different ontology, a process ontology. 2 starting from the premise that performativity and processuality are mindsets—that is, specific takes on reality (or ways of approaching the world) combined with a given analytical apparatus—rather than unified theories, we propose in this piece to explore what the latter could bring to the former. beyond the diversity of topics addressed by performativity and processual scholars, and despite the fact that performativity and processuality studies come from different traditions, these two mindsets share at least two important commonalities: their methodological commitment and the idea that reality is processual. we propose in this piece to explore these commonalities, while also considering the differences between these two “sister” research streams, and ultimately to sketch some of the potentialities emerging from such a dialogue. specifically, we wrote our piece from the perspective of performative studies, whose processuality, as we contend, is often under-acknowledged. we therefore focus on the potentialities emerging from the explicit recognition of processuality in performative studies. our paper is organized as follows. we start with a broad overview of performativity and processuality. we then discuss the commonalities and differences between these two mindsets and outline some of the benefits that a deeper engagement with processuality can bring to performative studies in organization and management. we close the article with a few concluding remarks. it should be noted, at the outset, that our aim is neither to review the literature on performativity and process thinking, nor to delve into the minutiae of the internal debates that animate each of these streams. although some nuances will inevitably be lost by doing so, going into the details of each research tradition would divert us from exploring what lies at the intersection of the two streams. first overview: performativity performativity: a travelling concept. throughout the 20th century, the idea of performativity has travelled among many disciplines (denis 2006; �1230 1 . s e e a g g e r i ( 2 0 1 7 ) f o r a c o m p a r i s o n b e t w e e n performativity and two research streams in organization studies: f o u c a u l d i a n a n a l y s i s a n d instrument-based approach to organizations. 2. it should be noted that process ontology was not completely absent from our field before the turn of the millennium: karl weick’s thinking about organizing was already clearly alluding to a processual conception of what organizations are (see e.g. the social psychology of organizing, weick (1979), also discussed by hernes 2009, among others). seeing the potentialities at the intersection m@n@gement, vol. 21(4): 1229-1243 gond et al. 2016; loxley 2006). it has inspired the philosophers of language john austin and john searle; the french post-structuralist thinkers jacques derrida and jean-françois lyotard; as well as sociologists working in the field of science and technology studies, such as andrew pickering, michel callon and bruno latour. performativity is also a prominent feature of the work of two renowned american gender theorists, judith butler and karen barad. last but not least, it is key to the field of performance studies (loxley 2006). in fact, performativity has generated so many important thoughts in the social sciences that it would be difficult to review them all. in what follows, our aim, therefore, is not to offer an exhaustive panorama of the works inspired by the concept of performativity, but instead to distil the essence of what we propose to call the performative mindset. we do so by first presenting austin’s original idea of performative utterance and then outlining three versions of performativity developed in the field of science and technology studies. austin and the notion of performative utterances. the idea of performativity can be linked to the british philosopher john austin, who was concerned with the use of ordinary language and the relation between language and truth, statements and facts (austin 1962). unlike early-20th century philosophers such as bertrand russell, who supported the correspondence theory of truth, austin developed the idea that some utterances (e.g. “i sentence you to death”, “i promise to go to the cinema with you tomorrow”) do not describe (or constate, as he said, using a neologism borrowed from french) states of affairs, but change, transform or enact them. these utterances are “performative” in that they do not (just) “say” something, but rather “do” something. performative utterances hence are neither true nor false but are “happy” (i.e. felicitous) or “unhappy”. according to austin, two conditions are required for a performative utterance to be “happy”. first, a conventional procedure must exist and be followed. the sentence “i declare you husband and wife” for instance, is felicitous only if a wedding ceremony exists and is properly executed by the appropriate persons and in the right circumstances. second, the speaker’s intention is sincere. without these two felicity conditions, a performative utterance is infelicitous, i.e. it is a misfire. the performative idiom in science. the idea of performativity has also been used in the philosophy of science (e.g. hacking 1983) and social studies of science to formulate a critique against the traditional functionalist/positivist/representationalist view of science. for example, in their 1987 paper, the anthropologists shirley strum and bruno latour oppose an ostensive definition to a performative definition of the social link, and in so doing contrast two models of (scientific) knowledge production. while the ostensive model considers that society is “out there” and that scientists, “standing outside of society” (strum & latour, 1987: 785), aim at discovering society’s invariant “laws”, the performative model considers that “society is constructed through the many efforts to define it. it is something achieved in practice by all actors, including scientists who themselves strive to define what society is” (p. 785). the sociologist andrew pickering developed a similar critique of the traditional representationalist conception of science in his 1995 book titled the mangle of practice: agency and emergence in the sociology of science, where he advances a performative conception of scientific practice. for pickering, “the representational idiom casts science as, above all, an activity that seeks to represent nature, to produce knowledge that maps, mirrors or corresponds to how the world really is” (pickering, 1995, � 1231 m@n@gement, vol. 21(4):1229-1243 laure cabantous & viviane sergi p. 5). the performative idiom, on the contrary, moves away from this conception of “science-as-knowledge”. while acknowledging that scientific practice produces representations of the external world, this idiom invites us to “explore what the connections between knowledge and the world actually look like as they are made in scientific practice” (pickering, 1994: 417). importantly, pickering offers a performative inquiry of scientific practice that puts the emphasis on “the material, social, and temporal dimensions of science” (pickering,1995: 6) and gives a key role to nonhuman actants (such as scientific instruments). yet, an important characteristic of pickering’s approach, which is inspired by actor-network theory, is its post-humanist orientation, and, accordingly, its critique of a human-centred view of agency. in a similar fashion, the french sociologist and actor-network theorist michel callon has developed a performative analysis of economics (where economics is broadly defined to encompass economics in its strictest sense along with the related disciplines of finance, marketing, management, etc.). in his performativity of economics thesis, callon (1998, 2007) argues that economic models and theories do not describe an external pre-existing economy (made up of competitive markets and populated by utility-maximizer consumers, profit-maximizing firms, etc.), but participate in the construction of the economy (see also mackenzie, muniesa & liu 2007). generally, callon defines (theory) performation as a process, made up of trials, errors and struggles, by which the world of a model is actualized. his take on theory performation (or actualization), which is largely informed by actor-network theory, puts the emphasis on the sociomaterial assemblage of humans (e.g. economists) and nonhuman entities (e.g. economic tools such as cost-benefit analysis), which together actualize the theory so that it makes a difference. for instance, for rational choice theory to matter in organizations, an actor-network linking a set of axioms (written in academic books and journals) together with decision practitioners and decision tools (such as decision trees, excel spreadsheets, or a workforce scheduling software) is needed (cabantous & gond 2011; cabantous, gond & johnson-cramer, 2010). barad’s version of post-humanist performativity: agential realism theory. finally, a recent illustration of the post-humanist/performative trend in social studies of science and technology can be found in the work of karen barad, an american feminist theorist with a doctorate in physics. in her 2007 book, meeting the universe halfway: quantum physics and the entanglement of matter and meaning, barad extends niels bohr’s philosophical framework and renews our understanding of agency and causality, time and space, and discourse and materiality (barad, 2007). like latour, pickering and callon, barad considers that performativity is an attempt to move away from the metaphysical assumptions associated with representationalism, namely the beliefs that “beings exist as individuals with inherent attributes anterior to their representation” and that scientific work aims at discovering laws (barad, 2003: 801). but barad also develops an original critique of the recent linguistic/semiotic/interpretative/cultural turns in the social sciences, which, in her view, give “too much power to language” by turning “every ‘thing’— even materiality — (…) into a matter of language and some form of cultural representation” (barad, 2003: 801). her post-humanist theory of performativity thus aims at challenging the humanist notion of agency and at reconsidering the role of materiality in a way that is even more radical than that proposed by actor-network theory scholars who grant the same roles to human and non-human entities in scientific explanation. yet barad �1232 seeing the potentialities at the intersection m@n@gement, vol. 21(4): 1229-1243 questions the “givenness of the differential categories of ‘human’ and ‘nonhuman’” and calls for a systematic inquiry of the practices by which “these differential boundaries are stabilized and destabilized” (barad, 2003: 808). in order to do so, barad (2003, 2007) develops a unique analytical apparatus and vocabulary. in particular, she advances the notion of material-discursive practices, which put the emphasis on the mutual entanglements between materiality and meaning, as well as the concepts of intra-action and agential cuts. it is through intra-actions (within phenomena, rather than interaction between ontologically distinct entities), that agential cuts—or separations between “subjects” and “objects”—are enacted. performativity as a mindset. while limited, our presentation of performativity has allowed us to review the unique onto-epistemological assumptions of performativity inquiries. accordingly, and in line with some other scholars, we contend that performativity is a “mindset” (garud, gehman & tharchen 2018; muniesa 2014—i.e. take on reality rather than a “theory” or a “method”—and that this mindset has two important (ontoepistemological) features. first, with the notion of performativity, scholars insist on the idea that descriptions “add to reality” in that they “instantiate or effect their own referent” and, thus, “provoke a new situation, a new ontological deal” (muniesa 2014: 18-19). second, all performativity scholars adopt a similar relational ontology. accordingly, they are primarily interested not in pre-existing “things”, but in “things” happening and in relations between “things”. this point is especially clear in callon’s version of performativity, which relies on actor-network theory and therefore applies the semiotic principle of relationality not just to signs and language but to all kind of materials (law 1999). it is also core to karen barad’s post-humanist version of performativity, which approaches phenomena through the relational concept of material-discursive practices. in short, and as muniesa (2014) put it nicely, the performative mindset is characterized by two ideas: first, the idea of signification as act and, second, the idea of reality as effectuation. thus far, we have purposively presented a limited number of versions of performativity developed in the social sciences and have highlighted two features which are at the core of all performative analyses. in what follows, we offer a succinct presentation of the processual mindset. second overview: process thinking the mark of process thinking in organization studies. process thinking has a long history in philosophy, going back in western thought to the antiquity philosopher heraclitus. since then, it has thrived in many areas, including more recently in organization studies. if pragmatist philosophy has clearly marked how process thinking has been taken up in our field, a variety of thinkers have also influenced this interest for process (see helin, hernes, hjorth & holt, 2014 for a broad overview of process philosophers and social thinkers that can inspire researchers in organization studies). as exemplified by the recent handbook of process organization studies (edited by langley & tsoukas 2016), the mark of process thinking in organization studies can be seen in several dimensions: in the influence of process philosophers (e.g. dewey, mead, deleuze); in the framing provided by a number of social theories (e.g. the practice perspective, actor-network theory, ethnomethodology); in the seminal work of key organization theorists (e.g. karl weick, robert cooper, � 1233 m@n@gement, vol. 21(4):1229-1243 laure cabantous & viviane sergi robert chia); in methodological choices; and, consequently, in the variety of focal objects of inquiry. processuality as a mindset. as we proposed with performativity, we suggest that on a general level, process thinking can be described as a mindset. the variety of studies that claim or adopt an anchoring in process ontology—or come under the broad label of “process organization studies” suggested by langley and tsoukas (2010)—is such that it would be difficult to offer a proper overview in a few pages. this is especially the case given that similarly to performativity, process thinking has been taken up in our field in a graded way: not all empirical studies build on this mindset with the same intensity and commitment. but before addressing this gradation in taking up a process mindset, we outline the fundamental ideas of process thinking. first and foremost, at the heart of process ontology lies a key reversal: change, not stability, is the normal state of the world: the world is by definition in constant state of emergence and of becoming (tsoukas & chia 2002) or irremediably on the move (hernes 2014). chia reminds us of how whitehead, writing about reality, summed this up elegantly: “its ‘being’ is constituted by its ‘becoming’” (whitehead,1929: 28, cited in chia 1999: 218); in other words, process is world-making (chia 1999). in this sense, process ontology can be defined as a mindset or specific orientation about how phenomena are conceived (langley & tsoukas 2016). among the various terms used to characterize this mindset, two terms—emergence and temporality—stand out. viewing change as a constitutive force implies that phenomena are conceived as emerging in flows. even more, it means that these flows are given ontological priority as what defines phenomena (rescher 1996, 2000). “[r]eality is change”, as nayak and chia (2011: 292, emphasis in original) remind us, pointing to the inherent indetermination of process, revealing that a world on the move is one constantly replete with potentialities. process ontology implies that we consider things and phenomena in and as movement in time, thus highlighting the cardinal importance of time. phenomena emerge and evolve as they are experienced and performed in time. however, time should not simply be seen as a dimension along which phenomena unfold; instead, process ontology requires thinking in time (hernes 2014; nayak & chia 2011), since it sees “time as an immanent unfolding force that carries the past into the present and the future rather than a ‘container’ or ‘axis’ in which events are deemed to ‘unfold over time’” (nayak & chia 2011: 296). yet, it would be an error to present process thinking as a simple reversal of perspective where change would replace stability. this is what sometimes happens, for example, when the distinction between nouns (pointing to entities and stability) vs. verbs (prioritizing movement and change) is overly emphasized, when in fact what should matter is not the opposition, but the relationality, between nouns and verbs (bakken & hernes 2007). since process thinking is about simultaneity, ideas that are usually opposed can now cohabit: “processes elude us precisely because they involve simultaneously impermanence and stability. perhaps the most difficult task is to accurately describe this composite state of verb and noun.” (bakken & hernes 2007: 1601) �1234 seeing the potentialities at the intersection m@n@gement, vol. 21(4): 1229-1243 this composite state leads us to see that nouns/entities and verbs/ processes are not in binary opposition, but intrinsically connected, where entities are configurations provisionally stabilized through processes (designated by verbs) that constitute and transform them at the same time. it is this inseparable view of entities and processes that is lost we when simplistically oppose nouns and verbs. this necessity of thinking at the same time about entities and process, change and stability, helps clarify another important feature of the process mindset. the ontological precedence given to change does not mean that stability is non-existent, nor that everything is always “up for grabs”, in an unfixed state. as the above discussion on nouns and verbs highlights, it suggests instead that any form of stability has to be produced and accomplished over time to be perceived as such. in other words, what we (seem to) see and experience as stability, as a form of continuity and as the persistence of phenomena (in organizational contexts and elsewhere) has to be produced, maintained and sustained through engagement in action and in time—which at the same time opens the door to transformation. stability is never achieved, and it is stabilization—always provisional, never permanent—that we can notice and experience. accordingly, we can see the incorporation of process ontology’s main ideas in our field as an attempt to de-stabilize (or question the stability of) organizational phenomena and the notion of organization itself au premier chef. since this mindset aims at revealing both how organizational phenomena are produced and what is involved in their situated accomplishment, its adoption brings important empirical implications. however, as alluded to previously, organization scholars’ interest in process has produced various levels of engagement with process thinking, which implies that process thinking may or may not occupy an ontological place in the vast array of studies currently labelled as process studies. this has led some scholars to talk about “strong” vs “weak” takes on process. whereas a “strong” process orientation corresponds to the process mindset as we have defined it—i.e. it adopts a process ontology and considers that entities and processes are irremediably interlinked (hernes & weik 2007)—a “weak” process orientation does not go as far and views 3 entities and processes as two distinct categories. this “strong” vs “weak” distinction, which echoes van de ven and poole’s (2005) process vs. variance views, however, is limited, since there are more than two ways of considering how entities and processes relate to each other, and how stability is produced. hernes and weik (2007) accordingly suggest talking about exogenous and endogenous views of process. while the exogenous view conceives processes as taking place in a context (e.g. an organization), and hence adopts a spatialized vision of processes, the endogenous view instead adopts a temporal vision of process (see also hernes, 2014): “the stability of entities takes place as part of the process 4 itself, as stable entities are both constituted by process and at the same time are constitutive of process” (hernes & weik, 2007: 253). performativity meeting process thinking? as postulated at the outset of our text, we contend that performative studies would benefit from explicitly acknowledging the processuality inherent in performativity. yet, such an explicit acknowledgement does not imply that performativity and processuality are interchangeable. coming � 1235 3. we deliberately place “strong” and “weak” between quotation m a r k s b e c a u s e t h i s w a y o f categorizing process perspectives is colloquial, and importantly, b e c a u s e t h e s e t e r m s m i g h t suggest a value order, where “strong” approaches would be superior to “weak” ones. this kind of evaluation is not a project we wish to pursue and is outside the main point of our article. 4.hernes and weik’s (2007) typology is further specified, which leads them to identify four distinct views of process. see their table 1 on p. 261 for details. m@n@gement, vol. 21(4):1229-1243 laure cabantous & viviane sergi from different traditions, the two mindsets present some differences in spite of having strong commonalities. to close our broad overview of performativity and processuality, we hence turn to two important commonalities between these two mindsets and outline some key differences. a first element that binds the two mindsets together is their methodological commitment for qualitative empirical work: both mindsets 5 have a clear determination to follow action and what is involved in it and to be firmly rooted in situations or events—while recognizing that these events are always flowing and resist any form of complete capture. although researchers working in each mindset might have preferences for different empirical materials, ranging from archival to video ethnographic data, in both cases they will need to have a close involvement with empirical material in order to document performativity or processuality. both mindsets strive for a deep and prolonged engagement with what is happening, in time, in order to reveal how phenomena come about. opting for methodological approaches that would not allow this closeness to be gained would not be coherent with the mindsets’ postulates. another element that is common to both mindsets is the idea that reality is processual. we have seen that while various conceptualizations of performativity exist, they all approach reality as effectuation, and invite us to study how phenomena are constituted, de-constituted and reconstituted (garud, gehman & tharchen 2018; kuhn, ashcraft & cooren, 2018). we see this interest in the “bringing about” of reality in all versions 6 of performativity, whatever the thing (e.g. a theory, a gender, a discourse) which is actualized or realized (to borrow callon’s terms). for performativity scholars, this realization is anything more than a temporary stabilization, and a form of becoming. the idea that reality is effectuation is therefore fully consistent with process thinking, for which reality is process. however, if there is a processual dimension to performativity, it does not imply that every process is performative. without overly restricting the scope of performative inquiries, it is worth keeping in mind that the performativity mindsets developed primarily as an alternative to the representationalist approach. importantly, it also invites us to put the emphasis on a specific form of processes, namely processes that connect statements (e.g. ideas, theories and concepts) and their representations in the material world. yet, there are several important differences in the way process and performativity studies approach the idea of reality as effectuation. a first difference is related to the treatment of agency. while processual inquiries can accommodate various approaches to agency—including a humancentred view of agency, as evidenced by the many processual studies that focus on individuals’ sensemaking (e.g, brown & lewis 2011; sonenshein 2010)—performative inquiries all adopt a post-humanist approach, which leads to the deconstruction of human agency. for pickering (1994), “the performative idiom invites us to think symmetrically about agency: human beings are not the only actors around; the material world acts too” (p. 414). nyberg’s (2009) analysis of the customer call practice as well as ford, harding, gilmore and richardson’s (2017) understanding of leaders as material presence, which are both inspired by barad’s work and question the subject/object divide, are two neat illustrations of this specific take on agency (see also glaser 2017). in short, while the question of “who (and what) acts” is central to performative inquiries, it has up to now been less �1236 5. we talk of commitment rather than methodological orientation since both mindsets have strong implications in terms of methods, which go beyond what is usually u n d e r s t o o d b y t h e t e r m “orientation”. 6. note that law and urry (2004) encapsulate this point eloquently, when they argue that social s c i e n c e s a n d m e t h o d s a r e performative in the sense that “[they] are productive: they (help to) make social realities and social worlds” (p. 390), and “…they have effects; they make differences; they enact realities; and they can help to bring into being what they also discover” (p. 393). seeing the potentialities at the intersection m@n@gement, vol. 21(4): 1229-1243 central to processual inquiries in our field. this variety of treatment of agency leads to a second important difference between performative and processual inquiries: sociomateriality. due to their post-humanist orientation, performativity scholars often approach the continuous (re)constitutions of phenomena through the notion of (socio-technical) agencement; and their inquiries show how these agencements could have been different; while process scholars do not necessarily put socio-materiality at the centre of their analysis of the becoming of phenomena. a third—and rather subtle—difference between the processual and performative take on effectuation is visible in the way they approach change and continuity. while in organization studies, process scholars often place change and movement at the fore, performativity scholars tend to be more concerned with the idea of durability, since their primary aim is to understand how phenomena become visible (rather than how a phenomenon is in constant creation and recreation). for instance, when 7 performativity scholars study how a theory (e.g. rational choice theory) makes a difference in an organization, they tend to show the durability of the socio-technical agencement that underlies the performativity of this theory. similarly, when they study identities, they tend to focus on how identities are constantly performed through a myriad of repeated acts, and hence put the emphasis on a process of iterability and the constant repetition of norms. yet, since both mindsets ultimately reflect on endurance and enduring phenomena, differences in the way they approach change remain subtle, and reflect a slightly different sensitivity to change and continuity, rather than a clear divergence of views. a fourth element that distinguishes many performative inquiries from processual inquiries is relationality. the specificity of the performative mindset stems from its constant and obvious adoption of a relational ontology (see e.g. cooren 2018 and kuhn et al. 2017 for two insightful presentations of relationality). relationality is a starting point of barad’s theory. it is also at the heart of pickering and callon’s versions of performativity, which are inspired by actor-network theory and accordingly apply the semiotic principle of relationality “ruthlessly to all kind of materials —and not simply to those that are linguistic” (law 1999: 2). relationality is clearly compatible with processual analyses adopting a “strong” process view and is in fact explicitly recognized by some researchers (see, for example, cooper, 2005 and hernes 2014)—but it is less compatible with the so-called “weak” processual analyses. finally, another specificity of the performative mindset comes from its initial and enduring interest in the relationship between discourse and “reality”. the idea of performativity initially developed out of a critique of correspondence theory of truth (e.g. austin), and latterly of representationalism (e.g. pickering, callon, barad). this focus is visible in most performative work in organization studies, in particular, in performative analyses of strategy discourses (e.g. kornberger & clegg 2011; vargha 2018). processual inquiries, on the other hand, do not put the emphasis on the critique of traditional conceptions of the relationships between discourse and reality (even though it is likely that processual scholars would agree with a performative take on discourse). this highlights that both mindsets have emerged from different traditions and, consequently, have been preoccupied with different problems. � 1237 7. we are aware that in speaking in this way, we seem to place all researchers in clearly defined b o x e s , w h e r e a s , i n r e a l i t y, individual researchers and studies are more nuanced. for example, the communicative constitution of organization (cco) stream of inquiry, which rests on ideas found in both mindsets, cannot be placed in either camp, as it is concerned both with continuity and change. see e.g. schoeneborn, kuhn and kärreman, (2018) for an overview of cco thinking in organization studies. m@n@gement, vol. 21(4):1229-1243 laure cabantous & viviane sergi the benefits of embracing processuality in performative studies at this stage, it should be clear that the performative mindset is inherently processual. many performative studies, especially those influenced by callon (2007) who defines performation as a process, offer a “process” model in order to account for performativity (see e.g. ligonie 2018; marti & gond 2018; svetlova 2016; vargha 2018). yet, even in these studies, processuality often takes the backstage, as performative scholars focus their attention on other aspects, such as performative work (e.g. beunza & ferraro, 2018), performative practices (e.g. boldyrev & svetlova 2016; cabantous & gond 2011), or the boundary conditions of performativity (e.g. marti & gond 2018). in some cases, processuality can even be lost. in this final section, we put forward our suggestion for performative scholars to bring processuality back to the fore in their studies by outlining three benefits that an explicit recognition and serious engagement with processuality can bring to performative inquiries. embracing processuality to avoid the ballistic pitfall. an important characteristic of the performative mindset is that, fundamentally, it is not so much about effects as it is about effectuation. yet performative inquiries can easily fall into a “ballistic” pitfall, as muniesa (2018) calls it, by trying to expose causal links, recursive interactions or feedback loops between entities, or by identifying a (too) linear performative process. instead of aiming to draw a neat trajectory (which the “ballistic” adjective evokes), performative inquiries should focus on revealing the “bringing about” of the phenomena they study without enclosing this process “inside” a clear trajectory. we suggest that one effective strategy to avoid such a pitfall, which implies a spatialized view of processes where performativity would happen in a context or along a trajectory and would eventually reach an end state where performativity is achieved, is to embrace processuality to its full extent. being “more” overtly processual when conducting performative inquiry will necessarily redirect our attention to the becoming of the phenomenon we study, rather than its supposedly “final” (static) state, since such a final state does not exist in process ontology. in addition, by being more attuned to processuality, performativity scholars will also become more familiar with a vocabulary that makes it possible to talk at the same time about continuity and variation and stability and impermanence, , since process thinking puts the emphasis on simultaneity. this should help performative scholars move away from linear conceptualizations of performativity, and instead offer conceptual stories that feature the continuity and the multiple materializations or modes of existence, not just over time but also at a given moment, of the phenomenon they study. by relationally linking being and becoming, process thinking focuses on the transformations, which diverts us from more stabilized language and conceptualizations. hence, we see embracing processuality as a way for performative studies to avoid being trapped in what could appear as rather linear and causal explanations. approaching performativity as a process to advance the discussion on types of performativity. the question of the types of performativity is an important topic in performativity studies, especially those inspired by the work of callon and mackenzie. mackenzie (2006) for instance distinguishes between three subsets of performativity: generic performativity (when an aspect of economics is used by market participants); effective performativity (when the “practical use of an aspect �1238 seeing the potentialities at the intersection m@n@gement, vol. 21(4): 1229-1243 of economics has an effect on economic processes” (mackenzie, 2006: 17)); and barnesian performativity (when “the practical use of an aspect of economics makes economic processes more like their depiction by economics (mackenzie, 2006: 17)). mackenzie’s account of performativity, however, is controversial. mäki (2013), for instance, argues that it points to causal relationships between entities, rather than constitutive relationships, and is therefore not true to austin’s conception of performativity. again, we suggest that an explicit processuality take on performativity can help researchers recast the debates on the types of performativity, especially when it comes to the empirical explorations of performativity. concretely, acknowledging the processuality of performativity means that the focal point of performative inquiries becomes the process of realization itself. accordingly, conceptual efforts also shift and, instead of approaching performative processes through their outcomes—to capture the “degree” of performativity achieved—and/or through the (boundary) or “felicity” conditions that make process performative, we can create other—and ideally more productive or generative—conceptualizations of performativity processes. this is not to say that results or effects of performative processes are not important but to remind us that the process itself matters more than its effects. put differently, it is the process—more than its effects—that deserves to be at the forefront of the empirical story and theorization’s effort. and, what makes a process performative is not (just) the “final” state it supposedly reaches, but the fact that the process twines or twists together, even “imperfectly”, two worlds that are often opposed: the spiritual world of abstractions—populated by supposedly abstract, intangible, ethereal ideas—and the real world (or “reality”) that is inhabited by material bodies, tangible objects, technologies, etc. in our view, the value of performative inquiries stems from their invitation to study this specific category of processes, and hence to overcome the muchchallenged—yet still very much ingrained—view that clearly separates and opposes, on the one hand, an external state of affairs, and on the other hand, ideas, statements, texts and, generally, all sorts of representations that are meant to describe, record or transcribe this external reality. full engagement with the processuality of performativity can help us theorize a fully integrated co-existence of what is usually presented as two “worlds”, hence avoiding the assumption that they exist separately and in opposition, but rather set in motion a dynamic between them. another important value of processuality in this respect is that it opens the door to a fluid analytical approach to performativity, which does not impose fixed trajectories between the two worlds, and acknowledges de facto a gradation in the intensity of the performative process instead of being too preoccupied with the task of categorizing performative processes based on their outcomes— especially since there are no “outcomes” as we commonly think about them to “discover”, only flows. in short, embracing processuality while conducting performative studies redirects the attention from results or effects to processes and places the stabilization process itself centre stage. such stabilization can be partial, incomplete or shaky (hence echoing various types of performativity), but as long as the process forges ties between ideas or abstractions and material things so that these ideas become concrete and materialized, then a performative process is taking place. a processual take can alleviate the problem of empirically “proving” performativity. last, but not least, by being explicitly processual, performativity scholars can better alleviate another issue that they might � 1239 m@n@gement, vol. 21(4):1229-1243 laure cabantous & viviane sergi face: that of having to “prove” the performativity of the phenomenon they study. epistemologically speaking, performativity scholars do not aim to demonstrate phenomena, but rather strive to explore, shed light and reveal the intricacies of their becoming. yet, the issue of providing convincing evidence of performativity remains a challenge. if researchers focus their attention more centrally on the process, it becomes easier to expose how this process of realization, or “making realities”, happens in the specific case that they are documenting, what it implies and what it constitutes. it also adds nuances to what is achieved by also including its potential misfires and failures. closely linked to the empirical commitment we previously discussed, an obvious implication for scholars recognizing the inherent processuality of performativity is to acknowledge that they have to adopt a different mindset, not just a different vocabulary. replacing the verbs “to influence” or to “shape”, for instance, by the verb “to perform”, or substituting the term “implemented” by “performed” in an article is unlikely to be sufficient to leverage the heuristic potential of a clearly processual performative mindset. such inquiries should instead lead to a profound reconceptualization of the phenomena studied and this different conceptualization will, then, be reflected in a different vocabulary. this heightened sensitivity to processuality can help researchers keep in mind that their task, when conducting a performative inquiry, is to retrace some of the many transformations that eventually made the focal phenomenon take the form or mode of existence rendered visible in their studies, and to try to keep them all present, in spite of their variety and variations, in their writing, in their choice of words and in the narratives they present. moreover, since process ontology insists on fluidity, it should be easier to approach materiality itself as a spectrum—or a rainbow—and hence to offer performative narratives that show how the phenomena under study can be at the same time, an ideation, a discourse and a tangible thing, etc. this might require engaging with novel forms of data collection, analysis and writing. concluding remarks our main argument in this article has been simple: we have suggested that by being more attentive to the processuality of performativity, and by fully embracing the idea that performativity is an ongoing journey (garud, gehman & tharchen 2018), performativity scholars should be better able to tackle, or deal with, some of the challenges they commonly face. studying managerial and organizational phenomena from a performative mindset still has a great potential to deepen our understanding of what animates organizations of all kinds. management fashions, algorithms, evaluative practices, new (and older) managerial techniques, uses of big data—the list of management and organizational topics that could be explored with a performative mindset is long. even reflecting on what is happening in our own academic practice, with all kinds of rankings and metrics, can be extended with performativity (see for example mingers & willmott 2013). however, we contend that to do so in a rich(er) way, requires a clearer engagement with processuality, especially to deal with three challenges that performative studies face. in this article, we have focused on three challenges, namely avoiding the ballistic pitfall when describing performative process, advancing performativity studies by characterizing or categorizing performative processes and, finally, providing convincing evidence of performativity. while the acknowledgements we have discussed here do �1240 seeing the potentialities at the intersection m@n@gement, vol. 21(4): 1229-1243 not simplify the challenge of writing up performative accounts, we consider that they could assist and support researchers in their explorations of performativity. finally, another important challenge for organization scholars interested in performativity is to demonstrate the value of this mindset to study organizational phenomena. in our view, this challenge can be tackled by being clear about the specificities of the mindset and by circumscribing the scope of performative studies to what is at the heart of performativity, namely the multiple and complex relationships between some relatively immaterial statements, ideas and theories and their visible and tangible expressions (or materialization). in conclusion, by recognizing explicitly their proximities with process thinking, we contend that performative studies can sharpen our understanding of organizational phenomena. our hope is that by doing so, i.e. explicitly putting processuality at the heart of performative inquiries, we can further develop our performative understanding of organizational phenomena and fully leverage the heuristic potential of the performative mindset. references aggeri, f. (2017). how can performativity contribute to m a n a g e m e n t a n d o r g a n i z a t i o n r e s e a r c h ? theoretical perspectives and analytical framework. m@n@gement, 20(1), 28-69. albu, o.b. (2018). “making a difference”: the performative role of values in the constitution of organizations. m@n@gement, 21(2), 858-883. austin, j.l. (1962), how to do things with words, oxford, england: oxford university press. bakken, t. & hernes, t. (2007). organizing is both a verb and a noun: weick meets whitehead. organization studies, 27(11), 1599-1616. barad, k. (2003). posthumanist performativity: toward an understanding of how matter comes to matter. signs: journal of women in culture and society, 28(3), 801-831. barad, k. (2007). meeting the universe halfway: quantum physics and the entanglement of matter and meaning. durham, nc: duke university press. beunza, d. & ferraro, f. (2018). performative work: bridging performativity and institutional theory in the responsible investment field. organization s t u d i e s , p u b l i s h e d o n l i n e , h t t p s : / / d o i . o r g / 10.1177/0170840617747917. boldyrev, i. & svejenova, s. (2016). after the turn: how the performativity of economics matters. in i. boldyrev & s. svejenova (eds.), enacting dismal science: new perspectives on the performativity of economics (pp. 1-28). london, uk: palgrave macmillan. brown, a.d. & lewis, m.a. (2011). identities, discipline and routines. organization studies, 32(7), 871-895. cabantous, l. & gond, j.-p. (2011). rational decisionmaking as “performative praxis”: explaining rationality’s éternel retour’. organization science, 22(3), 573-586. cabantous, l., gond, j.-p. & johnson-cramer, m. (2010). decision theory as practice: crafting rationality in organization. organization studies, 31(11), 1531-1566. callon, m. (ed.) (1998). the laws of the markets. oxford, uk: blackwell publishers. callon, m. (2007). what does it mean to say that economics is performative? in d. mackenzie, f. muniesa & l. siu (eds.), do economists make markets? on the performativity of economics. (pp. 311-357). princeton, nj: princeton university press. chia, r. (1997). (essai). thirty years on: from organizational structures to the organization of thought. organization studies, 18(4), 685-707. chia, r. (1999). a “rhizomic” model of organizational change and transformation: perspective from a metaphysics of change. british journal of management, 10(3), 209-227. cooper, r. (1976). the open field. human relations, 29(11), 999-1017. cooper, r. (2005). peripheral vision: relationality. organization studies, 26(11), 1689–1710. cooren, f. (2018). materializing communication: making the case for a relational ontology. journal of communication, 68(2), 278-288. denis, j. (2006). préface: les nouveaux visages de la performativité. études de communications, 29(12), 7-24. esper, s., cabantous, l., barin cruz, l. & gond, j.-p. (2017). supporting alternative organizations? e x p l o r i n g s c h o l a r s ’ i n v o l v e m e n t i n t h e performativity of worker-recovered companies. organization, 24(5), 671-699. fauré, b., brummans, b.h.j.m., giroux, h. & taylor, j. r. (2010). the calculation of business, or the business of calculation? accounting as organizing through everyday communication. human relations, 63(8), 1249-1273. f l e m i n g , p. & b a n e r j e e , s . b . ( 2 0 1 6 ) . w h e n performativity fails: implications for critical management studies. human relations, 69(2), 257-276. � 1241 https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840617747917 https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840617747917 https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840617747917 https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840617747917 m@n@gement, vol. 21(4):1229-1243 laure cabantous & viviane sergi ford, j., harding, n.h., gilmore, s. & richardson, s. (2017). becoming the leader: leadership as material presence. organization studies, 38(11): 1553-1571. garud, r., gehman, j. & giuliani, a.p. (2018). why not take a performative approach to entrepreneurship? journal of business venturing insights, 9, 60-64. garud, r., gehman, j. & tharchen, t. (2018). performativity as ongoing journeys: implications for strategy, entrepreneurship, and innnovation. long range planning, 51(3): 500-509. glaser, v. l. (2017). design performances: how organizations inscribe artifacts to change routines. a c a d e m y o f m a n a g e m e n t j o u r n a l , 6 0 ( 6 ) , 2126-2154. gond, j.-p., cabantous, l., harding, n. & learmonth, m. (2016). what do we mean by performativity in organizational and management theory? the uses and abuses of performativity. international journal of management reviews, 18(4), 440-463. guérard, s., langley, a. & seidl, d. (2013). from performance to performativity in strategy research. m@n@gement, 16(5), 264-276. hacking, i. (1983), representing and intervening: introductory topics in the philosophy of natural science, cambridge, uk: cambridge university press. helin, j., hernes, t., hjorth, d. & holt, r. (eds.) (2014). the oxford handbook of process philosophy and organization studies. oxford, uk: oxford university press. hernes, t. (2009), understanding organization as process: theory for a tangled world, london, uk: routledge. hernes, t. (2014), a process theory of organization. oxford, uk: oxford university press. hernes, t. & weik, e. (2007). organization as process: drawing a line between endogenous and exogenous views. scandinavian journal of management, 23(3), 251-264. k n u d s e n , m . ( 2 0 1 7 ) . c o n d i t i o n s f o r c r i t i c a l performativity in a polycontextural society. m@n@gement, 20(1), 9-27. kornberger, m. & clegg, s. (2011). strategy as performative practice: the case of sydney 2030. strategic organization, 9(2), 136-162. kuhn, t., ashcraft, k.l. & cooren, f. (2017), the work of communication: relational perspectives on wo r k i n g a n d o r g a n i z i n g i n c o n t e m p o r a r y capitalism, london, uk: routledge. küpers, w. (2017). critical performativity and embodied performing as materio-socio-cultural practices—phenomenological perspectives on performative bodies at work. m@n@gement, 20(1), 89-106. langley, a. & tsoukas, h. (2010). introducing “perspectives on process organization studies”. in t. h e r n e s & s . m a i t l i s ( e d s . ) , p r o c e s s , sensemaking, and organizing (pp. 1-26). oxford, uk: oxford university press. langley, a. & tsoukas, h. (eds.) (2016). the sage handbook of process organization studies. london, uk: sage. law, j. (1999). after ant: complexity, naming and topology. the sociological review, 47(s1), 1-14. law, j. & urry, j. (2004). enacting the social. economy & society, 33(3), 390-410. ligonie, m. (2018). the “forced performativity” of a strategy concept: exploring how shared value shaped a gambling company’s strategy. long range planning, 51(3): 463-479. loxley, j. (2006), performativity. the new critical idiom, abingdon, uk: routledge. mackenzie, d. (2006), an engine, not a camera. how financial models shape markets, cambridge, ma: the mit press mackenzie, d., muniesa, f. & siu, l. (eds.) (2007). do economists make markets? on the performativity of economics. princeton, nj: princeton university press. maki, u. (2013). performativity: saving austin from mackenzie. in v. karakostas & d. dieks (eds.), epsa11 perspectives and foundational problems in philosophy of science (pp. 443-453). dordrecht: springer. marti, e. & gond, j.-p. (2018). when do theories become self-fulfilling? exploring the boundary c o n d i t i o n s o f p e r f o r m a t i v i t y. a c a d e m y o f management review, 43(3), 487-508. mingers, j. & willmott, h. (2013). taylorizing business school research: on the “one best way” performative effects of journal ranking lists. human relations, 66(8), 1051-1073. muniesa, f. (2014), the provoked economy. economic reality and the performative turn, abingdon, uk: routledge. muniesa, f. (2018). grappling with the performative condition. long range planning, 51(3): 495-499. nayak, a. & chia, r. (2011). thinking becoming and emergence: process philosophy and organization s t u d i e s . r e s e a r c h i n t h e s o c i o l o g y o f organizations, 32, 281-309. nyberg, d. (2009). computers, customer service operatives and cyborgs: intra-actions in call centres. organization studies, 30(11), 1181-1199. pickering, a. (1994). after representation: science s t u d i e s i n t h e p e r f o r m a t i v e i d i o m . p s a : proceedings of the biennial meeting of the philosophy of science association, 2, 413-419. pickering, a. (1995), the mangle of practice: time, agency, and science, chicago, il: the university of chicago press. reinhold, e. (2017). art performance as research, friction and deed. m@n@gement, 20(1), 70-88. rescher, n. (1996), process metaphysics, albany, ny: suny press. rescher, n. (2000), process philosophy: a survey of basic issues, pittsburgh, pa: university of pittsburgh press digital editions. r i t t e n h o f e r, i . & g a t r e l l , c . ( 2 0 1 2 ) . g e n d e r mainstreaming and employment in the european union: a review and analysis of theoretical and policy literatures. international journal of management reviews, 14(2), 201-216. �1242 seeing the potentialities at the intersection m@n@gement, vol. 21(4): 1229-1243 schoeneborn, d., kuhn, t.r. & kärreman, d. (2018). the communicative constitution of organization, organizing, and organizationality. organization studies, first published online: https://doi.org/ 10.1177/0170840618782284. sonenshein, s. (2010). we’re changing—or are we? untangling the role of progressive, regressive, and stability narratives during strategic change implementation. academy of management journal, 53(3), 477-512. strum, s.s. & latour, b. (1987). redefining the social link: from baboons to humans. social science information, 26(4), 783-802. svetlova, e. (2016). performativity and emergence of institutions. in i. boldyrev & s. svejenova (eds.), enacting dismal science: new perspectives on the performativity of economics (pp.183-200). london, uk: palgrave macmillan. tsoukas, h. & chia, r. (2002). on organizational becoming: rethinking organizational change. organization science, 13(5), 567-582. van de ven, a.h. & poole, m.s. (2005). alternative approaches for studying organizational change. organization studies, 26(9), 1377-1404. vargha, z. (2018). performing a strategy’s world: how redesigning customers made relationship banking possible. long range planning, 51(3): 480-494. vásquez, c., bencherki, n., cooren, f. & sergi, v. (2018). from ‘matters of concern’ to ‘matters of authority’: studying the performativity of strategy from a communicative constitution of organization (cco) approach. long range planning, 51(3): 417-435. whitehead, a. n. (1929), process and reality, new york: macmillan. weick, k.e. (1979), the social psychology of organizing (2nd ed.), boston, ma: addison-wesley. laure cabantous is professor of strategy and organization at cass business school, city, university of london and affiliated professor at hec montreal. her research agenda is organized around two areas: the performative power of management theories and models; and practices of valuation and calculation in organizations (in relation with strategy making). laure has also an interest in decision-making practices under uncertainty, and distributed cognition in organizations (i.e., how organizational actors make use of “things” to think and make decisions). her research has been published in journals such as the journal of management, organization science, organization studies, human relations, the journal of risk and uncertainty. viviane sergi is associate professor in management in the department of management and technology at esg uqam in montréal, canada. her research interests include process thinking, performativity, new work practices, leadership, and materiality. she is currently doing fieldwork on collaborative workspaces and on freelancers, two topics related to the transformation of work.  she also has a keen interest for methodological issues related to qualitative research and for practice of academic writing. her work has been published in journal such as academy of management annals, human relations, scandinavian journal of management, long range planning, and in qualitative research in organizations and management. � 1243 https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840618782284 https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840618782284 https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840618782284 https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840618782284 emmanuel josserand 2004 cooperation within bureaucracies: are communities of practice an answer? m@n@gement, 7(3): 307-339. m@n@gement is a double-blind reviewed journal where articles are published in their original language as soon as they have been accepted. copies of this article can be made free of charge and without securing permission, for purposes of teaching, research, or library reserve. consent to other kinds of copying, such as that for creating new works, or for resale, must be obtained from both the journal editor(s) and the author(s). for a free subscription to m@n@gement, and more information: http://www.dmsp.dauphine.fr/management/ © 2004 m@n@gement and the author(s). issn: 1286-4892 editors: martin evans, u. of toronto bernard forgues, u. of paris 12 http://www.dmsp.dauphine.fr/management/ http://www.dmsp.dauphine.fr/management/ m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 307-339 special issue: practicing collaboration 307 emmanuel josserand université paris-dauphinecrepa email: emmanuel.josserand@dauphine.fr cooperation within bureaucracies: are communities of practice an answer? communities of practice have been presented as the panacea of organizational learning. building up on three case studies in different organizations characterized by different internal contexts, this article pushes the logic one step further by arguing that communities of practice can also be unique collaboration spaces within bureaucracies. their main property is the ambiguity of their relationship with organizational control mechanisms and structures. communities play with the rules, they can be adaptable and as such can build resilience within the organization. but this ambiguity, being the foundation of their capacity to introduce cooperation within organizations, is also difficult to maintain. cultivating communities of practice thus becomes a delicate task for managers who must be able to adopt complex and contradictory behaviours. five roles that can be fulfilled by management are analysed: stimulation, facilitation, support, control and recognition. far from the generic recommendations that can be found in the literature to date, the findings indicate that the degree of intervention from management is highly dependent on the internal organizational context. this article thus provides a contingent framework to the cultivation of communities of practice. if we live in a world where bureaucratic mechanisms have reached their limit, what is the competitive advantage of organization? mimicking market mechanisms by introducing profit centres and transfer prices might be marginally useful but is certainly not enough to obtain a specific advantage. stuck between bureaucratic rigidities and internal competition due to market mechanisms, organizations have had to reinvent their comparative advantage by attempting to introduce or reintroduce some form of cooperation beyond their internal boundaries. such attempts, with various objectives, included teamwork at management as well as at workshop levels, project management, task forces, working groups and the ultimate form of the community of practice (wenger and snyder, 2000). ultimate, because communities of practice are supposed to provide the holy grail, the capacity to cooperate and develop practical knowledge within a reasonably bureaucratic structure. in other words, communities of practice can be seen as interstitial structures (lave and we n g e r, 1991; we n g e r, mcdermott and snyder, 2002). by introducing spaces of freedom and exchange within the organization, they allow an informal free flow of knowledge that can be translated into the evolution of pract i c e s . communities of practice thus play with the organization and its rules but their relationship with formal structures are far more difficult to mailto:emmanuel.josserand@dauphine.fr m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 307-339 special issue: practicing collaboration 308 emmanuel josserand maintain and assess than their supporters care to admit. it is especially in their strength—the capacity to escape organizational paradigms—that communities of practice can be threatened as soon as they start to be perceived as productive structures. despite some early appeals (lave and we n g e r, 1991), power is still absent from the theories of communities of practice (fox, 2000). except for some form of normative recommendations on how to “cultivate” communities of practice (wenger and snyder, 2000), we don’t know much about the actual articulation between the communities and the organization with its control mechanisms. by contrasting the experience of three organizations—two successful and one less so—in their quest of this quintessential organizational arrangement, my objective is to better understand the ambiguity of the relationship between the organisations and their communities of practice. understanding the nature of this ambiguity is central to drawing a picture of the contribution of communities of practice to intra-organizational cooperation. the findings show that communities, by playing with the organization and its rules, can become spaces of cooperation that go further than simple knowledge exchanges. but this ambiguity is also at the origin of the risks encountered while trying to encourage the development of communities of practice in a competitive and bureaucratic environment. the second aspect of the findings will provide a contingent approach to the “cultivation” of communities of practice, management’s intervention should be crafted very carefully according to the internal organizational context. learning in communities, an interstitial activity if communities of practice appear as a stimulating organizational form, it is because they provide a theoretical answer to the hierarchy/learning paradox. it is indeed difficult to encourage the necessary level of cooperation in order to develop knowledge in a work culture of individualism (trauth, 1999). this question is at the heart of our interrogations about knowledge management and learning; communities of practice seem to be a tempting answer. the learning and the knowledge management literatures converge to show that it’s necessary to go beyond the dominant control logics. planning, control mechanisms and management by objectives are said to generate defensive mechanisms that remove from individuals their desire to learn (argyris and schon, 1978; fiol and lyles, 1985; senge, 1990; argyris, 1991; mills and friesen, 1992; mintzberg, 1993). they are grounded in a negative image of mankind (ouchi and jaeger, 1978), one that encourages opportunistic behaviours rather than cooperative learning ones (ghoshal and moran, 1996). classic bureaucratic control mechanisms have been recurrently described as insufficient in the relatively unstable environment that most organizations have been facing for a few decades now (pasm@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 307-339 special issue: practicing collaboration 309 cooperation within bureaucracies: are communities of practice an answer? cale, 1990; daft and lewin, 1993; victor and stephens 1994); strategic planning or input control can be considered as inefficient if it’s excessive (lenz and lyles, 1985; mintzberg and waters, 1985; h u b e r, 1991; marx, 1991; mintzberg, 1993). but decentralization, a possible solution to the excesses of bureaucratization, can also be detrimental to learning. it is indeed often combined with increased internal competition due to the introduction of financial control (goold and campbell, 1987). the introduction of internal market-like mechanisms also induces a competition detrimental to cooperative learning. organizations are thus classically confronted with a tension between their need to learn and develop knowledge and the individualism induced by their control mechanisms (trauth, 1999). the challenge of developing cooperative knowledge exchanges is thus to encourage a change of individual behaviours (mcdermott, 1999) to a logic of cooperation (nahapiet and ghoshal, 1998) that implies commitment (thomas, kellogg and erickson, 2001). the development of organizational knowledge relies on the capacity of the organization to develop its internal social capital (nahapiet and ghoshal, 1998), that is to say the horizontal network links between individuals (burt, 1982; hernes, 1999). this is only possible with the existence of an autonomy allowing the emergence of some form of creative chaos (nonaka, 1994), a degree of freedom (ravasi and verona, 2001) and empowerment (gupta and govindarajan, 2000). the autonomy and cooperation necessary to the generation and diffusion of knowledge thus imply a low degree of hierarchy (mills and friesen, 1992; grima and josserand, 2000). the remedy to bureaucratic impediments towards cooperative knowledge generation and exchange is thus rather of a radical specie; a change of behaviour can probably be obtained but with the high cost of completely changing the organization while introducing a form of chaos. this is very likely to be the kind of risk few managers would accept. communities of practice thus appear as a providential missing link. they can be considered as a unique emerging space where the exchange and development of new knowledge can happen outside the usual organizational constraints (we n g e r, 1998). communities of practice can be defined as «groups of people who share a concern, a set of problems, or a passion about a topic, and who deepen their knowledge and expertise in this area by interacting on a ongoing basis» (wenger et al., 2002: 4). self-organized and self selected communities of practice evolve at the margins of organizations: «communities of practice may well develop interstitially and informally in coercive workplaces» (lave and we n g e r, 1991: 64). they thus constitute unique places where interstitial learning can happen (lave and we n g e r, 1991; wenger et al., 2002). according to their supporters, communities of practice have the faculty to introduce at the very heart of the organization the chaos necessary for cooperative knowledge exchanges without menacing the pillars of the bureaucratic organization. they allow for a non-threatening change. the concept is of course promising but its presentation can be considered as a bit m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 307-339 special issue: practicing collaboration 310 emmanuel josserand naïve especially when it overlooks the interactions between the communities and the rest of the organization. communities and the organization if interstitial learning is the purpose of communities of practice, it is hard to follow wenger (1998) when he suggests a representation of the organization as a community of communities of practice. this image only portrays part of what an organization is and, neglecting an in-depth analysis of the articulation between communities and the organization, it only weakens the argument for communities of practice. as argued by lave and wenger (1991: 42): «the notion of “community of practice” is left largely as an intuitive notion, which serves a purpose here but which requires a more rigorous treatment. in particular unequal relations of power must be included more systematically in our analyses». in this relatively early work, lave and wenger (1991) suggest an analysis in which communities of practice are instrumentalized by the actors; one in which control can thus be a real stake for the members (fox, 2000). moreover, if individuals are to share their knowledge, they have to be freed from power games and rivalries between departments (de long and seemann, 2000). the instrumentalization of communities of practice and their articulation with the organization they are imbedded in have never been fully investigated. this is the case even though the founders of the concept are conscious of the difficulties encountered in maintaining communities of practice within an organization: «it’s not particularly easy to build and sustain communities of practice or to integrate them with the rest of an organization. the organic, spontaneous, and informal nature of communities of practice makes them resistant to supervision and interference» (wenger and snyd e r, 2000: 140). wenger (1998: 91-92) does recognize the existence of power games within such communities. these include «influence, personal authority, nepotism, rampant discrimination, charisma, trust, friendship, ambition, (…) legislation, policies, institutionally defined authority, expositions, argumentative demonstrations, statistics, contracts, plans, designs». but these power games are artificially isolated from one of their main sources: the interactions between communities of practice and the rest of the organization. we cannot limit our analysis of this matter to normative prescriptions about the role of the pilot of communities or on how to “cultivate” communities of practice without killing them (wenger and snyder, 2000). we cannot take for granted the fact that communities of practice can exist without interference from the rest of the organization. in a sense, communities of practice are threatened by the organization of what makes their very distinctive advantage towards other organizational arrangements: their capacity to generate interstitial learning. this paper is thus an attempt to analyze the articulation between communities of practice and the organization they are imbedded in. m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 307-339 special issue: practicing collaboration 311 cooperation within bureaucracies: are communities of practice an answer? method research design the research follows a multiple case study design. a case study design was chosen because of the exploratory character of the research (yin, 1984; eisenhardt, 1989; brown and eisenhardt, 1997). the multiple case study design aims at discovering regularities between cases (glaser and strauss, 1967), where each case confirms or rejects emerging concepts (yin, 1984). using a multiple case design allows one to collect data in organizations which seem, a priori, to address similar issues but do so in different contexts or with different outcomes. the sampling logics is thus crucial. in order to expose the articulation between the communities of practice and the organization in which they are embedded, it was necessary to select cases with contrasting stories of articulation and evolving in different organizational contexts. to achieve that, the case selection could not be done before a first exploratory research was conducted. i selected the first two cases from a prior research project whose broader objective was to analyze organizational cohesion. the data provided me with both a very good understanding of the organizational context and rich information about the communities of practice in these organizations. i knew these two cases corresponded with my sampling requirements: they had different communities of practice stories and were characterized by different organizational contexts. the first case study is that of electrical1, one of the european leaders in automation and electrical installations. electrical is characterized by an extremely decentralized and market-oriented organizational structure, in which one could anticipate interesting results as far as individualism was concerned. the story of electrical is a continuous one, where communities of practice had been launched several years ago and have been encouraged ever since. the second case study is gas, the world leader in production and distribution of air gases, which is also a decentralized company but to a lesser degree than electrical. more classic bureaucratic mechanisms also account for its cohesion. communities of practice were very much encouraged at the beginning of the 90s but emphasis from the top management progressively decreased, thus providing an interesting set-up to study the evolution of communities of practice. in both cases, the first set of data collected led to the conclusion that the intrusions of the organization within the communities of practice was not threatening for their survival. i thus knew from my previous research that these two cases would provide rich insights into the research questions. but, trying to answer these questions, i also needed to include in the sample a case where the organization was directly threatening the degree of freedom necessary to the survival of the communities. this is the purpose of comp, the third case study. comp is an information system consulting firm operating all over france. comp is organized by business units that gather a group of managers in charge of a team of consultants. these 1. company names have been changed for confidentiality reasons. m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 307-339 special issue: practicing collaboration 312 emmanuel josserand managers are the core of the structure, strong pressure is placed on them for the delivery of short-term results. managers have their own style for managing their team with a point in common, which is a very clear hierarchical delineation between managers and consultants. in order to encourage knowledge exchanges between consultants working in the same sector, four communities of practice were introduced. the limited number of communities offered the possibility of following the development of each one. this provided a micro-social perspective to the study that was not possible for the two other cases. indeed the preliminary interviews showed that my contact in the company was concerned about the future of these communities of practice; he knew that at least two of them were functioning as working groups rather than as communities of practice. it was thus of special interest to analyze the different paths followed by each of the four communities of practice. table 1 provides a summary of the sampling logics. i used ouchi’s (1979; 1980) distinction of three modes of control—the clan, the bureaucracy and the market2—in order to underline the differences between the cases in terms of organizational context. data collection most of the data were collected through in-depth semi-directive interviews. the interviews lasted from one to four hours. data collection was conducted as a two-stage process. nevertheless, as two cases were drawn from a previous and broader research, the strategy of data collection at electrical and gas was different from that followed at comp. stage 1 the study of communities of practice at electrical and gas was conducted as part of a broader research project aimed at analyzing the cohesion of these organizations. i interviewed 48 people at different levels in the organizations, from top-level management to productionlevel workers: 32 for gas and 16 for electrical. for each case, the interviews evoked the links between operational units and other organizational units (especially central departments) and between operatable 1. sampling logics mode of control market output control clan input and output control to a lesser degree output control input control in most teams s t r u c t u r e small business units by activity small business units by geographical zones small business units by activity p e r s p e c t i v e macro-social, the organization as a whole macro-social, the organization as a whole macroand microsocial, specific communities of practice as they develop in time c a s e electrical gas comp 2. the bureaucracy mode of organization was split between output and input control. m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 307-339 special issue: practicing collaboration 313 cooperation within bureaucracies: are communities of practice an answer? tional units and external actors. i also collected information about strategic objectives, local competitive environment, and work organization. open-ended questions were used so that interviewees could freely relate their stories about organizational cohesion. supplementary sources of evidence, such as documents or presence in the field, were also used. i visited several locations, systematically asking for a guided tour of the premises (office and plant where applicable) during my first visit. this was the opportunity to have a preliminary informal interaction with the personnel. i also attended one or two internal meetings per operational unit. several short interviews (less than one hour) were also conducted, most of which concerned lower-level employees. in this broad project, communities of practice3 were one among several organizational mechanisms. they were nevertheless important ones as both companies were putting a strong focus on their development in order to compensate what they perceived as a lack of exchanges between business units4. communities of practice were thus discussed in all the interviews; the time allocated to this subject in the interviews ranged from five minutes to 45 minutes5. the protocol was different at comp as this third case was introduced at a later stage in order to bring in the research design a case where the organization was threatening the development of communities of practice6. phase one was done at the beginning of year 2003. during the interviews, i raised contextual elements such as overall structure, cohesion mechanisms, links between projects and other organizational units and external actors, strategic objectives and work organization. nevertheless, this was done in relation to the main focus of data collection: the communities of practice. data were collected about three main themes: the reason for the participation of members, the perception and objectives of the management, the contribution to individual objectives, the contribution to the organization and the control and influence exerted on communities of practice. i interviewed 21 people that occupied different positions within the company: mission managers (7), managers (2), consultants (10) and functional (2). they had various activities within the communities—mission manager (7), pilot (3), participants (11)—and belonged to the four communities—insurance (4), project management (5), bank-finance (3), crm (3), crm and insurance (1), bank-finance and insurance (3) and non-participant (2). interviews lasted between 45 minutes and three hours. stage 2 comparative case study research can lead to strong insight provided that the sampling strategy is properly linked to the research question, especially when comparing cases of success and failure (brown and eisenhardt, 1997). the first stage of data collection offered this possibility. nevertheless, the comparison of cases drawn from different organizations is subject to contextual contingencies (barley, 1990). diachronic research architecture strengthens the internal coherence of the research by allowing a comparison of the effect of contextual variations on the phenomenon that we are trying to understand (barley, 1990; langley, 1999). i accordingly complemented the research archi3. in 1996, the concept of community of practice was not familiar to the people i interviewed. at electrical, they were called “clubs”, whereas at gas, people would refer to them as “networks”. 4. two other companies were included in this former project. they are not included in this article as communities of practice were not identified as one of the foundations of their cohesion. 5. time has been extrapolated based on a length of the interview transcripts. 6. i would like to thank and acknowledge bertrand de st léger for his contribution during stage 1 of the comp case study. we communicated together the preliminary results at the aims conference before he chose to pursue a non-academic career (josserand and st léger, 2004). m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 307-339 special issue: practicing collaboration 314 emmanuel josserand tecture by introducing a second stage of data collection that took place at the beginning of year 2004. this second series of interviews allowed me to assess the evolutions of the organizations and their impact on communities of practice. i contacted key informants from stage 1 and conducted a series of 16 interviews: seven at electrical, five at gas and four at comp. each interview was transcribed before the following one so as to orient the questions. the interviews were very focused on the evolution of the organizations and the consequences on communities of practice. i had also conducted brief follow-up interviews between stages 1 and 2 in the three companies. i met the key informants—two informants for electrical, two for gas and one for comp— at least twice a year, generally once informally for a lunch and once for a formal interview. during these follow-up meetings, i took notes that were used to track the important changes of the organizations. data analysis interviews were coded according to two dimensions: chronological and thematic. the chronological coding was aimed at reconstituting the stories of communities of practice in the three companies. the first coding included two aspects: the evolution of the company and the evolution of the communities of practice within these companies. the evolution of the communities of practice was coded with a three-phase perspective: creation, development and evolution. the thematic coding was done using the following broad categories7: impact of control mechanisms, connections with the rest of the organization, role of the coordinator, reporting obligations, conditions of creations, objective of the participant, objectives of the community(/ies) and activities of the community(/ies). i then consolidated a chronological basis with interview abstracts and used it in order to write the story presented below. thematic coding was also consolidated in a thematic basis that was used to elaborate the thematic results. three stories of communities of practice each of the following sections is a story of communities of practice in their organizational contexts. electrical and gas stories offer an interesting contrast: at electrical the organization continually reinforced its focus on the development of communities of practice while at gas, the emphasis on communities of practice was progressively reduced. at comp, the micro-social analysis of the development of four communities of practice illustrates some of the negative impacts of trying to “manage” organizational rules on communities of practice. the progressive deinstitutionalization of networks at gas in 1992, the structure of gas was completely reorganized in order to give more initiative to local units in close contact to the customer, 7. the same categorization was used for the sections of the interviews refering to communities of practice for stage 1 at gas and electrical, for the interviews of the personnel of comp and for the follow-up interviews. m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 307-339 special issue: practicing collaboration 315 cooperation within bureaucracies: are communities of practice an answer? which implied decentralization of the management both between corporate head and the units, and within each unit dedicated to a market, a region, or a field of competencies. in order to organize the sharing of knowledge and expertise, networks were created upon the initiative either of a manager or a unit director. everybody could, in theory, constitute a network but most of the network concerned the first layer of management and above. there were no reporting obligation but the authorization of the supervisor of the person was necessary (except for unit managers who made their own decisions). the structure between 1992 and 2001 was characterized by the absence of hierarchy within units: the manager of the unit was the only boss of 30 to 120 persons. former intermediary managers were now called “experts” and they acted as coordinators with no hierarchical power. this implies a very large decentralization within the unit. in this context, networks were presented as a very useful means to obtain knowledge sharing between units. a strong emphasis was put on their development and, at the group level, a sponsor was responsible for keeping trace of their development and stimulating the creation of new networks. the development of networks was very fast and most experts were involved in one network, sometimes several. as autonomy was established in units, practices and procedures progressively diverged within the group; operational unit personnel felt a need for coherence and guidance. progressively, the strength of the rhetoric of the new organization weakened, resulting in 2001 in the reintroduction of a layer of middle management in the operational unit. during this period, the emphasis on networks faded progressively. networks continued to exist and to develop but not as systematically. the sponsor—and memory—of networks retired at the same period and nobody was appointed to replace him. the increasing connections between subsidiaries of international customers rendered necessary the introduction of even more convergence in the offerings of the group. moreover, the decentralized organization allowed for the introduction of numerous local innovations but had a cost in terms of productivity. a vast reorganization was launched in 2003 in order to rationalize the offerings and concentrate resources; small units were consolidated in larger ones (15 in france). numerous reappointments and the hiring of external managers accompanied the reorganization. this changed the relational structure within the group and numerous networks disappeared. interestingly enough, what could have been the cause of the death of the networks was in fact the cause of a new meaning for network development. indeed, the reorganization was led at a fast pace and central units had difficulties in providing timely answers to the concrete problems that were emerging. quite naturally, the old figure of the network resurfaced during this period. networks helped at various levels to implement and interpret the new guidelines, thus producing knowledge that was often centrally adopted afterwards. in other cases, networks stimulated the creation of formal working groups to solve a tougher problem. at the end of stage 2, the reorganization was under better control, networks were less active but new groups were still crem@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 307-339 special issue: practicing collaboration 316 emmanuel josserand ated punctually when a problem arose . moreover, the links generated during the reorganization were still active, at least informally on a dyadic basis. thanks to the surge of networks, the reorganization was not synonymous with de-socialization and these links could be reactivated when necessary to solve new problems. the institutionalization of clubs at electrical electrical is a company that resulted from the merger of three companies present in different geographical areas. from its creation, the group chose a management style that granted a large autonomy to small entities (700 in 2004, with a personnel ranging from 20 to 120 people) called “companies”. the only functional central structures are financial, marketing for only some specific activities and an innovation cell that mostly ensures technical environment scanning. as far as line management is concerned, regional directors are responsible for the coordination of a large cluster of companies. considering the light structures of the group, central interventions are reduced to a minimum. a strategic plan is defined for each company and formally translated into financial objectives. these objectives are followed formally. interventions of the regional directors are non-directive, each company manager is responsible for his/her decisions. in such a decentralized context, the group sought some ways to reintroduce crosscutting links between companies in order to exchange resources and knowledge. these endeavours included formal working groups, crosscutting innovation projects and the constitution of “clubs”. “club” was the word used at electrical to designate crosscutting groups of individuals who share common questions or issues within the firm. the proposition to create a club generally emanated from one of the regional directors but could also be launched by company managers or project managers. the club then had to be approved by the strategic orientation committee, the central governing committee; this approval was generally a straightforward process. clubs could regroup representatives of companies that had common customers, worke d o n the same field, or wishe d to develop their expertise on a precise function or question (for instance logistics, purchases, etc). membership and attendance varied from small communities of five people to bigger ones of up to 30 people. clubs had no pre-determined duration, they could be temporary or permanent. no formal reporting was expected but they could produce a final report if they thought it appropriate. the story of the clubs of electrical is that of a continuous building up over the eight years of this study. when i started the study in 1996, the question of crosscutting exchanges was a recent one following the extreme decentralization policy adopted by the head of the group. the clubs quickly emerged as a very useful tool for managers to develop links between companies while respecting the principle of decentralization of the group. by the end of 1997, the group counted about 40 active clubs that were binding together the 250 companies on various themes. at this stage, there was no specific support of the organization to the clubs even though attempts to create cross-cutting links was m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 307-339 special issue: practicing collaboration 317 cooperation within bureaucracies: are communities of practice an answer? one of the four criteria used in the assessment of each company manager. some clubs included a director as others were composed only of project managers and company managers. in 2000, after a reorganization of the holding company, electrical incorporated the electrical activities of another group. even though electrical was smaller than the other group, the management style that was adopted for the newly integrated entities was that of electrical; thus the other group was reorganized in small autonomous companies. from 250 companies, the group thus jumped to 700 and consolidated its position in europe. the decentralization principle was not put into question and thus the need for crosscutting links was even more crucial. this first reorganization was followed by a rationalization of the divisions of the activities at the beginning of year 2003 in order to introduce a common brand name for all the entities. the transformation of the group resulted in a systematization of the creation of clubs so as to exploit common knowledge and synergies within the group. if the rules for the functioning of clubs had not changed, the practices evolved progressively. an internet portal was introduced where clubs could be registered, minutes of meeting when taken were stored, member lists displayed and various documents shared. the major change was the quasi-generalization of the presence of a regional director at the meetings; this was the case for the majority of clubs even though some exceptions remained. this director was not directly responsible for the co-ordination of the club, the choice of the topics or the membership; nobody was forced to attend a club meeting. nevertheless directors had a specific status in the clubs as they could ask members to stop their activities if they judged that no progress was being made. they also helped to focus the debates, especially by proposing some themes when the clubs were launched. as discussed below in the thematic analysis, this is to be put into perspective with the decentralization of the group and with the fact that directors are not the hierarchical supervisors of most of the members of the clubs they coordinate. the institutional and dissident communities of comp comp is characterized by an important decentralization at the manager level while hierarchy is more important at the consultant level. projects in the business units could have common points that were not exploited because of the decentralization of the company. it was decided in 2001 to launch communities of practice called “excellence centres”. six such centres were initially created on the following themes: internet, telecommunication networks, project management, bankfinance and insurance. the first two centres—internet and telecommunication networks—only lasted a few months and fell apart rapidly because of the lack of interest of the consultants. the four others are still active, even if to a variable degree. participants were initially a mix of about ten experienced and less experienced consultants in each centre that had chosen freely to get m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 307-339 special issue: practicing collaboration 318 emmanuel josserand involved. each centre was facilitated by a pilot, a co-pilot and a few experts. a mission manager was nominated by the management of the company to follow the development of each centre. in the initial organization, the mission manager did not participate in all the meetings; the pilot reported to him on the activities of the club, he could be called in to help and arbitrate a delicate matter or help obtain some resources for the centre. centres met at least once a month and had to organize so that the knowledge they produced was made available to the rest of the organization. on these common grounds, the four centres followed very different paths. in fact, only the crm centre’s manager respected the organization as initially defined. the pilot was the actual facilitator of the centre and the mission manager did not get involved. topics to be put on the agenda were discussed between members and everybody could contribute. the mission manager acted only as a link with the top management but insisted on his informal role and not on influencing the decisions taken within the centre. he did not exert control on the centre; the centre was thus very active and was a real community of practice that contributed to knowledge exchanges and helped members to deal with complex clients proposals. the project management centre was gradually organized by the mission manager as a project team. the vocabulary used was that of project management with deliverables, deadlines and objectives, what the mission manager called “framed voluntary work”. the mission manager was thus more involved, he proposed the themes and the members chose which topic they wanted to contribute to; they then agreed to do a specific task for a specific deadline. in order to orient the activity of the centre, the mission manager often participated in the meetings. he used his own experts to help determine the appropriate subjects. the group no longer worked as a community of practice, and thus did not offer the same opportunities in terms of knowledge sharing. nevertheless, it had become a project group that produced deliverable useful for the organization. in the two other centres, the role of the mission manager—the same person for both centres—was even more prominent. the mission manager progressively acted on behalf of the pilot and took their places in the centres. she restricted the subjects to be studied and gradually became the manager of the centre. some of the themes that had been chosen at the beginning by the members were replaced by others unilaterally judged as priorities. she also controled the activity and got directly involved in the elaboration of the deliverables, building on the work done in subgroups by the members. the functioning of both centres was perceived as hierarchical as the mission director is a representative of the head of the company. fewer and fewer consultants were interested in doing extra work without having the opportunity to enter exchanges on subjects that really interested them: the passion was gone. the bank-finance and insurance centres thus both progressively faded away. nevertheless the outcome was not completely negative. on the one hand, managers within the company had identified, thanks to the m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 307-339 special issue: practicing collaboration 319 cooperation within bureaucracies: are communities of practice an answer? two centres’ activities, key consultants whose expertise could be used on projects. they started interacting with them directly as the two centres were perceived as too bureaucratic. on the other hand, consultants were asking for a structure where they could exchange their knowledge and this structure was still to be created. thanks to the centre, they learnt to know one another and this resulted in the emergence of a completely informal and deinstitutionalized community. three consultants took the initiative to organize monthly lunches with colleagues who worked in the field of bank and finance. these lunches, which started at the beginning with a small group of less than ten persons, became very successful and a very active community of 70 consultants later constituted the mailing list, with an average of 30 coming to the lunches. at these lunches, the unofficial pilot very briefly raised a subject and launched a debate that participants were free to develop or not at their end of the table. these lunches were followed by active exchanges of files, documents and the formation of small working groups to address subjects of interest. groups on subjects other than banking or finance formed as consultant realized that they had common technical preoccupations. interestingly, the excessive formalization of the centres resulted in a very active, informal and non-institutional community. the communities and the organization: discussion of thematic results the contrasting experiences and organizational contexts of the three cases studied offer rich insight into the potential contribution of communities of practice to intra-organizational cooperation. first, the results show that communities of practice can fill organizational gaps, build resilience within the organization and thus develop a rich form of interstitial cooperation. second, the analysis of the connections between communities of practice and the organization results in identifying five key roles managers can play to contribute to community development, depending on the organizational context. towards interstitial cooperation communities of practice can contribute to filling organizational gaps in various contexts. as elastic forms, they adapt to the organizational environment. the longitudinal design of the research allows for the analysis of how they resurface when organizational actors need them. their resilience is based on underlying networks that sometimes crystallize themselves into a community; this property is crucial in order to build resilience in the organization by allowing cooperation to take place when and where needed. such cooperation goes far beyond simple knowledge exchanges and can lead to very concrete realizations. communities achieve this result when they can create a balance between the self-interest of their members and a polymorphic altruism. m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 307-339 special issue: practicing collaboration 320 emmanuel josserand filling organizational gaps if communities of practice are interstitial organizational forms, it does not mean that their contribution to the organization is marginal. if they are acclaimed by the managerial world, it is because the interstices can be wide: communities of practice can fill organizational gaps. what is remarkable is the wide spectrum of their contribution. in decentralized environments they can constitute precious links between entities, help individuals in the decentralization process and contribute to breaking the internal individualist and competitive logic of output control or market incentives. in a more centralized environment, they can help to interpret or implement the rule as well as to generate dissident behaviours sometimes necessary to escape the rule. the first generic situation is that of decentralized organizations. this was the situation of electrical, gas (in phase 1) and comp (at the managers’ level). decentralization has a first effect of dispersion of competencies within the organization: people who could exchange knowledge and exploit their competencies and resources tend to focus on their own business and miss opportunities of joint developments. this eff e c t of decentralization is very straightforward: «the problem is that as we are organized with dispersed companies, people don’t meet necessarily very often; [the club] is a means we found so that people who have common preoccupations could exchange» (project manager, electrical). the situation is the same at comp for the informal community that emerged after the failure of the competency centres: «we tried to put people together because they worked in the same field or because they had the possibility to work in the same field» (consultant, comp). the importance of this aspect of the role of communities of practice tends to be amplified «as organizations grow in size, geographical scope, and complexity» (lesser and storck, 2001: 831). this is exactly the situation electrical faced after merging its activities, with an increase in size from 250 to 700 companies. the clubs proved very useful as they helped in the integration of the new companies in the group; the clubs progressively integrated the new comers on relevant subjects: «at the beginning, as i told you, it was mainly people from the old perimeter, we are now very happy as it integrates people from the whole group, even beyond the electrical activities» (club facilitator, electrical). more generally, the communities of practice can help individuals in the process of decentralization. indeed, decentralization means that actors must redefine their roles and bear a situation of increased responsibility and pressure; in such circumstances, communities of practice offer a social context in which to cope with this situation. this was specifically experienced at gas during the initial decentralization of 1992: «for me, the networks were very useful for the reorganization, for exchanging best practices, to look for possible new tracks. it was a reassuring factor for people that had not necessarily a hierarchy to help them on a number of topics» (region manager, gas). the contribution of communities of practice in a changing organization is both reinventing the content and identity of the role and providing actors with the opportunity to reorient their informal networks, one of the key elements constitutive of role transition (ashforth and saks, 1995). m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 307-339 special issue: practicing collaboration 321 cooperation within bureaucracies: are communities of practice an answer? finally, decentralization can create a situation where dialog between units is made difficult. these difficulties result in the first place from the differentiation of the structures (lawrence and lorsh, 1967). also, decentralized structures are often associated with the introduction of financial control mechanisms (goold and campbell, 1987); output control in such situation is associated with a competition that can result in individualist attitudes detrimental to the cooperation between the units. this was exactly the situation encountered at electrical, where both differentiation and financial incentives resulted in difficulties to recreate a cooperative link. people hesitated to give away strategic information: «in general, people give little information about their customers, everyone looks out for his own interests» (sales manager, electrical). for instance in the buyers club, it took time for people to feel confident enough to start talking about providers: «in this club, at the beginning, people really had to get used to trusting one another, to talking with one another and telling one another what their providers were telling them. (…) then, during the two or three first meetings, it was to get used progressively to saying things that they didn’t dare to say» (club facilitator, electrical). communities of practice thus helped actors to overcome the individualism resulting from financial incentives and to enter into a more authentic relationship of cooperation. the reorganization of gas and the evolution of the bank-finance excellence centre of comp were two opportunities to observe the positioning of community members in a situation where new and more restrictive rules and procedures were introduced. communities of practice in both companies were useful in this situation. in the case of gas, the introduction of new rules and procedures was not necessarily perceived as an intrusion. many actors felt some rationalization had to take place in order to face strategic challenges such as the internationalization of customers. it was not a case of complete recentralization and thus, the rules left some margin for interpretation: «networks are very productive in the period we are engaging in, because we move back towards a situation more centralized, much more centralized. this means the national policies are much more precise and demanding. thus, the modalities of implementation must be discussed between those who are in position to see how to adapt efficiently to these national objectives efficiently» (region manager, gas). in such a situation the communities of practice thus helped to interpret and implement the new policies. but communities of practice can also be used in order to escape some form of intrusion, in which case they become clandestine. this is what happened at comp when the mission manager attempted to take over the activity of the bank-finance centre, thus transforming a community of practice into a bureaucratic structure. consultants started to meet informally outside of the excellence centre: «as the mission manager imposed things on us, we started to see each another outside and we figured out we could exchange (…) that’s how we progressively disregarded the mission manager» (consultant, comp). project managers looking for a specific competency would then start asking directly to the informal community members: «the first request came directly m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 307-339 special issue: practicing collaboration 322 emmanuel josserand from a manager alone, directly, i didn’t ask for it. he had understood that there were some competencies and he didn’t want to bother with formal procedures, so he called the person who had the knowledge» (consultant, comp). the informal community thus offers a real alternative to the formal structure, it was perceived as a useful way of bypassing the formal structure. this is in line with lave and wenger’s (1991: 64) suggestion that «communities of practice may well develop interstitially and informally in coercive workplaces». even if comp had not become all of a sudden a coercive workplace, the pressure put on the excellence centre by the mission manager was perceived as too coercive and was leading to a bureaucratic functioning. this drift of the community is also to be linked with the difficulties top management has to actually capture the essence of the practices undertaken within the organization. this results in a tendency to underestimate or misinterpret the actual skills deployed within the organization and thus in the deployment of clandestine exchanges: «the corporate tendency to down-skill can often lead to non-canonical practice and communities being driven further underground so that the insights gained through work are more hidden from the organization as a whole» (brown, 1998: 232). but as illustrated by the situation of gas, communities of practice can also contribute to integrating actual practices within the formal or “canonical” practices; by acknowledging the importance of the negotiation of sense by those who are to implement the organizational procedures, central management can avoid a situation of disconnection between espoused canonical practices and actual practices (brown, 1998). communities of practice thus maintain an ambiguous connection with the rules and procedures that is to be understood as a mixture of approved interpretation and dissident transgression. the actors can instrumentalize them in order to negotiate meaning, either to interpret the rule or to create linkage in less structured organizational settings; in that sense communities of practice play with the context. they can also be a place to escape the organization, a place where the rules are no longer applied and cooperation takes place despite individualism. management can tinker with these different facets of communities of practice, they can try and build around them but in the acknowledgement that communities have a life of their own and that tinkering too much is likely to make them cross the border towards clandestine behaviour. a longitudinal analysis of the evolution of the communities in the three cases help us to better understand the unique way communities of practice connect the informal to the formal and the institutional to the clandestine. in the next section, we adopt the concept of resilience to shed light on these questions. resilience, communities and informal networks one of the insights that can be drawn from the gas and comp case studies is the capacity of communities of practice to reappear when they are no longer expected. they may change, become more or less formal and benefit from a stronger or a weaker institutionalization, they seem to resurface when the actors of the organization need them. if m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 307-339 special issue: practicing collaboration 323 cooperation within bureaucracies: are communities of practice an answer? previous life cycle theories about communities of practice fail to capture this resilience, it is mainly because they stop the observation when the community escapes its definition; but communities are one of various possible states for their underlying social ties. as such they can’t be understood if we don’t follow what becomes of these social ties when the community disappears. this gives us an understanding of the resilience of communities of practice but also of their contribution to the resilience of the rest of the organization. communities at gas resurfaced when they were needed for the implementation of a new and more centralized organization. this was in an organizational context where the communities had become less essential as management tools; communities still existed but were not as actively encouraged as they had been following the first reorganization in 1992: «it represents less than before for the people of the company. it is diffuse and less… it is no longer encouraged, it is more spontaneous but it no longer has this character of a wanted institution that we made sure would endure and be prosperous at the beginning of the [1999] reorganization» (region manager, gas). despite these unfavourable conditions, communities emerged naturally in order to interpret the new rules and procedures: «we see with satisfaction that they start to function again or to reconstitute themselves while changing a bit their objectives. for them, it is to share their know-how in mastering new tools, or to put together the preparatory works for the implementation of the new tools. and this works very well. to a point, it is enough to let do.» (region manager, gas). communities (networks in the company’s argot) can thus be considered to some degree as an organizational reflex, an acquired property of the organization: «it is a great asset because i think that ten years ago we wouldn’t even have thought about it» (technical manager, gas). another occurrence of the capacity of communities of practice to resurface in a new and unexpected configuration was observed at comp when the bank-finance excellence centre was perceived as inappropriately bureaucratic. the functioning there was completely outside of the institution and not formal at all; the starting point was the organization of a monthly lunch by three of the frustrated consultants: «it was completely informal. people would come with folders and files, input, exchange in electronic format, mostly electronic. it was the opportunity for numerous electronic exchanges afterwards» (consultant, comp). this gave birth to a wide community of 70 people but also to various working groups on very concrete priorities of the consultants: «for instance, on the new accountancy rules, after one of the lunches, three people from the group worked together on an offering on the new norms. they met at the head-office and worked on a presentation of the norms to the company and for a specific customer. they communicated it to the rest of the group» (consultant, comp). interestingly enough, the scope of the new emerging community starts to expand below the initial thematic. sub-groups form on other themes: «there were people from finance, but in the telecom industry. some of them had worked on new communication means like pda, blackberry and this kind of things. they also got together on geo-location things that m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 307-339 special issue: practicing collaboration 324 emmanuel josserand had nothing to do with the starting subject. (…) it might well be that several groups will form» (consultant, comp). this thematic deviation illustrates very well how powerful the informal communities can be. the reappearance of communities can’t be interpreted without taking into account a broader picture of the organization. communities have an ambivalent relationship with pre-existing informal networks. first, they often build on pre-existing informal networks; this is one of the more consensual results of research on communities to date (mcdermott, 2000; wenger and snyder, 2000; gongla and rizzuto, 2001; wenger et al., 2002). this was of course observed in the different case studies, for instance at gas: «when i was transfered to orléans, i wasn’t part of this south network but i was called and told “i would like you to participate because there are things on which you have made progress and we would like to share and exchange on these subjects”. and this is how i integrated this south network» (technical manager, gas). nevertheless, this is not necessarily the way networks were formed at the beginning. managers often play a role in the emergence of a network by suggesting and pushing their collaborators to form a community or to get involved in an existing community; this was especially obvious at gas and electrical. this does not imply a pre-existing informal network between participants. in such circumstances, the community will be the origin of the informal network and people will start to know each other because of their participation in the community. this explains why a community may not completely disappear when an external observer might think of them as terminated. they continue to survive in a lethargic state that can explain their resurgence. for instance at comp, the excellence centre gave birth to both the clandestine community and to informal networks of expertise: «even though it [the bank-finance excellence centre] collapsed, there is still an informal group that is still appealed to on questions of bankfinance» (consultant, comp). institutional communities give birth to informal networks, which, in turn, can be the source of new communities. communities can also lead to and be derived from a much more formalized form, that of the working group. communities do not always dispose of the necessary resources and competencies to achieve certain objectives. in such cases, community members may think it appropriate to create a working group: «that is to say, if in a network a certain number of people decide that there is a subject to be more deeply gone into, we can start a work group system» (hr corporate manager, gas). this does not mean that the community is over or will not revive from the social ties consolidated into the working group. wenger et al. (2002) captured the idea of this evolution of communities of practice by using the term “transformation”, but contrary to their view, transformation is not the end of a community but the evolution towards a diff e r e n t form of social links that can result in the rebirth of the community. in fact, the life cycle approach to community development (mcdermott, 2000; wenger et al., 2002) fails to accurately capture the evolution of communities of practice (gongla and rizzuto, 2001). this is probably m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 307-339 special issue: practicing collaboration 325 cooperation within bureaucracies: are communities of practice an answer? the case because it does not consider the community in its context, that of the organization. if communities have this capacity to reappear in a different form when they are needed, it is mainly because of their recursive connection with informal networks but also with other more formalized forms such as work groups and probably former and current work teams or project teams for instance. communities thus appear as the crystallization at one moment in time of social relationships within the organization. they belong to a wider continuum of organizational forms from the very fluid form of informal networks to more structured work groups or teams. they are built on other forms and build other forms. these results echo granovetter’s (1978) conception of social embeddedness that appeals to an understanding of organization as a combination of strong and weak ties. the strength of the ties is subject to some elasticity as weak ties «serve as communication channels and may at all times be transformed into strong ties» (biemans, 1990: 533). it is only within this broad perspective that we can understand the cycles of disappearances and reappearances of communities of practice. one could say that communities hibernate in the form of informal network and than reappear when issues or problems are to be solved within the organization. as argued by one of the region managers of gas: «communities are still functioning and not only because of the acquired speed but also because of the permanence of subjects to be addressed». in this sense, by introducing some form of redundancy in organizations, communities of practice reinforce their capacity to recover from important changes or perturbations. indeed, even though redundancy is costly (burt, 1982), it increases information-gathering capacity (tichy, 1981). beunza and stark (2003: 136-137) showed the recovery of trading activities after the events of september 11: «organizational responsiveness rested less on contingency plans and hierarchical command structures than on heterarchical structures of selforganization and lateral coordination». in the same vein, leca and naccache (2004) associated al-qaida’s resilience capacity to its specific network structure. redundancy in the organization is one of the important drivers of adaptability to small changes, recovery and resurgence. as they offer alternative ways of doing things, communities of practice introduce within the organization some generative redundancy in the sense of beunza and stark (2003). communities of practice thus appear as resilient forms; building on informal networks they fade when the organizational context is not favourable and reappear when their contribution is needed. one could say that they survive because they are interstitial; they fill the gaps left by other organizational forms. their resilience is also a contribution to resilience at other levels of structures. communities of practice, as a reticular form (josserand, 2004), directly contribute to organizational resilience; as communities reconfigure themselves from being more or less formal and more or less institutionalized, they can contribute to solve various organizational issues and thus reinforce organizational resilience. by creating spaces of exchange between individuals, they also contribute to individual resilience. m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 307-339 special issue: practicing collaboration 326 emmanuel josserand interstitial cooperation, from learning to doing together one of the explanations for the resilience of communities of practice is their capacity to adapt their shape to the organizational context and thus to answer to various expectations from organizational actors. any specific community must answer the same expectation of concrete contribution to individual practices. to achieve this, communities have to evolve from learning to doing; the community members i observed were not merely meeting to exchange knowledge, they were active and working together. they were engaged in common activities that helped them to transcend their everyday practices, giving them the passion to meet and to develop the community, a level of contribution that is possible only if the community becomes a place of free exchange in which “true” cooperation can take place. this form of cooperation results from a finely tuned balance between the pursuit of self-interest and the development of a polymorphic altruism. interestingly, members were able to articulate the achievement of networks as a two-fold activity. they first underlined the importance of information and knowledge exchanges. some actors even spontaneously used the phrase “network of knowledge” to underline the role classically attributed by the literature to communities of practice. but they also insisted on the importance of more concrete activities if the community was to survive: «very quickly, there must be common objectives» (regional manager, electrical); «the purchase community worked out, it still works because they gave themselves concrete objectives (…); clubs that do not give themselves concrete objectives do not work well» (club facilitator, electrical). the objectives were varied but they often implied the creation of common elements like rules, procedures, tools, a brand or prospecting for common customers. communities were meant to take decisions together: «the way we function, it is not that connections between people that have decisions to make or things to do together would have to go through a pyramid. we want it to be horizontal connections» (regional director, electrical); «for new functions, as that of quality manager or work planner, it came naturally with a strong need of course because they are in the process of creating their profession in a way» (technical manager, gas). members also clearly articulated the knowledge and more operational aspects of the activities of the communities: «our action was more to make proposals for the customers. we gathered in small groups to do that and we worked. the stakes were to settle some problems to acquire new competencies for their carriers but also to form our networks of knowledge. knowing that one can rely on somebody when one has a problem» (consultant, comp); «there is a network to work and after, there is a knowledge network as well, that is to say that it is important to know who does what in the company and to know were to get the good information. (…) in “networks” there are two aspects» (region manager, gas). in their interstitial activities, community members do more than exchanging and developing knowledge, they also engage in concrete cooperative actions that are essential to the survival of the community. m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 307-339 special issue: practicing collaboration 327 cooperation within bureaucracies: are communities of practice an answer? the importance of concrete activities within the community gives an interesting perspective on we n g e r’s (1998) participation/reification d u a l i t y. indeed, as argued by brown (1998), for community members, learning is a matter of practice, not a theoretical thing, it is all about becoming a practitioner. communities’ activities and more generally cooperation have to be grounded on concrete and practical realizations (dameron, 2004; dameron and josserand, 2004), something that is essential in order to stimulate the involvement of members. concrete realizations partially satisfy the need for reification while allowing for a common engagement in participation where resources and competences are complementary. the achievement of this form of cooperation contributes to building-up the legitimacy of the community towards its members and towards the organization; in that sense it is absolutely necessary. still, the connection between community and practice is ambivalent. the community transcends the practice of each member but only if it has a grip on these practices, only if it imposes its mark in concrete common realizations. members’ participation in the community is not enough if the community does not participate into the everyday practice of members. sharing a practice means learning but it also means doing concrete things together, cooperating in the etymological sense of the term in order to adjust to the needs and objectives of each member and of the organization as a whole. achieving such a level of cooperation is not straightforward, it implies a finely tuned balance between interest—the satisfaction of instrumental objective stressed above—and a polymorphic altruism. instrumental objective can be captured by a give and take logic: «there is a necessary condition for a club to work, people that belong to it must want to give, to receive (…) it is really a place of exchange» (region director, electrical). but the instrumental objective does not seem sufficient to ensure the success of a community. many participants underline the necessity of some form of conviviality that goes beyond mere interest: «it is due to the ambience, the desire, obviously, this ambience is a factor that will make a club live, die or flounder» (project manager, electrical). this necessity to create convivial links between individuals is often translated into the nature and location of the meeting: a lunch, visiting a customer or a technical realization, a meeting room outside of the company… in fact, true cooperation will only happen when the group comes together naturally: «when people have worked together on a subject, further activities come naturally» (region director, electrical). as described by wenger (1998), this led to a common passion: «about the notion of club, i would like to add the importance of “voluntary passion”, that is important» (commercial manager, electrical). as the community emerges, strong affective ties can appear: «it takes several years before they are fluent but after a while, they call each others for everything. they become friends» (regional manager, electrical); «to me, there must be, let’s say, an affective relationship between people» (project manager, gas).the give-and-take logic is thus not the only explanation for the survival of a community. the construction of a common identity associated with m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 307-339 special issue: practicing collaboration 328 emmanuel josserand affective links allows for the surpassing of self-interest towards some form of altruism. the quality of cooperation within communities of practice thus clearly appears as dependent on a balance between interest and altruism (grima and josserand, 2000). ambivalence in the interpretation of such cooperative relationships can be traced back to chester barnard (dameron, 2002). interest in an instrumental perspective is essential but a community is viable only if both affective and identity links are present (dameron and josserand, 2004). nevertheless, the instrumental dimension is essential if the community is to find its legitimacy within the organization and results in a new perception of participation where members participate in the activities of the community but where the community also infiltrates daily practices of the m e m b e r s . organization, manager and community: a contingent approach to a complex task i have proposed previously that communities of practice were characterized by a high level of resilience. nevertheless, the concept of resilience, whether used in physics or social sciences, also intrinsically includes the existence of a breaking point, a point after which the system can’t recover. accordingly, the resilience of communities of practice is not absolute and much could be lost because some communities and their underlying networks are pushed beyond their breaking points. management can contribute greatly to strengthening the role of communities within an organization. they can avoid rupture and encourage the consolidation of networks into communities, they can also encourage participation. if the management of communities of practice is a key question, it is because there is much to gain for the organization, but also much to lose if management intrudes and destroys the space of free exchange that communities represent. the results of this research show that managing communities of practice is a very demanding task for managers: they have to develop a form of behavioural complexity in order to manage the unmanageable. beyond the very general advice given in the literature on communities of practice, “cultivating” communities of practice can only be understood within a contingent framework where the degree of tolerable intervention varies a lot depending on the organizational context. communities of practice and their underlying networks are exposed to both organizational changes and pressure. in some circumstances, their resilient property is not enough to ensure their continuation or at least some opportunities of interesting exchanges can be lost because informal networks disappear. this result was especially explicit at gas where the number and level of activity of communities decreased progressively between the two major organizational changes. when people were transferred, they were supposed to introduce their successor, but communities did not always come first: «when you change position there is an overlap period and this is the moment to introduce the colleague. but we don’t do it systematically because sometimes the m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 307-339 special issue: practicing collaboration 329 cooperation within bureaucracies: are communities of practice an answer? period is too short» (commercial manager, gas). it is of course even more obvious in the case of major changes. the second reorganization of gas broke inter-individual ties: «most networks disappeared as we changed the structure, we changed most managers, we transferred them or assigned them to different functions, it takes time for all this to come together again» (region manager, gas). the pressure of operational tasks within the organization can also be an impediment: «if business is slow, troubles here and there and people don’t take the time to come anymore» (project manager, electrical). changes in the organization can thus be very detrimental to the community, which is especially the case if the emergent “pilot” or “facilitator” or “leader” of the community is affected. indeed, interviewees at gas and comp8 systematically underlined the importance of actors who would take charge of the development of the network: «the problem is the pilot, if you don’t have a pilot and if it is not always the same person, it will fade away with time» (technical manager, gas); «i think that for a network to work well, it requires one or two people who have some charisma or facilitating capabilities that structure the network, make sure there is a meeting agenda, some form of discipline… i think that often, the termination of a network corresponds to the fact that at a certain moment in time in the group, this or these person/s are not here any more and the others don’t know how to get organized» (region manager, gas); «now the centre has collapsed, it was linked to one person who had strong relational capabilities and who has a very tough mission now, so he doesn’t organize the centre anymore and nobody really took the lead» (consultant, comp). the hazards of transfers or more fundamental reorganizations are thus a major threat to the survival of communities of practice. this is the case because informal networks underlying communities can be destroyed but also because, if management does not pay enough attention to the issue, useful communities can disappear because their pilot or leader has been transferred. this echoes an early appeal by brown (1998: 232) for more attention to the ecology of communities of practice: «more generally, changes or reorganizations, whether or not intended to down-skill, often disrupt what they do not notice (…) an organization needs to re-conceive itself as an ecology of communities of practice, acknowledging in the process the many non-canonical practices in its midst». the role of management is thus important if opportunities for community development are not to be lost or existing communities are not to disappear as the organization evolves. the question of the role of management in the development of communities of practice is of course a very sensitive one as communities partly derive their contribution from their interstitiallity, from the fact that they escape management. the three cases studied can help us to draft the possible scope of managerial intervention and shed light on the managerial complexity of this issue. five main roles to be played by the management emerge from the research, each of them generating a certain level of risk for the communities; these risks associated with the four roles are more or less salient, depending on the organizational context (table 2). 8. the issue was addressed differently at electrical, see below for more information about the role of region managers in maintaining the activity of the communities. m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 307-339 special issue: practicing collaboration 330 emmanuel josserand stimulation establishing the connections between individuals is the first role that management can fulfil. in the three cases, with the exception of the dissident community of comp, managers played a major role in the formation of communities or simply in the fact that an individual joined a community. in fact, they often suggested to their subordinate to create a community: «for what i know, it is rather at my initiative [that communities were created]. i see a collaborator who experiences difficulties, who is not able to properly collect the know-how wherever it is. i tell him, lets look together for the three or four persons in france that could be more advanced in this area… then we connect them to each other and that’s it» (region director, gas). a recurring point is that the capacity of management to establish a connection must not drift towards forcing people to participate: «we suggest to them that they ought to do that, we tell them it is a good way to make progress, but this kind of system can only be based on willingness» (region manager, electrical). forcing people to participate only results in a disinterest for the community and can be detrimental for the implication of members who joined with enthusiasm: «if it is informal, it is not hierarchical, you can’t bring somebody to a club with a gun in his back. either they come freely, they exchange and it works out well or they don’t come anymore and obviously the community dies» (region director, electrical). it thus appears as every manager’s job to contribute to the development of the communities within the organization while paying attention to preserving a freedom to participate that is essential to maintain the dynamics of the community. this echoed what i called the risk of systematization observed in the case of a collegial insurance company (josserand, 2004). trying to build on a successful informal community, the company tried to generalize and impose on all members the participation in think-groups; as might have been expected, the outcome was not successful and the groups did not last very long. wenger and snyder (2000) emphasize the key role of managers in identifying the communities but do not underline the corresponding risks. they even suggest that managers can use the help of a consultant to interview potential community members. it seems that in many cases, the difficulty is rather to find the right passionate people who are willing to contribute rather than to select with authority the appropriate members. it is nevertheless important to underline that the need of intervention by management depends on how well institutionalized table 2. roles of management s t i m u l a t i o n connection obligation institutionalization f a c i l i t a t i o n purpose imposed topic decentralization s u p p o r t resources expected return resource decentralization c o n t r o l deviance threat on affect productivity orientation r e c o g n i t i o n reward and appreciation expected deliverables degree of short-termism r o l e s objective risk organizational contingence m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 307-339 special issue: practicing collaboration 331 cooperation within bureaucracies: are communities of practice an answer? communities of practice are within the organization. the evolution of gas is very explicit on that matter. after the first reorganization, communities were identified as intrinsic to the new organization; individuals would thus naturally propose the creation of a new community. during the second reorganization, on the contrary, communities were not actively encouraged; managers thus had a key role in stimulating their revival. managers have thus to be more active in their connection role if the facilitation and valorisation roles do not result in a sufficient institutionalization of communities of practice within the organization. facilitation a second role can be played by management, that of facilitation. at gas, management did not take part in the actual functioning of the community, but the cases of comp and electrical offer the contrasting perspective of a failure and a success of such managerial implication. at comp, each community was assigned a mission director, initially for facilitating and reporting purposes. as described previously, this experiment was not successful for two out of four communities because the mission director took over the activities of the community, as summarized by a consultant: «the centre became a tightly managed working group» (consultant, comp). this resulted in the creation of the informal financial community: «even if we did not say it officially, it allowed us to by-pass the management» (consultant, comp). at electrical, the starting point is more constraining than at comp. in fact, a region manager is assigned to most of the communities. this is not a formal rule but it is applied in most cases. because of their knowledge of the group, region managers are perceived as helping members to build their own objectives on a strategic perspective, in practice their role is described as «to bring ideas and themes, sometimes to propose the organization of meetings with external persons» (project manager, electrical); «i see to it that there is an agenda, that it does not drift in every direction… when it goes into hare-brained subjects it is important to refocus the debate. but about the content, it is up to them. in principle, i do not facilitate. in order for it to remain operational, it is good that one of the member organizes the meeting» (region manager, electrical). management is thus present at most general meetings of the communities but interestingly, this is less detrimental to community development at electrical than it was at comp. the explanation can of course be found in the differences between organizational contexts. if both companies use financial objectives, electrical is very decentralized whereas in comp, input control is the rule in most teams. this means that for the region managers of electrical, accepting the existence of a zone of autonomy has become natural, whereas management at comp is used to the controlled production of deliverables to the customers. actors at electrical explicitly link their capacity to contribute to the community facilitation with the more general organizational context: «a manager that would be bossy, that would want to rule over everything, of course he blocks everything. the spirit is to give a space of exchange without constraints. if people feel they are spied, watched over, for sure they won’t say anything. but this is not m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 307-339 special issue: practicing collaboration 332 emmanuel josserand the functioning at electrical» (project manager, electrical). two minor points can also be underlined about the interventions of the region managers. first, they only supervise a few members of the communities they participate in, which makes it harder for them to behave with too much authority. second, between general meetings, members interact, work in small groups, advance on subjects and projects and the region manager does not take part into this. the result is thus a situation where management can help the community to develop its full potential in the spirit described by wenger et al. (2002: 73): «because communities evolve toward their potential, rather than define it up front, developing them involves imagining possibilities their members have not yet considered». smith and mckeen (2002) have also identified a role for management in shaping the community’s intent. these advice are of course relevant in some contexts but the study of comp shows that we are playing with the intrinsic paradox of community management, that of their unmanageability. such intervention from management should only be considered in very decentralized environments, where input control is extremely reduced. support a third role is that of supporting the communities’ activity, mainly by giving access to the resources needed by the communities and helping them to lift organizational barriers. this role is dealt with in a very different manner in the three organizations. at comp, this was the key initial attribute of the mission director. i have already showed in detail how this non-intervening role led to short term results expectations and subsequent interference in the communities’ activities. both electrical and gas have in common a decentralization of resources at the operational unit level. this meant that in both companies, if community members needed some resources they would have to negotiate these resources with their unit managers. in principle, this decentralization of resources would be enough to ensure that appropriate resources were available. nevertheless, in both cases some complementary mechanisms were at play. at electrical, the fact that most communities had a region manager among the members was important for credibility and thus for resource allocation: «the fact that we were here was important. it ensured that resources were used wisely» (region manager, electrical). gas addressed the question of facilitation more directly. during the first reorganization, a national sponsor for the communities was appointed, his only role was to facilitate the development of communities; this role was depicted as extremely useful: «as long as we have had people like [name] who was very convinced about the communities and who worked for it, it worked out well, but for a few years, the momentum has slowed down» (hr central manager, gas). directly or through the national sponsor, communities could also gain access to resources from the functional departments of the company. this question was not relevant to electrical as functional departments were reduced to a minimum. support has already been identified as a key role in the literature (wenger and snyder, 2000; smith and mckeen, 2002). i did find evidence of its importance but it was never expressed m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 307-339 special issue: practicing collaboration 333 cooperation within bureaucracies: are communities of practice an answer? as a primary concern for the actors. as shown in the case of comp, it can also lead to higher expectations and undesired intrusion from management within the communities. even though facilitation appears as a necessity in organizations with no decentralization of resources at the operational unit level, its implementation must once again very carefully take into account the organizational context. control the fourth role of management is that of control. gas and electrical offer the most interesting perspectives on that matter. in both companies, many actors expressed the fact that a community could become a place of social encounter with no real work or achievement. for instance a unit manager at gas stated: «if it is to go out for a big lunch together but that generally there has been no production during the community meeting, i notice it and i don’t necessarily want them to go on with it». the fact that no formal report is asked for does not imply that no control is involved. in fact, most of the time the control is very informal: «i asked all the people who participate in networks in my unit to keep me informed about their meetings. some give me written reports, others oral ones, to some extent, i don’t care. my aim is not to intervene in the conclusions or in what was said in the networks but to measure what is the value and volume of this exchange» (region manager, gas). at electrical, the control is more direct as region managers are present and are there «to check if the club evolves in a constructive climate or not, and then have the power to stop the club» (region manager, electrical). nevertheless, in both cases, actors insist on the fact that control should not undermine the affective dimension of the community. the same manager who emphasized the risk of deviance also underlined that: «one knows that one takes advantage of it to have a little lunch together so that there is a moment of conviviality». the affective dimension has to be preserved: «the weight of a manager mustn’t interfere with the overall functioning. if it were the case, it means we have a concern, that the geniality is not there» (project manager, electrical). these modes of control were possible at gas and electrical because the organizational context was tolerant and even demanding of a form of cooperation that was not yielding immediate results. this was not the case of comp, where the productivity orientation directly threatened the expression of the affective dimension. the risk of deviance of communities of practice has already been identified as «too much of a good thing» (wenger et al., 2002: 145); it appears as an important concern for the managers in the three companies. but before introducing control mechanisms, a clear assessment of the risk encountered on the affective dimension of the community has to be conducted. sometimes, recognition of the community activities can be more beneficial than tight controls. recognition the fifth role of management is precisely that of the recognition of the activities of the community. this involves both rewarding and appreciating members’ contributions but also leveraging communities’ activim@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 307-339 special issue: practicing collaboration 334 emmanuel josserand ties within the organization. at gas, the recognition of communities’ activities is now reduced to a minimum. nothing is included in the evaluation criteria; in fact, the common understanding is that members will attend if they find an interest in the community’s activity. if it helps them to better do their job, then the reward will come in their everyday activity. electrical has a more voluntary approach to reward and appreciation. contribution to crosscutting relationships between operational units is one of the criteria of evaluation, which includes getting involved in communities: «the fact of participating or animating a community, this is a point that can be set as a precise objective» (region manager, electrical). the presence of a region manager to the meetings is also an important factor for recognition. it first contributes to the diffusion of the community’s outcome: by its position the region manager can leverage it through the organization. it is also important for the recognition of the community, thanks to the presence of the region manager: «people were happy that it was an action that was validated, that was made official by the fact a region manager care about it» (region manager, electrical). this was also one of the only positive feelings associated with the presence of a mission manager at comp: «if there is a mission director, it means that the management is really involved» (consultant, comp). but on the other hand these management implications led to a situation where deliverables were systematically asked of the communities: «if they get involved, they will ask us to do things. if they ask us to do things, either they control, and this does not work, or it is extra work» (consultant, comp). this is a manifestation of the hiatus between the expectations of the members who wanted to share their knowledge and that of the mission managers who tried to impose the short-term production of materials for the rest of the organization. one of the main differences between comp and electrical and gas is the difference in recognition of the importance of time in building a community of practice. communities have to be places of exchanges protected from the overwhelming time pressures that exist in most organizations. this echoes the finding by wenger et al. (2002: 152) that «when an organization lacks a compelling vision of what communities can accomplish in relation to strategic priorities, communities are forced to focus on achievements that can easily be included in formal evaluations, such as technology or documentation, even if members do not believe that these are the most important priorities». this doesn’t mean that the unique competences of their members cannot be used by the organization. for instance at comp, managers would ask the informal community members for help and support for difficult projects: «they were not really involved but they would call me to know who they could call. they told me “on this subject, do you know who is sharp because we have a need”» (consultant, comp). this is an interesting answer to the use of non-traditional measures to assess the contribution of communities to the organization. in fact, the results show that recognition of communities activities goes far beyond simple ideas such as «listening to member’s stories» as suggested by wenger and snyder (2000: 145). it requires equilibrium between some form of involvement of management and the necessity m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 307-339 special issue: practicing collaboration 335 cooperation within bureaucracies: are communities of practice an answer? to protect communities from short-term expectation that can distract them from their more fundamental purpose. the first steps towards managing the unmanageable communities of practice have to be taken with caution. as underlined by wenger and snyder (2000: 140), «it’s not particularly easy to build and sustain communities of practice or to integrate them with the rest of an organization. the organic, spontaneous, and informal nature of communities of practice makes them resistant to supervision and interference». the comp case study indeed shows that «organizations can seriously hinder community development as well. (…) their design is often focused on accountability for short-term, local, or individual results and is not well suited for communities» (wenger et al., 2002: 154-155). it is precisely the reason why advice on how to cultivate communities of practice can hardly be given in general. i identified five key roles that management can play in order to contribute to the development of communities of practice but these five roles cannot be artificially separated from the risks they are associated with. in fact there are probably very few organizations in which these five roles can be fulfilled without threats to the nature of the communities of practice. these would be organizations where communities have been recognized and institutionalized, management admits decentralization of decision and resources and productivity short-term orientation is not the only concern. in such organizations, managers may have learnt to deal with the ambiguity of combining coercive control mechanisms with the freedom necessary for the development of communities of practice. in order to do that they have to accept that their control of the community will be partial. moreover, they have to accept a zone of irrationality and uncertainty; an attitude that would be perceived as a real challenge to their sovereignty by many managers in most organizations, something that involves asking a lot from managers. indeed, it requires them to develop what denison, hooijberg and quinn (1995) called behavioural complexity: they have to be able to combine contrary and opposed behaviours so as to adapt to the requirements of the organization and to those of the communities of practice. it is not enough for them to read the prescriptions on how to cultivate communities; they have to deeply integrate the rationale of communities of practice in their actions and to combine them with contradictory expectations from the rest of the organization. the formal mechanisms conceived in order to manage communities of practice can thus only be designed if we take into account the capacity of managers to separate business as usual from the exigencies of communities of practice. paradoxically, it is in organizations where the context is less favourable for the development of such behaviours that communities can bring their most valuable contribution. in that case, the role of management should probably be reduced to its minimum. in such circumstances, institutionalization is important, so that managers can stimulate the connection between members. bringing support will also be important but through an independent sponsoring structure directly related to the top management. recognition can be organized at a general level but should probably not be linked to individual or to a specific community contribution. it is m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 307-339 special issue: practicing collaboration 336 emmanuel josserand only by crafting a context specific design for the interactions between the communities and the rest of the organization that a balance can be reached between developing communities of practice to their full potential and reducing the risk of managerial take over of the communities. conclusion in this research i aimed to assess the potential contribution of communities of practice to cross-sectional cooperation within the organization. the results show that communities of practice can become real places of cooperation far beyond simple knowledge exchanges. they constitute a very flexible organizational form that allows actors to adapt to changing environment and organizational contexts. in centralized environments, they can contribute to interpreting or even to escaping the rule when necessary. in decentralized environments, when there is a lack of rules, they create social linkage between individuals who have difficulties in defining their practices; they can also contribute to escaping the pressure of competition. this elasticity of the purpose of communities of practice partially explains their capacity to resist internal or external disruptions. nevertheless, a full understanding of their resilience is only possible if we put communities of practice into the broader perspective of their organizational context. they are resilient because they build on networks and resurface when they are necessary for members to redefine their practices; this resurfacing can be formal and institutional but it can also happen informally and clandestinely. by their capacity to contribute to various organizational challenges, communities of practice build resilience within the organization: they introduce some network flexibility within bureaucratic arrangements. the more developed communities contribute to concrete realizations, they evolve from learning to doing, they engage in very concrete activities that can lead to business development for the members. this form of cooperation is only possible if the actors’ selfinterest and short-term perspective is transcended by a form of altruism, the quest for a common purpose and common objectives. the current trend to classify communities of practice in the knowledge management category is certainly adopting a limited view of their possibilities, unless we think that prospecting together for a common client is knowledge management. to address their full potential in terms of filling organizational gaps and building resilience, we must acknowledge the potential contribution of communities of practice to a wide scope of interstitial cooperative realizations. contemplating the potential of communities of practice, one can only understand why their manageability is an important question. indeed, communities are resilient but they are also fragile and if some communities reappear within the organization, others will disappear because their pilot has been transferred or because of other organizational changes. if the form is resilient, specific communities and their potential for cooperation can easily be lost in the recurring reorganizam@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 307-339 special issue: practicing collaboration 337 cooperation within bureaucracies: are communities of practice an answer? tions that seem to characterize the current business world. management can contribute to develop more communities and to further develop existing ones. nevertheless, helping communities to realize their full potential is a delicate challenge and management interventions need to be crafted very carefully according to the organizational context lest these interventions be counterproductive. i identified five major roles that managers can play in order to contribute to the development of communities—stimulation, facilitation, support, control and recognition—but specific risks are associated with each of these roles. moreover, these risks are mitigated by organizational context. the organizational context has a direct impact on the capacity of managers to endorse the behavioural complexity that is necessary to accept communities of practice as zones of exception within the organizational framework. the results indicate that, unless we are confident that the organizational context is favourable, management implication should be limited to stimulation and indirect facilitation and recognition. this research thus represents a first contribution to what can become a complete contingent framework for the cultivation of communities of practice. emmanuel josserand is assistant professor at paris-dauphine university and researcher at the crepa research center. he recently published the network organi zation: the experience of leading french multinationals (edward elgar). ■ argyris, c. 1991 teaching smart people how to learn, harvard business review, 69: 3, 99109. ■ argyris, c., and d. a. schön 1978 organizational learning: a theory of action perspective, reading, ma: addisson-wesley. ■ ashforth, b. e., and a. m. saks 1995 work-role transitions: a longitudinal examination of the nicholson model, journal of occupational and organiza tional psychology, 68: 2, 157-175. ■ barley, s. r. 1990 images of imaging: notes on doing longitudinal field work, organization science, 1: 3, 220-247. ■ beunza, d., and d. stark 2003 the organization of responsiveness: innovation and recovery in the tr a ding rooms of the lower manhattan, socio economic review, 1: 2, 1351 6 4 . ■ biemans, w. g. 1990 the managerial implications of networking, european management jour nal, 8: 4, 529-540. ■ brown, j. s. 1998 internet technology in support of the concept of “communities-of-practice”: the case of xerox, accounting, man agement & information technology, 8: 4, 227–236. ■ brown, s. l., and k. m. eisenhardt 1997 the art of continuous change: linking complexity theory and time-paced evolution in relentlessly shifting organizations, administrative science quar terly, 42: 1, 1-34. ■ burt, r. s. 1982 toward a structural theory of action: network models of social structure, perception, and action, new york: academic press. ■ daft, r. l., and a. y. lewin 1993 where are the theories for the “new” organizational forms? an editorial essay, organization science, 4: 4, i-vi. references m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 307-339 special issue: practicing collaboration 338 emmanuel josserand ■ dameron, s. 2002 la dynamique relationnelle au sein d’équipes de conception, le travail humain, 65: 4, 51-73. ■ dameron, s., and e. josserand 2004 building a community of practice on a loose network, academy of manage ment meeting, new orleans, la, 6-11 august. ■ de long, d., and p. seemann 2000 confronting conceptual confusion and conflict in knowledge management, organizational dynamics, 29: 1, 3 3 4 4 . ■ denison, d., r. hooijberg, and r. quinn 1995 paradox and performance: toward a theory of behavioral complexity in managerial leadership, organization science, 6: 5, 524-540. ■ eisenhardt, k. m. 1989 building theories from case study research, academy of management review, 14: 4, 532-550 ■ fiol, c. m., and m. a. lyles 1985 organizational learning, academy of management review, 10: 4, 803-813. ■ fox, s. 2000 communities of practice, foucault and actor-network theory, journal of man agement studies, 37: 6, 853-867. ■ ghoshal, s., and p. moran 1996 bad for practice: a critique of transaction cost theory, academy of manage ment review, 21: 1, 13-47. ■ glaser, b. g., and a. l. strauss 1967 the discovery of grounded theory: strategies for qualitative research, london: weidenfeld and nicholson. ■ gongla, p., and c. r. rizzuto 2001 evolving communities of practice: ibm global services experience, ibm sys tems journal, 40: 4, 842-862. ■ goold, m., and a. campbell 1987 strategies and styles: the role of the center in diversified corporations, london: blackwell. ■ granovetter, m. s. 1978 the strength of weak ties, american journal of sociology, 78: 6, 1360-1380. ■ grima, f., and e. josserand 2000 organisation en réseau et apprentissage: une analyse inter-individuelle de la dynamique relationnelle, internation al federation of scholarly associations of management conference, montréal, 8-11 juillet. ■ gupta, a. k., and v. govindarajan 2000 knowledge management’s social dimension: lessons form nucor steel, sloan management review, 42: 1, 7180. ■ hernes, t. 1999 flexible learning systems and obsolete organization structures: steps towards bridging the gap, scandina vian journal of management, 15: 1, 89110. ■ huber, g. p. 1991 organizational learning: the contributing processes and the literatures, organization science, 2: 1, 88-115. ■ josserand, e. 2004 the network organization, london: elgard. ■ josserand, e., and b. de saint léger 2004 les difficultés pratiques des communautés de pratique, xiiie conférence de l’aims, le havre, 2-4 juin. ■ langley, a. 1999 strategies for theorizing from process data, academy of management review, 24: 4, 691-710. ■ lave, j., and e. wenger 1991 situated learning legitimate peripher al participation, cambridge: cambridge university press. ■ lawrence, p., and j. lorsch 1967 organization and environment: manag ing differentiation and integration, boston, ma: division of research, graduate school of business administration, harvard university. ■ leca, b., and p. nacache 2004 la résilience comme arme organisationnelle : l’exemple d’al-quaida, xiiie conférence de l’aims, le havre, 2-4 juin. ■ lenz, r. t., and m. lyles, 1985 paralysis by analysis: is your planning system becoming too rational?, long range planning, 18: 4, 64-72. ■ lesser, e. l., and j. storck 2001 communities of practice and organizational performance, ibm systems jour nal, 40: 4, 831-841. ■ marx, t. 1991 removing the obstacles to effective strategic planning, long range plan ning, 24: 4, 21-8. ■ mcdermott, r. 1999 why information technology inspired but cannot deliver knowledge management, california management review, 41: 4, 103-117. ■ mcdermott, r. 2000 community development as a natural step: five stages of community development, km review, 3: 5, 16-19. ■ mills, d. q., and b. friesen 1992 the learning organization, european management journal, 10: 2, 146-162. ■ mintzberg, h. 1993 the pitfalls of strategic planning, cali fornia management review, 36: 1, 3247. ■ mintzberg, h., and j. a. waters 1985 of strategies, deliberate and emergent, strategic management journal, 6: 3, 257-272. m@n@gement, vol. 7, no. 3, 2004, 307-339 special issue: practicing collaboration 339 cooperation within bureaucracies: are communities of practice an answer? ■ nahapiet, j., and s. ghoshal 1998 social capital, intellectual capital, and the organizational advantage, acade my of management review, 23: 2, 242266. ■ nonaka, i. 1994 a dynamic theory of organizational knowledge creation, organization sci ence, 5: 1, 14-37. ■ ouchi, w. g. 1979 a conceptual framework for the design of organizational control mechanisms, management science, 25: 9, 833-848. ■ ouchi, w. g. 1980 markets, bureaucracies and clans, administrative science quarterly, 25: 1, 129-141. ■ ouchi, w. g., and a. m. jaeger 1978 type z organization: stability in the midst of mobility, academy of manage ment review, 3: 2, 159-168. ■ pascale, r. t. 1990 managing on the edge: companies that use conflict to stay ahead, london: penguin. ■ ravasi, d., and g. verona 2001 organizing the process of knowledge integration: the benefits of structural ambiguity, scandinavian journal of management, 17: 1, 41-66. ■ senge, p. 1990 the fifth discipline: the art and prac tise of the learning organization, new york: doubleday. ■ smith, h. a., and j. d. mckeen 2002 creating and facilitating communities of practice, in c. w. holsapple (ed.), handbook on knowledge manage ment, vol. 1: knowledge matters, london: springer, 393-408. ■ thomas, j. c., w. a. kellogg, and t. erickson 2001 the knowledge management puzzle: human and social factors in knowledge management, ibm systems jour nal, 40: 4, 863-885. ■ tichy, n. m. 1981 networks in organizations, in p. c. nystrom and w. h. starbuck (eds.), handbook of organizational design, new york: oxford university press, 225-249. ■ trauth, e. m. 1999 who owns my soul? the paradox of pursuing organizational knowledge in a work culture of individualism, pro ceedings of the 1999 acm sigcpr conference on computer personnel research, 159-163. ■ victor, b., and c. stephens 1994 the dark side of the new organizational forms: an editorial zssay, orga nization science, 5: 4, 479-481. ■ wenger, e. 1998 communities of practice: learning, meaning, and identity, cambridge: cambridge university press. ■ wenger, e., r. mcdermott, and w. m. snyder 2002 cultivating communities of practice, boston: ma: harvard business school press. ■ wenger, e. c., and w. m. snyder 2000 communities of practice: the organizational frontier, harvard business review, 78: 1, 139-145. ■ yin, r. k. 1984 case study research: design and methods, beverley hills, ca: sage. 193huffmobr m@n@gement 2016, vol. 19(3): 240-247 unplugged my own book review
 anne sigismund huff (1998), writing for scholarly publication as a contribution to scholarly conversation, reviewed by anne sigismund huff, dublin city university business school, anne.huff@dcu.ie the “unplugged” section seeks to experience new forms of book reviews. we regularly grant a wild card to a world-class scholar to review his/her own classic. in “my own book review”, authors will tell us the story of "what i was trying to do" with sometimes some auto-ethnographic considerations. by recounting the building process of one seminal research with a contemporary lens, they may give some insights for the current craft of research and also share with us renunciations, doubts and joys in their intimate writing experience. academics are expected to carry out research and effectively report the results to various audiences. the demands for delivery continue to increase, as do the penalties for falling short. unfortunately, there is much more formal support for learning how to carry out research than how to communicate it effectively. i wrote writing for scholarly publication to help readers become more interested in research and writing and more confident in making a contribution of their own. i also wanted to help attract a more varied group of participants to scholarship. this review first summarizes arguments from the book that i believe continue to be valuable on the basis of feedback from readers and workshops participants, as well as my continuing efforts to publish. i then consider several important challenges to advice given and conclude with a career puzzle that faces us all: in the light of pressures to focus on research, does it make sense to spend considerable time on other writing, teaching and service activities, as i did with this and a related second book, designing research for publication? central messages from two books on publishing scholarly work i had a very difficult time getting even one manuscript into the journal review process at the beginning of my career, and some of my instincts and interests seemed to stand in the way. i was reading widely but indiscriminately, then trying to cram as much material as possible into what i was writing. i am happier with my publishing efforts now, but still learning. there are a number of good books about academic research offered to management scholars, some of which are listed in the annotated bibliography by tobias fredberg in designing research for publication. the more unique aspects of advice offered in these books about communicating that effort can be summarized in five key claims. �240 paperback: 200 pages publisher: sage (1998) language: english isbn: 978-0761918059 m@n@gement, 19(3): 240-247 my own book review 1. science is conversation. this is the most important contribution of writing for scholarly publication in my opinion and in the opinion of most readers. after several years of unrewarded efforts to publish as a green assistant professor, i realized that i was still in student mode – collecting references, organizing them haphazardly, reading at various levels of detail, making notes that were extremely difficult to codify, then trying to find a connection with my empirical data. the clarifying moment came when i realized that i had to contribute to an established line of thinking. understanding academic work as a conversation i wanted to join meant that my efforts made more sense to me and editors/reviewers. my attempt to contribute something new had to begin by specifying context with several projectdefining publications. in ‘mature’ fields with publications in clearly identified subfields of inquiry, this may take little or no effort, but specifying conversation is critical if your publication target addresses a more general audience. what is news in one conversation or subconversation is often of little interest to scholars in other areas of inquiry. your contribution has to attract an audience interested in similar problems; one that understands compatible theories and methods. in a globalizing world with an expanding number of outlets and participants that is increasingly difficult. the underlying claim is that science is a complex social endeavor. even the most brilliant scholars thus must show how they build upon what has gone before – as einstein (1916, 22) did when proposing his theory of relativity. he begins with the statement: “the special theory of relativity is based on the following postulate, which is also satisfied by the mechanics of galileo and newton.” fortunately everyone already knows how to be part of a conversation, even those of us who wish we had more social skills. at a party, we gravitate toward talk that interests us, and we can see that good conversationalists first listen to understand what has been said before trying to make a contribution of their own. in other words, most of us already understand the importance of coordinating our interests with the interests of others. ‘coordinate’ is perhaps a misleading word. good conversation and good academic work requires difficult but necessary subordination of idiosyncratic interests to collective concerns. 2. writing = thinking. most people assume that writing cannot happen until the author has a message. this book makes the opposite claim, as advised by karl weick (2005, 12, 18), that writers often discover what they think by seeing what they write. many novelists say something similar. for example, anne lamott (1994, 22), whose book bird by bird is one of my favorite nonacademic sources of writing advice, says “very few writers know what they are doing until they have done it.” the practical implication is that writing should begin as research begins. writing for scholarly publication suggests a series of exercises to help you discover what you are beginning to know, test it, rewrite it, shop it to others, and rewrite again to clarify emerging understanding. the hard truth is that what we read in the academic literature is the result of many drafts and reiterations, and the knowledge conveyed has been significantly improved by this ongoing process. even highly regarded scholars begin with imperfect drafts that help them clarify their thoughts. the time to start writing is right now – even if you are a first year student. 3. subject domain is critical, often neglected, and influences identity. it interests me that many people give relatively little attention to alternatives when making what seem to be critical decisions of personal or economic importance – like buying a house (huff, huff, and barr, 2001). similar inattention often accompanies what might be described as drift towards an �241 my own book review m@n@gement, 19(3): 240-247 academic’s domain of interest, which can have unanticipated consequences. when one of my research projects goes well, it inevitably consumes more time than i expect, which means that other projects languish and often die. in addition, a publication can shift my identity as a scholar in the eyes of others and over time in my eyes as well, which means that the opportunities i see and am offered shift. this evolutionary path can support creativity, but it can also lead to less interesting and time consuming side excursions. to more purposefully shape your career, i suggest making a conscious choice about what you do, but also do not do. newcomers often define a very general subject and then happily sink into the more familiar detail of literature review and collecting empirical evidence. when another project beckons, new grass too often seems greener. fortunately, wallace and wray (2016) have just published the third edition of an excellent book to help people identify and evaluate representative articles in a potential area of interest and make informed decisions about their relative quality and interest. i strongly encourage readers to follow its advice. writing for scholarly publication gives more fine grained suggestions for purposefully choosing among several alternative writing projects. it suggests that you a) first compare possible projects in terms of your level interest. this is the most important factor since you must choose to write when alternatives in your personal and professional life beckon. however, it is also important to compare possible projects in terms of b) accessible theory and methods for developing a contribution, c) the availability of compelling empirical evidence or models, and d) the demands of your other life choices. one of my most successful exercises asks participants to bring three projects they are currently working on to a workshop, and evaluate them on this 4 point diamond. i feel our time is well spent if after many participants realize they are giving time to one or more project that should be dropped (at least at this point in time) in favor of one or two more promising alternatives. further clarification is likely when you craft job application letters, which often ask for longer statements about your research, teaching, and service. both of my books argue that it is difficult to maintain multiple identities when trying to win a job, or gain promotion. however, increasing attention is now being given to interdisciplinary work and thus the appropriate level of breadth varies. my advice is to identify institutions and people who have jobs like the ones you hope to have. look at how they describe themselves on websites. these are the best sources of advice for how to publicly present your academic domain. however, a critical question needs to be asked before proceeding. is this general area of conversation likely to interest you for at least the next several years and ideally much longer? it takes time to understand what has already been said in a conversation and then plan how to take an additional step. getting a contribution published takes even more time. it makes a lot of sense to craft multiple contributions to the same or a closely related audience based on your hard-won knowledge. 4. conversants facilitate written contribution. urging you to “join a conversation” may seem very abstract. the more practical advice found in writing for scholarly publication is to identify 3 or 4 published articles that you would especially like to engage in your research and writing. pin these ‘conversants’ over your computer (literally, if possible) and write with them in mind. one helpful side-effect is that you avoid books as anchors. books send the writer of a single manuscript, even a dissertation, in too many directions. it may be helpful, however, to include a specific chapter in your set of conversants. “conversation” is thus something that you construct, but is tangible. the works you choose should be asking similar questions and using similar vocabulary with some overlap in references. their authors are likely to have �242 m@n@gement, 19(3): 240-247 my own book review compatible training and present at the same or similar conferences. it may make sense to add an interesting article from a different domain to help substantiate your contribution, but all conversant articles should be work you admire. “you are wrong” is definitely a conversation killer. if you have a grievance, find conversant articles that discuss why a particular line of inquiry is misguided; you are unlikely to change the minds of true believers. since the number of conversants is constrained to 3 or 4, if you follow this advice, you are likely to choose work by the smartest people in your area of inquiry. once you overcome understandable nervousness about imagining yourself in their company, you are more likely to put forward your smartest efforts in response. interacting with these references will help subvert a tendency to provide too much background information—because their authors already know it. they should help you be more focused, direct and engaging the rest of your manuscript as well. in general, conversant articles do not include the publications that helped define the area of inquiry that interests you, though these will be cited. conversants represent more current thinking. you should work to find out how the conversation is continuing to evolve, since publication typically takes several years. look at websites maintained by the authors of conversant papers, search for their recent presentations, look for projects their students have underway, and so on. most important, go to meetings where you can hear and see major players and ideally interact with them. following this advice can be daunting, it takes time, it requires money and time to travel, but it reveals the human faces behind publication. it is typically much easier to write something of publishable quality if you are familiar with some of the colleagues you hope to interest through your work. of course, some attractive articles may be from a conversation that is out of reach. my advice is to avoid making that decision too quickly, because it is possible and in fact necessary to continue learning as an academic. on the other hand, there are many alternative conversational homes to be found in publications around the world and it makes sense to compare alternatives before making a choice. since scholarship is a social endeavor, choose authors you would like to spend time with. 5. writing mechanics are the necessary bones of a successful story. writing for scholarly publication provides a set of exercises and several checklists. all focus on the idea that every structural expectation for what you write should reinforce a clear message to a busy reader. since writing = thinking, this means that as you consider alternative words and phrases for your publication’s title, abstract, key words, subject headings, table titles, and so on, you also are clarifying your understanding of the message you want to deliver. when the various aspects of writing finally work together, they help readers identify your project using search engines, quickly skim the article you write, and efficiently understand your basic argument. as search engines become more central to how readers find relevant publications, the standards for attracting attention is going up. i now recommend advice found at http://olabout.wiley.com.jproxy.nuim.ie/wileycda/section/ id-828012.html a website maintained by john wiley & sons, the publishing house that has expanded into a broad range of services supporting publications in the sciences, humanities, social sciences, and professions. in addition to discussing “search engine friendly” titles and key word phrases, this website suggests much more repetition than i have recommended in the past. it argues that no more than five key words or short phrases should be reiterated in title, abstract, literature review, and subsequent writing. most should be concepts you know are already being used in your field of inquiry and they should appear again in your subsequent publications. it may sound mechanical and restricted, but �243 http://olabout.wiley.com.jproxy.nuim.ie/wileycda/section/id-828012.html http://olabout.wiley.com.jproxy.nuim.ie/wileycda/section/id-828012.html my own book review m@n@gement, 19(3): 240-247 must not be, and some helpful examples are given. i have tried their recipe in two recent publications and will continue to use it because i believe it is helping me to convey a core message more effectively. a second way in which the demands for publication are going up involves increasing expectations for narrative skill. in “being shahrazade” pollack and bono (2013), editors of the academy of management journal, say: “we have two jobs as scholars: answering interesting questions and telling the story.” they emphasize the importance of providing a personal face in academic writing, using motion and pacing to provide action in the story you tell, and (in common with all works on academic writing i know) writing titles that “capture the reader’s attention.” more specific suggestions from writing for scholarly publication include: get mad about what’s missing in your conversation to get over the timidity newcomers often feel. cut 30-50% of initial drafts to reveal your core message. good targets for pruning are often at the beginning of your paper and in transitions – writing tends to get better once you are underway. ask for advice about title and abstract from different kinds of readers (family and friends, trusted colleagues, participants in writing clinics at professional meetings, etc.). work on developing an “internal compass” to help sort inevitably disparate advice given constructively review work published in your area of inquiry because the advice you offer is likely to provide insight into improving your manuscript as well. identify good examples of the kind of work you want to write, which may not be about the subject that interests you. once you’ve found work you admire, experiment with replacing their nouns, headings, etc., with your own to learn how you might more professionally phrase your contribution. this could be plagiarism if done mechanically and then presented in public, but your work is likely to be distinctive enough that you do not need to worry. it makes sense to delay submission until you feel you have something to offer, but please, please ask for assistance in making that decision. important scholarly conversations are held with trusted advisors who help clarify which aspects of your work are most likely to interest others; often these points are not the observations most cherished by authors. pernicious questions academic work requires new voices to remain vital, and there are very legitimate concerns about the ivory tower’s capacity to provide this needed variety. i wanted the message found in these books to be relevant to those at elite schools, but go beyond them. thus i have always worked in government funded institutions that draw a substantial portion of their students from families with little previous involvement in higher education. i make contributions to programs that support gender, ethnic, international, and other diverse groups. and i have been involved for over twenty years with programs for professionals who write doctorates based on their experience in private, public and not-forprofit organizations. i am happy working in these contexts, but they also are the source for several probing questions that do not have easy answers. a. what about creativity, autonomy, and new ideas? isn’t this the necessary heart of academic work? i want to do something that hasn’t been done before, rather than follow footsteps that don’t seem to me to be going in the right direction. �244 m@n@gement, 19(3): 240-247 my own book review i share the spirit behind this question, but strongly believe that an independent intellectual effort has little chance for impact, even though social media is increasing the possible reach of individual efforts. it may not be easy to find what i call ‘fellow travelers’, but i am convinced that your effort will be more successful if amplified by compatible voices. in short, your bold message is likely to be more robust, cover more intellectual territory, and connect with more social networks if your reference works with similar themes. if you are reluctant to accept this advice, i wonder if it has more to do with style than content. my books are likely to appeal most to writers who work in a relatively structured way. there are alternatives, and writing for scholarly publication includes an interesting conversation with mary jo hatch, a wellknown organization theorist who begins every day with free form writing. you might try following her lead, but note that we both move between more and less structured thinking and writing, which i think make sense for all who want to publish. as a last bit of advice, if you are drawn to a bold project, i suggest making it part of a portfolio that includes other efforts with a clearer path to success. publication is a question of probabilities. i do not think it makes sense to bet only on high risk, relatively untested projects. b. i am not happy about focusing on contribution to just one conversation. the questions that interest me are multi-dimensional and do not fit that well into one academic silo. here again i am sympathetic to the concern behind this question, which is especially relevant to work on complex and important issues of our time, like sustainability, but is also applicable to most questions that interest management scholars. however, i have several concerns about abandoning the clear emphasis on one academic conversation found in these two books, even though it entails a problematic simplicity. on a practical level, i am concerned by the page limitations of journal submission. i am always stressed by having to cut relevant complexity to meet the demands of a short article. it is more difficult to prune effectively when it is necessary to address more than one audience. more broadly, it takes a great deal of time to master more than one scholarly area of inquiry, especially when the domains are in different disciplines. the few people i know who are multi-dexterous have spent years in preparation. newcomers have to ask themselves whether they are willing to spend the time involved at this point in their careers. a third concern is about audience size. i give relatively little attention to work that touches on one of my interests, if it is combined with other subjects that are not central to my work. the more complex and idiosyncratic a publication’s frame, it might be argued, the smaller the audience in most academic publications. it makes sense to trial more complex arguments in presentations that emphasize new thinking, or to write for practitioner publications that require less grounding in previous publication. it is also useful to realize that we are drawn to interdisciplinary work not only by the complexity we see in the field, but also by funding agencies and university administrators defining grand challenges. this recipe has become too widespread in my opinion, and is especially risky for newcomers who hope for academic careers. i worry about the future employability of people who do doctoral work or take first jobs in projects without a clear academic base. when the project has a laudable multi-disciplinarily objective it still makes sense to develop a clearly defined area of academic expertise in my opinion. �245 my own book review m@n@gement, 19(3): 240-247 c. it seems that the advice in these books applies primarily to the western world and learning to publish in english-language outlets. how disadvantaged am i if i did not learn english as a first language? once again i have to say “you are right in some important ways” to people who ask variants of this question. important insights do come from communication in a first language, especially if it is the language of those you study. conferences and publishing outlets that promote scholarly conversation in multiple languages are thus important to rich understanding and i worry about the consequences of policy makers and leaders of academic institutions who try to increase their impact by importing structures and theory from english to other soil. on the other hand, the basic idea found in these books is that one of the best ways to learn how to be a scholar is from sources within the conversation you want to join. american ideas and practices are being diffused around the world. to the extent that you see this happening in your area of inquiry and are interested in the direction taken, the advice offered in these books may be helpful precisely because it has an american flavor that i cannot completely erase. d. to what extent is the future of academic institutions in jeopardy? i worry that publications in the field of management seem to have little impact on practice. more specifically, how can academic research be influential given its small scale and scope in comparison to the complexity and scale of global interactions? one of the reasons academic work has relatively little influence is that most journals expect it to focus on work published in a few top-ranking journals. i am happy to support recent efforts to pull back from a system that thus tends to divorce ranked journal publications from work the public is likely to appreciate (smart et al, 2016). on an institutional level, an important discussion is now occurring in the accrediting bodies widely seen to be part of a problem that tends to diminish public impact (see for example, http://www.bizedmagazine.com/archives/2016/3/ features/academic-research-into-public-engagement). these efforts are typically led by senior scholars with less to lose, but they will not have an impact unless a much larger group of scholars takes some stand on the arguments being made. thus we all have a responsibility to do what we can where we are, and to remember our initial complaints even as we learn to succeed in the current system. once again it may make sense to see these efforts as part of a portfolio that includes work with less controversial intentions. conclusion i’ve spent a month giving significant attention to writing this review, which makes it yet another project that has taken more time than i predicted. the experience reinforces two questions i continue to ask myself: does it make sense for me to spend so much time on non-research activities like the two books i’ve just reviewed? what is my career advice to others, given that the reward structure of most academic institutions rarely values this kind of activity? i say “yes” but my response must be qualified by the fact that i became an academic when expectations were much less structured and regulated than today. i had tenure before beginning these projects, so could afford to be less concerned about career impact, although i was beginning to realize that new demands always accompany promotion. in addition, i grew up in the western united states, home of rugged yet rather unthinking individualism, and i escaped to other parts of the country for education and employment only after ‘winning’ an �246 http://www.bizedmagazine.com/archives/2016/3/features/academic-research-into-public-engagement http://www.bizedmagazine.com/archives/2016/3/features/academic-research-into-public-engagement m@n@gement, 19(3): 240-247 my own book review epic battle with a loving but authoritarian father. also worth mentioning is that i am positive and curious by nature and tend to see my glass as half full. these things are all path determining but also facilitate path creation (garud & karnøe , 2001). every reader has their own conditions to consider but most operate in more challenging circumstances than i do now. thus everyone has to answer these questions for themselves. from my point of view writing for scholarly publication makes sense only because it was and is the major project in the ‘discretionary’ part of an academic agenda that primarily focuses on cognitive aspects of strategic management and the changing environment of academic institutions. these more traditional efforts have received much more recognition in terms of citation and they (along with luck and important mentorship) are the primary source of career options that came my way or i developed, including appointments in europe for the last sixteen years. though i can point to setbacks, i did not suffer unduly from writing these books or facilitating workshops on their content. i knew the two books reviewed here were not likely to be widely cited before i started, and they have not been. however, more people have thanked me for writing them than have enthused about other articles and books i have published and i believe they have had a broader impact than these works. i am pleased that the books reviewed here have been used and cited by colleagues who i personally admire, but also proud that they are used in disciplines outside of management, and are citied in multiple languages. this is the diverse audience that i hoped to reach. in retrospect i could have done much, much more to help all of the things i’ve published find a broader audience. i strongly encourage readers to be more proactive in this regard. but life is short. i focus primarily on choosing and developing projects that i think are interesting and might have a positive impact on others. and i have learned over time that a desirable but intrinsically uncertain outcome is not worthwhile unless the process is rewarding, whatever the outcome. i hope this experience helps readers to similarly define and achieve their goals. references
 adams, r. j., smart, p., & huff, a. s. (2016). shades of grey: guidelines for working with the grey literature in s y s t e m a t i c r e v i e w s f o r m a n a g e m e n t a n d organizational studies. international journal of management reviews. version of record online: 19 apr 2016, doi: 10.1111/ijmr.12102 einstein, a. (1916). the foundation of the generalised theory of relativity. on a heuristic point of view about the creation and conversion of light 1 on the e l e c t r o d y n a m i c s o f m o v i n g b o d i e s 1 0 t h e development of our views on the composition and essence of radiation 11 the field equations of gravitation 19 the foundation of the generalised theory of relativity, 22. retrieved october 31, 2016 from https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikisource/en/5/55/ on_a_heuristic_point_of_view_about_the_creation_a nd_conversion_of_light_(1).pdf#page=23 garud , r. , & karnøe , p. (2001 ). path dependence and creation . new york, ny: psychology press. huff, a.s. (2008). designing research for publication.; london: sage. huff, a. (1998). writing for scholarly publication. london: sage. huff, a., huff, j & barr, p. (2000). when firms change direction. oxford: university press. lamont, a. (1994). bird by bird: some instructions on writing and life. new york, ny: pantheon. pollock, t.g & bono, j.e. (2013). from the editors, being scheherazade: the importance of storytelling in academic writing. academy of management journal, 56(3), 629-634. wallace m. and wrey a. (2016). critical reading and writing for postgraduates; london: sage.. weick, k. e. (2005). sensemaking in organizations. london: sage. © the author(s) www.management-aims.com �247 193klikauer directed by jean-pierre et luc dardenne producted by les films du fleuve m@n@gement 2016, vol. 19(3): 228-239 unplugged book review essay :
 questions a book on ‘questions business schools
 don’t ask’ doesn’t dare to ask christopher mabey & wolfgang mayrhofer (2015), developing leadership: questions business schools don't ask, london : sage. reviewed by thomas klikauer sidney graduate school of management t.klikauer@westernsydney.edu.au �228 paperback: 298 pages. publisher: sage (2015) language: english isbn: 9781446296110 m@n@gement, vol. 19(3): 228-239 book review the 31 authors of this potpourri of 21 individual chapters discuss not so much the role of leadership development (to which the book’s title refers) as questions business schools don’t ask (which comprises its subtitle). the collection begins with the phrase ‘business schools teach a mix of subjects’ (page: 1), and to the insider that may appear to be true. to many, however, business schools teach a highly specific selection of narrow subjects dedicated to the ‘science of making money’ (ross 1984; gennaioli et al. 2015), or what the ideologues of managerialism call competitive advantage and shareholder value, which is code for profit. when the outcomes of business teachings, that is, managers with mbas and the like, collide with economic, environmental and social welfare, the collection suggests that ‘as each month passes, it seems that new scandals emerge’ (p. 1). but many questions go unasked, including: • do these business scandals, immoralities and outright business criminalities not have a very long history dating back to the ‘east india company’ of the 17th and 18th centuries, when great britain started to ‘subcontract imperialism to companies’ (dalrymple 2015; micklethwait & wooldridge 1996:35)? • are these really just ‘scandals’ or is this part of the functioning of capitalism? • do these scandals just ‘emerge’? • are business schools not deeply involved in making these scandals (one of which recently mutated into a global financial crisis; gfc) possible? these are some of the questions that the book prefers not to ask. to eliminate business school-trained ceos and mba-trained top managers from the crime scene, we are told that there is ‘illegal behaviour and self-serving arrogance among public figures’ (1). these are just ‘public figures’ – not corporate ceos or business school graduates. over the estimated 100 years of their existence, ‘business schools [have become] assembly-line cash-cows [losing] some of their original ambition and promise to make leaders for society’ (2). and yet some questions still remain unanswered: • do societies really need ‘leaders’? if so, should our leaders be trained by business schools that teach the intricacies of making money? • are business schools the right places to be when focusing on the ‘skills’ (11) that those leaders require? • was training leaders for ‘society’ (!) ever the ambition of business ethics? • was (and is) the ambition of business schools to train a class of managerial functionalists (13) to make capitalism profitable while spreading its prime ideology of managerialism (enteman 1993)? with that, the authors note, ‘our contention is that three issues substantially contribute to the difficulties faced by business schools: 1. inadequate theorising about leadership; 2. a failure to nerve concerning the centrality of moral values to sound leadership; and 3. impoverished curriculum design when it comes to the teaching and learning about leadership…what kind of leader are you becoming?’ (3). we need go no further than these three issues to see that the present collection of chapters in this book is based on unmentioned and – worst of all – unquestioned assumptions, such as the notion that we inevitably need leadership. the authors do not stop to ask whether we actually do need it. what also fails to be asked is do we really want a society defined by authoritarian domination with leaders on top and a mass of followers beneath? the second assertion – and this is repeated frequently throughout the collection – is that �229 book review m@n@gement, vol. 19(3): 228-239 business schools are not part of the problem. the hidden subtext here is that we try to do good but occasionally ‘we fail’, and this argument takes precedence over the question of whether leadership can really have sound moral values, or whether it is itself immoral, especially in the business schools’ understanding? there is hardly any moral philosopher between socrates (470–399bc) and singer (2015) who advocates sound leadership. these and many other questions are areas that the book declines to explore, despite its title. in order to deal with the above three aspects, the authors advocate ‘critical research which is capable of surfacing unheard voices rather than reproducing the ideologies and power relations of the dominant elite’ (7). they also advocate system-stabilising critique, meaning critique from within business schools. by focusing on internal critique that finds its basis ‘within’ business schools, many avoid asking what is perhaps one of the key questions, namely what is the relationship between capitalism and business schools? critical research on the frankfurt school of critical theory is very different from merely ‘surfacing unheard voices’ (horkheimer 1937; klikauer 2014 & 2015), but reducing critique to a system-perfecting instrument also reflects the overall tone of the entire collection. oblivious to its own ideological entrapment, which is exacerbated by the failure to question the raison d'être of business schools and their position in capitalism, the collection more often than not ‘reproduces the ideologies […] of the dominant elite’ (7). overall, it seeks to provide system theory-led stabilising correctives while presenting business schools as institutions that try to do good but unfortunately quite often fail. this assessment is supported by statements such as ‘avoiding the danger of corporate capture’ (9). business schools are one of the prime tools that enhance corporate capture – through, for example, one of their favourite hobbyhorses: stakeholder theory (100). just naming suppliers, customers, workers, shareholders and the like hardly makes a theory. quite often, stakeholder models view society as a system while placing the company at the centre, as companies are the centre of society. through this, however, society is suffocated inside stakeholder ideology. all this remains unquestioned in this work, which is defined by deceptions that are frequently repeated, such as ‘so then, there are many factors which conspire against business schools fulfilling their original mission to be capitalism’s conscience’ (12). questions such as whether capitalism’s conscience was ever intended to form part of the mission of business schools are never asked. is capitalism’s socalled conscience not found in the notion with adequate profit, capital is very bold? ‘a certain 10 per cent will ensure its employment anywhere; 20 per cent will produce eagerness; 50 per cent, positive audacity; 100 per cent will make it capital ready to trample on all human laws; 300 per cent, and there is not a crime at which it will balk, nor a risk it will not run, even to the chance of its owner being hanged’ (klikauer 2014a:233). and are business schools not the prime training facilities through to make this possible? in reality, business schools are much more than ‘part of a managerialist ideology’ (15). the question of ‘can they?’ is never mentioned. nor is the question of whether they are ‘just part of’ the managerialist ideology. another question is whether it is at all possible that business schools are one of the prime inventors and propagators of the hegemonic ideology of managerialism, stretching well beyond, for example: • harvard business review • the academy of management journal • the academy of management review • the california management review • asq, etc. as the favourite myth-creating flagships worthy of a-star ratings (fleck 2013). well in line with the overall apologetic perspective of the collection are the �230 m@n@gement, vol. 19(3): 228-239 book review ‘three risks facing business schools [among which is] selling students short’ (16; cf. hil 2015). the constantly propagated myth of the ‘do good’ business schools surrounded by evil forces becomes at times overwhelming. nonetheless, the important fact remains that business schools – unnoticed by the authors – sell high exchange-value degrees using the linear formula of ‘degree-equals-$$$’. and indeed, business schools are places where ‘instrumental student meets career-minded academic’ (12) but they also train future managers in the latest managerial buzzwords (www.atrixnet.com/bs-generator) – the ‘bs’ in the internet link standing for buzzwords, not bullshit, or at least one might hope that this is the case. that all this leads to the ‘decay of public language’ (watson 2003) is yet another question that the authors do not ask, but the ignorance-is-bliss attitude adopted in the collection, or – to put it in more philosophical terms – the ‘veil of ignorance’ as us philosopher john rawls (1921-2002) called it, is on rare occasions broken. these are the exceptional signposts of flickers of truth shining through the ideological fog: ‘by propagating ideologically inspired amoral theories, often under the rubric of leadership, business ethics have removed any sense of moral responsibility from their students’ (18). this is one of the rare and thoroughly true sentences in the collection. business schools train people to take on a moral attention deficit disorder (madd) (klikauer 2013:106). this sets the overall tone for the subsequent chapters. chapter 2 begins with ‘as the global financial crisis unfolded’ (31) – it just ‘unfolded’, like an umbrella and quite miraculously. business schools have not contributed to that by training madd accountants, madd ceos and madd senior managers. we tried so hard to be good but very unfortunately ‘business schools lost their way’ (31) is the oft-repeated ideological mantra of the book. fortunately, the collection – on a few occasions – still gets it right when, for example, noting that ‘leadership, as traditionally envisaged, is a key part of the problems we are now facing, rather than the solution’ (35). almost inevitably, however, this is neither further explained nor analysed, and nor does it lead to any further questioning. this is the clever sales pitch of ideology, as ideology always works by mixing truth with fantasy given that virtually all ideologies – even managerialism and neo-liberalism – have some element of truth in them. nonetheless, the problem remains: what does all this mean for business schools and why does this not lead to any further questioning of these institutions? instead of that, one is presented with laughable statements such as ‘i find the reference to the missing moral dimension of particular interest’ (36). the author of this chapter – as is perhaps perhaps rather typical of the entire collection – manages to mention locke and spender but goes on to refer their ‘challenge to newtonian paradigm’ (38), not their most relevant book on business schools (locke & spender 2011; klikauer 2013a). symptomatically, this is another chapter that looks in all the wrong places. the same criticism can be levelled at the call for the aforementioned system theory and cybernetics (47), as if the function of a standard household refrigerator could tell one something about how society, capitalism and, above all, business schools operate. this is the mythical belief that through ‘steering systems [and] cybernetic feedback loop [it is believed that] order emerges’ (48). perhaps that is what the collection pines for: order. however, the unasked question remains: do we want to live in a society, in universities and in business schools that create the intellectual mutations depicted in the order of the fridge? strangely, system theory’s favourite term, ‘equilibrium’, is missing too. more often than not, this term is used to indicate an order establishing a balance between parts of society so that society comes to a standstill, thus cementing forms of domination and the current status quo with all the pathologies that come with it. positive social change, rebellion and revolution are simply ‘system engineered’ out of the picture; ‘order emerges’ (48). they become impossible as �231 http://www.atrixnet.com/bs-generator book review m@n@gement, vol. 19(3): 228-239 society is asphyxiated – just like a refrigerator is asphyxiated inside a selfbalancing system. this is the much acclaimed hallucinogenic wet dream of the fridge-driven social engineer. perhaps the task of business schools and the writers of books on ‘questions business schools don’t ask’ is to make living inside the ‘society-fridge’ normal so that the ‘cold intimacies of emotional capitalism’ (illouz 2007) appear as the naturally determined ‘order’. perhaps in a propagandistic misbelief that ‘repetition equals truth’, again and again one reads statements like these: ‘business schools have become largely incapable of fulfilling their original purpose of benefiting society’ (50). the hallucinogenic deception that business schools somehow need to be rescued is ‘sexed up’ (blair 2010) with lines like ‘research in business schools is not real science, but only everyday wisdom cloaked as scientific output’ (53) – if it only were wisdom (philosophia). an unexpected highlight is ng’s chapter on exile workers in hong kong, which presents next to nothing on business schools and the subject of the book. contributing to the mythology of the book is the ideology of ‘economic citizenship’ (73), sometimes also passed off as ‘corporate citizenship’. these must be citizens of a dictatorship, as the most evil-ish d-word – democracy – is suspiciously absent from the entire collection. the much-acclaimed leaders of society have, according to this collection, nothing to do with democracy. perhaps the d-word remains a deeply feared term for the writers of ‘developing leaders’ (the collection’s title). perhaps these leaders are not at all meant to be democratic leaders. instead, they are engaged – just as business schools are – in ‘the search for a superior justification for selfishness’ (75) even though it might just be democracy, collective cooperation and altruism – feared words in business schools and books on business schools – that are important to us and not selfishness. perhaps it is democracy, collective cooperation and altruism that make us human (klikauer 2012). the collection also includes ‘rapporteurs’ at the end of each section largely summing up what was already said. in the first instance, the author rehearses the ideology that ‘every ten years or so an ethical crisis or incidence occurs which results in businesses and corporations at least paying lip service to their interest in ethics’ (79). this can only occur in the highly selective memory of a business school’s academic – perhaps because of decade-long intellectual hibernations. it blends out the ongoing lies, deceptions, immoralities and business crimes committed in the form of: • lockheed (bribery), bhopal (poison gas), nestle (baby killer), etc.; • the corporate standard of the uninterrupted hiding of cancerous facts as in the cases of asbestos and tobacco’s 100 million deaths (benson & kirsch 2010); • more recently, and this is less than a decade ago, there was the gfc; but even more recently there was: o volkswagen’s emissions number fiddling; o ‘exxon’s global warming facts hiding mission’ (krauss 2015); o chevron paying only aus$248 tax (this is not a typo!) on $1.7b profit in australia (chenoweth 2015); o bhp’s toxic sludge in brazil (reuters 2015); • and all that was in between. unfortunately, awareness of all this – on the part of, for example, corporatewatch.org, www.thecorporation.com, sumofus.org, change.org, s e c u r e . a v a a z . o r g , p o p u l a r r e s i s t a n c e . o r g , d i s s e n t m a g a z i n e . o r g , www.counterpunch.org, www.truth-out.org, inthesetimes.org, etc. – does not seem to come from ‘spirituality at work and spiritual leadership [and] the use of spiritual methodologies such as meditation’ (80-81). �232 http://www.counterpunch.org http://www.truth-out.org http://inthesetimes.org m@n@gement, vol. 19(3): 228-239 book review perhaps not even reading the journal of management, spirituality and religion (82) can make one understand this, but maybe it has something to do with upton sinclair, who once noted, ‘it is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it!’ conceivably, the above-quoted spiritual-religious inclinations (80-81) also prevent one from understanding the following: ‘i have so far not seen any major or bestselling management or organisation behaviour textbook having a chapter or section on spirituality’ (82). superstition, spirituality and religion supplied ideology to feudalism (dawkins 2015). today, these are insufficient to camouflage capitalism’s contradictions, sustain domination and prevent emancipation. modern capitalism demands modern and, above all, realistic ideologies that are rationally constructed and contain a higher level of consistency compared with religion. this is what creates ideologies such as, for example, managerialism and neo-liberalism. instead of spirituality, perhaps ‘business schools need to question the growth paradigm’ (87). just do not watch ‘www.growthbusters.org’, as otherwise you might realise that business schools are prime instruments for encouraging relentless growth. however, you might also realise that it is not the ‘increase in crime that results from increased material wealth’ (91) but the increases in global inequality and an unequal distribution of wealth that creates crime. otherwise, perhaps wealthy countries such as iceland and norway would be hotspots for crime instead of the relatively unequal usa, mexico and south africa, where it has become rampant (reiman & leighton 2013). in a similar way, parry and fiskerud ask, ‘can leadership be valuefree?’ (99) – a question largely answered by kant around the year 1780 with his ‘three critiques’ (1781, 1788, 1790). adorno (1976) answered it again about 40 years ago. perhaps it also does not help when an author argues that there is an perceived ‘the over-emphasis [of] american corporations [in the general business press on] maximising shareholder value [while at the same page saying] businesses will still have to make money’ (103). it is reminiscent of the collection’s overall delirious belief in the adage ‘make money but please be kind’. the collection manages to become even more problematic at this point, however. the chapter’s hallucinogenic belief in ‘moral corporations’ (99) is not really assisted by the example used, ‘cadbury in the uk’ (105), as the much-acclaimed moral business leaders of cadbury sold the company to kraft. this came with a lovely corporate social responsibility statement on not closing the manufacturing plant in the uk, but this is exactly what kraft did to the ethical business leaders of cadbury (bbc 2010). none of this appears in the collection. true to ideology, however, the collection hides contradictions, asks no questions, avoids investigation, refrains from reading newspapers and listening to the radio (bbc). the book continues to ask all the wrong questions. in other cases, it simply avoids – often rather painfully – to ask any questions at all. asking the wrong questions or – more frequently – not asking any questions at all appears to be a constant stance on the part of these authors. another example of asking the wrong question come in the form of ‘do business schools create conformers rather than leaders?’ (108), especially given that this is partially answered with the response that ‘managers work under a contract of employment which obliges them to comply’ (110). hannah arendt (1994) comprehensively demolished this sort of ‘i was just following orders’ excuse, framed as ‘working under contractual obligations’. however, one is kept wondering what ‘capitalism as a political, as well as economic, order was neglected in the twentieth century’ (115) means when the 20th century began with marxian economics, continued with keynesian socialdemocratic economics and ended with hayek’s neo-liberal catechism of the freemarket economy. the chapter ends with the educational philosopher dewey (118), but not – as dewey did so pointedly – by linking education to democracy. �233 http://www book review m@n@gement, vol. 19(3): 228-239 perhaps only by blending out dewey’s educational philosophy (dewey 1916; noddings 2015) can one conclude with banal platitudes such as ‘i also trust business schools and their students will contribute to advancing professional rigor’ (119). only by hiding what the educational philosopher dewey really said and by reframing a relative side issue of dewey’s educational philosophy can his work be (mis)appropriated. this would sadden anyone with an understanding of educational philosophy (e.g. robinson 2006, 2010, 2013). the next, also philosophical, section does not reference aristotle at all while discussing aristotle’s philosophy. the author seems to have avoided reading aristotle’s actual philosophy and does not even delve into it. what aristotle’s philosophy was about is rather different from what writers on business ethics make it outto be (klikauer 2010, 2012a & 2014a). the ideological outcome of such an exercise is rather predictable. to ideologically reformulate aristotle’s philosophy, all one needs is to do is select a relative side issue and reframe it so that it suits the hegemonic discourse on business school academics. hence, one gets: ‘for aristotle the economic problem was that of optimising good. the issues here are in defining good’ (125). this is entirely untrue, as aristotle is very clear about what is morally good and what is a morally good person. the problem is that by aristotle’s actual definition, virtually nobody in business and in business schools is good. we should talk about aristotle’s conception of ‘happiness as a state of self-sufficiency’ (126) rather than his actual philosophy of virtue ethics. unlike aristotle, the nazi philosopher heidegger (132) is much better suited to business (klikauer 2015a) as for heidegger and for the ss, ‘death matters’ (134). heidegger’s ideologically motivated ‘crypto-philosophy’ does not truly stand for ‘the significance and urgency of personal responsibility’ (138). heidegger’s crypto-philosophical convolutions, which holocaust victim and exiled philosopher adorno called ‘fascist to the core’, were not about personal responsibility. heidegger himself wanted to be the leader of the leader, adolf hitler. heidegger did not assume personal responsibility; instead, he wanted to be responsible for the philosophical underpinnings of adolf hitler. one wonders where the personal responsibility in heidegger’s ‘inner truth and greatness of this [nazi] movement’ is. finally, where is his personal responsibility for his very personal actions to make german universities ‘judenrein’ [the ethnic cleansing of jews]? although hardly men of spirituality, both hitler and heidegger were of catholic religion. this chapter repeats the aforementioned ‘no major bestselling with a spirituality chapter’ perhaps because not even businesspeople believe that ‘spirituality can help them and their business’ (152). business is, as management super guru peter drucker once noted, a rational game which any donkey can win provided he is ruthless enough (magretta 2012). with or without spirituality, however, there is: the excessive pay of vice chancellors offering a very real demonstration of how senior academics mimic the values and practices of senior business executives [who express] cynicism and an instrumental approach to ethics in business (153). this is what business is about, what business schools teach and what managerialism says rather than ‘the mystical, divine or transcendent’ (155). staying with the truth for a while, ‘for slovenian philosopher zizek [all this] means questioning the ideological workings of the allegedly post-ideological’ (172) world of business. however, the book on ‘questions business schools don’t ask’ avoids asking about the ideology of business schools. it does not ask, for example, why business schools’ knowledge is sold as being value-free while simultaneously the term ‘value creation’ – the orwellian newspeak term (watson 2015) for profit – has been the all-defining element known as the ‘shareholder principle’ ever since ‘dodge vs. ford motor company’ (1919) invented the much-acclaimed shareholder principle. �234 m@n@gement, vol. 19(3): 228-239 book review the collection delves even deeper into philosophy when it notes that ‘classical greek philosophy and the learning journey [starts with] business schools [that] are places of learning’ (178) – if they only were ‘places of learning’ rather than conditioning institutions for managerialism’s elite trained in past and present fads and fashions (abrahamson 1996; hr 2010). what counts is not philosophia, the ‘love of wisdom’, but ‘learning outcomes’ (178). having already triggered all the wrong ideas, next we are offered a glimpse of ‘greek society prior to the time of plato’ (179). well, the time before plato in ‘greek philosophy’ (the chapter’s title) is associated with a towering name in philosophy: socrates. but instead of mentioning the potentially business school-damaging philosophies of socrates, we are told ‘the philosopher is in danger of being marginalised as mad or politically dangerous’ (182). in fact, the philosopher is not in danger at all – perhaps business schools are? instead of asking such questions, the authors offer an ideological reformulation so that the potential danger of philosophy for business schools is eliminated, or so that philosophy is made to appear to be in support of business and business schools. this is the ideological task of baritz’ ‘servants of power’ (1960) of what is euphemistically termed ‘business ethics’ – a tautology. but this moves even further away from the danger of greek philosophy (and particularly socrates). moral philosophy is further weakened by one of managerialism’s all-time favourite ideologies, namely corporate social responsibility, which in real corporations is conveniently – or perhaps tellingly – located in corporate pr departments. unsurprisingly, the chapter declines to grapple with difficult questions about ‘key terms and phrases in recent decades (that) include impact, excellence, and performance’ (187). what this means in the light of greek philosophy is not discussed either. despite the collection’s claim, today’s business school isn’t ‘a community of scholars and teachers or universitas magistrorum et scholarium [that] inform the whole person including the spirituality of our students [designed] to unfold…one’s spiritual nature’ (189, 190, 192). unsurprisingly, the rapporteur notes, ‘i have been teaching meditation for many years i learned something’ (203). perhaps one can really learn a lot through teaching meditation at business schools. what one might not learn is what role business schools play in sustaining capitalism. another thing one does not learn is the pathological impact of business schools and business schooltrained mbas on the environment, human wellbeing and society once they emerge from their training. it seems that teaching meditation at a business school does not seem to lead to an understanding of these connections. eventually, however, readers also encounter the single most unexpected, and rather exquisite, highlight of the entire collection. it is rickard grassman’s chapter on ‘were business schools complicit in the financial crisis and can classical french literature help?’ this chapter is a shining testimony to the old truth that young phd students produce the best writing, perhaps especially when they are written by a phd candidate from an engineering faculty – as appears to be the case here – remaining somewhat uninfected by the ideological virus of managerialism. grassman does not write ideology (klikauer 2015b) and he does not camouflage contradictions such as those between business school teachings and the pathologies of corporations and capitalism. he does not sustain domination; he challenges it. he does not work against emancipation; he works for it. based on sound, in-depth empirical interviews on the gfc with bankers, grassman highlights their pathological immoralities and their madd. perhaps his chapter can be summed up in the words of andrew haldane, chief economist at the bank of england. grassman’s banker, business schools and global financial capitalism have learned their lessons from the gfc (luyendijk 2015). it is, as haldane says: ‘that in the end there is very little they will not get away with’. in other words, we can carry on with business as usual, making huge profits and �235 book review m@n@gement, vol. 19(3): 228-239 receiving stratospheric payments, and when things go wrong we can offload the consequences – trillions of dollars of damage to society – onto the taxpayer by disguising it in the ideology of ‘too big to jail’, or was it ‘too big to fail’? to make all this possible and support what is still going to come from the world of global financial ‘mis’-management, business school graduates will carry on. however, given haldane’s ‘we can get away with it’ lesson, the following is a truly amazing statement: ‘business schools are known for their ability to produce impressive research’ (220). this ‘impressive research’ is research for the selected few – not for the benefit of society. business school’s ‘impressive research’ is also all too often financed in two ways: 1. corporate financed business research that is generally framed as ‘industry partnerships’, ‘external funding’, etc. 2. publicly funded research through the state or internal university grants that are commonly framed as ‘merit-based funding’, ‘competitive funding’, etc. success in either of these often leads to immediate promotion in cashstarved universities in which a 20-something-year-old albert einstein writing on a non-commercialisable theory of relativity today would no longer stand a chance. in the ‘research-outcomes-for-cash’ case, researchers almost secure any position they apply for thanks to the money they command, in a set-up reminiscent of the ‘oldest business in the world’. one is reminded of a fat colonialist tossing a handful of coins from a boat so that indian boys can scramble for a coin. scrambling for the academic coin means ‘playing the game’, and more often than not, weeks, if not months, of writing applications and filling in mind-numbing forms while partaking in the denigrating spectacle in which a few win but many lose. for this embarrassing pageant, the managerial university even employs specialist ‘application helpers’ with (i am sure) fanciful titles on their ‘business’ cards (aspromourgos 2012). above all this, however, one might like to suggest the following: a collection on ‘questions business schools don’t ask’ should also consider, for example, lynd’s ‘knowledge for what?’ (1939) and shlensky’s ‘management education for what?’ (1945). perhaps ‘impressive research’ comes about when business school academics publish the same old thing over and over again. this is what our masters call ‘a track record’. instead of asking the right questions, in this work one is given pure ideology: ‘business schools provide a valuable opportunity to elicit and explore meanings of mutual respect’ (229). really? do business school graduates respect others, often called ‘underlings’? do they respect their customers, trade unions and local communities? more questions that are not even asked. the same is true of the following: • is this the respect the managers of the east india company showed for the people of india? • is this the respect the mba-trained managers at volkswagen showed for people buying a diesel car? • is this the respect business schools and their entourage of ideologically motivated business consultants show for workers when factories are offshored, outsourced, downsized or simply closed down? these are just some of the very few questions that should be asked. instead, one is left wondering whether it is at all possible that ‘the management techniques enshrined in functionalist’ (232) models might assist in disrespecting people, especially those derogatively labelled ‘underlings’ and ‘subordinates’ by those managers often trained in business schools. one might even ask whether business school management techniques and functionalism ensure that their own ideological propagators – those who work in business – write collections that make a point of avoiding such questions. and yet a book that claims to write �236 m@n@gement, vol. 19(3): 228-239 book review about ‘questions business schools don’t ask’ should be asking these questions. is avoiding all those questions the epitome of ideology? it might just be possible that this book sustains the business school ideology while claiming to ‘ask questions business schools don’t ask’. overlooking serious questions while sustaining that ideology is a decision that can be shored up through the cybernetic system of ‘career progression, promotion and salary levels, further reinforced by business school rankings’ (232). the adage ‘do what you can, but watch your back’ (235) may be a wise one, as the seminal insight into the inner workings of a corporation in schrijvers’ the way of the rat (2004) has shown most exquisitely. one might even be tempted to suggest that the way of the rat is replicated inside business’s prime teaching facility: the business school. against the backdrop of much of what actually happens inside corporations and business schools on a daily basis, sentences like ‘marketing the mba as a unique journey starting with a vision of beauty’ (240) appear utterly delirious or – alternatively – downright ideological. similarly, one wonders about the intellectual and/or ideological value of statements such as ‘mba students with different backgrounds and serving different environments will need to pick up different skill sets’ (250). who would have thought of that? living in the thought-asphyxiating bubble of business seems to have very serious consequences when authors state that ‘it came as something of a shock to learn that i knew very little about critical thinking in my mid-fifties when i retreated to business schools’ (268). the reader should clearly not expect to learn this in business schools, nor by reading collections on ‘questions business schools don’t ask’. one can hardly learn critical thinking when, for example, the gfc is presented as merely being a ‘disaster’ (281) that naturally came upon us or, for those with spiritual-religious inclinations, descended from the heavens. perhaps the gfc has something to do with the unquestioned ‘white elephants in the room’ – capitalism, the corruption of democracy through corporate mass media and our current master ideologies as propagated by business schools: managerialism and neo-liberalism’s ideologically motivated deregulation. even the former chairman of the us federal reserve and one of the main demagogues of neo-liberalism, alan greenspan, admits as much in a private mcnamara-like ‘end-of-career’ moment of truthtelling (blight & lang 2005; feldner & vighi 2015). in order to keep the prevailing hegemonic ideology of business schools alive and protected from the truth, however, the author of the final chapter states that ‘grassman’s own ideological perspective is provocative’ (282). this is ideology at its best. the only chapter in the entire book that removes the fog of ideology is labelled ‘ideological’ and ‘provocative’. seeking to remove the fog of ideology steaming up from business schools is mirrored back onto grassman to make it appear as those writing ideology were not the ‘servants of power’ but grassman himself, he who has the audacity to call business schools what they are: deeply ideological institutions. the hidden subtext beneath ‘grassman’s own ideology’ is that he is ideological – and that that is not true of the servants of the business schools. these assertions are a fine example of how ideology works (therborn 1988; rehmann 2013). sadly, and somewhat surprisingly, the collection ends with no conclusion. as a consequence, readers will not read about ‘what can we learn from the collection’. in any case, with the exception of grassman’s chapter, which demystifies business schools and exposes their ideology, providing valuable theoretical insights into business schools, the answer is not much. the collection ends with a short chapter on the ‘genesis’ of the book, stating the fundamental theoretical insight on ‘the questions business schools never ask’: ‘the proof of the pudding is in the eating’ (292). marvellous! anyone wishing to understand the ‘questions business schools don’t ask’ would be better advised to read locke and �237 book review m@n@gement, vol. 19(3): 228-239 spender’s superb work on ‘confronting managerialism: how the business elite and their schools threw our lives out of balance’ (2011). references
 abrahamson, e. (1996). management fashion, academy of management review, 21(1), 254-285. adorno, t. w. (1976). sociology and empirical research, in adorno, t. et al. (eds.). the positivist dispute in german sociology, london: heinemann. arendt, h. (1994). eichmann in jerusalem: a report on the banality of evil, new york, ny: penguin. aspromourgos, t. (2012). the managerialist university: an economic interpretation, australian university review, 54(2), 44-49. baritz, l. (1960). the servants of power. a history of the use of social science in american industry, middletown, ct: wesleyan university press. bbc (2010). cadbury factory closure by kraft despicable, news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8507780. benson, p. & kirsch, s. (2010). capitalism and the politics of resignation, current anthropology, 51(4), 459-486. blair, t. (2010). alastair campbell had iraq dossier changed to fit us claims (http://www.theguardian.com/ uk/2010/jan/10/alastair-campbell-iraq-dossier-inquiry blight, j. g. & lang, j. m. (2005). the fog of war: lessons from the life of robert s. mcnamara, lanham, md: rowman & littlefield. bowie, n. e. & schneider, m. (2011). business ethics for dummies, hoboken, nj: john wiley. chenoweth, n. (2015). chevron paid only $248 tax on $1.7b profit, senate tax inquiry told, australian financial review, 9th november, (www.afr.com... 20151108). dalrymple, w. (2015). the east india company: the original corporate raiders, wednesday 4th march 2015; www.theguardian.com. dawlins, r. (2015). love letters to richard dawkins, youtube.com/watch?v=gw7607yibso. dewey, j. (1916). democracy and education: an introduction to the philosophy of education, new york, ny, the macmillan company. enteman, w. f. (1993). managerialism: the emergence of a new ideology, madison, wi: university of wisconsin press. e x x o n ( 2 0 1 5 ) . c o r p o r a t e c i t i z e n s h i p r e p o r t – s u s t a i n a b i l i t y a n d e n g a g e m e n t , h t t p : / / corporate.exxonmobil.com/en/community/corporatecitizenship-report/stakeholders. feldner, h. & vighi, f. (2015). critical theory and the crisis o f c o n t e m p o r a r y c a p i t a l i s m , n e w yo r k , n y: bloomsbury academic. fleck, c. (2013). the impact factor fetishism, european journal of sociology, 54(2), 327-356. gennaioli, n., shleifer, a. & vishny, r. (2015). money doctors, journal of finance, 70(1), 91-114. hil, r. (2015). selling students short: why you won't get the university education you deserve, sydney: allen & unwin. horkheimer, m. (1937). traditional and critical theory, in: horkheimer, m. critical theory selected essays, translated by o’connell, m. j. et al., 1972, new york, ny: herder. hr (2010). human resource social engineering (1:59min video: www.filmsforaction.org). illouz, e. (2007). cold intimacies: the making of emotional capitalism, cambridge, ma: polity press. klikauer, t. (2010). critical management ethics, basingstoke: palgrave. klikauer, t. (2012). evolution, altruism, and human behaviour, organization, 19(6), 939-940. klikauer, t. (2012a). seven management moralities, basingstoke: palgrave. klikauer, t. (2013). managerialism – critique of an ideology, basingstoke: palgrave. klikauer, t. (2013a). managerialism & business schools – a review essay, australian university review, 55(2),. 128-132. klikauer, t. (2014). conceptions of critique in modern and contemporary philosophy, thesis eleven, 120(1), 119-123. klikauer, t. (2014a). seven moralities of hrm, basingstoke: palgrave. klikauer, t. (2015). critical management studies and critical theory: a review, capital & class, 39(2),. 197-220. klikauer, t. (2015a.) hitler's philosophers/believe and destroy: intellectuals in the ss war machine, holocaust studies, 21(3), 198-202. klikauer, t. (2015b). ideology, anarchy & society – a review essay, capital & class, 39(3), 550-554. luyendijk, j. (2015). it’s business as usual in our banking system, the guardian weekly, 23rd october 2015, p. 26-28. krauss, c. (2015). more oil companies could join exxon m o b i l a s f o c u s o f c l i m a t e i n v e s t i g a t i o n s , www.nytimes.com/2015/11/07/science. locke, r. r. & spender, j. c. (2011). confronting managerialism: how the business elite and their schools threw our lives out of balance, london: zed books. lynd, r. s. (1939). knowledge for what? – the place of social science in american culture, princeton, nj: princeton university press. magretta, j. (2012). what management is: how it works and why it's everyone's business, london: profile. �238 http://www.theguardian.com http://www.filmsforaction.org http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/07/science m@n@gement, vol. 19(3): 228-239 book review micklethwait, j. & wooldridge, a. (1996). the witch doctors: making sense of the management gurus, new york, ny: times books. noddings, n. (2015). philosophy of education (4th ed.), boulder, ca: westview press. rehmann, j. (2013). theories of ideology: the powers of alienation and subjection, leiden: brill. reiman, j. & leighton, p. (2013). the rich get richer and the poor get prison: ideology, class, and criminal justice (10th ed.), boston, ma: pearson. reuters (2015). bhp stuck in mud over brazil lawsuit (uk.reuters.com/video/2015/12/01...). robinson, k. (2006). schools and creativity, (https:// www.ted.com/talks). robinson, k. (2010). educational revolution, (https:// www.ted.com/talks). robinson, k. (2013). education’s death valley, (https:// www.ted.com/talks). ross, b. e. (1984). making money with proactive pricing, harvard business review, november 1984. shlensky, b. (1945). management education: socialization for what? london: forgotten books (2013; original work published pre-1945, year unknown). singer, p. (2015). the most good you can do: how effective altruism is changing ideas about living ethically, melbourne: text publishing. schrijvers, j. (2004). the way of the rat – a survival guide to office politics, london: cyan books. therborn, g. (1988). the ideology of power and the power of ideology, london: verso. watson, d. (2003). death sentence – the decay of public language, sydney: knopf. watson, d. (2015). worst words – a compendium of contemporary cant, gibberish and jargon, sydney: vintage, penguin & random house. �239 what discretion for socially responsible engagement do top manager have? issues and perspectives of corporate governance magalie marais montpellier business school montpellier recherche en management (mrm) m.marais@montpellier-bs.com what discretion for socially responsible engagement do top managers have? issues and perspectives of corporate governance magalie marais abstract. from a socio-political perspective, this article examines the influence of corporate governance mechanisms at the organizational level on the engagement and discretion of top managers with regard to corporate social responsibility (csr). an exploratory, empirical and qualitative study was conducted among 20 french top managers of listed companies, and our results highlight two main contributions. first, we identified three "types" of corporate governance system, each with a set of perceived consequences for the csr engagement and discretion of these managers. second, for each of the governance systems, we characterized the voluntary aspect the top managers’ engagement in and discretion for csr. our research provides new insights into how the motivations of both top managers and the most salient stakeholders in corporate governance codetermine csr engagement. top management discretion becomes redefined around a game of power and influence within the corporate governance system, which we describe. ! in 2001, the european commission (ec) defined corporate social responsibility (csr) as "a concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and in their interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis." this definition focused mainly on the freedom of businesses to choose whether or not to include social and environmental issues in their strategies. since then, the definition has changed and in 2011 the ec redefined csr as "the responsibility of enterprises for their impacts on society,” which is the working definition we use in this research. it should be noted that the phrase "on a voluntary basis" has disappeared. does this mean that csr has become one more response to the institutionalized pressures and obligations imposed by stakeholders in our society, similar to the process that occurs in all organizations? (campbell, 2007). ! in fact, the notion of “voluntary” engagement has not disappeared from the issues of csr (fernando & sim, 2011), and even though certain pressures inevitably push businesses to take csr into account, other pressures exert an opposite effect (johnson & greening, 1999). moreover, in an increasingly complex and uncertain context (mercier, 2004), companies today are dealing with so many pressures coming from so many directions that it is often quite difficult to identify them, never mind prioritize them for strategic decision making (lee, 2011). whatever the company environment and even when the movement toward m@n@gement 2014, vol. 17(4): 237-262 237 mailto:m.marais@montpellier-bs.com mailto:m.marais@montpellier-bs.com 1. other levels of analysis (national and transnational) were mobilized to investigate the influence of corporate governance on top managers and/or business practices in a sociopolitical perspective (aguilera, rupp, williams & ganapathi, 2007). we focus our research here on the organizational level. csr seems unstoppable, consequential csr engagement presupposes a deliberate choice on the part of top management (crilly, zollo & hansen, 2012). this kind of engagement is defined as the support expressed and defended through concrete action following on the choices and strategic options taken to address social and environmental issues (fernando & sim, 2011; weaver, trevino & cochran, 1999). it is based on executive choices that reflect both the perceived interests for the companies and personal motivations (christensen, mackey & whetten, 2014). ! however, top managers must deal with the diverse constraints imposed by corporate governance bodies, defined as "organizational mechanisms that limit p o w e r, i n fl u e n c e m a n a g e m e n t d e c i s i o n s , a n d d e fi n e m a n a g e r i a l discretion" (charreaux, 1997: 1). the influence of corporate governance is particularly significant with regard to csr because, although a relationship between csr and financial performance has been demonstrated (margolis, elfenbein & walsh, 2009), it is not yet well understood, a situation that may generate resistance to efforts to support csr engagement. moreover, in the absence of a clear definition—notably legal—of the "social impacts" of companies (robé, 2009; tchotourian & rousseau, 2008), stakeholders coming from many horizons may attempt to influence strategic decisions and orientations in order to satisfy their own interests, thereby challenging the perceptions and preferences of the top managers (crilly et al., 2012). ! our research thus aims to explore how the organizational1 mechanisms of corporate governance influence top manager engagement and discretion regarding csr. semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 top managers from listed french companies. rooted in a socio-political governance perspective (aguilera, rupp, williams & ganapathi, 2007), our research makes two main contributions. first, it highlights three "types" of corporate governance systems with differentiated perceived consequences for top manager csr engagement and discretion. second, it characterizes the voluntary aspects of top manager engagement in and discretion for csr within the three corporate governance systems, from the perspective of the codetermination of engagement. ! our paper is structured as follows. first, we briefly review the theoretical foundations of our research and the socio-political perspective from which we analyzed top manager engagement in csr and the discretion offered by corporate governance. we then present the methodology for our empirical study, and in the following section we present the results. we conclude with a discussion of the results and highlight the main contributions of our research. theoretical framework u n d e r s ta n d i n g to p m a n a g e r s ’ e n g a g e m e n t i n c s r : a “voluntarist” perspective ! the literature on csr has for the most part overlooked the motivations governing corporate commitment to csr. however, the business reasons for engaging a company in csr (e.g., to improve its performance) are sometimes different from personal motivations for engagement (i.e., two distinct levels of analysis) (agle, mitchell & sonnenfeld, 1999). top managers are central actors in their company, and not only do they need to interpret the signals and preferences of their various stakeholders on csr, but they may also be driven by personal motivations (aguilera et al., 2007). a “voluntarist” approach to top manager engagement in csr thus assumes the primacy of top managers in the process of m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 237-262! magalie marais 238 making strategic decisions about csr based on the perceived interests for the company and personal preferences. ! three main motivations have been identified to explain business engagement in csr. the first type of motivation is moral. in this case, the company engages in csr to comply with the moral values that arise naturally from its status as an institution within a given society. a collective sense of responsibility about rights and duties thus expresses a willingness to contribute to building a better society (logsdon & wood, 2002). donaldson and davis (1991), for example, referred to the mechanism by which some stakeholders impose moral obligations on businesses as a binding "social contract." the second type of motivation is instrumental. here, ethical and moral issues are of little importance as the focus is on how csr can be used for profit maximization. csr can be seen as constraint (dincer, 2011), as when a business shows minimally socially responsible engagement merely as a means to prevent the erosion of financial value. in this case, it acts as a mechanism of insurance by reducing potential problems, costs and penalties arising from corporate failure to take into account social and environmental issues (kagan, gunningham, & thornton, 2003; quinn & jones, 1995). csr can also be seen as an opportunity since it may very well stimulate creativity, innovation and access to new markets (hillman & keim, 2001). last, companies can engage in csr for relational reasons. in this case, csr is used to build corporate legitimacy and secure relationships with the stakeholders in its environment (aguilera & jackson, 2003), and it appears as an essential condition for sustaining the company’s activities and ensuring its right to operate (livesey, 2001). ! the nature of a business’s engagement in csr stems from the abovementioned motivations and is greatly influenced by top management’s preferences (carroll, 1991; thomas & simerly, 1995, wood, 1991). although many actors are involved in company csr, top managers, with the power they possess, have considerable influence. banerjee (2001) reinforced this idea by pointing out that the csr engagement of top managers is a major factor and is very often the most critical factor in understanding corporate choices and strategic decisions in csr. they are expected to interpret the expectations from their environment (jennings & zandbergen, 1995; mcwilliams & siegel, 2000) and then choose the modalities of engagement that both satisfy stakeholder expectations and enhance corporate performance. it nevertheless needs to be kept in mind that these managers may also have their own motivations for engaging in csr. ! top managers may be morally motivated. for example, certain personal values may prompt their engagement (egri & herman, 2000; fernandez-kranz & santalo, 2010), such as openness to change or a strong sense of belonging to a community (reynaud et al., 2007). these executives are expressing a personal commitment to societal well-being (bowen, 1953, crilly, schneider & zollo, 2008) that is beyond economic interest or personal satisfaction. moreover, the personal motivations for engaging in csr may also be instrumental. in this case, they might choose csr activities that create or augment the financial value of their company, while at the same time increasing their compensation packages (johnson, porter & shackell-dowel, 1997) and/or protecting them from possible dismissal by shareholders (aguilera et al., 2007; surroca & tribo, 2008). last, their personal motivations may also be relational. in this case, csr enhances top management’s legitimacy. csr serves to further embellish reputations and more deeply entrench top managers in the company or the environment, thereby preventing dismissal or helping to prepare for future employment opportunities (cespa & cestone, 2007). ! however, the voluntary engagement of high-level executives, whether they are acting for the company or for themselves, cannot be dissociated from the context in which it occurs. there are two main reasons for this. first, the top socially responsible engagement! m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 237-262 239 managers of listed companies must deal with considerable pressure from shareholders and other stakeholder groups (jensen, 2002; johnson & greening, 1999; lee, 2011). moreover, these stakeholders may themselves have conflicting views on the value of investment in csr (ingenbleek & immink, 2010). thus, the social role of top managers in decision making always requires them to build compromises between individual and collective spheres (aguilera et al., 2007), which may provoke cognitive conflict between personal motivations and stakeholder requirements as they attempt to exercise their social role (bowen, 1953). the actual influence of top managers and the impact of their personal preferences is therefore an important issue and suggests questions about their discretionary power. understanding the influence of corporate governance on top manager discretion for csr: a socio-political perspective ! at least in theory, top managers have the greatest discretionary power to influence core business strategies and to allocate resources to various activities and projects (finkelstein, 1992). organizational theory has shown, however, that the corporate decision-making process results from a kind of political game in which negotiations are carried out by the members of the dominant coalition (cyert & march, 1963) and that the decision-making power is always given to those with the resources to exercise their power (pfeffer & salancik, 1978). put simply, this means that top managers who want to give priority to certain objectives must have the necessary discretion to include them in the business agenda in line with strategy (hambrick & finkelstein, 1987; hambrick & fukutomi, 1991). barnard (1938) defined this executive discretion as "the area of power or authority" in which they can implement choices that match their personal preferences (child, 1972). ! top managers, as key actors with high status and authority, thus engage in a game of influence to defend their vision, whether it is based on corporate interests or personal preferences, and they are engaged in this game with many others, each having their own power to influence and defending special interests (aguilera, williams, conley & rupp, 2006). at this point, the discretion of these top executives becomes a co-construction because of the impact of other stakeholders, and at different levels of analysis (baiada-hireche, pasquero & chanlat, 2011). at the organizational level, aguilera et al. (2007) emphasized the importance of understanding how compromises are built between the main actors in the corporate governance system—in which top managers have an integral role. ! the socio-political conception suggests several consequences of the influence of corporate governance mechanisms at the organizational level. first, to effectively exercise discretion, the top manager must take into account the influence exerted not only by shareholders but also by other internal or external stakeholders. it then becomes important to identify the stakeholders with the most power or discretion—that is, the most salient stakeholders (e.g., agle et al., 1999; vilanova, 2007). furthermore, top manager discretion is not strictly the result of an imperfection in the disciplinary mechanisms of corporate governance (shleifer & vishny, 1997) or the deterministic influence of the different stakeholder groups (freeman, 1984): it is co-constructed by the actors and the top managers themselves are likely to develop personal strategies for this purpose. ! top managers should therefore not be considered as "passive": they are indeed “active” in corporate governance. they interpret the environment by closely reading its characteristics (hambrick & mason, 1984; key, 1997) and then build compromises between the various stakeholders in order to both meet the needs of the company and ensure the satisfaction of their own interests (chin, hambrick & trevino, 2013; key, 1997). this suggests interesting questions about m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 237-262! magalie marais 240 the nature of their financial and social responsibility (berle & means, 1932), and the responsibility of the most salient stakeholders in the corporate governance system should also be questioned (vilanova, 2007). in any event, the strategic choices and decisions become codetermined by the actors in corporate governance at the organizational level. conflicts and confrontations cannot excluded from the socio-political perspective, as the actors may have preferences giving rise to visions that differ widely and inevitably clash over time, though this may help to build dynamic compromises (adams, licht & sagiv, 2011). ! from this perspective, csr is a socio-political object resulting from a game of power and influence among the actors or stakeholders who are most likely to give it shape (aguilera et al., 2006; vilanova, 2007). this process will have important consequences on the place that csr occupies within a given company. for example, if those shareholders who exert strong pressure for short-term financial performance turn out to be the most salient stakeholders in corporate governance at time "t" in the life of the company, short-term investment in csr that directly enhances financial performance is likely to be favored by the top manager if there are no counterpowers exercised by other stakeholders; this decision might be motivated by the need to protect against dismissal or to hold on to one’s compensation package (instrumental motivations). even an executive with moral or relational motivations for csr would feel pressured to follow this path. however, the wise use of discretion might, in certain circumstances, help a top manager to reduce shareholder pressure that is unfavorable to csr. conversely, a top manager engaged in corporate governance characterized by the strong influence of employees and/or other societal stakeholders would be able to choose csr activities based on more relational or moral foundations. these choices could, moreover, further strengthen his or her personal legitimacy in the corporate environment. research methodology methodological approach and research context ! our empirical study was conducted from an exploratory perspective in order to elucidate a phenomenon that has received little attention to date. a qualitative approach is well suited to our intention to distinguish major patterns in the field, which can then be tested in future studies. the study is divided into two steps. first, we sought to define three “types” of governance system that would be likely to show different impacts on top manager engagement in and discretion for csr in order to study the influence of mechanisms of corporate governance at the organizational level. we thus developed a taxonomy of three of the most prominent types of corporate governance system, based on a sample of french listed companies. in the second step, we sought to capture the perceptions of 20 top managers about their engagement and discretion regarding csr, and we ensured that each of the identified types of corporate governance systems was represented in our sample. these two steps are described in greater detail below. ! our research is embedded in the french context. in line with the sociopolitical vision of governance adopted for this research, it was important to characterize, at least minimally, our study context. the french system of corporate governance is characterized by the relationships between diverse stakeholders, the influence of large blocks of family shareholders, strong interfirm relationships, and a high concentration of institutional investors in certain sectors (franks, mayer & wagner, 2006; gedajlovic & shapiro, 1998). once widely known for having a governance model orchestrated by the state (hall & solskice, 2001), the country is now moving toward a more liberal and less socially responsible engagement! m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 237-262 241 2. more complex taxonomies exist in the literature regarding the types of corporate governance systems present in the french context. because this study is based on qualitative data, we wanted to reduce the number of types of corporate governance systems to characterize and study. future studies could rely on other taxonomies and thus supplement and clarify the study conducted here. interventionist market model (kang & moon, 2012), although some state initiatives, especially those that are coercive, are regarded as a vehicle for change (delbard, 2008). ! french csr is therefore largely driven by state initiatives. the government, through the nre act of 2001 or the grenelle 1 and grenelle 2 laws of 2009 and 2010, notably mandated csr reporting for listed companies and guides corporate actions toward the "responsible" behavior to adopt. csr is thus closely tied to regulatory bodies in france (gond, kang & moon, 2011), particularly because of the restrictive labor laws (crossland, 2005). the impetus to csr engagement is also often based on relational mechanisms that favor institutionalized dialogues with stakeholders (jackson & apostolakou, 2010). nevertheless, strategic decision making usually remains the prerogative of the top management team, with no real participation by employees or other stakeholders (goyer, 2006). ! these characteristics of the french context have a strong impact on corporate governance mechanisms at the organizational level (charreaux, 1997). they do leave room for some variety in the mechanisms, however, especially between the types of governance systems inherited from the french familial and paternalistic tradition and others more in line with the liberal model under the impact of globalization (palpacuer, 2006) and the growing separation of ownership and control (berle & means, 1932; bowen, 1953). different degrees of managerial discretion are thus given to csr policymakers (huault & leca, 2009). step 1: a taxonomy of corporate governance systems in french context ! for this study, we chose companies belonging to three types of corporate governance systems2 that have emerged in the french literature (charreaux 1997; morin & rigamonti, 2002): (1) a "traditional" type characterized by concentrated and stable ownership (family firms run by other businesses, businesses with state affiliations, etc.). shareholders, as well as a broader set of stakeholders, exercise strong executive oversight, with these latter often present on the board in an expression of partnership; (2) a "modern" type characterized by a decline in the shareholder base (non-majority) and constituting an ideal target for particularly activist investors like investment banks and mutual funds. strong executive oversight is exercised, especially concerning finances, using incentives and strong pressure to separate decision making and control (independent directors, incentive compensation policies, separation of powers, etc.) (both strong a priori and a posteriori control); and (3) a "financial" type characterized by a very diverse shareholder base without sufficiently strong shareholders to actively contribute to setting strategy (cohabitation of shareholders of various kinds). executive control is primarily a posteriori via the market and the share price, since no investor would be willing to engage control costs a priori. ! we thus selected listed french companies representing these corporate governance systems. from a sample of firms belonging to the sbf 120, experts systematically reviewed each of the firms in our sample with a focus on the criteria for each type of corporate governance system, all of which have been used in several recent studies on corporate governance (aglietta & rebérioux, 2004; cespa & cestone, 2004; dincer, 2011; rousseau, 2011). data were collected on ownership, executive control mechanisms and the composition of the board of directors or supervisory board (see appendix a). these data were obtained from internal corporate documents (annual reports, financial reports, letter to shareholders, sustainability reports, etc.), the press, and the osiris database. from the sample of 120 firms in the sbf 120, 60 were classified and the others were excluded because of missing data. m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 237-262! magalie marais 242 ! the 60 companies were classified qualitatively. binary criteria (yes or no) were easy to decide on. no specific thresholds were set for non-binary criteria (e.g., percentage of ownership), and only the consistency of the entire data set allowed us to appropriately classify a given company on the basis of french corporate characteristics. the initial classification was performed by the author and the procedure was replicated independently by two finance lecturers for cross-validation. the agreement rate was 90%. cases of disagreement were discussed before final classification (see appendix b). ! the classification procedure revealed the following: 55% of our sample was traditional, with 33 companies; 26% was modern, with 16 companies; and 19% was financial, with 11 companies. for each type of corporate governance system, we contacted the top managers whose firms had been classified. ultimately, 10 top managers from firms with traditional corporate governance were interviewed, 5 from firms with modern corporate governance, and 4 from firms with financial corporate governance (see table 1). step 2. top managers’ perceptions ! we conducted semi-structured interviews to access the top managers’ perceptions. all interviewees were top managers with the highest decisionmaking power in their respective companies, but within each corporate governance type, they differed from each other in terms of career and tenure details. the industries within each type also varied considerably, which improved the internal validity of our results, as recommended by guba and lincoln (1989). the semi-structured interviews were conducted with an interview guide focused on top manager discretion and the influence of corporate governance. we informed the top managers that the interview concerned their strategic managerial discretion in general in order to let csr issues, as well as their scope in dealing with these issues, emerge spontaneously. this was done to avoid significant social desirability bias and repetition. a question about top manager csr engagement was nevertheless introduced at the end of the interview if they had not mentioned it spontaneously. ! the interviews were designed to capture top managers’ perceptions about the influence of corporate governance at the organizational level on their strategic and managerial discretion for csr on their csr engagement. we also sought to characterize this influence by performing a thematic and lexical analysis of the transcribed verbatims. the thematic analysis ensured that the executives had spoken about their csr discretion by clustering sentence segments relevant to this topic. the scope of managerial discretion (low, moderate or strong) was characterized by a lexical analysis within segments of sentences, especially regarding the use of specific adverbs and adjectives. ! in line with our literature review, we then characterized the motivations of corporate governance for engaging the company in csr as perceived by these top managers (moral, instrumental, and/or relational), and then sought to clarify the managers’ personal motivations. last, to capture the expression of their voluntary engagement in csr meant we had to identify the strategies they reported using to increase their managerial discretion for csr. these aspects were identified by a thematic content analysis of discourses. ! table 2 presents the main themes for the discourse analysis and their definitions as inspired by the literature review. each theme was further divided into subcategories to assess its intensity or specify its nature. we computed the number of occurrences in the respondents’ discourses for each of the subcategories. specifically, we counted the number of respondents with each type of corporate governance system who cited each subcategory. this analysis allowed the most important subcategories to emerge clearly for each type of corporate governance system, and we were thus able to make comparisons. table 2 also provides examples of verbatims associated with each subcategory for each theme. socially responsible engagement! m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 237-262 243 ta bl e 1. t yp es o f c or po ra te g ov er na nc e sy st em s: c la ss ifi ca tio n on th e in iti al s am pl e & th e to p m an ag er s ta bl e 1. t yp es o f c or po ra te g ov er na nc e sy st em s: c la ss ifi ca tio n on th e in iti al s am pl e & th e to p m an ag er s ta bl e 1. t yp es o f c or po ra te g ov er na nc e sy st em s: c la ss ifi ca tio n on th e in iti al s am pl e & th e to p m an ag er s tr ad iti on al ty pe m od er n ty pe fi na nc ia l t yp e o w ne rs hi p ch ar ac te ris tic s o w ne rs hi p ch ar ac te ris tic s o w ne rs hi p ch ar ac te ris tic s -p re se nc e of a m aj or ity s ha re ho ld er  li ke : s ta te , b an k, fa m ily , i nd us tri al g ro up , e tc . -i ns tit ut io na l i nv es to rs in th e co rp or at e ca pi ta l w ith lim ite d de te nt io n -p ot en tia lly s tro ng p re se nc e of e m pl oy ee o r t op m an ag er ow ne rs hi p. -p re se nc e of a s ta bl e m ai n sh ar eh ol de r b ut n o m aj or ity : s ta te , b an k, fa m ily , i nd us tri al g ro up , e tc . -s tro ng p re se nc e of in st itu tio na l i nv es to rs in c ap ita l, es pe ci al ly d efi ne d c on tri bu tio n fu nd s (h ig h pa rti ci pa tio n) . -h ig hl y fra gm en te d sh ar eh ol di ng (v er y si gn ifi ca nt flo at in g) . -s ev er al ty pe s of in st itu tio na l i nv es to rs in c or po ra te ca pi ta l ( d efi ne d b en efi t a nd d efi ne d c on tri bu tio n) b ut lim ite d de te nt io ns (n o st ro ng in ve st or in flu en ce o n st ra te gy ). c ha ra ct er is tic s of th e m ec ha ni sm s to c on tro l m an ag er s c ha ra ct er is tic s of th e m ec ha ni sm s to c on tro l m an ag er s c ha ra ct er is tic s of th e m ec ha ni sm s to c on tro l m an ag er s -p re se nc e of a m aj or ity s ha re ho ld er  (d om in at io n of a sh ar eh ol de r o r a s ha re ho ld er p ac t) in flu en ci ng s tra te gi c de ci si on -m ak in g. -l im ite d gr an tin g of s to ck -o pt io ns c om pa re d w ith o th er co rp or at e go ve rn an ce s ys te m s (le ss in ce nt iv e co m pe ns at io n sy st em s) . -s tro ng in flu en ce o f i ns tit ut io na l i nv es to rs o n st ra te gi c de ci si on s. -a p rio ri an d a po st er io ri to p m an ag er c on tro l. a pr io ri: gr an tin g of s to ck -o pt io ns a nd d ua lit y. a p os te rio ri: s tro ng co nt ro l o f t he s ha re p ric e -n o in ve st or w ith s ig ni fic an t d et en tio n to in flu en ce st ra te gi c de ci si on s. -n o di re ct c on tro l o f s ha re ho ld er s. s tro ng c on tro l o f t he sh ar e pr ic e an d st ro ng g ra nt in g of s to ck o pt io ns . c om po si tio n of d ire ct or s or s up er vi so ry b oa rd c om po si tio n of d ire ct or s or s up er vi so ry b oa rd c om po si tio n of d ire ct or s or s up er vi so ry b oa rd -h ig h pr es en ce o f t op m an ag er s on th e bo ar d. -g lo ba lly , n o re sp ec t o f t he p rin ci pl e of m or e th an 5 0% in de pe nd en t d ire ct or s on th e bo ar d. -f re qu en t p ar tic ip at io n of e m pl oy ee s or o th er st ak eh ol de rs o n th e bo ar d. -f ew e xe cu tiv e di re ct or s on th e bo ar d. -r es pe ct o f t he p rin ci pl e of m or e th an 5 0% in de pe nd en t di re ct or s on th e bo ar d. -h ig h pr es en ce o f e xe cu tiv e m an ag er s on th e bo ar d. -r es pe ct o f t he p rin ci pl e of m or e th an 5 0% in de pe nd en t di re ct or s on th e bo ar d. -p re se nc e of m an y sp ec ia liz ed c om m itt ee s. 55 % o f fi rm s in th e sa m pl e 26 % o f fi rm s in th e sa m pl e 19 % o f fi rm s in th e sa m pl e d 1, d 2, d 3, d 7, d 8, d 10 , d 11 , d 13 , d 17 , d 18 d 4, d 5, d 9, d 12 , d 19 d 6, d 14 , d 15 , d 16 m@n@gement 2014, vol. 17(4): 237-262 244 ta bl e 2. t he m at ic a na ly si s of d is co ur se s: s el ec te d th em es & a ss oc ia te d ve rb at im s ta bl e 2. t he m at ic a na ly si s of d is co ur se s: s el ec te d th em es & a ss oc ia te d ve rb at im s ta bl e 2. t he m at ic a na ly si s of d is co ur se s: s el ec te d th em es & a ss oc ia te d ve rb at im s ta bl e 2. t he m at ic a na ly si s of d is co ur se s: s el ec te d th em es & a ss oc ia te d ve rb at im s th em e s ub ca te go rie s th em e de sc rip tio n ve rb at im s p er ce iv ed m an ag er ia l d is cr et io n fo r st ra te gy lo w th is th em e re fe rs to th e im po rta nc e of d is cr et io n fo r st ra te gy a s pe rc ei ve d by th e to p m an ag er s in re sp on se to th e in flu en ce o f t he m os t sa lie nt s ta ke ho ld er s of co rp or at e go ve rn an ce .. “y ou k no w , m y m an ag er ia l d is cr et io n is v er y lim ite d. i do n’ t r ea lly m ak e th e de ci si on s he re .” p er ce iv ed m an ag er ia l d is cr et io n fo r st ra te gy m od er at e th is th em e re fe rs to th e im po rta nc e of d is cr et io n fo r st ra te gy a s pe rc ei ve d by th e to p m an ag er s in re sp on se to th e in flu en ce o f t he m os t sa lie nt s ta ke ho ld er s of co rp or at e go ve rn an ce .. “i w ou ld s ay th at m y m an ag er ia l d is cr et io n is m or e or le ss im po rta nt , d ep en di ng o f t he ty pe o f d ec is io n. ” p er ce iv ed m an ag er ia l d is cr et io n fo r st ra te gy s tro ng th is th em e re fe rs to th e im po rta nc e of d is cr et io n fo r st ra te gy a s pe rc ei ve d by th e to p m an ag er s in re sp on se to th e in flu en ce o f t he m os t sa lie nt s ta ke ho ld er s of co rp or at e go ve rn an ce .. “i’ ve b ee n in th is c om pa ny fo r a lo ng ti m e an d i h av e al l t he di sc re tio n i n ee d to d o i w an t.” p er ce iv ed m an ag er ia l d is cr et io n fo r s c r lo w th is th em e re fe rs to th e im po rta nc e of d is cr et io n pe rc ei ve d by to p m an ag er s fo r c s r d ue to th e in flu en ce of th e m os t s al ie nt st ak eh ol de rs o f c or po ra te go ve rn an ce . “c s r in o ur c om pa ny is u nt hi nk ab le , w ith th e ex ce pt io n of m ay be a fe w a ct io ns . i t’s n ot a p rio rit y. ” p er ce iv ed m an ag er ia l d is cr et io n fo r s c r m od er at e th is th em e re fe rs to th e im po rta nc e of d is cr et io n pe rc ei ve d by to p m an ag er s fo r c s r d ue to th e in flu en ce of th e m os t s al ie nt st ak eh ol de rs o f c or po ra te go ve rn an ce . “s om e c s r a ct io ns a re w el l a cc ep te d bu t o th er s ar e to o ex pe ns iv e. n o, i’ m li m ite d on th is s ub je ct .”  p er ce iv ed m an ag er ia l d is cr et io n fo r s c r s tro ng th is th em e re fe rs to th e im po rta nc e of d is cr et io n pe rc ei ve d by to p m an ag er s fo r c s r d ue to th e in flu en ce of th e m os t s al ie nt st ak eh ol de rs o f c or po ra te go ve rn an ce . “it ’s a p rio rit y fo r o ur c om pa ny a nd i fe el to ta lly fr ee to m ak e de ci si on s in th is a re a. ” p er ce iv ed m ot iv at io ns o f c or po ra te go ve rn an ce to e ng ag e th e co m pa ny in c s r in st ru m en ta l th is th em e re fe rs to th e m ot iv at io ns o f t he m os t sa lie nt s ta ke ho ld er s of co rp or at e go ve rn an ce to en ga ge th e co m pa ny in c s r a s pe rc ei ve d by to p m an ag er s. “f or m y sh ar eh ol de rs , i f c s r h as to e xi st , t he n th e fir st p oi nt is to m ak e m on ey .” p er ce iv ed m ot iv at io ns o f c or po ra te go ve rn an ce to e ng ag e th e co m pa ny in c s r r el at io na l th is th em e re fe rs to th e m ot iv at io ns o f t he m os t sa lie nt s ta ke ho ld er s of co rp or at e go ve rn an ce to en ga ge th e co m pa ny in c s r a s pe rc ei ve d by to p m an ag er s. “im pr ov in g ou r i m ag e an d bu ild in g le gi tim ac y co m e th ro ug h c s r . w e al l a gr ee o n th is .”  p er ce iv ed m ot iv at io ns o f c or po ra te go ve rn an ce to e ng ag e th e co m pa ny in c s r m or al th is th em e re fe rs to th e m ot iv at io ns o f t he m os t sa lie nt s ta ke ho ld er s of co rp or at e go ve rn an ce to en ga ge th e co m pa ny in c s r a s pe rc ei ve d by to p m an ag er s. “f or m y sh ar eh ol de rs , c us to m er s an d su pp lie rs , c s r is a n in es ca pa bl e m or al d ut y. ” r ep or te d m ot iv at io ns o f t op m an ag er s to e ng ag e in c s r in st ru m en ta l th is th em e re fe rs to th e sp ec ifi c m ot iv at io ns o f t op m an ag er s to b ec om e pe rs on al ly e ng ag ed in c s r as e xp re ss ed in th ei r di sc ou rs es . “i ta ke c s r a ct io ns o nl y w he n it is n ec es sa ry to e nh an ce p ro fit s. a nd fo r m e, w he n i h av e th e di sc re tio n to d o it an d w he n it do es no t t hr ea te n m y pe rs on al s itu at io n. ” r ep or te d m ot iv at io ns o f t op m an ag er s to e ng ag e in c s r r el at io na l th is th em e re fe rs to th e sp ec ifi c m ot iv at io ns o f t op m an ag er s to b ec om e pe rs on al ly e ng ag ed in c s r as e xp re ss ed in th ei r di sc ou rs es . “c s r h el ps m e to c re at e cl os e lin ks w ith m y st ak eh ol de rs . i t pr om ot es a nd p ro te ct s m e. ” r ep or te d m ot iv at io ns o f t op m an ag er s to e ng ag e in c s r m or al th is th em e re fe rs to th e sp ec ifi c m ot iv at io ns o f t op m an ag er s to b ec om e pe rs on al ly e ng ag ed in c s r as e xp re ss ed in th ei r di sc ou rs es . “it ’s th e c e o ’s m or al o bl ig at io n an d re sp on si bi lit y to m an ag e th e so ci al a nd e nv iro nm en ta l i m pa ct s of fi rm a ct iv iti es .” r ep or te d m ot iv at io ns o f t op m an ag er s to e nh an ce th ei r d is cr et io n fo r c s r c om m un ic at io n, e du ca tio n & re po rti ng th is th em e re fe rs to th e st ra te gi es o f t op m an ag er s to e nh an ce th ei r d is cr et io n fo r c s r , e sp ec ia lly w he n th e m os t s al ie nt st ak eh ol de rs o f c or po ra te go ve rn an ce w ou ld s ha re m or e or le ss th ei r p er so na l m ot iv at io ns in th is fi el d. "i try to ra is e aw ar en es s in m y st ak eh ol de rs , e sp ec ia lly o ur em pl oy ee s an d m y sh ar eh ol de rs . i e xp la in a nd tr y to c on vi nc e th em ." r ep or te d m ot iv at io ns o f t op m an ag er s to e nh an ce th ei r d is cr et io n fo r c s r s at is fa ct io n of th e m os t s al ie nt p re ss ur es in te rm s of fi na nc ia l p er fo rm an ce th is th em e re fe rs to th e st ra te gi es o f t op m an ag er s to e nh an ce th ei r d is cr et io n fo r c s r , e sp ec ia lly w he n th e m os t s al ie nt st ak eh ol de rs o f c or po ra te go ve rn an ce w ou ld s ha re m or e or le ss th ei r p er so na l m ot iv at io ns in th is fi el d. “n o c s r is p os si bl e if i’m n ot g oo d at m ax im iz in g th e st oc k va lu e of m y co m pa ny . b ut , i f i a m g oo d at it , m y di sc re tio n in cr ea se s na tu ra lly .” r ep or te d m ot iv at io ns o f t op m an ag er s to e nh an ce th ei r d is cr et io n fo r c s r c re at io n of n et w or ks (i nt er na l a nd e xt er na l) th is th em e re fe rs to th e st ra te gi es o f t op m an ag er s to e nh an ce th ei r d is cr et io n fo r c s r , e sp ec ia lly w he n th e m os t s al ie nt st ak eh ol de rs o f c or po ra te go ve rn an ce w ou ld s ha re m or e or le ss th ei r p er so na l m ot iv at io ns in th is fi el d. “t o im pl em en t c s r , y ou h av e to c re at e lin ks , n et w or ks , pa rtn er sh ip s. t he y’ re o fte n us ef ul a s co un te rp ow er s. i ca n’ t d en y th at th ey ’re u se fu l t o m e. ” m@n@gement 2014, vol. 17(4): 237-262 245 results top managers’ perceptions of the influence of corporate governance on their csr engagement and discretion ! this first set of results describes the perceptions of top managers about the influence of corporate governance on their engagement in and discretion for csr. the perceptions are presented for each type of corporate governance system identified by our methodology around three axes: perceived managerial discretion for strategy, perceived managerial discretion for csr and perceived motivations of corporate governance for engaging the company in csr. perceived managerial discretion for strategy ! managerial discretion for strategy was perceived as predominantly low or moderate by the top managers in a traditional type of corporate governance system, low by top managers in a modern type of corporate governance system, and moderate or strong by top managers belonging to a financial type of corporate governance system (see table 3). table 3. perceived managerial discretion for strategy perceived managerial discretion for strategy low moderate strong total traditional type of corporate governance n=4 (40%) n=5 (50%) n=1 (10%) n=10 modern type of corporate governance n=5 (100%) n=0 (0%) n=0 (0%) n=5 financial type of corporate governance n=0 (0%) n=1 (25%) n=3 (75%) n=4 ! for the traditional type of corporate governance, the top managers mentioned the collective nature of decision making in their organization and expressed the significant influence of multiple stakeholders in strategic decisions. although they acknowledged having the power of arbitration, they also admitted that their choices were very much guided by other prominent actors in corporate governance such as majority or key shareholders, as well as other stakeholders, like customers or employees. d3 said: "here we have a specific shareholding structure since we are guided by the majority shareholder. this is a very important point. for 5 years, i’ve been working with the same people who’ve known the business for a long time. they aim at sustainability and rallying our various stakeholders to the cause. they are the ones who really make decisions and shape our strategic orientations." ! for managers in a modern type of corporate governance system, the limitations on strategy arose mainly from the pressing needs of certain highly influential shareholders with regard to financial and stock market performance, even though other shareholders might be opposed to these pressures. d19 said: "my managerial discretion is very limited. i have several shareholders with different expectations and there are a lot of clashes. i face a lot of pressure to always show strong financial performance and between the pension funds, our former shareholders, etc., i sometimes don’t know where to turn. anyway, it’s usually the strongest one that makes the choice." m@n@gement 2014, vol. 17(4): 237-262 246 ! the top managers in a financial type of corporate governance system admitted to considerable freedom in making strategic choices as long as they managed to meet the goals for financial performance set by the market, a posteriori. as d6 ironically noted: "our shareholders are very volatile; ultimately, they don’t really have an impact on strategy because they are so dispersed. there’s no real commitment. so actually, our team sets the strategy and the shareholders follow from a distance. but that’s not totally true [he laughs] because in fact we are under high pressure to maximize our market value.” perceived managerial discretion for csr ! the top managers perceived their managerial discretion for csr as strong in the traditional type of corporate governance system, low in the modern type, and moderate in the financial system (see table 4). ! table 4. perceived managerial discretion for csr perceived managerial discretion for csr low moderate strong total traditional type of corporate governance n=0 (0%) n=2 (20%) n=8 (80%) n=10 modern type of corporate governance n=5 (100%) n=0 (0%) n=0 (0%) n=5 financial type of corporate governance n=0 (0%) n=4 (100%) n=0 (0%) n=4 ! the top managers in traditional corporate governance systems perceived their discretion for csr as significant, as csr would naturally be promoted by the most salient stakeholders of corporate governance (shareholders and employees) as a means to ensure overall satisfactory long-term performance, with little pressure to focus on only short-term profitability. these managers were therefore free to make decisions in this area. as explained by d10: "for us, csr is part of our dna and no one would be opposed to thoughtful social or environmental decisions. later, you have to make trade-offs because you have to be profitable, but the family is ready to make sacrifices on this and sit on certain dividends if these investments seem more important for our customers, our employees, and our partners. here, we don’t take the company and our decisions lightly." ! the situation was perceived very differently by the top managers from a modern type of corporate governance. they described the primacy of maximizing shareholder profits in their businesses, often by staying clear of any investment in csr. d12 expressed this point: "some of my shareholders are very far from the concerns of the business. they see only the assets and want only one thing: to sell them and get their money back. but that's a terrible pressure and it totally ignores the reality of the business. we are under a lot of pressure to sell our assets. outsourcing is the trend now to meet increasingly high expectations for dividends. that's short-term finance. the concept of taking into account the company’s sustainability is not even socially responsible engagement! m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 237-262 247 considered. just imagine trying to make sustainable development happen in this kind of context!” ! last, the top managers in a financial type of corporate governance system described their situation as intermediary. like the top managers in the modern type, they stressed the importance of maintaining high financial and stock market performance, which sometimes interfered with investment in csr. however, the solid position of their companies in the financial markets and their strong reporting obligations imposed by stakeholders made certain choices for csr possible. d15 said on this point: "we can’t do everything in terms of csr but some actions are naturally accepted by the board if they’re consistent with our activities and obligations.” perceived motivations of corporate governance to engage the company in csr ! according to our interviewees, the most salient stakeholders in the different corporate governance systems had different motivations to engage the company in csr. they also perceived different motivations within a single type of corporate governance system. thus the top managers from a traditional corporate governance system perceived csr as acceptable to corporate governance when it was driven by instrumental, relational or moral motivations (in order of importance), whereas those from modern or financial corporate governance systems mainly perceived instrumental motivations as acceptable (see table 5). table 5. perceived motivations of corporate governance to engage the company in csr perceived motivations instrumental relational moral total* traditional type of corporate governance n=9/10 (90%) n=7/10 (70%) n=4/10 (40%) n=10 modern type of corporate governance n=5/5 (100%) n=0/5 (0%) n=0/5 (0%) n=5 financial type of corporate governance n=4/4 (100%) n=1/4 (25%) n=0/4 (0%) n=4 *different motivations may be mentioned concomitantly by top managers within the same type of corporate governance system. the total column gives here the total number of top managers and the occurrences listed in the table indicate the number of top managers who mentioned a particular motivation within each type of corporate governance system. ! the top managers in a traditional type of governance system perceived csr as being valued by the corporate governance first of all for instrumental reasons. they explained that engagement in csr was believed to be able to maximize company profits over the long term. however, relational and moral motivations were also expressed. for example, corporate governance also valued csr as an intangible asset of great importance in enhancing the company’s acceptability in its environment, its legitimacy and its image. moreover, some top managers mentioned that some of the actors in corporate governance viewed csr as a moral duty. d17 offered an interesting testimony on this point: "my shareholders and stakeholders think that csr is a good way to strengthen our image, our reputation and even our culture of being very respectful of the people around us. of course, it’s clear that the primary motivation, along with other ones though, is to ensure high financial performance over time." m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 237-262! magalie marais 248 ! in the modern type of corporate governance system, the managers noted that csr was perceived as acceptable only when it was based on instrumental motivations. here, small csr actions would be accepted in the short term, if and only if they directly contributed to maximizing financial value. d4 said: "in our company, csr is only an additional source of profit. it exists only if the shareholders perceive that it serves us in the short term. otherwise it does not exist." ! csr was perceived the same way by the top managers in a financial type of corporate governance system. csr was thus accepted by corporate governance when it directly contributed to creating financial value, although in a potentially longer-term perspective. as expressed by d14: "in relation to csr, we’re aware—and our shareholders also—of all the markets created by csr, including environmental activities that provide opportunities for energy efficiency. and on this point people say that the industry can’t do much but that’s wrong, there are clear opportunities for innovation and profit, even in the short term. " ! one of the executives interviewed (d16) even described csr as "a mechanism for protecting shareholder investment" and emphasized its relevance in "building strong relationships," thus referring to the value of more relational motivations. reported influence of top managers on csr in each type of corporate governance system ! we also sought to understand the personal motivations of the top managers for engaging in csr and, where appropriate, the strategies they used to impose their motivations, even when the most salient stakeholders of corporate governance had other preferences. reported motivations of top managers to engage in csr ! the top managers expressed many motivations driving their personal engagement in csr. we observed differences in motivation not only between the top managers in the different governance systems, but also between the managers in companies having the same type of governance (see table 6). table 6. reported motivations of top managers to engage csr reported motivations instrumental relational moral total* traditional type of corporate governance n=6/10 (60%) n=8/10 (80%) n=4/10 (40%) n=10 modern type of corporate governance n=5/5 (100%) n=0/5 (0%) n=0/5 (0%) n=5 financial type of corporate governance n=4/4 (100%) n=3/4 (75%) n=0/4 (0%) n=4 * different motivations may be reported concomitantly by top managers within the same type of corporate governance system. the total column gives here the total number of top managers and the occurrences listed in the table indicate the number of top managers who mentioned a particular motivation within each type of corporate governance system. ! the top managers from traditional corporate governance systems reported engaging in csr for relational, instrumental and moral (in order of importance) motivations, whereas the top managers from modern systems only expressed instrumental motivations and those from financial systems declared instrumental and relational motivations (in order of importance). socially responsible engagement! m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 237-262 249 ! the main motivation for csr engagement for the managers in traditional corporate governance systems was relational. these managers stated that their objective was to enhance the company image and reputation, as well as their own reputation. by defending csr, they gained support from more stakeholders, created bigger networks and established their legitimacy more firmly within both the company and the business environment. as expressed by d11: "dealing with environmental issues and especially the social issues in my environment is a priority for me. this allows me to create a strong and solid network of business partners for my company and it also strengthens my credibility. i do things that my predecessor never did, and it's very rewarding." ! top managers in this kind of corporate governance system also expressed more instrumental motivations for csr, both to maximize long-term company performance and especially to keep their jobs. d13 said: "the question of my personal preferences doesn’t really matter. my shareholders are in favor of csr because they believe in its potential to create value. i do it because it’s a strong requirement to stay in this job." ! moral motivations were also expressed by top managers in this kind of corporate governance system, especially principles of respectful management of all stakeholders. d2 said: "i personally have always wanted to be considerate of others and i am this way in my business dealings but also in other parts of my life. i’m guided by other goals, other values than just profiteering. i was raised in a different way." ! top managers in modern governance systems declared that they engaged in csr mainly for instrumental reasons. they also stated that they had little choice in this area and would consider csr only if it was promoted by the most salient stakeholders of corporate governance. moreover, these managers explained that by acting this way they were able to protect their jobs and their benefits. d4 explains: "i'm not paid for csr. i have no personal interest in it unless my shareholders ask me to do it because they believe that it’s good for company performance. my shareholders would be suspicious if i were too committed to csr. i don’t think it would increase their confidence in me, quite the contrary. i wasn’t hired for this." ! last, the top managers from financial corporate governance systems expressed instrumental and relational motivations for engaging in csr. instrumentally, they saw csr as an important way to promote the company’s long-term performance and to ensure for themselves the trust of financial markets. as explained by d6: “you know, our position as the leader is weak. everybody is watching us. the stakeholders and the financial markets. they don’t like scandals and they’re always ready to get rid of a ceo who threatens their investments by his or her decisions and actions. especially on social issues." m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 237-262! magalie marais 250 ! moreover, some top managers also engaged in csr for more relational reasons, to protect their legitimacy and enhance their power and entrenchment. d16 expressed himself on this point: "csr has allowed me to create partnerships inside and outside the company that are precious to me from a strategic point of view. they help me in convincing others to adopt my vision for the company. it protects and legitimates me." reported strategies of top managers to enhance their discretion for csr ! in the interviews, some of these top managers also told us how they could increase their discretion for csr if they were convinced of the benefits for their company or they had personal motivations for engaging in this area (see table 7). ! table 7. stratégies déclarées des dirigeants pour renforcer leur marge de manœuvre en matière de rse reported strategy communication, education & reporting satisfaction of the most salient pressures for financial performance creation of networks (internal and external) total* traditional type of corporate governance n=8/10 (80%) n=0/10 (0%) n=5/10 (50%) n=10 modern type of corporate governance n=0/5 (0%) n=1/5 (20%) n=0/5 (0%) n=5 financial type of corporate governance n=0/4 (0%) n=2/4 (50%) n=2/4 (50%) n=4 * different strategies may be reported concomitantly by top managers within the same type of corporate governance system. the total column gives here the total number of top managers and the occurrences listed in the table indicate the number of top managers who mentioned a particular strategy within each type of corporate governance system. ! in a traditional type of corporate governance system, alignment between top managers’ pro-csr motivations and the expectations of corporate governance seemed fairly natural. as explained by d7: "i personally think the company has to take on a new role in society instead of the role it has today. i don’t believe in the company-contract and i want to be engaged in society and pursue this adventure with my partners. i'm lucky on this because these are also the values held by my shareholders and employees. i’ve learned to understand and integrate them, and this has shaped my vision of today." ! when this natural adjustment does not occur, some explained their strategies to increase their discretion. the managers with personal relational or moral motivations for csr explained the importance they placed on education, communication and reporting to convince stakeholders about csr benefits. as explained by d2: "when i joined the company, my main shareholder was not against csr but he saw only the profit side. my employees, themselves, did not see much use. over time, by force of example, with the measure of the effects of our actions, i was able to show them that, yes, csr is good socially responsible engagement! m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 237-262 251 for profits and for our legitimacy, our reputation and our stakeholders. today, we follow my convictions and i'm sometimes surprised to hear employees or shareholders explaining that it’s our responsibility and our duty.” ! conversely, some top managers with instrumental motivations also increased their discretion for csr by making commitments more in line with company strategy. d8 explained this point: "when i joined the company, there were some nice actions on csr. good values and i was very proud of that. on the other hand, most of them were disconnected from the reality of our business and some people were starting to complain. i tried to link our strategic objectives with them, explain my thinking, and some beautiful market opportunities have emerged for us." ! these top managers also spoke about their decisive influence in the creation and management of a network of partners. ! in a modern type of corporate governance system, the alignment between top managers’ motivations and those of the most salient stakeholders of corporate governance was also fairly natural, but in a sense rather unfavorable to csr. these managers therefore put few strategies into place, accepting and even supporting the promoted choices. d5 explained: "for me, csr exists only if it generates profit. otherwise i won’t do it, and then somehow i don’t really believe in it. we’re a business. we're here to make a profit and that's what my shareholders ask for. it’s also my priority." ! only one of the top managers in our sample who expressed relational motivations for csr seemed to be trying to use a give-and-take strategy with the most salient stakeholders in corporate governance, namely the shareholders, by meeting their expectations. as d5 explained: "the pressure from our shareholders is strong and is felt especially in terms of social policy. because, although the board gives us the discretion to negotiate the employee wages, the fact remains that our payroll costs are gone over with a finetoothed comb. the question that comes up again and again is: ‘are you sure you need such a large workforce?’ so we have to manage, negotiate, give them the figures, and explain that we’re managing with the same staff despite revenue growth, which is not bad. we bargain and try to satisfy the shareholders: if the results are good, we can do small things. but sometimes you’re forced to give in and reduce your workforce. i am personally worried about our image and reputation as well as my own, although i don’t really have a choice. " ! last, in a financial type of corporate governance system, alignment between top managers’ motivations for csr and those of the most salient stakeholders in corporate governance was more complex and seemed to be built over time. when top managers had no personal motivation for engaging in csr, csr reflected the concerns of corporate governance and the corporate environment, with varying levels of engagement across firms. for a top manager with an instrumental motivation, alignment with the expectations of corporate governance was relatively easy. the top manager then had to co-build a m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 237-262! magalie marais 252 commitment with the most salient stakeholders, which was expected to be the source of value creation. d14 said: "here, it's been easy. when i arrived, we all agreed to see csr as an opportunity. so we worked together to figure out how to include it in our core strategy in a way that would reassure the markets and create great opportunities for the future." ! when top managers had personal motivations to engage in csr that differed from those favored by corporate governance (relational), they mentioned two types of strategy to increase their discretion. the first was to meet the most salient requirements of corporate governance for financial performance. d15 said: "for csr, i need financial discretion and to have it, i have to satisfy the financial markets and the shareholders. once that happens, i can ‘almost’ [laughs] do whatever i want.” ! when this strategy was not possible, they used strategies to create counterpower networks for strategic decisions and to protect themselves. d6 expressed this point: "i’m often confronted with very high financial expectations that can quickly hide everything else. so, because i don’t want to work like this all the time, i created connected networks of partners who can support some of my choices. some are even now on the board. this gives me discretion when i make risky choices or i don’t have unanimous support, especially in csr." discussion the perceived influence of corporate governance on top manager engagement and discretion for csr ! our first contribution is the characterization of the perceived influence of three types of corporate governance systems on top manager engagement and discretion for csr. our results show that the three types of governance do not offer the same discretion for csr to top managers, according to the managers’ perceptions. thus, despite the increasingly strong institutional pressures in the french context and the strong pressures from activist stakeholders in certain sectors (campbell, 2007), these managers do not think they have the same conditions for dealing with these pressures through corporate strategy (aragoncorrea, matias-reche & senise-barrio, 2003). ! the traditional corporate governance system seemed the most naturally aligned with the values institutionalized in the french context for csr, according to the managers (gilormini, 2011). collective decision making, a long-term orientation, and fewer financial pressures all facilitated the engagement in csr (niehm, swinney & miller, 2008). in particular, the presence of a majority shareholder created a form of stability that was oriented toward sustainability and development, which allowed for the inclusion of social and environmental issues on the agenda. control mechanisms and non-financialized incentives for the top managers also reduced the risks of csr engagement (meek, woodworth & dyer, 1988). the risk for this type of corporate governance system, expressed in our interviews, could be the following: implementing a csr strategy largely socially responsible engagement! m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 237-262 253 disconnected from corporate strategy and performance objectives, especially financial performance (lantos, 2002). ! the modern type of corporate governance seemed more problematic for engaging in csr issues. given the financial pressures that top managers face, it seemed difficult for them to imagine being engaged in csr without strong shareholder backing. in this type of governance system, often characterizing firms in strategic transition and/or undergoing rapid growth, activist shareholders like mutual or hedge funds push for short-term financial value, even if it means sacrificing the interests of other stakeholders. this impatience of short-term investors (goyer, 2006) is particularly salient in the modern type of corporate governance, and it raises questions about the consequences of their engagement (gomez & korine, 2009). indeed, in the absence of counterpowers, the top managers said they had no choice but to dismiss csr issues (aguilera et al., 2006). csr definitely appeared as a constraint, and any commitment from top managers was seen as risky because it could be interpreted as opportunistic on their part (friedman, 1970). for this type of corporate governance system, institutional pressure seemed crucial to prompt or coerce the inclusion of csr, which was not easily integrated at the organizational level (lee, 2011; majumdar & marcus, 2001). ! last, the financial type of corporate governance system offered variable possibilities for csr. in particular, the lack of a priori control by shareholders broadened the strategic discretion of top managers. as these businesses are controlled by the financial markets, the essential condition for implementing csr remains a positive financial valuation on the markets. however, the visibility and size of these companies and the impact of the stock market might lead them to consider csr as a way of avoiding scandal or risks to image and reputation that could harm the value of corporate investments (godfrey, merrill & hansen, 2009). some shareholders might even indirectly become prescribers of this type of engagement (aguilera et al., 2006). in this regard, institutional or stakeholder pressures could become a springboard for transforming csr pressure into csr opportunities (acquier, daudigeos & valiorgue, 2011) through the voluntary action of top managers (creation of new markets, pigé, 2008). ! in any case, our characterization of the three types of corporate governance systems and their perceived effects highlight the importance of the most salient stakeholders in corporate governance (hill & jones, 1992), who at a time "t" hold the necessary power (russo & perrini, 2010) to impose their preferences for or against csr, with positive or negative consequences (mitchell, agle & wood, 1997; vilanova, 2007). in addition to the potentially opportunistic behaviors of top managers, salient stakeholders may also show themselves to be opportunistic at a certain time in corporate life (gomez & korine, 2009). indeed, without counterpowers, a company could be condemned to follow a path that is either too financiallyor socially-oriented because of stakeholder pressure, and this would make strategic change difficult because of the phenomenon of path dependence (palpacuer, perez & tozanli brabet, 2006). the influence of top managers on csr engagement and their discretion in each type of corporate governance system ! our second contribution is the characterization of the influence of top managers on csr engagement and their discretion in the three types of corporate governance systems. despite the pressure of the most salient stakeholders in corporate governance, top managers have a role in codetermining csr engagement that merits discussion, and our research sheds light on both the "why?" (adams, licht & sagiv, 2011) and the "how?" (barin cruz & chtourou chebbi, 2011). m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 237-262! magalie marais 254 ! in the traditional corporate governance systems, top managers expressed several motivations, and it is interesting to note the order (aguilera et al., 2007). most of them stated that they engaged in csr for relational reasons, and they explained csr was important for maintaining their reputation and their links with stakeholders in their environment. this objective, although laudable and potentially beneficial for the company, can nevertheless be risky. engaging in csr for personal benefit and not for corporate benefit might be unfavorable to corporate performance, especially if top managers seek only their personal entrenchment with no positive consequences for the company (surroca & tribo, 2008; cespa & cestone, 2007). ! however, if these problems do not arise, csr engagement motivated by relational concerns matches fairly well with the partnership system of governance in these companies. the instrumental motivations reported by the top managers are unsurprising and serve to remind us that csr engagement should never be separated from corporate performance. top managers are particularly vigilant on this point because performance determines their jobs, their compensation and the health of their business (porter & kramer, 2006). in the last position, moral motivations confirmed the importance of questioning the characteristics of top managers voluntarily engaged in csr, especially their values (egri & herman, 2000; hemingway & maclagan, 2007; reynaud et al., 2007). in this type of corporate governance system, top managers, by using and creating discretion for csr, have a central role in educating stakeholders and convincing them of the advantages of building csr policies into the corporate culture (banerjee, 2001; waldman, de luque, washburn & house, 2006). these key people thus arbitrate between multiple stakeholder preferences (freeman, 1984; fernando & sim, 2011; hill & jones, 1992). ! in the modern type of corporate governance systems, the question of top managers’ voluntary engagement for csr is more problematic. here the top managers expressed instrumental motivations similar to those of the most salient stakeholders in corporate governance, and they were motivated to serve both corporate interests and their personal interests at the same time. in this case, they had limited means to do other than yield to the pressures they were facing, which raises questions about their personal responsibility if problems arise. only a top executive firmly entrenched in a company for years would—and only in a period of financial success—be able to somewhat influence a dominant attitude against csr. a particularly financialized vision of csr was also expressed by these top managers, with csr perceived as an obstacle to short-term profit maximization (quinn & jones, 1995). ! the mechanisms to control top managers (incentives and performance measurement) may be the culprit here (mackenzie, beunza, millo & pardoguerra, 2012), although another factor might be that these executives have become cognitively embedded in a model that defines shareholders as the dominant stakeholders (ferraro, pfeffer & sutton, 2005; ghoshal, 2005). a similar explanation may apply to executives in the financial type of corporate governance. for fear of the risks to personal careers if the financial markets are dissatisfied, top managers might well perceive the markets as the salient stakeholder and develop purely instrumental motivations, even at the risk of becoming myopic with a focus on only the short term, even though some discretion could be offered to them in this field. ! it was interesting to note, in any case, a certain alignment between the top manager motivations to engage in csr and those of the most salient stakeholders in corporate governance, and this in each type of corporate governance system (branzei, vertinsky & zietsma, 2005). this alignment appeared to be intentional on the part of the top managers, who preferred actions that directly served their own interests in corporate governance (crilly & sloan, 2012; bundy, shropshire & bucholtz, 2013), but it may also be explained by a socially responsible engagement! m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 237-262 255 cognitive mechanism that rendered the perception of other alternatives impossible (fernando & sim, 2011). in this sense, the intentionality often noted in top managers regarding csr issues may be nuanced by the nature of their real role in the construction of emerging compromises driven by the most salient stakeholders in corporate governance (chin et al., 2013). ! even if it is marginal, top managers seem to have a role in codetermining csr policies over time. they pose a challenge, in fact, to friedman (1970)’s manichean vision of csr, since csr actions may have different purposes within a co-constructed discretion. an exploration of the voluntary role of top managers in csr over the course of their tenure (hambrick & fukutomi, 1991) might thus be fruitful, for each type of corporate governance system (maon, lindgreen & swaen, 2010). conclusion ! our research sought to determine the influence of corporate governance mechanisms on top manager engagement in and discretion for csr at the organizational level. two key contributions emerged from this exploratory study. first, we identified three "types" of corporate governance systems, each with its own set of perceived consequences on the engagement and discretion of top managers for csr. second, for each of the governance systems, we characterized the voluntary role of top managers in csr engagement and their use of discretion. our research also highlighted the codetermination of csr engagement driven by top management motivations and those of the most salient stakeholders in corporate governance. managerial discretion becomes redefined around a game of power and influence within the corporate governance system, as we illustrate. ! this exploratory, explanatory research has certain limitations that nevertheless point toward new avenues of investigation. first, the three types of corporate governance systems that we identified could be more systematically characterized. it might be particularly interesting to identify the configurations of corporate governance in a larger sample using the qualitative comparative analysis developed by ragin (2000) and detailed by fiss (2007). furthermore, although we sought to determine the top managers’ perceptions in this study, it might be worthwhile to interview other members of the top executive team in order to compare their perceptions and identify possible differences among them. more broadly, future studies could also focus on comparing the perceptions of other stakeholders in corporate governance with those collected from the management team. last, a longitudinal study of one or several cases might provide valuable insight into the processes by which top management and stakeholders in corporate governance codetermine csr engagements over time. references acquier, a., daudigeos, t., & valiorgue, b. (2011). corporate social responsibility as an organizational and managerial challenge: the forgotten legacy of the c o r p o r a t e s o c i a l r e s p o n s i v e n e s s m o v e m e n t . m@n@gement, 14(4), 221-250. adams, r., licht, a., & sagiv, l. (2011). shareholders and stakeholders: how do directors decide? strategic management journal, 32(12), 1331-1355. agle, b.r., mitchell, r.k., & sonnenfeld, j.a. (1999). who matters to ceos? an investigation of stakeholder attributes and salience,corpate performance, and ceo's values. academy of management journal, 42(5), 507-525. aglietta, m., & rebérioux, a. (2004). dérives du capitalisme financier. paris : albin michel. m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 237-262! magalie marais 256 aguilera, r.v., & jackson, g. 2003. the cross-national diversity of corporate governance: dimensions and determinants. academy of management review, 28(3) 447-465. aguilera, r.v., rupp, d., williams, c., & ganapathi, j. (2007). putting the s back in csr: a multi-level theory of social change in organizations. academy of management review, 32(3), 836-863. aguilera, r.v., williams, c., conley, j., & rupp, d. (2006). c o r p o r a t e g o v e r n a n c e a n d c o r p o r a t e s o c i a l responsibility. a comparative analysis of the u.k. and the u.s. corporate governance: an international review, 14(3), 147-157. aragon-correa, j.a., matias-reche, f., & senise-barrio, m.e. (2003). managerial discretion and corporate commitment to the natural environment. journal of business research, 57(9), 964-975. baiada-hireche, l., pasquero, j., & chanlat j-f. (2011). managerial responsibility as negotiated order: a social construction perspective. journal of business ethics, 101(1), 17-34. banerjee, s.b. (2001). managerial perceptions of corporate environmentalism: interpretations from industry and strategic implications for organizations. journal of management studies, 38(4), 489-513. barin-cruz, l., chebbi, h., & chtourou, w. (2011). towards a s u s t a i n a b l e s t r a t e g i c f o r m a t i o n p r o c e s s . m@n@gement, 14(3), 183-207 barnard, c.i. (1938). the functions of the executive. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. berle, a., & means, g. (1932). the modern corporation and private property, new brunswick nj: transaction publishers, 1991. bowen, h.r. (1953). social responsibilities of the businessman. new york, ny: harper & row. berrone, p., & gomez-mejia, l. (2009). the pros and the cons of rewarding social responsibility at the top. human resource management, 48(6), 959-971. branzei, o., vertinsky, i., & zietsma, c. (2000). from green-blindness to the pursuit of ecosustainability : an empirical investigation of leaders cognitions and corporate environmental strategy choices. academy of management proceedings. bundy, j., shropshire, c., & buchholtz, a. (2013). strategic cognition and issue salience: towards an explanation of firm responsiveness to stakeholder concerns. academy of management review, 38(3), 352-376. campbell, j.l. (2007). why would corporations behave in socially responsible ways? an institutional theory of c o r p o r a t e s o c i a l r e s p o n s i b i l i t y. a c a d e m y o f management review, 32(3), 946-967. carroll, a. (1991). the pyramid of corporate social responsibility: toward the moral management of organizational stakeholders (balancing economic, legal, and social responsibilities). business horizons, 34(4), 39-48. cespa, g., & cestone, g. (2007). corporate social responsibility and managerial entrenchment. journal of economics & management strategy, 16(3), 741–771. charreaux, g. (1997). vers une théorie du gouvernement des entreprises. in g. charreaux (eds.), le gouvernement des entreprises (pp. 421-469), paris : economica. child, j. (1972). organizational structure, environment and performance: the role of strategic choice. sociology, 6, 2-21. chin, m.k., hambrick, d.c., & trevino, l.k. (2013). political ideologies of ceos: illustrative evidence of the influence of executive values on corporate social responsibility. administrative science quarterly, 58(2), 197-232. christensen, l.j., mackey, a., & whetten, d. (2014). taking responsibility for corporate social responsibility: the role of leaders in creating, implementing, sustaining, or avoiding socially responsible firm behaviors. the academy of management perspectives, 28(2), 164-178. crilly, d., schneider, s., & zollo, m. (2008). the psychological antecedents to socially responsible behavior. european management review, 5(3), 175-190. crilly, d., zollo, m., & hansen, m. (2012). faking it or muddling through? understanding decoupling in response to stakeholder pressures. academy of management journal, 55(6), 1429-1448. crilly, d., & sloan, p. (2012). enterprise logic: explaining corporate attention to stakeholders from the inside-out. strategic management journal, 33(10), 1174-1193. crossland, c. (2007). national institutions and managerial discretion: a taxonomy of 24 countries. paper presented at the annual meeting of academy of management, august, philadelphia, pa. cyert, r.m., & march, j. g. (1963). a behavioral theory of the firm. englewood cliffs, nj : prentice-hall. delbard, o. (2008). csr legislation in france and the european regulatory paradox: an analysis of eu csr policy and sustainability reporting practice. corporate governance, 8(4), 397–405. dincer, b. (2011). do the shareholders really care about corporate social responsibility? international journal of business and social science, 2(10), 71-76. donaldson, l., & davis, j.h. (1991). stewardship theory or agency theory: ceo governance and shareholder returns. australian journal of management, 16(1), 49-64. egri, c.p., & herman, s. (2000). leadership in the north american environmental sector: values, leadership styles and contexts of environmental leaders and their organizations. academy of management journal, 43(4), 571-604. fernández-kranz, d., & santalo, j. (2010). when necessity becomes a virtue: the effect of product market competition on corporate social responsibility. journal of economics & management strategy, 19(2), 453-487. fernando, m., & sim, a.b. (2011). strategic ambiguity and leaders’ responsibility beyond maximizing profits. european management journal, 29(6), 504-513. ferrano, f., pfeffer, j., & sutton, r.i. (2005). economics language and assumptions: how theories can become self-fulfilling. academy of management review, 30(1), 9-24. finkelstein, s. (1992). power in top management teams: dimensions, measurement and validation. academy of management journal, 35(3), 505-538. fiss, p.c. (2007). a set-theoretic approach to organizational configurations. academy of management review, 32(4), 1180–1198. socially responsible engagement! m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 237-262 257 http://drm.dauphine.fr/fr/management-et-organisation/production-scientifique/managerial-responsibility-as-negotiated-order-a-social-construction-perspective http://drm.dauphine.fr/fr/management-et-organisation/production-scientifique/managerial-responsibility-as-negotiated-order-a-social-construction-perspective http://drm.dauphine.fr/fr/management-et-organisation/production-scientifique/managerial-responsibility-as-negotiated-order-a-social-construction-perspective http://drm.dauphine.fr/fr/management-et-organisation/production-scientifique/managerial-responsibility-as-negotiated-order-a-social-construction-perspective http://media.terry.uga.edu/socrates/publications/2013/06/bundy_shropshire_buchholtz_2013.pdf http://media.terry.uga.edu/socrates/publications/2013/06/bundy_shropshire_buchholtz_2013.pdf http://media.terry.uga.edu/socrates/publications/2013/06/bundy_shropshire_buchholtz_2013.pdf http://media.terry.uga.edu/socrates/publications/2013/06/bundy_shropshire_buchholtz_2013.pdf http://media.terry.uga.edu/socrates/publications/2013/06/bundy_shropshire_buchholtz_2013.pdf http://media.terry.uga.edu/socrates/publications/2013/06/bundy_shropshire_buchholtz_2013.pdf https://sites.google.com/site/donalcrilly/crilly_zollo_hansen_2012.pdf?attredirects=0 https://sites.google.com/site/donalcrilly/crilly_zollo_hansen_2012.pdf?attredirects=0 https://sites.google.com/site/donalcrilly/crilly_zollo_hansen_2012.pdf?attredirects=0 https://sites.google.com/site/donalcrilly/crilly_zollo_hansen_2012.pdf?attredirects=0 https://sites.google.com/site/donalcrilly/crilly_zollo_hansen_2012.pdf?attredirects=0 https://sites.google.com/site/donalcrilly/crilly_zollo_hansen_2012.pdf?attredirects=0 https://sites.google.com/site/donalcrilly/crilly_sloan_smj_2012.pdf?attredirects=0 https://sites.google.com/site/donalcrilly/crilly_sloan_smj_2012.pdf?attredirects=0 https://sites.google.com/site/donalcrilly/crilly_sloan_smj_2012.pdf?attredirects=0 https://sites.google.com/site/donalcrilly/crilly_sloan_smj_2012.pdf?attredirects=0 franks, j., mayer, c., & wagner, h. (2006). the origins of the german corporation – finance, ownership and control. review of finance, 10(4), 537-585. freeman, r e. (1984). strategic management: a stakeholder approach. london: pitman. friedman, m. (1970). the social responsibility of business is to increase its profit. in t. donaldson & p.h. werhane (eds.), ethical issues in business: a philosophical approach (pp. 217-223), englewood cliffs, nj: prentice hall. gedajlovic, e.r., & shapiro, d.m. (1998). management and ownership effects: evidence from five countries. strategic management journal, 19(6), 533-553. ghoshal, s. (2005). bad management theories are destroying good management practices. academy of management learning and education, 4(1), 75-91. gilormini, p. (2011). le processus d’institutionnalisation de la rse face à la critique. 20ème conférence de l ’ a s s o c i a t i o n i n t e r n a t i o n a l e d e m a n a g e m e n t stratégique (aims), nantes, 7-9 juin. godfrey, p.c., merrill, c. b., & hansen, j. m. (2009). the relationship between corporate social responsibility and shareholder value: an empirical test of the risk management hypothesis. strategic management journal, 30(4), 425-445. gomez, p.y., & korine, h. (2009). l’entreprise dans la d é m o c r a t i e . p a r i s : d e b o e c k , o u v e r t u r e s economiques. gond, j.-p., kang, n., & moon, j. (2011). the government of self-regulation: on the comparative dynamics of corporate social responsibility. economy and society, 40(4), 640-671. goyer, m. (2006). french speed dating? short-term impatient capital and the evolution of corporate governance in france. international journal of disclosure and governance, 3, 197-212. guba, e.g., & lincoln, y.s. (1989). judging the quality of fourth generation evaluation. in e.g. guba & y.s. lincoln (eds.), fourth generation evaluation (pp. 229-251), london: sage. hall, p.a., & soskice, d. (2001). an introduction to varieties of capitalism. in p.a hall & d. soskice (eds.), varieties of capitalism: the institutional foundations of comparative (pp. 1-70), new york, ny: oxford  hambrick, d.c., & mason, p.a. (1984). upper echelons: the organization as a reflection of its top managers. academy of management review, 2(9), 193–206. hambrick, d.c., & finkelstein, s. (1987). managerial discretion: a bridge between polar views of organizational outcomes. research organizational behaviour, 9, 369–406. hambrick, d.c., & fukutomi, j. (1991). the seasons of a ceo’s tenure. academy of management review, 16(4), 719-742. hemingway, c.a., & maclagan, p.w. (2004). managers' personal values as drivers of corporate social responsibility. journal of business ethics, 50(1), 33-44. hill, c. w. l., & jones, t. m. 1992. stakeholder-agency theory. journal of management studies, 29(2), 131-154. hillman, a.j., & keim, g. d. (2001). shareholder value, stakeholder management, and social issues: what’s the bottom line? strategic management journal, 22(2), 125-139. huault, i., & leca, b. (2009). pouvoir. une analyse par les institutions. revue française de gestion, 35(193), 133-149. ingenbleek, p.t.m., & immink, v.m. (2010). managing conflicting stakeholder interests: an exploratory case analysis of the formulation of corporate social responsibility standards in the netherlands. journal of public policy & marketing, 29(1), 52-65. jackson, g. & apostolakou, a. (2010). corporate social responsibility in western europe: an institutional mirror or substitute? journal of business ethics, 94(3), 371-394. jennings, p.d., & zandbergen, p.a. (1995). ecologically sustainable organizations: an institutional approach. academy of management review, 20(4), 1015-1052. jensen, m.c. (2002). value maximization, stakeholder theory, and the corporate objective function. business ethics quarterly, 12(2), 235-56. johnson, r., & greening, d. (1999). the effects of corporate governance and institutional ownership types on corporate social performance. academy of management journal, 42(5), 564580. johnson, m.f., porter, s.l., & shackell-dowell, m.b. (1997), stakeholder pressure and the structure of executive compensation (may 1997). available at ssrn: http://ssrn.com/abstract=41780. kagan, r.a., gunningham, n., & thornton, d. (2003). explaining corporate environmental performance: how does regulation matter? law and society review, 37(1), 51-90. kang, n. & moon, j. (2012). institutional complementarity between corporate governance and corporate social responsibility: a comparative institutional analysis of three capitalisms. socio-economic review, 10(1), 85-108. key, s. (1997). analyzing managerial discretion: an assessment tool to predict individual policy decisions. the international journal of organizational analysis, 5(2), 134-155. lantos, g.p. (2002). the ethicality of altruistic corporate social responsibility. journal of consumer marketing, 19(3), 205-232. lee, m-d.p. (2011). configuration of external influences: the combined effects of institutions and stakeholders on corporate social responsibility strategies. journal of business ethics, 102(2), 281-298. livesey, s. (2001). eco-identify as discursive struggle: royal dutch/shell, brent spar, and nigeria. journal of business communication, 38(1), 58–92. logsdon, j., & wood, d. j. (2002). business citizenship: from domestic to global level of analysis. business ethics quarterly, 12(2), 155-188. mackenzie, d., beunza, d., millo, y., & pardo-guerra, j.p. (2012). drilling through the allegheny mountains: liquidity, materiality and high-frequency trading. journal of cultural economy, 5(3), 279-296. majumdar, s.k., & marcus, a.a. (2001). rules versus discretion: the productivity consequences of flexible regulations. academy of management journal, 44(1), 170-179. m a o n , f. , l i n d g r e e n , a . , & s w a e n , v. ( 2 0 1 0 ) . organizational stages and cultural phases: a critical review and a consolidative model of corporate social responsibility development. international journal of management reviews, 12(1), 20-38. m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 237-262! magalie marais 258 http://ssrn.com/abstract=41780 http://ssrn.com/abstract=41780 http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/44908/ http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/44908/ http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/44908/ http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/44908/ margolis, j.d., hillary, a.e., & walsh, j.p. (2008). do well by doing good? don't count on it. harvard business review, 86(1), 19. mcwilliams, a., & siegel, d. (2000). corporate social responsibility and financial performance: correlation or misspecification? strategic management journal, 21(5), 603-609. meek, c., woodworth, w.w., & dyer, w.g., jr. (1988). managing by the numbers: absentee ownership and the decline of american industry. reading, ma: addison-wesley. mercier, s. (2004). l’éthique dans les entreprises. collection repères, paris : la découverte. mitchell, r.k., agle, b.r., & wood, d.j. (1997). toward a theory of stakeholder identification and salience: defining the principle of who and what really counts. academy of management review, 22(4), 853-886. morin, f., & rigamonti, e. (2002). évolution et structures de l'actionnariat en france. revue française de gestion, 28(141), 153-181. niehm, l.s., swinney, j., & miller, n.j. (2008). community social responsibility and its consequences for family business performance. journal of small business management, 46(3), 331–350. palpacuer, f., pérez, r., tozanli, s., & brabet, j. (2006). financiarisation et globalisation des stratégies d ’ e n t r e p r i s e : l e c a s d e s m u l t i n a t i o n a l e s agroalimentaires en europe. finance contrôle stratégie, 9(3), 165-189. palpacuer, f. (2006). globalization and corporate governance: issues for management researchers. society and business review, 1(1), 45-61. pigé, b. (2008). ethique, marché et gouvernance : espace discrétionnaire et responsabilité sociale des grandes entreprises. sciences de gestion, 64, 225-247. pfeffer, j., & salancik, g. (1978), the external control of organizations: a resource dependence perspective. new york, ny:. harper et row, publisher. porter, m.e., & kramer, m.r. (2006). strategy and society: the link between competitive advantage and corporate social responsibility. harvard business review, 84(12), 2–17. quinn, d.p., & jones, t.m. (1995). an agent morality view of business policy. academy of management review, 20(1), 22-42. ragin, c. (2000). fuzzy set social science. chicago, il: university of chicago press reynaud, e., egri, c.p., ralston, d.a, danis, w., starkus, a., dabic, m., wangenheim, f., dalgic, t., castro, f., potocan, v.v., kavoossi, m., molteni, m., girson, i., elenkov, d., pla-barber, j., maignan, i.,weber, m., & wallace, a. (2007). the differences in values between managers of the european founding countries, the new members and the applicant countries: social orientation or financial orientation? european management journal, 25(1), 132-145. robé, j-p. (2009). responsabilité limitée des actionnaires et responsabilité sociale de l’entreprise. entreprises et histoire, 57, 165-183. rousseau, s., & tchotourian, i. (2008). l'« intérêt social » en droit des sociétés : regards transatlantiques. chaire en droit des affaires et en commerce international, université de montréal, document de travail, n°07. rousseau, s. (2011). gouvernance d’entreprise et analyse économique du droit : quelle perspective suite à la crise financière ? in v. magnier (eds.), la gouvernance des entreprises cotées face à la crise. pour une meilleure protection de l’intérêt social (pp. 199-222), paris. russo, a., & perrini, f. (2010). investigating stakeholder theory and social capital: csr in large firms and smes. journal of business ethics, 91(2), 207-221. shleifer, a., & vishny, r.w. (1997). the limits of arbitrage. journal of finance, 52(1), 35-55. surroca, j., & tribo, j. a., 2008. managerial entrenchment and corporate social performance. journal of business finance & accounting, 35(5-6), 748-789. thomas, a.l, & simerly, r.j. (1995). internal determinants of corporate social performance: the role of top managers. academy of management best paper proceedings, vancouver, british colombia, 411-415. vilanova, l. (2007). neither shareholder nor stakeholder management: what happens when firms are run for their short-term relevant stakeholder? leuropean management journal, 25(2), 146-162. waldman, d.a., siegel, d.s., & javidan, m. (2006). components of ceo transformational leadership and c o r p o r a t e s o c i a l r e s p o n s i b i l i t y. j o u r n a l o f management studies; 43(8), 1703-1725 weaver, g.r., trevino, l.k., & cochran, p.l. (1999). i n t e g r a t e d a n d d e c o u p l e d c o r p o r a t e s o c i a l performance: management commitments, external pressures, and corporate ethics practices. academy of management journal, 42(5), 539–552. wood, d.j. (1991). corporate social performance revisited. academy of management review, 16(4), 691-718. socially responsible engagement! m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 237-262 259 http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/product/31830 http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/product/31830 http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/product/31830 http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/product/31830 http://www.springerlink.com/content/h6t2022v70u11542/ http://www.springerlink.com/content/h6t2022v70u11542/ http://www.springerlink.com/content/h6t2022v70u11542/ http://www.springerlink.com/content/h6t2022v70u11542/ a p p e n d ix 1 . d a t a c o l l e c t e d t o c h a r a c t e r iz e t h e t y p e s o f c o r p o r a t e g o v e r n a n c e s y s t e m s a t t h e o r g a n iz a t io n a l l e v e l a p p e n d ix 1 . d a t a c o l l e c t e d t o c h a r a c t e r iz e t h e t y p e s o f c o r p o r a t e g o v e r n a n c e s y s t e m s a t t h e o r g a n iz a t io n a l l e v e l a p p e n d ix 1 . d a t a c o l l e c t e d t o c h a r a c t e r iz e t h e t y p e s o f c o r p o r a t e g o v e r n a n c e s y s t e m s a t t h e o r g a n iz a t io n a l l e v e l a p p e n d ix 1 . d a t a c o l l e c t e d t o c h a r a c t e r iz e t h e t y p e s o f c o r p o r a t e g o v e r n a n c e s y s t e m s a t t h e o r g a n iz a t io n a l l e v e l a p p e n d ix 1 . d a t a c o l l e c t e d t o c h a r a c t e r iz e t h e t y p e s o f c o r p o r a t e g o v e r n a n c e s y s t e m s a t t h e o r g a n iz a t io n a l l e v e l c at eg or ie s of c rit er ia c rit er ia c rit er ia fo rm o f t he c ol le ct ed d at a d at a so ur ce s o w ne rs hi p ch ar ac te ris tic s p er ce nt ag e of fl oa tin g ow ne rs hi p p er ce nt ag e of fl oa tin g ow ne rs hi p p er ce nt ag e of o w ne rs hi p a nn ua l r ep or ts a nd re fe re nc e do cu m en ts + da ta fr om fi na nc ia l p re ss + d at a fro m o s ir is d at ab as e o w ne rs hi p ch ar ac te ris tic s p er ce nt ag e of o w ne rs hi p by th e th re e m ai n sh ar eh ol de rs p er ce nt ag e of o w ne rs hi p by th e th re e m ai n sh ar eh ol de rs p er ce nt ag e of o w ne rs hi p a nn ua l r ep or ts a nd re fe re nc e do cu m en ts + da ta fr om fi na nc ia l p re ss + d at a fro m o s ir is d at ab as e o w ne rs hi p ch ar ac te ris tic s e xi st en ce o f a s ha re ho ld er p ac t e xi st en ce o f a s ha re ho ld er p ac t y e s /n o a nn ua l r ep or ts a nd re fe re nc e do cu m en ts + da ta fr om fi na nc ia l p re ss + d at a fro m o s ir is d at ab as e o w ne rs hi p ch ar ac te ris tic s e xi st en ce o f a s ha re ho ld er c oa lit io n w ith m aj or ity c on tro l e xi st en ce o f a s ha re ho ld er c oa lit io n w ith m aj or ity c on tro l y e s /n o a nn ua l r ep or ts a nd re fe re nc e do cu m en ts + da ta fr om fi na nc ia l p re ss + d at a fro m o s ir is d at ab as e o w ne rs hi p ch ar ac te ris tic s e xi st en ce o f a m ai n sh ar eh ol de r e xi st en ce o f a m ai n sh ar eh ol de r y e s /n o a nn ua l r ep or ts a nd re fe re nc e do cu m en ts + da ta fr om fi na nc ia l p re ss + d at a fro m o s ir is d at ab as e o w ne rs hi p ch ar ac te ris tic s p er ce nt ag e of o w ne rs hi p by  : e m pl oy ee s p er ce nt ag e of o w ne rs hi p a nn ua l r ep or ts a nd re fe re nc e do cu m en ts + da ta fr om fi na nc ia l p re ss + d at a fro m o s ir is d at ab as e o w ne rs hi p ch ar ac te ris tic s p er ce nt ag e of o w ne rs hi p by  : fo un de rs p er ce nt ag e of o w ne rs hi p a nn ua l r ep or ts a nd re fe re nc e do cu m en ts + da ta fr om fi na nc ia l p re ss + d at a fro m o s ir is d at ab as e o w ne rs hi p ch ar ac te ris tic s p er ce nt ag e of o w ne rs hi p by  : in du st ria l g ro up s p er ce nt ag e of o w ne rs hi p a nn ua l r ep or ts a nd re fe re nc e do cu m en ts + da ta fr om fi na nc ia l p re ss + d at a fro m o s ir is d at ab as e o w ne rs hi p ch ar ac te ris tic s p er ce nt ag e of o w ne rs hi p by  : s ta te p er ce nt ag e of o w ne rs hi p a nn ua l r ep or ts a nd re fe re nc e do cu m en ts + da ta fr om fi na nc ia l p re ss + d at a fro m o s ir is d at ab as e o w ne rs hi p ch ar ac te ris tic s p er ce nt ag e of o w ne rs hi p by  : fr en ch b an ks p er ce nt ag e of o w ne rs hi p a nn ua l r ep or ts a nd re fe re nc e do cu m en ts + da ta fr om fi na nc ia l p re ss + d at a fro m o s ir is d at ab as e o w ne rs hi p ch ar ac te ris tic s p er ce nt ag e of o w ne rs hi p by  : in st itu tio na l i nv es to rs d b p er ce nt ag e of o w ne rs hi p a nn ua l r ep or ts a nd re fe re nc e do cu m en ts + da ta fr om fi na nc ia l p re ss + d at a fro m o s ir is d at ab as e o w ne rs hi p ch ar ac te ris tic s p er ce nt ag e of o w ne rs hi p by  : in st itu tio na l i nv es to rs d c p er ce nt ag e of o w ne rs hi p a nn ua l r ep or ts a nd re fe re nc e do cu m en ts + da ta fr om fi na nc ia l p re ss + d at a fro m o s ir is d at ab as e o w ne rs hi p ch ar ac te ris tic s p er ce nt ag e of o w ne rs hi p by  : b oa rd a nd tr ea su ry s ha re s p er ce nt ag e of o w ne rs hi p a nn ua l r ep or ts a nd re fe re nc e do cu m en ts + da ta fr om fi na nc ia l p re ss + d at a fro m o s ir is d at ab as e c on tro l m ec ha ni sm s of to p m an ag er s s ep ar at io n of th e ex ec ut iv es a nd th ei r c on tro l ( du al ity ) s ep ar at io n of th e ex ec ut iv es a nd th ei r c on tro l ( du al ity ) y e s /n o a nn ua l r ep or ts a nd re fe re nc e do cu m en ts + da ta fr om fi na nc ia l p re ss + d at a fro m o s ir is d at ab as e c on tro l m ec ha ni sm s of to p m an ag er s in ce nt iv e m ec ha ni sm s of to p m an ag er s th ro ug h st oc kop tio ns in ce nt iv e m ec ha ni sm s of to p m an ag er s th ro ug h st oc kop tio ns p er ce nt ag e of o w ne rs hi p a nn ua l r ep or ts a nd re fe re nc e do cu m en ts + da ta fr om fi na nc ia l p re ss + d at a fro m o s ir is d at ab as e c on tro l m ec ha ni sm s of to p m an ag er s s ha re ho ld er p re ss ur es o n th e st ra te gy to a do pt b y to p m an ag er s s ha re ho ld er p re ss ur es o n th e st ra te gy to a do pt b y to p m an ag er s im po rta nc e of s ha re ho ld er ac tiv is m in d efi ni ng s tra te gy (n um be r o f a ct io ns ) fi na nc ia l p re ss a nd a cc ou nt in g re po rts o f t he ge ne ra l a ss em bl y c om po si tio n of th e bo ar d of d ire ct or s (o r s up er vi so ry bo ar d) h al f o f t he b oa rd c om po se d of in de pe nd en t d ire ct or s (o r m or e) h al f o f t he b oa rd c om po se d of in de pe nd en t d ire ct or s (o r m or e) y e s /n o a nn ua l r ep or ts a nd re fe re nc e do cu m en ts + da ta fr om fi na nc ia l p re ss + d at a fro m o s ir is d at ab as e c om po si tio n of th e bo ar d of d ire ct or s (o r s up er vi so ry bo ar d) n um be r o f e xe cu tiv e di re ct or s on th e bo ar d n um be r o f e xe cu tiv e di re ct or s on th e bo ar d p er ce nt ag e of th e bo ar d m em be rs a nn ua l r ep or ts a nd re fe re nc e do cu m en ts + da ta fr om fi na nc ia l p re ss + d at a fro m o s ir is d at ab as e c om po si tio n of th e bo ar d of d ire ct or s (o r s up er vi so ry bo ar d) n um be r o f e m pl oy ee s on th e bo ar d n um be r o f e m pl oy ee s on th e bo ar d n um be r a nn ua l r ep or ts a nd re fe re nc e do cu m en ts + da ta fr om fi na nc ia l p re ss + d at a fro m o s ir is d at ab as e c om po si tio n of th e bo ar d of d ire ct or s (o r s up er vi so ry bo ar d) n um be rs o f s ta ke ho ld er s fro m c iv il so ci et y on th e bo ar d n um be rs o f s ta ke ho ld er s fro m c iv il so ci et y on th e bo ar d n um be r a nn ua l r ep or ts a nd re fe re nc e do cu m en ts + da ta fr om fi na nc ia l p re ss + d at a fro m o s ir is d at ab as e c om po si tio n of th e bo ar d of d ire ct or s (o r s up er vi so ry bo ar d) e xi st en ce a nd n um be r o f s pe ci al iz ed c om m itt ee s (c om pe ns at io n, a pp oi nt m en ts , ris k m an ag em en t, c s r , e tc . ) e xi st en ce a nd n um be r o f s pe ci al iz ed c om m itt ee s (c om pe ns at io n, a pp oi nt m en ts , ris k m an ag em en t, c s r , e tc . ) n at ur e an d nu m be r a nn ua l r ep or ts a nd re fe re nc e do cu m en ts + da ta fr om fi na nc ia l p re ss + d at a fro m o s ir is d at ab as e *d b  : d efi ne d b en efi t ( e. g. , l on gte rm p en si on fu nd s) * *d c  : d efi ne d c on tri bu tio n (e .g ., m ut ua l c re di t o r h ed ge fu nd s) *d b  : d efi ne d b en efi t ( e. g. , l on gte rm p en si on fu nd s) * *d c  : d efi ne d c on tri bu tio n (e .g ., m ut ua l c re di t o r h ed ge fu nd s) *d b  : d efi ne d b en efi t ( e. g. , l on gte rm p en si on fu nd s) * *d c  : d efi ne d c on tri bu tio n (e .g ., m ut ua l c re di t o r h ed ge fu nd s) *d b  : d efi ne d b en efi t ( e. g. , l on gte rm p en si on fu nd s) * *d c  : d efi ne d c on tri bu tio n (e .g ., m ut ua l c re di t o r h ed ge fu nd s) *d b  : d efi ne d b en efi t ( e. g. , l on gte rm p en si on fu nd s) * *d c  : d efi ne d c on tri bu tio n (e .g ., m ut ua l c re di t o r h ed ge fu nd s) m@n@gement 2014, vol. 17(4): 237-262 260 appendix b. classification of companies according to their type of corporate governance system: cases of agreement and disagreement m@n@gement 2014, vol. 17(4): 237-262 261 case of agreement: classification of a company in the traditional type of corporate governance system agreement between the three faculty members: 100%. criteria of agreement: majority family ownership (50%), employee ownership (3%), public ownership (47%), threshold of 50% of independent directors not respected, no duality, restricted number of specialized committees. discussion: the company has most of the characteristics of a traditional type of corporate governance system. the agreement is clear among researchers. case of disagreement: classification of a company in the traditional or modern type of corporate governance system agreement between the three faculty members: 67% (2/3) criteria of agreement: growing ownership dispersion, strong pressure from activist institutional investors, decline in traditional ownership, important financial incentive mechanisms but no duality and threshold of 50% of independent directors not respected. criteria of disagreement: traditional and majority ownership (30%). discussion: the company is in transition from a traditional type to a modern type of corporate governance system. due to the existence of a majority and traditional shareholder, one member of the faculty classified the company as a traditional type, while the other two classified it as a modern type due to the increasingly stronger financialized control of the top manager. after further study of the mechanisms of control of the top manager and the most significant recent strategic decisions (reducing the scope of activity and focus on a small portfolio of activities, focus on financial performance, institutional investor activism and weight in decisions taken at the general assembly), the company eventually was classified by the three faculty members as a modern type of corporate governance system. magalie marais joined groupe sup de co montpellier as assistant professor in november 2011. she holds a doctorate in management science from the university aix-en-provence (2011). her research is mainly focused on strategic management & corporate social responsibility. she is involved in academic and consulting activities in these fields. her other topics of interests are governance, sustainable development, public management and innovation. she received two phd awards for her doctoral dissertation in the field of corporate social responsibility: in 2012 the french fondation nationale pour l’enseignement de la gestion des entreprises (fnege) national award and the association pour le développement de l’enseignement et de la recherche sur la responsabilité sociale de l’entreprise (aderse) phd award. she presented her work at various conferences (international council of small business, finance and corporate governance conference, association internationale de management stratégique, l’association pour le développement de l’enseignement et de la recherche sur la responsabilité sociale de l’entreprise, l’institut de socio-economie des entreprises et des organisations, congrès du réseau international de recherche sur les organisations et le développement durable, etc.). in 2012 she received the best paper award of at the aderse conference. her research is published in national and international journals such as corporate governance: an international review, society and business review, australian universities’ review, management international, revue sciences de gestion, management international, etc. aknowledgements. we thank the two reviewers of m@n@gement for their valuable comments that have greatly helped us to develop this paper. we also thank corinne gendron, laure cabantous and the aims for their supportive process on this paper. © the author(s) www.management-aims.com m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 237-262! magalie marais 262 http://www.management-aims.com http://www.management-aims.com 211 perez&cambrafierro 2018.pages m@n@gement 2018 vol. 21(1): 534-573 value creation and appropriation in asymmetric alliances: the case of tech startups lourdes pérez � jesús j. cambra fierro accepted by former associate editor vincent mangematin abstract. this study of asymmetric supplier-customer alliances examines how different tensions and dimensions within the alliance shape value creation and value appropriation. this question would appear to be fundamental—as for many startups, successful launch and growth hinge on the ability to build lasting alliances with key industry players. the authors use resource dependence theory to carry out an analysis of two polar cases—one success story, one failure—involving tech startups and large customers. by analyzing the elements that impact value creation and value appropriation, we contribute to identifying: (1) the sources of asymmetry in vertical alliances—relative supplier-customer characteristics (2) two conditions of success when it comes to overcoming the tensions and problems brought about by asymmetries—learning with large customers and customer-specific investments and (3) positive results— dual value appropriation when the conditions for alliance success are properly implemented. in this paper, we shed light on this novel concept of dual value appropriation—where both firms aim for superior joint value creation as the basis for their own competitiveness. startup and customer firms may fully appropriate jointly generated value, in a relationship of symbiotic interdependence. we discuss the implications of these findings and compare them with existing resource dependence studies which delve into the subject of asymmetries. it should be noted that this research considers points of view from both supplier and customer sides of the alliance. keywords: alliances, asymmetry, dependency, dual value appropriation introduction the convergence of technology and market globalization has changed both the playing field and the rules of the game. the upshot: ongoing, seamless innovation has become a strategic priority. it is increasingly difficult for firms to develop and exploit resources in isolation; innovation requires cooperation. yet asymmetry and power imbalance in business alliances make co-creation an elusive goal. the tech sector is salient, in this sense, due to the potential for innovation and new knowledge creation; more and more, small tech startup suppliers collaborate with industry leaders (chen & chen, 2002; stuart 2000). to this end, startups tend to specialize—focusing on core competencies—while repositioning themselves in value networks with a view to enhancing knowledge (calia, guerrini, & moura, 2007; das & �534 lourdes pérez toulouse business school barcelona campus toulouse university l.perez@tbs-education.es jesús j. cambra fierro universitad pablo de olavide sevilla jjcamfie@upo.es mailto:l.perez@tbs-education.es mailto:jjcamfie@upo.es mailto:l.perez@tbs-education.es mailto:jjcamfie@upo.es m@n@gement, vol. 21(1): 534-573 lourdes pérez & jesús j. cambra fierro kumar, 2010; möller & svahn, 2006). in interdependent environments of this sort, efficient relationship management is seen as a source of competitive advantage (polo & cambra-fierro, 2007). supplier-customer alliances, then, are a vehicle for accessing and leveraging resources—including the information, markets and technology required to create value (kim, 2014; palmatier, 2008). collaboration between tech startups and well-established firms can potentially facilitate not only the transfer of existing knowledge but new knowledge creation as well (anand & khanna, 2000; grant & baden-fuller, 2004; mowery, oxley & silverman, 1996; padula, 2008). this is achieved through increased cooperation and learning between suppliers and customers. resource dependence theory (rdt) sustains, however, that in such contexts managing interdependencies is no easy task. frequently, dependence occurs when a firm needs critical resources which are controlled by external organizations. rdt brings two key ideas to light: first, the importance of given resources for given firms; second, the control exerted over such resources by a small number of external organizations (pfeffer & salancik, 1978). tech startups who sell to large customers, for instance, are dependent on those customers for market know-how. large customers, in turn, depend on startups for access to innovative technologies. in such a context, however, tech startups face both greater dependency on complementary resources and higher risk of misappropriation of co-created value than do large firms. they must also meet the challenges of collaborating with powerful customers with more resources and broader social networks (klijn, reuer, buckley, & glaister, 2010). hence, learning to work with industry leaders is paramount, and one of the secrets of startup success (perez, whitelock, & florin, 2013). for some time, research has informed our understanding of interfirm learning in the context of more symmetric and balanced suppliercustomer alliances—such as, for instance, the alliance between nestle and cocacola to produce and distribute ready-to-drink tea globally (reuer, zollo & singh, 2002). symmetric alliances exhibit more affinity in terms of organizational processes, long-term objectives and strategic plans (ariño & de la torre, 1998; das & teng, 2002). alliances between startups and large customers, in contrast, are fraught with tensions and barriers—springing from different organizational cultures, priorities and strategies—that can place potential for value co creation in check. and even when value is created, it may not be fairly distributed (prashantham & birkinshaw, 2008). hence, startups are especially prone to having to overcome a wide range of hurdles and risks. a number of authors call for further research on value creation and appropriation in asymmetric alliances involving firms with limited resources and experience—like tech startups—with a view to fostering innovation (ariño ragozzino & reuer, 2008; la rocca, ford & snehota, 2013). this question appears to be significant; successful launch and growth of countless tech ventures—both in the us and europe—hinge on the ability to nurture mutually beneficial alliances with industry players (ylirenko, autio & sapienza, 2001). consequently, there is a need to delve deeper into concepts like interdependence and asymmetry with a view to better understanding how underlying tensions and dimensions within asymmetric alliances shape value creation and appropriation. this, in essence, is the basis for our research question. we seek to contribute to filling this lacuna by undertaking an empirical analysis of two polar cases— one success story, one failure—representing the asymmetric alliances �535 value creation and appropriation in asymmetric alliances m@n@gement, vol. 21(1): 534-573 between startup suppliers and large customers. in our analysis we consider both sides of such alliances. the paper opens with a review of the concepts of interdependence, asymmetry and joint dependence—in value-creating alliances. section 3 takes a closer look at the incentives, risks and challenges startups face in asymmetric supplier-customer alliances. sections 4 and 5 review studies of value creation and appropriation. in section 6, we present an overview of the case study methodology used, together with a brief description of the two alliances studied. case study methodology is the method of choice for studying complex phenomenon such as inter-firm learning (ariño & de la torre, 1998; roseira, brito & ford, 2013). finally, we present and provide a discussion of results. the paper closes with limitations and potential future lines of research. interdependence, asymmetry & joint dependence in value-creating alliances interdependence exists whenever a firm does not completely control all of the resources and conditions required to achieve desired outcomes (pfeffer & salancik, 1978). resource dependence theory (rdt) posits that dependence only occurs when a given resource is important for a given stakeholder company and when said resource is controlled by relatively few organizations. simply put, firm a is dependent upon firm b in proportion to firm a’s need for resources that firm b can provide, and in inverse proportion to the availability of alternative firms capable of providing the same resources (pfeffer & salancik, 2003). interdependence has increased in today’s dynamic environments where firms tend to specialize and enter supplier-customer alliances with a view to complementing knowledge and create value (grant & baden-fuller, 2004; lane, koka, & pathak, 2006; powell & smith, 1996). we adopt the definition proposed by blocker, flint, myers & starter (2011) where the value created is seen, in simple terms, as the perceived trade-offs between benefits and sacrifices— deriving from either the focal alliance or from connected networks which the alliance impacts. different authors recommend viewing interdependence as comprising two distinct dimensions, namely, asymmetry—the difference in supplier-customer dependence on each other; and joint dependence—the sum of dependencies, regardless of whether the two firms’ dependencies are balanced or imbalanced (casciaro & piskorski, 2005; gulati & sytch, 2007). we adopt the general definition of asymmetry provided by pfeffer and salancik (2003: 53): “asymmetry exists in the relationship when the exchange is not equally important to both organizations”. asymmetry is primarily grounded in the logic of power, since unequal dependence would cause power imbalances likely to be detrimental to the weaker firm. this line of thought has given rise to a large body of research on how firms benefit from being in a position of power and claim greater value in the distributive process (lepak, smith & taylor, 2007; lindgreen, hingley, grand, & morgan, 2012). on the other hand, although joint dependence originally followed the logic of embeddedness, tight collaboration and aggregate performance, organizational scholars have remained focused on understanding the underlying power dynamics, and many studies have continued to examine the implications of joint supplier-customer dependence through the prism of power and influence (casciaro & piskorski, 2005). � 536 m@n@gement, vol. 21(1): 534-573 lourdes pérez & jesús j. cambra fierro findings from a range of early studies in the context of the us automotive industry show that asymmetrically dependent suppliers were audited by large manufacturers like general motors—who held a power advantage and used it to ensure suppliers did not earn disproportionate profits (mudambi & helper, 1998; perrow, 1970). in contrast to this competitive approach to power, other scholars hint at the importance of joint dependence in value creation—providing compelling evidence of the benefits of close collaboration between japanese car manufacturers and their suppliers. this close, non-adversarial approach, characterized by high mutual dependence, has led some scholars to identify such traits as a source of superior value creation for asian car manufacturers vis-à-vis their us counterparts (dyer, 2000). tech startups selling to large customer firms depend on these organizations for market know-how. large customer firms, in turn, are dependent on startups for access to innovative technologies. the alliance, however, is usually more important for the startup as it often represents a larger proportion of its sales (emerson, 1962; pfeffer & salancik, 2003). in this asymmetric supplier-customer context, the predominant view has focused on power dynamics; the result is the large customer being in a position of claiming greater value in a distributive process (baum, calabrese & silverman, 2000; fischer & reuber, 2004; prashantham & birkinshaw, 2008). the situation is very different in alliances between wellestablished firms, where neither organization has a significant power advantage— reducing the likelihood that one will control the other’s resources and strongly influence behavior and financial outcomes. asymmetry is often seen as more problematic for value creation because it is associated with greater instability and conflicts (rokkan & haughland, 2002). such studies aimed to make suppliers more aware of the challenges of dealing with large customers’ extended networks (blomqvist, 2002; chen & chen, 2002). all of that being said—given that many tech ventures succeed despite facing power imbalances—there is a need for further exploration of the joint dependence dimension with a view to understanding value creation in asymmetric supplier-customer alliances. now that the concepts of interdependence, asymmetry and joint dependence in supplier-customer alliances have been introduced, we will take a closer look at the principal incentives, risks and challenges startups face when collaborating with large customer firms. incentives, risks & challenges in asymmetric supplier–customer alliances table 1, found at the end of this section, summarizes the challenges startups must overcome in their value-creating activities with large customers—illustrating how the situation differs from that faced by large firms in symmetric alliances. we will cover those aspects in detail in the coming subsections. incentives: resource complementarity savvy downstream customers represent a unique opportunity for startups to access larger customer resource networks and develop solutions they cannot normally develop on their own (ariño et al., 2008; blomqvist, hurmelina, & seppanen, 2005). large, demanding customers drive startups to boost competitiveness by continuously producing highquality solutions in shared projects (blomqvist, 2002). �537 value creation and appropriation in asymmetric alliances m@n@gement, vol. 21(1): 534-573 conversely, startups provide large companies with opportunities for increased organizational flexibility, along with the innovative technology, products and services required to enhance competitive positioning. alliances with tech startups may also lower the inherent risks new technology projects pose—and postpone or entirely eliminate the need to hire new employees. this is due to the fact that startups serve to extend large firms’ personal employee networks (blomqvist et al., 2005; prashantham & birkinshaw, 2008). risks: opportunism while asymmetric alliances between startups and large customers are increasingly common—and the potential benefits widely recognized (baum, calabrese & silverman, 2000; prashantham & birkinshaw, 2008)— such alliances face inherent risks, particularly for startups. startups often stake their reputation and future success on the integrity and willingness to find win-win solutions of their larger partners (prashantham & birkinshaw, 2008). yet, while alliance success and startup success are inexorably intertwined, large, well-established companies rarely have as much to lose. they are less likely to fall victim to opportunism and have effective ways of initiating legal actions, refusing further collaboration, and finding alternative partners (baum, calabrese & silverman, 2000; fischer & reuber, 2004). in such a context, learning to work with large customers becomes critical. challenges: differences in long-term objectives, organization & structure asymmetric alliances face a particular set of hurdles that can make them extremely difficult (prashantham & birkinshaw, 2008). first, working with large, well-established customers—who often flaunt a good reputation and financial muscle—requires dealing with very different organizational processes and structures. decision making in large organizations is fraught with internal coalitions and conflicting interests. strategic decisions are often based almost exclusively on the will (or whim) of powerful executives and their agendas. decision makers engage in the tactical use and control of information and knowledge flows (eisenhardt & zbaracki, 1992). this represents an additional challenge for startup firms who frequently have only restricted access to top customer firm management (katila, rosenberger & eisenhardt, 2008). divergent long-term objectives are another hurdle. larger customers have explicit strategic plans, established market positions and consolidated procedures. startups, in contrast, are agile and opportunistic; their horizon is measured in months not years. finally, larger customers make a clear distinction between line and staff roles, employ many functional specialists, and establish explicit processes for every activity. startups are full of generalists; jacks-of-all-trades who get things done via informal, ad hoc processes (prashantham & birkinshaw, 2008). � 538 m@n@gement, vol. 21(1): 534-573 lourdes pérez & jesús j. cambra fierro table 1 asymmetric versus symmetric alliances some asymmetric alliance scholars call for a closer look at how different dimensions within these alliances shape value creation and appropriation (ariño et al., 2008). in the next part of the paper we will review the concepts of complementarity, learning with customers and customer-specific investment. on the whole, these aspects have been discussed in the context of new value creation and appropriation in symmetric alliances. such concepts—and their theoretical correlatives— provide the organizational framework for developing interview protocols; they will also serve as the point of departure for exploring asymmetric alliances. value creation resource & organizational complementarity startups in interdependent alliances can create value both by accessing and leveraging larger customers’ complementary resources (e.g. knowledge and market know-how), and the resources embedded in their networks (grant & baden-fuller, 2004; kim, 2014; mowery et al., 1996; padula, 2008). such alliances may not only facilitate the transfer of compared dimensions asymmetric alliances between start-ups and well-established firms symmetric alliances between wellestablished firms resources start-ups lack the reputation, financial muscle and human resources of their potential partners. resource profiles are likely to be more balanced. long-term objectives startups are opportunistic and agile; their planning horizon is measured in months not years; a n d t h e p r o s p e c t o f b e i n g acquired is often very real. both firms usually have explicit strategic plans, established market positions and well-oiled operating procedures. the mindsets of both companies are better aligned. organization and structure start-ups are full of generalists, many of whom wear multiple hats, and they get things done through ad hoc and informal processes. as a result there are rarely clear counterparts for the start-up firm manager to talk to in the well-established (sometimes, large corporation) and the joint execution of everyday activities can be problematic. firms may have a clear separation between line and staff roles, many functional specialists and explicit processes for every activity. power some net power accrues to the less dependent organization, usually the well-established and large firm. this power may be employed to obtain the lion’s share of the jointly created value. although opportunistic behavior still exists, dependence and power are better balanced and/ or firms have experience to manage it. as a result, the likelihood of one firm dominating the other is lower as asymmetries with respect to one resource can be c o u n t e r b a l a n c e d b e c a u s e o f corresponding asymmetries for other resources. communication lack of access and attention. startups may have restricted access to the attention of key d e c i s i o n m a k e r s i n t h e counterpart. executives of equivalent stature and/ or responsibility will happily return each other’s calls �539 value creation and appropriation in asymmetric alliances m@n@gement, vol. 21(1): 534-573 existing knowledge; they can foster the creation of new knowledge as well (anand & khanna, 2000). startups and large customers are complementary if one has strengths where the other has weaknesses (hamel, 1991). the fundamental logic behind complementarity, then, is the notion of resource differentiation. from a somewhat different perspective, dyer and singh (1998) agree that complementary partners possess distinct resources—typically suppliers provide tech and product know-how while customers contribute market knowledge. however, the key ingredient here is synergy, these authors argue. similarly, a number of other authors (ariño & de la torre, 1998; dyer & hatch, 2006) claim the question is not whether firms have complementary resources or not but whether they are able to identify and combine resources successfully. the literature has found that it is not enough for firms to possess strategic complementary resources; organizational complementarity or fit is essential as well if startups and customers are to fully benefit from alliances (doz, 1996; dyer & singh, 1998; nohria & garcia-pont, 1991). organizational complementarity, unlike resource complementarity, follows the logic of compatibility and similarities with respect to strategies and organizational culture (larson, bengtsson, henriksson, & sparks, 1998), goals (das & teng, 2002), and communication processes (goerzen & beamish, 2005), for instance. if suppliers and customer firms seek to reach business goals, both parties must enter the relationship with strong resolve to collaborate and share similar views regarding the benefits and dividends to be expected from alliance (chassagnon, 2014; saxton, 1997). shared objectives and perceived benefits comprise a complementary dimension which has a positive impact on knowledge exchange and learning (lubatkin, florin, & lane, 2001; saxton, 1997). in the case of symmetric alliances, it has also been noted that when business strategy and goals are too similar, the chances of rampant opportunism and inter-partner conflict increase. lack of complementarity, or fit, of this sort will inevitably lead to information being withheld and the potential for value creation and learning diminishing. learning with customers learning about customers, and how to work with them, is essential to joint value creation (perez et al., 2013). several authors make a distinction between learning what, or cognitive learning—knowledge which firms cannot access on their own—and learning how, or behavioral learning—the relational norms that contribute to improving communication processes and building trust (ariño & doz, 2000; inkpen & pien, 2006). learning with customers is arguably an essential prerequisite for joint knowledge creation and alliance performance (ballantyne, frow, varey, & payne, 2011). moreover, with regard to knowledge and learning, lane and lubatkin (1998)— building on cohen and levinthal’s (1990) concept of absorptive capacity—contend that suppliers do not have the same ability to learn from all customer firms. suppliers learn more from those customers with whom they share common knowledge and informational bases (cohen & levinthal, 1990; lane & lubatkin, 1998). although learning to work with large customers may be vital for startups, differences in organizational processes, dependence and power are believed to be more problematic than previously thought, as discussed in the last section. simply put, the potential benefits of wider access to cognitive resources are often overshadowed by conflicts rooted in social integration and communication problems. � 540 m@n@gement, vol. 21(1): 534-573 lourdes pérez & jesús j. cambra fierro customer-specific investments building a relationship and understanding the customer firm’s context are necessary conditions for value creation. but this—in and of itself—is not enough. the business alliance model which japanese car manufacturer toyota and its suppliers have adopted is a good example of how firms aiming to maximize alliance-based value must commit to making additional, relationship-specific investments (dyer & nobeoka, 2000). customer-specific investments are paramount to bringing alliances in close —rather than remaining at arm's length, where it is all too easy for firms to switch trading partners for the simple reason that other sellers might offer similar products (dyer & singh, 1998; wagner, eggert, & lindemann, 2010). customer-specific investments have also been found to be a key factor affecting collaboration dynamics in supplier-customer alliances. examples include the active role small tech firm management plays in knowledge-acquisition activities and deliberate efforts to combine resources (ariño et al., 2008). relation-specific investments allow firms to explore new ways of combining and sharing knowledge and skills, so as to co-create industry changing innovations. at the same time, suppliers assume higher risks as investments become more customer-specific and their value in alternative uses decreases. this is particularly the case in asymmetric alliances where larger customers can behave opportunistically, leveraging their negotiating power to their sole benefit (johnsen & ford, 2008; söllner, 1998). to minimize opportunistic behavior, firms often sign elaborate contracts designed to serve as safeguards (dyer & ouchi, 1993). trust building, however, is always the best, most cost-effective way to shore up customer-specific investments (alvarez & barney, 2001). other authors sustain that opportunistic inclinations can be effectively offset by attitudinal input since suppliers do not enter business alliances with customers blindly —nor, naturally, out of a desire to get trapped and exploited. it seems attitudinal input or “shared values” with regard to collaboration and relational norms are effective safeguards as well (söllner, 1999). in short, asymmetric supplier-customer alliances can be seen as collaborative agreements driven by the logic of strategic resource needs and social opportunities. that being said, such alliances are plagued with hurdles that challenge the conventional wisdom regarding trust-building and value co-creation. value appropriation scholars make a distinction between value creation—presented in section 2—and value appropriation. value appropriation can be defined as the net value successfully captured by a focal firm. by this definition, customers might capture more value due to greater value creation with suppliers, more effective appropriation of the value pie, or a combination of the two. unlike value creation—a win-win scenario—value appropriation implies partners divvying up the value pie; in other words, a larger slice for one means a smaller slice for the other (söllner, 1999; wagner et al., 2010). in the game theory terminology this is known as a zero-sum game. the literature on value-creating alliances goes to great lengths to sort out the conundrum of who should appropriate the value created and how to keep competition from hindering knowledge transfer and innovation (delerue & lejeune, 2013; norman, 2002). the general consensus is that firms may have to divvy up the value they co-create with their partners �541 value creation and appropriation in asymmetric alliances m@n@gement, vol. 21(1): 534-573 (bowman & ambrosini, 2000; mizik & jacobson, 2003; wagner et al., 2010). asymmetric alliance scholars tend to place the emphasis on power dynamics: david vs. goliath. this perspective is reflected in the titles of a number of well-known articles: “dancing with gorillas” (prashantham & birkinshaw, 2008), “buyer dominated relationships” (holmlund & köck, 1994) and “swimming with sharks” (katila et al., 2008), among others. alvarez and barney (2001) recommend five steps that small tech firms should take to mitigate the threat of disproportionate appropriation by a larger customer. three of them—going it alone, slowing the large firm’s rate of learning and signing contracts—clearly limit the potential for learning. the other two—building trust and contributing innovative crosstechnology skills—seem to be well aligned with learning but require significant investment, especially in the case of asymmetric alliances. further study of supplier-customer alliances reveals the basic premise that business is about appropriating value, not about passing that value on to someone else. scholars adopting a resource-based view (rbv) (barney, 1991) have focused attention on identifying the types of resources that can act as isolating mechanisms and—in cases where they are rare, inimitable, irreplaceable and valuable—putting limits on competition. an isolating mechanism is any physical, legal or knowledgebased barrier that may prevent collaborators/competitors from capturing the majority of the value created (lepak et al., 2007). other authors sustain that companies are only successful when they leverage power over their partners (cox, 1999). in the startup large-customer alliance context, net power tends to accrue to the customer, who may use it to its sole benefit. startups may have no other choice than to comply with the norms and conditions imposed upon them by their more powerful customers if they wish to keep the alliance alive (easton, 2002; holmlund & köck, 1994). in short, alliances characterized by high degrees of asymmetry and power imbalance can lead to instability and value appropriation problems for startups (chen & chen, 2002; johnsen & ford, 2008). on the other hand, if the inherent imbalance present in so many alliances were insurmountable, startups would be less enthusiastic about developing alliances with large customers than they are, and these alliances would not last. this is clearly not always the case; startups do develop asymmetric alliances, tolerate power imbalance and grow (blundel & hingley, 2001). consequently, as we anticipated in our introduction, there is a need to better understand how different tensions and dimensions within asymmetric alliances shape value creation and value appropriation. research method case studies are considered the most appropriate tool in the early phases of theory development when key variables and their relationships are to be explored (gibbert, ruigrok, & wicki, 2008; yin, 2003). case studies have been frequently used in value creation and inter-firm learning studies (ariño & de la torre, 1998; doz, 1996; dubois & araujo, 2007; la rocca et al., 2013; polo-redondo & cambra-fierro, 2007; roseira et al., 2013; yan & gray, 1994). hence, the case study approach seems a good fit in our quest to understand how underlying dimensions within asymmetric suppliercustomer alliances shape value creation and value appropriation. � 542 m@n@gement, vol. 21(1): 534-573 lourdes pérez & jesús j. cambra fierro case selection we chose a unique context involving small suppliers, with limited resources and experience (baum, calabrese & silverman, 2000; fischer & reuber, 2004; holmlund & köck, 1994; söllner, 1998; prashantham & birkinshaw, 2008). these small firms were tech startups engaged in alliances with large, international and well-established customer firms. we sought to identify the presence of asymmetry based on the characteristics of each firm in the alliance (the differences are presented in table 2), and to assess that the alliance was more important to the young tech firm based on the fraction of the business done with the large customer. we chose two cases—a success story and a failure: two joint projects where new product or tech developments were expected to take place. in each case, the focus is on the collaboration and interaction between a young tech startup and a large, well-established customer firm. customer firm names were provided by the selected startups. we opted to only include alliances in our study where both firms showed a willingness to be interviewed. exploratory interviews conducted with key informants in one of the selected case studies prior to the formal interview phase revealed that both the startup and the customer firm held contrasting views of their partner. initial comments indicated a failed alliance (case 2): “they have used their exclusivity contract to take advantage of us. we are looking for ways to reduce our sales dependency and terminate this relationship as soon as possible as it has clearly not contributed to achieving our objectives.” (case 2 startup viewpoint) “they have unacceptable response times since they now have other customers and special projects to look after. […] we have made an important investment to integrate their software and now others are taking advantage of it.” (case 2 customer firm viewpoint) comments made during our conversations with key players in case 1 firms, on the other hand, express a much more positive view: “we’ve gone through hard times but, little by little, our efforts seem to be starting to pay off.” (case 1 startup viewpoint) “things haven’t always been smooth but they are honest, open and responsive. we are considering new projects for the upcoming year and we would like to work with them again.” (case 1 customer firm viewpoint). the tech sector was an appropriate choice because rapid changes in market and product developments make knowledge creation in exchange partnerships particularly salient (yli-renko et al., 2001). one success story and one failed case were chosen for theoretical reasons, including: replication, contrary replication, extension of theory and elimination of alternative explanations (leonard-barton, 1990; yin, 2003). the fact that both cases represented different dynamics of the same phenomenon—i.e. value creation processes in asymmetric alliances (ragin, 2000)—was a good fit to our research goals, allowing us to �543 value creation and appropriation in asymmetric alliances m@n@gement, vol. 21(1): 534-573 investigate the interrelationships among constructs (eisenhardt & graebner, 2007). an introduction to the cases is provided next, followed by tables 2 and 3. table 2 details key features of the firms involved, including number of employees, products, markets, competitive position and strategic motivation for engaging in the alliances. table 3 summarizes the period covered, goals, resources contributed by suppliers and customers, and the initial contractual conditions. table 4 lists the formally interviewed informants, indicating their company of affiliation, position and years of service in the company. two case studies: a brief introduction 1 case 1: startup1-bsm between march 2010 and december 2012, startup1—a madrid based firm founded by a young entrepreneur specializing in multimedia applications—and bsm, the spanish branch of a multinational pharmaceutical company with over 900 employees, worked together on a project known as quorum (the spanish word for consensus). the name was used because both firms agreed a high degree of consensus was essential for the project to succeed. the quorum project aimed to build a common internet infrastructure that could be used by all the different medical areas at bsm. the intention was to support bsm’s sales efforts and to provide a single online platform for doctors—regardless of their field of specialization. in 2009, prior to working with startup1, bsm had created an e business unit and appointed a highly recognized in-house doctor as e business manager. the unit was small, allowing it to collaborate across the entire medical spectrum—from wound therapeutics, psychiatric disorders and cancer to cardiovascular, immunology and infectious diseases—and to tap external internet-expert suppliers. startup1 had previously had indirect experience with the pharmaceutical industry by way of the publishing sector; however, the quorum project with bsm represented startup1’s first direct access to an industry that allocates substantial budgets to product introduction. case 2: startup2-tisa between january 2009 and december 2011, startup2—a small entrepreneurial company based in barcelona—and tisa, the hospitality division of a leading multinational group manufacturing and selling locking solutions worldwide, collaborated in the commercialization of tech solutions in the spanish hospitality sector. the objective was to take advantage of startup2’s innovative product portfolio and tisa’s dominant position in the industry. the startup has a strong tech orientation and had developed an optical character recognition (ocr) solution for automatically reading and storing information. tisa’s electronic locking solutions, e.g. hotel room keys, incorporate software and constitute the company’s main product line —over 80% of sales—sold under the firm’s brand label. tisa has relationships with major hotel software developers, hotel chains and a network of multi-product independent distributors. � 544 1. firm identities are withheld for the sake of confidentiality m@n@gement, vol. 21(1): 534-573 lourdes pérez & jesús j. cambra fierro table 2 description of the two asymmetric alliances case 1 case 2 startup1 bsm startup2 tisa (small supplier) (large customer) (small supplier) (large customer) date of establishment 2005 1986 2006 1994 number of employees 15 900 10 1014 products e-business multimedia software applications. pharmaceutical and related health care products covering different medical areas (e.g. neuroscience, oncology, cardiovascular). ocr (optical character recognition system) based solutions. electronicbased locking solutions. mechanicalbased locking solutions. product diversity low: one product line. high: multiple product lines (none >10%). low: one product line. low: dominant product line > 80% of sales. international diversity low: one country, spain. high (>60% of sales) with europe accounting for about 40% of total. low-one country, spain. high: non spanish sales account for 60% of total. markets health care, automotive, public sector organizations. hospitals. patients (doctors were key influence decision makers in prescription drugs). hospitality, registry offices, security. hospitality. competitive position niche market provider. global leader in health care. strong position in spain within its niche market. increasing competition in the last year from low-end products. dominant position in spain, strong position throughout europe. goals/ expected outcomes to be achieved through the relationship develop industry know-how through direct access to a large sealth care company. growth. explore alternative and more cost-effective channels to reach doctors and induce prescription. commercialization of ocr-based solutions in spanish hospitality. grow the business in spain. seek high margin complement ary products to differentiate their locking solutions. consolidate and extend distribution control. �545 value creation and appropriation in asymmetric alliances m@n@gement, vol. 21(1): 534-573 table 3 projects in the two asymmetric alliances case 1 case 2 startup1 (supplier) bsm e-business unit startup2 (supplier) tisa project starting date march 2010 january 2009 covered period of the project march 2010-december 2012 january 2009-december 2011 project goal build an internet-based infrastructure that can be shared by all the different medical areas within bsm in order to support sales network’s efforts and offer a single site to all doctors. commercialization of startup2 products in spanish hospitality. resources contributed by the small suppliers and large customers internet and software technology know-how. medical knowledge. pharmaceutical industry understanding. doctors network. ocr technology know-how. access to research consortiums. hospitality know-how. relationship s with hotels and major software developers. access to distributors. initial contractual conditions quorum website standard design, user registration, sign-in/off. define the guidelines for micro-site standardization. coordination of all microsites. website statistics and reports. build the wound therapeutics micro-site. 2010 budget including an average of: 120hours/month 50 euros/hour exclusive distribution in spain of its products under tisa brand. established prices and payment terms. product improvement and technical support. no commercializ ation of competitive products. sales objectives: 325 units. quarterly information of sales, prices, customers. � 546 m@n@gement, vol. 21(1): 534-573 lourdes pérez & jesús j. cambra fierro * this informant was interviewed twice table 4 informants interviewed in each case data collection & codification in response to the call for studies examining the dynamics of collaboration in asymmetric supplier-customer alliances (ariño et al., 2008), we analyzed a 2-case sample of alliances over a 2to 3-year period—in both cases, half-way through the development process, when relational issues were still being resolved and knowledge creation was in full swing. in line with the literature, the first step was to develop an interview protocol making the distinction between joint dependence and power imbalance as different authors recommend (casciaro & piskorski, 2005; gulati & sytch, 2007) (see appendix 4). interview data were collected, along with a large volume of trade press and archival data (business plans, proposals, contracts and emails) —and not restricted to documents shared between suppliers and customers; files from both partner companies, reflecting their own private analyses were used as well. semi-structured interviews (face-to-face and by phone) were conducted with ceo’s, e-commerce, sales and marketing case 1 startup1-bsm 12 interviews case 2 startup2-tisa 13 interviews position held in december 2012 company prior years of service position held in december 2011 company prior years of service ceo and founder* startup1 7 general manager* startup2 2 account manager* startup1 5 president and founder startup2 4 hr and administration manager startup1 6 sales manager* startup2 14 months sales manager startup1 2 support manager* startup2 4 e-business manager bsm 11 division manager* tisa 10 web master bsm 5 sales manager* tisa 10 product manager wound therapeutics* bsm 7 support manager* tisa 3 product manager, oncology unit bsm 6 strategy vp bsm 10 �547 value creation and appropriation in asymmetric alliances m@n@gement, vol. 21(1): 534-573 executives, it and support managers at both case companies. a total of 25 interviews were conducted—13 in the failed case, 12 in the successful case. all questions were targeted according to role in the company. this wide range of data sources contributes to enhancing qualitative research outcomes (eisenhardt & graebner, 2007; plé, 2013; yin, 2003). in preparation for analysis, we transcribed and coded data into categories according to observed recurrence; appendix 1 provides the list of codes and operational descriptions. we refer to startup1’s internet and software tech know-how using the code “proprietary knowledge”, for instance. the following comment from one informant in case 1 provides a good example of how codes (e.g. “strategic motivation”) are grounded in interview data. “they are a leading pharmaceutical company. we can learn how this industry works. they also work on large, complex projects that challenge our ability to develop tech-based solutions. they will serve as a good reference customer.” (case 1, informant) data analysis with a view to addressing the research question, we relied on the value creation and appropriation elements discussed in sections 4 and 5 to best inform our analysis of case data (yin, 2003) through categorization, recombination and display of the evidence (miles & huberman, 1994; plé, 2013). first, an outline of events was drawn up to map the evolution of each alliance chronologically, along with two display tables—for the supplier and customer companies in each dyad—for each of the four key dimensions: relative supplier-customer characteristics, learning with customers (cognitive learning), learning with customers (behavioral learning), customer-specific investments and dual value appropriation. informants’ names are displayed in the rows in each table; the key observed codes/issues—e.g. social interaction, emphasis on teamwork and joint decision making—in the columns. hence, each cell contains summaries of various individual comments on selected issues or direct informant quotes, where specifically indicated. in order to conduct crosscase analysis, we created 12 display tables for each case using the same uniform framework (24 tables in total). appendices 2a and 2b provide the display tables for the learning with customers (behavioral learning) construct in case 1 by way of example. the display tables were used to assist in a higher level of analysis supported by four summary tables explaining the link between dimensions (see appendix 3, for instance). next, insights from the successful case were compared with those from the failed case to identify consistent patterns and themes. relative supplier-customer characteristics, learning with customers and customer specific investments were themes found in both case 1 and case 2, for instance, whereas dual value appropriation was only found in case 1. a pattern-matching strategy (yin, 2003) was then used to compare observations with the constructs, relationships and models from related studies. analysis was assisted by maxqda2 software. finally, the explanation-building technique for observed differences between symmetric and asymmetric alliances was applied (miles & huberman, 1994; yin, 2003). in the results section we will delve deeper into these four elements and present our analysis, supported by table 5. jointly created value was the project goal. we analyze how complementary knowledge and skills may lead to new knowledge—which, in turn, drives the creation of valuable new solutions for the market (both � 548 m@n@gement, vol. 21(1): 534-573 lourdes pérez & jesús j. cambra fierro products and services); an internet-based infrastructure common to all medical areas at bsm, for instance (case 1). appropriated value— depending on how it is used—is studied either as the benefits obtained by the supplier or by the customer (vargo & lusch, 2004). in this case, the value appropriated by the large customer includes increased brand loyalty among doctors; for the supplier, appropriated value translates as growth. validity and reliability in order to guarantee the validity and reliability of our findings, we followed guidelines proposed by various authors (gibbert et al., 2008; miles & huberman, 1994; yin, 2003). different sources of evidence were proactively searched as a means of triangulating information and developing converging lines of inquiry, with a view to increasing construct validity; the creation of a chain of evidence; and the revision of the case study report by key informants. moreover, to improve construct reliability, a database was created where reports and documentary evidence were stored. finally, a research protocol was established to guide data collection, coding and analysis. results table 5 reports the elements of influence and consequences for value creation and appropriation observed in the two cases studied. analysis of these elements contributes to extant research in three potential ways: (1) by identifying the sources of asymmetry resulting from differences in the characteristics between suppliers and customers, or relative supplier-customer characteristics (element 1, table 5); (2) by recognizing two conditions for success—learning with large customers and customer-specific investments (elements 2 and 3, table 5)—to overcome tensions and problems triggered by identified asymmetries; and (3) by pointing out positive results in terms of value creation and dual value appropriation (element 4, table 5) when the conditions for alliance success are implemented effectively. in subsequent subsections we will discuss these four elements in greater detail and show how they shape—facilitate or complicate—value creation and appropriation. �549 value creation and appropriation in asymmetric alliances m@n@gement, vol. 21(1): 534-573 * this element was only found in case 1 table 5 elements of influence and consequences for value creation and appropriation in asymmetric supplier-customer alliances relative supplier-customer characteristics the first element, relative supplier-customer characteristics seems to be a source of tension—likely due to the fact that it underlies a number of resource and knowledge, expertise, social and experience asymmetries. startups and established customers approach alliances from very different business trajectories—and they bring different types of resources, expertise, social relationships and experience to the table. in case 1, for instance, bsm provides a network of doctors and knowledge of the medical and pharmaceutical industries. startup1 contributes internet and software tech know-how (see table 3). similarly, in case 2, tisa brings hospitality know-how, access to distributors and relationships with hotels and major software developers, while startup2 brings the ocr tech knowhow and access to research consortiums, hence the most recent advances. knowledge resource differentiation constitutes the basis for resource complementarity and shows the potential for creating new knowledge—e.g. building a broad internet-based infrastructure serving all the different medical areas within bsm and supporting sales efforts while providing a single online platform for doctors (see table 3). resource differentiation makes alliances valuable for both startups and large customers by helping each of them efficiently fill resource gaps. moreover, the larger customer stands to become more entrepreneurial, whilst the startup can hope to survive and grow. as firms come from very different trajectories, other asymmetries exist both in terms of product and international experience and in terms of markets and competitive position, as table 2 illustrates. hence, a different set of commercial objectives are pursued and different long-term visions elements of influence consequences 1. relative suppliercustomer characteristics 2. learning with large customers 3. customerspecific investments 4. dual value appropriation* • knowledge and expertise • social relationships • experience: products, markets, international. • values. • strategic motivation. • long-term vision. • goals • commercial objectives • size cognitive learning • identifying large customer’s knowledge. • understanding large customer’s expectations. • understanding large customer’s assessment. behavioral learning • social interaction • open a window to supplier/ customer. • teamwork and joint decisionmaking. • dedicated human resources. value appropriated by the supplier • industry know-how • new product development • growth. • endorsement. • access to customer’s social network value appropriated by the large customer • increased brand loyalty. • increased sales. • explored costeffective solutions. • enhanced competitive position � 550 m@n@gement, vol. 21(1): 534-573 lourdes pérez & jesús j. cambra fierro and values spawn different expectations and motivations for forming an alliance (strategic goals and motivation)—which also represent sources of asymmetry. finally, the relative supplier-customer characteristics element has an impact on learning processes, as we will discuss in the next section. learning with large customers learning with large customers, the second element in table 5, represents both a condition for alliance success and a way of responding to previously identified asymmetries. data from our case study shed light on the importance of having interdependent goals to fostering learning— and the fundamental role strategic motivation and long-term vision play in the knowledge-building process. our results also suggest that shared values towards collaboration facilitate social interaction and information exchange. throughout our analysis of the cases, two distinct learning dimensions were observed: cognitive learning and behavioral learning. we will take a closer look at both dimensions in the next two subsections. cognitive learning case study evidence provides insights into the important role interdependent goals play in fostering learning. although suppliers and customers had minimal knowledge overlap, both types of firms went through a selective process aimed at identifying what kinds of knowledge the other firm held—as well as where that knowledge resided. startup2, for instance, was able to identify valuable knowledge in tisa sales and technical support departments (case 2). the tech startup learned how attractive their ocr-based solution was for hotels—eliminating long queues at the front desk—from tisa’s sales department, and how to integrate their solution with hotel software—essential to sales success in the hospitality sector—from the support department. the following comments from bsm’s e-business manager (case 1) and the ceo at startup1, respectively, suggest that both firms’ goals were interdependent—pointing to a positive relationship between goals and identifying large customer’s knowledge. comments also suggest an indirect relationship between identifying large customer’s knowledge and open a window to supplier. in all cases, a forward-looking outlook was crucial to overcoming the tensions and challenges that would arise down the road. “we want all doctors using the bsm site to experience the same look and feel, irrespectively of their medical area. as startup1 is a leading tech company trying to get established in the pharmaceutical industry we are willing to work with them and provide them with all the information they may need.” (e-business manager, bsm) “bsm is a leading company in this industry and works on big projects where internet-based technologies could have a significant impact. it is important to understand why these technologies are so important to them, in which areas they expect a higher impact and how these technologies can be applied in their context. […] we are also ready to share information with them.” (ceo, startup1) �551 value creation and appropriation in asymmetric alliances m@n@gement, vol. 21(1): 534-573 startup1 learned that bsm wanted to explore alternative, more cost effective sales channels, both to reach out to doctors and to induce prescriptions. although earlier product introductions were wide in scope— e.g. high blood pressure drugs addressed different kinds of pathologies— new drugs (e.g. hepatitis b medication) tend to target small market niches; and this seems to be very much the trend. in such a context, bsm was willing to work with small sales networks and direct marketing channels to complement efforts down the road. hence, understanding the effectiveness of alternative channels such as internet had become a strategic priority. startup1 developed a clear understanding both of the benefits to be expected and those which bsm hoped to reap (expected outcome)—but also of how the large customer firm preferred to work (expected process). this aspect is evident from the words of the account manager at startup1. “they did not want the typical buy/sell relationship. they were aware of the innovative nature of the project and wanted to work with us as members of our team. they wanted to learn with us.” (account manager, startup1) these two ideas, expected outcome and expected process, are captured by “understanding large customer’s expectations”. similarly, understanding large customer assessment captures the idea of how each partner assesses collaboration in terms of outcomes and process. startup1 is aware—given the difficulty of determining the relationship between the quorum project and sales—of the complexity of assessing outcomes. comments from the ceo at startup1 corroborate this insight. “we know bsm will not evaluate quorum based on technical aspects. they will assess results based on how we work with product managers—and the degree of project acceptance in the different medical areas.” (ceo, startup1) shared values regarding external collaboration—in terms of information sharing and cooperation—also play a key role. comments regarding initial project design from bsm’s e-business manager (case 1) shed light on the fundamental link between “values” and “understanding large customer’s expectations”. “in the initial meetings with the ceo at bsm, he showed a very cooperative attitude. we discussed what the new project had to offer for our company. he understood the difficulties we faced and proposed a modular framework for a new website that could incorporate ideas from the medical areas—which, in turn, facilitated the acceptance of the project.” (e-business manager, bsm) if we turn to case 2, the situation is very different in terms of shared values and learning, as comments from sales and support managers at startup2 indicate. “they believe in the old-way of doing business where collaboration means very little. they only care about their own objectives and show no concern for ours.” “we don’t work together. i just provide technical support for hotels but cannot really work on significant improvements because tisa � 552 m@n@gement, vol. 21(1): 534-573 lourdes pérez & jesús j. cambra fierro is very protective with their information. it is hard for me to know more about hotel needs. i often come up with new ideas that we discuss internally for developing new products but i don’t have the opportunity to meet with tisa and discuss them.” (sales and support managers, startup 2) startup2 developed an understanding of expected outcomes for tisa—much more short-term and sales-oriented in nature than for the startup. moreover, startup2 learned about tisa’s expected process, that the large customer firm preferred to work on their own. “they want to sell high-margin third-party products with exclusivity rights to compensate for decreasing margins in the competitive locking solutions market. as hotels keep their locking solutions for as long as ten years, these third parties provide good opportunities for tisa distributors to visit and sell to their established customer base.” “tisa also enjoys having an innovative company image, through technology advances developed by companies like ours that, in turn, can make a difference in sales situations like big deals. all they’re interested in is a straight buy/sell relationship.” (startup 2) hence, startup1 clearly understands that tisa views supplier firm technology as nice to have—but not essential to long-term strategy. behavioral learning case study data also suggest that shared values with regard to collaboration facilitate social interaction and the exchange of information. in other words, shared values open a window to the supplier—essential for learning at the cognitive level—as comments from the accounts manager at startup1 reflect. “they have always been very collaborative, we hold meetings at least once per month and at times we spoke to different people on the phone. we have always had the information we needed like the content shared with doctors (e.g., emails received by the different medical areas and training tools) to understand what was important in each area and what they expected from the project.” (accounts manager, startup1) in contrast, in case 2, comments from the sales manager at startup2 point towards tisa’s lack of collaborative values and a reluctance to share information. “they prefer to work on their own and don’t want us to visit customers with them, probably because they always say that our products belong to them. in trade shows they don’t let us be in their booth and don’t even want us to speak to customers or other software developers.” (sales manager, startup2) we also observed that communication, the exchange of ideas and understanding customer expectations occurred more frequently between suppliers and customers when goals and commercial objectives were interdependent. this occurred in case 1, where startup1 reached its goal �553 value creation and appropriation in asymmetric alliances m@n@gement, vol. 21(1): 534-573 of improving tech capabilities only through bsm meeting its goal of implementing innovative web-based technology in their website. both firms developed an operational plan jointly, and held ongoing meetings to review the plan and introduce mutually agreed changes when needed. at the opposite end of the spectrum are comments from the ceo at startup2 (case 2)—a clear indication of conflicting goals: “we need to grow our business in the hospitality market through more aggressive price tactics and more distributors; new low-end competitors are appearing and have started to capture market share. […] regardless of the market conditions, they sell our products very expensively because of their cost structure and require exclusivity rights on our products.” (ceo, startup 2) hence, the process of working and deciding together (“emphasis on teamwork and joint decision making”) and social interaction and information exchange (“open a window to the other organization”) become increasingly difficult, as comments from the support manager at startup2 illustrate: “we don’t share a plan as we do with other customers. tisa has a plan but we have never seen it. the plan is the contract and they only read it in terms of their own benefits. for example they never provide us with the customer and developers list as the contract stipulates.” “tisa basically contacts me when they need new product functionality or find problems they don’t know how to sort out at a hotel. in that case, they provide me with technical details or new desired specifications so that i can fix the problem.” (support manager startup2) tisa (case 2) had no interest in understanding its supplier’s expectations, and the large customer firm’s zeal for value appropriation prevailed over its concern for value creation. in contrast, supplier-customer goals and commercial objectives in case 1 were clearly non-overlapping and more conducive to learning. this demonstrated concern for the large customer’s needs, enhanced communication and increased the chances of novel ideas emerging. in the next section we will explain customer-specific investments, the third element in table 5. customer-specific investments the third element—customer-specific investments—also represents a condition for success. paradoxically, dissatisfaction with results and clear value expectations seemed to trigger this important element, which occurs when firms are capable of questioning initial project assumptions. the challenge for the startup firm is to gain an in-depth understanding both of large customer firm problems and organizational structure, and the industry at large, to create value and consolidate the alliance by moving it from an arm’s length to a closer relationship type. in january 2011, dissatisfaction with results drove both case 1 companies to question the way they worked and adopt a new approach. due to an inability on the part of the large customer to fulfill their part of the deal, startup1 had to dedicate more technical staff to redesigning the wound therapeutics area. in this case, we observed how the small supplier � 554 http://it m@n@gement, vol. 21(1): 534-573 lourdes pérez & jesús j. cambra fierro unilaterally opted for customer-specific investments once it had learned enough about the large customer to understand the benefits of those investments. this point is illustrated by comments from the ceo at startup1, suggesting a link between identifying large customer’s knowledge and dedicated human resources. “we need to prove that emerging technologies in multimedia are useful in a real customer environment with real data, needs and problems. bsm is interested in their own profit (they don’t get any research or subsidy money) so these technologies can make a difference in their business somehow. we are not satisfied with the results and plan to try out a new approach using information from the wound therapeutics area.” (ceo, startup1) since this new approach was costly for startup1, they needed to be reassured—through social interaction—regarding customer response, if such an investment were to be made. comments from the account manager at startup1 confirm that the required level of assurance existed: “we worked well together. the problems were typical for innovative projects in the early stages. access to information was not a problem.” (account manager, startup1) if we take a closer look at case 2, we observe that startup2 becomes aware of their own vulnerability in a scenario where they have to invest more in their alliance with the large customer firm, tisa. as in the previous case, we observe the importance of trust-building in terms of equipping the small firm to face a higher level of dependency and risk; however, both supplier and customer fail to build this trust, as comments from the sales manager at startup2 illustrate: “the exclusive rights that we initially signed were accepted because we were in a very weak financial situation—but were not fair. this has fuelled big problems in our relationship because we see them as abusive. […] the fact that they work on their own, that we don’t have a common plan and that they don’t facilitate easy access to information doesn’t help either.” “last year tisa sales were very low. they told us they were working on new deals but we believe there was some monkey business going on with the demo units, too. they were selling units that were intended for their internal technical department.” (sales manager, startup2) although firms invested in the required technical solutions and exchanged existing knowledge, we did not find evidence of new knowledge creation. this is due to the fact that neither firm engaged in in-depth learning about the other, as comments from the support manager at startup2 highlight: “engineers at both companies worked for 6 months to integrate startup2 software with the main software packages used in hotels (e.g., opera). […] as soon as the solution worked technically, the teams split up and never worked together again to make improvements or follow up on ideas coming from hotel customers.” (support manager, startup2) �555 value creation and appropriation in asymmetric alliances m@n@gement, vol. 21(1): 534-573 case study data show that customer-specific investments were seen as a clear indication of commitment—of the importance firms placed in the alliance. in the successful case, for instance, the dedicated account manager at startup1 regularly visited bsm, having a positive impact on the generation of new ideas and contributing to new ways of doing things, as reflected by comments from bsm’s e-business manager: “the account manager visited us regularly and we often discussed the problems that different medical areas encounter when dealing with the project [...] and we came up with new ideas. we learned the real application for some of the new technologies together and found new applications for existing ones.” (e.g., new tablet pcs for all delegates, with a view to increasing loyalty) (e-business manager, bsm) customer-specific investments also sent a positive message and contributed to creating knowledge and consolidating the alliance. as bsm was satisfied with the way the firms worked together—and acknowledged the commitment and efforts made by the supplier—the large customer was more willing to persevere and accept delays and setbacks in fulfilling the project goal. hence, chances of obtaining better results increase as new approaches can be tried. as bsm’s e-business manager expressed: “in january 2011 results were very frustrating but we kept working with startup1 because we trusted them and thought our work together deserved better results. new content and a new design were tried to make the website more valuable and attractive for the 60,000 doctors that integrate the wound therapeutic area. we gradually started to receive emails from doctors using the online services, particularly trainings and blogs. when we got close to 50% of doctors using the website, we knew how valuable the new online infrastructure was. other medical areas in bsm started to find out about the success in the wound therapeutic area and required our services. the alliance becomes consolidated as our presence extends throughout most areas in the company.” (ebusiness manager, bsm) unilateral investments of this sort have a dual positive effect: supporting knowledge development efforts and consolidating the alliance; yet they require a high level of trust—the missing ingredient in the failed case (case 2). the fourth and final element in table 5—dual value appropriation—will be discussed in the next section. dual value appropriation the data indicates that dual value appropriation is the result when the two conditions for success (identified earlier) are correctly implemented. dual value appropriation was only observed in case 1— where supplier and customer fully appropriate different, unique types of value from the alliance. the value captured by the well-established, larger customer does not diminish or encroach upon the value captured by the startup. in this sense, the value captured by bsm is twofold: on one hand, a common site where doctors can keep track of and recommend pharmaceutical products and, on the other, a better understanding of online sales channels (as seen in table 5). the value captured by bsm � 556 m@n@gement, vol. 21(1): 534-573 lourdes pérez & jesús j. cambra fierro represents the input for the value captured by startup1: on one hand, multimedia tech-based solutions for the pharmaceutical industry and, on the other, endorsement and growth. this case provides a unique window on how both suppliers and customers may view current and potential benefits deriving from collaboration as independent outcomes, as a symbiotic relationship. the joint value created through alliance was successfully appropriated by the startup supplier firms in the form of non-transferable, idiosyncratic value that in no way diminished the value appropriated by the large customer. we have termed this phenomenon dual value appropriation. in terms of power, the dominant view is that asymmetry and power imbalance seriously hinder effective collaboration. the large partner is often seen as having a power advantage, which it wields to appropriate the lion’s share of the value. however, our data suggest that the amount of resourcesoften linked to the size of the companies, is not the only source of power. we can establish that the type of resources a startup owns, e.g. very innovative, hard-to-find multimedia software technology—together with the ability to apply these resources in shared projects—provides startups with more power and influence in their alliances with larger customers. startup specialist knowledge (type of resources)—when essential to larger customer core business and long-term vision—has the potential to enhance its competitive position and be an important source of power for the small firm. if we turn our attention now to case 2, we observe a very different phenomenon. while in case 1 the alliance is essential for both companies, here it is very important for startup2 and merely “nice-to-have” for tisa. comments from tisa’s ceo and division manager, respectively, reflect this asymmetry: “in 2009 our company was in a very difficult financial situation and tisa provided the necessary cash flow to, in the first place, keep operating—and to gain know-how of the hospitality market. at that time they represented over 90% of our sales.” “we have margins pressure, since the locking solutions market has become a mature market where offering differentiating elements is essential. we are constantly looking for those elements—there are many alternatives. we prioritize those that give us higher margins and exclusive brand rights. […] we also need to strengthen channel relationships by offering a portfolio of solutions which are useful for hotels—and ocr technology can reduce waiting times for customers during check-in.” (ceo and division manager, ytisa) moreover, startup2 is far from being the only company selling ocr solutions and is not perceived as providing unique technology that can be considered essential to larger tisa’s core business and long-term vision. according to tisa sales manager: "there are different companies offering ocr solutions and our priorities are to maintain margins and sell under our own brand label. […] more recently, new ocr products from asian countries are sold at a much lower price, which is also putting pressure on startup2". (sales manager, tisa) �557 value creation and appropriation in asymmetric alliances m@n@gement, vol. 21(1): 534-573 this alliance displays a high degree of power imbalance. unlike in the previous case, in case 2 we do not observe any signs of dual value appropriation. whereas in case 1 the larger customer firm takes advantage of the alliance to explore future potential, in case 2 we observe an alliance where exploitation takes precedence over exploration: a buy/ sell type relationship where no new knowledge is generated. based on the insights from these two polar case studies, we propose the following definition for dual value appropriation: an inter-firm learning process where the main objective is to generate new knowledge that entails a different, unique value proposition and a different set of current and potential benefits for the alliance firms. dual value appropriation—the idea that firms do not split the value pie, as frequently proposed in the literature, but both fully appropriate it is one of the key contributions of our study. the realization that firms do not have to share jointly created value reduces competitive-cooperative tension; it also facilitates relational efforts, as small suppliers can expect full return on their investments. for startups, investing in key customers, this translates, quite simply, as investing in learning—hence, in their own future. discussion and recommendations for best practice in building upon the resource dependence theory, this study contributes to a better understanding of value creation and value appropriation in asymmetric alliances. in this section, we will present the main contributions to the literature on alliances, resource dependence, and value creation and value appropriation. first we contribute to the alliance research by reviewing the concept of organizational complementarity and the logic of similarity (goerzen & beamish, 2005; larson et al., 1998;) and shed light on how relative supplier-customer characteristics (element 1 in table 5) shift the dispositions of the actors for value creation in the context of alliances between small technology suppliers and large industry leaders. we found that when the strategic motivation to form the alliance and goals (expected outcomes) are in line with the firms’ long-term vision, as in case 1 (explore low-cost sales channels for the large customer; develop industry know-how for the small supplier), the importance that firms assign to the alliance and their commitment to collaborate and dedicate resources increases, which in turn increases the chances to create more value and enhance their competitive position. whereas in case 2, the large customer is simply trying to increase its current sales level, there is no link to a longer view and as a result tisa’s dedicated resources to the project were kept to a minimum technical level, which then limits value creation. if we turn now our attention to knowledge and experience asymmetries, we observed how learning between startups and large customers occurred in spite of having minimal knowledge overlap, somewhat different from the relative absorptive capacity that emphasizes the need to share knowledge and informational bases (cohen & levinthal, 1990; lane & lubatkin, 1998). moreover, we found that the fact that startups and large customers have minimal knowledge overlap and operate in very different markets contributes to firms being less protective and more willing to exchange information and share ideas since they do not see each other as competitors, which in turn leads to increased learning and value creation. similar to other studies (lubatkin et al., 2001), we found that conflicting commercial objectives negatively contribute to social interaction � 558 m@n@gement, vol. 21(1): 534-573 lourdes pérez & jesús j. cambra fierro and the exchange of information and learning. conflicting goals in case 2 widened the rift between partners from the get-go. very quickly, the alliance became a buy/sell type—based solely on commercial exchange, whereas shared values toward collaboration, as other studies sustain, contributed positively. the significant differences in organizational processes, procedures and roles, and the fact that startups have restricted access to the attention of key decision makers in the large customer due to size difference, create specific social asymmetry that negatively affects communication, learning and value creation. in summary, in asymmetric alliances, organizational fit though important cannot be explained by the logic of similarity. different but complementary strategic motivations and long-term views supported by minimum knowledge overlap can result in value creation when firms share collaborative values and learn to overcome social and communication issues. this leads us into the mechanisms or conditions for managing and overcoming the constraints implied by asymmetries in order to create and appropriate value (elements 2 and 3 in table 5-learning with large customers and customer-specific investments. given the extensive focus on power dynamics underlying dependence asymmetries, our second important contribution to the resource dependence literature lies upon our further development of the logic of embeddedness fundamental to joint dependence. the logic of embeddedness emphasizes the importance of developing trusting alliances and relies on social norms of cooperation and reciprocity in order to reduce uncertainty in the flow of needed resources and enhance value creation. similarly to other studies (ariño & de la torre, 1998; casciaro & piskorski, 2005; doz, 1996), we have learned, that—as a safeguard mechanism—social interaction and information exchange at different levels are far more important than the formal contractual agreement itself. sole reliance on a contract leads to minimal learning and in no way guarantees long-term success. case 2 is a good example of how both firms repeatedly referred back to their initial contract —reading it only in terms of their own rights. in fact, reliance on the contract alone seems to have focused attention on the wrong set of issues altogether. interestingly, we additionally find that while the contract agreement itself appears to be relatively unimportant—distracting, even—the contractual process is a unique opportunity to assess collaboration opportunities based on the initial relative supplier-customer characteristics that stand to influence the learning process. gulati and sytch (2007) highlight joint action, trust scope and quality of information as the mechanisms through which the logic of embeddedness operates at the level of joint dependence. however, they do not find support for the scope of information exchange and trust to be related to joint dependence. interestingly, we observed the central role played by committed champions in building trust and developing effective channels of communication. committed champions are strategic allies that bridge both firms by facilitating learning at cognitive and behavioral levels. they facilitate organizational complementarity and fit and help overcome the difficulties implied by the asymmetries. startup1 in case 1 initially found it challenging to overcome bureaucracy in bsm’s larger, more formal corporate structure—and struggled to be heard at the upper management level where decisions were made. to overcome these challenges, the successful startup �559 value creation and appropriation in asymmetric alliances m@n@gement, vol. 21(1): 534-573 identified a committed champion at the customer firm, a middle manager with whom there is a “meeting of minds”, or even a prior working relationship. she played a critical role in making the opportunity and value the innovative project created visible across its own company—and, specifically, to top managers. this highly respected e-business manager at bsm was key in facilitating social interaction and information exchange, overcoming resistance from the medical divisions. this resistance typically occurs in innovative projects as they imply significant organizational changes that alter power dynamics of key members. committed champions are key in developing bilateral solutions to relational and operational problems. the situation was very different in case 2, where startup2 failed to find a committed champion figure at their large customer. as a result, limited learning took place. reflecting now on the specificities of asymmetric alliances, consistent with the literature (dyer & nobeoka, 2000; gulati & sytch, 2007; wagner et al., 2010), our study suggests that customer-specific investments are a necessary ingredient in new knowledge and value creation. an important issue is the role of customer-specific investments with respect to joint dependence and the logic of embeddedness. our findings somewhat contradict the current assumption that alliance-specific investments are idiosyncratic—hence, pose higher risks for the investor firm, as they cannot be replicated elsewhere (johnsen & ford, 2008; söllner, 1998). in the case of our success story, early in the alliance both firms agreed on a project fee. the fee was calculated by the startup, mainly on the basis of an estimated number of work hours by a group of technicians and an account manager, at a set price per hour. as the pilot project progressed, however, myriad unforeseen problems arose—typically in very innovative projects. some were due to the startup using emerging, closeto-the-lab technologies that had not been tested in real environments. in other instances, it was unclear who should be assuming the costs, and the customer lacked the skills to perform necessary tests. the startup was under pressure to try new approaches in an attempt to ensure project success and invested more resources in the alliance than initially planned (customer-specific investments). one of the disadvantages in these asymmetric alliances is that small suppliers assume much of the burden of alliance-specific investments. we observe how the startup can play a much more proactive role than is often assumed in many studies (holmlund & köck, 1994; prashantham & birkinshaw, 2008), where the more dependent firm is often assumed to hold an inferior position and relegated to the role of minimizing value misappropriation (cox, 1999; lepak et al., 2007; lindgreen et al., 2012). driven by dissatisfaction with results—startups play a notably proactive, lead role throughout the unilateral investing and learning with customers, to the point that startup1 ended up close to the break-even point of the project—even losing money at several points. according to resource dependence theory, so influenced by the logic of power, these unilateral investments, as they become more specific and cannot be replicated elsewhere, lead to a higher level of dependence for the startup and a power advantage for the large customer. however, our study shows how the value captured by the small supplier in the form of better understanding of the pharmaceutical industry, access to the customer’s social networks and endorsement was believed to be to a large extent replicable in other pharmaceutical companies and, beyond, in other industries—hence, reducing dependency and moral hazard. moreover, we did not observe any power coercive dynamics � 560 m@n@gement, vol. 21(1): 534-573 lourdes pérez & jesús j. cambra fierro employed by the large customer to appropriate more value. small supplier investments sent a positive sign of commitment, which in turn triggered additional focus and dedicated resources from the large customer. we believe that a more useful way of looking at customer-specific investments is to think about them in terms of cost-benefit analysis for each firm. furthermore, in today’s changing environments, getting small suppliers—which are more economically vulnerable than large customers under investigation here—to make such customer-specific investments may be increasingly difficult; as a result, large customers become increasingly dependent on small suppliers’ specific investments. in summary, the logic of embeddedness in asymmetric alliances pertains first, to the key role played by committed champions in building trust and joint action, and second, to the leading role played by the small supplier to overcome unforeseen problems, usually stemming from innovative projects requiring additional investments. if we go deeper now into the specificities of asymmetric alliances, the third key contribution of this research—in this case to the literature on value creation and value appropriation—is the concept of dual value appropriation (element 4 in table 5). dual value appropriation—the idea that both partners fully appropriate co-created value—challenges two notions frequently cited in the literature. the first one is the notion that partner firms split the value creation pie—zero-sum game (mizik & jacobson, 2003; wagner et al., 2010). the second one refers to the distribution of value according to power dynamics. the predominant view in those studies is that since the alliance is more important and even sometimes a matter of survival for the small supplier, this firm is more dependent on the large customer who then will be in a position to get a bigger share of the pie at the expense of the small supplier (katila et al., 2008). interestingly, gulati and sytch (2007), using data from the automotive industry, found different results and argue that a manufacturer’s dependence advantage over its suppliers had no effect on the manufacturer’s performance. they reason is that “while manufacturers may be getting the bigger share of the pie through coercion, the size of the pie can diminish at a faster rate, leaving them with a net loss” (p. 59). thus, there is somewhat of a trade-off between value appropriation based on dependence and power advantage, and value generation based on joint dependence and relational embeddedness), as the feelings of anger and disappointment on the part of the suppliers can damage the valuegenerating potential of the alliance. but, even the fewer studies that single out the dimension of joint dependence (casciaro & piskorski, 2005; gulati & sytch, 2007) rely on the zero-sum game conceptualization of value. our study significantly differs from this idea, as the value captured by the technology company was different from that captured by the pharmaceutical company. the chance to explore new tech tools designed to channel costs keeps the firm abreast of shifting trends in drug production and provides the means for offering the same brand image to all doctors in their portfolio, regardless of their specialization—both firms appropriate all the value and use it in the long term. we have termed this phenomenon dual value appropriation. in such a scenario, the potential benefits deriving from collaboration tend to be independent outcomes and both ideas, the zero-sum game and the idea that the large customer appropriates greater value at the expense of the small supplier, are less applicable. �561 value creation and appropriation in asymmetric alliances m@n@gement, vol. 21(1): 534-573 in our successful case, firms are not driven by value-appropriating motives; the alliance rather represents a symbiotic type in the sense of pfeffer and nowak (1976), where both firms aim for superior joint value creation as a foundation for their own competitiveness. symbiotic alliances involve one firm‘s using the by-products of the other, thus, using different resources. the results are that the benefits obtained can be used differently as they represent different value propositions for the supplier (e.g. increased brand loyalty) and for the customer (e.g. growth). thus, small firms can expect full return on their investments, as the benefits obtained significantly differ from those obtained by their larger customers. managers in small firms need to understand that selecting and investing in key customers means investing in their company’s future, as new opportunities arise to apply what they learned in previous alliances. in this light, suppliercustomer alliances can be seen as a way to better manage precious resources, as well as an ongoing learning and innovation tool. in this sense, participation in the alliance is—for both firms—an investment in their own future. in summary, dual value appropriation brings joint dependence to the forefront, as asymmetric alliances can no longer be taken as bargaining tugs-of-war driven solely by value appropriation motives; rather they are symbiotic alliances where large customers and small suppliers aim for superior joint value creation as a foundation for their competitiveness. while previous relevant research (i.e. gulati & sytch, 2007) is based only on one side of the alliance, our research considers both sides. by using data from both the supplier and the customer, this paper has contributed several interesting insights to better understand the nature of asymmetries in vertical alliances: the mechanisms or conditions to manage or overcome constraints implied by asymmetries in order to better create and appropriate value and the specificities of asymmetric alliances (e.g. dual value appropriation), advantages and disadvantages. conclusions, limitations and future research this study of asymmetric supplier-customer alliances aimed to analyze how different tensions and dimensions within the alliance shape value creation and value appropriation. as we already highlighted at the beginning of the paper, this question is relevant as, for many startups, successful launch and growth hinge on the ability to build lasting alliances with key industry players. we have analyzed two polar cases—one success story, one failure — which is a particularly important theoretical sampling approach for more clearly observing contrasting patterns in the data (eisenhardt & graebner, 2007). however, any generalization from this exploratory research needs to be made with caution because, as with most case study research, both managers and researchers should identify patterns of similarities between our cases and their realities. in this study, interdisciplinary and inter-industry contexts brought together firms from very different trajectories, which offered representation of salient opportunities for innovation. in this context, the potential benefits derived from value-creating alliances tend to be independent outcomes and therefore may offer exceptional chances for dual value evaluations. however, in order to realize these benefits, firms need to invest resources and learn to work together. importantly, this is not an easy task as firms often come from very different trajectories and contexts, which are then reflected in their different organizations, cultures and priorities. � 562 m@n@gement, vol. 21(1): 534-573 lourdes pérez & jesús j. cambra fierro one key element to consider is the alliance-specific investments which we found to be a condition for success and the price to pay for innovation. as resources are limited (particularly in the case of small companies), managers need to analyze the playing field before making any investment decision. this is important because, on many occasions, too many resources are being invested in the wrong companies. we also found that while the contract agreement itself appears to be relatively unimportant—distracting, even—the contractual process is a unique opportunity to assess collaboration opportunities based on the initial relative supplier-customer characteristics that stand out to influence the learning process. the contracting process allows managers not only to learn about the partner’s expectations (expected outcomes), but also to assess how independent these expectations are when compared to those of their own firm. another important consideration is to understand the partner’s motivation to form the alliance by assessing whether there is a reasonable connection of both partners’ long-term visions. finally, managing the social interactions addresses the complexities of finding the right balance between being purposive (achieving one’s goals), on the one hand, and being flexible, on the other, by adjusting to the partner’s needs. in asymmetric alliances, the role played by committed champions is key to building trust and foster joint action. therefore, during the contracting process, managers should identify a highly respected top manager in small firms and middle managers in large corporations who can bridge the gap between the two organizations as a means to help when problems arise. while most of the extant research has primarily discussed value appropriation and power dynamics stemming from dependence asymmetries, our research additionally gives heightened attention to overall value creation driven by joint dependence. by analyzing the elements that influence value creation and value appropriation, we have identified: (i) the sources of asymmetry in vertical alliances, ii) two conditions of success to overcome the tensions and problems implied by asymmetries, and iii) a novel concept in the literature, which we have named dual value appropriation, when the conditions for success of the alliance are correctly implemented. as commented in section 8 our results have some important implications for both the literature and the practice. despite the relevance and utility of the present study, our research does present several limitations. first, results are derived from case studies. most of our data are qualitative, therefore, and data interpretation biases may arise. that said, we have followed all guidelines in the specialized literature (e.g. miles & huberman, 1994; yin, 2003) to guarantee validity, reliability and objectivity. in addition, we have used several sources of information and all data has been triangulated. case protocols were also established and a complete database created. preliminary findings and reports were discussed with key informants from both firms in each relationship, with a view to ensuring that our conclusions reflected the reality a closely as possible. secondly, results are based on our analysis of the spanish tech sector. as we have already commented, caution should be taken when extrapolating our conclusions to other contexts. this is, however, one of the classic limitations of case study research and one of the proposals we have made for future scholarly efforts. in our opinion, replicating this study in other industries and countries would enrich the body of literature on asymmetric alliances, as cultural dimensions may affect the dynamics of strategic alliance management. �563 value creation and appropriation in asymmetric alliances m@n@gement, vol. 21(1): 534-573 appendix 1. list of codes and operational descriptions source: the authors code description general knowledge base common knowledge and language suppliers and customers share to understand each other. proprietary knowledge specialized knowledge and distinctive information that the supplier/customer brings into the relationship. strategic/learning motivation main reason to establish the supplier-customer alliance.importance of the relationship. goals expected outcomes to be achieved through the relationship. commercial objectives supplier/customer commercial objectives. long-term vision what is the long-term vision of the supplier/customer and how does the relationship contribute to that vision. shared values positive attitude towards cooperation and exchange of information with external organizations. identifying key partner’s knowledge a firm’s ability to identify the supplier/customer’s key knowledge and where that knowledge is housed (who does what) and how this can be best linked to its own knowledge. understanding partner’s expectations understanding the supplier/customer’s goals and commercial objectives. understanding how the supplier/customer prefers to work. understanding partner’s assessment outcome assessment (assessment of the “hard” outcomes, the “what”). process assessment (assessment of the relationship, the “how”). social interaction extent to which people in both supplier/customer companies interact. it includes top management involvement and multiple interfaces (technical, commercial, strategic). open a window to the other organization extent to which formal and informal sharing of meaningful and timely information between the supplier and customer occurs. emphasis on teamwork and joint decision making extent to which suppliers and customers work in a cooperative manner (e.g., operative plans, joint decisions, etc.). open mindedness creativity and flexibility to adapt and respond to partner needs and values (e.g., proactive initiatives). incentives incentives to promote cooperation and information exchange between suppliers (startups) and the customers (large firms). committed champions “project leaders” who engage others in their organization, with a view to ensuring project success. dedicated resources time dedicated by people in the customer/supplier organization to meetings and project resolution. difficult to replicate elsewhere. � 564 m@n@gement, vol. 21(1): 534-573 lourdes pérez & jesús j. cambra fierro appendix 2a. case 1-learning with customers (behavioral learning) startup1 informants: 11 (ceo and founder); 12 account manager, 13 hr and administration manager, 14 sales manager source: the authors social interaction open a window to supplier teamwork and joint decision making 11 i think it has been a taking-giving relationship. we have failed occasionally but overall it has been a win--win situation. there are things that we have created here that could be difficult elsewhere. they gave us the ok without much thinking. it is not because of the 20 or 30k euros, it is a matter of trust. the only conflicts we have had have been with some technical partners of some medical areas that were n o t v e r y p r o f e s s i o n a l b u t eventually they were sorted out. 1a’s professionalism, her ability to influence the organization and her empathy with us; it is very difficult to find. we have learned to work together and to share what we best know. we signed a c o n fi d e n t i a l agreement; we never had any problem in getting information, e v e n c o n fi d e n t i a l information. together we have learned the real application for some of the new technologies and found new applications for existing ones. we developed a content repository so that all the information was in one single place, accessible to everybody (press, the sales force, the intranet), but it was very difficult from the point of view of organization resistance. 1a worked on that and eventually it could be implemented. we both designed the project together to offer a single image of bsm with a common feel and look. we agreed in the beginning to have a lower level of control (the first year) on the micro-sites and gradually increased the standardization required. at the end of the first year we developed with 1a a marketing campaign for employees and we offered an mp3 device for those who registered on the quorum site. we prepared large print outs to inform employees and placed them at the main bsm entrance. 12 we faced some problems if the project got delays or we made a mistake. however, because there was a good relationship and we were prepared to make things work, they were more flexible and forgiving with us than maybe with other suppliers. i a l w a y s h a d c l a r i fi c a t i o n w h e n needed. we established phases for the project: design, mock-up, pilot and production and at the end of each phase, we shared results with the customer. we did that with each micro-site. we did not have a fixed and closed plan. we had clear priorities but then we worked also on a demand basis. 13 i have never had any problem in obtaining information. 14 microsite pm’s were always very open “we work hands together in this project” �565 value creation and appropriation in asymmetric alliances m@n@gement, vol. 21(1): 534-573 appendix 2b. case 1-learning with suppliers (behavioral learning) bsm informants: 1a (e-business manager); 1b web master, 1c product manager wound therapeutics unit, 1d product manager oncology unit source: the authors social interaction open a window to supplier teamwork and joint decision making 1a t h e y a r e v e r y r e s p o n s i v e . t h e c o m m u n i c a t i o n h a s always been very good, direct and clear. if i thought something could not work i told them straightaway. the key person for me 11. he had a strategic view of the project. w e h a v e n e v e r h a d a p r o b l e m i n p a s s i n g information on to them. we see them as partners and we also have had access to the information we needed (e.g proposals, new tools or n e w i d e a s t o s o l v e something). “we both designed the initial project together. i have a lot of experience in the medical area and 11 is a great technologist. it has been a good marriage.” we agreed in the beginning to allow the medical areas the freedom to choose the tech partners although they had to meet certain guidelines. at the end of 2009, we designed a campaign to create awareness about the importance of the project not only among doctors but among our employees as well. “i don’t remember who named the project quorum we worked together and this name just came up.” at the beginning of 2009 i was pretty much alone and they were my people. with startup1 we were doing things while we were learning. when we realized the importance of statistics, we started to work on them and saw the need to enhance visibility of the project among employees—we gave mp3 devices for free. 1b 12 helps us in solving the technical issues. he is responsive and always tries to help. he is my main contact. we share a lot of technical i n f o r m a t i o n . t h e y h a v e always facilitated technical manuals as soon as i have asked for them. i work regularly with 12. the last hardware we had to buy, we sat together, looked at the servers’ specs and decided what was the best for us. 1c they are very friendly people we never have a problem in passing doctor’s confidential information on to them. it was never an issue. they are our technical partners. they always come up with the technical solution but we sit together and talk about how we want our area to be. we jointly explore the best alternatives. 1d they have always been very helpful. they have recently organized training for us so that we could better work. we never had a problem in s h a r i n g c o n fi d e n t i a l information with them. during a meeting, they came with a new idea about developing an oncology site for patients’ relatives. we liked the idea and started to work on the content. it is now in place!. � 566 m@n@gement, vol. 21(1): 534-573 lourdes pérez & jesús j. cambra fierro appendix 3. sample summary table case 1 startup1 informants’ comments in italic script bsm informants’ comments in regular script �567 value creation and appropriation in asymmetric alliances m@n@gement, vol. 21(1): 534-573 appendix 4. interview protocol—example questions introduction how did this alliance start? is there a signed contract agreement? did you know your partner company? has your company experience in managing alliances? for your company, what was the primary objective in forming this alliance? what other objectives did your company pursue? has this changed over time? how did you think the alliance could contribute to your firm strategy and long-term vision? what was the alliance goal (project goal)? is your partner a competitor in any of your markets? describe the stages through which the alliance has evolved and the factors that shaped that evolution (timeline, events). do individuals in your company perceive cultural and/or structural compatibilities/ differences that help/prevent them from communicating and working effectively? joint dependence does your supplier have a technological advantage? would it be difficult to switch your supplier/customer? has your company made significant alliance-specific investments (e.g. dedicated people, equipment)? provide examples. explain. what would be the implications if you withdrew from the project, from the collaboration with your partner? in your view, how has the collaboration between the two companies worked? was it easy to access and communicate with your partner? did your partner have an open attitude to your ideas? did your partner adjust to the changing circumstances of the project and to your needs and problems? how did you establish priorities and make decisions? did any problems arise over time? how did you manage them? were they treated as joint responsibilities? was there an atmosphere of trust between members of both organizations (e.g., proprietary information will be treated as strictly confidential; fair treatment; keep promises made)? asymmetry/power how important was this project for your company (e.g., what % of your business does it represent (e.g., % of sales)? how important was your supplier/customer? did you have enough alternative firms to choose from? describe the resources and knowledge most central to this alliance that each of the partners contributed? knowledge (degree of knowledge overlap) this would also include expertise and partnering experience. degree of similarity in terms of collaborative values (positive attitude towards cooperation and exchange of information with external organizations) degree of similarity in terms of goals and long-term vision � 568 m@n@gement, vol. 21(1): 534-573 lourdes pérez & jesús j. cambra fierro degree of similarity in terms of commercial objectives value creation/value appropriation/output has your company achieved its primary objective in forming this alliance? do you think that your partner has achieved its objectives? has your company been successful at learning and creating new knowledge, (e.g., developped new product/service innovations) as a result of working with your partner? could you give an overall assessment of this alliance? please explain �569 value creation and appropriation in asymmetric alliances m@n@gement, vol. 21(1): 534-573 references alvarez, s. & barney, j. (2001). how entrepreneurial firms can benefit from alliances with large partners. academy of management executive, 15(1), 139-148. anand, b. & khanna, t. (2000). do firms learn to create v a l u e ? t h e c a s e o f a l l i a n c e s . s t r a t e g i c management journal, 21(3), 295-315. ariño a. & doz, y. (2000). rescuing troubled a l l i a n c e s … b e f o r e i t ’ s t o o l a t e . e u r o p e a n management journal, 18(2), 173-182. ariño, a. & de la torre, j. (1998). learning form failure: towards an evolutionary model of collaborative ventures. organization science, 9(3), 306-325. ariño, a., ragozzino, r. & reuer, j. (2008). alliance dynamics for entrepreneurial firms. journal of management studies, 45(1), 147-168. ballantyne, d., frow, p., varey, r. & payne, a. (2011). value propositions as communication practice: t a k i n g a w i d e r v i e w. i n d u s t r i a l m a r k e t i n g management, 40(2), 202–210 barney j. (1991). firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. journal of management, 17(1), 99-121. baum, j., calabrese, t. & silverman, b. (2000). don't go it alone: alliance network composition and startups' performance in canadian biotech. strategic management journal, 21(3), 267. blocker, c., flint, d., myers, m. & starter, s. (2011). proactive customer orientation and its role for creating customer value in global markets. journal of academy of marketing science, 39(2), 216-233. blomqvist, k., hurmelina, p. & seppanen, r. (2005). playing the collaboration game right: balancing trust and contracting. technovation, 25(5), 497-505. blomqvist, k. (2002). partnering in the dynamic environment: the role of trust in asymmetric tech partnership formation. unpublished doctoral thesis, acta universitatis lappeenrantaensis 122. blundel, r. & hingley, m. (2001). exploring growth in vertical interfirm relationships: small-medium firms supplying multiple food retailers. journal of small business and enterprise development, 8(3), 245-265. bowman, c. & ambrosini, v. (2000). value creation versus value capture: towards a coherent definition of value in strategy. british journal of management, 11(1), 1-15. calia, r., guerrini, f. & moura, g. (2007). innovation networks: from technological development to business reconfiguration. technovation. 27(8), 426-432. casciaro, t. & piskorski (2005). power imbalance, mutual dependence, and constraint absorption: a closer look at resource dependence theory. administrative science quarterly, 50(2), 167-199. chassagnon, v. (2014). consummate cooperation in the network-firm: theoretical insights and empirical findings. european management journal, 32(2), 260-274. chen, h. & chen, t. (2002). asymmetric strategic alliances: a network view. journal of business research, 55(12), 1007-1013. cohen, w. & levinthal, d. (1990). absorptive-capacity: a new perspective on learning and innovation. administrative science quarterly, 35(1), 128-152. cox, a. (1999). power, value and supply chain management. supply chain management: an international journal, 4(4), 167-175. das, t. & kumar, r. (2010). interpartner sensemaking in strategic alliances. management decision. 48(1), 17-36 das, t. & teng, b-s. (2002). the dynamics of alliance conditions in the alliance development process. journal of management studies, 39(5), 725-746. delerue, h. & lejeune, a. (2013). joint patenting in r&d alliances: control rights and resource attributes. m@n@gement, 16(2), 113-140. doz, y. (1996). the evolution of cooperation in strategic alliances: initial conditions or learning processes? strategic management journal, 17(s1), 55-83. dubois, l. & araujo, l. (2007). case research in in purchaising and supply management: opportunities and challenges. journal of purchaising and supply management, 13(3), 170-181. dyer, j. & hatch, n.l. (2006). relation-specific capabilities and barriers to knowledge transfers: creating advantage through network relationships. strategic management journal, 27(8), 701-719. dyer, j. & nobeoka, k. (2000). creating and managing a high-performance knowledge-sharing network: the toyota case. strategic management journal, 21(3), 345-367. dyer, j. & singh, h. (1998). the relational view: c o o p e r a t i v e s t r a t e g y a n d s o u r c e s o f i n t e r o r g a n i z a t i o n a l c o m p e t i t i v e a d v a n t a g e . academy of management review, 23(4), 660-679. dyer, j. & ouchi, w. (1993). japanese-style partnerships: giving companies a competitive edge. sloan management review, 35(1), 51-63. dyer, j. (2000), collaborative advantage: winning through extended enterprise supplier networks, oxford; new york: oxford university press. easton, g. (2002). marketing: a critical realist approach. journal of business research, 55(2), 103-109. eisenhardt, k. & graebner, m. (2007). theory building from cases: opportunities and challenges. academy of management journal, 50, 25-32. eisenhardt, k. & zbaracki, m. (1992). strategic decision making. strategic management journal, 13(s2), 17-37. emerson. r. (1962). power-dependence relations. american sociological review, 27(1), 31-41. fischer, e. & reuber, a. (2004). contextual antecedents and consequences of relationships between young firms and distinct types of dominant exchange partners. journal of business venturing, 19(5), 681-706. gibbert, m., ruigrok, w. & wicki, b. (2008). what passes as a rigourous case study? strategic management journal, 29(13), 1465-1474. � 570 m@n@gement, vol. 21(1): 534-573 lourdes pérez & jesús j. cambra fierro goerzen, a. & beamish p. w. (2005). the effect of alliance network diversity on multinational enterprise performance. strategic management journal, 26(4), 333-354. grant, r. & baden-fuller, c. (2004). a knowledge accessing theory of strategic alliances. journal of management studies, 41(1), 61-84. gulati, r. & sytch, m. (2007). dependence asymmetry and joint dependence in interorganizational relationships: effects of embeddedness on a manufacturer ’s performance in procurement relationships. administrative science quarterly, 52(1), 32-69. hamel, g. (1991). competition for competence and inter-partner learning within international strategic alliances. strategic management journal, 12(s1), 83-103. holmlund, m. & kock, s. (1994). buyer dominated relationships in a supply chain: a case study of four small-sized suppliers. international small business journal, 15(1), 26-40. inkpen, a. & wang, p. (2006). an examination of collaboration and knowledge transfer: chinasingapore suzhou industrial park. journal of management studies, 43(4), 779-811. johnsen, r. & ford, d. (2008). exploring the concept of asymmetry: a typology for analyzing customersupplier relationships. industrial marketing management, 37(4),471-483. katila, r., rosenberger, j. & eisenhardt, k. (2008). swimming with sharks: tech ventures, defense m e c h a n i s m s a n d c o r p o r a t e r e l a t i o n s h i p s . administrative science quarterly, 53(2), 295-332. kim, s.y. (2014). influence of firm and partner resources on firm performance in the alliance portfolio. m@n@gement, 17(2), 88-109. klijn, e., reuer, j., buckley, p. & glaister, k (2010). combinations of partners' joint venture formation motives. european business review, 22(6), 576-590. lane, p., koka, l. & pathak, m. (2006). the reification of absorptive capacity: a critical review and rejuvenation of the construct. academy of management review, 31(4), 833-63 lane, p. & lubatkin, m. (1998). relative absorptive capacity and interorganizational learning. strategic management journal, 19(5), 461-477. la rocca a., ford d. & snehota i. (2013). initial relationship development in new business ventures. i n d u s t r i a l m a r k e t i n g m a n a g e m e n t , 4 2 ( 7 ) , 1025-1032. larson, r., bengtsson, l., henriksson, k. & sparks, j., (1998). the interorganizational learning dilemma: collective knowledge development in strategic alliances. organization science, 9(3), 285-305. leonard-barton, d. (1990). a dual methodology for case studies: synergistic use of a longitudinal single site with replicated multiple sites. organization science, 1(3), 1-19. lepak, d., smith, k. & taylor, m. (2007). value creation and value capture: a multi-level perspective. academy of management review, 32(1), 180-194. lindgreen.a., hingley, m., grand, d. & morgan r. (2012). value in business and industrial marketing: past, present, and future. industrial marketing management, 41(1), 207-214. lubatkin, m., florin, j. & lane, p. (2001). learning together and apart: a model of reciprocal interfirm learning. human relations, 54(10), 1353-1382. miles, m.b. & huberman, a.m. (1994), qualitative data analysis: an expanded sourcebook, thousand oaks, ca : sage publications. mizik, n. & jacobson, r. (2003). trading off between value creation and value appropriation: the financial implications of shifts in strategic emphasis. journal of marketing, 67(1), 63-76. möller, k. & svahn, s. (2006). role of knowledge in value creation in business nets. journal of management studies 43(5), 985-1007. mowery, d., oxley, j. & silverman, b. (1996). strategic alliances and interfirm knowledge transfer. strategic management journal, 1(s1), 77-91. mudambi, r. & helper, s. (1998). the 'close but adversarial' model of supplier relations in the us auto industry. strategic management journal, 19(8), 775-792. nohria, n. & garcia-pont, c. (1991). global strategic linkages and industry structures. strategic management journal, 12(s1), 105-124. norman, p. (2002). protecting knowledge in strategic alliances: resource and relational characteristics. journal of high tech management research, 13(2), 177-185. padula, g. (2008). enhancing the innovation performance of firms by balancing cohesiveness and bridging ties. long range planning, 41(4), 395-419. palmatier, r. (2008). interfirm relational drivers of customer value. journal of marketing, 72(4), 76-89. perez, l., whitelock, j. & florin. j. (2013). learning about customers: managing b2b alliances between small tech startps and industry leaders. european journal of marketing, 47, 431-462. perrow, c. (1970), organizational analysis: a sociological view, belmont, ca: wadsworth. pfeffer, j. & salancik, g (1978), the external control of o r g a n i z a t i o n s . a r e s o u r c e d e p e n d e n c e perspective, new york: harper & row. pfeffer, j. & salancik, g. (2003), the external control of o r g a n i z a t i o n s . a r e s o u r c e d e p e n d e n c e perspective, stanford university press. originally published: new york: harper & row, 1978. pfeffer, j. & nowak, p. (1976). joint ventures and interorganizational interdependence. administrative science quarterly, 21(3), 398-418. plé, l. (2013). how does the customer fit in relational coordination? an empirical study in multichannel retail banking. m@n@gement, 16(1), 1-30. polo-redondo, y. & cambra-fierro, j. (2007). a s s e s s m e n t a n d r e a s s e s s m e n t o f s u p p l y relationships: a case study in the spanish wine industry. journal of entrepreneurial behaviour & research, 13(2), 82-106. �571 value creation and appropriation in asymmetric alliances m@n@gement, vol. 21(1): 534-573 powell, k. & smith, d. (1996). interorganizational collaboration and the locus of innovation. networks of learning in biotechnology. administrative sicence quarterly, 41(1), 116-45. prashantham, s. & birkinshaw, j. (2008). dancing with gorillas: how small companies can partner effectively with mncs. california management review, 51(1), 6-23. ragin c. (2000), fuzzy set social science, chicago: univ. chicago press. reuer, j j., zollo, m. & singh h. (2002). post-formation d y n a m i c s i n s t r a t e g i c a l l i a n c e s . s t r a t e g i c management journal, 23(2), 135-151. rokkan, a. & haughland, s. (2002). developing relational exchange: effectiveness and power. european journal of marketing, 36(1/2), 211-230. roseira, c., brito, c. & ford, d. (2013). network pictures and supplier management: an empirical study. industrial marketing management, 42(2), 234-247. saxton, p. (1997). the effects of partner and relationship characteristics on alliance outcomes. academy of management journal, 40(2), 443-462. söllner a. (1999). asymmetrical commitment in business relationships. journal of business research, 46(3), 219-233. söllner a. (1998). opportunistic behaviour in asymmetrical relationships, in h. gemünden, t. ritter & a. walter (eds), relationships and networks in international markets (pp. 228-247). oxford: elsevier. stuart, t. (2000). interorganisational alliances and the performance of firms: a study of growth and innovation rates in a high-technology industry. strategic management journal, 21(8), 791-811. vargo, s. & lusch, r. (2004). evolving to a new dominant logic for marketing. journal of marketing, 68(1), 1-17. wagner, s., eggert, a. & lindemann, l. (2010). creating and appropriating value in collaborative relationships. journal of business research, 63(8), 840-848. yan, a. & gray, b. (1994). bargaining power, management control, and performance in united states-china joint ventures: a comparative case study. academy of management journal, 37(6), 1478-1517. yin, r. (2003), case study resarch: design and methods (3rd edition ed.), thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. yli-renko h., autio e. & sapienza h. (2001). social capital, knowledge acquisition, and knowledge exploitation in young, tech-based firms. strategic management journal, 22(6/7), 587-613. � 572 m@n@gement, vol. 21(1): 534-573 lourdes pérez & jesús j. cambra fierro before joining tbs prof. pérez worked in industry for companies such as hewlett-packard, basf and procter&gamble. her research interests are in areas such as b2b markets, strategic alliances and relationship marketing. results of her research have been published in journals such as supply chain management: an international journal, management decision, european journal of marketing, european business review, journal of retailing and consumer services, journal of business strategy, etc. prof. cambra-fierro is head of the marketing department at upo. his research interests are related with supply chain management, business marketing and services marketing. results of his research have been published in journals such as supply chain management: an international journal, industrial marketing management, technovation, journal of retailing, journal of service research, journal of business and industrial marketing, etc. �573 04 223 barragandiaz&ramirezmarin&medinadiaz 2019 m@n@gement 2019, vol. 22(3): 466-486 the irony of choice in recruitment: when similarity turns recruiters to other candidates adrián barragán díaz ! jimena y. ramírez marín ! francisco j. medina díaz accepted by associate editor alexandra gerbasi abstract. across two experimental studies, we examine the influence of similarity perceptions on recruiters’ job fit perceptions of job applicants. in addition, a robustness study extends the effect of similarity by introducing work-related sources of similarity and tests the relationship between workrelated similarities on similarity perceptions. moreover, we explore the emotional and cognitive mechanisms behind the effects of similarity perceptions on job fit. we also propose and test a boundary condition, such that, when job desirability is low, the effect of demographic similarity on perceived similarity is reversed. the sample for the three studies consist of specialized master’s students with work experience in human resources management who acted as recruiters in a resume screening situation. the results show that the effects of similarity are not always positive for job fit perceptions. the studies provide evidence that when recruiters perceive applicants as similar to themselves, biased evaluations occur. finally, we provide results that show the effects of mediation and moderation analysis whereby liking mediates the relationship between similarity perceptions and job fit perceptions through emotional, cognitive and motivational sequential mediators. additionally, job desirability moderates the relationship between demographic similarity and similarity perceptions so that when job desirability is low, the effect of demographic similarity on perceived similarity is reversed. keywords: biases, similarity perceptions, recruitment, liking, personnel selection introduction organizations invest resources in selecting the best possible candidates. the first stage in that process – and probably the most common practice in personnel selection – is resume screening (dipboye & jackson, 1999). recruiters’ appraisal of the resume is the first filter that applicants must overcome to potentially get a job. based on the resume, recruiters make decisions about which applicants will continue through the process and which applicants will be rejected. therefore, resume screening is central to the whole selection process (cable & judge, 1997; higgins & judge, 2004). personnel selection is essentially based on procedures that require human decisions, and those decisions are influenced by biases and errors (lee, pitesa, pillutla & thau, 2015). the possible biases of recruiters are of interest to academics, organizations and the international press. for �466 adrián barragán díaz iéseg school of management france a.barragandiaz@ieseg.fr jimena y. ramírez marín iéseg school of management (lem cnrs 9221) france j.ramirez@ieseg.fr francisco j. medina díaz university of seville spain fjmedina@us.es m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 466-486 adrián barragán díaz & jimena y. ramírez marín & francisco j. medina díaz instance, the economist published a paper focused on the influence of physical attractiveness in selection (don’t hate me because i’m beautiful (the economist, 2012)), which is in line with prior research by luxen and van de vijver (2006). research has focused on recruiters’ hiring decisions for several decades (chen & lin, 2014; rand & wexley, 1975; wade & kinicki, 1997). a topic that has attracted particular attention is the existence of the “similar-to-me” effect, in which recruiters select candidates who are similar to themselves in some respect. this effect has been confirmed for similarity of race (e.g. derous, ryan & nguyen, 2012; lee, pitesa, thau & pillutla, 2015; millman, 2016; o’leary, durham, weathington, cothran & cunningham, 2009), age (e.g. jiang, hoegg, dahl & chattopadhyay, 2010) and gender (antonovics, arcidiacono & walsh, 2005; bagues & estevevolart, 2010; kaplan, berkley & fisher, 2016; reis, young & jury, 1999). “demographic similarity” (turban & jones, 1988) refers to the actual similarity between individuals along dimensions such as educational level, race, age, and so on. in the context of recruitment, what is the effect of demographic similarity on the recruiter’s perception? moreover, what are the boundary conditions for this effect? we designed two experimental studies to address these research questions. the first study tests the effects of demographic similarity on similarity perceptions and liking. the second explores a boundary condition for the effect of similarity perceptions; this is the moderating effect of job desirability. in addition, a robustness study extends the effect of similarity and tests the relationship between work-related similarities on similarity perceptions. literature review and hypotheses we conducted a systematic review of 12 studies (see appendix a) analyzing the effects of similarity on job fit and other organizational variables. this review revealed three main inconsistencies across studies. first, the operationalization of similarity varies across studies; second, the effects of similarity on organizational variables are direct in some studies and indirect in other studies; and third, most studies focus on selection interviews despite the fact that other sources of similarity may also be present. we explain our findings in detail in the following paragraphs. across studies, authors measure similarity using self-reports of similarity scales, self-reports of a checklist of categories, or the judgment of third parties with similar expertise (e.g. between candidates and committees (bagues & perez-villadoniga, 2012)). self-report studies also measure similarity perceptions using items from different authors (e.g. byrne, 1971; howard & ferris, 1996; kristof-brown, barrick & franke, 2002; turban & jones, 1988). second, across studies, authors have found different relationships between key variables. for example, several studies show a positive direct relationship between similarity perceptions and job fit perceptions (e.g. bagues & perez-villadoniga, 2012; frank & hackman, 1975; rand & wexley, 1975). however, this direct effect is mostly found in an interview context in which people face multiple sources of similarity, as well as interaction-related variables that cannot be controlled and may affect interviewers’ judgments. the resume screening situation usually does not involve any interaction with the candidate, thus reducing the sources of similarity to the information presented in the candidate’s resume. another set of studies reports that the relationship between similarity perceptions and job fit perceptions is indirect and positive, through, for example, �467 the irony of choice in recruitment: when similarity turns recruiters to other candidates m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 466-486 emotional factors (cotton, o’neill & griffin, 2008; howard & ferris, 1996), performance expectations (garcía, posthuma & colella, 2008) and person–organization fit or person–job fit (cable & judge, 1997; chen, lee & yeh, 2008; chen & lin, 2014; tsai, chi, huang & hsu, 2011). moreover, goldberg (2005) found no relationship between similarity perceptions and selection outcomes. a possible explanation for this finding is that the author used only one item to measure recruiters’ assessment of applicants’ resumes. third, prior research has widely examined the relationship between similarity perceptions and job fit perceptions in the selection interview process (bagues & perez-villadoniga, 2012; frank & hackman, 1975; garcía et al., 2008; tsai et al., 2011) but not in the recruitment phase (burns, christiansen, morris, periard & coaster, 2014; cole, rubin, feild & giles, 2007). in light of the inconsistencies found in our systematic review, this study makes three main contributions to the literature. first, our study proposes a distinction between demographic similarity and similarity perceptions, and we use an experimental design to control for other sources of similarity that can be present in job interviews. second, our study tests the quality of the relationship (direct or indirect) between similarity perceptions and job fit perceptions and systematically addresses the psychological mechanisms that influence job fit perception. third, our study proposes a boundary condition under which demographic similarity has a negative effect on similarity perceptions: job desirability. similarity and liking relational demographic theory indicates that individuals tend to evaluate others more favorably if they have similar demographic characteristics (goldberg, riordan & zhang, 2008; tsui & barry, 1986; tsui & o’reilly, 1989; turban & jones, 1988; walton, cohen, cwir & spencer, 2012). byrne’s (1971) study was one of the first to test the effect of similarity perceptions between individuals. he proposed the “attraction paradigm”, which postulates that the more similar characteristics a person shares with another, the more attracted he or she will be to this other person. this paradigm suggests a direct relationship between shared personal characteristics and the perceived attraction between individuals. extensive empirical evidence supports the effect of the attraction paradigm; for example, individuals expect that the more similar they are to others, the more they will be liked by them (condon & crano, 1988). moreover, when people share characteristics such as sex, birthdate, name or initials, they are more willing to trust and work with those with whom they share these characteristics (burger, messian, patel, del prado & anderson, 2004; jiang et al., 2010; miller, downs & prentice 1998; polman, pollmann & poehlman, 2013). specifically, in an interview situation, when job applicants have demographic similarity to the interviewer, interviewers perceive similar candidates as higher in job fit, intelligence and attraction compared to dissimilar candidates (bakar & mccann, 2014; cardy & dobbins, 1986; rand & wexley, 1975; tsui, porter & egan, 2002). in addition, demographic similarity between the recruiter and applicant leads to similarity perceptions in attitudes and values, which in turn leads to liking, which then leads to a positive bias in the recruiter’s interview conduct (graves & powell, 1995). “similarity perception” refers to an individual assessment of how similar the person is to the perceiver (turban & jones, � 468 m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 466-486 adrián barragán díaz & jimena y. ramírez marín & francisco j. medina díaz 1988). in this specific study, it represents the recruiter’s perception of how similar the candidate is to him or her. this effect was also found in a resume screening situation. shared first names facilitate similarity perceptions between candidate and recruiter. for example, howard and kerin (2011) showed participants, who acted as recruiters, two resumes, one of which included a candidate with the same name as their own. the participants assessed the resume of the candidate with the shared name more positively than the other resume. moreover, cotton et al. (2008) found that candidates with unusual names or names that generate low similarity perceptions with recruiters have a lower likelihood of being hired. we hypothesize that similarity perceptions generate liking, which drive the similar-to-me effect in a resume screening context. liden, wayne and stilwell (1993: 664) defined “liking” as a “form of affect that refers to the degree of interpersonal attraction in a relationship”. we expect similarity perceptions to increase the extent to which the recruiter likes a certain candidate, and therefore we expect demographic similarity to indirectly increase the liking through similarity perceptions. we hypothesize that demographic similarity has an influence on liking through similarity perceptions. hypothesis 1: demographic similarity has a positive indirect effect on liking through similarity perceptions. job desirability in a resume screening context, there are two main sources of information for the recruiter: the resume of the candidate and the job position itself. we propose that recruiters take into account not only demographic similarity but also the job position to evaluate candidates. the job position moderates the relationship between recruiter inferences of applicant personality traits and recruiter judgments of applicant employability (cole, field, giles & harris, 2004). therefore, we expect different job positions to influence the recruiter’s perceptions of the candidate. specifically, job position will influence job desirability (pounder & merrill, 2001), the extent to which recruiters like the job they are selecting for. we expect recruiters to perceive themselves as similar to the candidate, unless they do not like the job for which they are evaluating that candidate. previous research has shown that job position has an effect on the relationship between similarity perceptions and job fit perceptions (chen et al., 2008; goldberg, 2005; tsai et al., 2011). therefore, we expect different job positions to influence the recruiter’s perceptions of the candidate such that recruiters will not perceive demographically similar candidates as similar to themselves when they do not like the job they are evaluating for. hypothesis 2: demographic similarity generates similarity perceptions only when job desirability is high. effects of liking on recruiters’ evaluation as we mentioned previously, evidence shows a direct relationship between similarity perceptions and liking. thus, we do not develop a specific hypothesis for this (frank & hackman, 1975; garcía et al., 2008) but rather propose a new relationship. in particular, we test whether liking �469 the irony of choice in recruitment: when similarity turns recruiters to other candidates m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 466-486 leads the recruiter to make more positive cognitive assessments of the candidate. liking has been identified as a robust predictor of performance ratings (bates, 2002). in a similar study, garcía et al. (2008) examine two mechanisms behind the relationship between similarity and job fit perceptions of candidates: liking and performance expectations. in their study, they created different profiles of employees who were evaluated by participants in terms of degree of similarity, kindness and employability. the results showed that only performance expectations mediated the effect of similarity perceptions on job fit. contrary to what we would expect, liking was not directly related to job fit perceptions. we argue that the liking measure used in that study did not evaluate the candidate in the work context. we propose that the liking measure should refer to the candidate as a potential employee for it to mediate the relationship between similarity perceptions and the candidate’s evaluation. the second mechanism garcía et al. (2008) evaluate is performance expectations; however, they do not identify the specific aspects that influence job fit. the performance expectations measure used consisted of five items, while the original scale consists of 25 (welbourne, johnson & erez, 1998). we propose that similarity perceptions influence not only job fit perceptions but also the attributions the recruiters make about the candidate. specifically, we expect recruiters to perceive similar candidates as more able, more motivated and more trustworthy. in addition, we propose that these perceptions, although not causal, are related to the higher job fit perceptions of the recruiter about the similar candidate. we test three other specific dimensions of performance expectations: “cognitive ability”, “motivation” and “trust”. we sequentially test the effects of these two variables together, where liking would lead first to performance expectations instead of directly to job fit perceptions. this effect was shown by shelly (2001), who showed that respondents evaluated liked individuals more positively than disliked individuals and expected them to perform more competently. in addition, recruiters are trained to select the most qualified candidates according to the candidates’ “cognitive ability” (hunter & hunter, 1984; schmidt & hunter, 2004). indeed, cognition is likely an attribute that recruiters explicitly search for when selecting candidates. high cognitive ability has a positive influence on performance in a wide range of jobs (schmidt & hunter, 1998). moreover, evidence suggests that recruiters use candidates’ biographical information to make inferences about the candidates’ motivation (brown & campion, 1994). in addition, the sharing of demographic or biographical data with others generates interpersonal “trust”, which leads recruiters to favor and select candidates with whom they share these characteristics rather than those with whom they do not (jiang, chua, kotabe & murray, 2011). this discussion leads to the following hypotheses: hypothesis 3: higher similarity perceptions indirectly lead recruiters to infer (a) higher cognitive ability, (b) higher motivation, and (c) higher trust of the candidates through liking. hypothesis 4: higher similarity perceptions indirectly lead recruiters to infer higher job fit perceptions through both liking and (a) cognitive ability, (b) motivation and (c) trust. figure 1 illustrates our full research model. � 470 m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 466-486 adrián barragán díaz & jimena y. ramírez marín & francisco j. medina díaz figure 1. research model experiment 1 we designed experiment 1 to test the influence of demographic characteristics on the similarity perception and the mediation effect of similarity perceptions for the relationship between demographic similarity and liking (h1). method participants. forty-two master’s students in human resources (hr) management participated in this experiment (10 men, 32 women). the average age of participants was 24.3 years (sd = 3.45), and the average experience in hr was 3.65 years (sd = 8.34). all participants received course credit for their participation. the experiment was a 2 (job position: telephone operator vs. computer programmer) × 2 (demographic similarity: birthdate vs. last name) between-subjects design. participants were randomly assigned to one of the four conditions. procedure. all of the participants acted as recruiters for the study. after the participants arrived at the lab, they received instructions on a computer screen. first, participants responded to some demographic questions. second, they saw two different candidates’ resumes and responded to questions after each of them. to control for order effects, the resumes were randomly presented. third, after reading each resume, participants evaluated several characteristics of the two candidates, including liking and similarity perceptions. finally, participants were debriefed and thanked for their participation. independent variable: we manipulated “demographic similarity” based on prior work (burger et al., 2004; cotton et al., 2008; miller et al., 1998). all participants had the role of recruiter and evaluated the resumes of two potential candidates; one candidate’s resume was the control and the other candidate’s resume was experimentally manipulated depending on the condition. we kept the information contained in both resumes constant in terms of the candidates’ qualifications, experience and training. the only difference between resumes was that the experimental resume contained the recruiter’s birthdate or last name (depending on the condition), and the control did not. appendix b contains one example. dependent variables. for “similarity perceptions”, we adapted the measures used by garcía et al. (2008) to a resume screening situation. therefore, our five items measured the similarity perceptions between recruiters and applicants (e.g. “i think i am similar to this person”) (α = 0.95). for “liking”, we used three items based on wayne and ferris’s �471 the irony of choice in recruitment: when similarity turns recruiters to other candidates m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 466-486 (1990) scale, which measured the recruiters’ feelings about the applicants (e.g. “i’d feel good working with this person”) (α = 0.83). items of every scale were measured on a 7-point likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree). results manipulation checks. to ensure that participants identified the demographic similarity, we asked whether they shared any demographic characteristics with any of the candidates. four participants in the birthdate condition and two participants in the last name condition responded incorrectly. they did not perceive any demographic similarity and were subsequently removed from all analyses. the final sample consisted of 36 participants. data analysis. table 1 shows the means, standard deviations and correlations between our main dependent variables. we used analysis of variance (anova) to test mean differences between conditions and the process macro (hayes, 2012) to evaluate indirect effects. for every dependent variable used in the analysis, we controlled for the same variable of the control candidate. note. n = 42. cp = computer programmer; ln = last name; bd = birthdate; to = telephone operator. the correlation corresponds to similarity perceptions and liking for the control and experimental candidates. ∗∗p < .01. table 1 means, standard deviations and correlation between the main dependent variables results. we tested our assumption that demographic similarity between the recruiter and the candidate would generate higher similarity perceptions. the results of an analysis of variance with two factors show a main effect of demographic similarity on similarity perceptions (f(3, 36) = 6.06, p = .015; d = .42), as well as an interaction effect (f(3, 36) = 5.41, p = .037). the main effect of job type was not significant (p > .14). means showed that last name generated higher similarity perceptions (m = 4.16, sd = 1.12) than birthdate (m = 3.53, sd = 1.16). further, cohen’s effect size value (d = .42) suggested moderate to high practical significance. hypothesis 1 predicted that demographic similarity would have a positive indirect effect on liking through similarity perceptions. to test this indirect effect, we used model 4 of the process macro (hayes, 2012). the results show that demographic similarity is positively related to liking � 472 sim. perceptions liking variable mean sd mean sd correlation 1. cp_ln 4.37 0.73 5 0.76 .38 2. cp_bd 2.48 1.08 4.60 0.83 .38 3. cp_control 2.80 1.28 4.21 0.43 .52 4. to_ln 4.06 1.28 4.87 0.71 .60** 5. to_bd 3.96 0.90 4.44 0.57 .60** 6. to_control 3.25 1.24 4.22 0.63 .61** m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 466-486 adrián barragán díaz & jimena y. ramírez marín & francisco j. medina díaz through similarity perceptions (indirect effect = .083, bootstrap 95% confidence interval [ci] = .001 to .227). the direct effects were not significant. therefore, hypothesis 1 is supported. experiment 2 the results of experiment 1 indicated that demographic similarity influences similarity perceptions. in experiment 2, we measure specifically how desirable the job position was for the recruiter. we selected lessdesirable jobs (i.e. a telephone operator, a sewer inspector and a garbage collector) and measured how desirable these job positions were for the recruiter to test the effects of job desirability on the relationships between demographic similarity and similarity perceptions (h2). moreover, we included several mechanisms that account for the relationship among similarity perceptions, liking and job fit. specifically, we included emotional, cognitive and motivational expectations to understand how job fit perceptions were derived (h3 and h4). method participants. a total sample of 142 master’s students in hr management participated in this study (53 men, 89 women). the average age was 22.67 years (sd = 5.13), and the average experience in hr was 1.78 years (sd = 3.49). all received course credit for their participation. the experiment was a 3 (job position: telephone operator, sewer inspector, garbage collector) × 2 (demographic similarity: birthdate vs. last name) between-subjects design. participants were randomly assigned to each condition. procedure. the procedure was the same as in experiment 1, but now three undesirable jobs were presented depending on condition: telephone operator, sewer inspector and garbage collector. independent variable. we manipulated “demographic similarity” as we did in experiment 1; the experimental resume contained the recruiter’s birthdate or last name (depending on the condition), and the control did not. dependent variables. we used the same scale as in the previous study for “similarity perception” (α = 0.94) and “liking” (α = 0.89). for “job fit”, we adapted the scale of kristof-brown (2000) to a resume screening situation. we used three items to measure the recruiter’s perceptions of the applicant’s job fit (e.g. “this person fits the job”) (α = 0.90). we developed four items to assess “job desirability” as perceived by the recruiters (e.g. “would you like to work as a [job position]?”) (α = 0.91). in addition, we developed four items to assess the degree of “cognitive ability” of the applicants (e.g. “this person has the ability to perform this job”) (α = 0.90). next, we developed four items to assess the degree of “motivation” of the applicants (e.g. “this person will be motivated for this job”) (α = 0.93). finally, we developed four items to assess the recruiter’s “trust” in the applicants (e.g. “do you trust this person’s performance?”) (α = 0.86). items on all scales were measured on a 7-point likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree). results manipulation checks. participants were asked whether they remembered the job position for the recruitment. we removed 19 participants who responded incorrectly and thus failed to understand the �473 the irony of choice in recruitment: when similarity turns recruiters to other candidates m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 466-486 manipulations. thus, the final sample for analysis consisted of 123 participants. table 2 shows the means, standard deviations and correlations between our main dependent variables. note. n = 142. to = telephone operator; ln = last name; bd = birthdate; si = sewer inspector; gc = garbage collector. correlation 1 corresponds to similarity perceptions and liking for the control and experimental candidates. correlation 2 corresponds to liking and job fit perceptions for the control and experimental candidates. ∗∗p < .01. table 2 means, standard deviations and correlations between the main dependent variables consistent with experiment 1, demographic similarity had a positive effect on similarity perceptions (f(1, 123) = 8.516, p = .004; d = .35). means showed that last name again generated higher similarity perceptions (m = 3.72, sd = 1.64) than birthdate (m = 3.19, sd =1.34). further, cohen’s effect size value (d = .35) suggested low to moderate practical significance. in addition, demographic similarity had a positive indirect effect on liking through similarity perceptions, using model 4 (hayes, 2012) (indirect effect = .050, bootstrap 95% ci = .002 to .125). the direct effect was not significant. therefore, hypothesis 1 is again supported. in experiment 2, we measured the desirability of each job for recruiters. consistent with our prediction, the results show a moderation effect of job desirability on similarity perceptions (f(1, 117) = 4.05, p < .05). specifically, demographic similarity led to higher similarity perceptions when job desirability was evaluated with values at the mean (conditional effect = .259, bootstrap 95% ci = .011 to .518) and above the mean � 474 sim. perceptions liking j.f. perceptions variable mean sd mean sd mean sd correlation 1 correlation 2 1. to_ln 3.63 1.81 4.90 0.85 5.27 0.69 .33 .36** 2. to_bd 3.03 1.31 4.49 0.79 5.28 0.80 .33 .36** 3. to_control 2.49 1.17 4.60 0.72 5.32 0.83 .19** .23** 4. si_ln 4.12 1.21 4.69 1.07 5.46 0.84 .29 .34** 5. si_bd 2.98 1.40 4.61 0.80 5.36 0.83 .29 .34** 6. si_control 2.53 1.18 4.76 1.02 5.37 0.76 .17** .20** 7. gc_ln 3.46 1.79 4.86 1.01 5.81 0.82 .32 .30** 8. gc_bd 3.68 1.25 4.87 0.94 5.39 1.01 .32 .30** 9. gc_control 2.76 1.21 4.98 0.91 5.80 0.77 .20** .19** m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 466-486 adrián barragán díaz & jimena y. ramírez marín & francisco j. medina díaz (conditional effect = .529, bootstrap 95% ci = .164 to .894); in contrast, when the values of job desirability were below the mean, this relationship was not significant (conditional effect = –.001, n.s.; see figure 2). these results provide support for hypothesis 2. figure 2. interaction effect of demographic similarities by job desirability on similarity perception hypothesis 3 predicted that liking would mediate the relationship between similarity perceptions and recruiters’ inference of the candidate’s cognitive ability (hypothesis 3a), motivation (hypothesis 3b), and trust (hypothesis 3c). to measure these three indirect effects, we again used model 4 in the process macro (hayes, 2012). for every model, we controlled for the effects of liking and (in each case, depending on the model) the cognitive ability, motivation and trust inferences regarding the control candidate. the results show that liking mediated the relationship between recruiters’ similarity perceptions and cognitive ability inference (indirect effect = .058, bootstrap 95% ci = .014 to .126) and trust inference (indirect effect = .044, bootstrap 95% ci = .008 to .120) of the candidate. in contrast, liking did not mediate the relationship between similarity perceptions and motivation inferences (indirect effect = .029, bootstrap 95% ci = –.030 to .108). none of the direct effects was significant. therefore, hypotheses 3a and 3c are supported, but hypothesis 3b is not supported. hypothesis 4 predicted that similarity perceptions would generate higher job fit perceptions through liking and the recruiters’ inference of the candidate’s cognitive ability (hypothesis 4a), motivation (hypothesis 4b) and trust (hypothesis 4c). for every model, we controlled for the effects of liking, job fit perceptions and (in each case, depending on the model) the cognitive ability, motivation and trust inferences regarding the control candidate. the results of a sequential mediation model (model 6 of the process macro; hayes (2012)) show that liking and cognitive ability inferences (indirect effect = .038, bootstrap 95% ci = .010 to .094; see figure 3) and liking and trust inferences (indirect effect = .024, bootstrap 95% ci = .004 to .071) sequentially mediated the relationship between similarity perceptions and job fit perceptions. �475 the irony of choice in recruitment: when similarity turns recruiters to other candidates m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 466-486 ∗∗p < .01 figure 3. standardized regression coefficients for the relationship between similarity perception and job fit perceptions as mediated by liking and ability perceptions. mediation model (study 2) in contrast, liking and motivation inferences did not mediate this relationship (indirect effect = .006, bootstrap 95% ci = –.004 to .042). none of the direct effects was significant. these results provide partial support for hypothesis 4. we also test the three sequential models in reverse, with cognitive ability, motivation and trust perceptions as first mediators and liking as second mediator. all models include job fit as the independent variable. the results show that the models for cognitive ability (indirect effect = .188, bootstrap 95% ci = .044 to .465) and trust (indirect effect = .107, bootstrap 95% ci = .010 to .323) are significant. we cannot argue for causality in any of the three models given that the measures were taken at the same time. the model, however, shows the relationships across variables. additionally, we analyzed liking, cognitive ability, motivation and trust as independent mediators in the relationship between similarity perceptions and job fit. and these models were not significant (indirect effect = .016, bootstrap 95% ci = –.008 to .055), (indirect effect = .014, bootstrap 95% ci = –.011 to .065), (indirect effect = .000, bootstrap 95% ci = –.011 to .024), (indirect effect = .009, bootstrap 95% ci = –.003 to .058) respectively. finally, we examined the effect of the participants’ experience in hypotheses 3 and 4, and the results show no differences for any of the analyses. sources of similarity in the selection process we tested the robustness of the similarity perceptions by considering other possible sources of similarity that might be related to the selection process. whereas experiments 1 and 2 test whether the same last name or birthdate influences similarity perceptions, this study focuses on other possible sources of similarity relevant to the selection process. method participants. a total sample of 300 master’s students in hr management participated in this study (109 men, 191 women). the average age of participants was 25.2 years (sd = 9.45), and the average experience in hr was 3.72 years (sd = 9.56). all participants received course credit for their participation. the experiment was a 3 (job position: telephone operator, computer programmer, welder) × 3 (source of � 476 m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 466-486 adrián barragán díaz & jimena y. ramírez marín & francisco j. medina díaz similarity: work-related attributes, cover letter, cover letter with work-related attributes) between-subjects design. participants were randomly assigned to each condition. procedure. the procedure was the same as in experiments 1 and 2, but three job positions were presented depending on condition: telephone operator, computer programmer or welder. independent variable. for the work-related attributes manipulation, we asked participants to select (before running the experiment) three skills describing themselves. one of the resumes contained the skills the participant selected as describing himor herself, while the other resume contained skills the participant did not select (depending on condition). for the cover letter manipulation, one resume contained a cover letter focused on the organization, while the cover letter of the other resume focused on the applicant (depending on condition). for the cover letter plus attributes, we used a combination of both manipulations, such that one resume contained a cover letter focused on the organization plus the three skills selected by the participant, while the other resume contained a letter focused on the applicant plus three skills not selected by the participant. we expect the cover letter to influence similarity perceptions in two ways: first, by activating group membership (in the similarity condition, the letter is focused on the organization and not on the candidate), and second, by activating work-related similarity with the recruiter (in the cover letter plus attributes condition, the letter contained three work skills that the recruiter reported having himor herself). the full description of the manipulations and all descriptive statistics are available from the authors. dependent variables. we used the same items and scales as in experiment 1: “similarity perceptions” (α = 0.96) and “liking” (α = 0.88). results manipulation checks. participants were asked to remember the job position they evaluated. we removed 59 participants who responded incorrectly and thus failed to understand the manipulations. the final sample for analysis thus consisted of 241 participants. consistent with experiments 1 and 2, other sources of similarity had a positive effect on similarity perceptions (f(2, 240) = 4.26, p = .01; d = . 29). means showed that the cover letter plus attributes generated higher similarity perceptions (m = 3.89, sd = 1.31) than the cover letter (m = 3.36, sd = 1.29) or attributes (m = 3.59, sd = 1.49) separately. post hoc tests using the bonferroni correction revealed that these differences were statistically significant when comparing cover letter plus attributes with cover letter (p = .012). further, cohen’s effect size value (d = .29) suggested low practical significance. this result generalizes the effect of similarity to work-related attributes. we go beyond demographics and use work-related attributes to generate similarity perceptions. general discussion our two experiments provide evidence of the effect of similarity on recruitment evaluations. experiment 1 shows that demographic similarity between the candidate and the recruiter has an effect on the recruiter’s liking through similarity perceptions. our second study shows that job desirability moderates the effect of similarity on the recruiter’s perceptions. our results are consistent with past studies focused on demographics to influence similarity perceptions (cotton et al., 2008; graves & powell, 1995). in both experiments, we replicate this effect and distinguish �477 the irony of choice in recruitment: when similarity turns recruiters to other candidates m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 466-486 demographic similarity and similarity perceptions. our research introduced a boundary condition: job desirability. the results show that the demographically similar candidate was favored only when the job position was desirable to the recruiter. our results also provide evidence of liking and cognitive ability perceptions as mediators of the effect of perceived similarity on the recruiter’s perception of job fit. finally, we provide evidence of the robustness of the similarity effect by showing that workrelated attributes generate similarity perceptions. the contribution of this research to the literature is threefold. first, we suggest a model that takes into account previous findings in the relationship between similarity and job fit perceptions and tries to integrate the different findings. second, our study proposes a boundary condition for the effect of demographic similarity on liking: job desirability. third, our research extends the work of garcía et al. (2008), in that our design contains both cognitive and emotional mechanisms for the effect of liking on job fit perceptions. moreover, similarity perceptions mediate the relationship between demographic similarity and liking. some studies support the direct effect of actual demographic similarity on liking (byrne, 1971; condon & crano, 1988; frank & hackman, 1975; rand & wexley, 1975). however, other studies have found support for the indirect effect of demographic similarity on liking through similarity perceptions (goldberg, 2005; graves & powell, 1988). our research is consistent with the latter group of studies. a possible explanation for the direct effect observed by some studies could be that these studies do not separate demographic similarity from similarity perceptions. we suggest that when demographic similarity is manipulated, it can also be a proxy for similarity perceptions. however, we understand these two concepts as different and complementary, and we believe a distinction must be made between them. similarity perceptions include one’s own evaluation of how similar one is to another, while actual demographic just highlights the other’s information. thus, our results partially support the attraction paradigm (byrne, 1981) (demographic similarity did not have a direct effect on liking) and fully support the social identity theory by showing that people prefer other people who belong to the same social group as themselves (tajfel & turner, 1986). to test the robustness of the similarity perceptions, we go beyond demographics and use work-related attributes to generate similarity perceptions. for example, a cover letter that focuses on the organization and that includes similar work-related attributes leads to higher levels of similarity perceptions compared to a cover letter or attributes on the resume separately. this extends the effects to other sources of similarity (beyond last name and birthdate). however, across studies, our results show that demographic similarity is a stronger source of similarity compared to organizational variables such as the cover letter or workrelated attributes. to our knowledge, our study is the first to find that workrelated attributes influence similarity perceptions. one of our main contributions is that job desirability acts as a moderator in the relationship between demographic similarity and similarity perceptions (experiment 2). jobs with low desirability prevented recruiters from perceiving similarity with the candidate. if recruiters like the job, demographic similarity will lead them to higher similarity perceptions with the similar candidate; on the other hand, if they find the job undesirable, demographic similarity did not affect similarity perceptions. we refer to this effect as the irony of choice, in which recruiters tend to favor similar candidates, but only when the job is desirable. if the job is undesirable, they tend to favor the dissimilar candidate. moreover, experiment 2 � 478 m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 466-486 adrián barragán díaz & jimena y. ramírez marín & francisco j. medina díaz addresses the cognitive and emotional mechanisms behind the relationship between similarity perceptions and job fit perceptions. we found that higher similarity perceptions lead recruiters to infer cognitive ability and trust of the candidate through liking. liking acts as a mediator for the inference process, as it is not possible to infer high cognitive ability or trust of the candidate directly through similarity perceptions. contrary to our expectations, liking does not lead to inferences about the candidate’s motivation. finally, we show that liking and cognitive ability, and liking and trust of the candidate, sequentially mediate the relationship between similarity perception and job fit perceptions. consistent with the studies by bagues and perez-villadoniga (2012) and frank and hackman (1975), our study supports the idea that recruiters’ perceptions of candidates influence their decisions about the recruitment process. we specifically show that the perception of job fit is more favorable for similar candidates unless recruiters do not find the particular vacant post desirable. this has managerial implication for managers, as well as for minorities and non-conventional candidates who are less likely to generate similarity perceptions with the recruiter. these non-conventional candidates will be more likely to be perceived as fit for jobs that are undesirable to the recruiter. another managerial implication of the results of this study is that organizations need to be careful about recruiting too many similar people. this could have negative effects such as groupthink, which occurs when a group makes faulty decisions because group pressures lead to a deterioration of “mental efficiency, reality testing, and moral judgment” (janis, 1982). our data show that experience in human resource management did not enable participants to avoid these biased perceptions. our research calls for further investigation that focuses on limiting the effects of bias perceptions in selection processes. evidence suggest that training might not be enough (wilson & brekke, 1994), and therefore more research is needed on the essential elements included in resumes as they go through online recruitment platforms. future research could also expand this topic to other types of organizations and cultural contexts or replicate the findings with data from consulting organizations focused on resume screening situations. future research should also seek to determine whether structuring the resume evaluation process (e.g. employing a structured resume rating form and training recruiters on how to evaluate applicants’ resumes) has any effect on the reliability and validity of recruiters’ inference making. the most serious limitation is that we are assessing perceptions in a laboratory context. although we tried to make it as real as possible, participants’ judgements were influenced by sharing the same last name or birthdate with a candidate in a recruiting process. we do not know how much this may affect actual behavior in the field. further research is still needed in the recruitment process. another limitation concerns the sample itself, as the participants of the three experimental studies were master’s students in hr management with limited working experience. however, previous research has argued that students may provide insights into processes that organizations use to reach decisions (greenberg, 1987) and that students may yield valuable information in a well-designed study (demerouti & rispens, 2014; eder & buckley, 1988; wheeler, shanine, leon & whitman, 2014). as a result, the use of students is appropriate when examining hr processes such as the hiring process. another limitation concerns the selection process. previous studies have demonstrated that depending on the nature of the selection process (e.g. face-to-face, telephone interview), recruiters may behave differently �479 the irony of choice in recruitment: when similarity turns recruiters to other candidates m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 466-486 (raza & carpenter, 1987; silvester, anderson, haddleton, cunninghamsnell & gibb, 2000). our research focuses on a context in which recruiters have to make decisions between equally qualified applicants. demographic similarities, cover letters and other sources of similarity might be less relevant and have less influence when some applicants are more qualified than others. finally, we acknowledge a common method bias, as all respondents were asked all the questions in a single survey. in conclusion, this work shows that job fit perceptions are influenced by cognitive biases, which have a detrimental effect on the selection process because of the potential disregarding of valid candidates. organizations interested in promoting ethical behavior and a positive diversity climate should therefore undertake efforts to minimize such biases and facilitate more thoughtful decision making. � 480 m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 466-486 adrián barragán díaz & jimena y. ramírez marín & francisco j. medina díaz appendices appendix a review of the main studies testing the relationship between similarity perceptions and job fit perceptions these papers were identified by searching web of science for the terms “demographic similarity”, “similarity perceptions”, “selection decisions” and “recruiter’s evaluations”. our inclusion criteria were:1) use of similarity as the independent variable in a recruitment or interview context and 2) use of job fit, hiring intentions, or interview assessments as the dependent variables. we also included papers citing or cited in garcía, posthuma and colella (2008). �481 study context quality of the relationship 
 (similar perceptions -> job fit perceptions) how is the "similarity" variable operationalized? how is the "similar-tome" variable measured? dependent variable(s) other measures bagues, m. & perezvilladoniga, m.j. (2012) interview direct objective matching similar expertise knowledge between candidates and committees success in the exam (likely to be hired) n/a chen, c.c. & lin, m.m. (2014) interview direct subjective – similarity perception howard & ferris (1996) 4 items hiring recommendation positive mood;
 p–o fit (person–org.),
 p–j fit (person–job),
 p–r fit (person– recruiter) perceptions cotton, j.l., o’neill, b.s. & griffin, a. (2008) recruitment indirect (through emotional factors) objective – common and uncommon names manipulated hiring intention likeability;
uniqueness dalessio, a. & imada, a.s. (1984). interview direct subjective – similarity perception ratings of different characteristics hiring intention n/a frank, l.l. & hackman, j.r. (1975) interview direct objective – similar characteristics 1-10 scale based on the 10 item category list bias toward (or against) the applicant (rating with overall assessment) liking for the applicant garcía, m.f., posthuma, r.a. & colella, a. (2008) interview indirect (through performance expectations) subjective – similarity perception 3 items adapted from turban and jones (1988) and 1 adapted from kristof-brown, barrick, and franke (2002). job fit perceptions;
 hiring recommendation liking for the applicant;
 performance expectations goldberg, c.b. (2005) interview indirect (through emotional factors) – no effects found objective and subjective – demographic and similarity perceptions byrne (1971) 4 items overall interview assessment;
 offer decision interpersonal attraction graves, l.m. & powell, g.n. (1995) interview indirect (through emotional factors) objective and subjective – gender similarity byrne (1971) 4 items interviewer's final evaluation (interview outcomes) interpersonal attraction;
 subjective qualifications howard, j.l. & ferris, g.r. (1996) interview indirect (through emotional and cognitive factors) subjective – similarity perception howard & ferris (1996) 4 items job suitability of the applicant affect toward the applicant;
 perceived competence of the applicant o'leary, b.j., durham, cr., weathington, b.l., cothran, d.l. & cunningham, c.j. (2009). recruitment direct subjective – similarity perception ranking the candidates according the perceived similarity measure (1-4) hiring recommendation; overall qualifications perceived ability and performance rand t.m. & wexley, k.n. (1975) interview direct objective but based on stereotypes manipulated hiring recommendation interpersonal attraction;
 job fit perceptions; likeability;
 intelligence perceptions tsai, w.c., chi, n.w., huang, t.c. & hsu, a.j. (2011) interview indirect (through po fit and/or pj fit) subjective – similarity perception howard & ferris (1996) 4 items hiring recommendation positive mood;
 p–o fit (person–org.),
 p–j fit (person–job),
 p–p fit (person–person) perceptions the irony of choice in recruitment: when similarity turns recruiters to other candidates m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 466-486 appendix b resume example for the telephone operator with last name manipulated condition � 482 resume telephone operator control condition resume telephone operator experimental condition job: telephone operator job: telephone operator applicant n°486 applicant n°488 bio: bio: name: c. name: d. last name: garcía sánchez. last name: < participant’s last name > birthday: 25/07/1985 birthday: 25/07/1985 place of origin: seville place of origin: seville academic formation: academic formation: high school. high school. job experience: job experience: 2 years working at the company “answering”. 2 years working at the company “speaking”. complementary formation: complementary formation: communication skills training (400hrs) communication skills training (400hrs) m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 466-486 adrián barragán díaz & jimena y. ramírez marín & francisco j. medina díaz references antonovics, k., arcidiacono, p. & walsh, r. (2005). games and discrimination lessons from the weakest link. journal of human resources, 40(4), 918-947. the economist. (2012). don’t hate me because i’m beautiful. available at www.economist.com/ business/2012/03/31/dont-hate-me-because-imbeautiful. bagues, m.f. & esteve-volart, b. (2010). can gender parity break the glass ceiling? evidence from a repeated randomized experiment. the review of economic studies, 77(4), 1301-1328. bagues, m. & perez-villadoniga, m.j. (2012). do recruiters prefer applicants with similar skills? evidence from a randomized natural experiment. journal of economic behavior & organization, elsevier, 82(1), 12-20. bakar, h.a. & mccann, r.m. (2014). matters of demographic similarity and dissimilarity in s u p e r v i s o r – s u b o r d i n a t e r e l a t i o n s h i p s a n d workplace attitudes. international journal of intercultural relations, 41, 1-16. bates, r. (2002). liking and similarity as predictors of multi-source ratings. personnel review, 31(5), 540-552. brown, b.k. & campion, m.a. (1994). biodata phenomenology: recruiters’ perceptions and use of biographical information in resume screening. journal of applied psychology, 79(6), 897-908. burger, j.m., messian n., patel s., del prado a. & anderson c. (2004). what a coincidence: the effects of incidental similarity on compliance. personality and social psychology bulletin, 30(1), 35-43. burns, g.n., christiansen, n.d., morris, m.b., periard, d.a. & coaster, j.a. (2014). effects of applicant personality on resume evaluations. journal of business and psychology, 29(4), 573-591. byrne, d. (1971), the attraction paradigm, new york, ny: academic press. cable, d.m. & judge, t.a. (1997). interviewers’ perceptions of person-organization fit and organizational selection decisions. journal of applied psychology, 82(4), 546-561. cardy, r.l. & dobbins, g.h. (1986). affect and appraisal accuracy: liking as an integral dimension in evaluating performance. journal of applied psychology, 71(4), 672-678. chen, c.h.v., lee, h.m. & yeh, y.j.y. (2008). the a n t e c e d e n t a n d c o n s e q u e n c e o f p e r s o n – organization fit: ingratiation, similarity, hiring recommendations and job offer. international journal of selection and assessment, 16(3), 210-219. chen, c.c. & lin, m.m. (2014). the effect of applicant impression management tactics on hiring recommendations: cognitive and affective processes. applied psychology, 63(4), 698-724. cole, m.s., feild, h.s., giles, w.f. & harris, s.g. (2004). job type and recruiters’ inferences of applicant personality drawn from resume biodata: their relationships with hiring recommendations. international journal of selection and assessment, 12(4), 363-367. cole, m.s., rubin, r.s., feild, h.s. & giles, w.f. (2007). recruiters’ perceptions and use of applicant resume information: screening the recent graduate. applied psychology: an international review, 56(2), 319-343. condon, j.w. & crano, w.d. (1988). inferred evaluation and the relation between attitude similarity and interpersonal attraction. journal of personality and social psychology, 54(5), 789-797. cotton, j.l., o’neill, b.s. & griffin, a. (2008). the name game: affective and hiring reactions to first names. journal of managerial psychology, 23(1), 18-39. dalessio, a. & imada, a.s. (1984). relationships between interview selection decisions and perceptions of applicant similarity to an ideal employee and self: a field study. human relations, 37(1), 67-80. demerouti, e. & rispens, s. (2014). improving the i m a g e o f s t u d e n t‐r e c r u i t e d s a m p l e s : a commentary. journal of occupational and organizational psychology, 87(1), 34-41. derous, e., ryan, a.m. & nguyen, h.h.d. (2012). multiple categorization in resume screening: examining effects on hiring discrimination against arab applicants in field and lab settings. journal of organizational behavior, 33(4), 544-570. dipboye, r.l. & jackson, s.l. (1999). interviewer experience and expertise effects. in r.w. eder & m.m. harris (eds.), the employment interview handbook (pp. 229–292). thousand oaks, ca: sage. eder, r. & buckley, m. (1988). the employment interview: an interactionist perspective. in g. ferris and k. rowland (ed.), research in personnel and human resource management (pp. 75-107). greenwich, ct: jai press. frank, l.l. & hackman, j.r. (1975). effects of interviewer-interviewee similarity on objectivity in college admissions interviews. journal of applied psychology, 60(3), 356-360. garcía, m.f., posthuma, r.a. & colella, a. (2008). fit perceptions in the employment interview: the role of similarity, liking, and expectations. journal of occupational and organizational psychology, 81(2), 173-189. goldberg, c.b. (2005). relational demography and similarity-attraction in interview assessments and subsequent offer decisions. are we missing something? group & organization management, 30(6), 597-624. goldberg, c., riordan, c.m. & zhang, l. (2008). employees’ perceptions of their leaders: is being similar always better? group & organization management, 33(3), 330-355. �483 https://www.economist.com/business/2012/03/31/dont-hate-me-because-im-beautiful https://www.economist.com/business/2012/03/31/dont-hate-me-because-im-beautiful https://www.economist.com/business/2012/03/31/dont-hate-me-because-im-beautiful the irony of choice in recruitment: when similarity turns recruiters to other candidates m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 466-486 graves, l. m., & powell, g. n. (1988). an investigation of sex discrimination in recruiters' evaluations of a c t u a l a p p l i c a n t s .  j o u r n a l o f a p p l i e d psychology, 73(1), 20. graves, l.m. & powell, g.n. (1995). the effect of sex similarity on recruiters’ evaluations of actual applicants: a test of the similarity-attraction paradigm. personnel psychology, 48(1), 85-98. greenberg, j. (1987). a taxonomy of organizational justice theories. academy of management review, 12(1), 9-22. h a y e s , a . f. ( 2 0 1 2 ) . p r o c e s s : a ve r s a t i l e computational tool for observed variable mediation, moderation, and conditional process m o d e l i n g . [ w h i t e p a p e r ] . r e t r i e v e d f r o m www.afhayes.com/public/process2012.pdf. higgins, c.a. & judge, t.a. (2004). the effect of applicant influence tactics on recruiter perceptions of fit and hiring recommendations: a field study. journal of applied psychology, 89(4), 622-632. howard, j.l. & ferris, g.r. (1996). the employment interview context: social and situational influences on interviewer decisions. journal of applied social psychology, 26(2), 112-136. howard, d.j. & kerin r.a. (2011). the effects of name similarity on message processing and persuasion. journal of experimental social psychology, 47(1), 63-71. hunter, i. e. & hunter, r f. (1984). validity and utility of alternative predictors of job performance. psychological bulletin, 96(1), 72-98. janis, i.l. (1982), groupthink: psychological studies of policy decisions and fiascoes, (2nd edition), new york, ny: houghton mifflin. jiang, c., chua, r.y.j., kotabe, m. & murray, j. (2011). effects of cultural ethnicity, firm size, and firm age on senior executives’ trust in their overseas business partners: evidence from china. journal of international business studies, 42(9), 1150-1173. jiang, l., hoegg, j., dahl, d.w. & chattopadhyay, a. (2010). the persuasive role of incidental similarity on attitudes and purchase intentions in a sales context. journal of consumer research, 36(5), 778-791. kaplan, d.m., berkley, r.a. & fisher, j.e. (2016). applicant identity congruence in selection decision making: implications for alejandro and consuela. human resource management, 55(1), 39-51. kristof-brown, a.l. (2000). perceived applicant fit: distinguishing between recruiters’ perceptions of person-job and person-organization fit. personnel psychology, 53(3), 643-671. kristof-brown, a., barrick, m.r. & franke, m. (2002). applicant impression management: dispositional influences and consequences for recruiter perceptions of fit and similarity. journal of management, 28(1), 27-46. lee, s., pitesa, m., pillutla, m. & thau, s. (2015). when beauty helps and when it hurts: an organizational context model of attractiveness discrimination in selection decisions.  organizational behavior and human decision processes, 128, 15-28. lee, s.y., pitesa, m., thau, s. & pillutla, m.m. (2015). discrimination in selection decisions: integrating stereotype fit and interdependence theories. academy of management journal, 58(3), 789-812. liden, r.c., wayne, s.j. & stilwell, d. (1993). a longitudinal study on the early development of leader-member exchanges. journal of applied psychology, 78(4), 662-674. luxen, m.f. & van de vijver, f.j. (2006). facial attractiveness, sexual selection, and personnel selection: when evolved preferences matter. journal of organizational behavior, 27(2), 241-255. miller, d.t., downs, j.s. & prentice, d.a. (1998). minimal conditions for the creation of a unit relationship: the social bond between birthday mates. european journal of social psychology, 28(3), 475-81. millman, z. (2016). high impact interviewing: finding the right person for the job. organizational dynamics, 4(45), 298-304. o’leary, b.j., durham, c.r., weathington, b.l., cothran, d.l. & cunningham, c.j. (2009). racial identity as a moderator of the relationship between p e r c e i v e d a p p l i c a n t s i m i l a r i t y a n d h i r i n g decisions.  journal of black psychology,  35(1), 63-77. polman, e., pollmann, m.m. & poehlman, t.a. (2013). the name-letter-effect in groups: sharing initials with group members increases the quality of group work. plos one, 8(11), e79039. pounder, d.g. & merrill, r.j. (2001). job desirability of the high school principalship: a job choice theory perspective. educational administration quarterly, 37(1), 27-57. rand t.m. & wexley, k.n. (1975). demonstration of the effect, “similar to me” in simulated employment interviews. psychological reports, 36(2), 535-544. raza, s.m. & carpenter, b.n. (1987). a model of hiring decisions in real employment interviews. journal of applied psychology, 72(4), 596-603. reis, s.b., young, i.p. & jury, j.c. (1999). female administrators: a crack in the glass ceiling. journal of personnel evaluation in education, 13(1), 71-82. schmidt, f.l. & hunter, j.e. (1998). the validity and utility of selection methods in personnel psychology: practical and theoretical implications of 85 years of research findings. psychological bulletin, 124(2), 262-274. schmidt, f.l. & hunter, j. (2004). general mental ability in the world of work: occupational attainment and job performance. journal of personality and social psychology, 86(1), 162-173. shelly, r.k. (2001). how performance expectations arise from sentiments. social psychology quarterly, 1, 72-87. silvester, j., anderson, n., haddleton, e., cunningham‐ snell, n. & gibb, a. (2000). a cross‐modal comparison of telephone and face‐to‐face selection interviews in graduate recruitment. international journal of selection and assessment, 8(1), 16-21. � 484 http://www.afhayes.com/public/process2012.pdf m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 466-486 adrián barragán díaz & jimena y. ramírez marín & francisco j. medina díaz tajfel, h. & turner, j. c. (1986). an integrative theory of intergroup conflict. in s. worchel & w. austin (eds.), psychology of intergroup relations (pp. 2-24). chicago, il: nelson-hall. tsai, w.c., chi, n.w., huang, t.c. & hsu, a.j. (2011). the effects of applicant resume contents on recruiters’ hiring recommendations: the mediating roles of recruiter fit perceptions. applied psychology: an international review, 60(2), 231-254. tsui, a.s. & barry, b. (1986). interpersonal affect and rating errors. academy of management journal, 29(3), 588-599. tsui, a.s. & o’reilly, c.a., iii (1989). beyond simple demographic effects: the importance of relational demography in superior-subordinate dyads. academy of management journal, 32(2), 402-423. tsui, a.s., porter, l.w. & egan, t.d. (2002). when both similarities and dissimilarities matter: extending the concept of relational demography. human relations, 55(8), 899-929. turban, d.b. & jones, a.p. (1988). supervisorsubordinate similarity: types, effects, and mechanisms. journal of applied psychology, 73(2), 228-234. wade, k.j. & kinicki, a.j. (1997). subjective applicant qualifications and interpersonal attraction as mediators within a process model of interview selection decisions. journal of vocational behavior, 50(1), 23-40. walton, g.m., cohen, g.l., cwir, d. & spencer, s.j. (2012). mere belonging: the power of social connections. journal of personality and social psychology, 102(3), 513-532. wayne, s.j. & ferris, g.r. (1990). influence tactics, affect, and exchange quality in supervisorsubordinate interactions: a laboratory experiment and field study. journal of applied psychology, 75(5), 487. welbourne, t.m., johnson, d.e. & erez, a. (1998). the role-based performance scale: validity, analysis of a t h e o r y b a s e d m e a s u r e . a c a d e m y o f management journal, 41(5), 540-555. wheeler, a.r., shanine, k.k., leon, m.r. & whitman, m.v. (2014). student‐recruited samples in organizational research: a review, analysis, and guidelines for future research. journal of occupational and organizational psychology, 87(1), 1-26. wilson, t.d. & brekke, n. (1994). mental contamination and mental correction: unwanted influences on judgments and evaluations. psychological bulletin, 116(1), 117. �485 the irony of choice in recruitment: when similarity turns recruiters to other candidates m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 466-486 adrián barragán díaz is lecturer in international negotiation track at ieseg school of management. phd in human resources management from the university of seville (spain), adrian is currently a lecturer in the marketing and international negotiation department at ieseg school of management. he obtained a masters and a phd degree in human resources management. adrian’s fields of interest include international negotiation, human resources and cross-cultural business relationships. he is currently working alongside jimena ramirez marin collecting data from spain, france, india and china analyzing how cultural differences influence negotiation strategies and outcomes within the business context. jimena y. ramírez marín is associate professor in international negotiations at ieseg school of management (lille). phd in work and organizational psychology from the university of seville (spain), postgraduate fellow at kellogg school of management (usa), jimena focuses on culture and relationships in negotiation and conflict resolution. she is part of an international research team, led by jeanne brett, which collects data in most parts of the world. she has been analyzing negotiations in qatar, spain and the us with the goal of understanding the influences of culture on the expectations, the use of strategy, and negotiation outcomes. francisco j. medina díaz is professor of work and organizational psychology. dean of psychology, phd in work and organizational psychology from the university of seville (spain), francisco focuses on understanding conflict dynamics, mediation and inclusion in organizations. he has multiple papers published and books. he has also served as head of the international cooperation office of the university of seville. � 486 innovative supply chain practices (iscp) in supply chain management: development and validation of a measurment scale olivier lavastre cerag iae of grenoble university of grenoble olivier.lavastre@iae.grenoble.fr blandine ageron cerag iae-esm of metz university of lorraine blandine.ageron@univ-lorraine.fr ludivine chaze-magnan cerag iae of grenoble university of grenoble ludivine.chaze-magnan@iae-grenoble.fr alain spalanzani cerag university of grenoble alain.spalanzani@umpf-grenoble.fr innovative supply chain practices (iscp) in supply chain management: development and validation of a measurement scale olivier lavastre � blandine ageron � ludivine chaze-magnan � alain spalanzani abstract. innovation is nowadays a major concern for companies seeking to improve their competitivity. inter-organizational innovation is a lever frequently used by companies to achieve this end. in this context, businesses need to go beyond the traditional view of technological and product innovation and develop managerial innovations. in recent years the emergence of practices such as cpfr (collaborative planning, forecasting and replenishment), vmi (vendor managed inventory), kanban supplier or consignment stock, has demonstrated the managerial popularity of these types of innovations and should push researchers to study them. to study such practices, a measurement instrument is necessary. however, this instrument does not exist and the existing measurement scales are fragmented. our research goal is to develop and validate an instrument to measure innovative supply chain practices (iscp) in supply chain management (scm). the measurement instrument consists of three independent measurement scales: iscp deployment conditions and context, organisation’s innovation capacity, and iscp performance. for each scale, we used a threestep methodological process: construction, purification and validation. ! innovation is a key factor in business performance (panayides and venus lun, 2010). one way to innovate is to think of one’s customers, suppliers, and more generally one’s partners. for the company, this refers to management of its inter-organizational relationships. beyond the traditional view of technological and product innovation, organizations need to develop so-called "managerial" innovations. such innovations can be an important source of competitiveness for organizations (birkinshaw et al., 2008). damanpour and aravind (2012) "recommend investigation of external conditions and internal processes that facilitate the introduction of compositions of innovation types across organizational units and over time" (damanpour and aravind, 2012: 447). interest in the inter-organizational dimension of innovation is even more important, as witnessed in recent years by the rise of supply chain management (scm) (lambert et al., 1998; chen and paulraj, 2004a; simatupang and sridharan, 2005). this new logic is driving companies to consider that coordination and collaboration within their supply chain are essential in order to innovate in their practices. indeed, collaborative management of upstream, internal and downstream partners, and their consideration in supply chain management, become a guarantee of value creation for customers (bowersox et al., 2000). thus, evaluating the performance of these types of innovations is a significant challenge that companies must be able to overcome to design and ensure their competitiveness and survival. in recent years the emergence of practices such as cpfr (collaborative planning, forecasting and replenishment), vmi (vendor managed inventory), kanban supplier or consignment stock, demonstrates the managerial popularity of these types of innovations and should conduct researchers to study them. m@n@gement 2014, vol. 17(4): 263-298 263 mailto:olivier.lavastre@iae.grenoble.fr?subject= mailto:olivier.lavastre@iae.grenoble.fr?subject= mailto:olivier.lavastre@iae.grenoble.fr?subject= mailto:olivier.lavastre@iae.grenoble.fr?subject= mailto:olivier.lavastre@iae.grenoble.fr?subject= mailto:olivier.lavastre@iae.grenoble.fr?subject= mailto:blandine.ageron@univ-lorraine.fr?subject= mailto:blandine.ageron@univ-lorraine.fr?subject= mailto:blandine.ageron@univ-lorraine.fr?subject= mailto:blandine.ageron@univ-lorraine.fr?subject= mailto:blandine.ageron@univ-lorraine.fr?subject= mailto:blandine.ageron@univ-lorraine.fr?subject= mailto:ludivine.chaze-magnan@iae-grenoble.fr?subject= mailto:ludivine.chaze-magnan@iae-grenoble.fr?subject= mailto:ludivine.chaze-magnan@iae-grenoble.fr?subject= mailto:alain.spalanzani@umpf-grenoble.f%0dalain.spalanzani@umpf-grenoble.fr%0d?subject= mailto:alain.spalanzani@umpf-grenoble.f%0dalain.spalanzani@umpf-grenoble.fr%0d?subject= mailto:alain.spalanzani@umpf-grenoble.f%0dalain.spalanzani@umpf-grenoble.fr%0d?subject= mailto:alain.spalanzani@umpf-grenoble.f%0dalain.spalanzani@umpf-grenoble.fr%0d?subject= mailto:alain.spalanzani@umpf-grenoble.f%0dalain.spalanzani@umpf-grenoble.fr%0d?subject= mailto:alain.spalanzani@umpf-grenoble.f%0dalain.spalanzani@umpf-grenoble.fr%0d?subject= mailto:olivier.lavastre@iae.grenoble.fr?subject= mailto:olivier.lavastre@iae.grenoble.fr?subject= mailto:blandine.ageron@univ-lorraine.fr?subject= mailto:blandine.ageron@univ-lorraine.fr?subject= mailto:ludivine.chaze-magnan@iae-grenoble.fr?subject= mailto:ludivine.chaze-magnan@iae-grenoble.fr?subject= mailto:alain.spalanzani@umpf-grenoble.f%0dalain.spalanzani@umpf-grenoble.fr%0d?subject= mailto:alain.spalanzani@umpf-grenoble.f%0dalain.spalanzani@umpf-grenoble.fr%0d?subject= the literature on this topic, however, remains relatively restricted and fragmented (arlbjørn et al., 2011; soosay et al., 2008.) and some authors lament that researches in the field of logistics and scm largely ignore the concept of innovation (flint et al., 2005). from this perspective, the authors open the way for studying innovation in inter-organizational practices through questioning information systems (bello et al., 2004), collaborative relationships between supply chain partners (roy et al., 2004; soosay et al., 2008) and expected benefits (wagner, 2010). ! while many measurement scales have been developed around innovation and scm, relatively few have studied innovative practices in this domain. flint et al. (2005, 2008) proposed a measurement instrument issuing from the literature to study the process of innovation in the downstream supply chain. li et al. (2005) developed a sc practice measurement scale. knight and cavusgil (2004) examined the capacity in an organization for product innovation at the r&d level. more recently, zhao et al. (2008) developed a measurement scale centred on integration of customers in innovation via questioning power and the nature of relationships. cao and zhang (2010) proposed a scale showing the benefits of collaboration for innovation. in the same vein, panayides and venus lun (2010) studied supply chain performance, wallenburg et al. (2010) focused on improving outsourced relationships in terms of costs and services, and lin et al. (2010) questioned the factors affecting the deployment of innovation, including the integration of customer needs and market orientation. the numerous scales dedicated to innovation and scm show the growing interest on the part of researchers to better understand this phenomenon. however, these studies and scales are fragmented if one is trying to study a subject as vast and complex as innovation in scm. they are often piecemeal. in particular, they are usually limited to a single sc axis (downstream, zhao et al., 2008), an aspect of innovation (diffusion, hazen et al., 2012), a type of actor (logistics service providers, busse and wallenburg, 2011), a type of innovation (products, knight and cavusgil, 2004), or an industry (taiwanese high-tech industries, lin et al., 2010; agri-businesses, fortuin et al., 2007). thus, a unifying conceptual framework needs to be built. the lack of overall vision concerning scm innovative practices and the absence of a reliable instrument to measure this phenomenon are two gaps that this research aims to fill. ! our research goal is to develop an instrument to measure innovative supply chain practices (iscp) in supply chain management (scm). the measurement instrument consists of three independent scales. to develop and validate each of these scales, we followed the methodological approach proposed by churchill (1979), dunn et al. (1994), hinkin (1998), hensley (1999), mackenzie et al. (2011), and recently used by charbonnier-voirin (2011). we used a three-step process for each of our measurement scales: construction, purification and validation. ! this article is part of a larger research program on managerial innovation in the field of supply chain management (lavastre et al., 2011; ageron et al., 2013; lavastre et al., 2014.). in this paper, we develop and validate an iscp measurement instrument. this one (consisting of three scales) was recently used to test and validate a conceptual model on iscp performance factors (lavastre et al., 2014). the concept of innovative supply chain practice (iscp) and associated constructs m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 263-298! olivier lavastre et al. 264 ! in order to build our innovative supply chain practices (iscp) measurement scales we will define and clarify this concept. this first section positions our research in the literature on scm practices and scm innovation. it shows the theoretical background and the contributions of previous research. it also clarifies the different performance characteristics of iscps and highlights key issues related to the development of measurement scales. innovation in scm and the concept of iscp ! our interest in the concept of iscp positions us at the intersection of two distinct research domains: innovation and scm. in the following paragraphs we will present research on innovation in general and studies related to innovation in scm, with the goal of showing the contributions of each of these fields to our research question. innovation from a general perspective ! van de ven (1986) defined innovation as "a new idea, which may be a recombination of old ideas, a scheme that challenges the present order, a formula, or a unique approach which is perceived as new by the individuals involved. as long as the idea is perceived as new to the people involved, it is an "innovation", even though it may appear to others to be an "imitation" of something that exists elsewhere"(van de ven 1986: 591-592). using this definition, van de ven highlights the fact that innovation can be either incremental (a modification or recombination of things established in the company) or radical (by introducing new things in terms of rules, the organization, the order previously established by the company). this distinction between incremental and radical has also given rise to much research (dewar and dutton, 1986; damanpour, 1991; hurley and hult, 1998; brettel et al., 2011; göktan and miles, 2011; kelley et al., 2011). ! more recently, damanpour and aravind (2012) recommended going beyond the very "technology-based" conception of innovation to include interest in managerial innovations. they define them as "new organizational structures, administrative systems, management practices and techniques that could create value for the organization" (birkinshaw et al., 2008: 825). these innovations have received little research attention thus far, yet they represent a continuous source of performance for companies (leroy et al., 2013). using this perspective, damanpour and aravind (2012) suggested some research avenues to study this type of innovation and recommend, for example, examining the external and internal conditions that facilitate innovations, particularly in inter-organizational relationships. this recommendation echoes the growth of supply chain management in recent years. this particular inter-organizational context, characterized by a need to coordinate the flow of information and materials between several organizations, seems all the more important given that most of the observed innovations are managerial (li et al., 2005; ageron et al., 2013). innovation in scm ! scm has developed in businesses, and is today one of their major concerns. simultaneously, an extensive body of literature has emerged to capture scm characteristics and developments. (lambert et al., 1998; chen and paulraj, 2004a; chen and paulraj, 2004b; simatupang and sridharan, 2005; zhao et al., 2008). the inter-organizational perspective of scm assumes that firms are dependent on each other and are embedded in business networks where the borders of companies move to integrate all upstream and downstream partners. this integration is part of collaborative alliance or integration strategies that develop between the members of a same supply chain (simatupang and sridharan, 2005). in this context, management of inter-organizational innovative supply chain practices! m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 263-298 265 relationships between partners is a key component of scm. innovation in supply chain management remains, however, marginally investigated. to your knowledge, a single literature review exists on this subject, that written by arlbjørn et al. (2011). a search performed using ebsco host research database (business search first) with the keywords "supply chain innovation" and "logistics innovation" finds only 29 articles addressing this type of innovation. certain authors have studied innovation in the sc by questioning new technologies. holmström (1998) focused on an inter-organizational practice, vmi (vendor managed inventory), and showed that this innovation introduced changes in the organization (new job creation) and allowed the company behind the innovation to create service for its customers and gain competitive advantage. bello et al. (2004) examined technological innovations between foreign partners. retaining an institutionalist approach, they posed the problem of context and showed that regulations, standards, and the different partners’ cultures impact innovation. to innovate in different institutional contexts, companies must foster cooperation, specifying the distribution of earnings between the partners to secure and guarantee a payback based on the sums put forward, even if the question of the difficulty for companies to assess the roi (return on investments) remains, both financially and over time. roy et al. (2004) were interested by customer-supplier inter-organizational relationships in supply chains and in the generation of incremental and radical innovations. they showed that two main categories of factors influence innovations in sc: factors internal to the inter-firm relationship (commitment, adoption of inter-organizational information systems, confidence) and factors external to the inter-firm relationship (stable demand, wireless networks). soosay et al. (2008) studied how collaborative relationships encourage continual innovation in the supply chain. using a qualitative approach, they showed that these collective behaviors may involve shared planning, knowledge and logistical process sharing, or joint investments. ! some companies go so far as to accompany and support their partners in innovation when they lack the means, resources, or when they encounter difficulties. this collaboration, through the sharing and accumulation of knowledge and the information it generates, must allow all the companies to build an innovative capacity, even if the assessment and sharing of gains are difficult. flint et al. (2005, 2008) also discussed the innovation process in the sc. based on the observation that research in sc largely ignores the concept of innovation, they proposed studying innovation as a unit of analysis in the context of scm. they showed that innovation presupposes a real corporate commitment to innovation, anticipation of customer needs, the ability of firms to identify their expectations, and finally, intraand inter-organizational learnings. the concept of iscp and core issues ! many supply chain management practices (cpfr, vmi, etc.) have developed in companies. meanwhile, a growing number of companies are innovating in their supply chain management (scm) to improve competitiveness and to satisfy their customers. a 2005 oecd report highlighted the need to study organizational innovations for two main reasons. on the one hand, they often accompany product and / or technology innovations. on the other hand, they are better able to create a competitive advantage that is durable, easily defensible, or difficult to imitate by competitors (damanpour and aravind, 2012; leroy et al., 2013). the oecd report (2005) therefore recommended conducting research to characterize this type of innovation, but also to assess its economic impact on businesses. we subscribe to this view and propose completing knowledge in the field of innovation by questioning iscps in the domain of scm. ! we define innovative supply chain practices (iscp) as the development and implementation of tools and methodologies by and between partners of the m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 263-298! olivier lavastre et al. 266 same supply chain, that do not previously exist within the company or its subsidiaries, and which aim to address a variety of issues related to quality, cost and timeliness (lavastre et al., 2011). these practices are generally part of a policy of continuous improvement and value creation for the customer, and increased company and entire supply chain performance (lavastre et al., 2014). the literature review conducted for this study focused on the concept of innovation, and more particularly, applied to the field of scm innovation. in associated with our qualitative research phase (the methodology is presented and detailed in section 3), this review indicates three important issues: the deployment context and conditions of the innovation, the innovation capacity of the organization deploying the iscp, and iscp performance. ! the deployment context of an iscp is essential. indeed, unlike an invention which refers to the creation of something new, innovation is the economic and financial translation of an invention. it therefore requires a transformation and appropriation by the company that must include the innovation in its organization and strategy, and match market expectations (lin et al., 2010; zhao et al., 2008). as emphasized by garcia and calantone (2002) "it is important to elucidate that an invention does not become an innovation until it has processed through production and marketing tasks and is diffused into the marketplace" (garcia and calantone, 2002: 112). any innovation is relative to the context in which it is designed and deployed (becheikh et al., 2006). ! the innovative capacity of the organization deploying an iscp is the translation of their "ability […] to adopt or implement new ideas, processes, or products successfully" (hurley and hult, 1998: 44). this capability, which reflects the companies’ innovation orientation or "approach", is based on a set of organizational skills that produce innovations of all sorts (siguaw et al., 2006). it is therefore necessary for all businesses to ask themselves the critical question concerning their capacity for innovation. ! evaluation of an innovations’ performance is important for businesses (wagner, 2010) because it affects their decision to commit. if firms have effectively identified quantitative criteria in the area of product innovation (sales, patents, etc.) (zhou and wu, 2010), things are different with respect to innovation practice. the performance of this type of innovation is difficult to mesure because the criteria are often qualitative, such as knowledge management that is assessed by the generation of ideas, implicit and explicit knowledge management and the flow of exchanged information (adams et al., 2006). even the use of quantitative performance criteria (such as return on investment and the distribution of earnings between partners) can be challenging, given the interorganizational nature of the innovation (faems et al., 2005; lin et al., 2010). if these aspects appear to be critical to the outcome of our qualitative phase and review of the literature, they do not begin to cover all the iscp performance characteristics. indeed, other factors may appear important: maturity (mccormack et al., 2008), the industry (becheikh et al., 2006), the organizational structure (damanpour, 1991), or the innovation culture (hurley and hull, 1998). these other factors do not, however, emerge from our interviews with experts, performed during the qualitative phase. following the methodological guidelines for development and validation of measurement scales (churchill, 1979; dunn et al., 1994; hinkin, 1998; hensley, 1999; mackenzie et al., 2011) these factors (despite their theoretical interest) have not been included in our measurement scales. the constructs ! based on our (exploratory and confirmatory) qualitative and quantitative phases, it was found that each of the three constructs is based on several dimensions. thus, the context and conditions of deployment consist of the innovative supply chain practices! m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 263-298 267 innovative process, expected gains, collaboration, and the environment in which the iscp is deployed. the organization’s innovative capacity improves thanks to the existence of an internal project structure and a joint project structure with the iscp partner(s) and expertise and experience. finally, the performance of iscps refers to the match between the extent of the success, knowledge creation and expectations. the iscp deployment conditions and context ! some authors have studied the conditions and context of deploying an iscp. they show that firms innovate under pressure from competitors and public authorities (yalabik and fairlchild, 2011), through their network and their industrial partners (ragatz et al., 1997), depending upon their market orientation (lin et al., 2010), and through the acquisition of new technologies (becheikh et al., 2006). ! the innovative process. to be effective, innovation must be part of the company strategy. some organizations clarify and formalize their commitment to innovation through a deliberate and conscious strategy (adams et al., 2006). others seem to innovate under difficulties and with great effort (wynstra et al., 2010). to understand this process, several explanatory factors have been highlighted. commitment and support from management are frequently cited (goodale et al., 2011), as resources (financial, material and human) allocated to innovation (cooper et al., 2007), and the culture, including the attitude vis-à-vis risk, change and failure (yang, 2012). suppliers customers and competitors are identified as external factors constraining innovation by industry partners (wynstra et al., 2010). identification of a typical innovation strategy remains, none the less, difficult to achieve for companies. to the extent that they are engaged in inter-organizational relationships, innovations may be equally voluntary and constraining, making it difficult to identify the source of innovation. ! expected gains. because innovations often require extensive financial and organizational investment (fortuin et al., 2007), many companies are reluctant to engage in such projects. the ability to assess the expected benefits is an important step in innovation. however, quantifying these gains is difficult, partly because companies must evaluate the benefits before the choice to innovate has been made. companies or partners’ experience in previous innovative projects can help in assessing these gains (becheikh et al., 2006; echtelt van et al., 2008). the expected return on investment of each partner should also be agreed upon prior to starting an innovative project. this agreement allows everyone to clarify their expectations regarding the expected future earnings and thus build a shared vision. companies also mention that the success of their innovations depends on the degree of involvement and commitment from their innovation partners (kim, 2000). finally, the distance between a company and the market can also render estimating expected gains difficult, when companies do not carry the innovative project. relative transparency on the part of the partner is essential so that everyone can equally benefit from the project (faems et al., 2005; lin et al., 2010). ! while many researchers and practitioners put forth the importance of financial gain (and more precisely the payback period) in assessing an innovation (oh et al., 2012), the financial dimension alone is not sufficient for making an evaluation (beamon, 1999). it is therefore necessary to take into account and to incorporate other dimensions such as brand awareness, quality, and market position, (shin et al., 2000; tan et al., 2002). however, these elements are difficult to estimate a priori because they are an indirect result of the innovation (e.g. reputation and experience). despite this, the company can put these elements to use in future innovative projects. they also take longer to emerge, because they are not always visible and perceived by the company. thus, the m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 263-298! olivier lavastre et al. 268 horizon for anticipated returns must also be considered when making the estimation. traditionally, companies classify their earnings in the short-term, medium-term and long-term. ! collaboration. today, many companies have established collaborative networks with partners to reinforce their competitiveness. the success of interorganizational innovations depends on the ability of firms to mobilize their partners in a profitable way (pohle and chapman, 2006). collaboration between partners must therefore allow companies to increase the value provided to customers while respecting cost and time constraints (zhao et al., 2008). in this way, collaboration positively impacts innovation, insofar as companies that do not internally possess the resources and expertise to innovate, will seek them from their partners (cao and zhang, 2011). organizational boundaries move to provide a supportive and positive environment for innovation. companies should build their inter-organizational networks intelligently in order to provide strategic resources for their innovations, but also to benefit from subsequent gains stemming from the supply chain (pohle and chapman, 2006). the strategic partners chosen by companies for their innovative practices are often customers and / or suppliers with whom they have established, long-term relationships and where trust is essential. it should also be noted that the intensity of exchanges and communication enhance the development of inter-organizational networks, as they reinforce collaboration by increasing customer satisfaction and the company’s competitiveness (donney and cannon, 1997; kwon and suh, 2005). ! the environment. the environment also seems to play a significant role in innovation. in this regard, tidd (1995, 2001) emphasized that environmental uncertainty and complexity have a significant influence on business innovation. the innovation strategy of firms can be affected by an overly turbulent environment (zhou, 2006; naranjo-valencia et al., 2011). to this end, göktan and miles (2011) showed that companies need to acquire and develop ways to innovate in order to cope with unstable demand and a dynamic context. these resources can be obtained internally, but also through external customers and suppliers. damanpour and gopalakrishnan (1998) emphasized the need for future research that will incorporate additional variables related to the business environment. stemming from a study of 21 innovation projects, damanpour (1996) concluded that "environmental uncertainty influences both the magnitude and the nature of innovation [...] [and] future research should attempt to adopt environmentally sensitive theory of organisational innovation" (damanpour, 1996 p.710-711). environmental uncertainty is evaluated depending upon the extent and variety of its complexity and the frequency and predictability of its instability. the organization’s innovative capacity ! innovative capacity refers to the ability of an organization to engage in innovation (panayides, 2006), namely, its ability to turn ideas and knowledge into products, processes or systems (lawson and samson, 2001). it is based on a combination of factors recognized as essential including people, tools and methods, physical and financial resources (adams et al., 2006). ! the internal project structure. regarding the actors involved in innovation, it is important to take into acount of the personal characteristics of the individuals and of the organization’s internal project team. in this regard, damanpour (1991) showed that the diversity of experiences and skills of those involved in innovation are an extremely favorable lever for innovation. for businesses, getting individuals or different services to work together allows them to take advantage of existing complementary skills and knowledge. innovative projects are thus often assigned to cross-functional teams including, for example, r&d, marketing, and innovative supply chain practices! m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 263-298 269 purchasing (o'connor and mcdermott, 2004; lin and ho, 2008). this crossfunctionality leads companies to set up multi-dimensional organizational structures, typically project teams, to drive innovation (brettel et al., 2011). several factors can explain the importance of implementation of these internal teams. first and foremost, they give the company a broader vision and understanding of innovation. indeed, unless the members of the project team possess a wide range of skills, it is probable that innovation is mainly based on the expertise of the team members, without integrating other alternatives. however, it is important to expand the team and integrate people whose skills are not only professional, but also related to interpersonal skills or know-how. a second reason for establishing an internal project team is the fact that these structures enhance and boost exchanges and communication between members of the same company. hurley and hult (1998) showed that communication and the exchange of information have a strong impact on innovation. finally, it should be noted that project teams are important during the design phase of innovation, but they are also vital in the implementation phase, particularly because they serve as a necessary change management that is often essential to innovation success (brettel et al., 2011). ! the joint project structure. the increasingly turbulent and complex environment is pushing companies to go beyond their limits for innovation based on their own resources and internal expertise, and encourages them to develop joint project teams with their partners. today, innovations increasingly exceed the confines of the company’s boundaries, and are reliant on networks or alliances developed with customers, suppliers or other partners (von hippel, 1988; musiolik and markard, 2011). companies look to their partners as innovation sources that are not always internal, but that help them seize new opportunities and increase their performance. the growing importance of partners in innovation confronts companies with new concerns, namely coordination. indeed, increased geographical and cultural distances complicate the exchange of information and communication which are essential to innovation success (donney and cannon, 1997; suh and kwon, 2005). while the development of new information and communication technologies (ict) can reduce these distances, petersen et al. (2005) stressed the importance of setting up a joint project team, especially because these teams must be able to make better decisions faster, to set more realistic goals and work more collectively and harmoniously. musiolik and markard (2011) reached the same conclusion, that a joint structure creates favorable conditions for innovation, in particular, by dedicating specific resources. creation of a joint structure also allows distribution of the roles, responsibilities and authority of each individual in the project (stewart and barrick, 2000). it also helps and encourages customers to allocate more resources, including human resources, to the innovation project (lettice et al., 2010). however, establishment of a joint team raises a problem concerning distribution of the gains created by the innovation. in this regard, even if suppliers recognize the need to play the game on behalf of their clients, they also raise the point that the benefits of innovation are not always distributed equally (lin et al., 2010). ! experience and expertise. the third important factor is the experience and expertise of the company in innovation, and importantly, the attitude of businesses vis-à-vis the risk of failure and change. indeed, innovation presupposes that companies will be bold in their choices and dare to do things for which success is not always guaranteed. the experience and expertise they have developed through other innovative projects are critical factors for the success of an innovation (adams et al., 2006). in this regard, o'connor and mcdermott (2004) stressed the importance of continuity in innovative projects but also between innovative projects, and particularly as regards the project team. m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 263-298! olivier lavastre et al. 270 indeed, the accumulated experience of people who regularly participate in advancing innovative projects is a source of expertise in innovative project management. with their experience and the expertise they have developed, the project team members have the capacity to implement the best practices necessary for successful innovation and to optimally use materials and tools dedicated to innovation (cooper et al., 2007). but companies seem not to be aware of the critical importance of combining this experience and expertise that plays a role in the relationships established between the partners and influences the transparency necessary for any innovative project (fawcett et al., 2008). similarly, the ability of project managers to influence project decisions, particularly through their inter-personal networks, is a key performance factor for innovation (chollet et al., 2012). even if the innovation partners are aware of this need for transparency in the success of innovation, they are still faced with concerns of exposing their secrets and weaknesses to other enterprises (fawcett et al., 2008). this relative inability to open up to others, however, seems to diminish or even disappear when partners, because of their shared experiences, have built a trusting relationship. iscp performance ! finally, evaluation of iscp performance remains an important element in the decision to innovate. the performance indicators for product innovation are numerous and have been extensively studied. one can cite, for example, the number of patents issued or increased sales following the introduction of new products (zhou and wu, 2010). if performance indicators in scm innovation are different because they are more qualitative (flexibility, responsiveness, quality), they are none the less essential (beamon, 1999; gunasekaran et al., 2004; panayides and venus lun, 2010). performance evaluation of this type of innovation is complicated (damanpour and aravind, 2012) and is dependent upon the actors’ perceptions (adams et al., 2006). ! the extent of success. overall supply chain performance is associated with innovation performance (panayides and venus lun, 2010). the question that remains unresolved is the scope of success. inter-organizational performance in innovation must involve all stakeholders (customers, suppliers, distributors or service providers) and can be based on technical, organizational and collaborative aspects. knowledge developed and acquired during various inter-organizational innovations can be capitalized upon and engaged in other projects. in doing so, the company creates innovative capabilities that when used later, will achieve greater organizational performance (van echtelt et al., 2008). faems et al. (2005) showed that inter-organizational collaboration has a positive impact on the company by increasing its capacity for innovation and performance. inter-organizational collaboration also impacts innovation performance throughout the entire sc. the extent of success in the supply chain, however, remains subtle and variable, depending upon the partner involved in innovation, as highlighted by faems et al. (2005). for example, the innovative capacity of a supplier seems to have a much greater impact than innovative customer inter-organizational practices (azadegan and dooley, 2010; wynstra et al., 2010). furthermore, if innovation is to benefit all involved, it seems essential that these innovations be visible and be perceived as beneficial by customers, because of the increased advantage provided when compared with previous practices (rogers, 2003; skipper et al., 2009). ! knowledge creation. knowledge creation has been widely discussed in the innovation literature. different theoretical perspectives have been mobilized including resource theory (wernfelt, 1984). this theory assumes that the resources of a company, whether tangible or intangible, significantly condition its innovative supply chain practices! m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 263-298 271 position vis-à-vis other companies and provide an advantage. based on this observation, hult et al. (2004, 2006) expanded the scope of analysis and became interested in the creation of knowledge in the supply chain. in particular, they showed that knowledge is an important strategic resource if each company in the supply chain "[…] continuously builds its usable knowledge to develop a foundation for its competitive edge" (hult et al., 2006: 460). craighead et al. (2009) proposed studying this capacity to create knowledge through three constructs: the accumulation of knowledge, the use of existing knowledge and organizational memory. knowledge accumulation refers to the ability of a company or a supply chain to continually increase its knowledge base. this knowledge allows for problem solving or improving situations by its use or reuse. the use of existing knowledge is the second important part of this particular ability, because it helps and accompanies the company in its choices and decisions. finally, organizational memory must be a strong element of this capability, especially because it assumes that knowledge is stored regularly and is available to the entire company. inter-organizational memory is difficult to implement, however, even if it is an essential tool in a sc’s ability to create new knowledge (blome et al., 2014). in conclusion, it is important to note that the creation of knowledge is not limited to one company, but involves all supply chain partners. ! matching expectations. the performance of an iscp must also be evaluated in terms of its relevance to the expectations of the company and its innovation partners (goodale et al., 2011). many studies have attempted to evaluate the performance criteria of an innovation. most performance criteria have focused on products, including the number of patents filed, or increased sales following the introduction of new products (zheng et al., 2010). in the context of scm, it seems that innovation must be assessed using other criteria. among the traditional criteria, cost, quality, flexibility and delays are frequently mentioned. regarding the financial aspect, innovating companies seek to create value (with sales growth and gross margin, song and di benedetto, 2008) while simultaneously trying to reduce and control associated costs (stock or product quality, kim et al., 2012). the resulting reduced costs or increased profits benefit the company as well as the whole supply chain. innovation thus helps a company maintain a competitive advantage over its competitors and is a source of longterm performance. using this perspective, van echtelt et al. (2008) showed that the ability of an organization to create value through innovation is an important factor in engaging suppliers. finally, the satisfaction of company management is an important element in evaluating innovation performance. matching the expectations of the company in terms of gains remains a strong element in evaluating the success of an iscp. although the criteria of cost, quality and time are the most frequently cited, it has also been observed that innovation must additionally be assessed in terms of the competitive advantage it creates. an innovation will be all the more beneficial if it is visible to the entire supply chain and creates a competitive advantage (2003 rogers; skipper et al., 2009). synthesis of the literature review ! a summary of our theoretical background is presented in table 1, with a brief definition of each construct and its related theoretical underpinnings. m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 263-298! olivier lavastre et al. 272 ta bl e 1. s yn th es is o f t he li te ra tu re re vi ew ta bl e 1. s yn th es is o f t he li te ra tu re re vi ew ta bl e 1. s yn th es is o f t he li te ra tu re re vi ew c on st ru ct a nd d im en si on d efi ni tio n a ss oc ia te d lit er at ur e is c p d ep lo ym en t c on di tio ns a nd c on te xt c on di tio ns , c on st ra in ts a nd m ot iv at io ns th at e nc ou ra ge fi rm s to in no va te . r ag at z et a l., 1 99 7; b ec he ik h et a l., 2 00 6 ; l in e t a l., 2 01 0 ; ya la bi k an d fa irc hi ld , 2 01 1. in no va tiv e pr oc es s h ow th e co m pa ny in no va te s, e ith er d el ib er at el y an d vo lu nt ar ily , o r e m er ge nt ly a nd im po se d. a da m s et a l., 2 00 6 ; c oo pe r e t a l., 2 00 7 ; w yn st ra e t a l., 20 10 ; g oo da le e t a l., 2 01 1 ; y an g, 2 01 2. e xp ec te d ga in s a ss es sm en t o f e xp ec te d ea rn in gs a nd re tu rn o n in ve st m en t fro m in no va tio n. b ea m on , 1 99 9 ; k im , 2 00 0 ; s hi n et a l., 2 00 0 ; t an e t a l., 20 02 ; fa em s et a l., 2 00 5 ; b ec he ik h et a l., 2 00 6 ; f or tu in e t al ., 20 07 ; va n e ch te lt et a l., 2 00 8 ; l in e t a l., 2 01 0 ; o h et a l., 20 12 . c ol la bo ra tio n a bi lit y of fi rm s to m ob ili ze th ei r p ar tn er s fo r i nn ov at io n an d th e ty pe s of p ar tn er s in vo lv ed . d on ne y an d c an no n, 1 99 7; k w on a nd s uh , 2 00 5 ; p oh le a nd c ha pm an , 2 00 6 ; z ha o et a l., 2 00 8 ; c ao a nd z ha ng , 2 01 1. e nv iro nm en t c om pl ex ity a nd in st ab ili ty o f t he e nv iro nm en t i n w hi ch fi rm s in no va te . ti dd , 1 99 5  ; d am an po ur , 1 99 6  ; d am an po ur a nd g op al ak ris hn an , 1 99 8  ; t id d, 2 00 1  ; z ho u, 2 00 6 ; g ok ta n an d m ile s, 2 01 1  ; n ar an jo -v al en ci a et a l., 2 01 1. o rg an is at io n’ s in no va tiv e ca pa ci ty a bi lit y of fi rm s to e ng ag e in in no va tio n, th at is to s ay , t o tu rn id ea s an d kn ow le dg e in to p ro du ct s, p ro ce ss es o r s ys te m s. la w so n an d s am so n, 2 00 1 ; a da m s et a l., 2 00 6 ; p an ay id es , 20 06 . in te rn al p ro je ct s tru ct ur e in te rn al s tru ct ur e w ith in th e or ga ni za tio n, re sp on si bl e fo r de si gn in g an d de pl oy in g in no va tio n. d am an po ur , 1 99 1 ; h ur le y an d h ul t, 19 98 ; o ’c on no r a nd m cd er m ot t, 20 04 ; li n an d h o. , 2 00 8 ; b re tte l e t a l., 2 01 1. jo in t p ro je ct s tru ct ur e jo in t s tru ct ur e am on g pa rtn er s to d es ig n an d de pl oy in no va tio n. vo n h ip pe l, 19 88  ; d on ne y an d c an no n, 1 99 7 ; s te w ar d an d b ar ric k, 2 00 0 ; k w on a nd s uh , 2 00 5 ; p et er se n et a l., 2 00 5 ; le tti ce e t a l., 2 01 0 ; l in e t a l., 2 01 0 ; m us io lik a nd m ar ka rd , 20 11 . e xp er tis e an d ex pe rie nc e c ap ab ili ty a nd e as e of o rg an iz at io ns to d ep lo y in no va tio ns . o ’c on no r a nd m cd er m ot t, 20 04 ; a da m s et a l., 2 00 6  ; c oo pe r et a l., 2 00 7 ; f aw ce tt et a l., 2 00 8  ; c ho lle t e t a l., 2 01 2. is c p p er fo rm an ce c re at io n of v al ue fo r a ll pa rti es in vo lv ed in in no va tio n. b ea m on , 1 99 9 ; g un as ek ar an e t a l., 2 00 4 ; p an ay id es a nd ve nu s lu n, 2 01 0 ; z ho u an d w u, 2 01 0. e xt en t o f t he s uc ce ss p er im et er o f t he p er fo rm an ce g en er at ed b y in no va tio n. r el at es to a s in gl e or ga ni za tio n or a ll in vo lv ed p ar tn er s. r og er s, 2 00 3 ; f ae m s et a l., 2 00 5 ; v an e ch te lt et a l., 2 00 8  ; s ki pp er e t a l., 2 00 9 ; a za de ga n an d d oo le y, 2 01 0 ; p an ay id es an d ve nu s lu n, 2 01 0 ; w yn st ra e t a l., 2 01 0. k no w le dg e cr ea tio n th e ab ili ty o f c om pa ni es to c on tin ua lly c re at e, u se a nd s to re kn ow le dg e. w er nf el t, 19 84 ; h ul t e t a l., 2 00 4 ; h ul t e t a l., 2 00 6 ; c ra ig he ad et a l., 2 00 9 ; b lo m e et a l., 2 01 4. m at ch in g ex pe ct at io ns m ee tin g th e ex pe ct at io ns o f s ta ke ho ld er s (in te rn al o r e xt er na l to th e or ga ni za tio n) in vo lv ed in in no va tio n. r og er s, 2 00 3 ; s on g an d d i b en ed et to , 2 00 8 ; v an e ch te lt et al ., 20 08 ; s ki pp er e t a l., 2 00 9 ; z he ng e t a l., 2 01 0 ; g oo da le et a l., 2 01 1 ; k im e t a l., 2 01 2. m@n@gement 2014, vol. 17(4): 263-298 273 research methodology ! the aim of our research is to better understand managerial innovation in the field of supply chain management (scm) through the concept of iscp (innovative supply chain practices). we conducted a research program that was structured in two phases: (1) the development and validation of an iscp measurement instrument (the subject of this article) and (2) the test and validation of a research model of iscp performance factors (which was the subject of a recent publication, see lavastre et al., 2014). methodology ! specific methodologies to develop and validate measurement scales have been proposed in varying fields. these include churchill (1979) in marketing, dunn et al. (1994) in logistics, hinkin (1998) in organizational behavior, hensley (1999) in operations management, and mackenzie et al. (2011) in information systems. these are the methodologies which we have employed to perform our research. each of these authors presented a methodological process adapted to the studied object, built around different stages (churchill, 1979: 66; dunn et al., 1994: 156; hinkin, 1998: 106; hensley, 1999: 355; mackenzie et al., 2011: 297) that can be divided into three phases. 1. construction of the scale (definition of the construct and generation of items). 2. purification of the scale (selection and validation of items). 3. validation of the scale (assessment of the reliability and validity of the scale). ! these three steps are, as noted by dunn et al. (1994), "iterative, as well as, sequential" (dunn et al., 1994: 155). figure 1 presents the methodology used to develop and validate our scales. figure 1. development process and validation of the three measurement scales ! our research approach was deployed in three stages over three years, with three different samples. ! the first step consisted of construction of the measurement scales. a qualitative study was conducted by semi-structured face-to-face interviews to better understand the concept of innovative inter-organizational practices in the area of scm and to identify a coherent set of items. in order to gain an initial understanding of innovation, we conducted a first review of the literature that helped us identify and define the themes upon which our interviews should be based. issuing from the field of scm and innovation, they relate to the motivations, challenges (strategic intent), actors, barriers, performance objectives and achieved performance. from this work, an interview guide was constructed and interviews were conducted. thanks to these interviews and their coding, m@n@gement 2014, vol. 17(4): 263-298 274 several items emerged, forming three constructs: the conditions and the context in which scm inter-organizational innovations are deployed, the innovative capacity of an organization participating in innovation, and iscp performance. to prepare for the second phase of our methodological approach, we conducted a literature review on these three constructs to better identify and understand them, to localize them in past and current research, and to clarify certain items that emerged during interviews. as highlighted by menor and roth (2007, p.830) "good measurement is a prerequisite for good empirical science; however, multiitem measurement and scale development must be preceded by sound conceptual development of the theoretically important construct(s) being defined." once the items had been generated, the interviews were performed and coded. these results were then reworked until a consensus emerged among the researchers. an initial questionnaire was pre-tested with five supply chain managers (working in industrial companies in the rhône-alps region of france) to check the understanding of the questions. this work allowed us to clarify some questions (namely concerning the type of partners with which iscps are deployed), or reformulate them (as with the questions about iscp performance), so they would be understood by all stakeholders in the innovation process and in all types of businesses. ! as a result of the qualitative phase and reviews of the literature, we were able to structure our initial exploratory quantitative survey. this allowed us to test and purify our measurement instrument by administering it as a questionnaire to a control sample. the factor structure, reliability, and validity of each scale were tested. after this phase, a return to the literature was essential for two reasons. first, we needed to better identify, understand and discuss each of the nine dimensions (expected gains, extent of success, etc.) identified in the previous step. second, revisiting the literature was necessary to better understand and justify why certain items were not retained by the exploratory quantitative statistical analysis, even though they came from the empirical findings (the qualitative analysis). ! once the scales were tested and purified, and strengthened by a substantial theoretical background, a second quantitative study was conducted. its goal was confirmatory, in order to validate our measurement instrument. using the tested and purified scales resulting from the previous step, a questionnaire was administered to a final sample that was independent of the previous control sample. in the end, over the three year span of the research project, nearly 380 iscp participants were interviewed to understand and measure these innovations. the following sections will detail the three stages of our process development and validation of the measurement scales. the qualitative study ! the first step in the development and validation of a measurement scale is to specify the content of the concept being studied. our research focuses on iscps and offers three constructs for studying the subject. if constructs are abstract theoretical formulations relating to the phenomenon being studied, concepts are, on the other hand, more generic and less specific; they allow one to understand the necessary aspects of the description or explanation of the phenomenon being studied. gioia et al. (2013) highlighted this as follows: "for organization study to fulfil its potential for description, explanation, and prescription, it is first necessary to discover relevant concepts for the purpose of theory building that can guide the creation and validation of constructs" (gioia et al., 2013: 16). ! to generate a battery of items to measure the variables, fifty qualitative interviews were conducted between november 2009 and april 2010, with leaders and functional managers who had played roles in the inter-organizational innovative supply chain practices! m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 263-298 275 innovation processes under study. the characteristics of the respondents and their companies are presented in table 2. these interviews gave us access to information concerning 68 iscps for analysis (some respondents presented two iscps during the interview). ! because we aim to have a comprehensive and non-limited representation, we did not focus on specific characteristics of the companies, or on an industry or type of business (especially in terms of size or structure). in this qualitative phase, "the variety of interviews is an important element when interviews are used to generate items, based on which the researcher later in his research, will collect data using a questionnaire" (romelaer, 2005, p 107). table 2. summary of data collection for the qualitative phase collection date : nov. 2009-april 2010collection date : nov. 2009-april 2010 activity sector percentage type of collection : semi-directive interviewtype of collection : semi-directive interview pharmaceutical 25% number of respondents 50 automobile 25% number of iscps studied 68 production and distribution of gas and electricity 22% respondent function percentage microelectronic and electronic 13% supply chain manager 57% distribution 7% head of industrial management 15% other (construction, agri-business, logistics provider…) 8% buyer/supplier 13% company size percentage director 9% greater than 1000 employees 41% information systems director 3% between 251 and 999 employees 37% commercial 3% fewer than 250 employees 22% ! in our chosen methodological framework, the aim of this qualitative phase is to generate a set of items designed to answer our research question and characterizing iscps via their performance. examination of the literature led us to develop an interview guide structured around six principle generic themes that we identified and adapted to the iscp subject in the field of scm. these themes are: motivations, challenges, actors, barriers, performance objectives and performance obtained by the iscp (table 3). table 3. themes, definitions and authors mobilized theme definition of the theme authors mobilized motivations reasons why an organization choses to develop an iscp. becheikh et al., 2006 ; robson and haigh, 2008 ; yalabik and fairchild, 2011 ; panayides and vénus lun, 2010. challenges situation and conditions under which the iscp is deployed. ragatz et al., 1997 ; becheikh et al., 2006 ; lin et al., 2010 ; yalabik and fairchild, 2011. actors persons, services and organizations involved in the design and deployment of the iscp. pohle and chapman, 2006 ; wynstra et al., 2010. barriers difficulties and obstacles that businesses face and that hamper deployment of their iscp. pohle and chapman, 2006 ; robson and haigh, 2008. performance objectives expected and overall performance gains that the company hopes to achieve by this iscp. rogers, 2003 ; van echtelt et al., 2008 ; skipper et al., 2009. obtained performance overall gains and objectives realized following deployment of this iscp. beamon, 1999 ; panayides and vénus lun, 2010 ; skipper et al., 2009. the interview guide and its construction m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 263-298! olivier lavastre et al. 276 ! the use of an interview guide (table 4) is suitable given the exploratory nature of this research phase. we chose to conduct semi-structured interviews, in other words, let the interview progress naturally, while ensuring that during the course of the story being told, a number of predetermined topics be discussed. ! besides the introduction and conclusion, the guide contains two sections. the introduction describes the purpose of the research, discusses the confidentiality of the study and announces the program for the interviewee. in the conclusion, the respondent states his position and the characteristics of his company. the first part of the guide aims to clarify the concept of innovative supply chain practices. at the start of the interview, the respondent was asked to broadly define innovation, later this concept was refined in the context of interorganizational practices and supply chain management. this work of establishing a definition helped us empirically understand, coming from the statements of professionals, the concept of innovation in supply chain management. the second part of the guide was dedicated to questioning the manager concerning one or two innovative supply chain practices in which he had participated during the past five years. the professionals were asked to identify and characterize, from their point of view, significant and representative inter-organizational practices. for each of these iscps, the respondent was asked to tell the "story" of the supply chain innovation being considered. for this, he was asked to specify who (or what event) was the source of the innovation, the degree of novelty (in comparison with existing inter-organizational practices in the company), its context of appearance, its challenges, motivations justifying its deployment, the different actors involved, the gains (expected and achieved), and the difficulties and obstacles encountered. generating items the items should represent, in the most comprehensive manner possible, the constructs to be studied. according to mackenzie et al. (2011, p. 304) "these items may come from a variety of sources (see churchill, 1979; haynes et al., 1995; nunnally and bernstein, 1994), including reviews of the literature, deduction from the theoretical definition of the construct, previous theoretical and empirical research on the focal construct, suggestions from experts in the field, interviews or focus group discussions with representatives of the population(s) to which the focal construct is expected to generalize, and an examination of other measures of the construct that already exist". in our research, we focused primarily on discussions and exchanges with professionals. the literature review was then used to complement and refine generation of the items. ! at the end of the qualitative interview phase, the collected information was grouped by first order categories. these categories were formed by simple coding of the interviews. to generate statements for developing measurement scales, interviews were coded by performing a thematic content analysis. to check the validity of this coding, it was agreed that the first five interviews would be coded collectively by the researchers. this coding resulted in exchanges, discussions and working meetings which led to an encoding that was employed for the remainder of the interviews. there were frequent exchanges, and adjustments were made during the analysis. ! following the recommendations of corley and gioia (2004), thematic analysis of verbatim transcripts (representative quotations) identified the first order categories, which were then structured into second order themes. these themes were grouped into three aggregated dimensions that correspond to each of our three constructs. this data organization highlights hierarchical categories (verbatim => first order categories => second order themes => aggregated dimensions) from facts and observations (gioia et al., 2013). the objective of this task was to define attributes that would be operationalized and measured by a set of variables. tables showing the verbatim, the first order categories and innovative supply chain practices! m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 263-298 277 introduction: understanding the purpose of the research and the interview plan part 1: definition of innovation and innovation in scm: 1 how would you define the concept of innovation in general? can you give an example? 2 how would you define the concept of innovation in supply chain management? can you give an example? 3 how would you define an innovative supply chain practice (iscp)? can you give an example? part 2: discussion about an iscp: 1 why did you set it up? (reasons, motivations, challenges, expected gains) 2 what is the source or origin of the innovation? who is at the origin? the company, its partner, something else? (what?). where is the origin? local innovation (at the service site, company, subsidiary) or global (at the group level, the partner). 3 who are the key actors? who participates in this innovation process? the upstream or downstream partners, other types of stakeholders? how many people are affected by this innovation? when are they involved? (ask the respondent to specify the dynamics of the innovation) 4 what kind of gains were realized? (financial, reputation, trust, ...). 5 what are the obstacles? financial, human, organizational, technological ... 6 what does the innovation impact? is it improving something or is it something new? what is the degree of generalization and / or dissemination of this innovation? 7 what are the next two iscps your organization will deploy? part 3: presentation of the respondent, his company and his function: 1 in what company and what business unit do you work? 2 what is the size of the organization? 3 what is the industry? 4 what department do you work in? 5 what is your position? part 4: conclusion for the participation of the respondent second order themes are presented in the appendix. a table was made for each construct (see appendix a for the construct "iscp deployment conditions and context", appendix b for the construct "the organization’s innovation capacity ", and appendix c for the construct "iscp performance"). this analysis was used to generate an initial list of items. ! thanks to the rich quality of the interviews, several categories and themes emerged from the coding. some categories mentioned by respondents were not chosen because they were considered to be: non-specific to the study (the development of new products with supplier involvement), too abstract (time as a factor in maturing experiences), too difficult to operationalize (scm maturity, project budget in total euros), too specific to a service (the role of buyers) or a sector (the short life cycle of product technologies), too technical (information systems scheduling algorithms to support joint planning), or too small (a detailed management role). table 4. qualitative interview guide m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 263-298! olivier lavastre et al. 278 ! to discuss the formulation and understanding of the questions, a first version of the items from previous phases was administered to five supply chain managers from industrial companies in the rhône alps region (a logistics manager, a director of operations, two supply chain managers, a supply chain planner). their comments helped clarify certain items (an additional synonymous term was added in parentheses to characterize the two dimensions of the environment) and reformulate some questions (for example, those questions relating to knowledge creation were rewritten to be clearer and more understandable for the practitioners). ! following this qualitative phase, an initial version of the scales was created for the three constructs (table 5). these scales were then tested statistically by a quantitative study (in an exploratory phase and a confirmatory phase). table 5. initial version of the measurement instrument scales items iscp deployment conditions and context we deploy iscp mostly with: -partners with whom we already have long-term relationships. -partners with whom we collaborate regularly. -partners who we trust. -partners strategic for our business. -partners with whom we have a lot of activities. -we deployed this iscp to get results in the: -short-term (6 months to 1 year). -medium-term (1 year to 3 years). -long-term (more than 3 years). this iscp was: -imposed. -voluntary. about our environment: -the environment in which we deployed the iscp is turbulent (unstable). -the environment in which we deployed the iscp is complex (difficult to understand, multi-faceted). the organization’s innovation capacity about our attitude toward innovation: -we are accustomed to deploying iscp. -we make many innovations to our products. -we make many innovations in our inter-organizational practices. -we are pleased with the performance of previously deployed iscps. -we innovate a lot. -we have structured tools and methodologies to support the deployment of an iscp. the change management was a condition of the success / failure of the iscp. -we had set up a joint organizational structure with your dedicated partner in the iscp. -the establishment of an internal organizational structure dedicated to the iscp was an important element in its success / failure. -the establishment of a joint organizational structure dedicated to the iscp was an important element in its success / failure. -change management was a condition for the success / failure of this iscp. iscp performance in our opinion, this iscp is: -an organizational success. -a success at the supply chain level. deploying this iscp has allowed us to create: -internal knowledge. -external knowledge with this partner. -external knowledge with the entire supply chain. this iscp, once deployed, met our expectations in terms of: -being within budget. -timeliness. -management satisfaction. -customer satisfaction. -expected earnings the quantitative study ! in accordance with the requirements mentioned in the mobilized methodological researches (churchill, 1979; dunn et al., 1994; hinkin, 1998; hensley, 1999; mackenzie et al., 2011), our scales were purified and validated with two independent samples (a control sample of 170 managers for purification, innovative supply chain practices! m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 263-298 279 and a final sample of 142 respondents for validation). we will present these two steps in this section, taking care to distinguish between the quantitative exploratory step (purification) and the quantitative confirmatory step (validation). surveys and samples ! following the methodology of construction and validation of a measurement scale, the measurement instrument was tested on two independent samples: one control sample (with 170 respondents) and a final sample (142 respondents). details concerning information collection and the characteristics of the samples (the control sample and the final sample) are given in table 6. table 6. summary of data collection for the quantitative phases exploratory confirmatory exploratory confirmatory collection date : nov. 2010 -april 2011 nov. 2011 january 2012 activity sector percentage percentage type of collection : face-to-face questionnairetype of collection : face-to-face questionnairetype of collection : face-to-face questionnaire pharmaceutical 28 % 34 % number of respondents 170 142 production and distribution of gas and electricity 14 % 10 % number of different companies 64 52 microelectronic and electronic 11 % 12 % respondant function percentage percentage distribution 10 % 15 % supply chain manager 59 % 61 % automobile 9 % 11 % buyer/supplier 14 % 11 % other (construction, agri-business, logistics provider…) 28 % 18 % head of production 14 % 9 % company size percentage percentage methods engineer 6 % 11 % greater than 1000 employees 44 % 35 % director 4 % 3 % between 251 and 999 employees 26 % 32 % commercial 3 % 5 % fewer than 250 employees 30 % 33 % for both data collection phases, a questionnaire was constructed and administered face-to-face with our two samples. in order to test the measurement scales and facilitate analysis, we decided to use seven level likert scales ranging from "do not agree at all " (1) to "strongly agree" (7) for all items. respondents were asked to indicate their level of agreement or disagreement with a stated situation. ! to ensure the quality of the respondents, we conducted a t test for independent samples (factorial invariance test) on each of our two samples (control sample and final sample). this test allowed us to confirm that there were no differences in responses between the "senior executive managers" (e.g. ceos, presidents and vice-presidents) and "mid-level managers" (intermediate managers, such as directors and service managers), and that the perception of m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 263-298! olivier lavastre et al. 280 the "mid-level managers" was as relevant as that of the "senior executive managers" concerning the phenomenon under study. purification conditions and validating scales during the quantitative and confirmatory exploratory phases ! factor analyses were performed using spss 20.0 software. first, we began by testing the feasibility of factor analysis by evaluating the kmo (kaisermeyer-olkin) adequacy and bartlett's test of sphericity. we then conducted an analysis of the communities to check the explained proportion of variance recovered by the different factors. at this stage, we performed a refinement of the items that did not meet the following criteria: factorial score below 0.5, or too high on several factors, and isolated items (roussel, 2005). we then determined the number of factors to be retained for each of our scales. given the nature of our variables, the extraction method chosen was a principal component factor analysis. to retain the number of factors, we relied on two accepted criteria: the kaiser criterion (value > 1) and the cattell scree test (o'connor, 2000). finally, we checked the reliability of each factor to determine those to be chosen according to their cronbach's alpha. ! to check the stability and robustness of factor structures identified during the exploratory analysis phase, we conducted a confirmatory factor analysis (dunn et al., 1994) using spss and amos. the purpose of the cfa was to identify and validate the link between an unobservable variable and the observed measurement variables that constitute it, and that via adjustment and testing of measurement reliability indices (garver and mentzer, 1999; kline, 2011; yu et al., 2013). from a statistical point of view, parameter estimation by maximum likelihood is based on the constraining assumption of respect for the multinormality of variables. indeed, cfas normally require a minimum of 200 individuals. however, in the example of a rare population, as it is the case in our study, we used a bootstrap procedure (1000 replications). ! the issue of choosing relevant indices arose (sharma et al., 2005; shah and goldstein, 2006). however, the indices used in this research are commonly used (byrne, 1989; hair et al., 1995), especially in our disciplinary field (zhu and sarkis, 2004; li et al., 2005; zhu et al., 2005; li et al., 2006; zhu et al., 2008; cao and zhang, 2010, 2011). in the interest of scientific rigor, we chose different indices: gfi, cfi, nnfi (or tli), srmr, and rmsea chi² / dl. to check the fit of our measurement scales, it should also be noted that the value t (λ / standard deviation) is greater than | 1.96 | for each item. finally, we estimated the psychometric quality of the measurement instruments using jöreskog’s rhô as reliability index and the index of convergent validity (fornell and larcker, 1981; chin, 1998). results ! we will present the results for all three scales (which together constitute our measurement instrument) using the following structure: convergent validity, discriminant validity and the existence of a latent factor (or "concept of second order"). results for the scale "iscp deployment conditions and context" ! in a first iteration, the exploratory factor analysis revealed four factors that explain over 63% of the total variance for a kmo of 0.652 (table 7). these factors are associated with the notion of partnership with 5 items, time for roi innovative supply chain practices! m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 263-298 281 1. in the case of development of a new measurement scale, a cronbach's alpha is acceptable above 0.6 (dunn et al., 1994; nunnally and bernstein, 1994; mackenzie et al., 2011, p.a2). with 3 items, type of innovative process with 2 items and finally, the environment with 2 items. we note that the communities associated with the two environmental items do not meet the roussel (2005) conditions with 0.412 for "the environment in which we deployed this iscp is turbulent (unstable)" and 0.423 for "environmental in which we deployed this iscp is complex (difficult to understand, multi-faceted)." these results can be explained by the fact that companies need to innovate regardless the characteristics of their environment. despite an environment that is complex or turbulent, innovation remains a key source of value creation and competitiveness (birkinshaw et al., 2008; panayides and venus lun, 2010). for our sample, environmental pressures are not taken into consideration in their decisions to deploy an iscp. organizations need to go beyond environmental circumstances to incorporate other influences: initiatives from management (goodale et al., 2011) or partners (wynstra et al., 2010), desire for collaboration with partners (zhao et al., 2008) or a quest for roi (lin et al., 2010). ! by repeating the factor analysis without items relating to the environment, we find the other three initial factors with kmo of 0.654 and an explained variance of over 67%. these results are consistent with our literature review and all the factors related to the conditions and context of deployment are reliable with cronbach's alpha coefficients of greater than 0.75.1 table 7. analysis for the scale "iscp deployment conditions and context" exploratoryexploratory confirmatoryconfirmatoryconfirmatoryconfirmatoryconfirmatory items λ cronbach's alpha λ cronbach's alpha t value jöreskog's rhô convergent validy collaboration part1 partners with whom we already have longterm relationships. part2 partners with whom we collaborate regularly. part3 partners that we trust. part4 partners strategic for our business. part5 partners with whom we have a lot of activities. expected gains (delay for recovery) die1 short-term (6 months to 1 year). die2 medium-term (1 year to 3 years). die3 long-term (more than 3 years). innovative process divi1 imposed** divi2 – voluntary 0.787 0.801 0.694 0.721 0.715 0.696 0.869 0.854 0.771 0.852 0.801 0.812 0.755 0.552 0.528 0.853 0.811 0.810 0.845 0.899 0.579 0.568 1* 0.813 0.522 0.750 8.80 10.40 8.61 5.08 6.73 13.20 7.52 14.05 3.16 3.02 0.842 0.825 0.784 0.525 0.619 0.661 gfi = 0.918 ; cfi = 0.914 ; nnfi = 0.876 ; srmr = 0.0664 ; rmsea = 0.086 ; chi²/dl = 2.549gfi = 0.918 ; cfi = 0.914 ; nnfi = 0.876 ; srmr = 0.0664 ; rmsea = 0.086 ; chi²/dl = 2.549gfi = 0.918 ; cfi = 0.914 ; nnfi = 0.876 ; srmr = 0.0664 ; rmsea = 0.086 ; chi²/dl = 2.549gfi = 0.918 ; cfi = 0.914 ; nnfi = 0.876 ; srmr = 0.0664 ; rmsea = 0.086 ; chi²/dl = 2.549gfi = 0.918 ; cfi = 0.914 ; nnfi = 0.876 ; srmr = 0.0664 ; rmsea = 0.086 ; chi²/dl = 2.549gfi = 0.918 ; cfi = 0.914 ; nnfi = 0.876 ; srmr = 0.0664 ; rmsea = 0.086 ; chi²/dl = 2.549gfi = 0.918 ; cfi = 0.914 ; nnfi = 0.876 ; srmr = 0.0664 ; rmsea = 0.086 ; chi²/dl = 2.549gfi = 0.918 ; cfi = 0.914 ; nnfi = 0.876 ; srmr = 0.0664 ; rmsea = 0.086 ; chi²/dl = 2.549 **given the constraints of the amos software, it was necessary to reverse the item "[this iscp approach was] imposed." the latter was recoded so that its meaning is consistent with that of the dimension. **given the constraints of the amos software, it was necessary to reverse the item "[this iscp approach was] imposed." the latter was recoded so that its meaning is consistent with that of the dimension. **given the constraints of the amos software, it was necessary to reverse the item "[this iscp approach was] imposed." the latter was recoded so that its meaning is consistent with that of the dimension. **given the constraints of the amos software, it was necessary to reverse the item "[this iscp approach was] imposed." the latter was recoded so that its meaning is consistent with that of the dimension. **given the constraints of the amos software, it was necessary to reverse the item "[this iscp approach was] imposed." the latter was recoded so that its meaning is consistent with that of the dimension. **given the constraints of the amos software, it was necessary to reverse the item "[this iscp approach was] imposed." the latter was recoded so that its meaning is consistent with that of the dimension. **given the constraints of the amos software, it was necessary to reverse the item "[this iscp approach was] imposed." the latter was recoded so that its meaning is consistent with that of the dimension. **given the constraints of the amos software, it was necessary to reverse the item "[this iscp approach was] imposed." the latter was recoded so that its meaning is consistent with that of the dimension. # the results of the confirmatory factor analysis applied to the total sample indicate good indices fit and a good measurement model affinity. although the rmsea and nnfi indices do not meet the threshold of validity (> 0.9 nnfi and <0.08 for rmsea), they do, however, remain acceptable. ! these results help defend the value of taking into account the three dimensions for the conditions and context of iscp deployment. each dimension is measured by at least two items, their respective reliability is proven by a jöreskog’s rhô greater than 0.7 and a convergent validity greater than 0.5. all estimated parameters are thus statistically significant (t value> | 1.96 |). ! we also tested the discriminant validity between the three dimensions of the concept "iscp deployment conditions and context." this is satisfactory m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 263-298! olivier lavastre et al. 282 because the differences (called delta chi²) between the free model chi² and the constrained model chi² all prove to be above 3.84 (table 8). table 8. discriminant validity for "iscp deployment conditions and context" chi² delta chi²(ddl = 1) reference-free model 66.595 model constrained between "collaboration" and "expected gains" 71.046 sig. model constrained between "collaboration" and "innovative process" 90.348 sig. constrained model between "expected gains" and "innovative process" 96.082 sig. # finally, the existence of a latent factor "iscp deployment conditions and context" consisting of three dimensions that were proposed, was validated. indeed, order 2 modeling shows convergent validity (convergent validity: 0.516; jöreskog’s rhô: 0.758) and satisfactory loading (collaboration: 0.689, expected gains 0.587; process: 0.854). results for the scale "the organization’s innovative capacity" ! exploratory factor analysis reveals three dimensions that explain slightly more than 64% of the total variance for a kmo of 0.674 (table 9). the first factor is related to the internal organizational structure responsible for the design and deployment of the iscp. of the three items that are grouped together, we retain only two. the item "we make many innovations to our products" with a community of 0.408, does not meet statistical validity constraints. this indicates that the fact that an organization realizes technical innovations in a broad sense (e.g. product innovation) has little influence on its ability to realize innovations in its practices. this means that an organization may have expertise in innovation of processes and / or practices with little technical experience in product innovation, as observed by becheikh et al. (2006) who said "though it is true that a close link exists between product and process innovations, […] [they] follow different processes and do not necessarily have the same determinants" (becheikh et al., 2006: 648). ! the second factor includes all the items retained concerning the joint organizational structure between partners to design and deploy innovation. the third factor revolves around the concepts of experience and expertise in deploying an iscp. by repeating the factor analysis without the relative item related to product innovation, we find the three initial factors with kmo of 0.683 and variance explained at roughly 68%. we also note that all the factors related to the innovative capacity of the organization are reliable, with cronbach's alpha coefficients greater than 0.75. innovative supply chain practices! m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 263-298 283 table 9. analysis of the scale "the organization’s innovative capacity" exploratoryexploratory confirmatoryconfirmatoryconfirmatoryconfirmatoryconfirmatory items λ cronbach's alpha λ cronbach's alpha t value jöreskog's rhô convergent validity internal structure diint1 change management was a condition for the success / failure of this iscp. diint2 the establishment of an internal organizational structure dedicated to the iscp was an important element in its success / failure. joint structure diext1 the establishment of a joint organizational structure dedicated to the iscp was an important element in its success / failure. diext2 you had set up a joint organizational structure with your dedicated partner in the iscp. experience and expertise dicap1 we are accustomed to deploying iscp. dicap2 we make many innovations in our interorganizational practices. dicap3 we are pleased with the performance of the previously deployed iscps. dicap4 we innovate a lot. dicap5 we have structured tools and methodologies to support the deployment of an iscp. 0.907 0.862 0.948 0.931 0.772 0.807 0.689 0.681 0.624 0.813 0.914 0.759 1* 0.721 0.918 0.964 0.747 0.802 0.557 0.513 0.509 0.525 0.951 0.801 2.65 2.74 5.07 4.07 12.45 14.58 8.57 6.58 6.53 0.861 0.940 0.767 0.760 0.886 0.507 gfi = 0.944 ; cfi = 0.958 ; nnfi = 0.956 ; srmr = 0.0546 ; rmsea = 0.076 ; chi²/dl = 1.986gfi = 0.944 ; cfi = 0.958 ; nnfi = 0.956 ; srmr = 0.0546 ; rmsea = 0.076 ; chi²/dl = 1.986gfi = 0.944 ; cfi = 0.958 ; nnfi = 0.956 ; srmr = 0.0546 ; rmsea = 0.076 ; chi²/dl = 1.986gfi = 0.944 ; cfi = 0.958 ; nnfi = 0.956 ; srmr = 0.0546 ; rmsea = 0.076 ; chi²/dl = 1.986gfi = 0.944 ; cfi = 0.958 ; nnfi = 0.956 ; srmr = 0.0546 ; rmsea = 0.076 ; chi²/dl = 1.986gfi = 0.944 ; cfi = 0.958 ; nnfi = 0.956 ; srmr = 0.0546 ; rmsea = 0.076 ; chi²/dl = 1.986gfi = 0.944 ; cfi = 0.958 ; nnfi = 0.956 ; srmr = 0.0546 ; rmsea = 0.076 ; chi²/dl = 1.986gfi = 0.944 ; cfi = 0.958 ; nnfi = 0.956 ; srmr = 0.0546 ; rmsea = 0.076 ; chi²/dl = 1.986 ! the results of the confirmatory factor analysis indicate a good indices fit and a good measurement model affinity. these results help defend the value of taking into account the three dimensions for the innovative capacity of the organization. each dimension is measured by at least two items, their respective reliability is proven by a jöreskog’s rhô of greater than 0.7 and a convergent validity greater than 0.5. all estimated parameters are statistically significant (t> value | 1.96 |). ! additionally, table 10 shows that the discriminant validity between the three dimensions of "the organization’s innovative capacity" concept is satisfactory. indeed, the differences (called delta chi²) between the free model chi² and the constrained model chi² are all greater than 3.84 (table 10). table 10. discriminant validity for "the organization’s innovative capacity” chi² delta chi²(ddl = 1) reference-free model 46.731 model constrained between "internal structure" and "joint structure" 52.277 sig. model constrained between "internal structure" and "experience and expertise" 59.836 sig. model constrained between "joint structure" and "experience and expertise" 57.726 sig. # finally, the existence of a latent factor "the organization’s innovative capacity" was validated. indeed, order 2 modeling shows convergent validity (convergent validity: 0.529; jöreskog’s rhô: 0.766) and satisfactory loading (internal structure: 0.846; joint structure: 0.713; experience and expertise: 0.602). m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 263-298! olivier lavastre et al. 284 results for the scale "iscp performance" ! we observe, in agreement with our literature review, that the scale on "iscp performance" is organized using three dimensions that explain over 63% of the total variance for a kmo of 0.699 (table 11) . the first factor is based on the extent of success and includes two items related to organizational success and success at the supply chain level. the second factor is related to the sharing of knowledge within an iscp and brings together three items related to internal and external knowledge creation. the third factor is the match between expectations and results stemming from the iscp. at this stage, we need to remove the item "the iscp, once deployed, met our expectations in terms of compliance with deadlines" with a community of 0.436. this item was rejected because the concept of time potentially does not federate respondents due to a lack of clarity on this notion. in fact, the question referred to the management of deploying the iscp (schedule compliance, for example), whereas the question could be interpreted as referring to respecting deadlines in terms of operational and logistical delays (for example "because of this iscp, suppliers are now respecting their delivery deadlines" or "because of this iscp our information transmission timing requirements are now being respected"). interestingly, schedule compliance in the deployment of an iscp is not always a priority. deadlines can be variable and uncertain (hoegl and wagner, 2005) due to a number of limitations such as evolving project parameters and the integration of a potentially unstable partner in inter-organizational teams (petersen et al., 2005; brettel et al., 2011). ! by repeating the factor analysis without the item related to timeliness, we find the three initial factors with kmo of 0.731 and an explained variance of over 67%. we also note that all the factors related to innovation performance are reliable, with cronbach's alpha coefficients greater than 0.65. table 11. analysis of the scale "iscp performance" exploratoryexploratory confirmatoryconfirmatoryconfirmatoryconfirmatoryconfirmatory items λ cronbach's alpha λ cronbach's alpha t value jöreskog's rhô cnvergent validity scope of the success pire1 an organizational success. pire2 a success at the supply chain level. knowledge creation pik1 pik1 deploying the iscp allowed us to create knowledge internally (new knowledge, information about our processes, problems, etc.). pik2 deploying the iscp allowed us to create knowledge externally with this partner (new knowledge, information about our processes, problems, etc.). pik3 deploying the iscp allowed us to create knowledge externally with the entire supply chain (acquisition of new knowledge, information about our processes, problems, etc.). matching expectations pid1 pid1 the iscp, once deployed, met our expectations in terms of budget compliance. pid2 pid2 the iscp, once deployed, met our expectations in terms of satisfaction of our management. pid3 pid3 the iscp, once deployed, met our expectations in terms of customer satisfaction. pid4 pid4 the iscp, once deployed, met our expectations in terms of expected gains. 0.862 0.863 0.860 0.863 0.675 0.598 0.751 0.706 0.699 0.799 0.764 0.655 0.878 0.765 0.582 0.779 0.760 0.618 0.932 0.543 0.663 0.899 0.561 0.818 7.63 4.69 7.76 10.53 5.29 6.24 10.47 3.50 6.24 0.807 0.753 0.790 0.678 0.508 0.496 gfi = 0.941 ; cfi = 0.938 ; nnfi = 0.943 ; srmr = 0.0797 ; rmsea = 0.067 ; khi²/dl = 2.047gfi = 0.941 ; cfi = 0.938 ; nnfi = 0.943 ; srmr = 0.0797 ; rmsea = 0.067 ; khi²/dl = 2.047gfi = 0.941 ; cfi = 0.938 ; nnfi = 0.943 ; srmr = 0.0797 ; rmsea = 0.067 ; khi²/dl = 2.047gfi = 0.941 ; cfi = 0.938 ; nnfi = 0.943 ; srmr = 0.0797 ; rmsea = 0.067 ; khi²/dl = 2.047gfi = 0.941 ; cfi = 0.938 ; nnfi = 0.943 ; srmr = 0.0797 ; rmsea = 0.067 ; khi²/dl = 2.047gfi = 0.941 ; cfi = 0.938 ; nnfi = 0.943 ; srmr = 0.0797 ; rmsea = 0.067 ; khi²/dl = 2.047gfi = 0.941 ; cfi = 0.938 ; nnfi = 0.943 ; srmr = 0.0797 ; rmsea = 0.067 ; khi²/dl = 2.047gfi = 0.941 ; cfi = 0.938 ; nnfi = 0.943 ; srmr = 0.0797 ; rmsea = 0.067 ; khi²/dl = 2.047 innovative supply chain practices! m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 263-298 285 ! the results of the confirmatory factor analysis indicated good indices fit and good measurement scale affinity. note, however, that the convergent validity of the scale "matching expectations" is limited because it is slightly less than 0.5, but remains acceptable (kline, 2011). ! these results confirm the value of taking into account the three dimensions proposed to measure innovation performance. the reliability of the dimensions "extent of success" and "knowledge creation" are proved by a jöreskog’s rhô greater than 0.7 and convergent validity of 0.5. all parameter estimates are statistically significant (t> value | 1.96 |). in addition, we can consider as acceptable reliability indices for the dimension "matching expectations" with a jöreskog’s rhô at 0.790 and 0.496 for convergent validity. ! we also tested the discriminant validity between the three dimensions of the "iscp performance" concept. this is good because the differences (called delta chi²) between the free model chi² and the constrained model chi² are all greater than 3.84 (table 12). table 12. discriminant validity for "iscp performance" chi² delta chi²(ddl = 1) reference-free model 42.714 model constrained between "scope of success" and "matching expectations" 48.188 sig. model constrained between "scope of success" and "knowledge creation" 76.708 sig. model constrained between “matching expectations" and "knowledge creation" 85.38 sig. ! finally, the modeling of order 2 shows convergent validity (convergent validity: 0.572; jöreskog’s rhô: 0.796) and satisfactory loading (extent of success: 0.711; knowledge creation: 0.616; matching expectations: 0.912). this therefore validates the existence of a latent factor "iscp perfomance". contributions and limitations contributions ! from a managerial point of view, we have chosen to adopt a very broad definition of innovative supply chain practices. therefore, our research focuses on all iscps without trying to differentiate them according to their characteristics (incremental / radical, upstream / internal / downstream, actors involved, etc.). ! this research provides managers with an audit tool to identify and question the important organizational and inter-organizational dimensions when deploying an iscp. such a tool should enable them to identify the key factors for success (and failure), and thus design and implement strategies and actions to successfully implement iscps with their partners. from this perspective, the development of a capacity for organizational innovation (through an internal and a joint project structure and experience and expertise previously acquired), and the conditions and context of deployment, are critical to the performance of an iscp, whether this practice is imposed (emergent) or voluntary (deliberate), and regardless of if the gains are short or long term, and independent of the type of collaboration. m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 263-298! olivier lavastre et al. 286 ! from a theoretical perspective, our research focuses on managerial innovation practices in supply chain management, although few studies have focused on this subject (arlbjørn et al., 2011). indeed, most existing studies focus on product innovations, especially on design and product co-development with industrial partners, even though many studies show that practice innovation is a source of value creation (birkinshaw et al., 2008). ! from a methodological standpoint, our work can be seen as an advance because it provides a measurement instrument for innovative inter-organizational practices developed around three measurement scales. to ensure reliability and validity, we rigorously followed a methodological process recommended for this type of research (churchill, 1979; dunn et al., 1994; hinkin, 1998; hensley, 1999; mackenzie et al., 2011). ! the statistical results are satisfactory and demonstrate the interest of our measurement scales. thanks to the development and validation of these three scales (which together constitute a measurement instrument for iscp in scm), we were able to use them to test and validate a conceptual research model (lavastre et al., 2014). this chronological research design (create a measurement instrument and then use it to test a research model) is consistent with existing research practices. it thus opens the way to the development of future research in the field. this initial work should contribute to the development of research on managerial innovation in the scm domain. limitations ! this work proposes a measurement tools for innovative interorganizational practices in the scm field. from a managerial point of view, this measurement instrument consisting of three scales, is generic. its content can be adapted or specified in terms of the types of iscps being undertaken, firm characteristics (size, industry), and the scm context (maturity, degree of collaboration). ! from a theoretical point of view, we have reduced the study of iscp to a few variables. other variables can be added as well. the theoretical factor "characteristics of the inter-organizational relationship (ior)" with variables like risk sharing (lettice et al., 2010), trust (donney and cannon, 1997), long-term orientation (chen and paulraj, 2004a), and information sharing (li et al., 2005) did not emerge from our qualitative phase, although the review of the literature indicates the importance of these elements contingent to the relationship (derrouiche et al., 2010). the factor "environment" from the qualitative phase was not retained as an integral dimension after factor analysis. similarly, the items related to the environment (we used complexity and turbulence) were not statistically grouped with those linked to the process (voluntary / imposed or deliberate / emergent). damanpour (1996), however, stressed the importance of integrating environment-related variables such as uncertainty, complexity and variability. moreover, göktan and miles (2011) suggested that a dynamic environment pushes companies to innovate. empirically, this study only focuses on iscps in a french context, making generalization of our results to other countries difficult. from a methodological point of view, the relatively small size of our three samples (50, 170 and 142 respondents) should be taken into account. our study focused on perceptions of those actors involved in the iscp, not on objective and quantitative realities. this can create a response bias. in addition, we interviewed a single representative organization per iscp, and this is a source of bias and inaccuracy (li et al., 2005; cao and zhang, 2001). in addition, to study a phenomenon involving several organizations, it would obviously be preferable to question the members of the various organizations involved. innovative supply chain practices! m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 263-298 287 2. this research design reflects the practices of the scientific domain. for example, moore and benbasat (1991) constructed in isr (information systems research) measurement scales and then validated a research model in 1996 (moore and benbasat, 1991; moore and benbasat, 1996); in the jom (journal of management) li et al. (2005) constructed scales that they later used to validate their research model in omega (li et al., 2006). zhu and sarkis (2004) followed the same process, building scales in the jom (journal of management), validating the model in 2005 in the ijopm (international journal of operations and production management) and then confirming their model in 2008 in the ijpe (international journal of production economics) (zhu and sarkis, 2004; zhu et al., 2005; zhu et al., 2008). in 2010 in the ijpe (international journal of p r o d u c t i o n e c o n o m i c s ) , c a o a n d z h a n g developed a measurement scale on collaborative advantage in the sc (cao and zhang, 2010), thanks to which they validated their research model in 2011 the jom (journal of management) (cao and zhang, 2011). future research and conclusion ! in this article, we developed and validated three measurement scales that were already mobilized to validate a model (lavastre et al., 2014)2. these scales provide insight into the contribution of iscps to supply chain performance and test many hypotheses from the literature. our scales can also be enriched by introducing additional variables, such as characteristics of the organization (strategy, structure, organization) that deploys the iscp, characteristics of its supply chain (supply chain length, upstream or downstream position of the organization), or the maturity of its scm (mccormack et al., 2008). we can also test the hypothesis that there is an order to the deployment of inter-organizational practices, a "virtuous" path to innovation in terms of the maturity of the organization’s supply chain management. this leads to examining whether having already developed an organizational innovation is a prerequisite for developing another innovation (e.g. a supplier kanban or cpfr). ! several areas of research could enhance our overall understanding of iscps. a longitudinal study would build a dynamic representation, which could take into account the relationship between the developmental stage of the iscp and its changing characteristics. it would capture the dynamics of the process (its evolution, the actors involved, challenges, and motivations) throughout its development. it would also allow us to observe variations in the intensity of iscp characteristics over time. a qualitative study of an iscp would provide a more complete picture of iscps, namely by performing in-depth interviews with the various partners involved in its deployment. an international study would also highlight specific cultural elements to assess their impact on iscps. finally, a sector study of iscps could identify specificities by industry, activity or market structure. the first sector for study could be the automobile industry, known for its mature scm practices in inter-organizational relationships (wynstra et al., 2010). the second could be the retail sector which is very innovative in its relations between logistics partners, manufacturers and distributors (oh et al., 2012). references adams, r., bessant, j. & phelps, r. (2006). innovation management measurement: a review. international journal of management reviews, 8(1), 21-47. ageron, b., lavastre, o. & spalanzani, a., (2013). innovative supply chain practices: the state of french c o m p a n i e s . s u p p l y c h a i n m a n a g e m e n t : a n international journal, 18(3), 265-276. arlbjørn, j.s., de haas, h. & munksgaard, k.b. (2011). exploring supply chain innovation. logistics research, 3(1), 3-18. a z a d e g a n , a . & d o o l e y, k . j . ( 2 0 1 0 ) . s u p p l i e r innovativeness, organizational learning styles and manufacturer performance: an empirical assessment. journal of operations management, 28(6), 488-505. b e a m o n , b . m . ( 1 9 9 9 ) . m e a s u r i n g s u p p l y c h a i n performance. international journal of operations & production management, 19(3), 275-292. becheikh, n., landry, r. & amara, n. (2006). lessons from innovation empirical studies in the manufacturing sector: a systematic review of the literature from 1993-2003. technovation, 26(5), 644-664. bello, d.c., lothia, r. & sangtani, v. (2004). an institutional analysis of supply chain innovation in global marketing channels. industrial marketing management, 33(1), 57-64. birkinshaw, j., hamel, g. & mol, m.j. (2008). management innovation. academy of management review, 33(4), 825-845. blome, c., schoenherr, t. & eckstein, d. (2014). the impact of knowledge transfer and complexity on supply chain flexibility: a knowledge-based view. international journal of production economics, 147(b), 307-316. bowersox, d.j., closs, d.j., stank, t.p., keller, s.b. (2000). integrated supply chain logistics makes a difference. supply chain management review, 4(4), 70-78. brettel, m., heinemann, f., engelen, a., neubauer & s. (2011). cross-functional integration of r&d, marketing, and manufacturing in radical and incremental product innovations and its effects on project effectiveness and efficiency. journal of product innovation management, 28(2), 251-269. busse, c. & wallenburg, c.m. (2011). innovation management of logistics service providers review, foundations, and research agenda. international j o u r n a l o f p h y s i c a l d i s t r i b u t i o n & l o g i s t i c s management, 41(2), 187-218. byrne, b.m. (1989). a primer of lisrel: basic applications and programming for confirmatory factor analysis analytic models. new york, ny: springerverlag. m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 263-298! olivier lavastre et al. 288 cao, m. & zhang, q. (2010). supply chain collaborative advantage: a firm’s perspective. international journal of production economics, 128(1), 358-367. cao, m. & zhang, q. (2011). supply chain collaboration: i m p a c t o n c o l l a b o r a t i v e a d v a n t a g e a n d fi r m performance. journal of operations management, 29(3), 163-180. charbonnier-voirin, a. (2011). développement et test partiel des propriétés psychométriques d'une échelle d e m e s u r e d e l ' a g i l i t é o r g a n i s a t i o n n e l l e . m@n@gement, 14(2), 119-156. chen, i.j. & paulraj, a. (2004a). towards a theory of supply chain management: the constructs and measurements. journal of operations management, 22(2), 119-150. chen, i.j. & paulraj, a. (2004b). understanding supply chain management: critical research and a theoretical framework. international journal of operational research, 42(1), 131-163. chin, w.w. (1998). the partial least square approach for structural equation modeling. in g. a. marcoulides (ed.), modern methods for business research, 295-236 .london: lawrence erlbaum associates. chollet, b., brion, s., chauvet, v., mothe, c. & graudel, m. (2012). npd projects in search of top management support: the role of team leader social capital. m@n@gement, 15(1), 44-75. churchill, m. (1979). a paradigm for developing better measures of marketing constructs. journal of marketing research, 16(1), 64-73. cooper, r.g. & kleinschmidt, e.j. (2007). winning businesses in product development: the critical success factors. research-technology management, 50(3), 52-66. corley, k.g. & gioia, d.a. (2004). ambiguity and change in the wake of a corporate spin-off. administrative science quarterly, 49(2), 173-208. craighead, c.w., hult, g.t. & ketchen, d.j. (2009). the effects of innovation-cost strategy, knowledge and action in the supply chain on firm performance. journal of operations management, 27(5), 405-421. damanpour, f. (1991). organizational innovation: a metaanalysis of effects of determinants and moderators. academy of management journal, 34(3), 555-590. damanpour, f. (1996). organizational complexity and i n n o v a t i o n : d e v e l o p i n g a n d te s t i n g m u l t i p l e contingency. management science, 42(5), 693-716. damanpour, f. & aravind, d. (2012). managerial innovation: conceptions, processes, and antecedents. management and organization review, 8(2), 423-454. damanpour, f. & gopalakrishnan, s. (1998). theories of organizational structure and innovation adoption: the role of environmental change. journal of engineering and technology management, 15(1), 1-24. derrouiche, r., neubert, g., bouras, a. & savino, m. (2010). b2b relationship management: a framework to explore the impact of collaboration. production planning & control, 21(6), 528-546. dewar, r.d. & dutton, j.e. (1986). the adoption of radical and incremental innovations: an empirical analysis. management science, 32(11), 1422-1433. donney, p.m. & cannon, j.p. (1997). an examination of the nature of trust in buyer-seller relationship. journal of marketing, 61(2), 35-51. dunn, s.c., seaker, r.p. & waller, m.a. (1994). latent variables in business logistics research: scale development and validation. journal of business logistics, 15(2), 145-172. faems, d., van looy, b. & debackere, k. (2005). interorganizational collaboration and innovation: toward a portfolio approach. journal of product innovation management, 22 (3), 238-250. fawcett, s.e., magnan, g.m., mccarter, m.w. (2008). benefits, barriers, and bridges to effective supply chain management. supply chain management: an international journal, 13(1), 35-48. flint, d.j., larsson, e., gammelgaard, b. (2008). exploring processes for customer value insights, supply chain learning and innovation: an international study. journal of business logistics, 28(1), 257-281. flint, d.j., larsson, e., gammelgaard, b., mentzberg, j.t. (2005). logistics innovation: a customer value-oriented social process. journal of business logistics, 26(1), 113-147. fornell, c., larcker, d. f. (1981). evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. journal of marketing research, 18(1), 39-50. fortuin, f. t.j.m., batterink, m., omta, s.w.f. (2007). key success factors of innovation in multinational agrifood prospector companies. international food and agribusiness management review, 10(4), 1-24. garcia, r., calantone, r. (2002). a critical look at technological innovation typology and innovativeness terminology: a literature review. the journal of product innovation management, 19(2), 110-132. garver, m.s., mentzer, j.t. (1999). logistics research methods: employing structural equation modeling to test for construct validity. journal of business logistics, 20(1), 33-57. gioia, d.a., corley, k.g., hamilton, a.l. (2013). seeking qualitative rigor in inductive research: notes on the gioia methodology. organizational research methods, 16(1), 15-31. goktan, a.b., miles, g. (2011). innovation speed and radicalness: are they inversely related? management decision, 49(4), 533-547. goodale, j.c., kuratko, d.f., hornsby, j.s., co, j.g. (2011). operations management and corporate entrepreneurship: the moderating effect of operations control on the antecedents of corporate entrepreneurial activity in relation to innovation. journal of operations management, 29(1-2), 116-127. gunasekaran, a., patel, c., mcgaughey, r.e. (2004). a framework for supply chain performance measurement. international journal of production economics, 87(3), 333-347. hair, j.f., anderson, r.e., tatham, r.l., black, w.c. (1995). multivariate data analysis with readings. prentice-hall, inc., new york hazen, b.t., overstreet, r.e., cegielski c.g. (2012). supply chain innovation diffusion: going beyond a d o p t i o n . i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f l o g i s t i c s management, 23(1), 119-134. hensley, r.l. (1999). a review of operations management studies using scale development techniques. journal of operations management, 17(3), 343-358. innovative supply chain practices! m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 263-298 289 hinkin, t.r. (1998). a brief tutorial on the development of m e a s u r e s f o r u s e i n s u r v e y q u e s t i o n n a i r e s . organizational research methods, 1(1), 104-112. hoegl, m., wagner, s.m. (2005). buyer-supplier collaboration in product development projects. journal of management, 31(4), 530-548. holmström, j. (1998), business process innovation in the supply chain a case study of implementing vendor managed inventory. european journal of purchase and supply chain management, 4(2), 127-131. hult, g.t., ketchen, d.j., cavusgil, s.t., calanton, r.j. (2006). knowledge as a strategic resource in supply chains. journal of operations management, 24(5), 458-475. hult, g.t., ketchen, d.j., slater, s.f. (2004). information processing, knowledge development and strategic supply chain performance. academy of management journal, 47(2), 241-253. hurley, r.f., hult, g.t.m. (1998). innovation, market orientation, and organizational learning: an integration and empirical examination. the journal of marketing, 42-54. kelley, d.j., o'connor, g.c., neck, h., peters, l. (2011). building an organizational capability for radical innovation: the direct managerial role. journal of engineering & technology management, 28(4), 249-267. kim, b. (2000). coordinating an innovation in supply chain management. european journal of operational research, 123(3), 568-584. kim, d.y., kumar, v., kuma, u. (2012). relationship between quality management practices and innovation. journal of operations management, 30(4) 295-315. kline, r.b. (2011). principles and practice of structural equation modeling (3rd ed.). new york: the guilford press. knight, g.a., cavusgil, s.t. (2004). innovation, organizational capabilities, and the born-global firm. journal of international business studies, 35(2), 124-141. kwon, i.w.g., suh, t. (2005). trust, commitment and relationships in supply chain management: a path analysis. supply chain management, 10(1), 26-33. lambert, d.m., cooper, m.c., pagh, j.d. (1998). supply chain management: implementation, issues and research opportunities. international journal of logistics management, 9(2), 1-19. lavastre, o., ageron, b., chaze-magnan, l. (2014). la performance des pratiques inter-organisationnelles innovantes (p2i) : proposition d'un modèle conceptuel. revue française de gestion, 40(239), 75-89. lavastre, o., ageron, b., spalanzani, a. (2011). de l ' o r g a n i s a t i o n i n d u s t r i e l l e a u s u p p l y c h a i n management : un siècle d'innovations continues vers quelles pratiques des entreprises françaises en 2009 ?-. revue française de gestion industrielle, 30(3), 9-36. lawson, b., samson, d. (2001). developing innovation capability in organisations: a dynamic capabilities approach. international journal of innovation management, 5(3), 377-400. le roy, f., robert, m., giuliani, p. (2013). l'innovation managériale généalogie, défis et perspectives. revue française de gestion, 39(235), 77-90. lee, j., veloso, f.m. (2008). interfirm innovation under uncertainty: empirical evidence for strategic knowledge partitioning. journal of product innovation management, 25(5), 418-435. lettice, f., wyatt, c., evans, s. (2010). buyer-supplier partnerships during product design and development in the global automotive sector: who invests, in what and when? international journal of production economics, 127(2), 309-319. li, s., ragu-nathan, b., ragu-nathan, t. s. & subba rao, s. (2006). the impact of supply chain management practices on competitive advantage and organizational performance. omega, 34(2), 107-124. li, s., subba rao, s., ragu-nathan, t.s., & ragu-nathan, b. (2005). development and validation of a measurement instrument for studying supply chain management practices. journal of operations management, 23(6), 618-641. lin, h.y. & ho, y.h. (2008). an empirical study on logistics service providers' intention to adopt green innovations. journal of technology management & innovation, 3(1), 18-26. lin, y., wang, y. & chiahui, y. (2010). investigating the drivers of the innovation in channel integration and supply chain performance: a strategy orientated perspective. international journal of production economics, 127(2), 320-332. mackenzie, s.b., podsakoff, p.m. & podsakoff, n.p. (2011). construct measurement and validation procedures in mis and behavioral research: integrating new and existing techniques. mis quaterly, 35(2), 293-334. mccormack, k., ladeira, m.b. & valderes de oliviera, m.p. (2008). supply chain maturity and performance in brazil. supply chain management: an international journal, 13(4), 272-282. menor, l.j. & roth, a.v. (2007). new service development competence in retail banking: construct development and measurement validation. journal of operations management, 25(4), 825-846. moore, g.c. & benbasat, i. (1991). development of an instrument to measure the perceptions of adopting an information technology innovation. information systems research, 2(3), 192-222. moore, g.c. & benbasat, i. (1996). integrating diffusion of innovations and theory of reasoned action models to predict utilization of information technology by endusers. in k. kautz & j. pries-heje (eds.) diffusion and adoption of information technology, 132-146, london: chapman and hall. muller, e. & zenker, a. (2001). business services as actors of knowledge transformation: the role of kibs in regional and national innovation system. research policy, 30(9), 1501-1516. musiolik, j. & markard, j. (2011). creating and shaping innovation systems: formal networks in the innovation system for stationary fuel cells in germany. energy policy, 39(4), 1909-1922. naranjo-valencia, j.c., jimenez-jimenez, d. & sanz-valle, r. (2011). innovation or imitation? the role of organizational culture. management decision, 49(1), 55-72. ocde. (2005). manuel d’oslo: principes directeurs proposes pour le recueil et l’interprétation des données s u r l ’ i n n o v a t i o n t e c h n o l o g i q u e . c o m m i s s i o n européenne-eurostat, 102p. http://www.oecd.org/fr/sti/ inno/2367523.pdf m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 263-298! olivier lavastre et al. 290 http://www.oecd.org/fr/sti/inno/2367523.pdf http://www.oecd.org/fr/sti/inno/2367523.pdf http://www.oecd.org/fr/sti/inno/2367523.pdf http://www.oecd.org/fr/sti/inno/2367523.pdf o'connor, b.p. (2000). spss and sas programs for determining the number of components using parallel analysis and velicer's map test. behavior research methods, instrumentation, and computers, 33(2), 396-402. o'connor, g.c. & mcdermott, c.m. (2004). the human side of radical innovation. journal of engineering and technology management, 21(1-2), 11-30. oh, l.-b, teo, h.-h. & sambamurth, v. (2012). the effects of retail channel integration through the use of information technologies on firm performance. journal of operations management, 30(5), 368-381. panayides, p.m. (2006). enhancing innovation capability through relationship management and implications for performance. european journal of innovation management, 9(4), 466-483. panayides, p.m. & venus lun, y.h. (2010). the impact of trust on innovativeness and supply chain performance. international journal of production economics, 122(11), 35-46. petersen, k.j., handfield, r.b. & ragatz, g.l. (2005). supplier integration into new product development: coordinating product, process and supply chain design. journal of operations management, 23(3-4), 371-388. pohle, g., chapman, m. (2006). ibm's global ceo report 2006: business model innovation matters. strategy & leadership, 34(5), 34-40. ragatz, g.l., handfield, r. b. & scannell, t.v. (1997). success factors for integrating supplier into new product development. journal of product innovation management, 14(3), 190-202. robson s. & haigh, g. (2008). first findings from the uk innovation survey 2007. economic and labour market review, 2(4), 47-53. rogers, e.m. (2003). diffusion of innovations. new york, ny: free press. romelaer, p. (2005). l’entretien de recherche. in p. roussel & f. wacheux., management des ressources humaines : méthodes de recherche en sciences humaines et sociales, 101-134. bruxelles : de boeck. roussel, p. (2005). méthodes de développement d’échelles pour questionnaires d’enquête. in p. roussel & f. wacheux, management des ressources humaines : méthodes de recherche en sciences humaines et sociales. 245-276. bruxelles : de boeck. roy, s., sivakumar, k. & wilkinson, i.f. (2004). innovation generation in supply chain relationships: a conceptual model and research propositions. journal of the academy of marketing science, 32(1), 61-79. shah, r. & goldstein, s.m. (2006). use of structural equation modeling in operations management research: looking back and forward. journal of operations management, 24(2), 148-169. sharma, s., mukherjee, s., kumar, a. & dillon, w.r. (2005). a simulation study to investigate the use of cutoff values for assessing model fit in covariance structure models. journal of business research, 58(7), 935-43. shin, h., collier, d.a. & wilson, d.d. (2000). supply m a n a g e m e n t o r i e n t a t i o n a n d s u p p l i e r / b u y e r performance. journal of operations management, 18(3), 317–333 siguaw, j.a., simpson, p.m. & enz, c.a. (2006). conceptualizing innovation orientation: a framework for study and integration of innovation research. journal of product innovation management, 23(6), 556-574. simatupang, t.m. & sridharan, r. (2005). an integrative framework for supply chain collaboration. international journal of logistics management, 16(2), 257-274. skipper, j.b., hanna, j.b.& cegielski, c.g. (2009). supply chain contingency planning and firm adoption: an initial look at differentiating the innovators. transportation journal, 48(2), 40-62. song, m. & di benedetto, c.a. (2008). supplier's involvement and success of radical new product development in new ventures. journal of operations management, 26(1), 1-22. soosay, c.a, hyland, p.w. & ferrer, m. (2008). supply chain collaboration: capabilities for continuous i n n o v a t i o n . s u p p l y c h a i n m a n a g e m e n t : a n international journal, 13(2), 160-169. stewart, g.l. & barrick, m.r. (2000). team structure and performance: assessing the mediating role of intrateam process and the moderating role of task type. academy of management journal, 43(2), 135-148. tan, k.c., lyman, s.b. & wisner, j.d. (2002). supply chain management: a strategic perspective. international journal of operations and production management, 22(6), 614-631. tidd, j. (1995). the development of novel products through intra and inter-organizational network. journal of product innovation management, 12(4), 307-322. tidd, j. (2001). innovation in context: environment, organization and performance. international journal of marketing reviews, 3(3), 169-183. van de ven, a.h. (1986). central problems in the management of innovation. management science, 32(5), 590-607. van echtelt, f.e, wynstra, f., van weele, a., duysters, g. (2008). managing supplier involvement in new product development: a multiple-case study. journal of product innovation management, 25(2), 180-201. von hippel, e. (1988). the sources of innovation. oxford: university press. wagner, s.m. (2010). supplier traits for better customer firm innovation performance. industrial marketing management, 39(7), 1139-1149. wallenburg, c.m., knemeyer, a.m., goldsby, t.j., cahill, d.l. (2010). developing a scale for proactive i m p r o v e m e n t w i t h i n l o g i s t i c s o u t s o u r c i n g relationships. international journal of logistics management, 21(1), 5-21. wernerfelt, b. (1984). a resource-based view of the firm. strategic management journal, 5(2), 171-180. wynstra, f., von corswant, f. & wetzels, m. (2010). in chains? an empirical study of antecedents of supplier product development activity in the automotive industry. journal of product innovation management, 20(6), 625-639. yalabik, b. & fairchild, r.j. (2011). customer, regulatory, and competitive pressure as drivers of environmental innovation. international journal of production economics, 131(2), 519-527. innovative supply chain practices! m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 263-298 291 http://www.sciencedirect.com.gate3.inist.fr/science/article/pii/s0272696307000836 http://www.sciencedirect.com.gate3.inist.fr/science/article/pii/s0272696307000836 http://www.sciencedirect.com.gate3.inist.fr/science/article/pii/s0272696307000836 http://www.sciencedirect.com.gate3.inist.fr/science/article/pii/s0272696307000836 http://www.sciencedirect.com.gate3.inist.fr/science/article/pii/s0272696307000836 http://www.sciencedirect.com.gate3.inist.fr/science/article/pii/s0272696307000836 yang, j. (2012). innovation capability and corporate growth: an empirical investigation in china. journal of engineering and technology management, 29(1), 34-46. yu, w., jacobs, m.a., salisbury, w.d. & enns h. (2013).the effects of supply chain integration on customer satisfaction and financial performance: an organizational learning perspective. international journal of production economics, 146(1), 346-358. zhao, x., huo, b., flynn, b.b. & yeung, j. (2008). the impact of power and relationship commitment on integration between manufacturers and customers in supply chain. journal of operations management, 26(3), 366-388. zheng, w., yang, b. & mclean, g.n. (2010). linking organizational culture, structure, strategy, and organizational effectiveness: mediating role of knowledge management. journal of business research, 63(7), 763-771. zhou, k.z. (2006). innovation, imitation, and new product performance: the case of china. industrial marketing management, 35(3), 394-402. zhou, k.z. & wu, f. (2010). technological capability, strategic flexibility, and product innovation. strategic management journal, 31(5), 547-561. zhu, q. & sarkis, j. (2004). relationships between operational practices and performance among early adopters of green supply chain management practices in chinese manufacturing enterprises. journal of operations management, 22(3), 265-289. zhu, q., sarkis, j. & geng, y. (2005). green supply chain management in china: drivers, practices and performance. international journal of operations and production management, 25(4), 449-468. zhu, q., sarkis, j. & lai, k.h. (2008). confirmation of a m e a s u r e m e n t m o d e l f o r g r e e n s u p p l y c h a i n management practices implementation. international journal of production economics, 111(2), 261-273. m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 263-298! olivier lavastre et al. 292 a p p e n d ix a .s t r u c t u r e o f q u a l it a t iv e d a t a f o r c o n s t r u c t " is c p d e p l o y m e n t c o n d it io n s a n d c o n t e x t " (w it h v e r b a t im e x t r a c t s ) a p p e n d ix a .s t r u c t u r e o f q u a l it a t iv e d a t a f o r c o n s t r u c t " is c p d e p l o y m e n t c o n d it io n s a n d c o n t e x t " (w it h v e r b a t im e x t r a c t s ) a p p e n d ix a .s t r u c t u r e o f q u a l it a t iv e d a t a f o r c o n s t r u c t " is c p d e p l o y m e n t c o n d it io n s a n d c o n t e x t " (w it h v e r b a t im e x t r a c t s ) ve rb at im e xt ra ct s fi rs t o rd er c at eg or y s ec on d or de r th em e th e im pe tu s ca m e fro m th e co m pa ny ’s s tra te gy . if ou r b os s is n ot c on vi nc ed , t he re ’s li ttl e ch an ce th at th e su pp lie r w ill g o in o ur d ire ct io n. to tr ig ge r t hi s in no va tio n, s en io r m an ag em en t h ad to w an t t o sh ar e th e st ra te gy w ith th e m an ag er s. r eq ui re d by th e ge ne ra l m an ag em en t in no va tiv e pr oc es s w e al m os t l os t, in fa ct , b ec au se it is a c ha ng e im po se d by th e su pp lie r t o im pr ov e th ei r fi na nc ia l h ea lth . th e su pp lie rs im po se d a ch an ge to th ei r a dv an ta ge a nd th en w e, w e w er e fo rc ed to m ak e it ha pp en . r eq ui re d by th e pa rtn er in no va tiv e pr oc es s in fl ow m an ag em en t, ye s, th er e ha s be en a lo t o f i nn ov at io ns . s om e w er e ne ce ss ar y, o th er s w er e im po se d. th er e ar e th e fa ct or s of th e e ur op ea ni za tio n of c lie nt s, w ho b ec om e so b ig th at th ei r s co pe o f i nfl ue nc e ex te nd s be yo nd , o ut si de th e co un try 's b or de rs . b al an ce o f p ow er in no va tiv e pr oc es s th is in no va tio n, h er e, c an c re at e an in no va tio n at th e su pp lie rs . it’ s he re , i w as th e on e w ho s ta rte d th e pr oj ec t! in iti at ed b y th e cu st om er in no va tiv e pr oc es s fo r e xa m pl e, in a gr i-b us in es s, [. ..] it is n ot in a fe w m on th s th at w e ca n ch an ge th e na tu re o f t hi s re la tio ns hi p [c us to m er -s up pl ie r] in o ur c om pa ny . w ha t w as im pl em en te d an d w ha t w ill o cc ur a fte r s ev er al m on th s, th at ’s th e pr ac tic e of e d i, epr oc ur em en t t ha t w as la un ch ed in 20 01 , i t's b ee n ei gh t y ea rs . e va lu at e lo ng te rm r o i ( r et ur n o n in ve st m en t) e xp ec te d ga in s (ti m e to re co ve ry ) in th is p ro je ct , i nf or m at io n re lia bi lit y w as th e fir st e xp ec te d ga in ; b ut a fte r t ha t c om es e ffi ci en cy , fi na nc ia l p er fo rm an ce , e tc . w e ca nn ot c al cu la te a re tu rn o n in ve st m en t w ith th is p ro je ct . w e ca nn ot s ay i ea rn “t ha t” th ro ug h th e de pl oy m en t o f t hi s pr oj ec t. d iffi cu lty e va lu at in g th e r o i e xp ec te d ga in s (ti m e to re co ve ry ) th is c ha ng e in th e or ga ni za tio n of p hy si ca l fl ow s sh ou ld a llo w u s to a ch ie ve s ho rtte rm g ai ns a nd re ga in p ow er o ve r o ur su pp lie rs . m ai nl y to s av e on [. ..] o pe ra tin g co st s, p lu s, m or e re lia bi lit y si nc e w ith c on si gn m en t s to ck , w e ar e cl os er a nd q ui ck er . s o w e’ re m or e re ac tiv e w he n pr ob le m s ar is e. im pr ov e sh or t t er m re ac tiv ity e xp ec te d ga in s (ti m e to re co ve ry ) w ith th es e ne w w or kfl ow m et ho ds , w e w an t t o re du ce in ve nt or y in th e fa ct or y, to m ak e m or e m on ey . w ith th is a pp ro ac h, w e ca n re du ce o ur p re pa ra tio n co st s, o pt im iz e th e pr ep ar at io n m ix . t he k ey is lo gi st ic s co st s. r ed uc e co st s e xp ec te d ga in s (ti m e to re co ve ry ) t hi s is a n in te ror ga ni za tio na l i nn ov at iv e co nc ep t i n th e se ns e th at th ey a re n o lo ng er a m er e su pp lie r, bu t a ls o th e br ai np ow er , th e in no va tio ns .. . i t’s a tr ue c ol la bo ra tiv e w or k. o th er b uy er s fo cu s on p ric e, b ut o ur s ha ve o ur c or po ra te c ul tu re a nd re sp ec t f or th ei r p ar tn er . la ck o f c oo pe ra tio n w ith th e pa rtn er c ol la bo ra tio n i e xp ec t t ha t w ith th is p ro je ct w e w ill lo se le ss ti m e co m m un ic at in g w ith th is s up pl ie r, le ss ti m e se ar ch in g fo r d at a, th er e w ill b e m or e au to m at io n. w e im pr ov ed o ur la g tim e be tw ee n th e tw o pl an ts a nd b et w ee n th e up st re am a nd d ow ns tre am a ct or s at th e tw o pl an ts , b ec au se w e re al ly in tro du ce d a w or k m et ho d ba se d on tr us t, te am w or k, a llo w in g us to m ax im iz e flo w s ec ur ity . s ec ur e an d tra ck e xc ha ng es w ith p ar tn er c ol la bo ra tio n to h av e an in te re st in g bu si ne ss c as e, it h as to c os t l es s fo r t he s up pl ie r, so th ey re vi se th ei r o pe ra tio ns . t he in no va tio n w as es ta bl is he d be ca us e of c on st ra in ts d ue to s to ck . i t’s a n im m ob ili ze d fin an ci al a ss et . t o ad dr es s th is fi na nc ia l c on st ra in t, co ns ig nm en t s to ck a pp ea re d to b e a w ay to m ak e th e su pp lie r b ea r t he b ur de n of th e st oc k. p ar tn er ’s fi na nc ia l c ap ac ity c ol la bo ra tio n yo u’ ve g ot to fi nd c om pa ni es th at h av e th e sa m e po w er o ve r t he ir su pp lie rs , w ho h av e a lo t o f fl ow a nd d iv er si ty . s om e pr ov id er s ha ve m or e w ei gh t t ha n ot he rs , b ut w e ca n’ t c ha ng e th at . r is k of d ep en de nc e an d op po rtu ni sm c ol la bo ra tio n b ut w e ar e al re ad y do in g th is w ith s om e su pp lie rs , s o th e ch an ge w ill b e le ss b ru ta l. fo r t he m om en t, w e’ ve in te gr at ed o ne c ar b od yb ui ld er in to th e pr oj ec t, be ca us e it' s th e on ly o ne th at re al ly d oe s la rg e vo lu m es fo r u s. b ut it 's im po rta nt to u s, a nd w e ho pe w e ca n do th e sa m e w ith o th er s up pl ie rs , e ve n th ou gh w e kn ow it 's n ot e as y. a ct or im pl ic at ed c ol la bo ra tio n m@n@gement 2014, vol. 17(4): 263-298 293 a p p e n d ix a . s t r u c t u r e o f q u a l it a t iv e d a t a f o r c o n s t r u c t " is c p d e p l o y m e n t c o n d it io n s a n d c o n t e x t " (w it h v e r b a t im e x t r a c t s ) a p p e n d ix a . s t r u c t u r e o f q u a l it a t iv e d a t a f o r c o n s t r u c t " is c p d e p l o y m e n t c o n d it io n s a n d c o n t e x t " (w it h v e r b a t im e x t r a c t s ) a p p e n d ix a . s t r u c t u r e o f q u a l it a t iv e d a t a f o r c o n s t r u c t " is c p d e p l o y m e n t c o n d it io n s a n d c o n t e x t " (w it h v e r b a t im e x t r a c t s ) s ho rte ni ng p ro du ct li fe c yc le fi rs t o rd er c at eg or y s ec on d or de r th em e th e tre nd is s im pl y th at th e w or k en vi ro nm en t h as c ha ng ed . t en y ea rs a go , w e m ad e a pr od uc t f or s ev er al y ea rs . n ow , w e m us t co ns ta nt ly in no va te to b e tre nd y. th irt y pe rc en t o f o ur p ro du ct s ar e up da te d an nu al ly . s ho rte ni ng p ro du ct li fe c yc le e nv iro nn em en t r at he r, it is li nk ed w ith re qu ire m en ts o f c us to m er s, w ho e xp re ss th ei r n ee ds a s la te a s po ss ib le , s o it ca n be a s ra pi d as 4 8 ho ur s, w he re as b ef or e it co ul d ha ve b ee n [.. .] 2 w ee ks o r 1 m on th . th e pr ob le m w as to h an dl e th e ou ts ta nd in g or de rs , i nt er na tio na l " de m an d re vi ew ", an d be tte r s er ve th e cu st om er . c us to m er d em an d di ffi cu lt to pr ed ic t e nv iro nn em en t o ur p ar tn er s ar e im pa ct ed b y th is in no va tio n. fi na lly , w e' re a ll in th e sa m e bo at : u s, o ur s up pl ie rs , a nd o ur lo gi st ic s pr ov id er s. it ’s a ll ab ou t t he c us to m er . th e su pp lie r i s ob lig ed to m ai nt ai n its d at ab as e to p ro du ce a nd tr an sp or t, so w e w ill e xt en d it to th e cu st om er s [.. .] s o w e ar e sy nc hr on is ed ri gh t u p to th e di st rib ut or . p ro bl em o f a n ex te nd ed en te rp ris e e nv iro nn em en t w ith th e ar riv al o f c hi ne se c om pa ni es in o ur m ar ke t, w e ar e fo rc ed to b e al er t, an d be a bl e to re ac t s up er -fa st . o ur d es ig n de pa rtm en t a nd o ur m ar ke tin g de pa rtm en t a re a cc us to m ed to w or ki ng to ge th er , b ut w ith s up pl ie rs it ’s h ar de r. fr eq ue nt te ch no lo gi ca l c ha ng es e nv iro nn em en t fi rs t, w e w er e hi t b y th e cr is is a ffe ct in g al l a ut om ot iv e in du st rie s. in o rd er to fr ee -u p ca sh fl ow [. ..] w e ha ve to d ra st ic al ly re du ce o ur in ve nt or y w ith o ur s up pl ie rs . th e st af f w as in te re st ed in th is p ro je ct b ec au se it a llo w ed u s to a dd re ss th es e as pe ct s lin ke d to th e ec on om ic c ris is . e co no m ic c ris is e nv iro nn em en t m@n@gement 2014, vol. 17(4): 263-298 294 a p p e n d ix b . s t r u c t u r e o f q u a l it a t iv e d a t a f o r c o n s t r u c t " t h e o r g a n iz a t io n ’s i n n o v a t iv e c a p a c it y " (w it h v e r b a t im e x t r a c t s ) a p p e n d ix b . s t r u c t u r e o f q u a l it a t iv e d a t a f o r c o n s t r u c t " t h e o r g a n iz a t io n ’s i n n o v a t iv e c a p a c it y " (w it h v e r b a t im e x t r a c t s ) a p p e n d ix b . s t r u c t u r e o f q u a l it a t iv e d a t a f o r c o n s t r u c t " t h e o r g a n iz a t io n ’s i n n o v a t iv e c a p a c it y " (w it h v e r b a t im e x t r a c t s ) ve rb at im e xt ra ct s fi rs t o rd er c at eg or y s ec on d or de r t he m e th e st af f t ot al ly s up po rte d th e pr oj ec t. th is is th e fir st p ro je ct a t x h ad a re al o rg an iz at io na l d im en si on , [ a] p ro ce ss w ith s tro ng s en io r m an ag em en t a nd e nd u se r in vo lv em en t [ ... ]. e m pl oy ee im pl ic at io n in te rn al p ro je ct st ru ct ur e th e de si gn o ffi ce is v er y kn ow le dg ea bl e ab ou t t he p ro du ct s, b ut c on ce rn in g co lla bo ra tiv e pr oc es se s, th at ’s a no th er s to ry . w he n w e op en ed o ur e r p w ith x [o ur s up pl ie r], w e ha d to e du ca te o ur e m pl oy ee s. s ta ff tra in in g in te rn al p ro je ct st ru ct ur e c ha ng e m an ag em en t, it’ s al w ay s th e sa m e pr ob le m ! th e bi gg es t c ha lle ng e w as re si st an ce to c ha ng e be ca us e ea ch o f t he tw o pl an ts d ef en de d its in te re st s. c ha ng e m an ag em en t in te rn al p ro je ct st ru ct ur e a fte r l au nc hi ng th e pr oj ec t, w e fo rm ed th e pr oj ec t t ea m : t he b uy er [. ..] ; t he tr an sp or ta tio n se rv ic e [.. .]; th e it s er vi ce [. ..] ; m an ag em en t c on tro l [ ... ]; lo gi st ic al m et ho ds [. ..] . o ur m et ho do lo gy is im po se d by th e gr ou p, w e us e th e m an ag em en t m et ho do lo gy fr om p ro je ct x w ith m ile st on es / de liv er ab le s th at ar e ap pr ov ed b y a lo gi st ic s st ee rin g co m m itt ee (t ha t i nc lu de s m an ag em en t). p ro je ct m an ag em en t in te rn al p ro je ct st ru ct ur e b uy er s ac t a lo ne , t he y do n ot li st en ! b ef or e, th e th re e ac to rs , t he lo gi st ic ia n, th e te ch ni ca l m an ag er a nd th e pu rc ha se r w or ke d se pa ra te ly . e ac h ha d cl ea rly d efi ne d go al s, bu t t he y w er e di sp ro po rti on at e to e ac h ot he r. e ve ry on e di d so lo n eg ot ia tio ns . la ck o f c om m un ic at io n in te rn al p ro je ct st ru ct ur e o ur p ro je ct te am c on si st ed o f p ur ch as in g an d re pr es en ta tiv es fr om a ll th e pr oc es se s: m an ag em en t c on tro l, lo gi st ic s, it [i nf or m at io n te ch no lo gy ], lo ca l p ur ch as in g. in te rn al ly , t he a ct or s in vo lv ed w er e th e in du st ria l l og is tic s m an ag em en t, th e lo gi st ic s m an ag er s at e ac h pl an t, th e fa ct or y m an ag er s, an d th e he ad o f m an uf ac tu rin g. ty pe s of in te rn al a ct or s im pl ic at ed in te rn al p ro je ct st ru ct ur e c ur re nt ly , w e’ re a ll he re , t og et he r w e ha ve lo ts o f i de as . in fo rm at io n re so ur ce s ar e es se nt ia l: it in cr ea se s co m m un ic at io n w ith o ur (a ut om ot iv e) b od yb ui ld er s. c om m un ic at io n be tw ee n pa rtn er s jo in t p ro je ct st ru ct ur e th e su pp lie r c am e to o ur s ite tw o or th re e tim es w ith o ne b uy er a nd tw o lo gi st ic s te ch ni ci an s, to s et u p pr oc ed ur es a nd th e ne ed ed is [i nf or m at io n s ys te m s] , a nd n ow w e au di t i t a nn ua lly . it in vo lv es o ur in te gr at ed b od yb ui ld er s w ho a re re sp on si bl e fo r t he q ua lit y co nt ro l o f o ur v eh ic le s [.. .] th is re qu ire s a lo t o f c on fid en ce in o ur p ar tn er . a ct iv e su pp lie r p ar tic ip at io n jo in t p ro je ct st ru ct ur e a t fi rs t, w e w en t w ith ou t a p ro je ct s tru ct ur e [.. .]. t o su cc ee d w ith th e in no va tio n, w e se t u p an o rg an iz ed p ro je ct s tru ct ur e w ith th e su pp lie r, w ith a m ul tisi te te am [. ..] . s o th at m ea ns : m y bo ss [. ..] , m e, th e up st re am lo gi st ic s m an ag er , t w o pe op le fr om th e lo ca l m ar ke t, [.. .] an d th e su pp lie r t ha t w ill m ak e tw o pe op le a va ila bl e fo r t he p ro je ct . p ro je ct m an ag em en t jo in t p ro je ct st ru ct ur e o ur b uy er fo un d a go od p ric e, b ut th e su pp lie r d oe sn ’t ha ve th e sa m e is su es a s us . [d ur in g th e fir st m ee tin g] a ro un d th e ta bl e, y ou c ou ld h ea r a p in d ro p, w e w er e w on de rin g w ha t w e w er e do in g th er e. it to ok u s fo ur m on th s to g et c om fo rta bl e. la ck o f c om m un ic at io n jo in t p ro je ct st ru ct ur e th er e ar e m or e th an 1 00 a ct or s, in te rn al ly a nd e xt er na lly (s up pl ie rs ) [ ... ], in vo lv ed in th is p ro je ct . it al so a llo w s us to w or k in p ar tn er sh ip w ith th e di st rib ut or s, to p ur su e ot he r t hi ng s to m or ro w . ye s, w e ha ve a p ro je ct [. ..] c p fr (c ol la bo ra tiv e p la nn in g fo re ca st in g an d r ep le ni sh m en t). t he id ea is to b e ab le to in cr ea se th e fre qu en cy o f d el iv er y to d is tri bu to rs . ty pe s of e xt er na l a ct or s im pl ic at ed jo in t p ro je ct st ru ct ur e to b e ef fe ct iv e fro m th e st ar t, yo u ha ve to a sk th e qu es tio n of h ow th e pr oj ec t w ill u nf ol d. a t x , w e be gi n by b en ch m ar ki ng , w e ar e st ill b en ch m ar ki ng in th e ar ea o f t ru ck s, b ut e ve n in o th er a re as , t he re m ay b e go od id ea s th at c an b e us ed . c ha ng e m an ag em en t e xp er ie nc e an d ex pe rti se th e su pp lie r i s ve ry fa r, he s pe ak s e ng lis h po or ly , a nd w ith th e tim e di ffe re nc e, w e ca n sa y th at it ’s d iffi cu lt. ye s, c ul tu re c an b e a ch al le ng e, th is is p ar tic ul ar ly th e ca se w ith g er m an y [.. .]. th e c e o o f t he c ou nt ry is o fte n in vo lv ed b ec au se th is in no va tio n sp an s m ul tip le b us in es se s an d w e ne ed a c om m on a pp ro ac h by co un try . in te rc ul tu ra l d im en si on e xp er ie nc e an d ex pe rti se w e w en t t o pe op le w ho h ad e xp er ie nc es w ith o th er m an uf ac tu re rs . w e ha ve a c or po ra te m et ho do lo gy th at h as to b e fo llo w ed fo r a ll pr oj ec ts : t he re a re s ev er al g at es [m ile st on es ] p re se nt ed a nd ap pr ov ed , o r n ot , b y th e co m m itt ee th ro ug ho ut th e pr oj ec ts ’ p ro gr es s. w e to ok a dv an ta ge o f t he e xp er tis e of x to e xt en d [th e ve nd or m an ag ed in ve nt or y] in y , i t w as s et u p in la te 2 00 9. w or k m et ho ds e xp er ie nc e an d ex pe rti se m@n@gement 2014, vol. 17(4): 263-298 295 m@n@gement 2014, vol. 17(4): 263-298 296 a p p e n d ix c . s t r u c t u r e o f q u a l it a t iv e d a t a f o r c o n s t r u c t "i s c p p e r f o r m a n c e " (w it h v e r b a t im e x t r a c t s ) a p p e n d ix c . s t r u c t u r e o f q u a l it a t iv e d a t a f o r c o n s t r u c t "i s c p p e r f o r m a n c e " (w it h v e r b a t im e x t r a c t s ) a p p e n d ix c . s t r u c t u r e o f q u a l it a t iv e d a t a f o r c o n s t r u c t "i s c p p e r f o r m a n c e " (w it h v e r b a t im e x t r a c t s ) ve rb at im e xt ra ct s fi rs t o rd er c at eg or y s ec on d or de r th em e th e ga in th an ks to a n op en s a p is th at e ve ry on e ha s th e sa m e in fo rm at io n, a nd it c an b e ac ce ss ed b y ev er yo ne . i m ea n, if th e in no va tio n is c om pa rtm en ta liz ed a nd li m ite d to a s m al l a re a, it lo se s its p ow er a nd w e lo se s om e of th e po te nt ia l b en efi ts . im pr ov ed co lla bo ra tio n e xt en t o f su cc es s th e in no va tio n fo cu se d m os tly o n th e up st re am fl ow , s in ce it c ha ng es th e re la tio ns hi p be tw ee n us a nd th e pu rc ha si ng c om pa ny . o ur tr an sp or ta tio n pr ov id er s ar e al so im pa ct ed b y th is in no va tio n to th e ex te nt th at fo r t he m to b e se le ct ed , t he y m us t p ro ve th at th ey h av e th e sa m e le ve l o f q ua lit y an d sa fe ty . b et te r i nt er na l a nd ex te rn al fl ow m an ag em en t e xt en t o f su cc es s th e le ad er sh ip is c rit ic al b ec au se th is in no va tio n is th er e to d im in is h w or k re la te d ac ci de nt s, th e re al ri sk s. in a dd iti on , t he s up pl ie r m us t m ai nt ai n a ce rta in re fe re nc e qu an tit y in s to ck (m in im um a nd m ax im um s to ck ). th e ris ks a nd c os ts a ss oc ia te d w ith th is st oc k ar e bo rn e by o ur s up pl ie r. r is k sh ar in g e xt en t o f su cc es s th e in no va tio n is p rim ar ily re la te d to th e in te rn al p re pa ra tio n pr oc es s fo r x , i ns of ar a s on e pr ep ar at io n m et ho d ha d ad va nt ag es in te rm s of pr od uc tiv ity . fa ce d w ith th e ec on om ic c ris is [. ..] , i nn ov at io n an d re sp on si ve ne ss h av e be co m e th e st re ng th o f t he s up pl y ch ai n; 1 5 or 2 0 ye ar s ag o, th e co nt ra ry w as tr ue , b ac k th en q ua lit y w as th e is su e. p ro du ct iv ity , q ua lit y, le ad ti m e, re sp on si ve ne ss e xt en t o f su cc es s .t hi s al lo w s th e su pp lie r t o be tte r a nt ic ip at e th ei r w or k an d w e ne ed to k no w w he n th e pr od uc t w ill b e co m pl et e an d av ai la bl e. a nd it a vo id s ov er st oc ki ng . th e ai m is to re du ce th e pr ov is io ni ng ti m e fo r p ro du ct s, it re du ce s m os t o f o ur c os ts : t ra ns po rta tio n, c us to m s fe es , l ab ou r c os ts . r ed uc ed c os ts e xt en t o f su cc es s r ig or w ill h av e an im pa ct o n th e pr od uc t q ua lit y. if s [i nt er na tio na l f oo d s ta nd ar ds ] s ta nd ar ds c an re in fo rc e br an d im ag e an d sh ow th e ef fo rt th at w as m ad e to c er tif y al l t he s ite s. w e pu t i t i n pl ac e to e ns ur e a qu al ity p ro ce ss in li ne w ith c us to m er e xp ec ta tio ns , p ha rm ac eu tic al c om pa ni es , g et c lo se r t o an im ag e th at is m or e lik e a la bo ra to ry . r ep ut at io n, im ag e an d co nfi de nc e w ith re sp ec t t o pa rtn er s e xt en t o f su cc es s th an ks to it , w e se e th at th e cu st om er is in cr ea si ng ly in te gr at ed a nd p re se nt th ro ug ho ut th e pr oc es si ng o f t he ir or de r, th is in cr ea se s ou r l ev el o f se rv ic e. it al l s ta rte d w ith c us to m er s w ho w er e di ss at is fie d du e to d el iv er y de la ys , s to ck o ut s. p ro je ct x w as d es ig ne d to s ol ve th e pr ob le m s w ith th es e cu st om er s im pr ov ed c us to m er se rv ic e le ve ls e xt en t o f su cc es s w he n w e ca n ef fe ct iv el y m an ag e th e cr os sfu nc tio na lit y, w e ca n m or e fu lly e xp lo it th e in no va tio n an d re ap th e la rg es t b en efi ts . to da y, in no va tio n is a p ill ar fo r m an y co m pa ni es th at th ey b ui ld th ei r c om pe tit iv e ad va nt ag e on . b ut in no va tio n is n o lo ng er in di vi du al , i t’s p ar t o f a co lle ct iv e an d co lla bo ra tiv e ap pr oa ch w ith a ll st ak eh ol de rs in th e su pp ly c ha in . c om pe tit iv e ad va nt ag e e xt en t o f su cc es s o ur re la tio ns hi p be tw ee n x a nd y a lre ad y ex is te d, b ut th e fa ct o f e st ab lis hi ng th is in no va tio n ha s he lp ed s tru ct ur e th e re la tio ns hi p. th e ta bl e is b ei ng u se d to tr ai n pe op le w ho w or k in th e st or e an d tra in th em to th e k an ba n cu ltu re . s ta nd ar di ze d in fo rm at io n qu al ity k no w le dg e cr ea tio n w e de fin ed th e co nc ep ts , p ar am et er s, a nd g oa ls , e ns ur in g th at e ve ry bo dy u nd er st oo d th e pr oj ec t. th en , t he re is th e de ve lo pm en t p ar t t ha t w ill in vo lv e th e pa rti ci pa nt s an d th os e w ho h av e th e kn ow le dg e to d ev el op to ol s an d id ea s. k no w le dg e sh ar in g k no w le dg e cr ea tio n o ur b os s an d ou r l eg al te am w ar ne d us th at th e su pp lie rs m ig ht g et th e fo re ca st s fro m o ur c us to m er s. o ur d is tri bu to r i s re lu ct an t t o gi ve u s to o m uc h in fo rm at io n ab ou t t he ir cu st om er s. s ec ur e an d tra ck in te ra ct io ns k no w le dg e cr ea tio n o ur lo gi st ic s m an ag er s pe nt tw o da ys a t o ur c lie nt to u nd er st an d th ei r p ro ce ss es s o w e ca n th en a da pt to th em . th is is to o pt im iz e th e op er at io n be tw ee n th e bu si ne ss u ni ts , t he b us in es s un its w ill d ev el op p ar al le l s ol ut io ns . s pe ci fic de ve lo pm en ts k no w le dg e cr ea tio n it’ s tru e, th at it h el ps in te gr at e ou r s up pl ie r a b it m or e th an ks to o ur in fo rm at io n sy st em . i n ad di tio n, w e w ill s ha re a lo t o f d at a. th at re qu ire s co m pu te r s ki lls , k no w le dg e of a ll th e is th at e xi st s in o ur fi el d. in fo rm at io n sy st em lim its k no w le dg e cr ea tio n it’ s no t e no ug h to in no va te s o th at o nl y so m e of th e ac to rs b en efi t, th is in no va tio n ne ed s to b e di ss em in at ed . th ey n ee d to a pp ro pr ia te th e ch an ge s o th at th er e is c on tin ui ty in th e us e of th is in no va tio n, w hi ch is n ot a lw ay s ob vi ou s. a ct or s im pl ic at ed k no w le dg e cr ea tio n a p p e n d ix c . s t r u c t u r e o f q u a l it a t iv e d a t a f o r c o n s t r u c t "i s c p p e r f o r m a n c e " (w it h v e r b a t im e x t r a c t s ) a p p e n d ix c . s t r u c t u r e o f q u a l it a t iv e d a t a f o r c o n s t r u c t "i s c p p e r f o r m a n c e " (w it h v e r b a t im e x t r a c t s ) a p p e n d ix c . s t r u c t u r e o f q u a l it a t iv e d a t a f o r c o n s t r u c t "i s c p p e r f o r m a n c e " (w it h v e r b a t im e x t r a c t s ) ve rb at im e xt ra ct s fi rs t o rd er c at eg or y s ec on d or de r th em e th e po te nt ia l g ai ns a re a cc ur at el y qu an tifi ed w ith c os t d ep lo ym en t. w he n de pl oy in g th is s ol ut io n, o ur s en io r m an ag er re qu ire d us n ot to g o ov er b ud ge t. b ud ge t c on tro l m at ch in g ex pe ct at io ns fo r x , t hi s ce rti fic at io n em er ge d as a g oa l f or im pr ov in g qu al ity to b et te r s at is fy o ur c us to m er . i t h el pe d cr ea te a c lim at e of c on fid en ce [. ..] . w e pr ov id e gu ar an te es to o ur c us to m er s, th us in cr ea si ng th ei r s at is fa ct io n. th is a llo w ed o pt im iz in g cu st om er s at is fa ct io n by o pt im iz ed s hi pp in g in te rm s of tr uc ks a nd fr eq ue nc y [.. .]. c lie nt s at is fa ct io n m at ch in g ex pe ct at io ns a nd th er e is th e pr ob le m . b ec au se it is a lw ay s di ffi cu lt to a ss es s in a dv an ce th e ga in s th at w e w ill b e ab le to o bt ai n w ith a v m i. w ha t s av ed u s af te rw ar d is th at w e im m ed ia te ly s uc ce ed ed (f ro m a n op er at io na l p oi nt o f v ie w ) t o m ov e th e nu m be rs in th e rig ht d ire ct io n. p oo r e st im at io n m at ch in g ex pe ct at io ns th is in no va tio n ca m e fro m th e m an ag em en t s in ce it w as a s tra te gi c or ie nt at io n ap pl ic ab le to a ll th e ge og ra ph ic a re as o f t he g ro up . t he re su lts m et th ei r e xp ec ta tio ns . th is in no va tio n ca m e fro m th e pu rc ha si ng d ep ar tm en t a nd w as s up po rte d by th e su pp ly c ha in m an ag em en t a nd th e si te m an ag em en t: th e ga in s w er e la rg er th an e xp ec te d. s at is fa ct io n of th e m an ag em en t o f t he or ga ni za tio n m at ch in g ex pe ct at io ns it' s fo r c os t r ea so ns th at th is in no va tio n w as a pp ro ve d: a cc or di ng to a s ta tis tic al s tu dy , s om e pr ov id er s do n ot a lw ay s de liv er th e de si re d qu an tit y at th e re qu es te d tim e. s o th e on ly w ay to d o th at is to s ay , " o k , i ’ll re du ce m y or de r m ix a li ttl e, b ut w ill w or k w ith 3 o r 4 o th er m an uf ac tu re rs to d el iv er e ve ry d ay o r e ve ry ot he r d ay ." b et te r c ol la bo ra tio n m at ch in g ex pe ct at io ns a nd a ls o, in te rm s of p ay m en t t o su pp lie rs , w e ha d la te p ay m en ts a nd s o it he lp ed to h av e a st ro ng tr ac ea bi lit y of e le ct ro ni c or de rs , a nd in vo ic es . ye s, b et te r v is ib ili ty a nd b et te r c on tro l. it is a to ol th at a llo w s us to b et te r m an ag e in ve nt or y an d be tte r m an ag e su pp lie s an d st op s. s up pl ie rs c an be w ar ne d in a dv an ce . im pr ov e da ta re lia bi lit y m at ch in g ex pe ct at io ns a vo id o ve rs to ck in g, w hi ch e xi st ed to c ov er d iff er en t fl uc tu at io ns in d em an d fo r o ur e nd c us to m er s an d, th er ef or e lim it (to th e gr ea te st e xt en t po ss ib le ) p ro du ct io n an d su pp ly v ar ia tio ns . m ai nl y to s av e m on ey , t o re du ce o pe ra tin g co st s, p lu s, to h av e m or e re lia bi lit y w ith c on si gn m en t s to ck , i t’s c lo se r, m or e ra pi d. s o w e’ re m or e re ac tiv e w he n pr ob le m s ar is e, in th e ev en t o f s ho rta ge s, q ua lit y pr ob le m s, o r i f i t’s n ec es sa ry to re or de r. im pr ov e re sp on si ve ne ss to va ria tio n in d em an d m at ch in g ex pe ct at io ns c ol la bo ra tiv e pr ac tic es th ro ug ho ut th e su pp ly c ha in to c on ve y an d sh ar e in fo rm at io n al lo w u s to in cr ea se s al es b y in cl ud in g ca sh p ay m en ts . th is p ro je ct h el pe d in cr ea se s al es b ec au se d em an d w as m or e pr ed ic ta bl e, th e cl ie nt m an ag ed to b et te r u nd er st an d th ei r n ee ds a nd to b et te r in fo rm x . d ev el op s al es m at ch in g ex pe ct at io ns w e' re p re se nt in g ne w re co m m en da tio ns in te rn al ly a nd w ith th e pr oc ur em en t p er so nn el a nd s up pl ie rs to c on tin ue to d o ju st a s w el l i n te rm s of ad eq ua te a ct iv ity . n or m al ly , w e as k su pp lie rs to h av e th ei r o w n co ns ig nm en t s to ck n ea r o ur p la nt s to c re at e a sm al l l oo p be tw ee n pl an t x a nd th e su pp lie r's p la nt , th at ’s p re tty c lo se to th e co ns ig nm en t s to ck . im pr ov e se rv ic e qu al ity m at ch in g ex pe ct at io ns th e ul tim at e go al o f t hi s in no va tio n is to h av e an im pa ct o n th e co m pa ny re su lts in te rm s of c us to m er s at is fa ct io n an d co st re du ct io n. w e ga in in s to ck v al ue a nd s to ra ge s pa ce . fo r t he e xw or ks d el iv er y, th e m ot iv at io n is e ss en tia lly fi na nc ia l, in te rm s of th e po te nt ia l s av in gs . r ed uc e co st s m at ch in g ex pe ct at io ns innovative supply chain practices! m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 263-298 297 olivier lavastre (ph. d, university of montpellier) is an associate professor in management science at the grenoble alps university. he teaches supply chain management (scm), industrial and operations management. he is a researcher at the centre for studies and applied research in management (cerag umr-cnrs 5820). his works focus on managerial innovation in supply chain management and on supply chain risk management (scrm). blandine ageron is full professor in management science at the university of lorraine. she is in charge of the licence professionnelle "supply management and logistics" at the iut of valence. member of the centre for studies and applied research in management (cerag umr-cnrs 5820), her research interests focus on upstream supply chain management, supply chain management and innovation in the inter-organizational relationships. ludivine chaze-magnan is associate professor in management science at the grenoble alps university. member of the centre for studies and applied research in management (cerag umrcnrs 5820), her research are interested in the information systems, supply chain management and innovation in the inter-organizational relationships. alain spalanzani is professor emeritus in management science at the grenoble-alps university and member of the centre for studies and applied research in management (cerag umr-cnrs 5820). acknowledgements. we sincerely thank philippe monin, editor for the journal m@n@gement, for the quality of his recommendations. we also thank the anonymous reviewers for their remarks and questions that helped us improve the article. finally, our thanks go to sandrine falcy, associate professor at the iae grenoble, who guided us in the final statistical corrections. © the author(s) www.management-aims.com m@n@gement 2014, vol. 17(4): 263-298 298 191koenigeng gérard kœnig institut de recherche en gestion (ea 2354), université paris-est koenig@u-pec.fr isabelle vandangeon-derumez institut de recherche en gestion (ea 2354), université paris-est vandangeon@u-pec.fr marie-claire marty hôpital core marieclaire.marty@free.fr yves auroy hôpital core yves.auroy@wanadoo.fr jean-paul dumond institut de recherche en gestion (ea 2354), université paris-est jean-paul.dumond@u-pec.fr compliance with basic rules: the challenge of dialogical, enabling ans disciplinary management gérard kœnig � isabelle vandangeon-derumez � marie-claire marty yves auroy � jean-paul dumond abstract. lying between two traditions of thought, one of which states that rules must always be respected (weber, 1921), and the other that they can never be respected, this research suggests a third possibility, a contingent approach that distinguishes two types of rules: complex ones that cannot be scrupulously respected, and basic ones that are supposed to be strictly observed. since the first type has been extensively studied, most of this article is devoted to basic rules and how they can be managed. in connection with collaborative management research carried out in a hospital in île-de-france, we studied three activities: monitoring of peripheral venous catheters, sorting of healthcare waste and costing of hospital stays. after analysing breaches of basic rules for these activities, we propose corrective action of various kinds according to function, level of innovation and level of application. regarding the latter, we have applied the recommendation of reason (1997) which involves dealing with the problem of non-compliance with rules at three different levels: the organisational, engineering and individual levels. whereas interventions carried out at the individual level have been widely discredited by studies of complex technological systems, our research shows their value when the relative simplicity of the situation makes it possible to formulate basic rules. based on the observations made before and after implementing our proposed actions, we suggest adopting an approach to managing breaches of basic rules that we describe as dialogical, involving two complementary and antagonistic aspects: an enabling aspect and a disciplinary aspect. ! contrary to the weberian view, contemporary literature suggests that rules are always incomplete and can therefore not be followed to the letter. in other words, according to the former tradition of thought rules must always be respected, whereas the latter says they can never be followed. in the course of research carried out at a hospital, we encountered a contingent approach to rules. distancing itself from the above views and their aim to make proposals with a universal scope, the management of core hospital (core for collaborative research) considered that in certain cases strict compliance with rules was not only possible but also imperative. was this point of view justified, and what were the implications for management? these were the questions behind the present research. ! adopting a contingent approach means that solutions are chosen depending on the characteristics of the situation. in the present case, this principle led us to envisage the existence of two types of rules: those that we define as complex because they are incomplete and must be interpreted, and those that we define as basic, which are required to be strictly respected. we m@n@gement 2016, vol. 19(1): 1-45 1 mailto:koenig@u-pec.fr?subject= mailto:koenig@u-pec.fr?subject= mailto:koenig@u-pec.fr?subject= mailto:koenig@u-pec.fr?subject= mailto:vandangeon@u-pec.fr?subject= mailto:vandangeon@u-pec.fr?subject= mailto:marieclaire.marty@free.fr?subject= mailto:marieclaire.marty@free.fr?subject= mailto:yves.auroy@wanadoo.f?subject= mailto:yves.auroy@wanadoo.f?subject= mailto:jean-paul.dumond@u-pec.fr?subject= mailto:jean-paul.dumond@u-pec.fr?subject= have distinguished these two types of rules according to four aspects: their terms (conflictual for complex rules vs consensual for basic rules), assessment criterion (legitimacy vs effectiveness), whether or not they are comprehensive for a competent actor, and systemic integration (high level vs low level). the aim of this distinction between two types of rules is not only to provide a theoretical basis for the behaviours observed, but also to reconcile two traditions of thought. ! the study of three activities at the core hospital (monitoring peripheral venous catheters (pvc1), sorting healthcare waste and the costing of hospital stays) included three main phases. the first involved analysing breaches of rules that were required to be respected. to do so, in agreement with reason (1993) we have distinguished deliberate breaches from errors, and have distinguished between different types of errors based on the skill, rule, knowledge model developed by rasmussen (1983). the following phases involved proposing actions and analysing their consequences. for this purpose, the conceptual frameworks taken from reason (1993) and rasmussen (1983) were completed and the actions were distinguished according to their preventive, recovery or mitigation function, and their level of innovation, distinguishing innovations from improvements, and their level of application (granularity) which may be that of the organisation, the man-machine interface or the individual. whereas interventions carried out at the individual level have been widely discredited by studies of complex technological systems, our research shows their value when the relative simplicity of the situation makes it possible to formulate basic rules. ! based on the observations made before and after implementing our proposed actions, we suggest adopting an approach to managing breaches of basic rules which we describe as dialogical, to show that it involves two complementary and antagonistic aspects: an enabling aspect and a disciplinary aspect. actions of the first type are intended to promote learning of the skills required and create the appropriate conditions for carrying out the activity. disciplinary actions are intended to direct behaviour by means of a set of measures, of which sanctions only represent one aspect. the notion of dialogical management does not therefore involve the idea of dialogue (tsoukas, 2009; monin, et al., 2013); it involves a way of understanding complexity which, unlike hegelian dialectics does not intend to go beyond radical contradictions, but attempts to understand the relationship between the terms of these contradictions, which is both complementary and antagonistic (morin, 1980: 130; morin, 2008: 17). although the dialogics of enabling and restrictive action are not strictly speaking new (giddens, 1987: 219), to our knowledge they are hardly represented in the managerial literature (perrow, 1986: 26 and 36; courpasson, 2000). the present research therefore makes it possible to apply at the organisational level the analyses carried out by giddens (1987) from a social angle, and enhance our knowledge of the mechanisms involved in dialogical management of basic rules. ! to carry out this research, we have adopted a collaborative management approach, defined as “an emergent and systematic inquiry process, embedded in an agreed-upon partnership between actors with an interest in influencing a certain system of action and researchers interested in understanding and explaining such systems” (pasmore, et al., 2008: 13). the collaborative nature of this research is shown by defining objectives that must meet the expectations of both types of partners, and determining means that include in particular special access to information and employees at the hospital. it is also shown in the composition of the research team, which is a key element. the team included three “outside” researchers (lecturers at the paris-est university) who were present in the field on a weekly basis, and two “inside” researchers (a professor of medicine and a senior health executive) who were working full-time at the hospital. the composition of the team had a decisive impact on both the collection of data and the drawing up of our analyses. the managerial nature of m@n@gement, vol. 19(1): 1-45! gérard kœnig et al. 2 1. a full glossary of acronyms is provided in appendix a. the research is due to the fact that, among the different factors that influence the future of the system under study, special attention was given to the behaviour of managers, methods of management and organisational arrangements likely to improve the system’s performance. rules, reliability and error: review of the literature ! radical criticism of prescriptions makes rules an obstacle to reliability, and the breaking of rules a necessity. because it claims to have a general scope, radical criticism of prescriptions makes it impossible to envisage that in certain cases scrupulous compliance with rules may appear imperative. firstly, we will show that such situations can exist, characterised by the application of rules which we describe as basic. we will then develop the idea that it is possible to establish a correspondence between the types of rules (complex vs basic) and the types of organisation (highly reliable organisations vs ultrasafe systems). finally, we will indicate how we have used the work of rasmussen (1983, 2000) and reason (1993, 1997) to analyse errors, and more generally, breaches of rules. radical criticism of prescriptions prevents us from analysing situations where scrupulous compliance with rules is not only possible, but imperative ! after presenting radical criticism of prescriptive intention, as it appears in occupational psychology and the sociology of organisations, we will show that this criticism, whose scope is certainly very wide, is excessive with regard to the ergonomic foundations that it cites. we will then put forward the idea that in certain cases it is possible to give comprehensive prescriptions to experienced operators. unlike complex rules, such prescriptions, which we describe as basic rules, can be scrupulously respected by operators. finally we criticise the argument according to which rules must be broken in order to improve them. radical criticism of prescriptive intention ! the “scientific organisation of work” (clot, 1995: 122) is seen as a symbolic illustration of the prescription of human conduct and constitutes the basis for criticism. an early example of this is found in wallon (1947: 5): “taylor’s innovation, which he found quite natural and totally obvious, is to apply the same concern for precision and economy to human movements that is applied to the use of machines”. anticipating current criticisms, wallon (1947: 6) emphasised taylor’s aim: “once at work, workers must solely follow the instructions of their employer. nothing would be more unfortunate than to allow them the slightest initiative”. as has been shown by studies of ergonomics, this objective clearly becomes counter-productive “if it is necessary to monitor continuous production systems, when the work mainly involves anticipating, detecting, assessing and correcting incidents, the importance, type and number of which vary greatly” (wisner, 1985: 3). moreover, the work of faverge (quoted by wisner, 1985: 3) has shown that “the decision-making algorithms included in the technical system or provided in the form of instructions and intended to reduce these difficulties are suddenly unusable in situations that have been even slightly changed by a previous incident and that, in this case, a heuristic activity was required, which involved taking decisions according to non-formalised rules”. if working situations are weighed down by incidents, organisational inconsistencies and unexpected events, it is not possible to carry out orders, as there is always a compliance with basic rules! m@n@gement, vol. 19(1): 1-45 3 discrepancy between the prescriptions and real life situations (clot, 1995: 102; dejours, 2003: 13; friedberg, 1992; girin & grosjean, 1996: 5; reynaud, 1993: 35). to avoid interrupting the activity, this discrepancy must be overcome, which can only be achieved by the human operator taking the initiative (babeau & chanlat, 2008; linhart, 1994: 78). as a result, “working involves overcoming the difference between prescriptions and reality” (dejours, 2003: 14), which means “following paths that lead away from the prescriptions”. “since these prescriptions almost always have a normative nature, working well always involves breaches” (dejours, 2003: 15), but “the prevailing attitude to management has not yet reached the stage of accepting the positive role of infringement” (babeau & chanlat, 2008: 203). excessive criticism with regard to the ergonomic basis that it claims ! in an article in which they endeavour to compare the concepts of task and activity, leplat and hoc (1983) argue that a task refers to what must be done and includes the notion of prescription, whereas an activity refers to what it involves for the subject to carry out these prescriptions. they therefore define “a task as a given aim under determined conditions” (leplat & hoc, 1983: 51). the aim being “what must be done or more specifically, the final state” (leplat & hoc 1983: 51), they specify that it must be achieved in compliance with certain conditions regarding the states to be attained before reaching the final state, the operations acceptable to attain these states and the procedure to be implemented to do so. the prescribed task is designed by the person who orders its execution, and “preexists the activity that it aims to direct and determine more or less entirely” (leplat & hoc, 1983: 52-53). the description “provided always refers, implicitly or explicitly, to a subject with specific characteristics. what is explained in the description of the task corresponds to what is not supposed to be known about the subject” (leplat & hoc, 1983: 53). for a given subject, the description is seen as comprehensive "when it enables immediate performance of the task without further prior knowledge acquisition”. such a task “therefore only requires performance by the subject, i.e. the implementation of a procedure that is already known” (leplat & hoc, 1983: 54). ! according to leplat and hoc (1983), the prescribed task understood in this way does not involve any infringement in order to be properly carried out. the completeness of its definition is of course in no way absolute; it relates to “a certain model of the subject” and leaves numerous aspects of the implementation unspecified. it seems that this is the case whenever the description merely states the aim, which is to command attention and prevent any tasks being omitted. in hospitals, lots of tasks that are crucial for patient safety are of this kind, such as identifying patients and refusing to dispense drugs on the basis of handwritten or verbal prescriptions. in this instance, strictly speaking the subject model implied by this description of the prescribed task does not involve any restriction regarding the personnel concerned: even without experience a qualified nurse is able to understand and carry out the instructions. ! the studies of skills by dreyfus and dreyfus (1986) applied by frenetteleclerc (1991) and benner (2005) to paramedical staff make it possible to operationalise the notion of subject model. dreyfus and dreyfus (1986: 50) distinguish five levels of skills from novice to expert. in the case of paramedical staff, at the end of their studies nurses are usually at the second stage of the scale defined by dreyfus and dreyfus (1986), i.e. advanced beginners. they still need to gain experience to be able to apply, totally reliably and autonomously, the rules that they must respect. once they have gained experience, they are seen as competent (dreyfus & dreyfus, 1986). in this article, we will use the term used at the hospital to describe this level of competence: “experienced staff”. m@n@gement, vol. 19(1): 1-45! gérard kœnig et al. 4 the possibility of giving comprehensive prescriptions leads us to look again at the question of error and infringement ! as has been stated, numerous authors who rightly criticise taylorism have maintained the existence of an inevitable discrepancy between the prescribed work and the real-life situation, and have asserted that it is necessary for the operator to intervene to overcome this (linhart, 1994: 78; clot, 1995; dejours, 2003: 13; terssac, 2012). it is possible to deduce from this analysis that “even if the work is well-designed and rigorously organised, and the instructions and procedures are clear, it is impossible to achieve quality by scrupulously respecting the prescriptions” (dejours, 2003: 13). once it has been accepted that scrupulous compliance with instructions is impossible, it is logical to assume that “working well always involves breaching rules” (dejours, 2003: 15) and to maintain that “the limit between compliance with rules and breaking them is (not only) difficult to determine, but also... highly unrealistic” (babeau & chanlat, 2008: 209). once infringement has been accepted as a necessary component of work well done, employees cannot escape the dilemma of either blocking the system by complying too scrupulously with prescriptions, or running the risk of being accused of indiscipline, incompetence or error in the event of an incident (dejours, 2003: 16-17). although they are based on substantial empirical evidence, these proposals do not apply to cases where it is possible to give comprehensive prescriptions as defined by leplat & hoc (1983). in this type of situation, compliance with rules, errors and infringement are likely to be defined clearly and precisely. this is shown in the section devoted to the analytical framework based on the work of reason (1993, 1997) and rasmussen (1983). a typology of rules likely to reconcile the critical tradition with managerial practice ! starting with the premise that the critical tradition presented above does not have the universal scope that it claims, in the present section we attempt to specify its area of application. alongside the complex rules of the critical tradition, we therefore distinguish basic rules which it is possible to expect competent actors to strictly respect. to demonstrate the different types of rules, two examples have been provided from the french highway code: the first is analysed by reynaud (1993) and concerns speed limits, and the other concerns stop signs. ! regarding the maximum speed limit of 90 km/h on major roads in dry weather, reynaud (1993: 35-36) is forced to identify the actual rule, behind the declared rule. in this connection he states that drivers rarely comply with the rule and the police force applies it in a way that can vary according to circumstances. reynaud (1993: 36) concludes that there is “a common core in different people’s understanding, but that it is quite vague (you must not drive too fast) and that there is substantial disagreement about the circumstances in which it is possible to make an exception”. he adds that “the rule in force does not exist as an observable datum. it is a form of compromise or rather a no man’s land between what the authorities want to impose and what the users accept”. ! we will now look at the second example: stop signs. article r415-6a of the french highway code stipulates that at “intersections marked by a stop sign, all drivers must stop before entering the intersection. they must give way to vehicles driving on the other road(s) and only enter the intersection after making sure that it is not dangerous to do so. any driver who infringes the provisions of the present article shall be punished...” the law does not indicate any minimum duration, but it is essential for the vehicle to actually stop, so that the driver has the time to decide whether he can enter the intersection, depending on the traffic and rules regarding priority. ! the rules governing speed and stopping at intersections have distinct characteristics. breaking the speed limit for a road by three or four kilometres an hour does not significantly increase the risk of having an accident, or its compliance with basic rules! m@n@gement, vol. 19(1): 1-45 5 type of rule dimension basic complex terms consensual conflictual assessment criterion effictiveness legitimacy condition of applicability comprehensive not comprehensive systemic integration autonomous interdependent seriousness. moreover, the authority with the power to impose sanctions can state that it does not punish people who break the limit while overtaking since, by reducing the time required to overtake they can help to improve safety (reynaud, 1993: 36). the vagueness surrounding speed limits does not exist regarding stop signs: in this case it is essential to stop, as is borne out by the statistics. according to the road accident figures for 2012 drawn up by the french national interministerial observatory for road safety (2013), failure to respect rules regarding priority (not stopping at traffic lights or a stop sign) is the main cause of fatal accidents. ! we will try to show the specific nature of rules such as the one regarding stop signs, before comparing them with those discussed by the critical tradition. firstly, this rule originates in the pursuit of social welfare and not in the confrontation of social groups with differing interests. for this reason we describe it as consensual. this does not mean that the rule will be applied, but only that there is no debate regarding the rule’s definition. actors can therefore question whether it is their duty to carry out a task, for example the costing of hospital stays, without challenging the coding rules. secondly, the rule is effective, as is shown by the road accident statistics. it is necessary to comply with the rule to reduce the accident rate. thirdly, knowledge of the rule is sufficient for a driver who has just obtained his driving licence to be able to respect it rigorously under all circumstances. as such it can therefore be described as comprehensive. fourthly, this rule is an autonomous part of the system which must be taken into account, if you wish to reduce road safety risks (rasmussen & svedung, 2000: 24). this means that it is only loosely linked to the rest of the system (weick, 1979: 111). consequently, unlike what happens in tightly coupled systems according to the “normal accident theory” (perrow, 1984), the difficulties are not the same when predicting the effects of changes to the rule on the general balance of the system it belongs to. ! we therefore describe as basic a rule that, like the rule regarding stop signs, is consensual, effective with regard to the objective pursued, comprehensive from the point of view of the actors who must apply it, and which appears as an autonomous component of the system which must be considered in order to deal with all aspects of the problem that justifies the rule. table 1 compares this type of rule with the type referred to by supporters of the critical tradition. table 1. two types of rules: basic and complex ! the present research was conducted due to the difference of opinion between practitioners and researchers regarding the possibility of requiring certain rules to be scrupulously respected. table 1 suggests that this disagreement could be resolved by distinguishing between complex and basic rules. however, given that a basic rule has been identified in a situation without any organisational context, that of driving cars, it may be asked whether basic rules can exist in an organisational environment. one of the objectives of the empirical research presented in the next part of this article is to answer this question. m@n@gement, vol. 19(1): 1-45! gérard kœnig et al. 6 infringement of rules is not a necessary condition for improving them ! the analysis by leplat and hoc (1983) shows that if prescriptions are comprehensive, they do not at all need to be infringed in order to carry out the task. however this analysis does not answer the question of whether infringement can help to improve rules, as is suggested by alter (2002: 28). the example of stop signs shows that there are rules which are not in any way improved by being infringed. but what about the tasks that are the subject of the present research? according to tsoukas and chia, (2002: 573) organisations are both: “a given structure (i.e., a set of established generic cognitive categories) and an emergent pattern (i.e., the constant adaptation of those categories to local circumstances)”. they are, according to tenkasi and boland (1993, cited by tsoukas & chia, 2002: 576) “in a state of perpetual becoming because situated action within them is inherently creative”. it follows that the “categories and practices are potentially on the verge of turning into something different for new experiences to be accommodated” (tsoukas & chia, 2002: 576). the analysis by tsoukas and chia clearly applies to a large number of situations. however, the question remains whether, regarding the tasks studied in this article, infringements can help to improve the categorical framework that they use. this question will be answered in the discussion. organisations as a guarantee of reliability ! whereas the critical tradition regarding rules tends to argue that reliability must be obtained in spite of the organisation, the idea that organisations can be a factor affecting reliability has resulted in two separate approaches based on the notions of high reliability and ultra-safety. the first approach is inspired by interactionism and is provided by the high reliability organizations (hro) movement. in their work on managing the unexpected, weick and sutcliffe (2001) discuss the question of reliability in healthcare institutions on several occasions. they consider that patient safety depends to a large extent on the quality of the interactions between the members, in particular the doctors and nurses (weick & sutcliffe; 2001: 58, 76), and state that this quality is the result of interactions that are attentive (weick & roberts, 1993) and respectful to the interlocutor (weick, 1993). although it is interesting, the interactionist approach is above all concerned with sensemaking by actors faced with ambiguous situations, and does not correspond to the problem posed by compliance with basic rules, which we have seen are anything but ambiguous. as is suggested by amalberti et al. (2005), it is probably necessary to distinguish two types of situations in hospitals. the hro approach applies effectively in situations where the ambition, audacity, and aggressive efforts to rescue patients involve considerable risk taking. on the other hand, in situations where there is no ambiguity, it appears more appropriate to aim for the “ultra-safety” typical of activities such as air and rail transport where the probability of a disaster by exposure to risks is less than 1x 10-6. table 2 is taken from amalberti et al. (2005), and indicates how the notions of ultra-safety and high reliability can be applied to hospitals. compliance with basic rules! m@n@gement, vol. 19(1): 1-45 7 table 2. types of hospital safety systems (from amalberti et al., 2005) category type of systemtype of system category ultrasafe system high-reliability organization example of industry commercial aviation, anesthesiology, radiotherapy, blood transfusion chemical production, intensive care unit, surgical ward goals safety first quality of work preserved against unacceptable pressure production first (imposed) degree of safety as high as possible in view of the imposed level of performance safety level (in terms of risk per exposure) better than 1x10-5, possibly 1x10-6 better than 1x10-4 complexity of expertise required limited complexity actors are requested to follow procedure equivalent actors potentially severe complexity abnormal cases are challenging reluctance to simplify deference to expertise of individual experts situational awareness inside (team) and outside supervision inside supervision and mutual control (team supervision) teamwork effective teamwork and communication, resulting in good task sharing, controls and collective routines effective teamwork and communication, with special attention to safe adaptation to the range of individual experts ! basic rules can exist in activities belonging to the ultrasafe model as well as in those belonging to the high reliability model. however, if we look at the principles governing the rules on the one hand, and the models on the other, we can see a correspondence between the principles governing ultra-safety (single goal, simplicity of the activity, requirement to comply with rules) and those that apply to basic rules. there is the same type of correspondence between the principles of high reliability (need to decide between contradictory goals, complexity of the activity, difficulty making sense of the situations encountered) and those attached to complex rules. this conclusion is not surprising. indeed, the tasks studied in the present research comprise nothing unexpected and an experienced member does not need to interact with other members in order to carry them out. conversely, the ability to manage the unexpected, which is central to the interactionist approach to high reliability, is based on the quality of the reciprocal listening and exchanges between the members. the ultrasafe model gives central importance to compliance with rules, and consequently to threats to compliance: infringements and human errors. our interest in the latter echoes the surprise of amalberti et al. (2005) regarding the lack of effort made in hospitals to reduce their occurrence, although there are few high-risk sectors where there are so many obvious sources of human error. breach of rules: contribution of previous works ! this section is based on the works of reason (1993, 1997), and firstly presents the notions of errors and deliberate breaches. it then discusses the skills, rules and knowledge (srk) model developed by rasmussen (1983, 2000) which will be applied in the error analysis. distinction between errors and deliberate breaches ! reason (1993: 30-32) uses the term error to refer to all cases where a planned sequence of mental or physical activities does not achieve the planned result, although no unforeseeable event has occurred. an error can be a planning defect (mistake) or a performance defect (lapse or slip). a mistake is the result of a defect in the judgement and/or inference processes involved in choosing an objective or specifying the means for achieving it. lapses and slips are the result m@n@gement, vol. 19(1): 1-45! gérard kœnig et al. 8 of a defect in the performance and/or storage of a sequence of actions, regardless of the quality of the plan governing them. ! violations are breaches of procedures, standards or safety regulations; they may be deliberate (as is generally the case when a driver crosses a continuous line separating traffic lanes) or involuntary (when a driver breaks a speed limit that he is unaware of). unintentional violations are the result of an error (reason, 1997: 72) and therefore require no further comment, unlike deliberate breaches which we refer to in this article as infringements. the intentional nature of infringements does not involve the malicious intent that characterises sabotage (reason, 1997: 72). a deliberate violation has three main motives: to manage to do the work in spite of the obstacle posed by the rule, to experience the pleasure of infringement or to save effort (reason, 1997: 73). the first two motives were not observed in the cases we studied. on the other hand, our observations do not allow us to rule out a desire to save effort, which we refer to as negligence. finally, we have decided to include resistance in our analysis due to the observations made, although reason (1997) does not include it as one of the main motives for intentional violation. . the different levels of cognitive control involved in errors ! the way individuals carry out the tasks within their remit depends on their familiarity with them, and the errors that they are inclined to commit vary accordingly. the skills, rules and knowledge model developed by rasmussen (1983) shows the diversity of the cognitive control mechanisms that individuals use to deal with the situations that they encounter. as cognitive control becomes less automatic the process becomes less fluid, requires more time and is more prone to error. ! behaviour based on automatic reflexes involves sensorimotor execution which, following the expression of an intention, takes place without conscious control in the form of fluid, automatic and highly integrated behaviour patterns. at this level, errors have the form of omissions or behaviour that is consistent but inappropriate. ! in the case of behaviour based on rules, control is based on a memorized rule such as “for this diagnosis, carry out this type of action”. at this level of cognitive control, errors generally result from incorrect classifications leading to the application of incorrect rules. consequently, an individual who follows a routine automatically does so without paying conscious attention to it and is unable to say how he controls execution of it and what information he relies on. conversely, behaviour based on rules is generally based on explicit know-how and the individual is able to state the rules applied. ! when an individual faces a new situation for which he does not have any know-how or rules, control of execution must rely on assumptions based on the mental representation of the causal structure of the system within which he acts (rasmussen, 2000: 62). at this level, errors are due to the limits of individual rationality and the incomplete or inaccurate nature of the knowledge applied, making it possible to distinguish between novices and experts. ! since the differences between these three types of control do not prevent them from being used at the same time (reason, 1993: 74), the distinction between novices and experts is generally apparent in activities based on automatic reflexes and rules. experts have a large number of routines suitable for dealing with a wide variety of possibilities, unlike novices who are more likely to commit errors (reason, 1993: 90-95). ! in short, previous works and our observations make it possible to distinguish errors from deliberate violations. the latter may be the result of negligence or resistance by people who apply rules. errors are the result of behaviour based on automatic reflexes, rules or knowledge. all of these breaches compliance with basic rules! m@n@gement, vol. 19(1): 1-45 9 of rules are presented in the table analysing the three case studies of this research. choice of a collaborative approach and its methodological implications ! collaborative management research! ! pasmore et al. (2008: 13) define collaborative management research as “an emergent and systematic inquiry process, embedded in an agreed-upon partnership between actors with an interest in influencing a certain system of action and researchers interested in understanding and explaining such systems”. they complete this definition with four points. firstly, the parties to the project include at least one member of the organisation or system under study and at least one external researcher. secondly, the managerial character of the research stems from the attention given to the behaviour of managers, the methods of management and the organisational arrangements. thirdly, the inquiry uses scientific methods supposed to reduce the risk of making incorrect inferences based on the data collected. finally, the aim of the approach is to improve the performance of the system and contribute to the body of knowledge in the field of management (pasmore, et al., 2008: 20). the present research is wholly in line with the collaborative management approach described by pasmore et al. (2008): it is based on a partnership between the members of an organisation, concerned by failure to comply with certain rules, and university researchers wishing to address this concern by improving knowledge of the use of rules in management situations (girin, 1983). ! without going into detail, it is possible to position collaborative management research in relation to action research and participatory action research. it should be noted that all of these approaches: a) combine the characteristics of “inquiry from the outside” with those of “inquiry from the inside” (evered & louis, 1981); b) they share the conviction that producing knowledge and action are not two separate processes; c) finally, they are based on the principle that outside and inside members work together and learn by using methods with a scientific basis (pasmore, et al., 2008: 21). ! compared with the aforementioned approaches, collaborative management research is characterised by the importance given to managerial aspects and the efforts made to understand the influence of the behaviour, actions and tools supposed to bring the system to the required final state. in comparison, action research has covered a much wider area in the field of social science, as is shown by the research of lewin (1946). for its part, action science (argyris, 1995; argyris & scho ̈n, 1989), explores the ways and means that enable individuals and organisations to move from model i behaviour based on defensive routines to model ii behaviour where their disappearance enables learning. finally, participatory action research (whyte, 1991), is distinguished by the idea that understanding behaviour at work involves incorporating social and technical factors (trist, 1981) and by the importance that it gives to members at the bottom of the hierarchy (whyte, 1991: 10-12). design, research process and data collected: the influence of the collaborative and managerial nature of the inquiry ! the collaborative and managerial nature of the research has had a considerable impact on the design, collection and drawing up of the data. m@n@gement, vol. 19(1): 1-45! gérard kœnig et al. 10 design: result of the discussion of imposed cases ! even though the tasks concerned by non-compliance with rules appeared simple, it soon appeared to us that there were numerous mechanisms underlying the phenomena under study and they were rather complex. moreover, since we were unable to control these phenomena, but were able to access the protagonists relatively easily, carrying out case studies appeared to us to be an appropriate method (yin, 1984:17). the choice of cases was partly imposed by the collaborative nature of this research; the question arose however of whether it was necessary to broaden the sample. the cases proposed offered several advantages. firstly, they had enough characteristics in common to allow comparison: tasks controlled by rules decreed by outside bodies with national jurisdiction, and sufficiently simple to be understood by the outside members of the team. there were also interesting differences between these tasks: they concerned the medical sector (coding of diagnoses and interventions and sorting of waste), paramedical sector (supervision of pvcs and sorting of waste) and were located at varying distances from the healthcare activity that is central to the hospital’s mission. in addition to increasing the team’s workload, broadening the sample involved questioning more informants about topics that were necessarily less important in the management’s opinion. since there were no clear arguments in favour of broadening it, our research concerned the three cases initially planned. influence of the collaborative nature of the project on access to information and how it is processed ! our team included outside researchers who were present in the field on a weekly basis, and inside researchers who held a full-time job at the hospital. in line with the definition by pasmore et al. (2008), this composition of the team had a decisive impact on both the collection of data and the drawing up of our analyses. privileged access to information the data collection system implemented in this research involved three of the four types of triangulation identified by denzin (1970): 1) data triangulation was carried out by increasing the number of informants and secondary sources (audits, statistics, minutes of meetings, internal and external documents relating to regulatory provisions); 2) investigator triangulation was carried out by using outside and inside members to collect and interpret the data; 3) we used several techniques for collecting primary data (interviews, participation in meetings, observation). due to the relative simplicity of the subjects studied, we did not face any significant weaknesses that we were not able to overcome while collecting the data. ! the case studies were drawn up on the basis of a limited number of objectives: a) provide a reliable description of the actual task (i.e. what an experienced operator actually does under nominal conditions); b) indicate the rule(s) governing performance of the task; c) provide concrete examples to identify the different types of errors and infringements of rules; d) assess the effects of this behaviour on the functioning of the hospital, the risks incurred and financial implications, and e) identify the initiatives introduced within the establishment to limit these errors and/or correct them. these objectives guided the collection of both primary and secondary data. ! the involvement of inside members gave data collection a specific nature, in terms of the information looked for intentionally, and data obtained that was not originally looked for. regarding the intentional collection of information, the inside members did not carry out any planned interviews, but on the other hand throughout the project they were guided by the objectives specified above and were able to take advantage of the opportunities provided by their work to collect compliance with basic rules! m@n@gement, vol. 19(1): 1-45 11 the information required. regarding data obtained that was not originally looked for, miles and huberman (2003: 129) stress the importance for field inquiries of input carried out on the fly, in the corridor or at a meeting. they may incidentally provide information that is looked for but difficult to obtain; they may also provide anecdotes, comments or impressions that make it possible to complete the interpretations obtained at planned interviews. although this type of data collection exists in all field inquiries, the sustained involvement of two inside members in the work of the research team considerably increased the number of opportunities for it. formatting central to interactive development ! miles and huberman (2003: 101) suggest that the data should be analysed during the collection process. we followed this recommendation, taking advantage of the data collection operations to submit some of our analyses to our informants, and using plenary meetings, the main aim of which was to discuss the interpretation of the data, in order to extend the collection of information. although overlapping of the collection and analysis phases is usual for in-depth inquiries, the process for drawing up the analyses was heavily influenced by the composition of our team. although the inside members played an active role in all of the stages of the research, the successive formatting (miles & huberman, 2003: 499) of our analyses was carried solely by the outside researchers. tables 5 and 6 are typical of this formatting. discussions between the two components of the team mainly concerned this aspect. there are two reasons for this. firstly, the fact that they did not take part in drawing up the formats probably enabled the inside researchers to see them with a fresh eye and discuss them more incisively than would have been the case if they had been more involved in their creation. secondly, the formatting process probably contributed to the quality of the discussions. it is much more difficult to organise a discussion about a text than about a synoptic system (miles & huberman, 2003: 276). taken together, the alternation between phases of work in a small group and work in a plenary group, and the use of formats suited to discussion certainly favoured the interactive nature of the plenary meetings and helped to enrich the discussions. two data collection phases: to make proposals and assess their effects data collection was carried out in two phases, firstly during the phase when actions were proposed, and secondly during observation of the consequences of the proposals. tables 3 and 4 present the primary data collected during each of these phases; the secondary data is presented in appendix b (tables b1 and b2). primary data was collected in three different situations: meetings, interviews and observations. at least one of the members of the research team took part in all management meetings at which one of the tasks under study was included on the agenda. planned semi-structured interviews were carried out by two outside researchers. as a precaution, the interviews were all recorded, but were not retranscribed since the collection of information was restricted. the recordings were only used on rare occasions when the notes taken by the researchers were different or ambiguous. two types of observations were made. observations by inside researchers are highly recommended by balogun et al. (2003) and were continuously made due to their daily presence in the establishment. two outside members underwent one week of immersion, one in a medical department and the other in a surgical department, in order to familiarise themselves with the organisation of the departments, professional practices and labour relations. table 3 presents the different situations for collecting the primary data used to make proposals for action. table 4 shows the data collection situations for following up the proposals made, the action taken and its effects. ! m@n@gement, vol. 19(1): 1-45! gérard kœnig et al. 12 collection situations2 date and duration case management meeting -! management meeting -! hospital medical committee (cme) -! 17 may 2011 (4.5 hours) -! 22 june 2011 (2 hours) all cases meetings of the research team -! plenary meetings of the research team (inside and outside researchers) !meetings of outside researchers -! 39 meetings (2-3 hours) -! 31 meetings (1-3 hours) all cases individual or group interviews informants: -! chief medical information officer (cmio) -! doctors required to code meeting: -! management meeting 16 january 2012 (telephone 30 minutes), 18 january 2012 (90 minutes), 23 january 2012 (2 hours), 2 february 2012 (telephone 1 hour) -! 17 december 2012 (2 hours), 27 february 2014 (45 minutes), 19 march 2014 (90 minutes) -!14 june (4.5 hours) coding of diagnoses and interventions individual or group interviews informants: -! department managers and nurses -! head of the waste management study !head of the quality-safety unit meetings: logistics department meetings hospital management committee (cse) -! 24 december 2011 (telephone 30 minutes) -! 13 january 2012 (90 minutes) 20 january 2012 (1 hour) 24 may 2011 (4 hours), 21 june (4 hours) 15 february 2012 (2 hours) sorting of waste individual or group interviews informants: -! referent nurse and senior executives meetings: -! inside researcher and nurses -! management meeting (all of the team) -! 25 may 2011 (90 minutes) 29 december 2011 (1 hour), 6 june 2012 (telephone 30 minutes), 27 june 2012 (1 hour) 18 august, 9 september and 11 october 2011 14 june 2011 (4.5 hours), 21 june (4 hours) phlebitis observations -! observations of the outside members and related discussions -! observations of the inside members and related discussions two immersions, one in medicine, the other in surgery, carried out in spring 2011 continuously from september 2011 to june 2012 all cases 2. in connection with the project concerning the current organisational transformation, the inside members took part in many other meetings that did not concern the cases studied, but which provided interesting information regarding the context. tableau 3. collection of the primary data used to support proposed action compliance with basic rules! m@n@gement, vol. 19(1): 1-45 13 collection situations3 date, duration and subject situation plenary meeting of the team 18 dec. 2014 (90 minutes) discussion of table 6 all cases group interview cmio and one mit* 2 dec. 2014 (2 hours): subject: follow-up of the proposals made, action taken and its effects coding of diagnoses and interventions individual interview srn public health nurse data from observation and meetings of the inside senior executive with the operators concerned: executives, srn**, nursing auxiliaries 31 october 2014 (2.5 hours)  subject: follow-up of the proposals made, action taken and its effects autumn 2014 subject: follow-up of the proposals made, action taken and its effects sorting of waste individual interview healthcare executive data from observation and meetings of the inside senior executive with the operators concerned: executives, srn, nursing auxiliaries 19 november 2014 (2 hours)  subject: follow-up of the proposals made, action taken and its effects autumn 2014 subject: follow-up of the proposals made, action taken and its effects phlebitis * cmio: doctor, chief medical information officer; mit: medical information technician. ** srn: state registered nurse. * cmio: doctor, chief medical information officer; mit: medical information technician. ** srn: state registered nurse. * cmio: doctor, chief medical information officer; mit: medical information technician. ** srn: state registered nurse. 3. in connection with the project concerning the current organisational transformation, the inside members took part in many other meetings that did not concern the cases studied, but which provided interesting information regarding the context. 4. this article only deals with peripheral venous catheters, not central venous catheters or arterial lines. 5. some cw does not come from healthcare activities, but from activities such as catering. in the rest of this article, the cw studied is healthcare waste. table 4. collection of primary data concerning the follow-up of the proposals made, the action taken and their effects overview of the three tasks studied ! the establishment where the research was conducted has a capacity of over 300 beds and is considered to be a large hospital in ile de france (drees, 2013: 85). it employs about a thousand people, two-thirds of whom are paramedical staff. it is a short stay medical, surgical and psychiatric hospital for adults. the tasks studied there, monitoring of pvcs4, sorting of healthcare waste and coding of diagnoses and interventions, are subject to the same constraints as in any other hospital. there is no operational link between them, and they are very different from each other in their relation to healthcare and in the role played by doctors and nurses. all they have in common is that until then, the efforts made to achieve compliance with the prescriptions concerning them only had limited and temporary effects. sorting of healthcare waste ! as well as non-specific waste (batteries, bulbs, toner), due to their healthcare activity hospitals produce various kinds of waste: drugs, radioactive waste, radiographs etc. waste management is the subject of extensive regulation, answering economic, environmental and risk prevention concerns (meah, 2008b). in view of these constraints, waste management in a hospital can be complicated and tools are made available to establishments to help them with this task (anap, 2008, 2010); on the other hand, the sorting of healthcare waste carried out within departments appears relatively simple. the data available shows that a short training course makes it possible to acquire the skill required to systematically carry out compliant sorting. this is organised in three levels. m@n@gement, vol. 19(1): 1-45! gérard kœnig et al. 14 the first involves identifying recyclable waste, such as reusable sheets. the second is based on the difference between consumer waste (cw5) and infectious clinical waste (icw6). the third level in the category structure involves choosing the appropriate container (box, bag or barrel) for infectious clinical waste. icw constitutes a health hazard when it is incorrectly packaged, whereas putting cw into packaging reserved for icw leads to unnecessarily expensive treatment. once sorting errors have been made they are generally difficult to recover, regardless of the type. most waste is bagged in the patient rooms: recovery by a third person is unlikely in this case. on the other hand, when waste processing is carried out in the ward, errors, such as overfilling a box of needles, can be recovered by another nurse. when we conducted our research, the waste system had just been reorganised and the storage conditions had been brought into compliance with standards. however, the quality of sorting remained unsatisfactory. in spite of favourable conditions, awareness campaigns and training of the staff, the nonconformity rate remained high, although highly variable depending on the department. monitoring of peripheral venous catheters ! peripheral venous catheters (pvc) are a sterile medical device introduced percutaneously in a superficial vein, and are very often used in the hospital6. they can cause inflammation (phlebitis) of medicinal, mechanical or pathogenic origin. according to a study carried out in 2001, 0.67% of patients with peripheral venous catheters suffered infections linked to the catheter (sfhh – has, 2005). in the event of infection the complications can be serious if they are not treated in time. monitoring of pvcs was on the agenda for the meeting of the core hospital management in june 2011 after a doctor observed patients in his department with severe inflammations on several occasions, and a morbidity and mortality review showed that a patient had been admitted to the intensive care unit due to complications from poorly monitored phlebitis. following this serious adverse event, a working party was formed with the task of controlling the problem. one of the measures taken by the group, which one of the members of our team took part in, involved providing nurses with a decision-making tool: the so-called amended maddox scale (wiedenkeller, et al., 2010). the scale provides a summary of observations of clinical signs at the pvc insertion site, such as pain, erythema, swelling, purulence etc. this summary takes the form of a grade from 0 to 5. for each grade the scale indicates the action to be taken by the nursing staff. for example, a painful intravenous site with erythema and slight swelling or a palpable venous cord corresponds to grade 3. in this case the nurse must “remove the pvc, put the point of the pvc in a culture medium, apply an alcoholbased dressing, change it 2-3 times per day until the clinical signs disappear and inform the doctor”. ! the amended scale adds four other grades corresponding to specific incidents, for example if the patient tears off the pvc, for each of which the scale provides instructions, in this case stipulating application of a suitable dressing. due to its simplicity, it was possible to successfully introduce this tool within one month in the establishment chosen for the experiment conducted by wiedenkeller et al. (2010)7. similar support was provided for introduction of the tool at the core hospital. although it was not possible to provide traceability of records due to the reluctance of staff who claimed that the computer system was too onerous and it would waste time, the manager considered that the method was well mastered by the nurses. in spite of the efforts made during the summer, several breaches of prescriptions were observed in autumn 2011. compliance with basic rules! m@n@gement, vol. 19(1): 1-45 15 6. 18% of patients hospitalised for over 24 hours have a peripheral venous catheter (sfhh – has, 2005) according to the national survey of the prevalence of hospital-acquired infections conducted in france in 2001. 7. during the next three months, the nursing staff was supported daily by the public health nurse and an audit was carried out of 365 pvc. the clinical assessments of the nurse and the public health nurse agreed in 83% of cases, the protocol for changing pvcs was respected in 98% of cases and traceability of the record was provided in 97% of cases. 8. another option involves entrusting coding to the medical information department (mid). a trial was carried out with the intensive care unit, which proved unsuccessful: the patient records transmitted by the practitioners were incomplete and requests for additional information were generally ignored. coding of diagnoses and interventions ! french hospitals are financed by health insurance according to activities valued by means of the costing of hospital stays. the prices are controlled by coding rules included in the methodological guide to producing healthcare information. this guide was drawn up in connection with the information systems medicalization programme (pmsi) and published by decree of the french ministry of labour, employment and health, and regularly updated. coding concerns the diagnoses and tracer interventions which may be carried out by different departments. the so-called tracer interventions make it possible to cost the stay, and are linked to the primary diagnosis, which refers to the health problem that led the patient to admission. each tracer intervention has a code; determining the code does not involve judgement and is not difficult if the coder masters the software and knows where to easily find the codes he needs. however, an untrained doctor may have difficulty finding the correct code, and in some cases may think he has the right code when in fact it is incorrect. coding errors are liable to lead either to under-costing of the stay and therefore a loss of revenue, or over-costing which exposes the hospital to financial penalties during controls carried out by the health insurance funds. ! at the core hospital, the policy adopted involves putting doctors in charge of coding8. to avoid errors, the medical information department (mid) carries out awareness campaigns and provides training for departments where errors are most common and during changes of classification. in addition the core hospital mid has a crucial role in recovering errors and omissions. two points are of particular interest to it: medical departments identified as providing unreliable coding, and tracer interventions corresponding to surgical operations and technical support centre services, due to their importance in costing stays. there are two main methods of error recovery. the first involves identifying inconsistencies in the information provided by the departments, such as a surgical operation without anaesthetic. the second involves cross-checking information from departments for particularly expensive omissions. for example, for the surgical unit, this control involves reconciling coded interventions with the schedule for the unit. the errors identified are re-coded by the mid which informs the doctor responsible for the incorrect coding. in spite of the mid’s actions, incorrect coding remains at an unsatisfactory level in the opinion of the mid and the hospital management, compared with the results of comparable establishments. ! the tasks that have just been presented are relatively simple, compared with the complexity of surgical procedures (amalberti, et al., 2005). moreover they are governed by rules that meet the criteria specified above for basic rules: they are consensual, effective, comprehensive and autonomous. the presentation of the tasks shows that the notion of basic rules, developed using examples related to driving, also applies to organisational contexts such as hospitals. comparative analysis of the deliberate violations and errors observed ! table 5 shows the various types of errors and deliberate violations which we were able to observe directly or which were reported to us as existing at the start of the research. in the case of monitoring of pvcs, the rules concern observation of the site and determining the action to be taken depending on the characteristics of the situation. regarding healthcare waste, the rules make it possible to determine the category of the object concerned: recyclable, nonm@n@gement, vol. 19(1): 1-45! gérard kœnig et al. 16 recyclable, icw, cw, and the appropriate type of container. costing of hospital stays is based on coding of diagnoses and interventions carried out during a given period, and problems may result from omissions, incorrect coding or assigning coded elements to the wrong stays. comments are given for each task in the three right-hand columns of table 5. the left-hand column distinguishes the deliberate violations (infringements) from errors, which it differentiates using the srk model. ! according to table 5, it appears that the three cases have different results when using the srk model. errors due to automatic reflexes are important for the monitoring of catheters and costing of hospital stays. those based on rules arise in all three tasks, but in the case of the sorting of waste they only concern a very limited problem. finally, it is only in the case of the coding of diagnoses and interventions that problems arise when cognitive control is applied to the knowledge base. if an operator does not know the code for an intervention, generally due to lack of experience, he can carry out a search by keyword. this may be complicated and time-consuming. for example, the coding software does not show any entries for the word “line” which is the term used for a catheter. as it is also only possible to enter a single keyword, a search using the word “catheter” provides over 300 results! the resulting increase in the coding time increases the risk that the task will be interrupted and coding omitted. ! the organisational context also has a significant impact on coding errors, with omissions caused by interruptions and postponements. coding is generally interrupted when the practitioner is required to carry out more urgent tasks. coding may be postponed for various reasons: hardware, software or organisational reasons. postponement is frequently caused by a lack of computers (e.g. in the surgical unit) or their unavailability (because they are shared between several users). the software package used only allows certain interventions to be input after others have been coded. consequently, although the anaesthetist intervenes before the surgeon, the intervention can only be coded after that of the surgeon. a third cause of discontinuity in the coding sequence is organisational differentiation. the treatment prescribed by the doctor responsible for coding may have been only partly completed; it must therefore be coded once it is complete. the period of time between prescription and completion causes omissions. ! up to now, the cases have been seen as errors. however, several elements suggest that it is necessary to complete this approach by taking into account psychological factors unrelated to the issue of errors. for the sorting of waste, none of the sources of error included in the srk model appears to have a significant role. this is because it is difficult in this instance to speak of error as it is defined by reason (1993: 31), who uses the term to refer to cases where a planned sequence of activities does not achieve its purpose. in the case of noncompliant sorting, there is every reason to believe that the intention had been greatly weakened. the fact that the improvements observed were short-lived, following campaigns to raise the awareness of staff of the importance of sorting, suggests that nonconformities are the result of a negative attitude, rather than a failure of intention. this explanation is confirmed by informants who observed negligent attitudes foreign to the notion of error. compliance with basic rules! m@n@gement, vol. 19(1): 1-45 17 m@n@gement, vol. 19(1): 1-45! gérard kœnig et al. 18 ta bl e 5. c om pa ra tiv e an al ys is o f e rr or s an d de lib er at e vi ol at io ns o bs er ve d ta bl e 5. c om pa ra tiv e an al ys is o f e rr or s an d de lib er at e vi ol at io ns o bs er ve d ta bl e 5. c om pa ra tiv e an al ys is o f e rr or s an d de lib er at e vi ol at io ns o bs er ve d ta bl e 5. c om pa ra tiv e an al ys is o f e rr or s an d de lib er at e vi ol at io ns o bs er ve d ta sk s m on ito rin g of p er ip he ra l v en ou s ca th et er s s or tin g of h ea lth ca re w as te c od in g of d ia gn os es an d in te rv en tio ns e rr or s ba se d on a ut om at ic r efl ex es fa ilu re to m on ito r t he p v c in tra ve no us si te . d is tu rb an ce o f t he a tte nt io na l p ro ce ss ha s no s pe ci fic im po rta nc e. * o m is si on o f i nt er ve nt io ns o r t he re la te d di ag no si s in th e co st in g of h os pi ta l s ta ys . t he m ai n ca us es o f o m is si on s ar e: • i nt er ru pt io n of c od in g du e to th e ne ed to c ar ry o ut a m or e ur ge nt ta sk . • i m po ss ib le to c ar ry o ut c od in g in th e pl ac e w he re th e in te rv en tio n is c ar rie d ou t, e. g. th e su rg ic al u ni t. • f ac t t ha t s om e in te rv en tio ns to b e co de d ar e no t l in ke d to th e pr im ar y in te rv en tio n (e .g . s ur ge ry ) a nd w er e ca rr ie d ou t b y an ot he r p ra ct iti on er (e .g . a n ut rit io ni st ). r ul es • i nc or re ct in te rp re ta tio n of si gn s e ry th em a at th e in tra ve no us s ite is n ot se en a s su ch . th e si gn s ar e un am bi gu ou s. th e si gn s ar e un am bi gu ou s. • i nc or re ct ru le th e ca th et er is n ot c ha ng ed fo r t he (w ro ng ) r ea so n th at th e pa in is n ot ac co m pa ni ed b y an y ob se rv ab le er yt he m a. s oi le d re us ab le li ne n pu t w ith ic w , al th ou gh th e cl ea ni ng s ys te m is w ho lly su ita bl e an d ef fe ct iv e. d iv is io n of a s ta y fo r t he (w ro ng ) r ea so n th at th e pa tie nt le ft th e ho sp ita l d ur in g hi s st ay . • i nc or re ct ru le c er ta in s ym pt om s w er e no t t ak en in to ac co un t f or th e (w ro ng ) r ea so n th at th ey ar e ge ne ra lly u ni m po rta nt . in co rr ec t p rio rit is at io n of d ia gn os es le ad in g to in co rr ec t c os tin g of th e st ay . • i nc or re ct ru le d ec is io n to c ha ng e th e p v c (w ro ng ly ) ab an do ne d du e to in te rv en tio n by th e pa tie nt . k no w le dg e m on ito rin g of p v c in tra ve no us s ite s is no t a n ew s itu at io n fo r n ur se s, e ve n if th ey a re in ex pe rie nc ed . i t i s pa rt of th ei r in iti al tr ai ni ng . s or tin g of w as te is a fa m ili ar ta sk , t he re ar e fe w ru le s an d th ey a re s im pl e. t he y ar e ta ug ht d ur in g in iti al tr ai ni ng . la ck o f k no w le dg e of th e co de s a) in cr ea se s th e ris k of e rr or s b) s ig ni fic an tly in cr ea se s th e co di ng ti m e w hi ch in cr ea se s th e ris k of in te rr up tio n an d th er ef or e of o m is si on . d el ib er at e vi ol at io ns n eg lig en ce by d ev al ua tio n of th e ta sk c w p ut w ith ic w (le ad s to a dd iti on al c os ts ). c od in g de va lu ed c om pa re d w ith c ar e ac tiv ity . a tti tu de s tre ng th en ed b y th e ex is te nc e of sy st em at ic c on tro l b y th e m id . du e to la ck o f a tte nt io n gi ve n to a ta sk c on si de re d im po rta nt ic w p ut w ith c w (c on st itu te s a he al th ri sk ). r es is ta nc e u nl ik el y. fa ilu re b y a de pa rtm en t t o us e c w co nt ai ne rs . p os si bl e, b ec au se c os tin g im po se s ec on om ic c on st ra in ts o n tre at m en t w hi ch s om e co ns id er e xc es si ve ** . * n on -p ro bl em at ic al s itu at io ns a re in g re y. ** t hi s as se ss m en t i s no t s up po rte d by a ny o bs er va tio ns , b ut th is p he no m en on h as b ee n ob se rv ed in o th er h os pi ta ls ( b ra s, e t a l., 2 01 2) . * n on -p ro bl em at ic al s itu at io ns a re in g re y. ** t hi s as se ss m en t i s no t s up po rte d by a ny o bs er va tio ns , b ut th is p he no m en on h as b ee n ob se rv ed in o th er h os pi ta ls ( b ra s, e t a l., 2 01 2) . * n on -p ro bl em at ic al s itu at io ns a re in g re y. ** t hi s as se ss m en t i s no t s up po rte d by a ny o bs er va tio ns , b ut th is p he no m en on h as b ee n ob se rv ed in o th er h os pi ta ls ( b ra s, e t a l., 2 01 2) . * n on -p ro bl em at ic al s itu at io ns a re in g re y. ** t hi s as se ss m en t i s no t s up po rte d by a ny o bs er va tio ns , b ut th is p he no m en on h as b ee n ob se rv ed in o th er h os pi ta ls ( b ra s, e t a l., 2 01 2) . ! analysis of these accounts led us to distinguish two types of negligence: the first involves considering the task to be carried out as unimportant, the second gives insufficient attention to a task that is nevertheless seen as important. negligence by devaluation of the task is found among certain nurses who consider that tasks such as the sorting of waste, take up time that should be devoted to the patients. this attitude is typical of staff who are not very concerned by the financial aspects of the hospital’s activities, and is conducive to nonconformities that simply generate costs9. although it cannot be wholly excluded, negligence by devaluation of the task is an unlikely explanation when the well-being of patients is at stake or if there is a health risk, as is the case when icw is incorrectly packaged. in this case, the infringement of professional rules is based on a lack of attention given to a task deemed important. ! whereas negligence is an attitude that favours the viewpoint of the individual, resistance is a political attitude based on an understanding of collective well-being. unlike negligence, resistance can be asserted or at least displayed, like the healthcare department that temporarily classifies all its waste as icw. presentation of the actions proposed and the results obtained ! the actions designed by our team to remedy breaches of rules and the results achieved are presented in table 6. characterisation of the actions proposed ! the actions proposed can be distinguished by several aspects: their function in the safety system, their level of innovation and their granularity. the three functions of in-depth defence ! measures intended to ensure the safety of activities and organisations can have preventive, recovery and mitigation functions. these functions are arranged in a series where each one is responsible for offsetting the failure of the preceding one. ! table 6 is organised vertically according to these three functions. preventive measures for errors are presented according to the srk model. although all three functions exist in each of the actions presented, they are not present in each case studied. it may be noted therefore that recovery and mitigation measures only exist in the case of monitoring of pvcs. this is also the only task where it appeared pertinent to improve the ability of staff to decide between contradictory requirements. level of innovation of the action ! improvements involve systematizing actions that exist in certain parts of the hospital, or improving the methods of intervention of the managers. innovations aim to introduce methods of functioning which, although they are new to the hospital, may have been tested in other establishments. our proposals for waste management are based therefore on the study published by the anap in 2010; for coding problems they are based on the study published by meah (2008a) and for monitoring pvcs on the study by wiedenkeller et al. (2010). compliance with basic rules! m@n@gement, vol. 19(1): 1-45 19 9. omission of coding, cw included with icw. m@n@gement, vol. 19(1): 1-45! gérard kœnig et al. 20 ta bl e 6. f ol lo w -u p to th e su gg es tio ns m ad e an d re su lts o f t he a ct io ns im pl em en te d ta bl e 6. f ol lo w -u p to th e su gg es tio ns m ad e an d re su lts o f t he a ct io ns im pl em en te d ta bl e 6. f ol lo w -u p to th e su gg es tio ns m ad e an d re su lts o f t he a ct io ns im pl em en te d ta bl e 6. f ol lo w -u p to th e su gg es tio ns m ad e an d re su lts o f t he a ct io ns im pl em en te d s ub je ct d e fe n c e m on ito rin g of p er ip he ra l v en ou s ca th et er s (p v c ) s or tin g of h ea lth ca re w as te c od in g of d ia gn os es an d in te rv en tio ns p r e v e n ti o n • e rr or s a ut om at ic re fle xe s fa ilu re to m on ito r t he in tra ve no us s ite . in no va tio n in tr od uc ed a t t he o rg an is at io na l l ev el : as so ci at io n of m on ito rin g of c at he te rs w ith c on tro l o f v ita l si gn s. r es ul t: si gn ifi ca nt a nd la st in g im pr ov em en t. d is tu rb an ce o f a tte nt io na l p ro ce ss es h as n o sp ec ifi c im po rta nc e. o m is si on o f i nt er ve nt io ns . in no va tio n in tr od uc ed a t t he m an -m ac hi ne in te rf ac e: it e qu ip m en t en ab lin g co di ng n ea r t o th e pl ac e w he re th e in te rv en tio n is c ar rie d ou t. r es ul t: no s ig ni fic an t o bs er va bl e im pa ct . im pr ov em en t i nt ro du ce d at th e dy ad ic le ve l: s tb c f by th e m id du rin g un it co m m itt ee m ee tin gs : r es ul t: po si tiv e im pa ct , b ut s ho rtliv ed a cc or di ng to th e c m io . in no va tio n pr op os ed a t t he o rg an is at io na l l ev el : r em ov e th e ru le re qu iri ng th e su rg eo n to c od e be fo re th e an ae st he tis t. r es ul t: te ch ni ca l o bs ta cl e to im pl em en ta tio n. r ul es . in co rr ec t in te rp re ta tio n of si gn s e ry th em a at th e in tra ve no us s ite is n ot s ee n as s uc h. im pr ov em en t i nt ro du ce d at th e dy ad ic le ve l w ith th e lo ca l m an ag er : s tb c f an d re vi si on o f k no w -h ow ; re sp on si bi lit y fo r t he a ct io n is g iv en to th e re fe re nt n ur se . r es ul t: th e ob se rv at io ns o f t he in si de m em be r m ak e it po ss ib le to c on cl ud e th at th er e w as a s ig ni fic an t im pr ov em en t. th e si gn s ar e un am bi gu ou s. th e si gn s ar e un am bi gu ou s. in co rr ec t r ul e th e ca th et er is n ot c ha ng ed fo r t he (w ro ng ) r ea so n th at th e pa in fe lt is n ot a cc om pa ni ed b y an y ob se rv ab le e ry th em a an d th e or di na ry s ym pt om s ne ed n ot b e ta ke n in to a cc ou nt . im pr ov em en t i nt ro du ce d at th e dy ad ic le ve l: sa m e as th e ab ov e ce ll. r es ul t: sa m e as th e ab ov e ce ll.   s oi le d re us ab le li ne n pu t w ith ic w . im pr ov em en ts p ro po se d at th e dy ad ic le ve l: • s tb c f. r es ul t: th e ac tio n w as n ot im pl em en te d du e th e un av ai la bi lit y of th e lo ca l m an ag er a nd th e fa ct th at th e pr ob le m w as d ee m ed n ot to b e a pr io rit y. • r ev is io n of k no w -h ow b y th e m an ag er ia l s ta ff. r es ul t: th is a ct io n w as n ot im pl em en te d fo r t he sa m e re as on s, a lth ou gh it w as re qu es te d by th e m an ag em en t. d iv is io n of a s ta y fo r t he (w ro ng ) r ea so n th at th e pa tie nt le ft th e ho sp ita l du rin g th e st ay . im pr ov em en t i nt ro du ce d at th e dy ad ic le ve l: s tb c f by th e m id r es ul t: de te rio ra tio n of c od in g du e to o pe ni ng o f t he s ho rt st ay u ni t. s pe ci fic it d ev el op m en t m ad e it po ss ib le to im pr ov e th is ty pe o f e rr or . d ec is io n to c ha ng e th e p v c (w ro ng ly ) a ba nd on ed d ue to in te rv en tio n by th e pa tie nt . im pr ov em en t i nt ro du ce d at th e dy ad ic le ve l: sa m e as th e ab ov e ce ll. r es ul t: s am e as th e ab ov e ce ll.   in co rr ec t p rio rit is at io n of d ia gn os es . im pr ov em en t p ro po se d at th e dy ad ic le ve l: s tb c f by th e m id r es ul t: th e ac tio n w as n ot im pl em en te d, b ec au se it w as d ee m ed m or e ef fe ct iv e to re co ve r e rr or s th an to p re ve nt th em . in no va tio n in tr od uc ed in th e m an -m ac hi ne in te rf ac e: d ev el op m en t of a s of tw ar e ai d fo r t he c od er . r es ul t: th e pr op os al w as in iti al ly im pl em en te d an d th en a ba nd on ed , si nc e it w as d ee m ed m or e ef fe ct iv e to d ev el op a s of tw ar e ai d to fa ci lit at e er ro r r ec ov er y by th e m id .  k no w le dg e n o pr op os al . n o pr op os al . e rr or s an d om is si on s du e to ig no ra nc e of th e co de s. in no va tio n in tr od uc ed in th e m an -m ac hi ne in te rf ac e: d ev el op m en t of a s of tw ar e ai d fo r t he c od er . r es ul t: th e pr op os al w as in iti al ly im pl em en te d an d th en a ba nd on ed , si nc e it w as d ee m ed m or e ef fe ct iv e to d ev el op a s of tw ar e ai d to fa ci lit at e er ro r r ec ov er y by th e m id .  ta bl e 6. f ol lo w -u p to th e su gg es tio ns m ad e an d re su lts o f t he a ct io ns im pl em en te d (c on tin ue d) ta bl e 6. f ol lo w -u p to th e su gg es tio ns m ad e an d re su lts o f t he a ct io ns im pl em en te d (c on tin ue d) ta bl e 6. f ol lo w -u p to th e su gg es tio ns m ad e an d re su lts o f t he a ct io ns im pl em en te d (c on tin ue d) ta bl e 6. f ol lo w -u p to th e su gg es tio ns m ad e an d re su lts o f t he a ct io ns im pl em en te d (c on tin ue d) s ub je ct d e fe n c e m on ito rin g of p er ip he ra l v en ou s ca th et er s (p v c ) s or tin g of h ea lth ca re w as te c od in g of d ia gn os es an d in te rv en tio ns p r e v e n ti o n • d el ib er at e vi ol at io ns n eg lig en ce by d ev al ua tio n of th e ta sk a bn or m al ra te o f c w in ic w o rg an is at io na l i nn ov at io ns p ro po se d: • r an do m b ut re gu la r c on tro l o f c on ta in er s. • s ys te m at iz at io n of c on st ru ct iv e fe ed ba ck w ith th e m an ag er ia l s ta ff an d as se ss m en t o f i t. • t ak en in to a cc ou nt in th e co lle ct iv e as se ss m en t o f pe rfo rm an ce w ith a n im pa ct o n th e bu dg et in pr op or tio n to th e co st o f i c w . im pr ov em en t p ro po se d at th e dy ad ic le ve l: s tb c f r es ul t: no ne o f t he se p ro po sa ls (i nn ov at io ns a nd im pr ov em en ts ) w er e im pl em en te d, s in ce th e re so ur ce s re qu ire d w er e us ed fo r o th er p rio rit ie s. a bn or m al ra te o f n on -c om pl ia nt c od in g. im pr ov em en t i nt ro du ce d at th e dy ad ic le ve l: s tb c f by th e m id th e ac tio n co ul d on ly b e ca rr ie d ou t w ith th e de pa rtm en ts th at re qu es te d it. r es ul t: po si tiv e im pa ct , b ut s ho rtliv ed a cc or di ng to th e c m io . in no va tio n pr op os ed a t t he in di vi du al le ve l: ta ke n in to a cc ou nt in th e ap pr ai sa l. r es ul t: th e ac tio n w as n ot im pl em en te d du e to it s su pp os ed la ck o f ef fe ct iv en es s. du e to la ck o f at te nt io n gi ve n to a ta sk c on si de re d im po rta nt n on -c om pl ia nt m on ito rin g of th e p v c . in no va tio n in tr od uc ed a t t he d ya di c le ve l: in te rv en tio n by th e m an ag er ia l s ta ff to im pr ov e m an ag em en t o f c ho ic es be tw ee n co nt ra di ct or y re qu ire m en ts . in tr od uc ed a t t he d ya di c le ve l w ith th e lo ca l m an ag er , b ut th en re as si gn ed to th e re fe re nt n ur se . r es ul t: th e ob se rv at io ns o f t he in si de m em be r m ak e it po ss ib le to c on cl ud e th at th er e w as a s ig ni fic an t im pr ov em en t. ic w d is po se d of w ith c w . in no va tio ns p ro po se d at th e or ga ni za tio na l l ev el : • r an do m b ut re gu la r c on tro ls o f c on ta in er s. • s ys te m at iz at io n of c on st ru ct iv e fe ed ba ck w ith th e m an ag er ia l s ta ff an d as se ss m en t o f i t. r es ul t: no ne o f t he se p ro po sa ls w er e im pl em en te d, si nc e th e re so ur ce s re qu ire d w er e us ed fo r o th er pr io rit ie s. im pr ov em en t i nt ro du ce d at th e dy ad ic le ve l: s tb c f th e ac tio n w as in tro du ce d w ith th e lo ca l m an ag er , th en re as si gn ed to th e re fe re nt n ur se a nd c om pl et ed by a c om m un ic at io ns c am pa ig n (p os te r a dv er tis in g in pa rti cu la r) b y th e pu bl ic h ea lth n ur se . r es ul t: a n au di t s ho w ed m ix ed re su lts : a lth ou gh it w as re du ce d, th e he al th ri sk s til l r em ai ns , w he re as pu tti ng c w w ith ic w c on tin ue s to p ut a s tra in o n th e ho sp ita l’s b ud ge t. r es is ta nc e n o ca se s re po rte d, s o no p ro po sa ls . a bn or m al ra te o f n on -c om pl ia nt s or tin g r es is ta nc e po ss ib le fo r n on co nf or m iti es th at s im pl y ge ne ra te c os ts . in no va tio ns p ro po se d at th e or ga ni sa tio na l l ev el : • r an do m b ut re gu la r c on tro l o f c on ta in er s. • s ys te m at iz at io n of c on st ru ct iv e fe ed ba ck w ith th e m an ag er ia l s ta ff an d as se ss m en t o f i t. im pr ov em en t p ro po se d at th e dy ad ic le ve l: s tb c f. r es ul t: no ne o f t he se a ct io ns (i nn ov at io ns a nd im pr ov em en ts ) w er e im pl em en te d du e to a la ck o f hu m an re so ur ce s. a bn or m al ra te o f n on -c om pl ia nt c od in g. im pr ov em en t i nt ro du ce d at th e dy ad ic le ve l: s tb c f of th e m id re ga rd in g ab no rm al e rr or fr eq ue nc ie s r es ul t: va ria bl e ac co rd in g to th e c m io d ep en di ng o n th e le ve l o f re si st an ce s ho w n by th e de pa rtm en ts . in no va tio n pr op os ed a t t he in di vi du al le ve l: ta ke n in to a cc ou nt in th e pe rs on al a ss es sm en t. r es ul t: th e ac tio n w as n ot im pl em en te d du e to it s su pp os ed la ck o f ef fe ct iv en es s. im pr ov em en t i nt ro du ce d at th e or ga ni sa tio na l l ev el : i nc re as ed c on tro ls on p ro bl em at ic c od er s r es ul t: po si tiv e, b ut s ho rtliv ed a cc or di ng to th e c m io . compliance with basic rules! m@n@gement, vol. 19(1): 1-45 21 m@n@gement, vol. 19(1): 1-45! gérard kœnig et al. 22 ta bl e 6. f ol lo w -u p to th e su gg es tio ns m ad e an d re su lts o f t he a ct io ns im pl em en te d (c on tin ue d) ta bl e 6. f ol lo w -u p to th e su gg es tio ns m ad e an d re su lts o f t he a ct io ns im pl em en te d (c on tin ue d) ta bl e 6. f ol lo w -u p to th e su gg es tio ns m ad e an d re su lts o f t he a ct io ns im pl em en te d (c on tin ue d) ta bl e 6. f ol lo w -u p to th e su gg es tio ns m ad e an d re su lts o f t he a ct io ns im pl em en te d (c on tin ue d) s ub je ct d e fe n c e m on ito rin g of p er ip he ra l v en ou s ca th et er s (p v c ) s or tin g of h ea lth ca re w as te c od in g of d ia gn os es an d in te rv en tio ns r e c o v e r y p os si bl e by th e nu rs e or n ur si ng a ux ili ar y. in no va tio n in tr od uc ed a t t he d ya di c le ve l: m an ag er ia l s ta ff en co ur ag ed n ur se s to fu lly c ar ry o ut th ei r e rr or re co ve ry ro le . im pl em en te d pr im ar ily fo r t he s r n s, a nd w ill o nl y be su bs eq ue nt ly in tro du ce d fo r t he n ur si ng a ux ili ar ie s. r es ul t: th e ob se rv at io ns o f t he in si de m em be r m ak e it po ss ib le to c on cl ud e th at th er e w as a n im pr ov em en t. n o pr op os al . n b : i f r ec ov er y is n ot in st an ta ne ou s, it is h ar d to im ag in e. n o pr op os al . n b : i t i s on e of th e ro le s of th e m id to re co ve r c od in g er ro rs . m it ig at io n o nc e it re ac he s a cr iti ca lit y le ve l c or re sp on di ng to g ra de 3 on th e m ad do x sc al e, th e at te nd in g ph ys ic ia n m us t b e in fo rm ed . in no va tio n in tr od uc ed a t t he d ya di c le ve l: • m an ag er ia l s ta ff en co ur ag e em pl oy ee s to re ve al th e si tu at io n qu ic kl y an d sy st em at ic al ly . r es ul t: no p hl eb iti s du rin g th e pe rio d. • s an ct io ns fo r l at e di sc lo su re a nd a tte m pt s to d ea l w ith th e pr ob le m in s ec re t. r es ul t: th e m ea su re w as n ot s pe ci fic al ly im pl em en te d, bu t s an ct io ns w er e im po se d fo r t he fi rs t t im e in a lo ng tim e fo r s er io us b re ac he s of th e ru le s of p ro fe ss io na l co nd uc t. n o pr op os al . n b : i n th e ev en t o f a h ea lth h az ar d du e to ic w b ei ng p ut w ith c w , t he m iti ga tio n m ea su re s ca nn ot g en er al ly b e ta ke n by th e pe rs on w ho in fri ng ed th e ru le . n o pr op os al . n b : i f i t i s no t c or re ct ed , a c od in g er ro r e xp os es th e ho sp ita l t o sa nc tio ns b y th e su pe rv is or y au th or iti es . * d ue to th e ris ks in he re nt in p hl eb iti s, th e fr en ch h ig h c ou nc il fo r p ub lic h ea lth ( h c s p 20 10 ) r ec om m en ds m on ito rin g th e st at e of th e pa tie nt a nd th e si te o f t he c at he te r a t l ea st o nc e a da y. t he a ss oc ia tio n of m on ito rin g of th e si te w ith th e co nt ro l o f v ita l s ig ns (p ul se , b lo od p re ss ur e et c. ) m ad e it po ss ib le to a vo id m os t o f t he se o m is si on s. * * n on -p ro bl em at ic al s itu at io ns a re s ho w n in g re y. * ** in g en er al , m ai nt en an ce o f t he re su lts w ou ld re qu ire c on tin uo us e ffo rt, w hi ch is u nd er m in ed b y th e pr es su re o f c om pe tin g pr io rit ie s on th e hu m an re so ur ce s av ai la bl e. * ** * th is re vi si on c an b e ca rr ie d ou t i n th e fo rm o f s ho rt tra in in g se ss io ns . i t i s re co m m en de d th at th e tra in in g sh ou ld b e pr ov id ed in th e fie ld ( a n a p, 2 01 0) . i t i s su gg es te d th at it s ho ul d be ba se d on to ol s su ch a s th e fu n on e pr ov id ed b y th e a n a p fo r t he s or tin g of w as te (d éc he ’tr i). * d ue to th e ris ks in he re nt in p hl eb iti s, th e fr en ch h ig h c ou nc il fo r p ub lic h ea lth ( h c s p 20 10 ) r ec om m en ds m on ito rin g th e st at e of th e pa tie nt a nd th e si te o f t he c at he te r a t l ea st o nc e a da y. t he a ss oc ia tio n of m on ito rin g of th e si te w ith th e co nt ro l o f v ita l s ig ns (p ul se , b lo od p re ss ur e et c. ) m ad e it po ss ib le to a vo id m os t o f t he se o m is si on s. * * n on -p ro bl em at ic al s itu at io ns a re s ho w n in g re y. * ** in g en er al , m ai nt en an ce o f t he re su lts w ou ld re qu ire c on tin uo us e ffo rt, w hi ch is u nd er m in ed b y th e pr es su re o f c om pe tin g pr io rit ie s on th e hu m an re so ur ce s av ai la bl e. * ** * th is re vi si on c an b e ca rr ie d ou t i n th e fo rm o f s ho rt tra in in g se ss io ns . i t i s re co m m en de d th at th e tra in in g sh ou ld b e pr ov id ed in th e fie ld ( a n a p, 2 01 0) . i t i s su gg es te d th at it s ho ul d be ba se d on to ol s su ch a s th e fu n on e pr ov id ed b y th e a n a p fo r t he s or tin g of w as te (d éc he ’tr i). * d ue to th e ris ks in he re nt in p hl eb iti s, th e fr en ch h ig h c ou nc il fo r p ub lic h ea lth ( h c s p 20 10 ) r ec om m en ds m on ito rin g th e st at e of th e pa tie nt a nd th e si te o f t he c at he te r a t l ea st o nc e a da y. t he a ss oc ia tio n of m on ito rin g of th e si te w ith th e co nt ro l o f v ita l s ig ns (p ul se , b lo od p re ss ur e et c. ) m ad e it po ss ib le to a vo id m os t o f t he se o m is si on s. * * n on -p ro bl em at ic al s itu at io ns a re s ho w n in g re y. * ** in g en er al , m ai nt en an ce o f t he re su lts w ou ld re qu ire c on tin uo us e ffo rt, w hi ch is u nd er m in ed b y th e pr es su re o f c om pe tin g pr io rit ie s on th e hu m an re so ur ce s av ai la bl e. * ** * th is re vi si on c an b e ca rr ie d ou t i n th e fo rm o f s ho rt tra in in g se ss io ns . i t i s re co m m en de d th at th e tra in in g sh ou ld b e pr ov id ed in th e fie ld ( a n a p, 2 01 0) . i t i s su gg es te d th at it s ho ul d be ba se d on to ol s su ch a s th e fu n on e pr ov id ed b y th e a n a p fo r t he s or tin g of w as te (d éc he ’tr i). * d ue to th e ris ks in he re nt in p hl eb iti s, th e fr en ch h ig h c ou nc il fo r p ub lic h ea lth ( h c s p 20 10 ) r ec om m en ds m on ito rin g th e st at e of th e pa tie nt a nd th e si te o f t he c at he te r a t l ea st o nc e a da y. t he a ss oc ia tio n of m on ito rin g of th e si te w ith th e co nt ro l o f v ita l s ig ns (p ul se , b lo od p re ss ur e et c. ) m ad e it po ss ib le to a vo id m os t o f t he se o m is si on s. * * n on -p ro bl em at ic al s itu at io ns a re s ho w n in g re y. * ** in g en er al , m ai nt en an ce o f t he re su lts w ou ld re qu ire c on tin uo us e ffo rt, w hi ch is u nd er m in ed b y th e pr es su re o f c om pe tin g pr io rit ie s on th e hu m an re so ur ce s av ai la bl e. * ** * th is re vi si on c an b e ca rr ie d ou t i n th e fo rm o f s ho rt tra in in g se ss io ns . i t i s re co m m en de d th at th e tra in in g sh ou ld b e pr ov id ed in th e fie ld ( a n a p, 2 01 0) . i t i s su gg es te d th at it s ho ul d be ba se d on to ol s su ch a s th e fu n on e pr ov id ed b y th e a n a p fo r t he s or tin g of w as te (d éc he ’tr i). three levels of granularity ! safety issues in an organisational context are discussed in the literature at three levels of granularity: the individual, the man-machine interface, and finally the organisation (reason, 1997: 224). ! the approach favouring the individual level leads errors to be attributed to psychological inadequacies: lack of attention, experience, care, motivation or caution. the policy for remedying errors has a disciplinary nature. it appears necessary to us to set the studies carried out at this level of granularity within a wider framework: that of the local managers, including the line manager, as well as the experts which whom the operator is in regular contact. this broadening of the framework makes it possible to enhance approaches that focus solely on the balance between contributions and rewards, by including the support activities that the local managers can provide for operators, and by taking into account the reciprocal obligations that the operators may feel in return. consequently, in the remainder of this article, as a unit of analysis for this level of granularity we will use either the individual himself, or a dyad comprising the individual and the local actor concerned, i.e. the manager or expert. ! the second approach encountered in the literature can be described as an engineering approach (reason, 1997: 225). it favours the man machine interface as unit of analysis and in particular its informational properties. error is no longer due to individuals; it is the result of the incorrect matching of man and machines or design faults in the machines. ! the third approach favours the organisational level (perrow, 1984; reason, 1997; turner, 1976; turner & pidgeon 1978) and sees human error more as a consequence than a cause. errors reveal latent conditions that result from decisions taken by high-ranking officials, within or outside the organisation (reason, 1997). ! although these three approaches are not incompatible (reason, 1997: 224), the literature tends to disparage the individual approach and favour the analyses carried out at the organisational level. in accordance with the recommendation of reason (1997: 228), we have decided to use all three approaches. table 6 shows the granularity level for each action: organisational, man-machine interface or individual in the broad sense. although all of the actions presented cover all three types, the distribution of the actions within each type varies very noticeably depending on the case studied. for example, costing of hospital stays is the only activity where the engineering aspect is applied, through actions concerning the man-machine interface. presentation of the follow-up to the suggestions made and results of the actions implemented ! after indicating the suggestions made by our team, each cell in table 6 shows the follow-up to the proposals and the results of the actions implemented. regarding follow-up, three possibilities may be identified. firstly the suggestion may not be implemented, or it may have been implemented initially and then been modified more or less substantially, as was the case for monitoring of pvcs and the sorting of waste. for these two tasks it was suggested that constructive feedback should be systematically provided by the department managers (systematization of task-based constructive feedback stbcf). the difficulty of implementing this suggestion led to a more elaborate system being developed that included the managers, but gave responsibility for feedback to the local experts, i.e. the referent nurses. for suggestions that were implemented, four types of results were identified. firstly the suggestion may not have had a significant observable impact. the equipping of the surgical unit with it resources provides an example of this. this was intended to avoid additional interventions to the principal surgical operation being omitted from coding due to the compliance with basic rules! m@n@gement, vol. 19(1): 1-45 23 unavailability of computers in the ward located near the unit. to be effective, it was necessary to modify the computer program which required the surgical operation to be coded first. since this modification could not be made, there was no significant change in the level of omissions. ! the action may have had a positive impact, but this was short-lived. this was the case in situations where maintenance of the results would have required continuous effort, which was undermined by the pressure of competing priorities on the human resources available. the third type of result involves a significant improvement, which means that it is necessary to pay attention to the conditions for maintaining the improvement. this is the case for task-based constructive feedback (tbcf), formally identified as part of the remit of referent nurses. their role helps to maintain the improvement recorded. in view of the high level of mobility of the paramedical staff, it is important however that the referent nurses are not distracted by other priorities in their work. the final type of result corresponds to significant improvements that we consider to be lasting. the only example of this is the association of catheter monitoring with the control of vital signs. like tbcf, this association has the benefit of being formally included in the functioning of the hospital, but it is not threatened by a change in priorities likely to affect the workload of employees. analysis of the actions proposed and their results impact of the situation on the future of the proposals ! the proposals made by our team are linked to situations that differ in three aspects: the actors concerned, the importance of the task within the hospital’s mission, and level of priority it is given by the management. the first aspect distinguishes the medical and paramedical spheres. the paramedical sphere is characterised by adherence to the notion of hierarchy, and considerable decompartmentalization of activities within the four main sectors that the hospital comprises. conversely, the medical sphere is split into about twenty departments with undeniable autonomy. as a result the proposed actions concerning nursing staff were less costly to negotiate than those concerning the practitioners. the different structure of the two spheres can be seen both in the implementation of the proposals and in the results: that of the nursing sphere, mainly concerned by monitoring pvcs and the sorting of waste, contrasts with the heterogeneousness of the medical sphere, which alone is concerned by coding. ! the second aspect involves the distance of the task from the central mission of a hospital. of the three tasks studied, monitoring pvcs is the one that is the most closely linked to the notion of healthcare, and is also the one for which the issue of the availability of resources did not arise. conversely, coding was the task that was the furthest removed from the notion of healthcare. in this field, the only significant progress was due to the improvement of the recovery function carried out by the medical information department. as regards the hospital’s mission, the sorting of healthcare waste has an intermediate position compared with the two other tasks: it involves economic concerns like the costing of hospital stays, but management of the health hazard linked to icw means that it also involves health concerns. it should be noted that it was also in the aspect of the task that involved a health hazard, putting icw with cw, that the most significant progress was achieved. in short, it appears that the mobilisation of the actors decreases the further the task is removed from the core mission of the hospital. ! the third aspect that had an impact on the future of our proposals was the priority of the task concerned for the management. a manager’s agenda is m@n@gement, vol. 19(1): 1-45! gérard kœnig et al. 24 10. in the past, a reversion to previous practice was often observed at the core hospital following programmes of actions carried out for the purpose of certification. our proposals were therefore guided by the recommendation of the anap (2010) not to relax efforts after obtaining results and to carry out periodic controls. 11. a similar recommendation is made by the anap (2010) regarding sorting, and by the meah (2008a) regarding coding of interventions. continually changing, as he decides between various priorities. throughout the research, the safety of patients and the value of the activity based on the costing of hospital stays retained their position as a top priority for the director. unlike these two issues, waste management did not remain a priority. bringing the sorting equipment and zones into compliance with the regulations reduced the seriousness of the problem in the eyes of the management, and this relegation in the list of priorities had a greater impact when the employees responsible for this task left their positions in the course of their normal career advancement. their successors were appointed with other objectives and devoted most of their time to other duties. impact of the characteristics of the actions on the results ! the actions proposed by our team can be distinguished by two characteristics. the first involves the extent of the change that they introduce compared with the hospital’s practices, distinguishing innovations from improvements. an innovation generally requires the development of new skills and greater effort than a simple improvement of the existing system. consequently, we expected improvements to be more easily accepted than innovations, and their results to be more easily achieved. this is not confirmed by the data in our possession. the second characteristic shows that there were two complementary and antagonistic types of action: enabling and disciplinary. we will firstly present the aims of each type and the balance between enabling and disciplinary actions for each of the three tasks studied, before showing the dialogical nature of this balance. enabling and disciplinary: two separate but interdependent types ! even though enabling and disciplinary actions support each other, it is possible to present successively the aims of each type of action. promote learning to develop skills and improve attitudes ! the main aim of this approach was to achieve learning, but we did not rule out the idea that the norm of reciprocity (gouldner, 1960; cialdini, 1984) would in return cause the beneficiaries of this support to increase their contribution to the organisation. " systematization of task-based constructive feedback. the high level of occupational mobility led us to conclude that the errors committed were mainly due to the inexperience of the employees: rules that are comprehensive, as defined by leplat and hoc (1983), for experienced employees, are not necessarily comprehensive for novices. in order to improve operators’ skills, we recommended using the expertise available both within (managerial staff in the case of pvcs and waste) and outside the department (mid for coding). as stated by leplat (2006:19), regarding the importance of making use of feedback with regard to training, “we do not learn from practice, we learn from practice the results of which are known”. actions of this type had already been introduced before the research. one of the contributions of our research was to suggest that the interventions by managerial staff or experts a) should be systematic and not just occasional10, b) should be based on objective and regular measurement of the breaches observed11 and c) should apply the recommendations of the literature regarding interventions by the managerial staff. it was therefore necessary to promote the “systematization of task-based constructive feedback” (stbcf) by the various actors likely to do this for the operators. ! since there are reasons to believe that interventions are more effective if they are backed up by theory (cane, et al., 2012), we relied on the research compliance with basic rules! m@n@gement, vol. 19(1): 1-45 25 carried out in this field (alder, 2007; anseel, et al., 2009; kluger & denisi, 1996, 1998) to recommend to the managerial staff and the experts in the mid, to a) position their intervention as close as possible to the task, b) make sure that it is constructive c) ensure that it has a systematic nature. " indirect benefits of constructive feedback. the form of action that has just been presented also provided indirect benefits. building on the concept of social exchange (blau, 1964) and the norm of reciprocity (gouldner, 1960), the literature suggests that constructive and beneficial actions by the representatives of the organisation for the employees, help to establish high quality exchange relationships (konovsky & pugh, 1994). they also impose on the employees an obligation to reciprocate in a way that is also constructive and beneficial (rhoades & eisenberger, 2002). in an organisation such as the core hospital where the ability to reward is limited, the indirect benefits of constructive support provided to employees or colleagues could not be neglected. punish in order to improve reliability and combat anomie ! we observed that the power to punish was rarely used at the hospital, and only with great restraint. based on a survey of all employees (cf. appendix b, table b1) we consider that the management’s reluctance to use sanctions was related to the strong feeling of impunity present among the staff. we recommended restoring the importance of sanctions. this recommendation was intended to overcome the harmful effects of breaches on the organisation, in addition to the aim of reducing the frequency of deliberate infringements of rules. ! sanctions have been defined (kazdin, 1975: 33-34) as a means of associating something unpleasant with (or dissociating something pleasant from) a behaviour, in order to reduce its frequency. until the beginning of the 1980s the literature tended to advise managers not to punish their subordinates because the negative side effects were greater than the benefits (luthans & kreitner, 1985). however this traditional approach to sanctions lacked references to organisational situations, and since it was not possible to produce scientific quality results, it tended to put forward moral considerations (arvey & ivancevich, 1980). from the 1980s, researchers recognise that the use of sanctions can have a positive impact on the attitudes and perceptions of employees (arvey, et al., 1984; o’reilly & puffer, 1989; podsakoff & todor, 1985), particularly when the sanctions are based on the employee’s performance (podsakoff, et al., 2006). among the neglected benefits of sanctions, they also mention the fact that they a) maintain social standards within a group, b) inform the other members of unacceptable behaviour and c) contribute to the perception that authority is fairly exercised (trevino, 1992). the interviews carried out at the core hospital confirm this analysis. on several occasions, the people we interviewed said that they were shocked by certain types of behaviour, particularly those that endangered personal safety. they regretted that they were not punished, since it appeared to them that it was detrimental to the smooth functioning of the organisation. ! moreover, the nature of the activities studied at the core hospital led us to relativize the standard argument that sanctions that show the behaviour to be avoided without saying anything about the required behaviour are likely to be disconcerting. in fact, for these activities the required behaviour is clearly established and there is therefore no reason for the sanction to leave the employee at a loss regarding the way to behave. ! based on these analyses, for each of the tasks our team defined breaches of rules for which it was urgent to reduce the frequency and specified the conditions for imposing sanctions. the simplest situation was that of the costing of hospital stays. those responsible for coding errors can be identified without difficulty, and error rates can be easily compared. it was therefore suggested that the error rates should be included in staff assessments, after appropriate m@n@gement, vol. 19(1): 1-45! gérard kœnig et al. 26 feedback concerning the errors committed. regarding the sorting of waste, controls do not make it possible to identify the person responsible, but to compare different departments. it was therefore proposed to make the department managers responsible for nonconformities, and take them into account in their assessments. in the case of monitoring pvcs where the risk of omission is under control, the problem that remains is incorrect assessment of the situation by employees, and particularly novices. it was suggested that concealing errors, rather than the errors themselves, should be punished, since concealing them is likely to delay the measures needed to reduce their harmful effects. ! it is important to emphasise that the idea of sanctions is included in the notion of discipline, but is only one aspect of it. for example, associating monitoring of catheters with the control of vital signs had a disciplinary effect, but does not necessarily constitute a sanction. as will be seen below, disciplinary actions that do not constitute sanctions represent highly effective levers for progress. balance between enabling and disciplinary action within each activity pvc: revised proposal, balance between the enabling and disciplinary aspects, and a marked improvement in practices ! following a serious adverse event in summer 2011, monitoring of pvcs became a priority for healthcare management. the initial proposal made by our team involved requiring department managers to provide training and support for the nursing staff for fitting and monitoring pvcs. once this had been introduced, it was decided to carry out a flash audit to assess the change in risks. this was carried out in february 2013 and produced worrying results: although no adverse events were recorded, the rules regarding the monitoring of pvcs were not mastered by most of the nursing staff. an informal inquiry carried out among nursing staff by the senior executive who was an inside member of the research team showed that the interventions by local managers did not have the enabling nature that was intended, and were seen as disciplinary by employees. the interviews carried out with managers by the inside senior executive showed the reason for this negative result. since the managers were occupied with timeconsuming tasks such as managing staff schedules or beds and unprepared or inadequately trained to carry out their managerial role, they devoted little time to training and daily support for their colleagues. this assessment agrees partly with that of detchessahar (2011: 99) based on about fifteen inquiries carried out in organisations belonging to various sectors: “far from suffering from over interference or the omnipresence of the management, the employees of the organisations studied suffered from the absence... of a manager who is detained, caught up by other requirements than those of work and leadership”. ! the action initially proposed had two objectives. the first declared aim was to improve operators’ skills. the second was to re-engage all local managers in the work of their team. contrary to the suggestion of detchessahar (2011), we considered that the obstacles faced by some managers were due more to their understanding of their role rather than to any organisational constraints, considering the freedom that the assessment system gives to managers in the interpretation of their role, and in view of what other managers are able to do. the lack of progress on our second objective led us to give priority to the first one, and to revise the approach, which was all the better received by the local managers since the relinquishment it introduced preserved their authority and came after the failure of a solution that gave them the leading role. ! the new system was based on mobilising expert peers, i.e. the referent nurse and the public health nurse, acting on the authority of the local manager. compliance with basic rules! m@n@gement, vol. 19(1): 1-45 27 the role of trainer-mentor is mainly carried out by the referent nurses. in addition to the methodological and educational support that they provide to the nursing staff, referent nurses act as an interface with the medical team, in particular during handover. they also manage risks and adverse events. it is in this aspect that the public health nurse intervenes occasionally to support the referent nurse. although they have a lesser role, the local managers are still involved in the approach, which they favour by granting time and resources to the referent nurses. the observations made by the senior executive, an inside member of the team, make it possible to conclude that there was an improvement in the monitoring of pvcs. discussions with the staff suggest that the effectiveness of the reorganised system is due to two factors: the first is the enabling character of the organisation put in place. the referent nurses available to support the nurses have solid experience in the field and are recognised as such by the staff. moreover, they are seen as peers by the nurses, in spite of the hierarchical power delegated to them. as a result, exchanges are more open and trusting than with the managers. the second factor is related to the disciplinary nature of the system due to the combination of four measures: association of monitoring of catheters with control of vital signs, it traceability of monitoring of pvcs, maintenance of the system within a hierarchical framework, and application for the first time for a long time of sanctions for serious breaches of the rules of professional conduct. following the actions implemented, monitoring of pvcs was given greater prominence and seen as a treatment in its own right, that should be provided in strict compliance with professional practices. sorting of healthcare waste: change of priorities, lack of disciplinary measures and mixed results ! after a garbology inquiry, which had shown the extent of the breaches of the rules for sorting healthcare waste, in 2011 the management of the hospital asserted its intention to regularly carry out random controls in the departments, in the presence of the staff and if possible of the department manager. it considered that the managers concerned would feel that their reputation was at stake due to the public nature of these actions, which would have a disciplinary effect. these controls required too many employees and were quickly abandoned. shortly before our team examined the issue of sorting, the hospital management had fitted out suitable storage areas and made available to the employees the equipment (suitable stands and containers) needed to carry out compliant sorting. ! the awareness campaigns and training, which existed previously and were mainly intended for new staff, were maintained during the period. as in the case of monitoring of pvcs, the system was initially based on the local managers before being reoriented towards intervention by peer-experts, i.e. the referent nurses and public health nurses. the public health nurses had numerous opportunities to pass on messages, but because they were generally provided outside the working context, the messages were not seen as very enabling by the recipients. it was therefore the referent nurses who were finally entrusted with the task of supporting the employees in their work. the audit carried out in june 2013 of all of the surgical departments and some of the medical departments showed mixed results. except in one department icw was no longer found in cw containers, but there was no improvement in the use of icw containers which are still often either too full or inappropriately filled (e.g. plastic bags used for sharp icw). similarly, too much cw is still put into icw containers. all in all, although it was reduced, the health risk still remains, whereas putting cw with icw continues to put a strain on the hospital’s budget. two factors can be put forward to explain the poor results compared with those obtained for monitoring pvcs: over time, the issue of sorting healthcare waste was no longer seen as a priority, and no disciplinary measures were taken to ensure compliance with the rules. m@n@gement, vol. 19(1): 1-45! gérard kœnig et al. 28 12. doctors continue to call the mid to find out why their coding has been altered. costing of hospital stays: enabling measures hardly have any effect without any disciplinary measures, and an effective but second-rate policy is implemented ! since the introduction of activity-based pricing, the costing of hospital stays has become a key issue for hospitals. the hospital management is therefore concerned to raise the awareness of practitioners of the importance of rigorous coding. when our team started to study the question, according to the cmio communication on this topic had had a very different impact depending on the age of the practitioner. young doctors and surgeons had been made aware of coding during their training, and were more receptive than older ones to the messages they were given, and the cmio observed significant learning effects among practitioners who had arrived recently. on the other hand, there was no lasting sign of improvement in the quality of the coding carried out by practitioners with a greater length of service. as was the case for the other tasks, the proposals made by our team included both enabling and disciplinary measures. a large proportion of the enabling measures were based on the systematization of task-based constructive feedback provided by the mid. the impact on the target population was seen as disappointing. some actions, such as intervention by the cmio during unit committee meetings, had a positive but short-lived impact, according to the cmio; others, such as sending the practitioners the corrected coding file, could not be seen as having even a small or temporary positive result, according to the cmio. repetition of the same errors, and the content of interactions between the mid and practitioners12 led the cmio to conclude that no significant learning had taken place. ! the limited effectiveness of the measures recommended on the population that showed resistance to coding, the energy they required for the mid and the temporary nature of their effects, together with the lack of a decision regarding taking the quality of coding into account in the assessment of practitioners led the mid to develop an alternative policy based on improving error recovery. this policy was adopted in the absence of anything better, at least on a temporary basis, and made it possible to increase the reliability of coding, although it involved investments in software and an increase in the department’s workload. errors are not always recovered, but the results of random in-depth inquiries carried out suggest that there was a marked improvement in risk control. this alternative system was not in itself either enabling or restrictive. the dialogical nature of enabling and disciplinary measures  ! in conclusion, it appears that measures that are purely enabling (sorting of waste and coding of diagnoses and interventions), or purely disciplinary (initial system for monitoring pvcs) did not produce satisfactory results, unlike what is observed when both types of measures are used in a balanced manner (monitoring of pvcs after modifying the system). the notion of balance is interesting from a descriptive point of view, but it does not account for the dynamic relationship between both types in the case of basic rules. the comprehensive nature of such rules makes it possible to require experienced operators to comply strictly with them, under nominal conditions. before the same demands can be made of a novice operator, enabling actions must have made it possible for the operator to carry out the task without acquiring other skills. ! this apparently unoriginal observation gains new significance if we consider that the mobility of paramedical staff at the core hospital is about 30% depending on the department and the year. this means that the mechanism of reversion to previous practice probably does not have the importance it is given by the members of the hospital, including the management, for the monitoring of pvcs and sorting of waste. according to this mechanism, the mobilisation caused by the closeness of a certification visit only produces a very short-term improvement in behaviour. compliance with basic rules! m@n@gement, vol. 19(1): 1-45 29 ! this is confirmed by the observations and accounts collected by one of the inside members of our team: some operators do indeed change their behaviour according to the pressure on them to comply with certain prescriptions. in view of the high level of staff mobility, this explanation must however be completed. the effects of the efforts made at a given time, for the purposes of certification or for other reasons, necessarily decline as the members of the workforce are replaced. it is essential to take this second mechanism into consideration from a managerial point of view. the explanation based on reversion to previous practice suggests that failure to comply with rules is due to actors who are capable of complying with them, but are negligent, and that it is therefore legitimate to punish them; the explanation based on mobility on the contrary encourages the development of enabling actions. ! where enabling actions are made necessary due to the lack of skill of operators, they are a prerequisite for the introduction of measures that have the nature of sanctions. failure to respect this condition would lead not only to practical problems, but would raise the questions of the legitimacy of the sanctions. if we acknowledge that there will inevitably be novice operators, disciplinary measures require enabling ones in order to be legitimate. ! however, the dialogics that unite these two notions go beyond this logical sequence, insofar as they have a mutually inclusive relationship: enabling measures are disciplinary to a great extent, and disciplinary measures are enabling. for example, the obligation for inexperienced nurses to apply the maddox scale guarantees patient safety. it unquestionably has an enabling nature. but the training courses in the use of the scale mean that, at least temporarily, the behaviour of the nurses falls within an “if.... then” type of rule system, characteristic of an intermediate level of cognitive control which an individual can have over performance of the tasks within his remit. in other words, although this system is enabling, it does not allow the nurses to achieve the level of expert (dreyfus, 2015). ! finally, it is interesting to note that enabling systems can give rise to the development of interpersonal relations that include a disciplinary aspect. the inquiry carried out among hospital staff in connection with the project to transform the organisation of the hospital (cf. appendix b, table b1) shows that employees feel indebted to colleagues who helped them to cope with the demands of their work. this led us to believe that an enabling system, such as that put in place for the monitoring of pvcs, produces a feeling of indebtedness due to the norm of reciprocity (gouldner, 1960; cialdini, 1984). it would therefore be natural to settle this debt by implementing the knowledge transmitted, in this instance by the peerexperts. no systematic inquiry has been conducted of this aspect, but the observations made by an inside member of the team confirm this assumption. discussion ! the notion of basic rules leads us to revise or complete the analyses of the critical tradition regarding rules and the hro approach. it also leads us to no longer consider enabling and disciplinary measures as thematically opposed, but as having a dialogical relation. basic rules: the blind spot of the critical tradition ! our analysis of the literature shows the relevance of the critical tradition regarding rules, but emphasises its limits. because it posits that rules are necessarily incomplete, the critical tradition in sociology and psychosociology m@n@gement, vol. 19(1): 1-45! gérard kœnig et al. 30 turns infringements of rules into a daily necessity, essential for innovation. based on the work of ergonomists (leplat & hoc, 1983), we suggest that two types of rules should be distinguished. the first, which we describe as complex rules, are those discussed in the critical tradition: rules are a social construct resulting from the interplay of interests and powers. they are part of a bigger system that gives them their meaning; their maintenance is more a question of legitimacy than effectiveness, and their implementation cannot be reduced to performance alone. those whose behaviour the rules are supposed to determine must adapt to conditions and developments that were not envisaged by those who designed them. the second type are rules that we describe as basic. these differ from complex rules in four ways: they are consensual in the sense that no alternative rule is put forward by the actors; they are assessed on the basis of their effectiveness; due to their comprehensiveness they can be applied by an experienced operator without acquiring additional skills; and finally, they can be managed autonomously due to their loose attachment to the rest of the system they belong to. the empirical section of the present research made it possible to reveal the existence of such rules in an organisational context. ! the main contribution of this research consists therefore in the criticism of the argument that real work necessarily differs from the prescribed work, in the same way that the actual rule differs from the declared rule (babeau & chanlat, 2008; clot, 1995: 102; dejours, 2003: 14; friedberg, 1992; girin & grosjean, 1996: 5; linhart, 1994: 78; reynaud, 1993: 35). we consider that this argument, because it claims to be universal, ignores basic rules, which are a specific case but are important in practice. ! secondly, we propose that, in the case of basic rules, the notion of human error retains all its significance whereas “it has become almost mundane to claim that reliability and failure are produced by the organisation” (bourrier, 2001: 9) and “human error” has been criticised as a meaningless concept corresponding to an oversimplified representation of reality (hollnagel, 2005). we also show that the demonstrations of human error can be usefully analysed using the conceptual frameworks proposed by rasmussen (1983, 2000) and reason (1993). this led us to give greater importance to the individual level, in terms of errors and responsibility, as well as to the disciplinary aspect of management. our intention however is not to limit the managerial approach to this level and this aspect. regarding the level, we followed the suggestion of reason (1997) which involves exploiting the potential of multi-level approaches, in order to give managerial interventions the variety required by the situations that we studied. failure to comply with rules may be due to organisational conditions. for example, the unavailability of the equipment required may result in the infringement of a rule, whereas interruptions due to the need to meet more important priorities can cause omissions. in order to carry out a basic rule, the nominal conditions for its performance must be present; only once this requirement is met is it possible to require strict compliance with the rule by all experienced operators. for these reasons, the situations were analysed and proposals were made at three levels: that of the individual, which is often broadened to include interactions with the managerial staff, that of the man-machine interface, and finally that of the organisation. ! thirdly, whereas the literature tended to stress the potentially creative nature of errors and infringements (alter, 2002; tsoukas & chia, 2002) and the benefits in terms of learning (hollnagel, 2005), our research suggests that it is highly unlikely that failure to respect basic rules can have a beneficial effect. the activities studied involved applying, in relatively simple situations, a set of unambiguous instructions that left no room for personal judgement or emergent innovation. admittedly, in each of the activities the operator can use his own judgement to categorise the situation, but this will always be due to a lack of knowledge of the applicable rules. regarding the possibility of an emergent compliance with basic rules! m@n@gement, vol. 19(1): 1-45 31 innovation, it should be stated that the categorical frameworks that control the practices studied are regularly updated. however, if the rules change, this is carried out deliberately and not emergently, intermittently and not continually. changes result from decisions made at the national level, and between two revisions, the rules are clear, stable and essential for the actors. it therefore appears highly unlikely that the infringement of categorical frameworks that have been extensively tested for a long time could result in innovations offering benefits at the collective level. it follows that, in answer to the argument that “working well always involves breaches” (dejours, 2003: 15), we argue that when basic rules must be enacted, it is necessary to require rigorous compliance. we are not of course so naive as to suggest that these rules can suffice to ensure the reliability of the operations of even a relatively simple organisation no method could achieve such an ambition we merely suggest that strict compliance with them is likely to reduce the risks incurred. the contribution of basic rules to organisational reliability ! research into organisational reliability has studied the errors and infringements affecting complex and/or large socio-technical systems (bigley & roberts, 2001; perrow, 1984; turner & pidgeon, 1978; vaughan, 1996; weick, 1988, 1990). an initial explanation of this tendency is based on the challenge that the behaviour of complex systems represents for human understanding; a second explanation is based on the link that often exists between the size of the system in question and the extent of the effects that a breach of the rules can have. the lack of attention given to failure to comply with basic rules in smaller and less complex systems is due to the fact that they are seen as less relevant from a practical point of view and less stimulating at the intellectual level. this understanding must be corrected in two ways. firstly, it is true that none of the malfunctions studied in this article can alone have the disastrous consequences of an error in the management of a large system, such as an aeroplane or a nuclear power station. however, insufficient monitoring of catheters or incorrect packaging of icw can cause mini-disasters which, repeated at the societal level could have greater effects than those of more striking disasters (van cott, 1994). secondly, although the situations studied do not represent a challenge for the operators’ understanding, they require a more sophisticated method of management than is suggested by the literature, and therefore represent a sufficiently stimulating challenge to merit interest. ! moreover, the principles governing basic tasks have led us to consider an alternative model to that developed by the hro movement: that of “ultra-safety” developed by amalberti et al. (2005). this is due to the fact that the tasks concerned by basic rules involve nothing unexpected, and to carry them out an experienced member does not need to interact with other members to make sense of the situation. conversely, the ability to manage the unexpected which is central to the interactionist approach to high reliability, is based on the quality of the reciprocal listening and exchanges between the members. this does not mean that basic rules are limited solely to tasks carried out by an individual on his own; they can also concern tasks the performance of which depends on the behaviour of third persons affected by application of the rule. this is shown in the case of serious adverse events (sae) linked to medicines, also discussed by the hro movement (roberts & bea, 2001; roberts, et al., 1999; weick & sutcliffe, 2001: 76; weick, et al., 2005). ! after invasive procedures and infections linked to treatment, medicines represent the third biggest cause of saes in healthcare institutions in france (michel, et al., 2010). in addition it has been observed that a large proportion of errors relating to dispensing medicines by pharmacists and distribution of them by nurses was due to the provision of handwritten or verbal prescriptions, and to the m@n@gement, vol. 19(1): 1-45! gérard kœnig et al. 32 misunderstandings that these methods of communication cause (roberts & bea, 2001). in this type of situation, reliability is compromised in particular by the difference in status between doctors and the other professionals (roberts & bea, 2001). the fact that doctors alone are considered as being responsible for the patients’ treatment results in the other professionals merely being expected to follow orders and not exercise vigilance. due to a lack of incentive, problems are not identified and deaths occur that could have been avoided (roberts & bea, 2001). in this connection edmonson (2003, 2004) notes that the atmosphere within the team and the level of psychological safety felt by the members are decisive factors for the quality of the interactions. the possibility of individual and collective learning is also dependent on them, as is ultimately the organisational reliability. ! it is not our intention to criticise proposals to improve collective vigilance by improving the quality of listening between members and respect for their respective skills (weick, 1993). nevertheless, establishing basic rules still appears to us to be important in situations where, as in the case of managing medicine-related risks, improving patient safety involves interactions between members of the organisation. this is illustrated by an observation in another hospital. in the hospital in question, a rule was introduced that required pharmacists and nurses to refuse any handwritten prescriptions, and especially verbal prescriptions. by reducing the risk of saes, compliance with this rule also made it possible to reduce risk of nursing staff being held criminally liable. in addition to the communications and awareness campaigns to be carried out among the different types of employees, the effectiveness of such a rule depends on a clear and firm commitment by the management to support the nurses and dispensary staff, especially during the period when the rule is introduced. a rule of this kind does not solve all medicine-related problems in hospitals. in particular it does not deal with the issue of inadequate prescriptions and the possibility of recovery of this type of error by the nursing staff. even if the basic rules that we propose have more limited objectives than those specified by edmonson (2003, 2004) and the hro movement, they are effective and comply with the main principle of professional risk prevention, which is to avoid risks by eliminating their cause. enabling and disciplinary: from thematic opposition to a dialogical approach ! the distinction between enabling and disciplinary approaches is not wholly new in management literature. it symbolises the debate between those who have a negative view of bureaucracy, who maintain that formalisation stifles creativity, causes dissatisfaction and discourages employees, and those who have a positive view, valuing what formalisation can offer in terms of clarifying roles and supporting action (adler & borys, 1996). in other words, the thematic opposition identified between these two aspects of organisational functioning (holton, 1982) has provided the basis for academic debate. starting with the standard typology of burns and stalker (1961), adler and borys (1996) propose a typology that is able to encompass all of the works regarding this thematic opposition. whereas organisations were usually distinguished according to their level of formalisation, either high (mechanic) or low (organic) adler and borys (1996) suggest that they can also be distinguished according to the enabling or restrictive nature of the formalisation. the addition of this second aspect enables authors to create a typology that includes autocratic organisations and enabling bureaucracy with the types already mentioned. in spite of its relevance, the contribution of adler and borys (1996) remains dependent on the thematic opposition between disciplinary and enabling measures. this article suggests that this opposition can be compliance with basic rules! m@n@gement, vol. 19(1): 1-45 33 overcome and proposes a management model for dealing with compliance with basic rules that includes both themes as well as their interrelations. ! firstly, if we look at the disciplinary aspect of management, we are convinced that the criticism it has received is justified, but we also consider that it is excessive. discipline does not only involve sanctions, as is shown by the effectiveness of the measure that associates monitoring of catheters with control of vital signs, and in the case of basic rules sanctions do not have the defects that are attributed to them. consequently, although the traditional approach that involves looking for someone to blame and punishing him is often counterproductive, this is not the case in the situations studied for two reasons. firstly, the risk that the punished person does not know what to do does not arise here, because what needs to be done is clearly established for all experienced operators. secondly, employees who see these basic rules as legitimate and endeavour to respect them often stated during the research that they expected breaches of these rules to be punished. ignoring this expectation can only help to produce a feeling of anomie. consequently, the discipline exercised at the individual level has an enabling effect at the collective level. ! the enabling aspect of management is essential in the situations studied. compliance with basic rules can only be demanded of experienced employees. however, due to the occupational mobility of the employees, the workforce of an entity may include a high percentage of people new to their career or job. support for them by the managerial staff has the direct effect of enhancing their skills. in addition, if it is carried out well, enabling intervention by managerial staff shows the support provided to employees in carrying out their duties and may give them an obligation of reciprocity. conversely, a lack of support would have the effect of undermining the legitimacy of any sanctions; which means that enabling action is a necessary condition in this instance for disciplinary action. ! in short, recognition of the distinctive features of basic rules leads to a dialogical understanding of management where disciplinary and enabling aspects are not simply complementary, but have a mutually supportive dialogical relation. limits of the research and application to other situations ! one of the limits of this research is the small number of sample situations studied in a single hospital. widening it to include other cases in different types of organisations would probably have made it possible to identify other phenomena, enhance our explanations and test a larger number of proposals. the decision to work on three cases within the same hospital is not the result of the usual choice between variety and depth, it is due more directly to the collaborative nature of the research. the exceptional nature of this type of system can clearly not be duplicated ad libitum, and the question of starting a second project in another establishment was therefore not envisaged. increasing the number of tasks to be studied did not pose the same problem and the possibility was discussed, but for the reasons already mentioned we decided to limit ourselves to the cases identified by the hospital management. under these conditions, what can be said about the internal and external validity of our analyses and results? ! according to king et al. (1994: 120), detailed research concerning a small sample can only have very limited ambitions from the point of view of its internal validity. however, as has been shown by campbell (1975), the internal validity of research depends less on the number of cases studied than on their quality. a single case may be sufficient, if it is possible to extract data that make it possible to test the implications of the explanations proposed. in the present case, the knowledge of the establishment and the hospital environment of the inside members of the team, their ability to find relevant information and their competence regarding the issues dealt with provide reasonable assurance of the quality of the data collected and the reliability of the explanations given. m@n@gement, vol. 19(1): 1-45! gérard kœnig et al. 34 external validity can be seen on three levels: do the proposals made in this article apply to other hospitals, other tasks and other areas of activity? regarding their application to other healthcare institutions, it should be noted that the issues studied in this article are being studied at the national level, and even at the international level as regards monitoring of pvcs and sorting of healthcare waste. moreover, knowledge of other healthcare institutions where they are applied offers reasonable assurance of the viability of policies based on strict compliance with basic rules. regarding the application of our proposals to other tasks, the case of medicines discussed above provides an initial example of possible generalization; another example is the use of checklists which is becoming widespread, particularly in the surgical sector. beyond the health sector, without entering the field of complex technological systems, the authors’ knowledge of other sectors such as food processing, regarding food safety, and activities such as professional driving, lead them to conclude that it is possible to apply our proposals to contexts other than hospitals. conclusion ! although they are central to organisational functioning that is seen as complex, rules are generally assessed unequivocally, and the literature is divided between those who defend their merits and those who criticise their defects. to reconcile these two traditions of thought, we suggest that there are two types of rules: complex rules that cannot be followed to the letter, and basic rules that must be strictly respected. ! in the course of collaborative management research carried out in a hospital in île-de-france, we studied three activities and made proposals for managing breaches of the basic rules linked to these activities. as recommended by reason (1997), these proposals were made on three levels: the organisational, engineering and individual levels. whereas interventions carried out at the individual level have been widely discredited by studies of complex technological systems, our research shows their value when the relative simplicity of the situation makes it possible to formulate basic rules. in this case it also suggests that it is necessary to reconsider the idea frequently put forward that since the unwanted side effects are greater than the benefits, it is necessary to avoid systematically punishing the operators. ! based on the observations made before and after implementing our proposed actions, we suggest adopting a managerial approach that we describe as dialogical because it combines enabling and disciplinary aspects, recognising them as both complementary and antagonistic. ! introducing the concept of basic rules involves a contingent approach to the management of rules. since our main concern was to develop this concept, study activities where it was applicable and make proposals to remedy the breaches observed, a contingent approach to rules still needs to be developed, giving equal attention to complex and basic rules. references adler, p.s. & borys, b. (1996). two types of bureaucracy: enabling and coercive. administrative science quarterly, 41, 61-89. alder, g.s. (2007). examining the relationship between feedback and performance in a monitored environment: a clarification and extension of feedback intervention theory. journal of high technology management research, 17(2), 157-174. compliance with basic rules! m@n@gement, vol. 19(1): 1-45 35 alter n. (2002). l’innovation : un processus collectif ambigu. in n. alter (eds), les logiques de l’innovation (pp. 13-40). paris : la de ́couverte. amalberti r., auroy, y., berwick, d. & barach, p. (2005). five system barriers to achieving ultrasafe health care. annals of internal medicine, 142(9), 756-764. anap agence nationale d’appui à la performance des établissements de santé. (2008). quickscan déchets outil d’auto évaluation de la gestion des déchets en établissements de santé. anap agence nationale d’appui à la performance des établissements de santé. (2010). organisation de la gestion des déchets optimiser le traitement et réduire la signature environnementale retours d'expérience. anseel, f., lievens, f. & schollaert, e. (2009). reflection as a strategy to enhance task performance after feedback. organizational behavior and human decision processes, 110(1), 23–35. argyris, c. & scho ̈n, d. (1989). participatory action research and action science compared. american behavioral scientists, 32(xx), 612–623. argyris, c. (1995). savoir pour agir surmonter les obstacles à l'apprentissage organisationnel, paris  : intereditions. arvey, r.d. & ivancevich, j.m. (1980). punishment in organizations: a review, propositions, and research suggestions. academy of management review, 5(1), 123-132. arvey, r.d., davis, g.a. & nelson, s.m. (1984). use of discipline in an organization: a field study. journal of applied psychology, 69(3), 448-460. babeau, o. & chanlat, j.-f. (2008). la transgression, une dimension oubliée de l'organisation. revue française de gestion, 3(183), 201-219. balogun, j., huff, a.s. & johnson, p. (2003). three responses to the methodological challenges of studying strategizing. journal of management studies, 40(1), 197-224. benner, p. (2005). de novice à expert – excellence en soins infirmiers. paris: masson. bigley, g.a. &. roberts k.h. (2001). the incident command system: high reliability organizing for complex and volatile task environments. academy of management journal, 44(xx), 1281-1300. blau, p.m. (1964). exchange and power in social life. new york,ny : wiley. bourrier, m. (2001). organiser la fiabilité. paris  : l’harmattan. bras, p.-l., vieilleribière, j.-l. & lesteven, p. (2012). evaluation de la tarification des soins hospitaliers et des actes médicaux. inspection générale des affaires sociales, rm2012-024p. burns, t. & stalker, g.m. (1961). the management of innovation. london: tavistock. campbell, d.t. (1975). “degrees of freedom” and the case study. comparative political studies, 8(2), 178-193. cane, j., o’connor, d. & michie, s. (2012). validation of the theoretical domains framework for use in behaviour change and implementation research. implementation science, 7(1), 37-53. cialdini, r.b. (1984). influence. the psychology of persuasion. new york, ny: william morrow and company. clot, y. (1995). le travail sans l’homme. paris  : la découverte. courpasson, d. (2000). managerial strategies of domination, power in soft bureaucracies. organization studies, 21(1), 141-161. dejours, c. (2003). l’e ́valuation du travail a ̀ l’e ́preuve du re ́el critique des fondements de l'évaluation. paris: inra. denzin, n.k. (1970). the research act in sociology. chicago, il: aldine. detchessahar, m. (2011). santé au travail. quand le management n’est pas le problème, mais la solution... . revue française de gestion, 214, 89-105. drees direction de la recherche, des e ́tudes de l’e ́valuation et des statistiques (2013). panorama des établissements de santé. collection études et statistiques. dreyfus, h. & dreyfus, s. (1986). mind over machine: the power of human intuition and expertise in the era of the computer. new york, ny: the free press. dreyfus, h. (2015). what is moral maturity? a phenomenological account of the development of ethical expertise. consulté le 15 février 2015. url : h t t p : / / i s t s o c r a t e s . b e r k e l e y. e d u / ~ h d r e y f u s / r t f / moral_maturity_8_90.rtf. edmondson a. c. (2003). managing the risk of learning: psychological safety in work teams. in m. a. west, d. tjosvold & k. g. smith (eds), international handbook of organizational teamwork and cooperative working (pp. 255-275). chichester, west sussex: john wiley & sons. edmondson a. c. (2004). learning from failure in health care: frequent opportunities, pervasive barriers. qualitative safety health care, 13, 3-9. evered, r.d. & louis, m.r. (1981). alternative perspectives in the organizational sciences: inquiry from the inside and inquiry from the outside. academy of management review, 6(3), 385-395. frenette-leclerc, c.-a. (1991). sur le chemin de l'expertise. initialement publié in l’infirmie ̀re du que ́bec, n° de fe ́vrier et consulté le 10 février 2015, url : http:// w w w. i n fi r e s s o u r c e s . c a / f e r / d e p o t d o c u m e n t s / sur_le_chemin_de_l_expertise.pdf friedberg, e. (1992). les quatre dimensions de l'action organisée. revue française de sociologie, 33(4), 531-557. giddens a. (1987). la constitution de la société. paris  : puf. girin, j. & grosjean, m. (1996). la transgression des règles au travail. paris : l’harmattan. girin, j. (1983). le rôle des outils de gestion dans l'évolution des systèmes sociaux complexes. in m. berry (ed), rapport pour le ministère de la recherche et de la technologie. paris: crg-école polytechnique. gouldner, a.w. (1960). the norm of reciprocity: a preliminary statement. american sociological review, 25(2), 161-178. hcsp haut conseil de la santé publique. (2010). surveiller et prévenir les infections associées aux soins. hygiènes, 18(4). hollnagel, e. (2005). the elusiveness of “human error”. consulté le 27 décembre 2013, url  : http:// www.humanerroranalysis.com/page/on-human-error-theelusiveness-of-human-error . m@n@gement, vol. 19(1): 1-45! gérard kœnig et al. 36 http://ist-socrates.berkeley.edu/~hdreyfus/rtf/moral_maturity_8_90.rtf http://ist-socrates.berkeley.edu/~hdreyfus/rtf/moral_maturity_8_90.rtf http://ist-socrates.berkeley.edu/~hdreyfus/rtf/moral_maturity_8_90.rtf http://ist-socrates.berkeley.edu/~hdreyfus/rtf/moral_maturity_8_90.rtf http://eu.wiley.com/wileycda/section/id-302479.html?query=michael+a.+west http://eu.wiley.com/wileycda/section/id-302479.html?query=michael+a.+west http://eu.wiley.com/wileycda/section/id-302479.html?query=dean+tjosvold http://eu.wiley.com/wileycda/section/id-302479.html?query=dean+tjosvold http://eu.wiley.com/wileycda/section/id-302479.html?query=dean+tjosvold http://eu.wiley.com/wileycda/section/id-302479.html?query=dean+tjosvold http://eu.wiley.com/wileycda/section/id-302479.html?query=ken+g.+smith http://eu.wiley.com/wileycda/section/id-302479.html?query=ken+g.+smith http://www.infiressources.ca/fer/depotdocuments/sur_le_chemin_de_l_expertise.pdf http://www.infiressources.ca/fer/depotdocuments/sur_le_chemin_de_l_expertise.pdf http://www.infiressources.ca/fer/depotdocuments/sur_le_chemin_de_l_expertise.pdf http://www.infiressources.ca/fer/depotdocuments/sur_le_chemin_de_l_expertise.pdf http://www.infiressources.ca/fer/depotdocuments/sur_le_chemin_de_l_expertise.pdf http://www.infiressources.ca/fer/depotdocuments/sur_le_chemin_de_l_expertise.pdf http://www.humanerroranalysis.com/page/on-human-error-the-elusiveness-of-human-error http://www.humanerroranalysis.com/page/on-human-error-the-elusiveness-of-human-error http://www.humanerroranalysis.com/page/on-human-error-the-elusiveness-of-human-error http://www.humanerroranalysis.com/page/on-human-error-the-elusiveness-of-human-error http://www.humanerroranalysis.com/page/on-human-error-the-elusiveness-of-human-error http://www.humanerroranalysis.com/page/on-human-error-the-elusiveness-of-human-error holton, g. (1982). l'invention scientifique. paris : puf. kazdin, a.e. (1975). behavior modification in applied settings. homewood: dorsey press. king, g., keohane r.o. & verba s. (1994). designing social inquiry: scientific inference in qualitative research. princeton, nj: princeton university press. kluger, a.n., & denisi, a. (1996). the effects of feedback interventions on performance: a historical review, a m e t a a n a l y s i s , a n d a p r e l i m i n a r y f e e d b a c k intervention theory. psychological bulletin, 119(2), 254-284. kluger, a.n., & denisi, a. (1998). feedback interventions toward the understanding of a double edge sword. current directions in psychological science, 7(3), 67-72. konovsky, m.a., & pugh, s.d. (1994). citizenship behavior and social exchange. academy of management journal, 37(3), 656-669. leplat, j. & hoc j.m. (1983). tâches et activités dans l’analyse psychologique des situations. cahiers de psychologie cognitive, 3, 49-64. leplat, j. (2006). la notion de re ́gulation dans l’analyse de l’activite ́. perspectives interdisciplinaires sur le travail et la santé, 8(1), 2-28. lewin, k. (1946). action research and minority problems. journal of social issues, 2(4), 34-46. linhart, d. (1994). la modernisation des entreprises, paris : la découverte. luthans, f. & kreitner, r. (1985). organizational behavior modification and beyond. glenview, il: scott, foresman. meah mission nationale d'expertise et d'audit hospitaliers. (2008a). optimiser la chaîne de facturation/ recouvrement hospitalièreretours d’expériences. meah mission nationale d'expertise et d'audit hospitaliers. ( 2 0 0 8 b ) . l a g e s t i o n d e s d é c h e t s d a n s l e s établissements de santé, panorama réglementaire & propositions pratiques de mise en œuvre. michel, p., minodier, c., lathelize, m., moty-monnereau, c., domecq, s., chaleix, m., izotte-kret, m., brusonnet, r., quenon, j-l. & olier, l. (2010). les événements indésirables graves associés aux soins observés dans les établissements de santé. dossiers solidarité et santé n°17 drees. miles, m.b. & huberman, a.m. (2003). analyse des données qualitatives. bruxelles : de boeck. ministère du travail, de l'emploi et de la santé. (2011). guide méthodologique de production des informations relatives à l’activité médicale et à sa facturation en médecine, chirurgie, obstétrique et odontologie. bulletin officiel n° 2011/ 6 bis, fascicule spécial. monin, p., noorderhaven, n., vaara, e. & kroon, d. (2013). giving sense to and making sense of justice in postmerger integration. academy of management journal, 56(1), 256-284. morin e. (2008). logique et contradiction. actes des ateliers sur la contradiction nouvelle force de de ́veloppement en science et socie ́te ́. ecole nationale supe ́rieure des mines saint-etienne 19-21 mars, 8-26. morin, e. (1980). la méthode. 2 la vie de la vie. paris : seuil. o'reilly, c.a. & puffer, s.m. (1989). the impact of rewards and punishments in a social context: a laboratory and field experiment. journal of occupational psychology, 62(1), 41-53. observatoire national interministériel de la sécurité routière. (2013). la sécurité routière en france bilan de l'accidentalité de l'année 2012. pasmore, w.a., stymne, b., shani, a.b., (rami), mohrman, s.a. & adler, n. (2008). the promise of collaborative management research, in a.b. (rami) shani, s.a. mohrman, w.a. pasmore, b. stymne & n. adler (eds.), handbook of collaborative management research (pp. 7-31). thousand oaks (ca): sage. perrow, c. (1984). normal accidents, new york, ny: basic books. perrow, c. (1986). complex organizations: a critical essay. new york, ny: random house. podsakoff, p.m., & todor, w.d. (1985). relationships between leader reward and punishment behavior and group productivity. journal of management, 11(1), 55-73. podsakoff, p.m., bommer, w.h., podsakoff, n.p., & mackenzie, s.b. (2006). relationships between leader reward and punishment behavior and subordinate attitudes. organizational behavior & human decision processes, 99(2), 113-142. rasmussen, j. & svedung, i. (2000). proactive risk management in a dynamic society. karlstad: swedish rescue services agency. rasmussen, j. (1983). skills, rules, and knowledge signals, signs, and symbols, and other distinctions in human performance models. ieee transactions on systems, man, and cybernetics. 13(3), 257-266. reason, j.t. (1993). l’erreur humaine, paris : puf. reason, j.t. (1997). managing the risks of organizational accidents. aldershot: ashate. reynaud, j.-d. (1993). les règles du jeu. paris : armand colin. rhoades, l. & eisenberger, r. (2002). perceived organizational support a review of the literature. journal of applied psychology, 87(4), 698-714. roberts, k.h. & bea r.g. (2001). must accidents happen? lessons from high-reliability organizations. academy of management executive, 15(3), 70-79. roberts, k.h., yu, k., & stralen, d.v. (1999). patient safety is an organizational systems issue: lessons from a variety of industries. handbook on patient safety (pp. 1-25). aspen publications. sfhh (socie ́te ́ française d’hygie ̀ne hospitalie ̀re) – has (haute autorité de santé). (2005). recommandation pour la pratique clinique pre ́vention des infections lie ́es aux cathe ́ters veineux pe ́riphe ́riques. tenkasi, r.v. & boland r.j. (1993). locating meaning making in organizational learning: the narrative basis of cognition. in w. passmore & r. woodman (eds), research in organizational change and development. vol. 7, (pp. 77-103). greenwich, ct: jai press. terssac, g. de. (2012). autonomie et travail. dictionnaire du travail. paris : puf, 47-53. trevino, l.k. (1992). the social effects of punishment in organizations: a justice perspective. academy of management review, 17(4), 647-676. trist, e. (1981). the evolution of soci-technical systems. toronto: ontario ministry of labour. compliance with basic rules! m@n@gement, vol. 19(1): 1-45 37 tsoukas, h. & chia r. (2002). on organizational becoming. organization science, 13(5), 567-582. tsoukas, h. (2009). a dialogical approach to the creation of new knowledge in organizations. organization science, 20, 941-957. t u r n e r , b . ( 1 9 7 6 ) . t h e o r g a n i z a t i o n a l a n d interorganizational development of disasters. administrative science quarterly, 21(3), 378-397. turner, b.a. & pidgeon n.f. (1978) (2nd ed. 1997). manmade disasters. oxford: butterworth-heinemann. van cott, h. (1994). human errors: their causes and reduction. in m.s. bogner (ed.), human error in medicine (pp. 53-65). hillsdale, nj: lawrence erlbaum associates. vaughan, d. (1996). the challenger launch decision: risky technology, culture, and deviance at nasa. chicago, il: chicago university press. wallon, h. (1947). taylorisme, rationalisation, se ́lection, orientation. technique, art et science, octobre, 5-7. weber, m. (1921). la domination légale à direction administrative bureaucratique. économie et société, paris  : plon, (1971). publication originale, posthume, 1921. weick k.e. (1979). the social psychology of organizing. new york, ny: random house. weick, k.e. (1988). enacted sensemaking in crisis situation. journal of management studies, 25(4), 305-317. weick, k.e. (1990). the vulnerable system: an analysis of the tenerife air disaster. journal of management, 16(3), 571-593. weick, k.e. (1993). the collapse of sensemaking in o r g a n i z a t i o n s : t h e m a n n g u l c h d i s a s t e r. administrative science quarterly, 38(4), 628-652. weick, k.e. & roberts k.h. (1993). collective mind and organizational reliability: the case of flight operations on an aircraft carrier deck. administrative science quarterly, 38 (4), 357-381. weick, k.e. & sutcliffe, k.m. (2001). managing the unexpected, san francisco, ca: jossey-bass. weick, k.e., sutcliffe, k.m. & obstfeld d. (2005). organizing and the process of sensemaking. organization science, 16(4), 409–421. whyte, w.f. (1991). introduction. participatory action research. thousand oaks, ca: sage. wiedenkeller, b., modert, f., karleskind, i., dobbeleer, r., muller, c., glaser, f. & kloster, a. (2010). de l’intérêt de l’implantation d’un outil de surveillance des voies veineuses périphériques  : l’échelle de maddox modifiée. bulletin de la société des sciences médicales du grand-duché de luxembourg, 2, 315-318. wisner, a. (1985). analyse de la situation de travail – méthodes et techniques. cours physiologie du travail et ergonomie, a3, leçon 9. yin, r.k. (1984). case study research. thousand oaks, ca: sage. m@n@gement, vol. 19(1): 1-45! gérard kœnig et al. 38 appendix a. glossary cw: consumer waste cmio: chief medical information officer in charge of the mid hro: high reliability organizations icw: infectious clinical waste mid: medical information department mit: medical information technician phn: public health nurse pvc: peripheral venous catheter sae: serious adverse event srn: state registered nurse srk: skill-rules-knowledge stbcf: systematization of task-based constructive feedback compliance with basic rules! m@n@gement, vol. 19(1): 1-xx 39 case sources coding of diagnoses and interventions external sources -!circular no. dss/dgos/mcgr/2011/395 of 20 october 2011 concerning the new regulations to control activity-based pricing of healthcare institutions. -!meah mission nationale d'expertise et d'audit hospitaliers (“national mission of expertise and audit in hospital”) (2008a) optimising the hospital billing/ recovery chain experience feedback. -!french ministry of labour, employment and health (2011). methodological guide for producing information regarding medical activities and billing for medicine, surgery, obstetrics and odontology. official bulletin no. 2011/6a, special section and provisional version of this guide (february 2014). internal sources  -!weekly summary tables of atypias -!doctors’ monthly coding statistics and corrections by the mid sorting of waste external sources -!anap agence nationale d’appui à la performance des établissements de santé (“national agency of support for the performance of health care establishments”) (2008) quickscan déchets self-assessment tool for waste management in healthcare institutions. -!anap agence nationale d’appui à la performance des établissements de santé (“national agency of support for the performance of health care establishments”) (2010) organisation of waste management optimising processing and reducing the environmental impact experience feedback. -!tourcoing hospital complex quality department (2006) procedure for healthcare waste disposal. -!meah mission nationale d'expertise et d'audit hospitaliers (“national mission of expertise and audit in hospital”) (2008b). waste management in healthcare institutions, overview of the regulations and practical proposals for implementation. internal sources -!core hospital, waste management study, december 2010. -!core hospital, logistics department. waste management, 24 may 2011. phlebitis external sources -!french high council for public health (hcsp) (2010) "monitoring and preventing infections associated with treatment recommendations" hygiènes 18 (4). -!french society of hospital hygiene (sfhh) – french national authority for health (has) (2005) recommendation for clinical practice how to prevent infections linked to peripheral venous catheters. -!wiedenkeller, b., et al. (2010). importance of installing a tool for monitoring peripheral venous lines: the amended maddox scale. bulletin de la société des sciences médicales du grand-duché de luxembourg (2), 315-318 internal sources -!core hospital management engagement letter of the peripheral venous catheter working party, june 2011. -!medical department* (2011), core hospital. summary of monitoring of peripheral venous lines of 9, 12, 18, 19 and 30 august 2011. -!medical department* (2011), core hospital. morbidity and mortality review, november. all cases -!all of the data collected in connection with the research and initiative to transform the hospital and in particular that collected by means of a survey by means of a questionnaire. this survey was carried out in june 2012 and concerned all of the staff of the hospital. 1,000 questionnaires were distributed and 430 replies were used. -!all of the minutes of meetings of the management during the study period *the department’s speciality has been anonymised.*the department’s speciality has been anonymised. appendix b. secondary data collected ! data collection was carried out in two phases, firstly during the phase when actions were proposed, and secondly during observation of the follow-up of the proposals. tables b1 and b2 show the secondary data collected during each of these phases. ! the external data shown in table b1 relate in particular to the regulations regarding the tasks studied. these regulations were consulted at the start of the project and were used in particular to establish guidelines for the collection of primary data. table b1. secondary data used to support the proposed actions m@n@gement, vol. 19(1): 1-45! gérard kœnig et al. 40 case nature of the data coding of diagnoses and interventions weekly summary tables of atypias doctors’ monthly coding statistics and corrections by the mid sorting of waste results of the waste audit (dated 8 october 2013) monthly breakdown of waste sorting (icw/cw), 2012 to 2014 phlebitis result of the flash audit conducted in february 2013 result of the flash audit conducted from 6 february to 17 april 2014 questionnaire regarding pvc good practice used in the flash audit in 2014 report on good practice for monitoring pvcs december 2014 table b2. secondary data regarding the tasks studied after the actions compliance with basic rules! m@n@gement, vol. 19(1): 1-45 41 ge ́rard kœnig is a graduate of the hec business school, a chartered accountant and university professor. he is in charge of the master's degree in consulting, studies and research at the paris-est university. he has written numerous articles on management and strategy, and published several works in this field: strate ́gie d’entreprise antimanuel, coll., economica (1985), gestion strate ́gique, coll., litec, (1992) and management strate ́gique projet, interactions et contexte, dunod, (2004). isabelle vandangeon-derumez is a lecturer and researcher and a member of the irg research laboratory. her research concerns the transformation of organisations, accumulation of learning and the roles of the different players, particularly middle managers, in the change processes. she leads a thematic research group on organisational change and educational innovation. marie-claire marty has been, since 2011, a senior health executive responsible for coordinating a medical specialities unit and various related interventional sectors. as such, she is responsible for six health executives and over 220 people intervening in the clinical, medico-technical and re-education sectors. at the core hospital she has led several strategic and operational projects, and projects to assess paramedical practices. yves auroy was head of department at core hospital during the research, and is an anaesthetist, professor of medicine and doctor of science (phd). his research concerns risk management in the health sector and in particular in the practice of anaesthetics. jean-paul dumond is a lecturer and researcher, and is in charge of the 2nd year of the master's degree in management of health care institutions at iae gustave eiffel (paris-est créteil university). he is a member of the institute of management research, and his work concerns in particular the transformation of health care organisations and the notion of gift-giving. acknowledgements. we would like to thank core hospital for the trust and support it has shown us throughout this research. we would also like to thank all those at the hospital who have devoted time to us and shared with us their knowledge and understanding of the situations studied. we are also greatly indebted to two anonymous proof-readers, for their comments and advice; we are extremely grateful for the attention they devoted to this work. finally, we would like to give special thanks to philippe monin who, as editor, spared no effort throughout the revision process. if this article has any merit, it is particularly due to his suggestions and comments. © the author(s) www.management-aims.com m@n@gement, vol. 19(1): 1-45! gérard kœnig et al. 42 © the author(s) www.management-aims.com compliance with basic rules! m@n@gement, vol. 19(1): 1-45 43 © the author(s) www.management-aims.com m@n@gement, vol. 19(1): 1-45! gérard kœnig et al. 44 © the author(s) www.management-aims.com compliance with basic rules! m@n@gement, vol. 19(1): 1-45 45 01 223 essig&soparnot 2019 m@n@gement 2019, vol. 22(3): 373-410 re-thinking gender inequality in the workplace – a framework from the male perspective elena essig ! richard soparnot accepted by co-editor in chief thomas roulet abstract. gender inequality is one of the most extensively investigated subjects across different disciplines and plays an important role in public and government policy debates. because, historically, women have been fighting for their rights in society, gender inequality issues have been studied predominately from their point of view. there are a few studies that investigate gender inequality from the male perspective, but little empirical research has examined the male issues in the professional world. furthermore, the literature on male difficulties is dispersed and lacks an integrative conceptual framework as it has been studied in different fields such as sociology, psychology and management studies. in this article, we propose an additional and complementary perspective, which observes the difficulties that the male working population can experience in the workplace. based on a literature review, we present a first-level typology of male struggles in the professional world. we use it for the analysis of 33 semi-structured interviews conducted with male subjects who were perceiving or experiencing gender-related difficulties in the workplace. finally, as a result of our empirical data, we revisit the typology and propose a final framework of existing male difficulties as well as new ones that are based on two dimensions: the nature of the occupation (traditionally female, male and gender-neutral) and the potential sources of difficulties (social circles, colleagues, superiors, clients). this study advocates for more awareness of existing gender inequality to help fight occupational segregation and promote flexible working arrangements for all genders. keywords: gender inequality, male difficulties, male struggles, work–life balance, flexible working arrangements introduction for decades, women have been fighting for their rights and equal treatment in society. while today they make up almost half of the workforce and comprise the statistical majority in terms of higher education degrees, they continue to earn considerably less (burke, 2000; evans, carney & wilson, 2013). for instance, the average european gender pay gap amounted to 16.3% in 2015 and reached its highest point of 26.9% in estonia (eurostat, 2017). to add to the stereotypical gender roles which women have been trying to dismantle for years, they are much more likely than men to work in emotional labor service occupations –doing domestic and child-care work (scambor et al., 2014). because of public debate and official policies, gender issues have often focused on the female perspective (connell & messerschmidt, 2005). women’s disadvantages and discrimination issues at work have been studied in depth by scholars �373 elena essig essca school of management france elena.essig@essca.fr richard soparnot groupe esc clermont france richard.soparnot@esc-clermont.fr m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 373-410 elena essig & richard soparnot and government bodies (burke, 2000; connell & messerschmidt, 2005; evans et al., 2013). according to kimmel (2009), despite considerable progress, these advancements only represent a partial victory for women because of the remaining obstacle to gender equality – the behaviors and attitudes of men. the author states that “changes among men represent the next phase of the movement for women’s equality – that change among men is vital if women are to achieve full equality. men must come to see that gender equality is in their interests – as men” (kimmel, 2009: 360). indeed, in many cases men do not recognize gender inequality simply because they do not see their own gender as privileged or distinctive (acker, 2006). a complementary exploration of male experience can help further the question of gender inequality: “men are both talked about and ignored, rendered simultaneously explicit and implicit. they are frequently the center of discourse but they are rarely the focus of interrogation” (collinson & hearn, 1994: 3). connell and messerschmidt (2005) trace the origins of the public debate about men to the early 1990s. subjects such as “new fatherhood”, societal disadvantages concerning child custody – which is mostly granted to women after divorce – false imprisonment and accusations, compulsory military service, etc., have been discussed (messner, 1998). men also show higher suicide rates than women as a result of the interaction of several factors such as unemployment and economic hardship, lack of close social and family relationships, the influence of a historical culture of masculinity, personal crises such as divorce, as well as overall decreased well-being (ons, 2014; samaritans, 2012). in scientific studies, we find a small but growing body of work on male issues in sociology (dulac, 2001; rudman & mescher, 2013; vandello, hettinger, bosson & siddiqi, 2013; welzer-lang, 2011), in psychology (evans et al., 2013; michel, hall, hays & runyan, 2013; spoor & schmitt, 2011) and in organizational studies (hearn & collinson, 2009; kimmel, 2009; lupton, 2006; nixon, 2009; stenger & roulet, 2018). however, this kind of research has several limitations. firstly, as described by welzer-lang (2011: 45): “a counterproductive method, widely used by certain individuals opposed to critical studies on the masculine gender, consists in saying ‘there are not many of them: they do not exist’, or ‘this phenomenon concerns a minority, it does not exist, or is not worthy of interest’” . this statement partially explains the small number of articles 1 published in the past. secondly, it is important to point out that little research has examined male issues in the professional world and when it has, in many cases, it has been based on butler’s (1988) “(un)doing gender” framework and has delivered a better understanding of gender complexity that is especially interesting from psychological and sociological perspectives. thirdly, the literature on male issues in the workplace seems scattered and lacks an integrative conceptual framework. if some authors summarize male problems, their writings are based on observations in consulting activities (kimmel, 2009), lack empirical data (ghiulamila & levet, 2007) or depart from the professional domain through the inclusion of societal issues such as violence (scambor et al., 2014). moreover, even if we were able to find some similarities in these works, they do not always focus on the same issues or examine them through the same perspective. lastly, in 2006, the council of the european union (2006: 38–39) recognized “that issues related to men and gender equality have not yet �374 1. original citation in french: “une m é t h o d e c o n t r e p r o d u c t i v e , largement utilisée par certaines personnes opposées aux études critiques sur le masculin, consiste à dire : ‘ils sont peu : ils n’existent pas’, ou ‘ce phénomène étant minoritaire, il n’existe pas, ou n’est pas digne d’intérêt’” (welzer-lang (2011: 45). re-thinking gender inequality in the workplace – a framework from the male perspective m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 373-410 been looked at as an entirety, and that the question of men and gender equality should go beyond the reconciliation of professional and private life [...] and encourage[d] the member states to pay attention to the promotion of gender equality, as well as how men relate to it [...]”. to summarize the research gaps, we can state that the literature on male issues in the workplace is scarce and dispersed; there is a lack of empirical research on the nature and the origins of difficulties, especially from the managerial perspective; and there is a need for more in-depth understanding of male difficulties for policy development related to gender equality. this paper aims to address these gaps by contributing to the growth of the research from a managerial perspective on male difficulties in the workplace. we carry out an empirical study of male struggles and investigate how men perceive and experience them in the professional world (how are the difficulties expressed?). another objective of this paper is to understand the nature (what are the types of difficulties?) and the origins of the difficulties (how can we explain the existence of difficulties?). thus, we offer a structured perspective of gender inequality as it is presented in the current scattered literature using an integrative framework of different forms of difficulties (discrimination, social judgment, lack of support, etc.) related to the male gender. as our results show, these issues can be related to the nature of the occupation (traditionally female, male, and gender-neutral) and to potential sources of difficulties (social circles, colleagues, superiors, clients). thus, the purpose of this work lies in the clarification and re-organization of the current literature by proposing a new framework that can engender and guide future research on gender equality. to meet these objectives, we start with a brief section on terminology and offer a first typology of male difficulties compiled from a literature review. this literature review is based on four identified types of conflict zones where difficulties in the professional world can arise: (1) occupational choice conflict – men in traditionally female professions; (2) men’s work and family conflicts – men’s search for greater balance; (3) inter-gender conflict – men’s competition with women; and (4) intrapersonal conflict – men’s emotions and voice. each category describes the several difficulties men face in the workplace. in order to empirically investigate these difficulties, the second section sets out our research design, the interview guide and our qualitative analysis method. we conducted 33 semi-structured interviews with men of different ages and from different professions; fifty hours of recordings were transcribed and analyzed. the third section sets out the results and proposes a final two-dimensional framework of male struggles in the workplace. we conclude the article with a theoretical discussion and practical implications that are of relevance at the political, organizational and individual levels. literature review this section presents the terminology and main literature references used for the construction of a typology of potential difficulties men perceive or face in the workplace. the purpose of this first-level typology is to offer a holistic perspective of the current scattered literature from different research fields such as psychology, sociology and management. � 375 m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 373-410 elena essig & richard soparnot terminology and definitions during the literature review of gender inequality, we found some inconsistencies in terminology. namely, there is sometimes confusion between four terms: stereotypes, inequality, discrimination and difficulties. we want to clarify these terms and simultaneously set a framework for this study. in the literature, gender stereotypes are sometimes presented as inequalities (see ghiulamila & levet, 2007). a stereotype can be defined as “the set of attributes that subjects agreed on as typical of the group” (judd & park, 1993: 109). the notion of inequality represents a discrepancy in the treatment of two or more comparable groups: i.e. men and women. for example, women earn lower wages than men. although we agree that stereotypes lie at the root of gender inequality and discriminatory practice (berry & bell, 2012), they are not the main focus of our study. furthermore, discrimination is “any distinction, exclusion or preference made on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, political opinion, national extraction, social origin, which has the effect of nullifying or impairing equality of opportunity and treatment in employment and occupation” (ilo, 1958 cited in ilo, 2011). in other words, it is a process whereby a dominant group tries to maintain its advantages at the expense of another group. discrimination can be conscious or unconscious based on interiorized social stereotypes such as masculinity and femininity (belle & doucet, 2003; ilo, 2011). finally, in this study, “difficulties” is a broad term that encompasses inequality and discrimination practices that men might witness or experience in the workplace. in this section, we have defined the key terms that are important for understanding the typology and the final framework of male difficulties. these difficulties are presented in the next section. difficulties men face in the workplace our research was inspired by three papers on male gender inequality, the first paper is a book chapter (kimmel, 2009) that brings together four separate issues. the first part of the chapter, under the title “making gender visible”, outlines the need to deconstruct masculine stereotypes in order to help men speak up in difficult situations. the second issue concerns “the workplace” and, more precisely, the feminization of the workplace and the new challenges that this development, according to the author, poses to the male gender. the third issue is entitled “balancing work and family”, which gives an overview of the problems that men face when wanting to combine their private and professional spheres of life. finally, the fourth issue, “sexual equality”, discusses the roots of male violence towards women outside the context of the workplace. however, it puts forward an important argument about men’s loss of power through the “breakdown of a patriarchy” and accentuates the need to fight for gender equality to prevent aggressive male behavior. the second paper is a short chapter in a book on gender inequality at work by ghiulamila & levet (2007). it highlights four main types of gender inequality from the male perspective. firstly, in the section “hearing the men”, the authors argue that men have difficulty in expressing their emotions. secondly, the perceived “obligation of the ‘manly man’ role” is presented as an obstacle to paternity leave because men fear that this act will damage their masculine image. in the third part of the chapter, the �376 re-thinking gender inequality in the workplace – a framework from the male perspective m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 373-410 authors present their “atlas syndrome”, which outlines the stereotype of the main “breadwinner” and presents the associated responsibilities as burdens. finally, “discomfort around noncompliant women” describes the attitudes and behaviors that men have towards “tough women” 2 (ghiulamila & levet 2007: 89) in the workplace. the third paper (scambor et al., 2014) that inspired our typology provides a summary of the european research project “the role of men in gender equality (2011–2012)”. it has five sections covering education, care, health, work and violence. we do not consider the sections on education or violence in our article since they do not touch directly upon the professional environment. in the “men, gender inequality and health” section, the authors highlight the ignorance of male mental health issues by men themselves and by professional structures. furthermore, in the section “men, gender inequality and care”, the authors emphasize that apart from in east european countries, there is a rising tendency to take parental leave and do more housework. finally, the “men, gender inequality and work” section considers a variety of subjects such as occupational segregation, work and family reconciliation, the gender pay gap and part-time work. in analyzing these three papers (appendix 1), which are the foundation for this research, we found them to have some limitations: the writings of kimmel (2009) are based on observations in consulting activities, those of ghiulamila and levet (2007) lack empirical data and the conclusions of scambor et al. (2014) go beyond the boundaries of the professional world through the inclusion of societal issues such as domestic violence. however, by going further and extending our secondary source analysis by adding 32 specialized research references (details in the research method section), we found similarities relating to four main types of conflict zones. these four zones describe spheres in which men may encounter difficulties, which represents our first-level typology (table 1). the first of these is a conflict in occupational choice that relates to the difficulties men face in traditionally female professions. the second relates to work and family conflicts and describes difficulties encountered by men in their search for a more balanced lifestyle. the third type represents intergender conflict whereby men find themselves in competition with women. finally, intrapersonal conflict is related to men’s difficulties in expressing their emotions. the four types of conflict zones are presented in detail in the following sections. occupational choice conflict: men in traditionally female professions despite significant efforts to curb this phenomenon, the segregation of “male” and “female” work remains deeply embedded in labor markets. while women’s integration and roles in traditionally male professions, such as engineering (marry, 2004), truck driving (rodrigues, 2010) or construction site working (gallioz, 2006; scotto, sappe & boyer, 2008), have been thoroughly studied, only “a small but growing body of work has in recent years explored the experience of men who have moved into feminized work” (pullen & simpson, 2009: 78). male difficulties in this conflict zone are multiple and not necessarily related, as the “occupational choice conflict” category shows. this category can be divided into four subcategories: (1) social judgement; (2) difficulties with female peers; (3) discrimination by clients; and (4) sexual prejudice. � 377 2. we think that the expression “tough women” is a judgement based on n o n m a t c h i n g s t e r e o t y p e s , a p r o t e c t i v e r e a c t i o n a n d / o r a n explanation for certain attitudes, looks or behaviors of women. gender issues are unfortunately based on stereotypes and their resulting judgement. however, we find it inappropriate to censor the works of others. for instance ghiulamila and levet (2007) propose the title “malaise vis-à-vis des femmes non commodes” and talk about “femmes d u r e s ” . f u r t h e r m o r e , i n o u r interviews, men use the expressions “tough women” or “endogenous women” in order to express their perception of a category of people they might feel uncomfortable around. we have tried to be as politically c o r r e c t a s p o s s i b l e w i t h t h i s expression and also consulted a l i n g u i s t . h e p r o p o s e d t h r e e alternatives for “tough” without the context – ill-tempered, callous and strong-natured. however, when we explained the context and gave him the french version of the chapter of ghiulamila and levet (2007), the linguist suggested that “tough” was the most appropriate solution. m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 373-410 elena essig & richard soparnot social judgment several studies (cross & bagilhole, 2002; gosse, parr & allison, 2008; heikes, 1991; lupton, 2006; murray, 1996; pullen & simpson, 2009; simpson, 2005) have found that one of the difficulties men face in traditionally female professions is that of social judgement. they are more likely to be perceived as “not a real man” (cross & bagilhole, 2002: 214) and “weak” (pullen & simpson, 2009: 17), and to be criticized for this professional choice by friends, family members and peers. a study on counseling students shows that if the male students become integrated with their classmates, they will suffer constant “teasing and mocking” (michel et al. 2013: 478) from their family and friends, creating more distance within these social circles. difficulties with female peers according to several authors (allan, 1993; heikes, 1991; jacques & purgues, 2012; michel et al., 2013; mott & lee, 2017; tucker, 2015), the integration and acceptance of men by their female colleagues in traditionally female professions is complex for several reasons. as demonstrated in a study on midwives, female midwives exclude male doctors through gendered labor division between technical and emotional occupations. midwives establish this atmosphere by reprimanding or mocking doctors for being too emotional with female patients. this makes it difficult for them to speak up, despite their hierarchical position (jacques & purgues, 2012). similarly, two other studies (michel et al., 2013; mott & lee, 2017) demonstrate that men have difficulty in speaking up when outnumbered by women. finally, heikes (1991) talks about discrimination and calls it the “he-man role trap” which is linked to the male gender and its associated strength, which puts men in positions involving heavy physical effort that are often asked of by women. discrimination by clients in specific traditionally female professions, some researchers (mott & lee, 2017; murray, 1996; pullen & simpson 2009; simpson, 2005) have been able to observe discriminatory practices by clients. for instance, when men choose child-care jobs, they become suspects of their social environment and seem to face discrimination, in part due to the assumption of their sexual orientation (more details in the next section). parents are either hesitant to accept or categorically refuse male personnel. in order to deal with these concerns, child-care centers impose official and unofficial restrictions on men’s access to children at work (being alone with the children in a room, touching, cuddling and changing diapers). through these policies, as well as unwritten rules, men experience feelings of dissonance or discrimination. sexual prejudice “sexual prejudice refers to negative attitudes toward an individual because of her or his [supposed] sexual orientation” (herek, 2000). when men choose a non-traditional occupation, their personal and professional circles may question their sexual orientation (cross & bagilhole, 2002; murray, 1996; pullen & simpson, 2009; sargent, 2001; tilcsik, anteby & knight, 2015). generally speaking, in traditionally female professions, males’ sexuality is more alienated and questioned than that of their female �378 re-thinking gender inequality in the workplace – a framework from the male perspective m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 373-410 colleagues and they are subject to greater sexual prejudice (connell & messerschmidt, 2005; cross & baglihole, 2002; murray, 1996; simpson, 2005). in this section, we have described the difficulties men face in the conflict zone of female-dominated occupations. these obstacles can create a certain resistance among the male population to choose and stay in these professions. work and family conflict: men’s search for balance despite “the increasing flexibility apparent in the labor market, women continue to dominate the ranks of part-time workers and men are still more likely to work full-time than part-time” (sheridan, 2004: 208). moreover, benito-osorio, muñoz-aguado and villar (2014: 232) find that companies “employing more women also are more concerned with offering better work–life balance policies”. it may be for these reasons that the families and work institute’s report states that men experience more work–family conflict than women and want to be more involved in family life (aumann et al., 2011). many men, especially fathers, publicly reacted to this study claiming their right to a more balanced life. work–life balance is no longer a private problem – today, it is an organizational issue, since it has an impact on productivity (benito-osorio et al., 2014; galinsky matos & sakai-o’neil, 2013). the “men’s work and family conflict zone” is divided into two sub-categories: (1) heavy workload and (2) part-time work and parental leave. heavy workload according to several authors (ellingsæter, 1995; halford, savage & witz, 1997; hochschild, 2001) there are two types of employees: female workers and universal workers – “zero drag” employees or “ideal workers” . 3 these groups of “ideal” employees describe men without (m)any responsibilities such as a household or family, giving them the ability to fully devote their time and energy to the company. as a consequence, organizations prefer to hire and promote male workers (collinson & hearn, 1994; kerfoot & knights, 1993). men generally seek to comply with these expectations and “[…] are willing to work longer hours, meet tight deadlines, travel extensively [and] participate in residential training courses” (collinson & hearn, 1994: 15). in addition to disrupted work–life balance, the working population also suffers from workaholism or “heavy work investment” (snir & harpaz, 2012), which particularly affects men (burke, 1999; oecd, 2006; smith, 2011). it leads to increased stress, burnout, reduced well-being and job satisfaction, and can result in divorce (collinson & hearn, 1994; gascoigne, parry & buchanan, 2015). part-time work and parental leave here, we can observe several difficulties from the male perspective. firstly, judgement and questioning from social circles can arise when men want to work part-time or take parental leave (ladge, humberd, harrington & watkins, 2015; rudman & mescher, 2013; vandello et al., 2013). secondly, allard et al. (2007) and kimmel (2009) found that many organizational cultures are far from supportive of paternity and parental leave and, therefore, men are judged by their co-workers. kimmel (cited in � 379 3. this is exclusively based on existing literature and does not necessarily reflect the authors’ o p i n i o n s a b o u t t h e d i ff e r e n c e s between male and female workers. m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 373-410 elena essig & richard soparnot paquette, 2015), for instance, quotes what working men who want to take parental leave hear from their colleagues: “i guess you’re not committed to your career, are you?”, or superiors: “okay, you can take leave. you won’t make partner. we’ll put you on the ‘daddy track’”. several studies (ladge et al., 2015; rudman & mescher, 2013; vandello et al., 2013) find that men who ask for family leave are perceived as “poor workers and ineligible for rewards” (rudman & mescher, 2013: 322), and face career penalties such as loss of promotion or job (ladge et al., 2015; rudman & mescher, 2013; vandello et al., 2013). in this section, we have demonstrated the difficulties that men may encounter when seeking to improve their work–life balance. inter-gender conflict: men’s competition with women even if several studies (mckinsey, 2013; netchaeva, kouchaki & sheppard 2015; willsher, 2016) show that integrating women into top management positions is beneficial for reducing the gender pay gap and creating more family-friendly organizational policies, women are still underrepresented at top management levels (mckinsey, 2013; zarya, 2016). moreover, according to some research (ghiulamila & levet, 2007; netchaeva et al., 2015) some men can claim to have negative experiences with female supervisors and/or so-called “tough women”, and express discomfort with positive discrimination measures. the “inter-gender conflict zone” thus includes two sub-categories: (1) difficulties with female supervisors and (2) positive discrimination. difficulties with female supervisors because “organizations have traditionally been established and managed by men” (devine & markiewicz, 1990: 36), women who seek to access managerial positions might display what are perceived as masculine and virile values, neglecting qualities such as empathy that are more often associated with women (nelton, 1991). according to ghiulamila and levet (2007: 90), this organizational and political evolution tends to “produce tough women”, meaning that women may overdemonstrate values that are perceived as virile to impose themselves because of perceived or enacted gender dynamics in their work environment. this may partly explain why female supervision of male subordinates can result in lower satisfaction rates than for reversed gender dyads (munson, 1979). moreover, according to netchaeva et al. (2015), men may feel inferior or threatened when working for a female superior. positive discrimination men may see themselves as being unfairly overlooked in favor of women because of positive discrimination practices. “the perception that women can now be placed on the ‘fast track’ leaves many men feeling passed over, ignored or excluded” (burke & black, 1997: 98). men seem to lose their masculine identity through occasionally fierce competition with women. they also perceive the advantages that women have due to company employment equity and gender diversity policies. this can lead to some forms of misplaced resistance to gender inequality (burke & black, 1997: 934) in this context. for example, the authors mention male backlash reactions that “can be defined as any form of resistance men exhibit towards policies, programs and initiatives undertaken by �380 re-thinking gender inequality in the workplace – a framework from the male perspective m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 373-410 organizations to promote the hiring and advancement of marginalized [female] employees”. this section demonstrated the difficulties that men may encounter when working with the opposite gender. at times, female supervisors and positive discrimination practices might lead to a potential male backlash, where men “may rebel against and undermine organizational efforts to support women’s career advancement” (burke, 2000: 168). intrapersonal conflict: men’s emotions and voice the results of a large study on quality of life in quebec showed that men have less social support, consult fewer health professionals, work irregular hours and overtime (workaholism), and have a considerably higher suicide rate compared to women (rondeau et al., 2004). these statistical discrepancies are largely due to the difficulties that men face in expressing their negative or depressive thoughts (devault, 2011; dulac, 2001; real, 2003), in asking for help (bizot, 2007) or in speaking up as a minority in occupations that are numerically dominated by women (michel et al., 2013; mott & lee, 2017). this section on the “intrapersonal conflict of men’s emotions and voice” has two sub-categories: (1) management of emotions and asking for help; and (2) difficulties in speaking up. management of emotions and asking for help real (2003) explains that men were raised to suppress and not express their emotions. men often have difficulty in recognizing and bringing their feelings to the surface because of the repression of vulnerability that is influenced in early childhood when boys are encouraged to develop their “assertive public self” (real, 2003:2 3). in adult life, the expression of pain, suffering or unhappiness is perceived as weak, as a failure (by men themselves and others) and can even lead to being socially punished (dulac, 2001), creating an intrapersonal conflict. the quasi absence of male midwives (drees, 2014) is due to the lack of an emotional bond, which most men seem to be incapable of creating with the female patient (jacques & purgues, 2012). furthermore, the lack of men in traditionally female occupations is caused by men rejecting service jobs such as hairdressing, child-care, nursing, etc., considering them to be “female” activities that demand “social or people skills”. these men struggle to “manage their emotions” and to acquire “people skills” nixon (2009: 317). men who self-report as having mental issues, such as depression or anxiety, consult mental health professionals much less frequently than women (devault, 2011). according to the author, 70% of men who have the courage to contact a health professional do not receive satisfactory support. moreover, bizot (2007) observes that associations which have been created to help single fathers balance parenting and work, face several problems such as lack of commitment caused by fear of social judgment. these fears can be reinforced by personal and/or professional environments that penalize men who seek help and show ethical attitudes and behaviors. according to rosette, meuller and lebel (2015), male leaders who seek help are perceived as weak and incompetent, and those who practice ethical leadership suffer more from extra-role sex scandals than unethical leaders (grover & hasel, 2018). � 381 m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 373-410 elena essig & richard soparnot difficulty in speaking up as mentioned above, few men consult health specialists and ask for help. according to michel et al. (2013), one of the reasons for this is the lack of male counselors. the potential matching of client and counselor genders could not only help men to express themselves more freely but also attract more male patients. although this objective seems useful, its realization is more difficult to achieve because males receiving counseling seem to struggle with “being heard” as a minority in a predominantly female environment. this can lead to non-expression of feelings, exclusion and isolation. mott and lee (2017) found similar results in a study of male nurses. gender-related communication differences and the fact of being under-represented force men to “watch themselves” (2017: 3), i.e. to constantly pay attention to their speech. in this section, we have presented male struggles linked to management of emotions and self-expression. table 1 provides a typology organized according to four different types of difficulty faced by the male population at work and serves as a foundation for our field study. table 1 first-level typology of male difficulties in the workplace occupational choice conflict: men in traditionally female professions men who choose a traditionally female profession can face several difficulties. work and family conflict: men’s search for balance men who (wish to) dedicate time to their children through parttime work or parental leave can encounter several difficulties. inter-gender conflict: men’s competition with women men are facing new forms and sources of competition across genders. intrapersonal conflict: men’s emotions and voice society expects a man to be manly, strong and protective of others, and does not expect him to complain or show weakness. social judgment for professional choice (cross & bagilhole, 2002; gosse et al., 2008, heikes, 1991; lupton, 2006; murray, 1996; pullen & simpson, 2009; simpson, 2005) men are exposed to “ideal worker” syndrome & heavy organizational workload (allard et al., 2007; collinson & hearn, 1994; gascoigne et al., 2015; halrynjo, 2009; kerfoot & knights, 1993) men with female supervisors feel “threatened” (netc haeva et al., 2015), experience lower satisfaction (munson, 1979) men have difficulty in managing their emotions (devault, 2011; dulac, 2001; michel et al., 2013; nixon, 2009; real, 2003) and in asking for help (bizot, 2007; rosette et al., 2015) difficulties with female peers -difficulty in speaking up as a minority (jacques & purgues, 2012; michel et al., 2013; mott & lee, 2017) -“he-man role trap” means placing men in positions involving heavy physical effort (heikes, 1991) men face difficulties when (wanting to) work part-time or take a paternal leave: -judgment from social circles (ladge et al., 2015; rudman & mescher, 2013; vandello et al., 2013) -loss of promotion opportunities (rudman& mescher, 2013; vandello et al., 2013) and/or danger of being laid off (ladge et al., 2015) discrimination by clients (mott & lee, 2017; murray, 1996; pullen & simpson 2009; simpson, 2005) men may feel uncomfortable with positive discrimination recruitment procedures (burke & black, 1997) difficulty in speaking up (jacques & purgues, 2012; michel et al., 2013; mott & lee, 2017) sexual prejudice (allan, 1993; cross & bagilhole, 2002; decorse & vogtle, 1997; gosse et al., 2008; heikes, 1991; murray, 1996; pullen & simpson, 2009; sargent, 2001; simpson, 2005; tucker, 2015) �382 re-thinking gender inequality in the workplace – a framework from the male perspective m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 373-410 this first-level typology, derived from the current literature on male difficulties, represents a basis for our empirical investigation. this investigation aims to compare our primary data to the struggles men can face in the workplace which are found in the scattered literature and to answer the three questions: (1) what are the types of difficulties men perceive and experience? (2) how are those difficulties expressed? (3) how can we explain the existence of these difficulties? research method this section presents our methodology for collecting secondary and primary data. secondary data collection the starting point of our secondary data collection was the three papers (ghiulamila & levet, 2007; kimmel, 2009; scambor et al., 2014) summarized in appendix 1. before proceeding with our primary data collection, several steps were undertaken in order to obtain a comprehensive secondary data overview and to create the first-level typology. firstly, we conducted a manual search in the bibliographies of the aforementioned works. secondly, we conducted computer-based searches of published empirical studies. the databases searched included abi/ inform, emerald, business source premier, psycinfo, proquest psychology, justor and cairn. the searches were conducted based on the pre-established typology of conflict zones. the following keyword examples were used: “gender in/equality (at work)”, “men female/nontraditional professions/occupations”, “men work–life balance”, etc. three inclusion criteria were used to select studies. firstly, we focused on studies that examined the difficulties the male population has in the working world. secondly, we excluded studies with theoretical development and philosophical discussions. thirdly, we excluded studies that explicitly included racial criteria (e.g. black male workers). the search process yielded 32 works representing 27 research articles and six books or book chapters that met the stated criteria. the first category – “occupational choice conflict: men in traditionally female professions” – comprised 13 references; the second category – “work and family conflict: men’s search for balance” – comprised eight studies; the third category – “inter-gender conflict: men’s competition with women” – comprised four references; and lastly, the “intrapersonal conflict: men’s emotions and voice” category comprised eight studies. this literature review served as the foundation for our empirical study. primary data collection we chose a qualitative method to collect the primary data for our exploratory research in order to allow men to express the types of difficulties they perceive and experience in the workplace. we opted for indepth, semi-structured interviews. this method allows the interviewees to express themselves and makes it possible for the interviewer to structure the conversation (seidman, 2006). in this study, we used the purposive non-random sampling technique. this technique does not aim to produce a statistically representative sample but requires only one appearance of a phenomenon in the sample (etikan, musa & alkassim, 2016). the selection criteria related to male subjects with working experience, different age ranges and a variety of professions. this allowed us to obtain multiple � 383 m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 373-410 elena essig & richard soparnot viewpoints on the different kinds of difficulties men can experience in the workplace. we used a professional social network where we published a short description of the study. a pattern of male difficulties emerged after 20 interviews. we noticed three clusters – male, female and gender-neutral professions. whereas the discourse in traditionally male and gender-neutral occupations has reached theoretical saturation (glaser & strauss, 1967), the sample size of men working in traditionally female professions had to be broadened. to meet this objective, we created a sampling strategy (miles, huberman & saldaña, 2014) that included a description of the study on the same social network where we focused on recruiting men in traditionally female professions. it is important to note that these posts received a surprising amount of positive responses, and that one woman wanted to comment about this issue. she was not included in the main sample, but her statement was integrated into the concluding remarks. a total of 33 interviews, lasting between 30 and 133 minutes, were conducted. in total, 50 hours of interviews were recorded and transcribed with the permission of the interviewees. observations of the participants’ body language and facial expression were made in order to enrich the analysis. our interview protocol consisted of three main parts (1. work–life balance; 2. social relations and emotion management and 3. men in traditionally female professions), which contained open questions to invite discussion. supplementary in-depth questions were asked to clarify and/or develop the information shared by the interviewees. it is important to point out that some questions were adapted to different populations. for instance, we differentiated between fathers and non-fathers and we made a distinction between men who worked in traditionally male and female professions. for this last category, hypothetical questions were asked. an example is illustrated in table 2. table 2 extract of the interview guide the interview guide was subject to a pre-interview test, and since no modifications were made, it was integrated into the main data set. data coding and analysis we used a thematic analysis approach to code and analyze the interviews (miles & huberman, 1994), in which we divided the data into meaningful groups. in order to do so, the fully transcribed interviews were imported into nvivo10 software, which allowed the researchers to code phrases or paragraphs into themes, nodes and child nodes. the interviews were pre-coded using the researcher triangulation method (denzin, 1978), which enabled a different perspective on the subject to be provided by a second researcher. the two researchers agreed on a mix of deductive and inductive coding (miles et al., 2014). deductive coding represents a priori themes from theoretical framework (table 1 in our study). inductive coding allows the inclusion of emerging themes or nodes. table 3 shows the percentages as well as cohen’s kappa, which indicates the degree of agreement of both coders per general theme. according to fleiss (1981), traditionally male or gender-neutral professions traditionally female professions in your opinion, what kind of difficulties or challenges can men face when working in traditionally female professions? what kind of difficulties or challenges have you encountered at work? �384 re-thinking gender inequality in the workplace – a framework from the male perspective m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 373-410 significant agreement between researchers is reached when the kappa value exceeds 0.75. in our research, cohen’s kappa ranges from κ = 0.77 to 0.95 per coding theme. the lowest kappa in the coding theme, which related to “men’s work and family conflict”, was probably lower because of the higher number of verbatim transcripts in this category. table 3 cohen’s kappa and coding agreement it is important to point out that many nodes were double-coded because they belonged to more than one theme. the coding results were then mutualized and the relevant nodes selected. furthermore, because of the diverse sample, our findings present analysis of experiences and opinions about male difficulties at work (e.g. answers to the questions presented in table 3). difficulties experienced provide factual descriptions, whereas opinions provide the perceptions of the issues. although we are aware that these discourses do not have the same demonstrative faculties, both types exist in the minds of the respondents and reveal the difficulties men may encounter in the workplace. tables with verbatim excerpts from interview transcripts for each theme were created in order to visualize the importance of a theme or node. all tables are presented in the findings section. findings in this section, we present the results of our study. although, there were many positive accounts, our analysis is mainly focused on the difficult aspects of men’s working lives. our sample consisted of 33 male subjects from different age groups, with a mean age of 39 years, 24 different professions (table 4), seven liberal professions (independent professions) (in italics). three men stated that they had a homosexual orientation. fourteen men worked in traditionally male professions, 13 in traditionally female occupations, and 6 worked in gender-neutral professions. it is important to note that for subjects aged 52 years and over, the question about parental leave was not applicable (n/a), since this policy did not exist at the time their children were born. coding theme kappa agreement (%) disagreement (%) men in traditionally female professions 0.9455 97.89 2.11 men’s work and family conflict 0.7718 92.15 7.85 inter-gender conflict 0.9547 98.42 1.58 men’s emotions and voice 0.9548 98.43 1.57 � 385 m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 373-410 elena essig & richard soparnot table 4 sample characteristics a total of 1079 speech references were coded. four main themes were analyzed: (1) occupational choice conflict: men in traditionally female professions; (2) work and family conflict: men’s search for balance; (3) inter-gender conflict: men’s competition with women; and (4) intrapersonal �386 sample characteristics profession age marital status children/ want children want parental leave want part-time work area manager1 28 single none/yes yes no area manager2 28 in relat. none/yes yes no assistant professor 32 in relat. none/yes yes yes auditor 28 in relat. none/yes no no auxiliary nurse 40 married 1 no no auxiliary nurse 38 in relat. none/yes yes yes beautician 55 married 2 n/a no construction contractor 35 in relat. none/yes yes yes consultant 33 separated 2 no no controller 26 in relat. 1 yes yes engineer 56 in relat. 2 n/a no engineer 36 single none/yes no no engineer 34 single none/yes no no financial director 39 single none/yes no no gynecologist 58 in relat. 3 n/a does gynecologist 31 in relat. none/unsure no no hairdresser 60 married 2 n/a no hr consultant 37 single none/yes yes yes it manager 52 married 2 n/a no journalist 61 married 4 n/a no kindergarten teacher 26 in relat. none/yes yes yes laboratory technician 32 in relat. none/yes yes does lawyer 36 married 1 yes no lawyer 33 married 2 yes no nurse 42 in relat. none/no no no nurse 31 single none/yes yes no nurse 25 single none/yes yes no nutritionist 23 single none/unsure no no sales manager (it) 59 married 3 n/a no sales representative 59 married 1 n/a no sales representative (it) 28 married 2 no no service administrator 35 in relat. none/no no no works supervisor 24 in relat. none/yes no no re-thinking gender inequality in the workplace – a framework from the male perspective m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 373-410 conflict: men’s emotions and voice. although the “occupational choice conflict” theme contained fewer verbatim elements (309) than the “work and family conflict” theme (379), it embodied more relevant accounts of difficulties and, thus, longer coded paragraphs. the “work and family conflict” theme presented the highest number of references (379) due to its structure, which contained two large sub-categories – paternity/parental leave (201) and part-time work (136). the “inter-gender conflict” theme had the third-highest number of references and many double-coded items related to the “occupational choice conflict” theme. twenty-six out of 33 men gave their opinion on this subject. the “intrapersonal conflict” theme contained double-coded verbatim interview excerpts that were present in the other three main themes. table 5 presents the number and percentage of coded references per theme and the number of sources. table 5 coding table per theme each of the following sections presents detailed tables with coding nodes and the number of respondents. coding marked in bold and italics represents emerging categories. examples of verbatim excerpts are integrated into the analysis. more examples of coded verbatim can be found in appendix 2. we conclude this section with a final framework of male difficulties in the workplace based on an amalgamation of the secondary and primary data. occupational choice conflict: men in traditionally female professions this section analyzes two types of discourse related to men who choose to work in traditionally female occupations. the first is based on the opinions of all interviewees about other men who choose traditionally female jobs. the second concerns the experiences of men in professions that are numerically dominated by women. table 6 illustrates the nodes, sorted by descending number and the percentage of respondents and references coded. table 6 coding table – occupational choice conflict: men in traditionally female professions � 387 theme no. of references % no. of respondents 1. occupational choice conflict: men in traditionally female professions 309 28.64 33 2. work and family conflict: men’s search for balance 379 35.13 33 3. inter-gender conflict: men’s competition with women 245 22.71 26 4. intrapersonal conflict: men’s emotions and voice 146 13.53 33 total 1079 100 33 theme node no. of references % no. of respondents % 1. occupational choice conflict; men in traditionally female professions 309 100 33 100 1.1. discrimination by clients 79 25.56 25 76 1.2. difficulties with female peers 58 18.77 10 30 1.3. social judgement 55 17.80 25 76 1.4. sexual prejudice 54 17.48 17 51 1.5. discrimination by female superiors 36 11.65 9 27 1.6. discrimination by male peers 27 8.74 6 18 m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 373-410 elena essig & richard soparnot discrimination by clients the majority of our respondents (76%) stated that there was a high risk of rejection or “discrimination by clients” for men working in traditionally female occupations. thus, this coding node contained the highest number of verbatim excerpts based on both types of discourse. for instance, one engineer (34 years old) stated: “i would not accept that my girlfriend or my wife sees a male gynecologist, […] it’s a question of principle”. this confirms the accounts of eight out of 13 men working in traditionally female occupations who have experienced discrimination by female and male clients due to their gender . this relates particularly to the medical care 4 occupations (nurses, auxiliary nurses, gynecologists) whereby clients refuse treatment by a male professional, even in urgent cases. as stated by the gynecologist (31 years old): “i worked for one year in the xy emergency room […] where i, several times, ran into patients who refused treatment for one and only one reason – because i am a man”. men working in the esthetic sector (beautician) and the child-care sector (kindergarten teacher) are also affected by negative client reactions and discrimination: “there are some initial reactions of parents that are negative. fathers, in particular, are very mistrustful” (kindergarten teacher, 26 years old). difficulties with female peers according to our respondents, a man who chooses to follow a career path in a traditionally female occupation could face several “difficulties with female peers” (58 references). he would most likely face integration problems and have to make a great deal of effort to carve out a space for himself and be heard by the female majority. such a career choice could lead to “mocking”, “social exclusion”, “discrimination” and “harassment”, as stated by our respondents. almost all men working in female-dominated professions confirm these answers to different extents based on their experience. a gynecologist (58 years old) in our study states that he had “similar ideas to my female colleagues – they were afraid that i would take their place. so, i had conflictual relations with women”. others expressed difficulties linked to discriminatory practices. for instance, in the medical sector, midwives deliberately refused to train male medical students because they did not think the young men had honest intentions. we also found that male nurses in our study fell into the “he-man role trap” because they felt that they had to take on night shifts as “the female nurses aren’t interested in working overnight” (nurse, 25 years old) and have to drag heavy things around because they are men. social judgement although the majority of the 55 references in “social judgement” were related to sexual prejudice, the coding also revealed the questioning of masculinity and the potential perception of men as “weak”. indeed, one of our respondents claimed that “[t]he image that other people have about these [female] professions can be constraining or annoying because they will question one’s masculinity” (sales representative it, 28 years old). with regard to men working in traditionally female professions, only four out of 13 people confirmed that those in their social environment questioned their professional choices and “sometimes they [friends] are still mocking me for �388 4. although other discrimination factors such as skin color, sexual orientation, religious reasons were stated, in our study, we focused mostly on discrimination linked to the male gender. re-thinking gender inequality in the workplace – a framework from the male perspective m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 373-410 my profession” (kindergarten teacher, 26 years old). moreover, even if most of the men declared having had sufficient support from their close social circles when choosing their occupation, they could only speculate about the social judgement they would face. sexual prejudice the topic of “sexual prejudice” contained 54 references and, according to some men’s body language, made them feel uncomfortable. as mentioned before, according to several men in our study, social judgement can occur based on sexual prejudice that can be related to traditionally female professions. men who worked in traditionally male professions supposed men working such professions would not “[…] have a good reputation. for example, someone who works as a hairdresser… the automatic reaction of people will be: he is homosexual” (construction contractor, 35 years old). four men out of 13 working in jobs that were numerically dominated by women claimed that they did not have any issues with sexual prejudice because of their manly appearance (tall, muscular, bearded). furthermore, two homosexual men in our sample did not talk about their sexual orientation at work because of fear of judgement. another homosexual man, who was not trying to hide his sexual orientation, had experienced discrimination and judgement on this basis. discrimination by female superiors competitive attitudes are also found in relation to women in managerial positions. this node represents an emerging subcategory and is based on 26 references. in our sample, nine out of 13 men working in traditionally female occupations experienced situations in which they felt that a female superior was afraid that men would “take her place”. “it’s a power game” said one nurse (42 years old) who had been fired after a conflict with his female superior. similarly, the gynecologist (31 years old) had had many difficulties with his superiors during his career: “i had big arguments with two [female] heads of service in the hospital. […] i was kept under surveillance because i was a guy” (gynecologist, 31 years old). discrimination by male peers we created a node with 17 references that shows that six men out of 13 in traditionally female occupations have difficulties with their male colleagues performing the same or different professions. one male nurse (42 years old) stated that “at the beginning the guys are mistrusting or even rejecting”. but some keep this distance from men throughout their career: “they have a slightly contemptuous or even arrogant attitude, with a pseudo humor, you know, that kind of humor where they actually are mocking you” (gynecologist, 58 years old). the reasons for these tensions are a lack of understanding, not being taken seriously, sexual prejudice or competition. this section has shown that traditionally female professions can be a challenging sphere to work in. here, men can be subject to social judgement, discrimination and sexual prejudices. � 389 m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 373-410 elena essig & richard soparnot work and family conflict: men’s search for balance the “work and family conflict” category is dedicated to potential issues arising from men wanting to create a better work–life balance due to flexible working arrangements such as part-time work or parental leave. as illustrated in table 7, this category collected a total of 379 verbatim interview excerpts and consists of three main nodes: heavy workload, parental leave and part-time work. we decided to replace the consequences of the last two nodes (loss of promotion opportunities and potential lay-off) described earlier in our typology by “male superiors” because this child node more accurately describes the issues encountered. table 7 coding table – men’s work and family conflict: men’s search for balance heavy workload the “heavy workload” node, which can result from tight deadlines and longer hours, consisted of 42 references. twenty-seven out of 33 men in our study can be categorized as workaholics, since they work more than 40 hours per week. the reasons for this heavy workload are either liberal professions or expectations from superiors and/or from society. five subjects admitted feeling “a recrimination, suffering about the idea of not having a choice” other than to live up to these expectations. as the following verbatim excerpt shows, the older generation, in particular, stated that their career progress was due to their long working hours, which gave them a clear advantage over their female colleagues: “we started at 8:30am and finished at 10:00pm. yeah, because newspapers are printed at night. […] it was a job where i was working on weekends. when i started there were no women, but even now it is difficult for women to have a career and children at the same time. cause once you are away for a while your contacts forget about you” (journalist, 61 years old). other statements show that there are other penalties from a heavy workload: being single due to the lack of time for dating; not seeing children growing up; painful separation and divorce with major financial burdens. parental leave opinions about “parental leave” vary in our study. men over 50 years of age did not have the opportunity to take paternity/parental leave �390 theme node child node no. of references % no. of respondents % 2. work and family conflict: men’s search for balance 379 100 33 100 2.1. heavy workload 42 11.09 27 82 2.2. parental leave 201 53.03 33 100 2.2.2. social judgement 21 5.54 27 82 2.2.3. lack of support of male superiors 88 23.22 12 36 2.3. part-time work 136 35.88 33 100 2.3.3. social judgement 57 15.04 18 55 2.3.2. lack of support of male superiors 59 15.57 10 30 re-thinking gender inequality in the workplace – a framework from the male perspective m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 373-410 because these policies did not exist when their children were born. they pointed out that they did not participate much in their children’s upbringing and they “did not see [their] children grow up when they were little”. only one of them would have taken paternity leave if it had existed, but not parental leave. in our study, men who were directly concerned about paternity and parental leave, as well as some non-fathers, had taken or had thought about taking paternity leave, but not parental leave. however, nine out of 22 heterosexual men who had the possibility of taking advantage of such parental policies concluded that parental leave would have a “catastrophic impact” on their career and social image. “maybe my family, friends, people who know me would accept it [parental leave]. but it’s true that knowing my character, they would ask me a lot of questions because i’m not someone who takes a lot of vacations. and then, especially as regards work, they would definitely question my motivation and commitment. plus, it would completely ruin my career” (auditor, 28 years old). indeed, the majority of these men work in traditionally male professions and have never even broached this subject at work. and for those who did bring it up, it was not acted upon because of the lack of support of their male superiors, as shown by the controller (26 years old) in our study. he paraphrased his male boss whom he asked for parental leave: “i hope that this [parental leave] is temporary and will not become similar to what all the women in accounting do. they took their wednesdays off and now their children are 11 and they still have their wednesdays off. it’s not normal”. in our study, this man is the only one who has a real intention of taking parental leave in order to be with his child and give his wife a career opportunity. he has prepared a communication strategy for his male bosses who are very critical towards his intent. however, he states that “i do not want to make a career for myself” (controller, 26 years old), and knows that he will not get a promotion due to his request. part-time work the “part-time work” node has 136 references. the majority of the subjects had never considered working part-time, firstly, because their occupations do not allow it, and secondly, because of the associated low income. men who do not want to work part-time claimed that they would miss the social interaction in their job and could not imagine working halftime. the problems of integration, exclusion and fear of social judgement represented other important factors related to their gender: “i think, it’s [part-time work] just much less accepted socially when you are a man” (area manager1, 28 years old). some men admitted that they themselves would have more trouble accepting a male colleague working part-time: “if a colleague was working part-time on the same job… where i work like crazy, i would maybe judge him, yes. […] i might judge a woman less […] because it’s more common” (work supervisor, 24 years old). lack of support at work also appears to be a big issue: “people would say that there is a lack of motivation, especially my [male] hierarchy. they might also think that i am not committed enough” (auditor, 28 years old). according to our respondents, male bosses, in particular, lack understanding when men ask for flexible working arrangements. indeed, four men working in traditionally male occupations with recruitment responsibilities had often refused the request for part-time work or other flexible arrangements made by men on grounds of additional costs. because these demands were made by male co-workers, they admitted it � 391 m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 373-410 elena essig & richard soparnot was easier to reject them. when asked how men would perceive the decision of a male colleague or friend to work part-time, most of the respondents would not judge him if it did not have an impact on their own workload. however, they would expect a significant reason for doing so, such as serious illness, lack of enthusiasm for the job, higher earnings of the spouse, a lottery win or preparation for retirement. finally, in our study, the eight men out of 33 who either already do or would consider working part-time, do so in order to take on another parttime job or prepare for their retirement. two subjects were considering it for the sake of their child. this section has presented the difficulties that men encounter when searching for better work–life balance. firstly, it can be observed that the majority of the men in our study carry a heavy workload and, secondly, the stated reasons represent a barrier for men to take parental leave or parttime jobs when they wish to do so. therefore, men are still considerably outnumbered by women in these two areas. inter-gender conflict: men’s competition with women “inter-gender conflict” deals with the perceived competition between men and women. this category contained a total of 245 verbatim excerpts, presented in table 8. not all the male subjects were able to express themselves on this topic because some interviewees did not have any negative experience with the female gender at work. the fewest contributions to this node were made by men in gender-neutral professions. nevertheless, we added “female colleagues” (97 references) and “tough women” (38 references) to the theoretical framework, which contained only two sub-categories. the latter was initially integrated into the category “female supervisors”, but, according to our results, “tough women” are also represented among colleagues. table 8 coding table – inter-gender conflict: men’s competition with women difficulties with female colleagues the “female colleagues” node was added a fortiori and presented the highest number of references – 97 from 29 sources. men seem to be well aware that they may be affected by the competitive pressure caused by a female presence in the workplace. the competition becomes keen if an “attractive” woman is the opponent in a male-dominated environment. one respondent claimed that “it is more difficult to appeal to one’s audience when you are male. [...] a female salesperson in my domain definitely has more opportunities and more advantages. especially if she is pretty” (sales representative it, 28 years old). female attractiveness is not the only area in which men may feel competitively threatened. six subjects �392 theme node no. of references % no. of respondents % 3. inter-gender conflict: men’s competition with women 245 100 33 100 3.1. difficulties with female colleagues 97 39.59 29 88 3.2. discrimination by female supervisors 79 32.24 13 39 3.3. difficulties with tough women 38 15.51 5 15 3.4. positive discrimination 31 12.65 5 15 re-thinking gender inequality in the workplace – a framework from the male perspective m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 373-410 gave similar statements about male superiors promoting and surrounding themselves with female subordinates because “they can manipulate them” (professor, 32 years old). consequently, men might feel that women are favored for certain positions by male superiors. discrimination by female supervisors the “discrimination by female supervisors” node presented 79 verbatim excerpts. the tense relationships with female supervisors are not only present in the occupations in which women outnumber men, as seen earlier, but also in male-dominated professions: “my former female boss with a tough personality was in competition with everyone. she put me in difficulty several times” (sales manager it, 59 years old). another respondent also encountered severe difficulty with his female supervisor: “i did not realize it at the beginning, but actually she [female boss] was harassing me because i was a man. […] later i learnt that she wanted to hire a woman and was pushed by her boss to hire me” (area manager1, 28 years old). this type of difficulty seems to be predominantly present in traditionally female and male professions, since none of the subjects working in gender-neutral occupations gave their opinion about this issue. difficulties with “tough women” the “tough women” node was added and contained 38 verbatim excerpts. although some female superiors were characterized as “tough”, in this node, men from our study described their co-workers as “tough women”. they said that they did not “correspond” to traditional societal prejudice with regards to the female gender, as they appeared “strong and competitive” and “tend to think that they have to behave like men to be accepted” (hairdresser, 60 years old) due to their profession or because of their position in the hierarchy. whereas the older population seemed to be more confident with “tough” women and handled this subject with humor, the younger respondents did not always know how to act in their presence, showing insecurity and withdrawal behavior. these difficulties were present in all types of professions. positive discrimination finally, 13 subjects mentioned “positive discrimination” (31 references). “politically speaking, there are inequalities that are caused by efforts to increase female representation in certain positions. consequently, some women will be privileged” (sales manager it, 59 years old). an engineer (36 years old) witnessed positive discrimination measures but did not give them a second thought: “in my department, there has been positive discrimination during recruitment, where female engineers were given preference”. only one subject experienced positive discrimination and was replaced by a woman after a period of conflict with his female boss: “she told me she preferred working with women, because there are not many of them in our profession” (auditor, 28 years old). this section has presented the difficulties that men encounter when working with the opposite gender. indeed, these negative experiences can occur in different situations e.g. when men face tough women personalities or positive discrimination measures. � 393 m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 373-410 elena essig & richard soparnot intrapersonal conflict: men’s emotions and voice the “intrapersonal conflict” category is based on the premise that society expects a man to be manly and does not expect him to show weakness. this theme collected a total of 146 verbatim excerpts, shown in table 9. our study contained questions about the expression of men’s feelings and emotions. based on the reactions of some men – silence, stuttering, playing with their hands, avoiding eye contact – merely raising the subject seemed to create discomfort. table 9 coding table – intrapersonal conflict: men’s emotions and voice managing emotions and asking for help the “managing emotions and asking for help” node contained selfevaluation responses concerning the two subjects and collected 68 references. it was mostly older men who stated that they had no issues with expressing their emotions either in private or professional contexts, and no issues with asking for help. the younger cluster of our sample displayed more difficulty in expressing their feelings: “i have the tendency to keep them [problems] to myself” (construction contractor, 35 years old) or asking for help: “i’d rather take more time, but figure it out myself than ask for help” (area manager2, 28 years old). they preferred to restrain their emotions and to deal with their issues by themselves. difficulties in speaking up the “difficulties in speaking up” node touched upon all categories considered earlier in the results section. although we found other responses to male difficulties, such as denial and humor, self-censorship seemed to be omnipresent in our study. we found that men draw a clear boundary between their private and working lives due to negative experiences with male colleagues and/or supervisors, predominantly in femaleand male-dominated occupations. some claim that it is a difficult burden to carry, because they are not able to be their authentic self at work, not able to speak up and feel obliged to refuse invitations to extraprofessional activities. one man in a traditionally female profession had difficulty in speaking up: “i can tell you that as a man, when you find yourself in an unfair situation, you feel discriminated against. it is difficult because we know that in the majority of cases women are discriminated against and not men. consequently, we do not dare to speak up, and it’s very difficult because we feel helpless” (gynecologist, 31 years old). with regard to the “work–family conflict”, it is mostly men in male-dominated professions who are not acting upon their wishes: “when i mentioned paternity leave to my boss, i very quickly understood that it is absolutely not an option. not worth a discussion. i know if i take it, i will never make partner” (lawyer, 36 years old). finally, the “inter-gender conflict” zone also showed male difficulties in �394 theme node no. of references % no. of respondent s % 4. intrapersonal conflict: men’s emotions and voice 146 100 33 100 4.1. managing emotions and asking for help 68 46.58 33 100 4.2. difficulties in speaking up 78 53.42 16 48 re-thinking gender inequality in the workplace – a framework from the male perspective m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 373-410 speaking up. for instance, after a negative experience with a female boss, a sales manager it (58 years old) felt the need to adapt his communication strategy: “at one point i was able to detach myself emotionally and pay very close attention to what i said and how i talked to her”. in this section, we have shown that in the majority of cases younger men have difficulty in expressing their emotions. but more importantly, it can be observed that men in all types of occupations experience difficulty in speaking up or taking action. in our study, these difficulties relate to: men who are under-represented in female-dominated occupations; men who want to take parental leave or work part-time; men who experience harassment at work and men who feel injustice due to positive discrimination. if men do not dare to speak up or act upon their wishes (e.g. for parental leave), then their situation will not change. in the next section we present our final framework, which gives a global overview of the difficulties that men face in the workplace. second-order analysis: final framework our first-order results were presented in the previous section. their objective was to cross-examine the exhaustiveness of the current literature by providing a detailed analysis of collected narratives about each category of male difficulties in the workplace. however, these findings do not necessarily deliver a clear framework for understanding male difficulties at work and subsequent investigation of those difficulties. therefore, in this section we reconsider the qualitative data collected in our study in order to give a more structured theoretical perspective. by going beyond the collected data and its analysis, we can state from our observation that male difficulties in the workplace reveal an underlying pattern that can be divided into two main dimensions. the first dimension relates to the nature of the profession men exercise, i.e. traditionally male, traditionally female and gender-neutral occupations. the second dimension is the social environment men interact with, i.e. their social circle (friends and family), peers, superiors, clients and, finally, men themselves. the environment represents a potential source of difficulty. figure 1 presents our second-order results in the form of a new framework of male struggles at work. � 395 m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 373-410 elena essig & richard soparnot figure 1. new framework of male difficulties in the workplace in what follows, we offer an analysis of the roles that the four sources – social circles, peers, superiors and clients – may have in impacting the difficulties in each type of profession that men occupy. social circles represent the friends and family of men. by interiorizing certain expectations, whether they are expressed by the social circle or not, men face or perceive certain difficulties at work. the nature of these often depends on the type of occupation the men perform. for instance, in the case of traditionally female professions, men express difficulties related to the judgement by others that they experience in relation to their choice of profession and their sexual orientation. with regard to the male working population in male-dominant professions, the interiorization of expectations of their social circles shows itself in a heavy workload (with the stereotype being: “men are supposed to work more than women”) and in the judgement of men taking or wanting to take advantage of parental leave or part-time work (with the stereotype being: “it’s a woman’s job”). finally, men in gender-neutral professions can equally face difficulties related to work overload and judgement from their close social circle about part-time work. peers are the male and female colleagues that men work with. men who occupy traditionally female professions seem to face various difficulties related to the expectations of their peers, as well as of their own stereotypical thinking. for instance, difficulties with female peers arise from the “competitive” male role stereotype, and the “he-men role trap” is related to the “stronger” male gender stereotype. furthermore, male colleagues may exclude men in female occupations because of the assumption that they do not belong to the same professional group based on its reputation. finally, men themselves, when facing what they perceive or consider to be “tough women” at work, might feel discomfort with the dissonance created by their prejudicial thinking based on gender role stereotypes. this observation is also true for men in traditionally male professions. in addition, they find themselves struggling with new forms of competition across genders and may perceive positive discrimination in favor of the opposite gender as an injustice. men in gender-neutral professions may sometimes face the same challenge from competition with women. for men working in male-dominant occupations, discrimination measures and lack of support arise mostly from their male bosses. indeed, �396 re-thinking gender inequality in the workplace – a framework from the male perspective m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 373-410 both are related to flexible working arrangements such as parental leave and part-time work. one might assume that male superiors have less of an understanding than female superiors of the male population’s desire for a better work–life balance . the clients of men working in traditionally female occupations can be of any gender. when their expectations in terms of gender roles are not met, they can be expressed by discriminative acts such as refusing medical treatment or by sexual prejudice related to certain professions such as child-care. overall, this new framework allows for a better understanding of the circumstances and sources that can lead to negative experiences encountered by the male working population and can help to further advance gender equality by ensuring support from both genders. discussion and implications our research extends and structures the knowledge of different circumstances to contribute to a small but growing body of work on male struggles in the workplace. in this section, we discuss our theoretical contributions and propose several practical and political implications. theoretical contributions this work has aimed to offer a structured perspective of gender inequalities that men perceive and experience in their professional environment and to propose an additional and complementary perspective of the existing literature. even if male struggles have been studied in existing research in sociology or psychology, such research lacks scientific empirical data and a structured perspective. in this study, we proposed a first-level typology based on three main works (kimmel, 2009; ghiulamila & levet, 2007; scambor et al., 2014), and completed it with a literature review along with our empirical data. our contributions are on two different levels. the first concerns the identification of new male struggles compared to those found in the literature. our second contribution is the proposition of a new framework of these difficulties in the workplace. existence of male struggles while we were able to observe the male difficulties identified in the literature, we also found new obstacles that the male population might face in the workplace. two of the three works (ghiulamila & levet, 2007; kimmel, 2009) that formed the basis for our initial typology lacked empirical data, and the third study (scambor et al., 2014) provided a summary of a broad governmental statistical investigation that touched upon certain professional areas, personal life and the educational field. our research is the first empirical work that focuses on the difficulties men might face in their professional environment. indeed, this study leads to the identification of new difficulties, which makes it possible to enrich the works of several authors (cross & bagilhole, 2002; ghiulamila & levet, 2007; kimmel, 2009; murray, 1996; pullen & simpson, 2009; sargent, 2001; scambor et al., 2014; simpson, 2005; tucker, 2015). in the first conflict zone of “men in traditionally female professions”, we were able to add two new sub-categories. these sub-categories concerned difficulties with female supervisors and with male peers. with regard to “work and family conflict”, we found that male superiors put more barriers in the path of men looking for a better work–life balance. finally, in the � 397 m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 373-410 elena essig & richard soparnot “inter-gender conflict” category, two sub-categories – difficulties with (attractive) female colleagues and “tough women” – were added. the identification of these new difficulties makes it possible to underline the diversity of the difficulties that men face in different professional situations and enriches our understanding, contributing to the robustness of the knowledge about male struggles (ghiulamila & levet, 2007; kimmel, 2009; scambor et al., 2014). in addition, while most of the literature focuses on gender inequalities from the feminine perspective (gallioz, 2006; marry, 2004; rodrigues, 2010; scotto et al., 2008), this study highlights the importance of investigating the male point of view, supporting articles (allan, 1993; cross & bagilhole, 2002; decorse & vogtle, 1997; gosse et al., 2008; heikes, 1991; murray, 1996; sargent, 2001; netchaeva et al., 2015; pullen & simpson, 2009; simpson, 2005; tucker, 2015) and broadening this viewpoint. our data presents an overview of male struggles such as “social judgement” about their choice of profession and the “discrimination” and “sexual” prejudices of clients and peers, which were also identified in the aforementioned literature. this perspective of male difficulties in the workplace gives new insights, offers a more comprehensive understanding of gender inequality and opens up a debate on the importance of the awareness of gender inequality from a male perspective. however, we do not deny the fact that it is women who still predominantly face gender inequality in the workplace. finally, we contribute to the discussion on sexuality stigma (stenger & roulet, 2018). firstly, we show that men in male-dominant professions are still prejudiced against homosexual men and their choice of femaledominant professions. secondly, although only three subjects were homosexual in our study, two of them practiced self-censorship and decided to “stay in the closet”. the difficulty for this category of male employees lies in the fear that their sexual orientation will damage their career and their social relations at work. new framework of male difficulties in the workplace the three main papers (ghiulamila & levet, 2007; kimmel, 2009; scambor et al., 2014), which inspired our research, present the difficulties that men face in various domains by providing a broad listing of difficulties and placing them on the same level. however, most of the studies (cross & bagilhole, 2002; devault, 2011; dulac, 2001; gosse et al., 2008, heikes, 1991; lupton, 2006; murray, 1996; pullen & simpson, 2009; real, 2003; simpson, 2005) which we used for elaboration of our first-level typology, have little research scope focusing on specific male issues. in this study, we propose a new framework of male difficulties which links these together by providing a clear structure based on two dimensions. the first dimension relates to three professional domains (traditionally male, female and gender-neutral professions), and the second dimension concerns the social environment (social circles, peers, superiors and clients). our study reveals that professional environments are not homogeneous in terms of the issues that men might face because the difficulties are not expressed in the same way and vary depending on the context. indeed, men are more prone to facing difficulties in certain professional domains and situations, contributing to various gender inequalities in the workplace. in addition, our investigation shows that male struggles are expressed in the context of interactions with different social entities that have a direct impact on the type of difficulty. finally, this typology supports the importance of previous works (ghiulamila & levet, �398 re-thinking gender inequality in the workplace – a framework from the male perspective m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 373-410 2007; kimmel, 2009; scambor et al., 2014) in different professional contexts, and highlights the singularity of gender inequality in each professional domain as well as the need to focus on the context in order to gain a deeper understanding of these phenomena. practical implications as shown in our study, men can equally be subject to difficult situations and have trouble dealing with them (difficulty in speaking up). however, the lack of awareness about male struggles is a barrier to their prevention and management. and, even if women still outnumber men in terms of gender inequality, men’s struggles should not be ignored. indeed, through their prevention and management, a more equal (working) society can be created. in the next section, we present policy-making implications and suggest actions for practitioners. implications for policy by showing that difficulties can also be experienced by men in the workplace, our study advocates the implementation of practices that take account of the male working population to advance the broader question of gender equality. several men in our study proposed conducting awareness campaigns in schools and/or in public places (e.g. through posters, online and tv advertisements) to help deconstruct certain representations of masculinity and femininity. according to our respondents, this should involve the medical and child-care professions, in particular, since they present the most difficulties in the workplace for the male workforce. moreover, we suggest that gender is included in political debate and governmental policies on fatherhood and flexible working arrangements. finally, although the idea of female quotas or the diversity policies of private companies are criticized for not being a solution in the long run, these mechanisms do increase female presence in organizations, contributing to positive outcomes. in turn, we suggest that consideration is given to the idea of introducing male quotas and/or diversity rates in occupations that are numerically dominated by women. organizational level implications masculinity and femininity are social representations that are constructed at work through a company’s policies and social relations. they both become functioning mechanisms of organizational culture and have to be taken into account. since the first step towards improvement is educating people and raising awareness, individuals have to recognize the existence of difficulties that men might face in the workplace, for example by tactfully integrating information on male struggles (workaholism, work and family conflict, etc.) at work into companies’ communication plans. at the same organizational policy level, it can be observed that many companies implement efficient flexible working policies. however, in many cases, they target only the female population. in this context, our suggestion relates to the adaptation of companies’ flexible working arrangement policies and culture: these policies should target men and women equally. indeed, organizations should take fatherhood more seriously by adjusting their human resources policies to create positive work-related outcomes. to address the difficulties faced by men, organizations can design training programs to enable men and women managers to become aware � 399 m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 373-410 elena essig & richard soparnot of the consequences of their management style and help men take stock of their self-censorship behaviors. furthermore, in traditionally female professions (e.g. the medical and child-care professions), awareness campaigns for clients should be integrated into the company’s external communication plan in order to fight gender stereotypes. managerial diagnostic tool our final framework can be used as a diagnostic tool for managers who wish to identify the status quo of existing difficulties and inequalities. when male employees express difficulties at work (like some men in our study) or when their peers notice them, the framework tool we have developed can give their managers more clarity, helping them to understand the root of the issue and find an efficient way to resolve it. in this sense, it can also be used as a team management tool, making it easier to create efficient constellations of team members. this new framework can also help with the prevention of conflictual situations and stress. it can improve retention rates and employee commitment and create a better working atmosphere. it also allows the workforce’s perceptions of equality to be monitored, providing scope for advancement in existing gender inequality issues. implications for women and men the men in our study showed different reactions to this topic. some were unaware of the fact that gender inequalities could affect the male population. nevertheless, they contributed to our research by reflecting on their personal experience or on those of their social circle. however, men who had experienced discrimination and/or unequal treatment were glad to finally share these experiences. the following real-life example shows how men and women in an organization promote professional equality and voice behavior. the association “happy men” offers support for male employees at bnp paribas and is managed by employees. the main objective of the association is to promote professional equality of men and women by creating a better work–life balance (bnp paribas, 2018). it also provides safe spaces (meetings, lunches, round tables, etc.) that help men to express themselves, without being judged, about sensitive topics such as burnout, parental and sabbatical leave, part-time work, etc., and thereby helps to fight self-censorship. in addition, it offers informational and practical support about company and governmental policies and their application. “mixcity” and “pride france” are the equivalent associations for female employees and the lgbt community respectively. however, the objectives of these associations are not to create gender segregation, but, on the contrary, to promote a better understanding of various issues, as well as to provide mutual support and cooperation. conclusion in gender studies, both perspectives – male and female – play an important role. the male viewpoint should therefore be taken into account more often when fighting for gender equality, since there is limited available research on male issues. most of the research has been conducted by researchers in sociology, psychology and anthropology or by governments and private associations. our study develops new perspectives and insights into social relationships and interactions between people and organizations by extending and structuring existing perspectives on male �400 re-thinking gender inequality in the workplace – a framework from the male perspective m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 373-410 struggles and gender inequalities. we show that these inequalities can impact both women and men. it is important to note that this research in no way intends to negate the existence of gender inequality encountered by the female population or to support any kind of gender-related movement. in fact, the objective is to offer a balanced perspective from the point of view of both genders to build broader consensus around gender equality and more comprehensive solutions. having categorized the interdisciplinary literature and carried out an empirical qualitative study, based on 33 male subjects, we were able to develop a typology of male difficulties in the workplace. we then restructured this into a framework, which was divided into three categories – professions that are traditionally female, traditionally male and genderneutral. each of these categories was then subdivided into sources of external difficulties such as social circles, peers, superiors and clients. despite our two main contributions –identification of new male struggles as compared to those found in the literature and the proposition of a new framework of male difficulties in the workplace – our study also has some limitations. firstly, the number of respondents, their ages and their professions are heterogeneous. although we were able to subdivide them into three main clusters (traditionally male and female occupations and gender-neutral professions), it could be of great interest to focus on only one type of occupation in future studies. based on these limitations, we propose that the perspective could be broadened by conducting research into a specific male sample e.g. future fathers, men with female supervisors, etc. secondly, the richness of qualitative research is also its disadvantage: because the results have to be generalizable, the researchers are unable to tell the individual stories of all the men who contributed to this work. thus, similar qualitative data collection could serve as a foundation for case studies in social sciences. moreover, as mentioned in the methodology section, we interviewed a woman who shared her experience of male discrimination. she admitted that she had discriminated against a male candidate while she was looking for a nanny for her child. today, according to her statement, she would have given him a chance. it would therefore be interesting to interview female subjects to obtain their opinions about the potential struggles faced by men in the professional world. finally, creating awareness of the potential difficulties men can face in the workplace can be beneficial for the female working population because it can make men aware of the inequality women can face at work. furthermore, giving men opportunities related to child-care and flexible working arrangements can also create advantages for women who might want to focus on their careers. also, the inclusion of men in the gender equality debate in a productive and open-minded way is a crucial step towards making progress on these sensitive issues. the aim of this article was to broaden and to structure the current literature on male struggles in the workplace by proposing a framework that can guide future scientific and managerial debate and contribute to progress in gender equality issues. future research could benefit from using this two-dimensional framework based on our data as a foundation for research design. finally, it could also serve educational purposes for schools, universities and companies that wish to create a more equal society. � 401 m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 373-410 elena essig & richard soparnot appendices appendix 1 – three research papers *inequalities experienced by men original french title: inégalités vécues par les hommes *book chapter in men, women and companies: towards what equality? original french title: les hommes, les femmes et les entreprises: vers quelle égalité? �402 kimmel (2009) making gender visible the workplace balancing work and family sexual equality “gender equality not for women only” book chapter in handbook of studies on men & masculinities men have to be seen and heard as a gender in order to: -lift up their privileged status in society and -give them a voice. -the growing presence of women in the workplace makes men question their breadwinner role -sexual harassment. difficulty in combining fatherhood and long working hours. -male violence due to a “breakdown of patriarchy” -create gender equality: more financial independence for women, more child-care for men. ghiulamila and levet (2007) hearing men obligation of the manly man role the atlas syndrome discomfort around noncompliant women “inequalities experienced by men”* book chapter in men, women and companies: towards what equality?* -men have difficulty in expressing their emotions. -men are afraid of taking paternal leave because of judgement by their social circles and loss of job opportunities. -men feel obliged to be the main “breadwinner” in the family. -men feel uncomfortable when dealing with women with “male” behavior. scambor et al. (2014) men, gender inequality and education men, gender inequality and work men, gender inequality and care men, gender inequality and violence men, gender inequality and health article (summary of a european commission report): “men and gender equality: european insights” -boys underperfor m compared to girls in school -boys are more disengaged -men have fewer higher education degrees than women. -men are exposed to more professional risk -occupational segregation -work and family reconciliation -gender pay gap -part-time work. -few men take parental leave, but it is culture dependent. -men represent the majority of perpetrators when it comes to assault, rape, violent acts in public. -men’s mental health problems are ignored -men have difficulties asking for help -men’s suicide rates are higher -men have lower life expectancy. re-thinking gender inequality in the workplace – a framework from the male perspective m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 373-410 appendix 2 – verbatim examples � 403 occupational choice conflict: men in traditionally female professions discrimination by clients – verbatim “for example, having a man in a certain place… i have a [female] friend in a nursery, and having a man who works with children, in the end, maybe some colleagues, they will trust a guy less because he may have less legitimacy in terms of caring for children than a woman” (consultant, 33 years old). “i had several confrontations with female patients when i was working in the gynecological emergency department in m. […] several times i ran into female patients who refused to have me examine them only because i am a man” (gynecologist, 31 years old). “there were women who had the impression that i was going to take their place. i did not come as an ally, but i was an intruder... they are used to ... powerful men, winners... so when i arrived with ideas that were close to theirs, they were afraid that i would take their place. so, i had conflict with women who had bad habits, we will say, towards male behavior and put me in the same category as others” (gynecologist, 58 years old). difficulties with female peers – verbatim “often, i felt, not in competition with women, but discriminated against and disadvantaged compared to women. because i had the same training and the same skills, in some cases i was even more competent than women with whom i worked” (gynecologist, 31 years old). “um ... i was a ... in a department where there were four women who were in marketing and uh ... it’s true that i did not feel particularly integrated into the group. […] it is more difficult; it’s like for women who are doing a man’s job. uh... it is obviously more difficult because it is the opposite sex and we are not the same and we have to fight for their acceptance” (sales representative, 28 years old). “yes, i had difficulties with my former boss and later co-owner of a salon. i had the impression that she wanted me to invest but did not give up any power. it did not go well.” “i work with young female trainees, who are adolescents, like 15-16 years old, so i have to be careful and also respectful of theirdeveloping sexuality. […] for sure it is not always easy” (beautician, 55 years old). social judgment – verbatim “the image that other people have about the profession can be constraining or annoying because they will judge him” (sales person, 28 years old). “it would make me very uncomfortable to perform a purely female job, it would annoy me. […] because integration would be difficult and i […] would have to adapt myself to a context where my masculinity would be questioned” (engineer, 56 years old). sexual prejudice – verbatim “i think that there can be some mocking, well, if we go beyond mocking, he would be judged…he can be judged maybe about his sexual orientation […]. it is true that it is always very strange if you have a male midwife or nurse” (area manager, 28 years old). “men in traditionally female professions can suffer from prejudice, disrepute ... the fact of being ... compared to women […], traditionally female professions are getting masculinized, but society is still treating men who want to do a feminine profession as homosexuals, or weak, or sensitive, or fragile, or i do not know what…” (gynecologist, 58 years old). difficulties with male peers – verbatim “with my male colleagues, i have the impression that we do the same job but we do not have the same gender”. “the doctors, my colleagues – male gynecologists, i have the impression that we are not in the same category, either professionally, or in terms of our state of mind [...] because ... because they do not value the psychological work, for them, it is only important during their training for gynecology, for 90% of the male gynecologists that i know, and not in practice” (gynecologist, 58 years old). “it brings caregivers closer together, it creates solidarity, but for me this fraternity with the guy caregivers, it has never worked. [...] the experiences i’ve had working with guys, i never liked it. because there is still this thing about saying ‘i am better, i am stronger’, there is this primary instinct, competition, constant comparison... with women caregivers it’s much less the case” (nurse, 42 years old). “when i was in large salons, where we did the spring-summer fashions, trade shows, not salons where we do hair, but trade shows (salons). it is true that in the evening when i left the trade show (salons), i was not necessarily walking on the same sidewalk as my male colleagues. i did not necessarily want to mix with them, so it was a personal choice. but at least i was quietly in the crowd, i was ... i was not necessarily recognized and accepted as a hairdresser by them because i did not have 50 finger rings and ... as a guy i behaved like a ‘real dude’” (hairdresser, 60 years old). m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 373-410 elena essig & richard soparnot �404 work and family conflict: men’s search for balance heavy workload – verbatim would say to his hypothetical colleague who wants to work part-time that “it is a very bad choice. because he would lose a lot of money financially speaking and he would still work the same hours as a journalist who works full-time” (journalist, 61 years old). “professional life dominates the private life since i work more than 12 hours per day. i work for four departments so let’s say it’s from 7am to 8pm and on average a four to five hour drive per day” (sales manager, 28 years old). “i had a lot of work, with many business trips. my private life was limited to weekends” (sales representative, 59 years old). parental leave (social judgement & lack of support from male supervisors) – verbatim “i don’t have any problem with it [parental leave] but it is obvious that it leads little by little to a sort of castration of the man in the sense of him losing his role of the father, of the patriarch. he does not have as much power as he used to because he…he is deprived of his role of the protector, breadwinner…” (construction contractor, 35 years old). “so… men taking paternity leave, uh ... i think it’s a choice, uh ... it’s a choice and often a necessity. personally, it does not bother me. but i don’t think that a man wouldn’t do it for fun” (auditor, 28 years old). “i need to answer this question from two perspectives. when it’s a colleague…eh…i think he has the right to do so. but it would be a bit different if it was one of my subordinates, cause it’s very difficult… and expensive to find a replacement” (sales representative, 59 years old). part-time work (social judgement & lack of support from male supervisors) – verbatim “normally uh ... in the traditional french family, uh ... it’s uh ... the woman who’s raising her kids ...is the housewife and it’s her role to educate the kids and the role of the father is to earn money. uh ..., so uh, it’s true that part-time work for men is very confusing. […] yes, for me as well” (service administrator, 25 years old). “well, i think that a man ... we expect a man to be much more available [...] depending on the person you have in front of you, for example if it’s a guy… if you invoke reasons that are historically more specific to women, you can be judged, or badly perceived, or discredited ... so here, i feel that you risk ... yeah, i think you can be discredited and lose you legitimacy” (service administrator, 35 years old). “to tell the truth, it’s true that it’s a little different because ... uh ... i think ... uh ... i might judge the person depending on the position he has, if the person worked part-time in the same position as me, whereas i work my *** off, i would for sure judge him” (works supervisor, 24 years old). “it’s very rare indeed that a boss accepts 80%, especially for key positions and especially if it’s a male boss” (consultant, 33 years old). “uh… actually i have colleagues who work part-time...but they are already at the end of their careers. personally, i don’t care much about it, but there can be a problem with the organization and… if other colleagues depend on his function, this might not even be approved. […] yes, it’s more acceptable for women in our company. definitely easier, no one asks any questions” (engineer, 56 years old). re-thinking gender inequality in the workplace – a framework from the male perspective m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 373-410 � 405 inter-gender conflict: men’s competition with women difficulties with female colleagues – verbatim “i try to be more implicit […], look for a deeper root of the problem and […] try to establish a connection when talking to a woman. whereas many men are much more direct. you know exactly where the problem comes from” (area manager, 28 years old). “well, it’s not the hierarchy because there are not many women except for hr but who are not very present in our field. uh… it was more an assistant who was in charge of the management of the agency. and it was very difficult to work with her because she was a person with a strong masculine character and a strong personality and uh… she was looking for mistakes the guys made, trying to get us in trouble and uh… so it was harmful for the staff and for me too. she was competing with everyone. but then i managed to distance myself from her and also to pay attention to what i said and how i spoke to her, yes, absolutely it happened” (sales representative, 59 years old). “today, women have more power than before. […] there are more inequalities or discrimination than before towards men. that creates psychological problems for men. they have trouble accepting, for example, a woman who earns more than they do” (construction contractor, 35 years old). competition and discrimination by female supervisors – verbatim “i could see, for example, i’m thinking of a female security coordinator ... uh ... so ... uh ... her role is to ... to visit the construction sites. she has an outside eye and therefore she controls the safety of the building sites. for example, she examines if all the workers have a helmet, a shoulder belt, gloves, safety shoes etc. finally, this sort of thing to examine if the guardrail or the building site itself with the fences are ... uh ... safe and so on. and it is true that compared to some male security coordinators who sometimes can be lax or at least just give advice for ... uh ... the methodology of ... setting up security on a construction site ... uh ... women they do not let anything pass by them…. uh… they are a little more aggressive. they get quickly into a fight with the men in order to support their ideas ‘whatever it costs’ and even if they are wrong, i think” (works supervisor, 24 years old). “i still have problems with my boss. i know now that she was against hiring me, […] i guess it’s my gender. and now we are still not getting along. she sees me as a problem i think, uh… she does not value all the positive stuff i’m bringing to the kids” (kindergarten teacher, 26 years old). difficulties facing “tough women” – verbatim “then, there are women who are like men. […] who are tough, tougher than some guys” (hairdresser, 60 years old). “of course, we will say: ‘yes, they are more sensitive, they are more this, they are more that’ and those women, i mean, they are like real men. so, at the same time i contradict myself when i say that but ... they can even be manlier than a guy!” “yes, especially at the er. after, that’s what’s so funny, is that there are services where you see a certain type of personality. in emergencies, often, it’s cowboys, emergencies and resuscitation because it’s services where you need it ... it’s crisis services where you have to be strong ... like a man” (nurse, 42 years old). “yes, there is a female director whom i have who ... who is tall, who is rather ... who is rather masculine, but how to say, in the stereotypes of ... the opposite of a midwife, but in any case, she is very direct and tough…” (auxiliary nurse, 40 years old). positive discrimination – verbatim “i think there are women who have been in competition for example for a job and who have more than ... easy actually to access this position. why?tto help restore balance. that said, it is obviously something that will pass ... and from the moment when someone arrives for example in a department to… to reach the objectives of equality…” (engineer, 56 years old). “so we, in recent years, we have seen positive discrimination appear a little, it seems to be resorbed, for example […]. yes, in my profession, in my ... well, overall, within my department and our company, there was discrimination during the recruitment process, where we favored the hiring of women, so i do not know not whether it is because there are group quotas, or if it is for the external image of the company, but there has been a period of positive discrimination vis-à-vis women and vis-à-vis other minorities. and after that, there was a stock market effect, there was also that effect in the salary increases, so in fact, women and minorities have 0.1 or 0.2 more systematic increases per year” (engineer, 36 years old). “it is because the managers and the organizations try to make the maximum effort to encourage the employment of women. more precisely, they try to establish more free time for women and at the same time, the women want same salaries as men… uh…, i think that men can feel treated unfairly, uh… in a sense that they say that they work longer hours and paid the same salary, and they work harder on average and why suddenly women have more right than we do? and the justification is that women did not have the same rights as men before… so now they can be favored, uh... and have more advantages than men” (auditor, 28 years old). m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 373-410 elena essig & richard soparnot �406 intrapersonal conflict: men’s emotions and voice managing emotions and asking for help – verbatim “i really don’t have a problem saying what i feel, […] but i prefer to avoid certain conversations [and] deal with my problems myself than to talk about them” (works supervisor, 24 years old). “it is true that i internalize my emotions a lot” (sales manager, 59 years old). “no, because the masculine nature influences the emotional incapacity of men, generally speaking, of course… they are incapable of speaking openly, i think. and also, you cannot talk about everything with your friends, only with your true friends” (kindergarten teacher, 26 years old). “with the expansion of feminization in the professional environment, men feel stuck... for example to express their emotions or to ask for free time from their superiors” (auditor, 28 years old). difficulties in speaking up – verbatim “with women i will try to be more sensitive, to ask them more questions and talk about their families and pay more attention to what they are saying to me. on the contrary, when i am with men, i think that i’m more… i let myself go and i will be more open” (auditor, 28 years old). “when i was director of a restaurant, where i had problems with women who were always complaining, had backache and so took advantage of it. uh ... they left the work to others, to men of course, uh ... that sort of thing. and men do not have the right to complain, it’s frowned upon. they come to work even sick” (sales representative, 59 years old). “yeah maybe ... jealousy, frustration, misunderstanding. then, they may be afraid for their manhood ... i do not know ... it’s very difficult for them to talk about it” (gynecologist, 58 years old). re-thinking gender inequality in the workplace – a framework from the male perspective m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 373-410 references acker, j. (2006). inequality regimes: gender, class, and race in organizations. gender & society, 20(4), 441-464. allan, j. (1993). male elementary teachers: experiences and perspectives. in c.l. williams ( e d s . ) , d o i n g “ w o m e n ’ s w o r k ” : m e n i n nontraditional occupations (pp. 113-27). newbury park, ca: sage publications. allard, k., haas, c. & hwang, p. (2007). exploring the paradox: experiences of flexible working arrangements and work–family conflict among managerial fathers in sweden. community, work and family, 10(4), 475-493. aumann, k., galinsky, e. & matos, k. (2011), the new male mystique, national study of the changing workforce, new york, ny: families and work institute. belle, d. & doucet, j. (2003). poverty, inequality, and discrimination as sources of depression among u.s. women. psychology of women quarterly, 27 (2), 101-113. benito-osorio, d., muñoz-aguado, l. & villar, c. (2014). the impact of family and work-life balance policies on the performance of spanish listed companies. m@n@gement, 17(4), 214-236. b e r r y, d . & b e l l , m . p. ( 2 0 1 2 ) . i n e q u a l i t y i n organizations: stereotyping, discrimination, and labor law exclusions. equality, diversity and inclusion: an international journal, 31(3), 236-248. bizot, d. (2007). les groupes de pères au québec comme soutien à la paternité. in catherine sellenet, les pères en débat (pp.169-188). toulouse : eres « petite enfance et parentalité ». bnp parisbas (2018). bnp paribas recognized once again for its gender equality initiatives. available at: group.bnpparibas/en/news/bnp-paribas-recognisedgender-equality-initiatives burke, r.j. (1999). workaholism in organizations: gender differences. sex roles, 41(5-6), 333-345. burke, r.j. (2000). workaholism in organizations: concepts, results and future research directions. international journal of management reviews, 2(1), 1-16. burke, r.j. & black, s. (1997). save the males: backlash in organizations. journal of business ethics, 16(9), 933-42. butler, j. (1988). performative acts and gender constitution: an essay in phenomenology and feminist theory. theatre journal, 40(4), 519-531. collinson, d.l. & hearn, j. (1994). naming men as men: implications for work, organization and management. gender, work and organization, 1(1), 2-22. connell, r.w. & messerschmidt, j.w. (2005). hegemonic masculinity: rethinking the concept. gender & society, 19(6), 829-859. council of the european union (2006). 2767th employment, social policy, health and consumer affairs council meeting. brussels, 30 november and 1 december 2006. council conclusions on m e n a n d g e n d e r e q u a l i t y. a v a i l a b l e a t : www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/ pressdata/en/lsa/91959.pdf cross, s. & bagilhole, b. (2002). girl’s jobs for the boys? men, masculinity and nontraditional occupations. gender, work and organization, 9(2), 204-226. decorse, c. & vogtle, s. (1997). in a complex voice: the contradictions of male elementary teachers’ career choice and professional identity. journal of teacher education, 48(1), 37-46. denzin, n.k. (1978), the research act: a theoretical introduction to sociological methods, 2nd edition, new york, ny: mcgraw-hill. devault, a. (2011). la santé des hommes au québec. in daniel welzer-lang et al., masculinités : état des lieux (pp.197-209). toulouse: eres. devine, i. & markiewicz, d. (1990). cross-sex relationships at work and the impact of gender stereotypes. journal of business ethics, 9(4-5), 333-338. drees (2014). les professions de santé au 1er janvier 2014. document de travail série statistiques. n189. paris: ministère de l’economie et des finances. dulac, g. (2001), aider les hommes... aussi, montréal, québec: vlb éditeur. ellingsæter, a.l. (1995), gender, work and social change: beyond dualistic thinking, oslo: institute for social research. etikan, i., musa, s. & alkassim. r.s. (2016). comparison of convenience sampling and p u r p o s i v e s a m p l i n g . a m e r i c a n j o u r n a l o f theoretical and applied statistics, 5(1), 1-4. eurostat (2017). gender pay gap statistics. available at: ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/ index.php/gender_pay_gap_statistics evans, a.m., carney, j.s. & wilkinson, m. (2013). w o r k l i f e b a l a n c e f o r m e n : c o u n s e l i n g implications. journal of counseling & development, 91(4), 436-441. fleiss, j.l. (1981), statistical methods for rates and proportions, 2nd edition, new york, ny: john wiley. galinsky, e., matos, k. & sakai-o’neil, k. (2013). workplace flexibility: a model of change. community, work & family, 16(3), 285-306. gallioz, s. (2006). force physique et féminisation des métiers du bâtiment. travail, genre et sociétés, 2(16), 97-97. gascoigne, c., parry, e. & buchanan, d. (2015). extreme work, gendered work? how extreme jobs and the discourse of “personal choice” perpetuate gender inequality. organization, 22(4), 457–475. ghiulamila, j. & levet, p. (2007), les hommes les femmes et les entreprises vers quelle égalité  ? logiques sociales, paris: l’harmattan. glaser, b.g. & strauss, a.l. (1967), the discovery of grounded theory: strategies for qualitative research, chicago, il: aldine. gosse, d., parr, m. & allison. j. (2008). researching the halted paths of male primary school teacher candidates. journal of men’s studies, 16(1), 57-68. � 407 https://group.bnpparibas/en/news/bnp-paribas-recognised-gender-equality-initiatives https://group.bnpparibas/en/news/bnp-paribas-recognised-gender-equality-initiatives http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/lsa/91959.pdf http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/lsa/91959.pdf http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/gender_pay_gap_statistics http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/gender_pay_gap_statistics http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/gender_pay_gap_statistics m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 373-410 elena essig & richard soparnot grover, s.l. & hasel, m.c. (2018). the ironic double whammy of being an ethical leader: follower response to leader infidelity, m@n@gement, 21(3), 1032-1049. halford, s., savage, m. & witz, a. (1997), gender careers and organisations: current developments in banking, nursing and local government, london: macmillan. halrynjo, s. (2009). men’s work–life conflict: career, care and self-realization: patterns of privileges and dilemmas. gender, work & organization, 16(1), 98-125. hearn, j., & collinson, d. l. (2009). men, diversity at work, and diversity management. in theory and scholarship in equality, diversity and inclusion at work: research companion (pp. 372-382). cheltenham: edward elgar. heikes, e.j. (1991). when men are the minority: the case of men in nursing. sociological quarterly, 32(3), 389-401. herek, g.m. (2000). the psychology of sexual prejudice. aps association for psychological science, 9(1), 19-22. hochschild, a.r. (2001), the time bind: when work becomes home and home becomes work, 2nd edition, new york, ny: henry holt and company. ilo (2011). equality and discrimination. workers’ activities programme (actrav) ilo international training centre. available at: ilo.org/global/topics/ equality-and-discrimination/lang--en/index.htm jacques, b. & purgues, s. (2012). l’entrée des hommes dans le métier de sage-femme : faire sa place dans un monde professionnel ultraféminisé. revue française des affaires sociales, 2(2-3), 52-71. judd, c.m. & park, b. (1993). definition and assessment of accuracy in social stereotypes. psychological review, 100(1), 109-128. kerfoot, d. & knights, d. (1993). management, masculinity and manipulation: from paternalism to corporate strategy in financial services in britain. journal of management studies, 30(4), 659-77. kimmel, m.s. (2009). gender equality: not for women only. in m.f. özbilgin (ed.), equality, diversity and inclusion at work (pp. 359-371). cheltenham, uk: edward elgar. ladge, j., humberd, b., harrington, b. & watkins, m. (2015). updating the organization man: an e x a m i n a t i o n o f i n v o l v e d f a t h e r i n g i n t h e wo r k p l a c e . t h e a c a d e m y o f m a n a g e m e n t perspectives, 29(1), 152-171. lupton, b. (2006). explaining men’s entry into female concentrated occupations: issues of masculinity and social class. gender, work and organization, 13(2), 103-128. marry, c. (2004), les femmes ingénieurs : une révolution respectueuse, paris: belin. mckinsey (2013), women matter 2013. gender diversity in top management: moving corporate culture, moving boundaries, paris: mckinsey & company. available at: www.mckinsey.com/~/ m e d i a / m c k i n s e y / g l o b a l % 2 0 t h e m e s / w o m e n % 2 0 m a t t e r / a d d r e s s i n g % 2 0 u n c o n s c i o u s % 2 0 b i a s / womenmatter%202013%20report%20(8).ashx messner, m.a. (1998). the limits of “the male sex role”: an analysis of the men’s liberation and men’s rights movements’ discourse. gender and society, 12(3), 255-276. michel, r.e., hall, b.h., hays, d.g. & runyan, h.i. ( 2 0 1 3 ) . a m i x e d m e t h o d s s t u d y o f m a l e recruitment in the counseling profession. journal of counseling & development, 91(4), 475-482. miles, m.b. & huberman, a.m. (1994), qualitative data analysis: an expanded sourcebook, 2nd edition, thousand oaks, ca: sage. miles, m.b., huberman, a.m. & saldaña, j. (2014), qualitative data analysis: a methods sourcebook, thousand oaks, ca: sage. mott, j.o. & lee, d. (2017). navigating unfamiliar waters: men in nursing academia. journal of professional nursing, 34(1), 42-46. munson, c.e. (1979). evaluation of male and female supervisors. social work, 24(2), 104-110. murray, s. (1996). “we all love charles”: men in childcare and the social construction of gender. gender and society, 10(4), 368-385. nelton, s. (1991). men, women & leadership. nation’s business, 79, 16-22. netchaeva, e., kouchaki, m. & sheppard, l.d. (2015). a man’s (precarious) place: men’s experienced threat and self-assertive reactions to female superiors. society for personality and social psychology, 41(9), 1247-1259. nixon, d. (2009). “i can’t put a smiley face on”: working-class masculinity, emotional labour and service work in the “new economy”. gender, work & organizations, 16(3), 300-322. oecd (2006). women and men in oecd countries. p a r i s : o e c d p u b l i c a t i o n s . a v a i l a b l e a t : www.oecd.org/std/37962502.pdf ons (2014). suicide. état des lieux des connaissances et perspectives de recherche. available at: socialsante.gouv.fr/img/pdf/rapport_ons_2014.pdf paquette, d. (2015). what happens when you act too manly at work? the washington post. available at: w w w. w a s h i n g t o n p o s t . c o m / n e w s / w o n k / w p / 2015/09/23/what-happens-when-you-are-too-manlyat-work/ pullen, a. & simpson, r. (2009). managing difference in feminized work: men, otherness and social practice. human relations, 62(4), 561-87. real, t. (2003), i don’t want to talk about it: overcoming the secret legacy of male depression, new york, ny: scribner. rodrigues, a-c. (2010), des femmes conductrices de poids lourds : parcours de vie et rapport au métier d’une portion croissante de la main-d’œuvre dans un métier en mutation, paris: economies et finances. université paris-est. rondeau, g., mercier, g., camus, s., cormier, r., gagnon, l., gareau, p., lavallée, m., roy, c., saint-hilaire, y. & tremblay, g. (2004), les hommes : s’ouvrir à leurs réalités et répondre à leurs besoins, rapport du comité de travail en matière de prévention et d’aide aux hommes. santé et services sociaux québec. �408 http://ilo.org/global/topics/equality-and-discrimination/lang--en/index.htm http://ilo.org/global/topics/equality-and-discrimination/lang--en/index.htm http://ilo.org/global/topics/equality-and-discrimination/lang--en/index.htm https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/global%20themes/women%20matter/addressing%20unconscious%20bias/womenmatter%202013%20report%20(8).ashx https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/global%20themes/women%20matter/addressing%20unconscious%20bias/womenmatter%202013%20report%20(8).ashx https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/global%20themes/women%20matter/addressing%20unconscious%20bias/womenmatter%202013%20report%20(8).ashx http://www.oecd.org/std/37962502.pdf http://social-sante.gouv.fr/img/pdf/rapport_ons_2014.pdf http://social-sante.gouv.fr/img/pdf/rapport_ons_2014.pdf http://social-sante.gouv.fr/img/pdf/rapport_ons_2014.pdf https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/09/23/what-happens-when-you-are-too-manly-at-work/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/09/23/what-happens-when-you-are-too-manly-at-work/ re-thinking gender inequality in the workplace – a framework from the male perspective m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 373-410 rosette, a.s., mueller, j.s. & lebel, r.d. (2015). are male leaders penalized for seeking help? the influence of gender and asking behaviors on c o m p e t e n c e p e r c e p t i o n s . t h e l e a d e r s h i p quarterly, 26(2015), 749-762. rudman, l.a. & mescher, k. (2013). penalizing men who request a family leave: is flexibility stigma a femininity stigma? journal of social issues, 69(2), 322-340 samaritans (2012). men, suicide and society. why disadvantaged men in mid-life die by suicide. research report. available at: www.samaritans.org/ s i t e s / d e f a u l t / fi l e s / k c fi n d e r / fi l e s / p r e s s / men%20suicide%20and%20society%20research %20report%20151112.pdf sargent, p. (2001), real men or real teachers? contradictions in the lives of men elementary school teachers, london: men’s studies press. scambor, e., bergmann, n., wojnicka, k., belghitimahut, s., hearn, j, holter, ø., gullvåg, g., hrženjak, m., scambor, c. & white, a. (2014). men and gender equality: european insights. men and masculinities, 17(5), 552-577. scotto, m.j., sappe r & boyer, a. (2008). réussir la d i v e r s i t é d u g e n r e . u n e e x p é r i e n c e d e développement de l’égalité professionnelle femme/ homme dans le secteur de la construction, souvent considéré comme « masculin » : l’exemple de cari, entreprise de btp dans les alpes maritimes. management & avenir, 18(4), 18-41. seidman, i. (2006), interviewing as qualitative research: a guide for researchers in education and the social sciences, 3rd edition, new york, ny: teachers college press. sheridan, a. (2004). chronic presenteeism: the multiple dimensions to men’s absence from parttime work. gender, work and organization, 11(2), 207-225. simpson, r. (2005). masculinity at work: the experiences of men in female dominated occupations. work, employment and society, 18(2), 349-368. snir, r. & harpaz, i. (2012). beyond workaholism: towards a general model of heavy work investment. human resource management review, 22(3), 232-243. smith, a.l. (2011). gender and workaholism: a study of new zealand academics. master’s thesis. victoria: university of wellington. spoor, j.r. & schmitt, m.t. (2011). “things are getting better” isn’t always better: considering women’s progress affects perceptions of and reactions to contemporary gender inequality. basic and applied social psychology, 33(1), 24-36. stenger, s. & roulet, t.j. (2018). pride against prejudice? the stakes of concealment and disclosure of a stigmatized identity for gay and lesbian auditors. work, employment and society, 32(2), 257-273. tilcsik, a., anteby, m. & knight, c.r. (2015). concealable stigma and occupational segregation: toward a theory of gay and lesbian occupations. administrative science quarterly, 60(3), 446-481. tucker, s.i. (2015). three men and a maybe: identity and privilege in male preservice elementary school teachers. the journal of men’s studies, 23(1), 3-20. vandello. j.a., hettinger, v.e., bosson, j.k. & siddiqi, j. (2013). when equal isn’t really equal: the masculine dilemma of seeking work flexibility. journal of social issues, 69(2), 303-321. welzer-lang, d. (2011). débattre des hommes, étudier les homes et intervenir auprès des hommes dans une perspective de genre. in d. welzer-lang, masculinités : état des lieux (pp.41-54). toulouse: eres. willsher, k. (2016). top french offices stop work in support of gender pay gap protest. the guardian. available at: www.theguardian.com/world/2016/nov/ 07/french-women-walk-out-work-pay-disparitygender-pay-gap-equality zarya, v. (2016). meet the first french woman to be named ceo of a french stock index company. fortune.com available at: fortune.com/2016/01/14/ france-woman-ceo-isabelle-kocher/ � 409 http://www.samaritans.org/sites/default/files/kcfinder/files/press/men%20suicide%20and%20society%20research%20report%20151112.pdf http://www.samaritans.org/sites/default/files/kcfinder/files/press/men%20suicide%20and%20society%20research%20report%20151112.pdf http://www.samaritans.org/sites/default/files/kcfinder/files/press/men%20suicide%20and%20society%20research%20report%20151112.pdf https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/nov/07/french-women-walk-out-work-pay-disparity-gender-pay-gap-equality https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/nov/07/french-women-walk-out-work-pay-disparity-gender-pay-gap-equality https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/nov/07/french-women-walk-out-work-pay-disparity-gender-pay-gap-equality http://fortune.com/2016/01/14/france-woman-ceo-isabelle-kocher/ http://fortune.com/2016/01/14/france-woman-ceo-isabelle-kocher/ http://fortune.com/2016/01/14/france-woman-ceo-isabelle-kocher/ m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 373-410 elena essig & richard soparnot dr. elena essig is assistant professor in human resource and intercultural management at essca school of management. she holds a doctorate in management science from the university of tours. her main research interests include organizational behavior and hr practices, including psychological ownership, organizational commitment, as well as gender diversity and equality in the workplace. her research has been published through research articles, conferences at the national and international level, and book chapters. dr. richard soparnot is the associate dean for academic affairs and professor of business strategy at groupe esc clermont. he is also a member of the clerma (clermont research in management). he holds a doctorate in management science and a post-doctorate hdr (qualification to supervise doctoral students). his research and teaching focus on strategic and organizational change, innovation and learning in companies, and usefulness/relevance of management knowledge. he is the author of several scientific articles and books in these fields. he has also held faculty, research and campus management positions in different french management schools. acknowledgments: the authors would like to express their sincere gratitude to the anonymous reviewers as well as co-editor in chief, thomas roulet, for their valuable feedback, which helped to improve the quality of their paper. �410 211 unp 3 cailleba&charreire petit 2018.pages m@n@gement 2018, vol. 21(1): 675-690 the whistleblower as the personification of a moral and managerial paradox unplugged society patrice cailleba ! sandra charreire petit management should be above all a societal concern if we want to avoid management practices to spiral out of control.  society is a sub-section of unplugged which aims to publish some provocative essays addressing or renewing our understanding of the relation between society and management. these essays may also highlight theoretical "boundary objects" between society and management or suggest a theoretical perspective to approach new empirical phenomena. abstract. the purpose of this essay is to identify those paradoxes personified by the whistleblower. an analysis of the recent evolution of the french and international legislative framework concerning whistleblowers helps us understand what a moral paradox actually is. the general discourse around corporate ethics, the encouragement of initiative-taking and the increasing responsibility of employees, explains, in turn, a managerial paradox. the article explains how the whistleblower embodies both a moral and managerial paradox for the company. we analyze this dual paradox, in the light of recent legal developments which, to a certain extent, reinforce this state of affairs despite their existence. the article aims to better understand the reasons behind the ambiguous discourse of companies on whistleblowers, since this discourse is upheld by the very measures designed to collect and deal with warnings, which in the end… are implemented in the hope that they do not serve their purpose! keywords: whistleblower, paradox, ethics, management, morals introduction1 as of 1985, miceli & near (1985: 525) offered a definition for whistle blowing, as follows: “the disclosure by organization members (former or current) of illegal, immoral and illegitimate practices under the control of their employers to parties and organizations that may be able to effect action”. as such, whistleblowers may be internal to the company (an employee) or external (an ex-employee, a journalist, a non-governmental organisation or a researcher). they may make their disclosures through �675 patrice cailleba groupe esc pau patrice.cailleba@esc-pau.fr sandra charreire petit ritm, université paris sud sandra.charreire-petit@u-psud.fr 1. we would like to thank stephen r. platt for his kind help in copy-editing the english version of this paper. mailto:patrice.cailleba@esc-pau.fr mailto:sandra.charreire-petit@u-psud.fr mailto:patrice.cailleba@esc-pau.fr mailto:sandra.charreire-petit@u-psud.fr m@n@gement, vol. 21(1): 675-690 patrice cailleba & sandra charreire petit internal and/or external channels, which may or may not be provided for by the management structure in place. the 14th edition of ernst & young’s global fraud survey carried out in 2015 provides insights from 2,825 senior executives in 62 countries across the world. according to the survey, more than one third considered bribery and corruption to happen widely in their country, with almost half able to justify unethical behaviour to meet financial targets (ernst & young, 2016). these figures are a clear illustration of the tensions that exist within companies between possible deviancies and their being disclosed through whistle blowing. as illustrated by huyghe (2016), we are irrevocably in an era of revelations where secrets are to be made public. as a consequence, any attempt to reduce the development or influence of whistleblowers is useless since it is no longer possible (miceli & near, 1995) and certain researchers even believe it is not desirable to do so (liyanarachchi & newdick, 2009). if until recently whistleblowing was a rare and individual act, such peculiarity has become more frequent over recent years. indeed, it can potentially involve any employee within a company. its impact has ended up going well beyond the permeable framework of the company in question to reach civil society. in revealing organisational deviances (cappelletti, 2010), whistleblowers henceforth personify the look-out post that denounces the irregular words and practices of companies (bournois & bourion, 2008). other than a small number of investigative journalists (denis robert in the clearstream affair) or whistleblowers themselves (stéphanie gibaud in the ubs case, or irène frachon in the médiator affair), very few french researchers in the field of the management sciences have shown any interest in whistleblowing and the way it is dealt with, even though it is a very popular area of research in the english-speaking world . in the wake 2 of the pioneering work undertaken in 1999 by chateauraynaud & torny (2013), a small number of research articles written in french have examined the genesis and figure of whistleblowers (de bry, 2008; bournois & bourion, 2008; charreire petit & surply, 2012), their career paths and level of resilience (charreire petit & cusin, 2013). some of the work has concentrated on the impact of warning systems put in place in companies following the sarbanes-oxley law (charreire petit & surply, 2008; mauduit, 2008), whilst other researchers have dug deeper through the analysis of a certain number of high-profile media figures (frachon, 2015; musiani, 2015). however, it would appear that none of this work has seriously researched the question of whistleblowing from a management perspective. in effect, little consideration has been given to the legal framework (whistleblowing systems and processes) and the eventual treatment of whistleblowers, even though the tensions created by whistleblowing is a rich subject and opens up new possibilities for future research. as such, the question of whistleblowers is a dual paradox for companies. on the one hand, there is a moral paradox. the law surrounding whistleblowing (in countries where such legislation exists) requires companies to set up systems and to protect whistleblowers using these if � 676 2. since 1981, in the journal of business ethics alone, there have been a considerable number of papers, as follows: 273 for whistleblowing and 405 for whistle-blowing, which is the equivalent of between 7 and 11 papers per year referring to the subject or entirely dedicated to it (ebsco, september 2016). see also the nonexhaustive list of papers and books written by the amercian specialists miceli & near in the bibliography. the whistleblower as the personification of a moral and managerial paradox m@n@gement, vol. 21(1): 675-690 they belong to the organisation and/or to answer accusations if the whistleblower is external to the organisation (and not simply by taking libel action). in doing so, the law requires companies concerned by whistleblowing to protect those that may destabilize or weaken them. this means that companies are required to protect the individuals that attack them, i.e. to provide confidential data, for instance, to those that finish by denouncing the organisation and who may actually be their own employees. on the other hand, there is a managerial paradox. senior managers are required to be totally dedicated (igalens, 2004), but at the same time to be the guardians of the ethical values of their employers (peretti, 2010). in addition, we are now working in liberated companies (carney & getz, 2009), which value the freedom of responsible, demanding and innovative individuals. finally, the increase in the number of ethics charters (pereira, 2009) and the pressure put on major companies’ csr policies only goes to reinforce the phenomenon and in turn ends up being applicable to all other parts of the organisation. the astonishment of professionals faced with the increasing importance of whistleblowers is surprising, since it is simply a direct result of the requirement to increasingly integrate ethical values (repeated each time there is a new economic crisis) in higher education programmes right through to the day to day work of employees. the objective of this paper is therefore to illustrate how whistleblowers are a moral and managerial paradox for their companies. we analyze this dual paradox, in the light of recent legal developments which, to a certain extent, reinforce this state of affairs despite their existence. the article aims to better understand the reasons behind the ambiguous discourse of companies on whistleblowers (larue, 2007), since this discourse is upheld by the very measures designed to collect and deal with warnings, which in the end… are implemented in the hope they do not serve their purpose! the moral paradox that the law cannot solve the work of miceli & near has clearly shown that the essential difference between a whistleblower and an “inactive observer” (1985) is the interest of the individual for the activity of the organisation, rather than for t h e o r g a n i s a t i o n a l f r a m e w o r k e n a b l i n g c h a n g e a n d i n t e r n a l communications (existence of communication channels for whistleblowing, supervision by managers, etc.). it would appear that individual characteristics (miceli & near, 1985; 1988) prevail over the transition from employee to the “status” of whistleblower. you are not born a whistleblower, but you become one (charreire petit & cusin, 2013; cailleba, 2016a) through a “‘subjectively rational’ decision process”, which refers back to the decision-taking schema already described by march et al. (1958). de facto, the individually-made moral choice solves the paradox of the issue of loyalty: should one be loyal to one’s employer or rather to one’s own values (and very often those of society)? this question is also raised by charreire petit & surply (2011) in their analysis of the fundamental decision of a potential whistleblower to speak out or to remain silent in terms of loyalty to the organisation and hierarchical obedience. recent evolutions in french legislation as regards the protection of whistleblowers (cf. the sapin law ii, 2016) invite us to revisit these 3 � 677 3. cf. appendix 1 for an international comparison. m@n@gement, vol. 21(1): 675-690 patrice cailleba & sandra charreire petit questions. so doing, we see that in spite of real improvements in their protection, whistleblowers and also companies still find themselves faced with pressures that are difficult to overcome. the ambiguity of the situation is illustrated by the moral paradox of whistleblowing for whistleblowers and company directors referring back to a similar opposition between individual moral values and loyalty to one’s company and one’s job. from an etymological perspective , the moral paradox is also ambiguous for 4 companies because it makes its mark on both whistleblowers and managers, whilst at the same time creating confusion given that each side comes up with a different or at least contrary solution. the moral paradox for whistleblowers following the enron scandal in december 2001, the american government decided to legislate through the sarbanes-oxley law (sox, 2002) requiring internal notification: from that point on, whistleblowers were required in the first instance to inform their line manager within the company. this law had to be applied by all wall street listed companies (nasdaq or amex) with an annual turnover of more than $75 million. it was extended to companies based in or operating out of france. de facto, the extra-territorial nature of this american law raised and still raises numerous questions (assemblée nationale, 2016a). the original legislative framework included an ethical early reporting system, the creation and overhaul of internal ethics committees, audit committees, remuneration committees, nominating committees, etc, as well as new rules concerning conflicts of interest. although applying this law proved difficult in france for both legal and cultural reasons (de bry, 2008; charreire petit & surply, 2008a & b), an initial ethical early reporting system was put in place, even if this was done in a “very hetereogeneous and disparate” way (mauduit, 2008: 133). several years later in 2014, the committee of ministers of the european council adopted a recommendation to protect whistleblowers, defined as: “any person who reports or discloses information on a threat or harm to the public interest in the context of their work-based relationship, whether it be in the public or private sector” (european council, 2014). as a result, the european definition became less precise (it no longer only concerned wrongdoings classed as being illegal, immoral or illegitimate) but more universal (any disclosure concerning a threat or harm to the public interest). up until 2015, whistleblowers were not “obliged to disclose information internally” (bourdon, 2015). in october 2016, the sapin ii law for transparency, the fight against corruption and the modernisation of the economy proposed a general framework in line with the recommendations of the european council. by simplifying them, it brought together all the sector-based laws and regulations produced by the french legal system since 2007 . indeed, the sapin ii law gave parliament a new definition of a 5 whistleblower. according to article 6 adopted by the french parliament (assemblée nationale, 2016b), officially a whistleblower is: “any person who reveals or reports, acting selflessly and in good faith: � 678 4. ambiguus, from ambigere, to doubt, from amb, around (vowel. ambe), and igere, for agere, to push (vowel. agir); word for word, which pushes from both sides. littré dictionnary (https:// www.littre.org/). 5.until recently, the french legal arsenal was considered to be « i n c o m p l e t e » ( t r a n s p a r e n c y international, 2013). cf appendix 1 for french texts concerning the status of whistleblowers. https://www.littre.org/) https://www.littre.org/) https://www.littre.org/) https://www.littre.org/) the whistleblower as the personification of a moral and managerial paradox m@n@gement, vol. 21(1): 675-690 a crime or an offence, • a serious and clear violation of: an international commitment which has been ratified or approved by france, a unilateral act of an international organisation adopted on the basis of such commitment, or a serious breach of a law or regulation, • or a serious threat or harm to the public interest of which the individual has had personal knowledge.” the formal disclosure of a criminal affair was confirmed, and at the same time so was the breach of a commitment to the french state by itself or by an international organisation. the way the law is written means a whistleblower can be internal or external to an organisation. this was considered to be major progress given that until then whistleblowers had been linked to their employers by a past or present work-based relationship. the law also included what can be considered to be the current risk (“harm”) and future risk (“threat”) to public interest. this provides for a wide scope going from financial issues to health and safety and the environment (meyer, 2016). however, the sapin ii law did not go as far as to give the status of whistleblower to legal entities, which in turn raised a number of difficulties . 6 likewise, some researchers have underlined the limited nature – even if it appears to be more precise – of the french definition in relation to the european one, which widens the scope of disclosure “to any disclosure made in the public interest” (foegle, 2016). furthermore, it has been mentioned that to limit disclosure to “good faith” or to a selfless act is too vague (foegle, 2016), which may in turn discredit the whistleblower and stifle the initiative taken by them: “are we still shooting the messenger?” (ashton, 2015). three lines can be drawn to the object of a disclosure, since nothing can be reported concerning classified military information, doctor-patient confidentiality or the confidential nature of the relationship between lawyers and their clients. even if the arguments in favour of protecting classified military information are commonly known, without always being justified, (grasset, 2001), the framework for medical secrets when applied to the work of laboratories in the pharmacological industry leaves room to be sceptical. indeed, the potential seriousness of excesses caused by ignoring health risks cannot be under-estimated (brisard & beguin, 2016). over and above any new definition of a whistleblower, and before this has even been put into practice, it would appear necessary to bring special attention to the moral paradox the current laws do not solve, even if the powers-that-be recognising a more protective status is a welcome step in the right direction. although considered by some to be the man, or rather the woman who knew “really too much” (gibaud, 2014), or simply the enemy from 7 within, whistleblowers are individuals whose loyalty and values push them to act not only in the interest of their company, but also in the interest of society (cailleba, 2016). the clash of diverging interests exposes obvious � 679 6. the films made in 2016 by the l214 association showing the degrading treatment of animals and the noncompliance with certain rules and r e g u l a t i o n s i n c e r t a i n f r e n c h slaughterhouses, or even the actions undertaken by the fuda (force unies pour le droit des animaux) or peta france associations, points to current and future difficulties in the recognition of legal entities as whistleblowers. 7.reading mainstream and specialist western media reveals that there are just as many, if not more, female whistleblowers as there are men. examples include: erin brockovitch (pg&e), irène frachon (médiator), stéphanie gibaud (ubs), nicole marie meyer (ministère français des affaires etrangères), sherron watkins (enron), cynthia cooper (worldcom) and coleen rowley (fbi). m@n@gement, vol. 21(1): 675-690 patrice cailleba & sandra charreire petit tensions between the economic interests of companies and the collective interests of society. consequently, the whistleblower’s value system is put to the test by the employer and by society in general, which are two separate yet equally legitimate sources. once informed of a potential offence, the state is required to take action on the disclosure. when organisational ethics are not enough to settle issues internally, the courts are called in through the questioning of the collective conscience. this then raises a moral paradox that is heightened by the confrontation of the company’s employees with the managers in charge of applying the law. as far as france was concerned in 2008, ethical whistleblowing systems did exist, but were “random and only relatively recently introduced” (de bry, 2008: 144). one of the reasons for being so far behind other countries is certainly due to french culture (de bry, 2008; charreire petit & surply, 2012) and the tormented history of the second world war, during which “the french resistance saw the reporting of events as treason and silence as an act of heroism” (bournois & bourion, 2008: 34). even today in france, people are reluctant to blow the whistle on a work colleague (larue, 2007). these cultural reticences are even noticeable in the negative connotations carried by the way the term whistleblower is translated into certain other european languages (transparency international, 2013: 19-21). indeed, “denunciation” is put forward as a term without specifying “divulgation”, “révelation” or “signalement” as in the new law. this can be confirmed by considering the case of quebec, which was not occupied by the german army. in quebec the terms “dénonciateur” and “lanceur d’alerte” are freely employed .8 before disclosing or reporting an irregular or illegal act, a person naturally asks questions about the very nature of something that incriminates another person or entity. cultural dimensions arise beyond the actual object of the disclosure and the influence of society or history may be an obstacle to it. the individual is faced with a moral dilemma, hesitating between breaking the organisational silence in the name of truth on the one hand, and on the other hand remaining true to an employer and colleagues in the name of loyalty (cailleba, 2016a & b). the dilemma of an employee-whistleblower can be represented as follows in figure 1. figure 1 the whistleblower’s dilemma (adapted from charreire, petit & surply, 2012) the employee speak up stay silent obedience obeying the ethics charter / the code of good practice, etc. obedience as misconduct loyalty towards the organisation towards one’s managers � 680 8. office québécois de la langue f r a n ç a i s e , g r a n d d i c t i o n n a i r e terminologique (viewed 18 april 2016 : http://www.granddictionnaire.com/ resultat.aspx). http://www.granddictionnaire.com/resultat.aspx) http://www.granddictionnaire.com/resultat.aspx) http://www.granddictionnaire.com/resultat.aspx) http://www.granddictionnaire.com/resultat.aspx) the whistleblower as the personification of a moral and managerial paradox m@n@gement, vol. 21(1): 675-690 according to french labour law, an employee may be dismissed for three types of reason : 9 • misconduct or negligence (“faute”): the error committed by the employee does not necessarily justify the classification of serious misconduct. however, it can be a real and serious cause for dismissal. an employee can be accused of simple misconduct, for example, in the event of an error or negligence committed by them in the course of their work; • gross misconduct or negligence (“faute grave”): the error is considered as gross misconduct when it makes it impossible to keep the employee in the company. the error(s) must be directly attributable to the employee; • willful misconduct or negligence (“faute lourde”): the error is considered as willful misconduct when it is committed with the intention of harming the employer. it is up to the employer to prove any intention to harm. failing that, the employee may be accused of willful misconduct. if to obey is to “modify one’s behaviour so as to comply with the orders of legitimate authority” (allard-poesi, 2006), ‘obedience as misconduct’ (“faute d’obéissance”) therefore means taking a decision and/ or adopting behaviour to divest oneself of any responsibility concerning its consequences. the employee then stays silent, whereas they should have spoken up and informed their line manager. they can end up being blamed for the intention to harm the employer (willful misconduct) as well as the desire to protect colleagues (gross misconduct), for example. obedience as misconduct involves professional misconduct just as much as it involves moral failings. whistleblowers overcome this by emphasizing the moral aspect whilst at the same time hoping to eventually invoke their professional integrity. even if the number of whistleblowing cases has increased over the last few years in france, this individual and moral dilemma still remains present. the moral paradox for the company and its directors a second moral paradox can be added to the first classical one already discussed above. it covers what company directors go through; in other words, why should an employee be protected (in the case of an internal whistleblower), when the disclosure harms the future of the organisation or at least damages its reputation? in this way, beyond the individual moral paradox there is an organisational one too. through its managers, the company is confronted with a paradoxical situation from a moral point of view. the company finds itself at odds, on the one hand, with the legitimate protection of its economic interests (friedman, 1970). and on the other hand, it is not only at odds with reinforced legal requirements to protect the whistleblower, but also at odds with a new requirement to ensure the disclosure is made public (at least internally) and appropriately dealt with. firstly, article 7 of the sapin ii law renders the whistleblower criminally liable “as long as the disclosure is necessary and proportional to the protection of the interests in question” (assemblée nationale, 2016b) � 681 9.see official french labour law website: https://www.service-public.fr/ particuliers/vosdroits/f1137. https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/f1137 https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/f1137 https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/f1137 https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/f1137 https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/f1137 https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/f1137 m@n@gement, vol. 21(1): 675-690 patrice cailleba & sandra charreire petit and as long as the previously mentioned legal guidelines are followed (cf. above). even if the law leaves open the question of civil liability and the fact that a whistleblower can be prosecuted for libel (article 13), organisations are now fully aware of the limits to the legal action they can take against a whistleblower. next, according to article 8, companies are required to implement procedures and make other arrangements which provide channels for the disclosure: in other words, “appropriate disclosure procedures (…) are to b e s e t u p b y p u b l i c o r p r i v a t e e n t i t i e s w i t h m o r e t h a n 5 0 employees” (assemblée nationale, 2016b). these procedures are legal requirements for any public or private organisation, and for any national, regional or local authority. as a result, it is stipulated that disclosures can be “made by their members of staff or by external or casual collaborators” (assemblée nationale, 2016b). once a line manager has been informed, the organisation is required to verify the acceptability of the disclosure “within a reasonable period of time” that is to be defined. failure to do so may lead to “a legal, administrative or other professional body” being directly 10 informed of the disclosure. finally, in the case of the disclosure not being dealt with by one of these organisations “within a period of 3 months the disclosure can be made public”. in any case, according to article 8 once again, the disclosure may be made public or brought to the attention of the organisations mentioned above “in the case of a serious or imminent danger or in the presence of a risk that would cause irreversible damage” (assemblée nationale, 2016b). companies should therefore deal quickly and efficiently with a disclosure in order prevent the situation being made aware of too soon beyond its own confines. in addition, preventing a disclosure can be punished by a jail sentence and by a fine (article 13). the ombudsman can provide a whistleblower who requests their help with support, including financial assistance (article 8 & 14). as we have already seen, a company may be accused of obstructing a disclosure and see the whistleblower assigned the help of the ombudsman. throughout the procedure, the confidentiality of the identity of the whistleblower is guaranteed, failing which a prison sentence and a €30,000 fine can be applied (assemblée nationale, 2016b). even the legal authority is only allowed to reveal the identity of the whistleblower with their permission, and only “once the disclosure has been fully justified” (article 9). the company is therefore required to keep the identity of the whistleblower secret. yet the whistleblower is the person through whom a scandal starts and who, by definition, may jeopardise the reputation and even the future of the company. even so, the law does not explain how the identity should be kept secret: should the disclosure be paper-based to avoid any electronic trace left by a professional email? or on the contrary, shouldn’t the use of an anonymous email help with keeping identities secret? in which case, it is pointless to send the email to one’s direct line manager! similarly, the law does not make it clear about who should guarantee keeping the identity of a whistleblower secret. being responsible for keeping an identity secret is a difficult task for an individual, as it is for a department. it therefore becomes necessary to train managers, executive � 682 10.it should be noted that trade unions are not included in this law. this does not prevent them being informed, but it does not give them any official power or failing that any influence. the whistleblower as the personification of a moral and managerial paradox m@n@gement, vol. 21(1): 675-690 managers and in particular the members of the human resources department to do this. a legal framework for actions that put to the test individual morals and ethics within a company (cuevas & cailleba, 2015) is destined to produce a paradoxical situation for those who are supposed to enforce it or who are quite simply directly concerned by it. this law is unique in that it also creates a moral paradox for the company. as such, it puts pressure on senior managers for whom it is equally moral to defend and promote the economic interests of their company as it is to defend their employees whose disclosures or revelations risk damaging these very same interests. this puts a strain on the company and its senior managers because the law may open the door to potential risks for the organisation. the traditional moral paradox of the employee, who may hesitate between loyalty and obedience (see table 1) is consequently exasparated by the moral paradox of senior managers, who have a dual legal obligation to: • reinforce the protection of employees (if they are internal) accusing them of a misdemeanour, a crime, or a violation of the law that is likely to cause serious prejudice to the general interest; • set up channels for disclosures and for dealing with them, which in turn might undermine confidence in management and in the company itself. the problem raised for companies by the management of whistleblowers (and not just the management of the disclosure) is a managerial one when each member of staff is asked to both promote and defend the values of their company (kraakman, 1986; bournois & bourion, 2008). as a consequence, it has become necessary to understand this fundamental managerial paradox personified by whistleblowers, in order to explore avenues to overcome it in the interest of a range of stakeholders (whistleblowers, companies, society). what is the point of protecting an individual who damages the reputation and even the future of a company? wouldn’t a law that provides too much protection, indirectly aim to weaken companies by guaranteeing certain rights to the “enemy from within”? the managerial paradox forced on the company by whistleblowers it is no coincidence that whistleblowers have become a research topic. employee initiatives (peters & waterman, 1983), the delegation of responsibility throughout the organisation via managerial practices such as empowerment (spreitzer, 2007) and the promotion of the liberated company (carney & getz, 2009) have ended up by being established as mainstream discourse in companies. new means of communication and the desire for transparency have accelerated the phenomenon via information exchange and interaction between all the members of the organisation (barlatier, 2016). in addition, the increased complexity of organisations in the areas of financial controlling (mériade & mainetti, 2013), risk management (guillon, 2011) and management (mattei, 2012), whether they be public or private, has brought about the need for greater autonomy and the call for both managers and their staff to act more responsibly. in such a context, to regret the rising influence of whistleblowers would be a true managerial paradox. on what grounds is it right to criticise � 683 http://it m@n@gement, vol. 21(1): 675-690 patrice cailleba & sandra charreire petit employees who exercise their freedom of speech about their profession in light of their ethical values, whereas they were recruited because they could incarnate these, among other values, in their work? as a consequence, it can be noted that there is a conflict between the logic of compliance specific to each company and the need for each organisation to protect itself by containing within its walls the manifestation of ills by whistleblowers. the logic of compliance and open support for whistleblowers the french organisation le cercle de la compliance defines compliance as follows: “all processes that contribute to ensuring that employees and managers apply the rules of the company, but also the values and the ethical spirit generated by the senior management team”. compliance is not a simple matter of course, but “is to be structured (…) around an organisational arrangement set-up throughout the company or the organisation” . by creating an ethical culture supported by an 11 organisation-wide policy, compliance underpins any initiative that works to limit (or internally denounce through specific channels) occurrences of malpractice within the organisation (liyanarachchi & newdick, 2009). putting into place an ethical code of conduct contributes to this approach, as well as setting up internal committees, hotlines or other arrangements designed specifically for whistleblowing, among other things. in fact, most companies initially draw up and issue ethics charters and codes of conduct to ensure compliance aligned with what is sometimes an extra-territorial legal framework (cf. above, the sarbannes-oxley law). as a general rule, it is not the extra-territorial nature of compliance that is advanced in management discourse, but more the matching of compliance actions with the csr standards adhered to by the company or that it claims in a csr strategy. but, what about actually putting words into practice? does staking a claim to compliance really mean there are no tensions between csr declarations and practice that cannot be observed? up until the introduction of the sapin ii law, it was “much more preferable to make disclosures to third parties (journalists, elected representatives, trade unions, prosecutors)” (bourdon, 2015) because in practice, cases were almost systematically stifled from within. as of now, the law recommends first of all an internal publication of the disclosure, with the possibility of outside publication if required (in the case of a long process or the serious nature of the prejudice). be that as it may, it is in the total interest of companies to take measures to prevent the effects of “a future time-bomb” (charreire petit & surply, 2008: 122). it is does not mean that disclosures should be avoided, but rather any wrongdoings that may give rise to a disclosure should be. at the same time, any potential disclosures should also be channelled effectively. thus, the managerial paradox is based upon a contradictory injunction that requires managers to be both: • a senior member of staff with impeccable ethical behaviour working in an autonomous but constantly changing professional framework, and; • a member of staff whose performance (ipso facto their career) is � 684 11.the cercle de la compliance is an a s s o c i a t i o n o f f r e n c h l a w y e r s , c o m p a n y l a w y e r s a n d e t h i c s p r o f e s s i o n a l s . i t s m i s s i o n i s t o promote, publish, advise, train and raise awareness of those working in business, politics, the press and compliance: http://www.cercledelacompliance.com/. http://www.cercledelacompliance.com/ http://www.cercledelacompliance.com/ the whistleblower as the personification of a moral and managerial paradox m@n@gement, vol. 21(1): 675-690 assessed according to mainly quantitative objectives (often financial), which must be improved each year. it is for this reason that compliance is translated by a set of procedures aimed at supporting and protecting potential whistleblowers through principles (applying the law) and also through values (promoting ethical values). by calling on “gatekeepers” (bournois & bourion, 2008; vandekerckhove & tsahuridu, 2010), i.e. employees whose job it is to “guarantee that relevant regulations are followed” but also by promoting ethical values or codes of conduct within the company, the organisation controls and limits irregular professional practice that may otherwise lead to disclosures. protecting the company or the importance of confining disclosures whatever the sector of activity of a company, wanting to keep a check on and limiting disclosures, or even threateninig potential whistleblowers with retaliatory measures is counter-productive for the work atmosphere (parmerlee & al., 1982; miceli & near, 1994b) and for troubleshooting (miceli & near, 1989; near & miceli, 1996; charreire petit & cusin, 2013). in situations where the disclosure has been stifled from within the company, whistleblowers may be tempted to speak out urbi and orbi. the new french sapin ii law supports this type of initiative. however, making an open disclosure runs the risk of being even more violent and damaging for the company, if not for its turnover in any case for its reputation (rayner, 2004). as far as companies are concerned, it would appear necessary to retain disclosures within its own walls for two reasons. firstly, disclosures should be internally controlled and confined efficiently to prevent them getting out. secondly, in the respect of compliance, disclosures within the company should be sincerely and ethically brought to the attention of the person(s) authorized to deal with them and confirm their serious nature. since organisational entropy (cappelletti, 2010) explains that deviance is inherent to human activity, and a fortiori to any human collectivity, setting up systems to channel disclosures is vital for companies. confining the disclosure also involves the legal obligation to protect whistleblowers against any reprisals. identified as the traitor who breaches the moral contract with their employer (near & al., 2004; cailleba, 2016 a), whistleblowers are put under all sorts of direct and indirect pressure, which are part and parcel of their state (charreire petit & cusin, 2013) and which are apparently linked to a post-traumatic stress syndrome for them (bourdon, 2015). conclusion this article has identified a dual (moral and managerial) paradox for the management of whistleblowers. this dual paradox is fractal in its moral dimension. in this dimension, there is firstly a classical individual moral paradox to which the new french sapin ii law then adds a moral organisational paradox. the ambiguity of the moral paradox highlighted here reaches its highest due to the pressures placed on whistleblowers and senior managers. on the one side there is the defence of moral individual values, and on the other the defence of the company. these � 685 m@n@gement, vol. 21(1): 675-690 patrice cailleba & sandra charreire petit pressures are equally powerful and end up by creating a permanent divide between the different parties. firstly, anybody who hesitates to report something, as defined by the sapin ii law, finds themself at odds with the principle of loyalty to their employer on the one hand, and with being true to their own ethical principles, on the other. this is the first individual moral paradox. in parallel, the company is required to set up suitable systems to deal with this kind of disclosure, whilst at the same time keeping confidential the identity of the whistleblower whose very actions might bring down the reputation and even the economic welfare of the company. this is the second moral paradox, which is organisational. finally, the managerial paradox is characterised by the fact that companies require their employees, and in particular their senior managers, to be more autonomous, to take more responsibilities and to defend its values. at the same time, companies are increasingly wary of their employees’ freedom of speech and of their potentially negative impact in case they detect a misalignment of the strategic discourse with the everyday behaviour of their colleagues. up until recently, very few studies had dealt with the dual paradox of the nature of whistleblowing. the main limitation to our work could lead one to believe that whistleblowers are simply just an ethical figure among others. however, becoming a whistleblower means acquiring often inspite of oneself a status that does not really offer any protection and which it subsequently becomes difficult to get rid of in the eyes of a present or future employer, or in the eyes of society. in the same way as business leaders, whistleblowers represent a dynamic socio-economic construction as well as a political and cultural one. this construction is made necessary by companies themselves and their stakeholders. if society is to promote democratic ideals and individual commitment, it is crucial to stand up for whistleblowers, who are the very incarnation of this (hauserman, 1986). whistleblowing does not give protection status in companies. whistleblowing has truly become part and parcel of the job description of each and every employee. finally, our work rings true with that done in the field of critical management studies (cms), which has put forward an anti-performative dimension of a certain organisational culture (fournier & grey, 2000). the paradoxical nature of whistleblowing we have illustrated is a reflection of the constraints generated by certain managerial practices in organisations (alvesson, 2008; spicer et al., 2009). in fact, by setting up management systems (either early warning or whistleblowing), whilst at the same time concentrating their efforts on making sure they are not used, aren’t companies searching for anti-performativity concerning the question of whistleblowing? to be considered… � 686 the whistleblower as the personification of a moral and managerial paradox m@n@gement, vol. 21(1): 675-690 appendix 1: history of western whistleblowing systems at the international level, the first whistleblowing acts appeared just before the end of the 20th century (de bry, 2008), and mainly in anglo-saxon countries: • 1998: united kingdom (public interest disclosure act or pida); • 1999: south africa (protected disclosures act), australia (federal public service act); northern ireland (public interest disclosure ordre); european union (statut des fonctionnaires des communautés européennes, modified in 2004); • 2000: new zealand (protected disclosures act); • 2001: south korea (anti-corruption act); • 2004: canada (public servants disclosure protection legislation); netherlands (corporate governance code of conduct); etc. however, less than 10 years after the sox law, the 2008 subprime crisis in the united states of america has exposed a certain number of its limits. obviously, internal ethical disclosures would appear to no longer be enough (vaughn, 2014). modifications to the 1863 civil false claims act were made in 2008 and voted through in 2009 in order to toughen up the sanctions against companies found guilty of fraud (sec, 2011). in particular, the qui tam procedure was clarified under the two mandates of president obama (2009-2012 & 2013-2016), by giving more prerogatives and protection to whistleblowers who speak up externally. under the framework of the dodd-frank act (2010), whistleblowers can take advantage of a “bounty” or reward system, which can go as far as to giving them a part of the money recuperated (via tax adjustments) or the fines paid to the state via this procedure (rashty, 2015). through their studies on the impact of this law on 12 professional practice, as well as the application of different regulatory systems, certain researchers have mentioned the benefits of increased efficiency (feldman & lobel, 2010; pope & lee, 2013), and even the heightened “moral autonomy” (mogielnicki, 2011; p.74) of company employees. other researchers have been less categoric by giving a reminder of the risk that this has on the morale of those involved (vandekerckhove & tsahuridu, 2008; 2010), as well as on the trend for disempowerment (cailleba, 2016a). in france, the legal texts regulating the status of whistleblowers have, up until now, been considered to be “too sparse” (masounave, 2015): • law of 13th november 2007: private sector employees may disclose cases of corruption; • law of 29th december 2011 for the reinforcement of the health safety of health products; • law of 16th april 2013 on “the independent nature of the appraisal of health and environmental issues and of whistleblowers”; • law of 11th october 2013 (n° 2013-907) on transparency in public matters; • law of 6th december 2013-1117 on tax evasion and serious economic and financial crime. in particular; article 40 of the penal code of procedure requires civil servants to report any criminal offences; • article l. 1161-1 of the labour law: employees who in good faith make disclosures about corruption are protected against any reprisals. � 687 11.anglo-saxon legal procedure dating from the middle ages for which the full title in 14th century latin is “qui tam pro domino rege quam pro se ipso in hac parte sequitur”, translated as “[one] who sues in this matter for the king [as well as] for oneself”. in france, since 1st january 2017 and for a trial period of 2 years, the amendment to the finance bill adopted by the national assembly on 7th november 2016 officially allows international tax fraud informants to be remunerated. the t e x t s d o n o t e x p l i c i t l y m e n t i o n whistleblowers or informants, but “any person who does not work for a public authority”. web site consulted 9 d e c e m b e r 2 0 1 6 a t : h t t p : / / w w w. a s s e m b l e e n a t i o n a l e . f r / 1 4 / amendements/4061c/cion_toute/ cf275.pdf. http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/14/amendements/4061c/cion_toute/cf275.pdf%22%20%5ct%20%22_blank http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/14/amendements/4061c/cion_toute/cf275.pdf%22%20%5ct%20%22_blank http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/14/amendements/4061c/cion_toute/cf275.pdf%22%20%5ct%20%22_blank http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/14/amendements/4061c/cion_toute/cf275.pdf%22%20%5ct%20%22_blank http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/14/amendements/4061c/cion_toute/cf275.pdf%22%20%5ct%20%22_blank http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/14/amendements/4061c/cion_toute/cf275.pdf%22%20%5ct%20%22_blank m@n@gement, vol. 21(1): 675-690 patrice cailleba & sandra charreire petit references
 allard-poesi, f. (2006), management d’équipe, 2e édition, paris : dunod. alvesson, m. (2008). the future of critical management studies. in d. barry, & h. hansen (eds.), the sage handbook of new approaches in management and organization, (pp.11-30). new york: sage publication. ashton, j. (2015). 15 years of whistleblowing protection under the public interest disclosure act 1988: are we still shooting the messenger? industrial law journal, 44 (1), 29-52. assemblée nationale (2016a). rapport d’information sur l’extraterritorialité de la législation américaine. enregistré le 5/10/2016. mission d’information constituée le 3 février 2016. consulted on 28 january 2017. http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/ 14/pdf/rap-info/i4082.pdf assemblée nationale (2016b). projet de loi relatif à la transparence, à la lutte contre la corruption et à la modernisation de la vie économique, texte adopté n°830. consulted on 7 december 2016. http:// www.assemblee-nationale.fr/14/ta/ta0830.asp. barlatier, j.-p. (2016). management de l’innovation et nouvelle ère numérique. revue française de gestion, 1, 55-63. boatright, j. r. (2007). reluctant guardians: the moral responsibility of gatekeepers, business ethics quarterly, 17(4), 613-632. bourdon, w. (2015). ethique : les lanceurs d’alerte en mal de statut. revue banque, avril 2015, n°783. bournois, f. & bourion, c. (2008). les nouveaux gardiens de l'éthique. ou la vigilance citoyenne. revue internationale de psychosociologie, 234(14), 31-38. brisard, j.-c. & beguin, a. (2016), effets secondaires : le scandale français, paris : editions first. cailleba, p. (2009). l’entreprise face au risque de réputation. responsabilité & environnement, 55(3), 9-14. cailleba p. & cuevas f. (2015). analyse de la différence entre éthique et morale. [im]pertinences, revue de l’académie de l’ethique, 5(eté), 19-28. cailleba, p. (2016a). le lanceur d’alerte : entre loyauté et liberté. [im]pertinences, revue de l’académie de l’ethique, 6(eté), 37-50. cappelletti, l. (2010). vers un modèle socioéconomique de mesure du capital humain ? revue française de gestion, 8(207), 139-152. c h a r r e i r e p e t i t , s . & s u r p l y, j . ( 2 0 0 8 ) . d u whistleblowing à l'américaine à l'alerte éthique à la française : enjeux et perspectives pour le gouvernement d'entreprise, m@n@gement, numéro spécial « ethique et gouvernance », 11(2), 113-135. charreire petit, s. & surply, j. (2012). parler ou se taire ou le dilemme du salarié lanceur d’alerte. analyse critique à l’aune de sa liberté. revue economies et sociétés, série etudes critiques en management, 9, 1789-1813. charreire petit, s. & cusin, j. (2013). whistleblowing et résilience : analyse d'une trajectoire individuelle, m@n@gement, 16(2), 142-175. chateauraynaud, f. & torny, d. (2013), les sombres précurseurs, 2ème édition, paris : ehess. carney, b.m. & getz, i. (2009) freedom, inc.: free your employees and let them lead your business to higher productivity, profits, and growth, liberté & cie, new york: crown business. conseil de l’europe (2014). recommandation cm/ rec(2014)7 adoptée par le comité des ministres du conseil de l’europe le 30 avril 2014 et exposé des motifs. editions du conseil de l’europe. consulted o n 2 7 a p r i l . h t t p s : / / w w w . c o e . i n t / t / d g h l / standardsetting/cdcj/cdcj%20recommendations/ cmrec(2014)7f.pdf de bry, f. (2008). salariés courageux oui, mais héros ou délateurs ? du whistleblowing à l'alerte éthique. revue internationale de psychosociologie, 34(14), 135-150. dodd-frank act (2010). dodd-frank wall street reform and consumer protection act. 2010. 12 usc 5301, § 922 et. seq. enron (2010). code of ethics. july. consulted on 31 may 2016. http://www.thesmokinggun.com ernst & young (2016). enquête internationale sur la fraude 2016. 14ème édition. consulted on 28 june 2016. http://www.ey.com/fr/fr/newsroom/newsreleases/ey-communique-de-presse-enqueteinternationale-ey-sur-la-fraude-2016 feldman, y. & lobel, o. (2009). the incentives matrix: the comparative effectiveness of rewards, liabilities, duties, and protections for reporting illegality. texas law review, 88(6), 1151. foegle, j.-p. (2016). le projet de loi ‘sapin ii’ : une protection illusoire des lanceurs d’alerte. the conversation fr. consulted on 28 january 2017. http://theconversation.com/le-projet-de-loi-sapin-iiune-protection-illusoire-des-lanceurs-dalerte-65693 fournier, v. & grey, c. (2000). at the critical moment: conditions and prospects for critical management studies. human relations, 53(1), 7. frachon, i. (2015). figure du lanceur d’alerte : le cas du mediator. hermès, la revue, 3(73), 146-150. friedman, m. (1970). the social responsibility of business is to increase its profits, new york times magazine, september ,13(32-33), 122-124. gibaud, s. (2014), la femme qui en savait vraiment trop, paris : le cherche midi. grasset, b. (2001). secrets défense. pouvoirs, 2(97), 63-66. guillon, b. (2011). mises en pratique de la gestion des risques. management & avenir, 1(41), 66-69. hassink, h. de vries, m. & bollen, l. (2007). a content analysis of whistleblowing policies of leading european companies. journal of business ethics, 75(1), 25-44. hauserman, n.r. (1986). whistle-blowing: individual morality in a corporate society. business horizons, march-april, 4-9. huyghe, f.-b. (2016), la désinformation : les armes du faux, paris : armand colin. igalens, j. (sous la direction de) (2004), tous responsables, paris : editions d’organisations. � 688 the whistleblower as the personification of a moral and managerial paradox m@n@gement, vol. 21(1): 675-690 kraakman, r. h. (1986). gatekeepers: the autonomy of a third-party enforcement strategy, journal of law. economics and organization, 2(1), 53-04. larue, m.-h. (2007). les ambiguïtés des systèmes d’alerte éthique. gérer et comprendre, n°89, p. 24-32. liyanarachchi, g. newdick, c. (2009). the impact of moral reasoning and retaliation on whistleblowing: new zealand evidence. journal of business ethics, 89, 37-57. m a r c h , j . g . , g u e t z k o w , h . & s i m o n h . (1958),organizations, new york: john wiley & sons. mattei, g. (2012). sur le management à l’épreuve de la complexité et du paradoxe ou les avatars du management scientifique et technocratique. humanisme et entreprise, 2(307), 17-28. masounave, a. (2015). législation : lanceurs d’alerte en europe : où en est-on ? revue banque, n°783. mauduit, a. (2008). alerte éthique et salariés d'entreprise. s'agit-il d'un mariage forcé ? revue internationale de psychosociologie, 14(34),127-133. mériade, l., mainetti, n. (2013). la réflexivité des acteurs face à la complexité des organisations publiques : un levier interactif de contrôle de la performance universitaire ? gestion et management public, 1(3), 3-23. meyer, n.m. (2016). la loi sapin ii est une très grande avancée pour les lanceurs d’alerte. entretien avec mathilde régis. le lanceur. 10 novembre 2016. c o n s u l t e d o n 2 8 j a n u a r y 2 0 1 7 . h t t p : / / www.lelanceur.fr/nicole-marie-meyer-la-loi-sapin-iiest-une-tres-grande-avancee-pour-les-lanceursdalerte/ miceli, m.p. & near, j.p. (1985). characteristics of organizational climate and perceived wrondoing associated with whistle-blowing decisions. personnel psychology, 38(3), 525-544. miceli, m.p., near, j.p. (1988). individual and situational correlates of whistleblowing. personnel psychology, 41(2), 267-281. miceli, m.p. & near, j.p. (1989). the incidence of wrongdoing, whistle blowing, and retaliation: results of a naturally occurring field experiment. employee responsibilities and rights journal, 2(2), 91-108. miceli, m.p. & near, j. p. (1994a). listening to your whistle-blowers can be profitable! academy of management executive, 8(3), 65-72. miceli, m.p & near, j. p. (1994b). relationships among value congruence, perceived victimization, and retaliation agains whistle-blowers. journal of management, 20(4), 773-794. miceli, m.p. & near, j. p. (1995). effective whistleblowing. academy of management review, 20(3), 679-708. miceli, m.p., near, j.p. & dworkin, t.m. (2008), whistleblowing in organizations, new york: psychology/ taylor & francis. miceli, m.p., near, j.p. & dworkin, t.m. (2009). a word to the wise: how managers and policy-makers can encourage employees to report wrongdoing. journal of business ethics, 86(3), 379-396. miceli, m.p. & near, j.p. (2013). an international comparison of the incidence of public sector whistle-blowing and the prediction of retaliation: australia, norway, and the us. australian journal of public administration, 72(4), 433-446. mogielnicki, m.s. (2011). hunting for 'bounty' and finding 'moral autonomy': the dodd-frank act expansion of whistle blower protections. academy of business research journal, 2, 74-84. musiani, f. (2015). edward snowden, l’« hommecontroverse » de la vie privée sur les réseaux. hermès, la revue, 3(73), 209-215. near, j.p. & miceli, m.p. (1985). organizational dissidence: the case of whistleblowing. journal of business ethics, 4(1), 1-16. near, j.p. & miceli, m.p. (1996). whistleblowing: myth and reality. journal of management, 22(3), 507-526. near, j.p., rehg, m.t., van scotter, j.r. & miceli m.p. (2004). does type of wrongdoing affect the whistleblowing process? business ethics quarterly, 14(2), 219-242. nebs (2013). 2013 national ethics business survey. nebs of the us workforce. document consulted on 28/6/2016. https://www.ethics.org/eci/research/eciresearch/nbes/nbes-reports/nbes-2013 parmerlee, m.a., near j.p. & jensen, t.a. (1982). correlates of whistle-blowers’ perceptions of organizational retaliation. administrative science quarterly, 27, 17-34. peretti, j.-m., delaye, r. (sous la dir. de) (2010), tous vertueux, paris : editions d’organisation. pereira, b. (2009). chartes et codes de conduite : le paradoxe éthique. management & avenir, 1(21), 26-43. peters, t. & waterman, r. (1983), le prix de l’excellence, paris: intereditions. pope, k.r. & lee, c.c. (2013). could the dodd-frank wall street reform and consumer protection act of 2010 be helpful in reforming corporate america? an investigation on financial bounties and whistleblowing behaviors in the private sector. journal of business ethics, 112(4), 597-607. rashty, j. (2015). corporate ethics and the rights of whistleblowers. the cpa journal, 85(2), 48-50. rayner, j. (2004), managing reputational risk, chichester: john wiley & son ltd. sox (2002). sarbanes-oxley act of 2002. 2002. 15 u.s.c. 7201, § 301. sec (2011). final rule. securities whistleblower incentives and protections, 17 cfr 240, 249. spicer, a., alvesson, m., & kärreman, d. (2009). critical performativity: the unfinished business of critical management studies. human relations, 62(4), 537. spreitzer, g. (2007). participative organizational leadership, empowerment, and sustainable peace, journal of organizational behavior, 28(8), 1077-1096. � 689 m@n@gement, vol. 21(1): 675-690 patrice cailleba & sandra charreire petit transparency international (2013). whistleblowing in europe: legal protections for whistleblowers in the e u . c o n s u l t e d o n 3 1 m a y 2 0 1 6 . h t t p : / / www.transparency.org/whatwedo/publication/ whistleblowing_in_europe_legal_protections_for_w histleblowers_in_the_eu vandekerckhove, w. & tsahuridu, e.e. (2008). organisational whistleblowing policies: making employees responsible or liable? journal of business ethics, 82(1), 107-118. vandekerckhove, w. & tsahuridu, e.e. (2010). risky rescues and the duty to blow the whistle. journal of business ethics, 97(3), 365-380. vaughn, r.g. (2014), the successes and failures of whistleblowers laws, new york: edward elgar publishing ltd. patrice cailleba is a professor of management at esc pau business school (france) and a member of irmape laboratory. his research field covers business ethics, organisational behavior and politics. patrice obtained his doctoral degree in philosophy from the sorbonne university (paris iv) and graduated from escp europe (mim). he is auditor of the ihedn (institute for higher national defence studies). sandra charreire petit is professor in management at paris sud university / paris-saclay and a member of the ritm laboratory. her researches focuse on learning and managing change in organizations. in this context, she is interested in particular management systems such as whistleblowing and in the whistleblower’s trajectory. � 690 01 222 khurram&pestre&charreire petit 2019 m@n@gement 2019, vol. 22(2): 141-175 taking stock of the stakeholder salience tradition: renewing the research agenda shahzad khurram ! florent pestre ! sandra charreire petit accepted by former co-editor in chief laure cabantous and co-editor in chief thomas roulet abstract. mitchell, agle and wood’s (1997) stakeholder salience theory is one of the most prominent contributions to the management literature. although the stakeholder salience theory is a powerful tool for identifying and prioritizing stakeholders and is one of the most frequently cited works, efforts to take stock of research in the stakeholder salience tradition have remained limited. therefore, in this article, we consolidated and synthesized 57 relevant research articles into three mutually discernible themes (assessment of mitchell et al.’s (1997) model, refinement of the model and integration of contextual factors) and identified areas in which research into stakeholder salience has contributed to overcoming the limitations of broader stakeholder thinking. moreover, grounded in a historical perspective, we present several avenues for future research that also helped us to make theoretical, methodological and thematic contributions. keywords: stakeholder salience, attributes, literature review, dynamics, managerial perception introduction mitchell, agle and wood (1997) developed the stakeholder salience framework to help managers to identify and prioritize stakeholders through the assessment of three attributes: power, legitimacy and urgency. this framework suggests that the more of these attributes that a stakeholder possesses, the more salient that stakeholder is perceived by the managers. the framework constitutes a powerful tool and has emerged as a central topic in the business and society arenas. despite the global acclaim that this approach has won, it is still subject to disagreements in terms of theoretical development and empirical testing. stakeholder salience theory involves eclectic narratives grounded in the following. first, mitchell et al. (1997) mobilized a variety of theoretical perspectives to build the stakeholder salience model obtained from agency, resource dependence, transaction cost and institutional theories. second, there are different epistemologies—i.e. ways of characterizing salience attributes—that depict different ways of treating salience attributes. third, the model mobilizes multiple levels of analysis to measure the interactions and interdependence among firms, managers and stakeholders. finally, this model has been used across diverse disciplines and in various economic sectors. it has been tested using a variety of methods and techniques. however, after the passage of two decades of comprehensive research, no exhaustive efforts have been undertaken to review the previous research into the stakeholder salience tradition and to define the �141 shahzad khurram air university school of management, islamabad pakistan khurramjah2002@yahoo.co.uk florent pestre paris-saclay university, ritm france florent.pestre@u-psud.fr sandra charreire petit paris-saclay university, ritm france sandra.charreire-petit@u-psud.fr m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 141-175 shahzad khurram & florent pestre & sandra charreire petit limits of this eclectic model. our theoretical review addresses this gap by conducting an in-depth analysis of the stakeholder salience tradition, through a sample of 57 published articles. over time, the notion of the stakeholder has opened up a vast intellectual design space (freeman, harrison, wicks, parmar & de colle, 2010). in this article, we focus on stakeholder salience, which is one of the pillars of the stakeholder theory literature. our theoretical work contributes by structuring and clustering the literature on stakeholder salience. through an historical and original perspective, compared to previous literature reviews on this topic, the study of the research articles illustrates why and how the stakeholder salience phenomenon has evolved over time. we highlight three phases, corresponding to different streams in which research on stakeholder salience has contributed by providing richer description, re-description or relating description. these three phases are: a) the assessment of the salience model; b) the refinement and development of the salience model; and c) the integration of contextual factors (managerial values and characteristics) into the salience framework. based on this literature review, we identify avenues for future research in stakeholder salience theory. our main contributions take the form of several theoretical, methodological and thematic recommendations. first, from a theoretical point of view, our article offers a reassessment of the original attributes developed by mitchell et al. (1997), as well as newly proposed attributes by subsequent researchers. this concretely helps us to uncover the attribute– salience relationship, which neither the stakeholder salience theory (mitchell et al., 1997) nor subsequent work has discussed. second, our attempt to delineate the conceptual boundaries of the model that complements prior efforts sheds light on the scholarly incongruities and contributes by promoting dialogue across different viewpoints. third, mitchell et al. (1997) acknowledged that the stakeholder salience framework is dynamic in nature. our review suggests that the salience framework can only gain full empirical validity through general equilibrium analysis. fourth, we focus on managerial perceptions and try, from a theoretical standpoint, to clarify the literature in terms of salience to managers or salience to the firm. we argue that research work relating to salience could be enriched by integrating the potential misperception by managers. this orientation is virtually non-existent in the literature, and we argue that managers can misperceive, i.e. under-perceive or overperceive. we encourage new empirical research with different designs and methods to examine this issue. in synthesis, our contribution lies in its approach; by presenting the literature differently, we provide ready guidance for scholars by mapping this field, identifying the key themes, noting the research methodologies and summarizing trends. the article is structured as follows. first, we briefly trace and position the birth of the stakeholder salience tradition. this first section is followed by a description of the methodology used in the review process. then, we present the three key themes around which research on stakeholder salience is clustered. in the fourth section, we identify and discuss potential avenues for future research. �142 taking stock of the stakeholder salience tradition: renewing the research agenda m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 141-175 the stakeholder salience theory the precise origin of the term “stakeholder” is difficult to trace in the literature (freeman, 1984). emshoff and freeman (1981) maintained that the term originated from the stanford research institute in 1963. after its introduction, research involving the stakeholder concept multiplied and diverged along several paths. the bulk of the work was conducted in the field of strategic management (freeman, 1984; taylor, 1977). one of the ground-breaking contributions in this vein was r. edward freeman’s (1984) book, strategic management: a stakeholder approach, in which the author provided a schema to identify and model the groups that can potentially be termed the stakeholders of a focal firm. a residual weakness in the stakeholder theory although stakeholder theory (freeman, 1984) won universal recognition, it still had a major drawback—it could not offer a framework for identifying stakeholders. the original definition of stakeholder suggested by freeman, i.e. “any group or individual who ‘can affect’ or ‘is affected’ by the achievement of the organization’s objectives” (1984: 46), is quite appealing to researchers advocating for the normative perspective, but the “can affect” part of it has been severely criticized for the loss of practical significance (laplume et al., 2008). as phillips and reichart (2000) asserted, “why should we espouse a theory of stakeholder management if all living entities in as much as they can affect the firm must fall under the obligatory umbrella of managerial consideration?” (2000: 190). this residual weakness has given rise to both descriptive questions such as “who are the stakeholders of the firm?” and to normative questions such as “to whom should managers pay attention?”. to answer these questions, mitchell et al. (1997) synthesized more than 20 studies relating to agency, resource dependence, stakeholders, transaction cost, institutional theories, etc., and proposed a simple model of stakeholder salience. this descriptive model successfully filled the gap in the stakeholder tradition by theoretically specifying who managers consider to be stakeholders. it offered a middle way between the normative and instrumental perspectives by explaining the conditions under which firms are likely to attend to the claims of stakeholders. this firm-centric view primarily relied on stakeholder identity (crane & ruebottom, 2011) and defined the attributes that make certain stakeholders win managerial attention (mitchell et al., 1997). � 143 m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 141-175 shahzad khurram & florent pestre & sandra charreire petit table 1 stakeholder salience framework (mitchell et al., 1997) the central proposition of the stakeholder salience model the stakeholder salience model (mitchell et al., 1997) started to take shape in 1994 at the toronto conference on stakeholder theory, held at the university of toronto, where various working groups registered their consensus that stakeholder attributes are vital to stakeholder identification (mitchell et al., 2011). henceforth, mitchell et al. (1997) developed a stakeholder salience model built on three key assumptions: a) to achieve certain goals, managers should pay particular attention to various stakeholders; b) stakeholder salience—the degree to which managers place priority on competing stakeholder claims—depends on managerial perceptions; and c) different stakeholders are identified on the basis of their possession of overarching attributes of salience. the central proposition of the model of stakeholder salience is that “stakeholder salience will be positively related to the cumulative number of stakeholder attributes—power, legitimacy, and urgency—perceived by managers to be present” (mitchell et al., 1997: 873). the salience framework is based on an ordinal scale that ranges from high to low and that helped mitchell et al. (1997) to categorize stakeholders into seven classes: three possessing only one attribute, called latent stakeholders; three possessing two attributes, called expectant stakeholders; and one possessing all three attributes, called definitive stakeholders (mitchell et al., 1997) (see table 1). this model proposes that a stakeholder is assigned higher salience if three attributes are perceived by a manager to be present, moderate if two attributes are perceived to be present and lower if one attribute is perceived to be present. moreover, a constituent is not assigned stakeholder status if no attribute is perceived by the manager to be present. although interest in stakeholder salience and attributes had begun to take root in 1994, the theory came into prominence when it received empirical support from subsequent researchers (agle et al., 1999; eesley & lenox, 2006; knox & gruar, 2007; magness, 2008; parent & deephouse, 2007). today, mitchell et al.’s (1997) model of stakeholder salience is considered one of the most influential contributions in the domain of stakeholder research. it has gained increased prominence among the tools used to identify and classify stakeholders. these tools involve a variety of �144 class of stakeholder attribute(s) level of salience definitive stakeholders definitive power, legitimacy and urgency high expectant stakeholders dependent legitimacy and urgency moderate dangerous power and urgency moderate dominant power and legitimacy moderate latent stakeholders demanding urgency low discretionary legitimacy low dormant power low taking stock of the stakeholder salience tradition: renewing the research agenda m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 141-175 measures, such as stakeholders’ threats, cooperation, power, roles, commitment, influence, etc., to examine stakeholder relationships. however, these tools cannot be termed extensive and all-embracing in scope. to mention a few, for instance, cleland (1986) built only on stakeholder interest to predict the nature of future relationships; savage, nix, whitehead and blair (1991) defined stakeholder relationships based on stakeholders’ threats/cooperation. among these tools, mitchell et al.’s (1997) model is considered the most comprehensive and the most used tool. as of march 2019, mitchell et al.’s (1997) work had been cited more than 12,600 times according to google scholar. having attained global acclamation, researchers have applied the salience model and stakeholder attributes as proposed by mitchell et al. (1997) to examine how managers identify and prioritize stakeholders in various sectors. as shown in appendix 1, the stakeholder salience model has been used in different economic sectors, ranging from agriculture or construction to financial and insurance activities, to name only a few (we employed the united nations’ international standard industrial classification of all economic activities—isic—which provides reference classifications of productive activities, to categorize research articles). this heterogeneity is also illustrated in the journals in which articles are published according to trans-disciplinary logic. within the premises of stakeholder theory, the stakeholder salience tradition has mainly contributed by providing richer descriptions and redescriptions in an important area, i.e.  identification and prioritization of stakeholders and their interests. but some limitations still remain. limitations of previous review efforts our article reviews the academic stakeholder salience theory literature from 1997 to 2017. this review is much needed because the existing literature reviews of the stakeholder salience theory are either outdated or incomplete. laplume et al.’s (2008) work, for example, focused entirely on the stakeholder theory literature and not on the stakeholder salience theory. through content analysis, the authors found that work on the stakeholder theory is clustered around five broad themes, each with distinct questions and preferred empirical approaches. the themes that they identified were: a) definition and salience; b) stakeholder actions and responses; c) firm actions and responses; d) firm performance; and e) theoretical debates. only a part of the first theme covered the stakeholder salience theory-related literature. in total, laplume et al. (2008) collected a sample of 179 articles and observed 192 instances of all five themes. of these themes, stakeholder definition and salience, partly pertaining to the stakeholder salience theory, were addressed in only 18% of the articles, and a total of only nine key articles were analysed in laplume et al.’s (2008) work, which dealt directly with the following aspects of stakeholder salience theory (mitchell et al., 1997): a. powerful, legitimate, urgent stakeholders (agle et al., 1999; eesley & lenox, 2006; mitchell et al., 1997; winn, 2001); b. influence of the stakeholder culture (jones, felps & bigley, 2007); c. influence of the industry’s politicized framing (fineman & clarke, 1996); d. influence of the organizational life cycle stage (jawahar & mclaughlin, 2001); and e. environmentally proactive managers’ perceptions of stakeholders (buysse & verbeke, 2003; henriques & sadorsky, 1999). � 145 m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 141-175 shahzad khurram & florent pestre & sandra charreire petit neville, bell and whitewell’s (2011) work attempted to address directly the stakeholder salience theory (mitchell et al., 1997), but it mainly focused on identifying residual weaknesses in the theory and resolving them. as these authors stated, “we then identify and seek to resolve three residual weaknesses in mitchell et al.’s (1997) framework, thereby strengthening its foundation for further development” (neville et al., 2011: 357). these residual weaknesses involve: a) the lack of clarity on inclusion of urgency as an attribute of salience; b) the need to reassess the role of legitimacy; and c) the nature of the treatment of attributes as dichotomous when they are actually conceived as variables operating upon continua. however, the scope of stakeholder salience theory (mitchell et al., 1997) is quite broad and does not only involve the attributes of salience. moreover, their work involved only 103 articles in total, of which only 18 articles were critically analysed. both of these previous reviews confined sampling to only 8 to 12 journals in management. stakeholder salience theory and subsequent work have spread to several other important domains e.g. project management, and, therefore, there is a need to broaden the search for relevant articles to other leading journals as well. the selection criteria in previous reviews were also very different. laplume et al. (2008) narrowed their sample to only articles that had referenced freeman (1984). for a comprehensive review for precisely analysing the area of stakeholder salience theory, generic terms such as “freeman (1984)” or “stakeholders” are not fully relevant. at the theoretical front, until 2011, when the last review (neville et al., 2011) on the subject was produced, most of the research was conducted to empirically test the salience framework (mitchell et al., 1997) (see appendix 2). it is over the last seven years (2011-2017) that other themes, such as the refinement and development of new constructs and the integration of contextual factors, have received more attention that could not be captured in previous reviews. most importantly, managerial perceptions and characteristics (bundy, shropshire & buchholtz, 2013; tashman & raelin, 2013) play important roles in the stakeholder salience phenomena, and research in this area has multiplied exponentially covering managers’ roles, positions, spiritual identities, orientations and rationality (mitchell, robinson, marin, lee & randolph, 2013). similarly, managerial misperceptions and factors that can cause managers to ignore stakeholders have also gained the attention of researchers in recent years. moreover, research on contextual factors has remarkably developed, and the number of proposed attributes has increased from three to seven, but all such developments remained un-captured in previous reviews. in this article, we identify the areas in recent literature in which, building on stakeholder salience theory, scholars have attempted to fix the weaknesses in broader stakeholder theory. we present, in the following section, the methods that we used to review the literature on the stakeholder salience tradition. methods we have two primary objectives in this research: a) to identify the key themes that structure the stakeholder salience literature and their evolution over the last 20 years; and b) to develop a research agenda that addresses the challenges for practitioners and researchers interested in stakeholder salience-related research and applications. following tranfield, denyer and smart (2003) and macpherson and jones (2010), we employed multi-stage methods to conduct the review. �146 taking stock of the stakeholder salience tradition: renewing the research agenda m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 141-175 first, we began with a systematic search using electronic databases —including jstor, science direct, wiley online library, springer, sage, oxford university press, elsevier science direct, cambridge university press, cairn, etc.—included in business source premier and econlit, for the boolean search term stakeholder* in the abstract field and for salience* and stakeholder* in the full text fields of the journals. we kept the journal inclusion quite broad and took all 1,091 peer-reviewed journals available in business source premier, in addition to those in econlit. one important reason to keep the inclusion of journals quite broad was to illustrate how the stakeholder salience framework was applied in various fields (see appendix 1). all peer-reviewed journals included in these databases were searched, and this search returned more than 700 articles. second, in line with our research objectives, we specified the inclusion criteria to determine whether the articles should be retained for further analysis or discarded. our inclusion criterion was that stakeholder salience (mitchell et al., 1997) was a clearly identifiable framework that was applied to identify or prioritize stakeholders or was further developed in the article. our final work, in total, consists of 57 publications that are arguably representative of the population of research in the stakeholder salience tradition (see appendix 2). these articles received more attention for the following reasons: a) they empirically tested the central proposition of the salience framework; b) they addressed the refinement and development of the salience framework; and c) they examined the effects of contextual factors on the salience framework. these 57 articles are listed in appendix 2, which provides a historical perspective of the evolution of the three main themes around which the salience theory is clustered. from the original proposition of the stakeholder framework in 1997 to date, we identified three distinct phases. in the first period—from 1999 to 2005—the bulk of the articles assessed the salience framework. this approach was expected because, after the proposition of a framework, the next natural step ought to be its empirical assessment. not surprisingly, in the second phase—from 2006 to 2010—a change in focus was observed, and major contributions were made to the refinement and development of the model. the third phase—from 2011 to 2017—showed a focus of the research on the integration of contextual factors into the salience framework. we noted that some articles placed in one theme are also found contributing to other themes. we found 15 articles in total where these themes have overlapped (see appendix 3). this overlap was observed mainly in themes 1 and 2 where scholars, while testing the propositions of salience framework (mitchell et al., 1997), had also examined the definitions, semantic relationships, logical consistency, etc. of the constructs involved. in this review, we have adopted a narrative synthesis approach, i.e. we considered a set of studies that addressed different aspects of a single phenomenon of interest and then fitted them to create a large comprehensible picture (hammersley, 2001). this process helped us to explain how a variety of studies related to a given framework (mitchell et al., 1997) form mutually discernible themes. � 147 m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 141-175 shahzad khurram & florent pestre & sandra charreire petit figure 1. theoretical framework of the review before presenting the three key themes that exist in the stakeholder salience literature, it is important to set the conceptual boundaries of the field investigated here. from a conceptual perspective, this study mainly details the concept of stakeholder salience and salience attributes—i.e. power, legitimacy, urgency and newly proposed attributes, including proximity, frequency of contact, organization and status (please see figure 1). moreover, it also reviews the research examining the effects of a variety of managerial and contextual factors on the stakeholder salience–attributes relationship. much has been said since 1997, when the stakeholder salience theory was originally proposed. this article structures this debate and attempts to clarify the issues that persist. �148 taking stock of the stakeholder salience tradition: renewing the research agenda m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 141-175 three key themes in the stakeholder salience tradition unlike previous works (neville et al., 2011), which clustered the research relating to the salience framework into three themes, i.e. attributes, epistemological assumptions and context, we insert a new category called “assessments of the salience framework” and subsume the categories of “attributes” and “epistemological assumptions” into “refinement and development of the constructs and the model”. we suggest that revisiting epistemological assumptions in the absence of debates relating to the refinement of the framework’s theoretical underpinnings renders the discussion less productive. by combining these areas in one category, we better address the issues surrounding the level of analysis, definitions and semantic relationships of the constructs. the assessments of the central proposition and the dynamic aspects of the salience framework the central proposition of the stakeholder salience framework (i.e. “stakeholder salience will be positively related to the cumulative number of stakeholder attributes—power, legitimacy, and urgency—perceived by managers to be present” (mitchell et al., 1997: 873)) has been assessed by several studies that relied on different types of evidence, methodologies and criteria for appraisal. we differentiate these studies into two groups: a) studies that tested the central proposition of the salience framework from a snapshot or one-point-of-time examination, and we noted 13 such articles (see table 2); and b) studies that used a dynamic perspective and examined stakeholder attributes–salience relationships in a longitudinal setting with repeated measure designs, and these 14 studies are catalogued in table 3. � 149 m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 141-175 shahzad khurram & florent pestre & sandra charreire petit table 2 cross sectional examination of mitchell et al.’s (1997) model of stakeholder salience (arranged chronologically) �150 author year journal/outlet method/data key ideas/contributions agle, mitchell and sonnenfeld 1999 academy of management journal survey strong direct relationship exists between attributes and salience. winn 2001 business and society single case study, archival material, interviews this study finds that the possession of attributes impacts and changes salience. harvey and schaefer 2001 journal of business ethics comparative case study, archival material, interviews stakeholders who are not perceived by managers to have salience attributes are less likely to make their claims on companies. eesley and lenox 2006 strategic management journal archival material this study supports the proposition that attributes are important drivers of salience. knox and gruar 2007 journal of business ethics survey and focus group discussion operationalizing the salience model in the non-profit sector, this study supports the attributes–salience relationship. david, bloom and hillman 2007 strategic management journal secondary data managers are more likely to settle claims filed by shareholders because they possess power, legitimacy and urgency. mattingly 2007 journal of public affairs survey firms cooperate more with stakeholders with power and legitimacy and communicate with those who possess urgency. parent and deephouse 2007 journal of business ethics comparative case study, interviews and archival material a direct relationship exists between the number of attributes and perceived stakeholder salience. magness 2008 journal of business ethics secondary data this study supports the salience framework (mitchell et al., 1997) and confirms that stakeholder status is not permanent and depends on managerial perception. ojala and luoma-aho 2008 business history archival material this study confirms the importance of salience attributes in stakeholder relationships. boesso and kumar 2009 journal of accounting and organizational change survey and archival material managerial perception of salience attributes explains the process of stakeholder prioritization. gifford 2010 journal of business ethics multiple case study, interviews and archival material this study supports the attributes–salience relationship and asserts that shareholders are most salient when there are high levels of power, legitimacy and urgency. masoud and wilson 2011 journal of african business survey stakeholder saliency is linked with attributes. taking stock of the stakeholder salience tradition: renewing the research agenda m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 141-175 table 3 longitudinal (dynamic) examination of mitchell et al.’s (1997) model although mitchell et al. (1997) based their model of stakeholder salience on the dichotomous representation of attributes, they emphasized that stakeholder salience is transitory in nature and that the attributes are not fixed in time—they are variables (mitchell et al., 1997). a stakeholder � 151 author year outlet method/data key ideas solomon 2001 human systems management survey applies stakeholder theory to the field of organizational change and suggests that while focusing on stakeholder dynamics and its implications for organizational effectiveness, legitimacy, power and urgency of stakeholders must be taken into consideration by the management of the firm. winn & keller 2001 journal of management inquiry archival records and interviews examine the evolution of stakeholder salience attributes. beaulieu and pasquero 2002 journal of corporate citizenship case study, interviews and archival records examine the underlying stakeholder dynamics and proposed to complement stakeholder theory with an actionalist-perspective–negotiated-order theory. klumpes 2003 economic affairs conceptual estimates various types of costs and benefits affecting stakeholder groups by reforms in the public regulation of pensions industry and suggests that intermediaries and regulators are effectively subsidized by other stakeholder groups. jeurissen 2004 journal of business ethics archival material, prior literature to illustrate the functioning of the institutional conditions of corporate citizenship, this study examines how dormant financial institutions turned definitive when they were pushed by ngos to pressurize ihc-caland. sachs and ruhli 2005 corporate governance comparative case study, abstraction argue that top managers should change their values that are challenged by stakeholder-oriented incentives so that stakeholder views are better implemented in strategic thinking. yasmil, anshari, komarudin, and alquadri 2006 forests, trees and livelihoods case study, interviews, field observations and workshops note that the implementation of decentralization policies gave rise to conflicts between local and central government as well as among local stakeholders in west kalimantan. parent and deephouse 2007 journal of business ethics comparative case study, interviews and archival material observe dynamics of stakeholder attributes and find that most stakeholders moved across definitive, dominant and dormant types. papadopoulos and merali 2008 public money and management case study, interviews, observation and records examine the dynamics and mechanisms underpinning the trajectories and outcomes of public service lean projects. study shows how implementation trajectories can play out with diverse stakeholders in complex contexts. sachs and maurer 2009 journal of business ethics conceptual suggest that to better understand the social responsibility towards stakeholders, it is necessary to understand the phenomena of distributive and procedural justice. these authors propose a framework that can be used for shaping dynamic and comprehensive corporate responsibilities. fassin 2010 journal of business ethics multiple case studies, qualitative graphical analysis transposes freeman’s stakeholder model in graphical form and employs the notions of stake-watchers and stake-seekers to illustrate its dynamic aspect. analyses case studies relating value responsibility chain to show how stakeholder salience is affected. windsor 2010 journal of business ethics literature presents dynamic aspects of stakeholder theory to clarify conceptual and methodological issue for stakeholder thinking. saebø, flak and maung 2011 government information quarterly case study, interviews, observation, records integrate stakeholder theory with genre theory to analyse e-participation project and besides other findings suggest that stakeholder salience varies during life of project and therefore salient stakeholder keep on changing. schepper, dooms and haezendonck 2014 international journal of project management multiple case study, records, interviews building on theoretical foundations provided by stakeholder salience model, this study finds that the stakeholder environment in case of public–private partnerships turns more complex due to increased significance of the stakeholder context and dynamics. m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 141-175 shahzad khurram & florent pestre & sandra charreire petit can hold power at one point in time but might not possess the same power at another time, or a stakeholder might possess more power at one point in time but less at another. similarly, a stakeholder can carry a legitimate claim at one point in time but not at another. therefore, the salience model is actually dynamic in nature, and a constituent possessing only one attribute can seize a manager’s attention by acquiring the missing attributes. for instance, press coverage and the media can highlight a claim, and a stakeholder can become significant overnight by assuming the attribute of urgency (carroll & buchholtz, 2006; eesley & lenox, 2006; neville et al., 2011). stakeholder dynamics were defined by postema, groen and krabbendam (2012) as the continuously changing configurations of stakeholder groups in response to changes in priorities. although the previous literature has emphasized the dynamic perspective of stakeholder theory, empirical studies that could explain how the antecedents (e.g. institutional changes) influence consequences (e.g. stakeholder salience) have been virtually non-existent. as shown in table 3, various studies in the stakeholder research have attempted to include the term “dynamics” or its variants (beaulieu & pasquero, 2002; papadopoulos & merali, 2008; parent & deephouse, 2007; saebø et al., 2011; yasmil et al., 2006), but they are far from real dynamic analysis. in addition to explicit efforts considering dynamics in broader stakeholder research, as shown above (see table 3), previous studies have also focused on the dynamic aspects of the stakeholder salience model by observing the changes over time in the attributes of stakeholder salience (jeurissen, 2004; parent & deephouse, 2007; solomon, 2001; winn & keller, 2001). for example, winn and keller (2001) modelled the dynamics and effects of multiple  stakeholders’ objectives in corporate decisions. the authors examined the evolution of power, legitimacy and urgency for environmental groups and fishing fleets. similarly, jeurissen (2004) recounted how powerful and legitimate dutch financial institutions became urgent stakeholders for ihc-caland regarding its operations in burma. although these studies attempted to examine changes in salience attributes, they remained limited to a certain point in time, a particular set of stakeholders and a particular issue. more importantly, previous studies focusing on the dynamic aspects of stakeholder salience did not examine the statistical relationship between salience and attributes at multiple points in time, partly because tracking a manager’s stakeholder salience over time would be a better, but more resource-intensive, method for examining this issue (khurram & charreire petit, 2017). even if it were examined at multiple points in time, one could obtain only a limited sense of dynamics through such a longitudinal analysis, consisting of a series of time points. such an analysis is called “partial equilibrium analysis”, and it studies final or temporary (i.e. resting) results under highly restricted conditions (windsor, 2010). true dynamics, in contrast, are captured through general equilibrium, which relates to change over time, whether continuous, periodic or punctuated, and thus to dating (baumol, 1970). general equilibrium theory addresses dynamic analysis with all of the influences changing continually. research that employs equilibrium analysis to understand the dynamic perspectives of stakeholder salience has been virtually non-existent. �152 taking stock of the stakeholder salience tradition: renewing the research agenda m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 141-175 the refinement and development of the model over time several notable efforts have been undertaken by researchers to revisit the epistemological assumptions of the stakeholder salience model (mitchell et al., 1997) and to refine the model’s theoretical underpinnings. these studies relate to the overall model, as well as to individual constructs. the units of analysis and the operationalization of constructs in the literature, studies have mainly addressed the ways in which constructs have been approached and the unit and level of analysis at which constructs have been operationalized. conceptually, several studies have argued that stakeholders and their claims should be treated separately (durand, hawn & ioannou, 2017; eesley & lenox, 2006; gifford, 2010; wu 2007). for instance, eesley and lenox (2006) emphasized the importance of distinguishing the salience of a claim and that of a stakeholder. the authors suggested that the phenomenon of stakeholder salience is related not only to the stakeholder but also to the claims made by the stakeholder. they argued that “stakeholder salience will be separately affected by the legitimacy of the content of the claim (e.g. calling for action on global warming) and the legitimacy of the stakeholder (e.g. greenpeace), with significant interaction effects between these two assessments (e.g. sceptical claims about greenhouse effects being made by the oil and coal industries)” (neville et al., 2011: 361). similarly, gifford (2010) argued that the salience of shareholders depends not only on a shareholder’s reputation and credibility in the market, but that the strength and substance of the argument (claim) also matter. just as eesley and lenox (2006) proposed differentiating between claims and stakeholders, a distinction at the level of the attribute of legitimacy has also been made. santana (2012) distinguished legitimacy into three aspects: the legitimacy of the stakeholder as an entity; the legitimacy of the stakeholder’s claim; and the legitimacy of the stakeholder’s behaviour. researchers in the stakeholder salience tradition have also reviewed the salience framework at the level of the unit of analysis. the stakeholder salience framework (mitchell et al., 1997) presents individual stakeholders as a unit of analysis (neville et al., 2011; parent & deephouse, 2007). although stakeholders can compete individually to gain managerial attention, it is equally likely that stakeholders will form coalitions and cooperate with each other (frooman, 1999). neville and menguc (2006) asserted that stakeholders might align themselves around various issues, and it might be more appropriate to measure salience in terms of a coalition of stakeholders. it has also been suggested that the concept of stakeholder salience should be examined at the organizational and societal levels of analysis. tashman and raelin (2013), for example, moved the concept of stakeholder salience from the managerial level to the level of the firm. they argued that a sole focus on managerial perception is insufficient to identify and prioritize all the interests that matter to a firm because stakeholder salience is co-determined by the perceptions of the managers, the focal stakeholder and other stakeholders, by institutional expectations and by hyper-norms. overall, debate on delineating the conceptual boundaries of constructs continues, and mutually divergent views on the unit and level of analysis also exist in the literature. � 153 m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 141-175 shahzad khurram & florent pestre & sandra charreire petit the development of constructs researchers have also attempted to further refine and develop the theoretical underpinnings of stakeholder salience attributes. in the following, we present how originally (mitchell et al., 1997) and newly proposed salience attributes (driscoll & starik, 2004) have been conceptualized in the extant literature and what gaps still exist therein. power: research into the stakeholder salience tradition has attempted to revisit the firm–stakeholder relationships in terms of power. the notion of power applied in mitchell et al.’s (1997) model of stakeholder salience was based on etzioni’s (1964) classification of organizational bases of power. it implies that a stakeholder carries the ability to use: “coercive power”—a force, threat, litigation, etc.; “utilitarian power”— granting or withholding resources; and/or “normative power”—symbolic influence to impose its will on a firm. in addition to etzioni’s (1964) organizational bases of power, mitchell et al. (1997) also adopted social agency and resource dependence perspectives (pfeffer & salancik, 1978) in their salience framework. subsequent researchers have attempted to further develop the theoretical basis of power attributes (driscoll & starik, 2004; neville & menguc, 2006; neville et al., 2011; pajunen, 2006) by explaining them in light of social network theory. these studies have highlighted the importance of two variables of networks, i.e. centrality and density (driscoll & starik, 2004). the authors have suggested that organizations control network hubs when they are more centrally located on the network, and they receive more attention from diverse stakeholders when the density of the network increases (rowley, 1997). therefore, apart from originally proposed types of power (etzioni, 1964; mitchell et al., 1997), power can also be conceptualized as “network centrality power”. it is a type of power that a stakeholder assumes when it is centrally located in a network of stakeholders and can withhold or grant access to other stakeholders. in addition to network centrality power, bridoux and stoelhorst (2014) identified a variant of utilitarian power, i.e. “bargaining power”, which affects the stakeholder–firm power dynamics. moreover, the literature has suggested that the difference between the power of a stakeholder and that of a firm influences the dynamics of stakeholder salience (eesley & lenox, 2006; tang & tang, 2012). tang and tang (2012) examined stakeholder–firm power differences and noted that, although the extant research has emphasized stakeholders’ power, studies have not focused on a firm’s countering power. these authors proposed that stakeholder–firm power differences determine stakeholder– firm relationships. similarly, eesley and lenox (2006) argued that stakeholder power is moderated by the power of the firm. these and other related aspects that have been largely ignored in previous research have significant unrealized potential for future research. legitimacy: just as researchers have added new attributes to the existing list of salience attributes proposed by mitchell et al. (1997)—which we discuss below—the omission of some attributes from the salience framework has also been suggested (eesley & lenox, 2006; neville et al., 2011). for example, neville et al. (2011) asserted that pragmatic and cognitive types of legitimacy should be excluded, and the salience framework should be limited only to moral legitimacy, as suggested by suchman (1995). it has been argued that it is conceptually difficult to untangle pragmatic legitimacy from the concept of power as used in the salience framework. because pragmatic legitimacy is awarded when a stakeholder extends “exchange benefits” to the focal firm (suchman, �154 taking stock of the stakeholder salience tradition: renewing the research agenda m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 141-175 1995), pragmatic legitimacy therefore refers to the degree of resource dependence of the focal firm on the stakeholder. neville et al. (2011) argued that the ability of a stakeholder to grant or withhold resources is the same as the power of a stakeholder to confer or withdraw material resources (etzioni, 1964). this view of pragmatic legitimacy in light of resource dependence theory (pfeffer & salancik, 1978) leaves no discernible difference between the stakeholder attribute of power and pragmatic legitimacy. similarly, phillips and malhotra, (2008) argued that, because cognitive legitimacy does not consider the way in which an evaluation is made but rather considers the extent of deliberation and cognition needed to make the judgement, it is therefore not relevant to stakeholder salience (neville et al. 2011). thus, it is still not clear how legitimacy should be conceptualized in the salience framework. we evoke this debate in the last section of this article to understand the implications for the stakeholder salience framework and for a firm’s performance. urgency: the salience framework (mitchell et al., 1997) classifies urgency into two areas: time sensitivity and criticality. time sensitivity represents the degree to which a delay in attending to claims is unacceptable to the stakeholder, while criticality refers to the significance that a stakeholder assigns to its claim (mitchell et al., 1997). our review of the literature suggests that the attribute of urgency requires clarification because some researchers assert that urgency is a key to determining stakeholder salience, while others consider it irrelevant. for example, agle et al. (1999) asserted that shareholder urgency drives most corporate managerial strategies. in contrast, neville et al. (2011) suggested that, although the urgency attribute provides a dynamic dimension to the salience framework, it is irrelevant for the identification of stakeholders. these authors maintained that urgency alone is not a sufficient attribute for the identification of stakeholders. similarly, eesley and lenox (2006) argued that it is only the urgency of the claim, not of the stakeholder, that is relevant. the authors argued that a stakeholder’s urgency is characterized by the stakeholder’s willingness to exercise its power; therefore stakeholder urgency is subsumed within the power attribute. we suggest that the urgency of both the stakeholder and the claim are relevant to the stakeholder, although they cannot be easily separated. proximity: driscoll and starik (2004) argued that, in addition to power, legitimacy and urgency, the salience of a stakeholder is also determined by a fourth attribute—“proximity”—which incorporates “the near or far, short or long term and actual or potential” (2004: 61). the authors suggested that stakeholders who are nearer, short term and actual will be more salient to managers. building on driscoll and starik’s (2004) work, haigh and griffiths (2009) suggested that the inclusion of the fourth attribute generates a fourth type of stakeholder that possesses all four of the salience attributes. proximity, as well as frequency of contact, has yet to be examined for its relationship with stakeholder salience. status and organization: recently, researchers have also identified two new attributes of salience, i.e. status (perrault, 2017) and organization (ali, 2017), which they have argued are superior attributes of salience. focusing on the socially constructed nature of stakeholder salience, ali (2017: 159) includes stakeholder agency, i.e. “organization” or “mobilization”, in the stakeholder salience framework and defines organization as “a body of persons organized for some purpose, as a club, union, or society”. ali (2017) indicates that, in the stakeholder scheme, organization represents a state of being and not a potential. the discussion of these attributes appears in the last section. � 155 m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 141-175 shahzad khurram & florent pestre & sandra charreire petit integrating contextual factors  studies relating contextual factors form the third stream of research in the stakeholder salience tradition. works in this stream can be subdivided into two groups: a) managerial values and characteristics; and b) broader contextual factors. managerial values and characteristics building on previous works (cyert & march, 1963; hill & jones, 1992; pfeffer & salancik, 1978) that primarily emanated from the management literature, mitchell et al. (1997) viewed managers as a keystone of the theoretical framework that they presented, and they suggested that “managerial perception” acts as a moderator of the salience–attribute relationship. values shape intensity and selectivity through their influences on the human perceptual field; therefore, “managerial values” can also have a moderating effect on the phenomenon of stakeholder salience (agle et al., 1999). previous research that examined the moderating effects of managerial values on the stakeholder–salience relationship has yielded mixed results (agle et al., 1999; davila & elvira, 2012; harvey & schaefer, 2001; mitchell et al., 2013; parent & deephouse, 2007; tashman & raelin, 2013). for example, agle et al. (1999) tested the effects of the values of ceos on the stakeholder attribute–salience relationship. the authors included seven different managerial values and categorized them into selfregarding and other-regarding values. the study found no effect of these managerial values on the salience–attributes relationship. in contrast, gifford (2010) suggested that the values of a target company’s managers are important factors contributing to stakeholder salience. the author suggested that “shareholders are indeed most salient when there are high levels of power, legitimacy, and urgency and target company managers have values that allow for the accommodating of the shareholders’ concerns” (gifford, 2010: 96). other managerial characteristics, such as managers’ roles, positions, spiritual identities, rationality, orientations and ethnicities, have also been examined in previous research. it was found that a manager’s hierarchical position and role (parent & deephouse, 2007), the spiritual identity of members of family businesses (mitchell et al., 2013), religiosity (fang, randolph, chrisman & barnett, 2013), the orientations of expectations of diverse stakeholders (davila & elvira, 2012) and duality of the ethnicities of managers (marin, mitchell & lee, 2015) have crucial effects on the salience–attributes relationship and on the number of stakeholders that a manager identifies. moreover, factors that can cause managers to overlook or ignore stakeholders’ interests and that can therefore affect stakeholder salience have also been examined (tashman & raelin, 2013). it is proposed that the salience of stakeholders can be affected by: a) bounded rationality, i.e. constraints on an individual’s sense-making and rational decision-making abilities; b) cognitive limitations, i.e. the mind’s limited capacity to receive, sort and analyse information (simon, 1955); and c) opportunism. these factors can vary from one manager to another and can differently affect managerial perceptions about various manager–stakeholder dyads. on the whole, several managerial characteristics and values have been examined in previous research; however, despite the enormous importance of managerial perceptions/misperceptions, this area has remained largely invisible in previous empirical research. we evoke this �156 taking stock of the stakeholder salience tradition: renewing the research agenda m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 141-175 debate in the last section of the study to identify opportunities in this particular area. broader contextual factors in addition to managerial values, previous research has also examined the effects of broader contextual factors on the salience– attributes relationship. more work has been done in this stream of research than research examining the effects of manager-specific values on the salience–attributes relationship. work in this stream can be further organized into “stakeholder-related factors”, “firm-related factors” and “shared contextual factors”. work on the effects of firm-related contextual factors on stakeholder salience has been quite broad and expands into multiple tracks, e.g. “firms’ life cycles”, “firms’ crisis phases” and “firms’ dispositions and identities” visà-vis stakeholder salience. it has been suggested that the salience of stakeholders changes as a firm evolves from one stage to the next: a) during the organizational life cycle (jawahar & mclaughlin, 2001); and b) depending on the stages of organizational crises (pfarrer, decelles, smith & taylor, 2008). additionally, firms that are environmentally proactive differ in disposition from others in their perceptions of salient stakeholders (buysse & verbeke, 2003; henriques & sadorsky, 1999). the last branch of work identified in this stream of research relates to “firm identity” in the wider contextual setting. bundy et al. (2013) advanced a strategic, cognitive view of issue salience. the central thesis of their work revolved around cognitive structures of firm identity and strategic frames. a firm’s strategic frame guides the managerial interpretation of an issue using instrumental logic that relates to a rational pursuit of organizational goals, while organizational identity facilitates the interpretation of an issue using expressive logic. the authors proposed that firms symbolically attend to an issue perceived as salient using only one type of logic, while issues that are perceived as salient to both types are attended substantially. work in “stakeholder-related factors”—which constitutes the second stream—has been quite limited. we noted only two studies that examined the effects of stakeholders’ behaviours and characteristics on their salience (weber & marley, 2012; yang, wang & jin, 2014). three types of stakeholder behaviours—co-operative potential, competitive threats and opposite positioning—are perceived by managers as important factors in determining the salience of stakeholders (yang et al., 2014). in terms of stakeholders’ characteristics, weber and marley (2012) found that industry membership significantly affects stakeholder salience, while nationality does not. in the third stream of contextual factors, the researchers have examined “contextual factors shared between a firm and its stakeholders”. we noted four mentionable studies in this stream. these studies mainly examined the influence of institutions and culture on the phenomenon of stakeholder salience. it has been suggested that stakeholder salience is affected by institutional factors (dong, burritt & qian, 2014; smith, adhikari & tondkar, 2005), so much so that it becomes quite complex when principal institutions intersect, i.e. business and family, with situations in which the institutions are based on a single logic (mitchell et al., 2011). similarly, in a recent interesting treatment, shymko and roulet (2017) suggested that cultural organizations that develop ties with private organizations are viewed as distancing themselves from norms set in institutional fields. such organizations pursue institution-centric � 157 m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 141-175 shahzad khurram & florent pestre & sandra charreire petit collaboration to accentuate the negative impressions affecting peer recognition. in summary, the three streams discussed above carry significant unrealized potential for future research, which we discuss below. avenues for future research we develop an agenda for future research based on the three key themes as identified in the previous section and we discuss several important areas of stakeholder theory in which the stakeholder salience research could potentially contribute by providing richer descriptions and re-descriptions. studying the status of stakeholders to better prioritize their claims undoubtedly, stakeholder theory could not develop enough understanding of the heterogeneity of stakeholder claims and interests in focal firms. more importantly, the common or generic categories of stakeholders—e.g. suppliers, customers, shareholders, etc.—are considered inadequate because they do not offer a realistic portrait of the stakeholders that interact with firms. additionally, stakeholder theory is silent on what occurs when these generic categories breakdown (freeman et al., 2010). this silence limits the ability of stakeholder theory to prioritize stakeholder claims. building on stakeholder salience, perrault (2017) proposed “status” as an attribute that explains how managers assign salience to various stakeholders and attempts to define how stakeholder claims are prioritized based on their status. perhaps the first step for future research on this connection would be to empirically examine perrault’s (2017) proposition of the relevance of status with stakeholder salience and other salience attributes, e.g. power and legitimacy. knowing how status translates into power and how stakeholders possessing different levels of status push their claims on focal firms should provide important knowledge for this field. within the broader premises of the stakeholder theory examining the associations between status and power and between status and legitimacy would be helpful to understanding negative, additive, subsuming and synergistic results. better identify stakeholder strategies over time: it is suggested that stakeholders organize or mobilize in order to influence focal firms (frooman 1999; rowley 1997). stakeholders’ organization or mobilization —creating coalitions, developing social network and initiating collective action—gives them more access to resources and increases their power over focal firms. ali (2017) suggests that this important feature is missing from the stakeholder salience framework (mitchell et al., 1997). groups with legitimate claims may not be regarded as stakeholders because they do not possess collective voice. nevertheless, once organized, such groups develop collective voice and turn into salient stakeholders for focal firms. ali (2017) maintains that “organization” as an attribute of salience carries potential to retain dynamism in the stakeholder salience framework, apart from strengthening the normative credentials and descriptive validity of this framework. future efforts could empirically examine the “organization” as a salience attribute. in the literature, the authors also classified stakeholders as accommodative and proactive, while non-stakeholders were classified as reactive and defensive. it is suggested that firms with reactive strategy �158 taking stock of the stakeholder salience tradition: renewing the research agenda m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 141-175 orientations might prioritize powerful stakeholders, while firms with proactive strategy orientations should consider stakeholder legitimacy to be more important. within the premises of stakeholder salience theory, this area warrants a detailed treatment to identify the stakeholder involvement strategies and how such strategies might change over time. proximity and frequency of contact as attributes of stakeholder salience: previous research has suggested that, apart from the originally proposed attributes of salience (mitchell et al., 1997), proximity (driscoll & starik, 2004), frequency of contact (luoma-aho, 2005), status and organization (as discussed above) also determine stakeholder salience. the attribute of proximity is relevant to modern organizational forms and to not-for-profit organizations because they build more on networks and coalitions (yaziji & doh, 2009). we believe that there is a need to empirically examine the proximity and frequency of contact to be attributes of stakeholder salience. moreover, a detailed effort should also be directed towards untangling these attributes and drawing conceptual boundaries that differentiate between the two. both attributes appear directly related to one another since the chances of contact multiply when entities are proximate. moreover, parent and deephouse (2007) distinguished among three types of power—coercive, utilitarian and normative—as suggested by etzioni (1964). the authors showed that the more a stakeholder accumulates the three types of power, the more salient the stakeholder becomes. they also found that, of the three types of power, utilitarian power had the most significant effect on stakeholder salience. apart from the originally proposed types of power (etzioni, 1964; mitchell et al., 1997), a review of the literature on power attributes signified the existence of yet another type of power—i.e. “network centrality power”, as we call it. it is a type of power that a stakeholder assumes when it is centrally located in a network of stakeholders and can withhold or grant access to other stakeholders. future research should extend this line of research to various types of power (including network centrality power), legitimacy, urgency and proximity. for this purpose, finely grained types of power (etzioni, 1964), legitimacy (suchman, 1995), urgency (mitchell et al., 1997) and proximity (torre & rallet, 2005) can be used. because confusion persists over the inclusion of various types of attributes, empirical research examining the various types of salience attributes could provide clarification. a stronger general equilibrium analysis that better incorporates dynamic aspects of the stakeholder salience model: although the stakeholder salience model (mitchell et al., 1997) is based on a dichotomous representation (presence or absence) of salience attributes, mitchell et al. (1997) overtly emphasized that the phenomenon of stakeholder salience is transitory in nature. it has been suggested that salience attributes are variables that can be either present or absent, and if present, they can be high or low. therefore, salience attributes are not fixed in time, and the same is the case with the status of the stakeholder (mitchell et al., 1997). therefore, the salience model is actually dynamic in nature, and a constituent that possesses only one salience attribute can capture a manager’s attention by acquiring the missing attributes. despite the stakeholder salience model being dynamic in nature, empirical research aimed at testing the dynamics of the relationship between stakeholder salience and attributes is virtually non-existent. we noted only one study (khurram & charreire petit, 2017) that empirically examined the dynamic nature of this relationship. although this study tests � 159 m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 141-175 shahzad khurram & florent pestre & sandra charreire petit and confirms this relationship in its dynamic perspective, it is based on partial equilibrium analysis, which provides a limited sense of dynamics because it involves longitudinal analysis, consisting of a set of snapshots obtained over time under restricted conditions (windsor, 2010). partial equilibrium analysis disregards the whole story and only considers parts of the passage of time. future research must undertake a general equilibrium analysis that incorporates all of the influences and considers the process that causes various stakeholders to become salient or non-salient. mitchell et al. (1997) suggested that “finally, in attempting to build momentum in the development of stakeholder theory, we are acutely aware that we have necessarily made sweeping assumptions that, for the sake of clarity in a preliminary articulation, are passed over, with the implicit understanding that for the theory to hold, these must be revisited and assessed” (1997: 881). one of the uses of equilibrium analysis is that it helps in the critical assessment of assumptions in theory and can help us to remove unwarranted assumptions and to reveal the actual workings of relationship systems. moreover, unlike partial equilibrium analysis, general equilibrium analysis is concerned with whole systems of relationships. it views the stakeholder relationship system as a network of several entities mutually dependent on each other and in mutual interaction with each other. therefore, it can certainly help in predicting the consequences of an autonomous event for stakeholder and firm relationships, in which an increase in the salience of one stakeholder can lead to a corresponding loss in salience for another. therefore, general equilibrium analysis might help us to develop a thorough understanding of complex chains of stakeholders’ relations in a step-by-step manner. refining legitimacy and urgency as theoretical constructs of the stakeholder salience theory as suggested above, debate on delineating the conceptual boundaries of constructs continues, as discussion over the inclusion and exclusion of salience attributes and their parts continues. in the case of legitimacy, it has been proposed that pragmatic and cognitive types of legitimacy should be excluded, and the salience framework should be limited only to moral legitimacy, as suggested by suchman (1995). pragmatic legitimacy is about extending exchange benefits; therefore, it carries the characteristic properties of utilitarian power. maintaining pragmatic legitimacy in the stakeholder salience framework results in double counting of utilitarian power. similarly, it has also been argued that cognitive legitimacy does not consider the way in which an evaluation is made; rather, it considers the extent of deliberation and cognition needed to make the judgement. it is therefore not relevant to stakeholder salience (neville et al. 2011). we partly agree with this assertion and believe that it is moral legitimacy that possesses the characteristics that distinguish it from the power attribute. the procedural, consequential and structural components of moral legitimacy (suchman, 1995) give it a distinct and acceptable place in the stakeholder salience framework. our argument is also supported by jones et al.’s (2007) proposition that moral legitimacy works differently from power attributes and has a greater effect on salience in cases of organizational cultures that are more other-regarding, while power has a greater effect on salience in more self-regarding corporate cultures. however, in so far as pragmatic legitimacy is concerned, much care must be exercised because pragmatic legitimacy involves exchange, influence and dispositional elements (suchman, 1995). doubtless, the exchange and �160 taking stock of the stakeholder salience tradition: renewing the research agenda m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 141-175 influence elements of pragmatic legitimacy are the same as utilitarian power, but dispositional legitimacy is not. a dispositional stakeholder displays “honesty”, “trustworthiness”, “decency” and “wisdom” (suchman, 1995). removing pragmatic legitimacy in its entirety would mean removing part of the normative aspect and turning the stakeholder salience model into a framework based more on pure economic relationships. another enigma of a similar nature involves urgency. it has been argued that it is only the urgency of the claim, and not that of the stakeholder, that is relevant (eesley & lenox, 2006). authors have argued that urgency is about the stakeholder’s willingness to exercise its power; therefore, stakeholder urgency is subsumed within the power attribute. in slight disagreement with these views, we suggest that urgency of both stakeholder and claim are relevant to the stakeholder, although they cannot be easily separated from each other. our argument is in line with gifford’s (2010) view of urgency as an important salience attribute that relates more to a stakeholder’s behaviour. the degree of urgency of claim is demonstrated by the intensity of a stakeholder’s engagement, which includes time sensitivity, persistence, assertiveness and the resources applied. another significant point that previous discussions of the attributes of urgency have lacked is the difference between the “source of a claim” and “support of the claim”—e.g. an ngo raising its voice against child labour in a developing country might not have sufficient coercive or utilitarian power, but it borrows power from several powerful constituents in support of its claims. thus, both the claim and the stakeholder (e.g. nongovernmental organization) become highly significant. we, therefore, recommend a detailed conceptual work that undertakes a thorough analysis of the relevance of legitimacy and urgency to stakeholder salience. for a better extension of the theoretical underpinnings of the salience model: not surprisingly, a bird’s eye view of the extant literature reveals that, at one level beneath the inclusion/exclusion debate, researchers also disagree about a manager’s perceptions of the prioritization of salience attributes, even if all of the attributes are included in the model. for instance, agle et al. (1999) suggested that urgency is one of the best predictors of salience. in contrast, in their conceptual work, neville et al. (2011) argued that urgency as a stakeholder salience attribute alone is not sufficient to grant stakeholder status to any claimant. the authors suggested that power and legitimacy define and identify stakeholders. parent and deephouse (2007) suggested that power is the primary attribute, followed by urgency and legitimacy. in line with parent and deephouse (2007), yang et al. (2014) also suggested that stakeholder power plays a more significant role than other attributes in decisionmaking. these studies were conducted on different organizational forms— with different cultures and governance structures and operating in different fields. although these studies confirmed and validated the central proposition suggested by mitchell et al.’s (1997) model of stakeholder salience, they differed in identifying the attribute that is the best predictor of salience, causing us to believe that, in various organizational forms—which have different governance structures, cultures, logics and fields— managers award salience on the basis of different attributes. based on the aforementioned discussion, we ask: do stakeholders operating in different fields, with different logics, cultures, and governance models, extract managerial attention on the basis of different salience attributes? therefore, there is a need to determine the attribute–salience relationships in different contexts. � 161 m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 141-175 shahzad khurram & florent pestre & sandra charreire petit bearing in mind the space limitation, we constrict our discussion of the attribute–salience relationship to the institutional logic difference at the field level. the institutional theory lens can help us to better illustrate how stakeholders with different institutional logics win managerial attention based on different attributes. institutional theory (powell, 1991; powell & dimaggio, 1991) asserts that various types of institutions demonstrate different and distinct objectives and assumptions about the functioning of an organization, called “institutional logic”. institutional logic defines the scope of socially legitimate and appropriate conduct at the field level (kurram & pestre, 2017). therefore, organizations adopt the practices, functions and forms that are institutionalized in the field. for example, nonprofit organizations focus on the public welfare, while for-profit organizations focus on profits. by differently shaping the identities, interests, values, assumptions, institutional forms and practices of various fields (battilana & dorado, 2010; chen, 2010; dobbin, 1994; lounsbury, 2007; sine & david, 2003; stovel & savage, 2006; thornton & ocasio, 1999; zajac and westphal, 2004), institutional logic confers different traits on organizations, and these traits differ from one organizational form to another. for example, non-profit organizations focus on the public welfare and ought to possess a higher degree of legitimacy. conversely, in the case of for-profit stakeholders, the primary attribute of salience might be utilitarian power and not legitimacy. therefore, further research is warranted to examine the attribute–stakeholder relationships in various fields. conditions and options for firms to counter the power of stakeholders in different contexts (emerging versus developed economies): going beyond the field level, scholars have also discussed stakeholder salience in the country context. for example, in examining small and medium-sized enterprises in china, tang and tang (2012) suggested that firms operating in an emerging economy context have more options to counter stakeholders’ power, suggesting the effects of national context on stakeholder attributes and salience. this line of research can be extended to answer how firms can differently counter stakeholder power in different environments. to address this question, clarifications are needed about the unit of analysis. in the salience model, a stakeholder–manager dyad is the unit of analysis, and stakeholders have been conceptualized and treated as a single identifiable entity that can affect or can be affected. notwithstanding this singular-entity conceptualization of a stakeholder, stakeholders do act in coalitions and attempt to win managerial attention. previous research has suggested that stakeholders do not act solely as individuals but in coalitions (bergqvist & egels-zandén, 2012; frooman, 1999; rowley, 1997). a coalition of stakeholders represents the existence of interdependence between stakeholders (tang & tang, 2012) that can affect their power relationships with a firm. therefore, there is a need to investigate the interdependent relationships among stakeholders in coalitions and to empirically examine stakeholder salience in terms of coalitions of stakeholders. the interactive effects of stakeholders and value creation: one key outstanding issue in stakeholder thinking is how to theorize the interactive effects of stakeholders, i.e. the assemblage of the interests of stakeholders in value creation. research work in this area has also been rare (except for bridoux & stoelhorst, 2017). these authors suggested that, in modern knowledge-based economics, the source of value creation lies in intellectual property and knowledge possessed by several different �162 taking stock of the stakeholder salience tradition: renewing the research agenda m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 141-175 stakeholders; therefore, social welfare is dependent on joint value creation —mutual interaction of multiple stakeholders. however, we still do not know how the salience of stakeholders is determined here. is it based on salience attributes (mitchell et al., 1997) or some other factors that influence salience? for example, stakeholders might be assessed based on the resources that they provide, and the value, rarity, inimitability and non-substitutability (barney, 1995) of resources that they provide might be instrumental in determining their salience. salience of stakeholders to managers or firms—what matters more?: are managers only decision makers in firms? does only the managerial perception matter? mitchell et al. (2013) acknowledged that one limitation of the stakeholder salience framework is its sole focus on managers as those who assess stakeholder salience. focusing only managerial perceptions can be “impractical and imprecise” (mitchell et al., 2013: 246), particularly in cases in which constituents other than managers are involved in the decision-making process, e.g. family businesses. here, instead of salience to managers, salience to the firm should be considered. an ethnographic study might be conducted to examine how salience to a firm is socially constructed in terms of the multiple perceptions of managers, shareholders and other stakeholders. integrating contextual factors to better embrace the power of the stakeholder salience theory s t a k e h o l d e r s ’ s e n s e m a k i n g o f f a i r n e s s , e q u i t y a n d authenticity: in examining the effects of broader contextual factors on the stakeholder salience–attributes relationship, we categorized the research into three streams. one of the streams, i.e. stakeholder-related factors, is quite important, but the research in this area remains very limited. we noted only two studies that examined the effects of stakeholders’ characteristics and behaviours on their salience (weber & marley, 2012; yang et al., 2014). besides, the values of stakeholders (equity, fairness, etc.) are equally important and can potentially solidify or disrupt firm– stakeholder relationships. stakeholder theory offers solid footing to our proposition as it maintains that the processes and outcomes are more acceptable to stakeholders when they are fair and equity based (evan & freeman, 1993). stakeholders desire to have a say in resource allocation, and when participation is granted, they perceive the resource allocation to be fair. thus, values may significantly affect the salience–attribute relationship. a concerted research effort to uncover such subtle influences is required. similarly, at the focal firm level, instrumental perspective on stakeholder theory suggests that a focal firm’s performance is also tied to the fairness that it displays to its stakeholders. nevertheless, based on the bargaining power that a focal firm is able to exercise (and not fairness), it can become successful (bridoux & stoelhorst, 2014). it is suggested that a typical firm will face two types of stakeholders a) “reciprocators”—who do care about fairness; and b) “self-regarding”—who do not care about fairness (bridoux & stoelhorst, 2014). we do not know if the saliency profiles of these two types of stakeholders will differ. this stream of research also calls for inclusion of bargaining power in the stakeholder salience framework as one type of power (mitchell et al., 1997). this can better help us understand firm-reciprocators and firm-self-regarding stakeholders’ relationships. � 163 m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 141-175 shahzad khurram & florent pestre & sandra charreire petit another value that can significantly affect focal firm-to-stakeholder relationships is authenticity. cording, harrison, hoskisson & jonsen (2014) found that organizational authenticity—i.e. consistency between a firm’s actual practices and its espoused values, which might result in underpromising, over-promising or both—is linked to firms’ performance and can potentially affect the whole stakeholder system. values constitute such an area of research that carries immense unrealized potential, and one can model a variety of values with stakeholder salience. misperception risk mitigation: despite the enormous importance of the moderating effects of managerial perceptions in the stakeholder salience framework, it has remained one of the most under-researched areas in the stakeholder salience tradition. mitchell et al. (1997: 868) asserted that stakeholder salience is “a matter of multiple perceptions and is a constructed reality rather than an objective one”. not only has there been limited effort to fully uncover the notion of “perception” in the stakeholder salience tradition, but the idea of stakeholder “misperception” has also been largely ignored. the phenomenon of perception relates to the identification, organization and interpretation of sensory information to help understand the environment (schacter, gilbert & wegner, 2011). perception not only involves processing of sensory inputs but also builds on people’s knowledge, expectations and preconceived concepts and the attention they pay to events (bernstein, 2013). all these factors vary from individual to individual, and as suggested by mitchell et al. (1997), stakeholders and their attributes can be perceived differently by managers. also, the managers are very likely to misperceive—i.e.  over-perceive or under-perceive various stakeholders and their attributes. we bring in the notions of categorical perception and perceptual expectancy, grounded in psychology, to support our proposition that managers may misperceive the stakeholder salience. according to the notion of categorical perceptions, a set of stakeholders might be wrongly perceived as more similar to each other than they actually are because of the way that they are categorized. similarly,  perceptual expectancy—a predisposition to perceive things in a certain way—motivates managers to interpret complex and ambiguous stakeholders’ related environments so that they see what they want to see (fiori, david & aglioti, 2014; weiten, 2008). a descriptive understanding of stakeholder salience, i.e. how managers prioritize stakeholders, is what matters most to firms. precise managerial assessments of stakeholder attributes and salience are required for successful stakeholder management. future researchers could conduct experiments with managers involving a variety of stakeholder management scenarios with uneven options for gathering and evaluating information about stakeholders (tashman & raelin, 2013). this may help us identify the ways in which managerial misperception is controlled. conclusion in this article, we focus our interest on stakeholder salience, which is one of the pillars of the stakeholder theory literature. over time, the notion of the stakeholder has opened broad questions for researchers and many opportunities to link other domains of knowledge. we confirm mitchell et al.’s (1997) observation that the stakeholder salience model has the potential to improve managerial practice and researchers’ understandings of stakeholder management. this review of the stakeholder salience �164 taking stock of the stakeholder salience tradition: renewing the research agenda m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 141-175 framework demonstrates its growing acceptance and utility as a tool for identifying and prioritizing stakeholders in various fields. however, efforts to further develop the stakeholder salience framework have been limited. our article analyses the different theoretical perspectives to point out some non-studied questions and to propose our own vision of the stakeholder salience perspective. in doing so, we offer some new avenues for further research. this research agenda extends the three key themes in the stakeholder salience tradition we identify in this article. the first direction for future research is to study the status of stakeholders to better prioritize their claims. the second direction is to refine the delineating of legitimacy and urgency, as theoretical constructs, to deeper understand how firms could counter power stakeholders in different economic contexts. then we propose a third direction for future research which considers contextual factors to better embrace the practical and pragmatic power of the stakeholder salience theory. we suggest that the stakeholder salience framework has considerable unrealized potential, and several important research areas identified above require work. further refinement and development of the model could help managers to better identify and prioritize stakeholders to allow firms to improve their performance. � 165 m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 141-175 shahzad khurram & florent pestre & sandra charreire petit appendices appendix 1 application of stakeholder salience theory in various economic sectors �166 sector reference journal/outlet method/data not for profit coombs, 1998 public relations review archival records administrative and service activities buanes et al., 2004 sheehan & ritchie, 2005 matilainen & lähdesmäki, 2014 le et al., 2014 ocean & coastal management annals of tourism research journal of rural studies journal of cleaner production survey survey interviews survey, consultative meetings, interviews agriculture, forestry and fishing winn & keller, 2001 mikalsen & jentoft, 2001 lamberti & lettieri, 2011 matilainen, 2013 journal of management inquiry marine policy european management journal forest policy and economics interviews & archival records literature interviews & archival records literature & interviews arts, entertainment and recreation friedman & mason, 2004 hautbois et al., 2012 economic development quarterly sport management review literature & archival archival & interviews construction elias et al., 2002 schepper et al., 2014 r&d management international journal of project management literature records, interviews education miller et al., 2014 r&d management observation, interviews & records electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply andreasen & sovacool, 2014 renewable and sustainable energy reviews interviews, participation in meetings financial & insurance activities ryan & schneider, 2003 groening & kanuri, 2013 arleta, 2017 business and society journal of business research journal of business ethics literature event study secondary data human health and social work activities lehoux et al., 2014 research policy interviews & records information and communication moon & hyun, 2009 achterkamp et al., 2013 journal of mass media ethics procedia technology records interviews & records manufacturing driscoll & crombie, 2001 jiang & bansal, 2003 aaltonen et al., 2008 aaltonen & kujala, 2010 business & society journal of management studies international journal of project management scandinavian journal of management interviews & observation interviews records records mining and quarrying hayes-labruto et al., 2013 dong et al., 2014 lodhia & martin, 2014 energy policy journal of cleaner production journal of cleaner production secondary data records records and interviews taking stock of the stakeholder salience tradition: renewing the research agenda m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 141-175 appendix 1 (continued) application of stakeholder salience theory in various economic sectors � 167 sector reference journal/outlet method/data politics, government & institutions sæbø et al., 2011 axelsson et al., 2013 government information quarterly government information quarterly observation, records, interviews observation, records, interviews professional, scientific and technical activities baskerville-morley, 2004 accounting and the public interest records transportation and storage kyj & kyj, 2009 bergqvist & egelszandén, 2012 journal of world business research in transportation business & management records secondary data water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities heidrich et al., 2009 lafreniere et al., 2013 waste management journal of environmental management interviews and observation interviews wholesale and retail trade uusitalo & rokman, 2004 journal of retailing and consumer services records mixed neill & stovall, 2005 de vries, 2009 ackermann & eden, 2011 siddiqi et al., 2013 soobaroyen & ntim, 2013 lu et al., 2014 nastran, 2014 thijssens et al., 2015 the journal of applied business research int. j. production economics long range planning energy strategy reviews accounting forum expert systems with applications journal of environmental planning and management journal of business ethics interviews & records observation, records & survey conversations (not interviews) and observations records & interviews records interviews and records survey records others craig & moores, 2010 schneider & wallenburg, 2012 gago & antolin, 2004 family business review journal of purchasing & supply management corporate governance survey conceptual survey notes: i.the classification of economic sectors has been made according to the international standard industrial classification of all economic activities (isic). ii.to accommodate relevant studies, following sectors were created by authors: not-for-profit, politics, government & institutions, mixed and others. studies that involved two or more sectors have been categorized under the category "mixed". m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 141-175 shahzad khurram & florent pestre & sandra charreire petit appendix 2 historical perspective of stakeholder salience tradition �168 taking stock of the stakeholder salience tradition: renewing the research agenda m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 141-175 appendix 3 instances of overlap among three themes � 169 m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 141-175 shahzad khurram & florent pestre & sandra charreire petit references aaltonen, k., jaakko, k. & tuomas, o. (2008). s t a k e h o l d e r s a l i e n c e i n g l o b a l p r o j e c t s . international journal of project management, 26(5), 509-516. aaltonen, k. & kujala. j. (2010). a project lifecycle perspective on stakeholder influence strategies in g l o b a l p r o j e c t s . s c a n d i n a v i a n j o u r n a l o f management, 26(4), 381-397. achterkamp, m.c., boonstra, a. & vos, j.f.j. (2013). a bilateral, double motive perspective on stakeholder management in healthcare eis projects. procedia technology, 9, 167-178. ackermann, f. & eden, c. (2011). strategic management of stakeholders: theory and practice. long range planning, 44(3), 179-196. agle, b.r., mitchell, r.k. & sonnenfeld, j.a. (1999). who matters to ceos? an investigation of stakeholder attributes and salience, corporate performance, and ceo values. academy of management journal, 42(5), 507-525. aldrich, h.e. & fiol, c.m. (1994). fools rush in? the institutional context of industry creation. academy of management review, 19(4), 645-670. ali, m.a. (2017). stakeholder salience for stakeholder firms: an attempt to reframe an important heuristic device. journal of business ethics, 144(1), 153-168. andreasen, k.p. & sovacool, b.k. (2014). energy sustainability, stakeholder conflicts, and the future of hydrogen in denmark. renewable and sustainable energy reviews, 39, 891-897. arleta,  a.a.,  majoch, a., hoepner, g f. & hebb, t. (2017). sources of stakeholder salience in the responsible investment movement: why do investors sign the principles for responsible investment? journal of business ethics, 140(4), 723-741. axelsson, k., melin, u. & lindgren, i. (2013). public eservices for agency efficiency and citizen benefit— findings from a stakeholder centered analysis. government information quarterly, 30(1), 10-22. barney, j.b. (1995). looking inside for competitive advantage. academy of management executive, 9(4), 49-61. barney, j.b. (1997). gaining and sustaining competitive advantage. reading, ma: addisonwesley. baskerville-morley, r.f. (2004). dangerous, dominant, dependent, or definitive: stakeholder identification when the profession faces major transgressions. accounting and the public interest, 4(1), 24-42. battilana, j. & dorado, s. (2010). building sustainable hybrid organizations: the case of commercial m i c r o fi n a n c e o r g a n i z a t i o n s . a c a d e m y o f management journal, 53(6), 1419-1440. baumol, w.j. (1970),  economic dynamics: an introduction (3rd ed), new york, ny: macmillan. beaulieu, s. & pasquero, j. (2002). reintroducing stakeholder dynamics in stakeholder thinking: a negotiated-order perspective. journal of corporate citizenship, 6, 53-69. (reprinted in andriof, j., wa d d o c k , s . , h u s t e d , b . & r a h m a n s . s (eds.),  unfolding stakeholder thinking  (pp. 101-118). sheffield: greenleaf). bergqvist, r. & egels-zandén, n. (2012). green port dues—the case of hinterland transport. research in transportation business & management, 5, 85-91. bernstein, d.a. (2013), essentials of psychology, 6th edition, belmont, ca: wadsworth. boesso, g. & kumar, k. (2009). an investigation of stakeholder prioritization and engagement: who or what really counts. journal of accounting and organizational change, 5(1), 62-80. bridoux, f. & stoelhorst, j.w. (2014). microfoundations for stakeholder theory: managing stakeholders w i t h h e t e r o g e n e o u s m o t i v e s . s t r a t e g i c management journal, 35(1), 107-125. bridoux, f. & stoelhorst, j.w. (2017). stakeholder relationships and social welfare: a behavioral theory of contributions to joint value creation. the academy of management review, 41(2), 229-251. buanes, a., jentoft, s., karlsen, g.r., maurstad, a. & soreng, s. (2004). in whose interest? an exploratory analysis of stakeholders in norwegian coastal zone planning. ocean & coastal management, 47(5-6), 207-223. bundy, j., shropshire, c. & buchholtz, a.k. (2013). strategic cognition and issue salience: toward an explanation of firm responsiveness to stakeholder concerns. academy of management review, 38(3), 352-376. buysse, k. & verbeke, a. (2003). proactive e n v i r o n m e n t a l s t r a t e g i e s : a s t a k e h o l d e r management perspective. strategic management journal, 24(5), 453-470. carroll, a.b. & buchholtz, a.k. (2006), business and society: ethics and stakeholder management (6th ed), cincinnati, oh: south-western/thomson. chen, w. (2010). academic entrepreneurship in a field of multiple logics: university technology transfer in the united states. dissertation. lubbock, tx: texas tech university. cleland, d.i. (1986). project stakeholder management. project management journal, 17(4), 36-45. coombs, w. t. (1998). the internet as potential equalizer: new leverage for confronting social irresponsibility, public relations review, 24(3), 289-303. cording, m., harrison, j.s., hoskisson, r.e. & jonsen, k. (2014). walking the talk: a multistakeholder e x p l o r a t i o n o f o r g a n i z a t i o n a l a u t h e n t i c i t y, e m p l o y e e p r o d u c t i v i t y, a n d p o s t m e r g e r p e r f o r m a n c e . a c a d e m y o f m a n a g e m e n t perspectives, 28(1), 38–56. craig, j.b. & moores, k. (2010). championing family business issues to influence public policy: evidence from australia. family business review, 23(2), 170-180. �170 taking stock of the stakeholder salience tradition: renewing the research agenda m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 141-175 crane, a. & ruebottom, t. (2011). stakeholder theory & s o c i a l i d e n t i t y : r e t h i n k i n g s t a k e h o l d e r identification. journal of business ethics, 102(1), 77-87. cyert, r.m. & march, j.g. (1963), the behavioral theory of the firm, englewood cliffs, nj: prenticehall. david, p., bloom, m. & hillman, a.j. (2007). investor activism, managerial responsiveness, and c o r p o r a t e s o c i a l p e r f o r m a n c e . s t r a t e g i c management journal, 28(1), 91-100. davila, a. & elvira, m.m. (2012). humanistic leadership: lessons from latin america. journal of world business, 47(4), 548-554. de bussy, n.m. & kelly, l. (2010). stakeholders, politics and power towards an understanding of stakeholder identification and salience in g o v e r n m e n t . j o u r n a l o f c o m m u n i c a t i o n management, 14(4), 289-305. de vries, j. (2009). assessing inventory projects from a stakeholder perspective: results of an empirical study. international journal of production economics, 118(1), 136-145. dobbin, f. (1994), forging industrial policy: the united states, britain, and france in the railway age, cambridge: cambridge university press. dong, s., burritt, r. & qian, w. (2014). salient stakeholders in corporate social responsibility reporting by chinese mining and minerals companies. journal of cleaner production, 84, 59-69. driscoll, c. & crombie, a. (2001). stakeholder legitimacy management and the qualified good neighbor: the case of nova nada and jdi. business & society, 40(4), 442-471. driscoll, c. & starik, m. (2004). the primordial s t a k e h o l d e r : a d v a n c i n g t h e c o n c e p t u a l consideration of stakeholder status for the natural environment. journal of business ethics, 49(1), 55-73. durand, r., hawn, o. & ioannou, i. (2017). willing and able: a general model of organizational responses to normative pressures. academy of management review, advance online publication, doi.org/ 10.5465/amr.2016.0107. eesley, c. & lenox, m.j. (2006). firm responses to s e c o n d a r y s t a k e h o l d e r a c t i o n . s t r a t e g i c management journal, 27(8), 765-781. elias, a.a., cavana, r.y. & jackson, l.s. (2002). stakeholder analysis for r&d project management. r & d management, 32(4), 301-310. emshoff, j. & freeman, r.e. (1981). stakeholder management: a case study of the u.s. brewers and the container issue. applications of management science, 1, 57-90. etzioni, a. (1964), modern organizations, englewood cliffs, nj: prentice hall. evan, w.m. & freeman, r.e. (1993). a stakeholder theory of the modern corporation: kantian capitalism. in t.l. beauchamp and n.e. bowie (eds.), ethical theory and business, (4th edition) (pp. 97-106). englewood cliffs. nj: prentice-hall. fang, h., randolph, r.v.g., chrisman, j.j. & barnett, t. (2013). firm religiosity, bounded stakeholder salience, and stakeholder relationships in family firms. journal of management, spirituality & religion, 10(3), 253-270. fassin, y. (2010). a dynamic perspective in freeman’s stakeholder model. journal of business ethics, 96(suppl. 1), 39-49. fineman, s. & clarke, k. (1996). green stakeholders: industry interpretations and response. journal of management studies, 33(6), 715-730. freeman, r.e. (1984), strategic management: a stakeholder approach, boston: pitman. freeman, r.e. (1994). the politics of stakeholder theory: some future directions. business ethics quarterly, 4(4), 409-421. freeman, r., harrison, j., wicks, a., parmar, b. & de colle, s. (2010), stakeholder theory: the state of the art, cambridge: cambridge university press. fiori, f., david, n. & aglioti, s.m. (2014). processing of proprioceptive and vestibular body signals and self-transcendence in ashtanga yoga practitioners. frontiers in human neuroscience, 8, 734. friedman, m.t. & mason, d.s. (2004). a stakeholder approach to understanding economic development decision making: public subsidies for professional sport facilities. economic development quarterly, 18(3), 236-254. frooman, j. (1999). stakeholder influence strategies. academy of management review, 24(2), 191-205. gago, r.f. & antolin, m.n. (2004). stakeholder salience in corporate environmental strategy. corporate governance, 4(3), 65-76. g i f f o r d , e . j . ( 2 0 1 0 ) . e f f e c t i v e s h a r e h o l d e r engagement: the factors that contribute to stakeholder salience. journal of business ethics, 92(1), 79-97. groening, c. & kanuri, v.k. (2013). investor reaction to positive and negative corporate social events. journal of business research, 66(10), 1852-1860. haigh, n. & griffiths, a. (2009). the natural environment as a primary stakeholder: the case of climate change. business strategy and the environment, 18(6), 347-359. hammersley, m. (2001). on “systematic” reviews of research literatures: a narrative response to evans and benefield. british educational research journal, 27(5), 543-554. harvey, b. & schaefer, a. (2001). managing relationships with environmental stakeholders: a study of u.k. electricity and water utilities. journal of business ethics, 30(3), 243-260. hautbois, c., parent, m.m. & seguin, b. (2012). how to win a bid for major sporting events? a stakeholder analysis of the 2018 olympic winter games french bid. sport management review, 15(3), 263-275. hayes-labruto, l., schillebeeckx, s.j.d., workman, m. & shah, n. (2013). contrasting perspectives on china's rare earths policies: reframing the debate through a stakeholder lens. energy policy, 63, 55-68. heidrich, o., harvey, j. & tollin, n. (2009). stakeholder analysis for industrial waste management systems. waste management, 29(2), 965-973. � 171 http://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2016.0107 http://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2016.0107 http://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2016.0107 http://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2016.0107 m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 141-175 shahzad khurram & florent pestre & sandra charreire petit henriques, i. & sadorsky, p. (1999). the relationship b e t w e e n e n v i r o n m e n t a l c o m m i t m e n t a n d managerial perceptions of stakeholder importance. academy of management journal, 42(1), 87-99. hill, c.w. & jones, t.m. (1992). stakeholder-agency theory. journal of management studies, 29(2), 131-154. hsieh, j. (2010). strategic stakeholder orientations and performance consequences – a case of private nonprofit performing arts in the us. international journal of nonprofit and voluntary sector marketing, 15(1), 13-27 jawahar, i.m. & mclaughlin, g.l. (2001). toward a descriptive stakeholder theory: an organizational life cycle approach. the academy of management review, 26(3), 397-414. jeurissen, r. (2004). institutional conditions of corporate citizenship. journal of business ethics, 53(1-2), 87-96. jiang, r.h.j. & bansal, p. (2003). seeing the need for iso 14001. journal of management studies, 40(4), 1047-106. jones, t.m., felps, w. & bigley, g.a. (2007). ethical theory and stakeholder-related decisions: the role of stakeholder culture. academy of management review, 32(1), 137-155. khurram, s. & charreire petit, s. (2017). investigating dynamics of stakeholder salience: what happens when institutional change process unfolds? journal of business ethics, 143(3), 485-515. khurram, s. & pestre, f. (2017). rethinking the s a l i e n c e o f n o t f o r p r o fi t a n d f o r p r o fi t stakeholders of a firm. society and business review, 12(2), 136-151. k l u m p e s , p. j . m . ( 2 0 0 3 ) . c o m p e t i t i o n a m o n g stakeholder groups for political influence over business regulation: the case of the uk pensions industry. economic affairs, 23(3), 4-10. knox, s. & gruar, c. (2007). the application of stakeholder theory to relationship marketing strategy development in a non-profit organization. journal of business ethics, 75(2), 115-135. kyj, m.j. & kyj, l. (2009). an institution-stakeholder framework for examining business relationship dynamics in a transforming eastern europe. journal of world business, 44(3), 300-310. lafreniere, k.c., deshpande, s., bjornlund, h. & hunter, m.g. (2013). extending stakeholder theory to promote resource management initiatives to key stakeholders: a case study of water transfers in alberta, canada. journal of environmental management, 129, 81-91. lamberti, l. & lettieri, e. (2011). gaining legitimacy in converging industries: evidence from the emerging market of functional food. european management journal, 29(6), 462-475. laplume, a.o., sonpar, k. & litz, r.a. (2008). stakeholder theory: reviewing a theory that moves us. journal of management, 34(6), 1152-1189. le, x., vu, v., hens, l. & heur, b.v. (2014). stakeholder perceptions and involvement in the implementation of ems in ports in vietnam and cambodia. journal of cleaner production, 64, 173-193. lehoux, p., daudelin, g., williams-jones, b., denis, j.l. & longo, c. (2014). how do business model and health technology design influence each other? insights from a longitudinal case study of three academic spin-offs. research policy, 43(6), 1025-1038. lodhia, s. & martin, n. (2014). corporate sustainability indicators: an australian mining case study. journal of cleaner production, 84, 107-115. lounsbury, m. (2007). a tale of two cities: competing l o g i c s a n d p r a c t i c e v a r i a t i o n i n t h e professionalizing of mutual funds. academy of management journal, 50(2), 289-307. lu, c., rong, k., you, j. & shi, y. (2014). business ecosystem and stakeholders’ role transformation: evidence from chinese emerging electric vehicle industry. expert systems with applications, 41(10), 4579-4595. luoma-aho, v. (2005). faith-holders as social capital of finnish public sector organisations. doctoral dissertation. jyväskylä studies in humanities 42. jyväskylä: jyväskylä university press. macpherson, a. & jones, o. (2010). editorial: strategies for the development of international journal of management reviews. international journal of management reviews, 12(2), 107-113. magness, v. (2008). who are the stakeholders now? an empirical examination of the mitchell, agle, and wood theory of stakeholder salience. journal of business ethics, 83(2), 177-192. marin, a., mitchell, r.k. & lee, j.h. (2015). the vulnerability and strength duality in ethnic business: a model of stakeholder salience and social capital. journal of business ethics, 130(2), 271-289. masoud, m.s. & wilson, t. (2011). stakeholder salience in public and private firms: results from tanzania. journal of african business, 12(2), 252-267. matilainen, a. (2013). forest companies, corporate social responsibility, and company stakeholders in the russian forest sector. forest policy and economics, 31, 44-49. matilainen, a. & lähdesmäki, m. (2014). nature-based to u r i s m i n p r i v a t e f o r e s t s : s t a k e h o l d e r m a n a g e m e n t b a l a n c i n g t h e i n t e r e s t s o f entrepreneurs and forest owners? journal of rural studies, 35, 70-79. mattingly, j.e. (2007). how to become your own worst adversary: examining the connection between managerial attributions and organizational relationships with public interest stakeholders. journal of public affairs, 7(1), 7-21. mikalsen, k.h. & jentoft, s. (2001). from user-groups to stakeholders? the public interest in fisheries management. marine policy, 25(4), 281-292. miller, k., mcadam, m. & mcadam, r. (2014). the changing university business model: a stakeholder perspective. r & d management, 44(3), 265-287. mitchell, r.k., agle, b.r., chrisman, j.j. & spense, l.j. (2011). towards a theory of stakeholder salience in family firms. business ethics quarterly, 21(2), 235-255. �172 taking stock of the stakeholder salience tradition: renewing the research agenda m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 141-175 mitchell, r.k., agle, b.r. & wood, d.j. (1997). toward a theory of stakeholder identification and salience: defining the principle of who and what really counts. academy of management review, 22(4), 853-886. mitchell, r.k., robinson, r.e., marin, a., lee, j.h. & r a n d o l p h , a . f. ( 2 0 1 3 ) . s p i r i t u a l i d e n t i t y, stakeholder attributes, and family business workplace spirituality stakeholder salience. journal of management, spirituality & religion, 10(3), 215-252. moon, s.j. & hyun, k. (2009). the salience of stakeholders and their attributes in public relations and business news. journal of mass media ethics, 24(1), 59-75. nastran, m. (2014). stakeholder analysis in a protected natural park: case study from slovenia. journal of environmental planning and management, 57(9), 1359-1380. neill, j.d. & stovall, o.s. (2005). stakeholder salience and corporate social responsibility: evidence from three companies. the journal of applied business research, 21(3), 71-78. neville, b.a., bell, s.j. & whitewell, g.j. (2011). s t a k e h o l d e r s a l i e n c e r e v i s i t e d : r e fi n i n g , redefining and refueling an underdeveloped conceptual tool. journal of business ethics, 102(3), 357-378. neville, b.a. & menguc, b. (2006). stakeholder multiplicity: toward an understanding of the interactions between stakeholders. journal of business ethics, 66(4), 377-391. ojala, j. & luoma-aho, v. (2008). stakeholder relations as social capital in early modern international trade. business history, 50(6), 749-764. pajunen, k. (2006). stakeholder influences in organizational survival. journal of management studies, 43(6), 1261-1288. papadopoulos, t. & merali, y. (2008). stakeholder network dynamics and emergent trajectories of lean implementation projects: a study in the uk national health service.  public money and management, 28(1), 41-48. parent, m.m. & deephouse, d.l. (2007). a case study of stakeholder identification and prioritization by managers. journal of business ethics, 75(1), 1-23. perrault, e. (2017). a “names-and-faces approach” to stakeholder identification and salience: a matter of status. journal of business ethics, 146(1), 25-38. pfarrer, m.d., decelles, k.a., smith, k.g. & taylor, m.s. (2008). after the fall: reintegrating the corrupt organization. academy of management review, 33(3), 730-749. pfeffer, j. & salancik, g.r. (1978), the external control of organizations: a resource dependence perspective, new york, ny: harper and row. phillips, n. & malhotra, n. (2008). taking social construction seriously: extending the discursive approach in institutional theory. in r. greenwood, c. oliver, k. sahlin & r. suddaby (eds.), the sage handbook of organizational institutionalism (pp. 702-720). far east square, singapore: sage publications. phillips, r.a., freeman, r.e. & wicks, a.c. (2003). what stakeholder theory is not. business ethics quarterly, 13(4), 479-502. phillips, r.a. & reichart, j. (2000). the environment as a stakeholder? a fairness-based approach. journal of business ethics, 23(2), 185-197. phillips, r.a., berman, s.l., elms, h. & m.e. johnsoncramer (2010). strategy, stakeholders and managerial discretion. strategic organization, 8(2), 176-183. postema, t., groen, a. & krabbendam, k. (2012). a model to evaluate stakeholder dynamics during innovation implementation. international journal of innovation management, 16(5), 1-20. powell, w.w. (1991). expanding the scope of institutional analysis. in w.w. powell & p.j. dimaggio (eds.), the new institutionalism in organizational analysis (pp. 183-203). chicago, il: university of chicago press. powell, w.w. & dimaggio, p.j. (1991), the new institutionalism in organizational analysis, chicago, il: university of chicago press. rowley, t.j. (1997). moving beyond dyadic ties: a network theory of stakeholder influences. academy of management journal, 22(4), 887-910. ryan, l.v. & schneider, m. (2003). institutional investor power and heterogeneity: implications for agency and stakeholder theories. business & society, 42(4), 398-429. sachs, s. & maurer, m. (2009). toward dynamic corporate stakeholder responsibility.  journal of business ethics, 85(supplement 3), 535-544. sachs, s. & ruhli, e. (2005). changing managers’ values toward a broader stakeholder orientation. corporate governance, 5(2), 89-98. salzmann, o., ionescu-somers, a., & tywuschik, s. (2006). stakeholder dynamics. in u. steger (eds.), inside the mind of the stakeholder: the hype behind stakeholder pressure (pp. 19-60). london: palgrave macmillan. sæbø, ø., flak, l.s. & maung, k.s. (2011). understanding the dynamics in e-participation initiatives: looking through the genre and stakeholder lenses. government information quarterly, 28(3), 416-425. santana, a. (2012). three elements of stakeholder legitimacy. journal of business ethics, 105(2), 257-265. savage, g., nix, t., whitehead, c. & blair, j. (1991). s t r a t e g i e s f o r a s s e s s i n g a n d m a n a g i n g stakeholders. academy of management executive, 5(2), 61-75. schacter, d., gilbert, d. & wegner, d. (2011), psychology, 2nd edition, new york, ny: worth publishers. schepper, s.d., dooms, m. & haezendonck, e. (2014). stakeholder dynamics and responsibilities in public–private partnerships: a mixed experience. international journal of project management, 32(7), 1210-1222. schneider, l. & wallenburg, c.m. (2012). implementing sustainable sourcing—does purchasing need to change? journal of purchasing & supply management, 18(4), 243-257. � 173 m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 141-175 shahzad khurram & florent pestre & sandra charreire petit sheehan, l.r. & ritchie, j.r.b. (2005). destination stakeholders: exploring identity and salience. annuals of tourism research, 32(3), 711-734. shymko, y. & roulet, t. (2017). when does medici hurt davinci? mitigating the signaling effect of extraneous stakeholder relationships in the field of cultural production. academy of management journal, 60(4), 1307-1338. siddiqi, a., kajenthira, a. & anadon, l d. (2013). bridging decision networks for integrated water and energy planning. energy strategy reviews, 2(1), 46-58. simon, h.a. (1955). a behavioral model of rational choice. the quarterly journal of economics, 69(1), 99-118. sine, w.d. & david, r.j. (2003). environmental jolts, institutional change, and the creation of entrepreneurial opportunity in the u.s. electric power industry. resource policy, 32(2), 185-207. smith, j., adhikari, a. & tondkar, r.h. (2005). exploring differences in social disclosures internationally: a stakeholder perspective. journal of accounting and public policy, 24(2), 123-51. solomon, e. (2001). the dynamics of corporate change: management’s evaluation of stakeholder c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s .  h u m a n s y s t e m s management, 20(3), 257-265. soobaroyen, t. & n'tim, c.g. (2013). social and environmental accounting as symbolic and substantive means of legitimation: the case of hiv/aids reporting in south africa. accounting forum, 37(2), 92-109. stovel, k. & savage, m. (2006). mergers and mobility: organizational growth and the origins of career migration at lloyds bank. american journal of sociology, 111(4), 1080-1121. suchman, m.c. (1995). managing legitimacy: strategic and institutional approaches. academy of management review, 20(3), 571-610. tang, z. & tang, j. (2012). stakeholder–firm power difference, stakeholders’ csr orientation, and sme environmental performance in china. journal of business venturing, 27, 436-455. thornton, p.h. & ocasio, w. (1999). institutional logics and the historical contingency of power in organizations: executive succession in the higher education publishing industry, 1958-1990. american journal of sociology, 105(3), 801-843. thijssens, t.,  bolken, l.  &  hassink, h.  (2015). s e c o n d a r y s t a k e h o l d e r i n fl u e n c e o n c s r disclosure: an application of stakeholder salience theory. journal of business ethics, 132(4), 873-891. torre, a. & rallet, a. (2005). proximity and localization. regional studies, 39(1), 47-59. tranfield, d., denyer, d. & smart, p. (2003). toward a methodology for developing evidence-informed management knowledge by means of systematic review. british journal of management, 14(3), 207-222. uusitalo, o. & rokman, m. (2004). first foreign grocery retailer enters the finnish market—a stakeholder model. journal of retailing and consumer services, 11(4), 195-206. weber, j. & marley, k.a. (2012). in search of stakeholder salience: exploring corporate social and sustainability reports. business & society, 51(4), 626-649. weiten, w. (2008),  psychology: themes and variations, 7th edition, belmont, ca: wadsworth. windsor, d. (2010). the role of dynamics in stakeholder thinking. journal of business ethics, 96(1), 79-87. winn, m.i. (2001). building stakeholder theory with a decision modeling methodology. business and society, 40(2), 133-166. winn, m.i. & keller, l.r. (2001). a modeling methodology for multiobjective multistakeholder decisions—implications for research. journal of management inquiry, 10(2), 166-181. wu, x. (2007). stakeholder identifying and positioning (sip) models: from google’s operation in china to a general case-analysis framework. public relations review, 33(4), 415-425. yang, r.j., wang, y. & jin, x. (2014). stakeholders’ attributes, behaviors, and decision-making strategies in construction projects: importance and correlations in practice. project management journal, 45(3), 74-90. yasmil, y., anshari, g.z., komarudin, h. & alquadri, s. ( 2 0 0 6 ) . s t a k e h o l d e r c o n fl i c t s a n d f o r e s t decentralization policies in west kalimantan: their dynamics and implications for future forest m a n a g e m e n t .  f o r e s t s , t r e e s a n d livelihoods, 16(2), 167-180. yaziji, m. & doh, j. (2009), ngos and corporations: conflict and collaboration, new york, ny: cambridge university press. zajac, e.j. & westphal, j.d. (2004). the social construction of market value: institutionalization and learning perspectives on stock market valuations. american sociology review, 69(3), 433-457. �174 taking stock of the stakeholder salience tradition: renewing the research agenda m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 141-175 shahzad khurram obtained a ph.d. from paris-sud / paris-saclay university in 2015. he is currently assistant professor at air university school of management, islamabad in pakistan. his current works concern the stakeholders’ role in the transformation processes of institutions. florent pestre is associate professor of strategic management at parissaclay university, france, and is a member of the ritm research center. his research investigates the role of business in society, with a special emphasis on the social responsibilities of multinational corporations. sandra charreire petit is professor of strategic management at parissaclay university, france. she is head of the ritm research center in which she develops her research. her current works focus on csr, whistleblowing and stakeholders. she also works on learning dynamics in the territorialized networks of innovation. acknowledgments: the authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers, laure cabantous and thomas roulet for their helpful comments that improved the paper. all errors or omissions are the authors. this document benefited from american journal experts’ copy editing. � 175 03 222 albertini & berger-remy 2019 m@n@gement 2019, vol. 22(2): 216-249 intellectual capital and financial performance:
 a meta-analysis and research agenda elisabeth albertini ! fabienne berger-remy accepted by co-editor in chief thomas roulet abstract. in the post-industrial economy, intellectual capital (ic) in the form of human, structural or relational capital is becoming a crucial factor for a firm’s long-term performance, as it constitutes a competitive advantage from the resource-based theory perspective. previous research led to a fragmented view of ic, as the relationship between ic and corporate financial performance has been mostly studied mobilizing human, structural or relational capital components in isolation. furthermore, most studies conclude that even though the relationship is positive, it remains at best unclear. another unsolved issue lies in value capture—namely, who, among various stakeholders, benefits most from the value created by ic. using a statistical meta-analysis of 75 empirical studies from 1992 to 2017, this research shows that human capital (hc), structural capital (sc) and relational capital (rc) do not influence corporate financial performance to the same extent. this can be explained by the characteristics of ic components in term of ownership, tradability and timespan, and the beneficiary of the value created, being the company, the investor or the customer. this work, then, contributes to an extended view of resource-based theory, mostly by highlighting that some ic components are interrelated in their association with financial performance. lastly, this research opens new avenues for research in four directions: (1) identification and classification of ic components; (2) understanding of the combination and orchestration of intangible assets; (3) improvement of indicators and measurement systems of ic; and (4) enhancement of the understanding of value creation through narrative means, namely extra-financial disclosure and corporate communication. keywords: intellectual capital, resource-based theory, financial performance, relational capital, structural capital, human capital, brand equity introduction our contemporary economy is witnessing a historic shift in which value creation no longer comes from the mastery of production but rather from intellectual capital (ic) (dean & kretschmer, 2007; murthy & mouritsen, 2011). this shift is regularly featured in the headlines of the economic press, which praises new business models such as airbnb and uber (pfeffer 2014), which operate with almost no physical capital. apple, exemplary in the way the company creates value with ic such as design, innovation and brand, may be the most valued brand ever and yet owns 1 few manufacturing facilities. paradoxically, intangible assets that have not �216 elisabeth albertini sorbonne business school university of paris 1 pantheonsorbonne france albertini.iae@univ-paris1.fr fabienne berger-remy sorbonne business school university of paris 1 pantheonsorbonne france berger-remy.iae@univ-paris1.fr m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 216-249 elisabeth albertini & fabienne berger-remy been bought are not reported in a company’s financial statements, leading to situations where the book value of brands, such as apple or hermès, is equal to zero. this insufficiency in the accounting framework keeps ic invisible to managers, making it difficult to adequately allocate financial resources to a specific intangible good (gowthorpe, 2009). in this context, ic is becoming a crucial factor for a firm’s long-term profit and performance (crook, ketchen, combs & todd, 2008; dean & kretschmer, 2007; mouritsen, 2006). ic is defined as a set of intangible resources and capabilities possessed or controlled by a firm—such as knowledge, culture, brands, reputation, relational network, processes—that create value in the form of competitive advantage. it is an important part of resource-based theory (rbt) and contributes to performance from this theoretical perspective (barney, ketchen & wright, 2011; bollen, vergauwen & schnieders, 2005). the value of ic also lies in its intangible nature, which makes it rare and difficult to imitate, in contrast with tangible assets that are easier to buy or to copy (martin de castro, delgado-verde, lopez-saez & navas-lopez, 2011; ray, barney & muhanna, 2004). moreover, ic is hard to exchange since it is deeply embedded in the company which controls it (molloy, chadwick, ployhart & golden, 2011). lastly, even if competitors attempt to imitate ic, a high degree of uncertainty remains about the return on investment both in magnitude and in time lag (juma & payne, 2004). in short, there is a relationship between ic and firm performance, but it is at best unclear (crook, ketchen, combs & todd, 2008). hence, value creation generated by ic presents significant challenges for both researchers and practitioners. according to the academic literature, ic is divided into three main components: human capital (hc) (knowledge, skills, training or innovation), structural capital (sc) (efforts in r&d, technological infrastructure, organizational culture and values) and relational capital (rc) (relationships with customers, other stakeholders and society as a whole, as well as consumer-brand relationships) (bontis, 1998; edvinsson & malone, 1997; martin de castro et al., 2011). hence, these components, very different by nature, are interrelated with one another within the company, which in turn provide competitive advantages in line with rbt (barney et al., 2011; bollen et al., 2005; yuqian & dayuan, 2015). then, a significant amount of research has been conducted to demonstrate in isolation the influence of a specific ic component on a firm’s corporate financial performance (cfp), measured either by accounting-based or stock market value indicators, or more rarely by both types of ratio. the question may legitimately be asked whether the different ic components contribute equally to a firm’s cfp and whether the created value is captured by shareholders through the increase of the stock price or by the managers of the firm through accounting performance. to sum up, two important issues have not yet been fully covered. the first is related to the typology of ic commonly acknowledged in the literature, where ic components are usually placed on an equal footing. however, it is very likely that, because of their distinct characteristics, they can be compared with regard to their contribution to financial performance. the second issue is linked closely with value appropriation. in the classical view of rbt, possession of ic automatically leads to superior performance for the firm, based on the premise that value creation is harmoniously distributed throughout the different stakeholders. however, empirical research shows that not all value created necessarily flows to the company; for instance, a platform business may fail if value is not equally distributed between consumers, producers and the platform (van alstyne, �217 1. interbrand. best global brands ranking 2015. retrieved from www.interbrand.com http://www.interbrand.com http://www.interbrand.com intellectual capital and financial performance:
 a meta-analysis and research agenda m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 216-249 parker & choudary, 2016). hence, it is of critical importance for the rbt to question the issue of value appropriation by the company (crook et al., 2008). thus, the objective of this research is to fill those gaps and to determine (1) to what extent each and every ic component contributes to the financial performance of the firm and (2) whether the contribution is captured by managers of the firm, shareholders or customers through accounting-based performance, stock market value or customer performance. in other words, does ic create value for the organization or for the investors and/or the customers? a close examination of empirical findings is therefore critical for furthering knowledge in this area and provides a detailed research agenda. to answer these questions, we opted for a statistical synthesis (meta-analysis) of 75 studies conducted from 1992 to 2017. meta-analysis is a statistical technique that aggregates empirical findings to discern whether associations exist and, more importantly, provides estimates of their size (damanpour, 1991; grinstein, 2008; scheer, miao & palmatier, 2015). by statistically aggregating results across individual studies and correcting statistical artifacts, such as sampling and measurement error, meta-analysis allows for much greater precision than other forms of research review (hunter, schmidt & jackson, 1982). moreover, metaanalysis can estimate the extent to which the economic value created is revealed differentially in performance measures (crook et al., 2008). several meta-analyses have studied in isolation the relationship between business performance and forms of rc such as advertising (conchar, crask & zinkhan, 2005; eisend, 2009), customer relationship (edeling & fischer, 2016; palmatier, dant, grewal & evans, 2006), customer satisfaction (orsingher, valentini & de angelis, 2010; szymanski & henard, 2001) and product innovativeness (szymanski, kroff & troy, 2007). however, to our knowledge, no research has taken a more holistic view of ic. from a theoretical point of view, this research aims at shedding light on the nature of ic and its links to financial performance by answering a research call about the potential superiority of certain strategic resources (crook et al., 2008). this meta-analysis highlights that, unexpectedly, the different ic components—human capital (hc), structural capital (sc) and relational capital (rc)—do not influence cfp in the same proportion, demonstrating the complex nature of ic. this review opens new avenues for research and enhances managers’ understanding of which ic components to focus on. the remainder of this article is organized as follows. in the next section we review the background literature on the overall relationship between ic and cfp, present the hypotheses of this research and outline the influence of possible moderators. next, we describe the meta-analysis technique and procedures used in this paper, and the results of the metaanalytic investigation. finally, we discuss the theoretical and managerial implications of the findings and some limitations, and make recommendations for future research. literature review although fairly young in their development, ic and related topics have recently increased in popularity, in both academic and practitioner circles (table 1). indeed recognition of the importance of ic has increased as more and more firms are creating value based on knowledge and other intangible assets rather than tangible assets such as buildings, equipment � 218 m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 216-249 elisabeth albertini & fabienne berger-remy and real estate (villalonga, 2004). the subject has gained popularity in several academic fields in management, namely in strategic management, marketing, human resources, accounting and finance. as shown below, this has led to a relatively fragmented view, as each discipline has seen ic from its own angle, mostly emphasizing one or other of the ic components, thus compromising overall view and comparison. from the strategic management perspective, rbt posits that sustained competitive advantage is derived from the rare, valuable, imperfectly imitable and not substitutable resources and capabilities a firm controls (barney, 1991; barney et al., 2011; barney, wright & ketchen, 2001). these resources and capabilities can be viewed as bundles of tangible and intangible assets, including a firm’s management skills, its organizational processes and the information and knowledge it controls (barney et al., 2001). the specific features of ic can explain its significant role in the performance of the firm (molloy et al., 2011). while tangible assets deteriorate with use, several components of ic, such as employees’ skills, may improve with use. hence, ic is expected to provide benefits for an undefined timeframe as opposed to tangible assets which have expected depreciation (cohen, 2011). moreover, ic is a non-rivalrous good, that is, multiple managers can use it simultaneously. yet, intangible assets are immaterial, which makes them difficult to imitate or to exchange since they often cannot be separated from their owner (marr & moustaghfir, 2005). indeed, to acquire an ic such as a brand, firms must often acquire the whole organization (barney, 1999). moreover, their immateriality leads to inefficient markets (cohen, 2011). hence, companies develop ic within the firm through complex social and organizational processes (winter, 2003), typically making these intangible assets tacit, hard to codify and difficult to imitate, contributing to the firm’s superior and sustainable performance (villalonga, 2004). in marketing research, strong brands are typically assets that are rare, valuable, imperfectly imitable and not substitutable. keller (1993) coined this description in his seminal article on brand equity, when he defined consumer-based brand equity (cbbe) as “the differential effect of brand knowledge on consumer response to the marketing of the brand”. interestingly, for keller this occurs when the consumer makes brand associations that are favourable, strong and unique, a definition that pretty much matches that of barney (1991) in the rbt. hence, brand equity corresponds first and foremost to the value attributed to the brand by each consumer, i.e. cbbe defined as “the added value that a brand endows a product with” (farquhar, 1989). brand equity is then assessed on the basis of its potential to propose a superior value to the customer than a similar non-branded or competing product (de chernatony, riley & harris, 1998). from the firm perspective, the capacity of the brand to modify consumer perceptions and behaviours steadily and consistently towards branded products enables brands to develop a unique competitive force (changeur, 2004). brands with high equity will then generate “incremental cash flows which accrue to branded products over and above the cash flows which would result from the sales of unbranded products” (simon & sullivan, 1993). marketing scholars generally see having strong brands as a competitive advantage (kimbrough et al., 2009). in parallel to the brand equity stream, other marketing scholars have emphasized the value created by the so-called “market orientation”, defined as an organizational culture focused on the creation of superior value for customers (kohli & jaworski, 1990; narver & slater, 1990). in that research stream, a marketoriented company will develop specific skills in customer relationship management (johnson & selnes, 2004), which in turn will provide a �219 intellectual capital and financial performance:
 a meta-analysis and research agenda m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 216-249 competitive advantage in the form of customer satisfaction and loyalty (anderson, fornell & lehmann, 1994; rego, morgan & fornell, 2013). as a result, customer portfolio is a key asset for market-oriented companies and requires careful management (ryals, 2005). from the hc research perspective, knowledge and tacit skills provide individuals with greater cognitive abilities, leading to more productive and efficient activity (bontis & fitz-enz, 2002). while human resource management (hrm) practices may be imitable, hrm systems and routines may be unique and contribute to the development of specific capital skills (barney et al., 2001). indeed, hc can provide a sustained competitive advantage since it involves knowledge stocks, such as hiring well-educated people, and knowledge flows, such as developing a high level of codified and tacit knowledge (bontis, 1998; chadwick, 2017; do rosario-cabrita & bontis, 2008). from the accounting research perspective, intangible assets are not captured adequately using current financial-reporting systems, either the ifrs or the generally accepted accounting principles (gaap), because it is difficult to represent them as an historic cost in a transaction-based accounting framework (barth, 2015). explicit legal rights, like patents, copyright and possibly brands, are exceptions and these are reported in the balance sheet if they are bought with other assets. yet, customer relationships, organizational capital (oc), knowledge assets, hc and other components of ic are so specific that they cannot be evaluated by a market price and so reported in the balance sheet (penman, 2009). from the finance research perspective, the market value of the firm reflects its intangible assets such as brand, patents, reputation, human and organizational capital even if they are not recognized by domestic accounting standards (amir, lev & sougiannis, 2003; lev & zambon, 2003). value relevance studies find that available financial estimates of intangible assets reliably reflect their value, in that these estimates have a significantly positive relation with share price (barth, 2015). moreover, these studies underline the relevance of firms’ ic as a major driver of growth and competitiveness (youndt, subramaniam & snell, 2004). hence, table 1 gives a summary of the research field relating to ic. table 1 a synthesis of the ic research field � 220 research field main outputs issues for corporate financial performance strategy resource-based theory: a firm’s resources, particularly intangible ones, contribute to a sustained competitive advantage. these elements of ic are not easily identified by managers and are therefore hard to manage. marketing sustainable competitive advantage originates from the firm’s ability to build long-lasting relationships with an array of stakeholders, primarily customers. managers focus on how to build strong brands and impeccable reputation through efficient communications and state-of-the art customer care. human resource management sustainable competitive advantage is tied to specific hc skills, core competences and knowledge. managers may wonder how to attract, develop, motivate and retain employees. accounting and finance ic does not consist of separable assets that can be captured by conservative accounting rules in a balance sheet. yet investors recognize the critical importance of ic in the value creation process of a company. the financial statement does not adequately report the ic of a firm. information about ic investments is an important factor in the process of valuing shares by investors. m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 216-249 elisabeth albertini & fabienne berger-remy overall ic and cfp association in today’s post-industrial economy, capital has expanded from the realm of tangibles to intangibles (dean & kretschmer, 2007). in this context, ic is becoming a crucial factor in a firm’s long-term profit and performance in a knowledge-based economy (bollen et al., 2005; yuqian & dayuan, 2015). ic is defined as a set of intangible resources and capabilities possessed or controlled by a firm. the wide range of academic definitions of ic refers to an organization’s total capabilities, knowledge capability, culture, strategy, process and professional practices, intellectual property and relational networks that create value in the form of competitive advantages and therefore contribute strongly to the achievement of a firm’s objectives (bollen et al., 2005; edvinsson & malone, 1997; hsu, fang & fang, 2009; morgan, 2012; phusavat, comepa, sitko-lutek & ooi, 2011; reed, lubatkin & srinivasan, 2006; teece, 2000). the value of ic also lies in its intangibility, which makes it difficult to imitate, in contrast with tangible assets (martin de castro et al., 2011; ray et al., 2004). hence, we propose the following hypothesis: h1: the overall association between intellectual capital (ic) and corporate financial performance (cfp) is positive. diving into a complex association the association between ic and cfp reflects a great deal of complexity since cfp can be measured by different approaches and ic embraces components that are very different by nature. the approaches of corporate financial performance measurement in the sample of studies gathered for this meta-analysis, there is a clear focus on financial performance seen as an outcome (dependent variable). this constitutes potentially a limitation, as financial performance could also be seen as an input (guérard, langley & seidl, 2013; lechner & gudmundsson, 2012). in our sample, cfp is measured by three broad categories of indicators: (1) stock market value (investor returns); (2) accounting-based indicators (accounting returns); and (3) customer metrics (sales, market share and price premium), as shown in figure 1. �221 intellectual capital and financial performance:
 a meta-analysis and research agenda m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 216-249 figure 1. indicators of corporate financial performance found in the sample studies stock market-based indicators (1) often use the price-earnings ratio, price per share or share price appreciation, tobin’s q, share value or market value to underscore an improvement in the firm’s economic performance. stock market-based indicators are said to be subject to forces beyond management control. further, tobin’s q has been extensively used in our sample studies to measure the stock market value of firms because this indicator is a forward-looking measure of performance that captures information about firms’ future potential earnings (bharadwaj, bharadwaj & konsynski, 1999). indeed, a firm that creates stock market value above the replacement costs of its assets also creates additional firm value. tobin’s q is a surrogate of firm value in the stock market (matzler, hinterhuber, daxer & huber, 2005) that has been extensively used as a measure of intangible value (bharadwaj et al., 1999). tobin’s q reflects the market expectations of less quantifiable dimensions of performance that reflects the portion of the firm’s intangible assets in addition to its tangible assets (lin, chen & wu, 2006). accounting-based indicators (2) mainly use earnings per share, return on equity (roe), return on assets (roa), return on sales and return on investment (roi) to measure the financial performance of a firm. roa and roe are generally accepted standard measures of financial performance found in strategy research. accounting-based indicators are subject to managers’ discretionary allocations of funds to different ic project choices. these indicators reflect internal decision-making capabilities and managerial performance rather than external market responses to organizational (non-market) actions (hsu & wang, 2012; phusavat et al., 2011). in the marketing literature, financial performance can also be estimated using indicators related to customer purchases; for example, a widely used indicator is sales in purchase units (coviello, winklhofer & hamilton, 2006; eggers, kraus, hughes, laraway & snycerski, 2013; hooley, greenley, cadogan & fahy, 2005; luo, griffith, liu & shi, 2004; rubera & droge, 2013; smith & wright, 2004; yeung & ennew, 2000) � 222 m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 216-249 elisabeth albertini & fabienne berger-remy followed by other indicators including market share (hooley et al., 2005; matsuno, zhu & rice, 2014; nakao, 1993) and the ability to charge a premium price (holbrook, 1992; thomson, macinnis & park, 2005). studies in our sample have adopted a variety of measurements of financial performance. additionally, in most of the published research, priority is given to one specific component of ic. attention will now be turned to the composition, or subdivision, of ic into several components as presented in the fields of management science. the diversity of intellectual capital components the academic literature divides ic into three main components (see figure 2): human capital (hc), structural capital (sc) and relational capital (rc) (bontis, 1998; edvinsson & malone, 1997; martin de castro et al., 2011). hc refers to employees’ tacit or explicit knowledge, such as attitudes, experiences, skills, abilities, expertise and know-how. hc leaves the company at night when employees return home and therefore does not fully belong to the company (chadwick, 2017; edvinsson & malone, 1997). this critical resource helps to differentiate financial performance between firms because hc involves both knowledge stocks (hiring well-educated people) and knowledge flows (developing a high level of codified and tacit knowledge about a specific market and its specific market conditions) (bontis, 1998). unlike hc, sc is everything left at the office at night when employees return home. this type of capital corresponds to the institutionalized knowledge and codified experience residing within and used by databases, patents, manuals, structures, systems and processes (edvinsson & malone, 1997; youndt et al., 2004). sc is composed of the knowledge created by a firm’s information technology systems and stored in them, its structure and operating procedure (edvinsson & malone, 1997), and intangible elements such as culture and informational routines (nelson & winter, 1982). lastly, rc refers to the relationships a firm has with customers, suppliers, partners and social agents who are connected to the organization through its basic business processes, as well as the value of the firm’s relations with stakeholders that can be influenced by the firm’s activities (nahapiet & ghoshal, 1998). rc is defined as the organization’s implicit set of available resources and ongoing relationships implemented through interactions between individuals or organizations (kostova & roth, 2003; shipilov & danis, 2006). these relationships are displayed in figure 2. �223 intellectual capital and financial performance:
 a meta-analysis and research agenda m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 216-249 figure 2. a conceptual view of the components of intellectual capital from martin de castro et al. (2011) human capital human capital (hc) is defined as the combined knowledge, skill, innovation and ability of employees (bontis, crossan & hulland, 2002; bontis & fitz-enz, 2002). hc, an underlying strategic resource, is both supportive and necessary for success because employees’ knowledge and skills are essential in today’s fast-paced, rapidly changing competitive climate (reed et al., 2006; subramaniam & youndt, 2005). indeed, companies with greater hc (i.e., higher education, training or skill) are likely to have greater effectiveness and profitability (aragon-sanchez, barba-aragon & sanze-valle, 2003). as long as hc continues to be developed, staff members can improve their job performance and ultimately improve the firm’s performance (hsu & wang, 2012). a firm’s hc is an important source of sustained competitive advantage; therefore, investment in the hc of the workforce may increase employee productivity and financial results (ling & jaw, 2006; sels et al., 2006). training has a positive effect on employee productivity and effectiveness in terms of value added by workers (aragon-sanchez et al., 2003; roca-puig, beltran-martin & segarra-copres, 2011). indeed, trained people develop more efficient means of accomplishing task requirements, thereby increasing productivity (roca-puig et al., 2011; sels et al., 2006). productivity is directly linked to the share of personal costs in the value added. the lower the latter is, the higher the margin for the company in term of profitability. it must be highlighted that hc has barely any impact on stock market value and customer metrics. indeed, knowledge, abilities or behaviours can only be linked to closer constructs such as productivity or other organizational outcomes (tharenou, saks & moore, 2007). � 224 m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 216-249 elisabeth albertini & fabienne berger-remy hence, we hypothesize: h2: the positive association between human capital (hc) and corporate financial performance (cfp) is stronger when cfp is measured by accounting-based indicators rather than by customer metrics and stock market value. structural capital structural capital (sc) incorporates two sub-components, technological capital (tc) and organizational capital (oc). tc refers to the organizational knowledge directly linked to the development of the activities and functions of the technical system of the organization. the technological system leads to the development of new products and services and to efficient production processes, advancing the organizational knowledge required to develop future technological innovations. this system includes investment in research and development, technological infrastructure and intellectual and industrial property (edvinsson & malone, 1997; subramaniam & youndt, 2005). conversely, oc is the combination of explicit and implicit intangible assets that gives organizational cohesion to the different activities and business processes developed in the firm. this type of capital includes organizational culture, values and attitudes, information technology capabilities and the organizational structure of the firm (martin de castro et al., 2011). innovative products generate a large portion of a firm’s revenues and, thus, participate to the growth performance of the firm (cho & pucik, 2005). indeed, investments in research and development pay off significantly in terms of improved productivity and subsequently profitability (ettlie, 1998). an increase in research and development expenditures generates a positive abnormal stock return since the investors expect that the net present value of future earnings will be enhanced by the new product or the new technology launched by the company (lin, lee & hung, 2006). hence, we propose the following hypothesis: h3: the positive association between structural capital (sc) and corporate financial performance (cfp) is stronger when cfp is measured by accounting-based indicators and stock market value rather than by customer metrics. relational capital relational capital (rc) embraces the relationships of an organization’s staff with its clients or customers, suppliers or allies and society in general (martin de castro et al., 2011). stronger relationships foster continuous improvements in new product development through shared knowledge among suppliers, customers and firms (yarbrough, morgan & vorhies, 2011). such relationships also secure long-term sales through customer loyalty (hsu & wang, 2012), credibility (erdem & swait, 1998) and superior reputation (davies, chun & kamins, 2010; smith, smith & kun, 2010). the marketing literature also focuses on customerbrand relationships (fournier, 1998) as an advantage for firms. building strong brands results in customer-based brand equity (cbbe) (keller, 1993). cbbe is a source of financial value for a firm through the relationship that links consumers with its brand (thomson et al., 2005). notably, rc can also theoretically embrace a firm’s relationship with society as a whole, acting as an economic agent that plays an active, �225 intellectual capital and financial performance:
 a meta-analysis and research agenda m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 216-249 positive role in the social scene. this dialogue with society can in turn provide competitive advantage to the firm in the form of an enhanced reputation, more efficient lobbying policies or easier access to valuable market knowledge. rc provides a competitive advantage essentially through a stronger relationship with customers, either directly or through the mediation of brands. the ability to build such relationships is fairly difficult for accountants to appreciate (gowthorpe, 2009). notably, recent studies suggest that consumers are able to recognize value in brands above and beyond managers themselves (berthon, holbrook, hulbert & pitt, 2007; diamond et al., 2009; mcenally & de chernatony, 1999). hence, we can posit that rc is presumably more valued by consumers than by accountants (smith & wright, 2004; yeung & ennew, 2000). indeed, when examining the rc stream of research , new performance indicators emerge about customer metrics, such as essential buying behaviour as a proxy for the amount of sales. these metrics have been used extensively to measure the consequences for cfp of different strategies towards customer relationships (gupta & zeithaml, 2006; reed et al., 2006; yeung & ennew, 2000). notably, customer metrics most frequently report intention to buy rather than actual purchases, which constitutes a limitation because the link between attitude and behaviour remains controversial (gupta & zeithaml, 2006). customer metrics have been approximated by a higher preference rate (erdem & swait, 1998; park & srinivasan, 1994; shankar, azar & fuller, 2008) or through the propensity to pay a premium price (holbrook, 1992; park & srinivasan, 1994; thomson et al., 2005). moreover, numerous surveys have reported a positive effect of rc on stock-market value. brand equity has proven to be an essential component of firm value (barth, clement, foster & kasznik, 1998; kirk, ray & wilson, 2013; mizik & jacobson, 2008, 2009) sustained by the number of brands (morgan & rego, 2009) and advertising expenses (bharadwaj et al., 1999; heiens, leach & mcgrath, 2007; mcalister, srinivasan & kim, 2007; ohnemus, 2009). similarly, a positive link between stock market value indicators and customer relationships has been established, measured by customer retention (livne, simpson & talmor, 2011) and customer satisfaction (matzler et al., 2005; o’sullivan & mccallig, 2012). lastly, recent research suggests that customer-oriented marketing capabilities have a positive impact on stock market value as measured by tobin’s q (angulo-ruiz, donthu, prior & rialp, 2014). we therefore propose the following hypotheses: h4: the positive association between relational capital (rc) and corporate financial performance (cfp) is stronger when cfp is measured by customer metrics and stock market value rather than by accounting-based indicators. methodology meta-analysis is a set of statistical techniques developed to identify and quantify associations drawn from an existing body of literature and has been frequently applied to the management literature (dalton, daily, certo & roengpitya, 2003; edeling & fischer, 2016; eisend, 2009; orlitzky, schmidt & rynes, 2003; orsingher et al., 2010; scheer et al., 2015; szymanski & henard, 2001). this quantitative method allows a rigorous integration of the findings of previous studies on a particular topic to assess the overall effect of existing studies and to evaluate the effect of � 226 m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 216-249 elisabeth albertini & fabienne berger-remy different data characteristics on results (hunter et al., 1982; rosenthal, 1991; stanley, 2001; wolf, 1986). meta-analysis involves statistical analyses that reveal associations that are less obvious in other approaches used to summarize research. this technique determines whether differences in results are based primarily on differences in research setting, measurement scale, cfp or ic components, or sampling error. consequently, this research method is appropriate to investigate the association between ic and cfp because it will (a) calculate an estimate of the mean effect size for this hypothesized association on the basis of all available prior studies; (b) test for the significance and generalizability of the discovered mean effect size by calculating its confidence interval; (c) assess whether there is heterogeneity in the effect size distribution and whether heterogeneity is found; and (d) investigate and model this heterogeneity through further moderator analyses (hedges & olkin, 1985; lipsey & wilson, 2001). sample and coding to construct a comprehensive database, computer searches were conducted using different combinations of keywords in the sciencedirect, 2 ejs ebsco, econlit, jstor, emerald, ssrn, aom and cairn databases. rigorous manual searches were also performed to identify additional articles using the reference lists of each study collected. we also consulted major academic journals that publish this type of research . 3 to be included in this meta-analysis, econometric studies had to provide a statistical measure of the association between ic and financial performance. meta-analysis requires statistically independent samples (cheung & chan, 2004; hunter & schmidt, 2004). as a result, studies based on the same data set were excluded from this meta-analysis to avoid an over-representation bias. our meta-analysis also excluded studies with insufficient data to calculate a common measure of effect size and studies that used very different statistical research methods, such as results from logit or probit regression or multivariate analysis (doucouliagos & laroche, 2003; hunter & schmidt, 2004). out of the initial sample of 153 studies retrieved from the database search, 78 studies were excluded based on these criteria. the final sample includes a total of 75 empirical studies published from 1992 to 2017, with 120 effect sizes that explored the association between ic and cfp with a combined n size of 78,858. data coding focused on several sample and design characteristics, including the date of observation study, country, industrial context, ic component indicators and cfp indicators. appendix a lists the proxies used by the studies in this meta-analysis. the principal unit of analysis in meta-analysis is the individual study (hedges & olkin, 1985). since certain studies contain measurements of several sub-components and certain studies report associations with several cfp indicators, the total number of effect sizes exceeds the number of studies. two distinct methodological approaches can be taken to address multiple measurements within studies: either we consider the k number of studied relationships in the study as independent or we represent each study by a single value. this research follows the first method, building on the research using the monte carlo method, which suggests that meta�227 2. intellectual capital, intangible asset, human capital, goodwill, t r a d e m a r k s , r e s e a r c h a n d development, innovativeness, customer capital, market capital, customer relationship, customer loyalty, brand equity, corporate reputation, customer satisfaction, brand values, market share, market orientation, brand image, customer-brand relationship, financial performance, business performance, price premium, profit, market value, market-tobook value, capital market, return on assets, return on equity, return on sales, profitability, business performance. 3 . i n c l u d i n g a c a d e m y o f management journal, journal of m a n a g e m e n t , s t r a t e g i c management journal, journal of management studies, marketing science, journal of marketing, j o u r n a l o f t h e a c a d e m y o f marketing science, journal of marketing research, international journal of research in marketing, journal of business research, accounting review, journal of accounting research and review of accounting studies. intellectual capital and financial performance:
 a meta-analysis and research agenda m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 216-249 analytical procedures using a detailed set of measures from each study outperform single-value approaches (bijmolt & pieters, 2001). specifically, single-value approaches may produce conservative results and underestimate the degree of generalizability across studies (hunter & schmidt, 2004). consequently, we extracted information from the 75 studies on the 120 effect sizes, sample sizes and moderator variables. meta-analytic procedures this meta-analysis uses hunter and schmidt’s (1990) statistical aggregation techniques for cumulating correlations and correcting for various study artifacts to estimate the common measure of effect size between ic and cfp. in the meta-analysis literature, the term effect size is used to denote the magnitude of the relationship between the dependent variable (e.g., cfp) and a specific independent variable (e.g., ic, hc, sc, tc, oc, rc, customer relationship capital, cbbe). in this study, the r statistic is calculated to determine the effect size for each pair of variables from each study. whenever a study reported the r statistic, that is, a coefficient of correlation between ic and cfp, it was used as a measure of effect size. when the r statistic was not reported but other statistics transformable into the r statistic were presented, we used formulas given by rosenthal (1991) or wolf (1986) to transform t-test and z-test into an r statistic. following hunter and schmidt (1990), for each association between ic and cfp, we first calculated the weighted mean correlation c o e f fi c i e n t ( � , t h e t o t a l o b s e r v e d v a r i a n c e ( � ) a n d t h e s a m p l i n g e r r o r v a r i a n c e (� ), where � is the number of observations in each sample, r the effect size for sample i, and k the number of effect sizes. while meta-analysis corrects for various statistical artifacts, this statistical technique for research synthesis also allows the aggregation of results across separate studies and yields an estimate of the true relationship between two variables in a population. the zero-order correlations between the variables of interest that a study reports are weighted by the sample size of the study to calculate the mean weighted correlation across all the studies in the analysis. the standard deviation of the observed correlations is then calculated to estimate their variability. total variability across studies is composed of the true population variation, variation caused by sampling error, and variation linked to other artifacts (that is, reliability and range restriction). controlling these artifacts provides a more accurate estimate of true variability. to control for such artifacts, we relied on comprehensive meta-analysis (borenstein, 1997), a software package that employs hunter and schmidt’s (1990) artifact distribution formulas used in previous meta-analyses in the management field (certo, lester, dalton & dalton, 2006; dalton et al., 2003; king, dalton, daily & covin, 2004). confidence intervals were calculated with corrected standard deviation estimates and the standard errors of the mean-corrected effect sizes established (whitener, 1990). confidence intervals provide information on the reliability of the estimate of the weighted mean coefficient correlation by stating the range of values between which the true value of this value is likely to lie, given a self-chosen confidence level (in our case, 95%). hence, a 95% confidence interval that does not include zero indicates that there is a true relationship between the variables of interest (hunter & schmidt, 1990). r− = ∑ ni rii / ∑ ni ) s2r = ∑ ni(ri − r −)2 / ∑ ni s2e = (1 − r −2)2 k / ∑ ni ni � 228 m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 216-249 elisabeth albertini & fabienne berger-remy following hunter & schmidt’s procedures (hunter & schmidt, 1990), our meta-analysis uses the percentage of observed variance across studies to test heterogeneity rather than the credibility interval. the q and i2 statistics empirically confirm the theoretical assumption of sample heterogeneity (huedo-medina, sanchez-meca, marin-martinez & botella, 2006). while, the q-statistic has been criticized because of its excessive power to detect unimportant heterogeneity when there are many studies (higgins & thompson, 2002), the i2 index is more informative since it quantifies the proportion of between-study variance due to heterogeneity regardless of the number of studies. indeed, the i2 index can be interpreted as the percentage of the total variability in a set of effect size due to true heterogeneity, that is, between-studies variability (huedo-medina et al., 2006). in that context, an i2 of 75% indicates large heterogeneity; 50%, moderate heterogeneity; and 25%, low heterogeneity (higgins & thompson, 2002). we conducted moderator analyses by separating the sample into relevant subgroups with meta-analyses performed on each subgroup. this hierarchical subgroup method, advocated by hunter and schmidt (1990), assesses the heterogeneity of the sample. using this method, studies are separated into subgroups according to theoretically predicted moderators. this subgrouping is hierarchical, allowing moderators to “nest” within each other and therefore be considered in combination (steel & kammeyermueller, 2002). the purpose of subgrouping is to reduce heterogeneity and increase explanatory power. earlier meta-analyses suggest that studies can be classified according to differences in the measurement of the dependent and explanatory variables to reduce the level of variance in results (steel & kammeyer-mueller, 2002). in the overall meta-analysis, we performed an effect size “file drawer analysis” to address the possibility of publication bias, which occurs when published studies report larger and more positive effect sizes than unpublished studies. file drawer analysis addresses this issue by calculating the number of additional unknown studies required to widen the reported confidence interval enough to include zero (hunter & schmidt, 1990; rosenthal, 1978). thus, the file drawer can be interpreted as an indication of the stability of the relationship. findings using the meta-analytical techniques described above, we examined the association between ic and cfp (table 2) and the moderators’ influence on this association (table 3). note: k = number of independent effect-size meta-analysed; n = n = total sample size across all estimate; mean = weighted mean effect size; cfi 95% = lower and upper bound of 95% confidence interval for mean; z score: standard deviation; p = probability at 95%; q value= value of chi-square distributed homogeneity statistic q; i2: i squared = percentage of total variation across studies due to heterogeneity, file drawer = number of missing studies averaging null findings needed to bring the sample-size weighted mean observed down to 0. table 2 overall meta-analytic findings between ic and cfp �229 effect size and 95% confidence interval test of null heterogeneity k n mean lower limit upper limit z score p q value df(q) p i2 file drawer fixed effect model 120 78,858 15 8 22 4,294 <0.000 3,782.91 119 <0.000 96.85 rando effect model 120 78,858 146 105 186 6,950 <0.000 0.17 0.88 4,681 intellectual capital and financial performance:
 a meta-analysis and research agenda m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 216-249 note: for each analysis, k = number of independent effect sizes meta-analysed by subgrouping the studies; n = total sample size across all estimate; mean = weighted mean effect size; cfi 95% = lower and upper bound of 95% confidence interval for mean; se: standard error; p = probability at 95%. table 3 meta-analysis moderators’ results (fixed-effect model) table 2 summarizes the results of the meta-analysis of the overall association between ic and cfp. table 3 presents the results of the moderator’s analysis detailing the association between each ic component and each cfp measure. in each table, the weighted mean effect size (mean) shows the magnitude of the different studied associations between financial performance and ic, while confidence intervals provide information about the reliability of this estimated weight-mean effect-size. as shown in table 2, the mean correlation of the association between ic and cfp is positive (0.015 with a 95% confidence interval of 0.008/0.022) for the total set of 120 effect sizes and a total sample size n of 78,858 observations when using the conservative fixed-effect model. this finding holds for all different measures of ic and all different measures of cfp for all the studies included in this meta-analysis. the associated confidence interval is small and does not include zero, providing evidence � 230 moderators accounting-based indicators customer metrics stock market value overall financial performance human capital mean: 0.162 cfi 95%: 0.133/0.191 k: studies; 13 n: 4,377 se: 0.011; p=0,000 mean: 0.105 cfi 95%: -0.162/0.358 k:1 study; n: 53 se: 0.000; p: 0,443 0 study mean: 0.162 cfi 95%: 0.133/0.190 k:14 studies; n: 4,430 se: 0.011; p=0,000 structural capital mean: 0.073 cfi 95%: 0.048/0.097 k: 22 studies; n: 6,552 se: 0.025; p=0,000 mean: 0.066 cfi 95%: -0.010/0.142 k: 4 studies; n: 654 se: 0.047; p=0,089 mean: 0.063 cfi 95%: 0.037/0.089 k:12 studies; n: 5,574 se: 0.035; p= 0,000 mean: 0.068 cfi 95%: 0.051/0.085 k:38 studies; n: 12,780 se: 0.018; p=0,000 •technological capital mean: 0.027 cfi 95%: -0.002/0.055 k: 11 studies; n: 4,709 se: 0.045; p=0,066 mean: 0.066 cfi 95%: -0.01/0.142 k: 4 studies; n: 654 se: 0.047; p=0,089 mean: 0.058 cfi 95%: 0.032/0.085 k: 11 studies; n: 5,476 se: 0.035; p=0,000 mean: 0.045 cfi 95%: 0.026/0.064 k: 26 studies; n: 10,839 se: 0.023; p=0,000 •organizational capital mean: 0.188 cfi 95%: 0.143/0.231 k: 11 studies; n: 1,843 se: 0.008; p=0,000 0 studies mean: 0.326 cfi 95%: 0.139/0.490 k: 1 study; n: 98 se: 0.000; p=0,001 mean: 0.195 cfi 95%: 0.152/0.237 k: 12 studies; n: 1,941 se: 0.007, p=0,000 relational capital mean: −0.076 cfi 95%: -0.087/-0.066 k: 26 studies; n: 32,841 se: 0.044; p=0,000 mean: 0.086 cfi 95%: 0.063/0.108 k: 16 studies; n: 7,714 se: 0.021; p=0,000 mean: 0.061 cfi 95%: 0.047/0.074 k: 22 studies; n: 19,999 se: 0.003; p=0,000 mean: −0.010 cfi 95%: -0.018/-0.003 k: 64 studies; n: 60,554 se: 0.018; p=0,010 •customer relationship mean: 0.105 cfi 95%: 0.086/0.124 k: 17 studies; n: 10,319 se: 0.012; p=0,000 mean: 0.106 cfi 95%: 0.076/0.136 k: 9 studies; n: 4,148 se: 0.019; p=0,000 mean: 0.169 cfi 95%: 0.129/0.207 k: 6 studies; n: 2,394 se: 0.003; p=0,000 mean: 0.114 cfi 95%: 0.099/0.129 k: 32 studies; n: 16,861 se: 0.008; p=0,000 •customer-based brand equity mean: −0.158 cfi 95%: -0.171/-0.146 k: 9 studies; n: 22,522 se: 0.073; p=0,000 mean: 0.062 cfi 95%: 0.029/0.095 k: 7 studies; n: 3,566 se: 0.059; p=0,000 mean: 0.048 cfi 95%: 0.033/0.062 k: 17 studies; n: 18,049 se: 0.002; p=0,000 mean: −0.057 cfi 95%: -0.066/-0.048 k: 33 studies; n: 44,137 se: 0.026; p=0,000 intellectual capital mean: −0.026 cfi 95%: -0.035/-0.017 k: 63 studies; n: 44,321 se: 0.029; p=0,000 mean: 0.084 cfi 95%: 0,063/0.105 k: 21 studies; n: 8,421 se: 0.019; p=0,000 mean: 0.063 cfi 95%: 0.051/0.075 k: 36 studies; n: 26,116 se: 0.006; p=0,000 mean: 0.015 cfi 95%: 0.008/0.022 k: 120 studies; n: 78,858 se: 0.014; p=0,000 m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 216-249 elisabeth albertini & fabienne berger-remy of a significant positive association between ic and cfp and thus supporting h1. as shown in table 2, 4,681 additional studies are necessary to change the overall substantive conclusions of this meta-analysis. a closer look reveals that among the three categories of cfp variables, the association between ic and cfp measured by accounting-based indicators is negative (-0.026 with a 95% confidence interval of -0.035/-0.017). this result highlights the difficulties that the accounting framework has to measure the value creation generated by ic. moreover, most of the ic expenditures are registered as expenses impacting the annual profit of the company and thus are not considered as investments. specifically, the positive association between ic and cfp is stronger when cfp is measured by customer metrics (0.084 with a 95% confidence of 0.063/0.105) than measured by stock market value (0.063 with a 95% confidence interval of 0.051/0.075). yet, these two confidence intervals overlap, leading us to conclude that there is no significant difference between customer metrics and stock market value as an outcome of the ic when looking at the association between ic and cfp. in other words, the positive association between ic and customer metrics or ic and stock market value could have some common values. hence there is a positive association between ic and cfp, measured by both customer metrics and stock market value. for the overall meta-analysis results, the i2 index is 96.85%, supporting the existence of moderators of the association between ic and cfp. hence, we have conducted a moderator analysis of the association between the different ic components and cfp. as shown in table 3, the overall link between hc and cfp is positive (0.162 with a 95% confidence interval of 0.133/0.190). furthermore, the positive hc-cfp association is stronger when cfp is measured by accounting-based indicators rather than by customer metrics, supporting h2. moreover, this confidence interval does not include zero, suggesting that this mean effect size is truly positive. it is worth noting here that hc is the component of ic that has been less studied. an explanation for this may be that independent explanatory variables measuring hc may be quite distant from financial performance—in other words, direct effects could be very difficult to prove, because hc is entangled with a myriad of other factors. similarly, the link between sc and cfp is positive (0.068 with a 95% confidence interval of 0.051/0.085). this last confidence interval is relatively narrow and does not include zero, suggesting that the estimate is fairly precise and truly positive. more importantly, the positive sc-cfp association is stronger when cfp is measured by accounting-based indicators (0,073 with a confidence interval of 0,048/0,097) and measured by stock market value (0,063 with a confidence interval of 0,037/0,089) rather than by customer metrics (0,066 with a confidence interval of -0,010/0,142). the confidence intervals of the first two associations overlap leading us to conclude that the sc influence cfp measured by both— accounting-based indicators and stock market value—supporting h3. when delving into the details by splitting the sc, the results show that the positive association between oc and cfp is stronger (0.195 with a 95% confidence interval of 0.152/0.237) than between tc and cfp (0.045 with a 95% confidence interval of 0.026/0.064). indeed, research suggests that organizations’ operational processes and the commitment of sufficient resources have an important impact on performance (hsu & wang, 2012). oc such as operations, procedures and the processes of knowledge management have a positive effect on performance because organizations are increasingly employing advanced technologies to compete in today’s �231 intellectual capital and financial performance:
 a meta-analysis and research agenda m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 216-249 economy (do rosario-cabrita & bontis, 2008; reed et al., 2006). the link between tc and cfp is stronger when cfp is measured by stock market value (0.058 with a 95% confidence interval of 0.032/0.085). the innovative propensity of a firm positively influences the degree to which above-average profits persist over time (artz, norman, hatfield & cardinal, 2010; coombs & bierly, 2006). firms’ r&d investments generate persistent profits, high stock returns and superior market value (mcalister et al., 2007), which give clearly positive signals to investors. then, the association between tc and cfp measured by accounting-based indicators (0.027) or customer metrics (0.066) is positive, yet the 95% confidence intervals of these last two results include zero, leading us to conclude that these associations are not clearly positive. these results may be explained by the time horizon, as consumers may value innovativeness much later, when r&d investments are translated into new products and services. the same applies to accountants, as r&d investments are not necessarily amortized, and therefore may decrease operating profit short term. lastly, our findings show that the positive rc-cfp association is stronger when cfp is measured by customer metrics (0,086 with a 95% confidence interval of 0,063/0,108) or stock market value (0,061 with a confidence interval of 0,047/0,074) rather than by accounting-based indicators. the confidence intervals of the first two associations overlap, leading us to conclude that rc is positively associated with cfp measured by both customer metrics and stock market value, supporting h4. then, more surprisingly, the overall association between rc and cfp is negative (−0.010 with a 95% confidence interval of −0.018/−0.003). indeed, the association between rc and cfp is negative when measured by accounting-based indicators (−0.076 with a 95% confidence interval of −0.087/−0.066), whereas the association remains positive when measured by stock market value (0.061) or customer metrics (0.086). to gain more understanding on this result, a closer look was taken on the subcomponents of the rc. what came out is that the association between cbbe and financial performance is negative (−0.057 with a 95% confidence interval of −0.066/−0.048), whereas the link between customer relationship capital and cfp is positive (0.114 with a 95% confidence interval of 0.099/0.129). this interval does not include zero, indicating that the mean effect size is clearly positive. because the 95% confidence interval of the two sets of studies does not overlap, we can conclude that the different rc sub-components are significant moderators in the association between rc and cfp. when subjected to closer scrutiny, it was apparent that this negative association came from brand equity when measured by accounting-based indicators (−0.158 with a 95% confidence interval of −0.171/−0.146). however, the association remains positive when cfp is measured using stock market value (0.048 with a 95% confidence interval of 0.033/0.062) or customer metrics (0.062 with a 95% confidence interval of 0.029/0.095). the confidence intervals do not include zero, indicating that the mean effect sizes are truly positive for the last two associations. the confidence intervals of the association between brand equity and cfp measured by customer metrics and by stock market value overlap, leading us to conclude that there is a positive association between brand equity and cfp measured by these two kinds of performance. it appears then that cbbe constitutes a source of financial value for a firm through the relationship that ties consumers to a particular brand (thomson et al., 2005). investors evaluate this relationship “power” of brands as a promise of future earnings (barth, et al., 1998; madden, fehle & fournier, 2006). � 232 m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 216-249 elisabeth albertini & fabienne berger-remy there should be future discussion about why accountants do not appreciate this asset to the same extent. finally, the positive association between customer relationship and cfp is weaker when measured by accounting-based indicators (0.105 with a 95% confidence interval of 0.086/0.124) than when measured by stock market value (0.169 with a 95% confidence interval of 0.129/0.207) or customer metrics (0.106 with a 95% confidence interval of 0.076/0.136). nevertheless, because the confidence intervals overlap for the three sets of studies (customer relationship with accounting-based indicators, with customer metrics, with stock market value), we cannot conclude that these associations are statistically different but rather that there is a positive association between customer relationship and cfp however this performance is measured. additional studies are needed to examine the impact of customer relationship on cfp to clearly establish where the value creation lies. these findings are summarized in table 4. table 4 summary of the findings ultimately, we can legitimately question why certain ic components found in the theoretical frame of ic (see figure 2) are either partially measured or not measured at all by empirical studies. there are two possible explanations: either these components are not contributing to ic or they are too difficult to measure. empirical research on hc only covers knowledge and abilities, disregarding employee behaviour. what can be argued here is that employee behaviour may not be an asset as such, but rather a result of the mobilization of two other components of hc: knowledge and abilities. notably, managerial actions such as training programmes can be envisaged to increase knowledge and abilities, whereas it is much less feasible to directly influence employee behaviour. similarly, organizational culture and relationships to society are not measured by empirical studies, probably because these concepts are contingent, multi-dimensional and therefore difficult to measure. discussion and research agenda the theoretical discussion is organized around four themes: (1) how this work contributes to rbt in broad terms and a redefinition of ic; (2) the possibility of reverse associations between ic and cfp; (3) the effect of measurement tools on how ic is perceived; and (4) questioning the actual accounting framework. �233 hypothesis ic or ic components corporate financial performance association findings h1 ic cfp positive the association is stronger when measured by customer metrics supported h2 hc cfp measured by accounting-based indicators positive supported h3 sc cfp measured by accounting-based indicators and stock market value positive; the positive association is stronger between oc and cfp than between tc and cfp supported h4 rc cfp measured by customer metrics and stock market value positive; the relationship between cbbe and cfp is negative whereas the link between customer relationship capital and cfp is positive supported intellectual capital and financial performance:
 a meta-analysis and research agenda m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 216-249 contribution to resource-based theory and a redefinition of ic rbt focuses on the identification of specific resources and their contribution to performance. nonetheless, our results highlight that some ic components are interrelated in their association with financial performance. the association between oc and financial performance overlaps with that between hc and financial performance, leading us to conclude that these two ic components are deeply interrelated. indeed, the knowledge and abilities of employees contribute to the performance of the firm when they are used together through processes and procedures structuring the firm, leading to value creation. moreover, some specific ic components, such as brand, could be considered as the final result of a combination of tangible assets (flagship stores, zara’s state-of-the art supply chain) and intangible assets, such as design (apple, swatch) or know-how (hermès and other luxury brands). empirical studies underestimate the value created by the combination of assets, because they are studied in isolation. these considerations echo recent developments in rbt. indeed, a limitation of rbt is that it focuses on longlasting differences between competitors and on its financial consequences, therefore neglecting the antecedents of the performance. hence, two streams of research have recently challenged the traditional vision of rbt that largely ignores managerial actions. the first stream, resource orchestration (helfat, 2007; sirmon, hitt, ireland & gilbert, 2011), argues that performance comes from the managerial choices and abilities to jointly use the resources rather than from the resource in itself (chadwick, 2017; lechner & gudmundsson, 2012). in the same vein, molloy and barney (2015) present the notion of co-specialized assets to explain the added value given by the combination of hc with a non-human resource (physical, technical or financial), implying that hc cannot be disentangled from other forms of capital. this is indeed empirically confirmed by our results as hc and oc relationships with cfp overlap, which suggests that these ic components are combined. this overlap can be explained twofold. either hc matters more than oc, as for instance in professional service firms characterized by knowledge intensity, low capital intensity and skilled workforce. in that case, sloppy management and weak processes do not necessarily undermine performance which relies heavily on people’s ‘skills and abilities (von nordenflycht, 2010). or, on the contrary, oc can prevail over hc, as for instance in firms operating in services on a large scale, such as ground crews in airline companies or receptionists in hotel chains. von nordenflycht (2010) cites mcdonalds as an example because each outlet is run by the same routines and procedures. chanda, ray & mckelvey (2018) show that not all companies necessarily need to develop hc to be financially successful since this depends on the company’s strategic orientation towards exploration or exploitation. for instance, a company operating in the bottom-of-the-pyramid segment can be financially successful with a low level of hc. similarly, other scholars have criticized the rbt, arguing that it focuses too much on the innate features of resources hindering the way they are brought into use (feldman & worline, 2012). the proponents of the so-called resourcing theory go as far as to say that resources as such do not matter; what is important is the action taken to use the resources. this is partly reflected in the nature of the proxies selected in the sample of studies. indeed, a distinction can be made between proxies corresponding to a resource (e.g. r&d expenditure) and proxies related to the use of a � 234 m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 216-249 elisabeth albertini & fabienne berger-remy resource (e.g. innovation capabilities). even if the majority of the proxies used in our sample studies directly refer to resources as such, in accordance with the classical view of rbt (see appendix a), some address the complex issue of resources in-use, usually under the umbrella terms of “capabilities” or “implementation”. further development of rbt could include other type of indicators measuring the effective use of resources rather than the resources themselves. finally, although many attempts have already been made to define ic—from the strict interpretation of accounting research to definitions in strategy that consider capabilities and competencies—none have reached a consensus so far (dean & kretschmer, 2007). from our results, and with the aim of reconciling those different views with a management perspective, we propose to define ic as follows: intellectual capital is at once the stock of cognitive knowledge and relational skills collectively built in an organization, and the effective use made of it. a chicken and egg dilemma another concern emerges from the results regarding the cause-toeffect chain. in the rbt literature, it is conventionally assumed that ic gives a firm competitive advantage, which in turn supports financial performance. we might expect that when a firm enjoys additional resources from stronger financial performance, it can invest in employees’ well-being, which will in turn foster positive employee behaviour and organizational culture. for example, google has heavily leveraged ic components such as tc, knowledge and abilities, which has provided competitive advantage and outstanding financial performance that have enabled the company to invest in employees’ well-being, to the extent that in 2017 it came first in the list of fortune’s best companies to work for, for the sixth year running. another case is reported by lechner and gudmundsson (2012) for football clubs, where high financial performance allows significant investments in renowned athletes. the relationship between ic and cfp could thus be viewed as a virtuous cycle in which some components of ic positively influence cfp, which then allows firms to invest in other assets that are crucial for the value creation process. yet, the literature is inconclusive about this relation. if, for some authors, an excess of financial resources can lead to the development of ic components (lechner & gudmundsson, 2012; nohria & gulati, 1996), for others an abundance of resources can conversely foster inertia and inhibit change through the phenomenon of “competency trap” (leonard, 1992; levinthal & march, 1993). a distorting prism of measurement tools of ic the meta-analysis shows that the overall association between rc and cfp is negative. when examining the results further, we find that this analysis masks notable differences between the positive impact on customer metrics and stock market value and the negative influence on accounting-based measures such as roa, roe, roi or net profit. this examination highlights the fact that accounting systems are not ideal for measuring the rc value when generated internally by the company (wyatt, 2008). in certain ways, both investors and customers (firm outsiders) perceive value that is not registered by the accountant (firm insiders). among rc components, it appears that the situation is exacerbated for native brands (for instance, there is an important gap between apple’s accounting value and market value). one possible explanation lies in the �235 intellectual capital and financial performance:
 a meta-analysis and research agenda m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 216-249 distorting prism of the measurement tools. as stated by martineau (2017), the accounting framework can be considered as an example of a “closed list”, implying an equality between all ic components. this formal representation does not fully translate either the crossed effects or the overall picture. when ic questions the accounting framework top management regularly refers to branding efforts as expenses because they represent a significant amount of money, diminishing the annual profit, whereas in fact they generate a return after a longer period of time. indeed, branding efforts are always reported as expenses rather than investments in the ifrs accounting framework and can be registered as assets only under restrictive conditions in the us gaap accounting framework. as a result, considering investments in ic as expenses in profit and losses damages future earnings by hampering value creation. a partial integration of these expenses into the balance sheet could provide organizations with new knowledge and additional flexibility. making these ic components visible in the company’s balance sheet would encourage top management to consider ic manageable. thus, the resource allocation between the different ic components should be more precise in relation to their future earnings. furthermore, managers would be incentivized to manage ic components properly because the consequences of failure in ic management would be visible. this challenge is significant for both managers and scholars, who must determine the amount of future earnings provided by investment in ic such as brands. this challenge could be addressed, however, because the results of this meta-analysis have proven a positive association between rc and customer metrics such as preference rate or propensity to pay a premium price. towards a research agenda the results of this research open new avenues for research in four directions: (1) identification and classification of ic components; (2) understanding of the combination and orchestration of ic; (3) improvement of indicators and measurement systems of ic; and (4) enhancement of the understanding of value creation through narrative means. the first direction involves clarification of the definition of ic components according to their nature. some components, such as oc, hc or customer relationship, are profoundly embedded in the organization’s structure, history and culture. indeed, by their very nature, they cannot really be disentangled from the organization itself. interestingly, these are also the ic components that have a better overall association with cfp. however, their qualification as assets may be questioned, as (1) they cannot be sold apart and (2) the organization does not really “own” them, especially in the case of hc (chadwick, 2017). in contrast, other ic components, such as brands or technologies, are more readily separable from the organization. they can be set apart, monetized or even sold. these components are penalized by a weaker association with cfp (even a negative association in the case of brands). however, they can eventually provide high returns, and investors may therefore value them to a greater extent than accounting performance. more research is needed to examine the identification of ic components and provide a better classification according to their nature. classification can be refined by the � 236 m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 216-249 elisabeth albertini & fabienne berger-remy addition of other criteria, such as tradability, ownership and time span, as shown in figure 3. figure 3. proposal for a conceptual framework of intellectual capital a second area of research that might prove fruitful is the combination of ic components. it is unlikely that ic components create value in isolation, and it is much more likely that they do so in combination with others. we might go so far as to say that some ic components provide value only if combined with others. for instance, the very specific knowhow about saddle stitch among female hermès workers creates value because it is combined with hermès’ brand equity. this fits well with the notion of resource portfolio (barney et al., 2011) and resource orchestration (sirmon et al., 2011). an association can also occur between tangible and intangible assets, for instance, a flagship store associated with a brand. research questions that require further investigation include: are there ic components that work only in combination? can we identify patterns of combination, i.e. ic components that provide higher value when combined? how can we evaluate the value of the combination itself? is there a way of comparing the results of varied combinations? third, the results of this research pave the way towards a better understanding of the efficiency of managerial actions. as the overall association between ic and cfp is positive, this requires both a follow-up and a set of key performance indicators (kpis) so that managers can move the strategic levers of value creation. yet, accounting-based indicators are only partial measures and customer metrics and other managerial kpis may be flawed, or at least too specific and contextual to be comparable between organizations. at best, some components can be identified and measured, but the knowledge and measurement of the interactions between them remain scarce. future research should focus on metrics that could better reflect the full complexity of value creation to complement accounting-based indicators. these metrics could provide a better representation of the value creation of intangibles and a better account of the interaction effects between various ic components and tangibles and intangibles. finally, companies also disclose information about their value creation process through narrative means in addition to indicators and measurement systems. they do so to reduce the discrepancies between companies operating through external expansion (ic components recorded �237 intellectual capital and financial performance:
 a meta-analysis and research agenda m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 216-249 in financial statements), and those favouring internal growth (no ic record in financial statements). this is also a way to disclose information to investors on native brands and other intangibles that potentially penalize cfp. indeed, value creation through intangibles cannot be fully captured by numbers. this is not to imply that investors, or managers, get no information at all about this value creation. they get it through narrative means, such as corporate communication, opinion leaders’ “voice”, managers’ “voice” or internal communications. research directed towards this could take either a comprehensive or a normative view. a comprehensive view would result in an in-depth understanding of narrative means used by organizations, both inside and outside the firm, to provide information and direction on value creation through intangibles. from a more normative perspective, it could be interesting to reflect upon the feasibility of an “inventory”, or an annual report, of intangibles. if it seems difficult to set norms when it comes to narrative means, management scholars could at least provide guidelines for producing such a document. it seems urgent, and necessary, to set information standards that would overcome the incompleteness of accounting-based ratios. this is at the same time a transparency requirement, an expectation among investors and a way of containing speculative bubbles. this has been partly covered by the integrated reporting framework provided by the international integrated reporting council (iirc, 2011, 2013), which aims to “enhance accountability and stewardship for the broad base of capitals (financial, manufactured, intellectual, human, social and relationship, and natural) and promote understanding of their interdependencies” (iirc, 2013: 2). e v e n t h o u g h i t s i n t e n t i o n i s c o m m e n d a b l e , t h e s c o p e a n d recommendations of the iirc remain too broad, not directly actionable by managers and too discretionary regarding the requirements for disclosure and implementation (robertson & samy, 2015; simnett & huggins, 2015). this creates space for an array of contributions regarding quantitative kpis and mandatory qualitative information that could usefully complement disclosure on value creation such as customer commitment, potential brand extensions or quality of internal processes. managerial contributions a superficial analysis of our results might lead to the conclusion that, from a managerial perspective, it is somehow better not to invest in ic such as brands, to avoid uncertainty related to high costs and risk on investment return. this shortcut, often taken by decision makers, explains why decisions about ic, such as brands, are difficult to make at the board level and why they are often made based on “gut feelings”. indeed, there is a discrepancy between the nature of the value created and the monitoring systems. management control systems cannot monitor ic properly because they have been constructed to manage fixed assets and they rely on average performance, therefore underestimating weak signals (andriani & mckelvey, 2011). managers, then, are forced to “see through the fog” and take risks if they want to invest in ic. this explanation underscores why success stories in building ic are reported as a result of bold, unconventional managers who disregard rules and procedures. we might wonder whether large corporation are “equipped” to create value today; this might help explain why the accor group did not create airbnb or why steve jobs did not run apple in a traditional way. nevertheless, the results of this meta-analysis confirm that managers may be more likely to pursue ic management to create value because ic positively influences cfp. to convince their boards, managers � 238 m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 216-249 elisabeth albertini & fabienne berger-remy should mobilize customer metrics, such as the propensity to pay a premium price, while calculating a roi over a longer period of time and measuring the impact on investors’ perceptions. a full review of management control systems may then be needed to properly guide managers’ actions and decisions. moreover, ic management questions the traditional functional organization of the firm. proper ic management would require transversal management and thus decompartmentalization of the company. with regards to ic, it seems necessary to shift towards better management of complexity (morin, 2008; ramus, vaccaro & brusoni, 2017). limitations and conclusions overall, our results indicate that the association between ic and cfp is positive, with similar results being obtained for hc and cfp, and sc and cfp. however, the association between rc and cfp is negative, leading us to delve more deeply into the nature of rc. indeed, this negative association is linked to cbbe, which negatively affects the net profit of the company, whereas the association remains positive when measured using stock market value and customer metrics. the results of this study must be interpreted with caution. ic and its components and cfp are meta-constructs that can be operationalized in a variety of ways. the “estimate” calculated in this meta-analysis depends on the researchers’ choices of ic and cfp measures and on their theoretical significance. furthermore, this effect size is calculated from different studies, countries, periods and operational definitions used in measuring the explanatory variables and from a variety of research methods. another limitation of our meta-analysis lies in the difficulty of accounting for endogeneity caused by reverse causality or omitted variables in the primary studies. reverse causality refers to a probable two-way causal link between financial performance and ic components, as already pointed out in the discussion section. indeed, although the vast majority of studies used in this meta-analysis account for a relationship going from ic to financial performance, it is very likely that the relationship also works the other way round in a feedback loop. as a matter of fact, financial performance enables investments in highly skilled employees, r&d projects and/or branding activities. endogeneity is potentially also caused by omitted variables in primary studies. in fact, variables such as the competitive intensity or the business sector may affect the relationship between ic and financial performance. for instance, the relationship between hc and financial performance is arguably stronger in business sectors requiring highly skilled employees such as in knowledge-intensive firm than in business sectors requiring large and interchangeable workforce (von nordenflycht, 2010). of the studies in our sample, very few addressed possible endogeneity. however, our results should be interpreted with caution as the quality of a meta-analysis depends on the quality of prior results. hence, we call for research that attempts to (1) elucidate potential reverse causality, that is, high financial performance leads to an increase of ic components, and (2) include more variables to enhance the explanatory power of the models. for the latter, the relationship between ic and financial performance could potentially be influenced by other variables such as intellectual property regulation levels, competitive intensity, accounting standards, type of governance (shareholders, family business), listed versus non-listed companies, level of equity, ease of access to financial resources or conversely scarcity of resources (for instance, �239 intellectual capital and financial performance:
 a meta-analysis and research agenda m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 216-249 scarce supply of qualified workforce in specific sectors). this calls for a much thinner identification of the sample characteristics in published papers, notably by including a great deal of more qualitative variables. finally, the statistical significance of our results does not necessarily imply economic significance (ziliak & mccloskey, 2008). indeed, scholars should not be interested only in whether there is an effect (tested by statistical significance) but in how big this effect is (tested by economic significance). however, establishing an order of magnitude in management studies poses significant challenges, as it is difficult to obtain good reliable parameter estimates (engsted, 2009). this is probably why economic significance is barely discussed in meta-analysis in the strategy or management fields (doucouliagos & laroche, 2003). still, it could be interesting in further studies to compare the magnitude of estimated coefficients within firm size, business sectors or geography in order to grasp the economic significance of the results. despite these limitations and concerns, meta-analysis is a wellestablished social science technique for aggregating test statistics, and the inclusion criteria used in this paper are consistent with the literature. moreover, since meta-analysis supports a holistic view of a subject that is often seen as scattered, our results lead us to propose an extensive research agenda for ic. notably, the nature of certain components of ic capital, including brands, organizational culture, employee behaviour and corporate reputation, makes them difficult to measure and therefore to manage. part of the solution involves the recognition that these ic components are eminently volatile and embedded in the company, and therefore cannot be accurately measured using classical indicators. this challenge calls for more innovative ways of appreciating the value of such intangible assets including narrative means. � 240 m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 216-249 elisabeth albertini & fabienne berger-remy appendix list of proxies used by the studies included in this meta-analysis �241 ic component sub-component proxy human capital none average educational level of employees, training methods, total expenditures on training, human capabilities, human resource assets structural capital technological r&d expenditures, r&d expenditures/sales, innovation capabilities, number of patents granted, broad technology diversity, implementation of technologies organizational ratio of it expenses to total administrative expenses, ratio of administrative expenses to total revenue, implementation of information systems relational capital customer relationship key account ratio, commercial capabilities, customer acquisition, customer retention, customer service quality, responsiveness to customers, customer satisfaction, customer equity, customer loyalty customer-based brand equity (cbbe) advertising expenses, ratio of advertising expenses to sales, advertising to sales, brand attitude, satisfaction and involvement, brand name, brand value, number of brands financial performance accounting-based indicators roa, roe, roi, profit, benefit before interest and taxes customer metrics price premium, sales, market share stock market value abnormal stock return, market to book, holding stock period return, tobin’s q, share value, market value intellectual capital and financial performance:
 a meta-analysis and research agenda m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 216-249 references amir, e., lev, b. & sougiannis, t. (2003). do financial analysts get intangibles? european accounting review, 12(4), 635-659. anderson, e.w., fornell, c. & lehmann, d.r. (1994). customer satisfaction, market share, and profitability: findings from sweden. journal of marketing, 58(3), 53-66. andriani, p. & mckelvey, b. (2011). managing in a p a r e t o w o r l d c a l l s f o r n e w t h i n k i n g . m@n@gement, 14(2), 90-118. angulo-ruiz, f., donthu, n., prior, d. & rialp, j. (2014). the financial contribution of customer-oriented marketing capability. journal of the academy of marketing science, 42(4), 380-399. aragon-sanchez, a., barba-aragon, i. & sanze-valle, r. (2003). effects of training on business results. i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h u m a n r e s o u r c e management, 14(6), 956-980. artz, k.w., norman, p.m., hatfield, d.e. & cardinal, l.b. (2010). a longitudinal study of the impact of r&d, patents, and product innovation on firm performance. journal of product innovation management, 27(5), 725-740. barney, j.b. (1991). firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. journal of management, 17(1), 99-120. barney, j.b. (1999). how a firm’s capabilities affect boundary decisions. sloan management review, 40(3), 137-145. barney, j.b., ketchen, d.j. & wright, m. (2011). the future of resource-based theory: revitalization or d e c l i n e ? j o u r n a l o f m a n a g e m e n t , 3 7 ( 5 ) , 1299-1315. barney, j.b., wright, m. & ketchen, d. (2001). the resource-based view of the firm: ten years after 1991. journal of management, 27(6), 625-641. barth, m.e. (2015). financial accounting research, practices, and financial accountability. abacus, 51(4), 499-510. barth, m.e., clement, m.b., foster, g. & kasznick, r. (1998). brand values and capital market valuation. review of accounting studies, 3(1-2), 41-68. berthon, p., holbrook, m.b., hulbert, j m. & pitt, l. (2007). viewing brands in multiple dimensions. mit sloan management review, 48(2), 37. bharadwaj, a.s., bharadwaj, s g. & konsynski, b.r. (1999). information technology effects on firm p e r f o r m a n c e a s m e a s u r e d b y to b i n ’ s q . management science, 45(7), 1008-1024. bijmolt, t h.a. & pieters, r.g.m. (2001). meta-analysis in marketing when studies contain multiple measurements. marketing letters, 12(2), 157-169. bollen, l., vergauwen, p. & schnieders, s. (2005). linking intellectual capital and intellectual property to company performance. management decision, 43(9), 1161-1185. bontis, n. (1998). intellectual capital: an exploratory study that develops measures and models. management decision, 36(2), 63-76. bontis, n., crossan, m m. & hulland, j. (2002). managing an organizational learning system by aligning stocks and flows. journal of management studies, 39(4), 437-469. bontis, n. & fitz-enz, j. (2002). intellectual capital roi: a causal map of human capital antecedents and consequents. journal of intellectual capital, 3(3), 223-247. borenstein, m. (1997), comprehensive meta-analysis, englewood cliffs, nj: biostat. certo, s.t., lester, r.h., dalton, c.m. & dalton, d.r. (2006). top management teams, strategy and f i n a n c i a l p e r f o r m a n c e : a m e t a a n a l y t i c examination. journal of management studies, 43(4), 813-839. chadwick, c. (2017). toward a more comprehensive model of firms’ human capital rents. academy of management review, 42(3), 499-519. chanda, s.s., ray, s. & mckelvey, b. (2018). the continuum conception of exploration and exploitation: an update to march’s theory. m@n@gement, 21(3), 1050-1079. changeur, s. (2004). stratégie de marque et richesses des actionnaires: une approche financière du capital-marque. recherche et applications en marketing, 19(4), 23-38. cheung, s.f. & chan, d.k.s. (2004). dependent effect size in meta-analysis: incorporating the degree of interpendence. journal of applied psychology, 85(5), 780-791. cho, h.j. & pucik, v. (2005). relationship between innovativenes, quality, growth, profitability, and market value. strategic management journal, 26(6), 555-575. cohen, j a. (2011), intangible assets: valuation and economic benefits, (vol. 273), new york, ny: john wiley & sons. conchar, m.p., crask, m.r. & zinkhan, g.m. (2005). market valuation models of the effect of advertising and promotional spending: a review and metaanalysis. journal of the academy of marketing science, 33(4), 445-460. coombs, j.e. & bierly, p e. (2006). measuring technological capability and performance. r&d management, 36(4), 421-438. coviello, n., winklhofer, h. & hamilton, k. (2006). marketing practices and performance of small service firms. journal of service research, 9(1), 38-58. crook, t.r., ketchen, d.j., combs, j.g. & todd, s.y. (2008). strategic resources and performance: a meta-analysis. strategic management journal, 29(11), 1141-1154. dalton, d.r., daily, c.m., certo, s.t. & roengpitya, r. (2003). meta-analyses of financial performance and equity: fusion or confusion? academy of management journal, 46(1), 13-26. damanpour, f. (1991). organizational innovation: a meta-analysis of effects of determinants and moderators. academy of management journal, 34(3), 555-590. � 242 m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 216-249 elisabeth albertini & fabienne berger-remy davies, g., chun, r. & kamins, m.-a. (2010). reputation gaps and the performance of service organizations. strategic management journal, 31(5), 530-546. de chernatony, l., riley, f.d.o. & harris, f. (1998). criteria to assess brand success. journal of marketing management, 14(7), 765-781. dean, a. & kretschmer, m. (2007). can ideas be capital? factors of production in the postindustrial economy: a review and critique. academy of management review, 32(2), 573-594. diamond, n., sherry jr, j.f., muñiz jr, a.m., mcgrath, m.a., kozinets, r.v. & borghini, s. (2009). american girl and the brand gestalt: closing the loop on sociocultural branding research. journal of marketing, 73(3), 118-134. do rosario-cabrita, m. & bontis, n. (2008). intellectual capital and business performance in the portuguese banking industry. international journal of technology management, 43(1-3), 212-237. doucouliagos, h. & laroche, p. (2003). what do unions do to productivity? a meta-analysis. industrial relations, 42(4), 650-691. edeling, a. & fischer, m. (2016). marketing’s impact on firm value: generalizations from a meta-analysis. journal of marketing research, 53(4), 515-534. edvinsson, l. & malone, m. (1997), intellectual capital realizing your company’s true value by finding its hidden brainpower, new york, ny: harper collins publishers, inc. eggers, f., kraus, s., hughes, m., laraway, s. & snycerski, s. (2013). implications of customer and entrepreneurial orientations for sme growth. management decision, 51(3), 524-546. eisend, m. (2009). a meta-analysis of humour in advertising. journal of the academy of marketing science, 37(2), 191-203. en g ste d , t. (2 0 0 9 ) . s ta ti sti ca l vs. eco n o mi c significance in economics and econometrics: further comments on mccloskey and ziliak. journal of economic methodology, 16(4), 393-408. erdem, t. & swait, j. (1998). brand equity as a signaling phenomenon. journal of consumer psychology, 7(2), 131-157. ettlie, j.e. (1998). r&d and global manufacturing performance. management science, 44(1), 1-11. farquhar, p h. (1989). managing brand equity. marketing research, 1(sept), 24-33. feldman, m. & worline, m. (2012). resources, r e s o u r c i n g , a n d a m p l i a t i v e c y c l e s i n organizations. in k. cameron & g. spreitzer (eds.), the oxford handbook of positive organizational scholarship (pp. 629-641). new york, ny: oxford university press. fournier, s. (1998). consumers and their brands: developing relationship theory in consumer research. journal of consumer research, 24(4), 343-373. gowthorpe, c. (2009). wider still and wider? a critical discussion of intellectual capital recognition, m e a s u r e m e n t a n d c o n t r o l i n a b o u n d a r y theoretical context. critical perspectives on accounting, 20(7), 823-834. grinstein, a. (2008). the effect of market orientation and its components on innovation consequences: a meta-analysis. journal of the academy of marketing science, 36(2), 166-173. guérard, s., langley, a. & seidl, d. (2013). rethinking the concept of performance in strategy research: to w a r d s a p e r f o r m a t i v i t y p e r s p e c t i v e . m@n@gement, 16(5), 566-578. gupta, s. & zeithaml, v. (2006). customer metrics and their impact on financial performance. marketing science, 25(6), 718-739. hedges, l.v. & olkin, i. (1985), statistical methods for meta-analysis, orlando, fl: academic press. heiens, r.a., leach, r.t. & mcgrath, l.c. (2007). the contribution of intangible assets and expenditures to shareholder value. journal of strategic marketing, 15(2-3), 149-159. h e l f a t , c . e . ( 2 0 0 7 ) , d y n a m i c c a p a b i l i t i e s : understanding strategic change in organizations, new york, ny: wiley-blackwell. higgins, j.p.t. & thompson, s.g. (2002). quantifying heterogeneity in a meta-analysis statistics. statistics in medecine, 2(11), 1539-1558. holbrook, m.b. (1992). product quality, attributes, and brand name as determinants of price: the case of consumer electronics. marketing letters, 3(1), 71-83. hooley, g.j., greenley, g.e., cadogan, j.w. & fahy, j. (2005). the performance impact of marketing resources. journal of business research, 58(1), 18-27. hsu, l.c. & wang, c.-h. (2012). clarifying the effect of intellectual capital on performance: the mediating role of dynamic capability. british journal of management, 23(2), 179-205. hsu, y., fang, h. & fang, w. (2009). intellectual capital and new product developement performance: the mediating role of organizational learning capabilitiy. technological forecasting and social change, 76(5), 664-677. huedo-medina, t.b., sanchez-meca, j., marinmartinez, f. & botella, j. (2006). assessing heterogeneity in meta-analysis: q statistic of f index? psychological methods, 11(2), 193-206. hunter, j.e. & schmidt, f.l. (1990), methods of metaanalysis: correcting error and bias in research findings, (1st ed.), thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. hunter, j.e. & schmidt, f.l. (2004), methods of metaanalysis: correcting error and bias in research findings, (2nd ed.), thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. hunter, j e., schmidt, f.l. & jackson, g b. (1982), meta-analysis: cumulating research findings across studies, thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. iirc (international integrated reporting council) ( 2 0 1 1 ) . to w a r d s i n t e g r a t e d r e p o r t i n g communication value in the 21st century. available at www.theiirc/international-ir-framework. iirc (international integrated reporting council) (2013). the international <ir> framework. available at www.theiirc.org/international-irframework. �243 http://www.theiirc/international-ir-framework http://www.theiirc.org/internat http://www.theiirc.org/internat http://www.theiirc.org/internat http://www.theiirc.org/internat intellectual capital and financial performance:
 a meta-analysis and research agenda m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 216-249 johnson, m.d. & selnes, f. (2004). customer portfolio management: toward a dynamic theory of exchange relationships. journal of marketing, 68(2), 1-17. juma, n. & payne, g.t. (2004). intellectual capital and performance of new venture high-tech firms. international journal of innovation management, 8(3), 297-318. keller, k.l. (1993). conceptualizing, measuring, managing customer-based brand equity. journal of marketing, 57(1), 1-22. kimbrough, m.d., mcalister, l., mizik, n., jacobson, r., garnaise, m.j., srinivasan, n. & hanssens, d m. (2009). commentaries and rejoinder to “marketing and firm value: metrics, methods, and future directions”. journal of marketing research, 46(3), 313-329. king, d.r., dalton, d.r., daily, c.m. & covin, j.g. ( 2 0 0 4 ) . m e t a a n a l y s e s o f p o s t a c q u i s i t i o n p e r f o r m a n c e : i n d i c a t i o n s o f u n i d e n t i fi e d moderators. strategic management journal, 25(2), 187-200. kirk, c.p., ray, i. & wilson, b.k. (2013). the impact of brand value on firm valuation: the moderating influence of firm type. journal of brand management, 20(6), 488-500. kohli, a k. & jaworski, b.j. (1990). market orientation: the construct, research propositions and managerial implications. the journal of marketing, 54(2), 1-18. kostova, t. & roth, k. (2003). social capital in multinational corporations and a micro-macro model of its formation. academy of management review, 28(2), 297-317. lechner, c. & gudmundsson, s.v. (2012). superior value creation in sports teams: resources and managerial experience. m@n@gement, 15(3), 284-312. leonard, d.a. (1992). core capability and core rigidities: a paradox in managing new product development. strategic management journal, 13(1), 111-125. lev, b. & zambon, s. (2003). intangibles and intellectual capital: an introduction to a special issue. european accounting review, 12(4), 597-603. levinthal, d.a. & march, j.g. (1993). the myopia of learning. strategic management journal, 14(2), 95-112. lin, b.w., chen, c j. & wu, h.l. (2006). patent portfolio diversity, technology strategy, and firm va l u e . e n g i n e e r i n g m a n a g e m e n t , i e e e transactions, 53(1), 17-26. lin, b.w., lee, y. & hung, s.c. (2006). r&d intensity and commercialization orientation effects on financial performance. journal of business research, 59(6), 679-685. ling, y.-h. & jaw, b.-s. (2006). the influence of international human capital on global initiatives and financial performance. international journal of human resource management, 17(3), 379-398. lipsey, m.w. & wilson, d.b. (2001), applied social research methods series, vol.49, pratical metaanalysis. thousand oaks, ca: sage. livne, g., simpson, a. & talmor, e. (2011). do customer acquisition cost, retention and usage matter to firm performance and valuation? journal of business finance & accounting, 38(3-4), 334-363. luo, x., griffith, d.a., liu, s.s. & shi, y.-z. (2004). the effects of customer relationships and social capital on firm performance: a chinese business illustration. journal of international marketing, 12(4), 25-45. madden, t j., fehle, f. & fournier, s. (2006). brands matter: an empirical demonstration of the creation of shareholder value trough branding. journal of the academy of marketing science, 34(2), 224-235. marr, b. & moustaghfir, k. (2005). defining intellectual c a p i t a l : a t h r e e d i m e n s i o n a l a p p r o a c h . management decision, 43(9), 114-1128. martin-de-castro, g., delgado-verde, m., lopez-saez, p. & navas-lopez, j. (2011). towards an “intellectual capital-based view of the firm”; origins and nature. journal of business ethics, 98(4), 649-662. martineau, r. (2017). what are management tools made of? the “listic” structure of managerial artifacts. m@n@gement, 20(3), 239-262. matsuno, k., zhu, z. & rice, m.p. (2014). innovation process and outcomes for large japanese firms: roles of entrepreneurial proclivity and customer equity. journal of product innovation management, 31(5), 1106-1124. matzler, k., hinterhuber, h.h., daxer, c. & huber, m. (2005). the relationship between customer satisfaction and shareholder value. total quality management & business excellence, 16(5), 671-680. mcalister, l., srinivasan, r. & kim, m. (2007). advertising, research and development, and systematic risk of the firm. journal of marketing, 71(1), 35-48. mcenally, m.r. & de chernatony, l. (1999). the evolving nature of branding: consumer and managerial considerations. academy of marketing science review, 2(1), 1-16. mizik, n. & jacobson, r. (2008). the financial value impact of perceptual brand attributes. journal of marketing research, 45(1), 15-32. mizik, n. & jacobson, r. (2009). valuing branded businesses. journal of marketing, 73(6), 137-153. molloy, j.c. & barney, j.b. (2015). who captures the value created with human capital? a market-based view. the academy of management perspectives, 29(3), 309-325. molloy, j.c., chadwick, c., ployhart, r.e. & golden, s.j. (2011). making intangibles “tangibles” in test of resource-based theory: a multidisciplinary construct validation approach. journal of management, 37(5), 1496-1518. morgan, n.a. (2012). marketing and business performance. journal of the academy of marketing science, 40(1), 102-119. morgan, n.a. & rego, l.l. (2009). brand portfolio strategy and firm performance. journal of marketing, 73(1), 59-74. morin, e. (2008), on complexity, new york, ny: hampton press. � 244 m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 216-249 elisabeth albertini & fabienne berger-remy mouritsen, j. (2006). problematising intellectual capital research: ostentive versus performative ic. accounting, auditing & accountability journal, 19(6), 820-841 murthy, v. & mouritsen, j. (2011). the performance of intellectual capital: mobilising relationships between intellectual and financial capital in a bank. accounting, auditing & accountability journal, 24(5), 622-646. nahapiet, j. & ghoshal, s. (1998). social capital, intellectual capital, and the organizational advantage. academy of management review, 23(2), 242-266. nakao, t. (1993). market share, advertising, r&d, and profitability: an empirical analysis of leading industrial firms in japan. review of industrial organization, 8(3), 315-328. narver, j.c. & slater, s.f. (1990). the effect of a market orientation on business profitability. the journal of marketing, 54(4), 20-35. nelson, r.r. & winter, s.g. (1982), an evolutionary theory of economic change, cambridge, ma.: belknap press of harvard university press, nohria, n. & gulati, r. (1996). is slack good or bad innovation? academy of management journal, 39(5), 1245-1264. o’sullivan, d. & mccallig, j. (2012). customer satisfaction, earnings and firm value. european journal of marketing, 46(6), 827-843. ohnemus, l. (2009). is branding creating shareholder wealth for banks? international journal of bank marketing, 27(3), 186-201. orlitzky, m., schmidt, f.l. & rynes, s.l. (2003). corporate social and financial performance: a meta-analysis. organization studies, 24(3), 403-441. orsingher, c., valentini, s. & de angelis, m. (2010). a meta-analysis of satisfaction with compliant handling in services. journal of the academy of marketing science, 38(2), 169-186. palmatier, r., dant, r.p., grewal, d. & evans, k.r. (2006). factors influencing the effectiveness of relationship marketing: a meta-analysis. journal of marketing, 70(4), 136-153. park, c.s. & srinivasan, v. (1994). a survey-based method for measuring and understanding brand equity and its extendibility. journal of marketing research, 31(2), 271-288. penman, s.h. (2009). accounting for intangible assets: there is also an income statement. abacus, 45(3), 358-371. pfeffer, j. (2014). how to make a fortune without “doing”anything: the uber, airbnb story. available at www.fortune.com. phusavat, k., comepa, n., sitko-lutek, a. & ooi, k.-b. (2011). interrelationships between intellectual capital and performance. industrial management and data systems, 111(6), 810-829. ramus, t., vaccaro, a. & brusoni, s. (2017). institutional complexity in turbulent times: formalization, collaboration, and the emergence of blended logics. academy of management journal, 60(4), 1253-1284. ray, g., barney, j.b. & muhanna, w.a. (2004). capabilities, business processes, and competitive advantage: choosing the dependent variable in empirical test of the resource based-view. strategic management journal, 25(1), 23-37. reed, k.k., lubatkin, m. & srinivasan, n. (2006). proposing and testing an intellectual capital-based view of the firm. journal of management studies, 43(4), 867-893. rego, l.l., morgan, n.a. & fornell, c. (2013). r e e x a m i n i n g t h e m a r k e t s h a r e c u s t o m e r satisfaction relationship. journal of marketing, 77(5), 1-20. robertson, f.a. & samy, m. (2015).‘factors affecting the diffusion of integrated reporting—a uk fts 100 perspective. sustainability accounting, management & policy journal, 6(2), 190-223. roca-puig, v., beltran-martin, i. & segarra-copres, m. (2011). combined effect of human capital, temporary employment and organizational size on firm performance. personnel review, 41(1), 4-22. r o s e n t h a l , r . ( 1 9 7 8 ) . c o m b i n i n g r e s u l t s o f independant studies. psycological bulletin, 85(1), 185-193. rosenthal, r. (1991), meta-analytic procedures for social research, newbury park, ca: sage. rubera, g. & droge, c. (2013). technology versus desing innovation’s effects on sales and tobin’s q: the moderating role of branding strategy. journal production innovation management, 30(3), 448-464. ryals, l. (2005). making customer relationship management work: the measurement and profitable management of customer relationships. journal of marketing, 69(4), 252-261. scheer, l., miao, c. & palmatier, r. (2015). dependence and interdependence in marketing relationships: a meta-analysis insights. journal of the academy of marketing science, 43(6), 694-712. sels, l., de winne, s., delmotte, j., maes, j., faems, d. & forrier, a. (2006). linking hrm and small business performance: an impact of hrm intensity on the productivity and financial performance of small businesses. small business economics, 26(1), 83-101. shankar, v., azar, p. & fuller, m. (2008). bran*eqt: a multicategory brand equity model and its application at allstate. marketing science, 27(4), 567-584. shipilov, a. & danis, w. (2006). tmg social capital strategic choice and firm performance. european management journal, 24(1), 16-27. simnett, r. & huggins, a.l. (2015). integrated reporting and assurance: where can research add value? sustainability accounting, management & policy journal, 6(1), 29-53. simon, c.j. & sullivan, m.w. (1993). the measurement and determinants of brand equity: a financial approach. marketing science, 12(1), 28-52. sirmon, d.g., hitt, m.a., ireland, r.d. & gilbert, b.a. ( 2 0 11 ) . r e s o u r c e o r c h e s t r a t i o n t o c r e a t e competitive advantage: breadth, depth, and life cycle effects. journal of management, 37(5), 1390-1412. �245 http://www.fortune.com intellectual capital and financial performance:
 a meta-analysis and research agenda m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 216-249 smith, k.t., smith, m. & kun, w. (2010). does brand management of corporate reputation translate into higher market value? journal of strategic marketing, 18(3), 201-221. smith, r.e. & wright, w.f. (2004). determinants of customer loyalty and financial performance. journal of management accounting research, 16(1), 183-205. stanley, t.d. (2001). wheat from chaff: meta-analysis as quantitative literature review. journal of economics perspectives, 15(3), 131-150. steel, p.d. & kammeyer-mueller, j.d. (2002). comparing meta-analytic moderator estimation techniques under realistic conditions. journal of applied psychology, 87(1), 96-111. subramaniam, m. & youndt, m.a. (2005). the influence of intellectual capital on the types of innovative capabilities. academy of management journal, 48(3), 450-463. szymanski, d.m. & henard, d.h. (2001). customer satisfaction: a meta-analysis of the empirical evidence. journal of the academy of marketing science, 29(1), 16-36. szymanski, d.m., kroff, m.w. & troy, l.c. (2007). innovativeness and new product success: insights from the cumulative evidence. journal of the academy of marketing science, 35(1), 35-52. teece, d.j. (2000), managing intellectual capital, new york, ny: oxford university press. tharenou, p., saks, a.m. & moore, c. (2007). a review and critique of research on training and organizational-level outcomes. human resource management review, 17(3), 251-273. thomson, m., macinnis, d.j. & park, c.w. (2005). the ties that bind: measuring the strength of consumers’ emotional attachments to brands. journal of consumer psychology, 15(1), 77-91. van alstyne, m.w., parker, g.g. & choudary, s.p. (2016). pipelines, platforms, and the new rules of strategy. harvard business review, 94(4), 16-25. villalonga, b. (2004). intangible resources, tobin’s q, and sustainability of performance differences. journal of economic behavior & organization, 54(2), 205-230. von nordenflycht, a. (2010). what is a professional service firm? toward a theory and taxonomy of k n o w l e d g e i n t e n s i v e f i r m s . a c a d e m y o f management review, 35(1), 155-174. whitener, e.m. (1990). confusion of confidence intervals and credibility intervals in meta-analysis. journal of applied psychology, 75(3), 315-321. winter, s.g. (2003). understanding dynamic capabilities. strategic management journal, 24(10), 991-995. wolf, f.m. (1986), meta-analysis: quantitative methods for research synthesis, sage university paper, 59. newbury park, ca: sage publications. wyatt, a. (2008). what financial and non-financial information on intangibles is value-relevant? a review of evidence. accounting and business research, 38(3), 217-256. yarbrough, l., morgan, n.a. & vorhies, d.w. (2011). t h e i m p a c t o f p r o d u c t m a r k e t s t r a t e g y o r g a n i z a t i o n a l c u l t u r e f i t o n b u s i n e s s performance. journal of the academy of marketing science, 39(4), 555-573. yeung, m.c. & ennew, c.t. (2000). from customer satisfaction to profitability. journal of strategic marketing, 8(4), 313-326. youndt, m.a., subramaniam, m. & snell, s.a. (2004). intellectual capital profiles: an examination of investments and returns. journal of management studies, 41(2), 335-362. yuqian, h. & dayuan, l. (2015). effects of intellectual capital on innovative performance. management decision, 53(1), 40-56. ziliak, s.t. & mccloskey, d.n. (2008), the cult of statistical significance. how the standard error costs us jobs, justice, and lives, ann arbor, mi: university of michigan press. � 246 m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 216-249 elisabeth albertini & fabienne berger-remy list of references included in the meta-analysis * aaker, d.a. & jacobson, r. (1994). the financial information content of perceived quality. journal of marketing research, 31(2), 191-201. * anderson, e.w., fornell, c. & lehmann, d.r. (1994). customer satisfaction, market share, and profitability: findings from sweden. journal of marketing, 58(3), 53-66. * anderson, e.w., fornell, c. & rust, r.t. (1997). c u s t o m e r s a t i s f a c t i o n , p r o d u c t i v i t y, a n d profitability: differences between goods and services. marketing science, 16(2), 129-145. * anderson, e.w., fornell, c. & mazvancheryl, s.k. (2004). customer satisfaction and shareholder value. journal of marketing, 68(4), 172-185. * andreou, a.n. & bontis, n. (2007). a model for resource allocation using operational knowledge assets. the learning organization, 14(4), 345-374. * angulo-ruiz, f., donthu, n., prior, d. & rialp, j. (2014). the financial contribution of customeroriented marketing capability. journal of the academy of marketing science, 42(4), 380-399. * aragon-sanchez, a., barba-aragon, i. & sanze-valle, r. (2003). effects of training on business results. i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h u m a n r e s o u r c e management, 14(6), 956-980. * artz, k.w., norman, p.m., hatfield, d.e. & cardinal, l.b. (2010). a longitudinal study of the impact of r&d, patents, and product innovation on firm performance. journal of product innovation management, 27(5), 725-740. * asiaei, k. & jusoh, r., (2015). a multidimensional view of intellectual capital: the impact on o r g a n i z a t i o n a l p e r f o r m a n c e . m a n a g e m e n t decision, 53(3), 668-697. * barth, m.e., clement, m.b., foster, g. & kasznik, r. (1998). brand values and capital market valuation. review of accounting studies, 3(1-2), 41-68. * bharadwaj, a.s., bharadwaj, s.g. & konsynski, b.r. (1999). information technology effects on firm p e r f o r m a n c e a s m e a s u r e d b y to b i n ’ s q . management science, 45(7), 1008-1024. * camisón, c. & villar-lópez, a. (2010). effect of smes’ international experience on foreign intensity and economic performance: the mediating role of internationally exploitable assets and competitive strategy. journal of small business management, 48(2), 116-151. * chin, c.l., lee, p., chi, h.y. & anandarajan, a. (2006). patent citation, r&d spillover, and tobin’s q: evidence from taiwan semiconductor industry. review of quantitative finance and accounting, 26(1), 67-84. * cho, h.j. & pucik, v. (2005). relationship between innovativeness, quality, growth, profitability, and market value. strategic management journal, 26(6), 555-575. * coombs, j.e. & bierly, p.e. (2006). measuring technological capability and performance. r&d management, 36(4), 421-438. * coviello, n., winklhofer, h. & hamilton, k. (2006). marketing practices and performance of small service firms: an examination in the tourism accommodation sector. journal of service research, 9(1), 38-58. * davies, g., chun, r. & kamins, m.a. (2010). reputation gaps and the performance of service organizations. strategic management journal, 31(5), 530-546. * dibrell, c., davis, p.s. & craig, j. (2008). fueling innovation through information technology in smes. journal of small business management, 46(2), 203-218. * do rosario-cabrita, m. & bontis, n. (2008). intellectual capital and business performance in the portuguese banking industry. international journal of technology management, 43(1-3), 212-237. * duncan, e. & elliott, g. (2004). efficiency, customer service and financial performance among australian financial institutions. international journal of bank marketing, 22(5), 319-342. * eggers, f., kraus, s., hughes, m., laraway, s. & snycerski, s. (2013). implications of customer and entrepreneurial orientations for sme growth. management decision, 51(3), 524-546. * ettlie, j.e. (1998). r&d and global manufacturing performance. management science, 44(1), 1-11. * fehle, f., fournier, s.m., madden, t.j. & shrider, d.g. (2008). brand value and asset pricing. quarterly journal of finance and accounting, 47(1), 3-26. * fornell, c., mithas, s., morgeson iii, f.v. & krishnan, m.s. (2006). customer satisfaction and stock prices: high returns, low risk. journal of marketing, 70(1), 3-14. * gruca, t.s. & rego, l.l. (2005). customer satisfaction, cash flow, and shareholder value. journal of marketing, 69(3), 1-130. * guo, w.c., shiah-hou, s.r. & chien, w.j. (2012). a study on intellectual capital and firm performance in biotech companies. applied economics letters, 19(16), 1603-1608. * harrison, j.s., hall, e.h. & nargundkar, r. (1993). resource allocation as an outcropping of strategic consistency: performance implications. academy of management journal, 36(5), 1026-1051. * heiens, r.a., leach, r.t. & mcgrath, l.c. (2007). the contribution of intangible assets and expenditures to shareholder value. journal of strategic marketing, 15(2-3), 149-159. * holbrook, m.b. (1992). product quality, attributes, and brand name as determinants of price: the case of consumer electronics. marketing letters, 3(1), 71-83. * hooley, g.j., greenley, g.e., cadogan, j.w. & fahy, j. (2005). the performance impact of marketing resources. journal of business research, 58(1), 18-27. * hsu, l.c. & wang, c.h. (2012). clarifying the effect of intellectual capital on performance: the mediating role of dynamic capability. british journal of management, 23(2), 179-205. �247 intellectual capital and financial performance:
 a meta-analysis and research agenda m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 216-249 * jha, s., balaji, m.s., yavas, u. & babakus, e. (2017). effects of frontline employee role overload on customer responses and sales performance. european journal of marketing, 51(2), 282-303. * juma, n. & payne, g.t. (2004). intellectual capital and performance of new venture high-tech firms. international journal of innovation management, 8(3), 297-318. * kamakura, w.a., mittal, v., de rosa, f. & mazzon, j.a. (2002). assessing the service-profit chain. marketing science, 21(3), 294-317. * kambara, k.m. (2010). managing brand instability and capital market reputation: implications for brand governance and marketing strategy. journal of brand management, 17(8), 568-578. * kim, h., lim, h. & park, y. (2009). how should firms carry out technological diversification to improve their performance? an analysis of patenting of korean firms. economics of innovation and new technology, 18(8), 757-770. * kirk, c.p., ray, i. & wilson, b.k. (2013). the impact of brand value on firm valuation: the moderating influence of firm type. journal of brand management, 20(6), 488-500. * krasnikov, a., mishra, s. & orozco, d. (2009). evaluating the financial impact of branding using trademarks: a framework and empirical evidence. journal of marketing, 73(6), 154-166. * lin, b.w., lee, y. & hung, s.c. (2006). r&d intensity and commercialization orientation effects on financial performance. journal of business research, 59(6), 679-685. * lin, b.w., chen, c.j. & wu, h.l. (2006). patent portfolio diversity, technology strategy, and firm va l u e . i e e e tr a n s a c t i o n s o n e n g i n e e r i n g management, 53(1), 17–26. * ling, y.-h. & jaw, b.-s. (2006). the influence of international human capital on global initiatives and financial performance. international journal of human resource management, 17(3), 379-398. * livne, g., simpson, a. & talmor, e. (2011). do customer acquisition cost, retention and usage matter to firm performance and valuation? journal of business finance & accounting, 38(3‐4), 334-363. * luo, x., griffith, d.a., liu, s.s. & shi, y.z. (2004). the effects of customer relationships and social capital on firm performance: a chinese business illustration. journal of international marketing, 12(4), 25-45. * matsuno, k., zhu, z. & rice, m.p. (2014). innovation process and outcomes for large japanese firms: roles of entrepreneurial proclivity and customer equity. journal of product innovation management, 31(5), 1106-1124. * matzler, k., hinterhuber, h.h., daxer, c. & huber, m. (2005). the relationship between customer satisfaction and shareholder value. total quality management, 16(5), 671-680. * mcalister, l., srinivasan, r. & kim, m. (2007). advertising, research and development, and systematic risk of the firm. journal of marketing, 71(1), 35-48. * minami, c. & dawson, j. (2008). the crm process in retail and service sector firms in japan: loyalty development and financial return. journal of retailing and consumer services, 15(5), 375-385. * mizik, n. & jacobson, r. (2008). the financial value impact of perceptual brand attributes. journal of marketing research, 45(1), 15-32. * mizik, n. & jacobson, r. (2009). valuing branded businesses. journal of marketing, 73(6), 137-153. * morgan, n.a. & rego, l.l. (2009). brand portfolio strategy and firm performance. journal of marketing, 73(1), 59-74. * nakao, t. (1993). market share, advertising, r&d, and profitability: an empirical analysis of leading industrial firms in japan. review of industrial organization, 8(3), 315-328. * n y b a k k , e . ( 2 0 1 2 ) . l e a r n i n g o r i e n t a t i o n , innovativeness and financial performance in traditional manufacturing firms: a higher-order structural equation model. international journal of innovation management, 16(05), 1250029. * osullivan, d. & mccallig, j. (2012). customer satisfaction, earnings and firm value. european journal of marketing, 46(6), 827-843. * ohnemus, l. (2009). is branding creating shareholder wealth for banks? international journal of bank marketing, 27(3), 186-201. * phusavat, k., comepa, n., sitko-lutek, a. & ooi, k.b. (2011). interrelationships between intellectual capital and performance. industrial management and data systems, 111(6), 810-829. * reed, k.k., lubatkin, m. & srinivasan, n. (2006). proposing and testing an intellectual capital-based view of the firm. journal of management studies, 43(4), 867-893. * rego, l.l., morgan, n.a. & fornell, c. (2013). r e e x a m i n i n g t h e m a r k e t s h a r e c u s t o m e r satisfaction relationship. journal of marketing, 77(5), 1-20. * roca-puig, v., beltrán-martín, i. & segarra cipres, m. (2011). combined effect of human capital, temporary employment and organizational size on firm performance. personnel review, 41(1), 4-22. * rubera, g. & droge, c. (2013). technology versus design innovations effects on sales and tobins q: the moderating role of branding strategy. journal of production innovation management, 30(3), 448-464. * salomo, s., talke, k. & strecker, n. (2008). innovation field orientation and its effect on innovativeness and firm performance. journal of product innovation management, 25(6), 560-576. * santos-vijande, m.l., gonzález-mieres, c. & ángel lópez-sánchez, j. (2013). an assessment of innovativeness in kibs: implications on kibs’ cocreation culture, innovation capability, and performance. journal of business & industrial marketing, 28(2), 86-102. * sels, l., de winne, s., delmotte, j., maes, j., faems, d. & forrier, a. (2006). linking hrm and small business performance: an impact of hrm intensity on the productivity and financial performance of small businesses. small business economics, 26(1), 83-101. � 248 m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 216-249 elisabeth albertini & fabienne berger-remy * smith, k.t., smith, m. & kun, w. (2010). does brand management of corporate reputation translate into higher market value? journal of strategic marketing, 18(3), 201-221. * smith, r.e. & wright, w.f. (2004). determinants of customer loyalty and financial performance. journal of management accounting research, 16(1), 183-205. * soni, p.k., lilien, g.l. & wilson, d.t. (1993). industrial i n n o v a t i o n a n d f i r m p e r f o r m a n c e : a r e conceptualization and exploratory structural equation analysis. international journal of research in marketing, 10(4), 365-380. * stanko, m.a. & bonner, j.m. (2013). projective customer competence: projecting future customer needs that drive innovation performance. i n d u s t r i a l m a r k e t i n g m a n a g e m e n t , 4 2 ( 8 ) , 1255-1265. * tavassoli, n.t., sorescu, a. & chandy, r. (2014). employee-based brand equity: why firms with strong brands pay their executives less. journal of marketing research, 51(6), 676-690. * thomson, m., macinnis, d.j. & park, c.w. (2005). the ties that bind: measuring the strength of consumers’ emotional attachments to brands. journal of consumer psychology, 15(1), 77-91. * tseng, k.a., lan, y.w., lu, h.c. & chen, p.y. (2013). mediation of strategy on intellectual capital and performance. management decision, 51(7), 1488-1509. * wang, z., wang, n. & liang, h. (2014). knowledge sharing, intellectual capital and firm performance. management decision, 52(3), 230-258. * worm, s. & srivastava, r.k. (2014). impact of component supplier branding on profitability. international journal of research in marketing, 31(4), 409-424. * yee, r.w.y., yeung, a.c.l. & chen, t.c.e. (2010). an empirical study of employee loyalty, service quality and firm performance in the service industry. international journal of production economics, 124(1), 109-120. * yeung, m.c. & ennew, c.t. (2000). from customer satisfaction to profitability. journal of strategic marketing, 8(4), 313-336. * youngsang, k. & ployhart, r.e. (2014). the effects of staffing and training on firm productivity and profit growth before, during, and after the great recession. journal of applied psychology, 99(3), 361-389. * zhang, r. & rezaee, z. (2009). do credible firms perform better in emerging markets? evidence from china. journal of business ethics, 90(2), 221-237 
 elisabeth albertini is an associate professor at the sorbonne business school (university of paris 1 pantheon-sorbonne), teaching corporate social responsibility and accounting. her research interests include corporate social responsibility from a resource-based perspective; intellectual capital; extra-financial disclosure and integrated reporting. prior to academia, she worked for the xerox company as a corporate financial planning &accounting manager. fabienne berger-remy is associate professor in brand management at the sorbonne business school (university of paris 1 pantheon-sorbonne), france. her research deals with intellectual capital, marketing organizations and formal or informal processes in brand management. she previously worked for twenty years in the fast moving consumer goods sector in a range of roles spanning marketing, consulting and management. acknowledgments: we express our deep gratitude to dr thomas roulet and two anonymous reviewers for significant help and guidance in improving the manuscript. �249 174benito diana benito-osorio department of management, university of rey juan carlos diana.benito@urjc.es laura muñoz-aguado university of rey juan carlos l.munozag@alumnos.urjc.es cristina villar department of management university of valencia cristina.villar@uv.es the impact of family and work-life balance policies on the performance of spanish listed companies diana benito-osorio � laura muñoz-aguado � cristina villar abstract. work-life balance has become a topic of great relevance in today's business world. in this work we present both a theoretical review on the state of art in this issue and an analysis testing the validity of the positive impact of worklife balance policies in firm performance. for the empirical analyses of these policies on performance we evaluated a sample composed of firms listed in ibex-35. findings provide support for the idea that introducing work-life balance practices benefits the company with respect to talent retention and higher employee engagement, as well as achieving a positive impact on productivity, costs and business results. ! in recent years, work-life balance has become one of the main interesting topics at the academic, business, political and social level (albert et al., 2010; devi & rani, 2013; gómez & martí, 2004; koubova & buchko, 2013; mccarthy, doray & grady, 2010; perdigão, 2011). this phenomenon emerges as a response to demographic, economic and cultural changes (osoian lazar & raţiu, 2009) such as the increasing integration of women in the workplace, the rising number of couples both working outside home, or the transformation of family structures as well as population ageing, technological advances, birth rate decline and the need to improve human capital management. in addition, worklife balance is one of the main concerns of the so called "generation y" (born between 1982 and 2000), who value flexibility in time and space at work (susaeta et al., 2011). ! these social, economic and political changes led companies to a greater involvement in work, family and personal life issues (goodstein, 1994). the need for work-life balance arises as a response to work-family conflict, which occurs when the requirements of personal role are mismatched with the ones of the productive role and vice versa (ruppanner, 2013). this conflict generates tension in individuals (meyer, mukerjee & sestero, 2001) who bear exposure to an increased stress (hudson, 2005), reducing their productivity level and causing a negative impact on organizational performance (kalliath & brough, 2008). in this context the company should have a proactive approach to implement work-life practices (gómez & marti, 2004), creating a flexible structure to undertake environmental changes and contribute to increase individuals’ life satisfaction (ahn, 2005). hence, work-life balance -as any other human resource policycan be seen as a main challenge for organizational leaders, while also as a source of competitive advantage (coff, 1997; pfeffer, 1994). for companies expecting to attract and retain highly motivated and committed personnel 214 (huselid, 1995), work-life balance can help to retain skillful employees in the m@n@gement 2014, vol. 17(4): 214-236 214 mailto:diana.benito@urjc.es?subject= mailto:diana.benito@urjc.es?subject= mailto:l.munozag@alumnos.urjc.es mailto:l.munozag@alumnos.urjc.es mailto:diana.benito@urjc.es?subject= mailto:diana.benito@urjc.es?subject= mailto:diana.benito@urjc.es?subject= mailto:diana.benito@urjc.es?subject= mailto:l.munozag@alumnos.urjc.es mailto:l.munozag@alumnos.urjc.es mailto:cristina.villar@uv.es?subject= mailto:cristina.villar@uv.es?subject= organization (konrad & managel, 2000), achieving a higher return on investment (yamamoto & matsura, 2012). ! the aim of this work is to expose, analyze and determine the effects of work-life balance policies on business performance. despite being a recurrent topic in recent times, few studies look at the relationship between work-life balance measures and business performance (mañas & garrido, 2007). our study contributes to work-life balance literature, which stands as one of the biggest challenges organizations must cope with in xxi century. ! this study is divided into five parts. in the second section we focus on the conceptualization of the term work-life balance, as well as literature review regarding its impact on firm performance. third section provides ratios useful to reflect organizational performance in firms listed in ibex-35 as well as work-life balance policies and control variables considered. finally, in fourth section findings are presented, assessing the impact on business performance by sector and delving into the trend for the whole group of companies. the study concludes with the discussion, limitations and directions for future research. literature review work-life balance conceptualization the concept of work -life balance was firstly used in united kingdom during the 70s (prasad, 2012). however, it was not until 1986 when this notion began to be relevant in the united states, where in the 80’s and 90’s companies began to implement work-life balance policies (lockwood, 2003) mainly in response to an increasing workers’ disregard towards their families due to their focus on accomplishing organizational goals. but work-life balance is not limited to family members assistance, it also includes other fields in individuals’ life such as managing studies, travel, sports, volunteering, personal development and leisure. for this reason, the term work -life balance has replaced what was originally known as work-family balance (hudson, 2005). thus, the relationship between work, family and personal life can be explained through models proposed by zedeck and moiser (1990) (see table 1). table 1. explanatory models of the relationship between work, family and personal life segmentation model spillover model conflict model family and work life are different areas, with no relationships or influence between them. currently this model does not work in the reality family and work life can affect each other both in a positive and negative direction family, work and persona life generate demands competing to be satisfied with the resources of individuals, such as time and energy source: zedeck & moiser (1990). ! de luis carnicer et al., (2004, p.54) based on a study by kahn et al. (1964), defined work-family conflict as "as a form of inter-role conflict in which the role pressures from work and family spheres are mutually incompatible." the need for balance arises from the existence of a conflict between work and family spheres, triggering the development of roles that might be mismatched and difficult to reconcile (teixeira & nascimiento, 2011). for an individual, this ends in a low level of work satisfaction (adams et al., 1996) and personal satisfaction m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 214-236! diana benito-osorio � laura muñoz-aguado � cristina villar 215 (kossek & ozeki, 1998) as well as stress hampering quality of life (idrovo, leon & grau, 2012). this work-family conflict is related to an employee's educational level (individuals with a bachelor degree encounter a greater conflict), professional category (senior managers experience greater work-family conflict) and is equally perceived for both men and women (de luis carnicer et al, 2004; eagle, miles & icenogle, 1997). nevertheless, it varies depending on the country (crompton & lyonette, 2006) and individual characteristics such as higher levels of neuroticism and depression, which contribute to increase this conflict (frone, 2000). ! hence, work-life balance is generally the absence of conflict between productive and family sphere (grzywacz & carlson, 2007). in order to better address work-life balance, it is important to clarify the different roles to perform, as well as the resources at our disposal (osoian et al., 2009). a proper balance between work and family life plays a key role in achieving personal and professional goals (prerna, 2012). in addition, the implementation of work-life balance programs allows employees to work more effectively (ichniowski et al, 1996), while facilitating the retention of valuable employees for companies, improving the return on investments in human capital (konrad & managel, 2000; yamamoto & matsuura, 2012). ! when defining work-life balance, literature on this topic reveals a lack of agreement among scholars such that there is not a broadly accepted definition (kalliath & brough, 2008; klöpping, 2011). devi & ravi (2013) noted that most definitions suggest the need to give equal priority to work and life demands. however, understanding work-life balance is the starting point for both individualswho need to manage their resourcesand companies, because of the need to implement programs enabling balance and therefore satisfying the demands from their employees (reiter, 2007). ! most definitions refer to the coordination of working and personal sphere in its conceptualization. feldstead (2002) remarks the fact that balance is independent on an individuals’ age or gender. while in the 80s some authors used to consider work-life balance as a mainly feminine concern (hall & richter, 1988), this is currently a topic gaining attention and importance from both men and women (garner, méda & senik, 2005; mañas & garrido, 2007). veiga (2010) also conveys that it is essential "to maintain a healthy and balanced life", as the existence of work-life conflict causes problems in the individual such as low level of professional and personal satisfaction (adams et al., 1996; perdigão, 2011, p. 47; kossek & ozeki, 1998), lower organizational commitment (frone et al, 1997; greenhaus & beutell, 1985; perdigão, 2011, p.47 ) and stress (frone et al., 1992; perdigão 2011, p.47). consequently, work-life balance is a way to minimize the conflict between productive and personal roles, as contained within the definitions by clark (2000), clutterbuck (2003), frone (2003) and greenblatt (2002). some other authors such as armstrong (2006), fisher (2001), glass & finley (2002), mccarthy et al. (2010) and sparrow & cooper (2007) refer to those practices necessary for individuals to balance demands from different areas, so that these demands might be met with scarce resources and maintaining life autonomy; as stated by fleetwood (2007), "control over when, where and how they work". in addition, coffey & tombari (2005) emphasize the need to establish an organizational enabling men and women to achieve balance between the two spheres. thus, the need to effectively manage productive and personal areas according to individual demands while fulfilling both is present in the definitions by ahmad et al. (2013), benito -osorio (2009), grady et al. (2008), greenhaus & allen (2011), kalliath & brough (2008), lewis et al. (2007), lockwood (2003), martínez-martínez (2009), mclean & lindorff (2000), pérez-sánchez & gálvezmoro (2009), smith (2011), teixeira & nascimento (2011), von seth (2013), voydanoff (2005 ) and yuile et al. (2012). impact of family and work-life balance policies on performance! m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 214-236 216 ! a second group of authors define work-life balance referring to the level of individual satisfaction when they achieve harmony between all life areas (joshi et al, 2002; greenhaus, 2003; grady et al, 2008). adams (2006) notes the need for new forms of work organization as a way to undertake balance, achieving better individual and organizational productivity. different definitions of this concept are presented next, corresponding to the last two decades (see table 2). ! following a review of the literature, it is noticeable that work-life balance consists on properly managing and balancing demands raised from productive and familiar areas, avoiding the detriment of work quality and helping to increase individual life satisfaction. it is necessary to emphasize two aspects of the notion of work-life balance. firstly, it is a dynamic concept varying over time depending on the needs from individuals and organizations. secondly, it is difficult to apply general guidelines for all the employees, because each individual has different priorities in life (klöpping, 2011). as stated by chinchilla & león (2011:15) "work, family and personal life are essential, indispensable and complementary dimensions in the human being". individuals evolve in a complex society, with rigid work schedules and structures that prevent them from focusing in their personal needs, being immersed in their career goals. attaining these needs may cause physical, psychological tension and irritability due to this effort (voydanoff, 2004; perdigão, 2011, p. 45), prompting in a lack of time and energy to participate actively in other aspects of their life. ! on the other hand, a company is an open system connected to its environment and is therefore involved in social, cultural, ethical and political changes (mañas & garrido, 2007). in the last decades firms have increasingly launched programs on corporate social responsibility (csr) as a voluntary approach -complementary to legal actionsaffecting corporate and strategic management. some time ago csr was mostly focused on a local, national and international community particularly sensitive to ecological problems (mañas & garrido, 2007). nowadays, within their csr programs firms also include internal aspects, such as practices permitting work-life balance. as an open system, firms’ performance is highly conditioned by stakeholders who have their own objectives. indeed, firms’ reputation is the result of an effective and committed relationship with its stakeholders (villafane, 2004, mañas & garrido, 2007:30), and employees and their family are a type of group of interest (chinchilla & leon, 2011; mañas & garrido, 2007; ollo & goñi, 2010). for this reason, work-life balance is a real challenge in the organization that might improve human resource management and relationships with employees. by implementing different work-life balance practices or family-friendly benefits, human resources can develop their career while satisfying personal and familiar needs. furthermore, work-life practices are a way to retain talent (chinchilla & leon, 2011) and hold more creative, healthier and happier workforce (rennar & hank, 2007). hence, literature on this topic has shown the positive aspects of executing work-life balance practices (batt, 2000; chinchilla & leon, 2011; idrovo-carlier, 2006; ollo-lópez & goñi-legaz, 2010) from an individual and organizational perspective (see table 3). ! however, it should be noted that work-life balance policies cannot be effective unless it adds to an organizational culture emphasizing work, family and personal life values and with managerial support (de luis carnicer et al, 2002; idrovo-carlier et al, 2012; lockwood, 2003 and osoian et al, 2009). employees will be reluctant to take advantage of these programs if they believe it might end in possible bad consequences for their work (eaton, 2003) or even hostility from superiors and colleagues (chinchilla, poelmans & leon, 2003). it is therefore necessary to analyze work-life balance policies and its effects on the company, an issue presented in the next section. m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 214-236! diana benito-osorio � laura muñoz-aguado � cristina villar 217 ta bl e 2. w or klif e ba la nc e de fin iti on s a ut ho r d efi ni tio n k of od im os (1 99 3) w or klif e ba la nc e re fe rs to th e in di vi du al c ap ab ili ty to p ro pe rl y m an ag e pe rs on al a nd p ro fe ss io na l l if e c la rk (2 00 0) sa tis fa ct io n an d go od fu nc tio ni ng a t w or k an d at h om e w ith a m in im um o f r ol e co nf lic t k ir ch m ey er (2 00 0) a ch ie vi ng s at is fy in g ex pe ri en ce s in a ll lif e do m ai ns a nd t o do s o re qu ir es p er so na l r es ou rc es s uc h as e ne rg y, ti m e, a nd c om m itm en t t o be w el l d is tr ib ut ed a cr os s do m ai ns m cl ea n & l in do rf f ( 20 00 ) st at e in w hi ch a r an ge o f ne ed s is m et b y co llo ca tin g tim e to b ot h w or k/ fa m ily r ol es a cc or di ng to a c om bi na tio n of i nd iv id ua l p ri or iti es an d de m an ds fi sh er (2 00 1) r an ge o f w or k ar ra ng em en ts , bo th f or m al a nd i nf or m al , th at e xc ee d th e st at ut or y m in im um a nd w hi ch a ss is t em pl oy ee s to c om bi ne em pl oy m en t w ith th ei r c ar in g re sp on si bi lit ie s an d pe rs on al li fe o ut si de th e w or kp la ce h ill e t a l. (2 00 1) d eg re e to w hi ch a n in di vi du al i s ab le t o si m ul ta ne ou sl y ba la nc e th e te m po ra l, em ot io na l an d be ha vi ou ra l de m an ds o f bo th p ai d w or k an d fa m ily re sp on si bi lit ie s d e c ie ri e t a l. (2 00 2) w or kl if e b al an ce is th e m ai nt en an ce o f a b al an ce b et w ee n re sp on si bi lit ie s at w or k an d at h om e fe ld st ea d (2 00 2) w or klif e ba la nc e as re fe rr in g to th e ab ili ty o f in di vi du al s, re ga rd le ss o f ag e or g en de r, to fi nd a r hy th m th at w ill a llo w t he m to c om bi ne th ei r w or k w ith th ei r n on -w or k re sp on si bi lit ie s, a ct iv iti es a nd a sp ir at io ns g la ss & f in le y (2 00 2) fo rm al a nd in fo rm al s et s of p ra ct ic es d es ig ne d to e na bl e an e m pl oy ee to c om bi ne fa m ily re sp on si bi lit ie s w ith e m pl oy m en t g re en bl at t ( 20 02 ) a cc ep ta bl e le ve ls o f c on fl ic t b et w ee n w or k an d no nw or k de m an ds jo sh i e t a l. (2 00 2) t he s en se a nd s at is fa ct io n em pl oy ee s ex pe ri en ce b et w ee n th ei r w or k/ pr of es si on al a nd p er so na l l iv es . c lu tte rb uc k (2 00 3) a s ta te w he re a n in di vi du al m an ag es r ea l or p ot en tia l co nf lic t be tw ee n di ff er en t de m an ds o n hi s or h er t im e an d en er gy i n a w ay th at sa tis fi es h is o r h er n ee ds fo r w el lbe in g an d se lf -f ul fi lm en t fr on e (2 00 3) l ow le ve ls o f i nt er -r ol e co nf lic t a nd h ig h le ve ls o f i nt er -r ol e fa ci lit at io n re pr es en t w or k– fa m ily b al an ce g re en ha us (2 00 3) t he e xt en t t o w hi ch a n in di vi du al is e qu al ly e ng ag ed in – a nd e qu al ly s at is fi ed w ith h is o r h er w or k ro le a nd fa m ily ro le l oc kw oo d (2 00 3) a s ta te o f e qu ili br iu m in w hi ch th e de m an ds o f b ot h a pe rs on ’s jo b an d pe rs on al li fe a re e qu al c la rk e, k oc k & h ill (2 00 4) e qu ili br iu m b et w ee n th e am ou nt o f tim e an d ef fo rt s om eb od y de vo te s to w or k an d pe rs on al a ct iv iti es , i n or de r to m ai nt ai n an o ve ra ll se ns e of h ar m on y in li fe g óm ez & m ar tí (2 00 4) m ai nt ai n fa m ili ar re la tio ns hi ps c on si de re d as d es ir ab le a nd , a t t he s am e tim e, a ch ie ve a s at is fa ct or y le ve l o f p ro fe ss io na l d ev el op m en t c of fe y & t om ba ri (2 00 5) w or klif e ba la nc e de al s w ith t he c re at io n an d im pl em en ta tio n of a o rg an iz at io na l cu ltu re h el pi ng m en a nd w om an t o sa tis fy w or k de m an ds th ro ug h a br oa d ra ng e of p ol ic ie s, p ro gr am m es a nd re so ur ce s h ud so n (2 00 5) sa tis fa ct or y le ve l o f i nv ol ve m en t o r “ fi t” b et w ee n th e m ul tip le fu nc tio ns in a p er so n' s lif e v oy da no ff (2 00 5) g lo ba l a ss es sm en t t ha t w or k an d fa m ily r es ou rc es a re s uf fi ci en t t o m ee t w or k an d fa m ily d em an ds s uc h th at p ar tic ip at io n is e ff ec tiv e in bo th d om ai ns a m st ro ng (2 00 6) w or kl if e b al an ce pr ac tic es a re co nc er ne d w ith p ro vi di ng sc op e fo r em pl oy ee s to ba la nc e w ha t th ey do at w or k w ith t he re sp on si bi lit ie s an d in te re st s th e ha ve o ut si de w or k an d so r ec on ci le t he c om pe tin g cl ai m s of w or k an d ho m e by m ee tin g th ei r ow n ne ed s as w el l a s th os e of th ei r e m pl oy er s impact of family and work-life balance policies on performance! m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 214-236 218 ta bl e 2. w or klif e ba la nc e de fin iti on s a ut ho r d efi ni tio n l ew is , g am bl e & r ap ap or t (2 00 7) pe rs on al c on tr ol o f tim e w hi ch f oc us es a t t he in di vi du al o r fa m ily l ev el f or t ho se w ho h av e di ff ic ul ty in f in di ng t im e fo r pe rs on al lif e be ca us e of a ll th e en co m pa ss in g na tu re o f m an y co nt em po ra ry fo rm s of w or k sp ar ro w & c oo pe r ( 20 03 ) pr ac tic es i m pr ov in g an e m pl oy ee f le xi bi lit y an d au to no m y in t he p ro ce ss o f in te gr at in g w or k an d ot he r lif e as pe ct s, in a f ea si bl e an d be ne fi tia l w ay d un da s (2 00 8) w or klif e ba la nc e is a bo ut e ff ec tiv el y m an ag in g th e ju gg lin g ac t be tw ee n pa id w or k an d al l ot he r ac tiv iti es th at a re i m po rt an t to pe op le s uc h as fa m ily , c om m un ity a ct iv iti es , v ol un ta ry w or ks , p er so na l d ev el op m en t a nd le is ur e an d re cr ea tio n g ra dy e t a l. (2 00 8) b al an ce a nd s at is fa ct io n em pl oy ee s ex pe ri en ce b et w ee n th ei r w or k/ pr of es si on al a nd p er so na l l iv es g ra dy e t a l. (2 00 8) w or kl if e b al an ce i s co nc er ne d w ith h ow e m pl oy ee s m an ag e an d m ai nt ai n a sa tis fa ct or y ba la nc e be tw ee n w or k an d pe rs on al ti m e an d re sp on si bi lit ie s k al lia th & b ro ug h (2 00 8) w or k– lif e ba la nc e is th e in di vi du al p er ce pt io n th at w or k an d no nw or k ac tiv iti es a re c om pa tib le a nd p ro m ot e gr ow th in a cc or da nc e w ith a n in di vi du al ’s c ur re nt li fe p ri or iti es in di vi du al ’s c ur re nt li fe p ri or iti es b en ito -o so ri o (2 00 9) c om po se a nd a dj us t p er so na l a nd p ro fe ss io na l n ee ds s o th at b ot h ar e pr op or tio na lly e qu al m ar tín ez -m ar tín ez (2 00 9) c oo rd in at e fa m ili ar re sp on si bi lit ie s w ith in co m in gs a nd p ro du ct iv e ac tio ns pé re zsá nc he z & g ál ve zm oz o (2 00 9) n ee d to m at ch w or k, fa m ily a nd p er so na l l if e v ei ga (2 01 0) h ar m on iz e th e re la tio ns hi p be tw ee n w or k an d ot he r ac tiv iti es , s uc h as h ou se w or k, c hi ld ca re , l ei su re , s oc ia l a ct iv iti es , e tc . w hi ch ar e es se nt ia l t o m ai nt ai n a he al th y an d ba la nc ed li fe p hy si ol og ic al ly a s w el l a s m at er ia l a nd im m at er ia l m cc ar th y, d or ay & g ra dy (2 01 0) t he te rm is u se d to d es cr ib e or ga ni za tio na l i ni tia tiv es a im ed a t e nh an ci ng e m pl oy ee e xp er ie nc e of w or k an d no nw or k do m ai ns g re en ha us & a lle n (2 01 1) t he e xt en t t o w hi ch a n in di vi du al ’s e ff ec tiv en es s an d sa tis fa ct io n in w or k an d fa m ily ro le s ar e co m pa tib le w ith th e in di vi du al s’ li fe ro le p ri or iti es a t a g iv en p oi nt in ti m e te ix ei ra & n as ci m ie nt o (2 01 1) e xi st en ce o f a he al th y re la tio ns hi p be tw ee n th e pr of es si on al a nd f am ili ar s ph er e, r ef er ri ng t o ar ea s w he re t he i nd iv id ua l ca n re sp on d si m ul ta ne ou sl y an d pr op er ly , w ith ou t a ny lo se re su lti ng fr om th e in te rf er en ce a m on g th em y ui le e t a l. (2 01 2) a s ta te i n w hi ch a r an ge o f ne ed s ar e m et b y al lo ca tin g tim e to b ot h w or k an d lif e ro le s ac co rd in g to a c om bi na tio n of i nd iv id ua l pr io ri tie s an d th e de m an ds o f w or k an d lif e vo n se th (2 01 3) c ap ab ili ty to b al an ce w or k an d fa m ily li fe s uc ce ss fu lly a hm ad e t a l. (2 01 3) t he e xt en t t o w hi ch a n in di vi du al is e qu al ly e ng ag ed in h is o r h er w or k ro le a nd fa m ily ro le m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 214-236! diana benito-osorio � laura muñoz-aguado � cristina villar 219 table 3. benefits achieved from work-life balance benefits from an organizational perspective benefits from an individual perspective reduced absenteeism and turnover better productivity and corporate image increased employee loyalty improves talent retention greater safety at work autonomy reduced stress improves health source: own elaboration based on chimote & srivastava (2013). literature review on work-life balance policies and performance ! in most business areas, work-life balance is seen as a new opportunity in human resource management (gilbert, lope & de alós, 2007). milliken et al (1998) exposed that companies with an information collection system offered a wider range of work-life balance practices. organizations must be aware of employees’ needs and provide them with flexibility, permitting them to combine work and personal spheres to meet professional and personal goals (prerna, 2012). also, when employees accumulate specific knowledge about the organization they become crucial for its performance, as it is more difficult to find comparable substitutes (konrad & managel, 2000). work-life balance can then serve as a tool to retain key employees. in line with this, bloom et al. (2011) found that companies can introduce work-life practices for reasons other than financial performance. osoian et al. (2009) exposed how introducing work-life practices impact the company in different ways, such as in work performance, direct and indirect costs related to absenteeism, costs related with the loss and replacement of valuable employees, customer satisfaction and organizational productivity. however, mañas & garrido (2007) also consider the lack of acknowledgement of these positive effects as one of the main barriers hindering its implementation. in a similar vein, this impact has been barely analyzed from academics in strategic management. though, having a direct experience with work-life balance practices makes companies become more mindful about the cost they generate (dex & smith, 2002) as well as its benefits. ! overall, work-life practices have a positive effect on firm performance when these make an improvement for efficiency and worker productivity, and when revenues generated are greater than the costs to carry out its implementation (meyer et al., 2001). konrad & managel (2000) studied 19 family-responsible policies, evidencing that companies increase productivity when implementing work-life practices and employing a high percentage of professionals. in this line, perry-smith & blum (2002) included in their analysis different work-life policies, finding a positive relationship between firm performance and work-life balance policies. these authors concluded that the relationship between work-life practices and firm performance was stronger for higher tenure companies; thus, they proposed a lower impact of work-life practices on recently created companies. the study, however, disclosed how firm size does not influence the relationship between work-life balance practices and performance. finally, they also stated the fact that companies with more work-life practices achieve greater sales growth. these results are consistent with those by yamamoto & matsuura (2012), who found a positive correlation between some work-life balance practices (such as paternity leave and care allowance above the minimum legal, or the creation of a department to promote work-life balance) and firm performance. however, it is necessary to note that this effect is not accomplished in a short period of time, but in the medium and long term. meyer et al. (2001) concluded that work-life balance arrangements have a positive effect on firms’ revenue. finally, gray (2002) identified an association between financial support impact of family and work-life balance policies on performance! m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 214-236 220 for children care with higher financial performance, increased quality and productivity and a decreased absenteeism at work. likewise, flexible and compressed work schedule were positively relate to an increase in productivity and a lower turnover rate. ! as for the spanish case, by using the survey on responsible work and familiar policies of companies in spain in 2006, mañas & garrido (2007) found that in most of the interviewed firms (63.3%) work-life balance policies had a positive impact on firm productivity. however, bloom et al. (2011) based on the premise that if work-life balance practices were clearly beneficial for business performance, then every single firm would implement them. still, not all work-life balance policies can be seen as an opportunity for companies. according to meyer et al., (2001), job sharing positions would have a negative impact on firm performance due to the diseconomies of scale appearing when two employees develop a job generally occupied by an individual. similarly, telecommuting jobs leads to lower organizational commitment and higher isolation in the employee, getting worst productivity (baruch, 2000). following gray (2002), part-time workers also accumulate lower experience in the long term, negatively affecting firms’ financial performance. on the other hand, offering day nursery in the workplace entails such a high investment that any increase in productivity resulting from this work-life balance policy would be offset by its high cost (meyer et al, 2001; dex & smith, 2002). additionally, meyer et al (2001) also observed how only 14% of companies implementing more work-life balance policies were actually reducing labor cost. ! a third scenario appears when it is observed that work-life balance practices, in spite of not implying a danger or inconvenience for company development, are not clearly related to financial improvements (dex & smith , 2002; bloom et al 2011; yamamoto & matsuura 2012). the link between work-life balance practices and organizational performance may not be conclusive since firms can implement work-life balance policies for other reasons rather than to improve performance (bloom et al, 2011). on the other hand, if a company is properly managed, work-life balance practices do not increase per se firm productivity (yamamoto & matsuura 2012). mañas & garrido (2007) showed that 67.1 % of their sample did not have an established method to measure work-life balance practices’ effects on productivity. these results are in line with those obtained by albert et al. (2010) , who found that the main benefits from work-life practices for companies in the sample were improving employer’s brand image, organization image, attaining a better working environment, offering an image of modernity and demonstrating commitment to csr. however, they did not consider as major benefits a reduced absenteeism, increased productivity, and improved human resources management. in this vein, bloom et al. (2011) concluded that the main goal of implementing work-life balance policies should not be financial performance, but improving employees’ satisfaction. yamamoto & matsuura (2012) got consistent results by finding that the effects of familyresponsible practices varied depending on firm characteristics, so that companies with better results make broader work-life practices; therefore, the correlation between these practices and productivity can be a false positive, since they claim that work-life balance practices by itself do not increase firm productivity. as observed, most of the analyzed studies agreed in stating that work-life balance is not a threat for business results. anyhow, they have different versions to explain its positive impact for organizations. endless working hours, rigidity and lack of spare time to meet personal and family needs cause stress levels in individuals, reducing disposition (lockwood, 2003), affecting creativity at work (tang & chang, 2010) and hampering concentration (prasad, 2012). in this sense, work-life balance policies are helpful to get rid of individual stress, increase productivity and reduce absenteeism in the company. as well, these practices policies increase individual loyalty by strengthening organizational m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 214-236! diana benito-osorio � laura muñoz-aguado � cristina villar 221 commitment (grover & crooker, 1995; lockwood, 2003), improving the company’s public image (meyer et al, 2001), and reducing turnover rate (allen, 2001); this is particularly relevant when dealing with employees with valuable organizational knowledge and this talent is trying to be retained within the firm (chinchilla & leon, 2011). ! in order to analyze relationships between work-life balance practices and firm performance, we reported studies in the literature assessing its impact in companies from different countries (see table 4). table 4. literature review on the impact of work-life balance policies author samplesample main resultsauthor year country main results konrad & managel (2000) 2000 united states results point to a greater positive impact on firm productivity in firms employing a higher percentage of professionals and implementing work-life balance policies perry-smith & blum (2000) 1993-1994 united states findings support the hypotheses stating that firms with more work–life balance policies achieve better performance than firms with less family-friendly policies meyer, mukerjee & sestero (2001) 2001 united states concludes that work-life practices have a positive effect on firm performance. however, some particular policies may have a negative impact, such as job sharing dex & smith (2002) 1998 united kingdom findings indicate that 9 out of 10 firms using work-life balance policies were profitable, but authors stated that they could not assure that work-life policies were causing those improvements in performance. gray (2002) 2002 united kingdom results show that 97% firms with work-life balance policies had a superior financial performance than the average, while only 55% of firms with no policy at all surpassed that mark mañas & garrido (2007) 2006 spain 63% of managers responsible for human resources stated that work-life balance policies positively affect productivity. albert, escot, fernández & palomo (2009) 2009 spain in a survey for human resource managers, they concluded that main benefits from work-life balance policies is to improve brand image and workplace climate, as well as transmitting modernity bloom, kretschmer & van reenen (2011) 2010 germany/ france/ united kingdom/ united states/ authors suggested that there is no positive relationship between work-life balance policies and firm performance; however, they also noted that work-life practices do not entail a negative effect on performance yamamoto & matsura (2012) 2010 japan there is a positive correlation between work-life balance policies and productivity, while remarking that family-friendly policies do not increase firm productivity by itself methodology ! in order to assess the impact of work-life balance policies on firm performance, we carried out an analysis of those companies listed in the spanish stock index (ibex-35), which is composed of the thirty-five spanish listed firms impact of family and work-life balance policies on performance! m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 214-236 222 with higher market capitalization. previous studies have chosen the number of employees as the criteria to select firms (gray, 2002; mañas & garrido, 2007; yamamoto & matsuura, 2012). however, we decided to include only listed companies to ensure reliability of data concerning its business. ! for data collection we revised annual reports and corporate social responsibility reports, as well as the websites of the 35 firms listed in ibex-35. in some cases ratios were not published by companies; to avoid the removal of a firm from the sample, this data was also checked in economic journals such as financial times, expansión and cinco días. variables and measurement dependent variable: firm performance ! we explored two dependent variables to assess firm performance: return on equity (roe) and return on assets (roa). return on equity (roe) ! it is the relationship between net income and book value of shareholders’ equity. roe measures the return from the point of view of the shareholder, i.e. the ability of the company to remunerate its shareholders. this ratio indicates the return on equity, and achieving a high value means a more prosperous situation for the company (koller, goedhart & wessels, 2012; longenecker, moore & petty, 2007). roe= net income roe= shareholders' equity return on assets (roa) ! measures the return on assets in the company. it is expressed as the ratio of profit before taxes and total assets, while some authors in financial literature employ a different formula associating earnings before interest and taxes, multiplying tax rate per minus one, and divided by total assets. the ratio roa is helpful to evaluate firm’s operational efficiency, so that the higher the ratio, the greater the benefits total assets have generated (koller, goedhart & wessels, 2012; ortega de la poza, 2009). roa= net income roa= total assets roa= net income + interest expense (1-t) roa= total net assets independent variable: work-life balance policies ! we included thirteen work-life balance policies or programs. some of them were obtained from the studies by konrad & managel (2000) and perry-smith & blum (2000): day nursery in company facilities, help with childcare costs, assistance for elderly care, information about schools, job sharing, extended leaves and flexible working. other policies included were selected based on a m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 214-236! diana benito-osorio � laura muñoz-aguado � cristina villar 223 previous study by european diversity research & consulting (2007) about those work-life balance policies more implemented in europe that were not included in the study by perrysmith & blum (2000): part-time jobs, medical checkup and telecommuting jobs. the rest of the items included (compressed work schedule, leisure activities, advisory services and professional support) appear recurrently in the literature (chinchilla & leon, 2011; goodstein, 1994; osterman, 1995). the policies we considered are described next. day nursery facilities: the company has facilities to provide childcare, either free or subsidized. help with childcare costs: the company provides information and financial support to meet childcare costs, either in cash or checks. assistance for elderly care: the company offers information on centers for elderly care outside the firm. information about schools: the company provides the employee information on schools outside the firm. job sharing positions: two people can share a full-time job in the company. extension of permissions: the company establishes a maternity or paternity leave beyond the minimum legal period. flexible working hours: employees can decide at what time they start their working hours and what time they leave the company, although eight hours must be completed. part-time work: employees work at part-time. compressed work schedule: employees can work longer hours and receive in return a day or half a day off a week. telecommuting job: employees may develop their work through an internet connection from home or any place that is most comfortable for them. leisure activities: the company introduces leisure and culture programs for employees and their descendants and ancestors. within this policy, discounts are also offered by the company for activities with the same purpose. medical checkup: employees have health checks done by the organization. advisory services and professional support: legal, financial, tax, psychological, family or career advice. 224224 ! in the literature on this topic, studies (konrad & managel, 2000; perry smith & blum, 2000) have used generally as control variables firm size, industry and percentage of women in the organization, among others. in this analysis we have used industry, firm age, firm size, human capital and percentage of women in the organization. industry. hill & jones (2005:40) defined it as a "set of firms offering close substitutes for each other". for this study, we divided the index ibex -35 following the sectorial classification provided by madrid stock exchange: petroleum and energy, basic materials, industry and construction, consumer goods, consumer services, financial services and real estate, technology and telecommunications. firm size. according to its size, the company can be considered as micro, small, medium or large. the number of employees, total assets and turnover are among the most used variables to measure organizational size. in this study we used the number of employees as the criteria to determine the size of firms listed in ibex -35. firm age. we account for five stages: emergent, youth, advanced, adult and feeble. in this study, we calculate firm age as the difference between the year 2013 and the year of foundation of the company. impact of family and work-life balance policies on performance! m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 214-236 224 human capital. the importance of human capital as a source of economic growth is present in the literature (laroche & mérette, 2008). human capital consists of intelligence, skills and experience of the employees, which confer the organization a special character (pituchová, 2012). in their study, dex & smith (2002) concluded that work-life balance companies are mostly offered by organizations with a higher percentage of qualified personnel, as well as employees who have a higher degree of discretion in the business. therefore, we followed the classification of employees done by companies, depending on their professional status, qualifications or hierarchy in the organization. percentage of women. perry-smith & blum (2000) and konrad & managel (2000) revealed in their studies that the presence of a higher percentage of women in the organization triggers the establishment of more work-life balance policies and impacts organizational performance. therefore, we will also consider the percentage of women employed. table 5. performance of spanish listed companies per industries dependent variabledependent variable ibex-35 roa roe petroleum and energy repsol 4.87%(1) 8%(1)petroleum and energy enagás 7.41% 19% petroleum and energy endesa 6.50% 10% petroleum and energy gas natural 5.80% 11% petroleum and energy iberdrola 3% 8.4% petroleum and energy red eléctrica 5.77% 25% petroleum and energy acerinox not stated -1%(1) petroleum and energy aecerlormittal 0.28%(1) -7%(1) petroleum and energy acciona 0.10%(1) 27%(1) petroleum and energy acs -3.38% -68% basic materials, industry and construction acs -3.38% -68% basic materials, industry and construction fcc not stated -11% basic materials, industry and construction ferrovial 3.20% 12.32% basic materials, industry and construction ohl 10.30%(1) 12%(1) basic materials, industry and construction sacyr -6.19%(1) 4%(1)basic materials, industry and construction abengoa no stated 9.4%(1) basic materials, industry and construction técnicas reunidas -19.10%(1) 31%(1) basic materials, industry and construction viscofan 0%(1) 22.17%(1) consumer goods viscofan 0%(1) 22.17%(1) consumer goods inditex 19.10%(1) 30% consumer goods grifols 4,50% 16%consumer goods dia 9.32% not stated consumer goods mediaset 2.90% 4% consumer services mediaset 2.90% 4% consumer services iag -0.25%(1) 8%(1)consumer services abertis 6.12%(1) 29.68%(1) financial services and real estate banco popular -1.63% -23.01%financial services and real estate banco sabadell 0.07% 1.01% financial services and real estate bankinter 0.19% 4% financial services and real estate bbva 0.37% 4% financial services and real estate caixabank 0.10% 1% financial services and real estate mapfre 0% 9% financial services and real estate bme 0% 33% financial services and real estate santander 0.24% 2.80% technology and telecommunications telefónica 5.56%(1) 18.66%(1)technology and telecommunications indra 5.50%(1) 14%(1) technology and telecommunications amadeus it holding 11.70%(1) 38%(1) technology and telecommunications jazztel 11.40%(1) 20.68%(1) (1) taken from financial times, cinco días and expansión, given that ratios are not available in annual reports. data refers to 2012. m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 214-236! diana benito-osorio � laura muñoz-aguado � cristina villar 225 ta bl e 6. w or klif e ba la nc e po lic ie s in th e fir m s in cl ud ed in th e sa m pl e w or kli fe b al an ce p ol ic ie s w or kli fe b al an ce p ol ic ie s w or kli fe b al an ce p ol ic ie s w or kli fe b al an ce p ol ic ie s w or kli fe b al an ce p ol ic ie s w or kli fe b al an ce p ol ic ie s w or kli fe b al an ce p ol ic ie s w or kli fe b al an ce p ol ic ie s w or kli fe b al an ce p ol ic ie s w or kli fe b al an ce p ol ic ie s w or kli fe b al an ce p ol ic ie s w or kli fe b al an ce p ol ic ie s w or kli fe b al an ce p ol ic ie s ib e x 3 5 d ay n ur se ry fa ci lit ie s h el p w ith ch ild ca re co st s a ss is ta nc e fo r e ld er ly ca re in fo rm at io n ab ou t s ch oo ls jo b sh ar in g po si tio ns e xt en si on o f pe rm is si on s fl ex ib le w or ki ng ho ur s pa rt -t im e w or k c om pr es se d w or k sc he du le te le co m m ut in g jo bs l ei su re ac tiv iti es m ed ic al ch ec ko ut / in su ra nc e a dv is or y se rv ic es a nd pr of es si on al su pp or t r ep so l e na gá s e nd es a g as n at ur al ib er dr ol a r ed e lé ct ri ca a ce ri no x n ot s ta te d * n ot s ta te d * n ot s ta te d * n ot s ta te d * n ot s ta te d * n ot s ta te d * n ot s ta te d * n ot s ta te d * n ot s ta te d * n ot s ta te d * n ot s ta te d * n ot s ta te d * n ot s ta te d * a rc el or m itt al a cc io na n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* a c s fc c fe rr ov ia l n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* o h l sa cy r a be ng oa t éc ni ca s r eu ni da s v is co fa n n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* in di te x g ri fo ls n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* d ia n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* m ed ia se t ia g a be rt is b an co p op ul ar b an co s ab ad el l b an ki nt er b b v a c ai xa ba nk m ap fr e impact of family and work-life balance policies on performance! m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 214-236 226 w or klif e ba la nc e po lic ie s w or klif e ba la nc e po lic ie s w or klif e ba la nc e po lic ie s w or klif e ba la nc e po lic ie s w or klif e ba la nc e po lic ie s w or klif e ba la nc e po lic ie s w or klif e ba la nc e po lic ie s w or klif e ba la nc e po lic ie s w or klif e ba la nc e po lic ie s w or klif e ba la nc e po lic ie s w or klif e ba la nc e po lic ie s w or klif e ba la nc e po lic ie s ib e x 3 5 d ay n ur se ry fa ci lit ie s h el p w ith ch ild ca re co st s a ss is ta nc e fo r e ld er ly ca re in fo rm at io n ab ou t sc ho ol s jo b sh ar in g po si tio n s e xt en si on of pe rm is si on sf le xi bl e w or ki ng ho ur s pa rt -t im e w or k c om pr es se d w or k sc he du le te le co m m ut in g jo bs l ei su re ac tiv iti es m ed ic al ch ec ko ut / in su ra nc e a dv is or y se rv ic es a nd pr of es si on al su pp or t d ay n ur se ry fa ci lit ie s h el p w ith ch ild ca re co st s a ss is ta nc e fo r e ld er ly ca re in fo rm at io n ab ou t sc ho ol s jo b sh ar in g po si tio n s e xt en si on of pe rm is si on sf le xi bl e w or ki ng ho ur s pa rt -t im e w or k c om pr es se d w or k sc he du le te le co m m ut in g jo bs l ei su re ac tiv iti es m ed ic al ch ec ko ut / in su ra nc e a dv is or y se rv ic es a nd pr of es si on al su pp or t sa nt an de r te lé fo ni ca in dr a a m ad eu s it h ol di ng n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* n ot s ta te d* ja zz te l m@n@gement 2014, vol. 17(4): 214-236 227 ta bl e 7. d es cr ip tiv es o f c on tro l v ar ia bl es f ir m in du st ry si ze f ir m a ge h um an c ap it al p er ce nt ag e of w om en r ep so l pe tr ol eu m a nd e ne rg y 29 .9 85 e m pl oy ee s. l ar ge c om pa ny 27 y ea rs 4% a dm in is tr at iv es , 3 8% o pe ra to rs , 1 % m an ag er s, 8 % te ch ni ca l m an ag er s, 4 9% te ch ni ci an s 32 % e na gá s pe tr ol eu m a nd e ne rg y 1. 11 8 em pl oy ee s l ar ge c om pa ny 41 y ea rs 5, 64 % m an ag er s, 4 8, 03 % te ch ni ci an s, 1 1, 18 % ad m in is tr at iv es , 35 ,1 5% o pe ra to rs 22 ,4 5% e nd es a pe tr ol eu m a nd e ne rg y 22 .8 07 e m pl oy ee s. l ar ge c om pa ny 19 y ea rs 68 % g ra du at es , 1 3, 42 % in te rm ed ia te g ra du at es , 1 2, 36 m id dl e m an ag er s, 6 ,1 5% a dm in is tr at iv es 45 ,7 7% g as n at ur al pe tr ol eu m a nd e ne rg y 17 .2 70 e m pl oy ee s. l ar ge c om pa ny 22 y ea rs 29 ,6 6% ib er dr ol a pe tr ol eu m a nd e ne rg y 30 .7 44 e m pl oy ee s. l ar ge c om pa ny 22 y ea rs 5, 96 % m an ag er s, 2 0, 89 g ra du at es , 2 2, 48 % in te rm ed ia te gr ad ua te s, 5 0, 68 % c ra ft p ro fe ss io na ls 24 % r ed e lé ct ri ca pe tr ol eu m a nd e ne rg y 1. 64 6 em pl oy ee s. l ar ge c om pa ny 28 y ea rs 6% m an ag er ia l t ea m , 3 0% g ra du at es , 3 4% i nt er m ed ia te te ch ni ci an s, 2 2% s pe ci al iz ed te ch ni ci an s, 8 % s up po rt s ta ff 22 ,7 % a ce ri no x b as ic m at er ia ls , i nd us tr y an d co ns tr uc tio n 7. 25 2 em pl oy ee s. l ar ge c om pa ny 43 y ea rs 0, 27 % to p m an ag er s, 1 1, 05 % g ra du at es , 1 6, 68 % ad m in is tr at iv es , 7 2% o pe ra to rs 10 ,7 2% a rc el or m itt al b as ic m at er ia ls , i nd us tr y an d co ns tr uc tio n 26 0. 00 0 em pl oy ee s. l ar ge c om pa ny 7 ye ar s a cc io na b as ic m at er ia ls , i nd us tr y an d co ns tr uc tio n 32 .9 05 e m pl oy ee s. l ar ge c om pa ny 16 y ea rs 0, 87 % m an ag er s, 5 ,0 6% e xe cu tiv es , 1 4% te ch ni ci an s, 4 ,6 2% su pp or t s ta ff , 5 5, 16 % o pe ra to rs , 2 0, 30 o th er s 32 ,7 2% a c s b as ic m at er ia ls , i nd us tr y an d co ns tr uc tio n 16 2. 47 1 em pl oy ee s. l ar ge c om pa ny 16 y ea rs 5, 80 % a dm in is tr at iv es , 7 ,2 6% n on -q ua lif ie d te ch ni ci an s, 19 ,1 4% g ra du at es , 4 ,4 8% in te rm ed ia te g ra du at es , 6 3, 32 % ot he rs 14 ,6 3% fc c b as ic m at er ia ls , i nd us tr y an d co ns tr uc tio n 80 .5 49 e m pl oy ee s. l ar ge c om pa ny 11 3 ye ar s 4, 49 % m an ag er s, 1 0, 57 % g ra du at es , 9 ,1 4% a dm in is tr at iv es , 75 ,8 0 op er at or s 19 ,7 8% fe rr ov ia l b as ic m at er ia ls , i nd us tr y an d co ns tr uc tio n 55 .1 59 e m pl oy ee s. l ar ge c om pa ny 61 y ea rs 80 % o pe ra to rs a nd te ch ni ci an s, 1 3% g ra du at es , 6 % ad m in is tr at iv es , 1 % m an ag er s 31 % o h l b as ic m at er ia ls , i nd us tr y an d co ns tr uc tio n 19 .8 21 e m pl oy ee s. l ar ge c om pa ny 14 y ea rs 13 ,6 % g ra du at es , 1 0, 3% in te rm ed ia te g ra du at es , 1 1, 5% n on qu al if ie d te ch ni ci an s, 7 ,9 % a dm in is tr at iv es , 5 6, 7% o th er s 34 ,5 8% sa cy r b as ic m at er ia ls , i nd us tr y an d co ns tr uc tio n 20 .4 22 e m pl oy ee s. l ar ge c om pa ny 10 y ea rs 8, 41 % g ra du at es , 5 ,0 9% in te rm ed ia te g ra du at es , 1 0, 72 % no nqu al if ie d te ch ni ci an s, 9 ,4 6% a dm in is tr at iv es , 66 ,3 1% ot he rs 32 % a be ng oa b as ic m at er ia ls , i nd us tr y an d co ns tr uc tio n 26 .4 02 e m pl oy ee s. l ar ge c om pa ny 72 y ea rs 10 ,6 % m an ag er s an d m id dl e m an ag er s, 13 ,7 % q ua lif ie d st af f an d en gi ne er s, 1 2, 1% a ss is ta nt s, 6 3, 6% o pe ra to rs 15 ,2 % t éc ni ca s r eu ni da s b as ic m at er ia ls , i nd us tr y an d co ns tr uc tio n 2. 78 2 em pl oy ee s. l ar ge c om pa ny 41 y ea rs 0, 86 % to p m an ag er s, 6 9, 19 % q ua lif ie d st af f a nd te ch ni ci an s, 29 ,0 8% o ff ic ia ls , 0 ,8 6% s el le rs 30 ,5 1% v is co fa n c on su m er g oo ds 4. 37 7 em pl oy ee s. l ar ge c om pa ny 38 y ea rs 2% m an ag er s, 1 6% g ra du at es a nd te ch ni ci an s, 8 % ad m in is tr at iv es , 1 2% s pe ci al iz ed s ta ff , 6 2% o pe ra to rs 31 ,7 % impact of family and work-life balance policies on performance! m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 214-236 228 f ir m in du st ry si ze f ir m a ge h um an c ap it al p er ce nt ag e of w om en in di te x c on su m er g oo ds 12 0. 31 4 em pl oy ee s. l ar ge c om pa ny 28 y ea rs 6, 92 % l og is tic s an d pr od uc tio n, 7 ,0 4% c en tr al s er vi ce s, 86 ,0 3% s to re s 78 ,7 % g ri fo ls c on su m er g oo ds 11 .4 18 e m pl oy ee s. l ar ge c om pa ny . 73 y ea rs 77 % p ro du ct io n, 5 ,8 5% r & d , 1 ,3 7% ex ec ut iv es 8 ,1 5% m ar ke tin g an d sa le s, 7 ,5 4% o th er s 53 ,5 0% d ia c on su m er s er vi ce s 47 .8 00 e m pl oy ee s. l ar ge c om pa ny 34 y ea rs 0, 48 % m an ag er s, 3 ,3 6% m id dl e m an ag er s, 9 6% o th er s 69 ,2 1% m ed ia se t c on su m er s er vi ce s 1. 36 0 em pl oy ee s. l ar ge c om pa ny 24 y ea rs 8, 75 % m an ag er s, 6 ,4 0% d ep ar tm en t m an ag er , 12 ,9 4% j ou rn al is t, 71 ,9 1% e m pl oy ee s 49 ,4 1% ia g c on su m er s er vi ce s 59 .5 74 e m pl oy ee s. l ar ge c om pa ny 3 ye ar s 0, 40 % s en io r ex ec ut iv e, 6 1, 77 % l an d pe rs on ne l, 37 ,8 2% t ec hn ic al cr ew 33 ,8 % a be rt is c on su m er s er vi ce s 11 .3 31 e m pl oy ee s. l ar ge c om pa ny 10 y ea rs 1% m an ag er s, 4 ,6 6% ex ec ut iv es a nd ow ne rs , 88 ,1 6% re st of em pl oy ee s, 6 ,1 7% te m po ra l e m pl oy ee s 31 ,9 0% b an co p op ul ar fi na nc ia l se rv ic es an d re al es ta te 17 .1 85 e m pl oy ee s. l ar ge c om pa ny 87 y ea rs 0, 51 % a dv is er s an d to p m an ag er s 81 ,3 7% t ec hn ic ia ns , 1 8, 12 % ad m in is tr at iv es 36 ,4 2% b an co s ab ad el l fi na nc ia l se rv ic es an d re al es ta te 15 .5 96 e m pl oy ee s. l ar ge c om pa ny 13 2 ye ar s 75 ,9 1% te ch ni ci an s an d 24 ,0 1% a dm in is tr at iv es 50 ,4 8% b an ki nt er fi na nc ia l se rv ic es an d re al es ta te 4. 06 8 em pl oy ee s. l ar ge c om pa ny 48 y ea rs 13 ,9 4% a dm in is tr at iv es , 57 ,0 3% s el le rs a nd t ec hn ic ia ns , 29 ,0 3% m an ag er s 51 ,2 1% b b v a fi na nc ia l se rv ic es an d re al es ta te 11 5. 85 2 em pl oy ee s. l ar ge c om pa ny 15 6 ye ar s 1, 78 % m an ag er s, 4 2, 25 % te ch ni ci an s 52 ,7 3% c ai xa ba nk fi na nc ia l se rv ic es an d re al es ta te 32 .6 25 em pl oy ee s. l ar ge c om pa ny 2 ye ar s to p m an ag es , m id dl e m an ag er s an d re st o f e m pl oy ee s (n .a .) 49 % m ap fr e fi na nc ia l se rv ic es an d re al es ta te 35 .5 86 em pl oy ee s. l ar ge c om pa ny 80 y ea rs 3, 74 % m an ag er s, 12 ,1 8% ch ie fs , 45 ,3 7% te ch ni ci an s, 3 8, 70 % ad m in is tr at iv e 53 ,7 8% b m e fi na nc ia l se rv ic es an d re al es ta te 73 0 em pl oy ee s. l ar ge c om pa ny 11 y ea rs 1, 37 % to p m an ag er s, 9 ,6 0% m id dl e m an ag er s, 5 5, 75 % s pe ci al iz ed te ch ni ci an s, 3 3, 29 % s up po rt s ta ff 37 % sa nt an de r fi na nc ia l se rv ic es an d re al es ta te 18 6. 76 3 em pl oy ee s. l ar ge c om pa ny 15 6 ye ar s 51 % g ra du at es 54 % te le fó ni ca t e c h n o lo g y a n d te le co m m un ic at io ns 27 2. 59 8 em pl oy ee s. l ar ge c om pa ny 89 y ea rs 16 ,4 8% g ra du at es , 29 % p ro je ct m an ag er s, 3 6% m an ag er s, 1 8, 7% ad m in is tr at iv e 53 ,9 % in dr a t e c h n o lo g y a n d te le co m m un ic at io ns 38 .5 77 em pl oy ee s. l ar ge c om pa ny 20 y ea rs 88 % h ig h qu al if ie d pr of es si on al s 36 % a m ad eu s it h ol di ng t e c h n o lo g y a n d te le co m m un ic at io ns 9. 16 3 em pl oy ee s. l ar ge c om pa ny 26 y ea rs 0, 26 % t op m an ag em en t 1, 28 % c or po ra te m an ag er s, 0 ,2 4% l oc al m an ag er s, 2 2, 58 % m an ag er s an d 75 ,6 4% re st o f e m pl oy ee s 39 ,1 6% ja zz te l t e c h n o lo g y a n d te le co m m un ic at io ns 3. 37 6 em pl oy ee s. l ar ge c om pa ny 15 y ea rs 11 % w ith b as ic or i nt er m ed ia te ed uc at io n 1 3% pr of es si on al te ch ni ci an s, 1 5% i nt er m ed ia te g ra du at es , 60 ,9 5% g ra du at es , 15 % ph d o r m as te r l ev el 39 % m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 214-236! diana benito-osorio � laura muñoz-aguado � cristina villar 229 discussion ! in this section results are initially presented and discussed per industries, then we analyze the global trend observed regarding the impact of work-life balance policies on firm performance for the companies rated in ibex-35. petroleum and energy industry ! six companies are included in this sector: repsol (subsector petroleum), enagas, endesa, gas natural, iberdrola and grid (subsector electricity and gas). apart from other events, companies in this industry had to cope with a strong volatility in oil prices in 2012, as well as external dependence on energy from spain. each of these firms implemented work-life balance policies. teleworking job is available in repsol, endesa and red eléctrica, being the second most common policy in this sector (among those policies that were analyzed). using the criteria of employees to determine firm size, the iberdrola is the largest company and has the lowest roa in the sector (3 %) and the second lowest roe among the studied firms in petroleum and energy (8,4%). the company with the highest roa is enagás, which is also the smallest. this allows us to report a hypothesis that could not be tested in the study by perry-smith and blum (2000), regarding the higher impact of work-life balance policies on performance in larger firms. ! red eléctrica the firm with highest roe in petroleum and energy in ibex-35 has also a higher percentage of college graduates than its competitor, iberdrola. making a comparison of these two companies, iberdrola only implements one of the work-life balance policies we have considered (flexible schedule). however, besides flexible schedule red eléctrica supports employees with day care costs, extends legal permissions and conducts telecommuting jobs. this upholds the conclusions in bloom et al. (2010) and konrad & managel (2000): firms with a higher percentage of professionals tend to carry out more work-life balance policies. basic materials, industry and construction ! in this sector three companies are included, divided into three subsectors: mineral, materials and processing (acerinox and arcerlormittal), construction (acciona, acs , fcc, ohl, sacyr) and engineering ( abengoa y técnicas reunidas ). these three companies were highly distressed by events in 2012 such as the increase in stainless steel global production by 5.2 % or the consequences after five years of crisis in construction. in this sector the most common work-life balance policy is flexible schedule, implemented by acs, ohl and sacyr (the rest of companies claim to foster work-life balance, but do not specify which policies are being carried out). among the firms for which we have available information, ohl is the one with better financial ratios and implements two of the examined policies: helps with the cost of day care nursery and offers flexible working hours. ! ohl, along with acs and abengoa, account for the staff with the highest percentage of college graduates. abengoa, which mainly provides medical checkup and daycare facilities, has a lower roe than ohl. as for the percentage of women employed, the highest belongs to acciona (32.72%), though information about its work-life balance policies is not available. impact of family and work-life balance policies on performance! m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 214-236 230 consumer goods ! consumer goods is composed of the following subsectors: food and beverage (viscofan), textile, clothing and footwear (inditex) and pharmaceuticals and biotechnology (grifols). the decrease in demand, especially in the textile sector, has been the main distinctive for companies in this sector during 2012. the firm with better ratios in consumer goods listed in ibex-35 sector is inditex, which implements two work-life balance policies analyzed in this study: extension of permissions and flexible working hours. this is also the company employing more women (78.7%). consumer services ! in this sector we have companies as dia (commerce), mediaset (media and publicity), iag (transport and distribution) and abertis (infrastructures such as highways and parkings). as in the consumer goods sector, consumer services was characterized by a decreasing demand in 2012. among the work-life balance policies in this study, flexible working hours is again the most popular practice. abertis is the firm with better performance in this sector, implementing two practices besides flexible hours: help with the cost of day care nursery and extension of permissions. iag does not apply any of these policies at work. financial services and real estate ! composed of the subsectors: banks and saving banks (bbva, banco de sabadell, banco popular, banco santander, bankinter and caixabank), insurances (mapfre) and investment (bolsa y mercados españoles). 2012 was also a difficult year for companies operating in this sector due to the persistence of economic crisis, the restructuring of the banking sector and the volatility of financial markets. as regards work-life balance policies, each firm permits flexibility in working hours. bme is the company with the highest roe, which also upholds the help with the cost of childcare, compressed work schedule and leisure activities, apart from flexible working hours. banco santander employs 51% of college graduates, develops other policies such as day nursery facilities inside the company, being the only one of this sector. in addition, more than half of its workforce are women (54 %) and has the second highest roa sector after bbva. bankinter, with the second highest roe in the sector, puts into practices four policies: extension of permissions, flexible working hours, part-time work and telecommuting jobs. technology and communications ! this sector includes firms in telecommunications (telefónica and jazztel ) and firms in electronics and software (indra and amadeus it holding) . despite moving in a complex economic environment, these companies report satisfactory ratios. concerning the roa, the best company is jazztel, employing a high percentage of professionals with an intermediate or higher degree (over 75%). work-life balance policies met are helping with the cost of day nursery, flexible working hours, parttime and basic health care. ! indra is the company with the lowest ratio in this industry. in addition to flexible hours, the firm is executing other policies among the ones we analyzed: extension of permissions, compressed work schedule and telecommuting jobs. the firm with lower ratios of the sector is amadeus it holding, a company for which we do not have specific information about work-life balance policies. m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 214-236! diana benito-osorio � laura muñoz-aguado � cristina villar 231 ! after performing a sector analysis, we can conclude that companies employing a higher percentage of professionals offer more superior work-life balance policies (bloom et al, 2011; konrad & managel, 2000). those employing more women also are more concerned with offering better work-life balance policies (perry -smith & blum, 2000; konrad & managel , 2000). the relationship between work-life balance policies and firm age, previously tested by perry smith & blum (2000) can be discerned in the petroleum and energy sector. regarding its impact on business performanceand basing on the literature and observed datawe can conclude that work-life balance policies are indeed an opportunity for business outcomes, contributing to increase organizational productivity (konrad & managel, 2000; yamamoto & matsuura, 2012). however, we must note that companies with better practices and productivity index are also those implementing better work-life balance policies (bloom et al, 2011; yamamoto & matsuura, 2012). ! among the set of analyzed work-life balance policies the most commonly adopted practice is permitting flexible working hours; further than benefiting the employee, this practice also helps the firm to rapidly deal with customer demands (gray, 2002). ! one of the work-life balance policies less implemented in firms listed in ibex-35 is day nursery inside company facilities. meyer et al. (2001) suggested that this policy in the workplace can lead to a significant loss of company profits. in addition, job-sharing, considered by some authors as a threat for business performance (dex & smith, 2002; gray, 2002; meyer et al, 2001), is not being implemented by any of the companies we assessed. conclusions ! demographic, economic and cultural changes have also led to adaptations in individuals and organizations’ behavior. in this new business setting, the need to reconcile individuals’ productive and personal sphere arises. organizations suffer the consequences of this conflict with diminished productivity, motivation and commitment of employees who find the impossibility of meeting these demands posed from different areas. to achieve this balance, companies are required introduce work-life balance or family responsible practices, which require managerial support and an appropriate corporate culture to be effective. introducing work-life balance practices in the company brings about benefits such as talent retention and increased employee engagement, but will also have an impact on productivity, costs and performance. ! in this study we discussed research concluding that work-life balance helps to improve productivity, brand image and working environment in the firm. however, there is divergence among authors regarding its impact on business results. literature review in this paper also disclosed that the impact of work-life balance practices is more significant in older firms rather than younger. as well, companies employing a higher percentage of professionals and women are more likely to implement work-life balance policies, responding to the requirement of organizations to retain talent and have a creative, satisfied and committed workforce. ! in order to test the proposed theoretical framework and determine whether if the need for work-life balance is a threat or an opportunity for business performance, we analyzed ratios displaying the performance and the policies used by firms in ibex-35. the analysis leads us to determine that work-life balance policies do not pose a threat to business performance. however, it should be noted that organizations with better management practices and higher impact of family and work-life balance policies on performance! m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 214-236 232 productivity are those setting up work-life balance policies (bloom et al, 2011; yamamoto & matsuura, 2012). ! this paper has provided a general literature review on work-life balance, regarding the origin, definition and relevance of this concept, as well as its impact on organizations. the sample we used let us assess the impact of work-life balance policies on the performance of firms listed in ibex -35, also testing hypotheses raised in prior studies.  ! the main limitations of this research are the difficulty of finding some secondary data, as well as the information on its performance and relationships with employees. future lines of research on the topic may pursue to set up new hypotheses that have not been discussed in the previous works, in order to go deeper into one of the biggest challenges companies are facing in this century, work-life balance. references adams, g. a., king, l. a., & king, d. w. (1996). relationship of job and family involvement, family social support, and work-family conflict with job an life satisfaction. journal of applied psychology, 81(4), 411-420. ahmad, s. f., rahim, r. a., salleh, s. m., & wan rashid, w. e. (2013). a study on influences of work life balance on employee quality of life in wilatah persekutuan kuala lumpur and selected selangor urbana area. 4ª conferencia internacional de negocios y economía. indonesia. ahn, n. (2005). factors affecting life satisfaction among spanish workers: relative importance of wage and others factors. documento de trabajo 17. fedea. madrid. albert lópez-ibor, r., escot mangas, l., fernández cornejo, j. a., & palomo vadillo, m. t. (2010). las políticas de conciliación de la vida familiar y laboral desde la perspectiva del empleador. problemas y ventajas para la firm. cuaderno de trabajo de la escuela universitaria de estadística ucm no. 2. madrid. allen, t. d. (2001). family-supportive work environments: the role of organizational perceptions. journal of vocational behavior, 58 (3), 414-435. armstrong, m. (2006). a handbook of human resource management practice, 10th ed. baruch, y., (2000). teleworking: benefits and managers. new technology work and employment, 15 (1), 34-48. batt, r. (2000). managing customer services: human resource practices, turnover, and sales growth. center for advanced human resource studies. benito osorio, d. (2010). la conciliación de la vida familiar y laboral: un reto acuciante en la gestión firmrial. estudios gerenciales, 26 (115), 65-78. bloom, n., kretschmer, t., & van reenen, j. (2011). are family-friendly workplace practices a valuable firm resource?. strategic management journal, 32(4), 343-367. chimote, n. k., & srivastava, n. (2013). work-life balance benefits: from the perspective of organizations and employees. the iup journal of management research, 12 (1), 62-73. chinchilla, n., poelmans, s., & león, c. (2003). políticas de conciliación trabajo-familia en 150 firms españolas. documento de investigación no. 498. iese. barcelona. chinchilla albiol, n., & león llorente, c. (2011). diez años de conciliación en españa (1999-2009). madrid: editorial grupo 5. clark, s. c. (2000). work/family border theory: a new theory of work/family balance. human relations, 53 (6), 747–770. clarke, m., koch, l., & hill, e. (2004). the work–family interface: differentiating balance and fit. family and consumer sciences research journal, 33(2), 121-40. coff, r. (1997). human assets and management dilemmas: coping with hazards on the road to resource-based theory. academy of management review, 22(2), 374-402. coffey, c., & tombari, n. (2005, july-august). the bottomline for work/life leadership: linking diversity and organizational culture. the ivey business journal online. crompton, r. and lyonette, c. (2006). ‘work-life ‘balance’ in europe. acta sociologica, 49, 379-393. de cieri, h., holmes, b., abbott, j., & pettit, t. (2002). “work/life balance strategies: progress and problems in australian organizations”. working papers series 58/02. noviembre. de luis carnicer, m., martínez sánchez, a., pérez pérez, m., & vela jiménez, m. (2002). la flexibilidad de la firm y la conciliación de la vida laboral y familiar. boletín económico de ice nº 2741. octubre. de luis carnicer, mª., martínez sánchez, a., pérez pérez, m., & vela jiménez, mª. (2004). el conflicto trabajofamilia: un estudio empírico de factores familiares y laborales. capital humano, 175, 54-78. devi, c., y rani, s. (2013). the concept of conflict and balance: relationship between work-life conflict and work-life balance. internacional conference on technology and business management. dubai. dex, s., & smith, c. (2002). the nature and pattern of family-friendly employment policies in britain. the policy press. reino unido. m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 214-236! diana benito-osorio � laura muñoz-aguado � cristina villar 233 dundas, k. (2008). work-life balance: there is no ‘onesize-fits-all’ solution, en k o'rourke (ed.), managing matters. graduate college of management, southern cross university, new south wales, summer (3), 7-8. eagle, b. w., miles, e. w., & icenogle, m. l. (1997). interrole conflicts and the permeability of work and family domains: are there gender differences?. journal of vocational behavior, 50(2), 168-184. eaton, s. c. (2003). if you can use them: flexibility policies, organizational commitment, and perceived performance. industrial relations, 42(2), 145167. felstead, a., jewson, n., phizaclea, a., & walters, s. (2002). opportunities to work at home in the context of work-life balance. human resource management journal, 12 (1), 54-76. fisher, a. (2001). is your business taking over your life? fortune small business, 11(9), 32–40. frone, m. r. (2000). interpersonal conflict at work and psychological outcomes: testing a model among young workers. journal of occupational health psychology, 5 (2), 246–255. frone, m. r. (2003). work–family balance. in j. c. quick & l. e. tetrick (eds.), handbook of occupational health psychology (pp. 143–162). washington, dc: american psychological association. garner, h., meda, d., & senik, c. (2005). conciliation entre vie professionnelle et vie familiale, les leçons des enquêtes auprès des ménages. travail et emploi, 102, 57-67. gilbert, f., lope, a., & de alós, r. (2007): las organizaciones firmriales y las firms ante la conciliación de la vida laboral, familiar-personal. papers: revista de sociología, 83, 57-82. glass, j., & finley, a. (2002). coverage and effectiveness of family-responsive workplace policies. human resource management review, 12(3), 313 337. gómez, s., & martí, c. (2004). la incorporación de la mujer al mercado laboral: implicaciones personales, familiares, personales, y profesionales, y medidas e s t r u c t u r a l e s d e c o n c i l i a c i ó n t r a b a j o f a m i l i a . documento de investigación no. 557. iese. barcelona. goodstein, j. d. (1994). institutional pressures and strategic responsiveness: employer involvement in work-family issues. the academy of management journal, 37(2), 350-382. grady, g., mccarthy, a., darcy, c., & kirrane, m. (2008). work-life balance: policies and initiatives in irish organisations, oak tree press, cork. gray, h. (2001). family-friendly working: what a performance! an analysis of the relationship between the availability or family-friendly policies and estabilishment performance. centre for economic performance, 15/03/2013. greenblatt, e. (2002) ‘work/life balance: wisdom or whining?’, organizational dynamics, 31(2), 177-193. greenhaus, g. h., & allen, t. d. (2011). work-family balance: a review and extension of the literature. in l. tetrick & j. c. quick (eds). handbook of occupational h e a l t h p s y c h o l o g y ( 2 n d e d . ) ( p p . 1 6 5 1 8 3 ) . washington, dc: american psychological association. greenhaus, j. h., collins, k. m., & shaw, j. d. (2003). the relation between work–family balance and quality of life. journal of vocational behavior, 63, 510-31. grover, s., & crooker, k. (1995): who appreciates familyresponsive human resource po licies: the impact of family-friendly on the organizational attachment of parents and non-parents. personnel psychology, 48(2), 271-288. grzywacz, j.g., & carlson, d. s. (2007). conceptualizing work-family balance: implications for practice and research [edición especial]. adv dev hum resour, 9 (4), 455–471. hall, d., & ritcher, j. (1988). balancing work life and home life: what can organizations do to help?. academy of management executive, 8(3), 213-223. hill, e. j., hawkins, a. j., ferris, m., & weitzman, m. (2001). finding an extra day a week: the positive influence of perceived job flexibility on work and family life balance. family relations, 50(1), 49–58. hudson. (2005). the case for work/life balance: closing the gap between policy and practice, sydney: author. huselid, m. a. (1995). the impact of human resource management practices on turnover, productivity, and corporate financial performance. academy of management journal, 38(3), 635-672. ichniowski, c., kochan, t., levine, d., olson, c., & strauss, g. (1996). what works at work: overview and assessment. industrial relations: a journal of economy and society, 35(3), 299-333. idrovo, s. (2006). las políticas de conciliación trabajofamilia. estudios gerenciales, 22(100), 49-70. idrovo carlier, s., león llorente, c., & grau grau, m. (2012). camparing work-life balance in spanish and latin-amarican countries. european journal of training and development 2/3, 286-307. joshi, s., leichne, j., melanson, k., pruna, c., sager, n., & story, c. j., (2002). work-life balance… a case of social responsibility or competitive advantage? worklifebalance.com kalliath, t., & brough, p. (2008). work-life balance: a review of the meaning of the balance construct. journal of management organization 14(3), 323-327. kirchmeyer, c. (2000). work-life initiatives: greed or benevolence regarding workers time. in c. l. cooper & d. m. rousseau (eds.), trends in organizational behavior, 7, 79–93. west sussex, uk: wiley. klöpping, l. (2011). work-life balance : grin verlag. kofodimos, j. r. (1993). balancing act. san francisco: jossey-bass. konrad, a., & managel, r. (2000). the impact of work-life programs on firm productivity. strategic management journal, 21(12), 1225-1237. koller, t., goedhart, m., & wessels, d. (2012). measuring and managing the value of companies. estados unidos: mckinsey & company. kossek, e. & lobel, s. (1996). managing diversity: human resource strategies for transforming the workplace. cambridge, mass.: blackwell. kossek, e., & ozeki, c. (1998). work-family conflict, policies, and the job-life satisfaction relationship: a review and directions for organizational behaviorhuman resources research. journal of applied psychology, 83(2), 139-49. koubova, v., & buchko, a. (2013). life-work balance. management research review, 36(7), 700-719. impact of family and work-life balance policies on performance! m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 214-236 234 laroche, m., & mérette, m. (1999). on the concept and dimensions of human capital in a knowledge-based economy context. canadian public policyanalyse de politiques, 25. lewis, s., gambles, r., & rapaport, r. (2007). the constraints of a work-life balance approach. an i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h u m a n r e s o u r c e management, 18 (3), 360-373. lockwood, n. r. (2003). work/life balance: challenges a n d s o l u t i o n s . s o c i e t y f o r h u m a n r e s o u r c e management, 6. longenecker, j. g., moore, c. w., & petty, j. w. (2007). small business management: launching and growing entrepreneurial ventures. south western educational publishing. mañas alcón, e., & garrido yserte, r. (2007). políticas de conciliación en las firms. un análisis del caso español. madrid: fundación eoi. martínez martínez, m. (2009). género y conciliación de la vida familiar y laboral, un análisis psicosocial. universidad de murcia, servicio de publicaciones. mccarthy, a., darcy, c., & grady, g. (2010). work-life balance policy and practice: understanding line managers attitudes and behaviors. human resource management review, 20(2), 158-167. mclean, j. & lindorff, m. (2000). work-family balance among dual-career parents: defining the desirable, working paper 83/00, monash university. meyer, c., mukerjee, s., & sestero, a. (2001). work-family benefits: which ones maximize profits?. journal of managerial issues, 1, 28-44. ollo lópez, a., & goñi legaz, s. (2010). incidencia y efecto de las prácticas de conciliación de la vida laboral y familiar. el caso de españa. vii congreso de economía de navarra: lecciones de la crisis económica. ortega de la poza, r. (2009). factores determinantes de la estructura financiera: un análisis comparativo de firms cotizadas de la ue. madrid: esic editorial. osoian, c., lazar, l., & ratiu, p. (2009). “the benefits of implementing and supporting work – life balance policies in organizations”. babeş-bolyai university, cluj-napoca. rumania. osterman, p. (1995). work/family programs and the employment relationship. administrative science quarterly, 40(4), 681-701. perdigão andrade, m. (2011). work-life balance: condições de trabalho facilitadoras da integração do papel profissional e familiar. exedra, número especial, 41-53. pérez-sánchez, c., & gálvez-mozo, a. m. (2009). teletrabajo y vida cotidiana: ventajas y dificultades para la conciliación de la vida laboral, personal y familiar. athenea digital, primavera (15), 57-79. perry-smith, j., & blum, t. (2010). work-family human resource bundles and perceived organizational performance. academy of management journal, 43(6), 1107-1117. pfeffer, j. (1996). when it comes to "best practices'-why do smart organizations occasionally do dumb things? organizational dynamics, 25(1), 33-44. pituchová, i. (2012). definition of conception for human capital and investment into the human capital. department of social sciences school of business administration in karviná. universidad de silesia. polonia. prasad, v. (2012). “work-life balance among human resources, emerging trends in select corporate businesses in india and abroada study”. internacional journal of research in commerce and management. prerna. (2012). work / life balance in corporate sector. international journal of marketing and technology , 1, 136-147. reiter, n. (2007). work life balance: what do you mean? the ethical ideology underpinning appropiate application. the journal of applied behavioral science, 43(2), 273-294. rennar, h. (2007). in search of true work/life balance. financial executive, 3, 57-59. ruppanner, l. (2013). conflict between work and family: an investigation of four policy measures. social indicators research, 106(1), 327-347. susaeta, l., pin, j. r., idrovo, s., espejo, a., belizon, m., gallifa, a., aguirre, m., & avila pedrozo, e. (2011). generation or culture? work attitude drivers: an analysis in latin america and iberian countries. iese. sparrow, p.r. & cooper, c.l. (2003). the employment relationship: key challenges for hr. london: butterworth-heinemann. tang, y., & chang, c. (2010). impact of role ambiguity and role conflicto on employee creativity. african journal of business management, 6, 869-881. teixeira, r., & nascimiento, i. (2011). conciliação trabalhofamília: contribuições de medidas adoptadas por organizações portuguesas. revista brasileira de orientação profissional, 2, 215-225. veiga, d. r. b. (2010). conciliação entre vida profissional e familiar em cabo verde. o papel do estado e das famílias. instituto universitario de lisboa. von seth, k. (2012). work-life balance. en kvantitativ studie av könsskillnader bland civilekonomstudenter. inst. för pedagogik, psykologi och idrottsvetenskap. universidad linneo. suecia. voydanoff, p. (2005). the differential salience of family and community demands and resources for family-to-work conflict and facilitation. journal of family and economic issues, 26(3), 395-417. yamamoto, i., & matsura, t. (2012). effect of work-life balance practices on firm productivity: evidence from japanese firm-level panel data. the research institute of economy, trade and industry. japón. yuile, c., chang, a., gudmundsson, a., & sawang, s. (2012). the role of life friendly policies on employees work-life balance. journal of management and organisation, 1, 53-63. zedeck, s., & moiser, k. l. (1990). work in the family and employing organization. american psycholigist, 45(2), 240-251. m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 214-236! diana benito-osorio � laura muñoz-aguado � cristina villar 235 https://vpnssl.urjc.es:11023/abicomplete/pubidlinkhandler/sng/pubtitle/international+journal+of+marketing+and+technology/$n/1626341/docview/1173290306/abstract/13ee21522dc47edea91/15?accountid=14730 https://vpnssl.urjc.es:11023/abicomplete/pubidlinkhandler/sng/pubtitle/international+journal+of+marketing+and+technology/$n/1626341/docview/1173290306/abstract/13ee21522dc47edea91/15?accountid=14730 diana benito-osorio, phd, associate professor at the university rey juan carlos (madrid), department of management. she received a phd from this university (2011) and a master in business administration (2010) and business organization (2011). her main lines of research are related to corporate strategy, work-life balance policies and educational innovation. she is co-author, author and reviewer of several indexed publications, both national and international. she has also presented her work in international conferences associated to different research projects in which she has participated as a researcher. laura muñoz aguado, degree in business administration from the university rey juan carlos, her bachelor thesis research was focused in work-life balance policies. currently she is studying a master in financial advising and planning at university rey juan carlos. her academic interest is focused on work life balance policies and its impact in organizational performance, business strategies and financial issues. cristina villar, phd, in business management, strategy and organization (2011), she is currently assistant professor at the university of valencia. her research interests are related to the fields of organizational strategy and internationalization, in which she has published in several indexed journals. likewise, she has participated as a researcher in many research projects with public and private entities and has been visiting professor at renowned international universities. . © the author(s) www.management-aims.com impact of family and work-life balance policies on performance! m@n@gement, vol. 17(4): 214-236 236 http://www.management-aims.com http://www.management-aims.com 194cusin&maymoen(2016).pages m@n@gement 2016, vol. 19(4): 305-329 post-bankruptcy stigmatization of entrepreneurs and bankers’ decisions to finance 
 julien cusin � vincent maymo abstract. studies of post-bankruptcy stigmatization generally adopt a sociocultural, determinist reading, in which an entrepreneur who has suffered a business failure will be stigmatized and discriminated against by society. our research aims to take the debate back to its interpersonal foundations. in this article, we have chosen to study the stigmatized/ stigmatizing dyad—through the prism of the banker—in order to shed light on the interpretative process of stigmatization, as well as on the factors that may attenuate or reinforce the stigma. in order to understand how post-bankruptcy stigmatization affects the banker’s decision on whether or not to finance a new entrepreneurial project, we have combined semistructured interviews with an exploratory experimental method involving small-business advisors from banks. using the “gioia” methodology, we develop a theoretical model, enabling us to improve our understanding of the development of post-bankruptcy stigma and the different processes that it implies. keywords: stigmatization, failure, lending decision, entrepreneur, banker. introduction the literature has established the fact that an entrepreneur is socially discredited after a failure (efrat, 2006; lee, peng & barney, 2007; shepherd, 2003; sutton & callahan, 1987; ucbasaran, shepherd, lockett & lyon, 2013). most work on post-bankruptcy stigmatization offers a sociocultural reading of the phenomenon (cardon, stevens & potter, 2011; cave, eccles & rundle, 2001; cope, cave & eccles, 2004). in this approach, the authors describe a critical mass of stigmatizing actors (devers, dewett, mishina & belsito, 2009; roulet, 2015), without envisaging potential divergences in the attitude or behavior of individuals. post-bankruptcy entrepreneurs (pbes) are thus considered to be victims of social determinism with direct consequences on their future (simmons, wiklund & levie, 2014; singh, corner & pavlovich, 2015). this is notably the case in terms of discrimination by banks, which limits pbes’ access to the financial resources needed to start a new entrepreneurial activity. to our knowledge, only shepherd & patzelt (2015: 273) have envisaged the possibility of a certain degree of variation in the evaluation of pbes by society. these authors consider that pbes do not form a “homogenous block”; they will be judged differently depending on their personal characteristics (e.g., their sexual orientation). in the same way, it seems possible to imagine that entrepreneurial failures could be �305 julien cusin iae bordeaux julien.cusin@u-bordeaux.fr vincent maymo iae bordeaux vincent.maymo@u-bordeaux.fr mailto:julien.cusin@u-bordeaux.fr mailto:vincent.maymo@u-bordeaux.fr mailto:julien.cusin@u-bordeaux.fr mailto:vincent.maymo@u-bordeaux.fr m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 305-329 julien cusin & vincent maymo interpreted on a case-by-case basis, particularly by bankers. it is well known that bankers base their decisions on a structured evaluation of objective and subjective data, thus making use of judgment (berger & udell, 2002; stein, 2002). numerous studies have shown that factors such as academic qualifications, ethnic origin, and gender are likely to bias a financing decision (beck, behr & madestam, 2014; irwin & scott, 2010; largay & xiaodong, 2011; ya, escalante, gunter & epperson, 2012). by extension, we can question the banker’s perception of entrepreneurial failure in the context of granting credit. in this research, we therefore ask how post-bankruptcy stigmatization influences the banker’s decision. more specifically, we seek to understand how this affects the banker’s decision to finance a new project put forward by an entrepreneur who has suffered a business failure. in particular, it would be interesting to know whether the banker takes an immediate decision on the basis that the pbe belongs to a socially demeaning category, or whether there is an attempt to go beyond the initial negative impression created by the pbe’s socioeconomic environment. this approach involves looking at the inter-individual level, by studying the stigmatized/stigmatizing dyad, unlike the holistic approach that predominates in post-bankruptcy stigmatization literature. studying the mechanisms that underlie the stigmatization process observed at the scale of society as a whole is original and provides interesting perspectives in terms of identifying its interpersonal foundations. it should also throw new light on the cognitive filters that are at work, whether they help to attenuate or reinforce the consequences of post-bankruptcy stigma. the chosen analytical angle is also original. whereas the rare studies of postbankruptcy stigmatization at the individual level tend to focus on the stigmatized person (i.e., the pbe) (shepherd & haynie, 2011; simmons, et al., 2014; singh, et al., 2015), here we look at the situation from the point of view of the stigmatizing person (i.e., the banker). both the level (dyadic) and the angle (from the stigmatizing person’s viewpoint) of analysis provide a better understanding of the stigmatization process. in order to answer our research question, we take entrepreneurial failure as meaning bankruptcy. although this definition of failure is restrictive, it has the advantage of being based on an event that is both observable and registered (ucbasaran, et al., 2013). more precisely, in the french context, the idea of bankruptcy is taken here to mean “winding up of a business by decision of the court” and thus corresponds to cases where the company has definitively ceased trading. this idea of bankruptcy is important because it is in itself a factor of stigmatization. nevertheless, its consequences for the stigmatized entrepreneur depend on how the other stakeholders—beginning with bankers—perceive and interpret the stigma. one of the major contributions of this article is thus to re-evaluate stigmatization as an interpretative process. our methodology began with seven interviews with experienced banking professionals, all of whom had worked as small-business advisors (sbas). we then carried out an experimental study on 41 sbas . this 1 study is exploratory inasmuch as the main results consist of qualitative data, despite the fact that subjects completed a questionnaire for descriptive purposes before their interviews. the participants were divided into two sub-groups and presented with an identical project involving the purchase of an existing business. they were then asked to give an oral presentation during which they would state their decision. in the scenario given to one of the two groups, the prospect had previously suffered a � 306 1. the sba manages a portfolio of 100 to 200 small or very small companies whose turnover does not generally exceed €4 million. the sba is the main entry point for the great majority of applications for financing the creation or purchase of companies post-bankruptcy stigmatization stigmatization of entrepreneurs and bankers’ decisions to finance m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 305-329 business failure. on this basis, the coding method recommended by gioia, corley & hamilton (2013) enabled us to draw up a model for the decision made by an sba when faced with an application by a pbe. the fact that the work described in this article uses an analysis at the “micro” level, based on the social interactions between the pbe and the sba, enables us to better understand the banker’s decision-making process when evaluating the pbe’s request for finance. we show that stigmatization, as a process, is included at different levels by stakeholders who control financial resources. the banker’s decision-making process is studied in three distinct phases (categorization, unframing/reframing, and decision), which may (or may not) lead to discrimination against the pbe. more precisely, our model shows that the first stage of the banker’s decision-making process is categorization of the pbe, meaning that the latter’s sociocultural environment plays a very important role. an important contribution of this study is to highlight the fact that discrimination is neither automatic nor linear. in fact, post-bankruptcy stigma may be attenuated or reinforced by the banker’s interpretation process, which provides a certain latitude in decision-making, even if the final decision is strongly constrained by the bank’s delegation system and, more generally, its control framework. finally, it would appear that the discrimination process is not as manichean as suggested by studies that examine the situation from the pbe’s viewpoint. after a conceptual clarification (section 1), we present the characteristics of the methodology (section 2). the results of the analysis of the questionnaires and interviews (section 3) are then discussed in order to underline the main contributions of this research (section 4). literature review b a n k r u p t c y, a c a u s e o f s t i g m at i z at i o n f o r t h e entrepreneur for crocker, major & steele (1998: 505), stigmatization refers to “attributes or characteristics that confer degraded social identity in a particular context.” more recently, singh, et al. (2015: 151) define it as “a mark of disgrace or infamy, tarnishing an individual’s reputation,” while simmons, et al., (2014) consider that three conditions must be satisfied for the term “stigmatization” to be used in the particular case of pbes. first, entrepreneurial failure must be culturally perceived as behavior outside social norms (cardon, et al., 2011; shepherd & haynie, 2011; simmons, et al., 2014). in this case, stakeholders consider pbes to be guilty and incompetent individuals (efrat, 2006; shepherd & haynie, 2011; sutton & callahan, 1987). several studies have established that the stigma linked to entrepreneurial failure varies from one national culture to another (lee, et al., 2007; simmons, et al., 2014; singh, et al., 2015). in particular, the usa is reputed to be more open toward failure than european countries, thus favoring access to capital and the recreation of an enterprise after a failure (cardon, et al., 2011; cope, 2011; frankish, roberts, coad, spearsz & storey, 2012; heinze, 2013; singh, et al., 2015; yamakawa, peng & deeds, 2015). in the american mindset, failure is seen as part of the learning process (cave, et al., 2001) and pbes are seen as more “bankable” (yamakawa, et al., 2015: 209). more generally, lee, et al. (2007) underline the fact that tolerance of failure is greater in countries whose national culture involves a higher appetite for risk, which is not the case in france, for example. � 307 m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 305-329 julien cusin & vincent maymo according to simmons, et al. (2014), the term “post-bankruptcy stigmatization” can be used if the pbe accepts victim status. in so doing, the pbe internalizes the general opinion that entrepreneurial failure is illegitimate and becomes isolated from the dominant group. the pbe may in particular decide to stop any entrepreneurial activity in the hope of eliminating stigma. finally, according to simmons, et al. (2014), in order to apply the term “stigmatization,” the failure must be detectable via formal or informal institutions that can communicate the information to stakeholders. in particular, it would appear that regulatory environments can render previous failures visible—as is the case, for example, with banque de france ratings . in practice, an equilibrium operates in each country 2 between, on one hand, protecting stakeholders from entrepreneurs (“riskmakers”) who may be likely to cause them prejudice (e.g., helping a banker with the process of selecting legitimate clients) and, on the other hand, inciting individuals to go into business again (simmons, et al., 2014). in our opinion, the fact that the banque de france’s 040 indicator was abrogated in september 2013 while the 050 and 060 indicators were left in place 3 may be understood from this point of view. the consequences of post-bankruptcy stigmatization according to devers, et al. (2009), once a stigma has appeared at the level of the individual, it is rare and difficult to get it to disappear. nevertheless, even if stigmatization is persistent, no-one is a complete prisoner of this socially disadvantageous position (link & phelan, 2001). moreover, not all those who belong to the same stigmatized category suffer the situation in exactly the same manner. for instance, stigmatized individuals are not necessarily passive victims and may resist their stigma. from this point of view, bankruptcy should not necessarily be seen as an “indelible mark” (cave, et al., 2001), condemning the entrepreneur to social exclusion once and for all. the ideas discussed above suggest that stakeholders might be led to change their view of pbes. but up to now, the literature has implicitly considered stakeholders’ mental maps to be particularly rigid. the hypothesis of the stigma being reversible seems all the more promising to us given that recent work by singh, et al. (2015) provides a dynamic reading of stigmatization. these authors show that an entrepreneurial failure originally experienced by the pbe as a mark of disgrace may finally be perceived to be something positive. the question must then be asked as to whether the stakeholders can also change their attitudes and transform an initial negative preconception of a pbe (linked to the sociocultural environment) into a judgment that is finally positive. the issues related to such a question are crucial. in reality, the stigmatized individual may be the victim of negative discrimination and the pbe may find it difficult to imagine being offered a “second chance” (singh, et al., 2015: 150), because the majority of stakeholders consider a failure to be a black mark on an entrepreneur’s record. in particular, it will be difficult for the pbe to acquire the necessary financial resources to launch into the creation of a new enterprise (cardon, et al., 2011; cope, 2011; lee, et al., 2007; shepherd & haynie, 2011; simmons, et al., 2014; singh, et al., 2015; sutton & callahan, 1987; ucbasaran, et al., 2013). nevertheless, link & phelan (2001) criticize the simplistic view whereby � 308 2. the banque de france rating is an appreciation by the banque de france of a company’s ability to honour its financial engagements over a threeyear time period (www.fiben.fr). 3. the 040 indicator identified company directors who had been associated with a single voluntary liquidation over the past three years. the 050 and 060 indicators signal the presence of a minimum of (respectively) two or three compulsory liquidations over the past five years. http://www.fiben.fr http://www.fiben.fr post-bankruptcy stigmatization stigmatization of entrepreneurs and bankers’ decisions to finance m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 305-329 the stigmatization of individual a by individual b will automatically lead individual b to adopt discriminatory behavior toward individual a (e.g., by refusing a loan to a pbe). although the authors note that such a direct process certainly is regularly seen in our society, they underline the fact that it would be interesting to undertake research separating the attitude from the behavior. in practice, the severity of the evaluation of pbes may thus vary to a certain degree (shepherd & patzelt, 2015). it is true that, in order for a stigma to emerge in relation to a given category of individuals—such as pbes, for example—there must be a critical mass of stakeholders who share the same beliefs about them (devers, et al., 2009; roulet, 2015) . 4 nevertheless, this argument implicitly brings out the fact that discordant voices may exist in society—i.e., people who are inclined to view pbes differently. incredibly, the literature is silent in the matter of heterogeneity in stakeholders’ attitudes to pbes (shepherd & patzelt, 2015). generally speaking, we still know very little at the individual level about the mechanisms underlying the process of stigmatization observed at the scale of society as a whole, particularly when this involves adopting the perspective of stakeholders who are supposed to stigmatize pbes. in this article, we have thus chosen to concentrate on the case of bankers, who control resources that pbes need in order to start new enterprises and who are often perceived in an unequivocal manner (tendency to ostracize, non-cooperation, lack of understanding of difficulties, looking at the situation from an entirely accounting viewpoint, etc.) (singh, et al., 2015). although there are studies into the link between bankruptcy and access to financial resources (berkowitz & white 2004; cope, et al. 2004; dickerson 2004), to date there is no article focusing on the perception and the impact of entrepreneurial failure from the point of view of bankers. perception and interpretation of post-bankruptcy stigma by the banker according to tversky & kahneman (1974), decision-makers rarely use extensive resolution processes to deal with the information available to them, because such processes are costly in cognitive terms (e.g., time, mental energy, etc.). most often, their behavior is determined by heuristic approaches. for example, individuals develop social categories and associate them with stereotyped beliefs in order to analyze their environment, then use this analysis to determine the most appropriate behavior as quickly as possible (devers, et al., 2009; link & phelan, 2001; roulet, 2015). however, an individual’s judgment should not be dissociated from the decision-making context (kahneman & tversky, 1979). for example, according to tversky & kahneman (1981), formulating the same problem in different ways can lead to different preferences and decisions. in the same way, according to wiesenfeld, wurthmann & hambrick (2008), each profession can have its own norms, given that individuals will be influenced by how they anticipate the ways of thinking (potentially biased) of those to whom they are accountable, in order to conserve the confidence that the latter have in them. this point would appear to be essential in the banking context, where the system of delegation is closely supervised (trönnberg & hemlin, 2014). moreover, the literature highlights the fact that stigmas may be transferred from one individual to another (goffman, 1963; kulik, bainbridge & cregan, 2008)—for example, from the pbe to the banker— � 309 4. these two pieces of research, although focusing on stigma at the organisational level, develop the argument relating to critical mass on an individual basis. m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 305-329 julien cusin & vincent maymo which is likely to bias the business relationship with the individual who bears the stigma. beyond the initial impression based on social categories (ashforth & humphrey, 1997; fiske & neuberg, 1990; link & phelan, 2001), a decision-maker—if there is the time and sufficient information—might well be motivated by the idea of seeking additional cues. these may confirm the initial categorization or, on the other hand, trigger the search for an alternative category or for a sub-category (ashforth & humphrey, 1997). research in social psychology has indeed revealed a certain latitude in cognitive processes (crocker, et al., 1998), which—it seems to us—has hitherto been insufficiently highlighted in post-bankruptcy stigmatization literature. ultimately, although the thesis according to which entrepreneurial failure allows the banker to make an initial categorization of the individual and awakens the banker’s vigilance appears to be a priori tenable, the question may be put as to whether other elements should not be taken into account, in a second phase, in order to understand the banker’s behavior toward a stigmatized pbe. in practical terms, banks base their decision on whether to finance a project by taking into account “soft,” informal information as a complement to “hard” information (stein, 2002). soft information often belongs to the advisor in the branch, because it is not easily observable, verifiable, or transmissible to others. hard information, on the other hand, is based on relatively objective criteria, such as financial ratios, rating agency scores, and guarantees. two models of financing stem from this distinction. the first is a relational model based on soft information, which relies on the quality and intensity of the relationship between advisor and client (behr, norden & noth, 2013), with decisions that may suffer from cognitive and affective bias (rodgers, 1991), due to the degree of delegation from which the advisor benefits. for example, the decision may be affected by a “good feeling,” i.e., intuition—as to the credibility of the borrower—based on emotion (lipshitz & shulimovitz, 2007). the second is a transactional model based on hard information, characteristic of big organizations, which may lead to loss of information, but limits the bias inherent in a significant degree of delegation (berger & udell, 2002). nevertheless, berger & udell (2006) consider that this division between “relationship lending” and “transaction lending” leads to oversimplification. they prefer to analyze a bank’s commitment to lend as a combination of techniques, including the collection of information, scoring, contractualization, checks, and decision-making procedures. these commitment technologies require the intervention of several stakeholders in the financing process. although banking organizations’ decision-making processes are highly formalized nowadays, the degree of discretion available to the advisor remains significant (puri, rocholl & steffen, 2011), given that the latter is generally more at ease in taking decisions when these can be based on hard rather than soft information (trönnberg & hemlin, 2014). consequently, it would appear to be essential to understand how bankers, as stakeholders having decision-making power over financial resources, include post-bankruptcy stigma in their decision-making process. � 310 post-bankruptcy stigmatization stigmatization of entrepreneurs and bankers’ decisions to finance m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 305-329 methodology context of the study echoing simmons, et al. (2014), we are interested here in the behavior of bankers in one particular country, france, where entrepreneurial failure is highly visible (thanks to the banque de france rating) and perceived as socially demeaning (ipsos, 2013: 7). today, decision-making processes are more or less homogenous from one bank to another. the first step involves the collection and analysis of information by the advisor, who makes a decision on the basis of commitment technologies, such as scoring and an initial client interview (berger & udell, 2006). depending on the bank’s delegation system and the type of project presented, the decision may or may not be delegated. if it is not delegated, the advisor’s decision will either be to pursue the application, recommending it to the hierarchy (branch director, then local director, then regional director, and then the loans committee), or, on the contrary, not to pursue it. the contents of the application will be judged by the delegation hierarchy, while the risk will be evaluated by a loan commitment department. applications for financing from pbes are not generally delegated to sbas and thus involve other stakeholders, further removed from the client–advisor relationship. the amount of room for maneuver given to the sba is defined at the organizational level by the bank’s risk policy, which is in turn limited by a restrictive institutional framework. data collection and analysis in order to answer our research question, we have used qualitative data, although quantitative data were also collected. this is of considerable interest, because there is a persistent lack of qualitative information, both in research into entrepreneurship (blackburn & kovalainen, 2009) and in the literature on stigmatization, although there are notable exceptions (roulet, 2015; singh, et al., 2015). the qualitative approach proves to be very rich in helping us to understand the detailed mechanisms and processes at work at the individual and interpersonal levels in which we are interested here (richards, 2009; singh, et al., 2015). phase 1: semi-directive interviews we first carried out seven semi-directive interviews, each lasting an hour on average, with experienced banking professionals who had all been sbas in different establishments representative of the french banking industry (bnp paribas, bpce, crédit agricole, cic, lcl, etc.). these individuals still work in banking and are in contact with sbas, but have higher levels of responsibility (e.g., branch director). the interviews were divided into two parts. for approximately 45 minutes, the ex-sba answered questions in three main categories (representation and behavior of the sba toward the pbe, stigmatization of the pbe and abrogation of indicator 040, and ethics in relation to financing pbes). we systematically asked the interviewees to think as they did when they were sbas. next, for approximately 15 minutes, the ex-sbas were asked to react to a scenario that we had drawn up in order to carry out an exploratory experiment (see below) and which had been sent to them by e-mail before the interview. these exchanges with hardened professionals led us to considerably rethink our initial text. originally, the failure was not significant enough, the amount requested by the entrepreneur was too low, the investment was � 311 m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 305-329 julien cusin & vincent maymo only for intangible items, the new company had already been started, the relationship between the client and the bank was already established, the jobs that the employees to be financed would carry out was not specified, and there was no self-financing capacity. phase 2: exploratory experiment we then carried out an experiment involving 41 sbas, a method that is regularly used for analyzing decisions in economic and management science (bursztyn, ederer, ferman & yuchtman, 2014; grosse, putterman & rockenbach, 2011; schwager & rothermund, 2013; shanteau, 1989). this approach, although it is exploratory in our case, would appear to be particularly logical in order to evaluate the impact of an entrepreneurial failure on a banker’s decision on whether or not to recommend a loan. in fact, it recreates a concrete decision-making situation for the banker. from this point of view, we differentiate ourselves from the existing literature by giving a more “human” face to the business relationship between pbes and controllers of resources, generally considered in a very “macro” fashion. we divided our population into two sub-groups, comparable in terms of age, level of educational attainment, professional experience, and gender. depending on the alphabetical order of their surname, individuals alternately received scenario 1 (n1 = 21 people) or scenario 2 (n2 = 20 people), which is equivalent to a random draw. in both cases, the sba had to deal with a 40-year-old individual who wished to finance the purchase of an existing company. we imagined the case of an entrepreneur who had previously been in charge of a small company, and who today wished to buy a very small company. in our opinion, studying the stigmatization of the pbe made all the more sense because, in the minds of stigmatizing actors (roulet, 2015), the failure of the company is closely associated with the entrepreneur. in fact, this association would appear to be valid above all for very small companies where, a priori, the personal intuition of the individual granting the loan is highly significant. the texts were just under three pages long and were identical for all the participants except that, in scenario 1 (see annex 1), the prospect had experienced an entrepreneurial failure in the past . echoing charness, 5 gneezy & kuhn (2012), we opted for a between-subject design, because we did not want the experimental subjects to know—by identifying the difference between the two scenarios—that our study was investigating the influence of entrepreneurial failure on their decision as an sba. we believe that a within-subject design could have generated bias related to social desirability among our subjects. the participants in the experiment had one hour to prepare a fictitious presentation for their branch director in order to justify their decision on whether or not to finance the project. the subjects also had to answer a questionnaire, whose sole purpose was to reveal the initial trends about the overall way in which the sbas react to an entrepreneurial failure (one yes/no question to know whether they would agree to finance the project, 22 closed questions with a seven-point scale on themes similar to those discussed during the semi-directive interviews, and six open questions whose responses were coded in preparation for quantitative treatment). the 41 sbas were then received individually for about 20 minutes by one or other of the two authors (presentation, questions/ responses, and debriefing about the questionnaire). � 312 5. so that the individual’s age (40) would be realistic in both cases, it was specified that this person had seven years’ experience as an entrepreneur in scenario 1 (with failure) and 15 years in scenario 2 (without failure). post-bankruptcy stigmatization stigmatization of entrepreneurs and bankers’ decisions to finance m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 305-329 given the small number of subjects and the fact that the questionnaire is purely descriptive, we limited ourselves to simple statistics (mean and standard deviation), carrying out a non-parametric mann–whitney test in order to compare our two small, independent samples (see table 1) for 6 the following four cases: scenario 1 versus scenario 2; scenario 1 (acceptance) versus scenario 2; scenario 1 (refusal) versus scenario 2; and scenario 1 (acceptance) versus scenario 1 (refusal). in both scenarios, the majority of the sbas agreed to finance the project. nevertheless, the pbe suffered different treatments. in fact, 95% of the subjects were willing to support the application when there was no failure (a single refusal), whereas only 62% were willing to support it in the case of failure (eight refusals) (q1). moreover, the sbas had a much more positive preconception of the entrepreneur when the latter had not experienced failure in the past (q20). similarly, 85.7% of the respondents in group 1 cited the failure as being a weak point of the application (61.9% identified it as being the weakest point). in addition, the sbas who rejected the application in the scenario with failure considered that they lacked information (with 38% of the respondents in group 1 saying that they would like to have known more about the reasons for the failure). we also observed a difference in the evaluation of the situation by sbas dealing with a pbe (scenario 1), particularly in terms of constraints from the hierarchy, perceived as being greater in the case where the application is accepted (q12). the debriefings showed that this result is linked to the fact that an sba may, on an individual basis, have a favorable opinion about an application, all the time knowing that it will not necessarily be supported by superiors. what is more, the sbas underlined the fact that their decision would not necessarily be the same with more experience (q25). as our respondents suggested, if more senior bank employees had already refused several similar cases in the past, sbas could end up becoming frustrated and so preferring to save time by refusing an application that they themselves believe in, but that they know will not receive support further up the hierarchy. finally, the sbas underlined the fact that not all of their peers would necessarily take the decision to accept an application with past failure (q26). in the open questions, our respondents justified this fact in terms of the differing appetite for risk of individual sbas, given that, in their eyes, they expose their bank to greater risk by accepting such an application than by refusing it, even though it represents a business opportunity for the establishment (q23). � 313 6. the bilateral test was carried out with a significance of 5%. the shaded squares in table 1 correspond to statistically significant results. m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 305-329 julien cusin & vincent maymo � 314 post-bankruptcy stigmatization stigmatization of entrepreneurs and bankers’ decisions to finance m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 305-329 phase 3: application of gioia, et al. (2013)’s approach in the third phase, the 48 interviews from phases 1 and 2 were transcribed to form a corpus totaling 86,883 words. in order not to lose any information, we carried out thematic coding of this empirical material using the approach recommended by gioia, et al. (2013), a widely-used methodology to understand entrepreneurship in context (mckeever, jack & anderson, 2015). annex 2 shows how we went from 25 first-order codes to nine second-order themes, then to three aggregated second-order dimensions. last, all the second-order categories were brought together in the final model of this research (see figure 1). in accordance with the gioia methodology, the first-order coding was initially inductive. our 25 items thus all emerged from field observations. the increase in the level of abstraction, specific to gioia, et al. (2013)’s approach, then took place through several iterations between theory and field results, using an abductive logic (roulet, 2015; vaara & monin, 2010). by way of illustration, referring back to the literature enabled us to bring out second-order concepts such as national culture (cardon, et al., 2011), categorization (link & phelan, 2001) and experience (yamakawa, et al., 2015). in other cases, comparison of our empirical data with existing work on postbankruptcy stigmatization highlighted the fact that, on the contrary, certain aspects have not yet been studied in the literature; our work thus constitutes a veritable theoretical contribution. the notion of a control framework is one example; another is decision-making latitude, which relates better to our field observations than does the concept of cognitive latitude (crocker, et al., 1998). our matrix thus combines dimensions from our theoretical framework with new ones. once the analytical framework had been constructed on the basis of three dimensions (categorization, decisionmaking latitude, and control framework), we went on to carry out systematic coding, using microsoft word, of all the data we had collected (creation of a 30,050-word file, structured according to our matrix). � 315 m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 305-329 julien cusin & vincent maymo figure 1: decision of sba faced with entrepreneurial failure empirical results categorization 7 the sociocultural vision of entrepreneurial failure was strongly present in the responses given by the sbas whom we interviewed. by way of illustration, they generally considered the fact of being recorded in the banque de france files (see above) as a reflection of french cultural perception. according to this point of view, the “company directors’ rating” is often seen as “a sort of a label on the entrepreneur’s forehead,” leading to “stigmatization” of the pbe by society as a whole. in other words, according to our respondents, pbes are generally “badly perceived” in france and consider that a financier will rarely offer them a “second chance”—unlike the situation in the usa, for example, where failure is considered, they say, to be a “positive element.” for sbas, it is clear that post-bankruptcy stigma varies according to culture, and in particular according to the country’s attitude to risk. the bankers we interviewed largely shared the cultural traits and the heuristic approach that they associate spontaneously with france. when we asked for their opinion, the sbas did admit to having “a negative preconception” of pbes. in their eyes, a pbe is an “unfavorable element,” a “detrimental element,” a “weak point,” or a “sensitive point” in the � 316 7. annex 2 shows the verbatim accounts that support our arguments. the statements quoted below in italics are also taken directly from our respondents. post-bankruptcy stigmatization stigmatization of entrepreneurs and bankers’ decisions to finance m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 305-329 application. the fact of considering past entrepreneurial failure as a “black mark” in an application for financing underlines the fact that, in the banker’s mind, the pbe is in a separate social category. this betrays the presence of stereotyped beliefs about pbes. this representation finally suggests that entrepreneurial failure is outside the sba’s social norm, and so that the pbe is seen as having a tarnished reputation. some of the bankers interviewed thus considered that liquidation indicates a lack of competence in entrepreneurs, who have not managed to “prove themselves” as managers when faced with difficulties. the sbas thus often have a “negative representation” of failure and, a priori, do not wish to support applications for the creation of new companies, for fear of seeing history repeating itself. “it’s not appealing!” was how one of them summed up the pbe’s disgrace. a few sbas did note, however, that a pbe has “experience that cannot be ignored.” the pbe is not only a first-time entrepreneur, but may also have learned from the unfortunate experience, and so should “not make [the same] mistakes” and should “anticipate things better,” thus facilitating the obtaining of support from the sba. here, the key element in the banker’s eyes is that the entrepreneur should have “analyzed the causes of failure.” it should be noted, however, that the argument of a failure being positive for the pbe—who would thus be more “bankable”— was put forward by hardly any of our respondents. the idea that failure is a potential source of learning for the entrepreneur was mentioned only in a very isolated manner by the sbas interviewed. control framework sbas are strongly influenced by the decision-making context in which they work. beyond the fact that banks are very formalized organizations, standards are ubiquitous in the profession. the conditions under which banking finance is exercised are controlled by a series of prudential regulations at international (the basel accords), european (the capital requirements directive iv), and national levels (the decree of 3 november 2014 on internal verification). these constraints form the basis of a process aimed at standardizing decision-making in the banking industry. this external controlling environment limits the internal environment, be it the bank’s risk policy or the implementation of that policy in decision-making processes and delegation structures. embedded in this regulatory and procedural pyramid, the sbas interviewed said that “you have to take the right risks.” for example, the requirement in the basel accords that a bank should have the funds available to cover any risks has a direct consequence on local decisions and the “quality” of the applications that are accepted. in fact, this regulatory pyramid acts as a filter on decision-making, restricting the selection of applications, be it through internal procedures or because “the application has been sent to the back office.” the sba who has received a loan request from an entrepreneur must evaluate the risks that the application could represent for the bank. in accordance with the transactional model, the sba automatically “interrogates” infogreffe [the french equivalent of companies house in the uk, or edgar database in the usa], as well as the fiben database, in order to obtain the banque de france rating and the company directors’ rating. this hard, unbiased, and easily accessible information acts as an initial, rational filter on access to finance for entrepreneurial projects. a previous company liquidation leaves “traces” in the files, despite the decision taken in september 2013 to do away with the 040 indicator. in � 317 m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 305-329 julien cusin & vincent maymo practice, the banker can easily reconstitute the interlocutor’s history from the accessible information, making post-bankruptcy stigma extremely visible to the banker. although all ex-040 applicants are not automatically eliminated, they are systematically identified as risky cases of whom one has to be “wary.” in such cases, the term used is “deterioration of managerial quality.” this justifies the fact that the decision will be taken outside the delegated responsibility of the sba or the branch director, except—in very limited circumstances—when the amount requested is very small. the banking industry is, in effect, characterized by strong control of the delegation system. in other words, a loan application from a pbe is more “complex,” because it must go before the risk committee and be the subject of a convincing justification. in such cases, the sba will have to “defend” the client/prospect and find good “arguments to erase the past” when trying to convince superiors. very often, the sba will come up against the next person up the hierarchy of delegation, who prefers not to take risks. this is the reason why, with experience, sbas may become discouraged and consider that it is pointless to give a favorable response to a request from a pbe. sbas may indeed risk “wasting time” on applications that they believe their delegating hierarchy or the loans commitment department are highly likely to reject. decision-making latitude instead of adopting a systematic position of discrimination against pbes, directly determined by the sociocultural and regulatory environment, certain bankers demonstrate latitude in their decision-making, exhibiting a certain degree of heterogeneity in their behavior, in particular by accepting that the pbe has the right to have made a mistake. in this respect, our interviews highlighted the fact that the sba’s discretionary capacity is important in the decision-making process. the initial client interview with the pbe (discovery interview) is one of the commitment technologies reserved to the sba. during this exchange with the entrepreneur, the banker collects as much information as possible in order to “dig out” the reasons for the past bankruptcy. thus, despite a downgraded rating (scoring and hard information), which has a negative influence on the banker, the attitude most often adopted by the sba is to “allow [the entrepreneur] the opportunity to explain.” by giving this second chance, the sba seeks complementary signals on which to base a judgment and thus not remain fixed on the initial negative impression linked to postbankruptcy stigma. the banker’s decision-making process must, in this case, be understood to be dynamic. more precisely, depending on the degree of latitude that the hierarchy allows, the sba switches from a transactional model to a relational model, even if this means introducing cognitive and emotional bias into the judgment. nevertheless, the banker is not easily fooled and knows that the interlocutor will seek not to appear responsible for the failure. in other words, the banker knows that the pbe will try hard to overcome the postbankruptcy stigma and will wish to make the best possible impression in the business relationship. through questioning, the sba thus seeks to discover whether the failure was due to “bad management” or to “external factors,” such as a bad economic situation or personal problems (soft information). in other words, the analysis of the sba’s cognitive mechanisms shows that there is an attempt to refine the evaluation of the pbe in order to establish sub-categories, reinforcing or attenuating the � 318 post-bankruptcy stigmatization stigmatization of entrepreneurs and bankers’ decisions to finance m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 305-329 post-bankruptcy stigma (depending on whether the failure is attributable to internal or external causes respectively). in any event, the sbas were unanimous in stressing that in the case of past management error by the pbe, the application will be judged to be particularly risky. bankers may consider in such a case that they are dealing with a “bad manager,” i.e., someone who does not have “the ability to manage a company.” in order to refine this judgment, the sba will also try to find out what the entrepreneur “has tried to do” in order to deal with the difficulties. if the pbe has taken “difficult decisions” and “fought” to try and avoid liquidation, this represents a positive signal for the banker. in the same way, sbas will look at the entrepreneur’s ability to pay off—or not— the debt after the failure. thus, a liquidation that ended under good conditions may be perceived as a “reassuring” signal for the banker. in that case, the post-bankruptcy stigma is no longer necessarily an indelible mark. be that as it may, the sba’s decision is not based solely on the conditions of the entrepreneurial failure viewed with hindsight. the interest, feasibility, and viability of the new project are also important. in fact, the banker needs to believe in the person and in the project before committing. moreover, the sba generally takes responsibility for the partially subjective dimension of the decision, which is unique to the relational model of commitment—unlike expert systems that base their decisions only on ratings, accounting information, ratios, and risk standards. the sba thus places a great deal of importance on soft information (e.g., when entrepreneurs talk about their failures, are they on the defensive, do they give the impression of having put it behind them, etc.?). discussion theoretical model figure 1 represents the main theoretical contribution of our research. the model identifies the fact that three distinct processes are at work when the banker has to take a decision on whether to finance an application from a pbe. first of all, the banker is influenced by the cultural environment (lee, et al., 2007; simmons, et al., 2014; singh, et al., 2015) and, behaving heuristically (tversky & kahneman, 1974), forms an initial negative impression of the pbe (framing). these stereotyped beliefs lead the sba to place the pbe a priori in a degraded social category (devers, et al., 2009; link & phelan, 2001; roulet, 2015; singh, et al., 2015). our results reveal that this post-bankruptcy stigma is invariable among the bankers (shepherd & patzelt, 2015). nevertheless, although bankers do consider failure as a factor leading to stigmatization, this evaluation is not necessarily definitive and immutable when the pbe refuses to accept that victim status and tries to start a new business (simmons, et al., 2014). we have in fact highlighted the fact that post-bankruptcy stigma does not automatically lead to discrimination (link & phelan, 2001)—i.e., to a refusal of finance (see section 4.1). the consequences of post-bankruptcy stigma are not determined socially, because the stigma may be attenuated by the banker’s cognitive filters (unframing), in cases where the pbe is not judged to be responsible for what happened (post-bankruptcy stigma being reinforced in the opposite case). there is thus a certain degree of variance in the consequences of post-bankruptcy stigma among bankers (shepherd & patzelt, 2015), because a cognitive re-evaluation of the pbe may follow the latter’s social devaluation. finally, through this logic of “making sense” � 319 m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 305-329 julien cusin & vincent maymo by the sba, we introduce a much more dynamic vision of post-bankruptcy stigma (singh, et al., 2015), whose intensity ultimately depends on the banker’s interpretation of the reasons for failure (see section 4.2). this cognitive latitude (crocker, et al., 1998) must nevertheless be placed in the banker’s decision-making context (wiesenfeld, et al., 2008). the supervision of the delegation system (trönnberg & hemlin, 2014), which is largely based on the regulatory environment, can introduce a form of rigidity into the decision-making process and reverse the favorable opinion given by the banker (reframing). what is more, the banker’s intimate knowledge of the expert system may lead to inclusion of this constraint in cognitive mechanisms from the start (wiesenfeld, et al., 2008). the banker must then arbitrate between own perception of the failure and of the way in which the system will consider that failure (see section 4.3). o u r t h e o r e t i c a l m o d e l t h u s r e p r e s e n t s p o s t b a n k r u p t c y stigmatization as a dynamic process developed through three distinct filters —categorization, decision-making latitude, and the control framework— that are likely to interact with one another. in this sense, post-bankruptcy stigmatization is an iterative process, since the pbe “label” can be “stuck on,” “unstuck,” or “stuck back on”—by turns—by the different “stakeholders” who intervene in the process: the sociocultural environment, the sba, and the control framework. the three sections that follow shed additional theoretical light on each of the three processes of our theoretical model. categorization of the pbe and discrimination in the access to resources our study confirms that the pbe really does bear a stigma (simmons, et al., 2014; singh, et al., 2015), so that bankers really do have a negative image of the pbe at the start. in line with the literature, we also establish the fact that the chances of a pbe obtaining finance for a new entrepreneurial project are reduced (cardon, et al., 2011; cope, 2011; lee, et al., 2007; shepherd & haynie, 2011; singh, et al., 2015; sutton & callahan, 1987; ucbasaran, et al., 2013). nevertheless, our article gives a nuance to the idea of discrimination against pbes in the access to resources. the sba has a negative preconception toward a pbe, but does remain open toward interesting entrepreneurial projects. by adopting the point of view of the banker, and no longer that of the pbe, we thus arrive at different conclusions relating to the decision on whether or not to finance entrepreneurial projects proposed by pbes. the question may indeed be asked as to whether the banker is not the victim of a form of categorization by the pbe, when reproached by the latter for never giving a second chance (singh, et al., 2015). after conducting this research, there is no doubt that postbankruptcy stigma exists. in this sense, entrepreneurial failure acts as an alert for the banker, to whom financing a pbe’s new project means an increased risk for the establishment. the manner in which the same application to buy an existing company is presented really does influence the banker’s preferences (tversky & kahneman, 1981). in fact, the failure is considered as a precedent that led to losses, which decreases the anticipated returns in the eyes of the sba (kahneman & tversky, 1979). this framing certainly translates into reduced access to banking resources for pbes, but not necessarily in the proportions that the literature would suggest. in highlighting the fact that the bankers’ approach is neither manichean nor dogmatic, given their different decision-making models, we � 320 post-bankruptcy stigmatization stigmatization of entrepreneurs and bankers’ decisions to finance m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 305-329 extend link & phelan (2001)’s work in which stigmatization does not necessarily lead to discrimination. the banker’s decision-making process proves to be more complex and rich than a simple heuristic approach (tversky & kahneman, 1974), which would consist of immediately rejecting any application made by an entrepreneur bearing post-bankruptcy stigma. post-bankruptcy stigmatization and the banker’s decision-making latitude up to now, the literature has indicated a great difference in the banker’s behavior depending on whether or not the particular entrepreneur has past involvement with bankruptcy. set against this traditional vision, we demonstrate here that the difference is observed above all between bankers confronted with pbes, who do not all react in the same way. although certain sbas base their decision uniquely on the initial negative impression of the pbe, we show that others will not take their decisions to finance a new entrepreneurial project solely on the basis of a past bankruptcy, but will, on the contrary, seek complementary signals (ashforth & humphrey, 1997). because of the banque de france rating, failure is a visible stigma (ragins, 2008) that the pbe cannot hide from an advisor. on the other hand, the reasons behind this unfortunate event are much more ambiguous (march & olsen, 1975)—even more so because the pbe seeks to make the best possible impression (shepherd & haynie, 2011)—and may possibly be the subject of complementary investigations. while interacting with the pbe, the banker will thus try to discover information that the pbe wants to hide (e.g., has the debt been paid off, what are the real reasons for the failure, what did the entrepreneur do to try to save the company, etc.?). this phase of getting to know the entrepreneur and the reasons for failure may, in fact, be compared to banking commitment technology (berger & udell, 2006). as well as analyzing accounting documents, the banker uses a resolutely qualitative approach to justify the decision, basing this on the interview with the pbe. in other words, the sba uses questioning to reduce the information asymmetry (sapienza & de clercq, 2000) concerning the failure. finally, our study underlines the complementarity of the transactional and relational approaches, and confirms the hypothesis put forward by berger & udell (2006) concerning the incongruity of a clear demarcation in the use of these approaches by the banks. while interacting with the pbe, the banker in fact seeks to refine the initial social categorization by identifying sub-categories of pbes (ashforth & humphrey, 1997). not all bankers thus remain fixed on their first impression: on the contrary, some try to interpret the stigma (unframing). in other words, they try to make sense of the failure in order to arrive at a more precise evaluation of the credibility of the pbe (lipshitz & shulimovitz, 2007). in this respect, we establish that there are, in the mind of the banker, two categories of pbe, depending on whether the failure can be explained by internal or external causes. this result constitutes a real theoretical contribution of our article and can certainly help to explain the defensive strategies adopted by pbes in managing the impression they give, with the aim of restoring or protecting the image that the sba has of them (shepherd & haynie, 2011; tedeschi & melburg, 1984). up to now, it was assumed that society considered all pbes in a global, uniform way (shepherd & patzelt, 2015), whatever the nature of the failure that they had suffered. in this article we have shown that, for certain sbas, the reasons for the failure are more important than the failure itself. � 321 m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 305-329 julien cusin & vincent maymo in other words, in their eyes, the hard information (failure) is insufficient as the basis for a decision to commit the bank’s funds and must be completed by soft information (the reasons for the failure). on this point, our results endorse trönnberg & hemlin (2014)’s conclusions, which show that it is more difficult to take decisions when advisors use soft information. we can, therefore, interpret the decision taken by certain sbas to refuse applications involving failure as a desire on their part not to expose themselves to the possibility of error or to a difficult or compromising decision in the eyes of their superiors, an important element highlighted by trönnberg & hemlin (2014), as well as by wiesenfeld, et al. (2008). in any event, the sba perceives a past management error—as opposed to unfavorable external circumstances (e.g., a bad economic situation)—as a sign of incompetence on the part of the pbe. on the other hand, a failure justified by external factors is, in the eyes of the sba, more acceptable. as a consequence, the sba distinguishes clearly between, on one hand, the pbe who is responsible for the situation (whose application will not be supported) and, on the other, the pbe who was a victim of external causes (whose application for finance may be supported). finally, our results oppose the very “macro” view of a critical mass of stakeholders—bankers in this case—judging un individual practically in unison (devers, et al., 2009), by introducing a reading based on the heterogeneity of viewpoints, extending the work of shepherd & patzelt (2015). more precisely, although sbas may initially converge in their negative representation of a pbe, it would appear that in the end they do not necessarily place all such entrepreneurs in the same sub-category. this indicates a certain degree of latitude in bankers’ cognitive processes (crocker, et al., 1998), linked to their degree of risk aversion, which varies widely from one sba to another. by analyzing the situation on the basis of the relationship concerning financing and the interaction between the sba and the pbe, we have been able to refine the reading of post-bankruptcy stigmatization and distinguish between bankers’ initial categorization and their potential discrimination, considered here as a simple possible outcome of the decision-making process. by using the point of view of the sba, this research studies the question of the stigmatization of the pbe from the point of view of those who are likely to do so (stigmatizing actors). as a result, it sheds light on an element that until now has been looked at only from the point of view of the person supposed to be the victim (singh, et al. 2015). the disjunction between the initial phase of categorization and the final decision (via the interpretative process of the sba) then explains the potentially reversible character of the stigma, which constitutes one of the important contributions of this research. at the organizational level, devers, et al. (2009) noted that the reduction (or even the removal) of stigma (for example, through impression-management tactics) constitutes a fruitful direction for research, whereas studies to date have been interested in its emergence and formation. although on this point our study is situated at the scale of the individual, it directly echoes devers, et al.’s (2009) suggestion. it shows that stigma is not an indelible mark (cave, et al., 2001; singh, et al., 2015) and that the “trace” left by the bankruptcy can, on the contrary, be eliminated in the eyes of the sba. the sba is quite ready to trust a pbe, to the extent that the latter is not a prisoner of a degrading social category (link & phelan, 2001). thus, our research underlines the fact that is it important not only to take into account the time dimension of the postbankruptcy stigma, but also to dissociate attitude and behavior, as suggested by link & phelan (2001). it thus appears that the sba may have � 322 post-bankruptcy stigmatization stigmatization of entrepreneurs and bankers’ decisions to finance m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 305-329 an initially negative attitude (unfavorable mental predisposition) with respect to the failure and a behavior that is finally positive (decision in favor of financing) toward the entrepreneur. in other words, although the sba really might initially make a negative judgment of the pbe, this judgment is not necessarily definitive. post-bankruptcy stigmatization and the banker’s control framework the impression that the sba has of the application not only contributes to the decision on whether or not to finance the project: before that, it also conditions the decision on whether or not to pursue the pbe’s application by presenting it to the decision-makers. in this study, we highlight the importance of the decision-making context (wiesenfeld, et al., 2008) in the sba’s judgment. even though the sba may, on an individual basis, take a positive view of the whole application (despite the failure), there is no doubt that—generally speaking—the sba will have to justify the decision to superiors (trönnberg & hemlin, 2014). if the sba believes in the pbe and the project, there will be a need to defend the pbe, because the latter is clearly weakened in highly risk-averse delegation systems. it emerges that the sba can—on the basis of the interpretation of the failure—give a positive opinion but not be supported by superiors, systematically reducing the sba’s room for maneuver on this type of application (reframing). thus, advisors who might be ready to commit themselves individually say that they sometimes “censor” themselves because they think that their decision-making superiors are unfavorably disposed to post-failure applications. in particular, experience is likely to lead sbas, over time, to refuse applications that they believe in, in order to avoid finding themselves in conflict with their superiors. an advisor who supported a pbe, in spite of knowing that the bank was not in favor of giving second chances (singh, et al., 2015), would run the risk of being stigmatized if the entrepreneur failed again and caused the bank to lose money. kulik, et al. (2008) qualify this phenomenon as stigma by association. this decoupling between individual representations on one hand and the reading of the delegation system on the other is another important result of this research, in terms of explaining pbes’ difficulties in obtaining finance (simmons, et al., 2014). it also enables us to understand the limits of banks’ decision-making processes, both in the case of significant decentralization of decisions that would leave considerable room for a sba’s subjectivity, and in a highly-centralized hierarchical model where the refusal of an application would be motivated simply by the “pbe label”. as a complement to existing work on the organization of banks’ decision-making systems (berger & udell, 2002, 2006; stein, 2002), our study thus shows that the rigidity of an expert system in relation to postbankruptcy stigma may come up against the individual (subjective) beliefs of the banker. our research enables us, among other things, to underline the fact that soft information, on which the sba bases the decision, is difficult to communicate, so that the back-office departments, which take the final decision, will not have all the relevant information (berger & udell, 2002; stein, 2002). from this point of view, the delegating hierarchy will base its decision more on a preconception (linked to the stigma), whereas the sba has, as we have said, a decision-making mechanism that includes other parameters, such as information gleaned from getting to know the pbe. finally, coordination between the different participants in the process should be envisaged—when the decision is not decentralized—as a � 323 m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 305-329 julien cusin & vincent maymo commitment technology (berger & udell, 2002), at the same level as scoring or contractualization. conclusion this article asks the question: how are bankers influenced by postbankruptcy stigmatization in deciding whether or not to finance a new entrepreneurial project? in order to find an answer, we have chosen to look at the question through the eyes of sbas, using semi-directive interviews, as well as an exploratory experimental approach. after applying a simple statistical treatment, we used gioia, et al. (2013)’s coding methodology in order to produce a theoretical decision model for sbas in relation to entrepreneurial failure. this shows that sbas are clearly influenced by entrepreneurs’ past bankruptcy, which is perceived as signaling a risk. certain bankers will thus be inclined to limit pbes’ access to resources in the case of new entrepreneurial projects. nevertheless, we highlight the fact that discrimination by sbas is far from automatic. thus, other bankers demonstrate latitude in their decision-making with respect to postbankruptcy stigma and seek complementary signals—in other words, soft information—through their interactions with pbes. this means that if sbas are reassured by their interpretation of the failure (i.e., in cases where it does not call into question pbe competence), they can reverse their judgment and finally adopt behavior that is favorable to the pbes, even when their initial attitude was negative. however, even if sbas are open, on an individual basis, to the idea of supporting a pbe’s application, they can come up against the rigidity of the delegation system within their establishment. this research also has managerial significance, because it offers a different view of banking practices. in particular it sheds light on certain cognitive and organizational biases, which limit the quality of the banks’ commitment. although past failure is a signal that cannot be ignored by the sba, banks would a priori do well to review their representation of failure in order to better understand what justifies a rejection or encourages the decision to continue analyzing the application. in fact, the blocking checks installed by the banks do not seem to be adapted to the diversity of entrepreneurial situations. the results of this research also give a better understanding of how soft information is discovered and analyzed. this study does, however, have a few limitations. first, the small number of participants in the experiment excluded the option of a deeper quantitative study. our approach thus remains exploratory. as an extension to our approach, the next step would be to carry out a regression in order to evaluate the place of entrepreneurial failure in bankers’ decisions more precisely, alongside other variables such as the quality of the project presented and the decision-making context, for example. moreover, several participants underlined the small sum being requested in our scenario (€45,000). it is possible that this might have marginally biased our results (for example, by limiting the sentiment of risk being taken in the with-failure scenario). finally, although the fact of adopting the “micro” vision of the sba in order to study post-bankruptcy stigma is one of the original aspects of our article, it would appear that the tension observed between, on one hand, the beliefs of the sba and, on the other, the position of the banking hierarchy when faced with past failures, underlines the interest of further research at the “meso” level. this would involve studying the decision-making process of one bank through a detailed case study. � 324 post-bankruptcy stigmatization stigmatization of entrepreneurs and bankers’ decisions to finance m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 305-329 references ashforth, b. & humphrey, r. (1997). the ubiquity and potency of labeling in organizations. organization science, 8(1), 43-58. beck, t., behr, p. & madestam, a. (2014). sex and credit: is there a gender bias in lending? working paper series, n°24, cass business school, city university london, london. behr, p., norden, l. & noth, f. (2013). financial constraints of private firms and bank lending behavior. journal of banking & finance, 37(9), 3472-3485. berger, a. & udell, g. (2002). small business credit availability and relationship lending: the importance of bank organisational structure. economic journal, 112(477), 32-53. berger, a. & udell, g. (2006). a more complete conceptual framework for sme finance. journal of banking & finance, 30(11), 2945-2966. berkowitz, j. & white, m. (2004). bankruptcy and small firms’ access to credit. rand journal of economics, 35(1), 69-84. blackburn, r. & kovalainen, a. (2009). researching small firms and entrepreneurship: past, present and future. international journal of management reviews, 11(2), 127-148. bursztyn, l., ederer, f., ferman, b. & yuchtman, n. (2014). understanding mechanisms underlying peer effects: evidence from a field experiment on fi n a n c i a l d e c i s i o n s . e c o n o m e t r i c a , 8 2 ( 4 ) , 1273-1301. cardon, m., stevens, c. & potter, d. (2011). misfortunes or mistakes? cultural sensemaking of entrepreneurial failure. journal of business venturing, 26(1), 79-92. cave, f., eccles s. & rundle, m. (2001). an exploration of attitudes to entrepreneurial failure: a learning experience or an indelible stigma? proceedings of the 2001 babson college-kauffman foundation entrepreneurship research conference: jonkoping, sweden (may). charness, g., gneezy, u. & kuhn, m. (2012). experimental methods: between-subject and withinsubject design. journal of economic behavior & organization, 81(1), 1-8. cope, j. (2011). entrepreneurial learning from failure: an interpretative phenomenological analysis. journal of business venturing, 26(6), 604-623. cope, j., cave, f. & eccles, s. (2004). attitudes of venture capital investors towards entrepreneurs with previous business failure. venture capital, 6(2/3), 147-172. crocker, j., major, b. & steele, c. (1998). social stigma. in s. fiske, d. gilbert & g. lindzey (eds), handbook of social psychology (vol. 2) (pp. 504-553). mcgraw-hill: boston, ma. devers, c., dewett, t., mishina, y. & belsito, c. (2009). a general theory of organizational stigma. organization science, 20(1), 154-171. dickerson, a. (2004). bankruptcy and mortgage lending: the homeowner dilemma. the john marshall law review, 38(1), 19-59. efrat, r. (2006). the evolution of bankruptcy stigma. theoretical inquiries in law, 7(2), 364-393. fiske, s. & neuberg, s. (1990). a continuum of impression formation from category-based to individuating processes: influences of information and motivation on attention and interpretation. in m. zanna (ed.). advances in experimental social psychology (pp. 1-74). san diego: academic press. frankish, j., roberts, r., coad, a., spearsz, t. & storey, d. (2012). do entrepreneurs really learn? or do they just tell us that they do? industrial and corporate change, 22(1), 73-106. gioia, d., corley, k. & hamilton, a. (2013). seeking qualitative rigor in inductive research: notes on the gioia methodology. organizational research methods, 16(1), 15-31. goffman, e. (1963), stigma: notes on the management of spoiled identity, englewood cliffs, nj: prentice hall. grosse, s., putterman, l. & rockenbach, b. (2011). monitoring in teams: using laboratory experiments to study a theory of the firm. journal of the european economic association, 9(4), 785-816. heinze, i. (2013). entrepreneur sense-making of business failure. small enterprise research, 20(1), 21-39. ipsos (2013). how to spring back after a professional failure? december, 1-11. irwin, d. & scott, j. (2010). barriers faced by smes in raising bank finance. international journal of entrepreneurial behaviour & research, 16 (3), 245-259. kahneman, d. & tversky, a. (1979). prospect theory: an analysis of decision under risk. econometrica: journal of the econometric society, 47(2), 263-291. kulik, c., bainbridge, h. & cregan, c. (2008). known by the company we keep: stigma-by-association effects in the workplace. academy of management review, 33(1), 216-230. largay, j. & xiaodong, q. (2011). does gender influence the terms of small business loans? the academy of management perspectives, 25(1), 96-98. lee, s., peng, m. & barney, j. (2007). bankruptcy law and entrepreneurship development: a real options perspective. academy of management review, 32(1), 257-272. link, b. & phelan, j. (2001). conceptualizing stigma. annual review of sociology. 27(3), 363-85. lipshitz, r. & shulimovitz, n. (2007). intuition and emotion in bank loan officers' credit decisions. journal of cognitive engineering and decision making, 1(2), 212-233. march, j. & olsen, j. (1975). the uncertainty of the past: organizational learning under ambiguity. european journal of politic research, 3(2), 147-171. � 325 m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 305-329 julien cusin & vincent maymo mckeever, e., jack, s. & anderson, a. (2015). embedded entrepreneurship in the creative reconstruction of place. journal of business venturing, 30(1), 50-65. puri, m., rocholl, j. & steffen, s. (2011). rules versus discretion in bank lending decisions. unpublished working paper, duke university and esmt european school of management and technology, berlin. r a g i n s , b . ( 2 0 0 8 ) . d i s c l o s u r e d i s c o n n e c t s : antecedents and consequences of disclosing invisible stigmas across life domains. academy of management review, 33(1), 194-215. richards, l. (2009), handling qualitative data, thousand oaks, ca: sage. rodgers, w. (1991). how do loan officers make their decisions about credit risks? a study of parallel distributed processing. journal of economic psychology, 12 (2), 243-265. roulet, t. (2015). what good is wall street? institutional contradiction and the diffusion of the stigma over the finance industry. journal of business ethics, 130(2), 389-402. sapienza, h. & de clercq, d. (2000). venture c a p i t a l i s t e n t r e p r e n e u r r e l a t i o n s h i p s i n te c h n o l o g y b a s e d ve n t u r e s . e n t e r p r i s e & innovation management studies, 1(1), 57-71. schwager, s. & rothermund, k. (2013). motivation and affective processing biases in risky decision making: a counter-regulation account. journal of economic psychology, 38, 111-126. shanteau, j. (1989). cognitive heuristics and biases in behavioral auditing: review, comments and observations. accounting, organizations and society, 14(1-2), 165-177. shepherd, d. (2003). learning from business failure: propositions of grief recovery for the selfemployed. academy of management review, 28(2), 318-328. shepherd, d. & patzelt, h. (2015). harsh evaluations of entrepreneurs who fail: the role of sexual orientation, use of environmentally friendly technologies, and observers’ perspective taking. journal of management studies, 52(2), 253-284. shepherd, d. & haynie, m. (2011). venture failure, stigma, and impression management: a selfverification, self-determination view. strategic entrepreneurship journal, 5(2), 178-197. simmons, s., wiklund, j. & levie, j. (2014). stigma a n d b u s i n e s s f a i l u r e : i m p l i c a t i o n s f o r entrepreneurs’career choices. small business economics, 42(3), 485-505. singh, s., corner, p. & pavlovich, k. (2015). failed, not finished: a narrative approach to understanding venture failure stigmatization. journal of business venturing, 30(1), 150-166. stein, j.c. (2002). information production and capital allocation: decentralized vs. hierarchical firms. journal of finance, 57(5), 1891-1921. sutton, r. & callahan, a. (1987). the stigma of bankruptcy: spoiled organizational image and its management. academy of management journal, 30(3), 405-436. tedeschi, j. & melburg, v. (1984). impression management and influence in the organization. in s. bacharach & e. lawler (eds.). research in the sociology of organizations (pp. 31-58) (vol. 3). greenwich, ct: jai press. trönnberg, c. c. & hemlin, s. (2014). lending decision making in banks: a critical incident study of loan officers. european management journal, 32(2), 362-372. tversky, a. & kahneman, d. (1981). the framing of decisions and the psychology of choice. science, 211(4481), 453-458. tversky, a. & kahneman, d. (1974). judgment under uncertainty: heuristics and biases. science, new series, 185(4157), 1124-1131. ucbasaran, d., shepherd, d., lockett, a. & lyon, j. (2013). life a f t e r b u s i n e s s f a i l u r e : t h e p r o c e s s a n d c o n s e q u e n c e s o f b u s i n e s s f a i l u r e f o r entrepreneurs. journal of management, 39(1), 163-202. vaara, e. & monin, p. (2010). a recursive perspective on discursive legitimation and organizational action in mergers and acquisitions. organization science, 21(1), 3-22. wiesenfeld, b., wurthmann, k. & hambrick, d. (2008). the stigmatization and devaluation of elites associated with corporate failures: a process model. academy of management review, 33(1), 231-251. ya, w., escalante, c., gunter, l. & epperson, j. (2012). a decomposition approach to analysing racial and gender biases in farm service agency's lending decisions. applied economics, 44 (22), 2841-2850. yamakawa, y., peng, m. & deeds, d. (2015). rising from the ashes: cognitive determinants of venture g r o w t h a f t e r e n t r e p r e n e u r i a l f a i l u r e . entrepreneurship theory and practice, 39(2), 209-235. � 326 post-bankruptcy stigmatization stigmatization of entrepreneurs and bankers’ decisions to finance m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 305-329 annex 1: scenario with entrepreneurial failure you have just been recruited as a small business advisor at the banque de gironde, bordeaux-bastide branch. the branch has mr. andré durand among its private clients. he is coming to see you to discuss his possible purchase of sas garden, a company specializing in wooden maisonettes for private individuals. it is monday, march 2, 2015 and this will be the first time you have met. at the end of the one-hour interview, you have collected the following information: personal details mr. durand was born in 1975. in 2005, he and his wife bought a 70m² two-bedroomed flat in bordeaux worth €250,000. the loan for the property purchase, taken out from your bank in 2005, was fully reimbursed in february 2015. mr. durand has just got divorced, having previously been married under the regime giving shared ownership of goods acquired during the marriage only. he has two children aged five and ten. he does not have to pay any alimony to his wife. since his separation, in 2012, he has been renting a 45m² onebedroomed flat in the bordeaux metropolitan area (€450/month). an only son, he lives 70 kilometers from his parents, who are retired. mr. durand obtained his degree from a provincial business school. he has a personal account at your bank (he does not have an account with any other bank), of which the average credit balance over the last two years has been €500 (a single unauthorized overdraft of a few tens of euros over the period). he has no savings and no credit. professional details after spending seven years as an industrial production manager, then sales manager, in two major international groups in the wood industry, mr. durand found that being an employee no longer matched his career aspirations. in 2006, mr. durand bought a company working in sustainable construction on the outskirts of bordeaux. the company, which had been created five years before and employed 25 people, constructed woodenframed buildings (maritime pine) that were 100% environmentally friendly and well insulated, and had very low energy consumption. given that the company was in perfect economic health (net profit of €100,000 for each of the three previous years, and a turnover of €1 million), mr. durand borrowed €600,000 from the banks to finance his entrepreneurial project. he had to repay a priority debt of €100,000/year. unfortunately, the company was hit hard by the 2008 financial crisis and lost 40% of its turnover in a few months. because of his loan, the company could no longer balance its books. the next two years were nothing but a long agony for the entrepreneur, with a further 20% fall in turnover over the period. in 2010, mr. durand was obliged to file for bankruptcy. two years of receivership followed, during which mr. durand lost all the money that he had invested in the project. the company was finally liquidated at the end of 2014. mr. durand thus experienced the first failure of his career, his debt to the banks having been completely paid off. � 327 m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 305-329 julien cusin & vincent maymo mr. durand has come to see you today to obtain help in financing the purchase of the company sas garden, a project on which he has been working for several months. created in 2012, the company specializes in raw timber maisonettes for gardens. sub-contracted in france, the maisonettes for private individuals can be personalized and are very easy for clients to install themselves. mr. patrick dumas, the founder of the company, has negotiated payment after 60 days with his supplier for orders on demand, delivered directly to the client in one month. mr. dumas thus has no stock and has a mark-up of 50% on sales. it is an innovative concept in france and a promising market, although the activity is seasonal (most of the maisonettes are sold between march and september). in 2013, mr. dumas won the entrepreneurial initiative prize for the aquitaine region. the press coverage following this award has given the company a certain degree of visibility in the newspapers. having a product that is unique in france, the company has been growing quickly ever since its creation. with a potential market of several million euros, the company—which employs two people, including the director—had a turnover of €120,000 in 2013. this increased by 60% in 2014 with a profit equal to the operational cash flow of €10,000. this increase is totally consistent with the development of similar products in the usa. during the interview you learn that: mr. durand plans to pay himself €1,400 net per month, the same as mr. dumas. sas garden rents a 25m² office at €240/month on the outskirts of bordeaux, the director sharing this office with his sales assistant, who is paid €1,000 net per month . 8 next, you ask mr. durand about his development strategy. in fact, he wants to extend operations all over france from 2016. he also envisages inviting a new associate to invest in the company. he is also thinking about professional applications for the concept (e.g., camp sites, kiosks and stands, made-to-measure rooms, shelters, etc.). this new activity could eventually represent 25% of turnover. he has also thought about networking, and plans very soon to join the federation of workers in wood, which could open new doors to him, allowing him to find new clients. finally, mr. durand plans several short-term marketing operations: improving the aesthetics of the maisonettes in order to make them unique and recognizable; making a promotional video of the product, for future use on the company’s internet site and on social networks; putting publicity material on the company’s vehicle in order to promote its image. the garden company already has an account at your bank, with an average credit balance of €30,000 in 2014 and the remainder of a business start-up loan of €2,500 (related to the starting up of the company), to be repaid within two years. mr. durand has naturally turned to you to finance his operation. the purchase price for the company is €170,000. having received a gift of €125,000 from his parents, mr. durand is asking you for a loan of €45,000. � 328 8. just after the interview, you studied all the accounting information, which confirmed your first impressions about this application. post-bankruptcy stigmatization stigmatization of entrepreneurs and bankers’ decisions to finance m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 305-329 � 329 185yamieng saïd yami university of lille 1 lem cnrs 9221 & kedge business school, marseille said.yami@iae.univ-lille1.fr hervé chappert university of montpellier, mrm herve.chappert@umontpellier.fr anne mione university of montpellier, mrm anne.mione@umontpellier.fr strategic relational sequences: microsoft's coopetitive game in the ooxml standardization process saïd yami � hervé chappert � anne mione abstract. the research question dealt with in this article is the following: can a leader use coopetition as its market control strategy? the study addresses how microsoft managed relational modes in the situation of coopetition within the afnor technical committee to present the french position on its new standard ooxml draft. a dynamic perspective is considered. the results show that the leader can use coopetition as its market control strategy. they analyze the game of the leader along the standardization process that is characterized by a subtle management according to key sequences using relational modes (cooperation, competition and coopetition) that allow it to achieve its goals.  " between 2007 and 2008, national or supranational guidelines ask public organizations, and provide advice to private organizations to use only desktop software producing standardized documents1. the supremacy of the office software market leader microsoft is seriously threatened. indeed, the documents produced by its office software (including word for word processing and excel for spreadsheet) respond to no institutional standards. " naturally, microsoft has already perceived changes are going on this market and its competitors are trying to maneuver to lessen his grip on the office softwares with key clients: public organizations. but the response times are short, the context is unusual for the leader and strategic options are reduced. what may be the reaction of microsoft to protect its leadership in the area of desktop software before this new competitive rule of the game? " from a strategic point of view, three options are possible. the first option focuses on competition between a de facto standard and a de jure standard. microsoft maintains its de facto standard and engages a fight against the new de jure standard. in this option, microsoft continues to offer its documents without changing the format, and waits to see if its de facto standards (.doc et .xls)2, well established on the market, resist the rise of the institutional standard odf. it thus positions as a leader of the market who does not envisage that the disturbances of the competitive game can threaten its dominance. however, in doing so, microsoft takes the risk of losing its institutional customers and to encourage the emergence of competitors in the public markets. competitors could then address the market for consumers with aggressiveness and also threaten its supremacy in this sector. " in the second option, microsoft abandons competition between standards by adopting the de jure standard. he accepted the achievement of competition on the ground of its competitors. word and excel would then produce documents that conform to the standard (odf) and microsoft would continue to respond to public tenders and sell its products to large groups. but this solution, giving the credit to a standard derived of the work of its direct competitors propels them into the arena of competition with similar weapons. m@n@gement 2015, vol. 18(5): 330-356 330 1. de jure standard as enacted by an official certification body, as opposed to a de facto standard that emerges from the market. 2. office documents produced by word and excel extensions. mailto:herve.chappert@umontpellier.fr?subject= mailto:herve.chappert@umontpellier.fr?subject= mailto:herve.chappert@umontpellier.fr?subject= mailto:herve.chappert@umontpellier.fr?subject= mailto:anne.mione@umontpellier.fr%0danne.mione@umontpellier.fr%0danne.mione@umontpellier.fr?subject= mailto:anne.mione@umontpellier.fr%0danne.mione@umontpellier.fr%0danne.mione@umontpellier.fr?subject= mailto:anne.mione@umontpellier.fr%0danne.mione@umontpellier.fr%0danne.mione@umontpellier.fr?subject= mailto:said.yami@iae.univ-lille1.fr?subject= mailto:said.yami@iae.univ-lille1.fr?subject= mailto:herve.chappert@umontpellier.fr?subject= mailto:herve.chappert@umontpellier.fr?subject= mailto:anne.mione@umontpellier.fr%0danne.mione@umontpellier.fr%0danne.mione@umontpellier.fr?subject= mailto:anne.mione@umontpellier.fr%0danne.mione@umontpellier.fr%0danne.mione@umontpellier.fr?subject= " the third option is specific and combines two opposite forms, one, clearly competitive and the other cooperative: microsoft decides, in turn, to enter a process of standardization3 of desktop documents in order to recognize its ownership format as a de jure standard. insofar as an institutional standard already exists, this option is aggressive. at the same time, the promoter of the new standard must pass to gain membership of the participants in the standardization process that is inherently cooperative. thus, microsoft is obliged to cooperate in order to meet the rules of the game of the market disruption. this strategy, if it comes to an end, allows it not only to remain the major player on the market but also to be the source of one of the two de jure standards of the market and so to get a potential competitive advantage. " microsoft has chosen the latter option that led him to consider an unprecedented situation. indeed, he finds himself in a formal context (sdo) where cooperation with rivals is imposed. the question is then, how microsoft used to domination strategies (competition) is going to handle such a situation? " under literature studying standardization processes, several work lead to a reflection on relational patterns preferred by actors and their characterization. thus, oshri & weeber (2006) point out that both relational modes (competition and cooperation) can coexist at different stages of the development of a de facto or de jure standard. they show that at each stage of the development of a standard, actors have the choice between pure relational modes –cooperation or competition–, or different levels of hybrid mode. this approach has already been developed in numerous works (axelrod & mitchell, 1995; de laat, 1999) and underlines the interest to deepen the knowledge of relational modes (cooperation and competition as "pure mode" and coopetition as "hybrid mode") at the emergence of a formal standard. thus, empirical works show the variety of relational modes in the standardization process, from competitive aggressiveness (mione & leroy, 2013) to coopetition (mione, 2009) in the emergence of a new market. " on the basis of a neoinstitutional perspective, garud et al. (2002) study the establishment of a technology standard proposed by its designer –the standardization of java sponsored by sun microsystems–. it is interesting to see that the tensions detected by their study also correspond to the highlighting of hybrid relational modes during the standardization process. according to their analysis, standardization brings opportunities, but also constraints and it involves “coopetition”. competitors must cooperate to reach a consensus, and it may be difficult for the actors to reconcile their personal and collective interests. two properties –“structuring” and “coopetition”  – contribute to fueling a number of challenges the initiator of the standard. " overall, the imposition of a standard on its market is considered to be an important factor and generating competitive advantage (prahalad, 1998). garud et al. (2002) and oshri & weeber (2006) identify coopetition as a relational mode present in the development of institutional standards enacted by the sdo. however, strategies that are deployed through a cooperation between competitors (chiao et al., 2007), remain rarely studied (leiponen, 2008). inside these bodies, all very different (chiao et al., 2007), everything is set up to foster cooperation, while informally, fierce competition can be installed to align the choice of standards with the positions of market participants. knowledge of specific ods strategies deserves to be deepened (axelrod & mitchell, 1995 ; de laat, 1999). " by changing of literature, research on coopetition is concerned explicitly with ods. some authors tackle standards from the perspective of collective strategies (see for example demil & lecocq, 2006 ; mione, 2006; tellier 2006) but do not study them as individual strategic response to competitive disturbances. note at this stage that the analysis at a micro level of decision-making process leading to coopetition and their preconditions are still lacking in the literature m@n@gement, vol. 18(5): 330-356" saïd yami, hervé chappert & anne mione 331 3. the standardization process takes place in a standardization body (sdo). for example, in france the afnor is a sdo. (mariani, 2009). researchers focus on what companies are doing in coopetitive configurations rather than focus on how and why coopetition occurs. " the nature of coopetition is not at the centre of discussions while dealing with the management of coopetition which looks mainly to the way tensions are managed and how organizational actors take them into consideration. moreover, in most of the research, coopetition is viewed as the ultimate goal that is higher than pure relational strategies competition or cooperation-, insofar as the coopetitive behavior corresponds to the combination of the advantages of the one and the other strategy (lado et al., 1997; bengtsson & kock, 1999, 2000). " previous research on coopetition does not take into account the status of the actors involved in the relationship as such leaders. they are nor considering characteristics of the actors in the perimeter of strategic action, nor their intentions. thus, empirical research focuses mainly on dyads between mnf (e.g. the case of samsung and sony: gnyawali & park, 2011) or between smes (e.g. gnyawali & park, 2009), on firms’ projects (e.g. eads / thales: fernandez et al 2014) or networks (e.g. r&d networks: ritala & hummerlina, 2009). there is no research that attempted to characterize the coopetitive behavior of a leader in a market. " this observation leads us to pose the following research question: can a leader use coopetition as its market control strategy? the study addresses how microsoft managed relational modes in the coopetition situation within the afnor technical committee to present the french position on its proposed new standard ooxml. ! considering a dynamic perspective, the results show in particular that the leader can use coopetition as its market control strategy. the game of the leader along the standardization process is characterized by a subtle management according to key sequences using relational modes (cooperation, competition and coopetition) that allow it to achieve its goals. " in a first section, we develop the theoretical framework on the basis of our thinking, linking coopetition with the institutional standardization process. in the second section, we present the elements of methodology and their justification. the results of our analyses are the subject of the third section. finally, a fourth section proposes a concluding discussion that puts into perspective our results compared to coopetition approaches. coopetition and standardization process " among the theories of coopetition4, we mobilize the framework proposed by lado et al. (1997) which allows to address the issue of the actors’ status in a market and leaders’ strategies. the authors describe, without naming it explicitely, the situation of coopetition, through their syncretic model of rentseeking strategic behavior. in their model based on theoretical elements from game theory, the resource-based view, and networks theory, the authors propose to consider the combination of competitive and cooperative orientations in a rent-seeking objective. " thus, depending on the dominant orientation – competitive or cooperative5 –, lado et al. (1997) identify four configurations expressing strategic rent-seeking behaviors: monopoly, cooperative, competitive, and syncretic. in the monopoly rent-seeking behavior, a company chooses to not have neither confrontation nor cooperation relationship. rent-seeking is competitive or cooperative as competitive and mutually cooperative orientation is strong. " the syncretic behavior, characterized by strong competition simultaneously with strong cooperation, corresponds to a pure form of coopetition. this is the most efficient strategy since it represents a "dynamic balance (or syncretism) strategic relational sequences! m@n@gement, vol. 18(5): 330-356 332 4. in its original sense, coopetition is the relationship between a firm to its complementor in the value network (brandenburger et nalebuff, 1996). it is dyadic and paradoxical in the model of bengtsson et kock (1999 & 2000). 5. lado et al. (1997) explain this orientation in the following terms:“our conceptualization enables us to examine the dynamic interplay between competitive and cooperative phenomena. thus, we show the dimensions ranging from low to high, reflecting degrees of interdependence rather than the presence or absence of competition or cooperation” (p.118). between competitive and cooperative strategies" (p. 122) taking advantage of the benefits of each. the syncretic rent-seeking behavior "accentuates the effects positive-sum and increased efficiency of competition and cooperation" (p. 123). in this model, the existence of the two forms of relations is simultaneous. the syncretic behavior is the result of two contradictory directions. " for market technological standards competition is specific as it is fatal to the losers (shapiro & varian, 1999; brookey, 2007). the institutional standardization process consists in regulating this competition within the sdo. competitors decide to waive a standards war and prefer either organize the compatibility between the two concurrent technologies or cooperate to set a common standard (david & greenstein, 1990). " sdos are therefore an ideal context implementing this form of cooperation. their role is to create an environment allowing to gather, on a voluntary basis, the various stakeholders in the market –manufacturers, customers, users, institutions– and install the necessary formal conditions (information sharing, exchange of proposals, negotiation, vote and finally achieving a consensual common position) to ensure that joint work is carried out to produce a solution that will promote exchanges and will benefit the whole of the market. this institutional environment has specific features such as voting, majority rules, formal processes, collective action and public policy. this mechanism requires explicit communication and negotiation before irrevocable choices are taken –    what foray (1994) labels as “convergence6”– ; the standard issued is a de jure standard. " this institutional environment requires a certain level of cooperation. institutional standardization process requires consensus and not only a simple majority of vote rule that would encourage coalitions. the objective is to foster a genuine collective strategy that would allow individual interests carried out through a shared common interest (astley & fombrun, 1983). this paradigm is based on the development of collaborative benefits (contractor & lorange, 1988 ; dussauge, garrette & mitchell, 2000  ; hamel, doz & prahalad, 1989  ; kogut, 1989) which constitute a relevant way to manage interdependencies for mutual benefits (astley, 1984  ; borys & jemison, 1989  ; thorelli, 1986). firms choose this strategy to get profits greater than they would have obtained without cooperation or alliance. the philosophy of institutional standardization is, therefore, to satisfy the overall interest of the market, and competitors are supposed to cooperate in order to achieve a middle solution enabling minimum effort each of the competitors, each stepping to the other. " however, this situation is paradoxical. competitors must integrate conflicting objectives between their individual interest and a collective fate of the standard on which they work together (baumard, 2000). competitors may be tempted to push the standard to a particular direction in which the company has expertise and key skills. it must nevertheless keep in mind the interests of the whole of the market, not only because it is commissioned in this sense by the sdo, but mainly because the ultimate goal is that the published standard is actually adopted by the market and therefore won the support of other participants to the standard and more generally of all the market participants. " these elements allow highlighting the specificity of the standardization context in official instances (sdo): the context is formal, cooperation is forced, the leader must take an attitude that favors consensus because cleavage interrupts the process. this particular situation is likely to change the empirical observations conducted on the link between leadership and standardization. in general, when a company is in a position to impose a technology to others, or when it is the only one able to offer it, this gives it a leading role on the market. thus, according to besen & farrell (1994), the company that holds the winner standard in a competition between standards anticipates a monopoly position. the contrary is also true. this is where a company is seen as leader that the m@n@gement, vol. 18(5): 330-356" saïd yami, hervé chappert & anne mione 333 6. convergence means that each contributor to the new standard is a step towards the concurrent option. the standard is the product of a convergence movement to a single reference that combines the previous alternative proposals. this cooperative attitude does not eliminate competition. authors observe that the choice of participating in the definition of new standards within sdos is based on the desire to influence the definition of these standards in a way that is favourable to them (chiao, lerner & tirole, 2007 ; leiponen, 2008 ; simcoe, 2007). technology proposed is likely to be adopted overwhelmingly by the market. thus, in the presence of two rival technologies, the adopters refer to the ability of the company to assume the role of leader to realize their choice (arthur, 1989  ; david, 1987). customers expect that a single standard will be finally winning and they show more trust to the leader already installed to set the new standard. its leading status helps it in the emergence of a new standard. however, this status may also be cumbersome in institutional standardization bodies. indeed, the controversies that arise in the press against the dominant leaders who threaten to circumvent the laws of competition can be seen in institutional instances (sdo) whose purpose is precisely to organize the functioning of the market. " coopetition may then appear as a posture that the leader himself must adopt in the context of institutional standardization. out of this particular context, the empirical literature stresses that coopetition appears particularly suited for leaders as shown in the case of sony and samsung in the sector of highdefinition television (gnyawali & park, 2009, 2011). on a theoretical level, in the lado et al. (1997) model, the status of competitors and cooperators is not considered explicitly. yet the monopoly rent-seeking behavior suggests strategies traditionally attributed to the leader. " we consider then the institutional standardization context as a revealer of the manner in which a leader can handle a coopetition situation. we take this particular situation to observe how a leader integrates institutional codes and develops subtle relational skills between competition and cooperation, to serve an individual strategy while building a collective membership. method " on the basis of the exemplary case that represents microsoft in an institutional standardization process, this research is primarily qualitative and seeks to understand a phenomenon in all its dynamics and complexity. in this perspective, the case study is the proper method (eisenhardt, 1989; yin, 1984). in a first step, we present the context of our study; then, the collection and processing of data method; and finally, our approach to relational modes. presentation of the study context " while already exists an iso standard describing an open document format (odf), microsoft launches new standardization process so that an alternative format (ooxml) is also standard. the situation raises controversy (can several standards on the same subject co-exist?) and a situation of rivalry, participants in the iso process should position on the opportunity of a new standard. " microsoft’s logic is understandable. it dominates the market for desktop software since 1980, so it proposed the alternative format derived from the pack office software to be standardized in ecma, professional organization for development of standards (sdo). microsoft justifies this second standard by differences in use between odf and ooxml. a specific group is constituted, chaired by microsoft within ecma (ecma tc45), which validated ooxml as ecma official standard (ecma 376), december 7, 2006. then, ecma submitted this format to iso using the fast-track procedure that takes place in two stages: a first phase –completed in february 2007–: a survey to identify possible inconsistencies between the proposed text and the existing international standards. strategic relational sequences! m@n@gement, vol. 18(5): 330-356 334 primary sourcesprimary sources interviews with experts 1 director of the oecd e-government project the afnor's technical committee responsible the director of standards at ecs (european committee for standardization) the technical and security director microsoft-france (june 19, 2008) interviews with participants 1 sun microsystems representative 1 ecma representative president of eisti standardization chair president of euras first-hand sources e-mails and attached files (technical reports, reports of debates and discussions, proposals of participants, final results of afnor and iso votes); —more than a thousand pages allowing to trace the process of standardization as a whole. secondary sourcessecondary sources institutional offial web sites (.org, .gouv, .fr) iso.org, oecd.org, oasis-open.org, afnor.org, ecma-international.org, xml.coverpages.org, w3.org, references.modernisation.gouv.fr professional official web sites (.com) microsoft.com, clever-age.com, h71028.www7.hp.com (hewlettpackard) technical reports iso/iec29500, oasis white book ooxml report, ecma 378 technical report, general repository of interoperability other information sources web specialized press and journal officiel : zdnet.fr, computer weekly [serial online], journal officiel blogs blogs.msdn.com (integrated blog from the microsoft developer network), durusau.net (patrick durusau, opendocument editor), adjb.net (alex brown’s webblog, document portability) a second phase: a five-month investigation on whether to give this document the status of iso standard –completed in august 2007–: in the event of not obtaining a consensus decision (approval, or disapproval reasoned and justified, or abstention), a public enquiry would be organized. " april 2, 2008, the format ooxml is approved by iso as iso 29500 standard. afnor (french standards body) issued two votes: first vote 'negative7' and a second 'abstention' by proposing a convergence scenario between the two formats odf and ooxml8. " the study focuses specifically on how microsoft managed relational modes in the coopetition situation within the afnor technical committee to present the french position about the draft of the new institutional standard ooxml. data collection and processing " data collection. for primary sources, four interviews were conducted with experts from a period of one hour per person. one of the authors has coordinated a scientific event within euras (european academy for standardization) in june 2007, which was held in skövde in sweden, involving four specialists to discuss the topic. the interview guide focused on two main dimensions: the reasons that led microsoft to enter the process and elements of context; the different stakeholders involved and their behavior during the standardization process. finally, another author participated in the afnor constitution meeting of the technical committee (tc) on 10 may 2007 in paris. the meeting lasted 4 hours. as a member of this tc, he had access to first-hand sources via the collaborative platform implemented by afnor, the platform implemented by the tc president’s company, and to whole e-mail exchanges during the standardization process from may 2007 until end of august 2008. secondary data are mainly from institutional and professional official web sites, technical reports and other sources of information (specialized electronic press and consultants’ blogs) that were used to build the case. table 1 provides exhaustive detail for each data source. table 1. primary and secondary sources " m@n@gement, vol. 18(5): 330-356" saïd yami, hervé chappert & anne mione 335 7. official statement of afnor (3 september 2007): "following the final deliberations at the meeting of its standards committee held on 28 and 29 august, afnor does not close the door to recognition by the iso office open xml. it proposes to the iso to organize the convergence between odf and office open xml [...]. technically, this led afnor to cast a negative vote on the draft as presented. this negative vote is however accompanied by comments which afnor requests consideration for it to reconsider its position." 8. see appendix b for an overview of the standardization process of odf and ooxml. sent e-mails (em) / categories number of em em categ. 1 – pure organisation 50 em categ. 2 – out of purpose 17 em categ. 3 – exploitable 202 em categ. 4 – odf 26300 3 total of sent em 272 " data processing. the study focuses on a specific cooperation context (organized by the french institution for standardization afnor) in which participants represent the players in the market. microsoft is the protagonist who defends the new project of standard (ooxml), other participants are of a different nature: associations and institutions representative of users, direct or indirect competitors and partners who speak for or against the project. interviews with experts and stakeholders, as well as all of the secondary data have been the object of a thematic content analysis to understand in depth the case and its context. " as for sent e-mails9, we first classified them according to four categories, to hold 202 exploitable e-mails (see table 2). " e-mails of category 1 are related to the material organization of meetings (ccess map to afnor, dates changes for meetings, etc.). category 2 includes insulting, political or unrelated to the ooxml standardization e-mails. category 3 consists of e-mails in connection with the ooxml standardization draft. finally, category 4 gathers e-mails, which content focuses on another standardization project (odf). table 2. number of exploitable e-mails chosen approach of relational modes " coding grid used. based on the recommendations of miles & huberman (2003), we adopted a thematic coding grid that distinguishes three relational modes – cooperation, competition and coopetition – to characterize the behavior of the participants during the standardization process. these three relational modes are multi-dimensional constructs from an assessment of all produced disourses, expressed by the content of sent e-mails, according to the characteristics we describe below. " as a first step, we considered the distinctions made in the literature dedicated to strategic alliances and the idea of tensions that emerge in a collaborative process (das & teng, 2000; de rond & bouchikhi, 2004). generically, we got from the dialectical perspective of das & teng (2000) 'cooperation vs competition' tension and from the critical perspective of de rond & bouchikhi (2004), which broaden the organization’s scope to social sciences, ‘vigilance vs confidence’ tension that allows us to express more finely competition and cooperation. " then, more specifically, we wanted to enrich our constructs taking into account the context of discourse production (discourse written taking the form of e-mails). we used the characteristics of trust and distrust10 of lewicki et al. (1998) since these are as independent considered variables can therefore be measured separately, their characteristics are closely linked to the context of discourse production. we added the tone of the message to detect if it is rather in strategic relational sequences! m@n@gement, vol. 18(5): 330-356 336 9. received e-mails were excluded from the analysis since the emails are sent to an individual, a group or n groups which is not significant for our analysis of exchanges. sent emails express the degree of participation and weight of the different groups. 1à. we do not discuss here the difference between vigilance and distrust. the two concepts are opposed both to trustconfidence (see de rond & bouchikhi 2004, lewicki et al 1998). vigilance can be seen between trust and distrust (see puthod 1995). we choose rather trust vs distrust that seems more discriminating. the aggressive register or the more conciliatory and soothed. lastly, we took into account the quality of the information communicated compared to the tc objective of standardization, depending on its nature constructive or noncontributory. " these relational modes express the posture of the participants during the standardization process which can be qualified as "cooperative" (when the weight is 4), 'competitive' (when the weight is equal to 0) or "coopetitive" (when the weight range from 1 to 3: expressing three nuances that are respectively "competitive coopetition", "cooperative coopetition" and "balanced coopetition11"). " we conducted a thematic ranking of e-mails as they suggest a cooperative or competitive behavior or they express a content where both behaviors are present simultaneously or ambiguous words. table 3 presents an excerpt from the categorization used to classify the e-mails. table 3. e-mails categorization analysis proxy trusttrust distrustdistrust tonetone informationinformation score classificationcharacteristics high low high low aggressive conciliatory constructive non contributory score classification weight / cooperation 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 score classification e-mail 86 (pros ooxml) 1     1   1 1   4 cooperation e-mail 32 (cons ooxml) 1     1   1 1   4 cooperation e-mail 185 (pros ooxml)   0   1   1   0 2 balanced coopetition e-mail 242 (cons ooxml)   0 0   0     0 0 competition e-mail 76 (pros ooxml) 1   1     1   0 3 cooperative coopetition e-mail 17 (cons ooxml)   1 0     1 1   3 cooperative coopetition weight: 4 cooperation; 3 cooperative coopetition; 2 balanced coopetition; 1 competitive coopetition; 0 competitionweight: 4 cooperation; 3 cooperative coopetition; 2 balanced coopetition; 1 competitive coopetition; 0 competitionweight: 4 cooperation; 3 cooperative coopetition; 2 balanced coopetition; 1 competitive coopetition; 0 competitionweight: 4 cooperation; 3 cooperative coopetition; 2 balanced coopetition; 1 competitive coopetition; 0 competitionweight: 4 cooperation; 3 cooperative coopetition; 2 balanced coopetition; 1 competitive coopetition; 0 competitionweight: 4 cooperation; 3 cooperative coopetition; 2 balanced coopetition; 1 competitive coopetition; 0 competitionweight: 4 cooperation; 3 cooperative coopetition; 2 balanced coopetition; 1 competitive coopetition; 0 competitionweight: 4 cooperation; 3 cooperative coopetition; 2 balanced coopetition; 1 competitive coopetition; 0 competitionweight: 4 cooperation; 3 cooperative coopetition; 2 balanced coopetition; 1 competitive coopetition; 0 competitionweight: 4 cooperation; 3 cooperative coopetition; 2 balanced coopetition; 1 competitive coopetition; 0 competitionweight: 4 cooperation; 3 cooperative coopetition; 2 balanced coopetition; 1 competitive coopetition; 0 competition " we thus obtain a classification of e-mails by category of senders and relational mode. we note that coopetition is obtained with collaborative and competitive states of the same intensity. coopetition may be graduated from weak to strong. appendix a presents what we mean for each of our construct, illustrating it by verbatim set out by two members having divergent declared position with regard to the new draft standard (one among pros ooxml and one among cons ooxml). " chronological analysis. from a dynamic perspective, we also built a chronological matrix to identify actors’ behaviors during the process. our analysis allows distinguishing three stages in the standardization process (see table 4). thus, the first period from 2007-05-10 to 2007-09-02, corresponds to all the exchanges that started on 2007-05-10, with the early exchanges before the tc constitution meeting and the appointment of its president by afnor (2007-05-15). the second period from 2007-09-03 to 2008-03-29 resumes exchanges falling after the first afnor (negative) vote that took place on 28 and 29 august 2007. the third period extends from 2008-03-30 to 2008-08-15 and m@n@gement, vol. 18(5): 330-356" saïd yami, hervé chappert & anne mione 337 11. these shades will appreciate the variations in intensity of competition and cooperation of microsoft coopetitive relations during the process. periods key dates period 1 from 2007-05-10 to 2007-02-09 2007-05-10: start of the standardization process may 15: constitution of the tc and appointment of its president 2007-08-28 & 29: final proceedings of the afnor standardization commission cn-fdr. 1stt afnor vote vote (negative) between august 30 and september 2, 2007: vote of iso member countries (p-members) on the standard iso/iec dis 29500 (five-month ballot process) (104 nb and 41 participating members) period 2 from 2007-09-03 to 2008-03-29 2007-09-04: vote result of iso member countries 53 % of nb votes participating in the iso/iec jtc 1 process positive 26 % negative national votes month of march 2008: commitments (promises) of microsoft at afnor to proceed to changes and to participate in a working group on interoperability odt-ooxml 2008-03-29: second afnor vote (abstention) period 3 from 2008-03-30 to 2008-08-15 2008-04-02: iso approved ooxml as a standard iso/iec dis 29500 75% positive votes 14% negative votes 2008-08-15: iso and cei approved the publication of iso/dis 29500 cons ooxml not determined pros ooxml microsoft organizers total from 2007-05-10 to 2007-09-02 43 9 10 16 24 102 from 2007-09-03 to 2008-03-29 22 2 6 7 9 46 from 2008-03-30 to 2008-08-15 30 2 10 1 11 54 total 95 13 26 24 44 202 resumes exchanges in the aftermath of the second afnor (abstention) vote, which took place on 2008-03-29. table 4. reference periods and key dates " in order to understand the management modalities of the standardization process as a whole, we were interested by different aspects: 1) the structural dimension: weight of participants and balance of forces present between participants for or against the new standard project (during the constitution of the tc); 2) the nature of exchanges: presence of trust, distrust, ambiguity (in e-mail exchanges) expressing the posture in terms of relational modes of participants and dynamic analysis based on process key phases. for the analysis of e-mails, we took into account five types of actors based on their role and position in relation to the new standard draft ooxml: microsoft representatives / organizers / pros ooxml / cons ooxml / not determined (at the beginning of the standardization process). " taking the actors by category based on three critical periods that we have highlighted, we obtain the get the distribution presented in table 5. table 5. number of sent e-mails compared to actors' status and reference period " among the 158 e-mails (organizers not included), we note that 60% come from microsoft's direct competitors (ibm, google, sun) and their allies while only strategic relational sequences! m@n@gement, vol. 18(5): 330-356 338 31% come from microsoft and its allies. in-depth analysis of the process allowed observing microsoft’s behavior; its way of dealing with the different stakeholders to arrive at is purposes. the results, which follow, present these elements. results " how to characterize the behavior of microsoft facing the change of competitive rules? the answer to this question leads us to consider a dynamic perspective of the context by mobilizing the analytical framework proposed by lado et al. (1997), which we adapt to represent the whole of microsoft’s strategy and key sequences on the basis of its competitive and cooperative orientations. the second question is how microsoft has managed the process in terms of relational modes? a sequential perspective of microsoft’s strategy " the analysis of the context allows highlighting two clear sequences (s1 and s2) and a return to the original sequence (s3). indeed, as shown in figure 1, the first sequence consists in moving from a position of monopoly rent-seeking to consider a competitive rent-seeking (s1). the second sequence concerns the process of standardization as such (s2). the final sequence is the return to the initial situation (s3). we will detail the two sequences (s1) and (s2). figure 1. microsoft strategic rent-seeking behaviors sequence 1 (s1): microsoft’s competitive response to a serious threat perceived on the market " this sequence takes place on the market and is related to the corporate level. rules of the game change forced microsoft to move from a monopoly rentseeking behavior to a competitive rent-seeking behavior (from quadrant 1 to 2 in the bottom). indeed, microsoft has a de facto standard (.doc) that represents approximately 90% of market share. in the sense of the dimensions of the lado et al (1997) matrix, competitive and cooperative orientations are low. the obligation of a de jure standard to access the market and the growing threat of the odf standard put microsoft in a position to confront its challenger, i.e. to privilege a competitive orientation (quadrant 2). to face the odf standard and software vendors using this format of documents, microsoft offers its own de jure standard ooxml. in reality, he confronts directly the competitors on the market and did not adopt a competitive rent-seeking attitude on the market. sequence 2 (s2): microsoft relational behaviors during the institutional process " the management of the standardization process concerns here the operational level. by moving confrontation on the off-market, microsoft adopted a m@n@gement, vol. 18(5): 330-356" saïd yami, hervé chappert & anne mione 339 type of organization nb organisations / position nb organisations / position nb organisations / position nb of em sent by participants % sent emtype of organization f a nd nb of em sent by participants % sent em it services companies 4 2 3 62 30,69 organizers (afnor) 44 21,78 groups of users 1 7 1 38 18,81 microsoft 1 24 11,88 computer groups 2 24 11,88 industrial firms 1 1 6 2,97 public institutions 1 2 4 1,98 total 7 12 7 202 syncretic rent-seeking behavior. so, it passes from quadrant 2 to quadrant 4 (on the top right) by accepting that its draft standard should be considered by consensus. this sequence takes place within the afnor and decisions are taken by consensus of the participants. we consider that when the standardization process takes place, in this case –with issues and actors mentioned previously–, relations are both cooperative and competitive. indeed, the non-market and market actors are the same and are present to set common operating rules. the majority of the standardization process unfolds then with strong competitive and cooperative orientations. " sequence (s2) represents all of the standardization process since the constitution of the committee for standardization cn-fdr until the result of the final vote. it is characterized by relationships both competitive (important issues of the decision on the market behavior) and cooperative. the logic that predominates is syncretic and then leads to a return to the initial situation (sequence s3) since microsoft, which succeeded in its goal of validating its draft standard, does not apply the convergence scenario of the two standards that coexist today. the management of the standardization process (s2): which relational modes? " analysis of the standardization process is developed by considering, on the one hand, forces present at the beginning of the process, and actors game throughout the process (chronological analysis). " the analysis of actors’ positions at the beginning of the standardization process reveals wide domination of participants against ooxml, the cons (c), with 12 organizations represented, in particular with regard to the number of users’ groups that defend floss softwares. pros ooxml (p) –including microsoft– and the not-declared (nd) are forcibly equivalent with 7 organizations represented (table 6). table 6. types of organization, activities and position as regard ooxml " the number of e-mails sent by the organizers not included, it appears that the it services companies total the largest number of e-mails sent (30.69%), followed by users groups (18.81%). microsoft representatives, on par with the computer groups, held third position (11.88%). " types of organizations, excluding microsoft (that is mandatory for the standardization of its draft) and the organizers (that are neutral), take position on the standardization project as shown in table 7. strategic relational sequences! m@n@gement, vol. 18(5): 330-356 340 type of organization nb organizations / positionnb organizations / positionnb organizations / positiontype of organization f a nd it services companies 44 % 22 % 33 % users groups 11 % 78 % 11 % computer groups 100 % industrial firms 50 % 50 % public institutions 33 % 67 % total 7 12 7 position: pros or cons the new standard ooxml number of sent e-mails cons ooxml 95 organizers 44 pros ooxml 26 microsoft 24 not determined 13 total 202 table 7. organizations positions / ooxml " " at more than 44% of the organizations represented, it services companies position towards the new standard is rather favorable. the cons and the nd accounted respectively for more than 33% and more than 22%. users’ groups and computer groups positions are largely, or even exclusively, in opposition to the new standard project. in sum, the standardization process starts with positions opposing the new ooxml standard proposed by microsoft. this is clearly visible in table 8, which takes into account the number of e-mails sent by the participants depending on the position of the organizations against ooxml. table 8. participants position at the start of the process " after the analysis of the forces present at the beginning of the standardization process, we focus then on the modalities of management in the coopetitive context.  these have been the subject of two complementary analyses: the first offers a chronological analysis and the second highlights relational modes by theme. actors’ game throughout the process (chronological analysis) " he distribution f e-mails by category and key periods allows us to appreciate actors activity during the standardization process. m@n@gement, vol. 18(5): 330-356" saïd yami, hervé chappert & anne mione 341 cons ooxmlcons ooxmlcons ooxmlcons ooxml not determinednot determinednot determinednot determined trust coopetition distrust total trust coopetition distrust total period 1 10 4 29 43 4 4 1 9 period 2 2 2 18 22 0 1 1 2 period 3 2 2 26 30 1 0 1 2 total sent em 14 8 73 95 5 5 3 13 pros ooxmlpros ooxmlpros ooxmlpros ooxml microsoftmicrosoftmicrosoftmicrosoft trust coopetition distrust total trust coopetition distrust total period 1 3 4 3 10 5 5 6 16 period 2 1 1 4 6 2 3 2 7 period 3 0 1 9 10 1 0 0 1 total sent em 4 6 16 26 8 8 8 24 organizersorganizersorganizersorganizers trust coopetition distrust total period 1 23 1 24 period 2 6 2 1 9 period 3 11 0 0 11 total sent em 40 2 2 44 " outside organizers, the highest activity is that of the cons (representing 60% [95] sent e-mails), nearly twice the messages sent by microsoft and the pros, which together represent 31.6% [50] sent e-mails. the not-determined activity accounts for 8.2%. in terms of evolution, the activity of the participants is globally decreasing, and this, regardless of position in relation to the new standard draft ooxml. more specifically, we observe that: the cons have very significant activity in the period 1 with 43 sent e-mails. activity decreased by almost half in period 2 to take effect under the period 3, after the final vote. microsoft’s activity is relatively high at the beginning, then decreases in the same proportion as the cons ooxml to become almost non-existent in period 3 where the dice are now thrown and ooxml recognized by iso as de jure standard. " in general, three relational modes are present in the four categories of actors that we have distinguished in the process as we can see in table 9. table 9. relational modes by category and key period " " strategic relational sequences! m@n@gement, vol. 18(5): 330-356 342 " more precisely: the cons (with 95 sent e-mails) have a very important activity in periods 1 and 2. they largely prefer a relational mode based on distrust. the nd have more sustained activity in period 1 but that could be described as generally moderate (with 13 sent e-mails). there is less distrust and 'trust' and 'coopetition' modes predominate. the pros (with 26 sent e-mails) use more distrust between the period 1 and period 3. the two other relational modes lowering in intensity. microsoft has an important activity in period 1 with predominance of distrust. this chronological analysis shows that microsoft plays on the three themes of trust, coopetition and distrust during the first two periods. the third period is located after the final vote and microsoft no longer participates in exchanges. " in general, the highest activity, outside organizers, is that the cons, then the pros and finally microsoft. " for the organizers, afnor is on a cooperative register. its mission consists in organizing the cooperation context. its role is to schedule appointments, arrange meetings, and prepare meeting minutes. the only observed change occurs on themes 3 and 4 where its role is limited since the afnor does not participate in the content of the discussions. " with regard to cons, we find mainly competitive registry, characterized by distrust and sometimes aggressiveness. thus, at the time of documents preparation for public inquiries, we can identify the following verbatim that highlight the aggressive tone of the e-mails in a climate of distrust: « (…) [they] have challenged a number of points. including the designation process (proposal of a candidate by afnor not even two hours prior to the meeting) and the choice of the president of the commission (...). we have made the proposal to appoint as president of the commission a user because the final customer who must judge is the user (...) " (email 27). « maybe i haven’t made myself clear. would it be possible for the afnor to proceed to corrections requested as soon as possible? " (email 75) " this tension is also present during the development and validation of meeting reports: « (…) however it seems that the wording of the text would suggest that these positions, including those about the future consequences of a standardization or not of ooxml result from a consensus of the committee. i think that it was not the case. (…) " (email 210) " at the time of the investigation counting and the afnor decision, the register of certain e-mails is still aggressive for the cons and reinforces this suspicion climate: « (…) don't worry, this has been seen and said yesterday. fyi, yesterday's meeting, which i was, was quite stormy, microsoft systematically challenging all the points and trying to reject a maximum of comments. more surprising, the president of the commission has tried repeatedly to eliminate relevant technical comments which were perhaps not well written (the rules for the less fuzzy, for my part, if the rules had been clearer i would have otherwise built my contribution) under the pretext that he did not understand them. i wish the pleasure to those who go to work today, because given the situation of yesterday, it is clear that there is no consensus, and it seems pretty obvious that ms should completely rework its draft, and lighten it's m@n@gement, vol. 18(5): 330-356" saïd yami, hervé chappert & anne mione 343 full of rubbish. problem, if this is done, there would probably only a good clone close to odf! (…) " (email 127) " finally, for the last period during the brm and the final vote, anxiety, doubt and distrust are still present: « (…) i am concerned to see that communications subsequent to the last meeting of thecn 34 is important to the extent that they can, following a message sent as late as the late afternoon to the same commission, require an urgent return of the commission, over the weekend in addition. if one considers that the elements to be considered were diffused at 9 p.m. that day, this leaves roughly zero second working to the commission to form an opinion and discuss. i wonder what the other members of the commission will be able to think, and i'll be happy to discuss it informally at the earliest opportunity. (…) " (email 176) " the coopetitive mode disappears as the process until afnor decision. on the technical and legal aspects, we observe an exclusive discussion between microsoft and the against ooxml. " the pros have moderate activity where we observe three relational modes. in this group, the dominant dimension is distrust. this distrust became the single mode, in particular in response to the virulence of cons e-mails following the outcome of the final vote. " concerning the not determined (nd) group, its activity is extremely weak. participants who have not really took part in the discussions, we note the presence of the three relational modes even if the dominant relational mode is primarily based on competition and distrust. it then gives way to cooperation and trust at the end of the process. " in general, microsoft starts the process on competitive and coopetitives bases. in the competitive registry and on the topic dealing with preparation of documents for public inquiries, microsoft holds the following discourse: «(…) i agree that there is definitely need to review a minimum at least the introductory pages. that said, again, if every time that there is an error / omission / problem / annoyance, you over-react howling at the international conspiracy orchestrated by the awful microsoft, discussions will be long and painful, and do not seem to me to the mind expected. (…) " (email 72). " thus, its e-mails in the probationary surveys phase are marked by both distrust and trust, adopting a diplomatic tone, which led us to qualify them coopetitive: «(…) thank you for these first elements that allow to see comments submitted. it seems to me however that this synthesis is only a first draft and does not really allow understanding the nature of the contributors, which clearly has its importance. (…) indeed, this subject is visibly very debated and i believe necessary to finally put clearly on the table the positions taken by the various actors. (…) " (email 108) «(…) i propose to the commission this simple sentence: "project tc 45 'office open xml file formats' of consortium ecma int. is approved by the ecma general assembly as international standard ecma-376 on 7 december 2006." moreover, a consensus quickly established yesterday on the need that the questions asked are strictly the same (...). we wish therefore the strategic relational sequences! m@n@gement, vol. 18(5): 330-356 344 issues mentioned for the odf component be amended accordingly and thus reflect this consensus. (…) " (email 30) " it is not at all confident at the beginning of period then it plays on three relational modes. at the end of the process, it responds that laconically to the cons attacks by a single e-mail with a single sentence: "i can confirm the interest of microsoft to participate in such a din/afnor joint working group." (email 201) " we clearly see that microsoft is mobilizing three relational modes in a context that seems to favor only the cooperative mode. summary: a dynamic perspective of the case on the basis of the lado et al. (1997) framework " we consider that these sequences can be understood as a succession of strategic rent-seeking behaviors in the sense of lado et al. (1997) and we will represent microsoft's strategy in dynamic terms. " by adapting the representation of the types of competitive relationships by bengtsson & kock (2000) to the types of coopetitive states according to the degrees of competition and cooperation of competitors, we can visually represent cooperative-based, competitive-based or balanced coopetitive relationships. figure 2. different coopetition degrees " this representation allows us showing the variations in intensity of competition and cooperation of microsoft coopetitive relations during the process by integrating it into the framework of lado et al. (1997). figure 3 shows the entire process taking into account the degrees of coopetition from microsoft during the three periods studied. thus, during the 'off-market' period that corresponds to the lado et al. syncretic rent-seeking behaviour (quadrant 4), microsoft used three types of coopetitive relations: in period 1, a competitive coopetition relationship, in period 2, relationships are balanced and we observe a balanced coopetition relationship, in period 3, a cooperative coopetition relationship. m@n@gement, vol. 18(5): 330-356" saïd yami, hervé chappert & anne mione 345 figure 3. microsoft strategic coopetitive rent-seeking behaviors " we focus our study on quadrant 3 corresponding to a coopetitive context. we analyze microsoft’s game through two studies of the sent e-mails. the thematic approach shows that microsoft starts the standardization process in a rather hostile context to the ooxml project environment. the number of sent emails and the number of cons representatives is important and show a strong mobilization. chronological analysis confirms these results and shows that during the three key periods of the process cons activity remains important while microsoft’s activity varies according to the periods. microsoft is very present in exchanges during the first period. the study of the second period shows a significant decrease in the number of e-mails, but microsoft's strategy is supported by external actions to the cn-fdr (visits of microsoft leaders). once the vote positive is obtained from iso, microsoft has almost more activities in terms of sending e-mails. discussion and conclusion " in this section, we discuss the theoretical implications of our contribution to the concept of coopetition, based on two elements of reflection on the nature of coopetition strategies: on the one hand, the dynamic and sequential perspective of coopetition; secondly, the transient, deliberate and emergent status of coopetition. then, we propose to clarify the managerial implications of the case, including the consequences of microsoft’s strategy and we will consider the influence of the case characteristics on the released results. theoretical implications a dynamic and sequential perspective of coopetition " analysis of microsoft’s strategic behavior throughout the institutional standardization process leads us to question the dynamic nature of coopetition. first, we propose to relocate the lessons of the case compared to the conceptual foundations of coopetition within the specific of the lado et al. (1997) framework. " the model on which we based our analysis (lado et al., 1997) considers coopetition as a means to achieving superior performance by the constitution of idiosyncratic competences. these latter are developed while reducing the costs strategic relational sequences! m@n@gement, vol. 18(5): 330-356 346 and risks associated with this effort, while competition stimulates innovation. this is the model we adopted for the reading of the case. its interest lies in considering the intended competitive advantage and how the company tries to capture a rent. monopoly rent-seeking behavior appears as a possible strategic option. for us, this behavior corresponds perfectly to the traditional position of microsoft (in particular in terms of market share in its different sbus or its predator reputation vis-à-vis and innovative businesses and startups). in this sense, we believe that this matrix is relevant to describe strategic behaviors adopted on the basis of follow-up strategic objective. " however, the case analysis leads to propose an original reading which includes a dynamic dimension that lado et al. (1997) have not considered in their contribution. in this regard, the analysis highlights a succession of sequences in which the strategic orientation of the behavior has changed. more specifically, we derive from our analysis that if the purpose of obtaining rent through a monopolistic behavior was finally never abandoned and even constitutes a leitmotiv for the leader, microsoft was obliged, however, to deviate from this line so to integrate more competition and cooperation – which means the advantages of coopetition –, to regain the advantages associated with monopoly. coopetition: a transitional state based on deliberate and emergent forms " from the analysis of our case, a second reflection questions coopetition form which is present in two levels (market and non-market) on which the leader’s strategy is. indeed, the case of microsoft in the standardization process shows a rather 'emerging' coopetition form in market environments (the response to a threat of eviction of a new market), and secondly, the presence of a "deliberate" coopetition form in off-market environments (the coopetitive game of the leader during the standardization process by the tc). " taking the point of view of actors intentions, a few research shows that there are emerging forms of coopetition (czakon, 2010  ; mariani, 2007, 2009), where most of the research on coopetition is interested rather in deliberate forms (bengtsson & kock, 2000  ; tsai, 2002). coopetition can be defined as a deliberate strategy using cooperation and competition to achieve a positive-sum game and a better performance for partners (czakon, 2010). " in the sense of mintzberg & waters (1985), emergent strategies appear as patterns or models made in spite or in the absence of intentions. emergent coopetition was tackled from two empirical perspectives. the first study focuses on formation processes of coopetitive and cooperative strategies and the role of the institutional environment as a factor triggering coopetition (mariani, 2009). in this study, coopetition is induced by a cooperation imposed to competing organizations (operas), where the "emergence" dimension prevails on the "deliberate" dimension and even anticipates it. the second study considered the context of an "unplanned competition in cooperative configurations" (czakon, 2010). thus, it appears as «  a form of opportunistic behavior, when a partner seeks to achieve its own goals within a cooperative configuration, without worrying about goals and the common interests of its partners » (p.67). " in the case of microsoft, we observe that only competition is present on the market; the privileged logic oscillates between monopolistic and competitive rentseeking. this is the point of view of the leader that prevails. on the other hand, since obtaining a de jure standard constitutes the entry point to avoid being ousted of tendering of public contracts, the game moves and the level of analysis changes passing from the strategic level to more operational maneuvers. therefore moving from a competitive to a coopetitive (sdo) context. in this coopetitive context, the three relational modes (cooperation, competition and coopetition) are relational registers that are available to the actors involved. here, coopetition appears from two different angles. on the one hand, as context and m@n@gement, vol. 18(5): 330-356" saïd yami, hervé chappert & anne mione 347 on the other hand as strategy or action logic. on one side, the standardization process appears as a coopetitive context it is interesting to study and which lessons contribute to the field of coopetition. on the other hand, relational modes expressed by corporate actors within this coopetitive context allow to capture the elements of dynamics at the more micro level. " indeed, microsoft's strategy, as a leader in its markets and at a corporate level, aims first and foremost monopoly rent-seeking. going cooperate pushes the leader to change the level of analysis to consider maneuvers that enable it to achieve its goals. contrary to what literature highlights, coopetition is here one of the modes possible and not an ideal behavior to which tender and that would provide benefits exceeding pure cooperation or pure competition. in this regard, this is not the strategic level that should only be taken into account. it is important to also enter coopetition in a more operational levels where tensions are expressed in a tangible way through people who support their management, idea developed in certain number of current work (see for example fernandez et al 2014; raza ullah et al 2014). we argue that coopetition is transient and is not for the actors, and especially the leader, a purpose. it is a mean. " relational modes in a coopetitive context appear as a generic form of coopetition with varying degrees of cooperation, competition and even coopetition (when the level of ambiguity is high). it is therefore important to bring shades by considering coopetition as composite behavior that borrows from the three relational modes. " in this regard, the standardization process offers a coopetitive framework in which the actors develop coopetitive behaviors. our case analysis shows that postures change during the process, the main actor mastering the game he fashions to its advantage. the partners are not real partners, except actors who are “pros the new standard” and a part of those not-declared, and which is made up of participants who are rather skeptical but without bias towards the arrival of a new standard. it is a one-time context that no longer has any existence as soon as the standardization process leads to an outcome (positive or negative). we will here more talk about coalitions around a draft standard than genuine partnerships, as the literature tends to take it into account. managerial implications about microsoft’s attitude and the relational sequences " a leader may have to negotiate to avoid losing a market. which does not prevent it to play its game during the negotiations to achieve its ends. is this a change of attitude from microsoft to a market where a total domination is no longer possible in all areas? " in fact, it is the appearance of new rules on the market that explains microsoft's strategy. in reality, there is no change of attitude (see corporate level). strategically, microsoft pursues his main goals: the general logic remains “embrace, extend, extinguish”. however, at the operational level, it is brought on another ground. thus, to achieve his ends (iso standard), it must negotiate in an environment that fosters cooperation. this cooperative effort is not done anonymously (microsoft acting as a corporation) but with face to face interactions through representatives. in this level, the logic is subtler and must borrow from different relational modes. " the case shows that the starting point of the negotiations was not in favor of the leader. it was even widely against if one takes into account the composition of the tc. yet, even with 'negative' and 'abstention' votes, it happens to win at the end and gets its de jure standard. the process is organized in a transparent manner, but the intentions and issues for the participants are not all displayed and put on the table. furthermore, lacking here behind-the-scenes dealings that refer to the question of influence strategies and the policy dimension that are strategic relational sequences! m@n@gement, vol. 18(5): 330-356 348 placed outside the process as such but which are still present for each involved actor. " this case shows that a market leader should go in the off-market to get what he is seeking. however, this is not the corporate and disembodied image of the leader that is at stake, this latter tending to fade at the beginning of the standardization process insofar as stakeholders contribute to humanize the process through debates and discussions which may be of a different nature but which relate to a written project it is necessary to evolve from certain aspects (technical, regulatory, ergonomic...). " microsoft’s trajectory can quite be considered a path-type for a leader taking a similar context (change in the environment and threat of losing a market). however, the analysis of the case does not allow us to generalize more. the coexistence of two standards and the leader position of microsoft " the final result leads to the coexistence of two rival iso standards. what would happen if the standardization process had led to the existence of a single standard? odf being forerunner, it would be the only reference standard. in this case, and since it is an open standard, microsoft ought to evolve its office software to be compatible with odf. the immediate consequence would have been to be confronted in a direct competition with all other softwares using odf. in this perspective, microsoft would have to exceed two difficulties: 1. it should catch up with the technology by investing on odf 2. it would lose the advantage associated with the differentiation of its products justifying the payment of its software with free software. " the main players in the desktop software market integrated the two standards in their different products. the standardization process, marked by a necessary slowness, is that software do not meet 100% enacted standards. " in this regard, the rest of the story (after the iso decision to validate the microsoft’s format as a de jure standard) allows us to see to what extent the question of compatibility remains asked, regardless of the format. thus, several versions of office suites currently coexist each to generate documents conforming to the specifications of the two existing standards. limits and perspectives " this case enabled us to tackle coopetition in the context of standardization process in the area of office electronic documents formats. this approach, unexplored until then, can mobilize coopetition in the specific sdo environment rarely studied in strategy. " on the basis of primary data collected exhaustively from the exchanges by e-mails and reports of the meetings of the afnor’s technical committee, we were able to benefit from a reliable source from the standardization process itself. the analysis of this material enabled us to identify the behavior of a leader who uses the off-market coopetition to control its market. this behavior, which borrows from the formalism that characterizes the activity of a diplomat, combines different relational modes over key periods of the process. " we had the opportunity to study the standardization process context at the french level, while the final outcome of the process lies at the global level by the aggregation of different national positions. this represents a certain limit to our work, but also opens to other future research avenues. " another limitation to our work lies in the degree of finesse in the analysis of e-mail exchanges. in order to identify the different relational modes mobilized by the protagonists, we have chosen to treat the data in a thematic way. an interesting dimension would be to analyze speeches produced so to identify from adopted behaviors underlying discursive logics. m@n@gement, vol. 18(5): 330-356" saïd yami, hervé chappert & anne mione 349 references arthur, w.b. (1989). competing technologies, increasing returns and lock-in by historical events. economic journal, 99(394), 116‑131. astley, w.g. (1984). toward an appreciation of collective strategy. academy of management review, 9(3), 526‑535. astley, w.g. & fombrun, c.j. (1983). collective strategy: the social ecology of organizational environments. academy of management review, 8(4), 576‑587. axelrod, r. & mitchell, w. (1995). coalition formation in standard-setting alliances, management science, 41(9), 1493-1508. baumard, p. (2000). analyse stratégique: mouvements, signaux concurrentiels et interdépendance, paris: dunod. bengtsson, m. & kock, s. (1999). cooperation and competition in relationships between competitors in business networks. journal of business & industrial marketing, 14(3), 178‑194. bengtsson, m. & kock, s. (2000). 'coopetition' in business networks—to cooperate and compete simultaneously. industrial marketing management, 29, 411‑426. besen, s.m. & farrell, j. (1994). choosing how to compete: strategies and tactics in standardization. journal of economic perspectives, 8(2), 117‑131. brookey, r.a. (2007). the format wars. convergence: the international journal of research into new media technologies, 13(2), 199 ‑211. chiao, b., lerner, j. & tirole, j. (2007). the rules of standard-setting organizations: an empirical analysis. the rand journal of economics, 38(4), 905‑930. contractor, f.j. & lorange, p. (1988). why should firms cooperate? the strategy and economics basis for cooperative ventures. in f.j. contractor & p. lorange (éds), cooperative strategies in international business, introduction (pp. 3‑30). lexington ma: lexington books. czakon, w. (2010). emerging coopetition: an empirical investigation of coopetition as interorganizational relationship instability. in s. yami, s. castaldo, g.b. dagnino & f. le roy (eds), coopetition: winning strategies for the 21st century (pp. 58‑73). cheltenham: edward elgar. das, t.k. & teng, b.s. (2000). instabilities of strategic a l l i a n c e s : a n i n t e r n a l te n s i o n s p e r s p e c t i v e . organization science, 11(1), 77‑101. david, p.a. (1987). some new standards for the economics of standardization in the information age. in p. dasgupta & p. stoneman (eds), economic policy and technological performance (pp. 206‑239). cambridge: cambridge university press. david, p.a. & greenstein, s. (1990). the economics of compatibility standards: an introduction to recent research. economics of innovation and new technology, 1(1-2), 3‑41. de laat, p.b. (1999). systemic innovation and the virtues of going virtual: the case of the digital video disc. technology analysis & strategic management, 11(2), 159-180. de rond, m. & bouchikhi, h. (2004). on the dialectics of strategic alliances. organization science, 15(1), 56-69. demil, b. & lecocq, x. (2006). la standardisation de produit : stratégie collective et jeux d’acteurs, in s. yami et f. le roy (coord.), stratégies collectives (pp. 299-318), paris : ems. dussauge, p., garrette, b. & mitchell, w. (2000). learning from competing partners: outcomes and durations of scale and link alliances in europe, north america and asia. strategic management journal, 21(2), 99‑126. eisenhardt, k.m. (1989). building theories from case study research. academy of management review, 14(4), 532‑550. fernandez a.s., le roy f. & gnyawali d. (2014). sources and management of tension in coopetition: case evidence from telecommunications satellites manufacturing in europe. industrial marketing management, 43(2), 222-235 foray, d. (1994). users, standards and the economics of coalition and committees. information economics and policy, 6(3/4), 269‑293. garud, r., jain, s. & kumaraswamy, a. (2002). institutional entrepreneurship in the sponsorship of common technological standards: the case of sun microsystemes and java. academy of management journal, 45(1), 196‐214. gnyawali, d.r. & park, b.j. (2009). co-opetition and technological innovation in small and medium-sized enterprises: a multilevel conceptual model. journal of small business management, 47(3), 308‑330. gnyawali, d.r., park, b.j. (2011). co-opetition between g i a n t s : c o l l a b o r a t i o n w i t h c o m p e t i t o r s f o r technological innovation. research policy, 40(5), 650‑663. hamel, g., doz, y.l. & prahalad, c.k. (1989). collaborate with your competitors and win. harvard business review, 67(1),133-139. kogut, b. (1989). the stability of joint ventures: reciprocity and competitive rivaltry. journal of industrial economics, 38(2), 183‑198. lado, a.a., boyd, n.g. & hanlon, s.c. (1997). competition, cooperation, and the search for economic rents: a syncretic model. academy of management review, 22(1), 110‑141. leiponen, a. (2008). competing through cooperation: the organization of standard setting in wireless telecommunications. management science, 54(11), 1904‑1919. lewicki, r.j., mcallister, d.j. & bies r.j. (1998). trust and distrust: new relationships and realities. academy of management review, 23(3), 438-458. mariani, m.m. (2007). coopetition as an emergent strategy: empirical evidence from an italian consortium of opera houses. international studies of management & organization, 37(2), 97‑126. strategic relational sequences! m@n@gement, vol. 18(5): 330-356 350 mariani, m.m. (2009). emergent coopetitive and c o o p e r a t i v e s t r a t e g i e s i n i n t e r o r g a n i z a t i o n a l relationships: empirical evidence from australian and italian operas. in g.b. dagnino & e. rocco (eds), coopetition strategy: theory, experiments and cases (pp. 166‑190). new york, ny: routledge. miles, m.b. & huberman. a.m. (2003). analyse des données qualitatives. bruxelles : de boeck supérieur. mintzberg, h., waters, j. a. (1985). of strategies, deliberate and emergent. strategic management journal, 6(3), 257‑272. mione, a. (2006). les normes comme démarche collective, revue française de gestion, 23(167), 105-122. mione, a. (2009). when entrepreneurship requires coopetition: the need for norms to create a market, international journal of entrepreneurship and small business, 8(1), 92-109. mione, a. & leroy, m. (2013). décisions stratégiques dans la rivalité entre standards de qualité  : le cas de la certification forestière. management international, 17(2), 84-104. nalebuff, b.j. & brandenburger, a.m. (1996). co-opetition. new york, ny: harper collins business. oshri, i. & weeber, c. (2006). cooperation and competition standards-setting activities in the digitization era: the case of wireless information d e v i c e s . te c h n o l o g y a n a l y s i s & s t r a t e g i c management, 18(2), 265-283. prahalad, c.k. (1998). managing discontinuities: the e m e r g i n g c h a l l e n g e s . r e s e a r c h te c h n o l o g y management, 41(3), 14‐22. puthod, d. (1995). entre confiance et défiance, la vigilance au cœur de la gestion des alliances. gestion 2000, 2, mars-avril, 111-129. raza ullah, t., bengtsson, m. & kock, s. (2014). the coopetition paradox and tension in coopetition at multiple levels. industrial marketing management, 43(2), 189-198 ritalaa p. & hurmelinna-laukkanen p. (2009). what's in it for me? creating and appropriating value in innovation-related coopetition. technovation, 29(12), 819–828 shapiro, c. & varian, h.r. (1999). the art of standards wars. california management review, 41(2), 8‑32. simcoe, t. (2007). delay and de jure standardization: exploring the slowdown in internet standards development. in s.m. greenstein & v. stango (éd.), standards and public policy (pp. 260‑295). london: cambridge university press. tellier, a. (2006). les stratégies de régulation dans la vidéo à domicile. revue française de gestion, 32(167), 123-140. thorelli, h.b. (1986). networks: between markets and hierarchies. strategic management journal, 7(1), 37‑51. tsai, w. (2002). social structure of 'coopetition" within a multiunit organization: coordination, competition, and intraorganizational knowlege sharing. organization science, 13(2), 179‑190. yin, r.k. (1984). case study research: design and methods, london: sage publications. m@n@gement, vol. 18(5): 330-356" saïd yami, hervé chappert & anne mione 351 examples of e-mails by relational modeexamples of e-mails by relational mode example 1 example 2 "hello everyone,  for our part, the introductory document prepared by xxxx 'french parallel probationary survey implementation of two international documents ooxml and odf’ seems relevant for the publication of the public inquiry to be launched on openxml and odf. indeed, it is purely factual, and reflects the history. » [c86 pros ooxml] "good evening, yyyy comments seem quite justified and i did not notice the difference in the questions asked in the two documents. i think we should make these changes." [c32 cons ooxml] "hello, in prior and following the exchange of emails which followed last afnor communication, zzz judges for his part the transmission of these latest contributions no more questionable on the form than previous ones, also intervened to part out of context in relation to the subject of the last meeting. everyone remains free to assess the possible impact on his own position of these contributions, any clarification approach is a priori commendable." [c185 pros ooxml] "so, this proves that you depends on open xml, so on microsoft. odf is a *real* open format, so there was enough to add support to odf what would have been beneficial to everybody. the fact that you supported a second standard (well, the ugly tautology) rather than contributing to the existing standard also shows that you have interest (or compensation) in this support. but then i digress in a trial of intent : )come on, we will not get angry, iso and microsoft have already ridiculed with this story ! " [c242 cons ooxml] "hello everyone, having not all the time necessary for daily monitoring debates, we had to take some distance in recent days. it would be unfortunate if those who have time, use or even abuse of it in what would look like strongly to delaying tactics. all precautions and preventions are obviously quite eligible and must legitimately be debated ... in a serene way. afnor commissions may in no case be a political forum and debates finally lost in casuistry. i therefore call for a prompt return to serenity, to show restraint and to proportion in that exchange. if syntactic debates finally had to take precedence over technical considerations, these should then progress to advance concurrently." [c76 pros ooxml] "hello, i wish as far as i am concerned 3 documents (short) but distinct . xxxxx document is a very good introduction in my sense. then we can, with some changes in these matters (why suddenly talk about the internationalization of odf?). the text on ooxml requires changes too, but it is generally good. in any case, i'm afraid that yyy compilation only adds to the confusion of the public ..." [c17 cons ooxml] appendix a. coding grid " we present below what we mean for each of our three constructs, illustrating them by verbatim set by members having declared position divergent with regard to the new draft standard: strategic relational sequences! m@n@gement, vol. 18(5): 330-356 352 appendix b. odf and ooxml standardization processes date odf date ooxml 1998 microsoft begins to take care of the xml in file formats 1999 the development of an xml format for electronic office (by default) starts with stardivision, the software vendor of staroffice. acquisition of stardivision by sun microsystems 2000 starting of the open source project "openoffice.org" by sun microsystems 2000 microsoft releases the first format based on xml for excel. word added later ( in 2001). 2002-05 openoffice.org 1.0 and staroffice 6 are published: these two softwares use the default file format openoffice.org xml. 12002-12 the technical committee of oasis open office holds its first conference call 2003-08 koffice decides to use odf as the default file format 2003 the office 2003 software first to include xml formats for word and excel 2003/ 2004 the specification of the original openoffice.org xml file format is enhanced to incorporate the latest developments in xml, and desktop applications. 2004-12 the technical committee (tc) approved an interim version of the work. the project name changes from « oasis open office specification » to « oasis open document format for office applications (opendocument) ». 2005-05 opendocument format (odf) is officially finalized as oasis standard 2005 microsoft seeks to standardize file formats through the ecma (european computer manufacturers association) standardization instance 2005-10 staroffice 8.0 and openoffice.org 2.0 are published with the full support of odf. sun announces a clause on odf patents: “sun's public non-assertion declaration may be summarized unofficially as an irrevocable covenant not to enforce any of its enforceable u.s. or foreign patents against any implementation of the oasis opendocument specification” (http://xml.coverpages.org/ ni2005-10-04-a.html)” 2006-03 odf alliance is launched with 35 founding members with the aim to promote odf in the public sector. 2006-05 iso approved odf as an iso/iec 26300 standard. 2006-12 ecma standardized format under the title " ecma 376 office open xml" and agrees to submit to iso for fast track standardization 2007-01 iso accepts the submission of ooxml by ecma 2007-09 ooxml fails to gain approval to iso and passes to the final vote during a ballot resolution meeting 2008-02 although charged with controversy, the ballot resolution meeting weeklong leads to final votes 2008-04 iso announces that ooxml has been approved as iso 29500 source: white book de oasis odf adoption tc, dec. 2006 + source ooxmlsource: white book de oasis odf adoption tc, dec. 2006 + source ooxmlsource: white book de oasis odf adoption tc, dec. 2006 + source ooxmlsource: white book de oasis odf adoption tc, dec. 2006 + source ooxml m@n@gement, vol. 18(5): 330-356" saïd yami, hervé chappert & anne mione 353 saïd yami is professor of strategic management at the university of lille 1 iae and kedge business school. he is a member of the lem (lille economics and management), umr cnrs 9221 and associated member of mrm. his research focuses on competitive relationships through the concepts of collective strategies and coopetition, in connection with innovation and entrepreneurship. he is particularly interested in the high-intensity knowledge (high tech, big science) contexts that constitute his main fields of research. he published on these topics several books and articles at national and international levels. hervé chappert is associate professor in management sciences at the university of montpellier – isem. he is member of montpellier research in management (mrm). his fields of interest cover relational strategies, innovation and virtual environments. anne mione is professor of management sciences at the university of montpellier (isem). she is a member of mrm (montpellier research in management) and coordinates the thematic group "standards and coopetition strategies". her research focuses on inter-organizational strategies and innovation, particularly in the context of emergence and competition between standards. acknowledgment. this research is supported by the labex (label of excellence) “entreprendre,” university of montpellier 1 – program 3 “interorganizational strategies and innovation.” © the author(s) www.management-aims.com strategic relational sequences! m@n@gement, vol. 18(5): 330-356 354 © the author(s) www.management-aims.com m@n@gement, vol. 18(5): 330-356" saïd yami, hervé chappert & anne mione 355 © the author(s) www.management-aims.com strategic relational sequences! m@n@gement, vol. 18(5): 330-356 356 1925voicesen directed by jean-pierre et luc dardenne producted by les films du fleuve unplugged voices: two days, one night (2014) research in management and organization may only gain by being inspired from arts, culture and humanities in order to rethink practices but also to nourish its own perspectives. life in organizations is artificially separate from ordinary life: all of mundane objects are thus conducive to astonishment, inspiration, and even problematization. the unplugged subsection “voices” gives the opportunity to academics and non-academics to deliver an interpretation about an object from the cultural or artistic world. interpreted objects are or not directly related to organizational life, resonate or not with the moment, but share some intriguing features. these interpretations suggest a patchwork of variations on the same object. m@n@gement 2016, vol. 19(2): 124-151 124 introduction: two days, one night ! this issue of m@n@gement’s unplugged “voices” draws together four academic essays that reflect on the struggles of solidarity, ethics and personal realization in the context of the contemporary workplace. recent literature on the changing context of work has noted the pervasive precarity arising from workplace “flexibilization”, and the social and personal difficulties that precarity creates (e.g. prosser, 2015; mole, 2010; kalleberg, 2009). attempts to increase worker “choice” often have the paradoxical effect of augmenting control, and putting workers in the position of choosing their own forms of subjugation (endrissat, islam & noppeney, 2015; ekman, 2014). the cynical use of choice by management is nowhere more evident than in the film two days, one night by the brothers dardenne, which is the object on which these four essays reflect. each, in its turn, looks at a distinct but related aspect of sandra’s struggle as she attempts to convince her co-workers to forgo their monetary bonuses and “vote” for her to keep her job. struggling with her own personal demons, sandra is forced to come to terms with herself and her situation, ultimately leaving the workplace that maintains conditions of injustice, losing her job but gaining selfrespect. in these four essays, we reflect on sandra’s condition, and how it can inform the conditions of contemporary workers more generally. ! bénédicte vidaillet’s essay draws upon slavoj žižek to examine the conditions of objective and subjective violence that confront workers in the film. she attributes the difficulties they have opposing their boss’s blackmail not to their own “evil” intentions as individual agents, but to the form of violence characterizing this situation, which is purely systemic and anonymous. she argues that such violence has, with global capitalism, come to occupy an unprecedented central place in our society. taking a lacanian perspective, hélène picard examines how the simulacrum of the “vote”, in creating a false sense of democracy, builds an imaginary of the workplace that juxtaposes the law of the market against the personal, intersubjective connection between workers. comparing the movie with another story of precariousness and isolation (the measure of a man, 2015), her contribution questions the ways in which face-toface, embodied dialogue may or may not subvert pervasive competition in the contemporary workplace. yoann bazin provocatively asks us “why don’t employees rebel?”, using the film as a way to understand continued employee submission to a patently unjust system. in his essay on time, gazi islam reflects on the paradoxical juxtaposition of the weekend, during which the action takes place, and the conventional work week, placing contemporary work in the space of liminality where social reproduction takes place. the essays, written individually and then reviewed collectively by the other authors, share a common concern with a pressing sense of injustice. but each description presents a distinct angle of this, creating a kaleidoscopic vision of the film. they are meant to be read individually and together. ! finally, underlying all of the essays is an enduring concern, reflected in the objectives of the unplugged section: how does popular culture, by imagining, constructing and screening visual narratives about organizations, compel us to rethink how we work, collaborate and organize? is film real, and, if so, in what sense? does two days, one night tell a dystopian tale of a current reality for us to reflect upon? does it express in the language of fiction issues that are too sensitive to discuss in our own, real-life, workplaces? or does the film provide us with a warning, of the workplace of tomorrow that we may confront if we do not take measures to prevent it? film speaks, but to whom, in what language, from what position of enunciation? each essay struggles with the content but also the m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 124-151! voices two days, one night 125 filmic representation of two days, one night, and in so doing, challenges future research to consider forms of organizational representation that are distinct from those usually deployed in constructing our knowledge. ! references ekman, s. (2014). is the high-involvement worker precarious or opportunistic? hierarchical ambiguities in late capitalism. organization , 21 (2 ), 141–158. endrissat, n., islam, g., & noppeney, c. (2015). enchanting work: new spirits of service work in an organic supermarket. organization studies, 36(11), 1555–1576. kalleberg, a. (2009). precarious work, insecure workers: employment relations in transition. american sociological review, 74(1), 1-22. molé, n. j. (2010). precarious subjects: anticipating neoliberalism in northern italy’s workplace. american anthropologist, 112(1), 38–53. prosser, t. (2015). dualization or liberalization? investigating precarious work in eight european countries. work, employment & society, forthcoming. voices two days, one night! m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 124-151 126 two days, one night, or the objective violence of capitalism ! violence is omnipresent in the dardenne brothers’ film two days, one night. but does the violence lie with the characters, willing to sacrifice one of their already vulnerable colleagues, or does it lie with the system, which forces them to make an impossible choice where everyone, ultimately, has something to lose? using the works of philosopher slavoj žižek as a framework, i shall attempt to ponder this question of violence and how it might be overcome. moral dilemma and redemption ! the position of having to make an impossible choice, in which the characters of the movie are placed, could not, under current labour law, occur in france, germany or belgium. in this small or medium-sized enterprise (sme) of seventeen employees, including one working under a fixed-term contract, the workers are asked by their boss to decide by vote whether they would prefer to receive a €1000 bonus, or to reinstate sandra, a permanent employee due to return to work after long-term sick leave (the two options being irreconcilable for economic reasons related to international competition). indeed, according to employment regulations, the dismissal of an employee cannot result from such a choice. moreover, in reality it is the fixed contract position that would be eliminated in such a case, a solution which sandra's boss only considers at the very end of the film. ! however, this situation of being forced to make a choice, though fictitious, does refer to an already large number of cases in which employees have been placed in such a dilemma and made directly responsible for solving such a problem. for instance, in france, in 2004, the german bosch group asked its employees to vote between a reduction in wage costs or 400 job cuts. the 2013 national inter-sectoral agreement (ani), or "competitive employment agreement", allows employers to negotiate with their employees whether to increase working hours without increasing wages, or to cut wages without reducing working hours. thus, in 2015, the management executives of the smart factory of hambach (moselle) organized a referendum in which its 800 employees were asked to vote for or against a proposal to increase their working hours (i.e. to work 39 hours a week and be paid for 37) in exchange for guaranteeing their jobs until 2020. such situations are likely to become more common in france, as the government wishes, through the new labour law, to give more weight to local agreements at company level than to sector-wide agreements and legal codes, and to encourage the widespread use of company referendums. such local arrangements risk creating the situation described in the film. the film can therefore be understood as a fiction built around a very simple plot line1, which strongly brings to light the implications of the practical application in the workplace of a neoliberal paradigm based on deregulation and individual choice, and the way in which workers may confront it. ! the movie could at first be perceived as conveying a message about individual morality. indeed, the decision each of sandra's colleagues faces can be understood as a moral dilemma which conflicts personal interests with values of solidarity. the movie shows individuals absorbed by a pressing need to earn money, some having to moonlight at weekends to make ends meet; some with materialistic motivations, such as wanting home improvements, to buy new household appliances or a bigger house (such as sandra and her husband, for whom moving back to social housing is out of the question); and some with problems such as an unemployed spouse, debts or school fees to pay. but, m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 124-151! voices two days, one night 127 bénédicte vidaillet institut de recherche en gestion, paris est créteil university, france benedicte.vidaillet@u-pec.fr 1. that is, that, over the weekend following a first round of votes in which her co-workers overwhelmingly opt for her dismissal, sandra attempts to convince each of her colleagues to change their minds and relinquish their own bonuses. beyond the diversity of these individual situations, the movie paints the portrait of an individualized and weakened contemporary subject. the film depicts a range of possible responses, which often affect the workers’ families, to an extremely difficult moral dilemma: from support, avoidance, denial, remorse, ambivalence, and finally to violence. this violence can be direct, in the form of criticism of sandra, for instance for "asking us to give up that bonus we so badly need for our children", or for "taking our bonus from us"; or in the form of a physical attack, when someone attempts to hit her. but it can also be more subtle, as when a coworker disqualifies sandra by mentioning the depression she went through and his doubt as to her ability to work again. ! the series of scenes in which sandra meets with each of her colleagues to ask them what they have decided, does seem to reduce the situation to a direct face-to-face in which one of the two characters necessarily loses something. but each face-to-face interaction also serves as an opportunity for the characters to identify with each other, in terms of the co-worker imagining sandra’s risk of losing her job on the one hand, and sandra’s understanding of her colleague's personal reasons for wanting to receive the bonus on the other. exhortations to "put yourself in my shoes", for instance, punctuate all these sequences, and each party has the same argument: the need for money, either the salary or the bonus. "i'd like you to vote for me; we need my salary", "without my salary, we can't make it", sandra repeats, which meets responses such as: "i can't, i need my bonus". this confinement within a closed-door encounter during which, through a mirror effect, sandra and a co-worker are set up to identify with each other, makes it difficult to condemn their decisions (except in the case of the few who respond malevolently). sandra frequently responds with "i put myself in their place: one thousand euros", "i understand, don't apologize", "that's too bad for me but i understand" when people try to apologize or ask her to "not take it the wrong way". when the reasons given for preferring to receive the bonus are "understandable" and human, the only argument likely to make them change their mind seems to be one of a moral nature, arguments that counterbalance the others based on values of solidarity, which invariably involve some form of sacrifice. ! analysed from this perspective, the movie can be seen as depicting sandra's journey to redemption. the beginning of the movie describes a woman in a state of vulnerability, who relies on drugs to cope, is about to give up everything, including life, but who gradually starts fighting back (beginning with her meetings with co-workers), and in so doing regains health and dignity. initially beset by a feeling of loneliness, she realizes that she is loved and supported by her husband, but also by some colleagues. when sandra’s boss eventually proposes to reinstate her once one colleague (who had voted for her reinstatement in the second round) employed on a short-term basis has completed his contract, she is faced with the same dilemma with which she has relentlessly confronted her colleagues. sandra then makes the decision to leave the company and the final scene shows her beginning her job hunt and moving on. objective vs. subjective violence ! this initial interpretation of the movie might suggest that the only right choice to make when faced with such a dilemma is to choose the option that involves sacrificing oneself in the name of solidarity. the idea being that this selfsacrifice allows subjects to keep their dignity — even if this means losing their money or job — and keeps them from behaving like the bastard the system relies on to survive. the movie can thus be seen to be teaching the ethic of reciprocity: "treat others as you wish to be treated", "do not do to others what you would not want them to do to you". voices two days, one night! m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 124-151 128 but this limited interpretation of two days, one night would not seem to do justice to the dardenne brothers’ work overall. the first of their films that met with international success and recognition, rosetta (1999), portrays a young woman desperate to find a job and a way out of poverty, following a first failure which was the result of an injustice. despite riquet being the only person to have given her comfort and support, rosetta betrays him to his boss in order to get his job. the point of the movie is not to condemn rosetta, but to question the system that causes the characters to go to such lengths. similarly, two days, one night shows the system to create situations in which everybody loses. this “system” is not referred to directly, but is implicated, for instance, in the references to the competitive situation and financial difficulties in which the company finds itself, as well as the pressure the company's management is under. this pressure is passed down to sandra’s colleagues who are forced to make a difficult decision within a short timeframe. the cinematic technique of repeated close ups of characters’ faces during their one-to-one confrontations with sandra conveys the strain of their struggle with this. because sandra's appeal to her co-workers takes place outside working hours (please see gazi islam below for more on this), the fiction of common objectives around work is dissolved, and all that remains is a fight for the job (de gaulejac, 2014). ! one can infer from this analysis that the only way out would be to challenge the rules of the system, by, to begin with, refusing to be placed in this dilemma. although they understand that the rules are unfair, no one directly disputes them. when juliette one of sandra's colleagues, who supports her from the start, calls on the managing director of the company to hold a new vote, she contests the validity of the first poll's results, but not the principle of the vote itself. whatever their ultimate choice, the characters implicitly agree to participate in what philosopher slavoj žižek (2009, p.2) refers to as “objective” violence. objective violence is “systemic”, cannot be attributed to an identifiable agent or agents (e.g. global poverty or the sexism embodied in some habitual forms of language), and exists insidiously and almost invisibly within the system and "the 'normal' state of things" (slavoj žižek 2009, p.2). ! according to žižek (2009), “subjective” violence, however, is more immediate, physical and can easily be attributed to a specific agent (subject) or agents (states, groups, etc). one example of subjective violence in the movie is a fight initiated by a son against his father because he chooses to support sandra. subjective violence produces a sense of horror, revulsion and fascination, and, above all, disrupts a "zero level" of violence. thus, subjective violence is seen to disrupt the normal state of things, whereas objective violence remains within it, and is thus, barely visible or recognizable, while, ironically, simultaneously working to sustain the illusion of the existence of the zero-level. žižek compares objective violence to the "dark matter" of physics, a major constituent of the universe, which seems undetectable but which is the only explanation for certain gravitational effects on visible matter. similarly, objective violence is the only way to make sense of outbreaks of subjective violence which otherwise seem irrational and gratuitous. žižek argues that such violence has, with global capitalism, come to occupy an unprecedented central place in our society. therein resides the fundamental systemic violence of capitalism, much more uncanny than any direct pre-capitalist socio-ideological violence: this violence is no longer attributable to concrete individuals and their ‘evil’ intentions, but is purely ‘objective’, systemic, anonymous. here we encounter the lacanian difference between reality and the real: ‘reality’ is the social reality of the actual people involved in interaction and in the productive processes, while the real is the inexorable ‘abstract’, spectral logic of capital that determines what goes on in social reality. (žižek, 2009, p. 11) m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 124-151! voices two days, one night 129 ! one aspect of the fundamental violence of capitalism is that it creates a social space experienced as "worldless", in the sense meant by alain badiou, which is a space in which the subjects are no longer endowed with the mental representation that helps them make sense of the world they live in. ‘perhaps, it is here that one of the main dangers of capitalism should be located: (...) it sustains a stricto sensu 'worldless' ideological constellation, depriving the large majority of people of any meaningful cognitive mapping. capitalism is the first socio-economic order which detotalizes meaning’ (žižek, 2009, p. 67). capitalism deprives individuals of the cognitive references that could provide a framework of intelligibility. thus, objective violence must be understood as what, within this system, prevents the subject from contesting or actively resisting it (see yoann bazin below). the dardenne brothers' movie shows how the objective violence of capitalism creates an internal struggle between employees in the same team. it creates in them a sense of guilt which they try to justify (–("understand my situation"), or deflect by blaming sandra, who takes on much of the responsibility: "it's my fault; i'm the one who causes this violence ", "it is because of me that they are prepared to get into a fight". the possibility of a political community? ! however, the film seems to outline the beginnings of a possible shift beyond this boxed-in position. first, each of the characters eventually expresses some opposition. sandra, who eventually rejects the rules of the game she initially thought "normal", overcomes her sense of guilt and refers to the responsibilities of her superiors in the matter: "i'm not the one who decided that you would lose your bonus if i stayed"; "it's not my fault that they force you to choose." she overcomes her fear, confronts her foreman and makes him face up to his actions: "you called them on the weekend; you tried to scare them" (it is almost regrettable that she accuses him of being "heartless", because this continues to situate the problem at the level of the subjects' identification with others, of individual choice and subjective violence, rather than at the level of objective violence and political struggle). eventually she opposes her boss altogether by refusing his offer. ! some opposition also emerges among those of sandra's co-workers who publically support her even though the vote is secret. their choice to forgo their anonymity and accept the consequences possibly creates the conditions for the birth of a political community. this is what one of the final scenes, when sandra meets her waiting colleagues in the factory's canteen to say goodbye, seems to suggest. sandra no longer addresses individuals one by one, but faces a group of people who have dealt with a difficult choice in a similar way. this shared experience, which they will always have in common, makes their choice collective, rather than individual, and marks the possible beginning of a community. they no longer face sandra alone, but instead she seems to have been the condition for their coming together, and it is a group that she leaves behind and feels bonded to: "i will never forget what you did for me". the seeds of this outcome can be found in other scenes in the movie. for instance, when sandra's colleague, after being confronted by her, becomes conscious of the need to make choices and stop being a victim, thus decides to leave her husband; and then, when the same colleague unexpectedly offers her support, it inspires sandra to choose to fight for herself. other examples occur when another colleague reminds sandra that she once took the blame for a mistake he had made during his trial period, and when sandra realizes that another colleague is "afraid of jean marc [the foreman], just like me". all these moments posit the possibility of building a human community endowed with selfawareness, made of bonds, relationships, reciprocity, with a common memory and a common history; all conditions for the formation of a political community. voices two days, one night! m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 124-151 130 2. an administrative entity representing the state locally. in this regard — the link between the ability to fight and building a community — two days, one night can be compared to mark herman's movie brassed off (1997). when a group of miners is rendered helpless in the face of the closure of their pit, a prospect which threatens their identity and their sense of belonging to a community, the characters focus on saving their colliery brass band at all costs and participating in a national music competition. while this objective may seem futile in the context of a struggle for the survival of their livelihood, it becomes a symbolic challenge, and while the mine is eventually closed, their community, symbolized by the band they belong to, remains, and this belonging is itself an act of affirmation of their fidelity to their political struggle. as one of the miners puts it, "when there's no hope, only principles remain". in this respect, žižek (1999: 472) notes that fidelity to such principles keeps the political subject, a subject that belongs to a community, in existence. in the dardenne brothers' movie, hope, and the potential creation of a new, symbolic community, stems from the characters' fidelity to the ordeal they go through and to what develops between those who support sandra. those who choose to keep their bonuses, however, are left alone to face a world that remains unchanged for them, and in which there is no possible mediation. ! but another possible outcome can be illustrated by the film directed by gustave kervern and benoît delépine, louise michel (2008). when the workers of a factory in picardy discover with dismay that the factory has been relocated overnight, despite the efforts and concessions they had been making for years, they meet at a local coffee shop and decide to pool their small severance pay to hire a hit man to kill the boss. one of the workers, louise, takes it upon herself to find a suitable professional — michel, who has never actually killed anyone before — and together they set off in search of the unscrupulous boss. but as their adventure unfolds, they discover that the man they have just killed was not the person responsible but merely the executor of a decision made in a company which itself was owned by another company, and so on. this leads them into an endless series of murders. when they identify the “real” boss, hiding in jersey, they appear to have reached the end of their search. but it turns out that this boss is in fact under the thumb of an american pension fund, and so the series of murders continues. ! in this caustic movie, the main theme, which is the difficulty of identifying, and thus resisting, the ultimate source of power and responsibility, goes hand in hand with the reactions this causes: initial acceptance, resignation and apathy, which give way to a form of violence which, because it remains non symbolized, can become radicalized and directed towards all those who, at some time or other, have played a part — inadvertently or not — in the system. this subjective violence, terrifying and visible, emanates from the objective violence of the system, which had been invisible and is suddenly revealed for what it is. ! although this is a fictional case, the gap between fiction and reality may not be that narrow. for instance, in france and other countries, recent outbreaks of anger and violence have followed sudden announcements of factory closures or mass layoffs. a human resources director of air france once had his shirt ripped off his back, for example, and there was an explosion of violence in 2009 when some employees of a continental plant in france heard that a court of justice had rejected their request for the suspension of the plant closure procedure, which resulted in the immediate destruction of the sous-préfecture2. in the years prior to this outbreak, the factory's employees and trade unions had made a number of concessions and accepted significant pay cuts in the hope of saving the site. as in the louise michel film, the ultimate outbreak of destructive violence was the outcome of a long period of acceptance of and participation in the system. the sense of having been fooled, and of being personally affected, can generate a level of anger that can no longer be mediated or controlled. it is as though the objective violence (žižek, 1999, 2009) which for years was directed from within m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 124-151! voices two days, one night 131 the system is transferred to the employees themselves. what will the two days, one night employees who choose to sacrifice sandra for their bonus do when their turn comes around? references dardenne, j.p. & dardenne, l. (1999), rosetta, arp selection, belgium. de gaulejac, v., (2014), la lutte des places, paris: desclée de brouwer. herman, m., (1997), brassed off, channel four films, uk. kervern, g. & delépine b., (2008), louise-michel, france. žižek , s., (1999), le sujet qui fâche, paris: flammarion. voices two days, one night! m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 124-151 132 hélène picard em lyon business school, oce research center, drmmost, paris-dauphine university picardhelene1@gmail.com two days, one night and the measure of a man subjective struggles in the contemporary world of work: fighting for what? caught up in the competitive gears / small employees full of sparkles and glints / often are more insane than the rules themselves. so, if competition never ceases to tease you / come on, let us remain as humane as we can. one gets exploited / one exploits in turn / this world turns us into small-time tormentors. rocé1 “we put up a good fight, didn’t we? i am content2.” sandra (played by marion cotillard), two days, one night (j-p. & l. dardenne, 2014) ! in the movie two days, one night, the main character, sandra, works for solwall, a belgian solar panels factory. returning after almost a year-long sick leave, it is unclear whether she will be allowed to keep her job. the factory manager delegates responsibility for this decision to her colleagues, who must vote either to give up their annual €1000 bonus so that sandra can keep her job, or to lay her off and keep their bonuses. in the first poll, the majority vote against sandra’s reintegration. yet, because of suspicions that jean-marc, the plant’s foreman, pressurized people before the first vote, a second is to be held on the coming monday. the focus of the film is, then, on the weekend, during which sandra tries to meet face-to-face with each of her colleagues to convince them to switch their vote. ! beyond this simple plot, the first few minutes of the film begin to raise questions, particularly apparent in the dialogue between sandra and her husband, that go on to structure the narrative. such questions first arise during an argument with her husband, after sandra receives a call from her colleague juliette who wants to head back to the factory that friday night to get the manager to agree to a second vote. for sandra, still fighting to recover from her long depression, to learn that all but two of her colleagues have voted against her is tough news and she wants to give up: “they would rather have their bonus, it’s normal”. her husband, however, sees things differently: “no, it isn’t normal. the only way to stop crying is to fight. you have to fight this”, he says. this raises questions about what can be considered “normal”, or rather legitimate about the dilemma that this pretence of a democratic vote presents. what is the nature of the fight that sandra “has to” fight? how will she be able to justify this fight to herself and particularly to the colleagues that she will try to convince to give up their €1000 (close to a month’s salary) bonuses, so that she can keep her job? finally, what has sandra’s struggle really been about as we see her walking away from the factory at the end of the film, telling her husband on the phone: “we put up a good fight… i am happy”? ! the film stimulates a critical reflection on the stakes of such subjective m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 124-151! voices two days, one night 133 1. this extract is my own translation of lyrics from the song “  de pauvres petits bourreaux” (poor small-time tormentors), by rocé, from the album l’etre humain et le réverbère, 2010: “pris dans l’engrenage concurrentiel / les petits employés plein d’étincelles / sont souvent plus démentiels que les règles elles-mêmes. /alors, si la concurrence ne cessent de vous tendre / allons, gardons d’humain le peu que l’on pourra défendre. / on se fait exploiter / on exploite à nouveau / ce monde fait de nous de pauvres petits bourreaux.” 2. all quotations of dialogue from the film have been translated by the author. “fights”, giving us an inside perspective on the difficulties of connecting to one’s other. however, some scenes of infra-collective, or even individual, resistance, raise the issue of what the potentialities and resources of “togetherness” might be for this shaken collective. relying on a psychoanalytical framework referred to jacques lacan’s work, i will study the fight led by sandra, focusing on its subjective and intersubjective implications. the perspective taken here allows me to question the hurdles that need to be overcome in order for people to move on from the scattered, subjective fights of the individual, to organized collective resistance as political action (see yoann bazin’s contribution on this matter, below). the limitations restricting this move are linked to the “objective violence” inherent in the contemporary world of work (see bénédicte vidaillet’s contribution on this matter, above). this perspective will also highlight how face-to-face, joint presence in speech may help to subvert the dominant, market-economy-driven logic in intersubjective encounters. ! to enrich this reflection, i will compare it to another film, the measure of a man, by stéphane brizé, released in 2015, which, although painting a much darker picture, also focuses on the narrative of a vulnerable worker looking to secure his situation. the main character, thierry, is a former specialist worker who is fired as a result of restructuring. we follow him in his fight, a succession of confrontations where his value as a subject and as a worker is constantly put to the test, whether it be by an employment agency worker or by the management of the supermarket that hires him as a security guard. ! one particularly striking scene shows thierry joining his former co-workers at a café, where they try to convince him and each other of the necessity to carry on the struggle and bring their bosses to trial, so that the abuse they have suffered and the injustice of their redundancy can be acknowledged. yet, pushed to react by his mates, thierry says he “merely” wants to find a new job, and “put all of this [the redundancy, the trial] behind”. his stake is “merely” to gain back a measure of his own dignity by securing a job which will enable him to support his family, and this seems to be incompatible with a more collective form of engagement and struggle. ! in sandra’s, as in thierry’s, narrative, the tension between subjective and (infra) social struggles raises questions particularly pertinent to the conditions and the seeming fragility of the connections that the most precarious of workers can forge (standing, 2011). moreover, the staged face-to-face interactions bring into question the ability of workers to open up and listen to the other’s speech, as well as their capacity to inscribe their dialogue in a shared symbolic dimension, beyond relations of opposition and hyper-local negotiation. a fight “for oneself”, at what cost? ! at first, sandra’s battle in two days, one night is exposed in straightforward terms: the point being to save her job, her income, and the material living conditions her income guarantees (meaning, for sandra, being able to meet her mortgage payments and avoid, at all costs, returning to social housing). these are the points she systematically brings forward in her discussions with her co-workers: “my job… vote for me… what about my income…”, while recognizing their implications for the others: “… to make you lose your bonus”. furthermore, a rumour spread by jean-marc suggests that if sandra stays someone else will be laid off, which means they risk both bonus and job. the dilemma is thus framed as a binary opposition: either “her or me”. still, as sandra eventually realizes, the rules of the vote are not her responsibility. it is dumont, the plant’s manager, forcing her colleagues to make this decision under the pretence of a democratic process, which deprives the subjects of the space and time to discuss and deliberate together through intersubjective speech. the vote, thus, appears to have taken place in a tense atmosphere, voices two days, one night! m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 124-151 134 loaded with rumour and suspicion of sandra, who has returned from her illness to “take our bonus from us”. lacanian interpretation: pretence democracy, binary oppositions and “imaginary” dynamics ! a lacanian framework allows us to interpret the dual logic as “(s)he or i”, and to reflect further on the consequences of such an ersatz democratic process, which is preventing intersubjective encounter. lacan, returning to freud’s foundations, introduces an original understanding of human subjectivity as “divided”, in order to stress the difference between the (conscious) ego and the subject (as an effect of the unconscious). thus, the ego is expressed in the conscious, “official” discourse of people. it is moved by their impulses, wishes and needs, and is driven toward the securing of certain objects and images. for instance, in pursuing the accumulation of consumer goods or social prestige, the ego strives to stabilize a coherent image of the self in order to give satisfaction to others by presenting them with this stable “identity” (this, thus, repeats the processes of the “mirror stage” of child development and the “imaginary” order) (lacan, 2006: 75-81). what is more, such ego discourse is an objectifying and instrumental language, aiming for exactness rather than truth, as can be observed of modern information systems (faÿ, 2008).in turn, the “subject” (s) is referred to the desire of the other, meaning that it depends on what happens in the unconscious. the other is “the locus from which the question of his existence arises for him” (lacan, 2006: 459). thus lacan develops the concept of a subjectivity founded “elsewhere” than in the sole images or identifications of the ego (lacan, 2006 : 197-267), in a founding act of division that marks the exit from imaginary duality and the entry into the “symbolic” dimension that is marked by the third presence of radical alterity, that of the big other. ! speech, open to the language of the unconscious (as “discourse of the other”), bears its effects in the speaking subject, the parlêtre (speaking being). that is why lacan can state that entry into the symbolic order prevents the subject from being trapped in a binary, instrumental, imaginary relation to a little other, in which he or she might be indefinitely looking for “confirmation”. going back to the issues involved in the sham democratic vote, although it appears to give a voice to the employees, it actually immediately closes any speech outcomes that might provide an alternative to the binary, oppositional logic of “sandra or me” or “her job or my money”. likewise, for sandra, the stakes are binary: “them or me”. this same binary logic leads us to analyze the psychic dynamics that lead the solwall workers to retreat into the imaginary position in discourse. ! the (imaginary) discourse of economic exactness is introduced by the plant manager at the very beginning of the film, when he justifies the need to cut a job or cancel bonuses because of global competition. such are the market laws (la loi du marché (market law) also being the french title of the measure of a man) that dictate the terms of human exchanges, following the model of pure and perfect competition, thereby preventing the advent of intersubjectivity as borne by living speech. ! this analysis can also be applied to the measure of a man in order to interpret the construction of face-to-face confrontations that thierry goes through during his months of job seeking. the director, stéphane brizé, films the face-toface encounters in long and static close up shots rather than using a more dynamic, “shot reverse shot” technique. this effectively emphasizes the polarisation of the interlocutors’ discourses and the isolation of subjective speech faced with the (objectified) “criteria” and “expectations” of the other party of the dialogue. human relations are thus revealed to be reduced to a trade, a negotiation, in which everyone is trying to subjugate the other. m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 124-151! voices two days, one night 135 ! violence then, is not, solely, that perpetrated by the dominant (the plant manager, executive director, foreman) against the dominated actor (the jobless, precarious, short-term salaried worker). these films show the widespread violence of human relations governed by liberal capitalist precepts, and of interactions which are first and foremost conducted through the objectifying, instrumental and imaginary dimension of language. in this world, maybe all individuals will eventually find themselves in the position of acting as “small time tormentors” (rocé). ! furthermore, the main characters in both films face expectations that the “new spirit of capitalism” brings to bear on salaried workers as individuals and subjects (boltanski & chiapello, 2005) through the image of the “new ideal man  (sic)” (sennett, 2006). this “ideal” figure is a subversive entrepreneur (boltanski & chiapello, 2005; žižek, 1999), creative to the point of constantly reinventing their own identity, seemingly maintaining control of their own destiny and even their own happiness, for which they are perpetually competing with their fellows (cederström & grassman, 2010). by claiming that each individual is responsible for their own destiny, for who and what they are, and what they present as their identity (as entrepreneur, consumer, etc.), this “new spirit” effectively distracts people from making any analysis of or dissenting from the social and the political (ibid.). social and psychic consequences of a retreat into the imaginary: violence and discipline ! i will now examine the way in which such violence is displayed, and how it surfaces in the embodied interactions performed in two days, one night and the measure of a man. i will analyse the symptoms of a retreat into the imaginary position, as structured by the dispositive of generalized competition and precarization of the contemporary world of work. ! in the confrontations staged by the dardenne brothers in two days, one night, violence at first translates into silent hostility, typically when sandra shows up at her colleagues’ residence. for instance, she is not invited in, her colleagues appear to step back in hesitation and to just want to get the discussion over with as quickly as possible. one co-worker she was close to, nadine, even pretends to be absent and refuses to talk to her. ! this urge to make one’s counterpart, (or “little other”), disappear as fast as possible, culminates in physical violence. a brawl is sparked between a father and his son who are repairing a car when sandra visits them. “this violence is because of me… and i want to punch them too…” says sandra, caught up in the net of a fantasy of disposing of the little others who get in her way. fantasy is itself on the side of the imaginary, operating in the form of a narrative structure, an ideal scenario opposing the promise of a recovered unity in fusion and jouissance, to a disaster scenario (glynos, 2008). in sandra’s case, the ideal scenario may be one in which the angry co-workers disappear so that the bonus dilemma is solved. ! organizational psychoanalysis sheds light on such dynamics, suggesting in particular that a subject’s retreat into the imaginary order will tend to reinforce the disciplinary effects of managerial control (roberts, 2005). indeed, the imaginary relation is at the core of power/control dynamics because individuals seek an, illusory, objective image of themselves (notably, through complying with the expectations of the “ideal”, obedient and committed employee), and place themselves in a position of dependence on the confirming gaze of an other (little other). this dynamic can be interpreted, for instance, in the case of the colleague that sandra meets outside his local pub. given the current situation, he says, it is time for him to work twice as hard, to accept whatever extra hours might come his way, and since he can perform better than the weak and sick sandra, she is even more dispensable. voices two days, one night! m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 124-151 136 3. in this regard, vidaillet (2013) suggests that the general application (with very little questioning) of individual, sometimes anonymous (as with some forms of 360° appraisal), feedback appraisal in company and job evaluations, allows the expression of unconscious forms of sadism, particularly because the symbolic frames that gave the professional appraiser a distinct, and thus independent, role have been abandoned in favour of a posture of “all-appraisers”. ! the colonization of human relations by the economic logic of exactness is conveyed in both films through the staging of incessant appraisal situations: who is worth what exactly? past experiences are discounted, and everyone is authorized, and even encouraged (in a vote, in the collective assessment of a job interview, etc.), to evaluate the individual (professional as well as personal) worth of others. ! this, notably, leads to one of the roughest scenes in the measure of a man, which takes place during some training of unemployed workers. participants have to assess thierry’s filmed performance in a mock job interview. the naked violence and almost sadistic3, destructive criticism — “well, he does not make me want to hire him”, “it doesn’t look like he wants that job!”, “i would not trust him… he should smile more” — that each seem to indulge in highlights the absence of solidarity between subjects, despite the fact that they all take this same test. ! in two days, one night, as sandra confronts her colleagues, she tries to provide justification for deserving to keep her job: she is cured, fit for work and as competitive as before; she is worth as much as those who, as her colleague puts it, “have really worked hard to get their bonus”. the workers are trapped in an imaginary pursuit of some sort of validation, of elusive and illusory evidence of their worth, and, ultimately, of domination of the others (vidaillet, 2013). as a potential employer asks thierry: “how far are you willing to go?” the fight to meet the others in speech ! the dardenne brothers’ film, and, notably, the most intimate scenes that take place between sandra and her husband at home, does, however, allow a second interpretation of the fight that is being fought. ! for sandra keeping her job, and, perhaps even more importantly, for her to be supported by her co-workers to that end, represents confirmation of her existence. for instance, sandra says in the opening section after learning that only two of her colleagues have voted in her favour: “i don’t exist, no one thought of me”. such an existential stake can be interpreted when sandra participates in open and careful listening to others, as this provides her with confirmation of her own subjectivity, which the first vote deprived her of. thus, while the measure of a man offers a compelling case in support of the “dead men working” notion of the contemporary work environment (cederstrom & fleming, 2012) and leaves little room for hope for solidarity at work, two days, one night conveys a more nuanced depiction, which includes the possibility of the emergence of localized spaces for, and instances of intersubjective speech, which allow people to relate to their other in difference, as opposed to only through imaginary modes (such as fusion or opposition). opening breaches: speech, face-to-face encounters and subversion of the economic logic of exactness ! “when they see you, they won’t be able to think only of their bonus”, sandra’s husband argues. what does in fact happen when the characters see each other face-to-face, when they enter in relation as parlêtres? two moments in particular illustrate a subversion, an overturning of the objectifying discourse of exactness: when sandra goes to meet timour who is training the local little league soccer team on a sunny saturday afternoon, and later when she meets alphonse at the laundromat as night falls on sunday. ! useful here is the lacanian notion that the division of the subject is related to the distinction between “language” (discourse, the domain of conscious expression) and “speech” (which refers to the unconscious and the discourse of the big other). i refer here to lacan’s formulation of the “function and field of language and speech in psychoanalysis” in which he argues for a return to freud, m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 124-151! voices two days, one night 137 notably in order to understand the centrality of language and the function of speech (2006: 197-267). this conceptualization underlines the type of relation that is established between me and an other individual, or many individuals, in dialogue: “there is no speech without a response” (lacan, 2006: 206). ! such understanding of speech is unmistakeably intersubjective (frie, 1997; vanheule, lievrouw, & verhaeghe, 2003). the parlêtre makes “the gift of speech” by speaking to his or her other, a “you”, who in turn has the power to recognize the speaking subject through listening and responding: “finally, the speech value of a language is gauged by the inter subjectivity of the ‘we’ it takes on” (lacan, 2006: 247). only by acknowledging that “i” cannot know everything of the other, or of myself, that “all” meaning cannot be assigned (because an unconscious dimension always remains), can “i” then come into relation with an other, through speech. ! in spite of binary dynamics, subjects maintain a capacity to reach out to others. “something” (unexpected, unintended) might still happen in intersubjective speech and through embodied affect, such as occurs in the encounters between sandra and her colleagues timour and alphonse as they carry on their more personal weekend tasks (see gazi islam, below, for an exploration of that weekend temporality). the very fact that these events take place “behind the scenes” (of daily, supervised work) may facilitate something happening in the speech encounter, that subverts the economic logic of the (work) “contract” that defines behaviours and interactions a priori (chaumon, 2004). ! both alphonse and timour remember, in turn, that sandra had previously protected them by taking the blame for mistakes they had made in their early weeks on the assembly line. such moments, in which sandra acted according to her own personal ethics and contrary to managerial instructions (to monitor and control individual performance), could be interpreted as moments of free, interpersonal solidarity. in remembering such moments, the two characters seem to find the resources to mobilize themselves against the binary choice enforced on them, to overcome the fear induced by the law of the market and the continually underlying threat of precariousness. ! moreover, these dialogues allow for subjects to know “something” of their unconscious desire, through shared (embodied) speech, or in lacan’s words, to perceive “a little truth” on which they can then build their existence. for sandra, these encounters allow her to connect to the other, as different from her but not as an obstruction (to her reinstatement), and also to (re)connect to herself, to her subjective truth. this is manifest in the final dialogue when sandra finds the strength to say no to her boss, to refuse the binary opposition that is again given as the only option (either her or her colleague on the short-term contract). ! beyond sandra’s subjective itinerary, the dardennes’s work shows how a collective act of resistance might emerge, through a local struggle for solidarity — in which, notably, the first act of resistance is the individual “no” vote. indeed, the group thus formed in solidarity only gets together at the very end of the film, while waiting for sandra after the final vote. what appears to have emerged is a fraternal collective, almost the reverse image of the collective aggression in the mock job interview in the measure of a man. such determination to be together marks the emergence of a “we”, formed through the intersubjective dialogues in which the words exchanged have taken on speech value and allowed for the expression of the other’s desire for togetherness. but then what…? reflecting on contemporary fights and subjective struggles at work ! the ending of the film invites us to reflect on the scope of the symbolic bond established within the community of solwall’s workers during the course of voices two days, one night! m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 124-151 138 4. “personnellement j’aimerais bien passer à autre chose  ! moi, je pense que… pour ma santé… mentale, je préfère tirer un trait. passer à autre chose. est-ce que tu peux entendre ça  ? est-ce que ça fait de moi un lâche ?!” thierry (v. lindon), la loi du marché, 2015 5.http://elpais.com/elpais/2016/01/19/inenglish/ 1453208692_424660.html the two days and one night. could a collective capacity of (political) action emerge from this togetherness, or would it be limited to a mosaic of individual, subjective experiences momentarily aggregated around that monday morning vote, and the (albeit important) refusal of the established rules of the game? ! in the measure of a man, this issue is highlighted in a dialogue between thierry and his former colleagues, who have also been laid off for economic reasons. as a trial to get compensation for this unjust lay off is about to take place, thierry says that he no longer wishes to be involved in the fight. thierry subjectively experiences the struggle as too painful and no longer finds it relevant to his current concern — which is, plain and simple, to find a job, “at whatever cost”: “personally i would like to move on! i just, for me… i think that… for my mental health… i would rather let it go. move on. ! can you hear this? does this make me a coward?!” ! (thierry, the measure of a man, 2015)4 ! some recent comments come to mind here, notably those of zygmunt bauman5 who raises the difficulty of rooting contemporary struggles in more permanent forms of political action, beyond the fleeting mobilizations of local, and online, communities. this tension is explored further in yoann bazin’s piece in this issue, below. references brizé, s. (2015). la loi du marché, diaphana distribution boltanski, l. & chiapello, e. (1999). le nouvel esprit du capitalisme, paris  gallimard cederström, c. & fleming, p. (2012). dead man working, london: john hunt publishing dardenne, j.p. & l. (2014). deux jours, une nuit, diaphana distribution faÿ, e. (2004). information, parole et délibération  : l’entreprise et la question de l’homme, québec: presses de l’université laval lacan, j. (2006). ecrits  : the first complete edition in english (translated by bruce fink), new york; ny : w. w. norton & company moutout, j.m. (2004). violence des échanges en milieu tempéré, les films du losange/ roberts, j. (2005). the power of the 'imaginary' in disciplinary processes, organization, 12(5) : 619-642 rocé. (2010). de pauvres petits bourreaux, extrait de l’album l’être humain et le réverbère, big cheese records sennett, r. (1998). the corosion of character: the personal consequences of work in the new capitalism, new york, ny: w. w. norton & company standing, g. (2011). the precariat: the new dangerous class, london : bloomsbury academic vidaillet, b. (2013). evaluez-moi! evaluation au travail: les resorts d’une fascination. paris: seuil. m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 124-151! voices two days, one night 139 http://elpais.com/elpais/2016/01/19/inenglish/1453208692_424660.html http://elpais.com/elpais/2016/01/19/inenglish/1453208692_424660.html http://elpais.com/elpais/2016/01/19/inenglish/1453208692_424660.html http://elpais.com/elpais/2016/01/19/inenglish/1453208692_424660.html http://elpais.com/elpais/2016/01/19/inenglish/1453208692_424660.html http://elpais.com/elpais/2016/01/19/inenglish/1453208692_424660.html http://elpais.com/elpais/2016/01/19/inenglish/1453208692_424660.html http://elpais.com/elpais/2016/01/19/inenglish/1453208692_424660.html http://elpais.com/elpais/2016/01/19/inenglish/1453208692_424660.html http://elpais.com/elpais/2016/01/19/inenglish/1453208692_424660.html why don’t employees collectively rebel against organizational injustice? ! the dardenne brothers’ movie two days, one night can be understood as the story of an injustice of which all the actors are acutely aware, but against which none of them knows how to actually rebel. whether they intend to vote to receive a €1000 bonus or for maintaining sandra in her position, few are at ease with a decision they have to make within the frame imposed by dumont, their boss. all through the movie they doubt and argue, they apologize and find excuses, they get annoyed, angry or sad, but in the end they do not challenge the authority, or even question the frame. ! the questions i would like to tackle, then, are: what drives men and women not to rebel when faced with such an obvious injustice? if they did wish to, how could solwall’s employees protest against the authority of the boss who imposes such a situation? why, beyond individual protests and frustrations, can they not build a collective opposition? ! to answer these questions i draw on nicolini’s (2009) methods for studying organizational practices, and zoom in and then out on sandra’s situation. in the following section, i start by focusing on the individual emotions and dilemmas of solwall’s employees by referring to the many studies conducted in psychosociology on rebellion and protest. i then examine the more collective issues of workers’ mobilization in the literature on social movements. i conclude on the sad acknowledgment of the infinite difficulty encountered by outraged individuals facing an authority against which they try to rebel. why do(n’t) men and women rebel? ! for a long time now, sociologists and political scholars have studied matters of collective action and social movements (davies, 1971; olson, 1965; tilly, 1975). a classic reference in this literature is ted gurr’s book, why men rebel (gurr, 1970), which grounds protests in psycho-sociology, and more precisely in actors’ frustration and aggressiveness. gurr’s theories have initiated a stream of research trying to understand the variables and thresholds of protest around one main question: at which point do men and women come to rebel? rebellion is not simply triggered by any, however intense, feelings of frustration or pain. indeed, many variables, acceptance of exploitation in submission to authority (zinn, 1968) or social dominance (sidanius & pratto, 1999), for instance, can limit it. one of the most studied variables in the academic literature is the impact of system-justifying discourse on actors’ mobilization (jackman, 1994; jost & banaji, 1994; kluegel & smith, 1986). scholars of this perspective focus on “the manner in which consensually endorsed system-justifying ideologies (or legitimizing myths) contribute to the stability of oppressive and hierarchically organized social relations among groups” (jost & sidanius, 2004: 11). ! jost et al. (2012) study the effects of system justification, group identification, collective emotions and uncertainty salience on protest, and, more precisely, on disruptive and non-disruptive forms of protest. these variables clearly echo the situations presented in two days, one night: solidarity and cohesion among employees (or lack thereof), frustrations, sadness, fear and anger, hierarchical pressure and domination, discussions and arguments between sandra and her colleagues. one of the issues studied by jost et al. (2012) at the centre of the movie is uncertainty salience, which manifests itself in the precariousness and voices two days, one night! m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 124-151 140 yoann bazin istec y.bazin@istec.fr vulnerability of the employees’ situations, and consequently in their need for the €1000 bonus, and their fear of the future (inside and outside of the company). when willy tells sandra that he is going to think about voting for her, his wife instantly gets annoyed and aggressive: “there is nothing to think about! (…) i wish we could help you, but i’m unemployed since february. and without the pavement that we recuperate and sell we cannot make ends meet”. moreover, system justification or submission to an authority figure provide a substantial decrease in uncertainty, even if the near future remains unclear. in this context, rebellion and protest would trigger risk and unpredictability (jost & hunyady, 2005), whereas authority, stereotypes and justifying discourses bring a sense of order and structure (calogero & jost, 2011). ! two trends can be seen in the exchanges between sandra and her colleagues: they are afraid of the consequences of the vote and, more importantly, they do not seem to feel a sense of belonging to a collective. mireille – but if i vote for you, i lose my bonus. sandra – i’m not the one who decided that mireille – it’s not me either… the others agree to lose their bonus? (…) juliette it’s easy for her (…) me, i can’t afford it ! the first trend clearly relates to uncertainty salience, the second is rooted in the issue of group identification. members of a group with which they strongly identify are more likely to engage in protest and rebellion (abrams, 1992; simon & klandermans, 2001). moreover, strong emotions, such as anger, if shared in a group, significantly reinforce collective movements (martin, scully & levitt, 1990; van zomeren, postmes & spears, 2008). ! in the movie, the emotional reactions of actors tend to conflict. their respective frustrations trigger a potential for rebellion, but the salience of their uncertainty weakens it. moreover, the fact that sandra has to meet her colleagues one by one during the weekend adds an important variable. indeed, these face-to-face meetings are symptomatic of an individualization of employees in solwall, a phenomenon that actually happens in many corporations, and which renders the emergence of a collective reaction particularly difficult. gazi islam offers, below, a detailed analysis of the temporality of two days, one night (workweek vs. weekend) and of its consequences on the relationships between actors. ! the model offered by jost & al. (2012) (see fig. 1) can help us represent, analytically, the situation in which sandra and the other employees of solwall find themselves in jean-pierre and luc dardenne’s movie. ! uncertainty salience could reinforce system justification rhetoric, but in that case, the lack of any reflexive or analytical discourse would just maintain actors in their emotional reactions. moreover, the lack of cohesion (or “ingroup identification”) among the workers’ collective triggers two main dynamics: (1) a low ability to consider and organize any form of protest, and (2) a tendency to protest in a non-disruptive manner, meaning in ways that do not really question the frame from within which injustice and frustration emerge. in that case, the vote imposed by dumont that aims to transfer the responsibility of the decision to his employees remains unchallenged. every time sandra mentions that the situation is not her fault, her colleagues annoyingly remind her that it is not theirs either. ! however, these psycho-sociological considerations remain limited by their focus on mainly individual emotions and dilemmas. consequently, after having zoomed in on the actors, i shall now zoom out and try to account for the absence of collective organization or protest. studies of social movements provide a powerful conceptual framework for this. m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 124-151! voices two days, one night 141 figure 1. adaptation of the path model illustrating the effects of assignment to the system rejection (vs. control) condition on system justification, ingroup identification, anger and willingness to protest by jost et al (2012: 205) what are the conditions necessary for a collective protest to emerge? ! following sandra’s personal trajectory, two days, one night can also be seen as the story of the failure of a social movement; the story of one that could, but does not emerge. according to neveu (2005: 10), social movements are “concerted forms of collective action supporting a cause”. more broadly, they have also been seen as collective enterprises aiming at asserting “new public values” (ganz, 2010: 1) and establishing new orders of life (blumer, 1946). in the movie, however, the order does not change; it does not even come close to being challenged. but what, then, is missing in the case of solwall that prevents a social movement, even a local and limited one, to emerge? ! a social movement is partly built on the identification of an adversary or something to be against, which is often unclear and changing, but helps to structure a collective protest (neveu, 2005). the fluidity of this “against” allows actors with potentially very different understandings, values and emotions to come together. to understand this phenomenon, gurr (1970) builds on the concept of “relative frustration”. it is defined by a state of tension, an expected or desired satisfaction, the absence or denial of which triggers a potential for discontent, anger and even violence. it is relative because it depends on a comparison, and is therefore contingent on the social contexts and norms that define systems of expectation. from then on, the key question becomes at which point does the conjunction of individual frustrations turn into collective action. ! it becomes obvious, when one sees kader, nadine and timour, or when one witnesses the violence of yvon’s son toward his own father, that the frustrations of solwall’s employees are extremely high. almost no one defends the company and dumont’s decision, or even appears slightly satisfied with their situation. as a matter of fact, timour bursts into tears when sandra comes to see him: timour – i’m so happy you came. since yesterday i feel guilty to have voted for my bonus. i’m so sorry sandra – don’t apologize, i can understand… 1,000€… timour – no. i’m ashamed. voices two days, one night! m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 124-151 142 ! what, then, is missing from these individual frustrations that stops them from triggering a collective action? according to the academic literature on social movements, the threshold is generally reached through the emergence of a discourse that “tells the story” (ganz, 2010) and gives sense to lived experiences, and through organizations that channel and frame emotions toward resource mobilization (mccarthy & zald, 1977). ! discourse can transform a crowd of frustrated actors in a social movement by giving them a shared identity, a collective dimension. as neveu (2005: 100) explains: “in their study of a pacifist mobilization in a small town near amsterdam, klandermans and oegema (1987) revealed the strategic dimension of the ‘political work’ of diffusing an explanatory and normative discourse. they offer, in particular, to decompose any social movement in two sequences. [the first is] consensus mobilization, [which] relies on this activity of propaganda. through an activist work – posters, meetings, flyers -, it aims at diffusing a point of view on the world, the ‘problem’ at hand, and at constituting an audience favourable to the defended cause. it is only once this in-depth work is achieved that a ‘mobilization of action’ [as the second sequence] can occur”. ! in two days, one night, there is a chronic lack of structuring discourses that could characterize the injustice of sandra’s situation. what we are witnessing instead is individual discussions, personal stories and trajectories that are expressed, influence each other, and sometimes clash. actors remain focused on local emotions and individual frustrations in the face of injustice. there is very little distance in the discussions and negotiations between sandra and her colleagues. even the justifications of their situations, or of the “system”, to use the vocabulary of psycho-sociology, tend not to include mention of any social, managerial or political frames of reference. their collective inertia is all the more important for the fact that a crucial element of social movements remains absent from the movie: the organization. ! indeed, discourse, as powerful and unifying as it can be, is not sufficient. discourses accumulate without necessarily leading to directed or effective action. however, when coupled with an organization (political party, union, ngo, etc.), a social movement can make better progress. tilly (1986) understands the regularities in the many forms of the organized actions of social movements to be variations around “repertories of collective action”. to stake their claims, actors can be inspired by pre-existing, more or less codified, but unevenly accessible patterns of protesting actions. depending on the context and specifics of the organization, marches, demonstrations, public meetings and strikes are the classic institutionalized forms of demand, with infinite variations and innovations: press campaigns, lobbying, happenings, gatherings, occupations, etc. ! the chronic absence of any “political” discourse in two days, one night can be understood through the symptomatic, and yet discrete, absence of workers’ unions, employees’ representatives, or even mere references to labour law (bénédicte vidaillet comments relevantly, above, on the legal aberration of such a situation). discourse in the film remains partly personal because solwall’s employees do not have any wider external references that could be provided by social movement organizations. where unions eventually recuperate frustrations, and sometimes manipulate them, they also provide the opportunity to escape the trap of individualization. ! a study conducted by gamson (1975) on 53 social movements in the us shows the essential role of their organizations in terms of efficiency and success. consequently, the anglo-saxon academic literature tends to focus on social movement organizations (mccarthy & zald, 1977), and organizations have thus become the conceptual basis used to analyze and account for the way in which social movements structure groups, discourse and resource mobilization. ! from this perspective, two days, one night is the story of a social movement that does not happen. but there seems to be a close, latent potential m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 124-151! voices two days, one night 143 in the suffering and frustrations of sandra, of course, but also miguel and yvon’s son. hélène picard (above), relevantly underlines the binary oppositions (“me or them”, “her or my bonus”) that haunt sandra and her colleagues. yet, a collective reaction does not occur. and it cannot, partly because solwall’s employees lack the very resources, rhetorical and organizational, that would allow them to gather, think of themselves as a collective and thus act together. the absence of “political consciousness”, linked to a chronic lack of political references and any kind of organization, fundamentally limits their ability to escape the narrow context in which dumont has them trapped. concluding on a dead end ! sadly, sandra’s situation is far from exceptional. the emotions and frustrations of solwall’s employees are painfully mundane and unfortunately constitute the actual day-to-day life of many people. injustice, in corporations and in society, is an integral part of our lives and does not always trigger indignation, let alone mobilization. some may not warrant it, but some injustices are not acceptable. the question that then remains, and that two days, one night asks, is essential: if we need to, will we be able to face and deal with these injustices together, as a collective? and, if so, how can we prepare ourselves? ! the movie can be seen as a story of personal emancipation: sandra recovering part of her freedom. i choose here to understand it as the failure of a collective action. the dardenne brothers show us the painful difficulty, and somehow the inability, of actors to gather and unite; not only to protest, but simply to be united in order not to be alone. sandra’s colleagues are not responsible for the situation in which their boss has put her. as willy says when she goes to him: “i didn’t vote against you, i voted for my bonus. dumont connected the two, not me”. but does this mean they are totally unaccountable for the situation? ! social movements, whatever their form, are counter-powers, by definition misaligned with, if not opposed to, the context from which they emerge. they can be political or union led, as well as spontaneous and independent. and they are not necessarily revolutionary. but they have to be collective by essence. their force and necessity lie there, this is what the dardenne brothers shed light on. while they also illustrate how difficult collective movements can be, they perfectly demonstrate the extent to which renouncing the collective and accepting individualization can be a dangerous dead end, not only for the rights, but also for the survival of the employee. references abrams, d. (1992). processes of social identification. in g. breakwell (ed.) the social psychology of the selfconcept (pp. 57-100) london, uk: academic press. blumer, h. (1946). collective behavior. in a. m. lee (ed.) a new outline of the principles of sociology. new york, ny: barnes & noble. calogero, r. m., & jost, j. t. (2011). self-subjugation among women: exposure to sexist ideology, selfobjectification, and the protective function of the need to avoid closure. journal of personality and social psychology, 100(2), 211. davies, j. c. (1971) why men revolt and why. new york, ny : free press. gamson, w. a. (1975) the strategy of social protest. homewood, la: dorsey. g a n z , m . ( 2 0 1 0 ) . l e a d i n g c h a n g e : l e a d e r s h i p , organization, and social movements. handbook of leadership theory and practice, 19. gurr, t. r. (1970). why men rebel princeton. nj: princeton university. jackman, m. r. (1994). the velvet glove: paternalism and conflict in gender, class, and race relations, los angeles, ca: university of california press. jost, j. t., & banaji, m. r. (1994). the role of stereotyping in system-justification and the production of false consciousness. british journal of social psychology, 33(1), 1-27. jost, j. t., & hunyady, o. (2005). antecedents and consequences of system-justifying ideologies. current directions in psychological science, 14(5), 260-265. jost, j. t., & sidanius, j. (2004). political psychology: key readings, new york, ny: psychology press. voices two days, one night! m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 124-151 144 jost, j. t., chaikalis-petritsis, v., abrams, d., sidanius, j., van der toorn, j., & bratt, c. (2012). why men (and women) do and don’t rebel effects of system justification on willingness to protest. personality and social psychology bulletin, 38(2), 197-208. klandermans, b., & oegema, d. (1987). potentials, networks, motivations, and barriers: steps towards p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n s o c i a l m o v e m e n t s . a m e r i c a n sociological review, 52(4), 519-531. kluegel, j. r., & smith, e. r. (1986). beliefs about inequality: americans' views of what is and what ought to be, new york, ny: transaction publishers. martin, j., scully, m., & levitt, b. (1990). injustice and the legitimation of revolution: damning the past, excusing the present, and neglecting the future. journal of personality and social psychology, 59(2), 281. mccarthy, j. d., & zald, m. n. (1977). resource mobilization and social movements: a partial theory. american journal of sociology, 82(6), 1212-1241. neveu, e. (2005). sociologie des mouvements sociaux. paris : la découverte. nicolini, d. (2009). zooming in and out: studying practices by switching theoretical lenses and trailing connections. organization studies, 30(12), 1391-1418. olson, m. (1965). the logic of collective action. cambridge, ma.: harvard university press. sidanius, j. p., & pratto, f. f. (1999). social dominance: an intergroup theory of social hierarchy and oppression. cambridge, ma: cambridge university press. simon, b., & klandermans, b. (2001). politicized collective identity: a social psychological analysis. american psychologist, 56(4), 319. tily, c. (1975) revolution and collective violence. in f. i. greenstein & w. p. nelson (eds), handbook of political science  : macropolitical theory, (vol. 7, pp. 483-555), reading, ma : addison-wesley. tilly, c. (1986). la france conteste: de 1600 à nos jours. paris: fayard. van zomeren, m., postmes, t., & spears, r. (2008). toward an integrative social identity model of collective action: a quantitative research synthesis of three sociopsychological perspectives. psychological bulletin, 134(4), 504. zinn, h. (2002). disobedience and democracy: nine fallacies on law and order (vol. 4), cambridge, ma: south end press. m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 124-151! voices two days, one night 145 weekend as community, consumption and colonization: struggles over liminal time in two days, one night ! with this major shift in the location and working lives of the population came significant changes in lifestyle and consumption—the rise of a new way of life. days and weeks were more clearly delineated into work time and home time…this was, perhaps, the birth of the hallowed “weekend.” (florida, 2010:31) ! work in contemporary society is hidden. work’s products accumulate and fill the spaces of leisure with traces and memories of past labour. yet work, and workers, are both necessary for this accumulation and impossible to imagine through its artefacts. the memory of workers’ efforts haunts consumer products like a premonition or a limit. this invisibility of work, like the modern subject itself, seems to exist outside of time, inhabiting another kind of time than the linear progression of objects that constitute its past. symbolically positioned as the antechamber of subjectivity itself, the body and spirit of the worker are produced and repaired over the weekend. ! the weekend is a liminal, paradoxical space, an ending and a beginning of production, a place where subjects are free to be themselves, yet are faced with the anxiety of empty time to fill and are alienated by the weakening of personal ties. bereft of strong social relations, consumer goods, atomized tokens of individualized work processes, fill the gaps left behind. these objects act as talismans against the social void they obscure, sparing us the trauma of directly facing our lack of solidarity. when the demand to help those near us confronts us in the form of a plea, an accusation, or merely the questioning gaze of a work colleague, we realize we are unprepared to meet this demand. ! a growing discussion is emerging around the relationality of individuals in work contexts, the relational subject, the people of organizations. but what about the time of organizations? if the work week is the space of mundane ethics, the ethics of codes, rules and norms, of responsibilities, then the weekend has its own ethics, the messianic, liminal ethics of the sabbatical, where individuals ritualistically invoke the love behind the law. in the mythical space of work/leisure, if the work week serves for the production of goods, the weekend serves for the reproduction of society. if the work week works on standardized, linear time, the weekend comes to symbolize unstructured spontaneity. these two spheres coconstitute each other, the weekend giving meaning to the work week, which frames and nourishes the weekend. opposed, the two times exist in a tenuous balance. ! i reflect on the timing of work and leisure in response to a certain uneasiness i felt when watching the film two days, one night by jean-pierre and luc dardenne, one saturday afternoon, with the goal of relating the film to contemporary understandings of work and organizations. the prima facie relation was obvious — a film about a firing, a burnout, the roller coaster of contingent work, the theatre of workplace democracy faced with the brutal reality of selfinterest. i combed through the many work-related themes, from the personal to the societal, from anxiety to alienation, searching for the hermeneutic key that would reveal to me the complexities of modern work as portrayed in the film. yet a lingering question remained with me: where is the work in this film? ! i was struck, then, by the ironic fact that the film, a tour de force about working life, takes place almost entirely on the weekend. it was right there in the voices two days, one night! m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 124-151 146 gazi islam grenoble ecole de management, france gislamster@gmail.com title — two days, one night. the movie begins just as the boss is leaving work, drawing us inexorably through a saturday and sunday that seem both endless and exhausting and yet all too quick, and ends at the beginning of the workweek. i was left with the lingering question of why a movie whose focal point is labour relations would so obviously situate the action outside of the temporality of work, even taking the title of those few moments outside of the working week. ! despite the volumes that have been written about the intensification of work and the erosion of leisure, a quick search revealed that the weekend is a largely untheorized domain, perhaps representing an off-limits area where work is considered taboo, or at best a protected space the social status of which has been won through historical struggle and the subsequent erosion of which is a source of nostalgic lamentation. perhaps scholars of work have better things to do on a saturday than write about the weekend. watching a film, however, seemed a legitimate weekend activity, and i felt thus justified in using this film to enter into an exploration of the uses of leisure. whether the film presents a welcome catharsis from the work week, or a trojan horse bringing workplace issues into the leisure sphere, two days, one night seemed to offer an experiment in cinematic representation that was worth exploring. ! it must be said, however, that watching this particular film is far from a leisure activity; a hard film to sit through, it enacts, through its pace, the slow but urgent ticking away toward a moment of confrontation — with one’s own demons, with one’s boss, and most of all with one’s colleagues. each shuffle-step of marion cotillard’s hesitant moments of encounter presents us with the dread of a woman who must face the judgment of her peers, as she demands the reinstatement of a social bond that has long been forgotten. should she be expected to disrupt her colleagues’ hobbies, their shopping and drinking, their moments with their families, to stir up the injustice that they all face? are her demands unfair, or just? as her colleagues ask her over the telephone or as she rings their doorbell – couldn’t this wait until monday? a brief interlude on the weekend: times and divisions ! the weekend is a modern concept, born out of the struggles of nineteenthcentury british workers (walton, 2014). the establishment of the weekend as a limitation of work hours formed part of a larger shaping of work and leisure time that became a distinctive mark of modern society. the “spatio-temporal” ordering of modern life into work and leisure spheres included negotiations about the shape of the weekend and the “disciplining” of labour time (ebrey & cruz, 2014). this division, according to habermas (1981), became an important way of seeing modern life, as reflected in the separate spheres of an economic-productive “system” on the one hand, and a phenomenal “lifeworld” of intersubjective meaning on the other. the former became marked by an ever-increasing demarcation and control of time, as instituted by the imposition and regulation of clocks, whistles and other time-structuring devices, leading to a linear and “rational” approach to time. yet, the cyclical time of “wakes and feasts” (thompson, 1967: 76) was retained on the sabbath, but was also seen as characteristic of archaic tradition, as well as non-western, “pre-industrial” societies (evans-pritchard, 1969). ! the division of time into the linear time of clocks and labour, and the cyclical time of events and festivals, was itself subject to a paradox. labour time was to be increasingly structured and disciplined, while festive time was to be unstructured and based on pleasure and enjoyment. yet the distinction between the two itself rested on a fundamental structuring which constituted both categories. what could unstructured time consist of if it was bound to the structured whole within which it functioned as a catharsis? how can a weekend be leisure if we count down the moments until it is over? no sooner had the m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 124-151! voices two days, one night 147 division between system and lifeworld, between production and meaning, been instituted, than this division began to break down, a process described by habermas (1981) in his discussion of the “colonization of the lifeworld”. ! the paradox of a period of unstructured time existing within a structured work-life system could be explained as an ideological move to mask the nature of leisure as a support for the productive system, by clothing it in a guise of personal and social freedom. if, as laclau (laclau & mouffe, 1985) states, hegemony is the state in which a part of a system masquerades as the whole, then ideology might be characterized by the illusion that a part of the system floats free from, sets limits to, or stands in opposition to the whole. the weekend was a time dedicated to replenishing personal energy, rebuilding family and social bonds, and preparing for the coming week. in other words, if the work week was dedicated to production, the weekend was meant for social reproduction. ! the institution of the weekend allowed workers to “let off steam”, largely through spending the disposable income accumulated through the week on consumption. peggy (2001: 200) describes the alienation of working immigrants, “on the weekends, they go to the mall, where they can choose from a range of products so vast it is almost unimaginable. but work consumes them.” leisure time, far from providing a way to find one’s freedom and enjoy the fruits of one’s labour, becomes an integral part of the work system, supporting increased performance and keeping workers satisfied enough to remain accommodated to their working conditions: ! they are either getting ready to work… working... or recuperating from work (from exhausted weekends and too short vacations to retirement). instead of the divorce of family life and leisure consumption from work we find that most such time is still shaped by work or geared to the reproduction of labor power (cleaver, 2005: 122) the culture of weekend consumerism, far from a countercultural movement, positioned itself as a respite from and not a critique of workplace culture. popular cultural movements progressively relaxed their oppositional stances to emphasize enjoyment and positive experience. as goulding, shankar and elliot (2002) describe the transformation of oppositional cultures in music, “punks, for example, adopted a highly visible and distinct code of dress and ideology which permeated everyday life. in contrast to this, rave, for the majority, is a ‘weekend’ culture of hedonism, sensation and escape.” ! in short, the “right” to the weekend was the right to a world made increasingly meaningless by its inability to locate itself in the production of common values. personal liberty and enjoyment stood in as consolations for the lack of communal and political solidarities, consolations guarded jealously as the traces of an illusory respite from an alienation that became thereby more entrenched. such spaces, soon seen as hedonistic “entitlements”, drained the social and political legitimacy of workers’ movements, which came to be seen as no longer standing for social solidarity but for self-interest. such a situation was ripe for “reform”, and the slow erosion of weekends and other spaces of personal time, half expected, drew systematic protest only from the most stalwart of activist circles. ! contemporary workers often work on weekends. online, on their phones, from home, the barriers between system and habermas’s lifeworld, are becoming increasingly fluid. this reunification has been asymmetrical; work has invaded “life” more than the reverse, despite the proliferation of plush, colourful furniture and casual fridays in many workplaces. yet scholars have noticed that workers are often relaxed and enthusiastic about this reunification, and have taken to their new “entrepreneurial” roles with surprising zeal. perhaps a growing sense of fatalism, a willingness to embrace the new “realities” of the workplace with a pragmatic spirit? perhaps, a case of ideological capture, where discourses of dignity and equality have become eclipsed by messages exalting the free market voices two days, one night! m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 124-151 148 and individual choice? or, perhaps, as suggested above, the division between work and leisure was always wrought by a certain persistent contradiction, a feeling of bad faith in the value of the mini-freedoms recycled and anxiously guarded each weekend, not knowing what to do until freedom magically disappears two days, one night later. if that is the fate of weekends, then perhaps working over the weekend is not such a bad idea … perhaps. but is another kind of work possible? out of time, out of joint ! faced with being rejected by her colleagues, after a divisive and unfair vote set up by her manager, sandra approaches her boss at the last moment on friday, just in time to secure a second vote on monday. reticent to come in, her physical presence is nevertheless necessary, because “once he saw you, it would be impossible to refuse a second vote.” similarly, sandra spends the weekend first telephoning, then physically appearing to face each of her colleagues, one by one, with the proposition/demand/plea that she be “reintegrated” into the social group. ! the small universe sandra traverses feels in the film like an odyssey through different islands of isolated, personal mini-worlds. apartment complexes, corner stores, large, isolated suburban houses, the multicultural, ideologically diverse, class-divided social fabric within which sandra is seeking reintegration seems anything but integrated. as sandra approaches each household, neither she nor the viewer have any idea what may await. she is filled with dread at each encounter, a symptom of the lack of community between the workers. ! sandra has no arguments. she wields no institutional levers, coercive power, legitimate reasons or economic incentives. everything seems to work against her. she simply repeats — will you vote for me? as an interruption of the system of rationality, the weekend would seem a good time in which to make such an irrational demand. largely, however, the weekend has been filled with alternative logics. ! first, some colleagues avoid her encounter, asking her to call back during the week. she struggles with spouses, who seem reluctant to cede yet another moment to a work-related activity. in the first house she visits, a man absorbedly works on his woodwork, too involved and busy, and too cash-strapped to help. after all, they have to pay university fees and cannot forgo the bonus. similarly, a colleague quickly entering her apartment with hands full of shopping bags, dismisses sandra off hand, saying that having left her husband she is forced to purchase all new appliances, television, washing machine, etc. … “everything”. her first sign of support comes from timour, who is coaching a sports team. coming off the field, timour seems relieved to have the chance to change his decision. perhaps not all hobbies are created equal. ! yet, by and large, those who support sandra are those who seem themselves to be wrapped in household conflicts. domestic violence and generational conflict mar the bread and circuses of the weekend, and flare up as sandra appears. as she solicits an older worker washing his car with his son, the man is attacked by the latter as he tries to listen to sandra. injured, with sandra wracked with guilt, he pledges his solidarity. later, ann, an isolated wife in a surreally elevated suburban home, invites her in, but sandra pauses saying “i’d like to but, i have work, uh, i mean, work”, referring to her continued weekend solicitations. ann, wanting to help, fears her husband, who wants to use the money to build onto the terrace. she has to check with him, as he tears her away from the conversation. ultimately, ann breaks free to show her backing for sandra. rather than an inconvenience, these two latter individuals seem themselves to need support and respite from their home lives, and together they build the beginnings of solidarity. m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 124-151! voices two days, one night 149 ! such a basis, however, is insufficient to provide sandra with the final vote. tellingly, the last vote she needs involves a precarious worker, of african origin, who is on a temporary contract. differently than the home life struggles of the other, this conflict centres on work life itself, its temporariness and instability, and the struggle to demonstrate solidarity in the face of one’s own precarity. solidarity for the others had involved supporting a colleague as a respite from home life; for alphonse, the choice is to demonstrate solidarity in sacrifice of one’s own work. yet alphone affirms that he will support her. this decision seems decisive, because ultimately sandra herself is faced with the choice of sacrificing alphonse in order to keep her own job, and it is this that most immediately precipitates her leaving the organization. ! the sequence of encounters sandra passes through leads her through different visions of the weekend: from a time of shopping and hobbies, through an anguished time of domestic strife, and finally to the intersectional shared suffering of workers more marginalized than herself. each of these encounters constitutes an interruption of the normal course of the weekend, as she interrupts the everyday with a question, escaping timidly from her lips but with the ethical force of a demand for a right. some attempt to escape her demand: burdened with their own problems, they plead clemency; drunk and in denial, they become aggressive towards her; too busy to speak, they ask her to come back during the week. but, it seems that those also in a position of suffering are willing to meet her in this moment of disjointed time, to try to set things right. ! in spectres of marx, derrida (1994) uses the theme of disjointed time to interrogate whether it is not exactly in such times of irregularity, of disjointedness, that the search for new forms of society could take place. the break from homogeneous linear time has a mystical quality, one that can be used to ideologically cover the stark reality of material exploitation, and can thus serve powerful interests through a strategic reversal. yet, this break can also open a space of insulation, where the meanings of work, solidarity and collegiality can be remade. rather than “setting time right”, facing the impossibility of the present is a step toward rethinking a just society. just as the performative break of fiction or performance, and the liminal space of the movie theatre can present a circusshow that makes us forget about our travails, or, rather, can confront us with them in a moment when our defences are down, inviting us to recreate our society out of this liminal space. as sandra tries to patch together a social bond between the workers, phone call by agonizing phone call, the dardenne brothers drag us, scene by scene, through the modern wasteland of the non-work world and ask us to whom we will give our solidarity on monday morning. references cleaver, h. (2005) work, value and domination. on the continuing relevance of the marxian labor theory of value in the crisis of the keynesian planner state, the commoner, 10, 115-131. derrida, j. (1994). specters of marx. new york, ny: routledge. ebrey, j. & cruz, s.a. (2014). working at the weekend: supermarket and shopping centre workers in salford/ manchester (uk) and porto (portugal). leisure studies, 33(2), 233-246 evans-pritchard e (1969 [1940]) the nuer: a description of the modes of livelihood and political institutions of a nilotic people. oxford: oxford university press. florida, r. l. (2010). the great reset  : how new ways of living and working drive post-crash prosperity, new tork, ny: harper. goulding, c., shankar, a., & elliott, r. (2002). working weeks, rave weekends: identity fragmentation and the emergence of new communities. consumption markets & culture, 5(4), 261–284. habermas, j. (1981). the theory of communicative action. london: beacon press. laclau, e. & mouffe, c. (1985). hegemony and socialist strategy, towards a radical democratic politics. london: verso. levitt, peggy. 2001. the transnational villagers. berkeley: university of california press. thompson, e. p. (1967) time, work, discipline and industrial capitalism, past and present ,38, 56–97. walton, j.k (2014). from institution to fragmentation: the making and unmaking of the british weekend. leisure studies, 33(2), 202-214. voices two days, one night! m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 124-151 150 www.management-aims.com m@n@gement, vol. 19(2): 124-151! voices two days, one night 151 06 222 unp berkowitz&prideaux&lelong&frey en m@n@gement 2019, vol. 22(2): 297-315 unplugged society management should be above all a societal concern if we want to avoid management practices getting out of control. society is a sub-section of unplugged which aims to publish some provocative essays addressing or renewing our understanding of the relation between society and management. these essays may also highlight theoretical "boundary objects" between society and management or suggest a theoretical perspective to approach new empirical phenomena. the urgency of sustainable ocean studies in management héloïse berkowitz ! margi prideaux ! sarah lelong ! françois frey edited by héloïse berkowitz abstract. seemingly infinite, and above all so far away from our daily worries, the ocean may look like it can put up with all anthropic pressures: plastic, warming, acidification, resources overconsumption, novel entities, biodiversity and habitat loss. but science keeps showing it cannot. there is an urgent need to address these pressures that threaten both natural and human ecosystems. in this context of urgency, it appears crucial to develop sustainable ocean studies, whose keystone could be management science. unfortunately, while natural sciences have largely contributed to our understanding of marine issues and their solutions, management scholars on the contrary have rather neglected the ocean. in this special issue, we focus on the need for sustainable ocean studies through three original highlights: scuba diving, marine wild meat consumption and interdisciplinary ocean research. keywords: ocean, sustainable development, sustainable ocean studies, interdisciplinarity, scuba diving the ocean, an endangered ecosystem forgotten by management studies la mer, leconte de lisle la mer est grise, calme, immense, l'œil vainement en fait le tour. rien ne finit, rien ne commence : ce n'est ni la nuit ni le jour. point de lame à frange d'écume, point d'étoiles au fond de l'air. �297 héloïse berkowitz cnrs tsm research, france heloise.berkowitz@tsm-education.fr margi prideaux oceancare, bern switzerland mprideaux@oceancare.org sarah lelong esprit de velox, la rochelle france sarahl@espritdevelox.org françois frey esprit de velox, la rochelle france francoisf@espritdevelox.org héloïse berkowitz cnrs tsm research, france heloise.berkowitz@tsm-education.fr m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 297-315 héloïse berkowitz & margi prideaux & sarah lelong & françois frey rien ne s'éteint rien ne s'allume : l'espace n'est ni noir ni clair. albatros, pétrels aux cris rudes, marsouins, souffleurs, tout a fui. sur les tranquilles solitudes plane un vague et profond ennui. nulle rumeur, pas une haleine, la lourde coque au lent roulis hors de l'eau terne montre à peine le cuivre de ses flancs polis ; et le long des cages à poules, les hommes de quart, sans rien voir, regardent en songeant, les houles monter, descendre et se mouvoir. mais, vers l'est, une lueur blanche, comme une cendre, un vol léger qui par nappes fines s'épanche, de l'horizon semble émerger. elle nage, pleut, se disperse, s'épanouit de toutes parts, tourbillonne, retombe et verse son diaphane et doux brouillard. un feu pâle luit et déferle la mer frémit, s'ouvre un moment, et dans le ciel couleur de perle la lune monte doucement. a gentle swaying. the sun softly shining on your face. feeling the impatience in the air. the elastic sound of swimsuits being stretched out with effort. the minted smell of toothpaste that you’re carefully putting inside your mask. as a ritual, the tube religiously passes from hand to hand. tasting the salt that the sea has lightly sprayed on your lips. the director moves forward for her briefing. she announces dive teams. duos and groups acknowledge each other. call one another out. divers start shifting places in consequence and the boat is reconfigured. you step over some diving tanks to reach your team. the director describes the diving site’s features. she pulls out some device – a notebook, a small whiteboard, or a slate – on which she has drawn the path to follow and highlighted points of interest. here, a beautiful coral head, there a sloping reef with spirographs. you try to mentally record these underwater points of reference. she reminds everyone about the local regulation; details the current’s direction and strength; describes entry, exit and emergency procedures. parameters of security, profile, depth, maximum immersion time, recommended ascent rate, use of parachutes. when the ritual is over, you complete your equipment. weight belt around the waist. fins. the computer well tied to the arm. one is helping another, someone else lifts the tank to let a fellow kit herself out. security tests. the air is freely flowing, the buoyancy compensator is slowly �298 unpluggedsociety m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 297-315 inflating. you pull the last straps to tighten the jacket. placing the mask on your face. heaviness. discomfort. the heat quickly becomes oppressive. the swimsuit, dry and stiff, prevents you from properly breathing. sweat starts dripping under your neoprene. the boat’s swaying aggravates it all by making you nauseated: the frogman is no longer fit for surface and needs to literally take the plunge. backward roll entry. backward roll outside of the boat, outside of the human space, outside of time, into marine space, into another world. immersion. the hybrid being, which has at last joined the element it longed for, disappears in a bubbly whirlpool. the water enters everywhere, freely circulates in your swimsuit and refreshes you in a welcomed delight. you’re swallowed by the ocean. “all good”, you gesture towards your diving team. and then you begin your controlled free fall into the depths. like an angel gliding over the abysses. ridiculous and clumsy at the surface like a penguin, you become marvelous and agile underwater. years of technological innovations meet in the devices that allow you to conquer this new universe. you check your team, in a constant watch. you’re aware that far from being a triumphant conquest, this dive is just a parenthesis, brief and fabulous, which a wonderful and dangerous ocean has barely granted you. 5 meters. while diving deeper, silence becomes overwhelming as meters are rapidly piling up on your dive computer. being underwater makes you forget about the rest of the world. only remains the majesty of this ocean that seems to be swallowing you, wrapping you, cherishing you to better lure you into the abyss, into oblivion. pressure rises and if you’re not careful, diving speed as well, until you will feel like you are dropping like an elevator towards the bottom of the sea. you need to – pfffft – breathe into your jacket to slow down the inevitable fall and find your balance. 10 meters. after a first feeling of deep silence, your body is getting used to this new environment. it slowly becomes aware of all the noises that fill this so-called “world of silence”. fish feeding. corrals cracking. waves washing over posidonia. team members’ breathing, your own respiration, the disturbing sound that your pressure regulator can sometimes make when temperature decreases and the air has trouble 1 flowing through. are these the only anthropic sounds? hardly so. cavitation around propellers may cover whales’ songs or dolphins’ 2 mocking whistles. pile driving to implement an off-shore wind farm produces underwater acoustic waves that may travel over hundreds of kilometers. air guns that serve for seismic exploration also constitute a source of underwater noise pollution. but please focus on your dive. your swimsuit is compressing your body, keeping the water that flowed in at body temperature. this is a discreet reminder of the water volumes above your head, separating the diver from its human environment – the surface. but can we really consider the ocean as a natural space that escapes the influence of 21st century humans, or “homo detritus”? 20 meters. a glass bottle, covered by moss, maybe inhabited. first evidence of a human colonization operating in the ocean. a sea lion gets close to you, trying to nibble on your gear. this supposedly wild animal is now fully accustomed to humans’ presence. � 299 1. as its name indicates, a pressure regulator helps regulate pressure to allow divers to breathe at whatever depth (and pressure). 2. formation of bubbles around boat propellers due to speed in a liquid. m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 297-315 héloïse berkowitz & margi prideaux & sarah lelong & françois frey source: authors' picture 30 meters. a pathetic green turtle tries to swim away – she has been disturbed by these strange monsters full of rubber and steel and making so many air bubbles. during its growth, the turtle got stuck in a plastic six pack ring, which prevented its shell from normally developing, making it look like an 8. on top of this, the turtle will soon die of hunger due to an intestinal occlusion provoked by the plastic bag it ate, mistaking it for a jelly fish. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=arylgne-jca 40 meters. a wreck. at first sight, nothing dire about it. a magnificent wall of blue and orange gorgonian coral covers the hull. you smile upon seeing a moray eel nonchalantly floating, its head rising from a pipe. but this wreck may be slier than it looks. may it hide something more insidious, such as radioactive waste ? has the mediterranean sea become a wide 3 radioactive graveyard, which epicenter would be located close to italian calabria ? will the mediterranean survive another summer ?4 5 55 meters. the light of the surface barely reaches you at this depth. the “deep blue” is dark, sometimes fraught with particles, sometimes opaque and intense. 55 meters above your head weight about 5.5 liters of water on each cm2 of your skin, which amounts to an absolute pressure of 6,5 bar. at this depth, nitrogen partial pressure is high, following henry’s law. each moment spent underwater aggravates a little your body’s intoxication as it fills up with azote. you are risking a narcosis, which is a more or less extended disruption of the doors of perception. it can be felt as early as 20 or 30 meters and follow a “martini’s law”: for each 10 meters, another martini glass. you could begin to feel highly euphoric or immensely sad. then you would start losing your sense of orientation in �300 3. www.lapresse.ca/environnement/ pollution/200909/18/01-903141-lamediterranee-convertie-en-cimetierede-dechets-toxiques-par-la-mafia.php 4 . s e e t h i s a r t e d o c u m e n t a r y www.arte.tv/fr/videos/062283-000-a/lepoison-de-la-mafia-et-la-loi-du-silence/ 5 . s e e t h i s a r t e d o c u m e n t a r y www.arte.tv/fr/videos/075834-000-a/lamediterranee-va-t-elle-passer-l-ete/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=arylgne-jca http://www.lapresse.ca/environnement/pollution/200909/18/01-903141-la-mediterranee-convertie-en-cimetiere-de-dechets-toxiques-par-la-mafia.php http://www.lapresse.ca/environnement/pollution/200909/18/01-903141-la-mediterranee-convertie-en-cimetiere-de-dechets-toxiques-par-la-mafia.php http://www.lapresse.ca/environnement/pollution/200909/18/01-903141-la-mediterranee-convertie-en-cimetiere-de-dechets-toxiques-par-la-mafia.php https://www.arte.tv/fr/videos/062283-000-a/le-poison-de-la-mafia-et-la-loi-du-silence/ https://www.arte.tv/fr/videos/062283-000-a/le-poison-de-la-mafia-et-la-loi-du-silence/ https://www.arte.tv/fr/videos/075834-000-a/la-mediterranee-va-t-elle-passer-l-ete/ https://www.arte.tv/fr/videos/075834-000-a/la-mediterranee-va-t-elle-passer-l-ete/ http://www.lapresse.ca/environnement/pollution/200909/18/01-903141-la-mediterranee-convertie-en-cimetiere-de-dechets-toxiques-par-la-mafia.php http://www.lapresse.ca/environnement/pollution/200909/18/01-903141-la-mediterranee-convertie-en-cimetiere-de-dechets-toxiques-par-la-mafia.php http://www.lapresse.ca/environnement/pollution/200909/18/01-903141-la-mediterranee-convertie-en-cimetiere-de-dechets-toxiques-par-la-mafia.php https://www.arte.tv/fr/videos/062283-000-a/le-poison-de-la-mafia-et-la-loi-du-silence/ https://www.arte.tv/fr/videos/062283-000-a/le-poison-de-la-mafia-et-la-loi-du-silence/ https://www.arte.tv/fr/videos/075834-000-a/la-mediterranee-va-t-elle-passer-l-ete/ https://www.arte.tv/fr/videos/075834-000-a/la-mediterranee-va-t-elle-passer-l-ete/ unpluggedsociety m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 297-315 space and time, mistaking up for down, thus going deeper while you think you are going back up. if panic takes a hold on you, this drunkenness may briskly drive you to the surface and the tragedy is inevitable: pulmonary barotraumas and decompression accidents are the most frequent risks. 60 meters. that’s the unsurpassable limit of air recreational dive. the deepest point in the oceans is located in the mariana trench, at 11 020 meters. only three humans have explored this deepest point. the ocean covers about 361 million of square kilometers of the earth, i.e. 70,8% of the planet’s surface. truth be told, the ocean remains little known or understood. while the terrestrial surface has been mapped – its mountains, its rivers, flora and fauna, cities, i.e. its oecumene – the bottom of the ocean remains a mystery. we still know relatively little about the abyssal fauna that lives in oceanic ridges, or about phytoplankton blooming and its interconnection with climate change, or effects of ocean acidification. barely 5% of the ocean has been charted and less than 0.05% in high definition. we possess almost no understanding, albeit basic, of the biodiversity in 99% of the marine environment. and it is estimated that still 1 million of species have yet to be discovered. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbecgk-sfxy the complexity of marine ecosystems is such that we only begin to understand the interactions and interdependences that are occurring there, or even the extent of the effects of anthropic pressures. as a matter of fact, any measurement whatsoever becomes increasingly more complex in the ocean than on land or in the air – whether it is about temperature, salinity, acidity, noise. sound for instance does not move in the same way and its propagation varies depending on water parameters. storms, extreme conditions like pressure, salinity or waves, rapidly deteriorate measurement instruments. their maintenance is all the more difficult when they are located far from the coasts. yet, to understand the ocean and to control for stress factors, it is necessary to correctly measure them. but it is not yet possible to scientifically measure or evaluate the cumulative and potentially chain effects of climate change (or tipping points), of pollution (plastic, sound, industrial), and of the loss of biodiversity: models of ocean data science using big data could bring solutions to that but they are only beginning to emerge. the awareness of the ocean’s importance, or ocean literacy, is itself largely emergent. as evidence of this, management science has pointedly ignored the ocean as a research object. if notions of blue economy and blue growth do exist, there is no standardized and internationally accepted methodology to estimate the value of the ocean and the services it provides. yet our lives are deeply connected to the ocean. life appeared in the ocean. ocean feeds us and facilitates trade; it gives us hobbies, trips and discoveries. it never seems out of new resources to provide us with: new fish species, ores, genetic resources, employment… nevertheless, most of the time we live our lives in ignorance of the ocean’s importance, or of the impact of our practices on its health. coastal zones constitute particularly fragile interfaces and display very visible marks of catastrophes: cliffs collapsing, land flooding, soil salinization, and so on. the ocean, because it seems so vast and so far away from us, may seem to resist to all these changes. we would think it is capable of absorbing everything. and indeed, the ocean absorbs 80% of carbon emissions, resulting in an acidification which long term � 301 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbecgk-sfxy m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 297-315 héloïse berkowitz & margi prideaux & sarah lelong & françois frey consequences are unpredictable, both on the environment and our societies. increasingly acid waters threaten species that cannot adapt: from zooplankton in the bottom of the food chain, to fish and mammals at the top of it. ocean warming could accelerate the effects of climate change that we are already experiencing, such as the aggravation of natural catastrophes’ frequency and strength. ice melt is threatening coastal communities, a risk that is increased by warm water dilatation as well. whole ecosystems are threatened, as well as humans that depend of ecosystems’ services, such as protein from seafood, tourism’s revenues, or coastal protection permitted by coral reefs . 6 acidification and ocean warming come at the end of a long list of anthropic pressures. these issues constitute many management problems that concern not only marine industries or coastal communities, but also broader economic actors on the value chain, public powers, multi-level governance actors and citizens in general. plastic pollution threatens biodiversity as well as human and ecosystem’s health. increased maritime shipping, ballast waters or fouling (marine fauna taking over the hull of a boat) all contribute to the dissemination of invasive species. underwater noise pollution from boats, from wind farms’ pile driving or seismic explorations hurt marine fauna. agricultural fertilizers and nutrients draining drive the multiplication of dead zones places where organisms cannot 7 live. overfishing pushes several species on the brink of extinction. fishing practices destroy habitats. nuclear waste pollution condemns entire regions like the mediterranean sea. biopiracy results in marine genetic resources plundering. reflecting upon the principles of a sustainable ocean management is not only a necessity but also an urgency. it requires to move beyond the concepts of blue growth or blue economy. these concepts remain ill-fitted for sustainable ocean management because they consist in a transposition of the same (over)production and (over)consumption systems that have resulted in the threats currently bearing on the ocean. in this issue dedicated to ocean, margi prideaux’s article takes up the task of linking together consumption behaviors and the disappearance of certain wild species, highlighting the responsibility of citizens and institutions in this matter. we need to rethink human communities’ place in relation to the ocean at a local and regional scale, from governance modes to fishing practices, tourism and other resources extraction, in a circular and collaborative approach to the ocean that would take into account ecosystems’ complexities and the interconnectedness of activities and services. developing tools and solutions for sustainable ocean management also requires to dialogue with other disciplines, like marine biology that studies marine fauna behaviors and characteristics, political science that develops new legal framework for high seas, or geography that integrates reflections about space and landscapes. sarah lelong and françois frey describe such an interdisciplinary project: esprit de velox. we need to develop new frameworks and systemically interdisciplinary and integrative research projects to study sustainable ocean management. héloïse berkowitz is a researcher at cnrs (umr5303) and tsmresearch. she has a phd in management from ecole polytechnique and she graduated from sorbonne in history, hec paris in the programme �302 6 . n i p p o n f o u n d a t i o n n e r e u s p r o g r a m . " r e s t o r e d o c e a n w i l l alleviate poverty, provide jobs, and i m p r o v e h e a l t h , fi n d s r e p o r t . " sciencedaily. sciencedaily, 31 may 2017. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/ 2017/05/170531133326.htm. 7. earthobservatory.nasa.gov/iotd/ view.php?id=44677 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/05/170531133326.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/05/170531133326.htm https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/iotd/view.php?id=44677 https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/iotd/view.php?id=44677 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/05/170531133326.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/05/170531133326.htm https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/iotd/view.php?id=44677 https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/iotd/view.php?id=44677 unpluggedsociety m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 297-315 grande ecole and cems alliance in international management. she was a visiting scholar at columbia university, stanford center for ocean solutions, and institut barcelona d’estudis internacionals. her research deals with transitions to sustainability, with a focus on sectoral governance and collective action among organizations (meta-organizations), in various empirical settings from natural resources to collaborative economy or ocean sustainability. her work has been published in the academy of management review, the journal of business ethics and european management review. pleased with the price: europe’s shared responsibility for aquatic wild meat harvest in western africa it’s winter in europe. a woman leans on the cabinet and points to a fish lying on ice behind the frosted window. her warm woollen coat pulled up around her ears is a welcome buffer from the cold of the glass. the fishmonger cheerfully wraps the fish in paper and passes it to her. she’s pleased with the price and contemplates the night’s meal. nearly five thousand kilometres south a young man stands on the prow of a dugout canoe in an inlet near the sea. years ago, it was painted by his uncle in bright reds, blues and yellows, and once braved the waves of the open ocean–carrying the last generation of men who fished for their village. the fish are gone. the day is hot and parched dry. sweat forms on the boy's brow and his toughened bare feet stand on now faded paint. he silently coils his body and readies his spear. with a sharp thrust, it shoots through the air, and thuds into the shape of the manatee that has just surfaced. his aim was true, and blood pools in the shallow water, as he pulls the canoe towards the animal. he’s pleased to survive, today, and contemplates the night’s meal. these stories may appear worlds apart, but they are tied together by a third entity, the fishing vessel that can be seen on the distant horizon from where the young man now stands–a ship that is part of a fleet that has strip-mined the traditional fishing grounds of his once proud and selfsufficient community. a vessel that sells its fish into the european market through a series of loopholes and slights so that european consumers can be pleased with the price. the right to food security to have food to feed your family, to have the security of knowing where your next meal will come from, to know your children are nourished and can thrive, is surely the most basic of our universal human rights, and the fundamental principle of food security. within the safety and buffer of our wealthy, developed world cities it’s common to take these rights for granted. judgements are effortless, from the ignorance and lofty distance of the developed world, about actions taken for sheer survival in other parts of the world. heads and hearts shake at the cruelty of someone killing a wild animal for food. the judgement is hollow and fails to recognise how linked the developed world is to the problem–how we share the responsibility for the problem and its solution. jacob vakkayil (2017) opened his m@n@gement article with the bare truth that indigenous people currently live in some of the poorest and � 303 margi prideaux oceancare, bern switzerland mprideaux@oceancare.org m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 297-315 héloïse berkowitz & margi prideaux & sarah lelong & françois frey the most vulnerable communities in the world. marginalized by colonialism and subsequent state-building efforts, traditional and indigenous communities suffer alienation from their land and sea rights. often, corporations have moved in, provoking enduring conflicts. their communities face discrimination in established socio-economic systems, and even well-intentioned efforts such as those aimed at sustainable development do not always work to their advantage. generations of these societies, in west and central africa, south and southeast asia, the pacific islands and around latin and central america, have harvested meat from the forest and fish from the sea, instead of farming livestock for their nutritional needs. this harvest has long been called wild meat or bushmeat (hoffman & cawthorn, 2012). wild meat is most often defined as any non-domesticated terrestrial wildlife– mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians–that have been harvested for food, medicine or other traditional uses. very often wild meat is locally traded for income or to access other goods needed by the community (milner-gulland & bennett, 2003; nasi et al., 2008). much of this traditional practice has survived colonialism, yet as the forest empties and fish stocks decline, communities have turned to hunting additional species from rivers, estuaries and the sea. for hundreds of years, wild meat consumption was likely sustainable, but community displacement by mining, oil drilling, commercial forestry, palm oil plantations and foreign fisheries, as well as localised population growth, has tipped the balance. forced into marginal regions, community dependence on meat from the forest has increased (milnergulland & bennett, 2003). low disposable incomes of many people reliant on wild meat (hoffman & cawthorn, 2012) and the limited capacity of many governments to import food to fulfil the protein requirements of their citizens make alternative meat sources unviable. this new ‘aquatic wild meat’ of dolphins and porpoises, dugong and manatee, turtles, crocodiles and even seabirds is proliferating and should be included in all policy discussions about wild meat sustainability and management. as a consequence, wild meat harvesting has become a significant and immediate threat to the future of wildlife in many regions (milner-gulland & bennett, 2003; van vliet, 2011; van vliet & mbazza, 2011). governments have responded by declaring the hunting of certain wildlife illegal, but this has not stopped the hunts. people need to eat. instead, it has driven the activity underground and spawned an illicit network trading. while numerous factors can lead to the unsustainable harvest of wild meat, nasi and colleagues (2008) provide a useful grouping of six different categories: 1. ecological factors: the number of animals that can be harvested sustainably is limited in the first place by their biological supply (production) and the continuing availability of habitat. 2. demographic factors: increases in human population density lead to increased pressure on wild meat resources. 3. technological factors: changes in traditional hunting and fishing practices through the use of improved hunting technology (e.g., shotguns, flashlights, outboard motors) increase pressure on wild meat resources. 4. cultural factors: hunting of wild meat and the use of wildlife artefacts remain integral parts of cultural heritage, closely linked to social status, or believed to provide special or ‘magic’ forces, maintaining demand for various types of wildlife products. �304 unpluggedsociety m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 297-315 5. economic factors: remaining, relatively undisturbed habitats become ‘frontier zones’, because of low forest land value and easy access. this situation leads to the degradation of the forests and the wildlife found within them. 6. institutional and governance factors: insufficient attention to the role of wild meat as an important contributor of local livelihoods by development agencies, non-governmental, inter-governmental organisations and national governments contributes to unsustainable hunting. this paper focuses on the economic factors surrounding the rise and mismanagement of aquatic wild meat harvests. food security is being undermined by the ‘frontier zone’ attitude of distant fishing fleets. local communities are turning the aquatic wild meat to supplement their protein sources, and in so doing are opening themselves to zoonosis (diseases transmitted between humans and animals) and pollutants. there is a link between fish stock decline and aquatic wild meat growth, but the research is rarely combined, rendering the cause and effect less visible. undermining food security in western africa overfishing in the world’s oceans is at the centre of a crisis of sustainability and nowhere is that crisis more visible than in western africa. in this region, fish resources represent up to fifty percent of the total food supply (watson & brashares, 2004). in the gulf of guinea, over nine million people are dependent directly or indirectly on the fisheries sector for income (okafor-yarwood, 2017). while the importance of these fisheries is generally well-documented, safeguarding their availability for communities is often overlooked in regulatory frameworks and development assistance (nasi et al., 2008). the harvest of fisheries is grossly imbalanced towards distant water fleets who export the fish from the region. nigeria, guinea-bissau, ghana, guinea, and senegal rely on fisheries for foreign direct investments as they seek to generate millions of dollars through exports, license fees, and a fisheries’ partnership agreements with distant water fishing nations such as those in the european union (eu), and other countries like china, south korea and russia (belhabib et al., 2015; okafor-yarwood, 2017; standing, 2017). as a consequence, distant water industrial fishing vessels from europe, china and japan already out-perform local artisanal fishers by at least 20:1. the rapid expansion of foreign fishing in african waters has simultaneously caused declining availability of fish in local markets. it is also driving several species towards extinction while jeopardising the livelihoods of artisanal fishing communities across a broad group of countries, including senegal, ghana, sierra leone, liberia and mauritania. traditional rural and remote communities have been alienated from aquatic resources they should rightfully control, manage and benefit from. this is an acute problem with many of the fisheries partnership agreements signed between western african governments and europe. funding and access, rather than communities, have been the priorities (antonova, 2016; belhabib et al., 2015; gegout, 2016; kaczynski & fluharty, 2002). in essence, distant water fishing nations sanction their own fishing vessels to continue this unbalanced harvest. if all distant water fishing was legal and monitored, the issue might be quickly resolved. in reality, illegal fishing amounts to the equivalent of 65 percent of the legal reported catch. offences of distant water fleets include fishing without a license, fishing in protected areas, using banned fishing � 305 m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 297-315 héloïse berkowitz & margi prideaux & sarah lelong & françois frey gear, catching beyond limits, or catching protected species, also have a severe impact on small-scale communities. this is compounded by criminality in africa’s own commercial fishing industry (belhabib et al., 2014; doumbouya et al., 2017; okafor-yarwood, 2017; standing, 2017). illegal, unreported, and unregulated (iuu) fish catch comes into the market as either transhipment at sea, in port and in controlled harbours near to shore. the eu has regulations to control fish being loaded onto reefers (deep freeze factory ships) requiring tracking and establishing the legality of the catch, but transhipments at sea can make it harder for port authorities or the flag authorities to monitor how by whom and where transferred fish were caught. daniels and colleagues (2016) estimated that reefers transported a total of 142,471 mt of fish out of western africa in 2013. they further determined that most of the remaining eighty-four percent of fish transported from western africa was exported in refrigerated containers. container vessels are exempt from inspection and, in fact, eu regulation explicitly excludes container vessels from the scope of the definition of fishing vessels. for the eu and the international community, illegal catch profiting in end markets contributes to maintaining illicit activity. supporting west and central african governments to prohibit transhipments at sea, following the leadership of senegal and côte d’ivoire, and supporting west and central african authorities to allow transhipments under carefully monitored conditions where reefers cannot be accommodated are essential steps for europe to make. vessels and operators that violate this ban should be added to a blacklist to prevent repeated offences and to deter non-compliance. europe’s leadership could then pressure other distant water fishing nations to follow their example. europe should also work to close the iuu container loophole in eu regulations. container ships carrying fish should be subject to the same scrutiny and reporting requirements as reefers and fishing vessels, requiring container ships to inform port authorities of their intention to unload their catch several days ahead of their arrival and to fully disclose and document details of their catch. the new aquatic wild meat harvest people who depend on wild protein will substitute wild fish and wild meat for one another as the need arises. this means that a decline in one wild resource tends to drive up unsustainable exploitation of the other (nasi et al., 2008). using thirty years of data from ghana to link mammal declines to wild meat trade, brashares and colleagues (2004; 2011) have made the firm connection that years of inadequate fish supply coincide with increased hunting in nature reserves and sharp declines in biomass of forty-one wildlife species. local market data provide evidence of a direct link between fish supply and subsequent wild meat demand in villages (brashares et al., 2004). the correlation between overfishing and aquatic mammal and bird hunting has more recently been established around the gulf of guinea, including ghana, côte d'ivoire, guinea, nigeria, cameroon, são tomé, and togo (carvalho et al., 2015; de boer et al., 2016; van waerebeek et al., 2015; van waerebeek et al., 2017). the link is clear. the decline of fisheries resource throughout the region, caused by iuu and overfishing, is driving wild meat demand. the convention on migratory species (cms) aquatic mammals working group presented a summary of the known extent of aquatic wild meat harvest to the cms scientific council in early 2016 and again in 2017 (aquatic mammals working group, 2016, 2017). the working group detailed at least twenty countries across west and central africa where �306 unpluggedsociety m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 297-315 west african manatees (trichechus senegalensis) are hunted for food and other uses, and provided evidence of the use of small cetaceans in most countries in the region. in ghana alone sixteen cetacean species are caught and over a thousand animals landed each year, including clymene dolphins (stenella clymene), pantropical spotted dolphins (stenella attenuata), melon-headed whales (peponocephala electra) and common bottlenose dolphins (tursiops truncatus), short-finned pilot whales (globicephala macrorhynchus), a long-beaked form of common dolphin (delphinus sp.) and rough-toothed dolphins (steno bredanensis). consumption of dolphin meat is now known in togo, benin, cameroon and nigeria. smoked dolphin meat is traded as far away as northern togo, burkina faso, niger and mali. through these examples, the working group gave a picture of the scale of the problem. reports reveal alarming growth. fifteen years ago the volume of the terrestrial wild meat trade in west and central africa was thought to be between one and five million tonnes per year. at this time, in gabon, wild meat accounted for more than half of meat sold in local markets, with a value of us$50 million. in 2014 researchers estimated terrestrial wild meat consumption had grown to around five million tonnes for the congo basin alone. aquatic wild meat consumption is likely growing at a proportionate rate, and in many areas is driving localised extinctions (aquatic mammals working group, 2016, 2017). threats to human health consuming aquatic wild meat not only risks wildlife but human health as well, spreading serious diseases from animals to humans (zoonosis). the association between infectious diseases and terrestrial wild meat trade is well established in the research community. traders and meat preparers are more at risk zoonotic pathogens compared to those that primarily engaged in bushmeat/wild meat hunting (subramanian, 2012). exposure to foodborne pathogens, such as trichinella spp., toxoplasma gondii, salmonella and leptospira spp. also, mycoplasma spp. parapoxvirus and mycobacterium spp. are risked during handling of marine mammals and marine mammal products (tryland et al., 2014). the consumption of raw or undercooked pinniped or cetacean meat has resulted in bacterial (e.g. salmonellosis and botulism) and parasitic (trichinellosis and toxoplasmosis) diseases in humans (tryland et al., 2014; van bressem et al., 2009). similarly, biological risks associated with the consumption of products from wild reptile meat and eggs (turtles and crocodiles) include infections caused by bacteria (salmonella spp., vibrio spp.), parasites (spirometra, trichinella, gnathostoma, pentastomids), as well as intoxications by biotoxins. for crocodiles, salmonella spp. constitutes a significant public health risk due to the high intestinal carrier rate which is reflected in an equally high contamination rate in their fresh and frozen meat (magnino et al., 2009). moreover, many marine species carry heavy contaminant burdens. persistent organic pollutants (pops) – such as organochlorine pesticides (ocps), polychlorinated biphenyls (pcbs), and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (pbdes) – and heavy metals have been reported in sea turtles at various stages of their life cycle. these levels have been shown to exceed international food safety standards and could result in toxic effects including neurotoxicity, kidney disease, liver cancer, and developmental effects in foetuses and children (aguilar et al., 2002; aguirre et al., 2006; � 307 m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 297-315 héloïse berkowitz & margi prideaux & sarah lelong & françois frey aquatic mammals working group, 2017; van de merwe et al., 2009; warwick et al., 2013). international focus falling short the ripple effect of the consumer in europe (or elsewhere in the world) seeking competitively priced fish, rather than sustainably sourced produce, impacts whole communities in western africa. this problem can only be tackled by looking at the wider economic and institutional context within which such hunting occurs. this can only happen if the economic factors surrounding the rise and mismanagement of aquatic wild meat harvests are addressed, including acknowledging shared responsibility. to date, the issue has gained some traction in biodiversity-related international processes. in 2008, the conference of the parties (cop) to the convention on biological diversity (cbd) identified the unsustainable hunting of wild meat, and its effect on non-target species, as a priority to be addressed by parties (decision ix/5). based on articles 10(c) on customary sustainable use rights, and 8(j) on traditional ecological knowledge, the cbd has sought to incorporate the cultural, nutritional, medicinal and economic values of wild meat for indigenous people in any strategy to reduce the ecological impact of hunting. in october 2009, the cbd liaison group on bushmeat held its first meeting and elaborated national and international recommendations towards the sustainable use of bushmeat, based on information contained in cbd technical series no. 33, conservation and use of wildlife-based resources: the bushmeat crisis. the collaborative partnership on sustainable wildlife management was established in 2012 by cbd, cms, convention on international trade in endangered species of wild fauna and flora (cites) and un food and agricultural organisation (fao) as well as research and knowledge organisations. cbd cop12 (2014) endorsed a draft action plan and agreed to progress analysis of the impacts of subsistence use of wildlife on the survival and regeneration of wild species (aquatic mammals working group, 2017). specific to western africa, the abidjan convention cop12 (2017) considered the direct consumption and other uses of endangered, threatened or protected coastal and marine species and invited international multilateral environment agreements, civil society, and donors to develop an abidjan convention action plan to combat trade, direct consumption, illegal logging, and other uses of endangered, threatened or protected coastal and marine species, for consideration at abc cop13 in 2020 (abidjan convention, 2017). key among the action plan priorities will be how to address aquatic wild meat in the region. cms cop12 (2017) also addressed this issue, recognizing aquatic wild meat as a significant and immediate threat to at least 33 cms-listed aquatic species– cetaceans, sirenians, turtles, and crocodiles. they established the new cross-taxa aquatic wild meat working group within the structure of the cms scientific council, to build an online repository of papers and other information (knowledge base) on aquatic wild meat relating to cms-listed cetaceans, sirenians, turtles, and crocodiles; share information with other international bodies; and input aquatic wild meat information to the abidjan convention endangered, threatened or protected coastal and marine species action plan; and serve as an expert resource for cms parties and the cms secretariat about aquatic wild meat issues (convention on migratory species, 2017). these are all critical steps and provide robust recognition of the problem, but the agencies and actors directly involved in the economics of �308 unpluggedsociety m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 297-315 overfishing have not been engaged to date. fisheries management agencies of western africa and the distant water fishing nations have not considered the cause and effect link between massive fisheries resource extraction from the region to serve markets in europe and asia, and the overharvest of aquatic mammals, reptiles and birds driving localised extinctions. nor have these agencies considered the ripple effect of iuu fishing in compounding the problem for coastal communities and local wildlife now targeted by hungry people. instead, there is an air of accusation that emanates from civil society in europe and elsewhere in the developed world that responsibility lies with western african environment agency failures to crack down on illegal hunting and local trade. europe’s debt of responsibility europe has an obligation to the people and wildlife of western africa to reduce its legal and illegal fisheries impact in the region. the eu must recognise its responsibility for driving greater wild meat demand, through the significant legal and illegal fisheries harvests from the region, destined for the european market. as a significant fisheries extractor from this region, europe should ensure that activities regulated by the eu do not negatively impact local community efforts. europe should support west and central african authorities to prohibit transhipments at sea and to monitor conditions where reefers cannot be accommodated. europe should close the iuu container loophole in eu regulations. importantly, european consumers should be educated about the real cost of the cheap fish they buy from western africa. it is possible to make a significant and equitable impact on the problem of wild meat and the wellbeing of the people of the region if there is the political will to do so. being pleased with the price is a failure of responsibility. *** this paper has been commissioned by oceancare. *** references abidjan convention (2017), cp 12/14: illegal trade, illicit trafficking, consumption and other uses of protected, endangered and/or vulnerable marine and coastal fauna and flora conference of parties to the convention for cooperation in the protection, management and development of the marine and coastal environment of the atlantic coast of the west, central and southern africa region, abidjan abidjan convention. aguilar, a., borrell, a. & reijnders, pjh. (2002), geographical and temporal variation in levels of organochlorine contaminants in marine mammals. marine environmental research, 53(5), 425-52. aguirre, a. alonso, gardner, susan c., marsh, jesse c., delgado, stephen g., limpus, colin j. & nichols, wallace j. (2006), hazards associated with the consumption of sea turtle meat and eggs: a review for health care workers and the general public. ecohealth, 3(3), 141-53. antonova, anna s. (2016), the rhetoric of “responsible fishing”: notions of human rights and sustainability i n t h e e u r o p e a n u n i o n ' s b i l a t e r a l fi s h i n g agreements with developing states. marine policy, 70, 77-84. aquatic mammals working group (2016), unep/cms/ scc-sc1/doc.10.2.2: aquatic bushmeat, bonn: 1st meeting of the sessional committee of the cms scientific council. aquatic mammals working group (2017), unep/cms/ cop12/doc.24.2.3/rev.1: aquatic wild meat, bonn: 2nd meeting of the sessional committee of the cms scientific council. belhabib, d., koutob, v., sall, a., lam, vwy. & pauly, d. (2014), fisheries catch misreporting and its implications: the case of senegal. fisheries research, 151, 1-11. � 309 m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 297-315 héloïse berkowitz & margi prideaux & sarah lelong & françois frey belhabib, d., sumaila, ur., lam, vwy., zeller, d., le billon, p., abou kane, e. & pauly, d. (2015), euros vs. yuan: comparing european and chinese fishing access in west africa, plos one, 10 (3), e0118351. brashares, js., golden, cd., weinbaum, kz., barrett, cb. & okello, gv. (2011), economic and geographic drivers of wildlife consumption in rural africa. proceedings of the national academy of sciences, 108(34), 13931-36. brashares, js., arcese, p., sam, mk., coppolillo, pb., sinclair, are. & balmford, a. (2004), bushmeat hunting, wildlife declines, and fish supply in west africa. science, 306(5699), 1180-1183. carvalho, m., rego, f., palmeirim, jm. & fa, je. (2015), wild meat consumption on são tomé island, west africa: implications for conservation and local livelihoods. ecology and society, 20(3). convention on migratory species (2017), unep/cms/ cop12/resolution 12.15: aquatic wild meat, bonn: 12th convention on migratory species conference of the parties. daniels, a., gutiérrez, m., fanjul, g., guereña, a., matheson, i. & watkins, k. (2016), western africa’s missing fish: the impacts of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and under-reporting catches by foreign fleets, london: overseas development institute. de boer, mn., saulino, jt., van waerebeek, k. & aarts, g. (2016), under pressure: cetaceans and fisheries co-occurrence off the coasts of ghana and côte d'ivoire (gulf of guinea). frontiers in marine science, 3(178). doumbouya, a., camara, ot., mamie, j, intchama, jf., jarra, a., ceesay, s., guèye, a., ndiaye, d., beibou, e., padilla, a. & belhabib, d. (2017), assessing the effectiveness of monitoring control and surveillance of illegal fishing: the case of west africa. frontiers in marine science, 4(50). gegout, c. (2016), unethical power europe? something fishy about eu trade and development policies. third world quarterly, 37(12), 2192-2210. hoffman, lc. & cawthorn, dm (2012), what is the role and contribution of meat from wildlife in providing high quality protein for consumption. animal frontiers, 2(4), 40-53. kaczynski, vm. & fluharty, dl. (2002), european policies in west africa: who benefits from fisheries agreements? marine policy, 26(2), 75-93. magnino, s., colin, p., dei-cas, e., madsen, m., mclauchlin, j., nöckler, k., maradona, m. p., tsigarida, e., vanopdenbosch, e. & van peteghem, c. (2009), biological risks associated with consumption of reptile products. international journal of food microbiology, 134(3), 163-175. milner-gulland, e. j. & bennett, e. l. (2003), wild meat: the bigger picture. trends in ecology & evolution, 18(7), 351-357. nasi, r., brown, d., wilkie, d., bennett, e., tutin, c., v a n to l , g . & c h r i s t o p h e r s e n , t. ( 2 0 0 8 ) , conservation and use of wildlife-based resources: the bushmeat crisis. technical series no. 33, montreal: secretariat of the convention on biological diversity and center for international forestry research (cifor). okafor-yarwood, i. (2019), illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, and the complexities of the sustainable development goals (sdgs) for countries in the gulf of guinea. marine policy, in press, 99, 414-422. standing, a (2017), criminality in africa’s fishing industry: a threat to human security. africa security briefs, 33(1). subramanian, m. (2012), zoonotic disease risk and the bushmeat trade: assessing awareness among hunters and traders in sierra leone. ecohealth, 9 (4), 471-482. tryland, m., nesbakken, t., robertson, l., grahek‐ ogden, d. & lunestad, bt. (2014), human pathogens in marine mammal meat–a northern perspective. zoonoses and public health, 61(6), 377-394. vakkayil, j. (2017), resistance and integration: w o r k i n g w i t h c a p i t a l i s m a t i t s f r i n g e s . m@n@gement 20(4), 394-417. van bressem, mf., raga, ja., di guardo, g., jepson, pd., duignan, pj., siebert, u., barrett, t., santos, mco., moreno, ib., siciliano, s., aguilar, a. & van waerebeek, k. (2009), emerging infectious diseases in cetaceans worldwide and the possible role of environmental stressors. diseases of aquatic organisms, 86, 143-157. van de merwe, jp., hodge, m., olszowy, ha., whittier, jm., ibrahim, k. & lee, sy. (2009), chemical contamination of green turtle (chelonia mydas) eggs in peninsular malaysia: implications for conservation and public health. environmental health perspectives, 117(9), 1397-1401. van vliet, n. (2011), livelihood alternatives for the unsustainable use of bushmeat: secretariat of the convention on biological diversity. van vliet, n. & mbazza, p. (2011), recognizing the multiple reasons for bushmeat consumption in urban areas: a necessary step toward the sustainable use of wildlife for food in central africa. human dimensions of wildlife, 16(1), 45-54. van waerebeek, k., uwagbae, m., segniagbeto, g., bamy, il. & ayissi, i. (2015), new records of atlantic humpback dolphin in guinea, nigeria, cameroon and togo underscore fisheries pressure and generalised marine bushmeat demand. biorxiv, (2015 jan 1:035337). van waerebeek, k., uwagbae, m., segniagbeto, g., bamy, il & ayissi, i. (2017), new records of atlantic humpback dolphin (sousa teuszii) in guinea, nigeria, cameroon and togo underscore pressure from fisheries and marine bushmeat demand. revue d'écologie, n°2. warwick, c., arena, pc. & steedman, c. (2013), health implications associated with exposure to farmed and wild sea turtles. jrsm short reports, 4(1), 1-7. watson, i. & brashares, j. (2004), the bushmeat trade and fishing licence agreements in west africa., odi wildlife policy briefing, 4.
 �310 unpluggedsociety m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 297-315 margi prideaux, ph.d., an international wildlife policy specialist, has been involved in policy relating to international species conservation, regional agreement development, protected areas and the role of global civil society in international diplomacy for more than 25 years. interdisciplinarity, vital for a renaissance ©the esprit de velox programme i am a human being independent and a part of an unlimited system, my balances swing between infinities and cooperation that engender life. i face the challenges my endangered species has to take. i pledge to further my ancestors’ oldest thoughts and to quickly produce a renewed contract with the world that allows my existence. i am roughly 55 litres of salt water. i am a drop of the ocean, on earth. i feel like i’m connected. in another reality, i am built with a hundred thousand billion cells, which host themselves three to ten times other cells, alien organisms, as much alive as interdependent. without this community, i do not exist. from another point of view, i can become an incredible assemblage of trillions and trillions of atoms, some of which are as ancient as the universe. i feel like being a connected and constantly renewed world, living in a connected and constantly renewed envelope. unique, changing and ephemeral edifice, i am definitely my edifice. each of my atoms spins its own trajectory ... so i may look like a river, running in the rain that feeds it over and over. i feel like being this river that grows bigger rivers. i am a living system. organic fractal of larger systems to which i contribute, and to which i am deeply bound... i cannot see nor completely understand them. i feel like being concurrently all these realities, dimensions and connections. yet, neither any of the scientist’s vision, nor the artist’s, the engineer’s or philosopher’s ones, are sufficiently complete, or accurate � 311 sarah lelong esprit de velox, la rochelle france sarahl@espritdevelox.org françois frey esprit de velox, la rochelle france francoisf@espritdevelox.org m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 297-315 héloïse berkowitz & margi prideaux & sarah lelong & françois frey enough, to define and understand who i am or the links i have with the world. i need their cross approaches to lead me closer to my composite reality, and to let me understand more clearly the place i have in a universe that becomes closer too. while reading this, you produced images that have possibly moved forward your representation of humanity. perhaps you also changed the course of another question that was growing before, in your head or in your heart. perhaps again, this new perception or this « butterfly » will make its way from you, far beyond, growing and spreading into the dimensions of our common system: the earth system. its balance has been keeping the vital harmony of planet for more than three billion years and from the moment when the very first bacterium moored on this spaceship. our links with this system are as complex, permanent as vital. they evolve and change continuously. we do not completely see or understand them. our interactions have become more and more violent during the last centuries. they undermine the finesse of its balances. as a paradox, the multiple crises we’ve been going through climate, economy, culture, society and diplomacy ... can generate a perfect moment to awake consciences, to let us reconsider our links to the earth system and to engage, understand, preserve and transmit to the youngest our most precious message: the end of this world does not mean the end of the world. the ocean is our origin and our hope for a reconnected future. it is the heart of a possible renaissance, carried out by several generations and complementary cultures. during the 21st century, the stakes of its exploration and preservation are more than ever as important as mars’ conquest. because our place on earth continues to question us and our presence impacts its system. our way to an environmental neutral and bio-inspired fleet esprit de velox is a research and development programme whose innovations lead to a dedicated ship that unites, at sea, with the earth system. it gradually and resolutely tends, from available technologies to the design, the construction and the exploitation of a zero impact vessel with energy autonomy, important means of exploration, research and transmission. in keeping with our collective commitments, we develop an approach that implements and improves reachable possibilities from today: transporting and working without impact on the ocean and on the climate, understanding and innovating together. long established dogmas throw necessary ruptures a little further every day, while our minimized or denied impacts seem to accelerate and amplify effects: warmed and disrupted climate, major biodiversity collapse, wellreal climate migration... we’ve been listening and understanding merging scientific needs to create a generation of offshore working platforms that would fit our times’ challenges: �312 unpluggedsociety m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 297-315 . studying the earth system from the inside out, . disturbing less and less the ocean and its biodiversity, . collating the collective knowledge on board, in a largely shortened time scale, well beyond the boundaries that freezes both disciplines and time while passing information from one circle to another. the esprit de velox programme does not open a way to consciously united co-working with the earth system, but this is its rule, its daily life and its commitment to the benefit of the researchers and solution producers. they can serve the joint effort that has become an absolute necessity to fight the very visible changes that already impact the environment. anchoring interdisciplinarity and building transdisciplinarity following on from the 18th century major maritime expeditions or commander charcot’s campaigns, esprit de velox will welcome on board both confirmed and younger researchers from earth and life sciences as well as human and social sciences. they will share the embarked programmes with artists, engineers and diplomats. the vessel will give them access, as closely as possible and in symbiotic conditions to the same environmental system they will all focus on. on board, interdisciplinary research will become the rule and transdisciplinarity an ambition, leading to new cooperative partnerships, joint protocols and audacious concepts. this laboratory of the modern world aims to reveal possibilities by studying ecosystems from the inside out. it re-establishes human and scientific bonds. both scientific base camp and navigating residence, the esprit de velox programme develops its roots in a holistic approach of maritime researches. eventually, successive generations of ships will contribute as well to individual research platforms as they will develop interdisciplinary projects on large ecosystems. scientific discoveries, knowledge improvement and artistic expression will become some visible faces of a common and ageless adventure. diplomats will then be able to impact our social and political environments, from the very inside of the research process. esprit de velox will pioneer a non-invasive research of the earth system, at sea. it will share and disseminate its knowledge all along its routes. the ship, as a crucible of intuition, individual and collective experiences, will facilitate links and promote innovation. from an era of commitments to focus on measurement and action time as long as a nation’s, a territory’s or a continent’s wealth will be simply assessed with their gdp or wealth growth; as long as their renewable and zero impactenergy production, understanding of their own environmental system and biodiversity vitality won’t be neither visible goals nor measures impacting the social or political success of a ruling minority, � 313 m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 297-315 héloïse berkowitz & margi prideaux & sarah lelong & françois frey then the world that supports our vital community will go on collapsing under our feet. and a few major players will go on taking short-term benefits, amongst general indifference. the esprit de velox programme relies on the development of technological solutions that will enable generations of research, working and maritime transport platforms to emerge. being the first, the esprit de velox research vessel will initially come from an assembly of available technological bricks, if not already associated. the programme is about to deploy an environmental impact monitoring system at sea. it has become urgent to clarify how we have reached such states close to governance schizophrenia. as an example from 2018, why does an all-electric car benefit in france from the super ecological bonus, while it is penalized with the ecological super malus in singapore? the way its electricity is produced, and the environment cycle of its batteries gives a first explanation. but the technological questioning may grow when transposed to the maritime transport market which is far less secure. what kinds of logic, most of them visibly based on economic, strategic or political criteria, skew our attempts to understand and reduce our impacts? how could we give both governments and consumers objective means to let them target short and medium-term actions that would impact the course of our collective environmental and vital impacts? the esprit de velox programme aims to contribute to such an objective understanding. for that purpose, it’s been developing complementarities between scientific, industrial, artistic and diplomatic circles. let’s bet on intelligence and understanding our collective maturity of environmental issues approach as well as the actual increase in environmental risks themselves require that we move from a world of commitments, neither measured nor evaluated, to a framework that generates, proposes and shares regular and sustainable indicators to support our ecological and societal transition approach. the titanic is on its way, the coal keeps burning below. the navigation binoculars are locked inside a bridge trunk, the key was left ashore... our generations have the responsibility to face the situation, mourning emotional reactions and miracle solutions, identifying our effective impacts perimeters. we are expected to and co-build transition pathways, conscientiously. this will not emerge without scientists, artists, engineers or philosophers’ vision and skills, all together. this cannot be built without diplomats. they are the ones to impact on human organization and political balance: those preeminent stakeholders of the earth system’s evolution. the esprit de velox programme offers them all an innovation maritime centre, both residence and joint workplace, embarked on at the heart of the ocean, our last border: building, sharing and disseminating within upstream and downstream networks, to educational world and the public. �314 unpluggedsociety m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 297-315 let’s engage in pascal’s wager for individual consciousness development, because the earth system’s respect results ultimately in individual behaviour choices that are much stronger than laws or collective commitments: «  people love what marvels them, and people protect what they love » jacques-yves cousteau. finally, we individually face the intimate choice to catch or not a protected marine species, no matter if a law exists or not on that point... sarah lelong has a phd in maritime and oceanic's law/biology. she is associate researcher at centre de droit maritime et océanique, université de nantes. in 2013, she founded consult’ocean, a consulting firm on issues of governance and management of maritime activities and marine resources. since 2016, she has been the scientific coordinator of 1.618 esprit de velox programme françois frey has a diploma of engineer from ecole nationale supérieure d’arts et métiers (ensam) in industrial system engineering and new product design. he also possesses a company management and business skills certificate, igs paris. naval officer, bridge navigator, he is a member the steering committee, corican. since 2014, he has been team leader for 1.618 esprit de velox programme. he has also acted as senior consultant, expert and international auditor for management systems (environment, quality, security, sustainable development and lean). founder and honorary commodore of the yacht club classique, la rochelle, he has 40 years of sailing in international regattas. � 315 04 222 lakshman & vo & ladha & gok 2019 m@n@gement 2019, vol. 22(2): 250-272 consequences of paying ceos for downsizing: a four-country study of the impacts on survivors vs. victims chandrashekhar lakshman ! linh chi vo ! rani s. ladha ! kubilay gok accepted by associate editor simon porcher abstract. downsizing is: a) motivated by incentive compensation of executives, and b) negatively related to corporate social responsibility (csr) perceptions. yet, the link between executive compensation and csr perceptions in downsizing contexts has not been examined. we examine this issue in four countries, i.e. france, india, turkey and vietnam. we use a 2x2x2x2 (performance-linked bonuses, internal vs. institutional pressure, loss of human capital-yes/no, and role-victim/ survivor) between-subjects, experimental design to examine factors influencing ceos’ downsizing decisions. we find that a) ceo compensation is unrelated to csr and b) downsizing resulting in loss of human capital is negatively related to csr perceptions. downsizing motivated by deferred compensation and decline in performance-linked bonuses is negatively related to survivor commitment but not victims’ fairness perceptions. we find support for convergence across four countries, with some divergence because of power distance orientation. we provide a discussion of results, limitations and directions for future research. keywords: downsizing, ceo responsibility, ceo compensation, csr perceptions, human capital, institutional pressure introduction downsizing is defined as conscious, purposeful and planned effort to reduce the number of employees to achieve specific objectives (e.g. datta, guthrie, basuil & pandey, 2010). the literature on downsizing consists of four broad streams: the environmental and organizational antecedents of downsizing, and the individual and organizational consequences of this practice (datta et al., 2010). additionally, a growing body of academic research is examining the relationship between executive compensation and corporate social responsibility (csr), with the consensus that the structure of executive compensation is an effective tool for encouraging managers to undertake socially responsible actions (e.g. cai, jo & pan, 2011; fabrizi, mallin & michelon, 2014). there are several gaps in these two streams of literature. first, although much of the downsizing research has examined individual consequences such as victims’ and survivors’ reactions and justice perceptions (e.g. mishra & spreitzer, 1998), there has been little understanding of the consequences in terms of employees’ perceptions of the csr of the organization (for an exception see lakshman, ramaswami, alas, kabongo & pandian, 2014). second, there has been very little examination of the relationship between motivating and inhibiting factors and consequences of downsizing. on the one hand, there could be several �250 chandrashekhar lakshman department of management university of texas rio grande valley usa lakshman.chandrashekhar@utrgv.edu linh chi vo metis lab ecole de management de normandie france lvo@em-normandie.fr rani s. ladha goa institute of management india rani.ladha@gmail.com kubilay gok department of business administration college of business, winona state university usa kgok@winona.edu m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 250-272 chandrashekhar lakshman & linh chi vo & rani s. ladha & kubilay gok motivating factors that lead top managers to make the downsizing decision. brookman, chang & rennie (2007) found a positive relationship between equity portfolio incentives of ceos and their lay-off decisions, thereby empirically identifying a motivational mechanism for such decisions to be made. other researchers point to the commonly held beliefs among top executives that downsizing announcements are associated with positive stock returns (e.g. de meuse, bergmann, vanderheiden & roraff, 2004), whereby firms mimic the downsizing practices of other firms (see datta et al., 2010). on the other hand, downsizing may damage ceos’ prestige and power (see brookman et al., 2007), or result in loss of firmspecific human capital (iverson & zatzick, 2011). therefore, we do not have answers to such questions as “will employees view downsizing as socially responsible if it is seen to be motivated by ceo compensation?” or “will observers view the downsizing as socially responsible if it is seen to result in the loss of firm-specific human capital?”. importantly, there is a need to investigate how the relationship between motivating and inhibiting factors and consequences of downsizing may differ across victims and survivors of downsizing (lakshman et al., 2014). third, although ceos’ decision to downsize has been shown to be related to their compensation (e.g. brookman et al., 2007), research has not examined the ethics and social responsibility consequences of such compensation. finally, the above issues have never been studied across cultural contexts, despite an increasing recognition of the role of culture in understanding the dynamics of downsizing and csr perceptions (datta et al., 2010). the conclusions obtained from our study will provide important theoretical and managerial implications. the results provide a more nuanced understanding of antecedents and consequences of downsizing than what is available in extant literature. for example, if downsizing is seen to be motivated by ceo compensation, we believe that it may have a negative impact on csr perceptions and thus make downsizing an unacceptable strategy for organizational turnaround (lakshman et al., 2014). if downsizing is seen to be motivated by ceo compensation, it could have a negative impact on survivor commitment, making it more difficult for the downsizing initiative to succeed (kim, 2009). finally, if downsizing results in the loss of firm-specific human capital, it could have a negative impact on survivor commitment and make it more difficult to improve organizational performance (iverson & zatzick, 2011). we address the gaps identified above by relying on a cross-cultural sample to study the impact of ceo performance-linked bonuses and ceo deferred compensation (motivating factors), and loss of human capital as a result of the downsizing (inhibiting factor) on csr perceptions, which is an organizational consequence. in addition, we examine two other outcomes, i.e. victims’ perceptions of fairness and survivor commitment to the organization, which are critical for successful turnaround. the literature normally assigns the label “victim” to people who have been downsized and the label “survivor” to employees that remain in the organization after the downsizing (ranft & ranft, 1999). although survivors and victims both react negatively to downsizing, there are likely to be important differences. while past studies have noted other differences between survivors’ and victims’ reactions (emshoff, 1994), we believe that downsizing motivated by compensation could be a more crucial issue for survivors rather than victims. we study the convergence or divergence of these relationships across four contrasting cultures: france, india, turkey and vietnam. these countries are interesting contexts to compare because they belong to different societal clusters in the global leadership and organizational �251 consequences of paying ceos for downsizing: a four-country study of the impacts on survivors vs. victims m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 250-272 behavior effectiveness study (globe) and are thus diverse in cultural values (house, hanges, javidan, dorfman & gupta, 2004). national cultures differ in the degree of acceptability of downsizing as a corporate practice and consequently the degree of legitimacy normally granted to such initiatives (datta et al., 2010). additionally, cultures that are high in power distance may tolerate lower degrees of transparency in the implementation of such initiatives (lakshman et al., 2014), making it imperative for low power distance countries to do more in this regard. when downsizing is motivated by compensation factors, we believe it can elicit stronger reactions in some cultures than in others. researchers (e.g. bailey & spicer, 2007) suggest that it is important to examine whether individual attitudes and perceptions converge across countries because the emphasis on similarity is as important as the emphasis on cultural differences. this study contributes to the literature on downsizing and the research about executive compensation and csr in the following ways. first, we examine an issue hitherto unaddressed in the downsizing literature: the relationship between motivating and inhibiting factors of downsizing and organizational consequences, which include the perceptions of victims and survivors about the organization’s csr, as well as their reaction in terms of survivor commitment and victims’ perception of fairness. next, we examine specific characteristics of the executive decision to downsize by considering the impact of both motivating and inhibiting factors related to ceo responsibility on perceptions of csr in france, india, turkey and vietnam. we focus on the role of power distance orientation (individual level), given its relevance for hierarchical organizational relationships and decisions (e.g. lakshman et al., 2014). power distance (societal level) reflects the extent to which a society accepts the unequal distribution of power and accepts authority structures (e.g. hofstede, 1980). below, we provide a description of the four countries, their economies and the importance of examining these issues in these cultural contexts. we follow this with a literature review of the downsizing phenomenon and a discussion of how factors that motivate ceos to downsize, such as performance-linked bonuses and deferred stock compensation, affect employee perceptions. we also discuss how factors that inhibit ceos to downsize, such as loss of human capital, are likely to impact the perceptions of survivors and victims. drawing from this review and theory, we develop hypotheses. we then turn to a description of the study’s methodology, results and finally a discussion of its implications for further research and managerial learning. country contexts it is important to choose cultures that are different on several critical dimensions to test for convergence or divergence effects (bailey & spicer, 2007). we chose france, india, turkey and vietnam for this study as they belong to different society clusters and thus represent different cultural profiles (house et al., 2004). globe researchers classified france into the latin europe cluster, india into the southern asia cluster, and turkey into the middle east cluster (see house et al., 2004). although vietnam was not included in globe’s cluster classification, it can be reasonably argued to fit into the confucian asia cluster by virtue of a relatively long chinese influence, but definitely not the southern asia cluster (hoang, 2008). countries in the latin europe cluster score low on humane orientation, institutional collectivism and in-group collectivism, and have � 252 m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 250-272 chandrashekhar lakshman & linh chi vo & rani s. ladha & kubilay gok moderate levels of power distance and uncertainty avoidance (see table 1). in contrast, countries in the southern asia cluster score high on humane orientation and in-group collectivism, but have moderate levels of institutional collectivism, power distance and uncertainty avoidance (see table 1 for additional details). despite crucial cultural differences, we expect people in all four countries examined here to react negatively to downsizing motivated by compensation, and for survivors in all four countries to have lower commitment as a result of such downsizing. france: although downsizing is legal in france, as evidenced by the increasing number of social plan filings with the labor ministry (de saintjulien, 2007), the labor laws and associated procedures are quite complicated (mohan & chen, 2010). compared to the u.s.a., the level of job security is much higher in france, and social attitudes favor job security measures for employees over strategic options for businesses (lakshman et al., 2014). india: while studies show positive changes in the economic environment, with increased munificence, improved infrastructure and institutional support, and lower regulatory barriers, the incidence of downsizing is also on the increase (e.g. lakshman et al., 2014). despite its prevalence, very few studies examine issues surrounding downsizing. turkey: turkey’s economy has increasingly integrated into the world economy since their government’s decision to liberalize in 1980. because of this policy shift, private sector and state-owned enterprises had to confront economic pressures to develop more efficient, productive and competitive organizational structures. ertürk (2007) reported that although most companies preferred downsizing to adapt to the fundamental structural changes imposed by the economic crisis of 2001, very few studies have examined issues surrounding downsizing. vietnam: downsizing state-owned enterprises has been a component of macro-economic reforms and an indicator of communist p a r t y a n d g o v e r n m e n t c o m m i t m e n t t o s u c h r e f o r m p o l i c i e s (thayumanavan, 2001). despite this common practice, research on downsizing is almost absent (see rama, 2002 for an exception). additionally, vietnam’s export-oriented economy is subject to global economic fluctuations such as the financial crisis and subsequent slowdown of recent years, making it subject to more frequent layoffs. comparing data from such culturally/institutionally contrasting countries would help us gain insights into creating more cross-nationally inclusive models of downsizing and csr. literature review and hypotheses downsizing. downsizing (e.g. cascio, 1993) is typically designed to improve organizational efficiency, productivity and/or competitiveness. the relationship between determinants of downsizing (e.g. the motivating and inhibiting factors described earlier) and its consequences (e.g. csr perceptions) has never been examined in previous research. however, the literature has examined survivors’ and victims’ reactions to downsizing, including consequences of downsizing on ongoing behaviors in organizations. this literature suggests that layoffs evoke a variety of psychological states in survivors, including job insecurity, anger and relief (brockner, grover, reed & dewitt, 1992). such psychological states are manifested in work-related domains such as performance, motivation, satisfaction, commitment and organizational citizenship behaviors ((ocbs)—important extra-role �253 consequences of paying ceos for downsizing: a four-country study of the impacts on survivors vs. victims m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 250-272 behaviors that are not mandatorily required) (mishra & spreitzer, 1998). what is surprising, however, is that some survivors respond by feeling more insecure, whereas others feel increased security (cascio, 1993). while some feel distressed, others feel energized (emshoff, 1994). while some increase their efforts after the downsizing, others decrease or show no change in their efforts (brockner et al., 1992). some survivors increase their ocbs while others show reduction in their citizenship (naumann, bennett, bies & martin, 1998) or even intentions to quit (kim, 2009). we suggest that survivors in firms where ceos were motivated to downsize via compensation are likely to feel insecure, distressed and reduce their ocbs, whereas survivors in other firms experience positive outcomes. csr and downsizing. consistent with the literature, we define csr as the commitment of businesses to contribute to sustainable economic development, while acting as a good corporate citizen by balancing the interests of multiple stakeholders such as employees, the local community, the environment and society at large (carroll, 2004). although the terms ethics and csr have different meanings, csr is a broader construct and the ethical dimension is common to both concepts (cacioppe, foster & fox, 2007). it is necessary for a downsizing decision to be ethical for it to be also seen as socially responsible. however, being ethical (micro focus) is not sufficient for the downsizing to be rated high on csr (macro focus; see cacioppe et al., 2007). other issues, such as balancing the needs of multiple stakeholders, minimizing the negative impact on the natural environment or the local communities and so forth, are key concerns in the csr realm (lakshman et al., 2014). in our examination of the relationship between determinants of downsizing and csr perceptions of the downsizing action, we make the following arguments drawn from the literature. first, people are likely to think about who is responsible for the plight of many who are downsized and subject to insecurity/uncertainty. the ceo decision to downsize is thus a critical variable influencing people’s reactions. previous research has shown that an individual’s’ attribution of responsibility for the downsizing has a key impact on his/her perceptions of whether or not the action is socially responsible (lakshman et al., 2014). however, most downsizing contexts are fraught with uncertainty, making it difficult to determine who is responsible for the downsizing. as noted earlier: a) there are several motivating factors leading top managers to make the downsizing decision; b) a positive relationship exists between equity portfolio incentives of ceos and their lay-off decisions (brookman et al., 2007); and c) there is an institutionalized belief among top executives that downsizing announcements are associated with positive stock returns (e.g. de meuse et al., 2004). research also suggests that the price of a company’s stock usually goes up after the announcement of a downsizing initiative (e.g. brookman et al., 2007), although it eventually declines in subsequent periods, accompanied by a loss in profitability or productivity (e.g. cascio, young & morris, 1997). on the contrary, however, layoffs cause damage to ceos’ prestige, power and influence, and result in a decline in accounting performancelinked bonuses and loss of firm-specific human capital (iverson & zatzick, 2011). although senior managers could be under serious pressure from stockholders to improve performance through downsizing (e.g. cascio et al., 1997), the lay-off decision could be difficult for ceos with relatively longer tenure who are entrenched, making them less willing to make such difficult decisions (brookman et al., 2007). therefore, new ceos are sometimes hired to implement downsizing and these new ceos are more likely to announce layoffs (brookman et al., 2007). in the presence of this � 254 m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 250-272 chandrashekhar lakshman & linh chi vo & rani s. ladha & kubilay gok confusing mix of motivational and inhibiting factors, it is therefore difficult to determine the responsibility of leaders for the downsizing decision. csr perceptions. our focus on csr perceptions, in this study, pertains to how people perceive the downsizing initiative to be fair, ethical, legitimate and socially responsible. thus, our focus is on whether or not the downsizing is socially responsible, and not on overall csr ratings of the firm in question. among the motivating variables, there are some that are likely to have negative public reaction and some that could elicit a neutral, if not positive, reaction. specifically, if the ceo decision to downsize is primarily motivated by decline in performance-linked bonuses for instance, employees are likely to react negatively to such a situation with heightened perceptions of stress, uncertainty, insecurity, lack of energy (e.g. emshoff, 1994) and reduced levels of effort, commitment and ocbs (e.g. naumann et al., 1998). such a negative reaction could be stronger if these employees do not see any scope for performance improvement or successful organizational turnaround. cascio et al. (1997) differentiated between pure employment downsizing and that associated with asset restructuring (new strategy) and identified that the latter type of downsizing is more likely to lead to successful turnaround than the former. downsizing decisions primarily motivated by decline in performance-linked bonuses are more like the pure employment downsizing case in the work of cascio et al. (1997). thus, in the absence of clear indications of performance turnaround, employees are likely to see such ceo decisions as manifestations of greed and thereby as socially irresponsible. thus: hypothesis 1: the extent to which ceo downsizing decisions are perceived to be influenced by decline in performance-linked bonus is negatively related to perception of csr. alternatively, if the ceo decision to downsize is motivated by a contractually expected increase in contingent stock compensation (deferred compensation), employees are likely to see a way out of the uncertainty/insecurity and stress in the not too distant future. in other words, employees may categorize this type of downsizing as one that is associated with asset restructuring (cascio et al., 1997) and perhaps a renewed strategy for turnaround. therefore, downsizing decisions motivated by such deferred compensation are possibly evaluated positively. more importantly, unlike in the previous case, this situation is not likely to be seen as a manifestation of greed. thus: hypothesis 1a: the extent to which ceo downsizing decisions are perceived to be influenced by deferred compensation is positively related to perception of csr. one of the critical factors in successful turnarounds is the retention or loss of firm-specific human capital that possesses the requisite experience and knowledge in the key business domains (iverson & zatzick, 2011). researchers suggest that maintaining survivor commitment after downsizing is very important especially for organizations that rely on human capital for competitive advantage (kim, 2009). however, when the firm stands to lose some of its critical firm-specific human capital, employees are likely to react negatively and perceive heightened levels of stress, uncertainty and loss of energy. more importantly, employees may not see a clear path towards successful organizational turnaround. thus: �255 consequences of paying ceos for downsizing: a four-country study of the impacts on survivors vs. victims m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 250-272 hypothesis 1b: the extent to which ceo downsizing decisions are perceived to result in loss of firm-specific human capital is negatively related to perception of csr. continued poor performance of firms often results in intense institutional pressures to engage in asset-restructuring types of downsizing (brookman et al., 2007). brookman et al. (2007) suggest that firms with relatively more independent boards monitor ceos more closely, perhaps as a result of being attentive to these institutional pressures, and this results in a higher likelihood of layoffs. if the ceo decision to downsize is mainly motivated by external pressure from institutional investors, employees are likely to think that the ceo had been relatively helpless and perhaps forced to downsize. employees and others may see this as poor management leading to poor performance rather than as a manifestation of greed. this would trigger relatively more neutral, if not positive reactions and may not result in the negative consequences for effort, or commitment as in the previous situations. thus: hypothesis 1c: the extent to which ceo downsizing decisions are perceived to be influenced by intense pressure from institutional investors is positively related to perception of csr. survivor commitment survivors are probably the most important group in terms of making a difference between success and failure in downsizing. their attitudes have a significant impact on future productivity (brockner et al., 1992). some researchers suggest that the negative impact on surviving employees is one of the major contributing factors to the failure of downsizing as a strategy for turnaround (ranft & ranft, 1999). earlier studies have found that while some survivors are energized, feel more security, increase efforts and have higher commitment, other survivors have the exact opposite feelings and attitudes (e.g. cascio, 1993). attributions of top management responsibility for the company’s downsizing initiative may play a key role in distinguishing between these two sets of survivors (lakshman et al., 2014). thus, we examine the role of ceo responsibility variables, after controlling for the effects of justice variables. we suggest that when downsizing is motivated by compensation, in general, survivors may think that top managers are engaging in actions to benefit themselves and are less concerned about employees (ranft & ranft, 1999). specifically, when survivors think that downsizing is motivated by a decline in accounting performance-linked bonus, they are likely to perceive the action to be determined by the shortterm possibility of increasing performance and the performance-linked bonus. thus, concerns about future (long-term) organizational performance and their own survival will remain salient. therefore, when survivors perceive the ceo downsizing decision to have been motivated by decline in performance-linked bonus one would expect them to experience negative emotions and heightened uncertainty about the future and their treatment within the firm. this may result in lower commitment and reduced ocbs and trigger new job searches. hypothesis 2: the extent to which ceo downsizing decisions are perceived to be influenced by decline in performance-linked bonus is negatively related to survivor commitment. � 256 m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 250-272 chandrashekhar lakshman & linh chi vo & rani s. ladha & kubilay gok however, when survivors perceive the ceo downsizing decision to have been motivated by an anticipated increase in deferred compensation, they are likely to have relatively more positive reactions than in the previous case. deferred compensation in the form of stock options is contingent on investors’ expectations of continued improvements in firm performance and thus is longer-term in nature than accounting performance-linked bonuses. thus, when deferred compensation drives downsizing, survivors may not have lower levels of commitment, work effort and ocbs. hypothesis 2a: the extent to which ceo downsizing decisions are perceived to be influenced by deferred compensation is positively related to survivor commitment. in the context of loss of firm-specific human capital, however, survivors possibly experience heightened discomfort at the loss of key individuals critical to the firm’s business. this would make them experience a loss of energy and lower morale, all of which lowers their commitment. hypothesis 2b: the extent to which ceo downsizing decisions are perceived to result in loss of firm-specific human capital is negatively related to survivor commitment. finally, with reference to the ceo downsizing decision as a result of institutional pressure, survivors are expected to feel less resentful of top management and their potentially greedy motivations than in other cases. although survivors may still have concerns about top management’s ability to bring about successful turnaround, they are not likely to have strong negative reactions in such situations. hypothesis 2c: the extent to which ceo downsizing decisions are perceived to be influenced by intense institutional pressure is positively related to survivor commitment. victims’ perceptions of fairness we focus on victims’ perceptions of fairness mainly because perceptions of commitment are not likely to apply to people who are no longer in the organization. previous research has noted that survivors and victims both perceive the downsizing as fair when procedural and distributive justice are high. however, survivors and victims may react differently to ceo responsibility variables. we argue that top management responsibility for the downsizing is a critical factor for survivors, but this may not be the case for victims. victims are not likely to worry about the loss of firm-specific human capital or about the intensity of institutional pressures, especially when the organization provides them with assistance in transitioning to a new job. thus, with respect to victims’ reactions, our principal argument is that these are very different from survivors’. in other words, victims’ perceptions of fairness are not likely to be dependent on ceo responsibility variables, beyond the impact of justice variables. hypothesis 3: survivors and victims differ in their reactions to downsizing motivated by a) decline in performance-linked bonus, b) deferred compensation, c) institutional pressure, and d) downsizing resulting in loss of firm-specific human capital. �257 consequences of paying ceos for downsizing: a four-country study of the impacts on survivors vs. victims m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 250-272 power distance and convergence/divergence in employee reactions we expect the relationships in the above hypotheses (1-3) to be in the same direction across all four countries in this study, although the magnitude of the effect sizes may vary somewhat as a function of power distance, for the following reasons. although a number of researchers believe in the role culture plays in the formation of csr perceptions, a growing number of studies point to the convergence of csr perceptions, while still pointing to some minor divergences (e.g. hartman, ruban & dhanda, 2007; jamali, sidani & el-asmar, 2009). first, although hartman et al. (2007) expected to see a difference in the way in which csr activities are communicated by u.s.a. and european companies, they found both similarities and differences. broadly, although they did not expect european companies to use financial justifications for csr as much as others, they found that they do use financial justifications in addition to social responsibility reasons. these and other studies point to increasing evidence of convergence in ethics and social responsibility judgments, with some divergence effects as well. employees around the world may feel that top managers do not pay for their mistakes. relative to external pressure, when the downsizing is believed to be a result of ceo compensation, it is not likely that employees in any culture would consider it as socially responsible, especially if they believe that top management could have pursued an alternative course of action. therefore, these employee feelings possibly vary in magnitude and intensity across cultures, rather than in direction. of the cultural value dimensions (hofstede, 1980), we feel that power distance is the major variable of interest that could potentially bring out these differences (lakshman et al., 2014). power distance is relevant because it pertains to the nature of hierarchical relationships and authority structures (hofstede, 1980) and thereby influences employee perceptions of top management decisions. power distance can interfere in the transparency of processes, the value of timing of downsizing announcements and the participation and involvement of employees, all of which are known to affect employee attitudes in the downsizing process. in high power distance cultures, employees are more likely to accept lower levels of transparency, participation and involvement in processes surrounding downsizing. although we believe that downsizing influenced by ceo compensation, or downsizing resulting in loss of firm-specific human capital, might result in negative perceptions of csr across the four countries examined here, we do think that power distance orientation could be the variable that leads to some divergence effects across cultures. similarly, we expect survivor attitudes and the difference between survivors and victims to be convergent across the four cultures. we present a summary picture of our hypotheses in figure 1. hypothesis 4: the associations of the independent variables in this study (i.e. ceo compensation factors, loss of firm-specific human capital and external pressure) with the dependent variables (csr perceptions, survivor commitment, victims’ perceptions of fairness) will be in the same direction in all four countries, although the magnitude of the effect sizes will be different as a result of differences in power distance. � 258 m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 250-272 chandrashekhar lakshman & linh chi vo & rani s. ladha & kubilay gok figure 1. diagrammatic representation of hypotheses method study design and sample. a comprehensive review of the downsizing literature suggests that extant research has predominantly used designs that limit the ability to infer causality (datta et al., 2010). thus, to complement extant research and overcome inherent weaknesses, we conceived of an experimental design to test our hypotheses. we tested hypotheses using a 2x2x2x2, between-subjects experimental design. the factors that were crossed in this experimental design were: 1) decline in performance-linked bonuses as a result of poor performance preceding the downsizing decision (yes or no); 2) pressure leading to downsizing (internal—deferred compensation—or external—institutional pressure); 3) loss of firm-specific human capital because of downsizing (yes or no); and 4) role (survivor vs. victim). we developed scenarios to cross the above factors, paper and pencil versions of which were then randomly distributed to: a) 200 mba students in a top business school in france, b) 212 executives enrolled in an executive education program in a premier business school in india, c) 223 executives enrolled in an executive education program in a premier business school in turkey and d) 197 participants of an executive education program in a top business school in vietnam. in each of these cases, we solicited participation from all participants in their respective programs, but then randomly assigned them to different experimental conditions. for france, turkey and vietnam, the scenarios were first designed and written in english,then translated into the local language and then back translated into english for verification. we used the english version of the scenarios in india because it is the most appropriate. the experiment took 25 minutes on average to complete and subjects were not �259 consequences of paying ceos for downsizing: a four-country study of the impacts on survivors vs. victims m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 250-272 provided with any compensation to participate in the research. we provide sample characteristics in table 1. ho-humane orientation; ic-institutional collectivism; i-gc-in-group collectivism; ua-uncertainty avoidance table 1 sample characteristics the document that was distributed to each subject contained one scenario, which was followed by a questionnaire. the questionnaire contained a number of manipulation check questions to assess how well the treatments worked, followed by scale measures of the dependent variables. after reading the scenario, the subjects responded to a number of manipulation checks and then to questions pertaining to their perceptions of commitment (or fairness) and social responsibility of the company involved in the downsizing. a subset of these questions were different for survivors and victims, with survivors responding to a set of questions on their commitment and victims responding to a set of questions on perceived fairness. scenarios and manipulations. we used 16 scenarios, each representing one of the unique conditions in this orthogonal experimental design. subjects were asked to read a passage and then respond to the questions that followed. the passage containing the scenario clearly informs the subject about whether they were laid off or not by the company that employed them. the passage describes the employer as one that had quick growth since its inception but had recently experienced losses. the passage then informs subjects that the ceo had decided to downsize in an effort to cut costs and increase effectiveness. following this, the passage then goes on to describe the motivating and inhibiting factors unique to each scenario, as described in the following manipulations. performance bonus manipulation (yes or no). in the “yes” condition, subjects were told that some informed people think that the downsizing decision by the ceo may have been influenced by a decline in the ceo’s performance-linked cash bonus as a result of the losses leading to the downsizing. in the “no” condition, nothing was mentioned about performance-linked bonuses. pressure for downsizing decision manipulation (internal vs. external). in the “internal pressure” condition, subjects were informed that some informed people think that the downsizing decision by the ceo may have been influenced by the expected (contractual) increase in grant of � 260 s. no. country cluster membership in globe and characteristics n years of experience category gender power distance orientation mean sd male female mean sd 1 france latin europe (l-ho; l-ic; l-i_gc; m-ua) 200 8.09 3.50 mba students 103 95 2.13 0.59 2 india south asia (h-ho; m-ic; h-i-gc; m-ua) 212 11.10 4.25 executives 174 36 2.74 0.89 3 vietnam confucian asia (m-ho; h-ic; h-i-gc; m-ua) 197 3.65 2.26 executives 78 115 2.77 0.44 4 turkey middle east (m-ho; m-ic; h-i-gc; l-ua) 223 10.31 8.48 executives 144 79 2.40 1.04 832 8.44 6.88 499 325 2.53 0.79 m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 250-272 chandrashekhar lakshman & linh chi vo & rani s. ladha & kubilay gok stock options for the ceo if the downsizing helped in increasing stock value. in the “external pressure” condition, subjects were told that some informed people think that the downsizing decision by the ceo may have been influenced by intense pressure from institutional shareholders who are worried about the declining value of the company’s stock. loss of firm-specific human capital manipulation (yes or no). in the “yes” condition, subjects were informed that the ceo’s downsizing decision could lead to loss of some key people with critical knowledge and experience in the business, which could make it difficult to improve performance. in the “no” condition, subjects were informed that the ceo’s downsizing decision does not involve a loss of key people with critical knowledge and experience in this business, but rather reflects a new strategic approach. role manipulation. the scenario described the subject as either one of the employees being laid off (victim) or one of those who were not part of the lay-off (survivor). all scenarios provided the same information about how the downsizing decision was handled in terms of implementation, to control for procedural and distributive justice (brockner et al., 1992). to accomplish this, the scenario informed the subject that either a) they were invited in to the manager’s office and provided with an explanation of the decisionmaking process and information on transition assistance, or b) all the downsized employees had been invited for such a purpose (lakshman et al., 2014). external validity. we took a number of steps to ensure external validity by designing for and assessing the “reality” of the experimental conditions, as is common in such designs (e.g. cho, martens, kim & rodrigue, 2011). first, as is evident from our literature review, we carefully developed our scenarios based on real-life situations. next, to ensure respondents perceived them as real and typical in the current business environment, we used two questions that addressed this issue. to the first question addressing the issue of how common it would be for a company to find itself in a situation as described in the scenario, the responses were either at 3 or higher in exactly 87.3% of the cases, with a median response of 4 (on a five-point scale). to the next question, asking the respondents how typical events in the scenario were in the current business environment, the responses were again at 3 or higher in exactly 86.3% of the cases, with a median response of 4. thus, our scenarios were quite high in realism (external validity), while also giving us excellent control for internal validity. manipulation checks. subjects were first asked whether or not they were being laid off, with a yes/no option, to check the role manipulation. we then used two questions each to check each of the other manipulations on a five-point scale varying from “not at all” to “extremely”. for the performance bonus manipulation, the first question asked them if they thought that the decline in the performance-linked bonus was responsible for the downsizing decision, and the second asked them if they believed that the downsizing decision was influenced by the performancelinked bonus. to check the pressure for the downsizing decision manipulation, we asked two sets of questions, one pertaining to deferred compensation, and the other pertaining to institutional pressure. first, subjects were asked about the degree to which they thought the possible increase in deferred compensation influenced the decision and the degree to which they thought the downsizing decision was a result of the anticipation of an increase in deferred compensation. next, subjects were asked to indicate the degree to which they thought the downsizing decision �261 consequences of paying ceos for downsizing: a four-country study of the impacts on survivors vs. victims m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 250-272 was a result of intense pressure from institutional shareholders and the degree to which they believed that external pressure from institutional shareholders influenced the downsizing decision. to check the loss of firmspecific human capital loss manipulation, subjects were asked to indicate the degree to which they thought the company would lose people with critical knowledge and experience of the business and the degree to which they believed that the downsizing would result in loss of such people. measures—dependent variables. we used five-point scales (where 1 = strongly disagree and 5 = strongly agree) drawn from the literature (lakshman et al., 2014) for the dependent variables in this study. first, csr perceptions (α = 0.83) were measured with seven items that assessed the degree to which subjects thought the firm’s actions were favorable, ethical, legitimate, socially responsible, etc. (e.g. to what extent do you think the downsizing decision was socially responsible?). some items were reverse scored. second, victims responded to three questions assessing their perceptions of fairness (α = 0.85) of the treatment meted out to them. they indicated the degree to which the decision to lay them off was ethical, appropriate and fair (e.g. how ethical was it for company x to lay you off?). finally, for survivor commitment (α = 0.74), survivors indicated the degree to which they were satisfied with their treatment during the downsizing, the degree to which they would be comfortable continuing to work for the firm, the degree to which they would start looking for other jobs and the degree to which they would be motivated to contribute their best (e.g. how motivated would you be to contribute your best?). independent variables. we used continuous measures of the treatment variables as the independent variables in the regressions. decline in performance-linked cash bonuses were measured with two items (α = 0.87) described above. internal pressure, measured as the degree to which deferred compensation influenced the decision, was measured with two items (α = 0.82). external pressure, measured as the degree to which institutional investors pressured the downsizing decision, was measured with two items (α = 0.86). loss of human capital was measured with two items (α = 0.84). the role variable was dichotomous, which was coded 1 (victim) or 2 (survivor). control variables. we included several control variables in our study, such as the individual difference of attributional complexity (α = 0.81), using a 28-item measure to assess the degree to which respondents think about complex external and internal attributions for events (see fletcher, danilovics, fernandez & reeder, 1986), and hence relevant to control in this context. respondents rated the items on a likert scale (where 1 = strongly disagree and 5 = strongly agree). additionally, we controlled for distributive and procedural justice associated with the downsizing implementation (kim, 2009) and for values of respondents (e.g. lakshman et al., 2014). for distributive justice, subjects were asked to indicate the degree to which appropriate criteria were used in deciding who to lay off. for procedural justice, subjects were asked to indicate the degree to which appropriate procedures were used in the lay-off process. respondent values were measured in two different ways to assess reliability. first, respondents were asked to rank seven different values that varied in importance to them, with the most important to them being ranked 1 and the least 7. second, they rated each of these seven values on a likert scale (where 1 = strongly disagree and 5 = strongly agree) indicating the degree to which these values were important to the respondent. we compared the means of the continuous measures of the two values (second from above) with the ranks (first from above) to establish reliability. � 262 m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 250-272 chandrashekhar lakshman & linh chi vo & rani s. ladha & kubilay gok we found that respondents who ranked “bottom line results orientation” as the most important (rank =1) indicated to a higher degree (m = 4.36) that this value was important to them than those that ranked it the least important (m = 2.80 for rank 7, f =11.57, p<0.000). similarly, respondents who ranked “employee well-being” as the most important (rank = 1) indicated to a higher degree (m = 4.94) that this value was important to them than those that ranked it the least important (m = 3.45 for rank 7, f = 4.80, p<0.000). thus, our approach to measuring these values is reliable. we also controlled for the cultural value dimension of power distance (hofstede, 1980). results manipulation checks. for the performance-linked bonus manipulation, although subjects in the “yes” condition perceived to a higher degree (m = 2.42) that the downsizing decision was influenced by these bonuses than in the “no” condition (m = 2.31, f = 1.78, ns), this difference was not statistically significant. for the pressure for downsizing manipulation, subjects in the “internal” condition perceived to a higher degree (m = 2.65) that deferred compensation influenced the downsizing decision than subjects in the “external” condition (m = 2.35, f = 16.81, p < 0.001). additionally, subjects in the “external” condition perceived to a higher degree (m = 3.75) that institutional pressure resulted in the downsizing decision than in the “internal” condition (m = 3.45, f = 15.02, p < 0.001). for the loss of human capital manipulation, subjects in the “yes” condition perceived to a higher degree (m = 3.35) that the downsizing would result in loss of firm-specific human capital than in the “no” condition (m = 2.79, f = 52.42, p < 0.001). for the role manipulation, subjects in the victim condition identified themselves as victims and subjects in the “survivor” condition identified themselves as survivors in a significant majority of the cases (chi-square = 585.35, p < 0.001). thus, satisfied with the manipulation checks, we tested the hypotheses using hierarchical regressions. hypotheses tests. table 2 presents the means, standard deviations, correlations and reliability indices for the variables. cronbach’s alpha for the various scales are presented along the diagonal. we present the results of the hypotheses tests in tables 3, 4 and 5. we also present a summary of the results of the hypotheses tests in table 6. �263 consequences of paying ceos for downsizing: a four-country study of the impacts on survivors vs. victims m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 250-272 * p <0.05, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001 (plb = performance-linked bonus; dc = deferred compensation, hcl = human capital loss) table 2 means, standard deviations, correlations and scale reliabilities (along diagonal) table 3 regression on csr perceptions � 264 s. no variable mean sd 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 1 value results orientation 3.78 1.20 ---2 value employee wellbeing 3.96 1.12 -.13** ---3 distributive justice 3.09 .92 .03 -.02 ---4 procedural justice 3.08 .98 .06 .03 .64** ---5 power distance orientation 2.53 .79 .02 .05 .02 -.00 .60 6 attribution complexity 3.48 .42 .17** -.06 .05 .05 -.24*** 0.8 1 7 plb 2.37 1.07 .08* -.06 -.08* -.08* -.11** .03 0.87 8 dc 2.49 1.05 .07 -.09* -.04 -.04 -.09* .07 .62*** 0.82 9 hcl 3.05 1.13 .07 .05 -.19*** -.18*** .02 .01 .20*** .15*** 0.84 10 external pressure 3.59 .97 .10** -.02 .05 .04 -.09* . 15** .14** .11** .17** 0.86 11 csr perceptions 2.72 .70 .04 -.05 .46*** .43*** .09* -.01 -.10* -.05 -.17** .04 0.83 12 victims’ fairness perceptions 2.41 .87 .10* -.14** .40*** .41*** .03 .05 -.10* -.03 -.29*** .06 .61*** 0.85 13 survivor commitment 2.69 .89 -.04 -.03 .21*** .18** .07 -.02 -.23*** -.11* -.25*** -.01 .40*** ----0.74 variables entered step i β step ii β step iii β step iv β step v β step vi β step vii β country .05 .05 .05 .05 .06 .06 .32** attributional complexity -.02 -.02 -.02 -.02 -.02 -.02 -.01 value employee well-being -.04 -.05 -.05 -.05 -.04 -.04 -.05 value results orientation .02 .02 .02 .02 .02 .03 .04 distributive justice .32*** .32*** .32*** .32*** .31*** .31*** .31*** procedural justice .22*** .21*** .21*** .21*** .20*** .20*** .20*** power distance orientation .08** .08* .08* .08* .08* .08* .32** deferred compensation -.02 .02 .01 .02 .02 .02 performance-linked bonuses -.06 -.07† -.06 -.06 -.05 external pressure .04 .06 .06 .06 human capital loss -.08** -.08* -.08* role .02 .02 country x power distance -.39* r2 0.26*** 0.26*** 0.26*** 0.26*** 0.27*** 0.27*** 0.28*** ∆r2 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.01* 0.00 0.01* m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 250-272 chandrashekhar lakshman & linh chi vo & rani s. ladha & kubilay gok table 4 regression on survivor commitment table 5 regression on victims’ perceptions of fairness �265 variables entered step i β step ii β step iii β step iv β step v β step vi β step vii β country -.21*** -.21*** -.20*** -.20*** -.19*** .16 -.18*** attributional complexity -.04 -.04 -.05 -.05 -.05 -.03 -.04 value employee well-being -.01 -.02 -.02 -.02 -.01 -.02 -.01 value results orientation -.06 -.06 -.05 -.05 -.04 -.02 -.03 distributive justice .14* .13* .13* .13* .11† .10† .10† procedural justice .11† .11† .09 .09 .08 .08 .08 power distance orientation .09† .08† .07 .07 .07 .40** .57*** deferred compensation -.09* .05 .05 .06 .05 .06 performance-linked bonuses -.23*** -.23*** -.21*** -.20** -.20*** external pressure .01 .03 .04 .04 human capital loss (hcl) -.17*** -.17*** .33* country x power distance -.52* ---------hcl x power distance -.73*** r2 0.10*** 0.10** 0.14*** 0.14*** 0.16*** 0.17*** 0.19*** ∆r2 0.01* 0.04*** 0.00 0.03*** 0.01* 0.03*** variables entered step i β step ii β step iii β step iv β step v β step vi β country -.07 -.07 -.07 -.06 -.05 .22 attributional complexity .01 .01 .00 .00 .00 .01 value employee well-being -.11* -.11* -.11* -.11* -.10* -.11* value results orientation .06 .07 .07 .07 .08† .09† distributive justice .23*** .23*** .22*** .22*** .20*** .19*** procedural justice .26*** .26*** .26*** .25*** .23*** .24*** power distance orientation .05 .04 .04 .04 .05 .30* deferred compensation -.03 .03 .03 .04 .04 performance-linked bonuses -.09 -.09 -.07 -.06 external pressure .04 .08 .08† human capital loss -.21*** -.21** country x power distance -.39† r2 0.22*** 0.22*** 0.23*** 0.23*** 0.27*** 0.28*** ∆r2 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.04*** 0.01† consequences of paying ceos for downsizing: a four-country study of the impacts on survivors vs. victims m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 250-272 table 6 summary of support for hypotheses the results of the tests of hypotheses (1, 1a, 1b and 1c) pertaining to csr perceptions are shown in table 3. as can be seen in step i of the regression, the control variables of power distance, procedural and distributive justice are positively related to perceptions of csr provided by all respondents. the ceo responsibility variable of deferred compensation, entered in step ii is negatively (β = -0.02, ns) related to csr perceptions but is not significant and therefore does not support hypothesis 1. as can be seen in step iii, although performance-linked bonus is negatively related (β = -0.06, ns) to csr perceptions, this relationship is not significant and fails to support hypothesis 1a. however, hypothesis 1b is clearly supported in that, the loss of firm-specific human capital, entered in step v, is significantly negatively related (β = -0.08, p < 0.01) to csr perceptions. as can be seen in step iv, csr perceptions are not related to institutional pressure-driven downsizing decisions, although it is in a direction consistent with the hypothesis. thus, hypothesis 1c is not supported. the results for survivor commitment are shown in table 4. hypothesis 2 is supported, with the decline in performance-linked bonus variables significantly negatively related (β = -0.23, p < 0.001) to survivor commitment, as seen in step iii. hypothesis 2a is not supported, with the relationship between deferred compensation and survivor commitment being significantly negative (β = -0.09, p < 0.05), in a direction opposite to that hypothesized. thus, regardless of the expected future turnaround, survivors do not see deferred compensationmotivated downsizing favorably, contrary to our expectations. next, as can � 266 hypothesis iv and measurement dv and measurement expected relationship empirical support 1 performance-linked bonus (two-item scale; α=.87) csr perceptions (seven-item scale; α=.83; from lakshman et al., 2014) negative not supported 1a deferred compensation (two-item scale; α=.82) positive not supported 1b loss of firm-specific human capital (two-item scale; α=.84) negative supported 1c pressure from institutional investors (two-item scale; α=.86) positive not supported 2 performance-linked bonus (two-item scale; α=.87) survivor commitment (four-item scale; α=.74; from lakshman et al., 2014) negative supported 2a deferred compensation (two-item scale; α=.82) positive not supported (support for negative relationship) 2b loss of firm-specific human capital (two-item scale; α=.84) negative supported 2c pressure from institutional investors (two-item scale; α=.86) negative not supported 3 differences between survivors and victims (for same ivs and dvs) difference supported 4 moderating effect of power distance same direction of relationships, but different strengths supported m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 250-272 chandrashekhar lakshman & linh chi vo & rani s. ladha & kubilay gok be seen in step iv, external pressure does not seem to be significantly related to survivor commitment, failing to support hypothesis 2c. however, the loss of firm-specific human capital is significantly negatively related (β = -0.17, p < 0.001) to survivor commitment, supporting hypothesis 2b. the results for victims’ reactions to the downsizing are shown in table 5. as hypothesized in h3, victims’ perceptions are not related significantly to any of the ceo responsibility variables, in a manner different to that for survivors. in other words, although survivor attitudes (commitment) are related to the ceo responsibility variables (as shown in table 4), victim attitudes (fairness perceptions) are not related to any of these leader responsibility variables. victims and survivors are similar only in their response to the loss of firm-specific human capital, with this relationship between victims’ perception of fairness and loss of human capital being negative and significant (β = -0.25, p < 0.01). our hypothesis 4 of convergence across cultures is supported, as we explain here. first, the country x power distance interaction is significantly related (β = -0.39, p < 0.05) to perceptions of csr, as can be seen from step vii in table 3. second, the country x power distance interaction is significantly related (β = -0.52, p < 0.05) to survivor commitment, as can be seen from step vi in table 4. following aiken and west (1991), we more closely investigated these interactions by examining the movement in the dependent variable for a change in one standard deviation on either side of the mean of power distance in each country (see figures 2a, and 2b). as can be seen in both figures (2a & 2b), the slopes of the lines for all four countries are in the same direction in support of convergence. however, power distance orientation does have a differential effect on a) csr perceptions and b) survivor commitment in that they vary in strength from one country in our study to another. the strongest impact of power distance orientation on csr perceptions is seen in turkey (see figure 2a; highest slope), followed by india, france and vietnam respectively. the strongest impact of power distance orientation on survivor commitment is seen in india (see figure 2b; highest slope), followed by turkey, france and vietnam respectively. since india and turkey are higher in power distance orientation (table 1), the stronger slopes for these two countries in both figures 2a and 2b are somewhat consistent with the expectation that the higher the power distance, the stronger the slope. figure 2a. interaction of country and power distance orientation on csr perceptions �267 consequences of paying ceos for downsizing: a four-country study of the impacts on survivors vs. victims m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 250-272 figure 2b. interaction of country and power distance orientation on survivor commitment one country that defies this pattern is vietnam, which has the highest power distance orientation in our study but the weakest slope in both interactions. however, the fact that france has the lowest power distance orientation in this study is consistent with it having a relatively weaker slope in both interactions (figures 2a and 2b). thus, with the exception of vietnam, the results in the other three countries seem to be consistent with the pattern that individuals with a higher power distance orientation are more likely to accept compensation-driven downsizing as socially responsible and more likely to be committed to their organizations as survivors. thus, there is some divergence across the four cultures in the magnitude of their reactions. our expectation of convergence across cultures is also supported in that the country x power distance interaction is only marginally significantly related (β = -0.39, p < 0.10) to victims’ perceptions of fairness, indicating that the differences across countries are only marginal. discussion despite a growing interest in executive compensation issues (e.g. cai et al., 2011), the csr consequences of incentive compensation for strategies such as downsizing have never been addressed before. our study contributes to the literature in several ways. first, we contribute by investigating csr perceptions of downsizing in france, india, turkey and vietnam. our findings are consistent with the literature’s emerging consensus that the structure of executive compensation is likely to be critical for shaping csr engagement (e.g. fabrizi et al., 2014) and extend this consensus, in particular, to the commonly used downsizing strategy. second, we contribute by examining the impact of antecedents of downsizing in the form of ceo compensation variables on consequences with regard to csr perceptions. we also examine the impact of loss of firm-specific human capital, a downsizing consequence, on csr perceptions. although our results show that ceo compensation-motivated downsizing decisions are not related to csr perceptions, the loss of firmspecific human capital is strongly negatively related to perceptions of csr. the loss of firm-specific human capital is likely to be detrimental to the “employee relations” dimension of csr, as typically measured by public ratings, which have been shown to be negatively related to csr (e.g. � 268 m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 250-272 chandrashekhar lakshman & linh chi vo & rani s. ladha & kubilay gok fabrizi et al., 2014). pure employment downsizing (see cascio et al., 1997) without regard to loss of firm-specific human capital can be counterproductive, not only for the desired turnaround but can also be seen as socially irresponsible by observers. the asset-restructuring mode of downsizing where firm-specific human capital is matched to strategy for the future is likely to be seen as socially responsible, while also holding a higher likelihood of success in the turnaround initiative. we were surprised to find that ceo compensation factors are not related to perceived csr. we reasoned that downsizing decisions made by ceos motivated mainly by decline in performance-linked bonus are likely to be seen as “pure employment” downsizing and perhaps even as manifestations of greed, in the absence of any clear strategy for the future. on the contrary, downsizing decisions triggered by an anticipation of deferred compensation, we reasoned, would be seen as assetrestructuring in nature and thereby opening new windows of opportunity. although this line of reasoning did not hold in the case of csr perceptions, the results support our line of reasoning for perhaps the most crucial variable in our study, i.e. survivor commitment. interestingly, survivor commitment is significantly negatively related to both compensation factors. thus, deferred compensation is not viewed by survivors in our study as a component of “asset restructuring” or part of a new strategy for turnaround. survivors in our study are just as likely to be demotivated and anxious about the downsizing when it is influenced by deferred compensation as much as they are when it is influenced by decline in performance-linked bonuses. perhaps survivors see all forms of compensation as “manifestations of greed” or undesirable, to say the least. nonetheless, our results suggest that companies engaged in downsizing as a means of organizational turnaround need to be very careful in explaining compensation issues to survivors, if they are to succeed in the post-downsizing scenario. some have reported that higher levels of executive compensation in firms are likely to be related to higher overall meanness scores for mistreating employees (see cai et al., 2011). thus, although our results do not support the negative relationship with csr perceptions, they do suggest that ceo compensation could be a crucial factor in successfully restructuring the company. this effect is more or less the same across the four countries examined here, indicating more convergence in this regard than divergence across cultures. one reason for the lack of a negative relationship between ceo compensation for downsizing and csr perceptions is that downsizing is increasingly seen as inevitable across the world, with rapid growth in globalization. another reason, perhaps, is the limitation of an experimental design in not making the downsizing real enough for the subjects. however, this argument does not hold for the other two dependent variables, i.e. survivor commitment and victims’ perceptions of fairness. both of these dependent variables show reasonable support for our hypotheses. additionally, we tested for realism (external validity) of the scenarios and found support for it, following recommendations in earlier research (lakshman et al., 2014). thus, we believe that the inevitability of downsizing may make the expected relationship between compensation and csr perceptions weaker. this, however, may be different in countries with stronger ideologies favoring job security and attitudes against downsizing. this study has some important managerial implications for the design of ceo compensation packages and for ceos making downsizing decisions. ceos making downsizing decisions need to be wary of being seen to be driven by greed and need to engage more in asset restructuring �269 consequences of paying ceos for downsizing: a four-country study of the impacts on survivors vs. victims m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 250-272 (cascio et al., 1997), reorganizing or efficiency-enhancing (brookman et al., 2007) types of downsizing to preserve and protect their managerial reputations, in addition to fostering commitment among survivors in their organizations. our study has certain limitations applicable to experimental designs using scenarios. however, we took all measures recommended in the literature (see cho et al., 2011) such as using and testing for realism of scenarios, utilizing theoretical frameworks for the development and testing of hypotheses, among others. we also used experienced executives, thereby matching subjects to experimental tasks (see lakshman et al., 2014). still, ceo compensation is a complex construct and our design simplifies the different components, which may require additional research to sort out some of the inconsistencies in our findings. our study adds to the evidence in favor of the importance of ethics (csr) trumping culture, as presented by lakshman et al. (2014). lakshman et al, (2014) also used an experimental design to show that ceo responsibility attributions for downsizing were negatively related to ethics/csr perceptions in a similar fashion across four countries, i.e. u.s.a., france, india and estonia. our findings show convergence across four cultures and some level of divergence in that the strength of the study relationships varies as a function of power distance. thus, we point to the importance of intracultural variation and its impact on outcome variables in international business. people within a culture, especially in rapidly changing business environments (i.e. india and vietnam), can react differently to similar business situations, thereby increasing the complexity for managers to handle. however, our results are likely to be generalizable to other countries by virtue of the support for convergence obtained here. more importantly, we make crucial contributions to the literature by examining hitherto under-examined or unaddressed issues in this context. conclusion downsizing continues to dominate the scene around europe and the rest of the world, which is suffering from the consequences of the worst financial crisis to date. by examining the csr consequences of incentive compensation for downsizing, we turn the attention of interested scholars and professionals to this very important domain. by focusing on ceo responsibility characteristics and governance mechanisms, we identify a number of interesting relationships that need to be carefully managed in practice and examined in research. careful design of compensation packages, with complete consideration of their consequences, especially from the perspective of csr implications are imperative. we hope that this study will be the trigger for moving away from simple debates to systematic research in this context. � 270 m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 250-272 chandrashekhar lakshman & linh chi vo & rani s. ladha & kubilay gok references aiken, l.s. & west, s.g. (1991), multiple regression: testing and interpreting interactions, newbury park, ca: sage. bailey, w. & spicer, a. (2007). when does national identity matter? convergence and divergence in international business ethics. academy of management journal, 50(6), 1462-1480. brockner, j., grover, s., reed, t f. & dewitt, r.l. (1992). layoffs, job insecurity, and survivors’ work effort: evidence of an inverted–u relationship. academy of management journal, 35(2), 413-425. brookman, j.t., chang, s. & rennie, c.g. (2007). ceo equity portfolio incentives and layoff decisions. the journal of financial research, 30(2), 259-281. cacioppe, r., forster, n. & fox, m. (2007). a survey of managers’ perceptions of corporate ethics and social responsibility and actions that may affect companies’ success. journal of business ethics, 82(3), 681-700. cai, y., jo, h. & pan, c. (2011). vice or virtue? the impact of corporate social responsibility on executive compensation. journal of business ethics, 104(2),159-173. carroll, a.b. (2004). managing ethically with global stakeholders: a present and future challenge. academy of management executive, 18(2), 114-120. cascio, w.f. (1993). downsizing: what do we know? what have we learnt? academy of management executive, 7(1), 95-104. cascio, w.f., young, c.e. & morris, j.r. (1997). financial consequences of employment change decisions in major u.s. corporations. academy of management journal, 40(5), 1175-1189. cho, c.h., martens, m.l., kim, h. & rodrigue, m. (2011). astroturfing global warming: it isn’t always greener on the other side. journal of business ethics, 104(4), 571-587. datta, d.k., guthrie, j.p., basuil, d. & pandey, a. ( 2 0 1 0 ) . c a u s e s a n d e ff e c t s o f e m p l o y e e downsizing: a review and synthesis. journal of management, 36(1), 281-348. de meuse, k.p., bergmann, t.j., vanderheiden, p.a. & roraff, c.e. (2004). new evidence regarding organizational downsizing and a firm’s financial performance: a long-term analysis. journal of managerial issues, 16(2), 155-177. de saint-julien, d.f-p. (2007). les survivants à un plan social: analyse confirmative pour une grh différenciée. la revue des sciences de gestion, direction et gestion—ressources humaines, 223(1), 25-40. emshoff, j.r. (1994). how to increase employee loyalty while you downsize. business horizons, 37(2), 49-57. ertürk, a. (2007). layoff survivors’ perceptions of fairness as determinant of affective commitment following downsizing. bogaziçi journal: review of social, economic and administrative studies, 21(1-2), 37-58. fabrizi, m., mallin, c. & michelon, g. (2014). the role of ceos’ personal incentives in driving corporate social responsibility. journal of business ethics, 124(2), 311-326. fletcher, g.j., danilovics, p., fernandez, d.p. & reeder, g.d. (1986). attributional complexity: an individual differences measure. journal of personality and social psychology, 51(4), 875-884. hartman l.p., rubin r.s. & dhanda k.k. (2007). the communication of corporate social responsibility: united states and european union multinational corporations. journal of business ethics, 74(4), 373-389. hoang, h. (2008), culture and management: a study of vietnamese cultural influences on management style. unpublished phd thesis, minneapolis, mn: capella university. hofstede, g. (1980), culture’s consequences: international differences in work-related values, beverly hills, ca: sage. house, r., hanges, p., javidan, m., dorfman, p. & gupta, v. (eds.) (2004). culture, leadership, and organizations: the globe study of 62 societies. thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. iverson, r.d. & zatzick, c.d. (2011). the effects of downsizing on labor productivity: the value of showing consideration for employees’ morale and welfare in high-performance work systems. human resource management, 50(1), 29-44. jamali, d., sidani, y. & el-asmar, k. (2009). a three country comparative analysis of managerial csr perspectives: insights from lebanon, syria and jordan. journal of business ethics, 85(2), 173-192. kim, h. (2009). examining the role of informational justice in the wake of downsizing from an o r g a n i z a t i o n a l r e l a t i o n s h i p m a n a g e m e n t perspective, journal of business ethics, 88(2), 297-312. lakshman, c., ramaswami, a., alas, r., kabongo, j.f. & pandian, j.r. (2014). ethics trumps culture? a c r o s s n a t i o n a l s t u d y o f b u s i n e s s l e a d e r r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r d o w n s i z i n g a n d c s r perceptions. journal of business ethics, 125(1), 101-119. mishra, a.k. & spreitzer, g.m. (1998). explaining how survivors respond to downsizing: the roles of trust, empowerment, justice, and work redesign. academy of management review, 23(3), 567-588. mohan, n.k. & chen, c.r. (2010). the right to fire: stock market reaction to the adoption and subsequent rescinding of the first employment contract in france. international review of applied financial issues and economics, 2(1), 4-17. naumann, s.e., bennett, n., bies, r.j. & martin, c.l. (1998). laid off, but still loyal: the influence of perceived justice and organizational support. international journal of conflict management, 9(4), 356-368. rama, m. (2002). the gender implications of public sector downsizing: the reform program of vietnam. the world bank research observer, 17(2), 67-189. �271 consequences of paying ceos for downsizing: a four-country study of the impacts on survivors vs. victims m@n@gement, vol. 22(2): 250-272 ranft, v.a. & ranft, a.l. (1999). rightsizing the multidivisional firm: individual response to change across divisions. m@n@gement, 2(3), 195-208. thayumanavan (2001). vietnam: one step forward, two steps back? economic and political weekly, 36(37), 3518-3524. chandrashekhar lakshman is currently senior assistant professor of international management at utrgv. he received his ph.d. in organization studies from southern illinois university at carbondale. his research interests are in international and cross-cultural areas of hrm, leadership, knowledge management, and strategic hrm. lakshman’s work has appeared in journals such as journal of international business studies, journal of management studies, human resource management, international journal of cross cultural management, and journal of business ethics. linh chi vo is professor of strategic management and innovation at ecole de management de normandie, france. her main research interests include neo-institutional theory, philosophy of pragmatism, board gender diversity, and microfoundations of csr. she has published in different academic journals and books, including in the oxford handbook of process philosophy and organization studies, board directors and corporate social responsibility, and corporate social responsibility and human resource management. rani s ladha is professor of finance and accounting at goa institute of management, india. her research interests encompass corporate governance, accreditation policy, behavioural decision making, corporate restructuring and valuation. she has published in academic journals including corporate governance, journal of emerging market finance, gender in management: an international journal, and jindal journal of public policy. kubilay gok is an associate professor of management and human resources at winona state university. he is the recipient of the “outstanding international implications paper award” from the ob division and was one of the finalists for the carolyn dexter best paper award at the academy of management in 2016. he researches attribution theory, ethical leadership, meaningful work, justice, employee well-being, gender and leadership, leader member exchange, and cross-cultural management. � 272 01 212 musca neukirch&rouleau&mellet&sitri&vogüé 2018 m@n@gement 2018, vol. 21(2): 705-737 from boat to bags: the role of material chronotopes in adaptive sensemaking 
 geneviève musca neukirch ! linda rouleau ! caroline mellet ! frédérique sitri ! sarah de vogüé abstract. in following a material turn in communications, this paper explores how adaptive sensemaking in an extreme context is materially framed and reframed through both time and space. by drawing upon an ethnographic study of the darwin expedition, the paper examines in finegrained detail what weick (1993) would call a "cosmology episode": during days 9 and 10 of this expedition, climbers felt that their universe was no longer rational or ordered. a discursive analysis reveals that the "boat" and "bags" had become two central "material chronotopes", through which meaning-making was being collectively reframed once the sense had collapsed. this work assesses the accounts surrounding both objects and moreover explains their roles in prompting the expedition team to reframe core meanings and enact a radical shift in sensemaking. the conclusion discusses the contribution of chronotopes in frame-shifting and the importance of focusing on the central objects structuring the collective sensemaking process in order to yield a better understanding of the role of materiality in an extreme context. keywords: adaptive sensemaking, chronotope, materiality, linguistic analysis, extreme context introduction the literature on sensemaking in an extreme or crisis context typically focuses on several cases involving the failure to reframe a situation as unexpected events unfold (colville, pye & carter, 2013; cornelissen, mantere & vaara, 2014; weick & roberts, 1993; weick, 2010 ; weick, 1993). in an extreme context, major breakdowns in meaning are likely to occur, thus raising challenging issues for sensemaking (maitlis & sonenshein, 2010). the sensemaking process proves to be decisive both in reconstructing meaning around a common framing of the situation and in accepting and implementing a radical shift (maitlis & sonenshein, 2010; weick, 1988, 1995). weick's seminal paper on the mann gulch disaster, published in 1993, provides one of the best known examples of such a situation. in their response to this disaster, firefighters found it extremely difficult to drop the heavy tools they were carrying, even though doing so would have allowed them to flee and survive. since the situation was very fluid and becoming increasingly ambiguous, a tremendous breakdown in meaning had occurred, leaving firefighters unable to communicate or construct a joint account of events as they were happening due to the presence of thick smoke and loud noise. by illustrating the inability to adapt to unexpected events, as exhibited by their reluctance to drop the tools, weick (1993) identified a central problem in sensemaking. however, he and most subsequent researchers delving into �705 geneviève musca neukirch université paris nanterre –ceros, france genevieve.musca@parisnanterre.fr linda rouleau hec montréal – geps, canada linda.rouleau@hec.ca caroline mellet université paris nanterre– modyco, cnrs, france cmellet@parisnanterre.fr frédérique sitri université paris nanterre– modyco, cnrs, france fsitri@parisnanterre.fr sarah de vogüé université paris nanterre– modyco, cnrs, france devogue@parisnanterre.fr mailto:linda.rouleau@hec.ca mailto:linda.rouleau@hec.ca m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 705-737 geneviève musca neukirch & linda rouleau & caroline mellet & frédérique sitri & sarah de vogüé sensemaking persist in explaining such an inability by citing cognitive reasons, and thus overlooking the symbolic roles ascribed to "tools" or materiality by individuals in the process of reframing meaning. in their review of sensemaking research, maitlis and christianson (2014) urged researchers to advance this line of query through exploring the role of the material objects used as cues in a sensemaking process. more specifically, the present paper focuses on the way these cues are embedded into both space and time. such is precisely the goal of this paper. in pursuing this interest for materiality in communication studies (ashcraft, kuhn & cooren, 2009; orlikowski, 2007) and how it participates in sensemaking, we are proposing herein to investigate a reframing situation that plays out in an extreme context by advancing the notion of "material chronotope" in reference to the notion of chronotope developed by bakhtin (1981), in order to explain the deep entanglement between time, space and materiality. we use this notion to discover how team members of an expedition reframe their world subsequent to a series of unexpected events and wind up agreeing to enact the new frame. according to bakhtin (1981), a chronotope (literally, time = chronos plus space = topos) refers to a unique configuration of time and space used to organize a specific literary genre; as such, this particular configuration offers a way of understanding the world. this notion has already been introduced in management studies to explain how change-related meanings transform over time (boje, haley & saylors, 2016; lancione & clegg, 2013; lorino & tricard, 2012; musca, rouleau & fauré, 2014; vaara & pedersen, 2013). the proposal here is to extend the focus to the material dimension of this bakhtinian notion of chronotope, in emphasizing it as a material entity and thus setting the stage for "the fusion of space and time". for this reason, we employ the term "material chronotope". moreover, in keeping with bakhtin, we analyze how this material chronotope is configured through discourse and especially how it organizes discursive genres. in relying on this notion, our aim is to understand how a project is framed and reframed through discourses. our study draws upon a real-time, in situ ethnographic study of a non-commercial french mountaineering expedition, i.e. the "darwin expedition", whose objective was to achieve the first-ever crossing of the cordillera darwin range in patagonia (some 150 km long). the six-week expedition took place in september and october 2009 (lasting over 40 days in all). the entire expedition was jeopardized by a series of unexpected events under extreme conditions (i.e. where any single deviation had potentially life-threatening consequences). through a linguistic analysis of the texts and discourses produced during this expedition, namely the logbook produced by the team and the conversations held among team members during an episode (days 9 and 10) when sense had collapsed, we show how two material objects the boat and the bags were central to the process of framing and reframing meanings throughout the expedition. at the end of days 9 and 10, the alpinists decided to "drop" the boat that had served as their base camp, thereby ensuring their safety and enabling them to resupply. they actually packed their bags (having first reassessed the type of gear and equipment required for a revised crossing strategy) and disembarked from the boat. the transition from "dropping the boat" to "let's pack our bags" allowed team members to initially reframe the meaning of the expedition around different goals and objectives. � 706 from boat to bags: the role of material chronotopes in adaptive sensemaking m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 705-737 this paper provides three contributions. first of all, we expand the role of materiality to serve as a cue for adaptive sensemaking in an extreme context (clegg, pina e cunha, rego & dias, 2013; guthey, whiteman & elmes, 2014; hydle, 2015; tuana, 2008) both by emphasizing the temporal and spatial dimensions and by examining objects to which significant influence on collective action is given. the second contribution complements existing research in the area of management and organizational studies on chronotopes (boje, et al., 2016; lorino & tricard, 2012; musca, et al., 2014; pedersen, 2009; vaara & pedersen, 2013) by advancing the notion of material chronotope through a linguistic analysis of discursive genres and conversational practices. third, we highlight the process of frame-shifting in an extreme context (colville, et al., 2013; cornelissen, et al., 2014; dunbar & garud, 2009) and reveal the temporal discontinuity of such processes. this paper has been divided into the following parts. we begin by reviewing the sensemaking literature in an extreme context and developing the notion of a "material chronotope". the methodology is described next, followed by a presentation of our findings. the paper concludes by discussing the role of chronotopes in frame-shifting and the importance of identifying the central objects structuring the collective sensemaking process in order to better understand the role of materiality in extreme contexts. adaptive sensemaking and materiality in extreme contexts major environmental disruptions and changes raise the challenge of adaptive sensemaking (kaplan, 2008; knight, 1921; weick & sutcliffe, 2007). maitlis and christianson (2014: 67) described the process of adaptive sensemaking in the following terms: "a process, prompted by violated expectations, that involves attending to and bracketing cues in the environment, creating intersubjective meaning through cycles of interpretation and action, and thereby enacting a more ordered environment from which further cues can be drawn." in extreme contexts, adaptive sensemaking involves developing plausible meanings through the creation of narratives of what is actually happening (maitlis & sonenshein, 2010: 552), with these narratives combining new cues and emergent frames (weick, 1995: 110), disseminating meaning and prompting action (gioia & chittipeddi, 1991; maitlis & sonenshein, 2010; weick, 1988, 1995). frames correspond to the "principles of organization that govern the subjective meanings [actors] assigned to social events" (goffman, 1974: 11, quoted from cornelissen & werner, 2014: 197). an adaptive process of sensemaking takes place when moving from one frame to another. when studying sensemaking in extreme contexts, contemporary studies are beginning to seriously examine the role of materiality in the meaning-making process over time. as weick (1996) demonstrated 20 years ago, the reluctance of firefighters and others holding jobs of high responsibility (e.g. seamen, fighter pilots, police) to drop the specific tools that constituted a distinctive trademark of their profession could prove to be fatal. in extreme contexts, technical systems, tools, procedures, etc. all play a crucial role, perhaps more than in conventional settings since the interdependence between these material objects and artefacts, as well as human input, can make the difference between life and death (shattuck & � 707 m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 705-737 geneviève musca neukirch & linda rouleau & caroline mellet & frédérique sitri & sarah de vogüé miller, 2006). nevertheless, materiality in crisis and organizational sensemaking (stigliani & ravasi, 2012) is a recent concern targeted by management and organizational scholars. generally recognized as incidental or, at best, intermittent in the scholarly description of sensemaking processes, the role of objects in such situations has been understudied. it is increasingly obvious however that objects contribute to the enactment of sensemaking in extreme contexts through tools, architecture, reports, technological systems, and the list goes on. even though the research on crisis sensemaking and materiality remains scarce, it does reveal that materiality forms other than the workrelated objects and artefacts typically investigated in organizational sensemaking studies have been taken into account (e.g. magazines, images, sketches used by designer teams, stigliani & ravasi, 2012). for example, in addition to physical artefacts or objects used by police officers (guns, equipment, videos and films), cornelissen, et al., (2014) broadened their vision of materiality by assessing the physical environment and the embodied acts of gesturing, in order to explore the role of materiality in escalating commitment around a false interpretation sequence. clegg, et al., (2013) assessed how mundane objects intervene as a genocidal process unfolds (e.g. chains, iron beds, needles, books). tuana (2008), along with whiteman and cooper (2011), urged extreme context researchers to incorporate both the physical and natural environment, composed of rocks, ice, animals, trees, vegetation, etc. moreover, the research conducted on crisis sensemaking and materiality has addressed the "mediating" role of materiality in sensemaking processes and practices in the presence of extreme contexts. in reexamining the stockwell shooting, cornelissen, et al., (2014) suggested that materiality allows for "anchoring" or providing concrete evidence that corresponds to the language used and emotions felt surrounding the framing of jean-charles de menezes as a terrorist suicide bomber. these authors proposed the notion of "material anchoring" for the purpose of categorizing the role of materiality in sensemaking. by confirming the meanings evoked and interpreted, materiality in this case contributes to reinforcing a non-adaptive sensemaking response to an antiterrorist police operation. in comparing an ethnographic account in the subarctic with the mann gulch disaster, whiteman and cooper (2011) posited that the inclusion of actors in their ecological environment stimulates their sensemaking, while excluding their ecological surroundings can lead to non-adaptive sensemaking. in studying the columbia shuttle flight and conflicting logics at play within nasa before the explosion, dunbar and garud (2009: 398) proposed considering "sensemaking as emerging from the interactions of different pieces of organizational knowledge distributed across artefacts, people, metrics and routines". according to these authors, it is the "distributed" nature of sensemaking or what they call the "indeterminacy of meaning" in complex technological systems that explains the difficulty for individuals, teams and organizations to adapt to unexpected and extreme events. in this body of research, materiality might be a cue that stimulate convergent or divergent interpretations and offer new opportunities for adaptation. this paper is intended to continue along such an approach (putnam, 2015) and extends the notion of materiality as a cue for adaptive sensemaking. furthermore, other researchers working on extreme contexts and examining materiality have emphasized the temporal and spatial dimension inherent in materiality under extreme conditions. for example, tuana (2008: 193) suggested that hurricane katrina "is � 708 from boat to bags: the role of material chronotopes in adaptive sensemaking m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 705-737 emblematic of the viscous porosity between humans and our environment, between social practices and natural phenomena". the metaphor of "viscous porosity" addresses the weight involved in nesting materiality, time and space. clegg, et al., (2013) analyzed the cambodian genocide of the 1970's and demonstrated how banal objects create "material spaces" that help normalize the abnormal. this line of research therefore provides a forum for addressing the issue of materiality from the standpoint of time and space in sensemaking. to better understand the sensemaking process in an extreme context, further exploration is required of how new framings collectively emerge and might favor alternative courses of action. such an exploration however necessitates better comprehension of the role of materiality in sensemaking and of how plausible connections among temporal and spatial interpretations unfold, even if they are difficult to articulate. we have relied on this perspective to borrow the notion of "chronotopes" developed by bakhtin (1981). chronotopes, speech genres and materiality the notion of chronotope has been defined by bakhtin (1981: 84) as follows: "we will give the name chronotope (literally, 'time space') to the intrinsic connectedness of temporal and spatial relationships that are artistically expressed in literature". from bakhtin's perspective, the notion of chronotope is a unique configuration of time and space that organizes a specific literary genre, such as: greek romance, adventure novel, biography, chivalric romance, rabelais-inspired novel, or idyllic novel (bakhtin, 1986). this "fusion of space and time" is materialized in a tangible entity. for instance, he identified « the road » as the chronotope for adventure novels. even though it could be fictional, the road is definitely a tangible entity configuring time and space in a way that produces the adventure novel genre. according to bakhtin (1981), one way of defining and stimulating a literary speech genre is to structure it around some chronotope. he pointed out: "the chronotope in literature has an intrinsic generic significance. it can even be said that it is precisely the chronotope that defines genre and generic distinctions, for in literature the primary category in the chronotope is time." (bakhtin, 1981: 84-85, note: we added the underscore). moreover, the chronotope serves to define the genre by means of organizing not only the subject but also the characteristic composition and style features accompanying each genre: "we understand the chronotope as a formally constitutive category of literature" (bakhtin 1981:84: note: we added the underscore). for instance, in the adventure novel, the road shapes the time and space embedded in the encounters composing the novel, from the standpoint of: the dominant adventure theme (e.g. the road sets the stage for the encounters), the novel's internal outline (organized as a series of successive encounters), and the linguistic forms employed (e.g. using connector words to mark a linear temporal sequence, like then). scholars in management and organizational studies who apply the notion of chronotopes have either referred to the chronotopes listed by bakhtin (e.g. the road, the castle, the parlors and salons, a provincial town, threshold) or proposed other chronotopes in order to explore how time and space play a role in diverse managerial and organizational processes. for example, vaara and pedersen (2013) offered a framework for investigating strategic narratives based on the six genres and chronotopes (e.g. adventure of everyday life/the road) identified by bakhtin. they propose a "literary time" perspective and suggest observing how specific � 709 m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 705-737 geneviève musca neukirch & linda rouleau & caroline mellet & frédérique sitri & sarah de vogüé combinations of time and space are constructed in strategic narratives. haley and boje (2014) and boje, et al., (2016) drew upon these same chronotopes, which are considered as the building blocks underlying narratives and antenarratives in the managerial discourse of change. this approach made it possible for the authors to display the heterogeneous nature of these strategic and organizational narratives as regards space and time. other scholars have highlighted the existence of alternative chronotopes specific to the organizational discourse under analysis. such is the case with lorino and tricard (2012), who indicated that when the dominant organizational chronotope is destabilized by actions that transgress narrative boundaries, some organizational actors might then "scream" in order to reaffirm and defend the time-space frame constituting their professional identity. lancione and clegg (2013) identified 29 generic organizational chronotopes shaping the business school they were studying. musca, et al., (2014) showed how a specific chronotope (i.e. the "crow's flight path") provides a practical means for calculating the distance traveled relative to the time frame available for an expedition. these works have highlighted the interest of the notion of chronotopes for management and organizational studies. however, managerial chronotopes draw upon the literary genres studied by bakhtin yet do not necessarily cover all types of discourses enacted in organizations. on the other hand, organizational chronotopes overlook the fact that the bakhtinian notion of chronotope is intimately tied to speech genres. according to the bakhtinian perspective, chronotopes are grounded in the discursive traces of spatiotemporal orientations that organize both the content and form of a specific speech genre. speech genres are defined as: "relatively stable types of […] utterances" (bakhtin, 1986:60), developed through social spheres of activity and therefore associated with a specific social function. these speech genres are "diverse and boundless because the various possibilities of human activity are inexhaustible" (bakhtin 1986), such as "everyday narration, writing (in all its various forms), the brief standard military command, the elaborate and detailed orders, the fairly variegated repertoire of business documents… and the diverse world of commentary (…)" (bakhtin 1986:60). since the speech genres of managerial contexts differ from the literary genres investigated by bakhtin, chronotopes in managerial contexts might differ from those highlighted by bakhtin. their identification would require a discursive analysis of the genres used in organizational studies. another specificity of bakhtin's notion of chronotope is the fact that chronotopes are not mere configurations of space and time: they have the status of material objects and artefacts. bakhtin (1981:84) stated: "in the literary artistic chronotope, spatial and temporal indicators are fused into one carefully thought-out, concrete whole." in fictional genres, objects and artefacts are fictional, while in the non-fictional genres typical of organizations, they might be real objects or artefacts. for this reason, we are proposing the notion of "material chronotope". these objects are tangible, yet by virtue of organizing a speech genre, they possess a semiotic value: this discourse has imbued them with meaning. as such, material chronotopes do participate in the sensemaking process: they orient actors in space and time, in addition to enabling or restricting their sensemaking practices. this paper will thus explore how material chronotopes constitute the building blocks for reframing meanings in an extreme context. we are seeking herein to answer the following question: how adaptive sensemaking in an extreme context materially framed and reframed through both time and space? more specifically, we wish to explore the role � 710 from boat to bags: the role of material chronotopes in adaptive sensemaking m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 705-737 of material chronotopes in frame-shifting, in a context where the meaning of a situation is under threat. this question will be addressed by analyzing the discursive practices surrounding the darwin expedition, during which the initial frame faltered and was replaced by a new frame. research setting and methods our study is based on an abductive research design (alvesson & kärreman, 2007; locke, golden-biddle & feldman, 2008). abduction refers to a form of reasoning that seeks to shape surprising facts into a new hypothesis (locke, et al., 2008; peirce, 1958). abduction therefore fits with this exploratory type of research in attempting to explain how adaptive sensemaking in an extreme context is materially framed and reframed through both time and space. to capture the role of materiality in the sensemaking process as it unfolds (kaplan & orlikowski, 2013; langley, smallman, tsoukas & van de ven, 2013), we have drawn upon an ethnographic method: "being there" is the best way to understand the role of objects and micro-practices through which a group enacts a radical shift in sensemaking. this in situ perspective enables extending beyond a posteriori reconstructions and observing in real-time: how actors actually construct and negotiate interpretations, their links with action and materiality, and how these processes evolve over time (kaplan & orlikowski, 2013). moreover, "being there" gives researchers the opportunity to better understand how individuals make sense of changing ecological conditions (whiteman & cooper, 2011), which is especially important in extreme and very rapidly-evolving contexts with potentially lifethreatening consequences. the present case study involves conducting a non-commercial mountaineering expedition under extreme conditions. the team faced a situation of isolation in a setting where the consequences of actions and decisions could be critical, even life-threatening (hannah, uhl-bien, avolio & cavaretta, 2009). the darwin cordillera mountain range targeted by this expedition is located in the "furious fifties" (latitudes) and only accessible by boat across a particularly rough sea. the objective of the expedition was to achieve the first-ever crossing of the cordillera range (approximately 150 km long), one of the last unexplored areas of the world in these latitudes. the cordillera is located some 150 km "as the crow flies" from punta arenas and could only be accessed by boat in crossing very choppy waters. complex technical difficulties, combined with very hostile climatic conditions, had prevented previous expeditions from completing the crossing. this case study is appropriate for several reasons. first, a mountaineering expedition constitutes an extreme case (yin, 1984) and one carried out in an extreme context (hällgren, rouleau & de rond, 2018). facing tremendous (and as yet unknown) mountaineering difficulties, as well as maritime storms and violent weather, the expedition had to cope with numerous unexpected settings and events (söderholm, 2008; weick & sutcliffe, 2007). moreover, this unique phenomenon was on display throughout the duration of the entire expedition duration. second, our research benefited from focusing on a project team (hällgren, 2007) assigned the objective of traversing a specified goal space (i.e. mountain range) within a specified time frame. third, this expedition features a moment of radical shift, in this instance days 9 and 10, which drew our attention to the role played by the boat in the collective sensemaking � 711 m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 705-737 geneviève musca neukirch & linda rouleau & caroline mellet & frédérique sitri & sarah de vogüé process . fourth and last, since the scope of this expedition is quite limited, 1 i.e. involving a team operating in very close quarters (boat, various base camps, mountain climbs) for a predefined period (40 days), we were able to collect data in real time during all expedition phases, by combining a longitudinal study with a real-time in situ ethnographic study over the sixweek period (rasche & chia, 2009; van maanen, 2006, 2011; yanow, 2009). data collection data were collected during three expedition phases, namely: preparatory (autumn 2008 summer 2009); expedition (six weeks in autumn 2009, including the radical change episode); and post-expedition (extending into 2011). table 1 provides an overview of the compiled dataset. table 1 overview of the expedition dataset during the expedition, data collection efforts focused mainly on the day-to-day activities of the expedition leader and team members (in all 18 individuals: the expedition leader, a highly-experienced mountain guide, 9 mountain guides and amateur alpinists, researchers, assistants and the boat crew, see appendix 1). the researchers also relied on direct observations, note-taking, audio/video recordings, semi-structured interviews, logbook entries and radio transmissions with the alpinists during their time in the cordillera range. the alpinists were assigned individual tape recorders or notebooks and were asked to spend time each day answering three questions: 1) what happened today?, 2) how did i feel during the day?, and 3) what do i expect to happen tomorrow? during all three phases, the researchers compiled a variety of documents related phase recorded interviews other audio recordings videos participant observations documents preparatory (2008 autumn 2009) all mountain guides + the expedition leader (10) six team meetings informal conversations team members (2 hours) team meetings + informal discussions participant observations in situ with the team leader (one week, research team 1: itinerary, equipment, logistics) emails reports graphic displays maps photos expedition (autumn 2009) 17 interviews meetings + conversations (90 hours) recorded diaries (alpinists and researchers, 50 hours) meetings + various situations (80+ hours) participants' observations (24 hours a day for 6 weeks), including team activities at the base camp, reconnaissance itineraries and transfer hikes website (logbook entries) maps weather reports alpinists' and researchers' notes photos postexpedition focused interviews (16) conferences, festivals "the darwin expedition" movie (56 min) post-expedition meetings conferences informal discussions emails articles � 712 1. in a previous article by these same authors, we studied the discursive practices that enabled this team to reconstruct meaning during the given two-day period, in exposing the various formats inherent in such practices. our goal here is to explore the role of time and space on the one hand, and objects and artefacts on the other, w i t h i n a d a p t i v e s e n s e m a k i n g microprocesses in an extreme context. from boat to bags: the role of material chronotopes in adaptive sensemaking m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 705-737 to the expedition, in order to complete the dataset. all four embedded researchers were involved in data collection throughout the expedition; they lodged with the alpinists at various base camps nearly every night (except for one week when the alpinists remained in the cordillera without returning to camp). the researchers worked in two pairs of two, with each pair conducting three weeks of observations. the first author of this paper was part of the pair that recorded observations and interactions during the first three weeks (days 1-21). she was with the alpinists throughout the episode analyzed herein (days 9-10) and therefore could log direct observations. "being there" as the alpinists experienced a breakdown of sensemaking and struggled to reconstruct meaning, while experiencing for herself the difficulties of making sense of the situation, both helped her focus attention on what was at stake and furthered her understanding of the reframing process. the second author was embedded with the other pair and shouldered responsibility for recording observations during the second part of the expedition: her participation thus made it possible to observe the consequences of the particular episode. data analysis once an exhaustive, reliable and transferable database had been compiled, the data underwent an iterative analysis. we began by developing an account of the case study along with a detailed chronology of the events playing out at different times in distinct spaces. we noticed that days 9-10 were crucial to the way the expedition unfolded. in weickian terms, we concluded that this "cosmology episode" involved a shift in sensemaking: the project seemed to fully lose its meaning and was entirely reframed during these two days (with a complete change of itinerary, type of crossing, direction, difficulties and rescue possibilities). more importantly, the alpinists were forced to leave their boat during this episode, and we were struck by how difficult it was for them to pack their bags in order to leave the boat. we assembled a team of researchers from the fields of management and linguistics and then turned our attention to the role of materiality in sensemaking through an in-depth linguistic analysis of the data from the 2 perspective of bakhtin's notion of chronotopes. for this analysis, we selected two data categories: recordings of conversations held during these two days, and logbook posts published on the website both as the episode was unfolding and over subsequent days. the conversations offered a setting in which change was discussed and accepted. the logbook, written as a collective effort throughout the expedition, provided a running account and directly contributed to sensemaking before days 9 and 10, during the two-day episode and then afterwards. we conducted an analysis of both the structure and organization of the conversations and logbook entries (words, morphemes, syntactic structures analyzed in relation to their discursive functions) composing these discourses. the analysis did not solely concentrate on the content being conveyed: the way this content is presented and appears in the discussion, combined with the precise forms used to convey content and the overall discourse structure, were also analyzed using discourse and text analysis methods available in the field of linguistics. we considered the form of utterance in relation to the context of its production and multiple embedded uses. the structure and organization of conversations and logbook entries were analyzed at various points in time throughout the expedition. three kinds of linguistics � 713 2. this analysis includes semiotic and pragmatic dimensions: in that sense, it c o r r e s p o n d s t o w h a t b a k h t i n c o n s i d e r e d a s b e i n g n o t m e r e l i n g u i s t i c s b u t “ t r a n s linguistics”(bakhtin, 1984:181). m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 705-737 geneviève musca neukirch & linda rouleau & caroline mellet & frédérique sitri & sarah de vogüé analyses were conducted: 1) modalities for constructing discourse objects; 2) structures characterizing the genre of observed texts; and 3) attributes related to temporal and spatial organization. construction of discourse objects to fully grasp the chronotope shift (from boat to bags) during days 9 and 10, we examined how the various referenced objects and individuals were introduced into the discourse and how they were related to one another. this analysis relied on the notion of a discourse object (grize, 1990; sitri, 2003), which can be defined as the topic of discussion: this object is the point being raised by speakers. from a linguistic perspective, this object can be identified by specific signs explicitly indicating the topic (what's important here is…, as regards…, etc.). the key here is that these objects proposed for discussion can be retrieved as the discourse ensues, inasmuch as they are potentially reworded, transformed and reclassified. this collective classification-reclassification effort is apparent when formulating constructions like: it's actually this, meaning that, and so forth. such classification processes contribute to building and modifying meaning. from a methodological standpoint, this classificationreclassification analysis, similar to other potential methods (e.g. semantic network analyses (cornelissen & werner, 2014)), displays how shared frames emerge and assemble during interactions (goffman, 1974; tannen, 1985) while avoiding "the reification of frames" (cornelissen & werner, 2014: 219). these various classifications induce different action sequences (e.g. "10 o'clock fire" (weick, 1993)). with such discursive objects, we are able to follow the recommendations of cornelissen & werner (2014: 219) by "moving closer to the action at a micro-level and studying the ongoing and interpretive processes of framing and meaning construction across actors and across time". the point of view adopted herein is close to that favored by whittle, housley, gilchrist, mueller & lenney (2015), who foresaw classification as a discursive activity contributing to strategic change. as indicated further below however, our attention will be focused on the linguistic operations that, through discourse, produce the reclassification. characterization of the targeted speech genres, i.e. strategic conversations and logbook posts in accordance with the analytical guidelines proposed by bakhtin, we sought to reconstitute the specific genres embodying these discourses, i.e. the logbook is associated with a well-identified genre featuring many examples and models. we analyzed these models along the lines of the theory of narrativity (genette, 1980 [1972]). we also observed the words used to label such text (mellet & sitri 2010). "logbook", which corresponds to "journal de bord" in french (the expedition team's working language). this approach led us to diagnose some changes regarding the logbook genre, specifically in light of the episode under observation. following bakhtin's line of analysis, we attempted to characterize those chronotopes capable of depicting and outlining this logbook genre. � 714 from boat to bags: the role of material chronotopes in adaptive sensemaking m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 705-737 understanding how time and space are perceived throughout the expedition and built or rebuilt through discourses we systematically recorded the vocabulary used to designate time and space in the logbook, as well as the time stamps used on verb conjugations; we observed syntactic phrasing that tended towards either narrative (progressing over time) or descriptive (commenting on spaces). we also took into account subjective indices that reveal whether time and space are organized around subjective points of view or around events and objective landmarks. the methodology used herein models the discourse structure initiated by benveniste (1970/2014) under the banner of the theory of enunciation, when he proposed differentiating between what he called "discourse", organized around a subjective point of view, and "histoire" (or story), organized around the events being related. beyond these linguistic analyses, the ethnographic analysis was based on the first and second authors' contributions to the data collection process. the extensive discussions held with the alpinists and other researchers in situ, plus the first author's previous knowledge of alpinism and mountaineering yielded a detailed account of the stakes involved during the expedition and of what actually was taking place in the conversations and logbook entries analyzed. more specifically, this approach served to clarify what kinds of frames were being successively updated. as recommended by kaplan (2008: 734), we "identified frames from statements made in interviews, interactions and documents". we thus tracked the frames used to organize sensemaking, both before and after the change (preand postexpedition interviews, documents), as well as the step-by-step procedure of the reframing exercise itself. moreover, this interpretive step enabled us to correlate the ongoing process of meaning construction in the given situation with actual actions taking place. findings: the role of materiality in adaptive sensemaking the findings of our analysis are based on the three periods of the expedition, during which two dominant artefacts, i.e. the boat and the bags articulating multiple dimensions of time and space in the logbook, operate as cues in the transition from one frame to another. during the first period (marked by unsuccessful attempts to navigate towards the cordillera, days 2 through 8), we show how the logbook discourse was organized around one material chronotope (the boat) in the initial frame of "great explorers". the second period encompasses days 9 and 10 and describes the frame faltering and discursive co-construction of a new frame through conversations between team members. we will show how the transition from one material chronotope (boat) to another (bag) contributed to building an acceptable new frame-orienting action. the third period begins at the end of day 10, when team members prepared their bags and enacted a new "himalayan-type of expedition" frame that induced a speech genre transformation, from the logbook to the travel notes. periods 1 and 3 will present findings in accordance with the initial and new frames (see table 2), by means of emphasizing a description of the two material chronotopes inherent in each frame. period 2 will showcase the conversational micro-practices employed to reframe adaptive sensemaking. � 715 m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 705-737 geneviève musca neukirch & linda rouleau & caroline mellet & frédérique sitri & sarah de vogüé table 2 the initial frame and new frame of the darwin expedition period 1: "great explorers" mountaineering expedition, the logbook and the boat great explorers the initial framing of the expedition emerged during the preexpedition phase and can be labeled a "great explorers" mountaineering expedition, whose main goal was to achieve a "first" among friends (emphasizing the "amateur", as opposed to the commercial, aspect). it entailed various components, namely: a "mountaineering guide" familiar with the highly-experienced team of alpinists and professional guides, overlaid by an "amateur mountaineer" among friends angle (leisure pursuit, out of the ordinary, with a higher degree of commitment), along with a "firstever" component (new feat in the world of climbing) that was unique, highly coveted and rife with vital issues and risk. "but there, within a 5-minute stretch, you've entered a black hole (…) to some extent, when we got back, i was practically relieved. that was not a hospitable mountain for people over there. we were going to die if left isolated on top during a storm, you're gone in a span of 10 min." (alpinist, post-expedition interview). � 716 general frame = mountaineering expedition "amateur mountaineer" among friends / "first-ever" initial frame new frame frame "great explorers" expedition unknown mountains boat serving as a base camp boat "himalayan-type" expedition although "maritime mountains" no porters or conventional base camp bags itinerary and projected schedule west-to-east 36-hour boat ride to reach the western end of the cordillera by day 2 or 3 38 days to complete the crossing 
 "1st-time" ascents east-to-west against the wind + most difficult stretch first 9 days had already elapsed plus: a 36-hour ride on a cargo ship to reach the cordillera on day 11 at the opposite side 29 days to complete the crossing no "1st-time" ascents type of crossing crossing of the cordillera range plus ascent of summits featuring technical difficulties boat as an itinerant base camp moderate loads to carry crossing of the cordillera range however no ascent of additional summits (due to time constraints, choice of equipment) no base camp – complete autonomy => bags heavy loads to carry participants 2 teams of alpinists: 1 in the mountain range 1 as a backup team + other participants (researchers, …) separation between: -alpinists (all in the cordillera mountains) -non-alpinists (on shore) safety considerations the boat as an itinerant base camp back-and-forth possible between boat and summits. a major commitment, yet backup team at the ready. no base camp, itinerant camps set up in the mountains no easily accessible backup possible over the entire duration of the crossing. an extreme level of commitment vital issues, no backup team available. from boat to bags: the role of material chronotopes in adaptive sensemaking m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 705-737 the expertise displayed by this team was rooted in their collective experience coping with rock and ice conditions, winds, itinerary planning, anticipated hourly elevation differences, and a requisite knowledge of mountaineering equipment and basic tools of the trade (e.g. technical gear, logistics, maps, reliable weather information, gps). in this initial frame, the plan consisted of arriving by plane at punta arenas and reaching the cordillera via a 36-hour boat ride, then crossing the cordillera range from west to east within 38 days, with the boat serving as an itinerant base camp advancing along the range in sync with the alpinists' progress. the alpinists were supposed to split into two teams (one in the mountains, the other as a backup to ensure safety and transport supplies). given its intended use as a means of reaching the cordillera and an itinerant base camp, the boat was an essential component of the cordillera crossing plan devised by the expedition leader (who had conducted route reconnaissance the previous year) and a number of his teammates. in this highly isolated region with a life-threatening context of unknown mountains in the "furious fifties" (latitude bands), the boat was considered critical to team survival. for the alpinists, "it is impossible to plan the crossing without the boat" (alpinist 2, conversation held on day 10). they could only really count on one another for rescue and administering first aid (since no airlift was possible). one of the guides doubled as an emergency room physician and, as such, had prepared a large trunk containing first aid medical equipment that was stored on the boat, thus making the boat a potential means of rescue as the expedition progressed. serving as an itinerant base camp, the boat also provided an essential storage place for food and gear. moreover, the project program influenced the anticipated direction and ascension patterns for the expedition team. as a case in point, the possibility for climbers to head back and forth between the summits and the boat would have enabled them to carry lighter bags, hence increasing their speed and performance, while adapting technical equipment to the precise ground conditions found in the range (which could not be known ahead of time). in addition, the boat was considered by the alpinists, who were familiar with the literature on dramatic polar and scientific explorations, as an essential component of the mission in this uncharted territory, in the vicinity of the south pole and very close to cape horn. the boat was also intended to be a shared space critical to team and project organization. over the course of the expedition, its role extended to offering a means for cruising along the coastal panoramas bordering the cordillera. the logbook another key element of this expedition was keeping a logbook on an internet blog covering the entire duration. in our view, this logbook can be considered as a speech genre in the bakthinian perspective. team members, apart from the chilean guide and the boat crew, were all native french speakers. they used the french term “journal de bord” (translated here as "logbook") which contributes to our categorization of this text as a speech genre. in fact, journal de bord, associates the french word for "diary" (journal) with "on board" (de bord). first, the term "journal" encompasses a macro-level view of the logbook within a narrative genre, thus favoring narrative entries, yet with a more specific and delayed narration mode since the narrator is changing positions over time and merely recounting events a posteriori between two fixed points in time. it is also characterized by temporary postings, sharing knowledge at the time of ongoing events, as the narrator reports events � 717 m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 705-737 geneviève musca neukirch & linda rouleau & caroline mellet & frédérique sitri & sarah de vogüé whose outcome is only partially known. second, the "on-board" qualifier provides a specification for this macro-format, inasmuch as it suggests that the logbook chronicles a trip underway and implies spatial movement accompanying the temporal shift. it also suggests a collective mode of transport. this characteristic imposes a form of dependency, whereby the narrator embarks on a trip whose trajectory cannot be controlled, thus prompting a more collaborative writing style. taken together, these characteristics give rise to specific stylistic attributes. for example, the physically uncomfortable position the narrator must adopt to post a logbook entry tended to reduce the time spent writing, with some fragmented entries and disparate threads such as: wednesday, 23 september 2009 [..] end of the morning turns sunny: slight breeze and sunshine in the forecast. 3 pm: plans call for leaving the hotel and boarding the boat at the end of the day for 36 hours of navigation. point of departure for the expedition: baya oceano, as discussed and anticipated by (alpinist 3, leader and second-in-command see appendix1). ultimately, departure for the boat around 5 pm. transfer of materials and occupants. the boat is still undergoing renovations, but the layout is great: very pleasant gathering space, looking out on the water! the only downside: the lower-level cabins are sunk pretty deep… third, the discursive memory associated with the logbook genre (all the more since the alpinists brought books on board by defoe, shackleton and cook) also implies literary and poetic writing templates that prescribe specific themes related to nature or adventure, as shown in the following excerpt. in light of the themes addressed, logbook gave impetus to searching for adventure or novelty, while also showcasing the collective effort. saturday 26 september [...] here is where the currents, tides and winds of both the pacific and atlantic meet, it's the elbow of the strait of magellan, the southernmost point on the american continent. extending to cape horn, plenty of small islets and channels dot the craggy coastline. we're navigating in the legendary waters of the tierra del fuego where magellan, james cook, fitzroy and darwin all made contact with indians who have since disappeared. given all these characteristics, logbook is a speech genre, with generic properties that concern function and composition, as well as writing rules, stylistic attributes and themes. moreover, during the expedition, this logbook constituted one of the pillars underpinning the sensemaking process, by anchoring the team members in a specific relation with space and time. with regards to space, the “legendary” places described by magellan, cook and others gave sense to the places they were discovering. with regards to time, registering events in the logbook implied a form of distance from unfolding events, in ascribing meaning to them by means of an "in-between" narration between past and future. on the one hand, the writing shapes a representation of the past by reconstructing a posteriori the events of the day, and on the other, it structures the vision of the future regarding the uncertainty of the project. together, this constitutes a linearized construction that integrates both past and future together in an ordered sequence, yet one that is continually � 718 from boat to bags: the role of material chronotopes in adaptive sensemaking m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 705-737 being renewed since projections into the future are subsequently qualified as past events. consequently, the logbook layout yields a particular type of relationship to time. the depiction of reality is not frozen in time once and for all, but instead it is pliable and ephemeral; it is permanently undergoing reconfigurations that alter the meaning subjects ascribe to the events taking place around them. the boat as a material chronotope the generic properties described above imply a specific structuration of both time and space that can be related to a specific chronotope: the chronotope of the boat that they boarded. we thus consider that this boat was for them a semiotic object: it materialized the specific relation to time and space that organized their writing of the logbook. in fact, the boat temporally and spatially organized the writing: from day to day, from place to place, synchronously with how the journey was progressing. the boat participated in the collective construction of meanings by giving sense to the unfolding events mentioned in the logbook. moreover, drawing on our linguistic analysis of the logbook entries, we argue that the boat materializes a triple timespace structuration (see table 3). table 3 various time and space structurations in the logbook entries3 first, we identify a time structuration based on the forward-looking schedule of projects (i.e. "project time"), with a beginning, a goal and a set execution period: the boat is one of the means involved in the overall expedition project, since it is supposed to progress with the team time/space structuration time structuration space structuration excerpts project project time beginning goal execution period cordillera space: itinerary succession of peaks jutting up beginning end (1) "we could not complete the crossing* despite several attempts." (logbook d10) * of the strait of magellan mishap mishap time a period of unpredictable occurrences sequence of outstanding pending issues gaps and discontinuities uncharted boundaries the ocean space: boundless amorphous battered by storms (2) "today's the right day, but hope has been abruptly dashed because it was quickly perceived that the boat was turning around." (logbook d9) leisure leisure time duration time appreciation, contemplation suspending the present the leisure space: boat / ports of call interior and living space ("foyer") opinions on the world (3) "it's a real pleasure to slip away into this magical setting." (logbook d9) � 719 3. in the remainder of this text, the terms "project", "mishap" and " l e i s u r e " w i l l r e f e r t o t h e a s s o c i a t e d s p a t i o t e m p o r a l structurations. m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 705-737 geneviève musca neukirch & linda rouleau & caroline mellet & frédérique sitri & sarah de vogüé throughout the entire expedition, from beginning to end. second, a very different time structuration, based on the unexpected and focusing on what is happening at a specific point in time, is also being experienced ("mishap time"). this can be related to the notion of kairos in greek philosophy. the boat materializes this kairos time structuration, since it is dependent on maritime conditions and subjected to the risks of storms, mishaps and mechanical defects. third, a calmer and more stabilized timeline ("leisure time") is associated with the duration of leisure periods throughout the expedition that has also been conceived by the team as an opportunity to admire landscapes and enjoy spending time among friends. this "leisure time" is assumed to elapse on a continuous basis, with no real finality or interruption. this also constitutes the boat's materialization: it is seen as the place for these leisure activities, for being together, and for admiring the coastline as it unfurls. the specificity of such a logbook no doubt lies in its heterogeneity and in its capacity to accommodate and incorporate these various temporalities. in fact, the logbook excerpts we examined transition from one of these temporalities to another. this is apparent in terms of content and it is apparent in the forms in which content is mobilized. as illustrated in table 3, "project time" implies a special lexicon with entries like attempt, complete, cross (excerpt 1). the syntax "we could not", which is interpreted here as a failed attempt, is also inherent in the temporal configuration specific to the project. as for the "mishap time", here again a dedicated lexicon is employed, as evidenced in excerpt 2. the lexical material refers to chance, randomness (the right day, hope, dashed) and suddenness (abruptly, quickly); the gap between the present today and past tense has been dashed indicates a time leap reinforced by the discontinuity in syntax. moreover, the perfect form of the verb has been dashed directly refers to the resultant state without any intermediary steps, thus reflecting the immediacy of the turnaround. also, use of the passive form was perceived and has been dashed with no object, together with the inanimate subject of turning around (as if it were devoid of human intervention), highlights the helplessness of a crew subjected to climate uncertainties. the passivity of the individuals is also displayed by use of the verb to perceive, which indicates that the crew is merely a passive bystander to what is unfolding. let us note as well that the word hope is used without any determination specifying whose hope is involved. "leisure time" is highlighted through various assessments of appreciation, as is the case for excerpt 3. the terminology employed is composed of words of appreciation (pleasure, magical) that relate to an aesthetic vocabulary (setting). furthermore, the durative nature of this time is evidenced by the intransitive motion verb to slip away, used here without any indication of either a starting point or a direction. the tense used is also durative, with a present continuous that is unlimited: it is a real pleasure over the entire time slipping away. also, the space of the cordillera is described as a setting for the cruise, i.e. expressing the sense of a buffer space protecting the foyer plus the ability to marvel at newly discovered landscapes. in association with this triple time structuration the spatial structuration is also threefold. as regards "project time", the cordillera space is what determines the path to follow since the boat should sail along the cordillera throughout the expedition. as regards "mishap time", the sea is the space the boat must confront, with its unlimited space providing no direction or origin. as regards "leisure time", the boat's � 720 from boat to bags: the role of material chronotopes in adaptive sensemaking m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 705-737 interior is the space constituting a collective foyer, isolated from the rest of the world, like some protective interlude suitable for contemplation. this trio of spatial and temporal structurations is fundamental. in fact, it exposes what will need to be re-conceptualized in the new framing, now devoid of a protective boat (see table 5 for an overview of the various temporal and spatial restructurations involved in the reframing). for these reasons, the boat appears as an incarnation of the situation's meaning: an organized "great explorers" mountaineering expedition that must cope with unexpected events under extreme conditions and that was conceived as an opportunity to share a pleasant experience with friends. hence, the boat materializes a temporality in movement and a worldview being renewed continuously; it portrays a chronotope as intended by bakhtin, by virtue of characterizing the speech genre of the logbook and condensing the meaning of what is happening. it is a crucial element in developing the frame that gives sense to the expedition. this boat, in addition to being a tangible boat on which team members are embarked, thus gives sense and generates discourse forms and contents. as such, it is a sign. for this reason, we have proposed labeling it as a material chronotope, i.e. an object articulating time and space that takes sense through actors’ discourses. period 2: frame-faltering and reframing through conversations frame-faltering various unexpected events occurred one after the other once the expedition had gotten underway. deviating from its schedule, the boat was idled far from the cordillera between days 2 and 7, following several unsuccessful attempts at navigating towards the cordillera and a succession of potentially hazardous incidents: an unprepared boat, permission not issued to leave the port, injury to one of the alpinists, a major technical problem requiring a return to the port, and as of day 7 a succession of storms thwarting all attempts to cross, combined with a loss of confidence in the boat captain. with the boat idled and the overall project disrupted, the entire temporal and spatial configuration ascribed to the expedition had been altered. the situation had become uncertain and ambiguous: no one could project how long the boat would remain stranded, 150 km away from the mountains. the spatiotemporal arrangement aimed at the cordillera and its crossing (project) thus had to be reassessed. after two or three days, the entire expedition would be compromised since the time remaining to complete the crossing would be insufficient. the central question revolved around how long the storm would continue to strand the boat. besides, the attempts to cross one of the world's most dangerous straits, as the myriad shipwrecks in the vicinity attest, were especially frightening for the alpinists. the "mishap" spatiotemporal structuration permeated both time and space: all projections proved to be impossible. in particular, the weather reports transmitted by a european router and the punta arenas weather station were actually inaccurate and contradictory, and could not be trusted. discussions held with local, similarly stranded fishermen and the boat's crew led to concluding that storms "always wind up calming down" in a few days or a week or two. this however did not resolve any underlying ambiguity: "no one here would dare suggest a forecast beyond eight hours" (logbook, d10). from a spatial perspective, the sea had transformed into a potential tomb. on each attempt to cross � 721 m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 705-737 geneviève musca neukirch & linda rouleau & caroline mellet & frédérique sitri & sarah de vogüé the strait of magellan, at the confluence of three oceans, the fishing boat rocked dangerously, shaken by the treacherous waves and wind gusts produced by the "furious fifties" (latitude); team members, surrounded by shipwrecks (this strait is the world's largest maritime graveyard), indeed feared for their lives. moreover, this situation undermined the   "leisure" spatiotemporal structuration found in the initial frame. the alpinists were prepared to enjoy and explore a spectacular unknown mountainous setting among friends but instead found themselves in a fishing boat, feeling ill, battered by powerful storms and prone to incessant disruptions preventing them from enjoying a continuous stretch of time. even the base camp / foyer function of the boat had become a hazardous space due, among other things, to releases of carbon monoxide, seasickness, a flat-hulled boat completely inappropriate for this type of navigation, and a boat captain who admitted to "feeling uncomfortable in his boat". this succession of incidents destabilized the time and space structurations built into the initial frame, while widening the discrepancies between alpinists' expectations and reality. the alpinists had expected to begin their ascension of the cordillera peaks after a 36-hour boat ride, but a full one-fifth of the expedition's time allotment had already elapsed and they were still confined to the idled craft more than 150 km from the destination range, fearing for their lives amidst maritime storms, instead of trying to accomplish a "1st" in the mountains. the alpinists were experiencing what weick (1993: 633) referred to as a "cosmology episode", wherein "people suddenly and deeply feel that the universe is no longer a rational, orderly system". the initial expedition framing was faltering, thus triggering a collective process of sensemaking. given that the boat could no longer fulfill its functions, the type of expedition had to be reframed. reframing through conversations on day 9, the leader, in a somber mood, convened all team members to the boat's wardroom. the atmosphere was very tense: members discussed the stalemate situation at some length and sought to glean interpretations. any development of plausible accounts was hindered by the ambiguity inherent in the cues and situation, which prevented any determination of whether it was preferable to wait or proceed according to modified plans. the expedition leader then presented alternative solutions to reach the cordillera (i.e. search for another boat / board a cargo ship that might be able to navigate in spite of the storm / take a plane and then sail towards the cordillera). the team discussed these alternatives at length (see [authors] for a complete description of this episode). on day 10, the leader and two alpinists returned to punta arenas the leader then called the boat captain and apparently asked some team members to return to land point and board a cargo ship that would take them to the opposite side of the cordillera. the team assembled in the wardroom to discuss the piecemeal information they had been receiving regarding this new plan and what it might entail. difficulties in communicating with the captain and the lack of additional available information, due to satellite connection issues, impeded their understanding of the plan. at first, they were all very skeptical. leaving the boat and boarding a cargo ship, dropping them off at the opposite end of the cordillera from which point they would start the crossing, would imply dramatic changes to the expedition project and raise some major difficulties: � 722 from boat to bags: the role of material chronotopes in adaptive sensemaking m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 705-737 second-in-command: and this assistance, the boat making the connections, should it fail to show up, we're better off forgetting about it entirely. alpinist 2: forget about the assistance? (…) second-in-command: so that completely changes the spirit of this… this crossing. completely! alpinist 2: yup, that's right. (conversation, d10) even though the overall objective of crossing the cordillera remained intact, dropping the boat would mean forgoing an itinerant base camp and crossing the cordillera in reverse (from east to west), starting with the most severe difficulties at the outset and against prevailing winds. this plan had been rejected during the preparation phase for these very same reasons. in addition, the alpinists would have to carry heavier loads, which would slow their progress and impede their ascent of the technically challenging summits. moreover, all alpinists would have to advance together through the cordillera instead of having two teams capable of relaying one another. it would also imply "ignoring assistance needs", thus eliminating any possibility of a reasonably quick rescue throughout the duration of the crossing and necessitating an extreme level of commitment on the part of all team members, in the face of obvious life-threatening conditions within an unknown and highly dangerous territory. all this meant a radically new type of expedition. the alpinists first evaluated it as both risky and presumably impracticable. during an initial attempt at giving sense to what this new type of expedition could be, the second-in-command called it "himalayan-type" in reference to the kind of expedition with which they were so familiar. but immediately thereafter, the discussion led them to amend this frame categorization by highlighting a fundamentally altering characteristic, namely: "against the wind": second-in-command: in other words, we're embarking on a heavy, himalayan-type expedition against the wind. alpinist 3: with the wind in our faces. second-in-command: against the wind. that's too much, not with the wind, but actually fighting against it. alpinist 2: except if… second-in-command: things are going to get pretty intense here. (conversation, d10) the emergence of the new frame is grounded in the transition from one material object (the boat) to another (the bags) through team members’ conversations. during the afternoon, the conversations were oriented around different questions, which arose as new information was provided through phone calls with the leader (see table 4): first, clarifications of who would remain on the boat and who would leave; second, what gear to take; and third, for what purposes. these questions were all interrelated: each individual was assigned a different bag depending on his/her status and role in the expedition, and what to pack was intrinsically tied to the type of expedition. these questions gave rise to repetitions and reformulations, and they evolved over the course of the interaction. throughout this evolution in project mission, the topic of discussion itself evolved, e.g. the new plan and the best way to complete the expedition according to such a new plan. this topic is what we call a « discourse object", in keeping with a line of analysis developed by grize (1990) (see above): as such it is classified and reclassified through discourse, by means of various linguistic � 723 m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 705-737 geneviève musca neukirch & linda rouleau & caroline mellet & frédérique sitri & sarah de vogüé mechanisms. these reclassifications constitute the microprocesses that allowed the shift from one meaning of the expedition to another. more specifically, they allowed the team to move from a collective perception of the expedition to a distributive one, with the team being split, the tasks divided and the equipment shared. table 4 presents some of the excerpts illustrating these mechanisms. excerpt (4) illustrates a linguistic mechanism used for dividing the group: "those without the option of joining the crossing" rewords "some" and specifies it by introducing a differentiating factor ("those without the option of joining the crossing"). this mechanism is characteristic of a process at work throughout the conversation, namely the process of dividing the group into several subsets (alpinists vs. the others, women vs. men, locals vs. non-locals). two different linguistic techniques perform this division, as illustrated in excerpt (5). the first consists of contrasting one subject with another ("emilio" who stays on the boat vs. "us" who leave); the other entails isolating a subset ("the girls" (i.e. the researchers) or "us") in response to the "who" question ("who should we leave on board? "). table 4 micro-practices of sensemaking linguistic mechanism discursive function excerpt splitting dividing the collective (4)"afterwards, perhaps… that some individuals will remain in puerto williams, namely those without the option of joining the crossing" (alpinist 2, day 10) contrasting isolating identifying the "who"? the girls vs. us emilio vs. the others us vs. others (5) alpinist 4: "who should we leave on board? who stays with emilio? the girls, are they coming with us? [...]" alpinist 4: "who would be better off staying on the boat? emilio, for sure! after that (…)" alpinist 4: "for us, if you like, i'd see us returning to end point on another boat, which would make its way…" (conversation, day 10) reformulation , punctuated by "that means" from "who"? to "what"? (6):[due to communication difficulties with the three alpinists who set out to land point, those who remained in the boat were unsure how many of them were supposed to leave the nueva galicia to board the bahia azul: 3 or 13?] alpinist 2: "three of us will stay" alpinist 4: "it must be thirteen then, if three of us remain. there are sixteen of us." [digression] researcher 2: "that would mean lugging all of your stuff." (conversation, day 10) repetition and focusing on an object dividing and specializing the "what"? (7) alpinist 3: "what’s the point in taking all the food?" alpinist 2: "all the food?" alpinist 3: "yes." […] alpinist 3: "for me, it’s useless to take all the food, because in any case, we need the boat. so it means carrying all the food there, putting it on the beach, so the boat can pick it up, and we can handle the food supplies during the crossing. there's no way we'll use all the food. we won't be able to carry it all by ourselves! it’s impossible!! "(conversation, day 10) (8) second-in-command: "we're going to see if everybody has taken ropes. have you thought about taking ropes?" alpinist 4: "i've got one." second-in-command: i have two, well, i have a double rope." alpinist 4: "it’s easy to do." second-in-command: "it’s easy to do, but we've got to anticipate. when it comes to the equipment, we've never really talked about it." (conversation, day 10) collective � distributive � 724 from boat to bags: the role of material chronotopes in adaptive sensemaking m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 705-737 another micro-practice is based on a typical reformulation marker, e.g. "that means / that is to say". as presented in excerpt (6), team members are trying to grasp the leader's intentions, which were difficult to understand (due to the very poor satellite connection between him and the boat captain). moreover, the captain was relaying instructions to team members in spanish. those listening in were trying to anticipate "who" might be among the departing party and "who" would remain. researcher 2's statement, led by the phrasing "that means", under the pretext of presenting what follows as a reformulation, actually introduces a new question that would serve to focus the discussion going forward as new information trickled in regarding the bags and the division of equipment among the various expedition team members. these bags would become the discourse object. what they would carry is conditioned in relation to their potential function within the new type of expedition format. this micropractice thereby supported the team split already underway. the question over food came to the fore during the discussion (excerpt 7). the expression "all the food" is repeated throughout the interactions. once the boat was no longer serving the role of a base camp and all its contents needed to be apportioned into the bags, considerations turned to evaluating both the weight that alpinists would have to carry themselves and the food they would need for survival (depending on the number of days they were to remain in the mountains). the question of how best to divvy up the equipment among team members' bags took center stage, as illustrated by excerpt (8), which displays the transition from one reference object (climbing ropes) to another, as evidenced by: "when it comes to the equipment", which is a generalization device. the entire project thus came under scrutiny via this equipment angle. in reviewing everything they needed to transport in their bags, the alpinists gave meaning through their conversations to the emergent frame and then stabilized it. period 3: "himalayan-type expedition", travel notes and the bags the third period began when team members prepared their bags, and enacted the new frame, called "himalayan-type of expedition". this in turn induced the transformation of the speech genre from the logbook to the travel notes. the "himalayan-type expedition" frame the alpinists gradually converged on a common understanding of the main characteristics of the new frame. the linguistic processes analyzed above therefore subtly exposed how this expedition might play out without the boat, making it possible to stabilize the emergent frame as a "himalayan-type expedition, but without porters or base camps". for one thing, crossing the cordillera would be an even more difficult feat than that planned since it would need to be accomplished in 29 days (vs. 38) and would entail a more difficult and complex route from the outset, and against the prevailing wind direction. furthermore, this new plan necessitated reconfiguring the teams and separating alpinists from non-alpinists. moreover, all alpinists would need to advance together, since the absence of the boat meant no backup team in place. lastly, being deprived of an itinerant base camp, and with a total absence of porters (as opposed to the classical himalayan expeditions), alpinists would have to carry all the gear, equipment, food and medicine themselves, which would � 725 m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 705-737 geneviève musca neukirch & linda rouleau & caroline mellet & frédérique sitri & sarah de vogüé slow their progress and hence directly threaten not only the success of the expedition, but their very survival as well. the question of what needed to be hauled in the bags or left on the boat is thus fundamental in this new frame. operating with the mindset of alpinists, they were accustomed to assessing these options for any climb, as several of them had already engaged in a similar exercise during previous expeditions. they possessed an embodied experience of the potentially fatal consequences due to poorly packed bags (hunger, cold, memory of accidents befalling other alpinists). asking these questions about the bags helped them concentrate on the tasks at hand, which were all too familiar to them, in contrast with the unexplored mountains. travel notes the emergence of this new frame is correlated with a change in the logbook itself. the change of plans also modified logbook posting conditions. from the time alpinists left the boat, the logbook would no longer be based on collective writings while physically remaining on the boat, but instead postings would originate from a single author (the webmaster), with inserts corresponding to texts dictated by the various team members. log entries thus became more heterogeneous and broader in scope, dominated more by descriptive sequences than by what had been narrative sequences. the following excerpt indicates how the post from monday the 12th incorporates elements dictated by the other teams, with such elements referred to as "texts" and then "summary". this summary presents the prototypical characteristics of the description: many qualifier and participle adjectives (welcoming, named, impressive, forming, linked) forming semantically-loaded, complex nominal groups, imagery-laden verbs (tower), relatively long and stylistically dense sentences. monday, 12th october day with plenty of tales to tell! look here for the texts from darwin teams 2 and 3 recounting their time spent in the mountains. then, the logbook describing our morning […] enjoy the read! ######################### summary of the days spent in the mountains by françois, dominique and yvan "darwin 3" team thursday, 8th october first night spent in the tent, on the welcoming grass of the beavers' camp, named that way for the proximity of many structures built by these critters. impressive dams, forming differently-sized lakes, in the middle of which tower huts, linked to one another via a system of streams. to a certain extent, the project reorientation in favor of the "geographic and human discovery of terra incognita" (travel notes, d29) served to enable acknowledging the transition from one genre, i.e. the logbook, to another genre, i.e. the travel notes. this transition entailed protocol changes, such as the lack of content restriction, and became event-driven rather than a project execution tracking device. � 726 from boat to bags: the role of material chronotopes in adaptive sensemaking m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 705-737 the bags as the new chronotope the bags emerged as the artefact around which the new frame was constituted, thus materializing the transition from a collective to a distributive mode of organizing and taking the place of what the boat had represented in the initial frame. this means the bags enabled redefining the layout, in both its temporal and spatial dimensions, of the "project  " component within this new frame. they materialized new time and space structurations and enabled safeguarding members' survival in an uncertain and hostile environment. by packing their bags, expedition members had to project and anticipate the kind of terrain they would be traversing and the time needed to complete the crossing, depending on weather and level of autonomy to expect. conversely, bag weight was used to determine the space to be crossed within a given time period. on the other hand, preparations had to incorporate "what might happen", i.e. the unexpected. members would have to face the life-threatening difficulties inherent in this unknown setting, with just their bags and nothing else. this unknown setting is the cordillera; however, this cordillera no longer demarcated an itinerary, but instead a space the alpinists would have to traverse. encompassing myriad and unpredictable difficulties, this space had become the new frame's "mishap" component, just like the sea had been for the boat. with respect to the "leisure" component, the "cruise" had taken on a totally different aspect with the consideration of bags; the focus was no longer placed on enjoyment and having fun, as leisure-oriented objects (guitar, champagne) had to be left behind. the time was no longer seen as that of a cruise; it had been replaced by time spent carrying heavy backpacks. and the secure space was no longer that of the wardroom; it had been reduced to the space of each bag, with any excess weight having to be excluded and with all that was necessary to ensure personal safety having to be included. with their bags on their backs, team members were forced to become part of the decor, i.e. the open and wild spaces where they were now headed instead of observing the setting remotely from the boat.the bags thus materialized the triple restructuration of time and space, in reorganizing the time and space of the expedition. as such, they incarnated a new meaning ascribed to this expedition, as expressed in the travel notes, which were updated on a daily basis while discovering the great unknown of the cordillera. as such, the bags portray a chronotope as intended by bakhtin for this new genre of travel notes that progressively emerged after day 10. material chronotope guiding collective action the bags did not serve as chronotopes simply for the purpose of reconsidering the meaning of this expedition. as material chronotopes, they were as tangible as the boat and they had to be packed. consequently, they initiated action and enacted the new frame, i.e. the tangible preparation of the long anticipated climb. this enactment was also efficient inasmuch as each individual was given free rein: each member would pack his or her own bag. hence, in addition to being key to sensemaking and the basis for reframing, the bags also happened to be the action trigger. they were responsible for jump-starting the project: the act of packing bags allowed expedition members to reconnect with the prospect of crossing the cordillera, and this outlook dictated their choice of equipment to pack. time therefore, which had come to a standstill, could resume ticking, while space was once again opened up to be traversed, in � 727 m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 705-737 geneviève musca neukirch & linda rouleau & caroline mellet & frédérique sitri & sarah de vogüé lugging the bags team members had been preparing since the end of day 10. this fixation on the bags thus had an immediate effect. team members had been given a new objective (i.e. packing) to infuse meaning into their efforts. granted it was a modest objective, but one that would initiate action. it seemed vital for team members to find something to do: it was a precondition of their acceptance of the new plan. from collective to distributive mode of organizing in addition, the preparation of bags involved each team member's identity and exposed them to a process of redefining their role through a revised allocation of tasks and loads. as such, the bags were contributing to another crucial element for the subsequent part of the expedition: they served to "distribute the collective". the relationship with time had become more individualized. dropping the boat reconfigured the space, by splitting the group into different teams, each of which sorted their bags differently. the boat corresponded to a shared time and space, whereas the packing of bags was strictly correlated with the distinct identity and role of each expedition member. packing their bags struck team members as a relevant course of action, especially since bags implied a "who". packing one's bag connoted taking care of oneself and meeting one's own needs, as well as accommodating whatever the group had to distribute to each individual. this step involved distributing on behalf of the collective, so as to earn everyone's support. the conversation on day 10 thus ended with a statement expressing this precise distribution of actions, clearly marking the enactment of change: "everyone will get involved, in their respective fields, doing the best they can." (second-in-command, conversation d10). in this excerpt, "everyone" and "respective" symbolize the distributive emphasis that would shape the expedition's new organization, but that would also trigger each member to take action. the shared objectives became each individual's objectives: "doing the best they can". on the other hand, the phrase "will get involved" denotes the initiation of mutual action (through use of the word "involved"). the bags thus offered a condition that allowed every member to not only accept but also enact change. discussion in this paper, we have demonstrated how adaptive sensemaking in an extreme context is materially framed and reframed through time and space by examining the role played by chronotopes of a boat and bags during this discursive reframing process. our findings indicate how making sense involves not only connecting cues, whether immaterial or material, to frames but also collectively yielding a tangible time-space interface within the chronotopic objects organizing the discourse. from this perspective, the present study has enhanced our understanding of the links between reframing and distributive enactment by anchoring the discursive framing of a radical shift in a move from one material chronotope to another (see table 5 for an overview of these links). with sufficient time and space to produce a plausible account, shifting to a chronotope that better matches the situation can actually "resonate" and induce change acceptance as well as enact a new frame. � 728 from boat to bags: the role of material chronotopes in adaptive sensemaking m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 705-737 table 5 chronotope shifting and micro-practices of sensemaking this paper highlights the role of chronotopes in frame-shifting. the bag chronotope enabled the writing of new accounts, suggestive of a new sub-genre capable of giving rise to a new meaning of the expedition (no longer confined to a cordillera crossing). yet developing this chronotope on its own was insufficient; it had to become effective and responsible for generating entries that would indicate a travel notes sub-genre. this new chronotope had to be activated in order to stimulate reflective, thoughtful writing. in other words, a person cannot simply decide what any situation means. thinking, writing, recounting and discoursing are all necessary. this perspective presumes a minimum latency period between the time when change is accepted and when new meaning takes root. the bag chronotope made it possible for the team to reframe the project through a reclassification exercise, impart meaning to the new frame, and redefine each member's role via an allocation of tasks and loads. the bags served to transform unexpected dangers into anticipated challenges; they fulfilled each member's needs and even marked their own identity, thus establishing a road map to guide individual action. our paper raises the importance of speech genres through which sensemaking proceeds. the standard recognized genre of an expedition relies on "explorer accounts" of travel and adventure, typically found in books, films and audio or photographic recordings. in our case, two micro-practices of sensemaking frames " g r e a t e x p l o r e r s " e x p e d i t i o n ( u n k n o w n mountains + boat as a base camp) h i m a l a y a n t y p e e x p e d i t i o n ( a l b e i t maritime mountains without porters or a base camp) genre logbook travel notes material chronotopes boat bags associated conceptions of time project time mishap time leisure time packing selection of equipment / supplies, f o o d a n d m e d i c i n e d e p e n d i n g o n anticipated conditions a d v a n c i n g i n t h e c o r d i l l e r a : w h a t ' s needed to progress and survive (tents, 3 freeze-dried rations a day, medicine…). packs to anticipate what might happen time spent carrying packs (avoid all excess weight) associated conceptions of space p r o j e c t s p a c e : t h e cordillera range m i s h a p s p a c e : t h e wilderness of the sea leisure space: the interior of the boat's "foyer" f r a g m e n t i n g t h e cordillera into several stages t h e c o r d i l l e r a wilderness the bag on one's back: w h a t ' s n e e d e d t o survive shared � distributive splitting (dividing the collective) � contrasting/isolating (identifying the "who"? the girls vs. emilio vs. the others and so on) � reformulation, punctuated by "that means" (from "who"? to "what"?) � repetition and focus on an object (dividing and differentiating the "what"?) � 729 m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 705-737 geneviève musca neukirch & linda rouleau & caroline mellet & frédérique sitri & sarah de vogüé discursive genres are observed, called respectively the logbook and travel notes. another important point is that the transition from initial logbook to travel notes did not occur immediately. the postings entered into the logbook at the end of day 10 were still of the same genre. they gradually changed, becoming less collective and more descriptive, over the ensuing days, with the "logbook" component becoming increasingly less prominent. moreover, our findings highlight the fact that the sensemaking process is embedded in specific genres that operationalize the contextual frames in action. this darwin expedition shifted from an "exploration" frame involving setting up a mobile base camp ("great explorers" frame) to a "mountaineering expedition" frame, whereby each member carried his or her own food, shelter, equipment, etc. ("himalayan-type of expedition" frame). since the notion of speech genre can be applied in contexts other than literature and novels, this finding motivates organizational researchers to apply the bakhtinian concept of discursive genre when conducting research on frame replacement and sensemaking. for example, it is likely that balogun & johnson's (2004) paper can be rewritten within a bakhtinian framework. through middle managers' diaries, these authors observed the transition from one frame ("organization as hierarchy") to another ("core division liaison efforts"). in considering middle managers' diaries as a specific genre, it should be possible to observe how their frame has changed over time and which material chronotopes have been central to replacing the old frame with the new one. such a study would serve to further develop the idea that "change is achieved through social relations" (balogun & johnson, 2004: 543) by exposing "the co-constitutive nature of discourse and materiality" in organizational change (hardy & thomas, 2015). in describing the micro-practices of sensemaking, whereby a new frame emerges through action, this research has highlighted a hidden facet of what balogun and johnson (2004) called "clustering" sensemaking. until now, sensemaking research has focused on replacing frames while neglecting the micro-practices involved in the critical period when team members move from shared to distributive sensemaking. by targeting the linguistic mechanism and associated discursive function (shown in brackets in table 5), our research has not only identified the micropractices of sensemaking during the critical phase of frame replacement, but has also analyzed the effects they produce on language over time. moreover, we have exposed the process-oriented function tying these micro-sensemaking practices to one another over time. in considering the temporality of reframing, we have demonstrated that such micro-practices were activated through "progressive approximations" (weick, sutcliffe & obstfeld, 2005) since they are episodic and discontinuous, with many repetitions, trials and reevaluations. the fine-grained analysis of this effort complements existing sensemaking studies in extreme contexts (colville, et al., 2013; cornelissen, et al., 2014; dunbar & garud, 2009; weick, 1993; whiteman & cooper, 2011). most of these research studies explain why some accounts lead to failure and inertia, whereas our case explains how such studies have led to collective action. the entire sensemaking process, from when the frame faltered to its acceptance and the enactment of a new frame, occurred discontinuously over the two days of close examination. this discontinuity may be ascribed to the highly distributive nature of the change in plans, yet it also pertains to the multiplicity of parameters involved. the creation and enactment of change are not only discontinuous but also time-consuming, since time is required to change from one chronotope to the next. this is especially true when searching for a � 730 from boat to bags: the role of material chronotopes in adaptive sensemaking m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 705-737 chronotope that matches the coexisting temporalities and spaces. the time to accept change and enact this acceptance does not coincide with the time when the new plan was formulated. team members packed their bags that evening, yet the expedition in its revised frame only began once they had reached the cordillera. this lapse appears necessary, as evidenced by two indices. first, the alpinists remained reluctant despite having announced their acceptance: they enacted their acceptance by packing their bags yet still questioned the enactment of change itself. second, reframing takes time, not merely due to a resistance to change, but also because change is a truly complex task. however, in an extreme context with insufficient time to frame a new situation or environment, it becomes very difficult and perhaps impossible to shift from one chronotope to another. if team members are accustomed to dealing with emergency situations featuring similar patterns, adaptive sensemaking might emerge from intuition, tacit knowledge, etc. otherwise, adaptive sensemaking is rare in extreme contexts unless the sensemakers involved possess previous experience with similar situations. contributions our study provides three main contributions. first, this paper explores the role of materiality as a cue for adaptive sensemaking in extreme contexts by emphasizing the temporal and spatial dimensions (clegg, et al., 2013; guthey, et al., 2014; hydle, 2015; tuana, 2008; whiteman & cooper, 2011). our study has highlighted the role of material objects (the boat and the bags) other than those used by actors to accomplish their work (i.e. in our case, their equipment, ropes, tents, skis, harnesses and helmets). by referring to a "material chronotope", we have devoted our study to "objects" that collectively and significantly matter in the context of this expedition. such objects were obviously related to one another, yet they remained highly critical, in addition to exemplifying issues relative to the temporal and spatial aspects of sensemaking. admittedly, these objects proved to be decisive during the episode under study herein, by virtue of expressing their full potential when carrying out the chronotope-shifting (i.e. replacing the dropped boat by packed bags). moreover, our study showcases the "mediating role" of objects relative to sensemaking in extreme contexts. beyond acting as mere "intermediate agents" (cornelissen, et al., 2014), objects can become signs and act as "spatiotemporal triggers": the spatiotemporal properties of objects help define and stimulate the occurrence of potential micro-sensemaking practices. further studies should enhance our knowledge of objects that are not only concerned with socio-material working conditions (stigliani & ravasi, 2012) but embed key spatiotemporal aspects of their team's or organization's "raison d'être". the need also exists to explore how objects play the role of "spatiotemporal triggers" in contexts other than an expedition. for example, international projects, which play out in a context that combines events and teamwork based on specific spatiotemporal conditions, might be a relevant setting for advancing the role of materiality in sensemaking. the second contribution complements existing research on chronotopes (boje, et al., 2016; lorino & tricard, 2012; musca, et al., 2014; pedersen, 2009; vaara & pedersen, 2013) by promoting the notion of material chronotope (milbourne & hallenbeck, 2013). our findings indicate how chronotopes structure the various types of accounts produced when co-constructing meaning in extreme contexts, while highlighting the fact that chronotopes are materialized by material objects and artefacts � 731 m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 705-737 geneviève musca neukirch & linda rouleau & caroline mellet & frédérique sitri & sarah de vogüé promoting action. our research provides a broader view of chronotopes than that generally conveyed in management and organizational studies (boje, et al., 2016; lancione & clegg, 2013; lorino & tricard, 2012; musca, et al., 2014; vaara & pedersen, 2013;). given that chronotopes concern all speech genres, and not just the discourses developing narratives, the notion must be carefully monitored whenever it is introduced at the organizational or team level. further investigations into the various discursive processes and genres through which discourse objects are constituted in real life might extend how adaptive sensemaking in extreme contexts is achieved or not. the notion of material chronotope was first defined however by milbourne & hallenbeck (2013), who were studying the development of the 18th-century microscope. according to them, a material chronotope is "a spatiotemporal user orientation" routinely embedded in gender and performance. a material chronotope appears to be a rhetorical or narrativestabilized orientation or routine (e.g. the naturalist discoverer, the polite collaborator and objective observer, corresponding respectively to the pocket microscope, the solar microscope and the standard microscope). put otherwise, milbourne and hallenbeck (2013) associated a material chronotope with what we call herein a frame (e.g. "great explorers" expedition), thus neglecting its bakhtinian roots. moreover, the microscope appears to be a technological object central to the work of a scientist, which explains why the authors defined a material chronotope in terms of "user orientation". consequently, their vision of a chronotope, despite being proposed as a means to link space, time and materiality, is not really related to giving sense and a "raison d'être" in generating collective action. for us, beyond its abstractness, a chronotope is generally embedded into a material entity corresponding to tangible objects, not necessarily as an instrument to perform work but rather to embed key spatiotemporal aspects of a team's or organization's "raison d'être" (i.e. bags to be packed and carried). the boat and bags are material chronotopes since they have materialized unique opportunities for making sense of unexpected events in space and time. subsequent research should explore the role of material chronotopes by investigating how key objects act as spatiotemporal triggers and contribute to transforming frames through diverse discursive genres specific to other extreme contexts (e.g. humanitarian workers' diaries in extreme contexts, digital literacy to understand institutional or community resilience, public hearings after a catastrophic event to study sensemaking, and so on). third, this paper highlights the micro-processes of sensemaking at play in extreme contexts through a linguistic analysis of the discursive and material practices involved in this process (colville, et al., 2013; cornelissen, et al., 2014; dunbar & garud, 2009). moreover, it documents a discursive frame-faltering and reframing process in real time (balogun, jacobs, jarzabkowski, mantere & vaara, 2014; maitlis & christianson, 2014; stigliani & ravasi, 2012;). further research on sensemaking in general and sensemaking in extreme contexts in particular is needed to advance the discursive and material aspect when reconstituting microsensemaking practices. most sensemaking studies are based on a weak ontology of sensemaking by failing to define the approach or theoretical assumptions underlying their view of sensemaking. in relying on the bakhtinian framework, we provide a more detailed view of both the transition from one frame to another and the linguistic devices employed by actors to make sense through interactions, conversations and writings. � 732 from boat to bags: the role of material chronotopes in adaptive sensemaking m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 705-737 our research also provides a holistic view of the temporal anchoring of sensemaking. instead of looking at either retrospective or prospective aspects, we have explored the micro-practices of sensemaking as they were being deployed in real time by scrutinizing a specific, yet central, episode of sensemaking reconstitution. as the pivot towards a "who would leave" gradually played out and then transformed into a "what to pack", the discussion clearly focused on upcoming actions. these actions were perceived as immediate: consuming the present, extracting it from an immobile state, and propelling it into the future. at the same time, team members were intent on previewing the new type of expedition awaiting them. follow-up research should engage in sensemaking as it happens in the present moment or in real time, whether the context be conventional or extreme: such is the best approach to accurately capturing the three dimensions (past, present and future) in which sensemaking is carried out in practice. implications and limitations this study has implications for researchers and practitioners. for researchers, by exploring the role of materiality in frame-shifting and its inscription in time and space, we offer a unique and innovative way to understand sensemaking processes and practices. the study of material chronotopes through the linguistic analysis of conversations and organizational texts promises to be a fertile ground for better understanding how sensemaking is materially framed and reframed through chronotope-shifting. in other words, our study calls for more research aimed at capturing how, why and under which conditions materiality or central objects (different from equipment) matter in collective action. for practitioners, our findings highlight the fact that it takes time to shift from acceptance of a new frame to the enactment of change. each individual had to find a path to reshape his or her thinking about the meaning of the expedition, between the time when the new chronotope began playing a role and when it enabled them to consider the situation from an alternative perspective. this sub-period, internal to the reframing process, needs to be taken into account when facing extreme conditions. furthermore, it appears that discursive tensions might be necessary in order for members to achieve adaptive sensemaking. despite its innovative character, this research still presents some limitations. based on a single case study, its results cannot be generalized to any expedition. we must admit that the central episode studied (days 9 and 10) does not exactly correspond to what the literature used to call an "extreme event" (e.g. tsunami, hijacked flight, intense fire), in which time can make a difference between life and death. however, the darwin expedition as it unfolded in an unknown mountainous zone never crossed due to severe conditions certainly constitutes an extreme context (hällgren, et al., 2018; hannah, et al., 2009). for methodological purposes, the darwin expedition nevertheless allows us to show how adaptive sensemaking in an extreme context is materially framed and reframed through both time and space. � 733 m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 705-737 geneviève musca neukirch & linda rouleau & caroline mellet & frédérique sitri & sarah de vogüé appendix 1: an overview of the expedition team (days 1 to 21) pseudonym main role relevant characteristics leader expedition leader highly experienced mountain guide. has conducted several expeditions (himalayas, andes, etc.). familiar with all expedition team members second-incommand mountain guide almost no experience with expeditions. in charge of guide training. gps expert. alpinist 1 mountain guide + medical doctor currently working as an md in a hospital / mountaineering emergency unit alpinist 2 mountain guide tremendous experience in alpinism and expeditions. alpinist 3 mountain guide tremendous experience in alpinism and expeditions. frequently works with the leader. alpinist 4 mountain guide trainee childhood friend of alpinist 5 alpinist 5 mountain guide trainee childhood friend of alpinist 4. alpinist 6 mountain guide young, but highly experienced. injured at the beginning of the expedition, requiring repatriation. alpinist 7 very good alpinist experienced climber alpinist 8 "amateur" climber personal friend of the leader. responsible for the idea and composition of the expedition. in charge of financing matters. an entrepreneur. cameraman 1 to make the film experienced climber cameraman 2 to help cameraman 1 experienced climber webmaster to design the expedition website and provide inputs researcher 1 researcher (“girl”) researcher 2 researcher (“girl”) guest member emilio chilean guide leader’s friend captain ernesto chilean captain of the nueva galicia boat � 734 from boat to bags: the role of material chronotopes in adaptive sensemaking m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 705-737 references ashcraft, k.l., kuhn t.r. & cooren f (2009) constitutional amendments: “materializing” organizational communication. the academy of management annals, 3(1), 1-64. alvesson, m. & kärreman d. (2007). constructing mystery: empirical matters in theory development. a c a d e m y o f m a n a g e m e n t r e v i e w, 3 2 ( 4 ) , 1265-1281. bakhtin, m. (1981) [1937-38 /1978]. forms of time and the chronotope in the novel. in m. holquist (ed.), the dialogic imagination: four essays (pp 84–258) austin: university of texas press, slavic series french ed: formes du temps et du chronotope dans le roman. in m. bakhtine (ed.), esthétique et théorie du roman (pp. 235-398). paris, france: gallimard. bakhtin, m. (1984), dostoevsky’s poetics. trans. c. emerson, minneapolis: university of minnesota press. bakhtin m. (1986). the problem of speech genres. in m. holquist (ed), translated by emerson c. & holquist m., speech genres & other late essays (pp. 60-102). austin: university of texas press. balogun, j., jacobs, c., jarzabkowski, p., mantere, s. & vaara e. (2014). placing strategy discourse in context: sociomateriality, sensemaking, and power. journal of management studies, 51(2), 175-201. balogun, j. & johnson, g. (2004). organizational restructuring and middle manager sensemaking. academy of management journal, 47(4), 523-549. b e n v e n i s t e , e . ( 1 9 7 0 ) . l ' a p p a r e i l f o r m e l d e l'énonciation. langages,17(5), 12-18. translated by benveniste, e. (2014). the formal apparatus of enunciation. in j. angermuller, d. maingueneau & r.wodak (eds.) the discourse studies reader: main currents in theory and analysis (pp. 141-145). amsterdam: john benjamins publishing company. boje, d. m., haley, u. c. & saylors, r. (2016). antenarratives of organizational change: the microstoria of burger king’s storytelling in space, time and strategic context. human relations, 69(2), 391-418. clegg, s. r., pina e cunha, m., rego, a. & dias, j. (2013). mundane objects and the banality of evil: the sociomateriality of a death camp. journal of management inquiry, 22(3), 325-340. colville, i., pye, a. & carter, m. (2013). organizing to counter terrorism: sensemaking amidst dynamic complexity. human relations, 66(9), 1201-1223. cornelissen, j., mantere, s. & vaara, e. (2014). the contraction of meaning: the combined effect of communication, emotions and materiality on sensemaking in the stockwell shooting. journal of management studies, 51(5), 699-736. cornelissen, j. & werner, m. (2014). putting framing in perspective: a review of framing and frame a n a l y s i s a c r o s s t h e m a n a g e m e n t a n d organizational literature. the academy of management annals, 8(1), 181-235. dunbar, r. l. & garud, r. (2009). distributed knowledge and indeterminate meaning: the case of the columbia shuttle flight. organization studies, 30(4), 397-421. genette, g. (1980 [1972]), narrative discourse. an essay in method. translated by jane e. lewin. foreword by jonathan culler, ithaca, ny: cornell university press. gioia, d. & chittipeddi, k. (1991). sensemaking and sensegiving in strategic change initiation. strategic management journal, 12, 433-448. goffman, e. (1974), frame analysis: an essay on the organization of experience. london, uk: harper and row. grize, j.b. (1990), logique et langage, paris: ophrys. guthey, g.t., whiteman, g. & elmes, m. (2014). place and sense of place: implications for organizational studies of sustainability. journal of management inquiry, 23(3), 254-265. haley, u. c. & boje, d. m. (2014). storytelling the internationalization of the multinational enterprise. journal of international business studies, 45(9), 1115-1132. hällgren, m., rouleau, l., de rond, m. (2018). a matter of life and death: how extreme context research matters for management and organization studies. academy of management annals, 12 (1), 1-43. hällgren, m. (2007). beyond the point of no return: on the management of deviations. international journal of project management, 25, 773-780. hannah, s., uhl-bien, m., avolio, b. & cavarretta, f. (2009). a framework for examining leadership in extreme contexts. the leadership quarterly, 20(6), 897-919. hardy, c. & thomas, r. (2015). discourse in a material world. journal of management studies, 52(5), 680-696. hydle, k. (2015). temporal and spatial dimensions of strategizing. organization studies, 36(5), 643-663. kaplan, s. (2008). framing contests: strategy making among uncertainty. organization science, 19(5), 729-752. kaplan, s. & orlikowski, w. (2013). temporal work in strategy making. organization science, 24(4), 965-995. knight, f. (1921), risk, uncertainty and profit, new york: harper torchbooks. lancione, m. & clegg, s. (2013). the chronotopes of change: actor-networks in a changing business school. journal of change management, 13(2), 117-142. langley, a., smallman, c., tsoukas, h. & van de ven, ah. (2013). process studies of change in o r g a n i z a t i o n a n d m a n a g e m e n t : u n v e i l i n g temporality, activity, and flow. academy of management journal, 56(1), 1-13. locke, k., golden–biddle, k. & feldman, m. (2008). making doubt generative: rethinking the role of doubt in the research process. organization science, 19(6), 907-918. � 735 m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 705-737 geneviève musca neukirch & linda rouleau & caroline mellet & frédérique sitri & sarah de vogüé lorino, p. & tricard, b. (2012) the bakhtinian theory of chronotope (time-space frame) applied to the organizing process. in constructing identity in and around organizations. in m. schultz, s. maguire, a. langley & h. tsoukas (eds) (pp. 201-234). oxford, uk: oxford university press. maitlis, s. & christianson, m. (2014). sensemaking in organizations: taking stock and moving forward. the academy of management annals, 8(1), 57-125. maitlis, s. & sonenshein, s. (2010). sensemaking in crisis and change: inspiration and insights from weick (1988). journal of management studies, 47(3), 551-580. mellet, c. & sitri, f. (2010). nom de genre et institutionnalisation d’une pratique discursive : le cas de l’interpellation parlementaire et du signalement d’enfant en danger. in actes du cmlf 2010  –2e  congrès mondial de linguistique française. f. neveu et al. (dir.)  (pp. 797-810). edp sciences. http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/cmlf/2010175 milbourne, c. r. & hallenbeck, s. (2013). gender, material chronotopes, and the emergence of the eighteenth-century microscope. rhetoric society quarterly, 43(5), 401-424. musca, g., rouleau, l. & fauré, b. (2014). time, space and calculation in discursive practices: insights from the crows’ flight chronotope of the darwin expedition. in f. cooren, e. vaara, a. langley & h. tsoukas. (eds), language and communication at work: discourse, narrativity and organizing, (pp. 127-148). oxford, uk: oxford university press. orlikowski, w. j. (2007). sociomaterial practices: exploring technology at work. organization studies, 28(9), 1435-1448. p e d e r s e n , a . r . ( 2 0 0 9 ) . m o v i n g a w a y f r o m chronological time: introducing the shadows of time and chronotopes as new understandings of ‘narrative time’. organization, 16(3), 389-406. p e i r c e , c . s . ( 1 9 5 8 ) , c o l l e c t e d p a p e r s , ( 7 8 ) , cambridge, ma: harvard university press. putnam, l. l. (2015). unpacking the dialectic: alternative views on the discourse–materiality relationship. journal of management studies, 52(5), 706-716. rasche, a. & chia, r. (2009). researching strategy p r a c t i c e s : a g e n e a l o g i c a l s o c i a l t h e o r y perspective. organization studies, 30(7), 713-734. shattuck, l. g., & miller, n. l. (2006). extending n a t u r a l i s t i c d e c i s i o n m a k i n g t o c o m p l e x organizations: a dynamic model of situated cognition. organization studies, 27(7), 989-1009. sitri, f. (2003), l’objet du débat, paris, france: presses de la sorbonne nouvelle. söderholm, a. (2008). project management of unexpected events. international journal of project management, 26(1), 80-86. stigliani, i. & ravasi, d. (2012). organizing thoughts and connecting brains: material practices and the transition from individual to group-level prospective sensemaking. academy of management journal, 55(5), 1232-1259. tannen, d. (1985). frames and schemas in interaction. quaderni di semântica, 6(2), 326-335. tuana, n. (2008). viscous porosity: witnessing katrina. in s. alaimo & s. hekman (eds.), material feminisms (188-211). bloomington, in, usa: indiana university press. vaara, e., pedersen, a.r. (2013). strategy and chronotopes: a bakhtinian perspective on the construction of strategy narratives. m@n@gement, 16(5), 593-604. van maanen, j. (2006). ethnography then and now. qualitative research in organizations and management: an international journal, 1(1), 13-21. van maanen, j. (2011). ethnography as work: some rules of engagement. journal of management studies, 48(1), 218-234. weick, k. e. (1988). enacted sensemaking in crisis situations [1]. journal of management studies, 25(4), 305-317. weick, k.e. (1993). the collapse of sensemaking in o r g a n i z a t i o n s : t h e m a n n g u l c h d i s a s t e r. administrative science quarterly, 38(4), 628-652. weick, k.e. (1995), sensemaking in organizations, thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. weick, k.e. (1996). drop your tools: an allegory for organizational studies. administrative science quarterly, 41(2) 40th anniversary issue (jun.1996), 301-313 we i c k , k . e . ( 2 0 1 0 ) . r e fl e c t i o n s o n e n a c t e d sensemaking in the bhopal disaster. journal of management studies, 47(3), 537-50. weick, k.e., & roberts, k.h. (1993). collective mind in organizations : heedful interrelating on flight decks, administrative science quarterly, 38(3), 357-381. weick, k.e., sutcliffe, k.m. & obstfeld, d. (2005). organizing and the process of sensemaking. organization science, 16(4): 409-421. weick, k.e. & sutcliffe, k.m. (2007), managing the unexpected. resilient performance in an age of uncertainty (2nd ed.), san francisco, ca: jossey bass. whiteman, g. & cooper, wh. (2011). ecological sensemaking. academy of management journal, 54(5), 889-911. whittle, a., housley, w., gilchrist, a., mueller, f. & lenney, p. (2015). category predication work, discursive leadership and strategic sensemaking. human relations, 68(3), 377-407. yanow, d. (2009). organizational ethnography and methodological angst: myths and challenges in the field. qualitative research in organizations and management: an international journal, 4(2), 186– 199. yin, r. k. (1984). case study research: design and methods. beverly hills, ca: sage. � 736 from boat to bags: the role of material chronotopes in adaptive sensemaking m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 705-737 geneviève musca neukirch is associate professor hdr in management and organization studies at paris nanterre university. her research focuses on teamwork, sensemaking, discourse and competence dynamics in contexts of uncertainty. she led the darwin project financed by france’s national research agency (anr), and was a member of the darwin expedition in patagonia, www.projet-darwin.com. in particular, she has been working with a team of researchers in linguistics on data collected during that expedition. she has published in journals such as international journal of project management, journal of organizational ethnography, m@n@gement, and revue française de gestion. she is one of the organizers of the international network “organizing in extreme contexts”. linda rouleau is professor of organization theory at the management department of hec montreal. her research work focuses on identity, sensemaking, middle managers and strategic change. she was a member of the darwin expedition in patagonia. in the last few years, she has published in peer reviewed journals such as  academy of management review, organization science, accounting, organization and society, journal of management studies, human relations, etc. she is coresponsible for the géps (study group of strategy-as-practice, hec montreal) and involved in leading an international and interdisciplinary network on “organizing extreme contexts”. caroline mellet is  associate professor in linguistics at paris nanterre university, and a member of modyco research laboratory. her research interests cover discourse analysis, focusing on political discourse, speech genre, reported speech and argumentation. she has been working with a team of researchers in management on data collected during the darwin expedition in patagonia. she has published in journals of linguistics and humanities such as analyse du discours et argumentation, pratiques, corela, and revue des sciences humaines. frédérique sitri is  associate professor in linguistics at paris nanterre university, and a member of modyco research laboratory. her research interests cover discourse analysis, focusing on professional discourse, speech genre, reported speech. she is interested in it tools and coauthored a handbook called méthodes et outils informatiques pour l'analyse des discours.  she has been working with a team of researchers in management on data collected during the darwin expedition in patagonia.  she has published in journals of linguistics such as  langue française, langage, linx, corpus, mots, langage et société and corela. sarah de vogué is associate professor in linguistics at paris nanterre university, and a member of modyco research laboratory. her research interests cover syntax, semantics and text analysis, focusing both on ordinary language, and on literary texts. she has been working with a team of researchers in management on data collected during  the darwin expedition in patagonia. she has published in journals of linguistics such as langage, linx, faits de langue and corela. data from the darwin expedition were collected as part of the "darwin" project financed by france's national research agency (anr, reference: anr-09-blan-0341-01, www.projet darwin.com), and collected in situ by y. giordano, g. musca, m. perez and l. rouleau. we are thankful to cnrs and aims for their financial support. � 737 http://www.projet-darwin.com http://www.pur-editions.fr/detail.php?idouv=4428%22%20%5ct%20%22_blank http://www.pur-editions.fr/detail.php?idouv=4428%22%20%5ct%20%22_blank reconstructing identity after a labor dispute against the closure of a site: case study on union leaders françois grima irg (ea 2354) university of paris-est créteil grimaf2000@yahoo.com rachel beaujolin neoma business school rachel.beaujolin@neoma-bs.fr 1. by “stable job” we refer to a permanent or fixedterm salaried position of six months’ duration or more, or a self-employed activity. reconstructing identity after a labor dispute against the closure of a site: case study on union leaders françois grima � rachel beaujolin abstract. this article describes how union leaders reconstructed their identity after leading a dispute against the closure of their site. linking together various aspects of critical theories of identity, identity salience, self-categorization, and coping, a survey was carried out by holding semi-structured interviews with 50 union leaders who managed this professional transition. three identity balances were identified: identity tension, in-between, and turning the page. the first constitutes a refusal to carry out the professional transition. the second exposes an identity tension in which the leader seeks to assume a “double” identity, while the third refers to the completed identity transition. our work suggests that the capacity to reconstruct identity depends on the interrelation of personal and contextual variables from which the key roles of social support and the nature of union investment emerge. these results contribute to a renewed understanding of both professional transitions and the identity dynamic in a climate of threat. ! while 266 companies with more than 10 employees closed in 2012 and more than a thousand factories have shut down since 2009, leaving 42 000 fewer employees in industry, a report by the economic and social council (ramonet, 2010) indicates that the rate of re-employment in a stable job1 after collective redundancy stands at around 60%. understanding how workers who are made redundant deal with this professional transition constitutes a major issue on several levels (cascio, 1993; morris, et al., 1998; gandolfi, 2008). firstly, from a societal point of view, it is worth securing the laid-off worker a career path so that the change does not become traumatic, leading to a long-term lack of job security (luthans & sommer, 1999; macky, 2004). secondly, from a managerial point of view, it is worth ensuring that the employee retains a positive image of himor herself and of the company as a whole (pugh, et al., 2003; eby & buch, 1995). on the same theme, this research aims to understand how trade-union leaders manage their professional transition after leading the opposition to the closure of their company. more precisely, how do they manage the two-fold identity rupture caused by losing their job and losing their status as a representative of a disbanded body of workers? ! paradoxically, this line of questioning is new to research on flexibility. the literature includes numerous works on redundancy managers (kets de vries & balazs, 1997; schweiger, et al., 1987; sahdev, 2003; armstrong-stassen & schlosser, 2008), survivors (brockner, et al., 1987; devine, et al., 2003) or laid-off workers (cappelli, 1992) which attest to the physical and mental suffering engendered by redundancies (noer, 2003; leana & feldman, 199 ; molonsky & margolis, 2005). yet the academic community has skipped over trade-union leaders while their role is central in the management of employment flexibility m@n@gement 2014, vol. 17(5): 371-403 371 mailto:grimaf2000@yahoo.com?subject= mailto:grimaf2000@yahoo.com?subject= mailto:grimaf2000@yahoo.com?subject= mailto:grimaf2000@yahoo.com?subject= mailto:m.marais@montpellier-bs.com mailto:m.marais@montpellier-bs.com (beaujolin-bellet & schmidt, 2012). as we see in the news (for example, the closures of peugeot aulnay and goodyear amiens nord) and research on employer–employee relations (rojot, 1994), site closures lead to strikes and disputes between workers and management (fillieule & pechu, 1993). the tradeunion leaders play a key role in the implementation of downsizing projects and in upholding a socially acceptable dispute (beaujolin-bellet & grima, 2012). we emphasize that a laid-off leader differs from the average laid-off employee by his/ her high public profile and his/her investment in actions which are sometimes violent, which ruin his/her brand image on the job market, and which may even prompt legal action to be taken against him/her. in attempting to understand how these leaders rebuild their identities, we enrich research on redundancy by considering the central actor, the true extreme case (yinn, 1994), who faces an exacerbated threat to his identity which has so far been ignored. on the managerial or societal level, we instigate reflection on the support measures available to these actors, who are essential to the peaceful unfolding of company downsizings which are becoming more and more frequent. ! this article is divided into three parts. firstly, we employ the theoretical frameworks of identity salience (stryker, 1980; thoits, 2012), self-categorization (turner, et al., 1987, 1994), and coping (lazarus & folkman, 1984), and the critical analysis of identity (watson, 2008) in order to define identity and identity work. we present the issues surrounding identity construction (sainsaulieu, 1985; watson, 2008; dubar, 2011) within the framework of career transition (latack, et al., 1995; gowan, et al., 1999; paris & vickers, 2010) following redundancy, considered as a context of identity threat (petriglieri, 2011). then, after explaining our methodology, we shall present the results of our analyses of 50 life stories of trade-union leaders who had to reconstruct their identities after the closure of their company. finally, the results will be discussed and contextualised. literature review how do we define identity and identity work? ! defining identity is such a difficult task that “the more one writes about this topic, the more the word becomes a term for something as unfathomable as it is all-pervasive” (erikson, 1968; 5). yet pratt and foreman (2000) encourage researchers working on this topic to strive towards a definition. in the works of dubar (2011), identity may be defined on a basic level as the articulation of a twofold transaction, both internal to the individual (self-identity) and external (social identity) between the individual and the institutions with which he is affiliated. the author defines it as “the simultaneously stable and temporary, individual and collective, subjective and objective, biographical and structural result of the various processes of socialisation which, together, construct individuals and define institutions” (dubar, 2011: 105). identity is a continuous balancing act between how the individual defines himself and how he is defined. ! far from being just one thing, identity, particularly its social aspect, is multifaceted. while for some (merton, 1957; goode, 1960), this plurality equates to conflicts between different roles and identity tensions, for others, the accumulation of different identities gives the individual the means to better manage his/her social integration into diverse working environments (marks, 1977; thoits, 2012). thoits (2012) points out that engaging in voluntary roles (such as those of trade-unionist or leader) seems to bring more benefits – and greater wellbeing – than engaging in non-voluntary roles (such as gender). additionally, the theory of identity salience (caller, 1985; stryker, 1980; thoits, 1983) shows that the individual does not accord the same importance to all his m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 371-403! françois grima �rachel beaujolin 372 2. we choose to employ the term “identity work” here. 3. we acknowledge, as petriglieri (2011) urges, that identity work also has unconscious aspects. nevertheless, following this author’s lead, we emphasize the conscious aspects, aware that introducing the unconscious would lead to a theoretical syncretism that would be difficult to justify. social identities. if he/she prioritises the social identity he/she is pursuing, he/she will be more inclined to accept trade-offs in his/her environment and to reinterpret his biographical identity. however, this is not easy step to take. ! the works of turner et al. (1987, 1994) on the theory of self-categorization show that identity oscillates between a biographical dimension and a social dimension. the individual can experience difficulties in distancing himself from the identity of the group to which he belongs. relational identity prevails over biographical identity. consequently, because it is difficult for the individual to perceive himself as different from his/her social group, he/she accords no importance to the judgement of third parties who do not belong to this group. knowles and gardner (2008) stress that the mechanism of quasi-fusion between self-identity and the identity of his group intensifies when the individual’s sense of threat is shared with his fellow employees. the same applies when there is a marked difference between the group to which he belongs and the outside (terry & hogg, 1996) or when the identity salience comes through defining the group identity against other groups (oakes, 1987). ! whether identity plurality is perceived as bringing increased wellbeing or difficulties, commentators agree that it is complex, particularly its relational aspect. the individual can never know how other people see him/her (gergen & gergen, 1997; ibarra, 1999). this casts doubt over whether identity for oneself and identity for another can indeed match up. the two identities do not always correlate. adjustments take place, termed  “identity strategies” by some and “identity work” by others (alvesson & willmott, 2002; beech, 2008, 2011)2. adopting a critical approach, watson (2008:129) defines identity work as “the mutually constitutive processes whereby people strive to shape a relatively coherent and distinctive notion of personal self-identity and struggle to come to terms with and, within limits, to influence the various social-identities which pertain to them in the various milieu in which they live their lives.” ! building on these works, we will define identity work as the sum of the behaviours and attitudes developed consciously by an individual in order to coordinate his/her biographical and relational identities, which may be plural3. our definition reflects the commitment and investment that such coordination entails, as well as the prime importance that we accord to the professional sphere when accounting for the social aspect of identity (sluss & ashforth, 2007). sainsaulieu underscores that identity is defined as “the relational and social experience of power” (1985: 342). the individual encounters resistance in his/her selfconstruction efforts. relational investments in the areas of identity recognition that he desires are not a foregone conclusion. he/she does not always have the legitimacy or the resources (i.e. training or personal network) to obtain an identity that is desired by others. identity work can prove ineffective (thomas & linstead, 2002; thornborrow & brown, 2009). other people deny the individual the social identities he/she claims to own (crossley, 2000; collinson, 2003). ! our decision to retain the term “identity work” rather than merely “identity” conveys our desire to underline the difficulty, or even the destabilising nature, of the identity dynamic. the malleable nature of identity places the individual in stressful situations. he/she finds him/herself unable to meet the identity demands placed on him/her by his/her environment. the disparity between the identity he/ she considers him/herself to have and that assigned to him/her by others is so great that he faces significant cognitive dissonance. he/she is therefore obliged to react via coping mechanisms (lazarus & folkman, 1984). identity work can be defined as the dynamics of regaining a coherent identity which is constantly threatened because people in the environment question its integrity. at the same time, however, other people can provide identity recognition (gergen & gergen, 1997; sims, 2003; watson, 2009). identity work is all the more difficult when the individual must move from one identity to another without being given the choice. the case study of role transitions analysed by ashforth et al. (2000) shows that reconstructing identity after a labor dispute! m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 371-403 373 identity flexibility ensues when the stability of the individual’s identity is threatened. being malleable with respect to identity supposes a command of numerous interpersonal and biographical resources which the individual may not have or want to use. identity work can give rise to an identity threat defined by petriglieri (2011: 644) as “an experience appraised as indicating potential harm to the value, meanings, or enactment of an identity”. this definition of identity work sees the loss of employment as a threat to identity. it is a complex situation in which the individual finds him/herself forced to step up his/her identity work in order to manage the disappearance of his/her old identity as a worker and construct another identity as a jobseeker. thoits (2012) reminds us that performing a salient role leads to wellbeing, while losing it causes genuine suffering. identity work within a professional transition caused by job loss: managing an identity threat ! the loss of one’s job is clearly identified by the literature on professional transitions as a threat to identity (latack et al., 1995; gowan & gatewood, 1997). nevertheless, as far as we know, no author has so far suggested a model for explaining adjustment to this threat. on the other hand, in a more general context, petriglieri (2011) proposes an overarching analytical framework. she identifies three aspects around which the concept of identity threat can be structured. ! the first aspect is an appraisal of the identity danger prompted by the transition that the person faces. drawing on coping theories (lazarus & folkman, 1984), leana and feldman (1994), like gowan et al. (1999), show that an employee threatened with unemployment carries out a twofold appraisal of his situation. firstly, he/she foresees a drop in his standard of living and asks him/ herself why this is happening. secondly, he/she projects him/herself into the future and tries to envisage him/herself in a new job. petriglieri (2011) suggests that two factors aggravate his perception of his identity threat. the first is the significance he accords to the part of his identity that is directly threatened. on this subject, numerous commentators (shrout et al., 1989; sainsaulieu, 1985) consider workplace identity as the core of the identity dynamic. paris and vickers (2010) report that employees who are made redundant perceive themselves as “lesser human beings”. their identity work ceases. as willott and griffin (2004) note, the transition from employment to unemployment can lead to resignation on the part of the individual (eisenberg & lazarsfeld, 1938). paris and vickers (2010) show that the worker never recovers the same tranquillity with regard to his identity, even after returning to work. the second factor is the extent to which the person is exposed to the identity threat. recurrent or prolonged exposure renders the worker more fragile. being made unemployed is the situation that engenders the most extreme confrontation. the unemployed person cannot avoid continuous self-questioning (leana & feldman, 1992). ! the second aspect concerns the perception of a breakdown of the acquired identity. petriglieri (2011) stresses three points. firstly, identity becomes devalued as a result of the threat. leana and feldman (1992) show that unemployed people are perceived, both in the private and the professional spheres, as being in a problematic situation. the second point is that the meaning given to the worker’s life by his identity collapses. paris and vickers (2010) and willott and griffin (2004) show that the disappearance of this bedrock of identity has repercussions on other aspects of identity, such as gender. the male worker who is no longer able to access resources founded on his masculine identity through his work is forced into resignation (martin, 1987). his identity becomes overwhelmed by negative stereotypes occasioned by his environment. finally, the unemployed person sees no way of imagining a future with his identity m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 371-403! françois grima �rachel beaujolin 374 thus threatened. he experiences a loss against which he is powerless to act (devine et al., 2003). the termination of employment for non-personal reasons often engenders a feeling of betrayal in employees who may have devoted many years to the service of their company and its economic success (mishra & spreitzer, 1998; pugh et al., 2003). ! the third aspect of identity work concerns the sources of the identity threat. petriglieri (2011) isolates three: the victims themselves, third parties, and the outside world. as for the first group, the author underlines that a dynamic of identity deconstruction can arise when the individual becomes aware that his/h new identity is not compatible with the former one, which he/she prizes. this perspective corroborates the model devised by leana and feldman (1990) which highlights the strain caused by the self-devaluation into which unemployed workers sink. the role of third parties constitutes another source of tension. for unemployed workers, the threats are manifold. whether in the private sphere, where the partner is destabilised within the couple by his or her new standing (liem & liem, 1988) or in the professional domain, where to be out of work is a handicap, the threats the unemployed person faces can multiply. these sources of identity threat can weigh down heavily on him/her as he/she tries to construct his/her identity. ! the reconstruction dynamic can engender many diverse situations. in terms of coping, i.e. in terms of all the cognitive and behavioural efforts put in place by the worker to reduce the likelihood of a difficult situation occurring (lazarus & folkman, 1984), our research shows the importance of taking on board all those resources which the worker in transition has available to him/her and which are not fully covered by petriglieri’s model (2011). latack and dozier (1995) point out that the unemployed person may have numerous resources at his/her disposal with which to deal with this undesirable professional transition. they distinguish two groups. ! the first group consists of personal characteristics. the less at ease the worker felt in the job he/she has just lost, the more likely he/she is to find new work (leana & feldman, 1994). similarly, the point in the worker’s career at which the redundancy occurs also plays a role. the older the employee (or, at the other end of the scale, the younger he/she is), the more his/her transition is likely to be difficult (kaufman, 1982). louis (1980) and wagner et al. (1987) show that seniority in the organisation reinforces links with the company, which makes the rupture more painful. according to latack and dozier (1986), the transition is easier in the middle of a career. these authors also stress the importance of the worker’s status. a manager will find a new position more easily because he has a good basic education and has also benefitted from continuous training allowing him to maintain this initial advantage. turner (1995) indicates that low income increases the stress of unemployment. lastly, gender also influences the management of the transition, although here the results seem less clear. while some claim, as noted above, that unemployment destabilizes masculine identity (paris & vickers, 2010); others maintain that low-qualified women who are nearing retirement also encounter serious difficulties (hepworth, 1980). ! a second group of resources comprises environmental characteristics. possessing sufficient financial resources to cope with future uncertainty occasioned by the threat to one’s identity is an important aspect of identity work (leana & feldman, 1994). the same is true of social support, whether this is provided by family, friends (defrank & ivancevich, 1986) or professionals. tzafir et al. (2006) show the positive impact of the latter. thanks to the work of these professionals, affected individuals are able to relativize the difficulties they encounter and throw themselves into active job-seeking (kinicki, 1985). this aids their professional reconstruction. lastly, the specific details of the transition play an essential role in the worker’s ability to bounce back. the more the approach adopted is explained clearly and perceived as fair by the worker, the less likely reconstructing identity after a labor dispute! m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 371-403 375 the worker is to experience feelings of resentment of anger which prevent him from looking to the future and encourage him/her to enter into conflict with his former employer (latack et al., 1995). ! by relying on these resources, the unemployed worker can develop adjustment strategies. gowan et al. (1999) differentiate between approaches focused on the problem, the emotion or the symptom. in the first case, the unemployed person acts on the source of the stress. he/she will put in place an action plan, gather information, and plan a move. in the second case, he/she interprets the situation in such a way that it appears less difficult to cope with. he/ she can thus relativize the difficulty he/she is experiencing, or even dismiss it. finally, in the last case, he/she transfers his energies to activities outside his/her professional sphere. here, investment in community life brings significant compensations in terms of identity (jahoda, 1972). ! this first typology based on the theoretical coping grid (lazarus & folkman, 1984) overlaps in part with the work of petriglieri (201) concerning identity work. ! here we encounter a conflict between the source of the measure and the realignment of the situation. petriglieri (2011) sets out three configurations observed in the workplace which aim to act on the source of the identity threat in order to protect the threatened identity. in the first case, the person questions the relevance of third parties for validating an identity. he/she no longer accords them legitimacy for validating any identity. in the second, he/she may also hide an identity which he/she feels to be threatened and substitute it for one that is easier to defend. lastly, in the final case, he/she may act on the source of the identity threat by giving the third party information that is likely to dissuade them from acting. ! as for the realignment, petriglieri (2011) again highlights three possible orientations. the employee who chooses the first orientation will change the threatened identity, recalibrating the weight of this identity within his/her identity balance. here we once again encounter the concept of identity salience (styker, 1980). with the second option, the employee attempts to change the meaning given to an identity. he/she mobilises both biographical and relational resources in order to make this change happen. finally, in the last case, the employer may decide to leave the identity behind. petriglieri (2011) cites the example of nuns who, after vatican ii, saw the definition of their identity change to such an extent that a number of them did not wish to keep it (ebaugh, 1988). ! collinson (2003) develops this finding of the heterogeneous nature of the adjustments made by individuals who face an identity threat. for his part, he outlines three possible positions. he judges the individual to have a stronger, more malleable identity than that proposed by the coping perspective. in the first position, which he qualifies as a conformist identity, the individual takes on the proposed identity, even if he is fearful of it. in the second position, called the “dramaturgical” identity, the individual is able to fool those around him by presenting an adapted identity. the individual then navigates between the poles of acceptance and refusal. finally, in the last option, that of resistance identity, the employee chooses to defend his identity despite the price he may have to pay, such as being side-lined by a reference group. ! as this wide-ranging literature attests, when adjusting to an identity threat in a professional transition caused by a job loss, the individual initially believes his/her situation surpasses the resources at his disposition. however, precisely by taking command of different resources, the employee may carry out identity adjustment. the diversity of these resources and their availability make this task difficult to understand, so numerous are the possibilities. the employee seems neither totally free nor totally constrained by his/her social environment. he/she retains his ability to co-author his identity, in both its biographical and relational aspects. all the same, the import of this research, following on from research m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 371-403! françois grima �rachel beaujolin 376 previously carried out on trade-union leaders, allows us to propose two research hypotheses in relation to our initial question: “how do the leaders of a labour dispute reconstruct their identities after a site is closed? how do they manage the twofold identity rupture caused by losing their job and losing their status as a representative of a disbanded body of workers?” ! first of all, the identity threat is acute for this sector of the population. leaders not only lose their job, like other employees, but also their status as a trade-unionist and leader of a body of employees on strike (beaujolin-bellet and grima, 2011). they are reduced to the status of the aging unemployed – a condition from which it is difficult to reconstruct one’s identity (brewington & nassar-mcmillan, 2000; riach & loretto, 2009). however, as several works about activists stress (fillieule, 2005; guillaume, 2007; leclercq & pagis, 2011), this dual identity of leader and trade-unionist is important for employees (fillieule & pechu, 1993; andolfatto & labbé, 2011). furthermore, the personal stories of numerous former trade-unionists (larose, 2001; roupnel-fuentes, 2011) reveal that they face stigmatisation on the job market. no employer wishes to hire an employee who has demonstrated the ability to lead a labour dispute. these various characteristics make workers an extreme case in the sense given by yin (1994). we advance the following hypothesis: when former trade-union leaders are deprived of resources with which to structure their identity, the identity reconstruction work they carry out during their professional transition proves difficult. drawing on identity salience theory (stryker, 1980), thoits (2012) stresses that the loss of a person’s central identity causes him suffering. according to works on self-categorisation (turnet et al., 1987, 1994), this transition is difficult. the threat itself and the accompanying stigmatisation serve to reinforce the individual’s identity as a trade-union leader in charge of a workforce on strike. breaking free from this identity seems to necessitate intense identity work (collinson, 2003) which is by no means certain to be effective. petriglieri (2011) underlines that this focus on protection strategies for the threatened identity can lead to social isolation or even a feeling of inauthenticity, which amounts to increased stress. the presence of social support reinforces the individual’s position with respect to his identity. this implantation is even greater if the identity has been anchored in the person for a long time. petriglieri (2011) goes further by suggesting that the importance of the identity leads the threatened person to accord greater value to the source of his problems than to dissimulating or negating this identity. ! furthermore, the career paths of people such as monsieur lepaon, an excgt leader at moulinex and the new general secretary of this same trade-union, and monsieur rabbi, an ex-cgt leader of the cellatex company and the head of the textile federation for this same trade union, show that it is possible to find a new job, in these cases within a trade-union organisation. these facts lead us to our second hypothesis: some ex-leaders will enact a professional transition within their trade-union organisation. it is possible for an individual to reconstruct his identity within his trade-union. active coping can be effective (lazarus & folkman, 1984). contrary to the picture painted by identity salience theory (thoits, 2012) and self-categorisation theory (turner et al., 1987, 1994), the trade-union leader, like other employees, appears to possess the resources with which to create identity work, i.e. a professional rebound. critical research (collinson, 2003: watson, 2008) on identity work, like that on coping, can constitute a theoretical basis for this proposition, which contradicts our first one. thanks to the relational resources within his trade union, the leader has the ability to carry out his professional transition and identity transition. petriglieri (2011) stresses that a serious identity threat encourages the person to choose to change his identity. the view that the old identity is on the way out encourages this choice. however, we do not have enough information to assert anything beyond the fact that reconstructing identity after a labor dispute! m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 371-403 377 reconstruction within the trade-union organisation is possible, as the various cited examples attest. methodology data collection ! in order to achieve our research objectives, our data collection was based on the life-story approach (essers, 2009: goodley et al., 2004: mcadams, 1993). this is a pertinent method for obtaining a profound understanding of identity work (lutgen-sandvik, 2008) and one which has already been mobilised in the context of career transitions (cohen and mallon, 2001: marshall, 2000). ! the data were collected between september 2007 and december 2012. fifty people who had led resistance to proposed job cuts and subsequently lost their jobs were interviewed. in order to find these people, we linked together several methods/processes. firstly, we identified individuals by going through the archives of several national daily newspapers (l’humanité, libération, and le monde) to find the most widely covered labour disputes from the past fifteen years. secondly, we contacted leaders of departmental and branch trade-unions, and lawyers and experts on business committees that we knew, and asked them to tell us the names of trade-union leaders who had led such movements. in order to ensure that they were “trade-union leaders” we triangulated several sources of information, from the press and contact networks, taking care to have at least two concurring sources of information for each case. we then had to move from the research to finding these people, some of whom no longer had any contact with their former colleagues or with trade union members. to do this, we conducted simultaneous research in telephone directories and contact networks. afterwards, we proceeded by snowball sampling. when making the first contact with a view to organizing a meeting, we asked a few questions in order to verify that the person had indeed played a major role in the conflict (that they attended negotiations to devise a plan to save jobs, gave interviews to the media, filed lawsuits where applicable, held a position on the works council, etc.). ! seeking to expose both public and private life and, often, to talk about traumatic and painful events, we made sure, following the example of essers (2009), to inspire trust. through the process of identification by reputation and through snowball sampling, we contacted only individuals for whom we received recommendations. we let them choose the interview place – their current place of work, the departmental trade union premises or, most often, their home. we systematically took the time to introduce ourselves to each participant, setting out our approach, and answering their questions before we started the interview proper. we undertook to treat the data collected anonymously and to send the participants the results of our research. in the end we received very few interview refusals, and we often had the feeling that the interview was fulfilling a freedom of speech role, for people who had possibly never spoken about these events since they occurred. overall our stance was to accord these people recognition for the role they performed and to empathise with them. ! in conjunction with the snowball method of identification, we took care to obtain interviews with a wide range of different personal profiles (regarding age, sex, trade union to which they belonged, current professional status) who had acted in different contexts (varying size and sector of the company, region, and scale of the restructuring). our interviewees were as follows: 15 women and 35 men, aged between 38 and 64 years old (average age: 48 years), resident in 17 french departments, with 23 affiliated with the cgt, 19 with the cfdt, 5 with the fo and 3 to the cftc. before their redundancy, they were either manual workers m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 371-403! françois grima �rachel beaujolin 378 (28) or technicians or supervisors (22); they had been with their company for an average of 23 years. they worked in industrial sectors often said to be in crisis (metalworking, the defense industry, textiles and clothing, leather, food processing, photography, etc.). these individuals lost their jobs in downsizing operations that occurred 2 to 3 years before our interview. at the time of the interview, 21 people were absent from the job market or retired (i.e. in long-term unemployment, unstable contract work, early retirement or retirement) and 29 people had found a job or had signed up to a professional redevelopment programme. ! the interviews lasted between one and three hours. following the recommendations of mcadams (1993), we asked the people we met to tell us their personal stories in chapters structured around the following events: the start of their working life, the start of their engagement in the trade-union, the announcement of the final redundancy measures they witnessed, the unfolding of the labour dispute, their departure from the company, and their current situation. we wanted to gain a broad overview of the professional trajectory of the leader in order to better understand the resources to which he had access. the interviews were designed to draw out the individuals’ interpretations. they were not carried out in a very leading fashion, meaning that participants could express on their own any possible links between the events, ambiguities or contradictions that they experienced (cohen & mallon, 2001). at the end of the interviews, if the interviewees had not spontaneously broached these issues, we asked them more precise questions about their identity as a trade-union leader, as an employee, as a laid-off worker, as a parent and as a spouse. we also asked them about the image fed back to them during and after the dispute by employees, company directors, job market intermediaries, trade-union heads, and their own family members. we supplemented and enriched our understanding of labour disputes in response to planned job cuts – the context in which each interviewee acted – by conducting a press review of each case. data analysis ! the data analysis was carried out in line with grounded theory (glaser & strauss, 1967) in three phases. in the first phase, we reconstructed the chain of events for each person, paying particular attention to moments of rupture and the articulation of forms of change in the identity work. in the second phase, we carried out a thematic content analysis supported by double coding. the process was iterative. each new interview served to question the interpretative structure applied up until then. we especially took our cues from phrases that signified selfdefinition (e.g. “i’m someone who…”: “i’ve never been able to stand…”) or which pointed to emotions that the person felt (e.g. “and then i knew that…”, “then, i broke down”, “it was really hard…”, etc.) or those that showed how the person felt themselves observed by others (for the employees, i was…”). in the last phase, we classed each individual and drew up a table composed of 33 criteria (e.g. sex, age, age when they joined the union, union organization, seniority, post occupied pre-redundancy, current situation, number of downsizing operations experienced, role played in the trade-union, acceptance of the trade-union engagement by the spouse, marital situation before and after the labour dispute, initial qualifications, etc.) we then examined these three elements in order to frame our analysis in terms of the nature of the specific identity threats faced by these resistance leaders who led disputes against proposed job cuts, and in order to construct a typology of reconstruction dynamics developed by individuals. ! more precisely, taking inspiration from gioia et al. (2012), we firstly employed an initial interpretative grid based essentially on the words of our interviewees (first level of analysis). however, unlike these authors, our first look at the data was theoretically oriented (locke, 2001). we were able to integrate reconstructing identity after a labor dispute! m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 371-403 379 theoretical grids from the start of our analysis, so developed was our theoretically-constructed background when we arrived in the field. afterwards, a second coding was carried out, based even more strongly on the literature. at the end of this process, we isolated three identity balances characterised by the strategies and tactics used to mobilise resources. we maintain the definitions of rojot (1994), who conceives strategy as “the organising framework that underpins actions, attitudes and behaviours” and tactics as “specific movements selected with the aim of implementing the chosen strategy” (rojot, 1004: 100). this led us to produce what we will call a data structure similar to that proposed by gioia et al. (2012) (table 1). this in turn allows us to update the structure of our thought by moving from an analysis of tactics to strategies and resources, and concluding with identity balances (table 2). table 1. data structuretable 1. data structuretable 1. data structuretable 1. data structure tactics strategies resources identity balances discredit the validity of the discourse of the sources of the threat maintain the dynamic of the resistant collective continue the fight perceived betrayal by management limited activist capital family tradition of trade-union engagement lack of economic constraint identity tension reframe past actions minimise grudges and disagreements in the collective use one’s memory perceived betrayal by management limited activist capital family tradition of trade-union engagement lack of economic constraint identity tension become a reemployment officer promote reemployment be effective in each person’s professional reconstruction augmented activist capital absence of family tradition of trade-union engagement strong economic constraint in-between emotional and behavioural overinvestment assist by proxy extend the meaning of these tasks augmented activist capital absence of family tradition of trade-union engagement strong economic constraint in-between build oneself a warrior image give more prestige to the new professional identity stay positive about career prospects augmented activist capital absence of family tradition of trade-union engagement disillusionment with trade-union practices strong economic constraint social revenge turning the page gather information on the transition embrace the old identity be effective in personal reconstruction augmented activist capital absence of family tradition of trade-union engagement disillusionment with trade-union practices strong economic constraint social revenge turning the page ! at the end of this process, we sought to validate our analyses. we used two separate means. firstly, we presented our results to 11 trade-union leaders both from the sample (5 cases) and outside of it (6 cases). this gave rise to a sustained debate which led us to develop our analyses, particularly with respect to the resources used. next, we undertook a double coding analysis. we employed the method of miles and huberman (1994) to evaluate the inter-coder reliability (number of agreements/number of agreements plus number of disagreements) relative to the identity work strategies and the resources mobilised. we arrived at a result of 80% (higher than 70%, miles & huberman, 1994). three cases were problematic to interpret. there was some toing and froing between the two coders before they reached full agreement. m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 371-403! françois grima �rachel beaujolin 380 ta bl e 2. t ac tic s m ob ili se d ta bl e 2. t ac tic s m ob ili se d ta ct ic s e xe m pl ar y qu ot es d is cr ed it th e va lid ity o f t he di sc ou rs e of th e so ur ce s of th e th re at “t he p re fe ct is tr yi ng to m ak e us b el ie ve th at it is u se le ss to c on tin ue to p ro te st , b ut h e’ s w ro ng . w ith ou t t hi s ac tio n w e ha ve n o ch an ce o f a ch ie vi ng o ur g oa ls .” “t he lo ca l p re ss th in ks th e m ov em en t i s dy in g ou t b ut it ’s n ot . w e’ re u ni te d an d w ill in g to k ee p up th e pr es su re . i re gu la rly in vi te th em to c om e an d se e us . m ai nt ai n th e dy na m ic o f t he re si st an t c ol le ct iv e “i’ m d ut ybo un d to a ct s o th at th e co lle ct iv e st ay s to ge th er . i c an ’t do it a lo ne . w e or ga ni se o ur fr ie nd s. w e se nd e m ai ls . i ’m g oi ng to v is it pe op le a t t he ir ho m es to te ll th em h ow w e’ re g et tin g on .” “it ’s n ot e as y to k ee p th in gs to ge th er b ec au se th e “e ve ry m an fo r h im se lf” a pp ro ac h qu ic kl y ta ke s ov er . t he re a re p eo pl e w ho d on ’t w an t t o he ar a w or d ab ou t th e co m pa ny b ut i’ m fi gh tin g fo r u s to s ta y to ge th er to o bt ai n re su lts . i c al l p eo pl e, i se e pe op le in th ei r h om es . i in vi te th em to c al l i n. i se nd th em c op ie s of th e le tte rs i w rit e. ” r ef ra m e pa st a ct io ns “t ha nk s to a ll of o ur e ffo rts , t he re du nd an cy s ch em e w e ne go tia te d is a n ex am pl e in th e re gi on . t he p re ss h ig hl ig ht ed th e re su lts w e ob ta in ed .” m in im is e gr ud ge s an d di sa gr ee m en ts in th e co lle ct iv e “it ’s tr ue th at th e m ov em en t s om et im es w en t t oo fa r. c er ta in p eo pl e w er e he ck le d, a nd b ui ld in gs a nd m ac hi ne s w er e da m ag ed . b ut th at ’s a v er y sm al l e le m en t. th is is n ot w ar !” “w e do n’ t a lw ay s ag re e bu t w e al w ay s m an ag e to fi nd a s ol ut io n to ge th er . e ve ry on e m ak es a n ef fo rt be ca us e w e ca n’ t a ffo rd n ot to a gr ee . w e ha ve to m ov e fo rw ar d. ” b ec om e a re -e m pl oy m en t of fic er “i go to th e re de pl oy m en t u ni t e ve ry d ay a nd ta lk to th e ad vi so rs a nd e ac h of th e w or ke rs . i f s om e pe op le s to p co m in g, i ca ll th em o r i g o to s ee th em .” “if i he ar th at s om eo ne h as p ro bl em s w ith th ei r r eem pl oy m en t s tra te gi es a nd i kn ow s om eo ne w ho c an h el p th em , i d on ’t he si ta te . i d id it re ce nt ly w ith a w or ke r b y ca lli ng a p er so n fro m h ea d of fic e w ho w as a bl e to h el p hi m c ho os e th e rig ht le ga l s ta tu s fo r h is b us in es s. ” p ro m ot e re -e m pl oy m en t “p eo pl e ge t d is co ur ag ed a ll th e tim e. in o ur re gi on it ’s n ot e as y. s o i g o to s ee th em a nd i re m in d th em a bo ut s oan dso w ho s uc ce ed ed , a nd i te ll th em th at th ey s til l h av e tim e, th er e ar e st ill a ve nu es to e xp lo re .” “l as t w ee k i r em in de d x th at g iv en h is a ge a nd w ha t h e’ d do ne in th e co m pa ny , h e w as e nt itl ed to a pp ly fo r a p re m at ur e de pa rtu re fr om a ct iv e lif e. ” e m ot io na l a nd b eh av io ur al ov er in ve st m en t “i do n’ t w an t t o le av e m y ex -c ol le ag ue s w ith n o as si st an ce e ve n if i k no w th at e ve ry th in g’ s be en d on e. s o i g o to s ee th em , i li st en to th em ; i tr y to m ak e th em fe el b et te r.” a ss is t b y pr ox y “in m y un io n or ga ni sa tio n i’m c om m itt ed to b ei ng fl ex ib le . p eo pl e in th e re gi on k no w th at i ha ve e xp er ie nc e an d th ey a sk fo r m e. i ne ve r s ay n o. f or m e it’ s a m or al o bl ig at io n. ” b ui ld o ne se lf a w ar rio r i m ag e “i m ad e m ys el f w ha t i a m . e ve ry th in g i k no w p ro fe ss io na lly , i o w e to m y w or k. i kn ow h ow to d ea l w ith c ha ng e so i kn ow th at i’ ll co m e th ro ug h th is .” g iv e m or e pr es tig e to th e ne w pr of es si on al id en tit y “i’ m g oi ng to d o th e ex am s to b ec om e a so ci al w or ke r. w or ki ng w ith y ou ng p eo pl e ha s al w ay s ap pe al ed to m e. i co m e fro m a ro ug h ar ea . i t i s a go od jo b. y ou ke ep a ta st e of th e co lle ct iv e. it ’s a jo b th at m ak es s en se .”  g at he r i nf or m at io n on th e tra ns iti on “i kn ew i ha d to a ct fa st . i h ad a lre ad y th ou gh t a bo ut it , m ad e co nt ac ts . i n th e ce nt re i ha d a go od re la tio ns hi p w ith th e ad vi so r. a s th e co m pa ny g av e m on ey , i w as a bl e to s et u p m y ba r v er y qu ic kl y. ” e m br ac e th e ol d id en tit y “i’ m n ot le av in g (m y ro le a s a tra de -u ni on le ad er ) w ith n ot hi ng . i t h as b ee n an e xt ra or di na ry e xp er ie nc e. i le ar ne d a lo t i n a ve ry s ho rt tim e. in a n em er ge nc y yo u ha ve to fi nd s ol ut io ns , o th er w is e it co st s yo u. i kn ow i ca n’ t m en tio n it on m y c v b ut i al so k no w th at i ca n do th in gs n ow th at i w ou ld n’ t h av e do ne b ef or e. fo r e xa m pl e, i’ m m uc h le ss im pr es si on ab le . i fi nd it e as ie r t o sp ea k in fr on t o f a g ro up , e ve n if it’ s bi g. ” reconstructing identity after a labor dispute! m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 371-403 381 4. in the rest of this document, the terms “identity b a l a n c e s ” a n d “ p r o fi l e s ” w i l l b e u s e d interchangeably. results ! our data analysis allowed us to identify three identity balances1: identity tension (21 cases), in-between (13 cases) and identity rupture (16 cases). a choice governs this typology: whether to continue being the union leader of a body of workers on strike, or whether to stop in order to acquire a new professional identity. tension, in-between and identity rupture ! identity tension signals the leader’s desire to remain the leader of this group, which gets smaller and smaller over time. the strike called in response to the closure is conceived as a moment of brotherhood that people want to prolong. a veritable fusional identity is born for the leader, which he or she wants to make last: “my role is to make sure we stay united to win our case. together we’ve already gained a lot, but if we stay together we’ll gain even more”. the identity work looks to the past and the maintenance of the past identity. the leader makes no individual identity projection. he or she becomes the “guardian of the temple” of the strikers the former body of employers of a company that has disappeared. on this point, in 5 cases we had the option of gaining access to other laid-off employees who had never held the position of leader. their words on the subject were very clear: “she (the leader) is the soul of the dispute. she isn’t alone but she has a unique role. she carries the group. she gives herself to it completely”. the leader considers having a debt to the group that he or she represents. ! in contrast, the two other balances – the in-between and the rupture – focus on giving prestige to the emerging professional identity. in the first case, the leader refuses to choose between his past identity of leader and the new identity being constructed: “i can’t choose. i’m both at the same time: a leader of the former employees of x and a national head of the trade-union”. very quickly reemployed or promised to be re-employed within the trade-union structure, individuals try to maintain their commitment to the group by continuing to identify as a leader of a body of ex-strikers of a defunct company, at the same time as reconstructing themselves as trade-unionists acting on a regional or national level. a functional duality of identity emerges: the investment in the role of leader of a group on strike constitutes an identity resource which is then used in the new trade-union activity: “having been one of the leaders lends a certain legitimacy to my new role. no-one can call me an apparatchik. i know what leading a dispute entails”. finally, with the identity rupture, the leader chooses to focus on developing his new professional identity independently of the former strikers and the world of the trade union. his or her reconstruction occurs in isolation from these reference points. the identity of leader now belongs to his or her professional past. it is no longer mobilized the new professional activity as such, even though the skills and experiences are useful to the ex-leader in his or her new professional identity: “i’m no longer the leader of x dispute. i was, but i am no more. now i’m a training specialist. i learned a lot during that fight about myself and about others. it stays with me, i make use of it in my work, but the fact of having been a leader has no direct bearing on my professional practice”. ! after introducing the strategies and tactics used in each case, we will present the resources behind them and their results in terms of professional reemployment and personal balance. m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 371-403! françois grima �rachel beaujolin 382 identity tension: remaining a leader carrying on the fight ! the leader refuses to perceive the closure of the company as the end of his unionist and leader identities. for him the fight continues. here he develops two tactics. ! with the first, according to the analyses of petriglieri (2011) and collinson (2003), he discredits the validity of the discourse of the sources of the identity threat: “for me the dispute isn’t over. management would have us believe it, as would many politicians. but for me, the closure is one stage in a process that comprises many legal phases. i am the representative of a collective which is still fighting even though the fight has taken on other forms.” the action concerns the company management, public authorities and the press, or even other trade unions. the passage of time does not help the cause, and being understood by those around them proves difficult: “we don’t have the same audience in the region now, let alone across the country!” several interviewees underline that this downturn is sometimes reinforced by the emergence of other closures which are more of a media sensation because they involve bigger companies: “how on earth can we make ourselves heard when a group like t is closing a site?” this weak presence on the television or in the press drives the leader to prefer other sources of communication for his counter-discourse, such as the internet: “we’ve set up a blog”. leaders also stress the benefit of participating in solidarity protests with other movements: “we show that we’re still alive and still capable of mobilising”. ! the second tactic consists of keeping together the collective who went on strike. the first tactic was about making the group present in the outside world; here, the aim is to make the collective live on internally in resistance. once again, the work is not easy. the leader can no longer count on the coordinating space of the workplace or on media pressure to bind the collective together. he or she then takes on outreach work which takes the form of regular telephone calls to check up on the most vulnerable workers: “i keep in touch with my old colleagues. i see them at their houses. i encourage the most motivated among them to see those who we feel are losing heart. i try to maintain the solidarity dynamic that was present during the strike”. the leader also organises meetings to keep former colleagues up to date on the legal action taken, as well as informal evenings at which he or she aims to keep attendance high by introducing a convivial element such as a barbecue. making use of memory ! in order to remain the leader of a group that is objectively disappearing, the leader carries out significant memory work based on the employment of two tactics. ! with the first, the leader re-casts the meaning of past events. this tactic may be compared to the positive distinction work described by petriglieri (2011) or the symptom-focused threat management strategy (gowan et al., 1999). it is about re-interpreting the first results obtained in a positive light. the 21 individuals who took on this profile claim to have obtained “the best redundancy package ever seen in france”. they stress that the diverse interests of the workers (youths, seniors, permanent employees and contract workers) were respected: “we really achieved a redundancy scheme that respected everyone. there were no favourites”. this judgement was supported in every case by the opinion of a third-party specialist (journalist, work inspector, trade unionist): “you only need to read the press to see that the package is very good.” the collective is described as motivated and still active. ! through memory work, the leader becomes the head of an association of former workers which produces books of personal stories and poems, or even a reconstructing identity after a labor dispute! m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 371-403 383 film which retells the dispute: “the association is both a force of opposition and a place to recharge for many people. for me, it’s the place where i can keep the group alive”. the ex-leader puts forward a new weighting of the key elements of the dispute by advancing a global view of it. far from making a clear distinction between the dispute and its aftermath, he brings together these two phases and suggests looking at the results at the end of the legal process: “it’s at the end of the ball that you pay the musicians. the closure is just the first stage. let’s wait until the end of the proceedings. on the other side, they’re not calm. i understand them. here on our side, we know we’re going to win”. ! the second strategy accompanies the first move to accord prestige. the leader tends to omit or minimise the negative elements of the collective dynamic, like disagreements between strikers or violence, which is explained away as acts by desperate or extremist elements: “you can’t control everything. the source of the violence should be examined before the strikers are blamed. who is behind this violence? it’s the bosses, whose behaviour drives employees to extremes.” on the contrary, the leader insists that the strikers proved they were responsible by stressing that the public authorities recognised this aspect: “in the face of humiliation we kept our dignity. they weren’t able to make us crack and resort to violence. the labour movement is first and foremost about the dignity of the fight. the police commissioner recognised our efforts.” without denying the disagreements that occurred between the strikers, the union leader stresses the democratic operation of the collective: “we decide everything together”. ! as we have seen with these two tactics, the leader does not undertake any action to construct him/herself a new identity. he or she remains the trade-union leader of a group that went on strike: “when you have those kinds of responsibilities, you can’t think about yourself. you have to think about the group. in any case, i stayed on after the dispute to look after my colleagues’ interests. i’ll think about myself later.” varied identity resources ! this identity balance mobilises four resources that underpin the strategies used. bitterness and resentment aside, the examination of the closure of the company was not transparent. on the contrary, the leader clearly felt betrayed: “after all the years you gave to the company, the personal sacrifices you made in terms of hours of work and money, when you learn all of a sudden that your site is being shut down although its making 9% profit, you can’t help but feel anger, resentment, and a desire to smash everything up”. this leader found out by accident about the closure of the site. a trade-union representative describes how he discovered the site was closing when he found some articles manufactured by another site among the stock in transit, whereas only stock made on that site should have been present. another recalls how he, along with some colleagues, was providing security surveillance on weekends in may, on one of which he saw the local director in the process of dismantling the machines. several interviewees pointed to the duplicity of managers who continued until the last minute to insist that the site would remain open. one representative recalled how he found himself in a delicate situation on the shop floor when a government representative had just announced the closure of the site whereas the human resources director had assured groups of workers assembled in the yard just one hour earlier that the company would never close. another remembered one of the establishment’s directors wishing the site a long life – four months later he closed it. a strong wish for revenge was in evidence: “when you’re faced with so much injustice and so many lies, you can’t sweep it under the carpet. you have to react.” ! afterwards, leaders possess activist capital (matonti & poupeau, 2004). their engagement in the trade-union is on the local level. having worked in the same business for many years (more than 25 on average), they have never been m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 371-403! françois grima �rachel beaujolin 384 called by the local branch of the trade-union to carry out training or do a piece of work. they have no mentor within the structure to help their career change. furthermore, we were told in one interview with a local director that his profile was not considered attractive by his regional trade-union structure. he had joined the union on a local level, when young, and had fought to extend the influence of his organisation: “for me, trade-unionism is in-the-field, not in the umbrella group’s offices. i never wanted to be there.” this leader’s engagement caused him to be overtaken quickly in technical matters in his professional field. a lack of training and experience in the field often lead to professional marginalisation which the individual accepts: “it’s true that i’m not very employable now. i would no longer describe myself as a good professional.” ! thirdly, the leader may follow in a family traditional which legitimizes his trade-union engagement. in several cases, the ex-leader knew people in his situation before the dispute who provided behavioural models of investment in the collective after the dispute. one ex-leader explains: “in my family, no-one would have understood if i’d deserted my colleagues after the closure of the site. when you’re the leader of a dispute, like a military general, you don’t leave your troops alone after a lost battle. on the contrary, that’s when they need you most. i’m not a hero, but a guy who does what he has to do.” here we saw cases of siblings, couples or generations of the same family who had led disputes together. aside from family traditions, it seems that leaders could not leave their former colleagues alone after the closure without risking serious conflict in the private sphere. paradoxically, although the literature presents social support, in all its forms, as a resource which facilitates professional transition, here it is the opposite. it is a powerful obstacle to an identity transition towards a new identity, since its biographical resources (family ties) perpetuate identity tension. ! finally, this orientation away from a return to the employment market relies on overcoming an economic constraint. the ex-leader was often (in 15 cases) an elderly manual worker (over 55), with no dependent children in 14 out of 21 cases. in such cases, the redundancy scheme provided that he did not have to look for new work, granting him a premature departure from active life or a work dispensation. in 8 cases, the leader could count on the financial support of his wife. his economic stability was therefore assured. ! identity tension implies intense identity work which is heightened if the situation becomes increasingly different from the scenario envisaged, i.e. a group of strikers standing shoulder to shoulder around their leader. one leader explained, “i’ve lost my battalion. i’m like a general without an army”. although leaders perceive this discrepancy, their belief in a remedy from the justice system for the prejudice suffered, combined with the different resources described above, mean that they do not experience identity-related suffering. on the contrary, they feel firmly on-track and socially useful to the group to which they are committed: “i’m where i should be. i’m not suffering because i’m where it’s at. i’m fighting unacceptable injustices. i’m sure that by collective action we’ll achieve good results together. i admit that i’m a bit weary. people come less often. that’s only natural, but on big occasions, everyone’s here! everyone plays their part and has a duty to play it for the common good.” between two identities: redefining oneself from the top down? being effective in each person’s professional reconstruction ! the leader is dedicated to the professional re-employment of his colleagues. this is a tactic for resolving identity questioning which is focused on the source of the problem. two tactics are implemented. ! with the first, the leader becomes a re-employment officer. he or she participates actively in the choices of re-employment providers. in order to do so, reconstructing identity after a labor dispute! m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 371-403 385 he or she makes enquiries to the union of the individual concerned and asks for information on the professionalism of the consultants: “i called the trade-union at national level to get advices about the choice of the redeployment unit. i asked to be given the telephone numbers of other people who had used their services.” leaders regularly ask, in follow-up meetings, for the results for each staff category, and do not hesitate to switch to other means if the situation calls for it. in addition, they contact their former human resources manager to plead the cases of certain people: “there were several people in the group who had been worn down. there was one in particular who we felt was on the verge of doing something stupid. to avoid the worst, i paid particular attention to his file and managed to obtain him a transfer to another site.” leaders may even mobilise public authorities or the press to achieve their aims: “i had no hesitation in giving an interview to the local press explaining how the re-deployment unit worked. the prefect didn’t like it, and nor did the former human resources manager. nevertheless i felt a change among the advisors afterwards…” ! leaders use their new position in the trade-union to facilitate the identity reconstruction of their ex-colleagues by drawing on the support of outside specialists: “my contacts in the trade-union umbrella organisation helped me find experts in restructuring. i strengthened links with some of them that i had already established during the redundancy procedure. they gave me food for thought and explained the options. i use all that when i return each week to the reemployment centre. that gives the workers some guiding principles. they have a better idea of where they can go.” in doing this, leaders remain leaders of a body of strikers but not in the same way as the first profile. while in the first case, leaders worked to retain their identity by anchoring their colleagues in the past and turning the time of the strike into a golden moment to be cherished, here leaders work to disband the collective in favour of the emergence of individual professional construction that mirrors their own case. “you have to look forward. the future is no longer at x. x has closed. it has to be mourned. my role is to help workers to rebuild themselves and not to shut them up in the past.” ! with the second tactic, leaders promote the effectiveness of reemployment tools. they organise meetings to make workers aware of the quality of the service. they tell them about various possibilities for training or for pursuing personal projects. on this last point, they are on the look-out to ensure that fragile workers do not present unrealistic projects: “i know that the centre has pressure on it to achieve results and that the human resources manager wants to attain high rates of re-employment. consultants may be tempted to accept career-change files a bit too easily. so i follow all the dossiers that progress too quickly. i call the colleague and we discuss their project. i make sure its solid. i advise them to speak to such and such a person who i know is well informed about their subject. if i see that it’s not really serious in the follow-up meeting i intervene. or, i call the head of the centre to find a solution with him”. this leader went to visit these same people in their homes, and telephoned them regularly. leaders use their knowledge both for finding colleagues new work and for making sure that their malaise does not turn into a depression, which would lead to long-term exclusion from the job market. extending the meaning of these tasks ! leaders have to contend with a high degree of emotional tension. in effect, their commitment to the ex-workers causes them to be exposed to strong cases of social distress, while their personal professional situation is rather good: “i have to say, the strike did give me recognition in my trade-union. you could say that i got a promotion, even though i don’t see it like that.” here the leader is forced to acknowledge the difference between his situation and that of the other workers who are job seeking while he has attained a sure and stable future m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 371-403! françois grima �rachel beaujolin 386 without having to profoundly change his professional identity. a feeling of betrayal takes hold, which will motivate two adjustment tactics. ! with the first, leaders devote themselves to the workers who are in distress. a tactic of emotional and behavioural over-investment develops. the leader fights his culpability by re-presenting his identity reconstruction in a light favourable to his ex-colleagues: “i’m struggling with the difficulties my colleagues are facing and my personal situation. i feel embarrassed. so i’m doing everything i can for them, especially for the weakest ones.” this identity work is characterised by a quasi-devotion to the most difficult cases. the leader goes to see them every day, telephones them, and listens to them. such action is not always easy because the ex-workers are also conscious of the disparity between them and the leader. the leader is not seen as a saviour. his/her devotion is sometimes not understood. the worker who is having difficulties can even be harsh: “i’ve faced difficult situations where workers were wounded. some can be aggressive. i had one worker who told me that i’d taken advantage of the closure to dig myself in. others, who i helped for months, no longer want to know me. they cross the street when they see me in town.” as this example shows, this tactic does not reduce the blame placed on the leader since his personal investment goes unrecognised. ! with the second tactic, leaders draw attention to their activity within the trade-union organisation in order to help other leaders to manage similar situations. they develop a tactic of relief by proxy. they become their union’s point of reference for local stakeholders on the subject of the reorganisation. they devote their time to internal committees and working groups. they complete training, whether as a preventive measure or a remedial measure (during disputes). they insist on the importance of skill transfer and eagerly give talks and encourage local debate: “you have to share your experience. that’s vital. other representatives have to be able to benefit from our experience on order to be more effective in managing their dispute. it’s like a long chain of mutual aid in which i’m just a link.” the identity of the leader is not seen as a failure but rather as an opportunity for learning which it is urgent to share so that it may benefit other activists: “my experience can help others, i’m sure of it. that’s why i tell my story as often as i can.” here some interaction appears between the two identities. the identity of “leader of a striking workforce” gives the individuals legitimacy in their new identity of national or regional trade-union leaders, and this enables them to help former colleagues more effectively through their raised profile and their extended personal networks. unbalanced resources ! three resources underpin this identity balance. unlike with the first profile, ex-leaders have considerable activist capital (matonti & poupeau, 2004). their work in the trade union goes beyond the local level: “very early on in my career as an activist i had contacts outside the company. i started out in the local union where i looked after the legal files. next, on the federal level, i completed training and then i became a trainer. i was also entrusted assignments on economic topics such as the direction in which our industry was headed.” recognition in the local union or umbrella group, contact with trade union managers and legal training all point to the beginning of a promising trade-union career. leaders have supporters in the organisation who see potential for the union in them. managing the dispute advances the leaders’ trade-union career. it highlights that they are responsible organisers. ! this secure path enables the leader to bypass the economic difficulties to which he or she would otherwise be susceptible. although better trained than leaders who have the first profile (8 of these 13 leaders were technicians, compared to only 6 out of 21 in the first profile), the leader’s relative youth (the average age was 45 years and the average length of service was 17 years) reconstructing identity after a labor dispute! m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 371-403 387 means that he or she is not immune from some job seeking, which must be conducted against the backdrop of a bad reputation: “it’s true that if i didn’t have this job in the union, i think i’d have to move away. the employers in the area know me well now and i’m sure i’m on their blacklist.” several tried out job seeking and found themselves discriminated against: “at the job centre, the advisor told me that i was a particular kind of job seeker. he compared my situation to having a criminal record. all the same, i wanted to see for myself, so i went to a recruitment session. i passed the first two interviews no problem. the third was with the human resources manager. he told me that he knew who i was and that there would be no place for me in his company – not now and not ever.” ! lastly, on a personal level, leaders face a grave threat to their private lives. the people around them do not see the intensity of their commitment as legitimate like in the first case. they are often the first in their families to follow such a career path. this lack of precedent has important consequences. the more the immediate family understood the commitment during the dispute, the less it appears unjustified to them afterwards. support gives way to incomprehension, or even to anger which led in four cases (2 out of 4 women and 2 out of 9 men) to relationship breakdown or to rejection by the community: “my husband couldn’t handle my role in the dispute in the long term. i can’t say it was the only reason for our break-up, but it didn’t help our relationship.” in all cases, especially those involving women (3 cases out of 4), ex-leaders were expected to return to some kind of normality regarding their share of the household tasks. their inability to stop their worklife affecting their personal life caused their partners to ask them to make a choice between activism and family commitments: “my husband reminded me several times that trade-unionism isn’t compatible with being in a couple. at some point, i had to choose.” ! in contrast to the previous profile, the “in-between” identity implies identity tensions. leaders must manage their feelings of guilt about advancing in their personal career in the union while many former colleagues face instability: “when you are making progress and you see that others around you are stuck in the past and starting to sink, it affects you.” despite identity work which coordinates action on the source of the identity threat and reframing the dual identity, especially its new dimension, the leader still suffers. he or she is weakened by every concrete reminder of the difficulties his or her former colleagues are facing. turning the page: forgetting and rebuilding a career elsewhere staying positive about career prospects ! here, leaders express optimism about their futures, developing two tactics. with the first, the leader completes an important re-evaluation of his or her capacity to bounce back by re-interpreting his or her career path as voluntary. leaders construct an image of themselves as a warrior. this is an example of an emotion-focused strategy. the person describes himor herself as someone who faces challenges. they liken their career path to that of an entrepreneur who made judicious choices: “i haven’t had an easy career. i’ve had to overcome numerous obstacles. to obtain my mechanics diploma i had to convince my team leader and also the head of the course that i was capable of it.” the leader is not a victim of job cutbacks but a strategist who has taken advantage of his or her opportunities. they have patiently built up their skill-set and planned a project that the money provided by the redundancy scheme finally gives them the chance to put into action. they do not see themselves as a victim of stigmatisation: “i don’t think i have the image of an activist. i led a legitimate dispute and employed moderate means. everyone recognised that. no-one can hold it against me. what’s more, i have proven technical skills. there’s a lack of m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 371-403! françois grima �rachel beaujolin 388 technicians who can do arc welding in the region. i’m not worried about finding my next job.” ! with the second, the leader describes his or her new professional identity with enthusiasm. this identity is seen as rebound, a long-buried desire which at last found an opportunity: “i’ve always dreamed of being a beekeeper. now i have the chance to make this dream a reality. at the same time, i’ll carry on the trade-union movement by joining the french farmers’ association (confédération paysanne).” this new professional identity comes at a good time. it allows the reader to regain their enthusiasm at a time when it was waning: “i’ve gone as far as i can in my job. i’m going to try the selection procedure for a supervisor role. that’s a real profession that corresponds to what i want to do: defend the workers. i’m staying loyal to my ideas and moving forward professionally.” being effective in the professional reconstruction process ! two tactics are developed here. with the first, ex-leaders acts on the source of their unstable identity. they take charge of their professional transition by firstly gathering information. unlike in the previous profile, which relies on a group dynamic at this level, this is a uniquely personal affair. the leader, who is well placed to understand the re-employment procedure, manages things as well as possible: “very early on in the redundancies, i thought about my professional future. i got information from the national association for professional training. i met people from the career centre. i put together an application for some trainer training financed by the redundancy scheme.” the professional projects are daring. sometimes leaders plan to start up a business. some also plan to take a professional role in human resources: “after evaluating my skills, i quickly arrived at the conclusion that human resources was the only place i could go. it’s true that it seemed strange at first, both for me and for my colleagues, but it was the solution that fit me best and so i went with it”. two of them managed to seize this professional opportunity in their own region. the ex-leader may also become a civil servant either in an activity associated with the company (lifelong professional development) or, in contrast, in a field which is completely new to him or her (social development). the leader devises action plans to meet his or her objectives. he or she may also think about moving: “if i have to move up north, i’ll do it. that’s not a problem. you have to be mobile these days”. with the second tactic, leaders seek to take advantage of their experience as a trade-union leader both before and during the strike. their role as leader of an industrial strike allows them to make professional discoveries that can help them in their identity transition. they concentrate on these new leadership abilities. they extend their legal and economic knowledge and may access new training: “leading a group on strike helped me learn a lot, especially about myself. i’ve grown in confidence. i’ve learned how to talk to people in authority, whereas before i’d have stayed in the background. now i know how to cope. later, i developed my ability to analyse both personal and group situations. i acquired the basics of law and economics. i’m no longer the same person.” extended resources ! four resources shape this identity balance. firstly, the leader relies on moderate trade-union engagement. the trade-union identity is not as absorbing as in the first case: “i don’t deny my commitment to the union. i have values and i fight injustice but i never saw myself being a trade-unionist forever. it was a phase in my life. i measure myself based on other things such as my work and my private life.” ex-leaders reject what they call an “over-commitment to activism”, where professional life and public life become subordinate to participation in the union. these leaders are not identified as potentials for the union hierarchy like in the second configuration we describe. on the contrary, they maintain a three-fold identity (trade-union, professional and familial). their reconstructing identity after a labor dispute! m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 371-403 389 initial commitment was the result of particular circumstances such as sympathy for a representative or a request by other workers or even the management. more infrequently, it may have been carried out during the dispute or just before. this was the case of one female leader who was pressurised into accepting the role by her colleagues, who were disappointed with their representatives. ! secondly, the leader’s activism has shaky foundations, with no support coming from the private sphere: “i can’t claim to be from an activist background. i’m the first. my wife wasn’t overjoyed when she learned of my decision. she didn’t stop me, but she didn’t encourage me either!” the person is often the only one in his or her circle to have joined a union, which facilitates trade-union withdrawal. the family’s removal from the trade-union world means that they support the leader in his or her professional reorientation, unlike in the first case: “when i decided to distance myself from the union, neither my husband nor my children opposed my choice. in fact, i felt they were in favour of it. that helped, for sure.” here we see that the third profile differs from the second by the presence of a family unit that tolerates the leader’s trade-union commitment rather than understands it. ! thirdly, the leader’s identity reconstruction is facilitated by the fact that he or she feels disillusioned with certain trade-union practices. ex-leaders explained that they experienced trade-union hypocrisy in the handling of the dispute. two aspects were regularly cited: the absence or inefficiency of the central structure, and the presence of corruption or attempts to bribe trade-union representatives. one representative revealed: “during the final redundancy scheme negotiations i saw that the management had bribed one representative. i was sure that his union knew about it but did nothing. it’s sickening to see what he got compared to the others, when he was saying all along that everyone should receive the same amount!” such practices lead to injustices and feelings of betrayal which are hard to bear. lastly, several ex-leaders were refused permanent status by their union at times when they felt they deserved it. this professional disappointment was keenly felt after they had invested so much and jeopardized their employability: “even if you don’t do it for that, you expect support from your union during tough times. for me, that didn’t happen. i could have kicked the bucket and they wouldn’t have done anything!” ! this rejection is even more keenly felt if ex-leaders are under strong economic pressure. their image as a strike leader harms their career transition, and they must act as quickly as possible to reposition themselves. the 8 manual workers and 8 clerical, technical and supervisory staff that made up this group were all in difficult financial situations that restricted their ability to earn a living. four of the five women in this group were raising their children alone. among the 11 men, 2 had a wife who did not work or worked part-time. although their shorter length of service (under 15 years) and their younger age (under 40 years on average) should enable them to reposition themselves more easily on the job market, it still proves difficult. ! when faced with this lack of empathy, ex-leaders feel disillusioned and seek to extricate themselves. they feel they have no debt towards the collective: “i can look at myself in the mirror. i know what i’ve done. you can always say that you could have got more, but that’s easy. i gave to the group. now that the dispute is over, it’s time to think a bit about myself.” the commitment to the collective during the dispute exempts the leader from all judgement concerning his or her future career. ! lastly, in-depth analysis of leader’s career path revealed a strong desire to succeed which had been frustrated by financial reasons (a poor family) or personal reasons (becoming a mother at an early age). composed of members aged between 35 and 53, with 8 of them technicians, this group was younger and better educated than the first group but not the second. by holding the position of leader and realising that they had achieved results, these individuals were m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 371-403! françois grima �rachel beaujolin 390 suddenly made aware of their potential: “the dispute made me see that i can cope in situations i couldn’t have before. it showed me that i’m capable of things i thought i couldn’t do.” leaders admitted that they thought they had previously been undervalued. a desire to catch up was born. ! this identity transition proves successful in the majority of cases. the leader turns the page and distances himself from his past identity to embrace a new one which he prizes. he or she is proud of this transformation and experiences no regret with regard to the strikers that he or she led: “i did my bit. i made a commitment for the others. i took personal and professional risks. as to those who tried to make me feel guilty about turning the page, i’m waiting to see what they’ve done!” however, this audacity can also lead to failure which then overtakes the financial threat in the ex-leader’s worries. a difficult economic climate, boundless enthusiasm, and ignorance regarding the new activity lead to the failure of entrepreneurial adventures in the restaurant industry, bike hire or bar management. the experience of a second failure plunges the impoverished ex-leader into depression and sometimes alcohol dependency: “after the closure, i opened a bar with my severance pay. because i’m a member of a biker club that i’ve been in charge of for many years, i thought i had a ready-made clientele. the measures against drink-driving came at a bad time for me. i didn’t have many punters at all. the venture didn’t work and i had to sell it. then i had nothing so i sunk into depression and drinking. i came out of the whole two years later, thanks to my wife.” discussion ! at a time of multiple site closures, this paper aims to analyse how the leaders of a labour dispute in response to the closure of a site reconstruct themselves in terms of their identity. how do they manage the two-fold identity rupture associated with their job loss and the ending of their role as a representative of a disbanded body of workers? by combining the contributions of critical theories of identity, identity salience, self-categorisation and coping, we advanced two hypotheses: ! when former trade-union leaders are deprived of resources with which to structure their identity, the identity reconstruction work they carry out during their professional transition proves difficult. their sacrifices are so great that this identity work goes hand in hand with suffering. some ex-leaders will enact a professional transition within their trade-union organisation. ! basing our analysis on 50 life stories, we can state that these hypotheses are only partially valid. our work contributes to furthering understanding of identity work within a context rarely studied which spans leadership, disputes, resistance and stigmatisation. aside from the diverse identity adjustments that it brings to light, this study confirms elements previously identified by the literature on both transitions and identity threats while it questions others, making some original points which offer promising avenues for future research. ! this research showcases three identity balances (identity tension, inbetween and turning the page), linking resources to identity constructs which are as distinct in their aims as in their behavioural and/or cognitive processes. contrary to what several research works propose (eisenberg & lazarsfeld, 1938; martin, 1987; willott & griffin, 2004; paris & vickers, 2010), this research maintains that the individual refuses to renounce his or her identity independence in a particularly threatening situation (devine et al., 2003). this identity work is conscious and intense (collinson, 2003). far from being passive, the ex-leader stages an identity combat to establish his or her new professional identity, even if reconstructing identity after a labor dispute! m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 371-403 391 the latter partially or even completely resembles the former, such as in the inbetween and identity tension phases. the identity strategies adopted are varied and sometimes contradictory. on this point, our research questions petriglieri’s (2011) model, which underscores the fact that an individual who feels threatened will tend to shun his or her old identity and invest in one that is more comforting. nevertheless, rather than presenting a clear picture, our article shows that identity strategies are intermeshed by detailing the tactics employed. in so doing, we show that ex-leaders combine contradictory tactics. ! this analysis constitutes one of the first contributions pertaining to the strategies developed, in particular in relation to petriglieri’s (2011) model and the literature on professional transitions. in both the in-between balance and the turning the page option, the ex-leader combines problem-focused and emotionfocused management strategies (lazarus & folkman, 1984; gowan et al., 1999). here, in the same move, the ex-leader manages the transition by placing this strategic contradiction at the heart of his identity work. this joint development of protection strategies for the former identity and construction strategies for the future identity calls into question the sequences proposed by petriglieri (2011). although petriglieri claims that all identity reconstruction strategies such as the positive distinction strategy make the identity threat disappear, while discrediting and dissimulation strategies cause it to remain, our research only partially confirms this theory. ! in the turning the page option, which is the only one that can really be likened to a professional transition as described by the literature, our results confirm the work of petriglieri (2011). the identity restructuring which takes place in a behavioural and cognitive context effectively engenders a diminished perception of the threat. here, works on coping are also relevant. as leana and feldman (1994) observe, professional repositioning only operates successfully – i.e. a new job is only found – if the person in transition is capable of managing the stress of the situation. strategies which are focused on the problem must later become emotion-focused. ! on the other hand, the tension option shows that strategies of discrediting the source of the tension and the denial strategies set out in the coping strategy framework can prove effective. the ex-leader, who still identifies as a leader, successfully eliminates the identity threat, even if there is no professional rebound. on this level, the symptom-management strategy (jahoda, 1972; gowan et al., 1999) is shown to be valid. conversely, there is validation of the theories of self-categorisation (turner et al., 1987, 1994) and identity salience (stryker, 1980). ! our work shows that with the in-between identity balance, the reaction to the identity threat is ternary rather than binary. this third way constitutes a painful path along the course of which a new identity is constructed and the identity threat is eliminated. however, for petriglieri (2011), as for analysis in terms of coping (gowan et al., 1999), an individual cannot experience such a situation. this result questions the effectiveness of coping strategies focusing on the source of the tension, as well as those oriented towards reconstruction. in addition, it calls for a reconceptualization of adjustment in response to identity threat. in contrast to petriglieri (2011), it shows that one can build oneself a new identity while conserving the old one and continuing to suffer. this result leads us to question the effectiveness of coping strategies (bandura, 1988) and their goals in the context of aging and unemployed workers (brewington & nassar-mcmillan, 2000; riach & loretto, 2009). ! by taking into account the contextual factors identified by petriglieri (2011) and the literature on professional transitions, we may deepen our analysis of this effectiveness. the first factor is the perception that the identity threat is intense. a consensus emerges (latack et al., 1995; petriglieri, 2011) that there is a link between this and identity reconstruction strategies. on this basis, one might think m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 371-403! françois grima �rachel beaujolin 392 that leaders in a phase of identity tension get stuck in this identity balance out of fear that they could never become anything else, whereas with the other two options they would look forward because they would have a surer future. however, this blueprint does not really apply. leaders who become stuck in a state of identity tension choose never to imagine any other identity than remaining leaders of a collective of ex-strikers. there is still some identity reconstruction because the collective is not the same – it has fewer and fewer members, it is no longer on strike and it is no longer in the company. ! this identity reconstruction based on symptom-focused and emotionfocused strategies is facilitated by a collective that provides social support, allowing the threatened identity to be defended. this result confirms the work of petriglieri (2011). on the other hand, our analyses on the ability to act on the source of the threat and the centrality of the identity proved less pertinent here. contrary to what petriglieri (2011) shows, the leaders in identity tension consider themselves able to act on the source of the identity threat both in an individual and a collective capacity. yet they develop strategies for negating the value of the discourse of this target (here, the management of the company making the job cuts). in the same way, the identity tension balance shows that the centrality of the identity also leads to the development of discreditation strategies. for reconstruction strategies, the role of the idea of the outgoing identity and the recurrence of the threatened identity are fully validated in the “turning the page” and “in-between” identities, and even in identity tension. on the other hand, the perception of the intensity of the threat does not lead to a reduction in the importance of the identity that is left behind. ! this complexity leads us to advance, as does kaufman (1982) in his work on transition frameworks, that the identity adjustment of former trade-union leaders following a redundancy scheme has a special feature. our research shows that leaving behind an identity constitutes a much more difficult task than turning to a new one. in this respect, it confirms the importance of identity construction work (sainsaulieu, 1985). the theoretical frameworks of identity salience (stryker, 1980; callero, 1985; thoits, 1983; 2012) and coping (lazarus & folkman, 1984) provide us with valuable frameworks of analysis. it appears that the identity of the leader is central to the identity portfolio of the ex-leader. its importance is such that its disappearance provokes an identity crisis that is too much for the leader to bear (petriglieri, 2011). ! the work of sainsaulieu (1985) allows us to define our aim even more precisely since it extends petriglieri’s (2011) analysis grid by offering an approach that integrates the socialisation dynamic of the worker. in the first two types of identity work (tension and in-between), the leader finds him/herself in the midst of a fusional identity whereas in the last he relies on an affinity identity. leaving behind the first seems much harder than leaving behind the second. here we find a validation of the theory of self-categorisation (turnet et al., 1987; 1994). it would be logical to conclude that the leader in the first case must face a much higher number of significant third parties than in the second, which renders his or her deconstruction work more difficult (ashforth et al., 2000; sluss & ashforth, 2007). the enveloping fusional identity is stronger than the affinity one. additionally, being confronted with difficult cases of job instability reinforces the difficulty of the adjustment and increases the identity closure within the group in point. this recalls the critical analysis of collinson (2003) in terms of resistance. ! more broadly, this study enriches the understanding of identity threat proposed by petriglieri (2011) by introducing resources. while analysing identity work gives a short-term view (leana & feldman, 1994; gowan et al., 1999), taking resources into account resituates identity construction in a long-term context, that of the ex-leader’s life. in this respect, this study answers petriglieri’s (2011) call to integrate time in our understanding of adaptation to identity threat. reconstructing identity after a labor dispute! m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 371-403 393 the ex-leaders appear restricted in their identity reconstruction by both their past identity work and the resources they can use to construct meaning. it appears that searching for a balance between the professional, private and trade-union spheres facilitates a professional rebound, while focusing exclusively on the latter leads to an inability to say goodbye to the old identity. despite this, this study does not draw the conclusion that leaders who choose the “turning the page” option primarily define themselves in terms of activities outside their work or union. they try to find a balance. seniority in a post also hinders mobility (wagner et al., 1987; louis, 1980). a high level of education (turner, 1995) is shown to be a point in favour of mobility when faced with identity threat. although the “turning the page” balance comprised a higher proportion of women than the other two groups, we are reluctant to conclude that they have a greater aptitude for it than men. our study confirms the absence of clarity regarding the influence of gender on the management of identity threat (hepworth, 1980; fallick, 1996; kletzer, 1998). paradoxically, this research shows that social support from the family can impede professional mobility, even though the literature has always affirmed the contrary (defrank & ivancevich, 1986; tzafir et al.; 2006). this difference can be accounted for, in our opinion, by the weight of family traditions of collective engagement, which are not as strong in other studies on professional transitions. the theory of self-categorisation (turner et al., 1994) explains this paradoxical result: the leader cannot leave his identity reference group. the stronger the identity threat, the stronger this group’s hold over him is. conversely, identity flexibility at the moment of transition seems related to the absence of trade-union identity reinforcements in the familial environment, and to the experience of ethically questionable union practices. feeling betrayed also plays a role in identity tension (mishra & spreitzer, 1998; pugh, et al., 2003). on the other hand, although being promoted within a trade union facilitates mobility, it proves painful. ! this affirmation of identity rigidity contrasts with the flexibility shown in other contexts such as that of moroccan female entrepreneurs described by essers and benschop (2007). leaving aside the cultural differences between the netherlands and france, the difference in the nature of the stigmatisation faced by these two groups could explain this difference. while the female entrepreneurs must not renounce their identity as women, which they instead amend or keep alive in other domains, the ex-leaders are confronted by an irretrievable loss of an already long-standing identity (louis, 1980; wagner, et al., 1987). furthermore, it seems clear that while female entrepreneurs can base their identity construction strategy on social recognition gained from their activity, trade-union ex-leaders do not dispose of any positive element on which to build an identity strategy. moreover, it seems likely that identity specialisation in tradeunionism serves to limit the number of substitutable identities when the tradeunion identity is suddenly destroyed. implications for management practices ! going further, this research contributes to questioning the way the career paths of trade-unionists engaged in fights by collectives have been represented. this study does not point to any automatic trajectory, but rather to multiple possible paths framed, and not determined, by past investments in private, professional and trade-union spheres. this leads us to the managerial issues our study raises. ! although not commissioned by any institution, this study constitutes a call to public authorities, employers and trade unions to rethink their actions with regard to the essential figures in peacekeeping activities during the closure of a site. the diverse profiles of these individuals nevertheless encourage caution. some leaders seem easier to help than others in the management of their m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 371-403! françois grima �rachel beaujolin 394 transition. by the same token, different partner institutions can play different roles according to the individual’s needs. it is therefore apt to mention here the role of managerial support in terms of combining state, employer and trade-union support. ! regarding the identity tension profile, it is not easy to know which measures to put in place given that the person does not want to extricate himself from his role of leader. this attachment to a disappearing group does not help the employer’s or the trade-union’s efforts since the trade-unionist is not looking for a job. only the state, by facilitating the legal provisions of end-of-career social management, can help these people to attain retirement age without suffering great economic hardship (turner, 1995). this intervention does not only serve altruistic purposes. the identity tension profile plays an important societal role despite the demise of the company. the ex-leader constitutes a rallying point, a point of identification for the former workers. he plays an essential role in encouraging their association (jahoda, 1972). because of this, the leader helps to keep alive a social link which becomes indispensable to the physical and psychological wellbeing of jobseekers or retired workers struggling to cope with the manner in which they were forced to stop work. in several cases, we observed that the former employer provided a place for the association while the trade union kept in touch with the workers. through this aid, this symbolic support, these two actors keep alive the associations that were necessary for the health of both the leader and the collective. ! for the in-between profile, our data shows that trade-unions play a central role. however, the current low rates of union membership in france make this orientation more and more difficult. progressing in this way is selective. nevertheless, of the three options, it seems to be the one that enables people who have essential experience managing external flexibility to stay in the field of employer/employee relations. could we not plan to make the employer a bigger part of this professional translation? although in many cases the experience of leadership in a site closure constitutes a major handicap to professional progress, which means re-employment proposals which are difficult for workers to accept, in other cases it constitutes an experience that allows skills to be gained which can be useful for the company. here the company should rethink its conception of trade-union careers either by taking on larger numbers of full-time trade-union workers or by showing workers that professional advancement is possible outside the trade union, even if they have led a dispute during a closure. here the state can play a role in monitoring practices or even co-financing career change training in partnership with trade unions and employment organisations. ! in the end, the bifurcation profile is a radical option, which makes the trade union’s role difficult. on the other hand, both the employer and the state can play an important role. this is already partly the case thanks to the specific negotiation process in place in cases where trade-union leaders can keep their jobs. however, one might think, given the difficulties encountered by certain tradeunionists that progress remains to be made to facilitate these transitions. could we not plan to put in place equal management measures concerning the employment expectancy of these people? more broadly, could we not plan to assemble personal transition stories in order to inform people of the risks associated with different identity balances within the framework of trade-union training, given that it is likely that activists will have to face these kinds of situation? furthermore, this study encourages both trade unions and employers to reflect on the significance of the activists’ memories. the lack of monitoring or at least of visible willingness to provide support in these circumstances may lead to the development of escape behaviour by key actors in the management of external flexibility. in this sense, the company’s involvement is seen as a manifestation of its social responsibility. reconstructing identity after a labor dispute! m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 371-403 395 limitations and avenues for future research ! our study contains several limitations which constitute promising avenues for future research. ! the first limitation concerns the retrospective character of the date collected. in addition, with a few exceptions (13 cases), our work is solely based on leaders’ perceptions of their own situations. it would be worthwhile to triangulate the sources of information. we judged the case study to be appropriate for our aims. longitudinal approaches that would allow researchers to observe the identity work of ex-leaders from within a redeployment unit would allow us to control this bias. given the difficulties posed by this process, it could be useful to put together several groups of people who were made redundant at different times. the literature provides no information on this point. ! nevertheless, it seems that the first group could be composed of recently laid-off individuals. a duration of one year seems appropriate, since this is the time that redeployment units often take to carry out their work. a second group would gather together people made redundant between 2 and 3 years earlier, like our study. lastly, it would be interesting to analyse the long-term effects of redundancy on employability, particularly on trust in the company. a period of 8 to 10 years seems a good scope. on this methodological basis, the progression of our three profiles could be analysed. in our opinion, the main question remains how the “in-between” identity balance progresses. we believe this situation to be rather untenable in the long term. how and in what conditions does it transform into “turning the page”? is the trade-union the best place in which to carry out such a transformation? questions could also be posed about identity tension. how does the leader react to the irreversible break-up of the collective of strikers? does he compensate for this change by investing in the creation of a new group composed of the same individuals? this observation of the temporal dimension of identity tension underlines that unlike the other two profiles, this one seems destined to fail, as petriglieri (2011) suggests, i.e. to be a form of social isolation at odds with the working environment. nevertheless, the cases observed reveal that leaders stay leaders of the group after the end of the redundancy procedure. numerous former worker associations boast healthy numbers years later. thanks to these different defensive strategies, the leader therefore succeeds where the theory predicts failure. he succeeds in keeping alive a group and an identity which no longer have an economic reason for existing. it would be interesting to enhance understanding of this apparently paradoxical dynamic over the long term. we could examine how radical the severance with the trade union is in the “turning the page” balance. after a few years, does the leader have no links left with the trade union? if he does, what form do they take? this analysis could enable us to distinguish types of career paths that our research and data collection were not able to reveal. ! secondly, although our sample of 50 cases constitutes a sound analytical basis covering a large diversity of trade-unionist profiles in terms of age, gender, experience and sectors, some bias was unavoidable. the number of women interviewed was still low (15 cases). the same applies to the service industry, which occupies a marginal position in our sample, although our focus on manufacturing can be explained by the large-scale deindustrialisation which took place in france over the 1990s and 2000s. finally, both average length of service and average age of the interviewees were particularly high. conversely, the level of basic education was low. in light of the literature on transitions (brewington nassar-mcmillan, 2000), it seems that these characteristics do not favour professional re-employment. a bias is evident here. it would therefore be useful to undertake new data collection, taking care to include individuals that differ in these aspects. nevertheless, it should be stressed that such an undertaking could prove difficult. we experienced first-hand the extent to which employers, rem@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 371-403! françois grima �rachel beaujolin 396 employment organisations, trade-unions and trade-unionists had misgivings about this kind of research project. furthermore, as fillieule (2005) notes, tradeunion activism is dying out and remains dominated by men. interviewing women and younger activists could prove complex (guillaume, 2007). it seems that a fertile avenue for research would be to approach a union interested in developing such a project, for example with the aim of putting assistance measures in place. ! several other variables seem pertinent. the first is culture. indeed, our analysis is based solely on a sample of french workers. a fruitful comparison could be drawn with ex-leaders from the english-speaking world. furthermore, given the number of closures that has taken place in both the industrial and commercial sectors and the violence that has accompanied them, it would be interesting to redo our study in several years to see whether the time period has any effect. the second variable is identification with an organisation. this does not appear in our analyses except in the profile of identity tension where the leader attests to having put this affiliation in perspective. nevertheless, given the length of service it seems reasonable to assume that this variable may play a role in their identity work. integrating it could therefore enhance our analysis. ! furthermore, it could be interesting to improve our understanding of the links between the strategies developed and the resources mobilised. dubar (2011) stresses that identity is constructed through a twofold relational and biographical transaction. it would be useful to develop this analytical framework by studying the second aspect in more detail. we began to sketch an argument in terms of life stages, emphasising the role of social revenge, in the “turning the page” orientation only. the effects of learning could also be examined. our analysis of the career path of monsieur lepaon shows that he had to face several redundancies due to downsizing operations. from this example, could we not conclude that the leader acquires experience in such situations which increases his chances of a professional rebound within the trade-union structure? conversely, it would be apt to look at the effect that repeated redundancies exert on a leader’s employability outside the union. this could lead to incorporating the media coverage of the dispute as an aggravating or facilitating factor in the leader’s ability to enact a professional transition. ! on this last point, our study only partially integrates the work of reemployment professionals (ramonet, 2010), while the literature unanimously recognises the importance of managing the split in the most professional and peaceful way possible. it could be interesting to analyse the contribution of these professionals according to their status. commonly, the redeployment unit has a significant number of precarious workers on its staff. one could analyse how leaders are perceived differently depending on the employment status of the professional and his or her knowledge of the profession concerned. ! lastly, this qualitative study could provide a basis for a quantitative study. gowan et al. (1999) stress the importance of developing tools that are appropriate for different contexts. it could be possible to gain first-hand access to the subject by asking leaders to keep a journal detailing the strategies they employ in their identity adjustment over the course of their professional transition. references alvesson, m., & willmott, h. (2002). identity regulation as organizational control: producing the appropriate individual. journal of management studies, 39(5), 619-644. andolfatto, d. & labbé, d. (2011). sociologie des syndicats. paris: repères, la découverte. armstrong, m. & schlosser, f. (2008). taking a positive approach to organizational downsizing. canadian journal of administration sciences, 25, 93-106. ashforth, b., kreiner, g. & fugate, m. (2000). all in a day’s work: boundaries and micro role transitions. academy of management review, 35(3), 472-491. bandura, a. (1988).  self-conception of anxiety. anxiety research, 1, 77-98. beaujolin-bellet, r. & grima, f. (2011).  organiser la résistance contre une restructuration lourde : le travail des militants syndicaux. politix, 95, 181-206. reconstructing identity after a labor dispute! m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 371-403 397 beaujolin-bellet, r. & schmidt, g. (2012). les restructurations d’entreprises. paris  : repères, la découverte. beech, n. (2008). on the nature of dialogic identity work. organization, 15(1), 51-74. brewington, j. & nascar-mcmillan, s. (2000). older adults: work-related issues and implications for counseling. the career development quarterly, 49(1), 2-15. brockner, j., grover, s., reed, t., dewitt, r. & o’malley, m. (1987).  survivors’ reactions to layoffs: we get by with a little help for our friends. administrative science quarterly, 32(4), 526-541. callero, p. (1985).  role-identity salience. social psychology quarterly, 48(3), 203-215. cappelli, p. (1992).  examining managerial displacement. academy of management journal, 35(1), 203-217. cascio, w. f. (1993).  downsizing: what do we know? what have we learned?. academy of management executive, 7(1), 95-104. cohen, l. & mallon, m. (2001). my brilliant career? using stories as a methodological tool in careers research. i n t e r n a t i o n a l s t u d i e s o f m a n a g e m e n t a n d organizations, 31(3), 48-68. collinson, d.l. (2003).  identities and insecurities: selves at work. organization, 10(3), 527-547. crossley, m. l. (2000). narrative psychology: trauma and the study of self/identity. theory and psychology, 10(4), 527-546. de frank, r. & ivancevich, j. (1986).  job loss: an individual level review and model. journal of vocational behavior, 28(1), 1-20. devine, k., reay, t., stainton, l. & collins-nakai, r. (2003).  downsizing outcomes: better a victim than a survivor?. human resource management, 42(1), 109-124. dorfman, l. & kolarik, d. (2005). leisure and the retired professor: occupation matters. london: sage. dubar, c. (2011). la socialisation. paris: armand colin. ebaugh, h. (1988). becoming an ex. chicago, il: university of chicago press. eby, l. & buch, k. (1995).  job loss as career growth: responses to involuntary career transitions. career development quarterly, 44(1), 14-25. eisenberg, p. & lazarsfeld, p. (1938).the psychological effects of unemployment. psychological bulletin, 35(6), 358-390.  essers, c. (2009). reflections on the narrative approach: dilemmas of power, emotions and social location while constructing life-stories. organization, 16(2), 163-181. essers, c. & benschop, y. (2007). enterprising identities: female entrepreneurs of moroccan or turkish origin in the netherlands. organization studies, 28(1), 49-69. fallick, b. (1996). a review of the recent empirical literature on displaced workers. industrial and labor relations review, 50(1), 5-16. fillieule, o. & péchu, c. (1993). lutter ensemble. les théories de l’action collective. paris: l’harmattan. fillieule, o. (2005). le désengagement militant. paris: belin. gandolfi, f. (2008).reflecting on downsizing: what have managers learned?. sam advanced management journal, spring, 46-55. gergen, k. & gergen, m. (1997). narratives of the self. in p. lewis, hinchman & s. hinchman (eds), memory, identity, community: the idea of narrative in the human sciences (pp.161-184). albany, ny: state university of new york press. glaser, b. & strauss, a. (1967). the discovery of grounded theory. chicago, il: aldine. gioia, d., corley, k. & hamilton, a. (2012).  seeking qualitative rigor in inductive research: notes on the gioia methodology. organizational research methods, 16(1), 15-31. goode, w. (1960).  a theory of role strain. american sociological review, 25(4), 483-496. goodley, d., lawthom, r., clough, p. & moore, m. (2004). researching life stories: method, theory and analyses in a biographical age. london: routledge falmer. gowan, m., riordan, c. & gatewood, r. (1999). test of a model of coping with involuntary job loss following a company closing. journal of applied psychology, 84(1), 75-86. guillaume, c. (2007). le syndicalisme à l’épreuve de la féminisation : la permanence paradoxale du plafond de verre à la cfdt. politix, 78(2), 39-63. hepworth, s. (1980).  moderating factors of the psychological impact of unemployment. journal of occupational psychology, 53(2), 139-145. ibarra, h. (1999). provisional selves: experimenting with image and identity in professional adaptation. administrative science quarterly, 44(4), 764-791. jahoda, m. (1979).  the impact of unemployment in the 1930s and 1970s. bulletin of the british psychological society, 32, 309-314. kaufman, h. (1982). professionals in search of work: c o p i n g w i t h t h e s t r e s s o f j o b l o s s a n d underemployment. new york, ny: new york wiley interscience. kets de vries, m. & balazs, k. (1997).  the downside of downsizing. european management journal, 14(2), 111-120. kinicki, a. (1985). personal consequences of plant closing: a model and preliminary test. human relations, 38(3), 197-212. kletzer, l. (1998). job displacement. journal of economic perspectives, 12(1), 115-136. knowles, m. & gardner, w. (2008).  benefits of membership: the activation and amplification of group identities in response to social rejection. personality and social psychology bulletin, 34, 1200-1213. larose, c. (2001). cellatex: quand l’acide a coulé. paris : edition syllepse. latack, j. & dozier, j. (1986). after the ax falls: job loss as a career transition. academy of management review, 11(2), 375-392. latack, j., kinicki, a. & prussia, g. (1995). an integrative process of coping with job loss. academy of management review, 20(2), 311-432. lazarus, r. & folkman, s. (1984). stress, appraisal, and coping. new york, ny: springer. m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 371-403! françois grima �rachel beaujolin 398 leana, c. & feldman, d. (1990). the coping strategies of laid-off workers: results from two empirical studies. human relations, 43, 1155-1181. leana, c. & feldman, d. (1992). coping with job loss: how individuals, organizations, and communities respond to layoffs. new york, ny: macmillan/lexington books.  leana, c. & feldman, d. (1994).  the psychology of job loss. research in personnel and human resources management, 12, 271-302. leclercq, c. & ragis, j. (2011). les incidents biographiques de l’engagement. sociétés contemporaines, 84, 5-23. liem, r. & liem, j. (1988).  psychological effects of unemployment on workers and their families. journal of social issues, 44(4), 87-105. locke, k. (2001). grounded theory in management research. london: sage. louis, m. (1980).  surprise and sense-making: what newcomers experiences in unfamiliar organizational settings. administrative science quarterly, 25(2), 226-251. lutgen-sandvik, p. (2008). intensive remedial identity work: responses to workplace bullying trauma and stigmatization. organization, 15(1), 97-119. luthans, b., & sommer, s. (1999). the impact of downsizing on work place attitudes. group and organizational management, 24(1), 46-71. macky, k. (2004). organisational downsizing and redundancies: the new zealand workers’ experience. new zealand journal of employment relations, 29(1), 63-87. marks, s. (1977).  multiples roles and role strain: some notes on human energy, time and commitment. american sociological review, 42(6), 921-36. marshall j. (2000). living lives of change: examining facets of women managers’ career stories”. in m. pieperl, m. arthur, r. goffee & t. morris (eds), career frontiers: new conceptions of working lives (pp. 186-200). oxford: oxford university press. mcadams, d. (1993). the stories we live by: personal myths and the making of the self. new york, ny: william morrow. mishra, a. k. & spreitzer, g. m. (1998). explaining how survivors respond to downsizing: the role of trust, empowerment, justice, and work redesign. academy of management review, 23(3), 567-588. matonti, f. & poupeau, p (2004). le capital militant : essai de définition. politix, 155, 4-11. merton, r. (1957). the role set : problems in sociological theory. british journal of sociology, 8(2), 106-120. miles, m. & huberman, a. (1994). qualitative data analysis: an expanded sourcebook. second edition, london: sage. molinsky, a. & margolis, j. (2005).  necessary evils and interpersonal sensitivity in organizations. academy of management review, 30(2), 245-268. morris, j. r., cascio, w.f. & young, c. e. (1999). downsizing after all these years: questions and answers about who did it, how many did it, and who benefited from it. organizational dynamics, winter, 78-87. noer, d. m. (1993). healing the wounds: overcoming the trauma of layoffs and revitalizing downsized organizations. san francisco, ca: jossey-bass martin, e. (1987). the woman in the body. new york, ny: open university press. oakes, p. (1987). the salience of social categories. in j. c. turner (ed.), rediscovering the social group: a selfcategorization theory (pp. 117–141). oxford: basil blackwell. paris, m. & vickers, m. (2010). look at him… he’s failing: males executives’ experiences of redundancy. employee responsibilities and rights journal, 22(4), 345-357. petriglieri, j. (2011).  under threat: responses to and the consequences of threat to individuals’ identities. academy of management review, 36(4), 641-662. pratt, m. & foreman, p. (2000).  conclusion  : identity dialogues. academy of management review, 25(1), 141-152. pugh, s. d., skarlicki, d. p. & passell, b. s. (2003). after the fall: layoff victims’ trust and cynicism in ree m p l o y m e n t . j o u r n a l o f o c c u p a t i o n a l a n d organizational psychology, 76(2), 201-212. ramonet, m. (2010). les cellules de reclassement. paris : rapport du conseil economique et social. riach, k. & loretto, w. (2009). identity work and the “unemployed” worker: age, disability and the lived e x p e r i e n c e o f t h e o l d e r u n e m p l o y e d . wo r k , employment and society 23(1), 102-119. rojot, j. (1994). la négociation. paris: vuibert. roupnel-fuentes, m. (2011). les chômeurs de moulinex. paris : puf. sahdev, k. (2003).survivors’ reactions to downsizing: the importance of contextual factors. human resource management journal, 13(4), 56-74. sainsaulieu, r. (1977). l’identité au travail. paris : pfnsp. schweiger, d. m., ivancevich, j. m. & power, f. r. (1987). executive actions for managing human resource before and after acquisition. academy of management executive, 1(2), 127-138. shrout, p., link, b., dohrenwend, b., skodol, a., stueve, a., & mirotznik, j. (1989). characterizing life events as risk factors for depression: the role of fateful loss events. journal of abnormal psychology, 98(4), 460-467. sims, d. (2003). between the millstones: a narrative account of the vulnerability of middle managers’ storying. human relations, 56(10), 1095-1121. sluss, d. & ashforth, b. (2007).  relational identity and identification: defining ourselves through work relationships. academy of management journal, 32(1), 9-32. stryker, s. (1980). symbolic interactionism: a social structural version. menlo park, ca: benjamin/ cummings. terry, d. & hogg, m. (1996). group norms and the attitudebehavior relationship: a role for group identification. personality and social psychology bulletin, 22(8), 776– 793. thoits, p. (2012).  role-identity salience, purpose and meaning in life and well-being among volunteers. social psychology quarterly, 75(4), 360-384. thoits, p. (1983). multiple identities and psychological wellbeing: a reformulation and test of the social isolation hypothesis. american sociological review, 48(2), 174-187. reconstructing identity after a labor dispute! m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 371-403 399 thomas, r. & linstead, a. (2002). losing the plot? middle managers and identity. organization, 9(1), 71-93. thornborrow, t. & brown, a.d. (2009). ’being regimented’: aspiration, discipline and identity work in the british parachute regiment. organization studies, 30(4), 355-376 turner, j. (1995). economic context and the health effects of unemployment. journal of health and social behavior, 36(2), 213-229. turner, j., hogg, m., oakes, p., reicher, s. & wetherell, m. (1987). rediscovering the social group: a selfcategorization theory. oxford : blackwell. turner, j., oakes, p., haslam, s., & mcgarty, c. (1994).  self and collective: cognition and social context. personality and social psychology bulletin, 20, 454-463. tzafrir, s., mano-negrin, r., harel, g. & rom-nagy, d. (2006).  downsizing and the impact of job counselling and retraining on effective employee response. career development international, 11(2), 125-144. wagner, j., ferris, g., fandt, p. & wayne, s. (1987). the organizational tenure – job involvement relationship: a job-career experience explanation. journal of occupational behavior, 8(1), 63-70. watson, t. j. (2008).  managing identity: identity work, personal predicaments and structural circumstances. organization, 15(1), 121-143. willott, s. & griffin, c. (2004). redundant men: constraints on identity change. journal of community & applied social psychology, 14(2), 53–69. yin, r. (1994). case study research: design and methods. beverly hills, ca: sage publishing. m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 371-403! françois grima �rachel beaujolin 400 françois grima is full professor in hrm and management at university of paris est créteil (upec). member of the irg, his research work focuses on industrial relations, managing role conflict and career transition in difficult contexts. rachel beaujolin is a professor in management and hrm at neoma business school. her researches concern the restructurings, the employment relationships, the industrial relations and the professional trajectories. she favors as far as possible action research with companies, public institutions and labor unions. reconstructing identity after a labor dispute! m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 371-403 401 © the author(s) www.management-aims.com m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 371-403! françois grima �rachel beaujolin 402 © the author(s) www.management-aims.com reconstructing identity after a labor dispute! m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 371-403 403 http://www.management-aims.com http://www.management-aims.com 194vo&culié&mounoud(2016) .pages m@n@gement 2016, vol. 19(4): 248-276 microfoundations of decoupling: from a coping theory perspective 
 
 linh-chi vo � jean-denis culié � eleonore mounoud abstract. in neo-institutional theory literature, studies of decoupling have provided only a binary view of the employees of symbolic structures: ceremonial props or change agents. to obtain a richer view of the working life of these particular individuals, we rely on an instrumental case study to examine how they perceive a decoupling situation and do their job. our fieldwork takes place in a multinational company, which adopts the vision and implements different tools and practices of knowledge management (km), but a decoupling situation eventually emerges where km ends up as a ceremonial façade. after four years of participant observation, we conclude our fieldwork by interviewing the seven knowledge managers we have worked with. we initially develop a typology representing the different ways in which these knowledge managers interpret the decoupling situation and accomplish their mission accordingly. moreover, as we observe that they all suffer from stress, we use the coping theory to further investigate their working life and eventually transform our typology into a manifestation of decoupling at micro level. meaning-making, work-level actions and emotions are brought into this picture, illustrating the reciprocal relationships between the decoupling situation and the micro-level employees of the symbolic structures, thereby explaining how decoupling persists from a micro perspective. this result contributes to enhancing the micro-macro link in institutional analysis that has been greatly missing in the neo-institutional theory literature keywords: coping theory, decoupling, microfoundations. introduction in neo-institutional theory, decoupling refers to creating and maintaining gaps between formal policies/structures that are ceremonially adopted and actual organizational practices (meyer & rowan, 1977). organization scholars are showing a resurrection of interest in this concept, as organizations are facing “increasing emphases on accountability and transparency” in their external environments (bromley & powell, 2012: 1). an important group of organizational members in a decoupling situation is the employees who are assigned to or hired in the symbolic structures, because their presence helps provide visible symbols of the organization’s ceremonial conformity. neo-institutional studies on decoupling have produced valuable insights into how these particular employees do their jobs inside the organization. however, current studies analyze the working life of these employees in order to serve a larger interest, which is the evolution of the ceremonially adopted institutional norms within the organization. they provide a binary view of the employees of symbolic structures as �248 chi linh vo ecole de management de normandie france lvo@em-normandie.fr jean-denis culié ecole de management de normandie france jculie@em-normandie.fr eleonore mounoud laboratoire genie industriel, centralesupélec université paris-saclay, eleonore.mounoud@ecp.fr mailto:lvo@em-normandie.fr mailto:jculie@em-normandie.fr mailto:eleonore.mounoud@ecp.fr mailto:lvo@em-normandie.fr mailto:jculie@em-normandie.fr mailto:eleonore.mounoud@ecp.fr m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 248-276 linh-chi vo & jean-denis & eleonore mounoud ceremonial props or change agents. as ceremonial props, these employees’ positions are simply for decoration, while other organizational members keep doing their jobs as usual. on the other hand, under the banner of “coupling” (tilcsik, 2010) and “recoupling” (espeland, 1998; hallett, 2010), studies suggest that employees try to fulfill their mandate even if it is meant to be entirely symbolic, leading to full implementation of the ceremonially adopted policies. the discussion nevertheless focuses on presenting the structural and relational mechanisms, through which they successfully make the initially created gaps between policy and practice unsustainable. an image of internal change champions is therefore created. we consider this binary view of micro-level individuals as oversimplifying (meyer, 2008), thus leading to a gap in the decoupling literature. institutions and individuals have a reciprocal relationship. institutional forces shape individual interests and desires, frame their action, and influence their attitude, while institutions are re-created, modified and eventually disappear in the process of being instantiated in and carried by individuals in concrete social situations (powell & colyvas, 2008). we need a richer view of people’s working lives at the micro level of decoupling, which attends to their social relations and contextual interpretation. to address this gap, we study how employees of the symbolic structures perceive a decoupling situation and do their job, by relying on an instrumental case study (stake, 1994). it is a multinational company, which adopted the vision and implemented different tools and practices of knowledge management (km). during the time we were conducting our participant observation, a decoupling situation eventually emerged where km ended up as a ceremonial façade. relying on coping theory, which has been widely considered as an appropriate framework to understand how people deal with stressful situations (gardner, rose, mason, tyler & cushway, 2005), and in particular skinner, edge, altman & sherwood’s (2003) coping framework, we investigate the working life of the knowledge managers. this framework emphasizes behavior and emotion. we offer a manifestation of decoupling at micro level, in which there are four possible experiences for individual actors: trapped missionaries, recognized opportunists, disoriented escapees, and safe servants. our work contributes to the microfoundations of the decoupling literature by considering the role of “meaning-making” and by revealing the work-level actions and emotions of organizational actors during a decoupling situation. in so doing, our paper responds to a call to integrate emotion into institutional analysis (voronov & vince, 2012; zietsma & toubiana, 2015). it is important to note that our paper theorizes the reciprocal relationships between the decoupling situation and the microlevel employees of the symbolic structures, thereby explaining how decoupling persists from a micro perspective. this result contributes to enhancing the understanding of the micro–macro link in institutional analysis. the paper is organized as follows. we first outline the theoretical background of our study and our research question. we then present our research methodology and our findings. finally, we discuss how our paper contributes to the microfoundations of decoupling. � 249 microfoundations of decoupling: from a coping theory perspective m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 248-276 the importance of microfoundations for decoupling and neo-institutional theory although the founding fathers of neo-institutional theory were interested in explaining how the rationalization and diffusion of formal bureaucracy make formal organization taken-for-granted (meyer & rowan, 1977), they did pay attention to the micro level of analysis. their work was inspired by berger & luckmann’s insight that individual interpretations become reified external objects, and therefore a world is not a human product but is perceived as something (1977: 341). unfortunately, the bulk of institutional research that followed has focused largely on macro-lines of analysis (hirsh, 1997). it aims at examining the transfer of ideas, practices and organizational forms across boundaries of organizations, industries, and nations (powell & colyvas, 2008). as concerns for microfoundations have been neglected, micro-level analysis of institutions remains over-simplistic. in the decoupling literature, the extant discussion usually focuses on what happens to the ceremonially adopted institutional norms within the organization. through such analysis, we can grasp a general understanding of how the organizational members, who are recruited to preserve the symbolic structures, do their job. however, these insights do not go further than a simplistic dichotomy of individuals as ceremonial props or internal change champions, as presented below. individuals as ceremonial props dimaggio & powell (1991: 15–21) acknowledged that an underlying assumption of neo-institutional theory is the unreflective, scripted nature of human conduct, characterizing individual actors’ interests as being constituted by institutions. this perspective is empirically supported in institutional research that includes microfoundations of decoupling as part of the analysis. employees are assigned to or hired in the symbolic structures just to maintain the ceremonial conformity with external institutional pressures, thereby preserving legitimacy. they serve as ceremonial props. for example, during fieldwork in how recycling practices vary between colleges and universities, lounsbury (2001) found that the employees assumed recycling management responsibilities as an extra workload and expressed little interest toward their recycling duties. recycling programs consisted of little more than a scattering of blue recycling bins around campus. similarly, it is found that the managers responsible for implementing an adopted management practice for legitimacy reasons just paid lip service to its actual day-to-day enactment (collings & dick, 2011), or had a very vague understanding of its objectives and other essential aspects (boiral, 2007). as for other organizational members, empirical evidence has shown that they continue their jobs as usual. empirical studies into the adoption of institutional norms often claim that “no real inferences” can be made about “substantive” activity (sutton, dobbin, meyer & scott, 1994: 966), organizational members’ daily operations were virtually undisrupted (brunsson & olsen, 1993), and organizational members were protected from external scrutiny, resulting in more autonomy and little evidence of ineffectiveness, conflict, or inconsistency (meyer & rowan, 1977. they see the formal structures as cumbersome and bureaucratic systems that are separate from their daily work (boiral, 2007). � 250 m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 248-276 linh-chi vo & jean-denis & eleonore mounoud individuals as internal change champions in the decoupling literature, scholars have argued that the symbolic structures are given tangible flesh (hallett, 2010) because organizational members involved in the situation of decoupling refuse to be ceremonial props (scott, 2001). they are described as change champions, who help “couple” (tilcsik, 2010) and “recouple” (espeland, 1998; hallett, 2010) the adopted formal structures with organizational practices. although it is demonstrated that the relationship between the institutional context and organizational members is complex, scholars often skip this aspect and focus on describing the developed structuring and relational mechanisms leading to full implementation of the adopted institutional norms. thus, the underlying assumption is that individuals are rational and purposive to successfully implement institutional norms. for instance, in a study of budgeting practices in a post-communist government agency, tilcsik (2010) described the actors who did away with decoupling as “the reformists.” spillane, parise & sherer (2011) described how leaders of four public elementary schools relied on organizational routines as coupling mechanisms. a gap in the decoupling literature and our research question while current studies have provided insightful analysis of decoupling situations, existing accounts provide a somewhat simplistic view of the employees of the symbolic structures. specifically, current insights are limited to two images of mindless institutional reproducers and successful change champions. it can be said that it is one of organizational institutionalism’s weakest points to reduce individuals to passive recipients of institutions (dimaggio, 1988; meyer, 2008). if we think of individuals only as successful change agents, the role of their surrounding context in influencing their work activities remains unexplored. yet, the relationships between organizational members, interests, and institutional change are complex (sahlin-andersson & engwall, 2002). we need to go beyond the dichotomy between oversocialized, determined ceremonial props and undersocialized atomistic agents’ free will (meyer, 2008), allowing for their interpretation of their context and social relations (powell & colyvas, 2008). this paper therefore aims to contribute to the literature on the microfoundations of decoupling, by studying the following research question: how do employees of the symbolic structures perceive their situation and do their job? research methodology research context our research relies on a unique instrumental case study (stake, 1994) and focuses on a situation of decoupling of km in a multinational company. km became a norm of management during the 1990s. this trend was described by spender (2005: 127): “the most obvious news is that knowledge management (km) has become big business, growing explosively since drucker drew attention to it in 1988. we now see km conferences all over the world, a huge number of km trade journals and battalions of km consultants. the majority of organizations, both private and public, have km projects of various types and their spending is � 251 microfoundations of decoupling: from a coping theory perspective m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 248-276 enormous …” it also became an established academic discipline; many universities in the world were providing degrees in knowledge management. km supports an organizing vision (swanson & ramiller, 1997), in which knowledge is considered as a strategic asset of organizations. it is believed that encouraging the sharing of knowledge across the organization will improve organizational performance (hildreth & kimble, 2002). to fulfill this organizing vision, the common tools and practices of km involve the capture, codification, and distribution of organizational knowledge via the application of information and communication technologies (mcelroy, 2000). another approach involves facilitating faceto-face or virtual interaction between organizational members for knowledge sharing (wenger & snyder, 2000). empirical setting our empirical setting is a multinational company with 200 plants throughout the world and 40,000 employees. the company started encouraging its employees to share knowledge in the 1990s, although the term km was not mentioned at that time. two knowledge-sharing systems were developed. the first one was called technical portal, and its endusers were the technical community of the company, which includes technical experts, engineers and plant technicians. the second one was called community portal, which served non-technical staff. these two systems were designed to store various documents (such as information, procedures, standards, tools, best practices, etc.), which were supposed to be contributed and used by various company employees. in 2002, km was officially adopted. it was communicated throughout the organization as a strategic lever to improve performance and maintain competitive advantage. the two knowledge-sharing systems were redesigned to become the official km tools. knowledge manager positions were created. for the technical portal, there were two full-time knowledge managers at the headquarters and five part-time managers in the regional business units. for the community portal, there was a network of one fulltime knowledge manager at the headquarters and six full-time or part-time managers in the regional business units. organizational members were expected to engage in km practices by becoming users of these two portals and sharing knowledge with each other via the two systems. appendix 1 presents the two formal km structures as decided by top managers, and the positions of the knowledge managers in these structures. our field study started in 2004, when one of the authors joined the km team as a researcher for participant observation. during a four-year period, from 2004 to 2008, she spent one day every two weeks at the company, participating in knowledge managers’ daily activities (mainly km meetings), collecting and analyzing reports and documents related to km, having formal and informal conversations during coffee breaks and lunch time with the knowledge managers and other organizational members, and spending time at several production plants to observe how km was integrated into plant staff’s daily work. in 2008, when her fieldwork ended, she conducted in-depth phenomenological interviews with seven knowledge managers, with whom she was in regular interaction. these knowledge managers were the most committed to km, either because they worked full-time in the position or because they worked with, or related to, the headquarters promoting the km initiative. she did not interview the other knowledge managers, because they were either located too far away � 252 m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 248-276 linh-chi vo & jean-denis & eleonore mounoud (in korea or brazil, for example), did not have sufficient proficiency in the company’s official languages (french and english), or were asked to not spend too much time on km. the interviews were to summarize the four years of collaboration in the km endeavor. data collection our data collection can be separated into two phases. phase 1 provided data on the contextual situation and enabled us to understand the work activities of the knowledge managers thoroughly. phase 2 helped confirm and deepen our understanding of how knowledge managers perceived and experienced the decoupling situation. the table below summarizes our collected data. table 1: collected data the method of phenomenological interviewing in phase 2 was developed by seidman (2006). this method was suitable for our case study, because it enabled us to go further than the materials obtained in phase 1, to look into the details of the actual experiences of the knowledge managers. the interview sessions followed the approach of three series proposed by seidman (2006), which aim at establishing the context for the participants’ experience, allowing participants to reconstruct the details of their experience within the context in which it occurs, and encouraging them to reflect on the meaning their experience holds for them. phase 1 phase 2 fieldwork: from 2004 to 2008 secondary data (from the 1990s to 2008): to understand the organizational context o 10 official km documents; o 6 issues of internal press; o 6 documents on the km function; o 5 reports from the company’s km consultants. 15 open-ended interviews lasting 2 hours: to discuss how and why km was adopted and implemented in the organization o 3 interviews with 3 top managers; o 12 interviews with organizational members. field notes from 20 meetings: to understand how and why km was adopted and implemented in the organization, to get to understand the knowledge managers and their job o 5 meetings between the knowledge managers and top managers; o 10 meetings between the knowledge managers and organizational members; o 5 meetings with the knowledge managers. total: 300 pages of field notes and transcript phenomenological interviews (seidman, 2006): in 2008 interviews with 7 knowledge managers in 2 x 2-hour sessions • alex and christina: knowledge managers in charge of the technical portal at the headquarters in europe • mary, kathy, and tom: 3 out of 5 knowledge managers in charge of the technical portal at the regional business unit in france, austria, and china • carol: knowledge manager in charge of the community portal at the headquarters in europe • helen: 1 out of 6 knowledge managers in charge of the community portal at the regional business unit in north america total: 350 pages of transcript ----------------------------------------------names of all respondents are pseudonyms interview questions: o respondents discuss their working conditions, including their difficulties; o respondents discuss the process in which they manage to implement km, as a story with different chapters; o respondents are asked to exemplify their stories with concrete events and examples. � 253 microfoundations of decoupling: from a coping theory perspective m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 248-276 data analysis—step 1: assessing the decoupling situation of km we began by writing a description of the situation. from this description, we distilled an account of the formal structures of km in place, which shows the km vision of top managers, the way km tools and practices were implemented, and how km tools and practices had no influence on organizational members’ work, except that of the small km team. in 2001, just before the adoption of km, the company made an important acquisition, which helped double its size and made it the leader in its market. in order to ensure the financial analysts of its ability to smoothly manage the transition, the company referred to a prestigious consulting firm. the recommendation was to adopt km, which was a highly popular management idea and a norm for multinationals at that time. top managers therefore adopted km to maintain legitimacy. within the company, top management introduced this management idea as a great lever to improve performance. they emphasized its role of being a strategic tool that would enable the company to become the leader in its market. despite the communicated vision of km, it was implemented in a convenient way for the organization. top managers decided to implement km in a way that would not lead to many changes and km implementation had to be cheap. a chief knowledge officer was appointed at the headquarters. there were only a small number of knowledge managers to implement km for 40,000 employees throughout the organization. the portals were the main tools that were supposed to support the organizing vision of km, but organizational members did not appreciate these tools or engage in km practices. our secondary data showed that the portal usage rate remained very low. during our fieldwork spanning from 2004 to 2008, the year 2006 was an important milestone for km in this company, because top management officially did away with the chief knowledge officer position. new priorities for the entire organization became cost saving and security improvement. from this year onward, there was no longer any internal communication about km, although the positions of knowledge managers continued to exist and the portals were maintained with a very low rate of usage. data analysis—step 2: understanding how knowledge managers work in the midst of decoupling from the in-depth interviews, we were able to describe different dimensions of decoupling as experienced by the knowledge managers (see appendix 2). in order to build this description, we clustered these data into three distinct themes using the knowledge managers’ own expressions as in vivo codes (strauss & corbin, 1998). a theme labeled “km and my managers” was used for data that expressed the “talks by top managers about km as a strategic priority,” “poor implementation of km,” and “lack of managerial support for km in everyday work.” the “km and users” theme clustered data characterized as “end-users of the portals don’t care,” “experts don’t care,” “the portals are not usable,” and “sharing knowledge is not part of the organization’s culture.” in the third theme, “km and i,” we clustered data describing the knowledge managers’ perceptions about their “lack of competencies,” “lack of legitimacy,” “lack of resources,” “infeasibility of mission,” “uselessness of mission,” and “vision of km’s malleability.” during the analysis, we iterated between each theme and the � 254 m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 248-276 linh-chi vo & jean-denis & eleonore mounoud literature (strauss & corbin, 1998), looking for academic choice of words to identify theoretical cues woven into the raw data. we were able to develop the following conceptual labels for the dimensions of decoupling: decoupling experienced at hierarchical level (“km and my managers”), decoupling experienced at peer level (“km and users”), and decoupling experienced at individual level (“km and i”). consistent with our empirically grounded approach, we retained the empirical labels in our further analysis. following this analysis, we came up with two dimensions that map out how the knowledge managers looked at their situation and did their job on a daily basis. one dimension came from the experience of decoupling at individual level and especially from the data cluster called “uselessness of mission.” it concerned the vision the knowledge managers developed regarding their own role: whether they saw themselves as an element of the km façade or were determined to truly integrate km into the organization’s daily activities. the other dimension came from the experience of decoupling at all three levels, especially from the data clusters “talks by top managers about km as a strategic priority” and “poor implementation of km” at hierarchical level; “experts don’t care” and “endusers of the portals don’t care” at peer level; and “infeasibility of mission” and “vision of km’s malleability” at individual level. these data showed the extent to which the knowledge managers were aware of the difficulties and the freedom to fulfill their mission. this dimension therefore illustrated the way in which the knowledge managers accomplished their mission, whether they followed the prescriptions of their bosses or adapted their missions in order to keep the km structures alive. we constantly moved back and forth between our themes and the literature, in order to develop conceptual labels for these two dimensions. we came up with two labels: “vision of role” and “ways of doing the job.” the first conceptual label embraced “change agent” (introducing the organizing vision of km) and “ceremonial props” (element of km façade). the second conceptual label encompassed “conformity” (doing exactly what i’m told) and “bricolage” (improvising to make the km mission feasible). conformity has been defined as the ideology of adhering to one standard or social uniform (kelman, 1958). the idea of bricolage has been put forth in the literature of institutional entrepreneurship. institutional entrepreneurs engage in bricolage to reconfigure existing resources and practices in order to respond to the challenges under the guidance of existing institutions (desa, 2012). it encompasses all the variations of actions and experiences when the knowledge managers were confronted with the limits and difficulties of conformity, thus engaging in innovative or deviant behaviors (alter, 2003. these labels helped categorize the knowledge managers into four groups with different ways of working in decoupling situations. these four groups corresponded to four quadrants of a 2x2 matrix organized around two axes. this matrix will be presented in the findings section. during our participant observation, we observed that decoupling was a stressful situation for knowledge managers. the interviews confirmed and detailed that observation, for we were able to extract the verbatim of the knowledge managers expressing their stress over the decoupling situation. we then relied on the coping theory to further understand the working life of the knowledge managers. we adapted and simplified skinner, et al.’s framework for coping categories (2003) for our purpose. this framework includes 12 families of higher-order coping strategies. six of them are triggered by appraisals of challenges, with three families concerning coping strategies that target the self (e.g. problem solving) and � 255 microfoundations of decoupling: from a coping theory perspective m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 248-276 three others concerning coping strategies that target the context (e.g. support seeking). the six other families are triggered by appraisals of threats, including three families related to self (e.g. helplessness) and three others related to context (e.g. opposition). within each family, lower-order coping strategies may be behavior-based, orientation-based, or emotionbased. examples of behavior strategies are cooperation or avoidance; examples of orientation strategies include positive self-talk and priority setting. emotional strategies can be both positive and negative such as confidence or loneliness. for the sake of simplification, we grouped behavior-based and orientation-based coping strategies into a category called “action-based coping strategies”; we kept emotion-based coping strategies separate due to their importance in handling stressful situations. this framework is presented in the table below. table 2: coping framework adapted from skinner, et al. (2003) based on this framework, we examined the coping strategies used by each knowledge manager to deal with the three dimensions of decoupling identified previously, i.e. decoupling experienced at hierarchical level (“km and my managers”), decoupling experienced at peer level (“km and users”), and decoupling experienced at individual level (“km and i”). skinner, et al.’s (2003) framework served as our predetermined coding categories (miles & huberman, 2003), but we remained open to categories that emerged from our raw data. appendix 3 summarizes the coping strategies used by the knowledge managers. finally, we compared the knowledge managers’ coping strategies and working lives in relation to decoupling across the four groups previously identified in our typology. we observed that, within each group, the managers had similar coping strategies toward each dimension of decoupling, but they had different coping strategies across the groups. their lives as knowledge managers also varied. this further analysis helped develop an account of reciprocal relationships between decoupling and the micro level of employees of the symbolic structures. this results in a comprehensive picture of the microfoundations of decoupling. � 256 m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 248-276 linh-chi vo & jean-denis & eleonore mounoud findings working in different ways in the midst of decoupling from the interviews, we were able to deeply understand how the knowledge managers experienced decoupling. we found that the gap between formal structures and actual organizational practices was perceived by the knowledge managers at multiple organizational levels. the first level was the hierarchical one. at this level, the knowledge managers faced the problem that km was not part of the company’s strategic objectives, and top managers did not give direction to the management of the km formal structures. moreover, their own line managers did not provide them with the necessary support. at peer level, decoupling can be seen through the attitude of experts and end-users with regard to km. they were not interested in sharing knowledge in general, and sharing knowledge via the portals in particular, complaining that the portals were complicated to use and that their activities needed hands-on experience. at individual level, the knowledge managers had to struggle to define what they could do with their missions, to bridge the gap between their ability and the demanding requirements of the job, and to handle their lack of power and resources. in this context, the knowledge managers were not simply ceremonial props or change agents. this dichotomy helps characterize their visions of their role, but it needs to be completed with the ways in which they performed their job. based on these two dimensions, the knowledge managers can be classified into four groups in the typology below: figure 1: a typology of ways of working in the midst of decoupling � 257 microfoundations of decoupling: from a coping theory perspective m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 248-276 the first group is called “the missionaries,” and is composed of alex and tom. the term “missionary” indicates that these knowledge managers saw themselves as the agents of top managers by implementing km, and therefore wanted to integrate km tools and practices into the organization’s activities by doing their jobs at any price. they wanted to believe in the km vision put forth by their superiors. they tried to accomplish their missions as prescribed by their managers, hoping that their colleagues would thereby accept km. for example, tom kept going to plants throughout his region to provide training on the technical portal and explain to plant staff that it was important to use it. alex continued to participate in meetings with technical experts to convince them that they needed to contribute knowledge documents to the portals, and that they needed to tell plant staff, whenever possible, that sharing knowledge via the technical portal is beneficial for all. they acted as conveyors of km. the second group is called “the opportunists,” and includes carol and helen. the term “opportunist” is used because these knowledge managers saw a possible advantage in being assigned to the formal structures of km. they wanted to become agents of top managers by introducing the latter’s km vision in order to advance their career. however, they quickly realized the impossibility of their mission, and also realized that the ceremonial adoption of km gave them the freedom to do their job the way they wanted. helen and carol therefore used bricolage to turn their mission into communication and promotion-oriented tasks. unlike alex and tom, who attempted to push km tools and practices into organizational life, carol and helen promoted the km tools and practices by considering plant staff as clients. in this so-called “marketing approach,” they identified plant staff’s needs, developed the community portal in accordance with those needs, and conducted a communication campaign to raise awareness. as a result, the number of visits to the community portal increased and their managers were happy with this outcome, but it was unclear to them whether knowledge was truly shared. carol and helen were opportunists, as they considered themselves as km agents while taking advantage of its ceremonial nature to make themselves comfortable in their job. the third group is called “the escapees.” mary and kathy are in this group. the label “escapee” indicates that these knowledge managers found it hard to accept the decoupling situation and that they were simply a part of the ceremonial km structure. they resented the top managers’ km vision. on the other hand, they also recognized the possibility offered by the ceremonial structure of adjusting their tasks. mary and kathy eventually accepted to play the role of ceremonial props, but undertook some kind of revenge by taking advantage of their symbolic role to eschew their mission. they considered that this was a trade-off for sustaining the symbolic structures of km. unlike carol and helen, who used bricolage to make their mission marketing-oriented, mary and kathy used bricolage to devote the least possible time and effort to km. mary and kathy were not “opportunists” like carol and helen; they rather chose to avoid the decoupling situation. the final group is “the servants.” christina is the only person in this group, and may be considered as a servant because she was fully aware of her ceremonial role, but was still committed to accomplishing her mission as prescribed by her managers. she trusted the km vision communicated by top managers, but—unlike alex and tom—she did not try to integrate km tools and practices into the organization’s technical core at any price, and just did what was possible. christina kept asking the technical experts to provide knowledge documents for the technical � 258 m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 248-276 linh-chi vo & jean-denis & eleonore mounoud portals, but was willing to make do with the amount of time and efforts the experts were ready to make. she continued sending emails to plant staff to inform them of updates to the technical portal, without being concerned about whether or not they paid attention to her messages. christina did not fight hard and struggle like alex and tom; she just made modest attempts. she acted as a small custodian of the km structures. decoupling: a stressful situation for the knowledge managers as it was difficult for them to do their jobs with the formal structures of km in place, the knowledge managers suffered from stress. their own managers did not give them the necessary power and resources, the organizational infrastructure was inadequate for the use of the portals, and the culture of the organization did not favor sharing knowledge. in other words, the knowledge managers had to implement km but the organizational context did not enable them to do so. they experienced inconsistency between the km arrangement and their missions. they became stressed, feeling lost and helpless. alex was the knowledge manager who suffered the most, as he went through a nervous breakdown and had to spend some time in hospital for treatment. the knowledge managers’ stress was confirmed and detailed in the phenomenological interviews. all the knowledge managers said that they were stressed about doing their job. the following quote is a nice illustration of how stressed alex felt about the km situation: “km in this company is like a cruise ship. when it leaves the harbor, it just sails toward the horizon; nothing can stop it. after a while, we just realize that this cruise ship is really huge, so huge that we cannot control it. we try to do something but the effects are hardly noticeable. when we do something, it doesn’t mean that we can slow it down or add more coal, so our results are very low. now we see an iceberg ahead of us, and we really need to do something, but our captain is not willing to sit down to discuss this with us … we are alone on this cruise ship … nobody cares.” appendix 4 summarizes the stressful situation of km and the verbatim of carol, helen, mary, kathy, tom, and christina expressing their difficulty in doing their jobs. working life of the knowledge managers: coping with decoupling when faced with the stressful situation of km being decoupled from the organization’s core activities, the knowledge managers used different coping strategies. as decoupling was experienced at hierarchical, peer, and individual levels; their coping strategies across these levels varied. we observed that, in each category of the typology identified above, certain coping strategies were more frequently used by the knowledge managers, although there were individual specificities pertaining to each knowledge manager. we now present the dominant coping strategies used by the four categories of knowledge manager across the three levels of decoupling in the following table. � 259 microfoundations of decoupling: from a coping theory perspective m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 248-276 table 3: coping strategies of the knowledge managers group 1: the missionaries alex and tom set themselves the goal of integrating km into the organizational activities and tried to carry out all their km tasks. it seems that they could not find appropriate coping strategies to overcome decoupling. across the dimensions of decoupling at hierarchical, peer, and individual levels, they did not have clearly dominant strategies in terms of actions. they did their best to try different ways of coping. as for emotions, they had positive emotional coping strategies with regard to decoupling at hierarchical and peer levels: “taking others’ perspective” and “determination.” that means they put themselves in the shoes of their managers to self-explain why km was not a priority and why coping strategies the missionaries the opportunists the escapees the servants dominant actions no dominant actions (strategizing, falling down the stairs, help seeking, positive selftalk, etc.) strategizing, studying strategizing, avoidance, unresponsive ness help seeking, random attempts no consistency across hierarchical, peer, and individual levels of decoupling consistency across hierarchical, peer, and individual levels of decoupling consistency across hierarchical, peer, and individual levels of decoupling focused only on peer and individual levels of decoupling dominant emotions positive toward hierarchy and peers: determination, taking others’ perspective positive toward hierarchy and peers: taking others’ perspective, determination negative toward hierarchy and peers: blame others negative toward hierarchy: blame others, loneliness positive toward peers: acceptance, determination negative toward self: self-doubt, discourageme nt, guilt positive toward self: determination negative toward self: self-doubt positive toward self: self-soothing feelings expressed in the in-depth interviews being trapped in their job being recognized frustration peace of mind � 260 m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 248-276 linh-chi vo & jean-denis & eleonore mounoud their managers did not give them support, believing that they were the agents of km because their managers were not. they put themselves in the shoes of their colleagues to justify the latter’s lack of interest in km. with this empathy toward their managers and colleagues, they were determined to convert them, i.e. their managers would support km, while experts and end-users would accept km and share knowledge with each other as a daily activity. they maintained the determination that their mission in life was to integrate km into the organizational life. however, they experienced negative emotions about decoupling at individual level: “self-doubt,” “discouragement,” and “guilt.” for example, alex said: “i’m not in a senior enough position to implement km in this company … how can one young guy, who has been here for only three years, work with the experts who have been here for twenty-five years?” in the end, these coping strategies did not help. alex and tom felt trapped and ended up quitting their jobs: in tom’s words, “this job is too challenging, too difficult to see the future … it’s like i’m in the middle of a forest.” similarly, the situation was described by alex as a “poisoned chalice,” meaning: “i have to promote a sharing system but i don’t have any power over it. it doesn’t belong to me; i’m not responsible for its content … an old lady asks me to teach her to dance, but i’m not her husband, i can’t choose the music, i can’t change my dancing partner, but i still have to enable her to dance.” group 2: the opportunists carol and helen saw themselves as change agents and recognized the possible room to maneuver the implementation of km. they were pragmatic in defining the road they needed to take to implement km. they first started at individual level, then moved on to handle decoupling at peer level. once decoupling at this level was overcome, the usage of the community portal increased, they approached their managers to obtain their support and give km a more important place in the organization. for decoupling at individual, peer, and hierarchical levels, they focused primarily on behavioral strategies of “strategizing” and “study.” at individual level, strategizing means that these knowledge managers adapted their missions to the organizational context, given the freedom granted by the ceremonial nature of their km structure. at peer and hierarchical levels, strategizing means that they approached their colleagues and managers as marketeers rather than missionaries like alex and tom. study helped them better understand their clients and how to approach and serve them. helen said: “i have to keep doing more research; i have to keep promoting and communicating in a better way so that the use of the tool and the sharing initiative starts to show some significant improvement. how am i doing that? obviously by reading more, interacting more with people, doing more research, increasing the number of articles that go on the portal today, developing more advertising campaigns.” in terms of emotions, these two knowledge managers had positive emotional coping strategies across the three levels of decoupling: “taking others’ perspective” and “determination.” helen was determined that they could do their job and handle the issues related to their managers, and carol was even more so. the strategy of taking others’ perspective, especially used by helen, was consistent with their marketing approach when implementing km. without an understanding of what others wanted and needed, they would not be able to promote it within the organization. these coping strategies turned out to be comfortable. carol and helen were considered to be the most successful km managers. they � 261 microfoundations of decoupling: from a coping theory perspective m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 248-276 positioned themselves as change agents of km, and at the same time, were able to achieve positive results. they managed to make people interested in the portals, thus obtaining recognition from their own managers for what they did. carol said she was “very happy when the number of visits to the sharing portal significantly increased”; it was like a “little victory” for her. as helen made progress in her job, her life as knowledge manager improved: “i feel important, i feel respected, i feel trusted, i feel recognized”. group 3: the escapees the coping strategies of the escapees (mary and kathy) are consistent with their perception of being only one element of the km façade and the freedom they gave themselves in implementing km. across the three levels of decoupling, their dominant strategies were action-based: “strategizing,” “avoidance,” and “unresponsiveness.” while carol and helen used strategizing to get their work done, mary and kathy relied on this strategy to spend less time and energy on km. they strategized to simplify their tasks because no-one even cared. the strategy of unresponsiveness and avoidance implied that these knowledge managers did not do anything with regard to the decoupling situation. they hid behind the formal structure that was created just for them to do nothing. kathy said: “i think i do what i can … i know that i don’t fulfill the km mission … there are no major problems doing what i’m doing”. in terms of emotions, their emotional coping strategies were negative with regard to all three levels of decoupling. “blaming others” appeared as the dominant coping strategy toward their managers and colleagues, especially in the case of kathy: “people will not use it [the technical portal] even if they have training, even if we tell them that it is a good thing and so on. they’re difficult because you cannot change their mind—you can pray, pray, and pray, but in many cases, it is impossible …. especially people with a lot of experience … they haven’t used it for the last 20 years, so they won’t use it now.” they also blamed the technical portal for being complicated to use, and the organizational culture and infrastructure for being unfavorable for sharing knowledge. as for the decoupling issues at their own level, they had “self-doubt.” they questioned their ability to handle the lack of legitimacy and resources, and the lack of meaning of their mission. their revenging behavior did not allow them to find peace of mind. mary explained: “i have taken a step back; otherwise, i would have come up against a wall … but it doesn’t depress me; oh no, i’m very happy, great. i will now say only nice things about km [laughed sarcastically]”. group 4: the servants perceiving herself as a ceremonial prop of the km structure while attempting to implement km as required, the dominant coping strategies of christina at hierarchical level were only emotion-oriented. they are “blame others” and “loneliness.” christina blamed her managers for not giving km sufficient support and paying attention to other strategic objectives. she felt like she was the only one who cared about the km structure. the dominant coping strategies used by christina at peer and individual levels were both action and emotion-oriented. the actions included “help seeking” and “random attempts.” christina relied on help from colleagues, especially the experts, to do her job. in order to get help, she tried to cooperate with them and was ready to compromise to accommodate their busy workload: “we � 262 m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 248-276 linh-chi vo & jean-denis & eleonore mounoud first try to see what he [the expert], owner of the domain, intends to do ... i’m not an expert, so i can’t assess the contents of the documents. i can just help the experts and make them aware that the more their domain is up-to-date and well-structured, the easier it will be for end-users to find information and the more they will look for information there.” from time to time, she made attempts to make changes in the way organizational members share knowledge and/or collaborate with her. however, those random attempts were never successful. these strategies were in line with her modest objective to integrate km tools into the organization’s activities wherever possible. the emotional strategies used by christina at peer level included “determination” and “acceptance.” these strategies reflected that, even if she was disappointed by the attitude of her managers, she remained loyal toward her mission. she was determined to continue working to achieve her objectives and accepted the fact that not everything was feasible in her job. the emotional strategy at individual level was “self-soothing.” christina cheered herself up by telling herself that she was still doing her job well, no matter what. she was proud of herself for being able to withstand the difficult situation of decoupling and she continued to devote herself to her job. in her own words: “km is only for decoration, but it does not demotivate me at all. i continue doing my job, just business as usual”. from a typology to a manifestation of decoupling at micro level by taking into account knowledge managers’ actions and emotions, what eventually happens to them, and how decoupling evolved, a manifestation of decoupling at micro level can be drawn up. the four groups of knowledge manager followed four separate experiences. alex and tom ended up as trapped missionaries, carol and helen as recognized opportunists, mary and kathy as disoriented escapees and christina, as a safe servant. the term “manifestation” is used to imply that the microfoundations of decoupling are dynamic, being composed of many individual actors with diverse experiences, relationships, and destinies, and evolving over time rather than remaining unchanged. the figure below depicts this manifestation at the specific time and place of our study. figure 2: a manifestation of decoupling at micro level � 263 microfoundations of decoupling: from a coping theory perspective m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 248-276 the experience of the missionaries can be described as being trapped. they were preserving rather than transforming the institutional arrangement, while suffering at work. they were the “good soldiers” (organ, 1988) that became prisoners of the very situation that they wanted to support. the institutional arrangement of decoupling prevailed totally over these individuals. the experience of the opportunists is more enjoyable. they were not transforming the institutional arrangement of km to fulfill the organizing vision of managing knowledge assets and encouraging knowledge sharing, but were turning the decoupling situation into a success in the eyes of organizational members. in some way, they were “best actors with façades of conformity” (hewlin, 2003). that means they were creating false representations to appear as if they embraced the value of km. navigating in organizational life required them to employ tactics beyond simply maintaining the decoupling situation. as a result, carol and helen were recognized by the organization as successful knowledge managers. the experience of the escapees was shaky. kathy and mary dealt with decoupling by avoiding it. this avoidance did not change the situation or make them happy. they were lost as to what they should continue doing and at the same time developed “cynicism” (andersson & bateman, 1998) toward the organization. the institutional arrangement of decoupling had a negative impact on their selfconfidence and their attitude toward the organization. they were becoming disoriented in their job. the experience of the servants was not enjoyable, but safe. christina could not do anything with decoupling, but managed to make her job peaceable. it was business as usual both for her and the decoupling situation. she continued to be a ceremonial prop of decoupling, but was neither passive nor a mindless reproducer of institutions; she was rather intelligent in dealing with the painful nature of being in the midst of decoupling. in this way, she was able to create a harmless space for herself. this manifestation represents a rich and dynamic view of the microfoundations of decoupling. it indicates the reciprocal and dynamic relationship between the decoupling situation and the micro level of employees of the symbolic structures, helping explain how decoupling continues to exist over time. on the one hand, the experiences of the knowledge managers emerged over time as they continued to cope with the decoupling situation. they did not purposively choose to become trapped missionaries, recognized opportunists, safe servants or disoriented escapees. to survive, they were conditioned to either adapt to the situation or turn their back on the organization and withdraw into themselves, depending on how they interpreted the situation. they created two possibilities of being a ceremonial prop for themselves: by participating in the reproduction of institutional arrangement (servant) or by avoiding doing anything with that arrangement (escapee). moreover, decoupling led to two ways to become a change agent that the knowledge managers adopted, either as a missionary or as an opportunist. these possibilities led to different outcomes, which in turn reinforced the experiences that the knowledge managers had been having. the two experiences that most suifferez were trapped missionaries and disoriented escapees (highlighted in gray in the diagram), and the ones that saved the day in their job were safe servants and recognized opportunists. on the other hand, being ceremonial was part of a possible coping strategy. carol and helen used bricolage for decoupling and therefore successfully introduced the community portal into the organization. they were considered as change agents to the extent that organizational members associated their names with km, though it still remained � 264 m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 248-276 linh-chi vo & jean-denis & eleonore mounoud peripheral to organizational core activities. to a lesser extent, the servants and escapees also did their job ceremonially, thereby maintaining the symbolic nature of km structures. ironically, the missionaries, who really wanted to transform decoupling, failed and could not create the image of a change agent for themselves or in the eyes of their managers and colleagues. decoupling itself can therefore be seen as partly produced by the everyday activities of the knowledge managers. none of them eventually succeeded in truly becoming a change agent. in view of their different interpretations of decoupling and different ways of working in this situation, the knowledge managers helped to create and maintain the symbolic structures of km. the situation of decoupling prevailed and persisted. one may imagine a large number of variations within the four experiences we identified. for example, according to individual and contextual factors, such as meaning-making, the safe servants may be more or less servants, and more or less safe. in other words, considering the vision of the role as a continuum between the two extremes of change agent and ceremonial prop, and the way of doing the job as another continuum between the two extremes of conformity and bricolage, one can envision a mapping of the possible links between decoupling and individuals embedded in the situation. in this manifestation, individual moves between the different experiences could also be considered when the time dimension is taken into account. one possibility involves the move from the more harmful categories (the trapped missionaries and the disoriented escapees) to the less uncomfortable ones (the recognized opportunists or the safe servants). one trapped missionary, perceiving a danger of being trapped, may accept moving away from a strict vision of km and toward the opportunist realm. another missionary may move toward a more realistic vision of their own role, therefore joining the less challenging area of the servants, but changes in the opposite direction might also be possible. for example, a safe servant, whose resentment toward their hierarchy might be reactivated, could decide to take revenge by using bricolage and so move toward the disoriented escapee category. finally, the four types of ways of working in the midst of decoupling —i.e. missionaries, opportunists, servants, and escapees—can be found in other situations. this is because they were built based on the concrete vision of role and ways of doing the job adopted by micro-level actors. the manifestation composed of four possible experiences is nevertheless specific to our case study. as this manifestation was determined by contextual and individual factors, the outcomes—i.e. being trapped, being recognized, being safe, and being disoriented—were inherent to our case participants. this is why the experiences may differ in other contexts and with other individuals. for example, a servant may not necessarily feel unsafe, but ends up being demotivated; an opportunist may feel fed up with being hypocritical. in short, the manifestation that we identified is both situated and generalizable. � 265 microfoundations of decoupling: from a coping theory perspective m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 248-276 discussion this article attempts to contribute to the microfoundations of decoupling by studying how the employees hired in or assigned to the symbolic structures perceive decoupling and do their job. more precisely, our work “inhabits” (scully & creed, 1997) the decoupling literature by introducing local meaning-making and using coping theory to bring worklevel actions and emotions back into the picture. overall, it enriches the discussion about the micro–macro link in neo-institutional theory, by explaining why decoupling continues to exist over time. local meaning-making studies in the decoupling literature acknowledge the importance of meaning-making, but have not delivered a dynamic and empirically grounded understanding of the meaning-making process (e.g. edelman, 1992). this can be explained by the fact that neo-institutional theory is interested in rational myths, which are commonly treated as exogenous and “analytically removed from the more active struggles over meaning” (lounsbury, ventresca & hirsch, 2003: 72). organizations are assumed to follow these macro-level myths to gain legitimacy and enhance survival prospects, making them become taken-for-granted in all organizational settings. the current discussion of decoupling literature can be enriched by an approach that emphasizes how such macro-level myths are interpreted and given meanings at local level. this puts forth actors’ actions, interpretations, and the context in which they act. in our case study, local meaning-making was observed in two main circumstances: when the knowledge managers struggled to describe what their job was and therefore what they should do; and when they wrestled with understanding their role in their decoupling situation. these meanings framed their work practices on a daily basis. moreover, local meaningmaking implies sensitivity to the situatedness of the decoupling situation. it is not the meaning-making of the decoupling situation per se that triggers and conditions coping, but its meaning-making pertaining to each individual knowledge manager favors some responses over others. attention to local meanings also extends the microfoundations of decoupling, by bridging the symbolic realms of meaning and substantive realms of activity. hallett (2010) pointed out that there was a false dichotomy between these two realms when it comes to discussing decoupling. it is important to note that symbolic structures can be interpreted as the basis of activity. indeed, in our case study, carol and helen’s group, the opportunists, creatively interpreted the symbolic meaning of their place in the organization and their job. this encouraged them to handle decoupling at different levels accordingly. these two knowledge managers created an image of marketeers trying to serve the needs of organizational members using the community portal. their meaning-making was in stark difference to that of alex and tom, the missionaries. these knowledge managers saw themselves as the ambassadors of top managers, striving to introduce a km vision with the assumption that plant staff would understand the “benefits of sharing knowledge.” their image in the organization was not well perceived by organizational members. as a result, their coping efforts were tireless, but unsuccessful. � 266 m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 248-276 linh-chi vo & jean-denis & eleonore mounoud introducing coping theory to attend to work-level actions and emotions relying on the result that decoupling leads to stress, we examined the everyday working life of the employees of the symbolic structures through the lens of coping theory. thanks to this particular conceptual perspective, we can attend to both work-level actions and emotions of micro-level individuals. in neo-institutional theory, work-level actions are implicitly reduced to conformity in order to reproduce and maintain institutions (colomy, 1998). the theory fails to address individuals’ intentionality, interest, and reflexivity; places too much emphasis on the prescriptive nature of institutional order; and alludes to the question of why individuals act and interact (dimaggio & powell, 1991). in the discussion about decoupling, studies favoring the image of individuals as ceremonial props describe their work activity as lip service (collings & dick, 2011) or lack of fulfilling duties (lounsbury, 2001). studies about recoupling/coupling provide insights into general action strategies such as contesting for organizational power (tilcsik, 2010) or designing organizational routines (spillane, et al., 2011), rather than actions on a daily basis. in our study, we observed the work activity of employees of the symbolic structures in their situated context. our investigation revealed that the work-level actions of the knowledge managers were more complicated than a simple dichotomy of conformity and bricolage. conformity and bricolage represent two types of first-order level of work activity. at the second-order level of work activity, we observed more diverse work-level actions, which are reflected in the different types of behavior to cope with the decoupling situation. depending on the knowledge managers, these behaviors may differ significantly (for example alex, tom, and christina) or may be consistent (for example carol and helen, and mary and kathy) across the hierarchical, peer, and individual levels of decoupling. in terms of emotions, the relationship with institutions is an emerging area of inquiry beginning to attract significant interest (zietsma & toubiana, 2015). in order to understand the microfoundations of institutions in general, and of decoupling in particular, we need to attend to how people experience their own institutional milieu (suddaby, 2010), because “institutional life demands myriad moments of located passion” (friedland, 2012: 44). it is argued that meanings emerge through interactions embedded in the various types of emotional bonds and serve as the bases for human actions (creed, hudson, okhuysen & smith-crowe, 2014). the few studies that address emotions have focused on discussing the role of emotions in triggering different types of institutional work (cf. creed, et al., 2014; voronov & vince, 2012). our case study examines emotions as part of everyday practices of individuals to cope with decoupling. in this way, we share these scholars’ perspective that emotions influence, and are influenced by, the social context in which they occur, but also take into consideration individual differences. emotions are established through particular interactions (voronov, 2014). they are both outcomes of and inherent to the process of coping with the decoupling situation. this enables us to gain genuine insights into how people interpret institutions and respond to them through the lens of emotions (voronov, 2014), instead of a systematic view of which level of emotion relates to which kind of institutional work (cf. voronov & vince, 2012). when we compare the four groups of knowledge manager presented above in terms of emotions, it can be seen that there is a difference between the groups, as well as a difference across the three levels of decoupling within each � 267 microfoundations of decoupling: from a coping theory perspective m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 248-276 group. a given emotion shows the extent to which a knowledge manager detaches themselves from or attaches themselves to the decoupling dimension that conditions their ability to act toward that very dimension. for example, christina felt resentment against the managers, while being determined to cooperate with her colleagues and do her job. by way of contrast, alex and tom accused themselves, but not top managers and their colleagues. as a consequence, the agentic orientation regarding the institutional arrangement of decoupling differs between groups of knowledge managers. alex and tom overlooked their personal interests and wanted to fight to transform the symbolic structures of km into something real. christina focused instead on maintaining connections with the decoupling situation that exploits her. microfoundations of neo-institutional theory in response to the call for more attention to the microfoundations of neo-institutional theory (powell & colyvas, 2008), neo-institutional scholars have made considerable efforts. studies have paid special attention to the interpretation of institutions in the field (cf. currie & spyridonidis, 2016 mcpherson & sauder, 2013) and individual agency at micro level (cf. martin, currie, weaver, finn & mcdonald, 2016). our paper joins force with these works. we confirm that inhabitants of institutions are not simply cultural dopes nor change agents. individual choices and social interaction contribute to creating and maintaining the structural and macro level. we extend the current discussion by examining the special case of decoupling. it is found that decoupling imposes certain working conditions, but also offers its inhabitants considerable latitude for human agency and interpretation. these individuals discover anomalies in their work, ascribe meaning to what is happening, and react accordingly. in this way, decoupling is instantiated in and carried by individuals through their actions and emotions. some of them, purposely or unwittingly, contribute to reinforcing the situation, while others attempt to alter it without success. thus, despite agency at micro level, decoupling continues to exist. we also extend the current discussion by showing that the micro– macro link does not necessarily lead to significant changes. it happens in the context of organizational members who are less powerful than organizational leaders—or even powerless, in the case of the employees of the symbolic structures. institutions are reproduced through the everyday activities of these individuals. their daily practices, although mundane, reflect their interpretation; these practices aim to align with or transform institutions, or simply to survive in the institutional field. this finding supports the call for “more attention to everyday processes than momentous events, [and] to less powerful members of organizations as opposed to only leaders or champions” (powell & colyvas, 2008: 277). overall, our work contributes to providing an understanding of individual-level instantiation of organization-level phenomena and the ways “organizational participants maintain or transform the institutional forces that guide daily practice” (powell & colyvas, 2008: 277). it contributes to restoring “the guts of institutions” (stinchcombe, 1997: 17) to neoinstitutional theory, by helping explain why decoupling triumphs and continues to exist over time from a micro perspective. it can be concluded that rather than taking the macro level for granted, macro-lines of analysis could also profit from a micro-motor, which would involve theories that attend to action, emotion, interpretation, and meaning (barney & felin, 2013). � 268 m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 248-276 linh-chi vo & jean-denis & eleonore mounoud conclusion our study started with the premise that the microfoundations of decoupling, which are brought up in neo-institutional theory, needed further attention. it addressed the issue by studying the working life of seven knowledge managers, who were hired in or assigned to the ceremonially adopted km structures of a multinational. we were first able to develop a typology representing the different ways in which the knowledge managers interpreted decoupling and did their job accordingly. insights from empirical data inspired us to use the coping framework of skinner, et al. (2003) to study how these individuals handled the stressful nature of decoupling. we therefore turned our typology into a manifestation of the relationship between the situation of decoupling and the micro level of the employees of the symbolic structures. it is described by four experiences: the trapped missionaries, the recognized opportunists, the disoriented escapees, and the safe servants. from this manifestation of decoupling at micro level, it can be seen why decoupling triumphs over time. overall, our paper contributes to the microfoundations of neo-institutional theory, by showing the reciprocal and dynamic relationship between the macro level of institutions and the micro level of individuals. moreover, our study shows that it is enriching for neo-institutional theory to borrow concepts from other perspectives to address the overemphasis on the macro level of neo-institutional theory. thanks to the particular conceptual energy of the coping theory, we were able to attend to both actions and emotions of individuals in the context of the macro worlds. there has been a call for neo-institutional theory to “reach out for a helping hand” from other perspectives such as strategy-as-practice (smets, greenwood & lounsbury, 2015). we suggest that, in future research, other perspectives inspired by phenomenology (e.g. the work of martin heidegger, merleau ponty, and edmund husserl) or pragmatism (e.g. the work of william james, charles pierce, and john dewey) also merit attention, in addition to the coping theory and strategy-as-practice perspective. emotion, meaning-making, and practical actions of individual actors are the essence of these philosophies.   � 269 microfoundations of decoupling: from a coping theory perspective m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 248-276 appendix 1: the formal structures of km the figure below represents the formal km structure of the technical community and the related positions of alex, christina, mary, kathy, and tom. figure 1: formal km structure of the technical community in the km structure for the technical community, the responsibilities of the knowledge managers (alex, christina, tom, mary, and kathy) include: obtaining knowledge documents from the technical experts and then storing them in the technical portal, and encouraging technical plant staff to share knowledge with each other by using the technical portal. they have no hierarchical power over technical experts and plant staff. � 270 m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 248-276 linh-chi vo & jean-denis & eleonore mounoud the figure below represents the formal km structure of the non-technical community and the related positions of carol and helen. figure 2: formal km structure of the non-technical community in the structure for the non-technical community, the knowledge managers (carol and helen) have to encourage non-technical plant staff to contribute as well as to use others’ contributions that are stored in the community portal. one difference between this structure and the other one is the absence of experts and technical centers. non-technical plant staff are both providers and users of knowledge in the portal, but the knowledge managers have no authority over them. � 271 microfoundations of decoupling: from a coping theory perspective m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 248-276 appendix 2: decoupling of km � 272 m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 248-276 linh-chi vo & jean-denis & eleonore mounoud appendix 3 : coping strategies used across groups of km managers note: the boxes in gray indicate that those coping strategies are not used by the knowledge managers. the coping strategy of “interaction” emerged from our data. � 273 microfoundations of decoupling: from a coping theory perspective m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 248-276 appendix 4: the knowledge managers’ stress � 274 m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 248-276 linh-chi vo & jean-denis & eleonore mounoud references alter, n. (2003). movement et dyschronies dans les organisations. l’année sociologique, 53(2), 489-514. andersson, l. m. & bateman, t. s. (1998). cynicism in the workplace: some causes and effects. journal of organizational behavior, 18(5), 449–469. b a r n e y, j . & f e l i n , t. ( 2 0 1 3 ) . w h a t a r e microfoundations? the academy of management perspectives, 27(2), 138-155. boiral, o. (2007). corporate greening through iso 14001: a rational myth? organization science, 18, 127-146. bromley, p. & powell, w. w. (2012). from smoke and mirrors to walking the talk: decoupling in the contemporary world. academy of management annals, 6(1), 483-530. brunsson, n. & olsen, j. p. (1993), the reforming organization, london and new york: routledge. collings, d. & dick, p. (2011). the relationship between ceremonial adoption of popular management practices and the motivation for practice adoption a n d d i ff u s i o n i n a n a m e r i c a n m n c . t h e i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h u m a n r e s o u r c e management, 22, 3849-3866. c o l o m y, p. ( 1 9 9 8 ) . n e o f u n c t i o n a l i s m a n d neoinstitutionalism: human agency and interest in institutional change. sociological forum, 13, 265– 300. creed, w. e. d., hudson, b. a., okhuysen, g. a. & smith-crowe, k. (2014). swimming in a sea of shame: incorporating emotions into explanations of institutional reproduction and change. academy of management review, 39(3), 275-301. currie, g. & spyridonidis, d. (2016). interpretation of multiple institutional logics on the ground: actors' position, their agency and situational constraints in professionalized contexts. organization studies, 37(1), 77-97. desa, g. (2012). resource mobilization in international social entrepreneurship: bricolage as a mechanism of institutional transformation. entrepreneurship theory and practice, july, 727-751. dimaggio, p. j. & powell, w. (1991). introduction. in w. powell & p. j. dimaggio (eds.), the new institutionalism in organizational analysis (pp. 1– 40). il: university of chicago press. dimaggio, p. j. (1988). interest and agency in institutional theory. in l. zucker (ed.), institutional p a t t e r n s a n d o r g a n i z a t i o n s : c u l t u r e a n d environment (pp. 3–22). cambridge, ma: ballinger. edelman, l. b. (1992). legal ambiguity and symbolic structures: organizational mediation of civil rights law. american journal of sociology, 97(6), 1531-1576. espeland, w. n. (1998), the struggle for water, chicago, il: university of chicago press. friedland, r. (2012). thinking through institutional logics: a reader’s response to thornton, ocasio and lounsbury’s the institutional logics perspective. m@n@gement, 15, 583-595. gardner, b., rose, j., mason, o., tyler, p. & cushway, d. (2005). cognitive therapy and behavioural coping in the management of work-related stress: an intervention study. work & stress, 19, 137-152. hallett, t. (2010). the myth incarnate: recoupling processes, turmoil, and inhabited institutions in an urban elementary school. american sociological review, 75(1), 52–74. hewlin, p. (2003). and the award for best actor goes to...: facades of conformity in organizational settings. academy of management review, 28, 633-642. hildreth, p. m. & kimble, c. (2002). the duality of knowledge. information research, 8(1), paper n°142. hirsh, p. (1997). sociology without social structure: neo-institutional theory meets brave new world. american journal of sociology, 102, 1702-1723. kelman, h. c. (1958). compliance, identification, and internalization: three processes of attitude change. journal of conflict resolution, 2(1), 51-60. lounsbury, m. (2001). institutional sources of practice variation: staffing college and university recycling programs. administrative science quarterly, 46(1), 29-56. lounsbury, m., ventresca, m. & hirsch. p. (2003). social movements, field frames, and industry emergence. socio-economic review, 1, 71–104. martin, g., currie, g., weaver, s., finn, r. & mcdonald, r. (2016). institutional complexity and individual responses: delineating the boundaries of p a r t i a l a u t o n o m y. o r g a n i z a t i o n s t u d i e s , forthcoming. mcelroy, m. (2000). integrating complexity theory, knowledge management and organizational learning. journal of knowledge management, 4(3), 195-203. mcpherson, c. & sauder, m. (2013). logics in action managing institutional complexity in a drug court. administrative science quarterly, 58(2), 165-196. meyer, j. w. & rowan, b. (1977). institutionalized organizations: formal structure as myth and ceremony. american journal of sociology, 83, 340– 63. meyer, j. w. (2008). reflections on institutional theories of organizations. in r. greenwood, c. oliver, r. suddaby & k. sahlin-andersson (eds.), t h e s a g e h a n d b o o k o f o r g a n i z a t i o n a l institutionalism (pp. 790-811). newbury park, ca: sage publication. miles, m. & huberman, a. (2003), analyse des données qualitatives, paris : de boeck. organ, d. w. (1988), organizational citizenship behaviour: the good soldier syndrome, lexington, ma: lexington. powell, w. & colyvas, j. (2008). microfoundations of institutional theory. in r. greenwood, c. oliver, r. suddaby & k. sahlin-andersson (eds.), the sage handbook of organizational institutionalism (pp. 276-298). newbury park, ca: sage publication. � 275 microfoundations of decoupling: from a coping theory perspective m@n@gement, vol. 19(4): 248-276 sahlin-andersson, k. & engwall, l. (eds.). (2002), the expansion of management knowledge: carriers, flows and source, stanford, ca: stanford business books. scott, w. r. (2001), institutions and organization, thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. scully, m. & creed, d. (1997), stealth legitimacy: employee activism and corporate response during the diffusion of domestic partner benefits. academy of management meetings, boston, ma, august. seidman, i. (2006), interviewing as qualitative research: a guide for researchers in education and the social sciences, ny: teachers college press. skinner, e., edge, k., altman, j. & sherwood, h. (2003). searching for the structure of coping: a review and critique of category systems for classifying ways of coping. psychological bulletin, 129, 216-269. smets, m., greenwood, r. & lounsbury, m. (2015). an institutional perspective on strategy as practice. in d. golsorkhi, l. rouleau, d. seidl & e. vaara (eds.), cambridge handbook of strategy as practice (pp. 283-300). uk: cambridge university press. spender, j. c. (2005). an overview: what’s new and important about knowledge management? building new bridges between managers and academics. in s. little & t. ray (eds.), managing knowledge: an essential reader. london: sage. spillane, j., parise, m. & sherer, j. (2011). organizational routines as coupling mechanisms. american educational research journal. 48(3), 586-619. stake, r. (1994). case studies. in n. denzin & y. lincoln (eds.), handbook of qualitative research ( p p . 2 3 6 2 4 7 ) . n e w b u r y p a r k , c a : s a g e publication. stinchcombe, a. l. (1997). on the virtues of the old institutionalism. annual review of sociology, 23(1), 1-18. strauss, a. & corbin, j. (1998), basics of qualitative research: techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory, 2nd ed. london: sage publication. suddaby, r. (2010). challenges for institutional theory. journal of management inquiry, 19(1), 14-20. sutton, j. r., dobbin, f., meyer, j. w. & scott, w. r. (1994). the legalization of the workplace. american journal of sociology, 99, 944–71. swanson, e. b. & ramiller, n. c. (1997). the organizing vision in information systems innovation. organization science, 8(5), 458-474. tilcsik, a. (2010). from ritual to reality: demography, ideology, and decoupling in a post-communist government agency. academy of management journal, 53, 1474-1498. voronov, m. & vince, r. (2012). integrating emotions into the analysis of institutional work. academy of management review, 37(1), 58-81. voronov, m. (2014). toward a toolkit for emotionalizing institutional theory. research on emotion in organizations, 10,167-196. wenger, e. & snyder, w. (2000). communities of practice: the organizational frontier. harvard business review, 78(1), 139-146. zietsma, c. & toubiana, m. (2015). beyond the gap: discovering the impact and importance of studying emotions & institutions. organization studies, 36(2), 279-281. z u c k e r, l . g . ( [ 1 9 7 7 ] 1 9 9 1 ) . t h e r o l e o f institutionalization in cultural persistence. in w. powell, & p.j. dimaggio (eds.), the new institutionalism in organizational analysis (pp. 83– 107). chicago, il: university of chicago press. � 276 175sergi hardcover: 240 pages publisher: harvard university press (2012) language: english isbn: 978-0674064485 unplugged book reviews special forum: about doing research helen sword (2012), stylish academic writing, harvard, ma: harvard university press. reviewed by viviane sergi ecole des sciences de la gestion, université du québec à montréal sergi.viviane@uqam.ca the unplugged section edits some book reviews special forums dedicated to a topic, an author or a theoretical perspective. this first forum considers three very stimulating and rejuvenating volumes for academics in organization and management studies about research methods. they offer some new insights about problematizing, theorizing and academic writing which may contribute to regain scientific imagination. ! you are about to start reading a review of helen sword’s book stylish academic writing. the title of this book has caught your eye, and it is with curiosity that you want to discover to what ‘stylish’ could mean in academic texts – especially since you have been known, in your academic circles, to criticize journal articles for “boring you to death”; you even made a bit of a dramatic statement, at that conference last summer, that “not only aren’t there any big ideas in organization studies any more, but the vast majority of articles have just become desperate attempts at surviving the ‘publish or perish’ game.” hence, you are a bit dubious about the possibility of mixing style with academic writing. of course, some scholars do have what you would consider a signature style; but these are the exception, rather than the norm. you expect this review to start like most reviews you have read previously; yet, only a few sentences into this text, you are a bit perplexed: the author seems to have chosen a rather unconventional way to open his book review. you check back to the first page to look at his name, to which you had paid only scant attention in the first place – oh, it’s a her, and no, you do not know her. you begin frowning, as you are not here for frivolous writing that evokes a bad imitation of that experimental novel you bought in an airport some years ago (which, as you recall, also slightly annoyed you). you are here to read a proper book review, and to your growing irritation, this expectation is still not being met. with a bit of contempt, you are already starting to judge the author based on the approach she has chosen for the opening paragraph of her review, not convinced that it is the best way to proceed with an academic text, or that it is really making a point, let alone a worthy one. m@n@gement 2014, vol. 17(5): 417-425 417 ! but at least, by now, you are acutely conscious that what you have in front of you is something made out of words; that it is doing something to you: that it is trying to draw you in. while hoping that the expected review will materialize soon, you minimally give this to the author: you are a tad, just a tad, less bored than usual. ! it is with excitement that i accepted, a while ago, to review helen sword’s book stylish academic writing. given my deep professional and personal interest in writing, i sensed that this book would resonate with the concerns with which i have been grappling since i joined the world of academia some years ago. i thus jumped at the opportunity to write about sword’s book. yet, i was only on p. 10 – still in the introductory chapter – when a realization struck me: i had accepted a colossal task. not only did i have to write a proper review of the book, but i also needed to write one that would not succumb to the bland “vanilla pudding” (cf ashforth, 2005) or wooden prose so rightly condemned by the author. how unfitting and absurd would it be if my review were as unpleasant and devoid of any style as most academic prose, thereby exemplifying sword’s issue with the majority of academic writing? feeling a tingle of anguish, i took a deep breath, and attacked the task of showcasing a more engaging, lively and captivating style in scientific writing, in a manner of which sword would – with any luck – approve. there is at least one virtue in feeling such a form of pre-writing anxiety: it makes you very aware of how you are writing – a concern that is not always vividly felt, despite the fact that writing occupies a central place in our daily routine. for most writers, writing is a difficult task; thomas mann famously declared that “a writer is someone for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.” the vast majority of academics i know would agree that writing is, most of the time, challenging; but for most of them, the difficulties evoked rarely have anything to do with style. they revolve around finding the best way to frame their contributions, the most appropriate manner in which to structure their literature reviews, and the most impactful arguments with which to convince editors, reviewers, and potential readers of their ideas. over the years, i have attended many academic writing workshops and activities; only a handful have touched upon style per se. even fewer of these have questioned the rigid adherence to the conventional style in which we write, which i have always found a bit baffling. ! stylish academic writing is organized in two major sections. the first one introduces us to the topic of academic writing and looks into the trends, in terms of style, which can be observed in a variety of disciplines. it also covers what a number of style guides prescribe as ‘good’ writing, especially of the academic kind. the second section, composed of eleven chapters, dissects various elements of style selected by sword. let’s consider the content of these two sections first, and then reflect more generally on the idea of stylish academic writing. first section: the genre of academic writing ! the book opens with the proposition that most academic writing simply lacks style. as sword highlights, there is a “massive gap” (p. 3) between what can be considered well written and what is generally published in academia. bluntly put, most academic writers’ output is bland, impersonal, and abstract, creating the effect of “immobiliz[ing] their victims” (p. 4). this judgment may be severe, but sword is not the only one voicing it: in recent years, we have seen some prominent scholars in management and organization studies come to a similar conclusion. for these scholars, much of the research in our field is stifled by a dominant format which does not encourage diversity, bold thinking, or experimentation (see the various arguments expressed by alvesson & gabriel, m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 417-425! book reviews special forum: about doing research 418 2013, alvesson & sandberg, 2013, and willmott, 2011, among others). thus, there seems to be something problematic with current academic writing. yet, “[w]e want writing to be taken seriously, as powerful and evocative performance, able to change peoples’ experiences of the world, rather than as a shriven, cowed and cowering path towards routinized, professionalised ‘publication.’ we wonder if it is possible to write differently.” muse grey and sinclair (2006: 452) in one of the few articles taken from management studies which sword includes in her book. sword would definitively maintain that it is indeed possible to write differently, and she offers her book as proof. indeed, if she evokes some of the reasons why academic writing is so bad, her main goal with her book is to discuss how things could be different. this sets the tone for the book: stylish academic writing is fundamentally a practical book, based on the idea that such stylish writing can be studied and practiced – and therefore improved and cultivated. the book is also based on extensive research on this topic, since sword conducted interviews with scholars, studied articles and books identified as exemplary, and analyzed numerous articles from various disciplines and style guides. ! the first section of the book considers style in academic writing in general terms. first of all, in the introductory chapter, sword considers what ‘stylish’ means in the context of academic writing: “stylish scholars, my colleagues told me, express complex ideas clearly and precisely; produce elegant, carefully crafted sentences; convey a sense of energy, intellectual commitment, and even passion; engage and hold their readers’ attention; tell a compelling story; avoid jargon, except where specialized terminology is essential to the argument; provide their readers with aesthetic and intellectual pleasure; and write with originality, imagination, and creative flair.” (pp. 7-8). she then moves, in chapter 2, to the “disciplinary” aspect of academic writing – a form into which we are socialized through our disciplines, although sword goes on to claim that “the signature research styles of our disciplines influence and define us, but they need not crush and confine us.” (p. 22). while we could choose to do otherwise, then, as academics we are surrounded with what sword terms “forces for conservatism” (p. 24) that can tame our impulses to break out of the dominant style in our fields. this is especially true since many of us think that adopting an abstract and impersonal style is what is expected of us. in chapter 2, she considers the dominant style in ten disciplines, a list that does not include management and organization studies. it would be interesting to look at our field to see what is the conventional style – and also what writers diverging from this template do. ! chapter 3 is devoted to the prescriptions given by style guides, in which sword identifies “nonnegotiable principles,” like clarity, coherence, precision, using active verbs, and storytelling. other aspects are less consensual, like the use of pronouns and non-traditional structures or titles. but, as she clearly highlights, the central message of all these books is simple: writing is about choosing. and in this process, we have the choice to imitate the main style used in our discipline, or to work on finding, and expressing, our own voice: “we can continue to ‘imitate the common type’ of academic writing, endlessly replicating the status quo. we can ‘imitate the successful,’ adopting the stylistic strategies of eminent colleagues. or we can undertake ‘forms of learning’ – reading, reflection, experimentation – that will take our own work in new directions, so that we, in turn, can become the pathbreakers whose writing others will emulate.” (p. 31) ! on this note, she then turns to what makes up stylish academic writing as she sees it. book reviews special forum: about doing research! m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 417-425 419 second section: style, broken down ! the core of stylish academic writing is composed of a succession of chapters organized under the title “elements of stylishness.” sword tackles eleven of these elements, and each of these chapters is structured in a similar way. first, the theme of the chapter is introduced, often by pointing out the common problems related to that theme in mainstream academic writing. then the theme is described in general terms by means of a discussion that includes reasons why academic writers should be concerned with improving each specific element of writing. here and there in this discussion, boxes labeled “spotlight on style” appear. sword uses these boxes to present detailed examples of academic writing, originating in various fields, which she finds particularly well executed with regard to the chapter’s theme. these boxes are devoted to examples taken from specific authors’ works; in them, sword shows how the authors succeed in the chapter’s theme, and discusses why they do. shorter examples are also used elsewhere in the chapters, often preceded by counter-examples, illustrations of academic writing that really succeed in not being stylish. this approach ensures that by the time he reaches the end of the chapter, the reader has not only been sensitized to a specific element of style that can be improved; he has also seen numerous examples (some shorter, some longer) of what to do and what not to do. the final pages of each chapter are devoted to a list of “things to try” which take the form of questions one can ask oneself, or short exercises that can be undertaken to improve the element in question. all of these chapters are short, and can be read in any order; readers can even skip chapters in which they are less interested and still make sense of the book as a whole. here are the eleven aspects of style that sword covers in this second part of her book. 1. voice and echo: in this chapter, sword discusses the choice of pronouns. should an academic writer be confined to using an impersonal style, or can she make her voice clearly heard in her texts by using “i”? sword links this choice to the attention we pay to our readers and how we choose to address them with our writing. 2. smart sentencing: this chapters deals with the variety sword thinks academic writers should introduce in their texts with their language. for her, smart sentencing rests on three principles: using active verbs and concrete nouns; keeping verbs and nouns close inside sentences; and avoiding what she calls “clutter,” unnecessary words which overcomplicate sentences. smart sentencing is also about limiting abstract language, which should not dominate the texts. 3. tempting title: titles are key elements, sword contends; scholars should think more about how they construct them. they are there to “engage the reader, inform the reader, or do both at once” (p. 67). she argues that the most engaging titles often resemble journalistic ones, a suggestion which is not always warmly welcomed by the academic community. 4. hooks and sinkers: in this chapter, the author covers the opening of the text, explaining that some academic texts grip our attention through the use of a quote, an anecdote or a direct question, while others burden us right from the first paragraph with their heavy style, their name-dropping or their banality. 5. the story net: what happens with the remainder of the text? here, sword addresses the importance of “sustaining a compelling story” (p. m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 417-425! book reviews special forum: about doing research 420 87; her italics). as she reminds us, since research endeavors overflow with stories (that of the project, the researcher throughout the project, the participants, etc.), the challenge becomes that of selecting the central story that will organize the text, and to focus on its main characters. we should pay better attention to the narratives we weave with our texts. 6. show and tell: this element of style refers to the variety of examples and illustrations that scholars can bring into their texts, such as anecdotes, cases, scenarios, metaphors, analogies, and visual illustrations. sword’s opinion is that abstract concepts need a form of anchoring in the material world, a grounding that acts as a stepladder towards these concepts. 7. jargonitis: as expected, stylish academic writing touches upon the topic of jargon. again, sword advocates for a balance between precision and exaggeration, and also for a form of respect for the readers, who can easily overdose on jargon. “these authors [those she deems stylish] hand their readers complex tools – but always with instruction attached” (p. 120). 8. structural designs: this chapter revolves around the question of structure, questioning the ‘standardizing’ effect of the traditional approach (as applied to our field, introduction, literature review, results, discussion, and conclusion). stylish writers, on the other hand, will experiment with structure – and especially with the headers of these sections, playing with more expressive names than “introduction” or “results.” 9. points of reference: as with any other element of a text, how we cite and how we use footnotes should be carefully considered, again to avoid creating unnecessary obstacles to the reading experience. 10.the big picture: with this element, sword points to the importance of abstracts – strong ones being those that privilege the author’s thesis or arguments, and avoid formulaic, impersonal style, or difficult language. she also reminds us that skilful academic writers “[…] master the art of abstraction – the ability to express complex ideas clearly” (p. 157), in abstracts as in any other part of their texts. 11.the creative touch: coming full circle, with this last element sword discusses the qualities displayed by skilful writers. “these include passion, commitment, pleasure, playfulness, humour, elegance, lyricism, originality, imagination, creativity, and ‘undisciplined thinking’ – attributes that are easy to enough to recognize (perhaps because they occur so rarely in academic writing) but difficult to define or emulate” (p. 159). these writers defy the conventional style of their discipline; they instil “joy and wonder”, and they are not afraid of showing their passion for their work, producing “passionate prose” (p. 162). this last element is in fact a synthesis of all the previous ones, alluding to the harmonious and stimulating reading experience that a skilful writer can create with his prose. book reviews special forum: about doing research! m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 417-425 421 style, reconsidered car le mot, qu’on le sache, est un être vivant. victor hugo ! stylish academic writing is first and foremost a call to empower researchers to work on their writing to make it livelier and punchier, but it is also a guide showing how it can be done. as such, it might appear to belong to the category of ‘style guides,’ one which the author duly considers in chapter 3. as one can ascertain from reading this review, this book will appeal primarily to scholars who are looking for examples to inspire them to write in different ways. of course, the main premise of the book – that stylish academic writing can be studied and learned – while being empowering, is also open to criticism. a ‘howto’ guide like this one runs the risk of turning style – something that should be deeply personal – into a recipe, and reducing, rather than inspiring, creativity. however, although the book does offer advice and a few techniques to experiment with, this is not done in a heavy-handed way. in my opinion, sword does a good job of illustrating the infinite ways in which an academic text can be stylish, and she does so stylishly; i would thus characterize this book as a hybrid, something between a style guide which investigates the practice of writing in academia, and also itself an elegant example of academic writing. ! indeed, there are a few things about this book that make it more interesting than some of the style guides that are widely used and mentioned. one of them is, in my opinion, helen sword’s voice itself. her book conveys its message through limpid and simple (but not simplistic) language; when reading it, one can feel the care sword took in writing it, and also her empathy for the researchers questioning their own writing practices, struggling with their writing, or trying to break out of the shackles of the abstract and impersonal style which dominates academic texts. the book can be read quickly, and it offers a number of possibilities, illustrations, and exercises for those looking, in a very pragmatic way, at areas which they can focus on. all of the elements described and discussed in the second section of the book merit consideration, and it would be difficult to add further elements without diluting the core message of the book. for example, although i would have liked to read more about the role which journals and editors can play in improving the quality of academic writing, this topic is only tangential to sword’s main point and is really beyond the scope of her text. unlike many other style guides, sword succeeds in stimulating many lines of reflection on academic writing through her text, which makes it a thought-provoking read. ! stylish academic writing shows researchers that they are by no means condemned to write in a dull and disengaged way… if they care. those who care do not have to wash the colors out of their prose; they do not have to disguise their voices; they can, and should – for their sake and their readers’ – enjoy this inescapable part of academic work more. the book does not state it very explicitly, but it is concerned with freedom – a freedom that we all have as academic writers, but that we have learned to leave to others, such as journalists, novelists, and other ‘non-academic’ writers. realizing that style is, by definition, a choice and a statement – and not a constraint imposed on us (or self-imposed) – leads us to reflect more broadly on the place of writing in academia. sword does not address the place of writing in academia in depth, but her call for better writing sheds light on a few crude realities of academia: that writing is not given enough thought, except when it comes to the rational aspects of structure, rhetoric, and rigor; that style seems limited to a few select academics, most of them senior professors who can ‘allow’ themselves touches of ‘originality’; that style can be polished up, but that it requires time to do so – time which most of us m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 417-425! book reviews special forum: about doing research 422 do not have on our hands. in other words, the reader willing and eager to think about his own relationship to, and command of, academic writing will find ample material in this book to ask himself tough questions, and maybe to reconsider his choices. ! sword is clear on this point: stylish academic writers do care, deeply. they are driven by three ideals: those of communication, dedication to the craft of writing, and creativity. in the concluding chapter of her book, sword adds three other key principles motivating these writers: concrete language (style as helping the readers get into the article or book, and staying with it), choice (style as decisions) and courage (style as requiring a dose of audacity). together, these six cs define stylish academic writing for sword; together, they remind us that our texts can be living things – both living on the page and through the traces they leave on their readers. however, as sword shows, such liveliness has to be crafted and sustained, and this requires work (see helin, forthcoming, for a detailed reflection on such work). that texts can be full of life, gripping and striking, is an important reminder: language constitutes what we do, what we say, and who we are. as van maanen (1995) stresses, style has much to do with the theories we build. then why, as sword asks us, are we not investing time and effort in polishing up this aspect as much as the other facets of our scholarship? ! if readers are uncomfortable with the style guide format of sword’s book, simply musing on these six cs will be enough to remember that style can be developed in any direction – and that it is about experimenting. “i am suggesting only that you should try to write well – and that means bringing to the table all of your alertness, your fears, and your desires. and every once in a while – say, every third paper – tell yourself that you will take a risk” (p. 83). ultimately, stylish academic writing seeks to show that writing is an integral part of academic work, not a neutral and inconsequential tool; that maybe we should care more about how we write (and, i would also add, about why we do so – but that is an another topic altogether), as caring about our writing is caring about our ideas and our readers; and that risks, albeit measured ones, should be taken with our texts. what risks have you taken with your academic writing recently? if your answer is “none,” maybe reading helen sword’s book could spark something in you – but only if you are prepared to acknowledge how crucial writing is to what you do, and to change your conception of style from an ornamental feature of texts to an indispensable component of thought itself. book reviews special forum: about doing research! m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 417-425 423 references alvesson m. & gabriel y. (2013). beyond formulaic r e s e a r c h : i n p r a i s e o f g r e a t e r d i v e r s i t y i n organizational research and publications. academy of management learning & education, 12(2), 245–263. alvesson m. & sandberg j. (2013). has management studies lost its way? ideas for more imaginative and innovative research. journal of management studies, 50(1), 128–152. ashforth b.e. (2005). becoming vanilla pudding: how we undermine our passion for research. journal of management inquiry, 14(4), 400–403. grey c. & sinclair a. (2006). writing differently. organization, 13(3), 443–453. helin, j. (forthcoming). writing process after reading bakhtin: from theorized plots to unfinalizable “living” events. journal of management inquiry. huff a.s. (1998). writing for scholarly publication. thousand oaks, ca: sage. van maanen j. (1995). style as theory. organization science, 6(1), 133–143. m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 417-425! book reviews special forum: about doing research 424 post scriptum inspired by the format of the book, and by what its ideas prompted in me, i have decided to include here a few questions that scholars who feel concerned by their own writing might find it worthwhile to consider along with those regarding their style. are these the ‘tough’ questions i alluded to in my review? i will let you be the judge of this. when thinking about your own writing, ask yourself… • what is stylish academic writing for me? whom would i include in this category? • looking at my writing, is it alive? does it paralyze the reader or keep the reader moving? • what do my texts say about me as a writer? do i show who i am with my writing? or is my style verging on blandness? • why have i opted for this style? by adopting this style, what am i performing? do i think that such style embodies better ‘science’ and ‘objectivity’? what do i contribute in reproducing by choosing this style? • do i enjoy writing in the style i have adopted? do i feel constrained in any way? if so, could i allow myself more freedom in my texts? where could i start? • do i make the reader feel that every word has been chosen carefully? • how do i view catchy titles? the use of personal anecdotes? and what about humour? how do i see these devices in the context of academic writing? how do i judge those who put them to use? • how do i construct authority in my texts? • how do i transcribe my passion for my studies and inquiries in my manuscripts? where am i in my own texts? • what is distracting me from engaging seriously with my texts? lack of time, pressure to publish, lack of interest? • when i write with colleagues, do we talk about style? how quickly do we turn to the conventional structure of academic papers? do we even consider doing things differently? why not? • could thinking about, and taking the time to work on, my writing help me communicate my ideas in a better way and lead me to engage with my readers – who are also my peers – in a more compelling way? could my writing, combined with my ideas, contribute to enlivening the conversation in which i am participating (huff, 1998) with these texts? willmott h. (2011). journal list fetishism and the perversion of scholarship: reactivity and the abs list. organization, 18(4), 429–442. www.management-aims.com book reviews special forum: about doing research! m@n@gement, vol. 17(5): 417-425 425 05 213 chanda ray mckelvey m@n@gement 2018, vol. 21(3): 1050-1079 the continuum conception of exploration and exploitation: an update to march’s theory 
 sasanka sekhar chanda ! sougata ray ! bill mckelvey accepted by co-editor in chief thomas roulet abstract. in his seminal 1991 publication, march illustrates the continuum conception of exploration and exploitation by an organizational learning metaphor. exploration involves allocating resources to experimentation. exploitation involves doing known things better and focusing on execution. in march’s formal model, members of an organization deploy their collective human capital and engage in learning activities to fashion organizational knowledge. collective human capital (chc) is constituted by the aggregate beliefs of members, some of which are correctly aligned with respect to an objective external reality while others are neutral or misaligned. organizational knowledge—constituting the validated knowledge in an organization—resides in the databases, rules, forms, norms, operating procedures and other artifacts in an organization. march’s computational experiments pertaining to the continuum conception suggest that more exploration is always preferable over more exploitation. we demonstrate that the reverse holds true when the chc available in an organization is somewhat lower than that assumed in march’s experiments. our research indicates that a section of extant research is mistaken in assuming that march’s formal model for the continuum conception suggests an inverted u-shaped relation between the extent of exploration and organizational outcome. instead, the level of chc determines whether it is rewarding to focus on exploration or exploitation. thus, the formal model supports managerial intentionality towards exploratory and exploitative innovation through appropriate choice of the level of chc. we call for a new “balance” discussion, focusing on the determinants of the minimum level of the non-preferred activity from among exploration and exploitation. keywords: bottom of the pyramid, computational simulation, exploration, exploitation, human capital, organizational knowledge, organizational learning “i have come to believe that […] ideas that transform ways of thinking about practical problems rarely come from a direct focus on those problems.” march (2013: 732) �1032 sasanka sekhar chanda indian institute of management indore india sschanda@iimidr.ac.in sougata ray indian institute of management calcutta india sougata@iimcal.ac.in bill mckelvey anderson school of management los angeles, ca mckelvey@anderson.ucla.edu m@n@gement, vol. 21(3): 1050-1079 sasanka sekhar chanda & sougata ray & bill mckelvey introduction organizations are advised to strike a balance between exploration (allocating resources to experimentation) and exploitation (focus on execution and doing known things better). overemphasis on exploitation will trap an organization in sub-optimal equilibria and result in obsolescence of an organization’s outputs. overemphasis on exploration fails to generate a sufficient number of timely wins and may lead to an 1 organization losing its way in its perpetual exploration of novelty (levitt & march, 1988; schmitt, probst & tushman, 2010). extant literature is unable to provide a satisfactory answer to the question as to what mix of exploration–exploitation rates constitute an appropriate balance. in a stable environment—characterized by little change to environmental parameters salient to an organization—march (1991: 77, figure 2) appears to suggest that higher exploration is always desirable over higher exploitation. in this formalization, exploration and exploitation are considered as two ends of a continuum. one is at a loss to figure how this state of affairs brings a balance to organizational functioning. in our study, we seek to address this puzzle. notwithstanding the arguments underscoring the necessity of balance between exploration and exploitation presented in march’s text, it is clear that the implications of march (1991: 77, figure 2) have the 2 makings of an incomplete prescription. march’s study has inspired generations of researchers. as of march 2018, over 20,000 citations to the study can be found in google scholar. yet, until and unless we identify a situation where higher exploration is not desirable over lower exploration, we have an anomaly: arguments grounded in organizational reality suggest the necessity of balance; the published results from the formal model do not. the anomaly should not stay unresolved, since there are important consequences for theory and practice. managers need to decide how many resources should be apportioned to exploration activities and how many resources should be allocated to exploitation. managers seek guidance as to what resource allocation mix is more desirable in the various stages of organizational life (gupta, smith & shalley, 2006). resolution of the anomaly will help to fulfill managerial expectations from scholarship. posen and levinthal (2012) attempt to answer the question implicit above: what mixes of resource allocation to exploration and exploitation are desirable in stable and dynamic environments? posen and levinthal (2012) use a single-actor, multi-armed bandit model to show that: (a) a 50:50 mix is desirable in stable environments (p. 592, figure 1) and (b) when the rate of environmental change increases, a higher proportion of exploitation is desirable (p. 594, figure 3). an important factor motivating our study is the curiosity to know whether the model in the study originating the concepts of exploration and exploitation in organization and management studies—march (1991)—would provide the same answer. in our study, we recreate march’s computational model, based on the conceptual description given in his 1991 article. an agent-based computational model is used because it is impossible to experiment with a real organization by putting it into an experimental-laboratory situation to test what philosophers of science call a “counterfactual conditional”, i.e. truly test the following: if a exists, b will exist; if a is removed, b will disappear (fillenbaum 1974; pearl 2000). � 1033 1. by “timely” we imply that knowledge acquired by exploration needs to be converted into marketable products—an endeavour that requires exploitation— within reasonable time frames, so as to e n s u r e s u r v i v a l a n d c o n t i n u e d relevance of the organization. 2. the continuum conception of exploration and exploitation is illustrated by the curve “heterogeneous p1” in march (1991: 77, figure 2). the continuum conception of exploration and exploitation: 
 an update to march’s theory m@n@gement, vol. 21(3): 1050-1079 march’s study draws from the work on genetic algorithms by holland (1975). members of an organization begin with a random set of beliefs. the organization’s members learn only from the brain of the organization, i.e. its organizational code (hereafter referred to as org. code). the latter is a 3 repository of organizational knowledge (gavetti, greve, levinthal & ocasio, 2012). organizational knowledge resides in the databases, rules, forms, norms, operating procedures and other artifacts in an organization (march, 1991; nelson & winter, 1982). the org. code, in turn, learns from the elites among organizational members, i.e. from those members who are more knowledgeable about the external reality or the relevant environment of an organization than the code itself. equilibrium is reached when the set of correct beliefs of members converges to the set of dimensions on which the org. code has correct knowledge (i.e. values conforming to that in the corresponding dimensions in the external reality). we extend the model to allow variation of the collective human capital (chc) (von nordenflycht, 2011) in the organization. human capital consists of “…the knowledge, skills, and abilities a firm’s workers acquire as a result of their learning, education, training, and experience” (becker, 1964; quoted in lee, bachrach & rousseau, 2015: 796). human capital is frequently considered as a property of an individual. in this study, we invoke von nordenflycht’s characterization of chc to refer to the aggregate human capital residing in organizational members. in march’s model, members of the organization—the “agents” in the model—were endowed with random values in their knowledge dimensions at initialization. equal proportions of the beliefs of members were aligned, misaligned or neutral with respect to the environmental requirements. the chc so endowed can be reduced or enhanced by increasing the proportion of misaligned beliefs and by increasing the proportion of aligned beliefs, respectively. we conduct computational simulation experiments to observe the level of organizational knowledge attained when chc is varied. we find that when an organization initiates a task for which it possesses grossly deficient chc, a higher level of organizational knowledge results when the rate of exploitation is higher compared to a case where the rate of exploration is higher (i.e. exploitation rate is lower). conversely, if the chc is at the level of that endowed by march in his experiments or higher, high values of organizational knowledge are attained when exploration is high— i.e. when the rate of exploitation is low. we also find that the level of organizational knowledge attainable from moderate or high chc is more than twice that attainable from low chc. thus, not only are the strategies for success different on either side of a critical mass of chc, the levels of organizational attainments are vastly different as well. further investigation informs us about the mechanism by which the switch from desirability of higher exploration to desirability of higher exploitation materializes. the findings from the formal model refute a dominant belief—observed in extant research—that there is an inverted ushaped relationship between extent of exploration and organizational outcomes. rather, the level of endowment of chc determines whether an organization shall find it remunerative to focus on exploration or exploitation. nevertheless, an organization must allocate a certain minimum level of resources to the activity it chooses not to focus on. this suggests that a new discussion on exploration–exploitation balance is necessary, centered on the following question: given the enabling of one from exploratory or exploitative innovation via the level of chc of an organization, what are the determinants of the minimum levels of the other � 1034 3. by design, the effect of any learning of one member from another is considered negligible. m@n@gement, vol. 21(3): 1050-1079 sasanka sekhar chanda & sougata ray & bill mckelvey activity, in specific contexts? in the section that follows, we briefly review extant literature on exploration and exploitation. then we discuss the theoretical foundations of the study. thereafter we derive some propositions for testing by means of the formal model. the simulation model is described next, followed by the results in graphical form and our interpretation thereof. we discuss the significance of the results with respect to examples from practice. we end by highlighting the implications and limitations of our study, and suggest some avenues for future research. literature review the literature on exploration and exploitation following march progresses along two principal tracks. one track comprises computational simulation studies that seeks to build new theory by extensions to march’s model. the second track comprises construction of theory without the reliance on a formal (mathematical or computational or other formal logic) model , extending march (1991), and testing of such theory by empirical 4 studies. the track comprising computational simulation studies may be further categorized into studies that use a part or whole of march’s formal model and studies that use a formal model with several assumptions different from march. in the former category we find the following studies: blaschke and schoeneborn (2006), chanda (2017), chanda and ray (2015), fang, lee and schilling (2010), kane and alavi (2007), kim and rhee (2009), miller and martignoni (2016), miller, zhao and calantone (2006), rodan (2005), schilling and fang (2014) and zhang and xi (2010). the studies by lazer and friedman (2007), posen and levinthal 5 (2012) and siggelkow and rivkin (2006) illustrate addressing exploration– exploitation themes by using a formal model different from march (1991). in table 1 we present the findings of the studies in this track in brief. the investigation—with the set of all modeling studies drawing from march (1991)—assures us that the work we carry out has not already been reported in prior research. � 1035 4. theory without reliance on a formal (mathematical or computational or other formal logic) model is sometimes referred to as verbal theory or informal theory (for example bendor, moe & shotts, 2001). we refer to such kind of theory as verbal theory in the rest of the paper. see also, adner, pólos, ryall & sorenson (2009). 5. unfortunately, we were unable to access zhang and xi (2010). from references to their paper in other studies, we learn that zhang and xi (2010) experimented with alternative heuristics for agents’ selection of partners from whom to learn. the continuum conception of exploration and exploitation: 
 an update to march’s theory m@n@gement, vol. 21(3): 1050-1079 ty p e o f f o r m a l model description models similar to m a r c h ’ s ( 1 9 9 1 ) models rodan (2005), introduces a new construct, “self-restrained experimentation”, by randomly assigning (“+1” / “-1”) values to neutral (“0”) beliefs of members, at the time of selection of elite members from whom the organizational code learns. a key finding is that, in changing environments, inclusion in the policy-making elite is more effective when predicated on nearterm performance, than on tenure. stringent selection criteria are desirable. blaschke and schoeneborn (2006) model a new construct “forgetting by an individual”, whereby an individual holding non-conforming beliefs passes on to a stage of holding a neutral belief, upon encountering a different belief when learning from the organizational code (hereafter referred to as org. code). blaschke and schoeneborn (2006) find that forgetting serves as a source of dynamic instability for an organization. miller, et al. (2006) relax a key assumption of the genetic algorithm in march (1991) that members do not learn directly from each other. rather, some knowledge is considered as tacit. such knowledge would get transmitted only through direct interaction between organizational members (along with non-tacit or codifiable knowledge). non-tacit knowledge would also get transmitted via the intermediation of the org. code, as in march (1991). they find that “the small-world effect of learning through distant search becomes redundant if the org. code facilitates knowledge transfer among distant individuals.” (p. 716) kane and alavi (2007), inspect the effect of information technology-enabled learning mechanisms—email, knowledge repositories of best practices and groupware— on exploration and exploitation. organizational members learn from each other as well as through information technology systems in the company. they find that, each of these itenabled learning mechanisms enable capabilities that have a distinctive effect on learning dynamics in the organization. kim and rhee (2009), permit learning between pairs of agents, in addition to the arrangement that agents learn from the org. code. they also varied the amplitude and frequency of environmental turbulence. their research suggests that adaptations of organizational knowledge are facilitated better when internal variety is managed through a combination of strong complementary practices. fang, et al. (2010), introduced variation in the network structure for interpersonal learning. agents are situated in semi-isolated groups within an organization. their experiments manipulate the number of ties between and within groups. there is no org. code to mediate learning, unlike the march (1991) model. fang, et al. (2010) find that moderate levels of cross-group linking lead to highest equilibrium performance. schilling and fang (2014), examined the role of “hub” individuals in the diffusion of learning in organizational social networks. hub individuals have a disproportionately large number of ties, compared to other individuals. mediation by the org. code is absent in this model. schilling and fang (2014) find that a network with a moderate number of hubs outperform networks with a high number of hubs and networks where hubs are rare. further, information distortion at the hubs yields positive outcomes under some conditions. chanda and ray (2015) inspect the full state space of variation of exploration and exploitation, for the orthogonal conception described in march (1991). chanda and ray (2015) show that, there exists multiple exploration–exploitation combinations for which the outcome—organizational knowledge—is optimal (highest). they infer that presence of multiple optima—some emphasizing exploitation, others emphasizing exploration—justifies empirical instances of managers shaping their organizations to be strongly into exploratory or exploitative innovation. miller and martignoni (2016) model interpersonal learning among agents in an organization, departing from march’s approach comprising agents learning through intermediation of an org. code. they find that, when agents are subject to forgetting, a higher rate of interpersonal learning often enhances the diversity of beliefs within an organization. chanda (2017) shows how managers’ contributions towards organizational success may be evaluated despite that fact that circumstances beyond managers’ control may impact outcomes. this is accomplished by modeling complexity along the lines of shannon complexity (also used in duncan 1972 and child 1972) as the minimum extent of org. code knowledge that must be configured correctly, in order that a firm succeeds. � 1036 m@n@gement, vol. 21(3): 1050-1079 sasanka sekhar chanda & sougata ray & bill mckelvey *this is an illustrative list, i.e. is not an exhaustive list of all studies that refer to exploration and exploitation and perform computational simulations. table 1. computational simulation studies referring to exploration and exploitation the track comprising construction and testing of verbal theory referring to exploration and exploitation constructs is quite vast. a dominant theme is that of ambidexterity, i.e. the need for companies to make arrangements for carrying out both exploration and exploitation activities in the organization. in this context, schmitt, et al. (2010: 129) suggest that although exploration and exploitation “… may be interrelated, they require underlying organizational processes, structures, strategies, and cultures that differ substantially. the ability to manage these conflicting demands is fundamental for sustainable performance”. an important debate concerns whether: (a) exploration and exploitation should be housed in separate units that are loosely connected (spatial ambidexterity), for example, tushman and o’reilly (1996) and benner and tushman (2003); or (b) whether companies should pay sequential attention to exploration and exploitation (temporal ambidexterity), for example, eisenhardt and brown (1997) and hamel and prahalad (1993); or (c) whether exploration and 6 exploitation may be simultaneously operational in the same organizational unit at the same time (contextual ambidexterity), e.g. gibson and birkinshaw (2004). it may be noted that papers by adler, goldoftas and levine (1999) and birkinshaw, zimmerman and raisch (2016) suggest that all three modes of ambidexterity are observable. this contributes to extinguishing the polemics of the debate. further, in a critical vein, lavie, kang and rosenkopf (2011) aver that both spatial and temporal separation involve challenges to management that may eclipse gains from balancing exploration and exploitation. in the former (spatial separation), senior managers have to integrate disparate output coming from the units doing either exploration or exploitation exclusively. in the latter (temporal other computational simulation studies* siggelkow and rivkin (2006) take recourse to an nk model to show that (a) extensive exploration at lower levels of a hierarchical organization leads to better performance when there are no cross-departmental interdependencies and (b) when interdependencies cut across the domains of low-level managers, higher exploration at low levels reduce overall exploration in environments that require broad search. lazer and friedman (2007) inspect how the structure of communication networks among actors affect system-level performance. they use an nk model to simulate different kinds of network structures in which agents are located. lazer and friedman (2007) find that moderately connected networks outperform poorly-connected and well-connected networks. further, when agents are dealing with a complex problem, the more efficient the network at disseminating information, the better the short-run performance; but, at the same time, the long-run performance of the system is lower. posen and levinthal (2012) take recourse to a multi-arm bandit model. they consider the decision-maker as one facing a set of slot machines. each slot machine has an unknown probability of yielding a certain payoff. initially the slot machines are operated randomly for a few times. the probability of getting payoff are estimated. thereafter, the exploration– exploitation dilemma is framed as follows: should one exploit prior knowledge, by choosing slot machines known to produce higher payoff, as from historical data; or should one try out a less-used slot machine, in the hope of discovering one with even higher payoff than the incumbents (i.e. slot machines whose payoff probabilities are better known). posen and levinthal (2012) find that a 50:50 distribution is optimal, in a stable environment (p. 592, figure 1); for dynamic environment, the proportion changes, eventually favoring higher exploitation under higher turbulence (p. 594, figure 3). � 1037 6. hamel and prahalad (1993) provide the example of komatsu. at one time, komatsu lagged its more well-known competitor, caterpillar, in quality. komatsu first initiated a total quality program, followed by value engineering and manufacturing r a t i o n a l i z a t i o n ( e x p l o i t a t i o n ) . thereafter it focused on new product development (exploration). having achieved a certain portfolio, it focused on increasing the speed of product development to attain variety at low cost (exploitation). expansion t o g l o b a l m a r k e t s i n t e n s i fi e d thereafter (exploration). the continuum conception of exploration and exploitation: 
 an update to march’s theory m@n@gement, vol. 21(3): 1050-1079 separation), senior managers have to repeatedly re-configure the organization whenever a switch happens. however, other research (for example, brady & davies, 2004; garcias, dalmasso & sardas, 2015) suggests that the latter is not as big a problem as lavie, et al. (2011) make it out to be. managers may take recourse to transition learning (or exploitative learning), in which a company uses “capabilities located locally in an exploratory project to diffuse, replicate and extend such learning to other projects or to the organization as a whole” (garcias, et al., 2015: 159). using verbal theory referring to exploration and exploitation, researchers have also investigated whether strategic alliances serve the need to carry out both exploration and exploitation. some literature focuses on finding out which of exploration and/or exploitation is better done inhouse or in the alliance, in specific contexts (e.g. stettner & lavie, 2014). lavie, et al. (2011) suggest that organizations may carry out exploration and exploitation in different domains: organizations may opt for technology versus marketing and production alliances for the function domain, and do so with new or existing partners (structure domain). we acknowledge that models like march’s can be used to develop formal theory and enrich some of the debates referred to above, through formal comparison of relative merits. however, that can happen when two conditions are met: (a) it is possible to replicate march’s model and (b) its inner workings are better known. our paper seeks to contribute in these areas. theoretical foundations an organization’s survival and prosperity are strongly dependent on its ability to excel in exploration of new possibilities and exploitation of old certainties (holland, 1975; kuran, 1988; march, 1991; schumpeter, 1934). exploring new opportunities is future-looking and involves varianceincreasing activities, say through experimentation (march, 1991; schmitt, et al., 2010). exploiting existing products and services is rooted in the past and involves variance-reducing activities (farjoun, 2010; smith, binns & tushman, 2010) via execution focus and refinement. march elaborates on mechanisms underlying exploration and exploitation via an organizational learning metaphor. march demonstrates that organizations can improve their chances of attaining higher knowledge levels if they cultivate heterogeneous knowledge. the continuum mechanism involves a portion of the organizational members undergoing slower socialization to the ways of the organization. when a section of organizational members undergo slower socialization (i.e. learn slowly), the heterogeneity of their knowledge is preserved longer. exploitation increases as average member learning rates increase, with a concomitant decrease in exploration. thereby, in the continuum formalization, a higher proportion of fast learners relative to slow learners orients an organization towards higher exploitation and lower exploration; a lower proportion of fast learners relative to slow learners orients the organization towards higher exploration and lower exploitation. march’s research is a rare but highly influential instance of multilevel theory development that establishes a connection between the organizational-learning literature (e.g. huber, 1991, levinthal & march, 1993; simon, 1991) and the knowledge-management literature (e.g. hargadon & fanelli, 2002; nonaka & von krogh, 2009; spender, 2008). at the core of the formal model, organizational knowledge is generated by deployment of collective human capital of organizational members through � 1038 m@n@gement, vol. 21(3): 1050-1079 sasanka sekhar chanda & sougata ray & bill mckelvey stylized learning processes. simon (1991: 126, italics in original) observed 7 that it is “…important to specify where in the organization particular knowledge is stored, or who has learned it”. accordingly, in the paragraphs that follow, we first elaborate on the two terms collective human capital and organizational knowledge. thereafter, by means of a schematic diagram, we explain how march’s formal model interconnects them by stylized learning processes. at the level of the individual, knowledge constitutes an understanding of principles, facts and processes that range from generic to specific, e.g. knowledge of accounting to knowledge of how to use a particular company’s accounting software (ployhart & moliterno, 2011). hargadon and fanelli (2002: 294) refer to stocks of knowledge held by individuals, as latent knowledge. in their view, “…the schemata— comprising scripts, goals, and identities—of members of an organization make up the latent knowledge available within that organization”. this knowledge is dispersed in an organization in the brains of its employees. some examples are: knowledge of peculiarities of sales territories (say, credit needs of customers and variation in retail stocking cycles); actual capacities and quirks of production machinery; issues involved in buying raw materials domestically vs. sourcing internationally, and so forth. for the purposes of this study, we say that the latent knowledge in the members of an organization is manifested as chc, in the formal (computational) model in this study. we make a distinction between latent knowledge and chc in order to distinguish the set of beliefs relevant to an organization (on which the organization fashions its activities and end-products) from the whole gamut of all possible matters (organizational or otherwise) that constitute latent knowledge in an individual. organizational knowledge is another construct pertaining to knowledge found in an organization. nonaka and takeuchi (1995) define organizational knowledge as the validated understanding and beliefs in an organization about the relationship between the organization and its environment. examples may be found in the recipes a company puts into use: standard operating procedures; product manufacturing know-how consisting of technologies used, productive machinery deployed and quality standards espoused; distribution channel know-how comprising techniques for channel development, avoiding channel conflict, etc.; raw material sourcing know-how about vendor development, global sourcing, and so on. even the structure and configuration of information in a company’s databases and the roles and access control processes in information technology systems are manifestations of organizational knowledge. organizational knowledge creation is dependent on the ability of organization members to exchange and combine existing information, knowledge and ideas (kogut & zander, 1992, 1996; smith, collins & clark, 2005). significantly, though chc is present in a dispersed form in the organization, it may not be used to serve the purposes of the organization unless assimilated into organizational knowledge. organizational knowledge is the validated knowledge that is actually deployed for productive ends. it follows that the level of organizational knowledge that is attained is a function of the chc in the company. in figure 1, we present a schematic of march’s (1991) model that is within the scope of our study. we identify two distinct knowledge stocks, 8 collective human capital (chc) and organizational knowledge, and the � 1039 7. we describe these learning processes after elaborating on the terms collective human capital and organizational knowledge. 8 . m a r c h ( 1 9 9 1 ) d e v e l o p e d additional findings by considering the organization as an open system, w h e r e h e a l l o w e d i n fl o w o f heterogeneous knowledge from outside the organization at a variable rate (pp. 79–80, figures 4 and 5). this part of march’s work is out of s c o p e o f o u r p r e s e n t s t u d y. interested readers may please refer to chanda and ray (2015) and chanda (2017). the continuum conception of exploration and exploitation: 
 an update to march’s theory m@n@gement, vol. 21(3): 1050-1079 hosts of such stock. as stated earlier, the chc available to the organization (von nordenflycht, 2011) is held by members of the organization. likewise, technical systems, databases, routines and 9 procedures in use in the organization contain organizational knowledge (levitt & march, 1988; nelson & winter, 1982). a third entity, the organization’s competitive environment, shows the reality relevant to the task at hand. in our study the external reality is randomly initiated for each experiment, and remains constant throughout each experiment (i.e. model “run” through all the “time-steps”). this creates a stable environment for each run of the model. the level of any knowledge stock is measured by 10 the degree of conformance to the corresponding elements in the external reality. in all, there are two flow variables, p2 and p1, which are defined in figure 1. both signify rate of learning. they differ in who learns from whom. notes. the stock of organizational knowledge is enhanced by means of the flow represented by the org. code learning at a rate p2. the stock of collective human capital in the organization gets updated when individual members learn at rate p1 (a flow variable). high exploitation occurs when p1–avg = 0.80 (panel a). in this case, about one-eighth of the organizational members are slow learners and the rest are fast learners. high exploration occurs when p1– avg = 0.20 (panel b). for this situation, about seven-eighths of organizational members are slow learners and the rest are fast learners. the continuum from high exploitation to high exploration is fashioned by decreasing proportion of fast learners relative to slow learners. values in the external reality or environment determine the correctness or otherwise, of any knowledge dimension. figure 1. stocks and flows in the model no beliefs are defined in the initial org. code. the probability that the org. code updates itself with the value from a specific knowledge dimension of elite members (who know more about the external reality or relevant environment, compared to the org. code) is higher when p2 is high and lower when p2 is low. � 1040 9. we assume that organizational members are otherwise motivated to deploy the chc for organizational purposes. 1 0 . i n t h e l a s t f o u r s e t s o f experiments that we report (figures 6, 7, 8 and 9), we relax this assumption to observe outcomes over a range of environmental turbulence. m@n@gement, vol. 21(3): 1050-1079 sasanka sekhar chanda & sougata ray & bill mckelvey organization members that are slow learners learn from the org. code at a low rate (10%, p1 = 0.1, as from march’s study). this signifies that, in any given time-step, there is a low probability (10% chance) that a member will update his/her belief with that from org. code when a non-null value exists for a given dimension of knowledge in the org. code. organization members that are fast learners learn from the org. code at a high rate (90%, p1 = 0.9, following march). in march’s formalization of exploration and exploitation as two ends of a continuum, a high rate of exploration is motivated by having a high proportion (about seven-eighths) of organizational members learn slowly. a high rate of exploitation is motivated by having a high proportion (about seven-eighths) of organizational members learning fast. we note that validated knowledge accumulates in march’s org. code by drawing from the chc of the members. we define a low level of chc as one where a significant proportion of the beliefs of organizational members are inaccurate representations of the reality corresponding to the task at hand. we define a moderate level of chc as one where, on average, equal proportions of beliefs of members are aligned, misaligned or neutral. populations having a high proportion of member beliefs aligned with the reality corresponding to the task at hand are deemed to have high chc. theory development in the experiments reported by march (1991), the organizational population is given a similar amount of human capital at the beginning of all experiments. on average, the chc has no significant misalignment with the needs of the task at hand, i.e. the results correspond to moderate levels of chc. march demonstrated that if individuals learn too fast, the 11 organizational code knowledge reaches sub-optimal values, since differences between the code knowledge and knowledge of individuals quickly gets eroded. however, if individuals learn slower higher organizational knowledge is attained, since diversity is preserved longer. in other words, when a large fraction of organizational members learn slowly, knowledge heterogeneity is preserved for a longer period of time. such a condition pertains to a state of high exploration. the other end of the continuum—where fast learners are in higher proportion—indicates a state of high exploitation. in the latter case, knowledge heterogeneity erodes more quickly, leading to lower organizational knowledge. this suggests the following proposition: p1: in organizations with a moderate level of chc, the level of organizational knowledge attained from high exploration is greater than the level of organizational knowledge attained from high exploitation. we further note that, absent any external influence, the chc is the only reservoir that organizational knowledge can draw from. an organization begins with a low level of useful chc if the beliefs of most organizational members are misaligned with respect to the demands imposed by its external competitive environment. in such cases, the level of organizational knowledge attained by learning activities will be capped to the extent that scarce environmentally relevant beliefs are rounded up and � 1041 11. we elaborate on this point when we describe the formal model in the next section. for the moment, it suffices to know that on an average, one-third of beliefs of each member comprise correct beliefs and onet h i r d c o m p r i s e m i s a l i g n e d o r incorrect beliefs. the remaining third of beliefs of members are neutral beliefs (i.e. in the nature of “no opinion”). the continuum conception of exploration and exploitation: 
 an update to march’s theory m@n@gement, vol. 21(3): 1050-1079 assimilated into the org. code. this level will be lower than the level of organizational knowledge attained when the chc is at moderate or high levels, as is applicable in situations when an organization operates in a competitive environment in which its capabilities are well-suited to apply. this is because, in the latter case, the chc in the organization is comprised of a higher proportion of correct or well-aligned beliefs held by its members. this suggests the following proposition: p2: organizations with a low level of chc develop lower organizational knowledge from exploitation and exploration activities, compared to organizations with a moderate or high level of chc. in organizations having a low level of chc with respect to the needs of the task at hand, most organizational members carry several incorrect or misaligned beliefs. the org. code will tend to imbibe a significant extent of incorrect knowledge as a consequence. when a majority of the organizational members learn slowly (i.e. under high exploration), the heterogeneity of their knowledge will decrease by acquisition of such incorrect knowledge from the org. code. a low level of organizational knowledge will be the result. in contrast, when a majority of the organizational members learn fast (i.e. under high exploitation), there will be lesser degree of degradation of knowledge heterogeneity of slow learners. this will result in a higher level of relevant organizational knowledge. thus, in this case, higher exploitation offers more competitive advantage than will higher exploration. this suggests the following proposition: p3: when the chc in an organization is low, the level of organizational knowledge attained by higher exploitation is greater than the level of organizational knowledge attained by higher exploration. simulation model in this study we create a simulation model from the conceptual description given in march (1991). to demonstrate the effects of varying chc, we relax one of march’s assumptions, which is that organizational members always start with random knowledge, i.e. a moderate level of chc. we designate such populations as marchian. we designate a population having a level of chc lower than that of a marchian population as a sub-marchian population. likewise, a population having a level of chc higher than that of a marchian population is termed as a supramarchian population. all other parts of the conceptual model described in the text of march’s 1991 publication remain unchanged in our study. the environment or reality surrounding the focal organization is unchanging for our first few experiments. in the last four sets of experiments we report (figures 6, 7, 8 and 9), we observe outcomes under varying environmental turbulence. further, taking advantage of the advances in computing since the late-1980s, we run each experiment for 10,000 iterations (instead of the 80 iterations used in march’s simulation). organizational knowledge. in the model, the external reality, r, for the organization is an m-length bit string. each bit is considered to be a dimension of reality and can have a value of either “+1” or “−1”. the values “+1” and “−1” are code numbers for different kinds of knowledge. for a � 1042 m@n@gement, vol. 21(3): 1050-1079 sasanka sekhar chanda & sougata ray & bill mckelvey given entity, say an agent or the org. code, if there is a matching value in the corresponding bit position, the entity is deemed to possess correct knowledge in that dimension r is initialized with a set of random values whereby each bit is equally likely to have either a “+1” or a “−1” value. the org. code, oc, is another m-length bit string. each dimension of oc can have a value from the set {“−1”, “0”, “+1”}. a value of “0” signifies “no opinion”. oc is initialized with all values set to 0 at the beginning of a simulation. oc gets updated by learning processes as the simulation progresses. at the end of the simulation, the number of matches between the reality string, r, and the org. code string, oc, is obtained. this number, represented as a fraction of the total number of knowledge dimensions, or as a percentage, constitutes the level of organizational knowledge attained. collective human capital in an organization. the organization is comprised of n individuals (hereafter, agents). the knowledge of each agent is modeled as an m-length bit string. comparable to the org. code, oc, each dimension of an agent’s knowledge string can have a value from the set {“−1”, “0”, “+1”}. in march’s model and in our baseline test at the beginning of the simulation, the knowledge string of each agent is randomly populated with values from the set {“−1”, “0”, “+1”}. each value from this set has an equal probability (one-third) of materializing in any given individual agent’s knowledge string. individual knowledge strings are generated for each of the n agents. the set of n distinct knowledge strings constitutes the chc of the organizational members (agents). the population thus generated is referred to as a marchian population. for a marchian population, we designate the level of chc in the organization as moderate. a sub-marchian population has a higher number of occurrences of incorrect beliefs compared to a marchian population (i.e. beliefs that are misaligned to the needs of the task at hand, which is defined by reality string r). a dimension of the knowledge of an agent is considered incorrect (or misaligned with the competitive environment) if the value for that dimension in the agent’s knowledge string is non-zero but does not match with the “+1” or “−1” value in the corresponding bit position in the reality string r. we denote d (expressed as a percentage) as the extent of knowledge deficiency with respect to a marchian population. to create a sub-marchian population having deficiency d, we first create a marchian population and we also generate the reality string r. thereafter, we overwrite d% of the knowledge-string bits of each agent with values that are different from the corresponding values in the reality string r. for example, when the ith dimension of an agent’s knowledge string is to be overwritten, if the value in the ith dimension of the reality string r is “+1”, we overwrite the value in the ith dimension of an agent’s knowledge string with a value “−1”; conversely, when the value in the ith dimension of the reality string r is “−1”, we overwrite the value in the ith dimension of an agent’s knowledge string with a value “+1”. the actual bits that are overwritten are randomly chosen, separately for each agent. for a submarchian population, we describe the level of chc in the organization as low. additionally, we designate a population having a level of chc higher than that of a marchian population as supra-marchian. a supra-marchian population is generated by overwriting a certain proportion of bits of the knowledge string of agents with values matching those in the reality string r. the bits that are overwritten are randomly chosen, with specific draws for each agent. creation of a range of populations where the chc varies enables us to observe the organizational knowledge outcomes that ensue � 1043 the continuum conception of exploration and exploitation: 
 an update to march’s theory m@n@gement, vol. 21(3): 1050-1079 under various configurations of learning mechanisms. for a supramarchian population, we specify the level of chc in the organization as high. learning mechanisms. in each time-step of our simulation runs, two concurrent learning mechanisms are operational. the org. code, oc, learns from the members. and each individual member also learns from the org. code. consequently, over time, the differences in knowledge between the org. code and the members are obliterated. learning by the organizational code. in any given time-step, the org. code is able to identify agents who are more knowledgeable about the reality than itself. we designate these agents as elite agents. in each timestep the org. code, oc, identifies a set of elite agents who have relevant information needed about the organization’s competitive environment and how to succeed in it. thus, for each knowledge-bit, the org. code computes the majority opinion of the team regarding what its value should be. for example, if, for the ith bit position, more elites have a value “+1” and less have value “−1”, the org. code, oc, will deem the elites’ recommendation to be for a value “+1”. zero values in the knowledge dimension of elites are ignored. if oc has a value other than “+1” in the ith bit position, it will update it to the value recommended by the elite agents’ group with a probability that is related to the code learning parameter p2. specifically, the probability that the ith dimension of oc will remain unchanged at the end of the time-step is given by (1 – p2)k with k (> 0) being the number of agents in the elite group who differ from the code in this dimension minus the number who do not (march, 1991: 74). as an illustration, when we say that the org. code learns at a rate of 10%, we mean that the value of p2 is 0.1 (p2 = 0.1). learning by organizational members. in each time-step, a given agent compares the value in each bit position of its knowledge string with the corresponding value in the org. code oc. if the value in the ith position of oc is non-zero and different from the value in the ith position of the agent’s knowledge string, the agent updates its knowledge string with the corresponding org. code value with a probability p1. the parameter p1 constitutes the rate of learning by agents. as an illustration, when we say that a member learns at a rate of 20%, we mean that the value of p1 is 0.2 (p1 = 0.2). the continuum conception of exploration and exploitation. the continuum conception is motivated by considering a situation where all the agents in the organization are not learning at the same rate. for modeling purposes, following march, it is assumed that a specified fraction, f, of agents learn slowly, having p1 equaling 10% (p1 = 0.1), the remainder learn fast, having p1 equaling 90% (p1 = 0.9). by suitably varying f¸ it is possible to construct populations that have average individual learning rates (p1–avg) between 20% and 80%. when p1–avg is 20% (p1–avg = 0.2), about seven-eighths of the total number of members learn slowly (p1 = 0.1) and the rest learn fast (p1 = 0.9). this is mapped to maximum exploration in the continuum conception. in this situation, maximum heterogeneity is fostered in the organization by a large section of organizational members undergoing slower socialization. when p1–avg is 80% (p1–avg = 0.8), about seven-eighths of the total number of members learn fast (p1 = 0.9), the rest learn slowly (p1 = 0.1). this represents maximum exploitation. environmental turbulence. following march (1991) we use a parameter, p4, to denote the degree of environmental turbulence. in stable environments the value of p4 is set to zero. for a moderately turbulent environment, p4 attains a value of about 2%. for more turbulent � 1044 m@n@gement, vol. 21(3): 1050-1079 sasanka sekhar chanda & sougata ray & bill mckelvey environments, p4 is given values higher than 2%. a value of x% for p4 signifies that, in any given time-step, each bit of the reality r has an x% chance of flipping its value (from “+1” to “−1” and vice versa). in the last two experiments that we report, we invoke a punctuated equilibrium model of environmental change. in this case, the rate of environmental change is given by a parameter p4_alt. a value of x% for p4_alt signifies that, in any given time-step, an environmental change event materializes with x% probability. upon materialization of a change event, dimensions of the reality r flip values (from “+1” to “−1” and vice versa) with a probability of 50%. model parameters and robustness checks. following march (1991), we use a 30-bit string (m = 30) for reality, r, and an organization of fifty agents (n = 50). for all but the last four experiments, simulations are run for a maximum of two hundred and fifty time-steps (t = 250) for experiments in a closed system, where environmental turbulence is set to zero. the allotted maximum duration is sufficient to let the system reach equilibrium for closed systems. we report the last four experiments that incorporate environmental turbulence for tasks of duration 20 periods (t = 20), following the convention set by march (1991). for any given 12 experiment, we report results as averages over 10,000 iterations (i = 10,000). we use a 20% value for average learning rate to signify high exploration (p1–avg = 0.2); we use an 80% value for average learning rate to signify high exploitation (p1–avg = 0.8). we use a 50% level for p2, except where mentioned otherwise (p2 = 0.5). for purposes of robustness checks, we run the model with m = 25 and 35, n = 40 and 60, p2 = 0.4 and 0.6, and p1–avg values 5% on either side of high exploration (p1–avg = 0.2) and high exploitation (p1–avg = 0.8). we obtain qualitatively similar results as reported below. results we conducted distinct experiments, first to verify conformance of our model’s mechanics to march’s (1991) model—our baseline test—and then to take a deeper dive into the mechanisms underlying the continuum conception of exploration and exploitation. towards the latter objective, we relax one of march’s assumptions and allow variation in chc embodied in the knowledge of organizational members (agents). march’s assumption of random knowledge in agents at the beginning of his simulation amounted to conferring a moderate level of chc. as stated earlier, we designate such a population as a marchian population. our baseline test with marchian populations obtains qualitative conformance with march’s results. 13 moreover, under conditions of low chc, i.e. when organizational members initiate with a level of chc lower than that in a marchian population, a different set of outcomes transpire. these results serve to inform given conditions under which higher exploitation, rather than higher exploration is beneficial to organizations. we conduct additional analyses to trace the exact mechanism by means of which a regime of desirability of high exploitation transitions to a regime of desirability of high exploration. we discuss our findings with respect to a set of business organizations classified according to their focus on exploration vs. exploitation, and varying in chc. � 1045 12. note that, under longer exposure to environmental turbulence, no particular exploration–exploitation strategy yields outcomes markedly different from that obtainable by random action. 13. we built our model according to the conceptual narration in march’s p u b l i s h e d ( 1 9 9 1 ) p a p e r . subsequently, we had access to march’s code and discovered that there are some additional coding steps that are not described in the published article. our analyses reveal that all the undocumented features should be dropped, being at a v a r i a n c e t o t h e t h e o r e t i c a l assumptions of march’s paper. the d r o p p i n g o f n o n c o n f o r m i n g assumptions accounts for minor differences in the values obtained in our figures 2 and 3 with respect to march’s values. the continuum conception of exploration and exploitation: 
 an update to march’s theory m@n@gement, vol. 21(3): 1050-1079 baseline test. figure 2 introduces the overall model mechanics. it shows the level of organizational knowledge attained (average equilibrium knowledge, on the vertical axis) when the rate of socialization of members (p1) varies (socialization rate, on the horizontal axis), for distinctive rates of code learning (p2), given that the chc of the organizational members 14 corresponds to that present in a marchian population. we observe that superior outcomes are obtained when agents learn slowly, i.e. p1 is low, and particularly so if the org. code’s learning rate is fast, i.e. p2 is high. this stems from the fact that the org. code can learn only as long as its knowledge is sufficiently different from that of the members. if members learn too fast (say p1 = 0.9, on the horizontal axis, to the right), this difference is rapidly obliterated, giving less time for the org. code to learn, resulting in a lower organizational knowledge level, compared to when members learn slower (say p1 = 0.1, on the horizontal axis, to the left). figure 2. effect of learning rates (p1, p2) on equilibrium knowledge, marchian populations figure 3 introduces the continuum conception. on the horizontal axis we vary average socialization rate (p1–avg). recall that a low value of (p1–avg) is constructed by having a higher proportion of members learn slowly (p1 = 0.1), while the remainder of the population learns fast (p1 = 0.9) and vice versa. the characteristic for heterogeneous learning is referred to as “heterogeneous” in the graph. the characteristic labeled “heterogeneous” indicates a situation where some members of an organization learn at a slow rate (p1 = 0.1) and others learn at a fast rate (p1 = 0.9). the continuum conception is motivated by having the rate of heterogeneous learning vary from p1–avg = 0.2, signifying high exploration, to p1–avg = 0.8, signifying high exploitation. further, in figure 3, the characteristic labeled “homogeneous” corresponds to a situation where all members of an organization learn at a uniform rate. on the vertical axis, as before, we show an average amount of knowledge in the org. code, upon reaching equilibrium. figure 3 shows that, for comparable average rates of learning, higher organizational knowledge is attained from heterogeneous learning. further, organizational knowledge decreases as average learning rate (p1–avg) increases from low values (20%, p1–avg = 0.2) to high values (80%, p1–avg = 0.8). the model’s results suggest that, when there is a � 1046 notes. triangular markers represent high rate of code learning (p2 = 0.9), rectangular markers represent medium rate of code learning (p2 = 0.5) and rhombus-shaped markers represent low rate of code learning (p2 = 0.1). other parameters are m =30, n = 50, p4 =0, iterations = 10,000, marchian population. 14. the rate of socialization of members (p1) is equivalent to member learning rate. march (1991: 77) describes p1 as the socialization learning parameter. m@n@gement, vol. 21(3): 1050-1079 sasanka sekhar chanda & sougata ray & bill mckelvey moderate level of chc in the organization (i.e. for marchian populations), deploying a lower average learning rate, i.e. higher exploration, accomplishes higher organizational knowledge compared to higher exploitation (manifested by deploying a higher average learning rate). these results support proposition p1. figure 3. effect of heterogeneous learning rates (p1 = 0.1, 0.9) on equilibrium knowledge, marchian populations analysis of organizational knowledge outcomes under varying collective human capital. in figure 4 we observe organizational knowledge outcomes that materialize when an organization has lower chc compared to marchian populations. we model the chc in the organization to be somewhat misaligned to the needs of the task at hand by having 15% of randomly chosen knowledge dimensions of each member of a marchian population overwritten with values opposite that of reality, r, at the beginning of a simulation run. as discussed earlier, when a value different from that in a dimension of reality is required to overwrite a belief dimension of an organizational member, we use “+1” if the reality string dimension has value “–1”; otherwise we use “–1”. other parameters are identical to those in figure 3. we observe that overall organizational knowledge levels accomplished are much lower (below 40%) than what is accomplished with moderate or marchian chc (over 70%, as shown in figure 3). a comparison of values attained by the characteristic heterogeneous in figures 3 and 4—representing the continuum conception —shows that a lower level of organizational knowledge is attained in the latter case, where chc in the organization is low. this result supports proposition p2. � 1047 notes. rhombus-shaped markers represent all members learning at a homogeneous rate, rectangular markers represent a situation where some members learn at a low rate (p1 = 0.1), others learn at a high rate (p1 = 0.9). this characteristic, labeled heterogeneous, represents the continuum conception. knowledge outcomes to the left are those obtained under high exploration. those to the right are for high exploitation. the values on the x-axis constitute the average learning rate across members. other parameters are m =30, n = 50, p2 = 0.5, p4 =0, iterations = 10,000, marchian population. the continuum conception of exploration and exploitation: 
 an update to march’s theory m@n@gement, vol. 21(3): 1050-1079 figure 4. effect of heterogeneous learning rates (p1 = 0.1, 0.9) on equilibrium knowledge, sub-marchian populations furthermore, in a sharp reversal of the outcome corresponding to the continuum conception shown in figure 3, in figure 4 we observe that a population espousing heterogeneous learning accomplishes superior outcomes when there is a higher proportion of fast learners. thus, when organizations initially have a low level of chc, higher average learning rates obtain superior organizational knowledge compared to that obtained with lower average learning rates. in this situation, higher exploitation is preferable over higher exploration. therefore, proposition p3 is supported. in figure 5 we present what would be the general case underlying exploration and exploitation in the continuum conception. on the horizontal axis we vary human capital in terms of per cent offset from the level of knowledge of a marchian population (chc offset from marchian population). on the vertical axis we show the level of organizational knowledge attained, at equilibrium (average equilibrium knowledge). the characteristics shown correspond to the two ends of the exploration– exploitation continuum. the characteristic with p1–avg = 0.2 indicates high exploration. the characteristic with p1–avg = 0.8 indicates high exploitation. the results in march (1991: 77, figure 2) and our figure 3 highlight the right-hand half of the graphs—i.e. that the high exploration characteristic (p1–avg = 0.2) results in higher organizational knowledge. this signifies that, when organizations start with moderate or high chc, higher exploration leads to higher organizational knowledge (proposition p1). we show the other half of the story in the left section of the graphs—which is that higher exploitation is useful when an organization has a low level of chc with respect to the needs of the task at hand (proposition p3). for a model-based explanation of the reversal of march’s result upon lowering of chc in the organization, please see appendix a. we provide a brief summary in the next two paragraphs. proposition p1 states that, for moderate chc the outcomes of higher exploration are superior to the outcomes from higher exploitation. we observe that early in the simulation (at end of period two)—before any member learning has taken place—the org. code attains a high (40%) extent of correct knowledge, raising the bar for members who join as elites to advise the org. code. thus, members with poor knowledge (i.e. a high proportion of incorrect knowledge) get barred from advising the org. code. in this case, the later the convergence between knowledge of all the members and the code, the higher is the level of organizational knowledge, � 1048 notes. rhombus-shaped markers represent all members learning at a homogeneous rate, rectangular markers represent a situation where some members learn at a low rate (p1 = 0.1), others learn at a high rate (p1 = 0.9). the values on the x-axis constitute the average learning rate across members. other parameters are m =30, n = 50, p2 = 0.5, p4 =0, iterations = 10,000, sub-marchian population with 15% deficient human capital compared to marchian populations. m@n@gement, vol. 21(3): 1050-1079 sasanka sekhar chanda & sougata ray & bill mckelvey since more of the heterogeneity of slow learners gets utilized. hence exploration obtains outcomes superior to outcomes from exploitation. proposition p3 states that for low chc the outcomes of higher exploitation are superior to the outcomes from higher exploration. in this case, early in the simulation (at end of period two)—before any member learning has taken place—the org. code attains a high (84%) extent of incorrect knowledge. at the same time, a very low extent of correct knowledge (7%) in the org. code allows members with highly faulty knowledge to get into the team of elites who advise the code. the longer the exposure of the members to the highly error-ridden org. code, the greater is the knowledge lost from all members and particularly so, from the slow-learning members. for a high rate of exploitation, the duration of exposure is lower. hence knowledge of the slow-learning members degrades less. this translates to superior outcomes for high exploitation. figure 5. effect of variation in collective human capital on equilibrium knowledge the results shown in figure 5 illustrate a form of phase transition upon reaching critical mass. on one side of the critical point, the winning strategy concerns high exploitation. on the other side, the winning strategy concerns high exploration. in figure 5, the critical point is situated where the two characteristics (plot-lines) cross. this happens for a level of chc at an offset of approximately 10% below the knowledge of marchian populations. the exclusion of cases where the chc is lower than the human capital embodied in marchian populations leads to a conclusion that more exploration is always better, calling into question the notion of balance between exploration and exploitation. dierickx & cool (1989) note that joint consideration of stocks and flows is necessary to develop adequate theory regarding phenomena. by associating the stocks of chc and organizational knowledge in an organization with the flow elements comprising of organizational learning rate and member learning rate, we advance march’s (1991) findings to the next logical step in theory development. o r g a n i z a t i o n a l k n o w l e d g e o u t c o m e s u n d e r va r y i n g environmental turbulence. in figure 6 we present organizational knowledge outcomes attained by sub-marchian populations for a range of environmental turbulence. in figure 7 we present the corresponding information for marchian populations. � 1049 notes. rhombus-shaped markers represent members learning at an average rate of 20% (p1-avg = 0.20), rectangular markers represent members learning at an average rate of 80% (p1-avg = 0.80). in both cases, some members learn at a low rate (p1 = 0.1), others learn at a high rate (p1 = 0.9). the values on the x-axis constitute offset from the level of collective human capital of marchian populations. negative values signify misalignment with needs of the task at hand. positive values signify alignment. other parameters are m =30, n = 50, p2 = 0.5, p4 =0, iterations = 10,000. the continuum conception of exploration and exploitation: 
 an update to march’s theory m@n@gement, vol. 21(3): 1050-1079 figure 6. effect of variation in environmental turbulence on organizational knowledge, sub-marchian populations, continuous change environment figure 7. effect of variation in environmental turbulence on organizational knowledge, marchian populations, continuous change environment we observe that the results noticed for a stable environment by and large continue to hold good for low to moderate turbulence (0% to 2% turbulence as per the convention we adopted). carrying out higher exploitation (focusing on execution) continues to be a better strategy than engaging in higher exploration (experimentation), for sub-marchian populations representing organizations low in chc. the differences narrow and disappear for higher turbulence. for marchian populations— organizations that are not deficient in chc—higher exploration (experimentation) continues to obtain better results, compared to exploiting more (being focused on execution and refinement). the differences persist for the entire range of environmental turbulence examined. the result presented above is different from the findings of posen and levinthal (2012). posen and levinthal’s (2012) single-actor, multiarmed, bandit model suggests that a 50:50 mix of exploration and � 1050 notes. rhombus-shaped markers represent members learning at an average rate of 20% (p1-avg = 0.20), rectangular markers represent members learning at an average rate of 80% (p1-avg = 0.80). in both cases, some members learn at a low rate (p1 = 0.1), others learn at a high rate (p1 = 0.9). other parameters are m =30, n = 50, t = 20, p2 = 0.5, iterations = 10,000, submarchian population. notes. rhombus-shaped markers represent members learning at an average rate of 20% (p1-avg = 0.20), rectangular markers represent members learning at an average rate of 80% (p1-avg = 0.80). in both cases, some members learn at a low rate (p1 = 0.1), others learn at a high rate (p1 = 0.9). other parameters are m =30, n = 50, t =20, p2 = 0.5, iterations = 10,000, marchian population. m@n@gement, vol. 21(3): 1050-1079 sasanka sekhar chanda & sougata ray & bill mckelvey exploitation is optimal in a stable environment (p. 592, figure 1). in a changing environment, higher exploitation is favored (p. 594, figure 3). our results are different because our formal model allows utilization of heterogeneous knowledge dispersed in the heads of organizational members (chc), something a single-actor model cannot do. we further observe that posen and levinthal (2012) invoke a punctuated equilibrium model of environmental change, unlike march (1991) where turbulence is characterized by continuous environmental change. in the punctuated equilibrium model of environmental change, upon materialization of a change event—say with probability p4_alt—dimensions of reality flip values (from “+1” to “–1” and from “–1” to “+1”) with 50% probability. in figures 8 and 9 we present results analogous to those in figures 6 and 7 respectively, but using a punctuated equilibrium model of environmental change instead of a continuous change model. we observe that the results are qualitatively similar to that in figures 6 and 7. the gap between the characteristics for high exploration and high exploitation is narrower in figures 8 and 9. again, focusing on execution (exploitation) comes out as a desirable strategy for organizations with sub-marchian population, and focusing on experimentation (exploration) is observed to work better for organizations with marchian populations. figure 8. effect of variation in environmental turbulence on organizational knowledge, sub-marchian populations, punctuated equilibrium model of environmental change � 1051 notes. rhombus-shaped markers represent members learning at an average rate of 20% (p1-avg = 0.20), rectangular markers represent members learning at an average rate of 80% (p1-avg = 0.80). in both cases, some members learn at a low rate (p1 = 0.1), others learn at a high rate (p1 = 0.9). other parameters are m =30, n = 50, t = 20, p2 = 0.5, iterations = 10,000, submarchian population. the continuum conception of exploration and exploitation: 
 an update to march’s theory m@n@gement, vol. 21(3): 1050-1079 figure 9. effect of variation in environmental turbulence on organizational knowledge, marchian populations, punctuated equilibrium model of environmental change results summary. we present a summary of our results in table 2. the lowest level of organizational knowledge is attained when an organization with low chc pursues a high degree of exploration (quadrant i, labeled as q1 in the table). for example, from figure 4 we find the value to be around 17%, as indicated by the value attained by the curve heterogeneous at the left-most point, where p1–avg = 0.2. somewhat higher organizational knowledge is attainable when an organization with low chc exploits at a high rate (quadrant ii, labeled as q2 in the table). for example, from figure 4, we find the value to be around 35%, as may be observed from the value shown by the curve heterogeneous at the rightmost point, where p1–avg = 0.8. if an organization possesses moderate or high chc, it stands to attain even higher organizational knowledge by high exploitation (quadrant iii, labeled as q3 in the table). for example, from figure 3, we find the value to be around 70%, as indicated by the value attained by the curve heterogeneous at the right-most point p1–avg = 0.8. the highest level of organizational knowledge is attained, however, when an organization with moderate or high human capital explores at a high rate (quadrant iv, labeled as q4 in the table). this may be observed from figure 3, in the curve heterogeneous at the left-most point where p1–avg = 0.2, which attains over 80% organizational knowledge. the relative orders of magnitude are noteworthy: deficient-chc firms can obtain 2x the organizational knowledge by pursuing high exploitation instead of high exploration. further, firms not deficient in chc obtain upwards of 2x the maximum attainable by deficient-chc firms. table 2. relative levels of organizational knowledge attainable by high exploration and high exploitation, for organizations with low moderate and high collective human capital � 1052 notes. rhombus-shaped markers represent members learning at an average rate of 20% (p1-avg = 0.20), rectangular markers represent members learning at an average rate of 80% (p1-avg = 0.80). in both cases, some members learn at a low rate (p1 = 0.1), others learn at a high rate (p1 = 0.9). other parameters are m =30, n = 50, t =20, p2 = 0.5, iterations = 10,000, marchian population. 
 organizational knowledge attained under high exploration organizational knowledge attained under high exploitation low collective human capital very low (q1) low (q2) moderate or high collective human capital very high (q4) high (q3) m@n@gement, vol. 21(3): 1050-1079 sasanka sekhar chanda & sougata ray & bill mckelvey interpretation of the results. business organizations or companies in q1 and q2 are those that have (a) fairly low levels of chc and (b) negligible access to external resources. exploration is a luxury that companies in this situation cannot afford. they survive by selling low-cost, lean-feature (simple) products. a successful firm operating in a bottom-ofpyramid (bop) market constitutes a good example of this kind of firm. if the relative level of organizational knowledge attainable is an indicator of probability of success in a given market, companies in q1 are unlikely to survive for long. companies in q2, on the other hand, may find vacant niches and under-served markets and then develop into significant businesses over time. the existence of companies in q2 gives rise to an interesting phenomenon frequently encountered in developing economies. a newcomer to an industry with fairly low initial resources and human capital (a) creates a feature-lean product at a price much lower than the prices of its competitors and (b) rapidly attains an efficient scale of operations. low chc is indicated by the fact that such a firm has limited means. a lower level of organizational knowledge (compared to mainstream businesses) is manifested in the feature-lean products and simple distribution strategies the firm comes up with. over time, this company goes on to emerge as a formidable competitor to the industry incumbents. for a good example, please see icmr (2001), the nirma story. it describes how a detergent brand of humble origins—initially sold by the maker of nirma from his own bicycle—took on unilever’s powerful subsidiary in india. lower chc limits such businesses to only a handful of features and functionality. in the process though, a new segment opens up, at a price point far lower than what the incumbents can anticipate. in some cases, over time, a viable business emerges—one with cash positions sufficient to make forays into more mainstream products and services. the organizations in quadrant q3 are ones that do not lack human capital. however, their primary mode of operating is by cutting costs (high exploitation). developed-economy (for example us-based) firms that have outsourced manufacturing to developing country locations (for example china) fall in this category. the organizations in q4 also do not lack human capital. however, they focus more on innovation and less on cutting costs. a firm like intel, which leads in innovative design of new products and endeavors to make continuous improvements in semiconductor manufacturing, falls in this category. as long as their innovations are up to date and useful, the q4 organizations may be expected to do better than q3 organizations (note, however, that as we write this paper, intel is suffering from a lack of new chip-related inventions). discussion our research was motivated by a feeling of puzzlement that, even though the necessity of balancing exploration and exploitation is widely accepted, march’s formal model—considering exploitation and exploration as two ends of a continuum in a closed system—appears to suggest that higher exploration is always preferable over higher exploitation. we unearth an additional principle by considering the knowledge stocks (chc and organizational knowledge) jointly with the flows (comprising member and org. code learning rates). thus, in organizations deficient in chc, high exploitation is preferable over high exploration. in the process, we add a b o u n d a r y c o n d i t i o n t o m a r c h ’s fi n d i n g t h a t h i g h e x p l o r a t i o n (experimentation) is preferable over high exploitation (execution and refinement focus) only when the chc in an organization is moderate or � 1053 the continuum conception of exploration and exploitation: 
 an update to march’s theory m@n@gement, vol. 21(3): 1050-1079 high and not when the chc in the organization is low. these two principles apply for an organization with negligible access to heterogeneous knowledge from outside and operating under low to moderate environmental turbulence. our study, per se, does not identify a ratio of exploration–exploitation that is ideal. therefore, balancing exploration and exploitation—in the continuum sense—may mean that an organization allocates the minimal acceptable resources to one activity and concentrates the rest of its resources on the other activity (levinthal & march, 1993). the role of managerial judgment is crucial in determining the level that constitutes the minimum for the less-preferred activity. implications for research. there are important implications of the fact that the formal model for the continuum conception fails to demonstrate superiority of balancing exploration and exploitation in an organization. our computational model clarifies that the formal model actually suggests that lack of balance is not an impediment to attaining superior organizational knowledge. the level of chc endowment of an organization determines whether it is rewarding to focus on exploration or exploitation. this principle suggests that there is scope for managerial intentionality (hutzschenreuter. pedersen & volberda, 2007; chanda and ray, 2015) towards orienting an organization either to exploratory innovation or to exploitative innovation (jansen, van den bosch and volberda, 2006; chanda & ray, 2015) under an assumption that that the level of chc can be chosen by organizations—for example through acquisitions and divestments. empirical evidence exists that companies can be successful with “unbalanced” orientation: for example, chen and katila (2008) cite ibm and dell as leaning towards high exploitation, and amazon and apple as leaning towards high exploration. moreover, upon orienting their organization towards exploratory or exploitative innovation (by configuring an appropriate level of chc), managers have to commit to carrying out a certain minimum level of the non-preferred activity. there is a need for further research on what that minimum level should be for organizations operating in particular contexts. the new “balance discussion” needs to focus on finding the determinants of the minimum level of the non-preferred activity for organizations into exploratory innovations as well as for organizations into exploitative innovation. we provide a different answer to the question as to what proportion of exploration and exploitation is desirable in an organization. posen and levinthal (2012) use a single-actor model to show that a 50:50 distribution is optimal, in a stable environment (p. 592, figure 1); for dynamic environment, the proportion changes, eventually favoring higher exploitation under higher turbulence (p. 594, figure 3). by investigating the implications of the continuum conception of exploration and exploitation in the formal model proposed by march (1991), our study finds little justification for altering a successful exploitation–exploration mix—for companies deficient in chc as well as companies not deficient in chc—in a changing environment. a single-actor model is ill-suited to suggest outcomes of efforts by a group of organizational members. in the posen and levinthal (2012) study, a single agent updates estimates of probabilities of obtaining payoff by operating the levers of a multi-armed bandit model successively over time. learning is by one agent, starting from zero knowledge. in march (1991) and our model, the org. code also initiates with zero knowledge. thereafter, the genetic algorithm mechanism allows rounding up of heterogeneous knowledge dispersed in the heads of organizational member agents—chc —as validated knowledge in the org. code. chc is operationalized as a � 1054 m@n@gement, vol. 21(3): 1050-1079 sasanka sekhar chanda & sougata ray & bill mckelvey property of a group, where the whole is not the sum of the parts. rather, chc is fashioned from the aligned, misaligned and neutral beliefs regarding organizational matters, embedded in the latent knowledge of the organizational population. thus, we substantiate our distinctive answer from a study of the emergence of a macro-level pattern of organizational knowledge from the micro-level learning behavior of organizational members. implications for theory. our study brings to the fore the important role of chc in an organization for determining whether it should focus on exploitation at the expense of focusing on exploration or vice versa. further research is necessary to investigate how a company senses the status of its own human capital and determines the uses that the latter may be deployed for. second, by linking the effectiveness of managerial choice—with regard to allocation of resources towards exploration and exploitation—with the extent of chc in the organization, we offer an explanation to the puzzling phenomenon that higher exploration is deemed as desirable (as from march’s existing theory), but is not undertaken in some companies. these companies seem to be happy to exploit on a large scale. a conjunction of (a) minimal accessing of outside resources and (b) a low level of chc motivates the wisdom behind choosing high exploitation over exploration. third, our study highlights that successful strategies—focusing on exploration vs. focusing on exploitation—are different, depending on whether an organization possesses a critical mass of chc or otherwise, respectively. further research is necessary to find factors that determine the extent of chc that would qualify as critical mass in stylized contexts. for example, if one company a acquires another company b, does the chc automatically increase, for the merged entity? moreover, postacquisition, if many organizational members leave, what factors determine the danger-mark of falling below the critical mass of chc? alternatively, if a merger or a divestment is in response to increasing commoditization of an industry’s products (or services), what determines the extent of chc that a company may safely shed in order to transition to a regime of high exploitation? conversely, what determines the measures for increasing and nurturing chc, if a company, upon amassing large cash reserves through success in serving bop markets with feature-lean products wishes to enter the mainstream? is entry to the mainstream with a high exploitation focus the only option? or, by suitable nurturing of chc, can a company leapfrog to offering differentiated products in the mainstream directly? fourth, our study suggests a mechanism by which organizations low in chc may win over other similar organizations, i.e. by purposefully choosing to exploit at a high rate. such action opens up the opportunity to serve new markets for low-cost, feature-lean products and services. our work could be applied to understanding how a company may obtain success serving bop markets. though much has been written already (icmr, 2001; prahalad, 2004; prahalad & hart, 2002), a theoretical treatment with the exploration–exploitation paradigm has hitherto escaped the attention of scholars. our study breaks ground in this direction. a company lacking in chc endowment deploys technology that is low in sophistication to manufacture feature-lean products. most often, such products are welcome only in the bop markets. moreover, the company follows simple sourcing and distribution strategies, thereby making do with a relatively lower level of organizational knowledge, compared to mainstream incumbents. for example, the originator of the nirma detergent engaged poor women working at home to pack his � 1055 the continuum conception of exploration and exploitation: 
 an update to march’s theory m@n@gement, vol. 21(3): 1050-1079 produce. he himself distributed the product—initially only to friends and relatives en route to his office—riding on his bicycle. for products targeted to the bop customers, the price is set well below offerings from more renowned firms. yet, the minimalist functionality that is delivered reflects deep understanding of the needs and aspirations of the target customers. the rate of exploitation picks up as the entrepreneurial company scales up its cost-effective ways to serve needs left unmet by mainstream businesses. moreover, a certain degree of exploration is involved in divining newer ways to reach customers, forging supply-chain relationships with members of the bop community, and so forth. however, these companies cannot afford costly experimentation. unlike better-endowed mainstream businesses, they have limited ability to bounce back from failure in experimentation. a high rate of exploration is likely to be fatal for these firms. our study’s most important message is that all companies should not strive to do more exploration all the time. companies low in chc are better off focusing on high exploitation. from a consulting perspective, going forward, we refrain from suggesting ways and means for increasing exploration for this class of companies. further, when companies shed chc—say by divestiture or spin-off—the entity that remains may have to critically evaluate its chc, to determine whether a higher exploitation focus is more suitable after the organizational change. where a change in focus is applicable, additional tasks get added to the organizational change management efforts. limitations of our study. the validity of the propositions from the model is crucially dependent on the proper functioning of the mechanism that the org. code obtains new knowledge only from the elite members (i.e. agents who are more knowledgeable about the reality relevant to the organization than the org. code). in the event an organization functions by learning from all members by a democratic process, there is no impact of varying member learning rate on organizational knowledge. in such a 15 case, it is not possible to distinguish exploration from exploitation by means of the average rate of learning by members. further, we have limited the scope of the study to leveraging knowledge heterogeneity internal to a company. future research may consider implications of permitting inflow of knowledge from outside the system, perhaps by hiring new employees who bring new knowledge into an organization by means of strategic alliances, and so forth. moreover, the genetic algorithm computational model, by design, ignores the effect of learning between members on increasing organizational knowledge. the research by miller, et al. (2006) and miller and martignoni (2016) holds out the promise of exciting new avenues when the model is extended to allow interpersonal learning, and particularly so when tacit knowledge is involved.16 future research opportunities. from our study, the level of chc in the organization gets identified as a crucial parameter that determines which of exploration or exploitation ought to be preferred, given an organization’s resource capabilities and environmental constraints. thus, there is need to develop understanding of factors that influence the location of the critical point at which the switchover happens. as a small step in this direction in appendix b we show how the critical level of chc varies with an increase in the values of two model parameters—the number of members, signifying size of an organization, and the number of � 1056 1 5 . t h e r e s u l t s o f s e p a r a t e experiments conducted to verify this point are available from the authors upon request. 16.miller, et al. (2006) allow m e m b e r s t o l e a r n c o d i fi a b l e knowledge from the organizational code. however, for non-codifiable knowledge (or tacit knowledge) t h e y c o n s i d e r i n t e r p e r s o n a l e x c h a n g e a n e c e s s a r y requirement. m@n@gement, vol. 21(3): 1050-1079 sasanka sekhar chanda & sougata ray & bill mckelvey dimensions of reality, signifying the breadth of context. in both cases we observe that the critical level of chc moves up closer to the value in marchian populations. moreover, in the new “balance” discussion that we identify, organizations carry out a minimum level of one activity from exploration and exploitation and concentrate resources on the other activity. we note that a company will surely fail if it carries out less than a minimum level of a non-preferred activity. at the same time, there is scope for gains when a company realizes it is doing more than the minimum necessary and reallocates resources as a result. future research may find it productive to investigate how managers form judgments regarding the minimal level of the less-preferred activity and what environmental and organizational conditions cause the desirable level to change over time. we also note that, in march’s model, changes toward more or less exploration and/or exploitation levels are assumed to occur in a costless fashion. in real-life cases, there may be considerable costs to lower one activity and/or increase emphasis on the other. incorporation of related constructs and processes holds out the promise of new theory. moreover, in multi-business firms, individual units comprise distinct aggregates of chc, each directed to its specific goals. future research may fruitfully inquire what patterns emerge when such collectives interact in the organizational ecosystem. alternatively, even a single-business firm is embedded in a network of relationships with suppliers, customers, alliance partners and other entities. while the status of its own chc may bias a firm towards maximizing outcomes by either exploration or exploitation, feedback from partners may work in unexpected ways to reorient the action of such firms. contingencies other than the status of the chc of an organization that shape a company’s orientation towards exploration or exploitation constitute an interesting area for further study. concluding remarks in this section we take stock of our progress in realization of march’s wisdom that “ideas that transform ways of thinking about practical problems rarely come from a direct focus on those problems” (2013: 732). first, our endeavor to update march’s (1991) theory by joint consideration of stocks and flows led us to discover that the formal model for the continuum conception of exploration and exploitation does not demand that the two activities be balanced in order to produce superior organizational outcomes. this necessitates a new discussion on “balance” where the focus of inquiry is on determination of the minimum level of the lesspreferred activity (from exploration and exploitation) to be carried out, given managerial intentionality towards either exploratory or exploitative innovation. second, our research enables us to provide a different answer to a question recently addressed by noted scholars in the field—what mix of resource allocation for exploration and exploitation is desirable for stable and dynamic environments? third, we suggest a theoretical explanation of an under-theorized phenomenon, that firms having limited means may rise to prominence, by serving bop markets with bare-bones products, avoiding experimentation (these firms have limited ability to continue existing after failures in experimentation) and instead focusing on excelling in a limited set of activities (as evidenced by the attainable organizational knowledge range of 15-35%), when regular firms (that are not low in chc) operate with organizational knowledge twice that level. last but not the least, in a bid to explain why successful strategies are different on either side of a critical level of chc, we develop a thorough � 1057 the continuum conception of exploration and exploitation: 
 an update to march’s theory m@n@gement, vol. 21(3): 1050-1079 explanation of a phenomenon that is akin to phase transition—as in the terminology of complexity theorists—given that the maximum organizational knowledge on the deficient-chc side is more than twice that reached on the moderate-chc side. the cambridge dictionary defines critical mass as “the size that something needs to reach before a particular change, event or development can happen”. the explanation provided in 17 appendix a concerning how a small change in chc leads to a significant change in the level of organizational knowledge attainable is probably the first that goes to micro-level dynamics to explain a phenomenon similar to phase transition upon reaching (or falling below) critical mass. in the world of finance, the term critical mass is deployed to signify “the point at which a growing company becomes self-sustaining, and no longer needs additional investment to remain economically viable”. in our research we show how 18 a slight change in a stock variable (level of chc in the organization) leads to a large change in attainable outcome (from less than 35% to over 70%) as well as reversal of the desirable strategy (the winning formula shifts from high exploitation to high exploration). we draw the attention of scholars and practitioners to the mechanism by which the radical impact of relatively small change to concentration to certain stocks comes to be. thereby, we pave the way for further research inquiry into phenomena involving critical mass effects. � 1058 17. in physics, the term “critical mass” signifies “the smallest amount of matter that is needed to p r o d u c e a n u c l e a r c h a i n reaction” (cambridge dictionary, https://dictionary.cambridge.org/ dictionary/english/critical-mass. accessed: march 29, 2018). 1 8 . s o u r c e : h t t p s : / / www.investopedia.com/terms/c/ c r i t i c a l m a s s . a s p . a c c e s s e d : march 29, 2018. m@n@gement, vol. 21(3): 1050-1079 sasanka sekhar chanda & sougata ray & bill mckelvey appendix a model-based explanation of the result suggesting strategies emphasizing exploitation are advantaged compared to strategies emphasizing exploration when level of collective human capital (chc) is low, and disadvantaged otherwise in order to develop an appreciation as to why, in the formal model for the continuum conception of exploration and exploitation, (a) greater exploration is favorable when chc is moderate (say at the level represented by marchian populations) or higher, and (b) greater exploitation is favorable when chc is low (say at the level represented by sub-marchian populations) or lower, we need to study how knowledge held by the org. code and organizational members’ beliefs change over time. we adopt the conventions that: (a) when we refer to the contents of the org. code, we refer to knowledge being “correct” if the value in a given position matches that in the corresponding position of the reality (r) or environment. further, knowledge bits with “0” values do not contribute in the count of correct or incorrect knowledge. the other dimensions that host non-matching bits between the reality and org. code are referred to as incorrect knowledge. (b) when we refer to the contents of the members’ belief strings we cite a belief as correct if it matches with the value in the corresponding dimension of the reality string; otherwise, we cite that as misaligned or wrong beliefs. belief bits with “0” values do not contribute to the count of correct or incorrect beliefs. given the rather involved nature of the explanation, we adopt the following strategy to present our explanations. first, we make some analytical predictions—by means of logical arguments—regarding what values of member and organizational knowledge we expect to see in the first two time-steps. next, we check the graphical output having org. code knowledge as the dependent variable to see whether our analytical predictions fructified. upon obtaining confirmation, we make a second set of predictions regarding what we expect to see in time-steps beyond the second time-step. the second set of predictions is regarding how knowledge of the members of the organization take shape. throughout, 19 we highlight statements that are analytically derived by underlining them. we also assign numbering in roman numerals to identify the analytical statements. this recourse helps demarcate analytically derived inferences from other text and description. when the analytically predicted outcomes show up in graphical output, we obtain confirmation about the line of reasoning and draw the attention of the reader to the confirmation by referring back to the analytical statement identified by roman numerals (i, ii … x). analytical predictions about model behavior in first two time-steps recall that a marchian population is constructed by randomly assigning “–1”, “+1” and “0” to each of m belief dimensions of each of n members of the organization. each value has one-third probability of � 1059 1 9 . to r e i t e r a t e , w e m a k e p r e d i c t i o n s r e g a r d i n g organizational code knowledge in the first two periods by logical arguments. we confirm these subsequently by checking the graphical output. at this point we make predictions regarding the knowledge of organizational m e m b e r s ( s l o w a n d f a s t learners) for subsequent timesteps. thereafter we verify that the analytical predictions were indeed borne out. the continuum conception of exploration and exploitation: 
 an update to march’s theory m@n@gement, vol. 21(3): 1050-1079 materializing in any member’s belief string. also recall that the external reality or environment string is formed by randomly assigning “–1” and “+1” values, with 50% probability, to each dimension. thus, on average, twothirds of member bits have value “–1” and “+1”. thus, a marchian population, on average, contains one-third (33%) correct beliefs [i]. further, recall that a sub-marchian population (in figure 4) was constructed by randomly assigning 15% of member bits values opposite to that in the reality string. we expect a third of these 15% bits to have 20 overwritten “0” values, another third to have overwritten correct knowledge bits, and the last third to have overwritten incorrect (or misaligned) beliefs of members. thus, a sub-marchian population initiates with (33 – 5) % = 21 28% correct beliefs, on an average [ii]. following similar reasoning we assess that a marchian population has one-third (33%) incorrect (or misaligned) beliefs on an average, whereas a sub-marchian population has an average of (33 + 10) % = 43% incorrect (or misaligned) beliefs at the time of start of simulation runs. we also need to appreciate a fine point regarding the cadence of updates to org. code knowledge and member belief values. in the march (1991) model, in each time-step, the org. code learns from members and members learn from the code. in the program (computer code) implementation, the organizational members learn from the image of the org. code that existed in the immediately prior time-step. likewise, the org. code learns from the image of the member belief strings that prevailed in the immediately previous time-step. this is important. let us see why. recall that, at time t = 0, the org. code has value “0” (no opinion) in all dimensions. this has two important implications. first, in time-step one (t = 1), every member will qualify as a member of the elite group the org. code learns from, since all have one or more than one bit matching with reality. thus, the org. code knowledge that we 22 observe in time-step two (t = 2) is an outcome of the org. code learning from all members for one period. hence, given that marchian and submarchian populations initiate with different average correct beliefs (33% and 28% in our example), we expect the org. code knowledge to be different in time-step two (t = 2), between marchian and sub-marchian populations. we expect higher knowledge in org. code in time-step two (t = 2) for marchian populations, than for sub-marchian populations [iii]. further, since sub-marchian populations have members with a higher number of wrong beliefs compared to marchian populations (43% vs. 33%) we expect the org. code to have a higher proportion of incorrect knowledge for sub-marchian populations compared to marchian populations in timestep two (t = 2) [iv]. a second implication of the org. code having all “0” values in the first time-step is that the organizational members learn nothing from the org. code in time-step one. thus, the average knowledge of organizational members remains the same in time-steps one (t = 1) and two (t = 2). there is no effect of the rate of member learning on the member knowledge being observed in time-steps one (t = 1) and two (t = 2). the first learning episode that changes member knowledge values occurs at the end of timestep two (t = 2). the results of such learning on org. member beliefs are observed from time-step three (t = 3) onward. with the above background, we set out to explain the reversal from desirability of high exploration to desirability of high exploitation upon � 1060 20. in the construction of a submarchian population, if a member bit is chosen for update, a value of “+1” is given if the corresponding reality bit is “–1”. else, a value of “–1” is given. reality can have only “+1” and “–1” values. 21. we note that, the computer code process of overwriting produced no change in value for the last third of member bits that are overwritten, since those had incorrect beliefs anyway. 22. this holds true except in the rarest of rare cases, viz. all members initiate with not a single belief dimension matching the corresponding dimension in the reality r, just by chance. this case can be safely ignored, given we carry out 10,000 iterations and observe knowledge values that are averages across 10,000 runs (monte carlo technique). m@n@gement, vol. 21(3): 1050-1079 sasanka sekhar chanda & sougata ray & bill mckelvey change of chc from moderate level (as in a marchian population) to low level (as in a sub-marchian population). the explanation has three components. first, we look at change in org. code knowledge over time. next, we look at change in the proportion of incorrect knowledge in the org. code over time. particularly, we focus on the value of org. code knowledge and the proportion of incorrect knowledge bits in the org. code at the end of time-step two (t = 2), a point up to which nil member learning has taken place. thereafter we look at the change in knowledge of slow learner and fast learner organization members over time. change in organizational code knowledge over time and predictions regarding member knowledge in subsequent time-steps in figure a1a we present org. code knowledge over time for high exploration (p1–avg = 0.2) and for high exploitation (p1–avg = 0.8) for an organization having moderate chc (i.e. a marchian population). in figure a1b we present comparable information for an organization having low chc (i.e. a sub-marchian population). in table t1 we present the numerical values of org. code knowledge underlying these graphs pertaining to the first six time-steps, in lines l1 … l4. figure a1a. effect of heterogeneous learning rates (p1-avg) on organizational code knowledge over time, marchian populations � 1061 notes. rhombus-shaped markers represent members learning at an average rate of 20%, rectangular markers represent members learning at an average rate of 80%. in both cases, some members learn at a low rate (p1 = 0.1), others learn at a high rate (p1 = 0.9). other parameters are m =30, n = 50, p2 = 0.5, iterations = 10,000, marchian population. the continuum conception of exploration and exploitation: 
 an update to march’s theory m@n@gement, vol. 21(3): 1050-1079 figure a1b. effect of heterogeneous learning rates (p1-avg) on organizational code knowledge over time, sub-marchian populations table t1: org. code knowledge values in the first six time-steps, for high exploration and high exploitation, for moderate collective human capital and low collective human capital from lines l1 and l3 of table t1 we learn that, in time-step two (t = 2), the org. code attains about 40% correct knowledge, for moderate human capital (marchian populations). recall that, up until this point no member has acquired any knowledge from the org. code. also, note that only members with more than 40% correct beliefs get to be part of the elite the org. code subsequently learns from. this lowers the likelihood of the 23 code obtaining incorrect knowledge subsequently. we further reason that, given that org. members initiate with 33% correct knowledge, and given that the org. code imposes a bar of 40% to constitute the elite group that the code learns from, the knowledge of the organization’s members goes up over time till equilibrium is reached [v]. � 1062 notes. rhombus-shaped markers represent members learning at an average rate of 20%, rectangular markers represent members learning at an average rate of 80%. in both cases, some members learn at a low rate (p1 = 0.1), others learn at a high rate (p1 = 0.9). other parameters are m =30, n = 50, p2 = 0.5, iterations = 10,000, sub-marchian population with deficiency 15% from marchian population sl. collective human capital org. code knowledge for high exploration (p1–avg = 0.2) time-step→ t = 1 t = 2 t = 3 t = 4 t = 5 t = 6 l1 moderate (marchian) 0 0.401 0.602 0.621 0.647 0.663 l2 low (sub-marchian) 0 0.069 0.086 0.104 0.117 0.125 org. code knowledge for high exploitation (p1–avg = 0.8) l3 moderate (marchian) 0 0.403 0.602 0.626 0.676 0.685 l4 low (sub-marchian) 0 0.069 0.086 0.139 0.176 0.209 23. by design, the org. code learns from a group of elites comprising of members who have more knowledge than itself. m@n@gement, vol. 21(3): 1050-1079 sasanka sekhar chanda & sougata ray & bill mckelvey in contrast, lines l2 and l4 of table t1 inform that, in time-step two (t = 2), the org. code attains about 7% correct knowledge, when chc is low (sub-marchian population). thus, in this case, the bar for getting into 24 the elites—from whom the org. code learns in subsequent time-steps—is much lower than for marchian populations. this suggests that in submarchian populations, the org. code will be infiltrated with a higher proportion of incorrect knowledge, compared to marchian populations [vi]. further, note that members of a sub-marchian population initiate with 25 about 28% correct knowledge. however, they learn from an org. code with only 7% correct knowledge in the early stages. therefore, the knowledge of org. members gets reduced in the early stages of learning [vii]. change in proportion of incorrect knowledge in org. code, over time next, we look at the values of incorrect knowledge (wrong beliefs) percolating into the org. code for organizations with a moderate level of chc (marchian populations) in figure a1c and for organizations with a low level of chc (sub-marchian populations) in figure a1d. in table t2, we present numerical values for the proportion of incorrect knowledge for the first six time-steps underlying these graphs. we note that the prediction made in [iv] and [vi] is borne out: the org. code contains a higher level of incorrect knowledge (upwards of 65%) for a sub-marchian population (figure a1c), compared to the level of incorrect knowledge in the org. code for a marchian population (~40% and lower), as seen in figure a1d. figure a1c. effect of heterogeneous learning rates (p1-avg) on the proportion of incorrect knowledge in the organizational code over time, marchian populations � 1063 notes. rhombus-shaped markers represent members learning at an average rate of 20%, rectangular markers represent members learning at an average rate of 80%. in both cases, some members learn at a low rate (p1 = 0.1), others learn at a high rate (p1 = 0.9). other parameters are m =30, n = 50, p2 = 0.5, iterations = 10,000, marchian population. 24. we note that prediction [iii] is borne out: the org. code contains a lower level of knowledge (~7%) for a sub-marchian population (lines l2 and l4, for t = 2, in table t1), compared to org. code knowledge (~40%) for a marchian population (lines l1 and l3, for t = 2, in table t1) 2 5 . t h o u g h t h i s a n a l y t i c a l prediction reads similar to [iv], a fine point of difference is that the [vi] talks about inflow of incorrect knowledge into the org. code after period two, because the bar to becoming an elite is low. the continuum conception of exploration and exploitation: 
 an update to march’s theory m@n@gement, vol. 21(3): 1050-1079 figure a1d. effect of heterogeneous learning rates (p1-avg) on the proportion of incorrect knowledge in the organizational code over time, sub-marchian populations table t2: proportion of incorrect knowledge in the org. code in the first six time-steps, for high exploration and high exploitation, for moderate collective human capital and low collective human capital from lines l1 and l3 of table t2 we learn that as in time-step two (t = 2)—when no member learning has yet taken place—the org. code houses about 40% incorrect knowledge, if chc is moderate (marchian populations). we further note that the percentage of incorrect knowledge comes down to about 31% rather quickly, i.e. in time-step t = 3. thus, in � 1064 notes. rhombus-shaped markers represent members learning at an average rate of 20%, rectangular markers represent members learning at an average rate of 80%. in both cases, some members learn at a low rate (p1 = 0.1), others learn at a high rate (p1 = 0.9). other parameters are m =30, n = 50, p2 = 0.5, iterations = 10,000, sub-marchian population with deficiency 15% from marchian population. collective human capital proportion of incorrect knowledge in org. code high exploration (p1–avg = 0.2) time-step→ t = 1 t = 2 t = 3 t = 4 t = 5 t = 6 moderate (marchian population) l1 0 0.402 0.317 0.314 0.316 0.315 low (sub-marchian population) l2 0 0.839 0.867 0.869 0.869 0.868 proportion of incorrect knowledge in org. code high exploitation (p1–avg = 0.8) time-step→ t = 1 t = 2 t = 3 t = 4 t = 5 t = 6 moderate (marchian population) l3 0 0.402 0.317 0.319 0.315 0.312 low sub-marchian population) l4 0 0.838 0.866 0.851 0.821 0.791 m@n@gement, vol. 21(3): 1050-1079 sasanka sekhar chanda & sougata ray & bill mckelvey this case, the probability of org. members obtaining false beliefs from the org. code is pretty low. we expect org. member knowledge to increase over time [viii]. 26 for low chc (sub-marchian populations), the org. code gets a high 84% wrong beliefs quickly by time-step two (t = 2) before any member learning has taken place, as shown by the values in lines l2 and l4. in this situation, we expect that the fast learners will imbibe false beliefs from the code, causing their correct knowledge to be reduced. [ix]. the slow 27 learners will also imbibe false beliefs from the org. code, but at a lower rate; their correct knowledge is also reduced, but at a lesser rate [x]. summary: state of org. code prior to effects of member learning in table t3 we present a summary of interpretations we make from the study of the state of the org. code at the end of time-step two (t = 2). we note that, before any member learning has taken place—i.e. before any exploration/exploitation activity has kicked in—the org. code attains very different character between marchian and sub-marchian populations (moderate and low levels of chc, respectively). the low bar (~7%) for getting into the group of elites the org. code learns from, coupled with high incidence of incorrect knowledge in the org. code (84%) in sub-marchian populations, presages the conclusion in proposition 2 that the level of org. knowledge developed will be much lower than that attained in the case of marchian populations. table t3: summary interpretations from the state of the org. code in time-step two (t = 2) � 1065 initial conditions time-step low chc (sub-marchian population) moderate chc (marchian population) org. code 0% correct knowledge, 0% incorrect knowledge t = 0 org. members 28% correct beliefs 43% incorrect beliefs org. members 33% correct beliefs 33% incorrect beliefs leads to: conditions just before start of member learning timestep low chc moderate chc state of org. code at end of time-step two, prior to any member learning t = 2 org. code 7% correct knowledge 84% incorrect knowledge org. code 40% correct knowledge 40% incorrect knowledge inference creating a situation where: at the time member learning kicks in, the character of the org. code is quite different for m a r c h i a n a n d s u b marchian populations the bar for getting into the elite group the org. code learns from is very low. thus, more members with high number of incorrect beliefs advise the org. code there is a high bar for getting into the elite group that the org. code learns from. the org. code is less likely to be advised by members with a high number of incorrect beliefs 26. though [viii] reads similar to [v], a fine distinction is that [viii] is premised on effective barring of incorrect beliefs lowering member knowledge onwards from step three. 27. we recall that march’s model c o n s t r u c t e d a g r o u p o f heterogeneous learners by having some members learn at a slow rate (p1 = 0.1 for them), while others learn at a fast rate (p1 = 0.9 for them). we designate the former group as slow learners and we designate the latter group as fast learners. the continuum conception of exploration and exploitation: 
 an update to march’s theory m@n@gement, vol. 21(3): 1050-1079 effect of member learning (exploration/ exploitation): moderate level of chc in figures a2a and a2b we present the average knowledge held by slow learner and fast learner organizational members (average member knowledge on the vertical axis) over time (time-steps on the horizontal axis), for high exploration (p1–avg = 0.2) and high exploitation (p1–avg = 0.8) respectively for an organization with a moderate level of chc (a marchian population). figures a2a and a2b inform us that for both high exploration (p1–avg = 0.2, figure a2a) as well as high exploitation (p1–avg = 0.8, figure a2b) the fast learners initially outpace the slow learners in acquiring new knowledge, as is to be expected. the knowledge of fast learners 28 increases faster because they are learning at a rate higher than the rate at which slow learners learn. equilibrium is reached a few time-steps after the latter catch up with the former, as most of the organizational members increasingly carry correct knowledge (or properly aligned beliefs) in the same dimensions. however, the time taken to catch up is higher in figure 29 a2a compared to that in figure a2b. for example, in the case of high exploration (p1–avg = 0.2, figure a2a), the difference in knowledge between the two groups of organizational members becomes less than 1% after time-step fifty-five (t = 55). for high exploitation (p1–avg = 0.8, figure a2b) this event occurs after time-step forty-three (t = 43). figure a2a. change in member knowledge over time, under high exploration, marchian populations � 1066 notes. rhombus-shaped markers represent fast learners who learn at a high rate (p1 = 0.9). rectangular markers represent slow learners who learn at a low rate (p1 = 0.1). other parameters are m =30, n = 50, p1–avg = 0.20, p2 = 0.5, iterations = 10,000, marchian population. the dotted arrow shows the point at which the two curves differ by less than 1% in value. 28.also, note that the figures show that both classes of learners i n i t i a t e w i t h 3 3 % c o r r e c t k n o w l e d g e , a s w e d e r i v e d analytically in [i], earlier. further as predicted in [v] and [viii], knowledge of all org. members only increase over time. 29. recall that the state of equilibrium is obtained when all the members attain an identical distribution of belief values, and t h i s i s r e fl e c t e d i n t h e organizational code as well. code learning stops because, at this point, the org. code fails to construct a group of elites it can learn from, given that no member carries more knowledge than the organizational code. m@n@gement, vol. 21(3): 1050-1079 sasanka sekhar chanda & sougata ray & bill mckelvey agent knowledge over time, high exploitation, moderate level of chc figure a2b. change in member knowledge over time, under high exploitation, marchian populations for the case of high exploration (p1–avg = 0.2) the catch-up (by slow learners) is delayed—compared to the case of high exploitation, (p1–avg = 0.8)—because a large number of organizational members are learning slowly. there is an important upside to a large number of organizational members learning slowly: a higher number of incorrect beliefs are flushed out of the org. code. this can be seen in figure a1c. by around time-step eighty, the org. code “stabilizes” to having about 27% wrong beliefs for high exploitation (p1–avg = 0.8); the figure is around 18% for high exploration (p1–avg = 0.2). why does the org. code stabilize with a higher number of incorrect beliefs when high exploitation is carried out by a marchian population? recall (from lines l2 and l4 of table t2, under t = 2) that the org. code (starting with zero incorrect beliefs and zero correct beliefs) imbibes 40% incorrect beliefs right after the first period of learning, before any org. member learning has taken place. when exploitation is high, a large number of fast learners will get some of these wrong beliefs from the org. code, including those who originally did not have a wrong belief in a particular knowledge dimension. when these members advise the org. code as elites in subsequent periods, the wrong beliefs in the org. code will persist. when exploration is high, a large number of members learn slowly. fewer members will get wrong beliefs from the code. correct beliefs will persist in other members. later, when these members advise the org. code as members of the elite, some false knowledge gets flushed out from the org. code. the persistence of a higher proportion of incorrect beliefs for high exploitation turns out to be decisive: higher exploration yields higher organizational knowledge compared to higher exploitation. thus, when the chc in an organization is moderate (as embodied in a marchian population) or higher, high exploration is preferable over high exploitation. proposition 1 is substantiated. additional analysis, based on learning by the org. code. figure a2c (high exploration, p1–avg = 0.2) and figure a2d (high exploitation, p1– avg = 0.8) reveal further details as to why, for marchian populations, higher � 1067 notes. rhombus-shaped markers represent fast learners who learn at a high rate (p1 = 0.9). rectangular markers represent slow learners who learn at a low rate (p1 = 0.1). other parameters are m =30, n = 50, p1– avg = 0.80, p2 = 0.5, iterations = 10,000, marchian population. the dotted arrow shows the point at which the two curves differ by less than 1% in value. the continuum conception of exploration and exploitation: 
 an update to march’s theory m@n@gement, vol. 21(3): 1050-1079 exploration leads to higher overall organizational knowledge. in both these figures, time-steps of simulation are shown on the horizontal axis. on the vertical axis, we show the net number of knowledge dimensions for which o r g a n i z a t i o n a l e l i t e s p r o v i d e g o o d r e c o m m e n d a t i o n s ( i . e . recommendations that are in line with the requirements of the reality r) and the number of knowledge dimensions for which the organizational elites provide bad recommendations (i.e. the elite recommendations are wrong). to compute the values of the parameters shown on the vertical axis, we ignore the cases where the elites provide a correct recommendation for a knowledge dimension that the organization code already knows correctly. we also ignore the cases where the elites provide a wrong recommendation for a knowledge dimension for which the org. code already has incorrect knowledge. we observe that net good recommendations are available for longer and in greater bulk in figure a2c (high exploration, moderate chc) compared to in figure a2d (high exploitation, moderate chc). this is the implication of march’s statement that the presence of a higher proportion of fast learners leads to quicker degeneration of knowledge heterogeneity in the organization. thus exploration (in companies with moderate chc) attains outcomes superior to exploitation because good quality recommendations from the elite are available for a longer time figure a2c. net good and bad recommendations from the elite over time, under high exploration, marchian populations � 1068 notes. rhombus-shaped markers represent net number of knowledge dimensions for w h i c h e l i t e s r e c o m m e n d c o r r e c t l y. rectangular markers represent net number of knowledge dimensions for which elites recommend wrongly. other parameters are m =30, n = 50, p1–avg = 0.20, p2 = 0.5, iterations = 10,000, marchian population. m@n@gement, vol. 21(3): 1050-1079 sasanka sekhar chanda & sougata ray & bill mckelvey figure a2d. net good and bad recommendations from the elite over time, under high exploitation, marchian populations effect of member learning—low level of chc in figures a3a and a3b we present average knowledge held by slow learner and fast learner members of the organization (average member knowledge on the vertical axis) over time (time-steps on the horizontal axis), for high exploration (p1–avg = 0.2) and high exploitation (p1–avg = 0.8) respectively for sub-marchian populations. as predicted in [ii] all org. members start with about 28% knowledge. moreover, as predicted in [ix], the knowledge of the fast learners reduces in the initial stages, since they learn from a highly faulty org. code. further, as predicted in [x], the knowledge of the slow learners also goes down in the initial stages for the same reason; for them the rate of fall is less steep, since they learn faulty information at a slower rate. in table t4 we show knowledge in org. code, and that in slow and fast learners, and proportion of incorrect knowledge in the org. code, for high exploration and high exploitation, for a sub-marchian population (i.e. where the organization possesses low chc). the numbers presented in lines l2 and l3 comprise the values underlying the graphs shown in figure a3a. the numbers presented in lines l6 and l7 comprise the values underlying the graphs shown in figure a3b. lines l1 and l5 are imported from table t1. lines l4 and l8 are imported from table t2. � 1069 notes. rhombus-shaped markers represent net number of knowledge dimensions for w h i c h e l i t e s r e c o m m e n d c o r r e c t l y. rectangular markers represent net number of knowledge dimensions for which elites recommend wrongly. other parameters are m =30, n = 50, p1–avg = 0.80, p2 = 0.5, iterations = 10,000, marchian population. the continuum conception of exploration and exploitation: 
 an update to march’s theory m@n@gement, vol. 21(3): 1050-1079 please note: a label such as tx-ly designates the table number and line number of the source table. for example, the last row displays a label t2-l4. this means that the information is sourced from line four of table t2. table t4: proportion of correct knowledge in the organizational code, in fast learners and slow learners, and proportion of incorrect knowledge in the org. code, in the first six time-steps, for high exploration and high exploitation, for low chc (sub-marchian population) figure a3a. effect of high exploration on member knowledge over time, sub-marchian populations � 1070 low chc knowledge level for high exploration (p1–avg = 0.2) sub-marchian population t = 1 t = 2 t = 3 t = 4 t = 5 t = 6 org. code knowledge (t1-l2) l1 0 0.069 0.086 0.104 0.117 0.125 knowledge of fast learners l2 0.283 0.283 0.118 0.103 0.112 0.121 knowledge of slow learners l3 0.283 0.283 0.265 0.249 0.235 0.223 proportion of incorrect knowledge in org. code (t2-l2) l4 0 0.839 0.867 0.869 0.869 0.868 knowledge level for high exploitation (p1–avg = 0.8) t = 1 t = 2 t = 3 t = 4 t = 5 t = 6 org. code knowledge (t1-l4) l5 0 0.069 0.086 0.139 0.176 0.209 knowledge of fast learners l6 0.283 0.283 0.120 0.105 0.138 0.172 knowledge of slow learners l7 0.283 0.283 0.265 0.249 0.238 0.232 proportion of incorrect knowledge in org. code (t2-l4) l8 0 0.838 0.866 0.851 0.821 0.791 notes. rhombus-shaped markers represent fast learners who learn at a high rate (p1 = 0.9). rectangular markers represent slow learners who learn at a low rate (p1 = 0.1). other parameters are m =30, n = 50, p1– avg = 0.20, p2 = 0.5, iterations = 10,000, sub-marchian population with deficiency 15% from marchian population. the dotted arrow shows the point at which the two curves differ by less than 1% in value at the time the fast learners catch up with slow learners. m@n@gement, vol. 21(3): 1050-1079 sasanka sekhar chanda & sougata ray & bill mckelvey figure a3b. effect of high exploitation on member knowledge over time, sub-marchian populations the phenomenon of org. member knowledge in sub-marchian populations decreasing in the first few time-steps (as predicted in [vii]) is the opposite of what happens in marchian populations (where, as we have previously analytically argued and graphically demonstrated, member knowledge goes up till equilibrium is reached). let us see why this happens. in sub-marchian populations, an early increase in misaligned beliefs in fast learners occurs owing to contamination from vast numbers of incorrect knowledge bits in the org. code. we recall that early on (time-step two, t = 2) the org. code gets populated with a very high proportion of incorrect knowledge when the organizational population is sub-marchian (84% as seen in figure a1d). the knowledge level of fast learners in submarchian populations goes down from the 28% initial level (t = 0) to about a 10% level at the lowest point (t = 4) because fast learners pick incorrect knowledge from the org. code. further, as analytically reasoned earlier, the slow learners suffer less dilution of knowledge on account of learning slowly. in sub-marchian populations, for both exploration (figure a3a) and exploitation (figure a3b), the org. code knowledge keeps increasing (from the initial level of 7% at the end of time-step two, t = 2) after time-step two (t = 2) because org. members—particularly the slow learners—have more knowledge than the org. code, enabling formation of the elite group that the org. code learns from. further, the accumulation of incorrect knowledge by fast learners eventually stops at about 10% value, and thereafter the knowledge of fast learner members starts increasing. the knowledge of fast learners does not go down below 10% because, by around time-step four (t = 4), the org. code knowledge (that was about 7% in time-step two, t = 2) increases to a value higher than 10% by extracting some correct knowledge from the diverse knowledge of slow learners in the interim period.30 we notice that, both in figure a3a and figure a3b, till the knowledge of the fast learners catches up with the knowledge of slow learners, the knowledge of the slow learners continues to be eroded on account of socialization into wrong beliefs of the (highly faulty) org. code. � 1071 notes. rhombus-shaped markers represent fast learners who learn at a high rate (p1 = 0.9). rectangular markers represent slow learners who learn at a low rate (p1 = 0.1). other parameters are m =30, n = 50, p1– avg = 0.80, p2 = 0.5, iterations = 10,000, sub-marchian population with deficiency 15% from marchian population. the dotted arrow shows the point at which the two curves differ by less than 1% in value at the time the fast learners catch up with slow learners. 30. this can be seen in table t1, column t = 4, from line l2 for the high exploration case (org. code knowledge = 10.2%), and line l4 for the high exploitation case (org. code knowledge = 13.9%). the continuum conception of exploration and exploitation: 
 an update to march’s theory m@n@gement, vol. 21(3): 1050-1079 interestingly, the catch-up to slow learner knowledge level by fast learners happens at the 15% mark at around time-step thirty for high exploration (figure a3a), and at above 25% for high exploitation (figure a3b) by time-step eight. as expected, when the organization is composed of a large proportion of fast learners, catch-up happens earlier and when the organization is composed of a large proportion of slow learners, catch-up happens late. the catch-up event is important. before catch-up, a slow learner’s unique correct knowledge is under a strong threat of being updated by faulty knowledge from the org. code. at the time of catch-up, fast learners carry correct knowledge in largely the same dimensions for which the org. code carries correct knowledge. therefore, fast learners carrying lots of faulty knowledge will not make it to the team of elites that advise the org. code after catch-up. when the org. code receives less bad advice, there is a lower probability that a slow learner will be injected with wrong knowledge from the org. code. post catch-up, when a slow learner carrying unique correct knowledge makes it to the team of elites advising the org. code, the advice to the org. code is increasingly regarding the unique correct knowledge dimensions about which the org. code is unaware (i.e. the org. code carries faulty knowledge or neutral beliefs). thus, under high exploitation, because the knowledge of the slow learners is eroded for a shorter time, the catch-up happens when slow learners’ knowledge still has a relatively high value, 25%, compared to the case of high exploration, where the catch-up happens much later, by which time the slow learners’ knowledge has already fallen to 15%. in either case, thereafter, the org. code knowledge rises somewhat, as the final bits of heterogeneous knowledge from the org. members are rounded up as org. code knowledge. additional analysis, based on learning by the organizational code. as in the previous case, we may also take a look under the hood by considering the quality of recommendations elites make, when exploration or exploitation is carried out by sub-marchian populations. in figure a3c, we show the numbers of (net) good and bad recommendations made by the elites, for high exploration. in figure a3d we show the corresponding picture for high exploitation. on the vertical axis, we show the number of knowledge dimensions for which the elites have a good recommendation (i.e. the recommendation from the elite matches the value in external reality r) and the number of knowledge dimensions for which the elite have a bad recommendation (i.e. elite recommendation does not match the value in external reality r). as before, we ignore (a) cases where elites have made a good recommendation but the org. code already has correct knowledge, and (b) cases where elites make an incorrect recommendation for a dimension on which the org. code knowledge is already wrong. we observe that good recommendations from elites are less voluminous and degenerate rapidly for high exploration (figure a3c) compared to high exploitation (figure a3d). the copious good recommendations early on— as observed in figure a3d—help organizational knowledge rise faster, enabling fast learners to catch up slow learners before the latter degenerate significantly. a comparison of lines l1 (high exploration) and 31 l5 (high exploitation) in table t4 shows this. in both, we find that org. code knowledge is about 8.6% at t =3. for l1 (high exploration) org code knowledge rises slowly recording 10.4%, 11.7% and 12.5% in the next three time-steps. the corresponding figures are 13.9%, 17.6% and 20.9% for l5 (high exploitation). � 1072 31. fast learners quickly learn from the fast-rising org. code knowledge. m@n@gement, vol. 21(3): 1050-1079 sasanka sekhar chanda & sougata ray & bill mckelvey figure a3c. net good and bad recommendations from the elite over time, under high exploration, sub-marchian populations figure a3d. net good and bad recommendations from the elite over time, under high exploitation, sub-marchian populations � 1073 notes. rhombus-shaped markers represent number of knowledge dimensions for which elites recommend correctly. rectangular markers represent number of knowledge dimensions for which elites recommend wrongly. other parameters are m =30, n = 50, p1–avg = 0.20, p2 = 0.5, iterations = 10,000, marchian population. notes. rhombus-shaped markers represent number of knowledge dimensions for which elites recommend correctly. rectangular markers represent number of knowledge dimensions for which elites recommend wrongly. other parameters are m =30, n = 50, p1–avg = 0.80, p2 = 0.5, iterations = 10,000, marchian population. the continuum conception of exploration and exploitation: 
 an update to march’s theory m@n@gement, vol. 21(3): 1050-1079 summary: why does model behavior change upon change of chc? in table t5, we provide a summary of the description and reasoning provided above. table t5: summary of the micro-level dynamics under low and moderate chc � 1074 sl . moderate chc (marchian population) low chc (sub-marchian population) 1. before any member learning occurs, the org. code attains ~40% correct knowledge and ~40% incorrect knowledge, by end of period 2. before any member learning occurs, the org. code attains ~7% correct knowledge and ~84% incorrect knowledge, by end of period 2. 2. because the bar for getting into elites is high (~40%), member knowledge can only increase (from the initial level of 33%) upon learning from the org. code. knowledge of fast learners rises faster. because the bar for getting into elites is low (~7%), member knowledge decreases in the early time-steps, from the initial level of 28%. knowledge of slow learners decreases slower. 3. slow learners will have to catch up with the knowledge level of fast learners before the org. code reaches the equilibrium knowledge level. fast learners will have to catch up with the knowledge level of slow learners before the org code reaches the equilibrium knowledge level. 4. catch-up happens earlier when the proportion of fast learners is high (i.e. under high exploitation). catch-up happens earlier when the proportion of fast learners is high (i.e. under high exploitation). 5. exploration benefits transpire through a higher proportion of slow learners, owing to knowledge heterogeneity lasting for longer (compared to the duration that knowledge heterogeneity lasts in the case of high exploitation). exploitation benefits transpire through having a higher proportion of fast learners, by halting the loss of knowledge heterogeneity of slow learners earlier (compared to the duration that knowledge heterogeneity is lost, in the case of high exploration). 6. much more heterogeneity is utilized, enriching the org. code, owing to org. members being exposed to low levels of faulty knowledge. incorrect knowledge in the org. code falls from ~40% in time-step two to ~31% by time-step three. final org. code knowledge is upwards of 70% (figure a1a). much less member heterogeneity is utilized, leading to final org. code knowledge being 35% or lower (figure a1b). this is because members are exposed to a high extent of faulty knowledge in the org. code. org. code has upwards of 86% incorrect knowledge at time-step three. m@n@gement, vol. 21(3): 1050-1079 sasanka sekhar chanda & sougata ray & bill mckelvey appendix b variation of critical level of collective human capital (chc) with organizational size and breadth or context in figure b1 we show the variation of the critical value of chc at which a desirable strategy of high exploitation gives way to a strategy favoring high exploration when the size of an organization (number of members, n) is increased in a stable environment. on the vertical axis, we plot chc deficiency at the critical point—where the curves p1-avg = 0.2 and p1-avg = 0.8 intersect (as shown in figure 5)—as per cent offset from the chc of a marchian population. figure b2 provides analogous information for variation in the number of dimensions of the environment or reality (breadth of context, m). figures b3 and b4 provide corresponding information for a dynamic environment having 2% turbulence. in all the figures, we observe that the critical value of chc increases and approaches that of a marchian population upon an increase in values of the parameter on the horizontal axis (size of organization/breadth of context). parameters. m =30, p2 = 0.5, p4 = 0, iterations = 10,000 figure b1. effect of size of organization on location of critical point, stable environment parameters. n =50, p2 = 0.5, p4 = 0, iterations = 10,000. figure b2. effect of breadth of context on location of critical point, stable environment � 1075 the continuum conception of exploration and exploitation: 
 an update to march’s theory m@n@gement, vol. 21(3): 1050-1079 parameters. m =30, p2 = 0.5, p4 = 0.02, iterations = 10,000. figure b3. effect of size of organization on location of critical point, dynamic environment parameters. n =50, p2 = 0.5, p4 = 0.02, iterations = 10,000. figure b4. effect of breadth of context on location of critical point, dynamic environment � 1076 m@n@gement, vol. 21(3): 1050-1079 sasanka sekhar chanda & sougata ray & bill mckelvey references adler, p.s., goldoftas, b. & levine, d.i. (1999). flexibility versus efficiency? a case study of model changeovers in the toyota production system. organization science, 10(1), 43-68. adner, r., pólos, l., ryall, m. & sorenson, o. (2009). the case for formal theory. academy of management review, 34(2), 201-208. becker, g.s. (1964), human capital: a theoretical and empirical analysis, with special reference to education, new york, ny: columbia university press. bendor, j., moe, t.m. & shotts, k.w. (2001). recycling the garbage can: an assessment of the research program. american political science review, 95(1), 169-190. benner, m. & tushman, m. (2003). exploitation, exploration, and process management: the productivity dilemma revisited. academy of management review, 28(2), 238-256. birkinshaw, j., zimmerman, a. & raisch, s. (2016). how do firms adapt to discontinuous change? b r i d g i n g t h e d y n a m i c c a p a b i l i t i e s a n d ambidexterity perspectives. california management review, 58(4): 36-58. blaschke, s. & schoeneborn, d. (2006). the forgotten function of forgetting: revisiting exploration and exploitation in organizational learning. soziale systeme, 11(2), 99-119. brady, t. & davies, a. (2004). building project capabilities: from exploratory to exploitative learning. organization studies, 25(9), 1601-1621. chanda, s.s. (2017). inferring final organizational outcomes from intermediate outcomes of exploration and exploitation: the complexity link. computational and mathematical organization theory, 23(1), 61-93. chanda, s.s. & ray, s. (2015). optimal exploration and exploitation: the managerial intentionality perspective. computational and mathematical organization theory, 21(3), 247-273. chen, e.l. & katila, r. (2008). rival interpretations of b a l a n c i n g e x p l o r a t i o n a n d e x p l o i t a t i o n : simultaneous or sequential? in s. shane, (ed.), h a n d b o o k o f te c h n o l o g y a n d i n n o v a t i o n management (pp. 197-214). new york, ny: john wiley and sons ltd. child, j. (1972). organizational structure, environment and performance: the role of strategic choice. sociology, 6(1), 1-22. dierickx, i. & cool, k. (1989). asset accumulation and s u s t a i n a b i l i t y o f c o m p e t i t i v e a d v a n t a g e . management science, 35(12), 1504-1511. duncan, r.b. (1972). characteristics of organizational environments and perceived environmental uncertainty. administrative science quarterly, 17(3), 313-327. eisenhardt, k.m. & brown s.l. (1997). the art of continuous change: linking complexity theory and time-paced evolution in relentlessly shifting organizations. administrative science quarterly, 42(1), 1–34. fang, c., lee, j. & schilling, m.a. (2010). balancing exploration and exploitation through structural d e s i g n : t h e i s o l a t i o n o f s u b g r o u p s a n d organizational learning. organization science, 21(3), 625-642. farjoun, m. (2010). beyond dualism: stability and change as duality. academy of management review, 35(2), 202-225. fillenbaum, s. (1974). information amplified: memory for counterfactual conditionals. journal of experimental psychychology, 102(1), 44-49. garcias, f., dalmasso, c. & sardas, j.c. (2015). paradoxical tensions in learning processes: exploration, exploitation and exploitative learning. m@n@gement, 18(2), 156-178. gavetti, g, greve, h.r., levinthal, h.a. & ocasio, w. (2012). the behavioral theory of the firm: a s s e s s m e n t a n d p r o s p e c t s . a c a d e m y o f management annals, 6(1), 1-40. gibson, c.b. & birkinshaw, j. (2004). the antecedents, c o n s e q u e n c e s , a n d m e d i a t i n g r o l e o f o r g a n i z a t i o n a l a m b i d e x t e r i t y. a c a d e m y o f management journal, 47(2), 209-226. gupta, a., smith, k. & shalley, c. (2006). the interplay between exploration and exploitation. academy of management journal, 49(4), 693-706. hamel, g. & prahalad, c.k. (1993). strategy as stretch and leverage. harvard business review, marchapril, 75-84. hargadon, a. & fanelli, a. (2002). action and possibility: reconciling dual perspectives of knowledge in organizations. organization science, 13(3), 290-302. holland, j. (1975), adaptation in natural and artificial systems: an introductory analysis with applications to biology, control & artificial intelligence, ann arbor, mi: university of michigan press. huber, g.p. (1991). organizational learning: the contributing processes and the literature. organization science, 2(1), 88-115. hutzschenreuter, t., pedersen, t. & volberda, h.w. (2007). internationalization—the role of managerial intentionality and path dependency: a perspective on international business research. journal of international business studies, 38(7), 1055-1068. icmr (2001). the nirma story. ibs center for management research. available at: http:// w w w. i c m r i n d i a . o r g / c a s e s t u d i e s / c a t a l o g u e / marketing/mktg008.htm (accessed on march 10, 2016). jansen, j.j.p., van den bosch, f.a.j. & volberda. h.w. (2006). exploratory innovation, exploitative i n n o v a t i o n , a n d p e r f o r m a n c e : e f f e c t s o f organizational antecedents and environmental moderators. management science, 52(11), 1661-1674. kane, g.c. & alavi, m. (2007). information technology and organizational learning: an investigation of e x p l o r a t i o n a n d e x p l o i t a t i o n p r o c e s s e s . organization science, 18(5), 796-812. � 1077 the continuum conception of exploration and exploitation: 
 an update to march’s theory m@n@gement, vol. 21(3): 1050-1079 kim, t. & rhee, m. (2009). exploration and exploitation: internal variety and environmental dynamism. strategic organization, 7(1), 11-41. kogut, b. & zander, u. (1992). knowledge of the firm, combination capabilities, and the replication of technology. organization science, 3(3), 383-397. kogut, b. & zander, u. (1996). what firms do? coordination, identity and learning. organization science, 7(5), 502-518. kuran, t. (1988). the tenacious past: theories of personal and collective conservatism. journal of economic behavior and organization, 10(2), 143-171. lavie, d., kang, j. & rosenkopf, l. (2011). balance within and across domains: the performance implications of exploration and exploitation in alliances. organization science, 22(6), 1517-1538. lazer, d. & friedman, a. (2007). the network structure of exploration and exploitation. administrative science quarterly, 52(4), 667-694. lee, j.y., bachrach, d.g. & rousseau, d.m. (2015). internal labor markets, firm-specific human capital, and heterogeneity antecedents of e m p l o y e e i d i o s y n c r a t i c d e a l r e q u e s t s . organization science, 26(3), 794-810. levinthal, d.a. & march, j.g. (1993). the myopia of learning. strategic management journal, winter special issue 14(s2), 95-112. levitt, b. & march j.g. (1988). organizational learning. annual review of sociology, 14(1), 319-338. march, j.g. (1991). exploration and exploitation in organizational learning. organization science, 2(1), 71-87. m a r c h , j . g . ( 2 0 1 3 ) . i n p r a i s e o f b e a u t y. m@n@gement, 16(5), 732-738. miller, k.d. & martignoni, d. (2016). organizational learning with forgetting: reconsidering the exploration–exploitation tradeoff. strategic organization, 14(1), 53-72. miller, k.d., zhao, m. & calantone, r.j. (2006). adding interpersonal learning and tacit knowledge to march's exploration-exploitation model. academy of management journal, 49(4), 709-722. nelson, r.r. & winter, s.g. (1982), an evolutionary theory of economic change, cambridge, ma: the belknap press of harvard university press. nonaka, i. & takeuchi, h. (1995), the knowledge creating company, new york, ny: oxford university press. nonaka, i. & von krogh, g. (2009). tacit knowledge and knowledge conversion: controversy and advancement in organizational knowledge creation theory. organization science, 20(3), 635– 652. pearl, j. (2000), causality: models, reasoning, and inference, new york, ny: cambridge university press. ployhart, r.e. & moliterno, t.p. (2011). emergence of the human capital resource: a multilevel model. academy of management review, 36(1), 127-150. posen, h.e. & levinthal, d.a. (2012). chasing a moving target: exploitation and exploration in dynamic environments. management science, 58(3), 587-601. prahalad, c.k. (2004), the fortune at the bottom of the pyramid: eradicating poverty through profits, philadelphia, pa: wharton school publishing. prahalad, c.k. & hart, s.l. (2002). the fortune at the bottom of the pyramid. strategy+business, 26(1), 1-14. rodan, s. (2005). exploration and exploitation revisited: extending march's model of mutual learning. scandinavian journal of management, 21(4), 407-428. schilling, m.a. & fang, c. (2014). when hubs forget, lie, and play favorites: interpersonal network structure, information distortion, and organizational learning. strategic management journal, 35(7), 974-994. schmitt, a., probst, g. & tushman, m.l. (2010). m@n@gement in times of economic crisis: insights into organizational ambidexterity. m@n@gement, 13(3), 128-150. schumpeter, j.a. (1934), the theory of economic development. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. siggelkow, n. & rivkin, j.w. (2006). when exploration backfires: unintended consequences of multilevel organizational search. academy of management journal, 49(4), 779-795. simon, h.a. (1991). bounded rationality and organizational learning. organization science, 2(1), 125-134. smith, k.g., collins, c.j. & clark, k.d. (2005). existing knowledge, knowledge creation capability, and the rate of new product introduction in hightechnology firms. academy of management journal, 48(2), 346-357. smith, w.k., binns, a. & tushman, m.l. (2010). complex business models: managing strategic paradoxes simultaneously. long range planning, 43(2), 448-461. spender, j.c. (2008). organizational learning and knowledge management: whence and whither? management learning, 39(2), 159-176. stettner, u. & lavie, d. (2014). ambidexterity under scrutiny: exploration and exploitation via internal organization, alliances, and acquisitions. strategic management journal, 35(13), 1903-1929. tushman, m.l. & o’reilly, c.a. (1996). ambidextrous organizations: managing evolutionary and revolutionary change. california management review, 38(4), 8-30. von nordenflycht, a. (2011). firm size and industry structure under human capital intensity: insights from the evolution of the global advertising industry. organization science, 22(1), 141-157. zhang, h. & xi, y. (2010). exploration and exploitation in parallel problem solving: effect of imitation strategy and network structure. international journal of knowledge and systems science, 1(3), 55-67. � 1078 m@n@gement, vol. 21(3): 1050-1079 sasanka sekhar chanda & sougata ray & bill mckelvey sasanka sekhar chanda is associate professor in strategic management in the indian institute of management indore. his research interests are in strategic decision-making, managerial intentionality, and complexity theory. previously, he worked for thirteen years in industry in a range of roles spanning engineering, consulting and management. sougata ray is professor in strategic management in the indian institute of management calcutta. he has been researching for nearly two decades on how policy-induced changes in institutional environment influence the strategic behavior of emerging economy firms and how differences in quasi institutional environment, heterogeneity of firm characteristics and strategic intent of the top management lead to variations in strategy for growth, internationalization, innovations, entrepreneurship and sustainability of firms, business groups and state-owned enterprises. bill mckelvey is professor emeritus of strategic organizing, complexity science and econophysics at ucla anderson. early articles focus on organization and socio-technical systems design. his book, organizational systematics (1982), remains the definitive treatment of organizational taxonomy and evolutionary theory. as director of the center for rescuing strategy & organization science (sos), he initiated activities leading to the founding of ucla’s center for human complex systems and computational social science. acknowledgments : we express our deep gratitude to dr thomas roulet and three anonymous reviewers for significant help and guidance in improving the manuscript. all errors remain the authors’ sole responsibility. � 1079 05 214 bardon&josserand 2018 m@n@gement 2018, vol. 21(4):1244-1263 management innovations from a foucauldian perspective: time to take action thibaut bardon ! emmanuel josserand accepted by chief editors thibault daudigeos & thomas roulet abstract. management innovations have attracted considerable attention from both organizational scholars and management practitioners. however, there is a growing disillusionment with managerialist approaches that present management innovations as best practices that should be implemented straightforwardly, for the better. in this context, the foucauldian perspective on management innovations appears as a valuable critical alternative that (still) deserves to be discussed and extended. in this paper, we offer a rereading of this perspective by rendering the debates raised by foucauldian studies on management innovations and by providing what appear to us as promising research avenues. specifically, we propose several directions for further investigating from a foucauldian lens the new generation of management innovations that are emerging in organizational settings. we also call foucauldian disciples to adopt a critical performative stance by taking action on the field. keywords: management innocation, foucault, critical performativity introduction management innovations—broadly defined as management practices that are newly adopted by companies (birkinshaw, hamel & mol, 2008)—represent a topic of exceptional practical and theoretical relevance. in the business world, management innovations are mainly discussed in terms of how companies can improve economic and social performance in a fast-changing environment (knights & mccabe, 2002). a variety of external stakeholders, including consultants (fincham & evans, 1999; kipping & engwall, 2002), management gurus (clark & salaman, 1996, 1998; jackson, 1996, 1999) and media companies (alvarez, mazza & strandgaard pedersen, 2005; frenkel, 2005; mazza & alvarez, 2000) contribute to this ongoing conversation as producers and disseminators of management innovations. in academia, this topic has also attracted considerable attention from management scholars who view it through a variety of theoretical lenses (e.g. birkinshaw et al., 2008; chiapello & gilbert, 2013; sturdy, 2004 for overviews). in this context, foucault appears as the main source of inspiration for critical scholars interested in management innovations. this is not surprising, since foucault is one of the most cited authors in management studies and has a considerable influence in our field (carter, 2008; carter, mckinlay & rowlinson, 2002). in the journal m@n@gement �1244 thibaut bardon audencia business school tbardon@audencia.com emmanuel josserand university of technology of sydney, centre for business and social innovation 
 emmanuel.josserand@uts.edu.au m@n@gement, vol. 21(4): 1244-1263 thibaut bardon & emmanuel josserand alone, 12 articles mentioned the name of michel foucault in the last five years out of 131 papers published within that period (2013–2017). in this paper, our objective is to reflect on how foucault’s thinking has been used to theoretically conceptualize and empirically investigate management innovations. generally speaking, foucault-inspired studies consider management innovations as technologies of power and, in line with a broader critical agenda, they share a “deep scepticism regarding the moral defensibility” (adler, forbes & willmott, 2007: 1) of the management innovations that currently populate organizational settings. foucauldian studies thus constitute an alternative voice to the “positivist view on management innovations” (de vaujany, 2005; lorino, 2002) which regularly presents certain new management practices as “best practice” that will revolutionize companies’ organizational functioning for the greater good (ezzamel & willmott, 2008; knights & mccabe, 2002). in particular, postbureaucratic practices which introduce team-based, project-based and market-based forms of functioning are widespread and typify what is presented as “good” and “modern” management in many organizational settings (heckscher & donnellon, 1994; johnson, wood, brewster & brookes, 2009). post-bureaucratic management innovations aim at reinforcing empowerment, transversality, creativity and customer orientation and, by doing so, are supposed to increase firms’ competitiveness (johnson et al., 2009; volberda, 1998). at a time when there is increasing disillusionment with these management innovations that are often revealed to be only “management fashions” (abrahamson, 1996; abrahamson & eisenman, 2008; carson, lanier, carson & guidry, 2000), the foucauldian perspective constitutes an alternative voice to a tooenthusiastic “managerialist approach” (knights & mccabe, 2002) and thus deserves to be discussed and extended. in this article, we reflect on how foucault’s thinking has been mobilized to theoretically discuss and empirically investigate management innovations. we show that organizational scholars have imported many foucauldian concepts to study management innovations, including the notions of panopticon, subjectivation, discipline, self-discipline, governmentality, ethics of the self, “ascesis” and genealogy or morals, amongst others. our goal is to articulate this jungle of concepts in an intelligible way by clarifying how such imports make distinctive and cumulative contributions to the understanding of management innovations. we will also condense the debates instigated by these notions to reconsider management innovations as well as the critiques that have been directed at these foucauldian studies. based on this rereading, the concluding section will propose research avenues that we find particularly promising. of course, the profusion of foucault-inspired studies on management innovations meant that we were only able to include studies that seemed to us to be the most significant and decisive. thus, the goal of this article is to offer an extensive view on how foucault has inspired organizational scholars interested in management innovations and how he could still inspire them in the future. a rereading of foucauldian studies on management innovations management innovations as technologies of power the first generation of foucauldian studies discusses management innovations in terms of disciplinary devices that reinforce control over organizational participants by tightening surveillance. in particular, the � 1245 management innovations from a foucauldian perspective m@n@gement, vol. 21(4): 1244-1263 figure of the panopticon has been widely used as a metaphor to depict how the information systems and new work arrangements introduced by management innovations, especially post-bureaucratic ones, reinforce the form and scope of scrutiny to which organizational participants are subjected (poster, 1990; sewell, 1998; sewell & wilkinson, 1992; townley, 1993; zuboff, 1988). for instance, sewell (1998) describes how teambased forms of organizing constitute a “chimerical” mode of workplace control not only by reinforcing vertical surveillance, through sophisticated top-down monitoring and performance appraisal systems, but also by increasing horizontal surveillance through peer surveillance. a team-based form of organizing is presented as a “monstrous creation” (sewell, 1998: 414) which can ultimately lead organizational participants to exercise selfsurveillance since individuals know that they are, or can at least potentially be, watched on a permanent basis. in a related way, townley (1993) shows how appraisal systems constitute panopticon devices which not only set up the expected behavioural norms but also reinforce surveillance to make organizational participants respect these norms. these studies thus question the fact that monitoring techniques are neutral techniques that serve collective interests by rewarding good behaviours and by preventing freeloading as well as other misbehaviours. alternatively, these studies argue that management innovations are surveillance technologies aimed at subordinating the “many by the few” in order to maximize the docility and utility of individuals at work (sewell & barker, 2006: 939). these studies have been subjected to strong criticism, generally, for relying on a much too narrow reading of foucault that does not accommodate the complexity of how management innovations operate for disciplining organizational participants (knights, 2002; munro, 2000; 2012). indeed, these studies mainly borrow concepts that foucault developed in his genealogical period, and especially in his book discipline and punish 1 (foucault, 1975a), conceptualizing management innovations as surveillance devices. in particular, the figure of the panopticon is a limiting metaphor (knights, 2002), if not a misleading one (munro, 2000). as a matter of fact, contemporary organizational settings are not closed areas with clear-cut boundaries, meaning that the way organizational participants are disciplined in such a context cannot (only) be reduced to the “diagram of power” encapsulated by the metaphor of the panopticon (munro, 2000). specifically, these studies do not investigate in detail, if at all, a key feature of post-bureaucratic management innovations, which is to discipline individuals by engineering a seductive corporate culture. a profusion of foucault-inspired studies which overcome the abovementioned limitations emerged during the 1990s. these contributions are based on a wider reading of foucault, especially his later work from the socalled “ethical period” where he puts a much greater emphasis on the construction of the self. although these studies have their own specificities, they all investigate in detail how management innovations operate at the level of subjectivity (covaleski, dirsmith, heian & samuel, 1998; du gay, 1996; knights & willmott, 1989). their key contribution is to argue that management innovations attempt to transform individuals into organizational subjects whose sense of meaning is attached to their proactive participation in corporate practices. indeed, they show that postbureaucratic management innovations attempt to transform individuals into enterprising subjects (du gay, 1996, 2000; du gay & salaman, 1992), defined as individuals who identify with an “enterprising culture [that] is one in which certain enterprising qualities—such as self-reliance, personal � 1246 1. the work of foucault is traditionally divided into three periods: the archaeological, genealogical and ethical (see, burrell, 1988 for an introduction). m@n@gement, vol. 21(4): 1244-1263 thibaut bardon & emmanuel josserand responsibility, boldness and a willingness to take risks in the pursuit of goals—are regarded as human virtues and promoted as such” (du gay & salaman, 1992: 628). this entrepreneurial culture is characteristic of the neo-liberal “zeitgeist” (du gay, 2000: 43) that encourages individuals to take responsibility for their own success as entrepreneurs of their self. postbureaucratic management innovations convey this zeitgeist within organizational settings through various social and technical mechanisms (du gay, 1996). specifically, management innovations individualize people management—notably through individualized forms of performance appraisal and sanctions/rewards systems—while engineering a corporate culture that presents the company as a field of unlimited opportunity in which individuals can express their individual potential. this process is thus one of double individualization (knights & willmott, 1989; willmott, 1990, 1994), following which management innovations create a sense of “insecurity” amongst individuals—by introducing individualized forms of management that oblige people to surpass their peers—while concomitantly offering them an individualist way to “secure their sense of identity, meaning, and reality through participating in [corporate] practices” (knights & morgan, 1995: 194). put simply, management innovations thus “impose [on organizational participants] the opportunity” to become enterprising subjects (iedema & rhodes, 2010: 200). they are thus technologies of power that promote individuals’ freedom while limiting at the same time the forms and means by which such freedom can be exercised and expressed (knights & willmott, 1989). notably, this process of double individualization has been discussed in terms of subjectification (bergström & knights, 2006; knights & willmott, 1989) and consists of “convinc[ing] the individual who is the object of change that they are choosing it” (hollway, 1991: 95 from bergström & knights, 2006:355). in a related way, some studies use the term “governmentality” to describe how post-bureaucratic management innovations attempt to align individuals’ project of the self with organizational expectations (clegg, pitsis, rura-polley & marosszeky, 2002; du gay, 2000; schofield, 2002; van krieken, 1996). governmentality refers to the idea that people can be controlled at a distance through their subjectivity (dean, 1999; miller and rose, 1990, 2008; rose, 1990). it refers to “the totality of practices, by which one can constitute, define, organize, instrumentalize the strategies which individuals in their liberty can have in regard to each other” (foucault, 1988: 20 quoted in clegg et al., 2002: 319). however, despite receiving important attention in the field of critical accounting (miller & rose, 1990, 2008; rose, 1990), the notion of governmentality has in fact rarely been mobilized by management scholars (mckinlay, 2010), and even less so by those interested in management innovations (see clegg, pitsis, rura-polley & marosszeky, 2002 or knights & mccabe, 2003 for notable exceptions). the foucauldian notion of “self-discipline” has been used frequently to describe how management innovations operate to transform organizational participants into enterprising subjects who proactively engage in a quest for self-improvement (covaleski et al., 1998; du gay, 1996; townley, 1995). studies of self-discipline show how management innovations in post-bureaucratic organizations incite organizational participants to regard their selves as sites of purposeful intervention. for instance, covaleski et al. (1998) show how mentoring programmes incite mentees to speak about their behaviours and feelings to mentors in order � 1247 management innovations from a foucauldian perspective m@n@gement, vol. 21(4): 1244-1263 to progress according to the mentors’ recommendations. mentoring thus obliges mentees to perform the double reflexive act of introspection and verbalization through which “the inner truths of one’s self be both discovered through self-examination and expressed outwardly through speech so as to affirm and transform oneself” (covaleski et al., 1998:297). relatedly, townley (1995) shows how 360-degree appraisal systems—by which individuals are evaluated by hierarchy, peers, customers and subordinates—constitute technologies of power based on “selfawareness”. this management innovation is presented to organizational participants as a method of discovering who they “truly” are deep “inside” themselves in order to determine how to improve their selves along corporate lines. following foucault (1988: 18), his disciples (covaleski et al., 1998; du gay, 1996; townley, 1995) emphasize that these management innovations thus constitute “technologies of the self […] which permit individuals to effect by their own means or with the help of others a certain number of operations on their own bodies and souls, thoughts, conduct, and way of being, so as to transform themselves in order to attain a certain state”. more recent studies go one step further by presenting management innovations as organizational ascesis (bardon, clegg & josserand , 2012; kelly, allender & colquhoun, 2007; pezet, 2007). foucault defines ascesis as the “models proposed for setting up and developing relationships with the self, for self-reflection, self-knowledge, self-examination, for deciphering the self by oneself, for the transformation one seeks to accomplish with oneself as object”. it thus corresponds with the ways individuals are called on to “assign meaning and value to their conduct, their duties, their pleasures, their feelings and sensations, and their dreams” (foucault, 1984a: 10). foucault argues that ascesis comprises four elements: ethical substance, mode of subjection, forms of elaboration (also called technologies of the self) and teleology (foucault, 1983, 1984a). table 1 presents a definition of these elements. table 1: definitions of the four constitutive elements of ascesis the notion of ascesis has been discussed by foucault extensively in relation to sexual asceticism in fourth-century bc classical greek culture (“the use of pleasure”, foucault, 1984a), in second-century ad grecoroman culture (“the care of self”, foucault, 1984b) and for classical christians (foucault, 1983). for example, he suggested that christians adopted austere sexual behaviours to preserve sinners from concupiscence of the flesh (ethical substance), as purity of the flesh is required to obtain salvation during the “last judgement” (mode of dimensions of asceticism foucault’s definition ethicla substance « the way in which the individual has to constitute this or part of himself as the prime material of his moral conduct » (foucault, 1984a: 37). mode of subjection « the way in which the individual (…) himself as obliged to put it into practice » (foucault, 1983: 1213). form of elaboration « the means (…) that the individual uses to reproduce himself his own subjection » (foucault, 1984a: 37). teleology « what kind of being one is attempting to become by means of these ascetic practices » (foucault, 1983: 1215). � 1248 m@n@gement, vol. 21(4): 1244-1263 thibaut bardon & emmanuel josserand subjection), consequently attaining metaphysical paradise (teleology). this asceticism constitutes the prescribed identity work that christians are expected to perform in order to become a “moral subject of their actions” (foucault, 1983). foucault-inspired scholars transpose the notion of ascesis in the contemporary organizational world by showing how management innovations encourage individuals to subscribe to an enterprising ascesis (bardon, 2011; kelly et al., 2007; pezet, 2007). approaching management innovations as ascesis entails an understanding of how corporate initiatives provide a set of moral justifications (mode of subjection) that reaffirm the “goodness” or necessity of reaching the enterprising ethos and encapsulate different self-oriented technologies (technology of the self) that develop the individual’s desire (ethical substance) to resemble the promised ideal figure (teleology). the notion of ascesis is thus useful to further investigate how management innovations discipline subjectivity because it helps to consistently connect the notion of “technologies of the self” (covaleski et al., 1998) with the notion of “enterprising” (du gay, 1996; du gay & salaman, 1992). indeed, it offers a reading grid that emphasizes that technologies of the self can only operate when encapsulated in a consistent ethos, which includes a specific definition of the ethical substance to be worked on, and a set of moral justifications (iedema & rhodes, 2010; mccabe, 2008) that reaffirm the goodness of the enterprising teleology. going beyond the disciplined subject: theorizing resistance to management innovations there is much criticism of these studies. in particular, several observers point out that foucauldian studies marginalize resistance (ackroyd & thompson, 1999) as it was “all quiet on the workplace front” (thompson & ackroyd, 1995). indeed, at the time, there was a lack of foucault-inspired empirical investigations on how organizational participants respond to management innovations (caldwell, 2007; newton, 1998; reed, 2000), whereas we found plenty of foucauldian studies deconstructing how corporate initiatives act to discipline individuals’ subjectivity (see previous section). this imbalance might have given the impression that foucauldian scholars implicitly assume that organizational participants are necessarily and unproblematically subjectified by the corporate discourses to which they are confronted in organizational settings (may, 1999; thompson & ackroyd, 1995). more problematically, critics also question the ability to offer a consistent conceptualization of human agency and resistance from a foucauldian perspective. specifically, they underline that the claimed nonessentialism of foucault-inspired scholars (knights & willmott, 1989) is particularly problematic because, they affirm, we need to assume the e x i s t e n c e o f a “ f r e e w i l l ” t o e x p l a i n h o w i n d i v i d u a l s c a n “manoeuvre” (newton, 1998) with discourses that target their subjectivity. without such an “essential” assumption, they say that it is impossible to understand how individuals can contest the organizational “reality” in which they are embedded. indeed, the radical constructionism of foucault (1971, 1974a) and his followers in organization studies (bardon & josserand, 2011; knights, 1997; knights & vurdubakis, 1994; knights & willmott, 1989) implies that discourses literally produce the “reality” of which they speak and thus define how individuals make sense of the world, including themselves. � 1249 management innovations from a foucauldian perspective m@n@gement, vol. 21(4): 1244-1263 these critiques lead to two lines of responses from foucauldian scholars. on the one hand, some explicitly or implicitly admit that some minimal essentialist assumptions are needed in order to rehabilitate the figure of an active agent who can resist management innovations. in this way, may (1999) emphasizes that there are “limits of appropriation to discourses” because “power and freedom exist in an agonism” (may 1999: 774, our emphasis). barratt (2003: 1077) considers that individuals are “smart animals” capable of “creative thoughts”, while al-amoudi (2007: 554) offers a critical realist reading of foucault that recognizes the existence of a “basic stratum of biology” where human agency would be located. however, and although no single true or definitive reading of foucault exists (bardon & josserand, 2011; townley, 2005), committing such “essentialist sins” (knights & willmott, 1989) is completely at odds with foucault’s self-proclaimed radical constructionism and nonessentialism (bardon & josserand, 2011; foucault, 1974a; knights, 1997; knights & vurdubakis, 1994; knights & willmott, 1989). on the other hand, david knights and his colleagues offer theoretical developments based on a non-essentialist reading of foucault which attempt to rehabilitate the possibility of resistance to management innovations (knights & mccabe, 2003; knights & vurdubakis, 1994). they conceive individuals as “social individualities” who are the precarious results of discourses to which they have been exposed during their lifetime and that define their identity. based on this, they argue that individuals will resist a corporate discourse if it clashes with stronger bases of identification to which they are already attached. for instance, individuals might resist the enterprising discourse encouraging them to work extra hours if they are already strongly attached to others’ bases of identification associated with aspects of their personal life that command them not to dedicate too much time to their job (knights & mccabe, 2003). however, foucauldian critics offer three main counterarguments to the notion of social individuality. first, they offer a quasi-essentialist view of individuals by “psychologizing” the self (newton, 1998). indeed, this comes down to thinking of individuals’ subjectivity as a “tabula rasa” (benhabib, 1992: 217) upon which discourses would be imprinted, leading to a complex battle at the level of subjectivity between autonomous discourses. second, and closely related, commentators also emphasize that such an interpretation cannot accommodate the figure of an “active agential subject” (newton, 1998: 428). at best, individuals would be “puppets” (newton, 1998: 427; reed, 2000) of discourses who do not decide to act otherwise but whose decisions would be the precarious result of the discursive battle that would happen at the level of their subjectivity. third, such an interpretation has also been criticized for being a nihilist one, since resistance is not explained with reference to certain moral values that organizational participants would voluntarily fight for, potentially collectively, but with reference to never-ending individual identity projects in which people would be trapped (habermas, 1990). in this context, bardon and josserand (2011) propose a nietzschean reading of foucauldian thinking that permits response to these critiques within a non-essentialist epistemology. they reinterpret foucault’s project as a nietzschean genealogy of morals whereby foucault seeks to systematically problematize as “morals” what is presented as “truth”—i.e. to apprehend every “true discourse” as an exercise of power that operates at the level of desires—and to decide the value that one wants to attach to these morals (foucault, 1984c). � 1250 m@n@gement, vol. 21(4): 1244-1263 thibaut bardon & emmanuel josserand theoretically, they argue that “problematizing” reality as such is the very founding act through which individuals constitute themselves as active and “free” agents, i.e. as moral subjects of their own actions who reflect and potentially contest the “reality” that is presented to them as truth. put simply, an individual is not an ontologically “free” and active agent, but they become one when they problematize “truth” as a moral subject of their own actions rather than accepting it as a passive and disciplined agent. practically, such interpretation is a call for management scholars to abandon their metaphysical quest for telling the “truth”, especially on the undecidable existence of a “free will”, but to investigate how organizational participants exercise their freedom (or not) within organizational settings, and in particular how they problematize management innovations attempting to discipline their subjectivity. ethically, foucault’s approach is not doomed to nihilism since it opens the possibility for people to fight for and potentially cohere around this (always local) ideal of practising one’s liberty as moral subjects of one’s own actions. bardon and josserand’s (2011) reading of foucault thus answers the three counterarguments mentioned above by offering a non-essentialist reading that rehabilitates the figure of an active agential subject who can reflect on, and potentially resist, management innovations. empirically investigating organizational participants’ responses to management innovations parallel to these theoretical developments on agency and resistance, foucauldian scholars also empirically investigate how organizational participants respond to management innovations, and especially how they incorporate the enterprising identity prescribed by post-bureaucratic practices (collinson, 2003; knights & mccabe, 2000a; 2000b, 2003; musson & duberley, 2007). these investigations concentrate on a variety of organizational participants including shop-floor employees (ezzamel, willmott & worthington, 2001), middle managers (bardon, brown & pezé, 2017), consultants (whittle, 2005), clients (trethewey, 1997) or other practitioners such as clinicians (doolin, 2002). the studies focus on how these organizational participants respond to a variety of management innovations including team-working (knights & mccabe, 2000a, 2003), total quality management (tqm) (knights and mccabe, 2000b), lean manufacturing (ezzamel & willmott, 2001), computer-based monitoring (ball & wilson, 2000) and various culture management programmes (bardon et al., 2017; doolin, 2002; fleming, 2005). even if each investigation comes with its own nuances, their contributions highlight three main individual positions, corresponding with how organizational participants answer management innovations attempting to regulate their ways of being and behaving: “conformity”, “resistance” and “distance”. of course, single labels can never express the degree of nuance that such categories incorporate but they can be extremely useful in making the social reality intelligible (deetz, 1996). the conformity position refers to “conformist selves” (collinson, 2003) who agree with the enterprise values and recognize themselves in the ideal worker figure that is prescribed to them in the workplace. according to knights and mccabe (2000a), this position of conformity not only includes “bewitched” people but also encompasses individuals with different degrees of enthusiasm regarding the enterprise culture. however, all these employees roughly recognize themselves in typical enterprise values such as masculinity (kerfoot & knights, 1998), careerism (grey, 1999) or elitism (thornborrow & brown, 2009) and behave according to the � 1251 management innovations from a foucauldian perspective m@n@gement, vol. 21(4): 1244-1263 corporate discipline as they tend to recognize post-bureaucratic change as an opportunity for empowerment (musson & duberley, 2007). the second category corresponds to “resisting selves” (collinson, 2003), i.e. individuals who reject the enterprising culture and are “bothered” (knights & mccabe, 2000a) by the corporate discipline as it threatens their current ways of being and behaving (musson & duberley, 2007). a series of studies show that resisting subjects express their discontent mainly through minor and covert discursive forms of resistance such as cynicism (fleming & spicer, 2007), scepticism (fleming & sewell, 2002), opposing arguments that question the rationality of corporate prescriptions (ezzamel et al., 2001) or developing alternative interpretive repertoires (knights & mccabe, 2000a). some researchers have suggested that these “underground” forms of resistance hinder the occurrence of more disruptive ones, whereas others recognize the symbolic power of such misbehaviours that constitute everyday acts of micro-emancipation that undermine the authority and credibility of corporate changes (ezzamel et al., 2001; fleming & spicer, 2007). resisting behaviours have also been thematized as ethical choices from organizational participants (bardon et al., 2017). in this way, bardon et al. (2017) show that middle managers at disneyland paris resist a corporate programme prescribing them to privilege effectiveness over ethics because of their willingness to make not only effective but also moral decisions when facing particularly sensitive and ambiguous situations. they interpret such resisting behaviours as the expression of those middle managers’ ethics, and, in particular, of their quest for practical wisdom (“phronesis” following aristotle). foucauldian scholars also stress that resistance arises because management innovations include internal contradictions and thus provide non-credible or inconsistent versions of the organizational “reality” to which individuals cannot subscribe (knights & mccabe, 2000a). most of these studies provide empirical accounts of individual resistance and tend to neglect collective forms of resistance. this should be seen in light of the fact that these studies often approach resistance as the precarious result of social individualities’ identity projects. the few foucauldian studies showing instances of collective resistance to management innovations (collinson, 1994; ezzamel et al., 2001) make clear that “those who engage in collective forms of resistance are likely to do so for a multiplicity of different, often individualistic reasons” (collinson, 1994: 55). the third category of responses to management innovations corresponds with organizational participants who distance themselves from the enterprising ethos. in particular, “dramaturgical selves” make use of the corporate discourse in order to appear conformist in significant others’ eyes (collinson, 2003, following goffman, 1959), other distant selves conceive the management innovation simply as rhetoric or irrelevant (musson & duberley, 2007), and still others use the corporate discourse to their own advantage (laine & vaara, 2007). interestingly, what was discussed as discursive forms of resistance, such as cynicism or scepticism of management innovations, can also be seen as forms of psychological distancing (fleming & spicer, 2007). in this way, such distancing from management innovations has been interpreted either as a way for individuals to protect their own identity and behaviours or as a form of disidentification which produces alternative identities (fleming & spicer, 2007). altogether, these contributions are particularly valuable because they provide nuanced accounts of how organizational participants respond to post-bureaucratic management innovations that target their subjectivity. � 1252 m@n@gement, vol. 21(4): 1244-1263 thibaut bardon & emmanuel josserand studying the genealogy of management innovations along with the studies discussed above, another group of foucaultinspired contributions provides genealogical accounts of management innovations, understood as the political histories that make certain management innovations become dominant discourses, if not considered as “truth” (ezzamel & willmott, 2008; knights & mccabe, 1998; knights & morgan, 1995; mccabe, 1996). by doing this, these studies aim to show that management innovations do not (necessarily) diffuse because they are best practice, i.e. because they are “necessary” to cope with organizational “reality”, but (also) because a number of circumstances, that foucault calls “conditions of possibilities”, construct the organizational “reality” in ways that make them appear as “necessary” in such contexts. following foucault’s radical constructionism, the goal of these studies is thus to show that management innovations do not tell the truth about how management situations should be handled but that they are social constructions that come to appear as “true”. genealogical studies thus constitute alternatives to rationalist accounts that explain the adoption and implementation of management innovations following the efficient choice model (ezzamel & willmott, 2008). they explicitly question the proclaimed superior rationality of management innovations that are adopted in organizational settings by showing that they are only social “inventions” which have been legitimized in a given context at the expense of other corporate discourses that have been delegitimized. as davidson (1989: 247) puts it: “genealogy is not intended to build proud epistemological foundations […] it shows instead that the origin of what we consider rational or true is rooted in subjection, power relationships—in a word in power.” the goal of such genealogies is thus not to provide a 2 “history of the past” but a history of the present (knights, 2002), i.e. to provide historical accounts to trace the emergence of what appears as “true” and “necessary” within contemporary organizational settings. to do so, these studies depict the “conditions of possibilities” at individual, organizational, technological and institutional levels that constitute management innovations as regimes of truth. for example, mccabe (1996) provides a genealogical account of a tqm initiative in an engineering company manufacturing auto components. his study describes how a given definition of how to implement tqm becomes a “regime of truth” within this organization to the detriment of another that has been discredited and discarded. in fact, two competing definitions of tqm were initially proposed in this company: on the one hand, tqm was presented as a continuous improvement process gradually implemented through a collective process of integrating employees into deployment, by training them to achieve quality standards and by setting up a recruitment policy aimed at attracting “quality” skills etc. on the other hand, tqm was conceived as a just-in-time process comprising an exclusively functional reorganization of production that had to be implemented as quickly as possible, following a top-down approach, to minimize waste. mccabe (1996) then describes the “manoeuvres” of legitimation that enabled the second interpretation to prevail by being presented as “true” and “necessary”. in particular, he shows how an external consultant was used as an “expert” to legitimize the indisputable superiority of the technical approach; by referring to data presented as “indisputably” true, this “expert” pointed out that the only way to overcome the “objectively” bad market conditions was to adopt the technical solution � 1253 2. originally in french: “la généalogie ne vise pas à bâtir d’orgueilleuses fondations épistémologiques […] elle montre au contraire que l’origine de c e q u e n o u s j u g e o n s c o m m e rationnel, porteur de vérité, plonge ses racines dans l’assujettissement, les rapports de force—en un mot dans le pouvoir”. management innovations from a foucauldian perspective m@n@gement, vol. 21(4): 1244-1263 as soon as possible, which would be certain to bring rapid results. genealogies of management innovations are thus interested in describing how certain management innovations have emerged and come to be considered as “true” and “necessary” while others have become “subjected discourses”, i.e. discourses that were “found to be disqualified 3 as non-conceptual knowledge, insufficiently elaborated knowledge, naive knowledge, hierarchically inferior knowledge, knowledge below the required level of scientificity” (foucault, 1997: 9). in this sense, these 4 foucauldian genealogical accounts can be interpreted as offering a political history of management innovations, i.e. a “strategy as power” perspective which deconstructs the evolving power relationships that constitute and make new organizing processes evolve over time. a research agenda our rereading shows that foucault constitutes a major source of inspiration for organizational scholars interested in management innovations. we demonstrate how foucault-inspired studies on management innovations have developed by articulating their complementarities, limitations and critiques. we show that foucault’s thinking has the development of an original critical voice on management innovations that constitutes a credible alternative to the managerialist approach. however, we believe that foucault still has more to offer and can thus still inspire students of management innovations. in this respect, the following two research avenues appear to us as particularly promising. from post-bureaucratic to biocratic innovations first, we encourage foucauldian scholars to take an interest in those emerging management innovations that currently flourish in organizational settings and that do not fit well within the post-bureaucratic ideal-type discussed above. this new generation of management innovations includes a great variety of practices such as: the appointment of chief happiness officers responsible for looking out for the well-being of organizational participants (vanhée, 2013); providing “cool” workspaces with recreational areas where employees can socialize in a relaxed atmosphere, play video games or share “fun” activities with others or offering employees the possibility of teleworking and even freely organizing their working time to suit their particular needs (morgan, 2004). these management innovations are distinct from post-bureaucratic practices because they do not attempt to transform individuals into identical corporate clones—who would take the shape of a risk-taking and aggressively ambitious enterprising subject—but play on other registers by promoting values such as authenticity, diversity, well-being, kindness and happiness, etc. (fleming, 2013). so far, we have found plenty of overenthusiastic writing and speeches from management gurus promoting these new management practices (getz & carney, 2012; hsieh, 2010; zobrist, 2014. however, very few academic pieces have investigated these management innovations, and even fewer from a critical perspective (e.g. fleming, 2013, 2014; land & taylor, 2010 for notable exceptions). in this respect, the most sophisticated critical contributions on this topic are certainly the theoretical developments provided by peter fleming (2013, 2014) who mobilizes the foucauldian notion of biopower to � 1254 3. originally in french: “discours assujettis”. 4. originally in french: “des savoirs qui se trouvaient être disqualifiés comme savoirs non conceptuels, savoirs insuffisamment élaborés, s a v o i r s n a ï f s , s a v o i r s hiérarchiquement inférieurs, savoirs e n d e s s o u s d u n i v e a u d e l a connaissance ou de la scientificité requise”. m@n@gement, vol. 21(4): 1244-1263 thibaut bardon & emmanuel josserand conceptualize management innovations as biocratic practices. the concept of biopower is a promising but, in fact, underdeveloped notion that foucault only touched upon in his work (fassin, 2006). foucault first mentioned this concept in 1974 at a conference (the transcript of which was first published in 1977) where he argued that “the control of society over individuals is not only realized by consciousness or ideology, but also by the body and with the body. for the capitalist society, this is bio-politics that matters above all, the biological, the somatic, the corporeal” 5 (foucault, 1977: 210). initially, the notion of biopolitics thus refers to power that targets biological life and includes “a set of processes such as the proportion of births and deaths, the reproduction rate, the fertility of a population” (foucault, 1977 216). the concept was later extended to 6 include all forms of power that target “life” itself, including biological life and also the social life of individuals (fassin, 2006). fleming (2013, 2014) subscribes to this wider interpretation and theoretically discusses how biocratic practices mean that “our life abilities and extra-work qualities (bios or “life itself”) are now key objects of exploitation” (fleming, 2014: 875). notably, he discusses how the biocratic ideal-type is different from the post-bureaucratic one, by arguing that “this change in management ideology is further evidenced in the way it increasingly focuses on moments of non-work as a source of value and inspiration. contemporary corporate discourse displays characteristics of biopower or ‘biocracy’ whereby ‘life itself’ (which used to be reserved till the formal workaday was over) is enrolled as a productive force” (fleming, 2013: 487). these theoretical developments need to be extended with empirical studies focusing on specific “biocratic” management innovations (see fleming & sturdy, 2009; land & taylor, 2010) in order to document the variety of social and cultural mechanisms through which organizational participants’ lives are captured and exploited productively. to do so, the foucauldian concept of ascesis discussed above can be very useful in investigating the “lifestyle” (foucault, 1984a: 36) that biocratic practices prescribe for organizational participants. indeed, it offers a fourdimensional reading grid that can be used to systematically deconstruct how these management innovations attempt to construct a biocratic subject whose life is entirely spoiled by work. future research avenues should also investigate how biocratic management innovations coexist with bureaucratic and post-bureaucratic modes of functioning. indeed, management innovations are not implemented in a vacuum but in social contexts where existing modes of functioning already exist. this line of research develops critical studies that investigate—not necessarily from a foucauldian perspective—how newly adopted post-bureaucratic practices challenge and potentially contradict the traditional bureaucratic modes of functioning characterizing the organizational settings in which they are implemented (clegg, harris & höpfl, 2011; farrell & morris, 2013; josserand, teo & clegg, 2006). future studies could concentrate on how the introduced biocratic modes of functioning connect with existing bureaucratic and post-bureaucratic modes of functioning in organizational settings where biocratic management innovations are adopted. studies could also investigate whether biocratic practices encapsulate principles that are traditionally associated with the bureaucratic and post-bureaucratic ideal-type. indeed, previous studies show how post-bureaucratic practices are in fact hybrid practices that also convey bureaucratic modes of functioning (hodgson, � 1255 5. originally in french: “le contrôle de la société sur les individus ne s’effectue pas seulement par la conscience ou par l’idéologie, mais aussi dans le corps et avec le corps. pour la société capitaliste, c’est la biopolitique qui importait avant tout, le biologique, le somatique, le corporel”. 6. originally in french: “un ensemble de processus comme la proportion des naissances et des décès, le taux de reproduction, la fécondité d’une population”. management innovations from a foucauldian perspective m@n@gement, vol. 21(4): 1244-1263 2004; mccabe, 2010; sturdy & wylie, 2016). in line with this, we should also consider that biocratic practices might not perfectly fit with the biocratic ideal-type by encapsulating bureaucratic and post-bureaucratic prescriptions that might potentially offer organizational participants inconsistent versions of organizational “reality” and raise resisting behaviours. we join in fleming’s (2013) call for empirical investigation into how organizational participants respond to such biocratic management innovations. indeed, resistance is often encouraged, if not prefabricated, in such biocratic contexts involving traditional forms of discursive resistance which might appear as active participation in the corporate-sponsored debate (courpasson & vallas, 2016; mumby, thomas, martí & seidl, 2017). beyond exiting paid employment, or even suicide as evoked by fleming (2013), other less radical forms of resistance might arise in response to biocratic practices. finally, we also call on foucauldian scholars to provide genealogical accounts of biocratic management innovations. foucault disciples should investigate the conditions and possibilities that make biocratic discourse appear as “necessary”, “efficient” or “desirable”. this investigation could be conducted at individual level by investigating the “condition of possibilities” within organizational participants’ biographies that make them consider biocratic management innovations as best practice. in this respect, retrospective life narrative approaches (watson, 2008) appear particularly well adapted to such political and historical investigations at the individual level. this could make a valuable contribution to further understanding ceos’ and top managers’ adoption and implementation decisions. genealogical accounts should also be conducted at the level of single organizational settings and focus on the adoption and implementation of specific biocratic management innovations. they could also be conducted at more macro levels in order to study the historical conditions making this biocratic “wave” gain credence in contemporary times. studying management innovations: getting into the battlefield the second research avenue concerns the opportunity for foucauldian scholars to adopt research postures that are more engaged in the field when studying management innovations. so far, empirical foucauldian studies on this topic mainly adopt case study research designs based on organizational participants’ interviews and secondary data (e.g. kelly et al., 2007; knights & mccabe, 2003); we also find few ethnographic studies that include field observation (e.g. ezzamel et al., 2001). of course, these research methods are perfectly adapted to investigate how management innovations are deployed within organizational settings and how organizational participants respond to these technologies of power. still, they hold foucault’s disciples at a safe academic distance. indeed, the latter do not actively contribute to transforming power relationships within management innovations, i.e. they have very little influence on the technologies of power that they study and how organizational participants respond to them. put simply, it means that foucauldian scholars only look at the battlefield rather than participating in the battle. of course, the latter statement should be nuanced since access to research fields is often granted in exchange for feedback from researchers; it is also common that researchers communicate some of their findings to informants on a voluntary basis. nevertheless, it is a � 1256 m@n@gement, vol. 21(4): 1244-1263 thibaut bardon & emmanuel josserand matter of fact that the knowledge produced on management innovations by foucauldian scholars have marginal effects on studied research settings. of course, our point echoes the much broader debate about the practical relevance of research activities and the gap that exists between theory and practice (bartunek & rynes, 2014; van de ven & johnson, 2006). in particular, it resonates with more recent calls encouraging critical scholars to adopt a “critical performative approach” (huault, kärreman, perret & spicer, 2017; spicer, alvesson & kärreman 2009; wickert & schafer, 2015). following spicer et al. (2009: 55), adopting a critical performative stance “requires attempts to question, challenge and radically reimagine management through practical and direct interventions into particular debates of management”. put simply, critical performativity thus refers to how critical scholars can influence organizational life rather than maintaining a cynical distance from the organizational phenomena upon which they reflect. it thus involves “scholars’ subversive interventions that can involve the production of new subjectivities” (esper, cabantous, barincruz & gond, 2017: 671). many intellectual sources have been used, misused or creatively used (in this respect, see the debate between cabantous, gond, harding & learmonth, 2016 and spicer, alvesson & kärreman., 2016) to discuss critical performativity, including austin, butler, lyotard or callon (cabantous et al., 2016; spicer et al., 2009, 2016; wickert & shaefer, 2015). in this context, foucault has not been seen as a key influential resource for stimulating thinking on critical performativity (see aggeri, 2017 for a notable exception). here, our take is that the foucauldian perspective constitutes a particularly appropriate posture for conducting studies that are performative, most notably in relation to management innovations. indeed, foucault himself conceives his own work as being about influencing the field of possibilities. he argues, provocatively, that “i would like my books to be scalpels, molotov cocktails or mine galleries, and they burn after use, like fireworks” (foucault, 1975b: 725). this means that he considers that the value of his writings derives from their concrete effects on “reality”. specifically, foucault conceives his writings as “experience books” in opposition to “truth books” (foucault, 1980a: 867), i.e. that he considers that his research aims at renewing one’s experience of “reality” rather than telling the truth about “reality”. as he says, “my experience is to do it myself, and to invite others to do with me […] an experience of our modernity so that we come out transformed. which means that at the end of the day we are building new relationships with what is in question” 7 (foucault, 1980a: 863). beyond transforming his own understanding, the research aims for foucault were to help “reader-users” (foucault, 1974b) problematize “reality” not as “true” or “necessary” but as the precarious result of a particular historical configuration of power relationships. the goal is thus to assist readers not to passively accept what is presented to them as the incontestable “reality” but to ethically evaluate the proposed version of reality offered to them and make the ethical decision to conform, resist or transform it, as “moral subjects of their own actions” (foucault, 1984a). being performative for foucault thus means catalysing reflexivity and critical judgement by sapping authoritative discourses that attempt to impose certain ways of being and behaving in the name of “truth”. for instance, when foucault investigates ancient sexual asceticism in the last two volumes of the history of sexuality (foucault, 1984a, 1984b), this is to show us that other ways of experiencing sexuality used to � 1257 7 . o r i g i n a l l y i n f r e n c h : “ m o n problème est de faire moi-même, et d’inviter les autres à faire avec moi […] une expérience de ce que nous sommes […] une expérience de notre modernité afin que nous en sortions transformés. ce qui signifie qu’au bout du livre nous puissions établir des rapports nouveaux avec ce qui est en question”. management innovations from a foucauldian perspective m@n@gement, vol. 21(4): 1244-1263 be legitimate and that what appears now as a “normal” sexuality is thus only a socially constructed historical product. by deconstructing these alternative sexual ascetics, he thus calls on us to problematize our relationships with ourselves and others during sexual acts, and more generally during all social interactions, rather than passively conform to what is presented as “normal” behaviour. in all cases, foucault attempts to influence the field of possibilities with his books, which are well received, by responding regularly to interviews in specialized and generalist journals targeting the wider public (see, foucault, 2001a, 2001b), and through activism in the field. for instance, his strong involvement in the “groups d’informations des prisons” (gip), a militant group calling for reformation of the jurisdictional and prison system, is a way to practically apply his critique of power and discipline (welch, 2010). similarly, foucault’s practical engagement in favour of gay rights is testament to his desire to influence the field of possibilities concerning the normalization of sexuality (eribon, 1989). likewise, foucauldian scholars should look for more ways to have an impact on the management innovations they focus on in their research. of course, it is unlikely that organizational participants read academic articles, and anyway, it would probably only affect them and potentially influence their decisions long after the research period. in this respect, we strongly encourage foucault disciples to adopt a critical performative stance when investigating management innovations. in line with this, foucault’s disciples could work in close collaboration with practitioners, both by seeking to influence those who deploy management innovations and those who are subject to them. indeed, foucault refuses the structuralist ideological view that involves taking for granted binary opposition between the dominants and the dominated based on class, or on any other a priori defining attributes (foucault, 1980b). on the contrary, he emphasizes that situations should be assessed locally, meaning that individualities should also be assessed based on their (liberating or constraining) actions in the field of possibilities (foucault, 1980b). following this, a performative intervention could thus involve enrolling “disgruntled elites” (spicer et al., 2016: 238) but, more widely, will entail initially approaching all those involved in the adoption and implementation of management innovations as “moral subjects of their own actions” who can potentially contribute to opening the field of possibilities rather than constraining it. in all cases, adopting a foucauldian performative approach to management innovations could involve providing a “tool box” (foucault, 1974b; foucault & deleuze, 1977) to both categories of organizational participants for reflecting on management innovations as moral subjects of their own actions—tools to help them become more reflexive on the management innovations that they consider deploying or to which they are subjected. for instance, foucault disciples could provide participants with genealogical accounts of these management innovations. such historical analysis of the “conditions of possibilities” that make certain management innovations and ways to implement them appear as “true”, “necessary” or “desirable” can be particularly useful for informing their decisions on these matters. similarly, deconstructing the power effects of management innovations can help managers assess the consequences of their own managerial actions; it can also help organizational participants make their decisions to conform, resist or distance themselves from the discipline and ascesis prescribed to them by management innovations. in this respect, the four dimensions of ascesis (see table 1) can be very useful for organizational participants. finally, a foucault perspective offers a � 1258 m@n@gement, vol. 21(4): 1244-1263 thibaut bardon & emmanuel josserand privileged perspective to help actors of management innovations become moral subjects of their own actions and, in doing so, increase morality within organizational settings. references abrahamson, e. (1996). management fashion. academy of management review, 21(1), 254-285. abrahamson, e. & eisenman, m. (2008). employeemanagement techniques: transient fads or trending fashions? administrative science quarterly, 53(4), 719-744. ackroyd, s. & thompson, p. (1999), organizational misbehaviour, london: sage publications. adler, p.s., forbes, l.c. & willmott, h. (2007). critical m a n a g e m e n t s t u d i e s . t h e a c a d e m y o f management annals, 1(1), 119-179. aggeri, f. (2017). how can performativity contribute to management and organization research?: theoretical perspectives and analytical framework. m@n@gement, 20(1), 28-69. al-amoudi, i. (2007). redrawing foucault's social ontology. organization, 14(4), 543-563. alvarez, j. l., mazza, c. & strandgaard pedersen, j. ( 2 0 0 5 ) . t h e r o l e o f m a s s m e d i a i n t h e c o n s u m p t i o n o f m a n a g e m e n t k n o w l e d g e . scandinavian journal of management, 21(2), 127-132. ball, k., & wilson, d. c. (2000). power, control and c o m p u t e r b a s e d p e r f o r m a n c e m o n i t o r i n g : r e p e r t o i r e s , r e s i s t a n c e a n d s u b j e c t i v i t i e s . organization studies, 21(3), 539-565. bardon, t. (2011). penser les outils de gestion comme des morales organisationnelles  : proposition d’un cadre intégratif foucaldien (unpublished doctoral dissertation). université paris-dauphine, paris, f r a n c e  ; u n i v e r s i t é d e g e n è v e , g e n è v e , switzerland. bardon, t., brown, a.d. & pezé, s. (2017). identity regulation, identity work and phronesis. human relations, 70(8), 940-965. bardon, t., clegg, s. r. & josserand, e. (2012). exploring identity construction from a critical management perspective: a research agenda. m@n@gement, 15(4), 351-366. bardon, t. & josserand, e. (2011). a nietzschean reading of foucauldian thinking: constructing a project of the self within an ontology of becoming. organization, 18(4), 497-515. barratt, e. (2003). foucault, hrm and the ethos of the c r i t i c a l m a n a g e m e n t s c h o l a r. j o u r n a l o f management studies, 40(5), 1069-1087. bartunek, j.m. & rynes, s.l. (2014). academics and practitioners are alike and unlike: the paradoxes of academic–practitioner relationships, journal of management, 40(5), 1181-1201. benhabib, s. (1992), situating the self: gender, community and postmodernism in contemporary ethics, cambridge: polity. bergström, o. & knights, d. (2006). organizational discourse and subjectivity: subjectification during processes of recruitment. human relations, 59(3), 351-377. birkinshaw, j., hamel, g. & mol, m.j. (2008). management innovation. academy of management review, 33(4), 825-845. burrell, g. (1988). modernism, post modernism and organizational analysis 2: the contribution of michel foucault. organization studies, 9(2), 221-235. cabantous, l., gond, j. p., harding, n. & learmonth, m. (2016). critical essay: reconsidering critical performativity. human relations, 69(2), 197-213. caldwell, r. (2007). agency and change: reevaluating foucault's legacy. organization, 14(6), 769-791. carson, p.p., lanier, p.a., carson, k.d. & guidry, b.n. (2000). clearing a path through the management fashion jungle: some preliminary trailblazing. a c a d e m y o f m a n a g e m e n t j o u r n a l , 4 3 ( 6 ) , 1143-1158. carter, c. (2008). a curiously british story: foucault goes to business school. international studies of management and organization, 38(1), 13-29. carter, c., mckinlay, a. & rowlinson, m. (2002). foucault: management and history. organization, 9(4), 515-526. chiapello, e. & gilbert, p. (2013), sociologie des outils de gestion, paris: la découverte. clark, t. & salaman, g. (1996). the management guru as organizational witchdoctor. organization, 3(1), 85. clark, t. & salaman, g. (1998). telling tales: m a n a g e m e n t g u r u s ’ n a r r a t i v e s a n d t h e construction of managerial identity. journal of management studies, 35(2), 137-161. clegg, s.r., harris, m. & höpfl, h. (eds.) (2011). managing modernity: beyond bureaucracy? oxford: oxford university press. clegg, s.r., pitsis, t.s., rura-polley, t. & marosszeky, m. (2002). governmentality matters: designing an a l l i a n c e c u l t u r e o f i n t e r o r g a n i z a t i o n a l collaboration for managing projects. organization studies, 23(3), 317-337. collinson, d. (1994). strategies of resistance: power, knowledge and subjectivity in the workplace. in j. jermier, d. knights & w. nord (eds.), resistance and power in organizations (pp. 25-68 ). london and new york, ny: routledge. collinson, d.l. (2003). identities and insecurities: selves at work. organization, 10(3), 527-547. � 1259 management innovations from a foucauldian perspective m@n@gement, vol. 21(4): 1244-1263 courpasson, d. & vallas, s. (eds.) (2016), the sage h a n d b o o k o f r e s i s t a n c e , l o n d o n : s a g e publications. covaleski, m.a., dirsmith, m.w., heian, j.b. & samuel, s. (1998). the calculated and the avowed: techniques of discipline and struggles over identity in big six public accounting firms. administrative science quarterly, 43(2), 293-327. davidson, a. (1989). archéologie, généalogie, ethique. in d.c. hoy (ed.), michel foucault, lectures critiques (pp. 243-255). brussels: de boeck université. dean, m. (1999), governmentality. hoboken, nj: john wiley & sons, ltd. d e e t z , s . ( 1 9 9 6 ) . ‘ d e s c r i b i n g d i ff e r e n c e s i n approaches to organization science: rethinking burrell and morgan and their legacy’. organization science, 7(2), 191-207. de vaujany, f.x. (2005), de la conception à l'usage: vers un management de l'appropriation des outils de gestion,  caen: éditions ems, management & société. doolin, b. (2002). enterprise discourse, professional identity and the organizational control of hospital clinicians. organization studies, 23(3), 369-390. du gay, p. (1996), consumption and identity at work, london: sage publications. du gay, p. (2000), in praise of bureaucracy: weberorganization-ethics, london: sage publications. du gay, p. & g. salaman (1992). the cult [ure] of the customer. journal of management studies, 29(5), 615-633. eribon, d. (1989), michel foucault, paris: flammarion. esper, s.c., cabantous, l., barin-cruz, l. & gond, j.p. (2017). supporting aternative organizations? e x p l o r i n g s c h o l a r s ’ i n v o l v e m e n t i n t h e performativity of worker-recuperated enterprises. organization, 24(5), 671-699. ezzamel, m. & willmott, h. (2008). strategy as discourse in a global retailer: a supplement to rationalist and interpretive accounts. organization studies, 29(2), 191-217. ezzamel, m., willmott, h. & worthington, f. (2001). power, control and resistance in “the factory that time forgot”. journal of management studies, 38(8), 1053-1079. farrell, c. & morris, j. (2013) managing the neobureaucratic organisation: lessons from the uk’s prosaic sector, international journal of human resource management, 24(7), 1376-92. fassin, d. (2006). la biopolitique n’est pas une politique de la vie. sociologie et sociétés, 38(2), 35-48. fincham, r. & evans, m. (1999). the consultants’ offensive: reengineering—from fad to technique. new technology, work and employment, 14(1), 32-44. fleming, p. (2005). metaphors of resistance. management communication quarterly, 19(1), 45-66. fleming p. (2013). down with big brother! the end of corporate culturalism? journal of management studies, 50(3), 474–495. fleming, p. (2014). when “life itself” goes to work: reviewing shifts in organizational life through the lens of biopower. human relations, 67(7), 875-901. fleming, p. & sewell, g. (2002). looking for the good soldier, švejk: alternative modalities of resistance in the contemporary workplace. sociology, 36(4), 857-873. fleming, p. & spicer, a. (2007), contesting the corporation: struggle, power and resistance in organizations, cambridge: cambridge university press. foucault, m. (1971). nietzsche, la généalogie, l'histoire. in d. defert & f. ewald (eds.), dits et ecrits, tome i: 1954-1975 (pp.1004-1024). paris: gallimard. foucault, m. (1974a). la vérité et les formes juridiques. in d. defert & f. ewald (eds.), dits et ecrits, tome i : 1954-1975 (pp.1406-1514). paris: gallimard. foucault, m. (1974b). prisons et asiles dans le mécanisme du pouvoir. in d. defert & f. ewald (eds.), dits et ecrits, tome i : 1954-1975 (pp. 1389-1393). paris: gallimard. foucault, m. (1975a), surveiller et punir, paris: gallimard. foucault, m. (1975b). sur la sellette. in d. defert & f. ewald (eds.), dits et ecrits, tome i : 1954-1975 (pp. 1588-1593). paris: gallimard. foucault, m. (1977). la naissance de la médecine sociale. in d. defert & f. ewald (eds.), dits et ecrits, tome ii : 1976-1988 (pp.207-228). paris: gallimard. foucault, m. (1980a). entretien avec m. foucault avec d. trombadori, in d. defert & f. ewald (eds.), dits et ecrits, tome ii : 1976-1988 (pp.860-914). paris: gallimard. foucault, m. (1980b), power/knowledge: selected interviews and other writings, 1972-1977, new york, ny: pantheon books. foucault, m. (1983). a propos de la généalogie de l’éthique: un aperçu du travail en cours. in d. defert & f. ewald (eds.), dits et ecrits, tome ii: 1976-1988 (pp.1202-1231). paris: gallimard, foucault, m. (1984a), histoire de la sexualité ii. l’usage des plaisirs, paris: gallimard. foucault, m. (1984b), histoire de la sexualité iii. le souci de soi, paris: gallimard. foucault, m. (1984c). l’intellectuel et les pouvoirs. in d. defert & f. ewald (eds.), dits et ecrits, tome ii: 1976-1988 (pp.1566-1571). paris: gallimard. foucault, m. (1988). the ethic of care for the self as a practice of freedom. in j. bernauer & d. rasmussen (eds.), the final foucault. cambridge, ma: mit press. foucault, m. 1997, cours au collège de france. 1976, paris, gallimard. foucault, m. (2001a). dits et ecrits, tome i: 1954-1975. d. defert & f. ewald (eds.), paris: gallimard. foucault, m. (2001b). dits et ecrits, tome ii: 1976-1988. d. defert & f. ewald (eds.), paris: gallimard. foucault, m. & deleuze, g. (1977). intellectuals and power. in d.f. bouchard (ed.), language, countermemory, practice: selected essays and interviews (pp. 205-217). ithaca, ny: cornell university press. � 1260 m@n@gement, vol. 21(4): 1244-1263 thibaut bardon & emmanuel josserand frenkel, m. (2005). communicating management: the role of the mass media in the institutionalization of professional management and productivity discourse in israel. scandinavian journal of management, 21(2), 137-157. getz, i. & carney b.m. (2012), liberté & cie: quand la liberté des salariés fait le bonheur des entreprises, paris: fayard. grey, c. (1999). “we are all managers now; we always were”: on the development and demise of management. journal of management studies, 36(5), 561-585. goffman, e. (1959), the presentation of self in everyday life, new york, ny: doubleday. habermas, j. (1990), the philosophical discourse of modernity: twelve lectures, translated by frederick lawrence. cambridge: polity press. heckscher, c. & donnellon, a. (1994), the postbureaucratic organization: new perspectives on organizational change, london: sage publications. hodgson, d.e. (2004). project work: the legacy of bureaucratic control in the post-bureaucratic organization. organization, 11(1), 81-100. h o l l w a y, w. ( 1 9 9 1 ) , w o r k p s y c h o l o g y a n d organizational behaviour: managing the individual at work, london: sage publications. hsieh, t. (2010), delivering happiness: a path to profits, passion, and purpose, london: hachette uk. huault, i., kärreman, d., perret, v. & spicer, a. (2017). introduction to the special issue: the evolving d e b a t e a b o u t c r i t i c a l p e r f o r m a t i v i t y . m@n@gement, 20(1), 1-8. iedema, r. & rhodes, c. (2010). the undecided space of ethics in organizational surveillance. organization studies, 31(2), 199-217. jackson, b.g. (1996). re-engineering the sense of self: the manager and the management guru. journal of management studies, 33(5), 571-590. jackson, b.g. (1999). the goose that laid the golden egg?: a rhetorical critique of stephen covey and t h e e f f e c t i v e n e s s m o v e m e n t . j o u r n a l o f management studies, 36(3), 353-377. josserand, e., teo, s. & clegg, s. (2006). from bureaucratic to post-bureaucratic: the difficulties of transition. journal of organizational change management, 19(1), 54-64 johnson, p., wood, g., brewster, c. & brookes, m. (2009). the rise of post-bureaucracy: theorists’ fancy or organizational praxis? international sociology, 24(1), 37-61. kelly, p., allender, s. & colquhoun, d. (2007). new work ethics?: the corporate athlete’s back end i n d e x a n d o r g a n i z a t i o n a l p e r f o r m a n c e . organization, 14(2), 267-285. kerfoot, d. & knights, d. (1998). managing masculinity in contemporary organizational life: a managerial project. organization, 5(1), 7-26. kipping, m. & engwall, l. (eds.) (2002). management consulting: emergence and dynamics of a knowledge industry. oxford: oxford university press. knights, d. (1997). organization theory in the age of d e c o n s t r u c t i o n : d u a l i s m , g e n d e r a n d postmodernism revisited. organization studies, 18(1), 1-19. knights, d. (2002). writing organizational analysis into foucault. organization, 9(4), 575-594. knights, d. & mccabe, d. (1998). when “life is but a dream”: obliterating politics through business process reengineering? human relations, 51(6), 761-798. knights, d. & mccabe, d. (2000a). bewitched, bothered and bewildered: the meaning and experience of teamworking for employees in an automobile company. human relations, 53(11), 1481-1517. knights, d. & mccabe, d. (2000b). “ain't misbehavin”? opportunities for resistance under new forms of “quality” management. sociology, 34(3), 421-436. knights, d. & mccabe, d. (2002). a road less travelled: beyond managerialist, critical and p r o c e s s u a l a p p r o a c h e s t o to t a l q u a l i t y management. journal of organizational change management, 15(3), 235-254. knights, d & mccabe, d. (2003). governing through teamwork: reconstituting subjectivity in a call centre. journal of management studies, 40(7), 1587-1619. knights, d. & morgan, g. (1995). strategy under the microscope: strategic management and it in financial services. journal of management studies, 32(2), 191-214. knights, d. & vurdubakis, t. (1994). foucault, power, resistance and all that. in j.m. jermier, d. knights & w.r. nord (eds.), resistance and power in organizations (pp. 167-198). london: routledge. knights, d. & willmott, h. (1989). power and subjectivity at work: from degradation to subjugation in social relations. sociology, 23(4), 535-558. land, c. & taylor, s. (2010). “surf’s up”: life, balance and brand in a new age capitalist organization. sociology, 44(3), 395-413. laine, p. m. & vaara, e. (2007). struggling over subjectivity: a discursive analysis of strategic development in an engineering group. human relations, 60(1), 29-58. lorino, p. (2002). vers une théorie pragmatique et sémiotique des outils appliquée aux instruments de gestion. working papers. cergy-pontoise: groupe essec. may, t. (1999). from banana time to just-in-time: power and resistance at work. sociology, 33(4), 767-783. mazza, c. & alvarez, j.l. (2000). haute couture and prêt-à-porter: the popular press and the diffusion of management practices. organization studies, 21(3), 567. mccabe, d. (1996). the best laid schemes o’tqm: strategy, politics and power. new technology, work and employment, 11(1), 28-38. mccabe, d. (2008). who’s afraid of enterprise? producing and repressing the enterprise self in a uk bank. organization, 15(3), 371-387. � 1261 management innovations from a foucauldian perspective m@n@gement, vol. 21(4): 1244-1263 mccabe, d. (2010). strategy-as-power: ambiguity, contradiction and the exercise of power in a uk building society. organization, 17(2), 151-175. mckinlay, a. (2010). book review of “governing the present”: administering social and personal life. organization studies, 31(8), 1155-1159. miller, p. & rose, n. (1990). governing economic life. economy and society, 19(1), 1-31. miller, p. & rose, n. (2008), governing the present: administering economic, social and personal life, cambridge: polity press. morgan, r.e. (2004). teleworking: an assessment of the benefits and challenges. european business review, 16(4), 344-357. mumby, d.k., thomas, r., martí, i. & seidl, d. (2017). resistance redux. organization studies, 38(9), 1157-1183. munro, i. (2000). non-disciplinary power and the network society. organization, 7(4), 679-695. munro, i. (2012). the management of circulations: biopolitical variations after foucault. international journal of management reviews, 14(3), 345-362. musson, g. & duberley, j. (2007). change, change or be exchanged: the discourse of participation and the manufacture of identity. journal of management studies, 44(1), 143-164. newton, t. (1998). theorizing subjectivity in organizations: the failure of foucauldian studies. organization studies, 19(3), 415-447. pezet, e. (2007), management et conduite de soi: enquête sur les ascèses de la performance, paris: vuibert. poster, m. (1990), the mode of information: poststructuralism and social context i, cambridge: polity. reed, m. (2000). the limits of discourse analysis in organizational analysis. organization, 7(3), 524-530. rose, n. (1990), governing the soul: the shaping of the private self, florence, ky: taylor & frances/ routledge. schofield, b. (2002). partners in power: governing the self-sustaining community. sociology, 36(3), 663-683. sewell, g. (1998). the discipline of teams: the control of team-based industrial work through electronic and peer surveillance. administrative science quarterly, 43(2), 397-428. sewell, g. & barker, j r. (2006). coercion versus care: using irony to make sense of organizational surveillance. the academy of management review, 31(4), 934-961. sewell, g. & wilkinson, b. (1992). “someone to watch over me”: surveillance, discipline and the just-intime labour process. sociology, 26(2), 271-289. spicer, a., alvesson, m. & kärreman, d. (2009). critical performativity: the unfinished business of critical management studies. human relations, 62(4), 537-560. spicer, a., alvesson, m. & kärreman, d. (2016). extending critical performativity. human relations, 69(2), 225-249. sturdy, a. (2004). the adoption of management ideas and practices: theoretical perspectives and possibilities. management learning, 35(2), 155-179. sturdy, a., w.c. & wylie, n. (2016). managers as consultants: the hybridity and tensions of neobureaucratic management. organization, 23(2), 184-205. thompson, p. & ackroyd, s. (1995). all quiet on the workplace front? a critique of recent trends in british industrial sociology. sociology, 29(4), 615-633. thornborrow, t. & brown, a.d. (2009). “being regimented”: aspiration, discipline and identity wo r k i n t h e b r i t i s h p a r a c h u t e r e g i m e n t . organization studies, 30(4), 355-376. townley, b. (1993). foucault, power/knowledge, and its relevance for human resource management. academy of management review, 18(3), 518-545. townley, b. (1995). “know thyself”: self-awareness, self-formation and managing. organization, 2(2), 271-289. townley, b. (2005). discussion of roberts: controlling foucault. organization, 12(5), 643-648. trethewey, a. (1997). resistance, identity, and empowerment: a postmodern feminist analysis of clients in a human service organization. communications monographs, 64(4), 281-301. van de ven, a.h. & johnson, p.e. (2006). knowledge for theory and practice. academy of management review, 31(4), 802-821. vanhée, l. (2013), happy rh. le bonheur au travail c'est rentable et durable, brussels: la charte. van krieken, r. (1996). proto-governmentalization and the historical formation of organizational subjectivity. economy and society, 25(2), 195-221. volberda, h. (1998), building the flexible firm: how to remain competitive, oxford: oxford university press. welch, m. (2010). pastoral power as penal resistance: foucault and the groupe d’information sur les prisons. punishment & society, 12(1), 47-63. whittle, a. (2005). preaching and practising “flexibility”: implications for theories of subjectivity at work. human relations, 58(10), 1301-1322. wickert, c. & schaefer, s.m. (2015). towards a progressive understanding of performativity in critical management studies. human relations, 68(1), 107-130. willmott, h. (1990). subjectivity and the dialectics of praxis: opening up the core of labour process analysis. in d. knights & h. willmott (eds.), labour process theory (pp. 336-378). london: macmillan. willmott, h. (1994). bringing agency (back) into organizational analysis: responding to the crisis of (post) modernity. in j. hassard & m. parker (eds.), towards a new theory of organizations (pp. 87-130). london: routledge. zobrist, j.f. (2014), la belle histoire de favi: l'entreprise qui croit que l'homme est bon, lulu.com zuboff, s. (1988), in the age of the smart machine: the future of work and power, new york, ny: basic books. � 1262 m@n@gement, vol. 21(4): 1244-1263 thibaut bardon & emmanuel josserand thibaut bardon is full professor, holder of the chair of ‘managerial innovations’ and head of research affairs in management at audencia business school (france). his main research areas focus on management innovations, identity construction and the foucauldian thinking. his work has been published in top-tier journals including human relations, organization and m@n@gement. emmanuel josserand a professor of management at the university of technology sydney and director of the centre for business and social innovation (cbsi). his research focuses on intraand inter-organisational networks, including in relation to managerial and social innovation. he has a strong international publication track record with more than 100 publications, including books and peer reviewed journals. he is a former editor in chief of m@n@gement. � 1263 01 editorial daudigeos & roulet 2018 m@n@gement 2018, vol. 21(4): 1178-1185 open-access management research at a turning point: giving relevance to a stigmatized object thibault daudigeos ! thomas j. roulet in this short piece, we start by briefly discussing why the model chosen by m@n@gement – free-to-submit, free-to-publish and free-to-read – remains a relevant template, indeed perhaps more relevant today than ever. despite these assets, our model must compete with other open-access outlets, and contend with negative perceptions, on the part of academics and the general public, of the distance taken by research from its practical impact. we discuss this multidimensional stigma and consider how we, as a community of management researchers, can overcome these challenges to make open-access research sustainable and impactful. m@n@gement is 20 years old. it was founded in an age when the role of the internet and the digital aspects of our lives were still a novelty. at that time the “at” symbol (arobase in french), was as fashionable as the latest pair of sneakers. yet nowadays, we are told that the name of the journal is pretty uncool, to which we answer that it is the new trend that is oldfashioned. in fact, reminding colleagues of the arobase is very useful for helping them recall the journal. it does not make us less proud to work every day for the ideal at the origin of the journal. former editors, authors and reviewers can be proud of m@n@gement as it now takes stock of 20 years of research and notable contributions in the areas of organization theory, strategy and international business (renaud & maucuer, this issue). does all of this mean that the journal has reached the age of reason? m@n@gement, 20 years counting, still a relevant model? m@n@gement remains unique in the field of open-access journals (see forgues & liarte, 2013 for a brief history) beyond the essential attribute that it is readable and accessible for free. first, there is no fee to submit or publish papers in our journal (what are euphemistically called “articles processing charges”), contrary to a number of existing openaccess journals such as plos one, sage open, or cogent. in this light, our journal considers itself to be one of the only fully open-access outlets in the field – independent researchers and academics in emerging economies who do not necessarily have access to institutional resources are welcome to contribute to the journal, free of charge. this reflects again the openness on which our journal is based. the journal is independent of all editorial behemoths that have been so decried in the past few years. the only institutional link the journal has is with its association – l’association internationale de management strategique (aims – the french-speaking international society for strategic management). since 2018, the journal is also financially supported by cnrs (the french national centre for scientific research). it functions only thanks to the funding of these organizations (used to finance �1178 thibault daudigeos grenoble ecole de management univ grenoble alpes comue thibault.daudigeos@grenobleem.com thomas j. roulet judge business school & girton college u. of cambridge t.roulet@jbs.cam.uk m@n@gement, vol. 21(4): 1178-1185 thibault daudigeos & thomas j. roulet a copy editor, our website and our submission platform) and the voluntary work of the editorial team (who do not receive any honoraria, as would be expected in other major management journals). we tend to remind our reviewers that, when they give their time to evaluate work submitted to our journal, they volunteer for their community of researchers and not for a private business. m@n@gement is a bilingual journal and sees itself as a gateway for french thinking to permeate the global field of management research and, inversely, as a receptacle for international work that will find particular resonance in the french community. it publishes all papers in english and considers manuscripts in french. from its start, the journal has endeavoured to provide authors with high-quality feedback and a fair process. the expectations of the journal are high, but the overall quality of work being produced in france and across the world is also rising. we oppose any academic malthusianism: we want to publish rigorous and innovative research, and all work that meets our standards is admitted. we do not artificially maintain a low acceptance rate to use as a status signalling instrument. we believe that the model of m@n@gement remains valid and consistent with the expanding era of the sharing economy (acquier, daudigeos & pinkse, 2017): we offer an independent journal, freely accessible and funded by a professional association. why would the academy of management not consider making their journals open access, too? they have the financial capacity to do so, being the major association in the field of management. they benefit from an already established infrastructure – one of the major challenges, alongside legitimacy, to the growth of open-access journals (forgues & liarte, 2013). the stigma of open access: reconciling true access and quality when academics think about open-access journals, they tend to think about predatory or vanity publishing – outlets that publish anything in exchange for a fee. those predatory outlets have legitimized themselves by calling themselves open access (making junk science freely available does not make it worthier) and thereby perverted the reputation of the movement. “legitimate” open-access journals can suffer courtesy stigma by being associated with peers that are not as virtuous (shymko & roulet, 2017). competing outlets, supported by private editorial companies, tend to play on those categorization errors to disregard open-access journals. it also seems that some people strive to discredit open-access journals, especially in social sciences. last spring, we received a series of fake submissions: papers that look like real research articles at first glance, but revealed themselves to be merely sophisticated juxtaposition of sentences and data upon further reading. these repeated submissions stopped only when we contacted the various fake authors to complain that dealing with their submissions took time and disturbed our efforts to promote quality in open-access journals. indeed, and contrary to the aforementioned stigma, m@n@gement has chosen from the outset to build on a rigorous and selective process of publishing. we have never traded access against quality. we would like here to spotlight the importance of the academic conversation that takes place between authors, reviewers and the associate editors around each of the papers that go through the publishing process of m@n@gement. this only functions because we can count on the devotion and hard work of our reviewers and associate editors, whose voluntary service is consistent with � 1179 open-access management research at a turning point m@n@gement, vol. 21(4): 1178-1185 our positioning as an open-access journal. our careful selection of reviewers is driven by the will to create the best academic conversation possible, encompassing empirical, theoretical, methodological and writing style considerations. most of our reviewers are experienced researchers, with work published in renowned international journals, who manage to give a bit of their very scarce time for our journal. we are very grateful to them. of course, it is not always easy to find three perfect matches for every paper we send for review – nevertheless, our average of 2.8 reviewers per paper this year is a source of great pride. our review process has gained the reputation of being developmental, and as a result growing numbers of young researchers send us promising articles coming out of their dissertations, learning a lot through the exercise. overall, this process ensures that all accepted academic articles have gone through a sound and developmental conversation between peers, which renders the journal quite consistent in terms of quality. like every academic journal, we feel the pressure to shorten the review process and the time to publish after first submission. of course, this pursuit is legitimate, and some top journals now provide incredibly short rounds and review processes. once again, we do not want to risk trading pace for quality. one way to deal with this while continuing to increase the quality of our process has been to increase the number of associate editors who bring their expertise and network of potential reviewers to the journal. eight associate editors now directly manage their own streams of submissions. aside from some rare outliers, the average time for first decision is 67 days for papers sent for review, and less than 10 days for desk rejected papers, on average. furthermore, being an online journal considerably reduces the time between final acceptance and publication, which makes our process relatively fast in comparison to other journals. another reason for pride! we see our open-access approach as a tool to attract good submissions and good authors for those who are concerned about the accessibility and the shared ownership of scientific knowledge. while rankings have limited interest in the financial models and ideals of a journal, we hope to endogenously continue raising the quality of the work we publish by making open access one of our main selling points at a time when major publishing models are challenged. in a post-truth era (kurchaki, 2016; mcintyre, 2018) where the frontier between opinion pieces and scientific articles is fuzzier than ever, high-quality open-access research is needed. the stigma of management research: reconciling rigour and relevance? increasing the reach of open-access research within the academic community is not enough, and more importantly it does not fully benefit from the accessibility of open-access science. open-access research must not only reach remote academic communities but also the broader public, thereby becoming more impactful. in fact, the impact of management research has been a central concern for universities and schools because of the cost it involves. how can the work we do be useful to managers and organizations? to public policy? the open access movement – by making research directly available – has the potential to contribute to solving the world’s most pressing problems, on the condition the research produced is made intelligible and digestible for stakeholders. as noted by hamet and maurer (2017), management research is still only scarcely visible outside of academia – in particular, there is very little � 1180 m@n@gement, vol. 21(4): 1178-1185 thibault daudigeos & thomas j. roulet media coverage for the work we do, partly due the generic but also heterogeneous drivers of media attention (roulet & clemente, 2018). despite this lack of visibility, it is clear that management research has a lot to offer to tackle grand challenges (bothello & roulet, forthcoming). efforts to make management research relevant and visible are numerous (see, for example, the efforts of the revue francaise de gestion – denis, 2017 – or of the strategic management journal, which now publishes a practitioneroriented abstract with each paper). in this context, the relevance of management research is a vivid debate (mangematin & belkhouja, 2015; carton & mouricou, 2017). at our level, several initiatives aim at increasing our impact on a broader audience. first, we have recently made efforts to promote m@n@gement on social media. the journal now has its own twitter account (@management_aims) with more than 1300 followers. for a number of years, we have also promoted alternative formats to convey new ideas. our “unplugged” section, edited by olivier germain, has published dozens of original pieces that explore new expression modes to attract readers: sketches (de vaujany, 2016), movies comments (picard, 2016), poems (palpacuer, 2019), reflexive pieces of management gurus on their works (mintzberg, 2015), short pieces like the recent 1000 words series (aumais et al., 2018) – so many novel ways to convey ideas to diverse sensitivities and audiences. finally, we are convinced that strategic intermediaries, such as professional media, consulting companies, thinkand-do tanks, business labs, or foundations, can play an important role in translating management and strategy research for practitioners and diffusing it to a broader audience. our collaboration with the conversation is just a small step in this direction. introduction to the special issue in their statistical and bibliometric analysis of the first 20 years of m@n@gement, renaud and maucuer show the extent to which our journal has managed to cover a broad array of questions and theories in strategic management and organizational theory (renaud and maucuer, this issue). all past editors succeeded in attracting papers covering the pressing issues of their time. the recent special issue on critical performativity (huault, kärreman, perret & spicer, 2017) is a case in point of how m@n@gement plays its part in vivid international academic debates. the article by renaud and maucuer also underlines the areas in which there is room for improvement, most notably the weakness of internal citation and hence internal academic conversation.1 several articles in this special issue cover concepts and theories that m@n@gement has pushed forward in the past. the essay by demil, lecocq and warnier elaborates on how the notions of business ecosystems and more broadly “business model thinking” change the way we think about and experience the strategic environment of organizations (demil, lecocq & warnier, this issue). on their side, cabantous and sergi delineate a new horizon for performativity studies (aggeri, 2017) by initiating a dialogue with process studies (cabantous & sergi, this issue). more specifically, they contend that a processuality mindset could help performativity studies address three key challenges, namely: avoiding over-simplistic causal and linear reasoning, characterizing performativity processes and providing evidence of performativity. � 1181 1. a rare exception is the debate b e t w e e n p e t o n a n d p e z é a n d daudigeos, boutinot and jaumier in 2 0 1 5 ( p e t o n & p e z é , 2 0 1 5 ; daudigeos, boutinot & jaumier, 2015). open-access management research at a turning point m@n@gement, vol. 21(4): 1178-1185 the two following articles contradict conventional managerial wisdom and highlight interesting counterintuitive findings. bardon and josserand discuss the popular notion of management innovations and contest the idea that they should be considered as one-size-fits-all best practices (bardon & josserand, this issue). on the contrary, they revisit the foucauldian heritage in critical management studies to propose a research agenda on management innovations and the conditions necessary to foster dialogue between researchers and practitioners on this matter. välikangas and tienari question the emphasis placed on authenticity in leadership today (välikangas & tienari, this issue). their analysis of several vignettes about the role of humour in ceos’ work in different industries illustrates how authenticity in the strict sense of the word is not compatible with this work. four papers in this special issue advance the research agenda of institutional theory, whose development has always been echoed within m@n@gement (for instance, see dansou & langley, 2012; friedland, 2012; scott, 2014). two articles relate to organizational hybridity. in her essay, battilana reviews recent organizational research on social enterprises (battilana, this issue). she points to four pillars that seem to play a critical role in enabling organizations to pursue joint social and financial goals over time – specifically, how organizations set goals, structure activities, select members and socialize those members. she then reflects on the interplay between these pillars and the organizational culture of hybrids. as for svenningsen-berthélem, boxenbaum and ravasi, their study of a french energy corporation inhabited both by a science and a market logic investigates how employees respond to hybrid organizing (svenningsen-berthélem, boxenbaum & ravasi, this issue). employees’ responses are shaped by three types of capital – scientific, social and cultural – that are accumulated through their professional training, the type of organizational position they occupy, and the length and variety of their work experience in a hybrid organizational setting. hence, this article contributes to the fruitful tradition of research at the crossroad between bourdieusian thinking and institutional theory. in their empirical investigation of the genesis and propagation of community-based palliative care in kerala, vijai and monin leverage institutional theory to improve our understanding of the macrofoundations of social innovations (vijai & monin, this issue). to do so, they build on the nascent conversation about poisedness and propagation, namely the receptivity of a context to certain organizational inventions, and the readiness of the context to be reconfigured by the cascading effects of these inventions (vijay & monin, this issue: 1330). the authors underline the importance of political poisedness, which rests on the actions of a large array of organizations and individuals, to explain the emergence of social innovations. in his long essay, friedland extends his efforts to bring stronger ontological grounds to the institutional logics perspective (friedland, this issue). to that end, he proposes a personal reading of both schatzki’s practice theory and heidegger’s phenomenology, and reflects on the practice of being and living in a world composed of a plurality of institutional logics and goods. the remaining articles in this special issue relate to methodological and epistemological considerations. maire and liarte emphasize the visual turn in organization studies (maire & liarte, this issue) and call for more visual or multimodal analyses (höllerer, daudigeos & jancsary, 2017). they first review the main concepts linked to visuals, such as semiotic analysis and visual rhetoric, and a diverse set of theoretical frameworks for considering visuals in management studies. they ultimately list important � 1182 m@n@gement, vol. 21(4): 1178-1185 thibault daudigeos & thomas j. roulet methodological considerations for those interested in this endeavour. gümüsay, höllerer and meyer point to another neglected dimension of organizational life: scent (gümüsay, höllerer & meyer, this issue). their article makes the claim that scent is an important semiotic mode that conveys cultural meaning and hence participates in the social construction of reality. the authors introduce three novel concepts – institutional scent repertoire, organizational scent identity and scent literacy – that may fertilize different streams of organisation studies. the two final essays share the same critical view about how we do research in management and organization studies nowadays, and offer interesting insights about the making of theories. cunliffe denounces a narrowing and dehumanization of scholarship under the multiple constraints of the “publish or perish” imperative (cunliffe, this issue). she brings to the fore the notion of “wayfaring”, which refers to “the embodied experience of walking/moving along paths in our research landscapes paying attention—where attend means to wait and be open to what may unfold” (cunliffe, this issue: 1433). bernard forgues, the founder of m@n@gement concludes this special issue with his intriguing “kant in pyjamas” (forgues, this issue). building on gerald davis and pierre bourdieu, forgues reflects on the evolution of organizations and organization studies over the past 20 years. despite tremendous changes, he contends that social sciences that matter always rely on an intricate relationship between abstract theorization and engagement with empirics. standing on the shoulders of giants while being deeply engaged with data remains a relevant compass for management research. conclusion m@n@gement continues to be visible and known for its unique positioning. we hope our mandate as chief editors – reflecting our keen engagement in the open access movement and our research community – will help the journal gain even more influence. although we can be proud of what has been already achieved, we wander through conferences and seminars to remind our colleagues about why they should send us their best work and read what we publish. in the meantime, we aim at strengthening bridges between the research appearing in this journal and the practitioners, managers and executives who can benefit from it. � 1183 open-access management research at a turning point m@n@gement, vol. 21(4): 1178-1185 references acquier, a., daudigeos, t. & pinkse, j. (2017). promises and paradoxes of the sharing economy: a n o r g a n i z i n g f r a m e w o r k .  te c h n o l o g i c a l forecasting and social change, 125, 1-10. aggeri, f. (2017). how can performativity contribute to m a n a g e m e n t a n d o r g a n i z a t i o n r e s e a r c h ? . m@n@gement, 20(1), 28-69. aumais, n., basque, j., carrim, n. m. h., daskalaki, m., dorion, l., garneau, j., ... & muhr, s. l. (2018). in 1000 words:# timeisup, academics and organization studies. m@ n@ gement. 21(3), 1080 1117. bardon, t. & josserand, e. (2018). management innovations from a foucauldian perspective: time to take action, m@n@gement, 21(4), 1244-1263. battilana, j. (2018). cracking the organizational challenge of pursuing joint social and financial goals: social enterprise as a laboratory to understand hybrid organizing. m@n@gement, 21(4), 1278-1305. ben slimane, k. (2012). retourner sa veste, toujours du bon côté: travail institutionnel discursif dans le déploiement de la télévision numérique terrestre en france. m@n@gement, 15(2), 146-179. bothello, j. & roulet, t. (2018). the imposter syndrome, or the mis-representation of self in academic life. journal of management studies. advance online publication, doi.org/10.1111/joms. 12344 cabantous, l. & sergi, v. (2018). seeing the potentialities at the intersection: a reflection on performativity and processuality mindsets. m@n@gement, 21(4), 1229-1243. carton, g. & mouricou, p. (2017). is management research relevant? a systematic analysis of the rigor-relevance debate in top-tier journals (1994– 2013). m@n@gement, 20(2), 166. cunliffe, a.l. (2018). wayfaring: a scholarship of possibilities or let’s not get drunk on abstraction. m@n@gement, 21(4), 1429-1439. dansou, k. & langley, a. (2012). institutional work and the notion of test. m@n@gement, 15(5), 503-527. daudigeos, t., boutinot, a. & jaumier, s. (2015). the historical study of institutional change over long periods: pitfalls and perspectives. a commentary on the article by hélène peton and stéphan pezé. m@n@gement, 18(3), 254-260. demil, b., lecocq, x. & warnier, v. (2018). « business model thinking, business ecosystems and platforms: the new perspective on the environment of the organization. m@n@gement, 21(4), 1213-1228. de vaujany, f. x. (2016). unplugged-academic non fiction le dîner: comment expliquer les sciences d e g e s t i o n j u s t e a v a n t l e dessert?. m@n@gement, 19(4), 330-334. denis, j. p. (2017). l’autorité scientifique au xxie siècle. revue française de gestion, (1), 5-12. forgues, b. & liarte, s. (2013). academic publishing: past and future. m@n@gement, 16(5), 739-756. forgues, b. (2018). kant in pyjamas: keeping a c o m p a s s i n a c h a n g i n g a c a d e m i c w o r l d . m@n@gement, 21(4), 1440-1451. friedland, r. (2012). the institutional logics perspective: a new approach to culture, structure, and process. m@n@gement, 15(5), 583-595. friedland, r. (2018). what good in practice?: ontologies, teleologies and the problem of institution. m@n@gement, 21(4), 1357-1404. gümüsay, a.a., höllerer, m.a. & meyer, r.e. ((2018). organizational scent. m@n@gement, 21(4), 1424-1428. hamet, j. & maurer, f. (2017). is management research visible outside the academic community?. m@n@gement, 20(5), 492-516. höllerer, m. a., daudigeos, t. & jancsary, d. (eds.) (2017). multimodality, meaning, and institutions. in  multimodality, meaning, and institutions  (pp. 1-24). bingley : emerald publishing limited. huault, i., kärreman, d., perret, v. & spicer, a. (2017). introduction to the special issue: the evolving debate about critical performativity. m@n@gement, 20(1), 1-8. kucharski, a. (2016). post-truth: study epidemiology of fake news. nature, 540(7634), 525. maire, s. & liarte, s. (2018). building on visuals : taking stock and moving ahead. m@n@gement, 21(4), 1405-1423. mangematin, v. & belkhouja, m. (2015). a note on the evolution of the french management scholarship, 1994-2014. m@n@gement, 18(3), 194-204. mcintyre, l. (2018),  post-truth, cambridge, ma: mit press. mintzberg, h. (201 the nature of managerial work (1973) & simply managing: what manager do-and can do better (2013). m@n@gement, 18(2), 186-188. palpacuer, f. (2019). academia, m@n@gement, 21(5), forthcoming. parker, m. (2017). alternative enterprises, local economies, and social justice: why smaller is still more beautiful. m@n@gement, 20(4), 418-434. peton, h. & pezé, s. (2015). reflection on historical studies of institutional change: small steps are not necessarily missteps. a rejoinder to daudigeos, boutinot and jaumier.  m@n@gement,  18(3), 261-265. picard, h. (2016). two days, one night and the measure of a man subjective struggles in the c o n t e m p o r a r y w o r l d o f w o r k : f i g h t i n g f o r what?. m@n@gement, 19(2), 133-139. renaud, r. & maucuer, a. (2018). 20 years of a c a d e m i c p u b l i s h i n g i n m @ n @ g e m e n t : a bibliometrics analysis. m@n@gement, 21(4), 1186-1212. roulet, t. (2018). sins for some, virtues for others: media coverage of investment banks’ misconduct and adherence to professional norms during the financial crisis. human relations. advance online p u b l i c a t i o n , d o i . o r g / 10.1177%2f0018726718799404 � 1184 https://doi.org/10.1111/joms.12344 https://doi.org/10.1111/joms.12344 https://doi.org/10.1111/joms.12344 https://doi.org/10.1111/joms.12344 https://doi.org/10.1177%2f0018726718799404 https://doi.org/10.1177%2f0018726718799404 https://doi.org/10.1177%2f0018726718799404 m@n@gement, vol. 21(4): 1178-1185 thibault daudigeos & thomas j. roulet roulet, t. & clemente, m. (2018). let’s open the media’s black box: the media as a set of heterogeneous actors and not only as a homogenous ensemble. academy of management review, 43(2), 327-329. scott, w. r. (2014). w. richard scott (1995), institutions and organizations. ideas, interests and identities. m@n@gement, 17(2), 136-140. shymko, y. & roulet, t. j. (2017). when does medici hurt da vinci? mitigating the signaling effect of extraneous stakeholder relationships in the field of cultural production. academy of management journal, 60(4), 1307-1338. svenningsen-berthélem v., boxembaum, e. & ravasi, d. (2018). individual responses to multiple logics in hybrid organizing: the role of structural position. m@n@gement, 21(4), 1306-1328. välikangas, l. & tienari, j. (2018). lifting the veil: seeking and contesting authenticity in ceo work. m@n@gement, 21(4), 1264-1277. vijai, d. & monin, p. (2018). poisedness for social innovation: the genesis and propagation of community-based palliative care in kerala (india). m@n@gement, 21(4), 1329-1356. thibault daudigeos is the co-editor in chief of m@n@gement. he is a full professor of organization studies at grenoble ecole de management. his research interests focus on the responsibilities of the modern corporation to serve the common good, and alternative organizations that foster social and environmental innovations. he is the head of the alternative forms of markets and organizations research team and has recently launched a research programme on the sharing economy. he has published in scholarly journals such as business & society, journal of business ethics, journal of management studies, organization and research in the sociology of organizations. thomas roulet is the co-editor in chief of m@n@gement. he is a senior lecturer in organization theory at the judge business school and a fellow in sociology & management studies at girton college, both at the university of cambridge. his work focuses on negative social evaluations (stigma, disapproval, scandal), has been published in major journals including the academy of management journal, the academy of management review and the academy of management annals, and has been featured in major media outlets including the economist, the financial times, the washington post or le monde. � 1185 191suddaby roy suddaby winspear chair of management, peter b. gustavson school of business, university of victoria, canada strategic research advisor, newcastle university business school, newcastle university, uk rsuddaby@uvic.ca unplugged "carte blanche" toward a historical consciousness: following the historic turn in management thought by roy suddaby in the original tradition of the "unplugged" section, "carte blanche" grants a wild card to world-class scholars to share their own perspective on novel ways to conceive of management today. they may offer new avenues and draw up an agenda for a specific research question. authors have to be invited to submit to the "carte blanche" series by one of the editors. abstract. this paper explores the emerging “historic turn” in management theory by identifying epistemological and ontological areas of correspondence between business historians and organizational theorists. three emerging constructs that hold high potential for bridging business history and management theory are identified: rhetorical history, organizational legacy, and anti-history. the paper concludes with a discussion of the need to nurture a broad-based and more inclusive “historical consciousness” in business history that expands our collective assumptions about the nature and function of historical knowledge. the purpose of this essay is to explore the massive intellectual opportunity that exists in bringing together management scholars and historians. part of this conversation must inevitably address the equally massive intellectual chasm that exists between historians and management theorists; i want to understand why it exists, why it persists, and what can be done to bridge it. since many business historians are based in business schools, i suspect they are faced with the task of bridging this gap every day in their teaching, research, and service to the community. however, over the past few years i have been given some clues as to the breadth of the chasm and what a tremendous challenge it will be to bridge it. let me give you a couple of examples drawn from my personal experience to illustrate the depth of the problem. ! when i became the editor of the academy of management review, i received a manuscript from a couple of prominent business historians. the manuscript was extremely well written and offered a thoughtful and detailed historical case study. it was a lovely paper, but i could not publish it because it contained empirical data—the data were carefully collected, detailed, primary m@n@gement 2016, vol. 19(1): 46-60 46 mailto:rsuddaby@uvic.ca?subject= mailto:rsuddaby@uvic.ca?subject= sourced, and rigorously analyzed, but it was an empirical paper nonetheless and i had to desk-reject it. when i asked the authors why they would send an empirical paper to a journal clearly mandated to publish only theory, they informed me that they had sent the paper to our companion outlet designed for empirical studies, the academy of management journal, but it had been rejected because it contained no data! ! one clear element of the gap between management theory and business historians is therefore that we do not share common assumptions about what constitutes data. that is, there is a clear disagreement over what comprises historical fact on the one hand and social fact on the other, and no mutual understanding of how each contributes to evidentiary proof. this is a difference of epistemology—in other words, a difference in the two factions’ understanding of what constitutes historical fact and how we might use that fact to construct knowledge about the world. ! let me offer another example, drawn from my experience in the business historian’s world. while editor of the academy of management review, i was invited to present my thoughts on how we might better bridge management and business history scholarship to an annual meeting of us business historians. i spoke about my current research, which explores the various ways in which large multinational corporations use history strategically to market products, manage their brand, improve stakeholder affiliation, and enhance their human resource practices. i suggested, somewhat flippantly perhaps, that for the corporate historian, history was more than brute facts; it was a rhetorical resource used to construct meaning, identity, legitimacy, and authenticity in the corporation. history, i suggested, was a powerful and largely unexplored symbolic asset of the firm. ! the reaction was not positive. i made the clearly naïve error of citing the american critical historian hayden white’s 1975 book metahistory: the historical imagination in nineteenth-century europe. the crowd seethed. “that was not history,” i was told, “and hayden white was not a ‘real’ historian.” i think i saw pitchforks. ! a second clear component of the gap between management theory and business history is therefore a disagreement over what history is and how it is constituted. this is a difference of ontology, or fundamental assumptions about the nature of the subject matter of history. ! combined, the two incidents usefully describe the philosophical geography of the challenge we face: the chasm between us is based on basic differences in assumptions about the nature of history and how historical knowledge is constructed. the existence and depth of this gap is particularly notable because, ostensibly, management theorists and business historians study the same empirical phenomenon, namely managers and organizations. ! while these differences seem incommensurable, some hopeful indications of a new zeitgeist in both academia and the “real” world suggest they are overstated. in the next section i describe the efforts to bridge the gap between business history and management and the huge intellectual opportunity available for those who can accomplish this. the historic turn ! in fact, it is an exceptionally good time to be a business historian. to paraphrase clark and rowlinson (2004), there appears to be an emerging “historic turn” in management scholarship. let me give you a few examples. the academy of management review, currently the highest-ranked management journal by citation impact, has just published a special topic forum titled “history m@n@gement, vol. 19(1): 46-60! "carte blanche" 47 and organizational studies: toward a creative synthesis” (godfrey, hassard, o’conner, rowlinson & reuf (2014). this is complemented by a recent publication by rowlinson, hassard and decker (2014) that highlights the fundamental philosophical differences that exist between historians and management scholars. ! similar special issues on management and history have recently been published in organization (rowlinson, casey, hansen & mills, 2014) and are forthcoming in management and organizational history (mills, durepos, foster & suddaby, 2015), entrepreneurship theory and practice (wadhwani, kirsch, gartner, welter & jones (2015), and organization studies (mordhorst, popp, suddaby & wadhwani, 2015). a recent book edited by marcelo bucheli and daniel wadhwani titled organizations in time and published by oxford university press (buchelli & wadhwani, 2014) combines leading management scholars and business historians in an exploration of using historically grounded research in analyzing organizations. another collection recently published by routledge and edited by maclaren, mills and weatherbee (2015) brings together leading management historians in a focused conversation about theorizing the past. collectively, these activities suggest a high degree of activity in the borderland between history and management theory. ! the historic turn is not confined to academics. a recent report in the economist (2013) indicates that the general public shares a fascination with history and the organizational context within which it is preserved. the true effect of this new sensitivity to history is perhaps best captured in museums that, as an organizational form, are experiencing their own form of renaissance: the economist reports that, globally, the number of museums has doubled over the past two decades, rising from 23,000 to 55,000. meanwhile, in 2012, attendance at museums in the united states exceeded 850 million visitors—more than the attendance at professional baseball, basketball, and football combined. china, a relative latecomer to the museum industry, opened 451 new museums last year alone. ! what is perhaps more interesting is how the public is using museums. yes, they look at artefacts and host academic lectures. increasingly, however, they are more likely to use museums as a backdrop for a political announcement or corporate event, to unveil an artist, or to announce a philanthropic project. it seems that, in addition to displaying the “brute facts” of history, museums also serve a latent function of lending gravitas and legitimacy to events. as the director of the tate galleries, sir nicholas serota, observes, the modern museum has evolved to become a “forum as much as a treasure box” (economist, 2013). the renaissance of museums suggests that the “historic turn” extends far beyond academia. not only does the historic turn imply a growing awareness of history as a substantive subject of intellectual inquiry, it also implies a growing awareness of history as an important context within which a mysterious range of social and symbolic interaction occurs. actions are given legitimacy, authenticity, status, or social capital simply by being viewed through the lens of the past. ! the historic turn seems to include an interesting distinction between history as manifest knowledge (i.e., “brute facts”) and history as latent knowledge (i.e., a lens through which we view the present). in postmodern language, the former sees history as text and the latter as subtext. this potential distinction is important and may help us understand the difference between historians and management scholars. i will return to this distinction, but first we must establish a more rigorous description of how the ontological and epistemological distinctions both separate us and identify the spaces we might potentially agree upon. to accomplish this, i extend the bounds of my analysis beyond the somewhat narrow confines of business history to include a broader range of sub-topics of history, including cultural and social history, marxist history, and even literary approaches to history. "carte blanche"! m@n@gement, vol. 19(1): 46-60 48 paradigms: social facts and historical facts ! in 1979, two organizational sociologists devised a highly influential typology for making sense of the broad range of theoretical perspectives that were starting to populate organizational theory. burrell and morgan (1979) carved the theoretical space of organizational analysis into four quadrants based on two dimensions: assumptions researchers held about the nature of the world (ontology) and assumptions researchers held about the way in which we can construct knowledge about the world (epistemology). the epistemological continuum runs from assumptions that our knowledge of the world is largely objective—that is, based on empirical observations of a concrete reality or largely socially constructed—or based on subjective perceptions of a shared social reality. the ontological assumptions vary depending on whether the world is viewed as both stable and “real” (the regulation, consensus, integration point of view) or tends more toward entropy (i.e., assumptions of change, conflict, and domination). ! their resultant two-by-two diagram (reproduced in figure 1) describes four basic paradigms in management theory. the first, functionalism, is characterized by assumptions of organizations as comprising a stable and objective reality that is knowable through empirical observation. this highly positivist sphere, perhaps best exemplified by contingency theory in organizations, which assumes that organizations have discernable and stable functions that are reflected in human action, was then, and continues to be, the dominant paradigm in management theory (donaldson, 2001). figure 1.applying burrell and morgan’s (1979) framework to history ! the second quadrant is the interpretive paradigm in which researchers assume a world that tends toward stability but one that is largely the product of the shared subjectivities of its participants—that is to say a world that is largely m@n@gement, vol. 19(1): 46-60! "carte blanche" 49 socially constructed or resides within widely shared assumptions about the world. this sphere is perhaps best illustrated by the pioneering work of karl weick (1995) on sensemaking. while significantly less widely espoused than functionalism, this paradigm has enjoyed increasing popularity in management research over the past decades. ! the third quadrant, radical structuralism, assumes an objective reality but one in which the world tends toward entropy, conflict, and change. this view sees the social world as the product of ideologically rooted socio-economic contradictions. marxist-inspired critical theory in management such as the work of stewart clegg best illustrates this paradigm (mumby & putnam, 1992). the fourth quadrant is radical humanism and captures theory in which the world is assumed to tend toward radical change and where our knowledge of that world is largely subjective. here, social structures are the result of ideology promulgated by powerful social actors. the radical–humanist approach to management scholarship is perhaps best exemplified by the work of alvesson and willmott (1992) or aktouf (1992), whose research has focused on understanding how work and organizations can be restructured so that workers are seen as more than mere instruments of economic productivity. indeed, most current critical theory approaches to management theory fall into this category. both of these latter two categories comprise the least popular approaches to management research, particularly in the north american context. ! when one sees the landscape of management research dissected on these dimensions, it is easy to conclude that management theory is not a particularly unified scholarly community. moreover, it is a short intellectual leap from there to see that it is a similar mistake to assume that historians comprise a unified scholarly community. indeed, one could easily apply burrell and morgan’s framework to business history and identify leading theorists in each of these quadrants. one might, for example, be able to support the argument that alfred chandler (1962) represents the functionalist view, noted marxist historian eric hobsbawm (1997) reflects a radical–structuralist point of view, hayden white (1975) articulates an interpretive perspective, and michel foucault (1975) illustrates the radical–humanist paradigm. ! two important observations flow from applying the burrell and morgan framework to both history and management scholarship. first, the chasm that we see between management and history occurs largely between the functionalists of both camps. that is, it is the hard-nosed scientists of both history and management that seem to be engaged in a war over what constitutes persuasive social versus historical knowledge. functionalist historians see functionalist management theory as ahistorical and, conversely, functionalist management scholars see business historians as atheoretical (zaret, 1978). ! second, and perhaps more important, the epistemological and ontological differences between historians and management scholars seem to be much smaller in each of the other quadrants. as a result, the work of michel foucault is well represented in critical management theory (i.e., townley, 2002), hayden white’s work is popular in interpretive and hermeneutic-inspired business scholarship (o’conner, hatch, white & zald, 1995), and, as i will demonstrate below, eric hobsbawm’s (1987) writing has inspired a promising new stream of management research on rhetorical history. ! therefore, the options for bridging the gap between management and history are much more promising in the periphery than in the core of each discipline. the key reason for this, which i alluded to earlier and will elaborate on below, relates to how the construct of “history” is understood. if history is understood as a method for uncovering “truth,” which is an assumption that functionalists in both history and management share, they both must agree on the best methods for uncovering that truth. that is, their shared epistemological and ontological assumptions must also converge on a consistent methodology. in "carte blanche"! m@n@gement, vol. 19(1): 46-60 50 the following section, i explain why this convergence will never occur amongst the functionalists in both camps, largely due to how their epistemological and ontological assumptions become subsumed in methodology. however, not all hope is lost, as i then turn to a discussion of how the hinterlands of both organization theory and history provide a roadmap forward. methodology: rationalism versus empiricism ! it is important to note that functionalist historians and economic theorists did not always disagree. in his marshall lectures to the faculty of economics at cambridge university in 1980, eric hobsbawm (1997) pointed out that, early in their collective projects, economics and history “grew up together.” he observed that the great economic theorists karl marx and adam smith leaned heavily on history to construct sweeping social theories that permeate and inform economic theory to this day. the same argument could be made for the rest of management theory. institutionalism, which informs a considerable component of organizational sociology today, draws largely from the german sociologist max weber, whose core theoretical argument is constructed from a historical analysis of protestantism. ! over time, however, socio-economic theory and history have diverged dramatically. hobsbawm blames this divergence on methodology and points to the now-obscure war on methods in history—the methodenstreit—between the austrian school of history and the german historical school (hobsbawm, 1997) in the late 1880s. led by carl menger, the austrian school argued that economics could develop only by focusing on “first principles” or universally valid assumptions about human nature (or ontological “givens”) from which one could deduce theoretical models that would explain historical and economic change (perlman, 2003). ! this argument was in opposition to the german historical school, which, led by gustav von schmoller, argued for a more scientific inductive approach to economic theory in which the compilation of increasingly detailed data, combined with an increasing scientific understanding of human nature, would allow researchers to construct theories based on historical data or experience. the debate over the value of inductive empiricism (german historical school) versus deductive rationalism (austrian economics) devolved to methods and generated the schism that we see today, in which historians emphasize empirical data and are highly sceptical of theory and, conversely, economists and, to a lesser extent, management scholars over-emphasize theory and are critical of “dustbowl empiricism.” this debate continues in management theory today, where key scholars argue both for (suddaby, 2014) and against (pfeffer, 2014; marquis & davis, 2005) the value of theory and empiricists continue to push toward abandoning theory entirely (hambrick, 2007). ! however, as noted above, this debate is largely between functionalist researchers in management (and economics) and history. moreover, they use this argument to focus attention on methods and to avoid any serious discussion about transparency in epistemological or ontological assumptions. as a result, they end up in somewhat sterile debates over minute differences between what constitutes “social facts” versus what constitutes “historical facts” (hayek, 1943). sadly, these debates will not be easily resolved because they often have more to do with the protection of professional jurisdiction than with any serious interest in understanding the foundations of historical knowledge. m@n@gement, vol. 19(1): 46-60! "carte blanche" 51 1. it is important to note that here i am talking of sociological institutional theory which draws from seminal work by meyer, j.w. and rowan, b. ‘institutionalized organizations’ and dimaggio, p.j. and powell, w.w. ‘the iron cage revisited’. this sociologically inspired strand of institutional theory is distinct from the more economically oriented strand of institutional theory described by north, d. institutions: institutional change and economic performance. building bridges on the periphery: institutions and history ! fortunately, not all management or historical knowledge is functionalist. powerful ideas and highly influential research programs continue to emerge from other paradigms. indeed, it is the interpretive, humanist, and radical paradigms that offer a productive counterbalance to the overly rational and functional explanations for organizational and economic behavior that permeate the functionalist viewpoint. in the balance of this essay, thus, i explore the spaces in which history and management theory can opportunistically inform and enrich each other. i focus my attention on institutional theory, as it is not only a powerful theoretical perspective in contemporary management thought but also a theoretical perspective that has emerged in reaction to the dominant functionalist perspective in economic theory. as such, it offers the most fertile ground for hybridized approaches that combine history and organization theory. ! i conclude by sketching out three emerging constructs from institutional theory that usefully integrate history and management. each construct is drawn from one of the peripheral paradigms in burrell and morgan’s (1979) framework. the first, “rhetorical history,” reflects an interpretivist bridge. the second, “organizational legacy,” is derived from radical change. the third, “anti-history,” is based on humanist assumptions. ! institutional theory is an approach to understanding organizations as the product of social rather than economic pressures (suddaby, 2013). it has become particularly popular in management theory because of its ability to explain organizational behavior that defies economic logic; why, for example, do organizations adopt practices that actually reduce efficiency? the answer is that they do so in order to look like other, more successful organizations. institutional theory suggests that social pressures to conform and appear legitimate often outweigh technical pressures to perform economically (scott, 2001). ! institutional theory1 draws from the observation that organizations are subject to broader social pressures and taken-for-granted assumptions that emanate from larger societal institutions (meyer & rowan, 1977). it is also based on the observation that, over long periods of time, organizations become infused with meaning and value or symbolic significance that extends beyond their original technical or economic purpose. the origins of these ideas emanate from early research done by the american sociologist philip selznick (1949), who published a fascinating and profoundly influential study of the tennessee valley authority (tva). the study outlined how partisan individual interests diverted the original collective economic intent of the tva. his key insight was that just as individuals never completely comply with their formal roles in organizations, neither do organizations ever completely comply with their formal structures. as a result, organizations are often more responsive to social pressures and objectives than they are to economic or technical pressures and goals. ! while selznick’s original study was highly attentive to history and historiography, subsequent research in the paradigm has shifted quite significantly away from historical case studies to adopt a more quantitatively driven methodology that is markedly less attentive to history. elsewhere, i have been highly critical of the way in which institutionalism has ignored history (suddaby, foster & mills, 2014) as well as the way in which the term “institution” has been trivialized in institutional theory (suddaby, 2010). the term “institution” has been applied, variously, to such things as bottle recycling programs (lounsbury, 2001), the emergence of nouvelle cuisine (rao, monin & durand, 2003), and the constitution of professional firms (suddaby & greenwood, 2005). while these are interesting examples of organizational change, i doubt that many historians would consider these events to be illustrative instances of a change in "carte blanche"! m@n@gement, vol. 19(1): 46-60 52 institutions. indeed, organizational scholars who study institutions often struggle to define what an institution is. ! historians, by contrast, have a pretty clear understanding of what an institution is: an enduring and powerful social structure. they therefore see institutions as more substantial social structures than organization theorists in terms of both time and space. institutions exist and exert social influence over decades, if not centuries, affecting multiple generations. similarly, institutions extend their influence more broadly than mere organizational networks, but extend deeply into the core fabric of society. the church, the university, the family, guilds and professions, and the nation state clearly qualify as institutions from the point of view of historians. indeed, there are some historians who would argue that there are only a handful of true institutions in the history of civilization (hall, 1982). moreover, historians tend to understand very well the degree of effort and work and the confluence of circumstance and agency required to successfully change an institution. historians to the rescue: the ‘paradox’ of embedded agency ! historians, therefore, have the capacity to enrich our understanding of what institutions are and how they change. many historians would argue that explaining institutional change is the core project of most historical analyses. let me offer but one example of how adopting a historical sensibility might help resolve one of the key intellectual problems in neo-institutional theory: the paradox of embedded agency. ! a key issue for neo-institutionalism is explaining how institutional change occurs. the theory is premised on the notion that social pressures for conformity become so reified in an organizational field that it often becomes difficult if not impossible for actors (individuals, organizations) even to conceive of alternative ways of organizing (battilana & d’aunno, 2009). as a result, explaining how profound change occurs in organizations or organizational fields has become problematic for the theory. most explanations revolve around either allowing for highly incremental or evolutionary change in the field that manifests itself over very long time frames or, alternatively, revolutionary change facilitated by extremely powerful actors who bridge multiple fields and are therefore less subject to the totalizing cognitive effects of institutional pressures to conform. ! while this mode of explaining institutional change has become common in management theory, it is subject to intense criticism because it relies on the unique presence of a “hyper-muscular” actor and involves a somewhat cumbersome notion of agency (suddaby, 2010; powell & colyvas, 2008). in fact, like most positivist notions of agency, institutional theory suffers from a clear lack of nuance in how it constructs agency. this arises, one suspects, because of positivist assumptions, drawn from the physical sciences, of the need to identify single causes of change that can be attributed to an independent variable such as an “actor” or an “agent.” ! unfortunately, processes of social, political, and economic change rarely conform to the causal logic of the physical sciences. historians understand that social causality is messy and complex and typically cannot be traced back to a single source. agency in history is situated and diffuse; that is, it occurs in response to unique and specific historical conditions. moreover, historians are reluctant to attribute change to a single agent or a single process. instead, they look for “multiple sufficient” causal explanations, or holistic narratives of change that seek parsimonious explanations acknowledging the convergence of multiple causal factors at a given place and time (goertz & levy, 2007). see, for example, m@n@gement, vol. 19(1): 46-60! "carte blanche" 53 the messy causality of organizational design that business historians present to capture the emergence of the modern corporation (gelderblom, de jong & jonker, 2013) and contrast that with the more rational and path-dependent accounts offered by management theorists (williamson, 1981). ! were institutional theorists to adopt this more nuanced, sophisticated, and, ultimately, more realistic view of causation, not only would the paradox of embeddedness disappear, it would seem naïve to even raise it as an issue. indeed, the kernel of my argument is that the collaborative potential of historians and organizational theorists has been compromised by the inability of each group to relax its ideological assumptions about ontology and epistemology. a more pragmatic approach would be to encourage the development of constructs that usefully combine the manifest objective function of history (i.e., history as truth) and its latent interpretive elements (i.e., history as interpretive context). in the balance of this essay i propose three such constructs, each drawn from one of the peripheral paradigms of social knowledge described by burrell and morgan (1979) and each of which appears to be generating some interest by scholars in both business history and management theory. b r i d g i n g c o n s t r u c t s : r h e t o r i c a l h i s t o r y, organizational legacy and anti-history ! rhetorical history. a number of management scholars are analyzing the ways in which history is used strategically as a symbolic resource in large organizations (anteby & molnar, 2012; mcgaughy, 2013; shultz & hernes, 2012; suddaby, foster & quinn-trank, 2010). rhetorical history is defined as “the strategic use of the past as a persuasive strategy to manage key stakeholders of the firm” (suddaby, foster & quinn-trank, 2010: 157). the construct draws from prior historiography, and particularly the work of eric hobsbawm (1987), that suggests a powerful interpretive influence in how the “brute facts” of history are presented and often misrepresented for social and political purposes. ! the construct of rhetorical history accurately captures an emerging phenomenon in contemporary business in which history is, increasingly, identified as an important but underutilized asset of the firm. an expanding stream of research has started to explore how corporations use history, sometimes invented history, to promote consumer products (ooi, 2002; holt, 2006; foster, suddaby, minkus & wiebe, 2010), to manage strategic change (brunninge, 2002; linde, 2009; schultz & hernes, 2012), and to construct identity (walsh & bartunek, 2011; suddaby & foster, 2015). it also draws from the emerging phenomenon of private history consulting firms such as history associates, the history factory and other organizations whose purpose is to engage in “heritage management” in which history is used to leverage “the collective memory of organizations—the stories told, the words used, and their commonly understood meanings—to help implement strategies and tactics that shape the future” (suddaby & foster, 2015). ! rhetorical history is a useful bridging construct because it is based on two key components of history. foremost, it draws from the “subtext” component of history as a sensitizing rhetorical device. its ontological position is clearly constructivist, and it skilfully demonstrates the mechanisms by which history can be used to convey social and symbolic capital—that is, authenticity, legitimacy, and reputation—to the corporation. in this regard it is clearly an important theoretical construct for management scholars. but its capacity to perform these functions is directly linked to the structural objective elements of history as fact. that is, the objective elements of history as truth place clear limits on what can "carte blanche"! m@n@gement, vol. 19(1): 46-60 54 and cannot be done in the social-symbolic realm. indeed, it is the largely unexplored interaction between the structural–objective–positivist elements of historical truth and the constructivist–interpretive–subjective elements of historical narrative that allow rhetorical history to accomplish its goals. it is also this duality that makes the construct so important for cooperative investigation by bidisciplinary teams of historians and organizational scholars. ! organizational legacy. a second bridging construct for historians and organizational theorists is the concept of “organizational legacy.” the construct is based not on positivist assumptions of an objective reality but one in which the nature of the world tends toward dynamism, if not outright entropy. as a result, the theoretical focus is on identifying constructs that explain endurance and stability in a world that tends toward change. the construct of organizational legacy offers one such explanation. ! organizational legacy focuses attention on particular and localized elements of the history of an individual, an organization, or an economic region that explain unique elements of competitive behavior. the research shares a common assumption that the entities’ unique historical heritage is a critical variable in explaining economic outcomes. one stream of research, for example, focuses on how local histories explain variation in economic activity. so, for example, some researchers point to the unique history of a particular region to explain its economic success. porter (1998) thus uses the long maritime history of holland to explain the contemporary dominance of the netherlands in sea transportation. saxenian (1996), similarly, draws a comparative analysis of the local histories of silicon valley and boston to account for the relative success of the former over the latter in supporting high technology. the unique experiences of local regions construct distinctive cultural and economic histories—legacies— that imprint local organizations and individual entrepreneurs with historically specific identities and world views that can inhibit or enhance economic opportunity. ! related streams of research that rely on the notion of “legacy” focus not on local history but rather on individual or organizational history. feldman and romanelli (2013), for example, use the term “organizational legacy” to describe how some individuals become gifted entrepreneurs because of their unique histories. variation in the success of individual entrepreneurs, they argue, is best explained by analyzing their prior organizational or professional “imprints.” this research draws from the foundational work of stinchcombe (1965), who argued that the core values of a powerful founder could be “imprinted” on an organization and shape its character in ways that delimit choices and create a degree of pathdependant outcomes for the firm. this argument bears familiarity with early institutional theory arguments, particularly those of selznick (1956) that suggested the founding conditions of some organizations infused core values and meanings that came to define the essential “character” of an organization. ! organizational legacy is also a useful boundary construct because it draws on key elements of positivist organizational theory and functionalist history. however, because it is based on ontological assumptions of dynamism and entropy, its focus is less on grand theories of historical evolution and attends, instead, to particularistic and localized historical influences. its primary methodology is prosopography (stone, 1971)—unique even for modern historians—and suggests a point of collaboration between management theorists interested in individual differences as a causal explanation and historians who are interested in micro-history. ! anti-history. a final bridging construct for history and organizational theory is the concept of anti-history. this view of history is derived from the radical–humanist sphere in which our knowledge of history is assumed to be socially constructed in a world that tends toward ongoing and radical change. the construct emerges from the application of key elements of actor network theory m@n@gement, vol. 19(1): 46-60! "carte blanche" 55 to historiography (durepos, 2009). it argues that not only is history a socially constructed product, but it is produced by ever-expanding networks of actors. as a result, the specific manner in which history should be read depends critically upon developing a clear understanding of the ideological, spatial, and temporal situatedness of the actor network within which that specific history has been constructed (durepos & mills, 2009). in contrast with the assumptions of objective truth in functionalist views of history, thus, anti-history assumes that history has no fixed meaning but, rather, is “constantly being extended, reinterpreted, and retranslated by ever changing networks of actors” (durepos & mills, 2009: 12-13). ! this view of history is perhaps the most distant from functionalist views of history, but arguably offers the greatest potential for communion between historians and organizational theorists. in fact, it is already popular in several strands of critical management studies. anti-history, durepos and mills observe, draws on the historical work of michel foucault, which has been extensively used by a broad range of organizational scholars (ahl, 2006; burrell, 1984; calas & smirchich, 1999; clegg, 1990; corbett, 2010) and combines it with the theoretical work of sociologists such as bruno latour (1987) and michel callon (1990). ! anti-history also offers many points of potential overlap with institutional theory. while more functionalist business historians have criticized neoinstitutional theory for not taking history seriously (keiser, 1994; usdiken & keiser, 2004), anti-history is uniquely positioned to direct researchers to analyzing institutions not as reified social structures but rather as processes of network interactions through which those social structures are produced. that is, anti-history is unique in understanding history as both subject and object: history is both an objective outcome of processes of social construction, but inasmuch as different histories constitute different networks of actors, it also plays the role of an agent. this is a very useful insight for institutional theorists who are sensitive to the fact that much of what constitutes objective management knowledge—that is, our definitions of technical efficiency and productivity—are really socially constructed assumptions that are historically contingent on the range of institutional actors (government, military, corporations, universities, family businesses, etc.) engaged with and interested in the outcome. after the historical turn: toward a historical consciousness ! each of the three bridging constructs identified above holds the potential to encourage greater collaboration between management theorists and historians. in part, the constructs serve a bridging function because each relies on a distinct tension between a positivist view of history as “truth” and a countervailing notion of history as a contextual sensitizing trope. as a result, the boundaries that define the subject matter of history are expanded and become more inclusive, allowing management theorists the opportunity to see history as a useful context, method, or explanation for a broad variety of organizational phenomena. ! more importantly, the tension between history as fact and history as context creates the opportunity for both historians and management theorists to see the incredible potential for using history to construct new theories of management. traditionally, history—or, more specifically, positivist history—was used largely to “police” the overly ambitious empirical and theoretical claims of management theorists (gourvish, 2006). thus ellen o’conner’s (1999) masterful historical analysis of elton mayo and the human relations school, for example, demonstrates that, contrary to claims by management theorists that the school offered a humanist counterpoint to taylorism, it was actually premised on a negative view of the individual and reflected a compact between industry, "carte blanche"! m@n@gement, vol. 19(1): 46-60 56 government, and the harvard business school to shift labor control away from unions and move it to human resource experts and administrative elites. ! the bridging constructs identified above, however, demonstrate a range of possibilities for theorizing organizations from a historical perspective. so, for example, the notion of organizational legacy nudges both management scholars and historians to understanding how elements of history—individual, organizational, or local geographical history—can be used to explain stability in a world that tends toward entropy and change. similarly, the construct of rhetorical history encourages researchers to analyze the important role of historical narrative in constructing mnemonic communities at various levels of organization (micro, meso, and macro). and, finally, anti-history focuses our attention on how our understanding of history is a sedimentary product of ecologies of interconnected institutions, each of which have the potential to use history itself as an object of social control. ! the three constructs, each drawn from a different combination of epistemological and ontological assumptions, collectively serves to provide us with a historical consciousness or a sensitivity and awareness of the degree to which history is both a product and a source of human reflexivity. that is, history both enables us and constrains our ability to organize, to engage in productive economic activity, and to create institutions of social control and economic order. as a result, management scholars need to develop a more powerful literacy and facility with history, historiography, and historical theory. ! to develop a historical consciousness means more than simply engaging with the functionalist paradigm of history as objective truth, although that is clearly an important part of the historical turn. it also means that both historians and management scholars need to explore the borders of what constitutes history. history must be both text and sub-text in our inquiries. we must attract scholars who are interested in objective history, but also those who are interested in memory studies, narrative history, local history, people’s history, and literary and postmodern history. a historical consciousness can emerge only from the tension that builds across different understandings of what might constitute the subject matter of history. ! similarly, a historical consciousness in management will require particular attention to techniques or practices of history. academic historians have vigorously and successfully fought various jurisdictional battles to maintain the illusion that they are uniquely qualified to study and interpret history. however, as various marginalized actors have shown, academic historians have often excluded large swaths of history that are not reflected in their own social and economic composition—that is, the history of gender, homosexuality, and microhistory (appleby, hunt & jacob (1995); lerner (1982)). even though contemporary historians have become much more open to “public” and “popular” history as a legitimate academic branch of historical inquiry (trouillot 1997; kean & martin (2013), little analytic attention is paid to the role of corporations as producers, consumers, and, most importantly, users of history. ! to avoid this artificially narrow construction of the subject domain of history, we must be particularly attentive to techniques and practices of history that originate outside the university and beyond the influence of professional historians. in particular, we must pay close attention to how history is being used by corporate actors, advertisers, governments (both established and nascent), and any other institutional entity that engages with history as a technical and instrumental practice. critically, we must no longer assume that history is exclusively produced by and for historians. rather, it is a widely distributed social product with a growing awareness of its technical, economic, and political utility. ! an important extension of attending to how history is used in practice is an equivalent awareness of the importance of the past, not simply in its own right but also as a lens for understanding the present and the future. note that i am not, m@n@gement, vol. 19(1): 46-60! "carte blanche" 57 for a moment, entertaining the positivist assumption of using the past to predict the future. rather, i am suggesting that the various practitioners of history who work outside of academia see a present value in the past, not as a tool for prediction but rather as a tool for constructing trust, legitimacy, authenticity, and reputation. this has little or nothing to do with structural or functionalist notions of history and everything to do with adopting a broader epistemological and ontological notion of history as a lens within which we can use the past to create meaning in the present (kosseleck & tribe, 2004). most critically, we must understand history as but one process of constructing knowledge, a social form of knowledge (samuel, 2012; veyne, 1971), instead of an additional claim to objectivity and universal truth. ! as thomas kuhn (1977) observed, advances in knowledge rarely occur within a single paradigm but, rather, occur as a result of tensions, debates, and challenges that occur across paradigms. knowledge stagnates when a single world view becomes so dominant that it excludes all other possible perspectives. if the historic turn in management is to fulfill its promise, it needs to turn toward a horizon full of theoretical opportunity inspired by a broad awareness of the range and possibility for new learning, insight, and understanding that can emerge from vibrant and interdisciplinary conversations about the role of history in contemporary society. achieving this involves nurturing the nascent historical consciousness that first inspired the historical turn in management thought. references ahl, h. (2006). woman and humanities: allies or enemies, pp. 45-66 in p. gagliardi and b. czarniawska (eds), management education and humanities. cheltenham: edward elgar. aktouf, o. (1992). management theories of organizations in the 1990s: toward a critical radical humanism. academy of management review, 17(3): 407-431. alvesson, m. & willmott, h. (1992). critical management studies. london: sage. anteby, m., & molnar, v. (2012). collective memory meets organizational identity: remembering to forget in a firm's rhetorical history. academy of management journal, 55(3): 515–540. appleby, j., hunt, l. & jacob, m. (1995). telling the truth about history, new york, ny: w.w. norton. battilana, j. & d’aunno, t. (2009). institutional work and the paradox of embedded agency, pp. 31-58 in lawrence, t.b., suddaby, r. & leca, b. institutional work: actors and agency in studies of organizations. cambridge, uk: cambridge university press. booth, c. & rowlinson, m. (2009). management and organizational history: prospects. management and organizational history, 1(1): 5-30. brunninge, o. (2002). using history in organizations: how managers make purposeful reference to history in strategy processes. journal of organizational change management, 22(1), 8-26. bucheli, m. & wadhwani, d. (2014). organizations in time: history, theory and methods. oxford, uk: oxford university press. burrell, g. (1984). sex and organizational analysis, organization studies, 5(2): 97–118. burrell, g. & morgan, g. (1979). sociological paradigms and organizational analysis. london: heineman. calás, m. & smircich, l. (1999). past postmodernism? reflections and tentative directions, academy of management review, 24(4): 649–71. callon, m. (1990). techno-economic networks and irreversibility. the sociological review, 38(s1): 132-161. chandler, a. (1962). strategy and structure: chapters in the history of the american industrial enterprise. cambridge, ma: mit press clark, p. & rowlinson, m. (2004). the treatment of history in organization studies: towards an “historic turn”? business history, 46(3): 331-352. clegg, s. (1990). modern organizations: organization studies in the postmodern world. london: sage. corbett, m. (2010). docile bodies’, pp. 315-18 in a.j. mills, g. durepos and e. wiebe (eds.) sage encyclopedia of case study research. thousand oaks, ca: sage. czarniawski, c. (2004). on time, space and action nets. organization, 11(6): 773-791. de groot, j. (2008). consuming history: historians and heritage in contemporary popular culture. new york, ny: routledge. dimaggio, p.j. & powell, w.w. (1983). the iron cage revisited: institutional isomorphism and collective r a t i o n a l i t y i n o r g a n i z a t i o n a l fi e l d s . a m e r i c a n sociological review, 48(2): 147-160. donaldson, l. (2001). the contingency theory of organizations. thousand oaks, ca: sage. d u r e p o s , g . ( 2 0 0 9 ) . a n ti h i s t o r y : to w a r d a n historiographical approach to (re)assembling knowledge of the past. phd dissertation, saint mary's university, halifax, nova scotia, canada. durepos, g., & mills, a. (2012). actor network theory, a n t i h i s t o r y, a n d c r i t i c a l o r g a n i z a t i o n a l historiography. organization, 19(6) 703-721. "carte blanche"! m@n@gement, vol. 19(1): 46-60 58 economist (2013). temples of delight: special report on museums. december 21st. feldman, m. & romanelli, e. (2013). organizational legacy and the internal dynamics of clusters: the us human biotherapeutics industry, 1976-2002, pp. 207-230 in meusberger, p., gluckler, j. & el meskioui, m. (eds.), knowledge and the economy, heidelberg, germany: springer. foster, w.m., suddaby, r., minkus, a. & wiebe, e. (2010). history as social memory assets: the example of tim hortons. management & organizational history, 6(1), 101-120. foucault, m. (1975). discipline and punish: the birth of the prison, new york, ny: random house. gelderblom, o., de jong, a. & jonker, j. (2013). the formative years of the modern corporation: the dutch east india company voc, 1602-1623. working paper #26. cgeh working paper series. geortz, g. & levy, j.s. (2007). causal explanation, necessary conditions and case studies, pp. 9-45 in goertz, g. & levy, j.s. (eds.), explaining war and peace: case studies and necessary conditions counterfactuals, london: routledge. godfrey, p., hassard, j., o’conner, e., rowlinson, m. & reuf, m. (2014). call for papers: special topic forum o n h i s t o r y a n d o r g a n i z a t i o n s , a c a d e m y o f management review. gourvish, t. (2006). business history: in defence of the empirical approach. accounting, business and financial history, 5(1): 3-16. hall, p.d. (1982). the organization of american culture, 1700-1900: private institutions, elites and the origins of american nationality. new york, ny: new york university press. hambrick, d. (2007). the field of management’s devotion to theory: too much of a good thing? academy of management journal, 50(6): 1346-1352. hayek, f.a. (1943). the facts of the social sciences. ethics, 54(1): 1-13. hobsbawm, e. (1997). on history. london: weidenfeld & nicolson. hobsbawm, e. (1987). introduction: inventing tradition. pp. 1-14 in hobsbawm, e. and ranger, t. (eds.), the invention of tradition, cambridge, uk: cambridge university press. hodgson, g.m. (2001). how economics forgot history: the problem of historical specificity in social science, london: routledge. holt, d.b. (2006). jack daniels’ america: iconic brands as ideological parasites and proselytizers. journal of consumer culture, 6(3): 355–377. keane, h. & martin, p. (2013). the public history reader, routledge. kieser, a. (1994). why organizations need historical a n a l y s i s a n d h o w t h i s s h o u l d b e p e r f o r m e d . organization science, 5(4): 608-620. kosselleck, r. & tribe, k. (2004). futures past: on the semantics of historical time (studies in contemporary german social thought). new york, ny: columbia university press. kuhn, t. (1977). the essential tension: selected studies in scientific tradition and change. chicago, il: university of chicago press. latour, b. (1987). science in action: how to follow scientists and engineers through society. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. lerner, g. (1982). the necessity of history and the professional historian. the journal of american history, 69(1): 7-20. linde, c. (2009). working the past: narrative and institutional memory. oxford, uk: oxford university press. lounsbury, m. (2001). institutional sources of practice variation: staffing college and university recycling programs. administrative science quarterly, 46(1): 29– 56. mcgaughey, s.l., 2013. institutional entrepreneurship in north american lightning protection standards (1904-2002): the unintended consequences of failure, business history, 55(1): 73-97. maclaren, p., mills, a. j., & weatherbee, t. (eds.). (2015). the routledge companion to management and organizational history. new york, ny: routledge. marquis, c. & davis, j. (2005). prospects for organization theory in the early twenty-first century: institutional fields and mechanisms. organization science, 16(4): 332-343. meyer, j.w. & rowan, b. (1977). institutionalized organizations: formal structure as myth and ceremony. american journal of sociology 83(2): 340-63. mills, a., durepos, g., foster, w. & suddaby, r. (2015). special issue call for papers: revisiting the historic turn ten years later: current debates in management a n d o r g a n i z a t i o n a l h i s t o r y. m a n a g e m e n t a n d organizational history, mordhorst, m., popp, a., suddaby, r. & wadhwani, d. (2015). uses of the past: history and memory in organizations and organizing. organization studies, mumby, d. & putnam, l. (1992). the politics of emotion: a feminist reading of bounded rationality. academy of management review 17(3): 465–486. north, d. (1990). institutions: institutional change and economic performance. cambridge: cambridge university press. o’conner, e.s. (1999). the politics of management thought: a case study of the harvard business school and the human relations school. academy of management review, 24(1): 117-131. o’conner, e.s., hatch, m.j., white, h.v. & zald, m. (1995). undisciplining organization studies: a conversation across domains, methods and beliefs. journal of management inquiry, 4(2): 119-136. ooi, c.s. (2002). persuasive histories: decentering, recentering and the emotional crafting of the past. journal of organizational change management, 15 (6), 606-621. perlman, m. (2003). the history of ideas and economics, pp. 634-654 in samuels, w.j., biddle, j.e. and davis, j.b. (eds.), a companion to the history of economic thought. oxford, uk: blackwells. pfeffer, j. (2014). the management theory morass: some modest proposals. pp. 457-468 in miles, j. (ed.), new directions in management and organization theory, newcastle upon tyne, uk: cambridge scholars. porter, m. (1998). clusters and the new economics of competition. harvard business review, 76(6): 77-90. m@n@gement, vol. 19(1): 46-60! "carte blanche" 59 powell, w. w. & colyvas, j.a. (2008). microfoundations of institutional theory, pp. 276-98 in r. greenwood, c. oliver, k. sahlin-andersson, and r. suddaby, (eds), handbook of organizational institutionalism. london: sage publishers. rao, h., monin, p. & durand, r. (2003). institutional change in toque ville: nouvelle cuisine as an identity movement in french gastronomy. american journal of sociology, 108(4):795-843. rowlinson, m., casey, a., hansen, p. h. & mills, a. j. (2014), narratives and memory in organizations. organization, 24(4): 441-446. rowlinson, m., hassard, j. & decker, s. (2014). research strategies for organizational history: a dialogue between organization theory and historical theory. academy of management review 39(3): 250-274. samuel, r. (2012). theatres of memory, london, uk: verso. saxenian, a. (1996). regional advantage: culture and competition in silicon valley and route 128. cambridge, ma: harvard university press. schultz, m. & hernes, t. (2012). a temporal perspective on organizational identity. organization science, 24(1): 1-21. scott, w.r. (2001). institutions and organizations. thousand oaks, ca: sage. selznick, p. (1949). tva and the grass roots: a study in the sociology of formal organization. berkeley, ca: university of california press. selznick, p. (1956). leadership in administration. berkeley, ca: university of california press. s t i n c h c o m b e , a . l . 1 9 6 5 . s o c i a l s t r u c t u r e a n d organizations. pp. 142-193 in march, j. g. (ed.), handbook of organizations, chicago, il: rand mcnally & co. stone, l. (1971). prosopography. daedalus, 100(1): 46-79. suddaby, r. (2010). challenging institutions. journal of management inquiry, 19(1): 14-20. suddaby, r. (2013). institutional theory, pp. 379-384 in kessler, e.h. (ed.), encyclopedia of management theory, thousand oaks, ca: sage. suddaby, r. (2014a). why theory? academy of management review, 39 (4): 407-411. suddaby, r. (2014b). indigenous management theory: why management theory is under attack (and what we can do to fix it), pp. 447-456 in miles, j. (ed.), new directions in management and organization theory, newcastle: cambridge scholars. suddaby, r. & foster, w.m. (2015). organizational remembering: the use of rhetorical history to create identification, 2015. in m. pratt, m. schultz, b. ashforth a n d d . r a v a s i ( e d s . ) , o x f o r d h a n d b o o k o f organizational identity, oxford: oxford university press. suddaby, r., foster, w.m. & mills, a.r. (2014). historical institutionalism, pp. 100-124 in bucheli, m. & wadhwani, d. (eds.), organizations in time: history, theory, methods. oxford, uk: oxford university press. suddaby, r., foster, w.m. & quinn-trank, c. (2010). rhetorical history as competitive advantage. advances in strategic management, 27: 147-173. suddaby, r. & greenwood, r. (2005). rhetorical strategies of legitimacy, administrative science quarterly, 50(1): 35-67. townley, b. (2002). the role of competing rationalities in institutional change. academy of management journal, 45(1): 163-179. trouillot, m.r. (1997). silencing the past: power and the production of history, boston, ma: beacon press. üsdiken, b. & kieser, a. (2004). introduction: history in organization studies. business history, 46(3): 321-330. veyne, p. (1974). writing history: essay on epistemology. middletown, ct: wesleyan university press. wadhwani, d., kirsch, d.a., gartner, w.b., welter, f. & jones, g., (2015). special issue call for papers: historical approaches to entrepreneurship research: investigating context. walsh, i.j. & bartunek, j.m. (2011). cheating the fates: organizational foundings in the wake of demise. academy of management journal, 54(5): 1017-1044. weick, k. (1995). sensemaking in organizations. thousand oaks, ca: sage. white, h. (1975). metahistory: the historical imagination in nineteenth century europe. baltimore, md: john hopkins university press. white, h. (1988). historiography and historiophoty. the american historical review, 93(5): 1193-1199. williamson, o.e. (1981). the modern corporation: origins, evolution, attributes. the journal of economic literature, 19(4): 1537-1568. zaret, d. (1978). sociological theory and historical scholarship. the american sociologist, 13(2): 113-121. © the author(s) www.management-aims.com "carte blanche"! m@n@gement, vol. 19(1): 46-60 60 http://www.management-aims.com http://www.management-aims.com 06 212 albu 2018 m@n@gement 2018, vol. 21(2): 858-883 ‘making a difference’: the performative role of values in the constitution of organizations 
 oana brindusa albu abstract. this study provides an overview of the current literature of organizational values and offers a research agenda for the future investigation of values from a performative perspective. the article encourages methodological pluralism by indicating ways of studying how organizational values exhibit both ordering and disordering agency, and how the same value can have different modes of manifestation (espoused, attributed, shared, and/or aspirational, negotiated, and/or embodied/ embodying). by drawing on ethnographic methods and a study of a cooperative organization, the paper makes a twofold contribution to management and organization studies. namely, the findings show that: a) values have ordering properties, since they foster identification and collective action when invoked by managers in day-to-day work; and b) values have disordering properties (generating tensions, resistance and discursive struggles) when these position people to speak on their behalf.
 keywords: organizational values, agency, communication constitutes organization (cco) introduction in predominant management research the agency of values is t h e o r i z e d f r o m a m u l t i t u d e o f a p p r o a c h e s , a l t h o u g h t h e s e conceptualizations are not clearly spelled out. what it is that makes values ‘powerful’, so to speak, has not yet been elucidated. on the one hand, prevailing management research indicates that values shape behavior and action by creating intrinsically shared loyalties among organizational members (haack, schoeneborn & wickert, 2012) and by drawing human resources toward countless acts of cooperation with each other (kotrba, gillespie, schmidt, smerek, ritchie & denison, 2012). the assumption follows that it is the universally good and timeless character of values that has obvious and easily identifiable positive ordering implications if an organization uses a set of moral and ethical values such as meanings attached to human needs (i.e., democracy, equality, sustainability) and pragmatic organizational concerns (regulation, economic freedom, etc., king & ehrhard, 1999). on the other hand, a stream of critical research notes that values can not only generate everyday positive experiences but can at the same time lead to tensions, alienation, misdisidentification and cynicism in organizations (thornborrow & brown, 2009). studies indicate, for instance, that managers position themselves (and are positioned) as being moved and constrained by values (chaput, brummans & cooren, 2011). these values express themselves in their actions and conversations, but frequently contradict or clash with each �858 oana brindusa albu university of southern denmark
 oabri@sam.sdu.dk m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 858-883 oana brindusa albu other, thus creating the perception or experience of tensions (cooren, et al., 2013). nevertheless, studies examining the potential of values to simultaneously produce order and disorder as a result of their performative nature are scarce. an established stream of research has indeed shown that manifold agencies are at play in any instance of organizing, in which both order and disorder occur simultaneously (cooren & fairhurst, 2009). this dialectic recognizes that order comes in various degrees, which means that disorder and messiness are inherent to organizational processes while being concurrent with order (langley & tsoukas, 2016). as a result, this paper does not assume a dichotomy between order and disorder, but treats them as a continuum. in every situation where organization emerges from efforts to order action around particular meanings, rules and values, disorder occurs in the form of confusion, struggles, negotiations and misunderstandings (tsoukas & chia, 2002). recent studies indicate that the (dis)order dialectic is specific to instances when values are inscribed in texts. this is because these texts exceed their authors’ full control since they leave the initial context of their creation, and authors point out that more research that addresses these dynamics is needed (vàsquez, schoeneborn & sergi, 2016). the aim of this article is to provide further insight into the relationship between organizational values and communication, specifically about how values are socially shaped and socially shaping of organizations in both ordering and disordering ways. addressing this question is important as it will create more knowledge of the performative aspects of organizational values: i.e. of the capacity of values to define and express socio-material realities. for this reason, this paper draws on a stream of research that sees communication as constitutive of organization (labeled ‘cco’) in order to expand management research by offering an innovative conceptual approach for analyzing how organizational values exhibit agency in day-to-day organizational interactions. cco is a relevant lens because it helps to show the performative nature of language since organizational realities are constituted through language interactions (taylor & van every, 2000). talk, in this study, is not conceptualized as utterances employed to simply reflect and describe reality but to actively constitute reality. the cco perspective is important as it reverses the ‘common-sense’ image of a manager who communicates values and then needs to do what he or she has said. instead, language through its polyphonic characteristics is seen as having agency and as “speaking through” or ventriloquizing individuals (cooren & sandler, 2014: 226). this means that when individuals communicate it is not only a manager, say, who is speaking or writing to another manager, but also the specific values to which these interlocutors are attached and which are mobilized through their turns of talk (cooren, et al., 2013). values then have performative implications because these stimulate action and incant a wished-for future (christensen, morsing & thyssen, 2013). values, in other words, have a constitutive role, since through them organizations talk themselves into a new reality (haack, schoeneborn & wickert, 2012). while the performative qualities of aspirational talk are the subject of an emerging stream of research across disciplines such as communication and organization studies (bourne & jenkins, 2013; putnam & nicotera, 2009), not much attention has been paid to the manifold ways in which values contribute to the constitution of organization in management research. calls are therefore made for the study of how values exhibit agency and are made to speak (‘ventriloquated’) or express themselves � 859 ‘making a difference’: the performative role of values in the constitution of organization m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 858-883 (‘ventriloquizing’ others) in a given organizational interaction, thereby constituting organization (cooren & sandler, 2014). because organizational values encompass a broad range of phenomena (e.g., values are usually investigated from multiple perspectives as elements of organizational identity and culture processes, amr, 2000; taylor, irvin & wieland, 2006), the scope of this paper narrows down to a study of the performative qualities of values for two reasons. firstly, by focusing solely on exploring different theorizations of organizational values, this paper develops a conceptualization of values that problematizes (alvesson & sandberg, 2011) a dominant dichotomy between words and actions and the cause-effect rationale for the purpose of providing novel avenues for future management research. secondly, by paying detailed attention to how values express themselves and are expressed in everyday interactions, the paper develops a novel conceptual framework that further expands the study of organizational values as iterative and ongoing textual elements that have ordering and disordering roles in the constitution of an organization (chaput, et al., 2011). the article proceeds as follows: it starts by discussing how current research on organizational values can be enriched by acknowledging the performativity of values, which contextualizes both their ordering and disordering agency. it then provides an overview of different conceptualizations of values in order to identify underexplored areas in existing organizational values research. the article next introduces the methods and case (delta , an international cooperative organization) and 1 moves on to present the empirical findings that illustrate the ordering and disordering agency of values. the article concludes by emphasizing the importance of a shift in perspective from a functionalist to a performative focus in management research in regards to the future study of organizational values. the performativity of organizational values values are emphasized in predominant management research as having positive managerial implications for organizations, such as fostering corporate social responsible behavior and employee commitment (hansen, 2013). studies often examine values as mere talk (that is, words without substance, often commonly understood as empty rhetoric, spin or greenwashing, munshi & kurian, 2005) and thus distinct from action (brunsson, 1989). organizations are expected to fulfill values and managers are frequently encouraged to ‘walk their talk’ (maak & pless, 2006). talk is thus considered worthless and leaders are urged to act accordingly and prove that their actions are in alignment with their values (george & sims, 2007). the ‘walk the talk’ mantra has migrated into practice, with solutions put forward for solving the presumed dichotomy between talk and action. for example, even when values conflict, managerial literature recommends that leaders should engage in acts of moral imagination that will enable them to align their actions with their talk without relying on simple tradeoffs: one can walk the talk by “discover[ing] possibilities within a particular set of circumstances [and] by expanding one’s operative mental framework” (werhane & moriarty, 2009: 4). while these conceptualizations provide many useful insights, there is less knowledge about the performative aspect of organizational values, i.e. the capacity values exhibit to make an organization present when invoked in interactions, which has both ordering and disordering properties. � 860 1. pseudonym used to protect the identities of the informants and organization. m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 858-883 oana brindusa albu performativity is theorized based on established streams of literature across multiple fields such as sociology, accounting, and organization and management studies (for a special issue on critical performativity see huault, et al., 2017). originating from austin’s (1962) argument that to say something is always to do something, these discussions have expanded the philosophy of language across social sciences and economics (butler, 1993; loxley, 2007; wickert & schäfer, 2014). in linguistics, the ability of a spoken word to perform a change in a subject is defined as a perlocutionary act (austin, 1962). the focus on speech acts has been taken on across a wide range of disciplines, including management, where studies show that non-humans can engage in illocutionary acts (taylor & van every, 2000). performativity has been explored conceptually (ashcraft, kuhn, & cooren, 2009; gond, cabantous, harding, & learmonth, 2015), philosophically (austin, 1962; butler, 1993), economically (mackenzie, 2006), and as a normative, critical project (fournier & grey, 2000; huault et al., 2017; wickert & schäfer, 2014). this paper does not aim to contribute to these discussions (gond, et al., 2015) despite their evident importance. given the present focus on organizational values, the main argument of this study is that ‘talking values’ does not simply label or reflect but also constitutes organizational realities. this provides a way of conceptualizing that values do not simply describe an external reality which remains unaffected and should ideally mirror organizational members’ behavior (kotrba, et al., 2012). certainly, some emerging fields of research in organizational communication are more attuned to the idea that values, principles and ideals are not simply a matter of corporate greenwashing but are continuously inviting and expressing themselves in human interactions. in line with the broader literature on performativity, these approaches include a focus on how various elements such as values, ideals and principles (brummans, cooren, robichaud, & taylor, 2016), with their related material artifacts (ashcraft, et al., 2009), figures of speech (cooren, et al., 2013) and spatiality (vásquez & cooren, 2013), play a central role in the constitution of organizations. such a focus on the performativity of values emphasizes both their ordering and disordering agency, underscoring the perpetual movement between order and disorder (cooren & fairhurst, 2009). this study considers the agency of values to reside neither in humans nor in values themselves but in an oscillating process where individuals are positioned (or position themselves) as speaking in the name of values as if it were the values themselves that were speaking in the interactions (cooren, 2015). this means that the locus of (dis)order is not in the individuals who (mis)understand some element of organizing. nor is this an operation taking place within individual minds. instead, (dis)order comes from larger sets of actions where humans, among other elements, often act in contradictory ways on behalf of a set of values, mandates, or a mission etc. to make an organization present in interactions (benoit-barné & cooren, 2009). it is important to clarify that performativity in this study is not used in the sense of efficiency (such as, how effective values are when it comes to shaping managerial practice); rather, the term is used to highlight the ordering and disordering agency of values. a performative standpoint is therefore relevant as it paves novel research avenues by allowing the analyst to jettison the dualism between values and actions and the framing of individuals in psychological terms as vessels carrying values into ontologically separate organizations. performativity-based understandings of values challenge the basic tenet of functionalist approaches that values are distinct from action. this is because such functionalist approaches, when promoting ideas such as “walk the talk” (maak & pless, 2006), tend � 861 ‘making a difference’: the performative role of values in the constitution of organization m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 858-883 to overemphasize the dichotomy between “the walk” and “the talk”. what they miss is the importance of acknowledging the “plenum of agency” (cooren, 2006, p. 81), i.e. the many voices (not only human ones) that express themselves in interactions. this is not to say that values alone are responsible for producing interactional possibilities, since order emerges from systems with many elements that are fully but not densely connected with one other (anderson & meyer, 2016). values are only one of these elements but many others are at play and possess agency, e.g., objects, machines, as well as thoughts, rules, and so on, that make organization happen (cooren, 2015). of course, not every instance of communication implicates values. as research shows, values only surface in certain organizational interactions often in implicit (e.g. when specific choices are made or lines of action are adopted in accordance with a value) or explicit ways (when individuals position themselves as speaking in the name of a value). when this happens, the performative character of values (cooren, et al., 2013) resides in their positioning capacity that causes individuals to get attached to (and be driven by) them in interactions. speaking in the name of transparency, for instance, as is shown later, suggests that a manager is attached to this value, which creates the impression that she or he is driven by it. the notion of attachment or clinging is useful because it denotes both constraint, by being tied to something, and also captures the fact that we do not always consciously choose the values to which we are attached or that identify us in a certain way (cooren, et al., 2013). for this reason, values should not be reduced to simple functional instruments or resources that are employed by people for ordering purposes and to achieve specific goals in interactions (kotrba, et al., 2012). values (which can be contradictory) manage to inhabit and drive interactions, since they are capable of extending or transcending what their interlocutors say and do, also causing disorder (tensions, confusion, etc.). in this respect, human beings are driven by the values they invoke, yet values are also driven by them. attachments to values then constitute who and what individuals are, what they want, feel or must do, and what they believe or stand by, etc. (cooren, 2015). in sum, values are often considered to be “abstract and difficult to pinpoint” (aust, 2004: 516) even though an emerging stream of research provides methodological and conceptual ways of approaching these phenomena (chaput, et al., 2011). to avoid such ambiguity, values are defined in this paper as the common beliefs and priorities of a group of people, which are expressed and express themselves in interactions, thus directing and telling organizational members what is more important, what to pay attention to, and how to interpret meanings (driskill & brenton, 2011). by drawing on the cco lens, the paper provides a shift in perspective from a functionalist to a performative role of values, which is important as it enriches the current analytical repertoire of organizational values in management research. in doing so, the next section provides a brief review of the literature on organizational values, focusing on the way values and their agency are conceptualized, while stressing that these conceptions can be present in the same value. conceptualizations of organizational values the following review was carried out through using the web of science and scopus databases from the period 1980 to 2016. due to the interest in providing an overview of extant research on values, articles were selected with the highest citation index based on the journal citation � 862 m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 858-883 oana brindusa albu reports' impact factor (reuters, 2012). subsequently, 1,252 articles were obtained through a search of the boolean terms “organizational values” across domains such as social sciences, science and technology and humanities. the results were narrowed down to 263 by analyzing the abstracts of articles that were situated in research areas such as business, economics, sociology and psychology and which analyzed theoretically or empirically values in organizations. to ensure the reliability of the selected articles, a research assistant conducted a separate parallel search of the articles based on the boolean terms “organizational values” across the same databases and then compared the results with the author, resulting in a reliability coefficient of 0.96 (holsti, 1969). for the purpose of this analysis, only those articles that had both an empirical and a theoretical focus on organizational values were selected (thus those articles that focused on personal values in organizations were not included), which led to a final sample of 64 articles and book chapters. to avoid the risk of missing the most cited papers in journals not present in the respective databases searched, we compared the results with a search on the google scholar database, and only three articles would have been added. thus it can be said that the review is based on extant state-of-the-art research on organizational values. the review was based on a manual content analysis which resulted in six partial but related categories of values derived directly from the texts reviewed, namely: values espoused (by top management); values attributed (to the organization); values shared (by organizational members); aspirational values (for organizational members); negotiated values (by organizational members); and embodied/embodying values (in organizational interactions). the categories emerged based on meaningful clusters (e.g., sharedness, negotiation, etc.) that were indicative of how values and their agency are conceptualized in current research. the neat distinction between different conceptualizations is inevitably somewhat artificial, since some of the research reviewed concepts cut across the types and dimensions. nevertheless, these demarcations help demonstrate existing developments in current research and set up connections for paving a future research agenda in underexplored areas. indicating the different conceptualizations of organizational values is relevant because it highlights traditional and novel ways of examining values: how values are manifested or manifest themselves, and how values are performative in terms of their agency. this is important methodologically, since it allows the analyst to investigate the agency of values when these are unequivocally present in conversations or texts and to map their ordering and disordering implications. in addition, it allows the analyst to examine the agency of values and how they shape organizational behavior in fundamental ways even though they can appear in inconspicuous, indirect or invisible ways to most organizational subjects. nevertheless, this is not to say that the indicated conceptions are opposed, exhaustive and mutual exclusive. the same value can be conceptualized in different ways as having both ordering and disordering agency. for purposes of clarity, however, and in an attempt to systematically demarcate underlying assumptions for developing new ways of inquiry, the next section lays out the different conceptualizations of values separately according to their agency and modes of manifestation. in research that theorizes the ordering agency of values, three overall types can be identified that demarcate how values manifest themselves or are manifested in interactions: by being espoused by top management, by being attributed to the organization, and by being shared by organizational members. typically understood through qualities such as � 863 ‘making a difference’: the performative role of values in the constitution of organization m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 858-883 “core” and “enduring” (kessler, 2013: 531), espoused values are analyzed as invoked by top management in order to intentionally drive the way employees make decisions and act in organizations. studies show that the agency or ‘power’ of values resides in their continuous invocation and articulation by managers, which provides them with an enduring, unitary or stable quality (van der wal, de graaf & lasthuizen, 2008). the emphasis is placed on their ordering agency because when values are present “explicitly in corporate documents” (bansal, 2003: 518) they have the ability to create order by prompting the implementation and coordination of collective action (barley & kunda, 1992). when inscribed in texts (e.g. in human resource management policies, corporate philosophy statements, memos and annual letters to stakeholders and shareholders), values are performative because they come to “create and represent value consensus across an organization’s senior members” (driskill & brenton, 2011: 31). studies show, for example, the capacity of espoused values to direct action and generate order by examining how “leaders and managers follow the core values that they set for the rest of the organization” (fey & denison, 2003: 703). attribution is the second mode of manifestation that can be identified in the research specific to literature on the ordering agency of values. attributed values are those values that come to be acted upon, since these are the indicators for assessing whether or not the organization’s actions are representative of its values (ostroff, shin & kinicki, 2005). attributed values create order and underlie decision-making since they are values acted upon while espoused values are something which is claimed. thus the difference between attributed values and espoused values lies in their enactment, since attributed values are singled out “from those that may be espoused but not enacted” (bourne & jenkins, 2013: 500). studies explore attributed values by examining the way top managers are driven to engage (or not) in behaviors aligned with the values they invoke in order to recognize patterns of past decisions and therefore attribute the values to the firm (balazs, 1990). a certain dualism between action and talk is promoted here retrospectively, since the methodological steps employed mandate one to: 1) compare what it [the organization] says to what it does and find out if there are differences between espoused values and values in use; 2) study the values over time to see if the values are merely rhetorical or whether they are actually used as premises for decisions; and 3) examine whether the values have an impact or whether they always lose out in conflicts between money, power and values. (thyssen, 2009: 112) the performativity of attributed values is usually examined by looking into the way values that are positioned by managers in annual reports act by driving the history and future of the organization (sagiv, schwartz & arieli, 2011). sharedness is a third mode of manifestation that can be identified in studies exploring the ordering agency of values. research examines the way shared values have performative properties through their virtue of embodying the “essence of organizations” (aust, 2004: 516, gioia, patvardhan, hamilton & corley, 2013). studies indicate that when shared values are invoked in interactions they instill order by driving employee identification (van rekom, soenen, ravasi & lerpold, 2007) and eliminating the risk of hypocrisy and legitimacy gaps (ostroff, et al., 2005; kotrba, et al., 2012). methodologically, this entails the examination of how managers who position themselves as speaking in the name of shared � 864 m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 858-883 oana brindusa albu values act in consistency with them since they “have no other choice” (fey & denison, 2003: 698) than to submit to the values that uphold them. in sum, three modes of manifestation can be arguably mapped in current research that looks at the ordering agency of values: e.g., espoused, attributed and shared. the underlying assumption of such research rests on consensus among organizational members, since organizational values are typically defined as “socially shared cognitive representations of institutional goals and demands” (rokeach, 1979: 50). the default explanation of such theorizing of values is based on intraorganizational homogeneity and is specific to a functionalist view of organizations (parsons, 1956). values are typically conceptualized based on a dichotomy between words and actions, that is, as communicative acts that are the product of organizational structures (generated by shifting and conflicting institutional fields (suddaby & greenwood, 2005). in this case, consistency is the raison d'être, since congruence between the values the organization communicates, on the one hand, and its actions and structures on the other, is considered to help maintain a positive reputation, legitimacy and access to resources (parsons, 1956). studies contributing to this stream of literature tend to assume rationally bounded organizational members who internalize managerial values and act (usually with a lesser degree of dissent or resistance) according to their management’s instructions. values are, to this extent, examined as having ordering agency, i.e., a positive relationship with productivity (dawn, brent & wilf, 2000), employee commitment (ostroff, et al., 2005) and stakeholder relations (voss, cable & voss, 2000). the underlying rationale inspiring such research, while undoubtedly valuable, raises important questions concerning the orderly and disorderly nature of organization, since disorder tends to simultaneously accompany efforts to create order when organizing (cooren & fairhurst, 2009). however, the literature remains at a relatively abstract or theoretical level of analysis, and the exploration of the disordering character of values is limited, despite the fact that disorder is interwoven in the very fabric of organizing (vásquez, et al., 2016). thus, the second part of the review that follows next enriches the understanding of organizational values by focusing on their disordering agency. aspirational values are the first type of values that can be identified in emerging research that conceptualizes their disordering agency. the performative implications of aspirational values are typically examined by mapping their progressive evolution and manifestation in daily interactions. for instance, the value of efficiency was found to act as a driving force often with long-term negative consequences (e.g., burnout) in the organizational members’ incessant efforts to become better at given tasks (thornborrow & brown, 2009). similarly, the value of sustainable development has been found to exhibit disordering properties, since it leads organizational members to question formal designations of unity as it exists in contradiction with other values such as efficiency (holmernadesan, 1996). at the same time, aspirational values have also been found to generate micro-level twists and turns that ultimately perform/ institute conflicting realities. studies of corporate social responsibility strategies have shown, for instance, that rather than being empty talk and different from action, “[c]orporate eco-talk participates in (re)creating the firm and (re)constructing its relationship to nature, while opening up novel possibilities of understanding and action at the societal level” (livesey & graham, 2007: 336; see also christensen, et al., 2013). similarly, research has shown that aspirational values can lead to an inevitable gradual or “creeping commitment” (haack, et al., 2012: 835) to specific agendas that � 865 ‘making a difference’: the performative role of values in the constitution of organization m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 858-883 may be in opposition to initial strategic decisions due to fears of public scrutiny and reputational damage. negotiated values are a second mode of manifestation that is identified as having disordering properties. when invoked in interactions, values become the basis of discursive struggle since they come to represent numerous conflicting interests in organizational lives (putnam, 2004). studies conceptualizing values from this standpoint focus on their paradoxes and unintended consequences: instead of being conducive to positive employee relations as a result of their presumed unifying and enduring features, values can lead to disorder in the form of resistance to organizational procedures. that is, values are inconsistent when they translate into everyday interactions, clashing with one another and bringing to light key conflicts in the organizational lives of staff members (meyer, 1995). values exhibit disordering agency by generating conflict since they are continuously renegotiated, debated and sustained in the “interaction of interdependent people who perceive opposition of goals, aims and values, and who see the other party as potentially interfering with the realization of these goals” (putnam & poole, 1987: 552). studies of transnational organizations such as the world wildlife fund have shown, for instance, that the positioning of values such as sustainability, instead of creating consensus, have led to disorder and a failure to meet the expectations of conflicting interest groups and have generated at least as much conflict as they promised to resolve (peterson & franks, 2006). finally, embodied/embodying values are a third form of manifestation specific to emerging studies focusing on the disordering agency of values. on the one hand, values are theorized as embodied in texts, artifacts, etc. in a way that they come to speak on behalf of an organizational collective “we” (taylor & van every, 2000). in this respect, studies explore how values can be mobilized in various ways, and show that values, depending on the situations in which they are positioned and the people who invoke them, have multiple modes of existence and therefore often contradict each other (cooren, et al., 2013). in other words, because values express themselves in different ways in ongoing interactions, they frequently lead to contradictions in the enactment of actual situations, which produces the experience of disorder and struggles among organizational members. on the other hand, organizational values are conceptualized not only as being embodied in texts and making the organization present, but also simultaneously embodying the organization. studies examine how values enable, re-shape, and re-produce the organization, since they are continuously debated, fixed and changed ties that bind members together as an organization (chaput, et al., 2011). such recursive interplay between embodied and embodying values permits investigation into how organizational members end up defining values that progressively transform themselves into norms and rules, which eventually become official policies that enable collective organizing (cooren, 2015). the focus of such research aims to understand how various elements (values, principles, managers, documents, etc.) become bound together and co-produce a collective organizational actor that acts and speaks on their behalf. studies drawing on this standpoint explore the way in which organizational values create disorder and a site of struggle for control, since these values are active elements with the power to both re-present and rearrange the organization (rennstam, 2012). in short, this review has provided an overview of the different conceptions of values in management and organizational communication studies. in doing so, the review has enhanced the conceptual clarity of organizational values by identifying a variety of uses and theoretical definitions across � 866 m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 858-883 oana brindusa albu management and organization fields of research. the review emphasizes the importance of expanding research that theorizes the disordering agency of values, since this is an underdeveloped approach despite the fact that values have the capacity to influence organizational behavior and all forms of human agency. it is indeed highly relevant to gain insight into how to locate values in communication, especially when the same value can be conceptualized in the same way. thus, this study proceeds to an empirical analysis that indicates ways of examining the ordering and disordering properties of values. the paper investigates the following research questions: how are organizational values expressed and how do they express themselves in day-to-day interactions? what ordering and disordering implications do these have for organizational activities? these questions were investigated by analyzing the communicative interactions in delta. prior to introducing the analysis, the following section describes the methods, and data collection process. methods data collection drawing on a multi-sited ethnographic study of delta, this article examines a strategy of developing and communicating organizational values. cooperatives are organizations in which cooperative values inform the democratic governance structure (stohl & cheney, 2001). thus, delta was chosen as a site for inquiry because it provided a diverse range of parameters (baxter & jack, 2008) in mapping the ways in which organizational values fundamentally shape interactions and behavior in organizations. the data were collected during nine months of multi-sited fieldwork (marcus, 1998) in delta, an organization where i worked as a seconded communication manager from 2014 to 2015. delta is an international advocacy cooperative organization, i.e. it works to influence international policy in favor of cooperatives. delta’s daily activities are defined as advocacy, that is, “the preparation, analysis, decision-making and communication related to the consultation process vis-à-vis governmental institutions” (delta annual report, 2011: 2). as cooperative, delta is owned not by shareholders but by all of its 139 member organizations from 28 countries (each with an equal right to vote for its strategies). thus delta’s governance structure is based on democratic decision-making and collective management. its members meet annually to elect two co-presidents, the board of directors and the executive council. delta’s headquarters is run by a small staff of seven individuals: two executive directors, two line managers, two interns and one secretary. delta was selected for investigation because in organizations such as cooperatives with decentralized, democratic power structures, egalitarian values such as community, participation or democracy will tend to predominate and direct action (stohl & cheney, 2001). as a result, delta constituted a rich case that provided a wide number of parameters for investigating the agency of values. this ethnographic design was selected in order to provide a richer context for the analysis of values, since i gained access to observe and participate in a strategy designed to develop and communicate values to all delta members, which amounted to producing corporate texts that � 867 ‘making a difference’: the performative role of values in the constitution of organization m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 858-883 incorporated values (a press release, flip chart and manifesto). i followed the trajectories of the texts, investigating the relations of which these were part and their ordering and disordering properties (chaput, et al. 2011). this design allowed me to understand how values are established, which relationships and actions are defined by values, and how managers make values present in given interactions. the data set comprises: a) two threehour staff meetings in which executives developed the values contained in the texts; b) one four-hour board meeting where the texts were discussed and approved by executives; c) 17 semi-structured interviews, lasting approximately 50 minutes, with managers involved in the creation of the texts; and d) 82 single-spaced pages of field notes of observations taken when recording was not possible during day-to-day work situations and of delta communication material (emails, documents, photos). multi-sited fieldwork and discourse analysis the focus of this study is to expand research on organizational values and show how a performative perspective can highlight the intricate and complex dialectics that values introduce in organizational settings. while video/voice recordings were the primary methods used, detailed notes were taken when recording was not possible. this happened because a video camera is always potentially intrusive, especially since people tend to regard it as surveillance technology (lindof & taylor, 2010). in this respect, despite their obvious limitations of not being able to capture fully the richness of audio and visual settings, the field notes taken are treated as instances of discourse (chaput, el al., 2011). this ethnographic approach allowed the identification of both verbal and non-verbal markers of communication that indicated the key elements (i.e., values, texts or digital artifacts) that appeared to dictate how people talked and acted. this was either because these elements appeared to matter to them (e.g., the value of “transparency” surfaced again and again in delta members’ discourse and they often spoke in the name of the members’ rights) or because elements expressed themselves in managers’ speech and action without suggesting that these managers were overtly or necessarily attached to values of democracy in an explicit manner (e.g., sometimes delta members’ positions could be deduced from the directness with which they expressed themselves). the ethnographic design allowed me to show how values ‘made a difference’ in the way delta’s presence was coproduced and dealt with through interactions in this context. for example, delta stopped being simply an abstraction when i observed managers acting (voting) on delta’s behalf in board meetings or when i saw delta’s president negotiating its presence with local authorities. therefore, an important aspect of the ethnographic analysis involved identifying the markers based on how these expressed themselves on a recurrent, iterative basis in the recorded interactions. these markers were relatively explicit in specific turns of talk (e.g. when delta representatives kept positioning themselves as speaking in the name of the value of democracy, which can qualify as an espoused value) or relatively implicit (e.g. when specific choices were made or lines of action were adopted, which can be an embodied/embodying value, cooren, et al., 2013). the multi-sited fieldwork approach provided therefore a measure of triangulation, as most of the data were evaluated in relation to at least one other data source. the collected data were analyzed based on grounded theory using an online database via the nvivo software. the unit of analysis was one sentence or one image. each unit was itemized based on lower-level actions (an utterance or a gesture), whose selection was � 868 m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 858-883 oana brindusa albu influenced by the analyst’s experience during data collection with field notes and repeated watching of the video data. a collection of lower-level actions constituted a higher-level action, i.e., a conversation about values in a staff meeting (norris & maier, 2014), which was then subjected to coding. furthermore, in order to examine how organizational values manifest and are manifested in both explicit and implicit ways in the observed instances of discourse, the data were analyzed through discourse analysis (da). this method was selected because it facilitates the study of unobtrusive or indirect meanings in texts which “are related to underlying beliefs, but are not openly, directly, completely or precisely asserted” (van dijk, 2001: 104). since organizational values are the kinds of meanings that are often alluded to without being explicitly expressed, da allowed me to spotlight this information which is “part of the mental model of a text, but not of the texts itself” (van dijk, 2001: 104). subsequently, through the study of communicative interactions i was able to reveal the presence of organizational values in texts. to analyze the images through which organizational members communicated values, i used multimodal discourse analysis (mda) (manchin, 2013). in this respect mda was used in conjunction with da analysis to facilitate the analysis of interactions that were subject to computer mediation (images posted on social media, email exchanges, live streams of board meetings online). through mda, both lower-level mediated actions were analyzed (smile, gaze, technological object handling) as well as high level ones (those actions that social actors usually intend to perform and/or are aware of and/or pay attention to, such as several utterances chained together by speakers, gaze shifts, postural shifts and so on) were analyzed. by combining these methods, i was able to identify the presence of mediated discourses which appeared in ways that might not be obvious and that are much more difficult to express through language, since images tend not to have such fixed meaning, or at least the producer can claim that it was more suggestive and open to various interpretations. this methodological approach permitted the identification of how values unfold upstream and downstream (cooren & sandler, 2014), i.e.: a) how values are made present by managers in similar and dissimilar situations, and b) which values represent the managers and make them speak. finally, the findings from both the ethnographic and discourse analyses were coded by highlighting potential markers of value identification, such as the use of pronouns, repeated keywords, or giving explicit accounts about delta’s activities and history (chaput, et al., 2011). recurring substantive codes were clustered into themes (lindof & taylor, 2010). first-level coding involved repeated comparison and contrast of recurring threads in the data, which allowed me to identify open and focused codes that illustrated the way values were present in inconspicuous or obvious ways in the communicative acts that guided individuals’ actions (“increasing our visibility; showing who we are; exposing our values” (interview, manager)). second-level or axial coding permitted me to label four key themes that demonstrate the agency of values diachronically: the first illustrates how values are informally discussed between managers when setting up a press conference; the second presents how values materialize in the interactions of managers working in the cooperative house; the third indicates how values are handwritten on a flip chart during a staff meeting; and the fourth shows how values are inscribed in a cooperative manifesto. the analysis is next presented based on these four incidents (the press release, the “mad house”, the flip chart and the manifesto), and shows that when values are � 869 ‘making a difference’: the performative role of values in the constitution of organization m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 858-883 invoked by organizational members, identification and order are only partial implications. values at the same time introduce disorder in the form of contradictions, tensions and authority struggles. the (dis)ordering role of organizational values in delta the press release the values of solidarity, subsidiarity and transparency are inscribed on the first page of delta’s annual report in bold letters: “we are united with due respect to our differences making alive the principles of solidarity, transparency and subsidiarity. together we are stronger to assert our identity, to defend and promote our specificities” (delta annual report, 2011: 1). these values, as delta managers indicated in many similar instances, were relied upon in annual reports, on the website and official documents because they were considered to instill collective and accountable decision-making and strategic cooperation: “[…] one member, one vote. everyone has a voice here, not like in multinationals where only shareholders get to call the shots” (manager, interview). the inscription of values in delta’s annual reports and other official texts indicates that these can be conceptualized as espoused. delta’s top management expected these values to ultimately become shared and introduce ordering properties such as fostering identification within the employee-organization relationship (maak & pless, 2006; hansen, 2013). while nevertheless important, conceptualizing the values only as belonging to the espoused and shared categories, would present a one-sided understanding of values since it implies a tendency to focus only on their ordering agency while overlooking the disorderly aspects of values. at first glance, it indeed seemed that delta’s cooperative values exhibited ordering agency through their capacity to “enable creative and productive action” (barley & kunda, 1992: 364). over a period of twelve months, delta’s values, the “cooperative ethos”, surfaced on a day-to-day basis during the interactions i witnessed at lunch breaks, team meetings, board meetings, coffee breaks, and in emails, etc. needless to say, the values not only manifested themselves in “the way the board [of directors] desired” (manager, interview), that is, by having ordering properties and being espoused, shared and attributed. at the same time, the values were positioned and positioned managers in contradictory manners, leading sometimes to disidentification and resistance among individuals, which is evidence of their negotiated aspect. nevertheless, in spite of occasional resistance, the values generated the impetus of unity and collective identification “we” because organizational members were positioned by the values to work around common goals, which led the values to become ultimately “shared”, at least temporarily, among delta’s employees. this vacillation shows that the same value can be conceptualized as being both shared and negotiated. furthermore, values could be conceptualized as both shared and attributed when they produce order and exhibit the capacity to define the actions, roles and authority positions of organizational members (seeger & ulmer, 2003). as indicated by the following field note excerpt from a board meeting: � 870 m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 858-883 oana brindusa albu i check my wristwatch and it’s 9.56 am. twelve managers sit around the u-shaped table of the meeting room. all wear headsets on their ears listening to the live translation from two booths in the back where two translators were whispering each word the president was uttering from italian into english. i am in charge of taking the minutes of the meeting and i type as fast as i can. the first item on the agenda is about a press release which delta is supposed to organize the following week. the president says “the cooperative values are our dna. they help us become visible to our member organizations. we have agreed to do this [he holds up the press release which was signed by all managers in the room] to help all of our members perceive the importance of our policies”. everyone else around the table nods, seemingly in agreement. the president then adds, while pointing with his finger to the document on the table: “basically, at the press conference we will discuss our values as the strategic guideline for next year. it [the press release] is the result of different consultation processes, different priorities over how we want to appear to our members. we received quite a number of recommendations from our members, not always converging towards a single aim.” (field note excerpt from a board meeting, 2015, emphasis added) in the above interaction, values manifest themselves as shared and attributed (“values are our dna”) since they guide managers’ decisionmaking by acting as a “strategic guideline” which is a form of subversive control (barley & kunda, 1992). this is evidence that values can be theorized as belonging simultaneously to the shared and attributed categories since they are a way of controlling how delta’s existence is perceived and experienced by its members. the managers appeal to values not only to make delta present (“appear to our members”) but also to ensure that delta is presentified in a certain way by explaining to their members (“we have to help our members understand”) what this presence implies, that is, what this presence should mean to them or how they should make sense of it (cooren, brummans & charrieras, 2008). however, conceptualizing values as having the ability to shape managerial action solely in a rational and orderly manner may offer only a one-sided understanding of their role in organizations. this is because, as the following analysis indicates, when invoked or when “folded within” (cooren & sandler, 2014: 234, italics in original) organizational interactions, values can generate as much disorder as order. in delta’s case, the cooperative values (i.e., solidarity, subsidiarity, transparency, community and democracy) initially exhibited ordering qualities, specific to the espoused values category, since these prompted collective action across multiple sites and organizational levels: discussed informally between managers in the park, handwritten on a flip chart, inscribed in a press release and cooperative manifesto, stated in staff and board meetings, coffee breaks and in email exchanges, etc. at the same time, delta’s set of values, the ethos which was inscribed in a corporate text (“the press release”), while being promoted to delta’s member organizations and the public, also had the capacity to “embody”, i.e. make delta present as an organization present (see cooren, 2015). these findings show that the same values can be theorized as pertaining to both espoused and embodying categories due to their performative properties. this is also indicated by the following excerpt from a team meeting where managers from delta and its member organizations manipulated and were being manipulated by delta’s values: � 871 ‘making a difference’: the performative role of values in the constitution of organization m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 858-883 david (manager, delta): if we issue the press release with the [values’] paragraphs and your [the member organizations’] logos on the same level with ours, it [the press release] will be emphasizing the equal relations with delta, it [the press release] will weaken our leading position.
 james (manager, x cooperative): so, i mean, in the document we foresee a very broad message, taken from each organization. i mean, it [the press release] should put everybody together in agreement since it [the press release] shows what we’ve done in the past and in what way we should become more visible to our members from now on, and that’s all.
 ellen (manager, y cooperative): yeah. i think it would be good that in the press release about delta you would still have a paragraph from each [organization]... but (.) i mean the values for us are more technical and we would like to write that paragraph. tim (manager, delta): well, that’s the problem. you don’t seem to be on the same page with us.
 diana (manager, l cooperative): of course you have to keep in mind the differences across organizations (.) but i mean..(.)... i think our values concerns all of us when setting it [press release] up. we need to recognize the diversity, but still to keep it [press release] broad to connect to all. (fieldnote fragment from a team meeting, 2014, emphasis added). the negotiation over the press release shows the ability of values to presentify delta, since speaking and acting in an organization’s name can always become a source of concern because it affects how its mode of being is co-constructed (cooren, et al., 2013). each manager was positioned by the values in a certain way (“for us it’s more technical”) and framed the others as opponents (“you don’t seem to be on the same page with us”), which defined their roles and authority (“will weaken our leading position”). during the meeting, the managers were repeatedly embodied by, and embodying the values, in contrasting ways, and pressed for the inclusion of their own position in the press release despite the presumed sharedness (“we need to recognize diversity, but”). the discursive struggle took place and continued throughout the following weeks because delta is made present by its values and can therefore be questioned, obstructed, altered, etc., at all times. while the values had been temporarily shared by managers during the board meeting a week before, in this instance the values created disorder since these manifested differently and continuously shifted between shared, aspirational, attributed qualities in interactions, creating the experience of tensions and contradictions (“well that’s the problem”). after the meeting ended, in a brief email exchange between myself and two delta managers in charge of the press release coordination, the managers hinted at the feeling of disorder introduced by the values they were experiencing, which deemed collective action “impossible”: me: how do you think it [the meeting] went? can we go forward with it [the press release]? [it] [s]eems we share the values, but [we’re] still not in agreement. 
 david (manager, delta): we share, yes. but sharedness is something that does not mirror the complexity of the situation.
 tim (manager, delta): cooperating in cooperatives? impossible. � 872 m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 858-883 oana brindusa albu the mad house at times, delta’s values exhibited ordering properties in the form of providing managers with the basis for identification and a way to assert their collective identity, which is evidence of the shared qualities of values. concurrently, delta’s values continued to induce disorder and to generate struggles, proof of values’ negotiated and embodied/embodying properties. managers reported experiencing an atmosphere which was described through the “madhouse” metaphor—a wordplay on the name of delta’s headquarters, the cooperative house. this common feeling occurred because values often temporarily disrupted authority positions among managers given their capacity to “transpire” differently, as the following field note fragment illustrates: i enter a wide-ceilinged meeting room where two delta senior managers await to provide me with an introductory overview of delta’s lobbying activities. on the table there are three copies of delta’s annual report. one manager turns to me, smiles and says loudly “so, welcome to the madhouse!” after a one second hiatus, everyone, including myself, laughed in a rather artificial manner, as we tried to appear relaxed—we were all a bit anxious. we then started going through the reports. during the lunch break, i was sitting together with one of the managers on one of the benches of the small garden situated in front of our building. while opening my lunchbox, i asked the manager what the “madhouse” was about. he answered while pointing at the “madhouse” with his plastic white fork: “well, you know, delta is a young organization. we have been leading for seven years only. we all share the cooperative ethos, but also because of it everyone else does not want to renounce their leading [advocacy] role here with the government, especially the top managers. everybody is defending their turf and they all want to be out there”. the second manager, who had joined us on the bench meanwhile, added: “i mean, we do have a challenge in terms of communication, trust and transparency. there is a strong discrepancy between how our values transpire to the local [cooperatives], national [associations], and macro level [member organizations] and you [delta] (field note fragment, 2014, emphasis added) while delta’s values were repeatedly invoked as shared “our values”, when manifesting in interactions the value of cooperation clashed with the value of transparency as these materialized in “discrepant” ways and caused “everyone to defend their turf”. the values oscillated between the shared category (providing the basis for collective identification, “we all share the cooperative ethos”), and the negotiated one (spurring discursive struggles that impeded decision-making among delta managers in everyday organizing). one instance indicative of the negotiated nature of values occurred the following week in a “closed-door” meeting about finalizing the details of the press release, despite the aim of creating sharedness and increase identification between employees and the organization, “our cooperative identity” (staff meeting, manager). one manager described such closed-door meetings, in which only top managers participated, as involving “only politics, not exactly mutual cooperation in there” (staff meeting, manager), therefore implicitly positioning delta’s top management in opposition with their espoused value of cooperation. during the meeting the manager continued to invoke the values of cooperation and community � 873 ‘making a difference’: the performative role of values in the constitution of organization m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 858-883 in an implicit manner in order to (rhetorically) question the present lack of unity and strategic consensus. delta’s values shifted from the shared to the negotiated category since they contrasted with delta’s management intentions and thus became contested across its complex international structure, creating tensions that threatened delta’s collective identification processes and “unity”: tim: do we represent delta or not? we say so everywhere but there is much ambiguity and no straightforward answer can be provided about who we are. in moments like these when we can’t really decide on our agenda i don’t feel our unity. 
 allen: i echo that. our member organizations do not understand what we do (.) our values (.) they are too far from the political scene. we need to provide them with more information and make our activities clearer since we are facing difficulties (fieldnote fragment from staff meeting, 2014, emphasis added). as evidence of their negotiated manifestations, delta’s values also introduced disorder since they led managers to question the top management’s “unity” and authority (“do we represent delta or not?”) and decision-making (“we can’t really decide”, “we are facing difficulties”). delta’s values had the capacity of presentifying delta in conflicting ways across different sites, which happened when managers set up the invitation letters for the press conference. the letters became an object of discursive struggle, which is also proof of their negotiated properties. despite the fact that during the board meeting the managers had agreed beforehand to coordinate the press conference as a shared event driven by common values, each sent their own letter to delta’s stakeholders in order to gain authority, which fueled the discursive struggle over their “unity”: i wonder if we really give the impression of unity. i don’t know. if a politician receives three different letters from our managers that are part of the same organization [delta] i don’t believe it gives a good sense of who we are. so i think that maybe we should cooperate more and be more consistent with our values (board member, board meeting) by manifesting themselves in interaction and being included in the letters, the values made delta present as an organization (chaput, et al., 2011). in doing so, the letters did not simply and passively disclose something (e.g., letters announcing the press conference and stating delta’s cooperative values). instead, by espousing cooperative values the letters had the capacity to represent delta as a collectivity and make it present in different contradictory ways to others and to its own organizational members (brummans, et al., 2016). as indicated in the manager’s response during the board meeting, the letters by containing delta’s values were constitutive of delta’s collective identity in a disorderly and fragmented way, which is evidence of the values’ espoused and negotiated manifestations: delta makes a proposal [of the press release], tables it to the board, we agree, meet and now we hear that this idea might be dropped because of the disagreements over who [managers] is to be in it [press release]. there is a consistency problem. and you cannot send a letter to a politician that we are going to stage a press conference and then we change our mind. it’s not consistent with who we are. if we don’t stage a press conference it will be detrimental to our image (manager, board meeting) � 874 m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 858-883 oana brindusa albu furthermore, while delta’s values of solidarity, subsidiarity and transparency imply and dictate that people help each other because they are part of an organization, these materialized in conflicting manners. the letters acted as embodiments of their values which came to speak by, to, and for themselves (cooren & sandler, 2014: 226), evidence of their embodied and embodying manifestations. the following field note fragment illustrates the ways in which the value of democracy exhibited embodying properties as it prompted managers to act in both meaningful and “meaningless” ways: the voting cards are scattered in boxes all over the office. i am sorting them into three piles, yes, no and abstentions. we are preparing for the board meeting where the press release proposal is to be announced. while the piles increase in size, i find myself thinking that it would be very difficult to count the votes in a room full of people. there are eighty-four persons and some will hold up more voting cards than others, since those who pay higher membership fees and have larger cooperatives have more votes. while still sorting, i ask tim, the manager sitting on the other side of the room: ‘how do you count the votes?’ after a second of silence, he leans on his chair back from the computer and utters, in a cynical tone while waving his hand in dismissal, ‘don’t worry, they will never vote for it [the press release proposal]’. he then suddenly gets up and says grinning ‘oh, i need to tell this to allen and leaves the room. i hear them both laughing on their way back to our office. allen comes and puts a hand on my shoulder, smiles and says ‘come on, do you think anyone ever voted for a change in the history of delta?’. i feel puzzled but manage to smile and prepare myself to ask ‘the why’ question but the sound of the coffee machine in the hallway coming through the opened door stops me. as i turn around, i see tim looking at us. while dismissively throwing a sugar cube in his cup, he adds with a vehement tone, ‘it is the problem of today’s democracy. they come and take these voting cards and it’s meaningless’. but, to my surprise, something that contradicts this happened the next day at the board meeting: during the voting session one board member lifted up a no vote sign while adding “[w]e oppose it [the press release] because it is not in line with how we co-operate” (fieldnote fragment, 2014, emphasis added). in this situation, the board member invoked the value and was thus positioned by the value to act (vote) in its name. the value led the board member to hold up the no voting sign, and explicitly mention the value of cooperation (“how we co-operate”). as a result, instead of creating consensus, the cooperation value exhibited disordering agency since it materialized in opposition (“not in line”) and interfered with what the value meant for him. the flip chart in the light of the “no vote” that occurred at the board meeting, delta’s top management organized a workshop in which managers were supposed to design a strategy that would help communicate delta’s values in a consistent way. delta’s managers were well aware of the performative implications that values can have and thus they attempted to control the way values were making individuals act. this happened because the values exhibited the capacity to motivate what organizational members say, evidence of their shared properties. delta’s top management then � 875 ‘making a difference’: the performative role of values in the constitution of organization m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 858-883 hoped the values would also direct managers’ collective identities to converge in one direction, that is, achieving an identical character between what they say, do and are (cooren, 2015). the following excerpt from a workshop with delta’s managers is indicative of the many instances where the cooperative values exhibited embodied and embodying properties, because in being made present through communication they simultaneously make managers speak and define their actions: 1 jack: so, the first issue on our list is that we need better (.) ((writes on a flip chart the 2 words cooperation and community)) <cooperation and community>. 3 tim: yes. our members want to understand who we are and what we do, and again, 4 this shows again that our cooperation and community are not very strong. 5 allen: yes, yeah. it is really interesting. (.) although, really, what we’re doing is 6 stating our values here. it is quite elementary. this is us ((hits the flip chart with 7 his marker pen)). so, since at the top there is a strong need for better cooperation 8 and community (.) these values are our compasses at the next board meeting. 9 tim: uh-uhm ((shakes his head affirmatively)) 10 allen: is there anything we want to add? 11 jack: well, we have education and community. but most importantly (.) uhm (.) is 12 democracy (.) in the governance 13 allen: can you give me an example? 14 jack: uhm (.) so (.) that the governance mechanism is clear (.) in the sense that if i have 15 a problem, i know who’s responsible. 16 tim: what does this have to do with values? (.) but, in fact (.) it could also be linked 17 here ((gets up and points to the word cooperation on the chart)) –cause, i mean, 18 it’s who we are and what we do. who we are is not just our board of directors. we 19 are not shareholder-owned, ‘just give me your profits’. it is delta. this is us ((lifts 20 the paper sheet from the chart and waves it through the air)), our values guide us, 21 and this includes the governance and the members, it’s everyone. we are 22 a cooperative, what we do we do together. so then all goes back eventually to the 23 cooperation and participation values, of course. –cause ((waving the paper sheet)) 24 this pushes us forward. (fieldnote fragment, 2014 workshop, emphasis added) as illustrated in lines 1-3, the values of cooperation and community were made present by jack and tim, given their intention of improving identification between organizational members. simultaneously, in the conversation (lines 5-8), during allen’s account of aspirational talk � 876 m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 858-883 oana brindusa albu (christensen, et al., 2013), the values generate order as they demarcate the actions and roles of managers as these are seen to act as strategic “compasses” (line 8) and have the capacity to “push” the managers “forward” (line 22). by being inscribed on the sheet of paper the values manipulated the managers and directed their actions. the values exhibited ordering agency by being constitutive of delta and an embodiment of the formal organization, as tim and allen point to the sheet of paper on which the values were written and exclaim “this is us” (lines 6 and 19) while waving it in the air. in this respect, the values were talking to the managers and it was the voice of the group that contributed to the shaping and reaffirmation of delta’s identity (cooren, 2015). nonetheless, the values were continuously exhibiting negotiated properties and motivated the managers to edit the texts containing the values, attempts which in most cases were driven by situational or organizational interests. these instances were always met with resistance given the untouchable character of the value of democracy. cynicism was widespread, given the feeling that cooperatives were becoming less democratic at a political level, being repeatedly described as ‘one member, one vote is only theoretical’ (manager, interview). however, not all of the individuals experienced the tensions induced by the way the democracy value was manifesting itself. one manager indicated that while the disordering agency of values was experienced as a “massive” and “major” challenge, the resistance created was productive since it fostered a multiplicity of viewpoints and enhanced dialogue: we want tensions within the democratic control in order to be a healthy cooperative. to give an example, i went to the board meeting of one of our organizations, a very good one which we hold in high esteem. and in this meeting there was a huge debate, a genuine debate, between those who said we need to keep expanding our range of products we offer and reach out to new people and others saying, we already worry that we’ve actually forgot why we started giving cheap food to those who couldn’t afford it. and there were really backwards and forwards debates among that democracy value. and i say don’t you ever loosen that tension, that’s what being cooperative is about. yet, i think there is a difference between the good functioning of democratic control and also keeping it alive, [being] always together. but it is a massive challenge when you have high level international structures. it is very very hard to make it real and share it with everyone on the ground. this is our major challenge (manager, interview, emphasis added). the manifesto the manifesto is the text that embodied delta’s values discussed at the workshop, which aimed to control the way values were manifesting themselves. it was created during four months of strenuous negotiations and communicated to delta’s constituents, thus making delta present across multiple hybrid, collective yet dislocated spaces (vàsquez, et al., 2016). on its cover there was a picture of with the delta employees holding cardboard signs on which the values were written (see figure 1; faces are blurred to maintain the anonymity of the informants). � 877 ‘making a difference’: the performative role of values in the constitution of organization m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 858-883 figure 1 cooperative values in delta the dress code is strikingly informal despite the fact that two people in the image are executives, two are line managers, two are interns and one is a secretary, which implicitly signifies the value of community and collective decision-making designed to mirror the horizontal hierarchies, casualness and informality. the poses are open and relaxed, thus not connoting deliberate control and regimentation despite the fact that they clearly required dedication and organization. the values inscribed on the cardboard could be conceptualized as empty corporate business language that has come to dominate public institutions and backgrounds about facilities, staffing and treatment (manchin, 2013). however, a closer look at the way values surface in interactions indicates that in spite of being “just” talk they are performative and trigger both ordering and disordering implications. on the one hand, the manifesto brought the formal organization into being again and again, and became an active participant in (re)defining managers’ actions and authority positions. that is, the values inscribed in the manifesto had both shared and embodied/ embodying properties and enabled managers to act together, to become identified as a ‘family’ and achieve ‘sameness’ (chaput, et al., 2011): “[t]he values inform our daily actions, really. and, with the manifesto i can rally everyone in the cooperative family” (manager, interview, emphasis added). as the manager indicates further, the values included in the manifesto act by giving him the capacity to generate order and mobilize collective action (“we all look the same, behave the same”): “when we communicate our values and principles then we all look the same, behave the same, have the same standards, then people would say ‘oh, i know them’ […] that’s uniformity” (manager, interview, emphasis added). on the other hand, the values introduced disorder by (de)centering the authority of the speaker and silencing the voices, lives, and experiences of those involved (chapman-sanger, 2003). for instance, at the first board meeting where the manifesto was discussed, the democracy value exhibited negotiated properties and generated continuous struggles since it made managers interact in opposing manners, rendering them unable to reach consensus: one manager changed the democracy value in the draft of the manifesto by adding to it “in principle” because for him � 878 m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 858-883 oana brindusa albu democracy had an inherently negotiated character given that in delta not all strategic processes are democratic: “cooperatives are, in principle, democratic organizations controlled by their members, who actively participate in setting their policies and making decisions” (cooperative manifesto, version 4, italics added). another manager edited the value of cooperation arguing that it would be hypocritical not to acknowledge that solidarity is often sacrificed since values of economic efficiency are necessary for cooperatives to survive in the global economy (manager, board meeting). yet another proposed the introduction of breach warnings based on the rationale that such a tactic would eliminate any discrepancies between what the organization says and does: “complying with and furthering these values is the job of every employee of delta. any employee who becomes aware of, or suspects, a breach of these values is urged to inform his or her supervisor” (cooperative manifesto, version 6). all of the negotiations led one manager to signal the paradoxical disordering agency of values after the board meeting that “we have a problem with the philosophy of togetherness” (manager, staff meeting). the ongoing negotiations show the polyphony of values and is evidence of their negotiated and embodied/embodying character: the more the managers negotiated and attempted to change or eliminate the values in the manifesto, the more the values motivated the other managers to speak and mobilized them to vote for keeping the manifesto intact in order to objectify and bring their collective identities and organization into existence “for another next first time” (garfinkel, 2002: 216, emphasis in original). in sum, values were initially seen in delta as ordering devices that help members identify as an organization and a form of normative control (barley & kunda, 1992). however, the values acted in both orderly and disorderly ways in interactions across different organizational sites: creating and undermining authority positions in the case of the press release; generating unity while fueling discursive struggles and creating a “mad” rather than a “cooperative” atmosphere in the headquarters; and fostering “togetherness” and directing strategic action in team meetings, while resisting certain treatments, i.e., being edited in corporate texts. values thus actively participate in the process of co-constituting the common identity or “substance” (chaput, et al., 2011: 254) of the organization. the findings show that values are performative not only in the sense of being used by leaders to impose the alignment of behaviors. equally, values which represent and are represented by managers constitute a hydra organization: the more some managers try to fix, clarify 2 or eliminate values in the name of hypocrisy, the faster the values emerge, motivating other managers to act (often in contradictory manners) and bring the organization into existence. the study shows that values can affect organizational realities in both ordering and disordering ways: values have the potential to mark individual and collective identities, generate discursive struggles and re(define) organizational strategies and authority positions. � 879 2. greek mythology. a serpent-like m o n s t e r w i t h r e p t i l i a n t r a i t s . i t possessed many heads and for each head cut off it grew two more.   ‘making a difference’: the performative role of values in the constitution of organization m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 858-883 discussion this study suggests the need to challenge default assumptions concerning the existing theorizing of organizational values for developing novel research paths. based on a brief literature review, the study provides a tentative overview of the different conceptualizations of organizational values that allows for the investigation of values from a performative focus. the study therefore encourages methodological pluralism by indicating ways of studying how organizational values exhibit both ordering and disordering agency and how the same value can have different modes of manifestation (espoused, attributed, shared and/or aspirational, negotiated, embodied/embodying). the usefulness of the proposed conceptualizations has been shown through a case study of a cooperative organization that employed different strategies and tactics designed to communicate values and increase organizational identification. the findings of the study provide a framework which enables future research to investigate the agency of values when these are unequivocally present in conversations or texts and to map their ordering and disordering implications. in addition, the framework encourages prospective studies to examine the agency of values and how values shape organizational behavior in fundamental ways even though they can appear in inconspicuous, indirect or invisible ways to most organizational subjects. the findings of this paper provide an outlook on and extend the knowledge of organizational values by underlining the relationship between values and communication. the case analysis shows that when values are invoked in conversations, managers’ interactions are a discursive practice whereby managers appeal to discourses of cooperation, transparency and democracy for legitimizing their individual and collective identities. when values express themselves in conversations they make a difference to organizational action. that is, managers’ interactions are a social practice with an ideological dimension, since values both order and disorder organizational power structures and managers’ authority. consequently, the paper illustrates that values are performative as they motivate managers’ actions and mark their identities, and make their organization present across multiple sites. the study’s contributions are twofold: firstly, this paper contributes to the extant literature by providing insight into the performative nature of values and aspirational talk in organizations (bourne & jenkins, 2013; christensen, et al., 2013). secondly, the paper contributes to management research by indicating that values not only function as tools employed by humans who speak on their behalf (chaput, et al., 2011) and that there are both ordering and disordering agencies present in organizations when one explores how values affect the people who speak on their behalf. this study has inevitable limitations since it is bound to one case study and provides a limited view of the types of agency that organizational values have and their modes of manifestation in a specific type of organization (i.e., an international cooperative). certainly, cooperatives face specific tensions in terms of maintaining a transnational collective identity due to their multiple identification targets such as business and democratic participation (stohl & cheney, 2001). nonetheless, the findings of this study may also be informative for other organizational forms, since workplace democracy and community and cooperation values are goals that many contemporary multinational organizations pursue. at the expense of breadth for depth, single case studies offer valuable insights for guiding future research (tracy, 2013). based on the tentative typology provided by this study, prospective research may investigate new modes of � 880 m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 858-883 oana brindusa albu manifestation of organizational values, or validate and/or invalidate the ones this article provides by investigating multiple organizational and institutional settings. this is important as more insight is needed into the historico-political circumstances and the formative forces that define an o r g a n i z a t i o n : t h e c o n s t i t u t i v e ( a n d n o t s i m p l y e x p r e s s i v e ) “deflections” (burke, 1969) and the various elements and agencies omnipresent in the collective discourse of “who we are”. references alvesson, m. & sandberg, j. (2011). generating research questions through problematization. academy of management review, 36(2), 247-271. amr (2000). special topic forum on organizational identity and identification. academy of management review, 25(1), 13–152. anderson, p. & meyer, a. (2016). complexity theory and process organization studies. in a. langley, & h. tsoukas (eds.), sage handbook of process organization studies (pp. 127-143). london, uk: sage. aust, p. j. (2004). communicated values as indicators o f o r g a n i z a t i o n a l i d e n t i t y : a m e t h o d f o r organizational assessment and its application in a case study. communication studies, 55(4), 515-534. austin, j. l. (1962), how to do things with words, oxford, uk: clarendon press. ashcraft, k. l., kuhn, t. r. & cooren, f. (2009). constitutional a: “materializing” organizational communication. academy of management annals, 3(1), 1-64. balazs, a. l. (1990). value congruency: the case of the socially responsible firm. journal of business research, 20(2), 171–181. bansal, p. (2003). from issues to actions: the i m p o r t a n c e o f i n d i v i d u a l c o n c e r n s a n d organizational values in responding to natural environmental issues. organization science, 14(5), 510–527. barley, s. r. & kunda, g. (1992). design and devotion: surges of rational and normative ideologies of control in managerial discourse. administrative science quarterly, 37(3), 363–399. baxter, p. & jack, s. (2008). qualitative case study methodology: study design and implementation for novice researchers. the qualitative report, 13(4), 544-559. b e n o i t b a r n é , c . & c o o r e n , f. ( 2 0 0 9 ) . t h e a c c o m p l i s h m e n t o f a u t h o r i t y t h r o u g h presentification: how authority is distributed among and negotiated by organizational members. management communication quarterly, 23(1), 5-31. bourne, h. & jenkins, m. (2013). organizational values: a dynamic perspective. organization studies, 34(4), 495-514. brunsson, n. (1989), the organization of hypocrisy: talk, decisions, and actions in organizations, new york, ny: wiley. brummans, b. h. j. m., cooren, f., robichaud, d. & taylor, j. r. (2016). approaches in research on the communicative constitution of organizations. in l. l. putnam & d. k. mumby (eds.), sage handbook of organizational communication (3rd ed.) (pp. 173-194). thousand oaks, ca: sage. burke, k. (1969), a rhetoric of motives, berkeley, ca: university of california press. butler, j. (1993), bodies that matter: on the discursive limits of "sex", new york, ny: routledge. chapman-sanger, p. (2003), living and writing feminist ethnographies, amsterdam, nl: elsevier. chaput, m., brummans, b. h. j. m. & cooren, f. (2011). the role of organizational identification in the communicative constitution of an organization: a study of consubstantialization in a young political party. management communication quarterly, 25(2), 252-282. tsoukas, h. & chia, r. (2002). on organizational becoming: rethinking organizational change. organizational change, 13(5), 567–582. christensen, l.t., morsing, m. & thyssen, o. (2013). csr as aspirational talk. organization, 20(3), 372– 393. cooren, f. (2006). the organizational world as a plenum of agencies. in f. cooren, j. r. taylor, & e. j. van every (eds.), communication as organizing: empirical and theoretical explorations in the dynamic of text and conversation (pp. 81-100). mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum associates. cooren, f. (2015), organizational discourse, cambridge, uk: polity press. cooren, f. & fairhurst, g. (2009). dislocation and stabilization: how to scale up from interactions to organization. in l. l. putnam & a. m. nicotera (eds.), building theories of organization. the constitutive role of communication (pp. 117–152). mahwah, nj: routledge. cooren, f. & sandler, s. (2014). polyphony, ventriloquism, and constitution: in dialogue with bakhtin. communication theory, 24(3), 225–244. cooren, f., brummans, b. h. j. m. & charrieras, d. (2008). the coproduction of organizational presence: a study of médecins sans frontières in action. human relations, 61(10), 1339-1370. cooren, f., matte, f., benoit-barné, c. & brummans, b. h. j. m. (2013). communication as ventriloquism: a grounded-in-action approach to the study of o r g a n i z a t i o n a l te n s i o n s , c o m m u n i c a t i o n monographs, 80(3), 255-277. � 881 ‘making a difference’: the performative role of values in the constitution of organization m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 858-883 dawn, d., brent, j. r. r. & wilf, z. (2000). organizational values: the inside view of service productivity. journal of business research, 47(2), 91-107. delta annual report (2011). driskill, g. w. & & brenton, a. (eds.). (2011). organizational culture in action: a cultural analysis workbook. london, uk: sage publications. fey, c. f. & denison d. r. (2003). organizational culture and effectiveness can american theory be applied in russia? organizational science, 14(6), 686–706. fournier, v. & grey, c. (2000). at the critical moment: conditions and prospects for critical management studies. human relations, 53(1), 7–32. garfinkel, h. (2002), ethnomethodology’s program: working out durkheim’s aphorism, washington, dc: rowman-littlefield. george, b. & sims, p. (2007), discover your authentic leadership, san francisco, ca: jossey-bass. gioia, d. a., patvardhan, s. d., hamilton, a. l. & corley, k. g. (2013). organizational identity f o r m a t i o n a n d c h a n g e . t h e a c a d e m y o f management annals, 7(1), 123-193. gond j-p., cabantous l., harding n. & learmonth m. (2015). what do we mean by performativity in organizational and management theory? the uses and abuses of performativity. international journal of management reviews, 18(4), 440-463. haack, p., schoeneborn, d. & wickert, c. (2012). talking the talk, moral entrapment, creeping commitment? exploring narrative dynamics in c o r p o r a t e r e s p o n s i b i l i t y s t a n d a r d i z a t i o n . organization studies, 33(5/6), 813-45. hansen, h. (2013). book review: building the responsible enterprise: where vision and values add value. organization studies, 34(8), 1225-1229. holmer-nadesan, m. (1996). organizational identity and space of action. organization studies, 17(1), 49–81. holsti, o. r. (1969), content analysis for the social sciences and humanities, reading, ma: addisonwesley. huault, i., kärreman, d., perret, v. & spicer, a. (2017). introduction to the special issue. the evolving d e b a t e a b o u t c r i t i c a l p e r f o r m a t i v i t y , m@n@gement, 20(1), 1-8. kessler, e. h. (2013), encyclopedia of management theory, thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. k i n g , a . s . & e h r h a r d , b . ( 2 0 0 9 ) . a n a l y z i n g organizational ideology: a workplace assessment exercise. international journal of value-based management, 9(3), 237-257. kotrba, l. m., gillespie, m. a., schmidt, a. m., smerek, r. e., ritchie, s. a. & denison, d. r. (2012). do consistent corporate cultures have better business performance? exploring the interaction effects. human relations, 65(2), 241-262. langley, a. & tsoukas, h. (eds.). (2016). sage handbook of process organization studies. london, uk: sage publications. lindlof, t. r. & taylor, b. c. (2010), qualitative communication research methods. thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. livesey, s. m. & graham, j. (2007). greening of corporations? eco-talk and the emerging social imagery of sustainable development. in s. may, g. cheney & j. roper (eds.), the debate over corporate social responsibility (pp. 336–350). oxford, uk: oxford university press. loxley, j. (2007), performativity, london, uk: routledge. mackenzie, d. (2006). is economics performative? option theory and the construction of derivatives markets. journal of the history of economic thought, 28(1), 29-55. maak, t. & pless, n. m. (2006). responsible leadership in a stakeholder society. a relational perspective. journal of business ethics, 66(1), 99-115. manchin, d. (2013). what is multimodal critical discourse studies? critical discourse studies, 10(4), 347-355. marcus, g. e. (1998), ethnography through thick and thin, princeton, nj: princeton university press. meyer, j. c. (1995). tell me a story: eliciting o r g a n i z a t i o n a l va l u e s f r o m n a r r a t i v e s . management communication quarterly, 43(2), 210-224. munshi, d. & kurian, p. (2005). imperializing spin cycles. a postcolonial look at public relations, greenwashing, and the separation of publics. public relations review, 31(4), 513-520. norris, s. & maier, c. d. (eds.). (2014). interactions, images and texts: a reader in multimodality. walter de gruyter, inc. berlin, germany. ostroff, c., shin, y. & kinicki, a. j. (2005). multiple perspectives of congruence: relationships between value congruence and employee attitudes. journal of organizational behavior, 26(6), 591–623. parsons, t. (1956). suggestions for a sociological approach to the theory of organizations. administrative science quarterly, 1(1), 63–85. peterson, t. r. & franks, r. r. (2006). environmental conflict communication. in j. g. oetzel & s. tingtoomey (eds.), the sage handbook of conflict communication (pp. 419-451). thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. putnam, l. l. & nicotera, a. m. (eds.). (2009). building theories of organization: the constitutive role of communication. mahwah, nj: routledge. putnam, l. l. (2004). transformations and critical moments in negotiation. negotiation journal, 20(2), 275-295. putnam, l .l. & poole, m. s. (1987). conflict and negotiation. in f. m. jablin, l. l. putnam, k. h. roberts & l. w. porter (eds.), handbook of organizational communication (pp. 549-599). london, uk: sage publications. reuters (2012). social sciences citation index. r e t r i e v e d f r o m h t t p : / / i p s c i e n c e . t h o m s o n r e u t e r s . c o m / c g i b i n / j r n l s t / jlresults.cgi?pc=ss rennstam, j. (2012). object-control: a study of te c h n o l o g i c a l l y d e n s e k n o w l e d g e w o r k . organization studies, 33(8), 1071-1090. � 882 http://iphttp://iphttp://ipm@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 858-883 oana brindusa albu rokeach, m. (1979). from individual to institutional values: with special reference to the values of science. in m. rokeach (ed.), understanding human values: individual and societal (pp. 47–70). new york, ny: the free press. sagiv, g., schwartz, s. h. & arieli, s. (2011). personal values, national culture and organizations: insights applying the schwartz value framework. in n. m. ashkanasy, c. p. m. wilderom & m. f. peterson (eds.), the handbook of organizational culture and climate (pp. 515-538), thousand oaks, ca: sage publications. seeger, m. w. & ulmer, r. r. (2003). explaining enron: communication and responsible leadership. management communication quarterly, 17(1), 58-84. stohl, c. & cheney, g. (2001). democracy participatory processes/paradoxical practices: communication and the dilemmas of organizational democracy. management communication quarterly, 14(3), 349-407. suddaby, r. & greenwood, r. (2005). rethorical strategies of legitimacy. administrative science quarterly, 50(1), 35-67. taylor, b. c., irvin, l. r. & wieland, s. m. (2006). checking the map: critiquing joanne martin's metatheory of organizational culture and its uses in communication research. communication theory, 16(3), 304-332. taylor, j. r. & van every, e. (2000), the emergent organization. communication as its site and surface, mahwah, nj: lawrence erlbaum. thornborrow, t. & brown, a. d. (2009). being regimented: aspiration, discipline and identity wo r k i n t h e b r i t i s h p a r a c h u t e r e g i m e n t . organization studies, 30(4), 355-376. t h y s s e n , o . ( 2 0 0 9 ) , b u s i n e s s e t h i c s a n d organizational values. new york, ny: palgrave macmillan. tracy, s. j. (2013), qualitative research methods. c o l l e c t i n g e v i d e n c e , c r a f t i n g a n a l y s i s , communicating impact, denver, co: wileyblackwell. van der wal, z., de graaf, g. & lasthuizen, k. (2008). what’s valued most? similarities and differences between the organizational values of the public and private sector. public administration, 86(2), 465–482. van dijk, t.a. (2001). multidisciplinary cda: a plea for diversity. in r. wodak & m. meyer (eds.), methods of critical discourse analysis (pp. 95-120). london, uk: sage publications. van rekom, j., soenen, g., ravasi, d. & lerpold, l. (2007), organizational identity in practice, london, uk: routledge. vásquez, c. & cooren, f. (2013). spacing practices: the communicative configuration of organizing through space-times. communication theory, 23(2), 25-47. vásquez, c., schoeneborn, d. & sergi, v. (2016). summoning the spirits: organizational texts and the (dis)ordering properties of communication. human relations, 69(3) 629–659. voss, g. b., cable, d. m. & voss, z. g. (2000). linking organizational values to relationships with external constituents: a study of nonprofit professional theatres. organization science, 11(3), 330–347. werhane, p. h. & moriarty, b. (2009), moral imagination and management decision making, charlottesville, va: business roundtable institute for corporate ethics. wickert, c. & schäfer, s. (2014). towards a progressive understanding of performativity in critical management studies. human relations, 68(1), 107-130. oana  brindusa albu is an associate professor in the department of marketing and management at the university of southern denmark, odense. her research focuses on organizational communication and information and communication technologies use in middle east and north african country contexts. we are thankful to cnrs and aims for their financial support. � 883 02 223 ferrary 2019 m@n@gement 2019, vol. 22(3): 411-437 complex networks of stakeholders and corporate political strategy michel ferrary accepted by co-editor in chief thomas roulet abstract. this article makes a theoretical contribution by applying two concepts from complex network theory to stakeholder management and corporate political strategy: systemic shocks and small-world networks. shocks may be random or intentionally caused by a firm. the nature of a shock determines the urgency of the situation faced by a firm and the legitimacy of managerial decisions. a small-world network is a set of dense clusters loosely connected with one another. this study characterizes the structure of the stakeholders’ network in which the firm is embedded. a firm may be highly or loosely embedded in a given cluster. embeddedness relates both to the firm’s resource dependence and its quest for legitimacy. combining the nature of the shock and the degree of embeddedness offers a conceptual framework to explore corporate political strategy aimed at managing stakeholders. when a firm that is loosely embedded in a cluster of stakeholders faces a random shock, it chooses a reactive corporate political strategy. a firm that is highly embedded in a cluster and facing a random shock favours an accommodative corporate political strategy. a firm loosely embedded in a cluster in which it intentionally causes a shock chooses a proactive corporate political strategy. a firm highly embedded in a cluster in which it intentionally provokes a shock adopts a defensive corporate political strategy. four examples of industrial downsizing understood as systemic shocks illustrate this conceptual framework. keywords: stakeholder theory, corporate political strategy, complex network theory, industrial downsizing introduction since freeman (1984), stakeholder theory has explored how actors or groups of actors may either influence or be impacted by a firm’s behaviour. this perspective emphasizes that in addition to an economic responsibility to shareholders, firms may have social responsibilities to a variety of other stakeholders, such as employees, customers, policy makers, and politicians (freeman harrison, wicks, parmar & de colle, 2010; miles, 2015). stakeholder theory contributes to the field of strategic management by highlighting that managerial decisions may elicit reactions from various stakeholders (cordeiro & tewari, 2015). when stakeholders act strategically to change firm behaviour (frooman, 1999), firms respond with a corporate political strategy to manage these stakeholders (oliver, 1991). a stakeholder’s ability to pressure corporate leaders depends on the potential dependency of the firm on the resources controlled by the stakeholder, the legitimacy of the stakeholder’s claims, and the urgency of the situation (mitchell, agle & wood, 1997). to manage stakeholders, firms tend to develop a corporate political strategy based on the stakeholder’s �411 michel ferrary university of geneva graduate school of economics and management and skema business school switzerland michel.ferrary@unige.ch mailto:michel.ferrary@unige.ch mailto:michel.ferrary@unige.ch m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 411-437 michel ferrary ability to exert influence (bonardi & keim, 2005; hadani & schuler, 2013). four corporate political strategies are well established in the literature: reactive, defensive, accommodative and proactive (carroll, 1979; choi, jia & lu, 2014; harrison & wicks, 2013; oliver & holzinger, 2008). despite having made many contributions to the literature, stakeholder theory has several limitations. first, this theory describes interactions between the firm and its stakeholders but fails to provide a conceptual framework to explain which situations ought to trigger more intense interactions between a firm and its stakeholders and justify a corporate political strategy (king, 2008). second, the relationships between a firm and the various stakeholders are mainly thought of as a set of bilateral relationships characterized by a hub-and-spoke system centred on the firm (freeman, 1984). some scholars suggest that both a firm and a claiming actor are embedded within the same network of stakeholders and multilateral relations which affect their bilateral relationships (bergström & diedrich, 2011; driscoll & starik, 2004; ferrary, 2009; rowley, 1997). these limitations represent a gap in the literature and raise two key research questions: what triggers, intensifies and reduces interactions between a firm and the network of stakeholders? how does the embeddedness of a firm in a network of stakeholders with multilateral interactions influence the firm’s behaviour and its choice of corporate political strategy? to address these questions, i mobilize the “new science of networks” (watts, 2004) by articulating stakeholder theory with complex network theory. i borrow two concepts from complex network theory to enrich stakeholder theory: (1) “systemic shock” (jen, 2003), which is used to explore what triggers interactions between a firm and its stakeholders and (2) “small world network” (watts & strogatz, 1998), employed to analyse how firm embeddedness in a small-world network of stakeholders affects the firm’s behaviour. complex network theory defines a network as a stable system subject to systemic shocks that destabilize the whole system and prompt its components to interact in order to return to equilibrium (barabasi, newman & watts, 2006). systemic shocks can be random or intentionally caused by a component of the network (jen, 2003). in terms of stakeholder theory, a firm might either experience a shock as a result of external circumstances (seemingly at random) or might intentionally create such a shock which triggers interactions with stakeholders. the nature of the shock contributes to both its legitimacy and urgency. a major finding from studies of complex network theory is that realworld networks are not random networks or regular networks. rather, these networks take on a structure that is referred to as “small-world networks” (barabasi et al, 2006; jen, 2006; watts, 2004). a small-world network is a set of dense clusters that are loosely connected with each other (watts & strogatz, 1998). in such networks, the same node may be highly embedded in one cluster and loosely embedded in another one. extending this concept to stakeholder theory means that a firm may be highly embedded in one cluster of stakeholders and loosely in another one. the degree of embeddedness relates to resource dependence and the quest for legitimacy. this article makes a theoretical contribution to stakeholder theory by applying complex network theory to stakeholder management. to implement this theoretical approach, first, i begin by assuming that systemic shocks (random or intentional) and firm embeddedness (low or high) affect resource dependence, legitimacy and urgency; second, i assume that these factors shape corporate political strategy. i propose the �412 complex networks of stakeholders and corporate political strategy m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 411-437 following: a loosely embedded firm facing a random shock chooses a reactive corporate political strategy; a highly embedded firm facing a random shock favours an accommodative political strategy; a loosely embedded firm which intentionally causes a shock will choose a proactive corporate political strategy; and a highly embedded firm which intentionally causes a shock will adopt a defensive corporate political strategy. to illustrate the conceptual framework, i mobilize four industrial restructuring cases which created numerous redundancies and which were introduced in 2012 in france by four multinational companies. restructuring and massive layoffs represent a major systemic shock to a cluster of stakeholders. such a shock may be random or intentional, and the firm may be somewhat embedded in the affected cluster. first, i introduce stakeholder theory and present the way in which resource dependence, legitimacy and urgency render a stakeholder salient to the firm. i also introduce the four established corporate political strategies: reactive, accommodative, proactive and defensive. then, i introduce two concepts from complex network theory – systemic shocks and the small-world network structure – to explore how these concepts influence the three dimensions of stakeholder salience. next, i build a conceptual framework in which the nature of shocks and the degree of embeddedness are used in combination to predict the corporate political strategy. i illustrate the conceptual model with four examples of industrial restructurings. finally, i conclude by highlighting the contributions of this work and by discussing the study’s limitations and opportunities for further research. stakeholder theory and social network analysis stakeholder theory stakeholder theory sees shareholders as the main stakeholder group (agle, mitchell & sonnenfeld, 1999). the shareholders appoint corporate leaders to run a firm and to maximize share value. business corporations have a legal mandate to seek profit above all else (king, 2008). however, stakeholder theory highlights that firms also interact with other economic actors (e.g. competitors, customers, workers and suppliers) and political actors (e.g.  government, citizens, communities, politicians and media). a managerial decision aimed at increasing share value may trigger other stakeholders’ reactions that ultimately harm the firm’s competitiveness (flammer & kacperczyk, 2016). for these reasons, stakeholder theory is largely about managing the potential conflict stemming from divergent interests (barnett, 2014; donaldson & preston, 1995; harrison & wicks, 2013). for corporate leaders, the primary issue concerns the identification of the firm’s stakeholders and quantifying their potential influence. mitchell et al. (1997) contribute to stakeholder theory by defining the three factors that determine a stakeholder’s ability to influence a firm’s decision: resource dependence, legitimacy and urgency. firm’s resource dependence. to become a stakeholder, actors must contribute resources that are important to the firm (such as labour, money and loyalty). frooman (1999) elaborates on mitchell et al.’s (1997) definition by arguing that resource dependence exists when one actor supplies another with a resource that is marked by (1) a concentration of suppliers, (2) controllability, (3) non-mobility, (4) non-substitutability, or (5) � 413 m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 411-437 michel ferrary essentiality. to force a firm to satisfy a claim, a stakeholder can either withdraw an essential resource or attach conditions to its continued supply. however, resource dependence is not unilateral. stakeholders might also depend on a firm’s resources. frooman (1999) characterizes firm– stakeholder interactions in terms of a mutual dependence, a unilateral dependence or a lack of dependence. the degree of interdependence between a firm and an antagonistic stakeholder determines the nature of their relationship. stakeholder legitimacy is defined as behaviour that is socially accepted and socially expected by others. hill and jones (1992:138) define legitimacy as a “generalized perception or assumption that the actions of an entity are desirable, proper or appropriate within some socially constructed system of norms, values, beliefs, and definitions”. mitchell et al. (1997) propose that legitimate stakeholders are more likely to elicit positive responses from firms. legitimacy can conflict with both organizational effectiveness and the maximization of share value (driscoll & starik, 2004). urgency of the situation. mitchell et al. (1997:867) define urgency as “the degree to which stakeholder claims call for immediate attention”. urgency depends on time sensitivity (the degree to which managerial delay is unacceptable to the stakeholder) and criticality (the importance of the claim to the stakeholder). urgency is, by definition, a contextual characteristic. for mitchell et al. (1997), a stakeholder’s ability to change a firm’s behaviour and the likelihood that a firm responds positively to its claim depend on these three factors. the salience of the stakeholder’s claims is low if none or only one of the three attributes is present, moderate if two attributes are present, and high if all three attributes are present. the three attributes are not intrinsic and permanent features of actors but emerge from the situation. interactions between actors are not structurally determined or continuous but contextual. interactions arise due to a specific issue or event that emphasizes resource dependence (frooman, 2010; rowley, 1997). a stakeholder is not intrinsically legitimate; rather, a stakeholder’s action or request may or may not be legitimate (eesley & lenox, 2006). for instance, king (2008) points out that certain contexts create greater opportunities for activists to influence a firm and to contest its legitimacy. similarly, firms and stakeholders are not always facing urgent situations; therefore, they may not interact during periods of routine business operations. according to the contextual perspective, one needs to first characterize the situation in order to define the actors’ abilities to influence one other. in a given context, a claiming stakeholder may (or may not) own critical resources, may (or may not) present a legitimate request and may (or may not) experience a sense of urgency. the same is true for a firm. the claiming stakeholder may (or may not) depend on the firm’s resources, a firm’s decision may (or may not) be seen as legitimate, and a firm may (or may not) face urgency. corporate political strategy in a conflict between a firm and a claiming stakeholder, each of them adopts a political strategy which depends on their capacity to influence each other. a firm deploys a corporate political strategy to deal with more salient stakeholders (bonardi & keim, 2005; frooman, 1999; hadani & schuler, 2013; oliver, 1991). a corporate political strategy is defined as the �414 complex networks of stakeholders and corporate political strategy m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 411-437 activities of a firm outside the market, which contribute to creating value and preserving its competitive advantage. lobbying, contributing to political parties and professional organizations, creating alliances with nongovernmental organizations or recruiting civil servants are examples of actions aimed at managing stakeholders (oliver & holzinger, 2008). four corporate political strategies are usually identified in the field of stakeholder theory (carroll, 1979; choi et al, 2014; frooman, 2010; oliver & holzinger, 2008). the strategies are referred to collectively as the rdap model (reactive, defensive, accommodative, proactive). resource dependence and legitimacy are critical for explaining which political strategy is selected to manage a claiming stakeholder: the reactive corporate political strategy is an openly confrontational approach. a firm pursuing a reactive strategy either intentionally ends its relationships with the claiming stakeholder or deliberately ignores the stakeholder’s interests (oliver & holzinger, 2008). in this case, the firm does not depend on the resources that the stakeholder controls and is unconcerned with perceptions of legitimacy. the firm adjusts its structure and makes decisions to promote short-term shareholder interests. the firm does not consider its corporate social responsibility. due to its low level of dependence on the stakeholder’s resources, the firm does not need to be responsive to that stakeholder (frooman, 1999). the defensive corporate political strategy is also confrontational but fulfils the minimal legal obligations to the claiming stakeholder. a firm following a defensive strategy seeks to comply with the regulatory framework. the firm reluctantly considers the stakeholder’s claims and compromises (oliver & holzinger, 2008). the firm may be forced to negotiate due to its dependence on the stakeholder’s resources. the firm also considers the impact of its business decision on its reputation and legitimacy to the extent that the decision impacts the firm’s profitability. the accommodative corporate political strategy is characterized by the voluntary bargaining discussions that a firm initiates to find a compromise between conflicting interests. the firm constructively considers the stakeholder’s claims and acquiesces to the stakeholder’s requests (carroll, 1979). such a strategy is used when there is a level of interdependence between the firm and the stakeholder. to avoid mutual disaster, both actors negotiate in order to find a mutually acceptable solution (frooman, 1999). the firm may also pursue socially legitimate actions to signal that it takes corporate social responsibility into account. in this case, the firm actively complies with public policies or regulations with the intent of deriving as much value from compliance as possible. the compliance may confer social legitimacy on the firm, increase consumer approval and product demand, enhance the firm’s access to resources or foster more favourable relations with policy makers in the future (oliver & holzinger, 2008). the proactive corporate political strategy anticipates the stakeholder claims that will result from the managerial decision. in this case, the firm tries not to be caught off-guard by its stakeholders and studies the stakeholder environment before making decisions (frooman, 2010). in this instance, the firm actively engages with the political environment before publicly announcing a managerial decision. the firm anticipates the stakeholders’ response and attempts to neutralize these claims (oliver & holzinger, 2008). corporate leaders seek to find a compromise with stakeholders or pre-emptively weaken claiming stakeholders before the public announcement. in this case, the firm does not depend on the stakeholders’ resources but cares instead about its � 415 m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 411-437 michel ferrary reputation. thus, the firm proactively considers its social responsibility as it designs a corporate political strategy to manage stakeholders. even if resource dependency and legitimacy are key drivers of the firm’s corporate political strategy, this typology does not predict or even fully explain why a firm engages in a particular corporate political strategy in the first place. applying complex network theory to stakeholder theory contributes to an explanation, which i propose below, for these difficulties. network analysis of a firm’s stakeholders some scholars of stakeholder theory suggest that a firm and a claiming actor are both embedded within the same network of stakeholders and multilateral relations (bergström & diedrich, 2011; driscoll & starik, 2004; ferrary, 2009; rowley, 1997). these scholars suggest that stakeholders can increase their influence by building coalitions and that otherwise powerless stakeholders may try to mobilize powerful actors to pressure a firm on their behalf (frooman, 1999). therefore, an actor’s influence may arise from relationships with others who compel the firm to act in the actor’s interest to an extent greater than that due to the actor’s direct influence. for instance, activists are often stakeholders without real power over firms; therefore, mobilizing other actors (the media, customers, employees, regulators and shareholders) is a central component of their strategy (eesley & lenox, 2006; king, 2008). rowley (1997) pioneered the articulation of network analysis with stakeholder theory to show that influence is not an intrinsic characteristic of stakeholders but a contextual one related to the structure of the relationships in which a firm is embedded. he points out that firms do not simply respond to each stakeholder individually. firms respond to multiple influences from the entire set of stakeholders in a certain environment. thus, explaining how organizations respond to their stakeholders requires examining the complex array of interdependent relationships that constitute the stakeholder network. although this scholarship furthers stakeholder theory, it relies on an “old” framework of network analysis (i.e. burt, 1987; granovetter, 1973, 1985). recent developments in “complex network theory” or “new science of network” (watts, 2004), might have valuable applications to stakeholder theory. complex network theory and stakeholder analysis complex network theory may contribute two concepts to analysing stakeholder networks and firm behaviour. first, complex network theory offers a dynamic perspective which understands networks as “stable” systems of components that interact intensively when destabilized by a systemic shock (jen, 2003; newman, 2003). such shocks might be random or intentional (jen, 2006). they may trigger interactions between a firm and its stakeholders. second, complex network theory introduces a new understanding of the structure of real-world networks. complex network theory highlights that real-world network structures are not random or regular but, rather, have a small-world structure characterized by dense clusters loosely connected with each other (dodds, muhamad & watts, 2003; watts & strogatz, 1998). in this perspective, a firm might be highly or loosely embedded within a given cluster of stakeholders. the combination of the nature of the systemic shock and the degree of embeddedness supports the design of a conceptual framework to answer the two research �416 complex networks of stakeholders and corporate political strategy m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 411-437 questions proposed above: what triggers and intensifies interactions between a firm and its stakeholders? how does firm embeddedness in a network of stakeholders influence firm behaviour and the firm’s choice of a corporate political strategy? systemic shocks and firm behaviour as a systemic perspective, complex network theory understands networks as systems of components which interact to collectively perform a specific function (barabasi et al., 2006). a network is a stable system when there is a balance between the components’ competing interests and resources (jen, 2003; watts, 2004). in a stable system, interactions between actors are routine and characterized by low intensity (jen, 2006). extending complex network theory to analyse stakeholders implies that the function of a network of stakeholders is to create and share value between interdependent actors. a network of stakeholders is usually in stable equilibrium characterized either by cooperative routines, competition or active alliances. network stability results from balancing stakeholder interests, resource dependence between actors and the legitimacy of the stakeholders’ behaviour (ferrary, 2019). stable networks occasionally face systemic shocks that destabilize the equilibrium (jen, 2003; watts, 2004). a systemic shock increases the interactions between the components of the network as they seek to regain equilibrium (jen, 2006). the system stabilizes as a configuration that may be similar to or different from the original arrangement (callaway, newman, strogatz & watts, 2000). analysing stakeholder networks by using concepts from complex network theory emphasizes that networks are occasionally subject to shocks which destabilize the balance between the stakeholders’ interests and intensify interactions as actors seek to re-establish an equilibrium. complex network theory differentiates random systemic shocks from intentional systemic shocks (jen, 2006). a firm may respond to a random shock or may intentionally cause a shock. random systemic shocks stakeholder networks may be subject to random shocks which affect business performance. natural disasters, wars, industrial accidents or macroeconomic crises are examples of random shocks which could potentially jeopardize the very existence of a firm (albert, jeong & barabási, 2000). a random shock may result in significant financial losses that necessitate a reaction on the part of the firm to restore its profitability (e.g. downsizing the organization and cutting jobs). in this case, a firm reacts to a random shock experienced by the stakeholder network, and its decision may ripple throughout the system. the randomness of the shock implies that the firm does not control the timing and faces an urgent situation. since shocks of this type endanger the existence of the firm, managerial decisions are seen as more legitimate; in this situation, the decisions are perceived as necessary to ensure the survival of the organization. therefore, outside stakeholders may have difficulty legitimately withdrawing resources and exerting their influence over the management of the firm. in other words, random shocks induce urgency and support the firm’s legitimacy. � 417 m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 411-437 michel ferrary intentional systemic shocks alternatively, a firm can intentionally cause a systemic shock in a network of stakeholders and set off interactions (willinger & doyle, 2006). a managerial decision may create a shock which destabilizes the balance of the stakeholders’ interests. an acquisition, an innovation and a restructuring are examples of intentional shocks. for instance, even if a firm is profitable, in an effort to increase profits, it may decide to close a factory in order to relocate to a country where labour costs are lower. the profitability of the firm renders a managerial decision to cut jobs illegitimate in the eyes of many stakeholders. therefore, stakeholders may be seen as acting legitimately when they attempt to influence the firm’s behaviour. since the firm intentionally originates the shock, it controls the shock’s timing and does not face an urgent situation; however, the firm’s actions might appear illegitimate to many stakeholders. small-world structure of stakeholder networks the network structure of “small worlds” watts and strogatz (1998) gave a mathematical definition and graphical representation of small-world networks. such networks are structured into dense clusters that are loosely connected with each other (figure 1). a small-world network is characterized by a large number of components with a sparse, decentralized and highly clustered structure (watts, 2004). complex network theory scholars argue that real-world networks are not regular or random but actually have a small-world structure (barabasi et al., 2006). figure 1 . structure of “small-world” networks several scholars point out that business environments are also small-world networks. kogut and walker (2001) demonstrate that, despite globalization, the german national system of governance forms a closeknit cluster of stakeholders which is loosely connected to other national systems of governance. corrado and zollo (2006) reach the same conclusion for italy. davis, yoo and baker (2003) make similar observations in their study of boards of directors in the us, as do fleming, �418 complex networks of stakeholders and corporate political strategy m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 411-437 king and juda (2007) in their examination of the small world of innovation in silicon valley and boston. in addition, kogut (2012) concludes that the small-world structure is widely spread in the economic sphere of corporate governance. applying the small-world network perspective to networks of stakeholders requires an explanation of how a group of stakeholders gathers into a cluster and why other stakeholders remain loosely connected to it. conditions of stakeholder clustering: common interests and geographic proximity two factors contribute to creating clusters of stakeholders: common i n t e r e s t s a n d g e o g r a p h i c p r o x i m i t y. c o m m o n i n t e r e s t s a n d interdependence between actors influence the strength of their ties and the creation of clusters (granovetter, 2005). when actors share interests, they interact more, they have stronger ties and, as a result, the network of stakeholders becomes denser. the transitivity of strong ties increases the density of clusters (granovetter, 1973). conversely, as actors with few common interests have less reason to interact, ties between these actors are weak or absent (wry, cobb & aldrich, 2013). for these reasons, interdependent actors who share interests tend to agglomerate in the same location to improve their ability to coordinate. geographic proximity itself further contributes to network density by reducing the costs of socialization and by facilitating interactions between individuals (ferrary & granovetter, 2009). building on regional studies, geographic proximity is defined by the spatial distance that separates two units (e.g. individuals, organizations and towns). this proximity is known to impose a constraint on the actors’ actions (torre & rallet, 2005). within the same geographic area, business leaders, employees, trade unionists, politicians, public authorities and journalists share common interests as members of the same dense social network. for this reason, driscoll and s t a r i k ( 2 0 0 4 ) n o t e t h a t g e o g r a p h i c p r o x i m i t y c o n t r i b u t e s t o “stakeholderness”. these two dimensions (shared interests and geographical proximity) interact to shape the processes through which stakeholders form clusters. shared interests motivate actors to agglomerate in order to interact, and geographic proximity facilitates interactions. stakeholders may come together in certain locations to facilitate interactions which, in turn, create dense networks, such as industrial districts, innovation milieus or localized systems of production (delgado, porter & stern, 2014; wang, madhok & xiao, 2014). this effect explains why real-world networks of stakeholders may be structured as small-world networks in which clusters are based on domestic geography. consequences of the small-world structure on resource dependency and the quest for legitimacy social network theory highlights the importance of social ties in coordinating economic actors and the influence of individuals’ embeddedness on their behaviour (granovetter 1985, 2005, 2017). a small-world network consists of loosely connected, locally based clusters of stakeholders with shared interests and, depending on whether an actor belongs to a given cluster, allows for different mechanisms. network density shapes the flow of information, the stakeholders’ access to resources, the emergence of social norms which define what is legitimate � 419 m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 411-437 michel ferrary and the social pressure on stakeholders to comply with these social norms (granovetter, 2005, 2017). within dense social networks or clusters, information circulates quickly, stakeholders are economically interdependent and strong collective social norms emerge from interactions. through extensive ties, actors form patterns of exchange and produce shared behavioural expectations. actors in the same cluster imitate one another’s behaviours in an attempt to be perceived as legitimate players (rowley, 1997). moreover, densely connected networks impose strong constraints on the members’ behaviours. the network structure of a cluster therefore creates a mechanism through which members monitor one another by combining economic coercion and social pressure. resource dependence relates to the economic dimension of embeddedness. as an organization, the firm largely depends on resources owned by stakeholders. the more that the firm depends on stakeholders’ resources, the more it is embedded and may become subjected to economic coercion from these stakeholders. legitimacy comes from the social dimension of embeddedness. a firm may want to follow collective norms by behaving legitimately. the firm’s sensitivity to the social pressure to follow collective norms depends on its level of embeddedness in the cluster of stakeholders which produces these norms. the more embedded a firm is, the more sensitive it will be to social pressure to behave legitimately. usually, a high level of embeddedness is understood as an advantage for the firm, since this position gives the firm access to specific and tacit knowledge, resources and opportunities (owen-smith & powell, 2004). however, some scholars note that over-embeddedness may hamper firm performance. uzzi (1996) argues that over-embeddedness creates a high level of dependence on the network for resources and opportunities. over-embedded actors may also experience feelings of obligation and friendship which induce economically irrational behaviour (uzzi, 1997). consequently, by affecting resource dependency and the quest for legitimacy, embeddedness may have positive effects when the actors’ interests converge but negative effects when their interests diverge. impact of embeddedness on firm behaviour in a small-world network, a firm may occupy two distinct structural positions (figure 2). the firm can be highly embedded in one cluster of stakeholders and loosely connected to another. a firm highly embedded in a fully connected cluster of n stakeholders has n-1 ties with the other members of the cluster (a in cluster 1). a loosely embedded firm may have one tie to a single member of the cluster (a in cluster 2). multinational companies fit with this configuration. on one hand, any firm has a territorial location (torre & rallet, 2005) which embeds it in a domestic network of stakeholders. on the other, a firm’s international expansion connects the firm to foreign clusters of stakeholders. in a globalized economy, domestic stakeholders constitute dense clusters that are loosely connected to clusters of stakeholders in other countries (kogut, 2012). a firm tends to be highly embedded in its own domestic cluster of stakeholders and less embedded in foreign ones. �420 complex networks of stakeholders and corporate political strategy m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 411-437 figure 2 . two structural positions in a small-world network a firm’s embeddedness influences how it prioritizes the economic responsibility towards shareholders relative to the social responsibility towards other stakeholders (doh & quigley, 2014). in other words, the degree of embeddedness shapes whether a firm acts to achieve only one objective or whether its actions are intended to achieve multiple objectives (mitchell, weaver, agle, bailey & carlson, 2016). a low degree of embeddedness leads a firm to form instrumental relationships with its stakeholders and to focus on maximizing profits (filatotchev & nakajima, 2014). conversely, a high degree of embeddedness may lead a firm to worry about the legitimacy of its managerial decisions, thereby motivating it to consider the interests of other stakeholders (tost, 2011). when making managerial decisions, being highly embedded obliges a firm to compromise between its economic responsibility and its social responsibility. one suggests that when a firm and its corporate leaders are highly embedded in a cluster of stakeholders (firm a, cluster 1), it experiences more economic coercion and social pressure to consider these stakeholders’ interests. firms that are more embedded in a network of actors are more vulnerable to stakeholders’ efforts to deprive them of resources. additionally, highly embedded firms experience social pressure to respect the cluster’s norms and try to behave legitimately when making managerial decisions. the combination of shared expectations, the ease of information exchanged between stakeholders and the potential for coalition formation  – all of which are present in dense clusters – tend to produce strong, coordinated pressure from stakeholders, which impacts whether a firm complies with the stakeholders’ social demands (rowley, 1997). firms which (1) are based in the same country where the company is headquartered, (2) depend on local regulations, (3) receive public subsidies, (4) have a significant number of domestic consumers and employees, and (5) have positive local reputations are highly professionally embedded in the national cluster of stakeholders. a firm’s embeddedness is even greater if its corporate leaders are citizens of the country and/or were educated in the country and still live in it. conversely, a loosely embedded firm (firm a, cluster 2) is less sensitive to economic coercion related to resource dependence and social pressure from stakeholders to behave legitimately. due to its lower degree of embeddedness, it is easier for a loosely embedded firm to implement decisions aimed at maximizing shareholders’ interests and to ignore other stakeholders’ claims. in this case, a firm can prioritize its economic responsibility towards the shareholders and neglect its social responsibility towards employees and other stakeholders. foreign firms tend to be less embedded in other national systems where they operate, especially if the � 421 m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 411-437 michel ferrary country does not represent a major market and the firm does not depend on support from the local government. systemic shocks in the small-world networks of stakeholders and corporate political strategy complex network theory adds a dynamic dimension to stakeholder theory by pointing out how systemic shocks disrupt the alignment of interests in a network and trigger interactions between a firm and its stakeholders. the concept of a small-world network brings a structural dimension by highlighting two extreme degrees of firm embeddedness in a network of stakeholders. the combined effect of shocks and firm embeddedness influence the firm’s corporate political strategy and return the network of stakeholders to equilibrium. characterizing the context and explaining corporate political strategy, the conceptual model introduced in this paper articulates the nature of the systemic shock (random or intentional) and the degree of firm embeddedness (low or high) in the cluster of stakeholders affected by the managerial decision (table 1). table 1 conceptual model i propose re-interpreting the three determinants of stakeholder saliency (resource dependence, legitimacy and urgency) in terms of complex network theory. first, the nature of the shock determines the urgency faced by a firm and the legitimacy of its decisions: random shocks create an urgent situation and render managerial decisions taken in response more legitimate; conversely, intentional shocks do not warrant the same urgency and therefore do not confer the same level of legitimacy to managerial decisions. second, the degree of firm embeddedness is associated with its dependence on resources held by stakeholders and therefore is also associated with the potential for economic coercion. moreover, firm embeddedness determines its quest for legitimacy and its sensitivity to social pressure which seeks to enforce social norms. i propose that after a shock, economic coercion and social pressure impact firms differently depending on their level of embeddedness. while a highly embedded firm considers stakeholders’ interests and helps return the network to its initial equilibrium, a loosely embedded firm is less sensitive to economic coercion and social pressure from stakeholders. in the latter case, the destabilized cluster tends to reach a different equilibrium in which the firm occupies a different position or is absent. �422 complex networks of stakeholders and corporate political strategy m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 411-437 the combination of the nature of the shock (random or intentional) and the degree of firm embeddedness (low or high) predicts the corporate political strategy (table 2). a loosely embedded firm facing a random shock chooses a reactive corporate political strategy and quits the cluster. a highly embedded firm facing a random shock favours an accommodative corporate political strategy and remains in the cluster. a loosely embedded firm which causes an intentional shock chooses a proactive corporate political strategy and leaves the cluster. a highly embedded firm which intentionally imposes a shock favours a defensive corporate political strategy and is forced to stay in the cluster. table 2 – complex network perspective on corporate political strategy to illustrate the conceptual framework, i consider industrial restructurings as systemic shocks. an industrial restructuring accompanied by redundancies represents a shock that changes the balance of interests between the employees and the employer. such a shock becomes systemic by involving other stakeholders (e.g. trade unions, government, local and national politicians, customers, civil servants, journalists and suppliers) who may interact with each other to influence the firm’s decision (ferrary, 2009). the ability of stakeholders to influence a firm may result in the preservation of jobs and a return to the initial equilibrium. conversely, the inability of stakeholders to influence a firm may lead to the loss of jobs and the emergence of a new equilibrium. the speed of the implementation of the managerial decision also reflects the stakeholders’ capacity to influence the decision. when stakeholders have more influence, firms implement restructuring decisions slowly or might even abandon these decisions. different restructurings correspond to the two types of systemic shocks (i.e. random and intentional). a restructuring can be an urgent response on the part of a firm to a random shock, such as a macroeconomic crisis that induces financial losses. alternatively, a firm may decide to restructure in order to increase its profitability and its dividends for shareholders. in this case, the firm causes an intentional shock in the network of stakeholders. � 423 m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 411-437 michel ferrary the reactive corporate political strategy of a loosely embedded firm facing a random shock a random shock creates urgency for all the actors in a cluster, i.e. the firm and the stakeholders. when a random shock occurs, the firm must respond to the unexpected, external phenomenon threatening its future. firms do not cause or induce random shocks but are forced to experience them. a macroeconomic crisis is one example of this type of shock, and this crisis might lead a firm to restructure to preserve the entire organization. a restructuring accompanied by job cuts in a company experiencing financial losses is seen as legitimate by numerous stakeholders who accept that a firm losing money must restructure to survive. our conceptual model suggests that the implementation of the restructuring is influenced by the degree of firm embeddedness in the cluster of stakeholders. industrial restructuring accompanied by redundancies is easier to implement when a firm is loosely embedded in the cluster. the low degree of embeddedness means that the company does not depend on resources controlled by the stakeholders impacted by the restructuring. therefore, the firm is less affected by economic coercion from these stakeholders. moreover, a loose embeddedness implies that the firm and its corporate leaders are less sensitive to social pressure from stakeholders to conform to collective norms and to behave in a legitimate way. l e g i t i m a c y a s s o c i a t e d w i t h r a n d o m s h o c k s a n d l o o s e embeddedness leads the firm to choose a reactive corporate political strategy to implement its business decision. in this case, a firm’s behaviour is driven by strict economic rationality and the single objective of satisfying shareholder interests by saving the organization. a redundancy plan is a quick way to downsize an organization and to reduce financial losses. this method of adjustment ignores the employees’ interests and the interests of other relevant stakeholders, including trade unions and politicians. from the perspective of complex network theory, due to its loose embeddedness, the firm would not help the network to return to its original equilibrium. instead, the interactions between the stakeholders create the emergence of a new equilibrium in which there are fewer employees or in which the firm is not present. proposition 1. a loosely embedded firm facing a random shock tends to adopt a reactive corporate political strategy. the accommodative corporate political strategy of a highly embedded firm facing a random shock as in the previous case, the firm reacts to a random shock that it faces with the whole cluster of stakeholders. the difference lies in the degree of firm embeddedness. although the randomness of the shock may legitimize a restructuring decision, the high embeddedness of the firm shapes its interactions with stakeholders and its corporate political strategy in a different way. the company's dependence on resources held by the stakeholders creates a high degree of embeddedness. stakeholders who control more vital resources have a greater potential to exert economic coercion on a firm and therefore have more influence. embeddedness also makes corporate leaders more sensitive to social pressure to direct the corporation in a socially legitimate way. in the case of restructuring, firms tend to preserve jobs to fulfil their corporate social responsibility and maintain their legitimacy in the cluster. �424 complex networks of stakeholders and corporate political strategy m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 411-437 in the accommodative corporate political strategy, a firm claims that the urgency created by the shock’s randomness legitimizes the restructuring decision. the firm conducts negotiations with multiple stakeholders to obtain concessions in exchange for limiting redundancies. therefore, the accommodative strategy pursues multiple objectives and takes the interests of multiple stakeholders into account. from a dynamic perspective, its high embeddedness forces a firm to negotiate with several stakeholders to reach a compromise that balances their interests. in terms of complex network theory, this compromise means that the cluster of stakeholders returns to its initial equilibrium or to a similar situation. proposition 2. a highly embedded firm facing a random shock tends to adopt an accommodative corporate political strategy. the proactive corporate political strategy of a loosely embedded firm causing an intentional shock a firm can intentionally cause a systemic shock by deciding to restructure the organization and cut jobs even though it is already financially profitable. the goal of this decision is to increase dividends and maximize shareholder value. for several other stakeholders (notably employees, trade unions and some politicians), the firm’s profitability makes such dismissals illegitimate. to the extent that a firm induces the shock, it controls the timing and consequently does not have to respond to an urgent situation. the control over timing allows the firm to design a proactive corporate political strategy which anticipates potential conflicts. for example, corporate leaders may choose to schedule the official announcement of the restructuring at a moment that limits the ability of stakeholders to mobilize (e.g. holidays and weekends). a firm which does not depend on stakeholder resources is less embedded in the cluster of stakeholders. therefore, these stakeholders have less economic influence and less ability to change the firm’s behaviour. the firm’s low degree of embeddedness also means that it is much less sensitive to social pressure to behave legitimately and preserve jobs. in this case, the managerial decision and corporate political strategy are oriented towards the single objective of maximizing shareholder interests. economic rationality leads the firm to close its less profitable sites and to carry out redundancies in order to increase profitability. from the dynamic perspective of complex network theory, the network evolves towards a new equilibrium in which the firm is no longer present. proposition 3. a loosely embedded firm causing an intentional shock tends to adopt a proactive corporate political strategy. the defensive corporate political strategy of a highly embedded firm causing an intentional shock as in the previous case, the firm intentionally creates a systemic shock. the managerial decision to restructure seeks to increase the profitability and the dividends of a firm already profitable. since the firm controls the timing, it can anticipate and prepare for the shock. as in the previous case, the stakeholders may question the legitimacy of the managerial decision. however, in this case, the high degree of embeddedness affects the firm’s behaviour differently. such high embeddedness necessitates a different corporate political strategy and therefore creates different network dynamics. � 425 m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 411-437 michel ferrary in this network configuration, the firm depends on resources owned by the stakeholders affected by a restructuring decision. therefore, the stakeholders can threaten to withdraw economic resources to coerce the firm. high embeddedness also means that corporate leaders are sensitive to social pressure exercised by the stakeholders to make the firm behave legitimately and act in a socially responsible manner (e.g. to preserve jobs). although the original decision is oriented towards the single objective of satisfying shareholder interests, a firm’s embeddedness may force it to take multiple interests into account and to change its managerial decision. finally, due to the constraints imposed by stakeholders, the defensive corporate political strategy is oriented towards satisfying multiple stakeholders. from the dynamic perspective of complex network theory, a highly embedded firm which induces a shock will therefore be forced by the cluster of stakeholders to contribute to returning the network to its original equilibrium. proposition 4. a highly embedded firm causing an intentional shock tends to adopt a defensive corporate political strategy. four examples of corporate political strategy related to industrial restructuring in a heuristic perspective, to illustrate how the nature of systemic shocks and the degree of firm embeddedness in the small-world networks of stakeholders affect corporate political strategy, i present four cases of major industrial restructuring which were accompanied by job cuts and took place in france in 2012. that year, france faced a macroeconomic crisis and rising unemployment. presidential elections which took place in may of 2012 drew attention to political issues related to unemployment. the four examples have been selected for three reasons: each firm decided to dramatically downsize its activities in france in 2012, each firm is similar in terms of industry (two are manufacturing firms and two are pharmaceutical firms) and is a large multinational company. two are french companies headquartered in france with operations located in their domestic country: peugeot-citroën (184,107 employees worldwide) and sanofi-aventis (110,000 employees). two are foreign firms headquartered abroad with operations in france: arcelormittal (209,000 employees) and merck (68,000 employees). the annual reports and the extensive media coverage of these redundancy plans provide secondary data (press releases, interviews, newspaper articles and blogs) and are used to illustrate the conceptual model (earl, martin, mccarthy & soule, 2004; king, 2008). to differentiate a random shock from an intentional shock, i consider the firm’s profitability and its dividend policy. a firm that suffers major operating losses and stops paying dividends to shareholders is seen as suffering a major random shock which threatens the firm’s survival and justifies downsizing the organization. a firm with huge operating profits, which pays or even increases dividends to shareholders, is not seen as suffering a major random shock which would threaten the firm’s survival and justify downsizing the organization. downsizing in this situation can be considered an intentional shock that a firm imposes to increase profitability. to evaluate firm embeddedness, i consider the firm’s dependence on the french national system (headquarters located in france, listed on the french stock market, amount of french public subsidies and importance of french customers and employees). i also consider the citizenship of the ceo, his or her place of residence, and the number of french citizens on the board of directors and executive committee. �426 complex networks of stakeholders and corporate political strategy m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 411-437 following frooman (2010) and king (2008), i consider the level of media coverage of the restructurings by two major french newspapers (le monde and les echos) to be a useful measure for whether the topic emerged as a national issue involving stakeholders. to evaluate the stakeholders’ influence, i also consider how quickly the restructuring was implemented. when decisions are implemented speedily, the french cluster of stakeholders has less ability to influence the firm’s decision. a firm which reverses its initial decision would indicate that stakeholders have exerted a great deal of influence. finally, i consider whether the restructurings were publicly announced before or after the presidential elections. in 2012, mr. sarkozy, the incumbent president, was running for re-election, and the media reported that his government had pressured firms which were considering downsizing to postpone their decision until after the elections. i summarize these data in table 3. table 3 – four cases of industrial downsizing arcelormittal’s reactive corporate political strategy in 2012, arcelormittal, an international steel group, faced a major random shock related to a macroeconomic crisis in europe . its revenues 1 fell by 10.3% (from 93.9 billion euros to 84.2 billion), and it suffered a 5.37 billion euro operating loss (in 2011, the firm generated a 2.68 billion euro operating profit). in 2012, arcelormittal reduced its dividends from 0.75 in 2011 to 0.2 euros (table 3). in response to the urgent need to preserve the organization, the firm decided to restructure and close several mills. in february 2012, before the french presidential elections, upon publication of the financial results, mr. mittal publicly announced the closure of the florange steelworks located in france and the termination of 629 jobs. the public announcement of the restructuring led several stakeholders to mobilize in opposition. cfdt, a major french trade union, made the fight against the site closure a symbolic fight and became deeply � 427 1. in 2011, economic growth was 1.7% in france and 1.7% in europe. in 2012, it was 0% i n f r a n c e a n d 0 . 4 % i n europe. m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 411-437 michel ferrary involved. the media covered the restructuring extensively . due to the 2 presidential elections approaching in may, politicians became even more involved and the closure became a major campaign issue which pitted the incumbent president, mr.  sarkozy, against his main opponent, mr. hollande. during a public speech in florange in february 2012, mr. hollande pledged that if he were elected, he would keep the site active . 3 for his part, president sarkozy compelled mr. mittal, arcelormittal’s ceo, to meet at the presidential palace in an attempt to change his decision .4 however, on 30 november 2012, the newly elected president, mr. hollande, ended his opposition to the closure of the florange steel mill, and the site was definitively closed in april 2013 . mr. hollande implicitly 5 recognized the legitimacy of the firm’s decision and his own inability to influence the firm. only one year passed between the public announcement and the effective closure of the site. one year after the closure, according to le monde, 120 of the 629 employees who lost their jobs at the mill had been internally redeployed, 200 had retired and the rest were still unemployed. ultimately, a new economic equilibrium emerged in the florange area without the presence of arcelormittal. the random nature of the shock and the low degree of firm embeddedness in the network of stakeholders together explain the reactive corporate political strategy which was driven by strict economic rationality and which focused on the preservation of the firm. arcelormittal’s headquarters are officially located in luxembourg, operational management is based in the netherlands and the company receives neither public procurements nor public subsidies for research from the french state. the firm’s clients are large industrial groups, not individual consumers. in addition, only 6% of its products are delivered to customers based in france . thus, due to this loose embeddedness, arcelormittal 6 does not depend on resources owned by local stakeholders, and it is not sensitive to their economic coercion. moreover, corporate leaders do not belong to the french community. the ceo is an indian citizen and lives in london. only one director among the eleven members of arcelormittal’s board of directors is french, and none of the eight members of the corporate executive committee is french. therefore, the corporate leaders are not sensitive to social pressure to behave in a socially responsible way by saving jobs. in response to a random shock, the combination of urgency, legitimacy and resource-independence, and the firm’s loose embeddedness led arcelormittal to adopt a reactive corporate political strategy, and, ultimately, to exit from the french cluster. peugeot-citroën’s accommodative corporate political strategy in 2012, peugeot-citroën, a major french car manufacturer, was also strongly impacted by the european economic crisis. the firm’s revenue fell 5.2% (from 58.5 billion euros to 55.4 billion), and it faced a 5.11 billion-euro operating loss (in 2011, the company realized a 0.347 billion euro operating profit). in 2012, it did not pay any dividend to its stakeholders (table 3). facing a business urgency and to ensure its survival, peugeot-citroën decided to carry out an industrial restructuring �428 2. lexisnexis shows that between january 2011 and december 2013, the closure of t h e f l o r a n g e s i t e w a s mentioned 353 times in les e c h o s ( t h e m a i n f r e n c h business newspaper) and 275 times in le monde (the most influential french newspaper). 3. see le monde, 24 february 2012. 4. see le monde, 1 march 2012. 5. see le monde, 24 april 2013. 6. see the company’s annual report. complex networks of stakeholders and corporate political strategy m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 411-437 and close less profitable factories. from an economic point of view, closing the french plant in aulnay and the termination of 2,900 jobs was seen as the most economically rational decision since this was one of the most unproductive plants in the company .7 when negative financial results were published in february 2012, the company did not publicly announce the restructuring, although several unions had already mentioned rumours about it. a variety of media outlets reported that mr. bertrand, the minister of labour at that time, had demanded that peugeot-citroën suppress any announcement of a redundancy plan before the presidential elections .8 on 12 july 2012, after the may presidential elections and during the s u m m e r v a c a t i o n s , p e u g e o t c i t r o ë n o f fi c i a l l y a n n o u n c e d t h e discontinuation of operations at the aulnay plant in 2014 and the simultaneous termination of 2,900 jobs. the company also publicly pledged that “zero employees will have to register at an employment centre and that the firm will help them get a job, internally or externally” . from 9 january to may 2013, workers at the aulnay site went on strike, and this large-scale mobilization of its workers received extensive media coverage . 10 at the same time, secafi – a consulting firm connected with the major trade union at peugeot-citroën, cgt, and employed by the employees’ work council – publicly acknowledged the economic justifications for the plant closure . additionally, a government-appointed 11 expert confirmed both the poor productivity of the aulnay site, as well as the economic need to restructure the company. these two similar opinions bolstered the legitimacy of the need to downsize the organization. on 16 may 2013, cgt signed an agreement to end the strike and to approve the redeployment plan of its previously terminated workers. the terms of this agreement plan stipulated that the company re-employ 1,500 workers in its other units and help the others find jobs with other employers in the aulnay area. in january 2014, peugeot-citroën announced that 90% of the terminated employees had been employed again . in april 2014, the 12 aulnay plant closed. two years had elapsed between the public announcement and the actual closure of the site. peugeot-citroën obtained several forms of support from the french government in return for the socially responsible implementation of the restructuring. in 2012, the government gave the carmaker’s subsidiary bank a 1.2 billion-euro state guaranty (with an option to extend to 5 billion euros) to allow the firm to borrow money on the financial markets. in may 2014, the french government invested 800 million euro in peugeot-citroën and became a major shareholder of the company with a 7% stake. in addition, the government allowed dongfeng, a chinese automaker, to take a 7% stake in the company's capital. the french government also solicited public companies (such as ratp and sncf) and other enterprises which depended on public procurement to recruit employees laid off by peugeotcitroën .13 from a dynamic perspective, by keeping most employees in the company and by ensuring that no worker was left unemployed, the ceo of � 429 7 . s e e l e m o n d e , 1 1 september 2012. 8 . s e v e r a l m e d i a r e p o r t s mentioned this information, most notably challenge, 15 february 2012. 9. see le monde, 12 july 2012. 10. lexisnexis shows that between january 2011 and december 2013, the closure of the aulnay site was mentioned 271 times in les echos and 176 times in le monde. 11 . s e e l e s e c h o s , 1 2 october 2012. 12. see challenge, 10 january 2014. 13. see le monde, 17 may 17 2016. m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 411-437 michel ferrary peugeot-citroën actively helped return the cluster of stakeholders to an equilibrium which was similar to that of the initial situation. the nature of the shock and the firm’s high degree of embeddedness in the stakeholder network led to this outcome. on the one hand, the randomness of the shock, which was caused by the macroeconomic crisis, created an urgent situation that conferred some legitimacy on the restructuring decision. peugeot-citroën is highly embedded in the french network of stakeholders. the company is french and is headquartered in paris. historically, the main shareholder (the peugeot family) is french, and the company is listed on the paris stock exchange. france is the main car market for the automaker (approximately 25% of its sales). the company benefits from large public procurement and has received numerous state subsidies, particularly for its r&d activities. of the 204,287 workers employed by the firm, 93,479 work in france (45.7% of its workforce) . due to this embeddedness, peugeot-citroën 14 was especially sensitive to economic coercion from local stakeholders and was therefore compelled to negotiate the implementation of its downsizing. corporate leaders are also highly embedded within french society. the ceo, mr. varin, is a french citizen who graduated from the most prestigious french engineering schools (“polytechnique” and “ecole des mines”) and resides in france. of the 14 members on its board of directors, 12 are french citizens. aside from its french ceo, all nine other members of the executive committee are also french. the firm’s embeddedness shaped its interactions with stakeholders and the choice of an accommodative corporate political strategy. due to its high level of embeddedness, the firm depended on the stakeholders’ resources and therefore had to take the interests of various influential stakeholders (employees, trade unions, local and national politicians) into account. since peugeot-citroën and its corporate leaders are highly embedded within the french community, they are sensitive to social pressure forcing the firm to behave in a socially responsible way. in response to a random shock, the combination of urgency, legitimacy and resource dependence, and the firm’s high embeddedness led peugeot-citroën to adopt an accommodative corporate political strategy and, ultimately, to continue to remain in the french cluster. merck’s proactive corporate political strategy in 2012, merck, a us pharmaceutical company achieved revenues of $47.2 billion (down 1.6% from 2011) and an operating profit of $8.7 billion (up 13% from 2011). in 2012, merck increased its dividends from $1.5 in 2011 to $1.7 (table 3). the high level of profitability publicized in the firm’s 2012 annual report did not justify any urgent restructuring. however, merck decided to restructure the organization and to cut 800 jobs in france, including closing the site of eragny-sur-epte, which employed 347 people. the public announcement of the closure was made at the company’s works council on 30 june 2012, which was the eve of the summer holiday period, and took place after the french presidential elections. employees and local trade unionists mobilized along with local politicians and the local media. in this case, however, the national media barely covered the restructuring , and the government and national 15 politicians were not involved in the case. in february 2013, the eragny-sur�430 14. the data is taken from the firm’s annual report. 15.lexisnexis shows that between january 2011 and december 2013, the closure of the eragny-sur-epte site was mentioned twice in les echos and 4 times in le monde. complex networks of stakeholders and corporate political strategy m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 411-437 epte factory was definitively closed. of the 800 employees, 110 retired and the remainder were dismissed. merck did not help former employees find internal or external employment. just six months passed between the public announcement of the redundancy plan and the actual closure of the site. from a dynamic perspective, in the local cluster of stakeholders, a new equilibrium emerged without merck. the intentionality of the shock along with the loose embeddedness of the firm explains the proactive corporate political strategy. its profitability enabled the firm to pick a time to announce the restructuring which was most likely to avoid stakeholder mobilization. choosing 30 june, the beginning of the summer period and after the presidential elections, is consistent with a desire to avoid mobilization. moreover, merck was not embedded in the cluster of impacted stakeholders. the firm is listed on the us stock exchange, and the company headquarters is in the state of new jersey in the us. in france, the company only has production sites and does not have r&d activities that could benefit from public financial support. the french market is not important for the company . therefore, 16 due to its low degree of embeddedness, merck did not depend on resources owned by the local cluster of stakeholders and, therefore, was not sensitive to its economic coercion. moreover, its corporate leaders are not embedded in the french cluster of stakeholders. the ceo is a us citizen residing in the united states. no member of the board of directors or the executive committee is a french citizen. due to their loose embeddedness, the corporate leaders were insensitive to social pressure to behave legitimately and to preserve jobs. the combination of no-urgency, illegitimacy and resourceindependence due to an intentional shock and the firm’s loose embeddedness led merck to choose a proactive corporate political strategy. ultimately, when the network returned to equilibrium, the firm no longer belonged to the local cluster. sanofi-aventis’s defensive corporate political strategy in 2012, sanofi-aventis, a french pharmaceutical company, realized 34.9 billion euros in revenue (up 4.7% from 2011) and achieved an operating profit of 5.77 billion euros (up 9.9% from 2011). in 2012, the company increased its dividends from 2.65 euros in 2011 to 2.77 euros (table 3). despite this high level of profitability and without any urgency to justify it, in july 2012, during the holiday period and after the presidential elections, the company announced that a massive downsizing of the organization would take place in france. the aim was to reduce costs by 2 billion euros over three years. this industrial restructuring would affect the r&d in france for the first time in the company’s history. unofficial information spread by the media before the presidential election anticipated that the redundancy plan would terminate between 2,000 and 2,500 jobs in france and would include the closing of the historical toulouse (france) research centre, which employed nearly 650 people. employees and unions were strongly opposed to this restructuring and particularly objected to the closure of the toulouse site. in addition to organizing protest events and public demonstrations, they turned to the mayor of toulouse, the president of the midi-pyrénées region (where toulouse is located) and the regional commissioner for industrial affairs. the strong mobilization of employees led to the involvement of local and national elected representatives. the national media covered in depth the � 431 16. see the firm’s annual report for 2012. m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 411-437 michel ferrary downsizing and the demonstrations related to the closure of the research centre in toulouse . in early july, mr. montebourg, the minister of 17 economy, summoned sanofi-aventis’ ceo in order to persuade him to change his decision. meanwhile, a coalition group including the main trade unions (cfdt, cgt, fo, cgc, cftc) was created by the works council and challenged the economic justification for the restructuring. they provided a report authored by syndex (a consulting group connected to cfdt) to the minister of economy to challenge the legitimacy of the downsizing. the report concluded that “given the economic and financial situation of the group and its prospects, it is perfectly possible to save the full scientific potential of sanofi, in particular its french base”. the date of 25 september 2012 marks the first change in the firm’s behaviour due to pressure from stakeholders. sanofi-aventis publicly announced that the restructuring plan would reallocate 900 jobs through “retirements, part-time jobs for senior workers and internal redeployment in france before 2015” and that “no relocation abroad of any site and no change in the number of industrial sites in france is planned” . after the 18 announcement, the minister of economy publicly stated that sanofi had “followed the recommendations of the government” and that they had “requested that the sanofi top executives further reduce their redundancy plan of 1,371 positions by conducting a respectful and constructive social dialogue” .19 on 15 october 2012, sanofi-aventis presented a new restructuring plan with only 187 job terminations through natural retirements and without any layoffs. the plan also mentioned that the toulouse research centre would be maintained (364 of its 617 positions were preserved, 184 transferred to other sites, and 63 were removed). the restructuring, which in july 2012 planned to cut between 2,000 and 2,500 jobs, ultimately did not cut a single job. both the illegitimacy of the decision of a very profitable firm to downsize and the high level of the firm’s embeddedness in the cluster of affected stakeholders explain this outcome. sanofi-aventis was highly embedded because the company was established in france and is headquartered in paris. the firm operates 26 plants and nine r&d centres in france. the company is listed on the paris stock exchange. a total of 8% of its revenues come from france, and 28,179 of its 113,719 employees are located in france (24.8% of the workforce), including 5,000 in r&d activities. sanofi-aventis benefits from public subsidies which support its r&d activities and depends on the french administrative authorities for new drug accreditations and reimbursements from the social security administration. due to this high degree of embeddedness, the firm was very sensitive to economic coercion from local stakeholders and was obliged to negotiate the implementation of its downsizing. its corporate leaders are also highly embedded in the french community. the ceo, mr. viehbacher, seems to be weakly embedded. he is a german-canadian citizen, he did not study in france, and he has very little work experience in the country. however, the chairman of the sanofi-aventis’s board of directors is french, and 11 of the 16 members of this board are also french citizens. similarly, of the 20 members of the executive committee, 15 are french. therefore, due to this embeddedness in the french community, corporate leaders were sensitive to the social pressure that finally forced the firm to behave in a socially responsible way and to �432 17. lexisnexis shows that between january 2011 and december 2013, the closure of t h e to u l o u s e s i t e w a s mentioned 45 times in les echos and 33 times in le monde. 1 8 . s e e l e s e c h o s , 2 5 september 2012. 1 9 . s e e l e m o n d e , 2 7 september 2012. complex networks of stakeholders and corporate political strategy m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 411-437 preserve jobs in france. the combination of non-urgency, illegitimacy and resource dependence related to an intentional shock and the firm’s high level of embeddedness led sanofi-aventis to choose a defensive corporate political strategy. from a dynamic perspective, the local cluster of stakeholders returned to its original equilibrium. discussion by utilizing complex network theory to explore firm behaviour and corporate political strategy, this paper contributes in three ways to stakeholder theory. first, this paper offers a dynamic perspective to stakeholder theory by explaining the starting point of interactions between a firm and its stakeholders. applying complex network theory to stakeholder theory enables scholars to describe networks of stakeholders as stable systems that are occasionally destabilized by systemic shocks. firms and stakeholders do not always interact intensely, but shocks lead stakeholders to interact with the firm in new ways to restore an equilibrium. a shock triggers more interactions than merely that of the firm and a single stakeholder. rather, a shock also involves other actors (e.g. customers, citizens, unions, politicians and public administration) who may cooperate to press for changes in the initial management decision. shocks can be random or intentional. the nature of the shock shapes the urgency faced by a firm and the legitimacy of managerial decisions. second, complex network theory brings a structural perspective to stakeholder theory by using small-world networks to describe how a firm’s position in a stakeholder network shapes its behaviour. the more embedded in a cluster a firm is, the more it depends on resources owned by local stakeholders and is sensitive to economic coercion. moreover, the more embedded a firm is, the more likely it is to consider other stakeholders’ interests and behave responsibly in order to appear legitimate. the degree of embeddedness thus affects the firm’s quest for legitimacy and its sensitivity to social pressure. third, combining the dynamic and structural understandings offered by complex network theory leads to a conceptual model which combines the nature of the shock (random or intentional) and the degree of firm embeddedness (low or high) to predict corporate political strategy. according to this contextual perspective, stakeholder saliency is related to the firm’s resource dependence, legitimacy and urgency of the situation. stakeholder saliency is not an intrinsic or permanent attribute but depends on the nature of the shock and the degree of firm embeddedness in the stakeholder network. corporate political strategy aims at managing stakeholders. our conceptual framework, built on complex network theory, contributes to stakeholder theory by explaining what drives the choice of corporate political strategy selection and whether it is reactive, accommodative, defensive or proactive. prior stakeholder theory conceptualizations fail to explain why firms facing the same situation do not adopt the same corporate political strategy. social psychology and behavioural economics account for these different behaviours by focusing on ceo personalities. they identify selfregarding ceos who maximize shareholders’ interests and altruistic ones who attend to other stakeholders’ interests (bridoux & stoelhorst, 2014). complex network theory offers an alternative explanation. a firm’s behaviour depends on its degree of embeddedness in a cluster of stakeholders. the more embedded it is, the more it behaves in an altruistic � 433 m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 411-437 michel ferrary way by reciprocating and taking care of the stakeholders’ interests. embeddedness increases the potential for economic coercion and social pressure to force a firm to consider the stakeholders’ interests and to comply with collective norms. isolated from economic coercion and social pressure, a loosely embedded firm tends to be more self-interested and oriented towards the optimization of the shareholders’ interests. the degree of embeddedness explains why, in a globalized economy, a firm may behave differently depending on its embeddedness within national clusters. high embeddedness within a domestic cluster of stakeholders induces different firm behaviour than does low embeddedness in foreign clusters. due to local economic coercion and social pressure, the same multinational company may act fairly in its domestic country but may act unfairly in foreign countries in which it is loosely embedded. implications for further research this article opens up several new research opportunities. complex network theory has theoretical implications for stakeholder management. using complex network theory to explore the dynamics of stakeholder networks marks a conceptual breakthrough which may inform further research on industrial relations. the concept of a small-world network reduces the analytic issues related to identifying or measuring network density. the small-world network structure describes the real world as a set of dense clusters loosely connected with each other and de-emphasizes the role of variation in cluster density as the primary tool for predicting structural change. empirical studies confirm that such structures exist in the world of business (corrado & zollo, 2006; davis, yoo & baker, 2003; fleming et al., 2007; kogut & walker, 2001; kogut, 2012). thus, research should perhaps focus slightly less on the structure of stakeholder networks and perhaps focus slightly more on exploring the implications of an individual’s position within the structure. this article also opens up possibilities for empirical research. four examples of industrial downsizing have been presented to illustrate the conceptual model. an empirical project could translate these propositions into testable hypotheses. empirical tests should examine whether the theory describes how firms react to their stakeholder environment and the corporate political strategy they select when facing a systemic shock. the four cases also contribute to future quantitative research by offering proxies that could be used to evaluate the nature of systemic shocks and the degree of firm embeddedness. implications for practice by providing a conceptual framework for anticipating and responding to stakeholder behaviour, the model attempts to inspire corporate leaders to engage with stakeholders constructively and effectively. it contributes to the five-step process of stakeholder management suggested by frooman (2010), by showing how firms can identify political issues related to managerial decisions, map stakeholder networks affected by the decision according to the firms’ embeddedness, prioritize stakeholders depending on their interests and potential for influence, analyse stakeholders’ potential actions and coalitions, and engage with stakeholders by designing a corporate political strategy. moreover, the consequences of random shocks on the stakeholders’ behaviour represent a potential risk for firms. in the same way that �434 complex networks of stakeholders and corporate political strategy m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 411-437 organizations implement risk management practices to technically manage industrial accidents, organizations might also define processes to deal with stakeholders when facing a systemic random shock involving multiple actors. for stakeholders trying to determine ways to influence firm behaviour, this article may also suggest tactics such as identifying potential allies and the levers to mobilize them most effectively. as secondary stakeholders usually do not exert any direct influence over a firm, they need to mobilize influential primary stakeholders (clarkson, 1995; king, 2008). the conceptual model provided here offers clues for designing a political strategy which includes other stakeholders in a coalition seeking to influence a firm. limitations the conceptual model is illustrated by a specific kind of shock in a specific context: industrial downsizing in france. such examples serve a heuristic purpose and are aimed at paving avenues of approach for future empirical research on restructuring. however, other kinds of systemic shocks, such as acquisitions or radical innovations, may also affect small worlds of stakeholders and corporate political strategy. in addition, to identify differences and similarities related to different institutional settings, it could be valuable to compare the dynamics of different countries’ stakeholder clusters facing similar shocks. references agle, b., mitchell, r. & sonnenfeld, j. (1999). who matters to ceos? an investigation of stakeholder attributes and salience, corporate performance, and ceo values.  academy of management journal, 42(5), 507-525. albert, r., jeong, h. & barabási, a.l. (2000). error and attack tolerance of complex networks. nature, 406(6794), 378-382. barabasi, a.-b., newman, m. & watts, d. (2006), the structure and dynamics of networks, princeton, nj: princeton university press. barnett, m. (2014). why stakeholders ignore firm m i s c o n d u c t : a c o g n i t i v e vi e w.  j o u r n a l o f management, 40(3), 676-702. bergström, o. & diedrich, a. (2011). exercising social responsibility in downsizing: enrolling and mobilizing actors at a swedish high-tech company. organization studies, 32(7), 897-919 bonardi, j.-p. & keim, g. (2005). corporate political strategies for widely salient issues.  academy of management review, 30(3), 555-576 bridoux, f. & stoelhorst, j.w. (2014). microfoundations for stakeholder theory: managing stakeholders w i t h h e t e r o g e n e o u s m o t i v e s .  s t r a t e g i c management journal, 35(1), 107-125. burt, r. (1987). social contagion and innovation: cohesion versus structural equivalence. american journal of sociology, 92(6), 1287-1335. callaway, d., newman, m., strogatz, s. & watts d. (2000). network robustness and fragility: percolation on random graphs. physical review letter, 85(25), 5468-71. carroll, a. (1979). a three-dimensional conceptual model of corporate performance. academy of management review, 4(4), 497-505. choi, s., jia, n. & lu, j. (2014). the structure of political institutions and effectiveness of corporate political lobbying.  organization science,  26(1), 158-179. clarkson, m. (1995). a stakeholder framework for analyzing and evaluating corporate social p e r f o r m a n c e .  a c a d e m y o f m a n a g e m e n t review, 20(1), 92-117. cordeiro, j. & tewari, m. (2015). firm characteristics, industry context, and investor reactions to environmental csr: a stakeholder theory approach. journal of business ethics,  130(4), 833-849. corrado, r. & zollo, m. (2006). small worlds evolving: g o v e r n a n c e r e f o r m s , p r i v a t i z a t i o n s , a n d ownership networks in italy.  industrial and corporate change, 15(2), 319-352. davis, g., yoo, m. & baker, w. (2003). the small world o f t h e a m e r i c a n c o r p o r a t e e l i t e , 1982-2001. strategic organization, 1(3), 301-326. delgado, m., porter, m.e. & stern, s. (2014). clusters, c o n v e r g e n c e , a n d e c o n o m i c performance. research policy, 43(10), 1785-1799. � 435 m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 411-437 michel ferrary dodds, p., muhamad, r. & watts, d. (2003). an experimental study of search in global social networks. science, 301(5634), 827-829. doh, j. & quigley, n. (2014). responsible leadership and stakeholder management: influence pathways and organizational outcomes.  the academy of management perspectives, 28(3), 255-274. donaldson, t. & preston, l. (1995). the stakeholder theory of the corporation: concepts, evidence and implications. academy of management review, 20(1), 65-91. driscoll, c. & starik, m. (2004). the primordial s t a k e h o l d e r : a d v a n c i n g t h e c o n c e p t u a l consideration of stakeholder status for the natural environment.  journal of business ethics,  49(1), 55-73. earl, j., martin, a., mccarthy, j.d. & soule, s.a. (2004). the use of newspaper data in the study of collective action.  annual review of sociology,  30, 65-80. eesley, c. & lenox, m.j. (2006). firm responses to s e c o n d a r y s t a k e h o l d e r a c t i o n .  s t r a t e g i c management journal, 27(8), 765-781. ferrary, m. (2009). a stakeholder’s perspective of human resource management. journal of business ethics, 87(1), 31-43. ferrary, m. (2019). the structure and dynamics of the c e o ’s “ s m a l l wo r l d ” o f ‘ s t a k e h o l d e r s : a n application to industrial downsizing.  technological forecasting and social change, 140, 147-159. ferrary, m. & granovetter, m. (2009). the role of venture capital firms in silicon valley’s complex innovation network. economy and society, 38(2), 326-359. filatotchev, i. & nakajima, c. (2014). corporate governance, responsible managerial behavior, and corporate social responsibility: organizational efficiency versus organizational legitimacy?  the academy of management perspectives,  28(3), 289-306 flammer, c & kacperczyk, a.j. (2016). the impact of stakeholder orientation on innovation: evidence from a natural experiment. management science, 62(7), 1982-2001. fleming, l., king, iii c. & juda, a.i. (2007). small worlds and regional innovation.  organization science, 18(6), 938-954. freeman, r. (1984), strategic management: a stakeholder approach, boston: pitman freeman, r., harrison, j., wicks, a., parmar, b. & de colle, s. (2010), stakeholder theory: the state of the art, cambridge: cambridge university press. f r o o m a n , j . ( 1 9 9 9 ) . s t a k e h o l d e r i n fl u e n c e s t r a t e g i e s .  a c a d e m y o f m a n a g e m e n t review, 24(2), 191-205. frooman, j. (2010). the issue network: reshaping the s t a k e h o l d e r m o d e l .  c a n a d i a n j o u r n a l o f administrative sciences/revue canadienne des sciences de l'administration, 27(2), 161-173. granovetter, m. (1973). the strength of weak ties. american journal of sociology, 78, 1360-1380. granovetter, m. (1985). economic action and social structure: the problem of embeddedness. american journal of sociology, 9(1-3), 481-510. granovetter, m. (2005). the impact of social structure on economic outcomes. journal of economic perspectives, 19(1), 33-50. granovetter, m. (2017),  society and economy: framework and principles, cambridge, ma: harvard university press. hadani, m. & schuler, a. (2013). in search of el dorado: the elusive financial returns on c o r p o r a t e p o l i t i c a l i n v e s t m e n t s . s t r a t e g i c management journal, 34(2), 165-181. harrison, j. & wicks, a. (2013). stakeholder theory, value, and firm performance. business ethics quarterly, 23(1), 97-124. hill, c. & jones, t. (1992). stakeholder‐agency theory.  journal of management studies,  29(2), 131-154. jen, e. (2003). stable or robust? what’s the difference? complexity, 8(3), 12-18. jen, e. (2006), robust design: a repertoire of biological, ecological, and engineering case studies, oxford: oxford university press. king, b.g. (2008). a political mediation model of c o r p o r a t e r e s p o n s e t o s o c i a l m o v e m e n t activism.  administrative science quarterly,  53(3), 395-421. kogut, b.m. (ed.). (2012).  the small worlds of corporate governance. cambridge, ma: mit press. kogut, b. & walker g. (2001). the small world of g e r m a n y a n d t h e d u r a b i l i t y o f n a t i o n a l networks. american sociological review, 317-335. miles, s. (2015). stakeholder theory classification: a t h e o r e t i c a l a n d e m p i r i c a l e v a l u a t i o n o f definitions.  journal of business ethics, 142(3), 1-23. mitchell, r., agle, b. & wood, d. (1997). toward a theory of stakeholder. identification and salience: defining the principle of who and what really counts. academy of management review, 22(4), 853-886 mitchell, r., weaver, g, agle, b., bailey, a. & carlson, j. (2016). stakeholder agency and social welfare: pluralism and decision making in the multi-objective c o r p o r a t i o n .  a c a d e m y o f m a n a g e m e n t review, 41(2), 252-275. newman, m. (2003). the structure and function of complex networks. siam review, 45(2), 167-256. oliver, c. (1991). strategic responses to institutional p r o c e s s e s .  a c a d e m y o f m a n a g e m e n t review, 16(1), 145-179. oliver, c. & holzinger, i. (2008). the effectiveness of strategic political management: a dynamic capabilities framework.  academy of management review, 33(2), 496-520. owen-smith, j. & powell, w. (2004). knowledge networks as channels and conduits: the effects of s p i l l o v e r s i n t h e b o s t o n b i o t e c h n o l o g y community. organization science, 15(1), 5-21. rowley, t. (1997). moving beyond dyadic ties: a n e t w o r k t h e o r y o f s t a k e h o l d e r i n fl u e n c e s .  a c a d e m y o f m a n a g e m e n t review, 22(4), 887-910. torre, a. & rallet, a. (2005). proximity and localization. regional studies, 39(1), 47-59. �436 http://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/abs/10.1287/mnsc.2015.2229 http://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/abs/10.1287/mnsc.2015.2229 http://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/abs/10.1287/mnsc.2015.2229 complex networks of stakeholders and corporate political strategy m@n@gement, vol. 22(3): 411-437 tost, l. (2011). an integrative model of legitimacy judgments. academy of management review, 36(4), 686-710. uzzi, b. (1996). the sources and consequences of embeddedness for the economic performance of organizations: the network effect.  american sociological review, 674-698. uzzi, b. (1997). social structure and competition in i n t e r fi r m n e t w o r k s : t h e p a r a d o x o f embeddedness.  administrative science quarterly, 35-67. wang, l., madhok, a. & xiao li, s. (2014). agglomeration and clustering over the industry life cycle: toward a dynamic model of geographic c o n c e n t r a t i o n . s t r a t e g i c m a n a g e m e n t journal, 35(7), 995-1012. watts, d. (2004). the “new” science of networks. annual review of sociology, 30, 243-270. watts, d. & strogatz, s. (1998). collective dynamics of “small-world” networks, nature, 393(6684), 440. willinger, w. & doyle, j. (2006). robustness and the internet: design and evolution. in e. jen (ed.), robust design: a repertoire of biological, ecological, and engineering case studies (pp. 231-272). oxford: oxford university press. wry, t., cobb, a. & aldrich, e. (2013). more than a metaphor: assessing the historical legacy of resource dependence and its contemporary promise as a theory of environmental complexity. the academy of management annals, 7(1), 441-488. dr michel ferrary is professor of hrm and innovation management at the graduate school of economics and management of the university of geneva (switzerland) and affiliated scholar at skema business school (france). his research covers the areas of social network, knowledge management, open innovation and strategic human resource management. for his research, he is frequently visiting scholar at stanford university. he has extensively published in outlets such as the journal of business ethics, economy & society, technological forecasting and social change, entrepreneurship theory and practice and the journal of socio-economics. acknowledgments: the author would like to thank the anonymous reviewers and thomas roulet for their helpful comments, which improved this paper. all errors and omissions are, of course, the author’s. � 437 00 212 arnaud&faure&mengis&cooren 2018 .pages m@n@gement 2018, vol. 21(2): 691-704 interconnecting the practice turn and communicative approach to organizing: a new challenge for collective action? introduction to the special issue 
 nicolas arnaud ! bertrand fauré ! jeanne mengis ! françois cooren this special issue advances knowledge of collective action―one of the most challenging issues for contemporary businesses and organizations―by bringing together theoretical and empirical contributions at the intersection of the practice turn (feldman & orlikowski, 2011; knorrcetina, schatzki, & von savigny, 2005; nicolini, 2012; rouleau, 2013; whittington, 2011) and communicative approaches to organizing (cooren, 2015; putnam & nicotera, 2008). scholars from various disciplines (e.g. sociology, management, psychology, communication, economics and ergonomic studies) have long been interested in the ongoing transformation and enactment of collective action at work in relation to wider organizational transformations. interpretive (putnam & pacanowsky, 1983) or process theories (tsoukas & chia, 2002), in particular, have proposed seeing collective (or co-oriented) action as relying upon the heedful interrelating of actions (weick & roberts, 1993) rather than on the establishment of shared organizational knowledge or culture. accordingly, we can understand collective action as the capacity of a collective to generate a performance by constantly reenacting the meaning and orientation of their action in a singular experience within a wider cultural and historical experience (arnaud & mills, 2012). today, more than ever, collective action is a distributed and hybrid performance, a polyphonic dance of human and non-human agency not necessarily performed within a formal organization (cooren, 2010; robichaud & cooren, 2013). within these developments, while recognizing the possibility of a “community without a unity” (corlett, 1989; nicolini, 2012), the question of how the diversity of practices across time and space become interrelated, organized and recognized as a collective is particularly salient. in particular, what is the role of communication in making connections between diverse bundles of practices so that a sense of collectiveness is formed? how can multiple voices become the one voice of an organized entity, thus gaining coherence while remaining different? this is what collective action is about in modern organizing: a phenomenon in between situated communication and practice. the first section of this introduction explores the hypothesis that collective action is about how people work within a social and organizational setting to construct and mobilize interests and resources, and how people create the conditions under which social change can occur for the greatest benefit of all concerned. the second section shows how �691 nicolas arnaud audencia school of management, france nicolasarnaud@audencia.com bertrand fauré université de toulouse, france be_faure@yahoo.fr jeanne mengis università della svizzera italiana, suisse jeanne.mengis@usi.ch françois cooren université de montréal, canada f.cooren@umontreal.ca mailto:nicolasarnaud@audencia.com mailto:be_faure@yahoo.fr mailto:jeanne.mengis@usi.ch mailto:f.cooren@umontreal.ca mailto:nicolasarnaud@audencia.com mailto:be_faure@yahoo.fr mailto:jeanne.mengis@usi.ch mailto:f.cooren@umontreal.ca m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 691-704 nicolas arnaud & bertrand fauré & jeanne mengis & françois cooren the research presented in this special issue extends our knowledge of the achievement, support and transformation of collective action by studying it from the dual perspective of practice theory and an organizational communication approach. the third section proposes avenues for future research. part 1: a (new?) challenge for collective action collective action at the heart of contemporary organizations and organizing collective action is such an important matter in theory and in practice that some have called for organizations to reinvent themselves and shift toward a new model (laloux, 2014). indeed, organizations are faced with a range of profound changes―the possibilities arising from digital communication technologies, collaborative economies, temporary organizations based on project work, network organizations, the collapse of the hierarchical organization, etc.―and the way forward is anything but clear and secure. the challenge is to change the organizational arrangements (girin, 1995) within which work is done and thought about without disrupting what already works. this shift is daunting because failures and misdirection can cause great damage and pain, and because making this shift is poorly understood. should organizations stop the machine, erase the past, invent the future and then restart the machine? or can organizations find a more sustainable way to make the shift, which would be subtle and profound at the same time, like a soft disruption that is apparently easy to accomplish but also carefully prepared and cultivated. maybe a useful image or metaphor to evoke such a subtle way of changing organizing modes is that of an equestrian performing a flying lead change. here, the rider commands the horse to change the front leg going forward (e.g. changing from a right lead to left lead) without changing the rhythm and speed. a flying lead change is the most difficult and elaborate feat of horsemanship. horses cannot do it alone, and only excellent equestrians can make them do it on command. the lead change must be fluid, an almost imperceptible force; it is the result of long hours of horse training and riding practice. the result is most impressive when the horse is galloping in a figure eight because in this case, the lead change works or fails; there is no other option. if it is performed well and with perfect timing, the horse can continue to run at the same speed along the opposite circle. the hybrid creature, constituted by the horse and the rider, has apparently changed nothing in its collective action while having completely changed its balance and direction: it turns the other way in just one move. communication between the animal and the human is at its best. if the lead change is not perfect, the horse falters and cannot run the other way around the same symmetrical circle. this is metaphorically the challenge facing collective action and the science of management (whose etymology is indeed the italian maneggiare, i.e. the art of horsemanship). as we will see in the second section, the papers selected for publication in this special issue ensue from extensive field studies that address this challenge more or less directly. the studies portray organizations that are “lost in translation” between old practices and methods of the last century (some of these practices still work pretty well, while others prove to be outdated) and by the widespread rise to prominence of new ways of seeing communication and organization � 692 interconnecting the practice turn and communicative approach to organizing m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 691-704 relationships. fortunately, this challenge is not totally new: an orientation for advancement lies in acknowledging two important research traditions and communities within the organizational field. these two traditions and communities come together for the first time in a special issue: cco (ashcraft, khun, & cooren, 2009; putnam & nicotera, 2008) and practice theory (feldman & orlikowski, 2011; nicolini, 2012; rouleau, 2013). what is an organization (taylor, 1993; taylor & van every, 1993)? what does it mean in practice to create a metaconversation for collective action and identity building (robichaud, giroux, & taylor, 2004)? what is the role of communication in interrelating bundles of practices (schatzki, 2017) and creating a collective action or a collective competence (arnaud, 2011b, 2016; arnaud & mills, 2012; ruuska & teigland, 2009)? these questions are at the heart of communication as constitutive of organization (cco) theories and are shared by the practice turn, which studies how organizational phenomena such as organizational learning and knowing, organizational technology, organizational identity and strategy are practical-discursive achievements (johnson, balogun, & beech, 2010; putnam & nicotera, 2008; vaara, kleymann, & seristö, 2004). indeed, these questions have long inspired dialogue between the interpretative-discursive turn (alvesson & karreman, 2000a; fairhurst & putnam, 2004; putnam & pacanowsky, 1983) and the practice turn (feldman & orlikowski, 2011; knorr-cetina, et al., 2005; nicolini, 2012; whittington, 2011). what avenues does this dialogue open and which ones can help us address the future of organizing? why are communication practices so important for making organizations perform their lead change on command? collective action at the crossroads of organizational communication and practice perspectives the practice perspective has developed to supplement traditional approaches to business functioning in management sciences that were viewed as being static, fairly reductive, and overly grounded in formal analysis (geiger, 2009). the objective of the practice turn is to reposition work, processes and activities at the center of organizational analysis (“bringing work back in” barley & kunda, 2001), while focusing on practice as a way to understand “organization as it happens” (miettinen, samrafredericks & yanowet, 2009: 1310). even if this theoretical and methodological field is far from unified (corradi, gherardi, & verzelloni, 2010; miettinen, et al., 2009), the practice turn (t. r. schatzki, knorrcetina, & von savigny, 2001) focuses on the study of the everyday activities of organizational actors, highlighting their sociomaterial situatedness, their ongoing evolvement, and their performative quality (hui et. al., 2017). regarding organizational knowing, for example, corradi, et al., (2010: 267) suggest that “practice allows researchers to investigate empirically how contextual elements shape knowledge and how competence is built around a contingent logic of action.” they thus propose shifting from an individual and cognitive vision of learning and knowing to a situated and social (and consequently collective) view (brown & duguid, 2001; miettinen, et al., 2009; wenger, 1998). knowing is thus “both sustained in practice and manifests itself through practice” in that it is a practical accomplishment rooted in an “extended pattern of interconnected activities” (nicolini, 2012: 602). the positioning is clear: proponents of practice advocate a socially situated analysis of activity and an emerging � 693 m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 691-704 nicolas arnaud & bertrand fauré & jeanne mengis & françois cooren perspective of the organization “enacted” by the interdependent practices of actors. the strategy-as-practice perspective (sap) is one of the most clearly recognized streams that has issued from the practice turn. its development into a specific field of research is explained by some researchers’ dissatisfaction with traditional research in strategy (jarzabkowski, balogun, & seidl, 2007; whittington, 2006). following the works of whittington (1996, 2006), sap proponents define the perimeter of their research at the interface of “practitioners (those people who do the work of strategy); practices (the social, symbolic and material tools through which strategy work is done); and praxis (the flow of activity in which strategy is accomplished)” (jarzabkowski & spee, 2009: 73). together, the practice turn and sap provide interesting insights into how practice, on the one hand, and communication, discourse and text, on the other, have to work (and be theorized) together. within the context of strategy as practice, jarzabkowski (2005: 9-10) specifies three types of practices: 1. administrative, rational practices that allow strategy coordination (e.g. planning mechanisms, performance indicators); 2. discursive practices that allow interaction concerning strategy and development of everyday strategy discourses (e.g. conversations and tools that convey a managerial philosophy); and 3. episodic practices that create opportunities for strategy to be talked about (e.g. meetings, workshops). all three practices shape and mediate the practice of strategy. this view somewhat resembles the more profound consideration of schatzki (2017: 129), who states that practices are “organised sets of doings and sayings”. in other words, practices consist of both discursive and non-discursive actions. he insists that it is fundamental to keep the discursive/non-discursive distinction in place in order to faithfully account for the importance of language. in particular, he suggests that sayings and texts constantly pervade practices and it is through specific “language types” and “discourse orders” that practice becomes organized (even if only tentatively). further, sayings and texts “suffuse” bundles of practices with “articulated significance” and thus play a particular role in how bundles of practices become interconnected in collective endeavors (schatzki, 2017: 140). in parallel with the practice turn, organizational sciences have also developed a linguistic (czarniawska-joerges, 1998), discursive (alvesson & karreman, 2000b) and communicational (cooren, kuhn, cornelissen, & clark, 2011) perspective. since the recognition, a dozen years ago, of the weak importance placed on speech actions in management research (woodilla, 1998), the situation has evolved. speech at work (drew & heritage, 1992) has engendered abundant literature within a large variety of disciplines (sociolinguistic, psychosociology of human relations, machine-human interaction, ethnography of language, etc.). the wide array of methodologies and situations examined range from conversational analysis of a single meeting (gephart, 1978) to the examination of the discursive competency of middle managers (rouleau & balogun, 2011), and an analysis of the discourse within a set of recorded interactions (boje, 1991). this evolution has led to the gradual recognition of the constituent function of speech action ("the business of talk" boden, 1994) along with the organizing/constitutive dimension of communication in all its forms (cooren, et al., 2011). in a synthesis of these studies, fauré and arnaud (2014) identify two perspectives. the first, of french origin, is grounded in the study of the transformation of work and organizations. it construes speech activity as a (new) work tool (detchessahar, 2003; girin, 1990; zarifian, 1996). the � 694 interconnecting the practice turn and communicative approach to organizing m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 691-704 second, more international, perspective stems from the linguistic shift (alvesson & karreman, 2000a) within the social sciences, which occurred in parallel with the practice shift (significant examples include the works of cooren, 2000; fauré & bouzon, 2010; taylor, 1993; taylor & van every, 1993). regardless of the theoretical grounding, communication is perceived as a complex and uncertain process of construction of meaning that entails active participation by members (detchessahar, 2003; putnam & pacanowsky, 1983; weick, 1986) and that constitutes organizing (cooren, 2000; cooren, et al., 2011). these authors are interested less in the way that individuals exchange information and knowledge than in the way they collectively and interactionally construct (or have constructed) knowledge to act together (arnaud, 2011a; arnaud & mills, 2012; cooren, taylor, & van emery, 2006). strongly inspired by the works of giddens (1984) on the duality of structure, this perspective considers that knowledge constitutes both the prerequisite of its interactions and a result thereof, becoming one of the very bases of collaboration. knowledge evolution is driven by actors’ daily interactions, the problems they encounter, and the arrival of new human or nonhuman participants. the (ac)cumulative nature of this perspective directly echoes giddens’s (1984) structuring process which boden (1994) calls lamination, and berger and luckman (1966) refer to as sedimentation. these works have contributed significantly to the renewal of interpretivist/communicational approaches to the organization and the firm (fauré & arnaud, 2014), yet the type of empirical study conducted has not yet allowed full integration of the role of management, understood as the “so what?” question. indeed, empirical analyses have focused on extraordinary situations (cooren & fairhurst, 2004) or management committee meetings (cooren, 2004), in a direct extension of previous research (boden, 1994; weick & roberts, 1993). further, these situations concern actors who often do not know one another and probably will not have to interact with each other in the near and definite future (as illustrated, for example, in the conversation between a customer and real estate agent in the study by cooren, 2004). therefore, the analyses are often insufficiently part of a temporal and at least partly stabilized perspective implying dynamics of interactions between actors, which often corresponds to the situations of firms acting within a scope of managerial action. therefore, it is not surprising that this prism of managerial action has received little or no attention from organizational communication researchers (arnaud & mills, 2012; varey, 2006). these works have shown that under certain conditions, actors’ communication practices produce resources that serve a collective action and/or competency. lastly, even if these two approaches do not constitute a unified paradigm, they share at least three beliefs about organizational phenomena: 1) one must go beyond functionalism and open the black box of organizations and organizing; 2) one must bring work back and thus study, observe and analyze micro (discursive) practices that are embedded in more macro contexts/discourses; and 3) there should be a shared belief that knowledge is both a basis and a result of interactions and conversations. � 695 m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 691-704 nicolas arnaud & bertrand fauré & jeanne mengis & françois cooren part 2: overview of articles in the special issue this special issue brings together eight empirical articles that address collective action from communicational and practice perspectives. the articles went through several iterations, which, at each stage, advanced and developed with help from dozens of anonymous reviewers across different disciplines of management and communication, including strategy, organizational communication, human resources management, and information systems. the reviewers’ comments and suggestions were perceptive, insightful and helpful. as the guest editors of this special issue, we are grateful for their reviews, feedback and patience. without their contributions, this special issue would not have achieved its ambitions of both high quality and originality. the research presented in this special issue contributes to the literature on cco and the practice turn in organization studies by exploring the transformative power of strategic texts (press releases, charts, manifestos, crm policy, accounting calculations, etc.) in various organizational contexts such as the construction industry (le breton & aggeri, 2018), mountaineering expedition (musca, rouleau, mellet, sitri & de vogüé, 2018), advocacy corporation (albu, 2018), hostile takeover bids (nègre, verdier & cho, 2018), an energy company (burlat & mills, 2018), advertising agencies (baillargeon, 2018), a regional post office (detchessahar & journé, 2018), and a mid-size danish company (asmuß & oshima, 2018). the discussion that follows proposes a (re)reading of the papers in order to outline what they can teach us about how to renew approaches to―and theorizing of―organizations and organizing. although the question of the lead change is not directly addressed in the articles, interesting insights can be found in each of them. they all share a common thread: what makes a lead change successful or not? when can we say that the shift from one model to another is complete? let us begin this overview of the eight articles in this special issue on collective action with the striking story of a darwin mountaineering expedition (musca, et al., 2018). this expedition was confined to a boat for 15 days before starting the cordillera exploration, and thus had to revise their plans concerning how much distance they could cover given the time remaining. as the authors argue, this passage “from boat to bag” can be interpreted as a shift from one “material chronotope” (in reference to bakhtin) to another. “according to bakhtin (1981), a chronotope refers to a unique configuration of time and space organizing a specific literary genre; as such, it offers a way of understanding the world. this notion has already been used in management studies in order to explain how meanings relative to change transform over time, leaving aside the materiality of the chronotopes (boje, haley & sailors, 2016; lancione & clegg, 2013; musca, rouleau, & fauré, 2014; vaara & pedersen, 2013). we are proposing here to reinstate the bakhtinian notion of a chronotope as a tangible entity setting the stage for ‘the fusion of space and time,’ as it pertains to a discursive genre. the notion of chronotope is articulated in the context of material artefacts or objects that intrinsically convey the set of meanings to be collectively framed, negotiated and then reframed. this perspective has led us to utilize the notion of ‘material chronotopes’ in order to better understand how adaptive � 696 interconnecting the practice turn and communicative approach to organizing m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 691-704 sensemaking is materially constituted through both time and space” (musca, et al., this issue: 706). this analysis builds on a previous analysis of the same case study that demonstrated the central role of “discursive calculation” in a further change of chronotope during the expedition (musca, et al., 2014). after the mountain exploration started, the team members faced new difficulties (false maps, wrong measures, broken connections) that forced them to revise their plan each day rather than follow the expected route. in this context, the team rediscovered an old chronotopic calculation: the number of crows’ flights per day, a calculative act (fauré & gramaccia, 2006) that then become part of a wider narrative about the expedition (reports, documentaries, etc..). two years later, all members interviewed since completion of the expedition had a clear memory of the context in which the expression emerged and clearly understood its chronotopic significance. the institutionalization of the chronotope during the film also reinforces the fact that the “crow’s flight” represents the gordian knot of the expedition’s collective identity, becoming part of wider narrative about the space and time of the cordillera. (musca, et al., 2014: 144) the case of the darwin expedition suggests that chronotopic shifts follow three phases or axes: objects and materiality (from boat to bag), numbers and calculation (from kilometers to crow’s flight), and discourse and text (from local sensemaking to wider narrative). each phase is associated with a spatio-temporal reframing of collective action. what is really interesting about the darwin case is that it provides a sociological microscope about what occurs around the shift (“micro practice of splitting, contrasting, reformulating, repeating” (musca, et al., this issue: 724)), when collective action oscillates between two chronotopes. in hindsight, the time spent talking about alternative routes and the energy the team members invested in discussions appears quite futile. what is maybe more amazing than the irrational fire of passions before the shift is to see how easily all these fantasies are forgotten once the chronotopic shift is achieved. the shift is completed not only when objects and calculations have changed, but also when a new narrative or metaconversation (robichaud, et al., 2004) surfaces. if nobody remembers the shift or talks about it, did the shift exist? performing this storytelling is clearly the intention of the strategic texts studied in other articles of this special issue (such as albu, this issue; burlat & mills, this issue). as the article of burlat and mills (this issue) shows, even the most carefully designed shift cannot avoid unexpected uses or resistances, and sometimes fails to reach the objective. the organization remains the same. communication has been “strategized” and calculations have been materialized (“gate,” “charts”) but practices have not changed, or at least the (lead) change is not visible to those in charge of driving the shift. from their point of view, unexpected practices of energy saving are simply that unexpected practices. from a broader point of view, however, these unexpected practices could contribute to a wider shift. people do not really care about saving fossil fuels because they are looking for alternative energy. rather, this search is people’s real empowerment: their materiality, their calculation, their story. this tendency to fail (taylor & van every, 2014) is not limited to the “energy company strategic texts” studied by burlat and mills (this issue), � 697 m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 691-704 nicolas arnaud & bertrand fauré & jeanne mengis & françois cooren but is shared extensively by other “strategic texts” studied in this special issue. failing here is used in a broad sense of “not doing exactly what was expected.” you fail when you expect to cross the entire cordillera in two months but get trapped in a boat for three weeks before being able to complete only a three-day course (musca, et al., this issue). you fail when you spend millions on a communication strategy about energy savings and when these texts act in ways that block the achievement of their intended purpose (burlat & mills, this issue). you fail when you claim to conduct a strategy in order to reduce medical leave and work disability and when there is no improvement on these criteria two years later (detchessahar & journé, this issue). failing means disappointment, frustration and anger, but it also means learning, challenging and the possibility of success. in the shift they have to make, organizations also need to overcome the fear of failing. for creativity to develop, failures and mistakes must be accepted (gilbert, amalberti, laroche, & paries, 2007). what is striking in most cases is the correlative tendency to talking for talk’s sake or in the name of others, to dwell endlessly on unsolvable issues that are sometimes confounded by the simplest problem (clegg, kornberger, & rhodes, 2007; cohen, march, & olsen, 1972). organizations are noisy before shifting. is all of this (meta, extra, supra, intra) textuality useful? could it be that organizations speak and write too much? if we examine how this textuality is enacted at the level of financial conversation, as for example in the 66 press releases exchanged during seven hostile takeover bids studied by nègre, et al. (this issue), the answer is not clear. why spend so much time and energy in order to make the bid fail? “overall, the disclosure process during hostile takeover bids could be viewed as a succession of legitimation, (de)legitimation and (re)legitimation arguments. as a consequence, we find that in practice one important factor that explains the disclosures of one party is the disclosures made by the other. this shows the reciprocity of the communication between the bidding and target companies in the specific context of hostile bids. finally, we observe that target companies often use symbolic legitimation strategies through their discourse as a way to obtain an increase in the offer price. however, they can also engage in a substantive legitimation strategy where the aim of disclosure is actually to make the bid fail.” (nègre, et al., this issue: 804). are we witnessing the turning point where accounting numerical signs become “simulacrum and hyperreality” (macintosh, shearer, thornton, & welker, 2000), disconnected from reality? are organizations condemned to this same old “business of calculation” (fauré, brummans, giroux, & taylor, 2010; fauré & rouleau, 2011)? or is it possible “to do more with numbers across accounting and finance, organizations and markets” (vollmer, 2007; vollmer, mennicken, & preda, 2009). the article on “carbon accounting” (le breton & aggieri, this issue) provides hope in this area by showing that “acts of calculation” (fauré & gramaccia, 2006) can sometimes, surprisingly, relate what is counted to what really counts. this finding supports the hypothesis that a subtle way of doing the shift is possible if the lead change rests on a concrete and effective change of “material chronotope” (musca, et al., this issue) before turning “time, space and calculation into discursive practices” (musca, et al., 2014). at various degrees and levels, the research collected in this special issue deftly illustrates how shifting from one model of time and space to � 698 interconnecting the practice turn and communicative approach to organizing m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 691-704 another implies the capacity to articulate chronotopic changes in materiality and calculation in a single story. what stands out in this rich picture of a new way of organizing is the sensation of organizations sometimes being locally “lost in translation,” but collectively going in a productive direction. organizations (and scholars) do not make the shift alone and indeed, cannot do it alone in a context where interorganizational relationships become the new organizational paradigm (arnaud & fauré, 2016; arnaud & mills, 2012). if we take, for example, the case of sustainable development, it has become clear that a “green strategy” cannot be the rationale of an organization: something else matters that justifies the existence of collective action. pro-environment (or pro-social) discourse does not suffice to change anything, and the best intentions and values of the world can sometimes even turn organizations into a “mad house” (albu, this issue). are values such as “solidarity, subsidiarity and transparency” (albu, this issue: 868) as well as “responsibility, sustainability” (burlat & mills, this issue) condemned to being treated with disillusion and cynicism in organizations? or can organizations find ways to make concepts such as “truth, freedom and democracy” (detchessahar & journé, this issue) or “carbon accounting” (le breton & aggeri, this issue) real? this special issue shows how these shifts in practice call for a shift in theory, i.e. for “a shift in perspective from a functionalist to a performative focus in management research” (albu, this issue: 858) and in methods, i.e. for “a shift from data that are largely retrospectively generated in the form of interviews and surveys, to data that allow insights into the here-and-now, multimodal emergence of strategy activities” (asmuß & oshima, this issue: 903). papers in this special issue embrace this performative perspective and share views of communication-as-constitutive, organization-asprocess and materiality-as-social. these premises enable us to study the multimodal communicative accomplishment of strategy-as-practice, change-as-routine and text-as-agency, thus decentering the functionalist perspective that would rather have studied strategy-as-strategy, changeas-change and text-as-text. what is called “strategic” in theory is not always strategic in practice, and what is really strategic in practice is often neglected in theory. a strong conclusion emerges from these papers that interests scholars and practitioners alike: performativity is grounded in reciprocity and reciprocity is grounded in difference, contrast and resistance. central to cooren’s (2010) metaphor of communication as ventriloquism, communication begins because of a difference and continues by extending differences rather than by reducing them. this strong claim is the cornerstone of these articles’ arguments and discussions. recognizing that resistance is constitutive of communication and organizations first explains “why strategic texts can act in ways that block the achievement of their intended purpose and instead exhibit alternative forms of agency” (burlat & mills, this issue), why “hostile takeover bids attract much attention—both from the media and the general public, especially when a ‘fierce battle’ takes place between the bidding and target companies” (negre, et al., this issue), why “values (…) constitute a hydra organization: the more some managers try to fix, clarify or eliminate values in the name of hypocrisy, the faster the values emerge, motivating other managers to act (often in contradictory manners)” (albu, this issue: 877), why “some regions fail to act as catalysts for innovation in spite of the socio-economic conditions required to promote creative development” (baillargeon, this issue: 938) and why “key objects suddenly � 699 m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 691-704 nicolas arnaud & bertrand fauré & jeanne mengis & françois cooren a c t a s s p a t i o t e m p o r a l t r i g g e r s a n d e n a c t a r a d i c a l s h i f t i n sensemaking” (musca, et al., this issue: 732). second, this claim provides directions about what to do in practice once it is acknowledged in theory that organization and communication result from resistance, contradiction, failure and emergence: how to manage carefully “strategic episodes” by setting up habermasian conditions for a free and genuine dialogue (detchessahar & journé, this issue) and for equalitarian and inclusive meetings (asmuß & oshima, this issue: 902); or how to do more with numbers by using a “strategic practice of calculation” that enables new subjects to exist, provokes actions and transforms organizations (le breton & aggeri, this issue). people (consumers, stakeholders, managers, employees), texts (press releases, charters of values, carbon accounting documents, advertisements), objects (bags, computers) and artefacts (regions) tend not to do what is expected of them. this is precisely why communication is needed. recognizing this is not a source of powerlessness. on the contrary, it can empower organizations considerably. organizations exist by rendering more visible what is fundamental, even if what is fundamental “[appears] in inconspicuous or indirect ways to most organizational subjects” (albu, this issue: 878). they grow by extending the scope of radical shifts, madness momentum and discursive struggles they can deal with, as perfectly illustrated by the extreme case of the darwin expedition. the editors-authors of this introduction to the special issue are the only ones responsible for these interpretations, and hope that the other contributors-authors will forgive the inevitable “resistance” required by this ventriloquial exercise (cooren, 2010). part 3: avenues for future research both cco and practice approaches provide opportunities for new creative research in this area. the eight articles of this special issue undoubtedly contribute to a better understanding of collective action at the crossroads of practice and communication approaches of organizations and organizing. however, we believe that further studies of collective action in practice could increase our understanding of this phenomenon. for instance, we still need to know more about when, and under what conditions, shifting is possible or how to learn and accomplish perfect ‘flying lead’ change. the question of how the practitioners’ identity and identity work affect their practices and/or conversations (johnson, et al., 2010; vaara & whittington, 2012) deserves further investigation. also, a sign of our modern world is a growing shift from talk-at-work as a simple way to execute work as required toward a more subjective and interpersonal form of talk as collective ways to innovate and be more creative. while such a move is not new for white-collar workers, it is less common among blue-collar employees. under such conditions, we believe it is worth delving into the deep consequences for frontline workers when their talk must change in order to enact a strategic organizational change that disrupts their initial nature of work (mills, arnaud, & legrand, 2013). � 700 interconnecting the practice turn and communicative approach to organizing m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 691-704 references albu, o.b. (2018). ‘making a difference’: the performative role of values in the constitution of organizations. m@n@gement, 21(2), 856-881. alvesson, m. & karreman, d. (2000a). taking the linguistic turn in organizational research. journal of applied behavioral science, 36(2), 136-158. alvesson, m. & karreman, d. (2000b). varieties of discourse: on the study of organizations through discourse analysis. human relations, 53(9), 1125. arnaud, n. (2011a). du monologue au dialogue. étude de la transformation communicationnelle d'une organisation. revue française de gestion, 210(37), 15-31. arnaud, n. (2011b). l’ouverture du stock de connaissances de la compétence collective. etude d’une conversation. finance contrôle stratégie, 14(2), 101-141. a r n a u d , n . ( 2 0 1 6 ) . p o u r u n e p e r s p e c t i v e communicationnelle et pratique de la compétence collective. communication & organisation, 50(2), 215-244. arnaud, n. & fauré, b. (2016). a communicative approach to sociomateriality: the agentic role of technology at the operational level. communication research and practice, 2(3), 290-310. arnaud, n. & mills, c. e. (2012). understanding the inter-organizational agency: a communication perspective. group and organization management, 37(4), 452-485. ashcraft, k. l., khun, t., r. & cooren, f. (2009). constitutional amendments: "materializing" organizational communication. academy of management annals, 3(1), 1-64. asmuß, b. & oshima, s. (2018). strategy making as a c o m m u n i c a t i v e p r a c t i c e : t h e m u l t i m o d a l accomplishment of strategy roles. m@n@gement, 21(2), 882-910. baillargeon, d. (2018). connecting strategic practices, regionality and institution: a ventriloquism p e r s p e c t i v e o n c r e a t i v i t y i n a g e n c i e s . m@n@gement, 21(2), 911-941. barley, s. r. & kunda, g. (2001). bringing work back in. organization science, 12(1), 76-95. berger, p. & luckmann, t. (1966), the social construction of reality, new york: doubleday. boden, d. (1994), the business of talk: organizations in action, cambridge: polity press. boje, d. m. (1991). the storytelling organization: a study of story performance in an office-supply firm. administrative science quarterly, 36(1), 106-126. brown, j. s. & duguid, p. (2001). knowledge and organization: a social-practice perspective. organization science, 12(2), 198-213. burlat, c. & mills, c. e. (2018. power to the people? how an energy company’s strategic texts constitute the company-consumer interface working against collective action. m@n@gement, 21(2), 736-770. clegg, s. r., kornberger, m. & rhodes, c. (2007). business ethics as practice. british journal of management, 18(2), 107-122. cohen, m. d., march, j. g. & olsen, j. p. (1972). a garbage can model of organizational choice. administrative science quarterly, 17(1), 1-25. cooren, f. (2000), the organizing property of communication, amsterdam & philadelphia: john benjamins pub co. cooren, f. (2004). textual agency: how texts do things in organizational settings. organization, 11(3), 373-393. cooren, f. (2010), action and agency in dialogue: p a s s i o n , i n c a r n a t i o n a n d v e n t r i l o q u i s m , philadelphia: john benjamins publishing company. cooren, f. (2015). in medias res: communication, existence, and materiality. communication research and practice, 1(4), 307-321. cooren, f. & fairhurst, g. t. (2004). speech timing and spacing: the phenomenon of organizational closure. organization, 11(6), 793-824. cooren, f., kuhn, t., cornelissen, j. p. & clark, t. ( 2 0 11 ) . c o m m u n i c a t i o n , o r g a n i z i n g a n d organization: an overview and introduction to the special issue. organization studies, 32(9), 1149-1170. cooren, f., taylor, j. r. & van emery, e. j. (2006), communication as organizing. empirical and theoretical exploration in the dynamic of text and c o n v e r s a t i o n , l o n d o n : l a w r e n c e e r b l a u m associates, inc. corlett, w. (1989), community without unity: a politics of derridian extravagance, durham, nc: duke university press. corradi, g., gherardi, s. & verzelloni, l. (2010). through the practice lens: where is the bandwagon of practice-based studies heading? management learning, 41(3), 265-283. czarniawska-joerges, b. (1998), a narrative approach to organization studies, london: sage. detchessahar, m. (2003). l'avènement de l'entreprise communicationnelle ? outils, problèmes et politique d'accompagnement. revue française de gestion, 29(142), 65-84. detchessahar, m. & journé, b. (2018). managing strategic discussions in organizations : a habermasian perspective. m@n@gement, 21(2), 771-800. drew, p. & heritage, j. (1992), talk at work: interaction in institutional settings, cambridge: cambridge university press. fairhurst, g. t. & putnam, l. l. (2004). organizations as discursive constructions. communication theory, 14(1), 5-26. fauré, b. & arnaud, n. (2014), la communication des organisations, paris: repères, la découverte. fauré, b. & bouzon, a. (2010). french approaches to the performative properties of language at work: an overview. management communication quarterly, 24(4), 620-626. � 701 m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 691-704 nicolas arnaud & bertrand fauré & jeanne mengis & françois cooren fauré, b., brummans, b. h., giroux, h. & taylor, j. r. (2010). the calculation of business, or the business of calculation? accounting as organizing through everyday communication. human relations, 63(8), 1249. fauré, b. & gramaccia, g. (2006). la pragmatique des chiffres dans les organisations: de l'acte de langage à l'acte de calcul. études de communication, 29(1), 25-37. fauré, b. & rouleau, l. (2011). the strategic competence of accountants and middle managers in budget making. accounting, organizations & society, 36(3), 167-182. feldman, m. s. & orlikowski, w. j. (2011). theorizing practice and practicing theory. organization science, 22(5), 1240-1253. geiger, d. (2009). revisiting the concept of practice: toward an argumentative understanding of practicing. management learning, 40(2), 129-142. gephart, r. p. (1978). status degradation and organizational succession: an ethnomethodological approach. administrative science quarterly, 23(4), 553-581. giddens, a. (1984), the constitution of society, cambridge: polity press. gilbert, c., amalberti, r., laroche, h. & paries, j. (2007). errors and failures: towards a new safety paradigm. journal of risk research, 10(7), 959-975. girin, j. (1990). problèmes du langage dans les organisations. in j.-f. chanlat (ed.), l'individu dans l'organisation. le dimensions oubliées (pp. 37-77). québec and ottawa: les presses de l'université de laval / edition eska. girin, j. (1995). les agencements organisationnels. in f. charue-duboc (ed.), des savoirs en action, contribution de la recherche en gestion (pp. 233-279). paris: l’harmattan. hui, a., schatzki, t. & shove, e. (eds.). (2017).  the nexus of practices: connections, constellations, practitioners. taylor & francisjarzabkowski, p. (2005), strategy as practice: an activity-based approach. london: sage publications ltd. jarzabkowski, p., balogun, j. & seidl, d. (2007). strategizing: the challenges of a practice perspective. human relations, 60(1), 5-27. jarzabkowski, p. & spee, a. p. (2009). strategy-aspractice: a review and future directions for the field. international journal of management reviews, 11(1), 69-95. johnson, p., balogun, j. & beech, n. (2010). researching strategists and their identity in practice: building „close-with‟ relationships. in d. golsorkhi, l. rouleau, d. seidl & e. vaara (eds.), cambridge handbook of strategy as practice (pp. 243-257). cambridge: cambridge university press. knorr-cetina, k., schatzki, t. r. & von savigny, e. (2005), the practice turn in contemporary theory, london: routledge. laloux, f. (2014), reinventing organizations: a guide to creating organizations inspired by the next stage in human consciousness, new york, ny: nelson parker. le breton, m. & aggeri, f. (2018). couting before acting? the performativity carbon accounting called into question calculation acts and dispositifs in a big french construction company. m@n@gement, 21(2), 832-855. macintosh, n. b., shearer, t., thornton, d. b. & welker, m. (2000). accounting as simulacrum and hyperreality: perspectives on income and capital. accounting, organizations and society, 25(1), 13-50. miettinen, r., samra-fredericks, d. & yanow, d. (2009). re-turn to practice: an introductory essay. organization studies, 30(12), 1309-1327. mills, c. e., arnaud, n. & legrand, c. (2013). explicating the discursive costs of innovation and creative practice. paper presented at the fifth international symposium on process organization studies, chania. musca, g., rouleau, l. & fauré, b. (2014). time, space and calculation in discursive practices: insights from the crow's flight chronotope of the darwin expedition. in f. cooren, e. vaara, a. langley & h. tsoukas (eds.), perspectives on process organization studies (125). oxford: oxford university press. musca, g., rouleau, l., mellet, c., sitri, f. & de vogüé, s. (2018). from boat to bags: the role of material c h r o n o t o p e s i n a d a p t i v e s e n s e m a k i n g . m@n@gement, 21(2), 705-737. nègre, e., verdier, m.a. & cho, c.h. (2018). discursive struggles between bidding and target companies: an analysis of press releases issued during hostile takeover bids. m@n@gement, 21(2), 801-831. nicolini, d. (2012), practice theory, work, and organization: an introduction, london: oxford university press. putnam, l. l. & nicotera, a. m. (eds.). (2008). building theories of organizing: the constitutive role of communication. new york: roultedge. putnam, l. l. & pacanowsky, m. e. (1983). communication and organizations. an interpretive approach. newbury park, ca: sage. robichaud, d., giroux, h. & taylor, j. r. (2004). the metaconversation: the recursive property of language as a key to organizing. academy of management review, 29(4), 617-634. robichaud, d. & cooren, f. (2013), organization and organizing: materiality, agency and discourse, london: routledge. rouleau, l. (2013). strategy-as-practice research at a crossroads. m@n@gement, 16(5), 574-592. rouleau, l. & balogun, j. (2011). middle managers, strategic sensemaking, and discursive competence. journal of management studies, 48(5), 953–983. ruuska, i. a. & teigland, r. (2009). ensuring project success through collective competence and creative conflict in public–private partnerships – a case study of bygga villa, a swedish triple helix egovernment initiative. international journal of project management, 27, 323-334. schatzki, t. (2017). sayings, texts and discursive formations. in a. hui, t. schatzki & e. shove (eds.), t h e n e x u s o f p r a c t i c e s : c o n n e c t i o n s , constellations, practitioners (pp. 126-140). london: routledge. � 702 interconnecting the practice turn and communicative approach to organizing m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 691-704 schatzki, t. r., knorr-cetina, k. & von savigny, e. (2001). the practice turn in contemporary theory. new york: routledge. taylor, j. r. (1993), rethinking the theory of organizational communication: how to read an organization, norwood, nj: ablex. taylor, j. r. & van every, e. j. (1993), the vulnerable f o r t r e s s : b u r e a u c r a t i c o r g a n i z a t i o n a n d management in the information age, toronto: university of toronto press. taylor, j. r. & van every, e. j. (2014), when organization fails: why authority matters, new york, oxon: routledge. tsoukas, h. & chia, r. (2002). on organizational becoming: rethinking organizational change. organization science, 13(5), 567-582. vaara, e., kleymann, b., & seristö, h. (2004). strategies as discursive constructions: the case of airline alliances. journal of management studies, 41(1), 1-35. vaara, e. & whittington, r. (2012). strategy-aspractice: taking social practices seriously. academy of management annals, 6(1), 285-336. varey, r. j. (2006). accounts in interaction: implication of accounting practices for managing. in f. cooren, j . r . ta y l o r & e . j . va n e m e r y ( e d s . ) , communication as organizing. empirical and theoretical exploration in the dynamic of text and conversation (pp. 181-196). london: lawrence erblaum associates, inc. vollmer, h. (2007). how to do more with numbers: elementary stakes, framing, keying, and the threedimensional character of numerical signs. accounting, organizations and society, 32(6), 577-600. vollmer, h., mennicken, a. & preda, a. (2009). tracking the numbers: across accounting and finance, o r g a n i z a t i o n s a n d m a r k e t s . a c c o u n t i n g , organizations and society, 34(5), 619-637. weick, k. e. (1986). the concept of loose coupling: an a s s e s s m e n t . a e r a o r g a n i z a t i o n a l t h e o r y dialogue, 8(11). weick, k. e. & roberts, k. h. (1993). collective mind in organizations: heedful interrelating on flight decks. administrative science quarterly, 38(3), 357-381. wenger, e. (1998). communities of practice: learning as a social system. systems thinker, 9(5), 2-3. whittington, r. (1996). strategy as practice. long range planning, 29(5), 731-735. whittington, r. (2006). completing the practice turn in strategy research. organization studies, 27(5), 613-634. whittington, r. (2011). the practice turn in organization research: towards a disciplined transdisciplinarity. accounting, organizations and society, 36(3), 183-186. woodilla, j. (1998). workplace conversations: the text of organizing. in d. grant, t. w. keenoy & c. oswick (eds.), discourse and organization (pp. 31-50). london: sage. zarifian, p. (1996), travail et communication. essai de sociologie sur le travail dans la grande entreprise industrielle, paris: puf. � 703 m@n@gement, vol. 21(2): 691-704 nicolas arnaud & bertrand fauré & jeanne mengis & françois cooren nicolas arnaud, ph.d, is a professor in the department of management, holder of the chair in management innovation and a director of audencia grande ecole at the audencia business school in nantes, france. his research interests include interorganizational management, collective action and managers’ practices from a communication perspective. his works have been published in various journals including group and organization, management, international management, responsible organization review, finance controle stratégie, and communication & organization. he also recently published an organizational communication textbook with bertrand fauré. bertrand fauré, ph.d, is associate professor of organizational communication at the university of toulouse. his research about the performativity of the language of numbers in organization has been published in various journals including human relations, management communication quarterly and accounting organizations and society. he is currently running research about the blockchain revolution and its organizational consequences. jeanne mengis is the director of the institute of marketing and communication management (imca), associate professor at the faculty of communication sciences (usi) and an associate fellow at warwick business school, uk. in her research, she works on a communication perspective on processes of organizing and conducts research on crossdisciplinary collaboration, knowledge integration, the role of objects and materiality in boundary work, and evidence-based learning. she has published her work in papers such as organization science, organization studies, organizational research methods, organization, or social science & medicine. françois cooren, ph.d., is a professor at the université de montréal, canada. his research focuses on organizational communication, language and social interaction, as well as communication theory. he authored four books and edited eight volumes published by polity, oxford university press, routledge, john benjamins and lawrence erlbaum. he is also the author of more than 50 articles, published in international peer-reviewed journals, as well as close to 40 book chapters. in 2010-2011, he was the president of the international communication association (ica) and was elected fellow of this association in 2013, as well as distinguished scholar of the national communication association in 2017. he is also the current president of the international association for dialogue analysis (iada, 2012-2019). acknowledgements the editorial team for this special issue would like to acknowledge the contributions of our anonymous referees and thank them for their prompt, thoughtful and constructive reviews. we are thankful to cnrs and aims for their financial support. � 704